NUMBER FIVE, 2016
In this issue
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8 3
Live Beyond the Daily Grind charles r. swindoll
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What the Wisdom Books Can Help You Do charles r. swindoll
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Say it Well charles r. swindoll
11 11 30 Days to Embracing Your Singleness steve johnson Beyond the Broadcast 15 What If a Longtime Friend Deceives You?
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 Š 2016 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 Laura Vanderwel. IFLC is an autonomous ministry and cover image Š istock.com certified member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities. Printed in Canada.
by charles r. swindoll
“Consider these songs as rich food to be savoured slowly.”
I
t isn’t pretty, but it’s here to stay. It occurs in every life and in every season of the year. I call it the “daily grind.” Homemakers face 14-hour days with ever-present children and an endless grind of responsibilities. Students endure the grind of assignments, classes, deadlines, and exams. Salespeople have quotas to meet. Musicians must constantly rehearse. Psychologists can’t escape one depressed soul after another. Husbands have grass
to mow and things to fix each weekend. Preachers forever face the ever-present grind of sermon preparation. Fact is—let’s face it—the grind isn’t going away! Instead of fussing about it or dreading it, we must find a way to live beyond it. How? Songs! But not just any songs. I have in mind a songbook that’s really old. In fact, it’s one of the first-ever songbooks composed, inspired by our Creator-God. Its timeless songs were written specifically to
help us live beyond that grind of daily life. That’s right, beyond it. Why else would God have inspired those age-old compositions called psalms? They are timeless songs that have yielded delicious fruit in every generation. Surely, He realized the lasting value of each musical masterpiece and therefore preserved them to help us persevere. They drip with the oil of glory that enables us to live beyond the grind. Here’s what I mean: • When frightened, who hasn’t been comforted by, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want”? That’s Psalm 23 • Who hasn’t felt strangled by guilt and found soothing relief from, “According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me… cleanse me”? That’s Psalm 51 • And on those days when we feel forgotten, who hasn’t felt assured by, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty”? That’s the immortal Psalm 91 Don’t think that just because summer’s ahead that the grind will take a vacation. Not on your life! It will still be there. But this
summer, for a change, let’s live beyond it. Choose some psalms to include in your personal reading time this summer. To help make them stick, don’t try to digest too great a meal in one sitting. Consider these songs as rich food to be savoured slowly. Too much too fast would be counterproductive. Let me urge you to take your time, to read each psalm you select carefully, to give your mind time to digest each one slowly, and to enter into its practical application meaningfully. I believe these time-tested lyrics will add just enough nourishment to our days to enable us to live out the truths of these psalms. Otherwise, our long days would never end and the wearisome road before us would never bend. How grateful I am for these inspired songs! God’s people need to sing His songs frequently...and allow their time-tested lyrics to feed our souls. When we do, we begin to live beyond the grind.
Charles R. Swindoll serves as the senior pastor-teacher of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas.
Cultivating a Life of Self-Worth
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WHAT THE
WISDOM BOOKS CAN HELP YOU DO by charles r. swindoll
O
ur culture suffers no shortage of people with academic degrees, corporate titles, and intellectual know-how. But sadly, those who are wise are still hard to find. Why? It’s simple. The pursuit of knowledge, while often good, doesn’t automatically produce wisdom.
True wisdom requires us to read God’s Word with the goal of practical application, not merely intellectual stimulation. Wisdom applies truth to all of life...and that takes a lot of time, including numerous and painful trials as well. The inspired poets of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Solomon—
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the Wisdom Books—learned how to trust God through the challenges they faced. When hunted by King Saul, David sought the Lord and then praised God when He rescued him. Job endured unimaginable tragedy and ultimately grew to appreciate God’s sovereignty. And Solomon finally found the meaning of life in God—only after exhausting every other meaningless pursuit. In the midst of their experiences, these writers clung to God’s promises and trusted in His faithful character. Years of struggle showed them how to apply God’s truth to life in its raw reality. As these writers recorded their insights, they employed a method of Hebrew poetry that seems odd to our 21st-century ears. Our poetry commonly communicates thoughts through rhythm and rhyme. But Hebrew poetry conveys an author’s emotions and experiences through parallel thoughts. (See the inset box for an explanation.) From my more than five decades in ministry, I have learned that the quickest way to put the truth of Scripture into people’s lives is first through their heart and then through their head. This is especially true of the Wisdom Literature. God has preserved these wise sayings not simply for the purpose of intellectual stimulation but for their practical application as well. If we are ever going to put biblical principles into action, we must deliberately resist the temptation to substitute analysis for appropriation. This is not to say that we should drift and dream our way through Scripture, spiritualizing this phrase or that, hoping that a few ideas will inadvertently lodge in our minds like floating sticks snagged on a riverbank. On the contrary, God’s Book deserves our serious concentration as we seek to apply its wisdom to the nagging and inescapable pressures with which we live. At the same time, we must not miss
HEBREW POETRY IN THE BIBLE’S WISDOM BOOKS EMPLOYS THREE MAIN TYPES OF PARALLEL LINES: Synonymous parallelism, which repeats one thought in a different way • Antithetic parallelism, which contrasts two thoughts, often using but or however • Synthetic parallelism, which uses the second line to further develop the idea of the first
the beauty of its poetry as we pursue the practicality of its message. And now...let’s press on. God’s wisdom awaits our appropriation. There are many who graze through the Bible, randomly nibbling here and yon with only a passing interest in the words on a page. Few are those who drink deeply and consistently from the streams of living water. May our Lord richly reward you as you commit to learning and living His truth. Whom have we, Lord, but Thee, Soul-thirst to satisfy? Exhaustless spring! The water’s free! All other streams are dry. 1
1. Mary Bowley Peters, “Whom Have We, Lord, but Thee,” in the Little Flock hymnbook, public domain.
Charles R. Swindoll serves as the senior pastor-teacher of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas.
by charles r. swindoll
P
aul was a misfit. When it came to a place like Athens, the crusty apostle clashed with the decor. Made no sense at all. The classic oil-andwater combo. A monotheistic Jew smack dab in the middle of polytheistic Gentiles. Narrow-minded former Pharisee surrounded by broad-minded philosophers. One idol-hating Christian among many idol-worshipping pagans. Outnumbered.
Outvoted. Outshouted. But not outwitted. Those eggheads may have felt superior. They may have looked upon this little runt from Tarsus about like a grizzly views a dirt dauber, but when he opened his mouth and started preaching, they closed theirs and started listening. It wasn't very long before they realized this guy hadn't just fallen off some turnip truck. When it came to communicating, Paul had his stuff together. He was a class act.
The extemporaneous excellence of a message like the one in Acts 17:22-31 makes every preacher's and teacher's mouth water. Unintimidated by their brilliance, unimpressed with their position, and singularly unprovoked over their opinion of him, the apostle captured the attention of the Stoics and Epicureans by means of a genius game plan. With the confidence and deliberateness of a veteran returning to the heat of battle, the seasoned warrior tightened the belt on his toga and took charge. He covered every base necessary for quality communication. Ever analyzed his Mars Hill message? Allow me: • He started with a jolting attention-getter "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects." (v. 22)
“It's the difference between slopping hogs and feeding sheep.” nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him." (vv. 24-27a) • He held their attention by making it personal...he even quoted from their own literature "Though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'" (vv. 27b-28)
• He then used a relevant illustration to amplify his opening remark "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also • He then challenged them with a theological truth woven neatly into found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN Athenian culture UNKNOWN GOD.'" (v. 23a) "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or • Next, he employed an interesting yet brief silver or stone, an image formed by the art transition into the body of his speech and thought of man." (v. 29) "Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you." (v. 23b) • Finally, he "drove home" the application ("all everywhere should repent") by a • At the heart of his speech, he presented declaration of two inescapable facts sound theology in clear, easily under(God's judgment, Jesus' resurrection) stood terms "Therefore having overlooked the times of "The God who made the world and all things ignorance, God is now declaring to men in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, that all people everywhere should repent, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." (vv. 30-31) Put 'er down, friend. That's quality communication...all the ingredients necessary to guarantee edge-of-the-seat interest. The preacher could have gone longer (the speech didn't last two minutes), but the philosophers had gotten enough. Soon as they heard him mention the resurrection, end of Paul's speech. But not end of God's speaking. Some sneered. Others said they'd be back again. A few believed. Typical response. The song had ended, but the melody lingered on. It's the same today. A mixed bag Sunday after Sunday. Change the particulars and you've got a similar setting in places the world over. One speaks, many listen, some believe. How easy for the spokesperson to be intimidated...to think, like Andrew, "But what are these among so many?"...to forget that empty philosophy doesn't stand a chance against biblical theology. It's the timeless David-andGoliath principle—one plus God...aw, you know the equation.
But wait. A warning is in order. Before we rush to judgment and claim a pushover victory regardless, let's understand that the strategy calls for quality. It's not as simple as dumping a half-ton load of religious whine, a hodgepodge of verbs, nouns, and adjectives, but preparing the heart, sharpening the mind, delivering the goods with care, sensitivity, timing, and clarity. It's the difference between slopping hogs and feeding sheep. Occasionally, it's good for communicators to go back to Athens. To blow the dust off those ancient idols in the street and hear again the voice of the preacher as it echoes across that historic wind-swept hill. To look into those dark eyes and to feel again his passion. Then to trace the incomparable heritage of God's mouthpieces down through the centuries. What a band of magnificent misfits! If you are one of them, study hard, pray like mad, think it through, tell the truth, then stand tall. But while you're on your feet, don't clothe the riches of Christ in rags. Say it well. Excerpted from Come Before Winter and Share My Hope, Copyright © 1985, 1994 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.
Charles R. Swindoll serves as the senior pastor-teacher of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas.
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TO EMBRACING YOUR SINGLENESS
This article is designed to create a better understanding of how to embrace being single. For the next 30 days read the questions and allow them to spark deeper personal reflection and life change.
T
he evangelical church today favours marriage and family. Yet many believers may never marry or were once married but no longer are. There are challenges and opportunities single Christians face that married Christians do not and vice versa. By God’s grace the challenges can be faced and the opportunities may be seized and you can truly embrace your singleness as a gift.
DAY 1
Read Genesis 2:7,15. God made the first single person and gave him purposeful work. In what ways does your work not depend on your marital status to have meaning?
DAY 2
Read Genesis 2:18-20. God said it was not good for Adam to be alone. In what sense was he alone? What kind of helper did he need?
DAY 3
Read Genesis 2:21-24. When God made the woman Eve he used Adam’s rib. What do you think is the significance?
DAY 4
Read Genesis 1:28; 2:23-24; 1 Corinthians 7:2-5. God brought the two singles together for procreation, companionship, and sex. Which of these challenges you most as a single person?
DAY 5
Jesus was single and perfectly human, showing us what being fully human looks like without being sexually active. How can you be fully human without sexual activity?
DAY 6
Read Matthew 19:3-12. When answering a question about divorce, Jesus reaffirms God’s original purpose regarding marriage. According to verse 6 what is that purpose?
DAY 7
Read Matthew 19:10. How did Jesus’ disciples respond when they learned divorce was only allowed on the basis of immorality? How does this encourage you to stay single?
DAY 8
Read Matthew 19:10-11. What reasons does Jesus give as to why there are some for whom singleness is preferable to marriage?
DAY 9
Read Matthew 19:12. How is this a reminder that not everyone can handle singleness? Do you feel you function best married or single? Why is that the case?
DAY 10
Read Matthew 19:3-12. Does God command marriage or singleness of anyone? What does Jesus affirm as to God’s acceptability of marriage or singleness?
30 Days to Embracing Your Singleness
DAY 11
Read Matthew 19:10-11. Who did Jesus say would be the ones who would be able to accept singleness? How important is God’s help and grace to living single?
DAY 12
Read Matthew 19:11-12. What did Jesus mean that some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom? How can singleness be an asset in doing God’s work?
DAY 13
Read Matthew 19:27-30. If one forgoes marriage for the sake of Christ and the Gospel, what does Jesus promise? Is this an adequate substitute for marriage? Why or why not?
DAY 14
Read Matthew 12:46-50. Jesus’ spiritual family superseded His biological family. How can this be your situation if you are single?
DAY 15
Read Matthew 22:23-30. What did Jesus assert about marriage in heaven? How does this affect your view of singleness and marriage?
DAY 16
Read 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:6-8. Who is the bride of Christ and whom will He be married to for eternity? How does this impact your view of earthly singleness?
DAY 17
Read 1 Corinthians 7:1. Paul states a negative in order to assert something positive. He uses the word “touch” as a euphemism for sex in marriage. What is he asserting?
DAY 18
Read 1 Corinthians 7:2-9. Under what conditions should a person seek to be married? Does Paul command that people get married? What example does he set?
DAY 19
Read 1 Corinthians 7:7; 12:4-11. Paul refers to his singleness as a gift from God. Does God give this gift to all single people? Why or why not?
DAY 20
Read 1 Corinthians 7:7. How does considering your singleness as God’s own special grace-gift to you change your attitude toward it? In what practical ways is your singleness a gift?
TIP: Keep your Bible handy and refer to it as you read the questions
DAY 21
Read 1 Corinthians 7:8-9. Paul said it is better to stay unmarried like him, yet lust can be a problem. How is God’s grace sufficient to help you deal with lust?
DAY 22
Read 1 Corinthians 7:8. Since we are social beings, loneliness can be a problem for single people. How is God’s grace sufficient to help you deal with loneliness?
DAY 23
Read 1 Corinthians 7:26. In what situations does Paul suggest it is good not to get married? What kinds of distress could believers have today that this could apply to?
DAY 24
Read 1 Corinthians 7:29. To what does Paul refer and suggest that in light of this it is better not to marry?
DAY 25
Read 1 Corinthians 7:32-35. Why does Paul wish everyone had the gift of singleness like him? What does singleness allow unmarried men and women to do?
DAY 26
Read 1 Corinthians 7:32-35. Building on the idea that marriage brings distraction and responsibilities, what are other reasons to stay single?
DAY 27
Read Proverbs 21:9,19. What reason do these verses give for why it is better not to get married?
DAY 28
Read 1 Corinthians 7:39-40. What is Paul’s Spirit-led opinion for widows who remain single? Do you agree with Paul? Why or why not?
DAY 29
Read 2 Thessalonians 2:13. Which is more significant for your sense of identity: to be chosen by God or to be chosen by a partner?
DAY 30
What difference does it make to you that Jesus was single, humanly speaking, but also the Son of God who by His Spirit lives out His life through you?
30 Days to Embracing Your Singleness
WHAT IF A LONGTIME FRIEND DECEIVES YOU? “What is the right thing to do? If we ask ourselves that question, we will not deceive others.” - CHARLES R. SWINDOLL
Few things sting worse than realizing refused the gifts and the two parted ways. Gehazi disagreed with Elisha’s decision someone we trust has deceived us. At first, we are in shock; it’s almost too and chased Naaman down, explaining much to believe. When we discover the Elisha had changed his mind about the deception we’re heartbroken—perhaps gifts. Naaman obliged and sent Gehazi it’s the person we married, who promised home with clothes, money, and servants. to be faithful, or someone we admired and Upon return Elisha asked Gehazi where he respected such as a coach, teacher, or pastor. had been. “I haven’t been anywhere,” he David referred to this anguishing expe- said. Elisha, knowing the truth, told him, rience in Psalm 41. “Even my best friend, “Because you have done this, you and your the one I trusted completely, the one who descendants will suffer from Naaman’s shared my food, has turned against me,” (9). leprosy forever,” (27). Sometimes we’re on the receiving end In this message, we meet a man in Scripture you may never have noticed. of deception and sometimes we’re the Gehazi was once a longtime, trusted ser- deceiver. Here are two lessons we can learn vant of the Old Testament prophet Elisha. from Gehazi’s error as we seek to avoid a For however long Gehazi served his master, similar fate. First, leave no room in life for deception. By he had apparently been both loyal and diligent. One tragic day everything changed... prompting ourselves to think of the right thing to do, we will remain attentive to the the day he replaced diligence with deceit. Second Kings 5 tells the story of Naaman, right things, helping us push the wrong a once-great commander in the Aramean things out of our thoughts. Second, guard against rationalization. By army. Now, he was sick with leprosy and sought Elisha’s help. Elisha had Gehazi considering our motives, we’ll give ourrelay a message to Naaman: wash in the selves a way out of the trap of rationalizing wicked thoughts and behaviours. Jordan River seven times and be healed. What areas of life or relationships do you Naaman obeyed and was healed. He was so grateful he wanted to pay Elisha. Elisha find yourself struggling with deception? “What If a Longtime Friend Deceives You?” is from Chuck Swindoll’s series What If...? You can stream this message online anytime at insightforliving.ca/audiolibrary.
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