Join the War

If the Church gives the impression to the world that she is but a collection of people who are holding one another’s hands and saying nice, comforting, sentimental things, she is finished and useless in a world such as this is today.  The devil and his forces are active, and we need to fight!  The Church is not a place in which people do little but sympathize with one another; that is a totally wrong conception of the Christian Church.

Onward, Christians, onward go,

Join the war, and face the foe.

from Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones

This Is War

As we gathered last night to worship, and celebrate the advent of our Lord – I was introduced to a new song by Dustin Kensrue called “This Is War”.  I immediately looked him up this morning and found this music video.  It’s a brilliant Advent song! I hope you enjoy it. (Make sure you turn the HD on too, makes it twice a nice)

Journal Response 5

Relationships Stuck in the Casual.

How is it that our relationships get trapped in “casual” category?  Why do they lack a certain depth to them?  Paul Tripp offers us an answer to us, that I am convinced is true in my own life.  “There are many reasons why our relationships are trapped in the casual.  One is that, in our busyness, we despair of squeezing ten dollar conversations into ten cent moments.”  I try to maintain a fast paced life.  I really do my best work when I have lots to get done, deadlines to meet.  But I am afraid that this causes me to do poor relational work.  Getting to know someone is a slow process.  It requires lots of time, energy rapped up in very purposeful questions.  “If you understand the story of redemption, you know that God does not seem to be in a fearful hurry” and I’m convinced that I need to slow down, sit with people, and take the time to get to know them.

Making War with the Devil.

Miller offers some very helpful insights for waging war against the devil.  He begins by addressing one of the major battles we all face.  Self-Reliance.  Miller states, “What we fail to see is that reliance on people, their capabilities, keeping their promises, is a demonic faith, a cooperation in heart with the powers of darkness.  We join the enemy, Satan, when we fail to rely on the promises of God to move on our behalf.”  This lack of trust in Christ is rooted in deception.  The devil “has made you think Jesus cannot really help you because your struggles, your weakness, your bondages are too much, too special, too unique.”  This causes us to trust ourselves to fix our issues.  This is a great lie that often influences me.  I forget that “Satan is no match for my Jesus.  No match at all.  One word from Jesus and the whole host of hell must flee.”  Miller offers us some encouragement that can help us resist the Devil.  He suggests that we must comb our ways through scripture and be swept away by “the awesome goodness and majesty of the triune God.”