by Karen Kinnaird | Aug 22, 2019
“You are in the process
of becoming. Every day is an opportunity to be shaped and formed by
what moves your heart… drives your thoughts… captures your gaze. Is it any
wonder, then, that what you behold matters in your day-to-day?”
Transformation that
results from setting our hearts and minds on Christ in the midst of our daily
lives is the theme of Ruth Chou Simons’ beautiful new
book Beholding and Becoming: The Art of Everyday Worship.
Published by Harvest
House Publishers, the book has a release date of Sept. 10, 2019.
Ruth Chou Simonsis
a bestselling author, artist, entrepreneur and speaker. She has a gift for
intersecting daily life with word and paint. Ruth’s first book, GraceLaced,
won a 2018 Christian Book Award.
It is Simons’ desire to guide the reader to “be
transformed into God’s likeness by looking intently on who He is.” She quotes
Charles Spurgeon as saying, “Nearness to God brings likeness to God. The more
you see God the more of God will be seen in you.”
Based on 1 Cor. 3:18, Beholding
and Becoming is a unique, creative coupling of natural world
illustrations and deep spiritual truths. More than the writing and illustrating
of a book, this is crafted with thoughtful intentionality.
Written in Simons’ gentle
and calming tone, all 16 chapters, each with their own timely topic, is a duet
of “beholding” followed by a practical “becoming.”
I savored each chapter.
Addressing areas such as success and failure, rest and the idolization of
productivity, and words and speech, Simons teaches that “the most ordinary days become extraordinary
places of transformation when we hope in Christ instead of our
circumstances.”
Each section is just the
right length. It’s short enough to fit into a busy daily schedule but
spiritually meaty enough for one to ponder throughout the day.
This is a book that can
be read several times. I found myself lingering longer and reflecting on each
spiritual truth due to the visual beauty of the artwork. The illustrations
include hand-lettered Scripture, quotes, poetry and hymn lyrics. I especially
loved the glossary—a unique expression of Simons’ personal reflections
regarding the painted images. A full-color Guided Companion is also available and serves as an
interactive journal with study questions and additional Scripture verses.
Beholding and Becoming is good for the soul. If you are in a season where your soul
longs to be refreshed and nourished, this book is for you! With an attractive hard cover, it will
make a beautiful coffee table book or gift reminding the reader that what you
behold matters!
For more information, go
to GraceLaced.com.
by Brian Hobbs | Aug 14, 2019
The late, great preacher Adrian Rogers once said, “Your reputation is your actions. Your character is your reactions.” Today, social media rewards reactions. The rawer the reaction, the more likes and shares you might get, giving rise to the popular term “Hot take.”
Unfortunately, the raw and rancorous reactions we see every day on social media are revealing major character flaws, even among Christians. How can we rise above this? Here’s three ideas:
- Wait. The Bible says, “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Prov. 29:20). The next time a hot topic arises, or breaking news happens, just wait. Don’t chime in the minute you think of something. Just mull over what you want to say. Then later, come back to it to see if you still want to comment or what you want to say.
- Withhold. The prevailing thought on social media is “silence is agreement.” If you do not immediately comment on every given issue, you are somehow viewed as complicit. The Bible, meanwhile, teaches us there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7). Moreover, the Bible praises a person who learns to hold his or her tongue (Prov. 21:23). If you simply do not comment on every issue that comes up online, the World Wide Web will go on. It’s sometimes okay to withhold from reacting.
- Swap. If your reactions are revealing a character weakness, God can help you replace that original emotive reaction with wisdom. Ask Him to change your heart; ask Him to give you wisdom where weakness now resides. If we learn from Jesus, we will learn to take everything to the LORD in prayer.
With
the 2020 elections looming, the raucous social media discussion is likely to
get worse, not get better. That means if our reactions in the coming months are
marked by wisdom, not weaker impulses, the world may just notice the difference
in us. People may see that Christ is Lord over all, even our reactions.
by Caleb Moore | Aug 12, 2019
It’s only been a week or so since a prominent author and
former mega church pastor announced he was leaving the faith. Suddenly, another
highly public and popular Christian is leaving the faith, and the ripples of
this will be seen for some time.
Marty Sampson was a key figure and songwriter and singer for
Hillsong Worship and Hillsong United. His songs have been heard on Christian radio
and sung in churches for years.
He announced his departure on social media, and his
intellectual reasons for doing so are a reminder of just how little effort is
put into sound theology in prosperity churches. He listed science, biblical
contradictions, the doctrine of hell and science as some of the main reasons he
is leaving his faith.
He states over and over that these are things people just
don’t talk about in the church.
Wrong, they are things that THEY don’t talk about in his
church.
You don’t have to look hard to realize that Christianity is
defended in the highest of academic circles. From Oxford mathematicians to astrophysicists,
great Christian thinkers and philosophers have been tackling the big issues for
a long time.
However, if your entire faith is based upon feelings and
emotions instead of solid truth then it’s easy to see how one or two hard
questions could send you running for the hills.
In the book of 1 Kings, Elijah calls all of Israel together
to make them choose their side. Evil rulers had dominated Israel for years, and
their faith had been reduced to a tradition. They praised God when they felt
like it, but they were more than willing to worship other gods as well.
Elijah makes them pick, “Are you going to worship the true
God or Baal?” They suddenly become silent like statues, not realizing they
couldn’t have it both ways. They don’t want to make a choice; they want to live
with one foot on each side of the divide.
There is a truth about cracks in the ground that applies to
cracks in our devotion. They only get bigger over time. Eventually you have to
decide what side you are going to stand on.
Marty has spent much of his life attending Hillsong Church
along with 100,000 people every week. It is THE mega church of Australia, and its
theology is not biblical. Although its size is big, it’s a weak church that
teaches a weak faith and makes weak followers.
As the cultural divide grows between Christ and the rest of
the world, people are starting to fill the pressure to choose a side. This pressure is not necessarily bad; the
world could use Christians who are not so lukewarm.
But it’s the younger generation that look up to this band
that concerns me.
The church should be a place where big questions are asked.
God is never afraid of our questions, and we shouldn’t be either.
We should encourage people to think deeper and longer about
certain ideas. The world is asking these questions, and if we sit silent and
preach a watered down gospel, they will just assume we have no answers.
If Marty would look hard at science then he would realize it points to God. If he would dive deep into Scripture, the supposed contradictions would melt away.
If your whole life has been skimming the surface of Scripture,
and then you just skim the surface of the world, of course you are going to be
confused. It’s understandable how one can be so dismayed after being fed
spiritual junk food for so many years.
Although the prosperity churches will be among the first to
fall, this will happen in your church as well. Pastors, we have to introduce
apologetics and deeper theological discussions to our churches.
If this is beyond your comfort zone or calling, I and many
others are willing and ready to help. Let us not get caught off guard, but
instead begin to plant both our feet on God’s revelation and recognize the
areas where we have tried to marry God and culture.
by Brian Hobbs | Aug 5, 2019
On any given day, when you look at social media, it can be
discouraging. You see people arguing over politics on Facebook. We read vicious
back and forth comments on Twitter. You see mocking videos on YouTube.
You can kind of see it all on social media. The one thing
that is hard to find on social media, though—the one missing ingredient—seems
to be grace. It is easy to tell a gracious person from an ungracious person,
and unfortunately, social media is showing the worst side of many of us.
I once attended a wedding at which the minister said to the
bride and groom, “You may not remember much I say today. In fact, you may
forget just about everything that is said today. But please just remember this
one word from today for the sake of your marriage: grace.”
The Bible says Jesus came “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). It is easy to find so-called
truth tellers on social media nowadays. It is much harder to find people full
of truth and grace. As Christians, we can do better than this. We should do
better than this.
If people are going to hear over-the-top rhetoric or
infighting, let it not come from followers of Jesus Christ. Because a lack of
grace suggests a lack of walking with Jesus Christ in our life.
Now that I think of it, the one truly missing ingredient on
social media most days may be the One we call Savior and Lord. The missing
ingredient may be Jesus Himself. And that, brothers and sisters, is a recipe
for disaster.
Today, let’s do better. Today, let’s each be more like
Jesus; let’s show one another grace.
by Ryan Smith | Aug 1, 2019
The Bible has a
lot to say about wisdom.
Prov. 4:7
emphatically declares, “The beginning of
wisdom is this: Get wisdom.”
In what is known
as the Old Testament Wisdom Literature, numerous passages contain the axiom, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom” (Ps. 111:10, Pr. 9:10).
In the New
Testament, James urges his readers to seek godly wisdom as he states, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,
who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him”
(James 1:5).
If anything is
clear from these passages (and many others), it’s that in the economy of God,
wisdom carries an extremely high premium.
In 2 Chronicles,
when prodded by God to ask for anything,
Solomon asks not for wealth, honor, long life or new apple products, but only
for one thing: wisdom. God gave it to him in abundance. It was said of Solomon
that he was the wisest man who ever lived. Why? Because in the fear of the
LORD, he sought wisdom from God.
The loud and
clear message from Scripture is this: pray for wisdom.
Yet somewhere in
the shadows of this voluminous illumination, a nagging question lurks. If
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, sought wisdom from God and was
overflowingly accommodated, why did the sum total of his wisdom lead him to the
continual refrain, “Vanity of vanities!
All is vanity” (Ecc. 1:2)? Meaninglessness. Futility. This is the pot at
the end of the rainbow of wisdom?
Being the wisest
man who ever lived didn’t make Solomon the holiest. While his wisdom may have
provided clarity and discernment in recognizing the right path, it didn’t enable
him to take it. Solomon was a man who indulged in materialism, sexuality,
drunkenness and workaholism. His wisdom allowed him to see these things as
empty—but it didn’t keep him from returning to their wells.
This leads us to
a brief observation regarding wisdom. The Bible clearly wants God’s people to
have wisdom—not only to have it but to exercise it. This tells us that, while
we may seek and gain great attributes of the faith, if we aren’t going to
employ them for the glory of God and the sake of the Gospel, they will
ultimately be of no use. Praying for specific means without the intention of
using those means for God’s glory turns those means into an end. Any end other
than God’s glory is an idol.
In light of this,
I offer two reasons why you shouldn’t pray for wisdom:
Don’t pray for wisdom if…
1) …You’re not willing to use it for
yourself.
I admit, when
seeking to sharpen my mental prowess or accumulate knowledge, my initial and
most compelling thought is often how someone else could use the information. I
have great ideas about how other people should employ discipline and submit to
God’s revealed will in the Scriptures. It is relatively easy for me to come to
a biblical passage for wisdom in order to tell someone else how to live.
However, if the first seat in front of my soapbox is not reserved for myself,
my desire for wisdom is vanity.
Gaining wisdom,
discernment and knowledge are all noble and right pursuits. But like Solomon,
we can have all the understanding in the world, yet little application of it in
our own lives. We must begin with the uncomfortable pursuit of not only
allowing the Spirit to illuminate the dark places inside of us through wisdom
but also to enter those areas with tools of refinement.
2) …You’re not willing to use it for
others.
Another
compelling reason to desire wisdom, insight and knowledge is that we like to
see the world for what it is. I love how the Bible flags the mines and marks
the arrows of the narrow road of righteousness in a dark and sinful world.
Often, however, it is easy for me to be a consumer of those markers and not a
participant in their purpose.
As previously
stated, gaining wisdom, discernment and knowledge are all helpful on one’s
journey, but one’s journey is not solitary. There are those behind and beside
us that not only need to see the flags and arrows that mark the way before us
but also need us to raise flags and post pointers ourselves.
We can gain
wisdom by learning every apologetic argument, memorizing every word of
Scripture, and being deeply moved by the compassion of Jesus. However, unless
we are willing to engage talking points in an adversarial climate, share words
of Scripture with others, and employ the compassion of Jesus in our own lives,
our wisdom is meaningless.
We must not only
be consumers of wisdom but recognize that God gives His understanding to be used among His people for His glory.
The Bible says we
should pray for wisdom and that the fear of God is where we start. This is
because we are not our own but belong to God. He bought and equips us to use
us. If we desire His wisdom but don’t want Him to use it, we betray the fact
that we really have no fear of the LORD.
May we not be
gluttons of information or insight. Instead, may we be vessels of nourishment
carrying the wisdom of God to the darkened world within and around us.
by Angela Sanders | Jul 31, 2019
When I think about the sickening abuse of political power in
our country and others, the undertow of race and sexism that continues to pull
at the feet of millions yearning for equality, the babies who are being killed
in the womb and the desperate mothers who let them go, sexual perversion that
rots into poison a God-given blessing, the twisting of God’s Word into easy-to-swallow
lies, blatant disrespect between generations, apathy in the Church, etc. and then
look at the piddling little sum I have to offer by way of solution, I get
discouraged. Not just down, but don’t-want-to-get-out-of-bed,
pass-me-that-cupcake, binge-watch-til-I’m-numb level sad.
I mean, what if circumstances only get worse?
What if abusers keep abusing and never get punished?
What if the ignorant continue to judge?
What if this ship we’re on sinks because we’re all too busy
saving our own selves to right it?
God will still be
glorified—maybe not the way I’d like, via wide-spread transformation of sinners
into saints so obvious and absolute even those who refuse to be rescued are
forced to admit that God is good and the Gospel is true so things end up getting
better for everyone—but God will be
glorified.
If not here and now while those of us who belong to God can revel
in the spiritual victory this side of Heaven, then someday, after time and
opportunity for lost souls to repent have passed, whichever works best for the
Father (Eph. 1:11, Phil. 2:9-11).
In the meantime, we deal.
How?
Well, I’m learning the key to contentment right here, right
now is in focusing not on what I have to offer, but on the miracles God can
accomplish through a surrendered life and making a conscious effort to give Him
mine, day in and day out.
I may never feel the kind of happy I long for this side of
Heaven, but even this lack can be a blessing when viewed from the right
perspective.
“…And if He rescued
Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless man
(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his
righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)…then the Lord knows how
to rescue godly men from trials…” (2 Pet. 2:7-8).
You see, friends, this ache in our hearts over the depravity
of man and its byproducts is natural for those who walk with and by the Holy
Spirit. It’s not an annoyance to be
ignored, a distraction to be dulled, or a burden to be eased, but evidence that
we belong to God, a blessed reminder of Whose we are and the perfection we have
to look forward to when all is set right.
The empathic pain of God’s children is not a curse or
punishment to be endured, but motivation to pray without ceasing, love others
even when it hurts, rejoice when a lost soul is found, and celebrate when a
wayward sibling returns home, a divine privilege that expires when this breath
that is life blows past.
Embrace it.
