A New Hope

Here's a story of how an Evangelical Free Church in Minnesota responded to changes in its community and found a new dimension of faithfulness and effectiveness for Christ.

In Answer to Prayer

Pertinent to this week's text from Matthew, here's a little something from John Piper:

And who would say that God does not love the world or that He is hesitant to gather His harvest? Yet Jesus said, “Pray … the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matt. 9:38). Why must the owner of the farm be implored by his farmhands to send out more laborers? Because there is one thing God loves to do more than bless the world. He loves to bless the world in answer to prayer.

From Brothers, We Are Not Professionals : A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry (54).

Are We Too Narrow?

Richard Cunningham:

[We are] only as narrow theologically as the gospel demands, but as culturally broad and generous as the gospel permits.

Both of these are more challenging than we might think. It is important that we do not dilute the gospel or ignore its exclusivity. However, it is also too easy to stay culturally narrow within what we're used to rather than being open to, and even celebrating, the variety that exists within the wider body of Christ.

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Blind Spot

I am very much in favor of utilizing mental health professionals in certain cases. They can address issues that I as a pastor cannot. However, there are some issues that are invisible to doctors, because they are either unmeasurable or lie beyond the constraints of their worldview. In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it well:

The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus.

The greatest psychological insight, ability, and experience cannot grasp this one thing: what sin is.

Worldly wisdom knows what distress and weakness and failure are, but it does not know the godlessness of man. And so it does not know that man is destroyed only by his sin and can be healed only by forgiveness. Only the Christian knows this.

In the presence of a psychiatrist I can only be a sick man; in the presence of a Christian brother I can dare to be a sinner.

The psychiatrist must first search my heart and yet he never plumbs its ultimate depth. The Christian brother knows when I come to him: here is a sinner like myself, a godless man who wants to confess and yearns for God’s forgiveness.

The psychiatrist views me as if there were no God. The brother views me as I am before the judging and merciful God in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Illness, mental or otherwise, should not be assumed to be directly related to personal sin, but we must not fail to take personal sin into account when seeking to help someone.

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Next Sermon - Matthew 9:35 - 10:15 on 05/31/09

The text for this coming Sunday's sermon spans the end of chapter 9 and the first half of chapter 10.

Matthew 9:35 - 10:15

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. 11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Selfish?

Alexander Whyte:

It is often ignorantly and frivolously charged against Christian men that it is selfish in them to seek heaven and glory for their own souls; but no man who is truly seeking salvation will be moved by that accusation. When men really begin to seek their salvation, and to turn their faces to the glory of heaven, then it is that all selfish and ignoble desires receive their death-blow. It is not selfish, surely, for the diseased to seek healing, or the hungry food, or the prodigal his father's house. So far from this being a sign that the heart is selfish, there is no surer sign that it is being sanctified.

Of course it's not selfish-- unless you think only of the gospel for yourself and no one else.

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Forty Percent

W. Bradford Wilcox:

Last week, the CDC reported that about 40% of American children were born out of wedlock in 2007, more than triple the 11% who were in 1970. This means that more than 1.7 million children were born outside of marriage in 2007. Moreover, the vast majority of these babies -- 60%, to be precise -- were born not to teenagers but to women in their 20s (only 23% of nonmarital births were to teens). Furthermore, the CDC reports that nonmarital childbearing has been rising much faster among adults than among teenagers.

He provides three explanations for this. It comes from a sociological perspective, not a biblical worldview, but it is still helpful, informative, challenging, and sobering.

First, young Americans have been postponing marriage, but they are not postponing sex and cohabitation. Indeed, my own research indicates that cohabiting couples are much more likely to get pregnant than couples who do not live together.

Second, working-class and poor men have seen their real wages fall since the early 1970s, which makes them less attractive as husbands to their girlfriends and to the mothers of their children. This also helps explain why nonmarital childbearing is concentrated among blacks, Latinos, and working-class and poor whites.

Third, the meaning of marriage in the U. S. has changed over the past 40 years. As sociologist Andrew Cherlin has noted, marriage used to be the "foundation" for adulthood, sex, intimacy and childbearing. Now, marriage is viewed by many Americans as a "capstone" that signals that a couple has arrived -- financially, professionally and emotionally.

Here's the whole column.

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DeMoss on Prejean

I've held off commenting on this story, but here's something worth reading. It's Nancy Leigh DeMoss on Carrie Prejean:

Carrie has made a strong public profession of her faith in Christ. As Christians, we are called to live as redeemed men and women and to reflect to the world the beauty and holiness of God. I’m not in a position to judge Carrie’s motives or her heart. But while I applaud her courage, I also believe some of her choices and public actions, past and present, are representative of many women who consider themselves Christians, but who lack clear biblical thinking and conviction on such matters as virtue, womanhood, beauty, modesty, and discretion.

In my mind, Carrie Prejean’s story is symptomatic of deeper root issues in the evangelical world—issues that in my opinion outweigh most of what is being debated in the secular press.

Sadly, Carrie is the product of a Christian sub-culture that has lost a sense of what it means to be citizens of the kingdom of God and has embraced the values and thinking of this world.

By and large, young adults who have grown up in our evangelical homes, churches, and schools, are buying into a message that they have seen modeled by those around them who call themselves Christians—namely, that Christianity can be divorced from Christ-likeness, and that practical holiness in everyday life is out-dated, irrelevant, or optional.

If you don't know what this is about or want to read more, click here for all her comments.

On the same subject (Prejean), but a totally different topic (First Amendment rights), here's Chuck Colson. I have to say though, that when we're left defending our right to free speech instead of debating the issue of homosexuality, the battle for the definition of marriage in the US has been lost. Thankfully, the real war is already decided.

Clayton's Story

Send this to a student you know... more info at Clayton's Story.







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Speak the Gospel

Mark Galli:

I've heard the quote once too often. It's time to set the record straight—about the quote, and about the gospel.

Francis of Assisi is said to have said, "Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words."

This saying is carted out whenever someone wants to suggest that Christians talk about the gospel too much, and live the gospel too little. Fair enough—that can be a problem. Much of the rhetorical power of the quotation comes from the assumption that Francis not only said it but lived it.

The problem is that he did not say it. Nor did he live it. And those two contra-facts tell us something about the spirit of our age.

Read the rest of Galli's article, "Speak the Gospel."

Engage in Mission

John Stott:

We often go to one of two extremes. Either we are so keen to live in the world that we imbibe non-Christian ideas and standards, and become conformed; or we are so keen not to lose our distinctive identity that we withdraw. The best way to avoid these two mistakes is to engage in mission. We are sent into the world as Christ's representatives, so we can neither conform to it (or we cease to represent him) or withdraw from it (or we have no one to represent him to).

Source

High Definition

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Safe Families for Children

Do you remember when we had a representative of LYDIA Home speak to us last spring about their Safe Families for Children program?

To refresh your memory, here's the description of the program from their website:

Safe Families for Children is an opportunity for volunteers to have a powerful impact in the lives of others while practicing biblical hospitality, extending the love of Christ to people in need — all from their own home!

Volunteers open their homes to children whose parents are experiencing a short-term emergency, such as hospitalization, or a longer-term crisis, such as drug abuse. Designed to extend and strengthen the community safety net for at-risk families, Safe Families is a positive alternative to the state child welfare system, allowing parents to work out their problems without having to worry about losing custody of their kids. The program's goal is to reunite children with their biological parent(s) in a home that is more stable and healthy, in part because of the contribution of the Safe Families intervention.

They've been getting a lot good press lately. From a recent newsletter:

Thanks to prominent articles in The New York Times, Quad-City Times and Indianapolis Star and a segment on WBBM-TV in Chicago, people all over America are learning about how God is using Safe Families to transform lives.

But that's not all. On Monday, May 18, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric will feature Safe Families as the first installment in a series about children and the recession. This is an exciting opportunity for us to tell others about this great program, and feature some of the hundreds of volunteer families who help make it possible.

As you know, Safe Families has been experiencing a dramatic climb in referrals in recent months. One reason is that the weak economy is putting more strain on already-stressed families, taking them to a point of crisis. Your sacrifices are helping us keep pace with this program growth, and serving as a testimony to God's grace in your own lives.

Here's the video from CBS News. If you weren't looking for it, you might not pick up on the fact that this is a Christian ministry, which is immediately apparent from the first sentence on the website (above). Oh, and don't forget that LYDIA Home is affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America, our association of churches.

Watch CBS Videos Online

For some reason, I can't seem to embed the video, so here's a link.

The "Fundamentalist" Label

John D. Woodbridge was my academic advisor back when I was a student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. That was primarily due to the fact that within the Master of Divinity program, I had an emphasis in Church History, and he is "research professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought" at TEDS. He is a gracious man and a brilliant scholar.

Last week I read an interview with him in the latest edition of Trinity Magazine, and I was dismayed that it wasn't available yet on the web to link to it. Well, now it's here (via the link below), and I am unashamedly going to pass along another blogger's summary to entice you to read the article.

“The ‘Fundamentalist’ Label: An Interview with John Woodbridge.”

The subtitle of this evenhanded interview captures its theme: “We regularly hear people from different religious backgrounds referred to as ‘fundamentalist.’ Is this labeling appropriate?”

Woodbridge responds to nine questions and statements:
1. What do you think the word “fundamentalist” means to people today?
2. Where did this concept of “world fundamentalisms” come from?
3. Were there any other significant contributing factors?
4. Is it legitimate to use the word “fundamentalist” for Muslims?
5. How does this usage misunderstand actual American fundamentalism as well?
6. I think what happens in the media is that they end up thinking about the kind of people who bomb abortion clinics, then assume that that’s really where this type of Christianity leads.
7. What can happen because of this popular misusage of “fundamentalism”?
8. Has anyone challenged the assumptions of Fundamentalisms Comprehended?
9. There is a challenge in all this for us as evangelical Christians as well.

Next Sermon - Matthew 9:18-35 on 05/24/09

The next sermon will conclude a two-chapter section of Matthew that focused on Jesus' authority through several miracle stories along with some episodes related to discipleship.

Matthew 9:18-35

18 While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." 19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I will be made well." 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well. 23 And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, "Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went through all that district.

27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, "See that no one knows about it." 31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

32 As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel." 34 But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the prince of demons."

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

"What I Mean by Preaching"

I'm still learning how to preach, and I don't consider myself to do it as well as some others, but here's worthy target to aim for, articulated by John Piper. You can read a transcript here.

The Church as a Body

I am thankful to God that we were able to welcome three couples into the membership of our church this morning. That's one reason this illustration from John MacArthur got my attention, not to mention the fact that it also comes from the lore of my favorite baseball team.

Something is seriously wrong in a church where the staff does all the “ministry” and people are made to feel comfortable as mere observers. One of the pastor’s main duties is to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12). Every believer is called to be a minister of some sort, with each of us using the unique gifts given us by God for the edification of the whole church (Rom. 12:6-8).

That’s why Scripture portrays the church as a body—an organism with many organs (1 Corinthians 12:14), where each member has a unique role (vv. 15-25), and all contribute something important to the life of the body. “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” (v. 26).

I can’t read that verse without thinking of Dizzy Dean. He was a Hall-of-Fame baseball pitcher, whose career peaked in the 1930s. His 1934 season has never been excelled by any pitcher in history. Dean won thirty games that year, a feat that hasn’t been repeated since (though Dizzy himself came close, winning 28 games the following year). But in the 1937 All-Star game, he took a hard line drive off his toe, and the toe was broken. It should not have been a career-ending injury, but Dean was rushed back into the lineup before the fracture was completely healed, and he pitched several games favoring the sore toe. That led to an unnatural delivery that seriously injured his pitching arm. The arm never fully recovered. Dizzy Dean’s major-league career was essentially over in four years.

Something similar happens in any church where there are non-functioning members. The active members of the body become overextended, and the effectiveness of the whole body suffers greatly. Even the most insignificant member, like a toe, is designed to play a vital role.

Next Sermon - Matthew 9:1-17 on 05/17/09

Okay, so it's not the next sermon, but the one I preached this morning. I haven't posted anything on the blog in over a week, but I've posted every text from Matthew up to this point, so I couldn't bring myself to skip one. I'll post the true next sermon text tomorrow.

Matthew 9:1-17

1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic—"Rise, pick up your bed and go home." 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.

10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teach er eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12 But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

The Fear of the Lord

John Bunyan:

It is not the knowledge of the will of God, but our sincere complying therewith, that proves we fear the Lord.

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One Anothering

Tim Chester gives a helpful summary of the "one another" passages of the New Testament as the apostolic writers describe life in community within the church.

All the New Testament writers refer often to what we are to do to or for ‘one another’ (or ‘each other’ – the Greek is the same). This concept of ‘one anothering’ is a central feature of New Testament ecclesiology, albeit one which receives little attention in contemporary academic discussions. Some time ago I worked through these ‘one anothering’ statements and summarized them in to the following categories. (I’m posting them after a request to do so form someone who listened to my audio talks on ‘rethinking church’.)

* be at peace with one another, forgiving, agreeing, humble, accepting, forbearing, living in harmony and greeting with a kiss
* do not judge, lie or grumble
* show hospitality to one another
* confess your sins to one another
* be kind to one another, concerned, devoted, serving and doing good
* instruct and teach one another
* admonish, exhort and stir up one another
* comfort and encourage one another

Reflection questions
1. Which do you think you (as a church and as an individual) are good at?
2. Which do you think you (as a church and as an individual) are not very good at?
3. What stops you (as a church and as an individual) doing more ‘one anothering’?

This list is based on the following verses:

Mark 9:50
John 13:34-35*
Romans 12:10
Romans 12:16 (Romans 15:5)
Romans 14:13
Romans 15:7
Romans 15:14
Romans 16:16 (1 Peter 5:14)
1 Corinthians 12:25
2 Corinthians 13:11-12
Galatians 5:13
Ephesians 4:2Ephesians 4:32 (Colossians 3:13)
Ephesians 5:21
Colossians 3:9
Colossians 3:16 (Ephesians 5:19)
1 Thessalonians 5:11; 4:18
1 Thessalonians 5:15
Hebrews 3:13
Hebrews 10:24-25
James 5:9
James 5:16
1 Peter 4:8-10
1 Peter 5:5

*See also John 15:12,17; Romans 13:8; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; 4:9; 2 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11,23; 4:7,11-12; 2 John 5.

How to Handle the Next Pandemic

Mark Galli notes that the swine flu scare was apparently over-hyped but wonders how Christians should be prepared if and when the next real pandemic strikes. Here's the conclusion of his article:

Christians believe that our faith helps us live bravely in the face of fear. Still, it is not easy to do so, and it's no surprise that among the people who irrationally panic in face of pandemics, many are Christians. But we do have resources that can help us to transcend fear and to experience a different type of contradiction.

In The Rise of Christianity, sociologist Rodney Stark describes those dark times in Roman history when city-wide epidemics wiped out whole sections of the population. The empire would do its best to quarantine sections of cities, and those remaining were abandoned to a slow and painful death. The only people willing to risk life to care for these suffering souls were Christians. Many of them flocked to the areas most infected and literally gave their lives to care for the dead and dying. This heroic example was one reason the empire took a second look at this outlandish sect.

Last I heard, some churches were creating preparedness plans in the case of a flu pandemic. One 3,000-word plan I read tended to focus on institutional survival. It encouraged churches to answer questions like: Will staff come into the office? How will the church communicate with members if public gatherings are forbidden by the government? If the church does meet for worship, how should members share in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper? And so on.

It's all well and good, but I wonder if churches would be better served by asking its members to read Stark's account. That would be the most crucial form of preparedness, no? That would prompt us to start thinking about the discipleship choices that will face us in a real pandemic: Who should visit the sick and dying, and who should not? Should clergy protect themselves from the disease at all costs to guarantee ongoing leadership, or is effectual leadership at such times to model sacrifice? If vaccines are in limited supply, as news reports indicate, should entire churches forgo their right to a vaccine so that others can be protected?

Christians at their best concern themselves less with the church's institutional survival, or even their own survival, and more with the welfare of the suffering. We live with a host of contradictions that give us courage in the midst of a culture of panic. We've learned that in weakness there is strength, that in giving we receive, and that in losing our lives, we save them—all because of history's greatest contradiction, that story about a suffering God whose death brings life.

Conviction or Accusation?

Ray Ortlund helps us distinguish between conviction (good) and accusation (bad).

"He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment." John 16:8

". . . the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down . . . ." Revelation 12:10

How can I tell the difference between the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit and the accusing attacks of Satan? Some thoughts:

1. The Holy Spirit puts his finger on a specific sin I have committed, something concrete I can own and confess, but the accusations of Satan are vague and simply demoralizing.

2. The Holy Spirit shows me Christ, the mighty Friend of sinners, but the devil wants me spiraling down into negative self-focus.

3. The Holy Spirit leads me to a threshold of new life, but the devil wants to paralyze me where I am.

4. The Holy Spirit brings peace of heart along with a new hatred of sin, so that I bow before Jesus in reconsecration, but the devil offers peace of mind with smug relief, so that I fold my arms and say, "There, that's over with."

5. The Holy Spirit helps me to be so open to God that I allow him to control the conversation, but the devil tempts me to take off the table certain questions I just don't want God to talk to me about.

We are thankful for our dear Friend, the Holy Spirit.

Praying for Guidance

Charles Spurgeon:

Take your difficulty to God in prayer and say, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears" (1 Samuel 3:9).

Do not ask God to confirm your opinion; ask Him to make your opinion conform to His truth.

Source

Dealing with Differences

Roger Nicole, in this month's issue of Tabletalk, provides some guidelines for dealing with those who differ from you, while holding fast to the truth and contending for the faith.

First, I suggest that we need to face squarely the matter of our duties. We have obligations to people who differ from us. This does not involve agreeing with them. We have an obligation to the truth that has a priority over agreement with any particular person; if someone is not in the truth, we have no right to agree. We have no right even to minimize the importance of the difference; and therefore, we do not owe consent or indifference. But what we owe that person who differs from us, whoever that may be, is what we owe every human being — we owe them to love them. And we owe them to deal with them as we ourselves would like to be dealt with or treated (Matt. 7:12).

And how, then, do we desire to be treated? Well, the first thing that we notice here is that we want people to know what we are saying or meaning and that we have taken into consideration and understand what those with whom we disagree have said. In short, I would say we owe our opponents to deal with them in such a way that they may sense that we have a real interest in them as persons, that we are not simply trying to win an argument or show how smart we are, but that we are deeply interested in them — and are eager to learn from them as well as to help them.

Second, we need to ask the question: “What can I learn from those who differ from me?” It is not censurable selfishness to seek to gain maximum benefits from any situation that we encounter. It is truly a pity if we fail to take advantage of opportunities to learn and develop what almost any controversy affords us.

The first thing that I should be prepared to learn is that I am wrong and the other person is right. Obviously, this does not apply to certain basic truths of the faith like the deity of Christ or salvation by grace. Yet, apart from issues where God has spoken so that doubt and hesitancy are not permissible, there are numerous areas where we are temperamentally inclined to be very assertive and yet can quite possibly be in error. When we are unwilling to acknowledge our fallibility, we reveal that we are more interested in winning a discussion and safeguarding our reputation than in the discovery and triumph of truth.

Here's the whole article.

Serving Christ in a Time of Plague

From the Ligonier Ministries blog:

News reports in recent days have brought word of an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and around the world, raising fears of a "pandemic." For those of us who live in the West, where health care and good nutrition are taken for granted, a plague is a thing virtually unknown. Of course, it was not so for our forefathers in the faith. How did they react in the face of mass outbreaks of disease?

Dr. Harry L. Reeder III, senior pastor of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama, has written of how John Calvin courageously faced repeated outbreaks of plague during his ministry in Geneva:

During Calvin's ministry, Geneva was terrorized by the plague on five occasions. During the first outbreak, in 1542, Calvin personally led visitations into plague-infected homes. Knowing that this effort likely carried a death sentence, the city fathers intervened to stop him because of their conviction that his leadership was indispensable. The pastors continued this heroic effort under Calvin's guidance, and they recounted the joy of multiple conversions. Many pastors lost their lives in this cause. Unknown to many, Calvin privately continued his own pastoral care in Geneva and other cities where the plague raged. Calvin's pastoral heart, already evidenced by the provision of hospitals for both citizens and immigrants, was further revealed as he collected the necessary resources to establish a separate hospital for plague victims. When believers died, he preached poignant funeral homilies with passion and personal concern. (John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology, ed. Burk Parsons [Lake Mary, Fla.: Reformation Trust, 2008], 65)

We would do well to prepare ourselves, like Calvin and the other Geneva pastors, not just to cope but to serve should similar trials come upon us.

Big Truths for Young Hearts

“Dad really believes the things that are in this book.”

That's a line from the forward to this book, Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God, by Bruce Ware. The forward was written by his two grown-up daughters, and they go further to say, “To parents: it may sound cliche, but we followed our father’s teaching in part because he practiced what he preached.” How's that for an endorsement?

I don't usually plug books I haven't read, but a) I had Ware as a professor for a class at Trinity, b) my brother had him for a professor/pastor/mentor/friend at Southern, c) one of our elders brought a copy of the book to our small group on Sunday night, and d) this morning our ministry assistant mentioned hearing these interviews below.

Of course, no (human) book will be the answer to all your parenting needs, but this could help. Just don't forget to "really believe the things that are in this book."

Here are a few radio interviews from Family Life Today with author Bruce Ware on his new book:

Introducing Your Child to God Are you helping your children know God? Bruce Ware, professor of Christian theology at Southern Baptist Seminary, urges parents to use the ordinary moments of life to introduce their children to God and grow disciples in the faith.

Sandbox Theology Do your children sense God's awesome power? Professor Bruce Ware, author of Big Truths for Young Hearts, encourages parents to use God's wonderful Creation and other everyday examples to give their children a sense of awe at the thought of God.

Helping Your Child Understand the Holy Spirit How, and what, do you teach your children about the Holy Spirit? Today Professor Bruce Ware helps equip parents to teach their children about the Holy Spirit in terms that even boys and girls can understand.

Source (1, 2)

Next Sermon - Matthew 8:18-34 on 05/10/09

Here's what we'll dive into together on Sunday-- more examples of Jesus' authority, expressed in the saving of others, and the expected response of faith and discipleship.

Matthew 8:18-34

18 Now when Jesus saw a great crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." 20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 21 Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 22 And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." 26 And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"

28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs." 32 And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Praise Ye Him

What?! You say that the only Christian music you listen to is what they play on the radio-- or what they used to play on the radio?

Why are we surprised when non-believers discard the great tradition of Christian culture when we've already abandoned it?

I'm not arguing for dead traditionalism. Here's someone making fine, new "worship music" who is very much alive. Steve Dobrogosz is an American who has lived in Sweden for the past thirty years, and in this video is performing with a Japanese choir. Enjoy "Praise Ye Him"-- his piece that uses a portion of the King James Version text of Psalm 148. You won't hear it on the radio.



Source

Faith and Hell

As I've been studying this text for Sunday, I've come across two quotations that connect quite nicely.

Matthew 8:5-13

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.

Donald Grey Barnhouse:

True faith acts on supernatural facts and gets supernatural results.

Dorothy Sayers:

[T]here seems to be a kind of conspiracy, especially among middle-aged writers of vaguely liberal tendency, to forget, or to conceal, where the doctrine of Hell comes from. One finds frequent references to the 'cruel and abominable medieval doctrine of Hell' or 'the childish and grotesque medieval imagery of physical fire and worms...'

But the case is quite otherwise; let us face the facts. The doctrine of Hell is not ‘medieval’: it is Christ’s. It is not a device of ‘medieval priestcraft’ for frightening people into giving money to the church: it is Christ’s deliberate judgment on sin. The imagery of the undying worm and the unquenchable fire derives, not from ‘medieval superstition,’ but originally from the Prophet Isaiah, and it was Christ who emphatically used it. . . . [O]ne cannot get rid of it without tearing the New Testament to tatters. We cannot repudiate Hell without altogether repudiating Christ.

Sources (1, 2)