"Violent street battles killed at least 140 people and injured 828 others in the deadliest ethnic unrest to hit China's western Xinjiang region in decades..." Before you read the rest of this blog would you take a moment to pray for the Xinjiang region in China asking God to give the churches there great success in spreading the gospel?
Each day this week Tolle Lege will add to the discussion I began this Sunday on guarding our hearts. Last Sunday I recommended the book, "Hedges" by Jerry Jenkins. This Sunday I'll recommend C.J. Mahaney's "Humility: True Greatness." In an interview before the book's publication, Mahaney said,
"I am convinced that pride is my greatest enemy and humility my greatest friend I have searched the Scriptures over the years for practices that would enable me to weaken pride and cultivate humility each day. And I devote much attention to practical application in the book because I am convinced that one does not grow in godliness apart from the grace motivated application of truth. So in the book I present a list of practical ways I seek to weaken pride and cultivate humility each day. My recommendations begin with practices for weakening pride and cultivating humility as each day begins, practices for throughout each day and as each day ends. These practices would involve everything from studying the attributes of God to playing golf as much as possible (for there is no more humbling or humiliating sport). There are 17 practices I recommend, but for me the most important is to daily survey the wondrous Cross on which the Prince of Glory died. When Dr. Don Carson interviewed the late Dr. Carl Henry and asked him how he had remained humble for so many decades, Dr. Henry responded, “How can anyone be arrogant when he stands beside the cross?” I want to stand as close to the cross as I possibly can, because it’s harder for me to be arrogant and easier for me to be humble when I’m there."
Monday, July 6, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
To Be Like Jesus - Let's Sing about it!
The new Sovereign Grace CD for kids, "To Be Like Jesus," is out in stores. The Sovereign Grace store site says, “To Be Like Jesus contains twelve worship songs that teach the fruit of the Spirit in a creative and memorable way.Through these songs kids will learn that Jesus is our perfect example of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,and self-control. More than that, they’ll discover that we can’t be like Jesus unless we trust in the power of his cross to forgive us and the power of his Spirit to change us.
Did you know that God says your life is supposed to be like a fruit tree? He’s talking about something much more important than apples, oranges, or bananas. The fruit God wants in our lives is the kind the Holy Spirit produces in us when we know and follow Jesus. It’s the fruit that comes when we turn from our sins and trust that Christ died in our place so we could be forgiven and become like him.
These songs will help you remember what that fruit looks like and how growing in Jesus is the only way to see more of it in your life!
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
This CD is an enhanced CD which includes guitar charts and accompaniment tracks. Pictures and videos coming soon!”
Let's each get one and we'll sing along!
Did you know that God says your life is supposed to be like a fruit tree? He’s talking about something much more important than apples, oranges, or bananas. The fruit God wants in our lives is the kind the Holy Spirit produces in us when we know and follow Jesus. It’s the fruit that comes when we turn from our sins and trust that Christ died in our place so we could be forgiven and become like him.
These songs will help you remember what that fruit looks like and how growing in Jesus is the only way to see more of it in your life!
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
This CD is an enhanced CD which includes guitar charts and accompaniment tracks. Pictures and videos coming soon!”
Let's each get one and we'll sing along!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Christ as the Gospel
Paul’s gospel centers on Jesus Christ (Romans 1:3) and is the proclamation of His person and work (Romans 1:16). Paul knew Jesus Christ as the Messiah, as a human being, as Savior, as the Son of God and as Lord. Fundamental to Paul’s theology is the concept that the gospel is Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:17-25); i.e., Christ dying for the ungodly (Romans 5:6) and can be summarized in the passion narrative of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Paul, “records the progressive revelation of God In the ministry of the incarnate Word, until it finds its climax on the cross…” (F.F.Bruce, Apostle of the Heart Set Free, p. 123). Hence, it is only ‘in Christ’ that men are not condemned (Romans 8:1) and are justified (Romans 4:25). Salvation is fellowship with Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:9) and grace is a gift bestowed upon God’s people only in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:17-25). For these reasons, Paul’s sole ambition in life was to preach the gospel of Christ (Romans 15:19-20; 1 Corinthians 1:6; Philippians 1:15, 17-18; Colossians 1:28). Everything he did was to this end (1 Corinthians 9:23). To Paul, this gospel was nothing less, could be nothing more and was nothing else but “the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). In summary, Jesus Christ was “my gospel” (2 Timothy 2:8). And so it should be ours. The gospel is Jesus Christ. It is "the gospel of the glory of the blessed God" (1 Timothy 1:11), " the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1).
"A Day of too much Perfection"
Sitting in the grove park grand lobby. all the doors open. ceiling fans on. light breeze blowing through. Saxaphone and classical guitar playing. Teana is reading anne bradstreet. I, 'An Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics.' It is 'a day of too much perfection.'
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thoughts on the Recent SBC Annual
Well, no on said it better than the Internet Monk at www.internetmonk.com
Those of you who have various versions of autocratic church governments that never give the ordinary hoi polloi the microphone may look down your noses at allowing people to make motions to ban books, adopt flags and boycott Pepsi, but our circus has a lot to commend it over your imitation of the Vatican. Public perception has to go out the window, but meaning what you say about congregationalism, messenger representation and cooperation from the ground up outweighs the spectacle. No one will ever stand up in most of your churches and say something really stupid, and that’s a shame, because the pastor shouldn’t be the only one who gets to have fun.
2. The younger leaders of the SBC are taking on power in a denomination that has been, for the most part, attempting to lock the doors and hope they would go away. Well, they didn’t. They came to the convention and voted in a mechanism to take an urgent look at what we are doing for the one thing that holds us together: a commitment to carry out the Great Commission. What you saw today was a serious changing of the power grid in the SBC. The vast numbers of obedient old-guard messengers are never again going to show up and make the SBC into a wholly owned subsidiary of the culture war or the Jerry Vines version of the SBC. This is now a denomination that has given itself clear and simple instructions: Get to the task of world missions, not the task of building a denominational culture.
3. It’s hard for many people to see how the SBC is a victim of its own success. In its heyday, the SBC built everything, started everything, produced everything, thought of everything and told you everything. They were, unlike any denomination in recent history, a self-contained evangelical empire. But that structure was not built for the future. It has become, to the younger generation raised on the Biblical, Gospel emphasis of the conservative resurgence, a collection of distractions and unwanted structures with little relation to the Great Commission. While every agency and entity will defend its existence, the fact is that the SBC’s overall structure is too large, and younger leaders will not support the vision of the “Great Denomination” that the generation of the 50’s and 60’s valued and created.
4. Changes in the SBC will happen quickly. Seminary education is changing before our eyes. Finances are going to change. Cooperative models are going to change. Relationships with the local and state conventions will change. A lot of people are going to find that the old rallying cries- be they rhetorical, cultural or denominational- are not going to get the same response. The younger generation SIMPLY ISN’T GOING TO BUY THE OLD SBC MYTHOLOGY. The sooner leaders come to grips with that, the better things will be. It is ridiculous to lecture the audience about Calvinism or throw fits about teetotalism or books in the bookstore. The number of people who care, who are being told by ANY pastor or leader they respect that these things matter, is small and growing smaller.
5. The motions brought from the floor did reveal what an utter waste of time the culture war has been for Southern Baptists. With a $40 million dollar missions’ shortfall, some SBCers still want to boycott Pepsi and harp about Mark Driscoll. Such rhetoric is an embarassment to the next generation. In all honesty, fellows….you’ve lost. Either give it up or find one of the few churches that care about being the moral police department.
6. The patient teaching of the Gospel and church-centered theology by the Founders Ministries and 9Marks has paid off in more fruit than can be put in a basket. Hundreds and hundreds of young people, hungry to hear how to build a Gospel centered, God honoring, missionary focused church. It is astonishing. It may not be revival, but it is a solid outcome that will make a huge difference for a small number of churches.
7. No, the SBC’s generational turnover won’t be averted. Thousands of churches will die in the next 2-4 decades. But hopefully, thousands of new and revitalized churches will live.
8. It is now time for the large churches and the state conventions to come to the plate and take leadership in making sacrifices and doing what is necessary to get those stalled missionaries on the field.
9. Morris Chapman should resign. His moral mandate is utterly finished. He has served well, but his address today was an embarrassment.
10. Johnny Hunt has chosen to support the future of the SBC and the Gospel. He has laid aside the questions of style, culture and methodology- even the questions of Calvinism- and chosen to side with those who want the Gospel itself to be our unity. This is still a stunning development, in my opinion, and one for which Hunt should be deeply appreciated as a man of principle. He is not my style of pastor, and megachurches are not the future in my view, but Johnny Hunt is playing for the team, not his church or his “boys.” He is a gift to the SBC.
11. Younger leaders: You won today. Now be mature. Be gracious. Be kind. Build bridges. Heed wisdom and heal rifts. Watch Danny Akin and do what he does the way he does it.
12. God is amazingly kind to our old ship. Born in a love of slavery. Arrogant. Blind to the Kingdom outside its own borders. Cantankerous and stubborn. But the ship still sails because the Holy Spirit says it will be so
Those of you who have various versions of autocratic church governments that never give the ordinary hoi polloi the microphone may look down your noses at allowing people to make motions to ban books, adopt flags and boycott Pepsi, but our circus has a lot to commend it over your imitation of the Vatican. Public perception has to go out the window, but meaning what you say about congregationalism, messenger representation and cooperation from the ground up outweighs the spectacle. No one will ever stand up in most of your churches and say something really stupid, and that’s a shame, because the pastor shouldn’t be the only one who gets to have fun.
2. The younger leaders of the SBC are taking on power in a denomination that has been, for the most part, attempting to lock the doors and hope they would go away. Well, they didn’t. They came to the convention and voted in a mechanism to take an urgent look at what we are doing for the one thing that holds us together: a commitment to carry out the Great Commission. What you saw today was a serious changing of the power grid in the SBC. The vast numbers of obedient old-guard messengers are never again going to show up and make the SBC into a wholly owned subsidiary of the culture war or the Jerry Vines version of the SBC. This is now a denomination that has given itself clear and simple instructions: Get to the task of world missions, not the task of building a denominational culture.
3. It’s hard for many people to see how the SBC is a victim of its own success. In its heyday, the SBC built everything, started everything, produced everything, thought of everything and told you everything. They were, unlike any denomination in recent history, a self-contained evangelical empire. But that structure was not built for the future. It has become, to the younger generation raised on the Biblical, Gospel emphasis of the conservative resurgence, a collection of distractions and unwanted structures with little relation to the Great Commission. While every agency and entity will defend its existence, the fact is that the SBC’s overall structure is too large, and younger leaders will not support the vision of the “Great Denomination” that the generation of the 50’s and 60’s valued and created.
4. Changes in the SBC will happen quickly. Seminary education is changing before our eyes. Finances are going to change. Cooperative models are going to change. Relationships with the local and state conventions will change. A lot of people are going to find that the old rallying cries- be they rhetorical, cultural or denominational- are not going to get the same response. The younger generation SIMPLY ISN’T GOING TO BUY THE OLD SBC MYTHOLOGY. The sooner leaders come to grips with that, the better things will be. It is ridiculous to lecture the audience about Calvinism or throw fits about teetotalism or books in the bookstore. The number of people who care, who are being told by ANY pastor or leader they respect that these things matter, is small and growing smaller.
5. The motions brought from the floor did reveal what an utter waste of time the culture war has been for Southern Baptists. With a $40 million dollar missions’ shortfall, some SBCers still want to boycott Pepsi and harp about Mark Driscoll. Such rhetoric is an embarassment to the next generation. In all honesty, fellows….you’ve lost. Either give it up or find one of the few churches that care about being the moral police department.
6. The patient teaching of the Gospel and church-centered theology by the Founders Ministries and 9Marks has paid off in more fruit than can be put in a basket. Hundreds and hundreds of young people, hungry to hear how to build a Gospel centered, God honoring, missionary focused church. It is astonishing. It may not be revival, but it is a solid outcome that will make a huge difference for a small number of churches.
7. No, the SBC’s generational turnover won’t be averted. Thousands of churches will die in the next 2-4 decades. But hopefully, thousands of new and revitalized churches will live.
8. It is now time for the large churches and the state conventions to come to the plate and take leadership in making sacrifices and doing what is necessary to get those stalled missionaries on the field.
9. Morris Chapman should resign. His moral mandate is utterly finished. He has served well, but his address today was an embarrassment.
10. Johnny Hunt has chosen to support the future of the SBC and the Gospel. He has laid aside the questions of style, culture and methodology- even the questions of Calvinism- and chosen to side with those who want the Gospel itself to be our unity. This is still a stunning development, in my opinion, and one for which Hunt should be deeply appreciated as a man of principle. He is not my style of pastor, and megachurches are not the future in my view, but Johnny Hunt is playing for the team, not his church or his “boys.” He is a gift to the SBC.
11. Younger leaders: You won today. Now be mature. Be gracious. Be kind. Build bridges. Heed wisdom and heal rifts. Watch Danny Akin and do what he does the way he does it.
12. God is amazingly kind to our old ship. Born in a love of slavery. Arrogant. Blind to the Kingdom outside its own borders. Cantankerous and stubborn. But the ship still sails because the Holy Spirit says it will be so
Friday, June 12, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
The Blogosphere and Christian Spirituality
The internet is simultaneously a wonderful and terrible thing. There is as much misinformation as information and as much ungodliness as godliness. Christians certainly should use every means available to advance Christ's cause in the world but, when surfing the net must be concerned about their own spirituality. Much of what transpires on the Internet can be interpreted as a modern version of Paul's concern when he wrote, "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:1-7).
The King James translates "weak" (v 6) as "silly," which is an appropriate word for much of how Christians behave on the internet. The silliness reveals a weakness in Christian character that is unsatisfied with the life to which God has called people. Multitudes of Christians interact on the internet through Facebook in ways that are wholly unholy as "idlers, going about from house to house [site to site], and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not" (1 Timothy 5:13). An equally silly [weak] number actually derive their primary Bible teaching, doctrinal understanding and beliefs from the Internet. Still others think the Internet is a valid primary source for what they disagree with in Christianity or other religions.
In effect, multitudes of Christians have utilized the Internet to become the very "wicked, scoffers and sinners" against which the Psalmist warned in Psalm 1. Others neglect their primary responsiblities to God, family, church, community and the world in favor of blogging or surfing.
Christians must utilize the "shield of faith" (Ephesians 6) to guard against foolish debates and arguments, gossip and time wasting pursuits. Our Internet reading and writing on blogs, web sites, etc., should reflect Paul's admonition to "let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27). Obey Psalm 1 and don't waste time on scorners - certainly don't become one. Refuse to give up what is holy and essential to living life coram deo for unending and fruitless arguments with those who will not acknowledge the truth. Keep your Internet reading and writing focused on Christ, God-honoring and don't quench the Spirit. The Internet is undoubtedly a spiriutal battle wherein "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). By all means, remember this and treat the Internet as such.
The King James translates "weak" (v 6) as "silly," which is an appropriate word for much of how Christians behave on the internet. The silliness reveals a weakness in Christian character that is unsatisfied with the life to which God has called people. Multitudes of Christians interact on the internet through Facebook in ways that are wholly unholy as "idlers, going about from house to house [site to site], and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not" (1 Timothy 5:13). An equally silly [weak] number actually derive their primary Bible teaching, doctrinal understanding and beliefs from the Internet. Still others think the Internet is a valid primary source for what they disagree with in Christianity or other religions.
In effect, multitudes of Christians have utilized the Internet to become the very "wicked, scoffers and sinners" against which the Psalmist warned in Psalm 1. Others neglect their primary responsiblities to God, family, church, community and the world in favor of blogging or surfing.
Christians must utilize the "shield of faith" (Ephesians 6) to guard against foolish debates and arguments, gossip and time wasting pursuits. Our Internet reading and writing on blogs, web sites, etc., should reflect Paul's admonition to "let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27). Obey Psalm 1 and don't waste time on scorners - certainly don't become one. Refuse to give up what is holy and essential to living life coram deo for unending and fruitless arguments with those who will not acknowledge the truth. Keep your Internet reading and writing focused on Christ, God-honoring and don't quench the Spirit. The Internet is undoubtedly a spiriutal battle wherein "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). By all means, remember this and treat the Internet as such.
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