Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Stages of War for the Heart

Paul Tripp's book Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change would be my first recommendation on thinking about how to counsel another person in light of Scripture.

Justin Taylor helpfully summarizes a portion of the book where Tripp "unpacks James 4:1-10 and the war for the heart according to the following stages:"

Stage 1: Desire. "The objects of most of our desires are not evil. The problem is the way they tend to grow, and the control they come to exercise over our hearts. All human desire must be held in submission to a greater purpose, the desires of God for his kingdom." (p. 85)

Stage 2: Demand. ("I must.") "Demand is the closing of my fists over a desire. . . . I am not longer comforted by God's desire for me; I am threaten by it, because God's will potentially standards in the way of my demand. . . . The morphing of my desire changes my relationship to others. No I enter the room loaded with a silent demand: You must help me get what I want. . . ." (p. 86)

Stage 3: Need. ("I will.") " I now view the thing I want as essential to life. This is a devasating step in the eventual slavery of desire. . . . To 'christen' desire as need is equivalent to viewing cake as I do respiration. . . ." (p. 86)

Stage 4: Expectation. ("You should.") "If I am convinced I need something and you have said that you love me, it seems right to expect that you will help me get it. The dynamic of (improper) need-driven expectation is the source of untold conflict in relationship." (p. 87)

Stage 5: Disappointment. ("You didn't!") "There is a direct relationship between expectation and disappointment, and much of our disappointment in relationships i s not because people have actually wronged us, but because they have failed to meet our expectations." (pp. 87-88)

Stage 6: Punishment. ("Because you didn't, I will. . . .") "We are hurt and angry because people who say they love us seem insensitive to our needs. So we strike back in a variety of ways to punish them for their wrongs against us. We include everything from the silent treatment (a form of bloodless murder where I don't kill you but act as if you do not exist) to horrific acts of violence and abuse. I am angry because you have broken the laws of my kingdom. God's kingdom has been supplanted. I am no longer motivated by a love for God and people so that I use the things in my life to express that love. Instead I love things, and use people--and even the Lord--to get them. My heart has been captured. I am in active service of the creation, and the result can only be chaos and conflict in my relationships." (p. 88)

So what do you do when desire has morphed into demand into need into expectation into disappointment into punishment? The first step must be vertical, not horizontal. Because relationship problems are rooted in worship problems, James's solution, Tripp rightly notes, is "Start with God":

"Submit yourselves therefore to God" (James 4:7).
"Draw near to God" (James 4:8).
"Cleanse your hands . . . and purify your hearts" (James 4:8).
"Humble yourselves before the Lord" (James 4:10).

His Love Can Never Fail

This is one of the newer songs we've learned together, and we'll be singing it again on Sunday. Listen here and sing along to get warmed up!



<a href="http://matthewsmith.bandcamp.com/track/his-love-can-never-fail">His Love Can Never Fail by Matthew Smith</a>



This is a fine recording, but I heard it first on this album (samples also here, original hymn here.)

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

We're All Ideologically Driven

From an editorial in The New York Times:
In a further break from the Bush administration’s ideologically driven policies on birth control, the Food and Drug Administration has agreed to let 17-year-olds get the morning-after emergency contraceptive pills without a doctor’s prescription. It is a wise move that complies with a recent order by a federal judge, based on voluminous evidence in F.D.A. files that girls that young can use the pills safely.

Al Mohler comments:
Here is a clue -- whenever anyone (including this writer) claims that a policy reversal means a break from someone else's "ideologically driven policies," it simply means that one ideology is replacing or modifying another. The New York Times is the central media organ of the secular left. It is as ideologically driven as any other sector of this society. Furthermore, the idea that any serious policy discussion can be free from ideology is a farce. The editors of The New York Times merely prefer their own ideology to that of the Bush administration, yet they write this editorial as if they have come from their own private planet of ideological purity.

One key insight into the paper's ideology: Note the references in both editorials and news reports to the claim that evidence proves that young girls "can use the pills safely." Clearly, the paper means to speak of medical safety. But what about other aspects of these girls' lives? Is it morally safe? Spiritually safe? Safe to a tender heart?

No, the main issue in the FDA policy is this -- safe from parental supervision. The morning after pill is now a potent symbol of the end of parenthood as we know it.

Next Sermon - Matthew 8:1-17 on 05/03/09

This Sunday, we return to the Gospel according to Matthew. What do you think the big idea or main points would be from this text?

Matthew 8:1-17
1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them."

5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." 7 And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

14 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases."

Jesus "Learned Obedience"

Hebrews 5:7-10
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

What does it mean that Jesus "learned obedience"? John Owen helps us out:
Here it says about the Lord Christ that he learned obedience, not that he learned to obey. The Lord Christ learned obedience when he experienced it in practice. One special kind of obedience is intended here, namely, a submission to great, hard, and terrible things, accompanied by patience and quiet endurance and faith for deliverance from them. This Christ could have not experience of, except by suffering the things he had to pass through, exercising God’s grace in them all. Thus, Christ learned obedience.

Source

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

You Are Here

Now, after that post about being unfashionable, here are some very fashionable people describing a very traditional gospel in a very hip way-- and I'm happy to say that I think they largely succeed in keeping the gospel from being overwhelmed by their fairly self-conscious trendiness. That's a helpful gauge, to my thinking, of Christian ministers and media. After watching, listening, or reading, am I more in awe of Christ, or am I just thinking, "That was really cool!"

Anyway, here's the video titled You Are Here: The Biblical Story in Four Images. I'm sorry, but I can't seem to embed it here for your viewing pleasure.

Source

Fashionable?

I think we're better prepared to try new things when we're not enamored with being novel or new. Here's Charles Spurgeon on the topic:
The great guide of the world is fashion and its god is respectability--two phantoms at which brave men laugh! How many of you look around on society to know what to do; you watch the general current and then float upon it; you study the popular breeze and shift your sails to suit it. True men do not so! You ask--Is it fashionable? If it be fashionable, it must be done. Fashion is the law of multitudes, but it is nothing more than the common consent of fools.

Source

City on a Hill

After a very busy week that kept me away from the blog, I'm back...

I really appreciated Philip Graham Ryken's book City on a Hill when I read it several years ago. Here's a portion that relates to the text I used during Sunday evening's congregational meeting:


Wherever Christians have joined together to establish teaching, worshiping, and caring communities, they have been able to meet the unique challenges they faced from the surrounding culture.

We see this throughout church history. During the Roman Empire when Caesar was throwing Christians to the lions, during the Middle Ages when spiritual darkness descended on Europe, during the twentieth century when Communism tried to stamp out any mention of God—at all times and in all places—Christians have "devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer"(Acts 2:42).

Today a Christian can go anywhere in the world and meet brothers and sisters who are doing the same thing Whether they meet in public or in secret, whether they gather in great cathedrals or small house churches, they are teaching, worshiping, caring... and growing.

What God has given us in the church will last as long as life on this earth. For Jesus said, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matt. 16:18). Here in America, as we enter our first post-Christian century, some churches will continue to do the simple things that churches have always done. And as they do so, they will discover that what God has given in the church is exactly what a post-Christian culture needs.

To summarize, what God wants the church to be and to do turns out to be exactly what the world needs. Admittedly, the world may not want to hear it, since in post-Christian times the church becomes a kind of countercultural community. To a relativistic culture, skeptical of meaning, the church preaches the truth of God's eternal Word. To a narcissistic culture, alienated by sin, the church issues an invitation to worship and fellowship. And this is precisely what a post-Christian culture needs: a church that stand out as truly Christian.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Next Sermon - 2 Corinthians 5:9-21

This week is the installation service of our new associate pastor. I will be preaching from this passage-- which is to say that I won't preach this text in its entirety, but drawing our attention to key points within this text that inform our understanding of ministry: what should shape pastoral ministry, what it should consist of, what should be its goals, etc. As you read through this text, what do you see to be the main ideas?

2 Corinthians 5:9-21
9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

EFCA TouchGlobal in Galveston

There has been so much that has happened in our country over the past several months that many of us don't remember the story of Hurricane Ike and its devastation in Galveston, Texas, and the surrounding area back in mid-September of 2008.

Here's a video of what the EFCA is doing through local congregations and partnering churches from across the country to advance the cause of Christ while serving their neighbors in very practical ways.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Marriage Redefined

From a story at Slate:
The American Heritage Dictionary, Black's Law Dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary, and Webster's have all added same-sex unions to their definitions of marriage…

Dictionaries occupy prime social real estate, with significant authority over adjudicating the meaning of words. Courts use them as evidence of societal attitudes and to interpret statutes…

Historically, the dictionary, like society at large, had a staunchly heterosexual view of marriage. Webster's 1828 dictionary defined marriage as "instituted by God himself for the purpose of preventing the promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, for promoting domestic felicity, and for securing the maintenance and education of children."

Source

Making Opportunities for Evangelism

I have a long way to go in this area, but thinking more about yesterday's sermon, here are some great ideas for making opportunities for evangelism from Jonathan Dodson:
1. Eat with Non-Christians. We all eat three meals a day. Why not make a habit of sharing one of those meals with a non-Christian or with a family of non-Christians? Go to lunch with a co-worker, not by yourself. Invite the neighbors over for family dinner. If it’s too much work to cook a big dinner, just order pizza and put the focus on conversation. When you go out for a meal, invite a non-Christian friend. Or take your family to family-style restaurants where you can sit at the table with strangers and strike up conversations. Have cookouts and invite Christians and non-Christians. Flee the Christian subculture.

2. Walk, Don’t Drive.
If you live in a walkable area, make a practice of getting out and walking around your neighborhood, apartment complex, or campus. Instead of driving to the mailbox, convenience store, or apartment office, walk to get mail, groceries, and stuff. Be deliberate in your walk. Say hello to people you don’t know. Strike up conversations. Attract attention by walking the dog, bringing the kids. Make friends. Get out of your house! Last night I spend an hour outside gardening with my family. We had good conversations with 3-4 neighbors. Take interest in your neighbors. Ask questions. Engage. Pray as you go. Save some gas, the planet.

3. Be a Regular.
Instead of hopping all over the city for gas, groceries, haircuts, eating out, and coffee, go to the same places. Get to know the staff. Go to the same places at the same times. Smile. Ask questions. Be a regular. I have friends at coffee shops all over the city. My friends at the coffee shop donate a ton of left over pastries to our church 2-3 times a week. We use for church gatherings and occasionally give to the homeless. Build relationships. Be a Regular.

4. Hobby with Non-Christians.
Pick a hobby that you can share. Get out and do something you enjoy with others. Try City League sports. Local rowing and cycling teams. Share your hobby by teaching lessons. Teach sewing lessons, piano lessons, violin, guitar, knitting, tennis lessons. Be prayerful. Be intentional. Be winsome. Have fun. Be yourself.

5. Talk to Your Co-workers.
How hard is that? Take your breaks with intentionality. Go out with your team or task force after work. Show interest in your co-workers. Pick four and pray for them. Form moms' groups in your neighborhood and don’t make them exclusively non-Christian. Schedule play dates with the neighbors’ kids. Work on mission.

6. Volunteer with Non-Profits.
Find a non-profit in your part of the city and take Saturday a month to serve your city. Bring your neighbors, your friends, or your small group. Spend time with your church serving your city. Once a month. You can do it!

7. Participate in City Events.
Instead of playing X-Box, watching TV, or surfing the net, participate in city events. Go to fundraisers, festivals, clean-ups, summer shows, and concerts. Participate missionally. Strike up conversation. Study the culture. Reflect on what you see and hear. Pray for the city. Love the city. Participate with the city.

8. Serve your Neighbors.
Help a neighbor by weeding, mowing, building a cabinet, fixing a car. Stop by the neighborhood association or apartment office and ask if there is anything you can do to help improve things. Ask your local Police and Fire Stations if there is anything you can do to help them. Get creative. Just serve!

Source

Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Gospel Is God's Power

This quotation from D. A. Carson seems appropriate in light of the sermon we heard this morning from 1 Corinthians 2:1-5:
The gospel is not simply good advice, nor is it good news about God's power. The gospel is God's power to those who believe....We must return again and again to the cross of Jesus Christ if we are to take the measure of Christian living, our Christian service, our Christian ministry.

From The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians (Source)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Scriptural Wisdom for Online Living


We've all sent an e-mail and forgotten to include the attachment we promise. But have you ever sent the wrong e-mail to the wrong person? Slate's Michael Agger has an interesting article "Can't Believe I Just Sent That" which describes a few e-mail horror stories and the fact that Gmail has recently announced an "unsend" feature that gives you an extra 5 seconds to rethink what you wrote.

This reminded me of James 1:19 that encourages us to be "slow to speak" in our conversations. It got me thinking how a certain passages of scripture, (with a few added phrases for our new electronic forms of communication), could be useful to inform our e-mailing, blogging and tweeting. A few suggestions with new words in italics:

Psalm 141:3
Set a guard, O Lord, over my keyboard;
keep watch over the door of my send button!

James 1:19
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to read, slow to reply all, slow to click send.

Proverbs 10:19
When blogging is abundant, transgression is not lacking,
but whoever restrains his keyboard is prudent.

Proverbs 12:18
There is one whose comments on blogs are like sword thrusts,
but the comments of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 14:7
Don't follow the Twitter feed of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.

Proverbs 12:23
A prudent man conceals knowledge,
but the Twitter feed of fools proclaims folly.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Posture of Prayer

1 Timothy 2:8

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling...


I turned to Philip Ryken’s excellent commentary on 1 Timothy and found that he highlights several of the ways the Bible tells us to pray. I will summarize them just briefly, hoping that you find it useful, as I have.

Bowing
The Bible, and the Psalms especially, describe bowing during prayer. This is a posture we often use today and one we teach our children when we tell them to bow their heads (out of respect) and to fold their hands (probably out of respect and so they do not fidget!). Psalm 5 says “I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you” while Psalm 95:6 says “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” Bowing is a sign of respect and honor. Even today we may bow toward a king or dignitary, expressing in that action our respect for that person.

Kneeling
The Bible mentions several people who knelt during prayer, among them Daniel (Daniel 6:10) and Stephen (Acts 7:60). And of course Jesus himself knelt to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. He “withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed” (Luke 22:41). Kneeling is a sign of humility and a sign of dependence. A person might kneel in the presence of a king or queen and he would do so as a sign of his deference to that person. It is difficult to be proud when kneeling before another. And so kneeling is a very natural posture for the Christian as he prays to the Lord. It seems a very natural position for bringing petitions to God, acknowledging God’s superiority and our utter dependence on him.

Standing
The Bible often mentions people standing to pray in public worship. When Solomon dedicated the temple, he knelt before God to pray while all the people stood (Chronicles 6:3, 13). In the same vein, Jehoshaphat “stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 20:5). It became customary for Jewish people to stand for prayer while in their synagogues. Such posture has roots in the Christian faith as well. Ryken shows that Justin Martyr, Origen, Jerome and Augustine all wrote of standing for public prayer. Today we stand in the presence of a judge when he enters his court room. Until recently students would stand when their professor entered the room. And, until recent days, many churches encouraged people to stand during prayer. Standing is, of course, a sign of respect. We stand in the presence of those we respect (or at least as a sign of our respect for their position or their authority). And so standing for prayer is a natural position especially for times of corporate prayer as the people stand in God’s presence out of respect for his authority.

Lying Prostrate
Scripture also mentions people praying flat on the ground with their faces pressed to the earth. Moses fell in the presence of the Lord (Numbers 16:22, 20:6) as did Joshua (Joshua 5:14). Job fell to the ground and worshiped when he was in the depths of his despair. And, of course, the angels and elders who pray before God’s heavenly throne fall on their faces. “And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”” (Revelation 7:11). This is a sign of utter respect. A man may fall to the ground before another person when that other person has absolute power of life or death. To do so is to acknowledge one’s absolute unworthiness and to beg the grace of the other person. And so in prayer laying prostrate is a natural position for those who are overwhelmed either by trouble and woe or by a sense of the glory and majesty of God (or both!).

Hands Raised
And Scripture describes those who raise their hands in prayer. This was the way the priests worshiped in the temple (Psalm 134, 141, etc). And from extra-Scriptural sources we know that raising hands in prayer was customary in the early church. Ryken quotes Tertullian who said, “We Christians pray for all emperors, &c., looking up to heaven, with our hands stretched out, because guiltless; with our heads uncovered, because we are not ashamed.” Early Christian artwork often portrays those who prayed doing so with their hands raised. Such a posture signifies praise. Think today of a rock concert where people may raise their hands toward the stage in what looks almost like an act of praise and worship. And, of course, many Christians raise their hands when they sing, using this as a physical manifestation of their praise. Raising hands is appropriate in prayer especially during times of praising God. Ryken says “This posture is especially appropriate for the minister who leads in public prayer. When he stands in God’s presence to offer prayer on behalf of God’s
people, he may raise his hands to show that the church’s prayers are offered to God as a sacrifice of praise.”

Nowhere does the Bible command us that we must set our bodies in one position or another during prayer. Yet it does describe a variety of positions that each have their own significance. You may find it useful to practice some of these postures in your times of private prayer, allowing that posture to be a reflection of your heart, whether it is a heart overwhelmed with the cares of life, a heart rejoicing in the majesty of God or a heart quieted in humble obedience to God.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Loving the Lost

I heard Matt Chandler speak for the first time at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors a couple of months ago. He gave an excellent presentation, which you can listen/watch/download for free here. The video below is one story he told, and has to do with a time in his young adult life when he thought that if he was going to do evangelism, then the church was the one place he couldn't go. Now he's a pastor trying to make sure that the church is most definitely about evangelism.


Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Never Let the Gospel Get Smaller


Here is a simple exhortation that I have been trying to implement in our family:

Seek to see and feel the gospel as bigger as years go by rather than smaller.

Our temptation is to think that the gospel is for beginners and then we go on to greater things. But the real challenge is to see the gospel as the greatest thing—and getting greater all the time.

The Gospel gets bigger when, in your heart,
grace gets bigger;
Christ gets greater;
his death gets more wonderful;
his resurrection gets more astonishing;
the work of the Spirit gets mightier;
the power of the gospel gets more pervasive;
its global extent gets wider;
your own sin gets uglier;
the devil gets more evil;
the gospel's roots in eternity go deeper;
its connections with everything in the Bible and in the world get stronger;
and the magnitude of its celebration in eternity gets louder.

So keep this in mind: Never let the gospel get smaller in your heart.

Pray that it won’t. Read solid books on it. Sing about it. Tell someone about it who is ignorant or unsure about it.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel.... For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

Monday, April 13, 2009

The Empty Tomb and the Emptied Urn

Russell Moore weighs in on the debate between burial and cremation, but concludes that the resurrection overcomes whatever may happen to our bodies. Here's the end of the article:
I still oppose cremation. There's a reason Christians throughout the centuries have committed the bodies of the faithful to the ground, dramatically picturing our trust in the reclamation of these very same bodies when the roll is called up yonder. But I'm careful now to explain that, whatever is the case, cremation isn't forever. Neither is amputation or mastectomies or the horrifying tattoo marks of totalitarian regimes sending prisoners to their executions.
Our God is able to empty urns, to enliven graves, to restore limbs. He is able — and willing — to wipe away tears, and to make all things new. We ought to care for our bodies, and to care about how we honor them before and after death.
But, more importantly, we ought to remind ourselves of our hope, the day when we'll be gathered on the other side of this age of cemeteries. His blessings will be known, far as the curse is found — and that includes the marks of death we bore in our bodies. We'll be home, and we'll be whole.
Only One of us will bear any reminder of the sufferings behind us, and it'll be clear that he is not suffering anymore.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

That's Easter - Death to Life


THAT'S EASTER Death to Life from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

Source

Propitiation

J.I. Packer:
Has the word propitiation any place in your Christianity? In the faith of the New Testament it is central. The love of God [1 John 4:8-10], the taking of human form by the Son [Heb. 2:17], the meaning of the cross [Rom. 3:21-26], Christ's heavenly intercession [1 John 2:1-2], the way of salvation--all are to be explained in terms of it, as the passages quoted show, and any explanation from which the thought of propitiation is missing will be incomplete, and indeed actually misleading, by New Testament standards.

In saying this, we swim against the stream of much modern teaching and condemn at a stroke the views of a great number of distinguished church leaders today, but we cannot help that. Paul wrote, "Even if we or an angel from heaven"--let alone a minister, a bishop, college lecturer, university professor, or noted author--"should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! ("accursed" KJV and RSV; "outcast" NEB; "damned" Phillips; Gal. 1:8). And a gospel without propitiation at is heart is another gospel than that which Paul preached. The implications of this must not be evaded.
From "The Heart of the Gospel" in Knowing God (also in In My Place Condemned He Stood)
Source

Friday, April 10, 2009

Here Is Love

The song that our choir sang Good Friday evening was an arrangement of a Welsh hymn written over a century ago. Here are the lyrics, including an additional two verses that were added later by another author. You can learn more about the hymnwriters here, and listen again to the arrangement our choir sang here.

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.

Why Was Jesus Crucified?

If you are familiar at all with the website Slate, you probably know that it's pretty liberal in outlook. That's why it is surprising when they published this piece about the death of Jesus. It may not go as far as we'd like, but it just might be a piece you could send to someone who may not read something from a Christian site.

You can click through here to read the whole article, but here's a couple of excerpts:
Indeed, one criterion that ought to be applied more rigorously in modern scholarly proposals about the "historical Jesus" is what we might call the condition of "crucifiability": You ought to produce a picture of Jesus that accounts for him being crucified. Urging people to be kind to one another, or advocating a more flexible interpretation of Jewish law, or even condemning the Temple and its leadership—none of these crimes is likely to have led to crucifixion. For example, first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells of a man who prophesied against the Temple. Instead of condemning him, the governor decided that he was harmless, although somewhat deranged and annoying to the Temple priests. So, after being flogged, he was released.

The royal-messiah claim would also help explain why Jesus was executed but his followers were not. This wasn't a cell of plotters. Jesus himself was the issue. Furthermore, Pilate took some serious flak for being a bit too violent in his response to Jews and Samaritans who simply demonstrated vigorously against his policies. Pilate probably decided that publicly executing Jesus would snuff out the messianic enthusiasm of his followers without racking up more Jewish bodies than necessary.

*****

Jesus' crucifixion represented a collision between Jesus and Roman governmental authority, an obvious liability to early Christian efforts to promote their faith. Yet, remarkably, they somehow succeeded. Centuries of subsequent Christian tradition have made the image of the crucified Jesus so familiar that the offensiveness of the event that it portrays has been almost completely lost.

The Curse Borne by Christ


Go here to download the free MP3 audio of the complete sermon by Sproul. It's well worth your time.
Source

The Two Malefactors

A hymn by John Newton, based on Luke 23:32, 39-43:
Sovereign grace has pow’r alone
To subdue a heart of stone;
And the moment grace is felt,
Then the hardest heart will melt.

When the Lord was crucified,
Two transgressors with him died;
One with vile blaspheming tongue,
Scoffed at JESUS as he hung.

Thus he spent his wicked breath,
In the very jaws of death
Perished, as too many do,
With the Savior in his view.

But the other, touched with grace,
Saw the danger of his case;
Faith received to own the LORD,
Whom the scribes and priests abhorred.

“Lord, he prayed, remember me;
When in glory thou shalt be:”
“Soon with me, the Lord replies,
Thou shalt rest in paradise.”

This was wondrous grace indeed,
Grace vouchsafed in time of need!
Sinners trust in Jesu’s name,
You shall find him still the same.

But beware of unbelief,
Think upon the hardened thief;
If the gospel you disdain,
CHRIST, to you, will die in vain.

Facing Death with Hope

This is an excerpt from Facing Death with Hope: Living for What Lasts, a booklet written by David Powlison to help those approaching the end of this life. You can go here to read an extended excerpt with these headings:

Death Is Not a Friend
Facing the Shadows of Death
The Cause of Death
Jesus Faced Death for You (see below)
How Can You Be Sure that
Eternal Life Is Yours?
Jesus Faces Death with You
Face Death Like Jesus Did
Jesus Is Waiting for You



Jesus Faced Death for You

But for those who know Jesus, death doesn’t have the last say, it has the next-to-last say. The last word for the Christian is the resurrection. The last word is life. The last word is mercy. The last word is that God will take us to be with him forever. God’s free gift of eternal life stands in stark contrast to “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Jesus stands in contrast to the killer, the murderer, the slayer. He, the only innocent person who ever lived, faced death, not for his own sins, but for the sins of his people (John 3:16). Jesus faced death for you.

On the cross he faced death in all of its dimensions. He was killed by asphyxiation and torture, but this was only the physical cause of his death. As he died he bore the wages of sin, suffered the malice of the evil one, and experienced the holy wrath of God. He, the innocent one, willingly died for the guilty. When he freely gave up his life, death was slain by God, and Jesus rose to new life. God’s grace destroyed the destroyer, and death was thrown into hell. Because of Jesus, life has the last say. Because of Jesus you don’t have to experience death as he did. He has already paid for your sins. You will die physically, but rise to life eternal (John 3:16).

Thursday, April 09, 2009

What Could Be Stranger Than This?

Cyril of Alexandria (A.D. 375-444) wrote this hymn, fitting for Maundy Thursday:

What could be stranger than this?
What more awesome?

He who is clothed with light as with a garment (Ps. 104:2)
is girded with a towel.

He who binds up the waters in His clouds (Job 26:8),
who sealed the abyss by His fearful Name,
is bound with a girdle.

He who gathers together
the waters of the sea as in a vessel (Ps. 33:7)
now pours water in to a basin.

He who covers the tops of the heavens with water (Ps. 104:3)
washes in water the feet of His disciples.

He who has weighed the heavens with His palm
and the earth with three fingers (Is. 40:12)
now wipes with undefiled palms
the soles of His servants’ feet.

He before whom every knee should bow,
of those that are in heaven,
on earth and under the earth (Phil.2:10)
now kneels before His servants.

Source

Maundy Thursday

Kevin DeYoung explains Maundy Thursday (and adds a few more words that connect to our focus on 1 John 4:10 tomorrow night):
If you've never heard the term, it's not Monday-Thursday (which always confused me as a kid), but Maundy Thursday, as in Mandatum Thursday. Mandatum is the Latin word for "command" or "mandate", and the day is called Maundy Thursday because on the night before his death Jesus gave his disciples a new command. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34).

At first it seems strange that Christ would call this a new command. After all, the Old Testament instructed God's people to love their neighbors and Christ himself summarized the law as love for God and love for others. So what's new about love? What makes the command new is that because of Jesus' passion there is a new standard, a new examplar of love.

There was never any love like the dying love of Jesus. It is tender and sweet (13:33). It serves (13:2-17). It loves even unto death (13:1). Jesus had nothing to gain from us by loving us. There was nothing in us to draw us to him. But he loved us still, while we were yet sinners. At the Last Supper, in the garden, at his betrayal, facing the Jewish leaders, before Pontius Pilate, being scourged, carrying his cross, being nailed to the wood, breathing his dying breath, forsaken by God–he loved us. To the end. To death. Love shone best and brightest at Calvary.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

That's My King

Old movie footage notwithstanding, it's hard to deny the power of this sermon excerpt by the late Dr. S.M. Lockridge (full name: Shadrach Meshach Lockridge). I haven't been able to find the date of the sermon, but the video and music were added much more recently. This poetic preaching is glorious praise of Jesus Christ.



Source

The Big Lie

John Knox:
By what means Satan first drew mankind from the obedience of God, the Scripture doth witness: To wit, by pouring into their hearts that poison, that God did not love them.
- Works, V:24.
1 John 4:9-10
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Quiz: Is Your Church Vertical?

James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel has a tagline on his website: "First vertical, then missional." Basically, this means that you have to get your doctrine and devotion right before you can talk about reaching the world. Otherwise, you'll probably get off track in your efforts to connect with the culture. He puts it this way: "If you get the vertical right, the horizontal takes care of itself." You can't do evangelism without theology.

Here's his quiz for identifying whether or not your church is vertical. You can go here to see the whole post.

10 Question Verticality Quiz

(Give 5 for the strongest yes and 0 for the weakest yes.)

1. Are the songs we sing about God or about what God has done for us?

2. Do the people on the platform come across as ministers or as entertainers?

3. Is the sermon coming clearly/continually from what the Bible actually says and does it cover the hard parts of Scripture, not just the popular ones?

4. Does the sermon challenge me to change and grow, versus just something to know?

5. Am I pressured over time to join a smaller group where I can express and experience biblical community?

6. Do I find the people I meet to be humble and overt in their love for Christ, or more guarded and private about their faith?

7. Am I challenged to find a place of ministry where I can use my gifts and shoulder weekly kingdom responsibility in working for God?

8. Do the leaders of my church find ways to draw the focus away from themselves and onto Christ and what He is doing?

9. Does my church invite me into sacrificial work for Christ that does not benefit our church at all: feeding the poor, church planting/missions, etc.?

10. Does my church seek to follow the biblical pattern for church governance and elevate the Word of God in all it does, including church discipline?

SCORE:
Vertical Church: 40+
60-Degree Church: 30-40
Horizontal
Church: 20-30
Find a New Church : 0-20

Worth Remembering

From another anthology by Nancy Guthrie, this one titled Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter, comes a quotation from J. C. Ryle:
Was he flogged? It was done so that ‘by his wounds we are healed’ (Isaiah 53:5). Was he condemned though innocent? It was done so that we might be acquitted, though guilty. Did he wear a crown of thorns? It was done so that we might wear the crown of glory. Was he stripped of his clothes? It was done so that we might be clothed in everlasting righteousness. Was he mocked and reviled? It was done so that we might be honored and blessed. Was he reckoned a criminal, and counted among those who have done wrong? It was done so that we might be reckoned innocent, and declared free from all sin. Was he declared unable to save himself? It was so that he might be able to save others to the uttermost. Did he die at last, and that the most painful and disgraceful death? It was done so that we might live forevermore, and be exalted to the highest glory.

Let us ponder these things well: they are worth remembering.

Monday, April 06, 2009

That's Easter - Life to Death

Here's a well-made video presentation from a church in England that talks about the reasons why Christians focus so much on Jesus' death. Come back later in the week for the sequel, "That's Easter - Death to Life."


THAT'S EASTER Life to Death from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

Next Sermon - 1 John 4:9-10 on Good Friday and Easter Sunday

We've been spending a lot of time in 1 John 4:7-12 over the past two months as we've been memorizing the passage together as a congregation. I'm going to use the two verses in the middle of this paragraph as texts for our two sermons this week: verse 10 on Good Friday, and verse 9 on Easter Sunday. See you then.

1 John 4:7-12
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Friday, April 03, 2009

Two Masters

Ann Holmes Redding:
It's all there. I am not saying you have to go somewhere else to be complete. Some people don't need glasses, some people need single lenses. I need bifocals.

According to this report, Ms. Redding, an Episcopal minister for thirty years, was defrocked since she became a Muslim. A conversion story wouldn't be much of a news story, but the twist here is that "for the past three years Redding has been both a practicing Christian and a Muslim." She believed that her two faiths were not contradictory, and could continue to serve as a Christian priest.

Manmade Gods and Broken Hearts

Charles Spurgeon:

Earthly comforts are loaned. They are not gifts, for all that we possess is God's property. He has only lent them, and what he lends He has a right to take. We hold possessions and friends on a lease that can be terminated at the Supreme Owner's option. Therefore, do not complain when God takes His own. In a world where thorns and briars grow, is is natural that some sharp points will pierce you.

The world swarms with thieves, deceivers, and slanderers, with losses in business, crosses in our expectations, false or fickle friends, and with sickness and death. Little wonder our joys are stolen. Our Master warns that our habitation is not theft-proof. "Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal" (Matt. 6:19).

Beloved, because of these calamities may be expected, let us be prepared. Hold all things loosely. Hold them as though you did not have them. Look at them as fleeting; never expect them to remain. Never make mortal things your gods. If you do, your heart will be broken when they are taken, and you will cry with Micah, "You have taken away my gods which I made" (Judges 18:24).

From Beside Still Waters
Source

Thursday, April 02, 2009

The New Testament, Wordled

A few weeks ago I showed you the entire text of the Bible given the Wordle treatment. From the Wordle website:
Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.
Here's the New Testament text only, via the ESV Bible Blog. Just click the picture to see it bigger. Does this give you any idea of the themes or points of emphasis in the New Testament?




The Kingdom: Three Views, One Good Definition

As we go through the Gospel according to Matthew, are you still trying to understand what "the kingdom of God" means?

Here's a helpful summary from a sermon by Kevin DeYoung:
Let’s spend a few minutes talking about the kingdom of God. Most everyone nowadays is agreed that the kingdom of God is a central theme in the New Testament and the main theme in the gospels. But people can’t agree on what the kingdom means. There are three main views of the kingdom. Together they give a good definition of the kingdom. Separate they present a skewed picture of the kingdom.

The first view of the kingdom is the ethical view. According to this view, the kingdom is about living rightly. It’s about ethics. It’s the Sermon on the Mount. Love your enemies. Forgive those who sin against you. Don’t be judgmental. Give to the poor. Don’t commit adultery. Welcome the outcast. This is the view of the old theological liberals and of many of the new emergent church leaders. The kingdom of God means living out God’s shalom on earth. And that’s not an incorrect view of the kingdom. It’s just incomplete. The kingdom of God does mean living a certain way and enjoying a peace and harmony and justice that only Christ can bring. But that’s not all that the kingdom brings. If the kingdom is only a message about ethics, there’s no good news, because the utopia isn’t coming in this age and we can’t keep the Sermon on the Mount perfectly. So the kingdom is ethics, but it’s more than ethics.

The second view of the kingdom is the experiential view. According to this view, the kindgom is about what it’s your hearts. To receive the kingdom of God you must be like a little child (Mark 10:15). This is the pietistic view fo the kingdom. Be humble. Rely on God. Have an inner experience. Get in touch with your spiritual side. And this is not incorrect. The kingdom of God is about changed hearts and humility and experiencing the love of Jesus. But that’s not all. If the kingdom is only about an experience, there’s no Jesus. The kingdom is not just an experience, or even an experience of Jesus. It’s also a message about who he is, what he’s done, and what he demands.

Which brings us to the third view, the eschatological view. Eschatological simply means last things. According to this view, the kingdom of God ushers in the reign of God and brings us out of this present evil age and into the age to come. The kingdom means the king has come to finally vanquish his foes and save his people. The goats will be separated from the sheep. Those who believe in Jesus will be saved. Those who reject him stand condemned. This is the conservative evangelical view. And it’s right. As much as liberals and emergent folks don’t like it, the kingdom is about who’s in and who’s out. Who submits to the king and his rule and who doesn’t. But that’s not all the kingdom is about. It’s also about heart transformation and living out righteousness and justice.

So the short way of describing the kingdom is to call it the reign and rule of God. The long way to say it is the kingdom is about God having sway over our society, our hearts, and our allegiance. So here’s how one author summarizes Revelation 11:15: “Dominion over the world, without challenge or rival, has come into the possession of our Lord and his anointed King.” When the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ there will be no more lawlessness, no more rebellion, no more brokenness, no more injustice, and no more unrighteousness. They way God wants things to be will be the way things are.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Reformation and Revival as Restoration

Francis Schaeffer, from his essay "The Lord's Work in the Lord's Way":
Often men have acted as though one has to choose between reformation and revival. Some call for reformation, others for revival, and they tend to look at each other with suspicion. But reformation and revival do not stand in contrast to one another; in fact, both words are related to the concept of restoration. Reformation speaks of a restoration to pure doctrine, revival of a restoration in the Christian's life. Reformation speaks of a return to the teachings of Scripture, revival of a life brought into proper relationship to the Holy Spirit. The great moments in church history have come when these two restorations have occurred simultaneously. There cannot be true revival unless there has been reformation, and reformation is incomplete without revival. May we be those who know the reality of both reformation and revival, so that this poor dark world in which we live may have an exhibition of a portion of the church returned to both pure doctrine and a Spirit-filled life.
From No Little People, p. 74; emphasis added; cited here.

All the Difference in the World

Stan Guthrie, an editor for Christianity Today, recently moderated a debate on the topic “Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?”

Guthrie recounts a portion of the debate where he asked noted atheist Christopher Hitchens a question:
“Christopher, in my rush to catch my ride to the airport so that I could get to this conference, I fell down at my office. I quickly got up, hoping that no one saw me. Because of my disability, such incidents are part of my life, something I have learned to deal with. I have not fallen since, but there is no guarantee that I will not fall again, even right off this platform.

“Now I love these kinds of discussions about the existence of God, and I’ve read your book with Doug Wilson, Is Christianity Good for the World?

“Besides all the arguments for God’s existence, one reason I like Christianity is because it provides dignity and hope for people like me: dignity, because it teaches that we are all created in God’s image and because Jesus took all our suffering on himself; and hope, because he was resurrected and promises that one day we will be resurrected, too, with new bodies in a new heaven and a new earth.

“But your philosophy of anti-theism seems designed only for the young, intelligent, and well-connected. So my question to you is: What basis does your philosophy provide for promoting human dignity and hope for people like me, and frankly, people who are much worse off?”

Hitchens’ answer, such as it was, was interesting. After thanking me for the question, he attacked my premise, railing against Christianity as a religion of the powerful. While that has certainly been true at times in history, the fact remains that Jesus was loved by the poor, the weak, the blind, the outcast, the disabled, and the despised—and still is. After Christopher subsided, I pointed out that he had not answered my question about how his philosophy provides for dignity and hope to the forgotten of the world.

I can’t recall his exact response, but I have the distinct impression he began mumbling, saying something about how he couldn’t lie about people who were “unlucky” in life.

So there you have it. Hitchens’ anti-God philosophy offers no hope or dignity to the disabled and others who are “unlucky” in life. What difference does Christianity make? All the difference in the world. I suspect that this is why atheist pundits will continue to have limited influence in matters of religion, no matter how many debates they attend and how many best-sellers they write.