Checking email led to responding to email. Checking Facebook messages led to taking my turn at Scrabble. You get the idea. And because I only have so much time at home before I have to head out from my day, my time with God got shorted.

I made a new commitment just two weeks ago. Time with God comes first. Since the computer is a temptation it doesn’t even get turned on until after. And you know what? My time with God has already grown longer and sweeter. And I anticipate our time together more. Long for it. It’s funny what God will do when I put Him first.

What about you? What are some things that keep you from having regular, quality, and quantity time with God? Let’s talk about it.

What about your spiritual goals? Did you have any spiritual goals? God intends for us to be conformed to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29). As believers, we should be more like Jesus with each passing year. Although the Holy Spirit is the only One who can transform us (2 Cor 3:18), He will not do it without our obedient cooperation.

Yes, God has given us everything we need to “participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world (2 Peter 1:3-4).” But He calls us to “make every effort to add to our faith (2 Peter 1:5-9).” Spiritual growth requires personal discipline and purposeful plans. We must spend regular time in prayer, Bible reading, and active listening. We have to practice obedience, service, and ministry within the local church.

God is calling me and you to “make every effort” in our relationship of faith with Him. What are your plans for spiritual growth in 2010?

There are numerous discipleship tools available on this website. Check out the Bible reading plans, Scripture memory plans, and more here.

In his book “Bible Study Methods,” Rick Warren touches on how our culture’s need for entertainment has influenced Christianity. “When carried over into spiritual matters, it (entertainment and marketing) becomes self-centered religion and is definitely not biblical. That’s why so much is being said today about following Jesus, but little is said about the cost of discipleship. We offer prizes to get Christians to come to church when they ought to be coming because they love the Savior.”

The truth Warren hits on in his comments is this: a consumer mentality in the Christian faith is in direct opposition to the attitude of true discipleship reflected in Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 we’re told that we are “not our own.” We’ve been “bought at a price.” Likewise, in Romans 14:7-8, the Apostle Paul reminds us that “whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

My life verse – which I often fail miserably to follow – is Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” This is what it means to be a disciple of Christ. This is the heart and attitude of the Christian faith. There is not an ounce of “what’s in it for me” mentality.

In the classic devotional book “My Utmost for His Highest,” Oswald Chambers elaborates on Galatians 2:20. “These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus… not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus… The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ.”

You won’t find that on EBay. Our culture does not hold up dependence, submission, and subordination as ideals to attain. In fact, it promotes just the opposite. Independence, self-gratification, and “me-first” are king!

What did Jesus say about all this? Luke 14:26-28 is just one of several passages where Jesus talks about discipleship.

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?

This passage highlights at least four vital characteristics of discipleship:
1. Priority – Jesus must be more important than everything else in our lives, including family.
2. Lifestyle – Following Jesus is not something we do just on Sundays or in the morning during our quiet time. We are to following Him every minute of every day. It permeates our life, it isn’t simply part of our life.
3. Obedience/submission – For Jesus, the cross was the ultimate and complete act of obedience to the Father.
4. Conscious Choice – Jesus told us to “count the cost.” Are we willing to pay the price of following Him? Unfortunately, many of us say “no” and miss out on the unlimited blessings.

Is discipleship like Jesus described necessary for Christians? Can’t we be a Christian without being one of those “sold-out disciples?” In his book “The Complete Book of Discipleship,” author Bill Hull says that because of cultural pressure, “we evangelicals accept and even encourage a two-level Christian experience in which only serious Christians pursue and practice discipleship, while grace and forgiveness is enough for everyone else.”

Jesus gave a final command before He ascended into heaven. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” For Jesus, discipleship was not an option. It isn’t an upgrade for those few Christians who want to invest a little more of themselves.

Christianity without the living Christ is inevitable Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Our goal is to save money on what we would be buying for Christmas anyway. We search the flyers to find the right item with the right features at the best price. Then we determine our schedule of stops based on what stores open at what time. We are usually out the door by 4:45am and back home by 11:00am with half of our Christmas shopping done!

We have learned the power of the American consumer. We know that marketers cater to our needs and desires because they want our business. If one store does not satisfy us, then we simply go somewhere else that will. Unfortunately, this mindset has infiltrated the Church. Many Christians have allowed the consumer mentality to affect their faith and their relationship with the local church. We ask the church, “What do you have to offer me?”

One way this worldview shows itself is in “church hopping.” We’ve all seen it. We may have even done it. I’m not talking about a real need to find a new church through God’s guidance due to a move to a new town or because a church is teaching false doctrine. I’m talking about switching to another church because we don’t like something going on that is basically superficial. Or because we want something that meets our needs better. Other times it manifests as picking and choosing services and programs from different churches like a menu and never fully investing ourselves in a church body.

God puts His church together just like He has determined (1 Corinthians 12:24). That means He has chosen which church body He wants us to be a part of and how He wants us to function in it. Our church membership and involvement is about serving Him and the church body, not meeting our own needs. However, when we are in God’s will He will also be meeting our needs.

Illinois pastor, Skye Jethani, writes about Christians’ insistence on choice in 2006 “Leadership Journal” article. ( Read the entire article here.) Consumers demand options, but this poses a problem. Formation into the likeness of Christ is not accomplished by always getting what we want…In consumer Christianity, however, church leaders function as religious baristas, supplying spiritual goods for people to choose from based on their preferences. Our concern becomes not whether people are growing, but whether they are satisfied. An unhappy member, like an unhappy customer, will find satisfaction elsewhere.

It’s not just the individual Christian who has bought into consumer Christianity. The church has done it too. The body of Christ uses entertainment and marketing gimmicks to entice the Christian consumer. The church has learned if “they want our business, then they will have to earn it!” So, the church uses lights and sound and razzle dazzle to keep us coming back for more. Don’t get me wrong. The church should do everything it does with excellence to the glory of God. But there is a difference between giving God our best in worship and putting on a show to draw a human audience.

A church in the Chicago area actually gives away money from the offering to get people to attend. The pastor pulls a “lucky” seat number in each of the three Sunday morning services. If you are in the right seat you win either $250 or $500. The church gives away $1,000 every Sunday. The pastor says their weekly attendance has risen from about 1,600 to 2,500. Hmm, I wonder why? (Read the entire story here.)

So, what’s the alternative? According to the Bible, what is the right attitude about faith and following Christ? Stay tuned for Part Two of “Church Mart.” We’ll see what Jesus had to say about discipleship.

Because they were young and handsome Israelite nobility, Daniel and his friends were captured in Jerusalem and herded back to Babylon to train for the service of powerful King Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonians choose the best and the brightest of the Hebrews. But before they could serve King Neb they had to be indoctrinated in all the ways of the Babylonian culture.

It was an intense three-year program. They had to study the language, religion, and literature. They had to eat like the Babylonians. They were even given Babylonian names. The Babylonians goal was to turn these Hebrews into Babylonians. To turn these people of God into people of the gods.

“Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.” That’s what the Babylonians said to Daniel and his friends. But God had other plans. (If you don’t know the whole story, read the first few chapters of Daniel.) Daniel and his friends resisted assimilation and obeyed God. And God miraculously delivered. From a fiery furnace. And from the mouths of a bunch of hungry lions.

Our mainstream culture today is far from what God wants for the lives of His children. Yet, everyday it reaches out to assimilate us. To bring us around to its way of thinking and doing and being. Are you being assimilated or do you resist? Resistance is not futile. God calls His children to live lives of distinction. Holy lives. Set apart to bring Him glory.

It happened again Sunday morning. It’s happened to me several times before. Right in the middle of singing praise songs, worshipping the Lord of all creation, a thought pops into my mind. “Hands are raised. Voices lifted. This is a little bit like a rock concert.” But then the truth takes its place. “No, a rock concert is merely a twisted reflection of true worship.”

Humans were created to worship the creator. God formed us for His glory, to give Him honor and praise (Isaiah 43:7). We were wired for worship.

All humans worship. Unfortunately, many humans worship something other than their Creator. They have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. They refuse to bow their knee to the only One who deserves our worship, yet they bow to created things in a vain attempt to satisfy their innate need to worship.

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles (Romans 1:21-22).”

Michael Jackson worship is an example of this. But so is the worship of money, job, spouse, children, recreation, self… The list is truly endless. Anytime we put anything before God it has become an idol, something we worship. I’ve been guilty of this.

Let’s put our idols down and bow our knees to the only One who is worthy. “Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song (Psalm 95:1-2).”

Like cleaning my teeth when a bit of lunch hangs around too long, most of us work to keep our physical bodies looking presentable. When I see a stray hair, I pluck it. When my gray starts revealing itself again, I color it (or rather my hair dresser does). When I see more flab I cut down on the eating and increase the exercise. And the list goes on.

As a society we are obsessed with our physical appearance. If it’s wrinkled, we smooth it. If it sags, we lift it. If it bulges, we reduce it. According to a Forbes.com article, “there were more than 10 million surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures performed in the U.S. in 2008.” These procedures brought in over 12 billion dollars. (See http://tiny.cc/LpvSj for the entire article.) Botox was the most popular at 2.4 million procedures. Liposuction was second at 34 thousand. Nose jobs and breast implants came in third and fourth.

Please don’t think I’m condemning these things. That is not my intent. In fact, I would be less than honest if I said I had never thought about “fixing” a few things about myself. Hang with me a moment and I’ll try to make my point. Almost all of us respond to what we see in the mirror. When we become aware of a problem with our physical appearance, we do what we can to correct it. And all we’re doing is fighting an uphill battle that we will eventually lose.

Unfortunately we aren’t usually so concerned about our spiritual condition. God’s Word is a soul mirror. As we read the Bible, God uses the truths there to point out spiritual flaws in our lives that need attention. But, too often when we see ourselves reflected in Scripture we walk away without doing anything.

For instance, I often sin by the way I use my words. I may say things that hurt someone else, speak boastfully, or talk when I should just be silent. Proverbs 10:19 reads, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” And Proverbs 13:3 reads, “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.” God’s Word is full of wisdom and direction for the way I should use my words. When I read these and other Scriptures God holds them up alongside my life and whispers, “I see a few things here that need correction.” Sometimes I obey Him by bringing my life in line with His Word and sometimes I don’t.

Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25.

Sometimes I read God’s Word and think: “That’s not for me. I’m fine. I’m doing better than most people around me.” Sometimes when God uses His Word to reveal a spiritual flaw in my life I respond: “Yes, Lord, You are right. I’ll definitely work on that – later.” James 1:22 says when God’s Word reveals spiritual flaws and we just walk away without doing anything about it we have deceived ourselves. We can talk ourselves into – or out of – almost anything. As sinful humans we talk ourselves out of submitting to God’s Spiritual scalpel too often.

And then there are those times when the mirror of God’s Word reveals ugliness I can’t ignore. When I respond with humility and obedience God faithfully applies His spiritual correction with love. And these procedures, which are much more than skin deep, have eternal effects.

God promises that anyone who looks into His Word and acts on what she hears will be blessed in all she does (James 1:25). So why do we hesitate to act? When you look into the mirror of God’s Word do you respond with action? Or do you walk away immediately forgetting what you’ve seen?

Ironically, while on the surface “the devil made me do it” was intended as a casual joke, in reality it reflects our human nature. We don’t like to accept responsibility for our actions. We often look for someone else to blame. And this pass-the-buck attitude isn’t new. It started in the garden with Adam and Eve.

Unfortunately this attitude is prevalent among Christians. God calls us to live holy and obedient lives. Yet sometimes we still yield to temptation and sin. To make it worse, we don’t like to take the blame. Instead of agreeing with God that we sinned against Him, repenting, and receiving His forgiveness, we point the finger at another person, or Satan, and say, “It’s not my fault, it’s his.” “The devil made me do it.

I’m not saying that Satan doesn’t tempt us. He does. Scripture tells us that Satan even tempted Jesus. Satan tempts us, but he cannot make us sin. We give Satan way too much credit. And we don’t give God enough. Yes, God demands holiness and obedience from His children. But, as always, when God requires something of us He also supplies the resources.

Following are three biblical truths that can help us in our battle with sin and temptation. I hope these truths will help you as you seek to please God by living a holy life.

Biblical Truth: We never have to sin. God has given us the power and opportunity to choose obedience.
Romans 6:6, 11 – For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

I Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Biblical Truth: Jesus understands you. He knows what it is like to be tempted.
Hebrews 4:15 – For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

Biblical Truth: God has given us strategies to strengthen ourselves against temptation.

Matthew 26:41 – Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

Psalm 119:11 – I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Sometimes I struggle to standing firm in the face of temptation. Do you? But, I am working to not only remember these truths from God’s Word but to also apply them to my life. Will you commit to stop pointing fingers and stand firm on the promises of God?