Grace

“The universe operates by Karma, we all know that.  For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction.  There is some atonement built in: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.  Then enters Grace and turns that upside down.  I love it.  I’m not talking about people being graceful in their actions but just covering over the cracks.  Christ’s ministry really was a lot to do with pointing out how everybody is a screw-up in some shape or form, there’s no way around it.  But then He was to say, well, I am going to deal with those sins for you.  I will take on Myself all the consequences of sin.  Even if you’re not religious I think you’d accept that there are consequences to all the mistakes we make.  And so Grace enters the picture to say, ‘I’ll take the blame, I’ll carry your cross.’  It is a powerful idea.  Grace interrupting Karma.”

Bono, in U2 by U2 (London, 2006), page 300.

Grace is a post from: Ray Ortlund

Parenting Tip – Be Boring

Don’t overentertain your kids, because…

…boredom is necessary for a child’s development, and will eventually spark a mental state known as “daydreaming.”

(HT: Abraham Piper)

How Jesus Makes Disciples

From The Resurgence:

In Matthew 28, Jesus told his disciples to make disciples of all nations, and his methods of teaching gave them incredibly powerful tools to execute the vision. This series of reflections based on the book of John shows that Jesus is the model for our own discipling and we should look to him, learn from him, and seek to be like him in our ministry.

Posts in this series:

1. Hospitality
2. Mission
3. Emotion
4. Monologue & Dialogue
5. Stupid Questions
6. The Heart
7. Testing
8. Object Lessons
9. Discomfort
10. Sending & Praying
11. Pointing to the Father
12. Pointing to the Spirit
13. Dying
14. Jesus Equips
15. Jesus’ Teaching Methods

You Won’t Follow Jesus…

As we sort out the details of how our church makes disciples – equips people to live as missionaries in community empowered by the gospel, one thing that I will hammer home incessantly is that you must take ownership of your own discipleship.

You will not follow Jesus if all you do is wait for someone else to tell you what to do.

And here’s why – from Seth Godin:

People are just begging to be told what to do. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I think the biggest one is: “If you tell me what to do, the responsibility for the outcome is yours, not mine. I’m safe.”

One way to translate this – you will not think that mission, community and gospel are indispensable if you think that me or anyone else is responsible for how well you follow Jesus.

So let’s work together – you take responsibility for how you follow Jesus and we’ll teach and train and coach you how to follow your dreams.

Stories – When God Shows Up As A Wal-Mart Gift Card

This is from Erin Basinger, a UGA grad student who’s been hanging out with us at Christ Church since last fall:

I live on the salary of a graduate teaching assistant, which I can tell you isn’t much. I budget every penny each month. I have even justified not tithing some months because I’ve been so strapped for money. Last week, I wrote a check for 12.5% of my paycheck for the month, which I knew was going to be more than a sacrifice…it meant that I would have to trust the Lord for money that I no longer have in my bank account but still need to pay the bills. Today, I received a $100 Wal-Mart gift card from an address in Birmingham that I don’t recognize with no name by the address. Only my family knows that this is something I’m doing, so I don’t have any idea where the money came from, but I’m praising the Lord for it, knowing that when I stepped out in faith, he reached out and caught me.

When we’re in need, He shows up. Every time.

Change Is Inevitable – How Leaders Lead When the Inevitable Arrives

From Seth Godin – when change happens, leaders:

Comfort the frightened, coach the clueless and teach the uninformed.

Read the rest here.

Means and Ends – Why Christ Church Really Exists

So the post beneath this one isn’t entirely true – Christ Church does exist to make disciples by equipping people to live as missionaries in community empowered by the gospel.

But…

Discipleship is not the goal of our existence, simply the means. We’re here to do discipleship but there’s a reason why we want to teach and train and coach people to follow Jesus.

Think about it this way – take discipleship and lay Romans 11:36 on top of it. Now read it back to me:

[Discipleship is] is from God and through God and to God. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Discipleship matters because it declares and displays an all-satisfying, infinitely valuable God.

We follow Jesus for the glory of Jesus.

Keep It Simple – Why Christ Church Exists

Let’s keep it simple: this gathering of people called the church exists to make disciples for the glory of Jesus.

We’ll know that we’re making disciples when people live out God’s mission, building their lives around each other and relying on God’s power to work in them and through them.

More On Anxiety

From Justin Taylor:

In my opinion, the most biblically practical of all of John Piper’s books may be one of his least known: Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure.

He defines “anxiety” as “the loss of confident security in God owing to feelings of uneasiness or foreboding that something harmful is going to happen.”

Here’s an outline of verses that can be used as weapons to combat the lies and false promises of the Evil One in contrast to believing the great promises of God:

Battling Anxiety in General

Lamentations 3:22-23; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Deuteronomy 33:25; Psalm 56:3; 1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:6-7

Battling Anxiety About Being Useless

1 Corinthians 15:58; Isaiah 55:9-11

Battling Anxiety about Feeling Weak

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Battling Anxiety about Difficult Decisions

Psalm 32:8; Psalm 25:8-9

Battling Anxiety about Opponents

Romans 8:31

Battling Anxiety about Afflictions

Psalm 34:19; Romans 5:3-5

Battling Anxiety about Aging

Isaiah 46:3-4

Battling Anxiety about Not Persevering to the End in Faith

Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 7:25; Jeremiah 32:40

Battling Anxiety about Death

Romans 14:7-9

Preparing for Sunday’s Gathering

We wrapped up the Money series last week (still blown away by the response and can’t wait to see what God creates in us and through us over the next few weeks, months, years, decades…) and we don’t start the Love and Marriage series until next Sunday.

So…

I’m going to teach on a fairly well-known text that I’ve never taught before.

And you won’t ever read this text the same way again.

Which means that your mind is going to be blown, your heart is going to melt and your life is going to change.

Matthew 28:16-20.

Read it. Journal about it. Pray over it. Invite friends to come with you on Sunday as we experience it together.