5 Principles for Christian Growth

The words of James must never be forgotten: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). This is no doubt as true of growth in grace, as it is of everything else. It is the “gift of God.” But still it must always be kept in mind that God is pleased to work by means. God has ordained means as well as ends. He that would grow in grace must use the means of growth.

This is a point, I fear, which is too much overlooked by believers. Many admire growth in grace in others and wish that they themselves were like them. But they seem to suppose that those who grow are what they are by some special gift or grant from God and that, as this gift is not bestowed on themselves, they must be content to sit still. This is a grievous delusion and one against which I desire to testify with all my might. I wish it to be distinctly understood that growth in grace is bound up with the use of means within the reach of all believers and that, as a general rule, growing souls are what they are because they use these means.   Continue at Eric T. Young

Changed From the Inside Out

Although heaven will be our first encounter with true, complete perfection, the Lord is already at work in the lives of His people preparing us for that perfection.

God begins the process of perfecting us from the moment we are converted from unbelief to faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit regenerates us. He gives us new hearts with new, holy desires (Ezekiel 36:26). He transforms our stubborn wills. He opens our hearts to embrace the truth rather than reject it, to believe rather than doubt. He gives us a hunger for righteousness and a desire for Him. Thus the new birth transforms the inner person. From that point, everything that occurs in our lives—good or bad—God uses to make us like Christ (Romans 8:28–30).

In terms of our moral and legal status, believers are judged perfect immediately—not on the basis of who we are or what we have done, but because of what Christ has done for us. We are forgiven of all our sin. We are clothed with a perfect righteousness (Isaiah 61:10; Romans 4:5), which instantly gives us a standing before God without any fear of condemnation (Romans 5:1; 8:1). And when Paul writes that God has “raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6), he is again speaking of this position of favor with God that we have been granted by grace alone.

We are not literally, physically seated with Christ in the heavenlies, of course. We are not mystically present there through some kind of spiritual telepathy. But legally, in the eternal court of God, we have been granted full rights to heaven. That is the high legal standing we enjoy even now, on this side of heaven.    Continue at John F. MacArthur
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The Greatest Danger to Your Pastor’s Spiritual Growth

I have always believed that the highest character trait of a Christian is humility. There are many statements in the Bible that support my position. Here are just a few: 

• This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. Isaiah 66:2b
• Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:4
• Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
• Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, to show true humility toward all men. Titus 3:1-2

I was thinking of these verses last week as Tara and I worked on a magazine article on the topic of responding to narcissists in your church. Initially, I thought it a bit strange when the editor asked us to write on this topic. After all, neither Tara nor I carry special education or training in diagnosing or dealing with narcissism. But the editor asked us because he rightly discerned that many times, church conflicts involve people who could rightly be described as narcissists:

Having excessive and grandiose interest in self; displaying extreme arrogance and a sense of entitlement; full of hubris (overweening pride) and often unwilling to accept any hint of criticism.    Continue at David V. Edling

How Do You Measure Up?

We’ve reached the end of our series [here and here] on spiritual formation and sanctification, but before we close the discussion, I want to encourage you with some practical ways to evaluate your own spiritual growth.

Yesterday we discussed the true, biblical nature of sanctification—that it’s the work of the Lord in the lives of His people.

However, each of us bears some responsibility for our own spiritual growth, as well. I can’t tell you what percentage of the responsibility falls on you, or exactly how your disciplined life cooperates with God’s work in you (Isaiah 55:9). But I can tell you that faithful Bible study, prayer, and self-discipline play a vital role in your sanctification. As we’ve seen over the last several weeks, we can’t manufacture spiritual growth on our own, but we can certainly hinder it through unchecked sin and spiritual laziness.

With that in mind, I want to help you take accurate, biblical stock of where you are in your spiritual growth. Simply observing and acknowledging where and how the Lord has transformed your life can be a great encouragement. It can also alert you to areas of your spiritual life that demand more focus and discipline.

Just as you might measure a child’s height on a wall or a doorpost, use these biblical principles to gauge how much you’ve grown spiritually, and how much more you still need to grow.

First of all, people who are being sanctified can clearly remember a time when they weren’t. Look back at your life and the sinful patterns that used to dominate it. What has changed, and why did it change? If you’re truly growing spiritually, you ought to see a stark difference between your life now and how you lived before you were saved.  Continue at John MacArthur

Pastors: You Need To Grow Too!

Being a pastor can be one of the most enjoyable and fruitful roles to play in the scheme of God’s redemptive story. Not only do you get to see lives transformed by Christ (Col 1:28), but you also get to be an active part of seeing that process and relationship move forward. It is this growth toward being more like Christ that drives what we do. We’re driven to see the church grow, people grow, and gospel opportunities grow.  However, if we’re not careful, the most important area of growth can become neglected, our own spiritual growth. 

Howard Hendricks used to tell us that in seminary we would learn more than most people will ever know about God and the scriptures.  And yet, that knowledge doesn’t always lead to passionate growth. Far too often our passion to grow everything else is stronger than it is to grow our own souls. 

Paul understood this tendency and the dangers it presented to the lives of spiritual leaders and pastors.  He tells Timothy his young protégé in 1 Timothy 4:16, “Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers” (HCSB). There is an alluring temptation to allow the external execution of ministry to far exceed that of our spiritual and physical health.  It seems that Paul is stating that when you’re vigilant with your spiritual health and consistently submitting to God’s Word and leading, the external growth will follow. The ability to do this well reflects a deep sense of trust.

As we achieve success, it becomes easy to misplace the source of that success. The better we do, the better we think we are. When we focus on our spiritual growth, we are reminded and connected to the One who is powering the growth. Christ’s work on our behalf and then His working through us personally is the fuel for our whole life.  In John 15:5, Jesus states, “you can do nothing without ME.” From a biblical and theological standpoint we all amen this statement. But in reality at some point in our journey, as the Lord blesses our ministry, we begin to equate God’s using us as Him needing us. Then it is only a short step until we begin believing the hype about ourselves.   Continue at Eric Mason

Is Psychology the 67th Book of the Bible?

All truth is God’s truth, or so the saying goes. The problem with this seemingly axiomatic assertion is not simply its ambiguity, but the way it serves as a means to justify using extra-biblical sources (such as psychology) to deal with spiritual issues. This is especially common among integrationists in the field of Christian counseling. The view of integrationism is that only when Scripture and psychology are integrated—brought together into a unified whole—is one able to engage in a truly effective counseling ministry. This view is really an assault on the idea that Scripture alone is sufficient for spiritual growth.

Psychology as General Revelation

But how exactly does this relate to the idea that all truth is God’s truth? The integrationist argument goes something like this: Because God has made Himself known through two channels—special revelation (the propositional truth recorded in scripture) and general revelation (the non-propositional truth deposited by God in the created order of things)—man has a mandate from his Creator to investigate and discover truths through means such as psychological research, the findings of which should be accepted as having their origin in God. Scripture alone, then, is not sufficient, but rather, as John H. Coe asserts, “Only when all forms of revelation are taken together can we speak of the sufficiency of revelation.” Put simply, all truth is God’s truth and should be embraced as such whether it be found in Scripture (special revelation) or in psychological research (general revelation).

This argument has been articulated in various ways by different integrationists. Notice the language of divine revelation in the following examples:

• Larry Crabb: “All truth is certainly God’s truth. The doctrine of general revelation provides warrant for going beyond the propositional revelation of Scripture into the secular world of scientific study expecting to find true and useable concepts.”

• Bruce Narramore: “The evangelical church has a great opportunity to combine the special revelation of God’s Word with the general revelation studied by the psychological sciences and professions. The end result of this integration can be a broader (and deeper) view of human life.”  Continue at Matt Waymeyer

Asking Better Questions

So how many people go to your church?” That’s a question just about every pastor faces at just about every conference he attends. It usually doesn’t take long for a conversation to progress to that point. For the pastor this can be a moment of great pride or great humility, great freedom or great shame. 

Regardless, it is a question that always seems to come up. And it comes up for those who are not pastors as well; you begin to talk about your church and your friend inevitably asks that same question.

Today I’d like to make a two-part proposal: Let’s stop asking, “How many people go to your church?” And when someone asks us that question, let’s stop providing a direct answer.

We all pay lip service to the reality that we cannot necessarily measure the health of a church by its size. We all know that some of the biggest churches in the world are also some of the worst churches in the world. After all, the history of the church has long-since shown that it is not all that difficult to fill a building with unbelievers by just tickling their ears with what they want to hear. 

We also know that the Lord is sovereign and that he determines how big each church should be and we know that in some areas even a very small church is an absolute triumph of light over darkness. And yet “How big is your church?” is one of the first questions we ask.  Continue at Tim Challies

What Nazis & the Bible Agree is the Worst Resolution You Can Make

I plant my flag firmly on the side of those who believe Christians may make resolutions. As a tadpole seminoid I was inspired by the audacity and convictions of Jonathan Edwards’ famed 70 Resolutions. My heart thumps in time with over-the-top commitments like #22:

“Resolved: to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness, in the other world, as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.”

But there is something I have learned from the Bible, history, research, and experience: the absolute worst resolution you could ever make at any time in your life.  It’s a truth the Nazis and the Bible agree on. And the sting in the tail is that it is probably the resolution you made this very New Year’s Day.

The only resolution you should never make is one that you won’t keep.

Let’s call resolutions what the Bible calls them: vows. And if there is one thing we know from the Bible about vows is they aren’t to be taken lightly. Just ask Jephthah’s daughter. Solomon’s ominous wisdom hangs over New Year’s day: Keep Reading >>>

The Ordinary Means of Growth

We are living in a confused and confusing time for confessional Christians (Christians who are anchored by a public and corporate theological commitment to be faithful to the Bible’s teaching on faith and practice as expounded by the great confessions of the Protestant Reformation). We are witnessing the final demise of theological liberalism, the rise of Pentecostalism, the beginnings of the so-called emerging church movement, the breakdown of evangelicalism, and an utter discombobulation about how the church is to conduct its life and ministry in an increasing “post-Christian” culture. All around us, in the name of reaching the culture with the Gospel, we see evangelical churches compromising (usually without intending to) in both message and methods.

It is not uncommon today to hear certain buzz-words and catch phrases that are meant to capture and articulate new (and presumably more culturally-attuned) approaches to ministry: “Purpose-driven,” “missional,” “contextualization,” “word and deed,” “ancient-future,” “emerging/emergent,” “peace and justice.” Now, to be sure, there are points, diagnoses, and emphases entailed in each of these terms and concepts that are helpful, true, and timely. Sadly, however, the philosophies of ministry often associated with this glossary are also often self-contrasted with the historic Christian view of how the church lives and ministers. That view is often called “the ordinary means of grace” view of ministry.

The fundamental assumption underlying these new approaches is that “everything has changed,” and so our methods must change. I would want to dispute both parts of that equation. Whatever the entailments of our present cultural moment, constituent human nature has not changed.  And thus the fundamental human problem has not changed. Neither has the Gospel solution to it. Nor have the effectiveness of God’s Gospel means. Furthermore, one of the things that has always marked faithful and effective Christian ministry in every era and area of the world is a confidence in God’s Word, both in the Gospel message and in Gospel means. Faith still comes by hearing.

In sum, there are basically three views of Gospel ministry. There are those who think that effective cultural engagement requires an updating of the message. There are those who think that effective ministry requires an updating of our methods. And there are those who think that effective ministry begins with a pre-commitment to God’s message and methods, set forth in His Word.  Keep Reading >>>

From Calvary Chapel to Sovereignty and Elders

I have a confession to make: I have a Calvary Chapel past.

Don’t jump to conclusions though…trust me—I can explain it. I am from Albuquerque, where for the longest time the Calvary Chapel was the banner of evangelicalism in Albuquerque. The evangelical scene has significantly changed since, but that is a story for another time.

When I was a sophomore in college, I had been a believer for only two years and was one of the only college students at my church. I was desperate for Christian friendship, and found a flier for an STM trip to Nicaragua put on by Calvary Chapel. Since I was a Spanish major, I took the flier to the church, and met the missions pastor. He began meeting with me and teaching me about both missions and ministry.

That started my relationship with Calvary. I was attending the same small non-denominational church where I had come to Christ a few years earlier, and the Calvary pastor never asked me to leave. Because Calvary did Saturday night, Sunday night, and a midweek service, I was actually able to attend three services a week without disrupting my commitments at the church where I was a member (I would not recommend this approach to ecclesiology, by the way). By the time I graduated, I was working with a now-defunct group called LifeLine missions, and regarded Calvary as the source of my rapid spiritual growth.   Keep Reading >>>

Steady, Gradual Growth—Vance Havner (1901-1986)

Vance Havner was a beloved and influential American preacher, known particularly for his pithy, insightful quotes. Of him, Billy Graham once said, “I do not know of any man in my generation who has stirred revival fires in the hearts of so many people throughout the nation as has Vance Havner . . .”¹

 

The following quote, taken from a collection designed for daily devotion, brings Havner’s sharp mind to bear on the problem of spasmodic discipleship. And though he was known as a revival preacher, whose meetings were marked by dramatic spiritual encounters with the Lord, it was his conviction that sanctification comes typically in orderly fashion.

We do not grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ by leaps and bounds but some try. They bounce from one mountain peak of Christian experience to another. Every year or so they make a new start, turn a new leaf, have a new thrill. Children do not grow by suddenly gaining a few inches or adding a few pounds now and then. They grow gradually, daily, by food, rest, and exercise. Christian growth comes the same way by feeding on the Word, resting in the Lord, and exercising unto godliness. It has been said that nothing is more detrimental to Christian experience than too many Christian “experiences.”²

<sup>HT: Bible Mesh 

See Also: The Crushing Weight of Glory</sup>

Junk Food

We all know an exclusive diet of Big Macs isn’t just a bad idea—it’s more like suicide. But it’s even worse to gobble down the half-eaten burgers and cold rubbery fries you find under the back seat of your car. Repulsive, right? But Christians are doing the very same thing.

It wasn’t that long ago that Bill Hybels stood in front of his church—Willow Creek, one of the early pioneers of church growth theory—with his mea culpa. (I’d link to the video of Hybels saying, “We made a mistake,” but they’ve apparently pulled it from their website. But here’s a link to an early newsflash.) After decades of practicing church growth principles, Hybels said, “Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back, it wasn't helping people that much.” Yeah, kinda like fast food.

Today’s church-growth gurus have repackaged the same church-growth theories in cool-sounding, ministry buzzwords like incarnational, missional, and attractional. After a few bites, it becomes apparent that it’s nothing more than half-eaten burgers and cold fries. And it’s not a meal that gets better with age.

One of the more distasteful aspects of the contemporary version of church growth is the franchising, the brand propagation. Cookie-cutter churches are popping up everywhere, powered by church-growth principles, launched with shrewd marketing strategies, legitimized by impressive stats, and stamped with the brand of the celebrity leader and his church franchise. In some cases, you’ll even find the evangelical version of a PlayPlace and a clown. It’s a pattern that works, established by corporate, coming to a church near you.   Keep Reading >>>

Accountability Groups: the Tyranny of Do More, Try Harder

Remembrance vs Spiritual Surveillance

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in “accountability groups” where there has been little to no attention given to the gospel whatsoever. There’s no reminder of what Christ has done for our sin–"cleansing us from its guilt and power"–and the resources that are already ours by virtue of our union with him.  These groups produce a “do more, try harder” moralism that robs us of the joy and freedom Jesus paid dearly to secure for us. 

When the goal becomes conquering our sin instead of soaking in the conquest of our Savior, we actually begin to shrink spiritually. Sinclair Ferguson rightly points this out:

Those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality, that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources. Only when our piety forgets about us and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety be nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ. Keep Reading...

Rethinking Spiritual Growth Progress

Gerhard Forde insightfully (and transparently) calls into question the ways in which we typically think about sanctification and spiritual progress when he writes:

Am I making progress? If I am really honest, it seems to me that the question is odd, even a little ridiculous. As I get older and death draws nearer, I don’t seem to be getting better. I get a little more impatient, a little more anxious about having perhaps missed what this life has to offer, a little slower, harder to move, a little more sedentary and set in my ways. Am I making progress? Well, maybe it seems as though I sin less, but that may only be because I’m getting tired! It’s just too hard to keep indulging the lusts of youth. Is that sanctification? I wouldn’t think so! One should not, I expect, mistake encroaching senility for sanctification! But can it be, perhaps, that it is precisely the unconditional gift of grace that helps me to see and admit all that? I hope so. The grace of God should lead us to see the truth about ourselves, and to gain a certain lucidity, a certain humor, a certain down-to-earthness.

Forde rightly shows that when we stop narcissistically focusing on our need to get better,that is what it means to get better! When we stop obsessing over our need to improve,that is what it means to improve! Remember, the Apostle Paul referred to himself as the chief of sinners at the end of his life. It was his ability to freely admit that which demonstrated his spiritual maturity–he had nothing to prove or protect because it wasn’t about him! Read it all HERE

Wise Counsel for Anyone Bummed by an Apparent Lack of Spiritual Growth

Children in Corporate Worship

The Christian Grows In Grace

Anti-intellectualism, Gnosticism & Shortcuts to Spiritual Growth

It isn’t a too distant memory for me, that I was involved in what many would label mainstream, contemporary, Pentecostal Christianity. It’s therefore not too long ago that I was surrounded by many people who promoted anti-intellectualism, held many anti-biblical philosophies that reflected much of Gnostic teaching, and promoted enthusiasm or spiritual zeal as shortcuts to true spiritual growth. Therefore, it brings me much grief to see how far these unhelpful sentiments have infiltrated the church, and even those who are are happy to take the historic label ‘Reformed’ or ‘Calvinist.’ This is a large subject, and something I know there are more qualified people who could provide insightful commentary; however, I ask you to consider some short reflections on the subject of Anti-intellectualism, Gnosticism & Shortcuts to Spiritual Growth. Read the rest HERE