We're all going to die and personal growth will then end. At what point does personal growth stop? The older you get, the less years you have left, and maybe it doesn't matter any more. I don't know how much time I have left. It could be twenty years. It could be twenty seconds.
If you are not growing then, you're not maintaining. You are diminishing. In order not to diminish, you've got to grow, no matter what's happening in your life. You've still got a purpose for being here on earth. You shouldn't give up.
Since God exists and He functions as we read in His Word, we see His working in the life of a true believer in Jesus Christ. God works toward the growth of a believer. This is a promise of sanctification seen in Romans 8:28-29, that God conforms the one who love Him into the image of His Son.
Cooperation with God's Working
God works, but He wants cooperation. Cooperation must occur, what the Bible calls, working out your salvation (Philippians 2:12). This isn't salvation by works. It is working out a salvation already there. I call this cooperation, because it is God working in the life of the true believer. He's working, so that you're working. When this occurs, growth occurs.
Personal growth is cooperation with what God is doing in and through you. Based on your cooperation, it can be better for you and then others. If you've had some set backs and unfavorable circumstances, this does not signal to you, just give up, don't keep cooperating.
Growth relates to purpose. It is not growth if it is not fulfilling God's purpose. Someone might call it growth, but it would be something like cancer. It's growing, but we don't call that growth. If you got better at fleshly living, regular disobedience to God, that is not growth. It is regression, even if it is fueled by fulfillment of goals. A person adds skills for better building of the world system. It will pass away. It is vanity. True growth and vanity are mutually exclusive.
For true personal growth, which relates to the purpose of God, what are the means? Several means fuel my personal growth. Among these are Bible reading, prayer, fellowship, reading, writing, and practice.
Bible Reading
I'm not going to do much to prove these means of personal growth, especially a few of them. I keep reading my Bible. I read through the Old Testament twice in 2021, and the New Testament 1 1/2 times. I'm finishing up the NT from 2021, right now midway through Romans. I'm doing something different in 2022. The goal will be once OT and twice NT.
Prayer
My daughter and son-in-law gave me a prayer journal for Christmas. I'll use that this year for prayer. Our church gives out a prayer sheet every week, which I'll dovetail with the prayer journal. I've done prayer journals twice before. To me, the journal will strengthen and emphasize biblical prayers, ones in God's will.
Fellowship
For sure, biblical fellowship means faithful church meeting, not missing church meetings. The personal growth also means engaging as the year progresses. It's a transition year, but while we meet with the church, we grow through preaching, teaching, and sharing.
Practice
Practice is the faithful work for the Lord. Through the first three, I consider my wife, practicing the Bible with her in my role. I want to grow in marriage. Even during this transition, I want to evangelize and make disciples. I have one evangelistic Bible study. I have the goal of two other discipleships at least. In addition, I continue evangelizing. I strive to edify other believers in the church, encouraging them. It's happening. I am helping a young man learn Greek, who wanted to learn it.
I do some physical labor to take up my share of that. Maintenance does not just happen. Most churches, almost everyone needs to take up their part, so that burden does not rest on a few people. It is ongoing.
In one sense, practice is like exercise that strengthens. Someone might read the Bible and pray, but that would be vain without practice. Some compare that to the Dead Sea. It's dead because there is no outlet.
Writing
This is an important writing time to me. Writing crystallizes thinking. Whatever I am reading, the sharing I experience in the church, by writing it becomes a talking point. It becomes useful. I have the words to speak, because writing them forces me to have them. Whenever we communicate in our practice, writing makes it better. Writing practices the words that will come from the mouth in practice.
You know I write here twice a week. I will continue. Some don't want me to do that for reasons I've expressed here before, but many encourage me to continue. I don't want to stop.
I want to finish all writing projects. What are they? It is five books at least. First, I finished in 2021 the Disciplines for Discipleship. It was actually a thorough edit of what I wrote in 1991. The answer edition is printed and in California at Bethel Baptist Church. The disciple edition is being printed right now and will be shipped to California in the next week or two. The disciple edition is 162 pages.
I finished two other books in 2021. They are not published, but they are in the hands of a friend, who volunteered to get them into the final step. If he accomplishes that, it will be a great help. One is on apostasy, about 100 pages and five chapters written by me only, the second overall and entitled Lying Vanities. Two is a book on dress or appearance, about 300 pages and six chapters written by me only again, the third overall entitled Fashion Statement.
I have two projects I'm working on. One, so a fourth in total, is a book on the gospel, about 400-500 pages written by five or six men including me, entitled The One True Gospel. I am editor of these two books, just like Thou Shalt Keep Them and A Pure Church. I believe it is close to done. Almost everything is written. It's in the final parts of editing, formatting, indexing, and then printing. I will let you know when we are at pre-publication, hopefully soon.
Two, so a fifth in total, is a book on sanctification, about 300-400 pages written by five or six men including me, entitled, A Salvation That Keeps On Saving. I have about half of the chapters that are completed. I want this done before the mid point of 2022. That's a lot of work. All of these books will be published by Pillar and Ground Publishing, which is Bethel Baptist Church in El Sobrante, CA publishing.
Reading
What I wanted to write about the most is what I'm reading. I would include with reading today, what I hear and watch in sermons, podcasts, and programs. Even as I'm writing this, I'm listening to a podcast with a man lecturing, who I know, a Jewish man, who teaches at Loyola in Chicago, published author, that I've known for now about six or seven years. He stayed at our house for a week after I met him on a bus ride, where I preached the gospel to him and others. I wanted to hear what he would say, which was about interfaith dialogue and conflict. I almost always listen to these while doing something else.
What am I reading right now? I am using Basics of Biblical Greek by William Mounce for the Greek with the young man. I didn't use this book, but he did, so I got it to use with him before I move to second year. I read several columns every week, usually on RealClearPolitics. Almost all of these I quick-read.
I am reading six books right now. I'm anywhere between 15% to 85% done with each of them. One, I'm reading Sharing the Good News with Mormons, edited by Eric Johnson and Sean McDowell. It has twenty-four short chapters to help evangelize LDS. It is worth having for this purpose. The three other books I read in 2021 for the same purpose were The Mormon People, I Love Mormons, and Leaving Mormonism. All four of them gave me something different and helpful. They all had strengths and weaknesses. Maybe I'll write about that sometime soon.
Two, I am reading The Church That John the Baptist Prepared by Joel Grassi. It is an 850 page book (mammoth) on who Jesus called the greatest man who ever lived. How many books are written on the greatest man who ever lived? Not enough. I don't think anyone will do better than Grassi. It is a tour de force, tremendous.
Three, I am reading Return of the God Hypothesis by Stephen Meyer. This book gives the best and most updated scientific evidence for God. It will give you numbers of talking points for atheists and agnostics, where you start with creation in evangelism like Paul in Acts 17.
Four, I am reading The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Anglo-Saxon England by Marc Morris. This is the most crucial event to the formation of the nation of England. Since the United States started from England, this will help Americans understand themselves and their mother country. This is bed time reading.
Five, I am reading Masculine Mandate: God's Calling to Men by Richard D. Phillips. He writes in an edifying, substantive way on some of the foundational knowledge for men to fulfill God's purpose for them.
Six, I am reading Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning by Nancy Pearcey. She continues with her excellent worldview material, following Total Truth.
Do I read fiction? I do, but I'm reading nothing fictional right now. I read a few in 2021. I very seldom share what fiction I'm reading. I don't think I need to encourage people to read fiction. Does fiction aid personal growth? It can and does. It helps creativity, imagination, and communication. I also do it for enjoyment. I don't mind enjoying myself as an activity, since God created a world to enjoy.
What I've written above is the means of personal growth for me. God works through every one of these in and through me.
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