Articles by Bill Denton at Heartlight

The Ally of God's Grace

billdenton@crossties.org (Bill Denton) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13 NASB).

The matter of behaviour is ours, not God's. God does not make our character; character is formed by the reaction of our inner disposition to outer things through our nervous system. God does what we cannot do: He alters the mainspring and plants in us a totally new disposition; then begins our work, we must work out what God works in. The practising is ours, not God's. We have to bring the mechanism of body and brain into line by habit and make it a strong ally of the grace of God (Oswald Chambers, "The Moral Foundation of Life: A Series of Talks on the Ethical Principles of the Christian Life.").

We need clarity regarding grace, mercy and reformation of life. Sinners need to know about God's grace and mercy. The reason is simple. No amount of reform resolves the problem of sin. That's hard for us to grasp because the sense of justice demands that we somehow make up for wrongs done. It won't ever happen. You can't out-good the evil in your life. God's law of sin and death says, "If you sin, you die." There is no provision for overcoming sin by the practice of good. Forgiveness and salvation are the result of God's grace and mercy. By grace we get what we don't deserve. By mercy we don't get what we do deserve. All that comes from God, and it's what makes the gospel of Jesus good news.

But don't make the mistake of thinking that there is no room for reformation. In the gospel, there is also the call for confession of sin, repentance, and reformation of life. God's forgiveness and salvation may be instantaneous, but there remains a lifetime of "working out" our salvation. That doesn't mean that we work to earn salvation. It means that we see it through to the end. It means we don't give up on the effort to grow in God's grace and respond to God's mercy by distancing ourselves from all that created distance between us and God.

"Repent" is a word that basically means "change your mind." When you change your mind about sin, the most natural, sensible thing is to change your behavior. When one repents, one begins the process of change. Forgiveness frees us from the condemnation sin creates, but involved in the process is our repentance, which produces a reformation of life. Yes, God frees us from our sins, but he also provides a process to free us from the practice of sin. It is neither easy, nor does it necessarily happen fast.

Our behavior must become, as Oswald Chambers might say it, a "strong ally of the grace of God." That's an excellent way to put it. There are at least two ways in which Christians fail in this regard. The first is thinking that God's grace and mercy are all there is to forgiveness and salvation. This just isn't so. God saves by His mercy and grace, but He also intends to change us. The second mistake is to think that reformation of life isn't all that important. Paul would ask, "How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:2).

There is another way in which Christians miss the intended effects of the gospel. We can ignore or deny the fact that we all have a long way to go to become the person God wants us to be. We love to classify sins into big ones and little ones, and then further classify our personal sins as little. We fool ourselves into thinking there just isn't much to reform. This is a bad mistake.

Accept the salvation of God rooted in His grace and mercy. Celebrate the work of Jesus on our behalf, doing for us what we can never do. Be glad that you are saved, not on the basis of your merit or goodness, but on that of Jesus Christ. Now work out that salvation by being transformed into something you could never be without that grace and mercy. When you fail, God's grace and mercy will be there to pick you up, dust you off, and get you going again, so that you can stay at the task of reformation.

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Website: CrossTies

Communifaking

billdenton@crossties.org (Bill Denton) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0600

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29 NASB).

... a recent study ... reveals that a good number of people "communifake" quite often in social situations to avoid feeling like losers. The most insecure group happened to be the 18 to 24 year-old crowd with a good 74 percent of them admitting to "communifaking" when feelings of loneliness set in, but the college crowd is rarely alone. A few more women (42 percent) than men (32 percent) also turned to their trusty phone when they were alone waiting for a friend or trying to avoid conversation with strangers around them. Psychotherapist Lesley Haswell seems to have some insight into the fake communication phenomena. "People experience the need to appear socially busy at all times and 'just waiting' is a no-no. Our basic human instinct is to be part of a group. Alone we can feel more vulnerable" (http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/hughes/34546).

You never know when you're going to learn a new, very useful word. "Communifaking" has the promise of both meaning and function. The reason is obvious: there is a lot of "communifaking" happening, and it's not limited to folks trying to look busy on their cell phones.

"Communifaking" happens at home. Spouses, parents, children - everybody in the household may engage in some "communifaking." We want to appear that we're communicating, but we're not. It happens at work and among business associates. You've probably heard some communifake the last time you listened to a sales pitch. You don't think there has been some "communifaking" going on during the political campaigns recently? Why do we continue to get a barrage of political spinners, each of whom has the job of putting their side in the best light, while putting the other side in the worst light? Never mind the real facts and truthful information. Perception and appearances are what count.

I suppose one could read Paul's instruction in the verse above and think that he was encouraging a little "communifaking." After all, it sounds like he's telling us to craft our words in positive ways. I suppose he's doing that, but I don't think he's encouraging fake communication. Paul wanted us to stop hurting one another with our words. Read the entire passage in Ephesians 4 and you'll discover many things there, all designed to heal and create positive human interaction.

Some may honestly believe they don't engage in "communifaking." Maybe so, but it's such a widespread problem that it's likely to hit all of us sooner or later. I wonder if we ever communifake with God?

Communicating with God requires honesty from us. After all, God is all-knowing, and he's every where we are. The height of futility is trying to pull a fast one on God. Still, there are people who do that. They do it with prayers that are insincere. They do it with words spoken to others that are not true or are not loving and kind. They do it when their hypocritical behavior says one thing while the truth is something else. All of those things, whether intended or not, are things communicated to God. It's amazing how much "communifaking" happens. Perhaps we should be less concerned with how we look to others, and more concerned with the messages we're really sending. Let's communicate, not "communifake."

Website: CrossTies

Getting Close to God

billdenton@crossties.org (Bill Denton) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500

[Jesus said] "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life" (John 5:39-40 NASB).

The Pharisees made it their job to study and know the Scriptures in order to gain the upper hand on the things of God and keep the rest of the people in the dark. For the Pharisees, the Scriptures had ceased to be a form of revelation. "Manipulation" better describes their use of the sacred texts. By them they engineered and justified their own righteousness, and by them they controlled others. (John Fischer, quoted in "The New Rebellion Handbook", pp. 152-153.)

I have long been interested in religious discussion. A lot of it is extremely good, encouraging, corrective, and helpful. A lot of it is bologna -- especially discussions in which the goal is for each of the participants to prove the other wrong about something. Sometimes even that kind of discussion can be good, but often it degenerates into little more than spiritual manipulation.

We pick on the Pharisees because they are easy targets. A man named Nicodemus proved that not all Pharisees were spiritual manipulators. But as a group, they were susceptible to the charge laid in the quote above by John Fischer. They started out with admirable intentions, but somewhere along the line, they began to justify their own flawed lives while expertly condemning others. The result was that nobody was getting closer to God.

Jesus told the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who went up to the temple to pray (Luke 18:9-14). I love that story. Luke tells us why Jesus told the story. "He told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt" (Luke 18:9). That's a very important introduction, because it explains the purpose of the parable. How could a Pharisee draw closer to God if he trusted himself to already be righteous? How could a Pharisee help anybody else draw closer to God, if all he did was condemn them, or insist they become like himself? Neither of those options has a good result.

Interestingly, the only way a person can draw close to God is by not trusting himself or herself. A person cannot start out thinking she is or he is right or that his or her behavior is perfect. Each person has got to be open to the very real truth that he or she is not righteous at all. Even people who have studied and learned God's word should be very cautious about thinking they are too "right."

But, this can be a terrifying way to approach God. For many people, it terrifies them to think about appearing before God with less than a perfect record. Yet God already knows about their less-than-stellar record. He knows about their sins. Getting close to God, really getting close to God, begins the moment one acknowledges what God already knows and understands that the One they fear is the One with the answer to their sins. Humble, sorrowful, repentant, confessing people get a quick and loving response by God. Haughty, stubborn, sin-denying people who are quick to condemn others get trouble from God. One trusts God. The other doesn't. Which are you?

Website: CrossTies

The Failure of List-keeping

billdenton@crossties.org (Bill Denton) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."

And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? (Matthew 15:1-3 NASB)

There's something comfortable about reducing Christianity to a list of do's and don'ts, whether your list comes from mindless fundamentalism or mindless liberalism: you always know where you stand, and this helps reduce anxiety. Do's-and-don'ts-ism has the advantage that you don't need wisdom. You don't have to think subtly or make hard choices. You don't have to relate personally to a demanding and loving Lord. (Robert C. Roberts in The Reformed Journal [Feb. 1987], quoted in Christianity Today, Vol. 31, no. 9.)

If your faith is only the practice of a list of do's and don't's, you are cheating yourself out of what really counts -- a relationship with Jesus Christ and the Father, himself. Those who are caught up in that never-ending, never-succeeding list keeping, are quite often frustrated, unhappy, and overly critical of themselves and others.

Nobody is suggesting that God has nothing to say about human behavior. If you read your Bible closely, you'll discover that God is very concerned that we do some things and that we don't do some others. Failure to do (or not do, as the case may be) is the simple definition of sin. Years ago, we heard a lot about sins of "omission" and sins of "commission." Essentially, they were sins of failing to do what we were supposed to do, or doing what we ought not to do. So, if you think anybody is saying God doesn't care about what you do (or don't do) you're mistaken.

It's just that people can get so hung up on lists of do's and don't's that they miss the whole thing about faith in Jesus Christ. Get into a conversation about salvation and you may hear what I'm talking about. When the conversation focuses more on what we must do to be saved instead of what God has done to save us, you might be hearing evidence of a list-keeper, not a believer. I know that sounds harsh, but at some point we must deal with this issue.

For too long, some have put such emphasis on our obedience to what God wants us to do that they have simply misplaced responsibility for salvation. To hear some talk, salvation is mostly accomplished by their obedience. Oh, yeah, sure, there was Jesus, but it's almost as if Jesus is an afterthought, that he needed our help because he couldn't quite get it done himself.

Does God want us to obey his will? Yes, he does. That said, faith isn't about list-keeping: it's about believing in, and trusting, the person of Jesus Christ. It's about seeing his death on the cross as the singular forgiveness event of all time. It's about seeing his resurrection from the dead as the declaration that death has lost its grip on humankind and life reigns. It's about loving God and responding to His free-gift of grace and unabashed mercy. It's recognizing no merit in ourselves, while basking in the merit of our Savior. [Editors note: See 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 6 for the Biblical declaration of these points!] List-keepers will never appreciate these things.

Website: CrossTies

Honor

billdenton@crossties.org (Bill Denton) — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

First Lady Laura Bush recalls one overnight visit with her husband in the home of his parents, the former President and Mrs. Bush. "George woke up at 6 A.M. as usual and went downstairs to get a cup of coffee," Laura says. "And he sat down on the sofa with his parents and put his feet up. And all of a sudden, Barbara Bush yelled, 'Put your feet down!'

"George's dad replied, 'For goodness' sake, Barbara, he's the President of the United States.'

"And Barbara said, 'I don't care. I don't want his feet on my table.'"

The president promptly did as he was told, for as Mrs. Bush observes, "Even Presidents have to listen to their mothers."
(John McCaslin, The Washington Times "Inside the Beltway" 11-12-03)

Graduation ceremonies will soon happen in every city. Young people will celebrate achievements, and some will learn to appreciate the phrase, "by the skin of their teeth!" No matter. For all, it's a time of transition to bigger and better things.

A great many will exceed the doubts and fears of their parents and friends. They will go on to accomplish wonderful things. Even if they don't, most will settle into solid roles of good citizens, family men and women, and they will fill the job roles that keep our society moving. Yes, there will be some failures, and some who should have achieved great things never will. But, let's not focus there right now. Let's focus on the bigger picture of those who will take up their places in life and become responsible adults.

Today, we choose to honor them. We make a big deal out of things like graduations because they are true milestones in life. These students have achieved something worthy of our congratulations and celebrations. Whether they struggled to get here or thought it was a breeze, they are here. They will move on to further studies, or they will take up jobs. They will begin to put that education to the practical use of daily living. We honor them for what they have done, for the promise they show, for the potential they possess, for the knowledge and skills they have developed, and for reaching a very significant point in life. We're proud of every graduate!

Now, let's hope they learn the bigger lessons of life that will serve them well regardless of age. Learn how to return the favor of honoring others. It's a bigger deal than one might think. In all life, regardless where one goes, what job one has, how high one rises, the ability to honor others is one of the most important life skills a person will ever possess.

Honor your boss.

Honor your spouse.

Honor your parents, your relatives (including your siblings!), your friends and others who play a role in your life.

Honor folks at church who have helped you more by their prayers than you know.

One of life's best lessons is recognizing all the people to whom you owe honor. Even if you become President of the United States, honor your mother and get your feet off her coffee table.

Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor (Romans 13:7 NASB).

Website: CrossTies

Quality People

billdenton@crossties.org (Bill Denton) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Everyone gets a turn at crisis. And more than once. The real question is only this: Who in your life is both capable of and willing to walk through your crisis with you? In many ways, your life will be defined by the quality of people who journey alongside you ("The New Rebellion Handbook," p. 236).

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
My eye is wasted away from grief,
my soul and my body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My strength has failed because of my iniquity,
And my body has wasted away (Psalm 31:9-10, NASB).

"Your life will be defined by the quality of people who journey alongside you." I'm quite sure that isn't totally true, but it's true enough for us to pay close attention. More than one person has told me, "I don't know how I would have made it through what happened to me without the people who love me and care about me." Anybody who has experienced hard times knows the truth of that statement.

The sad thing is that in our modern times, we've either forgotten or neglected the importance of our "people connections." I once conducted the funeral for a man I had never met. He had lived across the street from one of our church families. At the funeral the only people who attended were his wife and two grown daughters. This family had lived in that town for about fifteen years. They attended no church, belonged to no club, had no friends, and barely knew any of their neighbors. I don't know why. What I know is that they lived a lonely life, and when the husband died, if it had not been for the family across the street that attended our church, there would have been nobody to help the wife through the ordeal of her husband's death.

Who would help you through a crisis? If you can't put a name to that question, you're in trouble and may not even know it. But there is a companion question implied in the broader scope of this discussion. Who would you help through a crisis? You see, unless we all are willing to be the one who helps, when it comes our turn to be helped then chances are there won't be anyone.

Some people have large, close families, but I've noticed that even when that's the case, in a crisis people yearn for people outside the family to stand by them. Some people have close friends, a loving church, good neighbors. Those are all wonderful resources. But the best resources you'll ever have are those people you stood by during their time of crisis.

One of the great things about being a Christian and part of a great church is the call for all of us to be servants. You can't put that responsibility onto a few people, or even the church staff. It's too big, too broad, too demanding for a handful of people to deal with. Tough times demand lots of people, ready to respond, able to help. But we really need to know that when it comes our turn to deal with a crisis, it's likely those we've already helped through their own crisis who will be the first to help us. Are you among the "quality people" that others need?

Website: CrossTies

With Us!

billdenton@crossties.org (Bill Denton) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us." (Matthew 1:23 NASB)

"Only Christians believe in a God who says, 'Here I am alongside you. I have experienced the same suffering you have. I know what it is like.' No other religion even begins to offer that assurance." (Tim Keller, "Preaching Amid Pluralism," Leadership Magazine, Winter 2002, pp. 34-35.)

The fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy happened in the birth of Jesus. But it was not simply in the birth of a child to Mary. The vital preface to that birth, found in announcements by angels to both Mary and Joseph, revealed an act of God that staggers the mind. This was no illicit conception of unwed parents. It was no ordinary conception of a married couple. It was a birth created by an act of the Holy Spirit, planting a child in a virgin's womb. But it's even more than that. If you ever wondered how Joseph handled the news that the young woman to whom he was engaged was pregnant, you might consider the words of the angel. "They shall call His name Immanuel." It's a name that means "God with us."

One might legitimately ask, "What does that mean, 'God with us?'" It tells us who this child, born to Mary, actually is. He was never just a baby. He was a divinely conceived baby. He was never just another person, born to a mother. He was God's Son; God incarnate born to a human mother. Throughout His ministry, into the ministry of the apostles, and even today, the goal of biblical teaching and preaching is first to create understanding and belief in Jesus as the Son of God.

The incarnation is not totally explainable to us, for it is surely the most unique birth, of the most unique person, ever born. Consider the power of his miracles, the wisdom of his teaching, the magnetism of his person, the uncanny combination of strength, and love, and grace, and mercy. This is one of the most important things about the incarnation. Since Jesus was God in the flesh, he reveals God to us in the only way we can grasp the information. He is the divine, packaged in flesh, to help us see the invisible God with our eyes, our minds, and our senses. Only because God is "with us" in human form can we possibly fathom the unfathomable.

"God with us" helps us understand God's ultimate will. Through the virgin birth, God came in the realest sense. Because Jesus was divine in human form, his actions were God with us. His role as Savior is that of God acting on our behalf. With us means we are never alone. Next time you feel lonely and think that nobody cares, remember Jesus, who is God with us.

Website: CrossTies