Remembering

Mark Batterson post:  Memorial to the 12 Apostles

Very few people can name the twelve Apostles and even fewer know anything about them. Hope this changes that. On this Memorial Day weekend when we remember those who sacrificed their lives for the freedoms we enjoy, it seems appropriate to share how each of the twelve apostles died.

James the brother of John was killed with a sword during a persecution initiated by King Herod in AD 44. Andrew was hung on an olive tree around 70 AD. Doubting Thomas was thrust through with pine spears, tortured with red-hot plates, and burned alive around 70 AD. Philip went to Phrygia where he was tortured and crucified in AD 54. Matthew was beheaded sometime after 60 AD. Bartholomew was flayed after he refused to recant. After the removal of his skin, he was crucified in 70 AD. James the lesser was taken to the top of the Temple where a crowd gathered. When he refused to recant, he was thrown down. He survived the fall so a mob beat him to death with clubs in 63 AD. Simon the Zealot was crucified by the governor of Syria in AD 74. Judas Thaddeus ministered in Mesopotamia where he was beaten to death with sticks in AD 72. Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot, went to Ethiopia and was stoned to death while hanging on a cross in AD 70. According to Eusebius, the third century historian, Peter thought himself unworthy to die in the manner in which Jesus was crucified so he requested that he be crucified upside-down. And last but not least, John the beloved is the only disciple who died a natural death, but that doesn't mean he was exempt from persecution. He was exiled to the Island of Patmos and according to legend, thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil. 

I’m not sure what that does to you. In fact, I'm not sure what that does to me. But I know this: I'm grateful for the estimated 70 million martyrs who have died because of their faith in Jesus Christ. And I'm grateful for the freedoms I enjoy as an American. May we never take them for granted.

 

Satisfies and Fills

²Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
   whom he has redeemed from trouble ...

⁸ Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
   for his wondrous works to the children of man!
⁹For he satisfies the longing soul,
    and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

Psalm 107

Global Cities

Excerpt from Ed Stetzer post:  Global Cities & Gospel Influence

A "global city" is a large urban center that exerts great economic and cultural influence beyond its own region.

Wikipedia explains it this way:

A global city (also called world city or sometimes alpha city) is a city deemed to be an important node point in the global economic system. The concept comes from geography and urban studies and rests on the idea that globalization can be understood as largely created, facilitated and enacted in strategic geographic locales according to a hierarchy of importance to the operation of the global system of finance and trade.
The most complex of these entities is the "global city", whereby the linkages binding a city have a direct and tangible effect on global affairs through socio-economic means. The terminology of "global city", as opposed to megacity, is believed to have been coined by the sociologist Saskia Sassen in reference to her 1991 work, "The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo" though the term "world city" to describe cities which control a disproportionate amount of global business dates to at least May 1886 to describe Liverpool by the Illustrated London News.

In fact despite their different histories and cultures, global cities often look more like one another than their respective countrysides. In "Our New Global Culture: Ministry in Urban Centers" Tim Keller explains that Global Cities "are becoming more alike and connected to one another than they are to the rest of their own countries. For example, New York and Los Angeles have become far more influential in forming the culture of teenagers in rural Indiana or rural Mexico than the national or local governments.

The reason many of us believe it is so critical to strategically target global cities with the gospel is because as our cities go, so goes the rest of the world. The greater impact the gospel has there, the greater impact it will have throughout the world. If you are not serious about cities, you are not really serious about missions. Cities are not the only place in the world, but any serious missions strategy must include a city emphasis.

...

Divine Wrath

Miscellanies post:  Mumbling on

“Those who still believe in the wrath of God (not all do) say little about it; perhaps they do not think much about it. To an age which has unashamedly sold itself to the gods of greed, pride, sex and self-will, the church mumbles on about God’s kindness but says virtually nothing about his judgment. How often during the past year did you hear, or, if you are a minister, did you preach, a sermon on the wrath of God? How long is it, I wonder, since a Christian spoke straight on this subject on radio or television, or in one of those half-column sermonettes that appear in some national dailies and magazines? (And if one did so, how long would it be before he would be asked to speak or write again?) The fact is that the subject of divine wrath has become taboo in modern society, and Christians by and large have accepted the taboo and conditioned themselves never to raise the matter.”

–J.I. Packer, Knowing God, 148–149.

Obedience

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

IMMATURE OBEDIENCE

My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly.  Psalm 119:167

I don't think any child wants to obey.  Fear and respect keep his behavior in check.  Fear of consequences and respect for authority will cause him to adhere to the rules.  That is immature obedience but obedience nonetheless.

There may come a time when this child disobeys, that he will see his father's heartbroken face.  If he loves his father, that will evoke a different perspective to disobedience.  The next time he is faced with the temptation to break the rules, he will remember how much it hurt his father.  This is the beginning of something holy.

God has a church full of children who obey because they feel they have to rather than want to.  When a yielded life doesn't bring the blessing they expect, there can be resentment and then abandonment to God's ways.  David makes it clear that he walks in God's ways because he loves them.  What is it David knows that I can easily forget?

God's laws are given, not by a nit-picky Father who wants to ruin His child's good time, but as a way to offer them protection, freedom, internal well-being, and the privilege of working collaboratively with Him to further the kingdom.  Knowing that, I love Him more.  Loving Him more, I obey for the right reasons.  David's sentiments are mutually heartfelt rather than far fetched.

I feel alive and close to You when I walk in Jesus' footsteps.  Amen

Weakness

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 

2 Corinthians 12:9a

Spirit Help

Ray Ortlund post:  Weakness

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness.”  Romans 8:26

Last week at the meetings of The Gospel Coalition, one of the men pointed out that Romans 8:26 does not say, “The Spirit helps us in our weaknesses” but singular “weakness.”  Our problem is not just weaknesses.  More profoundly, our problem is weakness.  Weakness is not just one more experience alongside our other experiences; weakness is the platform on which we have all our experiences.  Weakness is a pervasive presence in all we are and do.  It will not always be so.  But for now, it is.

Every Sunday I am a weak man preaching to weak people.  Admonition has its place.  But what weak people need, more than admonition, is help.  For weak people to live the Christian life in a way that is humane and sustainable, rather than defeating and shaming, we need good news more than good challenge.

Weak sinners, continually reassured by grace, will accomplish more for Christ than they would if continually confronted by demand.  I am thankful that the Spirit meets us not in our strength but in our weakness, where alone His help enters in.

Resolve

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

FINISHING WITH RESOLVE
 
I keep your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before you.  Psalm 119:168

Charles Spurgeon calls this Psalm 'David's life-psalm'.  Now that I am near the end of it, with just a few verses left, I notice that the verses seem a bit shorter, more pointed, like David is breathing out the things most important to him in short musical phrases.  The lines are still strong melodically; just brief and to the point.

Oh, to be able to say at the end of one's life that, even in old age, there is a resolve to keep God's ways because there is still the keen awareness that God's eyes are upon His children.  God said to Abraham in his old age, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless." Gen.17:1  While some might argue that the pressure should be lessened, considering the fragility that often comes with old age, David would not agree.  As the sunset of his life appears on the horizon, he reviews God's graces and renews his vows.

Here's the challenge.  The condition of body and soul affect the spirit.  When I've been sick, it's been hard to connect to spiritual passion.  Everything felt dull, including my spiritual life.  Since old age brings with it decreased energy, physical ailments, and a constant series of losses, spiritual passion can easily be threatened.

God's grace comes in many shapes and sizes.  It is as varied as the sands of the sea.  It is given according to what the needs are.  In the senior years of our lives, God will give daily grace for our obedience; grace to love Him, grace to feel His presence, and a special grace given by the Spirit as He cups His hand around the flickering flame of our faith, a faith that is tested in the fires of frailty.

There are places, even today, where faith is as fragile as an egg shell.  I cry out for your grace.  Amen

What We Do Have

Tullian Tchividjian post:  Growth by Remembering

My friend Elyse Fitzpatrick has taught me a ton about the gospel. Through her many excellent books, she has taken me to gospel depths that have changed my life. During the most difficult year of my life (2009) Elyse provided gospel-drenched counsel and insight that, in a very real sense, saved me. Thanks Elyse!

This morning, as I was re-reading a portion of her book Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life, I was recaptured by a truth that I preached recently. In my sermon on Colossians 1:9-14, I said:

It’s important to note that in these verses Paul doesn’t pray for something the Colossian Christians don’t have. Rather, he prays they will grow in their awareness and understanding of what they do have. Christian growth doesn’t happen by working hard to get something you don’t have. Christian growth happens by working hard to live in the reality of what you do have.

I used to think that when the Bible tells us to work out our salvation, it meant go out and get what you don’t have—get more patience, get more strength, get more joy, get more love, and so on. But after reading the Bible more carefully I now understand that real gospel fruit happens, not as we “work harder” but only as we continually rediscover the gospel. You could put it this way: rediscovering the gospel is the hard work we’re called to.

You see, the secret of the gospel is that we become more spiritually mature when we focus less on what we need to do for God and focus more on all that God has already done for us. The irony of the gospel is that we actually perform better as we grow in our understanding that our relationship with God is based on Christ’s performance for us, not our performance for him.

With this same idea in mind, Elyse writes:

One reason we don’t grow in ordinary, grateful obedience as we should is that we’ve got amnesia; we’ve forgotten that we are cleansed from our sins. In other words, ongoing failure in sanctification (the slow process of change into Christlikeness) is the direct result of failing to remember God’s love for us in the gospel. If we lack the comfort and assurance that his love and cleansing are meant to supply, our failures will handcuff us to yesterday’s sins, and we won’t have faith or courage to fight against them, or the love for God that’s meant to empower this war. If we fail to remember our justification, redemption, and reconciliation, we’ll struggle in our sanctification.

I guess you could say that Christian growth does not happen first by behaving better, but believing better–believing in bigger, deeper, brighter ways what Christ has already secured for sinners.

I closed that sermon by saying:

Let me summarize what Paul is saying in this whole section (v.9-14): You will grow in your understanding of God’s will, be filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding, increase in your knowledge of God, be strengthened with God’s power which will produce joy filled patience and endurance (v.9-12a) as you come to a greater realization that you’ve already been qualified, delivered, transferred, redeemed, and forgiven (v.12b-14)

Cry Out to God

Ray Ortlund post: If you can only groan or sob or sigh

“My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you.” Psalm 63:1

“Do not be afraid, dear children of God, you that have fallen into a mournful state, do not be afraid to cry out to God. I know we sometimes feel as if we must not and dare not pray. We have become so dull, so lifeless, so unworthy, that we do not expect to be heard, and feel as if it would be presumption to cry. But our heavenly Father loves to hear his children cry all day long. . . .

If you can cry out to Jesus, he will joyfully hear you. If you will give him no rest, he will give you all the rest you need. The Lord finds music in his children’s cries.

‘Oh,’ say you, ‘I would cry, but mine is such a discordant and foolish cry.’ You are the very man to cry, for your sorrow will put an emphasis into your voice. Of all the cries your children utter, that comes closest home to you which arises out of their pain and deep distress. A dying moan from a little one will pierce a mother’s heart. See, she presses the babe to her bosom! She cries, ‘My dear dying child,’ and weeps over it. You too shall be pressed to the bosom of everlasting love if you can only groan or sob or sigh.”

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the Old Testament (London, n.d.), II:663.

Will Hold You

A picture of the body of Christ:

But hiding's such a lonely thing to do
I can't stop the rain
From falling down on you again
I can't stop the rain
But I will hold you 'til it goes away
 [Third Day - When the Rain Comes]

Cannot But Speak

for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

Acts 4:20

Heart

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

MAKING APPLICATION

Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.  Psalm 119:164

Praise is reserved for Sunday morning worship.  It does not characterize a fraction of most daily prayers.Knowing this, and reading of David's frequency to praise God for His Word, I can be motivated by guilt to do better in order to be more like David.  I can start building 'prayers of praise' into my day's calendar, consciously making an effort every hour to say the words.  How long can I perform under such pressure?  A while.  Eventually though, I'll burn out because the problem wasn't my schedule.  It was my heart.

Such is the dilemma of how to apply scripture.
§    Job forgave his three insensitive friends.  I should forgive mine.
§    Paul said that he was content in all circumstances.  I should quit complaining.
§    Jesus said, "Not my will, but thine be done."  I should resign myself to whatever God wants and tell my heart to expect less.
§    James said that my tongue needs to be controlled.  I'll choose to sit on inappropriate comments.

Welcome to the way I used to live.  This outlook toward my Christian life was shallow and consisted of nothing more than behavior modification.  The Word became an exhaustive 'to-do' list while my heart languished for want of attention.

If I fail to praise, it is because my heart is not engaged.  I am capable of praising other people and other things.  I will go on and on about what is valuable to me, what is life changing and life saving.  If I don't praise God, spontaneously, for His Word, it is only because I haven't found it to be my lifeline. 

§    Wow, David praises God seven times a day for His Word.
§    I'm not sure my heart feels that passionately.
§    What is keeping my heart from feeling that way?
§    Lord, show me.
§    Awaken my heart to the power of Your Words.  Give me the grace to apply them so that when I do, they save my life.
§    I see it, Lord.  I praise what I love.  I praise what has changed my life.

It's always about my heart.  Not about my performance.  Thank you for teaching me to live love-driving, not guilt-driven.  Amen

Desire the Treasure

Jon Bloom post:  Jesus & the Buddha on Happiness

Greatly disturbed by the suffering he saw in the world, 29-year-old Prince Gautama Siddhartha (563-483 BC), who was later called the Buddha (enlightened one), left his wife and young child and set out on a search for the meaning of life.

What he observed was the impermanence of the world—nothing lasted. In spite of this, people desired these impermanent things. They desired to hold on to life, health, possessions, and each other. But life, health, possessions and people pass away. Human desires would always ultimately disappoint. This, he reasoned, was the cause of human suffering.

Therefore, he concluded that if he could kill desire, if he could be tranquilly unaffected by either good or evil, his suffering would cease and he would be happy. He would be free from pain and the endless cycle of reincarnation. This was Nirvana.

It is ironic, though, that driving the Buddha’s rigorous pursuit to kill his desires was one great human desire: lasting happiness.

There was also a huge, vacuous hole in the Buddha’s pursuit of lasting happiness: no God. The Buddha didn’t say much about God’s existence because, frankly, to him God was irrelevant to human happiness. Rather, happiness was being free from desire-induced suffering and reincarnation. Happiness was the blissful end of individual existence—a sort of sweet annihilation.

How different are Jesus’ answers from the Buddha’s. When a rich and troubled young man, not so different from the rich and troubled young Gautama, sought out Jesus’ direction for eternal happiness, Jesus replied,

You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. (Mark 10:21)

Notice that Jesus did instruct the man to become detached from his possessions. But he did not mean a Buddhist detachment. He said it another way here:

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:45)

The message is clear: desire the treasure! Desire it enough to count everything else as loss in order to gain it (Philippians 3:8).

The difference is that the Buddha wants to be desire-less and completely absorbed into the impersonal cosmos. Jesus wants us to deeply desire and be completely enthralled with the Person in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

That’s why, in the battle against sinful desires, Jesus is so much more helpful than the Buddha. He knows that our desire for happiness is designed by God, and so is our desire for permanence. They are not evil. Here is what is evil:

Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:12-13)

We are designed to be satisfied with the one eternal (permanent) God. Evil is when we believe that God will not satisfy us and therefore pursue happiness in something else. That’s the essence of sin. And the way we fight sin is not to kill desire, but to abandon our futile desires for broken cisterns. There is no water there. Go to the Fountain!

Jesus and the Buddha agreed that pursuing ultimate happiness in transient things is futile. But they direct us to opposite solutions. The Buddha says satisfaction is treasuring no thing. Jesus says it is treasuring God. In God we get all things. In no thing we get, well, nothing. 

Emerging Church

Dan Kimball post:  "Preaching and the Emerging Church" free e-book

I got an email this morning that let me know on Mark Driscoll's web site a free e-book to download was posted called "Preaching and the Emerging Church". You can go here and download it as a pdf or transfer it to an e-reader. This is the page: 
http://theresurgence.com/preaching-and-the-emerging-church

I scanned the chapter he wrote on my view of preaching very quickly tonight - so I can't comment on it yet. I don't use the term "emerging church" too much more, as I have blogged about before.  But from my fast scan it looks like he did a good job writing about my personal view and practice of the role of preaching. I do need to read it through more carefully, but if this is helpful or anyone has interest - here where you can download it.  It has a bunch of charts and graphs at the back of the book.

It has a recommendation from Ed Stetzer on it, so should be interesting to read. The book used the categories about the emerging church that Ed created.

Millennials

Ed Stetzer post:  More on the Millennials

At LifeWay Research, we are continuing to explore the issues of millennials and faith. USAToday, CBS Evening News / CNN ad others reported on our last study.

Yesterday, we released more-- focused on what millennials value most. The Christian Post has the story here.

Here are a few excerpts:

When asked what's important in life, most American "Millennials" - those born between 1980 and 1991 - say family comes first, ahead of friends, education, careers and even religion.
Sixty-one percent of Millennials place family at the top of their priority lists, followed by friends (25 percent), education (17 percent), careers/jobs (16 percent), spouses/partners (13 percent), and spirituality/religion (13 percent)...

Total percentages exceeded 100 because respondents were permitted to list more than one priority...

"Millennials are committed to family above other priorities, even though many are waiting to start their own families," said Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources.

"To minister effectively, the church should tap into this priority among Millennials. Churches with a strong understanding and sense of family will be able to more easily reach Millennials. I expect that ministries that cross generations - such as older adults mentoring young adults - could be highly effective in connecting Millennials to Jesus."

That's the finding of LifeWay Research based on a wide-ranging August 2009 survey of 1,200 Millennials in the United States. The study forms the basis for the upcoming book "The Millennials: Connecting to America's Largest Generation" by Dr. Thom Rainer and his son Jess Rainer.

Looks Like

Tullian Tchividjian post:  Gospel-Centered Church Life

Here is a great word from Michael Horton regarding the relationship between the inner life of the church and effective outreach, taken from his book A Better Way:

John Calvin’s Geneva was a model city, historians say, in part because of the effectiveness of its restored diaconate (deacon board). As refugees fled persecution from all over Europe and arrived in Geneva with nothing but the shirt on their back, the deacons in Geneva established an enormous network of service institutions. With each office performing its function well, the church in Geneva was a powerful witness in a difficult period of history, and Christian leaders came from great distances to experience and take the model back to their own countries.

Leaving the inner city has been a trend among evangelical churches. Yes, there are notable exceptions, and among these are strong churches with a faithful preaching ministry, a wise ruling ministry, and an effective diaconal ministry. Examples of the latter include services to AIDS victims, soup kitchens, thrift stores, medical clinics, schools, and other ministries of mercy. As these offices are performed according to God’s revealed will, unbelievers cannot help but see the kavod–the weightiness–of God among us, even through the weakness of the church.

A renewal of the inner life of the church–from worship to teaching and church discipline–is the most pressing need today, not only for the church’s own health but for genuine outreach to take place.

As I was reading Mike’s words, I thought of three pastors in particular who gave their lives for cities: John Stott, James Boice, and Tim Keller. All these men, at different times and in different cities, led (or, in the case of Tim, continue to lead) church’s that embody Mike’s exhortation. I’m so grateful for the faithful who have gone before us, showing us what Gospel-centered church life looks like.

Shines Brightest

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, when in the shivering cold the last faggot has been thrown on the fire 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.

Speech

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional:

GOODBYE TO AMBIVALENCE

I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law.  Psalm 119:163

    I have spent most of my life feeling ambivalent.  If I watched a talk show where there were two opposing viewpoints, I found myself somewhere in the middle.  If asked personally about where I stood on issues, I would have a hard time laying out concrete convictions.  Part of this was due to ignorance.  Part of it was due to a desire to flee controversy.  The remainder was because I failed to live in the Word enough to understand that God is rarely ambivalent.  He loves truth and He hates falsehood.

    David has spent enough time in the Torah and enough time in worship that God's appetite has rubbed off.  How our culture needs more like him.  There are far too many prominent Christians in the spotlight who, when asked where they stand on current issues, fail to answer the way Jesus would.  Their tolerance makes them palatable to the masses but erases their saltiness.  They have confused loving people with condoning what people do.  They have abdicated their chance to speak the language of the kingdom in order to draw others onto the narrow pathway that leads to eternal life.

    Having grown up in legalism, I was used to a regular diet of dogmatism.  A church or Christian organization defined themselves by what they were 'against' rather than what they were 'for'.  They had a poor track record when it came to loving people.  Perhaps some of our Christian tolerance, our ambivalence on critical issues, is an over-correction to legalistic Christianity.  In our woundedness, we have made opposite choices that are equally as detrimental to the advancement of the kingdom.  The cure for any of us who fail to speak clearly about what we love and what we hate, whether it is rooted in fear or poor theology, is time with Jesus and time immersing ourselves in His Word.  Christian education, in the context of relationship, cures ambivalence.

   Today, I follow Jesus who ate with sinners, put his arm around the broken and repentant, but simultaneously, spoke clearly about righteousness and unrighteousness.  His speech was so clear that his audience felt NO ambivalence.  They left everything to follow Him or they picked up stones to murder Him.  If others fail to react to me in the same way, my speech is still diluted and I have a ways to go to look like, and sound like, my Savior.

Sharpen the sword of my mouth with the sword of the Word.  Clearer speech, compelling speech, in the remainder of my life.  Amen

No Distinction

Miscellanies post:  Love for others

This excerpt from John Calvin reminds me a bit of the quote I posted earlier in the week from James Davidson Hunter. In The Institutes, Calvin writes (2.8.55; McNeil/Battles, 1:419):

“…we ought to embrace the whole human race without exception in a single feeling of love; here there is no distinction between barbarian and Greek, worthy and unworthy, friend and enemy, since all should be contemplated in God, not in themselves. When we turn aside from such contemplation, it is no wonder we become entangled in many errors. Therefore, if we rightly direct our love, we must first turn our eyes not to man, the sight of whom would more often engender hate than love, but to God, who bids us extend to all men the love we bear to him, that this may be an unchanging principle: Whatever the character of the man, we must yet love him because we love God.”