18August2016

When the Reward for Service is Opportunity for More Service

Written By robfaircloth

If we are not careful, Christians can begin to suppose that we serve others in order to get something else. But as Jesus instructed the church at Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13), the reward for clinging fiercely to God’s grace is the opportunity to give grace.

Set Proper Goals

The world and our own fleshly (sinful) nature suggest goals to us that would distract us from our calling, but the believer sets deliberate goals that reflect his calling. One goal for the believer is that he be kept from falling away, from apostasizing. Jesus says that those who “keep his word” he will keep from apostasy. God does not promise to keep believers from suffering, but he does promise to keep us from surrendering.

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15August2016

When do you need counseling? Whenever you need the Gospel

Written By robfaircloth

A pastor was preparing a younger minister to lead a church plant. The church planter didn’t think that training people in biblical counseling was a priority for the new church. The pastor asked him, “Well, then, how early should you start training your people to care for one another with the Gospel of Jesus Christ?” The church planter smiled slightly, and admitted “Immediately.”[1]

This anecdote illustrates the bias we naturally have against the term “biblical counseling.’ We suppose that any sort of counseling requires degrees, certificates and offices, and we suppose that other regular believers can’t provide us any help in the area.

But biblical counseling is applied discipling, in which one believer applies the Word of God to the particular issues and struggles that another believer faces. This is why many prefer to use the term “Gospel Care” to describe what happens in biblical counseling. In these terms, every believer should be both counseling others and being counseled.

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13August2016

Being Zealous without Legalism or License

Written By robfaircloth

Be not slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Romans 12:1

[Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:14

…be zealous, and repent. Revelation 3.19

When I was a younger believer, we called them Holy Rollers. Bible Thumpers. Jesus Freaks. Holier-than-Thou. They were the Christians who were just a little too serious about the whole faith thing, and expected way too much from other believers. They were radical. Pharisaical. Legalistic. Zealous.

 The problem with this way of thinking is that though there are errors to be made regarding zeal (when used as political philosophy as in Luke 6:15, or when fervor is uninformed as in Romans 10:2), the basic teaching of Scripture is that those who follow Jesus will be fervent and zealous, not lukewarm.

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10August2016

How to Raise the Dead (and know if you are)

Written By robfaircloth

When Jesus spoke to the church at Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6), he could have just as easily addressed thousands of contemporary churches today.

Sardis had “the reputation of being alive,” but was actually dead.

Someone once said that the rumors of his demise had been greatly exaggerated. In this case, the rumors of a church’s life had been greatly exaggerated.

That a congregation of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, who claim to be born again by the power of the gospel and to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, could be dead is alarming.

Jesus doesn’t mean here that biological life had ended, but that spiritual life was absent. The church in Sardis was lifeless, ineffective, powerless, incompetent and useless in kingdom work, in gospel ministry. They weren’t physically dead, but in terms of God’s mission for them, they might as well have been.

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3August2016

Rulers of Nations Don’t Desire the Trinkets of Men

Written By robfaircloth

Jesus addressed a church in Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29) that gave us one of the most memorable lines in the Bible: you tolerate that woman Jezebel.

Jezebel was the Old Testament wife of King Ahab, and famously caused the prophet Elijah to quake in his boots when she promised to get vengeance on him for killing a bunch of pagan prophets.

Obviously, then, Jesus wasn’t referring to Ahab’s wife when he addressed Thyatira.

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28July2016

The Word of Christ for the Worldly Church

Written By robfaircloth

The church at Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17) received a mixed report from Jesus. Like much of the church today, and like many of the congregations that believers fellowship in, there were some good things about their mission, but enough of a deficiency to receive a stern warning from the Lord.

Their Commendation

The church at Pergamum had held fast to the name of Christ, even though their circumstances were oppressive. The hostility they faced was such that Jesus described them as living “where Satan’s throne is.” These believers hadn’t insulated themselves behind protective walls, or in the better neighborhoods, in order to avoid contact with “sinners.” Instead, they stayed put and relied on Jesus, even when one of their fellowship was martyred for the name of Christ.

Would believers today receive this commendation? Or do we make every effort to avoid unbelievers and the suffering that witnessing Christ brings?

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18July2016

What I Learned on a 10-hour Drive with 5 Other Humans

Written By robfaircloth

Confinement in tight spaces for long spans with other humans is, at the same time, most definitely not what God envisioned for the race and very instructive.

Instructive at least in the sense that you learn much about yourself: what annoys you, what smells are most offensive, which family member breaks first in tight spaces for long spans.

But, if you’re observant, you can learn some other things, too.out to lunch

Northern Illinois is full of corn fields and wind turbine farms, responsible, one must presume, for much human ocular boredom syndrome (H.O.B.S. — “there’s not much to look at, here…”), for droves of farmers aimlessly shuffling through the infinite stalks of corn after having been rendered catatonic by the ultra-low-frequency electrical hum of sky-scraping wind turbines, for scores of formerly living birds who happened into the path of a truck-length turbine blade, and for minivans full of frazzled families thwarted by agrarian vistas in their attempts to distract one another with the “ABC Game.”

After several hours of driving, I envied the birds, in a sense, who at least were not confined in tight spaces with anything for any length of time.

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