“John Newton, 18th-century slave ship captain turned pastor, experienced both a dramatic conversion and the frustration of slow maturation. In a series of three letters, Newton identifies three stages of a believer’s growth, labeled with the first three letters of the alphabet: young (A), growing (B), and maturing (C) believers.” - TGC
“God is gracious to make us aware of our mortality in increments. As we face each relinquishment, we’re geared a little more toward eternity.” - Barbara Harper
It’s not hard for me to think about multiple examples of personal failure over my 51 years of life. I can recall so many bad decisions–dumb ones, sinful ones, immature ones, naive ones, rash ones, prideful ones. Like I said, I remember too many. The problem is, leaders have to make multiple decisions all day, every day. The more decisions we need to make, the greater potential there is to make another bonehead decision. So what do we do? Well, you could:
“And you shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.” (Deuteronomy 8:2–3, LSB)
“Scripture depicts humanity as a race of people who are under the reign of sin and death (Rom. 5:12–14) and whose hearts are deceived (Jer. 17:9).
“We should do all we can to shield people from the ravages of persecution. We should try to avoid and prevent it. We should pray against it. When God sees fit to answer those prayers, we can rest assured that he is bringing his kingdom in gentler ways.” - 9 Marks
Read the series.
So welcome to the gym. You’ll notice the mirrors on the walls (Jam 1.22-25), as well as several exercise machines scattered around the room. Let’s talk a little about what they are and how they work.
Read Part 1.
I’ve suggested that our lives ought to be oriented around the work God is doing in his people to make them—us—more like his Son. I’ve also suggested that this work can be compared to an exercise program.
Although I think the analogy is helpful, I also recognize that it isn’t really useful unless the Scripture gives us reason to think that the sanctification process is in some ways similar to physical exercise.
Is there any evidence of that? Is there a biblical word for spiritual strength? And are there “exercises” attached to it?
What’s the most important question in the world?
I think my fellow Christians would agree with me that it’s the question of where you’re going to spend eternity. If there’s life after death, and if that life is eternal, and if there are different possibilities for the nature of that life, then it’s hard to imagine any question more important than that one.
Life and death. Heaven and hell. It doesn’t get any more consequential than that.
As the Philippian jailer put it so clearly and succinctly all those years ago, “What must I do to be saved?” (Ac 16.30).
“…the widespread interest in and unease about his approach tell me something deeper is going on. Many Christians I’ve spoken to express discomfort with Comer’s approach, but they can’t always articulate why. That tension warrants further reflection.” - TGC
