The Circle Maker

The Circle Maker book is an insanely popular book that is still a bestseller, even though it is a few years old. Based on a story from the Jewish Talmud, the book recalls the tale of a guy who drew a circle around himself and demanded that God make it rain. When that didn't go so well, he did it again and then a third time.

When I first heard about it, I thought it was just silly. While the book's author claims that this is not "name it and claim it" teaching, I fail to see the difference. There is a reason this story was in the Talmud and not in the canon of Scripture. It's because the story is about the man and his prayer, not about God and His power/glory.

It is merely a lame story highlighting the demanding prayer of a guy who has figured out the right technique to boss around the Divine Butler.  

Having learned more about the book, I realize now that it is not just absurd; it is antithetical to Biblical teaching on prayer.

Besides the story of the book coming from an extra-Biblical source, the teaching of this book is very anti-Biblical. The book implies that drawing a circle demonstrates faith in God's will for a "miracle" to happen. In other words, the "technique" of prayer (drawing a circle) is the thing that will get God's attention.

Says Batterson in the book:  “Sometimes physical contact creates a spiritual conduit. Proximity creates intimacy. Proximity proclaims authority. Drawing a prayer circle is one way of marking territory — God’s territory.”

These are not the writings of a serious student of the Bible. These are the writings of someone making stuff up about prayer and then attaching the name of God to it. To attribute thoughts and ideas to God that God has not revealed in His word is to break the third commandment in the worst way.

I remember a professor from Bible college who said that three words should end most theological debates: "book, chapter, and verse." But apparently that is not the case anymore. Too many Christians don't know or care what THE Book says. They simply want a new idea.

Perhaps the reason this book is so popular is that people are clamoring in many ways to connect with God. We all find our relationship with God dry and dusty at times, and this "touchy feely" approach has much appeal. It also is appealing to think that if I DO something that is pious and seems righteous looking, that God will surely answer.

Scripture has a much better, much simpler plan of prayer: it's about talking to God in FAITH; putting your trust in Him. Trusting that he knows better than we do. Biblical prayer is more about TRUST than about DEMANDS.

The Biblical plan of prayer is coming to God HUMBLY and without pretense (Matthew 6:5-15). Those who believe in this kind of prayer frequently talk about having a "bold" or "audacious" faith. A metric of quantity does not measure faith. Faith is measured by its direction.

If your faith is in Jesus Christ, you have great faith (Matthew 15:21-28 is a good example of this. Click below for a sermon on this passage). If your faith is in yourself or your prayer circle, your faith will be very small.

I know what many people will say in response to this already: it will be somewhere along the lines of "but isn't it a good thing to encourage people to pray more/pray harder?"

No, I don't think it is if it is going to take us away from the true teaching from Christ and the Apostles on prayer. Some links that I think are helpful:

http://www.challies.com/christian-living/dont-pray-in-circles

http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/the-circle-maker 

Fighting for the Faith - Part 1 on The Circle Maker

And this very interesting post. I don't know much about this author, so take it as it is:

http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2013/06/showing-in-pictures-how-circle-maker.html

Sola Scriptura. 

My Latest Read - Already Gone

We really need to be paying attention to the message of this book. This book caught my eye while I was browsing in the bookstore at the AIG Creation Museum. It caught my eye, because the girl on the book cover has that same look in her eyes that I have seen in the faces of too many kids that I have tried to teach and challenge with the gospel.

Her eyes are shouting, "get away from me. I don't need you, I don't need the church, and I don't need God."

This is an interesting book to me because it is based on research done that suggests that the 66% of teens who leave the church in their college years are not leaving once they get to college, but they are "already gone" in their middle school and high school years. Once they get to college, they are just finalizing their decision by walking out the door.

I have been concerned for a long time about the problem of poorly developed Biblical worldview thinking in our youth, and how the church is not able to keep up in the battle for their hearts and minds. You need to read this.

When People Are Big and God is Small

I mentioned in a previous post something about the book When People are Big and God is Small by Ed Welch. I wasn't actively reading it at the time, but the title sure impressed me.

Now I am reading it, and have decided to study it with the 5 older J's. I would encourage anyone and everyone to read this and especially to share it with their children (at least older kids.)

Some of the things I have been learning and thinking about based on this book are as follows:

EVERYONE struggles with issues of "fear of people" or peer pressure, or whatever it is called. Those who deny it are fooling themselves or too proud to acknowledge it.

My children all struggle with this in different ways - the boys different from the girls, and each of them different from each other. In our environment living here at the camp and homeschooling, this shows up in several key areas: their relationships with people from other churches (camp people) and their relationships with friends at our own church that they want to try to stay connected with. We had a really great conversation last week, and all of them shared how they struggle with this. I challenged them to remember that everyone deals with this and we need to treat all people with love, honor, and respect because of it.

I also thought of the many young people that I have tried to minister to and mentor over the years (most of them, quite unsuccessfully). Many of them were so busy needing people that they forgot that they needed God more.

Many of those young people at the time said that they loved God. But as I look back on it, they may have "loved" God by feeling a connection to the righteousness of God or the Church, but I don't think they "feared" God. In fact, they, just as I did at that age, had everything backwards. They emotionally "loved" God (or said they did), and feared people, instead of fearing God and loving people. Obviously we need to "love" God. But the Biblical idea of loving God by obeying God (Read 1 John) is different than the cultural idea of "love," which is all about how someone feels.

The book makes an emphasis on the fact that our sinful nature causes us to need people to determine our worth and fill us. The more that we need people, the more that we become a prisoner to them. I remember being at the age that my boys are right now, and how much I needed to fit in. I needed to wear the right clothes. I needed to listen to the right music. I needed to act like, think like, talk like and look like everyone else, so there wouldn't be any "handle" for anyone to grab and exploit. If I could just meld into the crowd, I would be safe. I didn't realize that I was making myself into a safe prisoner in a cage locked up and secured by the thoughts I thought people thought about me.

Oh, how I desperately, pitifully needed the approval of everyone! I needed approval from my friends and my parents and my brothers and my youth minister and everyone else (and they frequently had conflicting ideas about who I needed to be). I jumped through a lot of hoops to do all that - so many hoops that I forgot that I needed to need God first and foremost!

I really think that many Christians, (including myself in the past) don't really want to fear, need or trust God. Sure, we want fire insurance, but in the nitty gritty of life, do I trust God enough to choose to follow him instead of the crowd? Would I be like the three brave young guys in Daniel who refused to bow down to the idol? Or would I be more like all the other good people around them who were bowing down, justifying themselves the entire time? Do I need God more than I need my life?

If I need people, then I am in bondage to them. However, if I love people, and make the active but difficult choice to not need them or fear them, then I can treat others the way that God wants me to. I could never admonish someone I feared, and the Scripture says that we are to admonish one another. How could I share with anyone what they "need" the most - the gospel message, with all it's offense regarding our sinfulness - if I am crippled by the fear of what people think about me?

How can a leader lead in fear of people? How can a Christian teach others if he is afraid of what people think? How can I be a direct influence for Christ if I am afraid that people will think that I am an idiot? How can a dad lead his children to grow to be godly adults if he is afraid that his kids won't like him if he applies godly correction? How can a camp manager effective manage things if he is always afraid that someone won't like something?

I guess one of the applications of all this for me is this: If you are in my sphere of influence, I am going to love you more and fear you less. I am going to obey and follow God to the best of my ability. I am not going to worry about what you think of me. I am not going to try to impress you. I want to serve you and encourage you, but I don't need you to serve or encourage me.

I won't long for a pat on the back, an "atta-boy" or gushing praise. I am not going to need your kind words to bolster my view of myself. I will listen to you, but I don't need you to listen to me. I humbly ask for direction, correction, and admonishment, and I won't punish you for doing it.

God has already declared in His Word that I am His child, and that is enough for me. Who could add anything to that anyway? As a prince of the King, I am going to do my best to serve and love all those that God puts in my path.

My Latest Read

What a fascinating book. This is a trilogy of three books, Black, Red, and White. This trilogy will challenge you to consider the love of our Savior in a wonderful way. I had thought before that C.S. Lewis had done fiction about the redemptive work of Christ in a way that no one else could. Dekker has an "edgier" work here for sure, but he demonstrates God's great love and wisdom here in a powerful way.

Be warned, though, it's hard to put down!

jc

Bill Gothard - General Teachings/Activities

Bill Gothard - General Teachings/Activities

It looks like good ole' Bill Gothard is still around.  Gothard has a lot of good in his teaching, with a focus on marriage and parenting. This is unfortunate because many Christians are following his "system" instead of following Christ.  I have been familiar with Gothard stuff for a long time, and it seems that little of it has changed. Read the article that I have linked to for a good review.

Here's another link to a good Gothard review.

Duggars Book

My latest read - another great example about how God uses ordinary but faithful people to bring glory to Him. Everyone asks us if we have seen this family on TV - of course, only having 8 kids makes our family look, well, small in comparison. This book was a bit of a family history - I guess I would have liked to see it go a little deeper, but I liked the overview. I would really like to meet Jim Bob Duggar some day - just to talk about life and the importance of obedience. This family has taken lots of hits - lots of negative stuff. It's amazing how much vitriol one Godly family can produce. And isn't it great that the Discovery Channel is the one sending out their message? I pray that I will have the faith and obedience of Mr. Duggar.