Contentment

This week at my local church and throughout the week at our community groups we are studying commitment.  This webpage discusses 'unshakable Christian contentment' based on a passage from Philippians.  Or, check out this web page for an additional study on being content as a Christian.

Poverty

I've just read a compelling article on living out the first beatitude: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 5:3)
The author, Jamie Arpin-Ricci, suggests that we should take another look at how we view poverty, and what we are doing about it.  Do we ignore the plight of the poor?
"The way we live in relation to both poverty and wealth must suffer the intense scrutiny Scripture demands, and then we must make the necessary changes to our lives. After all, when God said to his people that "there need be no poor among you" (Deuteronomy 15:4), he wasn't suggesting segregation."
That's all I'll leave you with at the moment, but if you want to read the entire article, check it out here.

The secret about spiritual growth

I've had a slow epiphany... although that's really an oxymoron.  But I've been gradually coming to a new point of view, and today I think it suddenly solidified in my mind, hence the epiphany.   Although, now that I'm trying to write about it, the idea isn't as clear to me as it was a few seconds ago.  But bear with me.
Spiritual growth.  We all need to grow and become more like Christ.  That journey is never done.  But what's the point?  I always thought that I needed to grow spiritually in order to just become a better person.  Personal growth will make you a better person, but as a Christian, that shouldn't be the end goal.  We shouldn't be concerned with how God will improve my life for me.  That's rather self-centred, isn't it?  My focus should be on how spiritual formation in my life will help other people come to God and extend God's kingdom on earth.  After all, if God is truly in me, I won't be focused on my own spiritual skills but rather on how God's Spirit in me can flow through to help others.
Jesus spent his entire life helping other people.  He didn't go to church to memorize scripture and sit there and look amazing.  He was out on the front lines, using his knowledge and gifts to show people the way to enter the kingdom of God.
That's what I'm going to be thinking about more this week - how can I grow spiritually in order to benefit the people around me?

Perseverance

My local church is going through a series on Philippians, and this week we discussed Philippians 3:12-21, where Paul talks about pressing on to reach the goal.  I'd like to point your attention to a blog about perseverance.  You can find it here.  I don't have much to add at this point, since you can really read all about it at that post.

Our yoke

I was just listening to a sermon by Bruxy Cavey and he made reference to that verse in Matthew where Jesus says 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light'. He urges us to take it upon ourselves. What is this yoke? Bruxy suggests that Jesus is talking about taking on a new way of life that is different from the old covenant which was burdensome. Jesus' way of life is easier because it is not based on a list of rules but on a change of heart. It's not that Jesus was giving us a time to sleep or rest physically, but he was showing us that the way forward under him would be easy because the work we would be doing would be restful. As we partner with him and become more like him, we find that his work is easy and wonderful.
This way of looking at this passage really opened my eyes because previously I had a more works oriented view. How could Jesus' yoke be easy when it still required work? But we need a change of heart. That's what Christianity is all about - transformation.

40 Days in the Word

So, it's been a while since we've talked about studying the bible in depth on this blog, hasn't it?  I hope you haven't given up studying your bible even though the 9 month reading plan is over.  To be honest, I find it easier to study the bible in a group, probably because of the accountability aspect.  I'm looking forward to community groups starting up again for the fall semester.  You should consider plugging into one wherever you are.
If you are looking for a way to dive deeper into God's word, consider going through Rick Warren's '40 Days in the Word' study campaign.  Rick Warren provides great study methods for how to get more out of your bible reading.  They are a lot of work, but they're easy to follow and will certainly improve the quality of information you can get out of reading your bible.

Dallas Willard's book... again

I'm posting again on Dallas Willard's book "Hearing God".  I'll probably end up posting on it again before I'm done, because I'm only partway through the book, and I'm finding it really interesting.  It speaks about how to talk and listen to God, but in ways that make sense.  Willard is basically putting into words a lot of the experiences I've either had or heard about, and he gives a bit more explanation about hearing God and provides scripture verses to back up his point of view.
The next idea of his that I'd like to mention is the fact that we can't just rely on blind faith (knowing that God is working in our lives but having no clue what exactly he's doing), miraculous acts of God, or just a 'sense' that he is guiding us.  We have to commune with him through reasonable, intelligent conversation.  Why?  Willard mentions Psalm 32:9 - "Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with a bit and bridle."  Willard goes on to say "We are to be led by - guided by - reasonable intelligible communication, not by blind impulse, force, or sensation alone."