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23-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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Abundance of Life

Category : life

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Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. – Jesus

The above statement is remarkable. Jesus is saying that energy, motivation, drive, and vitality don’t consist in accumulation. Whether it is an abundance of material wealth and goods, popularity, or family, life isn’t found in having these things.

Of course, all of these things are wonderful gifts and are to be sought after in their own way, but not sought after for life. But the question that really remains is, “If life does not consist in abundance of possessions, then what does life consist of?”

The right answer is God, but that is not really a helpful answer. It is too vacuous to get a handle around.

Finding life in God is not like drinking an energy drink or having a strong cup of coffee.  So what about life with God is life eternal? How does God give motivation, drive, vitality, and energy?

When I think about the answers to these questions I feel like I am standing at the Jordan river looking into the promised land. I am not sure how to cross over. I can see the blessing, but how to get there? Life isn’t the “leeks and onions of Egypt,” even if it is a nice house, an Ipad 2, and money in the bank.  The reason I can’t cross is not for lack of bible reading or prayer. It’s that I don’t understand grace.

I feel like I must earn everything. Acceptance and confidence come from my production — production so I can have an abundance of possessions. It’s circular and soul-numbing. But Grace is gifts in spite of me; especially the gift of God Himself.  To fall from grace, is not to fall away, but to fall from the confidence that I am totally secure in God because of God, not because of me.

To be continued…

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22-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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Bad Things

Category : Christian Life, life

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Bad Things from David Paul Dorr on Vimeo.

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16-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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How Often Should A Married Couple Have Sex?

Category : Marriage, sex

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How Often? from David Paul Dorr on Vimeo.

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15-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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When God Says No

Category : Prayer

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The three answers to a prayer are yes, no, and wait. A yes answer is obvious. What we ask for comes true. A no answer is not obvious unless circumstances irrevocably show otherwise. If I am praying for a person to get healed, and then they die, that’s an obvious no.

But it’s really hard to tell between a “no” and a “wait.” God does not usually speak audibly, so how might we know the difference?

James and John are a great help here. James says when we ask, we do not receive because our requests are to be spent on our own pleasures (James 4:3). He calls this “friendship with the world.” And John gives us the definition of worldliness: “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world (1 John 2:16).”

Worldliness is the desires of the flesh (me first!), desires of the eyes (I must have), and the pride in possessions (I am better than you because of what I have). So we need to evaluate our unanswered prayers and see if the request matches up with John’s definition of worldliness. For if they do, then it is a great mercy that God says no, because a granted request would take us far from Him.

And if we are having a hard time discerning our motives in your requests, we should ask a respectable person what they think. This can be scary because it leaves us exposed, but it is a helpful way to understand what God might be saying.

But if your request is not worldly — keep asking! For Jesus teaches us one very important principle in prayer: we should never give up (Luke 18:1).

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14-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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The Blessing of Marriage

Category : Marriage, life

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The blessing of marriage is oneness. As the bride in the Song of Solomon explains, “My beloved is mine, and I am his.”

Oneness is multi-faceted.

Oneness is physical: “One flesh” – marital, sexual intimacy; being naked and unashamed.

Oneness is psychological: Thinking like the other person thinks. A deep knowing about how a spouse processes life.

Oneness is emotional: Loving what the spouse loves, hating what the spouse hates. Grieving with those who grieve, rejoicing with those who rejoice.

Oneness is spiritual: Seeking the same God; both motivated by the things of God.

We can imagine, then, how much of a gift oneness is. For in every area of life, we are deeply hungry for oneness. When we don’t have oneness in any of these areas, dissonance develops and joy slips away.

This kind of oneness is possible with our spouses and future spouses! It takes sacrifice – laying aside our interests for the interests of our spouse; learning how they think, how they process things emotionally, what they want physically.

For when a man and a woman are mutually seeking the good of the other the fruit is sweet, because they are one.

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10-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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Refuges

Category : Christian Life

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A refuge is something we run to for safety, for protection. It shields us from harm and preserves our life. And everywhere in the songs of Israel, God is a refuge. We can’t run to God literally. He is in the kingdom of the heavens, we are on earth. So how do we experience God as a refuge when He is not physical?

The first question we can ask is, “What do I want my life to be hidden in?” I know, we don’t ask this question because it seems silly. But we are all trying to “hide” our life in something.

For instance, many men want to hide their life in success. Success is an insulator. It covers over a multitude of sins. Just look at famous, talented athletes. They get away with a great deal of wrongdoing simply because of their accomplishments. Success deflects critics. Critics question things that we do. Success says, “the results speak for themselves.”

Do you see how powerful this is? By placing our safety and well-being in success, we guard against criticism, our sins, our fear of being unknown. Many men are saying in their hearts, “Success is my refuge and strength.”

The same could be said for money, fame, the love of a spouse, being a good mother or father, religious performance, and a hundred other things. The list is long.

But God wants to be our refuge in the same way that we often run to something in creation.

Our life is “hidden” with Christ in God (Colossians 3:2). That means that our safety and well-being is solely rooted in the love and care of the risen Savior, who sits at the right hand of God.

Our identity no longer hangs on something as ephemeral as success, riches, romance, or religious performance. Those things can’t properly hide us and provide for us. They can’t insulate us from our sins, fears, and failures. They can’t make us humbly confident.

But Jesus can — He lives to represent you! So run to the Savior today — your “ever-present help in time of trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

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08-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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The Opposite of 1 Corinthians 13

Category : bible

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love is patient. love is kind. love does not envy or boast. it is not arrogant or rude. it does not insist on its own way. it is not irritable or resentful. it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things. love never ends (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Selfishness gives up easily and is unkind. it envies and brags. it is haughty and rude. it insists on its own way. it is constantly irritable and resentful. it rejoices at wrongdoing — it hides the truth. selfishness will drop others when it gets hurt, thinks the worst of others, gives up on others who aren’t convenient. Selfishness is a flash in the pan, common.

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07-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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Thankful in Disappointment

Category : life

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The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me (Psalm 50:23).

We all have our easy definitions of how we please God. And most of our definitions for pleasing God end up displeasing God in one way or another. This is what it means to be religious. We want to know exactly we must DO for God to get Him to accept us, bless us, or for most of us, keep Him at an arm’s length.

This is the critique God gives Israel in Psalm 50. They were great at offering bulls and goats for sacrifice. But that made their sacrifices about what they thought God wanted instead of what they needed. God asks them, “Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?” “If I were hungry would I tell you? (Implication: I don’t need your sacrifices to be satisfied).

But God is not in need, we are. And our need, deep down, is thanksgiving for God’s action, on our behalf, in every circumstance. Thanksgiving is about being a recipient, not a giver. Thanksgiving is the acknowledgment of getting something good from another.

Think of what this means for our disappointment. Disappointment is the feeling arising from not receiving a good thing that we thought we would receive. Instead our hearts break in the gap between the-good-we-thought-we-needed and our reality. Disappointment is also fueled from our religious thinking that says, “we have done what God has required of us, we should receive something good.” But thanksgiving is what is required, not the religious performance.

Thanksgiving is the ointment that begins to heal the wound of your disappointment. In thanksgiving, we acknowledge that a good God is directing our life and circumstance. The gap between our definition of good and our reality is closed by thanksgiving; thanksgiving says that we are RECEIVING something from God that is He is working for GOOD, even if it is a bitter providence.

This, of course, requires faith — a faith that looks to the One who received a bitter providence from God for us. We don’t need more faith to get through the disappointment — we rest in the Faithful one who received evil, so we can receive good from the hands of God forever.

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02-Mar-2011

Posted by : David

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Being Right

Category : church

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Doctrinal correctness is vital to the health of a local church. Just as a physician needs to know the human body and how it works, the leadership of a local church needs to know and teach the major doctrines of Scripture.

But every church (and every Christian) needs to know that “being right” about the doctrines of Christianity is not the summit.  It’s base camp. Doctrinal correctness is the minimum standard of our calling as Christians — the foundation we launch from in our upward call.

As Paul says, in 1 Timothy 1:5, the purpose of correct teaching is love. Love is the summit. Certainly if we undercut correct doctrine, then we will never reach a summit of love — we actually end up somewhere else entirely.

But we should never congratulate ourselves for reaching base camp. Many times base camp needs to be defended — this is clear from the Scriptures. But those who fight for correct doctrine, must always know that orthodoxy is a launching pad for the love of God.

The real work has only just begun. Forgiving, bearing with those who sin against us, having mercy, laboring for justice, sharing the good news, and a thousand other acts of service issue from correct doctrine.  This is one of Jesus’ sharpest rebukes to the religious leaders of his day. They “strained a gnat, but swallowed a camel.” They neglected the “weighter things of the law, things like justice and mercy.” Jesus went on to counsel those listening to the leader’s sermons to “do as they say, but not as they do.”

So we should teach people to “guard their doctrine closely.” But if we are going to celebrate, we should celebrate what issues forth from correct belief. And if something other than love, mercy, forgiveness, long-suffering, and sacrifice comes out of our correct doctrine, then we should be sure to know that our “right doctrine” is no greater than the demons — beings who know God, but are destined for the lake of fire.

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28-Feb-2011

Posted by : David

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What Hides Our Light

Category : Christian Life

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After Jesus’ parable, in Mark 4, about a farmer sowing seed on a path, rocky soil, amongst weeds, and on good soil, he continues by telling us not to hide our light under a bowl:

And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? (Mark 4:21)

Jesus is connecting the sowing of the seed – preaching the word of God – with not hiding our light under a bowl.

Every generation grapples with speaking the truth found in the Bible. Preaching has never been popular or easy. Nobody persecutes or kills self-help gurus. ‘Jesus as Savior,’ is a tempting message to keep hidden -  unless we are absolutely sure there will not be any embarrassment or backlash.

Recently, I approached a young man that I have had a few conversations with in the past. He was just hanging out, not doing anything especially important. I could sense the tension.  At one time he was moving closer to God because he was dating a committed Christian. Now he is moving further away because of the loss of this relationship.

We chatted briefly. I invited him to Passage Church, but he wanted me to leave, so I didn’t force anything. The conversation was awkward. Not harmful, just uncomfortable. I walked away wanting to hide my light under a bowl. I don’t like awkwardness.  I want easy conversations that preserve my reputation. I don’t want to approach people who want me to go away.

But Jesus says, “Listen Up! God’s word is light, don’t hide it under your reputation. God’s word is a seed that will produce fruit. Don’t hold it back. Speak up! Plant it in the heart’s of men. For some will have it stolen from them; others choked by this world. But, for many, it will grow.”

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