Sometimes I use the phrase “wartime lifestyle” or “wartime mind-set.”  (The phrase) tells me that there is a war going on in the world between Christ and Satan, truth and falsehood, belief and unbelief.  It tells me that there are weapons to be funded and used, but that these weapons are not swords or guns or bombs but the Gospel and prayer and self-sacrificing love (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).  And it tells me that the stakes of this conflict are higher than any other war in history; they are eternal and infinite:  heaven or hell, eternal joy or eternal torment (Matthew 25:46). 

I need to hear this message again and again, because I drift into a peacetime mind-set as certainly as rain falls down and flames go up.  I am wired by nature to love the same toys that the world loves.  I start to fit in.  I start to love what others love.  I start to call earth “home.”  Before you know it, I am calling luxuries “needs” and using my money just the way unbelievers do.  I begin to forget the war.  I don’t think much about people perishing.  Missions and unreached peoples drop out of my mind.  I stop dreaming about the triumphs of grace.  I sink into a secular mind-set that looks first to what man can do, not what God can do.  It is a terrible sickness.  And I thank God for those who have forced me again and again toward a wartime mind-set.

Piper, John.  Don’t Waste Your Life.  Wheaton:  Crossway Books.  2003.  PP. 111-113

For more on living a Wartime lifestyle, click HERE and listen to WALKING WORTHY IN THE BATTLE.

"Quote" of the Week

“We are at war, whether the stocks are falling or climbing, whether the terrorists are hitting or hiding, whether we are healthy or sick.  Both pleasure and pain are laced with poison, ready to kill us with the diseases of pride and despair.  The repeated biblical warning to “be alert” fits the wartime image.  And I need this warning every day.”  -John Piper

Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.  Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.  Ephesians 6:5-9  

  

In this passage, Paul gives great principles to be applied by employers and employees in the workplace.  First, he speaks to bondservants and tells them to work hard for their Christian masters.  He says, “...(work) with fear and trembling.”  This just means that bondservants—employees are to work under the realization that there is an authority over them that they are to submit to and work hard for. 

In verse 6 Paul says, “…not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ.”  What Paul is saying is that employees are not just to work hard when their boss is around so as to please them, but are to “render their service to the Lord.”  According to Paul here that is to be the the mindset of an employee in the workplace.  They are to submit to the authority of their employer and work hard for him/her, rendering their services the Lord because he sees all that is done there and is worthy of the best we have. 

In verse 8, Paul says this applies to all employees no matter the vocation.  He says, “…whether bondservant or free.”  It doesn't matter if one is flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant or in an upper management position at a large company.  On Judgment Day, there will be burger flippers embraced and CEO’s condemned and vice versa.  On that day, what matters to the Lord is whether or not we lived our life under the Lordship of Christ and whether or not we rendered our services to Him.

Paul also addresses those in positions of authority in the workplace.  He says,

Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.  

Paul says, “Masters, you do the same to them.”  Just as I have told them to rend their services to Christ as they serve you, you direct them—you lead them as God leads you.  He says, “Stop your threatening.”  He says, “Don’t misuse and abuse your authority—treat your servants fairly.  Treat them the way you would want to be treated.” 

In the middle of verse 9, Paul tells those in authority that they have a boss too who is in heaven watching everything that takes place in the workplace, and he reminds both employers and employees that they will both have to answer to God for how they conduct themselves there.

For more on walking worthy in the workplace click HERE and listen to “WALKING WORTHY IN YOUR WORK RELATIONSHIPS.”

"Quote" of the Week

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.  1 Corinthians 10:31 

Unfortunately there is a lot of moralism being taught today in Christian homes and very little Gospel.  There are many parents in our churches who spend hours upon hours each day addressing how their kids are supposed to act, but won’t spend a moment’s time in prayer for their kids salvation and not a second of the day instructing their kids from Scripture about their need of salvation. 

God calls for Christian parents to shepherd their children.  He calls for them to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).   He makes it crystal clear in His word that kids don’t simply need to be taught to abide by a set of rules, but need to be changed from the inside out.

Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisees?  He said, “You guys are like white washed tombs—pretty on the outside and dead on the inside” (Mt. 23:27).  Believers we should not wish that on our worst enemy.  We don’t want to parent in such a way that produces self-righteous Pharisees, but in a way that leads our kids to see their sinfulness and their need for Christ.

For more on parenting God's way, click HERE and listen to, "WALKING WORTHY AS PARENTS AND CHILDREN."    

"Quote" of the Week

“The main way we as parents advance the faith in the lives of our children is through prayer, our personal example and through instructing them in the truth of God’s word.”  Ligon Duncan

The distinctions between men and women from the Scriptures have come under attack in our world today.  Many have argued that the church and some of the teachings in Scripture have contributed to abuses against and the discrimination of women.  Many have labeled the Apostle Paul and other New Testament writers as male chauvinists and have labeled the Christian faith as misogynistic.

Though I agree with many of the rights women have fought for over the years, I believe that the assaults made against the church and against the Christian faith are unsupported, unjustified and downright unfair.  It doesn't take much digging to see that women play a vital role in God’s story.

For example, though she played a key role in man’s initial rebellion; Eve plays a vital role in God’s story.  Scripture tells us that she is the mother of all living (Gn. 3:20).  We are told in Genesis 3:15 that through her comes Christ.

There are also the wives of the patriarchs.  You have Sarah, the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac and Rebecca, the mother Jacob.  You have Leah, the mother of Judah in the line of Jesus and Rachel, the mother of Joseph.  Rachel’s son was used by God to save His people from famine.

You also have Deborah, who was a key figure in the book of Judges and Rahab, who played a key role in Israel’s entrance into the promise land.  You also have popular characters like Ruth, who is the great grandmother of King David in the line of Christ, and Esther, who used her influence given to her by God to speak up for God’s people so they could be spared from annihilation.

Women also play a key role in the New Testament.  You have Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, who was with Christ and followed Him throughout His earthly ministry and was there at His crucifixion and became one of the first witnesses of His resurrection.

Women also played a key role in the early church.  An early convert was Mary, the mother of John Mark, who gave her house as a meeting place for the Christians in Jerusalem.  There was also Lydia, who lived in Philippi.  Lydia also opened up her home for ministry.  

In Romans 16 we learn of other women who were actively involved in ministry.  Paul writes about Phebe and says of her that she is a “servant of himself and the church" (16:1-2).  We also read about Priscilla, the godly wife of Aquila, whom Paul referred to as “a fellow worker in Christ Jesus" (16:3).

Notice, by the way, that many of these women are mentioned by Paul himself.  As one studies his writings, they quickly learn that he had many positive things to say about women.  He says in 1 Corinthians 11:7, “a woman is man’s glory” and in Galatians 3:28 he says “There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  Paul goes out of his way in these passages to make the point that there is interdependence and equality among men and women.  He sure doesn't sound like a male chauvinist and the Scriptures sound any but misogynistic.

Truth is, Christianity has said more and has done more to affirm the equality of women spiritually, personally and in ability than any other system of belief.  Scripture is clear that men and women are equal in person—they are equal in terms of essence, in terms of personality, and in terms of ability.  It is simply their responsibilities—their roles that are different.  

For more on the roles of men and women click HERE and listen to “WALKING WORTHY AS HUSBAND AND WIFE.”.

"Quote" of the Week

“A man is the head and leader of his home and there is nothing he can do about that.  He will either lead effectively or he will lead poorly, but he will lead.  A man’s failing to lead is actually a man leading in failure.” –Voddie Baucham