by Marc Buxton | Sep 14, 2009 | Time Management
Ok…ok….8:30 – 5:30….that’s my schedule that I am trying to stick to now for work and related things. Maybe you are like me – you could work on your work 24/7, because you love what you do. I love the fact that one of my main textbooks for my seminary classes is my Bible. I love that I am spending time each day developing the ministry that God is leading me in. And I love the fact that I get to incorporate my love of illusion into some of my work. I could work all day, and I used to do that. This time last year, I would literally spend every waking moment working on something. Because if I wasn’t working, I was wasting time and that was no good. I did not watch TV, I didn’t read much for pure enjoyment, and I definitely didn’t take naps. I was the exact opposite of George on Seinfeld during his “Summer of George”.
So after I got married earlier this year, I began to realize that some things needed to change. God began to teach me about the importance of rest. Somewhere along the lines, those of us in ministry have bought into the Corporate American ideal that if you aren’t ‘doing” something then you are wasting your time. But in Mark 6:31, Christ acknowledges the importance of some “down time”. He takes the apostles away into the desert to get some rest. In fact, rest was very important to Jesus. Remember how he slept in the boat before and during the storm? This was also a case of “pre-meditated” rest. Jesus didn’t just “doze off” in the boat, he went into a covered section of the ship, found a “pillow”, and got some rest (Mark 4).
In light of all of this truth about rest, my wife and I had a conversation last week. I had been thinking about the dangers of my 24/7 mindset: the dangers to our family, to my health, and our relationship with others. Here is our solution: Working from home most of the day AND having a laptop allows me to always be “in the office” if I want too (NOT a good thing). So we have decided that I will work from whatever time I start in the morning (usually around 8:30) and I will end at 5:30. After 5:30, I don’t touch the computer for work purposes. Sure, there is always more that can be done. But that’s the issue: there’s always more to be done. Somewhere in all this work we have to learn to draw the line in the sand, retreat into the desert, fall asleep in the hull of the ship, and spend time with the ones we love. And put the iPhone on silent. More thoughts later…
by Marc Buxton | Sep 10, 2009 | Book Review, Prayer
I recently read a volume of work by E. M. Bounds on prayer entitled “Necessity of Prayer”. I encourage you to take the time to read over some of it. The work is lengthy, but well worth the effort.
Click here to download it free as a pdf. Or buy it here on Amazon: The Necessity of Prayer
The piece is at once revealing, convicting, inspiring, and telling. It is a work on true prayer that, upon initial encounter, is deeper than other books concerning the same. It is revealing in the fact that Bounds covers much theological ground in handling the subject of prayer. This task in itself reveals the mystery and deepness of true biblical prayer. Bounds discusses faith, perseverance, righteous living, the house of God and more – all centered around a Christian’s prayer life. It is convicting, as we will see in a moment, in that the truth that he uncovers applies instantly to any Christian reading it who has any spiritual pulse at all.
It is also convicting to read that a mere man writes (and presumably lived) this way. To have a full understanding of these things he addresses means that he has worked them out himself in the battlefield that is the Christian life. This is not a theoretical thesis from a fresh grad student – this volume is wisdom in print. It is inspiring, however, in that Bounds does not leave us destitute on the roadside along his straight path to righteousness. He stops and picks us up and points the way, so that we too can experience this awesome prayer life he speaks to us of.
Lastly, it is telling in that a majority of the evangelical Christian population today would not comprehend the content of Mr. Bound’s work, much less be inspired to attain to it, having understood its biblical relevance.
There is too much information to cover in detail, or even at a distance, for that matter. So, I will be selective. I trust that the material I provide will inspire you to read or re-read the work, if you have already done so. In the first section of the paper, Bounds tackles the notion of faith and prayer, and their relation.
When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are, in a measure, shutting tomorrow out of our prayer. We do not live in tomorrow but in today.”
His assertion here is that the biblical teaching is to attend to things of today and not to worry about what will happen tomorrow. If we spend time praying for tomorrow’s needs today, and God knows of our need and was going to provide when the time came, our prayers were in essence “unnecessary and redundant”. Food for thought.
Later in the volume, Bounds addresses issue of sincerity in prayer. He speaks specifically of desire and its relation to our prayers:
Desire goes before prayer, and by it, created and intensified. Prayer is the oral expression of desire. If prayer is asking God for something, then prayer must be expressed. Prayer comes out into the open. Desire is silent. Prayer is heard; desire, unheard. The deeper the desire, the stronger the prayer. Without desire, prayer is a meaningless mumble of words.
The truth here is self-evident for any Christian: prayer without sincerity is dead. We ask God for what we have need of, and those needs come from our desires for our lives. This work by E. M. Bounds is full of similar spiritual truths and insights. It is bolstered by the fact that he references Scripture as his guide throughout. Sadly, these truths and similar ones are the farthest thing from many of our minds for many of our days. We have become a generation focused on quick information, when the truths to be found, like those concerning prayer, require patience, long-suffering, and diligence.
by Marc Buxton | Aug 28, 2009 | General
When is the last time someone accused you of being crazy? I maintain that everyone has some insane tendencies, but when was the last time that someone considered your commitment to and witness about our Lord Jesus insanity? If you can remember an instance, you would be in good company.
When he spoke of Christ, the Apostle Paul was accused of being insane by those who didn’t know him (Acts 26:24). Even better than that, Jesus himself was accused of insanity by his friends (Mark 3:21).
Is your witness that bold? Are you willing to let it be?
Don’t sugar coat the gospel and what Christ has done for you – share Him boldly today, among enemies and friends.
by Marc Buxton | Aug 25, 2009 | General
Just watched a short talk by Andy Stanley on clarity vs. confusion. We often think they are related, but they are not. Just because you may be confused about HOW something is going to work out in your life (or, rather, how God will work it out) doesn’t mean that you cannot be clear on WHAT He has asked you to do. He may have given you a full time ministry and a vision for it, or He may have given you a family to care for, or He may want you to spend some more time in His Word each morning. Whatever the task is, don’t worryabout the how; act on the what. God will make it possible if you step out in faith.
ur 2-do 4 2-day: Act.
by Marc Buxton | Aug 18, 2009 | General
I know the cool thing to do would have been to post this in July….thereby giving the post a catchier title. But…I didn’t come across this website until just now, and it is August already, unfortunately. Timeliness aside, this website answers a question that I think a lot of Christians struggle with: how do we make Christmas meaningful AND fun? We know about keeping Christ in Christmas, and that He is the real “reason for the season”. But there’s also nothing wrong with celebrating with family, friends, presents, and parties. At first glance, the folks at Advent Conspiracy have come up with a very good answer to this dilemma.
Now that I have a family of my own, I am more aware of the importance of creating a Christ honoring Christmas tradition. I am going to think about this take on things some more over the coming weeks, and I encourage you to do the same….
http://www.adventconspiracy.org/
ur 2-d0 4 2-day: re-think for upcoming December traditions in August
by Marc Buxton | Aug 14, 2009 | General
So much of our world today is results driven. We have sales quotas at work to meet. When we throw a party, it had better be a good time. And is that automatic carwash really cleaning anything at all? Results. We are driven to require, expect, and deliver them. And pushing for results often leads to one thing: anxiety.
A fear of not meeting expectations of yourself or others is a common problem and is deterrent for being all you can be all the time. Unfortunately, this results=anxiety formula often spills over into our spiritual lives. If you are living to serve God, you want to accomplish things for Him. If you are actively serving Him, you may be anxious about seeing (or not seeing) certain results. But there is nothing to worry about here.
God promises that we will be successful for Him – IF we follow His prescription. In Psalm 1:1-3 it says that if we meditate on God’s Word that God will bless us, and whatever we do will be prosperous. He promises that we will produce (spiritual) fruit – no question about it. What a promise!
Now, this verse does not teach that if you read God’s Word you will be able to try whatever business venture you want and have the Midas touch. There is an important principle here. If we are meditating on God’s Word, and delighting (verse 2) in God’s Word, the desires of our heart will become His desires (Psalm 37:4). We will want to prosper – for God!
So there you have it – a promise that takes all of the anxiety out of ministry. Seek God and delight in His Word, and He will use you to produce fruit and further His Kingdom!
Meditate on His Word. Serve. Expect Results.
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by Marc Buxton | Jun 15, 2009 | General
I was driving home this weekend, and I began noticing the front of people’s cars. On the front of most cars here in America is a spot for what we call “vanity plates”. Whoever gave the name to this craze was right on the money. A good definition of vanity is “something worthless, trivial, or pointless”. Most vanity plates consist of sports team logos, business emblems, products, etc. Some people actually just leave the plate on from the dealer where they bought the car. I, for one, do not understand this one. Did they have such a good experience at the car lot that they want to tell everyone about it 24/7? To each his own.
I’m not knocking them altogether by the way – I have one myself. But what people put on their vanity plates really says a lot about what they care about, what they spend their time and money on. Some people doget religious with them, starting with the “God is my co-pilot” craze of the 1980’s. It wasn’t long before some astute auto-theologians corrected this blunder with “God is my PILOT”. Touche Mr. Co-pilot.
But I couldn’t help but think as I drove, how much time we spend on all these things that are represented on our vanity plates, and how much better our lives and our world might be if we spent that time with God and our families instead. Vanity plates, indeed….
by Marc Buxton | Jun 9, 2009 | Prayer
Worry about nothing, pray about everything. That is Paul’s advice in Philippians 4:6. When we feel anxiety about a situation or tension about a situation, we are to take it to God. We take it to Him with thanksgiving – an understanding and reminder of all He has done for us. We are to make our requests known to God and then trust His love and power to accomplish what we ask. We have a Father, a Lord, who controls all. Why should we worry?! To worry is to momentarily forget God. We will have situations that make us anxious, which is why Paul tells us elsewhere to pray without ceasing. Constant prayer is a sign that we refuse to deal with problems internally, inevitably leading to a dead-end outcome, but rather we have come to embody verse 6; we take everything straight to Him. This is the true test of faith that occurs all day. By the way, there is nothing in this chapter or book that talks about popping pills when you get too anxious. Some people need a stronger dose of God in their life, that is currently being substituted by a mind-altering pharmaceutical. That’s all I’ll say about that…..
ur 2-d0 4 2-day: Put the pills down and take the next thing that bothers you straight to God. See if the “peace of God” overwhelms you (vs. 7).
by Marc Buxton | Jun 4, 2009 | General
Embrace, embryo, emotion, Eminem….all of these cute-cuddly things start with “em”. Okay, forget the cute and cuddly on that last one, but you get the point. The prefix “-em” begins a lot of words in our English language, but none may be more important than “empathy”. This is the idea communicated by the Apostle Paul in Hebrews 13:3.
Look it up. Right now. (interactive blogging, remember?). Got it? Good.
Paul is saying here that we must feel other people’s pain – that we must treat their suffering as if it was our own. This flies in the face of the ever prevailing “well he needs to man-up”, or “that’s their problem, not mine” attitude. According to God, it is your problem. So what are we supposed to do? Paul doesn’t give us a specific action to take, though he does imply it. But Christ does. In Matthew 25:36 (you know the drill), our Lord gives specific actions that we should take as a result of our empathetic awareness. If you follow His command, you will ensure that you put the all important “-em” in front of pathetic today.
ur 2-d0 4 2-day: Help someone who has a problem as if it were your own.
by Marc Buxton | Jun 3, 2009 | General
I was studying the first chapter in Ezekiel – the famous “wheel within a wheel” account of Ezekiel’s vision. The passage is highly figurative yet very visual. One of the things Ezekiel describes is what most scholars understand to be God’s chariot. In verse 28, we read a description of the “likeness” of the glory of God (an interesting difference between just the glory of God) – and it appears as a rainbow.
source: sxc.hu/photo/1431870
This idea of a rainbow encompassing God’s throne or presence is mentioned several other times in Scripture (Rev 4:3 for instance). So, as I read that whole chapter, I just got a sense of the glory of the Lord.
But what do we usually think of when we think of a rainbow? Even when we are attempting to be spiritual…. “God’s promise to never send a worldwide flood ever again”. Very good kids. It does represent that. But, according to Scripture, a rainbow is also how God’s glory appears to man. So, when we see a rainbow we are really seeing a small glimpse of what it would be like to see God’s glory. When I picture a rainbow, I always picture it on a bright day, with the sun behind it – almost a blinding light around it. Even a small child, when they draw a rainbow, draws it with a sun beside it. This is God’s picture to us of His glory!
What is the other thing we usually think about when we think rainbows? In today’s context…. if we are being honest….gay pride. Is there any small coincidence that the very representation of the glory of God has been perverted and now represents the “alternate lifestyle” that is “available”? Satan does everything he can to undermine and diminish the glory of God, including turning a powerful biblical truth on its head, causing even the most spiritual of us to miss God’s real intention for a created symbol.
So the next time you see a rainbow, don’t just think “Noah”. Think about what an awesome, majestic God we serve. He is the God of the universe, who rides on a chariot, goes where He wills, sits on a sapphire throne, and is surrounded by fire and blinding light.
