Just got back from a two-day retreat in Estes Park with several other pastors from our city. These guys have blessed me in so many ways. It was good to relax and enjoy each other. We prayed for each other and for some who couldn't make it. We also had some great conversations about God's grace.
This is a good group. Back in 1986 or so, we began a bi-weekly prayer time for the pastors in town. It is open to everyone, but is primarily focused on evangelical and charismatic churches. Our city is a little unusual in that there are several of us who have been here since the beginning. That consistency, and the decision we made to not have a set agenda other than fellowship and prayer, has enabled us to welcome new men and keep the group going now for over 20 years.
We have laid any competition aside and have opened ourselves to care for each other. Occasionally we talk about folks who travel from church to church or warn each other about scammers who ask for money. We share good things and struggles about both church and family. When someone is hurting, this group truly cares.
I wish everyone in full-time ministry could have such a group!
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Christianity is a relationship! It is far more than a set of dogmas or rules. Jesus Christ is real and active. I believe that He wants us to learn to walk and talk with Him. We will be talking about Him, about performance spirituality, and about a few side topics that touch my heart as I walk with Him.
How much sin is on your account right now?
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Lloyd-Jones on the grace message
There is a sense in which the doctrine of justification by faith only is a very dangerous doctrine; dangerous, I mean, in the sense that it can be misunderstood. It exposes a man to this particular charge. People listening to it may say, "Ah, there is a man who does not encourage us to live a good life, he seems to say that there is no value in our works, he says that 'all our righteousness are as filthy rags.' Therefore what he is saying is that it does not matter what you do, sin as much as you like." . . . There is thus clearly a sense in which the message of "justification by faith only" can be dangerous, and likewise with the message that salvation is entirely of grace. . . . I say therefore that if our preaching does not expose us to that charge and to that misunderstanding, it is because we are not really preaching the gospel. - David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
A. W. Tozer on grace for the heart
"But the evangelical rationalist today is still wearing our uniform. He comes right in wearing our uniform and says what the Pharisees said while Jesus was on earth (and they were His worst enemies), “Well, truth is truth, and if you believe the truth, you’ve got it!”In His day or in our day, such people see no beyond and no mystic depth, no mysterious heights, nothing supernatural or divine. They see only I-believe-in-God-the-Father-Almighty-Maker- of-heaven-and-earth-and-in-Jesus-Christ-His-only-Son-our-Lord. They have the text and the code and the creed, and to them that is the truth. So they pass it on to others. The result is we are dying spiritually.
Now, what about the evangelical mystic? I do not really like the word mystic because you think of a fellow with long hair and a little goatee who acts dreamy and strange. Maybe it is not a good word at all, but I am talking about the spiritual side of things—that the truth is more than the text. There is something that you must get through to. The truth is more than the code. There is a heart beating in the middle of the code and you must get there." (Faith Beyond Reason)
Now, what about the evangelical mystic? I do not really like the word mystic because you think of a fellow with long hair and a little goatee who acts dreamy and strange. Maybe it is not a good word at all, but I am talking about the spiritual side of things—that the truth is more than the text. There is something that you must get through to. The truth is more than the code. There is a heart beating in the middle of the code and you must get there." (Faith Beyond Reason)
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