Porndemic

For more helpful and free resources in the battle for purity please check out this great list on Justin Taylor's Blog.

Tim Wong

I note that Tim Wong's review of a new publication on Calvin, initially written for our blog (see here) is now in the latest addition of The Briefing. Well done Tim!

On the topic of The Briefing, may I suggest a 12 month subscription for yourself or your family and friends would be a wonderful thing to buy for this Christmas.

Dealing with Pornography

Here's some extremely helpful material in the struggle to avoid and be freed from the tyranny and sin of using pornography. Simply titled Breaking Pornography Addiction Part 1 and Breaking Pornography Addiction Part 2, David Powlison offers plenty of Gospel help and hope. This is the sort of thing worth reading over and then meeting up with a friend to talk over.

Three books to change your world

With the year quickly coming to a close I’d like to recommend three books which tie in with what we’ve been looking at recently in church.

You Can Change – by Tim Chester Don’t be fooled by the title, this is not a book that gives you a quick 5 step program to becoming the world’s happiest and most successful person. It’s much better than that. This book is about transformation of sinful behaviour and negative emotion through the wonder of the Gospel. Chester is so helpful in this book because he gets you to think about what’s underneath and driving sinful behaviour, and then showing how powerful and fulfilling Christ is to win us over to change. He even suggests as you read through the book you pick out an area of your life that you know is a problem and then he workshops that area right through the book…..it’s extremely helpful. He gets far beyond the guilt and shame that are so ineffective in seeing us live differently and at the same time he so helpfully shows how good Jesus really is so you wan to change.

So forget your new years resolutions….this book, if read and understood will bring great blessing for you and others.

Breaking the Idols of your Heart – by Dan B. Allender & Tremper Longman III

This book is different because each chapter starts with a well written fictional scenario and story which the second half of the chapter then analyses. The story continues to build as the authors look at issues of power, relationships, pleasure etc. Allender is the story teller, and Tremper is the theologian and it works really well. It deals with very believable situations for both men and women in their work, marriage and social settings and faithfully exposes what is going on largely through teaching from the book of Ecclesiastes. It’s very gospel focussed and will get you thinking more deeply about the why of your worries and stresses and distraction in life.

Counterfeit Gods – By Timothy Keller

It’s hard to be disappointed by anything Keller has written. He’s so good at nailing our problem and revealing the wonder of the solution in Jesus. If you love quotes, there are scores of them here that bolster his thesis that our great problems and our sinful behaviours are driven by the conveyor belt of idolatry which resides in our hearts which only Jesus can replace. Keller is anti-moralistic and anti-religious because he is so gospel focussed. He really does believe that Jesus is better than anything this world can ever offer and your heart rejoices as to why as you read through these chapters.

Hear about it from the author here.

Hosea and the shocking love of God

Hosea…a desperately loving man during desperately evil times.

A few things stand out for me from our recent series.

1. Hosea’s amazing willingness to obey God.

Chapters 1-3 are a devastating and astonishing read. Would you do what this man was prepared to do? Could you find it in your heart to love like this and go through this?

2. How easily we forget God.

In chapter 4:1-3 Hosea writes,

‘Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land.’ (See also 4:6,14)

How on earth could a nation steeped in the most amazing history plummet to the point of forgetting their God? It’s not that they couldn’t recite their salvation story, it’s not that they believed those things didn’t happen. It’s that their heart moved from trusting and loving their God, to presuming and using him. And then things got very ugly.

3. How idols deceive and fill our hearts. The Puritans of old would speak of the human heart as a factory of idolatry. I think they read and knew Hosea. Israel should have been a great crucible for godliness and transformation, instead the very opposite was the reality. Quite simply my heart on it’s own will inevitably tend to gravitate in trust and hope to all the wrong things. I’ll yearn for all God’s good gifts, but seek it not from God, nor via his ways….but others. Without God doing something to change this, to awaken me, I will not be able to change.

4. How committed God is to us. The faithlessness of Gomer and Israel is contrasted so blatantly with the utter faithfulness of God. He is willing to take his wayward people back (who will not come) because he is committed to fulfilling his promises. Even though Hosea’s generation won’t return, there will be those who will in the future. God looks forward in love and commitment…and we are the ones who benefit.

5. How God’s justice and mercy meet. This is a huge question left unanswered in Hosea (and indeed in the whole Old Testament). How can mercy and judgement both be done? The price of forgiveness always means the one forgiving has to absorb hurt and pain. Hosea learnt this, but was moved to do it because he knew God in his tenderness and compassion was to be the very model of this. Jesus of course resolves the great question for his Cross is the astonishing collision of both justice and mercy where both are upheld perfectly.

6. How shocking God’s love is. The depth of emotion is so striking in Hosea. Yes God is angry and outraged at sin, it will be punished, and yet at the same time he is moved with warmth and tenderness, compassion and love. The depth of feeling highlight the significance of the action that will follow. If Hosea will take back and win back his adulterous wife, what will that look like as God takes back and wins back his wayward people. The turmoil of emotion that comes out especially in chapter 11 is understood once we see how the cross would be the way and means of drawing his people back.

7. How we need to celebrate our God. Hosea, the prophets are not all doom and gloom. A rich picture of future blessing and hope drives them on. Hosea celebrates even while for so long he languishes as God’s goodness and glory is so misconstrued and forgotten. But the day will come when it will be experienced and known again, God himself will see to it. Hope like this is so important because it helps us not hope in hopeless things….like idols. Surely we who are the beneficiaries of his amazing grace and love in Jesus have everything to celebrate in. A people who celebrate and live out the goodness of God are far less likely to wander to other things. How Hosea longed for that day. His generation did not share his longing nor did they see it. How kind God has been to us, to draw us to Jesus, the one Hosea longed for.

Friends don’t easily or quickly forget this book of Hosea. It shows us things about our God in ways that are unlike the rest of the Scriptures while being consistent with the rest of the Scriptures. Hosea draws us to our knees to Christ in humbleness and joy. Please keep reading it in the future, perhaps at times on your knees, because humbleness and joy is surely the response to God’s shocking love for us.

NTE 09

For those at Uni I hope you're considering getting along to NTE in December. The conference has moved to Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC) and will be an amazing 5 days. Head here to get registered.

Crossroads in Garema Place

Many thanks to those who put so much effort into this event. The rain stopped at just the right moment to make it possible and given the conditions of the afternoon and early evening, I was surprised by how many people showed up.

For those of you who made it along, feel free to share a thought or two...or a highlight.

Getting the right perspective

This really is very clever...and very true.

Perspectives from Peacemaker Ministries on Vimeo.

New video for CitC

Many thanks to Dean Halpin for putting this together.
Feel free to share it. To friends who want to know a bit about church and especially to people you know of who are moving to Canberra next year.

We'll keep it on the blog and website.

Invitation to Crossroads in the City from Crossroads in the City on Vimeo.

John Calvin: A heart for devotion, doctrine and doxology

In the months leading up to 10 July 2009, any casual reader of Christian blogs would have had to have typed the keywords 'Calvin' and '500' into their parental control software to not know that John Calvin’s 500th birthday was approaching.

500 years on, Calvin is still read, argued over and often vilified.

Yes, Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion still stands up today as arguably the summary of the biblical Christian faith. Yes, he was a reformer of enormous influence – in the church, in civics and in science. But, I hear you say, wasn’t Calvin a harsh, authoritarian pointy‑head with a pointy beard? Wasn’t he, according to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, the ‘unopposed dictator of Geneva’? And wasn’t he the champion of the doctrine of predestination, which led to the emergence of the movement that stopped doing evangelism (often labelled ‘hyper‑Calvinism)?

Calvin evokes powerful images, most of these negative.

So given the online excitement about his 500th, I made it my personal project as a 20‑something, mere layperson to meet the man behind the stigma. I started by reading a number of papers and journal articles.

Then, at about the same time I discovered online shopping. So the first thing I did was to buy the Institutes. To accompany the Institutes, I bought a book called John Calvin: A heart for devotion, doctrine & doxology – based on endorsements from two of my favourite authors D A Carson and David F Wells.

A heart for devotion, doctrine & doxology gives an overview of the life, work and teaching of Calvin. Pitched at the ordinary reader, it consists of 19 short essays by a mainly North American all-star cast of scholars and pastors. Far from being dry, the book set out to capture the heart of Calvin through his life and his writings. The book can be broadly split into two parts.

Calvin's life and work

The first half of the book (chapters two to eight) is about Calvin’s life and work. The picture portrayed is that of a reformer, churchman, preacher, counsellor and prolific writer who made a difference. While it has been widely argued that Calvin played a pivotal role in transforming western society, his deepest imperative was to transform believers to conform their lives and minds to Scripture.

To this end he worked tirelessly, motivated by a single-minded service to the biblical God. Calvin’s motto Cor meum tibi offero Domine prompte et sincere was genuine. Freely translated, the motto reads: 'My heart for your cause I offer, my Lord, promptly and sincerely.'

For this cause, Calvin worked himself at a self‑destructing rate. Stories of him lecturing students from his deathbed and working through the pain of a stone in the urinary tract the size of a hazelnut are legendary. When he was seriously ill and confined to bed, his friends urged him to rest, but he replied, “Would you that the Lord, when He comes, find me idle?” He is also portrayed as a man gifted with a pastoral heart. Excerpts from his letter consoling a grieving father were particularly moving, powerfully demonstrating that doctrine and love were inseparable.

One thing about his ministry particularly stood out for me. Rather than stifling evangelism, Calvin’s ministry inspired generations of evangelists and apologists. He set up schools in Geneva which trained up legions of pastor and evangelists.

Many of these workers subsequently returned to France and were persecuted and martyred. Many of them were killed in the massacres of St Bartholomew’s Day in 1572, where Protestants in France were targeted and slaughtered following the assassination of the French Calvinist political leadership. The death toll relating to these massacres has been estimated at around 3000 in the provinces and 2000-4000 in Paris[1], although there are claims that these estimates are conservative.

Further, many of the great evangelists in the centuries to follow were avowed Calvinists. Just for starters, think Spurgeon, George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards. The heroes of the faith that I have admired from my formative years — Messrs Jensen, Packer and Carson — all teach with a heavy ‘Reformed’ flavour (in the Calvin sense of the word).

Two observations about his teaching

The second part of the book seeks to grapple with his key teachings – drawing extensively from the Institutes and his commentaries. This section starts with one essay on Christ as the supreme King, Prophet and Priest followed by one on the work of the Spirit. Then there are five chapters that correspond to the ‘five points’: Man’s Radical Corruption, Election and Reprobation, Redemption Defined, Transforming Grace, and A Certain Inheritance. Finishing up are chapters on our union with Christ, justification, Christian life, and prayer.

The first thing that was immediately apparent was that Calvin’s work was far richer than the ‘five points’, often represented by the TULIP acronym. The five points, while attributed to Calvin, was not a doctrine summary championed by Calvin himself. As such, to focus solely on the five points oversimplifies Calvin, wherever you may stand on the five-point spectrum. As the author of chapter one puts it, ever the diplomat, ‘there are many self-proclaimed Calvinists whose Calvinism runs no deeper than the five points’:

They have perhaps found themselves prancing gleefully amid a valley of bright red tulips, but have not lifted their heads to behold the lush green forests and glorious mountains all around them. (p4)

The second observation was that Calvin was wholly and fundamentally established in the Scriptures. His imperative was not to, in technical terms, ‘make stuff up’.

As James Montgomery Boice points out, ‘Calvin had no weapon but the Bible’. Unlike many today, Calvin did not use the pulpit or his writings as a platform to unload a captivating story, a personal inspiration or his most recent liver shiver. Rather, consistent with the Reformation war-cry ad fontes (‘to the sources’), he urges:

Let us not take it into our heads either to seek out God anywhere else than his Sacred Word, or to think anything of him that is not prompted by his Word, or to speak anything that is not taken from that Word. (Institutes 1.13.21)

The foundation of Calvin’s 'Calvinism' was threefold: the heart’s devotion to the biblical God, the mind’s pursuit of the biblical doctrine of God, and the entire being’s surrender to the praise of the biblical God. Calvin’s legacy was a Bible-shaped pattern of thinking that inevitably led to a Christ-centred, Spirit‑armed, God-hungering, gospel‑driven life.

A heart for devotion, doctrine & doxology was a refreshing and enjoyable read. I was struck by the humility of the man and it motivated me to read more of his writings. However, I found the endnotes at the end of each chapter annoying (one chapter had more than 100). I would have preferred footnotes. Also, I would have liked to have seen the book do more to critique the parts of Calvin’s writings which, with the benefit of hindsight, showed his weaknesses – in particular his polarisations and intolerances about some of his contemporaries.

What are we to make of Calvin on his 500th birthday?

Whatever you might think of Calvin let me suggest that you follow the Reformation war cry – ‘to the sources!’ Be very careful reacting to cardboard cutouts. Download the Institutes. Buy the book. Either way, get it from the horse’s mouth. As JI Packer put it, ‘the amount of misrepresentation to which Calvin’s theology has been subjected has been enough to prove his doctrine of total depravity several times over!’

Rather than responding to the caricature, read Calvin for yourself and apply the biblical blowtorch. I know Calvin would have.

In him
Tim Wong

[1] Tulchin A (2006) ‘The Michelade in Nîmes, 1567’, French Historical Studies, 29(1); Knecht RJ (1996) The Rise and Fall of Renaissance France, 366

Date with Destiny - Steelo's book for you!

Here's a shameless plug for Dave Steel's book on relationships Date with Destiny.

With so much confusion and so many unhelpful models of how people can and should connect together this is such a wise and helpful book to have. It's also very real and you'll enjoy Steelo's dry wit all the way through.

There'll be things in here you probably never would have thought about (I hadn't) and if people took this book seriously much heartache, frustration, hurt and time wasting will be avoided when it comes to connecting with the opposite sex. You'll also love the 'choose your own adventure' options and the really helpful questions to be asking yourself.

Sometimes people actually tell me that they are keen to start a friendship/relationship with someone. The first thing I do is tell them to read this. But even for those in our midst who are not looking to get 'involved' with someone at the moment, this will be so helpful for you.

Is this one of these plugs where you basically say the book is for everyone? For $5...you bet!

And hey, it's by our very own Steelo....so spread the word and may God revolutionize the way we think about this whole area.

Directions to the Coombs Lecture Centre

On September 6, 13 & 20 CitC will be meeting in the Coombs Lecture Centre.
Check out the directions...

Untitled from Crossroads in the City on Vimeo.

Who not to become

Here's something sobering.

Praise God that the real Jesus if trusted will not lead us into this and....has the power to break us out of it as well.

Some guidance from Michelle

Michelle Philp has recently begun writing a series of reviews on the Equip Book Club Blog about the whole issue of Guidance. Even though Equip is a ministry targeted at women, I'm sure you guys would also benefit from what Michelle will be writing about. Check it out here.

The war within - our next series at CitC

Hey guys, just letting you know that Dave McDonald will be taking us through a six part series starting August 9. It's going to be very helpful.

John Calvin 500 today

Today is the 500th birthday of John Calvin.

Few of us really know much about him but his influence and legacy is huge. It's rare for the works of someone from the 16th century to be still used and revered and consulted so much.

Check out this article by W.Robert Godfrey about why Calvin still matters. Also Michael Jensen recently had this article in the Australian highlighting some of the controversy and misconceptions surrounding Calvin.

If you want to read a bit more here is a transcript by John Piper on Calvin's ministry, example and legacy.

John Newton on God's good plans through our suffering

One of our number was reminded on Sunday night of the following words from John Newton in relation to suffering, Romans 8 and the goodness of God. This is certainly worth thinking over.

I Asked the Lord that I might Grow (1779)      

I asked the Lord that I might grow     

In faith, and love, and every grace;     

Might more of His salvation know,     

And seek, more earnestly, His face.      

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,     

And He, I trust, has answered prayer!    

But it has been in such a way,    

As almost drove me to despair.      

I hoped that in some favored hour,    

At once He’d answer my request;     

And by His love’s constraining pow’r,     

Subdue my sins, and give me rest.       

Instead of this, He made me feel     

The hidden evils of my heart;     

And let the angry pow’rs of hell     

Assault my soul in every part.      

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed    

Intent to aggravate my woe;     

Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,    

Blasted my gourds*, and laid me low.       

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,     

Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?    

“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,    

 I answer prayer for grace and faith.       

These inward trials I employ,     

From self, and pride, to set thee free;     

And break thy schemes of earthly joy,     

That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

* (a gourd, or fast growing vine is a term used to symbolize our idolatrous habit and desire to substitute God's gifts for God himself. Newton is picking up on Jonah who loved the plant God had given him (chapter 4), but not God and his good plans.)

C.S.Lewis on getting our desires right

Here's a little quote from Lewis worth thinking over.

"When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased."

- C. S. Lewis, Letters of C.S. Lewis (8 November, 1952)

Putting sin to death

What is it about sin?

Often we are just far too simplistic in our understanding and appreciation of our own sinfulness. 

We are so good at seeing it in others, and very accomplished in excusing it in ourselves. 

My guess is the instruction to be putting sin to death (Romans 8:13 & Colossians 3:5) is one many of us have not spent much time considering. It doesn't seem a very happy topic of thought or consideration, nor perhaps do we even want to approach and diagnose what is really going on in our lives.

What is it about the leading of God's Spirit?

However God in his love and patience is not going to want us unaware of what we need to be doing and it is clear from Romans 8 that our appreciation of the Gospel will cause us to want to look sin in the face with a desire for it to lose it's grip upon us. In other words, the Holy Spirit will lead us to fight against sin in our lives.

What is the sin underneath the sin?

So often we have been told that certain behaviour is sinful. Lying, jealousy, lust, theft, greed etc. But being told something is wrong doesn't necessarily equip me to overcome it. The more helpful question is to ask 'what is actually driving these desires within me that lead me to a particular sinful action?' So, an example: If I lie, it is likely I do so because I cannot handle you knowing the truth about me. So my need for your approval and your good opinion feeds such a strong desire in me that I feel I must lie. What is driving me is great fear, insecurity and a belief that my well being and happiness rests in my status before you. It is not just the sin of lying that has occurred, rather, far more deeply, the sin of trusting in the things of man rather than God is driving my very motivations. I will not be able to stop lying if I don't address the deeper issue.

Sin...and the Gospel death blow

What the Gospel shows me is that my approval, happiness, joy, security is already fully met in Jesus. He loved me even in spite of my sin (which I'm afraid others won't) and he accepts me counter-conditionally on the grounds of his mercy and commitment (which others won't do  ultimately either). Because I am united to his good name eternally, I don't need to fret and worry about establishing and keeping my own. Telling the truth then becomes far easier because I'm not held captive, indeed enslaved, to the opinions and approval of others. The gospel has released me from a terrible idolatry and set me free to actually want to tell the truth...even if it means I may lose your good opinion if I admit my failures to you.

This is certainly a battle, but can you see what is happening here. Through the wonder of Gospel truth, through the leading of God's Spirit I am putting this sin to death because I am cutting it out at the very source. My need and desires are transforming and so my life will transform as well.

Battle ground, not cafe

Hoping sin will suddenly stop tempting us is to 'cafe up' the Christian life. Sipping away at the Scriptures and being chatty with our friends simply won't cut into some of our deep and shameful sins. Think battle ground and our need to 'suit up' with the truth of the Gospel and you'll have a far more realistic, and I dare say, effective and enjoyable Christian life. Why? Because you're actually living out what you believe and you are being led by the Holy Spirit.

David Powlison speaks about this kind of thing in his excellent book Seeing with new Eyes. 

I recommend you purchase it and read it.

Some questions for you in view of upcoming series

    Romans chapter 8....a favourite for many.

    I can think of no better passage that exposes the experience of the Christian life in the light of the achievement of the work of Christ. 

    No richer passage it terms of the expectations of the Christian life. 

    It is real, it is raw. I believe it holds the key to not just hanging in there as a Christian, not just surviving….more than that, there is a yearning, a longing, a power in this chapter that draws you close to God, that teaches us how to live this earthly life, while being destined for heavenly life.

    We'll be spending 5 weeks from June 14 working it through. But while I'm preparing I've got a candid series of questions for you to respond to:

    What do you find especially difficult or perplexing about living in this age, while longing for the full reality of the next? 

    What do you find yourself most yearning for? 

    What things in this life cause you to doubt and waver in your passion and conviction about the next life? 

    Heavy questions I know, but I'd love people's honest stories. If you're uncomfortable about sharing your name in the blog comments, you can choose to remain anonymous. Either way, please read through Romans 8 and consider them.

    For those who are interested, here's the series plan.

June 14    "The invasion of a new world" (8:1-11)

June 21    "War of the world's" (8:12-17)

June 28    "Hope through Suffering" (8:18-25)

July 5       "Glory through Weakness (8:26-30)

July 12     "Victory through Greatness" (8:31-39)

Con Campbell looking forward to Escape 09

Here's a brief message Con Campbell about his talks at the upcoming Escape 09 conference.

Are you booked in yet?

A day in the life of CMS

For your encouragement.
Please pray for our Global Partners serving with CMS. You'll see them on this.

Coming up at CitC

Here's two great opportunities for our friends and family to hear about Jesus at Crossroads this month. 

Dave McDonald will be doing the talks. 

The Briefing - are you subscribed?

When the current edition of The Briefing arrived in my mail box the other day I was inspired to urge more people to take advantage of this great monthly, Australian, Christian, provocative publication. 

Issue #367 (as pictured) gives new readers a great idea about what the magazine seeks to achieve....and hey, it came with a free CD with the tope 21 articles over the last 21 years. So if you want to be encouraged and challenged in your Christians understanding, if you'd like to deepen your theological awareness, if you'd appreciate how to think through the key issues facing Christianity and our world more generally....subscribe right here! 

The concession price is just $35 per year and the online subscription is even cheaper. That's less than one decent coffee per month....and would probably have a better effect anyway. 

Seven tips for approaching Spiritual GIfts

Just as gifts were controversial and led to much confusion (and destruction) in the Corinthian church, so to our attitudes and approach to this area can be just as damaging. I know of one person who left Christianity altogether because he was angry at God and other Christians for not allowing his perceived ‘gift’ to be honoured and appreciated. Our susceptibility to allow the world’s categories of thinking to shape our approach to this whole issue is very real. 

Also I think there is a tendency amongst many Christians to sit back and not participate in such a way as to discover what areas of giftedness they may have for the benefit of the church. This is a great problem and means too many of us to expend our energies and talents for the benefit of ourselves and other causes…to the detriment of the great gospel cause. 

So here are a few extra thoughts I had on how to approach this whole area. Feel free to add more into the discussion. 

1) Be blown away by the most spiritual person ever.

Jesus built the church and changed the course of eternity through humble self-sacrifice towards the undeserving. If we are not grounded in Him, thrilled and amazed by his grace, shaken to our core by his radical example of servant leadership…we will muck up this whole area of spiritual gifts. If we grow in our appreciation of the gift of Christ, then we will be a great gift to the body of Christ. I will be protected from spiritual self-centeredness, spiritual pride and spiritual jealousy…all of which are terrible oxymorons, but I know they fester in my heart and the Gospel needs to shake it out of my system. 

2) Don’t wait for a sign from God about your spiritual gift….just get serving

Just about every person I know of who we might say are really gifted in ministry have been filled with a passion and desire to serve…anywhere. I spoke to someone from another church last night who said they have realized they are not highly ‘gifted’ to work with teenagers. However because there is a need, she is going to keep serving. Now isn’t that a great attitude? Of course if she was absolutely hopeless and was causing damage to that area of ministry, then it would be good for her and others to be put out of the misery. After all, if you can’t play piano, sheer desire is not going to work for the common good in the music team.

3) Remember that gifts are identified in the body of Christ.

I know this sounds simple but you and others will never know how you can serve the body unless you are serving the body. I don’t think you can ascertain your gifts in isolation or through filling in questionnaires. Because serving has so much to do with your gospel attitude it is possible to be really good at doing something, but for you to forget it’s for the common good. This is again the Corinthian problem. 

4) Ask God to gift you in whatever way for the common good

I wonder how many of us have actually done this with sincerity and passion before our great God in prayer. It’s a scary thing to do yes…and a wonderful thing. Asking to be gifted for the benefit of others drives you once again to the heart of the gospel. My suggestion is that we all pray this and then grab a hold of the next opportunity to benefit the church that comes along.

5) Don’t be too precious about ‘your’ gift.

I don’t think people should be ultimately identified by their gifts, rather our identification rests with the fact that we have the giver. Also, over the years God will use us in all manner of different ways to benefit others. Don’t typecast yourself, this will not be for the common good. 

6) Don’t think it should all come naturally

It seems to me that people who are gifted at various things in church have spent a lot of deliberate time working out how they can do what they do for the common good. Patience, practice, training, frustration…will accompany any gospel service. A gifted ability in some area doesn’t mean exercising that gift is easy. Because of this, often we need others to tell us what we might be gifted at. This is because they are the ones who actually benefit from our service, while we are the ones exhausted from it.

7) Pray for and revel in the spiritual giftedness of others

Maybe this is the hardest one for many of us. Church should be a place where we benefit from and rejoice in what others contribute and bless us with. Pray earnestly for your friends at church that God will gift them for his glory, not just you.

One final note: 1 Corinthians 13 is deliberately placed and really sits behind a lot of what I'm suggesting here. We'll see why next Sunday.

New book on journeying out of homosexuality

I've really appreciated reading this biography over the last couple of days. Christopher Keane shares his story about how he got into and then out of a homosexual lifestyle. He is very candid and open about his struggles and 'choices' in life and I think everyone would benefit from reading a book like this. Chris also deals with some of the controversial issues regarding same sex attraction and has much to say about how the church can be helpful in loving and encouraging those who struggle in this area. 

The book is a testimony to God's kindness and grace and the unexpected things that can happen when we dare to trust Christ first. 

One of the worst things we can do as a church is never to talk about the issues books like this address. If we never talk about it, those in our midst who struggle and grieve will never share how they are doing, and sadly, may well continue to struggle in isolation. This should not be.

Anyway, I thoroughly recommend it. Check out the above link and order a copy or give Christian Bookworld a call and they'll order it in.

Answers to your questions: 'One flesh' and marriage

If I have had sex with someone and therefore 'one flesh' with them,  does that mean I am obliged to get married to them? Has something permanent formed between two people in this situation that cannot be undone?

     There seems to have been a few question and some confusion over this one. I offer a few thoughts.

     1. Having sex with someone and therefore becoming 'one flesh' does not mean that you have entered into marriage with them. What Paul is arguing for in 1 Corinthians 6 is the inappropriateness of engaging in sex which is meant for marriage, when you're not married. He's not arguing that it is marriage, or that you need to get married if you have had sex with someone....wow, I can sense some more questions coming back at me on that one...

     2. Some of us feel the pain and grief of the mistakes of our past and need to be embraced by the full and transforming power of Christ's forgiveness. Does it mean that you can call yourself a virgin again? No it doesn't, but in God's eyes if you have received Christ as Lord you cannot be any cleaner or purer or distanced from those events in your past. Though some regret and shame may remain, it becomes all the more a testimony to God's grace and kindness to you.

    3. If you have been the victim of some abuse and have been sexually violated by someone else there is great pain and hurt which only Christ can ultimately deal with. He heals the broken hearted and comforts the abused. The gospel shows you how powerful and significant is the acceptance and plans of Christ who not only removes our own personal sin, but also deals with sin done to us. The gospel will protect us from feeling worthless and ashamed and will help us not to feed our bitterness and hatred of the perpetrator, and even of God himself. 

     I know these are very hard areas for some of us. But I know that God is the master of dealing with our sin ravaged world and making all things new. Please trust his Word and perhaps aim to talk to someone you can trust so as to further experience the newness of life he has called you to.

Answering your questions: Books and resources to recommend on sex and Christian living

A good number of people ordered the books that were recommended on Sunday night. For those of you who weren't there (or were too afraid to order them) I suggested the following.

Pure Sex by Philip Jenson and Tony Payne.

Short, easy to read and to the point. A great corrective to various myths about Christians and sex and will inform you how to deal with the different views of sex that our championed in our secular world.

What Some of You Were edited by  Christopher Keen

A sensitive and honest series of stories about Christians and homosexuality. Also has a helpful appendix dealing with biological questions and the issue of change. Again, it is short and won't cover everything, but what it does cover is done with great care and hope in God.

Porn-again Christian by Mark Driscoll (read it online)

The sub title says this is a frank discussion on pornography and masturbation...and yeah, it is.

Especially for guys it will probably bring up most of the questions you are too afraid to ask....and give great Biblical counsel and grace filled advice on these topics. I have been asked this week about the appropriateness and possibility of masturbation if you are not married, well that issue amongst a heap of others is discussed.

Other books I have not read, but which seek to address some of these issues especially for women are:

Restoring Sexual Identity, Hope for Women who struggle with Same Sex Attraction  by Anne Paulk.

Every Young woman's Battle - by Etheridge & Arterburn

Every Woman's battle - Etheridge

You can order these through Christian Bookworld in Belconnen.

Feel free to add other resources in your comments if you've found other stuff helpful and Biblical. 

Answers to your questions: How do I deal with my lust?

How do I deal with my lust?

Disclaimer: This is a really big area and I've tried to keep this one short and helpful. I hope it is both.

     1 Corinthians 6:18 urges is to flee sexual immorality. That is, get yourself away from the source or pattern of temptation that is leading you to long for and express such sin. Flee to prayer, flee to the support of your Christian brothers and sisters, flee from situations where you know you’ll be tempted and where you know you’ve failed before.
     However the Bible also suggests that we don’t just run away from our problems, but that we have our thinking and motives changed so we pursue the things of the kingdom. I can think of three key motivating truths that help us overcome and put to death sin in our lives. The New Testament rarely urges us to a change in behaviour and thinking without being powerfully grounded in at least one of these…
    1. Our thankfulness is view of the Cross. Growing in our understanding and appreciation of what Christ has done to sin in his death has a profound affect upon our behaviour. In view of his mercy, I actually begin to want to live in honour and service of him. This is such a watershed moment for anyone and at times even those whose life was engrossed in sin can’t wait to be rid of it…out of joyful thanks to the Lord. 

     In our struggles with sin, to a certain degree at least we have not comprehended enough the wonder of the Cross. The cross helps me to hate sin and long to be ruthless with it, but at the same time the cross protects me from self-hatred…because Christ loved me so much. Being overwhelmed with thanks is about the ultimate remedy for new life and freedom, even from habitual and resilient sin in your life.

     2. Our identity in Christ. This argument was employed by Paul in 1 Cor.5:6-8 where Paul reminds the Corinthians that Christ's sacrificial work changes completely our status and identity before God. To be ‘in Christ’ is to have a new heavenly destiny already secured. Even though Paul is seeking to correct terrible sin in Corinth, he appeals to who Christ has made them to be in order to motivate them to change. He does not appeal to the 10 Commandments to correct and rebuke them some new Christian morality list, he actually appeals to their unity with Christ who was sacrificed for them. 

     So he primarily inspires at this crucial point. He gives them a higher view of their value and significance and destiny. Our identity in Christ reminds us that in God’s eyes we are not locked in sin but belonging to Jesus for his service. When we realise more and more that our old identity was changed by one so awesome as Christ, our desire to ‘celebrate’ the reality of who we are in God begins to change and recalibrate our motives and desires.

     3. The hope of the future. The hope of heaven is perhaps the least appreciated of these three. The fact that heaven is our home and that joy and wonder everlasting is on offer; the fact that our Lord and saviour will celebrate his reign with us; the fact that sin and its effects will not be seen or experienced anymore is another powerful motivator for change. If God is moving history to a certain outcome, then there should be an excitement and longing for that outcome. Knowing my future and destiny inspires and motivates especially through trial and suffering and even great temptation. If you read passages like Romans 8 (especially after reading chapters 6-7) you see how glorious the future is and how God's Spirit draws us with great expectation to the time when God's plans are fully realised. 

     I should say also that to struggle and fight with sin is actually the normal Christian experience. None of us will reach perfection this side of heaven, but God has given us his Holy Spirit to keep fighting on (see Galatians 5:16-26). 

     Further as we read in 1 Cor.10:13 God remains faithful and does not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. He provides a way of escape for us, even as we are seriously considering sinning against him. How kind he is?!