Do you know if you are drifting?

Dave Harvey in his book Rescuing Ambition says "Drifters don't always know they're drifting."  Have you ever floated on the waves at the beach unaware that the tide is taking you out to sea. You don't see what is happening because you have been lulled into the rocking motion of the waves, just relaxing and letting go. Suddenly someone on shore calls out "Hey, you are drifting out too far." Sometimes people say to me that you don't have to go to church to be a Christian.  The problem with that statement is this: when you come to Christ, being with the church is a desire placed by the Spirit of God into your spiritual DNA. You just want to be with the people of God. That is one of the great "life-signs" of true converstion. No,  going to church does not save you, but it is one indication that you have the real thing.
When truly converted it is then that we learn that God has designed the church family in part to keep us from drifting. Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks of the necessity of gathering together so we can be encouraged, exhorted, and warned. Apathetic attitudes, cooled off passions, and casual approaches to the body of Christ all set us drifting toward the fringe and that can become a dangerous habit in our lives.
Now I am the first to admit that the church is not perfect and it will fail at times. But here's the thing. It belongs to Christ and is the only game in town for keeping us from the drift. It is there you learn the word of God. It is there you rub elbows with others on the same journey.
 Take a look at the shore. Are you drifting?  No drifting ends well. Stay connected and involved in the body of Christ.  Kill the drift.  Think it through!

Should I be concerned about my conscience?

Sometimes we believers easily dismiss the issue of our conscience because we know that it can be hardened [seared-I Tim. 4:2] and reshaped into something not reliable. The conscience can be ignored through shipwrecking the faith [I Tim. 1:19-20]. Yet Paul the apostle exhibited a great concern for his own conscience. He instructed Timothy to hold a good conscience as he stood firm in the faith. Paul taught that church leadership must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience [ I Tim. 3:9]. Yet for Paul it become more personal. He substantiated his own ministry by his conscience: "I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience" [II Tim. 1:3]. In Acts 23:1 Paul courageously took his stand before the Sanhedrin and while looking them straight in the eye, he declared: "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." In the next chapter [Acts 24:16] Paul while standing before Governor Felix confidently proclaimed: "So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. To the Romans Paul voiced his amazing affirmation of love for his people Israel as genuine because he spoke it with a clear conscience: "I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying--my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit."

H. L. Mencken defined conscience as "the inner voice which warns us that somebody may be looking." Mencken missed something here. A godly man with a good conscience will do the will of God in spite of who is or is not watching and in spite of what people may or may not say.

It was David that prayed in Psalm 139 for God to search his heart and try it that there would be found no wicked way in him. He went on to pray that God would lead him in the way everlasting. The conviction of the Holy Spirit coupled with a tender conscience is a powerful force for godly living in an age of "hardened" consciences.

Have you prayed lately for a searching of the heart so that your conscience is clear? Is there something in your family life, or church relationships or vocational habits that is violating your conscience? Are you ready to "come clean"? Think it through!

Is Jesus someone with "Man-Skin?"

I was listening recently to a radio program in which the person of Christ was under discussion. The dialogue concluded that Christ was a person with "man-skin." I was greatly disturbed by that description of Christ because it diminishes the reality of Christ's true personality as taught in Scripture. Though I hope the people in dialogue did not mean to cloud the issue of who Christ really is, the expression of Christ as being a person with "man-skin" does not describe Christ at all in his humanness. Christ is not a man in disguise...a being with "man skin" on him. He truly became man [with no sin] without ceasing to become God. He was not masquerading as a man, as if you put on human flesh like a suit. He truly became man [Phil. 2:5-9]. The significance of Christ's coming as truly man has incredible redemptive implications. To represent me as my Savior, he must be fully man. To stand in the gap as man's sinful substitute before God, He must also be able to represent a Holy God [which he does because He is fully God as well]. The God-Man is the only way to describe Jesus. I think the terminology that depicts Jesus as a person with "man-skin" [though it may sound cute, clever, and catchy] does a great disservice to the person of Christ and all that the Scripture teaches about Him. We must be very careful how we describe the Son of God, our Savior. Think it through!!