RSS

Tag Archives: Suffering

Don’t Waste Your Cancer: An Interview With Matt Chandler

27 Oct

Tabletalk (The Monthly Magazine of R.C. Sproul’s – Ligonier Ministries) And Matt Chandler on His Battle with Brain Cancer

Tabletalk: By way of offering a brief introduction of yourself and your family, when was God’s call to serve His people confirmed for you (Matt, cancer free, recently pictured above with his wife Lauren and their three children)?

Matt Chandler: I think my story is a bit strange in that my awareness of God’s call on my life to serve His people was a bit lost in me serving His people. I’ll try and explain that. I was very frustrated with my church experiences heading into college. I loved sharing the gospel and loved the God of the Bible, but it appeared to me (probably my immaturity) that my church and I were seeing different things in the Scriptures. I saw atonement and the fear of the Lord, and at church they were teaching us not to drink beer and not to have sex. To be truthful, I wasn’t drinking beer or having sex, and could see that drunkenness was sinful and that God had a plan for sex in marriage. Yet it appeared to me that those were secondary issues that should be addressed after the atoning work of Christ was communicated and understood. I started teaching at an ecumenical gathering while I was in college and assumed I would finish school, become a good lawyer, and teach Sunday school at the local Baptist church wherever I settled (I was hoping for the West Coast). The Bible study blew up numerically, and we were running around one thousand to fifteen hundred students every week. A young woman from that study asked me when I received the “call of ministry.” I was honestly confused by her question. I thought she was asking if the Baptists had literally called me on the phone and let me teach the Bible study. She clarified her question, and it sent all my dreams and plans into another direction altogether. It was at this time that I came to understand that I wouldn’t be spending my life doing law and teaching Sunday school but rather teaching and leading God’s people into maturity by the Spirit’s power and by the proclamation of the Word.

TT: What counsel would you give to a believer on the day he or she is diagnosed with cancer? How about six months after the diagnosis?

MC: One of God’s big mercies in all of this has been allowing me to pastor a young church. I have done multiple funerals every year I have been here, and only one has been for a person over the age of fifty. I learned very early that people need to have a good grasp of God’s goodness and God’s sovereignty. On the day that a person is diagnosed, I try to encourage them in God’s knowledge — that this hasn’t surprised Him or caught Him off guard. I want to remind them that this isn’t punitive, but rather that God is on the move and He can be trusted. Six months after the diagnosis is harder to answer because cancer can go one of two ways. If the man or woman is still in a real fight, I want to draw his or her attention to Hebrews 11 or the story of Abraham being promised a son or even David being anointed king and then running from Saul for all those years before sitting on the throne. I think it’s important to remind people after the initial shock of diagnosis wears off and the wear and tear of treatment settles in that victory for those who are children of God is guaranteed, although difficulty, pain, and waiting might all be very present.

TT: In what ways has your cancer sanctified you?

MC: It’s made me look long and hard at my motives and has drawn me deeply into God in prayer. I am an excellent studier and researcher, and before all this began, I would say a decent man of prayer; but I learned after they told me I only had two to three years left that I knew much more about God than I actually knew Him. The bulk of my sanctification through this ordeal has been the birth of a deep desire for intimacy with our great God and King.

TT: How do you counsel Christians to face death and disease (both those who are personally facing such crises and those who are currently enjoying robust health)?

MC: I simply have tried to point out that we shouldn’t be surprised by death and disease because the Bible is filled with it. As I stated above, an understanding of God’s goodness and His sovereign power are necessary to cope with life in a fallen world. I want to teach people that life is extremely fragile and that there isn’t a person in our sanctuary or listening to a podcast who can’t have his or her whole world change with a phone call or, as in my case, getting up one morning and getting a cup of coffee. Those are heavy truths, and I know they don’t make for feel-good sermons, but it’s better to know these truths than to pretend it’s not reality.

TT: You’ve written that if you had not heard John Piper’s answer to the question “For whom did Christ die?” at the 1997 Passion conference, you would not have had ground to stand on years later when you heard the words “brain cancer.” How did your understanding of the atonement help you deal with such a devastating diagnosis?

MC: Actually, I think my wife, Lauren, said that in a blog she wrote after my prognosis was given to us. That sermon was significant for both of us because up until that point, I’m not sure we grasped the size and holiness of God. That sermon changed the trajectory of both our lives in that it shifted how we saw God and understood Him.

TT: You’ve also written that there were moments last year when you felt you were “punched in the soul” but that you were reminded nevertheless that the disease with which you’re dealing “isn’t punitive but somehow redemptive.” Could you unpack that a little?

MC: I have been very blessed by God in my life. My cancer has honestly been one of the more difficult things to deal with. Lauren and I have tried to trust the Lord in everything, and when we’ve stepped out in faith He has been beyond gracious to us. People come to hear; they give generously to the church, and almost every “idea” we’ve had God has blessed and grown. I can honestly say that ministry and life were pretty easy for us up until Thanksgiving 2009. After I had the seizure and they found the tumor, I thought it would be like everything else had been — easy and would end well. When I first met my neurosurgeon on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, I was ignorantly and maybe even arrogantly thinking that nothing would come of it and that we would just need to watch this thing and see.

I was caught completely off guard when Dr. Barnett told me that it didn’t look good and that we needed to do surgery immediately. That was one of the first times in my life, if not the first time, that things went “worst-case scenario” on me. The Holy Spirit was quick to remind me of great passages on God’s sovereignty and goodness in difficulty. I thought of Romans 8, Hebrews 11, and several others. I wasn’t being punished with brain cancer because I didn’t tell that guy at the gym about Jesus or because I hadn’t read Piper’s latest book, but rather God was at work. He was doing something, and I could be sure that He loved me and in the end I would have increased joy and He would be glorified. Here we are over a year later and that’s exactly what’s happened.

TT: How has dealing with your disease affected your view of God’s sovereignty (or, how has your view of God’s sovereignty affected how you view your disease)?

MC: (Pictured above Matt on a video update to his church after chemo treatment – having lost his hair – which has since grown back) I believe the Scriptures teach that God is aware of every act at every level of the universe. From a star exploding to the rate at which our planet spins to a cell dividing, He knows. I don’t believe in the end that God gave me cancer, but He certainly could have stopped it and didn’t. So I have to believe like Joseph, John the Baptist, and Paul had to believe when they were in prison — that God is working, and what the enemy means for evil, He will turn to good. There have been multiple occasions when God has used this tremendously. The Associated Press let me preach the gospel in an article that ran worldwide. The story has caught the imagination of the media here in Dallas, and we’ve been able to talk about the atoning work of Christ on TV as well as in newspaper articles. That has led to a ton of men and women surrendering their lives to Christ after wanting to talk with me through their own sufferings. If my life gets “cut short” but we get to see new births in the kingdom, then I don’t feel slighted or robbed in the least.

TT: In the late summer/early fall of 2010, you went to Sudan. How did that trip impact your life?

MC: I was deeply moved by my trip to Sudan. I’ve traveled quite a bit internationally but have never seen anything like it. It isn’t even a Third World country. That’s what they want to be. We are connected with some extremely godly men there, and the opportunities for the advancement of a Christ-centered, biblically-strong faith growing in southern Sudan are very real. On a side note, if I had not been diagnosed with cancer, I would not have been able to make the trip. The original diagnosis had us clear my external speaking schedule and opened that time frame for us to go.

Article Information:

From: Tabletalk Magazine – From Ligonier Ministries and R.C. Sproul. © Tabletalk magazine. Website: http://www.ligonier.org/tabletalk. Email: tabletalk@ligonier.org. Toll free: 1-800-435-4343. Interview published on July 1st, 2011.

 About Matt Chandler:

Matt Chandler serves as lead pastor of the Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas. He has become a leader in the evangelical world through his ministry at the Village Church, the Acts 29 Church Planting Network, and his teaching at multiple conferences. Matt is known to a wider audience most recently through his faithful witness to Jesus Christ while battling a malignant brain tumor. Chandler is also the author of the teaching series Philippians: To Live Is Christ & to Die Is Gain; and his excellent first book published by Crossway, entitled: The Explicit Gospel.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on October 27, 2012 in Cancer, Christian Testimonies, Gospel Presentations, Interviews, Pastoral Resources, Suffering

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Warren Wiersbe on the Question: How Can We Trust God When Going Through the Furnace of Pain?

15 Oct

“Through The Furnace of Pain”

Nearly two hundred years ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his friend Mrs. Cosway, and in it he said, “The art of life is the avoiding of pain.” Thomas Jefferson was a great man and a brilliant thinker, but I disagree. When we first hear that statement, it appears to be true. None of us deliberately looks for pain as we go about our daily activities. When it comes time for our six-month’s dental checkup or our annual visit to the doctor, we really wish we didn’t have to go. After all, the dentist might have to fill a cavity, or the doctor might order an operation or a diet! Generally speaking, all of us do our best to avoid pain.

But when you take a deeper look at the statement, you see that it fails to live up to the facts of history. Thomas Jefferson himself paid a price to help bring the American independence! Many of the patriots of that day lost their names, their homes, their fortunes, and some their lives, in order to win liberty. Our liberty was purchased by pain and death; and our liberty has been protected by pain and death. History itself shows us that human progress can only be made when somebody suffers for that which is true and right.

Even apart from history, our own personal experience teaches us the folly of this statement. The deepest pains are not physical; they are emotional and spiritual. All of us have suffered pain during our pilgrimage of life. We could have avoided the pain, but we have learned that the most important things in life usually involve suffering. If people lived to avoid pain, they would never want to grow up. But just think of what they would miss!

Take the matter of human birth. To be sure, we have modern scientific methods to protect mothers, but there is still a certain amount of pain. Jesus Himself used this as an illustration of His own suffering when He said, “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world” (John 16:2 1).

Think, too, of the pain and sorrow that the mother and father experience as they seek to raise that child. The old proverb says, “When they are little, children step on your feet; but when they are older, they step on your heart.” Often this is true. In my ministry I have met dedicated Christian parents whose hearts have been broken because of wayward children who failed to heed their instruction and example. If everybody really lived to avoid pain, nobody would get married and raise a family; yet people do it all the time.

We must never think that pain is something sinful. Some suffering comes because of disobedience; but not all pain is the result of sin. If Adam in the Garden of Eden had tripped over a rock, he would have felt it. To be sure, the pain of sickness and physical decline is ultimately caused by sin; but even the pain of sickness can have a good result. If you and I never felt pain when something was wrong in our bodies, we would die from neglect. A pain somewhere in the body is a danger signal, and we ought to be thankful for it. But for the Christian believer, pain has much higher ministries. I often hear people say that Christians suffer more than other people do, but I’m not so sure this can be proved. As I visit hospitals and nursing homes, I meet many unsaved people who are suffering. In fact, I believe that the dedicated Christian probably avoids a lot of the physical suffering that comes to a person who defiles and destroys his body through sin and selfishness.

What are the higher ministries of pain? Well, for one thing, pain can have a purifying power. The apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:1, “For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.” One of the modern translations puts it, “You must realize then that to be dead to sin inevitably means pain.” I once went through intense physical suffering, and it very definitely had a purifying effect on my heart and mind. It made me see spiritual things a lot more clearly. My priorities were rearranged. Granted, pain by itself can never accomplish this; but when we yield to Christ and ask for His help, pain can purify us.

A secondary ministry of pain is that of fellowship with Christ. In Philippians 3:10 Paul writes about “the fellowship of his [Christ's] sufferings.” Some people turn against God when they go through suffering, but this need not be so. You and I can be drawn closer to God by faith when we are going through the furnace of pain. None of us has ever experienced all that Jesus experienced on the cross. The unsaved person has no idea of the wonderful joy and peace the believer experiences in his heart even in the midst of constant pain.

A third ministry of pain is bringing glory to God. This doesn’t mean that God deliberately makes us suffer just so He can receive glory. But it does mean that God can use our suffering to glorify His name. When Jesus faced the hour of His death, He said, “Father, glorify thy name.” And God was glorified in the suffering and death of His Son, and God honored Christ and raised Him from the dead in great glory. I have visited Christians in hospitals and homes whose lives were glorifying God even in their suffering.

Pain purifies. Pain draws the Christian closer to Christ. Pain glorifies God. But we must also remember that pain today means glory and honor tomorrow. Paul wrote, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). God doesn’t always settle His accounts in this life. In fact, no Christian should expect to receive much reward in this world. Jesus said, “In the world you shall have tribulation.” A man said to me one day, “I don’t believe in hell or heaven. You have your hell or heaven here on earth.” That man was wrong. The unsaved person had better enjoy this world all he can, because it’s the only heaven he will ever see! “It is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment.”

But the Christian is looking forward to the glory of heaven. Jim Elliot, one of the martyred missionaries of Ecuador, wrote in his journal: “He is no fool to give what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” If we suffer with Christ today, it only means glory with Christ tomorrow. For the Christian, the best is yet to come.

Have you surrendered your pain to Christ and asked Him to use it for your good and His glory? I suggest that you do so by faith. God doesn’t promise to remove our pain, or even to relieve our pain; but He does promise to transform it and use it for His eternal purposes.

The great apostle Paul was in pain. He had a thorn in the flesh, given to him by God to help keep him humble and useful. Paul did what any Christian would have done-he prayed for the pain to be removed. God did not answer his prayer, but He did meet his need. He gave Paul all the grace he needed to transform that weakness into strength, that suffering into glory. And God will give grace to you and me if only we will yield our all to Him.

About the Author:

Warren W. Wiersbe is the Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary, and is the author of more than 100 books. Billy Graham calls him “one of the greatest Bible expositors of our generation.” Interestingly, Warren’s earliest works had nothing to do with scriptural interpretation. His interest was in magic, and his first published title was Action with Cards (1944).

“It was sort of imbecilic for a fifteen-year-old amateur magician to have the audacity to write a book and send it to one of the nation’s leading magic houses,” Warren says. But having a total of three books published by the L.L. Ireland Magic Company—before the age of 20—gave him a surge of confidence. In later years, he applied his confidence and writing talent to the Youth for Christ (YFC) ministry.

Warren wrote many articles and guidebooks for YFC over a three-year period, but not all his manuscripts were seen by the public eye. One effort in particular, The Life I Now Live, based on Galatians 2:20, was never published. The reason, Warren explains with his characteristic humor, is simple: it was “a terrible book…Whenever I want to aggravate my wife, all I have to say is, ‘I think I’ll get out that Galatians 2:20 manuscript and work on it.’” Fortunately, Warren’s good manuscripts far outnumbered the “terrible” ones, and he was eventually hired by Moody Press to write three books.

The much-sought-after author then moved on to writing books for Calvary Baptist Church. It was during his ten years at Calvary that Expository Outlines on the New Testament and Expository Outlines on the Old Testament took shape. These two works later became the foundation of Warren’s widely popular Bible studies known as the Be series, featuring such titles as Be Loyal (a study on Matthew) and Be Delivered (a study on Exodus). Several of these books have been translated into Spanish.

His next avenue of ministry was Chicago’s Moody Memorial Church, where he served for seven years. He wrote nearly 20 books at Moody before moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he and his wife, Betty, now live. Prior to relocating, he had been the senior pastor of Moody Church, a teacher at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a producer of the Back to the Bible radio program.

During all these years of ministry, Warren held many more posts and took part in other projects too numerous to mention. His accomplishments are extensive, and his catalog of biblical works is indeed impressive and far-reaching (many of his books have been translated into other languages). But Warren has no intention of slowing down any time soon, as he readily explains: “I don’t like it when people ask me how I’m enjoying my ‘retirement,’ because I’m still a very busy person who is not yet living on Social Security or a pension. Since my leaving Back to the Bible, at least a dozen books have been published, and the Lord willing, more are on the way.”

Wiersbe’s recent books include Your Next Miracle, The 20 Essential Qualities of a Child of God, Classic Sermons on the Fruit of the Spirit, Classic Sermons on Jesus the Shepherd, Key Words of the Christian Life, Lonely People, A Gallery of Grace, Real Peace: Freedom and Conscience in the Christian Life, and On Being a Leader for God.

The article above was adapted from Warren W. Wiersbe’s classic encouraging devotional: The Bumps Are What You Climb On: Encouragement For Difficult Days. Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell, 1996.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 15, 2012 in Attitude, Book Excerpts, Coaching Resources, Devotions, Encouragement, Great Questions, Help For Mid Life, Pastoral Resources, Suffering, Warren W. Wiersbe

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Andrew Murray’s Formula for Going Through Trials

06 Mar

Anchors to Throw in a Time of Testing

 In Bible college at Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Oregon (now Multnomah University) almost three decades ago I was going through a very difficult trial. Since that time I have encountered “trials of various kinds” as James calls them in his epistle. My godly father (now 89 years old) sent me a cut out containing the following advice from Andrew Murray. I have kept this cut out in my Bible ever since and have referred to it countless times:

*(1) He brought me here. It’s by His will I am in this straight place. In that fact I will rest.

(2) He will keep me here in His love and give me grace to behave as His child.

(3) Then He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends for me to learn.

(4) In His good time, He will bring me out again—how and when He knows. So let me say: I am

(a) Here by God’s appointment.

(b) In His keeping.

(c) Under His training.

(d) For His time.

*From a Sermon by Andrew Murray on Acts 27:28-29 entitled “Anchors to Throw in a Time of Testing.” Andrew Murray was a Dutch Reformed Church missionary sent from Scotland to South Africa. Andrew pastored churches in Bloemfontein, Worcester, Cape Town and Wellington, all in South Africa. He was a champion of the South African Revival of 1860.

In 1889, he was one of the founders of the South African General Mission (SAGM), along with Martha Osborn and Spencer Walton. After Martha Osborn married George Howe, they formed the South East Africa General Mission (SEAGM) in 1891. SAGM and SEAGM merged in 1894. Because its ministry had spread into other African countries, the mission’s name was changed to Africa Evangelical Fellowship (AEF) in 1965. AEF joined with SIM in 1998 and continues to this day.

He died on January 18, 1917, four months before his eighty-ninth birthday. He was so influenced by Johann Christoph Blumhardt‘s Möttlingen revival that he included a portion of Friedrich Zündel’s biography at the end of With Christ in the School of Prayer. Over the years he has influenced many, including Jessie Penn-Lewis, a key figure in the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival. His writings have greatly influenced the writings of both Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 6, 2012 in Decision Making, Spiritual Life

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Book Review: The Gospel Centered Life by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis

05 Nov

How To Live For God’s Glory

 This is a fantastic concise guide written by two experienced church planters in England designed for individuals, one-on-one, or in small groups. This is one of four books in a series of guides on the themes of being gospel centered. All four of these guides (also on the Church, Marriage, and Family) are loaded with great topics, questions for discussion, and saturated with good theology and biblically based. The best thing about this guide is that it is short, without sacrificing depth – for people who don’t have a lot of time, or simply don’t like to read. It gets you straight and to the point of discussion quickly – designed for action.

This book has 14 short chapters that each contain these elements: 1) A Principle based on the biblical topic being discussed; 2) Consider this – a short case study on the topic at hand; 3) a biblical background reading on the subject of the case study; 4) Read all about it – a brief discussion on the topic tying in the context, bridging the biblical passage, and it’s relevancy to the topic; and 5) Questions for reflection and discussion.

Here are the Principles and Key Biblical Passages Developed in the Three Sections of this book:

Part One: Gospel-Centered Change

Chapter 1: “A Life for God” – Principle: “It’s not about me—it’s about God and His glory.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1.

Chapter 2: “A Life for others” – Principle: “It’s not about me—it’s about loving God and others.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from Matthew 22:34-40.

Chapter 3: “A Life of change” – Principle: “God is making me more like Jesus for His glory and my good.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from Hebrews 12:1-11.

Chapter 4: “A Life of Miracles“ – Principle: “The Holy Spirit changes me through the gospel.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from Romans 8:1-17.

Part Two: Gospel Centered Perspectives

Chapter 5:  “Look up to God” – Principle: “I respond to the gospel with daily repentance and faith.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from Acts 20:17-24.

Chapter 6: “Look back to the cross” – Principle: “The cross is the foundation and pattern of my life.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from Romans 8:28-39.

Chapter 7: “Look around at the Christian community” – Principle: “Belonging to Jesus means I belong to His community.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from Colossians 3:1-17.

 

Chapter 8:  “Look forward to eternity” – Principle: “Eternal glory offers more than this life.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from Hebrews 11:8-11, 24-26; 12:1-3.

 

Part Three: Gospel Centered Living

Chapter 9: “Decisions” – Principle: “My top priority is serving Christ.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:3-12.

Chapter 10: “Relationships” – Principle: “I have a duty of care for others that involves taking the initiative to serve and resolve conflict.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from James 3:1-4:12.

Chapter 11: “Friends” – Principle: “My willingness to speak about Jesus arises from my delight in Jesus.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from Colossians 1:13-20.

Chapter 12: “Horizons” – Principle: “The gospel enlarges my horizons, giving me a concern for God’s world.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from Isaiah 12.

Chapter 13: “Possessions” – Principle: “God gives me blessing that I might glorify Him.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from 1 Timothy 6:6-19.

Chapter 14: “Suffering” – Principle: “God gives me suffering that I might glorify Him.” The Biblical background for this chapter comes from 2 Corinthians 1:3-7.

I highly recommend this book for all followers of Christ. The most beneficial way to read it will be in the context of community with other believers so that the many ideas in this book can be immediately fleshed out among real life. It is theologically sound, biblically saturated; Christ centered, and will truly help you live a more gospel-centered life.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 5, 2011 in Bible Study Helps, Book Reviews, Decision Making, Small Group Resources

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Book Review – Found: God’s Will by John MacArthur

07 Oct

Good Biblical Foundation For Understanding the Topic of God’s Will For Your Life

I am currently reading a handful of books on decision making. I figured I would start out with the shortest of them, and work my way to the longest (from the simple to the complex). John Macarthur’s greatest strength is that you can count on him staying close to what the Bible says and not giving any speculation as to what it doesn’t say. He doesn’t delve into the emotional or philosophical realm, but sticks like glue to what the Bible clearly articulates concerning what God’s will is for humanity.

In the first chapter John clearly spells out what he wants to do in this little booklet: “Let’s begin with a simple assumption. Since God has a will for us, He must want us to know it. If so, then we could expect Him to communicate it to us in the most obvious way. How would that be? Through the Bible, His revelation. Therefore, I believe that what one needs to know about the will of God is clearly revealed in the pages of the Word of God. God’s will is, in fact, very explicit in Scripture.”

Therefore, MacArthur proceeds to deal only with what the Bible states explicitly about the Word of God. He gleans six principles from six (actually more – but for the purposes of this review I will only give the key texts he uses) key passages of Scripture.

1)    The first thing about God’s will is that He wants all kinds of people (economic classes, high positions, low positions and all ethnicities) to be saved based on 1 Timothy 2:3,4 – “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (Referencing verses1 & 2 where Paul says “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way”).

2)    It is God’s will that we are Spirit-filled (numerous verses). The key verses used in the chapter is Ephesians 5:15-18 where the Apostle Paul says, “Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” According to MacArthur the Spirit-filled life is “being saturated with the things of Christ with His Word, His Person.”

3)    It is God’s will for us to be sanctified. The key verses here are in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in passionate lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.”

4)    It is God’s will that we be a submissive and obedient people. Colossians 3; Ephesians 5 & 6; and 1 Peter 2:3-15 all talk about the roles of submission that every believer has with ultimate submission to the Lordship of Jesus over our lives.

5)    It is God’s will that we mature in Christ through suffering. 1 Peter 4:19 & 5:10 specify, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good…And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

6)    It is God’s will that in all things we give thanks and delight in Him. In Psalm 37:4 David reminds us to “delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” And the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

In the final analysis if you are saved through the righteousness of Christ imputed to your account in exchange for your sin, and thus Spirit-filled, seeking to be sanctified, are submissive to Christ’s leadership in your life, endure suffering, and are continually giving thanks in all things – then according to MacArthur, and I agree – it doesn’t matter what you do. The foundation for all your decisions has already been established, and now you have great freedom within the parameters of God’s protective boundaries delineated in the Bible.

This book is by no means exhaustive, but is recommended because it lays a solid foundation for what the Bible does say about “finding God’s will for your life.”

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on October 7, 2011 in Book Reviews, Decision Making, John MacArthur, Spiritual Life

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

4 Good Reasons We Go Through Trials by Warren W. Wiersbe

20 Jun

“A Land of Hills and Valleys”

Excerpt from Chapter 1: From the Wonderful Devotional book Turning Mountains into Molehills by Warren W. Wiersbe (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987 – Only changes are that the Scriptures are from KJV to ESV)

For some reason, I have never enjoyed geography. Perhaps I didn’t study hard enough in school. But as I study my Bible, I find myself becoming greatly interested in God’s geography, particularly something that God said about the Promised Land He was giving to His people, Israel. “But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven (Deuteronomy 11:11).” I can’t think of a better description of the Christian life—a land of hills and valleys.

Christians today have a great deal in common with the nation of Israel back in Moses’ day, even though there are some radical differences. For example, there was a time when the people were in bondage; and God set them free. Once you and I were in bondage to sin; but God has set us free. God set Israel free by the blood of the lamb; and God has set us free by the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Lamb without spot or blemish. God led the nation with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; and God leads us today through His Holy Word. God brought His people to the border of their inheritance and told them to go in and possess the land by faith; but, unfortunately they fell into unbelief and failed to posses the land.

The Lord has given Christians today a wonderful spiritual inheritance in Christ, and all we have to do is possess it by faith. The Bible is the divine road map that describes our inheritance for us; and God says that our inheritance is “a land of hills and valleys.”

Now, this fact may come as a surprise to some of you. Many people have the idea that the Christian life is an easy life—that once you are saved, your troubles are over. Well, once you are saved, many problems are solved; but many new ones appear. Jesus never promised that it would be easy for us to claim our inheritance. “In this world you will have tribulation,” He warned His disciples. “If they have hated me, they will hate you.” The Christian life is a land of hills and valleys.

Let’s begin with the valleys. Have you ever noticed that most of the great people in the Bible went through valley experiences? In Genesis 15 I find Abraham going through “the horror of a great darkness.” I find Isaac trembling because one of his sons has tricked him. I see Jacob wrestling all night until he is willing to surrender to God. I hear Moses crying out to God, “I am not able to bear all this people alone…kill me, I beg you.” I see David hiding in a cave a wondering if the crown would ever be on his head. I hear the prophet Isaiah lamenting, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain!” (Isa. 49:4). I watch John the Baptist in prison as he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you the Messiah, or should we look for another?” Yes, I even hear the great apostle Paul saying, “For we would not have you ignorant, brothers, or our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life.” These men knew what it was to go through the valley.

Why does God permit these valleys to come into our lives? For one thing we learn some lessons in the valleys that we could never learn on the mountaintop. Do you think that David could have written those wonderful psalms if had never known the trials in the valley? How could he have written ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for I know that you are with me,” if he had not gone through the valley himself? Suppose Jeremiah had never gone through that terrible valley that made him the “Weeping Prophet”? Could he ever have written, “His compassions never fail; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22,23)? Suppose Paul had never gone through the valley with his thorn in the flesh? Could he have written, “My grace is sufficient for you”? When we go through the valley, we learn lessons we could never learn any other way.

And, we grow in character in a way we could never grow apart from the valley. Great Christians are made by great trials. A man does not become patient simply by reading a book or praying a prayer. He becomes patient by going through the valley. Faith is cultivated in the darkness of the valley. God may teach us in the light, but he tests us in the darkness. This is why Paul wrote: “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.” The Christian graces are developed as we walk through the valley.

But God has another purpose for the valley: as we go through the valley, we learn to help others. Psalm 84:6 puts it this way: “Who passing through the valley of weeping makes it a place of springs.” Here is a pilgrim going through a difficult valley, so difficult he is even weeping; but he leaves behind a well to refresh the pilgrims that will follow him. Perhaps the reason you are in the valley today is that God may comfort you so you in turn may comfort someone else. He wants you to leave a well behind. Paul had this in mind when he wrote, “God comforts us in all our tribulation that we may comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort we have received from God” (2 Cor. 1:4).

The Christian life is a land of hills and valleys. God ordains the valleys that He might teach us lessons we could never learn any other way. He leads us through the valleys so that we may grow in our Christian character, and so that we may help others when they go through the valley. But there’s a fourth reason He permits valleys, and it’s this: you cannot have hills unless you have valleys.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if life were just a series of mountaintop experiences? Wouldn’t we be happier if there were no valleys in our lives? The Christian life is a land of hills and valleys, but we must never forget that you cannot have hills unless you have valleys.

God knows how to balance our lives. All sunshine makes the desert, says the old proverb; and all hills, without valleys, will make an immature and shallow life. If you and I want to enjoy the hilltops of happiness, we must be willing to experience the valleys of trial. It’s comforting and encouraging to know that at the end of every valley there is a hill, and atop that hill is a new experience of blessing from the Lord.

I can’t help but notice that the lives of God’s people in the Bible were made up of both hills and valleys. Abraham received a great promise from God one day, and the next day the land was plunged into drought and famine. Isaac was born, and Abraham’s joy was complete. A few years later, God told him to offer his beloved son on the altar. The great prophet Moses experienced his hills and valleys. No sooner had he led the nation out of Egypt when they began to complain and ask to go back to bondage! Moses met God on the mountaintop and saw His glory; then he came down and discovered Israel dancing before a golden idol. Hills and valleys!

It was true even in the earthly life of our Lord. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Father spoke from heaven and the Spirit came down on Jesus like a dove. What a mountaintop experience! But then the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. What a valley to go through! See Him as He enters Gethsemane, as he prays and sweats great drops of blood. See Him hanging on a cross! What a valley He endured! But then, see Him risen from the dead—radiant in the glorified body! What a mountaintop experience! Then He ascends to the highest heaven and sits at the right hand of God!

This is God’s word of encouragement to you as you go through the valley. He has a glorious blessing waiting for you at the end of the valley. The Christian life is a land of hills and valleys; and wherever you find a valley, you will always find a mountaintop at the other end. This is true because our Lord Jesus Christ has already gone before us to prepare a way. Every valley that we go through, Christ has already traveled before us.

I’m glad the Christian life is a land of hills and valleys. There is nothing monotonous about it. Every day presents a new challenge to grow in grace, a new opportunity to help others, a new privilege to receive grace and strength from Jesus Christ. It is a land of hills and valleys, and our God is a God of the hills and a God of the valleys.

*Warren W. Wiersbe is the Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary, Warren Wiersbe is the author of more than 100 books. Billy Graham calls him “one of the greatest Bible expositors of our generation.” Interestingly, Warren’s earliest works had nothing to do with scriptural interpretation. His interest was in magic, and his first published title was Action with Cards (1944).

“It was sort of imbecilic for a fifteen-year-old amateur magician to have the audacity to write a book and send it to one of the nation’s leading magic houses,” Warren says. But having a total of three books published by the L.L. Ireland Magic Company—before the age of 20—gave him a surge of confidence. In later years, he applied his confidence and writing talent to the Youth for Christ (YFC) ministry.

Warren wrote many articles and guidebooks for YFC over a three-year period, but not all his manuscripts were seen by the public eye. One effort in particular, The Life I Now Live, based on Galations 2:20, was never published. The reason, Warren explains with his characteristic humor, is simple: it was “a terrible book…Whenever I want to aggravate my wife, all I have to say is, ‘I think I’ll get out that Galations 2:20 manuscript and work on it.’” Fortunately, Warren’s good manuscripts far outnumbered the “terrible” ones, and he was eventually hired by Moody Press to write three books.

The much-sought-after author then moved on to writing books for Calvary Baptist Church. It was during his ten years at Calvary that Expository Outlines on the New Testament and Expository Outlines on the Old Testament took shape. These two works later became the foundation of Warren’s widely popular Bible studies known as the Be series, featuring such titles as Be Loyal (a study on Matthew) and Be Delivered (a study on Exodus). Several of these books have been translated into Spanish.

His next avenue of ministry was Chicago’s Moody Memorial Church, where he served for seven years. He wrote nearly 20 books at Moody before moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he and his wife, Betty, now live. Prior to relocating, he had been the senior pastor of Moody Church, a teacher at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a producer of the Back to the Bible radio program.

During all these years of ministry, Warren held many more posts and took part in other projects too numerous to mention. His accomplishments are extensive, and his catalog of biblical works is indeed impressive and far-reaching (many of his books have been translated into other languages). But Warren has no intention of slowing down any time soon, as he readily explains: “I don’t like it when people ask me how I’m enjoying my ‘retirement,’ because I’m still a very busy person who is not yet living on Social Security or a pension. Since my leaving Back to the Bible, at least a dozen books have been published, and the Lord willing, more are on the way.”

Wiersbe’s recent books include Your Next Miracle, The 20 Essential Qualities of a Child of God, The Bumps are What You Climb On, Classic Sermons on the Fruit of the Spirit, Classic Sermons on Jesus the Shepherd, Key Words of the Christian Life, Lonely People, A Gallery of Grace, Real Peace: Freedom and Conscience in the Christian Life, and On Being a Leader for God.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 20, 2011 in Book Excerpts, Decision Making, Devotions, Spiritual Life, Suffering, Warren W. Wiersbe

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Power for The Pressures of Life

11 Jun

“The Bible teaches power under pressure, not power without pressure.” – Steve Brown from the Book If God Is In Charge

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 11, 2011 in Quotes, Stephen W. Brown

 

Tags: , ,

Helping Those Who Hurt

11 Jun

“Those who listen most and speak the least will be the most help to sufferers.” – David Murray

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 11, 2011 in Quotes

 

Tags: , , ,

God’s Plan For Our Life

11 Jun

No matter what you are going through, it’s Gods way (whether we understand it or not) of making you more like Jesus. – David P. Craig

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on June 11, 2011 in Quotes

 

Tags: , , ,

Booklet Review: “Hope…The Best of Things” by Joni Eareckson Tada

21 May

Nobody earns the right to be heard more than those Christian saints who have been “refined in the fire.” In this little booklet Tada (a quadriplegic for the past four decades – who speaks, writes, and paints with a brush in her mouth) shares some encouraging words for those who are “in the fire” of suffering. I think that this little booklet is useful to read before, during, or after suffering as the thesis of Tada is centralized on the eventual glory we will experience because of the promises of Christ in the Scriptures.

The Four Chapters Are:

1)    Hope is Hard to Come By – Tada discusses her and our battle with suffering and our selfish nature that only God can deliver us from – “He [God] wanted me to reckon myself dead—dead to sin—because if God can raise the dead, you’d better believe he could raise me out of my hopelessness.”

2)    Meeting Suffering and Joy on God’s Terms – She writes, “To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you this kind of example that you should follow. He endured the cross for the joy that was set before him (Heb. 12:2). Should we expect to do less? So then, join me; boast in your afflictions. Delight in your infirmities. Glory in your weaknesses, for then you know that Christ’s power rests in you (2 Cor. 12:9).”

3)    Hope is Contagious – “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies. But we live in a dark, diseased world under the curse of sin. Hell is real. And God owes this utterly rebellious planet absolutely nothing. But aren’t you glad that he is a God of love, not wanting anyone to perish? And he is out to convince this unbelieving, sarcastic, skeptical world of his power to save, his abilities to sustain, and his desire to share his hope.”

4)    Misery May Love Company but Joy Craves a Crowd – “And one day I’m going to leave this wheelchair behind. I cannot wait. I may have suffered with Christ on earth, but one day in heaven I’m going to reign with him.”

In this little booklet Tada is honest about her struggles, encouraging in her attitude, and inspiring in her commitment for the cause of Christ in this world. Any Christian who reads this will be inspired –and any non-believer should want what Joni has – the hope of glory in Christ. Everyone has to learn how to suffer, but the Christian does not suffer as one who has no hope – and Joni is a great example of how to live in the midst of suffering for the glory of God in magnifying Christ.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 21, 2011 in Book Reviews, David P. Craig, Suffering

 

Tags: , ,

← Older posts
 
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 762 other followers

%d bloggers like this: