GOOD ON THE INSIDE

I found this helpful and encouraging statement in a book I am reading, "Unshakable Foundations by Norman Geisler and Peter Bocchino", in their chapter on ethics and morals (p326). Here is the statement, "According to Jesus, God is ultimately interested in developing our character and seeks for us to internalize moral principles so that the true measure of moral goodness is based upon who we are (personal integrity) and not just what we do (controlling our public actions)".
If this statement was a reality in every professing Christian the world would experience a cultural revolution. The world would see a genuine Christianity driven by love and grace and not by law, rules and legalism. They would see transformed lives of honesty and plain truth.
In this statement is the essence of the call in the New Testament to be conformed to Jesus Christ, to put on Christ, and the command in Romans 12.1-2 to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. This statement also implies the need for a daily renewal of our fellowship of union with Christ, the examination of the heart and repentance, and refilling of the Holy Spirit, for our goodness must ultimately come from Christ in us.
This call to personal integrity in relationship with Jesus Christ requires a dependence on God that checklist Christianity does not require. It is dynamic, not static. Response to circumstances is Holy Spirit led not scripted. It is costly and sacrificial and personal. But it also shows the reality of God in our lives that goes far beyond religion. Goodness that comes from inside manifests Jesus our Lord.

If you sense today that you have drifted away from walking in the Spirit and defaulted to living out the rules of your brand of Christianity then take some quiet alone time in the presence of God. Confess the need for renewal in your heart, confess your sins, ask God to fill you afresh, and come back to His presence often. You do not even have to say much while in the presence of God, just spend time there.
May God be the blessing of your week.

SUMMER READING

I have enjoyed many pleasurable hours on the back deck, under the gazebo, reading great books. Let me recommend two to you today for your Summer reading. These books are not murder mysteries or romance fictions but faith challenging, practical, insightful helps to our christian lives. We need to read more of these kinds of books along with biographies and autobiographies of past missionaries and christian leaders. I thank God for books that analyze our present culture with biblical standards and expose the erring trends in our christian lives and churches and call us to a biblical worldview.

The first book is "We Cannot Be Silent" by R. Albert Mohler who is president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The sub-title is "Speaking truth to a culture redefining sex, marriage, and the very meaning of right and wrong". Dr. Mohler believes, and I agree with him, that with the redefinition of marriage our culture has stepped over a line that will completely change the fabric of society. He says, "We are facing nothing less than a comprehensive redefinition of life, love, liberty, and the very meaning of right and wrong".
Mohler will help you to understand how we got where we are today in the sexual revolution, the successful strategy that was used by the LGBTQQIA movement, how christian rights are now being violated and how we as believers are to respond to all that is taking place. The last chapter is 30 relevant questions and answers which I found particularly helpful.
If you want to further educate yourself on the gay/lesbian/transgender movement and its growing influence and acceptance by our present culture and how you can respond as a believer in Jesus Christ, this book is a great place to begin.

The second book is called "Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers" by Christian Smith. I have not read this book yet but have heard about it a number of times and Mohler mentions it as well with regard to the next generation of christian teenagers. I see the evidence of what this book says in our church youth today. Smith defines the Christianity of our youth as Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. This is their moralistic therapeutic deistic creed.
1) A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
2) God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3) The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4) God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
5) Good people go to heaven when they die.
Mohler says of these youth which have now grown up, "what they received (with regard to biblical teaching on sexuality and morality) was so insubstantial, so disconnected from the metanarrative of Scripture, and so devoid of serious moral and intellectual content, that it evaporated as soon as they encountered a peer culture more committed to tolerance than any other moral principle". Tolerance (meaning today full acceptance) is a key functional moral principle. This explains the acceptance of gay marriage and lifestyles in the church today and this tolerance will continue to grow as our youth grow up.
Finally, Mohler writes, "with the Moralistic Therapeutic Deistic worldview (what is perceived as) the judgmental attitude of Christians is causing the youth to leave the church and orthodox beliefs".

So here we have in these two books a view of the future of our culture, Christianity and the church in North America. What a challenge lies before us as believers in Christ. As we trust in God we will see truth shine and God glorified as darkness grows in the culture and in the church.

HOW DEEP IS THE ROOT OF SIN?

Some women love mirrors, others do not. Some women look in the mirror and deceptively see much beauty, others look in the mirror and deceptively see ugliness. (Am I in trouble yet?) Mirrors do not lie but the interpretation of the image seen in the mirror is certainly in the eye of the beholder, and that perception may not be reality. The same principle applies to our sin and it is only when we submit to the assessment of the Holy Spirit that we perceive our sin in its reality.
Over the last couple of months I have come to the sad conclusion that much of what I have done and do is motivated by lust and pride. I falsely perceived my journey to be much further down the road of sanctification than I have recently discovered.

I have also been pondering the depth of the root of sin in my life. Sometimes it seems to me that sin is so deeply rooted in my being that the grace of God cannot go that deep and those roots will only be removed when I receive a new body in the final resurrection of the saints. Of course I know better but nevertheless that is how it sometimes feels. Sin so easily takes charge if I neglect feeding my mind and soul with the Word of God and time in my Father's presence. I fear how quickly the tree of sin would grow should I neglect daily renewing of the grace of God in my life.
So I humbly begin another day in Christ with greater attention to motive and awareness of my need of the grace of God, with a greater desire for purity and holiness and wholeness, which one day will be mine as a human being created in the image of God, to the Glory of God. Can I get an Amen???