Change – Pastor Clegguart Mitchell

Don’t Miss a Day

My phone really doesn’t want me to miss a day.

Apps congratulate us for opening them several days in a row. Games reward us for coming back tomorrow. Fitness and weight-management apps keep track of our consecutive days. Miss one, and the counter may start over.

They’re called streaks, and there is a reason they work. They help form habits. They give us a small sense of accomplishment. And, of course, they keep us coming back to the app. None of that is necessarily bad.

But I wonder if all this streak-building is also training us to think that consistency is the same thing as relationship.

It isn’t. And that matters when we open our Bibles.

A streak can tell you whether you did something. It cannot tell you why you did it – or what happened while you were there.

You can read your Bible every morning. You can complete the assigned chapters. You can check the box. You can watch the number on your Bible app climb from 30 days to 100 days to 365 days. And you can do all of that without really communing with God.

God warned His people through Isaiah:

“This people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me.”
– Isaiah 29.13

The problem wasn’t that they were doing nothing religious. They were. The problem was that their outward activity had become disconnected from their hearts.

That danger hasn’t disappeared. We can become very disciplined at doing Christian things without paying much attention to the God those things are supposed to draw us toward.

That doesn’t make habits bad. Discipline matters. There will be mornings when discipline gets you out of bed and into the Word when you don’t particularly feel like doing it. There is something good about developing habits that regularly put us in places where our hearts can be shaped by God’s truth.

But the habit is not the goal.

God is.

Imagine measuring your closest relationships by streaks. Talked to my wife today. Another day completed. Streak intact.

Something about that immediately feels wrong. I don’t want merely to maintain contact with my wife.

I want to know her. Listen to her. Talk with her. Share life with her. A relationship is more than repeated interaction.

When we open the Bible, there is a Person there whom we are seeking to know. God has spoken.

So the question isn’t simply, Did I read my Bible today There are better questions:

Did I listen?

Did I believe what God said?

Did I allow His Word to correct my thinking?

Did I submit myself to what He said?

Did I come to Scripture because I wanted to know Him – or merely because I didn’t want to miss a day?

Don’t confuse consistency with communion.

Keep the habit. Build the discipline. Read your Bible every day. But don’t settle for the streak.

Don’t open your Bible tomorrow merely because you opened it today.

Open it because there is a God you need to know, hear, trust, and walk with.

When a Sermon Rubs You the Wrong Way

Have you ever heard a sermon that rubbed you the wrong way?

Maybe something the preacher said bothered you. Maybe you disagreed with the way he said it. Maybe you walked away thinking he was too harsh, too strong, or simply wrong.
I have.

And sometimes, after thinking about it, I have concluded that I really did disagree. Preachers are not infallible. We can misunderstand a passage, say something poorly, or fail to explain something as carefully as we should.

But sometimes the problem was not the sermon. Sometimes the truth had simply gotten too close. And that is much harder to admit.

When a sermon makes us uncomfortable, it is remarkably easy to begin framing our understanding of the sermon around our feelings.
– I felt attacked.
– That sounded unkind.
– I did not like the way he said what he said.

And before long, our reaction to the sermon becomes our interpretation of the sermon.

But feeling uncomfortable does not necessarily mean we have been treated unfairly. Sometimes conviction is uncomfortable. Sometimes correction is uncomfortable. Sometimes the Word of God confronts something in us that we would rather defend than examine.

James writes: “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” – James 1.19

We often use those words as general advice for relationships and communication, and rightly so. But James is writing about our response to the Word of God. A few verses later, he tells us to “receive with meekness the implanted word.”

Perhaps we need to learn to listen to expositional preaching with expositional hearing.

That means we do not begin with, “How did that make me feel?”
We begin with:
– What did the preacher actually say?
– What was he trying to communicate?
– What does the text actually say?
– And why did this bother me so much?
We would do well to listen prayerfully before reacting quickly.

That does not mean every preacher is right. It does not mean we accept everything we hear without discernment. We should open our Bibles. We should examine the text. We should test what is taught.

But biblical discernment and personal defensiveness are not the same thing.
One wants to know whether the message is true.
The other wants to prove that my reaction was justified.

How we respond when the Word confronts us may reveal more about our hearts than we realize.
– Pride is quick to speak, quick to defend, and quick to assume the problem lies somewhere else.
– Humility is willing to listen again. Humility opens the Bible. Humility prays, “Lord, show me what is true, even if I do not like what I find.”

The next time a sermon rubs you the wrong way, do not be too quick to dismiss it. Listen to it again. Open your Bible. Pray. And ask whether the truth that unsettled you might be the truth you needed to hear.

The Paradox of Freedom

Our culture tells us that freedom is found in autonomy.

Do what you want.
Be your own authority.
Answer to no one but yourself.

But Scripture teaches the exact opposite.

When people rebel against God, they do not become free. They simply exchange one master for another.

Sin always promises liberty.

Yet sin is a tyrant.

It enslaves.
It controls.
It diminishes.

The great paradox of the Christian life is that surrender to God produces freedom.

When we submit to Christ, we do not become less human. We become more fully what God intended us to be.

Every heart serves a master.

The question is not whether you will serve.

The question is whether your master enslaves or liberates.

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” – John 8.36

Spiritual drift is rarely a sudden decision.

Spiritual drift is rarely a sudden decision. It is usually a gradual neglect.

A neglected Bible becomes an occasional Bible.

An occasional prayer becomes a hurried prayer.

A hurried prayer becomes no prayer at all.
Worship becomes optional.

Convictions become preferences.
Sin becomes tolerated.

And before long, a person finds himself farther from God than he ever intended to be.

That is why Hebrews warns: “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2.1)

No sailor drifts toward the harbor. Drift always carries us away from our destination.

The Christian life requires intentionality. Not because God is reluctant to keep His people, but because God uses ordinary means – His Word, prayer, fellowship, worship, and obedience – to keep us close to Himself.

If you feel distant from the Lord today, don’t wait for a dramatic spiritual experience.

Open your Bible.

Pray.

Gather with God’s people.

Take the next step of obedience.

The way back is often found in the simple things we first neglected.

Overwhelmed is a good word.

A little over a year ago my sweet wife and I had no idea what was coming. In many ways I am glad that we did not know. To this day there are things that I am quite certain we will not understand any time soon. And that’s ok.

Today we find ourselves in awe of the ways in which God works in our lives.

Overwhelmed is a good word.

We have been overwhelmed by things outside of our “control.” Our recent memories are actually filled with words like concern, confusion, and at times… crushed. I’m not sure that he realizes it, but our oldest son Nathan was great encouragement to our family when he said, “Even hard things are a matter of perspective… Where do we keep our focus? On the difficulty or on the Lord?”

Overwhelmed is a good word.

Those overwhelming things have actually been the way God has been preparing us for major unexpected change. When you finally recognize that God is in control (and not you) it is overwhelming to see His hand of providence, His unfolding purpose, and His plan for your life.

Did I mention that we are in awe of the ways in which God works in our lives?

We were not looking, we were not asking, and indeed we did not even realize that God was preparing us for a whole new chapter in our life. Until now. I have been asked and I have accepted the call to come and serve as the senior pastor of the South County Bible Church in south St. Louis County Missouri.

Overwhelmed is a good word.

We (our whole family) are excited about this new adventure. We are thankful for the rich history and godly men who have served at SCBC. We are eager to work with the team that God has in place and continues to build there. We are overwhelmed by the goodness of the Lord, the grandeur of God, and the opportunity to serve Him.

“Overwhelmed” By Big Daddy Weave

I see the work of Your Hands

Galaxies spin in a Heavenly dance oh God

All that You are is so overwhelming

I hear the sound of Your Voice

All at once it’s a gentle and thundering noise oh God

All that You are is so overwhelming

I delight myself in You

Captivated by Your beauty

I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

God, I run into Your arms

Unashamed because of mercy

I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

I know the power of Your Cross

Forgiven and free forever You’ll be my God

And all that You’ve done is so overwhelming

I delight myself in You

In the Glory of Your Presence

I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

And God I run into Your arms

Unashamed because of mercy

I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

You are Beautiful, You are Beautiful

Oh God, there is no one more Beautiful

You are Beautiful, God you are the most Beautiful

You are Wonderful, You are Wonderful

Oh God, there is no one more Wonderful

You are Wonderful, God You are the most Wonderful

You are Glorious, You are Glorious

Oh God, there is no one more Glorious

You are Glorious, God you are the most Glorious

I delight myself in You

In the Glory of Your Presence

I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

And God I run into Your arms

Unashamed because of mercy

I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

There is no one more Beautiful

You are the most Beautiful

Songwriters: YOLANDA YVETTE ADAMS, RYAN KENT BELCHER, RODNEY L. EAST, ERROL W. JR. MCCALLA, MARCUS ECBY

Worldliness Weed-Killer

If the world is not rooted out from our hearts, it will devour us. There must be weeding if the good seed of grace is to grow. But what weed-killer can we use against the spirit of the world?

Here is a potent, three-fold formula from the Bible:
1. Recognize that love of the world is the enemy of the love of the Father (1 John 2:15). You cannot have both. You must choose one only. Make the right choice.

2. Remember that it was the world that crucified Christ and that it took the sacrifice of the Cross to deliver you from it (Gal. 6:14). How can you negotiate with the spirit which plotted the assassination of your Savior?

3. Reflect on the fact that the world, in this sense, is transient and ephemeral (1 John 2:17); it is not a solid investment. Devote yourself instead to having “treasure in heaven” (Matt. 6:19-21).

~ From Sinclair Ferguson