NRH2013
- Roman Catholics don't believe that Jesus is raised from the dead (some people mistakenly think this because of the prominence of the crucifix in Roman Catholic piety)
- Roman Catholics worship Mary and other saints
- Roman Catholics believe they can save themselves apart from the work of Christ
- Roman Catholics believe that only Roman Catholics are saved
- The historical reality of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
- Salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone
- There is one God existing as a Trinity comprised of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- The Bible is the inspired word of God
- Only the true God is to be worshiped; idolatry is strictly forbidden.
- All people that accept Jesus as Lord and Savior are brothers and sisters in Christ
- No, I'm not converting to Roman Catholicism. Yet, I am passionate about unity in Christ's church. One of the most divisive and hurtful things we can do to our other brothers and sisters is "de-church" them because we do not fully understand their beliefs, even when they stand within the boundaries of historic Christian orthodoxy. ↩
- Schreck, A. (2004). Catholic and Christian: An explanation of commonly misunderstood Catholic beliefs. Cincinnati, Ohio: Servant Books, p. 2 ↩
- Prayer - communicating with God (Matt. 6:9)
- Meditation - focusing on God and his will (Phil. 4:8)
- Fasting - a reminder of the source of all nourishment (Luke 5:35)
- Study - careful attention the the reality that God reveals to us, especially through Holy Scripture (Luke 2:46)
- Simplicity - seeking God's Kingdom first (Matt. 6:33)
- Submission - placing God's will above one's own (Luke 22:42)
- Solitude - withdrawing from the world to spend time with God (Matt. 14:23)
- Service - supportive action toward others (Mark 10:45)
- Confession - acknowledging one's sin with and to others in the community of faith (James 5:16)
- Guidance - giving and receiving direction from others along the journey with Jesus (Acts 15:8)
- Celebration - taking joy is what God has done (1 Cor 5:8)
- Worship - giving God glory through attitudes and actions (1 Cor. 14:26)
- is ignorant of God's ways
- is arrogant concerning his place in the universe
- is busy making his own plans
- constantly invites noise into his life
- denies his sin
- is attracted to idols
- Pray before, during, and after conversations
- Listen
- Be humble
- Have an open mind
- Don't interrupt
- Think before you speak
- Squash your insecurities
- Avoid defensiveness
- Realize your need to be right is wrong
- Know that you could be mistaken, misinformed, or simply ignorant on some topics
- Seek to understand
- Ask many questions
- Become skilled at articulating your own convictions
- Assume the best of conversation partners
- Recognize when to stop
- Have a Bible handy
- Take care with your tone of voice (both in-person and especially in writing)
- Remember that if we do not love each other, we do not love God (1 John 4:7-8).
Multiple Sources For Spiritual Formation
The same way that our natural bodies need more than one nutrient to remain healthy and grow, our spirits are also nourished by multiple sources. This means that even though you may be very disciplined in Bible study and prayer, it is not enough. You also need to fast and practice solitude.
This holds true for more than the disciplines. You might be very involved in a small group, but still need to pursue a mentoring relationship. You appreciate your pastor, but have tuned out all other voices for spiritual guidance.
No one practice, person, or even group can provide for us the entirety of our spiritual formation.
Something is Better Than Nothing
I have failed at being consistent with daily devotions. I have failed a lot.
I have for the past year been attempting to pray the Daily Office, an Anglican tradition of daily prayer in the morning and evening. Prior to that, I had been reading through The NLT One-Year Chronological Bible, a fifteen-minute per day plan.
Some days and weeks and months are great; others make me feel as if I’ve forgotten the very meaning of the word discipline. Still, I’ve generally been able to pick up where I left off after a day or two and keep going.
An important truth that I’ve begun to see in this process is that something is better than nothing. Just like some exercise is better than no physical activity, even taking the time to just read one chapter or a simple three-minute pause to listen to the Holy Spirit is better than simply doing nothing when you forget your normal quiet time or unexpected events shift your schedule during the day. Consider saying the Lord’s Prayer as you get ready for your day or mediating on a Bible verse you have memorized on your lunch break.
Remember, too, that we do not exist in a legalistic relationship with God. This doesn’t mean we abandon discipline, but it does mean we should approach God as a loving, grace-giving father. We needn’t allow guilt over not meeting our devotional goals on occasion keep us from seeking the Lord at every opportunity.
How Spiritual Disciplines Help Us Conform to the Mind of Christ
A graphic I created as part of my graduate work. This presents in a visual way how spiritual disciplines work to conform us to the mind of Christ.
Roman Catholics Are Christians Too: What We Have in Common
I’ve found it interesting–and disconcerting–that in many evangelical circles there is a high degree of suspicion regarding Roman Catholicism. “Are Roman Catholics even Christians?” I’ve heard some ask, “Isn’t the Roman Catholic Church kind of like a cult?”
I’ve noticed quite a few misconceptions about Roman Catholic belief and practice among my friends and acquaintances, so this series will be an attempt to set the record straight and establish that yes, the Roman Catholic Church is indeed a Christian Church1, and Roman Catholics are Christians. We will also examine some of the more misunderstood and/or controversial Roman Catholic doctrines together.
As human beings, we naturally tend to be afraid of things that are unfamiliar or that we do not understand. We must not allow fear to play any part in our interactions with any person or group, whether they are Christian or not. Fear has nothing to do with love! “Perfect love casts out fear” (John 4:18). Coming to this and all conversations with humility and charity is key to honoring our Lord Jesus and fellow human beings made in the image of God.
I enter into wholehearted agreement with Alan Schreck when he says, “Satan as been able to use…lack of understanding (both among Catholics and others) to divide Christians from one another and to divert their attention and energies away from proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and advancing his kingdom on earth."2
A few myths that need to be dispelled right off the bat:
Evangelicals & Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium
Over the next several weeks we will look at some of these issues in more depth.
As we continue to discuss those things we have in common with Roman Catholics as well what does separate us, remember the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus, “that they all may be one” (John 17:21) and the Apostle’s words,
"There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:4-6, ESV)
Love Meets Us In The Mundane
As a parent it can be so frustrating just to get a child to sleep. You’ve worked all day, had some time with the kids, battled your way through bath-and-bedtime. Now you’d just like a few moments of silence to unwind, maybe some adult conversation with your wife or husband. But…
Your precious little one just…Will. Not. Go. To. Sleep.
You bounce, you rock, you pat them on the back. You tell stories and sing songs. You’re exhausted and you realize this is taking an hour. You’re not going to get to watch that movie, read that book, finish that project. Relaxing for part of the evening is definitely out.
This is the fifth night in a row your little one has refused to go to bed. You’re exhausted, bored, frustrated. This is the life of a parent of small children. There have been seasons where this has been every night with my daughter.
Finally, she starts to calm down. She settles into my arms. I keep rocking, afraid to breathe too loudly. Her eyes stop darting to and fro and rest on mine. I wonder what this little person could possibly be thinking. I remember how beautiful she is and pray for her as we continue to gaze at one another. I still don’t know her thoughts but somewhere deep inside I feel that she loves me.
“I love you, baby girl,” I whisper as softly as humanly possible.
Her tiny hand slowly loosens its grip around my thumb as she finally succumbs to slumber. I keep rocking her for a few minutes, because now I don’t care about doing the dishes or writing a blog post.
I just know that in this frustrating, exhausting, mundane moment, there’s also a measure of love that is worth it all.
Donald Miller's Storyline Will Help You Find Meaning, Focus, and Clarity in Life
There’s a lot to be excited about regarding Donald Miller’s new project, Storyline. I just finished the process and I am filled with many emotions: relief, release, energy, gratefulness. Most importantly I have increased focus and clarity about the things I need to do going forward. For a guy like me with a million competing interests, passions, and responsibilities, this is a sort of Holy Grail.
In a nutshell, Storyline is a process by which you examine your own life as story…specifically, a subplot in God’s grand narrative. I love the God-centeredness of this.
One of the best things about the Storyline process is how it gives you useful constraints. For instance, during one module you will examine the different roles that you play in life. This might be husband, wife, leader, mentor, artist, etc. According the psychology behind Storyline, you can really only be concentrating on five roles at a time. This alone was incredibly freeing as I made hard choices about the roles I need to be playing and that I believe God wants me to be filling.
The most important aspect of the process for me was discerning (along with input from my wife and others) my “life theme” or the way God has been consistently working in my life to equip me to help others. This element serves as a help to make decisions (is this action consistent with my life theme?) and can serve as a filter to focus projects (how will my next musical endeavor help others in a way consistent with my life theme?)
My life theme was “To find my identity in Jesus and help others do the same.” If you’re interested, you can see my stories here. This marks the second time that Donald Miller has changed my life for the better.
Check out the promo video:
The 12 Spiritual Disciplines: Essential Tools for Spiritual Growth
The spiritual disciplines are means by which individuals and communities can very literally “practice” their faith. They are tools by which Christians seek to know God, yield to the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying power, and surrender to the Divine Will in their lives. The disciplines can be instrumental tools as we seek to “tune” ourselves to God’s desires and see his kingdom as he sees it. These holy actions have been practiced by believers since the earliest times, and are firmly rooted in Christ’s commands and examples in the Gospels.
Author and pastor Richard Foster identifies 12 crucial spiritual disciplines. These are further organized into sections: inward, outward, and corporate practices.
Disciplines of Personal Development (Inward)
Disciplines of Service to the Body of Christ (Outward)
Disciplines of Service with the Body of Christ (Corporate)
The disciplines can help move our perspective from a naturalistic point of view to one that is more holy.
The Natural Man
All of this obstructs our view of Jesus, the one who is worthy of attention, honor, praise, and worship, because of who he is and what he has done.
The disciplines can help clear the path and bring us back into line-of-sight with the Savior.
Examples of How Real Change Happens
The Disciplined Christian can know God's ways though study...
He or she spends time soaking in Scripture, becoming intimately familiar with its message, learning the history of God's church, and gaining understanding of the practical implications of theology.
The Disciplined Christian is reminded of the source of all blessing and sustenance through fasting...
Abstaining from food, time commitments and distractions, from anything that takes focus from Jesus brings clarity, focus, and humility.
The Disciplined Christian can slow down through simplicity...
Seeking the kingdom of God first ultimately causes the believer to cast aside anything that is not holy. The pursuit of wealth and power are the antithesis of the kingdom that Jesus models.
The Disciplined Christian can hear God's voice more clearly through solitude...
Alone time with God helps provide room for silence, waiting on God, and hearing the sometimes still, small voice of his Spirit.
The Disciplined Christian is grieved by sin through confession...
Personal and corporate confession provide a way to confront, admit, be convicted of, and deal with sin in the context of a supportive community and ministers of grace.
The Disciplined Christian puts God in the highest place through worship...
The believer joins with others in praise and thanksgiving, placing Jesus in the supreme place of honor in his or her life.
Conclusion
These 12 spiritual disciplines help to combat the sinful nature and our naturalistic world view. They can bring the believer into a mental, emotional, and spiritual state of higher awareness of God, his nature, and his kingdom. These tools are one way for individuals and communities to begin to bring their focus back to the Holy One and seek his will.Buy Foster’s book, The Celebration of Discipline, on Amazon
Peace is Always Possible
An acquaintance recently linked to article about recent Muslim attacks on Christians in Pakistan. They understandably asked, “In light of events like these, is dialog even possible?” (paraphrase).
* * *
Dialog is always possible, because all things are possible with God.As we live into our Christ-identity as peacemakers, we must have faith. The Holy Spirit will do his work.
We may indeed die in the process, but we have the hope of resurrection.
Isn’t that the example of the cross, and aren’t we called to follow Jesus there?
* * *
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Traditions of God and Men
God does use tradition to communicate his will and make his voice known. Tradition is any teaching, thought, or practice that is handed down or passed on. It could be a ritual, interpretive framework or a specific view on what a passage of Scripture means. The Bible itself is an example of God working through tradition (cf. 2 Thes 2:15), along with the development of doctrines derived from the Bible like the Trinity.
Christians evaluate all traditions (Col 2:8; 1 Thes 5:21) and it is the Holy Spirit that reveals to the community of faith whether or not a tradition is from God. Historically we see the church working in a communal and conciliar way to hear from the Holy Spirit on controversies of faith, from the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1-21) onward.
Teach Your Children Who They Are
Christian parenting isn’t easy. Several books I’ve read or skimmed recently speak of reminding our children of who they are in Christ…something I’ve not put a lot of thought into until recently. Once I did actually think about it for a bit, it made sense that this is an essential part of discipling our children, just as it’s an essential part of training all who are seeking to grow in their Christian faith.
Core to Christian discipleship is living into one’s new identity as a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). It’s something we need to be reminded of often, and I think we forget that our children need these reminders as much as we do.
Be Fueled by Love
Today I was reminded of just how important it is to be motivated by overflowing love from God.
When you preach and teach and lead musical worship, are you loving your congregations and those you are communicating with?
When you engage in one-on-one discipleship, is love fueling your leadership?
Are your efforts to evangelize emerging from a profound love for those that haven’t yet heard the Good News about Jesus?
All effective ministry, and indeed all ministry that is pleasing to God springs from deep wells of love that can only come from him.
Why do anything, if not for love?
Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. (1 John 2:10, ESV)
What is the Path to Spiritual Growth?
It’s hard for me to believe that it’s taken me this long to pick up and read Richard Foster’s classic on essential tools for spiritual growth, Celebration of Discipline. Although I’ve studied the disciplines for quite some time and have read other books on spiritual formation that took cues from Foster, I finally got around to diving into the original. It’s clear why this book has been such an influential work on so many.
I loved this book and plan on re-reading it with some frequency. Some of my favorite thoughts and quotes:
When we despair of gaining inner transformation through human powers of will and determination, we are open to a wonderful new realization: inner righteousness is a gift from God to be graciously received...the demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside. (p. 6)
The Spiritual Disciplines are intended for our good. They are meant to bring the abundance of God into our lives. It is possible, however, to turn them into another set of soul-killing laws. Law-bound Disciplines breathe death. (p. 9)
Christian meditation, very simply, is the ability to hear God's voice and obey his word. It is that simple...It involves no hidden mysteries, no secret mantras, no mental gymnastics, no esoteric flights into the cosmic consciousness. The truth of the matter is that the great God of universe, the Creator of all things desires our fellowship. (p. 17)
Service as a substitute for worship is idolatry. Activity is the enemy of adoration. (p. 161)
In the spiritual life only one thing will produce genuine joy, and that is obedience. (p. 192)
If you were to read only one book on growing in your faith as a disciple of Christ, this is the one.
Buy it on Amazon
Is Radical Christianity A New Legalism?
Is the kind of “radical” Christianity advocated by the likes of Francis Chan and David Platt just another way for Christians to rely on and emphasize their own efforts over the grace of God? For Anthony Bradley at WORLD the answer may be yes. For those of you that are interested in the new wave of “taking Jesus seriously” I highly recommend reading the article.
Bradley offers two valid criticisms:
1) There’s a lot of “shaming” going on around “radical” living. Some of the popular books can come across as a guilt trip. While I think this critique holds weight, I’d hate to see the Christian culture throw out what is of value in writings of Platt and Chan.
Although these books are pretty reactionary (as the author notes) they do address what I perceive to be an issue for many Christians: an unwillingness to follow Jesus even when it means being unsafe.
In my own life I’ve been challenged by this thinking. If living in a “safe” neighborhood is outside my means, should I live there? If it is within my means, but would prohibit me from being able give generously to those that hungry in my community, should I live there? These are not questions with black-and-white answers, of course, but they are questions that need to be asked, and I’m afraid many Christians never ask them, much less consider the risky answer as viable. Books like Crazy Love remind us that our faith is not that is adverse to danger and sacrifice.
2) The push to urban centers weakens the Church elsewhere. We need Christians in cities, no doubt, but I agree with the author that this shouldn’t mean we act as if this is a higher calling than rural or suburban Christian life.
The author talks about a possible solution to the pendulum swings between “comfy Christianity” and “radical Christianity” is a recovery of the doctrine of vocation. Learning about the Lutheran view of vocation was huge for me personally a few years ago, so I get where he’s coming from. I think it has to be part of a larger push toward renewed discipleship in the church at large, though. A doctrine of vocation won’t do it without understanding all of the teachings of Christ along with their implications for doctrine and community life.
A Devotional to Help You Hide the Word of God in Your Heart
I’ve not made Scripture memorization the priority that I should have in the past. As part of my attempt to rectify this, I bought Scripture by Heart: Devotional Practices for Memorizing God’s Word by Joseph Choonmin Kang. He’s a new pastor/author to me, but I saw that he runs with the Dallas Williard/Richard Foster crowd. That and the positive reviews on Amazon convinced me to give this book a try, and I’m very glad I did.
How to Discuss Theology -- Without Losing Friends
The Importance of Theological Conversation
I’ve had some fantastic discussions lately with friends and acquaintances around theology. Over the past few days I’ve been able to really dig into difficult topics like defining the Gospel, the doctrine of Justification by Faith, and the peace teachings of Jesus.
It’s become readily apparent that these conversations are incredibly important for everyone involved. Not only does speaking about the Bible and God ignite interest and promote learning of new things, it also helps to ensure that we are not reading the Scriptures in a “vacuum.”
You're Too Busy And So Am I
Our culture is obsessed with busyness. The more and more I live and work here in the United States, the more apparent this becomes. A “strong work ethic” means basically working yourself to death. It seems that in many places it’s just expected that you’ll be sacrificing friends and family when you enter “the real world.” Perhaps we save enough to pay for our kids' college education, but I’m not sure we’ve counted the cost of losing precious time with them. Maybe we can afford that TV and even a bit of travel with our spouse, but we’ve lost everyday connections.
And God forbid you take a break and have fun once in a while. As a society we’ve developed a sense of guilt over taking vacations, asking for time off, etc. To balance work with rest seems to be received as lazy by many.
Why? None of this is necessary, unless you buy into the rest of the lies American culture tells you about what an “acceptable” standard of living is and what you have to do to get there.
Going deeper: being busy all the time is also another way to avoid conflict, live in denial, and keep yourself from becoming vulnerable to other people.
A life marked by constant busyness, with no rhythm of rest, is a sure way to love people less.
It seems like we Christians are some of the worst at this too. We expect our clergy to be on the clock 24/7 and bury ourselves in programs “for the Kingdom.” The destructive effects of this on our ministries and families is painfully obvious…just do some research on “pastor burnout.”
Shauna Niequist posts over at the Storyline blog:
Today, I want to communicate to my kids, through my words and my actions, that we don’t always have to be hustling, plates don’t always have to be spinning, balls don’t always have to be in the air.Me too.
Press In or Give Up
You have two options today.
Option Number One: act as if you believe what you say you believe. Press into the truth and your values. Commit. It’s difficult, maybe the most difficult thing you ever do. I try and fail, daily…but this is what perseverance is about.
I’m convinced that trying and failing is better than the alternative.
Option Number Two: Keep talking about and dressing up like and reading up on what you believe, but don’t actually do anything. Look, if you live like this, I don’t think you really believe what you think you believe. You certainly don’t value it, and you won’t ever live in light of the truth if you don’t pursue the truth. You’ve given up.
For those of us that claim the name Christ, this means–at the most basic level–really believing that he is the end-all, be-all, ultimate prize of life. It means living like he is God and that God is love. It means returning to and sharing this Love when you’re elated, happy, excited, angry, stretched-thin, left out, exhausted, crushed, or just plain busy. It means saying yes to crazy things, and no to perfectly sensible things. It means Truth over safety.
You have two options today. Press in or give up.
Worship is Doing
There was a time when many in the Church objected to the laity simply watching a special class of people “performing” worship. After all, liturgy means “the work of the people.” The movement that emerged from this framework has paradoxically created a culture where pro-level musicianship is a practical requirement in order to be seen as appealing.
The last time you participated in corporate worship service, could you hear yourself singing? Could you hear your neighbor singing? The answer for me is often “no.” If not to hear the sounds created, why sing? Respectfully, why not simply think the songs to yourself?
Even when people are engaged in singing the songs of faith, we too often limit role of the congregation to that portion of the service. Where can we facilitate response via corporate prayers, recitation of Scripture, and even silent reflection? Those of us in mainstream Evangelicalism must realize the power of worship for spiritual formation, and that the biblical model is participatory. We miss out when we perform in front of people, instead of lovingly leading them to engage alongside us.
Worship is something we do, not something we watch.
Rest in Peace, Brennan Manning
I woke today to the news that Christian author and thinker Brennan Manning has died.
From his official website:
It is with mixed emotions that we must tell you that on Friday April 12, 2013, our Brother Brennan passed away.