Prayer Progress Report

As I mentioned at the beginning of summer, I made a goal to have a better prayer life, which usually means praying more. So how’s it going? I’m glad you asked. A couple of weeks ago our church elders challenged the congregation to fast before our Sunday evening communion service at church. The reason for the fast was to pray about being more prayerful. What? Pray about praying? It’s so simple it’s profound! Anyway, unfortunately I couldn’t partake in the church-wide fast because I had to attend my buddy’s wedding. Desiring to still participate, I decided to fast during the week leading up to that weekend. (I wasn’t going to fast during a wedding when Jesus Himself said that it wasn’t an appropriate time to fast. Wedding Time equals Party Time.)

An interesting experience happened during the week long fast (lunch only). The hunger pains were there but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. In fact, the hunger pains were a constant reminder of why I was fasting to begin with, namely, improving my prayer life and in so doing improving my relationship with God. Also, I tried to let the hunger pains remind me of God’s presence as well. This way, I didn’t really feel the need to quickly break my fast because I wanted that constant reminder to keep me from acting like a fool.

This experience stirred my interest on the subject of fasting, and I decided to reread John Piper’s book, “A Hunger For God” in order to have a better theological understanding of the topic. I won’t break down every component of the book here but just point out some things that helped me understand fasting a bit better and gave me a continued desire to add fasting as a spiritual discipline. Regarding fasting, Piper says, “The true mortification of our carnal nature is not a simple matter of denial and discipline. It is an internal, spiritual matter of finding more contentment in Christ than in food” (33). Piper goes on to say that it isn’t really about “not eating” either, because food is a gift from God. It’s about saying to the giver that, “You are more satisfying than the gift itself.” So then, fasting doesn’t always need to be about food (or a lack thereof) but simply denying yourself of good things for the ultimate Good Thing, God Himself.

Fasting isn’t often mentioned as a spiritual discipline today because it’s often associated with the mourning and sadness of the Old Testament. Although maybe true, Piper says, “The new fasting, the Christian fasting, is a hunger for all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19), aroused by the aroma of Jesus’ love and by the taste of God’s goodness in the gospel of Christ (1 Peter 2:2-3)” (42). Fasting could include not watching TV, working out less, or abstaining from anything that you usually fill your time with to focus primarily on the Lord. Ultimately, “the new fasting is the fasting of faith . . . [and] faith is a spiritual feasting on Christ with a view to being so satisfied in him that the power of all other allurements is broken.”

I appreciate that Piper brought out the point about “faith” in fasting. Being a complete glutton myself, it took faith to move forward in my spiritual life in the area of fasting. It’s been an amazing experience that I hope more Christians will share. Truly believing that the power of Christ can break “all other allurements” is indeed satisfying.

Iron Sharpens Iron – Review

I started teaching public school before I received my teaching credential. When my district told me to go back and get my credential so they could rehire me, I complied and enrolled at National University. Most of the classes were/are completely useless but there were a couple of classes in which I said, “This would’ve been useful a couple of years ago.” After getting thrown into the fire of teaching, you learn as you go. Most young teachers I’ve met said they actually learned the useful things while on the job.

To some degree, that’s how I felt reading Iron Sharpens Iron: Leading Bible-Oriented Small Groups that Thrive by Orlando Saer. In no way is the book useless like my credential classes at National, but after co-leading a small group for a couple of years I had the same, “This would’ve been useful a couple of years ago.” But for those of you who never have lead a small group Bible study, this book will be extremely useful to you. I’ll just point out some key points that I found helpful.

Why have a small group?

At Grace EV Free La Mirada, we encourage our members to join a “Grace Group” (small home Bible study). The reasons are (also stated in Saer’s book):

• We are built for community and smaller groups help nurture and foster that community.
• Accountability: We all play a role in each other’s sanctification.
• Small groups give an opportunity to care for one another (i.e., prayer, accountability, personal needs, etc.).
• A good place from which to reach the lost: members can work together to advance the gospel.

Being a leader of a small group Bible study is big responsibility far beyond simply leading a discussion of Sunday morning’s sermon. It takes work to avoid the group becoming stagnant. There was a time in our small group when the group grew stagnant and sluggish. I couldn’t tell you what was the cause at the time because of my lack of experience leading a small group but in retrospect I can see several factors that could’ve caused it. Saer gives categories to these pitfalls and tells you how to avoid them.

Having good social events beyond your regular meeting time in order to cultivate friendship and community is a helpful part of maintaining a healthy group. This makes accountability and sanctification become more natural. Saer also gives ideas for group outings and fun events but he also warns of the group simply becoming a “social club.”

Managing the Group

There are issues to consider when starting a new group.

1. Focus: What kind of group will it be? - Is its primary purpose to help enquirers, to train believers, or to study the Bible together and support each other?

2. Life Expectancy: Is it open-ended or fixed-life? – To stop groups getting stodgy, many small group ministries build in a ‘shelf life’ of maybe 1 or 2 years, after which groups are mixed up.

3. Study Programme: Who is responsible for setting it? - Usually the church leaders set this up but it’s important to keep a balance of “sticking with the program” and meeting the needs of the group.

4. Personnel: Who is involved in organizing the group? Who is the leader or co-leaders and what are their roles? Clear roles are important in that the members of the group clearly need to know who to look to for leadership.

5. Time and Place: Where and when do we meet? I prefer any time when the Lakers are not on but that hasn't worked out well. Praise the Lord for DVR.

6. Size: How big should the group be? - This could depend on the size of the room/house you meet at. This could also depend on how well connected everyone is to each other. Are you meeting the needs of your current members? If not, then add more people might not be a good idea for the time being. But if you guys are rock solid, then meeting another person's needs might just be what your group needs to continue to grow.

7. Make-up: How diverse is the group going to be? Do you want a good mix to avoid it simply being another sub-group (e.g., college group)? I say yes. It's important to be diverse not simply for diversity sake but to truly represent the body of Christ well.

These are all valid questions that Saer has pointed out. Wrestling through much of these issues myself has actually been enriching instead of burdensome. I can confidently say that co-leading a small group with my friends John Rinehart and Mark Joseph has been one of the must enriching experiences in my Christian life. I didn’t really want the responsibility of co-leading anything because of the work involved. What I didn’t anticipate was the transformation it would cause in my life. I find myself more caring towards the members of the group, and I have a deep seeded desire to see the group continue to grow as it has been through these couple of years.

In short, Saer has some great points. Remember to always keep God at the center of everything and that this time is to honor and glorify Him. Saer goes on and gives several practical steps in leading a discussion, preparing for leadership, and managing a group but the overall theme of the purpose of small groups is what I wanted to point out here. No doubt the Lord has used Grace Groups at our church to help people connect better with other members of the church. They act as the “frontlines” of ministry. When there is a crisis regarding a member of the church the first question asked is, “Is this person in a Grace Group?” If so, then it is followed by a second question, “Who are the leaders?” It’s been an amazing an honor to serve others in this capacity.

“The Swans Are Not Silent”

John Piper, one of my favorite authors, said, “The Swans Are Not Silent, is a kind of debt I owe to people living and dead whom God mercifully sends my way to strengthen my hand in the fight of faith.” Piper, like anyone else, faces discouragement, emotional and spiritual fatigue like the rest of us. One of the ways that Piper deals with fatigue and discouragement is to look back at the heroes throughout church history and draw inspiration from them.

R. C. Sproul is right that “We need an Augustine or Luther to speak to us anew lest the light of God’s grace be not only overshadowed but be obliterated in our time.” Speaking anew the light of God’s grace is what Piper does through this series. Without this series I would not have known about the lives of William Wilberforce, Charles Simeon, and John Newton. I would most certainly not have known the sacrifices of John G. Paton and his mission to the New Hebrides or Adoniram Judson’s impact on Burma.

As I read about these men, I am filled with great joy that there are great people of the faith that have endured so much for the sake of the gospel. At the same time, I am filled with deep wonderings of how my life will turn out for the furtherance of the same gospel I say that I believe. I have been encouraged and inspired. I have been challenged and convicted through reading these books.

I feel the same way as Piper, “A child of my time,” standing on the shoulders of giants knowing that there is a great inheritance of the Christian faith that I have been graphed into by the blood of Christ. The same spirit that empowered these many great men to achieve a lasting work of eternal value is the same spirit that lives within me. As I hear of their many great exploits there is a deep sense of being a part of something so much bigger than myself and yet simultaneously I feel my stature shrink with humility and my sense of purpose grow with absolute confidence.

To my fellow Christians, I encourage you to read this series (if you have not already) and understand that church history is bigger than our aged denominations or contemporary movements. Church history is God sovereignly working through His people, empowering them to make bold claims in His name and strengthen them as they endure great sacrifices for His glory. Their pain, suffering, and immense loses were meant to display the glory of God not only by their impact during their own lifetime but the glory of God specifically manifesting through inspiring other brothers and sisters in the Lord to do the same for all time.



Books In the Series:

The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God's Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin

The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd

The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce

Contending for Our All: Defending Truth and Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen

Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ: The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton

Cut and paste the link below to see online books:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/