Weekly Links (4/15/2011)

The difference between a Christian and non-Christian: When a non-Christian is convicted of sin, he sides with his sin. When a Christian is convicted of sin, he sides with God, against himself. (Mark Dever. HT: Desiring God)

by Stephen Rodgers

Welcome to Friday!  A few people have mentioned that they greatly prefer the slimmed-down version of the WL that I’ve been doing lately…so we’ll continue on that theme for now.

  • We’re halfway into April, and thus far I neglected to mention to you that christianaudio.com has a new free book!  This month, the free giveaway is Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. You can hit the link for your free copy. (AUDIO)
  • Piggybacking on Cesar’s most recent post, which in turn was a summary of a message I preached, I thought I’d pass along this article from Jared Wilson (actually quoting David Powlison), on “How to Identify Your Idols,” (which I used in preparing for the message).  How’s that for coming full circle? (WEB)
  • Remember how I told you that John Piper is preaching through his seminal work, Desiring God?  Last week, I pointed out the link for chapters 1 and 2; this week, I’m pointing out the link for chapters 3 and 4. You don’t want to miss this. (VIDEO)
  • And in keeping with our recent focus on peacemaking, over at the Resurgence they’ve formatted and packaged a great article by Tim Keller entitled “Serving Each Other Through Forgiveness and Reconciliation.” It’s a 10-page PDF, but well worth your time.  So hit the link, print it out, and carry it around with you until you get an opportunity to read it carefully…and try to do it soon. (PDF)

That’s it for this week folks.  See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

Interview with John Yang (Youth)

by Grace Wu

Note: This week, the Youth affinity group brings us an interview with one of their staff members: John Yang. John has attended LBC since his freshman year of college, and has stayed at LBC even after graduating from UCSD. He is currently engaged to LBC member Melody Yu. In addition to preparing for marriage, he is also involved in an ongoing effort to get into medical school.

How long have you been on youth staff? What drew you to joining youth ministry?

Since March 2009 (~2 years). The simple answer as to why I joined youth ministry was because I became convicted that I needed to be willing to serve the church body and thought the youth ministry was a good place to cultivate this love for the church. I joined youth because I trusted JR, who was the youth pastor at the time, and knew he would encourage and help nurture this love for the body, and because I have always had an interest in investing in young men.

Now the long story: I came to LBC with a lot of jadedness and misinformation about Christianity. I hated church and I hated church ministry. I distrusted church leaders, and believed that leadership was rotten with corruption. With solid teaching and time (and grace and divine intervention), in 2007, I came to realize that Christianity and Christ are true. Not all Christians were phony, and certain members are even genuinely loving and trustworthy. Nevertheless, I refused to trust church as a whole, and was exceedingly distrustful and judgmental of the church. Throughout 2008, JR challenged me to love the church, not as a perfect entity, but as the object of Christ’s love and by His mandate, the proper recipient of my love as well. With much patience on his part, I was eventually convinced of the errors of my unbiblical and emotional way of thinking, and thus began to consider a more official ministry to serve the body in 2009. It was at this point that I decided to join the youth. I joined the youth because I struggled with loving church leadership, and saw serving the church in some leadership capacity as the most appropriate way to combat this sin. I joined youth because I trusted JR as a suitable overseer who would be mindful and understanding of my weakness in this area. It was a blessing that I loved the youth anyway, but I would be lying if I said it was because of them exclusively that I joined the ministry.

How has being on the youth staff helped you grow?

My love for the church has grown immensely since I joined 2 years ago. Certainly it was not exclusively the result of serving on staff, but where I previously would quite vocally express my distrust and hatred towards the church and its leadership, I now actively strive to love both the church and its leaders, endeavoring to kill the sin in me that judges them based on merit rather than grace. A lot of it involves learning humility. It is much harder to condemn the leaders when I realize how difficult it is to lead even in the simple responsibilities that I have been entrusted to. In summation, serving on staff has helped me to grow in humility and love especially towards our leaders.

What are some of your responsibilities in youth ministry?

Currently, my regular responsibilities are hosting and sharing a short devotional at the youth study hall on Wednesday nights. As for Friday nights, I am currently Zach’s small group leader and I try to be mindful of ways that I can continue to pray for and exhort him to godly living and worship.

Since you’re on youth staff, you have to be with them during Bible studies on Friday nights, which takes away time from being part of the Singles Ministry. How do you manage your time between youth ministry and Singles?

Certainly it is more difficult not having that default face time with the Singles by being there on Friday nights, but we manage. I live with 4 other LBC singles, I am part of a small group, and I try to mingle with them after youth Bible study and over lunch on Sundays. I also make it a priority to attend Singles events. Additionally, the Singles are diligent in reaching out, which makes it a lot easier for us. In terms of how I manage, I try to be purposeful in the scheduled times we do have with the youth, and I try to be intentional about being available for the unscheduled hangout opportunities with the Singles.

What is your encouragement to someone who is thinking about joining youth staff?

Pray. So long as your heart is set upon glorifying God and you believe joining the Youth ministry will serve that purpose, go for it. (Of course, this is assuming you love kids and are willing to serve the youth).

Peacemaker Chapter 5 – Conflict Starts in the Heart

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Editor’s Note: You can listen to the class and download the handout.

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1) (NIV)

Dealing with conflict biblically will never happen apart from heart-talk. What Jesus speaks about in Matthew 15:19 should give us pause as to where our evil desires and actions come from: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” What Ken Sande argues for and demonstrates in this chapter is that our hearts are the source and root cause of our conflicts (p.102). Because of this, there is a progression that can lead to an idolatrous life, not made out of wood, but out of our unmet desires.

The Progression of an Idol

I Desire

Every conflict has some kind of desire involved, whether good or bad. When one person does not meet your desires, there’s two roads you can take: trust God and ask for help in growing to be mature regardless of how the other person gets (James 1:2-4), as well as loving them and continue to pray for further opportunities to progress in your conflict resolution, or you can try and have your desire met, knowing that if it isn’t, you will start to become bitter towards that person which affects your relationship with them and dishonors God. The second option spirals down into what follows next.

I Demand

“Unmet desires have the potential of working themselves deeper and deeper into our hearts. This is especially true when we come to see a desire as something we need or deserve and therefore must have in order to be happy or fulfilled” (p.103). Easily, having an unmet desire (“I wish I had this”) could lead to an attitude of demand (“I must have this!”), which is the sign of idolatry.

The typical notion of an idol is a figure made out of wood that people sacrifice and bow down and worship, which most Americans do not see on a normal basis, hence thinking they do not have idols. However, the Bible has a different take on what an idol is:

An idol is anything apart from God that we depend on to be happy, fulfilled, or secure. In biblical terms, it is something other than God that we set our heart on (Luke 12:29; 1 Cor. 10:19), that motivates us (1 Cor. 4:5), that masters and rules us (Ps. 119:133; Eph. 5:5), or that we trust, fear, or serve (Isa. 42:17; Matt. 6:24; Luke 12:4-5). In short, it is something we love and pursue more than God (see Phil. 3:19). (p.104)

Every follower of Christ still has their sinful nature within them, and so will continue to battle within themselves for their desires to be met, and once it moves to becoming a demand, we have created an idol. What this should not lead to is a mindset of succumbing to our demands simply for the fact that we do so on a regular basis. It does not please God, and leads further downwards.

I Judge

If we are not careful, our demands for what we want from others, if left unfulfilled, can draw us to become critical and condemning of others, with our words but primarily in our hearts. A biblical character that sounds like that is Satan (James 3:15; 4:7), who in his own mind considered himself greater than God, and seeing himself as a god of his own. This is the same attitude one possesses when he begins to judge others in this way: with a superiority complex, with indignation, bitterness or resentment. What is woefully lacking is having genuine love for the other and real concern for them throughout a conflict.

“The closer we are to others, the more we expect of them, and the more likely we are to judge them when they fail to meet our expectations” (p.107). That is a scary thing to see about our human nature.

I Punish

Idols always demand sacrifices. When someone fails to satisfy our demands and expectations, our idol demands that he should suffer. Whether deliberately or unconsciously, we will find ways to hurt or punish people so that they will give in to our desires. (p.108)

We either express it outwardly in our verbal attacks on others, or we do it more subtly, in order to get others to do what we want them to, regardless of their interests. When we act in this way, this is a clear sign that we are not living under the lordship of Christ; an idol has become our lord.

The Cure for an Idolatrous Heart

Any idol we have, we love, fear and trust—which are words that are used for worship. We worship our idols, instead of the true and living God (Matt. 22:37; Luke 12:4-5; John 14:1). We are not commanded by God to obey them at any time. How do we escape this?

Deliverance from Judgment

We must look to God alone, who has delivered his people in the past: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:2-3, NIV). Our freedom is found in Jesus Christ, God’s only provision for our sinful state. We need to look to Christ and put our complete trust in Him. When that happens, God not only delivers us, but He makes us His children, joint heirs of the grace of life, and makes us able to live a godly life this side of heaven (Gal. 4:4-7). We need to believe in the Gospel and repent.

Deliverance from Specific Idols

God knows our hearts, and knows we will still be marred with sin, and knows our struggles and battles with certain sins individually, and so wants to also deliver us from the idols that control us on a day-to-day basis. We need to identify them and confess them as sin, trusting in His provisions (His Word, His Spirit, and His church) to root it out of our lives. These three are God’s means of grace in a believers’ life, and His way of removing our idols to worship and live for Him.

Replace Idol Worship with Worship of the True God

“If we are not fulfilled and secure in God, we will inevitably seek other sources of happiness and security” (p.112). If you truly want to have the idols that control your heart completely removed, you need to pursue God more than anything else this world or your own heart may have to offer. To do that, we must:

  1. Repent before God
  2. Fear God
  3. Love God
  4. Trust God
  5. Delight in God

“God has designed a wonderful cycle for those who want to worship him above all things. As you love, praise, give thanks, and delight yourself in God, he will fulfill your desires with the best gift: more of himself. And as you learn to delight more and more in him, you will feel less need to find happiness, fulfillment, and security in things of this world” (p.114).

If your response to God’s best gift is, “That’s all?” the one you worship is not God, but yourself, and you are in dangerous territory. Your heart is bowing down before a lesser god, which is no god, but an idol, and the life you live will be one of utter sin and condemnation before a holy God. You will never find true peace in any of your conflicts until you have found the Prince of Peace. Look to Him today to deliver you and draw you to Himself.

Gray Issues Part 1 – Introduction

by Elder Peter Lim

Perhaps no subject stirs up more controversy within the church than the topic of “gray issues” or Christian liberties. I’m certain that I don’t know all there is to know about this topic. However, I must continue with my life and so must you so let’s deal with this. In my search through scripture, I’ve been somewhat frustrated by the lack of clarity and definitive answers to my questions. I’m sure that the fault of this lack of clarity is mine alone. Certainly the bible has been written by God the way He meant to communicate to people and He’s perfect and therefore His word is perfect. Issues are only gray in our own mind. God is able to search our hearts and know its condition accurately. We are not. Therefore, our task will be to try to look at ourselves from His perspective.

The incident that prompted me to write this article is that some male and female college students were said to have shared a hotel room during a trip during Spring break in order to save some money. Should we as a church ignore this? Should we speak out against or in support of it? Is this issue even worth mentioning at all? I believe that the day-to-day dilemma of most Christians is related to this issue. We are constantly making decisions that deal with wrestling through gray issues. For example, when was the last time you struggled with whether you should commit murder or not? Hopefully never. But when was the last time you looked at someone with hatred? (1 John 3:15) Now was it really hatred of a brother (which would be sin) or was it merely being upset at him? (which would be gray whether it was sin or not) How upset does one have to be before it’s considered hate? The process of thinking through gray issues is something that I believe most people have not really thought through biblically.

As an elder in the church, I have the responsibility of making sure that our church supports biblical principles. If our people are advocating a lifestyle that is inconsistent with the bible, I have the responsibility of steering people toward the bible and propagating a biblical lifestyle through our church environment. This means that at some point in time, people in our church who disagree with the elders on the attitudes propagated through our church culture have to make the difficult choice whether to submit to our views (without necessarily agreeing with them wholeheartedly) or leaving a church that they love otherwise in their stand for their opinions on gray issues. In the coming months, I hope to shed some biblical light as it applies to these everyday situations.

SC 2011 – Reflections #1

by Hansol An and Eugene Park

Editor’s Note: Pastor Patrick wanted to do a series here on the Beacon that encouraged the attendees of the Shepherds Conference to share their thoughts with the church. This is the first part in that series.  And if you are interesting in listening to the messages, you can download them all for free.

From an overall evaluation, what was at least one thing that was encouraging to you from the Shepherds Conference?

Being with pastors and leaders from all around the world is always an encouragement. It is a blessing to hear about how God is using faithful men to carry out His work among different people in various places. There is so much division in the world, and even among those that call themselves Christians it can be difficult to find unity. But those that attend Shepherds’ Conference are of a common mind. There is unity. There is an understanding that the call to lead is a great honor and great responsibility. There is empathy. It comes with many challenges too numerous to name to which few can relate. There is encouragement. (Hansol An)

I really enjoy spending 3-4 days straight with people from church. Just being able to hang out, talk about different things in ministry, and seeing how excited these guys are to apply what they’ve learned from the conference encourages me so much. I also enjoy being able to see people I know from other churches attending the conference. (Eugene Park)

What was at least one thing from the messages that was particularly helpful or challenging for you?

Rick Holland shared a message called Shepherdology. In it he outlined what it means to be a shepherd. He summed it up with, “Shepherding is not something you do; it’s something you are.” This year all the messages had a more poignant impact than in previous years, particularly this one. I’ve been on College Life staff for many years now, but this is the first year taking the lead. This expanded responsibility brought a greater appreciation for what Pastor Holland was sharing and what all pastors and elders do. It was also a sobering reminder that brought a fuller understanding that God has placed me in that role. (Hansol An)

Tom Pennington said in his message that the greatest danger to our ministry is our own pride. And as he talked about those manifestations of pride, I could see myself in a lot of them. (Eugene Park)

What was at least one lesson that challenged you in regards to your service at LBC? How will you take this and apply it to ministry here in San Diego?

Today’s churches stress relevance and people want to have their ears tickled. Not much has changed in 2,000 years. The cure for ears that want to be tickled is the preaching of the Gospel. My goal is to do whatever it takes to teach and live out the Gospel. (Hansol An)

Every year I attend Clayton Erb’s seminar on music even though he pretty much says the same thing each year. But I keep attending because I enjoy listening during the Q&A to the issues other people have at their churches in regards to the music ministry. And hearing those issues helps me to appreciate the many volunteers involved with the music ministry at LBC. (Eugene Park)

Martha was Cumbered About Much Serving

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Luke 10:40

Her fault was not that she served: the condition of a servant well becomes every Christian. ‘I serve,’ should be the motto of all the princes of the royal family of heaven. Nor was it her fault that she had ‘much serving.’ We cannot do too much. Let us do all that we possibly can; let head, and heart, and hands, be engaged in the Master’s service. It was no fault of hers that she was busy preparing a feast for the Master. Happy Martha, to have an opportunity of entertaining so blessed a guest; and happy, too, to have the spirit to throw her whole soul so heartily into the engagement. Her fault was that she grew ‘cumbered with much serving,’ so that she forgot Him, and only remembered the service. She allowed service to override communion, and so presented one duty stained with the blood of another.

We ought to be Martha and Mary in one: we should do much service, and have much communion at the same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to commune. Joshua never grew weary in fighting with the Amalekites; but Moses, on the top of the mountain in prayer, needed two helpers to sustain his hands. The more spiritual the exercise, the sooner we tire in it. The choicest fruits are the hardest to rear: the most heavenly graces are the most difficult to cultivate. Beloved, while we do not neglect external things, which are good enough in themselves, we ought also to see to it that we enjoy living, personal fellowship with Jesus. See to it that sitting at the Saviour’s feet is not neglected, even though it be under the specious pretext of doing Him service. The first thing for our soul’s health, the first thing for His glory, and the first thing for our own usefulness, is to keep ourselves in perpetual communion with the Lord Jesus, and to see that the vital spirituality of our religion is maintained over and above everything else in the world.

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Weekly Links (4/8/2011)

Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you.  It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’  Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross.  All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary.  It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size. (John R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians. HT: Ray Ortlund)

by Stephen Rodgers

I don’t have a ton of links for you this week; mostly I’m just clearing out a few things that I’ve been saving, and highlighting a couple of things you shouldn’t miss.  So without further ado…

  • If you recall, I mentioned last time that John Piper was going to preach/read through his classic book Desiring God.  Well, the introduction to chapters 1 and 2 is up, along with Piper’s actual message. And if that weren’t enough, here comes Curtis Allen with the Desiring God rap song. (AUDIO/VIDEO)
  • By now most of us have probably heard of Amy Chua and the “tiger mother” book. Al Mohler has an article addressing the brouhaha as well as bringing a much-needed Christian perspective to the whole thing. (WEB)
  • As a warning against pride and a reminder of the power of sin, RC Sproul has an article (excerpted from Pleasing God) on the heresy of perfectionism. (WEB)
  • I had an opportunity to talk to Pastor Patrick this week about the perception that many in the Christian community have of Calvinism and Calvinists.  So this article from Elliot Grudem (son of Wayne Grudem) on the subject was timely indeed.  And I’m not just saying that because it contains the phrase “John Frame is the Chuck Norris of Systematic Theology” (even though I would offer a hearty “amen!” in response). (WEB)

That’s it for this week.  See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

Hey Sonlight, We’re More Than Halfway There!

by Abram Kim

We are more halfway through the school year, which means Sonlight is more than halfway through the year too. It has certainly been an exciting year so far, and we are looking forward to what God has in store for our ministry for the remainder of the year!

If you have wandered into the Sonlight room at some point this year, you may have wondered why the room is decorated with question marks, footprints, and fingerprints. We are not giving a tribute to the Joker or Sherlock Holmes. We have been trying to figure out the greatest mystery of all time. It involves the most famous Person at our church (we talk about Him like every week). It is the greatest story ever told, starting at the Fall and culminating at Calvary.

This year’s curriculum by Children Desiring God is called “In the Beginning… Jesus.” It has been a great blessing. If you have ever wondered how the cool stories of the Old Testament relate to the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, you would benefit from this year’s curriculum. Though you may not be able to join us, you should certainly ask the staff and children what they are learning each week! The big question we have been asking is: why did Jesus of Nazareth have to die on the cross?

We started where the Bible starts, in Genesis 1:1 with creation. We have worked through all the familiar yet fascinating stories in Genesis like Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, and the patriarchs. We talked about the miraculous showings of God’s power in Exodus through Deuteronomy, specifically about the salvation of a chosen nation over slavery, the requirement of blood to atone for sins, the institution of the Levitical priests, and the building of the Tabernacle. We have now discussed the book of Judges, seeing evermore clearly the cyclical pattern of Israel’s sin, God’s judgment, Israel’s repentance, and God’s grace in showing grace, relenting of His judgment and renewing His covenant. We will be wrapping up the OT in the coming weeks, talking about David’s kingdom, Solomon’s kingdom, and the warnings of the prophets. With the OT as our context then, we will use the remaining weeks of the curriculum to study Jesus in order to help us solve the mystery of why Jesus had to die.

In Sonlight, as in any other ministry at our church, the emphasis is on teaching, preaching, and modeling the gospel. There is no other message that can save eternal souls from the eternal wrath we all deserve. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important news we need to share week in and week out. As Sonlight staff, we want to be committed to continue to keep the gospel central in all we do, especially in what we teach. Therefore, the goal of Sonlight isn’t to to get a confession of faith from the children, but for them to love God more than anything else (cf. John 21:15-17). This starts with knowing and understanding the whole gospel message, of course; as with the adult ministries, teaching is always central. At the same time, we don’t want to assume faith upon people just because they assent to a set of facts and ideas. We want to see genuine fruit before confirming someone as a true believer. Jesus said that was a good test so we’ll follow His advice (see Matthew 13, among other similar passages).

Please pray for our staff! The church has entrusted us with some of the most precious souls at our church. We, the staff, take this responsibility extremely seriously, and we need all of your prayers to grow in our knowledge and ability to minister to the Sonlight kids. Pray for the kids that they would understand and personalize the messages of Scripture. Pray for the parents of these kids, as the primary care givers, as they rear these young ones in the fear of the Lord.

Peacemaker Chapter 4 – Is This Really Worth Fighting Over?

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Editor’s Note: You can listen to the class and download the handout.

When it comes to resolving conflict, there is much advice that is offered by many guides or authorities in the field of psychology, sociology, as well as religion. There’s also the popular advice of Dear Abby in the newspaper, or that from the likes of Wayne Dyer, Dr. Phil and Oprah on TV that many have adopted in terms of a “don’t judge me” type of attitude. What the Bible teaches has been neglected, so much so that not only does the world have absolutely no idea how to resolve conflict with any semblance of dealing with the right issue, but many in the church are greatly lacking in this area as well.

In the much misinterpreted passage of Matthew 7:3-5, Jesus lays out the proper instruction on how to address conflicts two people may have with each other. Although typically used as a proof-text to shut down any attempts at confronting another person, Christ draws a line toward judgment that is premature and improper, yet it does not rule out loving correction. This involves the prior removal of the log out of our own eye before addressing the speck of another, but the speck removal of another is just as necessary. By looking through our role in whatever conflict we find ourselves in, there must be two types of fault we avoid:

  1. An overly-sensitive attitude, when you are easily offended by another person´s behavior, and
  2. Sinful behavior, which you yourself may have brought (will be covered in chapters 5 and 6).

Define the Issues

There are two types of conflict:

  1. Material, which deal with property, money, rights and responsibilities, and is resolved through cooperative negotiation
  2. Personal, which deal with what goes on inside or between people, and is resolved through confession, loving correction, and forgiveness.

In real life, each type of conflict rarely occurs without the other. If a material conflict arises, it´s usually resolved when the personal issue is dealt with. When such is the case, the objective is to address what the primary material issue is and then get at the primary heart issue. The first question that will diagnose how to go about this is to ask, “Is this really worth fighting over?” When thinking about the conflicts you go through, the majority of them may be in the realm of “not worth fighting over,” and should be settled or simply let go as quickly as possible.

Overlook Minor Offenses

“In many situations, the best way to resolve a conflict is simply to overlook the personal offenses of others” (p.82), which is how God sees it:

Proverbs 19:11 – Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

Proverbs 17:14 – The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.

1 Peter 4:8 – Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Ephesians 4:2 – [W]ith all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.

Colossians 3:13 – [B]earing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving one another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Just as God has forgiven us of sin, we should do the same, and see God’s model as one to follow. When we overlook minor offenses, it shouldn’t be passive in avoiding dealing with an issue that causes you to resent or become bitter and angry, which will explode at a later time. It should rather be an active process that shows mercy to the other person who wrongs you in a way where you do not hold it against them, or let it cause you to become bitter. This is a direct result of the Gospel’s work in a person.

Check Your Attitude – and Change It

One of the reasons we sometimes find it difficult to overlook offenses is that we have an overly sensitive attitude or a tendency to dwell on what others have done. One way to guard against this problem is to check your attitude in the light of God’s Word. (p.83)

5 principles Paul lays out in Philippians 4:2-9:

  1. Rejoice in the Lord always (v.4)
  2. Let your gentleness be evident to all (v.5)
  3. Replace anxiety with prayer (v.6)
  4. See things as they really are (v.8)
  5. Practice what you learned (v.9)

Count the Cost

Another way to avoid unnecessary conflict is to consider the cost of unresolved conflict. Conflict is often much more expensive than we expect it to be. Unresolved disputes can consume large amounts of time, energy, and money, leaving you emotionally and spiritually exhausted. Worst of all, as long as a disagreement is unresolved, there is the potential for further damage to a relationship. (p.90)

What we need to do is count the cost immediately at the start of a conflict or dispute, because that is almost always the first thing that is neglected the moment we enter into one. This is why Jesus says:

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. (Matthew 5:25-26)

What about “Rights?”

One immediate response to one who asks such a question would be, “What about God’s rights?” We sin against God on a daily basis, and if he had any right to condemn, we would already be in hell. However, what God has done in forgiving us is an act of mercy, not justice/injustice. It may be unjust to exercise your “rights”: “When exercising a right allows you to avoid a moral responsibility or to take unfair advantage of others, you have not acted justly in the eyes of God, regardless of what a court might say” (p.92). Some diagnostic questions would be helpful at this point:

  • “Will exercising my rights honor God by showing the power of the gospel in my life?”
  • “Will exercising my rights advance God’s kingdom—or will it advance only my interests at the expense of his kingdom?”
  • “Will exercising my rights benefit others?”
  • “Is exercising my rights essential for my own well-being?” (p.92)

What we need to always remember is that Jesus, the Son of God, who owns everything, did not seek to exercise His right to life for the sake of preserving His kingly status as ruler of all. He gave it up to die for a people undeserving of it, and is a perfect picture of the grace of God. Is that not our goal in conflicts? Don’t we want to show our brothers and sisters in Christ this same picture? Don’t we desire to show our unbelieving family members and friends what God’s grace looks like? My God give that desire in our hearts.

Our Daily Bread

by Pastor Patrick Cho

It is somewhat assumed that in order to properly gauge your spiritual health, you need to at least evaluate how your time is in God’s Word. Certainly, most Christians have been taught that reading the Bible is essential for spiritual growth. The Bible has been likened to the spiritual food we eat, and that without our daily reading we would be malnourished and unhealthy. Still, many Christians allow days, weeks, and even months to go by without spending any quality time in Scripture. They rely on the occasional Sunday sermon, Christian book, or blog to give them their boost for the week. But having a regular, daily, deliberate, disciplined time in God’s Word is becoming rarer.

Why don’t Christians read the Bible? Some may feel like it is too difficult to understand and get frustrated that much of the Bible seems irrelevant. Others might feel like the sheer length of the Bible deters them. They might argue, “I’m just not a reader.” Still others might simply be distracted by the everyday duties and busyness of life. All their responsibilities, chores, errands, appointments, and tasks crowd out all the time they might have had for God’s Word. And honestly, some might simply dismiss the Bible as boring, and so they refuse to read. Of course, none of these excuses are a good reason for not reading.

So why should you have a daily consistent time in God’s Word? There are many reasons, but here are a few.

  1. First, having a deeper understanding of the Scriptures will deepen your understanding of God. If you want to seek God, you must find Him in the Word (cf. Ps. 119:1-2). God has revealed Himself through His Word, and so we read it not only to know the Book, but also to know the God of the Book (cf. Exod. 34:6-7).
  2. Second, it is important to understand that without a growing understanding of God’s Word, spiritual growth isn’t possible. Our spiritual health is proportionate to our intake of Scripture. This growth takes place as we long for the Bible like infants longing for milk (1 Pet. 2:2). The maturity of the Christian comes from abiding in the sufficiency of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
  3. Third, being in the Word helps the believer fight against sin. The Psalmist sang, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your Word. . . . I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:9, 11). Remember that Jesus quoted Scripture in the wilderness when He was tempted by Satan. His familiarity with the Word helped Him in His temptation. How much more do we need to have our lives saturated with the Word of God?
  4. Fourth, taking time in the Word helps build us up in spiritual wisdom. The opposite of this is to settle with foolishness. There is great wisdom in obeying God’s commands (Job 12:13; cf. Deut. 4:6). God’s wisdom cannot be found elsewhere, and it certainly cannot be found in men (Job 28:12-28). God’s Word does not only make us wise unto salvation, but gives us wisdom for daily decisions in how we act, speak, and reason.

The month of April marks the beginning of the second quarter of 2011. For those of you who began the year with the resolution to read through the Bible, how is the reading going? Have you kept up faithfully or is there some catching up that needs to be done? As I wrote in my article back in January, don’t simply quit because you are behind. Maybe you won’t finish by the end of December, but that doesn’t mean you should abandon your reading altogether. Keep reading and develop that discipline because of the great rewards that come from consistency in God’s Word. Remember always that the soul that loves the Lord will spend consistent time in His Word.