Walking after the old ways of the flesh is abnormal for a believer. It’s like a butterfly who thinks and acts as though he was still a caterpillar. But what does it mean to walk after the spirit? Are there any examples of this in the Bible? There are plenty. Pick just about anything Jesus did and you will see a man filled with the Spirit who consistently walked according to the Spirit. Jesus is our best model of a life lived in step with the Spirit.

But Jesus was not the only one who walked in the spirit. I suspect this way of life was normal for many New Testament believers. However, in my list of 12 examples below, I have taken care to pick stories where the Bible clearly indicates that an individual was walking in the spirit. What do we take away from such a list? It gives us a picture of how life is meant to be for a Christian. It defines what is “normal” and thus exposes the utter poverty of a life lived according to the flesh. As you review this list, tell yourself:  “This is describing the abundant life that Jesus promised to me in John 10:10. This is a picture of the kind of life I wish to live.” Let’s see what that sort of life looks like:

1. Simeon has a date with destiny. For hundreds of years the prophets had been straining to see the promised Messiah. Then Simeon, “moved by the Holy Spirit,” goes to the temple courts and sees what all the others missed. Talk about all your Christmasses coming at once! Those who are led by the Spirit are always at the right place at the right time.

2. Jesus lives free. Like the wind, no one could tell where He came from or where He was going (Jn 3:8). He shunned labels, refused to be controlled, and ate with whomever He pleased. Friends and family tried to manage Him. Politicians and religious leaders tried to control Him. Even Satan tried to tempt Him. But Jesus had no needs that weren’t fully met in His Father. He was not distracted by success nor apparent failure. He could sleep through storms. Jesus was perfectly secure in His Sonship and completely free.

3. Jesus turns water into wine (Jn 2). Initially Jesus didn’t think His time had come but the Spirit had other ideas. The kingdom of heaven is a party (Mt 22:2) and those who are led by the Spirit are the life of the party wherever they go!

4. Jesus heals all the sick (Mt 12:15, 14:36). In his flesh Jesus could not heal a headache any more than you could. Walking in the spirit you can heal the sick, just as Jesus did.

5. Jesus delivers all who are oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). He drove out demons with a word (Mt 8:16). No spooky exorcisms, no prayer and fasting – just a word of irresistible authority backed up by the Most Powerful Being in the Universe: the Holy Spirit.

6. Jesus teaches with authority (Mt 7:29). In contrast with those who minister condemnation by teaching dead religion, those who are led by the spirit speak words of eternal life (Jn 6:68). In contrast with those who preach paralyzing homilies of uncertainty, those led by the spirit declare truth with unshakeable conviction, just like Jesus. Jesus didn’t try to grow His ministry and He didn’t run after crowds. Crowds ran after Him.

7. Peter and John declare the gospel boldly in the face of persecution (Acts 4:8). The Spirit emboldens “unschooled and ordinary” men.

8. Stephen refutes the legalistic arguments of religious trouble-makers (Acts 6:10). So did Jesus, Paul, Peter, James and John. So will you. Those who serve in the newness of the spirit will encounter opposition from those who persist in the oldness of the letter. There will be arguments and you could die (see Jesus, Paul, Peter, Stephen, et al.). But no weapon formed against you will prosper and you will refute every judgmental and critical tongue that rises in opposition to the message of Christ and His finished work.

9. Barnabas reaches out to Paul. None of the apostles trusted the man once known as Saul. They regarded him from a worldly point of view and were afraid of him. “But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles” (Acts 9:27). Barnabas saw what no one else saw and through one act of encouragement helped change the course of history.

10. Paul writes down the doctrines of a new covenant. Jesus revealed the grace of God to an orphaned world and Paul wrote it all down so we wouldn’t forget it. With “words taught by the Spirit” Paul preached a message that went against everything he had learned in Pharisee school (1 Co 2:13). Paul had been trained in the old ways of the written code but began to serve in the new way of the spirit (Rm 7:6). In the natural he was unqualified – his own training he now counted as dung. But he said that those of us who minister in the new covenant of the spirit have a “competence that comes from God” (2 Co 3:6).

11. Paul goes to Macedonia instead of Bithynia (Acts 16:7). As a result, the Philippians got the gospel and we got the most joy-filled letter in the Bible. Led by the spirit Paul also went to Jerusalem in spite of the hardships that he knew awaited him (Acts 20:22-3). Those who live in the spirit walk fearlessly into the toughest, most hostile places on earth. No place is out of bounds. No place is given over to the devil. It’s all God’s Country and as His kids we own this world (Rm 4:13).

12. Paul finishes the race in style (see 2 Tim 4:6-8). Paul said his fleshly life was “worth nothing” in comparison to finishing the race and completing his God-given task (Acts 20:24). His mind was so fixed on things above that he was torn between here and there. “To live is Christ, to die is gain” (Php 1:21). While serving time on death row, Paul knew that the end of his fleshly existence was near. We know what was going through his mind because he wrote one final letter. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul penned words that have since been etched on countless headstones:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day. (2 Tim 4:7-8a)

In the last line of his last letter, this spirit-conscious man reminds us of the secret of living well:

The Lord Jesus Christ is with thy spirit… Amen. (2 Tim 4:22, YLT)

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Related posts:
- 10 myths about the Holy Spirit
- How to walk after the flesh in 20 easy lessons
- Life doesn’t have the last word (not when you’re walking in the spirit)

Many years ago I participated in a street outreach in Australia. With our loud and upbeat music we soon attracted a large crowd. This was good. Sinners were going to hear the gospel and get saved. Then the preacher got up to speak and it all went pear-shaped. “I have a lust problem.” Oh-oh. Instead of telling the people about Jesus, this man began to share about his private battles with sexual temptation. He said he had suddenly felt convicted about bringing his problem into the light. I was cringing on the inside. What a witness!

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for being open and honest with our shortcomings but this was neither the time nor the place. The unsaved people who were there needed to hear about their Father in heaven who loves them so much that He sent Jesus to rescue them. I’m sure it was titillating to hear a preacher talk about his sin, but his words didn’t point anyone to the Savior.

Fast forward a few years to another youth outreach, this time in Hong Kong. In front of a large crowd of unsaved teens, the dynamic young man up the front decided that this was the perfect opportunity to confess his sin of “self-sex.” I had never even heard of that expression before but it didn’t sound like it was part of the good news.

What’s wrong with us?!

Somehow we’ve bought into the idea that “transparency” means hanging our dirty laundry in public places. But this is old covenant thinking. In the days of Moses you were supposed to confess your sins (Num 5:7) and sometimes this happened publicly (Ezra 10). But we live under a new and better covenant characterized by the complete and eternal forgiveness of sins. I’m not pretending my behavior is perfect and I’m all for being open and honest. If I sin I’ll talk to my Father about it and if I sin against you I’ll talk to you about it. In any relationship it’s always healthy to own up to our mistakes (Jas 5:16). But I’m not going to stand on a street corner and confess my sins to the whole world. That’s not being transparent; that’s just dumb. Why do we think we’re glorifying God by drawing attention to ourselves? We may call it humility but in truth it’s self-centered. We’re shouting, “Look at me everybody, I’ve got sin!” Well hip-hip-hooray.

Have you ever been in a small group worshiping God when someone interrupts and says, “I got a problem with pornography”? It’s like getting a bucket of cold water thrown over your head! Before you can react, someone else says, “God forgive me, I yell at my kids.” The next thing you know, the confession train’s pulling out of the station and everyone’s climbing on board. “I steal pens from the office stationery cabinet.” “I cheat on my taxes.” “Joey, I’m really sorry I said those terrible things about you.” It doesn’t take long before you’re completely distracted and wondering all sorts of things. What did they say about Joey that was so terrible?

Do you see the problem? We’re called to be Christ-conscious not self-conscious. We don’t honor Jesus by shaming ourselves. You’ve got problems? Guess what – we all have problems! But we’re not here to gather around your sins. We’re here to fix our eyes on Jesus.

We need to redefine what we mean by transparency. In the old covenant they confessed sins because that’s what they were carrying inside. But because of Jesus our sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west. Or think about it this way. Satan is in the business of accusing and shaming the saints (Rev 12:10), while Jesus is in the business of defending us to our Father (1 Jn 2:1). When you accuse and shame yourself, are you acting more like your old master Satan or your new master Jesus?

Transparency in the new covenant means something totally different from confessing sins. It means revealing Jesus who lives within. It means acknowledging every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus (Phm 1:6). It takes no faith to confess our imperfections. It takes faith to declare what God says is true about you in spite of your imperfections! In God’s eyes you’re righteous, holy and perfect. You are a walking, talking trophy of His amazing grace. You are a child of God, seated in heavenly places and the temple of the Holy Spirit.

If you want to be truly transparent, then reveal what’s really inside you. Sure, on the outside you’re just a jar of clay cracked and dusty, but look at the awesome Treasure inside! This is the Treasure that the world needs to see so let Him out. Don’t say, “I dare not – I’ve still got issues.” The Bible pronounces you a competent minister of the new covenant (2 Cor 3:6)! You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world and by the grace of God you are what you are!
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Related posts:
- Son or sinner – what are you confessing?
- Confession, conviction, confusion
- Who do you think you are?

The world that you were born into is nothing more than an elaborate prison for the soul. Its comforts and concerns are all designed to obscure the truth of your bondage. You have been lied to. You have been told that what you see is all there is, that you are nothing more than flesh and reason. But this is a half-truth, a distortion designed to keep you passive while you quietly slide towards oblivion. You have been shackled to a sinking ship. Time is not your friend.

“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”

The hour has come to wake from your slumber. Stay, or leave, it’s your choice. The system will not let you go easily, but they cannot stop you. The exit is open and no one can shut it. Indeed, you may even know the way out, but there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Look for a Man who is not from here. He is the door to the real world and the light in your darkness. His world is the one you were made for. That is why you have resisted every rule this system has forced upon you. You were born to be free, to sit in high places and to rule. Your slave-schooled mind cannot process that, but it is the truth. You are not of this world and this is not your home.

This Man is the answer you have been searching for. He has been sent by your Father who loves you and knows you by name. Find this Man and you will find your true self. You will learn what is real.

It is time to decide. You take the blue pill and nothing changes. You can go on passing food through your body and amusing yourself to death. Or you can take what is being offered here and wake from the dream. Your Father longs for you. If you are ready to meet Him, take the red pill…

A few years ago I read a book called Bono on Bono and it provided a rare glimpse into the man’s heart. The story so far goes like this. Three Christian boys started a band called U2. Because they played rock and roll they got kicked out of the church community they loved. Organized religion rejected them but they did not reject God. Bono once said, “Great music is written by people who are either running toward or away from God.” You can decide from the quotes below which direction Bono is running.

I’m a big fan, not merely because of what he does, but because what he says and how he says it. Bono is the greatest poet of my generation. It wasn’t hard to find some classic quotes. He’s Irish after all, and he loves to talk. He once said “I`m the Fidel Castro of speechifying.”

He’s also pretty darn funny. Look at what he said after one visit to the White House:

“I’d like to think that I`ve always left the White House with more than I arrived. Not only budget commitments – cutlery, silverware, candelabras, one or two Bush family photos… OK, one Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington – it was in the bathroom, nobody could see. I’ll give it back.”

One more thing you should know. Back in the early 1990s when U2 did Zooropa, I missed the point about it being self-parody. I thought U2 had suddenly, and unexpectedly, become full of themselves. Only later did I get the joke. Although he’s the most famous rock star on the planet, Bono doesn’t take himself too seriously.

“Look, I`m sick of Bono and I AM Bono.”

So now you know that he’s outspoken, funny, and self-deprecating. With that introduction, here are my all-time top 20 Bono quotes:

1. “I’m not in a position to be seen as a spokesman for a generation. I mean, how can you be a spokesman of a generation if you’ve nothing to say, other than ‘Help!’”

2. “As an artist, I see the poetry of it. It’s so brilliant. That this scale of creation, and the unfathomable universe, should describe itself in such vulnerability, as a child. That is mind-blowing to me. I guess that would make me a Christian. Although I don’t use the label, because it is so very hard to live up to. I feel like I’m the worst example of it, so just kinda keep my mouth shut.”

3. “Celebrity is currency, so I wanted to use mine effectively.”

4. “Rock ‘n’ roll is ridiculous. It’s absurd. In the past, U2 was trying to duck that. Now we’re wrapping our arms around it and giving it a great big kiss.”

5. “It’s stasis that kills you off in the end, not ambition.”

6. “My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, who made mistakes, but recovered from them.”

7. “Religion can be the enemy of God. It`s often what happens when God, like Elvis, has left the building. A list of instructions where there was once conviction; dogma where once people just did it; a congregation led by a man where once they were led by the Holy Spirit. Discipline replacing discipleship.”

8. “We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong.”

9. “And this wise man asked me to stop. He said, Stop asking God to bless what you’re doing. Get involved in what God is doing – because it’s already blessed.”

10. “At a certain point, I just felt, you know, God is not looking for alms, God is looking for action.”

11. “Every era has its defining struggle and the fate of Africa is one of ours. It’s not the only one, but in the history books it’s easily going to make the top five, what we did or what we did not do. It’s a proving ground, as I said earlier, for the idea of equality. But whether it’s this or something else, I hope you’ll pick a fight and get in it.”

12. “There are potentially another 10 Afghanistans in Africa, and it is cheaper by a factor of 100 to prevent the fires from happening than to put them out.”

13. “Books! I dunno if I ever told you this, but books are the greatest gift one person can give another.”

14. “Even then I prayed more outside of the church than inside. It gets back to the songs I was listening to; to me, they were prayers. ‘How many roads must a man walk down?’ That wasn’t a rhetorical question to me. It was addressed to God. It’s a question I wanted to know the answer to, and I’m wondering, who do I ask that to? I’m not gonna ask a schoolteacher. When John Lennon sings, ‘Oh, my love/For the first time in my life/My eyes are wide open’ – these songs have an intimacy for me that’s not just between people, I realize now, not just sexual intimacy. A spiritual intimacy.”

15. “I believe in the kingdom come. Then all the colors will bleed into one.”

16. “It’s not enough to rage against the lie. You’ve got to replace it with the truth.”

17. “My heroes are all alive. I never have worshipped at that altar of burnt-out youth.”

18. “Yes, I sometimes fail, but at least I’m willing to experiment.”

19. “You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that as you sow, so you will reap” stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.”

20. “But I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep s—. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace.”

Existential writing is often full of angst, but what I love about it is that it’s honest angst! Angst and dread are entirely appropriate responses to a life apart from God. It’s the raw honesty of Kirkegaard that turned me into a fan in my 20s. I loved his damning critiques both of godless society and the institutional church of his day. His parable of the duck church is an all-time classic.

Kirkegaard certainly wasn’t a radical just for the sake of it. There is evidence that he lived with constant pain. (He died young at 42.) He also believed he lived under a curse on account of his father committing what they thought was an unforgivable sin. He battled with depression, yet his work is peppered with flashes of great hope and brilliant insight.

I have not gone with any particular theme in selecting my top 12 Kirkegaard quotes below. Some of them convey the despair of life without meaning; others point to a hope that exists beyond the world of men. The quotes are quite random and are merely intended to give you a tiny insight into the mind of a great, if troubled, Christian thinker.

Happy birthday Søren!

1. “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”

2. “I have just now come from a party where I was its life and soul; witticisms streamed from my lips, everyone laughed and admired me. But I went away — yes, the dash should be as long as the radius of the earth’s orbit ——————————— and wanted to shoot myself.”

3. “Never cease loving a person, and never give up hope for him, for even the prodigal son who had fallen most low, could still be saved; the bitterest enemy and also he who was your friend could again be your friend; love that has grown cold can kindle”

4. “I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations — one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it — you will regret both.”

5. “God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but He does what is still more wonderful: He makes saints out of sinners.”

6. “Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth — look at the dying man’s struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.”

7. “My standpoint is armed neutrality.”

8. “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

9. “Without risk, faith is an impossibility.”

10. “A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that’s just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it’s a joke.”

11. “The truth is a trap: you cannot get it without it getting you; you cannot get the truth by capturing it, only by its capturing you.”

12. “What the age needs is not a genius — it has had geniuses enough, but a martyr, who in order to teach men to obey would himself be obedient unto death. What the age needs is awakening. And therefore someday, not only my writings but my whole life, all the intriguing mystery of the machine will be studied and studied. I never forget how God helps me, and it is therefore my last wish that everything may be to his honour.”

Note: Søren Kierkegaard wrote in Danish and much of what he wrote has been badly translated into glib, catchy English quotes. A good source of translations is Wikiquote.

Thankfully we serve a Greater King than this usurper! We worship a servant-King who gave His life that we might live whole and healthy:

“He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing.” (1 Pet 2:24, MSG)

About 10 years ago I heard a pastor of an Australian church say that mental illness was a big need in their city. I was young and strong back then so the picture that came into my head was that he lived in some crazy town of wackos. Now I know better. Depression is one of the giants of our day. I’ve heard it said that in modern society one in twelve people suffers from some form of mental affliction. If you have 60 friends, chances are that five of them suffer from mental illness. Do you know who they are?

For many people mental illness is taboo. It’s the sickness no one talks about until it’s too late. In face-conscious Hong Kong you won’t know that a person is suffering until they’ve thrown their kids out the window then leapt after them. Mental illness is bad enough, but keeping it wrapped up in secrecy and misunderstanding only makes it worse.

There is a huge opportunity for churches to make a difference in this area. How do we do this? By building ramps. Just as we have access ramps for wheelchairs we need ramps for the mentally ill. By ramps I mean we need to make it as easy as possible for the hurting to come in and find comfort and friendship and healing. Here are 5 ramp-building ideas:

1. Send the message: “come as you are”. People who struggle should not be told they are only welcome when they’re feeling “up”. If blind people are allowed to bring their seeing-eye dogs to church, then people who suffer from depression should be allowed to bring their black dogs. Of course we want to get rid of the dogs. But I’ve studied the Bible and learned that people who came to Jesus were much more likely to get healed than those who stayed away.

Are we making it easy for people with bipolar disorder, agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, OCD, ADHD, etc. to come to church just as they are? Or are we sending the signal that you must be walking in victory every single day? We need to get real.

2. Cultivate transparency and reality. Think about the sicknesses that are getting prayed for in prayer meetings. If the majority of them are physical ailments and you don’t live in the third world, something is wrong. Chances are that those struggling with mental disorders are keeping quiet out of embarrassment or fear.

People outside the church will pay thousands to have a caring counselor listen to their struggles. In the church we listen for free. Create a safe environment where hidden weaknesses can be talked about. We don’t gather around our problems – we meet around Jesus – but bringing problems into the light is the first step towards healing and deliverance. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, keen to pray.

3. Become dealers in hope. Hope is the first casualty of depression. People who suffer from mental disorders often battle to see hope in their situation. When the battle is in the mind, perspective is easily lost. So what hope can we give to sick people? Isaiah 53:5 tells us that Jesus died for us that we might be free from sin and sickness.

I really love Joseph Prince’s take on this scripture. He says that Jesus identified with us in our frailties so that we might identify with him in glory. Don’t identify with your illness. Identify with Jesus. When the doctor speaks a negative diagnosis remind yourself that “as Christ is, so are we in this world” (1 Jn 4:17). Jesus is not depressed. Jesus is not anxious or stressed. Make Jesus your hope.

Incidentally, never tell a sick person that God made them sick to teach them something. He didn’t. Do tell them that the Greek word for salvation covers every aspect of life including healing. On what basis are we healed? On the basis that Jesus was wounded for us (Is 53:5). Stand with them on that promise. In his book So You Think Your Mind is Renewed?, Cornel Marais says:

“Healing is not our privilege, it is our right. Jesus didn’t suffer and die for you to have the privilege of maybe being healed. He died so that you could be well.”

4. The strong need to help the weak (Rms 15:1). Some in the Bible were so helpless that they needed determined friends to rip open roofs to break through to Jesus. We need to cultivate a similar attitude of perseverance when we come along side those who are struggling. Have faith for their healing, be fervent in praying on their behalf and don’t give up. Celebrate victories but don’t throw in the towel if there are set-backs.

A literal reading of James 5:16 says that the energetic prayers of the righteous are effective. That is an awesome promise to stand on. But take care not to impart guilt or condemnation if the person you’re praying for doesn’t feel as passionate or as chirpy as you do. And don’t tell them to throw away their medication if they don’t have a conviction about it. Encourage them in the Lord but don’t put pressure on them. Be the ramp that lifts them up to Jesus.

5. Encourage them to step out of their comfort zone. Some people aren’t going to get healed the first time you pray for them, or the second time. Does this mean they’re to sit on the sidelines of life waiting for their healing? Absolutely not. God can use us for His glory no matter how strong or weak we feel. In fact, God can use us more when we’re weak than when we’re strong (2 Cor 12:10). He surely used Paul:

“We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.” (2 Cor 1:8-11)

As Steve McVey has recently said, you can be very low emotionally and still be strong spiritually. I would go further and say that you can be depressed out of your skull and still be a menace to the enemy. You may not be able to lift your head but you can still lift your hands saying, “Lord, here I am, use me.”

A whispered prayer of praise in the midst of suffering is worship in its purest, truest form. It’s an act of faith that defies circumstances and says “no matter what happens, He is worthy and I will praise Him.” It’s my conviction that God finds this kind of faith irresistible. When His children who are in pain praise Him, He is moved. Prisons tumble, graves open, the dead rise, and the depressed rejoice. He is the glory and lifter of our heads (Ps 3:3).

Mark Driscoll has been called the Hulk Hogan of pastors. (Watch this and you’ll see why.) He says a lot of things that shock people and this has given him a reputation as a controversial pastor. My view is that he is a passionate, red-blooded man who is sick and tired of a church that has become emasculated and irrelevant. But he is no mere critic. He has a plan – his radical reformission – to convey the truth of the gospel to the lost. The world needs more leaders like him.

Whatever you think of Driscoll you will agree that he is certainly quotable. Here are 10 of my favorite Driscoll quotes:

1. “So I decided to start a church, for three reasons. First, I hated going to church and wanted one I liked, so I thought I would just start my own. Second, God had spoken to me in one of those weird charismatic moments and told me to start a church. Third, I am scared of God and try to do what he says.”  (Confessions, p.39)

2. “You have been told that God is a loving, gracious, merciful, kind, compassionate, wonderful, and good sky fairy who runs a day care in the sky and has a bucket of suckers for everyone because we’re all good people. That is a lie… God looks down and says ‘I hate you, you are my enemy, and I will crush you,’ and we say that is deserved, right and just, and then God says ‘Because of Jesus I will love you and forgive you.’ This is a miracle.”

3. “I occasionally bought lottery tickets and promised God I would tithe if he’d let me win, but to no avail.”  (Confessions, p.58)

4. “I’m in my jeep minding my own business, when I turn to Christian radio for the first time in a long time. Last time in a long time.” (uncited)

5. “Isn’t it odd that we are apparently becoming a nation of attractive people who sit at home alone at night with our pets, watching television shows about relationships and taking medication for the depression brought on by our loneliness? Meanwhile, our neighbors, whom we do not know, are spending their evenings in much the same way.” (Radical Reformission, 82)

6. “Jesus, could you please rapture the charismaniac lady who brings her tambourine to church?” (chapter title from Confessions)

7. “Even a cursory reading of the book of Ecclesiastes shows that culture is a stationary bike that each generation climbs on in hopes of getting somewhere only to die and fall off so that the new young stud can take his turn peddling and, like a fool, make pronouncements about his progress. We would be wise to see postmodernity as simply the new guy on the old bike and not mistake cultural change for kingdom progress.” (Radical Reformission, 161)

8. “Jesus and Paul were serious dudes. They had teeth missing. Jesus was a carpenter, Paul was in prison. These guys didn’t eat tofu dogs and bean sprouts. They didn’t play tennis. If there were trucks back in their times, they would have been doing driveway lube jobs on a Saturday afternoon. Same thing with King David. Yeah, he might have played a lyre, but he slaughtered thousands of guys.” (re:tool and re:load conference)

9. “Flipping through a phone book once, I saw one church advertising itself as ‘Separated’ and ‘Reaching Out to Seattle,’ presumably much like a boxer reaches out to an opponent with a jab. (Radical Reformission, 141)

10. “Work like an Arminian, sleep like a Calvinist.” (uncited)

The punchline? In trying to become entertaining we have lost the way and become useless to those in pain. Every pastor needs to watch this…

The one thing that will change us pastors is first-hand experience of pain. Having had a small taste myself in recent months, I can tell you it has profoundly changed me. I’m still gung-ho but I’m MUCH more dependent on the grace of God. A typical Sunday begins with me crying out to God for grace just to get through the morning. I never needed to do that before. My experience is that His grace does come and I do what under normal circumstances would be impossible.

I suppose I should say something wise like “His grace is sufficient” but sufficient seems such a small word. It’s like saying to a starving man that food is sufficient. I have found that God’s grace is often the difference between me functioning or not. It’s the difference between staying in bed and preaching the gospel. God’s grace is like oxygen – I don’t last long without it.

I want to build a church that is a haven for those in intense pain and where those who are healthy are prepared to rip holes in roofs to get their sick friends to Jesus. I have two messages to send; (1) if you’re hurting, come just as you are, and (2) if you’re healthy, comfort the weak and help them to find their strength in Jesus.

Thanks to the bloggers at Christian Theology for posting the video. And thanks to Christian for making the video. If you ever read this I want to tell you that God still has a purpose for your life. His plans are not thwarted by illness or brokenness. Indeed, His plans often seem to be accelerated by what we would consider set-backs. Joseph was sold into slavery – God used that. David was branded a terrorist – God used that. Job lost his family, his health and his wealth – God used that. His enemy and yours will tell you that you that “this is the end”. But I have found the light of God’s love is most easily seen in the dark places of private anguish. He has not stopped writing His story in your life.

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Related posts:
- Jesus’ medicine – tastes like Ribena
- Building ramps for the mentally ill
- Life doesn’t have the last word (when you’re walking in the spirit)

After doing a bit of wandering of my own I’ve concluded that (a) God does indeed have a special plan for your life but (b) that doesn’t mean He’s going to tell you what it is, at least not all at once. Rather, He wants us to live day by day for Him and in that regular obedience His plan unfolds to our surprise and delight. He wants us to work and to marry and go forth and multiply and be church and do the work of the kingdom. He wants us to take the life He’s given us and live.

Yet God wants us to live intentional lives. This means when we are faced with big decisions we seek His counsel and the counsel of inspired friends. It also means we look to the God-given desires within us. Probably one of the mis-quoted verses in the Bible is Ps 37:4 which says,

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

It’s amazing how excited people get over the second-half of this verse and how little attention they give to the first-half. My take on this verse is that when you make God your delight, He hardwires you new dreams and desires that impel us toward His purposes for us. If that sounds confusing, then I encourage you to read a little essay entitled Getting Caught by you Calling. It’s written by Dan Allender, the author of an outstanding book on leadership that I have recommended elsewhere.

Here’s a taste of what Allender writes:

Our calling is not a list of things God wants us to get done… I don’t believer anyone is called to a job or a profession… My calling is to walk through any door God gives me in order to reveal His glory…

We don’t find our calling; it finds us… God gives us desire and meaning. They are inside us alongside our calling, without any effort on our part to create them. When it comes to being caught by my calling, my options are simple: Whom will I serve (the population)? In what locale will I serve (the place)? What portion of the Fall will I face (the problem)? And what means will I use to address those problems (the process)? Our calling in life is always tied to population, place, problems and process.

You can read the whole of Allender’s excellent essay here.

Of the 2,500 prophecies recorded in the Bible around 80% have been fulfilled to the letter so far. The probability of this happening by chance and without error has been conservatively estimated as less than 1 in 10 to the 2000. (That’s a 1 with 2,000 zeros after it.) To put this number in perspective, the probability that the second law of thermodynamics will be reversed in a given situation (e.g., you start your car and the  engine freezes instead of warming up), is only 1 in 10 to the 80.

(Where did these figures come from? For the maths on prophecy fulfillment, plus some Biblical truth tests, visit the excellent Reasons to Believe website.)

To give you an example of the specific nature of Biblical prophecies, consider the following examples of prophecies concerning Jesus Christ.

Source: Gospelcom.net