Author: Craig

Think about thinking.

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Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord….

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit…  Ephesians 5:8-10, 15-18

Have you spent some time lately thinking about how you are thinking?

God is interested in your metacognition. The quality of your life with Him and in all your relationships depends on it.

Here’s some questions to help:

Are you living as a child of light? The Gospel brings us into the revelation of the glory of God in Christ and into the reality of God’s comprehension of our whole lives. No need to hide before Him. Bring your life honestly and in its rawness to Him.

Is your thought process informed by an increasing desire to please God? If so you will be seeking to discern what is pleasing to God.

Are you paying attention to your life and relationships in order to live wisely? Are you living in a bubble or are you aware of the interconnectedness of your life to God through Christ, to people, to yourself, and to the stuff of earth?

Are you seeking to make the most of your time in each day? Is there any urgency in how you use your time?

Are you seeking to be full of the Holy Spirit? The mind and life under the influence of the Spirit of God is the grace available to us who are in Christ Jesus. The counter concern is that we not give up the capacities of mental engagement to drunkenness. Such a life leads to the persistent relinquishment of our thinking ability and leads us into habituated patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting that are in opposition to Jesus.

Are you thinking about your thinking yet?

I had a friend who used to say to me when he didn’t like what was coming out of my mouth or anyone else’s, “Now that’s stinking thinking!” When you hear it, repent, and ask the Spirit of God to align your thinking with the truth and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Incompatible.

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3But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not become partners with them; 8for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.   Ephesians 5:3-10

Out of place. Incompatible.

When we are walking in the love of Christ Jesus, these actions and pursuits are out of place.

Sexual immorality.

Impurity.

Coveting.

Filthy, foolish, crude speech.

I find it interesting that Paul was already aware of how people are prone to excuse, justify, and accommodate these vices. He warns, “Let no one deceive you with empty words…” In other words, some people will say these are compatible with Jesus. Yet, the Gospel gives us a vision of the crucified Jesus giving himself as a sacrifice for our forgiveness for these very vices (5:1-2). The wrath of God came upon Him so that His followers could walk in this love, truth, and grace. These things are incompatible with our new identity in Christ. We are no longer “sons of disobedience,” but now in Christ we are His “beloved children.”

What to do when I see these in me? Walk in His love. Depend on the Spirit. Move into repentance and belief.

What to do when I see these in fellow Christians with whom I share life? Gently call them to a greater vision of His love, dependence on the Spirit, and movement into repentance and belief.

Walk this way.

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1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

The love we walk in is the love we offer to others. I share Paul’s hope for the church in Ephesus as a hope for Origin. Our vision of God shapes our love.

Shall we give ourselves up for another’s benefit?

Shall we be reduced to a fragrance?

Shall we live sacrificially?

Our capacity for giving, humility, and sacrifice will grow as we abide in the Kingdom of God knowing that we have become His child. At times imitation requires intention. But in the power of the Spirit of God may our imitation of Jesus become the unconscious byproduct of His renewal and transforming work of our very character.

Reflections on The Cup Song in Gaeilge

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The Cup Song! In Gaeilge in Northern Ireland. This is a celebration of the recovery of language. Once forbidden in the North, the language is enjoying a revival. Its a language I have never spoken. Though having driven the coast of Ireland twenty years ago I heard it and entered villages that had little English. And I just about fell out of my chair when my cousins came in from a night of cards and music and said, “It was good craic!”

The revival of language is not without its politics and complications. In Canada we surely shall grieve the loss of First Nations languages. And around the world, languages are dying. When a language dies, knowledge dies too. Embodied in the language are ways of knowing the world, stories and culture. As a follower of Jesus I am able to rejoice in the revival of language and the knowledge and even the identity contained within it. Common grace.

I had a lunch with a friend last week. He shared of his spiritual journey. He said something like this: “When I started with Jesus God spoke to me only in English. But now he speaks to me in Japanese.”  I’m really happy about this. The heart. God speaks the languages of the heart. John’s vision given by God is of a great celebration of Jesus by people from all nations, peoples and languages.

Having said that, it must be noted that in the politics of language, culture, and identity do require wisdom, truth and grace. There is so much pain there. Although we can study it, we need the grace of God to move into reconciled relationships and even to assist in the recovery of languages and the rebuilding of peoples. I don’t know how to do this so I am thankful for those who are studying and labouring at it. Who else will sing the cup song?

More than that I find myself wondering, “Who else will be singing the  Salvation Song before the Lamb?

9After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Revelations 7:9-17

The 6, 8, 10 Principles

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How are you making lifestyle decisions?

How do you think about your life as a follower of Jesus?

Do you have a short list of “nots” or oughts? Or perhaps more helpful do you have a short list of questions to ask yourself?

A pastor during my university years shared a short list of questions drawn from 1 Corinthians 6, 8, and 10. On many occasions I have reflected on my life by considering these questions. Most lifestyle decisions I made ahead of the crisis moment by taking stock of God’s Word and these simple questions.

Could this action or substance take control of me?

12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 1 Corinthians 6:12-13

Could my action(s) cause another believer with whom I share fellowship to stumble?

11And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. 1 Corinthians 8:11-13

Is this action going to make a positive contribution to the life of another person? or How does this help build-up someone else?

23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24

Can I pursue this course of action for the glory of God, displaying the glory of God?

31So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. 1 Corinthians 10:31-33