FreeTruth

Some Ways to Enjoy the Lord’s Day More Fully (2): Start on Monday and Reduce the Mind-Numbing

July 28th, 2010
by timshorey

It may surprise you to hear that Sunday worship is really a matter of what one does six days a week as much as it is a question of what one chooses to do one day a week. Meaningful Sunday observance begins on Monday.

There are many lifestyle habits that have to be in place throughout the week in order to make the Lord’s Day more fully enjoyed. Here are a few of them:

Cherish daily devotional time with God
Pay attention (with active gratitude) to the everyday graces and kindnesses of God in your life
Live a cross-centered life
Be in fellowship with other believers at some level essentially every day
Practice the presence of God all the time

In addition to these I would add this: Reduce (dramatically) the entertainment and amusement involvements of your life. Since these dull the mind and deaden the affections, they reduce our capacity to think deep thoughts and to feel great passions in worship.

One reason people have a hard time giving themselves to the rigors of Sunday worship (and believe me, biblical worship filled with biblical content about God and the gospel and life is rigorous) is because our minds have been too much softened by the glitz, shine, and mind-numbing fare of our entertainment culture.

Less television, Facebook, movie watching, Internet surfing, and music listening would produce more Bible and theology reading, more real praying, more deep thinking, more sermon reviewing and applying, more true feeling, more mind-expansion, and more heart worship.

Satan’s no fool. He knows that if he can fill our days with perpetual noise and mindless entertainment he can empty our minds of content, and our hearts of praise. If you find it hard to concentrate in public worship it may well be because you’ve sacrificed your powers of thinking and your capacity for the profound in the mindless cultic ritual of Monday through Saturday worship at the altar called Hollywood.

I leave you with these words:

“If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God [in private or public worship], it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God” (John Piper).

Stop nibbling so you can start feasting.

Posted in Church, Worship | 4 Comments »

Some Ways to Enjoy the Lord’s Day More Fully (1)

July 27th, 2010
by timshorey

Having just completed a two-part message on our need to be Redeeming Our Sundays, my heart–both as a Christian and as a pastor–goes immediately into application mode. The questions that frequently press in on me when I’ve learned something from the Bible are: (1) So what? and (2) Now what?

So what? What difference does it make? In the case of our recent messages, what difference is it going to make in my life that the Bible says that one day in seven belongs both to the Lord for worship (it is after all, the Lord’s Day), and to me for spiritual and physical refreshment (the Sabbath is made after all, for man)?

And now what? What is my next step? What specific application steps for my life am I going to make? I do not want ever to leave what I learn as mere head knowledge–so what is at least one specific step I can take to make this truth become life to me?

It is with the so what and now what in mind that I offer a few days of application suggestions for how to enjoy the Lord’s Day more fully. I hope they help.

Suggestion One: review carefully and prayerfully the reasons why we should observe Lord’s Day worship and rest. Don’t assume you got all you heard the past two Sundays. Re-listen to the messages and review with prayer the points made (for any reader not a part of Trinity Fellowship Church, you can download these messages here or by subscribing to our podcast).

Here are the reasons we gave for Sunday worship and rest:

1. Sabbath rest and Lord’s Day worship are God’s gifts to us.

2. God does epic things on Sundays.

3. God lives where his people gather.

4. The Spirit falls upon and fills the gathered church.

5. God commands Sabbath rest.

6. The world and the god of this world will squeeze Sundays out of existence if we let them.

7. Our modeling–to our children, to young believers, and to unbelievers–of what matters most is compromised if we do not.

8. Absence from Sunday worship weakens our congregational witness and guest hospitality.

9. We need communion with Christ and with each other around the Lord’s Table.

10. Shepherds and sheep belong to and with each other.

11. Every member of the local body needs every member of the local body.

12. We are at war.

13. Sunday worship and rest remind us of heaven.

Consider deeply these truths with prayer. Very deeply. Doing so will deepen you and will affect your attitudes toward Sabbath rest and Sunday worship in your local church. You and your Sunday experience will–just by this exercise alone–be changed. We become what we behold and think about. So think on these things.

Suggestion Two tomorrow, Lord willing.

Posted in Christian Life, Church, Spiritual disciplines, Worship | 1 Comment »

No Place to Lay the Head

July 22nd, 2010
by timshorey

Jesus’ well known words in Matthew 8:20 reveal a huge spiritual principle for life: if you follow Christ you will never be able to settle down or settle in. Foxes find a hole and climb in; birds build a nest and move in; Christians find a Master and keep following.

Jesus is not forbidding home-buying here; he’s forbidding comfortability and complacency. He’s forbidding anything like an attitude that makes this world our home, and this present situation (whatever it is and however good it may be in life or home or ministry) where we settle.

The longer I live the more I dread one great evil: complacency. I live with a personal and pastoral fear of a Christian nesting instinct. I consider anything like a “this is good enough, let’s be content to settle where we are at” mindset to be the first sign of impending death.

Have you served Christ? Then serve him more.

Have you grown in holiness? The press further up and further in.

Have you sought and found sinners? The keep seeking and finding.

Have you served your church? Then serve her even more and better.

Have you read the Bible? Then read it again…and again.

Have you killed certain sins? Then root out and kill some more.

Have you had ambition for God? Then feed it and fuel it and live it even more.

Have you lived long enough to retire? Then get ready to run the home stretch with grace and strength.

Have you helped your church grow and bear fruit? The labor all the harder that her growth and fruit may abound.

Whatever you do, don’t settle, don’t nest, don’t stop. Keep following on behind the Master!

And oh, by the way, Jesus is preparing a place for you to settle down. It will be worth it all, believe me. Until then let’s keep moving.

Posted in Christian Life, Mission, Servanthood | 1 Comment »

Heroic Simple Childlike Obedience

July 21st, 2010
by timshorey

I gave my son a copy of Elisabeth Elliot’s Through Gates of Splendor this morning. It’s the story of Jim Elliot’s martyrdom in South America–he who said: “He is no fool to give what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Thirty years ago when I first read this book, I was impacted by one simple point, and it has stuck to me like glue ever since. It was said of this heroic man that he functioned with a childlike kind of obedience. Having resolved the basic question regarding the divine authorship of the Bible, life became pretty simple for him: find out what it says and then do it. Don’t question, fight, quarrel with, or resist what the Bible says. Simply obey.

Since what the Bible says God says, it only follows that what God says in the Bible, I must do. I hope my son gets that concept early. It’ll spare him much sorrow, many sins, and great loss. Not that he, or I will ever get it all right, but we can be spared all kinds of angst and anguish if we simply approach the Bible every day with a simple prayer, followed by a resolve.

The prayer? ”Sovereign Father, show me your will from your Word today and give me grace to do it.”

The resolve? In the words of one old saint: “To be as holy today (i.e. joyfully and lovingly obedient to the Father) as a redeemed sinner can possibly be.”

That about covers it.

For my part, true heroism is not measured so much by a willingness to die for Christ as by a willingness to live for him. In other words, what made Jim Elliot a hero is not that he died on some jungle shore, but that he obeyed like a child.

Posted in Authority of the Bible, Christian Life, Obedience | 4 Comments »

Kind Words and Carrying Strength

July 20th, 2010
by timshorey

I’m back!

First let me thank those who replied to my earlier query regarding the blog and included some very kind words in the process. It was much appreciated and encouraging. Such kind words are strength to the often uncertain and sometimes weary!

Speaking of strength to the weary, I am amazed, as I shared Sunday in the dearest place on earth, how God carried Gayline and me through the past couple of weeks. In a 10-11 day stretch we logged:

1, 000+ miles of driving
15 speaking times for me; 3 for Gayline
20+ hours preparing talks
10+ hours counseling/encouraging 4 pastors and their wives
dozens of additional hours in conversation/counseling/interacting with various folks

And here we are: safe, sound, and still strong by grace! We felt quite literally carried by grace. And you all helped us by your prayers (2 Corinthians 1:11).

I was thinking this morning of the sustaining grace of God. I drove to my office realizing that I was anxious to get there! God has called me to serve as a pastor–thus far for 28+ years–and I still love it, look forward to it, enjoy it, and feel strong in it. Is that grace or what?!

This is Isaiah 40:28-31 proven. He gives strength to the weary so that they are able to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint. As I preached recently: God gives strength to the trusting weary in His time, through Christ, according to their need, to do the remarkable.

And everyone who has been a Christian for longer than three minutes is proof of it!

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Thanks–and a Few Words before I Head Out of Town

June 29th, 2010
by timshorey

Thanks to those who responded to my last post–giving me just enough encouragement to continue this blogging work into the future. I’ve always believed there to be value in this; I’ve just not always been sure others felt the same. Your words have encouraged me to keep going.

I am about to head out of town for about 8 days of rather intense ministry opportunity. Ten messages in three New England locations in eight days, with counseling and care for dozens of teens and a couple of pastors added in throughout.

Studies have shown that New England is now the most secular part of our country. It is the least churched region in America today.

But God is at work. In North Attleboro, Mass. and just north, are two good, growing churches where Christ is loved, the gospel is preached, and rich and sound doctrine is procaimed by pastors who love and live the truth with passion. Just north of Boston is another.

In Greene, Maine, there is a fine little church pastored by a young man with a passion for Christ and the gospel, who has a desire to become a part of something bigger than his little work: he wants to get into our family of churches, Sovereign Grace Ministries.

At the recent Together for the Gospel conference I met dozens of men who were leading churches throughout New England, taking them further up and further into the riches of grace.

So my labors over this next couple of weeks are but tiny drops in a bucket of heroic labors going on in a dry and barren region. God is at work through good and godly folks who are not counting their lives dear to themselves that they might run the race and finish the course laid out for them.

Pray for New England. Pray for America. Pray for revival–a true, deep, and profound work of the Spirit that will lead to the conversion of millions and the transformation of countless lives. It’s happened before; it can happen again.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Where Have I Been–or Have You Even Noticed I’ve Been Away?

June 24th, 2010
by timshorey

Hello all. Sorry for my recent absence but life has been full and I’ve just not been able to get to this. As it is, with summer ministry events coming up, it’ll be a good two weeks before I can even think about returning to my blogging ways.

Here’s a question for you: since we have no real accurate way of tracking who or how many are reading FreeTruth, would you do me a favor? Would you please simply click on “Comments” and type “I do” to indicate whether you read the blog and would like it to continue. There have been so few responses of late that I need to guage the readership to discern the value of continuing…

Let me know friends!

Thanks.

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments »

Resolved: To Make Every Word Count for God’s Glory and My Eternal Reward (2)

June 11th, 2010
by timshorey

Following up yesterday’s post with a concluding section I offer the following resolutions as worthy of consideration for us all. They have given me much direction in my own (very imperfect, but growing) walk with Christ and relationships with others. Let me know what you think.

6.Resolved: Never to misuse the name of my God, or that of His Son , Jesus. The name is too precious, its beauty too dear, to ever escape my lips with anything but an anointing of wonder, love, and joy upon it. This self-control will extend even to popular sound-a-like substitutes for the name of God or Christ, lest I weaken my resolve to cherish the Name, or sound to others as if I have.

7. Resolved: Never to profane anything that is holy–be it God’s Name or Throne or Wrath or Word or Truth, or even His sacred gifts of marriage and sex (through careless words or vulgar expressions or crude terms or flippant reference). All these are to be referenced with nothing but wonder and gratitude (Ephesian 5:3, 4), never with careless word or crude expression.

8. Resolved: Never to “damn” anything or anyone until that Day when God permits me to judge men and angels in His presence (1 Corinthians 6:3). I recognize that when I damn another I am assuming a prerogative only God has the right to exercise or delegate. Consequentlyto damn another or to wish harm on any person (the essence of cursing) this side of Judgment Day, is to be guilty of the great sins of arrogance and self-worship.

9. Resolved: Never to speak of “hell” except when referring to the real thing, and then only with tears and trembling in my heart–for it is the place of unspeakable sorrows into which, headlong, countless souls are rushing . By any other use of the word hell I risk trivializing the terrifying, and desensitizing both my heart and others’ to the horrors that await.

10. Resolved: To speak only the truth, but also to speak only the truth sufficiently. I must speak only what is true. But my truth speaking must also provide all the truth that any may need to hear, and in a manner suited to the urgency, the seriousness, and the joy that that truth demands, and that person may need. To speak some truth when more truth is needed is cowardice or defective love. To speak truth without a degree of joy or seriousness or urgency or even righteous anger corresponding to that truth, is to obscure truth, and in reality not to speak the truth adequately at all.

11. Resolved: Never to yell in sinful anger or indulge any outburst of anger against any person. As a matter of biblical principle I recognize that outbursts and yelling are sin (Ephesians 4:31) and cannot be excused for any reason.

12. Resolved: Never to speak of myself–my works or actions or achievements or gifts–except if there be sure and certain evidence that it would serve the growth of others. Taking Proverbs 27:2 seriously I will seek to call no attention to myself except what I believe will bring glory to God and good to others.

Dependant on grace both to forgive my many sins of the tongue and to enable fewer of them, I hereby resolve to master the tongue for the glory of God.

Will you join me?

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Resolved: To Make Every Word Count for God’s Glory and My Eternal Reward

June 10th, 2010
by timshorey

Whereas I know that what comes out of my mouth reflects what is in my heart (Mark 9:22, 23; Matthew 12:33-35);

Whereas I will give an account for, and will either be rewarded for every good word or will suffer loss for every idle word (Matthew 12:36, 37);

Whereas I am aware of an emphatic biblical concern about the tongue;

[and] Whereas I am very aware (frankly with profound grief) that what I have long called “the dirtying of the Christian mouth” is a significant moral sin in our day–I have compiled (over the years) a series of personal resolutions for my tongue. I share them with you now for my own personal renewal and (if God is so pleased) for your personal reflection.

1. Resolved: To speak, sing, and proclaim the excellencies of the Triune God everyday. I do not want a single day to pass during which I have not–in word and/or song–spoken to God and others of the surpassing worth of my God, and of His transcendant beauty.

2. Resolved: To proclaim Jesus to the lost in personal witness as a matter of normal, at-least-once-a-week practice and privilege. Since “witness” is a defining term for a NT Christian, I will strive to find at least one lost sinner every week and use my tongue to testify of the grace and gospel of Christ for the salvation of that soul.

3. Resolved: To speak grace, gratitude, and commendation to others, and for and about others, as frequently and faithfully as each conversation will allow. As it is my calling to “outdo others in showing honor” (Romans 12:10), and as there is always at least one thing in every human to honor (if nothing else that he or she is made in the image of God), I will look for the good to honor and will endeavor to put that honor into words.

4. Resolved: Never to speak negatively about other human beings except wherein it is necessary to minister truth and grace either to them or to others. As God forbids any word on my tongue except what “is good for building up” (Ephesians 4:29), I dare not indulge any negative word about anyone. And if I should sin in this way I must confess it to God and others with all haste.

5. Resolved: Never to further any unsubstantiated and/or unnecessary account of any sin or ill or sorrow or weakness of any other human being. As it is manifest that all tale-bearing is sin (whether derived from my neighbor or the news channel), I must guard against spreading any rumor about either friend or foe unless I know with absolute certainty that it is true, and if true, necessary to be shared.

More to come.

Posted in Sanctification, Speech, Tongue | No Comments »

New Wineskins: Praying for Power from on High (Mark 2-3, #13)

June 9th, 2010
by timshorey

In my final reflection on radical NT evangelism–evangelism that carries the new wine of the gospel in new wineskins for our times–I want to call attention to the Mark 3:1-12 and Mark 3:22-30 component of the signs and wonders of the Spirit. Jesus’ ministry was marked by a singular, unique power from on high. The message of the gospel was combined with the visible power of gospel effects in people’s lives. People got healed and helped in miraculous ways.

I would never suggest that the unique power of Jesus’ ministry can be matched today, but I would like to suggest that we are meant to put on display some measure of that power in our witness today. NT evangelism throughout Acts was marked by signs and wonders–and I know of no biblical reason to think that God intends for that to have ceased way back when.

The NT calls us to earnestly desire spiritual gifts of the sort that will make unbelievers sit up and take notice (1 Corinthians 14:1, 12, 24, 25). Can I say it clearly and bluntly? We are not being obedient new wineskin witnesses for Christ if we are not desiring and earnestly praying for and open to power from on high to do signs and wonders in our generation. This is the age of the Spirit and that reality is to mark our witness.

The early church actively prayed for such wonders (Acts 4:23-31), and we cannot claim to be a NT church if we do not follow their example with earnest and persevering faith (Luke 11:9-13). Some have suggested that there was a unique need for such signs and wonders in the days of the NT, but not today. But I will close this post by citing two comments to the contrary from fairly reputable sources: Dr. John Piper and Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones.

First Dr. Lloyd-Jones:

“What is needed is some mighty demonstration of the power of God, some enactment of the Almighty that will compel people to pay attention and to look and to listen . . . When God acts, He can do more in a minute than man with his organizing can do in fifty years.

Indeed, we are not only confronted by materialism, worldliness, indifference, hardness, and callousness – but we are also hearing more and more, both directly and in the media about certain manifestations of the powers of evil and the reality of evil spirits. It is not merely sin that is constituting a problem in this country today. There is also a recrudescence of black magic and devil worship and the powers of darkness as well as drug taking and some of the things it leads to. This is why I believe we are in urgent need of some manifestation, some demonstration, of the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Second, Dr. Piper:

“The fact that the early Christians prayed so earnestly for signs and wonders (Acts 4:30) is all the more striking when you realize that they, of all generations were in least need of supernatural authentication. This was the generation whose preaching (of Peter and Stephen and Philip and Paul) was more anointed than the preaching of any generation following. If any preaching was the power of God unto salvation and did not need accompanying signs and wonders, it was this preaching.

Moreover this was the generation that had more immediate and more compelling evidence of the truth of the resurrection that any generation since. Hundreds of eyewitnesses to the risen Lord were alive in Jerusalem. If any generation in the history of the church knew the power of preaching and the authentication of the gospel from first-hand evidence of the resurrection, it was this one. Yet it was they who prayed passionately for God to stretch out his hand in signs and wonders. Therefore I conclude that in our zeal for the centrality of the word we should not go beyond the word by making signs and wonders enemies of the word of the cross. Nobody was more jealous for the power of the word than Paul. Yet he described his mission as Christ working through him “in the power of signs and wonders (Rom. 15:19).”

If ever we needed new wineskins of power, I think we do today. It does not insult the power of the gospel message to ask for the attending power of signs and wonders; it compliments and complements it. O let us pray.

Posted in Evangelism, Mission, Missions, Spiritual Gifts, Witness | 3 Comments »