One more question from John 15

Why does Jesus command people who have been “pruned” and “purified” to “remain” if they can never fall away?

Picture me walking along the Golden Gate Bridge with my squirming 5 year old. I am holding his hand but I point down to the water below and say, “If you were to let go of my hand and fall over the edge, you would hit the water so hard it would kill you instantly. Now, hold my hand!”

I have just uses command and fear of consequences to shape his will to conform to mine, though I have no intention of letting him go.

Jesus does not merely hold us against our will. He uses command and threat and promise, (an appeal to our hedonistic nature – we want to live) to shape our desires so that they conform to his.

Php 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

So Jesus commands his true disciples, “remain in me!” with promise and threat attached to instill in us intelligent desire that honors him, rather than sloth and carelessness and yearning that does not bring him glory and us joy.

Questions arising from John 15

Q1. Does the fact that Jesus cuts off branches that bear no fruit mean that a joyless Christian can lose their salvation?

A1. There is no such thing as losing one’s salvation.
If God draws you to himself, he will not turn you away.

John 14:18
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

1 Corinthians 1:9
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Hebrews 13:5
God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

(We will talk more about this, this week.)

Jesus intention in John 15 is to encourage and reinforce participation in, commitment to, and a longing for… growth in godly character – specifically the joy of glorifying God, in his "true disciples: (Jn 15:8)

False disciples or “bread followers” (see the parable of the soils) abound and are often self-assured and self-deceived.

It is important that believers are occasionally called to examine their lives and endure the stress of that exam to ensure that we are indeed “true disciples”

2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you— unless, of course, you fail the test?

A good objective test is provided in 1John chapters 4-5
The result of coming through such an exam with a passing grade is confidence in prayer and confidence on judgment day.

1 John 4:17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Getting a high grade on any exam gives one confidence and joy and removes the self-doubt that is felt by many Christians who do not objectively examine themselves.

Q2 What is pruning in the life of the believer?
A2 Pruning is the painful loss of something we value (good or bad) at the sovereign hand of God who intends to show to us a deeper, more meaningful joy than we could have otherwise enjoyed.

Jesus physical presence was removed from the disciples.
This made them sad.

They received a resurrected Christ.
This made them happy.

The resurrected Christ ascended.
This made them bewildered.

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit.
This filled them with joy unstoppable

It is this same Spirit given to believers today that often we take for granted and de-prioritize in our own search for joy and satisfaction and pleasure and confidence and comfort and strength and courage and hope.

He has been given to produce in us a peace that passes understanding, a supernatural persevering joy, - giving evidence of the unseen - that we do not grieve like unbelievers (1Th 4:13) - displaying the character of God -all to the glory of God and our mutual joy.

Q3 Is every day sweeter than the day before?
A3 No. Some times it hurts… It just hurts, but…

Psalms 30:5 Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

I'm not a "shock-jock" preacher, but I believe that our sin and the struggle for true God-glorifying joy can at times be disturbing, perhaps too personal for the public spectacle of Sunday morning.

This blog, it was hoped, would create a forum for some honest and useful discussion. So far it has generated hundreds of hits but very little dialogue.

I can understand why we would not want to talk about some of these things. What would be helpful to know is if anyone finds this blog valuable in the pursuit of sanctification.

If not, I may discontinue this writing experiment and pour my energies into more interactive investments.

Please let me know by taking the survey on the right... Thanks!

January 6, 2009 10:26 a.m.
Let’s take the level of disclosure a notch deeper. Some time ago I was considering sleep and wondering if the time could be used more productively. I sometimes dream that I am working only to wake and find that I have accomplished nothing. The first step in this process would be to gain the ability to control dreams thus using the time to meditate, pray, consider decisions etc.

I once experienced the ability to control a dream and enjoyed a great vacation and conversation and awoke totally refreshed and happy. On another occasion toward the end of a block-buster dream I heard this interjection, “The plot line is running a little thin.”

In experimenting with the distinctions between a free-floating-dream-creator and an analytical-director as well as a moral-supervisor, I discovered that there were 3 parts of the brain each of which remained active or lay dormant during sleep.

These functions or “brains” roughly equate to Freud’s Id, Ego and Super Ego. Id the animal, Ego the moral store-house and preacher of beliefs and the Super Ego the analytical, ontological brain that seeks to arrive at conclusions to store in the Ego.

In discussing this, Theresa and I came across one more function or brain and I’m not sure where Freud puts this one, but we saw the function of religious intuition and mysticism that in the absence of reason or moral or instinct would make up stuff about God because hope demanded it.

I’ll save that one for later and speak to the animal the moral storehouse and the analyzer for now. Theses three brains can all be viewed in Psalm 42:5 which Martin Lloyd Jones wrote on in “Spiritual Depression”.

Ps 42:5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.

“Why are you downcast”
Here we see the analyzer talking to the animal trying to figure him out. There is an instinctive response to sustained feelings of bereavement tied to actual loss which causes the animal to withdraw and lick his wounds as it were.

The analyzer seeks to understand so that reason and right may prevail. Then the preacher from the moral storehouse joins in unison with the analyzer to encourage the animal…
“Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.”

The combined message from the analyzer and the preacher is this: "God’s praiseworthiness outweighs the reasons for despair, so decide now rather than later to respond to this truth."

Having all three of these functions working in unison is the key to how God shapes our desires and our emotions to honour him. When one breaks away there is internal strife, doubt and despair, thus… Ps 86:11 Give me an undivided heart.

I’ll write more on spiritual warfare on these three battle fronts next time.

December 15, 2008 12:06 p.m.

Last Monday morning, my 7 year-old Katy and I were trying to determine what the symbol was on the chocolate she was about to eat for breakfast from her “Hannah Montana 32 days of Chocolate - Christmas and New Year Countdown Calendar. (breathe) It was either a cross, or a sword, or a tulip, or a guitar, or a microphone. Katy ate it before we were able to draw out any deep Christmas sentiment.

As believers decorate their houses with Christmas decorations (especially those anatomically incorrect angels) let’s consider a couple of things, to more thoughtfully celebrate the incarnation.

Eph 5:10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.
Eph 5:17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

These verses are moral in focus, but we see in the symbols and celebration of Passover, (Ex 12) the life and death, moral importance of attention to detail. God had proved with the blood on the doorframes that symbols matter and are meant to invoke questions.

Ex 12:26 Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?'
27 And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.'”

Ex 13:8 “On the seventh day you must explain to your children, ‘I am celebrating what the LORD did for me when I left Egypt.’

Ex 13:14 “And in the future, your children will ask you, ‘What does all this mean?’ Then you will tell them, ‘With the power of his mighty hand, the LORD brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery.

The symbols and celebration of Passover, in fact, point us to Christ.

1Co 5:7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, at an arbitrary time of year, with capricious and pagan symbols and rituals, with inaccurate portrayals of timelines etc., I can’t help but wonder if the freedom to make up our own celebration has been a bane or blessing.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if revived evangelicals really looked closely at our traditions and tried to be more accurate and thoughtful in our celebration. What if we just changed one thing each year, like putting Gabriel (Lu 1:29 Mary was greatly troubled at *his* words…) on top of the tree instead of a winged “Barbie”.

Perhaps in time we might even make our own Exodus from a date that has been all but swallowed up by consumerism and aim at something a little more scientifically verifiable like September. (?)

But before we get completely crazy, maybe one of us will come up with a good idea that catches on and begins to reform our Christian tradition just a little. So I’m challenging you to experiment. Read Exodus 12. Consider the importance of symbol and celebration. Think about the questions you want your children to ask and the answers you will give them and shape your Christmas accordingly.
I would be interested to know how you make out

Dec 8, 08
I have experimented with two types of spiritual retreat. One is very much agenda driven with specific goals and timelines, the other is completely unstructured fellowship with Jesus and seeking to listen to him. Last summer I spent three days camping at Long-Point with my dog, “Max” and a bunch of books and a journal and God.

After adjusting to the loneliness and recognizing my relational “thirst” I directed it towards God and spent the mornings in devotional reading and writing and prayer.

The area of my life that the finger of mercy and grace pointed to specifically was anger.

Jas 1:20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

My expression of anger has, by default, been patterned after my dad’s. And although he has been with the lord for 14 years now, I don’t think I have ever buried him as my prime discipliner/example in this regard.

Biblically, that function belongs to an earthly father “for a little while” Heb 12:10 and intentionality is required, I discovered, to divert ones gaze in this respect.

I think this is what Jesus was doing in that strange little story, the only story from his childhood, after which Joseph seems to disappear from the pages of scripture.

Lu 2:42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.

And as the story goes, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem until his parents returned and found him, days later, an eternity in the hearts of parents. Jesus response was this,

Lu 2:49 "Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?"

It is as though Jesus made the leap from the jurisdiction of one discipliner/example to another, something perhaps we must all do intentionally.

Eph 5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Heb 12:6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Whether we have had good fathers or not, they are never perfect. As a child reaches the age of idealism (12 or so) he or she will be able to see those imperfections quite clearly.

Perhaps this is our cue as parents to begin pointing our children more intentionally towards the example we are imperfectly following ourselves, as we replace what our parents modeled to us with what God displays to us everyday.

Ro 5:8 But God demonstrates (present tense) his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

La 3:22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

On Nov 13 08 I came across a note in my day-timer referring to this new discipline I had sought to put in place on that trip. The note read, “Am I more patient, loving?” Months after putting this new thought in place, I was able to register some internal victory.

I need to make more progress here, but there are measurable results and a sense of encouragement that still flows from this unstructured time away. God is my example and provides discipline in a way that I want to model to my kids. He reminds me how I should respond when anger tempts me to simply fall in to old patterns. He points out where I need to apologize at home.

Next up: Let’s experiment with Christmas a little.

Dec 2, 08
Ps 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good.

Typically, any intentional tasting that we do involves a clean and discerning palate. The picture of someone seeking to appreciate a new wine, while at the same time chewing gum, is meant to be farcical.

Any desire to experience the lord, to know him better, will require laying aside some competing happiness, whether the pleasure of sin, or some legitimate satisfaction like sleep, or food, or sex, or the company of people.

We may experience lack in these areas for some other reason and bemoan our situation, or brag about it, but when they are laid aside for the sake of meeting with God, experiencing him, seeing more of him, gaining insight and wisdom and joy in holy companionship with him, he sees and honors in ways we might not have imagined.

The thrice repeated guarantee from Mt 6, when you give, pray and fast, in secret, is this, “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” “Reward” is not mentioned as a mere possibility. This is an underscored promise. There will be something to seek and find and keep.

Once you have tasted and found something good, it is expected that you would add it to your diet, a new discipline, a new insight, becomes part of the new normal. This is one way God grants new desires and along with them, new fulfillment and satisfaction and spiritual growth and happiness in him.

Gaining increased contentment with God by means of any intentional self-deprivation will include trial and error. It takes practice and tweaking like anything else.

The aim is always to divert the natural impulse to reliance on Christ, seeking after Christ, listening, waiting, recording our lessons and prayers to draw on when we don’t have the emotions or the words that would naturally attract us to him.

This past summer, I took 3 days camping alone with no agenda other than to listen. What I learned, I am still, as of yesterday, seeking to apply. And I am finding success because of the experience at Long-Point. I’ll talk more about this next time.