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SharePastor Connect 2008
- Tue, Jan 1, 2008
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Articles In This Issue
Article- Brian G. Hedges
- Tue, Dec 23, 2008
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Amy Carmichael (1867-1951) poured out her life in sacrificial service for the kingdom of Christ as a missionary in India. She founded the Dohnavur Fellowship, a haven for homeless children, especially the young girls she helped escape from temple prostitution.
She served in India for 56 years, never taking one furlough. Her passion for souls serves as a model for us, as expressed in these lines:
Oh for a passionate passion for souls.
Oh for a pity that yearns!
Oh for the love that loves unto death,
Oh for the fire that burns!
Oh for the pure prayer-power that prevails ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Fri, Dec 12, 2008
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Imagine inheriting an enormous fortune of five billion dollars and committing to withdraw only $1 a day. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Why limit yourself to $1 when you have billions at your disposal? But that is exactly what many people do with the greatest treasure of all, God's Word. An immeasurable source of joy and power lies at their fingertips, and they settle for a "commitment" to read their "One-Minute Bible." Is God's Word your treasure? Can you say with the psalmist, "In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches" (Psa ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Fri, Dec 5, 2008
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The greatest obstacle to God's pursuit of His glory and to man's desire for joy is one and the same: sin. When sin entered the world through Adam's disobedience, it appeared that Satan had trumped God. The imago Dei (image of God) in man was marred. The light of God's glory on earth was darkened. Life and joy were traded for misery and death. All of Scripture and all of history have been about God undoing sin and restoring the world. The cross stands at the center of His work; there, the glory and righteousness of ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Fri, Nov 28, 2008
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One of my heroes is David Brainerd, the eighteenth-century pioneer missionary to Native Americans. Brainerd was a man who struggled deeply with sickness, loneliness, harsh working and living conditions, depression, and especially with the corruption remaining in his afflicted heart.
Yet despite his struggling and suffering, he went hard after God in the pursuit of holiness--relentlessly evangelizing among the Indians in Crossweeksung, New Jersey (where dozens were converted), praying, fasting, and studying the Bible.
His passion for holiness was rare. In his journals, he once wrote,
When I really enjoy God, I feel my desires of him the more insatiable ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Thu, Sep 4, 2008
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Spiritual leaders do not have an easier path to holiness than everyone else. Spiritual growth doesn’t come more easily just because I’m a pastor. Like all believers, spiritual leaders are responsible to obey the command to grow: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Pet. 3:18). The word grow is in the present tense with an indicative mood. That simply means that we are commanded to be continually growing in the grace and knowledge of ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Tue, Aug 19, 2008
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The Cost of Discipleship The great twentieth-century martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”[1] He was merely paraphrasing Jesus’ words, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:23-25). Jesus was not describing some kind of advanced level of ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Thu, Aug 7, 2008
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One of the greatest Old Testament heroes was David, “a man after God’s own heart.” David was a shepherd boy turned king, and has been called the “sweet singer of Israel” because of his many songs, recorded in the Book of Psalms.
Despite David’s heart for God, he was a sinner. One afternoon while walking on his balcony, David saw a woman bathing. Inflamed with lust, he took Bathsheba for himself, even though he knew she was married.
When he later learned that Bathsheba was pregnant, he tried to trick her husband, Uriah, into sleeping with her, in ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Wed, Jul 23, 2008
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The Most Important Question Most of us have probably posed to others the question, “If you were to die today and stand before God in heaven and He were to ask, ‘Why should I let you into My heaven?’ what would you say?” The way people answer that question indicates what they are trusting in for their forgiveness and salvation. Even as spiritual leaders, we need to take regular inventory of what we are trusting in by asking ourselves the same question. If your answer would be, “I think You should let me into heaven because I tried to live ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Tue, Jul 8, 2008
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The legendary folk/rock/pop singer Bob Dylan sang:
You may be an ambassador to England or France,
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls.
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed;
You’re gonna have to serve somebody.
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord,
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.[1]
Believe it or not, that’s pretty good theology! The apostle Paul even writes ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Thu, Jun 26, 2008
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Have you ever seen a magnetic, framed photograph on someone’s refrigerator with the caption “A Picture of Health”? Inside the frame is usually a snapshot of a healthy child—maybe someone’s son or daughter, niece, nephew, or grandchild. I think Psalm 63 gives us a picture of spiritual health. It’s a snapshot from David’s life—a prayer-poem he wrote in the wilderness of Judea while running from his rebellious son Absalom. It’s interesting that of all people in Scripture, David alone is called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). Why is ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Tue, Jun 10, 2008
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The Bible frequently uses horticultural metaphors to help us understand the Christian life:
- The New Testament writers speak of our sowing and reaping (Gal. 6:7-9; 2 Cor. 9:6).
- Believers in Christ are compared to branches that must abide in the vine and bear fruit (Jn. 15:1-8).
- Evangelism is described as planting and watering (1 Cor. 3:6).
- According to Paul, we need to be rooted in love (Eph. 3:17) and rooted in Christ (Col. 2:7).
- We are to bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:9), the fruit of righteousness (Heb ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Thu, May 15, 2008
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My favorite films may be Peter Jackson’s recent renditions of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. They tell the story of a hobbit’s quest to destroy an evil, powerful ring. He is assisted greatly by the light of a star, “a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out.” This is what God’s Word is for us. As Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Notice three ways the light of God’s Word helps us. 1. It Directs ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Thu, May 1, 2008
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Everyone suffers, but some suffer poorly and some suffer well. The difference is not in the degree of suffering, because some suffer relatively little yet are miserable, while others suffer greatly yet are full of joy. Consider the contrast between two men who suffered. Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, lived from 1489–1556. In 1553 Roman Catholic Queen Mary I arrested and later burned him at the stake for not renouncing his beliefs. The account of his martyrdom powerfully illustrates the degree of peace and joy one can have in the worst afflictions imaginable:
Soon an iron ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Tue, Apr 15, 2008
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Almost all critical Christian thinkers agree that we live in a post-Christian culture.
There was a time when the majority of people in Western cultures, whether churched or not, had a worldview shaped by Christian theism. But that is no longer the case.
The age of Christendom is over. Our culture is increasingly hostile to the exclusive claims of the gospel, and a pressing question of the day is, How do we engage the culture with the gospel.
Far better thinkers than I have tackled this question. I stand on their shoulders and commend their work to you. [i] With ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Tue, Apr 1, 2008
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Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:4–8) The Mess The men’s dressing room was ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Wed, Mar 19, 2008
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Rusty Cars and Lustful Lives One problem I didn’t anticipate facing when I moved north was rust. I have now discovered that harsh weather, snow and slush, salt and chemicals, and road grime take their toll on automobiles. This means that part of my regular car maintenance is rust-proofing. Nicks and chips must be painted. The undercarriage of the car needs to be washed regularly, and other corrosion-prevention measures must be taken. The fact is, the only way to drive a rust-free car in the slushy north is to pursue car protection with intention and discipline. The same could ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Mon, Mar 10, 2008
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Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil. 2:5-8, ESV) Water is scarce in the Sudan, and the African people have to dig deep wells in order to find it. These are not your typical wells ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Fri, Feb 22, 2008
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A. W. Tozer said, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”[1] Jacob was such a man. Jacob’s encounter with God at Penuel, recorded in Genesis 32, definitively transformed his life. Before Penuel, Jacob had been the master manipulator. With a deft hand and deceitful heart, Jacob maneuvered people and manipulated circumstances to his advantage. Cunningly, Jacob even secured Esau’s birthright and blessing and Laban’s daughters and flocks. But now it is time to “cash in his chips.” Having left Laban on less than good terms, Jacob is ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Wed, Feb 6, 2008
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In his thought-provoking book In Praise of Slowness, journalist Carl Honore comments on the challenges of our fast-paced culture. He writes:
Speed has helped to remake our world in ways that are wonderful and liberating. Who wants to live in a world without Internet or jet travel? The problem is that our love of speed, our obsession with doing more and more in less and less time, has gone too far; it has turned into an addiction, a kind of idolatry. Even when speed starts to backfire, we invoke the go-faster gospel. Falling behind at work? Get a quicker Internet ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Mon, Jan 21, 2008
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On my day off several weeks ago, I went to Starbucks to do some devotional reading. I brought with me a book on spiritual formation. This particular book, by a well known Christian author, was about cultivating the presence of God—kind of a modern version of Brother Lawrence’s Practicing the Presence of God.
The author focused on how God is always closer than we realize and discussed the different pathways by which people access God: intellect, beauty, contemplation, service, etc.
There were many helpful things the author said, and he’d probably be orthodox in his confessional theology ...
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- Brian G. Hedges
- Thu, Jan 10, 2008
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We live in the culture of the “self.” Both Christian and secular self-help books flood our bookstores. A Google search on the word turned up 476 million sites. Probably more than any other culture in the world’s history, the American culture and care of the self flourishes, with more diets, gyms, entertainment, and concern about defining one’s own identity. For selves that are sick, the United States offers half the world’s clinical psychologists, up from 12,000 in 1968 to 42,000 in 1990, when no other nation at that time had more than 400.[1] That ...
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