It’s about transformation…

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It’s about transformation…

     There are many ways to think about this thing we call the Christian life. It is admittedly very difficult to summarize our Christian walk in a few phrases, harder still in a word to two.  I think, however, that if I needed to summarize it in one all-encompassing term I would use the word transformation. This word, in my opinion, sums up the Christian experience. It is what the Christian life is all about. Let me explain using a well-known often quoted Scripture.

     The apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has past and the new is here.”

      This verse shows that the Christian life and its accompanying transformation is an event. The event being spoken of here is that of being “in Christ”. The product of that event is that the individual is a new creation. The New Testament speaks of our relationship with Jesus as being “in Christ”.  At the moment someone confesses Christ as Savior and Lord they are “in Christ”. They are united to Christ and given new life and are said to be born again (1 Peter 1:3-5). A Christian is someone who has been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and transported into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). This transformative event is called salvation.

     This verse also shows us that the Christian life and its transformation is a process. It states that “the old is past and the new is here.” More literally it says “the archain is past, behold (all things) have become new and are becoming new”. This speaks to the whole idea of a process. Each person who confesses Christ as Lord and Savior enters into a life long journey of growth and change. Ephesians 4:22-23 speaks of putting off the old self and being renewed in the attitude of your mind. 2 Corinthians 3:18 speaks of being transformed into the image of God through the Spirit of the Lord. Philippians 2:13 says “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” We call this process of transformation sanctification or restoration.

      Finally, the verse implies that the Christian life and its accompanying transformation is a destination. This process will one day be complete. We will be completely transformed into the image of Jesus Christ at a point certain in the future. In heaven I will be who I was created and saved to be. In speaking about our transformation in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Paul says “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” This destination is sometimes called glorification. The hymn writer says it this way;  

Then we shall be where we would be;
Then we shall be what we should be;
Things which are not now, nor could be,
Then shall be our own.

       Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him ~ Thomas Kelly

     This whole matter of transformation is summed up in Romans 8:29-30. There we read, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” This speaks to the absolute surety of the transformation of those who are the Lord’s through faith in Christ. They will be changed, they will experience transformation.

    In closing, let me just ask whether or not you have experienced that transforming event of salvation. If not, please seriously consider inviting Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.  Let me also ask you whether or not you are cooperating in the transforming process we call restoration. If not, please surrender anew to our Lord.  Finally, are you deriving hope in this life from the coming reality of your transforming destination called glorification? If not, plan to get your head and heart around where you and I are headed. The Christian life is about our transformation — the Event, the Process, and the Destination.

Blessings,

Pastor Dave

NYC Shepherd

“Why Aren’t We Praying?”

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“Why Aren’t We Praying?”

“Nothing of eternal consequence is accomplished apart from prayer”.  I heard this statement so many times in my college and seminary years that I will never forget it. In turn, I have used these same words in sermons I’ve shared and in our church publications I am quite sure you will never forget them.

Though you and I know the importance of prayer and perhaps have even experienced, to some degree, its power in our lives we often times have weak anemic prayer lives. In examining my own life in the light of Scripture I have found a number of reasons this is true of me and I suspect of many of you as well. Here are my top ten reasons I and, perhaps, you fail to pray.

We fail to pray because:

#10 – We have an unyielded heart – We are afraid that as we pray God will ask else to do something we don’t want to do or go someplace we don’t want to go. So we don’t pray. We need to surrender our hearts to Him (Rom. 12:1-2)

#9 – We have an unwilling heart  – Epaphras is said to be one who labored in prayer (Col. 4:12). Real prayer is hard work. We don’t like to expend energy. We don’t want to get up early or stay up late to pray. We are lazy and unwilling to change.

#8 – We have an unbending heart – We prefer to believe that we know what we are doing and that we can handle what comes our way.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Prov. 3:5-6 tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

#7 – We have an undisciplined heart – As we come to God in prayer we find our minds wandering here and there and everywhere. I have even heard of some people like the disciples falling asleep when they should have been praying. Jesus’ rebuke fits both them and us when He says “What, could you not watch (pray) with Me one hour?” (Matt. 26:40)

#6 – We have an unsettled heart – Like Martha we are troubled and worried

about many things and only one thing is an absolute necessity. That one thing is what Martha’s sister, Mary, chose, sitting at the feet of Jesus (Lk. 10:38-42).

#5 – We have an unfocused heart – We know we should be spending time in prayer yet we put off that commitment in our lives for a rainy day. We know God is telling us to do this but we are waiting for a more convenient time in our lives to put it into practice.

#4 – We have an unforgiving heart – There are people who have hurt us in our lives. We know that God wants us to forgive but for whatever reason we won’t. This hinders our prayer life greatly. We must, by God’s grace, forgive even as God in Christ has forgiven us (Eph. 4:30).

#3 – We have an unclean heart – We know that “all have sinned” and that we continually fall short of the standards and expectations God has for us. We feel guilty coming before a holy God. We know that “If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me”. We must also remember His promise in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.

#2 – We have an unthankful heart – We have forgotten how much God has done for us. We have forgotten His promises and the answers to prayer we have already experienced in our lives.

#1- We have an unbelieving heart – We say that we believe that God answers prayer and that prayer makes a difference. However, in our heart of hearts we doubt that it actually does. We need to get back to His Word and trust what He says. The Bible says “the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16b). Prayer works.

Clearly prayer is a heart thing. Whatever our reason for not praying we should with the song writer sing:

“Change my heart O God, Make it ever true, Change my heart O God, Make it more like you. Thou art the potter, I am the clay, mold me and make me this is what I pray.”

In His Service,

Pastor Dave Watson

NYC Shepherd

  

Fifty Day Lenten Devotional

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Believers in BabylonWe’ve put together a Fifty Day Lenten Devotional that is a study of 1 Peter and the Life of the Apostle Peter. We call it “Believers in Babylon, Serving our Savior in the Secular City”. If you would like a free Pdf file of this devotional for your personal enrichment during this special time of year please simply email me at NYCShepherd@gmail.com and say send me the devotional and I will send it to you asap.

God in Our City

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Join us todayon WMCA, 970 A.M. at 11:00 A.M.. Today’NYIBSs show is all about the New York Institute of Biblicl Studies. Our guests are

Pastor Paul Schooling, Ms. Betsy Maddox and

our Dean, Tom Riley. Here is the other important information:

The New York Institute for Biblical Studies will begin its first Winter term this coming Monday night, February 4th at 7:00 P.M. Interested students can regisiter from 6:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M. for Classes like Old Testament Survey (Poetry Books), Theology Survey (God and the Bible), Congregation Care (Visitation), Church History, and Evangelism.NYIB’S is located on the campus of Calvary Chapel, 30 Maple Parkway. For more more information or directions please visit the website at www.nyibs.net or call  718-354-9971

The 2012 Elections – A Buyer’s Guide

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     In a few short weeks Americans will go to the polls and pull a lever to elect a President of the United States as well as to elect state and local office holders. We are truly a privileged people. Christians in centuries past had to put up with maniacal dictators who persecuted and martyred our forbearers. Even today there are places in the world where believers are suppressed and oppressed. Because of our freedoms I hope you will avail yourself of the right to vote. Being a good Christian means being a good citizen, rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s, so go and vote on Tuesday, November 6th.

     A sample of internet sites from and for believers will yield a multitude of reasons to vote for one candidate or another. Many times we are told to pray and seek the Lord’s leading as to who we should vote for. I do believe we should pray. However, I don’t think we should so much seek a leading as we should seek discernment. We need discernment to see through the media’s hoopla and the candidates’ smoke and mirrors. They are, after all, politicians. We may not want to buy what they are selling. But there is more.

      As Evangelical Christians we believe we have been given the infallible, life-changing, inspired Word of God. From these Scriptures we can discern, at best, which candidate we should vote for or, at worst, which candidate not to vote for. It seems to me that there are five timeless truths in Scriptures that give us the guidance we need. They provide us with a buyer’s guide if you will.

These timless truths are:

 #1 – A commitment to a pro-life position – All life is sacred because we are all made equally in the image of God (Genesis 1:27-28). The life of the innocent unborn is indeed precious. The Scriptures teach us that God supervises our creation in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16) and that He has a purpose for us from before we were born (Jeremiah 1:5). In Amos 1:13, God promised to judge the Ammonites for their mistreatment of the unborn. God is clearly on the side of the unborn, so the person we vote for should be fully of that persuasion as well, both in their personal and political convictions.

#2 – A commitment to a pro-traditional family position – From the time of Creation, God has defined marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman; Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve or Eve and Elaine (Genesis 2:22-25). Same sex marriage and or polygamous marriages are outside of God’s design. A society cannot survive without strong traditional families. Every effort should be made to hold this Biblical model up as the standard. What’s more, any major deviation  from God’s original design for the family is both dangerous and destructive to a society. The person we pull the lever for should share God’s view of marriage and the family as outlined in the Bible.

#3 – A commitment to a pro-Israel position – God promised Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you. And I will curse him who curses you.” (Genesis 12:1-3) This Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional and carries through to today. It behooves our nation then to bless Israel, to support her. This is a Biblical conviction we should embrace and hold to. It doesn’t mean we don’t confront Israel’s evils and faults. Israel doesn’t get a free pass to do whatever it pleases. However, it is clear that the Jewish nation is still the apple of God’s eye and we and the person we vote for should see them that way.

#4 – A commitment to a pro-Judeo/Christian values position – Proverbs 14:34 tells us that “Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people”. The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount reflect what the Lord means by righteousness. Psalm 94:20 asks, “Shall the throne of iniquity which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You?” The Lord says He will have no part with the nation that legislates evil. .

     As serious followers of Christ we should support those who share our values. We live in a pluralistic society but we are under no obligation to vote for those who don’t share our Judeo/Christian values. These values are a major foundation for the goodness of our land as well as the blessings of God.

#5 – A commitment to a pro-compassion position – Psalm 9:17-18 tells us, “The wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten, the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.” It is clear that God cares about the poor and needy. The Church should have that same concern and so should those we vote for. Turning our back on those who are genuinely in need can result in God turning His back on us as a nation.

     I encourage you to use these five timeless truths to determine which candidate would best reflect our Christian values. As believers in Jesus Christ we are told to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”. Thus, we don’t vote a political party but our Savior’s priorities. We cannot vote our color, but His creed. We don’t vote our ethnicity but His ethics. We don’t merely vote for “A change we can believe in”, we vote according to “God’s Word that we can count on.” We don’t vote “Country First”, we vote “Christ’s Kingdom First.” We don’t even vote according to our pocketbook, but rather, we must vote according to His principles. And in the end, our prayer is not for what we want but what He wills.

     If you aren’t sure where a candidate stands, Google that candidate and the principles above. This time around, let’s be sure we search the Scriptures, search the internet, search our hearts and on Tuesday, November 6th search out our polling place.

    As a citizen of the United States of America I am grateful for the privilege of voting to elect a president and other public officials. As a citizen of heaven I am grateful for the knowledge that the Lord ultimately selects our leaders. Daniel 2:20 tells us that the Lord “changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings”. First, foremost and always though, you and I are committed to follow one person, our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is our only real Hope both now and eternally.