Thursday, May 24, 2012    

Godly Sorrow

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

PainSometimes life is full of sorrow, regret, and pain. It sucks. We’ve all been through tough times…and there are certainly more coming down the road somewhere. Some of us are in tough times right now.

However, there is a difference between “worldly sorrow” and “Godly sorrow”. Here’s what Paul has to say on the subject…

I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. (2 Corinthians 7:8-10, NLT)

When I read this passage this morning it took me by surprise…can’t remember this teaching even though I’ve read it several times. And it’s timely based on some of the discussions I’ve had in the past week with some people who are going through some pain and sorrow in their lives. Here are a few things I take notice of in this passage:

  • God allows pain and sorrow in our lives in order to change us…it has purpose…it leads to salvation.
  • Worldly sorrow leads to our death…spiritual death.
  • The difference? Our attitude and reaction. If we respond with repentance then it’s Godly sorrow…otherwise it’s worldly sorrow.
  • God wants us to have some sorrow/pain in our lives because He wants to change us…to mold us into the image of Christ.

Does any of this make our pain and sorrow easier when we are in the middle of it? Not likely. But it is an important reminder that our attitude and response in the midst of our pain will determine the end result. Will we allow God to shape us and grow spiritually? Or will we be stubborn and unrepentant and end up dying spiritually?

The choice is ours…

31.03.2010 Devotional, New Pastor Journal, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings No Comments

A Letter of Recommendation

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

I can only think of one time in my life when I had to get someone to write me a letter of recommendation. I was blessed with longevity in my professional career so it only came up once. And I was a little surprised to read the term this morning in 2 Corinthians, but it has given me a lot to think about today…

The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

2 Corinthians 3:2-3, NLT

As a new pastor (3 months in now) this gives me pause. The letter of recommendation for my ministry (and it applies to everyone by the way) is not going to come from another pastor or someone in the church. It’s the result of the work itself…the spiritual lives of those I am touching and reaching every day. Our letter of recommendation is written “on human hearts” not with “pen and ink”.

I wonder what my letter of recommendation looks like right now…

  • Mystery or How-To?
  • Short Story or Novel?

And this letter of recommendation comes from Christ Himself…”showing the result of my ministry”. Christ is writing the letter of recommendation. Can’t think of anyone better to write it…I’m just praying that the letter is shaping up to be a good one, a letter I’ll be proud to show others instead of shoving it in a drawer to hide it.

How’s your letter of recommendation coming along?

23.03.2010 Ministry, New Pastor Journal, Spiritual Musings No Comments

One Person Can Make a Difference

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

I watched this video on another blog and it’s powerful…proof that one person can make a difference! It’s not short (9 minutes long), but it’s so worth the time. I dare you to walk away with a dry eye. We all can do something to make a difference in the life of someone else. Enjoy (and if you’re reading this on Facebook, come to my blog to actually watch the video)…

If you are already sponsoring a child, great. If not, here are two organizations (out of many) where you can start:

18.03.2010 God's Love, Outreach, Spiritual Musings No Comments

The Holy Spirit: Part 3

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

It’s time to move into the New Testament in my continuing study of the Holy Spirit (which is quite obviously not going to be able to cover every aspect…that would take an entire book). The NT is FULL of the Holy Spirit (pun intended). I wasn’t sure where to start, so this morning I was led to see what Jesus Himself had to say about the Holy Spirit. This passage stood out…

“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” (John 14:15-17, NLT)

There’s a lot going on in these three verses. Here are my initial thoughts and comments…

First, notice that the entire Trinity is represented here. Jesus is speaking. He says the Father will give us another “Advocate” (more on that in a second)—the Holy Spirit. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…they’re all there.

Second, Jesus says that the Father will give us the Holy Spirit.  He’s a gift, but He’s not just any gift. He’s given to us as our Advocate. The word here is a legal term…the Holy Spirit is our defense lawyer. He’s on our side. He speaks on our behalf. God Himself stands up for us. He pleads our case and comforts us in the middle of our trials. Wow!

Finally, there are several important truths laid out in these few verses:

  1. The Holy Spirit is our Advocate (I’ve already talked about this one)
  2. The Holy Spirit won’t leave us…there is nothing we can do to get Him to walk away from us
  3. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth…He reveals the truth about God (and it’s not subjective)
  4. We get to know the Holy Spirit and He lives in us…that’s a close, personal relationship!

We already learned from the Old Testament that the Spirit draws us into relationship with God…and that same theme carries over here. The Holy Spirit stands with us, lives with us, leads us, and knows us. That’s God getting up close and personal. That’s God getting His hands dirty in our lives.

Awesome…simply awesome! More to come…

16.03.2010 Holy Spirit, Spiritual Musings 2 Comments

Awesome Dunk!

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Not only is this one of the best in-game dunks I’ve seen in a long time…it also happens to be a Denver Nugget who slammed it down in last night’s game with the T-Wolves. Check out JR flying (and turning) high…enjoy…

11.03.2010 Guy Stuff, Sports No Comments

The Holy Spirit: Part 2

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

The Old Testament references to the Holy Spirit go far beyond the two verses I examined in my first post of my personal study of the Holy Spirit. Those two verses where simply limited to the exact phrase “Holy Spirit”. The more common phrase used in Old Testament is “Spirit of God” and that phrase is found in another 14 verses (from Genesis to Daniel).

In fact, the second verse of the entire Bible references the Spirit of God:

“The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2, NLT)

The Hebrew phrase used here (and in the other 13 references) is “Ruwach Elohim”. The word “Elohim” is an interesting Hebrew word for God because it is plural, but references God. Right from the beginning God focused on both His singular and plural nature (one God in plurality). That will make your brain hurt, but that’s how God describes Himself.

I’m not going to go through each and every reference to “Ruwach Elohim” in the Old Testament, but there is one common element that stands out in many of the passages (beyond the plurality reference). In many of the passages there is a reference to a person being “filled with” the Spirit of God or that the Spirit of God “came upon” them. For example:

“I have filled [Bezalel] with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts.” (Exodus 31:3, NLT)

and

“Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, ‘This is what God says: Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands and keep yourselves from prospering? You have abandoned the Lord, and now he has abandoned you!’” (2 Chronicles 24:20, NLT)

In each instance, the Spirit of God came upon someone for a specific reason—to help them fulfill a specific task, for prophesy, or even to drive them a little crazy (in the case of King Saul in 1 Samuel 11:6). God’s Spirit gave power and the ability to do something special for Him and/or His people. There was purpose in the filling of the Spirit; and there was power. This was God’s provision to His chosen persons. God’s Spirit resulted in action…empowerment to complete an assigned task or role.

So far we’ve seen two primary “functions” of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament:

  1. Relationship with God
  2. Empowerment for Service

These still apply today. The Holy Spirit ushers us into God’s presence and empowers us to serve in God’s Kingdom. We’ll see this and more as we move into the New Testament…

09.03.2010 Holy Spirit, Spiritual Musings No Comments

Journeyman Facelift

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

I can’t help it…I like change. Leave something alone for too long and it kinda drives me crazy. So…I gave my blog a little facelift yesterday…a new style…a new look. I liked the last one, but I like this one too. And it won’t be the last one.

So come check it out…especially if your reading this on Facebook. The web address is: www.dbaumgartner.com

And while you’re there, feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

09.03.2010 Blogging, Misc Ramblings No Comments

The Holy Spirit: Part 1

Monday, March 8th, 2010

I just picked up the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan. I absolutely loved Crazy Love so I thought this book would make for a good devotional read for Anita and me. We haven’t started it yet, but here’s a quick synopsis…

A follow up to the profound message of Crazy Love, Pastor Francis Chan offers a compelling invitation to understand, embrace, and follow the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives. In the name of the Father, the Son, and … the Holy Spirit. We pray in the name of all three, but how often do we live with an awareness of only the first two? Chan contends that we’ve ignored the Spirit for far too long, and we are reaping the disastrous results. Thorough scriptural support and compelling narrative form Chan’s invitation to stop and remember the One we’ve forgotten, the Spirit of the living God.

During a breakfast meeting last week I had a quick discussion about the Trinity…and specifically about the neglect of the Holy Spirit in many Christian circles. So I’m excited to read the book. BUT…I’m not going to start it just yet. Why? Simple…I want to do a little study of my own and see what I can uncover myself before getting into Chan’s analysis (I fully expect his version to be much better than mine, but I still want to do a little discover on my own).

So I’m starting simple, and slow. I decided to take a look at what the Old Testament has to say about the Holy Spirit. We don’t typically think about the Holy Spirit in the OT, but He’s  there. A quick word search of “Holy Spirit” turns up three verses in the New Living Translation(NLT):

  • Psalm 51:11: “Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.”
  • Isaiah 63:10-11: “But they rebelled against him and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he became their enemy and fought against them. Then they remembered those days of old when Moses led his people out of Egypt. They cried out, “Where is the one who brought Israel through the sea, with Moses as their shepherd? Where is the one who sent his Holy Spirit to be among his people?”

The Hebrew phrase used here is “qodesh ruwach” which is literally translated “Holy Spirit” or “spirit of holiness”. It carries with it the idea that God’s Spirit is sacred and set apart. It’s a direct reference to God’s Spirit…to the Holy Spirit. The Psalm passage makes it clear that we have relationship with the Holy Spirit and that it’s this Spirit that can change and transform us. The Isaiah passage talks about grieving the Holy Spirit and that God sent the Holy Spirit to be with the Israelites. Both passages make it clear that the Holy Spirit referenced is not just an abstract concept or one way to think about God…but that the Holy Spirit is real and tangible.

The Holy Spirit is right there in black and white…but this isn’t the only place we see God’s Spirit referenced in the Old Testament. In fact, we’re just getting started. Next, we’ll take a look at the more common phrase used in the Old Testament: “The Spirit of God”. And that’s when things start to get really good…but you’ll have to wait for more…

08.03.2010 Holy Spirit, Spiritual Musings 1 Comment

Have a Little Will Ya?

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

This past Sunday I sat in on a LifeGroup (which is always a great time…awesome to see God working in these groups!). They are walking through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It’s a great book and our LifeGroup went through it a few months ago. I had loaned my book to the leader and he returned that night. So I flipped through it and one of my highlights caught my attention again.

It was one small sentence, but it has stuck with me all week…

What are you doing right now that requires faith?

What a great question. What am I doing in my life right now that requires faith? The question has haunted me all week. God is using this simple question to challenge me spiritually. Am I only doing things that are fully under my control? Am I even willing to attempt something this week that requires me to depend completely on Him?

It’s a challenging question…it stretches my faith (pun intended). And it’s not the first time God has spoken on this topic. Jesus admonished His disciples to have just a little faith…

“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them.
“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed,
you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move.
Nothing would be impossible.”
Matthew 17:20, NLT

Just a little bit of faith makes a huge difference…because that’s when God does His thing. Just a little faith and nothing is impossible…because nothing is impossible for God. A little faith is enough…because we’ve got a huge God.

Imagine what could happen with a little more faith.

So…what are you doing right now that requires faith?

03.03.2010 Faith, Spiritual Musings No Comments