ROI of Soul Keeping

It’s been a great joy and privilege to watch FPC grow in our understanding of our souls.  During the Christmas season, our church was exposed to John Ortberg’s Soul Keeping, which I found to be one of the most important and helpful books of 2014.  As a result of reading and studying what the Bible has to say about our souls, many of us felt more in-tune with God, more in-touch with others, and more aware of Jesus’ unique ability to care for people at the deepest level.  I’d like to share one particular story of a person experiencing deeper levels of soul-care as a result of our study of Soul Keeping.

Moms make incredible scarifies for their children.  One mom at FPC - who had been working full-time for many years while raising her kids – took on an evening part-time job to help offset the cost of college tuition for her children.  As you can imagine, the stress of being pulled between the two jobs, as well as her family life, was tremendous.  During the study of Soul Keeping, this mom decided to quit her part-time job, saying “no” to financial benefits so that she can focus more time on caring for her soul.  What a courageous and soul-fulfilling decision!

In my own life, Soul Keeping helped me better prioritize activities which I know are essential for caring for my soul: prayer and Scripture reading each morning, exercise, and unstructured time with my family.  By “better prioritize,” I don’t mean making a rigid schedule to fence-in those activities.  Instead (and this is especially true in the up-and-down reality of life with young kids), I mean making those activities happen whenever they can, and for whatever duration I can, while keeping Christ as the focus.

One more personal result: because of reading Soul Keeping, I’ve rediscovered a practice familiar to many people for many years.  This practice was applied heavily on Christmas Eve, when I was able to share God’s Word with a lot of people at each of our wonderful services.  All throughout that amazing evening – and as often as I can each day – I made a decision to stop the motion of my body, pause, and kneel. I knelt all throughout Christmas Eve, whenever the thought struck me to do so.  I kneel when I come into my office in the morning.  And what does the kneeling “do” for me?  Well, it gives me the opportunity to remember that I’m not in charge – King Jesus is.  I’m not alone – King Jesus is with me.  And the King is always worthy of His people kneeling before Him.

May 2015 be a year marked by continual kneeling in your life and mine.

Shalom,

Travis

Religion vs. the Gospel

This past Sunday, I shared a portion of a chart about religion and the gospel.  A lot of people responded to it, and in addition to providing paper copies at the front office, below is a copy of the chart in its entirety.

The chart comes from a series of lectures given by Tim Keller, the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.  Just to set some context: he's using the term "religion" in the pejorative sense of the word - empty faith, rote recitations, meaningless observation of traditions which don't lead to the Savior.  I hope it's helpful to all of us, as it always is to me when I read through it again and again.

Religion	Gospel
“I obey- therefore I’m accepted”	“I’m accepted- therefore I obey”
Motivation is based on fear and insecurity.	Motivation is based on grateful joy.
I obey God in order to get things from God.	I obey God to get God-to delight and resemble Him.
When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or myself, since I believe, like Job’s friends, that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.	When circumstances in my life go wrong I struggle, but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while He may allow this for my training, He will exercise His Fatherly love within my trial.
When I am criticized I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person.’  Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs.	When I am criticized I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a ‘good person.’  My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ.  I can take criticism.  That’s how I became a Christian.
My prayer consists largely of petition and it only heats up when I am in a time of need.  My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment.	My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration.  My main purpose is fellowship with Him.
My self-view swings between two poles.  If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people.  If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel humble but not confident- I feel like a failure.	My self-view is not based on a view of myself as a moral achiever.  In Christ I am simul iustus et peccator- simultaneously sinful and lost yet accepted in Christ.  I am so bad He had to die for me and I am so loved He was glad to die for me.  This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time.  Neither swaggering nor sniveling.
My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work, or how moral I am- and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral.  I disdain and feel superior to ‘the Other.’	My identity and self-worth is centered on the One who died for His enemies, who was excluded from the city for me.  I am saved by sheer grace.  So I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me.  Only by grace I am what I am.  I’ve no inner need to win arguments.
Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols.  It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc.  I have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, whatever I say I believe about God.	I have many good things in my life- family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc.  But none of these good things are ultimate things to me.  None of them are things I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency they can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.

Taken from Tim Keller/Redeemer City to City, copyright 2014