New Year's Eve, 2011 - A Resolution?

As I sit here contemplating the beginning of another year, my mind turns to a tradition that I first learned of in Grade 1 called the "New Year's Resolution."  I had never heard of this before, it was totally new to me as a 6-year-old, and I wondered why my parents didn't tell me about it.  Everyone in my class seemed to know about it, why didn't I?


Well, it turns out there are two groups of people.  (Isn't there always two groups of people?  The category you want to talk about, and then everybody else.)  There are people that make resolutions, and there are people that don't.  However, which category has less stress?  The people that don't bother to worry about stuff like that or the people that have their conscience hounded by spoken or written words?


I actually figured it out.  I'm proud to say that every year since I was 6, I have made one resolution and have kept it every year since then.  So what is this great resolution you ask?


It's very simple.  I resolve that I will make no resolutions other than this one - not to make any New Years Resolutions.  And you know what?  I'm a lot happier... ;)

Happy New Year, everybody!  Keep smiling!
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"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
-John 8:32 (NASB)

Discipleship 101 - Corporate Implications for the Disciple

We come to the point in our consideration of the practice of the original group of believers in the book of Acts. If you will recall, in the first article entitled "Discipleship 101 - What is discipleship anyway," I stated that the practices listed in Acts 2:42 could be best described with the phrase "they continued steadfastly." I would like to point out that this was not a solo effort. THEY continued steadfastly. It is without doubt that they practised these things as individuals as discussed in the other articles here. So why did they need to practice them together?



People make much out of how they don't "go to church," because of the problems they see in organized religion. I wholeheartedly agree with their analysis. However, I am not speaking of an organized religion, or a dead system of rules for behaviour. I am referring to an organic relationship with the "Ecclesia," the Greek word used in the New Testament for the Church, the Body of Christ.


The word Ecclesia has its beginnings about 1500 BC in Athens, and is a reference to their political gathering in the Acropolis. If you weren't aware, the Athenians practiced direct democracy, where everyone had a voice and everyone had a vote on the issues of the day that were of importance to their city-state. The English word "Church" does NOT originate from the word Ecclesia, but rather the Greek word Kuriakon, meaning "dedicated to the Lord." By either word in Greek, the concept of the Church as a building is glaringly absent. The Church is the collective gathering of those that Jesus has saved from the world, not the place they gather together. One has well said that the Church is not the building, but the people in it. The clear implication here is that the Church is a place of relationship, not rules.


The original group of about 3000 believers that were saved out of the world that first day the good news of Jesus was proclaimed abroad didn't have a building to go to, but a budding relationship with their risen Lord. It was a natural extension of their personal practice to come together and practice these things corporately as well. THEY continued steadfastly. Together. As the very BODY of the risen Christ. And like a body, the different members needed each other to grow.


I have spoken over many years to people that think they don't need to "go to church" to be a Christian. Although they are correct, they are missing out on the very mechanism that God has provided to bring us to maturity in Christ. I once heard a fellow say that "Going to Church makes you a Christian about as much as going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger." He is right! Faith in Jesus, God made flesh to die for our sins and set us free from sin's power makes us Christians. However, if we're talking about growth, the Ecclesia is the place that happens. It has been well said that "no one is an island."


In fact, I read posts and emails from and speak with Christians who struggle with sin in their lives, who are depressed all the time, and have no prayer life to speak of, don't read the word, don't worship, don't fellowship with God on a daily basis. When I ask them where they attend regular worship, they say "nowhere." It is no mystery to me that they have no real maturity as Christians, absent from others who could help them in their walks with Christ just by being there together with them. Why is that? Why do we need the corporate gathering of ourselves?


The very first reason (and I suspect this is what people are trying to escape naturally) is that it gives an accountability to your walk with Christ. It is very easy to claim Christianity as your banner if there is no one to tell you what that means. There is no context for your behaviour, and no one to challenge you if you are going astray. And it is our fallen nature to go astray...even the Apostle Paul, arguably the greatest disciple of the first century, siad that of himself.


The second reason (and people also run from this, they feel vulnerable) is that you actually have other people in relationship that are going in the same direction. It says in Ecclesiastes that where one falls, another will pick them up, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. We need others to relate to, and we need them constantly. If we don't have them, we go astray (again, see the life of the Apostle Paul).


Individual practice is the basis for corporate exercise. We need to be in a strong place of fellowship where they practice the study of the Word, Fellowship with god and with each other, Worship of God collectively, and Corporate Prayer.


As always, if you have questions, please message me.


Gerry Brinkman
Administrator
The Christian Disciple

Original article here:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Christian-Disciple/241608885901471?sk=notes#!/notes/the-christian-disciple/discipleship-101-corporate-implications-for-the-disciple/267027620026264

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"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
-John 8:32 (NASB)

Tribute to my Dad, Gord (1943-2011)

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
-John 8:32 (NASB)

Discipleship 101 - Prayer

As we come to the final practice of the original church listed in our Key text of Acts 2:42, we should also bear in mind that this also has individual and corporate applications. It is a very big subject with varied opinions on what constitutes prayer. My attempt here is to show what the Word of God says about the practice.

At it's most basic level, Prayer is communication with God. It is not accomplished through some intermediary but is direct with God Himself personally. According to Easton's Bible Commentary, it "presupposes a belief in the personality of God, his ability and willingness to hold intercourse with us, his personal control of all things and of all his creatures and all their actions."

Prayer may be verbal and spoken (as Jesus did in John 17, for example), or it may be silent (as described by the Psalmist David in Psalm 5:1 when he says "consider my groanings" and like passages). It may express joy and worship, or it may express grief and sadness. Overall, it is the way we communicate with God.

The Lord Jesus gave us a great pattern prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 when asked by the discples how to pray. Jesus said, "Pray then in this way: Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.] (The part in brackets does not occur in some manuscripts, and it is not my intention to discuss whether it was part of the original prayer, I include it for completeness.) What can we notice about this prayer?

First, our address is to our Heavenly Father, the source of everything. He is our creator, and He is our provider. Our address is to the King of the Universe. Second, it declares the holiness of God, which is a part of worshipping Him. We should always approach God in reverence. Third, it implores God to do His will on Earth as it is done in Heaven. Prayer should always be given in the context that God is God and he can do whatever He feels is best. Fourth, we ask for our daily provision. Fifth, we ask for forgiveness with the caveat that we are walking in His example of forgiveness. (Remember, Jesus forgave His crucifiers from the cross.) Sixth, we ask for protection from the enemy of our souls. Finally, we close with more worship. This is the Lord's great pattern prayer, not to be memorized and recited mindlessly, but instead a pattern to be followed as we communicate with God.

But why pray at all?

Matthew 21:22 says "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." John 16:24 gives us another secret - "Until now, you have asked nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full." Jesus Himself says that as we pray in His name and authority, God will answer those requests. There are three answers I have encountered over the years - yes, no, and wait. A positive answer needs no explanation, for God has fulfilled the request. An answer of "not yet" is harder to take, but God is not restricted by our timetable or agenda, and so grants these things at the perfect time. The answer of "no" is the hardest to understand.


When God answers "no" to a request, it is for one of two reasons. The first of those is because it is not the best for us. "Oh God," one once prayed, "let me be a rich person so that I may serve you better." What the person did not understand is that great wealth would have harmed them more. The second reason God does not answer prayer is selfish sin. James 4:3 says "You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." 1 John 3:22 says "and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. [Emphasis added.] We need to give consideration to our motives in asking, and that we are walking with Christ.

This most cursory examinations on the practice of prayer in the Bible is by no means complete. I recommend books written by E. M Bounds around the end of the US Civil war or a more recent book by Paul E. Billheimer called Destined to Overcome for the serious seeker.

As always, contact me if you have questions!


The original article is posted here:  http://www.facebook.com/JesusChrist.Savior#!/notes/the-christian-disciple/discipleship-101-prayer/260241137371579


Gerry Brinkman
Administrator
The Christian Disciple

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"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
-John 8:32 (NASB)

Discipleship 101 - Breaking Bread - Worship

In our consideration of the practices of the very first group of Christian converts, we come to what our key text of Acts 2:42 calls "the breaking of bread." As before, there are both individual and corporate considerations, but in this article, I will restrict myself to the individual exercise.

The breaking of bread is a specific ordinance of Christian worship that was practiced by the very first group of Christian converts (Acts 2:42). It involved the sharing of bread, symbolic of the body of Christ, offered up as a an atoning sacrifice on behalf of all fo us, and wine, symbolic of the new agreement between God and man, sealed by the blood Jesus shed at Calvary.


Worship in this context is the celebration of the work God has done for us through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus on the cross of Calvary. In an individual exercise of this, what this means is the remembering what Jesus has done for us. I find it helpful to consider the events described in the Gospel of John. John 1 tells us that He created us. John 3 tells us that He loved us so much that He became one of us. John 18 tells us that He was arrested out of political and religious jealosy. In John 19 He was whipped and killed. But in John 20, Jesus miraculously rises from the grave, showing that He had not only paid the price for all sins through all time, but that He had also set us free from the power of sin in our lives. The direct implication is that we can now choose not to be the way we were, and we can choose not to do all the things we kick ourselves for the next day. That is what we call to mind when we worship God. We should be doing this daily.


We cannot get beyond what God has done for us through the gift of the Cross. It was no easy thing that Jesus did there, and it cost Him His life. We must remember that He did this for US. It was our sins for which He paid the price. It was the power of sin in OUR lives that He broke. When we see this fact of history, and realize the importance it has for US, it makes us thankful, not only for what He has done, but simply for who He is, because He was willing to set aside His own glory and place in Heaven and become one of us simply to die the most painful death imaginable to reconcile our accounts to God. When my own heart sees this, it makes me worship Him even more.


Thanksgiving and praise for who God is and what he has done helps to keep us focused oh Christ, the centre of our faith and life in God. By exercising our hearts in this fashion, we walk with God the way a Christian disciple should.


As always, contact me with your questions.

The original article is posted here:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Christian-Disciple/241608885901471?sk=notes#!/note.php?note_id=259059797489713


Gerry Brinkman
Administrator
The Christian Disciple

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"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
-John 8:32 (NASB)

Discipleship 101 - Fellowship (individual)

As we continue to examine the Christian lifestyle adopted by the very first group of Christian converts, we come to the consideration of individual fellowship with God. God has called us out of death and into life, and into fellowship with himself. But what does that mean?


The Greek word for fellowship here is the word koinonia (koy-nohn-ee'-ah), and it is defined in Strong's Concordance as partnership, that is, (literally) participation, or (social) intercourse, or (pecuniary) benefaction: - (to) communicate (-ation), communion, (contri-), distribution, fellowship. This has some amazing implications!




The very first implication is that God would even want fellowship with us. Yet He has called us into participation with Him in the affairs of life. This call is for everyone! John 3:16 says that "God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." That participation we consider is a call to be with God for eternity, living with vitality and purpose! And we can begin that participation in this present day. So how do we do that? How do we participate in God's abundant life?




What we must realize is that for the Christian, those who have accepted God's invitation to this fellowship, our life has been exchanged for His. Romans 6:6-11 says "knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." He has traded our paltry lives for His glorious and abundant life! But how do we participate in that?




We must continually yield from our old ways and live in His newness of life. Pray something like "God, I yield my old nature to You. Please fill me with that vital life of your Son, Jesus and let me live in His new life." For some things, this can be minute to minute yielding just to get through the moment. For others, once is enough. In this way, we participate in His life and maintain unbroken fellowship with God. As God lets us experience temptation and trial, we can resist our old nature and walk in His newness of life.




As always, feel free to drop me a line if you have questions. :)



 
Original facebook post here:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Christian-Disciple/241608885901471?sk=notes#!/note.php?note_id=258448620884164

 
Gerry Brinkman
Administrator
The Christian Disciple


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"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
-John 8:32 (NASB)