Is God’s Goodness in Everything?
A writing friend, Jeff Goins, recently wrote that he believes God can only bless or redeem. In other words, every time God reaches out of eternity and disturbs the water of our time-bound lives, he has one of two purposes in mind, to bless or to redeem. Through these two filters we understand the everything that ever happen in our lives:
- “This was supposed to happen. So I can be grateful for it.”
- “This wasn’t supposed to happen, but good will come of it.”
I often hear Romans 8.28 misquoted badly, as well meaning Christians insist “Everything happens for a reason.” The associated, often unspoken truism is that God is behind all events, blessing them and thus blessing us.
One problem with misquoting scripture is that we walk away feeling less than comforted. The often unspoken message with this subtle twist on Paul’s words is that if we don’t measure up to the idea, then we’re defective. If everything happens for a purpose, and I don’t see it, or am lost in my grief of the moment, then what does that say about me, and my connection to my loving God?
The Grace Message: Restored Truth or a Recycled Lie?
Grace and Holiness
Christians walk in a place of grace. I don’t earn God’s love, favor or attention by the things that I do. He gives his love freely because he genuinely, deeply and eternally loves us. No, I don’t earn God’s love or affection. I can’t buy my entrance into heaven by what I do. Yet I demonstrate how much his love has transformed me by the things that I pursue. I don’t earn God’s love. I show God how much I am, or am not, in love with him.
Do You Need an Editor, Part II
(This is part two in a series on the importance of editors for today’s authors from editor Susan Malone)
So where does that leave you, the writer in need of a manuscript editor? Adrift in a sea of editors and editing services, that’s where. This has been a consistent thread in many of the writing forums I visit, and almost everybody out there is, well, confused. So let’s sift through what’s out there and then see what fits your needs.
Do You Need an Editor?
All writers need good editors. Even successfully published authors need “outside eyes” to help perfect their work (and many more understand this than do unpublished folks). Once upon a time, a writer would work with her editor at a publishing house to make the book the best it could be, and to further the author’s career as a writer. Well, Dorothy, that was before the tornado blew through town.
Cliche Christianity – Seeds in Shallow Ground
When Jesus started his ministry, his approach upset his followers’ well worn assumptions of their God. His audience commonly believed that a person’s life circumstances were an accurate indicator of their righteousness. Wealthy people were blessed, and therefore holier than the poor. Those who were physically impaired, such as the blind or leprous were considered wicked. After all, the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 28 taught that God promised to bless the righteous, and curse the unrighteous.
So when the disciples passed a man born blind, their natural question was, “Jesus, whose sin caused this man’s blindness, his or his parents?” Maybe needing to check their doctrinal reference points, they wanted Jesus to reinforce their religious orientation. I think Jesus rocked their world when he replied “He is blind so that the glory of God can be shown.” Jesus compassionately stopped, and gave the man his sight.
When I came to Christ, a supernatural outpouring of the Holy Spirit was rocking my religious world. I watched men and women become supernaturally whole, and our prayer meetings included casting out spirits from seekers and new Christians alike.
Wanting to capture the Uncapture-able, and understand the Infinite, it wasn’t long before, like the apostles, my preachers and friends tried to quantify God’s supernatural outpouring.
“All sickness is caused by the Devil and God wants you healed and in good health.” I was told.
“If you’re sick, it’s because there is sin or the devil in your life.” I heard.
Teachings were circulated on cassette tapes, pamphlets turned into books, and ministries sprouted up that promised to deliver me from sickness, poverty, rebelliousness, the common cold and toe nail fungus. But the proof was in the fruit. Before long these healing ministries, deliverance ministries, dream interpretation ministries and their books disappeared, often leaving bewildered well-intentioned believers in their wake.
When I pulled back from the attention grabbing ministries and read the gospels thoroughly I began to learn what Jesus was trying to teach his disciples through that blind man. Some of people Jesus healed he told to go and tell their friends. Some he told to tell no one. On some he showed gentleness and compassion, touching their eyes with his hands as he prayed. Others he warned “Now, go your way and sin no more so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” To Mary Magdalene Jesus said and did both. “Neither do I condemn you. Now go, and sin no more.”
Jesus miraculous power wasn’t intended to start doctrines. He connected people to the power of God that could change their lives. [click to tweet]
The disciples fell victim to the clichés of their time, as do we. They tried to control their world and their God by wrapping both in threadbare sheets of their limited understanding. They’d learned sin often caused terrible consequences; so they assumed that all bad consequences must be the result of sin. Jesus’ words were meant to correct their short sighted spiritual vision. Maybe we need to heed the same lesson, and move beyond Cliché Christianity.
Just let go, and Let God. Well, maybe that’s a good choice, but maybe God put you in a situation so you could work with him toward the solution, and without your input, the situation will never change.
Don’t ever make your needs known. Just pray. God will hear you. Well, maybe. But how many people came to Jesus and the disciples with their needs before Jesus responded?
Prayer changes things. Well, Maybe. But it could be that God wants to change you – and that nothing around you will change until he finishes his work in your heart.
Bad things in your life are the result of your sin, or the devil, or (worse) your sin opened the door for the devil. Well, it could be. But maybe I just made a stupid decision, and now I have to work out the consequences.
I’m saved by Grace. My behavior and lifestyle don’t matter. The good news is that we are forgiven and saved by God’s grace. Yet God expects that his great grace creates a visible life change (see Titus 2.11-13) A tree is known by its fruit, and without the fruit of a changed life, what does it say about the tree?
Everything that happens is for a reason. Well, Romans says that God works all things together for the good, for those that love him, and to those that continue to walk in his plans for them. (This promise is conditional.) But everything that happens isn’t good. A mother who loses a child in a premature birth or a teen ager who wraps a car around a tree because he was using a cell phone isn’t good. God can pull together the broken pieces for his glory. He will use events like these to draw us closer. Then again, maybe he’s using a situation to bring needed discipline into my life.
Here’s the point . . . when we resort to short-sighted, shallow Cliché Christianity, we try to throw a single ill-fitting solution at every problem. More times than not, this shallow Cliché’ Christianity misses God and his heart completely. We manufacture solutions that fit our conscience, and try to re-make God in our image.
Like the disciples, Cliché Christianity misses the opportunity to press into a deeper encounter with our sovereign, all-powerful God. [click to tweet]
Discipleship in a Post-Christian World
If you’re a Christ-follower, you’re called to communicate unchanging truth to a continually evolving world. This dynamic tension strains our ability to stay relevant. Yet Jesus’ final desire and command were for his followers to create disciples, and thus change the culture. Mark’s gospel says “Go into the world and preach to every creature, baptizing them. . .” (Mark 16.15) John recalls Jesus said “as the Father sent me, now I send you.” (John 20.21) Matthew fills out Jesus words. “Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them” (Matt 28.19-20)
What does discipleship look like place in today’s digital, live-streaming, instant world? According to Barna Research[1] the modern church has become increasingly irrelevant over the past few decades. We’ve spent time, money, resources and energy to look like the world around us, fill stadiums and conference centers, yet during the same time the results are lagging behind the effort. By most measurements, the church isn’t having life changing impact. America has taken on less of the image of Christ in the past 30 years. Maybe it’s time we take a page from Dr. Phil’s playbook, and ask, “How is that working for you?”
The proof of discipleship is a person transformed into the image of Christ. I’m not talking about perfection, but I am describing someone who is more concerned and caught up by his God’s priorities than those of his culture. Discipleship takes time, effort, love, prayer, and a commitment to walk with another person until you see Christ formed in them. Without discipleship, Christian “raise your hand and say a prayer” converts remain culturally connected the world outside of Christ. The new life that started out with great hope and expectation tragically fades, like a seed planted in shallow soil, withered and dry.
Discipleship isn’t simple. But If we are to be the church, be the salt that keeps the world from decaying, be a light set on a hill for all to see, discipleship demands a personal investment, and change our approach. We, God’s people, have to forsake building programs, buildings and traditions and commit ourselves to changing lives by truth of God’s Word and power of his Holy Spirit.
Here are 5 Steps that close the loop.
- Win: When Jesus called Peter, James and John to leave their boats, their journey was just beginning. Salvation, getting saved, praying a sinner’s prayer, coming forward to an altar call, making a profession of faith, is just a beginning. (1 Cor. 9.19-22, Jude 22-23
- Build: A newly born Christ-follower will learn how to follow Him by following you. Babies are fed with milk, mush and then meat. Creating disciples requires walking alongside new believers, for 6 months, a year or longer, and teach them to walk with Christ. (Philippians 4.6-9, 1 Thess. 5.11ff)
- Equip: Each and every Christian can, and must learn to feed themselves daily. Then we learn the power, and reach toward our potential in God’s kingdom. (2 Tim. 2.2, 2 Peter 1.3-8, Eph 4.8, 11-15)
- Release: The Discipleship cycle completes when the new Christ-follower engages, giving of his life, gifts, resources and time to the life of the church and others. Jesus didn’t come to convert the world. He came to draw attention to his Father, establish a new way to get to his Father, and to change the lives of 12 men. Today’s disciples are called to the same work. (Luke 10.1-18)
- Duplicate: Start the process again, this time two people work to build the kingdom.
2 Cor. 5.17-20
Win: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation,
Build: Old things have passed away, behold, all things are become new
Equip: And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
Release: To know, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself . . . and has committed unto us the world of reconciliation.
Duplicate: Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ.
[1] Taken from: “Survey Reveals the Life Christians Desire” www.barna.org, July 21, 2008, Retrieved Sept 13, 2008
Find your Path to Publishing Success
At a recent writing conference, I overheard a few new writers lamenting the new reality of the publishing marketplace. With the shift from traditional publishers to self publishing, and the abundance of tools available to the author who is committed to their own marketing, traditional publishers are accepting fewer new book manuscripts. Many of them are focusing only on their established authors, which from the surface, makes it appear that new authors will have a more difficult time getting published.
Your Day Job Can Help You Write
Many aspiring writers long for the day they can write full time. I have to confess, that’s one of my dreams, and after 12 years of building a writing career, I am getting close. As the fall colors fill the trees here in Northern Michigan, I’m looking ahead and beginning to lay financial projections for next year. Even though Jesus sent his disciples out two by two, without a spare coat or coin purse, he also applauded wise stewards who looked ahead, and layed plans on how to care for themselves and their homes. Apparently “There is a place for every season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” So what does it take to write full time, and how can a day job actually help you stay focused on your dreams.
13 Ways to Improve your Writing
Guest Blogger: Chad R. Allen (Editorial Director, Baker Books)
We’ve all been there. You start reading a non-fiction book or a blog, and all is right with the world. But then as you get into it, something changes. It’s not holding your attention. In fact, the word “boring” comes to mind.
One way to reduce boredom among your readers is to write with a sense of urgency. After all, if what you’re saying is not important, why write it?
As I read your blog post or non-fiction book, I want to know that you want my attention. I want your writing to be like hands on my shoulders as you look me in the eyes and speak. It’s about taking my time seriously. It’s about believing what you say matters.
Isolation in the Digital Generation
What happened to the Christian culture which formerly described mainstream America? Social commentators and pastors agree that we live in a post-Christian culture. But what caused the soil of American culture to stop sprouting Christian influence and proliferate with weeds which have overgrown American religious and cultural heritage?
Like sowing good seed and brambles at the same time, a number of events contributed to a slow directional shift of American culture. One of the first, (which I personally believe is the most significant) was the 1963 Supreme Court’s decision banning prayer from public schools. Within a few years, a quagmired war, an explosion of drug use, and a disconnected subculture emerged on the American home front. Families fragmented under the strain, and the cultural shift was increased by liberalized divorce policies and inner city race riots which sprouted like the biblical “tares among the wheat.” More than temporary events, these forces squeezed American culture like Playdoh through a Fun Factory. By the turn of the century, we weren’t too sure how we got here, but we knew “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”
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