Back to Jesus

Os Guinness:

...for instance in England, there was a vogue for the term, “post-Evangelical.” That’s absolutely ludicrous. If someone is an ex-Evangelical, in other words, they once were an Evangelical, but no longer are, then terrific. At least they’re honest enough to say so, I mean that’s sad, but they’re honest. To be post-Evangelical says nothing. What are they, positively? Are they liberal Christians, catholic Christians, orthodox Christians, neo-Orthodox, what are they? Post-Evangelical just says what they were, it says nothing about they are. All the post-y terms are useless…

The way I defined (Evangelicalism), it’d be foolish to be past it, you should be back to it. There was a time when Billy Graham came back from the Soviet Union, and the liberal churchmen from the council of churches said that Billy Graham had, “set the clock back 50 years for the church,” and Billy answered, “I wish I had set the church back 2,000 years.” In other words, Evangelicals should always be going back as a close a system as we can, to Jesus.

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Mentoring in the Bible and Today

Bruce Miller, writing in the current issue of EFCA Today:

Often, our greatest impact is not our direct ministry but the person or people we are influencing in the process of doing ministry. Think about some of the great leaders of the Bible. What would have happened had someone else not mentored them in the midst of doing ministry together?

Who led Israel to conquer the Promised Land? Joshua. Who mentored him? Moses. As great a leader as Moses was, he did not have the privilege of taking Israel into the land, conquering the enemies of God. Whom are you influencing who might take a city for Christ after you?

Who led 10,000 soldiers to war against Sisera? Barak. Who advised him on his battle plan and then, when he expressed reluctance, accompanied him into battle? Who also co-wrote a victory song with him? Deborah. Although Deborah did not lead the battle, nor is she mentioned in Hebrews 11 alongside Barak with those who conquered kingdoms, without her direction and presence, there would not have been a victory. Whom might you equip for great battles?

What prophet did the most miracles in the Old Testament? Elisha. Who developed him? Elijah. While Elijah performed many wonderful miracles, the Bible tells us that God enabled Elisha to do twice as many miracles with a double portion of God’s Spirit. Whom are you developing that God might use to do twice as many miraculous things as He has done through you?

Who took Christianity all over the Roman Empire? The 12 disciples. Who developed them? Jesus. Remarkably, Jesus never traveled more than 50 miles from His home. Never started a church, school or any other organization. He simply poured His life into a few people, who then took Christianity all over the world. Who will take the gospel to far corners of the world? You could be building into that person’s life right now.

Who wrote the most books in the New Testament and was the greatest missionary of his time? Paul. Who mentored him? Barnabas. Two thousand years later, Paul is clearly the more famous of the two, but who had the greater impact? Only God knows. You may never write a book, but God may use you to invest in the life of a future author whose books will race around the world in dozens of translations.

Look at yourself as Moses, Deborah or Barnabas. Who is the Joshua, the Barak, the Paul you are developing? Presence and duration are keys to mentoring. God only knows how the person you are mentoring today may serve Christ in ways beyond your wildest dreams.

Here's the article at the EFCA Today site.

Necessary Assumptions

I've seen several positive reviews for Gospel-Powered Parenting by William P. Farley, but I've only read the first chapter. It concludes with the following summary.

This chapter argues that assumptions are important. Ultimately, they put on shoes and go walking, practically affecting our parenting. We briefly looked at five assumptions that parents need to make.

First, effective Christian parents assume that parenting will not be easy, but that the rewards will ultimately make it all worthwhile.

Second, effective Christian parents are willing to hold God’s sovereignty and their responsibility in tension.

Third, effective Christian parents assume an offensive mind-set. They pursue their children’s hearts. They do everything possible to make the gospel attractive. Protecting their children from worldly influence is not their fundamental goal.

Fourth, effective Christian parents are shrewd about new birth. They do not assume it. They understand the nature of new birth, and they carefully look for its symptoms.

Fifth, effective Christian parents labor to focus their families on God, not their children.

In all of this, we have continually referenced the gospel. The thesis of this book is that the gospel empowers effective parenting.

Go here to read the whole chapter.

For the Love of God

If you're still looking for a devotional plan for the year, check out the For the Love of God blog.

From the site:

For the Love of God is a daily devotional designed to walk a person through the Bible in a year while assisting the reader in discovering the riches of God’s Word. Originally published by Crossway Books (volume 1 in 1998 and volume 2 in 1999), this “blog” is really not a blog at all, but a free digital version of the devotional provided by TGC and Crossway. Our hope is that this daily devotional will deepen your understanding and appreciation of God’s Word—for the love of God.

I went through these books a couple of times a number of years ago, and they're well worth your time. Follow the link above to get on board.

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We Are Planted in God

I read this in the morning...

Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

...and then I saw this tonight.

John Piper:

God is a flower of truth and right and beauty, and he has no roots and needs no water, no sunshine, no soil. He is absolutely self-sufficient.

We are planted in God. We get all our water and light and nutrition from him.

Yes, we can cut our stem and try to be like him.

We can be our own source of life and light and truth and right and beauty.

We can. And die.

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The Glory of God in Creation

From James C. Schaap, professor of English at Dordt College, featuring quotes about creation from the writings of John Calvin, music by the Dordt College Concert Choir, and photography by Schaap (of our beautiful Midwestern United States).



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Worship the God of History

John Stott:

Somebody once suggested that "the most accurate chart of the meaning of history is the set of tracks made by a drunken fly with feet wet with ink, staggering across a piece of white paper. They lead nowhere and reflect no pattern of meaning." Similarly, Rudolf Bultmann wrote that "the question of meaning in history has become meaningless."

Christians who look to Scripture as their authority profoundly disagree with these gloomy assessments. For the God of the Bible is the God of history. He has entitled himself "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." He chose Israel out of the nations to be his covenant people and took about two thousand years to prepare them for the fulfillment of his promise to Abraham in the coming of their Messiah. Above all, he came to us in Jesus Christ when Augustus was emperor of Rome, and "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried." Then on the third day he rose again and, having sent his Spirit, has for two further millennia been pushing his church out into the world to take the good news to its furthest extremities. One day (known only to the Father), when the gospel has been preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations" (Mt. 24:13), the end will come. For Christ will return in glory, terminate the historical process and perfect his reign.

From The Gospel and the End of Time

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Resolutions from the Book of James

Sinclair Ferguson:

The book of James has at least 20 resolutions that need to be part of the Christian’s covenant with God about how the believer is going to employ the tongue and lips, and master the heart in such a way that the beauty of Jesus is expressed:

I resolve to ask God for wisdom to speak out of a single-minded devotion to him (James 1:5).

I resolve to boast only in the exultation I receive in Jesus Christ and also in the humiliation I receive for Jesus Christ (James 1:9-10).

I resolve to set a watch over my mouth (James 1:13).

I resolve to be constantly quick to hear and slow to speak (James 1:19).

I resolve to learn the gospel way of speaking to both rich and poor (James 2:1-4).

I resolve to speak in the present consciousness of my final judgment (James 2:12).

I resolve never to stand on anyone’s face with the words I employ (James 2:16).

I resolve never to claim as reality in my life what I do not truly experience (James 3:14).

I resolve to resist quarrelsome words as evidence of a bad heart that needs to be mortified (James 4:1).

I resolve never to speak decided evil against another out of a heart of antagonism (James 4:11).

I resolve never to boast in any thing but what I will accomplish (James 4:13).

I resolve to speak as one subject to the providences of God (James 4:15).

I resolve never to grumble. The judge is at the door (James 5:9).

I resolve never to allow anything but total integrity in everything I say (James 5:12).

I resolve to speak to God in prayer whenever I suffer (James 5:13).

I resolve to sing praises to God whenever I’m cheerful (James 5:14).

I resolve to ask for the prayers of others when I’m in need (James 5:14).

I resolve to confess it whenever I have failed (James 5:15).

I resolve to pray with others for one another whenever I am together with them (James 5:15).

I resolve to speak words of restoration when I see another wander (James 5:19).

Wherever you are, it’s not so much what you say while you're in the room, it’s the questions people have when you leave the room. “Where do you come from?” This is someone who has been with Jesus. By God’s grace, James says that we may so grow to maturity that we may begin to speak like our blessed Lord Jesus.

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We Rejected Him

Colin Smith:

We live in a Christ-rejecting world. “He came to His own and His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). That truth from the Bible helps me make sense of the news.

When natural disasters happen, people say, “Why doesn’t God do something about that?” But when He came and calmed the storm, we rejected Him. When gunmen are terrorizing schools, we say, “Why doesn’t God do something about that?” But when He came and cast out demons, we asked Him to leave. When we see cancer, we say, “Why doesn’t God do something about that?” But when He came and healed the sick, we rejected Him.

He came to His own and His own did not receive Him. But thank God it doesn’t end there. “Yet to all who received Him … He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11, 12).

Working Hard as You Depend on God

Josh Harris:

The Spirit-filled life is not a toil-free life. It's not a life without struggle. The Spirit-filled life is toil and struggleenergized and enabled by the Spirit.

So if you feel like you're struggling against sin and having to work as you follow Christ, don't think you're doing something wrong. That is the Christian life! Becoming a Christian and being filled by the Spirit doesn't mean that God doesn't remove all need for effort and struggle. Instead he promises to give power in the struggle. And that is what gives us joy in the midst of our work--knowing that our ultimate hope is the power of the Holy Spirit.

This doesn't mean God's Spirit can't powerfully transform someone in an instant. The Holy Spirit can do whatever he wants to do! There are times where the Spirit powerfully frees people from a specific pattern of sin or addiction. There are moments when the Spirit works so that we're given faith or joy and changed in an instant. That's wonderful and we should ask for that and rejoice when it happens.

But the majority of time it seems the Spirit chooses to involve us in the process of transformation. So he doesn't immediately remove the area of temptation--instead he empowers us to resist and pray and fight sin. We're called to "walk by the Spirit" in Galatians 5, which means to be guided by and empowered by the Spirit. We participate in living a life that pleases God's Spirit and turns from our sinful, fleshly desires. And the wonderful reality is that it's in this process of working and yet relying that we see him powerfully working in us both to "will and to work for his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). In these moments we see his power in our weakness and we glorify God. Though this ongoing work of sanctification is slower and involves real effort on our part it's no less wonderful than instantaneous freedom. God is glorified in both.

Next Sermon - Matthew 21:18-46

Here's the text for this coming Sunday's sermon, as we return to our series in the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 21:18-46

18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

Show and Tell

It's true-- they don't make 'em like they used to. Originally published in 1962 and rerun yesterday, click the image below to see it in all its glory (and without getting ink on your hands).

More Mystical

"America has become somewhat less Christian, but much more mystical," says Ross Douthat, and he's got a graph from the Pew Forum to back it up here.

Sufficient Grace

Iain Duguid on the story of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego from Daniel 3:

As a child and a young person, I sometimes used to wonder and worry about what it would be like to be in their position. What would I do, if I were faced with a similar choice between denying Christ and a painful death? I doubted whether I would be so bold in service of the Lord as these young men were; I feared rather that I would cave under the pressure. As I have grown older, however, I have come to realize two things. First, God has not promised to give us the grace to face all of the desperate situations that we might imagine finding ourselves in. He has promised to sustain us only in the ones that he actually brings us into. He therefore doesn’t promise that we will imagine how we could go through the fire for his sake, but he does promise that if he leads us through the fire, he will give us sufficient grace at that time. Like Manna, grace is not something that can be stored up for later use; each day receives its own supply.

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