One of the things I was hoping to accomplish this Christmas Break was plug into some new books that I had been wanting to read, but unfortunately had run into the buzzsaw that is reading for school. Thankfully, I have been able to plug into a couple books that have just been phenomonal reading for me. One is called the Truth War by John MacArthur, which focuses on the efforts of the PostModern Emergent Church to speak out against absolute truth, while the other book that I am reading is called UnChristian, written by the President of the Barna Research Group, David Kinnaman, as well as Gabe Lyons, who heads up the Fermi Project. That book was a 3 year research process surrounding how the "UnChristian" world perceives modern day Christianity and the Christians who subscribe to that name.
As I have been reading both books at the same time, I've been struck with looking at the reality of my conversations with those who do not profess the same Christian beliefs that I have. On one hand, when I read the Truth War, I feel the compelling of Scripture to contend for the faith that I believe in, but when I read UnChristian, I become accutely aware from what the research has shown as a very widespread perception in the USA that Christians are considered to be, "unwilling to engage in healthy dialogue, who are just looking to win arguments and convert souls than taking a real interest in caring for somebody with deep needs." In that same section that described alot of people's feelings towards modern day Christianity, the writers wrote about the response that a large portion of the Christian church has had to this perception,
"they respond to outsiders negativity by promoting a less offensive faith. The unpopular parts of Christian teaching are omitted or deemphasized. They hijack the image of Jesus by portraying him as an open-minded, big hearted and never-offended-anyone moral teacher."
As I read the Truth War at the same time, I realize thoroughly how important it is as a Christian to not water down or compromise the central message and tenets of my Christian faith, especially when I am communicating with somebody about my faith. Now, the hard part for me, well, the balancing act is that I know that I need to present the whole truth to somebody when I talk with them about Christianity, but oftentimes I am fighting the perception that I am a close minded, judgemental Christian who doesn't care about the person I'm talking with, but am just concerned with being right.
So, as I write this note today, I'm taking a journey to a place where I haven't been to really in my walk with Jesus. I hope and pray to learn through the two books, as well as through my experiences with other people who don't believe in what I do, how to balance communicating the truth of God's Word and the faith I hold dear, while doing that talking with many who have a wide range of feelings towards the faith that I am talking with them about. I'm excited to learn as I move forward with these new experiences, it's definately going to be different.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Basketball Game of Sin and Life
Galatians 5 vs 16-21-But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
When you get up the college level of basketball, one of the essential activities a team does is watch film. They do it for three main reasons typically, all with the purpose of helping them to win the game. First, you watch film to scout your opponent to see what their tendecies are. Does their big man like to slip or pop out on a screen and roll ?? Does their guard like to back it out and call another play when you present a zone defense vs a man to man ?? These tendecies often lead to the next reason why a team will watch film, which is to discover their opponents strength's and weaknesses. Lastly, once you are able to discover a team's weaknesses and strengths as a team, you can then set up your offense and your defense to try and take advantage of what that team is trying to do.
When I read that passage up above, i don't know why, but I see a basketball game that is going on between sin and those who are trying to live by God's ways. As the passage clearly illustrates, the flesh represents our selfish desires, while those who live by the Spirit of God represent the team that is trying to win the game the right way, through living on a team with God, and who commits to living by biblical fundamentals. I'm sure you've probably never heard or read the analogy that the war going on between the sinful desires of our flesh and the pure and holy desires of God characterized as a basketball game, but the three principles that I talked about above make a lot of sense to me into how we can strive to live according to God's ways and not my own.
First, a basketball team scouts film of their opponent to see their tendencies. Now I know you can't plug in a DVD of all your past sins, but I think you can do a similar function in your mind. Every one of us knows deep down the sins that we commit on a regular basis. It could be lying to someone, it could be looking at something on the computer that you have no business looking at, it could be stealing money from your business, it could be anything, the fact is most of us could instantly remember in our minds the sins that so easily entagle us.
Now, as a person who loves to watch basketball film, the next part is key. Thinking about my sin, I know that I have strengths and weaknesses that lead me to either resist sinning or falling into a sinful lifestyle. Now, thinking from a basketball standpoint, I want you to think about where you are weak. Do you know what kind of triggers lead you to do those sins that you repeatedly do ?? It could be anything, it might be hearing a word, or seeing an image on tv, or maybe it's even a person you hang out with that leads you there, all i want you to think about is what weakness leads you to sin on a regular basis. Now, I know it's hard to admit that you're weak and that your weakness reguarly leads you to sin in particular ways, but I have learned in my walk with God that if you don't admit that you're weak, God's power won't be able to truly live inside you and help you overcome the struggles of your life. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Now, the last part of doing film work to win a basketball game is taking what you know about yourself and your opponents strengths and weaknesses and crafting a game plan to win the game. Yesterday at service, Pastor Ferrell talked that as a believer, if you don't have a plan to actively combat the struggles of sin in your life and if you're not implementing those principles through the power of God, then you're gonna lose the game per se. For you, now that you know what your weaknesses are, and now that you know that the struggles of sin cannot hold up against the power of God, what are you going to do RIGHT NOW TODAY to not get caught up in your struggles ?? Maybe you need to memorize some Scripture verses that deal with your particular struggle. Maybe you need to seek out a close friend to talk to about your struggles who will walk alongside you and hold you accountable to what you want to do. Maybe you need to pray and seek the face of God for His love and power to overcome this stronghold. Whatever it is, it is vital that if you want to win the basketball game between your flesh and your desires to live by the Spirit of God, you MUST implement your game plan, no matter what the cost is, to win the game, you have to be willing to make the sacrifices to admit that you are weak and need God's help.
I know it's hard, but it's worth it. Jesus says to you who are willing to invest in living by His power in Revelation 2:7-"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
When you get up the college level of basketball, one of the essential activities a team does is watch film. They do it for three main reasons typically, all with the purpose of helping them to win the game. First, you watch film to scout your opponent to see what their tendecies are. Does their big man like to slip or pop out on a screen and roll ?? Does their guard like to back it out and call another play when you present a zone defense vs a man to man ?? These tendecies often lead to the next reason why a team will watch film, which is to discover their opponents strength's and weaknesses. Lastly, once you are able to discover a team's weaknesses and strengths as a team, you can then set up your offense and your defense to try and take advantage of what that team is trying to do.
When I read that passage up above, i don't know why, but I see a basketball game that is going on between sin and those who are trying to live by God's ways. As the passage clearly illustrates, the flesh represents our selfish desires, while those who live by the Spirit of God represent the team that is trying to win the game the right way, through living on a team with God, and who commits to living by biblical fundamentals. I'm sure you've probably never heard or read the analogy that the war going on between the sinful desires of our flesh and the pure and holy desires of God characterized as a basketball game, but the three principles that I talked about above make a lot of sense to me into how we can strive to live according to God's ways and not my own.
First, a basketball team scouts film of their opponent to see their tendencies. Now I know you can't plug in a DVD of all your past sins, but I think you can do a similar function in your mind. Every one of us knows deep down the sins that we commit on a regular basis. It could be lying to someone, it could be looking at something on the computer that you have no business looking at, it could be stealing money from your business, it could be anything, the fact is most of us could instantly remember in our minds the sins that so easily entagle us.
Now, as a person who loves to watch basketball film, the next part is key. Thinking about my sin, I know that I have strengths and weaknesses that lead me to either resist sinning or falling into a sinful lifestyle. Now, thinking from a basketball standpoint, I want you to think about where you are weak. Do you know what kind of triggers lead you to do those sins that you repeatedly do ?? It could be anything, it might be hearing a word, or seeing an image on tv, or maybe it's even a person you hang out with that leads you there, all i want you to think about is what weakness leads you to sin on a regular basis. Now, I know it's hard to admit that you're weak and that your weakness reguarly leads you to sin in particular ways, but I have learned in my walk with God that if you don't admit that you're weak, God's power won't be able to truly live inside you and help you overcome the struggles of your life. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
Now, the last part of doing film work to win a basketball game is taking what you know about yourself and your opponents strengths and weaknesses and crafting a game plan to win the game. Yesterday at service, Pastor Ferrell talked that as a believer, if you don't have a plan to actively combat the struggles of sin in your life and if you're not implementing those principles through the power of God, then you're gonna lose the game per se. For you, now that you know what your weaknesses are, and now that you know that the struggles of sin cannot hold up against the power of God, what are you going to do RIGHT NOW TODAY to not get caught up in your struggles ?? Maybe you need to memorize some Scripture verses that deal with your particular struggle. Maybe you need to seek out a close friend to talk to about your struggles who will walk alongside you and hold you accountable to what you want to do. Maybe you need to pray and seek the face of God for His love and power to overcome this stronghold. Whatever it is, it is vital that if you want to win the basketball game between your flesh and your desires to live by the Spirit of God, you MUST implement your game plan, no matter what the cost is, to win the game, you have to be willing to make the sacrifices to admit that you are weak and need God's help.
I know it's hard, but it's worth it. Jesus says to you who are willing to invest in living by His power in Revelation 2:7-"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)