The Right Spiritual Instinct!

Romans 14

“Don’t frustrate, appreciate!!” is what I tell my kids often in our home. Wisdom, understanding and discernment go a long way in the body of Christ. We are going to learn what makes us weak and what makes us strong when it comes to interpersonal relationships within a body of believers. I also want to unpack the leading instincts of the soul in helping us move from a point of frustration to appreciation of others. Often, our greatest hindrance to harmony is our lack of recognition of how God has hard wired each one of us to respond to Him. Time and time again the greatest downfall in churches is centering around uniformity instead of being distinct and seeing how beautiful diversity can be in making us a ‘whole church’!

Christian freedom is a privilege not a right.

Paul is dealing with the highly sensitive matter of Christian freedom. It is a crucial area because it is often in these areas that one can easily have hang ups and make decisions on who and who not to associate with. There is a lot to be said here about the health and peace of believers when it comes to dealing with areas that are morally neutral or areas that are non essential. The problem of course is that not everyone sees it this way and new denominations and more extreme, cults get started out of a desire to be the ‘pure’ or more ‘holy’ people.

Christian freedom begins with acceptance v1-4

The first matter that Paul deals with is learning to accept people who are ‘weak in their faith’. It is important to help new believers especially work through difficult areas especially in relation to where God has brought them out of.

Only vegetables vs all food.

Somewhere along the line these are people who got the idea that they are not allowed to do certain things. It has either come from their culture, their parents, their upbringing. Someone along the line at some point told them that this is not something that Christians don’t do.

Here’s another way of looking at it. We all have a system in our minds of what we have determined appropriate and inappropriate for ourselves. We have our own moral code and we do our best to try to understand and follow those beliefs as we listen to God. Now we bring our own baggage into our decisions as it relates to past experience and this is precisely where God has allowed us to be free.

Now these verses do not allow us to create our own determination of what is sin. However they do allow us to make the decision to determine what is ‘sin for me’.

An example would be if a Christian community decided that for them, adultery was perfectly normal behaviour and not sin. However, we know that is not true because God clearly shows us in His Word that it is. So the Bible sets us straight in a lot of areas so when someone tells you that God told them to leave their spouse for another woman, you know that clearly contradicts Scripture. At that point it is incumbent upon you to challenge them to the fact that it is not God’s voice they are hearing. Why? God will never go against what He has clearly told us in His Word.

Here is a more sensitive area. The NT nowhere prohibits the use of wine yet there are many believers who believe that one sip of it is a sin. They will do lengthy ‘textual gymnastics’ to try to prove this. They will even go as far to say that the wine Jesus made at the wedding feast wasn’t real wine or that the disciples didn’t have real wine in the upper room. I know because that is what I was taught in my first Bible College.

However the Bible is very clear on the issue of drunkenness and there is no question that it is sin. But the use of wine is not forbidden. Now there are some believers who do take a position of voluntary abstinence because we live in a culture of excess and abuse. We can respect that, but we must not make this a rule to be imposed or a sign of Christian godliness.

In the first century there was a real hang up amongst the early believers as to whether they should eat meat that was offered to idols in pagan religious ceremonies. This was meat that was sold in the market after one of these services would happen. Some Christians thought it was desecrated and would want nothing to do with it. So Paul states that you are fine if you eat the meat and fine if you don’t. It comes back to the matter of the heart. If I believe it is sinful, then go ahead and eat it, it is sin for me. However if I don’t believe it is sinful and eat it, it is not sin for me.

We are brought back to our conscience and this is where the matter gets difficult because often we can be misinformed.

What is clear is this. It is a sign of immaturity or weak faith if one believes that they are more spiritual or mature because they only eat vegetables. In the same way, I do not look at myself as strong in the faith because I eat meat. We also are not supposed to get irritated because someone does not take my own personal position or act the way that I do even though deep down that is what we all want. We want to find someone or others who act and ‘look just like me’. It really is the simple solution to spirituality in a community but it is a sad representation of His body.

Christian freedom means that I learn to accept others because God has accepted us both, we are both in Christ.

Christian Freedom Happens In Community v5-8

One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike.

The problem that Paul is specifically dealing with here is the inherent differences between Jewish believers who still wanted to keep their Jewish festivals and Gentile believers who really had no interest in doing the same. There were some Jews who insisted that all believers should recognize these special occasions and once again teaching is needed to help us understand that we don’t live or believe in a vacuum. We are not to stand in judgment of other believers on areas of neutrality. We need to give our fellow believers the benefit of the doubt especially when they are trying to do what they believe is honouring to Christ.

Remember it was Jesus who was accused of being a winebibber, a glutton, a Sabbath breaker and a friend of sinners because He broke from man made traditions.

Christian Freedom on My Account v9-12

We will also answer to God for the decisions that we have or have not made

Christian Freedom and the Stumblingblock v13-18

How do I sin if I have a brother who is convinced that drinking wine is a sin for him? I sin when every time he comes over I insist that he has a glass with me and do everything in my power to encourage him to drink. Now does this mean that I am not allowed to have a discussion with him on this matter and share my thoughts on the matter? Of course not; however you must be willing to hear them out as well.

Paul is not also saying here that the stronger person must forever be held bound by their weaker brother or we could easily digress is to having no freedom at all because if we look hard enough, we will find someone who struggles with everything.

Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil v16

One writer and speaker gave the illustration of how he went out to a restaurant with a group of Christians during a conference and one woman kindly invited them out to a meal to a nice restaurant. At the beginning of the meal, the waitress come around with a wine list and asked if anyone wanted wine. The hostess then spoke up for the whole group and said, ‘No thank you, none of wants wine because we are Christians.’ The writer remarked how he was so embarrassed by the situation and wanted to make sure the waitress knew that this was not a universal law for Christians. He then went on to say that he wished he had said in that moment, ‘Wait, I’ll have a glass of wine.’ because that is what Paul probably would have done in that situation.

The bottom line is that we are not to get wrapped up in the externals of our faith as if that is what sets us apart from the rest of the world. What sets us apart is v17... righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

It is our right standing before God, the incredible joy that God gives us because we are set free from sin and guilt the peace that passes all understanding, peace because we are reconciled to God! Not only this but also it is the undeniable presence of the Holy Spirit that sets us apart. God is moving in this place because we are listening to Him and here is what I did in response to His voice. These are the marks of one who is pleasing to God, not because of our strict diet or what we eat and drink or what we don’t eat and drink. In the grand scheme of things, there has been way too much time spent on the non essentials of our faith.

Encouraging others to be FREE v19-22

Don’t be trying to create issues with others when there is clearly not an issue. Give your fellow believers the opportunity to explore their own harmony and instinctive response to God. So, if you believe something and it is clearly an open area with God then follow through and enjoy your freedom to the glory of God. However don’t use you freedom as a way to put others down or injure them because they didn’t come to the same conclusions as you did. Christian freedom is never used to hurt people’s feelings.

I want to take time to move to another area of freedom and that is how we understanding that the different spiritual instincts of the soul. Spiritual instincts are basically the way that we send and receive ‘signals’ to God that we use when we are engaged in spiritual activity.

The AESTHETIC instinct

This person comes most alive when worship is done in an environment of beauty, order, tradition and and artistic integrity. The key word for them is majesty. They think that the way things look and how they sound are very, very important. They really can appreciate architecture that is designed specifically for worship. They love symbolism, color, art, poetry and great music. They are most at ease when there is dignity and order in all that takes place. They are uncomfortable with a lot of repetition or songs that might seem fluffy. Their prayer is beautiful expressions of faith, the worst insult to them would be to say this is ugly and the warning for this instinct is to become rigid and inflexible.

The EXERIENTIAL instinct.

This person wants to ‘feel’ the presence of God and to respond with the full range of emotion and physical expression. The key word for this person is joy. They love spontaneity, emotion and conversational prayer. They would like to have very little leadership in worship and let God lead worship and everyone participate. It is the most responsive instinct to the Holy Spirit and the energy that He gives. This person is also best suited to cross cultural contexts. They are big hearted and generous and very nice to be around. Their prayer is praise and the worst insult they could hear is ‘This is boring.’ The warning for this person is possibly lacking in doctrinal grounding.

The ACTIVIST instinct

This person sees all of Christ following as an activity of service. Their key word is involved. They love to take action with God and commune with Him about what is so needed in our world. They have great compassion for the disadvantaged and poor. They are angry about oppression and have a sense of urgency to introduce Christ to others. They are committed to changing His world and love to connect with other activists, to plan, to think globally. Prayer for this person is a tool or weapon to advance the kingdom of God. The worst insult they could hear is ‘you are lazy or a hypocrite’. They feel best when they are engaged and really don’t like to take time off. The warning for this person is that they rarely relax and can experience burnout. They are also susceptible to becoming shallow with others, being disillusioned and their own marriage could easily be in trouble. It is a real balancing act.

The CONTEMPLATIVE instinct

This person love to meet God in the quiet of their inner life. The key word for them is listening and they love to meditate and listen to the whispers of God who meets people in solitude..His still small voice. They wish that worship would be more quiet than noise and the appreciate the importance of the spiritual disciplines like fasting, meditation and prayer. They wish that others would understand this and often are guilty and critical of others when they don’t join them right away. Where is everybody? they ask and this is probably the greatest weakness of our Western culture, we don’t like silence. Prayer for them is a two way conversation and often it is more listening than speaking. The worst insult to them is ‘you talk too much and never listen’. The warning to this person is the danger of withdrawing so much that they do not become useful in their community.

The STUDENT instinct

This person is the deep thinker and the key word for them is truth. They are the ones who ask the question, but why and prove it from Scripture. Their greatest quest is truth and they want to see it on paper! To them beauty is a carefully crafted document that states beliefs, doctrines, you name it. They see great theology coming from the study of creeds and doctrines. They feel that those who have their theology most correct are the closest to God. They would love to be in endless Bible studies and prayer to them is an expression of correct theology. They are easily given to analyzing worship songs to make sure they are saying the ‘right things’ about God. The worst insult to them would be to hear, ‘that’s heresy!’ The warning to them is the danger of becoming arrogant and unloving and being more concerned with being right than giving honor to others.

The RELATIONAL instinct

Finally, this person feels that God is most present when people experience bonding together for fellowship or worship or encouraged through mutual support. They are heartbroken when there is conflict. They love meeting in small groups where people honestly share their personal stories and don’t mind tears, hugs or late night prayer meetings. They appreciate how Christ was so people conscious. They feel that people are the business and introduce people to others and build them up as well. They feel that when interaction is happening, God is present and the heavens are rejoicing. Their prayer is that a small group would really care and pray more for each other. The worst insult to them is to hear ‘you just don’t care’. The warning for them is losing their focus on Christ and valuing more their own relationship with God.

We all possess a natural inclination for two or three spiritual instincts, we might have a curiosity about a few and what’s left over...well, we have a hard time believing that they have any value at all. However, maturity in faith comes as we become conversant in all the languages of worship as Christ was!

The Takeaway

Christian Freedom is a beautiful expression of our diversity but our cornerstone is Jesus and how he has given us joy, peace and the Holy Spirit!

1. Around what issues do you have the greatest challenges in your discussions with other believers? Are they essential or non essential?

2. How does God speak to you?

3. Where do you see yourself being most transformed in right now – peace, joy or being led by the Holy Spirit?

4. What instincts do you see expressed in Southside?

5. What instinct would you like to more appreciate in your own life?

Being Right With Obedience

Romans 13

The picture attached with this message is from my recent trip to Israel and it is an inscription found in one of the building’s mosaic floors in the ancient city of Caesarea. This edifice is identified as a Byzantine government office where clerks recorded tax revenues during the time of Constantine. The inscriptions are quotations from Romans 13:3 praising obedience to the authorities.

Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.

We honor and obey our government because obedience is central to the life of the Christian. However; we ultimately and always obey God and His value on life. So, when there is conflict we always honor God above all else and not follow blindly the laws of the land no matter wherever that ends up landing us. It is that conviction that we are called to live with as followers of Jesus. We will learn the implications of following the leading authority in our lives from being great Canadian citizens to life in community together. We will follow Him in being the penetrating light into the dark places He has called us to with the clothing that Christ provides!

Obedience to the leading authorities in our lives v1-7

We learn right away in this passage that living with God as our ultimate authority in our lives does not negate us from our civic responsibilities to our local community and to our nation as a whole. While we can easily point to very corrupt leaders, we recognize that God ultimately ordains leaders in various governments and will watch over their reign. He will raise up nations for His purposes and will also bring about their demise from within or from without especially if they defy the Creator of the Universe.

No government can come to power except through the providence of God. This doesn’t mean that God approves of them though.

1 Peter 2:13-17

The believers of that time lived with honesty and integrity as it came to paying taxes, but at the same time it didn’t stop them from writing defences of their Christian behaviour to the emperors at that time. They were prepared to pay the price and would not for any reason obey the commands to worship the stare or the emperor.

The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego resonates well with this theme

In Canada, two areas in the political spotlight are the fact that we have no laws surrounding abortion and praise God there are those who are making a difference like the group Signal Hill out of BC that I read about in Thursday’s National Post

Pro-lifers in B. C., on the other hand, decided to adopt a different approach. Building on the success of their compassionate Focus on Life television campaign, they made some creative changes last June. They adopted a new name, Signal Hill, and featured a woman-and family-friendly look to their Web site and printed material. It all goes along with a new educational and service-oriented approach to help women make informed choices when they are in a crisis pregnancy.

Closer to home, Lori Folkerson is raising awareness for our need to pray for our government leaders, for the need for a law surrounding child-trafficking which unfortunately is not just something that happens only in Thailand. Thanks to groups like Exodus Cry we are being made aware of the fact that many girls from those countries are brought here and sold into a life of sexual slavery. I read just recently of one girl who was sold for $42000! Bill C-268 carries minimum mandatory sentences. It has only passed Second Reading last month and now moves to the Standing Committee on Justice. Following this, Bill C-268 returns to the House of Commons for two more hours of debate and a final vote.

If the altar of prayer is hot, nothing can stop us. Jerry Samuels

1. Our call is to be submissive as possible to the government without violating the laws of God

2. The government has the right to defend, preserve, maintain and promote life.

Remember that Paul is writing to a group of people who were living under a government that would one day behead him. He was executed by a tyrannical Roman govt. Many of the Christians to whom Paul was addressing his message to paid dearly with their lives in the many amphitheatres that were built. They were killed by gladiators, torn apart by lions. If this message is difficult to accept, just remember the original intended audience.

Obedience to the rule of love in our lives v8-10

The point about debt here is yes, to pay our debts off; however it is not a universal prohibition against having debt especially as the Bible speaks borrowing capital for the purpose of investment most prominently in the parable of the giving of talents.

The power of keep owing people your love is powerful. Never get to the place where you think, ‘well they have seen the full extent of my love’ It is a place of great mercy modelled after the amazing heart of God.

All these sins often can be dubbed ‘sins of love’

Adultery is called the sin of forbidden passion. Most movies and TV shows make this behaviour seem normal. One statistic showed that 96% of sexual acts portrayed or implied are between unmarried couples. We are told the person acted out of love or the couple simply fell out of love so what choice did the person have?

Do not murder... Once again we read about a brother who killed his sister and her boyfriend in a mall parking lot and it was called a death of honour to the family.

Do not steal, Do not covet – remember that Jesus brought us right back to the thoughts that we have in our head and the need to deal with it before it bursts into action. Call it sin when you begin to dwell on the wicked thought or it very well may be only a matter of time.

We need to be the best examples of love in our community. Take the opportunity to shock them with acts of kindness, surprise them with acts of love. I don’t need to tell you exactly what that is because you know them better than me. One thing that we did in the past was a ‘street party’.

I am performing a wedding for one of my neighbour’s son. Now, you can’t do that unless you are ordained...Hopefully they know you well...maybe too well. My neighbour Mike saw me pulling into the driveway with Jerry in the van that he is borrowing. His question, “Is that your Sunday van?” The van is circa ’85 and complete with holes...or like my neighbour says, a holy van!

Obedience to being the penetrating light in dark places v11-14

So what is our offensive?

· Recognize the time we are living in.

The word for time here is ‘kairos’. It is the recognition that this is not just a normal passage of time but a particular window of opportunity, a time of special significance....don’t miss out!

Paul is really expressing the urgency of the gospel in the time that they lived. Paul could see the destruction of Jerusalem looming, He too would love to see the imminent return of Jesus. In the course of the biblical timeline of history we are living in the last days ever since the First Century. The fact is that Christ could come at any point. A lot of prophecy experts believe that the signs of the times keep bringing the end in sharper and sharper focus.

I have to admit that I often wonder how much longer His patience will give us...

Israel is very aware that Iran has set her sights on obliterating their nation while testing their long range nuclear missiles. The night before I left for Israel Brian Ruxton sent me a FOX story about Israel desire to begin an offensive on bombing Iran’s launching sites and would be ready to go within days!! Nothing like sending in a last minute panic in your brother!

· Put aside the deeds of darkness and wear the armour of light.

“Don’t live as if Christ hasn’t come, as if the resurrection hasn’t taken place. We have tasted of the kingdom of God, we have tasted the power of Christ in our lives, so let’s stop doing the things that belong in the dark.” R.C. Sproul

· Be clothed in Christ and gratify the Holy Spirit ... Galatians 5

The imagery being used by Paul was connected to the white baptism garments that would be worn during the ceremony.

My baptism in Israel

I have also recently seen this imagery used at a funeral where the casket is completely covered with thick white fabric symbolizing the person being clothed in Christ as well.

The key in being clothed with Christ is that a death must take place first. Understand the significance of your death in Christ now!

Takeaway

Live in the LIGHT of whose you are and who you are in Christ.

Questions For Discussion

1. Has there ever been a time where you appealed a decision made by our government by taking it on personally? What response did you receive if any?

2. How far should a believer go in opposing the government or making a plea for justice? Has there been a time when you regretted not doing more?

3. What act of kindness could you perform in your neighbourhood to remain in debt to love?

4. Post the WHO AM I list where you will see it everyday as a reminder of your clothing in Christ!

5. Make STAND UNITED your priority for Saturday. Make a serious effort to stand behind this great prayer initiative and join us for as much time as you can.

Metamorphism...The Art of Surrender

Romans 12

We move from the depth of Paul’s theology in the first 11 chapters to the very practical outworking of our faith through the remainder of Romans. We will learn the process that takes us to the place of heightened sensitivity in following God’s calling on our lives. The spiritual act of worship is the laying down of our very lives, it is very clear that He wants all or nothing. Today we will wrestle with being fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. On the subject of conforming vs transforming, Francis Chan writes in ‘Crazy Love’

We disgust God when we weigh and compare Him against the things of the world. It makes Him sick when we actually decide those things are better for us than God Himself. We believe we don’t need anything Jesus offers, but we fail to realize that slowly, almost imperceptibly, we are drifting downstream. And in the process we are becoming blind, being stripped naked, and turning into impoverished wretches.

My prayer is that this message will be a real wake up call to the life of surrender. Let the morphing begin!

This chapter begins to unfold the giving away of our lives to acts of mercy, but before we can even go there; we must give ourselves completely away in worship.

Spiritual worship is becoming a living sacrifice.


Morphing The Body
Paul is using the language of worship from the Old Testament and his audience wasn’t too far removed from the sacrificial system of worship. In coming to God the worshipper would bring a sheep, a bull or a pigeon and then sacrifice it on the altar as an offering to God.

There were different kinds of sacrifices but realize this: at the heart of this was sin demands punishment. The slain animal represented God's willingness to accept a substitute so that the worshipper might live and have an ongoing relationship of forgiveness and joy with God. John Piper

The constant sacrifice of animals would certainly be an incredible visible reminder to not take sin lightly and that sin comes with a huge price tag.

However, OT believers knew that the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin at Hebrews 10:4 states. It was at best a covering for sin and it directed them beyond themselves to Christ, the final sacrifice for sin. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:7 Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” That was the final sacrifice for sin, because it was perfect and sufficient for all who believe. Then we read in Hebrews 10:12, “When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”

So Christ brought to an end the Old Testament sacrifices for sin. He finished the great work of atonement. His death cannot be improved on. All we have to do now is trust him for that great work. We do not add to it.

At the same time, we participate in communion every month to not allow ourselves for one minute to take lightly the awesome privilege of confessing our sins and finding the freedom of forgiveness.

The call to lay your body on the altar is in no way a form of payment for sin

You might be asking the question, ‘Why does God want my body?’ I’m losing my hair, I can’t see very well. The OT demanded a flawless sheep. I am definitely not flawless! Good point, but it is never been about our appearance with God. Man considers the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Change with God always comes from the inside out

And Christ, at the hour of his greatest beauty, was repulsive to look at. It was Isaiah who described him: “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” in 52:2,3 The beauty of Christ is the beauty of love, not the beauty of looks. His beauty was the beauty of sacrifice, not skin.

So much of our culture’s focus is on making your outward appearance look great, but God is looking for models of mercy. He doesn’t want us to obsess about our appearance. We need to pray for our sons and daughters that God’s view of their bodies would become imbedded on their hearts. The world in which our children live is a cruel place where so much of acceptance is based on what they look like. We need to train them to realize they are agents of mercy.

One of our favourite exercises that Sharon began with our children is to have their birthday guests name what they appreciate the most about them and so it was Brynley’s turn and 13 things needed to be said. Yes, there were many things to get excited about yesterday from the pinyata to the presents. The candy will disappear fast enough, the presents will eventually to, but the affirmations she will carry with absolute confidence.

Just as the OT believers lived by faith and denied themselves some of their earthly treasure by sacrificing the best of their livestock, their livelihood so God is calling us to sacrifice our bodies by being agents of mercy. Often, we too are being called to sacrifice, deny earthly comfort so that mercy may be shown whether it is in Darfur or across the street.

• living – while there are many martyrs who in death have sacrificed their lives in the highest call of surrender, we are called to be living sacrifices. We are called to be let our lives speak out loud about our devotion to Christ. We are a living act of worship to our Lord. In our body, we are to testify to the greatest treasure of all, Jesus Christ

• holy – It is the same declaration as in Romans 6:13 to offer ourselves to be used as instruments of righteousness.
Philippians 4:18 – a sacrifice of giving Hebrews 13:15 – a sacrifice of praise Hebrews 13:16 – a sacrifice of doing good –seizing the opportunities

• pleasing – Finally we are brought back again to the one we offer ourselves, God. In the end it doesn’t matter what others think, if you are some sort of crazed Jesus freak. We want to be God pleasers in this place.

Morphing The Mind


The same word for transformation in v2 is the same word used in Matthew 17:2 in relation to his transfiguration. The crazy thing is that God wants our lives to make visible the beauty of Christ.

• Through identification

Let’s just make sure that we are talking about the same thing here. We are not talking about a glowing halo or aura around you like you might see in Catholic artwork of Jesus. We are being taught here to mirror the unmistakeable identity of Jesus in our actions and Paul really gets specific about that identity as we move through this chapter. Do you really know what it means to be in Christ...

Think of yourself with sober judgment, use your gifts in proportion to your faith, love well, be devoted and honor each other above yourself, keep your spiritual fervor, bless those who persecute you...

I got news for you...you can’t do it. You need a constant renewal of your mindset because left to ourselves we make ugly decisions and value based judgments that show very little of Christ’s love.

We need our minds to be renewed. It happens every time we open His Word and say God cut me wide open and lay me bare. Remove the selfishness and put in your heart of love for all people. Remove the stubbornness and place in me a heart of obedience to follow through on your HS’s promptings.

• Through Reinforcement of Practice
Ezekiel 33:30 -33

Unfortunately much of Western Christianity is based on who has the most captive audience and success is driven by how many people attend your church. It is the question I still get asked the most as a pastor.

The fact is that numbers impress and we gauge success of an event by how many people attend. We are wowed by big crowds. However, Jesus always questioned this kind of record keeping. In Luke 8 when the crowds began to follow Jesus and what did He do? He started talking in parables so that those who were genuinely not listening wouldn’t get it. Jesus just wasn’t interested in those who were faking it.

One of the parables that fascinated me early on back in the day when I started Bible College was on the different types of soil. I think the challenge is for us is to not just assume that we are good soil.

Remember the plant that gets choked out by all the cares of this world. Well those thorns are anything that distracts us from God. We say we want God but we want a lot of other stuff too and they just can’t coexist. A relationship to God simply can’t grow where sins, money, addictions, obsessions...sports included, materialism, commitments are piled on top of it.

It might be an understatement to say that Jim Balsillie is pretty obsessed with bringing another NHL franchise to Ontario. However, for me, I know how easily my love for the game of hockey can become an obsession and I know it.


This past week John reminded me that my office is going through a metamorphis. It began with the desire for a fresh change, but now symbolically it is beginning to represent so much more for me.

• My desk has been moved to allow more natural light
• I have also placed distance between my books and myself
• The past personal accomplishments have come down, the degrees on the wall as well
• My Leafs corner will be replaced with pictures of places where God has taken me and ultimately revealed Himself to me.

Hear me out.... a lot of things are good in and of themselves, but they have to be kept in check or they simply take over.

Most of us just have too much in our lives. “Too much of the good life ends up being toxic, deforming us spiritually.’ David Goetz


Morphing The Will

Let your life be the acid test of the will of God. This is more about the will of God than ‘the will of God for your life’

It His will that you be saved, sanctified...a big word for going through the process of metamorphis, Spirit-filled, submissive and to suffer.

Half hearted believers don’t really want to hear that last one. Let’s be honest, that is a hard truth to accept, but it is the willingness to accept the reality of suffering for the call of Christ that is our reality.

1. Morphing my will as it relates to myself.

On sober judgment... “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought more of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” C.S. Lewis

2. Morphing into the fullness of my gifts

Prophesying – There are those who are able to speak into our lives into a very profound way and are used of the Spirit to speak and pray
Serving – they don’t care who is looking...
Teaching – they can bring the richness of the Word of God to life.
Encouraging – They don’t wait for others to encourage them, it just pours from their lives and they know exactly what to say and often do it in a variety of ways.
Giving – some people stop at thanking God for all their luxuries and comforts and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor. These are people who hold it all with open hands and allow God to take it and keep look for opportunities to give it away
Leadership – lead by example
Showing mercy - a strong sense of calling to those who are the ‘down and out’. It keeps them awake at night...

3. Morphing into love with reckless abandon
As we begin to focus more on Christ, loving Him and others becomes more natural. As long as we are pursuing Him, we are satisfied in Him. It is when we stop actively loving Him that we find ourselves restless and gravitating toward other means of fulfillment. Francis Chan
Psalm 16:11
Psalm 28:7
Psalm 90:14

The Takeaway

The only acceptable sacrifice for a spiritual act of worship to God is all of me, body, mind and will.

Questions For Discussion

1. Memorize Romans 12:1,2
2. One of the major traps for believers today is that we are surrounded by so much evil that we become used to it or worse become numb to it. We are no longer shocked and we just learn to get along. How can this change in our lives?
3. Has your relationship with God actually changed the way that you have lived?
4. Do you see evidence of God’s kingdom in your life? Or are you choking it out by spending too much time, energy, passion on the things of this world? What needs to go in your life or where do you need to ‘clean house’?