This morning I had a great time sharing Psalm 119:57-64 with a group of students at the middle school located next to our church.  When I was done, they began asking me questions about the Bible and I am not just talking about the easy ones, either.  They wanted to understand some hard things.

I love to read.  I love to think.  I love it when those two things collide in God's revelation to us in the written word. Yet I sense in myself and in others a reluctance to wrestle with things that are difficult, unnerving, or challenging in the text.  When I have been tempted to gloss over these things in the past, I have been reminded of the story of Jacob and his midnight wrestling match with God.

Jacob didn't stand a chance. The wrestling match wasn't so that God could show His power or superiority.  No, the wrestling match was for Jacob, and in some ways, more importantly for us.  We and Jacob both learn from the struggle.

I am not suggesting that this passage, Genesis 32:22-32, is telling us that we have to struggle with Scripture. However, I believe that the experience Jacob had is in a small way our experience as we wrestle with difficult and challenging texts of Scripture.  We must be diligent to grab hold and not let go until God reveals Himself through the word.

We are finite beings seeking to know, love, and understand an infinite being. The very reality of the situation should cause us to expect some difficulty.  Yet it is when the match is over and our eyes have been opened that we find our faith strengthened, our joy bolstered, and our perseverance enhanced.

So I ask, do you wrestle with the word?

In my last post, I reflected on the theme of God's sovereignty in the first four chapters of Daniel.  This is one of the concepts I think we often know, but the implications escape us. Yet as we seek to understand scripture we must seek both meaning and application.  Application in many cases may be understanding how a bedrock truth should effect the way we think about common areas of our lives as followers of Christ. For example, as I was reading these chapters, I felt that there are some powerful implications for missions found in Daniel's presentation of God's sovereignty.

The fact that God is sovereign over every nation, means that He is the rightful King of all peoples.  He is the King of those who recognize Him and He is King of those who have never heard of Him.  As I have heard it said, He is not merely a tribal deity.  He is the one and only God of the Universe.  The proper response of His subjects is humble and joyful submission to His loving and gracious rule.  In fact, this is what Daniel pleaded with Nebuchadnezzar to do:

"Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity." Daniel 4:27

True missions is not a mere making of converts.  Missions is calling rebellious citizens to the King's palace that they might experience and live in the fullness of life and joy found in Him.

This same idea hit me this summer as I attended the World Changers project in Savannah.  I was praying with Carrie and the summer staff one night when Keyla, who is from Puerto Rico, began to pray in Spanish.  As she was praying, God showed me a blindness I didn't realize I had.  I knew He was God over the earth.  At that time, He reminded me that when I go on mission, I am not introducing them to a foreign King, I am telling them of their God.  He already is God of the nations whether they know Him or serve Him.  My role is to be an ambassador of the King and call them to recognize Him.

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." 2 Corinthians 5:20

In my personal study time, I have been reading the book of Daniel.  I have finished the first four chapters and there is a powerful recurring theme I have noticed: the sovereignty of God in all things.  After reading chapter four, I went back and looked over the previous chapters and reflected on how God's sovereignty is seen up to that point.  Here is what I found:

Picking up where we left off yesterday in our discussion of questions about serving in missions when others caution you against going, there are a couple more questions to ask...

3. Is this naivete or a calling?

In Paul's speech to the Ephesian elders, he states, "And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me." (20:22-23)  Paul was not naive about his mission.  He was going, knowing that there were assured dangers ahead.

We are most often not going to find ourselves in this situation.  We may know that there is the possibility of danger in our mission, but the assurance Paul had is rare.  Yet we must not blindly ignore the calls of someone who tells us of the inherent danger in a situation.

When we hear of the powerful works of God and the great destinations offered, we can be really excited about the opportunity to go to a far away state or land.  And yet our desire must be proclaiming the greatness of Christ to those who haven't heard and not just a sanctified vacation.  Missions may very well take us places we find are beyond words and to people who have an awe inspiring effect on us.  However, the allure of the opportunity must not close our eyes and cause us to make an unwise decision.  God's call is of primary importance, the place will be beautiful, whether it is across the street or across the globe.

4. Why don't they want you to go?

We must not make the assumption that those who do not want us to go are against God's call in your life.  At the same time, they are not necessarily a prophet, speaking God's direction for you.  A good question for us to ask is their motive for telling you not to go.

Those who loved Paul did not want him to go because they knew he was in danger.  Their concern was for his life.  He as dear to them and losing him would cause them great pain.  And yet they also had a genuine desire to see the Kingdom of God advanced and the work of the Spirit to continue. Through their tears they sent Paul to fulfill God's call on his life.

Not everyone is able to put their personal feelings secondary to a desire to see Christ's name proclaimed.  It may be for many reasons.  If we know this, then we may have insight as to why they may not want us to go.  We find Christ's command in coming to bear here: ""If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."  A love for His glory is primary.

I in no way believe that asking these questions will be easy or enable us to make a quick decision.  I do however believe that when they are discussed and prayed over earnestly, God will direct, Christ will be honored, and the Spirit will move through us to reach our neighborhoods and the nations.

In last week's post, I looked at the struggle found in making the decision as to whether or not you should go on mission (read either short-term or long term) when you are being counseled not to go by people who genuinely care about you.  Serving as a student pastor, I have face this on several occasions. Parents who are committed to Christ are faced with a difficult decision when their child wants to go and serve in a distant place.  Some places that even brought somewhat of a danger.

All believers are called to be on mission in the context in which God has placed them (Matthew 28:18-20, Colossians 4:5-6, 1 Corinthians 7:21-24). Not everyone is called to go and be a part of every opportunity (3 John 5-8).  We must see to make our decisions based on direction from Scripture and from much prayer.  In that light there are a few questions that I believe are good for us to ask if we find ourselves in this kind of situation.

1. Are you under your parent's authority?

Our four-year old has memorized three verses of scripture.  One of them is "Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right."  Paul goes on to instruct children that honoring their father and mother was the first commandment with a promise.  Parents have been given the responsibility and privilege by God to teach and raise their children in a way that they would know and love God with all they are. This would include being faithful to the call He has placed on their lives.


The key to this passage, especially as it relates to our topic, is the phrase "in the Lord." Parents must not stop their children from being faith out of sheer worry or fear. To do so is to ignore Paul's admonition to fathers in to "not provoke their children to anger." At the same time, those under their parent's authority must not ignore their parents direction simply because they "really, really, really want to go!"

When this type of situation comes, parents and child should spend time together talking through concerns and desires and praying earnestly together.  Both sides must be willing and open to God changing their perspective and be willing to submit to his leadership.  In the end, parents must seek God's leadership and make the decision they believe is what God would have them do, even if this is unpopular.  If a parent has made that decision, trust that God will honor your desire to serve and open a door that both you and your parents will see as a prefect opportunity.

2. Is this a good idea or God's idea?

A desire to share the Gospel is a good thing.  Period.  Yet there are times when we desire to go one direction when God would have us to go in another direction.  In Acts 16:6-7, Paul and his companions are stopped from going into two different regions by the Spirit.  Upon first reading, this may seem somewhat strange to us.  Why did God stop them from going and spreading the Good News?  We find the answer in verses 9-10.  God wanted them to go to Macedonia, so he sent Paul a vision.

Most of the time, God does not speak to us in visions.  Yet he does use His Word and His church.  It may be that God is using those who are urging you not to go as a means of redirecting your focus and energy.  If their counsel is both biblical and saturated with a desire for the glory of Christ among the nations, we would be fools to pay no attention.  Wisdom would lead us to at least consider if their counsel is God's way of moving us from a good idea to His idea.  It may actually be God's way of confirming the call in our lives as we hear their counsel, pray passionately, and still feel compelled to go.

Tomorrow I will post two more questions and some brief closing thoughts

Missions have always been important to me. Some of my earliest memories are sitting at church in a group known as "Mission Friends." I started taking mission trips as soon as I was able and haven't looked back.

In my role as a pastor, I have tried to pass this passion on to those God has given me the priveledge to serve. By God's grace there have been several who have developed a heart for missions. It is exciting to see their enthusiasm grow and their faces shine as they return, eager for the next opportunity.

This morning, my heart was stirred as I read my Bible. I usually post my thoughts about my readings on Twitter. However, this morning I needed more than 140 characters.
I am reading through the New Testament with our students. This mornings reading was in . To be honest, this thought actually began in chapter 20. Paul is on his way to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit has testified to him that he faces "imprisonment and afflictions." (Acts 20:20) As he moves closer to Jerusalem, more and more people testify that this is the case. Finally a prophet named Agabus demonstrates with Paul's belt the way he would be bound by the Jews and handed over to the Gentiles. Paul's friends respond the way we would expect:

"When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem." (Acts 21:12)

This is one of those "we" passages in Acts where Luke, the writer of the book, places himself in the narrative. Even he desired for Paul to stop his trip to Jerusalem. All of those who loved Paul dearly did not want him to go because of the great danger involved. And here is Paul's reply:

"Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 21:13)

Their love was dear to him. Their concern overwhelming. And yet all of their concern was not enough to make him turn back from the path God had placed before him. And so Paul went and by the end of chapter 21 he has been beaten and is in the custody of the Romans.

God does not call us to go on vacation. He calls us to go on mission. To be on mission is to go to those who are hostile to the Gospel. This hostility may be civilized (a polite, "no thanks") or it may even be physically violent. It also means quite often leaving our comfort zone and place of perceived safety. When we contemplate this, those who love us are rightly concerned about us. If they weren't, we would have to question their love. Sometimes they are like Paul's companions and beg us not to go.

This can place us in a very precarious situation. Are they God's way of telling us that we may not need to go? Are they voices that love us greatly yet stand with Paul's companions, "breaking our hearts" but not in-line with God's call?

Though I do not believe that there are easy answers to these questions, I think that if we think Biblicaly, we can find a direction that is Christ-honoring and at least somewhat comforting to our loved ones. Tomorrow I will present some of my thoughts on this.

I enjoy the study of theology. I am one of those guys who would
gleefully spend hours pouring over a book written by a guy who died a
couple hundred years ago about theories of the atonement. Yet lately I
have come to realize all the more that study is nothing if it is not
lived out.

My dad once told me, somewhat tongue in cheek, that those who can, do,
and those who can't, teach. While that certainly is not a hard and
fast rule, I feel that without caution it could become the case in my
life. Knowing what to tell someone is one thing. Living theology day-
in and day-out is another.

This has become even more evident as I have walked with friends
through rough spots in their lives. It has become more evident as I
have become a husband and father. It is has become more evident as I
have served as a pastor for the past five years.
So now I press on to bridge the chasm and become more and more in
practice what I have learned in my study. (And I am starting now as my
boys eagerly ask me to come "play bugs.") May God grant me grace to
become a godly man in more than just theory.

In my previous post, I hoped to explore why the call to repentance is a good thing based upon Peter's call in Acts 3.  The first of those reasons is that we may have our sins blotted out.

Imagine for a moment that you were in a bad car accident. As a result of the trauma, your hearing is damaged.  As you stagger out of the mangled wreckage, a semi-truck is barreling towards you.  If I am standing on the side of the road, what is the kindest thing for me to do?  It's to let you know the truck is coming and to help you get out of the road!

While this analogy has its limitations, it is helpful for me to understand why calling people to repent of their sins is an act of kindness.  Without their sins forgiven, they have the holy wrath of God barreling towards them.  The only way that they escape is to "repent and believe" (Mark 1:15).

When thinking of this, there are two passages that come to mind:

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Romans 2:4-5

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

Our call to a person to repent of their sin is a call to escape God's wrath and live in the kindness and patience of God that lead them to Him.  Rather than condemnation, the call to repentance is a plea to have our sins removed and reconciliation be made between us and God.  We don't want them to be like us.  Rather we want them to know Christ.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  2 Corinthians 5:18-21

Be kind to someone and call them to repent.

The call for repentance for some conjures up images of a self-
righteous preacher type telling everyone the need to shape up and be
more like him. But this is far from the Biblical view.
In Acts 3, Peyer and John are on their way to the Temple for prayer.
Before they get in, God heals a lame man through them. When this
joyous trio gets into the Temple, they draw quite a crowd. Peter
seizes the opportunity to tell those around about Jesus. He ends by
calling them to repent. Not so that they can be like him, but so that
they will receive three things:

1. That their sins may be blotted out
2. That times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord
3. That He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.

My hope is to take each of these three and explore them each in a
little more detail over the next several days. I feel there is much to
be discovered.

A few weeks ago, I returned from my second trip to Ethiopia. My original intent was to write a series of posts based on my experiences there. That still may come. Yet as I was thinking more about it, I wanted to expound on something I shared with our congregation as we reported on our trip this past Sunday evening.

There are some great texts in the Bible which guide us towards missions. A couple that come to mind quickly are some that we can be very familiar with:

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Acts 1:8

These passages are rightly used for missions. They encapsulate Christ's commands and give us a clear understanding of the directive before us. Yet these are not the only passages in Scripture that speak of missions. In fact, I believe the book of Psalms is very missional in nature.

Over the next couple posts I want to explore Psalm 96 and how it in particular can move us to a greater appreciation and desire to be involved in God's mission to the world.

Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth! Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity." Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Psalms 96:1-13

I have often described sin as brokenness or being "busted up" inside. There are things about me that are definitely broken. Things that are so "busted up" that I painfully wish they would be fixed. They are weaknesses that I strive to overcome and yet progress often is set back by occurrence of another example of my multiple imperfections. The words of David Crowder in the song "Wholly Yours" seem to be my motto:

"But the harder I try the more clearly can I feel
The depth of our fall and the weight of it all
And so this might could be the most impossible thing
Your grandness in me making me clean"

It is amazing how my fallenness affects me. Outside of the moral realm, I fall short of being what I should be. For me it most often comes in the form of forgetfulness. The sheer number of times I sincerely meant to do something or told my family and friends that I would follow through only to be erased from my memory in the span of seconds is beyond counting. How many times has my precious wife asked me to help here to perform a small task or have I told someone, "Oh yeah, I need to do ___" only to have it prance away in the black hole that is my memory. I don't even want to try to count because it passed ridicuolous several miles ago.

Oh yeah, there are factors. There are at times reasons, even ones that are very good. Reasons that can even pass for good excuses and sometimes even earn forgiveness and understanding on the part of those who were forgotten. Yet even those factors only serve to highlight the fact that I am broken.

I only have one hope. Grace. In some ways I mean grace from others. But really I mean God's grace. The all sufficient, weakness-magnifying, sin-killing grace that flows like a rushing river from the cross. The grace Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Now I don't think Paul wanted to be weak or that by boasting in his weaknesses he meant that he would let sin just have its effect. I believe that in the situation he found himself in he embraced Christ's grace at an even deeper level. His brokenness and weakness was left there by God to deepen his dependence on and understanding of grace.

God's grace does not cover our weaknesses or take them all away. Some times it brings them to the surface and we see all the more the power and magnitude of the love of God for us. Christ loves the broken and needy. His grace is not the one-time fix all. It is the eternal love of God dispalyed to us in Christ in spite of us! It is sufficient for even those weaknesses we struggle with until this life is over. In fact, it is sufficient for eternity:

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:4-7

I believe everyday I am more and more aware of my deep need for God's grace in every area of my life. I am learning of its sufficiency and am prayerful that it will work in me in ways that in spite of my weaknesses will bring God much glory.

Tonight we were on the back deck, getting ready to grill. Something fell from one of the trees and made a loud clank as it hit the roof of our small storage shed. Caleb, our three year old, asked, "what was that, Daddy?!" so I told him. Then he asked the obvious follow up question, "why did it fall?" I then began to attempt an explanation of gravity to him. In the middle of what I thought was a good explanation, he said, "hey Daddy watch my car!" and drove it down the steps.

As he drove his Hot Wheel monster truck down the handrail, I couldn't get gravity out of my mind. What would life be like without it? It is essential for all that we know. Without it, my grill would float away. Without it, my excitement over college football season would be pointless. Without it, driving to the hospital for the arrival of our third child would be precarious at best.

Gravity is God's idea along with electricity, atoms, seasons, and everything else we take for granted or think nothing of from day to day. When you take a moment and actually stop to think about how amazing gravity is, how can you not stand in awe of the infinitely creative, powerful, and sovereign Creator?!?!

"For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!" Psalms 92:4-5

I am grateful for Scripture. Not because I am a preacher. I am thankful because there is a supernatural comfort that comes when we least expect it. I am thankful because God still speaks through it to calm, comfort, and convict us. Sometimes when we least expect it.

When we are putting the boys to bed and are praying, we often thank Jesus for the Bible. I feel that so deeply this morning. The gift of the Word is beyond precious. May I never treat it any less.

"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward."
Psalms 19:7-11

This post is the third so far in a series about loving God with your mind. You can read the first one here and the second here. As I have continued to pontificate on this matter there seems to be an interesting facet of loving God with your mind. We must use our mind to sort through what is true and what is false teaching.

There are so many things in our culture that are labeled Christian. Everything from best-sellers to television pastors are easily accessible to someone who take even a few seconds to look. And many of these things are extremely popular. Yet the question I have is this: how many believers actually take the time and think through what is being placed before them. Just because a book is being read by thousands of people, do we need to take it's message as authentic and godly? Just because there is a cross or a fish on the cover, does it mean the person who put it out holds to the truth of Scripture?

There are a few passages that come to mind:

Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 24:24

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
Acts 17:10-12

We as believers should seek those things which will edify us and draw us closer to Christ. Yet we must be careful to take everything and to examine it to ensure that it conforms to the words of Scripture. If it does, take it and treasure it. If it doesn't, don't swallow it and adopt it as your own. And don't simply disagree. Take the time to think why you don't agree and formulate some thoughts on paper.

Of course...to do all of this we must really be soaking ourselves in the Word. If we aren't then how would we know that something is amiss. Just a thought...

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20

I have always been a Southern Baptist. It seems that there are two passages from the Bible that most Southern Baptists either know or know they should know. One is John 3:16. The other is Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission. These passages have driven an evangelism and missions for years.

Discipleship has been heavy on my heart as of late. By discipleship, I don't mean classes or programs, but the act of sharing life with others that they may follow Jesus with you. The scary thing is that from my vantage point, there are not many who are committed to this idea. So many will give the religious portion of there life to Jesus, but don't willingly surrender it all.

Please understand that this is not a desire to bring condemnation down upon a church or denomination. I simply began to ask myself, "Why are there not more disciples?" I have a few ideas:

1. Making disciples is hard work. To truly invest in someone's life to see them forsake all to follow Jesus and stick with them through the process takes time, effort, and energy. It takes grace to forgive and correct. Jesus spent three years with His disciples and they still had much more to learn. What does that say about us?
2. Many of us have not been discipled. By this I do not mean that we haven't grown in our faith but rather that no one took the effort to pour into our lives so that we would be better disciples. As a result, we may not really think that we are supposed to do it.
3. We often confuse "disciple" with "convert". When someone accepts Christ, they have taken the first step in discipleship. They still have to be taught all that Christ commanded. If we simply say that our job is done when someone accepts Christ we show that we have a deficient understanding of the meaning of what it means to be a disciple.
4. We are absorbed in our own sanctification. Following Christ is a difficult life. In fact, without the Holy Spirit it is impossible. Because of this we can become so focused on growing in Christlikeness that we feel we have no time or resources to allocated towards discipling someone else. In this we miss the amazing fact that God uses our obedience in making disciples as part of the sanctification process in our lives!
5. We feel inadequate. The thought of directing someone's spiritual life is too much for many of us. What if we teach them wrong? What if we don't do it right? What if they ask a question to which we don't have an answer? These are honest concerns. However they are not legitimate reasons to disobey Christ's command. God did not command a specific few to be discipliers while the rest sit around and think about heaven. We are all to be about the business of making disciples.

I hope to respond to these in a few days with some Scriptural direction for anyone who might struggle in these areas. Until then...

To understand what it means to love God with our minds, I believe that it is beneficial for us to look at an example of how we can use our minds to not love God. Paul gives us great insight in the book of Romans.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Romans 8:5-8

The natural bent of our minds is to focus on things which feed our flesh. Here flesh refers to the sinful nature we all inherit (Romans 5:12). In other words, we naturally will use our minds to think on things that are against God. We see this in the fact that Paul states that "the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God."

I cannot love God with my mind if I am using it to pursue those things which are hostile to Him. How could I? Would I not be considered an enemy of America if I sought to align myself with the thinking of Osama Bin Laden? Would I not be labeled anything less than a mutinous traitor?

So I must set my mind on things of the Spirit. I must meditate on Scripture, not merely read it. I must dive into difficult portions of Scripture and wrestle with them for meaning instead of avoiding them like the plague.

Setting our mind on the flesh doesn't necessarily mean that I sit around thinking of all kinds of evil things that I could do. In fact, I can set my mind on the flesh by simply being to lazy to use it for Christ. After all, the flesh says the it is too hard and not worth the effort.

I want to please God with my mind. That's where we will head next time.

Jesus tells us in Mark 12:30 just how we are to love God: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." There is a certain part of that verse that has made me pause. When I think of love, I think of the heart. My mind often goes to feelings. However, I don't usually think of loving with my mind, much less all of it.

Maybe because of this I truly began to ask myself what all is entailed in loving God with all of my mind. The more I thought (no pun intended), the more clear it has become. My hopes is to share in the next few weeks the outcome of these pontifications.

Any thoughts?