Holiness Matters

Discipline is a dirty word. The mere mention of it evokes furrowed brows, frowns, and disdain. The concept has been dismissed as irrelevant and outdated.

The Oxford Dictionary defines discipline as:

(1) the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience;

(2) to train oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way.

We lack discipline.

We want what we want and we want it now!

The pinnacle of offense is to tell us we cannot have or do something. Excess is the theme—the perpetual pursuit of happiness via material acquisition. We are insatiable. Often the punishment is actually getting exactly what we demanded.

Those in loving union with Christ will be disciplined. Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Disciples are to be trained and live in such a way that conforms to the criteria of Christ.

Again the Master says, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19).

The disciplined life is one of simplicity, consistency, and conformity to Jesus Christ. It is a daily journey of loving obedience, devotion to the Lord, and help to humanity.

Disciplined disciples do not require the same things that others need. They are defined by the transforming grace of God at work within and through them, not by adhering to current trends of society.

They can see beyond the momentary and get a glimpse of the eternal. Discipline means that they are consistently training by means of prayer, in reading the Scriptures, worshiping together with the church, and helping their neighbors.

They are followers of the One who lived with a singular agenda—to do the will of His Father who sent Him.

There is a cost to disregarding discipline.

Paul testified, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

Apparently, we can sabotage our journey with self-indulgence. We have to recapture the truth that there are times when we need to tell ourselves “No!”

“He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.” (Proverbs 5:23 ESV)

We have been badly deceived about discipline. It’s an absolute necessity for every believer in Christ.

Instead of wincing at the word let’s embrace the discipline that makes real disciples.

When the Holy Spirit corrects us (even by using a pastor who’s faithful in proclaiming the Word) we ought to receive it for what it is—genuine love guiding us into a deeper walk with the Lord—making disciples.

Micah J. Sturm

The government is corrupt.

Morality is nearly nonexistent.

Taxes are exorbitant, the economy is struggling, and violence prevails in city streets.

Into this reality, John the Baptist answered the call of God on his life and preached—yes, he PREACHED —it was the method desperately needed in such a chaotic hour!

The Baptist, in holy harshness, stirred up the snakes who slithered in their sanctimonious pride.

Luke 3: 1-18 records that three groups of people come to John the Baptist with the same question—crowds, tax collectors, and soldiers—all ask, “What shall we do?”

His answer echoes to our ears today:

REPENT—turn around and follow the Lord!

RELEASE

Release STUFF

Hold “things” very loosely!

The “crowds” hold on to their stuff and we are called to open our hearts and hands to others as servants of the Lord.

Release SELF-centeredness.

Tax collectors were lonely people because they lived only for themselves. They took advantage of others to promote themselves.

Release the STRUGGLE

Soldiers FIGHT—it’s kind of in their DNA.

We fight too.

But happiness and holiness are connected to contentment.

We must DEFEND LESS and DEPEND MORE.

RECEIVE

Beyond forgiveness is a fiery baptism.

Christ wants to burn up the useless stuff (chaff) in our hearts and lives so we can receive the fullness of joy through His Spirit.

John the Baptist preached,

“The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

John 3:29-30, 36 ESV

Real joy is often unspeakable.

It may rest behind tear stained faces or within heavy hearts.

But it’s there as a gift of God’s grace!

Real joy comes from repentance, release, and receiving the very Spirit of the One for whom the “trees of the field…clap their hands!”

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,”

1 Peter 1:8 ESV

Micah J. Sturm

Recently, I had a sobering thought that puts everyday life into perspective.

Genetics are powerful. So is math.

One grandfather passed away at the age of 63 and the other at age 72.

If genetics determine my lifespan, then I may only have between 18-28 years to make a difference!

I don’t have time for the nonsense that dominates most of our days!

Let’s live with eternity in our view…we don’t have any time to waste!

“‘Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.

You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.

My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.’”

Psalms 39:4-5 NLT

* (On the other hand, much to the dismay of my enemies, my grandmother and great-grandmother reached their 90s!)

Micah J. Sturm

Evangelism is not optional for the Church.

We are commissioned by Christ Himself to win the world. Indeed, it matters HOW we win them.

Potlucks, pseudo-community, programs, political activism, and everything else are poor substitutes that will get a crowd—but, they must maintain constant satisfaction in order to keep the crowd.

Personal encounters with the powerful presence of the living Lord, participation in the communion of saints, prayer meetings, practicing biblical standards of holy living, and the like may not garner the biggest crowds—but that crowd will find the Word of God true, the grace of God sufficient, and the presence of God will be the magnet that keeps them.

The best evangelism efforts are simple. When believers rely on the Holy Spirit, then He makes even the mundane and coincidental actually orchestrated to brag on Jesus.

Let’s discard every method that distracts from making real disciples.

Gimmicks must go.

Silliness never produces saints.

Jesus makes it simple in Luke 24:45-53:

(1) “Then he opened their minds to under the Scriptures”—Bible saturation

(2) Preach transformation in his name to everyone

(3) Know Jesus firsthand—a personal encounter

(4) The power of the Holy Spirit is a necessity

How we evangelize determines the kind of disciples that are made.

May God help us to win people to Jesus by way of authentic living that magnifies His transforming grace!



Micah J. Sturm

It was the craziest thing I had ever heard! This lady stood up in a convincing voice and said, “I praise the Lord that He’s given us a heaven to go to Heaven in!” Hearty amens came from nodding heads and tear stained faces aglow with smiling affirmations!

What I heard in that dear lady’s testimony, and in many others since, captivated my heart. How could people say that they enjoyed a measure of heaven here and now?

Life is often overwhelmingly difficult, distressing, depressing, and dark—even for those who have received Christ. But if it’s possible to have a touch of heaven now, then I’m interested!

The Bible says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6).

I still believe in a real place of eternal union with Jesus Christ that far exceeds human imagination—a place called Heaven. The never ending day of praise around the throne of God, joining the voices of all those who have been redeemed, and living forever in the presence of Jesus Christ is the ultimate destiny for all who believe!

When our forgiven hearts and lives are surrendered to Him, we enjoy a full cleansing from sin (1 John 1:7), the joy of the Holy Spirit, and a daily preview from heavenly seats with Jesus! The transforming love and grace of God absolutely elevates our daily existence into His presence!

“Since Christ my soul from sin set free,

This world has been a Heav’n to me;

And ‘mid earth’s sorrows and its woe,

‘Tis Heav’n my Jesus here to know.

Chorus:

O hallelujah, yes, ’tis Heav’n,

‘Tis Heav’n to know my sins forgiv’n;

On land or sea, what matters where?

Where Jesus is, ’tis Heaven there.

Once Heaven seemed a far-off place,

Till Jesus showed His smiling face;

Now it’s begun within my soul,

‘Twill last while endless ages roll.

What matters where on earth we dwell?

On mountain top, or in the dell?

In cottage, or a mansion fair,

Where Jesus is, ’tis Heaven there.”

(C.F. Butler)

Knowing Christ is everything to us, no matter where we find ourselves on the journey, we have a heaven to go to heaven in—enjoy the touch of heaven right here and right now!

Micah J. Sturm

God still makes saints.

I have seen His transforming grace do it.

It’s the reality of Christian holiness.

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB

The lives of those who have been transformed and who now reside in glory are gifts from the Lord to be treasured.

May the Church return to her reason for being—to proclaim the Christ who rescues from sin!

We desperately need more saints among us.

For all those saints who point me to Christ, I say, “Thanks be to God!”

Micah J. Sturm

HELL will never be full.

“Hell and destruction are never full…”

Proverbs 27:20 KJV

But nobody really expects to go there.

HEAVEN won’t be crowded.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Matthew 7:13-14 ESV

Everybody expecting to go there may not make it.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’”

Matthew 7:21-23 NRSV

The HOLY way is the only way—the way of complete abandonment to Christ.

He is the One who says, “Fear not” and makes it possible to have HOPE!

At the end there will be no excuses, no explanations, and no exceptions.

To endure one more moment without knowing Christ is a scary thought.

Micah J. Sturm

Encountering Jesus Christ changed my life—He made a difference!

I give thanks to Him that the people whom He used to nurture me actually live and believe the following statement:

“The church joyfully proclaims the good news that we may be delivered from all sin to a new life in Christ. By the grace of God we Christians are “to put off the old self ”—the old patterns of conduct as well as the old carnal mind—and are “to put on the new self ”—a new and holy way of life as well as the mind of Christ.

It is further recognized that there is validity in the concept of the collective Christian conscience as illuminated and guided by the Holy Spirit.

The historic ethical standards of the church…should be followed carefully and conscientiously as guides and helps to holy living. Those who violate the conscience of the church do so at their own peril and to the hurt of the witness of the church.

The Church of the Nazarene believes this new and holy way of life involves practices to be avoided and redemptive acts of love to be accomplished for the souls, minds, and bodies of our neighbors.

Our leaders and pastors are expected to give strong emphasis in our periodicals and from our pulpits to such fundamental biblical truths as will develop the faculty of discrimination between the evil and the good.

We suggest that the standard given to John Wesley by his mother, namely, “whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of your body over mind, that thing for you is sin,” form the basis for this teaching of discrimination.”

(Manual, Church of the Nazarene, Covenant of Christian Conduct)

Is there any difference in you?

What needs to change?

The best mission statement I’ve heard:

“To know the transforming Christ and be found faithful in our generation!”

Make it so, dear Lord.

Micah J. Sturm

The Church has convinced itself that what is embraced by our physical lives has absolutely no impact on our spiritual standing with God.

Thus, Christians can lie, cheat, steal, gossip, slander, murder, covet, and be just as promiscuous and perverse as anyone else without any real consequence to eternity.

However, what we allow to enter our minds, exits our mouths, become habits, and will either enhance or poison our relationship with Christ.

“Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused…So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies…Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”

Romans 1:21, 24, 28-32 NLT

How we live really does matter!

Eternal security says, “Nothing we do or leave undone can change our claim to heaven!”

Blessed assurance says, “The Holy Spirit leads, guides, guards, and assures us that we are right with God!”

Micah J. Sturm

“For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified” (2 Chronicles 30:17).

The history of God’s people reads like a relationship on a roller coaster.

A righteous king rules for some time leading the people in faithfulness to God. That pattern dies with the king only to be followed by a wicked monarch who defies everything to do with the righteousness and holiness of the one true God.

This ancient cycle remains among the Church today.

Like King Ahaz, whose name means “he grasped,” we have many in the congregation who are grasping at everything to find what’s missing in our lives.

We claim our identity as the children of God but are in practice serving substitutes—carving out our own image of truth (see 2 Chronicles 28:2).

In an attempt to blend in with the culture around us, we sacrifice our children on the altars of self-advancement (28:3).

We spread ourselves out and give all we have to everything except God (28:4); in fact, we even embrace and seek help from our enemy (28:16-23).

Our choices can contribute to the closing of the doors to the house of God (28:24) or, at least making the Church ineffective in our mission! There must be the recognition that something is very wrong with this!

When Ahaz dies, his son Hezekiah (“the strength of the LORD”) begins his reign with the desire to return to the point from which his father had departed.

Hezekiah orders the removal of all the filth! In the strength of God, he got rid of everything that contaminated or cluttered the dwelling place of God (29:5, 16-19).

Hezekiah invites the people of God to return to their roots by the renewed celebration of their Independence Day—Passover, when God delivered them from bondage in Egypt!

The desired return involves a rejection of their stubbornness, yielding themselves to the LORD, coming to His house, and serving Him (30:7-8).

There were critics (30:10) then and now. But those who responded had “singleness of heart” to obey the LORD (30:12)!

The people of God who joined the king in recognizing something was wrong, who removed the filth from within, who returned to their roots as those freed from their chains—these were renewed with rejoicing like they had never known (30:21, 25-26)!

I am convinced that this is the greatest need of the Church—entire sanctification as a miraculous moment of God’s grace that propels believers into limitless possibilities!

Too many of us live as Ahaz—grasping for things that promote us thus leading us further from the Lord. Let’s follow the pattern of Hezekiah and, in the strength of God:

(1) Realize that something is missing in our relationship with the Lord—too much self and clutter;

(2) Remove the filth that’s been permitted to infiltrate our hearts and lives;

(3) Return to our roots as holiness people—people set free by Christ and inhabited by His Spirit making us a different people;

(4) Renew our rejoicing—what we thought was gone forever can be restored in abundance!

The Church continues the roller coaster relationship with the Lord.

However, it is absolutely a possibility of divine grace to live with a stability of heart that keeps our focus intensely on Christ.

We’ve lived beneath our privilege and settled for a life of grasping when the strength of God is available!

What a difference our churches would make in this world and for eternity if MANY in the congregation WERE sanctified!