Together For The Gospel 2010: Breakout Session

David Platt

Gospel Theology Necessitates Urgent Missiology

Audio


There are about 6.8 billion people in the world. The most liberal estimate would put the world at 1/3 Christian. Even if all those people really are genuine believers, that still leaves over 4.5 billion people who are perishing. The Joshua Project tells us that about half of those have little to no access to the gospel right now. 645,000 people groups who have no access to the gospel. We don’t have time to play games. Gospel theology necessitates urgent missiology.

If we believe the gospel, then we will be compelled to sacrifice our lives for the sake of getting this gospel to the ends of the earth. And if we are not passionate about taking the gospel to the ends of the earth and giving our lives and the churches we lead to that cause, then there’s reason to question whether or not we really believe the gospel.

Some within the church ask the question, "Can those who are have never heard be saved?" But what they really should be asking is "Can those who have heard and don’t take the gospel to those who haven’t heard really be saved?"

Have we not created entire missions structures so that we can send out checks and never have to go do missions ourselves? The core issue here is do we believe that people are going to hell without hearing about Christ? If we really do, then gospel theology necessitates urgent missiology.

Here are 8 simple truths from the book of Romans that show us that gospel theology necessitate urgent missiology. When Paul wanted to get the local church to mobilize and support missions, his strategy was to give them the gospel.

1) God’s revelation is universal (Romans 1:18-20) – This is general revelation. There is not one person on the planet among the 6.8 billion people who is hidden from the revelation of God. God is making Himself known in moment to His creation.

2) Man’s depravity is terrible (Romans 1:21-1:32) – This is a fundamental truth that we can’t assume is a foundation in the hearts of many in our churches.

3) All people stand infinitely guilty before a holy God (Romans 2:1-3:20) – If you were to ask what happens to the innocent guy in Africa who has never heard the gospel when he dies, based on the authority of the Word of God, he’s going to heaven. The only problem is that that God doesn’t exist. And there is no innocent man in Africa or Asia or anywhere else. All people are guilty and that’s why we need the gospel.

4) All people stand eternally condemned before a wrathful God (Romans 2:6-11) – God will give to each person according to what he does. There’s a common thought among followers of Christ who think that certainly if someone has never heard the gospel, they would not be sent to hell. Certainly God will welcome them into heaven. The problem with that not only is Scripture but that if that were the case (that people were going to heaven because they have no gospel), then what is the worst thing we could do for their eternal state? Tell them the gospel. This misses the whole point. We stand condemned not because we have heard and haven’t responded but because we have all offended a holy God whether or not we’ve heard.

5) God has made a way of salvation through the atonement of Christ (Romans 3:21-26) – Even this we are tempted to minimize. We are not saved from our sins because of what some soldiers decided to do to Jesus on the cross. We are saved from our sins because Jesus consumed the full dregs of the cup of His Father’s wrath. This is good news to the nations.

6) God has decreed the means of salvation to be faith in Christ (Romans 3:27- Romans 5) – We don’t go to the nations with a list of things to do. They already have that. The more we see the gospel in our context as a list of boxes to check off the less we will have the ability when we go into their context and call them away from that.

7) God ordains His church to proclaim the gospel to all peoples (Romans 10) – Christ sends His servants to those who haven’t heard. What do His servants do? They preach the gospel. As servants of Christ, we are all called to proclaim the gospel. When we preach, people hear. When people hear, they believe. When they believe, they will call on the name of the Lord. And in calling on the name of the Lord, they are saved. The only breakdown here is when servants who are entrusted with the gospel do not go and proclaim it. Is our theology going to propel us there?

8) God ordains His Son to receive glory form all peoples (Romans 1:1-5, 16:25-27) – Jesus is the resurrected Lord and what that means is that He is worthy of the obedience of all nations. The reason we go is because God has ordained His Son to receive glory from all peoples. This is what drives us. People who believe that Christ is worthy of glory among all peoples will sacrifice their lives and spend the resources of the church to make sure that His gospel and His glory are made known to the ends of the earth.

Together For The Gospel 2010: Session #5

John MacArthur

The Theology of Sleep!

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Mark 4

This passage is a magna carta from Jesus on the topic of evangelism. Crowds were pressing in on Jesus. They were attracted by his power over demons, disease, and death. But as large as the crowds were and as fascinated as they were by His miracles, very few of them were true believers.

What is wrong? Why is it this way? That there are so few true believers? The flesh would respond by saying that we need a different strategy. This one isn’t really working. This is how the flesh always responds to evangelistic disappointment, to low numbers. It’s no different today.

In the wake of this, Jesus gives us a whole chapter on evangelistic instruction. Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God as the domain in which He reigns before He comes. It’s a field in which the crop grows, but the farmer goes has no idea how. The wonder of the gospel is that you sow the seed and you go to sleep and it grows. We don’t know how. The only human act in the work of the gospel is to sow and go to sleep. Paul uses this same imagery in 1 Corinthians 3. Spiritual birth and spiritual life, the seed that grows, is a divine miracle (John 3). When we look at the story of the thief on the cross, the only way that the one thief could embrace Jesus as Savior while the other mocked Him is because the power of God had come upon his soul. There’s no human explanation for that.

The parable calls us to sow the seed and go to sleep because we’re not in charge of the results. The earth produces by itself. The Greek term for “by itself” is where we get the word “automatic” from. It grows automatically. Because God makes it grow automatically. We are the means that God uses but we are not the power. Spiritual life and regeneration are divinely automatic. But there are essential elements in that divinely automatic operation that must be there.

How do we approach evangelism?

• Humility – because it’s really not in our power to do the work. We don’t want to live under that ridiculous illusion. In the work of evangelism, we are not the issue. The sower in the parables of Mark 4 isn’t described by adjectives because the work of the gospel doesn’t really have anything to do with him. It has everything to do with what the seed the sower sows, the Word of God. While salvation is divinely automatic, it is the work of God, it can’t occur apart from the message of the gospel clearly and fully communicated.

Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" And they answered, "John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen." Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered, "The Christ of God." And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Luke 9:18-22

During his life and ministry, again and again Jesus told his followers not to keep quiet. He told them not to tell anyone when He healed people. He told them not to tell anyone when He raised people from the dead. He told them not to tell people when they realized He was the Messiah. Because He wanted them to wait until after He died and rose again to go and tell everyone that He was crucified and rose again for the salvation of sins.

What is the parable of the four soils about if it’s not about the sower? It’s about the soil. The soil represents the heart. We can sow the seed but we can’t change the heart. We can’t affect people’s hearts but we can communicate truth to their minds, the truth of the gospel.


• Obedience (Mark 4:21-22)– because we know we are the means by which the light comes. How will they hear without a preacher (Romans 10)? We are to be lights in the world. It’s not within our power to change hearts but it’s within our responsibility to be obedient to let our light shine so that God can use us to do His divine work in transforming hearts.


• Diligently (Mark 4:23-25)– usefulness in gospel labor is directly proportional to our sowing and our eternal reward.


• Confidence (Mark 4:30-32)– because we know that God has determined an exponential outcome. What’s going to be the final outcome? What should we expect with this little tiny seed kingdom? It explodes to become a tree in which all the nations find their shade.

We should sow the seed humbly, obediently, diligently, confidently, and leave the results to the Lord.

Together For The Gospel 2010: Session #4

Thabiti Anyabwile

“Fine Sounding Arguments” – How Wrongly “Engaging the Culture” Adjusts the Gospel

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Engage the culture. Win the culture. Transform the culture. Change the culture. Create culture. There’s a lot of talk about the gospel and culture these days. It’s an important topic but one fraught with ambiguities, dangers, and pitfalls.

What do we mean when we speak of culture?

When we think about culture, we generally think about ways of being: beliefs, perspectives, ideals, worldviews. There are many different understandings of what culture is.

But at what level should we change culture? Pop culture? Ethnic culture? Political culture? High culture? All of the above?

What is the objective, the goal of winning or transforming the culture? How do we know we’ve attained our goal? What does that look like?

Is this really what we are called to do?

Colossians 1:24-3:4

If we set out to engage the culture (whatever that means), we will most likely see the gospel adjusted in that process if we are not careful.

1) Paul’s Purpose (1:24 – 2:5)

Paul is a minister in order to make the Word of God fully known. And he wants to make the Word of God fully known in order to present the church as mature in Christ. His purpose is that every Christian embody Christ spiritually, be conformed to Him completely. This is Paul’s passion.

Paul is doing everything he can to grab his listeners by their ears through the Word of God and raise them up, as it were, to Christ. Is this what we are consumed with? Is this our goal in all that we do?

But there’s a danger: it’s possible for a particular view of the ministry to sound right but to be wrong and to lead us from the things of Christ, the goal which we are to be focused on. There can be a mission drift that draws us to good things, but in so doing take us from the main thing.

A lot of these fine sounding arguments come by trying to draw us to a focus on the kingdom of God as something so much broader and wider than our salvation in Christ.

Is it the purpose of the church to win the culture, engage the culture, or transform the culture? This kind of language signifies that mission drift is already happening.

Paul doesn’t deal with issues by addressing people within the culture. He addresses issues by addressing the church. He engages the culture by engaging the church.

2) Paul’s Philosophy (2:6-2:15)

Paul argues that since the Colossians have responded to the gospel by receiving Christ, they should now walk in Him. The Colossians should walk as those who have been taken captive by Christ. He uses an agricultural metaphor to talk about being rooted in Christ. He uses a building metaphor to talk about being established in Christ.

And the way Paul goes about doing this is by teaching his people to live in the fullness of the gospel (verses 9-15) so that it will flesh itself out in every aspect of their lives.

When it comes to our philosophy of the ministry, are we captured by Christ or are we captured by the world’s ideas and traditions? Paul wipes away all the worlds philosophies or principles as any kind of basis for the Christian life. He sets the gospel over and against the traditions of humanity, the philosophies of the world. Paul sets forth the gospel as an antithesis. Christ cannot be reconciled with the world.

There’s a tendency to underestimate the lethal potency of the world and its philosophies. When we press in on the world, the world presses back. If we assume that something that is secular is safe and neutral, then we are already being deceived by fine sounding arguments.

If our engagement of the culture is uncritical and we come to depend on its philosophies and traditions, those philosophies and traditions become Trojan horses that we bring back into the camp which end up waging war on and displacing the gospel.

3) Paul’s Practices (2:16-2:23)

A worldly outlook on life leads to a worldly approach to ministry and life. We must help the people shed the snakeskin of their natural cultures in order to embody the new culture that the gospel calls us into. The kingdom of God has its own culture that the gospel brings us into.

There has always been the city of man and the city of God (taken from Augustine). This is the way it has been since God began the nation of Israel. When God called Abraham and created the nation of Israel, what was He doing? He was calling those who were pagan worshippers (city of man) to come out of their cultures and to become a new culture with a new way of living, including a new law and new practices. The nation of Israel was a new way of being because Israel didn't exist before God called Abraham. Abraham didn't hold on to his old culture. He left it behind.

The NFL Pro Bowl provides a great illustration of this. All the best players in the league come together in one game to represent their conferences and play against each other. One team usually wears white jerseys and the other team wears blue jerseys. But even though the players come to represent their conferences and they show this by the color of jersey they wear, they also show that they are representing their individual teams because they all have different helmets to make clear which team they really belong to. They make clear which team they really belong to also by the fact that they don't come to play hard in the Pro Bowl. They just play for fun without giving it their all. Sadly, this is the way it seems to be in many churches. We come to church to wear our same colored jerseys but we are all wearing our own cultural helmets because that's who we really play hard with.

There’s a threat: we try to make the gospel fit into our own cultures. For example, we only listen to a certain type of music. The church is multiethnic, but it’s not multicultural. There is a new way of being that God has created through Christ and the gospel.

4) Paul’s Perspective (3:1-4)

We’ve all heard the saying “don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re of no earthly good.” But that doesn’t in any way fit with what Paul says here. He says the opposite. The only way for us to live is to be heavenly minded. We are to be looking for and leaning toward the place where Christ is. Even if we engage the culture with a heavenly mind, we might be drawn away. But Paul continually presses us up into Christ.

It’s Christ, Christ, Christ.

Together For The Gospel 2010: Session #3

Albert Mohler

How Does It Happen? Trajectories toward an Adjusted Gospel

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When an airplane crashes, we are determined to find the cause so that we can in the future avoid that same disaster happening again. But sadly we don't have anywhere near that same kind of urgency when it comes to theological disaster.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:8-9

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.
1 Timothy 6:3

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
2 Timothy 1:8-14

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
Jude 3

The New Testament is really clear about the realities of a false gospel. Yet there is seeming ignorance to the danger of false gospels in the church today. But if we love Jesus, we must love and guard the gospel.

Underlying the thinking of this postmodern age is the assumption that the world has change, that what has been true of us in the past is no longer true today. From Nietzsche to Freud and every modern day philosopher, these assumptions have been made in different ways. So the assumption is that the gospel must change. Christianity must change...or die.

Theological disaster is almost always at the hands of those who would claim to save Christianity rather than marry it. They think that they need to save Christianity from itself. This temptation has been constant.

Picture the church as a raft that is on a river and is getting ready to enter into some turbulent rapids. The raft is filled with lots of weight, which represent doctrine. It's been said that the church only has two options: either head for the shore and hold on because that's the only way it's going to survive with the weights (this is fundamentalism). Or start throwing the weights out of the boat in order to be able to make it through the rapids without capsizing (this is liberalism).

This is what leads to theological disaster. How does this theological disaster take place? There are 8 trajectories.

1) The modern trajectory - We can't believe in a modern explanation of reality and New Testament miracles at the same time. So we must de-mythologize the gospel. We must get rid of the supernatural. We lose confidence in the Bible as the inerrant, infallible, inspired Word of God. When we begin to lose the supernatural in Christianity, we are walking down the modern trajectory.

2) The postmodern trajectory - We live in an age in which we don't have to worry about the question of truth. We don't have to answer the historical questions. The reader is the location of meaning and truth rather than the text.

3) The moral trajectory - Our modern moral consciousness is superior to the moral consciousness contained in the Scriptures. We see this in the example of the cross being called "divine child abuse" or "cosmic child abuse." We see this when people speak of God having to be fair, saying things like it's not fair for God to send people to hell.
4) The aesthetic trajectory - We are too easily seduced after the Fall by the merely beautiful, by the superficial. We don't need bloody crosses. They don't look nice. When we're afraid to preach texts because they're unpleasant, we're walking the aesthetic trajectory.

5) The therapeutic trajectory - All we know is that we are sick and need therapy. We need to medicate. We see ourselves as ill, sick, or afflicted rather than as evil or depraved. The therapeutic trajectory points to a self-diagnosed problem, a self-defined solution, and a self-realizing eschatology.

6) The pragmatic trajectory - We have a problem, and so we solve it. All solutions must be pragmatic. Ministers define their ministries as a product within a market and they are reduced to managerial in function. Pragmatism produces crowds that are not churches and results that are not regeneration, but at least it's immediate.

7) The emotional trajectory - We are dependent on an emotional experience. We lean towards that which brings an emotional reward. We dismiss that which comes at an emotional cost. We preach what we feel like preaching or what we think our people feel like they need. But we must preach the Bible, however we may feel about it.

8) The materialist trajectory - What we can see is more real than that which we cannot see. This is prosperity theology. Prosperity theology follows a trajectory that is not only false but makes God out to be a liar. This is where we come to think that we can have our best life now. This trajectory comes from seeking instant gratification.

Two dangers that will easily lead us down any of these trajectories:

• Succumbing to doctrinal fatigue. We grow tired of continually having to preach against the tide.
• Embarrassment. We feel foolish for preaching what we preach knowing that people will think we're crazy and ask or think to themselves, "Do you really believe that?"
  

This is what leads to us beginning to bargain away the faith.

Back to the analogy of the raft, our task isn't to avoid the rapids or to get rid of the weights. The boat is Christ's church, which is His bride. It belongs to Him. We must trust Him.

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:66-69

How will we respond to this same question that Jesus asked His first disciples?

Together For The Gospel 2010: Session #2

R.C. Sproul

The Defense and Confirmation of the Gospel: What I Have Learned In 50 Years

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We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 6:11-7:1

Paul is addressing one of the principal problems that has plagued the church since the days of Abel.

Two of the most important concerns that are before us today and how they have developed over the last 50 years:

1) The Danger of Messing with “Mr. In-Between”

In the Old Testament, one of the problems the people of God dealt with in every generation was syncretism, which means to blend the elements of pagan religion (worship of foreign gods such as Baal and Asherah poles) and the religion of Israel. This kind of synthesis can be referred to as “Mr. In-Between.”

In the history of evangelicalism, the first synthesis that took place was that between naturalism and historic Christianity. This led in the 19th century to what we know as “liberalism.” This kind of synthesis happens when instead of choosing between a thesis and its antithesis, we take what we like from each and create a new thesis which is a synthesis of the two. But then what happens is that there arises an antithesis to that new thesis, and you go down the same path leading to creating a new thesis from the synthesis of the two and the cycle continues. This is how heresy has evolved over the ages.

Out of this liberalism, Karl Barth and others called the church back to a transcendent understanding of God. But this wasn’t a call to orthodoxy. They gave no room for an objectively inspired, inerrant, infallible Bible.

Trying to synthesize the orthodox view of God and of Scriptures with existentialism led to a decline in the church’s view of the Bible as the Word of God.

Then attempts to create a synthesis between historic Christianity and Marxism led to what we know as “liberation theology”: free speech, free sex, and such.

What followed was a synthesis between analytical thought and Christianity, which led to “the death of God” movement.

Synthesis between process philosophy and historic Christianity, coupled with a humanistic understanding of the free will of man, led to what we know as “open theism.”

All of these movements mess with “Mr. In-Between.” None of them is satisfied to declare from one generation to the next that which we have received from the apostles, which doesn’t need to be made more palatable to the world by being dressed up in pagan philosophy.

2) The Danger of Messing with the gospel itself

Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide were the two doctrines that seemed like the bedrock that all of evangelicalism could build on. But then confidence in Sola Scriptura began to be compromised. And then eventually we hit rock bottom when controversy erupted over Sola Fide, for example, when the “lordship salvation” discussion arose. Then Evangelicals and Catholics Together document arose to unite Evangelicals and Catholics on issues like abortion, marriage, and other social issues but in so doing also implied that Evangelicals and Catholics have a unity of faith in the gospel, but the reality is that Evangelicals and Catholics don’t believe the same thing about faith in the gospel.

At the heart of this discussion on the nature of faith is the topic of justification and imputation. Is the ground of my justification something I can get for myself? Or is it something that must be alien to me, that I must get from somewhere else? There is no “Mr. In-Between” here, no matter what some have tried to say.

Evangelicals and Catholics Together represents the ultimate synthesis that obscures the great antithesis of the gospel.

And today, we see attempts to improve the gospel. But the gospel is primarily about Jesus, who He is and what He’s done.

Our greatest challenge is with respect to our personal fidelity to the gospel. Because the gospel is the great antithesis. And that means we have to be willing to embrace conflict. Nobody likes conflict. But as Paul says, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).

It’s not our gospel. It’s God’s gospel. And there’s no way to improve.it.

Together For The Gospel 2010: Session #1

Mark Dever

The Church Is The Gospel Made Visible

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To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord...
Ephesians 3:8-11 (emphasis added)

We begin with one question to open our time together: How do our churches make the gospel visible?

How many of our churches are of use to the gospel? Or how many of our churches would be of better use to the gospel if they were simply not there?

We can advance the gospel by our life together as a church. Or we can do damage to the gospel by our life together as a church.

How does the local church display the great truths about the gospel, about God, about Christ, about humanity, about our response?

Nothing that follows is to diminish the verbal nature of the gospel. God’s Word is where the gospel is set forth clearly. But the church reflects and clarifies the gospel for the people around us.

1) How is God’s nature and character displayed in the church?

• His holiness – distinct lives point to a distinct God. The lives of the members of our congregation should be marked by the holiness of God. For example, the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5). Are our churches marked by holiness? Or do we just say that our churches are churches for “sinners”? There is a difference between sinners and repenting sinners. Those demonstrations of repentance are what reflect God’s holiness. Satan wants us to think of holiness as bondage but in reality holiness is freedom. We are to be a community that reflects a life that the rest of humanity dreams of.

• His love – we are to be distinct from the world by the kind of love we have for others despite the inconvenience it may be to us. If we don’t have this kind of love in our churches, we are just like another club.

• His authority – David’s last words (2 Samuel 23:3-4) show us that authority is a good and life giving thing. Ever since the Fall, Satan has been trying to tempt us to think otherwise. He wants us to think that love and authority can’t go together (e.g. Satan wants Adam and Eve to believe God can’t love them by forbidding them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). But God can love us and rule us and correct us because He’s trustworthy. When we affirm and yet are willing to gently correct each other, it reflects the goodness of God’s authority. God has rights to authority over us not only in creation but especially in having bought us by the blood of Christ. Authority matters a lot because authority abused tells a lie about who God is. Do our churches show the world around us something better about God’s authority? Through our lives together in the church, we want others to see Satan’s lie about authority (that it’s a bad thing) for what it really is…a lie.
  

2) How is the truth about human beings displayed in the church?

• We reflect the value of human beings because they are made in God’s image. This should be reflected by relationships in our communities that cross natural boundaries that would otherwise separate us. A local church is not for people of one occupation, or for college students, or for any one demographic, but to reflect that all human beings of every diverse kind are all made in the image of God.

• We reflect the teaching and understanding that we are totally depraved. The church is not an assembly of the self righteous. Is our church a community in which people are seeking to be righteous in themselves or where people acknowledge that we’re all sinful? Is our church one that demonstrates humility? This has many implications. We should not be afraid to use the law to show that we are all sinners, both those who are lost and those who are saved. A good understanding of depravity sets us up to explain church membership because we show that we’re not done with this earthly journey when we’re first saved. Our churches should not give the sense that we’re all completely done and OK in this life. We should not only give a clear verbal explanation of the gospel but we should show by our lives that we really believe and understand our need for it. We should be a church that openly confesses our sins to each other. Everyone in the world knows that something is not right and we are the ones in all the world who can tell them the reason why. And non-believers shouldn’t just see this reflected in their individual relationships with Christians but in the way the believers within a church relate to one another.
  

3) How is the truth about Jesus Christ displayed in the church?

• Jesus is invisible to us right now, but the church is the community in which this unique God-man is in a metaphoric sense made visible in His person. We are His body. We are His temple. We’re filled with His Spirit. Unless we live this out, Christ won’t be made known.

• Our lives should display not only Christ’s person but Christ’s work. We are forgiving because Christ has forgiven us. We can be humble because we know we’ve received much grace through Jesus. We love others because we have received God’s love through Jesus. The main way we demonstrate that we love God is through our love for others. We know God has loved us not just because He has created us but because He has loved us through buying us with the blood of Christ. We should show the kind of love for each other in our churches that confuses the categories of the world around us so that they interrogate us and we can tell them about how we’ve all been brought together: people from every tribe, tongue, and nation through the blood of Christ. We should be churches that show the world how Christ breaks down all of our barriers, especially generational ones. We should especially seek in our churches to remove generational segregation. We should seek in our churches to remove denominational segregation. We can pray for and partner with other churches that don’t agree with us about everything but agree with us about the gospel. This is how we show the work of Christ. This is what we want to show. Unless we live like this, the cross, matter how correctly it’s taught, remains only an abstract idea.

• Part of the way we help the gospel not to be adjusted is by having healthy local churches.
  

4) How is the right response of the gospel displayed in the church?

• Our churches are to both teach and model repentance. We make clear our need for grace. We personally confess and turn from our sin. We repent of our selfishness. The Christian life is personal but it’s not private. We are to repent and witness repentance in each other.

• Our churches are to both teach and model faith. We are all acting on things that we cannot see. We are acting on promises that God has made to us, promises that He holds out for the future yet which are to shape our lives in the present. We should hold out God’s promises again and again so that we can call forth each other to believe by faith. We can’t find a time in our Christian lives when God’s promises have not been true to us and for us. That’s why we make central the preaching of the Word, because we are certain of God’s promises, and it’s only through His Word that we come into contact with His promises.
  

Do we see how Jesus’ plan for evangelism is the local church? Do we want to be better in our evangelism? Then we need to work on growing as a church to be what Jesus meant for us to be. The church is the appearance of the gospel in the world. Christians, not just as individuals, but as God’s people bound together in purpose are the clearest picture of who God is and what His will is for our lives. The church is the pattern for God’s work and the means that He uses to bring about His glory. We need to ask ourselves, “What kind of gospel is my local church making visible?”

26 Inches Is A Pretty Low Throne!

On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Revelation 19:16

[He is seated] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come...all things [are] under his feet.
Ephesians 1:21-22

Happy Day! =)

The Night Before The Dawn

Good Friday and Easter Sunday are all about Jesus Christ, who He is and what He's done. But as we meditate on His person and work through the events of this weekend, may we be strengthened by knowing that for every Good Friday of our lives that we will walk through...

...that I may know him...and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death...
Philippians 3:10

...there is a Resurrection Sunday just around the corner.

...that I may know him and the power of his resurrection...that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:10-11

Good Friday and Easter Sunday show us that the darkness will always give way to the dawn. The two always go together. All because of Jesus.



So please help us, Father, to know what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power toward us who believe, according to the working of Your great might that you worked in Christ when You raised Him from the dead and seated him at Your right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. Thank You, Jesus, that You rose and conquered the grave. In your awesome name, Amen.

Together For The Gospel

Lord willing, I'll be flying to Kentucky in less than two weeks to attend the Together For the Gospel conference. I went two years ago and--besides the fact that God turned my life upside down through this conference--I absolutely loved it.

But, in my opinion, I think John Piper's decision to invite Rick Warren to the Desiring God National Conference this Fall (which he shares about below) is a better demonstration of what it truly means to be together for the gospel than the conference that is called by that name because here we can see where the rubber really meets the road. It's one thing to go to a conference called Together For the Gospel where the truth of the matter is that the majority of those in attendance think and minister much like you do (which I'm really looking forward to and which Piper will also be speaking at!). And something completely different to live that out in real life with brothers and sisters in Christ who think and minister much differently than you do.

So may the conference in Kentucky two weeks from now bear the kind of fruit in the lives of all who attend that can be seen in John Piper through his desire to partner with and learn from a good brother like Rick Warren for the glory of Jesus Christ. Please pray for us.

God Is God. And God Is Good.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 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 21:3-4

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

Ministry Isn't Everything. Jesus Is.

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you [that you have this successful(!) ministry], but rejoice that your names are written in heaven [that you have me forever]."
Luke 10:17-20

A couple of weeks ago at The Blazing Center, I saw a link to Christ Is Deeper Still and a short caption that said that if you could only read one blog, that should be the one. I couldn't more wholeheartedly agree. For several months now, it is one of maybe two or three blogs I visit daily. And if I could only have one of them, it wouldn't be a difficult choice. What Ray writes is almost always thought-provoking, challenging, and graciously prophetic. Graciously prophetic. That's a rare combination. But above all, it always points us to Christ as all in all, still more awesome than we know. Hearing him talk about his dad in this clip, it's not difficult to understand why he's grown up to become the man he is and why his blog has the flavor that it does.

Why I Love Living By Faith In Future Grace

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
--William Cowper, from a hymn entitled "God Moves in a Mysterious Way"

This example is only one reason. Simply amazing. And there are millions more. God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:33-36

But beware. Not all of us will see the smiling face like Molly and Abraham in this lifetime. The sobering reality of the fallen world that we live in is that some of us will spend our entire lives looking at a seemingly frowning providence.

But make no mistake about it. Because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, the smile is always there. Always. Even on our best days in this life, we can only see it through a mirror dimly. But when the veil is pulled back on that day when we no longer see in a mirror dimly, we will see Jesus' radiantly smiling face (1 Corinthians 13:12). And every heartache will be forgotten. Nothing else will matter. The joy that will arise in us as we gaze at His countenance on that day will be 10,000 times better than the indescribable ecstasy that I can easily imagine Abraham and Molly must have felt in that moment of seeing God's smiling face.

When you live by faith in future grace, the best is ALWAYS still to come.

So keep waiting, brothers and sisters. Keep waiting. God loves it when we wait for Him.

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.
Isaiah 64:4

Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
Isaiah 30:18

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:24-26

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the LORD more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
Psalm 130:5-6

What Most Matters When We Pray

And I said, "O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments..."
Nehemiah 1:5

Books about prayer differ about how prayer should begin. Many of them describe different varieties of prayer: prayers of worship, of confession, of supplication and so on. Some of them recommend we start with confession and others that we open with worship. Nehemiah opens with neither. However, he does begin by fixing his eyes on the God he is approaching. And it is by calling God to mind that his faith is kindled and his heart made bold.

Neither confession nor worship, nor any other form of prayer is of itself an ideal way to begin prayer. Rather we prepare our hearts for prayer by fixing our eyes on the person we address. A vision of God will make us ready for whatever form of prayer the Holy Spirit wishes to guide us in, whether it should be confession, intercession, adoration or supplication. Nehemiah's opening sentence tells us who or what filled his horizon, which is what most matters when we pray.

--John White, Excellence In Leadership: Reaching Goals with Prayer, Courage & Determination, p.21.

Missio Dei (Mission Of God)

Missio Dei by God's Servant

[Missio Dei:]
Are we on?
So, We on, right?
Yeah what's good? Its Missio Dei, and it goes like this. It goes that. It goes like this. It goes like that.
Yeah, now lets get it and jump in, and lets hold a discussion
About Gods mission, His scope of instruction
What real of His Will? Scripture reveals that were called to a missional field
I know it sounds simple, but its complex, that a witness is sent to a context.
But its right here we deliver up concepts, getting equipped with a missional mindset.
A missional mind? Yes! Though its Christian-ese,
does fit what a Christian on mission means. We gotta show Him off, both lips and deeds.
And not merely talk it, we got to walk it!
Show Christ exalted in every facet, etched in the talk of our daily fabric.
So, past sermons and after-hooks, our whole life shows how the Gospel looks!

[Chorus]
On Mission
Its Missio Dei!
Dig in the text! Yeah, and then we obey.
Spread the Gospel of Jesus.
Could this be the way
that we exist in missional ways?
On Mission with Him. (x2)

Yeah, now lets look at his Incarnation.
We see a great God getting with Creation,
conveys grace and His will to save men.
Now lets hone in on this demonstration.
He aint just come with the information,
but His whole life show the implications.
And like his sending, the Scriptures state this,
We get sent to present his fragrance
His mission is in the trips to nations,
or tracks passed out on the strips of pavement.
Know this, and though good forms that persist to praise Him.
The Church by herself is His missions agent.
So, if bravado or loco,
The Mission of God is us showin Jesus is oh so Holy and Perfect,
Worthy of Worship, deserving a life submerged in His service, Lets Go!

(Chorus)

Yeah, let me further unpack this one fact:
We're on mission until the great day that our Savior comes back.
So we strive to run fast, stride and press, for the prize, like guys that run track.
See, our lives a come back, signs and ones that, point to the throne the Sons at
And His death and the cross he hung at, and by Gods Son, he is shown He loves cats.
And freeze em, were sent in to reach him, and teach him, tell the whole world they need Him
So weave in, gotta cop a feel more, our lives as His props and billboards.
So at work, or the spots we eat, kid.
OR, or our blocks, or the streets our feet hit.
OR, or our schools or the Church we link with
We show off the glory and worth of Jesus!

The Joy That Spans Heaven And Earth

And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Luke 15:5-7 (emphasis added)

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
--C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, p.26

The joy that the man in the parable experienced upon finding the one sheep that was lost was a joy that stretched horizontally (shared with his friends and neighbors) and vertically (shared with the hosts of heaven). In other words, it was a joy that spanned heaven and earth. Do we live our lives in pursuit of this joy, the joy that spans heaven and earth? Or do we settle for lesser joys, even though they may be good joys? Are we far too easily pleased?

Lord, please help me live my life always pursuing the greatest joy, the joy that spans heaven and earth. May everything else be subordinate to this. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The Gospel: Jesus Wants The Rose!

So he told them this parable: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?"
Luke 15:3-4

Something Else Entirely

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
Luke 15:1-2

It is hard for us to realize this today, but when Christianity first arose in the world it was not called a religion. It was the non-religion. Imagine the neighbors of early Christians asking them about their faith. "Where's your temple?" they'd ask. The Christians would reply that they didn't have a temple. "But how could that be? Where do your priests labor?" The Christians would have replied that they didn't have priests. "But...but," the neighbors would have sputtered, "where are the sacrifices made to please your gods?" The Christians would have responded that they did not make sacrifices anymore. Jesus himself was the temple to end all temples, the priest to end all priests, and the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.

No one had ever heard anything like this. So the Romans called them "atheists," because what the Christians were saying about spiritual reality was unique and could not be classified with the other religions of the world...

The irony of this should not be lost on us, standing as we do in the midst of the modern culture wars. To most people in our society, Christianity is religion and moralism. The only alternative to it (besides other world religion) is pluralistic secularism. But from the beginning it was not so. Christianity was recognized as a tertium quid, something else entirely...

Jesus's teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde [experimental, innovative] ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did.

--Tim Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, p.13-16.

Always On Mission

And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
Luke 5:10-11

Rebuilding Haiti

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'
Acts 20:35

The following is from a brother I went to college with. We were in the same Bible study my senior year. I'm so thankful for him. Please consider giving.

Proverbs 19:11 and The Gospel

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
Proverbs 19:11

Meditations on how this verse relates to the gospel and how it highlights some of the infinite difference between God and humans:

God is slow to anger by nature (Exodus 34:6). This quality is intrinsic to who He is. It's part of His essence.

Humans, on the other hand, are not slow to anger by nature. Among other bad things, there lurks murder in each of our sinful hearts (Mark 7:21) and this often causes us to get angry at other people (Matthew 5:21-22) even though most of us usually never act out (at least not fully) on that anger. So how can we become more slow to anger? Solomon says that good sense makes one slow to anger. The phrase "good sense" can also be translated as "understanding." Understanding makes one slow to anger. How does this relate to the gospel?

One way to explain the gospel is to say that as a result of our sinful nature that causes us to become angry at other people (even in passive ways) and break many of the other laws that God created us to live by, God is intensely angry at us. And rightfully so. But Jesus Christ came into the world so that He would absorb God's righteous anger toward us (=propitiation). And, as a result, God is no longer angry with us (Romans 8:1, Psalm 56:9b)! Even though we still sin and He has every reason to be! If we really understand this gospel, then we will know that no matter what anyone does to us--no matter how outrageous it may be--God has more of a right to be angry at us for the ways we've sinned against him than we have a right to be angry at another person. Because there is no way anyone could sin against us more than we have sinned against God. We should be so amazed by the fact that God is not angry at us that it makes it really, really hard for us to become angry at others.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32

[Bear] with one another and , if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive
Colossians 3:13

Understanding the gospel makes one slow to anger.

The good news of the gospel can also be expressed by saying that God overlooks our offenses--all of them, past, present, and future. But He doesn't just sweep them under the rug of the universe. Otherwise He would not be just. He overlooks the offenses of humans because He punished every offense committed by those who trust in Him when He poured out His wrath on Jesus at the cross 2,000 years ago (Romans 3:21-26). For David and Moses and the men and women of old who trusted in God, all of their offenses towards God before the cross were fully punished at the cross. And ever since, for every man and woman who trusts in God, our offenses towards God after the cross were fully punished at the cross. The cross is the defining moment of all of history. God also currently overlooks the offenses of those who don't trust in Him because the day is coming when He will fully punish them in perfect justice (Romans 2:5, Revelation 21:8).

Because of this gospel, God calls us to be people who overlook offenses because we trust that He--and He alone--is the one to deal properly with every offense committed, towards Him and towards us. He either did so 2,000 years ago at Calvary when He poured out His wrath on Jesus or He will do so at the return of Jesus when He fully repays those who have not put their faith in Him.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:19-21

Radical calling prompted by a radical gospel.

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
Proverbs 19:11

Growing In The Gospel: What It Isn't And What It Is

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Luke 18:9-14

If you’re like me, then when you read verse 9 you think to yourself, “Treating others with contempt? That sounds so harsh. I don’t treat people with contempt.” But that’s because we always want to make the evil that we commit seem less serious than it really is.

But you know what? If it’s easier for you to point out the sins of other people than it is to point out the sin in your own heart, like it naturally is for me, then you’re treating others with contempt. If it’s easier for you to get frustrated over the sin that you see others commit than your own sins that you commit, then you’re treating others with contempt.

How many of you, when you get into a conflict with someone, the first place you point the finger is at yourself? No, usually the first place we point the finger is at other people. That’s because we’re usually convinced that they are the ones who need to repent and not us. When we do this, we treat them with contempt.

But that’s clearly not how Jesus wants us to treat people. He wants us to treat others with love. Perhaps we could do that by being the first to repent of our own sin when we get into a conflict with someone instead of first telling them what they did wrong. Or even if we think we are innocent, we could serve them by refusing to become defensive and instead being quick to listen and slow to speak.

If doing what I just said feels really hard for you, or if it’s easier for you to see the sin in others than it is for you to see the sin in your own heart, or if you struggle with judging others in your heart, then you might be growing in outward obedience, but you’re not growing in the gospel. And God isn’t interested in that kind of growth. The only way to begin to love others authentically instead of treating them with contempt is to grow in the gospel.

An excerpt from the message I preached last night at the large group meeting for the InterVarsity chapter at San Jose State Universtiy. You can read the entire message here.

Proclaiming His Excellencies

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9

Adam and Eve

Let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Ephesians 5:33

God made Adam first and put him in the Garden with a job to do, a mission to fulfill. In the heart of every fallen man is the self-doubt that wonders, “Am I man enough to climb this mountain God has called me to? Can I fulfill my destiny?” A wise wife will understand that question at the center of her husband’s heart. And she will spend her life answering it, communicating to him in various ways, “Honey, I believe in your call. I know you can do this, by God’s power. Go for it.” In this way, she will breathe life into her man.

God made Eve from Adam, for Adam, to help him follow the call. In the heart of every fallen woman is the self-doubt that wonders, “Do I please you? Am I what you wanted?” A wise husband will understand that question at the center of his wife’s heart. And he will spend his life answering it, communicating to her in various ways, “Darling, you are the one I need. I cherish you. Let me hold you close.” In this way, he will breathe life into his wife.

HT: Christ Is Deeper Still

Good stuff.

Far Away

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 62:5-8

...I don't know what to do,
I ain't lookin for answers.
I just need You to hold my hand through this cancer.
Tell me You never left,
Even in the midst of death,
Breathe on me! I'll do anything to feel Your breath!

The Hard And Happy Life Of Following Jesus

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
Luke 5:27-32

Some of us might look at verses 27 and 28 and, after seeing Levi leave everything, convince ourselves that just because Levi left everything, that doesn’t mean that I have to do the same. "He’s one of those hardcore Christians. And Jesus doesn’t expect all of us to be like that. Can’t I just be a normal Christian?"

There’s only problem with that kind of thinking. The fishermen back in the first scene do the exact same thing. So up to this point, the only Christians following Jesus are "hardcore Christians." I would submit to you that what you see Levi do and what you see the fishermen do isn’t hardcore Christianity. It’s normal Christianity. Why? Because the life of following Jesus is a hard life. It’s a hard life because He calls you to leave everything.

That's an excerpt from the message I preached last night at Lifeline, the large group meeting of the InterVarsity chapter at San Jose State University. You can read the entire message here.

Then this morning I saw this over at Christ Is Deeper Still:

My dad used to say to me, when I was a kid, “Listen, son. Half-hearted Christians are the most miserable people of all. They know enough to feel guilty, but they haven’t gone far enough with Christ to be happy. Be wholehearted for him!”

I used to roll my eyes when you said that. I don’t any more.

Thanks for the reminder, Father.

The Continual Cure For The Crookedness In My Heart

A man of crooked heart does not discover good...
Proverbs 17:20

Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good...
Proverbs 16:20

There is hope for the man with a crooked heart. And there is hope for the remaining crookedness in my heart to be cured. How? Continual meditation on the Word. Why? Because the Word is the razor-sharp scalpel that Jesus, our good Doctor, uses to cut away (read: painful!) the crookedness from our hearts as He brings conviction and repentance so that we will discover more and more good.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:12

Making The Nations Glad...

...makes me glad. So cool.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy...
Psalm 67:4

HT: Noel Piper

Last Super Bowl

I had planned to watch the Super Bowl yesterday but only ended up watching about five minutes of it because the Lord had other plans for me. So I can't say I know entirely what Ray is talking about (though it's not hard to figure out). And I'm not resolving to never watch the Super Bowl again (not yet, at least). But I love the conviction expressed in this resolution and I want my life more and more to be marked by this kind of single-mindedness for the glory of Christ.

The Super Bowl is not just another NFL game. It has become an intensified concentration of vulgarity and ego, with enough athletics in the game and cleverness in the commercials to trick me into watching. It’s simply not what I’m living for.

That was my last Super Bowl.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Ephesians 5:15-17

Thanks for your example Ray.

HT: Christ Is Deeper Still

Let's Flaunt Our Gear...

...by adorning the cross rather than avoiding it. I'm a happy pilgrim in conflict until Christ comes or calls me home...

Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring...To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 1:4, 11-12

A Word In Due Season For Me

...a word in season, how good it is!
Proverbs 15:23

On Monday, I read this quote:

"The concept of getting clarity of God's Will is highly overrated. Rather than clarity, we should focus on Faith."
-Bob Blincoe

I've been reflecting on it ever since. It drove me back to Hebrews 11 where I've gone repeatedly over the past year, and there I see plenty of evidence for the validity of Blincoe's statement. This created in me an eager anticipation to hear what Blincoe would say in his message at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors this week.

Yesterday, I listened to Blincoe's message and it was one of the most challenging messages I've ever heard. And I'm not using a superlative there for effect. One of the things he said was this (quoting Dawson Trotman):

"If you cannot see very far ahead, then go ahead as far as you can see. That's the life of faith."

In light of the effect that the quote I read on Monday had on me, I don't think it's very hard to see why this quote would have a similar effect on me. Just like the former, this quote has echoes of Hebrews 11 all over it as well (e.g. Hebrews 11:8). Exactly what I needed to hear. A word in season. How good it is (even when it's really, really hard)! Thank you Lord.

After listening to the message once, I plan to watch it. Watch with me:

On Finding Hidden Treasure

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 13:44

This verse gives one of the best pictures of how I personally came to meet and be transformed by Jesus Christ. There are three words/phrases in particular from this verse that jump out to me because of how they relate to my life: hidden, treasure/joy, sells all.

Hidden

I grew up in a family that went to church every Sunday. But even though I spent my entire childhood going to church and hearing sermons from the Bible that spoke about the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ, who is the King of that kingdom, the kingdom of heaven remained hidden to me for 19 years of my life. I couldn’t see it. I saw religion. But I didn’t see the kingdom of heaven. I didn’t know it then, but the two are not the same thing.

My family went to church every Sunday but it felt like we pretty much ignored God every other day of the week. Or at least I did. The best picture I can give of the place God had in my life was that God was the foundation underneath everything. Yes I believe that God exists. Yes I believe that He created the world. But He wasn’t a significant part of my day-to-day life. The reason I saw God this way is because the truth of the kingdom of heaven was hidden from me. I was like the man in this parable before he made the greatest discovery of his life.

But even during those years growing up, I remember clearly that there were times when I would think to myself, “There has to be more to Christianity than just showing up at church on Sundays.” There has to be more to the kingdom of heaven than just this. God was hidden to me, but even then He was preparing me for what I would find.

Treasure/Joy

I was born to a family of two immigrants from Kenya who worked really hard to give my siblings and me the best life possible. And so one of the most important things I learned from them was the value of hard work if I wanted to be successful. And so from as early on as I can remember, I worked really hard. I got really good grades in school because I wanted to be successful. I got really good grades so that I could get into a good college, so that I could get a really good job, so that I could make lots of money and be successful. And so even though I didn’t know it then, I had made money and success my treasure. I know that money and success were my treasure because everything in my life revolved around doing whatever it takes to get that money and success: all the studying I did, all the late nights, and even at times cheating on a test so that I could get a better grade.

And I think one of the reasons that the kingdom of heaven remained hidden to me while I was growing up is because I knew in my heart that God didn’t want me to make success my treasure. And so I avoided him and I ignored him because I thought that if I listened to God, he would take away my joy because he would take away my treasure. But what I didn’t realize was that God’s goal wasn’t to take away my joy. God’s goal was to increase my joy. God’s goal wasn’t to take away my treasure and leave me with nothing. God’s goal was to give me an even greater treasure than money and success. And what I came to learn was that God doesn’t just have treasure to give me. God Himself is the treasure that gives me joy and satisfaction above all things.

Sells All

My sophomore year in college I began going to a Bible study with some other students who lived in my dorm and it was there in those Bible studies that it was like a veil was lifted from my eyes as we studied the life and teachings of Jesus. Even though I had heard the stories before, it was during that year that I saw the kingdom of heaven for the first time. I saw that Jesus Christ was God and that He was the King of this kingdom and He began to change the way I thought about school, about money, about my life, about everything.

But He wasn’t just calling me to change my thinking. He was calling me to leave behind my former treasures so that He could become my treasure. He was calling me to sell everything in order to have Him. I know that it may seem crazy to think that Jesus would call us to give up everything in order to follow him. But not if the things you are giving up are less valuable than the things you are getting in exchange. None of us would insist on keeping our really nice Honda Civic if we knew we could have a much nicer Mercedes instead. For me, the reason why selling everything has been worth it to follow Jesus is because the joy that I have in treasuring Him is so much greater than any joy I’ve ever experienced. That’s what it means to treasure something. You would trade everything to have it. And Jesus is better than a Mercedes.

So money and success are no longer what my life revolves around. My life doesn’t revolve around doing whatever it takes to get them. But instead Jesus Christ is my treasure. My life revolves around knowing Him, loving Him, enjoying Him, and trying to make Him known to as many people as possible.

Thank You, Father, for bringing me to Stanford University, of all the places in the world, as the field where I would “stumble” upon hidden treasure, when I had gone there looking for something else altogether. Jesus, You’re everything, my Treasure of infinite worth.

Becoming More Gospel Saturated, Part 3

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all...it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
Isaiah 53:5-6,10

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:24-25

Finally, a healthy church member takes seriously the responsibility of guarding the gospel from corruption and abandonment. The New Testament seems to place this responsibility ultimately on the congregation rather than on the pastors alone. When the churches at Galatia were unsettled by false teachers who were trying to add circumcision to the demands of the gospel, the apostle Paul wrote not to the pastors and elders but to the churches themselves. He addressed the membership and called them to guard the gospel he had preached to them. His instruction is strong:

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be eternally accursed. (Gal. 1:8-9)

The Galatians, indeed all Christian church members, are to be careful concerning what they entertain in gospel preaching. The apostle John warns his readers that "if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked work" (2 John 10-11). Peter reminds his readers that those who follow the "shameful ways" of false teachers cause "the way of truth to be blasphemed" (2 Pet. 2:2). So it's understandable, then, that Jude exhorts his audience to "contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). The healthy church and church member fight for and protect the apostolic gospel delivered and preserved in the pages of Scripture. When we don't accept that responsibility and are not vigilant in understanding and applying the gospel, we leave it to be corrupted, abused, and abandoned by unscrupulous teachers and the forces of the evil one.

--Thabiti Anyabwile, What Is A Healthy Church Member?, p.45-46

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it--the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:21-26

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God...
1 Peter 3:18

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your glorious gospel. We plead with You to make us more saturated with it because we know that in all of our willing and running, You are the main doer. May guarding the gospel be a natural overflow of our being gospel saturated. May we know the gospel so well, may we be so conversant with it, that like a well-trained dog we might sniff out the slightest compromise or departure from it. But we don't want to just be barking dogs. And so my hope is that this gospel saturation would be so pervasive that it not only causes us to guard the gospel, but it is reflected in the very way we guard the gospel: as those who love You and love others humbly and genuinely, even in their ignorance or error. We don't want to just be barking dogs. But at the same time we don't want to be dogs who because of the fear of man and the desire to avoid conflict only whimper and stick their tails between their legs when they sense the gospel may be under compromise. Only by being saturated with Your gospel can we be something else. So make us more gospel saturated I pray. In Jesus' name, Amen.