My main blog has now moved to Bill Hutchison. Please visit that site for any new posts.
My new blog!
Go here to read me.
http://troutdudesdiscipleblog.blogspot.com/
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My main blog has now moved to Bill Hutchison. Please visit that site for any new posts.
My last post.
I am moving on from journalhome as my blog host. It has been fun, but I can't get it to work with my preferred browser: Opera. And it does not like working with Windows Live Writer. So look for me here:
http://troutdudesdiscipleblog.blogspot.com/
ADIOS.
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The Spirit of Truth
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.John 14:16-17
What a blessing it is to have the blessed Holy Spirit of God so close, so accessible, so personally involved in my life. This is what Jesus wanted for His disciples. It was His request of the Father to give the Helper, the Spirit of God to be with us forever. And in this simple request, I see so much of what I have in relationship with God.
First, the Spirit is a Helper. He is meant to assist me as He glorifies Christ in me. This is Helper, not in the sense of servant or employee. This is Helper in terms of Counselor or nurse or physician. I can't make it on my own. I am a spiritual cripple and I need assistance. And the Holy Spirit comes alongside me (the literal meaning of Helper) to assist me.
Secondly, the relationship with God through His Holy Spirit never stops. Jesus requested that the relationship with His disciples last forever. That is a really long period of time! It has no end. What has been begun in me in my salvation and known in the Spirit's daily work of sanctification will not end, even in glorification when I stand complete before God. The Spirit will always be with me, and I should walk in Him and with Him.
The third observation has to do with the fact that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Truth. Jesus is the Truth. The Father is Truth. The Spirit is Truth. The only way I will experience what is true and right is to walk as the Helper leads me to walk. And this truth is exclusive. Jesus said that the world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth and cannot see nor know Him. Only those who have surrendered to Jesus as Savior and Lord my know Him because they are indwelt by Him. This exclusive relationship with the Spirit of God is a distinctive of Christianity. It is not about wild charismatic gyrations. Jesus says nothing about that. It is about truth, and honest living, and being the people who walk with God in the cool of the day once again.
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When to let loose.
Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Job 7:11
At least Job lets his friends know it is coming, and why! They have issued miserable counsel to him in the first round of discussions with him, and he is letting them in on the profound disappointment that he has in their fruitless fault-finding. His response is typical in a hard trial or what might be diagnosed as a "major depressive episode" in today's jargon: he vents all his feelings without restraint.
He had begun his grief in quiet agony. It was a grief so holy, that his own friends did not wish to interrupt him for the first week of his mourning. They simply sat beside him in the ash heap and grieved. But then they had to start analysing and figuring life out for him. And their theology and experience could only point to one source for Job's overwhelming loss of all that was dear to him: God was judging him for some sin unseen to even his closest friends.
Of course, this only added to the suffering. Job had done nothing before this trial to deserve it. God had a greater reason: to demonstrate His faithfulness and Job's faithfulness before a watching world in heaven and on earth. But none of his friends offered anything from God's perspective. They were not counselors. They became persecutors.
This is why Job felt compelled to speak in anguish, be unrestrained and unrelenting in his plea for justice, and complain bitterly. He was upset at the insensitivity and the horrible bedside manner of his friends, and that was where he was going to let himself say whatever he darn well pleased! There are few times when such a commitment is the right thing to do, and really, I do not know if Job is justified in doing this, but it makes for good drama in the text. I do realize that one of the consequences of unfair counsel is bitterness of spirit. I should realize that, watch for it in myself, and keep it in mind in my own misery and the suffering of others.
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The truthfulness of scripture.
Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
God's Word is always certain. God is always true. There has never been a point in my life where I have found the Bible to be deficient in meeting the most important of life's needs. I have never seen the truth of scripture fail me. I have failed to keep it. I have ignored it to my peril. But it has never proven false and I can confidently expect it to stay that way.
The issue all along has been human interpretation and invention of meaning on the biblical text. It has been used and continues to be used to support outrageous claims and sinful actions. But God will stand judge on that. That is why the very next verse in Proverbs 30 warns against ADDING to the Word of God! Human interpretations force false meaning on the text and add to what God has said. I want to be sure to simply understand what it says and be content to apply it no matter what.
I long to see the day when I stand before Christ. I will be amazed to find myself in an international throng of people from every ethnic background and earthly location who have been changed by Christ and the power of the Word of God. That fact that the gospel is trans-national and trans-racial is testimony to the truth of scripture: it fits every culture among mankind.
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Where discipleship starts for me...
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:1-2
I am able to sit here and work through the application and meaning of a living Christian faith and meaningful relationship with God because the early church followed Paul's admonition. This is the process whereby the world is changed. One life after another trusts in Jesus for eternal salvation and life direction. And the goal is for each life to reach others. In that way, God is winning the world to Himself.
The obvious place for me to consider being the man who follows this charge (just like Timothy did) is in my ministry. I am fortunate enough to have the finest job in the world. But it is not a career, it is a calling. And discipleship is part of the call of the pastor. I certainly am overjoyed to have the chance to do this daily in a professional sense. But really I think this charge is more personal.
I ask myself this question: Would I really be a discipler if my career was working as a printer again? Could I find faithful men to entrust the truth to if I worked again in a computer room? If telecommunications were again my life's vocation, would I be faithful to the task of discipleship? This is the way that I need to view these words!
So where can I renew at this level? It starts at home. I am convicted to be a discipling dad with my kids, a failure I have had in the past. I am convicted to look for evangelism and discipleship opportunities among my neighbors and my contacts here in this small town of DeSoto. I am called to find the faithful people who will come to Christ, mature in faith, and passionately carry on the gospel. It starts in my household, extends to my community, and impacts the world in the place where I am.
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