The Hippopotamus

How Can We Even Tell It Is Working? --Part 1

2012-01-18T17:09:00.000-05:00

During our annual business meeting this last week we were discussing one of our long running ministries. Over the past few years we had been seriously considering putting it to rest. Although it lasts only a few days it takes a fair amount of work. The majority of the church participates in various ways. It is a very intense 72 hour experience. The Gospel is clearly taught, and modeled. We follow up. Yet we don't see hardly any fruit from the labor. The question was asked "How are we determining whether this ministry is effective?" It is a good question to ask. I did give an answer that I would stand behind, but the more I think about it, the more it doesn't quite satisfy.

I'm also reading Simple Church by Rainer/Geiger. I'm halfway through, experiencing a mixture of delight and frustration. I believed in the Simple Church before it was labeled as such. It is great to see a book that recognizes the desire to substitute chaff for meat in pastoral ministry. Yet, I keep getting the feeling that Rainer/Geiger are simply building a better mousetrap. Rather than trying to tip over the apple cart, it seems as if they are trying to streamline it. I'll correct that if I am wrong.

I have a love/hate relationship with metrics. I spent almost a decade working in quality in the field of aerospace and a lot of that was spent juggling various metrics. It was a necessary evil. We have to quantify human behavior as much as possible in order to put out a better product. Where in the process did things go wrong? Could we make the process more clear? Did the operator have the right equipment? Did he follow instructions? These are all good questions. They are also questions that can and should be applied to ministry....but only to a point. When we are manufacturing a part we have an exact blueprint as to how the part should look. The part is finished, we no longer have any interaction with the product. With believers, its part of an organic process that never really ends in this life time. We are not even really sure what any one characteristic looks like when lived in total conformity with God's character. We add on to that the truth that it is not us who brings about change but God. We can't put sanctification on a chart. Yet, the church has to ask the question whether it is truly working in such a manner that is pleasing to God.

And there you have the next set of posts... Be prepared for a lot of rambling.

The Top Five of 2011--Part 3

2011-12-31T11:35:00.001-05:00

My final two "events" for 2011... And yes, it is posting three days in a row. I'll have to lay down with a cold cloth on my head after this.

4) C.J. Mahaney, Together 4 the Gospel, and Sovereign Grace meltdown.. I've attended the last two T4G conferences, and really enjoyed them. They seemed to be a wonderful alternative to the political charged conferences of my former fundamentalism. They were rich in content, focused on Christ alone. I had concerns about 1 or 2 of the speakers, but it wasn't a big issue.

About six months ago, certain charges were laid against Mr. Mahaney by certain people in the denomination which he heads up, Sovereign Grace. They were pretty well documented with supporting evidence. Some of the charges seemed to be a bit petty and possibly malicious, but many of them were very serious. I would even question the qualifications of a man to be a minister with those actions on his docket. What really bothered me about it though is the reaction of the other members of T4G. Even before an investigation began, even before the dust had settled after the initial charges they claimed total innocence on the part of Mahaney, and malice on the part of anyone who disagreed with him. In some cases, some of the members seem to be acting totally contrary to teachings which they had previously given. You can google it all if you wish. Its a mess, and I look to see what God will do with it all.

I hate politics, especially ministerial politics. This is due in part to my sinful yearning to use it. I know how close my own malice sits to the surface. If there is one place pragmatism cannot exist, it is in ministry. We have to walk that line of "I love that the Gospel goes forth" and "But still, you are a train-wreck." We aren't allowed to ignore either point. Politics blurs the line, and makes it either/or.

This was a reminder of several things I was forgetting. Leadership is always local. You have to see a guy's life on a daily basis to see if he reflects his teaching. (This is one reason why the campus model is automatically hamstrung out of the gate.) Celebrity is always dangerous whether it is out of Christianity or in it. Also, never underestimate my own desire to be noticed.

5) Reading
I won't go into the books I've read. In fact, ironically I'm resolved to read fewer ministry books this year. (Don't ask) One book that really stuck out for me this year was Charles Bridges' The Christian Ministry with An Inquire into the Causes of its Inefficiency. It was written in 1830, but its relevance is startling. Bridges takes various scriptural principles related to pastoring and then runs with the application until he can't run anymore. He addresses the pastor's personal life, the role of preaching, and the impact of the congregation. I have read a lot of ministry books and there are very few that are as Christ-centered, yet honest about the sinful heart of the pastor. I'll be reading this one again this year.

Well, that is it for me. As we head into 2012 I pray that God will continue to demonstrate His holiness, love and greatness through us. Thanks for reading so far even though my posting has been spotty. I'll try to be more regular in the upcoming year. (Yes, I always say that)

The Top Five of 2011--part 2

2011-12-30T11:12:00.001-05:00

A few more thoughts on events from 2011, again these are not in order of importance.

2) My mother's cancer--

Mom's had cancer at least twice. We found out earlier this year that she was diagnosed with throat cancer. There were complications with the treatment plan as my mother was previously treated back in the 70's. The use of radiation back then was not quite as finely tuned as it was today. Consider being hosed down with radiation as opposed to it being used as a scalpel. Her body could only take so much, and it had almost reached its limit already.

There were many thoughts and frustrations that echoed through my mind in all of this. It is...complicated..to minister to your own family when you are not their pastor. You are still the kid who climbed trees, got into trouble in high school, and moved away after college. You don't carry the automatic gravitas of a pastor.

You also can't be glib. I was reminded of this in talking with a family member when the cancer was first discovered. She was very distraught and I was trying to comfort her. I reminded her of God's goodness, and sovereign working in my mother's life. God had allowed this cancer in part because He loved her. The relative responded bitterly, "I wish He would love her less. This is her third time." I didn't have an answer for that. It was harsh, and true, and echoed something that sometimes rattles around in my own soul. "If this is the cost of being loved by God, do I really want His affection?" Also, pain is pain. I can't throw out various truths and ignore the very pain that takes place.

It all still sits in my mind today. In other news, my mother had various procedures, chemo and a little radiation. Her latest scan shows her cancer free!!!
3) Church growth--
Understand when I say "church growth" I'm not talking of numbers. For those of you who have read my blog for any length of time you understand that I believe God speaks of terms in growth regarding quality vs. quantity. Throughout the year, more and more believers at Calvary have stepped forward sharing opportunities they have had to share and model the Gospel where they are. We have also had several who have started/implemented various ministries in the Church that are focusing on taking the Gospel into areas the church had not formally been involved in.

Please understand. I am not bragging about this one. Do I preach the need to proclaim and model the Good News? Absolutely. Yet, there was no direct cause/effect between my teaching and the actions of the people.

Let me try to illustrate. I love storms. I love to get as close as possible. I'll sit on the front porch, in the open garage, whatever. This last winter we had "Snowmageddon." There was 20+ inches of snow in one night with lightning and thunder. I kept going to the window to watch it all. I even bundled up at one point, and walked around in it. It is an incredible feeling to be right in the middle of such a profound display of power. That is how I feel about what has been going on in our church this last year. I see God's power changing lives, and I have absolutely nothing to do with it. I'm just standing in the storm feeling the Wind move about me. Let me note though, that God's power has always been there. He is simply choosing to express Himself in a different way.
It is humbling, and beautiful, and reminds me that in the end God will see Himself glorified.

More tomorrow...

The Top Five of 2011-- part 1

2011-12-29T17:51:00.001-05:00

There is something about the ending and beginning of things that almost compels us to consider the best and the worst of what we have experienced. I've seen list upon list of books, albums, movies and political events theses past few days. I often use these lists as a means of establishing next years reading list, album purchases, etc.. I've never really done one myself though. My tastes are somewhat eclectic, and such a list would communicate my eccentricity but not necessarily anything of value. But as I cast my mind back through this last year (clever phrase that), I came up with five events that stuck out in my mind. I realize that my recognition of these events does not mean that God only worked in these areas. In all likelihood He brought far more change in ways I can't even comprehend. Nor does it mean that I can even see these as milestones. My memory is faulty in my old age, and just because I can communicate it does not make more important than things I can't remember.

What it is, is a desire to recognize God's sovereignty in my life, and to give Him praise for His continual efforts to change me to be more like Him. It is also to be reminded that He cannot fail, regardless of my own failures.

So here they are, in no particular order of importance--

1) My oldest daughter turns 18--

When my daughter turned 18 in November, it hit me far harder than I expected. Not only was she a senior in high school but now she was technically an adult, getting read to head off to a college many hours from us. The joy and fear of stewardship became especially poignant. I won't bore you all with reminiscing but I thought upon the years we had not only taught her the Gospel, but also modeled for her what the Gospel should look like in our daily lives. Sometimes we did so very very badly. There were a lot of apologies on my part throughout the years. Yet, we have this young lady who is going to take a difficult road to reach the goals she believes that God has laid out for her. The nature of our relationship itself is changing, and I will need to step back. I need to allow her to make mistakes, relying wholly upon God's grace and mercy to restore her. There is a mixture of pride and fear, and mostly gratitude that God would allow me the privilege of raising children.

It reminds me of the necessity of prayer as I need to ask God to bless my daughter in specific ways, not only as my daughter but as my sister in Christ. It also reminds to re-examine the way I raise the three that will still be under my roof for a while.

More later, and yes, it will be up before 2012 comes around...

Mistakes I Have Made—If I Could Read Your Mind… Part 2

2011-12-20T18:08:00.000-05:00

We look at sanctification as a formula that must be adjusted as the situation warrants. This concoction will include prayer, bible memorization, books, conversations and various podcasts. Sometimes it almost feels as if you are fiddling with a recipe, trying to maximize the flavor. What started to happen is that I saw my ministry as a "grace-producing" tool in and of itself. The success of my ministry was ultimately dependent upon how good I was at my job. I could convince someone of the need for obedience through a sermon, or break a sinful habit through continual counseling and follow-up. While I don't think I would ever have admitted it out loud, I must have believed that through continual training in ministry I would become capable of greater and greater accomplishments.

There has come a shift in my thinking in the last few years though, and I think its because I started to recognize the absence of something very important...

The Gospel

Now I would hold to grace by faith alone by Christ as much as anyone. I believe that we can only come to Christ as He draws us to Him. "God works in us to will and to do." It all sounded good on paper but I had not made the necessary connection between the grace given for forgiveness, and the ongoing grace that leads to change. The Cross and the Tomb never stop working in the believer's life. It is as if grace flows out from that moment of time in both directions. It continues to change and transform us into the image of He who died and rose.

Is obedience necessary? Absolutely.. as long as it is seen as an act of faith and love. Our time spent in the Word has to be rooted in the belief that God wants to reveal Himself to us, and this is the way He ordained. We believe that God wants us to tell Him what is on our heart so we pray. Whenever we devolve to the mechanical or administrative we forget that it is God Himself who is the source of every good and perfect thing. We believe in the hammer rather than the Carpenter. To lack obedience is to lack faith. To lack faith is to try to reduce God to a 10 step manual.

Needless to say I am continuing to examine myself and my ministry for any signs of competency. It gets harder to see over time.

Mistakes I Have Made—If I Could Read Your Mind… Part 1

2011-12-14T17:47:00.000-05:00

I have already discussed somewhat the truth that authentic spiritual change is a mystery. We have been given the instruction manual as to how we may know our God. Calvin was right when he stated that one cannot know one’s self until he begins to understand God. If we are indeed made in God’s image, we need to see what we should have been to understand what we are now. Yet, we have not been given the owner’s manual to our own selves. We are totally incapable of fully understanding who we are. We are made in the image of God, but we are only dim, twisted reflections of who He is. Only He is capable of totally comprehending Himself. By extension, only the one we are modeled after can completely understand our function. Add to that the fact that the one we are modeled after is also our Creator. He is aware of us in ways we are not aware of ourselves. We cannot fully, or truthfully perceive certain realities in which we exist. Scripture has to tell us the nature of our warfare or we would be totally oblivious that it was spiritual. We had to invent special lenses to see into the infra-red and ultra-violet. I will bet you my eldest child’s left kidney that we will never invent anything that will allow us to see into the “spiritual” realms. There are certain things we will never be able to perceive about ourselves or understand. It has to be that way.

In the early days of ministry (i.e. up until last week), I kept falling prey to the idea that I could change the people I ministered to. There is the tendency to turn sanctification into a mechanical process. You apply verses, urge various types of obedience, exhort, admonish, and follow up. You then examine the individual to see what effect the treatment course had on them, and then readjust as necessary. If worse came to worse you would discipline the individual. There was an almost behavioristic bent to it all. This would lead to all sorts of issues. I would start to see the person as a problem rather than as an individual. I would resent their lack of change as if it were a personal insult. I would become frustrated, looking for the spiritual “philosopher’s stone” guaranteed to bring about the necessary change. The end result is not a pastor who lovingly tends to his people but one who sees growth and change as a confirmation of one’s own self-worth.

More later..

Mistakes I Have Made--Its Not Rube Goldberg part 2

2011-09-29T17:11:00.000-05:00

Our minds look for patterns. Therein lies the market plan for decades of conspiracy theory books. If a pattern does not exist, we will create one. Sad to say it is easy for me to look back, and see where I wasted time trying to perceive patterns that did not truly exist. While I can say that the majority of the time my intentions were pure (or as pure as they could be in the context) my methodology revealed a heart that saw God ultimately as an algorithm, as a being who could be...persuaded if you used the right combination of prayer, obedience, and doctrine that is.. I know that 90% of all pastors would be horrified if they thought they were trying to manipulate God, but I am not sure what else to call it when we tightly tie certain applications to certain actions.

Let me explain.

Church growth philosophy is probably the biggest offender. We may look at the last few decades in church marketing and blame it on a consumerist society, but its existed far longer than that. Consider much of the revivalist thinking from the First Great Awakening. Think of all of the teaching that stated that if we just followed 2 Cor. 7:14 or jumped through some other scriptural hoop, God would work. This is made even more odd by the fact that no two definitions of revival are the same. Combine that with an unspoken but necessary presupposition that God has not been working all the time anyway. We have always been looking for the magic formula that would unleash the gates of salvation, channeling them all into our church. We are all guilty of appealing to pragmatism as a fuel for obedience. I have heard one of my favorite preacher/writers say more then once, "Preach expository, it will add people to your church."

Personal growth is another. We are hungry to grow. We want to be spiritually mature. We want to wrestle with our worst enemy and come out on top, the greatest battles won. The majority of Christian publishing speaks to this impulse. We seek to manipulate sanctification through the right prayers, rituals, or paradigms. One tells us, "Satan is your greatest fear. If you address him in this manner, you will overcome the majority of your sin problems." Another states, "If we pray a certain prayer in certain situations at certain times, answers we are comfortable with will flow like water." We buy the books in the millions regardless of the simple truth that Scripture says anything but.

I finally came to a realization myself a few years back. God doesn't tell me how sanctification works. He tells me to obey for His glory. He tells me there will be growth. He doesn't give me the "why" or the "wherefore." He just tells me to trust Him. I began to understand a few things. Sanctification is simply an extension of my original salvation, and thus, still operates under the auspices of faith. My bible reading/prayer/obedience as a member of the church are ultimately acts of faith. I do these things because I know they lead to change, but I don't know how..I just know they do, because He said so.

That takes the focus totally off of the pastor. We don't obey because the pastor has charisma, or the fact that he understands it. It puts the focus on God. He said that if we show faith in Him by reading, praying and obeying He will change us. Mystery is thrown into the mix. A fog descends upon the entire process, but paradoxically God becomes much more apparent.

Mistakes I Have Made--Its not Rube Goldberg part 1

2011-08-04T16:54:00.000-05:00

The more we learn, the more we unconsciously start believing that we can eventually find all of the answers. I don’t mean that in arrogance. I don’t see the pastor as Prometheus bearding the gods to bring back the secret of fire. We don’t necessarily put ourselves on a higher plane then we belong, rather we forget what questions God doesn’t really answer. We forget that what God reveals to us the why, the Who, the what, and the where, but not necessarily the how.

A growing believer learns from so many sources. Of course he finds his greatest source of wisdom in the Word, and not only in the content of the Word itself, but how It plays out in his life. He begins to understand what true biblical holiness and love looks like as it is lived out in a sin cursed world by people still afflicted with cirrhosis of the heart. He also learns not only from his own Word-driven obedience, but the actions of others. A wise believer will actively observe how the Gospel (or lack thereof) impacts the lives of those that surround him.

Tie this all up with the very real truth that God is continually revealing Himself to us, and orders the universe in such a fashion that our knowledge of Him grows. It still amazes me how my views of the Trinity, my salvation, and other believers have shifted in the last 20 years. Its very humbling, and makes me wonder how my mind will have shifted by the time I reach 60.

Yet, we cannot think that because we know something of God that we know everything about God, or that extrapolations structured by our own logic are still consistent when they touch upon His actions. Please understand that I’m not playing the emergent card that God is unknowable. That is hogwash in the uttermost sense. How can God fail at making Himself known to us, when He has stated quite clearly that He has revealed Himself to us? Is our ignorance an effective barrier to His wisdom and power?

What doesn't God tell us? and why do we act as if He did?

More later...

Mistakes I Have Made--Who Pleased Who? (Part 2)

2011-07-02T22:03:00.000-05:00

When I set a criteria for growth other than the one God sets, it will by necessity become man-centered. If I don’t have God’s glory as my final destination I will not only wander off the map, but I’ll very likely take the congregation to a destination that carries far more harm then help.

Pardon me if I use a sea-going metaphor here. If I don’t use God’s pleasure as my North Star, I’ll unconsciously use something else to navigate by. Our automatic default is what got us into trouble in the first place. All other sources of guidance are tainted by sin both in their motive and in their application. Btw, this includes myself. With apologies to Eddie Arnold, just because you can’t please anyone doesn’t mean you should only please yourself. My criteria for what is good is oft “writ in water. “ I am subject to the same appetite for recognition, and self-serving as any member of my congregation or any fellow peer. Even more so if I am honest with myself. That is why I not only need the Word itself, but I need fellow believers who will speak the Word of God to my life both in exhortation and encouragement.

I think that I also forgot the personal element of God's pleasure. It is easy to see God's delight as part of some sort of theological equation. I do this, God says He feels this way, and its all business as usual. Yet, Scripture speaks very clearly to the fact that God wants us to know that He takes pleasure in our obedience if it is done out of faith and affection. We also have to remember though that many times God's pleasure does not mean He will order events to our agenda. We seek to please Him because of who He is and what He has done. Over time the Gospel creates a hunger for that approval. To find that my greatest joy is freedom indeed.

Mistakes I Have Made--Who Pleased Who? (Part 1)

2011-06-18T20:54:00.000-05:00

Dylan sang "You gotta serve someone." While that is true, and it added to Dylan's continuing mystique of making obvious facts seem profound it missed a more basic reality... We have to please someone. From the beginning we were created with a profound need to not only recognize God's authority but to submit to it. Sin twisted that around, as it does with all things. We still have the need to meet someone's expectations, but unfortunately we always choose the wrong person. Its like the teenage beauty who is always attracted to bad boys. She makes the wrong decisions again and again, continues to reap the consequences but moans that she just needs to meet a nice guy. We never want to really please the One who has ever loved us for the right reasons. If we are honest we can see ourselves in that ugly truth. The beauty of it all is that salvation not only saves from the consequences of such sinful melancholy, but rebuilds our heart so that there is only One face in the crowd that stands out.

I don't put the issue in such banal language to trivialize it, but rather to show how...sad it all is. I don't think that people understand how much pastors struggle with pleasing the wrong people.

I forgot that I needed to be actively pleasing God, and that He clearly communicated to me what He wanted. It is easy to focus so much on secondary effects that I rarely in the past considered that I wanted my Creator and Redeemer to be personally pleased with my motives and actions Let me state right off the bat that I'm not talking salvificaly. My salvation is complete in the works of Christ, nothing I do either adds to it or takes away from that truth.

As I mentioned earlier, we are made to please someone. If we are not actively seeking to please God, we will seek to please someone else, whether we acknowledge it our not. Like nature, our affections abhor a vacuum. I wanted an indicator to let me know how I was doing. Since I was not actively seeking God's pleasure I looked for other metrics. This included church attendance, the comments made at the end of the sermon, the opinions of my peers, and even the opinions of my family. Let me hasten to say that I am commanded to minister to various groups, and I am to carefully consider their counsel. I am never given the option to please them though. That only belongs to one Person.

I don't think I would ever have admitted that I was actively trying to please others. I have always exulted in my independence. Yet, looking back I have to be honest with myself. If I wasn't trying to actively please God, who was I trying to please?

More later..

Mistakes I Have Made--Introduction

2011-06-08T19:53:00.000-05:00

There is a razor's edge in sanctification that is uncomfortable to say the least. God uses our failures in a way that is impossible to recreate. Our sin is a given. It is written in the stars. When Adam, our representative, took the bite of that dread fruit in rebellion against his creator, it was ordained that we also would fail. We are born in sin (as the psalmist would say), and we continue to be shaped by it to a degree that we are incapable of understanding. Yet God is so powerful, so wise, and so loving that He takes those failures and uses them to shape us. Our salvation through Christ forgives, rejects, and transcends those offenses.

I think we forget that God makes us aware of our own mistakes. He wants us to know the why and the wherefore. The reasons are many: sometimes we only see the need for humility when it is served as crow, sometimes God needs an object lesson to convince others, sometimes even He wishes to encourage us by gently reminding us how far He has taken us.

Please remember that as I post this series.. I'm not indulging in narcissistic muttering or fishing for self-pity. I am simply trying to look at the last few decades of ministry through the lens of the Gospel. I have some serious regrets. I wince inside as I realize aspects of my ministry were not where they should have been. Scripture is quite clear that pastors are held responsible to a level we don't often consider, but isn't that the beauty of the Cross? As one gazes upon it, everything is set in perspective. Failures are more stark, and harsh, but grace is so much more beautiful. The key is not to wander into self-paralysis, fatalism, or defeat. Feel free to call me back if I stray.

Cancellations and thoughts...

2011-05-25T17:05:00.000-05:00

I know it has been a while since I have blogged. Part of this is due to poor scheduling on my part. Part of it is due to various events in church and home taking up the majority of my energy and time. I will have to be honest though, and say that part of it was due to an unwillingness to continue on with my train of thought regarding "fads and Calvinism." The more I worked on it, and thought about it, the more I realized that I was whining. I did not have the vocabulary or skill to properly communicate my thoughts on the whole New Calvinism shift, and upon further reflection I realized my thoughts were not really worth communicating. Frustration may get your readers, but it is not always pleasing to our God.

Let us beware though. We can take anything good and diminish it. If you repeat a term over and over again, it looses meaning. If you communicate certain truths over and over again using a medium that encourages a short attention span, and have no real ability to demonstrate the life changes those truths bring about.. well, you get the point.

In other news, I've indulged myself in a bit of a midlife crisis. Being that I have been in ministry for 20 years, I have started going over the last few decades in my mind looking at my strengths and weaknesses. Please understand there is no melodrama here. I've been trying to steer clear of naval gazing, and the self-pity that can paralyze. I've been trying to root it all in the truth that we are to delight in the fear of God, and that the Gospel not only provides forgiveness for my failures, but it provides grace so that I may grow in those deficient areas.

It has been very very humbling. I am finding myself repentant for things I once held up proudly. Things I once thought beautiful are now ugly, and vice versa. I may share more in the coming weeks.

Knocking on heaven's door....

2011-04-07T22:24:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I'll be performing the funeral for a dear friend who was also a member of our congregation. I will not wax eloquent about my feelings. He made us all laugh. He delighted in the changes God had been working in his life. He could out-bowl everyone, and never gave a twitch of false modesty. I could go on and on. It will be a privilege to do the service.

Here are some brief thoughts on believers and funerals.

Funerals recognize that something beautiful to God has happened. Psalm 116:15 tells us that "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Oddly enough this verse is in the midst of a psalm of worship. Of course it isn't coincidental. Shouldn't something pleasing to our Lord be recognized by His people? As an aside, think a bit why God delights in the death of His children. It is a profound and incredible.

People who come to a believer's funeral should have their illusions destroyed. They should walk away knowing that the person who died didn't have a chance. Career, children, accomplishments, house, etc...none of it means a single thing. The person could have worked a thousand years, and not be an iota closer to heaven. The only hope that exists has nothing to do with the person in the casket (or in the urn). It is the righteousness that was deposited to that person's account.

Our sorrow should be conflicted in the best way. We have to dance on that razor's edge between sadness at a long absence, and the fierce joy that God has kept His Word. Our brother truly would never choose to come back to be with us, and we must embrace that truth.

May God be praised as we recognize His sovereign hand in the cope of our life.

Book Review--Marks of the Messenger

2011-04-06T11:56:00.000-05:00

After reading this book, the line popped into my head, "If you build it, they will come." That may sound odd, but in my mind it is the best way to summarize Marks of the Messenger-Knowing, Living and Speaking the Gospel by J. Mack Stiles. Mr. Stiles currently lives in Dubai where he is CEO of Gulf Digital Solutions. It is clear though, that his move to that location was to provide him means and opportunity to spread the Gospel into the Arab world. Think of it as very high-level tent-making. I mention this because it adds a credibility to his writings on evangelism. He took the call to make disciples so seriously he moved his family to the Middle East in the days following 9/11.

While the book is about evangelism, it does not explore methodology or technique. Rather it looks at context and environment. He isn't so much asking "How do we do evangelism?" but rather "What type of person should we be to do evangelism?" He wants to make sure that we truly understand the Gospel with all of its implications including conversion, and lifestyle. His approach is more organic then anything else. There are certain things we must understand/believe/love before we can be an effective witness for Christ.

He addresses some additional issues including the role of love and social change in evangelism. The chapter on boldness was especially useful to me. He also talks about th church in evangelism, not so much as an end result of the Gospel, but rather how the church is a necessary element of outreach in and of itself.

The book runs a little over 120 pages, and is very quick read. Its usefulness far outstripped its size and brevity.

Change--May I have your autograph?

2011-04-05T16:48:00.000-05:00

Last night I went to hear one of my favorite author/teachers speak at a local conference. I've long appreciated his approach to Scripture, and its application in the local church. I have several of his books on my shelf, and have taught through one of them for a Sunday School class. I buy extra copies so I can give them to ministry acquaintances, etc. I completely enjoyed the service (including the message) but afterwards I thought a bit along the lines we have been discussing here.

Oftentimes as we consider how things need to change, we inadvertently substitute a who for the what. That is, we desire our ministries to resemble some one else's. We hunger for the same gravitas, style, or expositional skillz. What we often forget is that our gifts, plus the gifts of our people are in no way the same or expressed in the same fashion. We are a beast of a different color. We must not forget that God hardwires uniqueness into His people and His church(s).

With that being said, it is good to watch how others apply Scriptural principles into the personal lives and ministries. God often uses this to remind us to (cliche drum-roll) "think outside the box." But may we be reminded that the principle is far more important then the application, and what works for "a" may very well not work for "b."

True biblical change is not plastic surgery. Its a foundational re-working, unique to where God has placed us.

Change---berms or moats?

2011-04-04T16:40:00.000-05:00

The more I think about rebellion/change in our church culture the more my mind goes back to my previous question. How do we want the landscape to look after transformation has taken place? This is more important then we realize as our measuring stick is by necessity rooted in our own experience and knowledge. We tend to paint a glaze of Christianity over our current life, and make that our goal. As God's holiness is to be the measuring stick for our own holiness, so the coming Kingdom should be the template for any change we desire. This is harder then we realize. We expect the Christian version of "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" while Christ says "I'm going to raze it all to the ground."

Anytime we shift the doctrinal landscape, either by correcting false doctrine or by teaching doctrine previously ignored, we are going to bring about transformation.

Let us not forget a few vital facts:

1) We don't know what things need to look like. We don't know what we don't know. As I mentioned above, our proclivity is to sugar coat what we already have. Every generation is guilty of this. We look back at what we perceive to be the best aspects of the culture we live in, and figure, "God will surely like this." We all make mockery of the chronological idolatry practiced by those who have gone before, while ironically embracing all of the comforting symbols of our own crop. The older I get, the more I realize that God's vision so far outstrips anything I can imagine for myself I don't even try to figure it out. This also means that I don't try to define the transformation that biblical teaching brings about.

2) We can't approach transformation with an agenda. That is, we introduce the Word, pray to God, and remember that is God who transforms the future. We can't mold anything including our own congregations, families or internal landscapes. To embrace true humility, we understand that we are called to be sacrificially obedient, but nothing we do can touch the hidden currents that must be shifted. We don't even know what actually needs to change save in the most general terms.

More tomorrow....

Fads--some thoughts on rebellion.

2011-03-16T17:06:00.002-05:00

My wife says I'll look like this when I'm 70.

Yes, in my tiresome fashion, I decided to define a few things before I continue on with my narrative. I did so to prevent my story from turning into a screed.

There are two terms that are not often connected, "rebellion" and "sanctification." If I were to get technical I could say that in order to grow into the image of Christ, I need to rebel against my sin. As Paul states, I am no longer a slave to sin, but sin wants me to forget that foundational truth. It constantly lies to me, telling me that my identity has not changed. I still belong to it. Sanctification demands that I rebel against those lies. I need to be reminded such slavery is an illusion that only has power if I believe in it (paging Talos IV). We as believers are continually called to rebel against a world system that clouds our thoughts, false teaching, unrepentant sin in church leadership, etc. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with rebellion in such circumstances.

I say that because we have to recognize that theological/cultural change in Christianity is rooted in some sort of rebellion. Someone looks at what is currently taking place and finds it inadequate. Paradigms are examined. Presuppositions are challenged. Someone builds a barricade, waves a flag, and then the troops are called out. After the dust settles things are different, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Of course this is not a mechanical process. It is organic, dynamic. It flows continually in stops and starts. It is not only defined by the positions themselves but by the personalities pushing the various shifts.

For those of us who desire change, who seek to storm the theological/philosophical Bastille that exemplifies All That Is Wrong we forget our sin nature is still with us. We are not slaves to it. It holds no chain, but it does sit upon our shoulder, whispering into our ear. We rarely see it though for what it is. It helps us redefine the worst part of us. What we call "confidence", "reason", and "compassion" are really only masks for "hubris"," arrogance", and "selfishness." We forget that we do things for the wrong reasons a lot more then we admit. Scripture calls us to examine our motives on a continual basis. The noblest act driven by a godless motive is uglier then we can imagine. God tells us that He has killed people in the past who used that criteria.

Whenever we desire the landscape of Christianity to change what do we want to look different?

I'll be on vacation next week but hope to blog from D.C.

On which I am part of a fad--part 1

2011-02-23T17:30:00.000-05:00

This is how I look in my mind.

(In order for this to work properly, you have to imagine me leaning against a fence row somewhere in west Texas. I look like the theological equivalent of the Marlboro man, lean, scarred, somewhat cynical but a little hopeful. My voice is raspy as I talk. Imagine someone playing Riders in the Sky on an old six string as I talk.)

(Yes, you can stop laughing.)

I've been around for a while. I've seen them come and go. Mike Warnke, Salem Kirban, 88 Reasons why the Rapture will be in 88, Bob Larsen, spiritual warfare, (insert mission field of the month here), Bill Gothard, seeker-sensitive churches, the emergent church--they were all popular, promising great change with low investment. The key to quantum spiritual growth was discovered, or possibly the code had been cracked that told us when our ticket was going to be punched. Books and records filled the local Christian book store. Conferences were held. People held their breath. A year later, the book bins were filled with remainders, we were all essentially unchanged, revival had not swept through America. Yet, we still waited with eager anticipation for the next Big Thing.

Not me though. I had seen others burned, and I am cursed with a slightly cynical bent. I will not bore you with details, but through the years I have seen the ugly side of Christianity. This in itself, has not shaken my faith in Christ, but I found that I view the process by which we discern what is good and beautiful with suspicion. If we can make a bad choice, we will. God in His goodness often leads us away before we do too much damage, but we have left many a smoldering ruin behind us.

Something happened several years back that caught me off guard. I started reading books and blogs that were challenging the pragmatism-driven philosophies that had been a large part of the church landscape. I started to hear serious discussion on a grand scale that doctrine was important, and that one must consider the real-world application of a calvinistic soteriology in order to be pleasing to God. The church must be reformed by biblical principles as opposed to market driven strategies. I started to see people take stands that sought to transcend political connections, making decisions based on gospel fidelity rather then results. The message was clear, it didn't matter who you knew, it mattered who your God was.

I can't tell you how incredibly... cool.... that was. I was a calvinist when being a calvinist wasn't cool (apologies to Barbara Mandrell). I'm not saying I preached the 5 points from the pulpit. I'm more of a 4.5 modified (insert theological taxonomy here). I did read the Institutes, Sproul, the Puritans, and even hit up Melancthon, and Hodge. I loved Grudem's systematic except for the irritating continuationist bits. I have always been, and will be evangelistic. There was no contradiction in my thinking between a God who saves people through election/foreknowledge and an aggressive evangelistic lifestyle. They all work together. That really put me on the outskirts. No one knew what to do with me. In my circles, to hold such a view put you in a definite, unpopular minority. With the growing popularity of reformed theology it was nice to no longer be "rejected" for holding such a position. It was as if I had finally been invited to sit at the cool table. I loved the thought of being in the majority.

I started noticing something odd though.

To be continued--

A chaotic conclusion..

2011-02-14T17:38:00.000-05:00

Application must be drawn from the text itself. This is a given, but unfortunately it is easily forgotten. You want your congregation to do something, anything... It is easy to toss out actions that may or may be relevant to the text, but its counter-productive in the long run. You see, you are not only teaching your people what the text says, you are always trying to teach them how to look at texts you have not taught out of yet. If you divorce your application from your text you are essentially cutting the rope that holds them to the shore. The long term consequences can be devastating. The tail cannot wag the dog.

The pastor must also apply the text to his own life before he applies it to his congregation's. This is important on so many levels. In personal application, we often see aspects of the text were not previously apparent. Obedience gives added clarity. It also takes a certain hubris to require change in your people's lives that you have not tried to embrace yourself. On a more basic level, the pastor exists in a strange bubble. Unless he makes the effort, he only hears his own teaching. If he wants (and he must want) to grow in Christ, he must apply his sermon to himself. Physician heal thyself and all that.

Applying the message presupposes that the pastor knows what is going on in the life of his congregation. The pastor has to have some idea of what culture his congregation is living in. He is demonstrating to his people that God's Word is relevant regardless of where they are, and he must take show them how it is relevant. He has to reach out into his people's lives, not simply knowing the brute facts that surround them, but getting with the hidden engines that drive their actions. This requires him (and the congregation) stepping outside of the regular routine of the Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday cycle.

Application is how we see certain truths take shape, and it is a discipline that must carefully be considered and prayed over, along with exegesis, hermeneutics, etc.

Chaos doesn't live here anymore--part 4

2011-02-05T23:29:00.000-05:00

While I am a big fan of effective expository preaching, I see a definite role for topical messages. One could argue that much of our life is arranged thematically whether we categorize ourselves according to age, employment, geographic location, or hobbies. All of those must be addressed in some fashion from a biblical perspective. While in His sovereignty God uses the expository sermon to address some of these issues in a timely manner, we are commanded to equip people "before the fact." That is, we must ensure that they understand what responsibilities their role demands. What does God expect of fathers? mothers? the employed? employers?

We could take this a step farther into the realm of doctrine. God did not lump everything about one particular subject in one place in scripture. While I believe "biblical" theology is vital to understand Scripture, a systematic examination of each revealed aspect of our God is also necessary for our people. What does God say about Himself? What does He say about how He communicates? What does He say about His creation, and their responsibility to Him? Those thoughts are scattered all the way throughout Scripture, and must be drawn together. While we are to compare scripture to scripture, we are must ensure that we are not taking anything out of context as we start to recognize the shape of God's truth. One must also teach on how these doctrines relate to one another. Why is revelation important to justification? Why is the study of last things so vital for our sanctification?

The term "strategic thinking" is the current hip phrase in church growth discussion. While I believe much of it is simply marketing with another monniker, there is a need to be intentional about what we preach.I do recognize that ultimately all things are in the hands of God, and only He can bring about change. That does not void the responsibility that God lays before me as a pastor. I am to know what my people know and don't know about our God, preaching accordingly to their ignorance and mine.

I apologize for the dry tone of the post. The subject matter deserves far more passion then I have available at the moment. Next week I'll wrap this all up discussing application with some concluding thoughts.

A chaotic excursus--conclusion... hopefully.

2011-01-27T17:28:00.000-05:00

I think humility has to be a key element anytime we approach the Word, and humility will demonstrate itself very clearly every time. One cannot claim to be humble when dealing with God's Word, and not demonstrate certain characteristics.

Prayer is a given. If we really believe that it is only the Spirit working that brings about change through His Word, then we must appeal to Him on a personal level driven by loving desperation. It matters not how well written the message, or charismatic the messenger.
Charnock states:

Can a well composed oration, setting out all the advantages of life and death, raise a dead man, or cure a diseased body? You may as well exhort a blind man to behold the sun, and prevail as much. No man ever yet imagined, that the strewing a dead body with flowers would raise it to life; no more can the urging a man spiritually dead with eloquent motives ever make him to open his eyes, and to stand upon his feet.

True humility will demonstrate itself in prayer. To lack prayer in sermon preparation and delivery is to lack humility. One cannot exist without the other. I say this to my shame, their have been times I have claimed a humble spirit but my lack of prayer gave lie to my words.

True humility pushes me to the Word as the only agent of change. My reasoning is crippled by sin. My perceptions are clouded by a leprous vision shared with those about me. It is only when I look through the Word that I see things as they truly are. Depravity is incredibly comprehensive in its destructive capacities. My ability to damage those about me is not limited by my imagination. I am an intellectual Typhoid Mary spreading despair unless I cling to the Word. It is the only cure for the disease that is me.

To have confidence in myself as I approach the pulpit is to believe a lie. Without thinking, we often ask our congregation to join us in believing that untruth. The goal of true humility in preaching is for the pastor being able to back away from the message, the congregation forgetting he was there because of the wonder of God revealed in His Word.

I think though, that true humility enables our confidence in our God to grow. If a pastor truly has prepared to the best of his ability, covering each step of the message with prayer, having confidence in the Word as opposed to himself, he is sure of a peace rooted in the character of His God. He understands that it is not himself that will bring about any change. In doing so comprehends that the feedback of the people is not his true meat, but rather the pleasure of His Father.

I would encourage the readers to lift their pastors before God in prayer, asking that they hunger for true humility. Heaven knows that is an appetite we do not often seek.

May God be glorified in our worship this weekend.

A chaotic excursus--part 5

2011-01-19T16:03:00.000-05:00

I wanted to touch a little bit on the "intuitive" position of sermon delivery. In my own world, I would define it as one who seeks to teach the Word of God without any formal preparation. Strangely enough, I do believe that there is a place for it in a robust growing church, and I would even go as far to say that God works sovereignly to put us in such situations from time to time. There are times when He desires us to "speak off the cuff." We will be asked to stand in for someone else, a sudden phone call will summon us to an engagement we have forgotten, or we find what we have prepared to be totally inappropriate or inadequate for the situation. There are a few truths about this that we have to come to terms with in accepting these scenarios:

1) God still will work through His Word and His Spirit. It is only the Spirit that can change the heart of man, and God has ordained that His Spirit will work through His Word. He won't do one without the other. Even if I am called to speak off of the top of my head, it is only what I say about the Word that will have lasting value. Nothing else will be effective. My spontaneity will not make it more effective. The application being that the pastor must continually be in the Word outside of His sermon preparation. He is a believer before he is a pastor. He needs to act like one.

2) True God-generated spontaneousness generates true humility. True humility generates sincere prayer. I firmly believe that God puts us into these situations to remind us that it never depended upon our borrowed cleverness anyway. There is a joy in total helplessness that understands that God condescends to use us.

3) As I alluded to earlier though, a pastor should always be capable of teaching Scripture in any environment. This only works if you have a pastor who is spending time in daily worship, meditating on God's Word throughout the day, and applying it to his own life.

To wit, a truly effective intuitive message is going to be someone talking about what God has been doing in his life lately through the application of Scripture. It will lack exegetical finesse, but it will still be Word based, and it will draw glory to God, not the pastor. A wise pastor will understand that God is gently reminding him of his own inadequacy, and the only proper response is a heart-felt cry for God to be glorified in spite of the speaker.

(Not so) chaotic quotes..

2011-01-14T12:06:00.000-05:00

I've been reading The Christian Ministry with An Inquiry into the Causes of its Inefficiency by Charles Bridges. As most writings of its type, there is a density and conviction to the text itself I found burdensome but useful. Its good to be worked over sometimes.

I draw forth a few quotes which I believe are relevant to the current discussion. I submit them to your approval. You should be able to draw out the relevant applications.

"Nor must we deny that studious habits are attended with ensnaring temptations. The tree of knowledge may thrive, while the tree of life is languishing. Every enlargement of intellectual knowledge has a natural tendency to self-exaltation. The habit of study must be guarded, lest it should become an unsanctified indulgence; craving to be fed at the expense of conscience or propriety; employed in speculative enquiries, rather than in holy and practical knowledge; preoccupying the time that belongs to intermediate duties; or interfering with other avocations of equal or greater moment."

and

"'Not to ready or study at all is to tempt God: to do nothing but study, is to forget the Ministry: to study, only to glory in one's knowledge, is a shameful vanity: to study, in search of the means to flatter sinners, a deplorable prevarication: but to store one's mind with the knowledge proper to the saints by study and by prayer, and to diffuse that knowledge in solid instructions and practical exhortations,--that is to be a prudent, zealous and laborious Minister.'"

I believe they speak for themselves. May we prepare our hearts for worship this coming week.

A chaotic excursus-part 4

2011-01-12T12:29:00.000-05:00

There are many dangers in carefully preparing a message, and I believe it is these to which people often refer when they state their preferences for the "intuitive" model.

1) One may be preparing for the wrong reason. All pastors carry about them the sin nature, that is a given. What we often forget is how it spreads through his soul, leaving no part untouched. Within each pastor is a desire to be heard, and that in itself is not a bad thing. Unfortunately, we rarely ask ourselves why we think people should listen to us. We would all agree that we have something important to say and that people need to hear it. I don't think that is taking it back far enough though. As a pastor, it is insufficient to think we have something others need to hear. Rather we must fix ourselves to the hope that Scripture has something the people need, and we are here to give them Someone Else's message. We are to think of ourselves as couriers, not speech writers. Our purpose in preaching is to proclaim something that is not original to us. This sets a totally different tone to our desire for an audience. We desire for people to hear God rather than us. (which reminds us how careful we must be when we say "God says this") To have any other purpose is to court pride, and personal accomplishment.

2) In keeping with the first point, in preparation we may forget that our job is to talk about someone else. I do believe in the necessity of personal illustration, and transparency in a message. I just know that for me sometimes the line blurs and I end up talking more about me than I do about Christ. We cannot allow our people to walk out knowing more about us then they do about God. We must always subsume ourselves in the very text of the sermon itself so that we are a footnote, not a point.

3) We construct our messages in such a way that our skills become the center of the message rather than the Scripture we are striving to explain. We are not called to be clever. We are called to be clear.

4) We take pride in our ability to do that which God has given us. In I Cor, Paul dryly asks the Corinthians why they glory in things they were given. I think this is probably the area in which pastors are the most guilty, and bring the most dishonor to the concept of a prepared message. We are proud of the fact we do prepare. We are proud of the fact we studied, and brought all of our mighty intellect to bear upon this vital question. We have added to the wisdom of the ages with our own mighty grey matter. That in itself, we feel, should earn us the honor of our congregation. I wince as I type this as I see myself oft-times reflected in this. Everything from start to finish is God. He gave me the desire, the ability, and any results that may come forth. I really am nothing in the entire process. I just happened to be a guy who was in the vicinity. It would behoove us all to root out any tendency to take credit for any good God may bring of our laughable efforts.

I'll finish up this section later on this week with some thoughts from Charles Bridges.

A chaotic excursus-part 3

2011-01-05T18:02:00.000-05:00

As part of the ongoing discussion, we need to address an important point that applies to both pastor and congregation. I think we would all agree that technically it is God's Word that changes us. We are told time and time again that the Spirit uses God's revelation to work actually change in our lives. Think of the Word as the brick, and the Spirit as the mortar. As we internalize God's thoughts our actions change. I can think of very few Christians that would disagree with this in theory.

I think that the failure is often found in the expectations of God's people, both pastor and lay-people as they approach the use of Scripture in worship. What are the people looking for when they come to the service? What yardstick will they use to determine whether the sermon was successful? At the risk of being redundant Scripture tells us that the goal of proclaiming the Word is to bring greater understanding of the Word itself, and how it is to be applied. The believer should not be content with anything other than that. Unfortunately, many in the church are satisfied with deistic moralism wrapped in garments of humor and novelty.

I understand this, and as a pastor it is hard not to give into it. I hate to say this, but I know that people are more likely to remember a funny story I tell about my high school days then a careful examination of sanctification. As I prepare my messages I have to continually remind myself that there is only one thing that will change my people and it is not me. The desire to pander to the greatest common denominator is a continual struggle that must be fought every week.

If God has told me that it is His Word that will change lives, I must craft my messages in such a manner that they explain what the Word means, and how it is to be lived. The people of my congregation should only be pleased with the message if they understand God's Word better. Both of us must operate under the absolute expectation that God has promised His Word will change us. It is simply another application of living by faith.

As part of the larger argument of preparation vs. intuition it fits in neatly. It matters not whether you have a message that has been carefully prepared, or you are literally flying by the seat of your pants, it is the Word itself that will change your audience. You should expect nothing less.

A chaotic excursus-part 2

2010-10-14T16:19:00.000-05:00

I think that all of us are on the same page when it comes to the capacity of God to actually know our thoughts. Psalm 139:2-6 describes a God who not only knows what we are thinking but understands the mechanics of our mind far better than we ever well. This falls under the whole "Creator" paradigm.

Our thinking processes operate under God's sovereignty. God decrees our thoughts, or decrees to permit our thoughts. Scripture tells us that God's omniscience combines with His power on such a subtle level that the very texture of our thoughts are under the auspices of His authority. We cannot fully (or even partially) understand how this works out but for the sake of discussion we must acknowledge the Lordship of Christ over all aspects of cogitation.

Several applications come immediately to mind:
God has the ability to direct my thoughts in any direction He desires, save to force my thoughts down sinful paths. As mentioned above, God controls all aspects of our body in light of being Creator. This not only includes the speed of synaptic processing, but the ensuing manipulation of symbols. There is nothing that stands independent of our God's Lordship in any part of our thought process.

When God directs my thoughts, it will always be for His glory. God does nothing unless it draws glory to Him.

God has the ability to guide my thoughts in the direction He wants them to go without me being directly aware of His guidance. There is belief that somehow God "injects" thoughts into our cogitation process, and by some inner experience we know that it is from Him. We then attribute a higher authority to those thoughts than any others, and often expect others to fall under that authority. God's interaction with our minds is subtle, intrinsically knowable, and ultimately rational (by God's definition).

I am convinced that often times such phrasing as "God laid this on my heart" or "God directed me" reveals a heart that believes in the ability of experience to change lives as opposed to God's Word.

My thoughts are also directed as I interact with God's revelation. There is a miraculous aspect to that part of the relationship as it is only through the Holy Spirit I can truly apply Scripture. But we must understand that the providential elements weigh large. We are directed by Scripture on how to view our environment. It is through the Spirit I see application where I didn't previously. Conviction is born from such. My ability to think God's thoughts after Him are contingent on how much of God's thoughts I know.

I simply wish to demonstrate through the above that there is not a part of our life that partakes less of God's authority than any other aspect. God is not more in control of our emotions as opposed to our thoughts. If He is sovereign over all things, He is as sovereign over the pastor's thought process before the message as during it. God does not have more authority over intuition as opposed to rational thought. If there is one element that varies between the two, it is probably pride. (Where I believe much of the problem lies. (lays?..I never could get those right.))

And the hits keep coming..

A chaotic excursus--part 1

2010-09-14T16:49:00.000-05:00

The pastor walks up to the pulpit on a Sunday morning, and opens his Bible with care. He somberly looks out over the congregation and slowly states, "I had a message prepared today that I worked on for many hours, but I feel very strongly today that I need to set this aside and tell you what God has laid upon my heart."

It is a common practice in many pulpits and is not unique to any one denomination. How do we respond to this? Is this truly a message for the people that would not have been contained in the message he prepared ? When he prepares his messages is he limiting God's working on the congregation? I could go on, but I think that the unveiled answers give us an uncomfortable view into what believers today are expecting from the message, and what they really believe changes a person.

People break sermons prep into one of two basic categories. One is rational in nature. The pastor carefully considers his text. He breaks down the passage, outlining it. He consults biblical, systematic, and historical theologies. Application is made, examining the consequences of fully embracing the passage. A sermon is crafted and delivered. All of this, of course, is constantly bathed with prayer by a heart that continually examines itself as to unrepentant sin.

The other paradigm for sermon prep could be called intuitive. Due to whatever circumstances, the speaker will not be working from any previously prepared material. Possibly he did not have time to put a message together. Maybe something necessitated that Scripture be used to address an immediate event for the sake of the church. Regardless, even as he walks to the platform, internally he is throwing himself at God’s mercy, so that God’s reputation may not suffer from his lack of preparation. As the speaker talks, connections are made, applications come to mind, God’s Word is proclaimed.

Is one form of sermon prep more “spiritual” than the other? Are we surer of hearing God’s truth with one message as opposed to the other? Anecdotally, it seems as if many feel that the pastor who speaks from the heart spontaneously will be more likely to know what God wants him to say. I have been asked more than once why I don’t set my sermon aside and simply say what “God has laid on my heart?” The unspoken thought is clear. What I have prepared is not as likely to reflect God’s desire for the congregation as what simply comes unprepared out of my mouth.

I'll be examining this over the next several posts. Please bear with me as I seek to turn over a touchy subject.

Chaos doesn't live here anymore-part 3

2010-09-01T17:09:00.000-05:00

Expository preaching is basically an application of the need to teach the congregation the whole counsel of God. I have oft ranted on this before so I will strive for brevity, considering a few applications.

To immerse yourself in a book of Scripture, from start to finish is to crawl inside something. It is allowing yourself in the purest terms to be defined by Scripture in what you teach rather than be defined by your agenda. Agendas are not always wrong, but they are always dangerous. One may easily find himself playing the Holy Spirit when one seeks to instruct through the filter of an agenda. We are to be sensitive to the needs of our congregation, but rarely are we cognizant of what they truly need. By taking the path of expository preaching we take our hand off of the tiller, and let the text take us along a different current.

One of my greatest joys as a pastor is being led down paths that I did not know existed in the first place. With expository preaching the congregation is assured that their pastor will be changed by the journey. If he is letting the book speak for itself, then God promises that the message therein will transform the one studying, and applying it. You want your pastor to be different, pray that he preaches through Scripture, submissive to the paths before him, and that he doesn't try to cut his own.
Expository preaching also changes the way we approach memorization, meditation, etc. We learn that thoughts cut out of context can be useful, and glorifying to God. We also learn that they gain much more power when they are carried about by the argument of the text itself. John 3:16 is wonderful. Many a person has come to Christ through this verse, but it is so much more powerful when it is coupled with fallen man's depravity, and the promise of regeneration. The Romans' Road is great, but its part of a long dialog that beautifully lays out the wickedness of man, answering it with the holiness and love of God. It shows the need for memorizing chunks of Scripture, not just verses.
Expository preaching draws a map before our eyes that does not limit itself to what man has seen, but opens the vistas of eternity itself.

The Reformed Pastor--Part, the fourth

2010-08-24T16:55:00.002-05:00

http://gracedependent.com/2010/08/24/the-reformed-pastor-part-iv-richard-baxter/

Chaos doesn't live here anymore--part 2

2010-08-24T16:54:00.001-05:00

In Acts 20:27, Paul proclaims to the Ephesians that he taught them the "whole counsel of God." In the most literal sense he is stating that he taught the entire gospel, not withholding any element which may be considered offensive or irrelevant. Rather he knew it was his responsibility to communicate to the people everything that God had revealed to him through the Law, the Prophets, etc, regarding God's work of salvation.

I would broaden that application today stating that the pastor must ensure that he teaches the congregation everything that God says about Himself, His creation, and its responsibility to Him. In short, the pastor must ensure that the entirety of Scripture is laid before his people at one time or another. In reading that, some of you may imagine an endless series of pedantic lessons dumping forth a plethora of Greek/Hebrew terms, diagrams, and outlines. Your eyeballs start to bleed at the thought of something so lifeless, so...sterile. I would grant you that. For your consideration, a laundry list as to the ingredients required:

What is the books's theme--What overall message is the author trying to communicate? Where does this fit in the history of Israel or the New Testament church? Into what events has God placed this revelation. Very few people preach from the OT prophetic books because they don't understand the where these prophecies belong in the historical canon. There is no context.
What is the content of the book--what is the flow of argument? We must not only point out that Paul went from point A to point Z, but draw attention to exactly how he did that. This is where expository preaching can fall flat. The pastor can either atomize each verse to the point of irrelevance, or generalize it to an ugly ambiguity. Let your people ride the rapids all the way down.
How does teaching within the book relate to other areas of Scripture? Integrative does not even begin to describe it. Themes intertwine, head off in directions unexpected. God stretches certain truths all the way through history. If I may digress--biblical and systematic theologies must be continually addressed.

These are all "technical" in nature, but there are some sobering ramifications.

The pastor has to be committed to making sure that all of Scripture is taught. Yes, it is a given, but we don't often make a goal. We are afraid that if we choose to teach/preach through the Law or the Minor Prophets our people will come down with ptomaine poisoning every Saturday night. We know that when we hit Revelation or spiritual warfare people will flock. We are naturally inclined to teach that which appeals as opposed to all that God has said about Himself. It is important to remember that we are not the best barometer as to what our people need. All that our inner man has done for us is purchase a one way ticket to Hell. We need to trust more in the plan of a holy God who wrote out exactly what we need to know even if we didn't know we needed it. The market paradigm should not be sitting in the driver's seat.

The pastor has to be changed by all of Scripture. I cannot stress this enough. Explanation of Scripture is not enough. In our review of the Reformed Pastor, we saw Baxter stress the need to consider application as well as meaning. It is easy for the pastor to become a "sermon machine" not being changed by the material itself. It is horrifically difficult, and possibly hypocritical to stand before our congregation stating that we want them to be changed by God's Word, but it hasn't touched our life due to a lack of consideration. I firmly believe that the Word itself should catch our attention more than our responsibility to communicate it to the congregation.

Later this week, I rant on the need for expository preaching.

Chaos doesn't live here anymore--part 1

2010-08-17T16:29:00.000-05:00

On an average I speak four to five times a week. This usually includes Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Sunday school, small groups, and scheduled devotionals (rescue mission, food bank, etc). I readily admit that sometimes it all feels a bit overwhelming. One must not simply speak to speak. It is too easy to fill the air with words meant to fill empty spaces. James hammers that one may not lightly approach teaching. God holds us more responsible. It is also of interest that in all likelihood God will not esteem teacher/pastors as highly as He will esteem other believers (Ref. 1 Cor. 12).

Of course the tendency is to entertain, whether it is your audience or yourself. You judge your effectiveness based on your audience's reactions. While using such criteria may be helpful at certain times it easily eclipses the One for whom, and to whom ultimately we speak. The real question that needs to be answered is rarely rolling around in our minds. "Is what I am teaching pleasing to God?" Or rather, "Is the criteria I'm using to choose what I teach consistent with God's desires?"

This is more important than you realize as there are many more bad reasons to teach something than there good ones. Being the losers we are, we are much more susceptible to the flesh than we realize.

Over the next several posts I'll talk through various criteria used for choosing what to teach, both Christ-like and destructive. To be honest I'm not sure where I'm going to go with all of this. Nonetheless I think it will be a valuable exercise, not only for you, but especially for myself. I don't think that it will be a wild ride, but the seats may become uncomfortable.

Laundry List

2010-07-31T23:00:00.001-05:00

Things you want the sermon to accomplish:

Clearly and concisely explain the text

Apply the text in every attendee's life without actually knowing all of the issues

Encourage each listener to practice aggressive self-examination in light of the text itself

Keep everyone awake (Yes, I do notice you sleeping in the service)

Have the message tie in with the rest of the worship service so that it works as part of a greater effort

To bring people to Christ

To glorify God

What will actually be accomplished:

I won't drool on my shoes.

I won't mix up "prostate" and "prostrate" again. Of course I said that last time too.

The Reformed Pastor--Part, the third

2010-07-23T23:30:00.001-05:00

Never let it be said that Baxter is a shrinking violet. I thought I was blunt.

Baxter starts chapter 2, "The Oversight of the Flock" with the section "The nature of this oversight." Once again, using careful enumeration, he lists what comprises oversight that "extends to all the flock." This includes evangelism, edification of individuals/families, visiting the ill, exhortation, and church discipline. Essentially he basically sees everyone who is in arm's reach part of the flock, but divides them by category (unbelievers included). He doesn't see anyone who he should not minister to. His desire to see sinners come to Christ was beautiful, "Their misery speaks the louder, because they have not hearts to ask for themselves." I found this section to be practical and convicting. His examination of church discipline was beautiful in its humility, and the desperation to see unrepentant believers return to Christ. There is no ring of arrogance in his instruction, but rather a continual caution that one should cast off pride in the process. The chapter ends with him rebuking those who would eschew discipline:

"Sure I am, if it were well understood how much of the pastoral authority and work consisteth in church guidance, it would be also discerned, that to be against discipline, is near to being against the ministry; and to be against the ministry is near to being absolutely against the church; and to be against the church, is near to being absolutely against Christ. Blame not the harshness of the inference, till you can avoid it, and free yourselves from the charge of it before the Lord."

The main section is worth the price of admission, but its the introductory material that really sets itself at odds with evangelical culture today. Its innocent enough at first... each pastor should have his own flock and each flock have its own pastor. But then he goes on to develop the point by quoting Acts 20:28--"Take heed to the flock and to all the flock." He goes on to state that a pastor should never have more people in his congregation then he can personally minister to. One has to remember that Baxter took personal ministry very very seriously. He made his bones going from family to family, making sure they were catechized. He contended that as more people joined, more pastors should be hired. If there were not suitable funds within the congregation the pastor should be willing to take a pay cut. His response to those who were reluctant to do so:

"What! do you call yourselves ministers of the gospel, and yet are the souls of men so base in your eyes, that you had rather they should eternally perish, than that you and your family should live in a low and poor position?"

Baxter firmly believed that the pastor needed to personally know the spiritual status of every congregation member from the highest noble to the meanest house maid. To eschew any of them was to turn one's back upon a divine obligation.

It is interesting how Baxter's position is at such odds with what we see in the majority of our churches, notwithstanding the myriad ministerial books out there. Baxter is not inspired, but I wonder if he has pointed out the 600 lb gorilla. Are we failing ministerially on a profound scale, by seeking to build bigger without seriously considering our responsibility to the individuals? Do we have measures built into our polity that ensure proper staffing to coincide with growth? Do we take the individual care of congregation members so seriously that we prioritize above almost everything else (including new buildings and programs)?

Mark?

Unwrapping the Mobius strip...

2010-07-21T16:07:00.000-05:00

I recently told someone entering into a senior pastorate that they didn't understand how much their own preaching would change them. Please understand that I don't speak in terms of hubris based on skill. It is not the delivered message that changes the pastor, rather it is what he unearths that changes him. If we believe that it is the Word that God has ordained that transforms lives, it follows that pastoral study intent upon comprehension and application will change the pastor. It creates an additional filter that the pastor uses as he continues to dig in Scripture. A cumulative affect takes place over time. I thought of this today as I was finishing up some material for tonight's ongoing study on spiritual warfare.

As I read through the temptation of Christ as outlined in Luke 4, I realized I was seeing it through an additional lens. Cue several weeks back when we started on a Sunday morning series considering the Trinity: we have three personalities working simultaneously to transform us. Three different intelligences, unified in person and being. One decrees, one works to make it possible, one communicates--regenerates. Of course none of this is placed into neat categories and lines. There is more overlap than we can imagine, and conversations that took place before Creation. There is an ongoing dialog happening between the members of the Trinity that takes me into account. God is always talking about me, as He is every person--believers and unbelievers.

Christ was quite clear that everything He did on earth was as a direct result of the Father's on-going decrees, including His miracles, teachings, humiliation, death, 40 days without food and an encounter with an old acquaintance. Keeping the Trinity in mind, the temptation takes on added dimensions. We see Satan not just tossing various sins before Christ hoping He will snap at one, but he strives to change the way the Son feels about His Father's plans. He aims at what he thinks is the most vulnerable point--doubting the Father's judgment. There are echoes of another conversation between a snake and a woman. While Satan understands some aspects of the Trinity better than we who are limited by flesh and time, there is much more he doesn't know. Christ turns it around, and we have set before us a wonderful example of how spiritual warfare is to be conducted.

It amazes me that we will be learning new things about God forever, and each new aspect will clarify what we have known before. It is an ever-growing gem with infinite facets.

Who needs "Lost?"

Reformed Pastor-Part the 2nd

2010-07-13T16:42:00.002-05:00

http://gracedependent.com/2010/07/07/the-reformed-pastor-co-blogging-richard-baxters-work/

I also comment on Mark's post. Feel free to jump in.

Casting runes...

2010-06-26T23:12:00.001-05:00

There are odd moments when we are reminded that we live in a supernatural world. By "supernatural" I'm not thinking of a Christian chimera composed of bits "Scooby Doo," the X-Files, and old Frank Peretti novels. Rather I am thinking of supernatural in the most literal sense. We live in a world in which all processes--chemical, mechanical or mental work according to a the desires of a personality that supersedes any naturalistic interpretations.

Please bear with me as I bring in some seemingly disparate elements to make a point that I believe deserves our consideration.

First, this last year I've been required to read several works that cover early Roman history including Livy's "War with Hannibal" and "Annals of Ancient Rome" by Tacitus. One element that bears thinking is the way the Romans dealt with uncertainty in battle and politics. They looked for omens. They scoured their environment looking for events that stood out. They could be something as basic as crows flying counter-clockwise, or something more mysterious, such as a glowing altar, or a sword that could not be drawn. In seeing these events, they would hope to receive some clue as to what their gods demanded so that they could achieve victory. Their interactions with their gods were a guessing game at best, but normally took on the elements of a theological crap shoot. They believed that the gods did not want to be clearly understood. The gods wanted to be cryptic. They did not want their people to clearly understand the content of their revelation.

On the other hand, God does want us to clearly comprehend His will. There is never any obfuscation on His part. We are not children trying to guess what hand our favorite uncle has hidden the quarter. He always makes it quite clear what He loves and what He desires. I don't have to read the signs.

Something happened the other day that put another spin on things though...

This last Wednesday night during Bible study, a savage short storm hit the Peoria area. I was seated in such a way that I could see out the window which included the thick stand of trees bordering the south side of the parking lot. Through out the Bible study the thunder rolled about us, getting closer and closer. We chuckled a little bit as it seemed to punctuate certain passages we were working through. It all came to a head though as lightning directly struck a tree out in the parking lot. I was the only who saw it. In a brief instant, I saw immeasurable energy flow down the tree outlining it in a fierce glaring white burst. I need not describe the simultaneous peal of thunder that made us all leap to our feet. I went out later to look at the tree. There seems to be no obvious damage save some bark missing from the top.

How do we look at these events? Our God is sovereign. Nothing takes place unless our God brings it about. He places certain events into our orbit so that we may not only view them, but interpret them in light of what we already know about Him. I saw millions of volts precisely placed, transferred between heaven and earth by a God who controlled every atom of energy. This is the same God who created mankind, knowing they would betray Him. This is the same God who sent His Son to suffer His wrath that I may know Him. This is the same God who works in my life on a daily basis to change me into His image. A God who is capable of such power and control is capable of changing me in ways I cannot comprehend.

I don't believe in omens, but I do believe in reminders.

The Reformed Pastor--Part, the first...

2010-06-17T16:28:00.000-05:00

(Note, this is the first part of an ongoing discussion of Richard Baxter's "The Reformed Pastor." Mark Kelly, from Grace Dependent, and I will be taking turns posting our thoughts on the different sections. I start with Chapter 1--The Oversight of Ourselves, Section 1--the nature of this oversight.")

In a book that examines the pastoral ministry, you expect that pastors will be commanded to examine themselves for un-confessed sin, and ungodly motives. Baxter does this, and in spades, but what is surprising is the opening lines of the first chapter;

“See that the work of saving grace be thoroughly wrought in your own souls. Take heed to yourselves, lest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others, and be strangers to the effectual working of the gospel which you preach; and lest, while you proclaim to the world the necessity of a Savior, your own hearts should neglect him, and you should miss of an interest in him, and his saving benefits.”

Ministerial books often tell me to examine my heart, but rarely my salvation. It is not a new concept though, as Scripture commands us to examine ourselves to confirm the work of Christ in our hearts (2 Cor. 13:5, Phil 2:12-13). Even in ministry, we are told our salvation will be confirmed at the end of our lives, rather than at the outset. (I Timothy 4:16) If there is one part of the ministry I really dislike, it is encouraging people to examine themselves as to the truth of their own salvation. It is uncomfortable, and frustrating. Sometimes you are basically telling people that they may be lying to themselves, but it is oh so necessary sometimes. Baxter here tells me to look in the mirror and ask myself the questions I've asked others for years.

I don’t think that I have made it a habit of regularly checking my own status before God in light of eternity. While I don’t doubt the importance of a pastor examining his own salvation from time to time, I cannot help but wonder if Baxter’s urgency comes out of his context of paedo-baptism/confirmation. (I do not write this to be critical of our Presby/Anglican/Lutheran friends but simply to make an observation.) Regardless, it is food for thought, and reminds me of how much is at risk.

The rest of the section addresses the pastor’s self-examination in other areas but is laid out in the stilted, inescapable grammar of the Puritan greats. Yes, we are to make sure we are not participating in the sins we preach against, but Baxter goes far deeper than that. He mercilessly lays out the consequences of that hypocrisy, “This is the way to make men think that the Word of God is but an idle tale, and to make preaching seem no better than prating.”

One more comment, and then I’ll close out. I very much appreciate the way he addresses application. Baxter recognized that one could not leave doctrine in an abstract state, but that it must be carefully applied. In this case though, Baxter clearly states that it must be applied to the pastor’s heart before anyone else’s, “All week long is little enough, to study how to speak two hours; and yet one hour seems to much to study how to live all week.” The irony could be cut with a knife. Comprehension does not equal obedience. Credibility only comes through obedience, and I think that is where we, as pastors, often fail. Can we honestly say that we have applied the text to our own lives 100% of the time before we placed it before our people?

What did you think, Mark?

The Reformed Pastor--The players introduced

2010-06-15T16:51:00.000-05:00

A little while back, a friend and I discussed the possibility of reading through The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter, and live blogging our discussion. There are several reasons behind this, first is for basic accountability. The Puritans are hard for me to get through. It’s the equivalent of ministerial key-lime pie. We live in a day and age where our syntax is much more stream-lined. The Puritans believed in unwrapping every point carefully (and sometimes ponderously). We may consider that to be a disadvantage, but we forget that there are truths that demand slow careful examination. Since the Puritans don’t pull many punches, it is almost like operating on yourself without anesthesia, in slow motion. Let me hasten to add though that the pages seem to ring with a savage bitter-sweetness. They don’t make any excuses as to their own failures, or even propensity to fail. Everything that is touched by the hands of man is hopeless corrupted, including ministry. Yet, hope constantly shines forth as God is quite capable of glorifying Himself through anything, including the shoddy efforts of fallible man. It is difficult for me to approach such writing with anticipation. It is good to have a brother-in-Christ who will be nudging me along.

I’m also looking forward to simply interacting with my friend on these issues. Mark, who posts on Grace Dependent is an old acquaintance, who has turned into a good friend over the last few years. I look at him with a combination of jealousy and pity—jealousy that his beard is better than mine, and pity for his coffee addiction. It has been an incredible encouragement for me to hear how God has been shaping him, and continuing to do so. While his thinking is consistently Christ-centered, it is usually 45 degrees to mine so it will be invaluable for me to interact with a godly brother on the same subject who approaches things differently.

I hope you all enjoy this experiment. See what convicts pastors. Chime in with a thought. Grab some popcorn. It is all good.

In unknown territory

2010-06-11T16:37:00.000-05:00

We start a four part series on the Trinity this coming Sunday. This is moving me out of my expository comfort zone a little bit. I don't have one text or even several that lay out a clear concise definition including possible trouble areas and neat applications. Rather I must pull together thoughts scattered all across the Bible, accurately put them together, and present them in such a manner that it clearly presents our God, and how He acts.

On one hand, I'm intimidated. I'm swimming in deep waters. I am the proverbial blind man moving my hands over the elephant, seeking to make a bigger picture of rough skin, sinew, and bone. In defining the elephant for myself, I am also influencing how others look at Him. I cannot take that task lightly. Words like "ontology" and "economy" keep surfacing, but the message must be constructed in a manner that is understandable. Application needs to be drawn out. My road map is not that easy to read.

On the other hand...

He wants to be known. God does not seek to hide Himself from me or any other believer. He rewards those who seek Him with more knowledge of who He is and what He does. It is the core of what we call "faith" (Hebrews 11), and is foundational to our relationship with Him. God has worked through history to reveal more and more of Himself. The process has not stopped at my salvation but rather is enriched through the Spirit and the Word.

He provides me with Himself as the means of understanding Him. None of us really can comprehend the beauty of being indwelt by God, but it is through that relationship that we become capable of understanding how God thinks. While that relationship does have a subjective aspect to it, and is definitely supernatural, we should not minimize it by making it mystical. God's thoughts are already revealed to us objectively through His Word, the Spirit works to apply them.

In the end, the same principles apply that have always applied to preaching, Look at something long enough until you see how beautiful it is, than share that beauty with others.

Its a best-seller!!

2010-06-04T17:03:00.000-05:00

Every so often pastors need to be exposed to a different vocabulary. We are not only limited in the way we see the universe but also in how we communicate what we see. We verbalize our reactions to holiness, sin, death, failure, and redemption in words that have been delivered to us through our environment, and the philosophy of those who have trained us. We recognize that God has sovereignly delivered those tools into our hands, but they are only a beginning. There remains a need to continually develop our ability to communicate what we know. This includes learning how to put words together in new ways, keeping ideas fresh. It is exploring new metaphors, struggling to make sure they accurately reflect some aspect of our relationship with God. Reading good fiction provides us with words, and scenarios that are unique to our experience, and are thus to be synthesized.

As pastors we encourage our people by pointing out how we are inevitably moving from the way things are to the way things should be. This takes an imagination that is informed by Scripture, but that looks for every tool possible, restating ancient truths in different ways. A good author will realistically examine how his characters deal with life, death, sin, punishment, holiness, mercy, love, and justice. He will show the true consequences of unholy living. It will not be a moralistic cause/effect but there will be change. Relationships will shift. Affections will be transformed. A good author, believer or unbeliever, will recognize that. Pastors do well to read works that honestly struggle with these battles, as it will help them not only relate to their own parishioner's battles, but also craft the struggle itself in a way that reaches the hearts of the audience.

Please note that it is understood that all reading, fiction included, must be done through the filter of Scripture. There is fiction that believers should not touch. Some depends on the maturity of the believer, etc, etc. This is not an endorsement of Danielle Steele, or the Stephanie Meyer books (Ray, you know I'm looking at you).

I have not exhausted the benefits of good fiction, nor do I intended to. Needless to say, I believe a good fiction novel can be of great benefit to any believer (especially if the television is off).

Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave

2010-05-27T16:37:00.001-05:00

Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave by Edward T. Welch

The very term "addiction" is incredibly loaded. It communicates helplessness, frustration, and irreparable damage. It is an area in counseling that most pastors are afraid to address, much less the layman. We don't know how to help other believers with their addictions other than to mumble, 'I'll pray for you' or look for interventions. Neither of those are useless, but the believer must remember that God does not allow them to be helpless in the face of any sin, including those that seem to have total control of their life. Edward T. Welch confronts these issues in this little volume that seeks to give a theological overview of addiction and its issues.

Welch does not endorse a "Just say No" or "Cut it out mentality" rather he moves through various biblical truths that have to be addressed in order for someone to come to terms with their addiction. The book is broken into two basic sections. The first addresses the need to see addiction as primarily theological although the author clearly states that physical conditions that have arisen as a result of the addiction must also be addressed. Addiction is described as a spiraling descent into idolatry. In the end addicts become "abject worshipers" of something other than God, or as he says in his definition of addiction: "Addiction is bondage to the rule of a substance, activity or state of mind, which then becomes the center of life, defending itself from the truth so that even bad consequences don't bring repentance, and leading to further estrangement from God."

The second section of the book examines various theological themes that must be kept in mind as one ministers to one's addiction. Confrontation, the fear of God, knowing God, self-control, the role of truth in the believer's life, the role of the church in addressing addiction, etc, are all considered. One of the strengths of Welch's book is that he doesn't lay out a particular technique or 10 step process, but rather lays out the truths that must be applied for true change to begin. He stresses the practical theology aspect, while giving pointers on how such truths could be applied, but he doesn't lock-step the person who is ministering. It is understood that not everything can be laid out as "steps to success."

One area that I found to be very beneficial is the practical theology sections that were tacked on at the end of every chapter. Welch starts out with the presupposition that we should examine the beam in our own eyes, and does so by first stating "As you Face Your Own Addiction." It is only as you humbly examine yourself in light of Scripture that you become capable of ministering to someone else.

I highly recommend the book for any believer who is contact, or is likely to come into contact with others who are struggling with addiction issues in their own life.

Adventures in Revision--part 2

2010-05-20T16:34:00.001-05:00

Pardon me while I wax semi-poetic..

One needs to communicate upon what standard of truth the believers have gathered around. Is it good feelings? Is it a common sense of self-righteousness? Is it an ever-shifting cultural yard line? Unless one clearly states they have a transcendent, objective criteria by which to measure their actions, their beliefs are largely irrelevant. Their doctrine, and actions will shift in reaction to the changes in the surrounding environment. The church will never be able to be proactive, but reactive. They will have no final goal other than "fitting in" in some fashion. This is all to say that above everything else the doctrinal statement addresses, it must start with where it gets its beliefs, and to what degree is that source authoritative.

This is where transcendence comes in. The church's standard for truth has to come from somewhere else other than the church or the environment in which the church operates. It cannot find its origin in us, for by our very nature, we taint everything that comes forth. Consider it a theological application of Godel, but our system is incapable of determining whether our system is "good" in the strictest sense. We can't even come up with a sound criteria as to what is "good." This is why a standard must be delivered from another Place. It must be recognized that unless a Person had chosen to communicate those expectations to us we would never have been capable of knowing these things on our own. I have to pause a moment, even typing that, as the wonder of having God deliver His revelation directly to us, from outside the universe, into the hands of hateful, fallible man is humbling in the most profound sense.

What we say about the Scripture in our doctrinal statement tells others what we think about the character of our God. Is He going to only tell us the truth part of the time, or will He always clearly communicate however much He knows we are capable of understanding? How we say He has communicated His Word tells us how we feel about His capabilities in dealing with sinful man. Is God incapable of working providentially through men to see new translations of His Word spread throughout the world, or can He only influence sinful men through miraculous secondary acts of inspiration?

We also show people, indirectly, what type of authority we claim that Scripture should have over our lives. If it is absolute in its authority because of its source, than we know that everything...what we love, what we hate, what we watch, who we kiss, where we run, what we drive, how high we jump, what we drink...all of it comes under the absolute authority of that truth that has been communicated to us.

Adventures in Revision--part 1

2010-05-12T11:45:00.000-05:00

In which I begin revising our church's doctrinal statement and constitution...

Yes, herein begins the great adventure... It has been a few decades since the constitution has received an over-haul and there are a few areas that are definitely weak especially as one considers the rapidly changing culture, and the new issues that arise. I've been careful not to approach this task with a personal agenda. I'm not here to revise a document that makes things easier for me but rather one that strengthen's the church and glorifies Christ. But one must begin with what we believe, and it is to that I address myself over the next few weeks. Our constitution is only as strong as our doctrinal statement. I realized before I began I needed to outline why the doctrinal statement is so important to the life of the church, and what my goals would be in its revision. I sat down, and worked out a basic outline. Bits and pieces will be shared with you over the next few weeks as I wrestle with the statement itself.

I do this for your edification as well as my own. I would appreciate any challenges to my concerns, as well as prayers for wisdom and clarity.

Before anything else, the doctrinal statement determines our identity. Every individual's identity is starts with the spiritual. Before blood, before nationality, before personal loyalties, our self-identification starts with how we relate ourselves to our Creator God. In Matthew 12, Christ points out to His disciples that He had more in common with His followers than His own blood. A local church must be made up of individuals who have all agreed that God defines how men may know Him, and unite around that definition. That definition will determine how they perform at their place of employment, raise their kids, love their spouse, minister to their friends, watch on t.v., spend their vacations, use their spare time, on and on it goes. Everything radiates out of that definition. That definition is the hub around which all the spokes of our life rotate. The doctrinal statement articulates that definition. I don't believe I am going to far in saying that no document defines a man's life better than the doctrinal statement of the church he participates in (that includes the Constitution of the US).

It determines our identity.

Our identity is also defined by how we view God. If we are made in God’s image, than how we define God is how we, in part, define ourselves. He is not made in our image. We do not come to God looking for a reflection of ourselves, rather we come to Him looking to see what He originally wanted for us. Even more amazing, we see what He is making us into. His ethical makeup is the blueprint for our on-going sanctification. We distinguish though between that which is communicable from that which is incommunicable. While He made us to be eternal, we are not infinite. He created us to be ever-learning, but by nature of His omniscience, there will always be more that we don't know about God as opposed to what we do know. Those characteristics will always be out of reach, but He did create us to enjoy beauty, delight in holiness, and crave His glory. Our doctrinal statement is a reflection of what we are trying to become. We not only believe these truths, we want to examine them, internalize them, and live them. We want to become more like Christ through these propositions.

Sermon Thoughts on T4G--part 2

2010-05-11T09:56:00.001-05:00

I don't know whether "sermon" is the best term to use for some of these sessions-- "presentations" perhaps? R.C. Sproul was asked to address some of the issues that he has seen in the last 50 years of ministry. I believe that the term "fire-hose" applied here, but Dr. Sproul decided to limit his address to one very specific area. His talk had a visceral edge. He is reaching the end of his life here, and one could detect a sense of urgency in wanting to communicate certain observations.

Sproul defined Hegelian dialectal thought--two ideas smash together creating a third "higher" truth. Technically the terms "thesis," "antithesis," and "synthesis" were used. He traced the efforts made over the last few centuries to combine naturalism, Marxism, process theology, etc with orthodox Christianity. In each case, something resulted that appeared to be religious but was not Christian at the core. One of the more blatant attempts was seen in the ECT movement of the 90's (Evangelicals and Catholics Together).

We forget that the Gospel will always be in antithesis with society. It can never be "synthesized." and still remain Christianity. One must also be careful not to "improve" the Gospel, marketing salvation by exclusively focusing on a secondary benefit. References were made to being driven by purpose or therapeutic concerns. A Gospel that is not founded on man's need to be justified before God is not a real gospel.

I appreciated Sproul's talk as it clarified several terminologies in my own mind, and revealed a different image of the ongoing war that takes place between the world and the Gospel. The enemy is once again revealed to be those who dress and talk the same, but believe that they can improve upon the Gospel. Some are even appealing to the faithful. It reinforced in my own mind, the need to continually root myself (and the congregation) in the truth of the Gospel, and its applications.

There should be a few more posts this week including...
A review of Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave
A post on the pastor reading fiction.
Examining the doctrinal statement and its place in the church...

Its like Christmas!!

You are tempted to fill your pockets....

2010-05-05T16:57:00.002-05:00

I realize more and more over time how much every aspect of our Christianity is still informed by faith. We tend to leave it behind at the moment of salvation or only engage it when there is a serious need in our lives. We forget that faith is a ncessary element to every part of our walk with God, and is interwoven with our ongoing sanctification.

I was thinking about this today in the area of love, specifically, the sacrificial love that we, as believers, are called to. Considering the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the exercise of the believer's love was limited by their capacity as well as their character. They could not conceive of loving the multitude in such a way that they could feed all of them. Its here that we get a little feel for the alien nature of a God whose desire to demonstrate love can never be limited by His capacity. There is never a time when God is incapable of showing love due to His ability. (Now due to the character of the recipient is a whole other issue, but we can discuss that another time)

If I believe that, I also start to see my own love in a different life. God calls me to a sacrificial, humble radical holy love that really sees no limit as to must be done to model Christ. That obligation to love is hampered by my ability. I am not capable of loving to the extent to which I am called. Therein lies the key. I can't produce such love, nor have I ever been able to. But now I am united with Christ. The source of my love is my fellow heir, Jesus Christ. He supplies me His love through the Holy Spirit that indwells me. It is a fruit of His working within me.

The same way the disciples depended upon Christ to feed the masses because of His divine ability, so I must depend upon that same ability to show that sacrificial love. I take the bread that He has just created and hand it off to someone else for their use. Since that supply is never-ending, my ability to love is only limited by two things--my belief that my God is capable of delivering all of the love He asks of me, or by my lack of desire to ask for any more.

Btw, here is a neat little article by Kevin DeYoung regarding "plodding." It is a refreshing counter to an evangelical culture that expects church culture to be a continual reinvention of self.
http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/glory-plodding/

Sermon Thoughts on T4G--part 1

2010-04-24T11:22:00.005-05:00

Dever’s opening talk/message set the stage for the rest of the conference for me personally as it basically gave purpose as to why I was there. I won’t break down the entire outline for you, bit by bit, but simply summarize it as “The Church is the demonstration of the Gospel.” While the Church may be said to be a recipient of Gospel truth as it grows through the Gospel message, it should reflect the root truths of the Gospel through its very fabric. Dever broke the Good News down to God, Humanity, Christ, Response, asking how each element should be reflected in the church itself.

God’s holiness, love and authority should be apparent in the lives of church members. These should be definite goals that we set for ourselves. As we recognize that the church is filled with sinners from top to bottom, confession and repentance should be taking place within the body itself on a continual basis.

The church should seek to model the person of Christ Himself. Do our churches honor humility? Do we shape our churches with the understanding that a continual response to the transforming power of the Gospel is expected?

On and on it went, but it was summarized by the phrase, “The church is the living example of the Gospel itself.”

As our understanding of the Gospel matures, we need to return to our church again and again, asking if our current mode of operation adequately displays the truths of the Gospel on a practical level. Viewing things through such a lens frees us from a program/pragmatic driven paradigm. It is not tied into cultural moires, nor does it shift with the latest fad. Rather it guarantees that the church is changing, but that the change is rooted in the very truth that created it in the first place. It also encourages us to consider our spiritual growth, as well as the spiritual maturity of those around us, as it is that "metric" that will truly determine how and why our congregation changes.

Book Review: The Invisible Hand: Do All Things Really Work for Good?

2010-04-21T11:27:00.001-05:00

I'm starting to do book reviews for the Calvary congregation with my monthly newsletter. Here is the first.

The Invisible Hand: Do All Things Really Work for Good? R.C. Sproul (R&R Publishing, 220 pages)

As it has been said, we are all theologians. We all have a particular perception of God, and who He is. We react to the world around us, based in part on how we look at God and how He works. In shaping our theology, we shape our reactions to the events that God brings into our life. We are aided in this task by a God who wants us to know how He works. He doesn’t try to hide His agenda. He is very transparent as to His purpose. We may not always understand how He will get there, but no one can deny His ability to do what He desires.

Sproul is one of those rare treasures, a seminary professor who understands that it is only by living a doctrine that one can truly understand it. He has basically put together a primer for the layman, exploring the doctrine of Divine Providence. While this book is centered on the doctrine of Providence, it is not structured like a normal theology. Each chapter examines a different story from Scripture, asking how the various characters interacted with the sovereign working of God.

He acknowledges the various tensions that exist as we ask why God allows sufferings. He then finds biblical characters that were in similar circumstances showing how God answered them. Weaving together Scripture, philosophy, theology and personal anecdote, he puts together a basic survey of what can be a very complex doctrine.

How we define Providence will define how we react to suffering in our lives and the lives of others. Providence answers the question as to why God is worthy of being praised in any situation that comes into our lives. I have often found that discussions of Divine Providence with unbelievers provide great evangelistic opportunities. The believer who is able to interact with Divine Providence from Scripture is a believer who can address the question of suffering in an unbeliever’s life.

I would recommend this for our congregation as a means of deepening your understanding and thus your relationship with our God. It is very readable and could also be useful for group bible studies.

My pastor went to Louisville and he didn't bring me a t-shirt...

2010-04-17T15:47:00.003-05:00

I'll be writing more on T4G throughout this next week, discussing the messages, and the conference itself. I plan to re-listen to several of them for further edification and consideration.

In light of the last several posts on reading I thought I would list the books I was given as well as the volumes I purchased while I was there. I tried to be very selective on the purchased books looking at areas that I knew I would be considering in the near future as well as addressing holes in my own comprehension. I know basically zilch on the early church fathers thus the Augustine.

Free books given. (HT to Mark Kelly who typed this all out. I copied it from your FB note. What did I say about plagiarism?) It does end up giving me some doubles but that just gives me the opportunity to get the extras into someone else's hands.

ESV Study Bible
The Gospel for Muslims: An Encouragement to Share Christ with Confidence – Thabiti Anyabwile
The Priority of Preaching – Christopher Ash
Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus – D.A.Carson
It is Well – Mark Dever & Michael Lawrence
Proclaiming A Cross-Centered Theology – Dever, Duncan, Mohler & Mahaney
Fear Not! Death and the Afterlife from a Christian Perspective – Ligon Duncan
What is the Gospel – Greg Gilbert
Dug Down Deep – Joshua Harris
The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love – Jonathon Leeman
The Plight of Man and the Power of God – Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones
The Jesus You Can’t Ignore – John MacArthur
The Trellis and the Vine – Colin Marshall and Tony Payne
He is Not Silent – Al Mohler
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God – J.I.Packer
Finally Alive – John Piper
The Unquenchable Flame – Michael Reeves
Marks of the Messenger – J. Mack Stiles
Jonathon Edwards on Beauty
The Holiness of God – RC Sproul

The books I purchased--As I mentioned, one has to seriously consider books as a tool to address holes in one's own life. I tried to ask myself three very basic questions--1) What can I buy that will help me grow as a believer? 2) What can I buy that will help me disciple my family? 3) What can I buy that will help me disciple my fellow church members?

Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice--Bryan Chapell
The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism.---Kevin DeYoung
The Religious Affections--Jonathan Edwards
The Reformed Pastor--Richard Baxter
Augustine of Hippo: A Biography--Peter Brown
Confessions--Augustine
The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from I Corinthians--D.A. Carson
Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church: A Guide for Ministry--Michael Lawrence
The Christian Ministry with An Inquiry into the Causes of its Inefficiency--Charles Bridges
The Church--Edmund P. Clowney (from the Contours of Christian Theology series)
Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God--Bruce A. Ware
The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment--Tim Challies
World-Proof Your Kids: Raising Children Unstained by the World--Tim Sisemore
How People Change--Timothy S. Lane, Paul David Tripp
The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary--edited by McComiskey

Btw, for some reason on the book table, amongst all of the theologies, commentaries, and ministry treatments, there was the Complete Calvin and Hobbs. I was "this" close.

Take some time tonight to prepare your hearts for worship.

The secret lives of pastors...

2010-04-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

We are sitting here, watching a documentary on sharks found in fresh water rivers. Jeff and I are riffing on the commentary. Mike can't get to his email, and is somewhat frustrated. But he just returned with orange juice and a spoon so life isn't so bad. (It makes sense in the overall context)

I am walking away with a full brain from this one.

The session on race was a kicker. "The Bible recognizes multi-ethnic churches but not multi-cultural ones."

John MacArthur spoke on the theology of sleep... Calvinism and evangelism. You WILL do things differently if you believe a certain way.

Becky, I met your brother-in-law.

Mike doesn't know how to spell "shook." He wants to type that he shook hands with John MacArthur. I don't think he will wash it again.

Jeff is discussing the sussuration that occurred when the Calvinistic rap star sang tonight.

John Piper spoke of Christ's teaching(s) on justification found in the Gospels. While the message itself was good, there was almost more focus on his thought process which I found helpful.

Tomorrow is Lignon Duncan then heading home. Tired but refreshed.

Its not the Alamo...

2010-04-13T22:53:00.000-05:00

It is good to be reminded of things that you never knew you forgot.

It seems as if there is a bit more focus to this T4G then the one in 2008. Maybe its because it has doubled in size, and there is not as much time to kill or opportunity for shenanigans. Maybe its because everyone understands the underlying friendship that defines this brou-ha-ha, and there is not much need for exposition. Regardless, there is a focus on the (Unadjusted) Gospel, and the ease by which it becomes adjusted. There is a little desperation in the air, as the church has its back against the wall, but then again it always has been. It was pointed out repeatedly that attacks upon the core elements of the Gospel have always been in vogue. The enemy continually shifts his focus, and we are always two steps behind. Yet that desperation is always accompanied by a sense of eventual victory, and it is a victory not of our own devising. He will rescue us, and He will do so because of that most offensive of messages that brings such hostility in the first place.

I will reflect more on the various messages later...

Much thanks for the prayers.

The Glory Road....

2010-04-12T15:44:00.001-05:00

So I head out of town next week to T4G down in Louisville, Kentucky. This little shindig combines several of my favorite things: road-trips, old friends, good speaking, and free books. It is a win, win situation. It also holds a special place in my mind, as immediately upon returning from T4G, I packed my family up, and moved to Peoria. Its a bit of a mile-marker for me.

It is hard to explain why I am looking forward to this so much. None of the speakers are people whom I personally would consider a "leader" in my own mind (reference earlier posts for my definition of leader). I think several of them have made some pretty big mistakes this last year but I still appreciate aspects of their teaching. I also appreciate a conference in which there is very little denominational politicking. In my circles it is rare to find a conference that does not spend half the conference defining who belongs in the circle itself before actually addressing any issues. I like being reminded that while it may not always be popular, it is important to hold to a reformed soteriology, expository preaching, and a church structure that allows for dynamic application of doctrine. I like being around men who delight in the Gospel itself.

There are dangers to conferences of this sort though. Both evangelicalism and fundamentalism gravitate to a celebrity culture. We have created our own "rock-star" mentality. A friend who has not been to T4G before is a bit worried that it will turn out to be an evangelical Woodstock. While I don't think that its going to happen I understand his concern. We have a strong longing to be "hip" which is one reason why we see so many redundant church plants. You see churches being planted in areas that already have good gospel-centered congregations, but they don't share the same aesthetic sensibilities. Thus we see another reason to split Christians again along cultural lines (which is unhealthy) as opposed to doctrinal ones.

But I digress...

I would appreciate your prayers for us all this week. We need discernment. We need humility. We need safety as we travel. Pray that this would be a time of refreshment, and that we would all be an encouragement to one another.

Pray that Mike learns to enjoy my music, because its my car and that is what he is going to be hearing the whole way.

Printed on vellum, embossed with silver...

2010-04-08T15:55:00.000-05:00

There is another category of books that I believe that any pastor needs to seriously consider when looking at his reading habits, and that is the broad base of non-ministerial non-fiction. This can cover anything from essays to biographies to histories to thematic overviews regarding the sciences. It could be McCullough's latest magnum opus or an examination of the impact of the infield fly rule. One may consider a layman's treatise on string theory or a history of British colonization in China. At first glance such subjects may seem to smack of intellectual elitism, or unnecessary academia. It is a valid point if one is simply reading to stack up books on their shelves. It is another matter altogether if one reads with purpose, and intent. Why do I consider reading non-fiction a vital part of my ministry?

1) It tells me what God did. I'm a big fan of history, and biography. I pick up the book understanding that I am going to see how God's sovereign hand has worked in history to accomplish His will. I see the subtle influences of God through old friendships, mis-placed letters, and childhood experiences. If I truly do believe that God works all things to His glory I look for His hand whether it be in T.E. Lawrence's efforts to build Cloud's End, or in John Adam's Unitarianism. I don't always understand how God has used these situations, but His hand is always evident. The same can be said in books that consider some scientific truth. Pastors should understand the basics of physics, economics, mathematics, and biology. They should have a feel for the rattle and hum of the world around them, rejoicing and recognizing the voice of God interwoven in all of His actions.

2) It shows me common grace. While we would like to believe that Christians stood at the center of most world events, it is simply not true. It was the exception rather then the rule. Yet we see God working through ungodly man bringing about wonderful works of art, delivering great military victories, and crafting intricate theories. We can't turn our backs on such people if they are not believers, but rather be amazed at the grace of God that made them aware and capable in spite of themselves.

3) It reminds me of the unbeliever's pain. I read books by evolutionary biologists from time to time. I see the wonder and awe at the processes around them. There is a profound reverence for the landscape of life that I envy. In the end though, the theories that they produce are rooted in a life that determines to find meaning, but refuses to find it in a Creator God. A godless universe is a random one, but something in them cries out against the chaos, and thus they create Nature.

4) On a practical level, it makes finding illustrations a cinch. If I am looking for a proper illustration for a message, I don't have to find some apocryphal story that has been passed down from generation to generation. I can pull a page from reality, and lay it before the people.

There are more, and better reasons probably then what I encapsulated, here. Regardless, as a believer and a pastor I want to see the hand of my God in all of creation so that I may appreciate Him more. TV doesn't quite do it.

I'll finish up with an examination of the pastor and fiction here in a bit. Next week I'll be down at T4G for a few days. There will be free books...

and some good speakers.

A reason to rejoice...

2010-04-04T07:26:00.002-05:00

He is risen.... just as He said.

There is so much hope there.

Between the pages...

2010-04-01T21:06:00.000-05:00

A pastor can't help but plagiarize. A good pastor plagiarizes with gusto. A godly pastor not only plagiarizes but sifts all things through Scripture, and then acknowledges whatever he has used. As a pastor I read because I know that I am not created to know everything I need to help my people grow in Christ. I am not meant to be an island unto myself. According to Ephesians 4, I need the spiritual gifts of other members in order to see me complete in my comprehension. In the same way, I need the thoughts of other men to explain, unveil and articulate Scripture and its application.

A few applications:

First off, commentaries and theologies are the most valuable works a pastor owns. These works lack the novelty and immediate reward that is promised by other volumes, but they help build the foundation for everything else. Every other aspect of the ministry must flow out of my comprehension of Scripture. It only when I have determined what God means, and how it interacts with everything else am I able to fully apply it. This means I need look at a passage exegetically, then ask how it is viewed within the realm of systematic, biblical and historical theology. I also need to recognize that my growth and experience is going to deepen my comprehension of a passage.

Second, I have to be committed to letting my methodology flow out of my theology, not the other way around. I don't know if I totally buy into the regulative principle, but I do acknowledge that all actions must be rooted in my understanding of God and how He works in the universe. As a believer I must demonstrate a commitment to truth, a sacrificial love for all-especially to those of the household of faith, a growing commitment to holiness, etc. How much more should that be reflected in the directions I lead the church? Any ministries that I introduce should be rooted in a vigorous ecclesiology and understanding that God uses the church to bring about sanctification in the believer. A pragmatist pastor believes he knows better how to please God then God does. Its not a good position to be in.

Third, it is a given that what I am reading is written by flawed sinful men. I must approach with caution, but not hostility. I am reading because I need to see new applications. I need to have ideas articulated for me that I've been incapable of verbalizing on my own. Yet, I must carefully consider each works on its own merits, thinking carefully and interacting with the material--chewing the meat, spitting out the gristle (pleasant word image).

Fourth, while I love reading, reading itself is not a virtue. Reading a book does not draw you any closer to Christ. It is why you read, and what you were trying to accomplish with it. On the other hand, a pastor who chooses not to read ultimately does so because he believes he is adequate to the task before him. Such arrogance is indeed frightening. God providentially provides other men's thoughts to help us glorify Him. There is an old saw about re-inventing the wheel. The blueprints are usually there, we just have to bother looking for them.

Does someone have the funnies?

2010-03-22T16:46:00.001-05:00

Any reading that a believer does has to be seen through a specific theological filter. Any time we take in any idea there needs to be a careful examination of said thought, asking ourselves if/how this particular truth should fit into our world view, or even possibly change how we look at reality. We may say that ideas may truly change our lives, but I don't think we really believe it. If we did, we would not handle incoming ideas so carelessly, without consideration of source, motive, or possible long-term consequences if the idea is applied. I know I keep harping on this, but we were created by our God to think. Paradigms must be held up to the light, and as many facets be examined as possible before we determine their usefulness.

Some truths for believers to keep in mind as they read anything:

All mankind are created theologians. Everyone is created with the capacity to know God, and the understanding that He exists. From that point on, everyone starts to form their opinion on who God is, and acts upon that belief whether they realize it or not. It can be someone as directly to the point as Christopher Hitchens, or something seemingly irrelevant such as a cook book by Alton Brown. Every word written ultimately draws from a well driven into the bedrock of one's thoughts on God.

When we read books by non-believers we understand that they are ultimately writing from a position that is hostile to God, but we cannot forget that common grace equips them with the means to understand aspects of the truth, and address it with accuracy. We can neither disregard it as irrelevant, nor embrace it without carefully considering the agenda behind the presentation. Read. Consider carefully. Rinse. Repeat.

We should be twice as careful when we read books by believers. We tend to think "Hey, these authors are Christians, I'm sure it will be fine." (Cue the Left Behind books) Unfortunately, as it has been mentioned before, we don't know where our own deficiencies lie. Its even more dangerous when we are going to make money out of publishing our thoughts. Once one's ideas hit the market they become dangerous, not so much for the idea themselves, but rather that they will be swallowed by the majority of Christendom with few considering whether the ideas contained therein have any real value. Remember that the Christian publishing market is just that, a market, and is ultimately driven by the dollar rather then the glory of God. Approach with caution.

Of course it comes down again to the belief that God is going to continually be allowing ideas to be placed in front of us. Part of our relationship with Him, is developing the discipline to consider those ideas in light of how it will change our perspective of Him.

Its not a souffle, its a pancake...

2010-03-17T16:58:00.000-05:00

If we are to get technical, all information that we receive outside of Scripture should clarify Scripture itself. This includes understanding what motivates God's actions, and learning to more richly glorify Him. Our reaction to any man-created work not only reflects how we feel about our God, but also shifts our comprehension of His revelation on every level whether we realize it or not

We are not only speaking of the written word here but basically any piece of stimuli that we take in, including the televised Olympics, a radio talk show, the newspaper, an episode of Magnum P.I., ringside the latest Riverman game, War and Peace, or the latest episode of Good Eats. Certain forms of learning are more effective then other forms, and I don't have time to go into the arguments in depth, but Mr. Postman does it well.

We often make the mistake of thinking that image-based learning is the most efficient means of taking in, and critiquing new information. I don't say this to be critical of anyone else. I have been with Netflix since the beginning. I love the big screen experience. I enjoy foreign cinema, classic films, independent features and a good documentary. Yet, the learning experience through film itself is limited by 1) the lens of interpretation--I am almost completely at the mercy of the director. They choose what they want me to see. There is no control on my part. 2) the inability to properly critique all the material--I cannot stop the film and be aware of each fact that is presented, asking whether or not it is true. I am opening my mind and saying "Pump it in, baby." There is some level of control, but not the level that is necessary to properly measure the arguments set forth by the film/show. We are truly a captive audience. This is not a diatribe against the camera, but we have to acknowledge that information gained through visual imagery will not be sufficient to understand what God desires us to understand.

God created us to meditate on propositional truths, facts that we have been given. We are to ponder as to their truth, then state, if this is true what needs to change? What we face is a lack of propositional truth, which means we also lack the compulsion to consider the matter the way we were created to. Without such information, we purposefully handicap ourselves out of laziness.

Reality is not abridged..

2010-03-08T11:11:00.001-05:00

It is almost stereotypical that pastors read but what role should reading play in his ministry, in fact, in his relationship with God? I see pastors who hate to read, and in fact basically refuse to study anything outside of Scripture. I also see pastors who go to the other extreme, taking on the characteristics of a Stephen Blumberg, enjoying the reading and owning of books, but not really "using" the material they are taking into their minds. As I alluded to earlier the market pushes its product at us, telling us that this volume will revolutionize (fill in the blank) and we must buy it now. How do we approach all of this intentionally? How do we kept from wasting our time, yet informing our ministry effectively?

Let us start, as Alice, at the beginning. Let us consider our need for knowledge outside of ourselves in order that we may glorify God. (Please be apprised that I'm channeling some of the counseling training I've been doing, none of this is original with me.) From Genesis 1:26-28 we see God giving additional data to those made in His image so that they may perform the tasks that are needed to glorify Him. The question is what information do we need now, and what are the sources of that information.

We would agree that Scripture proves to be the ultimate source of information. Not only does it provide us with propositional truth regarding God, His actions and His character, but it provides a framework with which we consider all information that does not come directly from God's revelation. It teaches us to think God's thoughts after Him. by saturating ourselves in Scripture we learn that all truth is moral. There is no such beast as a "brute" fact.

We also learn through Scripture intellectual humility. We will never know enough. We will always be short on data as to the world around us, and even in fully understanding the most basic truths of Scripture. Yet, we also learn that in His sovereignty and character, God provides us with what we need at the appropriate times so that we may glorify Him. So much hinges on this understanding. Whenever we approach any book, we do so knowing that we don't know enough, but we also pray that God would use what we are about to read to allow us to serve Him better.

More later..

Are we supposed to clean up after ourselves??

2010-03-03T16:29:00.000-05:00

There are some desires that the majority of the population never truly walks away from, no matter how old they get. Our good friend, Mr. Internet, rather than being the tool to free us from such juvenile habits feeds those same sinful habits until we not only secretly enjoy them, but consider them a virtue in and of themselves.

Pastors want to sit at the cool table. They want to be recognized though for NOT wanting to sit at the cool table, which seems self-contradictory, but makes sense if you think about it. We don’t even mind being perceived as small or inconsequential as long as we can be seen as unique. This is not the uniqueness God creates into each of His children, but rather a uniqueness that says “no one can do my job.” We don’t want to be replaceable. We even craft people to sit at the cool table. A friend from a rather large conservative denomination informed me that a division of this denomination has been plowing through resumes to find the next religious rock-star. They want a Keller or Driscoll. Better spirituality through HR.

As a corollary of the above-stated, we often base our ministries on whatever will get us a seat at that table. Even though God has never said it, and has even spoken to the contrary quite clearly, we know what He really wants. He wants people who are not attracted to His divine glory, but whatever brings satisfaction without change.

We had one of those strange combinations of speakers at Missions Conference that some would ascribe to serendipity but we know to be the direct work of Someone Else. Pragmatism was not so much thrashed as ignored. It simply was not relevant in any Christ-based ministry that would seek to drive glory in God’s direction. Three men presented ministries and messages that would never get them a seat at the cool table. They didn’t seem to mind. They were thinking of another Banquet.

I appreciated the prayers…

Book Review: Set Apart: Calling a worldly church to a Godly life.

2010-02-25T15:49:00.000-05:00

We clearly understand that God ‘s character is the model on which we base our own actions and appetites. We know that we are to be holy, loving, just and merciful. As we carefully consider the actions and character of our God, believers feel that pull to imitate our Savior. We crave to glorify Him through reflecting His character in our actions. Growing Christians across the board joyfully commit to this privilege. The problem comes when we ask “What does holiness look like in our culture?” That is when people start to “throw down.” Some are simply striving to reduplicate a culture they are comfortable with and in doing so embrace a very ugly form of legalism. Others go to the other extreme, stating that no one really has the right to claim a universal application. It comes down to worldliness itself. What is it? What does it look like? Unfortunately the term has either been ignored or trashed through misuse in the last several decades.

Set Apart: Calling a worldly church to a Godly life by R. Kent Hughes explores the concept of worldliness. This is a small volume, and like much of Hughes’ work is not so much an in-depth study as it is a survey. Hughes begins by examining worldliness as being an attack on the identity that God has given the believer. God has saved the believer to be “light”, “a new priesthood”,” a holy nation”, and “set apart” as Christ was set apart. It is only be embracing that changed identity that we can reach the world in a manner that is consistent with the character of our Savior. Worldliness mars that new identity.

Don’t roll your eyes expecting diatribes against pants on women, or wire-rimmed glasses. Hughes doesn’t address standards but rather holiness. He doesn’t nickel and dime movie ratings but rather asks how one can be a testimony of Christ’s love when one delights in watching people getting hurt. How can we be set apart from the world when we embrace the world’s appetite for material goods on an individual and corporate level? If worship sets us apart, why is it such a low priority? Hughes doesn’t simply focus on subtraction but rather points out that the presence of worldliness in the church prevents a deeper relationship, and more profound witness.

Overall this is a good study book for a church leadership group that knows it is in need of some serious self-examination. As in most of Hughes’ books, he could have/should have developed some of his arguments more, but it is a good first step. Some will dislike this book as he very clearly addresses the media/entertainment-driven paradigm as being incredibly destructive. I walked away from the book uncomfortable due to some sinful patterns in my own life that had been revealed. To me, that alone is worth the price of admission.

Sign your name on the dotted line..

2010-02-23T17:55:00.000-05:00

Mission's Conference starts for us this coming week and I confess that I am a little bit ambivalent.
On one hand, we have some great missionaries coming. These are guys who are theologically and philosophically sound. They have a biblically based burden to see God glorified through churches being planted all over the world (including the U.S).

But what should this conference accomplish? There are practical aspects. For one thing we collect pledges for our faith-promise program. It is good that we pledge money for missionaries. We are essentially helping others disciple by taking care of their physical needs while we do so, and this is good. Make no mistake. Yet, there is a savage incongruity if the people are not committed to their own responsibility to disciple others, and yet commit to paying others to ensure they do the task. I wonder sometimes if we are not trying to make up for being asleep on the wall.

Missions work, is by its very nature, discipleship that takes place outside of the local church. Of course discipleship includes evangelism, but is not wholly defined by the proclamation of the Gospel itself. It is the overall process by which one comes to Christ, is trained in doctrine, starts to apply that doctrine through interaction with others, and in doing so seeks to bring others to Christ. One cannot commit themselves to missions fully without having first committed to the necessity of discipleship in their own lives. Unfortunately we see pledge cards as vicariously exercising our responsibility through others rather then seeing them as supplementary.

I don't want this conference to be a pledge drive, but rather for the people of Calvary to submit ourselves to the Word of God, asking where individually, and as a church, we stand in reference to the responsibility that God gave us.

We would covet your prayers.

We can't tell where the cart goes...

2010-02-18T20:34:00.000-05:00

More on leadership...

Christ-focused leadership must lead to growth, but growth that must be calibrated to a different gauge. Paul tells Timothy that the "aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." We cannot be content with anything but that. If I am truly going to please my God with the ministry He has given, I have to know my people on a more then superficial level. I have to know if they have a sincere faith, a good conscience, and love that issues from a pure heart. I need to know that their life is a product of Godly wisdom "from above." This is the growth that God expects. The temptation then is to totally discount numbers figuring them to be irrelevant, and to a large degree they are. We must understand that all of us are fickle, our society is entertainment-oriented, and the path of least resistance is normally our path to glory. What effort is being made though?

We really need to ask if the changes that are coming about in people's lives are compelling them to reach out to others. As a corollary we need to ask why people are coming to our church in the first place? Is it because we have something new and shiny or is it because people within our congregation are striving to make disciples? It is one thing to invite someone to church because they will find something amusing or entertaining, it is another matter altogether to ask someone to seek out what will really change their destiny.

Ultimately, the desire to disciple others should be a result rather then a cause. One understands that as they seek Christ on a personal level, it cannot help but involve others. It's appearance is axiomatic. My goal as a leader is not so much to convince people that they need to tell others of Christ, but rather help my people find Christ so beautiful, they can't help but want to tell others.

I'm really not here....

2010-02-16T17:25:00.000-05:00

How does God expect me, as a spiritual leader, to lead? It sounds almost inane to ask in that fashion, but nonetheless, when has that stopped me before?

Right off the bat, we run into something that seems a bit counter-intuitive. In God's eyes, our goal as leaders is not so much to gain more followers as it is to help conform our followers to be like someone who is not like us. That changes the game rules as it is not as easy to quantify success or failure. There is a subjective nature to Christ-likeness. We cannot graph sincere sacrificial love in our congregation member's lives. We can't put together a pie chart that shows how many believers are growing in true patience from 2009 to 2010, yet these are the milestones that God sets before us.

So the leaders must teach quite clearly God's expectations to the flock. He must communicate God's revelation in such a fashion, not only that people comprehend it, but equip them so they can approach God's Word on their own, and understand God's desires. There is nothing that God does not communicate about Himself that does not demand change. He demonstrates His affections through His actions. All aspects of His revelation must be laid out in such a manner that we can comprehend and apply. I think we often forget there is an aspect of teaching that is rooted in a supernatural work of the Spirit that cannot be replicated through any earthly means. There is a certain level of "illumination" that only takes place by God working. God short-circuits our ability to gather true believers around us, by making sure that we cannot create true believers. Just ask Paul, Apollos and Peter. We can create people who want to be around us, but we can't change what needs to be changed. It is axiomatic according to Paul in I Cor. that only Spiritual changes the spirit.

We also teach through example. I bring up I Peter 5 ad nauseum but we really don't understand that God commanded us to lead by example. Or rather we claim we understand it then structure everything so we can't be around our people enough so they can't see how we live. But let us not mistake narcissism for transparency. True Godly transparency allows believers to look beyond their leader and see Christ. Narcissism brings focus upon the leaders himself, and thus loses its effectiveness. Our lives are to be windows, not monuments.

Book Review: The Trellis and the Vine

2010-02-10T17:38:00.000-05:00

There is nothing new under the sun, but we keep forgetting where we last saw it.

The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, doesn't so much carve out new territory but rather seeks to literally apply what we have known since the Ascension. The Church is to make disciples. It must be structured to make disciples that make disciples. Unfortunately the majority of church leadership training is oriented around a growth/success paradigm that focuses on demographic harlotry, economic power, and continual program-crisis cycles. The Trellis and the Vine is refreshing as it starts from ground zero and simply tries to define what a disciple-making church should look like.

The book does a beautiful job in asking what a disciple-making church looks like. This is not a paradigm that is as easy to embrace as we think. A church that is oriented around making disciples cannot ultimately be committed to church (numerical) growth at the same time. The two cannot really co-exist. A church that is actively making disciple-making disciples will continually be sending people out as they find new disciple-making opportunities outside of their immediate locale. A church that focuses on disciple-making will use programs as needed, but will understand what ultimately makes disciples is inter-personal relationships based on the imitation of Christ.

The authors hit upon several other time-worn axioms but weave them together applicationally. If we really believe that sermons are necessary but not sufficient to bring about growth, how do we address that? We know the church is to be more organic then structural, how does that look? The questions are asked, and the authors share their application. Much of what the book teaches is counter-intuitive, yet necessary. People have looked at the spiritual vacuum of the mega church models from the last few decades, and come up with all sorts of solutions. (Paging the Emergent Church) This book doesn't try to find a new solution but simply demands that we use the one that has always been there.

The book does a good job of gently but firmly challenging current models of growth, not by argumentation, but simply by showing a better way through Scripture.

My deacons will be seeing a lot of this book soon.

Shape without form, shade without color...

2010-02-06T23:21:00.000-05:00

Continuing on the idea of leadership ultimately being granted by God, I want to hit another facet of God's role in who leads, and why. We see God grant leadership through biology, but we must also remember that He uses spiritual gifts. If we consider spiritual gifts to be something supernaturally given subsequent to salvation we can't see them in the normal category of "talents." It is something that takes place as an expression of one's relationship with God, specifically in relation with other believers (in most cases, other church members). We have to ask the question as to whether God is always going to give the gift of pastor/teacher to one who is already a talented speaker. I think we would all agree that He doesn't, but we probably don't want to be part of a church in which such a person serves as pastor. It is ironic that it would place us smack dab with Paul's audience back in 2 Cor. 10. Paul was obviously a gifted teacher, he was simply not a gifted speaker. Evidently that hurt his leadership. Paul ascribed it to spiritual immaturity.

Pastoral leadership is rooted in knowledge of the Word, and the real world demonstration of what that looks like. Talented communication is an added blessing, but the charisma is not leadership in and of itself. Pastoral leadership has to take on a mystery aspect where it interacts with sanctification. That is, God uses leadership teaching the Word, and demonstrating it in their life to draw us to be more like Christ. Fortunately, we don't quite know how that works, 100%, it just does. Unfortunately, in a culture that values privacy, and mistakes mobility for community, we often lose the demonstration aspect. A vacuum is created, and we stuff personal charisma in the gaping holes. Personal loyalty is given to someone who appeals, rather then looking for displays of Christ. It doesn't help that corporate style ecclesiology feeds into all of this.
In the end we should demand more by demanding less.

The writing on the handle says "Occam"

2010-02-02T18:12:00.000-05:00

Trying to define leadership becomes more and more difficult the longer I think about it. Some of you may think that I am simply over-complicating the issues, as I am wont to do sometimes, but if we are truly in a God-shaped universe we have to toss out results-oriented definitions. That is, we cannot start with the idea that a leader only exists when people follow. That is "a" definition but it has to be derivative of what God already communicates regarding leadership and who He wants to be leaders.

A leadership that is foundation-ally "result-oriented" is sooner or later going to come into direct conflict with Scripture. We cannot help it. God's desired results, and our desired results often deviate, and in doing so lead to horrific long-term consequences. (reference Seeker-sensitive, felt-needs ministry) Leadership is essentially moral in nature. Whether it be business, the softball team, the board meeting, or the neighborhood cookout, leadership for the believer can never be seen as neutral or void of moral consequences. It either encourages people to become like Christ in some area or draws them away.

Sovereignty drives us to understand that God creates rulers, not man. We may get tips from John Maxwell, or Dale Carnegie, but they cannot make someone any less or more of a ruler then what God has already brought about. It is odd to see things in this fashion, but one of the most obvious tools that God uses to determine leadership in certain situations is the x/y chromosome. In a marriage, the male is to exercise spiritual leadership in the family. In the church, only certain males can exercise church-wide spiritual leadership. I don't do say this to wave the misogyny flag, but rather to point out to men that God has already made His will regarding leadership very clear through the created order. We are not to be leaders in our families/churches because we have the inter-personal skill and intrinsic wisdom necessary. Most times we don't, but God still expects us to embrace the responsibility knowing that we are incapable of doing it as we should. (More on this later) He has made His will very apparent every time we look in the mirror.

More this week...

Who is in charge of this mess anyway??

2010-01-27T10:29:00.000-05:00

Due to several "events" in our church (annual business meeting, new ministries, planning for 2010) I've really been mulling leadership over in my mind. Of course it starts with the question "How is a pastor (me) supposed to lead?" but it immediately starts to broaden: What is spiritual leadership? Who defines who is a leader? How does it look? Are there other definitions of leadership that are at odds with God's definition? Have I allowed those definitions to muddy the water? On it goes, thus we start 2010 looking at leadership. I would like my readers to seriously consider this because the question of what leadership really looks like has to move beyond charisma, pragmatism, and personal fulfillment. Our view of leadership affects our marriages, our children, our own role in the local church as well as who we determine should be our pastor. On a side note, I have probably seen more churches hurt by a faulty view of pastoral leadership as any other defect.

Even as I type this it broadens more and more....

Some elements we must examine--

What does God expect leaders to do?

Who does God expect to be leaders?

How does God expect leadership to accomplish the tasks He has set before them?

What is the world's concept of leadership? and by extension, how do we see the world's definition and God's definition clash?

On and on I could go, and probably will. I plan to catch up here soon on my posts, etc. (note that pigs will start flying soon also)

Cruel to be kind....

2009-12-31T16:30:00.000-05:00

Examining the concept of "therapeutic" spirituality took much longer then I thought it would. Toss in Christmas, a quick trip out of town, the normal vagaries of life, and I am again delinquent with a post. I had to dig into some old reading (Much thanks to Mr. Wells), and reconsider a few concepts. I have also realized that I need to put up some new text on the church web site.

To put it in as few words as possible, church is not meant to be make people feel better about themselves. In fact, if we reflect on all aspects of what is to be accomplished within the local body, we are literally asking people to voluntarily come in, measuring themselves according to an external standard over which they have had no say in creating. They are to make their thoughts, affections and actions accountable to a group of people who all have their own problems.

That sounds harsh, almost cultic, until you start to define your terms and fill in the blanks. We are asking people to follow God's revelation along with us as we seek to worship, edify, serve, evangelize and fellowship. Part of this includes accountability which embraces encouragement and admonition so that God may use us to bring change to other believer's lives. I won't go over past ground in detail, but I think we would all recognize that all five of those responsibilities carry a very definite bittersweet edge. Sometimes truthful, spirit filled worship brings pain. To be truly effective in evangelism one has to carry a very real vision of life, death and eternity. Adam Sandler it ain't. I could go on, but in one way, the church is a place where we share the pain of obedient Christianity.

That is not to say its all "about" pain. It isn't. There is supernal joy in a growing relationship with our God, and it is only made greater as we share it with other believers. It is disingenuous though to market Calvary as being a place where we strive to make each other happy. We strive to make each other like Christ, regardless of where that road would take us. In fact, I tell prospective members that I can't guarantee happiness if they participate, but I can definitely guarantee joy.

May you all have a blessed New Year.

Poisonous fences

2009-12-18T17:49:00.006-05:00

In my last blogpost I stated, "If we appeal to people along therapeutic/met-needs/demographic lines, we are not only misrepresenting the purpose of the local church, but we are hamstringing the churches' sanctifying influence." It was then suggested that I support my contention biblically or logically, preferably biblically. Being that it is Christmas, and I am over-flowing with generosity of heart I will begin to address the issue through the next few posts. I hope to have them finished before Christmas Day. Come December 25^th there is a feast to prepare and thus my mind will be directed towards more gustatory concerns. I'm going to start with the demographic part of my argument as it is easiest at this moment, and the weekend is here.

Let me say right off the bat that I understand the tendency of humanity for "like to call to like." We are most comfortable around those who closely reflect us. We tend to spend time with those who fall within our comfort zone. Of course that differs for everyone but it does tend to embrace economic class and race the most. This goes on unconsciously in most churches, and thankfully most churches are not happy with it. Calvary itself is situated in a bi-racial area, but the majority of congregation represents only one race. Hint, it rhymes with Malaysian. I don't think anyone in our church is happy with it, yet we are unsure at this point on how to deal with it. That is something for another day. Most churches of all races deal with this. Finding a truly multi-cultural church is the exception rather than the rule.

There is a big difference between people unconsciously gravitating towards those they are comfortable with as opposed to creating a church that focuses exclusively upon one group. We have to examine the purpose of the church itself, and what Christ accomplished through redemption. My points are not comprehensive but I believe they are relevant.

First we must recognize that when Christ died on the Cross, He did so in part to tear down the wall between Jews and Gentiles. (Ephesians 2:14-16) A wall had existed previously due to covenants laid by God throughout history, but once Christ came, those were all destroyed. In fact, God demonstrated to Peter that the cultural aspects of the covenant were to be stripped of any salvific intent. (Acts 10) Notwithstanding it sounds like a bad 70's Coke commercial but the baptism of the Holy Spirit works to unify all believers together with a bond that is closer then blood. God made very few distinctions. One is either a believer or an unbeliever. Beyond that He really doesn't allow any other clarifying distinctions when it comes to church community.

I think we also have to consider the role of spiritual gifts vs. culture. To divide along demographic lines is to believe that culture has a greater power to change people then the Holy Spirit working through the lives of individuals. Ephesians 4, and 1 Cor 12 both address the need for the entire local church to benefit from the gifts of other members. 1 Cor. 12:13 clearly states that these gifts surpass any man-made (or man-recognized) structure. It is odd to think that back in the early church it was very possible that you had some churches where a servant would have been a pastor, and his employer a congregation member. Substitute "slave" for "servant" for a real kicker.

Colossians 3:12-25 presupposes that church members are not necessarily going to like one another or be comfortable with one another. God is more glorified when you have a hodge-podge of cultures, preferences, and handicaps wrapped together in the pressure cooker of sanctification, working together in joy. Rather, due to mobility, and a desire for comfort that would rival an 18^th century opium fiend, we look for the path of least resistance. Sanctification most often takes place through struggle, and there are few more personal struggles then a group of very different people trying to figure out how to glorify God the best.

(At this point, what was originally meant to be a semi-coherent examination of demographics in church growth turned into a personal screed. I ask the forgiveness of my readers for not acting in a Christ-like manner with this post. I really want to avoid that type of reaction in the future. Thanks to those of you who called me out on it.)

Madison Avenue ain't got nothing on me....

2009-12-15T13:28:00.001-05:00

As I look forward to 2010 I've been considering the changes that need to take place at Calvary. We will be meeting in January to ensure that our evangelistic programs are unified in purpose. We will start counseling classes with the goal that all church members eventually will be able to disciple. I am also looking at a possible shift in our philosophy statement to something that would more accurately reflect what God would have Calvary look like. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that it is not so much a question of "what we look like" but rather "what goals has God laid out for us?"

It is easy for a church to be turned aside from its primary purpose(s). We suffer from cultural ADD, reading the wind with our finger, seeing where society will be most vulnerable to our efforts. The problem is that 1) culture changes so rapidly that the identify of the church itself becomes unstable 2) culture itself is rooted in a deep-rooted hatred of our God and 3) overly focusing on cultural shifts distract us from the role of the local church to make believer's more Christlike.

It is easy, for me as a pastor, to try to build an identity for our church rather then letting God build it. That may seem double-speak at first until one ponders a few points.
Considering last week's post referencing Jeremiah 9:23-24, it is legitimate for Calvary to state, "We know God personally. We know what God loves." If we tie in Hebrews 11:6, then we can also add, "We keep trying to know God better, and He will reward us for it." All of this, of course, is demonstrated through active discipleship and service. Terms need to be defined. Christianity is not "Your best life now" but rather a growing beautiful hunger that can only be met in eternity.

If we appeal to people along therapeutic/met-needs/demographic lines, we are not only misrepresenting the purpose of the local church, but we are hamstringing the churches' sanctifying influence.

In the end, our focus in public recognition cannot be "what we can do for you" as "this is what we are going to try to help you become, and how that is going to look, we don't know, but it will be more Christlike." It doesn't quite fit on a business card.

No, I haven’t been drinking….

2009-12-11T11:26:00.001-05:00

(from Turretin's book Institutes of Elenctic Theology via John Frame)

"A threefold love of God is commonly held; or rather there are three degrees of one and the same love. First, there is the love of benevolence by which God willed good to the creature from eternity; second, the love of beneficence by which he does good to the creature in time according to his good will; third, the love of complacency by which he delights himself in the creat3er on account of the rays of his image seen in them. The two former precede every act of the creature; the latter follows (not as an effect its cause, but as a consequent its antecedent). By the love of benevolence, he loved us before we were; by the love of beneficence, he loves us as we are; and by the love of complacency, he loves us when we are (vis., renewed after his image). By the first, he elects us; by the second, he redeems and sanctifies us; but by the third, he gratuitously rewards us as holy and just. John 3:16 refers to the first; Eph. 5:25 and Rev. 1:5 to the second; Is. 62:3 and Heb. 11:6 to the third."

It floors me that God chose to love me while I was still unlovely. He found nothing good or beautiful about me, but saved me regardless. So much of scripture rotates around the truth of God's unconditional love as seen through election. But let us not forget that God also loves us when we seek Him out, and strive to replicate Him in our actions. Hebrews 11:6 clearly states that God rewards those who cut a path through the woods to where they know He is. There is a reward that belongs exclusively to those who are reading the map, anticipating who they will meet at the end.

The same thought echoes in Jeremiah 9:23-24. We are to literally glory in the fact that we know God personally. There is nothing else that is worthy of the pride or emotional energy.

When a church informs the culture around them of what they are about, nothing should be communicated that is contrary to this core value. We've been going through James 2 regarding discrimination in Christian service, etc. When we "market" our churches appealing to a particular demographic (gender, philosophy, worship style), I wonder if we are inadvertently telling people that others who do not fit into that niche will not be able to seek God along with the rest of the congregation. We are not to rejoice that we can meet the needs of a particular group better than other churches, because ironically, once we claim that, we become incapable of doing so.

This guilt tastes sooooo good, you try some..

2009-12-05T17:11:00.001-05:00

We start James 2 this coming Sunday. I believe I mentioned before that the vision of what doctrine looks like in every day life is encouraging and yet merciless.

It is one of those passages that it is easy to dishonor by allowing it to either slide into social-engineering sentimentality which misses the point, or by limiting the application to such a degree it really doesn't mean anything.

Some questions and thoughts--

While it is vital to make sure that all demographics are being equally reached with the Gospel, at what point does the church cross the line in seeking to model itself to appeal to a particular demographic? (gender, handicap, race)

How do we minimize the criteria of "comfort" when determining who we minister to? (i.e. I'm not comfortable with that minority, economic class, etc)

Have we really thought about what Paul and James say when they state that God really hasn't chosen many rich people to be part of the church? The majority of the believers in history are going to be at the poverty line or below.

This is more of a statement, but God does not command us not to judge, but rather commands us to judge as He judges. If we judge otherwise, we are corrupt judges. If we choose to use our spiritual gifts according to a corrupt criteria we dishonor the source of our gifts, the Holy Spirit.

I wonder if the capacity to be mobile, and an excess of disposable income has contributed to a church that believes comfort is indeed a virtue.

I've really been kicked in the head by the passage this week, and thus have to watch the tendency to let the discomfort flow down. I may rail a bit, and the people may be impressed, but it won't bring about lasting change. If I let the passage itself do the work, with the Spirit convicting we are ensured of something truly happening.

Charlie Brown won’t cut it….

2009-12-02T12:52:00.002-05:00

I approach the Christmas season with anticipation this year (as I do most years). I'm writing up menus, finishing off gift lists, and scheduling various activities. The chaos can be a bit frustrating sometimes, but I can't help but bask in the glow when everything is finished. I do believe my wife will enjoy her gift. Nothing says "I love you" like a rug shampooer. (This is to see if she really reads my blog.)

As I think upon the Incarnation, the Nativity, and all of the applications that flow out of it, I find my mind drawn to a book I've been working through for a bit, The Doctrine of God: A Theology of Lordship by John Frame.
In this book, John Frame, teacher and apologist, constructs a theology focusing on God the Father using the Lordship paradigm. He basically asks, "What does it mean that God the Father is Lord?" and then seeks to apply those answers to all of God's actions including Creation, Providence, Redemption, etc. God's Lordship is seen in His control, His authority and His presence. Frame seeks to demonstrate that all of the Father's actions can be functionally defined in these terms. At first glance this may seem somewhat abstract but I actually found it a great help in being able to articulate the beauty of the ongoing work of a sovereign God. Being a good dispensationalist I choke on some of the covenant application, and as with all men-recognized systems, the author tends to try to fit a square peg in the round hole, but that is easily forgiven.

How does that tie in with Christmas? I think we sometimes forget that when Christ came to earth, it was not only to redeem us personally, but also so that we may know the Father. Christ continually points to His personal, immediate, ongoing submission to His Father. He repeatedly states that to see His actions is to see the actions of His Father, the Lord of all Creation who always acts according to His holiness for His glory. The Christmas story is Trinitarian in essence and application. The Holy Spirit quickens Mary so that the Son may take on the form of man in order that mankind may know His Father. The Christmas story is ultimately one of a sacrificial act of self-revelation that would lead to personal destruction. Because we are now indwelt with the Spirit, we have the capacity to not only know our God, but to recognize His hand in every moment of our day. Let us not take this gift for granted.

I could wax on then about appropriate ways of communicating this message, but that is a post for another day. May you all take great delight in this Christmas season.

Part of my life, dancing away...

2009-11-30T00:06:00.002-05:00

No matter how hard I try, I cannot remember my 16th birthday. I can remember my 17th just fine. All of the guys were there, and water balloons did abound. For some reason my 16th escapes me. This has only become a concern to me as I consider that my oldest is turning 16 tomorrow. It is a fact that I treat like looking directly at the sun. I am more comfortable in addressing the indirect results of that fact like a driver's license or getting her gifts. To ponder the fact of her 16th directly is painful. Call it a cultural hiccup or whatever you will. We have passed a landmark that we can never return to.

16, in and of itself, is an arbitrary number. There is no real legal or biological event that takes place at this time. Yet, I am compelled to consider whether I have done all that I can to disciple my daughter up to this point. The answer, inevitably is "no" but I can't think of a parent who can answer "yes" with confidence. That is no real comfort, but reminds me that all Christian parents face the shared burden of preparing their child to live a Christlike life in a culture that they do not fully share anymore.

My parenting has to be more then teaching my daughter to avoid the real-life equivalent of Snidely Whiplash. I must teach her not only to dodge land-mines but build shelter that can withstand any attack. At 16 I bemoan that I haven't done more but am thankful that God has given me a few more years. Since she has been born we have been teaching her to leave us. May she leave us skilled in the subtle art of godly affections and humble dependence.

Please allow me this moment of maudlin sentimentality...
Play it, Nanci..
Not my child, but the sentiment is the same...

I cleaned out the cupboard....

2009-11-24T16:03:00.000-05:00

Bits and pieces this week...

I want to thank everyone who helped out in Turkey-bowl by praying and/or working on it. We strove to be as concise and direct with the Gospel as the opportunities allowed. We also strove to model Christ-like love for the participants. Please pray that God's planted word will work in the lives of these individuals, pulling them to Him. The work isn't over yet.

There is a lot of discussion going on over here as to how our outreach should look next year. Of course we do so with the understanding that any church-directed outreach should be an example rather then a replacement for personal evangelism. We try something, look to see what we have learned through the process, and then see how we can do it better ("continual improvement" for all of my industry homies).

I don't think that I need to belabor the need to be thankful throughout this week, but it does strike me as somewhat amusing that as believers we have a capacity for gratitude that the unbeliever doesn't. As we grow in Christ we better understand that we don't deserve anything. We also understand that trials, etc, are just as much a blessing from God as anything else He gives us. Of course all of this only comes about through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit working through His Word. Don't take the ability to be grateful for granted. Not everyone has it.

Per the Manhattan Declaration, I appreciate the desire to address the self-destructive nature of our culture. We should probably do it more then we do. On the other hand, a group of signatories should not ultimately base their unity on the Gospel, when not all of them hold to the same Gospel. I was disappointed at several of the names on that list. They compromised the only thing that could bring about the change they desired.

Let us go forth and live as if we are truly thankful...

Is it supposed to fizz like that?

2009-11-17T17:12:00.000-05:00

What we should fear when we do ministry?

We should fear that the ministry is inconsistent with the character of God.

We should fear that the ministry is not an application of some aspect of the Gospel.

We should fear that the ministry is not an outpouring of our love for God and for those around us.

We should fear that the ministry may obscure the truth of the Gospel.

We should fear that the ministry may cause a stumbling block for other believers.

We should fear that our ministry may cause negative long term consequences that we are not currently aware of.

How do we avoid all of this? First of all, find out what legitimate needs exist within the church, and ask how one can meet these needs in a manner that is consistent with all aspects of God’s revelation. Yes, it is a no-brainer but with so many pre-packaged ministries coming down the pike, ministry is often defined by the market. We can’t let the market tell us what our people need. The market exists ultimately to make profit, and while I am not an enemy of profit, I cannot let someone’s desire to gain market share inform the direction of our church.

Second, ministry must be oriented towards making/building disciples rather then making numbers. There is a qualitative difference. The church needs to ensure that we not only are continually seeking to make disciples, but that we are discipling them. Yes, its redundancy at its finest, but the church must ensure that they can teach, and train new believers, guiding them into maturity. I wonder if we have the right to even consider any additional ministries if we don’t have those down yet.

Third, principle based vs. program based. If the ministry is not an almost direct application of a clear scriptural principle, we may very well be wasting time and energy. Just because something is shiny and new doesn’t make it wise.

Fourth, accountability to God must be a real concern. I think we often forget that God is going to hold us accountable for how we use the resources He gives us. This includes fellow believers, time, energy, money, etc. If we have frittered away what He has given us for the sake of comfort, or public recognition, I imagine real fear would be a suitable response. Repentance should immediately follow. Rinse, repeat.

Anyway…

Please pray for us as we have Turkey Bowl this weekend. Pray that the Gospel goes out clearly. Pray that we model Christ in our lives. Pray that God is glorified. Feel free to come by and see "hi." Brats and chili for all.

A toy surprise...

2009-11-10T11:36:00.000-05:00

I have a longer post on risk and ministry coming up, but I just read this, and thought it would be grist for the mill...

"So the doctrine of decrees implies that God has authoritatively preinterpreted everything and every event. As Van Till emphasized, the interpretation of the facts precedes the facts. Our world is a world that is exhaustively meaningful, because it is the expression of God's wisdom. Among human beings, interpretation is not the work of trying to assess for the first time the significance of uninterpreted facts. Rather, ours is a work of secondary interpretation, interpreting God's interpretation."---John Frame

I see this as essentially a summary of what we are trying to do with Biblical wisdom. As we look at any event, thought, ideology, entertainment, etc, we have to ask, "What has God already thought about this?"

Its not terribly profound but it clarifies a few things for me.

Its like working with Legos, but not really...

2009-11-04T17:27:00.000-05:00

This is the flip side of last week's post. While we see in Scripture what God clearly desires in ministry, these are things we do NOT see in Scripture regarding ministry.

He does not promise that He will numerically grow our church.
He does not promise that the objects of our ministry will be receptive and/or pleased with us.
He does not promise that our concept of results will match His concept of results.
He does not promise that ministry will continually be lively, fresh and engaging.
He does not promise that re-occuring ministries will have better and better results.
He does not promise that qualitative results are an accurate gauge as to how He views the value of our ministries.
He does not promise us that we will not become bored with our ministries...

A few thoughts there...

What pleases God and what is appealing to the church will not always be the same thing. As one grows in maturity, the two though come closer together.

The best ministerial guide outside of the Bible is a good systematic/biblical theology.

Churches tend to embrace ministerial fads like I embrace fried foods, with gusto and no discernment whatsoever.

We cannot go to a world that hates God, and ask them to help us establish a criteria to determine whether our ministry is successful.

The greatest joy found in ministry is to be found in a knowledge communicated through Scripture that our God is pleased with our desire to show others how beautiful He is...

I apologize for the rambling nature of this post, but virus's abound in our household. I believe I am now the next recipient of their loving care.

It is only risky if you aren't wearing a chute...

2009-10-28T11:34:00.000-05:00

Consider this an exercise in decision-making.

Two elements contribute to this post(s), first a thread over on Facebook where several of us are discussing how one discerns God's will. Some would say that God communicates His desire through a subjective emotional experience. I personally believe that God expects us to use His word to build a Biblical criteria by which we are to make decisions. If I truly believe in a sufficient Word, then I believe that God has given me all the tools I need to make decisions that glorify Him. I have no need to use a tool He never told me that I had.

Second, our church is looking at a new ministry opportunity. We have been having some meetings, discussions, etc. The opportunity has been put before the congregation. I know stand back, looking at the future and wondering if we should make that leap.

With that in mind, I'm going to be listing various elements found in Scripture that will form a framework for my decision-making process. Feel free to comment.

When God looks at Calvary Baptist, what does He want to see, and does this possible ministry accomplish this for us as a church?

We are told to be a disciple-making church. (Matt. 28:16-20)
We are told that the local community should be speaking of our faith and our love. (Col. 1:4, I Thess, 1:2-10)
Our works have to be rooted in our affection for the person of Christ.(Rev. 2:2-5)
We are not to minister with those who deny the efficacy and uniqueness of the Gospel. (Rev. 2:15)
We are to make sure that our works are "complete." (Rev. 3:2)
It must be done for God's glory. (Col. 3:17)
As a further clarification, the church should be satisfied that they are not recognized in the ministry they are not doing as long as Christ is. (2 Kings 19:19)

Any ministry that we take on should fulfill at least those criteria (and there are many more in Scripture). It makes the decision-making process easier, but it does add a bit of a hitch, as there may be some variation in application from church to church with some of the principles depending upon spiritual maturity, and biblical knowledge of the congregation as a whole.

More later on this week as to what God does not promise when doing ministry... I also want to touch a bit as to what is actually risked when doing ministry.

It doesn’t look like when he did it on the show….

2009-10-22T16:13:00.002-05:00

I had some extra cash this week, so I purchased a copy of Good Eats, the Early Years. I'm a big fan of the show. The mixture of knowledge and humor makes it a delight to watch. There is something about the format of the show itself that resonates with me, and I never quite knew why. It was not until I read the introduction of Good Eats that I realized what it was. Alton Brown isn't striving so much to teach the viewer how to cook a specific dish, but rather to inform regarding a specific ingredient or a particular cooking technique. For those of you who watch the show, you know that one whole episode will be dedicated to eggs, or garlic, or even using a Dutch oven. The science behind the ingredient or technique will be discussed in some depth using amusing graphics, sketches, etc. He will then cook several dishes illustrating the science. Alton doesn't see the prepared dishes as recipes so much but rather as applications of techniques and ingredients. The idea is that once you learn the principle, and how it can be applied, you can apply it in other situations.

Pastor/teachers need to keep the same idea in mind when they teach. One does desire to have a well-crafted message. He looks at context, structure, and tucks in illustrations so that the congregation may have a greater understanding of the passage itself. All that is a given, but one must not forget application. It must be a necessary element of the message, but be sure not to lock the principle exclusively down to one application. The pastor must insist that the passage has to be applied (Be ye doers, etc), and that applications will vary. There is no way that a pastor can address every application of every passage, nor should he desire his congregation to only apply the passage as he has applied it. The pastor's desire should be for his fellow church members to take their developing understanding of the passage/doctrine out into the world, and apply it to evangelism, service, etc. We are not trying to create parrots, we are trying to equip fellow believers to live Christ-like lives..

A few thoughts..

I want my people to take James 1, the doctrine of the deity of Christ, or the Creation story, and apply it to the ever-changing world that God puts them in. I need to continually make the people aware that God's revelation is meant to be used. While it is rooted in truths we have not seen, it has present-day applications that will always change those who put them to use.

While I appreciate Alton's humor, pastors have to be careful. If the people remember the funny story, or wry comment, but cannot give the basic gist of the passage or doctrine, then the pastor has failed. He may have entertained his congregation, but he has not equipped them. One can clarify a truth using humor, but one must never distract from scripture.

On a side note, the more cookbooks I buy, the more my wife expects me to cook. Too much knowledge is indeed dangerous.

Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be...

2009-10-20T11:46:00.000-05:00

There are controversies in evangelical academia that make no sense to me. Maybe I am naive. Possibly I am slow. (Hush, Tom) It always strikes me as ludicrous when people deny that Scripture teaches certain core truths. I can understand people denying the truth of what Scripture says. That is simply the unbelieving heart demonstrating its rejection of God's authority. It is a whole separate beast when one denies that Scripture teaches that Christ is God, the Virgin Birth or say..substitutionary atonement. Pierced For Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution by Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, and Andrew Sach addresses a controversy that shouldn't exist.

Evidently there has been a rather concerted effort to teach that when Christ died on the Cross, it was not to suffer God's wrath in our place. In fact, according to some, it could be anything else but that, and as one author stated it could be considered akin to "cosmic child abuse" to think that God would punish His own Child in our place. Since I do not run in such circles I was highly unaware of the controversy when I received the book a few years back. I am not one who normally reads "response" books for the most part. New heresies or movements are continually moving on and off the scene, faster and faster. Sometimes I cherry-pick something that comes across my radar but for the most part I ignore it. By the time I get to the book, the movement has normally already played out.

I found PFOT to be something a little different. Its value to me was not primarily found in the second half, which responds to the critics of substitutionary atonement, but rather to the first half. For the first two hundred pages, the authors examine substitutionary atonement as taught in Scripture, its theological framework, pastoral implications, and the historical "pedigree" of the belief. All of this is done to demonstrate that the belief in the propitation brought by Christ's bloody death has existed since the beginning. While the writing is somewhat dry, the Scriptures, quotes and teachings were laid out very clearly, and systematically. The author's goal was to lay out substitutionary atonement from the ground up, showing how it is rooted biblically, theologically, and historically.

After a bit, I found myself caught up in the beauty of the doctrine itself. Repetition is the gift that keeps on giving. In all seriousness, with our short attention spans and love of shiny objects we truly do lose track of the truths that change everything. Even in Christian circles, we often focus more on "new" truths or even repackaging. It is rare that we lay out doctrine for what it is and simply consider it.

This book gave me a deeper appreciation for Christ's sacrifice. That in itself was worth the price of admission. (Normal disclaimers apply)

So tell me my motivation again?

2009-10-06T15:39:00.003-05:00

Even though the series on worship is finished, we now turn to harder task of continually reforming our worship so that we may glorify our God, and edify one another. It always looks so simple on paper.

While I enjoyed working through worship, I admit that I am glad to be starting on another book series. There is something comforting about having the road laid out before you by Someone who knows what you need better then you do. The book of James has always fascinated me as it so clearly shows the juxtaposition between doctrine and practice. One cannot exist without the other. Right out of the gate, James tells people to act in a manner totally counterintuitive to everything they know by rejoicing in trials. This can only take place as one meditates on realities that either have not yet taken place or are not tangible at the moment. The argument is brought up again and again…"change your behavior because of eternal realities." It is the most powerful of arguments but unfortunately one that is seldom used in everyday life. We prefer commands based on pragmatism or immediate blessing. The change only lasts as long as the stick or carrot exist.

In focusing on the immediate and sensory, we forget that ultimately the weapons of our warfare are spiritual. They are untouchable, but yet work real permanent change. This necessitates growing in our comprehension of these doctrines. We must not only see them as intellectual constructs, but as living truths on which the universe is written. We are told to watch our speech, as the tongue's target was made in the image of the Creator of all things. We must not be overly confident in our own plans, as there is an agenda that transcends ours. On and on I could go, but the point is made. True obedience comes from meditation on God's revelation. True comprehension of doctrine only exists when we act in obedience to that doctrine. God does not allow them to exist independently of one another.

I wonder to what degree we have wandered from that paradigm in the church today as we have moved to a program-based, pragmatic philosophy rather than one centered around applied truth.

The Red King wakes up….

2009-09-29T16:15:00.002-05:00

As I've been moving through this series on music and worship, I've noticed a few areas in my own life that need to be addressed.

I can never worship in neutral. I sometimes wonder if I have been working at setting up a theological/philosophical framework to worship so that I may walk away from it for a while. "This part is fixed for the time being, I'll revisit it again when I think it needs to be touched up." I'm seeing more and more that worship must be personal at its very root, and thus must always be intentional.

I must always spend time before worship, making sure that I have no unrepentant sin before I go forth to worship with my people. If I am to worship in Spirit, I am to ensure that I am right where I need to be in God before I offer my sacrifice of worship to Him. He wouldn't accept one-eyed cows, or mangy lambs in the OT. What makes me think that He delights in my worship when I am indifferent to the distance in our relationship caused by my unrepentant sin? Btw, this is not to say that I should not be examining myself for sin at other times, but Scripture commands me to cease certain acts of worship if I have not dealt with relational sin issues. While I am in the midst of a crowd of people, singing songs of praise, my God knows the thoughts of my heart as if I were the only one the room and speaking each one out loud. Yes, I am in the midst of my church family, but it always ends up between me and Him.

I have to always be intentional. What truth are we trying to communicate to each other with our worship? Is there something that we have not addressed? Is there something that we have overlooked due to cultural bias, or blindness brought about by sin? Are we comprehensively addressing the character and works of God? Is the service being ordered in such a fashion that the people are encouraged to take on the responsibility and joy of corporate worship? Are the legitimate needs of the congregation being addressed as opposed to their felt needs? Do we understand that corporate teaching through music is going to hurt sometimes? Are we willing to embrace the necessity of that pain in order to please our God in our submission to His teaching?

While I have looked about the Church in America and seen a great wasteland where worship should be, I find that I have a greater wasteland in my heart. Worship starts with me.

For whom does the song play?

2009-09-22T16:18:00.002-05:00

Technically we realize that it is not all about us, yet it is still disconcerting to be reminded that worship is to be about everyone else first. Colossians 3, and Ephesians 5 both emphasize that each individual believer is to minister to others in song by singing praise to God. We are to be concerned first as to whether we are praising God sincerely and accurately. We then recognize that we are to be communicating that praise to the people around us through our singing. This requires that we be engaged with the lyrical content. Is it accurate? Is it clear? Do I believe it? Do I live it? How does this look? Does this truth delight my soul?

I think we would also recognize that ministry in song has to not only confirm the intellectual content of the lyric, but also confirm that this is a common confessional identity that we share with other believers. We are telling others through our singing that we are united with them because of our believe in God's holiness, Christ's incarnation, penal substitution, a bodily resurrection, etc. These truths pull me closer to other believers then geography, taste or even blood. They remind us that we share a common eternity.

It seems that everything I read about worship in Scripture pushes us away from an audience paradigm to a family of believers who are united by supernatural means, ministering to one another through music by first giving praise to our God. If we decide that we cannot sing a song because of style as opposed to content, we are purposefully turning our back upon a God-given responsibility. We are determining that our taste is more important than their growth. (Note: This presupposes that the song is sung in a style that the entire congregation can sing simultaneously.) Our first concern is not whether we care for the song stylistically, but how we can minister with that song to the people around us. Our taste is a secondary consideration at best.

Again, its not about me…

It isn’t a deli.. .

2009-09-15T16:39:00.003-05:00

I'm summarizing, and applying some of the issues from the previous Sunday's sermon. My apologies to the Calvary folk who read this. It will be a bit redundant…

Man-centered vs. God-centered.

We examined Jeremiah 9:23-24 last Sunday, understanding that the root of our identity should not be based on personal accomplishments but rather our personal relationship and knowledge of our God. I think that we truly do not understand the honor that is given to us to know what delights the heart of our God. Specifically in this passage He speaks of steadfast love, judgment, and righteousness. God-centered worship is not only worship that contains knowledge about God, but worship that asks what we are doing to delight our God.

This strikes to the heart of a consumer-based growth strategy. (I almost threw up in my mouth when I typed that) In a very real sense the desires of the "demographic" are secondary at best when considering the content of the service. Worship can never be based upon "attraction" or even "accessibility" but rather a deep-seated hunger to explore what makes our God beautiful. That is not to say that worship should be cryptic or opaque, but one who comes to worship looking to have their own particular wants fulfilled is not going to be thinking about what delights God. A worship service that is part of a marketing plan to pull in more people is going to be at odds with a worship service that seeks to be reflective of our holy, loving sovereign God.

I think that we fall into a few spiritual "trenches" when it comes to worship. We look to establish a worship service that needs little tweaking. We want to "arrive." To use an analogy from my old job, we want a "fixture" that we can lock into the mill, so we can construct the exact part we desire. We want a service that will not require constant attention. It is a "fixed process." (A shout out to my quality brothers) This ignores the fact that our knowledge of God is dynamic. It is not that the doctrine changes, but we grow in our understanding of what those doctrines mean. Our view of judgment as a young believer differs greatly from our view of judgment as a semi-mature believer. As those views shift, our applications will shift. Our proclamations will shift over time. I think we all agree that our praise will always be "off-balance." We will ignore certain attributes, over-emphasizing others in their place. We can't help it. Our limited knowledge, and God's limitless nature make it axiomatic. That is not to say we should throw up our hands, but rather revisit our worship from time to time. We should ask, "Are we are presenting God in as much of His entirety as He presents of Himself?"

All of this presupposes a congregation that is saturated in God's Word, learning more and more what delights their God, and how that looks. The pastor/worship team cannot be the sole source of truth in this matter. The team may indeed seek to construct a service focused on God's holiness, but if the people do not share an awe at the presence of a God who is a "burning fire" it all becomes pantomime, and pomp. The entire church must learn from each the Word (and one another) what God wants. It is not a secret.

I haven't checked the odometer..

2009-09-02T15:24:00.004-05:00

In finishing up Hosea this last Sunday morning (29 sermons total-be sure to get the DVD package with director's cut, outtakes, and random videos of my children being charming) I made the observation that Hosea became the guest that overstays his welcome. You invite him to stay as long as he wants but what you really mean is that you want him to stay long enough for you to feel hospitable but not long enough for you to really be irritated with his presence.

Hosea hung around far longer then I planned. I was excited at first. There is drama and pathos in the first few chapters. There is betrayal, and the frustration of a sovereign God. The congregation is anticipating each message almost as much as you are, but then after a while things shift. To paraphrase Henry Ford, you can have any message you want as long as you want judgment. A sense of weariness begins to grow. Its like driving through Western Nebraska, nothing ever changes and nothing will ever change. Israel, Ephraim, Judah, etc, the names all run together but they deserve the same thing-God's wrath. It is coming, and it is coming in spades. The theme repeats itself again and again.

I imagine that the congregation breathed a big sigh of relief this last Sunday. Yet, I find that something odd has happened in my own heart. As I have been forced to consider these themes over and over my own attitudes towards sin, judgment and salvation have shifted somewhat. For some reason I find myself taking greater delight and appreciation in my own salvation. There is a growing compulsion to share the truth with others as judgment is coming, and we are all deserving of it. As I meditate on penal substitution my heart almost breaks as I consider what great punishment my Saviour took for me. As I look upon my own life I see it lacking gratitude and praise for what God has done.

Was there a watershed moment? Did a light shine down upon me? No, but I am convinced that God used His Word over the last several months to pound certain truths deep into my soul.

Why am I sharing all of this? I have a few applications...

First, this is a bit of a paen to expository preaching. I know that it is not the only form of preaching. I know that it is not the only form of godly teaching, but for the pastor, it had better be the primary tool used in the pulpit. Like a 50's B-movie, the pastor had better be cutting a path through the text to God's glory no matter where it takes him. Not every passage will be a humdinger. Not every message will be memorable but the ENTIRE TEXT needs to be covered. Pastors, embrace expository preaching for the sake of your soul as well as your congregation's. Lay people demand expository preaching from your pastor, or find another.

Second, don't let a fear of boredom affect your approach to the Scriptures. There are certain themes in certain books that God repeats over and over and over and over....(you get the point). God uses repetition so much in His Word as He designed us to respond to repetition. The pastor still has a responsibility to understand, teach, and apply the text in a manner that grabs the mind and heart. Yet, the pastor must not be afraid of a stretch of text that may seen repetitive or tedious at first glance. This is where we really demonstrate our faith in God to use the text as opposed to our own efforts. If we believe that it is Scripture that changes people we will not turn aside from a theological I-80 (if you've been through Iowa, you know what I'm talking about).

With all of that being said, I'm just glad to be reminded again that it is God's Word and Spirit that bring about change, and not the cleverness of men.
Its easy to forget..

Help, my dream has fallen and it can't get up....

2009-08-26T16:41:00.000-05:00

The Despair.com demotivator poster for bitterness states "Never be afraid to share your dreams with the world, because there's nothing the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams." We chuckle at that (at least I did), but I wonder how often we end our lives with a hardy chunk of bitterness floating around our gullet because things did not turn out the way we expected. It is sad to meet believers who are frustrated because some expectation has not been realized.

We dream of retirement, comfort, and maybe even some level of relaxation. I don't need to go into detail at the massive panic that has set in a large segment of our population due to the whooshing sound of retirement funds disappearing into economic limbo. Even as a pastor, I often hear of future dreams of respect, security and recognition for years of thankless effort. Unfortunately when none of those dreams are realized, they turn rabid, ripping the joy from one's soul. I've encountered some of these men recently, and it has caused me to examine myself as to my own dreams. I've attempted to define what my ambitions are and were. I've then asked where these came from? Are they rooted in a self-centered materialistic culture or are they rooted in a desire to bring glory to God above all else?

I think we need to be honest about this. Retirement in this life sounds nice, but God only has one retirement plan for the believer. I don't believe it is wrong to want to retire, being able to step down from continual employment. It is wrong though, when we react to God's actions in the marketplace with fear and bitterness, acting as if God owed us. As a pastor God has promised me a life full of bittersweet joy, frustration, frightening clarity, and seemingly fruitless labor. All of my efforts will be addressed in another Place and Time.

Don't get me wrong. It is not wrong for us to dream big. Innocent ambition makes my populist heart beat faster. Yet, dreams that are not ultimately rooted in the glory of God are usually...inadequate. They are small in scope, temporary in effect, and forgotten in eternity. There is much effort given for something of little value. While I don't think it is necessarily wrong to dream of accomplishments that are not direct application's of God's desires, one has to ask "If it is not God's dream, is it one really worth having?"

(Scattered notes--I know that God does not "dream." God ordains, and there are no decrees that do not take place, and nothing takes place unless He decrees it. I speak in terms of God's "desired" will. (God desires all men to come to repentance.)

I'm putting the music posts on hold as I'm starting a series on worship at Calvary in two weeks. I will post parallel with my messages. Calvary people, I'll try not to repeat myself.

EB--I know you are out there. You have not called me for lunch yet. I'm waiting.)

Plodding to Zion...

2009-08-13T10:02:00.002-05:00

There are books I read to critique new ideas. (Generous Orthodoxy, Desiring God, etc.) There are books I read because I need help or information in a given area. (i.e. commentaries, references works, Puritans, theologies) There are books I read because I simply wish to be encouraged in a particular area, and am looking for a new way to articulate old thoughts. Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck neatly fits into the last category.

The more I consider sanctification and the local church, the more I see how they tie into one another. One cannot fully grow into Christ-likeness unless one is part of a body of believers who are seeking the same goal. This is further complicated by the fact that we are not only seeking our own growth, but we should be seeking the growth of those around us. It gets even more complicated when one considers the many tasks that the church sets for itself that have nothing whatsoever to do with God's given goals and desires. The role of sanctification through the church becomes a muffled cry lost in a pile of programs, cliques, and mis-focused worship. The consumer culture adds another spin in that we see churches as places that deliver product we desire as opposed to Christ-centered families. It is no wonder that there is a growing dis-satisfaction with the church, to the point where many are thinking that the old paradigm of a covenant body of believers meeting for worship and edification has become irrelevant.

DeYoung and Kluck are open in their support of the local church body. “Warts and all” is the operative term here as there is a refreshing transparency to their treatment of the local church. DeYoung (a pastor) and Kluck (one of the parishoners) alternate back and forth as they address the function and necessity of the local body. Behind it all is a recognition that because people are going to be involved, church will always be mess regardless of how we approach it. Throw in a body that is actively involved in each other's lives, it is messier still.

DeYoung addresses the four big areas in which the necessity of the local church is challenged: missiological, personal, historical and theological. I appreciate his efforts to transcend current trends using history and theology, while still being honest about the problem plaguing local congregations. In the end though, there is an understanding that God designed church to be somewhat uncomfortable, and to commit one's self to Christ is to commit one's-self to His Church.

Kluck approach is more casual and much appreciated. There are aspects of his church that irritate him including parts of the corporate worship, reactions of fellow members, and program fatigue. Yet, he recognizes that through all of this God has, and is using His church to shape the people around him into Christ. He also explores several other congregations, and sits down for an interview with Chuck Colson regarding the state of the local church.

The concluding chapter's title-”Toward a theology of plodding visionaries” speaks to my soul in a wry fashion. It's good to see someone who realizes that it is not about a “vibe” or “environment” but rather straightforward obedience to those things that God states will change us.

The book is a quick, easy read, but hardly simplistic. Highly recommended as a quick refresher for those who are a-wearied.

We can dance if we want to.....

2009-08-11T16:07:00.003-05:00

For those of you who read this blog, you may have noticed a comment that was left under the previous post regarding the use of celebratory dancing in the worship service. The poster basically said, “I can't worship unless I dance.” To be honest, knowing most of my audience (all 8 of you) I figured that someone was “yanking my chain.” I was tempted to ignore it and move along, but the more I thought, the more I figured that the post deserved an honest answer.

The post seemed to illustrate the point of the whole argument. In God's design of us, what internal elements lead to a believer who is joyfully compelled to worship Him? (Yes, it is clumsily worded)

I'm not going to really concern myself with the “dance” aspect of worship as that is not the element that concerns me the most. It is the belief that one must participate or focus on some other activity outside of God in order to truly glorify God. Do I believe that music or dance can be a result of worship? Yes, definitely. (Although I would lay some qualifiers on the dance aspect) But even in itself, music, as a result of worship still carries propositional truth regarding the God that is being worshipped. (See Colossians) You do not start with beautiful music, and then feel moved to search God's truth. Rather, you see God's truth, and that leads you to beautiful music that not only exalts our God, but teaches the participants more concerning Him.

To wit....

A believer, one who is capable of truly glorifying God, grows in his comprehension of His God. Possibly he has seen God's mercy at work in his life when he has stumbled into sin (Psalm 40). Maybe he has learned some new truth while perusing God's law. (Psalm 119) Psalm 84 describes someone on their way to worship, their soul delighting them all the way. It seems as if the biblical pattern is one that delightfully embraces a knowledge of God beforehand. Corporate worship builds upon and magnifies that.

Thus, and I say again... Sunday worship starts on Monday morning. (I'm sure I got that from somewhere.) A recognition of a personal God sovereignly working in our life on a daily basis will lead to the inevitable conclusion that corporate worship is not only desirable, but a joyful necessity.

I'm currently in Ankney, Iowa where I am taking another track of nouthetic counseling training. I appreciate the opportunity my church gives me to get away, and “add to the toolbox.” I'm hoping eventually to handle some of these along to the congregation, and make it part of the discipleship process. I'm also going to try to get a few book reviews done for the blog this week. (Don't hold your breath.)

On another note of praise, there are times when one puts together a prayer that has some very specific needs woven into it, although one has no idea what the answer would look like. God then crafts an answer that is so specific, so appropriate, and so different from what I imagined that I cannot help but be bowled-over by this transcendent God who demonstrates His love and holiness to me.

Do you see what I should see??....

2009-07-30T11:20:00.004-05:00

As I had mentioned previously, weekly corporate worship must be built upon daily personal worshiop. Corporate worship is to be a consumation of something that began on Monday morning.

I believe that we often lack an absolute view of reality throughout the week, and in this lack we fall into arrogance. We don't feel compelled to worship because we have intentionally blinded ourselves to what has been happening around and to us, of every minute of every day. That blindness creates a Garry-centric universe. Worship cannot exist in such an environment.

Several universal laws (among others) that we must understand....

Our sin nature continues to work even after we are believers. I think we forget about the immediate destructive consequences of sinful affections, thoughts, and actions. We are saved from Hell, but we have forgotten that we need to be saved from us. We don't understand that there is a continual battle to shift the way we look at God, others, and ourselves. We are incapable of completely seeing the patterns that have twined about our souls. Thus, Hebrews 3:12-15 points out the necessity of being around other believers, who gently point out the damage we have done to ourselves. We also forget, that even as believers in Christ, our sin may not affect us salvifically, but it does affect us relationally. It is just as real and painful to our God, more so then we can comprehend.

We must also recognize God's sovereign working combined with His goodness (see earlier posts). As a believer, I still deserve chastisement (Hebews 12) from my God for daily disobedience. Yet my God does not always discipline me as I deserve. He continues to bless me by feeding me, clothing me, ministering to me through friends and family, and the list goes on. He also continually works in my life to put certain individuals within my orbit that enable me to grow. He brings events to my life throughout the week that specifically work to change me into Christlikeness, etc. He continues to extend grace in spite of my continual disobedience.

If we meditate upon such goodness and grace.... If we carefully consider how our God is continually allowing us to participate in His plan as He works in our lives and others..... The nature of our worship changes. It is rooted in organic transformation. It stands on the edge of an unseen country and delights that there will always be more then it can understand and communicate.

To tie in an earlier post, if I am truly seeing the world in this fashion on a daily basis, when I enter into the sanctuary on Sunday morning, music will not be needed to jump start my worship, but rather it will be a somewhat inadequate expression of something that is already there.

I had to be somewhere else....

2009-07-16T23:06:00.007-05:00

As we consider worship, let us ask as to the priority corporate worship should have in our lives as believers...

A believer has had his eyes opened up to the beauty of a holy, loving God on a personal level. He has been changed from death to life. (Eph. 2) He has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit from his former hatred of God (Romans 2-3), and has been given the ability to love the One being who has ever loved him unconditionally. It is within that context that worship exists. No one deserves time and energy more then our God, and has opened up our eyes to this universal truth.

We must also consider that the OT believer's entire life, including holidays, was centered around worship. It even appears that in the future, worship will hold center stage on an international level. He is going to even determine how much rain He will give nations as to whether or not they worship Him. (Zech. 14) Revelation ends with us worshipping around the throne. As mentioned earlier, this is because no one deserves time and energy more then our Redeemer God.

I think that in our desire to eschew legalism, we have turned our back upon an absolute commitment to corporate worship. While we would not claim to see worship as optional, we do treat it as the best out of a number of legitimate choices including vacation and recreation. It is within that decision-making process that an uncomfortable truth is revealed. Whenever we choose something over corporate worship, we are demonstrating that there is something better that deserves our time and attention. We show that our deepest satisfaction does not come from praising God, but rather pleasing self.

It is also more of a lynch pin to our testimony then we realize. When we lovingly, and humbly demonstrate that we can truly think of nothing better than worshipping our God, we show the unbeliever that we are seeing something that they cannot see.

The people who determine to worship because they don't have anything else on their schedule are a people who cannot please God with their hearts.

And a one, and a two....

2009-06-23T16:52:00.005-05:00

I’ve been working on the worship question for a while now. One cannot be a pastor and help answering questions that one wishes had never been asked. More often than not, worship gets tangled up with the music issue, and while it is important that we examine the role of worship in music, we should not start there. Not only are we putting the cart before the horse by doing so but we are hamstringing that splendid beast.

A few relevant points need to be examined before anything else. Btw, none of this is original with me but has been reviewed by others I'm sure..

Worship does not begin Sunday morning. Various Psalms presuppose that one is joyfully anticipating meeting together with other believers to glorify God. That joy can only occur if one is meditating on God's holiness and love throughout the week. Unfortunately we often approach the corporate worship service as akin to unprimed pumps. We walk in cold and dry, then metaphorically sit down, spread our arms and say "hit me with your best shot and I had better like it."

We are to walk in chomping at the bit. This is to be the consummation of our week. It is to flow from an appetite in our soul that has not been fulfilled until we have lifted our voices in song with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Maybe this is why music is such a big issue in the worship wars. We put so much weight upon the music style because we are trusting music to accomplish what we have been too lazy to do ourselves. (Note, this is not to say that style is not important but first things first)

Its easier to whine about the music then to look in the mirror....

It burns, but its a good burn....

2009-05-30T21:36:00.004-05:00

(Warning--I'm not shooting for sentimentality, but I can't figure out a better way to communicate these thoughts.)

Imagine if you will, a camp-fire.

It stands burning before you, the flames licking into the evening sky. Sparks and bits of ash fly upward, carried by currents of heated air. Friends and family surround the blaze, comfortably ensconced in camp-chairs, chatting away. It is a comfortable image with some caution intertwined. While the fire is a pleasure, one does not draw too close.

Imagine then, someone approaching this tall, cracking fire, and tossing a rubber tire into the midst of it. Immediately the air is filled with black acrid smoke. People rush away from the fire as they violently cough, seeking to clear their lungs of the toxic fumes arising from what had previously been a pleasant evening.

What if, rather than a tire, someone takes some dried cedar or oak, and carefully arranges the wood. The odor is pleasant. The fire burns bright as the wood takes light. The evening continues and memories are made.

I am usually not given to such sentimentality but I think it illustrates an important point regarding our comprehension of doctrine.

In Scripture we see a God who decrees and decrees to permit. He works His will regardless of the will of men, and will not be constrained or compelled. As the preacher said nothing can be added to or taken away from His will.

God's sovereignty is at the center of so much of our doctrine. As we grow in our knowledge of God, we recognize this more and more. The scales fall from our eyes. We start to see something that has always been there. We see His hand in the smallest, most innocuous events. We see that God puts people in line next to us. We see His hand in the weather, "accidents", and events that happen to coincide with some aspect of our worship.

We must remember though, that such doctrine must be accompanied by a knowledge of our sovereign God's character. A knowledge of our Lord's sovereignty does us little good if we see our God as arbitrary, and cold. Unless we make ourselves aware daily of His holiness, and love, sovereignty becomes mechanical fatalism. What was once a sense of comfort becomes instead a growing anger at a God who keeps meddling in our life.

I remember at one point in my life, depressed and frustrated telling my wife, "I wish God would simply leave me alone." I believed in God's power, but I had forgotten He was good.

And thus, the conclusion--in our daily spiritual disciplines there must be a continual recognition and meditation upon the holiness, and love of our God. We must soak our minds, creating a universal presupposition that underlies our interpretation of every event. These things are taking place because my God is holy, because my God loves me, because all that He does is good. Thus, our knowledge of God's sovereignty becomes a comfort rather then a burden.

Our meditation upon the beauty of our God becomes an aromatic, powerful fuel when combined with our understanding of His sovereignty.

(And yes, the analogy does fall apart if you poke it too hard)

God bless, and may God be glorified in your worship today..

Such men do not sleep well....

2009-05-23T19:46:00.010-05:00

Ambition is a funny thing, especially among pastors. Let me rephrase that, ambition is a twisted little beast, especially among pastors. Out of all career choices, pastoral work is devoid of the normal metrics that allow us to compare our performance with other pastors. Our skill set is ephemeral, sovereignly bestowed, and displays itself in a counter-intuitive manner. Of course all of that is irrelevant, because we are very specifically commanded not to compare ourselves to other servants.

Yet this does not stop us from jockeying for position, or trying to place the spiritual 'alpha male' in the crowd. Our sin nature cries out to be recognized and followed. We create artificial hierarchies that have no real scriptural application, and then play games of dominance. We all fall prey to it. I feel the siren song of personal politics on a weekly, if not daily basis. I felt its draw these last few weeks due to various conflicts arising amongst ministerial peers. It is easy to get wrapped up in it all, equating personal recognition with successful ministry.

As I type this, my Uncle Bill sits next to me, tutoring my wife on how to use his old Sony Clie. He left Scotland in his youth to be a missionary in India. There he met his wife and there they served together for many years. They eventually moved ot the States, Aunt Kate's health ruined. He has pastored at least three churches in addition to his missions work and still ministers today as much as his 80+ years will allow him. No one has heard of him. He has not administered any colleges. His congregational numbers did not soar. Yet I find his gentle spirit, wry humor, and deep love of His God to be humbling. I want to be like that when I am 80.

The older I get, it seems to be one of the only ambitions worth having.

It's not T.H. White......

2009-05-11T15:23:00.002-05:00

What some would call serendipity, we call sovereignty, and there is never a moment where God is not teaching us.

Early last evening I was out for my daily stroll, mp3 player plugged in, browsing through some pod casts. I came upon a poem/story combination that was written by an author in honor of his son who was a victim of the Virginia Tech shooting. Although I did not listen to the story itself I did find myself strangely moved by the poem, and the author's introduction. His pain, confusion and anger were very evident. I didn't blame him. His son had been ruthlessly murdered, and those who could have prevented the tragedy were not being held accountable (per his viewpoint). It hurt to listen to it.

My normal route takes me past several places of note. One of these is a meditation circle. From time to time, especially in the "gloaming" I see the owner sitting in the center, quiet, still. I then pass four different churches from four very different denominations. Each building is beautiful, wonderfully constructed.

As I walked past all of these stone symbols, I kept thinking about what I had heard. I first wondered how each one of these "paradigms" would address this man's pain. After that I had to ask myself if I had a vocabulary sufficient to minister to this man, an unbeliever. Obviously, the theological issues are explicitly dealt with in Scripture. Man's sin nature, God's decree to permit, and His overall sovereign working had brought all of these things about. In events like this we are reminded that while we know our God is both holy and loving, we are never quite sure how they work with one another.

All of this disturbed me as I realized there was nothing that I could say to this man to somehow ameliorate his pain. There is no way that I could take theological truths upon which reality teeters, and perform some linguistic origami, numbing his pain.

I think that is why we sometimes do not try to address these questions in everyday life, as the answers are too big to be ignored. They shatter the unbeliever's view of reality, and do not allow them to hide behind any rationalization. When we respond to their pain, we just want to take it away. God wants them to see His mysterious hand working in holiness and love.

If I may use an old story reversed, when we approach these God-directed encounters we come with Sword in hand nearing the stony heart. When we walk away, the Sword should be left behind, sunk deep into the stone with no hand able to withdraw it.

I’ve been at the five and dime……

2009-05-04T13:24:00.001-05:00

Yes, it has been a little over a month since I last tossed something down on the blog. You would think that with only doing weekly updates I wouldn't have a problem with writing about SOMETHING… Unfortunately, while the month was busy there was no grist for "this" mill. It isn't that I didn't have anything I wanted to say, it is that I had nothing to say that was worth writing about.

It has been strange moving back into full time ministry again. My biggest frustration with being part time was the lack of time itself. I lacked time to disciple, time to study, and time to fellowship. Becoming full time was chronological bliss. Time was in excess, and flowed through my hands like water. That lasted all of about 3 weeks. Now at the end of my first year I find that I lack time to disciple, study and fellowship. I chuckle at the irony but the lesson is there. I can't believe that if I just had a little more of a certain ingredient that my ministry would run easier or more efficiently. We have obsolescence hard-wired into us by our own desire. While we should strive for various disciplines and resources as a matter of course, we understand that none of them can fully benefit us as we desire. God will always require more of us than we are capable of giving, and we will always fail to properly use what is given us.

Thankfully we are assured (2 Cor 2) that our God will always be triumphant, regardless of our faults. If God must always be triumphant, being God, and we are the instruments He uses to do that, it is guaranteed that He will work through us, in spite of us.

As I go into year two, I am reminded that I bring my faults with me from wherever I have come. Nothing is left behind. More time means more potential for failure. Part of me wants to assign the term "risk" to it all yet it is totally inaccurate. There is no risk when God has guaranteed His goals will be met. The only thing risked is my pride, and it needs to go anyway.

On the book side I've been through a few, but the highlights…

War of Words by Paul David Tripp. This is basically a theology of communication with application tied in. Excellent book. I plan to teach it in Sunday School this summer.

The Truth War by John MacArthur. There are no surprises here. Its basic Macarthur, but he does quite the service in tying in historical trends in false doctrine in the early church. He also lays out the implications of Jude on a practical level.

I'm starting The Art of Prophesying by William Perkins today. More Puritans. This could become a habit.

Naval Gazing….

2009-04-01T16:04:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday nights, we are using Revelation 2-3, as a criteria for what makes a church that is successful (i.e. honoring to Christ). When Christ chooses to exhort or encourage a church regarding a particular characteristic, it would behoove us to pay attention to those characteristics. As to the prayers regarding this laundry list, we need to ask God for that clarity that enables us to see ourselves as we truly are in His sight. We then need to ask God to change us in such a way that we reflect these qualities. Of course, a sort of spiritual momentum is necessary. We cannot simply sit there, expecting God to change us unless we begin to head in a particular direction as determined by God. The older I get, the more I see "finding God's will" as something that only happens to one whose feet are already moving. We start with a desire to glorify God in a certain area, and then move that way to the best of our ability. We trust that God will providentially make whatever course adjustments are necessary. I take great comfort in the fact that when I start with Scripture, I am assured that I want what God wants.

In the case of the church at Ephesus, I know that God wants us to return to our first love, and I know that we are to show works that are rooted in that passion for a relationship with a Holy God. There are so many questions surrounding that previous sentence that I can easily become paralyzed through indecisiveness. What exactly is "the first love?" Did Calvary demonstrate that "first love?" What works specifically with Calvary, arise out of such an affection? While these questions are indeed important, the sense of urgency is such that I need to answer them on the run. God would rather there not be a church in Ephesus then a church that functions well, but lacks this first love. I cannot spend time scheduling the trip at my convenience but rather I must run to the car while unfolding the map trusting that the Navigator will guide me to my ultimate destination. The wheels have to be moving though.

It is interesting to see God's hand in the initial areas identified for improvement. A focus on men's ministry ensures that as spiritual leaders, the men of the church will be equipped to discern and act. A focus on worship will ensure that our affections are correctly directed in corporate celebration of His grace. A focus on small groups will help build the personal credibility we need to minister to one another. The wheels are in motion.

To get personal a bit here, I find myself a bit overwhelmed by it all for a few reasons. One is the ambiguity of it all. God knows exactly what He wants in principle, and application. He knows exactly how Calvary can best glorify Him. We know the principles but it is the application that is the rub. Couple that with someone who hates failing so much that I often struggle with the temptation to simply not try in order to keep from failing. I find that when I keep my thoughts directed through the filter of my relationship with Him, my focus shifts. I find that failing my self-image is a pitiful fear, and ill becomes a believer who has been changed by God. My fear should rather be that I mute my God's glory in the eyes of others.

Enough of that…read through Revelation 2-3 yourself, and put together a prayer list. Our God is faithful to hear and answer.

I can’t find the gauges….

2009-03-25T16:37:00.001-05:00

Having finished up missions conference this week, a question kept popping up. "How do you think it went?" To be honest, I really don't know. I can readily admit that it seemed to run smoothly. The various sessions and activities seemed to meet their immediate scheduled purpose, yet that doesn't really answer the question. One can only tell the impact of any church event through the long term reaction by the congregation. One can be emotionally stirred, or even make certain commitments, but that is not an accurate reflection as to what truly went on in the person's spirit. This is further compounded by the fact that God often works over time, as opposed to immediately bringing about an instantaneous life change. Church events like a missions or Bible conference are more a means for the church members to gain new insight that they may dwell on over time. They cannot leave the event behind, but rather must meditate on what they have heard, praying and considering as to its applicability in their own life. I won't hammer on the "gradual sanctification" motif again, but it does apply here. The problem with events many times, is that we leave events behind us. We are so exhausted by the event itself that we are glad to leave it behind. We forget that these events are woven into the fabric of our life by a sovereign God. In the case of this missions conference I wanted to stress that missions were an application of our call to discipleship. Thus I am looking for something definite in the hearts of my church family. Are they growing in their own commitment to personal evangelism? Are they striving to partner with others who evangelize through prayer and support? Those are changes that take place over time, and it is only as I interact with my people that I become aware of what God is doing.

I don't often like doing this, but I am providing a link to a blog post regarding tomorrow night's Nightline broadcast. Nightline came to Driscoll's church, Mar's Hill, and held a debate on the existence of Satan. I'm not a big fan of Driscoll for various reasons, but I appreciated his response to Chopra, et al, as recorded by his congregation member. He made it more about Christ than about Satan by showing that one could not pick and choose as it came to biblical revelation. It's a good example of one biblically confronting something that obviously pretends to be spiritual, but falls far short.

I would normally rather chew on sandpaper than watch Nightline, but I may make an exception tomorrow night.

Link… http://amyletinsky.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/my-notes-and-analysis-of-the-abc-satan-debate/

Something for the toolbox..

2009-03-18T14:37:00.001-05:00

It doesn't matter how well we define our terms, how stringently we examine our epistemology, or how cognizant we are of current thought, it comes down to what you do with what you know. Christ makes this point again and again. Our actions are the red-meat of our testimony. They reflect how we really feel about God, our sin, and the need for redemption. Talk is cheap. Obedience is what buys the ranch.

I was reminded of this as I finished Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices by Thomas Brooks. (Published by Banner of Truth)

PR (as I will call it from here on out) strikes that tension between doctrine and action that seem to miss in much of the current literature on the market. Possibly, it is because in our desire to avoid legalism, we are overcautious in how specific we are in our warnings.

The book is broken down in several different areas in which Satan's strategies are discussed in some detail. There is nothing occult, or mystical about any one area. It's all rather common sense. I recognized about every single example from my own life.

For instance, one whole section pertains to "Satan's devices to keep souls from holy duties, to hinder souls in holy services, to keep them off from religious performances." Under that are 8 outlined 8 different devices the devil uses keep us from being obedient in worship. He mentions that Satan presents "…the world in such a garb as to ensnare the soul" or Satan hinders by "…presenting to the soul the difficulty of performing religious duties." That device is examined in detail, and then various remedies to that device are listed out one after another. Again, none of the remedies are novel, or esoteric. Rather, they fall into the basic pattern of "remember what you already know." Meditation on God's Word is a vital element to dealing with sin, and Brooks rubs our faces in it. (actually the Puritans do as a whole) We live such quick, unfocused lives that we have left that particular spiritual discipline behind us, and have thus deprived ourselves of a vital tool.

Brooks' hatred of sin is not based upon some nickel and dime criteria, but rather hatred from whatever separates him from fellowship with his God. Sin is horrible. Sin in the believer's life damages his relationship with his Lord. You almost feel Brooks' desperation at such a condition, but then you read the hope that he has through Jesus Christ. Brooks wrote this book because he desired to know a holy God better, not because he was making marks on a chart.

As I had stated before, I would recommend this little volume for devotional study. It would be a good addition to daily worship.

It sounded better in my head…

2009-03-10T09:24:00.002-05:00

I wonder sometimes if I'm not looking for some sort of General Theory of Relativity for Ecclesiology. I know for sure that God uses the local church as a means of sanctification for believers. He gives us clues, bits and pieces, as to how He does this. He stresses the need for strong biblical teaching. He speaks of His sovereign bestowal of spiritual gifts. He addresses the necessity of fellowship between believers. Yet, He doesn't really communicate to us how all of these work together. There is not a common rubric that unites it all unless one considers conformity to Christ, and thus God's glory.

I sometimes feel as if I am running back and forth on a giant machine, continually making adjustments, listening for hidden rhythms, reading dials, and sniffing the air. It can be frustrating, and even counter-productive in the world's eyes, but the longer I live, the more I see it as a necessity. We can't measure the success of the church according to the world's metrics, nor can we use the world's expectations to determine its impact. We have to understand that we are part of a mystery that we are simply incapable of fully understanding.

This does not mean that we should stop striving. I need to continue re-accessing our ministries, asking how they can better bring conformity to Christ and glorify God. I need to also realize that I will rarely be able to determine cause and effect. It is not that God does not work with cause and effect, but as I mentioned above, none of us have the capacity to understand how it works.

I think this creates a strange discontinuity in the believer's mind regarding the local church. We understand that it is to hold a primacy in our life, but we are not altogether sure "why." We may choose to compensate through intentional ignorance. We follow personalities, friends, and environments. We look to create the spiritual equivalent of Wistful Vista, not bothering to consider why we are doing what we are doing. The other extreme tries to become "too" intentional with every element overly scrutinized and controlled, as if we are trying to recreate the results of some accidental, yet beneficial experiment. (i.e. see the majority of writings on "revival" today.)

We must follow in obedience, and thoughtful reform, but realizing that it is God who brings it all about in His time. Our confidence cannot be in paradigm or program, but rather in a sovereign God who chooses to glorify Himself through mysterious methods.

Mark, I'm reading through Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices by Thomas Brooks. I started on it before but never got all the way through. There is a refreshing bluntness to the Puritans. They are not so much mechanical as procedural. They don't allow one to hide behind rationalizations, and the verbage gives you very few places to run. Brook's hatred and loathing of sin in his own life virtually comes out the pores. His practical responses to temptation in the believer's life makes it a great devotional read.

Notes on a journey...

2009-02-27T22:27:00.003-05:00

Observations about my trip to New Jersey/New York thus far...

New York City---I have been to Babylon, and it IS beautiful, sad to say.

St. Patrick's Cathedral--Almost all of the candles before St. Jude's altar were lit as opposed to 1/3 before the Face of Christ.

The New York Public Library--Few libraries built are worthy of the volumes that house them. This is one of them.

Trinity Cathedral--I wish baptists had cool chapels, and flying buttresses.

Our journey on foot, from downtown to mid-town, was a high point.

The Strand Book store was in-stinkin-credible.

While I feel bad for the Virgin Record store going out of business, 25% off is nothing to sneeze at.

Steve and Lisa have been gracious hosts. I would enjoy it more if I didn't have to listen to Steve's music. Yes, Steve, it is orchestrated emo with heavy guitars.