Books are the best gifts for preachers! (Hint, hint!). Here is my wishlist of books that I want to buy in the future to add to my library:
Culture Making by Andy Crouch
The Mission of God by Christopher Wright
Knowing Christ Today by Dallas Willard
Crazy Love by Francis Chann
Forgotten God by Francis Chann
Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis
Misquoting Truth by Timothy Paul Jones
Bible Doctrine by Wayne Grudem
Already Gone by Ken Ham & Britt Beemer
The Canon of Scripture
The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?
The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance
The Early Versions of the New Testament: Their Origin, Transmission, and Limitations
Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey (Encountering Biblical Studies)
Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Baker Reference Library)
New Testament History
A Theology of the New Testament
Survey of the New Testament, A (4th Edition)
In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership
THEY SMELL LIKE SHEEP Volume 2
The Connecting Church: Beyond Small Groups to Authentic Community
The Contemplative Pastor
Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, 20th Anniversary Edition--Softcover
Introduction to the New Testament Second Edition
The Gagging of God
New Testament Commentary Survey, Sixth Edition
Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns
The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog, Fourth Edition
Why Good Arguments Often Fail: Making a More Persuasive Case for Christ
Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling
Darwin on Trial
Inside Today's Mormonism: Understanding Latter-day Saints in Light of Biblical Truth
Christianity: The Faith That Makes Sense
Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, revised edition with Study Questions
Truth Decay
What Darwin Didn't Know: A Doctor Dissects the Theory of Evolution
The New Tolerance
The Truth About Tolerance: Pluralism, Diversity and the Culture Wars
Marriage Under Fire: Why We Must Win This Battle, Focus on the Family Edition
Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline
Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth
Monkey Business: The True Story of the Scopes Trial
The Case For Marriage
Freefall of the American University: How Our Colleges are Corrupting the Minds of the Next Generation
The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code: A Challenging Response to the Bestselling Novel
Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity
Interpreting the Bible: A Handbook of Terms and Methods
Remarriage After Divorce in Today's Church: 3 Views
Constantine's Bible: Politics and the Making of the New Testament
Bible Archaeology: An Exploration of the History and Culture of Early Civilizations
Holman Guide to Interpreting the Bible
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, Revised and Updated
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
Understanding the Bible: A Basic Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
Let the Reader Understand: A Guide to Interpreting and Applying the Bible
Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible
Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective
The ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear New Testament
ESV Reformation Study Bible, Hardcover
The Letters to Timothy and Titus
A Popular Survey of the Old Testament
The Early Church Fathers, 38 Volumes
NET Bible First Edition, Premium Bonded Leather, Black Saddle
Amazing Grace Series
This series of lessons is presented using Jack Cottrell's book Thirteen Lessons on Grace. Cottrell does a great job giving a balanced approach to the biblical doctrine of grace. Much of the material presented is directly from Cottrell's material with some adaptation by the speaker.Part 1- "100 % Innocent"
Part 2- "More than Fair"
Part 3- "Right to Freedom"
Part 4- "Trademark of Freedom"
Part 5- "Double Trouble"
Part 6- "No Easy Way"
Audio Sermons: "A True Disciple of Christ Series"
In this series of lessons, we explore what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.Spring Hill, TN
Spring/Summer 2007
Audio Sermons
Part 7- "Study Gives Purpose"
Part 8- "The Second-Mile Lifestyle"
Part 11-"The Discipline of Guidance (Soul-Care)"
Part 12-"The Discipline of Celebration"
Maury Christian Camp Lessons 2007
Maury Christian Camp
Group: Juniors
June 2007
Short Mountain
“Acts in Action: Teaching the importance of evangelism”
Monday:
Morning Textual Study:
I. What “good news” do we have to offer teenagers? (Acts 8:12)
Ø Discussion Starter:
1. Do you know someone who is in a gang?
2. Do you know someone that does drugs/alcohol?
3. Do you know someone who has done harm to themselves (cutting, strangling, etc.)?
4. Do you know someone who is currently having premarital sex?
5. Do you know someone who has an addiction?
6. Why do teenagers engage in these behaviors?
Ø Textual Discussion:
1. Sometimes we tend to view Jesus as being someone that only church-fanatics are interested in.
2. Who did Jesus come to earth for? Read Luke 5:31-32
3. We read of how people first became Christians in the book of Acts.
4. Philip went to people who were “undesirables” and “outcasts” (Samaritans) and he began sharing his faith with them.
5. Philip did not begin a religious debate over doctrine, rather he “preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12).
6. Upon hearing the “good news” many responded, both men and women, and were baptized.
Ø Application Discussion:
1. Who do you think are prime candidates for evangelism? (people who feel alone, isolated, and are hurting).
2. What is the difference between inviting someone to church and sharing “good news” with them? (inviting someone to church encourages religion, while sharing good news encourages faith development).
3. In what ways are teenagers hurting today? (feel alone, confused about purpose)
4. What “good news” do we have to share that can help their pain?
Evening Illustration & Application: OBJECT: BAND-AIDS
II. Application: Band-Aid Exercise
Ø Introduction:
1. In the lesson this morning, we were challenged to think about sharing spiritual good news with people.
2. To have good news to share, we must identify the pain that is in the lives of others and how the gospel offers healing.
3. You can’t be a teenager in today’s world and not have some kind of wound on your heart.
4. This is a broken world and we are broken people.
5. In this afternoon’s exercise, we are going to think about our own wounds that are on our hearts.
Ø Activity:
1. Have each student find a place where they can be alone.
2. Instruct each student to find some kind of pain in their life, something that has hurt them or something they are currently struggling with.
3. Have the student write that struggle with an ink pen on their arm while they pray to God about it.
Ø Discussion:
1. Then distribute band-aids and instruct the student to place the band-aid over the writing.
2. Have the students draw a cross on the outside of the band-aid.
3. READ: Isaiah 61:1, a description of Jesus’ mission
4. Sharing good news is telling people how that Jesus can heal their wounds.
Tuesday:
Morning Textual Study:
I. The influence of teenagers in spreading the good news (Acts 17:6)
Ø Discussion Starter:
1. What are some strange trends or styles that are “cool” among teenagers today?
2. How does something strange become the “in” thing to do?
3. Are teenagers easily influenced? If so, why?
Ø Textual Discussion:
1. When the good news began to be preached on Pentecost, the Christian faith rapidly grew.
2. First there were 3,000 (Acts 2:41), then 5,000 (Acts 4:4), multitudes (Acts 5:14), continued increasing (Acts 6:1). The church may have been well over 10,000 before the persecution (Acts 8:1).
3. People from various backgrounds were converted; Jews (Acts 2:5, 41), Greeks (Acts 6:1), some of the priests (Acts 6:7), Samaritans (Acts 8:5, 12), and eventually Gentiles (Acts 10:45, 48).
4. The Christian faith was contagious! It was quickly transforming the lives of entire nations of people!
5. When the message of good news came to Athens, Greece, the Athenians recognized that the message of Christ was “turning the world upside down” (Acts 17:6).
Ø Application Discussion:
1. Who are teens most influenced by? (parents, friends, teachers, etc.)
2. Why are teens so influenced by one another?
3. The teenage years are “moldable” years—the crucial time for developing true faith (cf. Ecc. 12:1).
4. Who can have the most influence on teenagers to win them to Christ?
5. How can the Christian message provide good news for teenagers in their struggles?
6. Discuss some ways that teenagers can make their faith contagious with others.
Evening Illustration & Application:
II. Application: Starting a trend: Making Encouragement Bracelets
Ø Introduction:
1. In the morning lesson we discovered how that the message of good news rapidly spread over the world in the book of Acts until the whole world was turned upside down.
2. We also discussed how that teenagers are easily influenced by other teenagers and how that Christian teenagers have more of a chance of converting their friends than anyone else.
3. How many people did Jesus message start with? (12 apostles).
4. Their message offered such hope to people that it became contagious until the church grew to over 10,000 in less than 5 years.
5. As a teenager, you have tremendous power of influence at your disposal.
6. Many teenagers are influenced to do evil things because this power is so strong.
7. Could we not utilize this tremendous power of peer-pressure for good?
8. Have you ever known someone who took something that looks stupid to most people and make it the cool thing to do? (hairstyle, clothes, fashion, etc.).
Ø Activity:
1. In our exercise, we are going to try and start a trend in camp and test how powerful our influence can be.
2. We are going to invent the next cool trend at Maury Christian Camp—Encouragement Bracelets.
Ø Discussion:
1. How can we offer a message of hope to teenagers?
2. Do you think that our group today could start a major movement among the teenagers in Maury County.
Wednesday:
Morning Textual Study:
I. Being Separate from the World, but a Light to the World
Ø Discussion Starter:
1. What do you think is the biggest “turn off” to teenagers about church?
2. What is the biggest thing that keeps teens from going to church?
3. What is the biggest thing that hinders the spread of the good news?
4. How do teenagers view inconsistency?
5. How do you think teenagers feel toward Christianity when they see “supposed Christians” acting just like they do?
Ø Textual Discussion:
1. When the church began they were people very different from the world; they spent all their time with each other (Acts 2:44), sold possessions to help any in their group that had need (Acts 2:45), and visited in each others homes (Acts 2:46).
2. Those who were truly converted to Jesus began to be known as a peculiar group of people called “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9; 19:23; 22:4; 24:14; 24:22).
3. Eventually they became known as “Christians” (Acts 11:26).
4. READ: John 15:19; 17:16. What does it mean to be “not of the world.”
5. READ: James 4:4. What does it mean to be a “friend of the world?”
6. READ: 1 John 2:15. What does it mean to “love the things in the world?”
7. READ: 2 Cor. 6:14. What does it mean to be “unequally yoked with unbelievers?”
Ø Application Discussion:
1. What is the difference between a “relationship” and a “friendship?”
2. Are Christians supposed to be “friends” with unbelievers and people in the world?
3. If you are a “friend” to a person in the world, what does that communicate to them?
4. If we are “friends” with the world and then suddenly “spring” a religious conversation on them, how does that make our faith look? (fake, compartmentalized, not who we really are).
5. Who should our close friends be as Christians?
6. Should we have “relationships” with unbelievers and people in the world?
7. How should we view these relationships? (Matt. 5:14-16; Luke 5:29-32).
Evening Illustration & Application:
II. Application: Can you tell the difference in the coins?
Ø Introduction:
1. In the morning lesson we discovered how that the early church was very different from the world.
2. People could clearly tell that Christians did not live like unbelievers.
3. Christians in the early church stood out and had something to offer.
4. In the wicked world that we live in, people are crying out for something different, something real, something genuine.
5. As Christians we are not to be “friends” with people in the world, our friends should be fellow believers.
6. We should, however, have relationships with people in the world but those relationships should be viewed as evangelism (we must challenge people with the truth).
Ø Activity:
1. Have a penny, a nickel, a dime, and a Susan B. Anthony dollar.
2. Have them close their eyes and give them one coin at a time.
3. Have them guess the value of each coin.
4. After they have guessed each coin tell them many they got right.
5. No one will guess the dollar (they always think that it is a quarter).
6. It isn’t different enough.
7. The government replaced the Susan B Anthony coin because too many people assumed that it was a quarter.
Ø Discussion:
1. Can our friends tell the difference in our lives that result from us being Christians?
2. Or are our lives so similar that they don't think Christ makes a difference in people's lives?
3. Does the way we live show that there is greater value in living the Christian life?
Thursday:
Morning Textual Study:
I. Being Bold with the Truth (Acts 5:28-29)
Ø Discussion Starter:
1. What does it mean to be confident?
2. Does confidence make a person attractive? If so, why?
3. Do you find a person with confidence more, or less believable? Why?
4. How do you view a person who is timid about what they believe?
Ø Textual Discussion:
1. When the gospel began to spread in Jerusalem, the believers encountered resistance from the religious leaders.
2. The large religious group (the popular ones) were threatened by the growing popularity of the Christians and they were jealous (Acts 5:17).
3. To try and stop the growth of the church, the religious leaders put the apostles in jail (5:18).
4. They were miraculously released by an angel and continued preaching, even under threat of imprisonment and possible death (5:19-20).
5. When the religious Council questioned the apostles they told them “we gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name” (Acts 5:28).
6. Peter and the Apostles responded, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
7. Following this, they were beaten for their teaching, but they rejoiced they were able to suffer for Jesus’ cause and kept on teaching (5:41-42). As a result, the believers kept increasing (6:1).
8. Where the Apostles confident in what they believed and were teaching?
9. What did the boldness of the Apostles communicate to people about Christianity?
Ø Application Discussion:
1. Why are we sometimes timid about our faith and sharing it with others? (cf. 2 Tim. 1:7).
2. What does timidity communicate about our beliefs? (doubt, lack of commitment, it really doesn’t matter).
3. What is the difference between being bold in your faith and being arrogant in your faith?
4. Discuss some ways that teenagers can be bold in their faith.
Evening Illustration & Application:
II. Application: Tug of war with slippery footing.
Ø Introduction:
1. In the morning lesson we studied how that the early church stood bold and strong for what they believed.
2. The confidence that they had in their faith presented an aroma of genuineness that made Christianity contagious in the first century.
3. If we do not take a firm, bold stand for our beliefs we will never be able to advance the gospel or influence others for the truth.
Ø Activity:
1. Objects needed: a rope, plastic sheet, and dish soap.
2. Divide the group into two teams for a traditional game of tug of war.
3. The game will be played with both teams standing on a plastic sheet.
4. Let the teams compete for a while in a traditional way.
5. For the next game, squirt dish soap under the feet of one of the teams.
Ø Discussion:
1. Why was it difficult to win the game with soap under your feet?
2. How does this apply to advancing the gospel without taking a firm stand?
3. Will it be difficult to advance the gospel with a firm footing? (it requires work to win a traditional game of tug of war).
4. Discuss ways that teenagers can be bold in their faith.
Discovering the Holy Spirit Study Series
There is great confusion and misunderstanding within the religious world about the Holy Spirit. This series is an attempt to discover what the Bible teaches on the topic of the Holy Spirit. Each of these lessons builds upon what has been learned in the previous lesson. So that there is no misunderstanding, please study these lessons in order. As always, check everything with your own Bible and accept only what you can find there.Part 1--Introducing the Holy Spirit
Part 2--Who is the Holy Spirit?
Part 3--Born of the Spirit
Part 4--Born of God
Part 5--The Holy Spirit Gives Us Knowledge
Part 6--The Power of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament Age
Part 7--Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Part 8--The Holy Spirit and Miraculous Gifts (Part 1)
Part 9--The Holy Spirit and Miraculous Gifts (Part 2)
Part 10--The Holy Spirit and Conversion
Part 11--The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Part 12--The Holy Spirit and the Christian's Life
Part 13--The Fruit of the Holy Spirit
Part 14--Fellowship of the Holy Spirit
Part 15--Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
Part 16--Unity of the Spirit
Part 1 The Spiritual World Within
A.M. Sermon
Spring Hill, TN
1/7/07
Series: “Discovering the Spiritual Realm” (Pt. 1)
Text(s): Matt. 7:24-27, 12:43-45; Eph. 5:15-16; Prov. 23:7, 20:27; 1 Sam. 16:7;
Summary: This lesson focuses upon distinguishing the difference between one’s public life and his private life and how that a chaotic inner world will cause an eventual spiritual implosion of self. (This lesson is adapted from chapter 1 in Gordon MacDonald’s book Ordering Your Private World. Thomas Nelson, 1985).
“The Spiritual World Within”
Introduction:
A. The Sinkhole Syndrome
1. Recently, a friend of mine recommended a book to me called Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald, it has been an extremely insightful read.
2. In opening lines of the book, the author discusses what he called the “Sinkhole Syndrome.” He begins by painting a visual picture.
3. “The residents of a Florida apartment building awoke to a terrifying sight outside their windows.
4. “The ground beneath the street in front of their building had literally collapsed, creating a massive depression that Floridians call a sinkhole.
5. “Tumbling into the ever-deepening pit were automobiles, pavement, sidewalks, and law furniture.
6. “The building itself would obviously be the next to go.
7. “Sinkholes occur, scientists say, when underground streams drain away during seasons of drought, causing the ground at the surface to lose its underlying support. Suddenly everything simply caves in, leaving people with a frightening suspicion that nothing—not even the earth beneath their feet—is trustworthy” (13).
B. A Life On the Verge of Total Collapse
1. There are many people today whose lives are like one of Florida’s sinkholes.
2. Most all of us have likely at one time or another perceived that we were on the verge of a sinkhole-like cave-in.
3. Feelings of fatigue, the taste of failure, and the weight of life’s burdens cause us to sense that something within us is about to give way.
4. We feel that we are just moments away from a total collapse that will threaten to sweep our entire world into a bottomless pit.
5. It seems that there is almost nothing that can be done to prevent the inner collapse. It doesn’t seem that we can sure-up the foundation that is cracking within.
6. What has happened? What is wrong?
I. LIVING IN TWO WORLDS
A. Building on a Weak Foundation
1. If we meditate upon the problem very long, we will likely become keenly aware of an inner space within us—a “private world”—that suddenly comes into sharp focus.
2. When we neglect this private world within, it soon becomes weak and cannot sustain the weight of the events and pressures of life upon it.
3. Many people in our world, maybe even you and I, have spent the majority of time and energy building and maintaining a strong life on the visible level. We accumulate good assets, academic degrees, strong relationships, and physical strength and beauty.
4. While these things are not wrong in themselves, we often discover only too late that our lives on the invisible level are in a state of disorder and weakness.
5. When this is the case, we are building our outer lives on an unstable foundation that constantly is under the threat of the sinkhole syndrome; a spiritual implosion where our spirits cannot sustain the tremendous stress and weight of our outer world.
6. The only way to successful navigate this life, is to give careful attention to building a strong inner self. The only way that any of us can carry the weight of the world’s pressures, is if we have lives build upon a strong foundation.
7. This is the instruction that Jesus gives us in the conclusion to his sermon on the mount. We must build a strong spiritual world within if we are to stand against the world’s pressures.
8. Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against the house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock…” (Matthew 7:24-27).
B. The Inner and Outer Worlds
1. We must all come to more of a realization that we are living in two very different worlds.
2. The “outer world” is our public lives that are visible to all; this world is easier to deal with, it is more measurable and visible.
3. It consists of our social contacts, our work, our hobbies and things we do for fun, our possessions, our retirement funds, investments, church involvement, the house we live in and the cars we drive.
4. This is the part of our lives that are most often evaluated in terms of success, popularity, wealth, and beauty.
5. But the inner world is more spiritual in nature.
6. It is the center where choices are made, where values and convictions are held, and where solitude and reflection take place.
7. It is place where true worship occurs and where confession is made.
8. It is the quiet place of rest and prayer within each of us.
C. Managing the Public World
1. Most of us do not have any problem managing our public worlds.
2. Most of us have learned to take orders, make schedules, and give directions.
3. We have learned how to best navigate relationships and proper social behaviors.
4. We have decided upon proper forms of leisure, entertainment, and pleasure.
5. We have the capability to choose friends and relationships that work well.
6. There are constant demands made upon our public worlds; demands upon our time, our loyalties, our money, and our energy.
7. The outer world screams for our attention and our immediate action; and most of us put priority upon the visible demands of our outer worlds.
8. As a result, our inner worlds are often cheated and neglected.
II. CHEATING THE PRIVATE (SPIRITUAL) WORLD
A. Neglecting the Spirit
1. Because of the immense and ever present demands upon our outer and visible worlds, too often our inner worlds are neglected and starved.
2. Unlike the “outer world” that loudly screams when it is neglected, the “inner world” only quietly whispers for attention.
3. As a result, we can neglect our “inner worlds” for long periods of time with seemingly no ill effect.
4. But if the “inner world” has been neglected, when the incessant demands of the outer world become stressful and heavy, the foundational inner world will not be strong enough to carry the load.
5. The result of a neglected “inner world” is what some would call a “nervous breakdown,” or what MacDonald calls a sinkhole-like cave-in, but in reality it is a spiritual implosion.
6. Job had an almost total collapse of his “outer world.” He lost everything in a day; his business, his children, his health. His wife even turned against him.
7. For most people, the stress of this experience would have been too much to bear. Most would have buckled under the pressure.
8. Yet, the Bible says that during his suffering Job, “held fast” to his “integrity” (Job 2:9) and under the tremendous strain of his crumbling “outer world” Job “did not sin nor did he blame God” (Job 1:22).
9. Many people in Job’s circumstances would have collapsed having neglected their “inner world.”
10. But this is precisely why Job did not suffer the “sink-hole syndrome” because Job had maintained a strong private world.
11. Job is introduced as “a man blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:1).
12. Job had build his life upon a strong foundation by giving priority to his “inner world” and when the weight of his “outer world” came upon him, his spirit was strong enough to carry the load.
B. Loosing Control of the Private World
1. The author Oscar Wilde writes about what happened in his life when he neglected his “private world”:
2. “…I let myself be lured into long spells of senseless ease…Tired of being on the heights, I deliberately went to the depths in search for new sensation. What the paradox was to me in the sphere of thought, perversity became to me in the sphere of passion. I grew careless of the lives of others. I took pleasure where it pleased me, and passed on. I forgot that every little action of the common day makes or unmakes character, and that therefore what one has done in the secret chamber, one has some day to cry aloud from the house-top. I ceased to be lord over myself. I was no longer the captain of my soul, and did not know it. I allowed pleasure to dominate me. I ended in horrible disgrace” (qtd. in MacDonald, 15).
3. When we cease to maintain our spirits and cease being what Wilde calls “captain of the soul” the inner world is in shambles and life is on the verge of caving in.
4. The greatest battle of our age is that of the private world of the individual.
5. Many Christians today are people who work hard, and shoulder massive responsibilities at home, work and in the church. “They are good people, but they are very, very tired” (MacDonald 15). These people are living on the verge of a sinkhole-like collapse of self.
6. Why? Because priority has been given to the “outer world” to the neglect of the inner self.
7. To have a healthy, peaceful life that can sustain you through the strains of life, it is essential to maintain your spirit (your inner world).
8. The writer of Proverbs expresses this truth often: “For as he thinks within himself, so he is” (23:7); “The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the innermost parts of his being” (20:27).
9. God instructs us that we should be most concerned with our “inner worlds.” We should have the perspective of ourselves that God has toward us, “for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
C. Outward Focus of the Western Culture
1. Our Western culture has blinded us into seeing our natural tendency to be focused on the “outer self.”
2. Eastern cultures emphasize the need to have solitude, rest, and meditation time. An important focus is placed upon the inner self in many eastern cultures.
3. In our busy Western lifestyles, we are always rushing to get to the next appointment, hurrying to get ahead, going to the next meeting, and making the next acquaintance.
4. Al the while, the most important part of ourselves the inner self is being neglected and starved.
5. But this is not just a cultural concept, it is a biblical one!
6. The Bible stresses the concepts of meditation, prayer, fasting, and self-reflection.
7. Jesus would often retire to the wilderness and spend the night in prayer and meditation (Luke 6:12).
8. As his followers, we are encouraged to make times of quiet peace when we can reflect, pray, study and examine ourselves (Ps. 77:6; Matt. 6:6; 2 Tim. 2:15; 2 Cor. 13:2).
9. Too often we neglect these exercises of keeping a strong inner self and thus our spirits become weak and cannot handle the loads of life.
10. We often ask one another “how are you doing?” This is a question that mostly focuses upon our “outer world.”
11. Perhaps it would be better if we asked (as I was recently by a dear brother), “how is your spirit?” This question focuses upon our “inner worlds.”
12. I’m afraid that there are too many Christians who have moved for years in Christians circles, who have good reputations for doing Christian things but whose inner worlds are in total shambles.
13. It is possible to be so busy working “for” the Lord that we forget to “be” with the Lord! That is, we are focused on the “outer world” of our faith and we neglect the “inner world.”
Conclusion: Take Time to be Holy
A. On the desk of Fred Mitchell was a plaque that read, “Beware of the Barrenness of a Busy Life” (MacDonald 17).
B. In our noisy, hurried lives we must make it a priority to find quiet times when we can replenish and nourish our spirits; we must make times for private study, prayer, and meditation and keep our spirits strong.
C. As we often sing, we must “take time to be holy.”
D. The inspired record instructs us to do this very thing, “…be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
E. Certainly the fast past times in which we live are evil, and we can easily become swept away in an outer-world focus, while our spirits quietly waste away and crumble.
F. We must “make the most of our time” by making sure we carefully take time for our inner-worlds, our spirits.
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