Authentic Sharing
If you missed Jonathan Pokluda speak last Sunday about How do we Discern God’s will for our Life: Being LED at Work. Go Check it out and process it with your community group. Go to: http://www.watermarkradio.com/
Here are some great questions that he sent us:
-Do I find identity in what I do?
-Furthermore, am I marked by my career more than I am a follower of Christ?
-Do I find identity in what I make?
-Furthermore, what is my first motive for wanting to make more?
-Do I seek to provide for my family above and beyond what they need?
-Furthermore, at what expense do I seek to provide for my family above and beyond what they need. (If they NEED $30K at a cost of 40 hours per week no travel, but I seek to make $100K at the expense of 55 hours per week and 20% travel, is this a fair trade off?)
-How do I steward the resources above and beyond what we need?
-Do I view work as an act of worship?
-Do I work diligently and ethically in the time allotted?
If you haven’t read Counterfeit Gods, It’s another great book that helps you really get below the surface level of the symptoms and work through issue of the heart. He does a great job of tying in the idea that your theology drives your actions. Here’s a great quote that would be a a fantastic exercise to work through as a group.
“Archbishop William Temple one said, ‘Your religion is what you do with your solitude.’ In other words, the true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention. What do you enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about? Do you develop potential scenarios about career advancement? Or material goods such as a dream home? Or a relationship with a particular person? One or two daydreams are no(t) an indication of idolatry. Ask rather, what do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort in the privacy of your heart?”
Hope you find increasingly more freedom to be real with people this week as you uncover idols together. His people are His provision for you. He is the only place to find life (John 6:68).
Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges
I just finished a great read that you may have knocked out before I did, but this is a great community resource. Over the last 3 years I have noticed a few aspects of how sin is dealt with within a community. The “gross sins” of our society like adultry, pornography, addiction to drugs/alcohol get a ton of attention, while all of the other “sins” fly under the radar. We are called in scripture as believers to radically deal with sin in our lives like to “gouge it out” and “train ourselves for godliness”, and “to love the Lord our God with all of our heart” (meaning all of our essence). This book goes after all of the sins that fly “under the radar”.
Here’s a few named in the book: worldiliness, pride, selfishness, ungodliness, pride, control, etc.
Here’s a great example: how many pastors have you ever known that got fired for pride or control? Does God want us to radically deal with these two issues in our life…yes.
So here’s why this is a great read, It helps us focus on areas of our lives that WE (not someone else) need to take ground in and ask for the Lord to transform us in. I say that because it’s alot easier in communal life to see other people’s sins as a bigger deal than your own and with greater clarity. In communal life think: your community group, your marriage, your family, your roommate, and coworkers.
So, If you have a problem identifying an area of your life that is ungodly, this is a book that levels the playing field and exposes the root of the specific sin and doesn’t just deal with the symptoms. I wrote down several areas in my life that I need to confess, ask for forgiveness, and train myself for godliness in these areas, while asking the Lord to change my heart. It’s a great book to read during the first year of community, so that you can invite others into your life to help you see blind spots. Hope you enjoy the book, and that the scripture in it produces conformation into the character of Christ. Have a great week of growing with others. rb
Just finished up reading through Chr0nicles yesterday and Ezra today, which by the way the two books are nicely dovetailed in the Last paragraph of Chronicles and the First chapter of Ezra…very fun. One passage that shows up several times in these two books is, “He is good; his love endures forever” (1 Chron. 16:34; 41;2 Chron. 5:13; 7:3, 6; 20:21; Ezra 3:11)
Here’s a great exercise for thanksgiving with family and friends and maybe even your next time meeting as a community, just unpack this one verse. How have you seen this love demonstrated?
“He is good; his love endures forever”
Here’s a way to up the ante…don’t make your answer about material things the Lord has given you to steward like money, house, wife, etc. (even though none of those are bad things), but make your answer about his character and his response to you.
If you want, you can define love by the Lord’s Patience, kindness, mercy, gentleness, truthfulness, peace with you, faithfulness, or goodness towards you (gal 5 and 1 Cor 13).
Here’s a two of mine:
The Lord has shown me his enduring love thorough his faithfulness when I have been unfaithful and rebelled and put myself in the center of my world.
The Lord has shown me truth, he has opened my eyes so that I can see Jesus for who He really is and He is continually showing me that everything outside of him and obedience to him is fleeting.
Give thanks for his Love endures forever. Happy Thanksgiving!
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Proverbs 28:13
I was very encouraged last week by a visit to a men’s time over breakfast. It was great to hear them confess and forsake sin and a to see mercy and acceptance from men who have a few years of mileage between them. Here are the questions that they weekly ask each other.
- What has intimacy with your wife look like this week? (Marrieds only)
- What has purity looked like this past week?
- What has God taught you over the past week?
- Is there anything else big going on in your life?
Hey guys, thanks to everyone who came out to our training sessions last night. I was so encouraged by the questions that people came up with last night in my class, Going Beyond the Supper Club, that i wanted to post them so all could benefit. The talk was about driving for depth in your community and going after aspects in our life that are below the surface not just the symptoms. Scripture uses the word “Heart” to define the inmost part of a person: his will, desire, emotions, feelings, the core of who you are. So, if these questions seem different than ones you may be asking people in your community group, know that the context of these questions is going after biblical “heart”. Hope one or two of the questions will help your community group go below the surface. Rob
Here are great questions to ask around people in your community group processing issues with scripture:
1)What scripture this week is tearing out your heart?
2) How are you applying what you read this week?
3) How have you been meditating on scripture this week? (Ps. 1)
4)How have your feelings or emotions lined up with scripture this week?
5) How are you taking every thought captive? (2 Cor. 10)
6) What is an area of your life that the Lord wants to free you of?
Here are accountability questions to ask:
1) Who did you hurt this week or who has been hurt by your actions?
2)Who have you asked for forgiveness this week?
3) What were some the feelings, thoughts, emotions that you had before you sinned?
4)What have you struggled with this week?
5)What is something in you that is unloving?
6) What has consumed you this week?
7) What scripture speaks into you situation this week?
I’ve been doing a lotof thinking just around the topic of prayer and specifically how we pray. Prayer tends to be focused around changing circumstances vs praying to conform into the image of Christ. Just let that sink in for awhile… Think about how we typically talk about prayer requests or take prayer requests from our community of friends. Typically it’s about asking the Lord to change something outside of us.
Here’s a few examples: “My mom is sick, pray that the Lord would heal her”, “pray for my job, my boss is driving me crazy”, “pray that a buyer buys our house”, “pray that my brother would be saved”, or “pray for my relationship with my girlfriend around purity”. Sound familiar?
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.-Romans 8:29
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
So how do we begin to ask for prayer around conformation and as we lead people and teach them about prayer?
So, take the double fake “prayer requests” I listed above. Think though how you would move peoples requests towards conformity prayer.
“My mom is sick, pray that the Lord would heal her”–> “Pray that I would believe that the Lord is Good (Ps. 100) even in the midst of mom’s sickness, and that the Lord would heal my mom.”
“pray for my job, my boss is driving me crazy” –> “pray that I would demonstrate patience (Gal. 5) and Contentness (Phil 3) and a love for my boss who feels like an enemy (matt. 5)”
“pray that a buyer buys our house” –> “Pray that the Lord would make me content even if no one buys our house and gives me peace (Gal 5)”
“pray that my brother would be saved” –> “Pray that my brother would be saved, that I would trust that only God can open his eyes (Luke 24:45), and for boldness on my part (2 Cor. 3:12). “
“pray for my relationship with my girlfriend around purity”. –> “Pray that I would find contentment in the Lord, that he would be enough to satisfy (phil 3-4) and that i would find life in being obedient to the king around purity (1 Cor. 6)”
I think you get the point. Not that we shouldn’t pray for external circumstances, but our focus should be internal conformation. The overwhelming model Paul gives us in his letters is not to get out of prison, which had to be miserable if you have ever seen a dungeon or ancient prison, but that the he would look like Christ in prison to those the Lord put in his path.
So, how are you doing modeling this? How well is your group doing here? Try asking this question next time you are taking prayer requests, “hey what do you think the Lord would like to change in you around the issue you just mentioned”. Also, it will let you know people very well and where they need to grow. It will drive for incredible depth. Let me know what you think. Rob
Out of all of the elements that are the makeup of authentic biblical community, confession is the value and action that carries the most weight with me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not disagreeing with Jesus in Matthew 22 when He says that the two greatest commandments are loving God and loving others, I simply believe confession is an action that kills two birds with one stone. My life has changed dramatically as I have meditated on James 5:16, “therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other, so that you may be healed.” Let me briefly flush out the “stone of confession” as seen in community. Now, I get upset stomach thinking about confessing to my wife and my guys group that I got stuck watching 5 minutes of Spike TV, where women were not fully clothed, but there is healing there.
We have a God that has not only saved us eternally, but wants to redeem, deliver, and save us out of something right now. Just for fun, watch how Jesus always wants to pull people out of their current situation and have them find life in Him. So, confession is the act of communicating two truths to God and others: 1) the sin that I have run to and 2) I am trusting the Lord to save me out of this sin. The act of trusting God is the action of loving God, and it is loving others enough to let people know, “the true you.” John Cox always says, “Facts are your friends,” which is a statement that I love but the reality of the facts are hard to swallow. Communicating to people around you, “the facts” about who you are allows them to participate and watch a transforming and saving God work in your life. Leaders are people who lead out and set the culture around them. How are you leading out in the area of confession? What sin do you need to confess to those in your community, so that you can be known and that they can know what God is saving you out of?
By: Rob Barry
