Gary L. Thomas's Blog, page 10

A Tale of Two Cities: Great in the Sight of the Lord

I realize I keep jerking you all around a little bit by sharing bits of books in progress, but I have several going on right now. The publishing calendar delayed by an entire year when my next book will be released, but I haven’t stopped writing so they’re kind of piling up. This excerpt is chapter three from my book on living out of God’s divine affirmation. It’s a clarion call that until we decide who we will live for and who we seek to please, we will never know the power of living out of God’s affirmation.

“Woe to the man that hath his portion in this life! O miserable health, and wealth, and honor, which procureth the death, and shame, and utter destruction of the soul!”

Richard Baxter[i]

God must have known that John the Baptist’s spiritual call would make him seem weird, abrasive, and an outcast. How could he get such a servant ready? What vision could he give him to replace what he knew John wouldn’t get from the world? John would have to derive courage from an entirely different realm because there would be no encouragement, no praise, no succor from this world to keep him going.

God prepared John the Baptist for a life of human alienation and suspicion by pouring out abundant divine affirmation. Before John was even born, an angel said, “he will be great in the sight of the Lord.”[1]

That sentence, “great in the sight of the Lord” is where divine affirmation is born. It is contrasted in the Bible with “great in the sight of the world.”

You could spend an entire afternoon trying to count how many times “Babylon” appears in the Bible.[2] She is the very picture of human greatness. She is called the “glory of kingdoms” (Isaiah 13:19) and often referred to as “Babylon the Great” (Revelation 17:5, 18:2). But these monikers are meant to be read as worldly evaluations, almost with sarcasm. “She seems so great and mighty, but watch her fall…”

In contrast to Babylon the Great is Jerusalem, “the Holy City” (Revelation 21:2). Notice the intentional difference in language. One city is “great” in the eyes of the world; another city is “holy,” i.e., set apart for God, great in the sight of God.

Do you want to be “great” in the sight of the world or “holy” and great in the sight of God?

Do you want to be defined by how the world views you or by how God views you?

Continue reading this post on Substack HERE.

The post A Tale of Two Cities: Great in the Sight of the Lord appeared first on Gary Thomas.

Sacred Pathways: Finding Your Unique Pathway to Enjoying God’s Presence

If you’re having a  difficult time desiring God and wanting to spend time with Him, it may be that you’re trying to pursue another person’s devotional pathway. This week, we’re offering two shows I taped at Focus on the Family on this topic, along with an audio file for the first chapter of my book Sacred Pathways. 

For years, one of my lifelong dreams was to get on Focus on the Family. After Sacred Marriage came out, so many people told me, “You should be on Focus!” I’d respond, “I agree, but what am I supposed to do? March into Dr. Dobson’s office?” I think my first interview came at least two or even three years after Sacred Marriage was published, and I’ve now had probably a couple dozen different interviews. But yesterday’s interview on Sacred Pathways was special because it aired on my 63rd birthday. If you had told me when I was 23 or 33 that I’d be a regular on Focus, it would have made me so happy. Now, it makes me so grateful. I love the people there, what they stand for, and am in awe of the way Jim Daly and John Fuller filled in after Dr. Dobson moved on. I hope this show blesses you.

Listen to these on Substack HERE.

The post Sacred Pathways: Finding Your Unique Pathway to Enjoying God’s Presence appeared first on Gary Thomas.

What God Is Teaching Me: The Thousand Day Journey

Periodically on the paid side, I like to give updates about things God is teaching me that I may not be writing about. These short personal updates are just about keeping others who are interested up to date, but this one offers an invitation: perhaps you’d like to consider a “thousand day journey” of your own.

As always, we don’t want money to keep anyone from enjoying everything we offer, so if you read see something on the paid side that might interest you or bless you, but your financial circumstances are such that you can’t afford a subscription, please email alli@garythomas.com, and we’re happy to offer you a complimentary subscription until your circumstances change.

Watch this video on Substack HERE.

The post What God Is Teaching Me: The Thousand Day Journey appeared first on Gary Thomas.

Rejecting Ambition and Embracing the Call: You Don’t Get to Choose Your Ministry

We don’t follow a way of life; we follow a person. A living, breathing, active, and dynamic God we call Jesus Christ. This has serious implications for what kind of ministry we get ourselves in and whether we leave the ministry we’re in. Our opinion, preferences, and desires aren’t paramount; we must learn to surrender our will to His.

An atheist Chinese businessman I was talking to demonstrated more understanding of following Jesus than many Christians I’ve met: “I just think, if I became a Christian, I would have to follow God and do what He wanted me to do instead of what I want to do. It would be giving up control of my life.”

Precisely.

The good news is, he’s likely on his way there. As our conversation reached its conclusion, I told him, “When people ask me these kinds of questions, I always believe God already has a hold on them and that it’s just a matter of time before they become a Christian. It’s inevitable.”

“Yes, I think you’re right. It probably is inevitable that I become a Christian.” (Feel free to pray a prayer that God will continue to pull W. along.)

As this atheist understands, we Christians are not called primarily to a way of life or a set of beliefs; we are called to a person who has his own will and directs us according to his purposes. To embrace Jesus’ personal call—a real call, to a real individual, to a real and specific work—means we reject our own personal ambition. Otherwise, we’re not free to respond to his call.

Read this blog over on Substack HERE.

The post Rejecting Ambition and Embracing the Call: You Don’t Get to Choose Your Ministry appeared first on Gary Thomas.

You Can’t Judge Your Own Parenting

This is a draft chapter from a book I’m working on, “When Christian Parents Hurt.” It’s my attempt to provide pastoral care to the growing number of Christian parents who are seriously hurting over their relationships (or lack of one) with their adult children. This chapter urges parents to apply Paul’s words to the Corinthians to their own recollections of parenting. Paul doesn’t accept the Corinthians’ judgment; in fact, he doesn’t even accept his own self-evaluation. He is entirely focused on how God will judge him, and in a surprising turn, that leads to a very happy place–even in the face of potential failure. I think this could be a big encouragement to those overwhelmed with parental guilt. 

Let’s just admit something upfront, shall we?

It’s impossible to get everything in parenting right. Even if we all had multiple PhDs in parenting, psychology, child development, systems management, physical health, and theology, parenting is far too complex for any one person—or even two people—to entirely master. Besides, most of us start parenting in our twenties and thirties when our own life experience is somewhat limited and we’re still dealing with the detritus of our own upbringing. We’re people who are bleeding, trying to avoid causing our kids to bleed, all the while we’re dripping blood on them from our own wounds!

When Lisa and I started out, we wanted to be the best parents we could be. We listened to the most respected programs of the day. I went through one famous family ministry’s material like my two-year-old grandson tears through an acai bowl for breakfast. We were told by the most respected and learned spiritual and parenting authorities of our day that if you love your child, you will discipline your child and that will include corporal discipline. I’m not a harsh or rough person. I lean toward passivity and, as one therapist laughed at me, always think being hyper-gentle is the godliest response. Which means, I didn’t trust myself to question what I heard. People with PhDs and training in psychology knew better than me, surely. And then of course there’s the “spare the rod, spoil the child” Proverb (13:24) that seems to give divine mandates to thoughtful, discerning, corporal discipline.

Even so, we used spanking extremely sparingly. Today, many experts would say not to use spankings at all (including some contemporary Christian counselors for whom I have the highest respect). And it hurt to hear a learned person respond to the fact that neither I nor my son can remember much of our childhood by saying, “Well, corporal discipline does tend to repress childhood memories.” Did I take away my children’s childhood? Did I mess them up? Maybe so; I don’t really know. I still don’t claim to be an expert on childrearing.  But looking back, I can see why my wife and I decided to use it. We loved our children passionately. We were told that if we truly loved them, this was something we needed to do, even if it went against our natural bent.

But I have to admit today: I was likely wrong, and I need to own that.

Continue reading this blog on Substack HERE.

The post You Can’t Judge Your Own Parenting appeared first on Gary Thomas.

Divorce Can Be a Sin-But Churches Can Sin Against the Divorced

Divorce for nonbiblical reasons breaks my heart. I’ve seen the pain it causes children, spouses, extended family, friends, and churches. It’s so sad. But churches that sin against divorced people also break my heart. I’ve seen people who all but had divorce forced on them shut out and disqualified for future ministry.  Let’s remember that not every divorce is equal, lest we sin against those who should be released. 

Christine was in bad shape: five feet seven inches tall, yet she weighed just ninety-eight pounds. Even so, every time she lifted a potato chip to her face her husband Rick said, “Sure you want to eat that?”

Christine wasn’t sure why Rick cared what she ate. They hadn’t had sex for eight years, though Christine had tried everything she could to interest him, including strip teases, bubble baths, candlelight dinners, and “everything short of standing on my head in the corner to get him to look at me.” Others called them “Ken and Barbie” but Christine began to feel like the ugliest woman on the planet. Rick preferred pornography and eventually even prostitutes to a real wife.

Believing that a “dutiful Christian wife” must endure such disrespect, Christine pressed on. They went to thirteen counselors in seven years. Christine wore herself out trying to get her marriage to work, but one fateful Christmas morning, Rick told Christine, “I don’t love you anymore and I want a divorce.” To be honest, Christine felt relief. As a Christian, she had tried everything she could think of to “fix” her marriage. Having it taken out of her hands felt like a giant burden had been lifted until Rick added, “The truth is, I think you’re sick, and I’m going to have you committed.”

Christine replied, “Rick, it’s not my head that’s sick; it’s my heart. You’ve killed me from the inside out. I’m not sick in the head, I’m worn out.”

Continue reading this blog over on Substack HERE.

The post Divorce Can Be a Sin-But Churches Can Sin Against the Divorced appeared first on Gary Thomas.

What Is a Church? Your Thoughts, Please

This is a short post asking for your feedback. I suggest there are six marks of an authentic Christian church. Would you add or subtract anything? 

I’ve spoken in about five hundred churches, representing almost every major denomination, geographic location (all fifty states and a bunch of countries), and demographics. Very few are alike, but they are all called “church.” Not every organization that calls itself a church is necessarily a church, however.

Read this blog on Substack HERE.

The post What Is a Church? Your Thoughts, Please appeared first on Gary Thomas.

We Should Be Surprised if We Win

If we take Jesus’ words seriously, we know the passions of God’s church won’t line up with the passions and priority of the world. So Christians should actually be surprised when a candidate they favor actually wins in a democratically held election. This has enormous implications for how we view, prepare for, and react to the upcoming election.

If a Christian bases his or her vote on moral principles, there should be no surprise if the candidate they vote for loses. Surprise should go in the other direction—if our preferred candidate wins. I’m not saying we shouldn’t debate, work, and pray. I am saying that the Christian faith has never depended on a majority vote and in fact its founder suggests we would lose a majority vote every time.

Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). The contrast between the words “many” and “few” are alarming for a democratically held election.

Continue reading this blog on Substack HERE.

The post We Should Be Surprised if We Win appeared first on Gary Thomas.

Before God Exalts Someone: A Sober Warning

It is foolish and dangerous to seek fame and renown, even “Christian” fame and renown. Years ago, a neighbor heard others talking about me a bit, she saw me take off on trips, and heard others mention they had heard me on the radio or saw me on television. She was from another country and asked Lisa, “I don’t know how to ask this, Lisa, but is Gary famous?” Lisa asked me how she should respond, and I said, “That’s so easy. If someone has to ask, the answer, by definition, is no!” There are tiny pockets of fame all around in all sectors of society, but they mean nothing. And the bigger the pocket, the more brutal the humiliation to follow.  

A quick review of David’s life should convince anyone that there is much humiliation in service. Not just seasons of humiliation, but lives of humiliation. And should any of us become truly famous, the reality is most of us would blow it somehow and humiliate ourselves. Almost everyone does, all of which leads to one conclusion: live for Christ, not for yourself. If you don’t crucify your desire for renown, it will crucify you. 

If you were to ask any serious biblical scholar to name the five key individuals in Israel’s history, David would be on every list. By God’s own decree, David has a singular place:

“Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth….Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” 2 Samuel 7:8,16.

And yet consider the humiliation David endured for decades before (and, frankly, after) his exaltation took place. As the youngest son, David served in his family’s lowest job: shepherding sheep. He was so marginalized by his father Jesse that when Samuel came to anoint one of his sons, David wasn’t even called up until Samuel insisted upon it.

I’ve talked to many women and men greatly frustrated that they are working “beneath” their abilities. Welcome to the club. It happens all the time.

Continue reading this post on Substack HERE.

The post Before God Exalts Someone: A Sober Warning appeared first on Gary Thomas.

The Greatest Problem in Your Marriage

To lean into God’s design for marriage and to experience marriage as God designed it requires that we look at our own personal and spiritual problems the way God does. The fact is, most of us don’t. If we don’t, we’ll push back against God’s declared directives for marriage, but surrendering to His purpose for marriage is the best path to peace and even happiness. What do you think is the greatest problem in most marriages?

Watch this sermon HERE on Substack.

The post The Greatest Problem in Your Marriage appeared first on Gary Thomas.