I can imagine some people reading that post and concluding, “I could never do that because it would become legalism.”

I sympathise with that statement.

I also disagree with that statement.

I sympathise because I understand the human heart. I am (at last assessment) human too.
I disagree because legalism is fundamentally a matter of the heart and not ultimately a matter of what you do (although it shows itself in what you do).

Coming at this from a slightly different angle, Tim Keller describes three lifestyles (he uses the broader term ‘religion’ in place of legalism).

1. Religion: I obey, therefore I am accepted by God.
2. Irreligion: I don’t need to obey anyone but myself.
3. Gospel: I am accepted by God at an infinite cost to Jesus Christ, therefore I obey.

I am convinced (and I think my experience bears this up too) that a lot of well meaning people who would certainly identify themselves as Christians are trapped in a vicious cycle between No.1 (religion) and No.2 (irreligion). Perhaps they have been burned by religious Christians who have not understood No.3 (gospel) and so they rebel by embracing No.2 (irreligion). They mistakenly regard No.2 (irreligion) as No.3 (gospel) and react angrily or defensively if their character or lifestyle are challenged. They mistake the conviction that comes from No.3 (gospel) for the condemnation of No.1 (religion) and throw themselves with renewed vigour into No.2 (irreligion).

There’s a healthy slab of irony here

By running to irreligion in order to escape from religion, you end up back with the fruit of religion (defensiveness, pride, rebellion, fear, shame etc).  So how do you know if you’re in this vicious cycle? Here are some clues…

1. You’re not sure you can tell the difference between conviction and condemnation.
2. You react angrily when challenged or confronted (people who live in No.3 know that they are accepted so they don’t mind being challenged or confronted).
3. You think that you are living in No.3 but the two points above are more true of you than you are willing to admit to yourself!

“How do I get off this crazy trip?”

First things first, you must admit to yourself that however much you have claimed to ‘know’ about No.3 (gospel), the reality is that you don’t know it as well as you thought and you might not have ever really grasped it at all. For someone caught between No.1 and No.2, this is an incredibly painful, humbling experience because it means admitting that you are wrong and asking for help.

Secondly, you must meditate on this truth as a starting place: When God the Father says to Jesus at his baptism, “You are my beloved son with whom I am well pleased” you are permitted to hear the Father saying that about you (remember, you don’t ‘know’ this as well as you thought!) Jesus is the Messiah. The Messiah is a divinely appointed representative of his people. If you come to God through him then he becomes your representative. You, therefore, become the ‘beloved of God’ in him.

Third, thank the Father for this awesome reality and ask him to fill you freshly with the spirit of sonship.

Fourth, receive said spirit of sonship.

Fifth, live out of this new reality making new and healthy decisions and forming new and healthy habits on the basis of your acceptance, not in order to gain acceptance.

Now then, where did I put my bible? I have a habit to perform!

I suppose it all began when I read a blog post by Nigel Ring (long-time friend and administrator to Terry Virgo). In that post he said that a habit takes as long as 6 months to establish. That made me sweat a little as I know that my default tendency is to not be all that structured and to go with the flow. However, I just knew that I had to do it and so I started.

It wasn’t easy.
I often wanted to give up.
It frequently felt awkward, weird or unnatural but…
I’m now 9 months in and what began as hard work is, well, a habit!

Now what’s so great about this habit is that it’s a lifetime habit. The discipline involved in making it happen is something that will reap rewards for a whole lifetime. It’s not like saying, “I want to weigh x by y” and then it’s forgotten a year later (as great as losing weight may be). It’s not like saying, “I’m going to train to run a marathon next year” (as awesome as that is).

The bible recounts some wise words to a young leader from a true veteran in the faith. The veteran says, “Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

Physical training is good.
Spiritual training is really good.

So as promised, here is my habit.

I am 9 months into a reading plan for the bible that involves reading four chapters a day or so. It takes 30-45mins depending on which chapters and how switched on I am (I am not a fast reader either in case you were wondering, so I’m not really exceptional in that regard!) Over a year I’ll read the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice.

It’s not always electrifying. It isn’t always immediately beneficial. Consider this though: I’ll be 36 this year and I might live to be 86. If my habit continues I’ll have read the Old Testament 50 times (at least) and the New Testament and Psalms 100 times (at least) before I die.

I’m dreaming today of how fruitful my habit is going to make me - how much better I will know Jesus; how much more I will be equipped to love my wife, kids and grandkids and how much better my preaching and teaching will be after 50 years of steady fellowship with God in his word.

I think that’s a habit worth fighting tooth & nail for, don’t you?

Spennende Nyheter!

Jesus is building his church in Norway!

There’s something about learning the intricacies of a nation’s culture in the context of church planting that is simultaneously daunting and energizing. At least that is how I felt as I listened to John Ifeanyi lift the lid on the peculiar challenges that he, his wife and family and a growing community of believers face in carving out a new church in post-Christian Scandinavia.

The Mission: plant a church that goes on to reproduce itself by planting other churches throughout Norway, Scandinavia and Northern Europe.

The Challenge: Norway is cynical about established church, fiercely independent and resistant to the gospel.

The promise: “Go and make disciples…I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Daunting

Energising

Exciting

The first step, John told us, is to establish a church community in Lillestrom, to work out on the ground what it looks like to build a church in Norway and then to go for the big boy, Norway’s capital, Oslo and from there into the nation and the nations. This isn’t popcorn church planting (snap, crackle, pop and there’s your church); this is long-term, deeply ingrained and culture transforming work.

I so appreciated hearing stories of John’s fearless commitment to talking to people about Jesus, his tenacity in the face of challenges and his commitment to build churches – you know that feeling you get when you listen to someone and it’s just obvious that God’s grace is on them for this thing, and you catch yourself thinking, “This is happening!” despite the pressures and the challenges?

Jubilee Church in Hull, Hope Church in Harrogate and York City Church are partnering together with John and New Life church in Lillestrom. With all its Viking history, there’s something so apt about churches in Yorkshire loving, blessing and serving this nation through the gospel!

To find out more or to get involved, please email Steve Whittington at steve@whittington.com or John Ifeanyi at johncardinal81@yahoo.com

Event Date: 23/08/2012

Together at North 2012

9. Give Generously…Because Jesus is generous!

Jesus lived more generously than any other person has ever lived and ever will live. The gospel describes Jesus’ generosity as an emptying of himself and pouring out his life in obedience to God and for the good and enriching of all who come to God through him. Ultimately, when we look at Jesus’ death on the cross we are seeing the scandalous kindness and generosity of God.

Our own generosity will be in direct connection to the degree that we have seen and understood the generosity of Jesus on the cross.

The apostle Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, puts it like this, ‘For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.’

He never just lays down the law, insisting that this church coughs up the goods because he says it’s a good idea.

Paul retells the gospel in the context of material wealth.

Have you ever equated the gospel with your giving before?

We give generously because Jesus is generous!

10. Give Generously…Because it will bring more worship to Jesus!

The final reason to give generously is really simple: as we give, we facilitate the advance of the gospel in this city, this nation and the nations of the world. That means that more and more people get the opportunity to receive the generosity of Jesus in the gospel, which leads to more people giving glory to Jesus and worshipping him!

So give generously, because Jesus is generous!

7. Give Generously…Because Jesus is at work in you

One of the evidences of the work of the Holy Spirit in the new community called the church in Acts 2 was that they sold fields and goods and gave to the poor.

Let’s get the attitude as a church that says ‘I really want to demonstrate the grace of God in my life, so I will give generously, daringly, cheerfully, and sacrificially!’

There were churches in the New Testament that were famous for giving! Some churches are famous for their worship, some for their preaching and some for their social action programme. How good would it be to be a church that’s renowned for its’ giving?

Pete Roderick touched on this last week, perhaps it is something that God is going to do at a deeper level in our community life?

8. Give Generously…Because it makes you more like Jesus

When, by the grace of God, we give generously, we are getting shaped into the image of Jesus more and more. Because it is the Holy Spirit who transforms us and changes us, we are changed more into Jesus image when we respond to the Holy Spirit.

A spiritual principle is that you become like what you worship, and we all worship something.

Let’s pursue a deeper, truer and more generous humanity by being like Jesus more and more in pouring out our lives in sacrificial giving!

5. Give Generously…Because Jesus wants the whole of you

When you become a Christian, Jesus does not demand a piece of you, he asks for the whole lot!

He is Lord, not just a ‘Get out of Hell Free’ card!

We don’t talk about tithing (the practice of giving 10% of your income to God) because it sets limits on giving and hinders generosity. You can reluctantly give 10% and it becomes giving God a tip or performing a work void of any faith or joy. Abraham is the first man to tithe in the bible and he gave 10% of ALL that he had, which was considerably more costly than giving 10% of your monthly income.

The bottom line is this, Jesus isn’t looking for bit-part players; he is looking for fully committed, heart and soul commitment to him and his mission. So give generously, because Jesus wants the whole of you, not just a bit! And that leads nicely on to the next reason to give generously…

6. Give Generously…Because it all belongs to Jesus anyway!

All that you are, all that you have and all that you will ever have belong to Jesus.

Psalm 24:1-2 says, ‘The Earth is the Lord’s and all that fills it, the world and those who dwell in it, for he has founded it.’

Colossians 1.16-17 tells us that ‘all things’ that exist do so because Jesus created and sustains them. So to talk about ‘my money’ is really a misnomer, because it is all Jesus’ money and he has trusted you with some of it. If all things (the Greek phrase literally means ‘the totality’) past, present and future are by, through and to Jesus, then we do not give because our money is not his and needs to become his, but rather we give as an act of faith and worship; our giving says, “I am not allowing this money to be Lord, because it is all yours King Jesus!”

So the question becomes not, “How much can we afford to give?” but “How much will we trust Jesus to provide everything that we need to live on as we continually learn to trust and obey him?”

He is not unfaithful and he is good, so give generously because it’s all Jesus’ money anyway!

3. Give Generously…Because Jesus’ Riches are Better!

Most of us don’t have a problem seeking pleasure.

We all do it most of the time.

The problem is that we are way, way, way too easily pleased (and I include myself here). As C.S Lewis wrote…

If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us,like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at sea. We are far to easily pleased.

Our trouble is not generally our desire for pleasure, but that we seek it in places that don’t satisfy in any lasting way. 

Jesus said, ‘where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ It’s one of those frustrating things that Jesus said that there is absolutely no wriggle-room with! You just can’t get around it! Your attitude towards material things is a direct index to your character as a Christian. Scary, huh?

Why give generously?

Because it sets the heart free from passing pleasures and realigns us with what is truly worthwhile and truly satisfying.

Jesus’ riches are better!

4. Give Generously…Because Jesus is a Superior Saviour!

Here is a short, frank statement of truth for you:

Money does not save.

And yet every day millions of people worship and serve it in the vain hope that it will alleviate their suffering, anaesthetise them against the pains of life and give them a lasting peace. Money will do none of those things for you because money is a false saviour. Only Jesus can give you the healing, the hope and the peace that you so desperately need.

Jesus is a superior saviour to money, because anything that you have to serve in order to make work for you is by definition not God!

Jesus is a superior saviour to money, because if you serve him he will satisfy you and if you fail him, then he died and rose again to forgive you.

So give generously this weekend in order to kill the paralysing pursuit of money as a redeemer and in order to discover that greater joy is yours when you allow the promise of heavenly reward in Jesus to demolish the passing joy of consuming more stuff!

1. Give Generously…Because Jesus is Watching!

Right at the start of Luke 21 there’s this story of an elderly woman who gives a couple of pence, surrounded by a load of wealthy ‘benefactors’ who are ladling the cash into the temple coffers.

I suppose she thought nobody was watching.

But Jesus was watching.

I love the thought that Jesus saw the people giving their gifts and happened to see that poor widow in the crowd. I love that Jesus was more impressed with a meaningful pittance that was sacrificial than a big number that wouldn’t even alter the decimal point on the bank balance. I can imagine Jesus’ heart thumping and the thought going through his mind, ‘What will she give?’ I can imagine Jesus being so delighted with that widow – ‘She just gave all that she had to live on! Peter! James! John! Did you see that?’

Perhaps the lady felt awkward among all the flashy rich people, splashing the cash in an extravagant way.

Maybe she felt guilty.

Maybe she felt inadequate.

She still gave all that she had and it made an impression on Jesus.

So here’s the first reason to give generously; Jesus is watching when we give! As Brits, we’d be mortified if we thought that someone was going to mention us like Jesus mentioned that widow! We’re very cautious and don’t like to talk about what we earn or what we give, but Jesus knows and Jesus sees and Jesus loves it when we give generously! Our giving is done in the presence of God; it’s not secret to him!

2. Give Generously…Because it Blesses Jesus!

Picture this (fictional) scenario. I buy my wife flowers and she says, ‘Oh thank you, I love these!’

I then say, ‘Don’t mention it darling, it’s my duty!’

Does that say to her that my gift is an overflow of my delight in her?

I don’t think so!

But that’s how we sometimes see our devotion to Jesus, as a duty to be performed with or without joy, with or without deep affections for him.

Hey, it changes the way we worship, the way we speak and the way we give when we understand that we can actually bless Jesus! Jesus loves it when we give generously, not in the way that the building society loves it when you pay your mortgage, not in the way your lecturer loves it when you hand in coursework or your dissertation on time!

It’s not about giving God a ‘tip’.

Jesus loves it when we give generously just to bless his heart and express our love to him!

So whether it is a lot or a little that you give this weekend, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart (to quote a ridiculously cheesy Christian saying!)

Please don’t give out of compulsion - I’d rather you didn’t give anything than give out of compulsion and I think Jesus feels the same. Please do give out of love and delight in Jesus, knowing that you already have his favour and you are already his delight. Fire up the love of your heart for him and see where it takes you in radical, risky and sacrificial giving to his glory!