Love not the World

June/Training for Mission

18 June 2010

Who can satisfy God in the last times, when the noble rules of truth have been changed, save for those who scorn this present world?

- Columcille, Altus Prosator (Irish, 6th century)

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

- 1 John 2.15

Celtic missionaries lived an austere life. In the first generations, at least, they took nothing from the world, but learned to live off the generous supply of their faithful God and the work of their own hands. Initially a missionary might go off by himself and build a little hut in the woods. There he could live off the land while he learned to trust God and praise Him with greater frequency and consistency, and began to build bridges with whatever people might be living around him.

He might then be joined by a few disciples, and they would acquire property - often as a gift from some friendly ruler - which they would then develop for agriculture, living, and worship. As the community grew, so did their industry and their outreach. They rejected the comforts of the court and refused the lavish gifts often proffered to gain their favor. They lived simply but powerfully, and many came to Christ through their efforts.

They did not love the world, and, as a result, the love of God shone mightily in and through them. And what about us? Would those who know us say that we do not love the world? That we are so manifestly focused on pleasing our heavenly Father that nothing this world might offer to entice us away from Him has any allure whatsoever?

The way to keep from loving the world is to love God more. This means prayer, solitude, contemplation, observing His glory in the world around, and talking with others about Him as though He were, indeed, just the best thing in your life. When we know God truly, we will love nothing more. And then we will be ready to be used for His glory.

Today in ReVision: What They Really Think - South Carolina Democrats just can't get it right.

This Week's Download: Faithfulness in Ministry - Evaluate your own ministry, free of charge.

Visit our book store and check out the resource there. More to come later this summer.

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Lament for a Departed Prophet

June/Training for Mission

21 June 2010

Now he is not, nothing is left to us, no relief for a soul, our sage. For he has died to us, the leader of nations who guarded the living, who was our chief of the needy, he has died to us, who was our messenger of the Lord...

- Dallan Forgaill, Amra Choluimb Chille (Irish, 6th century)

And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.

- Acts 20.37, 38

The death of Columcille struck his community like a bolt of lightning. He was much loved and would be greatly missed. It fell to Dallan Forgaill to summarize the community's feelings about their beloved saint and mentor.

Columcilled was their guardian, servant, and teacher. His example and instruction opened the door for many Irish missionaries to take the Gospel to far away places, and to do so with great effects. The Iona community was devasted by his death. However, his legacy continued in a string of equally capable and effective abbots, who carried on Columcille's work and extended it even further.

Paul was careful to ensure that his own work would not end with his departure from this world. As we see in 2 Timothy 2.2, he trained his disciples to labor at the task of disciple-making until they could see their efforts being carried on to three generations beyond themselves.

In our day of Christian narcissism, when the Gospel, the Church, and even God Himself are supposed to exist for the sake of each "seeker," it's frightening to consider what legacy we might be leaving to the next generation: "I got mine from God, now you get yours, too"?

The work of personal evangelism has already pretty much ground to a halt. Will the work of world missions follow? Without a commitment to equip the generations that succeed us with the vision, spiritual vitality, and practical skills for disciple-making, the faith of Christ will wither and be discarded. What is your responsibility in this high and holy calling, and how will you carry it out?

Today in ReVision: Subjunctive Science - Scientists on the trail of the origins of life - maybe.

This Week's Download: Faithfulness in Ministry- Here's a tool you can use to evaluate your work in making disciples.

Come on over to the book store where you can find some useful resources to help you take up this calling to make disciples.

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He Lit Up the East

June/Training for Mission

23 June 2010

He was learning's pillar in every stronghold, he was foremost in the book of complex law. The northern land shone, the western people blazed, he lit up the east with chaste clerics.

- Dallan Forgaill, Amra Cholumb Chille (Irish, 6th century)

In the place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

- Psalm 45.16, 17

What a lovely tribute to the departed Columcille. He made the northern island of Iona shine with his learning and purity. From Ireland, in the west, multitudes flocked to learn from him, until they fairly blazed with the glory of God. And from Iona they went to Scotland, Wales, the Low Countries, and beyond, lighting up the world with the true light of the Gospel.

Who'd have thought it? When Columcille set sail from Ireland, alone, exiled for some unclear reason, most, watching him go, undoubtedly thought it was the end of a promising life and career. But he must have been thinking otherwise. He knew he belonged to God, and, whatever his failings or shortcomings, Colum was not going to be denied the opportunity of leaving a legacy to the glory of God.

Which provokes the question: What legacy are you planning to leave behind when at last the Lord calls you home? Will you bequeath to the world people who live in the Kingdom like the true sons and daughters - princes and princesses - of God? Are you preparing a legacy of disciples, writings, or good works that will cause the name of God to be extolled for generations to come?

This much is certain: If we don't plan for a legacy to glorify God, we're not likely to leave one. It is much to be preferred, I think, to set aside every perceived shortcoming, face up to every obstacle or hindrance, and determine that, by God's grace and might, you will do and leave something in your brief life on earth that causes others to remember Him when you are gone.

Columcille did, and we may - must - as well. It's not the size or nature of the legacy that counts, just the legacy. Let your presence here and now leave a glow of glory when you have departed to there and then.

Today in ReVision: Why They Hate Us - Thanks, Governor, for nothing.

This Week's Download: Faithfulness in Ministry

The poems and exercises in The Hidden Life can help you prepare a legacy of glory for the generations to come. Order your copy today from our book store.

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Man of the Word

June/Training for Mission

29 June 2010

The teacher wove the word. By his wisdom he made glosses clear. He fixed the Psalms, he made known the books of the Law...the books of Solomon, he followed them...he read mysteries and distributed the Scriptures among the schools...

- Dallan Forgaill, Amra Cholumb Chille (Irish, 6th century)

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

- 2 Timothy 2.15

I've had occasion recently to peek in on a few of our television preachers, just to see the latest message which is being fed to the people of God. Of course, if you're on television, it's assumed you're a successful preacher, and the many admiring congregants in attendance would seem to support that view.

But the word I've heard preached from these men is not the Word of God, but some word designed to uplift, encourage, affirm, or otherwise make hearers feel good about believing in God. In many cases the Gospel itself is not even presented; in some, the name of Jesus comes at the end, as a kind of add on ("Have you prayed to receive Jesus? You can, you know, right now!")

You would not have heard such preaching from Columcille, nor from those he sent out into the fields of Europe to proclaim the Kingdom of God. But then, he wasn't trying to raise funds with his preaching, and those who sat under his teaching did not expect to attract adoring audiences to lap up their every word. Most likely they expected some kind of martyrdom for their pains. Many were not disappointed.

To preach the Word one must know the Word, love and live the Word, and have a passion for the Word that sets the priorities and will of God above everything else, even that which people might like to hear. Columcille preached this way, as did the other great saints of the Celtic revival. They endured hardship, want, and opposition as they preached, but they brought the light of Truth back to a dying continent. Today's celebrity preachers strike me as having a different agenda, and a much lower regard for the Word of God.

And what about us? Do we know and love the Word well enough to know when we're being misled?

Today in ReVision: Why They Hate Us

This Week's Download: Faithfulness in Ministry

Just a reminder to visit our book store to discover the resources there that can help you in Christian growth and ministry. Thanks to those of you who have sent gifts to our ministry via the donate button on our website.

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He Lived His Name

June/Training for Mission

30 June 2010

Living his name, living his soul, from the crowds he prepared under the holy Law.

- Dallan Forgaill, Amra Cholumb Chille (Irish, 6th century)

She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me."

- Ruth 1.20

In the Bible names often carried great significance, as Naomi showed. Her life, which had been "pleasant" (Naomi), had turned out "bitter" (Mara). But joy would return because of the grace of God. Her faith in seeking the Lord and returning to Judah showed that she knew where relief from bitterness could be found, and that she was determined to seek it.

Columcille means "dove of the Church." Dallan tells us two beautiful things in this little line of his long poem. First, Colum lived out his name in his own life. He was the dove of the Church, bringing peace, new hope, and the promise of a new day. He was a man of peace and he trained many to take the peace of the Gospel to other parts of the world.

And that is the second sense: He lived his name out in the ones he trained in the holy Law of God. Interesting to think of missionary training as being subsumed under that rubric, no? These days we teach missionaries everything but the Law of God. Perhaps we should review the missions curriculum? Columcille taught his students to know and love the Law, to proclaim it in Jesus Christ, and to call men to lives of disciplined living in obedience to God's Law, that they might know and share the peace of God with Him and with their neighbors.

He lived his name, and those he trained lived it as well. What about us? We are "Christians" - "Christ-in-you-ones." Are we living that Name? Are we helping others to embrace and live that Name? Generations from now will people trace their own faith in Jesus Christ back to us and the way we lived and the work we did to leave a legacy for them (Ps. 45.17)?

Well, not if we don't follow the example of Colum and make a point to live out the Name of Jesus and to help others live that Name out as well. How will you do this today?

Today in ReVision: Work with Dignity - Work has meaning...if...

This Week's Download: Faithfulness in Ministry - Last day to get yours. New downloads tomorrow.

Thanks for the encouraging words you share with us. We love to hear from you. How about forwarding Crosfigell to some friends, and urging them to sign up? You could even invite them to check out the book store.

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Pursue Holiness

July/Holiness

1 July 2010

Faith together with works, eagerness together with steadfastness, tranquility together with zeal, chastity together with humility, fasting together with moderation, poverty together with generosity, silence together with conversation, division together with equality...

- Colman mac Beognai, Aipgitir Chrabaid (Irish, 7th century)

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

- 2 Corinthians 7.1

Colman was a nephew of Columcille, and his "Broom of Devotion" is a catalog of the kind of virtues expected of the followers of Christ. The opening quote - begun above - reminds us of Ecclesiastes 3 and the opposites there set forth which all have their place "under the heavens."

Celtic Christians were earnest about holiness. They disciplined soul and body in the pursuit of it and submitted themselves to soul friends and the discipline of penance to maintain and advance holiness in their lives. They understood that living for Christ - being a witness - was as much a matter of how they lived as what they said.

God is holy; Christ is holy; the Spirit of God is holy; God's Law is holy and righteous and good. It only makes sense that believers - "saints", or "holy ones" - should devote themselves to the pursuit of holiness as of the highest priority in their lives (Matt. 6.33). This means daily prayer and waiting on the Lord to illuminate areas where holiness is lacking in our lives. It requires vigilance over all our words and deeds, clear planning as to how we may improve our walk with the Lord, and daily praise and thanks for whatever progress the Lord allows us to make.

Are you "bringing holiness to completion" in your walk with Christ? Are you conscious of daily striving to become more like Jesus, to follow in His footsteps in the Law of God, and of laying aside everything in your life that is contrary to the good and holy purposes of God? If not, "bringing holiness to completion" is not likely to occur. If so, full and abundant life will be increasingly yours.

July Exercise: Download "Called to Be Witnesses." For the first week (July 1-11), read this little brochure over several times each day. On several days during this period, rate yourself - 1 to 10 - on the two areas, A Way of Life and Empowered for Witness. Talk with the Lord about why you rated yourself the way you did, and look for ways to improve these two aspects of your call to be holy.

Today in ReVision: Work with Dignity - Your work is a great place to live out your devotion to the Lord.

This Week's Download: Called to Be Witnesses - Get it and use it all this month, following the suggested guidelines in the "July Exercise" above.

And if you don't have a copy of The Ground for Christian Ethics, a basic handbook for holiness, get one from the book store today.

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Holiness and Love

July/Holiness

2 July 2010

It is when full of charity that one is holy. He walks in charity. Every evil fears him; every good loves him. He has honour upon earth; he has glory in heaven.

- Colman mac Beognai, Aipgitir Chrabaid (Irish, 7th century)

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

- 1 Corinthians 13.13

Christians often let their opponents define the faith for the world. For example, is holiness most often portrayed by the enemies of the faith as rigid and dour "purity", bordering on, if not in fact, self-righteousness?

But Colman understood the essence of holiness is love. This is because love, like holiness, puts self last and reaches out to address the concerns of others. Love, like holiness, is determined that nothing in our demeanor should be offensive to God or our neighbor. Love, like holiness, recognizes that truth is more valuable than life itself, and Law is a guideline for full and abundant life.

I think many Christians fail to see the family connection between love and holiness. There's a great deal of preaching about and hankering after love within the Body of Christ, but not much enthusiasm for holiness. Yet you cannot have love without holiness; and, if you have holiness, you will love. Think: Jesus.

The quest for holiness is a quest for love; the longing for love is a longing for holiness. Love is the great and abiding virtue, but holiness is its motive force. This is why, in the new heavens and new earth, there will be no more sin - all will be holy - and the bliss of Jesus' love will fill and affect every one of us.

That being so, why not strive in this life to gain a foretaste of eternity to come? Seek holiness, and see how love grows in its fertile spiritual soil.

July Exercise: Download "Called to Be Witnesses." For the first week (July 1-11), read this little brochure over several times each day. On several days during this period, rate yourself - 1 to 10 - on the two areas, A Way of Life and Empowered for Witness. Talk with the Lord about why you rated yourself the way you did, and look for ways to improve these two aspects of your call to be holy.

Today in ReVision: No Thyself - True human self-knowledge will not be found at the end of the human genome rainbow.

This Week's Download: Called to Be Witnesses - Here's a practical way to work on holiness for the month of July. What doth hinder thee?

Get the book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, from our book store, and you'll have another good resource to help you pursue holiness in the fear of God.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

To Fear God and Love Him

July/Holiness

5 July 2010

Love God: everyone will love you. Fear God: everyone will fear you.

- Colman mac Beognai, Aipgitir Chrabaid (Irish, 7th century)

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him...

Deuteronomy 10.12

Celtic Christians understood that holiness begins in the fear of God. This is why Paul exhorted the Corinthians to bring holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7.1). If we do not fear God we will not forsake our sinful ways, will not cower before His threats or dread to fall under His discipline (Heb. 12.1-11). Fearing God comes before loving Him, for when we know Him aright, for His awesome holiness, justice, and might, we will fear Him, and then we will love Him because of His mercy and steadfast love.

But as I have often lamented in this space, neither the fear of God nor the desire for holiness seem to be high on the agenda of the Christians of this generation. Believers today are mostly interested in God meeting their needs or providing them some sort of spiritual high, even if it's a very low version of high. Holiness and the fear of God may be on the list of things to do, but most contemporary believers haven't quite found their way there yet.

But fearing God is the first requirement the Lord holds out to us. How can we see that so plainly in our text, and not make it our primary business in life? How can we give God anything but the best moments of our lives, and all our possessions and strength, when we know that He requires that we love and fear Him?

We are in danger of trying to make God in our own image, to fashion Him according to our needs and desires, and to appeal to Him for whatever we desire from Him for our temporal happiness.

But God, we should know, will have none of this. He has told us what He requires. He will bless us when we come to Him on His terms, rather than our own, and seek Him while He may be found.

July Exercise: Download "Called to Be Witnesses." For the first week (July 1-11), read this little brochure over several times each day. On several days during this period, rate yourself - 1 to 10 - on the two areas, A Way of Life and Empowered for Witness. Talk with the Lord about why you rated yourself the way you did, and look for ways to improve these two aspects of your call to be holy.

Today in ReVision: A Friend of Liberty - Wisdom from John Witherspoon for the Church in America today.

This Week's Download: Called to Be Witnesses - This little brochure can help you begin to make real progress in the life of holiness.

Thanks again to all of you who send gifts from time to time. This daily devotional is but a fraction of what God is doing through The Fellowship. Your support, either by clicking the donate button on the website, or sending a gift to us here, at 100 Lamplighter Ct., Hamilton, VA 20158, can help this ministry reach more church leaders.

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The Love of God

July/Holiness

6 July 2010

Love of the living God washes the soul, contents the mind, magnifies rewards, casts out vices, renders the earth hateful, washes and binds the thoughts.

- Colman mac Beognai, Aipgitir Chrabaid (Irish, 7th century)

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep."

- John 21.17

Does Jesus know that you love Him? It's a question worth pondering. Certainly Jesus pressed it on Peter firmly, by it coaxing repentance from him and cloaking renewal upon him. Sometimes that phrase, "love of God," is deliberately vague in the Greek of the New Testament. Does it mean the love God has for us? Certainly that washes us and brings contentment to our minds, as well as all the rest. Jesus' love for Peter renewed his soul and set his life on a course to change history.

Sometimes the phrase seems to mean, "the love I/we have for God." Peter had to be renewed by God's love for him before he could renew love for God. It is always this we: "we love because He first loved us," declared the Apostle John. The proper response to God's loving us is to love Him, and to strive to see that our love for Him measures up to the love He has for us.

God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to redeem us. He became a servant so that we, through His suffering, might be made whole. We love God properly in return when we yield our lives to Him to serve Him according to whatever He asks of us. Feed His sheep, reach out to the lost, comfort the weary, teach the young, give to the needy - whatever He asks, it's not too much for us to give. If we love God with anything remotely reflecting the love He has for us, we will do whatever He calls us to do.

Does Jesus know that you love Him? Do others? God's love for us was made visible in the gift of His Son. Our love for Him must be made visible as well, every day, in every situation in which we find ourselves. Let Jesus - and all those around you - see that you love Him, and watch how lives will change. Beginning with yours.

July Exercise: Download "Called to Be Witnesses." For the first week (July 1-11), read this little brochure over several times each day. On several days during this period, rate yourself - 1 to 10 - on the two areas, A Way of Life and Empowered for Witness. Talk with the Lord about why you rated yourself the way you did, and look for ways to improve these two aspects of your call to be holy.

Today in ReVision: A Friend of Liberty - Let us take John Witherspoon's counsel to heart.

This Week's Download: Called to Be Witnesses - Download this freebie and join us for the July exercise in the pursuit of holiness.

The new installment of Kingdom Civics is up on the website, the last in this first series. Next week we begin a series on Kingdom Documents, as we continue learning the ins and outs, the protocols and procedures, of living in the Kingdom of Christ. Visit our book store while you're at the site.

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The Power of God's Love

July/Holiness

7 July 2010

What does the love of God accomplish in a person? It kills his desires, it cleanses his heart, it protects him, it swallows up his vices, it earns rewards, it prolongs his life, it washes his soul.

- Colman mac Beognai, Aipgitir Chrabaid (Irish, 7th century)

If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

- 1 John 4. 20

God's love exerts transforming power in our lives. I don't know how, but it does. There is a kind of spiritual persuasion that operates on our hearts, minds, and consciences when we bask in the love God has for us that takes away corrupt desires, foments new affections of love for our neighbors, and sets us on a course of behaviors more reflective of the life of Christ than our own lives.

God's love is mysterious but real, and really powerful to transform. That's why we need to spend more time meditating on God's love for us - all the innumerable ways His steadfast love sustains and blesses us throughout the day, and particularly the grand gesture of unfathomable grace which He demonstrated toward us in Jesus Christ.

The more we understand, sense, experience, and respond with gratitude for the love God shows to us, the more we, too, will be able to love our neighbors with that same love. Not with our love, which is much too selfish to make room for the concerns of others. But with the love of Jesus that works in and through us so that the glory of God comes to light in our relationships with others.

If you're having a little trouble ginning up love for someone in your life, you need to spend more time dwelling on God's love for you. Here you are, right there with me, about as wormy and despicable a creature ever to exist under the heavens, filled with wicked thoughts and a record of self-centered behaviors that would lead any responsible judge to throw the book at you. And here is God, loving and forgiving and embracing and renewing and bearing with and helping and sustaining and changing you and more and more and more. What unfathomable, incredible love!

In the safety and strength of that love, you can put aside all your anger and pain, and love even those who have done you wrong. And if you can love even those folks with the love that God has for you, what can you do for the people you actually like?

It will be fun to see, no?

July Exercise: Download "Called to Be Witnesses." For the first week (July 1-11), read this little brochure over several times each day. On several days during this period, rate yourself - 1 to 10 - on the two areas, A Way of Life and Empowered for Witness. Talk with the Lord about why you rated yourself the way you did, and look for ways to improve these two aspects of your call to be holy.

Today in ReVision: Muslims in Space - NASA in wonderland with our Cheshire President. Go figure.

This Week's Download: Called to Be Witnesses - Get it now, and start in the July exercise which will take on a new phase next week.

And visit our book store to see what all's available to encourage you in the Lord. We love you and thank you for your friendship and support.

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Love the Church

July/Holiness

8 July 2010

He who lives in unity with the universal church, and reposes in the hope of heaven, and fulfills the commandments as they have been commanded, will have hundredfold rewards on earth and eternal life in heaven.

- Colman mac Beognai, Aipgitir Chrabaid (Irish, 7th century)

For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherises it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

- Ephesians 5.29, 30

I have to watch myself sometimes because I can be awfully critical of the state of Christianity in America today. And that means I can be awfully critical of the Church and her leaders. I love the Church, the Body of Christ. All my work is concentrated on building up her members, however I can reach them, and, as a result, strengthening the Church in unity and maturity.

I can't help but notice that there are many things going on in churches today which don't strike me as having much to do with the Gospel of the Kingdom. This bothers me, and, when I'm bothered, I speak out. But I'm not criticizing the Church - the Bride of Christ, whom He is preparing for Himself and will one day come to claim. I'm only criticizing those who believe they can improve on God's idea of how we ought to "do church," if you know what I mean.

Love for the Church requires that we understand God's design for her, and that we abide by His prescriptions for how she is to be built. We might think that the worlds of marketing, entertainment, fun and games, business and entrepreneurship, education and perhaps even the military have hit on some pretty good ways to get stuff done. And we might think that postmodern philosophy or secular psychology are obviously the sort of thing many folks are "into" these days, so why shouldn't the Church?

Well, because Jesus is building His Church (Matt. 16.18), and He is building it His way - equipping the saints for works of ministry that reach the lost, make disciples of the saved, and cause the local church to grow in unity and maturity (Eph. 4.11-16). Making disciples through a shepherding model is what Jesus did (Jn. 10) and what, presumably, we should be doing as well.

But we aren't. And that's what causes me to rev up the pen and want to poke someone in the eye with it. If we love the Church should we not want for her what Jesus wants, and not what our entertainment-crazy postmodern age desires? Where are the pastors who will stand on the Word of God alone in building their churches?

And where are the church members who will insist they do?

July Exercise: Download "Called to Be Witnesses." For the first week (July 1-11), read this little brochure over several times each day. On several days during this period, rate yourself - 1 to 10 - on the two areas, A Way of Life and Empowered for Witness. Talk with the Lord about why you rated yourself the way you did, and look for ways to improve these two aspects of your call to be holy.

Today in ReVision: Muslims in Space - Well, not really, almost.

This Week's Download: Called to Be Witnesses - Get your free download of this and join us in this month's exercise, designed to help us grow in holiness.

Again, thanks to you who send gifts to support this ministry. Pray for our Board meeting tonight, as they approve our ministry plan and budget for the coming year.

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Sheltered for Holiness

July/Holiness

9 July 2010

The body shelters the soul. The soul shelters the mind. The mind shelters the heart. The heart shelters faith. Faith shelters God. God shelters man.

- Colman mac Beognai, Aipgitir Chrabaid (Irish, 7th century)

You, O LORD, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.

- Psalm 12.7

What is there to be sheltered from? In Psalm 12, all the lies, flattery, deceit, and half-truths of an age that wants only to assert its autonomy ("our lips are our own; who is master over us?", v. 2). Those who espouse such views are quite outspoken and persuasive. The torrent of such views, wafting and blowing over us day by day, exerts a powerful effect on how we think and live.

We need the shelter of God's Word to keep us in the way of holiness, or we will surely be blown off course by this age in flight from God. God's words are pure words (v. 6), and they can make us pure in heart, mind, conscience, and life. But we must shelter in them, seek their protection against the storms of deception and unbelief, and feed on their truths to fortify us.

What does it mean to shelter in the Word of God? Daily reading, meditation, and study. Deep and searching reflection in order to discover how the Scriptures want us to live. Pleading with God for power to resist the steady winds of worldliness and walk uprightly in the path of righteousness. Encouragement from fellow believers. A disciplined self-watch and accompanying repentance and penance.

We will shelter somewhere in this life, and where we shelter - where we harbor - will shape our outlook and way of life. If you are not sheltering in God's Word, where then? What is shaping your mind, influencing your heart, determining your priorities, and validating your daily practices, if not the Word of God?

It's easy to shelter in the world's alluring shade. Sheltering in God's Word is rather more demanding. It is also, however, vastly more rewarding, in particular, for the progress of holiness.

July Exercise, Part 1: Download "Called to Be Witnesses." For the first week (July 1-11), read this little brochure over several times each day. On several days during this period, rate yourself - 1 to 10 - on the two areas, A Way of Life and Empowered for Witness. Talk with the Lord about why you rated yourself the way you did, and look for ways to improve these two aspects of your call to be holy.

Today in ReVision: Miami Bound - LeBron is off to the Heat, and pop culture is off the charts.

This Week's Download: Called to Be Witnesses - Here's a little guide to help you learn how to shelter more effectively in God's Word.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.