GodsView : For Those Who Do Not Feel Worthy to Approach God i...

GodsView : For Those Who Do Not Feel Worthy to Approach God i...: Do you ever feel as though you are not “worthy” enough to approach God in prayer? If so, then read this Scripture: “His unchanging plan h...

For Those Who Do Not Feel Worthy to Approach God in Prayer!

Do you ever feel as though you are not “worthy” enough to approach God in prayer?

If so, then read this Scripture: “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to! Now all praise to God for his wonderful kindness to us and his favor that he has poured out upon us because we belong to his dearly loved Son” (Ephesians 1:5-6 TLB).

So often, we hear about what we are supposed to do for God. But the emphasis of the Bible is not so much on what we are supposed to do for God, but rather on what God has done for us.

If we can get hold of that in our minds and hearts, it will change our outlook and actions. The more we understand of what God has done for us, the more we will want to do for Him.

This is no small truth. In fact, it’s fundamental to our spiritual lives.

The devil would love to keep you from praying at all by reminding us how “unworthy” we are—telling us, in effect, that we have a lot of nerve to even think that we could approach a holy God. He whispers, “Do you think that God would hear your prayers after what you have done?” But the real question to ask is this: “Is Jesus Christ worthy to come into the presence of the Father whenever He wants?” Of course, He is.

The fact is that we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). Because Christ has open access to the presence of the Father at any time, we have the same access when we come to God the Father through our relationship with Jesus. It’s not on the basis of what we have done for God. It is solely on the basis of what Christ has done for us.

Listen to the writer to the Hebrews: “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. This is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s people, let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him” (Hebrews 10:19-21 NLT).

I just can’t imagine any better news than that.

GodsView : Midnight Flurries!

GodsView : Midnight Flurries!: Those tiny, temporary wisps of ice we call snowflakes are a wonder of creation. They are the artwork of the heavens, God’s celestial geo...

Midnight Flurries!

Those tiny, temporary wisps of ice we call snowflakes are a wonder of creation. They are the artwork of the heavens, God’s celestial geometry.
            There’s no easy way to explain the complexities of a simple snowflake. When you see millions of them falling across the mountains or prairies or among the skyscrapers of your city, just think that each one began as a wisp of water vapor or a tiny droplet of moisture high in the earth’s atmosphere. A small sheath of ice formed around it until it became a crystal of ice. As these tiny crystals blew around like dust in the clouds, they grew in size and became heavy enough to tumble out of the cloud.
During any one snowstorm, billions of these snowflakes make their descent. They’re white-clad paratroopers leaping from airplanes in perfect sequence and formation. These tiny skydivers pass through various temperature zones on their descent, and that’s what determines whether they arrive as rain, freezing rain, sleet, biting snow, or fluffy flecks.
Precipitation is most beautiful when it arrives on our level as snowflakes. They naturally form six sides or branches. Some are perfectly shaped; but many of them, while tumbling through the atmosphere, become irregular, unsymmetrical, disjointed, and odd. They may resemble crosses, window panes, twinkling stars, frozen webs, silver trees, icy crystals, tiny flowers, or images from a kaleidoscope. Each is uniquely beautiful, and when it falls at midnight on Christmas Eve, the effect is . . . forgive me, “magical,” in the wonderment sense.
           
Things to Remember When You’re Snowed Under
Perhaps for you the season doesn’t feel magical. Millions battle loneliness and depression at Christmas. There’s something pensive and reflective about this time of year. The sights, songs, and smells of the holiday bring back memories. We miss our loved ones. We bear extra expenses, consume extra calories, and pack extra events into our schedule. We grow tired. And sometimes the very snow that seems so beautiful through the window traps us indoors until we get cabin fever.
But in the midnight flurry of the season, let’s remember some things.

First, remember the uniqueness of God’s creation. Billions of flowers, yet every one different. Billions of stars, but no two alike. Billions of snowflakes, yet each one unique. Perhaps you’ve been blown around in the storm, disjointed and lost in the crowd. Perhaps you feel unloved. Perhaps you’re around some snowflakes that seem perfect, and you feel inferior.
Not every snowflake is perfectly formed but every snowflake is unique and beautiful. Somehow in God’s design, a snowflake’s imperfections enhance its beauty. Perhaps you’ve forgotten how special you are to Him, that you’re one of a kind. The Bible says that we are His workmanship, fearfully and wonderfully made.
Second, remember the uniqueness of His Word. Did you know that the Bible compares itself to snow? The prophet Isaiah said that just as the snow comes down from heaven and hydrates the earth, so is the Word that goes from His mouth. It shall not return to Him void, but shall accomplish what He pleases and shall prosper in the thing for which He sends it (Isaiah 55:10-11). Think of every Bible verse as a snowflake sent from heaven to beautify and nourish your heart.
Third, remember the uniqueness of His redemption. Jesus was born to live a righteous life and to die a redemptive death. His blood was red, but it has a remarkable effect when it touches our souls: “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).
King David, after his terrible sins, prayed: “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:76). Those who confess their sins and invite Christ to be their Savior experience that transformation in their lives.

The Only One
      I believe that if you were the only person on earth, the Lord Jesus Christ would still have descended to this planet, been born of a virgin, and died on the cross for you. That’s how very special and unique you are in His heart. As you celebrate Christmas this year, take time to remember His love for you—as gentle as a snowflake, yet mighty to save and redeem.

GodsView : What Is Grace?

GodsView : What Is Grace?: Many years ago, Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined a term that has come to characterize much of evangelical Christianity — it's the term &quo...

What Is Grace?

Many years ago, Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined a term that has come to characterize much of evangelical Christianity — it's the term "cheap grace." Cheap grace is in reality a self-imparted grace, a pseudo-grace, and in the end the consequences of living by it are very, very costly.
Cheap grace is not at all a reference to God's grace; it's a contemptible counterfeit. It's a grace that is "cheap" in value, not cost. It is a bargain-basement, damaged-goods, washed-out, moth-eaten, second-hand grace. It is a man-made grace reminiscent of the indulgences Rome was peddling in Martin Luther's day. Cheap? The cost is actually far more than the buyer could possibly realize, though the "grace" is absolutely worthless.
Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and Nazi resister. He was hanged in 1945 by SS guards, but not before his writings had left their mark. Bonhoeffer's theological perspective was neo-orthodox, and evangelicalism rightly rejects much of his teaching. But Bonhoeffer spoke powerfully against the secularization of the church. He correctly analyzed the dangers of the church's frivolous attitude toward grace. After we discard the neo-orthodox teachings, we do well to pay heed to Bonhoeffer's diatribe against cheap grace:

Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian "conception" of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure the remission of sins. The Church which holds the correct doctrine of grace has, it is supposed, ipso facto a part in that grace. In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God.
Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. "All for sin could not atone." The world goes on in the same old way, and we are still sinners "even in the best life" as Luther said. Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world's standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin (The Cost of Discipleship [New York: Collier, 1959], 45-46).

Cheap grace has not lost its worldly appeal since Bonhoeffer wrote those words. If anything, the tendency to cheapen grace has eaten its way into the heart of evangelical Christianity. While verbally extolling the wonders of grace, it exchanges the real item for a facsimile. This bait-and-switch tactic has confounded many sincere Christians.
Many professing Christians today utterly ignore the biblical truth that grace "instruct[s] us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age" (Titus 2:12). Instead, they live as if grace were a supernatural "Get Out of Jail FREE" ticket-a no-strings-attached, open-ended package of amnesty, beneficence, indulgence, forbearance, charity, leniency, immunity, approval, tolerance, and self-awarded privilege divorced from any moral demands.
Sadly, the rank-and-file Christian is further cemented in an unbiblical view of grace by what comes out of some seminaries. There are scholars who actually legitimize the error as a correct understanding of grace. They call their teaching "grace theology" and their movement "The Grace Movement."
They advocate a "grace" that alters a believer's standing without affecting his state. It is a grace that calls sinners to Christ but does not bid them surrender to Him. In fact, no-lordship theologians claim grace is diluted if the believing sinner must surrender to Christ. The more one actually surrenders, the more grace is supposedly watered down. This is clearly not the grace of Titus 2:11-12.
No wonder Christians are confused. Christian churches mirror the world; Christian leaders follow the culture; and Christian theologians provide their stamp of approval. The situation is nothing short of deplorable.
But here's what I propose — let's start by laying down a biblical definition of grace with this simple question: What is grace?
Grace is a terribly misunderstood word. Defining it succinctly is notoriously difficult. Some of the most detailed theology textbooks do not offer any concise definition of the term. Someone has proposed an acronym: GRACE is God's Riches At Christ's Expense. That's not a bad way to characterize grace, but it is not a sufficient theological definition.
One of the best-known definitions of grace is only three words: God's unmerited favor. A. W. Tozer expanded on that: "Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines him to bestow benefits on the undeserving." Berkhof is more to the point: grace is "the unmerited operation of God in the heart of man, effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit."
Grace is not merely unmerited favor; it is favor bestowed on sinners who deserve wrath. Showing kindness to a stranger is "unmerited favor"; doing good to one's enemies is more the spirit of grace (Luke 6:27-36).
Grace is not a dormant or abstract quality, but a dynamic, active, working principle: "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation…and instructing us" (Titus 2:11-12). It is not some kind of ethereal blessing that lies idle until we appropriate it. Grace is God's sovereign initiative to sinners (Ephesians 1:5-6).
Grace is not a one-time event in the Christian experience. We stand in grace (Romans 5:2). The entire Christian life is driven and empowered by grace: "It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods" (Hebrews 13:9). Peter said we should "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).
Thus we could properly define grace as the free and benevolent influence of a holy God operating sovereignly in the lives of undeserving sinners.
Paul frequently contrasted grace with law (Romans 4:16; 5:20; 6:14-15; Galatians 2:21; 5:4). He was careful to state, however, that grace does not nullify the moral demands of God's law. Rather, it fulfills the righteousness of the law (Romans 6:14-15). It does not annul the righteous demands of the law; it confirms and validates them (Romans 3:31).
Grace has its own law, a higher, liberating law: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2; cf. James 1:25). Note that this new law emancipates us from sin as well as death. Paul was explicit about this: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:1-2). Grace reigns through righteousness (Romans 5:21).
That is the good news of the gospel! God has acted to set us free from sin — not just the consequences, but it's very power and presence. One day we will never know the experience of temptation, a stray thought, a misspoken word, a false motive. Guilt will be gone, and with it shame, and "so we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
In the meantime, we enjoy the liberation from sin's cruel power and defiling influence. God has enabled us, through grace, to "deny ungodliness and worldly desires" so that we can enjoy a sensible, righteous, and godly life in the present age (Titus 2:12). "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

GodsView : Raising Godly Kids!

GodsView : Raising Godly Kids!: Only be careful and watch yourself closely, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as...

Raising Godly Kids!

Only be careful and watch yourself closely, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” (Deuteronomy 4:9) 
Every one of us will stand before God and answer to Him on many counts. One will assuredly be our response as a parent, grandparent, or spiritual mentor to the scripture above. He will ask: “What life-giving knowledge of Me and My precepts did you instill in your children? What did you impress upon them?”
And every one of us children who had the incredible privilege of living in a regenerate family, however imperfect, must also answer for our response to our own parents’ spiritual teaching. Will our children look at our lives one day and say, “I want to be like you when I grow up” Will they see us handle suffering and adversity with cheerful courage — especially single parents living in this “double world” who even when betrayed, abandoned, or heartlessly treated, trusted on?
It’s my experience that Christian parents don’t suddenly quit Christian parenting. It’s a slipping thing. A little slip of our spiritual disciplines here and there. A quitting of family prayer as schedules crowd out mealtimes or family times. A falling away of worshipping as a family or worshipping in the church at all. Putting sports or our own recreation first before serving our church. We don’t even realize the slippage is taking place. We must take responsibility for our own spiritual slippage.
What are our children seeing? Do they watch us parents dying inside because of some personal family pain or loss, or see us leaning hard on an unseen hand, finding special compassion, strength and enabling from our God? Do our offspring catch us in prayer, our face to the rising Son, not wanting to spoil the moment spent in forever listening to the seraph sing? Do they find us often with our Bible open, absorbed in gathering manna — soul food — impossible to live without?
And, how will those of us, who by His grace have no heartache or wounds, be remembered when we are gone? What dependence on the God we profess to know will we have demonstrated? What attitude of gratitude? What statement of humility that acknowledges we could do nothing, be nothing, accomplish nothing, and possess nothing without His gifts of grace and blessing? Will our small watchers say of us, “We found them faithful”?
Why not put it all — triumphs and failures, weaknesses and regrets, bad examples or models — where they all belong? At the foot of the cross and with our eye on the empty tomb, recommit to whatever calling we have clearly heard in this sober moment. We can profitably borrow John Mohr’s words:

Oh may all that come behind us find us faithful,
May the fires of our devotion light their way
May the footsteps that we leave,
Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey;
Oh may all that come behind us find us faithful!
Why not spend some time in Proverbs 31:1-9? There is a sermon on this subject I just had the privilege of preaching. It’s a passage of scripture that has challenged me for years. It tells of a queen influencing her son, the prince, about his calling as a man of God and a future king. It tells of her heart and of her vows to bring up her child for the Lord and make him a king to be reckoned with in his generation. A king for good and for God.
She tells him he is “the son of her vows,” mirroring the vows of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, who vowed that if God graced her with a child she would lend him to the Lord for life. The young man here in Proverbs records his mother’s similar heartbeat for him: her love and prayers for him, and her righteous training.

We parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and Christian educators can all choose to bring our children up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Of course we have to first know Him thoroughly ourselves and be serious about it. In this hard age of doubt and disbelief, with college-age kids leaving the faith of their fathers when they go to universities, we should all revisit our calling in this regard. Let’s pray for each other as we parent our children for God.

GodsView : The Planned Parenthood Shooting and Anti-Christian...

GodsView : The Planned Parenthood Shooting and Anti-Christian...: As expected, no sooner had blood been spilled at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado than accusations of "Christian terrorism&qu...

The Planned Parenthood Shooting and Anti-Christian Hysteria!

As expected, no sooner had blood been spilled at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado than accusations of "Christian terrorism" began to fly across the Internet, despite the fact that: 1) no motive had been announced; 2) there was no hint of a connection between the murderer and any pro-life organization; and 3) pro-life leaders immediately denounced the killings as soon as the news was released.

In the words of Jason Benham, posting on Twitter, "True pro-lifers care about all life, including employees and clients of #PlannedParenthood. Praying for those in #ColoradoSpringsShooting."

Or as stated by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, "While the investigation into the shooting at the Planned Parenthood center continues, regardless of what the motive is determined to be, we strongly condemn this violence. ... Only through peaceful means—not violence—can we truly become a nation that once again values all human life, born and unborn."

In contrast, Bette Midler was quick to point a finger, also using Twitter: "Thanks to overheated screeds spewing from the mouths of the GOP, and in Congress, innocent people have died in CO, including a policeman." And "We share the concerns of many Americans that extremists are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism in this country."

Others began to ask me on Facebook when I was going to denounce "Christian terrorism," just as I regularly denounce Islamic terrorism, with one man asking me about "apparent Christian terrorist Robert Lewis Dear." (Dear was the shooter, who ultimately surrendered to police.)

A blogger on the Patheos website went as far as stating that "Christian terrorism is a bigger threat to U.S. freedom than Islamic extremism."

He concluded his article with these startling and plainly ridiculous words: "Today's attack is an act of religious terrorism, there should be no other words to describe it. Just as many demand we label terrorism carried out in the name of Islam as Islamic terrorism, we must do the same to Christianity and realize the Christian religion is just as dangerous and prone to incite violence as its younger brother, Islam."

How do we respond to irresponsible and irrational rhetoric like this?

The respected Newsweek journalist Kurt Eichenwald even tweeted, "The time has come to hold @daviddaleiden accountable for violence spawned by his lying 'baby body parts' video. Indict him 4 manslaughter."

Like many other leaders, as soon as I heard the news about the horrific shooting, I tweeted out, "In light of today's news about a shooter at a Planned Parenthood, we state again that this is NOT the way of Jesus or the way of pro-life."

Then, as I began to see the mounting charges of "Christian terrorism" or "Christian extremism," I tweeted, "In light of some crazy rhetoric here re: pro-lifers wanting to kill abortion doctors, if that was the case, 1,000's would be killed by now."

The fact is that the pro-life movement is an overwhelmingly peaceful movement, despite our profound and deep objection to abortion on demand and despite the deplorable practices of Planned Parenthood. As blogger Matt Walsh noted, "Interesting fact: Planned Parenthood kills 100 times more people in a day than alleged 'anti abortion extremists' have killed in 40 years."

As for those "anti-abortion extremists," their actions have been condemned by all major pro-life groups as well as by all major Christian leaders involved in the pro-life movement, since, by murdering another human being, they violate the very spirit of being "pro-life."

More importantly, there is not a single word in the teaching of Jesus or the New Testament that supports murdering an abortion doctor (or worker), nor is there anything in ancient Christian tradition or example that would support this.

That's why it was no surprise to learn that the alleged shooter in last week's tragic attack was completely unknown to the pro-life movement and that, according to one report, after a divorce in 2000, "he appears to have posted apocalyptic rants online and sought sadomasochistic sex and pot-smoking companions." This is hardly Christian!

That's why Christian leaders in Belgium are scratching their heads upon hearing the report that "a menacing letter from the group called 'Christian state' has been sent to the major Belgian mosque Attadamoune. It threatens all Muslims will be killed, and their businesses destroyed."

They too have no idea who this alleged "Christian" group could be—if the letter is even genuinely from such a group—since there is no connection between Christian teaching, in any recognized denomination or tradition, and threats like this.

And in stark contrast with radical Islamic groups, pro-life leaders in the church and government have called for the defunding of our ideological opponents at Planned Parenthood whereas radical Islamists call for the beheading of their ideological opponents.

So I have a challenge for everyone who wants to brand the tragic Planned Parenthood shooting an act of Christian terrorism: Find one verse in the New Testament, in context, or one example from the early church, or one statement from a recognized pro-life organization that supports these murderous acts.

Radical Muslims can find plenty of support for their violent actions in the Quran, the life of Muhammad, early Islamic history, later Islamic history, and from the lips and pens of respected contemporary leaders, which is why I refer to it as radical Islam.

Radical Christianity, in stark contrast, stands for the giving of life and the preservation of life, not the taking of life. And while the term "Islamic terrorism" is hardly an oxymoron, the term "Christian terrorism" is absolutely oxymoronic and fundamentally self-contradictory.