Crazy for God

I read a lot and I read very fast. This book was around four hundred pages and I finished it in a few days. I wanted to get to the end so I had the whole picture before I passed judgment.

Do you know who Francis Schaeffer is? He was a famous Christian apologist, founder of L'Abri (a Christian study center in Switzerland), husband of Edith and father of Frank (Frankie) Schaeffer who wrote this book. Thankfully, Francis is deceased, Edith is very old and suffering from memory loss and neither of them will have to read this book. I doubt a book like this could have been written if they were around. The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. Proverbs 18:17

The book is Frank's memoirs: life as he saw it, looking through brown stained glasses.

A review I read of the book promised "dirt" on Frank's parents, their ministry and most of the rest of the evangelical community. I must say it didn't disappoint. I know some of what Frank says is not true so I suspect a lot of the rest.

I wonder if it was written to try to find a place on the bestsellers list with the other anti-God books that are so popular now.

Once passionately prolife, Frank has now found that abortion is not as simple as the "nutcase" prolifers made it out to be. Of course, he has rethought homosexuality as well. He is not even sure God exists.

I think this book shows what happens when unforgiveness produces bitterness. It shows what happens when a person lives life on their own terms with God pushed to the fringes. It shows what happens when someone who was on the "inside" tries to excuse their failures by poking their finger in the eye of old acquaintances that did something good with their life.

If you can stand the bad language and sex there are some lessons to be learned from this book. Too bad Frank Schaeffer didn't learn them.

Philip

Crazy for God at Amazon

How to Obey God's Laws

From my morning reading.

So now we can obey God's laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us. Romans 8:4 TLB

Are you not glad that the Word of God makes things so simple? If we really want to obey God's laws, His resources are available to us. First and foremost, the Holy Spirit abides within to guide us. While it is true that we have all of the Holy Spirit at the time of conversion, we cannot expect the full blessing and power of God until the Holy Spirit has full control of all of us.

As we appropriate the fullness of His Holy Spirit by faith, we are supplied with supernatural power to obey God's laws. That supernatural power, even, is contingent upon our cooperation in that we must not only commit ourselves to the Holy Spirit but we must also be familiar with the Word of God if we are indeed to obey its commands.

Obedience is a key word in the Christian life. This verse points it out quite clearly, for we either obey God's laws or we obey the old evil nature. The choice is ours as we are controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Someone has well pointed out that all of life, really, is nothing more nor less than a series of choices. The secret of the successful Christian life is in making the right choices. And even the wisdom to make the right choices is available - as a gift from God.

That leaves us, you and me, without excuse. We can, if we choose, through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, obey God's laws and thus accomplish His purpose for us as believers.

From Promises
A Daily Guide to Supernatural Living
by Bill Bright

Chastity

Here is an article on chastity by one of my favorite authors, Lauren Winner.

Some meaty thoughts!

Philip

"Chastity is the most unpopular of the Christian virtues."
— C. S. Lewis

Not My Will

Not my will, but yours, be done. Luke 22:42

I’m going to stretch this verse in a little different direction. Jesus spoke these words in the garden. The decision had been made that the Father’s will would be done. There was no other way to accomplish the mission of Jesus.

Here is where my thoughts on this have drifted. We hear a lot about will power. Some people even go so far as to say that if we think something, we can accomplish it. As Christians, we deal a lot with the will. It usually goes along with a promise we make to God or someone else. “I will not do that again!”

Maybe what we need to do is give up our will and let God’s will work through us. The truth is that the only power or will power we have is through His grace and mercy. I will be much better off when I quit trying to live in my own strength.

It’s hard to let go of it sometimes. If God does it all then I can’t boast of my discipline, will power or look down my nose at brethren who can’t seem to overcome some sin in their life.

What got me thinking about this was an article I read by Chuck Colson where he quoted Lauren Winner. She explained the problem with chastity pledges and young Christians. “Pledgers promise to control intense bodily desires simply by exercising their wills. But Christian ethics recognizes that the broken, twisted will can do nothing without rehabilitation by God’s grace.”

The article goes on to say: She also rightly draws our attention to the brash individualism of such pledges. Quoting Methodist bishop William Willimon, she writes, “Decisions are fine. But decisions that are not reinforced and reformed by the community tend to be short-lived.”

The article also spoke of the lessons learned in working with prisoners, that a community of support is needed if lasting change is going to happen there and when they get out.

Here is the final paragraph: It is not easy work, but congregations must step forward to engage in the difficult work of becoming grace-filled communities that support and undergird the values central to a biblical worldview.

I like what has been said here because I am learning these things in my life. I am weak and poor. My will is not enough. I need God’s grace and power and I need my brothers and the church at large. In that there will be victory.

Philip