Why is Our Hunger for God so Weak?
As a church, we have been going through our annual week of prayer this week. It has been a blessed week. But as the week has progressed I have been asking myself, "Why is my hunger for God so weak so much of the time?"
I was convicted when I found this answer from John Piper:
The greatest enemy of the hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.
Jesus said some people hear the word of God, and a desire for God is awakened in their hearts. But then, “as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14). In another place he said, “the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4: 19). “the pleasures of this life” and “the desires for other things” –these are not evil in themselves. These are not vices. These are gifts of God. They are your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing and shopping and exercising and collecting and talking. And all of them can become deadly substitutes for God.
- John Piper, A Hunger for God, 14-15
Need Help Pursuing Fellowship?
If you are like most Christians, you realize your need for true fellowship (not just surface chit-chat). You want to get to know other believers and you want friends who know you and your struggles. You want to be able to get to know other believers well so that you can serve them and speak truth to them in love.
But, if you are like me--and most Christians I know--you may have trouble figuring out how to get to those good, deep, spiritual conversations. I'd like to offer a couple of resources that we've found helpful here at GFC. Neither is new to us--which is probably why they're good--but we love them both.
The first is a document listing some accountability and authenticity questions for men. This was originally created for our men's meetings some time ago, but several of our men have taken them and used them with great success in one-on-one friendship and mentoring relationships.
The second is a document that we created to help some of our leadership team grow in our understanding of how to open up spiritual conversations with people and 'drive to the heart' with our questions. It's based on David Powlison's list of X-Ray Questions.
What's great about lists of questions like this is that they don't have to be all that you use. They are not a script or a formula. But they are helpful resources for learning the art of skillfully asking questions and helping people uncover issues in their hearts. As we identify with them where their hearts are tuned away from God and help point them to God we're fulfilling both great commandments: we're loving God and loving others.
I hope you find these helpful!
Bible Reading Plan for 2010
Pretty much any Christian who has lived for a little while as a Christian can look back at their lives and recognize that the seasons of life when they’ve known the most blessing are those seasons when they’ve been most faithful to read through the Bible. That’s certainly been the case for me! You look at life through an altogether different set of eyes when your mind is being renewed and transformed by the word of God.
What better New Years resolution could there be than to spend more time hearing from God in his word?
As you may or may not remember, last year I posted a Bible reading plan that I had put together. I was thrilled to have a few brothers and sisters eager to use it.
This year I made a few revisions to that plan and we've offered it to the whole church to see if anyone would like to read along with us. I thought I'd post the new plan here for this year for any more people who are still looking for a Bible reading plan for 2010.
As with last year, there are two versions, one for reading through the Bible on your own and one for reading through the Bible with your spouse.
While there are certainly myriads of Bible reading plans out there, I’ve found this one pretty helpful. Here are some of the features of it.
- You will find that you are reading through the OT on your own, and the NT together (if you do the couples plan)
- OT prophets are placed in (roughly) where they would have ministered chronologically. This helps break up the monotony of reading through huge chunks of narrative and prophets, by intermixing the two. It also helps you understand the historical and redemptive context for the prophets.
- The NT is organized into bodies of literature. You begin with the the Johannine body of literature (all the books written by John). Then you read Matthew and the other books written particularly for Jews. Next you read through Luke-Acts, you read through material written for Gentile audiences. Finally, there is Mark and Peter.
Overall, the variety and structure helps to ‘change things up’ enough that it doesn’t feel like every other time you’ve tried to read through the Bible. The main changes from this year over last year are the ordering of the NT books and some of the prophets have been placed differently.
Let me know if you’ve got any questions / comments / suggestions for improving the plan for next year!
Good / Better / Best
I haven't posted in a while. Well, I'm no Tim Challies, but I didn't need a post-count to figure that out.
But really, I haven't posted because of the usual culprit: The Tyranny of the Urgent. Busy-ness has come to town again, and things get dropped. That stinks, but it appears at this point to be life.
In some ways I'm envious of Martha's situation (read the story). The text says she was 'distracted with much serving,' while her sister 'sat at Jesus' feet.' Serving is good. Sitting at Jesus' feet is better.
I'm envious of Martha because Jesus was there, and he could tell her. She may have wasted a day in distraction, but she was able to learn what was best for her in a moment. Jesus made it clear what she should have done; what her priorities should have been.
From talking to several brothers and sisters from GFC over the past couple weeks I've been overwhelmed by this reality: life is full of good things. People are busy. They are 'distracted with much serving' as they do everything good... even things that are commanded.
But the reality is that some things are good, some things are better, and some things are best. Martha learned that, and so must we I.
So what should I be doing? What should my priorities be? When things get busy, what should get dropped? Our culture lies to us: it says that busy-ness and productiveness determine worth. If you want to be important, you must be busy. Busy=important. Our flesh lies to us: it says that we are able to get everything done. There is no need to prioritize or put limits on what we take on, since busy=important and I want to be important, therefore I should be busy and get everything done. No wonder we drink lots of coffee. We believe that nothing should ever get dropped, because we're sufficient.
I believe the lie far too often. I need to learn to drop things--even good things--for the sake of what is best. The first step there is humility to actually say, 'I can't get everything done.'
How do I determine what is best? I read the Word and let God's truth determine priorities. So first of all, I need discernment: how do I prioritize being a Christian husband, father, pastor, friend, son, grandson, brother, etc. But, I would argue, that's definitely doable. The part that's even harder still is actually creating--and sticking to--a schedule that reflects these priorities and doesn't create sinful anxiety. I've got a long way to go.
This Week’s Fighter Verse
I've been re-impressed over the last few weeks in particular by how important it is to be memorizing Scripture. Our Fighter Verse programme at Grace Fellowship Church has been a huge help to me in my own walk. This week's verse is one each of us would do really well to memorize as we seek to live other-worldly in a culture of materialism, that finds life, joy, peace, and security in credit cards and chequing accounts.
Here's our Fighter Verse for this week. You should memorize it too:
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'
-- Hebrews 13:5-6
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