Seedplots

con’t from last Friday…

5. Keep a SHORT to-do list for each day – four items, max
I used to weight down my to-do list with way too many things to do. At the end of the day, though, I would not only feel as though I rushed through stuff, I’d feel like I hadn’t really accomplished too much because there was always stuff left on my list.

The solution is pretty simple. Your to-do list should have at most four items on it. Naturally, your day routine will have several other tasks that you do as part of a routine (checking and responding to emails, maintenance tasks, regular meetings, and so on) – don’t include these on your to-do list. Instead, those routine items should be used to fill in the gaps between the big items on your to-do list. Finish off each day with the routine of ensuring your to-do list for tomorrow is ready, but you can/should be assembling it throughout the day.

Construct those items carefully so that they can be done with about fifty minutes of truly focused work. This way, you can complete a task on your to-do list with a single block of focused time (as in tip #1, above). If you need to fit in more work than that on your to-do list, add it to the one for the day after tomorrow, or the day after that.

How I Do It: I just add items throughout the day to my lists, then at the end of the day, I fill up tomorrow’s list to four items with tasks that always need done – drafting posts, researching a particular angle, and so on. Each day, I live by this list. I close out distractions and focus on one item on the list until it’s done. Then, I do all of my routine tasks in the gaps between these big jobs. If things go well, I might steal an item from the next day’s to-do list if I have time for a fifth thing.

6. Check email only twice a day
Email is almost always a major time sink. It’s rarely a simple matter of just reading messages. Many messages demand responses, and some messages demand follow-up tasks. Leaving that email window open throughout the day ensures only one thing – your concentration will be interrupted constantly by messages that come in that need responses.  My solution is to simply close the program. Open it only two times a day or so and do an email session, where you deal with everything in your inbox. Then, close the program completely (including notifications) and move onto something else. If it’s truly urgent, someone will come directly to you, so don’t worry about missing out on something vital.

How I Do It: I check my email twice a day. I often do one email session while eating lunch, then a second session just before finishing up tomorrow’s to-do list and quitting for the day (on occasion, I’ll do a third one in the morning before the kids wake up, but this one is often interrupted). My goal with each session is to clear out my inbox – I deal with every message immediately unless it involves a task that’s going to take more than five minutes or so.

7. File things once a day
This is actually a pretty recent addition to my routine. I had to add it simply because I had a giant pile of things that didn’t need immediate action, but needed to hang around for future reference: statements, prospectuses, post ideas, receipts, magazine articles, and so on. My pile of such items eventually came to dominate my desk and it was often impossible to find anything in there.

To take care of this, I started a very simple filing system in a box that I keep next to my desk. This keeps my desk clear most of the time (giving me space to work on things at hand), plus it enables me to find stuff quickly when I want to find it. The best part? Once the system is in place, it doesn’t take much effort to maintain it – maybe a minute a day. Considering I’d often burn ten minutes digging through the pile finding things, this is a huge time saver for me.

8. Start your day with your major creative or thought-intensive task
When I start my day, I have a choice of the four items on my to-do list. Which one will I tackle first? I’ve usually had breakfast and a shower and prepared the kids for their day, so I’m wide awake and my brain is running. I’ve found, time and time again, that starting your day with your most thought-intensive task sets the tone for the whole day. It forces you into prime thinking early on and you can ride that wave throughout most of the day. If I do a major thought-intensive task after several hours of work, my brain turns to mush for the rest of the day. Finishing the day with my easiest task leaves me pretty fresh for my evening activities with my family.

How I Do It: Whenever I look at the day’s to-do list, I always choose the item that seems to be the most thought intensive. That means I do my heaviest thinking earlier in the day, usually ending with an afternoon task or two that doesn’t require nearly as much active thought. I’ll do creative work in the mornings and things like interviews in the afternoon, for example.

9. Take lots of micro breaks (or at least switch to very different tasks regularly)
One of the biggest enemies in a workday is lethargy. It’s easy to find yourself in a low-energy period, sitting there having trouble keeping your eyes open or concentrating on anything. Once you’re there, it’s often very hard to pull yourself out of it – you’re running on low energy for the rest of the day, even if you do rebound a bit.  The best way to combat it is to never let your energy level get that low. That means not sitting at your desk or your work area for long periods. Get up and move on a regular basis. Instead of eating a big, heavy lunch, eat smaller snacks throughout the day. Stretch. Drink water. Do this as often as you can – bookend task sessions with a micro break where you do these things.

How I Do It: Whenever I finish an isolated block, I take a five minute break. I get up from my desk, walk downstairs, get a drink of water, use the bathroom, stretch a bit, and maybe grab a very small snack (like a granola bar or a piece of fruit).  Doing this has basically eliminated the mid-afternoon energy lull I used to have – around two, I would basically hit a wall and not be productive for the rest of the day. Now, I can keep going until … well, read the next tip.

10. Don’t overwork
Sure, once in a while, you have to put in some extra hours in order to really do your job well. It’s also important to note that different people have different energy levels for their day.  Given that, though, the worst mistake you can make is to overwork. If you’re nearing the end of the day and you just can’t seem to get anything done, don’t push it. Time and time again, I’ve found that pushing myself to get just a little bit more done at the end of the day has long term negative ramifications. I have a harder time getting going the next morning, for example, and if I do it consistently, my overall productivity slows to a crawl.

How I Do It: If I feel myself starting to slip at the end of a day, I stop. I finish up my day and move on to something else. Burning myself out with regards to my work is incredibly dangerous and something I take great pains to avoid. Stopping early might slightly reduce my productivity for that given day, but it doesn’t drag down my long-term productivity at all – if anything, it does the opposite, because I’m not burnt out the next day.

Here’s the Original Link

Here’s a helpful posting on the cross by Pastor DeYoung,

The Cross of Christ
Several years ago I started the habit of beginning my devotional time each morning by reading from a spiritual classic for 10-20 minutes. This has been a great way to read through longer, denser books. With this method, I’ve managed to learn from men like Athanasius, Gregory the Great, Calvin, Edwards, Bavinck, Lloyd-Jones, Sibbes, Owen, Baxter, Chesterton, and Machen.

And in learning from them I’ve been better prepared each morning for the word of God and prayer.  Currently, I’m reading through a more recent book, John Stott’s The Cross of Christ. It is truly a modern day classic. How anyone could read this book and not be convinced, from the Scriptures, of the validity, centrality, and glory of penal substitution as the heart of the gospel is beyond me.

Here are two of the best paragraphs you’ll ever read on the atonement. Meditate on them. Pray through them. And don’t go to a church that doesn’t preach them.

We strongly reject, therefore, every explanation of the death of Christ that does not have at its center the principle of “satisfaction through substitution,” indeed divine self-satisfaction through divine self-substitution. The cross was not

• a commercial bargain with the devil, let alone one that tricked and trapped him: nor an exact equivalent,
• a quid pro quo to satisfy a code of honor or technical point of law; nor
• a compulsory submission by God to some moral authority above him from which he could not otherwise escape; nor
• a punishment of a meek Christ by a harsh and punitive Father; nor
• a procurement of salvation by a loving Christ from a mean and reluctant Father; nor
• an action of the Father which bypassed Christ as Mediator.

Instead, the righteous, loving Father humbled himself to become in and through his only Son flesh, sin and a curse for us, in order to redeem us without compromising his own character.

The theological words satisfaction and substitution need to be carefully defined and safeguarded, but they cannot in any circumstance be given up. The biblical gospel of atonement is of God satisfying himself by substituting himself for us.

The concept of substitution may be said, then,
to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation.

For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives that belong to God alone; God accepts penalties that belong to man alone (158-59). (Original posting)

In this series of postings, I’m slowly working my way through Charles Bridges’ classic book Christian Ministry.

Christian Ministry (Charles Bridges) – Chapter 2

In Chapter 2, Bridges writes about the dignity of being called to lead God’s people and the corresponding responsibility such leaders carry.

The Dignity of our Calling
The Christian Ministry, writes Bridges, has a dignity far above any earthly honor. He lists two reasons for this assertion:

1)  A person becomes a “fellow-worker” with God. Christian Ministry formed the calling, work and delight of Jesus himself, the Lord of Glory, during his last years on earth.

2)  Christian Ministry also has a dignity of its own because it involves the eternity destiny of people. “The highest dignity, if not the greatest happiness, that human nature is capable of … is to become the conveyer of God’s truth to others.” Rightly understood, this humbles us.

Christian leaders handle high and holy things. The true Scriptural standard for the work of a Christian minister is the fact that “we are allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel… and so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who tries our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4).

The Responsibility of our Calling
Christian ministers have a great responsibility. “Neglect not, Paul wrote, the gift of God that is in you. Stir it up with the daily exercises of faith, self-denial, and prayer. “The moment we permit ourselves to think lightly of the Christian ministry, or right-arm is withered.”

Bridges asserts, “A sense of the dignity of Christian ministry” – accurately formed, carefully maintained and habitually exercised” is of the highest importance.

Because of this high standard, “dignity of character” of a Christian minister” must correspond with the dignity of the task. The glory of the ministry goes hand in hand with the humility of the servant. We are at best “unprofitable servants.”

We all know the story of David and Goliath. It’s recorded for us in 1 Samuel 17. Chapter 18 describes what happened next. David, most likely still a teenage, is suddenly a hero. He is invited (perhaps it would be more accurate to say “required” 1 Sam 18:2) to relocate to King Saul’s headquarters.

As the chapter progresses, David’s popularity and fame steadily increase (cf. verse 5, verse 7, verses 13-16, verses 26-27, verse 30).

At the same time, King Saul’s attitude toward David flip flops from love (verse 1), to irritation, anger and jealousy (verses 8-9), to fear (verses 12, 28-29) and finally to hatred (verse 29).

This is not a simple case of jealousy. There are spiritual forces at work behind the scenes. Saul acts this way, the narrator tells us, because he realizes that “the Lord is with David” (verse 28). God’s empowering Spirit has left King Saul and Saul knows it. He is now at the mercy of an evil spirit that torments him and fans into flames his irrational hatred toward David.

In chapter 19, King Saul’s animosity explodes. He gives up trying to hid his hatred of David and openly orders him killed (1 Samuel 19:1). Chapter 19 records a “whole chain of deliberate plans to wipe out David” (Davis, 1 Samuel:  Looking on the Heart, pg. 197).

The reader is led to ask, “How can this teenager survive is such a situation?” The answer is instructive.

David, humanly speaking can’t survive, but God steps in and delivers him.  1 Samuel 19 records four such deliverance episodes (vv 1-7, 8-10, 11-17, 18-24). God counters every attempt of King Saul to destroy his servant David.

The message of chapter 19 should be clear: Yahweh repeatedly protected his servant… Sometimes he uses human instruments (a Jonathan or a Michal) to provide such protection, but sometimes he bypasses them (e.g., Samuel) in order to make clear that “salvation is from the Lord”… As we take in the sweep of the whole chapter note how diverse Yahweh’s protection is.  The means and methods of deliverance reflect the imagination of the Deliverer (Davis).

In these episodes, David may not even have known that God was protecting him. That became clear only upon later reflection.  Davis,  in his wonderful commentary on 1 Samuel, notes,

Sometimes the clearest evidence that God has not deserted you is not that you are successfully past your trial but that you are still on your feet in the middle of it.

I find this narrative wonderfully encouraging. As we walk with God and serve him he takes care of us. Psalm 34, written by David while on the run from Saul, extends this truth to every who “fears God”:  The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them (Ps 34:7).

The one who watches over us is none other than the One who possess all authority, in heaven and on earth.  He has promised to “be with us always, even to the end of the age.”

In previous postings we’ve looked at the pattern for daily prayer that Jesus taught his disciples.

This posting “puts it all together” by suggesting a how we can put Jesus’ pattern for prayer into practice daily.

Adoration and Praise
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name . . .

Pray for an open, obedient heart as you fellowship with the Father. Greet him, enjoy being in his presence, sing to him, worship him, praise and adore him. He is your Father; He is Almighty God; You belong to His people!

Submission to God’s Will
Your kingdom come, your will be done . . .

Lord, may your kingdom come. May the knowledge of the Lord, the knowledge of how glorious you are, cover the earth. Lord, I give myself to you today, wanting your will to be done in my life, just as it is in heaven. Fill me with your Spirit. Equip and enable me to do your will – in your way, in your order, and in your strength. Help me love you with all my heart, and serve others in your strength.

Colossians 1:9-10
Lord, today please . . .
. . . Fill me with the knowledge of your will
. . . Help me live worthy of you and please you in every way
. . . Enable me to bear fruit in every good work
. . . I want to increase in the knowledge of the Lord today
. . . Strengthen me with your power; give me great endurance and patience

Petition
Give us this day our daily bread . . .

Pray boldly and base your prayers on God’s promises. Lord, here are the worries and concerns I carry into today. I know fear and worry hinder fellowship with you. They reflect my self-centeredness. I give my worries and concerns to you. Help me move from fear to faith. Enable me to trust you for each need. Bless me with your favor and “establish the work of my hands.”

Confession and Forgiveness
Forgive us our sins as we also forgive. . .

Lord, I confess to you . . .

Spiritual Warfare
Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from the evil one

Lord, protect me and my family from the evil one today. Help me to keep in place the “belt of truth,” the “breastplate of righteousness,” and the “shoes of preparedness” that come from the gospel of peace. Help me to use the “shield of faith” and the “helmet of salvation” when Satan tempts me to doubt you and trust instead in my own resources. Help me use the “Sword of the Spirit” to honor you and help others today.
.

Here’s another list of suggestions for daily work, again from a secular writer (Trent Hamm). 

This article is fairly long, so I’ll break it up into two postings – this Friday and next Friday.

Ten things that work for me

Over the last few years, I’ve read a ton of time management books and tried out literally hundreds of systems and standalone ideas for maximizing the effectiveness of my time, particularly in terms of my work… Here’s the problem with productivity tips… Most of them don’t work.

I’ve tried many, many productivity ideas, yet I keep coming back to the same handful in the end. These tips work for me… I think most of them will work well for you – at the very least, they’re worth trying.

1. Avoid multitasking like the plague
Every time I attempt to multitask, I wind up doing each task with a lower level of quality than I would have if I had focused on just that task. My concentration isn’t fully sustained on any of the tasks I juggle, so I wind up using only a slice of my brain for each task. That simply results in lower quality work… In the end, I’m left with tasks done in a mediocre fashion and, quite often, no time saved at all. That, to me, is a lose-lose.

Here’s the way to solve it: focus on only one task at a time. Let the rest slide. Work on that one task in bursts – at most an hour in length. Then stop and catch up on any incoming messages you need to deal with, take a break, and so on.

How I Do It: When I begin a big task, I shut off everything. I turn off my cell phone and the ringer on our home phone. I close my email program. I shut my office door. I choose music (or similar audio) that’s conducive to concentration. I set the clock to an hour or so. Then I bear down. I do the research. I write the article. I let everything else go. After about five minutes, I usually get into some sort of flow where I fail to even notice what time it is until my clock alerts me that the time is up. When I stop and step back, I usually realize that I’ve completed what seems like a lot of work, far more than I would have achieved with interruptions.

2. Keep a notebook with you and write down your thoughts
We all have lots of good ideas float through our heads throughout the day: things we need to do, ideas for future directions, facts we need to look up. In an average day, I usually have twenty or twenty five of these little things bubble up from my sub consciousness.  Many people try to just trap these in their conscious mind until they can do them, but doing that makes it harder to concentrate and really bear down on an important task. Instead of doing this, keep a pocket notebook or a PDA with you at all times to jot down any small things that pop into your head. Don’t worry about whether it’s a good idea or not – just get it down on paper and deal with it later.

3. Keep an “inbox” and process it once or twice a day
So, what do you do with all of those jotted down notes – and with all of the other things that come your way in a given day, like mail, miscellaneous tasks people send to you by email, and so on? It’s pretty simple – once or twice a day, process all of it. Take some sort of action on all of those stored-up items – toss them in the trash, file them away, take care of the task, pencil it in on your calendar, or so on.  The goal needs to be eliminating everything in your inbox. You should strive to get to “empty” once a day, with everything in there dealt with in some capacity. If you let it build up, it will grow out of control.

How I Do It: I usually keep two separate “inboxes” – one on the computer and one on the left side of my desk. I pick through each of these at least once a day, usually at the end of the day. Usually I spend time adding to my idea file, taking care of little tasks, adding things to tomorrow’s to-do list, updating my calendar, updating my grocery list, and so on. The biggest challenge I had to work through with this was not simply making another pile out of things that needed filing and things that need further reading (like notes for a future post). I’ve recently solved that problem (see #7).

4. Keep a project list – and focus on it at least an hour a day
We all have a lot of projects that we’d like to work on – projects that aren’t really essential to what we’re doing, but would go a long way towards making life easier once they’re complete. Things like reorganizing the pantry, cleaning out the garage, sorting through all of our kids’ clothes and putting up everything that isn’t at least 3T in size, doing a small marketing project, writing something intriguing but complex, and so on – they vary widely from person to person… Of course, a project list is useless if you don’t use it. Set aside one hour each day where your focus is on one of the projects on your list. Pick one out and make some progress.

How I Do It: I keep a “to-do” list that is a maximum of thirty items long for such projects. I order it by the day that I add a task to the list, so that the oldest one is always at the top of the list. If the list has thirty projects on it and I want to add another one, I simply delete the one on top of the list. When I want to work on something, I start at the top of the list and go down the list until I find one that’s compelling for me to work on at the moment.  This works amazingly well for me. If a task reaches the top of the list and I haven’t taken significant action on it, it’s because on some level I’ve realized that I’m not really that interested in the project. It also keeps my “project list” from getting impossibly big, making it feel like a realistic thing to manage.

Here’s the Original Link

Here’s a practical article by Tim Chester with suggestions on how to encourage “cross-centered” living in the community of God’s people that you lead,

Someone recently asked me this question: ‘Do you have any suggestions for practical, tangible first-steps that churches or missional communities can take to implement a cross-centred practice’.  Here are some thoughts …

1. Model cross-centred living and make it explicit what you’re modeling
Tell people you are doing something because it is the way of the cross. We were looking at Philippians 3 recently in church and it’s interesting how 3:17 in which Paul invites people to follow his example follows on from 3:10-16 in which Paul talks of wanting to know the power of the resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in Christ’s sufferings, becoming like him in his death. I.e. when Paul tells people to follow his example he also tells them what that the framework that shapes that pattern – resurrection power to follow the weakness of the cross – and striving for this as something not yet fully attained.

2. What’s the loving thing to do in this situation?
In all sorts of decision-making situations or pastoral occasions, ask people, ‘What would it mean for you to follow the way of the cross in this situation?’ ‘What’s the loving thing to do?’ ‘What would it mean for you to serve, sacrifice, deny yourself, submit or suffer in this situation?’

I’ve found the question, ‘What would be the loving thing for you to do?’ a great question to ask because it immediately gets beyond what is just, right and fair, what I deserve and what they deserve. So, for example, someone is wronged by someone. They come to you with their complaint. They want justice. They demand condemnation. Talking about what is right or ethical just circles people back to what they deserve. But ‘what is loving?’ what is gracious?’ ‘how has God treated you?’ breaks beyond this self-centeredness.

3.Extol Christ
Above all exhort people to treasure Christ. Extol Christ to them so that service, sacrifice, self-denial, submission and suffering seem worth it. Matthew 13:44 and Philippians 3:8 are so helpful.

(Original article)

In this series of postings, I’m slowly working my way through Charles Bridges’ classic book Christian Ministry.

Christian Ministry (Charles Bridges) – Chapter 1

Chapter 1 serves as a short introductory chapter to the rest of the book. 

The Foundations of God’s Church
Bridges begins by referring to the Church as "the mirror that reflects the glory of God’s character"  Jesus is at work to "build his church" and to do this He employs people he has called, gifted and commissioned to the great work of laying the foundation and raising up the superstructure of his Church. 

This began with the work of the 12 apostles.  It continues on with the work of elders who serve as "overseers over the flock".  Jesus promises his presence to the "end of the age," and until the gospel reaches the "ends of the earth."  

To this end, Jesus calls and equips and gives leaders to his Church to "equip God’s people… for the building up of his body."  These leaders are his provision for the welfare of the Church he has "purchased with his own blood."   One of the terms used in Scripture to describe this process is that of "ministry."  The most comprehensive section on Christian Ministry in Scripture, argues Bridges, is in Ephesians 4:7-16.  

The Work of the Trinity and Christian Ministry
Each person of the Trinity is involved in the provision for leadership among God’s people.  The Father gives to his servants "the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18).  The Son, when he was exalted on high, gave "gifts" to his Church – those leaders who would equip the people of  God for works of service (Ephesians 4:16).  This service is called "the ministry of the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:9).  He calls people to this ministry, he guides and directs them, he empowers them with needed gifts and graces (Acts 13:2).

Our Response
In response to all of this, the only appropriate response we can make is to echo Paul’s words, "Who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Cor 2:16).  Reflection on these truths humbles and sobers us.  Christian ministry is possible only because "our sufficiency is from God."

We look around us, see corruption and injustice, lies and evil, and think – these are surely the last days – look how bad things are.

What we tend to forget is that this cycle of 1) downwardly spiraling evil, 2) God’s judgment and 3) the emergence of new leaders and new countries has been happening since before the days of Noah. It is not unusual for the people of God, living in a society near the end of this cycle, to think “it’s never been this bad before.”

Psalm 12 reflects such a period in David’s day: “Save, O Lord!… the faithful have vanished… everyone utters lies to his neighbor, with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.”

God sees what is happening around us.  He will act, though not as quickly as we would like. “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord.

We wait.  We cry out, like saints have prayed through Scripture, “How long, O Lord?” We yearn and pray for Jesus’ return. ^“20He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  ²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.  Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21).

“and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil” Matt 6:13

Finally, Jesus tells us to pray for spiritual victory.

The word “evil” in this verse occurs a definite article.  Probably the idea is not evil as an abstract form, but “the evil one.”

Jesus is instructing us to pray for Spiritual victory.  “Father,”  he is praying,  “don’t allow me into a situation where I will be overcome with temptation and fall into sin.”   “Lord, instead of this, deliver me from the evil one.”

A similar thought is present in 1 Cor 10:13,

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Conclusion

In this series on the Lord’s Prayer, we’ve considered 5 areas we are to pray for in our daily practice of prayer.

Each of these areas is based on our concept of God.  We pray properly when we have an accurate understanding of who our God is.  As we know God better our prayer life deepens. Jesus has given us a pattern for daily fellowship with the Father in prayer.  Meeting God daily in prayer helps us know the Father better, and that in turn enrichens prayer.
.

In an earlier posting on “Projects, concentration and multitasking” I commented on the problem of interruptions and how they affect our concentration.

I mentioned the importance of having a “both-and” mentality.  Interruptions are not necessarily bad, they just need to be managed wisely.  The following comments, which I ran across last week, highlight the flip side of the picture,

It’s not possible to schedule all of our lives (nor should we try). And so there is no misunderstanding: I’m not dependent upon my schedule. My dependence rests upon God himself.
The unexpected will arise each day, needs will emerge that we did not anticipate, and situations that we could not foresee will require our attention.
We should not be surprised by apparent interruptions to our schedule. These are part of God’s purpose and plan for our lives. As C.S. Lewis so wisely noted:

The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s “own,” or “real” life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life—the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one’s “real life” is a phantom of one’s own imagination. This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it’s hard to remember it all the time (The Quotable Lewis (Wheaton, IL.: Tyndale House Publishers, 1989), 335.)

The following posting is adopted from an article by Jerry Bridges.  The original article, posted in Modern Reformation magazine, is here.

Bridges argues that evangelicals commonly think that the gospel is only for unbelievers. Once someone believes the gospel, they then need to focus on discipleship, i.e. on living the Christian life.  This leads to a mentality of “performance-based discipleship.”

His article is pretty searching.  Take a look at the following chart and see if you don’t agree.

Performance-Based Discipleship

“As evangelicals, we tend to live performance-based lives. The more deeply committed we are to following Jesus, the more deeply ingrained the performance mindset is. We think we earn or forfeit God’s blessing by how well we live the Christian life.  Take a look at the following chart – do you see yourself in one of these three groups?”

The Gospel and Believers

Bridges writes, “[These three groups need the gospel too], but they don’t realize it is for them. I know, because I was in the [third] group.  Gradually over time, and from a deep sense of need, I came to realize that the gospel is for believers, too.”

“Eventually I learned not to look to my “own performance but to Christ’s ‘performance’ as the sole basis of his acceptance with God.”

I learned that Christians need to hear the gospel all of their lives because it is the gospel that continues to remind us that our day-to-day acceptance with the Father is not based on what we do for God but upon what Christ did for us in his sinless life and sin-bearing death.

I began to see that we stand before God today as righteous as we ever will be, even in heaven, because he has clothed us with the righteousness of his Son. Therefore, I don’t have to perform to be accepted by God. Now I am free to obey him and serve him because I am already accepted in Christ (see Rom. 8:1).

“Even when we understand that our acceptance with God is based on Christ’s work we still naturally tend to drift back into a performance mindset. Consequently, we must continually return to the gospel.

To use an expression of the late Jack Miller, we must “preach the gospel to ourselves every day.” For me that means I keep going back to Scriptures such as Isaiah 53:6, Galatians 2:20, and Romans 8:1. It means I frequently repeat the words from an old hymn, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”

Take a look at the article to see how Bridges then deals with the need for growth in holiness.

In this series of postings, I’m slowly working my way through Charles Bridges’ classic book Christian Ministry.

In Chapter 6 Bridges discusses the qualifications one needs to lead God’s people.  We err, he writes, when we don’t take seriously God’s standards for leadership as revealed in Scripture or when we add to these standards.

Probably we are most inclined to settle for qualifications that are too low.  He encourages us to “aim high.”

Christian Ministry (Charles Bridges) – Chapter 6

The fundamental qualification for leaders of God’s people is a deep sense of our own “personal unfitness for the task” and an overwhelming sense that, in spite of my unworthiness, “God has called me” to this task. A look at those in Scripture whom God called into leadership shows that:

• God typically calls those whom others have rejected and deemed unsuitable
• Those whom God calls, he trains and equips for the work he has for them (he is the one who “makes us adequate” -2 Cor 3:5-6 NASB)

Bridges argues that,

A consideration of the “qualifications” for Christian Ministry is the truth that “only God can equip one to be a minister of the Gospel.” Put another way, the necessary qualifications “must be given from above.”

He finds the primary pattern as far as qualifications are concerned in Jesus himself, and secondarily, in the apostle Paul.  Jesus, he writes, exhibits “a most harmonious combination of seemingly opposite characteristics”:

• the dignity of God and the sympathy of a man and a brother
• an awareness of the authority conveyed by his Father’s commission, yet exhibiting the humility of one who came to serve, not be served
• a sense of authority yet using gracious words tempered “with “the meekness of wisdom and the gentleness of love”

Most of chapter 6 in Bridges book considers what Bridges believes are the three basic qualifications for those who lead God’s people:  1) Spiritual attainment (what we might call Spiritual maturity), 2) Mastery of Scripture and 3) the necessary Spiritual gifts

1)  Spiritual Attainment
“Since the ministry is a spiritual work,” Bridges writes, “a corresponding spiritual character seems to be required.”  Without this, the effect of our influence on those we lead will be “unprofitable, even harmful.”

In short, what is needed is holiness.  Those who lead God’s people must be …

Men of God – men taught by God – men consecrated to God by a daily surrender of their time and talents to his service – men of singleness of purpose – living in their work – living altogether but for one end.”

This, observes Bridges, is learned only over time, in God’s “school of adversity.”  God uses adversity, combined with discipline, experience and the ongoing study of Scripture to make us holy.

2)  Mastery of Scripture
Secondly, those who lead God’s people must have more than a rudimentary knowledge of God’s Word.  Paul wrote Timothy that Scripture is able to “make us wise unto Salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15).  But Scripture mastered and applied to life goes further and makes the man of God “competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

“Without this a minister is “incompetent for the great end of his work – to speak unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort.”

3)  Spiritual gifts
Finally, Bridges argues that those who lead God’s people must exhibit the gifts necessary for the ministry God has called them to.   He begins by discussing the need to be able to must be able to “communicate and apply what has been imparted.”  Then he goes on to outline the need for wisdom – knowing how to apply God’s Word to people’s lives.

“Each one of these three categories of qualifications,” concludes Bridges,  “is important, far too important to be trifled with.”

In his outstanding reference book on Old Testament Theology, Bruce Waltke draws attention to the striking parallels and contrasts between Samson and Samuel.

Both men are raised up by God to deliver his people.

Samson’s mother, Manaoh, is barren as is Samuel’s mother, Hannah.  Their sons come only after divine intervention.

In Samson’s case, his mother is cynical and God sends an angel to convince her.  In Samuel’s case, his mother is godly and receives her son through prayer.

After their birth, Hannah expresses her joy through a wonderful hymn of praise to God.  No words of praise are recorded for Manaoh.

Both sons are dedicated to God at birth.  Samson resents this and rebels against his Nazirite consecration to God.  Samuel embraces his consecration to God and serves God faithfully.

Samson delivers the nation from the Philistines through acts of violence.  Samuel delivers the nation from the Philistines through prayer (1 Sam 7, cf. 12:23).

Samson’s efforts at uniting and delivering the nation succeed only in postponing defeat. Samuel’s ministry ultimately transforms the nation from victims to victors, and he anoints David as God’s chosen king.  Ultimately his ministry laid the foundation for the promise of great King, the “Son of David” in 2 Samuel 7.

I’m struck by the mother’s role in both cases.  Hannah, Samuel’s mother, was a woman of God who prayed.  Samuel, the one “asked of God” became a man who led the nation by prayer.  Manaoh doesn’t appear to have been a godly woman and her son, Samson, “served God” in a godless way.  God’s work goes forward God’s way – by prayer.

Lots of lessons here!  I don’t think the parallels are in the text by accident – they’re meant to teach us something.

“and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” Luke 11:4

Jesus, in the “Lord’s prayer,” gave His disciples a pattern for daily fellowship with God in prayer.

We learn from this prayer that daily repentance and confession of sin is God’s will for us and needs to be an integral part of our daily prayer life.  A good way to think of this spiritual habit is to compare it with washing our hands before a meal.

Repentance and Confession

When we repent our our sins and confess them, God has promised forgives us and washes us clean from sin’s defilement (1 John 1:9).  He does this on the basis of Jesus death on the cross for our sin.

Forgiveness of those who Sin against us

As part of our daily fellowship with God, we are instructed to consider who has has offended us and then forgive them.

This is especially important for those who are married. 1 Peter 3:7 commands married couples to live in harmony…“so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

If we’re having trouble praying, it is helpful to ask “Is there someone I’m not willing to forgive or am bitter against?”  If that is the case, we are to first go to them and be reconciled with them.  Then we are in a position to continue praying (Matt 5:23).
.

Here’s some helpful advice from the Unclutter blog on forming new habits:

First, it takes 21 days to form a new habit. I like to use 30 day blocks, however, to be sure the habit gets locked in.

Start Small: Pick just one daily, do-able thing that you’ll take on for 30 days. For example, you commit to putting your clothes in the hamper before bed for the next 30 days. Selecting one thing will put all of your focus there, rather than trying to tackle several habits at once.

Be Clear: Be sure that you know clearly whether you’ve accomplished the task or not. For example, is your goal to file paper in your home office for 10 minutes each day or is it to file 1/2 an inch of paper each day? Near dinner time each day, mine will be to check off food items that need to be purchased this week.

Track Progress: Use a calendar… or create a spreadsheet with 30 boxes to track your progress. A check mark or gold star means you did the task. Leaving the box blank of course means you didn’t do it.

Keep It Visible: Have your document pop up on your screensaver, set reminders in your electronic calendar or place in another visible place, such as on the refrigerator. As you’re forming a new habit, you’ll need prompts.

Be Consistent: When possible, do the task at the same time every day. This will make the action a routine and, in time, you’ll be pulled to complete it automatically. For instance, pop your jacket into the closet right away when you arrive home each day.

Begin: The hardest part is to begin. Pick a start day. Today is a good idea so that you don’t build up resistance to change.

The original link is here.