The process that every Christian is to participate in is discipleship. God calls all 'born again' people to be discipled. The process is about emotional and spiritual growth so that the believer reproduces the character and qualities of life that are seen in the life of Christ. Believers are all to become like Christ and manifest the fruit of the Spirit in their normal Christian experience.
Discipleship is the process described in the New Testament and is to be the norm for all Christians. Christians are to become like Christ, not just act like Christ. The end produce is human beings who have been transformed by God's Spirit through their intentional submission to God's activities and through that process have become like Christ, participating in the "Divine nature" (II Peter 1:4).
The New Testament states that "another" lives in us (Galations 2:20); our bodies are the temple of the Spirit of God (I Corinthians 6:19-20). Every believer is indwelt by Christ (Romans 8:9-11) so that each believer is an incarnation of Jesus in this world. As a person lives in the reality of this indwelling Holy Spirit, the process of transformational healing reproduces the character and attributes of Christ in us.
Two contemporary words have been adopted which describe for most men, the discipleship process: mentoring and coaching. The process and the goal are the same as the New Testament word "discipleship" but are free from some of the negative tones and implications of that word as most men have heard it used.
New groups are forming in the metroplex area now. If you are interested, check website http://mercymatters.org for more information or call Waylon Ward at 214-415-3486.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Incarnational Reality
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing gloory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." II Corinthians 3:18
The process of transformational healing is the journey of moving toward full incarnation, the process of being conformed in the image of Christ. The Scriptures tell us that this is the goal of our growth.
Galations 4:19 - "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you."
Colossians 1:28 - "We proclaim Him, counseling and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ."
Ephesians 4:11-13 - "Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the full measure of perfection found in Christ."
Colossians 2:9 - "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have this fullness in Christ."
Ephesians 4:24 - "And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Colossians 3:10 - "And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."
Romans 13:1 - "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of your sinful nature."
Colossians 3:1-4 - "Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above...Set your minds on things above...For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears then you also will appear with Him in glory."
Philippians 2:12 - "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose."
Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
II Corinthians 13:5 - "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you..."
Ephesians 3:19 - "That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Perhaps the real question is: Do I live for Christ or do I allow Christ to live in and through me? (Philippians 2:12)
The process of transformational healing is the journey of moving toward full incarnation, the process of being conformed in the image of Christ. The Scriptures tell us that this is the goal of our growth.
Galations 4:19 - "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you."
Colossians 1:28 - "We proclaim Him, counseling and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ."
Ephesians 4:11-13 - "Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the full measure of perfection found in Christ."
Colossians 2:9 - "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have this fullness in Christ."
Ephesians 4:24 - "And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Colossians 3:10 - "And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."
Romans 13:1 - "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of your sinful nature."
Colossians 3:1-4 - "Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above...Set your minds on things above...For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears then you also will appear with Him in glory."
Philippians 2:12 - "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose."
Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
II Corinthians 13:5 - "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you..."
Ephesians 3:19 - "That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Perhaps the real question is: Do I live for Christ or do I allow Christ to live in and through me? (Philippians 2:12)
II Corinthians 4:10-11 - "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake. so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body."
Romans 8:29 - "For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son..."
Children have the same life as their Father.
II Peter 1:4 - "You may participate in the divine nature..."
I John 4:4 - "Because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."
I John 4:13 - "We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit."
I John 4:16-17 - "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. Love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him."
I John 5:11-12 - "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."
To be like Christ means that we live by the power of the Spirit and the Spirit produces in us and through us the fruit of the Spirit and the lifestyle pictured Biblically for elders and deacons.
=The "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22) pictures the nature of Christ, which the Holy Spirit is producing in us.
=The qualities of an elder and deacon (I Timothy 3:1-3; Titus 1:6-9) picture the life style that Christians live by the power of the Holy spirit. This lifestyle is the out working of the life of Christ in the believer.
Jesus pictured the character and nature of God when He came to this earth in the flesh. He put flesh and blood reality to God's nature. He showed us by His life what God was like. (Colossians 1:15 - "He is the image of the invisible God..." John 14:19 - "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.")
Could it be that we are to do the same as the "body of Christ"?
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Willing to Die for a Lie?
As a pastor and counselor, I have always been interested in why people react and behave the way they do. What really causes individuals to do what they do? Most behavior is fairly easy to explain, but there are certain behaviors that seem impossible to understand and certainly to explain. For example, would you be willing to allow yourself to be tortured, and even killed, for a story you knew to be a lie?
People have been known to deny the truth in the face of torture, pain, and the threat of death. But to face torture and death for a story that you know to be a lie? History is filled with hundreds of accounts of deathbed confessions...people who wanted to clear the record before they met their Maker. And it is an accepted fact that "a dying person never lies."
So what kind of person would allow himself to be tortured for something he knew to be a lie? Men do not willingly face torture and death for a story or cause they know to be fictitious. Men do not willingly die for something they know to be a lie!
May I tell you a story about a man and the agonizing torture to which he was submitted? In the country where this man lived, the rulers were particularly cruel. (They would make Adolf Hitler appear to be a nice guy!) The rulers arrested this man and tortured him because of a story he was telling to anyone and everyone who would listen. They devised the most horrible, painful torture they could think of because they were determined to get this man to admit that the story he was telling was a lie.
They tied ropes around each of his wrists and hoisted him in the air. Then they swung him around until he hung over a pot of boiling oil. With him hanging only inches above the pot of oil they again ordered him to admit that the story he was telling was a lie. He would not. He could not!
They dipped his body into the vat of boiling oil. Can you imagine the agony, the horrible pain? Would anyone allow this to happen to himself for a lie? Men do not willingly suffer this kind of torture for a cause they know to be a lie.
There was another man, in another country who was also arrested and tortured because he would not admit the same story was a lie. The authorities literally skinned him alive to try and make him confess that what he was saying was a lie.
The first man was the Apolstle John and the second was the Apostle Bartholomew. Christian history records that John survived his torture and died an old man. Bartholomew, after being skinned alive, was crucified. Neither man ever admitted that what they were saying was a lie.
I could tell you many more tales from early Church History of men who died because they would not admit that the story they were telling was a lie. In fact, all of the disciples of Christ, were tortured and died for the same storoy:
Peter - Crucified head down.
Andrew - Crucified on a cross-shopped like an "X"; he preached to his torturers until he died.
James - Beheaded.
Philip - After scourging, he was hanged against a pillar.
Thomas - Thrust through with a spear.
Matthew - Died by a sword.
James the Less - Beaten and stoned; his brains were beaten out with a club.
Thaddeus - Crucified.
Simon - Crucified.
Jude - Shot to death with arrows.
Matthias - Stoned and beheaded.
Barnabas - Stoned to death.
And then take the case of PAUL. You can read in II Corinthiasn 11:24 about the torture he endured:
...He was lashed five times, receiving 39 lashes each time.
...He was beaten with rods three times.
...He was stoned, and left for dead.
And, finally, he was beheaded by the infamous Nero of Rome.
What was the story, the message that these men would not admit to as a lie? It was the empty tomb story about Jesus the Christ. Even in face of the threat of horrible torture, and even on their deathbeds, each of these men never once denied the resurrection of Jesus Christ. "He is Alive!: is the message of Easter that they died for. More people have died in history for that message than any other!
One other interesting fact to consider about the story these men told: The message of the resurrection was first preached by these same men in the city where the crucifixion took place within a twenty minute walk of the empty tomb!
As a pastor and counselor, I have always been interested in why people behave the way they do. The deaths of the Disciples intrigue me, not just because they died painful, horrible martyr's deaths, but because something happened in their lives that turned fishermen, tax collectors, ordinary guys into men who were willing to die for their beliefs. They never denied the truth of their story. The only explanation is the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
This article was written by Waylon O. Ward M.Ed., Executive Director of Mercy Matters, a ministry dedicated to helping men experience resurrection life personally. For permission to reprint or for additional information, call (214) 415-3486 or write the author at PO Box 275, Colleyville, TX 76034.
People have been known to deny the truth in the face of torture, pain, and the threat of death. But to face torture and death for a story that you know to be a lie? History is filled with hundreds of accounts of deathbed confessions...people who wanted to clear the record before they met their Maker. And it is an accepted fact that "a dying person never lies."
So what kind of person would allow himself to be tortured for something he knew to be a lie? Men do not willingly face torture and death for a story or cause they know to be fictitious. Men do not willingly die for something they know to be a lie!
May I tell you a story about a man and the agonizing torture to which he was submitted? In the country where this man lived, the rulers were particularly cruel. (They would make Adolf Hitler appear to be a nice guy!) The rulers arrested this man and tortured him because of a story he was telling to anyone and everyone who would listen. They devised the most horrible, painful torture they could think of because they were determined to get this man to admit that the story he was telling was a lie.
They tied ropes around each of his wrists and hoisted him in the air. Then they swung him around until he hung over a pot of boiling oil. With him hanging only inches above the pot of oil they again ordered him to admit that the story he was telling was a lie. He would not. He could not!
They dipped his body into the vat of boiling oil. Can you imagine the agony, the horrible pain? Would anyone allow this to happen to himself for a lie? Men do not willingly suffer this kind of torture for a cause they know to be a lie.
There was another man, in another country who was also arrested and tortured because he would not admit the same story was a lie. The authorities literally skinned him alive to try and make him confess that what he was saying was a lie.
The first man was the Apolstle John and the second was the Apostle Bartholomew. Christian history records that John survived his torture and died an old man. Bartholomew, after being skinned alive, was crucified. Neither man ever admitted that what they were saying was a lie.
I could tell you many more tales from early Church History of men who died because they would not admit that the story they were telling was a lie. In fact, all of the disciples of Christ, were tortured and died for the same storoy:
Peter - Crucified head down.
Andrew - Crucified on a cross-shopped like an "X"; he preached to his torturers until he died.
James - Beheaded.
Philip - After scourging, he was hanged against a pillar.
Thomas - Thrust through with a spear.
Matthew - Died by a sword.
James the Less - Beaten and stoned; his brains were beaten out with a club.
Thaddeus - Crucified.
Simon - Crucified.
Jude - Shot to death with arrows.
Matthias - Stoned and beheaded.
Barnabas - Stoned to death.
And then take the case of PAUL. You can read in II Corinthiasn 11:24 about the torture he endured:
...He was lashed five times, receiving 39 lashes each time.
...He was beaten with rods three times.
...He was stoned, and left for dead.
And, finally, he was beheaded by the infamous Nero of Rome.
What was the story, the message that these men would not admit to as a lie? It was the empty tomb story about Jesus the Christ. Even in face of the threat of horrible torture, and even on their deathbeds, each of these men never once denied the resurrection of Jesus Christ. "He is Alive!: is the message of Easter that they died for. More people have died in history for that message than any other!
One other interesting fact to consider about the story these men told: The message of the resurrection was first preached by these same men in the city where the crucifixion took place within a twenty minute walk of the empty tomb!
As a pastor and counselor, I have always been interested in why people behave the way they do. The deaths of the Disciples intrigue me, not just because they died painful, horrible martyr's deaths, but because something happened in their lives that turned fishermen, tax collectors, ordinary guys into men who were willing to die for their beliefs. They never denied the truth of their story. The only explanation is the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
This article was written by Waylon O. Ward M.Ed., Executive Director of Mercy Matters, a ministry dedicated to helping men experience resurrection life personally. For permission to reprint or for additional information, call (214) 415-3486 or write the author at PO Box 275, Colleyville, TX 76034.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Spiritual Burn-Out and Future Grace
We begin our service for the Lord with great energy and enthusiasm. We are so grateful for all that He has done in our life. How could we not serve Him with all of our energies. However, in time, we often become tired and disappointed. We lose our joy and become frustrated with our Christian experience. Usually a pessimistic attitude sets in and we begin to be legalistic with ourselves and with those we are ministering to. We become negative and discouraged. We lost our motivation and just feel worn out. We have trouble studying the Scriptures or being with other Christians. Typically we get "weary" of Christian people.
Service and ministry based on gratitude for what God has done for me in the past has lost its ability to motivate me when I get tired and worn out. Then I develop what John Piper calls the "debtors ethic." I feel like I owe service to God like I owe my house payment. I am not moved by grace anymore, but by legalistic fear that I have to pay God back.
So I push myself. I redouble my efforts. I try harder all the time, feeling guiltier and guiltier because I have lost my early passion.
This is a mistake many Christians make. The key for breaking this cycle is to transform our gratitude into hope. Since God has been faithful with His grace in the past, I can trust that He will give me the grace in the future that will empower me to serve Him. I am grateful for what He has done, but there is nothing to repay. All God wants from me is to have faith that He will be as full of grace for me in the future as He has been in the past.
When I exercise my faith in His future grace, like I have His past grace, then the Holy Spirit is liberated in me to empower the gifts I have been given and accomplishes the work God desires to accomplish through me. My faith in past grace (i.e. the Cross and redemption) is wonderful and effective for my salvation. God's future grace, His power and wisdom and energy through the Holy Spirit, is just as wonderful and effective. My faith for service is not in past grace, but in future grace...the confident assurance that the grace that saved me will also empower me. God will be faithful to all of his promises for grace in the days to come.
Faith in past grace leads to salvation and gratitude. Faith in future grace leads to sanctification, hope and service. Our faith is primarily a future oriented "assurance of things hoped for" (Hebrews 11:1). The grace that saved me in the past is sufficient to sustain me in the future.
This concept of "Future Grace" is something many Christians in the Church have missed. Hope in future grace encouraged me, empowers me and gives me wisdom. It is trusting that the same loving Father who redeemed me through Jesus death will empower me through the Holy Spirit. Satan wants to distract us with the "debtor's ethic." "You ought to..." "You have to..." "How could you do that after all God has done for you?" These are expressions of Satan's lies. "You call yourself a Christian and have those thoughts?" On and on the lies persist. Many Christians recognize the lies, but don't understand the motivational differences between "gratitude for past grace" and "hope in future grace."
The solution for burnout is to focus on the promises of God's future grace. His grace never changes. It is the same today as it was yesterday and it will remain consistent in the future. Focus your hope on the future grace of God and trust Him to be faithful to all of His promises.
If you want to read more on this topic, John Piper wrote a book several years ago entitled FUTURE GRACE. It is an excellent, but big (almost 500 pages) and sometimes too deep for the average guy. But I know that you are above average!
Service and ministry based on gratitude for what God has done for me in the past has lost its ability to motivate me when I get tired and worn out. Then I develop what John Piper calls the "debtors ethic." I feel like I owe service to God like I owe my house payment. I am not moved by grace anymore, but by legalistic fear that I have to pay God back.
So I push myself. I redouble my efforts. I try harder all the time, feeling guiltier and guiltier because I have lost my early passion.
This is a mistake many Christians make. The key for breaking this cycle is to transform our gratitude into hope. Since God has been faithful with His grace in the past, I can trust that He will give me the grace in the future that will empower me to serve Him. I am grateful for what He has done, but there is nothing to repay. All God wants from me is to have faith that He will be as full of grace for me in the future as He has been in the past.
When I exercise my faith in His future grace, like I have His past grace, then the Holy Spirit is liberated in me to empower the gifts I have been given and accomplishes the work God desires to accomplish through me. My faith in past grace (i.e. the Cross and redemption) is wonderful and effective for my salvation. God's future grace, His power and wisdom and energy through the Holy Spirit, is just as wonderful and effective. My faith for service is not in past grace, but in future grace...the confident assurance that the grace that saved me will also empower me. God will be faithful to all of his promises for grace in the days to come.
Faith in past grace leads to salvation and gratitude. Faith in future grace leads to sanctification, hope and service. Our faith is primarily a future oriented "assurance of things hoped for" (Hebrews 11:1). The grace that saved me in the past is sufficient to sustain me in the future.
This concept of "Future Grace" is something many Christians in the Church have missed. Hope in future grace encouraged me, empowers me and gives me wisdom. It is trusting that the same loving Father who redeemed me through Jesus death will empower me through the Holy Spirit. Satan wants to distract us with the "debtor's ethic." "You ought to..." "You have to..." "How could you do that after all God has done for you?" These are expressions of Satan's lies. "You call yourself a Christian and have those thoughts?" On and on the lies persist. Many Christians recognize the lies, but don't understand the motivational differences between "gratitude for past grace" and "hope in future grace."
The solution for burnout is to focus on the promises of God's future grace. His grace never changes. It is the same today as it was yesterday and it will remain consistent in the future. Focus your hope on the future grace of God and trust Him to be faithful to all of His promises.
If you want to read more on this topic, John Piper wrote a book several years ago entitled FUTURE GRACE. It is an excellent, but big (almost 500 pages) and sometimes too deep for the average guy. But I know that you are above average!
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