Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

mckaycaston.com

Living All of Life in View of the Cross

Filed under: sonship

Fatigued from the Fight?

A recent blog post by Dr. Ed Welch says that fighting sin is tiring. It is hard. Exhausting. And he is right, because any fight is going to drain physical and psychological resources. So, some encouragement. If you are fighting sin (not in light of the law, but in light of the gospel), and have been knocked down for an eight count, be glad. At least you are in the fight! If you were not a child of the living God, you would be a spiritual couch potato, making no effort to put to death the deeds of the flesh. The fact that you care is a sign of the indwelling Holy Spirit in your life, who enables us to cry out, "Abba, Father," in the midst of the battle, convinced that we are not forsaken, but remain as ever, adopted, treasured and beloved sons and daughters with the hope of eternal joy, whether we win or lose—all because Jesus has won the ultimate victory for us already at the cross.

The Sonship Tongue Assignment

Here is the "assignment" mentioned in this week's Creekstone message on Romans 7:7-25, "The War Within." Remember, this assignment is not intended to make you a self-righteous Pharisee (we don't need any help with that!), but a tender-hearted lover of Jesus. It would make us more mindful of our weakness and need for grace. The reason? Failing this assignment over and over will convince you of your need for Jesus as Savior and the Spirit as sanctifier. Of course, if the Spirit gave us grace to see this assignment realized to a greater degree in our lives (via Spirit empowered sanctification), then a lot would change for the better in our lives, wouldn't it?

Click here to download:
tongue assignment.pdf (101 KB)
(download)

The Paradox of Christian Growth

Dr. Dan Allender, noted Christian psychologist and author says, “Growth never feels like maturity. If you think you’re mature, you’re not. If you think you’re not, you may be, but you’ll be the last one to know. Growth feels like death. Are you thirsty? Thirst will produce sanctification. The Pharisees were not thirsty; they had no needs. The Publican had nothing but need.”

Pastedgraphic

From Johnny Long's Discipleship Course, Grace 4 Life (Ch. 7, page 2).

Stop Trying to Play Atlas

Pastedgraphic

What do I do when life feels overwhelming and out of control? How about stop trying to play Atlas, and start crying out, "Abba, Father." It's what a child does. And the Father loves for us to come to him in our need.

So let's review:

1. I can't bear the weight of the world, or even my own problems.

2. Jesus can.

3. So, cast your anxiety on him (1 Peter 5:7).  The effort is in the casting— casting the burden off of self and onto him, whether sin or circumstance.

Will you do the hard work of casting with me today?

What Sins of the Tongue Reveal

Pastedgraphic
This morning in our Sonship phone discipleship hour, our discipler had us read two paragraphs from the Sonship manual in light of las week's "Tongue Assignment."  Here is the first of the paragraphs.  Read it. Weep. Repent. And believe the gospel afresh!

"Our tongues... show us how spiritually proud and self-righteous we are. For example, my critial tongue often reveals a heart that is sadly out of touch with how much I have received grace, love and forgiveness. I know this because it is not loving things that are overflowing through my tongue, but instead a spirit of being better and knowing better than others. I am right and they are wrong, and I need to point it out so everyone is clear about it. I complain because I know that I am right and everyone else is wrong. Likewise, my instinctive defensiveness and inability to apologize sincerely and quickly demonstrates that I am not really trusting in Christ to be my reputation and righteousness. I must uphold my good record of performance before others. I need people to know that I am better than they think (when in fact I can safely say I am actually worse than they think!). These and other failures prove how easily I slip away from living out of the gospel."

The Infamous Sonship Tongue Assignment

Kristy and I had our first phone appointment yesterday with our Sonship discipler, Stu Batstone. One big take-away from our time is that this 8 month Sonship course should be considered an "inductive heart study."  We are to examine the underlying motives of what we do, say and feel, understanding in what ways we are dominated by the flesh rather than led by the Spirit. And then, diagnosing our heart problems, we can apply the gospel, living by faith in the imputed righteousness of Jesus. Anyway, one way to have the heart opened to the depth of the flesh is to participate in the infamous Sonship Tongue Assignment. We began the assignment yesterday. It wasn't long before we were shattering these laws. Yikes!  Of course the goal is to see our need for a Savior and believe the gospel afresh. Why not try to keep these laws for a week, or just for a day. Be prepared to run quickly to Jesus. :)

Pastedgraphic
​