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Dear precious child of God,
The fear of works-based salvation has pushed many into a terrible disadvantage. We have neglected the disciplines of faith for far too long. Of course, the deceptive fears put forward by our carnal mind are not totally to blame. We have allowed the world to make our lives too busy for any concentrated effort toward spiritual maturity. And then there is the Devil, constantly questioning God’s promise to work in us to will and do to His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
Our latest book, An Enemy Lies Within, encourages the practice of Biblical disciplines for the exercise of our faith in overcoming our carnal mind. When we were reborn, God gave us a new heart; the mind must be renewed. It is with the heart that we believe unto salvation; and that is a lifelong process.
Several of the disciplines encourage, enable, and empower our joining the Holy Spirit is this work of transformation. They include solitude, contemplation, prayer, fasting, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26
An Enemy Lies Within flips the script by leveraging our God-given heart against the deceptions and control tactics of our carnal mind. The eBook is available from all the usual platforms. We have left it at the introductory price of $3.99. Let me know if you need a coupon code for a free copy.
I also strongly recommend The Spirit of the Disciplines, by the late Dallas Willard. It is a bit more academic than An Enemy Lies Within, but well worth the read. I highly recommend it. Here are two excerpts:
“…what are the disciplines for the spiritual life? The disciplines are activities of mind and body purposefully undertaken, to bring our personality and total being into effective cooperation with the divine order (Willard, 1988).”
“Who are the great ones in The Way, what are the significant movements in the history of the church that do not bear the deep and pervasive imprint of the disciplines for the spiritual life? If there are none, what leads us to believe that we might be an exception to the rule and might know the power of the Kingdom life without the appropriate disciplines (Willard, 1988)?”
Please accept our challenge to pursue one or two of the spiritual disciplines this year. Let me know how I can help. Also, this is a particularly important matter for Christian leaders in the workplace. Share this newsletter as an encouragement for their spiritual growth. The church desperately needs them.
God bless you with renewed desire and passion for the advance of His kingdom in your spheres of influence.
Updates and Prayer Requests
- We are grateful to God for the prayers and support for the An Enemy Lies Within project. A publisher has agreed to take on the project and is currently working on the first proof and edit pass.
- In regard to my school adventure, I have one week remaining in this semester. Fall semester begins in approximately two weeks. Your prayers for wisdom and perseverance have been effectual.
- The Father recently stirred the desire of my heart for teaching. It was unexpected – particularly given my current workload at Huntington University. A four-week opportunity has opened up, with a friend’s Sunday School class. The Father is an exquisite orchestrator!
- We continue our search for fellowships and ministries to partner with us at 2:2 Collective. Please pray for God’s guidance and wisdom; that He would connect us with those who have a heart for unity – to advance the kingdom together. Pray for continued wisdom and courage in my roles as President and Treasurer.
- Continue to pray for the workplace leaders you know – for their transformation into mighty men and women of God; that they would boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me know how I can help you minister to them.
- I am eternally grateful to all who pray for inLight, my family, and those to whom we minister. Your prayers are effectual and much needed. Please continue to pray as the Lord leads you.
- I strongly encourage you to ensure your prayers are foremost for the glory of God; and that you first worship Him. He is the Giver of all good things. He deserves our focused attention.
Partnering with inLight Consulting
God’s purpose for inLight Consulting is beyond human capability. We are desperately dependent on Him; and would have it no other way. We are grateful for the continued support of those that trust God to use this ministry to further His kingdom. Please pray for our vision and mission.
Share the truths you find here with the leaders in your life; it will make them free.
God bless you with wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; and may He give you the grace and courage to walk in the work He has prepared for you.
Humbly yours and forever His,
Rob
Willard, D. (1988). The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
The following includes excerpts from a recently released eBook, An Enemy Lies Within, which is available at each of the major distributors (Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, etc.).
The title of this article is the subtitle of The Christian Mind, a fascinating book written by Harry Blamires in 1963. Beginning with the statement, “There is no longer a Christian mind”, this student of C. S. Lewis and contemporary of A. W. Tozer, argues that the church and its members have surrendered to secular thinking (even in regards to Christian subjects). He goes on to describe “the marks of a Christian mind”. I offer them here for your edification and encouragement.
As you consider these foundations of christianly thought, you may want to test yourself and your platoons. How much of your thinking is contextualized and guided by a Christian mindset? Calculate a percentage; give yourself a grade.
According to Blamire, the Christian mind is marked by:
- Supernatural orientation: The Christian mind sees human life and human history held in the hands of God. It makes decisions in the context of eternity. It considers physical life as the smaller subset of Creation. It recognizes the existence of Heaven and Hell.
- Awareness of evil: It is conscious of the universe as a battlefield between good and evil. It is aware and sensitive to the power and spread of evil upon the human race, beginning with mankind’s rebellion in the Garden. It recognizes that the world, and the powers of it, are in the grip of evil – an evil that manifests in three enemies: Satan and his hordes, the world and its systems, and the flesh with its carnal mindset.
- Conception of truth: It recognizes the truth as: Absolute and uncompromisable; supernaturally grounded, not developed in nature; objective, not subjective; revealed, not constructed; discovered by inquiry, not determined by majority vote; and authoritative, not a matter of personal choice.
- Acceptance of authority: It rejects rebellion – in all its forms – to willingly bow before the Sovereign God. It considers authority as estimable and something to pursue over one’s self, family, and friends. It understands the image and reality of loving authority – our Father in Heaven. It accepts surrender as the door to relationship with God, and giving preference for relationship with the brethren.
- Concern for the person: It considers the human person as the only being created in the image of God. It appreciates the value God placed on the person – in Him becoming one. It values people above machines, and is wary of the life those machines provide for, and force upon, society. It embraces love for one another – and the same for enemies – as Christian distinctives. It rejects the classification of people based on temporal criteria, while recognizing that the weak are to receive particular attention.
- Sacramental perspective: It recognizes the omnipresence of God in all of life, and the desire of God to make life joyful and rewarding. It looks for God and His influence in nature – and particularly in the creatures of His image. It appreciates the desires and longings and the hopes and dreams that have been deposited by God in every person.
The “grace of God” is foundational to the Christian faith. So why is there so much confusion regarding its meaning? Here’s an exercise to prove my point. Ask ten of your friends, separately, what grace means to them. How many different answers did you get? How many come close to the Biblical definition?
If your experience is like mine, many of the answers you receive will be limited to some work of God. Most Christians in America equate God’s grace with Jesus’ death for their salvation. This is what they have been taught or allowed to believe.
From the Outline of Biblical Usage (https://www.blueletterbible.org), we find that the charis of God is “the merciful kindness [goodwill and favor] by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.”
Did you get all that?
Grace is not an act of God, nor is it an event. Talking about grace in this way diminishes its meaning – and our understanding of God. Grace is a facet of God’s nature. God is gracious. Those that enter His presence are blessed by His gracious character.
I have heard someone say that grace is the disposition of God toward mankind. This sounds right to me. They go on to say that the grace of God produces things that are beneficial to man: justification, salvation, gifts, fruit, etc. It is important to remember that these benefits are not grace, but its products.
Furthermore, most have been taught or left to believe that grace and its benefits are free. This is wrong on two accounts. First, grace, as a nature of God, cannot be labeled as free (or costly). The Bible never speaks of grace in this way.
Some will acquiesce to this point, and move to argue that the benefits of grace are free. There are several passages they might reference. Let’s start with a couple from Romans. Read the rest of this entry »
The church in America desperately needs a reformation. Where do reformations begin? Romans 12:2 encourages us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Perhaps, in this Age of Reason, we need a reformation in the way we think.
We have gotten lazy with our thinking. We trust our thinking way too much. Those of us that teach trust the thinking of others more than we should.
I grew up in church hearing about “Jesus’ substitutionary death”.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
For the longest time, I assumed this meant that He died so I wouldn’t have to. Fortunately, God encouraged me to ask someone to disciple me. He introduced me to Romans 6:8:
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him…
And Luke 9:23.
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
And Mark 8:35:
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
Obviously, there is something more to His death than I – and many like me – were taught. Many have no clue that to live abundantly in Christ requires our own death. Tragically, there is no one discipling them. Read the rest of this entry »
An important reminder: The elementary principles are for the followers of Jesus Christ. They are not for the edification or conviction of non-believers. This is particularly important to keep in mind as we continue to explore the principle of eternal judgment.
In Part 1, we learned two foundational truths about eternal judgment: First, all will be judged, one way or another. Second, while there are two judgment events associated with eternal judgment, eternal judgment is, well, eternal. It has no beginning, nor end.
The Peril of Not Progressing
This is the heading given to Hebrews 6, in the New King James Version. Several other translations title this section “The Peril of Falling Away”. Regardless of your position on Eternal Security (I am intentionally avoiding that debate*), it is clear, from the verses following the elementary principles, that something perilous is at stake.
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection… And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. Hebrew 6:1-6
Like the elementary principles, this warning is for the followers of Jesus Christ. “And this we will do if God permits.” Permission implies judgment. Clearly there is judgment here; and it is not judgment that waits until a future event. Make no mistake about it:
God is judging our response to the elementary principles.
At this point, it might help to remember that there are two types of judgment. There is judgment that includes condemnation; and there is judgment that something doesn’t belong or is missing (e.g., sin and faith, respectively). Here – particular to our progressing – we are dealing with the latter. Read the rest of this entry »
The elementary principles are for the followers of Jesus Christ. They are not for the edification or conviction of non-believers. This is particularly important to keep in mind as we explore the principle of eternal judgment.
Sadly, many have raised their hand, walked the aisle and said a prayer; for the express purpose of avoiding eternal judgment. This is one of the most egregious deceptions in the church today; for even the most cursory study reveals that everyone will be judged – one way or another.
Furthermore, most assume that eternal judgment happens at a moment in time – sometime in the future. As it so often does, our event oriented view of Scripture minimizes the weight and importance of foundational truth – even in the most obvious cases. Read the rest of this entry »
The elementary principles are for more than our understanding. By grace, we come to believe the word of God in regards to each one; and particularly here, that faith toward God is a foundational principle of our life in Christ Jesus.
Furthermore, our believing is suspect if there is not accompanying work. Faith without works is dead. The work of faith is most often thought of as the outward manifestation of our faith (e.g., feeding the hungry, clothing the naked). However, there is another working that accompanies faith; and it is the work that must come first.
In this concluding part, we will explore the two-fold work of faith toward God. For those of you that have not searched out the deeper meaning of faith, Part 1 is a good place to start. To understand the importance of “toward God”, read Part 2.
Faith’s Work in the Believer
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
As we begin, it is important to recognize that faith is a gift of God. We will not find faith in ourselves; nor are we able to create faith, in ourselves or others. This is common knowledge among the followers of Jesus Christ.
However, we must ask ourselves: How many evangelistic crusades, revivals, and worship services are now focused on “working up faith” in the seeker? This is a dangerous and soulish deception. Faith comes from one source. Read the rest of this entry »
Faith toward God is an elementary principle. It is a basic element of the Christian foundation. It is simple – milk for babes. Yet, as we discovered in Part 1, even the meaning of faith is more than most of us consider when we hear and use the word. In this article, we will search further – to be confident that we understand, believe and live in faith that is toward God.
For your convenience, here is the meaning of faith, developed from our study of Hebrews 11:1:
Faith is the conviction of truth, founded on the substantial quality and nature of the LORD; resulting in a steadfastness of mind, courage and assurance; to hope and wait for salvation with joy and full confidence. As such, it is the proof and test of things we cannot see.
Faith is more than a feeling; more than a decision. The LORD is its foundation. It is effectual to our becoming the people of God. It is the proof and test of the supernatural.
Having laid this portion of our foundation, we can now – with greater clarity – weigh the importance of faith that is toward God.
Faith Toward God
People have faith in many things, most of them gods of another kind. Some have faith that their team will make the playoffs; or faith in a particular presidential candidate. People of “other faiths” believe in Allah, Buddha and thousands of other deities. Society works hard to train us to have faith in ourselves.
Obviously, faith alone is not enough.
Similarly, Christian faith can be misdirected. Some Christians have faith in their faith; that it will save them. Others have faith in their Christian Leaders; that they will lead them into salvation. This is faith in the wrong direction.
Faith in faith, and faith in leaders, is not enough.
The way the writer of Hebrews phrased this principle is interesting. Why not “faith in God”? After all, Jesus told the disciples, “Have faith in God.” Faith in God is important faith.
As best as I can tell, this is not a matter of translation. There is something more here. The Holy Spirit inspired the use of the word “toward” to encourage and convict us. Read the rest of this entry »
The elementary principles are foundations; and nothing is more foundational to Christianity than faith toward God. Of the six elementary principles, faith toward God is probably the most commonly taught. Consequently, you may be tempted to take a pass on this one.
So, before you decide to do that, let me suggest that foundation inspections are always good. The worse thing that can happen is you find out you have at least one principle covered. On the other hand, there may be something here that connects a couple of dots for you. Or, you may find a new way to explain this principle to those you are discipling. That is my hope and prayer.
The way the writer of Hebrews phrased this principle is interesting to me. Why not “faith in God”? Make no mistake about it, the Holy Spirit inspired the use of the word “toward”. I suspect this will be key to our gaining a full understanding of the principle. Before we go there, let’s make sure we understand the meaning of “faith”.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
This is one of the richest verses in all of Scripture – the definition of faith. In order to understand it fully, we must consider the words God chose to define and describe faith. As we do so, let’s remember that this principle is elementary. It is easy to understand; it is easy to consume. Read the rest of this entry »
In Part One, we explored the importance of Jesus’ resurrection and our participation with Him in it. We discovered that, without His resurrection, our faith is futile (1Corinthians 15:16-17). Why? Because it is by His life, not His death, that we shall be saved (Romans 5:10).
Furthermore, in Part Two, we learned that our resurrection begins when we are born again, through faith in Jesus’ resurrection.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… 1Peter 1:3
Paul encourages us to press on to the perfection found in the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:8-11); the exchange of our life for that of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:20).
Moving on to our conclusion, we consider the words of Watchman Nee: “We thank God that the church has actually experienced this resurrection power.”
This truly begs the question: Have you and I? Read the rest of this entry »
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