Dining at the table of God, not the table of popularity

A prayer, a conviction: So much of our psychologies and pastoral mind sets in pioneering church contexts has been deeply influenced by the felt need of church growth or apparent success in the eye of man. It may not be the elephant in the room but it can be in our hearts. Success is a god that we have too often felt the need to build towards even subconsciously. Too often we may have placated when Jesus might have said 'get ye behind me satan, you do not have in mind the things of God but the things of men'! This is not a vote for rudeness but just to get back to what it's all about - the things of God! Our radical edge can get blunted if we hold back in every facet in order to 'keep people' and in the medium and long term this is unproductive anyway since placating Luke-warmness and placating rampant individualism is never a healthy or compelling church foundation! What if we send the Dagon of worldly success packing and crashing to the ground? How would it be if we were way way more concerned about honouring God and making Him famous and being so red hot that it sends both the demons of hell and the religious minded Christian away in distress....what if our church halved in size but this became the seed in the ground for broader revival due to radical obedience? Could I cope if I didn't look good but brought revival to a few? Would we obey or are we too conditioned to stroke when we should confront (and I am not voting here for a harsh rebuking church, no way, rather a God loving one)? If Christ is truly our desire and the goal church is ultimately about HIS glory firstly and everything else secondly then why would we be surprised if a brother leaves because he finds you too radical? Has God not said that in the last days the love of many would grow cold? Who then is this all for? May we titivate no longer but love one another more deeply. May we soothe way less when it's the truth that will set free. May we worry less about attendance and more about our delight in God. May God fill my sometimes hollow chest with unbridled passion for the lover of my soul and make me to walk the path He sets before me, no matter what man thinks nor how he votes.

'Counterfeit gods' - some good stuff from Tim Keller

"Idols capture our imagination and we can locate them by looking at our daydreams (what do we enjoy imagining? What are our fondest dreams?)...idols give us a sense of being in control, and we can locate them by looking at our nightmares (What do we fear the most> What if we lost would make life not worth living?) We make sacrifices to appease and please gods, who we believe will protect us. We look to our idols to provide us with a sense of confidence and safety"

"Idols control us, since we feel we must have them or life is meaningless"

"When we are completely immersed in a society of people who consider a particular attachment normal, it becomes impossible to discern it for what it is"(Idolatry in society)

Idols cannot simply be removed. They must be replaced. If you only try to uproot them, they grow back: but they can be supplanted. By what? By God Himself, of course (making Him our compelling affection)

"What is your real, daily functional salvation? What are you really living for, what is your real-not your professed-god? (a good way to discern this is how we respond to unanswered prayers and frustrated hopes, or to look at our most uncontrollable emotions)"

'Jesus must become more beautiful to your imagination, more attractive to your heart, than your idol. That is what will replace your counterfeit gods. If you uproot the idol and fail to 'plant' the love of Christ in its place, the idol will grow back'

From 'Counterfeit gods' by Tim Keller

Unresponsive hearers

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9 He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.[a] Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Isaiah's response to a revelation encounter of God was to volunteer for the hardest of all jobs...to GO and be SENT FORTH to speak to a people, many of whom DID NOT WANT TO HEAR. All the same, God plans and purposes that all should HEAR His message. I want to leave a small thought with you today here....God decrees here that the preaching/declaration of His Word here (by Isaiah)in this instance - and certainly to many around us today - will have a hardening effect on the generation that He was sent to (- others thank God will respond affirmatively...)

. In this their posture before God would be laid bare for what it truly is and what it truly is not. Faith is a gift of God's Grace to us - the unresponsive hearer finds that the proclaimed message only hardens him to God's gracious purposes. For those who SPEAK of Christ and proclaim His gospel in the community there is much for us here to chew on. Rejection of the message (and the messenger) by some or many must not stop us from sharing this Good News with the world around us. For those who are open and responsive to Christ and His exclusive claims, there is salvation, mercy and grace. For those who are not, there is a deeper hardening of the heart and mind that takes place, but still like Isaiah, we are sent forth to boldly and yet lovingly proclaim His message, to be led by the Spirit in this, and to live the message ourselves. Don't be put off by reactions, you are not failing (although this is not to say that the messenger may not obstruct the clarity of the message by his character or disposition in some way, potentially...) if people reject Christ...indeed it could be the very sign that the message is that situation has been properly and adequately proclaimed. None of us want to see a sinful human being plug his ears to the very PERSON who can save them, who loves them with an everlasting love, who suffered and died to open up a new and living way for sinners! However, our job is to proclaim and live in this GOOD NEWS! It is God who convicts and it is God who saves! So don't be amazed when people harden their hearts even further, none of us LIKE this, but it is evidence enough that that person is not READY to receive the one gift that can rescue them from perishing.Pray they do......

Proclaimed, Assumed, Denied?

http://beginningwithmoses.org/other-articles/255/assumed-evangelicalism-some-reflections-en-route-to-denying-the-gospel

When PROCLAIM becomes ASSUMED and ends up as DENIED regarding the biblical gospel Check out this excellent article JS

Addicted to progress?

"The only thing embedded in my mindset is how im addicted to progress - The Coronas."

Most of us are addicted to progress. We eat, sleep and dream of progress on various fronts. For some of us its a drug, for others temporary relief from a paralysing sense of failure, for others the sense of climbing a ladder towards what we assume is 'success' The point of this short blog is not to offer a vote for motivationless aimless living! I just want to leave you with a question, a thought. What if God's idea of 'progress' in your life and in my life looks radically different from the 'progress' that we crave?

What if the attitude we deal with in a situation is actually more important than the outcome that we are willing to 'step on' others for? What if the goals we have set ourselves for are not the ultimate goals that God has set for us? What if God is happy to turn my world upside down so that I can actually begin to 'see straight'? What if He will allow me even 'to hit the wall' in my addiction to progress....so that I can discover something better...finding God Himself as my 'progress'

'Mind-field'

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us”

AW Tozer

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" Romans 12v1-2

What comes into your mind and heart today when you think about God? Distant? Absent? Passive? Angry? Party-pooper? or Real? Father? Loving? Present? Sovereign? Friend? Healer? Deliverer? Today your mind needs renewing, so does mine! We cannot afford to just allow ourselves to think any old thing, blown and tossed around by every wind of doctrine or adversity. We will need to 'take captive' thoughts that rise up to rob us of the truth of who God is and the truth of who we are in God. Don't just stop at apprehending a false thought though. Go ahead and replace it with the message of Christ - His Gospel, the truth of His Word - faith comes by hearing and hearing through the message of Christ....so take a moment, do an audit of 'what we think about God' today - is it shaped by truth as the highest reality or merely by circumstances or popular opinion? JS

Many blog visits and readers from France....get in touch

J'ai reçu beaucoup de visites sur mon blog à partir de France et je serais ravi d'entendre quelqu'un d'entre vous dans les pays francophones. J'ai un grand désir de voir le Royaume de Dieu d'impact en France, en Belgique et dans toute l'Europe. Peut-être que vous souhaitez me contacter et si je peux aider les églises ou même y aller à parler, eh bien, tout est possible! J'ai déjà fait du ministère dans Belguim deux fois cette année! Mon email est jjshiels@gmail.com Bénédictions évangéliques, Jason Shiels

I have been receiving alot of hits on my blog from france and would love to hear from any of you in French speaking countries. I have a great desire to see the Kingdom of God impact France, Belgium and all over Europe. Perhaps you would like to contact me and if I can help any churches or even go there to speak, well, anything is possible! I have already done ministry in Belguim twice this year alone! My email is jjshiels@gmail.com Gospel blessings, Jason Shiels

The frontier of our dignity

God is always calling His people to cross 'frontiers'. For Israel the frontiers were often physical ones - the Red Sea, the wilderness, the Jordan river and so on. These are highly symbolic aswell. The first frontier we cross is to 'become' God's children. Before this we are His creation, but we are not actually His redeemed 'children'(God's Word is emphatic on this). This only happens as we are 'born from on high', allowing the cross to grant us what we could never earn or deserve in our own strength. We receive this by faith, drowning men taking the hand of God to pull us into the 'boat' where He brings us to Himself....thats the first frontier....its often our apparent reputation or dignity that could keep us from Christ but once we realise we are drowning His hand becomes more than an optional accessory! What then of other frontiers? The Jordan river stood as the boundary between Israel and her promised inheritance - Canaan...they could not cross the monsoonal river in their own strength or ingenuity, a whole nation crossed in a day because of a supernatural miracle of God that came following steps of obedience by Levites whose wet feet stand as a symbol of our destiny claiming faith....I want to share with you one other frontier that I personally have to deal with again and again. I believe it is also a frontier that many in the 'Western church' struggle to navigate, so often turning back as the price of 'crossing over' shifts from the conceptual to the transactional! In other words when we the cost kicks in!Its called 'DIGNITY'. Its about reputation, and other people's perceptions. Its about whether or not we appear 'successful' and the degree of validation we take or otherwise from given situations. Do you ever struggle with following through by faith with a situation because of a challenge to your 'dignity'. I know that if we look more closely at this, we are going to find our old 'friend' pride lurking down there, seeking to be stroked and validated.

Today I am challenged with this thought: as believers in the West one of the last great frontiers we must cross is to deal with this false sense of dignity we hold on to that is actually pride. In my own strength I don't really think I know how to subdue this insidious enemy of true pilgrimage with God. What I do know though is that when I remember Christ's utter humiliation for us, stripped naked, whipped, spat upon, mocked, beard torn out, flayed til unrecognisable and pierced for our transgressions....then somehow it makes each step away from self-preservation that bit easier

, a recognition that these trials really are light and momentary compared to what He suffered and bore our disgrace for. JS

Facing facts?

"Anyone ambivalent about what Christ has actually done just isn't clear on the facts"

Quote from 'The explicit gospel' by Matt Chandler