We are born with a certain level of intuition, but we can definitely build a stronger intuition by learning lessons from history. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had about a leader’s intuition + execution.
“It is idle to talk always of the alternative of reason and faith. Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all. If you are merely a sceptic, you must sooner or later ask yourself the question, ‘Why should anything go right; even observation and deduction? Why should not good logic be as misleading as bad logic? They are both movements in the brain of a bewildered ape?’” —G.K. Chesterton
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who. —Rudyard Kipling
“All the work of man is but the spinning of a righteousness which is undone as quickly as it is spun; but Christ has finished the seamless and spotless robe of His righteousness which is to last for ever.” —Charles Spurgeon
The Institute for Creation Research opens an article about the impact of and recovery from the biblical Flood with this, “In the beginning, God created plants and animals to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:11–13, 20–25). So, when areas are devastated, living things are engineered with the innate ability to rebound and recolonize. This was seen in the rapid recovery of life at Mount St. Helens after the cataclysmic volcanic eruption of May 18, 1980. But conventional scientists seem to be finally recognizing and appreciating the reality of rapid recovery a bit more after studying the life that existed after the supposed Chicxulub impact.”
John Piper addressing the role of spiritual affections in the life of a Christian says, “No machine, no computer, no AI will ever duplicate the spiritual reality of the soul’s enjoyment of God.”
“Ignorance of Scripture is the mother of error. … Many lay aside Scripture as rusty armour (Jeremiah 8:9); they are better read in romances than in St. Paul; they spend many hours inter pectinem et speculum—‘between the comb and the glass’—but their eyes begin to be sore when they look upon a Bible. They who slight the Word written, slight God Himself, whose stamp it bears.” —Thomas Watson
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Last week I reminded you about the greeting in the early church. One saint would say to another, “He is risen!” and the other person would respond, “He is risen indeed!”
That word “indeed” is important. In Greek, the word is ontōs—in point of fact, as opposed to what is pretended or fictitious. Our English dictionary says something similar, but adds something I think is memorable: in fact; in reality; in truth—used for emphasis, to confirm and amplify a previous statement.
The word ontōs is only used a few times in the Old Testament. In Jeremiah, God speaks to His people, calling them to return to Him. The people respond, “We will come to You. Indeed the world is deception; indeed You are our salvation” (see Jeremiah 3:22-23).
In the New Testament, Paul said that if the law could have saved us, there would have been no reason for Jesus to die on a Cross and be resurrected back to life—Galatians 3:21-22. When He died for our sins, the Roman centurion overseeing His crucifixion recognized that Jesus was indeed the righteous Savior (Luke 23:47; Matthew 27:54). Jesus said of Himself that He came to give freedom indeed (John 8:36).
When we put our faith in Jesus as our Savior, we are indeed saved from the death penalty that our sins deserve. We are justified through our faith in our crucified and risen Savior. We are now free indeed to participate in the eternal life Jesus gave us!
The Bible uses three pictures of the life we are now free to enjoy. Since we camped out in the Book of Ephesians last week, let’s return there to see these three pictures—
(1) The Building of the Lord—Ephesians 2:19-22
We have to stay on the foundation of Jesus, if we want to build something lasting (Matthew 7:24, 26). This means we have to submit to sanctification process of the Holy Spirit (or as I like to say this word: “saint-ification”). When guests come over, you dust and vacuum. If you don’t clean again, dust will accumulate. Jesus isn’t a one-time or occasional Guest, but He wants to abide in us (Revelation 3:20).
(2) The Body of Christ—Ephesians 4:3-6, 12-13, 16
Look a the phrases “…make every effort … works of service … become mature….” These are all ongoing processes which we need for healthy growth (Hebrews 5:12-13). As our physical bodies age, we lose 3-5% of our body’s muscle mass every year unless we are actively working to add muscle. Body building requires (a) protein intake, (b) exercise, (c) rest and recovery—God’s Word applied and resting in the work of the Holy Spirit.
(3) The Bride of Jesus—Ephesians 5:25-28, 33
We don’t want to be like this out-of-touch husband, whose wife said to him on their 40th anniversary, “I remember on our wedding day how you told me you loved me. How come you never say that any more.” The husband replied: “If anything changed, I would have let you know.” We need to be continually falling in love with our Bridegroom! Listen to how Jesus addressed these saints at Ephesus. He tells them they have persevered through the difficult times (Revelation 2:1-3), yet they have forsaken the most important thing: their first love (v. 4). If we’ve done this, we need to remember, repent, and return to Jesus (v. 5).
If we’re not maturing, we’re declining.
If we are only going through the motions, where is the satisfaction? Where is the freedom indeed?
Listen to these tough—but needed—words from John Piper:
“The problem with the church today is not that there are too many people who are passionately in love with heaven. The problem is not that professing Christians are retreating from the world, spending half their days reading Scripture and the other half singing about their pleasures in God all the while indifferent to the needs of the world. The problem is that professing Christians are spending ten minutes reading Scripture and then half their day making money and the other half enjoying and repairing what they spend it on. It is not heavenly-mindedness that hinders love. It is worldly-mindedness that hinders love, even when it is disguised by a religious routine on the weekend.”
Continuing to mature in our faith makes the Building more beautiful, the the Body healthier, and the Marriage more fulfilling! Let’s keep maturing so that we honor Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
When the Holy Spirit shines His light on a biblical promise, and you turn that into a prayer, write it down! You may need to go back to this again and again. When God answers your prayer, write it down again! This can become a testimony journal that you and others can use to recall God’s provision.
“The pathway to maturity and to solid biblical food is not first becoming an intelligent person, but becoming an obedient person.” —John Piper
“Somehow or other an extraordinary idea has arisen that the disbelievers in miracles consider them coldly and fairly, while believers in miracles accept them only in connection with some dogma. The fact is quite the other way. The believers in miracles accept them (rightly or wrongly) because they have evidence for them. The disbelievers in miracles deny them (rightly or wrongly) because they have a doctrine against them.” —G.K. Chesterton
“At every moment, we always have a choice, even if it feels as if we don’t. Sometimes that choice may simply be to think a more positive thought.” —Tina Turner
Every day should be a day of thanksgiving!
“We are strangers on Earth; our homeland is in Heaven. Our walk is here; our hearts are there.” —Dr. Henry Halley
I have already shared the first two posts in the latest archeological research on the biblical city of Jericho. Here is part three.
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” —Pelé
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one who gets people to do the greatest things.” —Ronald Reagan
Have you felt under attack spiritually lately? Especially when things are going well, we need to stay on guard because the enemy of our soul is always looking for an opening. Don’t give him any opening at all—stay vigilant!
“All men are ordinary men; the extraordinary men are those who know it.” —G.K. Chesterton
I thoroughly enjoy reading the words of Oswald Chambers (check out my lengthy Thursdays with Oswald feature). Dr. Steve Nichols shared a mini-biography about this extraordinary pastor on his 5 Minutes In Church History podcast.
Over a week before the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Abdu Murray had a chilling prediction in his commentary From Cancel Culture to Assassination Culture.
“Practice, which some regard as a chore, should be approached as just about the most pleasant recreation ever devised.” —Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Using a question about the recreational uses of marijuana, John Piper notes something deeper: “The church for a long time has leaned too heavily on the overlap between the state and the church for the strength of our conviction concerning what is right and wrong.” This post is a call for Christians to dig into the Scriptures for what we believe, and not just follow what society says.
“The man who thinks he can live without others is mistaken; the one who thinks others can’t live without him is even more deluded.” —Hasidic Proverb
This 12-minute video from Daniel Pink has some solid insights on higher productivity.
Isaac Newton said, “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler are two gigantic figures in the world of science. These men were both devout Christians. Check out these mini-biographies from the ICR.
“What made David’s heart remarkable wasn’t the absence of sin but his unrelenting pursuit of restoration with God.” —YouVersion reading plan Men of God: Ancient Virtues for Modern Warriors
It’s always fascinating to read about archeological discoveries that overlap with the historical accounts of the Bible.
Whether you are a pastor, a Sunday School teacher, or just a Christian sharing your testimony with your friend, we need to handle God’s Word correctly. John Piper’s lesson on 2 Timothy 2:14-15 is spot-on.
You cannot get Scripture from the Bible into your heart and mind by osmosis! To develop a biblical worldview, we have to put the Word in so the Holy Spirit can help us work it out.
“Without goals, training has no direction.” —Natalie Coughlin
John Piper saures 12 resolves for Christians to fortify them against viewing pornography. In the post called The High Price of Watching Nudity, Piper says, “I want to invite, frankly, all Christians to join me in this pursuit of greater purity of heart and mind. In our day, when entertainment media is virtually the lingua franca of the world, this is an invitation to be an alien. And I believe with all my heart that what the world needs is radically bold, sacrificially loving, God-besotted freaks, aliens.”
“Accountability closes the gap between intentions and actions.” —Craig Groeschel
T.M. Moore wrote, “Who are your ten most admired pastors? Probably we could all make a list. Why do we admire them? Because their churches are growing? Would they want you to say of them that they really know how to grow a church? We make two mistakes here. First, we mistake big numbers with real growth. The Bible’s view of growth is much more qualitative than quantitative. Second, we think we can get ‘growth’—in numbers—by simple mechanics: Find the right combination of programs, the latest in worship music, and a nice refreshment area. That won’t get the growth Jesus is seeking.”
If you want your heart to be able to perform better, you are going to have to stress it a bit—that’s called exercise. The same thing is true for the heart of leadership—we have to exercise our leadership so that it can rise to the challenge later.
J. Warner Wallace wrote, “Everyone, whether they realize it or not, is engaged in worship. We all adore something, elevating it above the rest, sometimes so much that we overlook its flaws.” Check out this post about being careful about what we worship.
“Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.” —Charles Spurgeon
“We should avoid end-time hysteria and ‘not grow weary in doing good’ (2 Thessalonians 3:13). There will be good work to do (vocationally and socially and personally) right up to the Lord’s coming. Our normal earthly duties will not end until the Lord appears. The rule then, until he comes, is, ‘Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men’ (Colossians 3:23).” —John Piper
Greg Morse has a fascinating post connecting the fable of Chicken Little with the historical account of Noah and the imminent return of Jesus. “I hope an acorn falls afresh on our heads as we observe an Old Testament saint who was the Chicken Little of his day. A man who remained awake and faithful with his back against the end of the world: a man named Noah.”
In biblical times, the Jews looked down on the Samaritans. But not Jesus. One of His longest conversations is with a Samaritan woman. If He had a poor attitude about her, she would have felt that. Instead, she felt His love. Jesus died so that “whoever believes in Him would not die but would have eternal life.” We need to treat everyone like one of the whoever’s that Jesus died to save.
One hundred years ago, William M. Faux called the churches in the Assemblies of God to pray more for our missionaries. “Pray, beloved, pray for missions. Are more workers needed? Yes. Praying is the secret of securing them. Are more funds needed? Yes. Prayer is the force that opens men’s hearts to give to God their resources. Is greater spirituality needed? Yes, surely. Prayer is the agency that brings greater spirituality to the entire church (Matthew 9:38). Louder than the Macedonian cry ‘Come over and help us,’ which rang out to Paul, sounds the cry today, ‘Brethren, pray for us.’ Let the Scripture warning ring in our souls—‘God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.’ Prayer is the greatest force that we can wield. It is the greatest talent which God has granted us. And this talent He has given to every Christian.”
“Faith knows that every seashore on earth has less sand than God has wondrous deeds and thoughts toward us.” —Tanner Swanson
“I had always vaguely felt facts to be miracles in the sense that they are wonderful: now I began to think them miracles in the stricter sense that they were willful. I mean that they were, or might be, repeated exercises of some will. In short, I had always believed that the world involved magic: now I thought that perhaps it involved a magician. And this pointed a profound emotion always present and sub-conscious; that this world of ours has some purpose; and if there is a purpose, there is a person. I had always felt life first as a story: and if there is a story there is a story-teller.” —G.K. Chesterton
John Piper discusses how Christian apologists can contend for the faith properly without sliding into “word fights.”
“Psychologists, since the beginning of the discipline, have argued about the essence of what it means to be human. Some, like [Sigmund] Freud, insist that we are motivated by physical pleasure, while others, like Victor Frankl or Abraham Maslow, believe that some higher purpose…. Human beings, made in the image and likeness of God, only realize their full potential and pleasure as they participate in the very being of God and know and experience the pleasure He takes in Himself and His glory.” —T.M. Moore
“If you are persevering in faith today, you owe it to the blood of Jesus. The Holy Spirit, who is working in you to preserve your faith, is honoring the purchase of Jesus. God the Spirit works in us what God the Son obtained for us. The Father planned it. Jesus bought it. The Spirit applies it—all of them infallibly.” —John Piper
“The Hebrew word Davar (דבר, pronounced ‘daw-var’) reveals something profound about God’s Word—it’s not merely information, but transformation. … Throughout Scripture, God’s Word consistently proves both living and active. It has the power to create worlds (Genesis 1), transform lives (Psalm 119:105), and accomplish God’s purposes (Isaiah 55:11).” —Dave Adamson
More fascinating archeology that supports the Bible’s historicity. This is a look at the library of letters found at Tell el-Amarna in Egypt. “The most obvious connection between the Amarna Letters and biblical history is that some of the letters appear to be describing, in real-time, the attacks of the Israelites during the period of the conquest. Remember, the initial conquest battles took a period of some 5–6 years, but the attempts by various tribes to conquer their allotted territories lasted into the period of the Judges. The letters from the rulers of some of the very cities named in the biblical conquest calling for help from the attacking ʿapîru/ḫa-bi-ru, provide a poignant backdrop to this period of biblical history.”
“Because I am your constant Companion, there should be a lightness to your step that is observable to others. Do not be weighed down with problems and unresolved issues, for I am your burden-bearer.” —Jesus in Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling, based on Psalm 31:19–20; John 16:33
On our 100th episode, Greg and I talk about how important it is for leaders to let people learn through their struggle, so we need to reject the temptation to jump in to help them too soon. Check out the full conversation The Struggle is Real (but Necessary).
John Piper was asked how to identify false teachers or prophets, and he gives four biblical tests to determine this. But I also appreciate this admonition: “Don’t set the bar so low that you only stop listening to people if they can be properly called false teachers. Lots of people are teachers who are simply misguided and unhelpful in many ways but might not come under the ban of being called a false teacher. Set your standards high. Listen to people who are truly God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated, Spirit-dependent, who bear the marks in their lives of authenticity.”
In imploring Christians to not shrink back from difficult trials but to rise and conquer in the strength of the Spirit, Greg Morse makes this observation: “When the risen Christ walked among His early churches (as He walks among them still), His eye was very keen to observe and His heart very ready to address a particular kind of person in every assembly: ‘the one who conquers’ (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). To each of the seven churches, He summons and strengthens the one who would overcome, prevail, hold fast, keep strong, stand firm, and move forward—the victors in Christ amid a larger group in the church who only profess to know Him.”
Two separate geological studies found a period in history where rock formations were impacted by massive amounts of water. ICR adds, “Because conventional geologists deny the historical accuracy of Genesis, they operate at a loss. They see evidence of massive erosion and tremendous water flow at the end of the Tejas Megasequence and just prior to the Ice Age but are hampered by their uniformitarian thinking to explain it. But the Bible gives us answers. Genesis describes a global flood that peaked on Day 150. The sedimentary rocks across all of the continents confirm this peak occurred at the end of the Zuni Megasequence (at the K-Pg). And the rocks confirm that the Tejas Megasequence records the subsequent receding phase.”
There was a Man who
dwelt in the east centuries ago,
And now I cannot look at a
sheep or a sparrow,
A lily or a cornfield,
a raven or a sunset,
A vineyard or a mountain,
without thinking of Him. —G.K. Chesterton
Clinton Manley addresses the place of physical exercise in the life of a Christian. Before sharing three astute observations about this interaction, he notes, “Body or soul is a false dichotomy. As Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 9:24–27, physical fitness and spiritual fitness don’t have to be either-or; they’re best as both-and. The body and soul have an inseparably reflexive relationship: the body affects the soul, and the soul affects the body. God created us to glorify Him by enjoying Him, and the body is the soul’s training partner in the pursuit of spiritual pleasures.”
“Who will trust me with a spiritual body if I cannot control even an earthly body?”—C.S. Lewis
We are born with a certain level of intuition, but we can definitely build a stronger intuition by learning lessons from history. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had about a leader’s intuition + execution.
Craig T. Owens 