Yo-Yo Spiritual Formation

I found these observations from Michael McKinley to be encouraging:

David Powlison uses a very helpful illustration about sanctification.  He says (and here I am not quoting the words exactly):

The pattern of our life and growth is like a yo-yo.  Up and down, up and down.

Pretty depressing, huh?  But he continues:

The pattern of our life and growth is like a yo-yo… in the hands of a man walking up a flight of stairs.

I tell you, that one insight has been very helpful to me both in my own life and also in my counseling of others.  So often we are so acutely aware of the yo-yo feeling, the ups and downs of our growth and holiness, that we miss the larger picture of growth and maturity that God is graciously working in us.

So a man might still struggle with bursts of anger (up and down, up and down), but if he finds that as he grows in Christ he is more loving, that the outbursts of anger are more rare, less violent, shorter in duration, and that he is quicker to repent and seek reconciliation… there is real upward progress.

This is one of the reasons that we need other Christians in our lives. We need people who can draw our attention to the larger upward pattern of God’s work when we can only see the yo-yo.

So true.

What’s More Effective Than The Best Youth Ministry?

Parents with younger children or older kids still at home often value church as an opportunity to expose their children to Bible stories and principles, to get them involved in character-building service to others, and to provide them with wholesome, fun activities that might reduce the appeal of drugs and sex.  Church raises the odds, they hope, that their children will turn out well and stay out of serious trouble until they do.

For as long as our two sons lived at home, a good Sunday school program and later an active youth program with neat kids was high on my must-have list in selecting a church.  Looking back, I think the influence of their church experience (with a couple of nasty exceptions, one involving a superlegalistic youth pastor) was positive.  I’m grateful.  And I’m grateful that these same two sons, now married with children of their own, want my grandkids to be similarly influenced by a church with good children’s programs.

But if a choice had to be made (and it never should have to be) between a church that shepherded children well but left the parents untouched in their inner world and a church with little for kids but lots to form adults into truth-hungry, formation-focused, community-alive, mission-overflowing disciples of Jesus, I’d choose the latter church every time.  No contest.  God-obsessed parents have more influence on kids than the best youth programs. Much more.

~ Larry Crabb in Real Church:  Does It Exist?  Can I Find It?, pages 7-8 (emphasis mine).

What do YOU think?

Jesus Loves Me, This I Show

A couple of years ago I wrote a review of Richard Lovelace’s excellent book Renewal As A Way Of Life in which I said the following:

I used to believe that “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so” was a great summary of the Gospel, but after reading Renewal as a Way of Life by Richard Lovelace I’m not so sure. Don’t hit that mouse button too quickly, though. The reason for my change of mind should be clear by the end of this review…

[read the entire review here, or go on to my concluding remarks below]

Throughout the book Lovelace makes it clear that the Gospel is not merely about a “personal relationship with Jesus” but also about a transformed life that transforms other lives who together transform their world. Renewal as a Way of Life was written “as an antidote to egocentric spirituality,” and its author argues that we who continually respond to the Gospel by faith will not “attain the fullness of the Spirit without being turned inside out so that our central focus is no longer our own growth, but the glory of God and the growth of Christ’s kingdom” (page 10).

So, “Jesus loves me, this I know” is a critical component of spiritual renewal, but the song must not end with Jesus and me. True knowledge of and dependence on the love of Jesus as He is offered in the Gospel will also have us singing “Jesus loves me this I show.” Allow me to add a new verse to complete an old classic:

Jesus loves me this I show
When the Spirit overflows
Loving God and Loving Man
With my head, my heart, my hands

Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
My life is sure to show

Yes, Jesus loves me
The world will surely know.

You Never Sausage Links! (4.27.09)

I drove to N. C. to see my dad last week and stopped by the place that inspired the name of my occasional list of links.  While perusing Pedro’s place I picked up a few souvenirs for the kids.  Those “South of the Border” bumper stickers sure look great on their Nalgene water bottles…classy, I know.

Anyway, here’s a list of links for your Monday.  They’re all weiners in my book.

Dead At Your Age dot com (Freaky way to remind yourself that your days are numbered.  I found out that I have now outlived one of the astronauts who died on the Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded on January 28, 1986.  Two strange things about that day…first, I remember watching it happen live on TV at school while eating lunch my senior year of high school; second, our twins were born on the 13th anniversary of that tragic event, January 28, 1999.  HT:  ysmarko)

Jesus Wants The Rose (Great story by Matt Chandler that illustrates why sinners-who-know-they’re-sinners like to be near Jesus…and far away from religious people.)

A Thumbnail Statement On The Trinity (Doug Wilson unpacks Ephesians 2:18 to help us understand the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in our worship of  the three-in-one God.)

The Door To Hell (Fascinating photos and video of a huge crater that’s been burning for thirty-five years.  I envision youth workers around the globe planning road trips to this place to give a crater-side evangelistic talk.  Be sure to take some giant marshmallows for the world’s-largest-s’more contest.)

I’m Just A Teenager, But I Am The Church (Cool 2.5 minute video introduces teenagers and how they love being the church.)

What Fast Food Really Looks Like (Side by side photos of fast food ads and fast food actuality.  Someone should do this with church advertisments…”what we say we are” vs. “the real deal”…could be scary!  HT:  The Daily Scroll)

Church Planting Bibliography (Ed Stetzer shares his exhaustive list of church planting books and resources.)

Corrective Tract For The Prosperity Gospel (Try handing this one out at the next ball game or concert.)

Sex And Middle School Ministry (New stats and some thoughts about dealing with this delicate subject.)

Stryper Announces 50-city 25th Anniversary Tour (I had to throw this one in for all you Christian hair-band fans…both of you.  And yes, I did attend a live Stryper concert when I was in high school.  And yes, it did set off my inner ear disorder which landed me in the ER with a severe case of vertigo.  And yes, I would like to see them live again.)

Stay tuned for more “You Never Sausage Links!” in the days to come.

The Church’s Neglected Resource: Women Equipping Women

My Aunt Gwynne knows first hand about a powerful resource that God has given the church for the advancement of His kingdom.  Aunt Gwynne, or Gwynne Johnson as she’s known to the rest of the world, recently served as the senior director of women’s ministry at Stonebriar Community Church, is an accomplished Bible teacher, retreat speaker, and the co-author of Women Mentoring Women, published by Moody Press.  Gwynne has also been instrumental in equipping women for ministry in Russia.  She has a passion for equipping women to equip women to equip…well, you get the picture.

She recently wrote an article for BreakPoint’s Worldview Church e-Report that explains how Paul’s command to Titus to entrust older women to equip the younger women is all too often forgotten in today’s churches.  Here’s an excerpt followed by a link to read the whole thing:

One morning at breakfast during our training in Moscow, Peter Mitskevich, vice president of the Baptist Union in Russia, asked me a provocative question: “What would you like for me to communicate to our Union pastors regarding women?” My answer to Peter and to all men who have asked me that question over the years is this, “I’m praying for Titus pastors . . . men who take to heart Paul’s exhortation to Titus regarding the serious equipping of older women to train and equip the younger women.”

My passion, my concern, is that we get so distracted debating the limits or lack thereof of women in ministry that we miss almost completely the clear command and immense job God has entrusted to us. When you consider that at least 50 percent of most churches are women (in Russian 70 percent to 80 percent of churches are women), then the failure to fully train and utilize them makes women one of the most underutilized resources available to the kingdom.

Read the entire article.

Aunt Gwynne also writes for Bible.org and contributes to the Tapestry blog.