If we think the visitor traffic to extend and the visitors to revisit Lake Evangelicalism, we are going to have to deal with the unattractive ducklings. Someone should’ve tarred ‘n’ feathered the first tightfisted board member or strung up the entire squint-eyed, stingy council way back when.

They—and the long line of people who follow in their train—are those who erroneously confuse excellence with extravagance. Somehow, by pious-sounding put-downs they achieve success in convincing God’s folk that God’s work should not look too nice. That style calls for apology, and a hint of class belongs only to the earthly.

“If it’s spiritual,” they assert, “it should not be too tasty or terribly expensive.”. For years we’ve lived with this reputation. There are some amazing exceptions on this gigantic lake, I am happy to point out, but not virtually enough. Generally, if the religion of a ministry is conservative so is its design.

Do you question that? Check with a missionary who latterly opened a grab bag of clothing from the States.

That is one of the explanations missionaries need a great humorous personality, incidentally.

It helps keep them from crying when they shake out the threads the traditional-thinking evangelical church sends their way. I know ; I have been there when they wear those things for their yearly costume party. Late one night, thousands of miles from America, after all the fun ‘n’ games were over ( when the children were down and our privacy was secure ), a few God’s choicest saints on foreign soil told me a couple of their techniques.

One couple related they had latterly received a box of clothing at least 20 years outdated, stained, with missing buttons and damaged zips. But the final story was told by the family who said their home church once mailed them a box that incorporated a container of used tea bags. Why have we welcomed the assumption magnificence and class have no place on the range of spirituality? Since when is it more religious to play a beat-up old upright than a fine baby grand? What makes us less snug working and worshiping in beautiful environment than in plain ones? Who ever asserted that modesty and beauty can’t coexist? I am fair ; I have searched the Scriptures to find statements that support such an extraordinary stress on cutting every business corner.

The sole place I find support for that ( you are not going to love this ) is in the personal realm, not in the field of God’s work. God’s Word inspires us to be careful individuals but generous ( dare I say extravagant? ) with Him. Time after time in the pages of the Lord God’s Book, the saints are cajoled to be magnanimous, liberal, openhanded. To such an extraordinary that some today would find themselves virtually unwell at ease trapped by such opulent loveliness. Do you see yourself in these words? How are you able to be a partner with the Lord in a pursuit of excellence and a dedication to beauty?

In part 1, we recognized that our society has welcomed a refined lie about affairs, believing that not only is the grass greener on the opposite side, it’s OK to hop the fence. What’s more, followers are pretty much as likely as nonbelievers to do the hopping. First, infidelity causes discomfort to the other. A wedding exists when a man and a girl are bound together, not by law but by love, and are brazenly promised to shoulder responsibility for one another, fortified by the sensation of total commitment that extends from the present into the future. Virtually all such weddings start with faith—which is to assert that a person and a lady trust themselves to one another.

It is together that they can seek accomplishment. The first breaking of that religion, the basic infidelity, predates any act of extramarital intercourse. It happens when one partner comes to a decision to turn away from his pal in search of intimacy or fulfillment—and keeps the choice a secret.

Also, the sexually disloyal hubby or other half must commit cash and time, as well as emotional and physical energy, to the secret “lover.” Whatever is given, in reality must be taken from one’s buddy. The tricked partner is basically paying for the cheater’s pleasure. To whatever extent infidelity momentarily relaxes the shallow evidence of discontent in a partner or wife—such as feeling homely or unappreciated—it camouflages the genuine malady and authorizes it to grow worse.

Troubled by the idea of a separation or divorce, the disloyal friend pretends to be constant while looking for satisfaction outside of the wedding. All of the risks despite, truthful showdown has it all over secret deception. The disloyal partner, who pretends that by keeping the “affair” a secret she protects their friend and guarantees the wedding, practices the deepest deception of all : self-deceit. Because the utilization of deceit transforms the person against whom it is utilized into an enemy, a self-deceived individual is clearly their own worst enemy. When we feel we must lie to someone that trusts us and whom we like, we are besieged in what trick cyclists call a “double bind.” Whatever we do, we lose. This is what a disloyal partner, for instance, faces when he returns home to a better half he truly loves. He wants to revive his sense of closeness with her, but he knows he won’t let her know what he’s done.

The lies are frequently comatose and tacit and so not marked by agony.

Rather than resolving conflict, it continues it ; the misled person lives a lie. He is sick and doesn’t feel the fever. I seriously doubt a lengthy list of biblical verses would be important to convince anybody that infidelity displeases God. When God announces, “Marriage is to be held in honour among all, and the wedding bed is to be undefiled ; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge” ( Hebrews 13:4 ), He means it. It is a stipulation that you have deep wishes.

The grass may indeed look greener on the opposite side of the fence. A loving God put the fence there for a reason.

The doleful fact is now not surprising—infidelity has attacked the ranks of professing Christians. The church body bears more nauseating scars than ever in its history, and rather than hiding those scars from the eye of the public, we now talk of them without much humiliation. They take a big breath, grin, and look accepting, long suffering, and if at all possible, attesting.

In The Parable of the Greener Grass, J Allan Petersen wrote:. A call for fidelity is a solitary voice crying in today’s sexual outback. What was once labeled adultery and carried a stigma of guilt and humiliation now is an affair—a nice-sounding, virtually inviting word wrapped up in puzzle, obsession, and excitement. What was once behind the scenes—a secret closely guarded—is now in the press releases, a Television theme, a bestseller, as common as the cold.

Weddings are “open” ; divorces are “creative.”.

Wherever you look, someone else’s buddy is invariably getting in or out of bed with somebody aside from their partner.

The shrapnel of such bombardments eventually gets embedded in our minds, brainwashing us into believing that adultery is basically healthy, renewing, and certainly comprehensible. Cheating isn’t a shameful act ; it has come expected now that it has been glamorized. It’s now fidelity, not infidelity, that requires protecting in our sex-saturated society. Folk who decide to stay dependable appear somewhere between mid-Victorian and square. They are about as recent as a kerosene lamp or a wringer washer. I read a while ago of a better half who went to lunch with eleven other ladies who were taking a French course together, because their kids were all in class. One rather bold type asked, “How plenty of you’ve been true throughout your marriage?” just one woman raised her hand.

That evening one of the ladies related the situation to her partner. When she confessed she wasn’t the one that raised her hand, her partner looked despondent.

“But I have been dependable to you,” she quickly warranted him. That is like being humiliated of good health in a pandemic. Or being embarrassed of escaping unhurt from a quake. But reputedly when it comes to having an “affair,” peer pressure shifts the shame away from the guilty. Our society wants to pretend an affair is a safe excitement. In an article they coauthored, they discussed 3 ways infidelity destroys the way forward for any wedding. 

In the reign of Oliver Cromwell, the UK government started to run low on silver for coins. Lord Cromwell sent his men on an enquiry of the local cathedral to determine if they could find any valuable metal there. The sole silver we could find is the statues of the saints standing in the corners. To that the radical infantryman and statesman of Britain responded. Not bad religion for a correct, puritanical Lord Protector of the Isles.

In some words, Cromwell’s command stated the essence. The practical objective of authentic Christianity. Not rows of silver saints, highly shined, frequently dusted, crammed into the corners of classy churches. Not plaster folks cloaked in thin layers of pristine silver and crowned with a metallic radiance. Liquified saints circulating thru the main line of humanity.

Bringing worth and worth down where life transpires in the raw. Without the faint aura of stained glass, the electrical modulation of the organ, and the familiar comforts of padded pews and dimmed lights. Out where bottom-line religion is top-shelf concern. We are able to start to consider ourselves martyrs as we are in church twice on Sunday—really sacrificing by investing a couple of hours on the “day of rest.” Listen, my friend, being among the saints is no sacrifice. The price tag factor happens on Mon. or Tues. . That is when we are “melted down and put into circulation.” That is when they’re going for the jugular.

And it is outstanding how that boring workweek test discolors many a silver saint. “Sunday religion” may appear adequate, but that is a long way from the truth. Perhaps that is the reason why words of the venerable soothsayer touch a nerve:. How are you going to manage in the thickets by the Jordan? Doing battle in the steaming jungle calls for shock troops in super shape. No rhinestone cowboys can cut it among the swamps and insects of the gross world system. Sunday-go-to-meetin’ silver saints in shining armor are simply out of circulation if that is the limit to their religion.

Refusal to surrender, even with the elephants tromping on your air hose. It’s all part of being “in circulation.” people who successfully wage war with silent heroism under relentless mundane pressure—ah, they’re the saints who know what it suggests to be softened.

You can keep your own record and come out smelling like a rose. Till the Lord calls for an inquiry of the local cathedral.

Whatever he became, according to his very own statement, Paul owed it all to “the grace of God.” When I contemplate the words from that grand apostle, I come up with what we would call his credo.

we will be able to reduce it to 3 single-syllable statements, the 1st composed from only 8 words ; the second, 10 words ; and the 3rd, 12. Sometimes , it helps to take a surpassing, multifaceted theological truth and outline it in easy, nontechnical terms.

First statement : God does what He does by His grace. Humanly talking, Paul should have been made to endure phenomenal suffering for all of the agony and heart-ache he had caused others. But he did not, because God exhibited His grace. That leads us to the second statement : I’m what I’m by the grace of the Lord God. It is like he were admitting, “If there is any goodness now found in me, I merit not one of the glory ; grace gets the credit.”.

What number of people who reach the top of their career say to the WSJ newshound or in an interview in Business Week, “I am what I’m by the grace of God”? How many athletes would say that sort of thing at a party in their honor? What a shocker it’d be today if somebody were to assert, “Don’t be impressed at all with me. My only claim to celebrity is the unjustified grace of God.” Such fairness is rare. There is a 3rd statement, which looks to be implied in Paul’s closing statement : I let you be what you are by the grace of The Lord God. Grace isn’t something simply to be claimed ; it is supposed to be demonstrated. It is to be shared, used as a basis for friendships, and drawn on for sustained relations.

Jesus spoke of an abounding life that we enter into when we claim the liberty He provides by His grace.

Would it be superb if folks cooperated with His game plan? There’s nada to be compared to grace when it comes to freeing others from bondage. 

3 ideas spring to mind as I suspect about living alongside the hazards of grace and putting all this into balanced living.

First, guard against extremes if you need to enjoy the freedom grace provides. Try your absolute best to keep balanced, then like it. Try this first : Simply give yourself authorization to be free. But nor should you spend a little time looking over your shoulder troubling about those that “spy out your liberty,” and thinking about what they’ll think and say.

2nd , treat grace as an unjustified privilege instead of an exclusive right. It’s all in one’s angle, isn’t it? It has zip to do with financial standing or where you reside or what garments you like or which vehicle you drive. 3rd , remember that while grace came to you openly, it cost the Savior His life. It may appear free, but it was very expensive when He bought it for us. And who would not wish to be free, since we’ve been acquired from the terrors of bondage? Grace is God’s universal good news of deliverance.

The crisis is that some continue to live lives in a deathlike bog because they’ve been so turned off by a message that is completely full of limitations, demands, negativism, and legalism. You will have been one of those held in bondage, victimised by a system which has robbed your joy and snuffed out your hope. And if you come into this camp of grace underneath the cross, you may never need to be in that nasty bog again.

God is looking to us to determine if the Cross of Christ is embellished on our hearts and lives. The early Christians adhered to the picture of the Cross as it helped them remember Jesus.

They didn’t see Him as still hanging on the cross, but viewed it as a symbol of God’s eternal love and forgiveness. So I may hold dear the old craggy cross, until my prizes at last I lay down ; I will be able to adhere to the old craggy cross, and exchange it some day for a crown.”.

The Cross wasn’t the end or the final word on the state of humankind.
It definitely was an obligatory step that needed to be taken by Jesus before God’s deliverance might be completely realized by all who would come to like and worship Him. When we take up the Cross of Christ, we crucify all that we are except for Jesus. This is our glory, and the empty cross represents our crucified life.

Any study of the life of the apostle Paul needs a good look at the topic of agony. Explaining Paul’s words to the Romans, John Stott writes, “It is not just our frail body which makes me moan ; it’s also our fallen nature, which obstructs us from behaving as we should. Some Christians smile too much ( they appear to have no place in their religion for agony ) and moan too little.”. I wrote a whole book attesting that God’s folk need to smile more.

I simply believe there isn’t a need to attach an abiding Cheshire smile to our faces, lest we appear to be we are not living a winning Christian life.

If a fellow follower tells you he is going thru an especially hard time, I beg you not to insist he grin. ( I tell the people at the church not to ask me to hear one of my tapes on joy when they spot I am feeling down. ) Don’t urge folks to sing together with you on some tune you suspect they deserve to be singing. My need is to help prepare you for what life will inevitably sling across your trail. I understand you could be bearing a burden or heart ache, the likes of which I haven’t ever known.

You could be existing with pressures or some weakening physical illness or emotional discomfort I could not even start to imagine.

In just about 4 decades of pastoral ministry, I have regularly seen the proof of inner turmoil surface on the faces of Almighty God’s folk. In those times, when I feel at a total loss to offer encouragement, I’m most grateful for the Scriptures. In the Lord God’s Word we not only discover His will for our lives, we find words of real comfort for those times when life comes unglued.

So take care not to smile too much and groan not enough. 

I need to dispense a fresh supply of hope. To help do that, let me suggest 4 principles.

They might mean more to you later than now—in a point when God leads you to attend in the shadows. As I write these words, it happens to me that I have never met any one young and patient.

( To be truthful, I have not met many old and patient folks either. ) We are all in a rush. We detest to miss one panel of a revolving door.

Patience comes hard in a hurry-up society.

Yet, it’s an essential quality, cultivated only in extended times of waiting. 2nd , as God makes us wait, hiding us in His shade, He shows us we aren’t essential.

One major reason the Lord removes us and has us wait in His shade is to remind us we are not the star attraction. I am convinced Paul never once queried God for having His hand on Peter and Barnabas, instead of on him. All of the while waiting for his time—correction, God’s time. 3rd , while God hides us away, He finds new dimensions of Himself and new revelations per ministry. What we need today isn’t smarter folk or busier folk. 4th , when God ultimately selects to use us, it comes at a time least predicted, when we feel the least qualified. The ideal set-up for a strong, effective ministry starts with surprise. “Me? You sure you do not want that other person? She has got great qualifications and plain gifts.

You’ll need to talk to her.” that is the concept. It’s refreshing, in this very effective age, to discover a few who are still dazzled at the way God is using them. 

How well do I know God? Absence of understanding about God’s personality and what pleases Him obstructs listening.

Do I think that God wants to chat to me? A poor self-image is one reason we have lifeless hearing. Do I live with a feeling of guilt? When we suspect Devil’s lies about not measuring up to God’s standard, we experience fake guilt, and our listening skills reduce.

Have I been too busy to take time for God? The Lord expects us to hear Him and reply, even in our busyness. Do I think God speaks thru His Holy Spirit? When we have unbelief about God chatting to us personally, we won’t hear His voice.

Am I indignant with God? Over time, God-directed anger can close our heart to His words. Have I made a decision on how I need God to answer? When we have got a rebellious spirit, we close our ears to any solution but our own. How well do I receive feedback and correction? Our inclination is to reject the messenger without determining if she or he was sent by God. ( Luke 8:18a ) now would be an excellent time to obey.