New home!

Hello freinds!

I'm very excited to announce that Take it or Leave it has a new home! For now on you can go to deanlentini.com for everything Take it or Leave it, also this will be the future home of my personal family blog. God bless and come check out what's going on with Take it or Leave it! - Dean

(click the link below)

deanlentini.com

Goals: I Need Some of Those

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find myself going though the motions of life without any sure direction. So, I started to think, I wonder if people in the Bible felt the same way? I wonder if Paul ever felt like he didn’t have a true direction in his life? I was unable to find certain instance where it seemed as if Paul had lost his purpose, but I did find many mentions of his purpose; Paul’s goals. He had a personal goal of accomplishing the call of God in his life

Philippians 3:10-14, “¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.¹²Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Paul’s goals were in essence to be like Christ in all he did, or as he says in Ephesians to be an “imitator of Christ.”There are other passages where Paul alludes to his goal as being the preaching of the Word, being poured out as a drink offering for the church, going to Spain, etc. Paul had goals. If goals are good enough for Paul, they are good enough for me.

But how do I now what my goals should be? I know they have to be in line with the calling and desire of God, but how do I know what He wants my goals to be? It’s through His Word. It is through the word of God that one can understand what their goal(s) should be in life. No, there isn’t some section in the Bible where God has written down all your goals in a neat little list. But the Holy Spirit uses the word to illuminate us, He uses His Word to show us His path for our lives.

He also uses prayer. Prayer is plain communication with God, it is worshipful talk to a loving Savior. It’s how we speak to God, thanks be to Christ our High Priest. Because of Christ’s finished work on the Cross we can now boldly enter into communication with God. Now, this boldness does not mean, ya kick in the door and say, “Ok, God this is what you’re gonna do…” This isn’t a Clint Eastwood movie. This boldness is speaking of the audacious concept of even being able to speak with God, never mind ask Him to do something for you. This is an honor, and always should be done with humility. As a Christian we now have the beautiful gift of asking for our God’s help.

We ask God, for His input in setting goals for ourselves. This is no better illustrated than with Jesus asking God to make a different goal for Him, “IF IT BE YOUR WILL.” The point is we need to stay in communication with God in setting goals, why? 1. He is God and deserves to hear our goals 2. He already has plans for us 3. He loves hearing His name praised, even in making decisions

We should make goals with a few strings attached. Goals are to be set in prayer, in close connection to the Scriptures, Spirit-led, open to God’s Will, and in humility knowing that God is sovereign over our goals. I think everyone should at some point take some time and really contemplate what your goals are. Be specific in them, it’s ok to dream big. Our God is a big God, He tends to enjoy granting those big dreams. Remember Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” With that in mind these are a few of my goals that I am leaning on God for guidance:

Marry a Godly Woman

Graduate from a Baptist college

Begin shepherding a church before the age of 23

Grow my first church’s love for Christ

Have as many children as the Lord see fit

Grow the attendance of my church by at least 20%

Graduate from a good Baptist Seminary

Plant Logos Baptist Church by the age of 35

Celebrate my 20 yr. Anniversary with my wife

Grow Logos Baptist church into a Christ-centered fellowship of 150, mainly through conversions

Love my Savior more and more

Obtain my doctorate in theology

Celebrate my 50 yr. Anniversary with my wife

Make sure my children are living for Jesus

For people to get saved at my funeral

to know that my goals are not infallible, and that God has free reign on my life

So, make some goals, then honor God through those goals. That’s my opinion. Take it or leave it. - Dean

Where's the Power? Where's the Big Transformation?

If you're any type of theologian, you know that once one has become a born-again believer a change in that person's life takes place. This change is supposed to be dramatic, drastic, and immediate. At least thats what I have always been told. That's what I've preached. We all know that the Bible talks about the drastic, dramatic, and immediate change in Saul. His change is so emphatic that his name was changed to Paul. Complete change had occurred in this man.

Since, he had such a dramatic change we expect all Christians to have such an amazingly immediate transformation. So what happens when there isn't a big transformation? Was this person truly saved? What happens when there seems to be no power?

To answer the question about their salvation. The Bible tells us that yes there will be change, but how big and how quick is not told. Before we look at the effects of the change one must ask what is the change to begin with? The change is a change in nature. It is the death of our nasty sinful life and the beginning of a completely new life. It is regeneration. It is a new heart, and new spirit. Ezekiel 36:25-27,

"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them."

Our desires have changed while before we did not care about God nor His Word, with the new heart and new spirit we long for God's Word and desire to fulfill His Word. We want to be do-ers of the Word.So, the change is not external, but internal. It is the core of who we are as individuals. It is within us. Our passion has changed.

So is it fair to measure if a person is saved, or if he is "growing" by one's visible external change? Absolutely not. This is a big misconception. If you are wondering why do I not see a big evident transformation? Where's the power? Maybe you are looking in the wrong place. When you are questioning your salvation or spiritual maturity, maybe you should be looking at your desires, motives, and passions instead of outer displays of transformation.

Look at Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." This is talking about a Believer's desire to be holy and righteous like their Savior. If you are burdened about your sin, repentant, and desire change to be holy, I would be pretty confident about your position. Now the outer changes are effects of the inner change in desires.

Spiritual growth is hard. It isn't a mystical on/off switch. It is an all out fight. Its your new desires (for Christ), against the desires of the flesh. While I do believe in perseverance of the saints (for the most part), I think that Calvinists sometimes over-simplify the battle of spiritual growth. It is like an old western fight, its a brawl. And sometimes, maybe a lot of times, we lose. But that dosn't mean you're losing the war. Ask youself this, who's power are you fighting under?

If you are wondering where is the power? Where is the big transformation? Just look at what Christ has done for you, examine the change in desire from sin to holiness, and act or work that inner change out under the unction of the Spirit. That's my opinion. Take it or leave it. - Dean

(also see Spiritual Growth: What is it and How Does it Work?)