How to Backslide in 9 Easy Steps

Thank you Tim Challies for this terrific blog post: http://www.challies.com/
How to Backslide in 9 Easy Steps

A few days ago I shared John Bunyan’s wisdom on why some who profess faith in Christ eventually backslide. Today I want to follow him a little bit farther. Having covered the why, I’ve now drawn from Pilgrim’s Progress instruction on the how. In each case I’ve given my short summary followed by Bunyan’s own words. Here is how to backslide in nine easy steps:

1. Stop meditating on the gospel. “They draw off their thoughts, all that they may, from the remembrance of God, death, and judgment to come.”
2. Neglect your devotions and stop battling sin. “Then they cast off by degrees private duties, as closet prayer, curbing their lusts, watching, sorrow for sin, and the like.”
3. Isolate yourself from Christian fellowship. “Then they shun the company of lively and warm Christians.”
4. Stop going to church. “After that, they grow cold to public duty, as hearing, reading, godly conference, and the like.”
5. Determine that Christians are hypocrites because they continue to sin. “They then begin to pick holes, as we say, in the coats of some of the godly, and that devilishly, that they may have a seeming color to throw religion (for the sake of some infirmities they have espied in them) behind their backs.”
6. Trade Christian community for distinctly unChristian company. “Then they begin to adhere to, and associate themselves with, carnal, loose, and wanton men.”
7. Pursue rebellious conversation and fellowship. “Then they give way to carnal and wanton discourses in secret; and glad are they if they can see such things in any that are counted honest, that they may the more boldly do it through their example.”
8. Allow yourself to enjoy some small, sinful pleasures. “After this they begin to play with little sins openly.”

Admit what you are and prepare yourself for everlasting torment. “And then, being hardened, they show themselves as they are. Thus, being launched again into the gulf of misery, unless a miracle of grace prevent it, they everlastingly perish in their own deceivings.”

Finding Eucharisteo

I was not prepared for the poetry of this book, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. The sheer beauty of the writing. The depth of the writer. It has taken me nearly six months to complete it. My experience has been more absorbing than reading. I have taken it slow, a chapter at a time; some days just a page. Savoring the riches.  "A dare to live fully right where you are." Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Daily. Moment by moment. Always aware of the gift around us. Writing it down, Keeping track. One thousand gifts. "It is a dare to name all the ways that God loves me."

What starts as tragedy in Ann's life takes her on a quest into the world of eucharisteo and transforms her life. She walks us through that journey - instructing simply by telling her story in such poetry of  thoughts, confessions, insights.

"With memories of gravestones, of combing fingers through tangled hair, I wonder too...if the rent in the canvas of our life backdrop, the loses that puncture our world, our own emptiness, might actually become places to see. To see through to God. That that which tears open our souls, those holes that splatter our sight, may actually become the thin, open places to see through the mess of this place to the heart-aching beauty beyond. To Him. To the God whom we endlessly crave."

It really is her journey but you get completely pulled into the reality that it is yours as well. And for many of us a new list of 1000 from our own lives. Offerings back to God for His gifts. She calls it "making a ledger of God's love."

"I don't even know they are gifts really until I write them down and that is really what they look like. Gifts He bestows. This writing it down -- it is sort of like...unwrapping love."

"I discover that slapping a sloppy brush of thanksgiving over everything in my life leaves me deeply thankful for very few things in my life. A lifetime of sermons on "thanks in all things" and the shelves sagging with books on these things and I testify: life-changing gratitude does not fasten to a life unless nailed through with one very specific nail at a time."

"It's this sleuthing for the glory that slows a life gloriously. It's plain, bubble straight through: Giving thanks for one thousand things is ultimately an invitation to slow time down with weight of full attention. In this space of time and sphere, I am attentive, aware, accepting the whole of the moment, weighing it down with me all here."

Yes, we are now paying attention.

And what of joy? "As long as thanks is possible, then joy is always possible."

"When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows."

And of belief? "Our salvation in Christ is real, yet the completeness of that salvation is not fully realized in a life until the life realizes the need to give thanks. In everything? I would never experience the fullness of my salvation until I expressed the fullness of my thanks every day, and eucharisteo is elemental to living the saved life."

"If authentic, saving belief is an act of trusting, then to choose stress is an act of unbelief...atheism. Anything less than gratitude and trust is practical atheism. I wince. Perhaps the opposite of faith is not doubt. Perhaps the opposite of faith is fear. To lack faith perhaps isn't as much an intellectual disbelief in the existence of God as fear and distrust that there is a good God."

And of prayer? "Praying with eyes wide open is the only way to pray without ceasing."

"Eucharisteo makes the knees the vantage point of a life."

And of seeing? "The practice of giving thanks...eucharisteo...this is the way we practice the presence of God, stay present to His presence, and it is always a practice of the eyes. We don't have to change what we see. Only the way we see."

"I have to seek God beauty. Because isn't my internal circuitry wired to seek out something worthy of worship? Every moment I live, I live bowed to something. And if I don't see God, I'll bow down before something else....All beauty is only reflection. And whether I am conscious of it or not, any created thing of which I am amazed, it is the glimpse of His to which I bow down. Do I have eyes to see it's Him and not the thing?"

And of emotions, feelings? "The only way to fight a feeling is with a feeling....Feel thanks and it's absolutely impossible to feel angry. We can only experience one emotion at a time. And we get to choose -- which emotion do we want to feel?"

"Worry is the facade of taking action when prayer really is."

"While I may not feel joy, God asks me to give thanks in all things, because He knows that the feeling of joy begins in the action of thanksgiving."

And of humility? "The quiet song of gratitude, eucharisteo, lures humility out of the shadows because to recieve a gift the knees must bend humble and the hand must lie vulnerably open and the will must bow to accept whatever the Giver chooses to give."

"That whenever I am parched and dry, I must go lower with the water and I must kneel low in thanks. The river of joy flows down to the lowest places."

This is a book worth reading, really a book worth living out. My bright orange eucharisteo journal sits here on the table, waiting for me to see yet another evidence of His love.

Simplify: 106 Ways to Uncomplicate Your Life

I had a wonderful weekend at Glen Eyrie Castle in Colorado Springs. I was at a conference on simplicity and happened to take a few books on the subject -- it is so much easier to read when there is no TV or Internet, even cell connections are sketchy.

My first read on Friday was Simplify: 106 Ways to Uncomplicate Your Life by Paul Borthwick. This book is all about thinking through your life and choices. Learning to be deliberate and intentional.

"Simpler living asks why. Why do I need this product? Why should I believe the promises of a brochure? Why must I attend events that may or may not have significant purpose? Why respond to an opportunity just because it's there?"

Chapter 1 was about over-choice and it's impact on our ability to focus and stop multi-tasking long enough to finish something. I total relate to what Paul had to say, "Lack of focus often manifests itself in multi-tasking that results in unfinished projects. We begin a project, finish about 50 to 75 percent of it, and then lay it aside to pursue a new interest." Oh, and how true is this quote by Haddon Robinson, "Many people don't want to make good decisions; they want to make painless decisions."

The second part of each chapter is a list (part of the 106 Ways...) to help put the principles into practice. I'll share a few that I plan on putting into practice.

Chapter 2 was about discerning want versus need. Paul makes a great biblical case for really paying attention to wants versus needs. Proverbs 30:7-9 is worth spending some time really thinking about...maybe even memorizing for quick recall while shopping. Paul draws on Jerry Bridges' The Pursuit of Holiness to offer his four question formula for deciding right from wrong:

1. Is it helpful physically, spiritually, mentally?
2. Does it bring me under its power?
3. Does it hurt others?
4. Does it glorify God?

I putting this phrase into practice! "One day while we were looking at some sort of new household gadgets, I asked Christie if she wanted something,"No" she responded, "My house is full." That phrase -- "my house is full" -- has helped us say no to things -- even nice, desireable, on-sale, everybody-has-one things. We say no because left unchecked, our expectations can become our master. Tom Sine succinctly summarized, "Whatever commands our time, energy, and resources, commands us."

So how do you do that...here are some of the "Ways to Simplify..." suggestions:

• Buy slowly
• Resist temptation
• Window shopping in all forms induces buying (isn't that the truth!)
• Beware the "want-makers"
• Define your limits
• Don't buy on impulse
• Give it away

Chapter 3 was on staying fit. Enough said.  Chapter 4 was on how we spend lesiure time. Pause. Breathe. Move. Take a break. Chapter 5 was about living to the beat of a different drummer. On a day-to-day level, we can evaluate how well we are marching to the beat of God's drum by taking the Micah 6:8 test: 1) Am I acting justly? Do I care about fairness?; 2) Do I love mercy? Am I caring for people in need? Does mercy characterize the way I interact with others?; 3) Am I walking humbly with God? Am I striving to understand His agenda for my life or simply seeking His seal of approval on my own agenda?

Chapter 6 was a challenge to think and live with respect for time and others. "To live a simple lifestyle means to live intentionally beneath your potential standard of livng for the purpose of sharing your excess with others." I got a great tip in this chapter that I'll be putting into practice: "...we tag our clothes hangers once a year and remove the tag when the clothes are worn. If a tag is still there after a year, we know that shirt, skirt, or pair or pants should be given to someone who can use it."

Chapter 7, the final chapter, is on choosing to simplify. Knowing your motivation to simplify is so very important. I'll close with this, "A simpler lifestyle allos us to bujild our primary relationships."

25 Life Lessons

Great post by Dr. Frank Lipman at his blog Positively Positive:

...As I get older and hopefully wiser with every year, certain insights become clearer. Here are some of them gleaned from the wisdom I have gained from thirty-two years of marriage to my beautiful wife, Janice; having a wonderful twenty-four-year-old daughter, Alison; and thirty-two years of practicing medicine and being a perpetual student of life.

• More Real Food, Less Food-like Substances
• More Fruit and Vegetables, Less Sugar, Gluten and Dairy
• More Plant Foods, Less Animal Products
• More Organic, Less Chemicals
• More Clean Products, Less Toxic Products
• More Chewing, Less Eating
• More Water, Less Alcohol
• More Walking, Less Driving
• More Exercising, Less Sitting at the Computer
• More Music, Less Noise
• More Recycling, Less Waste
• More Outdoors, Less Indoors
• More Meditation, Less Worry
• More Slow, Less Hurry
• More Smiles, Less Anger
• More Love, Less Hatred
• More Fun, Less Serious
• More Letting Go, Less Holding On
• More Being, Less Doing
• More Presence, Less Absence
• More Generosity, Less Greed
• More Forgiving, Less Blaming
• More Inclusion, Less Exclusion
• More Health Care, Less Disease Care
• More Ubuntu, Less Me

As Archbishop Desmond Tutu says:
“Ubuntu is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa will give the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being able to go the extra mile for the sake of others. We believe that a person is a person through another person, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms. And therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in belonging.”

The Challenge of Habits

I've been thinking a lot about habits lately. After 30 years of a regular schedule -- early to rise, get ready for work, get Matthew off to school, commute, etc. -- I'm realizing that this change of life to consultant and part-time worker has really thrown me a curve. I even feel a little ADD, actually a lot ADD.

I get started on one thing then shift to the next, and some times, too many times, I discover at the end of the day that I've actually missed the important things.

This morning I was exchanging instant message chats on Facebook with a good friend who is also working on establishing some new habits. It made me aware all-of-the-sudden that this is in fact an issue for me as well. It went from the subliminal to the conscious. I'm thinking that actually I was the last one to figure this out.

One of my 2012 goals is crafting a Rule of Life after the fashion of St. Benedict. No doubt this is all part of that process, but this morning in reading (well actually, seriously catching up reading) my lenten devotional ("Simplifying the Soul" - do you see a pattern here?!) I came across this paragraph:

"Benedict devotes a large part of the Rule to developing a framework for daily worship. everything else...must give way to this essential monastic vocation....Obviously, it was okay to make some realistic adjustments to my own schedule of devotions. This was not meant to be an 'all or nothing' project. However, even the most minimal, daily practice required a basic change I'd been unwilling to make before: I needed to take a hard look at the length of my to-do list. If I were to incorporate at least one of the Hours into my daily round, then life had to give way in some measure to the Psalms."

So what does that have to do with all this? It challenged me to think about my time choices. It got me thinking about a framework to ensure that the big rocks were getting in the jar first; that the important and essential things in my life were taking priority over the non-essential; that think about and make sure I even know what the essential things are!

This is important stuff for me. More to follow.

(A couple books I'll be using in my ponderings - because there must always be books! -- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and Organize Your Mind Organize Your Life by  Paul Hammerness and Margaret Moore)