I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either cold or hot—Revelation 3:15
There are three approaches to life with God: All In; All Out; and, in the middle, between those, a third approach. This third approach is actually a range—it encompasses every approach between the two extremes. Many of us take the third approach. I mean, we do believe life is better with God—but, our belief is more theoretical than not. We get busy with careers, fam... moreGood day Templar family
I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either cold or hot—Revelation 3:15
There are three approaches to life with God: All In; All Out; and, in the middle, between those, a third approach. This third approach is actually a range—it encompasses every approach between the two extremes. Many of us take the third approach. I mean, we do believe life is better with God—but, our belief is more theoretical than not. We get busy with careers, families, finances, and rarely think about actually applying the life and truth of our King, Jesus Christ, to our own, complicated lives. And so, they become indistinguishable from the lives of men All Out.
Jesus calls takers of the third approach “lukewarm,” and is particularly frustrated by us: “because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). We third-approachers mistakenly presume we’re doing okay faith-wise—not as well as we could maybe, but okay nonetheless. Therefore, Jesus’ words are startling and challenging—and force us to consider All In.
So, what does All In require? The world tells us, too much. But, that’s wrong. It doesn’t require more than we can give. Brother, we’re designed for All In. Jesus isn’t some out-of-touch “high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15). He understands our lives. He knows what he’s asking. All In doesn’t require we be perfect; we couldn’t. It requires a soft heart―a willingness to try, genuinely, to use Jesus’ life as a pattern for our own.
Pray the All In prayer: Set aside a couple minutes today. Quiet your surroundings. Shut the door. Turn off music. Quiet your mind. Ask the Holy Spirit to soften your heart. Now, speak directly to Jesus, your King, and say three plain, simple words, “I’m All In.” That’s it.
Have a blessed Friday
God's blessings.
Priory of St.Miltiades
Freedom in Christ
. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God—Romans 3:23
Confession—real, raw confession—is a critical component of a healthy spiritual life. It’s also an essential element of robust Christian brother and sisterwood. We may not want to admit it, but we all need to be known, truly known . . . and be accepted by our brothers and sisters still.
We’ve all believed, though, that to be accepted we can project images that are only partially accurate. It seem... moreGood day Templar family
. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God—Romans 3:23
Confession—real, raw confession—is a critical component of a healthy spiritual life. It’s also an essential element of robust Christian brother and sisterwood. We may not want to admit it, but we all need to be known, truly known . . . and be accepted by our brothers and sisters still.
We’ve all believed, though, that to be accepted we can project images that are only partially accurate. It seems so right, at first. But make no mistake—it’s not. It’s a lie from our enemy. As long as we conceal parts of our lives, we cannot know the true depth of friendships. As long as we hide, brother ans sisterhood is never tested. As long as we hide, we harbour doubts: would they stand by me, if they knew the real me? This leads to shame, and we forsake the compassion of true Christian community. “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
Moreover, if friends see us only partially, they cannot fight for us—because we obscure what’s going wrong. But we’ve all “sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And when we fall short, we need others to see . . . to step in, to help, and to pray. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another . . . pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power” (James 5:16).
You must figure out what to confess and to whom. What is easy: whatever you haven’t already. There shouldn’t be anything in your life that someone doesn’t know. Who requires you to ask God and to search your own heart. He’s put men and woman into your life specifically for this type of transparency. Reach out to them today and have a conversation.
Have a blessed Wednesday
God's blessings.
Priory of St.Miltiades
Freedom in Christ
. . he is a new creation. The old has passed away;
behold, the new has come—2 Corinthians 5:17
We write with God all the time. Working alongside him, we write the stories of our lives. He creates the settings and the characters. He creates the conflicts—the situations requiring choices. And we get to make those choices as the characters in his stories. God may encourage us, invite us, surprise us, persuade us, challenge us, convict us—but we and we alone decide, for ... moreGood day Templar family
. . he is a new creation. The old has passed away;
behold, the new has come—2 Corinthians 5:17
We write with God all the time. Working alongside him, we write the stories of our lives. He creates the settings and the characters. He creates the conflicts—the situations requiring choices. And we get to make those choices as the characters in his stories. God may encourage us, invite us, surprise us, persuade us, challenge us, convict us—but we and we alone decide, for ourselves.
As we move along in our stories, as we live them out, we sometimes try to convince ourselves that some decisions aren’t actually written down or that we can selectively somehow strike decisions from our stories, after we’ve made them. Looking forward, we tell ourselves, “no one will know.” Looking back, we think, “no one can ever know.” The truth is, every decision is captured: large, small, good, bad. Every decision is written into our stories, immediately, indelibly.
Thankfully, the plan God intends for us involves making some mistakes, some bad decisions, but learning from them and allowing Him to redeem them. He can, you know, redeem even the worst decisions (Romans 8:28). What we must do, going forward, is to keep our stories in mind, when we come upon decision points. What we must do is ask ourselves, at those points, “What decisions do we want written, permanently, into our stories?” Asking ourselves that, in those moments, is how we begin to lay aside our old selves and put on our new selves (Ephesians 4:22-24).
When you come to a next decision point—today, tomorrow—ask yourself, before you decide, “What do I want written into my story?” Ask yourself, “What do I want the next chapter of my story to be about? Trust or mistrust? Selflessness or selfishness? Love or resentment? Maturity or immaturity? Redemption ?
Have a blessed Monday and week ahead
God's blessings.
Freedom in Christ
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked—Psalm 73:3
Do you ever look around, at people who are prosperous and follow God either not much or not at all? Do you ever find yourself envying such people, who embrace the world wholeheartedly and enjoy it’s successes? Do you ever get discouraged? Do you ever wonder, what’s the point? I mean, do you ever just get tired of trying to follow God in the midst of people who aren’t? Are you ever tem... moreGood day Templar family
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked—Psalm 73:3
Do you ever look around, at people who are prosperous and follow God either not much or not at all? Do you ever find yourself envying such people, who embrace the world wholeheartedly and enjoy it’s successes? Do you ever get discouraged? Do you ever wonder, what’s the point? I mean, do you ever just get tired of trying to follow God in the midst of people who aren’t? Are you ever tempted to relent and embrace the world a bit more, too?
A man named Asaph, psalmist in the time of David and Solomon, was tempted to relent. He was surrounded by faithless men who seemed “always at ease” and to continually “increase in riches” (Psalm 73:12). Asaph envied them and his “heart was embittered” (Psalm 73:21). “All in vain,” he cried, “have I kept my heart clean . . .” (Psalm 73:13). We may not admit it as boldly as Asaph, but many of us harbor similar thoughts.
When we face that choice, though, to embrace God or embrace the world, we must remember—we’re part of something much larger, much more important than houses or vacations or titles. We’ve been invited into an ancient and remarkable battle. For “we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). We’re agents of the resistance, behind enemy lines. We cannot allow ourselves, therefore, to be beguiled by our enemy or the world under his power.
Are you ever, like Asaph, nagged by this kind of envy? If so, talk about it. Simply talking about it—with God, a spouse, a friend, with brothers in community—undermines its power. It also allows others to keep you “fueled and aflame” for the battle ahead (Romans 12:11 MSG).
Have a blessed Thursday
God's blessings.
Priory of St.Miltiades
Freedom in Christ
1 Thessalonians 5:2 “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”
The Lord has given us signs to let us know that He will return. He wants us to have confidence, security and hope in His promises. These signs are not meant to scare us, but to encourage us in our walk with Him. These signs are not meant for us to squabble and speculate over, but to give us encouragement and comfort during the trials that we will face
1 Thessalonians 5:2 “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”
The Lord has given us signs to let us know that He will return. He wants us to have confidence, security and hope in His promises. These signs are not meant to scare us, but to encourage us in our walk with Him. These signs are not meant for us to squabble and speculate over, but to give us encouragement and comfort during the trials that we will face
The flesh and the world hates God. Therefore, they had Christ. And if they hate Him, then they will hate us too. The church will suffer persecution as the time draws near. We have been promised this. The world will increasingly become wicked and boast of their sins. We should not look for society to improve – because it will only get worse.
Though we do not know the exact day or our that Christ will return, we should live as though we are in the Last Days – because Christ says He is returning as quickly as He is able to. In His love He is patiently waiting for all of His Children to come to Him. He will not linger a second longer than necessary.
We must stay vigilant and ready. He can come back at any moment. We can take comfort in knowing that God will not allow the wicked to accomplish their evil plans. The wicked will not prevail. God is King. We must live each moment for His glory and take His message of the Gospel to all of the world.
We must look to the Second Coming with excitement and hope! Our Lord is sure to keep His promises – He is safe to trust. We must live obediently and pray for His return each day.
Have a blessed Tuesday
God's blessings.
Priory of St.Miltiades
Freedom in Christ
And which of you by being anxious
can add a single hour to his span of life?—Matthew 6:27
Something’s coming. Doesn’t it always feel like that? Maybe it’s something financial . . . maybe work-related . . . maybe health-related . . . definitely bad. And so, we worry. I mean, it almost feels like that’s just a part of being a man, worrying about what’s coming. We worry about all the bad things that could happen, to us and to our loved ones. We scheme about how to get o... moreGood day Templar family
And which of you by being anxious
can add a single hour to his span of life?—Matthew 6:27
Something’s coming. Doesn’t it always feel like that? Maybe it’s something financial . . . maybe work-related . . . maybe health-related . . . definitely bad. And so, we worry. I mean, it almost feels like that’s just a part of being a man, worrying about what’s coming. We worry about all the bad things that could happen, to us and to our loved ones. We scheme about how to get out in front of all those things. Then we worry some more about whether we’re actually men enough to execute our schemes. All this worrying hangs over our lives. It haunts our thoughts and steals important moments—moments that should be joy-filled.
But, it would be irresponsible not to worry, wouldn’t it? We’ve been trained to worry, all our lives. We’ve been trained that we with responsibilities are supposed to worry. It’s part of life
Or is it? Our King, Jesus Christ, teaches us that it’s actually not. You see, He didn’t come so that we’d live lives haunted by fear. He came and died to set us free from such things (Galatians 5:1). He assures us, our Father God will take care of us, whether we worry or not (Matthew 6:26). We must, therefore, adopt a radical, new mindset: “We don’t know what’s coming . . . but our Father God does. So, we’ll leave it to Him.”
Letting go of worry is tough. You must approach it not only intellectually, but practically too. You cannot simply command yourself, “worry less.” That, by itself, doesn’t work so well. You must get practical by actually talking about worries with a spouse, a friend, with brothers in community. That does work (2 Corinthians 12:9). Getting your worries out into the open is as powerful as it is counterintuitive. So, brother and sisters, defy your instincts.
Have a blessed Thursday
God's blessings.
Priory of St.Miltiades (OMSDT)
Freedom in Christ (Libertas in Christo)
Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts:
Consider your ways—Haggai 1:5
God loves us with fierceness and tenderness. The scope of His love is shocking. It’s infinite, in fact—because He is. It burns bright and hot and true. We couldn’t ever plot it on a graph, of course—because no one could draw a y-axis that high or an x-axis that long; no page, no screen could ever contain it. But if we could plot His love, the line would be high and perfectly flat. It wouldn’t ... moreGood day Templar family
Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts:
Consider your ways—Haggai 1:5
God loves us with fierceness and tenderness. The scope of His love is shocking. It’s infinite, in fact—because He is. It burns bright and hot and true. We couldn’t ever plot it on a graph, of course—because no one could draw a y-axis that high or an x-axis that long; no page, no screen could ever contain it. But if we could plot His love, the line would be high and perfectly flat. It wouldn’t fluctuate over time. Not in response to our actions, our best or even our worst. Not even a little (Psalm 103:8; Lamentations 3:22-23).
But He does tell us what kind of actions He most prefers, the kind that bring joy—to us and to Him. And it’s less about hours logged in pews on Sundays or how many times we read through the Gospels. What regulates His joy—and ours—is how we treat people around us. It’s if we’re kind, and how well we notice and meet the needs of people in our close proximity.
“Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity” (Luke 6:37-38 MSG).
Throughout your day, today, imagine a circle—one with a 2-meter radius, you at the center. Notice who comes into that circle. Learn their names. Treat them with care and notice their needs—friendship, mercy, love, hope—and consider how you might help meet those needs.
(There’s nothing special about 2m. What matters is increasing intentionality. And, truly, a man could spend his entire lifetime just trying to meet the needs of people who’d come into his 2m circle—so, it’s a good place to start.)
Have a blessed Monday
God's blessings.
Freedom in Christ
My brothers, show no partiality
as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ—James 2:1
We men tend toward partiality. Sometimes with forethought, many times with no thought, we give or withhold based upon characteristics of the potential recipients. We can, therefore, find ourselves directing all our time and attention, our kindness and generosity, toward only those who live, look, sound, spend, sin . . . like we do. This plays out in many areas of life and, theref... moreGood day Templar family
My brothers, show no partiality
as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ—James 2:1
We men tend toward partiality. Sometimes with forethought, many times with no thought, we give or withhold based upon characteristics of the potential recipients. We can, therefore, find ourselves directing all our time and attention, our kindness and generosity, toward only those who live, look, sound, spend, sin . . . like we do. This plays out in many areas of life and, therefore, many areas of faith—in service, giving, worship, and certainly in brotherhood.
But James, brother of our King, Jesus Christ, cautioned us to oppose this tendency:
“For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:2-4).
So, what’s wrong with partiality? Well, intending to or not, we harm people. We harm them by disregarding them, those whom God wants us to impact or serve or befriend, but who don’t quite make our cut (Proverbs 28:21). God put us here for one another (Matthew 22:39). Partiality means we forsake people who need us. And if that’s not bad enough, we harm ourselves. We cut ourselves off from relationships—and often the weightiest. You see, those we’re meant to impact are meant to impact us, right back.
How’re you doing with this, brother? The test is simple—look around. Who are you spending time with? Whom are you serving? There should be people in your life who’re nothing like you. Are there?
Have a blessed Sunday and week ahead
God's blessings.
Priory of St.Miltiades (OMSDT)
Freedom in Christ
We are saved by grace alone apart from works. God desires perfection, but nobody is perfect. Christ became that perfection and He is who we put our trust in. What no one seems to understand in this godless generation is if you are truly saved you will be converted.
There will be a renewing of your mind. You will grow in your hatred for the things that God hates and in your love for the things that God loves. Don’t tell me you are a Christian when your life contradicts t... moreGood day Templar family
We are saved by grace alone apart from works. God desires perfection, but nobody is perfect. Christ became that perfection and He is who we put our trust in. What no one seems to understand in this godless generation is if you are truly saved you will be converted.
There will be a renewing of your mind. You will grow in your hatred for the things that God hates and in your love for the things that God loves. Don’t tell me you are a Christian when your life contradicts that. Don’t tell me you love God when your life contradicts that.
Jesus Himself said most people who profess to be Christian are not getting into Heaven. The church has gone astray. Most people will hear, “depart from Me I never knew you. Your life contradicts what you professed to be.” In these dire times people don’t want God they just want to go to Heaven. Can a Christian struggle with sin and even fall into sin? Yes, but a Christian will never live a continuous life of sin because God will not let His children go astray. Some grow slower than others, but a true believer grows.
God will work in His child’s life to make him into the image of Christ. Once again we are saved only by faith in the blood of Jesus. He is our only hope. He alone satisfied God’s wrath, but we must never forget the doctrine of regeneration
Our obedience to the Lord comes from our love for Him and our appreciation for the great price that was paid for us. Jesus calls us to obedience. In fact, obedience to God is an act of worship to Him.
Have a blessed Friday
God's blessings.
Freedom in Christ (Libertas in Christo)🇿🇦
