Lay Down in Peace — the full version

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Carl Simmons

We can get so worked up whenever someone criticizes God or Christians. We want to run to God’s defense—or honestly, much of the time, our own—and say just the right thing that will shut that other person up (in love, of course). But God can defend Himself far better than we can. We are called to stand and deliver, then take what comes, just as Jesus did.

Let’s consider that for a few more moments. Take off the table the idea that Jesus was the Son of God—that Jesus is God. Look, for a few moments, purely at the human Jesus in the gospels. Look at how much He loved God, and how He presented the Kingdom of God and defended it—including, very often, from those who claimed to speak for God and clearly did not. Notice also how he spoke to those who truly desired to know God but got it wrong—a lot. Here was someone who actually knew the right answers. How do you think Jesus felt during when he was assaulted verbally—and later physically—by those who didn’t want to hear those answers?

But how did He respond? Certainly there are examples of anger—pretty much reserved for those who insisted they could represent God better than Jesus could—but there is also patience. Love. A desire that the people He responds to somehow do hear it.

And if that’s the model of a Christian response, who are we—a hopeless jumble of spirit and flesh being perpetually sorted out through this process called sanctification—to respond any more pridefully?

Jesus is clear about our response: “[D]o not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). Somehow, we are to seek the best for the other person, even when the feeling isn’t mutual. And only by remaining under the guidance of the Spirit do we have any hope of responding correctly.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:1-6).

Those who live according to the flesh stand before us. In fact, some of them may be Christians. And lest we forget, they have been us—maybe more recently than we’d like to admit. But by remaining in the Spirit, we are carried from condemnation and suffering to life and peace. And it is only by God’s grace that we can maintain the peace He’s given us. So lay down in that peace, and let the Spirit do His work through you—and despite you.

Lay It Down Today

Today, you get to practice your silence in public. Don’t be rude, mind you, but commit to keeping your verbal responses—either spoken or typed—to a minimum. Commit to not defending yourself, explaining yourself (except when asked), “expressing your concern,” or pointing out what a good thing you’ve just done.

 “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil…. Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:37, 6:1).

Then, watch what the Spirit does that you couldn’t. And rejoice in it.

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Lay Down Your Blessings

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Carl Simmons

Our new lives in Christ are just beginning. We are changed; but we are not finished. “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Philippians 3:12). We will not be finished until even our new lives are fully laid down before Christ; and that cycle of blessing, crucifixion, and resurrection will continue until the day we meet Christ face to face.

But more often than not, I value my comfort more than I value obedience to God. I want to hang on to the good things God’s given me, and pester Him for more. But as I do this, I reject the one who blesses me in favor of the blessings. Romans 1 speaks to the end result of this condition, if not halted: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools… (Romans 1:21-22a).

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the Sermon on the Mount the past couple months. (You will, too, this week—but that’s getting a little ahead of ourselves.) Right now, I’m dwelling on the first half of Matthew 6—and it’s dwelling on me, too. Specifically, there’s this rhythm Jesus repeats over and over, to the effect of:

“And when do this good thing, do not call attention to yourself like the hypocrites do, so that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have already received their reward. But when you do this good thing, do it not so that it may be seen by others but so it is seen by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (see Matthew 6:1-4, 5-9, and 16-18).

“They have already received their reward.” It’s OK to need reassurance or confirmation sometimes, but we all need to move away from our dependence on it. God has given us many good things—and yes, sometimes as the result of the good things we’ve done in obedience to Him—but sometime in the next handful of decades, I’m going to stand before God. And I don’t want Him to tell me, “You’ve already received your reward. I’ve provided for you, allowed your work to be recognized, even given you the joy of accomplishment. What more were you expecting? After all, you did it all for you.”

Now, of course, that’s not entirely true—and I am putting hypothetical words in God’s mouth, after all. But if we’re honest, many of the things we do for God are done with an eye toward how God will bless us, and how others will recognize it. (Virtual street corners count too, you know.) And even if I’m doing it solely for the sake of eternal reward, my self-satisfaction about that, again, can become my reward.

God does promise us rewards and blessings as a result of our obedience to Him. But we need to take a step further up—to learn to do things purely for God’s glory. That is its own reward. As we learn to do this, God can trust us to do the right things with the blessings He bestows upon us. Our Father is in secret. We must learn to become God’s spies in this world as much as, if not more than, become “God’s spokespeople” or “God’s personal ambassadors.”

In case we still don’t understand, Jesus punctuates, and clarifies, all of his previous warnings to us with this:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

Teresa of Avila put it this way: “Spiritual maturity and its reward do not consist in spiritual delights, but rather in the increase of love.” This is where we need to head—and God help us, we will.

Lay It Down Today

This week, we’re focusing on prayer, and providing the context Jesus wants us to have for our prayers. Thus, it’s your turn to spend time in the Sermon on the Mount. Every day this week, read Matthew 5-7. One hundred eleven verses won’t kill you, but they will convict you.

Thus, as you read through these chapters each day, be sure to linger on The Lord’s Prayer, which is located dead-center of this sermon (Matthew 6:9-13). Where is Jesus’ sermon hitting you right now? Which parts of this prayer do you most need to experience or respond to? Don’t move on to the second half of the sermon until you’ve wrestled with this each day. And as the Spirit brings up specific matters to us—in every part of this sermon—stop and lift each of them up to God.

Then act on them, as needed. Forgive your enemies—in person, if possible. Set your eyes aside to deal with your lusts. Repent of your need to have your good works noticed and praised. You could spend a lifetime dealing with what Jesus brings up here. And you will. Eternal life starts now.

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Lay Down in Safety

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Carl Simmons

As we walk according to the Spirit, we do not know where He will lead us. But we do know that the Spirit is in front of us, leading us, and ready to guide and protect us as we travel in His wake. If we don’t expect to find freedom and protection within the kingdom of God, where would we expect to find it?

But as we are sent we are, in a human sense, also taking the lead. We are leaving the security of the known, the tangible, the familiar, and following the Spirit “to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Anyone who’s followed the Spirit’s leading into a new work knows how scary it can be. And if they don’t know how scary it is at first, they will, once the excitement wears off and the difficulties come head-on—in fact, it’s often far more terrifying once it’s too late to turn back.

The prophet Jeremiah certainly experienced all of this. To the uninitiated, Jeremiah chapter 20 reads like an exercise in schizophrenia. However, to those who have followed God into a holy but a humanly difficult place, it will ring all too familiar. Read the whole chapter on your own time, but here are just a few samples of how far Jeremiah swings in the context of just one chapter:

“O Lord, you have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
you are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me….

If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot…

But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.

Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.

Cursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!…

Why did I come out from the womb
to see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame? (Jeremiah 20:7, 9, 11-14, 18)

It is difficult to be overcome by God, and led into places where human safety doesn’t seem to exist. But ultimately, even in the worst of human circumstances, there is no better place to walk than in God’s care.

There are certainly also plenty of stories of difficulty that end in God’s glory. You’ve come across them in your Bible, and hopefully have some of your own stories, too.  Consider Jesus’ commissioning of the 72. He sent them out ahead of Him to proclaim the kingdom, and tells them up front, “Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” (Luke 10:3). He’s telling them, humanly speaking: You’re in great danger here. And what’s more, I’m not going to let you have any props to depend on—only Me. “Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road” (Luke 10:4). No money, no provisions, no human companionship besides the one person travelling with you.

But we also know how this ends: “The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!’ And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” (Luke 10:17-19). Jesus has given the apostles a power they could not have imagined when they set out.

And yet, He reminds them that this even this spiritual power is not what they should rest in, “but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Our true safety is who we are in Jesus. When we believe this, we’re able to go wherever the Spirit leads, no matter what man might—and likely will—do, instead knowing that our eternal security far exceeds any earthly security we could ever hope for.

It’s probably far less than coincidental that the next two pieces of Luke 10 are a parable addressing self-preservation (the Good Samaritan) and an account where Jesus gently rebukes an attempt at self-reputation (Mary and Martha). Again, following the lead of the Spirit is scary—especially when we think it’s all up to us. We don’t want to do anything to “unnecessarily” put ourselves in harm’s way; we’d much rather stay in our comfort zones and overexert ourselves there, in an attempt to prove to Jesus how much we love Him. But that has nothing to do with following Jesus.

We too have a direct commission, and this one too comes with an assurance of security: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20). Are we ready to walk this out, to the degree Jesus calls us—and in the knowledge that He does have all authority and that He is with us?

Lay down your lives in the eternal safety Jesus offers, and let the chips fall. Whatever we lose here on earth is nothing compared to the glory that lies ahead—if we’re willing to trust Jesus and walk.

 Lay It Down Today

We not only need to silence our lips, but also quiet our souls. And as next week’s activities will focus on prayer, this would be a good time to (re-)introduce the discipline of fasting. The fact is, nothing will reveal what we’re relying on—and how badly—faster than abstaining from it.

Therefore, you have some freedom in choosing what you’ll fast from in the next 24 hours. I would definitely make food one of those things. It doesn’t have to be an all-day (or 24-hour) fast if you’re not ready. Do abstain from one meal you take regularly (i.e., skipping breakfast yet again doesn’t count). Spend your meal time in prayer, thanking Jesus that He is “the bread of life” and asking for more of His kind of nourishment.

Also, try abstaining from one additional thing—your answer to the following question, “What do I feel I have to do today, even though no-one else is asking me to do it?” (If you need to continue your media fast from last week in response to this, by all means do so.) Use your fast time to also consider why you’re so dependent on that activity; ask Jesus to help you repent of your neediness and to rely on Him for the real need behind it.

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From Outside the Camp to Inside… then back out again….

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Carl Simmons

Shame is a crippling thing, whether it comes in the small-s or capital-s form. Throughout this book, Ed Welch reminds us that Jesus not only came to remove our shame but literally carried it to the cross for us—then reminds us that in our newfound freedom, we too are called to carry His shame, and proudly.

Edward T. Welch: Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness & Rejection. 352p., $17.99, New Growth Press.

What’s worse is that shame is a self-perpetuating cycle—and even if we don’t want to perpetuate it, there are people in our lives who want to see it perpetuated. “[T]he ones who humiliate have power over the humiliated,” Welch says. “It becomes a form of social control because shamed people rarely take stands against injustice. Such a stand would mean they would have to go public, which would only  double the shame. Instead, once we are shamed, most of try to make sense of it by believing we are getting what we deserve. So why would we protest?”

Over and over, Welch points to the only true liberation—the cross. “The reality is that unclean people can’t wash anything. Only the Holy One can make us holy. That leaves us with one alternative, and it is the hardest thing for an unclean person to do. Just state the obvious: ‘I am unclean and I live with people who are unclean.'”

Thus, the book reaches its high point in the next-to-last of its four sections, “Shame, Honor, and Jesus,” and especially in the chapter simply called “The Cross.” The gist being: Not only did Jesus take up our shame, but as we become more and more His, we are in turn called to take up His shame. “This doesn’t mean your shame disappears, but it makes a difference when your shame is number two on your list instead of number one. It makes a huge difference,” Welch says (my emphasis). “When Jesus and his shame occupy our attention, our own shame becomes less controlling.”

And thus, the final section “Honor, after Jesus” focuses on how to walk out this new life, how to boast in our weakness and in the God who carries us past it, and how this burden of shame has equipped us to serve others.

There are questions  and activities for reflection and discussion at the end of each of the book’s 29 chapters. My favorite (or at least most self-pertinent) on comes at the end of the second chapter: “Women can usually identify shame in their lives without much effort. Men tend to feel it but not idenitify it. If you are a man, see if you can locate that shamed little boy.”

If shame is an area you’ve struggled with, either consciously or unconsciously, Shame Interrupted will not only walk alongside you but show you a better way to walk.

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Lay Down in Silence

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Carl Simmons

As we examined last week, we’re often slaves to our own agenda without even realizing it. We can become so paralyzed by self-analysis and self-inflicted hurry that we forget how to simply be obedient in the things God’s already called us to—and to realize that is all God asks of us.

As last week’s assignment suggested (and you’re doing it, right?), we’re going to spend much of this week practicing the discipline of silence, in a variety of venues. Because there’s a variety of venues where we need to begin practicing it. Because we need to be prepared for what God truly wants us to be doing.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

Our ears are itchy, and arguably at a level never seen before in history. As a society, and on a personal level, we’re addicted to news media, social media, sports, games, music, movies… anything that gets our adrenalin flowing and makes us feel more alive. And if we’re being honest, this is also a testimony about the state of our real lives. We clearly want to be distracted from other things, from responsibilities, from the grind of work, from the pain of dealing with other people. And just as clearly, we’re looking to derive our (self-)satisfaction from something other than God. And once we become distracted from God, it becomes impossible to obey Him in the moment.

Again, I don’t say all this with the intent to pile on, but as a fellow sinner who’s increasingly recognizing his own shortcomings (and hypocrisy?). If we’re once more honest with ourselves, most of us love having at least an aura of drama in our lives—especially if that drama is more vicarious than personal (although some of us love the personal drama, too). As I write this, a 7,500-acre forest fire is raging about 15 miles northwest of here; in fact, we can both see and smell it from here. (Fortunately, it’s in a national forest area and no homes have been destroyed.) Yet, there’s some part of me that wants to see those numbers get even bigger, even while the logical part of my brain reminds me that by doing so I’m assenting to the destruction of God’s creation (and which I love hiking, for that matter). You’ve likely felt that kind of rush (and conflict), too.

And as a native New Jerseyan, don’t think I haven’t pulled out our proximity to/experience of 9/11 on occasion to impress my fellow Coloradoans who’ve only heard about it from afar. I say to this my shame, but also again because I’m pretty sure it’s a universal experience. Somehow, for some perverse reason, simply being in the vicinity of a big event makes us—strike that; makes me—feeler bigger, too.

And that’s the dirty little secret—let’s go ahead and say it: the satanic lie—behind much of our obsession with instant information, and with much of our busyness: It offers an instant substitute to our God-given desire to become a part of something bigger than ourselves. We’re not willing to wait for God to do His work in His time. And so, we turn elsewhere. And we are the lesser for it.

By laying down in silence, we turn back to God. And remember: Turn back means repent. “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). We must give ourselves the chance to hear God’s voice, because it’s likely He’s been trying to get our attention all along. So let’s set aside our distractions—and our egos that have become so deftly intertwined with them—and give God our full attention. Let’s discover how the daily surprises that come by walking in the Spirit beat anything we can try to come up with on our own.

Lay It Down Today

Let’s literally bring things home today. Sometimes in the next 24 hours, set aside one hour to not only be silent but completely media-free. No web, no radio, no TV, no reading, no nothin’. Within those parameters, how you use this time is completely up to you. Take a long walk, lay in bed and do absolutely nothing, but do it both silently yet mindfully before God. Unplug from the world and plug into God’s presence.

It might be uncomfortable at first—and don’t be surprised if all sorts of thoughts start flying around—but remain intentional toward God. Give all those distractions the chance to die down. You might actually enjoy it. You’ll certainly have a deeper sense of how constantly distracted we are from God—and in your own case, what those distractions are. If you enjoy this activity, consider expanding your time to a half-day, an entire day, or even longer, sometime in the future.

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Lay Down Your Agenda — the full version

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Carl Simmons

If you’ve been following this series, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that we’ve had to lay down a lot so far. Some of that laying-down might have been difficult, maybe even unnecessarily negative to some. But we have a much longer journey ahead, and we need to travel light—especially since our journey takes us even further upward.

As I encourage you to “lay down the law (and leave it there),” I’m not just asking you to admire my mild attempt at cleverness. What I really intend to encourage you to do here is live a life where you’re not only walking in the Spirit day by day, but ideally, moment to moment.

Something you might have noticed over the course of our journey together so far is we’ve been moving from dealing with our longstanding struggles with sin to addressing daily temptations. Today, we begin condensing the timespan even further, as we begin exploring the things that tempt us at every moment to go into some sort of “spiritual autopilot,” rather than obey God in the moment. (And if you haven’t noticed this sequence before now, that’s OK—I’m really just picking up on God’s strategy here myself.)

This transition from day-by-day to moment-to-moment is equally, if not more, true of the works we claim to do in Jesus’ name. As Andrew Purves puts it in his wonderful book The Crucifixion of Ministry:

“Of course we should not exclude asking ‘What would Jesus do?’ There is an appropriate place for the moral influence of Jesus. But it is more important to ask, ‘Who is Jesus Christ for us today and what is Jesus doing here and now, in this hospital room, during this committee meeting, during this service of worship, in this counseling session and so on?’… Wherever Christ is and wherever we are joined to him, there truly is the intentional, disciplined and faithful ministry of the church. It is not our ministries that make Christ present; it is the present, living Christ who makes our ministries possible.”

Whatever it is that I truly do for Jesus, He is already there. I’m the one who’s showing up—and who’s arguably late for the party—not Him.

At the same time, we very often want to do the right things, but we don’t know exactly what those right things are. Oddly enough, this is often when our prayer is most effective. There are times where God gives us the confidence to pray for (then pursue) something, knowing it’s in His will, but usually our most effective prayers come when we’re empty. When we have no agenda except, “Not my will, but thine.”

This doesn’t mean that we have to sit around passively, waiting for God to move us. We can keep moving, yet maintain an attitude of willingness. We can do the things we had planned, but hold them loosely, always knowing that should the Spirit lead elsewhere, that’s where we should go.

But more often, we’re in that “autopilot” mode, bearing ahead without keeping our eyes open to what other things God wants to accomplish right now. We want a stake in the ground, a fixed point, a checklist—because that’s far easier for us than following wherever the Spirit leads—at least in the short term. But again, eternal life starts now. To follow is to lay down your control. What could I possibly have planned for myself that’s better than God’s plans for me?

In fact, I’m going to pray this for myself right now. Feel free to join me, and we’ll talk again soon:

Lord, help me to rest in the work You’ve already given me, and to always remember that it is Your work. Help me to lay down my agenda and hand over control to You, so that I may remain open to the next work You desire me to find Your joy in, in every moment. Amen.

Lay It Down Today

The good news is: You don’t have an assignment for this very moment. The better news: The following assignment is meant to last all week. (Well, after all, it’s only bad news if you think of it that way.) It does require some work on your part.

For the remainder of this week, commit to getting up at least a half-hour early, to be with God. Some of you may already get up early for Bible reading and/or prayer, others not, but either way, take some extra time at the beginning of each day this week to be in God’s presence, silently. It’s OK to add in Bible reading or other spiritual reading during this time, but be sure to leave gaps in time to do… nothing, in God’s presence. Enjoy Him. Relax in Him. Take peace in Him, before starting your day. And try to be observant this week about how God uses your time with Him—even after you’re done.

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Believe Who You Are, Do What You Must

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Carl Simmons

As I read David Alves’ book, a thought came to me… and roll with me on this. I wonder if…

a) our current unwillingness to claim and live out of our status as sons and daughters of God is, in part, an overreaction to the advent of Eastern and/or New Age religions and their emphases on self-actualization—as if to claim that our own sonship to God would somehow seem like guilt by association. (After reading this, I noticed a related comment on the back cover, so maybe I’m on the right track. :)) And thus, I also wonder if…

b) the recent (and welcome) resurgence of books on the matter of our sonship and/or identity in Christ is, just maybe, the Spirit’s move to restore things (and us) to their (and our) proper perspective.

Regardless, I think both a) and b) are addressed by this simple truth: Our sonship to God is not contingent upon our accomplishments, but rather upon God’s willingness to adopt us. And as we live out of that truth, things change. And that, I believe, is the crux of the book I’m holding here.

Dr. David C. Alves. We’re the “Sons of God”… So What?: Believe God About Who You Really Are. 192p., $16.95, iUniverse.

Thus, the book is both an encouragement and a challenge. “We are the Father’s legitimate heirs of this world. But it comes at a cost to us,” Alves says. “We must desire our inheritance. We must love what God loves and want what God wants. We must have an arena where we demonstrate the Father’s intense love for his creation. That intense love can only be verified as we stand in our authority and take back this world, wherever we set the soles of our feet.”

In fact, the chapter on spiritual authority here is one of the most helpful in the book, as is the chapter on believing God, which takes up close to a quarter of the book. As Alves points out, “[H]umility is not thinking and speaking less of yourself than is true…. Dr. Livingston said, ‘True humility is not to think low of oneself but to think rightly, truthfully of oneself.’ ” The call, then, is to believe about both who we are, and more importantly, who we are in Christ. As we see ourselves properly in relation to Christ, humility will attend to itself. And when we do this, and walk in it, not only do we change but our world changes as well.

Another thought that occurred later on near the end of my reading: There is no question about whether God wants revival. The question is: Are we committed to seeing the Spirit bring it? Are we willing to be obedient to what God has called us to, and to who God has called us to be? Are we willing to set aside our own self-image, good or bad, and believe that God has something better for us, no matter what package it might initially come in?

I believe you’ll be similarly challenged as you take on this book. David Alves reminds us who we were called to be, even while reminding us, “God’s sons want to move down to know him better.” After all, that was the way The Son of God himself chose.

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Bullet-List the Blue Sky

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Carl Simmons

This book, regarding the idols we have in our lives, has gotten some serious props from other sectors (not the least of them being Rick Warren, who contributes the foreword). But it won’t be getting much of that here. Perhaps the best way to approach this review is to pick out one of the few good chapters, and explain what went right….

Pete Wilson. Empty Promises: The Truth About You, Your Desires, and the Lies You’re Believing. 224p., $15.99, Thomas Nelson.

… and that chapter would be “Money Always Wants to Be More Than Money.” (The chapters on beauty and chasing a dream have their moments as well, to be fair.) Here’s what worked (and what you won’t see nearly as often elsewhere):

• There’s hardly any bullet lists in this chapter, and they don’t come until near the end. (And yes, I know; enjoy the irony here.) Elsewhere—and I mean like a good 10 percent of the book—we’re littered with either lists of the obvious or series (plural) of closed-ended questions.

• There’s also a minimum of quotes from outside sources in this chapter. Not that quoting other sources is intrinsically a bad thing, but when it’s at least a quarter of your book (on top of the aforementioned bullet lists), it is.

• Ideas in this chapter are broken down and dealt with in some degree of depth, rather than one page over here, followed by a new page of thoughts here (and of course, repeatedly broken up by the aforementioned quotes and bullet lists).

Feeling the avalanche effect here? Me too. Basically, the book is kind of a fluffy monster, even as it purports to deal with the deep heart idols nearly all of us carry.

I do wonder whether this book preaches better than it reads. It’s not that it’s a bad message, by any means; it’s just that it doesn’t go into enough depth to really illumine anything. There’s a few places where Pete Wilson gets more personal, and those sections tend to work. But far too much of this is restating the obvious, and often in the most obvious manners possible.

For a better recent book dealing with our idols, I would once more direct you to Ed Welch’s What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care? For the most part, unfortunately, Wilson’s book lives up to its title.

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The Joy of Scandal

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Carl Simmons

To be honest, I liked this far more than I expected going in. Then again, knowing nothing about the author, I was expecting a book coming out of a “bunker mentality.” Thankfully, this (and he) is nothing of the sort.

Yes, we sometimes take a lot of grief for being Christians (although far less than people in other parts of the globe), and this book certainly addresses that. But rather than using that fact as an exhortation to be more combative or to brush up on apologetics that in truth preach largely to the converted, R.T. Kendall encourages to take a more biblical view: Follow Jesus wholeheartedly, and rejoice for being counted worthy to take grief from others for something that basic—even sometimes from other Christians who resist and resent seeing a new work from God.

R.T. Kendall. Unashamed to Bear His Name: Embracing the Stigma of Being a Christian. 208p., $13.99, Chosen Books.

And by the way, shame on me for not knowing recognizing the name R.T. Kendall, senior minister for Westminster Chapel in London for a quarter-century.

“[I]t is a privilege to be scandalized or stigmatized for following Jesus Christ,” Kendall warns us at the outset, but also encourages us, “What at first you may resent—and certainly underestimate—will be what you eventually treasure and esteem more than you can imagine.” Kendall draws from a wealth of experiences, and shares how God drew him further out of his own shell and ultimately led him to his current “retirement ministry” to the charismatic community (The arrival of worldwide cross-carrier Arthur Blessit to London, and Kendall’s encounter with the leaders of the Toronto Blessing, are two such life-altering instances among others.)

Kendall also takes us through some historical perspective, both biblically and in terms of church history, to further prove his point. (Remember kids, the terms Methodist, Quaker, and Nazarene—let alone Christian—weren’t always met with a modicum of social decorum.) Time is also spent late in the book on dealing with certain unpopular but nonetheless thoroughly orthodox doctrines (namely, creation, predestination, and hell). I particularly appreciated the call, especially present throughout the second half of the book, to minister in both word and spirit, as most churches tend to emphasize one to the near-exclusion of the other.

The final chapter is an invitation to come “outside the camp”—to follow Jesus no matter what the cost or the stigma, nor whether that stigma comes from inside or outside the church. New works of the Spirit are almost always going to cause friction with the established order, Kendall suggests; get used to it, and rejoice in what God is doing. Let God’s works replace ours.

This is a book I’ll be coming back to. But you can take your first crack at it right now.

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Lay Down Your Future: a small-group session

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Carl Simmons

This  session is based upon the following past devotionals—refer back, or forge ahead at yr discretion (the one place you’ll need to re-read is hyperlinked):

Lay Down Your Anxiety
Lay Down Your Doubt
Lay Down Your Goals
Lay Down Your Expectations
Lay Down Your Fears

For this session, you’ll need….

• beanbags, stress balls, or other soft items that can be tossed around—two for every group of four or five

Laying Down Your Day (10 minutes)

Have everyone get into subgroups of four to five. (If your group is less than eight people, stay together.) Give each subgroup two beanbags (or whatever items you’re using).

I’m sure everyone’s experienced a certain amount of tension today, so let’s de-stress a bit before going any further. A couple of you are holding beanbags. Take a few moments to squeeze them. Let out some of that stress…. that’s it!

Now, toss your beanbag to someone else so he or she can squeeze it. But don’t give any clue who you’re going to toss it to next. Keep squeezing and tossing your beanbags around for the next minute, then we’ll move on.

After a minute, have subgroups discuss the following questions:

1. When have you felt like you’ve had more things thrown at you than you could handle? How do you normally respond when that happens?

2. Is all stress bad? Why or why not?

Allow five minutes for discussion, and then bring subgroups back together. Ask for volunteers to share a few of their answers.

There are plenty of poor ways to respond when we’re feeling stressed or anxious— anger, negative talk, withdrawing from others, turning to bad habits or addictions…. The list goes on, and we’re all too familiar with it—and for that matter, so are the people who we subject to our responses. So today, we’re going to focus more on the kind of perspective God desires us to have as we face the things that come at us—or for that matter, the things that haven’t yet happened that we’re already worried about.

Laying Down the Word (30 minutes)

Read the following passage, and then read Matthew 6:25-34. Discuss the questions that follow.

“God intervenes in our lives when He’s supposed to, at our time of deepest need—not when we think He ought to show up, or when it would be easiest for us. Those who constantly take faith-filled risks live in 11:59. The rest of us would do well to remember that 11:59 might, in fact, be the best place to live our lives.”

3. What usually makes you more anxious, things that are currently happening or things you think are about to happen? Why do you think that is?

4. Think again about your responses to those situations. What are those responses saying to God (maybe even verbally) about your ability to trust that He’ll “clothe” you with whatever you need in that moment?

5. When have you had an “11:59 moment”—when you’ve said, “OK God, I give up,” and then God addressed those things you were so concerned about (or at least your anxiety over them)? Talk about it a little.

Take turns reading Luke 19:12b-26. Then read the following passage, and discuss the questions that follow:

“God wants to create new things through us, not just give us control over things (and kingdoms) we already know. But we can only prepare to receive them by remaining obedient to the King we already have, and by remaining faithful to His kingdom and the things He’s already entrusted to us….

“So stop expecting too much from yourself spiritually, or otherwise. Stop expecting instant regeneration, or instant success. Trust in God as you once did. Don’t try to anticipate His moves before He’s made them. Allow Him to grow you at His pace, instead of thinking you can run out ahead.”

6. Which servant in our Luke passage do you feel more like right now? How come?

7. What’s your reaction to the idea that God wants to create new things in your life, and will in fact reward you for your current faithfulness?

8. Where are you trying to push God for an answer to a “crisis” you’re facing right now, or an area you’re tired of being “stuck” in? How’s that working? Based on your reading and discussion this week, what do you think God’s been trying to tell you?

It’s worth remembering that our ability to trust God with our futures doesn’t just affecting us—it also affects our responses to the world around us. The more we try to protect ourselves, the less room we have in our lives for both God and others. Let’s close by spending some time with the “others” piece.

Laying Down Your Life (20 minutes)

Ask for a volunteer to read 1 John 4:18. Then, read the following passage and discuss the question afterward:

“Whether it’s a pre-emptive strike or a full-scale retreat, we’ll do just about anything to avoid the hard work of loving others. But the way to God is through loving others…. Even the difficult matters in our lives are signs of God’s love for us. When we can place ourselves before those circumstances, neither shrinking back not attacking, the perfect love of God can become fully manifest in us.”

9. In what tangible ways does God’s love removes fear, anxiety, and stress from our lives? When have you experienced this truth?

10. How being freed from fear, anxiety, and stress, in turn, free you to love others the way God intends? Try to come up with some concrete examples—either present, past, or future.

During our last session together, we paired up with others in the group who we would stay accountable to for the remainder of this study. Get back in your pairs now. Give yourselves enough room that you can talk confidentially and/or not interrupt another pair’s discussion.  

Give everyone time to pair up. If people are absent, help stragglers to get with another pair for the rest of this session. Again, it’s OK to have a triad, but have no more than three people together.

In your pairs, review Paul’s “remedy to fear” from 2 Timothy, here. Spend up to five minutes discussing which of the items in this bullet list are speaking to you the loudest right now, and why. Keep it to your one or two top items each.

After you’re done sharing, spend another few minutes praying for one another about what you’ve shared. And again, set aside a time each week when you can touch base with one another. Once you’re done those things, remain quiet and give the other pairs a chance to wrap up. May God bless each of you this week, as you trust Him with whatever your future brings—this week and beyond.

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