Going Directly to God

Photo: Jamiesrabbits

Christian publishers are in a bit of a conundrum when it comes to publishing devotional books for men. The data tells them that, in general, men don’t read, but they still want to provide good quality material for those who do.

Throw in the fact that we, as men, seem to be busier than ever, and we end up with book titles such as, One-Minute Devotions for Dads, 5-Minute Bible Workouts for Men, 5 Minutes a Day: 365 Daily Devotions for Men, Five Minutes in the Bible for Men and One-Minute Pocket Bible for Men.

Devotional material, short or otherwise, is fine. It can be an appetizer that prepares us for the main course. But devotional material makes a poor substitute for the main course.

In his book, Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups [Revised], Richard Foster tells the following story:

I know two brilliant Christians who come to the daily morning devotions without their Bibles. They can meditate, they say. They are both shallow. For they mediate God to themselves through their own thinking – they become the medium. They do not go to God direct as they imagine – they go through their own thinking; they become the mediator. That is why we have to have the revelation of God through the Word. It is God interpreting himself to us. His interpretation of himself is Jesus. When you expose your thinking to him, you expose yourself to God.

I say this as someone who has written a number of devotional books – if you are pressed for time on any particular morning (or evening, or whenever you do your devotions) and have to skip something, skip the devotional book you are using and spend your time in the Word.

Using Classic Theological Works for Devotions

One of the items on my bucket list is to read The Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. Given that it’s more than 1,000 pages, the chances of that happening weren’t all the likely until I decided to begin using it during my morning devotions a year or so ago.

His work is divided into small sections and I can easily read two sections each morning in under ten minutes. Even though he wrote his treatise some 500 years ago, his understanding of the human condition still causes my thoughts to turn toward Christ and his mercy.

Here is one such nugget from the book early on, in a section called “The Knowledge of God and of Ourselves Connected”:

Our feeling of ignorance, vanity, want, weakness, in short, depravity and corruption, reminds us, that in the Lord, and none but he, dwell the true light of wisdom, solid virtue, exuberant goodness. We are accordingly urged by our own evil things to consider the good things of God; and, indeed, we cannot aspire to him in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves.

Such thoughts prompt me to dig deeper into my own ignorance, vanity, want and weakness – in short, depravity and corruption.

Another classic theological work I plan to work my way through during my morning devotions is Table Talk by Martin Luther. It too is broken down into small sections that will work perfectly for devotions.

Have you ever considered, or are you currently using a classic theological work during your devotional time? You can receive many of them free, or at nominal cost, if you own a Kindle. Just jump over to the Amazon.com Kindle page and search for your favorite classic author. I just did a search for Martin Luther and these titles are free for the Kindle:

Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther
Works of Martin Luther with Introductions and Notes
Concerning Christian Liberty
A Treatise on Good Works

Daily Quiet Time Tips for New Believers

I asked this question on social media last week: What one tip would you offer a new believer about starting a daily quiet time? [If you are not following The Spiritual Man Cave on social media, here’s your chance: Twitter / Facebook.]

Here are a couple of the answers I received – both had a similar theme:

“Get a book of short devotionals that has scripture readings with each daily devotion – something like Our Daily Bread,” said Pat Mingarelli with the Creation Speaks Project.

Our Daily Bread (ODB) was the first devotional book(let) I used when I became a Christian. ODB provides an audio version of each devotion that Christian radio stations run. That’s how I first learned about it. Now, you can go to the ODB website and either read or listen to the devotion whenever you want to.

One of the reasons it’s a great resource for new believers is because it starts with a real life anecdote that most of us can relate to. And then it makes a spiritual application. Those little life lessons tend to stick with you the rest of the day, and beyond.

Pastor and author Ron Benson also suggested starting small, but he expanded upon that by saying to tie the small start to an already established habit.

“A small start would be a read-through of the gospel of John, or an epistle like Ephesians. I wouldn’t, for instance, recommend a full-on read-through of the whole Bible. I’ve found that when I tie a new habit with an old habit, the new one falls into place much quicker. For instance, if you have a half-cup of coffee every morning before anything else, tie that coffee into a talk with God. Or if you shower every day, start having a quiet time ten minutes before your shower every day.”

Let’s keep this going in the comments. What one tip would you offer a new believer about starting a daily quiet time? Or maybe the better question is, what one tip have you offered a new believer about starting a daily quiet time that helped him or her?

Q & A with Author Doug Gilmer, Part 2

Today we continue with Part 2 of the Q & A with Doug Gilmer, author of the devotional book, Backcountry Devotions (available in both print and e-book format: Kindle / Nook).

If you missed Part 1, here is a link so you can catch up.

Your devotional also includes beautiful photos that go along with your messages. Did you do that because men are so visual? 

A picture is worth a thousand words someone once said. The idea behind the pictures wasn’t for more visually inclined men but for everyone, women included. It doesn’t matter if you are a man or woman to appreciate the beauty and majesty of God’s creation.

As a matter of fact, in the Adventure Leadership and Outdoor Ministry academic program I direct at Liberty University, nearly half of my students are women. Along with this is the fact I have been writing for magazines for several years and I know the power the photographs contain in helping to illustrate or otherwise tell a story.

And in full disclosure, while some of the photos are mine, some came from the publisher. The cover photo was shot by James Overstreet, a photographer for ESPN Outdoors and all around great guy. More of his work can be viewed at OutdoorShooter.com.

What does your current devotional life look like? Do you use devotional material, are you studying a certain theme, something else?

My mind rarely slows down and I am constantly researching or thinking of new ideas to explore in Scripture. I keep them written down in a journal and I work down the list. I don’t use too many devotional books myself except for some of the classics as I don’t want to rely on them.

Being in academia I have to read a great deal of faith-based research or other material regularly. Forcing myself to do self study keeps me sharp. One book I have enjoyed recently, however, is called “The Thrive Journal” by Linda Freeman. Instead of being just an inspirational devotional, it is very introspective and forces you to think.

I also spend a great deal of time journaling what it is I am studying so I can go back and review it later. It’s amazing to me to go back and see where God has taken me spiritually over the years just by going back and reading what I have journaled.

Do you have any practical tips for us regarding our devotional time – anything that has worked well for you? 

As I mentioned previously, journaling is a key element for me and should be a part of anyone’s devotional time. Keeping a journal documents what God is teaching us, reminds us of where we’ve been, and helps to chart a course of where we are headed.

I also have my quiet time in the morning, however, that doesn’t mean mornings are the right time for everyone. Whether you have your devotional time in the morning, noon, or night; seven, five, or three days a week, the key is consistency. Make it a habit.

Also, make it interesting and relevant to where you are in life. Your devotions should not be a drudgery. You should look forward to them and to what God is going to teach you.

I am so committed to journaling that I require all of my college students in my program to keep a journal. Each week they are required to spend time outside and they have to journal about the experience. Not only that, but they have to make a spiritual application, from the Bible, to their journal entry. They have to turn them in every week. I don’t call attendance – my teaching assistant and I review journals instead. At least once in the semester, all of my students will have to give a 10 minute devotion to the class based on one of those journal entries. I call it outdoor exegesis.

One study for me which never gets old is the Psalms and Proverbs. I don’t care who you are, they are always relevant. There are 150 Psalms and 31 Proverbs. Read five Psalms each day and one Proverb and you will work your way through them in a month (just leave yourself extra time when you reach the day on which you read Psalms 119!).

Anything you want to add?

Being outdoors is not only fun and relaxing, but it can also be an incredible time of renewal, comfort and counsel. When we are outside. we see just how big God is, just how small we are, and how insignificant our problems seem when compared to a God who created all that we see.

In Mark 9, the disciples didn’t fully witness Jesus as God over six days of hanging out with him. It wasn’t until he intentionally took them, led them up on a high mountain, away from everyone else and free from all distraction, that they saw his divine presence.

In Genesis 15, God appeared to Abraham and made him a promise. Abraham could not understand what God was telling him until God brought him outside (verse 5). Once he left the security of his tent, he saw the stars above and God’s promise became real.

When Job was destitute, defeated, and beginning to question God over all that happened to him, he is given this advice in chapter 37:14, “Listen to this O Job, Stand and consider the wonders of God.” This is good advice for all of us, “Stand and consider the wonders of God.” When we do, we can’t help but be amazed and we can’t help but see God for who he truly is.

You can read more of Doug's insights on his blog: Backcountry Chaplain. And you can follow him on Twitter: @DouglasGilmer.

Starting before the Face of the King

The inside cover of the copy of “Words of
Wisdom” Coach Moore sent me.

The world will remember Appalachian State head football coach Jerry Moore for his impressive career statistics. Heaven will remember him for a different set of numbers.

I interviewed Moore six years ago for Baptist Press Sports. They had just won their second straight NCAA Division I FCS national championship. They went on to win the championship the next year as well.

Over his 24-year career at Appalachian State, Moore compiled a 215-87 record, making him the winningest coach in Southern Conference history. His team won ten conference titles, including six straight from 2005-10.

He illustrious career came to an end after last season. Some say he retired, some say he was pushed out. But either way, I have a feeling the 73-year-old won’t be thinking about his career statistics. Instead he’ll be thinking about the players he has coached over the years.

But let me back up a little.

When I talked to him, he came to life when I asked him about his devotional habits. He told me he uses a 31-day devotional guide called “Words of Wisdom” that a friend gave him while he was an assistant coach at Arkansas in 1989. The book only includes the words of the Psalms and Proverbs – broken down into daily readings of five psalms and one proverb.

“When I get up in the morning, I’ll pour myself a cup of coffee and I won’t read a newspaper,” Moore told me. “I won’t watch the news. I won’t read a flyer that may be laying there. I won’t read anything until I’ve read my five psalms and one proverb. I haven’t been a hundred percent, but I’ve started nearly every day that way since 1989.”

He tapes pictures of his relatives and friends throughout the book so he can remember to pray for them. And he has given hundreds of his players a copy of the book as well. Before he hands them a copy, he inscribes a quote from F.B. Meyer on the inside cover: “Let the first moments of the day, when your heart is fresh, be given to God. Do not see the face of man till you have seen the King.”

He once brought in a speaker who presented the gospel and 57 players and one coach either placed their faith in Christ for the first time or made a recommitment. He wrote down all 58 names in his “Words of Wisdom” book and he told me he prays for them regularly. It’s a beautiful legacy of one man who starts each morning before the face of the King of Kings.

A few days after our interview, a package arrived at my house. I opened it and found my own leather bound copy of “Words of Wisdom” from Coach Moore. He had my name engraved on the cover and inside he wrote the F.B. Meyer quote.

I think the book has gone through several editions and they are hard to come by, but I found one edition still available through Amazon.com (they have 19 used copies as of this writing). Of course, you don’t need to buy a copy. You can read five psalms and one proverb every day out of your own Bible. But the edition Moore sent me has is compact and has room for notes, prayers, and photos, so that’s nice too.

Either way, if you are struggling with something and need wisdom from on high, what better place to turn for the next month than the Psalms and Proverbs?

Q & A with Author Nick Harrison, Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of the Q & A with Nick Harrison, senior editor at Harvest House Publishers and author of five devotional books, you missed a lot. Go back and read it, and then enjoy Part 2.

And if you are looking for some new devotional material, I hope you will stop by Nick’s website and pick up one or two of his books.

You became a Christian through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ during the Jesus Movement of the 1970s. How long did it take you to establish a devotional life and what did it look like initially?

Early on, I used the popular devotionals such as “My Utmost for His Highest” and “Streams in the Desert.” Every Christian should go through those books several times in their lifetime.

As you matured in the faith, how did that change?

I became a bit less rigid in my desire to read a daily devotional and changed more to books that were simply devotional in nature. These would include some of those writers I quote often: Andrew Murray, Hannah Whitall Smith, Watchman Nee, and others.

What types of devotional material do you use today? Are you working through a certain devotional book right now?

I’m still reading the old writers. I find that they take me to a place many contemporary writers don’t. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the contemporary writers – I do. But for growth and for the devotional life, I really prefer the classic authors.

Do you have any practical tips for us regarding our devotional time – anything that has worked well for you (like keeping a spiritual journal, or meeting with God at the same time every day, etc.)?

I often hear people saying that devotions are best done in the morning. Maybe that’s true for some, but I don’t think that’s true of everyone. I’m more of a night person and I can enjoy time with the Lord more in the evening than in the morning.

I would say that everyone should find the time, the place, and the reading matter that’s right for them and forget about rules – with one possible exception, and that’s that some of us have to set aside a specific time to be alone with God or it won’t happen. We get so easily distracted. Choose a time that works for you and consider it as if it’s an appointment. We wouldn’t easily skip a doctor’s appointment or a lunch date with a friend; neither should we want to skip a set time we meet with the Lord.

Above all, our time with God should be natural, not forced. If it’s forced, try to find ways to make it more natural. Change locations, the time, or the format. Or if you’re just starting, don’t try to make it a long appointment. Start with five or ten minutes and see if it grows over time.

Everybody is busy these days. But let’s talk specifically about men right now. Few of us work eight hours a day without being accessible to the office via our smart phones. We want to spend time with our family and attend our children’s extracurricular activities. We also need downtime. And usually, one of the first things to go when life gets busy is our daily devotional time. Why is it so important for us to make time to spend with God every day?

I think the simplest reason is that we become like those we spend the most time with. If we spend a lot of time in front of TV, we’ll begin to adopt the attitudes and persona of those we watch on the tube. If we spend more time with the Lord, we will become more like Him.

Another benefit is that being still with the Lord (and being still should be part of our time with Him) helps us quiet our souls. I have a problem with quieting my soul. My soul is very easily stimulated and can jump from one thing to the next without thinking. Being quiet helps me learn stillness. For me, that’s important.

Being busy is no excuse. Martin Luther reportedly said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” I’m not there yet (praying three hours on busy days) and never will be, but then I’m not called to be Martin Luther. That’s really an important lesson: we all need to find our identity in Christ and our calling in this life and then live it out as faithfully as we can. I’m convinced if a person does that, he or she will have a happy productive life.

On Rising Early to Pray

I’m working my way through the 40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer (which you can receive for free via email from BibleGateway).

On Day 3, here’s what Bonhoeffer has to say about Mark 1:35, which says, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

This order and discipline must be sought and found in the morning prayer. It will stand the test at work. Prayer offered in early morning is decisive for the day. The wasted time we are ashamed of, the temptations we succumb to, the weakness and discouragement in our work, the disorder and lack of discipline in our thinking and in our dealings with other people – all these very frequently have their cause in our neglect of morning prayer. The ordering and scheduling of our time will become more secure when it comes from prayer.

I definitely find this to be true in my life. How about you?

We can draw a number of other implications for our devotional life from Mark 1:35 as well.

1. Jesus rose very early, while it was still dark.

The previous day had been a busy one for Jesus. Starting at sundown, he healed “many” and cast out “many” demons (verse 34), but he got up early anyway. We do not know what time he went to bed, but generally speaking, it would seem that we need to go to bed early enough to rise early the next morning so we can spend time with the Father before the cares of this world creep in. 

2. Jesus went to a desolate place to pray.

If Jesus desired, or needed, a private place to pray, how much more do we? Bible commentator Matthew Henry makes this point: “His retirement to his private devotion; He prayed, prayed alone; to set us an example of secret prayer.”

3. Jesus prayed.

And here’s Henry’s take ... I love this: “Though as God he was prayed to, as man he prayed. Though he was glorifying God, and doing good, in his public work, yet he found time to be alone with his Father; and thus it became him to fulfil all righteousness.”

How does your early morning prayer routine compare or contrast? Personally, mine needs some work.

Meditating Day and Night

Here is one of the cards I've been meditating on lately.

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:8)

A few years ago I drove down a side street and saw a friend of mine who was out for one of his routine walks. He didn’t see me, mostly because he was flipping through index cards as he walked.

He was in the habit of writing Bible verses on those cards and carrying them with him so he could refer to them throughout the day.

Seeing him with his index cards in action prompted me to do the same. During my morning devotions I began writing down verses that either encouraged or challenged me. And then, like my friend, I began meditating on them day and night.

Here are a few places I use them:

1. Walking. I walk a mile several times a week, often listening to music on my iPod. But before I hit play, I work my way through five or ten index cards – usually containing the most recent verses I’ve written down.


2. Drive-throughs. Whether I’m banking, picking up a prescription or waiting for food, I always have a few minutes to kill while sitting in a drive-through. It’s the perfect time to read and think about the verses on my index cards.


3. Waiting rooms. When I’m getting my car fixed or waiting for my doctor, I work my way through my index cards several times with plenty of time to spare to read the book I brought with me.


4. Lunch. I don’t always do it, but I try to work my way through my index cards before I go back to work after lunch.


5. Meetings. As a sportswriter, I often have time to kill in the press box or before I interview a player or coach. What better time to pull out my index cards to reorient my mind?

You probably have several stretches during your day in which you have several minutes of downtime. Use it to meditate on God’s Word.