Soma

Probably one of the most confusing things to deal with as we walked into the process of buying our house was the fact that both Lara and I had come to a point where we were content with the idea of raising our kids in our apartment.  It wasn’t the upbringing that either of us had had (we both grew up in suburbia, with gorgeous back yards, but we were still incredibly blessed in our apartment.  We figured that we wouldn’t need a three bedroom apartment for at least 10 years (you know around the time it started really getting awkward for Harper and Addison to share a room) and having been blessed both spiritually and physically in all the ways that we have been blessed, it would be foolish (read:blasphemous) of us to not be content with God’s perfect provision.  We didn’t feel that way all the time, but by applying God’s Word to our hearts, He did incredible work in both of us and the truth is, we were content.

So, how did we end up where we are, then?  Well, that’s a much longer story that involves an unwanted inheritance and some overwhelmingly generous family and friends that provided an opportunity that we had never seen coming.  I will spare you the details, but the bottom line was, we decided early on that we were not going to force ourselves into a house (by moving out of Shoreline’s area, getting a riskier loan, asking for money, making unwise decisions) because that is not how God has called us to make decisions.  This is His exhortation for all of us (1 Timothy 6:6-10):

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.  But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

The reason I reflect on the contentment that the Lord wrought in our hearts is not because you ought to be impressed by it, but because I want to share with you the fear that struck me at the thought of living, and making decisions (especially big decisions) without it.  If I were to make decisions out of a discontented heart, I would be walking into a “snare” of “ruin and destruction.”  Contentment is not an optional “super-Christian” virtue…it is the necessary response to the truth of the message of the Gospel!  To be discontent is to look at God and say, I know you gave your one and only son for me, I know that you killed Him and laid on Him the eternal punishment that I deserve to pay for my wickedness, I know that you humbled yourself and became a man and experienced death that I might truly live…but it’s just not quite enough…I want more.

If you want to know God’s will for your life, if you want to make decisions (big and small) well, and in a way that honors the God you say you worship, start here: be content.

Ephesians 1:3-10 tells us that God has blessed us with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly places…read it, it’s a laundry list of blessings.  Take a moment and reflect on EVERYTHING God has given you, everything he has blessed you with, physically and spiritually.  This is the place we are called to make decisions from, with a mind that is fixed on the glory of God in our lives and not distracted by our own petty covetous desires.  It’s only from a place of contentment that you can make good decisions, ones that you can trust are actually motivated by the glory of God you say is the center of your life (if you’re a Christian).

And, if the idea of being content even in a difficult situation or circumstance seems overwhelmingly hard, remember…you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!

It’s actually a (far too) little known fact that when Paul utters those words in Philippians which are so often quoted at sporting events, during building projects, before tests, or in the face of a particular challenge, he is not primarily talking about his ability to win the game, complete the project, pass the test, or overcome the obstacle…he is talking about his ability (in the face of any circumstance) to be content.

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

So, if you’re having a hard time being content…the one who raised Christ from the dead and created the world in a word will work in you, that you may be able to make decisions not out of a covetous heart, but out of a content one.  Ask him (even before you ask for anything that you want) for contentment.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

I’m planning on jumping back into our series tomorrow, but in the meantime I thought I’d share another gem from Powlison with you:

I suspect that most of our discipleship efforts do better at teaching people basic theology, Bible knowledge, Christian ethics, God’s promises, ministry techniques, and the disciplines of grace than they do at asking the questions that make all those teachings sparkle with relevance.

If you’ve ever uttered those words to someone close to you, you ought to check out this gem from Powlison’s Speaking the Truth in Love:

Raw honesty is always perverted by the insanity of sin.  Should you “get in touch with your feelings and say what you really think”?  You do need to face what is going on in yourself and your world.  And the opposites of honesty are other maddnesses: indifference, busyness, stoicism, niceness, ignorance, self-deception, or denial.  But how will you interpret what you feel?  Where will you go with it?  Honesty in the raw is always godless, willful, opinionated, self-cetered.  And personal honesty never actually faces reality if it does not simultaneously face God: “A fool finds no pleasure in understanding, but delights in airing his own opinions” (Prov. 18:2).  Psalm 119 demonstrates the salvation of honesty.  When you truly face yourself, your circumstances, and God, even painful honesty takes on the sanity of Jesus.

If you noticed, in the formula that I provided in the previous post there were really only two things to do in order to make a big decision.

1. Pray
2. Study Scripture

The problem is, even when we really, really, really want to know God’s will for our life, we still spend more time thinking, interpreting, and talking than we do praying…and most of the time we completely neglect the idea of studying Scripture. After all, there is not one verse in the entire Bible that can tell me whether or not I should buy a house in Culver City. There’s not one verse in the entire Bible that can tell you whether or not you should go to law school. There’s not one verse in the entire Bible that can tell you whether or not to marry the person you’re dating. There’s not one verse in the entire Bible that can tell you who your roommates should be. There’s not one verse in the entire Bible that can tell you whether or not you should stay at your job. So, we go off searching for other things, other signs, other reasons, other factors, other feelings to help us make the decisions that the Bible doesn’t speak to.

However…the Bible does speak to them! In fact, the Bible is the only way that you can count on God speaking to you about the plethora of decisions you have to make. The Bible has a number of principles that demand our obedience and attention. In his book, Just Do Something, (a must read for anyone struggling with how to make decisions) Kevin De Young has a number of helpful thoughts in this regard, here are a few:

The argument in Hebrews 1-4 goes like this: (1) God can speak in many ways. (2) In these last days, God has spoken by His Son. (3) God speaks to us by His Son through the Holy Spirit speaking by the living and active Word of God. Which brings us to the last statement concerning God’s guidance.

Statement 5: Apart from the Spirit working through Scripture, God does not promise to use any other means to guide us, nor should we expect Him to…

God my guide us in [extraordinary] ways in rare instances, but we should not expect Him to. We have no record in the New Testament of anyone anxious to hear God tell him what to do. Paul never sought out special words of knowledge concerning his future. He seems very concerned to know and obey God’s moral will. But when he gets to a fork in the road, hesitating and pleading with God to know which way to go seems completely foreign to the apostle.

What this means is that God wants you to consult and listen to Scripture regarding every decision you make. If God is our authority, and His Word is the only authoritative way that He speaks to us, we must search His Word for the commandments and principles that ought to guide our decisions. Doesn’t that make sense?

Having established this, next time we will begin looking at a sampling of the biblical principles that went into us buying our house as well as some of the questions that arose along the way and the answers that we found in Scripture for those questions.

I know that this is a little personal, and that these are the kinds of things that we don’t normally discuss in public, however I believe that the taboo regarding discussing big decisions (especially financial ones) is part of the problem. We’re left to only be able to look back and evaluate our decision instead of getting the encouragement, correction and perspective we need in the midst of the decision making process. I hope this series will open the door to more and more of those kinds of conversations.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

(latest picture from the newly repaired Hubble telescope)

As most of you know, Lara and I bought a house in Culver City and moved into it about a month ago. The long process of deciding to buy a house, deciding when to buy a house, deciding where to buy a house, deciding what size of a house to buy, deciding against a number of houses and ultimately deciding to buy one particular house, involved an incredible amount of decision making (in fact, I’m not sure any decision in my life has ever been so involved). This provided for both Lara and I an opportunity to practice the kind of Biblical decision-making we talk about so much, and have striven for in our family.

The truth is…it wasn’t easy (as big decisions never are). However, I can say with confidence that I believe we are exactly where God wants us to be. And, throughout the entire process I never:

• Audibly heard His voice
• Cast lots
• Looked for a proof text to tell me God’s “will”
• Laid out a fleece
• Interpreted an “open door”
• Prayed for God to reveal His will to me
• Or acted on a tingling in my tummy

So, how did we make such a big decision? How can we be confident about God’s will if we don’t have any sign or “leading” to prove it? How can you make big decisions in your life without that kind of “confirmation?” In fact, how are we supposed to make decisions biblically?

Well, I’d like to give you a simple formula to help you make every big decision in your life (no joke!). And then, I’d like to take at least one or two posts each week for the next month or two to explain how this process played out in our decision to buy our house. We didn’t do everything perfectly (as you will see), however we did prayerfully and diligently try to make decisions in accordance with God’s will. While providing you with this formula ought to prove helpful, I also know that even a “formula” sometimes makes things more confusing and not less, which is why I thought sharing our story might also be helpful.

Regardless, here’s the “formula” regarding making a decision:

Prayerfully Consider the Options

Does Scripture Prohibit this Action?

What Biblical Principles Ought to Inform this Action?

What do I Want to Do?

Why do I Want to Do/Not Do It?

• Does this motivation violate a Biblical command?
• Does this motivation violate a Biblical principle?

Prayerfully Make a Decision!

A little overly simplistic, I know…but this is essentially what it comes down to. Flushing out the applicable Biblical commands and principles can be a complicated, but necessary process. And it’s through flushing these out that we can have confidence in the midst of a difficult decision (not tummy tingling, or “senses”). I’ll explain a little more in the next post, and then will get into the story.

But, I hope that at the very least this series can help put some meat on the bones that so often plague our biggest decisions.

So, this is the 100th post on this blog.  As I reviewed the content, skimming through some of the 99 posts from the past year, I was encouraged by the ways I’ve grown, and the ways we have grown as a church.  So much happens in a year, and this year is definitely no exception.  However, it only seems appropriate to commemorate a milestone like this with the one message we all need to be reminded of this afternoon, tomorrow morning, and every day as we wake up:

I am a horrible sinner, and Christ is a wonderful Savior.

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  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.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.