Mature Love For God

Right now I'm reading through Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. One interesting concept that I've been reading about is his take on loving God. He deals with the dilemma we all face about basing our love for God or our spouse or others on our feelings. Regarding love for God he says,

"They [people] are told they ought to love God. They cannot find any such feeling in themselves. What are they to do? The answer is the same as before. Act as if you did. Do not sit trying to manufacture feelings. Ask yourself, 'If I were sure I loved God, what would I do?' When you have found the answer, go and do it... Nobody can always have devout feelings: and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about. Christian Love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will... He will give us feelings of love if he pleases. We cannot create them ourselves, and we must not demand them as a right."

Sometimes I think we (myself included) are inclined to love God or worship God or pray to God only when we have strong feelings of love toward him. If that is the only time we pursue God (i.e. when we feel like it) it proves that our love is fickle and immature.

I thank God for the times when I feel intense love for him and my heart is awakened by revelation. At the same time though my love for God cannot be dependent on my feelings. Lewis alludes to the fact that feelings come and go and cannot be manufactured. They are also not principally what God cares about.

In the same way that a husband and wife's love matures and is strengthened through time and testing, so our love for God is refined and purified through spiritual drought seasons. That is, when we feel no love for God, the resolve of our will to love him anyway strengthens and matures our love for him. In the same way that a marriage cannot be built on a feeling, so our relationship with God cannot be built on our feelings.

As a side note, though our love for God is immature it does not mean that God does not regard it as real and genuine. This side of eternity we will all be growing in our love for God and none of us will ever perfectly arrive. His love for us never changes and is not dependent on our performance.

So how can we mature in our love for God?

I can think of at least three things, there are probably more, but basically:

1. We must realize that love is not a feeling, but rather a resolve of the will.
2. We must realize that feelings of love will come and go.
3. When the feelings are gone (and this will happen) we must resolve to love God for who he is and what he has done not because of what he can do for us or how we feel.

In this way, as our love for God is tested through seasons of suffering or drought, our love for God becomes more and more mature. The cool thing about God's grace is that when we choose to love him regardless of how we feel, he tends to bless us with feelings of love more often. The old principle is true: Faith does not follow feelings, feelings follow faith.

Any thoughts on this?

Strength

This is a sermon I gave two Sundays ago. Based on Ephesians 3:14-19, it focuses on God's desire and ability to strengthen us in our innermost being.

Pastor's Roundtable Day 2

This conference has been very insightful and encouraging. There's something powerful about a bunch of pastors getting together to seek God and encourage one another. It has also been an awesome time of reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. Nick Poole took some good notes from Jeff Leake's talk today about being Pentecostal and Missional. You can check them out here.

Back Home!

Finally back home. Sorry I haven't been able to post for a while. Missouri was amazing. Springfield will always have a special place in my heart. Today I've been attending the 3rd annual Pastor's Roundtable at Allison Park Church. You can find more info on that here and here.

This afternoon I had the privilege of officiating the funeral for Jordan Slicker. Jordan was a mentally handicapped foster child that was in the care of my mom and dad. Jordan's life has touched so many people. It was an honor to officiate his funeral.

Off To Springfield

Jess and I are now sitting at the Pittsburgh airport awaiting our flight to St. Louis, MO. Having just eaten at the airport TGI Friday's and currently sipping a cup of Mayagora Coffee, we are ready to roll.

From St. Louis we're going to rent a car and drive to Springfield where I will be a groomsman in the wedding of one of my best friend's.

I'm already walking down memory lane just thinking of Springfield. It was there I went to college, met my wife, learned lots of life lessons, drove a FedEx truck, got lost caving, started seminary, helped out at this church, and this church, just to name a few things.

It's gonna be a sweet trip!

Planning Meeting

Just finished a planning meeting for our August outreach event CityReach '07. Some meetings can tend to be a little draining, but this one was very energizing. Last year's CityReach was a huge success where we saw over 30 people give their lives to Christ and baptized 9 on a subsequent week. I'm believing for even greater things this year!

City Reach is going to take place August 14-17 here at ACC. Tuesday-Thursday there will be special services for adults and VBS for all children with free food following. Friday night we will have our Back-to-School Block Party behind the church on Melrose Ave. We will have food, games, and backpacks with school supplies to give away. It's going to be an amazing time of sharing Christ's love with our community.

Here's a couple sepia pics from City Reach last year:

Recording Plug

I just wanted to give a small plug regarding my brother Dave's upcoming music album. Dave is a gifted musician and serves as a worship leader at APC. This week Dave is in Minneapolis doing some more recording work. He has graciously let me hear some pre-cuts of several of his tracks and believe me, they are amazing! I'm definitely a very proud brother! Dave's heart and passion for God show through in every part of his life and the music he writes is no exception. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do through Dave's life and ministry through music!

Maximizing Our Joy In God

Had this thought the other day:

True joy does not come from filling ourselves with what we think we want, but rather from God filling us with what he knows we need.

I find that I am happiest when I'm not looking out for #1. That is, I tend to be most fulfilled in life when I'm not focused on pleasing myself, but rather serving and giving to others. In essence, when I am not focused on bringing personal happiness to myself, I am free to experience the joy of blessing others.

God knows what will satisfy and fulfill us infinitely better than we could ever know ourselves. So, when we choose to live for him and according to his purposes for our lives, we find that we are the most fulfilled. That's why God says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." When God is the supreme delight and joy of our lives, we will live in such a way as to bring him maximum glory and praise through our lives.

It is as we live in this way that we are satisfied with him above all things. We find ourselves living for something far bigger than ourselves. We are free from obsessing about our own little world and how we can maximize our own pleasure.

We are free to give our lives to a cause that greater than any other in the universe: Making disciples of all nations and leading people into their own personal saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Only when Jesus becomes the supreme joy of our lives will leading people to him become our source of greatest joy. Until we love him more than anything, we will only focus on how to please ourselves. When we love him with all of our hearts, nothing will give us greater joy than glorifying him than giving our lives to his mission in the earth.

The pleasure we gain from glorifying God is infinitely greater than merely living to make much of our own personal ends. It is a terrible deception to think that ultimate joy comes from seeking to please ourselves.

Eph 3:14-19 and Biblical Theology

The following is an excerpt from a project I'm working on for this Greek New Testament class. It links Ephesians 3:14-19 with a biblical theology of prayer.

Eph 3:14-19

"14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:14-19 contributes richly to biblical theology. Due to space we will only note its contribution in the area of prayer. Intercessory prayer is a scriptural theme spanning both covenants. The earliest recorded intercessory prayer is found in Gen. 18:22-33 where Abraham intercedes for the city of Sodom. God was about to release his judgment upon the city for its wickedness when Abraham proceeded to pray that it might be spared for the sake of fifty righteous people. He proceeded to pray that God might spare the city for the sake of less and less righteous people finally stopping at ten. In this Abraham saw that God hears and responds to the prayers of his people. In Ex 33:12-17 Moses prays that God would go with them into the promised land. In this case God responds in vv. 17 “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” In this we see that God responds to prayer. The prophet Daniel interceded for his nation in Dan 9:3-19 where he confesses their sins and prays “let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem…” (9:16). The response to this prayer is the appearance of the angel Gabriel who tells him in 9:23, “At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved”. Here again, God brought an answer to a righteous man’s prayer. These examples of intercessory prayer all happened before the coming of Christ. These all took place under the old covenant. All of these prayers were prayed by men righteous in the eyes of God and all appealed to the loving, merciful, benevolent nature of God as they understood him to be.

When Christ came, he himself taught and modeled effective prayer. He taught that prayer should be addressed to the Father (Matt 6:5-13; Luke 11:2). He taught that the Father desires to give good things to them that ask, seek, and knock (Matt 7:7-11; Luke 11:5-13). He taught them the parable of the persistent widow “to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1-8). Jesus also demonstrated a specific prayer with special relevance to Ephesians 3:14-19. In John 17 he prays that his disciples and all future believers may have an experiential understanding of his love and his presence within them. He says, “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me…that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (17:23; 26b italics mine). Paul’s prayer in Eph 3:14-19 is in perfect harmony with Jesus’ own high priestly prayer.

In short, Eph 3:14-19 contributes richly to Paul’s own theology of prayer and the love of God. He prayed for the salvation of Israel (Rom 10:1). He wrote to the Corinthians that they might help him, “by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many” (2 Cor 1:11). Eph 3:14-19 also resonates with his earlier prayer for power in Eph 1:16-21. He encourages the Philippians to make their requests known to God (Phil 4:6). He urges the Colossians to continue steadfastly in prayer (Col 4:2). He urges prayer and intercession for all people (1 Tim 2:1).

One final relevant text is Jude 20-21a, “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God”. Here as in Eph 3:14-19 is made mention of the idea of building up or strengthening (e˙poikodomouvnteß) and also the Holy Spirit and the love of God.

Preaching Posts

I'm enjoying Craig Groeschel's current posts on preaching. They are answers to questions he invited a while ago about preaching. They are helpful to anyone with a preaching ministry or involved in large group communication.

Wisdom of the Aged

I was reading in my bible this morning from 1 Kings 12. This comes right after Solomon's heart turns from the Lord to the foreign gods of his many (700!) wives. Chapter 12 v.1-11 is all about his son Rehoboam's stupidity.

After Solomon dies, the people of Israel talk with Rehoboam and ask him to not be as harsh as on them as his father was. So it says in v.6 "Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, 'How do you advise me to answer this people?' And they said to him, 'If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever'."

Sounds pretty good to me. Rehoboam however didn't seem to think so. v.8 says, "But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him"

Long story short, his friends tell him to be more harsh on the people than Solomon was. Instead of listening to the counsel of those who were older and wiser than he was, he opted for the advice of the kids he grew up with. At that point, the kingdom divided and all but the tribe of Judah turned against him. They even stoned the guy who Rehoboam sent to implement the forced labor (v.18).

Moral of the story?

We should never disregard the counsel of those who are older and wiser than us. Proverbs 13:20 says, "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm."

They might not always be right, but more often than not they will be. I forget who said, Those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it. The trusted men and women of God who are older and wiser than us have a lot more history under their belt than we do. We would do well to welcome their counsel.

Greekwork

This week I'm finishing up some research assignments for a class I took in the Spring called Greek New Testament. The projects are tough because they require strenuous thinking. The first assignment is an analysis of Ephesians 3:14-19. In Greek it looks like this this. The other assignment is a set of notes analyzing the grammar of every passage studied throughout the entire course.

Needless to say, my brain is hurting right about now :)

Spiritual Awakening 3

We capped off our Spiritual Awakening services on Sunday morning at 10:00. The service was amazing from start to finish. There was a very noticeable sense of God's presence. We also praise God for a record attendance on a Sunday morning!

Daniel again shared a powerful message on bearing fruit for God. As long as we remain connected to Jesus, our Source of life, we will bear much fruit for his glory. Several responded to the invitation for salvation!

The entire church is just filled with positive energy and an uplifting spirit. I'm so blessed to be able to minister every week with people so eager to pursue God and live for his kingdom!

This weekend has been very uplifting and encouraging to me personally. There's something about teaming up with another passionate minister and friend to contend for spiritual breakthroughs in people's lives. I know that there are many people who will never be the same again. Praise God that he uses weak and broken people like us to accomplish his eternal purposes!

Spiritual Awakening 2

Another great night in the presence of God! Daniel spoke on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit from Matthew 3:11-12. He talked about two purposes of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The first is empowerment and the second is purification.

We had a really good, intense time of prayer around the altar. I just love spending time in corporate prayer. God is always faithful to make himself known to us when we pursue him with all of our heart.

Spiritual Awakening 1

Wow is the only way I can describe our service tonight. We were blessed to have my brother David Santistevan lead us powerfully in worship. There was a great sense of expectancy in God's presence.

Daniel brought a very specific word from the Lord in his message. He preached on the subject of condemnation from John 8:1-11. This is the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. The Jews and Pharisees were seeking to stone her and to see if Jesus would contradict the law of Moses.

The main point of the story is that there is no condemnation in the presence of Jesus. Jesus did not condemn the woman, yet he told her to leave her life of sin. Daniel encouraged us to live free of condemnation and to refuse to listen to voices of accusation.

The altar time was a powerful time of pressing in to God's presence. There was no doubt that God was moving in people's lives. God is so good!

Welcome To PA

Just picked up my friend Daniel Day at the airport. This is his very first time in PA. Daniel is one of my very best friends and has a strong calling from God upon his life. I haven't seen him for a year and its awesome to finally get to hang out again. Daniel will be our guest speaker for our Spiritual Awakening Services this weekend. They will be Friday and Saturday night at 7pm and Sunday morning at 10am. It's going to be great.

Experiential Faith

The anticipation is continuing to build as the countdown to our Spiritual Awakening Services is down to two days. As I mentioned in a previous post, all of my life-defining moments have come from times where I was immersed in the presence of God. This weekend I'm praying and believing for life-defining moments in people's lives. I'm praying that God would change lives forever.

Our faith is intended by God to be experiential. Think about it, the Scriptures are full of men and women who had real experiences with the living God. It's impossible to read the Bible and come away denying the fact that God wants us to experience his presence.

It's in God's presence that we're reminded of how great he is and how small we are. It's in that place of intimacy with him that we experience "fullness of joy" and are changed forever.

I'm reminded of what A.W. Tozer says in The Pursuit of God,

For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.

I'm praying that this weekend God will reveal himself in powerful ways. That everyone who comes in will experience the life-transforming power of his love and grace and never be the same again!

Finished Product

It's amazing to see how far a little carpeting goes in improving the look, feel, and atmosphere of an entire room. The new carpeting was finished late Saturday afternoon and it looks amazing! (and it smells a lot better too:) It really feels a lot more comfortable and inviting.

I can't think of a better way of christening the new room than by our upcoming Spiritual Awakening Services this weekend. It's going to be an awesome time of devoting everything to God and his kingdom.

Here are some pictures of our new sanctuary and cafe area. God is so good!

Preach To Yourself

Recently I've been reminded about an important principle. We need to preach truth to ourselves. There are times when life has a way of stealing our joy, getting us down, and moving us off target. Sometimes we feel condemnation for a certain failure or discouragement from adverse circumstances. In times like these we must rise up and whip ourselves into shape.

Part of growing in spiritual maturity is taking ownership of our relationship with God. It is important that we take personal responsibility for our spiritual growth. There will be times when it won't be easy, when we don't feel spiritual, when we are empty. In these times, we need to rise up and preach truth to ourselves and bring our wandering hearts and minds back into alignment with God's Word.

In the military there are drill sergeants. If you're slacking as a soldier, you can be sure your drill sergeant will let you know about it! Unfortunately in the Christian life we don't always have someone there to push us forward. Therefore we must be the ones who push ourselves forward. Consider what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

It is so easy to live aimlessly these days. There's not only the danger of discouragement but the temptation to medicate our discouragement by overdosing on entertainment. There's nothing wrong with entertainment in itself, but when it becomes the thing we turn to in times of trouble we have begun to live aimlessly. Paul's words speak to us because they say that in order to live a life of significance, we must discipline ourselves.

Here's what King David did in 1 Samuel 30:6 when he faced overwhelming discouragement. "And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God."

So how do you preach to yourself?

Well, whenever you find yourself depressed, discouraged, broken, hurt, and lonely, bring your mind and heart into alignment with Scripture. Find verses that combat the particular struggle you are facing. For instance, if you are feeling condemnation preach to yourself the truth of Romans 8:1-2: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death."

Simply preach that truth to yourself over and over. I personally find it helpful to pace around the room as I do this. Chances are you won't feel like you are free from the law of sin and death, but if you are a Christian you are free at the core of your being and you just need to bring your mind and heart into alignment with that truth. This process can be applied to every circumstance, dilemma, trial, tragedy, and attack we might face.

Hope this helps. Happy preaching :)