From the Heart of the Pastor

       If you’re like me, you don’t enjoy any visit to a doctor.  It is really not that I am afraid of the doctor; it is that I am often frustrated with the process.  I know waiting and paperwork is just part of going to a doctor’s appointment.  That is not the frustrating part.  The frustrating part is trying to explain the ailment.  You know what I mean; you recite all your symptoms to the doctor or his nurse.  They may ask a dozen questions attempting to get at the root of your problem.  Of course, in the end, I am always glad I endured the questions because most of the time they result in an accurate diagnosis.

          We should think about our spiritual health in the same way.  The Puritans used to refer to ministers as “physicians of the soul.”  The reason for that designation is that they helped people discern their spiritual condition.  That spiritual process often looks a lot like the physical process – questions and answers.  There is a helpful book that I would recommend to anyone who is really interested in having a “Spiritual Check Up.”  Maybe it is time for your “Spiritual Examination.”  If so, you might want to read Don Whitney’s book Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. 

          I am not going to share with you all the content of this book, but I do want to share with you the ten questions.  Even if you never read the book, the questions themselves offer a revealing look at your spiritual condition. 

1.  Do You Thirst for God?

2.  Are You Governed Increasingly by God’s Word?

3.  Are You More Loving?

4.  Are You More Sensitive to God’s Presence?

5.  Do You Have a Growing Concern for the Spiritual and Temporal Needs of Others?

6.  Do You Delight in the Bride of Christ?

7.  Are the Spiritual Disciplines (prayer, Scripture meditation, fasting, and so on) Increasingly Important to You?

8.  Do You Still Grieve Over Sin?

9.  Are You a Quicker Forgiver?

10. Do You Yearn for Heaven and To Be With Jesus?

An honest answer to these questions can be revealing.  Please consider reading this book soon.  Our salvation is rooted in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.  We can’t earn it, but we can and should constantly examine how we are progressing in the faith.  2 Corinthians 13:5 states, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

In Christ,

Blain Craig

---