Monday, October 31, 2011

Hallelujah! Glory Be To Our Great God

Our Great God

We Are Beggars! This Is True

David Mathis post:  Trick or Treat?  It's Martin Luther 


It was 494 years today that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. He wanted to debate the sale of indulgences with his fellow university professors. He wrote in Latin, but a nameless visionary translated the theses into German, carried them to the printing press, and enabled their dispersion far and wide.

Luther ended up with more than he bargained for, but he proved to be no coward in defending the discoveries he was making in Scripture. When the Roman church wouldn’t serve him the treat of sufficiently addressing his concerns, he was consigned to the role of sparking the now half-millennium running trick called the Protestant church.

Why Halloween?

Of course Luther wasn’t trick-or-treating when he approached the threshold of the church in Wittenberg, but it’s likely no accident he picked October 31. There’s another angle on Halloween that many are unaware of some 500 years later.

Halloween’s history is shrouded in some of the same mystery and confusion the holiday is known for celebrating. Some historians claim the origin is really in pre-Christian harvest festivals among pagans, and that the occasion was later Christianized when the gospel spread through the Roman Empire nearly two millennia ago. It may be the case that things started pagan (as with all of us!), but it may be that we Christians have let unbelieving historians cloud the true origins of observing October 31.

All Hallows’ Eve

One thing that is clear is where the name comes from—and that it is Christian. The English Halloween is short for “All Hallows’ Eve,” the night before the November 1 Christian feast of All Saints (Hallows) Day.

As for trick-or-treating, some claim that marking All Hallows’ Eve may have originated as just such an occasion to “trick” Satan, the most prideful of all creatures, by giving him what is most offensive to his arrogance: mockery. As Luther would say, “The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him for he cannot bear scorn.”

Mocking the Devil

In “Concerning Halloween,” James Jordan explains the thinking behind it: “to drive Satan from us we ridicule him. This is why the custom arose of portraying Satan in a ridiculous red suit with horns and a tail. . . . [T]he idea is to ridicule him because he has lost the battle with Jesus and he no longer has power over us.” Jordan continues,
Thus, the defeat of evil and of demonic powers is associated with Halloween. For this reason, Martin Luther posted his 95 challenges to the wicked practices of the Church to the bulletin board on the door of the Wittenberg chapel on Halloween. He picked his day with care, and ever since Halloween has also been Reformation Day.
As for kids playing dress-up, “the custom arose of mocking the demonic realm by dressing children in costumes.” According to Jordan, celebrating All Hallows’ Eve started as “the joking mockery of heathendom by Christian people”—which many historians would take issue with, no doubt.

First Thesis

Moving beyond the date, and looking at what Luther wrote, we see that the truth of his first thesis would reverberate throughout his lifetime, even finding expression in his last words.

The first thesis reads,
When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.
All of the Christian life is repentance. Turning from sin and trusting in the good news that Jesus saves sinners aren’t merely a one-time inaugural experience but the daily substance of Christianity. The gospel is for every day and every moment. Repentance is to be the Christian’s continual posture.

Last Words

Almost 30 years later, on February 16, 1546, Luther’s last words, written on a piece of scrap paper, echoed the humble theme of his first thesis:
We are beggars! This is true.
From first thesis to last words, Luther lived at the foot of the cross, where our rebellious condition meets with the beauty of God’s lavish grace in the gospel of his Son—a gospel deep enough to cover all the little and massive flaws of a beggar like Luther and beggars like us.

For All the Saints

Because of God’s grace in and through Luther, All Hallows’ Eve is now both an occasion to call to mind Jesus’ triumph over Satan and his minions with a bloody cross and empty tomb (see the recent "Sent" post), as well as a day to thank God especially for the Scriptures and the blessed reforms launched by imperfect saints like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and many more nameless visionaries.

As Far As The East Is From The West

Tullian Tchividjian post:  What Abortion?

Back in June I preached a series of six sermons entitled Pictures of Grace. Of all the sermons series’ I’ve preached, I probably enjoyed this one the most. I took our church through the Gospels and looked at various events in the life and ministry of Jesus where the shocking, counter-intuitive nature of amazing grace is on display. Each week we looked intently at how Jesus wrecked people afresh with his grace, turning everything that makes sense in our conditional world upside-down and setting sinners free.

Well, I went back to the first of those six sermons yesterday as I was doing some research and was struck again at how crazy God’s grace really is.

I began that series by by preaching from Luke 7:36-50. This is the famous account of the sinful woman (most likely a prostitute) barging into a party of religious leaders and washing the feet of Jesus with her tears of repentance. I pointed out that two rescues are happening in this passage: the obvious rescue of the immoral person but also the rescue of the moral person.

Normally when we think of people in need of God’s rescuing grace, we think of the unrighteous and the immoral. But what’s fascinating to me is that throughout the Bible, it’s the immoral person that gets the Gospel before the moral person; it’s the prostitute who gets grace; it’s the Pharisee who doesn’t. What we see in this story is that God’s grace wrecks and then rescues, not only the promiscuous but the pious. The Pharisee in this story can’t understand what Jesus is doing by allowing this woman to touch him because he assumes that God is for the clean and competent. But Jesus here shows him that God is for the unclean and incompetent and that when measured against God’s perfect holiness we’re all unclean and incompetent. Jesus shows him that the gospel isn’t for winners, but losers: it’s for the weak and messed up person, not the strong and mighty person. It’s not for the well-behaved, but the dead.

I was reminded once again that Jesus came not to effect a moral reformation but a mortal resurrection (moral reformations can, and have, taken place throughout history without Jesus. But only Jesus can raise the dead, over and over and over again). As Gerhard Forde put it, “Christianity is not the move from vice to virtue, but rather the move from virtue to grace.”
Wrecking every religious category he had, Jesus tells the Pharisee that he has a lot to learn from the prostitute, not the other way around.

The prostitute on the other hand walks into a party of religious people and falls at the feet of Jesus without any care as to what others are thinking and saying. She’s at the end of herself. More than wanting to avoid an uncomfortable situation, she wanted to be clean-she needed to be forgiven. She was acutely aware of her guilt and shame. She knew she needed help. She understood at a profound level that God’s grace doesn’t demand that you get clean before you come to Jesus. Rather, our only hope for getting clean is to come to Jesus. Only in the Gospel does love precede loveliness. Everywhere else loveliness precedes love.

I closed the sermon by recalling a story that Rod Rosenbladt told me when we were together at the Gospel Coalition conference in Chicago. It’s a story about a middle-aged woman who needed help from her pastor.

She went to her pastor and said, “Pastor, you know that I had an abortion a number of years ago?”  “Yes,” the Pastor replied.  “Well, I need to talk to you about the man I’ve since met.”  “Alright,” replied the Pastor.

“Well, we met a while back, and started dating and I thought, I need to tell him about the abortion. But I just couldn’t. Then things got more serious between us and I thought, I need to tell him about the abortion. But I just couldn’t. A while later we got engaged and I thought, I need to tell him about the abortion. But I just couldn’t. Then we got married and I thought, I really need to tell him about the abortion. But I just couldn’t. So I needed to talk to someone, Pastor, and you’re it.”
The Pastor replied, “You know, we have a service for this. Let’s go through that together.” So they did – a service of confession and absolution.

When they were finished, she said to him, “Now I think I have the courage to tell my new husband about my abortion.  Thanks, Pastor.”

And the Pastor replied to her, “What abortion?”

What the Pharisee, the prostitute, and everyone in between, need to remember every day is that Christ offers forgiveness full and free from both our self-righteous goodness and our unrighteous badness.

This is the hardest thing for us to believe as Christians. We think it’s a mark of spiritual maturity to hang onto our guilt and shame. We’ve sickly concluded that the worse we feel, the better we actually are. The declaration of Psalm 103:12 is the most difficult for us to grasp and embrace: “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” To be convinced in our hearts, said Martin Luther, “that we have forgiveness of sins and peace with God by grace alone is the hardest thing.” Or, as Corrie ten Boom once said, “God takes our sins—the past, present, and future—and dumps them in the sea and puts up a sign that says ‘No Fishing allowed.’” This seems too good to be true…it can’t be that simple, that easy, that real!

It is true! No strings attached. No but’s. No conditions. No need for balance. If you are a Christian, you are right now under the completely sufficient imputed righteousness of Christ. Your pardon is full and final. In Christ, you’re forgiven. You’re clean. It is finished.

What abortion?

Friday, October 28, 2011

Open the Unsearchable Riches

Miscellanies post:  Wooing to Christ


Puritan Richard Sibbes on the end and aim of gospel preaching (Works, 2:232):
When the beauty of Christ is unfolded, it draws the wounded, hungry soul unto him. The preaching of the word doth that that shows the sweet love of God in Jesus Christ. This makes the ordinance of the ministry so sweet. The ordinance of the ministry is that that distributes the portion to every child of God. The ministers of God are stewards, as it were, to distribute comfort and reproof to whom it belongs. Now where there is a convenient distributing of the portion to every one, that makes the ordinance of God so beautiful, when the waters of life are derived from the spring of the Scripture to every particular man’s use.
The word, in the application of it, is a sweet thing. For good things, the nearer they are brought home, the more delightful they are. This ordinance of preaching, it lays open the ‘riches of Christ.’ There may be a great deal of riches wrapped up in a treasury, but this opens the treasury, as St Paul says, ‘ to lay open the unsearchable riches of Christ’ (Eph 3:8). The ministry of the word is ordained to lay open the treasure to God’s people, that they may know what riches they have by Christ; and the end of the ministry is to win the people’s love to Christ.
Therefore they come between the bride and bridegroom to procure the marriage; therefore they lay open that that procures the contract here, and the consummation in heaven; so to woo for Christ, and ‘beseech them to be reconciled to God’ (2 Cor 5:20). This is the end of the ministry. This makes the church of God so beautiful, that it hath this ordinance in it [preaching], to bring God, and Christ, and his people together: to contract them together. There be rich mines in the Scripture, but they must be digged up. The ministry serves to dig up those mines.

Reminders

Mark Batterson post:  17 Reminders for Leaders


As we approach our annual planning retreat and evaluation season, I feel like it’s time for me to do a self-evaluation.  Here are Seventeen reminders for leaders.

1. Tough decisions only get tougher.

You are only one decision away from a totally different life. I believe that. One change in diet or exercise can radically change your health status. One change in spiritual disciplines can open up new dimensions of grace and power.  One change in a relationship can lead to intimacy.  What do you need to stop doing or start doing?  Your destiny isn’t a mystery. Your destiny is the cumulative decisions you make.  What tough decision do you need to make?  What are you waiting for?

2. Negativity is cancer.  Kill it or it will kill you.

I am wide open to rebuke.  Constructive criticism is the avenue to excellence. But I have zero tolerance for negativity.  How do you stop negativity? Positivity.  One of the ways we do that at NCC is sharing wins before every meeting. It reminds us that God is moving and we get to be part of it. Sharing wins creates positive energy.  And it’s positivity that gives us the energy we need to deal with negativity. Don’t let one staff member, one board member or one small group member hijack what God has called you to captain.

3. No Margin = No Vision.

If you try to be all things to all people you’ll become nothing to nobody.  I have focus days and meetings days. I meet with people on my meeting days. I meet with God on my focus days.  I need days where there is nothing on my agenda so I can read or write, dream or rest.  The lack of margin will kill your creativity.  If you don’t control your calendar your calendar will control you. It starts with establish boundaries.  Then you need to guard against the Messiah complex.  You can’t save everybody. In fact, you can’t save anybody.  You aren’t doing anybody any favors if you make yourself available to everybody all the time.  Take a break.  Take a day off. Take a vacation. Take a sabbatical.

4. If you listen to God people will listen to you.

People don’t need a word from me. They need a word from God.  I want my messages to have a prophetic edge to them and that happens when I get into the presence of God.  The presence of God is where problems are solved and dreams are conceived.  Get in the presence of God.  At the end of the day, I am nothing without God’s anointing. I need to keep an ear tuned to the people, but more importantly, I need to keep an ear tuned to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.

5. Don’t let your budget determine your vision.

Too often we allow our budget to determine our vision instead of allowing vision to determine our budget.  That doesn’t mean you hire lots of staff you’ll need to fire. It doesn’t mean you let expenses get out of control. It does mean that you hold tenaciously to this simple truth: when God gives a vision He makes provision.  You need to budget in a way that gives God the room to do miracles.  And make doubly sure that you have vision beyond your resources.

6. Everything is an experiment

One of the greatest dangers we face as leaders is inattentional blindness. We stop noticing our environment.  When that happens we lose creativity, we lose excellence.  You’ve got to make some mistakes!  You’ve got to take some risks.  Over time there is a cognitive shift from right-brain to left-brain: we stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing it out of memory.  Do something different.  After all, if you want God to do something new then you can’t keep doing the same old thing.

7. If your life is interesting your messages will be interesting.

The reason why many of our messages lack impact is because they aren’t interesting and they aren’t interesting because we’re not interesting.  Get a life!  You need a life outside of church.  Go on an adventure. Take up a hobby.  Learn something new.

8. Don’t just dream big. Think long.

We tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in 2 years, but we underestimate what we can accomplish in ten years.  Zoom out.  Your mantra shouldn’t be “as soon as possible.” It should be “as long as it takes.”  Your vision isn’t just too small. It’s too short.

9. Put your family first

At the end of the day, I want to be famous in my home.  God has not called me to sacrifice my family on the altar of ministry.  They deserve my best.  Don’t let work become home and home become work.  Success for me is my kids growing up to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Your youth pastor isn’t called to disciple your kids. You are.  You’ll make mistakes, but the secret to successful parenting is this: keep trying, keep forgiving, keep loving.

10. Who you’re becoming is more important than what you’re doing.

Don’t worry about church growth. Focus on personal growth and church growth will take care of itself.  Stay humble. Stay hungry. Make sure you’re doing ministry out of the overflow of what God is doing in your own heart, your own life.  Remember that who you are is more important than what you do.  People over programs. People over portfolios.

11. Work like it depends on you. Pray like it depends on God.

Failing to plan is planning to fail. So plan away. And loving God with all of your strength = a great work ethic.  So work hard.  But I believe in prayerstorming more than brainstorming.  Prayer is the difference between you fighting for God and God fighting for you.  If work is the engine of success, then prayer is the high-octane fuel.

12. If you have something to say, say it.

My greatest regret looking back over fifteen years of preaching?  Simple: I wish I had communicated the gospel more consistently and more clearly.  I should have said it and said it again and again and again.  You cannot over-communicate.  Say it. Then say it over and over again.  Say it in different ways. As a multi-site church we have a mantra: when in doubt, CC.  Another mantra is this: don’t internalize, verbalize.  I don’t want to hear about issues when they’ve become full-blown problems with collateral damage.  Internalizing issues only makes them worse.  And I don’t want to hear it from a third-party. If you have something to say, say it.

13. Be Yourself

Don’t try to be who you’re not.  I’m not trying to be a pastor anymore. I’m trying to be myself.  I’m certainly trying to grow in maturity and gifting, but I’m not worried about who I’m not.  Abraham Lincoln said, “You can please all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can’t please all the people all of the time.” Uniformity isn’t the goal. Unity is.  That also doesn’t mean unanimous.  According to the categorization of adopters, 16% of the people you lead will be resisters. It doesn’t matter if you come down with stone tablets from Mount Sinai.  Even Jesus lost one of his disciples.

14. Don’t live for the applause of people.

My philosophy of ministry is Matthew 10:16: Be shrewd as a snake and innocent as a dove. You’ve got to beat the enemy at his own game and that takes creativity.  But you also need to do the right things for the right reasons and that takes integrity.  Don’t worry about being politically correct.  Be biblically correct. Most of my reward has been forfeited because I was more concerned about “my kingdom” than “thy kingdom.” I was living for the applause of people.  To get to the point where you genuinely care for people you have to get to the point where you don’t care how they feel about you.  Live for the applause of nail-scarred hands.

15. I’d rather have one God idea than a thousand good ideas.

Let me say it again: get in the presence of God. Those new ideas are discovered in the context of prayer and fasting and nowhere else. Good ideas are good, but God ideas change the course of history.  There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet.  Here’s a formula: change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. Sometimes you just need to get out of your routine.

16. Be what you want

If you want to receive honor then you need to give honor. If you want a generous culture, then you’ve got to give sacrificially.  Set the example. Set the bar.  At the end of the day, the strengths and weaknesses of any organization mirror the strengths and weaknesses of the leadership.  Take responsibility for it. Then take action.

17. Enjoy the journey

If you are too focused on the future you’ll fall into the when/then syndrome. When we have “this many people” or “this much money” I’ll be able to enjoy leadership. No you won’t.  You need to enjoy every stage.  For the record, it will only get harder.  It will only get more complicated. Sin will complicate your life in negative ways.  Blessings will complicate your life in positive ways. When I got married it complicated my life. Praise God. We have three complications named Parker, Summer, and Josiah. I can’t imagine life without those complications.  So count the cost and keep on keeping on.

Your Involvement

Steven Furtick post:  Whose Ideas Was That?


When you look at the miracles in the Bible, you see two themes consistently emerge when it comes to the person involved in the miracle.

1) Many biblical miracles were the person’s own initiative, not God’s idea.
Like the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.
Or Namaan who went to Elisha for healing for his leprosy.
Or the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant.

And 2) many biblical miracles involved the person’s natural action, not just God’s supernatural intervention.
Like when the Israelites had to walk through the Red Sea after God parted it.
Or when the blind man had to wash himself in the pool of Siloam.
Or when Joshua and his army had to march around the walls of Jericho before it fell.

The bottom line is that when it comes to the miracles you want to see in and through your life, God wants your involvement. I’ve said it before, but most Christians don’t want miracles, we want magic.

We want God to wave a magic wand at our problem or need.

We want God to send the money out of the sky.
God forbid we would cut up our credit cards.

We want God to heal us of our physical ailments.
God forbid we change our eating habits or start exercising.

We want to see God do miraculous things through us.
God forbid we get off the couch and give God a platform off of which He can work.

I’m sorry, but God’s miracles don’t work like that. Of course they involve His unmistakable power and provision. Otherwise they wouldn’t be miracles. But they also require your initiative and involvement. Otherwise they would just be magic.

Maybe we could sum it up like this:
Without God, you cannot.
Without you, God will not.

Ask yourself two questions today.
1)   What miracle do you need or want to see God accomplish in or through your life?
2)   What involvement is God requiring from you before He accomplishes the miracle?

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Belongings of All Belongings

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer about Being Desired and Belonging to Jesus

And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Rom. 1:6
“I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.” Song of Songs 7:10

Gracious Jesus, so much of life is about the desire and delights of belonging. From the day we offered our first cry as a newborn baby, our deep longing for attention, attachment, and affection have been patently obvious. We were born into families, and our quest to find our place in our family has been a source of incredible joy for many of us and multiplied heartbreaks for others. This same story has played out in every other relational arena in life: friendships, work, romance. Wanting to belong is a relentless and restless theme in our lives.

And yet “the belonging of all belongings” is found only in relationship with you, Lord Jesus. In the gospel we discover your heart-astonishing desire for us. How can it be that you actually want us, pursue us and enjoy us? Nothing is more humbling and thrilling. We are called to belong—not owned like a new car but connected like a new bride. Lord Jesus, you purchased us with the price of your life and your love for us is better than life.

Indeed, by the gospel we enter a relationship with you of unparalled intimacy, unbreakable security and eternal felicity. The healthiest relationships we enjoy are good gifts to be treasured, but they are only a scent and symbol of what it means to belong to you. And, because of your tender mercies and great love, our most painful and disconnected relationships don’t have to immobilize, preoccupy or define us. We can grieve our losses and bring our wounds to you. What a wonderful, merciful Savior you are, indeed.

And it’s a good thing, no, a glorious thing that belonging to you is an actual calling, and not a mere invitation. For we are too foolish and weak to come after you. We didn’t choose you, Jesus, you chose us. You subpoenaed us into an eternal life of being wanted, desired, known, loved, celebrated, and enjoyed. We believe this, but continue to free us from the depths of our persistent unbelief. Help us come more fully alive to our “belongingness” and beloved-ness in you, Jesus. As a betrothed bride in waiting, we cry, Maranatha! Even so, come Lord Jesus, come. So very Amen we pray, in your gracious and loving name.

Scandalous Grace of the Gospel

 Paxson Jeancake post:  Sometimes a Light Surprises: The Treasured Gift of a Troubled Soul

Art is not birthed in a vacuum, nor is it produced solely from a life of blissful devotion and ongoing prayer and song. Art is often brought forth from hardship and struggle, turmoil and tears. There is something about a troubled soul that taps into both the reality of our fallen condition and the hope of something greater than ourselves. Such is the life of William Cowper, the troubled but gifted artist whose hymns have been sung in many different languages for more than two centuries.

William Cowper was born on November 26, 1731, in England. His father was a pastor, and his mother died when he was 6 years old. For most of his life Cowper was plagued with a dark depression. At the age of 31 he tried three times to take his own life and was soon admitted to St. Albans Insane Asylum for recovery. Ironically, that is where Cowper came to faith. Using the lyrics from his hymn "Sometimes a Light Surprises," I'd like to discuss a few themes that flow out of the life of William Cowper and artists in general.

Art and Creativity Bring Us Life

Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings; it is the Lord who rises with healing in his wings.

Virtually my entire life has centered on playing the guitar and making music. When I was 25 I experienced a severe injury severing nerves, tendons, and an artery in the palm of my right hand. On my way into surgery all I wanted to know was, "Will I ever be able to play the guitar again?" From the beginning the guitar took hold of me more than I took hold of it. Making music has been a source of life to me through all of the various seasons I have endured. My wife, Allison, often tells people, "If my husband isn't creating, he's not living."

William Cowper also found life in art and creativity. He loved reading poetry, especially the work of George Herbert. One source tells us that Herbert's poems "spoke to his soul." [1] Without question, writing his own poems and hymns was a source of healing for Cowper and a way to deal with his chronic depression.

Ultimately, it is the art of worship that brings us life. Through the various creative expressions we offer to God and with one another (poetic prayers, profound lyrics, and beautiful melodies) we are able to see the world and our circumstances more from God's perspective as our hearts and minds are fixed, for a time, on the love, wonder, truth, and adoration of God.

A number of years ago Allison and I were leading a series of seminars with several churches in Birmingham, Alabama. We began our time with a Friday evening worship service. Interestingly, a lady came to that service with a plan to take her own life; however, through the combination of prayer, song, and the work of the Spirit, her outlook changed and she left with renewed hope. That is an extreme example, but worship (literally and figuratively) brings us life!

More recently I experienced the surprising light and life of God's presence while planning and selecting songs for our weekend services. Allison had sent me a link to the song "Waiting Here for You" sung by Christy Nockels. Within about 30 seconds tears started rolling down my face as I was drawn into the beauty and power of this song. It was exactly the kind of dynamic that Cowper experienced in his own life and described in his hymns: "Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings; it is the Lord who rises with healing in his wings."

Community Shapes Us into Who We Were Called to Be

Set free from present sorrow, we cheerfully can say, "Let the unknown tomorrow bring with it what it may."

One of the "unknown tomorrows" in Cowper's life was his providential encounter with John Newton, author of "Amazing Grace." These two men forged a friendship that would lead to one of the most productive seasons of Cowper's life. Newton asked Cowper to be a part of a hymn project for his local parish in Olney. Together they wrote 348 hymns over a span of about 10 years. A few of the more recognizable hymns that Cowper wrote include "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood," "O for a Closer Walk with God," "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," and "Sometimes a Light Surprises."

In the preface to the Olney Hymns Newton shares that the design of the book was not only to promote "the faith and comfort of sincere Christians," but also "to perpetuate the remembrance of an intimate and endeared friendship." [2] The community and fellowship that Newton and his parish provided for Cowper was transformative. Through that relationship Cowper left the world lyrical treasures of grace and truth.

Many artists lean towards isolation. Our tendency is to do things on our own and keep our problems hidden. Cowper is an example of what can take place when we immerse ourselves in community and, through the providential relationships in our lives, discover more about who we are and how God wants to use us for his kingdom.

Honest Lament Is a Sacred Release

Though vine nor fig tree neither, their wonted fruit shall bear, though all the field should wither, nor flocks nor herds be there; yet God the same abideth, his praise shall tune my voice, for while in him confiding, I cannot but rejoice.


Cowper chose the text from Habakkuk 3 for the fourth and final verse of "Sometimes a Light Surprises." It is an interesting choice for a number of reasons. First of all, it is likely that Habakkuk was a musician. Scholars believe that Habakkuk was a Levite and associated with the temple singers. [3] The last chapter of Habakkuk is in the form of a liturgy with a prophetic prayer meant to be sung.
Secondly, Habakkuk 3 includes the language of lament and, according to one commentator, "provides one of the most moving statements of faith and trust found in Scripture (vv. 16-19)." [4] There is something about honest lament that bridges our limited, finite humanity with our infinite, covenant Lord.

Often when we look around at our circumstances we want to cry out, "Lord, what are you doing? What is going on?" There is something telling in this kind of stark and honest dialogue with God. It may seem obvious, but lament, rather than revealing a distance from God, reveals that an actual relationship is intact. When we feel close enough to God to talk to him honestly about our circumstances, intimacy is revealed. Moreover, it is often through intimate, honest lament that clarity is received. Though it begins with a description of tough circumstances, Cowper's lyric ends with the assurance of God's faithfulness: "yet God the same abideth, his praise shall tune my voice, for while in him confiding, I cannot but rejoice."

Many people don't quite know what to do with someone like William Cowper. How could someone who has placed his hope in the Lord reach such dark depths of despair? There aren't any easy answers, but Cowper's life reminds us that it is only the scandalous grace of the gospel that can transform such fragile vessels, such troubled souls into treasured gifts to the world.
**********
Download the song "Sometimes a Light Surprises." Words by William Cowper. Music by Paxson and Allison Jeancake.

[1] George Melvyn Ella, William Cowper: Poet of Paradise, p. 60. [2] John Newton, Preface to the Olney Hymns, 1779, http://www.scripturetruth.org/issues/songs/hymns/Newton_preface_1779.html (September 2011).
[3] Willem A. VanGemeren, Intepreting the Prophetic Word, p. 172.
[4] David W. Baker, An Introduction and Commentary: Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, p. 68.

Prayers

Ed Stetzer post:  Why Aren't My Prayers Answered? (John Piper)

Back in 1996 John Piper preached a message titled, Praying From The Fullness of The Word, in which he addresses the questions, "Why aren't my prayers being answered?" He says in part,
It says we may not be praying according to God's will; 1 John 5:14, "If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us."
  
Or it could be we have cherished sin that we will not let go from our lives; Psalm 66:18, "If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear."
It could be that we have man-centered and not God-centered motives; James 4:3, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."
Or it may be that we do not believe that God will do it; Mark 11:24, "All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you."
Or it could be that God wants you to persevere, and is testing your obedience to his command in Luke 18:1, "At all times [you] ought to pray and not to lose heart."
Or it might be that God is, in fact, doing far more every time you pray than you can imagine and is daily putting in place a part of the mosaic that will in good time be the full answer to your prayer (as in Daniel 10:2,12).
It's a great word for all to hear. You can listen to the whole thing at Desiring God.


Beloved

Practical Theology for Women post:  Self-delusion Verses Self-condemnation
“The greatest enemy of the spiritual life is self-rejection BECAUSE it contradicts the Voice that calls you Beloved.” –Henri Nouwin

I've referred to this Nouwin quote before. It's poignant to me again today as I contemplate the opposite manifestations of a single theological problem. The manifestations are self-delusion and self-condemnation. The first characterizes us when we excuse our sin or talk ourselves out of it. Our view of ourselves and our God can't handle an honest assessment of our problems. We “can't handle the truth,” as Jack Nicholson famously says in A Few Good Men. So we blame shift and manipulate others' perception of ourselves. We manipulate our own personal perception of ourself as well. Then the day comes when we can no longer escape it. Maybe we took our anger out on our kid one time too many, and he gives us the finger as he walks out the door. Or we lost our job because our addiction to pain killers resulted in an undeniable lack in judgement. Or our husband walks out the door because we finally pushed him too far.

Those moments, when we wake up to our sin and its consequences in the lives of the ones we love, can be devastating. I have at times kicked myself over and over again at the realization of my sin and mistakes. It's self-flaggelation. I hate myself, but punishing myself brings NO relief. And it's just as bad for those around me as self-delusion. Self-delusion and self-condemnation are two sides of the same coin. Either way, I can't handle the truth, or what I believe is the truth about myself. Either way, those around me are affected by my sin and unbelief.

I'm convinced that our identity in Christ is the crux of our problems. We are not confident in what God has said over us, so we can't handle real self-examination. I have to be right, or good, or helpful. **I** do, because apart from me giving myself my identity, nobody's going to do it for me. Oh, how false and unhelpful! One of my favorite chapters in Scripture that clears it all up for me is Romans 8.

It starts off with a bang. “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). None. At all.

Condemn – to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate strong disapproval of; censure. (dictionary.com)

God does not disapprove of me. He doesn't censure me or express unfavorable opinions of me. Why? Because He laid that all on Christ. And He in turn laid all of Christ on me. He sees me wearing Christ's righteousness, and Christ stands before Him daily as my advocate, showing His wounds that give me this privilege. And it is THIS privilege that allows me to face my sin and deal with it.

Do you have sin you need to face? I encourage you to read through Romans 8. First face the truth of all God says over you in Christ. I love the section headings of the chapter in the ESV– heirs with Christ, future glory, and everlasting love. Then after meditating on it and owning first the truth of God's love for you and His good plan for you through Christ, own your sin. You did it. It hurt others. Repent. Ask forgiveness of those you wounded. And repeat as necessary. Your sin doesn't define you. Christ defines you. And in Him, you can face your sin without either self-delusion or self-condemnation.


...


Same Team

Michael McKinley post:  Church Size:  The Fault Line in the Movement


It can be good to have a "tribe" (e.g., Acts 29, 9Marks, SGM, the PCA)  where you resonate with the philosophy of ministry and get good resources for your work.  I'm also glad for what God is doing to bring people together across Reformed "tribes" through movements like T4G and The Gospel Coalition. Part of what God seems to be doing is forging trust and partnerships between groups that do things differently.

But from my observation (at conferences and in personal conversations), there seems to be still be a fault line running through us: church size.  I've sat in conferences where the speakers talk as if you aren't a good pastor until your church hits 2,000 people in attendance.  I've also heard small church pastors who seem to assume that large crowds always indicate that the message is being watered down.

A few suggestions on the matter:
  • Drop the "better than" language.
Large churches aren't better than small.  And vice versa.  I don't care what your surveys say, you can easily find examples and statistics to show the superiority of whatever it is that you happen to be doing.  The fact is, some churches grow big because the ministry is faithful and the Lord is blessing.  Others grow big because the itching ears of the masses are being appeased.  Some small churches are doing great work in difficult places.  Others are small because they are lame and ineffective.  Most churches (big and small) do some things well and other things less well.  
  • Realize that size is often a choice.
We need to realize that church size is often not so much a function of gifting and faithfulness, but rather of principled decisions.  The way that you understand evangelism, discipling, shepherding, and congregational life will go a long way to determining your church size.  To put it simply, it may not be that the other guy can't do what you're doing... it may be that he doesn't want to.  Tim Keller's Leadership and Church Size Dynamics does a good job laying out the sacrifices and changes a church has to make as it grows.  Some churches will simply decide that they can't go further along the path and remain true to their philosophy of ministry.
  • Recognize that your challenges are mostly spiritual, not administrative. 
What all churches (small, medium, and large) need are believers who love the Lord Jesus and embrace the implications of the gospel for their lives, the life of the congregation, and the world around them.  No amount of programming, resources, or administrative genius in a large church will help if your church isn't a place where people are being transformed by God into those kinds of believers.  No amount of personal interaction and one-on-one access to the pastor in a small church will matter if it's not moving people in that direction.  Big churches and small churches have access to the same means of grace (preaching, prayer, the sacraments) which God promises to bless to those ends.  Yes, administration matters.  But it won't solve anything unless the means of grace are in effect.
  • Be on guard against pride.
We tend to spiritualize whatever it is that we're good at doing.  But the fact is that faithful ministry will look different in different places.  God gives different men different gifts and calls them to different work.  One person takes pride in the size of their church and looks down on "less successful" pastors.  Another person takes pride in the intimacy of their church and looks down on "less faithful" pastors.  Can we all just admit that no pastor is good enough to deserve any of God's blessings, but we have received this ministry by the mercy of God (II Corinthians 4:1)?
  • We. Are. All. On. The. Same. Team.
Let's make sure we're acting like it.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Pour Out Your Spirit

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer Asking God to Do Stuff Beyond Our Power

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Hebrews 11:11
Heavenly Father, I’ve always loved Sarah’s story, for I’ve laughed the laugh of unbelief many times myself (Genesis 18:10-15). I understand her incredulity. How could her barren womb possibly bring forth Israel’s next patriarch? She doubted you and then she lied about her doubts—and you loved her. And here she is, showing up in the “fall of fame of faith” in Hebrews 11—chronicled as a woman who considered you faithful to do what you had promised you would do. And thus, Isaac was born.

There is no other God like you.

It’s always been about your great faithfulness, not our great faith. The only real hero in your story is Jesus—in whom all your promises find their “Yes!” (2 Cor. 1:20) And so we come to you today asking you to do things well beyond our power—looking to Jesus, not to ourselves.

There are things many of us are facing which, on the surface, seem just as unlikely, just as daunting, just as impossible as Sarah giving birth to Isaac. Bring much glory to yourself as you hear and answer the cries of our hearts, Father.

For friends whose hearts have grown indifferent, even cold towards you, we ask you to bring new life into the barrenness of their souls.  It’s hard to watch some of your previously faithful servants become disillusioned and disconnected. How does a cynical saint become childlike again? How can vain regrets be trumped by renewed affections? with Pour out your Spirit, Father, in the name of Jesus.

In church families under assault of the enemy, in the entanglements of pettiness, over their heads in messes—do exceedingly beyond all we can ask or imagine. Replace rancor with revival; gossiping with gospeling; armchair quarterbacking with bent-knee praying; a spirit of retaliation with the spirit of reconciliation. Pour out your Spirit, Father, in the name of Jesus.

On those of us facing ill-timed crises; anxious about rebellious children; wanting to flee dead marriages; fearful of acknowledging not-so-hidden addictions; mired in toxic self-righteousness; paralyzed by guilt and shame; entering major transitions; weak in the face of strong temptations… running out of money, time and hope… on us, pour out your Spirit, Father, in the name of Jesus.

“Great is your faithfulness, oh God our Father. There is no shadow of turning with you. You do not change and your compassion does not fail. As you have been, you will ever be. Great is your faithfulness! Great is your faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies we see. All we have needed your hand has provided, great is your faithfulness, Lord, unto us!” So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ strong and loving name.

Gospel Now-Power

Tullian Tchividjian post:  How The Gospel Saved My Life

A couple months ago Drew Dyck, managing editor of Leadership Journal, came to Ft. Lauderdale to interview me about the 2009 merger of New City Church (the church I planted in 2003) and Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. As has been well documented, it was an incredibly painful and tumultuous year. It was the year that God brought me to the end of myself, broke my legs, and taught me grace. It was the year that the gospel saved me 18 years after I became a Christian.

The whole story of how I discovered the practical power and punch of the gospel during that agonizing year is the subject of my new book Jesus + Nothing = Everything. The book is an autobiographical record highlighting how God helped me rediscover the now-power of the gospel in the crucible of excruciating pain.

In the latest issue of Leadership Journal, Drew captured the heart of what happened that  year in an interview he did with me entitled War and Peace, and he highlights how I survived a leadership coup by finding rest in the liberating power of the gospel.

Here’s an excerpt:
I was realizing in a fresh way the now-power of the gospel—that the gospel doesn’t simply rescue us from the past and rescue us for the future; it also rescues us in the present from being enslaved to things like fear, insecurity, anger, self-reliance, bitterness, entitlement, and insignificance. Through my pain, I was being convinced all over again that the power of the gospel is just as necessary and relevant after you become a Christian as it is before.
When that biblical reality gripped my heart, I was free like I had never felt before in my life. It gives you the backbone to walk into a room full of church leaders and say “this is what we’re going to do and this is why we’re going to do it, even if it gets me thrown into the street.”
There is a fresh, sanctified I-don’t-care-ness that accompanies belief in the gospel. Whether you like me or not doesn’t matter, because my worth and my dignity and my identity are anchored in God’s approval. Christ won all of the approval and acceptance I need.
You can read the whole thing here.

I really, really hope and pray that this story will be an encouragement to struggling and discouraged pastors. I know that many of your stories are worse than mine. It doesn’t seem fair to me that just because I come from a well-known family and inherited a well-known church, that my story gets told and yours doesn’t. But I’ve talked with many of you over the last two years and your stories have encouraged me tremendously.

God knows how deeply grateful I am for all of you pastors who are feeling empty and all by yourself. Brothers, I am with you–side by side; back to back.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Lessons in the House of Mourning

John Piper post:  Steve Jobs: “He Knew the Couple of Things He Wanted to Do”


Steve Jobs, the biography by Walter Isaacson, went on sale yesterday. In an interview Isaacson commented on the effect Jobs’ cancer had on his life focus.
He talked a lot to me about what happened when he got sick and how it focused him. He said he no longer wanted to go out, no longer wanted to travel the world. He would focus on the products. He knew the couple of things he wanted to do, which was the iPhone and then the iPad.

Wisdom in the House of Mourning

Today I am preaching at a funeral. Funerals are high privileges for me. “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). So much wisdom is to be had there. “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). This is what the house of mourning is for: Lessons in mortality and the learning of wisdom.

Sometimes God makes us go to the house of mourning. He decrees cancer. We are forced to live in the shadow of our funeral—the school of wisdom.

The wisdom Steve Jobs learned, he said, was this: Do a couple things, and do them well. You don’t have time for much. And most of things are not lasting. So do two or three things, and do them amazingly.

Not a bad lesson. In fact, really good—as far as it goes.

What Matters Is United in One Thing

But when Paul described what he learned in the long shadow of his own funeral, it was based not merely on the inevitability of death, but on the death of death. “Death is swallowed up in victory”—through Jesus Christ.

Here’s the lesson: “Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

There is one thing, not two or three, that matters. All is united in one thing: “The work of the Lord.” It might be computers. It might be conversions. Whatever it is, in the shadow of your funeral, let it be “the work of the Lord.”

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). “Whatever you do, do everything in the name of the Lord” (Colossians 3:17). By faith in Jesus, every act becomes this one thing—the work of the Lord.

Let Us Learn

Get the wisdom of the house of mourning. Learn from the shadow of your own funeral. One thing matters. Whether you make an iPhone, or use an iPhone, let every breath, every thought, every deed be one thing—the “work of faith”—the work of the Lord.

He Remains Faithful

Steven Furtick post:  Your Faith.  God's Faithfulness.


I don’t think we can ever talk enough about the faithfulness of God. It’s the starting place of any big prayer or act of faith.

In Sun Stand Still, I wrote:
Our faith may fail. But God’s faithfulness never will. Our faith is not built on the fault line of feelings or the flood plain of our performance. We build our faith on solid ground. Higher ground. We build on the faithfulness of God.

That’s as true today as when I first wrote it. Not because I wrote it, but because it’s the clear testimony of God:
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown himself.
2 Timothy 2:13

But I also believe that there’s another side to the interplay between our faith and God’s faithfulness that we can’t afford to ignore. God is faithful even if we are faithless. But God shows His faithfulness in a special way towards those who show their faith in Him.

I’m not talking out of both sides of my mouth. It’s simple, really. God is always faithful. But it’s the people who step out in faith that have the opportunity to see God come through for them and move in ways that those who are faithless don’t.

While the Bible is clear that God’s faithfulness is the solid ground of our faith, it’s also clear that our faith gives God a way to display His faithfulness.

God would have remained faithful if Moses had remained in the desert, herding sheep. But because Moses had the faith to be God’s representative before Pharaoh, he had a front row seat to the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea – both huge demonstrations of God’s faithfulness.

God would have remained faithful if Daniel hadn’t had the courage to keep praying to God when he was told not to. But because Daniel had the faith to persist, he had a bird’s eye view to God’s faithfulness in the lions’ den.

God would have remained faithful if Peter hadn’t walked on water. But because Peter had the faith to step out of the boat, he got to see Jesus’ faithfulness in a way the other disciples didn’t.

Maybe we could sum it up like this:
God has demonstrated His past faithfulness to give us a foundation for our faith.
Now show God your faith. And He’ll show you His faithfulness.

Not because you would have earned it. But because you would have put yourself in a position to see it.

Pray big.
Dream big.
Take big steps of faith.

Because of how you’ve seen God’s faithfulness in the past. And because you want to see Him show His faithfulness in ways you haven’t seen yet in the future.

Conflict

Mark Batterson post:  No Conflict = No Story

Wrapping four days in New York City.

Enjoyed Carnegie Deli twice, Central Park, and a walk through Time Square is like a shot of adrenaline.  Fun to hang out with my friends, Bob Powers and Joel Clark.

I was here to attend The Story Seminar. Robert McKee is a little too curmudgeonly for my taste, but he is brilliant.  We spent ten hours a day examining the art and science of story.  Fascinating stuff. I think it’ll help me as a writer and preacher, but the primary take away is applying the principles of story to my own life story.

One of the main points is this simple fact: no conflict = no story.  We recognize that epic movies involve epic conflict, but we want our lives to tell an amazing story with no conflict. Do you want your life to be an epic?  Then it necessitates epic conflict.  You’re going to have to take huge risks or make huge sacrifices.  There is no way around it. But those greater and greater conflicts force us to draw on greater and greater capacities.  And through the conflict, character is formed.

I believe that God is writing His-story, history with a hyphen in it, through our lives.  He’s given us a script called Scripture. He’s given us a teleprompter called the Holy Spirit.  And He wants our lives to be epic. But it will involve the very same elements of any great story: inciting incidents, evolving conflict, overwhelming antagonism, progressive complication.  There will be major ups and major downs.  You have to go to the limits and go to the depths.  Ultimately, every story is about the change in the character.  And change only happens through conflict–internal and external.  That conflict will make or break the character. If it’s handled correctly, it forces the character to draw on greater capacities–more willpower, more love, more sacrifice.  More conflict = More character.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Decisions

Jonathan Parnell post:  How to Lead in Making Major Decisions


Pastor John in 2002:
The following guidelines are intended to guide a pastor or elder or director in writing recommendations that will help the Leadership (and, if appropriate, the congregation) understand, approve, and act on significant suggested courses of action.
I don’t mean that all these guidelines must be followed for every decision the Leadership must make. They apply to more major proposals — the kind that will be costly, or will affect many people in important ways, or may seem to the Leadership different from an assumed path. In these cases, thorough, careful, Biblical persuasion is needed. The assumption behind these guidelines is that at every point truth is paramount.

Eight Guidelines

  1. Pray with out ceasing.
  2. Meditate on the Word of God day and night.
  3. Gather true information related to the proposal.
  4. Think through as many implications of the proposal as possible.
  5. Write the proposal including a coherent and orderly presentation of the proposal, an explanation of it, the implications, and the rationale.
  6. Give copies of this written proposal to the Leadership sufficiently in advance of the meeting at which it will be considered.
  7. Read the proposal to the Leadership or read a coherent summary of its key parts at the meeting when it is to be discussed.
  8. Seek a thorough discussion of the proposal, with all the Leadership urged to participate in the discussion. Allow the head of the Leadership group to guide the discussion to appropriate action.
Read the entire article, Guidelines for Leading Leadership in Major Decisions.

Transforming Us

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer in Praise of God, Who Makes Us Like Jesus

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 1 Thess. 5:23-24
Holy and loving Father, it’s portions of your Word like this one that make me want to weep and dance at the same time. I feel like weeping over the years I spent in gospel-ignorance—a stranger to the ways of transforming grace. For years I was clueless about how you actually change your sons and daughters—how you make us more like Jesus. I suffered much under the hands of bad theologies, man-centered remedies, and Christ-less formulas. I was certain that life in Christ began by grace alone, but from that point on, things God confusing.

But this one passage, alone, affirms that you’re not only the God who called us to life in Jesus, you are also the One who is transforming us. You will keep all of your children blameless until the day you send Jesus back to finish making all things new—including me. No wonder Paul calls you the God of peace, for where else can we find such peace, joy, and assurance? We can no more finish the good work of our redemption than we could begin it. How freeing it is to really believe that “salvation is of the Lord”!

How did I miss the really good news of the gospel for so long? Why was I such an easy target for performance-based spirituality? Why wasn’t I able to recognize corruptions of the gospel sooner?
I lament the years I spent in seeing Jesus more as my perfect model than as my perfect Righteousness. I grieve putting confidence in rededicating my life to Jesus, instead of focusing on Jesus’ dedication to us in the gospel. How arrogant I was trying to “make Jesus Lord of all things”, as though I could ever “make” Jesus Lord of anything. O the unnecessary striving and effort I invested, holding out for a second, third, ninth and seventeenth “baptism in the Spirit”, instead of savoring a life of union and communion with Jesus. How did I miss so much of the gospel for so very long? Why couldn’t I see I was acting like my own savior?

Enough of looking back in sadness, I choose to look up in gladness, for you’ve turned my mourning into dancing, Father. You’ve removed the sackcloth of my self-righteousness and have clothed me with the wedding garments of the Lamb. With the music of the Wedding banquet already emanating from heaven, my prayer is simply this: dear Father, more and more, and through and through, make me like Jesus. By the grace of the gospel and the work of your Spirit, make me like Jesus. You alone are faithful and you will surely do this very thing for your glory. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ holy and loving name.

Only the Gospel

Excerpt from Tullian Tchividjian post:  Only The Gospel Makes Us Go

Mike Horton rightly warns against depending on “guidance technology” to put wind in our sails:
... . In other words, if we are looking for motivation in the Christian life, it cannot come from motivational principles; only the gospel fills our sails…While God’s wise directions are necessary, apart from the ever present word of promise that, despite our failures at sea, God is at the helm piloting us to safety, we will eventually give up on sailing altogether. Purposes, laws, principles, suggestions, and good advice can set our course, but only the gospel promise can fill our sails and restore to us the joy of our salvation.
The Gospel Driven Life, pg. 143-144

Can You Consent?

Ray Ortlund post:  Our families belong not to us but to Christ

“I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure to a heathen land, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India, to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death.  Can you consent to all this, for the sake of Him who left His heavenly home and died for her and for you, for the sake of perishing, immortal souls, for the sake of Zion and the glory of God?  Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with a crown of righteousness brightened by the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Savior from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?”

Adoniram Judson, writing to the father of the girl he loved and wished to marry, anticipating his departure for the mission field, quoted in John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life (Wheaton, 2003), page 158.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Creator, Sustainer, and Restorer

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer for Answering the Main Question in Life

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ?” Matt. 22:41-42
Lord Jesus, the question you directed to Pharisees, you still put before us: “What do you think about the Christ?” There’s no more important question for us to ponder in every season of life. Yesterday’s confession needs to be today’s possession. Continue to free us from all wrong notions we’ve ever had about you—those generated by our fallen hearts; the ones manufactured by the father of lies; others sown and rooted by years of which incomplete or flat-out heretical teaching.

On this beautiful October morning, what do I believe about you? Why have I surrendered my life and entrusted my death to you? Here are a few of the things which immediately flood my heart with joy. Lord Jesus, you are everlasting God—equal in glory with the Father and Holy Spirit; and I am a mere man. I would despair if you were anything less, and I’m very weary of trying to be more. You are the Creator, Sustainer, and Restorer of all things. In you all things hold together and for you all things have been made. You don’t just care about my soul, you care about my whole being.

You are the second Adam—our substitute in life and in death. You lived a life of perfect obedience for us, and you exhausted God’s judgment that stood against us. Though your resurrection, you conquered death and secured our eternal life. By you, we have been completely forgiven, and in you, we have been declared perfectly righteousness. Because of what you have done for us, God cannot love us more than he does in this very minute and he will never love us less.

As I pray, you are at the right hand of the Father advocating and interceding for us. You are presenting redeeming your pan-national Bride and are making all making all things new—even though it may not appear that way to us.. You are the Lord of lords, the Lamb of God and the Lamp of the New City. You have the heart of every king in your hand and are placing all your enemies under your feet. O, Lord Jesus, you are all this and so much more. Eternity will be an endless revelation of your glory and grace.

But thinking about you today, what stuns me the most is to realize you are always thinking about us. We are in your heart and on your mind all the time. Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a salvation! With fresh gratitude and awe, we worship you. So very Amen we pray, in your merciful and mighty name.

God Glorifying Messages

Collin Hansen post:  Growing Passion for God's Word

On a recent flight I sat next to two young women returning from the same conference. They carried bags of books they received for free and a few others they bought for further study. I asked why they took time out of their busy work schedules to fly halfway across the country to hear a weekend of heavy teaching. They said they appreciated the meaty, biblically saturated, God-glorifying messages that encouraged them to love God and share his love with their neighbors. If this is what you want, I said, then you'll really enjoy The Gospel Coalition's 2012 women's conference, June 22 to 24 in Orlando.

These women reflect the trend discussed in this video by Nancy Guthrie and Kathleen Nielson, TGC's director of women's initiatives. Teaching around the world, these women have observed a growing passion for God's Word, especially in the younger generation. Women are looking for substantive study and training with the gospel of Jesus Christ at the center. One conference can't do all this in a weekend, but we hope the event will bring together many women from different backgrounds to connect and engage in serious biblical study as it's modeled by our plenary addresses and workshops.

So whether you're theologically trained or recently became a believer, we hope you'll join us in Orlando along with some of your family, friends, and Bible study group. We trust you'll be encouraged to see such a diverse group of women who love God, love his Word, and desire to speak the gospel clearly and truly together.

Monstrum Incertitudinis

Excerpt from Tullian Tchividjian post:  Where to Look When You're In Trouble

A shift has taken place in the Evangelical church with regard to the way we think about the gospel and it’s far from simply an ivory tower conversation. This shift effects us on the ground of everyday life.

In his book Paul: An Outline of His Theology, famed Dutch Theologian Herman Ridderbos (1909 – 2007) summarizes this shift which took place following Calvin and Luther. It was a sizable but subtle shift which turned the focus of salvation from Christ’s external accomplishment to our internal appropriation:
While in Calvin and Luther all the emphasis fell on the redemptive event that took place with Christ’s death and resurrection, later under the influence of pietism, mysticism and moralism, the emphasis shifted to the individual appropriation of the salvation given in Christ and to it’s mystical and moral effect in the life of the believer. Accordingly, in the history of the interpretation of the epistles of Paul the center of gravity shifted more and more from the forensic to the pneumatic and ethical aspects of his preaching, and there arose an entirely different conception of the structures that lay at the foundation of Paul’s preaching.
...

With this shift came a renewed focus on the internal life of the individual. The subjective question, “How am I doing?” became a more dominant feature than the objective question, “What did Jesus do?” As a result, generations of Christians were taught that Christianity was primarily a life-style; that the essence of our faith centered on “how to live”; that real Christianity was demonstrated in the moral change that took place inside those who had a “personal relationship with Jesus.” Our ongoing performance for Jesus, therefore, not Jesus’ finished performance for us, became the focus of sermons, books, and conferences. What I need to do and who I need to become, became the end game.

Believe it or not, this shift in focus from “the forensic to the pneumatic”, from the external to the internal, has enslaving practical consequences.

When you’re on the brink of despair-looking into the abyss of darkness, experiencing a dark-night of the soul-turning to the internal quality of your faith will bring you no hope, no rescue, no relief. Too often our preaching (and our counseling) is the equivalent of giving a drowning man swimming lessons: “Paddle harder, kick faster.” We assume that people possess the internal power to get things right so we turn them in to themselves. (Interestingly, Martin Luther defined sin as “mankind turned inward.”) But, as too many people already know, every internal answer will collapse underneath you.

Turning to the external object of your faith, namely Christ and his finished work on your behalf, is the only place to find peace, re-orientation, and help. The gospel always directs you to something, Someone, outside you instead of to something inside you for the assurance you crave and need in seasons of desperation and doubt. The surety you long for when everything seems to be falling apart won’t come from discovering the dedicated “hero within” but only from the realization that no matter how you feel or what you’re going through, you’ve already been discovered by the “Hero without.”

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Martin Luther had a term for the debilitating danger that comes from locating our hope in anything inside us: monstrum incertitudinis (the monster of uncertainty).  It’s a danger that has always plagued Christians since the fall but especially Christians in our highly subjectivistic age. And it’s a monster that can only be destroyed by the external promises of God in Jesus.

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They Didn't Mention Jesus

Excerpts from Ed Stetzer post:  Leadership Book Interview: Kara Powell

An important three-year research study examining what happens to students' faith is the basis for the launch of the Sticky Faith book series for parents and church leadership. I connected with co-author Dr. Kara Powell, Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute and a faculty member at Fuller Seminary, to discuss the practical, daily steps we can each take to build faith that lasts in the teenagers we care about. 

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Let's explore that idea of a "false gospel" a bit more. You've said in Sticky Faith that many teenagers unknowingly adopt the "gospel of sin management". What does that mean and how does that affect youth group graduates when they go out on their own?

The students in our Sticky Faith research tended to equate the gospel to a list of "do's" and "don'ts" - to a list of behaviors. That list of behaviors resembles what Dallas Willard calls the "gospel of sin management," which is really no gospel at all.

We asked the college juniors in our survey (all of whom were youth group graduates) what it meant to be a Christian. We were surprised, and disturbed, when one-third of those who answered that question didn't mention Jesus in their answers. They mentioned behaviors.

As my co-author, Dr. Chap Clark, describes in the book, the gospel that Jesus and Paul taught certainly involves behaviors, but it doesn't start with behaviors. It starts with a sense of God's grace, and the transformative power of that grace. I like to explain to teenagers that we obey God not in order to make God like us more or to feel better about ourselves, but because we're so grateful for God's grace that we want our lives to be great big "thank you notes" back to God.

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In your book you also stress the importance of creating an intergenerational group that surrounds your child. Why is that so important?

Of all of the youth group participation variables we examined, intergenerational worship and relationships was one of the strongest correlates with Sticky Faith, both in high school and college. The tragedy is that as youth ministry has become more professionalized, we have segregated (and that's not a verb I use lightly) kids from the rest of the church, and that can sabotage their faith.

We're tracking with a host of churches around the country who are moving more toward intergenerational youth ministry. Sure, there's a time and place for 16 year-olds to be together, but we have swung too far in the direction of siloization. Creative churches and ministries are connecting teenagers and adults in worship, mentoring, service work, and other programs. Interestingly, not only do the teenagers benefit from intergenerational relationships, but so does the entire church!

What advice would you give parents who want to take some baby steps toward Sticky Faith with their kids, whether that be in the minivan or over a meal?

The typical family conversation about faith involves the parent interviewing their child, asking them questions like: How was church? What did you learn? What did you study? Depending on your child's mood, personality, and your relationship with them, you might get real answers but you might also get very short answers or even just grunts.

Our Sticky Faith research suggests that we should keep asking these questions as parents, but what is as important is that we also share about our own faith journey with our students, and that is much less practiced by parents today. Instead of interviewing teenagers or lecturing them, wise leaders and parents will share their own spiritual journeys, both past and present. What has God been teaching them? What doubts are they struggling with? How did they come to devote their live to Christ? These are all questions that parents can and should be answering with their teenage children.

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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Prayer Miracles

Mark Batterson post:  Put on Waders

One of the things that excites me most about the release of The Circle Maker is hearing the stories of miraculous answers to prayer.  Nothing ignites faith like answered prayer.  I share lots of the prayer miracles God has done in my life and the life of National Community Church in the book.  Hopefully they will challenge people to pray bold prayers trusting God to do the impossible!

Here is one of the first stories I’ve gotten in response to The Circle Maker.  Thanks to Adam Wyatt for sharing it with me.

In Mississippi 50 years ago there was a horrible drought.  A rural church with lots of farmers in the congregation decided to do something about it by holding an emergency prayer meeting at the church.  One of the farmers came to the prayer meeting dressed in waders!  Some people thought he was crazy, but this farmer actually believed that God was going to answer their prayer so he dressed for the miracle. He said he didn’t want to walk home wet.  Well…he didn’t.  But everyone else did.

Sometimes we pray as if God isn’t going to answer!  Like the group of believers in Acts that were praying for Peter’s miraculous release from jail but didn’t believe it was Peter when he actually knocked on the door. Part of praying the prayer of faith is praying until God sanctifies your expectations. You take a step of faith “as if” you expect God to answer.  So the next time you pray for a miracle, put on waders!

Every Earthly Hope Explored and Found Wanting

Ray Ortlund post:  Then Christ’s hand reaches out
“Let us then as Christians rejoice that we see around us on every hand the decay of the institutions and instruments of power, see intimations of empires falling to pieces, money in total disarray, dictators and parliamentarians alike nonplussed by the confusion and conflicts which encompass them.  For it is precisely when every earthly hope has been explored and found wanting, when every possibility of help from earthly sources has been sought and is not forthcoming, when every recourse this world offers, moral as well as material, has been explored to no effect . . . and in the gathering darkness every glimmer of light has finally flickered out, it’s then that Christ’s hand reaches out sure and firm.  Then Christ’s words bring inexpressible comfort, then his light shines brightest, abolishing the darkness forever.”

Malcolm Muggeridge, The End of Christendom (Grand Rapids, 1980), page 56.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Great Name

Natalie Grant:  Your Great Name

Jesus, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, Son of God and Man You are high and lifted up; that all the world will praise your great name.  


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Revealing Messiah

Jon Bloom post:  The Day of Your Deliverance Is Decreed


She hobbled into the synagogue to hear the healing rabbi. Hoping against hope. You see, she “had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself” (Luke 13:10-11).

Eighteen years. How many of her tears had God collected in his bottle (Psalm 56:8)? How many of her prayers in his bowl (Revelation 5:8)?

Eighteen years of suffering. The slow burn of chronic pain had worn on her soul. She had suffered the loss of capacities she once took for granted. She had suffered the indignities of others’ pity and disgust. She had suffered their suspicion that her body was bent under the weight of divine judgment.

Did she know that her affliction was Satanic (Luke 13:16)?

God knew. He knew all the ways she suffered, better than she did. And God had long permitted Satan to afflict her. Long, at least, for time-bound creatures whose mortal lives are measured in decades, not millennia (2 Peter 3:8).

Why? We rarely are given answers to such questions.

But we get a rare answer in this woman’s story. For suddenly, in that little synagogue, the grace of God engulfs her in the compassion of God the Son:
When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight. (Luke 13:12-13)
Just like that. Eighteen years of bondage and with a look, a word, and a touch, the sea of her suffering parts. She has her exodus. This was the day God had decreed her deliverance.

God’s Compassion Is Patient


All those weary years of grief just to find that her pain had been predestined to play a part in revealing Messiah to Israel. God had not been slow to show his compassion; he had been patient (2 Peter 3:9). Was it worth it? “She glorified God” (Luke 13:13).

God’s Compassion Is Purposeful


Jesus’ compassion and this woman’s pain also had had a far-reaching purpose. If you, like this woman, discovered that your seemingly meaningless affliction turned out to be infused with meaning beyond what you imagined possible and resulted in joy inexpressible and filled with glory (1 Peter 1:8) for you and a multitude of others, would it be worth it? Sit down and catch your breath. It is. It’s promised to you (2 Corinthians 4:17).

God’s Compassion Is Powerful

And his compassion was powerful. When the synagogue ruler objected to such mercy as Sabbath-breaking, he found himself rebuked by the Lord of the Sabbath: 
You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him. (Luke 13:14-17)
Not all the adversaries that were shamed were seen. Yes, the ruler of the synagogue and likely some Pharisees were humiliated. But Satan far more. This woman had been his captive and he had been disarmed and overthrown with a compassionate word. A horrible harbinger of an approaching defeat he was fighting like hell to thwart.

And it was a holy harbinger of an approaching final deliverance for all who love the Lord’s appearing:
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4)
In this age, it is not the tears or mourning or crying or pain or death that is strange. “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). What’s strange is their defeat. 

Your Deliverance Is Coming

Today you may say with Job, “my complaint is bitter; my hand is heavy on account of my groaning” (Job 23:2). You may say with Moses, “Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants. . . Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil” (Psalm 90:13-15).

But you need to know that, like this disabled woman, the patient, purposeful, powerful compassion of God in Christ for you is approaching like a relentless torrent. The day of your deliverance is decreed. 
It will come with a sudden joy. Every adversary will be shamed. Every tear will be wiped away. And the days he will make you glad will drown the days you have seen evil into glorious and happy oblivion (Romans 8:18).