illum oportet crescere

Family Worship

2012-02-06T13:22:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity of attending the Reformation Society’s spring conference at Christ Bible Church in Cranberry Township, PA. Dr. Don Whitney, associate professor of Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary taught various sessions on biblical spirituality. Although I was not able to attend the Friday session, Saturday’s session proved to be extremely worthwhile.

During the middle hour of Saturday’s session, Whitney addressed the topic of family worship. In his introduction he made a statement that I have not been able to forget and has caused me to continually ponder about the great need for family worship. He said, “So little family worship regularly exists in Christian homes, it is probable that even in most of our best churches, most of our best men do not lead their wives--and children if they have them--in family worship.”

Though I do not consider myself in the “best men” category, I confess that until this past summer, I fit that statement to a tee. For seven years of my marriage, one spent on the mission field, three in seminary and three in ministry, I failed to lead my family in worship on a regular basis. Thankfully, the Lord convicted me of my poor leadership in this past year, but I can definitely concur with Whitney that I believe he is right on the money. In the next couple of Mondays, I am going to blog on this vital topic, not following any specific agenda, just letting my musings lead to the keyboard.

Book of the Week

2012-01-31T10:06:00.000-08:00

I must admit that I was a little apprehensive to think that I would enjoy this book. I am usually a little skeptical of people that seem to pride themselves in being the contrarians to everything that seems to be norm. Admittedly, I feel that they have a tendency to be contrarian for the sake of being contrarian, rather than driven by truth. But I was pleasantly surprised by this little book.

Overview:

Osborne structured this book through three different sections: Genuine Spirituality, What Does God Want?, and How Does Spiritual Growth Happen?. Each of these sections are further divided into chapters that develop the subject of the section. True to a contrarian’s nature, Osborne asks plenty of questions and challenges many of the assumed biblical ways of looking at each of these subjects. From a reader’s standpoint, his structure makes this an easy and rational read.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

There are many strengths that Osborne brings to the table. First, he clearly strives to be as biblically basic as possible. He is not concerned with what either Christian tradition or the trends of previous Christian generations have to say concerning a topic. If anything, he comes across slightly hostile to many of those traditions. He prefers to let the Bible simply speak for itself. This does help confront many entrenched ideas in Christendom that are not necessarily biblical. For example, his chapter “The Mustard Seed Principle” confronts the common Christian perspective of faith. By simply let the Bible speak and peeling away all our false notions about faith that we project onto the Bible, Osborne hits the biblical view of faith right on the head. This is arguably the greatest chapter in the book, and one of the most needed chapters in current evangelicalism.

Second, Osborne provides a work that will encourage not only pastors but also the guy in the pew who seems to get more excited about the Super Bowl than much of any thing else. This work reaches down to that type of person and challenges them to get to know God.

There are two major problems I have with the book. First, in attempt to maintain contrarian thinking, Osborne seems to overstep a few biblical boundaries. Although the traditional models for growth seemed to be geared to the seminarian crowds, the Bible does offer some pretty clear statements that Osborne seems to leave out. I agree with the writer that spiritual growth should not be understood as a math formula (Bible reading + prayer = spiritual growth), but I also believe that the Bible clearly intends for certain spiritual disciplines to be developed out of love and not mere legalism.

Second, there are times when Osborne’s tone just rubs me the wrong way. Many ministers who may have conducted ministry in a way that he takes to task were not necessarily driving by control or manipulation, but rather the spiritual good of people. To simply attack their thinking in a way that demeanors them really does a disservice to the very thing that Osborne is attempting to accomplish in the book.

With all that said, I believe that this book deserves a read by any one who has started to question many of the traditional (not necessarily biblical) ways of doing the Christian life. Osborne offers a fresh and biblical perspective on much of the Christian life by getting to what really matters.

Theological Thursday: Systematic Theology

2012-01-26T04:45:00.000-08:00

What is systematic theology - other than a difficult seminary or college class? Systematic theology is simply one discipline within the different “types” of theologies: historical theology, contemporary theology, biblical theology, natural theology . . . systematic theology. Lately, systematic theology seems to be out of vogue in the theological world. (This is due mostly to basic postmodern presuppositions against the idea of a metanarrative. I might add that when it was in vogue there were some heavy modern presuppositions that drove it.) Whether in vogue or out of vogue, systematic theology is always important and always performed by any person who studies the Bible in any way at all. So, what is it?

I could answer this question by comparing and contrasting systematic theology from the other disciplines of theology, but that might be a little belaboring for a blog post. So, here are a few definitions offered up by much smarter theologians than me:

“The formulation and exposition of the scriptural revelation concerning God and His relations to His creatures” - Alan Cairns, Dictionary of Theological Terms, 444.

“Particular teachings and doctrines . . . When these doctrines are organized into some logically coherent arrangement there is systematic theology” - Robert Culver, Systematic Theology, 5.

“Systematic theology is any study that answers the question, ‘What does the whole Bible teach us today?’ about any given topic” - Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 21.

Boiling the study of systematic theology down to its most basic idea, it could be understand as studying the themes of the Bible. The Bible has many different themes, or what is known as doctrines. Systematic theology attempts to answer what the whole Bible teaches concerning any or all of these themes. For instance, systematic theology attempts to answer what the Bible says concerning angels, death, or the purpose of creation. Since every person formulates ideas concerning each of these basic themes, whether based or Scripture or not, every person is essentially a systematic theologian. The question is how dedicated are you as a systematic theologian?

Back

2012-01-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

It has been quite a while since I have been to the blog. Unlike previous breaks in the blog, the reason is not due to busyness, laziness, or any other word ending in “ness” that you can conjure up. No, the reason is quite more radical than any of that.

Since last time I blogged, I have gone from being a full time senior pastor to a week of intensive counseling to unemployed to a green aproned barista for Starbucks. That is quite a shift I believe. But that has been my life for the past 6 months: quite a shift.

Although I was active as a senior pastor, studying the Word, “discipling” other believers, and dedicating endless hours to the nuances of Greek and Hebrew, I had neglected to address the glaring log that was sticking out of my eye. The problem with this log was that it was invisible to any body else because I had managed to keep hidden for almost half of my life. I knew the log was there, I just preferred not to address it. I enjoyed my sin.

Then, I had to preach on Matthew 5:27-30. The especially difficult verse was verse 28: “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Here I was about to preach that to a congregation of a hundred or so knowing full well that I could preach the verse, but not with conviction. I had succumbed to this temptation over and over again for years because I was hooked onto pornography. I had rationalized this away as simply a part of my life that God would eventually get a hold of, but the more I truly asked the Lord to help me get past this sin, the more I realized the radical changes that needed to take place in my life. I knew the implications if I were to actually confront and change this pattern of sin in my life. And I was scared to death. I knew that I would have to be one of those pastors who got up in front of his congregation and tell them that the “truth” about who I was. I knew that I would lose my job. I knew that I would lose my wife’s trust. I knew that I would lose my integrity (which was obviously just an illusion) and reputation. Those I knew for certain. But I feared the worst: I might lose my wife altogether; I might lose my children if I lost my wife; I might lose my brand new house we just purchased (that is still a potential).

Although I was scared to death of those implications, I knew one thing: God wanted my sanctification and He was prompting His Spirit to move me to repentance. And so, within a week’s time, I confessed my sin to my wife, my family, and my church. I lost my job, my reputation, and my wife’s trust. But I gained. I gained greater conformity to the image of His Son. I gained, for the first time in my life, a foothold against this disgusting sin. I gained a new reality in my Christian life. And I would not trade my former life with all those “benefits” for this new Christian life.

So, why have I been away from the blog? Well, that is as short of an answer as I can give in light of the past six months. But, I want to be back at blog. So, I return a new man with a renewed sense of the Christian life, ready to blog about whatever God moves me to write about. And for the two of you that may read this, I pray that this is a blessing.

Book of the Week

2011-07-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

This book was given to me a few years ago and has been sitting on my shelf, patiently waiting to be read. Finally, I placed this book on the agenda of my reading schedule and am glad that I did. Like most puritan works, The Godly Man’s Picture offers rebuke after rebuke seasoned with salt and sealed with grace. In this 250+ page work, Watson simply is answering one question: What makes a person godly? Seventy-five percent of the book answers that question through a series of statements, each of these statements receiving five to six pages. By the end of this section, the reader ought to feel a sense of healthy despair. How could any person achieve this type of godliness? The answer: on our own, this is an impossibility. But with the enabling grace of God, we can move towards a life of godliness.

If you need a healthy dose of biblical realism in an age characterized by superficial Christianity, pick up the book and give it a read. Though you may come away bruised and beaten, realize that this is what you need in your spiritual life. What does a godly person look like? Watson’s The Godly Man’s Picture provides a thorough and well-developed answer.

Theology Thursday: The Sonship of Christ

2011-07-07T03:53:00.001-07:00

Did Jesus Christ become the Son of God when he was born in the flesh to Mary and Joseph, or did he always exist as the Son of God, humbling himself in the incarnation? This seems like a rather speculative question, but some theologians have made this a matter of orthodoxy (e.g. J. C. Philpot, George Zeller, and Renald Showers), and the answer to this question almost split the early British Methodist Church. This is not a question of whether or not Christ existed as the Second Member of the Trinity before taking on flesh, but rather a question of whether he existed as the “Son of God” before taking on flesh. Like all questions of theology, we must let the overall emphasis of the Scriptures inform us on this issue, realizing that this question is not a matter of orthodoxy but clarity. Good and godly men have differed on this question, while accepting the eternal pre-existence of Jesus Christ.

I do not want this post to turn into a dissertation; therefore, I simply am going to address three factors that shape our understanding of the Sonship of Christ:

1) The New Testament Use of Psalm 2:7 - Psalm 2:7 is a royal psalm that the New Testament writers attributed to Christ. “Today, I have begotten you” speaks to the confirmation of an already existing fact - the sonship of the Son. The point that I want to highlight is simply this: The New Testament does not uniformly attribute this text to any particular moment of Christ’s ministry. Acts 13:33 points to the resurrection as the fulfillment, and Hebrews 1:5 points to the birth as the fulfillment. My point? The witness of the New Testament seems to relate Psalm 2:7 to the whole incarnational ministry of Christ, and not a specific day in His life. Therefore, Hebrews 1:5 cannot be used to support that Christ became the Son at His incarnation.

2) Paul’s Statement in Galatians 4:4 - This passage states that God sent His son. A simple reading of the text seems to indicate just that. God sent His son, not sent one to be His son. Although this may be splitting hairs, it seems that the straightforward, plain reading of Scripture supports an eternal sonship view.

3) The “Son of God” Language - Here’s the simple question: Is the title “Son of God” supposed to be understood as intricately tied to the essence of his deity or is this title simply a clarification of how we are to understand the relationship of the triune God in light of Jesus’ humbling of himself and taking on human flesh? To cut through the debate, John’s Gospel seems to tie the title of “Son of God” to His deity. Therefore, this title is not simply a name, but portrays an essential characteristic of the name bearer. Just read through John 5.

Conclusion: Although this debate is not a matter of orthodoxy but of clarity, it seems that the weight of Scripture favors a Christ as the Son eternally in the past, present, and future. Just some food for thought.

Successful Ministry? Misconception #4

2011-07-06T10:39:00.001-07:00

I’ve been away from the bog for a bit of time. I just purchased a home and have embraced all the work that is entailed in such a move. Needless to say, the result has been a letting go of the blog for a bit.

Today, I want to address the final popular misconception of what a successful ministry looks like. The final misconception is marketability. How marketable can our church be? The tendency is that the church growth movement (however it markets itself now) and church marketing go hand in hand. In order to grow, the church needs to market; and if the church is failing to grow, then the solution most likely is linked to how well a church markets itself. Therefore, the church ultimately functions more like a business, following the Ten Commandments of Apple and Starbucks then the insights of the apostles and the Lord Jesus Christ.

To keep the blog short, I am not going to critique every aspect of this philosophy. I might remind you that marketability is really a product of Western consumerism than the Bible.

It is fair to say that keeping a uniform, well-maintained building and “look” (website, flyers, bulletin, etc.) could be supported by simple principles in Scripture (1 Cor 14:40). God didn’t spur on the Jews to build a shabby Temple. Yet, the degree to which church marketing has become the measure of success is quite unnerving. I agree that churches can be extremely negligent in this area, but I am hard pressed to see how church marketing fits the New Testament’s concept of a successful ministry. Like church growth, marketability does not produce spiritual growth. It may provide numbers, but numbers do not matter to God. Hint: He already knows and ordained the numbers. He might just even call a church to never grow numerically, while still obeying the Lord in evangelism and all the other areas of obedience. Marketability, though helpful and important to a degree, does not provide an adequate plumb line for a successful ministry.

An Article on Education

2011-07-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

Today, it seems that Christians and churches are more focused on the education debate than almost any other topic! It is understandable, to some degree. Either way, here's a useful article to get the cognitive juices flowing:

The Weaker, The Stronger, the Homeschooler

Teaching on a Touchy Subject

2011-06-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, I have the privilege of preaching on Matthew 5:31-32. In the middle of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he tackles the issue of divorce. Divorce is one of those touchy subjects in evangelicalism, and the views are numerous in regards to what the Bible teaches concerning the subject. Thanks to Ronald Reagan's approval of "no-fault" divorce, the marriage atmosphere in America has been continually on the decline. More than ever, we need to be honest with what the Bible teaches on the subject so that we might have a biblical approach to this touchy subject. Sunday will be interesting.

Happiness in Holiness

2011-06-14T16:57:00.001-07:00

Listen to the words of Andrew Murray in Holy in Christ:

“The complaints of many Christians as to lack of joy and strength, as to failure and want of growth, are simply owing to this—the place God gave Holiness in His call they have not given it in their response. God and they have never come to an agreement on this.” (32)

Point: God’s holiness and our happiness are not in opposition, they are linked. We will never truly be happy until we are in the pursuit of being holy.

Good Article On Missions

2011-06-11T17:08:00.001-07:00

I have finally found an article that has put down on words one of my biggest complaints with modern, American missions:

Man Centered Missions

Theology Thursday: Socinianism

2011-06-09T11:11:00.001-07:00

Don’t ask me why one of my first posts for Theology Thursday details this heresy. There is no rhyme or reason to it; but as I was pondering what to post, Socinianism popped up in my mind.

Socinianism refers to the theological heresy proposed by Italian theologian Faustus Socinus (1539-1604). Socinianism finds its roots in the former Arian heresy - a denial of the deity of Jesus Christ. Socinus denied the reality of a Trinity. Jesus never previously existed before his birth, but was given special power by God after his death, resurrection, and ascension so that he now rules and reigns with the power that the New Testament describes. The Holy Spirit does not refer to a separate, personal being, but a reference to the actual person of God.

Concerning the atonement, he did not see any substitution or moral implications behind it. He simply understood the atonement to refer to the example that Jesus left all human beings of sacrificial love. Although the New Testament does present the atonement as an example (1 Pet 2:21), to limit the atonement to merely an example falls far short of the full biblical presentation.

One would think that Socinus and his followers would not have made much impact on the world since Arianism had already lost the battle to orthodoxy hundreds of years earlier. But he was subtle in his teaching, and sounded orthodox. For instance, he did not deny the virgin birth, the resurrection, or the sinlessness of Christ. When he taught on Christ, he seemed extremely sound. And like most heretics, he was not out to destroy the faith in his mind, but to have it make sense - to patch up all the holes that don’t make sense to the rational mind.

His influence fell mostly in the English speaking world in the centuries that followed. By the time of the 18th Century, his teaching had gained wide spread approval in the United States under the banner of Unitarianism. Unitarianism destroyed the deep rooted faith in Puritan New England, especially in Boston. Thanks to Socinus, Boston went from a theological powerhouse to a sinking ship of Arminianism and heresy. For the Calvinists that remained during this time, they equated Arminian theology with Socinianism because the two were intimately connected (read a little Edwards, and you’ll see what I mean).

Although the term Socinianism is not commonly used today, the theology backing this system remains influential in liberal Protestant denominations. The lesson to be learned: discernment. Although a preacher/theologian might sound orthodox, listen to the subtle changes that are made to the biblical text and the manipulation of the nuances of doctrine. Most likely, these appear to be hair line cracks on the surface, but are splitting fractures to the core.

Successful Ministry? Misconception #3

2011-06-08T14:15:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, I identified the second major misconception of what characterizes a “successful” church. This misconception was that numerical growth signifies success. Arguably, that misconception is the most prominent misconception in current evangelical and fundamental churches. The misconception I want to talk about today is in regards to organization. In this mindset, the church receives the title of “successful” when it has become a finely tuned organization. All the ducks are in a row; there are policies for everything imaginable under the sun; and the process for discipleship follows a precise pattern that guarantees spiritual growth.

Don’t get me wrong, organization is extremely important in a church. Numerous churches have fallen apart due to a lack in organization. And it is very clear that the New Testament churches were fairly well organized. They kept track of believers (Acts 4:4), communicated well enough to organize a significant council (Acts 15), and managed successful fund raising for the needy believers in Jerusalem (2 Cor 8-9). But what I am talking about is the mindset that if a church would just be as well organized as Starbucks or whatever successful company that is thriving in the business world, then the church could be labeled successful.

This mindset falls into what Colin Marshall labels “Trellis Work” in The Trellis and the Vine. Too often, the majority of the church leaders’ responsibilities are merely administrative. They are busy working on the trellis that supports the vine, instead of spending more energy on the vine - the object that needs growth. The New Testament seems to emphasize “word” work more than any other. This is clearly not trellis work.

The other problem with this view lies in the systematizing of discipleship. Unfortunately, discipleship is not that pretty. It can’t be guaranteed with the right discipleship program, though that can be helpful. I wish the Spirit worked that predictably. But, Jesus needed to remind Nicodemus of a truth that modern churches need to heed in John 3:8 - “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Week Off

2011-05-31T03:33:00.000-07:00

I took the last week off from posting on the blog because I was too busy preparing my Sunday morning message at every waking minute - or so it seemed. Last week I preached from Matthew 5:17-20, which is one of the most definitive statements of Christ regarding the continuation/understanding of the Law. I needed more time than ever before to get this message ready, and therefore, skipped out on the blog. I hope to be back this week. God bless.

Book of the Week

2011-05-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

One of the few RSS feeds I get in my mail box is the blog by Tim Challies. He always seems to have some good insight, helpful illustrations, and good resources. Therefore, I was quite happy to read The Next Story.

The Next Story provides the reader a biblical look at the use of technology. Challies challenges consumers to think about that which we so quickly consume: media. He asks thought-provoking questions throughout the book seeking to provide principles that should inform our decision making. The book starts with a survey of the digital explosion, followed by what believers should make of this culture shaping movement. After each chapter, Challies offers application questions, adding a devotional flavor to the book.

Strengths: The strengths of The Next Story are the following: 1) Readability. This work could have easily turned into a pile of digital jargon topped with psychobabble. But the book is far from that. It is just as readily accessible to those of us who are well-versed in technology as well as those with little experience in technology. 2) Thought-Provoking. If this work is not read by every Christian, then the principles presented should be taught to every Christian. I appreciate Challies desire to apply wisdom to the technological situation we find ourselves in, not simply retreat to a “do’s and don’ts” list. That sort of approach is unbiblical and tends towards hypocrisy. Challies keeps us biblically in check.

Weaknesses: For what Challies was trying to accomplish, I don’t know if I could say he had any weaknesses in the book. Maybe one complaint would be the limited space given to addressing the concept of “redeeming technology.” The “redeeming” movement has drawn some fire and also been abused fairly recently. I understand why Challies didn’t go there: wasn’t the point of the book. But, I guess a little more biblical basis for his position would have been nice.

Theology Thursday: Good Resources

2011-05-19T10:18:00.001-07:00

I am going to start dedicating Thursdays on the blog to posting subject matter related to theology. It might be a current issue, a term, or simply basic theology that every Christian ought to know. To start off Theology Thursday, I thought it would be appropriate to provide some good resources on theology. So, without further ado, here are some helpful resources for studying theology.

Systematic Theologies - These are comprehensive works on theology that attempt to synthesize all that the Scripture teaches on any given topic. Therefore, the majority of the works are quite extensive.

“Systematic Theology” by Wayne Grudem. This work is arguably the first systematic theology that any person should purchase. It is comprehensive, yet devotional; simple, yet profound; detailed, yet practical. Grudem has become a staple for my personal study of theology.

“Basic Theology” by Charles Ryrie. Although I am not a major Ryrie fan, I do appreciate this work. What this theology brings to the table is a simple, easy introduction to the major themes of theology. If you want a work that provides the basics of theology, this is it.

“The Moody Handbook of Theology” by Paul Enns. This is arguably another staple for any study in theology. The book provides not only sections on systematic theology, but also dogmatic, biblical, and contemporary theology. This is another work that offers good reference points for further, in-depth study of any theological topic.

Other Systematic Theologies I find helpful: “A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith” by Robert Raymond; “Systematic Theology: Biblical and Historical” by Robert Culver; “Christian Theology” by Millard Erickson; and “Systematic Theology” by Louis Berkhof.

Theological Dictionaries - Ever come upon a theological word and have no clue what it means? Welcome to the club! Theological Dictionaries provide definitions, overviews, and origins of terms that used in theology. These works are helpful in getting a quick survey of theological content.

“Evangelical Dictionary of Theology” ed. by Walter A. Elwell. This is the go-to reference guide for getting a good, introductory explanation of any theological term. Having this handy when studying theology will greatly aid your understanding of any topic being discussed.

“Dictionary of Theological Terms” by Alan Cairns. What this work offers that Elwell’s doesn’t is conciseness. Many times, I find myself going to Cairns first just to save time if I am rushed in understanding a term. Although somewhat small, this work does provide articles on 800 theological terms.

Other Theological Dictionaries: “Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms” by Donald McKim; “Dictionary for Theological Interpretation” by Kevin Vanhoozer.

These sources are helpful to have around when studying theology. Realize that these function more as an introduction and help to theological study than the total presentation of all the nuances of theology.

Successful Ministry? Misconception #2

2011-05-18T11:37:00.001-07:00

Last week, I addressed the first misconception concerning what qualifies a ministry as successful. I pick up today with the second misconception. The second misconception seems to be more pervasive and definitely seems to be a continual pressure to pastors: Growth.

Growth, church growth, many times becomes the litmus test for whether or not a church is successful. The church growth movement has been around American churches for some time. Donald Macgravan fathered the movement midway through the last century, and the impact that this movement has had on the evangelical landscape has been enormous because of such ministries as Willow Creek Church and Saddleback Church. This blog post is not meant to be a critique of the movement (see Ashamed of the Gospel by John MacArthur or This Little Church Went to Market by Gary Gilley for that), but to analyze the basic premise of success in that movement that has spilled over into our churches.

This concept of success places priority on numerical growth as equivalent to success. It is driven by “numbers” or “growth.” Therefore, if there is no apparent numerical growth for a ministry, this ministry must not be successful. Although many Christians would argue that numbers really don’t matter, I find it ironic of how many times I have been asked how large my new church is. Pastors parade their “numbers” to other pastors as if to show that God’s entrusting of more bodies to a ministry necessarily means that one’s ministry is successful.

Is growth necessarily a good measure of success? I believe that almost every pastor or ministry leader does think this way at some time or another. Think about it, if there were 20 kids in a youth group and only 2 showed up for a ministry activity, would you think that this was a successful event? Why or why not? I’m curious how Jeremiah or the majority of the minor prophets would have answered this question.

Here are the problems with equating numerical growth with success:

1) Misses the teaching of Jesus - Jesus made it very clear to his disciples that the community that would follow Christ would be a community that Christ himself had built. He told the disciples in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church.” Clearly, Luke demonstrates this truth in the book of Acts. The disciples did not build the early church; the Holy Spirit did. All that the disciples did was preach; the Holy Spirit grew the church.

2) Misses the nature of Spiritual Growth. Simply because numbers abound in a ministry does not necessarily mean that any true spiritual good is taking place. The absence of numbers likewise does not indicate the lack of spiritual growth. The Lord had to remind Elijah this in 1 Kings 19. He is not only the God of the many, but also of the remnant.

3) Tries to quantify that which can not really be quantified. Trying to equate numerical growth with success is trying to quantify the movement of God. But numbers don’t necessarily accurately represent the movement of God in a place. There may be correlation, but not necessarily.

Numerical growth is a poor measure of success. No where in the Bible are we told to grow a church. We are commanded to make disciples, but God will quantify that, not us.

Appropriate Questions for the Lord's Day

2011-05-15T04:17:00.000-07:00

“Do we love the Word preached? Do we prize it in our judgments? Do we receive it into our hearts? Do we fear the loss of the Word preached more than the loss of peace and trade? Is it the removal of the ark that troubles us?” (Thomas Watson, The Godly Man’s Picture, 65)

Book of the Week

2011-05-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

If you get to know me at all, you know that I enjoy works by and about Jonathan Edwards. Of all the American pastors that I have studied, Edwards remains my favorite to read and read about. When I saw this book a year ago at the Shepherd’s Conference, I knew I had to pick it up.

Overview: The title of the work accurately represents the content. This 28 chapter book breaks down into two main sections: 1) the themes of his preaching and 2) analysis of his preaching from a homiletical standpoint. The themes that Carrick chose as Edwards’ major themes in preaching are the following: God-Centredness, The Preaching of Judgment, Sovereignty and Responsibility, The Concept of Seeking, Christ-Centredness, and Seeking Heaven. These, argues Carrick, are the subjects that continually show up in Edwards’ sermons - great themes I might add. The majority of the book is dedicated to analyzing his preaching from a homiletical standpoint: introductions, conclusions, literary devices . . . Ultimately, Carrick provides a thorough analysis of his style of preaching. This part of the book provides insights into some of the genius behind Edwards’ preaching. Any preacher should find these insights enlightening, challenging, and encouraging.

Strengths: The strengths of the book are the following: 1) Good introduction to Edwards’ preaching. Unfortunately, Edwards has merely been reduced to the style of preaching found in his most famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. This book provides a stepping stone to understand the genius of Edwards’ preaching - who he really was as a preacher. 2) Numerous Support. Clearly, Carrick is not only well researched, but well versed in Edwards’ writings. By the time I was done reading the book, I felt like I had read more Edwards than Carrick. Someone who may not be familiar with Edwards as a theologian will come away from this book getting the gist of what made him tick. 3) Fuel for Preaching. As I read this book, I found myself getting excited for the next time I preach. Any preacher knows exactly what I mean. This book helps kindle a greater flame for preaching. 4) The Last Chapter. Carrick’s last chapter, “Jonathan Edwards Today,” provides an important reminder to preachers when they study someone great like Edwards. This chapter reminds the reader of Edwards’ greatest flaws. Carrick’s goal was not to downplay the importance of modeling a life after Edwards, but to remind the reader that he was merely a man who had flaws as well. For me, I was reminded of keeping the Edwards Legend in perspective.

Weaknesses: The weaknesses of the book are the following: 1) Assumed Familiarity. The nature of the book creates an assumption that the reader is familiar with the recent resurgence of thought on Edwards. If the reader is not up to date with the Yale writers and the familiar biographies (Miller, Marsden, and Murray), he/she will wonder why so much time seems spent on the some of the selected discourses. This would make the reading difficult. But it must be remembered that this is more an academic work than a casual work. 2) Narrow Audience. The readership are either Edwards fans or preachers. If you are not either one of these, then this work is probably not for you. This book is not for everyone, and I would not recommend it for every one. If you are interested in Edwards and his preaching, then this is a must have.

“‘Unless God gives his Spirit, all will be in vain.’ There can be no question but that this simple statement represents Jonathan Edwards’ lifelong conviction with regard to preaching; and any analysis of his preaching would be inexcusably deficient if it were to neglect this element which he clearly regarded as absolutely pivotal.” (431)

Successful Ministry? Misconception #1

2011-05-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

I continue today with exploring what qualifies a ministry as successful or not. The next couple of posts concerning this topic will look at common misconceptions of what entails successful ministry. By looking at the negative or incorrect understandings of successful ministry, we will be able to sharpen our focus on what true ministry success looks like.

Before we start digging into the first misconception, I want to give a broad idea of what I mean by successful. In a sense, this whole blog series is dedicated to answering that question, but I do want to provide some scope of where we are heading in order to help us understand why the misconceptions are not true success. Let me explain what I mean by "success." When I ask the question, what is a successful ministry, I am looking at the term "success" through this lens: a pastor reflecting on his ministry or outsiders looking at a ministry. Both of these concepts illustrate what I mean by "success." Of course, Scripture will define what "success" truly entails, and therefore, when the pastor reflects on his ministry, he reflects through a biblical understanding of "success." And the same is true for the outsider. If it is successful in his/her mind, then the Bible will shape his/her understanding of "success."

Let's start by looking at the first misconception of a successful ministry: Activity.

Activity in the church does not necessarily indicate success from God's viewpoint. What I mean by activity is the abundance of programs, gatherings, and church services. Some churches today function more like a YMCA with the abundance of programs that they offer. Almost every day of the week is filled with some type of activity - whether it be programs for children, families, young mothers with kids between the ages of 8 months and 10 months . . . The point is that simply because a church has what would be referred to as "life" does not necessarily indicate that this is a successful church ministry.

Get my point here: activity is not bad. Activity can be very good. But activity does not necessarily indicate true success from a ministry viewpoint. If this was a true measure of success, then we don't really need pastors, we need program directors and men who can motivate people to activity. Many people, unfortunately, equate activity with success. If the church is buzzing with life, then this church must be successful.

The church of Sardis is a good example of why activity or life do not necessarily indicate true success. Listen to Revelation 3:1 - "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.'"

The church of Sardis seemed to have good "life." Christ makes the point that they had works. This church had activity and what seemed to be plenty of life. So much so, that according to the verse, they had a reputation (lit. a name) of being alive. In other words, this church was known for their "life" as a church. Apparently, the church had developed this reputation of life and activity. When an outsider looked onto this church, he/she saw life. But the problem is that the omniscient God knew better. Yes, they had life, but in reality, they had no spiritual life. Their works and activity did not guarantee or necessarily indicate spiritual life. God's assessment was "you are dead." Activity, life, and programs do not necessarily indicate that a church is healthy. In fact, the opposite may just be the case.

A Great Testimony

2011-05-11T05:36:00.000-07:00

There is no question that the institution of marriage continues to decline. It seems that reports emerge week after week declaring marriage is no longer in vogue. Surveys and statistics reveal that not only the priority of marriage, but the institution itself seems unnecessary in the younger generation, who prefer to cohabit with their partner than commit to marriage. Cameron Diaz recently called marriage a "dying institution;" Dr. Keith Ablow agreed with his recent article on Foxnews (article here). For Al Mohler's analysis of Ablow's article, see his article here. Probably once a month, either the Washington Post or New York Times publishes some article on the decline in marriage.
Why such a decline? I am no sociologist or anthropologist, so I will pick one of the reasons Dr. Ablow believes marriage is bound for a head on collision with extinction. The fourth reason he believes marriage is dying lies in the continual reminder that marriages fail, not succeed. The statistics speak for themselves, and it is quite ironic that evangelical Christians - the ardent protecters of marriages - have the same divorce rates as those outside of the faith. So, he believes that marriage is on the decline because of the continual reminder that it usually ends in divorce. I mean, why get married when it will only end in messy divorce, financial strain, and emotional upheaval?
With marriage on the decline, I am convinced more than ever before that Christians must come back to the theological purpose of marriage. With so many weak and failing marriages in the world, a vibrant, Christian marriage is a great testimony to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that my generation is disillusioned with marriage because of the constant reminder of divorce and the loveless state in many enduring marriages. But I think that a biblical marriage provides a great testimony to Christ and His love found in the cross.
Listen to the words of Paul in Ephesians 5:22-32:
"Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife, loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church . . . This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church."
I am not going to exposit this text, but make this simple observation: your marriage is not about you. God intends marriage to be a picture of the greater reality of the Gospel. I cannot help but think that one of the greatest testimonies to the Gospel is the healthy, biblical marriages that exist in our church. The opposite is true as well. If our marriages merely reflect our selfish desires and do not represent the sacrificial love demanded by Scripture, then our words of the Gospel mean nothing. When a marriage functions biblically (submission, love, and sacrifice), not only is God glorified, but a platform is created to share Christ's love in the Gospel message. What an opportunity we have in our marriages to picture the Gospel!

Successful Ministry?

2011-05-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

Today, I start a little series on the subject of successful ministry. I anticipate dedicating one post a week on the subject; so, if you are expecting the series to wrap up any time soon, you will become a little disappointed.
It might sound ironic that a brand new senior pastor would write a series on successful ministry. What experience do I possibly have to bring to table of this discussion? I mean, have I built a successful ministry that then qualifies me to be an expert on this subject? No, I haven't. But if we are going to be biblical - no human has ever built a biblically successful ministry. Yes, people have built "successful" ministries, but truly biblical ministries are not built by men. I don't want to get ahead of myself. We will go down that road a little bit later in our discussion on what qualifies biblically as a successful ministry.
The reason that I want to start a journey down this road is simply the fact that I am a brand new senior pastor. Along with becoming a new pastor comes a series of new pressures, whether directly stated or simply felt. These pressures most likely accompany every senior pastorate position. In some cases, certain pressures are more prominent in a particular ministry than in another ministry, but every American pastor feels some of these pressures. Here is a list of pressures that surfaced as I thought through this:

Growth - In our thinking, growth = healthiness. Imagine a baby that never grew beyond twenty inches. We would instantly think that this baby was not healthy. And the same goes with our thinking in regards to the healthiness of a church. If the church is not growing, then it probably is not healthy. There is an underlying pressure for each pastor to make sure that the church is growing.
Problem Fixing - The pastor plays the all-around-fix-it guy who solves all the spiritual problems of the church. Therefore, the pastor ought to be the solution to a divisive and cantankerous congregation. Pressure to "fix" the church lies heavily on pastors throughout the States.
Program Installer - Like the quick assist on your mac (shout out to mac users), the pastor is responsible to get the ministries of the church up and running. Not only is he to initiate the programs, but he needs to keep these plates spinning. Just like the pressure of growth, the number of programs can be perceived to correlate to the healthiness of a church. Therefore, lack of programs can be associated with lack of health. What pastor would ever want to be accused of having an unhealthy ministry?!
Advancement - Pressure to become the advancement officer of the church could also rest on the shoulders of the pastor. He needs to make sure that the cash is flowing. This again, is closely tied to the first pressure. Along with growth comes cash flow. So, the pastor definitely needs to work on the development of the church.

The list could go on and on. These are just a few pressures that popped into my head as I briefly thought on the subject. The question does need to be asked: What characterizes a successful ministry? What is a successful ministry?

I hope to answer that question throughout the weeks to come. I might say that even how that question is interpreted in the mind of the reader conjures up different senses of success and what success entails. So, like every other area of the Christian life we must let the Scriptures be our guide. Scripture gives us the plum line of what true ministry success is - not the greatest church marketeer, not our extensive research, not the CEOs of successful Fortune500 companies, and definitely not our own opinions.

The Dangerous Tongue

2011-05-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

I read this blog by William Mounce this morning. Sad story, but I am sure true all over the country:

Here We Go Again

Thoughts on Colossians 3:16a

2011-05-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly"

Failure to let the Word of God impact you while reading it, hearing it, and hearing sermons about it haunts any person who reads it, hears it, and hears sermons about it often. Paul's exhortation in Colossians 3:16a is a healthy reminder whenever you come to the Scriptures.

First, it should be obvious that this command implies that the Word of Christ is being consumed. The word translated dwell is a word that means to take residence in. There is no possible way for the Word of Christ to take up residence within a person if that person is not consuming the Scriptures by reading it, listening to it, or hearing it preached. It is just that simple. This passage assumes that the readers are consuming the Scriptures.

Second, what I find interesting about this verse is that the apostle does not simply call the Colossian believers to merely let the Word of Christ dwell in them. Paul is not simply concerned with Bible intake. He includes the adverb richly in order to describe how the Word of Christ is to dwell. We are not simply to have the Word of Christ take residence in us, but it is supposed to reside richly. A word that denotes the idea of lavishly or abundantly, richly implies more than simply consuming the Scriptures. It seems that a person may be able to have the Scriptures dwell in the, but not necessarily dwell in them richly. So, what is the connotation that the apostle is implying with this word? Peter O'Brien provides a succinct answer in his commentary on Colossians: "Here in Collossians plousivw~ ('richly') appears within an exhortation: the gospel is to have its gracious and glorious way in their lives" (207). In other words, the difference lies in whether or not the dwelling Word is impacting the life of the one in whom it dwells. A person may have the Word of Christ dwelling in the, but if they fail to actually apply the Word, it is not dwelling richly. yes, Paul is concerned that the Scriptures do dwell in us, but he is more concerned that they dwell in us richly. So, whether you systematically read through the Bible in a year or spend a whole year on the book of Philemon, the exhortation is the same: consume it and use it!

Miniseries on the Gospel

2011-05-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

My good buddy has started a great miniseries on the Gospel. You should check it out here.

A Heavy Topic

2011-05-01T03:31:00.000-07:00

This morning, I will be preaching on the last beatitude and the two verses that follow: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven and so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The gravity of that text has been laying heavily on my heart for the past two weeks. I pray that God is glorified through the preaching of His Word this morning, and that His Spirit will stir up a people who embrace the glory of the shame of Christ. There is so much here, I may end up splitting this into two weeks. We will see how the Spirit leads this morning. If you are interested, the sermon will be posted here in a couple of days.

A Great Sermon

2011-04-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

Listened to this sermon on my way to the office today. Mark Dever delivers blow after blow. Good stuff!

The Church is the Gospel Made Visible

Book of the Week

2011-04-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

Whenever I want to be challenged, encouraged, convicted, and stirred, I simply pick up a book by one of the Puritans. Inevitably, I come away feeling all those emotions at the same time. Such is the case with the Book of the Week. I will be concluding the Beatitudes this Sunday with the 9th sermon, marking the conclusion of my journey through this work. The Beatitudes by Thomas Watson provides 200 pages of exposition, application, and just plain good preaching material. Clearly, this man meditated and meditated over each verse and word until the essence of the beatitude had completely marinated in his mind. We get to reap the benefits of that labor.

Strengths: No stone is left unturned. Watson not only exposits each beatitude, but also uses each beatitude as a spring board to address a biblical theology of each topic that surfaces. The reader is left with not only a good exposition of the beatitude, but also a clear development of that topic throughout the rest of Scripture.
Another strength lies in the book's devotional flavor. Like most works by the Puritans, The Beatitudes provides pages and pages of conviction. This book would be a great compliment to a personal study through the beatitudes by providing application on multiple levels.

Weakness: There are not a lot of negatives that I could throw against this book. Probably the only weakness would be related to numerous tangents. The benefit of the Puritans was that they left no stone unturned. The flip side of this practice was that they had a tendency to go on tangents that were not part of the main thrust of a passage. There were a few times reading through this work that I felt Watson did this.

Conclusion: Is it a must read? No. But this work is a great resource to aid any person's study through the beatitudes. If you are a preacher, use this to help give some practical insight into applying the beatitudes. If you want to understand the depth of the beatitudes, this is your place to go.

"Revolve this truth often in your mind. There are many truths swim in the brain, which do not sink into the heart, and those do us no good. Chew the cud. Let a Christian think seriously with himself, there is a blessedness feasible and I am capable of enjoying it, if I do not lay bars in the way and block up my own happiness." (31)

Completely Off My Radar

2011-04-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

I was reading through the book of Acts this morning and came across a familiar passage in chapter 5. 5:41 reads, "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name." This verse refers to the apostles' response to the persecution that they suffered from the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem. The previous verse indicates that they were beaten by the leaders before they released. And how did the apostles respond? They rejoiced. Why? Because they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor. Think about the irony of that statement. Luke places two opposite concepts, worthy and dishonor, together in the same statement. These men were rejoicing because God had considered them worthy to be shamed - not just any shame, shame for the name.
I find myself reading this type of verse and coming to grips with the reality that this type of statement is completely off my radar. Do I look at persecution in that light? Or do I develop the current Christian trend of surprise and shock at any persecutions I might experience? Jesus called these type of people "blessed" in Matthew 5:10.

Prayer Takes Work

2011-04-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

If you knew that the end was near, what would you tell those around you to do? Peter gives us an idea of what he thought his readers should know if the end was near. Listen to what he says in 1 Peter 4:7 - The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
There are a list of items that Peter addresses after verse 7, but I find it interesting that the first item on the list is prayer. The word translated "end" (tevlo~) carries the connotation of the eschatological consummation of all things. Jesus definitely used the word in that way. So, Peter is reminding the readers that the consummation of history is about to take place (h[ggiken). And the first item that Peter takes to task is prayer.
What I find interesting about this passage lies in the way Peter addresses prayer. He combines the two imperatives be self-controlled (swfronhvsate) and sober-minded (nhvyate) with the prepositional phrase for the sake of your prayers (eij~ proseucav~). The imperative be self-controlled is only found here in the Epistle. The word carries the idea of a clear head, right thinking, not easily shaken in thought. The command relates to the previous statement: the end of all things is at hand. Instead of producing erratic, uncontrolled thoughts, the believers were to be self-controlled. Secondly, they were to be sober-minded. The only other time that Peter uses this command is in 5:8 in regards to resisting the Devil. The word carries the idea of being alert. So, the believers were to be self-controlled and sober-minded. But for Peter, he is not talking about general alertness and clear-headed thinking. Rather, he has these commands related to something specific: prayer.
The prepositional phrase for the sake of your prayers clearly was intended by Peter to show that the prayer necessary during such a time takes work. In order to pray properly in light of the consummation of all the Scriptures anticipate, you will be required to get your thought life in line and pray with alertness. I find this passage interesting because of the link that Peter makes between the commands and prayer. I know I usually do not think in these terms.

"Closet prayer is hard work; and a man must tug hard at it, and stick close to it as Jacob did, if ever he intends to make any internal or eternal advantages by it" - Thomas Brooks

Crown of Martyrdom

2011-04-13T04:11:00.000-07:00

There is a phrase that finds repetition in Foxe's Book of Martyrs: crown of martyrdom. This phrase seems odd, almost cultish to 21st century culture and Christianity. In the media, martyrdom today lies in the hands of suicide bombers who not only die for a cause but do all they can to make sure innocent "infidels" die as well. This is not martyrdom; this is murder. The "crown of martyrdom" that continually comes into play in Foxe's Book of Martyrs is made by peacemakers - those who are truly following the path of Jesus Christ.
Let's get back to that phrase. Western Christians seem to emphasize the crown part of that phrase. The second half of the phrase is something that happens only in the 10/40 window, and only then by Christians who really are quite fanatical. But as I keep working my way through Foxe's Book of Martyrs, I cannot help but think that these Christians who were killed for the faith simply understood their martyrdom in terms that Paul put it in Philippians 1:29 - For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. Salvation entailed suffering and persecution. This was a crown to these martyrs because it meant that they truly were following in the steps of their Lord: Jesus the Messiah. Did not Jesus say in John 15:20: Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

Need a Challenge Today?

2011-04-08T05:58:00.000-07:00

Arguably one of the most impactful sermons I have heard in my life:

Live to Die

Book of the Week

2011-04-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul finds itself as the book of the week this week. Arguably, this work lies at the top of Sproul's book. This is a classic, and I am not sure why I have not read this book previously.
I was struck immediately by Sproul's style of writing. Unfortunately, many Christian writers and scholars have a tendency to be good theologians, but horribly bad writers. Not the case with Sproul. I love that not only is the content of the book solid, but the writing style keeps one's attention. So, immediately that aspect of the book lends itself to worthy reading.
Theologically, this work is a classic - worthy of being in the top 25 books that every Christian should read. Fundamental to the character of God is His holiness. Sproul clearly makes this point in the book. He defends the primacy of God's holiness as well as addresses issues that seem inconsistent with the goodness of God: the existence of evil and fact of sovereignty, the call to holy war in Joshua, and the punishment of wicked to eternal damnation. There is not much more that I could say concerning the book other than read it. So, read it.

Keeping the Law but Missing the Point

2011-04-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

Luke 13:16 - "And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"

I find it ironic that Jesus continually healed on the Sabbath. Luke records Jesus' healing of a woman with a disabling spirit in Luke 13:10-17. And as seemed to be common with Christ, He performed the miracle on the Sabbath. His purpose in doing this clearly was to expose the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders. Think about it; He could have healed this woman and the many others on any other day of the week, but He purposely healed on the Sabbath. He did so to show the Jewish leaders that in their strict adherence to the Law, they were actually not keeping the Law. Somewhat ironic if you truly think about it. The Jewish leaders were so adamant in keeping the Law that they missed the whole point of the Law. Jesus' point: the Sabbath was made for good; therefore, good must be on done on the Sabbath; healing this woman was good; therefore, healing this woman keeps with the spirit of the Sabbath.

Leave it to sinful men to take something good and turn into wickedness.

A Puritan's Thoughts on Dissension

2011-04-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

Studying for this Sunday's sermon on Matthew 5:9, I came across this thought by Thomas Watson:

"To conclude: If we will neither be under counsels nor commands, but still feed the peccant humour, nourishing in ourselves a spirit of dissension and unpeaceableness, Jesus Christ will never come near us" (The Beatitudes, 212).

Greatness: The Example of Jesus

2011-04-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

This morning, I was reading through the book of Mark and was reminded of the example that Jesus set for true greatness. Greatness in our culture emerges in the arena of the successful - those who have "made it" economically, socially, or culturally. Usually, the ones that receive the label of "great" have particular talents or excel in whatever sphere they move in. Yet, in Christ's estimation true greatness is achievable for every legitimate disciple of Jesus Christ. Listen to His words in Mark 10:43-45:

"But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The call to greatness that Jesus extends to His disciples lies counterintuitive to human nature. If you want to be great as a disciple of Christ, you must first and foremost consider yourself the least. But notice that this is not merely a mindset. Jesus does not call Christians to an Eeyore mentality. To truly consider yourself the least results in action. Those who are the least serve; they are slaves. They do not call attention to their leastness, but simply serve. This is true greatness because the one who is truly great set service as the definition of true greatness.

The Preciousness of Time

2011-04-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

Who else besides the Lord Jesus Christ can teach us about the proper use of our time? None other than Jonathan Edwards. Here's a thought to ponder from him:

"If men were as lavish of their money as they are of their time, if it were as common a thing for them to throw away their money, as it is for them to throw away their time, we should think them beside themselves, and not in possession of their right minds" (Works, 2:234).

I wonder what he would say today.

Book of the Week

2011-03-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

I was not quite sure what to expect when I started listening to Adopted for Life by Russell D. Moore. An acquaintance of mine had posted a short review of the book a few days prior to my journey into its pages. He had commented that this book provided a great basis and argument for the necessity for adoption in churches. Therefore, before even getting into the book, my impression was that I would come away from its pages with a new set of adoption papers in my hands. Well, I don’t have the adoption papers . . .yet.

I do not think that the most valuable asset of this book is its appeal to Christians for adoption. Rather, the most valuable asset this book provides is a biblical understanding of our adoption in Christ. The first few chapters ought to be read by every person in the church! I know that I have a tendency to use hyperbolic language, but I am not in that last statement. Moore provides the best argument, explanation, and exposition of adoption I have ever read. By using his personal adoption experiences to illustrate the argumentation of the Bible, his teaching remains lucid and poignant. The book is worth reading just for this section. I could not help but think of how much unity in the church would be that much more achievable if we got a picture of what our adoption in Christ really means!

Concerning the appeal to adoption, I could not agree more. I understand that a postmodern relativist will not like, or probably more accurately, will adamantly oppose some of the concepts that Moore presents in this book. The very concept of adoption grinds against cultural relativism and preservation. But from a biblical and practical viewpoint, his section arguing for the priority of creating an adoption culture in our churches should be given some thought and energy. A good book, worth the read.

A Description of Saints

2011-03-28T06:55:00.001-07:00

As I was reading through the book of Revelation this morning, I came across an interesting statement in chapter 14. In the midst of providing a prophetic description of God’s impending wrath, John makes this statement in verse 12: “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” At this point in the chapter, John provides us with application to the contemporary audience. This chapter is a call to endurance - one of the main reasons we ought to be reading and studying the book of Revelation. This book is not merely prophetic, with application only found in figuring out the prophetic timeline. This book calls us as believers to endurance. John does exactly that here. What struck me about this passage is the description that John provides of the saints.

First, saints “keep.” “Keep” is the present active participle throu`nte~. Characteristic of a saint is keeping or guarding two ares in this passage:

Saints keep (or better “observe”) the commandments of God. To be a saint is to be one who observes the commandments of God. Saints are characterized by this facet. Scripture everywhere attests to this truth. This is John’s exposition of the New Testament concept of “fruit.”
Saints keep faith in Jesus. Again, what characterizes a saint is where his faith is in. That is what characterizes a saint.

Notice that John does not say saints are those who have gone down an aisle, those who have made a profession of faith, those who prayed a prayer, or those who grew up in a church. A believer may be all of those, but that is not what he appeals to. Just something that I came across today that got my mind going.

The Angry Person: Always the Last to Know | CCEF

2011-03-22T06:10:00.000-07:00

Good article by Ed Welch on anger:

The Angry Person: Always the Last to Know | CCEF

Quite a Calling

2011-03-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Although Paul makes a short little statement in Ephesians 5:1, the statement bears great weight and impact. He says, "Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children." He had just talked about what the Christian looks like in the new life, and concludes this section with the implication ("therefore" - ou\n). In summary, Paul makes it pretty clear: to walk in the new Christian life is nothing other than to walk like God, to mimic His character.

A few observations that come to mind as I think of this very briefly:

First, this is a command. He tells them to "be" or "become" (givnesqe). This takes concerted effort on behalf of believers. Yes, God is the one who ultimately sanctifies, but we also must make the effort to imitate Him. We should never think that becoming like the character of God does not require us to be involved in the process.
Second, to be able to imitate someone, you must learn their every move. I always enjoy comedians that are able to perform impressions of famous celebrities or presidents. What makes a good impressionist is the subtle nuances of inflection and actions that are unique to a person. The impressionist must study the person thoroughly to be able to pick up on the subtle nuances. And the same is true with God. How can one expect to be an imitator of someone that they know little about? There is no such thing as stripping orthodoxy and orthopraxy. If you understand who God is, then you can imitate Him. But you must understand who He is.
Lastly, we are to approach this as beloved children. Our admiration for our Father ought to drive us to imitation. This imitation is not out of fear or duty, but out of our love for our Father. If we truly love Him, we want to be like Him. And if we want to be like Him, we will imitate Him and work at imitating Him.

Just some thoughts I had about a passage I read this morning.

Book of the Week

2011-03-18T07:18:00.001-07:00

The Truth War fits exactly what you would expect from a John MacArthur book. The book is basically confronting the emerging/emergent church movement or probably more accurately, the church’s willingness to adopt postmodern philosophical assumptions in their handling of truth and the Word of God. He singles out the leaders in the emerging movement and lets them speak for themselves. Then, as is typical (which is a good thing) John MacArthur style, he simply exposits the Word of God. I used to read MacArthur’s books and get a little frustrated that he wouldn’t spend more time ripping apart his opponents line after line. I wanted to see him address their arguments at a deeper level. But now, I must say that I completely get his reasoning.

Think about it. MacArthur has a great conviction for the truth, the priority of the truth, and the need to get the truth out. So, why not just let the truth speak: the Word of God. That’s what he does. He addresses the movement as a whole, but really, this book is a good exposition of Jude. MacArthur always comes back to Scripture and just exposes his readers to what the Bible says. I appreciate this approach more and more as I grow as a Christian. If I truly have the same convictions about the Word as MacArthur, which I think I do, then why not just let the Bible do its job? And that is what MacArthur does in the Truth War - like almost every other book he has penned. If you want a biblical basis for dealing with apostasy and the demise of truth, read this book. MacArthur lets the Bible address the issues, and for that I am extremely grateful.

Good Note from Tim Challies

2011-03-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a good, brief article by Tim Challies on why you need to join a church: http://www.challies.com/christian-living/5-reasons-you-need-to-join-a-church
Very Helpful!

A Great Compliment to One's Preaching

2011-03-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

I just started reading The Preaching of Jonathan Edwards by John Carrick. As can be ascertained from the title, the work analyzes the preaching of Jonathan Edwards. Listen to this statement by Carrick: "The consistent tendency of Edwards' preaching is, therefore, that of exalting, extolling, and magnifying the God of heaven" (26). I don't know of any greater compliment a preacher could receive concerning his preaching.

Book of the Week

2011-03-09T13:53:00.000-08:00

Simple Church provides the following subtitle on the cover: “Returning to God’s process for making disciples.” So, initially, I thought that this book was going to address disciple-making from a Biblical point of view. Needless to say, that expectation was not met. But to be fair to the writers, they make clear their intention in the book in the second paragraph: “This book will help you design a simple process of discipleship in your church. It will help you implement the model you have chosen. It will help you simplify” (3). This book is meant to offer the reader the necessary steps to avoid clutter in the church. That is, to avoid unnecessary programs, models, or activities that take away from the discipleship process. And for the most part, they stick to their word.

I must admit, that I do agree that church has really lost its focus with discipleship. When I thought that they were going to be addressing the issue of the simple church, I immediately felt a sense of relief: finally, a book that wants to get back to the basics. But this sense left fairly quickly. This book is a far cry from developing a biblical theology of church. Rather, I would probably consider this book the product of a research project, similar to what any company might use to pin point the one successful trait among businesses that are flourishing. Here’s the problem: the church is not a business. That sounds so simple, but the implications are massive. First, do numbers and movement necessarily indicate “success”? If the Lord builds His church, can we really manipulate it? I think that these questions need to be answered by the writers. This book could fall under any critique of the church growth movement. The premises are the same, which shape the pragmatics of church practice. So, I won’t spend the time tearing this apart.

In the defense of the writers, they did get one thing right: we need to get back to the basics. Seriously, we need to start evangelizing, preaching, fellowshipping, praying, and showing mercy to a lost world. Church really is simple. I agree with them on that. So let’s focus on the basic of what church should do and keep it simple that way. I’m afraid they could have made this book quite simpler by just seeing what God defines as a “successful” church.

Thoughts

2011-03-08T12:13:00.000-08:00

It has been some time since I posted a blog indicating what has been recently running through my mind. So, without further ado, here it goes:

The Relationship of Exegesis to Ecclesiology - This topic has been on my mind for some time now. There are a few reasons for this. Becoming a brand new senior pastor made me start pondering this. Combine that with the reading of Simple Church by Rainer & Geiger, and the American church fascination with “new” or “unique,” and you have me thinking about ecclesiology. Specifically, though I have been working through what exegesis provides us for our ecclesiology. So, I’m still working through this one. Fun topic to think about though.

Houses - I’m still actively in the pursuit of purchasing a new house. So, needless to say, houses are on my mind. I always thought buying a house would be new and exciting, but honestly, it’s a little overwhelming and crazy. The moment I think there could be the one, someone else has to go put a house on the market. It will be interesting to see where the Lord leads us.

Vision and the Pulpit - What’s the relationship between selling a vision for the church and the pulpit? I think the knee jerk response is: close. They should have a close relationship. And of course, I agree. But here’s what I’m thinking about more narrowly: how do you not simply preach your vision Sunday after Sunday. If I truly am to provide the church with exposition of the Word of God, where’s the balance? This is a fun one to think about.

There are other topics on my mind, but these three seem to be consuming my thoughts the most.

Book of the Week

2011-02-25T06:21:00.000-08:00

I have always enjoyed the Christmas season and the traditional singing of the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. But, I knew little if anything of the actual work. This is why I wanted to read (listen) Handel’s Messiah by Calvin Stapert. Also, it was free from Christian Audio.

For lack of a better way of putting it, it was boring. To begin with, the reader of the book reminded me of a person who had a chip on his shoulder. It’s difficult to explain why I got that impression, but I would be surprised if you didn’t once you heard him start pronouncing the Latin, Italian, and German words. Every time I knew one of those words was coming, I braced myself to be annoyed. So, the quality of the reading did not start this work on a good foot.

The content of the work was fairly decent. It provides an introduction to the work, and probably has its value only in this part of the work. Stapert provides the basic historical background and cultural setting for the Messiah. This helps keep a realistic viewpoint on the work (it wasn’t handed down from heaven by angels). So, I appreciated the basic history behind the work, and the motive behind why Handel produced it. Other than the historical background provided by Stapert, no other aspect of the book was worth my time.

Refusing to Come

2011-02-24T07:36:00.000-08:00

One little verse in John 5 speaks volumes concerning the relationship of coming to Christ and eternal life. In 5:18, John notes that the Jews were persecuting Jesus because of the various miracles He had performed on the Sabbath (a motif that Luke emphasizes). This background creates the context in which Jesus speaks from 5:19-47. In the midst of this discourse, He confronts the Jews concerning the authority of the Son and all that bear witness to Jesus Christ. And in verses 39-40 He says, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” Here’s what I find interesting about this passage. Jesus acknowledges that the audience desired eternal life, and clearly, their desire caused them to search diligently in the Scriptures. This was not a small matter to them. They wanted to know how to obtain eternal life. But here’s the issue: they didn’t want the solution. They clearly wanted eternal life, but they did not want Jesus. And Jesus makes it clear that apart from coming to Him, there is no eternal life.

This post is similar to my previous post, maybe because as I read through the New Testament, I am struck by how clearly Jesus draws the lines. Clearly, Jesus did not believe in what we now label as “easy believeism.” These Jews desired eternal life, but not the Lord of salvation. It is not either or.

My Kingdom or the Kingdom?

2011-02-17T04:41:00.000-08:00

Reading through Matthew this morning, I was struck again with the account of the young man in Matthew 19:16-22. Here, he clearly wanted participation in the Kingdom by asking Jesus, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (v. 16). But this man never weighed the cost. Jesus knew this, of course, and I believe that is why He structured the conversation in the way that He did. What it really came down to with this man was whether or not he was willing to give up his kingdom in order to partake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Sadly, “when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (v. 22).

Many principles can be drawn from this narrative, but I just want to think through one this morning: presenting the cost of the Kingdom. Think about it - who does not want to have eternal life? Who, in their right mind, would not ask the same question as the young man in verse 16? The issue here is not eternal life. The young man wanted that. The issue was the cost. Jesus brought this man to the realization that it was either going to be the young man’s kingdom or the Kingdom of God. How often, when presenting the Gospel do we give the cost of the Gospel? With Jesus, it was not a “have your cake and eat it too” type of scenario. It was a “follow me at all costs” type of scenario. I believe that there is great value in presenting the Gospel with its costs. Many of the professing Christians today could use a healthy dose of this. Let’s face it, we do live in a “have your cake and eat it too” type of Christianity.

Book of the Week

2011-02-16T14:59:00.000-08:00

This was the free download of the month at ChristianAudio back in December, and proved to be an amazing deal. I didn’t know what to expect from this book considering I knew nothing about it. I did know the author and have a level of respect for him. But I was clueless on what the focus of the book was and what the basic content would be. I came away from this encounter impressed, convicted and challenged.

I started this book on a long road trip and found out quite quickly that the introduction was not intended to be consumed audibly. Keller starts off the work with an onslaught of statistics - difficult to read by listening; yet extremely impactful. His premise seems to be to debunk the myth that poverty is only the result of laziness without any impact in the caucasian community. It was more or less a necessary slap in the face of suburban, middle-class Christianity. I couldn’t have been more challenged even in the introduction, or so I thought.

Chapter after chapter in the first part of the book challenges modern day American Christianity on one of the most essential character traits of a Christian: mercy. What is the American church doing about mercy, if anything at all? This first part of the book is close to a must read in my opinion for any pastor.

What I appreciate about Keller’s work is that he then goes on to show how any pastor in any community can then incorporate ministries of mercy. By the time I got through the first half of the book, I felt the way he wanted me to feel: what can I do to help?! And thankfully, Keller comes alongside with some practical, yet productive ways to embrace ministries of mercy in a local church setting. Therefore, if the first part of the book is essential in my opinion, the second part will easily be followed up on because of the vacuum he created.

My overall assessment of the book is positive. It should be read. No, it must be read. But more than that, it must be practiced. I am looking forward to implementing many of the principles he brought up in the book in the future with First Baptist Church. Jesus said it well: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Luther's 55th Thesis

2011-02-15T06:06:00.000-08:00

This morning, I read through the Luther's famous 95 theses in order to remind myself of that great document. The one that stuck out to me the most was number 55:

"It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies."

There is the priority of the Gospel! Amen.

The Issue of My Generation

2011-01-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

That title can be quite deceiving and might make you think that I have a grip on what the “issues” of my generation might be. Let me narrow down what I mean this statement. There are many issues that my generation is facing and will face in the future, but the issue I am talking about is in relationship to pastors of my generation. You might be thinking that I am going to talk about homosexuality, or the reality of truth, or some other issue that finds itself in either the political or broader “christian” realm. But I am more focused than either of those realms. Specifically, I am contemplating what I think might be the issue that faces pastors my age in evangelical churches. This assumes that we are pretty much agreeing on the Gospel and other major Doctrines (Inspiration, the Canon, the Trinity . . .). So, all that to say, I think that the major issue pastors my age need to hammer out is ecclesiology.

It appears that we are already wrestling through this. The more I think about it, the more I realize that ecclesiology has become a complicated, multi-faceted, complex web of issues. For instance, the emerging church (if that still exists) is an ecclesiological issue, but not exclusively. The first motive in that movement was not driven by the notion to “do church” differently, but to accommodate the message of the church to a postmodern culture. Yet, in order to accomplish that, one’s ecclesiology needed to radically change, and church needed to be done differently. Does that make any sense? So, the issue of ecclesiology is intricately related to the Doctrines of the faith. Still, though, I would say that many pastors in my generation would offer a significant amount of fluidity to ecclesiology that is not allowed in other doctrines like Theology Proper, Christology, or Soteriology. At this point, ecclesiology is fairly fluid. Why?

I’m not sure yet. But I think part of the reason relates to the thinking of my generation. My millennials have a tendency (thanks to postmodernism) to be willing to rethink boundary lines. This is healthy at times, and dangerous at others. In relationship to ecclesiology, I think we are willing to ask the question: Why do we do this? Are these boundaries biblical or simply tradition?

Another reason can be found by simply opening up your systematic theologies. How much space is devoted to ecclesiology, if any? And even the space dedicated to this part is usually more descriptive of different interpretations than apologetic of specifics. So, we are left to figure out the “doing” of church.

The last reason I can think of is the difficulty of drawing hard, detailed lines on many things that relate to ecclesiology. For instance, we all agree (I hope) on the basics of what the church ought to be doing, but we don’t necessarily agree on how these should be fleshed out. Communion? Yes. Wine? Not gonna go there :). How often? Good question. Furthermore, if Acts is truly descriptive and not prescriptive then this section of Scripture only reveals how the early church functioned, not necessarily how we ought to function.

With all these factors and all the diversity of ecclesiology in my generation, I think that this is the issue of pastors in my generation. The question that must drive this whole issue is what are the biblical parameters that we must not cross and the biblical principles that should inform my ecclesiology? Answering that question should help shape one’s ecclesiology.

Book of the Week

2011-01-24T10:01:00.001-08:00

I have always enjoyed every book I have read by Francis Schaeffer so far. And this book is no exception. Like all the other works I have read by him, True Spirituality takes truths already familiar to the Christian and looks at them from a slightly different angle. This may be why I enjoy reading his material. Granted, because Schaeffer does this, the reading can be quite cumbersome and sometimes downright confusing, but don’t let that stop you from picking up and reading this work.

Strengths: I appreciate that Schaeffer relates how the Biblical pattern of the Christian life fills the void that modern man has created. This line of thinking follows his other works The God who is There and He is not Silent. Even though Schaeffer wrote these works to the culture of the ’70’s, the culture still has the same issues with humanity that it did during his time. For me, I think this work greatly speaks to my “millennial” generation. We know that there is a void. We are trying to fill it with pleasure or some other means. Schaeffer shows us in this work that only the Christian life can fill this void.

Another strength is that Schaeffer does not pull any punches. He shows where the church has failed to address the “whole” man, and also provides the solution. Ultimately, it comes down the combination of individual spiritual growth alongside community spiritual growth. I don’t know if I could have worded it better myself!

Weakness: The greatest weakness of the book is that Schaeffer seems to talk more about the Bible, then actually let the Bible speak for itself. In fairness, this is the writing style that Schaeffer has, and this book is a compilation of lectures he gave. But, this is a weakness. More exposition of the text is needed. This does not mean that he is incorrect in his affirmations, but that they would hold more ground with greater biblical support.

I would not chalk this work up into the “must read” category. But I would say that the last chapter in the book is a “should” read for any church leadership.

“If the contentment goes and the giving of thanks goes, we are not loving God as we should, and proper desire has become coveting against God.” (11)

A New Ministry

2011-01-19T03:13:00.000-08:00

Well . . . It is official. This past Sunday, I preached for the first time as pastor of First Baptist Church in Evans City, Pennsylvania. Kind of a daunting thought if I think about it too much. To get here was quite a process that required a lot of prayer and just seeking what the Lord had in store for me and my family. Thankfully, my family has been very supportive despite the difficulty of moving 2,500 miles from where we had found our comfort zone. But I praise the Lord that I have such a supportive wife who is more concerned about what the Lord would have then the feelings that accompany such a difficult move.

If you think of it, pray for the following:

Grace through the transition period. This is both for us as a family and also for the church. We are living with Keara's parents right now until we find a home to purchase. We are in a new environment and new church. And the same goes for the church. They have a brand new pastor whom they know a little about.
Wisdom as a pastor. This is my first senior pastor position and need wisdom from the Lord in order to lead this church in its growth in sanctification.

I could list off a bunch of prayer requests, but those are the major two that really come across my mind as I think about this situation. Thank you to all who have been praying, and I covet your prayers some more. God bless!

MacArthur on Social Networking

2010-11-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to John MacArthur's insights from a biblical perspective on social networking. It is a healthy reminder and something every Christian should read. You can read the article here: http://www.gty.org/blog/B101110

Update on My Life

2010-09-21T07:01:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have blogged. And the usual excuses contribute to that: laziness, forgetfulness, and just plain don't feel like doing it (another name for laziness). Here's a little update of what is going on in my life:

Prospective Ministry - Right now, I am in the process of candidating at First Baptist Church in Evans City, PA. I am candidating for the senior pastor position of this church, located in a more rural setting north of Pittsburgh. Don't worry, I never intend on becoming a Steelers fan if I end up out there. Right now in the process, I have visited and preached at the church one weekend. I have also answered 73 questions that the church submitted to me, to which they met about this past Sunday. At this point, they are asking me to come out for another visit. The answer to that question will come on Wednesday, as I am seeking advice and counsel from men I trust. God is good, and we will see what He has in store.

New Bible Study Series: The Church - I am two weeks into a new Bible study series on The Church. We are going through basic questions: what is the church? why do we do what we do in the church? how dogmatic are we to be about the liturgy and "stuff" of the church? I am excited about this study, and I know that my Wednesday night crew is enjoying the study.

New Sunday School Series: The Mortification of Sin - In our GAP Sunday School class we are working through one of the greatest Christian books ever written: The Mortification of Sin. John Owen wrote this classic work in 1656, and the truth presented in this work as relevant as it was when he penned it. Of all the studies I am going through this year, I am most excited about this one. Yet at the same time, this is the most brutal. Owen drops grenades and lets the Holy Spirit do His work!

Preaching Sunday: The Third Beatitude - This Sunday I am preaching through the third beatitude: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." I have been more and more convinced that the beatitudes have the whole picture of the Christian life as I study them. They are rich and don't leave any person who truly understands what they are saying with any questions as to their message. I'm excited about preaching this Sunday!

Book of the Week

2010-08-12T14:47:00.001-07:00

Preaching the Cross is a product of the Together for the Gospel conference out of Louisville, Kentucky. Therefore, the contributors to this work come from the pool of main speakers from that conference. The book consists of seven chapters, each having been written by a different author (Dever, Duncan, Mohler, Mahaney, Piper, Sproul, and MacArthur). Needless to say, each of these men have ample experience to write on such a topic. Because a different author contributed to each chapter, the book can be read chapter by chapter without losing any connectedness or thought-flow. Probably the two most helpful chapters were the ones written by John MacArthur and Al Mohler. Mohler wrote on preaching in the midst of a cultural setting. And as usual, Mohler spoke plainly to the topic providing a good framework in which preachers must shape their sermons.

MacArthur's chapter spoke to the importance of exposition. Coming from the Master's Seminary, I may be a little partial to this type of preaching, but what drives me is my convictions about the Word of God. If the Word of God is inspired, inerrant, and fully sufficient for all that we need in life and godliness, then how could there be any other way to preach. Notice, I did not say preaching in successive expositions, but expositionally (They are different! It irks me when those two are equated).

Overall, I enjoyed the book, was challenged by the book, and can use much of what was said. It's an easy read and a good reminder on keeping the cross the focus of one's preaching ministry.

The Problem of Separating Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy

2010-08-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

Wells on the decline of evangelicalism (rings true with fundamentalism as well): "It is entirely possible for those who have sworn to defend the concept of biblical inerrancy to function as if they had no such Word in their hands. Indeed, it happens all the time. And the sad fact is that while the nature of the Bible was being debated, the Bible itself was quietly falling into disuse in the church" (God in the Wasteland, 150)

Book of the Week

2010-07-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

The pastoral counseling book that I chose for last month was Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave by Edward Welch. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book on many different levels. On the practical level, this book is filled with pertinent, important insights on not only how to deal with addicts or personal addictions, but also on how to deal with sin as a believer. I don't know if there is any Christian that would not benefit from the sheer practicality of the book. On the theological level, Welch addresses sin and its solutions from a biblical perspective. This is not a self-help book on addictions, it is a book that presents a theological perspective on sin and the biblical solution for both the believer and the unbeliever. On a balanced level (I think I just made that up), this book could not be more balanced. Here's what I appreciate: he offers a balanced understanding of such addiction programs as AA. He does not blow them out of the water, but offers a balanced perspective on addiction programs geared like that. This is refreshing. My biggest frustration of the neuthetic counseling movement is their sweeping assumptions. I don't really want to get into that now, but let's just say that this book was balanced. And that, I appreciated. Welch deals with situations in the world, not in theory!

To be honest, there is not much negative that I could say about the book. It's biblical, it's balanced, and it's readable. This would be a great work for a small group or Bible study to use in supplement to a study on sin. We can thank Ed Welch for a great book!

News

2010-07-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been quite a while since I have blogged. Here's why: we first added a new member to our family, Judah David. My last post was announcing that. The second reason is that I just spent a week in my homeland: Massachusetts. I enjoyed a few days down at the Cape (Cape Cod), had some seafood (mussels, shrimp, lobster, scallops, chowda, and striper to be exact), and enjoyed family. With that behind me, I will be back to blog...starting tomorrow.

Welcome Judah David Trepanier!

2010-07-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

This past week was quite busy as we welcomed Judah David Trepanier to our family. He was born on Monday morning at 9:31 AM, weighing in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. and 19 1/2" long. What a blessing from the Lord this little guy is!

Quote on Spiritual Warfare

2010-07-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

"The problem is that as Christians, we often forget we are in a war. Or worse, we don't even know that there is a war. Unlike most warfare, where at least we know that there is an enemy somewhere, spiritual warfare tends to be especially covert. No one is getting shot and many people--even addicts themselves--seem to be managing their lives fairly well. It all looks like business as usual. Add to this the fact that we actually like the enemy, and it is easy to understand why many of us act as though we were on vacation." Edward Welch, Addictions, 227 (emphasis original).

Go Oranje!

2010-07-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it all comes down to this Sunday. For the past month, I have been faithfully following the World Cup - more specifically, my favorite team: the Netherlands. Why the Netherlands? you might ask. Good question. I have always been a fan of this team since as long as I can remember. I enjoy their style of play and for the most part, their players. They are usually one of the best teams in the world and a favorite at every World Cup competition. But ironically, they have never won it. Let's hope that changes this Sunday. It should be a great game: Netherlands v. Spain. Neither team have won the World Cup and both teams are amazing. This is one of those simple pleasures I enjoy in this world.

Book of the Week

2010-07-07T09:59:00.001-07:00

Late last week, I was busy painting the walls of our church's nursery. With only my paintbrush and paint accompanying me, I had the opportunity to listen to The Forgotten God by Francis Chan. This was featured as Christian Audio's free give away last month (www.christianaudio.com), so I was able to download the work the night before in preparation for the next day's work. Because this book is so short, I was able to listen to the whole piece in about 9 hours.
I was immediately struck by the writing style of Chan. Here's what I appreciate about the work: he writes as if he was preaching. I found this to be true of his other work that I read two years ago (Crazy Love). He writes as a pastor intending to bring change in the lives of those who read the work. Because of this, he has very insightful thoughts that challenge any reader. What I also enjoy about Chan is that you cannot put him in a box. He's willing to ask any question and really get to what the Bible says about any issue. I greatly appreciate that. The Forgotten God is ultimately a book about the Holy Spirit. His argument is that we have greatly neglected not only the study of the Holy Spirit, but the effect that the Spirit should have every day in our lives. On this point, Chan is absolutely right. Given Chan's recent background (an evangelical conservative seminary), this point makes sense. There does seem to be some neglect to the practical applications of the Christian being indwelt by the Spirit. This is mostly due to a reaction to the massive infatuation of the Spirit by the Charismatic movement. So, Chan's work is important in this way.
The disappointment in the work relates to some of the content. Chan asks a great deal of very important questions, but then fails to answer them. This could be deliberate as he makes it very clear in the beginning of the book that he wants every believer to be diligently searching the Scriptures on their own. But as I was listening to the book, I was left with the impression that he would be answering many of the questions that he had already raised. But this was not so, leaving me wanting. But don't let that keep you from reading the book. This book will greatly benefit believers, especially those in the circles I find myself in.

The Deceitfulness of Sin

2010-07-05T10:16:00.001-07:00

Deuteronomy 28, along with Leviticus 26, provides one of the most important, if not the most important theological basis for understanding the whole scope of Old Testament narrative. Yet, this chapter dedicated to the blessing and cursing that accompany covenant fidelity really provides us with a basic insight into the deceitfulness of sin. All that Yahweh wanted for the Israelites was their covenant loyalty and obedience. Simply put, Yahweh desired for the Israelites to be holy as God himself was holy (cf. Lev 11:44). God did not demand the holiness of the Israelites apart from the blessing that would accompany a holy life. God designed men to truly find satisfaction in holiness – that is how God has wired us. Therefore, God promises in the first 12 verses of this chapter that they will receive covenant blessing (especially tied to the land and seed) if they remain faithful to Yahweh. Think about the blessing of obedience for a moment. That which would bring them true joy was linked to obedience. It was that simple: obedience would result in true joy.

The opposite would result from covenant disobedience. And Moses lists a series of curses for the next 56 verses if they fail to obey their covenant Lord. The irony in all this falls on what the Israelites choose to do throughout the rest of their history. They continually choose to disobey and display a life of unfaithfulness towards Yahweh. Why? Weren’t they aware that covenant faithfulness brought the blessings and covenant unfaithfulness brought the curses?

Of course they were aware of this! That was not the issue. The issue was that they had been tricked (willfully, I might add) by the deceitfulness of sin. Their flesh had deceived them into buying into the lie that sin would be more pleasurable than covenant faithfulness. And really, when we all sin, we act just like the Israelites. We buy into the lie that our flesh (more often than Satan – remember, he is finite) sells us – sin is more pleasurable than covenant obedience. Yet, as Deut 28 makes clear, covenant disobedience only leads to grief and greater displeasure. Just a thought I had while reading this morning.

Book of the Week

2010-07-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Once again, I found myself pleased with another Iain Murray book. A Scottish Christian Heritage is a work that provides the reader with a basic overview of some key Christians from the past that played a dominant role in the shaping of Scottish Christianity and theology. The book also addresses major events and theological issues that affected the country's development of evangelicalism.

The book is not intended to be a comprehensive history of Scotland's Christian roots, but is meant to provide a teaser of just some of the events and people that shaped the Christian heritage of Scotland. For this reason, the book reads very easily, making it easy to leave the book down for a few days and pick up right where you left off. As always, Murray's writing style is both well researched and spiritually applicable. He once again demonstrates why he is one of my favorite authors.

A Scottish Christian Heritage is not a must read in the least bit, but it is an enjoyable one, and one that anyone interested in reformation and post-reformation history will want to read.

Book of the Week

2010-05-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

The book of the week this week is Living the Cross Centered Life by C. J. Mahaney. This small hardcover put out by Multnomah press challenges the reader on his view of the Gospel. The Gospel saturates this book and is the main subject of concern. This makes sense considering that Mahaney's life is saturated by the Gospel. The subtitle of the book sums up the whole book quite well: keeping the Gospel the main thing.

Therefore, Mahaney goes about showing the primacy of the Gospel not only for initial salvation but also as the main component that must be kept a priority in the Christian life. What I appreciate about the book is that the majority of the book is spent on developing a proper understanding of the Gospel, instead of just talking about what the Gospel should do. In other words, this work brings out the beauty of the Gospel by simply declaring the message of the Gospel. After accomplishing this, Mahaney simply addresses the implications of the Gospel message for the Christian life. If the Gospel is correctly grasped and understood, then all the Christian life will be affected by it. C. J. makes sure we get the Gospel grasped, then briefly shows how it affects our lives every day.

This work is far from exhaustive, but is the perfect length for what he is trying to accomplish. In reality, if believers put into practice and listened to the message that Mahaney presents in this work, then pastors' jobs in the world will be less filled with counseling. This work is classic Mahaney and relevant for every believer. It's worth the two hours it will take to read.

What is the Church?

2010-04-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

The word "church" conjures up many different ideas in people's minds when they hear it. For many, the word "church" quickly brings to mind a building where a group of people gather who profess the religious assertions of Christendom. This conception of church is one of the most common if not the most common conception in modern day America. And it can quickly be understood as to why when one visits the older parts of the country. The basic formation of towns and cities were built around the center structure: the "church" (building). So today, we say phrases like "going to church" or "at church" in reference to a building. This understanding of church makes it no different from a mosque for the Muslims or a temple for the Buddhists. Location is the main idea behind this understanding.

Within Roman Catholicism, the "church" refers to the organized church of Rome, supposedly passed down from Peter through a line of Popes (an interesting line, I might add) that protects the articles of faith and provides the means of grace to mankind. Therefore, in this view, the church is more or less an organization with the main role of supplying grace to mankind. This is why it is difficult for Roman Catholics to break from the church - once you do, there goes your grace.

And I'm sure if I surveyed the general public, many other concepts of the church would surface, more than I care to write about or worry about. What I want to do in these series of blogs on the church is look at what the Bible says about the "church."

Probably one of the most common answers in the evangelical world to the above question is that the church is a group of "called out" ones. This typical answer is given because of the Greek word for church: ekklēsia. A quick etymology is then given that ekklēsia is a combination of the two Greek words ek (means "out, out from, from") and kalleō ("to call"). Therefore, the root idea behind the etymological meaning for church is that they are "the called out ones." Well, put plainly, this definition of the church falls under the "Root Fallacy" provided by D. A. Carson in Exegetical Fallacies (28). Realistically, the word simply means "assembly" or "community." Therefore, Luke can refer to the gathering of the Israelites around Mt. Sinai in Acts 7:38 as the ekklēsia. And later in the book, Luke assigns the designation of ekklēsia to the mob that gathered in the theatre at Ephesus to see Gaius and Aristarchus in Acts 19. So, unfortunately, our definition of what the church is should not be understood from its etymology (or else would a butterfly be a fly made out of butter? or eat butter? or what?).

Instead of drawing our understanding of what a church is from the etymology of the underlying Greek word, I would like to see how the book of Acts develops the concept of what a church is. What is immediately striking about the book of Acts is that the disciples and followers of Jesus gathered together (1:12-14). And Luke tells us that about 120 people were followers of Jesus, the now ascended Messiah. Therefore, what is striking is that after Peter's Pentecost message, Luke records that about three thousand souls "were added that day" (2:41). Were added to whom? Well, very clearly, Peter is referring to the group that had first assembled earlier in 1:12-14. So, in a sense, those who were baptized were added to this group or assembly of those who believed Jesus to be the Messiah. And very next verse describes that these people met together and "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (2:42). This implies that the group of new believers met for these very reasons. Then in 4:4, Luke records that the number had increased to 5,000, and later in that chapter, Luke records that they gathered together again. Therefore, the first historical reference made to the church (except Jesus' anticipatory statements in Matthew 16 and 18) comes in 5:11 after the death of Ananias and Sapphira: "And great fear came upon the whole ekklēsian and upon all who heard of these things." What is Luke referencing with this new designation ekklēsian? There is no question at this point in the book that the reference is being made to the group that continually met in the previous references mentioned in the paragraph.

So, after this brief survey, what is the church? Well, the first historical reference is made to a group of converted Jewish men and women who recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah, met for fellowship, breaking bread, prayer and adherence to the apostles' teaching. Therefore, the church is not a building, but a group of people. And very clearly from the earlier part of the book of Acts, the first church was considered as a group of people that were converted. Therefore, the church is not for the unconverted but the converted! This is the sense that Paul intends when he uses the word (all 61x in his epistles). That is why he says to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:28: "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood." The church comprises those people for whom Christ bought with His blood - not just any one.

The essence of who the church is, is not bound up in its mission (the Great Commission), but in who comprises the church: converted people. This very simple observation has massive ramifications for church ministry. If the church is essentially its mission, then the seeker sensitive movement of last century got it right; and therefore, the emergent church movement (I am referring to values - I know, hasty generalization is not fair) of this century is the way to go. But, as seems very clear from the early part of the church's life, the church is not essentially its mission. It is essentially a body of believers that have in common prayer, the apostles' teaching (doctrine), fellowship, and the breaking of bread.

Book of the Week

2010-04-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

In May, I will be bookending a Sunday morning sermon series on discipleship. In preparation for that, I thought I would pick up The Disciple-Making Church by Bill Hull to see what he might contribute to the discussion. Hull has a series of books on discipleship that have had a fairly decent impact in the church scene of the 90's (especially in the area of small groups). Therefore, I was excited to pick this one up and see what it had to offer.

Unfortunately, I must say that I was not impressed. Now, I did not say disappointed, but just not impressed. I felt like the majority of the book functioned as a running commentary on the book of Acts, and less a work on how to implement the disciple-making process in the church. I also believe that Hull should have spent some time establishing whether or not the book of Acts is prescriptive or descriptive. It seems after reading the work that he understands Acts as prescriptive. I have a hard time with this. In all fairness to Hull, he does draw many principles from Acts, but it seems that they are driven as prescriptions and not principles.

Here's the value in the book: learning from a man who has successfully established a discipleship community in his ministry. Therefore, simply because I disagree with the basic premise, does not mean that he has given me some meat to chew on. I appreciated his focus on the elders of the church functioning as equipping leaders and not simply the ones who "do ministry." We need that mindset in our current clergy/lay distinction. Also, the importance of the concepts that Hull presents cannot be overstated. Discipleship (which is the whole point of the church's mission) has been demoted from the prominent focus of ministry to simple the low man on the totem pole. This work helps reignite a passion for discipleship and getting it back to the primary meaning of ministry that God intended.

What's to Come

2010-04-23T10:53:00.001-07:00

Starting next week, I am going to start a series of blogs (most likely weekly) on the church. I hope to not offer any new insights or new ideas related to the church, but focus on the biblical presentation of the church - imagine that. The series will not be exhaustive, but would more or less entail what I might preach from the pulpit. Therefore, some of the theological footnoting (a term I just made up to describe extensive theological dialogue) will be avoided and the basics of church set up. The reason I am going to do this is two-fold: 1) I want to. That's fair enough, right? 2) It is always healthy to get back to square one, especially if it has been a while since that has been done. I'm looking forward to this study, and pray that I will learn in it.

Book of the Week

2010-04-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

I am always up for reading a book on preaching. Almost anybody that knows me realizes that I have a strong passion for preaching and gobble up every opportunity to preach, read about preaching, or think about preaching. So, to be honest, I surprised myself that it took me this long to read Between Two Worlds by John Stott.

The reason for the title lies in Stott's attempt to link the two worlds that the modern preacher lives in: the ancient world of the Bible and the modern world of the twentieth century (this was first published in 1982). The bridge that links these two worlds together in the mind of Stott is preaching. Therefore, "the preacher's task is faithfully to translate the Word of God into modern language and thought-categories, and to make it present in our day" (149). The preacher functions as a bridge between the two worlds. I think that Stott clearly gets to the heart of preaching in this sense. Here's what I appreciate about this thought: Stott clearly reveals the need for the preacher to not only exposit the Word, but show why this exposition is important in the lives of the listeners. I truly believe that all Scripture is God-breathed; therefore, I believe that every section of Scripture is not only a great resource to exposit, but also has an impact on my thinking about God and my actions in serving God. Because I believe this, I get very frustrated in two ways: 1) when people say that the Bible is irrelevant (or at least parts of it - Leviticus, 1 Chronicles 1-9. . .); 2) when preachers merely exposit the Word without actually delving into why a text is relevant. So, to hear Stott describe preaching in this way brought a grin to my face.

My complaint against the book lies in Stott failing to milk this for all its worth. After spending a chapter on "bridge-building," I don't believe that Stott milked this concept enough. Rather, it seemed as if the rest of the book merely covered various topics that he wanted to address in relation to preaching. In all honesty, this is a minor complaint. Stott's work is helpful and his chapter on the theological foundations for preaching is timeless.

The Priority of Preaching

2010-04-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

Opening line to Stott's Between Two Worlds: "Preaching is indispensable to Christianity. Without preaching a necessary part of its authenticity has been lost" (15). Hm, I wonder how authentic our Christianity is in America. I think we might have lost "a necessary part of its authenticity."

Book of the Week

2010-04-12T08:40:00.001-07:00

What is the relationship that the church should have with the culture? That question has always been a question that I have thought about thoroughly and have enjoyed reading about. Therefore, I was quite excited to pick up Christ & Culture Revisited by D. A. Carson and delve into its depths. And its depths were easy to delve into. Here's what I appreciate about the book: It is very readable. The topic of Christ and Culture is quite complex and can be somewhat muddied when trying to tackle. But Carson does a good job at staying at somewhat an elementary level while keeping the book flowing and enjoyable to read. For theological writings, his writing style flows fairly well.

Carson catches one up to speed with the topic fairly well. The first two chapters are dedicated to informing an uniformed reader on the topic. He accomplishes this quite quickly by simply introducing the reader to the most influential work written on the topic in the last century: H. Richard Niebuhr's Christ and Culture. He provides a thorough introduction and well thought out critique of the work. Carson argues that the problem with Niebuhr's five propositions is that each of these may only paint part of the whole of Scripture's teaching on the topic, not options that a person may be able to choose. In other words, Niebuhr fails to provide a biblically informed, comprehensive approach and instead provides a piece meal approach to the issue. On this, I whole heartedly agree with Carson.

But here is where I wish Carson would have stepped up. Carson thoroughly provides a critique of almost every approach to the issue of Christ and culture, yet fails to provide a solution. This somewhat agitated me. If none of the proposed views are both biblical and comprehensive, then what is a new proposed view that is biblical and comprehensive, if there is a view? I appreciate how Carson crystallizes the necessary factors that we must take into consideration when examining this topic, but I wish that he would have taken a stab at developing a comprehensive view. This, in my opinion, was a major let down in the book.

With that said, Christ & Culture Revisited was a great read that helped me clarify my own thinking in regards to the issue. I enjoyed it, and if you are fascinated by this topic, I'm sure that you will enjoy the read as well.

Ascribe Strength to God - Psalm 29:1

2010-04-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

Addressing the heavenly host, the psalmist summons them to ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength. The English translators prefer the translation ascribe for its poetic beauty, but the word simply means "give." Therefore, the psalmist calls the heavenly hosts (ESV; literally "sons of the gods") to give strength to Yahweh. What exactly does that mean? Think about God for a second. One theological nuance of who God is finds itself in the attribute known as omnipotence. Omnipotence speaks of God's ability to do all His holy will (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 216). In other words, there is nothing too hard for God to accomplish because He is the infinite being who spoke this world into existence. Therefore, He brought forth a Messiah though a conception brought on by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:37), caused Sarah to have a son after her child-bearing years are over (Gen 18:14), and even can redeem the rich, thought to be an impossible task according to Jesus' teachings (Matt 19:26).

Furthermore, just think about all the power present in the world. It seems that earthquakes are striking every week. Look at the power of a thunderstorm as it sweeps across a barren plane. All these powerful objects have their source of power from nothing other than God. Even Psalm 29 pictures Yahweh as sweeping across the land of Israel as a powerful thunderstorm that makes the cedar trees break and the mountains of southern Lebanon skip like young calf. And think about your own strength. The very strength that we have to move and live and have our being is given from the Father. Therefore, the God of all strength gives His strength.

So, how can the psalmist summon the heavenly hosts to ascribe strength to Yahweh, if by definition of being Yahweh, He is omnipotent? You cannot think of this command as a call to add to the strength of God. That is completely impossible. All the strength that we have as human beings or in this case, angelic beings find their source in God. Therefore, the psalmist cannot mean that we add strength to God by adding to his strength. Rather, probably the proper way to understand this phrase is to understand it in a subjective sense. All strength that any living being has is ultimately derived from the strength that God supplies. Therefore, to ascribe strength to God is to give back the strength that He has given you for the service of Him. Use the energy that God supplies for serving Him. A concept Peter develops in 1 Peter 4:10-11.

Book of the Week

2010-04-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

This Christmas, one of the Bible students I teach, generously provided me with a Barnes and Noble gift card. Needless to say, Barnes and Noble's selection of theologically rich literature is somewhat lacking. But as I searched, I stumbled across The Great Commision: Evangelicals and the History of World Missions edited by Martin Klauber and Scott Manetsch. It also just so happened that I would be preaching a series on biblical missions during our church's Sunday evening services in January and February. Therefore, I thought that this would be a good book to pick up and hack at.

The book is a series of essays written by an amalgam of writers on various topics related to the history of evangelical missions. It is a festschrift in honor of John Woodbridge, church history professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The advantage of a festschrift can also be a disadvantage. Thankfully, there were some chapters that I just could not get enough of; but unfortunately, that was not the majority of the book. At one point, I did not want to keep reading. This was most likely due to my misconception on the content of the book. In my opinion, the majority of the writers were too specific, and almost seemed like they each had their "hobby horse" that they wanted to write about. At times, I found myself wondering whether some of the writers failed to remember that this book was to be about evangelical missions, and not just missions of christendom. This caused a bit of frustration for me. Also a little frustrating was the wordiness of many of the chapters. Again, this book seemed like it was to read as a history, not an apology. But this may just be my problem - bringing an idea to the table before letting the book speak.

On the positive side, many of the chapters were very enlightening and enriching. Probably the three best chapters were "Missions Among Puritans and Pietists" by Jon Hinkson, "The Great Commission in Asia" by Richard Cook, and "Conclusion: Ongoing Imperative for World Mission" by D. A. Carson. I would not say that these chapters are worth the book, but they were helpful and enlightening, and helped reassure me that I did not waste a gift card. This will remain a resource in my library; one I don't think I'll visit often.

Song for Good Friday

2010-04-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

A great song for this day:

Ministry or Ministries?

2010-03-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

That is the question. And in my opinion, a question of extreme importance when it relates to the ministry and purpose of the church. As a person, my nature is to question; hopefully, my questioning is from a pure motive, not malicious intent. And one area I especially tend to question is in relationship to what we "do" in church and how what we "do" might have biblical support. Therefore, there are times when I wonder why the church I attend and minister at does the various ministries that it does. Most of the time, I can think of a biblical reason, but I do think that this church and many churches for that matter may easily forget to ask this question.

As a Western American product, my tendency is to equate programs or ministries with ministry. When in reality, there may be a thousand programs or ministries, yet no true ministry actually taking place. Ultimately, all ministries of the church ought to relate to the Great Commission. No, I did not say that all ministries ought to relate to evangelism. I said that all ministries of the church ought to relate to fulfilling the Great Commission: disciple-making. If this is truly the case, then the next question I ask is, "How does this ministry fulfill the Great Commission?" It is only when true disciple-making takes place that a ministry can be called a biblical ministry. Otherwise, the ministry would better be called a program - a social event where people gather around a mutual cause to be mutually satisfied through mutual means (I wanted to see how many times I could say mutual).

Now, here comes the question: how do the usher ministry, sound, tech, music, and facilities ministry all relate to the Great Commission? My job is not to answer that for you. But I do have an answer. I'm just wondering if we ever stop to ask: ministry or ministries?

Book of the Week

2010-03-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

A. W. Tozer's classic work The Knowledge of the Holy provides one of the easiest and most inspiring works on God in print. His opening line captures the essence of the book's content: "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us . . . For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like" (1). I think that Tozer hits the nail directly on the head with this opening.

This was the second time that I have read through this book. I first read it in my freshman year at college, but not with the same attentiveness as this past time. To say the least, this book challenges every reader to gain both a deeper knowledge and fuller commitment to the God the of universe. Tozer provides, what I would call, an introduction to Theology Proper with a focus on this study's effect on the reader than on providing a thoroughly exhaustive study of God. Therefore, the book is quite an easy read. The book consists of 23 chapters dedicated to a different topics/attributes of God. A few disappointing chapters of the book are the ones on immutability, sovereignty, and eternality. But like most books on God, these topics quickly reveal the theological background of the author.

Despite these few chapters, the overall content of the book is phenomenal. If you want a convicting, devotional book on God, look no further. This classic work has been fodder for spiritual growth in previous generations, and will continue to be so for generations to come.

Book of the Week

2010-03-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

I enjoy listening to John Piper preach. I believe that God has gifted this man in an amazing way to kindle a fire among the younger evangelical generation to be willing to risk great things for God. Therefore, I listen to Piper preach often. Yet, I would not say that I stay up to date in reading Piper. As a matter of fact, I do not know why it took me so long to get to this work, but I have now completed it.

Let me start by saying that Let the Nations Be Glad reads like most other Piper books – not very fluidly. This is not a complaint, but just realistic. From a literary viewpoint, this work is somewhat choppy and cumbersome. With that said, I think Al Mohler might be on the right track with his endorsement: “Let the Nations Be Glad! is the most important book on missions for this generation.” Here’s why: Piper develops a biblical theology of missions that not only educates the spiritual mind, but also flames the spiritual heart to want to be involved. By bringing us back to God and the big picture of missions, Piper establishes the true basis as to what God is doing in the world and how we can be a part of it. If you have ever read one Piper book, in a sense you have read them all. And that is true for the first few chapters for this work as well. In those chapters, he establishes the delight of God in missions, borrowing the same thoughts that he presented in Desiring God.

The two sections of the book that I found extremely profitable were his Introduction to the 3^rd Edition and the chapter entitled The Supremacy of God in Missions through Suffering. The first section provides a very thorough, though not overly wordy response to the rising health/wealth gospel so prevalent on the mission field today. Every pastor, especially those who are in charge the mission’s ministry at their church, should become very familiar with this chapter.

The latter chapter provides a thorough and biblical presentation of what God does in suffering. Beware! If you are going to read this chapter, you will be challenged about your lifestyle – especially we western people. How sold out are we to the Gospel? Piper provides a heart kindling chapter on not only the reality of suffering, but also the priority of it in God’s plan for the evangelization of the nations. This chapter is phenomenal!

I don’t know if I bought into Piper’s chapter on defining what the scope of missions ought to be. I’m still thinking through this and trying to put together what I see the biblical picture to be. I will say that it has got my thoughts flowing.

Let the Nations Be Glad! is an excellent work on missions. As a matter of fact, this book will become required reading for the newly developed missions committee at Santa Clarita Baptist Church.

Why Funerals are Important

2010-03-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

Just yesterday, I had the opportunity to perform my first graveside service. It proved somewhat difficult considering I did not know the deceased or the majority of the family, and the person I did know from the family informed me that the deceased was an unbeliever. God gave me the grace and wisdom to present the Gospel, and I hope, also the opportunity to minister to the grieving family. But I was reminded yesterday how important it is to go to funerals. This may sound like a somewhat absurd idea, but for my short time in the pastorate, funerals have been a healthy reminder in my life. No, I do not like experiencing the grief associated with the funeral, but I do appreciate the reminder that life is short, therefore, make it count for God.

Our culture has a tendency to skip over the reality of death in the mundane of the everyday life. In fact, most people don't even consider death until a funeral or their own impending passing. Therefore, I think that funerals are an important reminder that our life is but a mist (James 4:14) and our days run away like a 100 meter sprinter (Job 9:25). Funerals jog our memory back to that fact.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment (Heb 9:27). What better way is there to keep this verse ever relevant than to be reminded by a funeral service? Funerals are tough, but they also teach. They teach us to number our days, so that we might get a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:12). That is why I think funerals are important.

Coloring Exegesis

2010-03-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

For almost a year now, I have been laboring through teaching the Psalms during the midweek Bible study at our church. We tackle a Psalm per week, and this Wednesday, I will be teaching through Psalm 27. This study through the Psalms has helped me gain a more lucid understanding of the danger of imposing one's interpretation on a passage before digging into the passage. For instance, Peter Craigie provides an illustration of this on his interpretation of Psalm 27. There are a few presuppositions that he brings to the table that shade his whole understanding of the Psalms - presuppositions not intended to be addressed by this post. But the presuppositions regarding the composition of the Psalms and the role that the title plays have led him to the conclusion that Psalm 27 must be understood as a reference to a pre-battle military engagement. And therefore, all the deep language of verse 1 is lost in a military foray. No longer is God the God of salvation and illumination, but the God of military victories. Granted, there are many times when the Psalmist seems to have this view in mind, but Psalm 27 does not. It is only when the exposition has been colored by this presupposition does the Psalm seem to be shaded by the nuance of pre-battle military language. This is a classic example of using internal language to shade the Psalm's main point.

With that said, I must acknowledge that I have the utmost respect for Craigie's work in the Psalms and Deuteronomy. But I must share the frustration that I continually experience when exegeting the Psalms.

Can You Say Narcissism?

2010-02-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

Saw this commercial the other day, and thought those very words.

An Apostle's Manifesto

2010-02-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

I covet your prayers this weekend as our GAP group heads up to the mountains for our annual retreat. I will be speaking three times from the book of Philippians on what I have labeled "The Apostle's Manifesto: A look at Paul's Purpose in Life from Philippians." I'm excited about these messages as I have already been bruised and beaten while studying for them. Paul was clear in Philippians 1:21 - For me, living is Christ, and to die is gain. May the Lord help me to get these messages polished by this weekend.

Formulating my Thoughts

2010-02-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

One thing that I continually do is think about preaching, church, and church ministry. I hear many books and pastors crying out for authentic, biblical church ministry; a call to get all the Christian culture stripped and the real biblical picture exposed. Add on top of that David Wells' contention that the modern church should be all about theology, and then sprinkle a little critique by people like Mark Driscoll, and you're left with, in my opinion, a complete mess. It seems like there is a call to renewal in almost every area of church ministry and "things" related to the church. And I'm not saying that these calls are necessarily wrong or off-base. Rather, the more I hear these calls, they do make me think that there are significant ways to enhance and better align church ministry with the Bible.

But the mess I'm talking about is the solutions that are offered. If we really took to heart all the cries for a renewal of biblical church ministry and the solutions that were offered, there would be a thousand changes that we would have to make. In my opinion, the majority of the solutions are more or less pills designed to treat only the symptoms of the real problem. The difficulty is making the right diagnosis and getting to the real problem. And getting to the real problem is what I have been thinking alot about. Is there a "solution" to this whole mess? Could there be one answer to it? If so, how would all these "problems" get resolved with just one solution?

Well, I'm not exactly sure if I have the answer, but I do have a guess; and right now, I'm formulating the connection between all the "problems" and the real problem. My hunch is that the issue lies more on the modern perception of pastors and their ministry than any other area. But that requires more thought and connection-making in my mind. If I get it all formulated in my mind, I'll report why I think the Pastor as Theologian is the answer. We'll see if I ever get there.

Book of the Week

2010-02-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards by George Marsden accompanied me for many days as I made my way to work (I can walk to work). This short audio book provides the reader with a brief overview of the life of Jonathan Edwards. This is not an abridged version of Marsden's monumental biography Jonathan Edwards, but rather a work that only gives a brief understanding of Edwards' life, but also an interpretation on the various influences that affected his thinking.

This work is helpful in gaining not only a quick, fly-by grasp of the events of Edwards' life, but also an understanding of both the political and religious situation of colonial America during the mid 1700's. Marsden keeps the reader interested through various side stories and comparisons (for instance, he shows how both Edwards and Franklin responded to the current cultural situation). His last chapter on what we can gain from Edwards was probably the most important section of the book. Personally, I was challenged by the consistency of his life. This theologian not only gained a knowledge of theology, but lived his life in light of that theology. His life was so consistent with his theology, that it resulted in losing his pastorate and creating criticisms of his life even to the present day. There is a lesson we could all learn: live consistent with your theology!

This book was also well read. I am extremely picky when it comes to audio books. Usually, the people who read them are boring or put me to sleep. But the reader of this book engages the book in his tone and inflection. It is a pleasure to listen to.

If you want to learn about Edwards and get the wheels turning in your head about Edwards and his theology, this is a good start. It provides a good introduction to this great man, while leaving plenty of space for more to be learned. Put it on your ipod and keep hacking at it while you go about your life. Before you know it, you will have learned a great deal about America's greatest theologian.

Book of the Week

2010-01-28T09:22:00.001-08:00

The Trellis and the Vine by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne offers a much needed rebuke and realignment for the American church. Mark Dever goes so far to say, "This is the best book I've read on the nature of church ministry." And as I read the comments about this book by Ligon Duncan, R. Albert Mohler, Jr., and David Helm, I thought to myself, "Is this book really as important as they say?" And within just a few pages of reading, I found myself echoing the thoughts of these great men!

The Trellis and the Vine gets to the root of biblical church ministry, by cutting through the modern perception of church ministry and exposing what has been proposed as church ministry as merely that which comes from corporate Western culture. This book answers these important questions: What is church ministry? What does it look like, and what is it all about? In the proposal of Marshall and Payne, there is no room for the consumer driven church attendance that characterizes most of American churches. Rather, if we get back to a biblical understanding of ministry, our church will be filled with disciple-making disciples. The Great Commission will move from being a wonderful thought to a way of living. The Trellis and the Vine provides not only the philosophical foundations for biblical ministry, but also some practical ideas in moving towards that direction. How can our church, which has been characterized by consumerism, become a church of disciple-making disciples? This book answers that, not only in theory, but in practice.

This book has made its way into my list of top ten books. And I would argue that if your church not only read this book, but took its principles and put them into practice, then you will have a church that has developed a true biblical view of ministry! Read it, think about it, and apply it!

Expect Great Things; Attempt Great Things

2010-01-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

These were the words of the William Carey's famous sermon - the deathless sermon - preached on May 31, 1792 in Nottingham, England. This sermon has been widely recognized as the spark that got the modern missionary movement aflame. Those words are quite simple, really, but yet they are profound and slap modern, American Christianity in the face. Do we expect great things from God? Or are we merely settling for the ordinary, Sunday after Sunday experience of church? I believe that to expect great things from God is the mindset that drives a person to attempt great things for God. Why attempt great things if you believe that God will only deliver mediocre things? I'm afraid that American Christianity is so far removed from this type of thinking that even the mention of "attempting great things" sounds either too lofty, too inconvenient, or too offensive. But I wonder what would happen to our churches if we started to expect and attempt great things.

Book of the Week

2010-01-19T08:52:00.000-08:00

The book of the week is not my typical entry. Sweethearts for a Lifetime by Wayne and Carol Mack is designed to enrich, confront, or establish a healthy relationship between a husband and a wife. Designed to be read by couples who have been married for more than a few years, this work challenges both the husband and wife in regard to how much they are investing in their relationship. I read this book in a few sittings to see if I wanted to use this in my pre-marital counseling. My conclusion: this is a great book for that. Here's why: My view of books for marriage and pre-marital counseling is that they offer reinforcement and further expansion upon the material that I work through with the couple. Therefore, I do not use books as the main avenue of addressing the material that needs to be covered. They simply are supplementary. And I believe that this book provides a great supplement to the material that I am covering in pre-marital counseling (even though it is designed for married couples). So, this work is not a "must read" in my opinion. Yet this work is healthy, easy read for any married person.

Stuff on My Mind

2010-01-15T10:38:00.000-08:00

Here's what's been on my mind lately:

Marriage Counseling - I have just embarked on my first pre-marital counseling endeavor with a young couple. It has been a healthy refresher for me as I think through my own marriage. The book that I am supplementing our sessions with is Sweethearts for a Lifetime. The book is designed to be a marriage refresher, but also, I feel can be used for pre-marital counseling. It's simple, to the point, and functions well as a supplement, not as all that needs and should be covered. So, this has been on my mind.

The Relationship of Ethics, Epistemology, and Metaphysics - This sounds lofty, but it is not really. Actually,this is a very practical and to the point study. I have been hacking at The Doctrine of God by John Frame, and his section on these subjects is phenomenal. I am aware that any non presuppositional apologists would not agree, but I believe that Frame tackles these three topics from a biblical perspective like I have not yet seen. He does a great job! Have you ever thought about how reality coincides with ethics and how you can know any of those? Interesting stuff.

Missions - What drove Paul as a missionary? Thomas Schreiner believes that if you are to understand Paul, then you must first and foremost recognize that he was a missionary. I haven't done enough Pauline studies to know if I agree, but I would say that Paul was the greatest missionary to have ever lived. And this Sunday, I am going to preach on what drove Paul as a missionary from Romans 15. I am currently going through a series on missions in our evening messages during Sunday evenings.

Grace/Works - This subject has been on my mind as I have had a college student from the church wrestling with the relationship between these two. I have been going through the Psalms, and as a result, there are statements in there that seem like David is almost speaking of a works salvation or a works sanctification. What are we to do with them? So, I have been thinking through the biblical relationship of the two. It seems appropriate since we are still going through the spiritual disciplines in our Thursday night Bible study.

There are more things swirling in this tiny brain of mine, but this will bore you enough for now.

How About Another One?

2009-12-15T09:49:00.001-08:00

"Scripture is concerned, above all, to glorify God. Sometimes gloryfying God humbles man, and those who believe Scripture must be willing to accept that consequence. We covet for ourselves ever more dignity, honor, and status, and we resist accepting a lower place. But Scripture assaults our pride and honors the humble. Scripture compares us, after all, not to sophisticated robots, but to simple potter's clay." - John Frame, The Doctrine of God, 146.

Good Quote

2009-12-15T09:01:00.000-08:00

"Everything in Scripture comes to us as authoritative communication. Pervasively, Scripture claims our thoughts and decisions. To miss that is in one sense to miss everything, for it is to miss the lordship of Yahweh and the lordship of Christ." - John Frame, The Doctrine of God, 92.

Book of the Week

2009-12-09T07:39:00.000-08:00

The book of this week is The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges. The book's premise is quite simple: what does the practice of Godliness look like? Each chapter is dedicated to a different aspect of Godliness - holiness, humility, gentleness . . . The strength of this work is how practical it is. It would be good to take one of the chapters per week and read through it, meditate on the passages of Scripture that he exposits, and memorize the passages he suggests. This book is good for the mature in Christ as well as the new babe in Christ. It's scope is broad enough that every Christian should come away challenged and ready to keep pressing towards Christ-likeness. I think in reality, that in my ministry, I may recommend this book to new believers. What are the practical lifestyle practices that make up what a Christian is? This book helps to answer that question. A good work, worth the read.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

2009-12-08T10:06:00.001-08:00

This past Sunday, during our Sunday School class, I taught through Psalm 8. One verse that has always stuck out to me is verse 2: Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes. Think about that statement for a minute. I love my daughter a lot (pictured above), but if I were going to a battle against my enemies, she would probably be the last person on my list that I would want fighting for me. It's nothing against my daughter; it is just that she is a baby and not exactly "war" material let alone "walking" material. Yet, the psalmist makes the point that God is so powerful, he establishes strength out of the mouths of the least likely people in the world.

It is not that God has to choose babies to establish strength. He could establish strength through the powerful and mighty in the world. But God chooses to establish strength through the mouth of babies. Why? Well, there will be no question that God is the one who is establishing strength if it is by babies. This is a principle that floods Scripture. You continually see that God uses the weak, the wimps, and those who are humbling themselves to his sovereignty to work out His sovereign plan. Think of Gideon or Jacob or the man who killed Ahab. God gets the glory because He is the only one who could have done what He did.

This is the point that Paul makes in 2 Corinthians 12:9 - Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. He recognized the truth of Psalm 8:2. It was when Paul was his weakest that he could see the power of Christ the greatest. God puts us in impossible situations so that all we have is Him.

Book of the Week

2009-12-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

The more I think about the American church, the more I realize that it has lost the power it once had. By "power," I am referring to the spiritual zeal and vigor that seemed to be evident during the time of the Great Awakening and period following. Of course, as I think about this loss of power, I am forced to ask the question why. Why has the church lost its power? What has the American church done to lose its focus and power to transform lives through the Gospel? The answer is is quite simple, but the explanation very complicated. David F. Wells answers this question better than other person I have read in his work, No Place for Truth. Although this book is 15 years old, the message remains just as pertinent, if not more pertinent than the time he penned its pages. Wells follows the influx of the modern era and how the church has responded to it. Rather than sticking to Scripture, it appears that the church has now adopted the culture as neutral, if not biblical. Rather than letting the Scripture determine our ideals, the American church has been devoted to the American ideal. And as a result, that which is most precious to the biblical faith (truth), has been lost. Without this core, the church becomes splintered, and so does all of life. Wells paints this picture with great clarity and poignancy. This book has now made it to one of my top 10 books that I have read. I warn you, though: If you read this book, it is going to take work. This is not a simple read. It is complex, thought-provoking, and even hard to read at times. But I guarantee this: the effort is well worth the reward.

Spot On

2009-12-02T11:59:00.001-08:00

I'm finishing up my long journey through David Wells' work, No Place of Truth, and his last chapter is superfluous with excellent thoughts. I came across this one today: "The Church is the place where biblical knowledge must be learned, developed, and applied. The Church is the context in which God and his Word should receive their most serious thought." Yet, how far has the church come? So far, that the word theology has come to be disdained by the modern church! How sad! Unfortunately, the average church member would put the word "seminary" in place of the word church in that quote. Wells could not be more right in that quote! My reply is none other than, "Spot on!"

Expository Preaching . . . A Conviction

2009-11-12T10:22:00.001-08:00

Two Wednesdays ago, I taught on Psalm 19. As James Montgomery Boice points out, there are two books that are addressed in that Psalm - the book of nature and the book of God's Word. David composed the second half of the Psalm with a focus on the special revelation of God: the Word of God. Some of the attributes that David mentions about the Word are clean, pure, perfect, faithful, righteous, and true. The law or "instruction" of Yahweh is all of these. And as I was studying each of the attributes and results of the Word being these attributes, I could not help but think of preaching. I know, shocker.

I am dedicated expository preacher. Notice I did not say that I am a dedicated consecutive preacher. A wrong equation that people make is that expository preaching = going through a book of the Bible. Anyways, when I say that I am a dedicated expository preacher, I am saying that I am dedicated to declaring what the Word of God says in its context. That is expository preaching. And the reason I am a dedicated expository preacher is due to all the truths found in the Bible about itself: Psalm 19, 119; 2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:21 (etc.). Expository preaching for me is more of a conviction than of a method. To me, it is the only method if I am convinced that what the Bible says about itself is true! If all we need for life and godliness is found in the Word of God, then what people need to hear is the Word of God - declared with conviction.

Back to Blog. . . I hope

2009-11-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have blogged. There are a few reasons for this. Of course, there is the typical and most prominent reason: laziness. I just simply forget to blog, or when it is time to blog, I simply don't feel like it. I know, it's a great excuse. The other reason for my lack of consistent blogging is due to a packed week last week that required a lot of preparation. At the school I teach at, I was asked to oversee and speak at their annual spiritual emphasis week. This consisted of five days of teaching and preparation. We weren't sure how the kids were going to take to this week, but I must say that the Lord not only prepared their hearts, but allowed the week to run smoothly. I had the great opportunity to speak on the Gospel for almost five straight days. Is there anything else that a preacher could ask for? God worked in that week, and it will be exciting to see how He keeps working. So, now, I have no excuse not to blog.

Book of the Week

2009-10-14T14:21:00.001-07:00

Could there be any more daunting of a book than one titled Humility? C. J. Mahaney once again delivers a powerful and convicting book. I took a long time to read this book because I wanted to not simply read it, but dwell on it. And dwell on it I did. In page after page, Mahaney continually informs, challenges, and encourages the reader to develop and maintain a life of humility. This is not to say that Mahaney has mastered it, but it is to say that he has insights that we should all take seriously. There is not much to say about this book, but read it!

A Conversation...Needed Conversation

2009-10-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

I have the privilege of chairing the Bible department of the high school attached to our church. With that privilege comes conversation with many of the Bible teachers. I provided one of the teachers with a sermon preached by John Piper at the Shepherd's Conference. The sermon, titled Live to Die, is a great, challenging sermon about American Christianity - the typical Piper sermon. Anyways, this morning the teacher and I spent more than a few minutes talking about the concepts presented by Piper. It was both an encouraging and much needed conversation for me. I needed the reminder of how much Southern California culture has been infiltrating my thinking. It is conversations like this that remind me of the sweet fellowship that we as believers have in Jesus Christ.

Giving: A Lost Art in Missions

2009-10-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

One of the projects on my "to do" list is to analyze how our current missions' program at SCBC is running and see how we can make this program more effective to the glory of God. There are many things that have to take place - development of a mission's philosophy, committee establishment, committee policies, strategy development for cultivating a mission's mindset - and the list goes on. As I have been thinking about missions, I came back to a recurring thought that I have been thinking about since my college years. The thought is this: what are missionaries doing to teach on giving? For example, how can a missionary be pastoring a church of a hundred people in England for years and still come back every four years to solicit support? I know that this is a touchy subject (experience in heated conversations), but why are we not teaching the need for every believer to give? I praise the Lord for the missionaries that do teach this. I have seen both good and poor examples. Probably one of the most giving churches I have ever been to was a mission planted church in St. Vincent. This church gave and gave to the shame of us white missionaries. Yet, I have also seen situations where a pastor has been at a church for years and never once has taught the congregation the need to give. Missions should not only be geared to self-governing and autonomous for the church body, but also for the missionary. Hm...to be honest, this is a complex issue full of multiple variables, but the point remains the same. I think that giving has become a lost art on the mission field.