Author Archives: alanconrow
Does What I’m Doing Matter?
It has been one of those weeks. The kind of week where I feel really busy, but then wonder if any of what I accomplished really mattered. It has been a week without energy. A week that felt foggy. A week that lacked, a certain je ne sais quoi.
Maybe you have experienced that kind of week.
Currently, I’m reading Surprised by Hope, by N.T. Wright, an excellent book for the Easter season. In it, he 
writes the following passage–a passage which I should probably read every week.
But what we can and must do in the present, if we are obedient to the gospel, if we are following Jesus, and if we are indwelt, energized, and directed by the Spirit, is to build for the kingdom. This brings us back to 1 Corinthians 15:58 once more: what you do in the Lord is not in vain. You are not oiling the wheels of a machine that’s about to roll over a cliff. You are not restoring a great painting that’s shortly going to be thrown on the fire. You are not planting roses in a garden that’s about to be dug up for a building site. You are—strange though it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself—accomplishing something that will become in due course part of God’s new world. Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of his creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care or nurture, of comfort and support, for one’s fellow human beings and for that matter one’s fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world—all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make. This is the logic of the mission of God. God’s recreation of his wonderful world, which began with the resurrection of Jesus and continues mysteriously as God’s people live in the risen Christ and in the power of his Spirit, means that what we do in Christ and by the Spirit in the present is not wasted. It will last all the way into God’s new world. In fact, it will be enhanced there.
I pray you’re having a great week. But just in case your week, like mine, has felt a little futile, let us remember that nothing we do for the Lord is in vain. Our work matters.
What Puritans Can Teach Us About Family Worship
What can I do to help my kids grow spiritually?
For most of us, the first thing that comes to our mind is to teach our kids the Bible. This is great, but depending on the age and stage of our kids this can be rough. So what can we as parents do?
This week I came across a conversation between Tim Challies and Dr. Joel Beeke on the family worship habits of Puritans. In it, Dr. Joel Beeke points out that for Puritans reading the Bible was just one part of family worship. But it certainly wasn’t the only part.
Below is a part of the conversation between Tim Challies (TC) and Dr. Joel Beeke (JB). You can read the entire conversation here.
TC: To hear people talk about the Puritans, you would imagine they were harsh toward their children, making them endure endless hours of family worship. Is this accurate?
JB: Endless hours in family worship would have been impossible for most people in the seventeenth-century. In Puritan New England, many people were farmers who had to labor hard to produce food. Children also had much to do in school, household chores, and working alongside their fathers and mothers to learn a vocation. The Puritans also took time for recreation. They enjoyed hunting, fishing, shooting competitions, and wrestling—two New England Puritan ministers were famous amateur wrestlers. They enjoyed music in their homes, owning guitars, harpsichords, trumpets, violas, drums, and other instruments. There was a lot to do; family devotions were one part—albeit the most important part—of a busy daily schedule.
The Puritans aimed at pithy instruction and heart-moving prayer. Samuel Lee wrote that in all our teaching of the family we should beware of boring the children by talking too much. Long devotions overburden their little minds. It is best to hold the attention of children by using spiritual analogies with flowers, rivers, a field of grain, birds singing, the sun, a rainbow, etc.
What is clear from this brief exchange is that Puritan families were spiritually strengthened by at least three 
practices:
They worked together
Whether household chores or learning their parent’s vocation, children worked along side their parents. This provided plenty of opportunities to for parents and children to talk together about life, the Bible, and the Christian faith. It was a way of living out the principles of Deuteronomy 6:4-7.
They played together
As hard as it is to imagine, puritans families had fun together. Sports, music, and just good old fashion play was a regular part of the their household interaction. They understood that all activities could be done for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
They enjoyed God’s creation together
Notice when teaching the Bible, parents were encouraged to use spiritual analogies to help children understand. They used pictures of flowers, rivers, fields of grain, singing birds, the sun, and rainbows, to help explain the Christian life. They used such analogies because they took pleasure in these creations. Puritans understood that one of the purposes of creation is to lead us to worship of our Creator (Romans 1:20).
Helping you family grow spiritually doesn’t have to be boring. And it doesn’t have to just consists of a series of Bible studies. If you really want your family to grow spiritually, then take a lesson from the Puritans. Work to together. Play together. Enjoy God’s creation together. Knowing that such practices will enhance those times when you do read the Bible together.
Why Are There Martyrs?
Chris asked, “If God provides for all of our needs, why are there martyrs? How are their needs being met?”
I love good questions. And these are good questions.
For this post we’ll have to work our way backwards. I’ll answer the second question first, because that will in turn answer the first question.
So let’s begin with the answer to the second question by focusing on the notion of “need”. For example, when the Apostle Paul writes, “And my God will meet all your needs” (Phil 4:19a), what is he saying?
Paul, appears to be saying, “With God, you will never be needy.” But that can’t be accurate because, in Philippians 4:12 Paul writes,
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
We see that for Paul there were times when he was clearly in need. So how can he write, “And my God will meet all your needs”?
The answer has to do with Paul’s “secret of being content in any and every situation”. What was Paul’s secret? The answer is in the next verse,
I can do all this through [Christ] who gives me strength. (Phil 4:13)
Paul is saying that there have been times of need and times of abundance, but because he has Jesus, he has the strength to be content in all situations.
Now, understanding this is important because Paul uses the same logic in Philippians 4:19. The entire verse actually reads:
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Similar to Philippians 4:12-13, Paul is saying two things:
- God promises to meet your needs
- But, God will meet your needs through Jesus Christ.
What does all this have to do with our original questions about martyrs?
Everything.
The Apostle Paul understood that Jesus Christ is the only thing you need. If you have Jesus you have everything. Because, as he writes in Colossians, “Christ… is your life” (Colossians 3:14).
Paul knew that Jesus gives you life (John 14:6; 17:3). Jesus sustains your life (Colossians 1:17). Jesus directs your life (Ephesians 2:10). Jesus provides purpose to your life (Colossians 1:16). And Jesus demands your life (Matthew 16:25). Thus to have Jesus is to have no other need. Or as Pastor Tullian Tchividjian famously put it, “Jesus + Nothing = Everything
So now let’s apply this to Christian martyrs.
When Christians are killed for their faith (martyred), God actually supplies all their needs. Because God is giving them Jesus Christ. Paul knew this, when he wrote, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”(Phil 1:21). Paul looked forward to death because he knew that after death he would instantly enter into the full presence of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:8). Therefore, he would not lose anything, but instead gain everything.
There is no such thing as a needy martyr. Because Jesus Christ fulfills every need. When we die we get all of Christ. We therefore, lose nothing, and gain everything.
God allows Christians to be martyred, because their deaths proclaim one simple and glorious truth—to have Jesus Christ is to have everything.
Friday Fun
Today You Can Be A Superhero
Put on your tights and break out your cape, because today is your day to be a superhero. Today, you have the chance to save a real life. Or many real lives, if you choose.
You won’t need super powers, an arch enemy, or even some tragic back story. You won’t need to mutate, pursue martial arts training, or even possess enormous amounts of wealth. You won’t even need to travel far, or keep a secret identity.
Today, with very little effort, you have the ability to save someone from facing certain death. You have the ability to give someone life. Today, you have everything you need to rescue someone and be a real life superhero.
The number of people you save today is completely up to you.
Today, 19,000 kids under the age of five will die. Half of those deaths are from hunger-related causes.
But students at Fellowship Church are doing something about it. They are taking part in World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine in order to raise awareness and funds to save those dying kids. They are taking the small step of becoming superheros to children in need of rescue.
You can join them!
By clicking here, you can make a donation to their team page.
$1 saves a child for a day. $35 saves a child for a month. And $450 saves a child for well over a year. World Vision promises to use your funds to bring emergency food aid to disaster zones and equip families with the tools they need to overcome hunger in their communities. With your help today, lives will be changed forever.
And the good news is that the help is helping. Because of the work of other superheros just like you, the number of children dying each day from hunger has, since the 1960’s, dramatically been reduced.
Every $35 you raise can help feed and care for a child for a month. World Vision puts the funds you raise to work by bringing emergency food aid to disaster zones and equipping families with the tools they need to overcome hunger in their communities. With your help, we’re partnering with the poor and empowering them to change the direction of their lives. What does this change look like? Parents equipped to grow healthier, more abundant crops and livestock. Communities gaining access to clean water for nutritious harvests. Children receiving basic medical care. Kids going to school. Families getting on their feet — and standing strong – See more at: http://30hourfamine.org/learn-about-the-famine/famine-faqs-2/?cons_id=0&ts=1398879123&signature=c5c7818d0fd6068b149db3e41b500c7d#sthash.WaBneAU7.dpufEvery $35 you donate helps feed and care for a child for a month. World Vision puts the funds you raise to work by bringing emergency food aid to disaster zones and equipping families with the tools they need to overcome hunger in their communities.
Every $35 you raise can help feed and care for a child for a month. World Vision puts the funds you raise to work by bringing emergency food aid to disaster zones and equipping families with the tools they need to overcome hunger in their communities. With your help, we’re partnering with the poor and empowering them to change the direction of their lives. What does this change look like? Parents equipped to grow healthier, more abundant crops and livestock. Communities gaining access to clean water for nutritious harvests. Children receiving basic medical care. Kids going to school. Families getting on their feet — and standing strong – See more at: http://30hourfamine.org/learn-about-the-famine/famine-faqs-2/?cons_id=0&ts=1398879123&signature=c5c7818d0fd6068b149db3e41b500c7d#sthash.WaBneAU7.dpu
With your help, more children will be saved. And the number of deaths will continue to decline.
Any donation amount is significant to a child in need.
So don’t wait. Put on your cape, click on the link below, and become a superhero to a child today!
Click here, to make a donation to the team page.
When You Don’t Know What To Pray
Years ago, Meredith and I decided we wanted to start praying together before going to bed. It seemed like a good idea, but often it turned out to be frustrating. I found myself not knowing what to pray. It was kind of embarrassing. I had no problem praying in front of dozens, even hundreds of people, yet I was struggling to pray the simplest of prayers with my wife.
My problem was that by the end of the night my mind was usually fried and feeling rather uninspired. And so when it was my turn to pray I usually found it hard to focus and pray for anything meaningful.
Things changed when we decided to start reading Scripture before we prayed. This for me was a Godsend. Because now I didn’t have to think about what to pray, I could just pray back what was in the 
text of Scripture. I felt like it was God’s way of saying, “I’ve already taken care of the words, just pray them back to me.”
Praying through Scripture is something I come to thoroughly enjoy–especially when it’s the Psalms. The Psalms are God’s little prayer book– a hundred and fifty God-breathed prayers. They are the prayers Jesus prayed. And when I pray the Psalms I feel like I identify more with the life and heart of Jesus.
If praying through Scripture is unfamiliar to you, I would encourage you to give it a try. Below is a couple examples of what it can look. The prayers are based on Psalm 16.
Psalm 16
Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord apart from you I have no good thing.” 3 I say of the holy people who are in the land, “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.” 4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips. 5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. 7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. 8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. 11 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
A Prayer of Praise
Oh Lord you are our refuge. Apart from you Lord, we have no good thing. You, oh Lord, are our portion and our cup, you are our security and inheritance. We praise you Lord Jesus, for you give us wisdom and truth throughout the day. We desire to keep our eyes always on you. With you at our side we will not be shaken. Our hearts are glad, and our tongues rejoice in you. For in you we find rest, and we know that you will not abandon us. You, Jesus, make known the path of life, in your presence there is fullness of joy, and eternal pleasures at your right hand! Amen.
A Prayer of Confession
Lord God, we confess that we have run after other gods. We have sought our significance, our success, and our security in things other than you. We have looked to created things to fulfill us, instead of you–our Creator. We have not looked to you for refuge. We have not run to you for good things. We have not sought the joy of you presence. For all these things we repent and ask for forgiveness. Amen.
As you can see praying through Scripture is just a matter of reflecting back what is already in the text.
The more I pray through the Scriptures, (especially the Psalms) the easier and more enjoyable it is to pray without the Scriptures. It is like learning the language of God. Which makes it easier to talk to God. And thus, keeps me from wondering what to pray.
What are you favorite Scriptures to pray through?
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For a great resource on praying through the Psalms, check out:
Reason In The Christian Life
“If I became a Christian, I feel like I’d have to give up my mind.” That’s how one friend put it as he explained to me his struggle to become a follower of Jesus. For him Christianity appeared to be a religion built on faith, where people were expected to just believe certain things without knowing why.
If you’ve walked with Jesus in a healthy church community for any length of time, you likely know that there is more to following Jesus than mere belief. But maybe you’ve struggled to know what is the place of logic and reason in the Christian faith? Or maybe you’ve never even thought about the place of reason, because for you , it is has been easy to just believe what you believe. But is that it o.k?
What does the Bible say about the role reason should play in the Christian life? 
We Are Invited To Reason
Isaiah 1:18 states, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”. The Israelites were encouraged by God to use their reason. In the context, God wanted them to use their reason to see their need for repentance. God was calling them to think about their sin, and then to think about what would be the consequences of their sin. The expectation was, that when the Israelites reasoned about such things, they would repent, and turn to God–the one offering to save them.
In the New Testament God also put a great value on reason. In Romans 1:18-20, we see that the ungodly are without excuse, because “for what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” God’s point is, since he has given people the intellectual faculties to perceive his existence from the created order, they ought to know that he not only exists, but that he should be worshiped. The Bible is clear, God-given reason is a means by which we can come to believe in God and see our need for God.
We Are Called To Use Reason When Asked About Our Faith
1 Peter 3:15 states, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” The Bible calls believers to give reasons for their hope (that is their hope in Christ). In other words when we as Christian are asked questions like, “why do you believe Jesus is alive, ruling, and worth following?” We should be able to say something more than, “I just believe”. Instead we should be able to give logical reasons for our beliefs. And we should be able to provide those reasons with gentleness and respect. As J.P. Moreland writes, “If we are going to be wise, spiritual people prepared to meet the crises of our age, we must be a studying, learning community that values the life of the mind.” Having good reasons keeps us from having to be defensive or offended when people question our beliefs. When we have well thought out reasons, we can see every question as an opportunity to help others understand why we believe what we believe.
We Grow In Our Faith Through Reason
2 Peter 1:5 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge…” Growing in our faith involves more than just growing as moral people. The Bible calls us to add to our faith, virtue and knowledge. This echos Jesus’ s words to “love God… with all your mind.” (Mark 12:30) God has given us minds, so that we can worship him with our minds. Therefore a maturing Christian is one who grows in his or her ability to reason and understand the things of God. John Piper explains it this way, “God is not honored by groundless love. In fact, there is no such thing. If we do not know anything about God, there is nothing in our mind to awaken love. If love does not come from knowing God, there is no point in calling it love for God.” Growing in our knowledge of God will help us grow in our love of God.
It is a real tragedy that some people still see Christianity as a religion that d0esn’t value the mind. The life of the mind and the exercise of reason is a vital part of the Christian life, and the Bible celebrates that. To be a Christian is to pursue reason, to use reason, and grow in our ability to reason. We do this all as an act of worship to the God who created and reflects reason, and who will, one day, completely restore all reason.
May we be a people who celebrate reason, and lead others to do the same!
What are you favorite ways to love God with your mind?
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Quotes from:
JP Moreland’s Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul
John Piper’s Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God
Friday Fun
If you’ve never watched The Colbert Report, here are a couple of things to know about the host, comedian Stephen Colbert. On the show, Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits, and often pokes fun at his guests. The guests know this when they go his show. But in real life Colbert is a practicing Roman Catholic who even teaches Sunday School. The interview below with bible critic Bart Ehrman, is intended to be funny (and it is). But I especially like it because most of Stephan’s arguments are actually valid. Enjoy!
What’s Different About Church Friends?
Is there something different about church friends? According to Thom and Joani Schultz, church friends affect people differently than non church friends. In their book Why Nobody Wants To Go To Church Anymore…, they cite research which shows church friends can actually make people happier. As they put it, “the more church friends a person has, the happier he or she is.”
The research comes from an article published in the American Sociological Review. The authors of the article are Harvard public policy professor Robert D. Putnam and University of Wisconsin sociology professor Chaeyoon Lim. Commenting on the research, Putnam concluded, ‘Church friends are super-charged friends, but we have no idea why…We have some hypotheses, but we don’t know for sure’
Putnam and Chaeyoon discovered that the significant factor in a person’s happiness is not religious practices or even religious services. Instead it is in the connection to others in the religious community. They write, “People who frequently attend religious services are more satisfied with their lives not because they have more friends overall…but because they have more friends in their congregations…In short, sitting alone in the pew does not enhance one’s life satisfaction [rather] only when one forms social networks in a congregation does religious service attendance lead to a higher level of life satisfaction.”
Why are church friends “super-charged friends”?
If the church friends are followers of Jesus, then the answer is pretty clear. The Bible refers to followers of Jesus Christ as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:26-28). It is God’s way of telling believers that they are the physical manifestation of Christ’s presence on earth until he returns. This is a big responsibility. But it comes with some tremendous perks. Specifically, when we connect people to followers of Jesus, we are in a way connecting people to Jesus himself.
It is for this reason that Thom and Joani encourage Christians to become “match-makers”. They write, “It’s not our job to make people Christians. Our role is simply to connect people to Jesus. We set up the date. God lights the fire. And the Holy Spirit takes it from there…”
It is great to know that Christians have the potential to be “super-charged friends”. But that ability is useless, unless you and I are willing to become “match-makers”.
What would it take for us to become “match-makers”?
It would take Christians who truly believed that the best thing we could do for those who don’t know Jesus, is to bring them into networks of people who do know Jesus. It would take some serious prayer. It would take some intentional and thoughtful effort. And it would take some stepping out and trusting Jesus. But isn’t it worth it?
Jesus has given his followers the ability to bring happiness to others for a reason. I believe it is because Jesus knows that when people experience happiness in community with his followers, they will soon experience happiness in community him.
Who can you bring happiness to this week?
Who can you be praying for this week?
What gathering can you invite them to?
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All quotes taken from Thom and Joani Schultz’s Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore: And How 4 Acts of Love Will Make Your Church Irresistible
Alan Conrow 