"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." ~ The Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:1

I have not preached in two weeks, which means I have had some extra time to read and reflect in ways and on subjects that I often overlook. One subject is me. My soul. Self-care.

Recently, within one hour, three people told me that I looked very tired. Not just physically tired, but a deeper, soul tired. Exausted. It was true. One way I've tried to describe it is "hitting the wall."  In marathons, runners usually "hit the wall" around mile 18 or so, when all the glycogen has been depleted from their muscles. If glycogen is not replenished, the legs just shut down. Race over. 

After two thrilling years of church planting with crowds attending and ministries flouishing, I hit the wall. With the "you look tired" wake up call, I ordered and read two helpful books, The Hidden Link Between Adrenaline and Stress and The Introverted Church. Both books spoke to me in pesonal, profound and much needed ways. 

Like a combustible chemical compound, these books have opened a fissure in my soul. And through that fissure, liberation—a genuine existential freedom in the gospel. In fact, I am feeling unexpectedly refreshed and gratefully reinvigorated for the next leg of the race. 

So what is it that feels so liberated? Here are some areas off the top of my head. 

• I am free from guilt and condemnation.
• I am free to be an introverted church planter/pastor (much more on this in future posts!). 
• I am free to laugh (especially at myself).
• I am free to not have all the answers.
• I am free to fail.
• I am free to dance.
• I am free to be wrong.
• I am free to tell dumb jokes.
• I am free to lead out of weakness.
• I am free to take off my mask of hypocrisy, being radically real as the chief of sinners. 
• I am free to not have to fix people (and free not to be fixed myself).
• I am free to not have to please people. 
• I am free to say no so that I can be free to say yes.
• I am free to be misunderstood, criticized, maligned and despised.
• I am free to design my life in a way that will most effectively bless the church.
• I am free to delight in being an adopted, forgiven, accepted and righteous son.
• I am free to forgive.
• I am free to live with the faith of a child, filled with wonder, trust and thankfulness. 
• I am free to act radically generous in light of the gospel. 
• I am free to ask hard, penetrating, personal, uncomfortable questions of people who need them asked.
• I am free to offend the religious. 
• I am free to love the unlovable. 
• Sadly, I am not free from paying my mortgage. :)

Anyway, all of this is possible because of the cross, where my freedom was purchased and liberty lives. My Father is the sovereign King. I have been given the robe of perfect righteousness from the ultimate elder brother, Jesus. The Spirit has sealed me for heaven and indwells me, continually convincing me that I am accepted in the Beloved. 

Yet I confess that living a life unshackled from the condemnation of the law and from human expectations will be a struggle. Every morning and throughout the day I will be tempted to put on various yokes of slavery. For, while preaching grace, I have lived (quite unconsciously) under the yoke of legalism, worry and the fear of man for so long that I really don't know how to be free, walking in the light of the gospel. So pray for me if you think about it, because living as a liberated pastor is one of the best things I can do as a husband and father, pastor and friend.  

I trust that there are areas in your life where you could use some freedom, too. How are you bound? What do you think it would look like for you to be free?

Here is yesterday's message by Creekstone's guest speaker, Dr. Johnny Long. As always, Johnny is funny, engaging, and laser-beamed on the grace of God in Jesus. Enjoy!

The Day Peter Forgot The Gospel • Gal. 2. 11 - 21 by Mckay Caston

(download)

Click here to download:

The Day Peter Forgot the Gospel • Gal. 2.11-21.mp3 (12.13 MB)

Here is this morning's Creekstone Christmas message from Galatians 4:4-7, "A Theology of Christmas." If you think that God is out to get you, think again. Christmas tells us that God has not come to get us, but to bless us. Find out more by listening here, on the Creekstone audio page or on iTunes (just search Creekstone Church).

A Theology Of Christmas • Galatians 4 - 4 - 7 by Mckay Caston

(download)

Click here to download:

A Theology of Christmas • Galatians 4-4-7.mp3 (10.13 MB)

This passage from Gal. 4:4-7 in the NLT (New Living Translation — more of a paraphrase than a translation, but still...) has really affected me lately. Oh how I want to experience this at that deep, soul, experiential level that transcends mere intellectual knowledge.

"4But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6And because you Gentiles have become his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear Father. 7Now you are no longer a slave but God's own child. And since you are his child, everything he has belongs to you."

Today at Fight Club we discussed Galatians 5:1-6.  Below I've pasted a copy of the handout, including Johnny Long's notes on "The Downward Pull of Christian Legalism."

(download)

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Todays_Fight_Club_Handout.zip (200 KB)

Fight Club ’09

Round 4 • Galatians 4:3-7 / “Adoption: From Slavery to Sonship”

3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (ESV)

I.  The Gospel Has Legal, Relational, Existential and Eschatological Aspects 

• Justification
• Adoption
• Sanctification
• Glorification

II. How does human adoption work?  How is this an analogy for spiritual adoption?

III. A Key Passage in the Bible- Galatians 4:3-7 

• v. 3- Before sonship (“Formerly”- v. 8)
• v. 4- The fullness of time
• v. 5- Redemption (I am no longer a servant/slave!)
• v. 6- The Spirit —> “Abba”
• v. 7- An heir of God
• * See also Ephesians 1:3-14

IV. Implications and Applications...

• What are symptoms of spiritual orphanhood or slavery?
• What will it mean for me to “live like a child”?
• How does spiritual adoption deal with issues of identity?
• How does it relate to prayer? (read A Praying Life by Paul Miller- wow, what a great, helpful book!)
• Where am I on the slave vs. son continuum?

This morning at our weekly men's Fight Club, we honed in on Romans 2:16, where Paul says, "We know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Jesus Christ, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

In light of that passage, we discussed the meaning of justification: “Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.”  We also discussed the problem with religion and the meaning of faith.  Some of the implicaitons that flowed from that discussion involved these issues:

1. Justification is the foundation of the Christian life. But what other things do we tend to make the foundation?  Which idols to we stand upon? How does justification address identity issues?

2. Justification is a means to an end. Then what is the “end,” or goal of justification?

3. Justification deals powerfully with performance guilt. Then where is the motivation for obedience?

4. Justification calls me to move from a focus on my works to a focus on the work of Jesus for me. How can I do that? What difference will it make?

5. Why is an attempt to be self-justified a wicked pursuit?

Curious about how we approached these questions? Then join us next Wednesday at 6:30 for Fight Club (guys only / meets at Danny's Restaurant, just over Crown Mountain on the left heading toward GA 400).