By Mindy Virgin

Before going to the rest of this entry, read Psalm 73:23-26. If you don’t have a Bible handy, you can read it here.

Commitment and accomplishment are weighty words but how are they best realized?  Foundational to these objectives are purpose and fulfillment.  Championing the obvious, let me say, “Life is demanding.”  If you have kids, multiply that tenfold – because that is how many times they will hit you up for the same demand in the next half hour.  So when you consider accomplishment, what is that? “  Hope in circumstances is fleeting.  My “I hope to finish my “summer do list” before returning to the classroom in the Fall” is wishful but may not be significant.  There is so much responsibility blended with so many opportunities available.  Everyone wants a “commitment” from you.  How should a believer invest her  time?  Asking  ”How thin can I spread myself?” is the wrong question.   Our stewardship to God involves time, so time is not our own. But, the use of time is not just our service to God, it is an access for knowing Him.  Further, we need God’s help to sort out demands.

Better questions are:  How can I honor the Father today?  How can I better know Him?  What would please Him?  Starting your day seeking God focuses your mind on the life-giver Himself.  Committing your day to Him and asking His direction makes the day a joint effort.    God reveals himself in the common tasks and decisions of the day as we seek Him.  John 14:21 states, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Recommit you actions and your will to God throughout the day and submit to his guidance.  In Charles E. Hummel’s article Tyranny of the Urgent, we are reminded that in order to do God’s will we must wait for His instructions.  He clarifies the difference between that which is  ”urgent” (things wanting done now) and that which is “important” (things needing done no matter what).  He reminds believers that when we  fail to wait on assignments from God, work may seem significant in our own eyes but we will not finish the work God had for us to do.  Significance in man’s eyes lead to a tyranny of the urgent.  Prayerfully getting assignments from God leads to fulfilling God’s will and to grater intimacy with God.  Thus, our accomplishments are these:  Jesus delivers us from sin, He empowers us to do God’s will, and as I continue in His Word, I am truly His disciple.

Are you inviting the Holy Spirit to be your guide through the day and in your commitments?

Does your use of time demonstrate a commitment to seek and know the Father and His will?

(Heather Downey is short, wears glasses and is always with a tall guy who also wears glasses. Sometimes they help with the offering or greet you at the door on Sundays.)

Before reading further, please read Acts 8:1-8. If you don’t have a Bible handy, you can read it here.

I grew up with only brothers, so I was outnumbered when it came to how we spent our time. We built forts, played Nintendo, pretended to be Power Rangers, and we got into a lot of wrestling matches. Wrestling could be fun for a while, but always came to a screeching halt when I inevitably ended up on the bottom of the pile – stuck between the hard, unmoving ground and my younger, yet bigger and stronger, brothers. I would go into panic-mode and shout until I was released. It wasn’t that I was a poor loser, but that I have never liked being pinned down. The feeling of being trapped scares me and sends me into a fit. Even now, I can’t forget the feeling of relief, freedom, and joy that swept over me when they released me from the bottom of the pile.

Perhaps you don’t share my irrational fear of being pinned down, but if you’ve ever found yourself spiritually bogged down, you may be able to identify the almost instantaneous joy you feel at being liberated from the situation. It feels so good to be made free! The beginning of Acts chapter 8 describes the kind of joy that comes from being made spiritually victorious and uninhibited after having felt defeated and trapped. At the end of the passage, Philip proclaimed the message of Jesus to crowds of people in a Samaritan city. By God’s power, many were healed and others were rid of evil spirits. In response, scripture says that “there was great joy in that city.” For years these people had been without insight into the fullness of God’s character and when Philip ministered to them, they were not only released from physical torment, but also the weight of generations of spiritual blindness. God’s power released them out from under their spiritual “dog-pile,” and they were no doubt relieved, excited, grateful and hopeful. They were full of joy!

Part of feeling joyful is being free. Are there situations or relationships in your life, or an unhealthy or untrue belief about yourself, under which you feel trapped? How does God want to help you be free so you can walk more fully in the joy He has for you?

How has God set you free in the past? Are you still walking in the reality of that joy, or have you forgotten the feeling of relief that comes when God’s grace and truth washes over you? Ask Him to remind you of those times, and thank Him.

By Mike Phillips

Years ago, I read the biography of David Brainerd. Brainerd was the son-in-law of Jonathan Edwards, the great preacher of the Awakening and President of Princeton University. Brainerd was also a missionary to the native peoples of the Northeast and was a prodigious prayer-warrior. He mentions in his journals that he would rise at 4:30 most days and pray until noon . As I read this, I was struck with my own prayer-less life. So I devoted myself to begin rising at 5 a.m. to pray.

I distinctly remember the first time I did this. I answered the call of the alarm eagerly, bringing my list of prayer items to the place where I would pray. My wife rolled over and went back to sleep and I felt a certain sense of accomplishment having arisen to pray as she slept. Okay, there was a degree of pride there as well. I went into the room I had set aside as a prayer space (it was our storage closet. Since we had only been married for seven months, we didn’t have a lot of stuff to store). At 5:05 I started to pray. At 5:10, I fell asleep. I woke up with a start and panic at 6:30. I then felt guilty and ashamed that I couldn’t pray like David Brainerd. I tried it another half dozen days and the result was always the same. Even with my best intentions, I never stayed awake. Finally, I abandoned my prayer efforts and just concluded I was a spiritual wimp.

Years later, I learned that Brainerd went to bed at 7:30! When he got up at 4:30, he did it after 9 hours of sleep. I was going to bed at 11:30. That’s a significant difference, and nowhere in the biography did they mention this minor detail.

I have understood through this mistake, and many others,  that I don’t often read Christian books properly. I look through them for things that I shouldn’t be searching for and I miss what I should be seeing. So, assuming I am fairly average, I disclose here what I think a person should and should not do when reading Christian non-fiction.

Things Not to Do

1. Don’t Look for Formulas: Since almost half of all Christian books being published today are basically “how-to” books, it is so easy to find a formula and figure what worked for one person will work for you. One guy talks about how he lives on 50% of his income and gives away the other 50% and everyone who admires the writer tries to do the same thing. Or another writer waxes eloquent on how he found God while hiking tall mountains and every Christian spends a fortune at REI. This is a dangerous way to live. A man came to Jesus one time and asked for a formula in how to live successfully. Jesus’ answer was distinctive: “You must be born from above”. This isn’t a formula, it’s a relationship he is offering.

2. Prophets see Everything in Black and White: In a world where too many books sugar-coat everything, when a person comes out with a harsh, black-and-white answer to the world’s problems, the book sells like crazy. I even enjoy reading those books, if only for a sense of variety. We do need books that tell us the truth, even if the truth hurts. But, this does not mean that we should then begin seeing everything in simple terms. This world is infinitely complex and only God understands how it all works. One person’s battle with alcohol or drugs is not the same as another person’s. I often hear that a person finds in one book the cure to their problem and then assumes everyone will be cured by that same solution. Too many prophetic books suffer from over-simplification. Beware this tendency.

3. Opinion couched as Doctrine: So few Christians are skilled any longer at critical thought and theological reflection. I just attended a meeting where the participants wanted nothing to do with doctrinal discussions. I find that a difficult thing to swallow, since doctrine is simply a list of things we believe. Everyone believes something, and only the fool refuses to think deeply about what they believe. I have read a host of books lately where the authors claim to have the Bible on their sides, when all they are really doing is giving their own opinion. Recently, a well-known Christian author spent several chapters giving his opinion on the nuclear family and using many, many verses out of context. It was disturbing to read. What was worse, so many of my friends on Facebook said they loved it. When I asked them what they loved about the book, all they could muster was “I agree so much with what he said.” They just couldn’t say why. Oh dear! Double oh dear!!

How To Read a Christian Book

1. Listen for What God is Saying to You: First and foremost, believers and followers of God are to listen to what God is saying, not what people are saying. When Jesus went into the wilderness to spend time with the Spirit – fasting for 40 days – he emerged with hunger and a sense of calling. The first thing Satan did was to tempt him to meet his physical needs by turning the stones into bread. Jesus’ answer: “Man does not live on only bread, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” In other words: “If God tells me to do this, I will do it. Otherwise, I will not”. How could doing a miracle be wrong? How could feeding yourself be wrong? If the Spirit of God does not allow it, it is wrong. I could read a book on fasting and then assume I should be fasting. What if God doesn’t want me to fast right now? I could read a book on giving and assume God wants me to take all my money and give it away. Is that God’s will at that moment? If there are no absolute formulas, there still is the Spirit of God within us. Recently, I read a book about ministering to the homeless. My first thought was to copy what this guy is doing with his church. I missed it completely. God wanted to open my eyes to what can be done and to work with those already doing it. Big difference.

2. Discern Principles: What I should have learned from David Brainerd was this: No new work of God can be successful without substantial prayer and wisdom from God. That is the Universal Truth in his biography. Instead, I latched onto the particulars and missed the principle. When I read Jackie Pullinger’s book “Chasing the Dragon” I began to notice how a church could minister to drug addicts. What I missed was the principle she based her life on: “Do the next thing God shows you.” People read the “Purpose Driven Life” and assume their purposes should mirror those in the book. In actuality, the book just shows us that we all have a purpose and it is not easy to find it. I actually love books that tell me not to copy the pattern of the author’s life, but rather to see the underlying truths of that life. Even if they don’t tell you to do that, resist the urge to copy people and find the principles undergirding their successful living.

3. Critically Examine ALL Truth Claims: The most dangerous authors to read are those we already love. This is because we often stop examining the things they claim to be true since their track record seems to give them a free pass. Many times the writers themselves get sloppy later in life for the same reason. Most Christians are not aware that Watchman Nee went completely heretical in his later years – not all of a sudden, but quite gradually. Few books have impacted my life like “The Normal Christian Life”, but I had to be so careful about his later writings. When you critically examine something, it is with an eye to prove what is right and then let that truth seep into every part of your being. Most books have truth and error and it is our job to tell the difference. When Rob Bell published his book on hell a few months ago, most people ripped it apart as pure heresy. It certainly wasn’t “pure” anything. There was truth in it. There  is error in it. I enjoyed reading it several times so I could wrestle with both.