No Plan B Needed

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer of Hope for Weary Servants of God

     When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kings 6:15-17

     Gracious Father, there are times when the “odds” feel quite stacked against us, as your people. With the naked eye, the enemies of justice, truth and the gospel seem to greatly outnumber your “troops.” Serving you is stressful, overwhelming, and at times it feels futile.
     But just when we begin to retreat into a basement of fear, or question your concern and faithfulness, you open our eyes and show us the way things really are. We praise you for the gift of perspective. You haven’t and you will not abandoned us. Things are not as they appear. Because the gospel is true, “those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16).
     But the way of the gospel will always be strength in weakness—the transforming treasure of the gospel in fragile jars of clay, like us. You sent 300 poorly armed soldiers with Gideon, not 34,000 fighting men, to defeat the entire Midianite army. You chose Jesse’s youngest son, David—a young shepherd, to be the king of Israel—a most unlikely candidate. Most profoundly, it was the crucifixion of Jesus, not an insurrection of zealots or the religion of Pharisees, which won our salvation.
     Father, the “odds” are never really stacked against your covenant purposes and your transforming kingdom. You’re not “trying” to do anything. You never have to resort to plan B or hedge your bets. You are God, and there is no other god. Strengthen us, and your servants throughout the world, when we grow weary in preaching and applying the gospel; planting and maturing churches; and in doing justice and loving mercy. We will reap a harvest at the proper time, if we do not give up (Gal. 6:9).
     You don’t need to show us herds of horses or chariots of fire, just show us more and more of the resurrected and reigning Jesus. Our labors in Him are often exhausting and discouraging, but they are never in vain (1 Cor. 15:58). So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ trustworthy and triumphant name.

Honor of the King of Kings

Excerpt from Tim Keller article "The Honors of the King" in March 2011 Redeemer Newsletter: 

In his unpublished biography of his brother C. S. Lewis, W. H. “Warnie” Lewis related how in late 1951 his brother received a letter from Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In it, Churchill offered to recommend him for a C.B.E. (Commander of the British Empire)

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Christianity is filled with many truth claims. Some of those claims and principles may align well with a certain political party. It is a great temptation for those within the party to identify those themes and aspects of Christianity that are agreeable to its own goals and seek to enhance its own credibility by hinting (or overtly claiming) that voting for their party is God’s will. And if the party offers the religious leaders the perks of power and recognition, the offer can be irresistible. Onlookers have the right to be cynical about the religious institutions that strike this bargain. They do not have the right to assume that’s all there is to Christianity—but that is what they conclude. 

 

C. S.Lewis refused to be a part of that. He was far-sighted.  In our country over the last 60 years, alliances between churches and politics have resulted in many people dismissing Christianity as only “the Conservative (or) Liberal party at prayer.” The results have been destructive (as we discussed in last month’s newsletter article on ‘Civility.’) 

 

At Redeemer we believe that the gospel shapes all areas of life. Christians can and should be involved in government, and their Christian faith will be the driving force behind how they engage in politics as well as how they evaluate many policy issues. Also, Redeemer teaches God’s word and often what the Bible says will have public policy implications that are direct and/or indirect. But Christians must not implicitly or explicitly identify their Christianity with political figures and parties.  That has always been the balance we have tried to strike in our ministry in the city. It is tempting of course, when the honours of earthly kings are offered to us for doing Christian ministry. C. S. Lewis allowed the honor of the King of Kings to be enough for him. 

On Purpose

Excerpt from Perry Noble post:  Today We Are Rich

In the fall of 2003 I had the privilege of seeing Tim Sanders speak at Catalyst and was blown away by his passion and challenged by what the Lord has put on his hear to challenge young leaders with.  (I also bought and devoured this book as a result of his talk…I highly recommend it!)

Tim has recently written a brand new book entitled, “Today We Are Rich, Harnessing The Power Of Total Confidence.”  (Here is the website with a FREE downloadable EBook…check it out!!!)

Recently I had the privilege of asking Tim some questions about his new book…and loved what he had to say about it…

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#2 – Why do you think it is important for us to focus on our purpose in life and not just our passions?

Passion is the pursuit of self: Fun, mastery, actualization and personal rewards.  We should encourage our children to chase their passions like butterflies – it gives them dimension and helps them find their voice and skills.

But as they grow into adults and physically mature, we must challenge them to live a life of service and follow a worthwhile purpose.  If they continue to follow their passions into adulthood or parenthood, everyone suffers and energy comes and goes along with windfalls and challenges.  To tell your kids “just do what you love,” is like telling them “love yourself at the expense of everyone else.”

When you decide to make the leap from serving passions to serving a purpose, you are spiritually coming of age.  You can know pursue significance.

From a performance point of view, it’s important to be purpose driven because a sense of meaning can give us unlimited energy and unbreakable resilience.  Nazi war camp survivor Viktor Frankl once said that “when there’s purpose in a thing, there is no suffering.”  Purpose is also important to find the sweet spot between self-confidence and humility.  When you are on-purpose, you follow and repot to a higher power, God’s will.  This helps you, as Pastor Steven Furtick likes to say, “deflect all the glory to God.”

In my case, my purpose comes from a Scripture in Hebrews that I paraphrase: “Provoke good works in people and outbursts of love, not forsaking as we gather in public.” Gives me a clear compass in my life for knowing which direction to go.  And that’s important, because Billye taught me that “success is not a destination, but a direction – true North.”

#3 – What is your biggest hope that your readers will take away from the book? 

If I had to choose a single piece of advice from the book, here it is: Stick with your rock, never forsake your foundation of positive thinking, faith, gratitude and the burning desire to participate in the end of suffering.

If you feel like you are moving Sideways in your life, as I have in mine, ask yourself the following question.  “What are you not doing today that you were doing back when things were better?” Often, you’ll find out that you aren’t reading good stuff, like your Bible.  You aren’t talking to your parents or respecting your elders – trusting your Facebook friends more than the Rocks in your life.  If you are lost, to quote Pastor Heck from the small church I grew up in, “the only way back to Eden is to go back home and admit you aren’t keeping it between the ditches.”

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Priest, Advocate, Intercessor and King

Miscellanies post:  Happy Birthday Thomas Boston

Puritan minister and author Thomas Boston was born on this day (March 17) 335 years ago [ht: Nathan Sasser]. Just about everything Boston wrote is worth reading, but especially the personal covenant that he wrote at the outset of his pastorate:

A Personal Covenant
by Thomas Boston
August 14, 1699

I, MR. THOMAS BOSTON, preacher of the gospel of Christ, being by nature an apostate from God, an enemy to the great JEHOVAH and so an heir of hell and wrath, in myself utterly lost and undone, because of my original and actual sins, and misery thereby; and being, in some measure, made sensible of this my lost and undone state, and sensible of my need, my absolute need of a Savior, without whom I must perish eternally; and believing that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the eternal God, is not only able to save me, by virtue of his death and sufferings, but willing also to have me (though most vile and ugly, and one who has given him many repulses), both from my sins, and from the load of wrath due to me for them, upon condition that I believe, come to him for salvation, and cordially receive him in all his offices; consenting to the terms of the covenant.

Therefore, as I have at several opportunities before given an express and solemn consent to the terms of the covenant, and have entered into a personal covenant with Christ; so now, being called to undertake the great and weighty work of the ministry of the gospel, for which I am altogether insufficient, I do by this declare, That I stand to and own all my former engagements, whether sacramental, or any other way whatsoever; and now again do RENEW my covenant with God; and hereby, at this present time, do solemnly COVENANT and ENGAGE to be the Lord’s and MAKE a solemn resignation and upgiving of myself, my soul, body, spiritual and temporal concerns, unto the Lord Jesus Christ, without any reservation whatsoever; and do hereby give my voluntary consent to the terms of the covenant laid down in the holy scriptures, the word of truth; and with my heart and soul I TAKE and RECEIVE Christ in all his offices, as my PROPHET to teach me, resolving and engaging in his strength to follow, that is, to endeavor to follow his instructions.

I TAKE him as my PRIEST, to be saved by his death and merits alone; and renouncing my own righteousness as filthy rags, I am content to be clothed with his righteousness alone; and live entirely upon free grace; likewise I TAKE him for my ADVOCATE and INTERCESSOR with the Father: and finally, I TAKE him as my KING, to reign in me, and to rule over me, renouncing all other lords, whether sin or self, and in particular my predominant idol; and in the strength of the Lord, do resolve and hereby engage, to cleave to Christ as my Sovereign Lord and King, in death and in life, in prosperity and in adversity, even for ever, and to strive and wrestle in his strength against all known sin; protesting, that whatever sin may be lying hid in my heart out of my view, I disown it, and abhor it, and shall in the Lord’s strength, endeavor the mortification of it, when the Lord shall be pleased to let me see it. And this solemn covenant I make as in the presence of the ever-living, heart-searching God, and subscribe it with my hand, in my chamber, at Dunse, about one o’clock in the afternoon, the fourteenth day of August, one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine years.

T. BOSTON

Energy of Life

I am the path, the truth, and the energy of life.
John 14:6, The Voice

Hitting the Refresh Button

Excerpts from Tullian Tchividjian post:  What To Preach To Yourself Everyday

Because we are so naturally prone to look at ourselves and our performance more than we do to Christ and his performance, we need constant reminders of the gospel.

If we’re supposed to preach the gospel to ourselves everyday—what’s the actual content of that message? What is it exactly that I need to keep reminding myself of?

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It’s been widely accepted that in the original language of Greek, Ephesians 1:3-14 is one long sentence. Paul becomes so overwhelmed by the sheer greatness and immensity and size and sweetness of God’s amazing grace, that he doesn’t even take a breath. He writes in a state of controlled ecstasy. And at the heart of his elation is the idea of “union with Christ.” We have been blessed, he writes, “in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (1:3): we’ve been chosen (v. 4), graced (v. 6), redeemed (v. 7), reconciled (v. 10), destined (v. 11), and sealed forever (v. 13). The everything we need and long for, Paul says, we already possess if we are in Christ. He has already sweepingly secured all that our hearts deeply crave.

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The hard work of Christian growth, therefore, is to think less of me and my performance and more of Jesus and his performance for me. Ironically, when we focus mostly on our need to get better we actually get worse. We become neurotic and self-absorbed. Preoccupation with my effort over God’s effort for me makes me increasingly self-centered and morbidly introspective.

You could state it this way: Sanctification is the daily hard work of going back to the reality of our justification–receiving Christ’s words, “It is finished” into new and deeper parts of our being every day, into our rebellious regions of unbelief.  It’s going back to the certainty of our objectively secured pardon in Christ and hitting the refresh button a thousand times a day. Or, as Martin Luther so aptly put it in his Lectures on Romans, “To progress is always to begin again.” Real spiritual progress,  in other words, requires a daily going backwards.

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Christian growth, in other words, does not happen first by behaving better, but believing better–believing in bigger, deeper, brighter ways what Christ has already secured for sinners.

Preach that to yourself everyday and you’ll increasingly experience the scandalous freedom that Jesus paid so dearly to secure for you.

With Us and For Us

Scotty Smith: A Prayer in Praise of God’s Irrepressible Generosity

     May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus. Romans 15:5
     May the God of hope fill you with all you and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
     The God of peace be with you all. Amen. Romans 15:33

     Gracious Father, your Word never ceases to astonish, nourish, and cause our hearts to flourish. The more we marinate and mediate on the Scriptures, the more we find your heart to be a bottomless ocean of mercy and grace. You are much more loving, kind and generous than our dull hearts usually grasp. In this one chapter alone (Romans 15), out of nearly 1200 in the Bible, you come to us this very day as…
     The God who gives endurance and encouragement: O Father, you know how much we need both of these grace-gifts. Many of us are physically pooped, mentally taxed and emotionally spent. Why can’t crises and crucibles be spread out a little more evenly in life? Please grant us strength, Father, and encourage our tired hearts. Give us fresh gospel-bread that we might feast, then feed the many needy people you have woven into our lives.
     The God of hope: It’s an increasingly complex world, Father. Life feels more uncertain and fragile than ever. Fill our hearts with an undistilled vision of your finished story. Quicken our senses with the jaw-dropping sights and soul-stirring sounds of the new heaven and new earth; the aromatic smells of that Garden City; the unimaginable beauty of this world made new by Jesus. May this living and sure hope give us courage to serve you sacrificially and joyfully, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We want to overflow with hope, not just be slow drips.
     The God of peace. Father, you are the consummate peace-maker—reconciling enemies and restoring broken things. We only have peace with you because you have made your peace with us through the work of Jesus. May this profound assurance free us today to live as conduits of your shalom-making love and power. To know that you are with us and for us is all we really need today, Father. So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ matchless and merciful name.

Faith and Action

Steven Furtick post:  Bonus Tracks -- God's Power, Your Strength

We kicked off a new series this past weekend called Grapes and Giants where we’re looking at four different promises that God has made to every believer in Jesus Christ in the book of Ephesians. For our first week, we focused on the promise of power from Ephesians 1:17-23.

At one point in my sermon I briefly mentioned the difference between power and strength and why so many Christians live powerless lives. I didn’t get to fully flesh it out, so I thought I’d elaborate on it here for everyone.

The tragic truth of our time is that countless Christians are living without strength when their God is full of power. And I firmly believe that one of the main reasons this happens is that we don’t understand the difference between power and strength.

It seems like semantics, but this is actually what separates the ordinary believer from the great men and women of faith in the Bible and throughout history.

Every Christian believes God is powerful. But not every Christian understands that God’s power is not just an abstract proposition. It’s a tangible, practical reality that you have to seize and appropriate to your life.



In other words, God’s power isn’t an automatic trump card.

It’s possible for God to have all the power but for you to live in total weakness.

Think of it like this:
God is still all-powerful when you’re continuing to live in slavery to sin.
God is still all-powerful when you’re letting yourself be a victim of your circumstances.
God is still all-powerful when you’re living a life of mediocrity.
God is still all-powerful when you’re living as if He isn’t.

God already has all the power He’ll ever need to do everything He’ll ever want to do. In the world and in your life. But God’s power is only potential until you convert it into strength by faith and action.

Strength is where you seize God’s power and walk it out.
To leave the slavery of your sin.
To rise above your circumstances.
To break out of the monotony of mediocrity.
To live a life that can only be explained by an infinitely powerful God.

Don’t waste another second praying that God would be powerful. He’s already powerful. And don’t waste another second praying that you would have more power. The power of the resurrection is inside of you. That’s more than enough power for anything you’ll ever face in your life.

You already have what you’re praying for. Take God’s power. Appropriate it. And let it become strength in every area your life.

No Other Option

Ray Ortlund post:  Depending solely on God

“It is a dreadful truth that the state of (as you say) ‘having to depend solely on God’ is what we all dread most.  And of course that just shows how very much, how almost exclusively, we have been depending on things.  But trouble goes so far back in our lives and is now so deeply ingrained, we will not turn to him as long as he leaves us anything else to turn to.  I suppose all one can say is that it was bound to come.  In the hour of death and the day of judgment, what else shall we have?  Perhaps when those moments come, they will feel happiest who have been forced (however unwittingly) to begin practicing it here on earth.  It is good of him to force us; but dear me, how hard to feel that it is good at the time.”

C. S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady (Grand Rapids, 1967), page 47.  Italics original.

Covenant Faithfulness

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer about Why God Loves Us

     The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers. Deuteronomy 7:7-8

     Most holy and gracious Father, you’d think these amazing words of your sovereign grace would slay the performance-based beast within. But I’m still foolish enough to look for something in me to explain why you love me. I still default to my “inner-legalist” way too often. Where does this madness come from?
     Isn’t it because I want to manipulate and control you? Isn’t it because I want less mystery and more predictability in my walk with you? Isn’t it because I’d rather spend the Monopoly money of self-salvation than declare my real bankruptcy?
     Isn’t it because I’d rather work my way out of guilt than be shut up to sheer grace? Isn’t it because I want to make you responsible for my bad days and hard circumstances? Isn’t because I want some credit for generating my good days and blessing? Isn’t it because I want to justify my critical attitude towards other people? Oh, how much I need the gospel, today and every day.
   Father, you haven’t set your affection on me because of anything in me—not because of anything I’ve done, do or have ceased doing. You’ve didn’t chose me because I’m choice, but simply because you chose me—to redeem and restore me for your glory.
     Indeed, it’s only because of your covenant faithfulness that I have the absolute assurance that I’m loved with your everlasting, unwavering and irrepressible love. It’s only because Jesus is your “Yes!” to every promise you’ve made that I have this unparalleled peace. This humbles me. This makes me profoundly glad, Father. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ matchless and merciful name.

Inexhaustible Love Wins

Excerpts from Kevin DeYoung post:  Heaven Is a World of Love

Most people know Jonathan Edwards as the guy who preached hellfire and brimstone sermons like “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” But fewer realize that the pastor from Northampton, Massachusetts also preached sermons like this one, called “Heaven is a World of Love.”

The Apostle tells us that God is love, 1 John 4:8. And therefore seeing he is an infinite Being, it follows that he is an infinite fountain of love, Seeing he is an all-sufficient Being, it follows that he is a full and overflowing and an inexhaustible fountain of love. Seeing he is an unchangeable and eternal Being, he is an unchangeable and eternal source of love. There even in heaven dwells that God from whom every stream of holy love, yea, every drop that is or ever was proceeds.

There dwells God the Father, and so the Son, who are united in infinitely dear and incomprehensible mutual love. There dwells God the Father, who is the Father of mercies, and so the Father of love, who so loved that world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life [John 3:16].

There dwells Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the Prince of peace and love, who so loved the world that he shed his blood, and poured out his soul unto death for it. There dwells the Mediator, by whom all God’s love is expressed to the saints, by whom the fruits of it have been purchased, and through whom they are communicated, and through whom love is imparted to the hearts of all the church. There Christ dwells in both his natures, his human and divine, sitting with the Father in the same throne.

There is the Holy Spirit, the spirit of divine love, in whom the very essence of God, as it were, all flows out or is shed abroad in the hearts of all the church [cf. Rom. 5:5].

There in heaven this fountain of love, this eternal three in one, is set open without any obstacle to hinder access to it. There this glorious God is manifested and shines forth in full glory, in beams of love; there the fountain overflows in streams and rivers of love and delight, enough for all to drink at, and to swim in, yea, so as to overflow the world as it were with a deluge of love. (The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards, 245)

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One of the striking things in reading the excerpt above is to see just how much his heaven of love rises out from the most foundational elements of Christian theology. When some contemporary preachers try to exult in the love of God it sounds more like a paean to the Love that is God. And that love gets reduced to sentiment, sympathy, and Oprahfied versions of acceptance and affirmation.

By contrast, the love Edwards extols is rich with theological reflection on the Trinity, the two natures of Christ, substitutionary atonement, Christ as Mediator, the importance of the church, and the immutability of God. Edwards’ heaven is full of a love that only makes sense in the world of thought shaped by the whole counsel of God. Cheap imitations of biblical love never plumb the depths of the Christian tradition. Instead they plunder the booty of traditional Christian vocabulary and employ in such a way that everyone from Dolly Parton to the Dali Lama will nod in agreement. Edwards tells a different story, reminding us that heaven is a world where Trinitarian wrought, cross bought, sorrow easing, wrath appeasing, Christ-centered, church focused, overflowing, inexhaustible love wins.

Single Passion

God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion.

God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives.

 John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life, Matt Perman post, What is the Wasted Life?

Way We Talk

Excerpt from Josh Etter post:  The Importance of Being Under the Ministry of the Word

At our 2008 National Conference, Sinclair Ferguson connects the way we talk to the ministry of the Word in our lives:

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Here's an excerpt:

The most important single aid to my ability to use my tongue for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is allowing the word of God to dwell in me so richly that I cannot speak in any other accent.

Dear brothers and sisters, that's why it is so important for you at the practical level to be under a ministry of the Word where the Word of God is really preached, and preached in the grace and truth of the Holy Spirit.

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Exceeding Joy

Ray Ortlund post:  "As soon as we were recovered a little ..."

“Mr. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutchins and my brother Charles were present at our love-feast in Fetter Lane, with about sixty of our brethren.  About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground.  As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of his Majesty, we broke out with one voice, ‘We praise thee, O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.’”

John Wesley, Journal, January 1, 1739.

Go Home All the Way

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional post:  After All Is Said and Done – It's Beautiful!

AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE – IT’S BEAUTIFUL!

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.  Romans 7:4

Let’s not miss the forest for the trees!  After all the delicate study of law, works, grace, abundant life, sanctification and justification, it boils down to this ~ I belong to someone else now and the effect of that is changing my life everyday, forever.

Ever feel like an orphan?  You wonder where you belong.  Who will fully embrace you?  Even in families where there were mother and father figureheads, kids can feel like orphans.  For the rest of their lives, they’re looking for someone to invite them into a place of belonging.  Driven, having stretched out their arms indiscriminately, others ‘owned’ them and hurt them.  There are no safe masters except Jesus.

The decision to marry Him, to give myself completely to Him, is something I will never regret.  He is the perfect bridegroom and never disappoints.  In that marriage of complete contentment, I am changed by His love and the influence born of proximity.

What is marriage?  Love. Chemistry. Commitment. Intimacy. Partnership. Respect. Encouragement. Often knowing each other’s thoughts. I can’t really enter into marriage if I marry an author, live in another state, and simply read his books.  Yet, that’s the experience of most Christians.  Isn’t that sad?

Let the marriage begin.  The Christian life starts with a decision to enter into the kingdom through the door of Christ.  But most get just inside the door and freeze.  Afraid to trust.  Afraid to commit.  Afraid of intimacy.  Afraid of change.  How shall we be free to worship, glorify God, know ourselves, and bear fruit if we never enjoy marriage!  Jesus is the ever patient bridegroom who waits for us timid ones with arms outstretched.  Let’s go home all the way.

I am not technically married to you.  I’m fully married.  I’m deeply in love and will never look back at another master.  Amen

Honest Questions

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:  The Younger Unchurched: What Do They Really Think

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In the book, "Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them," I shared some of the findings from a survey conducted of 1,000 unchurched young adults about the issues of church and spirituality. The study revealed that the younger generation is more open to issues of spirituality than our conventional wisdom allows us to admit.

This generation is open to God and spirituality. When asked if they considered themselves to be spiritual, 73 percent of respondents age 20-29 answered affirmatively. They are interested in learning more about God or a higher supreme being. Eighty-two percent believe a person's spirit continues to exist in some kind of afterlife. Seventy-seven percent believe in the idea of heaven and 60 percent believe in the idea of hell. Perhaps most surprising, 66 percent even believe that Jesus died and came back to life.

The Jesus that they believe in, however, is in some ways a Jesus of their own creation. Only 57 percent believe there is only one God, the God who exists in the Bible. Fifty-eight percent believe the God of the Bible is the same as the gods or spiritual beings of other religions. Though Hinduism ascribes to a million gods, Buddhism has no god, and Christianity has one God, a majority of young adults believe that all of these gods are the same.

While there are clearly negative implications to this pluralism, there are also great opportunities for the church. Sixty-three percent said they would attend a church that presented truth in an understandable way. We need to be proactive about sharing the gospel to this demographic in clear, understandable terms. Simultaneously, we should defy the "Chicken Little syndrome" that believes the church is about to crumble under the weight of pluralism.

It's easy to look at some of the viewpoints of the younger unchurched and write them off. Rather than throwing up our hands in disgust, we need to extend a hand, exemplifying Christ and His gospel now more than ever. We need to enter into authentic relationship with a generation filled with brilliance and potential. We need to begin honest conversations with those who have honest questions.

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Desire Insatiable Hunger

Scotty Smith post:  A Prayer for Greater Gospel Astonishment

     I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. Philippians 3:10-15

     Gracious Jesus, I don’t know how old Paul’s exact age when he wrote these impassioned words, maybe in his 60’s or 70’s. I do know, as he wrote, he was under house arrest and fastened to a Roman soldier (Acts 28). But it’s obvious that with an increase in age came an increase in gospel astonishment. He never grew bored with mining the unsearchable riches that are found only in you. He never tired of wrestling with the glorious implications of the gospel of the kingdom. 
     Jesus, make me this kind of a disciple. Give me this kind of insatiable hunger and maturity in the gospel. I’m so thankful that it’s your grasp of us and not our grasp of you that matters most.
     Sometimes I lift my hands in speechless wonder at the way you love us. Sometimes I shake fists at heaven like a pouting, demanding child. Sometimes I wring my hands in anxious unbelief, like a hapless orphan. But I live, and I will die, secure in your palms and written upon your heart.
     What do I want for the rest of my days, Jesus? I cannot say it any better than Paul. I want to know you more intimately than ever. This is the one thing I want more than anything else. I want to experience more of the power of your resurrection, for I have no power in myself to love others as you command. And, with trembling awe, I want to enter more fully into the fellowship of sharing in your sufferings—living out the birth pangs of new creation life in this broken world which groans for its release (Romans 8:18-25). Because you were raised, we too will be raised.
     Thank you for setting before us a prize to win, not a wage to earn. We never could have earned our way into a relationship with you and we cannot maintain it by our efforts either. We strain toward the goal, by grace alone through faith alone. Jesus, help us to have way done with lesser things and other ways. So very Amen, we pray, in your most kind and glorious name.

Refreshed

Ray Ortlund post:  "This living water"

“In the evening, I was weak in body, so that I could not say much at the house where I supped; but God, by his blessed Spirit, greatly refreshed and comforted my soul.  I drank of God’s pleasure as out of a river.  Oh, that all were made partakers of this living water, they would never thirst after the sensual pleasures of this wicked world.”

George Whitefield, Journals (Edinburgh, 1978), September 22, 1740, page 461.

Lack Power

Excerpts from Tullian Tchividjian post:  Preach the Gospel

...  Everything he writes here not only defines my theology of preaching but is, in my opinion, the only type of preaching that will rescue the church from Christless Christianity. He writes:

Scripture is of no use to us if we read it merely as a handbook for daily living without recognizing that its principle purpose is to reveal Jesus Christ and his gospel for the salvation of sinners. All Scripture coalesces in Christ, anticipated in the OT and appearing in the flesh in the NT. In Scripture, God issues commands and threatens judgment for transgressors as well as direction for the lives of his people. Yet the greatest treasure buried in the Scriptures is the good news of the promised Messiah. Everything in the Bible that tells us what to do is “law”, and everything in the Bible that tells us what God has done in Christ to save us is “gospel.” Much like medieval piety, the emphasis in much Christian teaching today is on what we are to do without adequate grounding in the good news of what God has done for us in Christ. “What would Jesus do?” becomes more important than “What has Jesus done?” The gospel, however, is not just something we needed at conversion so we can spend the rest of our Christian life obsessed with performance; it is something we need every day–the only source of our sanctification as well as our justification. The law guides, but only the gospel gives. We are declared righteous–justified–not by anything that happens within us or done by us, but solely by God’s act of crediting us with Christ’s perfect righteousness through faith alone.

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As I’ve said here before, don’t make the mistake of assuming that people understand the radical nature of what Jesus has done so that your preaching ministry is focused primarily on what people need to do.

The “what we need to do” portions of the Bible are good, perfect, and true–but apart from the “what Jesus has already done” portions of the Bible, we lack the power to do what we’re called to do. The good commands of God, in other words, do not have the power to engender what they command. They show us what a sanctified life looks like but they have no sanctifying power. Only the gospel has the power to move us forward. This is why the Bible never tells us what to do before first soaking our hearts and minds in what God in Christ has already done.

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Collaboration

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:  Leadership Book Interview: Chip Sweney on A New Kind of Big

We talk a lot about how our churches can have an impact in their cities-- I am doing a series on how research can under gird such efforts here. Chip Sweney, Next Gen and Community Transformation Pastor at Perimeter Church has written a new book that addresses the issue. Perimeter Church has been doing a leader in all types of ministry for many years. I have been aware of (and impressed by) their work for a long time. So, I'm glad to share something from one of their team.

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The primary themes in the book are collaboration, relationships, mobilizing lay leadership, and developing a strategic plan. Collaboration is not just a nice buzzword but is a must in today's world if we are going to make the most impact for the Kingdom. Perimeter's collaborative focus has been in building relationships with non-profit organizations and other churches. As we launched Community Outreach in 2002, we made the decision that we would partner with existing ministries and organizations rather than starting new ministries to serve "the least of these" in our community. This turned out to be a wise decision. Our partners have empowered and equipped our people for serving in ways that we could never have done. We had a deep desire to see significant change in our community and city, and we realized that no one church can change the community. It must be about churches working together, and not just churches from the same denomination or ethnicity but a broad representation of the Body of Christ. We have been proactive in seeking to work together with any other Christ-centered churches who share a passion for blessing our community and city through the gospel. Through this approach, a network of multi-denominational, multi-ethnic, and multi-sized churches has developed called Unite!

Relationships are the foundation that drive, strengthen, and deepen church partnerships through Unite! As we work together on various initiatives we build deeper friendships, and this in turn fuels greater partnering. "A New Kind Of Big" also shares stories of how Perimeter has been able to mobilize lay people as leaders and servants in the community. Lay leadership mobilization has absolutely been the key to church wide mobilization.

"A New Kind Of Big" sheds light on Perimeter's strategic planning process, especially in how we launched our Community Outreach ministry, determined criteria for partnerships, and developed our vision, mission, and goals. It was a very intentional process that led to broad ownership among the Perimeter congregation. Our strategic planning process also includes a long term vision of "what could be" and then how to identify the practical steps of how to get where you want to go.  

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Generous and Extravagant

Scotty Smith: A Prayer About Relational Messes and God’s Mercies

     You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Galatians 5:13-16

     Forbearing Father, thank you for documenting the relational foolishness and failures of your people. Though it must grieve your heart, these portions of your Word arrest our naiveté and keep us from idolizing Christian community. They also demonstrate how much we need the gospel every day, even every hour. Life in the Body of Christ is often messy and requires a constant supply of your never-ending mercies.
     That we indulge our sinful nature, and “bite and devour each other” is a sad fact, but it’s not our fate and it’s not something you want us to get used to. One Day we will be made perfect in love. One Day all of our relationships will reveal the beauty of life within the Godhead. Throughout eternity we will enjoy perfect society, friendship, communication, camaraderie and intimacy. Sear and seal this hope upon our hearts, and may it be the fuel for earnest reflection, repentance and change.
     Come, Holy Spirit, come. Grant us godly sorrow and deep repentance, for the ways we hide the beauty of Jesus through our pettiness, immaturity and selfishness. Let us grieve the ways we love so poorly. The gospel should make is harder, not easier for us to hurt one another. Let us weep as those who understand what is at stake. In a day when the culture is looking for reasons not to believe the gospel, forgive us for adding to their ammo and salvo.
     Forgive us, Jesus. You’ve made it clear that the world will know we are your disciples by the way we love one another. Bring the power of the gospel to bear upon our shared and broken life as your Bride—in our marriages, friendships, community groups, leadership gatherings and in our corporate worship.
     Grace doesn’t free us to love haphazardly and selectively, but generously and extravagantly—as an overflow of the way you love us, Jesus. So very Amen, we pray, in your holy and loving name.

Other Side

Stephen Furtick post:  Change your tactic

After being extremely frustrated with the format of one of my meetings, I recently decided to switch things up. To change my tactic.

Instead of face-to-face meetings, I did everything through email. And I never email. It wasn’t a long-term change. And I wouldn’t even go so far as to say that the old meeting format was inherently bad. New life was just needed, and new life wasn’t going to come from the same old system.

It worked. We had greater productivity and when we resumed our meeting, it had fresh energy. This seemingly insignificant adjustment yielded significant results.

Many people think that when something is stagnant in their lives, it’s a sign that something is seriously wrong. A major overhaul is needed and you need to start doing the right things instead of all the wrong things.

Maybe.

But it might just be time to try something new. To change your tactic.

It reminds me of when Jesus told Peter and the disciples to throw their nets to the other side of the boat in John 21 when they weren’t catching any fish. Jesus didn’t tell them to throw it to the correct side. Just to throw them to the other side.

It worked. They hauled in the largest catch of their lives. The result was nothing short of miraculous. And it was just because they tried something new.

I wonder what areas of your life need a change in tactic. A new technique.

Maybe your relationship with God feels a little dry and you’re wondering what you’re doing wrong. You think there must be a hidden sin in your life you haven’t confessed yet.

That could be it. But it could just be the fact that you’ve stuck to the same format of engaging with God since you first met Him. The same Bible reading plan. The same prayer structure. The same everything.

Change your tactic. Find fresh ways to walk with God. If you usually study one book of the Bible over a few months, read through the entire New Testament in the same time. If you usually read a few chapters a day, focus on one verse a day instead. Whatever you do, just try something new.

The same could be said for how you approach your marriage. The way you raise your kids. How you’re leading your team. The possibilities are really as endless as the places in your life where fresh momentum is needed.

Don’t ever be afraid to change it up a little. To change your tactic. It’ll be an adjustment for you, but the big dividends these small changes can pay makes the adjustment more than worth it.

Churchly Piety

Excerpt from post by Carl Trueman:  The Problem with Trendiness (Part 2)

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The church is also an institution with office-bearers (elders and deacons) who have been ordained to specific tasks. These men hold ministerial authority and have responsibility to take care of the well being of the people of God, both spiritually and physically.

A churchly piety will respect these offices and the men who hold them, and this will have a certain impact on the life of the church. In short, young people will not set the agenda, since the Pauline qualifications for eldership indicate age and maturity as the norms. And if these men are respected, then the young and the restless will be slow to speak and teach and instead be quick to listen and learn.

I fear that is not very hip or cool. We live in a world where the wisdom of youth is generally assumed. It is somehow uncontaminated by the cynicism and corruption of age. One could, of course, argue that youth is also comparatively uncontaminated by knowledge, experience, wisdom and maturity: precisely the qualities that Paul thought were so central to the officers of the church. Thus, a movement that disregards the older generation, or moves it to one side with a pat on the head, will eventually emerge as seriously deficient in its ecclesiology. 

Finally, we might also note that Paul's view of the church is hierarchical. That is what elders are: officers in a hierarchy. That is another rather unhip aspect to the biblical teaching. We are told that the rising generation does not believe in or trust institutions or hierarchies. Despite the hyperbole, this is scarcely a cultural innovation: the 1960's saw more real youthful iconoclasm than we ever see today. But perhaps we can allow the prophets of the rising generation their little conceit.

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Holy Spirit Is No Skeptic

Excerpt from CT -- Mollie Ziegler Hemingway post:  In Praise of Confidence

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While the researchers argue that enthusiastic evangelism indicates a lack of confidence, others say that doubt is precisely what Christians should embrace.

 

"The opposite of faith isn't doubt—it's certainty," wrote Pastor Peter Marty in the August 2010 issue of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's magazine, The Lutheran. Equating certainty with self-righteousness and arrogance, Marty encouraged everyone to open their minds. "Doubt is really quite beautiful. For too long we have been denying doubt the respect it deserves."

That would have been news to Martin Luther, who also disliked self-righteousness. In his Preface to Romans, he wrote, "Faith is a living, unshakeable confidence in God's grace." In a 1525 debate with Erasmus, who praised doubt and accused Luther of seeking certainty, he said, "To take no pleasure in assertions is not the mark of a Christian heart; indeed, one must delight in assertions to be a Christian at all …. Take away assertion, and you take away Christianity." Luther pointed to the words of Paul, who so often called for "full assurance," or the highest degree of certainty and conviction.

"The Holy Spirit is no skeptic, and the things he has written in our hearts are not doubts or opinions, but assertions—surer and more certain than sense and life itself," Luther said.

Does that mean that with the knowledge of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, we won't face doubts? Hardly. Scripture is full of stories of people, from Eve to Thomas, who doubted the promises of God. But just because it's human to doubt and we all do it does not mean it should be celebrated so much as endured.

Shortly after the Transfiguration, in which Jesus shone with the glory of his divine nature, he came upon an anxious father. When the father asked Jesus to deliver his son from demonic possession, Jesus told him, "All things are possible for one who believes." The father responded, "I believe; help my unbelief!" Jesus cast out the demon. What a beautiful reminder of how Jesus delivers us from a world of despair and doubt.

Subtle Works

Excerpt from Practical Theology for Women post:  Aligning with the Mustard Seed

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I'm thankful for the reformed pastor that first exposed me to the mustard seed view of the kingdom of God. It's growing, folks. The kingdom of God is at hand. He is making His church glorious. Certainly the works of the flesh are evident, just as Scripture predicts. We're always going to be more aware of the bad than the good. It's the nature of man to focus on the sensational – sin, abuse, oppression, bad theology, and so forth. The sensational is … well … sensational. But for every pastor that is disciplining a sexual abuse victim or aiming missiles at those called to hold him accountable, there are ten who are ministering gospel grace to victims, repenting of sin, correcting mistakes, pursuing justice, and modeling the life of Christ to their congregations.

The works of the Spirit are subtle. The left hand isn't letting the right hand know what's it's doing, and that's how God said it should be. If you're quiet and patient, you'll get glimpses. The Spirit is slow and steady, and the things He accomplishes will not be ripped away. The mustard seed is growing, and it will burst forth in glory. When Jesus returns, it's not to a marginalized church hiding in the corner. He is making her beautiful and glorious day in and day out, and when He returns, she is overcoming.

When I get discouraged by the state of the church, I am learning to discipline myself to align my thoughts and focus with the mustard seed. Where is the true gospel being presented? Where is it taking root? Where is grace flowing? Where is confidence in the finished work of Christ for our sanctification triumphing over legalism? Where are wrongs being made right? Where is good triumphing over evil?

After a day of being bombarded with all the dysfunction in Christian circles, I wrote a friend and asked for encouragement. Where is God working?! She wrote back with a beautiful affirmation of how the mustard seed was blooming in her own little world. It was subtle – quiet conversations in the dead of night, private repentance over private sins, making things right, and seeking accountability. I was encouraged.

Yes, everything is subject to Him. No, we don't yet see everything subject to Him. But we can be confident that He who has begun His good work will complete it. Yea, IS completing it.

Hebrews 2: 7-8
“You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet."
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.

Philippians 1:6
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

The kingdom of God is at hand!

Failure to Encourage

Excerpt from What's Best Next post:  Coughing is Heckling

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This is one reason, I think, that the Bible is replete with passages to encourage one another and build one another up. We are to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” and “encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:24-25) and “speak only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29) and “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thessalonians 5:12).

If you aren’t actively building people up, there is a sense in which you may be inadvertently tearing them down. I don’t want to say that that is always the case, of course. But we should definitely be alert to the possibility that, sometimes at least, failure to encourage is to discourage. Our general bent toward one another should be to take every opportunity that we can (and makes sense) to build people up.

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God's Spirit

Ray Ortlund post:  All that matters

God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.  2 Timothy 1:7

“We must think of suffering in a new way, we must face everything in a new way.  And the way in which we face it all is by reminding ourselves that the Holy Spirit is in us.  There is the future, there is the high calling, there is the persecution, there is the opposition, there is the enemy.  I see it all.  I must admit also that I am weak, that I lack the necessary powers and propensities.  But instead of stopping there . . . I say, ‘But the Spirit of God is in me.  God has given me his Holy Spirit.’ . . . What matters . . . is not what is true of us but what is true of Him.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression (Grand Rapids, 1965), page 100.

Experiencing God's Power

From Jewelz Sightings post:

“Those who are historically experiencing the greatest measure of the Holy Spirit’s power are those who doggedly choose to give up control over how their life must look and instead call good whatever God has allowed, caused, withheld, delayed or denied.”

John Lynch - 2011

Encourage One Another

Scotty Smith post:  A Prayer about Friends Finishing Well in the Gospel

     See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. Hebrews 3:12-14

     Dear Jesus, this portion of your Word is both sobering and encouraging. It leads me to think about friendship this morning and the gospel-posse you’ve given me. I’m so very grateful for the friends you’ve woven into my life. Being an introvert, the journey of investing my heart in long term relationships has required, and still requires the work of the gospel in my heart—a grace work you’ve been faithful to provide.
     I’ve already gripped the handle of a couple of friend’s caskets and they’ll do the same for me one day. More than ever, I want us to finish well together in the gospel. What does look like and what will it require, Jesus?
     My temptation is to treat my easiest friendships like a broken-in pair of Birkenstocks—I just enjoy these relationships without much thought or effort. It’s a great gift to have a few friends who can finish each other’s sentences, endure one another’s jokes, appreciate each other’s quirks and accept one another’s weaknesses. Surely, this is a gospel-gift.
     Yet, Jesus, we’re still foolish men—capable of acting out in very destructive ways, prone to wander, easy targets for temptation. Sin is exceedingly deceitful. With all of my heart, I believe in the “final perseverance of the saints,” but I equally believe that it’s the saints who will finally persevere. Your Word is very clear—continuance in the gospel is a sign of being rooted in the gospel. That doesn’t scare me, but it does humble me.
     Help us know how to hold each other accountable for believing the gospel. Help us to take each other’s heart-struggles seriously. Don’t let us confuse flattery with encouragement. Help us never to minimize nor marginalize the hardening power of sin. Help us know how to preach the gospel to our own hearts daily and to each all the time, until Today gives way to the Day. So very Amen, I pray, in your all glorious name.
  

Revitalization

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:  Kick-Starting the Plateaued and Declining Church, Part 7: Celebrate Small Victories (& Big Ones)

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However, as you intentionally focus on leading the revitalization effort, remember to identify opportunities to celebrate victories along the way. This will help people embrace needed changes and fuel the kick start. After completing the process of rebuilding the wall, that's what happened in chapter eight of Nehemiah:

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, "This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, "Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, and send some to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because your strength [comes from] rejoicing in the LORD." And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve." Then all the people began to eat and drink, send portions, and have a great, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them (Neh. 8:9-12, HCSB).

As Pastor Josh Laxton led the revitalization effort at Life Point Church, celebrating changed lives helped people embrace the change and keep moving forward with the restart. The previous church had been plateaued and declining since the 1980's. Realizing that doing things the same way wasn't going to achieve better results, the congregation of 35 people approached First Baptist Church of Woodstock, GA about doing a church restart. In 2007, the struggling church voted to disband and relinquish everything to new leadership.

In the process of restarting, many alterations were made--the music style was changed; the governmental structure was modified; the pews were removed; and the look of the property and building were altered. They even reworked the name of the church. After making all of these changes, only about 15 people from the previous, older congregation remained, primarily senior adults. As Pastor Laxton reflected on all of this, he affirmed, "Church as they knew it was, in some sense, over. . . The change was hard for them."

However, the pastor went on to say that one of the God stories in all of this involved the senior adults who stayed. One of the older members who stayed through the process asserted, "I've been completely blown away as to what has happened. I'm so excited about what God is doing and is going to do." As they experienced new life through baptisms and younger generations becoming part of the new church, it was worth the pain of change. Celebrating the victory of restarting was the fuel that kept things going. Now, Life Point Church is averaging 185 in attendance and has seen 45 people baptized in the last two years. (Note: this figure was originally reported in spring 2010.)
 
As I wrap up this series, here are some concluding thoughts. In most cases, getting things done as a revitalization leader will take time. Just hopping on board and trying to fire things up immediately isn't going to work--the engine of renewal has to be primed. In order for that to happen, key issues need to be addressed.

Make sure your heart is set to love, serve, and lead people, who are often hurting and demoralized. Think through where the church is at in its current state, and why it got there, so that you can help people face the reality of the situation, join the team to head in a new direction, and begin to build an outward focus. As you catalyze change, expect opposition and keep clarifying a simple, clear vision. Finally, remember to celebrate victories, that will help fuel the revitalization efforts. Be patient. In time, things can be kick-started, and the ride of revitalization can begin.

Natural Gathering Places

Mark Batterson post:  Ebenezers Anniversary

Five years ago today we opened Ebenezer's Coffeehouse on Capitol Hill. Time flies! We really had no idea what we were doing, but God has blessed us in spite of us! The name Ebenezers means "hitherto the Lord has helped us." This is an Ebenezer day!

Why did we build a coffeehouse instead of a church building? Because Jesus didn't just hang out in the synagogue. He hung out in wells--natural gathering places in ancient culture. Coffeehouses are postmodern wells so we decided to build a well where the church and community could cross paths. Not only is Ebenezers a great coffeehouse. Not only does is provide a performance space for one of our locations. But every penny of profit goes to missions.

The day will come when our coffeehouse becomes a chain. Hopefully it's sooner than later. Why? Because when God blesses something you need to do more of what God is blessing! I think coffeehouse churches will become a growing trend just like movie theater churches. It's a great way of getting into the middle of the marketplace which is where people are. That is where we belong if we take incarnation seriously.

One Happy People

It seemed like a dream, too good to be true, when God returned Zion's exiles.
   We laughed, we sang,
      we couldn't believe our good fortune.
   We were the talk of the nations—
      "God was wonderful to them!"
   God was wonderful to us;
      we are one happy people. 

Psalm 126:1-3 [Message]

Not Silent

Miscellanies post:  With Our Arms Around Their Knees

These words from Charles Spurgeon were originally preached to Christian parents of unbelieving children and to wives of unbelieving spouses. The quote is from his sermon on Jeremiah 4:20 (sermon #349) delivered on 9 Dec 1860:

Oh my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay, and not madly to destroy themselves. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.

Redemptive Power and Redemptive Message

Excerpts from Ed Stetzer post:  Monday is for Missiology: Answering Questions about God's Mission

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Recently, a doctoral student sent me some questions. Here are a few of the answers I gave.

On the mission of Christ in the world:

Christ's mission is to glorify God by establishing the kingdom of God on the earth through His life, death, and resurrection and through the sending of the spirit-empowered Church. He accomplishes this mission primarily by redeeming people from their sins and equipping them to live a life of love for the advancement of the kingdom.

On the missional objective(s) of the church:

The missional objective(s) of the church are (in Lesslie Newbigin's words) to be a sign and instrument of the kingdom of God. The believers/church do this by showing the redemptive power of God through transformed lives that are lived in the community of faith for the good of their world. They also do this by sharing the redemptive message of the gospel which is necessary for the eternal salvation of people.

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Anticipation

The Kimyal People Receive the New Testament from UFM Worldwide on Vimeo.

Humble Commitment, Humble Attention, Humble Service

Excerpt from Carl Trueman post:  The Problem with Trendiness

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Long term, it will be the existence of organized churches (i.e. with elders and members) where this material is faithfully preached and the gospel is lived out daily. And it will build on more immediate developments: a piety that does not feel the need to shock or be self-conscious in its hipness.

This piety will place a primacy on the qualities of character and practice that Paul outlines in his letters, rather than on the celebrity aesthetics he decries in his words to the Corinthian church. It will manifest itself in humble commitment to the gathering of the church, humble attention to the preaching of the Word, and humble service for the church. It will be shown in the careful guarding of our minds and our hearts (that’s the hard part) from erroneous doctrine and behavior—not to earn God’s favour, but rather because God has already blessed us with every good thing in Christ. It will not be brash or loud. It will not even be cool or relevant, except by accident.

And that churchly piety is, I fear, what could be the missing ingredient in the current climate.

Seeing Beyond

Stephen Furtick post:  Can you see beyond what people say?

When Jesus asked the disciples what people were saying about him, they gave a laundry list of responses.
But then Jesus turned the question on them:
But what about you? Who do you say that I am?
Matthew 16:15

For Jesus, what other people say never has the final word. And so the question He’s always asking us in the midst of conflicting messages that we hear about God and ourselves is, can you see beyond what people say? Can you look past that to what God has said?

Peter could:
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

And his life was never the same. He became the leader of the early church and left his mark on the Kingdom and the world forever.

Similarly, if you’re going to accomplish great things for God, you’ve got to see beyond what people say.

Can you see beyond what people say about God to what He has actually said about Himself?

Can you see beyond what people say about your limitations to the fact that you serve a God who doesn’t even have that word in His vocabulary? To the God whose capability doesn’t rise and fall with your own inability?

Can you see beyond what people say about your dreams and plans to the God who has actually given them to you and is fully competent to bring them to pass?

Can you see beyond what your own insecurities are saying about you to the God who has given you everything you need to accomplish everything He’s asked you to do? To the God who knew about your weaknesses, hangups, fears, and baggage long before He ever called you, but called you anyways?

Can you see beyond what people say?

Answer carefully. Your response to that question will determine the entire trajectory of your life.

Things of God

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer about Constantly Needing the Gospel

     He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Mark 8:31-33

     Jesus, one of the many things I cherish about the Bible is the way it robs us of our penchant for hero worship. The Scriptures are so real and raw. Who but God would write a book documenting the foibles and failures of so many of his children? Who but God would chronicle the ways his chosen leaders limp along, and prove themselves to be in constant need of mercy and grace? Leaders like Peter who actually tried to keep you from the cross.
     Such honestly brings us encouragement and fuels our hope. It also gives us freedom to acknowledge that we need the gospel today just as much as the first day we believed it. This will be just as true tomorrow, and the next day and the next. Keep me convinced of this, Jesus, because I’m so much like Peter.
     It’s one thing for me to stress and stew about the ways this generation is distancing itself from the theology of your cross. But it’s quite another to see the subtle ways I try to keep you from the cross—attitudes and actions by which I deny the glory and wonder of your sacrifice for us. Jesus, deal with me as you dealt with Peter.
     When I mute my heart to the insult of grace, I deny your cross. When I think, even for one moment, that my obedience merits anything, I deny your cross. When I put others under the microscope and measure of performance-based living, I deny your cross. When I wallow in self-contempt and shame, I deny your cross. When I’d rather do penitent works than offer repentant faith, I deny your cross. When I begin to trust in your grace plus anything, I deny your cross
     Jesus, by the power of the gospel, help us to mind the things of God much more than the things of men. There will never be a day we will need the gospel more than this day. During Lent, may your cross grow bigger and bigger in our gaze, and may our boast in it grow louder and louder. You’re the only hero in the Bible. It’s all about you, all of it.  So very Amen, we pray, in your patient and persistent name.
  

Stubbornness of God

Excerpt from Tullian Tchividjian post:  The Gospel According to Jonah

On Monday, my friend Collin Hansen (editorial director for The Gospel Coalition) posted an interview he did with me on the gospel according to Jonah.  He writes, “We’re accustomed to describing the book of Jonah as that book about the guy who survived three days in a big fish. What if we began to understand it as a remarkable testimony to God’s extravagant, persevering grace, supremely demonstrated in the gospel of Jesus Christ?”

Those are the questions I seek to answer in my book Surprised By Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels. As part of The Gospel Coalition’s commitment to Preaching Christ in the Old Testament, Collin asked me questions on how to see the gospel in the story of Jonah.

Why do you say Jonah is one of the best books for helping us get a better grip on the gospel? 

 

Surprised by Grace started out as a series of sermons on Jonah that I preached during the hardest year of my life. Preparing those sermons and preaching them proved to be a functional lifeline for me, not because of things I learned about Jonah (everything we learn about Jonah we learn by way of negative example), but because of things I learned about God’s amazing, sustaining, pursuing grace.

 

I learned that God’s capacity to clean things up is infinitely greater than our human capacity to mess things up. I learned about the “stubbornness” of God to accomplish his will, regardless of how hard we may try and thwart it. In fact, as I reflect on that painful season of my life now, I can honestly say that I am genuinely thankful for all the ache I experienced. For it was during this trying time that God helped me recognize, through the story of Jonah, the practical relevance of the gospel—that everything I need and long for, in Christ, I already possess.

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Quieted My Soul

Ray Ortlund post:  Quietness before God

“People today are afraid to be alone.  This fear is a dominant mark of our society.  Many now ceaselessly sit in the cinema or read novels about other people’s lives or watch dramas.  Why?  Simply to avoid having to face their own existence. . . .

No one seems to want (and no one can find) a place of quiet — because, when you are quiet, you have to face reality.  But many in the present generation dare not do this because on their own basis reality leads them to meaninglessness; so they fill their lives with entertainment, even if it is only noise. . . .

The Christian is supposed to be very opposite: There is a place for proper entertainment, but we are not to be caught up in ceaseless motion which prevents us from ever being quiet.  Rather we are to put everything second so we can be alive to the voice of God and allow it to speak to us and confront us.”

Francis Schaeffer, “Walking through the mud,” in No Little People (Downers Grove, 1974), pages 86-87.

I have calmed and quieted my soul.  Psalm 131:2

Reaching Cities

Matt Perman post:  To Transform a City: Tim Keller on How to Know if You are Reaching Your City

Tim Keller has an excellent article at Leadership Journal on what it takes to transform a city through the gospel.

Let me highlight two things.

First, one of the core ideas of the article is that reaching a city takes more than just one or two flourishing churches. It takes a “city-wide gospel movement.” Here’s what what he means by that:

What it takes to reach a city is a city-wide gospel movement, which means the number of Christians across the city is growing faster than the population, and therefore, a growing percentage of the people of that city are connecting with gospel-centered churches and are finding faith in Jesus Christ. That will eventually have an impact on the whole life of the city. That’s what I mean by a city-wide gospel movement.

A city-wide gospel movement is an organic thing. It’s an energy unleashed across not only the city but across the different denominations, and therefore, there’s no one church, no one organization, no one leader in charge of it all. It’s bigger than that. It’s the Holy Spirit moving across the whole city and as a result the overall body of Christ is growing faster than the population, and the city is being reached. And there’s an impact for Christ made in the whole city.

 Second, one of the things that needs to be at the core of this movement is a contextualized, biblical, gospel theology. Here’s a highlight on that:

The church loses its life-changing dynamism to the degree that its theology goes off to this side or that side—into either uptight legalistic moralism, or into latitudinarianism, broadness, not believing the Bible, licentiousness, relativism.

By saying the biblical gospel is in the middle, that’s not saying “moderation in all things.” Jesus wasn’t moderate in anything. He was radically gentle and radically truth loving at the same time. The gospel isn’t a kind of middle-of-the-road, lukewarm thing. But the gospel is neither legalism nor licentiousness. And to the degree we lose the biblical gospel, we’re never going to be a movement that reaches the city.

 
 There is much, much more in the article that is worth checking out. Read the whole thing.

Eager Will

Matt Perman post:  Why Does Justification by Faith Apart from Works Lead to Good Works?

Martin Luther explains one of the chief reasons. Here’s what he says in The Freedom of a Christian (quoted in Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough):

Although I am an unworthy and condemned man, my God has given me in Christ all the riches of righteousness and salvation without any merit on my part, out of pure, free mercy, so that from now on I need nothing except faith which believes that it is true.

Why should I not therefore freely, joyfully, with all my heart, and with an eager will do all things which I know are pleasing and acceptable to such a Father who has overwhelmed me with his inestimable riches?

I will therefore give myself as a Christ to my neighbor, just as Christ offered himself to me; I will do nothing in this life except what I see is necessary, profitable, and salutary to my neighbor, since through faith I have an abundance of all good things in Christ.

Mercy and Grace

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer for Fresh Mercy and Need-Shaped Grace

     For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16

     Dear Jesus, we run to you this morning on behalf of many in need of fresh mercy and need-shaped grace. Our greatest joy in life is knowing you to be a sympathetic, compassionate and generous High Priest. We come boldly to your throne of grace because you went gladly to the cross of shame, for us. You are the Lamb of God who took away our sin and the Shepherd of grace who gives us exactly what we need, at just the right time in just the right form.
     Jesus, we pray for our brothers and sisters in Japan, and for the whole nation. Images of horror flooded our senses yesterday as we watched cars and structures tossed about like acorns on an angry sea. By your promise, Jesus, one Day the knowledge of your glory will cover Japan like the waters cover the sea. In light of that Day, bring help and hope in this day. In this great disaster, reveal your glory and your grace. Strengthen your people to love well and serve their neighbors. Write many stories of redemption through the waters of this exceedingly hard providence.
     Jesus, though the collateral damage and pain are not as apparent to the naked eye, we pray just as earnestly for brothers and sisters in our neighborhoods and in our churches—friends who are experiencing earthquakes in their marriages, finances and health, and all kinds of emotional and spiritual tsunamis.
     Mighty and merciful Savior, bring grace for the moment into many situations which weigh heavy on our hearts. Prove yourself to be the God who does exceedingly beyond all we could ask or imagine, for your name’s sake. Speak peace to the storm and the angry waves. Make the real issues undeniably clear to all parties concerned. Don’t let deep wounds be healed superficially. Bring the powerful balm of the gospel to bear. Don’t let the brief relief of anesthetics to be mistaken for the healing that is desperately needed—the healing you alone can bring.
     Jesus, bring much glory to yourself in the coming hours and days. Use each of us as you would in these various crucibles and crises. We are weak and weary, but you are powerful and loving. We rise from our knees to put legs on our prayers. So very Amen, we pray with confidence, in your great and glorious name.
      

Pursue Goodness

LIFE Outreach Words of Life post:  Building to the Code

I once read that Willie Nelson, the country star, bought his own golf course. Somebody asked what “par” was. “Anything I want it to be,” he replied. “See that hole over there? It’s a par 47.” Then he added, “And yesterday, I birdied it!”

That would be laughable if it was not a sad and sorry picture of what’s going on in America today. It seems people don’t believe in right and wrong anymore; they believe right and wrong is whatever they want it to be. Given that reality, we are without doubt at a critical hour in our history as a people. We all know that every building must have a foundation, and consequently what is true of buildings is also true of people’s belief and behavior. If the foundation of moral consciousness and conduct in a nation is destroyed, what is left (Psa. 11:3)?

A television news crew was on assignment in southern Florida after hurricane Andrew caused widespread destruction. Amidst the devastation and toppled buildings, they were struck by a particular house that remained on its foundation. They interviewed the owner of the home and asked, “Why is your house the only one standing? How did you manage to escape the severe damage of the storm?”

“I built this house myself,” he answered. “I built it according to the Florida state building code. I was told that a house built according to the code could withstand a hurricane and it did. I suppose nobody else around here followed the code.”

As I look around our crumbling culture, it seems that few in our nation are building to the code. But Jesus told us that there is a foundation we can build on that will stand the test of time and beyond. It’s the bedrock of God’s word (Matt. 7:24-27).

We need to be once again a people governed by moral maxims: absolutes. “Righteousness exalts a nation,” according to Proverbs 14:34. Righteousness is uprightness. It is an action or behavior according to a standard.

Interestingly, Proverbs was particularly written to the emerging leaders of Israel as demonstrated by Solomon often addressing his son or sons. As they were instructed, so are we. When the authors of Proverbs wrote of righteousness, they had in mind the upright standards of God’s moral law, codified in the Ten Commandments, later to be embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. Righteousness exalts a nation; therefore, uprightness of behavior in accordance with the moral law of God is the path to peace and prosperity.

The world is not a moral vacuum. It is one designed and directed by a Holy God, who weighs the actions of men and reacts accordingly.

"All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
But the Lord weighs the spirits.
Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established." (Proverbs 16:2-3, NKJV)

Just as the physical universe is governed by natural laws, such as gravity, so there is a moral component to this world governed by a just God, who is righteous in character. If we are going to enjoy some measure of life, liberty and happiness, we must recognize our Creator, seek His happiness and live within His moral laws. Good government, therefore, takes God’s holy nature into account.

How is a nation to be exalted if there is no righteous standard by which to live? That’s what the book of Proverbs reminds us.

“Many seek the ruler’s favor,
But justice for man comes from the Lord.” (Proverbs 29:26, NKJV)

Justice does not come from any person’s sense of right or wrong – not even a king. The king is to administer God’s justice. Leaders are to establish God’s righteousness. Morality is not relative or situational. We need to stop living by the dictum that everything is right some time and nothing is right every time. God’s standards are like God himself; they are sovereign and steadfast. Heaven and earth will pass away, but not God’s Word (Mark 13:31). Morality, therefore, is and must be rooted in the absolute righteous character of God, revealed to us in the Holy Bible and ultimately put on display in the perfect life of Jesus Christ.

Right is right, and wrong is wrong because God said so! If God does not exist, and if there is no transcendent, absolute, moral law given by Him by which to measure our behavior, then all things are permissible. Biblically speaking, no man has the right to tell another man what to do unless that man is telling another to do what God commands all men to do. If God is not the authority, then who is? Without the chart and compass of God’s Word, we would be left to drift on a sea of relativism and pragmatism, inevitably finding shipwreck against the rocks of our own self-will.

But the Bible tells us that there are certain standards that are absolute and God will hold us accountable to them. We discard and disregard them at our own peril. Happiness is found in obedience to God’s will as revealed in God’s Word and seen in God’s Son (Psalm 1; Hebrews 1). The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  If we want to know peace and prosperity, then we must embrace God’s truth as we find it in Scripture and in the person and work of Christ (John 17:17; 14:6).

We must stop living as if we are our own judge and jury when it comes to morality. We must stop thinking that tolerance prevents us from having sound judgment. We need to move from feeling good to being good to doing good. We must realize that ideas have consequences. Therefore, we need to repent of the idea that the only absolute is that there are no absolutes (which is a complete contradiction since that statement is an absolute!).

Success and stability involves a commitment to righteousness and the righteous One. Obedience invites God’s blessing.

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices;
And when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.
By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted,
But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked." (Proverbs 11:10-11, NKJV)

Given all that we have said, starting today we must urgently pursue goodness by following the wisdom of God’s sufficient word. We must passionately walk uprightly, stand for truth and justice, and show mercy according to God’s liberating law. But first and most important of all, we must kneel in submission to God’s Son who kept the law and died for those who have broken that law (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:10-14). These are the keys to greatness; these are the grounds for happiness, both for a nation and for each of us individually.

Philip De Courcy is the senior pastor of Kindred Community Church in Anaheim Hills, California, and speaker on the daily radio program, Know the Truth (ktt.org) This week’s devotional is adapted from his sermon, “For God and Country” (kindredchurch.org).