The Great Commission

The Great Commission, Jesus' command to make disciples of all nations, is one of the pillars of Christianity and Christian evangelism. When I think of the Great Commission, I think of initiative evangelism, knocking on doors and sharing the Gospel, handing out tracts in public places, and taking mission trips to foreign countries to share God's love. When I think about these types of activities, I feel uncomfortable because I haven't really engaged in many of those activities, and don't really want to most of the time. I often feel less spiritual because I do not have a constant urge to go out on the street and start winning souls.
This past week, God has been working to remind me that the above examples are not the only ways to fulfill the Great Commission. Those activities are important and I believe that we should all be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15), but not everyone has the gifts and abilities for successful full-time initiative evangelism and missionary work in the traditional sense. One of the things that I love about the Church is that everyone in the Church is given different spiritual and physical gifts. They are all to work together to make the Great Commission a reality. Together we will go and make disciples, with the help of the Holy Spirit!

My Number One

When God really wants to teach us something or remind us of something, He often uses many different experiences in our lives to emphasize it. This has definitely been the case for me during the past few weeks.

The pastor at our church has been preaching a short series through the Lord's Prayer, petition by petition. In his sermon on the first petition, "hallowed be thy name," he introduced a key point for the series: we try to fill God's place with other things that we hallow and praise, but whatever we praise will control us. Only when we put God first will He control our lives and make us complete. The second petition, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," has a similar focus. The primary point of his sermon on this petition was active and passive obedience and submission to God's will. Whatever we submit to will control us, and so we need to submit to God to have a thriving Christian life.

In my personal reading time I have been going through books ranging from Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn to Emotional Purity by Heather Arnel Paulsen, and I have been struck by how all of these authors emphasize contentment with God's will and a close relationship with Him as the foundation or even the solution to so many problems that we experience in this life. When God is our number one, our all in all, our first priority, we no longer feel compelled to seek satisfaction, identity, and fulfillment in wealth, power, or relationships. God may graciously give us those things in His good timing, but even when we receive them, we will treat them as gifts rather than the Giver if our hearts are God's first. Our pastor preaches a similar message in many of his sermons.

I sometimes read Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest as a devotional. It teaches that we must be filled with God and with the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish His purposes in our lives.

Hmmmm.

Maybe God wants me to concentrate more on my relationship with Him and make Him my number one priority in my life? Maybe He wants me to focus on being filled with the Spirit to be His agent on this earth?

It has been challenging to see His standard for Christian living and to see how far I am from that standard. Over the next few weeks I am going to attempt to analyze my life from His perspective and see what needs to be changed or removed. I definitely can't do this on my own, so I would appreciate prayers for the Holy Spirit's help.

~Mac

Tension and Growth

During the past few months I have been reading Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn. It has been rather challenging to explore what the Bible has to say about money and how far we fall short of God's standards at times. I will probably be posting more of my insights related to the actual topic of the book, but today something popped out at me that was not specific to the issue of money. Talking about insurance on page 349, Alcorn writes:

There are many factors to consider when making an insurance decision. Sometimes I think we should have a little more insurance; other times I think we should have less. This tension is healthy. As we continue to grow in Christ, we continue to evaluate. But we are determined to follow His lead as best we can discern it. [emphasis mine]

Two things really struck me about this paragraph. First, the idea of healthy tension in the Christian life. Over the past several years, one thing that God has been teaching me is that there are two extremes to almost every issue in Christian living, and in almost every case, we are to take the middle ground between them, not falling into their extreme. This is hard for me, because I like things to be black and white and straightforward. This idea that the resulting tension we experience is healthy is very freeing! God wants us to constantly be thinking about why we are doing what we are doing, whether we can improve it, and always searching for and listening to God's will.

Secondly, continuing evaluation as we grow in Christ. As I have grown older, I have realized more and more that I cannot simply take a week, a month, or a year, decide my stance on all the issues, and then coast for the rest of my life. God is always revealing new ideas and new principles to us through His word and wise teachers of the Word. The Christian life is a constant journey of sanctification, re-evaluation, and learning. In all areas of our life, we need to be willing to constantly evaluate our behaviors, motives and beliefs and change them if God has revealed more wisdom to us that contradicts our current beliefs.


Even though these insights mean a harder, more involved Christian life, they encourage me. Coasting along secure in one's beliefs and free from tension is not a good way to grow and learn. I have new motivation to search the Scriptures, discuss the issues, and to follow His lead as best I can discern it at my current season of life!

 Any thoughts? What has God been teaching you lately about sanctification and the Christian life?

~Mac

Remember the Sabbath

I finished reading the book of Nehemiah a few days ago, and I must say, I saw some things in the book that I had never seen before! That's the great thing about the illumination of the Holy Spirit - we continue to find application in God's Word through multiple readings! Anyway, one of the things that struck me was the incident surrounding the profaning of the Sabbath.

¹⁵ In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds ofburdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. ¹⁶ Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 

¹⁷ Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? ¹⁸ Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” ¹⁹ So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. ²¹ Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. ²² And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.

Nehemiah certainly took the Sabbath seriously - more seriously than most of us. He shut the gates in the faces of those who would sell merchandise on God's holy day, and warned those who camped outside the city that he would lay hands on them if they attempted to profane the day by trading. We are not under the law, but the command to keep the Sabbath holy still applies today. Do we treat the Sabbath with the same kind of reverence and do we keep it with the same determination that Nehemiah did? After all, it is a serious thing - we "bring added wrath" on ourselves by profaning the Sabbath. Often, I think of the Sabbath as a day to not do school or work, hang out with family and friends, and just take it easy. While rest is an important part of the Sabbath, the main goal of the Sabbath is to have a day set aside for God - to worship Him, meditate on Him, and cultivate our relationship with Him. That's something that I can definitely improve on.

How do you spend the Sabbath? What kinds of things do you do to set the day apart and make it God's day?

~Mac

Joy in Obedience

I'm reading through the book of Nehemiah for my personal quiet time, and a few days ago I read chapter 8 - the chapter where Ezra reads the Law to the people. It's a very well-known and helpful passage, but the passage in chapter 8 that comes right after it has some insights to impart as well. It chronicles the Israelites' celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) as prescribed in the Law. One verse in particular stood out to me as I read it:

17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

"And there was great gladness." Isn't that interesting? God's people have been rejoicing because the Law has been made clear to them, and their joy and understanding of the law caused them to obey the commands of the Law. When they obeyed, their obedience produced more gladness. This is the way God has created us! When we do His will, when we obey His commands for us, we are glad and joyful. Obedience should not be a burden to us; it should be fulfilling!

~Mac

Doing Penance

It seems so ancient - it conjures up images of ascetics whipping themselves, of pilgrims kneeling and kissing steps. But while physical penance is a thing of the past for most of us here in the 21st century, mental and emotional penance is a very easy trap to fall into.

I know it is for me.

After I commit a sin (especially one of the ones I commit over and over) and the Spirit convicts me, my first feeling is frustration, sadness, and sometimes anger. I quickly ask forgiveness from God. Then I often start doing penance in my mind. If I can only feel bad enough about myself for long enough, my negative feelings about my sin will disappear, and all will be right again. This attitude ruins my day every time.

But there are days - like today - when I really get it. All the penance in the world won't get me feeling right and being right with God. But Jesus performed the ultimate act of penance on the cross in my place, so now, when I receive forgiveness from God for a sin, I am free.

Free to live for Him again. Free to feel close to Him again. Free to experience the lightness of spirit that comes with knowing your sins are take care of.

There doesn't need to be some kind of waiting period, a time where I brush myself off and tidy myself up to be worthy of His affection again. It can begin the moment after I ask for and receive God's grace.

That's a freeing thing!

~Mac

Too Busy to Live?

This past Sunday's sermon was on resting - both during the Sabbath and during the week. The pastor made the point that our constant busyness - which is often a badge of distinction in our culture - actually detracts from the quality of the life we are seeking to live so busily. He quoted one man who, when asked what his biggest regret in life was, answered "busyness". It really made me think. I am not a person who greatly enjoys busyness for its own sake, but I like to be doing things, accomplishing things, and living life according to my plan. How many times a week am I truly still and meditating on the things of God, worshiping Him? Even my quiet times are often times where I make a goal to "learn lots of things" and spend my time digging for information about God when I could be focused on strengthening my relationship with Him!

Busyness also tends to keep us from deep, meaningful relationships. For me personally, even on a vacation or with a group of friends, I tend to let the activities take over my time and make my thoughts, words, and actions shallow, when I could be using my time in meaningful ways to grow closer to my friends and family. Activities are fun and important in relationship building, don't get me wrong - and I like to have fun and goof off as much as anyone I know. But do we let activities and busyness and "stuff" in general consume our lives when we could be growing closer to God and others in deeper ways? Just something I've been thinking about this week. What do y'all think?

~Mac

Training to be Obsessed

ob·sess (b-ss, b-)

v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es

v.tr.

To preoccupy the mind of excessively.

v.intr.

To have the mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic.

Obsession is an idea that I have been learning about a lot recently. We have been going through a series on the Fruit of the Spirit in church, and last Sunday, the sermon was on 1 Corinthians 9:19-27, a passage about self-control. The analogy of an athlete training for a competition struck me in a fresh way. Our pastor asked us, "If you decided today that you were going to train for the Olympics, how would your life change during this coming week?" You would make changes in your diet, you would cut out activities that interfered with your training, because your eyes would be fixed on the goal. In the same way, we should have our eyes constantly fixed on the goal of sanctification, eternal life, and living the Christian life. Things that hinder us, even good things that keep us from the best things, must be sacrificed in order to attain the goal.

In my study group, we are going through Francis Chan's book Crazy Love, and the chapter for this session was The Profile of the Obsessed. Chan lists thirteen things that people obsessed with God display in their lives. It is challenging to look through a list like that and realize how little time I actually spend obsessed with God and the things of the Kingdom. However, I know that with the help of the Holy Spirit, I can become more conformed to His image, become more obsessed with him, and exercise self-control to attain the goal which is set before me.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV)

~Mac

Perspective Check + Update

God's been teaching me quite a bit lately, and also reminding me of some things that I have forgotten. I thought I'd share a few of them:

1. Make God the focus and top priority of my life. It's easy to tell myself that I have many important things to do besides "Christian-y" things - school, work , time with family. All of these things are good, but they cannot be allowed to supersede God as number one. All of them should be done in, with, and through Him. My plans, hopes, and dreams will not ultimately satisfy by themselves; they must be submitted to God's will for me to achieve true contentment, peace, and joy.

2. Develop a hunger and thirst for the Word. I often don't feel like I want to get to know God better, and my Bible and prayer time suffer because I am distracted by other things. I need God to give me the strength to thirst for His Word, to be like the tree in Psalm 1, planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither. Staying in the Word is an act of the will (the new nature's will by the power of the Holy Spirit).

On another note, I passed Prinicples of Supervision DSST last week so I now have 78 credits! By the end of this month I hope to have three more as I am planning to finish my Film and TV Narratives as Public Communication class. I also was accepted at Thomas Edison, so I am planning to enroll sometime in the next few months! Besides school, I am staying involved in the music ministry and the live sound engineering at church and working on A/V installs and recording sessions as they come up.

God bless you all!

~Mac

God Died

As we prepare to celebrate Easter, we have special Lenten devotions that we go through as a family. During one of these, I was struck by two simple words:

God died.

That is a mind-blowing concept! An infinite, eternal, unchangeable, omnipotent, omniscient, perfect Being "made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." (Phillipians 2:7) That alone is incomprehensible. Jesus, who had never experienced pain, fatigue, aging, or any of the effects of the Fall, came into this world and experienced all of them. Jesus, who had never had anything less than a perfect relationship with His Father, became the Object of His Father's wrath for all of the sins believers have ever committed in history. Jesus, who was with the Father before time, entered time and lived and died. And He did all of this for those He loves, those who have believed and will believe in Him!

Thank you, Jesus, for Your work of redemption on our behalf! Help us to live in light of that sacrifice, and to truly be thankful for Your precious gift of salvation!

~Mac

Language and Illumination

I was reading my Bible this morning, and I had one of those "deep thought" moments. It was one of those times where I was suddenly struck in a new way by something very ordinary: reading. It is truly amazing how patterns of lines and curves on a page communicates concepts to a reader who understands them. It made me thank God for the gift of language.

Then I had another insight: I could understand what the words in the Bible are saying on a superficial level, but I am unable to truly understand and comprehend their message by myself. God's thoughts are certainly not our thoughts! Praise be to God for choosing to grant me the illumination of the Holy Spirit. His help is something to truly be thankful for!

~Mac

Eustace on Growing and Sanctification

"The very first tear [Aslan] made was so deep and I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know – if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away."

~ Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis ~

An excellent description of what we feel both growing up and growing in Christ!

~Mac

"But He Gives More Grace"

In devotions we're going through the book of Daniel, and today's reading was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo's reply to the king's ultimatum: bow down or be burned! We were all struck by the conviction and faith in their reply. They accepted the fact that God could save them or choose not to, and they stood by their belief. This passage prompted some self-examination: what about us? What would our response be to such a dilemma? Each of us, if left to our own strength, would surely follow our earthly desires, deny our Lord, and save our earthly lives. I personally, even with the grace God has given me currently, do not see how I could possibly choose to do right in the face of such an agonizing death. But praise be to God for His sufficient grace in the midst of trials!

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

These verses give me great comfort and encouragement as I look to what the future holds for me and for this country. In the face of persecution God will give us the grace we need to stand for Him when we could not humanly do so.

~Mac

The Seder

Earlier this month, our family had the privilege of celebrating a Messianic Seder (passover).

^ The Seder plate contains much of the symbolism of the Seder.

It was a great blessing to follow the order of the Seder and see the symbols as pointing forward to what for the Jews was an unknown Messiah, but for us is our Savior Jesus Christ! The parallels between the history of the Jewish nation and our lives of sanctification as believers were also quite striking.

Seeing Opportunities in the Little Things

It seems that lately, I've been stuck on thinking big at the expense of the smaller here and now.

Several of my friends are going or have gone on mission trips, they know what God is calling them to, and they are going out into the world to evangelize people for Christ. And while that is great, sometimes it just makes me feel inferior in some way. I mean, here are people traveling to foreign countries, teaching others about Jesus, and here I am, doing schoolwork, watching siblings, cleaning dishes, changing diapers . . . MUNDANE STUFF.

I have slipped into the mindset of regarding one set of activities as somehow "holier" than another.

However, God has been telling me lately that instead of trying to avoid these little things in life as I grasp for bigger, "holier" things, I should make the most of every opportunity (Eph. 5:16). He's telling me to live more in the present, rather than in some uncertain, imaginary future. He's showing me that I should view even the little things as having eternal value and as being opportunities for growth, and that in order to be entrusted with bigger things, I must show myself faithful in little things.

It's a rather large perspective shift, and it will not come to me easily I know. But I am confident that with God's help I can truly see every good activity as having real meaning and value, and that every day I live will be rich with new meaning! I'm excited!

~Mac

Only Trust Him

I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I read about the government's latest attack on free speech and its frantic desire to cover itself in the face of the November elections: the DISCLOSE Act, which would force ads to reveal the sponsor's top five donors several times in each ad. In effect, this is attempting to prevent conservative groups from protesting the government's current agenda.

As I sat there, I thought, "What can we do?" I've contacted our representative and Senators, but they are conservative and will probably vote against it anyway. Which is good and bad - good because our reps are voting with their constituents, but bad because we feel like we don't have an influence - helpless in the face of a government that has no respect for God or His truth. I find it hard to trust God is these circumstances, knowing how much our country has angered Him and is deserving of His wrath. But nevertheless He commands us to rest in His good and perfect will, and He will give us the peace that passes all understanding.

And then I was reminded that there is one thing that all of us can do, a thing that is easy to overlook and trivialize: PRAY! Pray for our leaders; pray for our country; pray for revival to sweep across this land and make America what it once was: "One nation under God." And finally, pray that whatever may come our way, that God will give us grace and peace to stand firm.

Only trust Him, only trust Him,

Only trust Him now!

He will save you, He will save you,

He will save you now!

Only Trust Him, John H. Stockton, 1874

That is my prayer for us, our country, and the world.

~Mac

Hearts of Darkness - Redeemed

What do Blind Bartimaeus and Heart of Darkness have in common?

This past Sunday, the sermon was on Mark 10:46-52, the passage containing the healing of Bartimaeus. For the first point, the pastor used a comparison with Alcoholics Anonymous to demonstrate that in order to be freed from something that has its hold on you, you must first truly recognize your condition for what it is. As he continued, for some reason I immediately thought of the Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness, which I read in literature class in high school. In that class, we determined that Conrad's view of salvation is to look the darkness in the face and recognize it and proclaim it as evil. What a similarity!

Sadly, however, Conrad stops there. But fortunately, Bartimaeus' (and the Gospel's) story doesn't end there!

Bartimaeus recognized his helplessness. But he responded by turning to the one Person able to help him - Jesus! Trusting in faith that Jesus could and would do what he asked, he received his sight.

I don't know about you, but I am so glad that we don't have to stop where Heart of Darkness does. We have a Savior who we can run to, and who can and will free us from bondage to the darkness within each of our hearts.

~Mac