Sorting Beans

The Simple, Bare-Bones Purpose Behind Leadership

Jonathan — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:22:17 +0000

**Guest article by Demian Farnworth, keynote blogger at FallenandFlawed.com**

Leadership boils down to this: Doing the right thing at the right time. Let me show you what I mean with a short, but dramatic anecdote.

An instant later the smoke alarms are shrieking.

You bolt for the door and run into your oldest child. He says, “I think the garage is on fire.”

“Max,” you shout. “Go get Samantha! I’ll get Elizabeth and Scott. Meet me across the street!”

Max lowers his head and runs off. You head down the hall, run into the nursery and scoop up Elizabeth out of the crib and grab Scott by his tiny pajama collar.

“We got to go, son. The house is on fire!”

You drag Scott out of the room and down the stairs.

“Hurry up, Max!” you say as you open the front door.

But before you go through Max yells, “Samantha won’t wake up! And she’s too heavy to carry!”

You look down at Scott then back up at Max.

“Max! Get down here. Take the children across the street.”

He comes down, you hand Elizabeth to him and he and Scott run out the door. You fly up the stairs, heft Samantha over your shoulder and rush down the steps and out the front door.

In this little illustration, we clearly see that leadership is “doing the right thing at the right time.” But we also learn three very specific things: Leadership amounts to establishing direction, making decisions and delegating efficiently.

Let’s unpack those three concepts real quick.

Direction: In that compact little story the objective was clear: Get everyone out of the burning house and on the opposite side of the street.

Decision-Making: A young woman with four children in a burning house poses a lot of problems. Problems that need to be solved. Quickly. Ignoring them costs lives. And she didn’t leave the decision-making to the children. She decided. And then acted.

Delegation: Immediately that young woman noticed that she needed help if she were to survive. She also knew who could help her. But as you saw, she was wrong. So she adapted and delegated again.

Even though the above story was fabricated, it’s illustrative of what a great leader must do–in any circumstance.

See, it doesn’t matter whether you work in a C-level suite, a quaint chapel in a mid-sized town or the kitchen of your three-room flat with a two-year old playing at your feet–leaders need to craft vision, decide on actions and then delegate.

Granted, most of our directions, delegation and decisions aren’t going to occur in such acute crisis like a burning house.

But it doesn’t make them any less real or valuable.

In fact, I’ll argue it’s easy to rise to the leadership challenge when there’s a crisis at hand. What takes courage is a dedication to leadership over the long haul.

It takes courage to make decisions day in and day out. It takes courage to map out a profitable goal–and then keep everyone glued to that vision. And finally, it takes courage to hand over responsibility and control to other people.

That last point is important: Bottlenecks occur when leaders don’t delegate. More importantly, when leaders hold onto control, trust isn’t extended. And when trust isn’t extended, speed plummets.

That’s not a place you want to be.

Listen: Leadership is fundamental to mankind. Especially if we want to accomplish anything great. But leadership just doesn’t happen–it comes when we master the art of direction-giving, decision-making and delegation.

And the quickest path to mastering these three elements is to simply start doing them. So what are you waiting for? Go get ‘em, tiger.

Subscribing via RSS feed

Leadership and Vision

Leadership and Apologetics

Book Review: Between Two Kingdoms by Joe Boyd

Jonathan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:39:32 +0000

Between Two Kingdoms is an adult fantasy written by pastor, author, and film producer Joe Boyd.

Between two Kingdoms is a story about a Kingdom ruled by the Great King and his Son, the Good Prince. The only thing is that this Kingdom has been separated from its lower Kingdom. Both used to be ruled by the Great King and His Son, but Sinkrad—a former servant of the King—had rebelled against the Great King, which caused a division among the children of the King, therefore a division between the upper and lower Kingdom. Sinkrad therefore becomes the “Prince” of the lower kingdom.

Since the division, the Good Prince sends out his messengers—the children—to create relationships with the people of the lower kingdom in hopes of inviting them into the upper Kingdom with the Great King and the Good Prince. Everyone whom the Good Prince welcomes into his kingdom—if they are willing to come—are transformed into being eternally seven. They become child again and live in the care and the joy of the Great King. By the time you get to chapter three, you may very well find yourself in tears as Bobby finds his right place in the Upper Kingdom. People of the lower kingdom lived in a in a “world [that] lacked the substance, the brightness, the solidness of life up on the mountain. It was just a shadow of the Upper Kingdom” (p.17). And when just one person comes to the Good Prince, the entire Kingdom rejoices.

I love how Boyd reveals the person of Jesus in the character of the Good Prince. He depicts the Great Prince as a loving, warm Prince who cares for the Children of the Upper Kingdom, but also as a fierce warrior and protector of his children and those who are being influenced by the Prince of Darkness. In one scene, the Good Prince rushes in and infiltrates the Kingdom of Darkness to rescue one of his own children with a sword and fierce passion.

It is a story about reuniting these two kingdoms where the one true King rules. Boyd illustrates the struggles between the upper and lower Kingdom in a way that captivates his readers and pulls them into the story itself. But before the lower kingdom can be reunited with the Upper Kingdom, there is work to do, which involves building tree-houses for people to learn about the Great King: “A genuine tree house is a little taste—an embassy of the Upper Kingdom here in the lower one” (p.63). Tommy, a child of the King, is chosen by the Good Prince to be a leader in this adventure. This task, however, comes not without a fight against the enemy and his servants.

One could learn a lot from this allegorical fantasy. Boyd does an excellent job at illustrating the struggles Christians face, temptation that befalls them, ministry in this world, and devotion to God. He shows in quite humorous as well as convicting ways the truth of real-life issues. One of these moments happens when Tommy has difficulty differentiating between the Upper Kingdom (Heaven) and the lower Kingdom (earth):

“Don’t be deceived, Tommy. This very much is the Lower Kingdom.
The farther away from the River you get, the dirtier and more
dangerous it becomes. Even the people who live here in these tree
houses are not necessarily followers of the King. Many spend their
time here fighting about the shape of their tree houses or the true
identity of the King or the purpose of the River. Don’t waste your
time in these discussions, even if you are sure you are right. We
haven’t time for pointless debates.” (p.54)

What a great way to illustrate the fact that we as Christians often times fight over non-essentials and completely neglect the duty we are entrusted with.

With writing that is likened unto C.S. Lewis and a story line that had me feeling like I was watching a movie, I give this book a hearty 4.5 out of 5. There is only one reason I don’t give it a total 5, and this is only a small theological preference with regard to the River. However, given the context of what the story illustrates, this is not that big of an issue. I still love the book and would read it again (which is unusual for me).

My vote still remains: 4.5 out of 5!

Be sure to purchase this book for yourself and get ready for an adventure of love, joy, battle, and victory!

Subscribing via RSS feed

Book Review: The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Sterns

Book Review: The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Book Review: Christianity in Crisis by Hank Hangraaff

Lately, I’ve Been Hit

Jonathan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:12:19 +0000

With lots and lots of writing.

I just went through a class called “Life of Christ,” but was really an “Introduction to the Gospels.”

We really didn’t get into the life of Christ much, but we covered some amazing topics leading up to the life of Christ and the writing of the Gospel accounts.

We talked a lot about different types of criticism, such as source criticism, form criticism, and comparison. Our text material for this was Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg. Great book!

We also got to read through The Harmony of the Gospels. But one of my favorite books we read through in that class was The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. That’s a really good read.

There were lots of good stuff in that class, and I’m surprised I wrote at ALL on this website during that time.

In just six weeks, I wrote 78 pages of assignments and final papers, and 12 pages of notes!

That’s why last week I had three guest writers. Their posts were really, really good. You need to read them. Right now. Go do it. They are the last three posts.

So, as much as I have loved that class, boy am I glad to be finished.

What’s coming up next?

I’m really looking forward to reviewing a book, Between Two Kingdoms, by Joe Boyd. It’s an adult fairy tail.

I’ve read the first couple chapters, and plan on downing the rest of it this week. It’s captivating, and you will want to read my review.

So stay tuned as I hash out some clutter out of the closet in my mind.

Subscribing via RSS feed

Book Review: The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Stearns

Ask, Seek, Knock – An observation found in Luke 11:1-13

Discipleship and Ambition

Being a Christian: It Means More Than Going to Church

Jonathan — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:00:02 +0000

Guest article written by Demian Farnworth, keynote blogger at FallenandFlawed.com.

There are two people in the world: Those who go to church and those who don’t.

Let’s talk about those who go to church.

We all know a man who never misses a Sunday morning service–not because he wants to be there… But because it’s his duty.

Dad would roll over in his grave if he didn’t.

A duty he symbolically checks off his list as he kisses his shaky, silver-haired mother on the cheek and then slips out the door, never to give church, God or Christ a second thought.

This man “goes” to church.

On the other hand, we have the man who manically drags his family to church every Sunday only to break down midway through the sermon, struck dumb by the conviction of the Holy Spirit on some secret sin holed up in his heart.

Fortunately he eventually pulls himself together and rejoices when God reminds him of Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

But this man’s not done.

Throughout the week he nurses that tension between conviction and joy–his thoughts always hovering between shame from sin and pride in Christ.

Yes, he goes to church. But as you can see, he’s manifestly different than the first man and church doesn’t define him. What gives?

The truth is really very simple.

And it’s found in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

Here we have one man who goes to the temple. He tithes perfectly. Fasts frequently. He’s the poster child for sublime obedience to rules and regulations.

And he lets you know it.

The man, in reality, is someone we all look up to–and admire.

We gush: “You fast how many times a week? I wish I could do that.” We brag: “Have you heard how much money this guy gives? It’s unbelievalbe!”

He can’t go wrong.

Then stumbles in the tax collector. His shirt is untucked. His children are loud. He forgot his checkbook. He loathes fasting.

But his heart is broken. Not over what you think. No, his heart is broken over his so-called infidelity toward God.

Funny thing, we tend to avoid this guy. And his children. Instead, we crowd around the Pharisee, hoping he’ll invite us to tea.

What’s not so funny is that this man is the tax collector who Jesus said is justified. The reason? The Pharisee exalted himself while the tax collector humbled himself.

Here’s my point: God’s got the tax collector’s heart, but not the Pharisee’s, because the tax guy wants to obey God while the Pharisee wants to impress man with his feats of asceticism.

The Pharisee’s got it all wrong.

God wants obedience over sacrifice. He wants the heart and not the ritual. He wants humility and not self-appointed pride.

More importantly, he wants an empty vessel. One he can fill with Christ. F. B. Meyer said, “The only hope of a decreasing self is an increasing Christ.”

We have abundant examples of Christ-like humility: Jesus said “learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart” (Matt. 11:29). Christ also said I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:27).

But if we really want an example of humility, we look to the cross: “He humbled himself and became obedient to death.”

That’s the secret of redemption.

So what does it mean to be a Christian?

It’s not owning a Bible, being nice, “believing”, or living “right”. Nor is it simply going to church.

Being a Christian begins and ends with humility. As Augustine said, “What is the first thing in religion? I should reply: The first, second and third thing therein is humility.”

So, in the end, much to the Pharisees surprise, he who humbles himself is actually the one who will be exalted.

It’s a stunning paradigm that turns our world on it’s head. As it should be.

Editor’s note: We’ve been through a challenging series of “Being a Christian” and I would love to hear your feedback. That means the good and the bad. Has this affected you in some way? Has your understanding of what being a Christian is been challenged? Please tell us in the comments below.

Subscribing via RSS feed

Hello, I am Haitian

Big Questions from Little People

What’s in Your Destiny?

Photo credit

Being a Christian: It Means More Than Living “Right”

Jonathan — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:00:49 +0000

Guest article written by Daniel C. Wilson, keynote blogger at DesireSpiritualGrowth.com

There is no one so useless as the one who is lukewarm, content, comfortable, and safe behind a buffer of outer holiness.

Trying to remedy this by focusing on living “right” can feed this unusable stratagem. When we focus on living “right,” we inevitably miss out on a passionate pursuit of Christ.

Not only that, but our pursuit of right living empties our life of the spiritual power that ought to be filling our life.

What are you zealous for?

Do you lack zeal for prayer? For missions? For church? For Bible study?

If so, the problem is not a lack of information or focus on those activities.

We tend to define our purpose in terms of what we do, but that hamstrings us because the only way to be filled with a proper passion for prayer, missions, church, and Bible study is to have the heart of Christ.

We get the heart of Christ not by focusing primarily on those activities, but by focusing on Christ Himself.

As Tim Dearborn wrote,

“The church does not exist for mission. It exists for the Lord Jesus Christ. To set mission before the church as its essential reason for existence is to risk focusing devotion on an idol…we dare not make something we do the justification of our existence. Lack of interest in mission is not fundamentally caused by an absence of compassion or commitment, nor by lack of information or exhortation. And lack of interest is not remedied by more shocking statistics, more gruesome stories or more emotionally manipulative commands to obedience. It is best remedied by intensifying people’s passion for Christ, so that the passions of his heart become the passions that propel our hearts.”

Even something as noble sounding as prayerful, missional living is useless apart from Christ.

It is a show, sham, and shame when Christians – me included – act as if there is a magical list of activities to master in order to be super spiritual.

Focusing on the result rather than the reason is as senseless as a bride prizing her ring above the groom himself.

Right living vs. Right loving

It is this passionate, whole-hearted love that sets the Pharisee and the believer apart. The Pharisee mastered right living but was not filled with love for God.

As Paul wrote in Philipians 3, the Pharisaical lifestyle is rubbished compared to gaining Christ as our righteousness.

Don’t neglect the mission or other elements of Christian living. But they are not what it means to be Christian⎯they are only an outpouring of the relationship a Christian monopolizes in his or her life.

The Effect of Sanctification in Christian Living

We can’t change who we are by changing what we do…but when the gospel changes who we are, it does change what we do.

Get focused on behavior without a heart change, and you’re stuck in moralism/legalism.

Get focused on salvation with no works…then your faith is dead, grace looks cheap, and there’s the mythical justification without sanctification.

The essence of our salvation is life-transforming union with God in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

As the bride rivets her eyes on the groom, so we, the Church, must lock our eyes on the Author and Perfecter of our faith. The rest of our life flows from that holy union.

Subscribing via RSS feed

Being a Christian: It Means More than “Believing”

Being A Christian: It Means More Than Owning a Bible

Being a Christian: It Means More Than Being Nice

Photo credit

Being A Christian: It Means More Than Owning a Bible

Jonathan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Guest article by Don Dudley, keynote blogger at YouSeeDryBones.com.

I own books. Let me explain.

I own a history book. I can look in it and learn all about the people who lived in the ancient Sumerian culture. There are early samples of their writings like the epic known as Ishtar’s Descent into the Netherworld. How awesome is that? In the appendix it shows how cuneiform evolved into Hebrew and later Greek.

However, I am not an ancient history scholar.

I have a diet book. It’s all about getting good abs. It shows me how to eat correctly and what exercises I can do to have a sweet upper body. It has a special chapter devoted to building “explosive” speed by correctly developing my muscles.

Judging by my waistline, I am not a body builder.

Another awesome book I own is called The Blair Handbook. It is an extensive volume to help writers know the grammatical rules. This book includes sections on how to notate academic papers in MLA and APA.

Despite this, I can barely spell my own name and homonyms trip me up.

Oh, I also own a Bible.

I can count 12 Bibles in front of me. I have Bible Works 7 software on my computer so I can look up those Greek words I don’t know, and I have Logos on my iPod Touch.

I love to read my Bible(s). There are great things in there about history, dieting, and if you have a King Jimmy, you have access to a beautifully written book.

Not only do I have more than a dozen Bibles, I have books to help me understand the culture in which they were written, the original languages of the authors, and the correct ways to exegete text to enable proper hermeneutics.

I have numerous books about the Cross, the most beautiful thing ever to happen in human history.

I have books containing maps, dictionaries, and several books by John Piper.

It doesn’t mean jack.

It all counts for nothing if I don’t understand that the true meaning of the Bible is Jesus. It is Him who changes hearts and lives.

We can have libraries of books and speak in “Christian-ease,” but who really cares if we have not been radically regenerated by the Holy Spirit?

A professor of mine went to the Congo on a long-term mission trip. They brought a Bible crudely translated into the language of the natives at the lowest common reading level (that of a 10-year-old). It spawned a revival like we have not seen since that of the Great Awakening.

That’s because it affected their hearts.

If it stops at your head, you will probably choke on it and die. I hope.

So many think owning a Bible and boldly reading it in public makes Jesus love us.

As a result, our path to salvation comes through as being an over-bearing pain in the… sorry, I thought this was my site. I won’t finish that last sentence. [editor's note: Thank you, Don]

The Bible has no magic powers and it is NOT a book of spells.

Just owning it does not make us a little Gandolf who can run around speaking in words we don’t even use any more (seriously, I know a person who has used “mortification of the flesh” in their day-to-day speech as if everyone in the room knew what they were talking about. FYI, John Owen has been dead for years, people don’t talk like that anymore…sorry, soap box again).

The Bible is not a history book or a diet book. The intent and purpose of the Bible is not so we can live the easy life. It is not, I repeat, NOT a self-help manual.

And for the record, it is not a rule book, but a book about the One who rules.

The Bible is God’s word.

Owning a Bible and reading it does not the Christian make (yea, I went Yoda on you, what of it?).

The Bible is a book which tells us of God’s redemption of all humans despite the fact they continually reject Him.

The Bible penetrates our hearts by breaking them for the King of the World who was crucified because we have porn addictions and beat our wives.

The Bible is the very acts of God recorded by the power of the Holy Spirit in a story of love, mercy, and liberty. A true story of anger, wrath and judgment. A story of a savior who loved us so much He would die in our place on the Cross for our sin.

It is the very words of the Son of God, who came into human history as a man so we could shove a spear in His side, but who saves us in spite of this.

It is a living book, an active book. By reading it, we are privileged to learn about the God who wants to be in close relationship with us, the way He designed it before man screwed it all up.

Hotel rooms have Bibles. Some of the most intelligent atheists in the world own and have read a Bible. If all it took was owning a Bible and reading it, the world would be a different place.

It takes the saving power of Jesus, by grace alone, through the Holy Spirit to draw us unto God the Father.

Praise be to God. Amen.

Subscribing via RSS feed

Being a Christian: It Means More Than Being Nice

Being a Christian: It Means More Than “Believing”

How to Make Your Morning Devotions Stick Like Glue

Photo credit

Book Review: The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Stearns

Jonathan — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:23:43 +0000

Today I review a book through BookSneeze, an extension of Thomas Nelson, The Hole in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns.

Richard Stearns is the president of World Vision U.S. In his book, he writes of his journey through faith and how the corporate world took a toll on it.

In his introduction, Stearns clearly defines the perspective at which he is approaching in his book:

“we are carriers of the gospel—the good news that was meant to change the world. Belief is not enough. Worship is not enough. Personal morality is not enough. And Christian community is not enough. . . . When we committed ourselves to following Christ, we also committed to living our lives in such a way that a watching world would catch a glimpse of God’s character—His love, justice, and mercy—through our words, actions, and behavior” (3).

Quickly after he begins to tell his life story of how he has missed the Gospel message and how it “should” have affected him. This was the seller for me. I always appreciate when someone is openly honest about his or her life when writing to others about how they ought to live. Stearns does this well. And because he did this so well, I was bought into the book by the first two chapters.

After the first two chapters, Stearns begins to talk about how he was challenged to leave the safety of his high income job at Lenox, America’s fine tableware and gift company. It was a call to be president of World Vision. And not until about half way through the book does Stearns get into the meat of his message. But when he does, it’s pretty good.

What I liked

I love the fact that Stearns talks about Christians being much about doing, and not just being. Stearns brings out statistics on rich, poor, child deaths, sickness, disease, and others. He not only reveals them, but shares what World Vision is helping to alleviate some of these problems, but not without a call to action to his readers. And he does it well.

Stearns reveals intense truths about the world around us, the world that those of us who are comfortable do not notice very well. And herein lies the problem: that the Gospel we profess ought to be a Gospel that causes us to move into social action on behalf of these afflicted people. The “hole” in our Gospel, says Stearns, is a Gospel that does not move into social action (paraphrase). The “whole” Gospel, though, is one where we take responsibility for the poor and show them the Gospel by our action so that in response they would turn to God (121-22).

Overall, I think Stearns gives a healthy treatment on the condition of many of us Christians who profess a message, yet do nothing to authenticate, or make known this message in social action. If anyone is qualified to give this sort of message, it is certainly Richard Stearns.

What I didn’t like

What I’m concerned with is his interpretation of some Scriptures. He is certainly no theologian, and I do not hold him to that standard. But I know how easy it is to make Scripture seem to mean what you want it to mean when you have an agenda to push. And most certainly this book has an agenda. But it’s an agenda I agree with.

So for that, I will give this review a healthy 4 out of 5 stars. The reason I don’t give 5 is because of some of the theological elements. I don’t think that social action is always a part of the Gospel. I think there should have been a distinction between the Gospel and “Mission.” Not that they are separated, but that the Gospel message always includes words, mission does not.

So the old saying “Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary use words” is off the mark. Words are always needed when preaching the Gospel. Always. But words aren’t always needed in Christian mission. And the Gospel drives the Christian mission, not the other way around. In spite of this, my rating stands firm. A healthy 4 out of 5!

If you want to check out the book for yourself, you can here on Thomas Nelson’s site.

Or, you can help a brother out and make your purchase through my affiliate site by following this link.

Subscribing via RSS feed

Book Review: The Cost of Discipleship

Book Review: Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century

Moral Obligations in a Pop Culture. Make Sense?

Being a Christian: It Means More than “Believing”

Jonathan — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:29:25 +0000

How long before you actually followed Christ did you say that you “believed” in God?

I can speak for myself here. It was for all my life. I’ve always “believed” in God.

But I didn’t trust in Him. I didn’t love Him. I didn’t worship Him.

There have been numerous people with whom I’ve talked and have told me that they believe in God. Of course, this used to satisfy my inquiry. But not now.

Now, however, when someone tells me they believe in God, I ask them, “Oh yea? That’s great!” And then follow with, “What do you mean by that?”

So why does it take more than just believing?

Whoever follows Jesus knows his voice. They discern from the voice of the enemy, and the voice of their Savior. To put it plainly in the words of Jesus, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

But what does it mean to follow Jesus? I suppose we could write a book about this, but this article does not afford the time and space. So I will break it down into two things for now that are most protuberant: Loving God and Loving Others.

This comes from Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:36-40:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love God, and love others. Sounds simple enough, eh? I’m not sure that this sounds simple, but what it does sound like is trusting, worshipping, and doing.

James gives us a good picture of what having faith in Jesus is largely about. He points out in the second chapter of James that believing must be tied with doing. In other words, loving your neighbor:

“But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?” (James 2:18-20)

Basically, if a professes to be in full support of something, yet does nothing to show his or her support, then this person has no ground to profess such a thing.

To illustrate: If I claim that I love my wife, yet ignore everything she is about and seek out other women for my relational needs, I’m a liar and deceiver and do not love my wife no matter what I say. Rest assured, though, because I do love my wife.

In this way profession is supported by application.

What about salvation by faith alone? Sola fide!?

The Jehovah’s Witnesses try to use this verse in James to mean that your works alone justify salvation, but this is untrue. Works alone truncate the Gospel message.

It is not by works alone, but by faith alone one is saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). But this faith is supposed to produce works in us (Eph. 2:10). And that’s why James extends this onto saying that faith without deeds is useless, because that is one of the very things faith is supposed to produce!

Faith produces works, works do not produce faith. Works is a byproduct of faith, not the other way around.

And in this way, being a Christian means more than believing. To an extent it means doing. But remember, the doing is a result of the believing (Eph. 2:8-10). And this “doing” never leaves believing—it is a doing that requires faith (John 6:27-29).

The desire to “do” is given at the moment of regeneration.

This is key. I used to believe that if one was doing “good” works, it proved his faith in Christ. Which, to some extent is true. But not entirely.

The works one does are grounded in the reasons he does them. In other words, are you working—doing—to gain merit with God, or are you doing because you love God and want people to praise your Father in heaven? (Matt. 5:16)

The evidence of a regenerated heart is a change of desire—the desire to please God… to trust Him… to worship Jesus.

And as a result, this works of a regenerate heart are reflective of worshipping Jesus.

Being a Christian is much deeper than believing. It’s trusting, loving, and worshipping Jesus.

What does loving Jesus look like in your life? How has your faith in Jesus produced a change of desire in you? What do you think it looks like to others? Leave your comments below.

Subscribing via RSS feed

Being a Christian: It Means More Than Being Nice

Moral Obligations in Pop Culture. Make Sense?

Keeping God in the Spice Cabinet

Photo credit

Advertising on SB. What It’s For, What It’s Not For.

Jonathan — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:00:49 +0000

I thought it would be good for me to explain to you all a few things going on here at SB.

As you will notice, there have been a few advertisements around here. That being said (and seen) I want to be very clear and honest with you why I am doing this.

I respect your relationship(s) and your readership to this site. I am continually humbled that anyone would return to this rag-tag website anticipating content. I am truly thankful.

Now, on to business.

Why are there advertisements on SB?

I have been thinking a lot about doing advertisements. One thing I can’t stand is a website that has advertisements of just about any random product you can think of. This is not my purpose, and you will not see that type of advertisements here.

For one, I want to offer more resources for people who visit this site. For two, I would like to make more use out of this site, and extra cash never hurts. Actually, this is one way I’m hoping to earn extra.

So if you think that you have product or a website that would benefit from advertising here on SortingBeans, contact me and we’ll talk.

Will I advertise anything?

No. I’m not in it just for the money. It’s not that much anyway. My purpose is to help people grow into passionate followers of Jesus. If an advertiser (such as Christianbook.com) has nothing beneficial to offer for you all, I will not promote them. Your trust means more to me than their dollars.

Am I going to have more advertisements?

I hope. While my desire is not to have advertisements for the sake of advertising, I would like to offer more to my readers, and make a little extra as a result. I could really use it.

So, are the current advertisements affiliate links?

Yes. I will make commission from any purchase made through them. Please feel free to help a brother out! Now would be the time for me to shoot you some clever sales tactic to purchase through my links and advertisements, but I’m not very good at that sort of thing. Just think about me the next time you make an online purchase!

Did I have any of this in mind when I started this blog?

No. I had no idea I would ever advertise. Heck, I had no idea over 200 people would read my blog in one day!

My initial purpose was to expose false doctrine and promote true doctrine. That’s why my original tag line was “Heresy Breeds Dung.” Remember that? It’s not that I don’t agree with that anymore (trust me), it’s just that I want this site to be more about resources and helping people grow in Christ. And there’s far more ways to do that than spending all my time heretic hunting.

A little about my affiliate store

As I said, it is with ChristianBook.com. I have personally bought through them before because I found them to be the best priced. Even better than Amazon. The service was actually great, except I could only return an imprinted Bible for half the price. But that makes sense because I had special text imprinted on it.

There are also some Google Adsense ads here as well. I’ve worked for a couple hours editing my css code to keep them down to a minumum. The Google adsense ads should appear only at the bottom of the posts. I get a small, small, small percentage (I really don’t even know what it is) when the links are clicked on. I know one guy who I think said made like $15.00 in an entire year.

I encourage you to use the links for your purchases for books, music, and other accessories you may need, but will love you just the same if you don’t.

Thanks for taking this time to read such a boring post. Come back for more!

Subscribing via RSS feed

How Do You Stand?

Get Media

Recommended Books for New Christians

Being a Christian: It Means More Than Being Nice

Jonathan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:49:31 +0000

I have been known to do personal surveys from time to time.

Not the kind where you have a seat and fill out a form, but the kind where I would just ask specific questions to random people as I encounter them usually about the topic of faith.

Some of the surveys I have done have been

Asking people why they wear a cross

Asking people why they believe in God

Asking people why they believe in Jesus

Asking people what it means to be a Christian

Asking people why they believe whatever it is they believe

There have been more, but these are the ones I have done the most. I especially enjoy asking people why they wear a cross or what it means to be a Christian.

And honestly, people have been quite offended by these questions. I suppose it is because they had to give a reason for something they were unsure of.

But do we really understand what it means to be a Christian?

When I have talked to many people about Christian identity and what it means to them, would you really be surprised at the multitude of different answers?

Answers have been as numerous as there are hairs on my head. Well, not really. But they have been many.

Yet, a few answers tend to creep up from time to time.

That I believe in Jesus

That Jesus died for my sins

Treat others the way you would be treated

I don’t think any of these answers are right on. And one of them is far off.

I think the most popular answer is the third: do unto others as you would want then to do unto you.

Being a Christian is not simply about being nice to others. It’s way more.

Actually, I would rather the word “nice” be replaced with “kindness.” Because “nice” is an adjective used to describe a gesture or behavior, it is not of the same caliber of kindness. Kindness has to do with the nature of an individual.

And sometimes, Jesus calls his “kind” followers to stand for things that are offensive to the world.

Which, by the way, is not always “nice.” For example: the cross of Christ is offensive. It’s an exclusive statement manifested in divine action.

It’s a bold proclamation that states “This is how you will be saved: by humbling yourself, repenting from your sins, and believing on me [Jesus].”

~~Christianity~~ Jesus proclaims that He is the only way to God.

But again, is this nice? No. Following Jesus goes way deeper than simply being “nice” and finds its deepest meaning in the love of God.

Being a Christian means more than being nice. It means being a child of the loving God. And while this is not always a call to be nice, it is always a call to act out of love (1 John 3:23-24).

Whether this would be sacrificing your time to minister to the underprivileged, to preach or witness to people about Jesus, to lead your family in Biblical truth, or to lead your single life in the purity of which you were called, it is always anchored in the love of God found in the person of Jesus Christ.

Is this new to you? How have you thought of being “nice” vs. being “kind?” How have you been called to love in your followership to Jesus? Leave your comments below.

Subscribing via RSS feed

Moral Obligations in Pop Culture. Make Sense?

Don’t Miss Out On These

Moral obligations in Pop Culture. Make Sense?

Photo credit