Living With Integrity

“There's this idea that to live out of conformity with how I feel is hypocrisy; but that's a wrong definition of hypocrisy, To live out of conformity to what I believe is hypocrisy. To live in conformity with what I believe, in spite of what I feel, isn't hypocrisy; it's integrity.”

    - Erik Thoennes, quoted in Has 'Authenticity' Trumped Holiness?

BTW - This is a very good article which I highly recommend.

The Idol of Happiness

From When Happy Trumps Holy by Reecca Tekautz at Relevant:

...I would love to say that my experiences at the hands of "happy" are unique, but over the past year I have watched "happy" break apart multiple marriages, damage churches and shatter families. My heart aches as I watch the fallout that occurs when happy trumps holy. I watch friends—and myself—make life-changing decisions based on what would make them more happy instead of more holy.

I feel a little helpless, sitting back and watching as this adherence to happiness infects the Church like poison. Slowly, and sometimes silently, it seeps into our thoughts, our prayers, our relationships. 
We are drug addicts, endlessly searching for our latest fix. The moment the effects of our latest hit of happiness have worn off, we are in pursuit of the next. We cannot stop and sit in our pain, disappointment or emptiness. 

Why are we not pursuing holiness with the same passion with which we are pursuing happiness?

Happiness is our idol. Why are we not pursuing holiness with the same passion with which we are pursuing happiness? How have we come to allow ourselves to put more trust in a fleeting emotion than in a God who says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ... Blessed are the poor in spirit ... Blessed are those who mourn"?
Happiness is a perilous thing. It focuses our attention on ourselves and how we are feeling in the moment. But moments change. People change. Happiness will not hold. It's a season—a side effect of when things are going well and your dopamine levels are up. Happiness is great to enjoy in the moment, but to spend a lifetime chasing it warps it into the idol we have made it out to be.

Happiness will not hold. It's a season.

Happiness is not something to pursue. Holiness is something to pursue.


When we pursue happiness, it breaks and fractures relationships. It pits your happiness against my happiness. Acting for your own happiness will almost always end up breaking someone else's. In pursuing happiness, everything becomes a commodity. We judge everything by the value of how happy it will make us. When it doesn't make us happy anymore, it's time to move on and find what will get us the next hit.

And we don't just do this with objects. We treat people the same way. We throw away relationships, friendships and marriages when they don't add value to our happiness anymore. We walk away from them, choose to pursue "happy" instead.


I praise a Jesus who does not walk away from His bride—flawed though she is. Christ spent His entire time on earth not teaching us how to be happy, but how to be holy. He is the perfect example of what it looks like to sacrifice humanly happiness for God’s holiness. His ragtag group of disciples irritated Him and argued with Him and each other, and He always knew one was destined to betray Him. But He spent time with them anyway, teaching them, loving them, pushing them to grow in holiness. The cross didn't make Him happy, either. Christ was in distress, in pain, and he died

Freedom Through Grace

From Daily Keller

Refining Fire

From "Mining & Refining" by Paul Tripp:

...Why do we experience painful suffering and burdensome trials? Why do we face unexpected complications and uninvited delays? Because God is in the process of refining His children that He has mined from the mass of humanity.

You see, God's "boiling process" or "refining fire" (Malachi 3:2) is always for our benefit. It will often be painful, but think again about the metallurgy example: a refining process is always meant to produce the highest level of beauty and strength. If you want your best life now, it will be achieved through the process of refinement.

John Piper says it this way: "He is a refiner's fire, and that makes all the difference. A refiner's fire does not destroy indiscriminately like a forest fire. A refiner's fire does not consume completely like the fire of an incinerator. A refiner's fire refines. It purifies. It melts down the bar of silver or gold, separates out the impurities that ruin its value, burns them up, and leaves the silver and gold intact."

THE GOSPEL OF REFINEMENT

During these moments of refinement, you will be tempted to believe two anti-gospels:

1. These moments of refinement are signs of God's unfaithfulness and inattention. Incorrect! The gospel tells you that refinement is the sure sign of God's presence and love in your life!

1. God's love is shown to me by giving me whatever I want, whenever I want it.False! If you were wise, you wouldn't want all the things your sinful heart desires, and, God's love will actually remove those things for your benefit.

So, friends, when these trials and grievances come your way, preach the gospel to yourself and to others. God could not love you and be satisfied with leaving you as a piece of ore. You have so much potential in Christ, and the Lord will refine you so you can reach your highest level of strength and beauty!

Our Dissatisfied Messiah

"The One on whom we wait is a dissatisfied Messiah. He will not relent, he will not quit, he will not rest until ever promise he has made been fully delivered. He will not turn from his work until every one of his children has been totally transformed. He will continue to fight until the last enemy is under his feet. He will reign until his kingdom has fully come. As long as sin exists, he will shower us with forgiving, empowering, and delivering grace.

He will defend us against attack and attack the enemy on our behalf. He will be faithful to convict, rebuke, encourage, and comfort. He will continue to open the warehouse of his wisdom and unfold for us the glorious mysteries of his truth. He will stand with us through the darkness and the light. He will guide us on a path we could never have discovered or would never have been wise enough to choose. He will supply for us every good thing that we need to be what he’s called us to be and to do what he’s called us to do in the place where he’s put us.

And he will not rest from his work until every last microbe of sin has been completely eradicated from every heart of each of his children!"

            — Paul David Tripp,  "Psalm 27: Inner Strength"

Seeing More

"Growing in the gospel means seeing more of God’s holiness and more of my sin. And because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, we need not fear seeing God as he really is or admitting how broken we really are. Our hope is not in our own goodness, nor in the vain expectation that God will compromise his standards and ‘grade on a curve.’ Rather, we rest in Jesus as our perfect Redeemer — the One who is ‘our righteousness, holiness and redemption’ (1 Cor. 1:30). "

— Bob Thune and Will Walker, The Gospel-Centered Life (World Harvest Mission, 2009), page 6

HT: Of First Importance

Pull Your Sorry Self Across the Line

From Jared Wilson - Sanctifying Success is the Lord’s 

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  – 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Not a single one of us is a perfect repenter. And not a single one of us ever will be. I do believe we cooperate in the work of our sanctification, working out what God has worked in (Phil. 2:12-13), striving to lay hold of the holiness with which God has already laid hold of us (Phil. 3:12), holding true to what we’ve already attained (Phil. 3:16), but the power and the success of sanctification must be the Lord’s alone, if only because only he sees all we need cleansing from.

It is a mistake to think that as we progress in sanctification we have less sin to address. We walk through victories, successions of freedoms, but my experience has been that the further into Christ’s righteousness I press, the more of my own unworthiness I see, not the less. And even as the Spirit bears more and more fruit in my life, even as I learn to trust more and more, when I do finally cross that heavenly finish line, there will nevertheless still be sins unrepented, especially among the sins I don’t even remember or don’t even see. And I will pull my sorry self across that line, some stupid sin still entangled around my ankle, and I will look up to see Christ the Judge standing over me, looking down, considering my pitiful soul. And do you know what he will say? “Well done.”

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.– Jude 1:24-25

My sorry self says amen and thank the Lord for this kind of grace! 

The DNA of Jesus

Sounds like an interesting idea for a book, and one I'd like to read. From a CT Magazine review of Called to Be Saints: An Invitation to Christian Maturity by Gordon Smith.

Over the past 35 years or so, evangelical interest in the classical spiritual disciplines has grown exponentially, thanks to the groundbreaking work of writers like Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and Henri Nouwen. We increasingly understand, as Nouwen expressed it, that the spiritual life "involves human effort," a disciplined embrace of such concrete means of grace as prayer, silence, worship, simplicity, and service to others.

Gordon T. Smith, president and professor of systematic theology at Ambrose University College in Calgary, Alberta, applauds these developments within a tradition that, in its early years, had focused largely on evangelism and conversion. But what, he asks, is the underlying purpose of the spiritual disciplines? Why pray, worship, fast, or lead a simple life? In Called to Be Saints: An Invitation to Christian Maturity (IVP Academic), Smith offers an answer: We do these things to grow as believers, to become ever more holy.

Cultivating Our Union

Holiness is a loaded term, one with a checkered reputation. "Holy" people are often portrayed in film and books as mean, angry, self-righteous, hypocritical, screamingly judgmental, perfectionistic, emotionally stunted, and lifeless. Few of us would want to spend an evening with such people. And false holiness is especially unattractive (even though, in our honest moments, we know we often behave like the very people who drive us crazy).

Yet all of us have, at one time or another, encountered holiness with an attractive, loving face. For me, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, Billy Graham, Pope Francis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Mother Teresa come to mind. Most of us have been blessed with Christlike relatives, friends, and acquaintances whose holiness we long to imitate. Seeing their example, we yearn for something similar, for a harmony and integrity in our lives, a kind of loving genuineness that weaves our words and actions into a seamless garment.

In Christ, we find the fundamental pattern and strength for becoming ever holier. Genuinely holy people, as Smith portrays them, remind me of trees in which the DNA of Christ has been fully replicated through the power of the Spirit. The transformation of an acorn into a mature oak tree—or, to shift the metaphor, of a fallen sinner into a restored image bearer—is a wondrous, grace-filled process founded upon our union with Christ.

"I will speak of how the whole of the Christian life is found 'in Christ,'" writes Smith. "I will stress that this vision assumes a dynamic participation in the life of the ascended Christ, in real time. . . . We participate in the life of Jesus—literally, not metaphorically. . . . the extraordinary vision into which we are called is that we would be drawn into the very life of Christ and thereby into the life of God." In summary, Smith defines spiritual formation as "the cultivation of this union with Christ...."

More at the link.

True Freedom

From @DailyKeller

A Complete Savior

We must be holy, because this is the one grand end and purpose for which Christ came into the world [2 Cor 5:15; Eph 5:25-26; Titus 2:14]… Jesus is a complete Saviour. He does not merely take away the guilt of a believer’s sin, He does more – He breaks its power (1 Pet 1:2; Rom 8:29; Eph 1:4; 2 Tim 1:9; Heb 12:10).

       - J.C. Ryle, Holiness

From The Cripplegate 

(Good article with recommended books at the link)

Daybreak: A Review

My review of Daybreak: A Guide to Overcoming Temptation, by Nathan Ward

Every Christian need a good little book on resisting temptation in their library. Every Christian counselor needs a good little book on wining over temptation to give to the people they are helping. This could be that little book.

I say "little," because there are only 108 pages; It can easily be read in one evening. However, you probably won't want to do that, because you will be thinking and meditating on how the material applies to your own struggles with sin. There is a lot packed into those 108 pages.

The title "Daybreak" comes from a curious "coincidence" in the story of Jacob in Genesis. As Jacob leaves Canaan on what ends up being a decades long exile, he comes to Bethel at sunset (Gen. 28:11), where he sees a vision of a stairway between heaven and earth. When he returns to Canaan, he spends a restless night and wrestles with an angel until sunrise (Gen 32:31). As Jacob surrenders to God, he sees the dawn -a daybreak. Ward says that the sunset and sunrise motif is not a coincidence, but rather a literary structure designed to frame the narrative. Sunset and sunrise are the bookends of Jacob's time of exile. Hidden in the very structure of the story is the message that times of testing and trial are periods of darkness, but once one surrenders to God (symbolized by the injured hip) daylight returns. Jacob won by losing, because his real struggle was with himself. Surrender to God brings the sunrise of victory. That little insight alone was to me worth the time I spent reading this book.

The book more than adequately covers all the basic material: (1) God's call to holiness and new life for believers, (2) the nature of our enemies (Satan and self), (3) haw to prepare before times of temptation, (4) how to resist sin in time of battle, and (5) what to do after the fight, win or lose. Every part is filled with Scripture. Every part is also very practical and applicable.

There are plenty of good books out there on temptation, holiness and spiritual victory. Most are far more exhaustive than this book. This may not be one of the best, but it is a good short work that is worth owning, reading and giving away.
_________________
Full Disclosure: I received the book free from Cross-Focused Reviews in exchange for giving an honest review. See my book review policy.

Attraction and Alarm

“Godly Christians have always been marked by a two-sided perception of the numinous. On the one hand, the transcendent glory of God’s purity and love, as focused in the plan of salvation, fascinates them. On the other hand, the transcendent glory of God’s sovereignty, as focused in the divine threat of judgment for impiety, alarms them. This characteristically Christian sense of the mercy and the terror (fear) of the Lord is the seed-bed in which awareness grows that lifelong repentance is a ‘must’ of holy living. That awareness will not grow under any other conditions. Where it is lacking, any supposed sanctity will prove on inspection to be flawed by complacency about oneself and short-sightedness about sin. Show me, then, a professed Christian who does not see and insist on the need for ongoing repentance, and I will show you a stunted soul for whom God is not as yet the Holy One in the full biblical sense. For such a person, true Christian holiness is at present out of reach.”

                     - J. I. Packer, Rediscovering Holiness, 132.

HT: Sam Storms

Change of Perspective

“Does anyone truly understand the message of the cross apart from brokenness, contrition, repentance, and faith? To repeat rather mechanically the nature of the transaction that Christians think took place at Golgotha is one thing; to look at God and his holiness, and people and their sin, from the perspective of the cross, is life-changing.”

— D. A. Carson The Cross and Christian Ministry 
(Grand Rapids, Mi.: Baker Books, 2003), 64

Hat Tip: Of First Importance

Amazing Achievement of Justice and Mercy

God, I ponder Your achievement.
You don’t condone my sin,
nor do You compromise Your standard.
You don’t ignore my rebellion,
nor do You relax Your demands.
Rather than dismiss my sin,
You assume my sin,
and incredibly sentence Yourself.
Your holiness is honored.
My sin is punished…
and I am redeemed.
You have done what I cannot do -
so I can be what I dare not dream -
Perfect before You.

- Max Lucado

Hat Tip: Trevin Wax

Sourpuss

 “If holiness makes you a sourpuss, you’re doing it wrong.”

   - From Jared Wilson, Gospel Deeps

HT: Tony Reinke

Disturbed Equilibrium

"Often our unstated, default goal in life is our leisure, but God's clear goal is likeness. He wants us to become like Christ.  When we slumber, God shakes us to awaken our dozing faith. he has no trouble disturbing our comfortable equilibrium when we make stability our aim rather than growth."

Wayne Cordeiro, Sifted: Pursuing Growth through Trials, Challenges and Disappointments

A good book which I highly recommend!

Ruthless Perfection

We are, I am, being changed by a God of ruthless perfection.

This week I listened to an old album by Christian singer Kim Hill from the  late 90's called "The Fire Again." This song, Ruthless Perfection, grabbed me with both its words and tune. A good message to meditate on and pray through this morning.

Iron sharpens iron, deep cries to deep
The roar of the lion rouses from sleep
All who would heed the call of their election
He will baptize them with fire, and work His ruthless perfection

Is it any wonder, is it any guess
How He will respond to the one who answers yes?
I will yield to your love and to Your correction
In mercy severe He will work His ruthless perfection.

As we behold Him, we will be like Him
Changed from glory into glory into glory again.
As we behold Him, we will be like Him
Changed from glory into glory into glory again.

Let's call on His kindness, and fall on our face
Surrender the flesh to His judgement and grace
Comes the cross, so comes the resurrection
Let us be made new, by a work of ruthless perfection.

"Ruthless Perfection", words by Judie Lawson, music by Kate Miner

 

Jesus Did Not Come...

• Jesus did not come to make us happy. He came to make us holy.
• Jesus did not come to make good people better. He came to make dead people live.
• Jesus did not come to make your marriage happy. He came to transform two sinners into a picture of his self-giving love for us and of our proper response to him.
• Jesus did not come to give you your best life now. He came to bring you into his best life for eternity.
• Jesus did not come so you could ask him into your life. He came to call you into his life.
• Jesus did not come to improve your story. He came to bring you into his story.
• Jesus did not come to make your life into a comfortable cottage for your pleasure.  He came to make your life a majestic palace for his presence.

The Bottom Line of Grace

"The bottom line is this, Christian: because of Christ's work on your behalf, God doesn't dwell on your sin the way you do. So, relax, and rejoice, and you'll actually start to get better. The irony, of course, is that it's only when we stop obsessing over our own need to be holy and focus instead on the beauty of Christ's holiness that we actually become more holy! Not to mention that we also start to become a lot easier to live with."

- Tullian Tchvidjian, Jesus + Nothing = Everything, page 184

(Have I mentioned lately that this is a really GREAT book!)

The Far Side

I want to reemphasize one line from the Tim Keller quote in the previous post:

"If you understand what holiness is, you come to see that real happiness is on the far side of holiness, not on the near side."

Wow! Just totally wow.