KNOWING GOD, OR JUST KNOWING ABOUT HIM

Okay, I confess. I was recently watching an episode of Dr. Phil.  It's out now.

But it was actually useful, since it gave me a good illustration for what I wanted to focus on today. There was a couple on the show who had "dated" via the internet for two months.  They met face to face exactly one time, and then decided to get married. Their wedding day was only the second time they had ever actually met in person. She had three children from a previous marriage and he had four. The day of of the wedding was the first time these children ever laid eyes on each other.  They immediately all moved in together, and to everyone's surprise, they had problems!  When this couple married they knew some things about each other, but they didn't actually know each other at all.

We live in a day when there is an abundance of information readily available about politicians or entertainers or anyone with a "celebrity" status.  I don't have to go the library to read their biography.  I can just google their name and I will instantly have access to more information than I could possibly want or need.  With hardly any effort at all I can know all about any number of people I have never met or even seen.  But I don't really know them.

I can't really know someone until I have talked with them, learned how they think, observed what they do and how they respond in various situations.  It comes through a relationship that is built over time.  

What is all this leading to?

While preparing for this week's Christian Living Academy class, I remembered a very well known book written in the 1970's.  The author is J I Packer, and the book is titled "Knowing God".  I read it quite a few years ago, but I'm thinking I need to find a copy and read it again.  

A basic premise of the book is that knowing about God is very different from really knowing Him. I can read all kinds of things about God.  I can read the Bible faithfully every day, and be able to recite everything the Bible says about God.  Does that mean I know Him? No. So far all it means is that I know a lot about Him.

Really knowing God is about cultivating a relationship, talking with Him, spending time with Him, getting to see Him work in my life and circumstances.  

Is it possible that as Christians we can settle for knowing about God instead of really knowing Him?  Could we read the Bible, go to church every Sunday, even attend Bible studies, filling our heads with lots of information about God, but fail to grow in our relationship with Him?  I believe it is not only possible but far too often it's reality.  In fact I believe you could become an expert in theology, and know everything that can be taught about God, and still fail to know him in a personal way or grow into the kind of relationship where we really KNOW Him.

I'll leave that with you to contemplate for a few days, and we'll pick up on this idea again next week.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper 

you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

As I was preparing for the first class of the upcoming Christian Living Academy (starting this Sunday - Jan 24), I did a google search on "what God wants for us".  I was interested in articles or opinions talking about what God wants for our lives.  I was surprised when almost all the responses I got to my search were about what God wants FROM us.  

I see that as symptomatic of a condition that has been prevalent throughout church history. It's been worse in some eras and in some denominations, but even us "saved by grace" evangelicals can at times fall into this trap of feeling my Christian life is all about what I can do for God.  It may be more correct to say "what I've been taught I'm supposed to do for God".

Now, I don't want anyone to misunderstand me here.  I believe that as Christians we are called to a certain lifestyle and to a life of service to God.  No question. The problem is that even if we know better we can feel like our acts of service are a means of earning our salvation, or at the very least the means of earning God's approval. 

The truth is that anything God asks of us is something He wants to use for our own benefit. He doesn't ask us to serve Him because he's short of workers and needs help to get things done.  God can do whatever He wants, without any assistance from me or you.  The things we refuse to do, or do grudgingly because we feel obligated, are actually things God knows will be for our benefit.

I went through a time in my early thirties when I was getting kind of discouraged about church.  We were living in Edmonton, attending a really good church with a wonderful pastor.  Yet I was coming home every Sunday feeling like I wasn't praying enough.  I wasn't giving enough.  I wasn't witnessing enough.  I wasn't working hard enough.  I felt like God was saying "it's never going to be enough!".  

Of course God was saying no such thing. The problem was that I was interpreting God's instructions, things He intended to be for my good, as onerous jobs I could never do well enough no matter how hard I tried. The result for me, at least briefly, was guilt and discouragement.  I came to realize later in life that God never intended to put me on a guilt trip or cause me to be discouraged about all the things I could never do enough of. Rather, God was inviting me to enter into a lifestyle that would help me. God wants to fulfill Jesus' promise, who said "I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full." He wants me to have a great life!  And oh yeah, if I really do pursue the great things God has in store for me, others around might just benefit as well.

God has given us instructions about praying and giving and witnessing and serving.  There's no question about that.  But he's not a boss cracking the whip on an assembly line to get more production out of us.  He's using these instructions and many other principles in His word to guide us toward the wonderful life he wants us to experience, right here on Earth. Being a child of God brings with it a blessed hope for an eternity with Jesus, but it also brings the hope of a life here that is filled with joy and peace and contentment.  

Our Christian life is not about what God wants FROM us. It's about being where God wants us to be, and living our lives in a way that God can provide all the things He want FOR us.

We're going to spend the next seven weeks exploring this on Sunday mornings and afternoons at the Christian Living Academy.  If you haven't registered yet, we can still make room for you this Sunday.

MY BEST, OR GOD'S BEST?

I just completed my 2015 report for The Mission's annual meeting, though in my case it's really only for a few months. I began my report with a verse of scripture.  It's the same verse I used to begin each of my reports for the past several years while Director at CEFOntario.  

"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain."   Psalm 127:1

This is one of the greatest lessons I have learned in all of my years in Christian ministry.  I have introduced my reports with this verse for a number of years now, not just to make a statement to others, but to remind myself of how essential it is for a person in Christian ministry to keep in mind who is really in control.

Lots of us, myself included, have a tendency to slip into a self reliance.  We have some abilities. We have gained some experience over the years.  The more we do a job the easier it is to fall into the trap of feeling we have what it takes to succeed on our own.  We don't say it out loud. We probably don't even think it, but our actions betray us.  We offer a quick prayer once in a while, if even that, rather than spending quality time before God seeking his wisdom and help for the ministries He has called us to.  Instead of acknowledging in our hearts that we are totally dependent on God, in effect we say, "Thanks God, but I can take of this on my own.  I'll call you when I really need you."  

The tragedy is that we can give the appearance of doing something useful, even to the extent of fooling ourselves into thinking something is being accomplished. But the absolute truth is that in a spiritual work with spiritual goals, we cannot accomplish God's purposes on our own no matter how smart or talented or hard working we are.  Unless God is in charge, and a full partner in our work every day, we are labouring in vain.

Preachers, teachers, worship leaders, children's workers, deacons, board members, etc.  It doesn't matter what the job is we are called to in God's service, the principle is the same.  If we do it on our own we get what man is capable of.  (in a spiritual work that is little or nothing)  If we partner with God we get what He is capable of. I don't know about you, but when I'm labouring in ministry I would really rather see what God is capable of, than be limited to what I can do.  I want to see miracles happen on a regular basis, and that means God has to be in control.

This is not the last time you will hear me talk about this principle at The Mission.  If nothing else, I need to keep reminding myself.  

It's pretty simple really.  God called me to do a job.  I want to succeed.  I can't succeed unless God is my senior partner and actively involved in the work every day.  Isn't that what you want for your ministry?  
  

I WAS AT EASE.

Quite a few years ago I attended a conference where one of the speakers was a well known and remarkable African-American pastor named E.V. Hill.  He was a flamboyant, and gifted preacher who always had the audience on the edge of their seats.

On this particular occasion he was preaching about Job.  He recounted how he had gone on a search of scripture to discover Job's sin.  Not that Job brought calamity on himself because of sin; just that everyone has sin, so Job must have too.  After a lengthy and captivating introduction, he concluded that Job's sin was found in Job 16: 12, which begins with the words "I was at ease".  Job was living in "Uz", a land by all accounts populated by a very ungodly people.  Dr. Hill's point was that Job was surrounded by sin and immorality, and while he himself had not fallen into that sin, he was at ease.  He was unmoved and untroubled by the condition of the people around him.

I've thought about that message from time to time because I. like just about everyone I know, have a tendency to be "at ease" when it comes to my Christian life and my response to the world around me. I can be at ease about the fact that I am surrounded by people who are lost without Jesus. Apart from occasional twinges of disgust and dismay, I can be unmoved by the headlong rush of our society into the worst kinds of sin and immorality. And I can be generally complacent about the state of my own relationship with God and my spiritual development.

Sure, there are times when I'm moved and motivated, but far too often I am simply at ease. Is that where you're at?

As you're well aware by now, my role at The Mission is to help people in their spiritual growth, coming alongside the people of our church to encourage and coach them on their spiritual journey. It's a wonderful privilege to serve God and His people this way, and with God's help I intend to do the best job I am capable of.  Yet I've been aware from the first day I talked with Pastor Paul about this role that the biggest challenge is to help people have a "want to". Creating programs and aids is relatively easy. Motivating people to be concerned enough about their spiritual development that they are willing to invest themselves and their time is a much bigger challenge.  I know that because I also suffer from the Christian epidemic of being "at ease".

The fact is I can't motivate anyone to be more concerned about their spiritual growth.  That really has to come from within each person as the Holy Spirit prompts and urges them.  What I can do from time to time is encourage us all to take an honest look at ourselves, asking ourselves if we have fallen into the trap of being complacent about our spiritual lives.  Are you up for a little self assessment right now?

I am going to do everything I can this year to provide the means for the people of The Mission to grow in their relationship with God.  But whatever those things look like they will have no impact at all on you unless you have a "want to", a desire to grow in your Christian life.  Do you have that desire, or are you at ease?

Why a Baby?

(Each year while I was the Director at CEFOntario I prepared a special Christmas letter, as a ministry to those who were involved in CEF's work.  A few years ago I wrote the following letter, titled "Why a Baby?".  For me it's one of my favourite things I've ever written, and generated a lot of response.  I'd like to share it with you this Christmas.  I hope it will be a blessing to you.)

What comes to your mind when you hear the word Christmas?   Do you have a mental picture of family opening gifts around the Christmas tree or singing carols by the piano or sitting around a table sharing favourite Christmas treats?  For most of us the word Christmas invokes warm memories of loved family traditions.  As Christians our thoughts almost certainly include images of Mary and Joseph, along with a contingent of angels and shepherds and wise men on camels.  And of course central to all is a baby in a manger.  That baby is what it’s all about.  But have you ever wondered, why a baby? 

If the planning had been left to me I might have had Jesus appear on the scene as a fully grown man.  Maybe he would simply walk out of the wilderness one day as a mature thirty year old ready to begin his ministry of teaching and healing and sacrifice.  Imagine the impact.  Instead of someone everyone knew from a child, who had grown up among them, a mysterious figure with no known background comes out of nowhere to heal sick people and calm storms and raise the dead?  It certainly would have made for a different kind of Christmas.

But God didn’t choose to have his Son appear out of the mist like an alien or a miracle working hero in a Hollywood movie.  In God’s plan Jesus came the way humans do, as a helpless infant.  Not only that, he came to a poor family in the most humble of circumstances.  No royal family, no wealth or rank or privilege.  For other than a few people God spoke to especially, the baby named Jesus appeared to be an ordinary child at best.  Who would come up with a plan like this?  Certainly I wouldn’t.  But this was God’s way.

I’ve learned that God doesn’t do anything without good reason, so I’ve been pondering this question - why did Jesus come as a baby?  Is it so we can have a really cool looking nativity scene under the Christmas tree?  Is it so we can get together and sing heartwarming carols about a night filled with wondrous miracles?  Did God come up with this plan so children could re-enact the Christmas story complete with a donkey, a gruff innkeeper in a bathrobe, and a stable filled with cardboard livestock?  I love Christmas and all the traditions that spring from the birth of baby Jesus in the stable, but I have to think there’s more to it than that.  I’m left with the question, why a baby?

Students of theology may come up with something deeper, but personally I’ve settled on an answer that works for me.  It’s a profound truth, and while it may not be new to you, for me it gives Christmas a wonderful dimension I haven’t considered enough.  I think Jesus came as a baby - to a poor family - in the most humble of circumstances - because part of God’s plan to save me was to experience what it was like to be me. 

Just think of it.  Though he didn’t have to do it, Jesus chose to place himself in a little human body that would grow up suffering skinned knees and toothaches and stuffy noses and bumped heads.  Part of his plan was to experience what I feel when facing fears and hurts and temptations.  He wanted to know firsthand what it was like for me in times of discouragement or uncertainty, or when I’ve been misunderstood.  He grew up and lived life as a human being to know the highs and lows I can go through, to experience the complexities that arise in my relationships, and to know what it’s like to be hungry or in pain.  He wanted to live the life I live.

That’s what the baby in the manger tells me.  The baby assures me God is not just some distant super being, but a God who is close, who can understand what I feel and how I feel.  That tiny child wrapped in swaddling clothes in a smelly old barn reminds me that the Son of God was tempted and hurt and afraid and discouraged – just like me.

Could God have done it some other way?  I think so.  I’m pretty sure He could have had a perfect adult Jesus suddenly appear on the scene and sacrifice himself for my sin and yours.  But for me both the sacrifice and the love it represents are somehow magnified when I think how God deliberately put himself in the place where he could grow up experiencing what it means to be me.  I don’t pretend to really grasp all it meant for God to become a human being, but I do understand this.  The magnitude of that sacrifice says in great big bold letters that GOD LOVES ME!

It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to celebrate Christmas without the baby in the manger.  It’s hard to picture being without the angels and wise men and shining stars.  Along with our family traditions, these are the things that make Christmas feel like Christmas.  But as we enter this Christmas season I think I’ll look at that baby in the nativity scene with a new appreciation.  He’ll be more than part of the Christmas tradition.  He’ll be God saying to me, “I don’t just love you.  I understand you.”

Until that remarkable night in Bethlehem God was God, man was man, and the only bridge was a set of laws I couldn’t possibly follow.  The birth of a baby changed all that.  That baby, the Jesus I serve, knows me and empathizes with me and pours out his grace toward me.  Thank you God for the baby in the manger!

May the Lord Jesus who lived his life for us, and then gave it for us, be close to you and yours during this Christmas season.

Rob Lukings

GOD, IS THAT YOU?

If you read the end of my blog last week you might have thought I was preparing to give you a foolproof recipe for hearing God's voice. I've seen some of those on the internet and I'm not buying any of them, so I'm not going down that road. I believe God speaks to each individual a bit differently, so the best I can do is share some principles I've learned for myself, in the hope they will be of help to you.

How do you learn to recognize someone's voice?  You communicate with them.  The more you hear them speak the easier it is for you to identify them, even pick them out in a crowd where there are lots of competing voices and noises. It's the same with God's voice.  The more we hear Him speak the easier it is to recognize when He's speaking to us.

There is no question that God wants to speak to us.  He does that through the Holy Spirit. Jesus told us that in John 16:13.  

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and 

he will tell you what is yet to come.

Since the Holy Spirit dwells within us as believers, His voice is going to come from inside.  If we let Him, He will talk to us by invading our thoughts and our emotions. The challenge of course is determining which voice is the Holy Spirit and which is just my own thoughts and ideas and feelings.  That's where we usually struggle, distinguishing God's voice from our own.

As I said, the best I can do is share a few things I've learned for myself, so here goes.

1. When God has something to say to me He speaks persistently and regularly until I get the message. Often it bounces around in my subconscious for a while and I'm not really even aware of it, until one day I realize this is something that has been on my mind for some time. Though I'm sure in emergency situations that demand an immediate response, some have heard God's voice suddenly and clearly. For me, under normal circumstances, some fleeting thought that never recurs is far more likely to be my own mind at work.  I tend to take some time to be sure who is really speaking.

2. Jesus said "my sheep listen to my voice".  My experience has been that God always speaks to me in a very similar way.  It may be different from the way He speaks to others, but for me it is always the same.  Over time I have come to recognize when God is trying to get my attention, because it has the same feel as the other times when He has spoken to me.  The more we listen to God's voice the easier it becomes.

3. God speaks to us more when we are obedient.  Imagine this scenario.  Every time I come to a decision point I ask for God's direction.  I get a clear sense that God is moving me toward a particular choice, but it's not the one I like, so I just go ahead with what I really wanted anyway.  Do you suppose God may reach a point of saying, "why should I speak to you when you refuse to listen?"

4. Will God sometimes give you a word for someone else?  I think it's relatively rare, but I acknowledge that it does happen.  A couple cautions about that.  First, be very careful and take the time to be sure it is really God speaking, and not just your own idea of something you think that person should know.  Then, be very careful how you present it.  Something like "God told me to tell you this." may not go over well.  How about this approach.  "As I was praying God seemed to be telling me something that may be helpful to you.  Would you ask God about this and see if He confirms it in your heart as well?"

5. When it comes to life-changing decisions, it may be wise to seek the wisdom and guidance of others who hear from God.  When God called me to leave my employment and go into children's ministry, it was the most momentous and scariest decision Louise and I ever made.  We asked several couples, friends who we trusted and who knew us well, to our home.  We shared what was on our hearts and we prayed together.  I asked them to share what they felt God was saying to them about this.  When God speaks to me, it is ultimately my decision to decide what I'm going to do about it, but I do believe if our heart and intention is right God will use spiritually mature people to help us in the process and to confirm what He is saying.

God wants to guide us, help us, and call us.  He doesn't very often do it audibly, but we can learn over time to be more confident in recognizing when He is speaking to us.  I would be happy to carry on this dialogue if anyone has any comments or questions.

Fear vs Faith - who's winning?

Last week I wrote about how we often neglect to consult with God when we have decisions to make, and how that can lead to wrong choices and disobedience to God.  This week I'm thinking about a related problem, the struggle between fear and faith.  

In Numbers 13 the Israelites were on the  borders of Canaan, the promised land.  Twelve spies went to check things out, and when they returned the problems began.  Everyone agreed that the land was just as God promised, a land of milk and honey.  The disagreement was over whether or not they could defeat the well trained and well armed people who already inhabited the land. Two said yes, God will go before us and do what He promised.  Ten said no, we can't possibly defeat those giants.  The fear they caused among the people resulted in everyone wandering around in the desert until they died, every adult but the two faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb.

It's easy to be hard on those faithless people of Israel. Surely they could see that the God who took them from Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and provided food and water in the desert could help them defeat the Canaanites.  Surely after all this time they should have learned to trust God!  Right?

Confession time.  I have seen God perform amazing miracles in my life, but when He confronts me with a plan that requires trust, demands a step of faith, it's still an agonizing decision.  Can I really trust God in this situation?  

The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please God.  It's really important to Him that we trust Him.  He wants us to obey with confidence, certain that He will enable us to do whatever He asks of us.  Stepping out in faith is an amazing experience, because that's when we really see the hand of God at work. If we only do what we can do on our own, there is no need for God and we will miss out on the miraculous things He wants to do.  

That doesn't mean doing whatever crazy thing enters our heads and expecting God to swoop in and rescue us. I'm not saying that. When Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and dared him to jump off, Jesus refused. He wasn't afraid for whether or not God could rescue him.  He just knew this wasn't what God wanted.  The two things have to go hand in hand; hearing the command or call of God and being willing then to follow in faith.

Those two principles are extremely important for us as individual believers, and for churches, such as The Mission.  First, we must not be content to settle for what is within the bounds of our own abilities. Rather, we need to sincerely ask God what He wants in each situation. Then, being confident of God's will, we need to trust Him and obey in faith.

There is a very good chance at some point God will ask us to do something that is totally beyond us.  It's clear we will fail unless He intervenes.  So what will we do?  

In order to please God we need to be people who want to hear from Him, who recognize His voice and know when He is directing us a certain way. And we need to be people who trust God and are willing to step out in faith knowing with certainly that when God calls, He enables. 

Often hearing God's voice is a bigger problem than following in faith.  If Jesus appeared in our bedroom and told us to do something, many of us would have the faith to do it.  Unfortunately Jesus rarely appears in our bedroom to give us instructions.  So we struggle and procrastinate, not sure if we're hearing God correctly and paralyzed with fear in case we get it wrong.  Let's talk some more about that next week.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and certain of what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1