"The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" (1 Corinthians 6:13).

My daughter just turned 13 last month!  Thirteen.  Ten plus three.  No matter how I say it or write it, it still lands with gravity!

She is a young woman now, no doubt.  Really she has been for almost a year, but as her Dad, I waited for this significant milestone to celebrate with her the passage from childhood into adulthood.  While my methods and thinking are far from perfect here, I want to share a little about the rite of passage I shared with Meaghan on her birthday in hopes other Dads will far excel me in helping themselves and their precious daughters transit the difficult waters flowing into adulthood.

I began the evening by bringing her a bouquet of flowers and asking her to honor me as my date for the night.  And she said "yes!"

Whew - step one accomplished!  

Next, after she got fancied up for her date, we spent some time at home alone and I seized the moment to discuss what I called "The 4 S's of Purity" with her.  After that serious time, I gave her a poem I wrote for her and we dried up our tears and set out to enjoy a feast at Cheddar's.  And yes, we ate the whole Monster Cookie!  But here, let me hone in on those 4 S's because I think Dad's (and Mom's) need to be leading out in these discussions with their children.  These 4 S's will help our children grasp true purity and pursue genuine holiness by God's powerful grace.  Here they are, as I essentially gave them to Meaghan:

1.  A right view of the Savior.  This is where purity begins!  Only Jesus is perfectly pure and if we ever forget our desperate need for Him and His infinite worth, it is certain our purity will suffer dramatically.  Our children must come to see Jesus as the one and only King of their hearts!  Jesus is the Husband of husbands, the Lover of our very souls.  He is worthy of every ounce of effort we give towards pursuing purity and guarding our hearts, and so much more.  So, is it likely a young woman would give her body and emotions away to a young man outside of marriage if her mind was stayed on the worth of her Savior?  

2.  A right view of Satan.  We have a real enemy, and he is crafty, deceitful and makes impurity appear so attractive.  The Bible says "Give no opportunity to the devil" (Eph 4:27).  Our daughters (and sons) must get this!  They must submit to the protecting wisdom and grace God gives them through their parents.  We must explain why we simply will not allow our teen children to be alone with the opposite sex, or to go into dark movie theaters with a hormone-enraged boy, or attend school dances where far too little supervision is present and far too much groping occurs.  Our young men and women must know Satan loves those little windows of opportunity teens so often give him and he uses them to "devour" them.  "We wrestle not against flesh and blood."  There is a war on!  Be alert children!  Stay vigilant sons and daughters!  

3.  A right view of Sin.  This "S" goes hand-in-hand with the above.  Satan and sin are like peanut butter and jelly.  They love sticking together!  Satan so often finds us easy targets.  Why?  Because we are SINNERS!  If our sons and daughters are to grasp true purity and fight for it God's way, then they must keep a biblical view of sin ever before them.  How many young people in our churches would have still decided to have sex or go to "third base" with someone if they went into that situation fully aware of how their own sin behaves?  Odds are they would not even be in a position to have sex with someone in the first place if the Bible's view of sin were at the forefront of their minds.  Like Satan, sin is so very deceptive.  It masquerades and hides in dark corners, lurking and waiting for us to grow lethargic or weary in the battle, then it pounces!  "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).  "Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall" (1 Cor 10:12).  "Pride goes before destruction" (Prov 16:18).  The Apostle Paul teaches that sin uses our physical bodies to do its dastardly deeds: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies to make you obey their passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness" (Rom 6:12-13).  This is God's instruction to Christians!  We have His Spirit and Word empowering us to choose to submit our own physical bodies to God for righteousness.  This is "fighting sin 101" for believers concerned about purity!  We must know our enemies (Satan and sin) and not be "ignorant of their schemes."  No man or woman is immune to committing sexual sin.  And our daughters especially must hear from Dads (or other Christian men in the church) just how strong sexual desire and temptation is in the hearts of men.  Men, we must be transparent here for the glory of God and the good of our daughters!  We know how it feels to be dominated by hormonal urges, so let's warn our girls!  God help our children keep a right view of sin.  Would it be likely for a Christian teen to get hooked on porn or have sex if that teen were constantly reminding himself or herself that this very filth God hated so much that He crushed His Son for it?  Our impurity got Jesus nailed to a tree and abandoned!

4. A right view of Sex.  Contrary to how many Christian parents have tried to teach this to children, we need to make sure our children hear us say, "Sex is good.  Sex is wonderful.  Sex is a gift from God" (see Song of Solomon).  But we also need to make sure they know that like any good gift from God, we can sinfully abuse and misuse it.  Sex God's way is for a husband and his wife, period.  God designed sex for pro-creation (Genesis 1:28; Malachi 2:15).  But God also designed sex to be the most delightful physical and emotional experience on this earth, to be enjoyed by husband and wife as a foretaste of the sheer ecstasy that will one day be ours when we see the King of Glory face-to-face.  The "one flesh union" is only a sign of Christ's union with His blood-bought Church (Ephesians 5:25-33).  God put the desire for sex in us, and it is strong (1 Cor 7:1-5).  God also gave us a desire for food.  But our good desires can ferment if we allow sin to control them.  So, let your children know their desire for the opposite gender is in fact from God.  It's OK for young women to be attracted to young men or vice-versa!  Just like it's OK for a young woman to desire food.  But, we must solemnly warn them, that allowing that desire to turn sinful will be like sitting down to a meal of nothing but cake icing.  At first it may taste sweet, but the end result will be vomit.  On the other hand, saving one's self for a husband or wife will prove to be one of this life's sweetest rewards, as God is honored and "the marriage bed undefiled" (Hebrews 13:4).

After Meaghan and I discussed these 4 S's, I gave her a purity ring but told her to wear it not on her finger but on a chain.  Two reasons: One, purity is never to be flaunted.  Rather, it lives in quiet, peaceful submission to King Jesus.  Two, by wearing the ring on a chain, it lies close to her heart as a reminder that purity is always a matter of the heart.  And last time I checked, only One Person has the power to save and sanctify our very hearts (inner lives, will, mind).  His Name is Jesus.

In the last five years I have been battling with the sin of gluttony.  I have struggled with "eating sin" ever since I was small.  I have used food for every single reason . . . sadness, gladness, despair, confusion, celebration.  Really, if there was no reason I have just worked really hard till I found one.  I mean, really, if I had concentrated on Jesus as much as I have justifying gluttony in my life I might actually have already gone to heaven in a chariot.  But, alas, no fear there.  Why do we do that?  Why do we proclaim victory from our sins in Jesus and then get up and walk in the exact same ones again, day after day?  Really, how many times Lori are you going to run under the bus and cry because it hurts you?

"The he released for them Barabbas, and having Jesus scourged delivered Him to be crucified . . . and when they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe and put His own clothes on Him and led Him away to crucify Him" (Matthew 27:26, 31).

I have often pondered the label "Good Friday."  From the world's perspective, it must seem strange to call a day set aside to commemorate the torturous death of the sinless Son of God "good."  Yet, for those of us who have had our whole hearts, minds and souls forever changed by that same Son of God, the label fits quite well.

On the cross, we see our greatest "good" even as we see our greatest "evil."  As one of my favorite contemporary Christian trio's sings, "The beautiful, terrible cross."  The beauty is in the salvation and forgiveness and freedom from sin's bondage that was earned by Jesus for all those God would ever redeem and make His people.  The "terror" is in realizing the awful wrath of God against our filthy rebellion was being poured out on Jesus, though He Himself never sinned.

"He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).  I doubt the essence of what transpired on that cross has ever been captured any better.  God treated Jesus like we deserved so that we could be treated like He deserved!  My sin for His purity!  His life for mine!  O sweet Gospel Grace!  Oh amazing love, how can it be?

And in case you're wondering, this was not a case of some demented Divine child abuse as some claim.  No!  Jesus Himself said He willingly laid down His life for His sheep and He had power to also take His life up again (John 10:17-18).  Easter was planned by Jesus Himself!  The writer of Hebrews further tells us enduring the cross was a joy for Jesus (Heb 12:2).  Joy?  Amazing love, how can it be?

Each year, I grow more and more weary of the way so many churches and Christians present Good Friday or Easter to the world. Pageants purporting to "reenact" the crucifixion of Christ are everywhere.  Movies splatter blood and guts across the screen to move us nearly to the point of nausea.

Now do not get me wrong.  The original Bible readers knew full well what "crucifixion" meant.  They had seen thousands of criminals and enemies of Rome skewered to trees.  They knew it was torture.  They knew the scourging itself often killed men, before they ever got nailed to a tree.  They knew about the agonizing death suffered by those who were crucified.  And, today, we are not at all familiar with it.  So, perhaps all the pageant directors mean well.  I assume most of them do.

But aren't we missing something?  Have you ever wondered why the New Testament writers focus so very little on the physical part of the cross?  They go into no gory detail.  They simply say Jesus was scourged and crucified.  Perhaps this is because their readers knew the torture scene so well?  Maybe.  But I am convinced far more is going on in the way the Bible presents the death of Christ to us.  The Holy Spirit intentionally led the writers to not hone in on the physical aspects of the cross.  And why?

To get the answer, all we must do is read our New Testaments!  Everywhere we turn in the New Testament, we find the focus being placed upon the spiritual aspect of the cross.  It was for "our sin" that Jesus died.

"He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His stripes we are healed" (1 Peter 2:24).

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3).

This is the obvious pattern of the Scriptures.  You see, the reason I think it highly arrogant (and perhaps not God-honoring) to attempt a reenactment of the crucifixion of Christ is because there is absolutely no way to repeat it or remotely capture what was really happening on that day.  The human eye could not "see" the truest torture Christ endured.  Many men died on a cross under Roman rule.  Nothing was exceptional about that!  As sickening as it seems, crucifixion became almost ho-hum by the end of the Roman Empire.  It's kinda like when we hear of another life sentence doled out on a murderer in America.  We don't really have a deep sense of horror, do we?

Friends, no man ever died like Jesus!  He died under the holy wrath of God for countless sins of countless sinners, all of whom deserved to be cut off from God forever in the fires of hell.  No Easter pageant could ever capture the essence of Calvary:

Eli, Eli, lema sabacthani?  (Matt 27:46).

This is Good Friday.  My evil thoughts, word and deeds cutting off Jesus from the land of the living.  This is Good Friday.  Jesus cursed while I go free.  

O Jesus, forgive us for what we have made it.  How dare we attempt to recreate Golgotha?  That hill belongs solely to You!  You and You alone could ever own such a cross.  What a love!  What a cost!  We stand forgiven at the cross!    

I just read an intriguing article on the "surprising" success of the American Heritage Girls (AHG).  The organization was founded 17 years ago by Patti Garibay after she became disgruntled by the Girls Scouts of America's obvious turn towards secular-liberal and even godless causes.

First, the Girl Scouts announced flexibility in the way the term "God" could be either interpreted or omitted in their pledge.  Well, if anyone wonders where such a move leads, just consider that now the Girl Scouts of America unashamedly support the homosexual agenda, the push for gay marriage (though that whole label is a misnomer since marriage is defined by God and therefore there can never ever really be such a thing as "gay" marriage), and they funnel funds to the nation's abortion industry leader, Planned Parenthood.  This downward spiral is exactly what God says happens when people do "not honor God nor give thanks" (Romans 1:21).  The end result being "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind" (Romans 1:28) which then leads to all sorts of evil deeds and supporting of evil causes (Romans 1:29-32).

So, apparently many Christian parents and many parents who may not be Christians but are not yet "anti-Christian" in their worldviews, flocked to AHG.  They started with 100 members spread across 10 troops in 1995, and are now in 48 states and 8 countries with 22,000 girls participating.  The AHG's mission statement is unapologetic in its support of "character development . . . for young women that embraces Christian values."  And their founder, Garibay, is quick to point out their character development curriculum is primarily the Bible!

Here is another statement from AHG defining purity: "A life of holiness, being pure of heart, mind, word and deed, reserving sexual activity for the sanctity of marriage; marriage being a lifelong commitment before God between a man and a woman."

Seems to me this is exactly what the Girls Scouts used to be prior to demonic intrusion and influence!  A few questions linger in my mind after reading this article in the AFA Journal (March 2013).

1. Which "lead" will the Boy Scouts follow?  They have an agreement of mutual support currently with AHG.  One wonders how long it will last!  Seems to me that unless the Boy Scouts of America amend their ways, we will soon need AHB, too!
2. Why would Christian parents continue to place their girls into GSA?
3. When will Christian parents and churches start creating true "community in holiness" so that we do not need so many organizations outside the church trying to fill these gaps for our kids?

Finally, I wonder, is it wrong of me to wonder when American Heritage Girls will start selling cookies?  Please, if there are any AHG leaders listening, have mercy!  I hate having to tell the girls at the table outside Wal-Mart that even though I relish thin mints and Samoa's perhaps more than any other snacks available, I simply cannot and will not give money to the evil agenda of their organization.

Today my sister called and reminded me that this is the 200th  anniversary of the birth of David Livingstone.  If you have no idea who he was, then take some time and learn!

Parents, seize this event to educate your children on the value of a life lived in sacrificial love for Jesus and unreached peoples.  Even during his lifetime, the London Missionary Society who had sent Livingstone to Africa began to question the value of his activity.  David was quite the explorer and spent countless hours finding new routes into and out of the African bush.  While the Society probably wanted him to spend more time just settling into a particular area as a missionary, David sensed his calling to be one of genuine "pioneer missions."  And without a doubt, God used him to open up Africa to world missions for His own glory in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Here are two links that will prove very useful to you if you want to learn more about this amazing Scotsman who relished the love of a far more amazing Savior!

http://www.davidlivingstone200.org/

http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/dlivingston.htm

Here is a picture taken by my sister last year in Scotland of a statue commemorating Livingstone's encounter with a lion that left him gimpy in the left arm for the rest of his life:

Oh that God might raise up more men among us who are willing to face the lions to get the Gospel to the ends of the earth!  

Soli Deo Gloria!

The best blog posts and sermon illustrations always come from real life.  At least that's true in my opinion.  This is why I do not post to this blog multiple times a week, and sometimes I go silent for a few weeks at a time.  My life is not always riveting (as difficult as that may be for some of you to believe).

But today a decision was made in my family that I think is worthy of your consideration.

My youngest daughter Keileigh expressed some interest in playing softball this season.  Apparently our homeschool co-op had passed out flyers or something, and this sparked interest.  Well, dummy me I thought it was a homeschool co-op thing, where maybe they would bring in someone to help teach the girls softball and let them play a bit.  By the time I found out it was an actual softball league, we had already missed the deadline.  But, the coach or director was willing to let us squeeze in still, if we so desired.  I called him today to tell him "no thanks."  The conversation with Keileigh went something like this:

"Sweety, I have decided to not to let you play softball.  Let me tell you why.  First, we missed the deadline and I don't like asking people to bend rules for us.  And, to be honest, the cost is too high in both fees and lots of gas to get you to practices and games, not to mention we have to go also buy you a glove, which you don't have.  I just don't think this is a good way for us to spend that much money, because all our money belongs to God and we have to be careful to spend it in ways that honor Him.  But most of all, the time this will take away from all the other things we know God wants us to do is the reason I don't want you to play.  Multiple practices and games every week mean you cannot spend as much time playing with your sister, and going to see sick people in hospitals, and singing songs to our shut-in church members, and eating breakfast with one of our widows.  This game, like most sports, takes up much more time each week than it seems like it will when you first sign up.  And as fun as it may be, sweety, we just cannot become a family who places that much priority and emphasis on something that will not matter in eternity.  But, what I will do is buy us a basketball goal soon and we can begin playing as a family, and maybe Mommy can plan a few times for our whole church to get together and play softball together this summer.  OK?"

Keileigh's reaction was one of childlike sadness, tempered by a genuine heart to submit to her Daddy and also keep fighting to live her life in ways that defy the world and please her Savior and King, Jesus.  I know she wanted to cry a bit, but she didn't.  She was not surprised by my decision.  This is a decision I have been making repeatedly with both my daughters for over 5 years now.  [We did let Meaghan play softball one season about 4 years ago in North Carolina.  But, when they refused to cancel a game when it was 110 degrees and 95% humidity, with little girls getting horribly sun-burned and threatening to drop of heat exhaustion, that kinda convinced us, and Meaghan too, that this was clearly not being viewed for what it is - A GAME.]

Now some of you are growing more irritated with me by the second.  You are mad.  You think I am accusing you of being sub-Christian if your child is in sports.  Well, I am not accusing you of anything.  I am merely relaying to you my thought process as a Dad who wants to lead his family to radical devotion to Christ and His people, the Church.  Any honest believer must confess that sports in America is now well beyond the level of idolatry (for the majority of people, anyway).  All I am urging you to do is "count the cost."

Whoever does not carry his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?  (Luke 14:27-28)

These words from our Master often haunt me.  These words from Jesus demand that His followers be willing to consider the cost of every activity of life.  Can we really afford this - not just financially, but primarily spiritually?!  

So, how much time do you spend each week with sports or other activities compared to the time you spend in the Word with your children, doing life together with your church family, praying, visiting widows and orphans, and gathering with the church for worship?  How we spend our time and money, perhaps more than anything else in life, reveals where our treasure really is.

So, why is it that so many Christians and Church-goers today will let almost anything get in the way of genuine discipleship?  Why do we move heaven and earth to get to work on time or softball practice on time but cannot seem to get up on Sunday morning to get our family to worship on time?  Why is it that we would never dream of falling asleep during a briefing at work from our bosses, but we routinely sleep during sermons?  Why would we not even think of allowing our children or teens to sleep through school, but we think it's not that big a deal if they sleep or pass notes during the sermon?  Why is it like pulling eye-teeth to get a small group of church members to actually commit and follow through in joining a biblical small group?    

Friends, the Christian life is a war!  (See Romans 7-8 and Galatians 5)  We had better wake up and seek grace to get in the fight and stay there!  God help us have the courage to count the cost.        

Oh my word!  Really?  Really, really God?  Are You awake?  Are You at work?  Do You have any idea what is going on? Have You lost complete control?  Must I do everything?

Me, my wife and two daughters are tackling reading through the Bible together this year.  My wife and I have done this for several years running, but wanted to include our girls this year.  While we're a bit behind as of today, we're enjoying reading together, stopping periodically to comment or ponder some grand truth or amazing event.  God is good.

But the results of reading His word are not always what we hope for.  Let me explain.

In Deuteronomy 9, we read of Moses, the great Prophet and Leader of God's chosen people Israel, literally starving himself to death.  He fasted 40 days and nights, came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets, found the "sheep" feeding themselves on a false god they made out of bronze, then goes back into a 40 day fast before the Lord.  Why?  [Note: Obviously God is sustaining Moses because medically 80 days of no food or water is not possible.  But God still defies medical science every day.]  But the burning question is why would Moses do such a radical, even insane thing?

I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor `rank` water, because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger (Deut 9:18).

So, I cannot speak for you, but as a Pastor and a follower of Jesus Christ, I am so convicted by this passion of Moses.  This is what it looks like to be a man on fire for God's fame and name!  Moses is beside himself with grief because the Lord has threatened to destroy the people (see vv. 22-25).  His burden is immensely heavy for God's glory to be seen by His redeeming, powerful hand (see vv. 26-29).  Moses would rather die of starvation then see the people of God destroyed by their sin.  Moses starves himself to mourn the people's sins and beg God to make His name great on the earth through His merciful redemption, rather than His righteous justice.

So, when is the last time I fasted to mourn the sins of members of Corydon Baptist Church?  When have I ever cared so much for God's glory?  When have I preferred death to seeing a marriage destroyed, a man giving himself to women, work and weekends, a woman consumed by self-pity, a child rebelling against his mother or father, a man addicted to cigarettes, a woman who cannot seem to stop smoking pot to escape the real world to which she has been called to shine the gospel light?  When?

Oh Lord Jesus, please forgive me for Your Name's sake.  I desperately want to be a Pastor who mourns sin whenever and where ever it is found.  Give me more of Your heart for the precious people of CBC.  Help me stop spending far too much time on the frivolous and silly, when the life and times of Your people here so clearly demand a soberness and even dire seriousness.  Oh God, set me on fire yet again for Your glory in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  Do not let me grow comfortable with "normal" church life and routine.  Let me not settle for average marriages, not-so-bad parenting, half-hearted singleness, non-evangelistic members, and an avoidance of raw, real, life-on-life discipleship.  Create in me a desperate heart, a hungry heart, a thirsty heart, and give Your people all of these things and more!  Please help me, Lord.  Please help us.  Fill us with Your Spirit.  Set our affections on things above.  Amen.  

Two weeks ago our church had the privilege of ordaining Eric Hall as an Elder.  Getting to know him this past year has been a joy and a sharpening experience for me.  He wrote the following to encourage our CBC members to get engaged in genuine accountability using the avenues the church is providing, namely Gospel Life Groups (GLGs) and Disciple-Making Disciple Groups (DMDs).  Read and seek grace to heed!

“You have about as much of God as you want to have.”  What a piercing quote.  And it’s true.  This is never more fleshed out than in DMDs.  When you commit to spending time with others and doing life deeply with one another you will have your half-heartedness exposed.  Another similar truth: “You have about as much accountability as you want to have.”

So who is your accountability up to?  We want to quote Biblical phrases like “brother’s keeper” and say it’s up to someone else to hold me accountable.  There are elements of truth in that.  But the reality is that it is up to you to confess your sins one to another.  You have a command to confess.  You brother doesn’t have a command to make you confess.

James 5:16

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Proverbs 28:13

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

We do not like to confess our sins, do we?  We especially don’t like to be prodded to confess our sins.  But isn’t this precisely what we need if we are to have more of God?  That’s the goal, right?  More of God, more of God, more of God.  And if I can have more of Him, be closer to Him, love Him more I want to do it.  Even if it means gouging out an eye.  I esteem that it is better to have no eyes at all and see God better than it is to have eyes and be blinded to Him.

I remember back in college when I was asked to join an accountability group by a close friend.  To which I replied, “why?”  I didn’t see the importance of “confessing sins one to another”.  And I wouldn’t have had a clue what kind of questions to ask by accountability partners to help them get closer to Jesus.  Maybe you’re in a similar place.  You’ve been told DMDs are crucial and will bring you closer to Jesus.  You’ve been told that you’ll get to know each other, spend time in the word together, pray together, and ask hard questions to each other.  But, like me, you don’t know what a helpful question would look like let alone a hard one.

Below are some helpful questions.  The truth is you can do a quick Google search for accountability questions and come up with 100 in just a few minutes.  My goal is that you’d take some of these and then eventually write some of your own.

What is God teaching you recently?

What sins has God exposed in you this week?

Who or what have you sacrificed for recently?

How have you sacrificed for your wife recently?

How have you sacrificed for your wife recently other than working hard at your job?

How have you put your wive’s needs above your own?

How have you put your children’s needs above your own?

John and Charles Wesley had DMDs way back in the 1700s.  Check out this list of questions they would ask to each member before they let you join a group.  Then below that is a list of questions they would ask once you’ve committed to the group.  It’s helpful to me to see the rugged men of old taking accountability deadly serious.  Why it’s almost as if they believed God that confessing is required for mercy!

Some of the questions proposed to every one before he is admitted among us may be to this effect:-

1. Have you the forgiveness of your sins?

2. Have you peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ?

3. Have you the witness of God's Spirit with your spirit, that you are a child of God?

4. Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart?

5. Has no sin, inward or outward, dominion over you?

6. Do you desire to be told your faults?

7. Do you desire to be told of all your faults, and that plain and home?

8. Do you desire that every one of us should tell you, from time to time, whatsoever is in his heart concerning you?

9. Consider! Do you desire we should tell you whatsoever we think, whatsoever we fear, whatsoever we hear, concerning you?

10. Do you desire that, in doing this, we should come as close as possible, that we should cut to the quick, and search your heart to the bottom?

11. Is it your desire and design to be on this, and all other occasions, entirely open, so as to speak everything that is in your heart without exception, without disguise, and without reserve?

Notice a pattern with those last 5 questions?  Our commitment to ourselves is very high, and if we are given any opportunity to hide our sin or call it less than completely evil we will take it.  We are not so rugged or radical as they.  But ask yourself, “do I want this sin exposed for what it is or do I want it kept secret?  Do I want to confess it and admit I need God’s power to master it or would I rather try to get over it on my own?”

I’m proud [in the best sense of the word] of you men and women in DMDs who are driving a stake through the heart of your pride and are beating your chest like the publican begging for mercy, admitting you're messed up, and finding “grace for help in the time of need.”

Here are some other questions to get you started in collecting and writing some for your DMD:

John Wesley:

1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?

2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?

3. Do I confidentially pass onto another what was told me in confidence?

4. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work , or habits?

5. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?

6. Did the Bible live in me today?

7. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?

8. Am I enjoying prayer?

9. When did I last speak to someone about my faith?

10. Do I pray about the money I spend?

11. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?

12. Do I disobey God in anything?

13. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?

14. Am I defeated in any part of my life?

15. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?

16. How do I spend my spare time?

17. Am I proud?

18. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisee who despised the publican?

19. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I going to do about it?

20. Do I grumble and complain constantly?

21. Is Christ real to me?

Wesley’s Band Meeting Questions:

1. What known sins have you committed since our last meeting?

2. What temptations have you met with?

3. How were you delivered?

4. What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be sin or not?

5. Have you nothing you desire to keep secret?

Various modern resources:

1. Do you like the person you are becoming?
2. Is your heart for God shrinking or growing?
3. Are you giving your family only your emotional table scraps?
4. Have you done anything that compromised your integrity with the opposite sex?
5. Have you compromised your integrity with finances?
6. Have you done your 100% best in your job, school, etc.?
7. Are you faithfully involved with worship and service?
8. Is your pace of life sustainable?
9. Have you allowed a person or circumstance to rob you of joy?
10. Are you taking care of your body through physical exercise, proper eating and sleeping habits?
11. Have you told any half-truths, or outright lies, putting yourself in a better light to those around you?
12. Have you lied on any of your answers with me?

My wife, Michele and I were talking some years back about just how long we have known each other (since she was 9 and I was 7), and how I was one of the only boys in her hometown that she could have married that had any interactions with her mother, Linda.  Coincidence?  Phooey!

By the time I had any knowledge of Linda, she was lying on her death bed, dying of cancer.  My Dad was a new Pastor in town, and Michele's family was one of the first to join the church he pastored in Richmond, KY.  They had moved from the West Coast, and we had moved from Western North Carolina.  I remember a few visits made to the Lucas household.  Linda was always very obviously sick during our visits, and feeble, but I do distinctly remember her always finding a little strength to at least give me a greeting and a nice word or two.  My memory of her is foggy.  That was so long ago (32 + years).  But as a boy I have enough recollection to know that whatever was happening to Linda, she was not bitter.

Sick?  Yes.  Frail?  Yes.  Dying at the age of 39?  Yes.  But bitter?  No.

That in itself was quite a legacy to leave her then 10 year old daughter, who would become my wife some 14 years later.

Several years into our marriage, Michele's step-mom told us there were some boxes in the attic that had some of her parents' stuff in it (by then her Dad had also died of cancer).  We took down the box and discovered numerous Bible studies and Christian books that Linda had done.  They were all marked up with notes and thoughts.  There were studies through several books of the Bible, and Corrie Ten Boom books and notebooks of scribbles from sermons and lessons she had heard.  It was a pleasant surprise.  Michele knew that her mom had been saved late in life (especially considering the 39 short years God ordained for her on this earth).  And she had an inkling of the spiritual hunger in her mom, but this box of dusty books brought it to life.  Her mom in the few short years of her walk with Christ had obviously devoured everything she could get her hands on concerning her Messiah Jesus and His precious written Word.

I am not sure how Linda would have characterized her years prior to being saved by grace through faith in Jesus.  Maybe she would have seen them as mostly wasted?  After all, every second lived without the Lordship of King Jesus is a waste.  But, I know one thing for certain - her years of life with Christ were anything but wasted!  

Though Linda was not given much opportunity to impact her youngest daughter - my wife, Michele - in a "flesh-on-flesh" kind of way, her impact is definitely still lingering in my household.   Her hunger for the Word made flesh and the Word written down has blossomed in her daughter, and is now budding in her granddaughters (my precious Meaghan and Keileigh).

I thank God for the mother-in-law that I really never knew very well.  I yearn to visit with her one day at the feet of the Savior Jesus we both love.  

Legacy.

It isn't always passed on in the ways we think or dream or prefer.  But God is faithful.  His ways are infinitely higher than ours and past finding out!

Legacy.

What does it mean to you?  You are leaving one.  The only question is, "What kind are you leaving?"