NUMBER TWO, 2017
In this issue
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6 3 Fearfully and Wonderfully Made charles r. swindoll
Names of Jesus 11 Christ
6 Get Real! steve johnson
The Hea[r]t of the Issue 12 Sexual Identity and Reflecting God’s Image steve johnson
8 Procrastination robyn roste
Beyond the Broadcast 15 Strengthening Your Grip on Godliness Insights is published by Insight for Living Canada, the Bible-teaching ministry of Charles (Chuck) R. Swindoll. Chuck is the senior pastor-teacher of Stonebriar Community Church in Texas. His international radio program Insight for Living has aired for more than 35 years. We hope this publication will instruct, inspire, and encourage you in your walk with Christ. Copyright © 2017 Insight for Living Canada. All rights reserved. No portion of this monthly publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the publisher. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture passages are taken from the NLT. Unless otherwise noted, photography and illustration by Tim Schellenberg. IFLC is an autonomous ministry and certified member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities. Printed in Canada.
Cover photo taken by Jennifer Pinkerton // Image on Right: Unsplash.com
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by charles r. swindoll
I
f you are a woman who doubts her value, you’re not alone. May I begin by stating the obvious? I’m not a woman. Nor have I ever wanted to be one! I’m no authority on women. But after 61 years of marriage and almost 50 years of fatherhood to two daughters, I’ve learned a few things about what makes women tick. I tell you all this as preamble to a singular point: Women are people of worth and dignity, each one uniquely designed by a loving Creator. Early in her elementary years, one of our daughters brought home a small, round painted plaque she had fashioned out of clay with an imprint of her hand pressed into it. In art class, she had learned how to mould the clay; wait for it to dry; paint it with soft, subtle colours; and then fire it in the intense heat of a kiln. She brought her work of art home and handed it to me with pride. In spite of its uneven and imperfect shape, the little plaque sparkled in the sunlight. As I held it gently—my daughter’s eyes anxiously awaiting my approval—I thought, This is how God views you. Exquisitely made and extremely valuable. “It’s wonderful, Sweetheart!” I declared. The worth of that sculpted plaque lay not in its outward form, but in the heart of its creator. Sadly, many women have failed to realize the same is true of them. Our culture bombards women of all
ages with hurtful messages about the high value of beauty, glamour, intelligence, extreme fitness, and physical perfection. Unless you’re size six or less, tan and toned, and capable of managing a Fortune 500 company while raising award-winning children, you just don’t measure up. Thankfully, God has a vastly different perspective—one He reveals to us in His Word. King Solomon, a man of great wisdom, wrote this: Charm is deceitful, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised. (Proverbs 31:30) Solomon’s words remind us that God puts no premium on externals—not one of those things is lasting. True value comes from the heart of one who fears and follows the Lord. God created every woman with a unique combination of temperament, interests, abilities, and style that form the basis of a relationship with Him and others. “Every woman” includes you! No one can take your place. Carefully and painstakingly the Lord moulded and shaped you according to His own design to fulfil His sovereign purposes. He was and is much less concerned about external appearances than the intentions and affections of your heart. With that in mind, I’d like to offer three reminders to help you keep your focus on God’s design and purpose for you:
1. Resist attempts at achieving perfection. Perfectionism is a lie from the Enemy. There’s a vast difference between the world’s standard and God’s. God isn’t interested in your being “perfect.” He wants you to pursue holiness. How? By making a daily commitment to walk in obedience before Him (1 Peter 1:16) 2. Remember you’ve been fearfully and wonderfully made according to the plan of your Creator. In eternity past, God ordained you and has now made you into His exquisite creation. You bear the imprint of all His affection (Jeremiah 31:3) 3. Remind the younger generation of the rare and enduring virtue of fearing the Lord. There has never been a greater need for teenage girls and young women to have
role models who have purposed to fear and serve the Lord (Proverbs 31) Like my daughter’s little plaque, each of us has an uneven and imperfect shape. We must never forget the pride and joy and love with which the Father has created us. You are His masterpiece, handmade and treasured. Believe it! And purpose in your heart to follow the Lord today. Then you will be greatly praised.
Charles R. Swindoll serves as the senior pastor-teacher of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas.
Insight for Living Canada began over 30 years ago when a Bible-study group in Vancouver decided to look into bringing Chuck Swindoll’s messages into Canada. For more visit insightforliving.ca/our-history
Get Real! by steve johnson
W
hen I was younger I used to hear people say, “Get real!” They’d say it to someone whom they thought was living in an artificial world and needed to get in touch with reality. I believe it’s a phrase some Christians need to hear today. The Lord, the world, and the church are all looking for the same thing: Christians who are real. But living with the kind of reality and authenticity that glorifies God
and impacts others eludes many believers. Perhaps this is because Christians and church congregations today struggle over the extent to which they should be rooted or relevant—two characteristics required for being real. “Rooted” refers to having a thorough knowledge and understanding of God and His Word. “Relevant” refers to relating to one’s context, society and the world around us, in a way that impacts it. The struggle
So, how does one become real— anchored to the Rock but geared to the times, successful at relating what doesn’t change to what does?
arises out of trying to relate what doesn’t to change lives and its timeless relevance change (God and His Word) to what does to man’s needs. Without this the people perish (Proverbs 29:18). With it, “the change (society and the world around us). In trying to navigate the strait between people who know their God will display what does and doesn’t change, many fall strength and take action” (Daniel 11:32 victim to one of two things. The first is try- NASB). In Jesus’ words, we will be salty. He ing too hard to relate to the world. When explained it this way, “Let me tell you why we do this, God and His Word are neglected you are here. You’re here to be salt… If you and trivialized. They lose their distinctive- lose your saltiness, how will people taste ness among all the “truth-options” out godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness…” (Matthew 5:13 MSG). Being salty in the there today. The second is being disconnected from meat of society requires being rooted and our community and society around us. grounded in the Word. Finally, we must be like the men of IssaWhen we are irrelevant and “other-worldy” we can’t make a difference. As someone char, who understood the times and knew once said, “We are so heavenly-minded we what Israel should do (1 Chronicles 12:32 NIV). That requires becoming students are no earthly good.” So, how does one become real—anchored of our times, knowing how to dissect our to the Rock but geared to the times, success- culture and recognize the predominant ful at relating what doesn’t change to what “isms” and philosophies of the day. What do they look like? Can we identify them does? I offer three suggestions. First, stop viewing this as an either/or in the media or in others’ thinking and situation. It is not that we must be either relate God’s truth to them? And lest we rooted or relevant. Rather, it is a both/and mistakenly think that understanding the situation. We must be absolutely rooted times means conformity to the times Jesus in the knowledge of God and His Word warned, “Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banand totally relevant to the times in which ter and silliness give no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying we live. Second, return to being people of the to be relevant, you’re only being cute and Book. There is a growing trend among inviting sacrilege” (Matthew 7:6 MSG). Want to get real? Become rooted and evangelical Christians away from the diligent and systematic study of the Word of relevant. God and its clear proclamation from the pulpit. But there is no substitute for it. Steve Johnson is the executive director at Believers must be convinced of its power Insight for Living Canada.
PROCRASTIN ATION by robyn roste
While the Bible doesn’t say, “Thou shalt not procrastinate,” I knew avoiding responsibility wasn’t a godly biblical concept.
ve spent how much on credit card interest and late fees in the past three months?” “You don’t want to know. In fact, you don’t want to know how much you’ve spent in the past three years on interest and late fees.” “But I didn’t know…” With tears spilling down my face, I let my sentence trail off, lest my voice betray my emotion. “We aren’t responsible for your lack of knowledge. This information was all in the terms you received when you signed up for this card.” Biting back an angry reply, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. This conversation was not going my way. How was I supposed to know about penalties hidden in the fine print? No one reads the fine print! Deep down I knew even though I didn’t understand the rules of using a credit card, I had broken them and had to pay the price. I wondered how God might view avoiding financial responsibility. While the Bible doesn’t say, “Thou shalt not procrastinate,” I knew avoiding responsibility wasn’t a godly biblical concept. Colossians 3:23 says everything I do should be done for the Lord. Procrastination, to paraphrase the
“I’
dictionary, is a wilful delay of doing something that should be done. If I’m wilfully delaying paying my bills, then it’s as if I’m also doing this unto the Lord. So it’s wrong. After reflection, I realized my behaviour was rooted in fear, which was not from the Lord (2 Timothy 1:7). It was time to stop procrastinating. In my mind, money was a big, green bully, and I was the little bug it cruelly squished. I needed help learning to manage my finances—and James 1:5 told me where to look. “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” Time to pray. With some anxiety, I asked God for wisdom and understanding. The next Sunday at church, my pastor told the congregation about a free six-week budgeting course for anyone who wanted to learn how to make and balance a budget. So I signed up. The man leading the budgeting course spent most of the first evening explaining what to expect and the emotional reactions we may experience as a result of the coursework. I looked around the room and noticed people of all ages. People older than I didn’t know how to budget either? Were they afraid too?
We were challenged to tailor our budgets according to the financial goals we wanted to accomplish. I didn’t know a budgeter could do that. Up until then, I thought a budget was an immutable, standardized document a person was required to live up to. I had never thought about my financial goals before—objectives I wanted to achieve and how much I needed in order to accomplish them. In an instant, budgeting became a way I could do more things in life. Instead of being the bully who squished me, money transformed into a pal who could help me reach my goals. My first budget took me more than a week to balance. Receipts littered my kitchen table, and my recycling bin overflowed with mistake-riddled templates. Dealing with money was hard work, but I was beginning to see where the proper money management could take me. The more I learned about money, the more I saw how enslaved I’d been by my lack of financial knowledge. Putting in the hours to gain insight not only transformed my grasp on financial concepts but it empowered me to take responsibility for my money. After completing my budgeting course, I confronted a new fear. I had a balanced
budget. I had financial goals. I had put in the work. But what if I failed? Proverbs 16:3 gave me courage: “Commit your actions to the LORD, / and your plans will succeed.” Overcoming financial procrastination began as a desire to be a better testament to God. I wanted to honour Him with my finances, so I put in the work in order to stop avoiding what was right. I began trusting that He would continue leading me down the path of financial independence. I wish I could say my relationship with money was the only place procrastination popped up. Turns out, I love putting things off until tomorrow. Writing deadlines, homework, grocery shopping, getting out of bed, getting dressed for work, exercising…I could go on. In the moment procrastination feels amazing, but it only leads to anxiety. As I meditate on God’s Word, I can look forward to making the most of each day. We’re not here for long, so let’s take up the challenge to make the most of our days and leave procrastination for later.
This article is an excerpt from Exquisitely Imperfect.
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“Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16)
Origins: Messiah is from the Hebrew word mashiach, meaning anointed; translated Christos in Greek
Meaning: Prophets, priests, and kings were anointed, setting them apart for service to God. Scripture predicted a coming Messiah who would deliver Israel and embody the offices of prophet, priest, and king (Isaiah 61:1; Daniel 9:26) Usage: Scripture reveals Jesus as the anointed deliverer, not from earthly powers but from the power and penalty of sin
Application: Christ is prophet, priest, and king. As prophet He embodied and preached the Word of God. We need Him to instruct us in God’s will. Are you hearing and obeying Christ? As priest, Christ offered Himself sacrificially atoning for our sins and reconciling us to God. He continues as our resurrected great High Priest, through whom all acceptable prayer and praise are made to God. When we sin, there is forgiveness through Jesus our constant Intercessor and Advocate. Do you go to your priest Jesus who intercedes for you and sympathizes with your weaknesses? As king Christ sits at the right hand of God, crowned in glory as King of kings. He reigns over His church through His Holy Spirit. He sovereignly gives repentance to the impenitent and bestows forgiveness on the guilty. Are you submitting to the rule of your King?
by steve johnson
G
ender identity is how people experience themselves as male or female. Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is the deep and abiding discomfort over the incongruence between one’s biological sex and one’s psychological and emotional gender experience. Transgender is an umbrella term for the many ways people experience GID. It’s not about sexual intercourse or attraction to the same sex, it’s part of the larger lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) discussion. The cause of GID is unknown.
Here’s Where They’re At When you discuss gender identity with others you might hear statements like these. • There’s no difference between men and women, only stereotyped roles into which we are socialized by the culture at large. These stereotypes are changing and so may our gender identity • Gender is a subjective reality— something a person feels within. We are male, female, or a combination because we perceive ourselves as such. As a result, we can alter our gender identity at will, because our perception of ourselves may change over time • The reality of transgender persons is something to be celebrated and honoured. They are brave and
courageous to come out and identify as a different gender
Here’s Where You’re At Living according to a Christian worldview, you may see gender identity like this. • God created two genders, male and female, according to His purpose and doesn’t make mistakes. Identifying oneself as something other than what he or she is created to be is to say God’s design is a farce or wrong • Cross-gender identification blurs and threatens to dishonour the creation order of male and female as it goes against the integrity of one’s personhood as a male or female • Gender identity is part of human physiology and psychology. Your biological sex determines your gender identity and God’s design for your sexual activity • Confusion over gender identity is due to a fallen sin nature. Altering one’s gender is wrong
Here’s Where Scripture’s At Contrary to a society that says we are a product of chance and are therefore selfdetermining, Scripture says God distinctly created us in His image as male and female, uniquely suited for each other (Genesis 2:21-24; Matthew 19:4).
• God made our bodies good (Psalm 139:13-16; 1 Timothy 4:4) and are an essential part of our true selves and revealing who we truly are • Because of the fall people are flawed and experience conditions, deformities, and sickness as a result. People experience desires for things forbidden by God (Galatians 5:17; 1 John 2:16) and these desires are to be opposed and curbed rather than given free reign (Romans 13:14) • Jesus grounds sexual morality on Scripture and our created nature as men or women (Matthew 19:1-9) • Paul grounds his views on marriage and sexuality from Scripture and created nature (Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Corinthians 6:12-7:40) • Suppressing the truth of God is the reason people worship the creature instead of the creator and ignore the creation of male and female (Romans 1:24-27)
Where To Go From Here The objective truth of our bodies and revealed truth of Scripture provide a moral framework in which to view our identity and desires. • We need to value the sacredness of God’s creation of male and female. Identity is not for us to create • It’s an identity issue. At its core, there is absolute confusion about who someone is created to be • There is a distinction to be made between GID and the choices made in response to the condition. It is the
choices that have moral and ethical dimensions not the condition itself • In Christ there is no Jew nor Greek nor male and female. We are not defined by our socio-economic status, by our race, or by our sexual urges. Our true identity is found in Christ and in relationship to Him • People with this condition need to have supportive care and help, not judgment. People with any disorder need to feel they belong in the church, which is a community of broken people saved by God’s grace All people need to be pointed to Christ and His Holy Spirit to transform into Christlikeness and not be viewed as projects to be fixed. GID is not beyond the reach of God’s grace, compassionate church-based care, and professional help.
REMINDER:
Ask yourself, “What kind of relationship do I want with this person now and in the future?”
This series provides training on having difficult conversations. How do you discuss difficult topics in a way you hear and are heard, maintain your influence, and avoid alienation? How do you deal with different worldviews while still valuing the person? Read our basic guidelines for having difficult conversations at insightforliving.ca/tough-talk.
Strengthening Your Grip on Godliness
“That which will keep a ministry on target is a faithful commitment to the Word of God.” - CHARLES R. SWINDOLL Have you ever felt like you were surrounded by the things of God—the programs, people, and praise of God— but couldn’t find Him anywhere? While we’re around His people regularly, talking His language, watching Him work, enjoying His blessings, we can start to take Him for granted. The Israelites had no reason to cry, “Oh, God, if You would only show Yourself.” His presence was all around them. The Lord divided the sea and delivered them from Egypt. He guided and protected the Israelites with a cloud by day and a fire by night. He provided manna from heaven and water from a rock. But God’s people complained and disobeyed, and as a result, they wandered in the desert for years. How did the Israelites bring tragedy on themselves? By swimming into a swirling vortex of disobedience by taking one stroke at a time—like passing through a series of concentric circles until the suction pulled them down. Let’s look at those five perilous, concentric circles. 1. Craving evil things: The Israelites knew they should have followed God, but they followed their appetites instead. When the going got tough, they
grumbled against Moses, stopped trusting God, and longed for the security of their former captivity 2. Idolatry: When we, like the Israelites, put something besides God on the throne of our lives, it becomes idolatry. Idols slowly and subtly tug at our attention, time, and devotion 3. Immorality: The Israelites had issues with immorality. They incorporated pagan rituals into their worship of God (Numbers 25:1-4) 4. Presuming upon God: The Israelites’ perspective was so distorted by sin that they accused God of carrying out an evil plan. How arrogant, after all God had done for them 5. Grumbling: God didn’t judge the Israelites for merely mumbling idle complaints under their breath but for heaping blame on Moses and Aaron for their difficulties and for despising God’s chosen leaders (Numbers 16:41-50) As we walk the path towards godliness, let’s remember God knows our limits even better than we do. When temptations come, He won’t give us more than we can handle, and He will be right there to provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13).
“Strengthening Your Grip on Godliness” is from Chuck Swindoll’s series Strengthening Your Grip: Essentials in an Aimless World. You can stream this message online anytime at insightforliving.ca/audiolibrary.
online RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT
Love Like Jesus Jesus told His disciples to love one another “as I have loved you” (John 13:34). That wouldn’t be so hard if the love Jesus displayed was primarily the write-a-cheque or call-once-a-month kind of love. But Jesus set the bar immeasurably high. Is that an impossible example to follow? You bet it is! That’s why God sent the Holy Spirit to live inside us and empower us with His supernatural love. Want to learn more? Visit our topical page and let the resources set you on the path of loving with the Saviour’s love. insightforliving.ca/love