Part 2: New Purpose
A new identity (see part 1) leads to a new way of living focused around a new purpose.  Romans 6:15-23 explains this purpose using slavery terminology.  Whereas we once were slaves to sin, we are now slaves to God.  Slavery of any kind sounds offensive at first but it is an effective way to communicate the extent to which God wishes to have authority in our lives.  He wants everything.  This sounds radical but remember, this is the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good God who made you in the first place and who is now calling you to give yourself back to him.  He knows better than you do what you need to thrive.  This is one case where slavery is a good thing.

I wear around a signet ring with a cross on it.  It is something I started doing around my tenth anniversary in ministry.  It was inspired by a journal entry I wrote as I pondered God’s calling for the next ten years of my life.  In that entry, I admonished myself to, “Look at what you have, all of it, as belonging to God.”  The signet ring serves as a reminder that who I am and what I do belongs to God.  The stamp on it is not an “A” for Andrew, but a cross for Christ.  I don’t belong to myself or to any other person or movement in this world.  I belong to Christ.  All of me.  My purpose is to serve him.

Such radicalism may be hard to embrace.  Becoming a slave to Christ is a process (and I, for one, have a long, long way to go).  But you can accelerate this process consistently challenging yourself to take spiritual risks.  Experiment with your relationship with God this week.  What can you enslave to Christ right now?  Time, treasure, talent, heart, soul, strength or mind?  Take a risk and see what it is like to live under a new master.  And as you begin to experience his goodness, you will be inspired to give him more and more.  In the often paradoxical outworking of the God’s ways, it is in this “slavery” that you will find true freedom.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes have trouble wrapping my head around “Good Friday.”  Not in what God wrought, but more in the name.  It seems a paradox when we consider the trial and passion of our Lord, to think of it as good. It is in fact a time of mourning and sorrow.  It is a time to consider how human sin caused this death.  But it is also a time for us to remember God’s great love for us that He should submit and be obedient unto death for us.  It is in that way a “Good Friday” for us as we take this time to be reminded of this great love for us and to commemorate the wonder of it all.

For centuries the Church has commemorated this day in a multitude of ways.  Through history it has been a time of fasting and abstinence, a laying aside of ourselves to consider how Jesus laid aside himself for us.  St.  Augustine wrote this about Good Friday:  “For us he was unto thee both the victor and the victim, and therefore the victor, because he was the victim for us he was unto thee both Priest and the sacrifice, and therefore the Priest, because he was the sacrifice… I meditate upon the price of my redemption”  (Confessions X, xliii).

However you choose to lay yourself aside this day, take the time to remember Him and what He has done.  Below is an outline for Good Friday devotions.

Good Friday Devotional Outline (Printable Version)

Morning

1. Ask God to help you lay aside yourself and to give this day to Him. Let His Spirit lead and open your heart to Him.
2. Read Psalm 22 and Psalm 54
3. Consider how God brought this about for you and the entire world
4. As the Lord speaks to you, take time to journal and or draw something that God has shared with you.
5. As God opens your heart let Him lead you to prayer.  Pray for what He places utmost upon your heart.

Noon

1. Ask God to draw you to and into His word, ask Him to speak to you by His Spirit and His word.
2. Read Lamentations 3:1-9, 3:19-33 and I Peter 1: 10-20
3. Consider how it is that God brought you to himself and continues to work in your life
4. What stands out for you? Ask God about those things.
5. Pray for those who are in need of Jesus.

Evening

1. Read John 13:36-38 and Matthew 27:45-50
2. Ask God to bring to mind all that He has put on your heart this day.
3. Pray

Note on Fasting:
If you feel led to fast, we recommend a fast from solid foods beginning when you wake up and ending after the prayer meeting on Friday night.  In place of breakfast and lunch, read scripture and pray (using the above devotional).  If you do choose to fast, make sure to drink lots of liquids.  Keep your head up, don’t complain (Matthew 6:16-18), replace each hunger pang with a prayer and pay attention to Christ’s movement throughout the day.

We’ll be gathering for prayer and a meal at 6:30pm on Good Friday at 1319 Solano Ave. (Church on the Corner).

Part One: New Personhood
Romans 5-6 tells of a simple truth.  When the gospel comes into your life, you become a new person.  You used to be a slave to sin.  Now you have died to sin and so are no longer a slave to it (6:6).  You have gone from slavery to freedom.  You have a new identity.  Of course, you still struggle with sin.  That’s because you have not yet fully embraced your new identity.  A slave who’s lived a lifetime of subservience to a harsh master often finds it difficult, even uncomfortable, to embrace a sudden freedom.  The impulse to acquiesce lingers on.  A familiar hell sometimes wins out over an unfamiliar heaven.

I think this is why Paul highlights baptism in the discussion of the new personhood Christ brings (6:1-5).  Baptism is a means for driving home the point that we’ve been given a new identity.  Baptism symbolizes our union with Christ in his 1) death (dunking), 2) burial (submersion) and 3) resurrection (emergence from the water).  A person is baptized in front of his or her family and loved ones and they serve as witnesses to the fact that a new identity has come.  The deeper the impression of this new identity, the stronger the impulse to live according to it, in freedom and newness.  The gospel changes us, in part, by bringing us a new identity.  But this is an identity that we need to come to embrace.

“I’m a Christian, now what?” you ask.  Be baptized.  Let your community help you embrace your new identity.

Jesus lived triangularly.  The evidence of it is in words like these, “The words I say to you are not must my own.  Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work” (John 15:10b).  Paul exhibits this kind of living, “I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits” (1 Cor. 16:7).  James advices it: “you ought to say, if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:15).

Triangular living is a discipline that takes practice.  Some practical techniques can help us develop the habit but ultimately, we want it to become natural to us, like breathing itself.  Once, to jump start my development in this area, I actually set an alarm on my watch to sound periodically throughout the day as a reminder to look up and re-frame what I was doing in the light of Christ (if there is such a thing as a “spiritual nerd,” that has to qualify me).  More recently I have found that a day of fasting can accelerate my development in living triangularly.  Each hunger pang is a reminder to look up and pray.  This more intense practice helps me on the days when I’m not fasting to keep an eye heavenward.  Another useful and practical technique is scripture memory.  Rolling God’s words through the mind helps focus the mind on looking for God in the midst of the task at hand.

Jesus said, “Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”  Triangular living is fruitful living.  What helps you to keep an eye towards heaven in the rough and tumble of daily life?

So how do we carry out accountability?   In this post I’d like to make a few (not exhaustive) suggestions aimed at increasing our comfort level with this critical discipline.

Advice for those on the receiving end:

1. Remember that all people struggle with self-deception; you are not alone.  Even King David, who had to be one of the most well-adjusted humans on the planet, needed a Nathan to call him on his lack of integrity.
2. Always fight against oversensitivity.  I once worked with a college athlete the year after he graduated.  Because of his athletic context, he was used to large doses of critique and accountability.  He thrived on it.  Applying this mindset to the church setting he grew rapidly.  I have also worked with “more seasoned” types who have spent years being acknowledged as “at the top” of their game.  How awkward it was to watch them try to duck and dodge legitimate critique of their work.
3. View yourself as God’s beloved project.  If we are confident in God’s love instead of our level of spiritual attainment, criticism is much easier to handle.  In fact, we welcome the opportunity to learn and grow.

Advice for those called to be on the giving side:

1. Assess the receiver’s maturity level before bringing truth.  Some truths are too much for the moment.  At the same time, I’ve learned that I tend to underestimate what people can handle.
2. Assess the quality of your relationship.  In our culture, accountability is pretty unwelcome where there is little relationship.  But it is VERY welcome where strong relationships are developed (more than I used to imagine).
3. Assess the timing.  Are there other people listening in, adding unnecessary pressure?  Is there adequate time to air out the issues?  Is there humility and peace on your part indicating the presence of the Spirit?
4. Pace yourself.  It is tempting to let out everything when the floodgates are finally opened.  This can overwhelm.  See point 1.
5. Keep the long view in mind.  Your receiver may stop carrying your picture in his or her wallet once you deliver your message.  That feels bad right now, but in the long run, it may not be. Oftentimes people will return after a cooling off period to thank you for your input.

When you look at what it takes to speak truth into someone’s life, you realize that no formula can safeguard the process.  This is why God has called people to “shepherd” other people.  It takes a person to sense the leading of the Spirit, to pray and wait and then move at the right time.  Is God calling you to be that person?

by Andrew Franklin

My failure to live up to the standard of Jesus has a long, consistent history that has been well chronicled in my lifetime; in fact, I write a new paragraph daily. I am constantly frustrated by my shortcomings, but I have come to understand that until I leave this earth, my sinful human nature will play a role in all I do. Ironically, I become more aware of my flaws the more I study the Bible and learn more about this Jesus. Yet I also learn more about forgiveness and grace.

I have been thinking about good deeds. I find myself drawn to the aspects of the Gospel that emphasize our need to love our neighbors, serve the poor, care for the sick and be active in our faith. I am aware of my sinful nature shining through in these well-intended actions - there is always a sliver of selfishness in selfless deeds; always a moment of reluctance in generosity – but that is not what hit me the other day. I was recently convicted of my motivation for doing such loving acts. Often, Jesus is not the driving force. There should be no other motivation than Jesus. The rest of the world does good for goodness’ sake and I look no different if my love of Jesus is not my motivation for loving my neighbors.

In Mark 14, we read of a woman (believed to be Mary) anointing Jesus’ feet with very expensive oil. Like the disciples, I would have been indignant at such waste. Notice, their reaction was not to save the oil, nor use the money for drinks at the local watering hole, nor a new set of wheels for their wagon; no, their reaction was selfless! They said that the money could have been given to the poor. “Amen!” would have been my reaction. It was not Jesus’. “You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not be here with you much longer” (Mark 14:6-7; New Living Translation). He commended Mary’s act of devotion to himself.  As Oswald Chambers put it in My Utmost for His Highest, “Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did – not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him.”

Do we pour out ourselves, loving our neighbors because of a deep love for God and His creation? I don’t always. Yet this is the only way because as we give more of ourselves, we are filled with more of Him. “If you believe in me…rivers of living water will flow out from within…” (John 7:38). I encourage you, be reckless in your love of Jesus. At times it will look like service to the poor and needy and others it will be anointing our Lord’s feet. But, as Chambers reminds us, always, we are to “break ‘the flask’ of our lives, to stop seeking our own satisfaction, and to pour out our lives before Him.”

EmmausPartners.pdf

For those of you part of the Solano Community Church Home Group ministry, we’re about to embark on a journey that will be exciting, at times challenging, and, Lord willing, very fruitful.  We’re calling it Project Feed and the goal is provide all of us the opportunity both to grow in Christ and to learn more about how to grow in Christ.  Our method will be to feed on God’s word together.

The process starts with the Spiritual Growth Inventory, which will be taken during the Home Group meeting.  The Growth Inventory helps you determine your progress with respect to discipleship.  It doesn’t measure you against anyone else, only yourself, giving you some input as to where you are stronger and weaker.  You score it, you keep it, you share it only with the people you want to share it with.  Next, each person in the Home Group will choose one discipleship area (preferably one in which you scored to the lower end) to research and study up on.  (At the end of this blog, you’ll find a list of study tools.)  Over the next several weeks of meeting together, the various members of the group will have opportunity to share with one another what God is teaching them through their particular study.  It will be a living, breathing representation of Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom…”  We’ll grow, we’ll get to know one another and we’ll celebrate God’s goodness over the whole process.

We understand that at times this will be a stretching experience.   But we also believe it is hard to promote serious spiritual growth without risking something.  And we know we have a God who will always meet us with our needs.  So, let’s take a risk together and see what God will do.

Note: If you are not in a Home Group, now is a great time to join one.  Exact start date for Project Feed will depend on individual Home Group.

Resources for Researching Individual Topics
Opiso Resources (includes topic summary, suggested Scriptures, exercises and book recommendations)
Scripture search tool (select “keyword” or “topic,” type in word(s) associated with topic and hit “search”)

I’ve been trying to square this with how we should value Scripture, the Bible, irrespective of our age and generation.  It’s my belief that when people lose that connection to the physical book, the Bible, a decline in how the Bible is viewed is almost inevitable.  Granted, of course it is not the book which matters, rather it is the content in the book— the Word of God!— just as it does not matter hugely what translation is used or even what language is used, so long as it communicates to the heart and the spirit of the reader.  And yet—

Perhaps it is just me, but there have been more than a few times when it is hugely comforting and encouraging for me to put my finger onto the very text, to remind myself, when I am troubled about something, that the Bible speaks about that matter right here.  And many is the time, during a church service, when I am stimulated by what I am hearing and experiencing, that I am compelled to open my Bible to refresh my thinking on a related matter:  “so, God says this— but then that is supported also by what it says over here in this passage.  Yup, there it is, right-hand page, a third of the way from the top.”  I know it’s there on the page because it’s my Bible, and I’ve come to know that it’s right there.

Is it possible to make that connection on Kindle, or on an iPod?  Does it have the same impact?  I’m not trying to deny that the Spirit of God can use any number of media by which to communicate His Word to His people, but I have to admit that I wonder.

One of the reasons that we can trust our Bible to be a faithful representation of the original writings is the extraordinary and exquisite care that the Jewish Scripture copyists took when they were copying and re-copying Holy Scripture from one scroll or book to another.  Nothing was permitted to distract them, there was such a reverence for this Word, and as a consequence the Hebrew Scripture texts which we have from the 8^th-century A.D. are fantastically faithful to those found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, dated some six to ten centuries earlier.  Yes, one can say that downloading it onto an iPod does indeed result in 100% fidelity, but is the significance the same?  Is the reverence the same?  Does it mean as much to someone when they view it on a screen?  And how can one write notes in the margin, to remind oneself of what God showed them from that particular text that day?

I am by no means advocating bibliolatry here, the worship or idolizing of the Bible.  But I will suggest that when you come to church, when you attend a Bible study, bring your Bible.  Perhaps it will not mean much for you to have your Bible there, but is that because it has not meant much to you in your home? You might even try getting in the habit, when a passage means a lot to you, of putting your finger onto the very page, to engage your sense of touch along with other parts of you, to remind yourself that my Bible says this right here.

Psalm 1 talks about the man who conducts himself rightly:

His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 119:11 talks about one salutary effect of Scripture:

Your Word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.

Or Psalm 119:98-99:

Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine.  I have more insight than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.

Jesus Himself says, quoting Deuteronomy:

Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

There are probably many hundreds of other verses which describe the results of cherishing this book (and each of them would be equally valid if seen on Kindle or heard through an iPod!).  Delight, meditation, treasure, mine— these are intense words, very personal and possessive words, words which show the power of making it to be your Bible.  Regardless of the form in which this Word comes to us, let us do what we can to cherish and treasure it, to make it mine.