David Ralph

Temptation

This weekend’s talk at Lakeside is all about facing temptation and the consequences we experience when we cross the line of temptation.  We will be looking at the life of David and his infamous affair with Bathsheba.  In my study time this week I came across a great piece by Detrich Bonnhoffer about temptation.  Because I am not able to share it as part of my talk because of time, I thought I would make it part of my blog entry today.

Listen to what he says about temptation – let it soak in…

“In our members there is a slumbering inclination towards desire which is both sudden and fierce.  With irresistable power, desires seize mastery of the flesh.  All at once a secret, smoldering fire is kindled.  The flesh burns and is in flames.  It makes no difference whether it is a sexual desire, or ambition, or vanity or desire for revenge, or love of fame and power, or greed for money…  At this moment God is quite unreal to us.  He loses all reality and only desire for the creature is real.  The only reality is the devil.  Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God… The lust thus aroused envelopes the mind and will of man in deepest darkness. The powers of clear discrimination and of decision are taken from us.  The questions present themselves as, “Is what the flesh desires really sin in this case?”.  And, Is it really not permitted to me, yes, expected of me now, here in my particular situation to appease desire?” 

I found this to be a great summation of the struggle we all face with temptation.  At the end of this listen what he says, “The Bible teaches us in time of temptation in the flesh, there is one command: Flee!  Flee fornication.  Flee idolatry.  Flee youthful lusts.  Flee the lusts of the world.  Every struggle against lust in one’s own strength is doomed to failure”.     What a great solution.  If David had of run away from the edge of that roof top, imagine what painful consequences might he have avoided.  Is there an area in your life where you need to run?

The Words of a Saint

I have been reading the private writings of Mother Teresa over the last few days and I today I came upon the parting words her mother shared with her as Mother Teresa left home to begin her ministry as a missionary to the poor in India.  Listen to what she wrote.  “Put your hand in Jesus hand, and walk alone with him.  Walk ahead, because if you look back you will go back.”    Now listen to what she writes after a few months in India, “I want to be only all for Jesus – truly and not just in name and dress…I would give everything even life itself, for Him.  It doesn not go easily when a person has to be on one’s feet from morning until evening.  But still, everything is for Jesus, so like that everything is beautiful, even though it is difficult.”  

I love that passion for Jesus and for ministry.  Even though ministry sometimes can be difficult (of which she writes about later on) she still has that passion for Jesus and for ministry.  That same kind of passion for Jesus, for ministry and for serving seems to be found in so few people today.  Our passion for Jesus seems to be in so many ways moved from sacrificial commitment  to convenience and comfortable.  If it is easy I will do it.  If it fits into my schedule well then okay I will do it.  If nothing else is on the schedule then I will consider it.  There is a growing sense of apathy in our Christian culture today and it deeply concerns me.  

I hear the reasoning (I would call it an excuse) that loving Jesus and serving and doing ministry for Jesus are separate things.  That I can love Jesus without serving him or doing ministry for him.  Really?  That is almost as foolish as saying that you can have a personal relationship with Jesus without being part of spiritual community.  That is a topic for a different day.  The practices of love and serving are absolutely inseparable.  You cannot serve or do ministry for Jesus if you don’t love him with all your heart.  But you can’t love him with all your heart and not serve him or do ministry for him. 

I know that we live in very busy days.  Lots of people are scrambling to keep up with all of the demands.  So many people are overwhelmed and overloaded.  Many people are searching to find the time to serve and to do ministry.  I am often ask, “how can we make this happen?”.  It is a simple answer.   Grow deeper in your love for Jesus.  We all have time for the things we love the most.    Jesus said seek first the kingdom and all the rest of life will fall into place.  He also said that if we love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and then love our neighbour as ourselves and we make that our primary priority that it would overshadow all the other priorities and have a direct influence on them.   I think the depth and richness of her love made Mother Teresa the saint and servant of God that she was.  Let me close with some final words from Mother Teresa – “Why must we give ourselves fully to God?  Because God has given himself to us.  If God who owes us nothing is ready to impart to us  no less than himself, shall we anwer with just a fraction of ourselves? To give ourselves fully to God is a means of receiving God himself.  I for God and God for me.  To possess God we must allow him to possess our soul.  Jesus said in Luke 14:33 – “Unless a person gives up everything that they own, they cannot be my follower”.  I have a feeling Mother Teresa lived by these words.

The Devil on a Diet

It has been a couple weeks since my last entry.  No I wasn’t on a holiday 0r retreated back to sabbitical mode – although there were a couple of times that I thought that might be a good idea.  The last couple of weeks have been incredibly busy as I returned to my regular routine at Lakeside.  With the “catching up” pretty much done, I am ready to return to posting my blog on a regular basis.   I want to share about things that I am reading, things that I am pondering and thinking about and passages from the Bible that are on my mind.

If there have been a couple verses that has been on my mind the last few days they would be 1 Peter 5:8-9 which says, “Be alert and self controlled.  Your enemy the devil prowl around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in your faith, because you know that your brothers and sister throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”    This comes on the heals of one of those huge verses of comfort which says, “Casting all your cares on him, because he cares for you.”    I look around and watch and witness the many ways that the evil one is devouring people in our culture.  Influencing the choices they make.  Influencing what their priorities are.  Influencing how they live their lives.    That influence is not a positive one.  I wish this was only true for those who have no relationship with Jesus but that is just not the case.  Many followers of Jesus these days seem to be caught up by the same influences.

But the specific context of this passage is that the evil one wants to devour those who are in the middle of their suffering.  He wants to convince them to blame God for their suffering and to bail on Him.   Like Job’s wife he wants them to “curse God and die”.  I continue to watch followers of Jesus walk away from faith because of the extreme suffering they are neck deep in.  

The advice from Peter would be pretty simple – be alert and self controlled – know that this is the scheme of the enemy and be on guard against it.   He would then encourage those in the middle of difficult and dark days to stand firm in their and stand together with others.  Easier said than done.

It seems these days that the evil one has become a glutton when it comes to the number of people he is bent on devouring.  It is time for followers of Jesus to put him on a diet.  It happens when we become aware of his influences on our lives – both the blatant and the subtle ones.  But we have to been on the outlook for them.  It happens when we are willing to follow Jesus and trust him no matter what.  It happens when we stand together and walk with each other through our troubling days.  Yesterday we witnessed a testimony at Lakeside of a young couple who are putting him on a diet.  No matter what is happening in their life – they are choosing to stand firm in their faith.

Re-Entry

Over the last couple of days I have been trying to take all that I have written in four journals, all that I have read in over a couple of dozens of books, all the whispers and promptings I have sensed from God during my three months sabbatical and compact it down into just a few pages.  I am trying to make a list of the highlights and the learnings and the leadings from this past summer.  It isn’t an easy task.  But I want to be able to share these with the Lakeside community next weekend as part of Welcome Back Sunday.  I made a first attempt at this a week or so ago and I shared those findings with some of the staff at Lakeside over the past week and there seemed to be a sense of anticipation and enthusiasm about what I shared.  At least that is what I want to believe I sensed.  But that took over an hour or so and it would be too much for a Sunday morning. 

I sat down yesterday morning and tried to put together a framework for what I wanted to share next weekend.  For about three ours I tried to bring a summary of the summer into a message like format.  When I was done I had the “skeleton” of what I want to share and I will attempt to put the “flesh” on that skeleton next week.  I will simply share some personal moments – some key verses – some promptings and whispers and then close by answering two key questions I asked myself earlier this summer and have been answering all summer long.  I felt very comfortable when I was done.  It was like I had finished the sabbatical.  It was complete.  Although I have a few days left (3) and I will be visiting one more church tomorrow (that will make 14 I visited this summer), I feel like it is a done deal and I am preparing myself to re-enter back into a ministry and people that I love and care for deeply.

This has been a summer where I have had a chance to discover more about myself and to detail some changes that I want to make to my character and to the way I relate and interact with people.  It has been a summer where I have been able to step out of the day to day challenges of ministry and to stand back and have an overall look at who we are, who God is calling us to be, what He wants us to do and where He wants us to go.  As I have said a few times lately, I believe the best days of ministry and impact for Lakeside are ahead of us and God is going to use all of us partnering together to make a huge difference in our community and around the world. 

So I am ready to go – ready to re-enter – ready for the next leg of the journey.  This is going to be my last “sabbatical entry” but I am going to diligently blog as much or more than I did this summer.  I am going to share things that I am reading and studying from the Bible. trends that I see in our culture. things that I am reading on a daily basis,  many personal thoughts and feelings and any definitive whispers and promptings that I an sensing God is giving me.  I hope that you will continue to read my blog.  In fact, I think the best entries are yet to come.  Stay tuned.  The next entry will be Tuesday.  Thanks for sharing the journey with me this summer.  God bless.