Gospel Contrasts in the Latest CT Edition

Gospel Contrasts in the Latest CT Edition

The best way to pass the time when I'm bone tired is to pick up the latest edition of Christianity Today (CT). After checking into my Day's Inn motel room last night in Pine Mountain, GA, I made the half mile walk up to one of America's finest dining establishments, Huddle House.

While I enjoyed being babied by the four plus waitresses waiting on me hand and foot, filling up my sweet tea every other sip, and calling me 'baby,' 'sugar,' 'honey,' and 'sweetie,' I was perusing the September 05 edition of CT. (I'd link to it here, but it looks like they haven't even uploaded it as the current edition on their website!)

I always start with the "Headlines." I was struck last night by two headlines.

The first was entitled "Pilgrims' Mixed Progress" (p. 27). This is a reflection of the fight for gospel basics in America. Commenting on the evangelical resurgence in the United Church of Christ (UCC), a resolution was passed at the July national synod which met in Atlanta. Per the headline, "it also passed a resolution affirming the person and work of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. However, the body refused to add the affirmation to the ordination vows." Any surprise here? Especially when the other resolution they passed was endorsing homosexual marriage?

What really caught my eye, however, was the last paragraph. When the evangelicals in the denomination were questioned, "Why stay?" They responded, "We love an association with the UCC because of the wonderful creeds and catechism of the church, walking in the footsteps of the Puritans and Pilgrims." I'm sure both of those groups would have embraced the UCC and its recent 'resolutions' wholeheartedly! To associate the insanity of resolving an affirmation of the person and work of Jesus as Lord and Savior, coupled with the lack of affirming in ordination vows, with the Puritans and Pilgrims is beyond insanity.

In contrast, the second piece that caught my eye was "Mugabe's Bulldozers" (p. 29). President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has evidently been on a campaign to demolish the country's ghettos and shantytowns, driving away the urban poor, creating misery and devestation on the scale of a natural disaster, says the piece. Here's the paragraph that caught my eye, contrasting the gospel of the UCC in America with the gospel of the church in Africa.

"Locals are calling this the 'African Tsunami.' Despite warnings from the Zimbabwean government, churches are scrambling to help the estimated million refugees in a single day, caring for their needs."

Per one Christian worker,

"In some parts of Harare, people have gone to spend the nights in their local churches. People are squeezed into just about every available space. Churches have been openly warned not to help the 'refugees,' but now can you turn down someone who is hungry and homeless?"

The contrast is heart-rending for me personally. In the Disneyland called America, as John Piper refers to it, we are fighting to give men and women government and ecclesiastical permission to sanctify and affirm their homosexual passions. And in some circles, resolving to affirm the person and work of Jesus Christ is thought to be monumental.

Yet in the real world, as reflected in the Zimbabwean churches, believers are living the gospel of Matthew 25:31-46, James 2:14-17, and 1 John 3:16-18 and facing the threat of government persecution for it.

As I sit in this motel room, working this post, watching CNN's coverage of Hurricane Katrina, I wonder in vain I think whether or not the historical disaster that has occurred there will wake up the church, at least in that part of the world, to the gospel. I'm sure of it, because Jesus promised to build His kingdom and even the gates of Katrina will not prevail!

That said, I'm not sure how long it will last. Two months after 9/11 our country was back to 'normal.' And even as I watch the Hurricane coverage, the concern is all about "getting back to normal." Mine is a nation that is no longer effectively affected by disaster. In my view it will only take irrepairable and unrecoverable disaster on widespread scale in order to accomplish this kind of effectiveness.....the kind of disaster that is happening in Zimbabwe, or Sudan, or Rawanda. Perhaps then the church will be shaken into reality and stop chasing after sinful passions and start interpreting the gospel with lives that treasure Christ with every breath they take.

The Backside and the Frontside of the Cross

The Backside and the Frontside of the Cross

Living on the backside of the cross, the unbeliever is unable to live with even the slightest ray of hope in the light of their conscience which screams at their sin.

Only the believer, living on the frontside of the cross, can behold both a just God, who is angry at them for their sin (as a Father is toward his disobedient children for their sin), and a gracious God, who is also their advocate in the person of Jesus Christ.

A thought adapted from a similar thought by John Piper at the Desiring God Regional Conference, August 18-19, 2005. Piper was speaking to the subject of how to fight for joy through getting 'gusty' with our guilt.

How a Visit to IKEA with Gout Helped Me Practice Denying Myself

How a Visit to IKEA With Gout

Helped Me Practice Denying Myself

I didn't get to blog about it immediately after it happened, but I've kept this event in my mind ever since as mental bookmark of what the gospel-call to deny ourselves means.

It was the day before I left for the DG Regional Conf in Greenville, SC (Bob Jones University land). I was in utter pain with gout. My wife was excited about our move to a new home somewhere in the Athens, GA neighborhood.

Our kids need beds, plain and simple. Our little ones have slept in borrowed beds or jimmy-rigged babybeds for who knows how long. And our oldest have slept in a set of bunks that seem to have been made an aeon or two ago. The problem with their beds is really quite simple. We move too much. The beds are made of pine and require lag bolts connected the headboard and footboard to the side rails. It doesn't take but one or two moves of having to disassemble and reassemble the beds before those lag bolts just don't catch the wood inside the rails any longer. So you have to graduate to either a thicker bolt or a longer one. I've done both. So that means I had three sets of lag bolts. Each bed required six. Six times two bunkbeds times three escalations in lag bolt sizes means I had 36 lag bolts. We'd like everyone to praise God with us that a charismatic carpenter (from the Full-Gospel Businessman's Association) walked into our garage sale on Friday and bought the beds. If anyone can extend the abnormal life of those poor beds it is a charismatic carpenter!

Anyway, realizing we would eventually dump the beds off onto someone with a more stable residency, Sherri wanted to visit IKEA, the Swedish furniture sensation that has swept the world with really quite wonderful, reliable products at amazingly low prices. Atlanta just got a new one in June.

We had locked onto the sensation through our seminary neighbors Tim and Sarah Gombis (Tim is now professor Bible at Cedarville University). Their apartment, just two doors down, seemed to contain indestructible furniture that withstood the shock and awe which all their kids were able to muster. Our furniture did not.

My wife was sold when we visited the Burbank store. Let's see. There's free childcare - an hour and a half max (which is more than enough time for any husband to shop there!) - in what they call Smaland (Swedish for Small Land). Our kids loved it! Then there's the IKEA restuarant, placed conveniently either at the beginning of your semi-guided tour, or in the middle of it. Here you can indulge yourself in authentic Swedish meatballs for a pretty decent price.

The store in Atlanta is about 366,000 square feet. That's about 15 acres. You start upstairs and wind your way along the guided path with over 10,000 furniture products displayed and arranged before you on either side. Then you head downstairs for the self-serve area. Here, you pick up what you liked upstairs, plop it on a steroid-enhanced grocery carts, and head for one of the 600 checkout lanes. It's mind numbing. There's a style for almost every taste. Thankfully, we were met at the end with their snack bar which serves hot dogs, icecreams, and other health food items for around a buck. My kids go the for ice cream every time! (That's my only daughter Sophia enjoying hers, by the way!)

What made our trip so interesting, and this gets to the point of this post, is that I had gout that day, and my wife wanted us to meander through 15 acres of 10,000 furniture products. The goal, of course, was to locate and study the bunk bed products for our kids. We settled on the sale-price bunks for the little ones, and a couple of loft beds for the older two boys, under which we'll stash a desk for homeschool work, a chest of drawers, a bookshelf and a chair (all from IKEA, of course).

How did I manage this winding pathway of furniture frenzy...with such an inflamed and angry toe? Embarrassingly, in a wheelchair with a broken left foot peddle, with my trusty cane propped between my legs. My wife pushed me around, and everybody looked at me trying to figure out what was wrong with me. She never left me, though I tried to break away at times and do a wheelie.

When she prompted me, all excited and bright-eyed about going, my foot said, "Are you crazy woman?!" But I love my wife so very much. This is where living the gospel counts, isn't it? Paul told us to, "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count otheres more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:3-5, ESV). That passage would be a very appropriate interpretation of what Jesus meant by denying ourselves (Luke 9:23).

The gospel teaches us to stop listening so much to ourselves (including our gout-filled toes), and start listening more to others. The mind of Christ, of which Paul speaks here, is that mind which considered our interests, namely of being saved from sin, above His own. And that's one of the main ways we interpret the gospel of Christ...with our lives. (I'll be posting on this sometime in September in a post called, "The Hermeneutic of the Gospel.")

In a closing word to husbands who feel as though they are dragged along on shopping sprees with their wives... Don't do it begrudgingly. What joy is there in it for you if you do that? Maybe you don't care about that kind of joy. But I'd suggest that putting your heart into it, and seriously considering her interests above your own, will bring what you may find to be a new kind of joy you might not have experienced yet. This isn't sarcasm speaking here. It's the truth. Despite the throbbing of the toe while en tow in a wheelchair, I found great joy in praying (or in my wife's case, preying) over bunkbeds and loft beds, wondering which one would serve our kids the most. It really is amazing to experience just how much joy comes when we have this mind in us which was also in Christ Jesus, "who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12 :2). If that brough Him joy, surely enduring IKEA, despising the embarassment of a wheelchair was worth it for what little joy I got in comparison!

On Getting Sick, Packing to Move, Penske Trucks, My Fleshliness, and the Righteousness of Christ

On Getting Sick,

Packing to Move,

Penske Trucks,

My Fleshliness, &

The Righteousness of Christ

Last week may well have been one of the worst weeks of my life, to speak of. Following the week-plus long struggle with gout, I picked up a cold while I was at the Desiring God Regional Conference. As a humorous sidenote, I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that my dear brother, Dave Cruver, had his house cold enough to hang meat in there! Seriously, his wife is expecting their first, and you dads out there know what that's like! They've got internal heaters! And that means the A/C has got to come down to at least fifty degrees! It was funny that night...and I never did get a chance to share this with Dave (so here you go Dave!) but I had notebooks stuffed into the vent which was blocked with a couple pillows! But alas, I still picked up a bout of postnasal drip which unfortunately turned into a nasty cold. So the conference title on "When I Don't Desire God" was a much-needed resource the following week, wouldn't you say?

Last week, with the cold and all, I was wearied to the bone with packing box after box after box after....well, you get the picture. The cold turned into an infection which depleted my energy, and by Wednesday I near enough thought I would honestly drop from exhaustion. My boys and I prayed in the van that morning that the Lord would work contrary to nature and give me a massive supply of physical energy for the day. To my amazement He did. I'm not amazed because He did. After all, He is a gracious God who loves us and gave us His own Son. I'm amazed because of what it feels like to be about to drop from exhaustion at eight in the morning, knowing what lies ahead for the day, only to feel later in the morning like I was literally getting stronger. Does that count as a miracle?

But there's a big "however." Given the sickness and the packing and physical exhaustion, my heart was at weary as my body. Fleshliness seemed to abound last week perhaps more than at any other time I can remember (and I may have a short memory!). Snapping at kids and wife and dogs (including Chubby the stubborn Beagle) and cat only promoted an atmosphere where the gospel seemed to have little influence in the home (and animal kingdom). It is amazing how walls of separation, hedges of anxiety, and barbed-wire fences of irritability can be built within just a few short minutes or within several hours! It was not until the weekend came and settled in that my wife and I were able to just to sit together for several hours on Friday and Saturday for a garage sale that we were both physically replenished with a little rest, as well as some much-needed time to recoup in our relationship. Real friendships are wonderful things - when the gospel is there, they seem to heal themselves, though we must always apply gospel-medicine (such as confession, forgiveness, self-denial, and service) to them to advance that healing.

So I preached my final sermon yesterday, a word given by the Spirit during a week when I had no time to get into the office and study. Revelation 3:14-22 was put on my heart and mind all day Friday and Saturday, and to no avail I was unable to get it out. So figuring it must be what the Spirit desired, I sat down at 8:00 pm and started praying and writing. Four hours and fourteen single-spaced 8.5 x 11 inch sheets of paper later (that's around A4 size for you UK'ers!) the sermon was finished. That in and of itself is a testimony to the Spirit's amazing work once again, especially given the weariness of mind and body from a full day of packing! My oh my! What wonders come when we trust in His goodness rather than fret! I'm a slow learner, and I'm finally getting it.

So tomorrow we pack the Penske truck. For those who move in the U.S. (and if you are a pastor and move often...is that a redundant phrase?) Penske is by far the best deal for the money. I'm getting a 25 footer for under $500. And I got just the same deal on just the same sized truck in 1996 when I moved to seminary. I like companies who don't let inflation bother them. Besides the fact that it boasts 4-7 miles per gallon (before it is packed), it drives great and my kids think they are big stuff when they are sitting up an extra 8 feet above all the rest of the peon naves on the interstate.

As I look forward tomorrow to very, very, very muggy and quite possibly rainy and windy day tomorrow (thanks to the easterly arms of Huricane Katrina) while trying to load a truck, I am reminded again of just how much I need Christ's righteousness. How do those two come together? Just like this.

I'll be having a wonderful day tomorrow when I'm with my friends packing, regardless of the weather. Honestly, when I'm with others in a hard-work, sweating environment, I seem to flourish. Life is good, friends are working hard, cracking jokes, practicing sanctified sarcasm with each other, talking theology, and sharing needs and concerns with each other, and foolishly eating pizza and drinking soda amid the humid conditions...in all of this there comes a tremendous sense of well-being. I'm crazy I know, but it just happens.

So tomorrow when I'm feeling good and holy and sanctified and whatever else...I still need the righteousness of Christ. And I think that forgetting that on the 'good' days is what makes me (I don't know about you) so pathetic sometimes. On 'bad' days, or rather 'bad' weeks like the one I had last week, we feel our fleshliness in deep ways, don't we? And when we've gathered our spiritual senses about us, we then feel a desperate need for the righteousness of Christ, don't we? But for some reason, when the 'bad' days pass, and the 'good' days come, we're back to our good-ole, performance-oriented lifestyles where we are making God happy with us through our newly refreshed sanctified efforts.

Personally, I think we live too much of life through our emotions. We allow how we feel about our sin and fleshliness as well as our best efforts at holiness to affect our embrace of Christ's righteousness...far too much. And when I think I need it more on my 'bad' days than I do my 'good' days, I'm a pathetic person. I'm pathetic because then I think that on my 'good' or even 'best' days, I'm okay without Jesus. Oh, we'd never say such a horrid thing, would we!? But we act like that, for we don't give His righteousness a second's thought when things are going well for us. And that's where the renewal of the mind (Rom. 12:2) must take place.

We need Jesus on our best days as well as on our worst days. And that's what's so wonderful about His righteousness. It isn't the caulk that fills in the cracks and holes of our sinful moments and days. It is the covering that envelopes us at all times, regardless of what's going on underneath. That means we must spend more time enjoying and treasuring and meditating and singing and preaching about that covering - about the person and work of Jesus Christ - more than (not necessarily instead of) what is underneath that covering. For a failure to do so will mean that we live our lives from day to day mingling Christ-righteousness with self-righteousness. And that's damnable, for it's what will send the average 'religious' person to hell when they die. No, for the Christian it must be all about Him, His grace, His love, His righteousness each and every day, regardless of what we may feel during that day.

Perhaps these ramblings of a struggling Christian, husband, father, and ex-pastor will help someone today to glory in the cross!

I'm Still Alive!

I'm Still Alive!

I've had blogging withdrawals this past week. I've been a'bustin my bum to get us packed and moved this week. Last week was such a wonderful week with so many doors of confirmation being opened wide. This week is such a fleshly week with so many opportunities to get downright ungospel-like in my attitudes and actions! The fact that I've forgotten about it so often this week is a testimony to my fallen nature which so desperately needs full redemption. Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God who will deliver me in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm pinched hard on all sides here this week, mostly packing, babysitting a yard sale, and finishing a publishing project for a friend of mine. So I'm here at the close of my day celebrating God's goodness in this delicious peanut-butter-chocolate malt Christ died to give me here at one of my favorite local hangouts - the Purple Cow Cafe. They just got WiFi installed and life is good!

I'm packing my 26' Penske truck Tuesday with my buds, and pulling out Wednesday morning for UGA territory. Blogging may be on hold for a bit longer. But hang in there MOG-lovers. There's many a gospel-blog more to come. Amid my fleshliness the Lord's been good to bless my mind with more savory cross-centered thoughts....at least they are to me!

(Gee whiz! What a way to follow up a Warnie Award!)

An Old Link Made Fresh

An Old Link Made Fresh

Earlier today, an old link was made fresh by a comment from a reader. That's what keeps old links fresh, by the way - continuing to comment on them!

This particular piece is a short one I wrote, actually asking for input. It was entitled, "The Gospel According to John Eldridge Reader." It is located in the sidebar menu under "Posts that Might Make People Mad At Me." This post may have made the author a little wary of me. But my aim is not to scratch and fight like a cat, picking on people with whom I disagree. Mine is only to poke at the reflections and observations others make about the gospel, to sort of see what's underneath it.

I like Eldridge's sense of adventure and I know we'd both have a ball with our boys in the woods or in an eight-man raft on a whitewater trip. When I read him I feel we're cut from the same fabric. But our personalities can't drive the meaning of a text, and it can't shape the meaning of theology. And I'm afraid that might be what's happening in some of his works. That said, read my post for yourself, and comment on my comments, if necessary! I'd especially love to get some input from the wider readership of Adrian's blog. (Thanks again for this rare privilege Adrian!)

A Spousal Illustration of the Gospel

A Spousal llustration of the Gospel

Yesterday we were getting ready to head up to the in-laws house. I was headed up to the Desiring God Regional Conference at a local church in Taylors, SC (near Greenville) where John Piper is to speak on the subject matter in one of his latest books, "When I Don't Desire God."

Money is tight these days, especially as we look toward a transition next week. I save up about $40 a week out of my paycheck for what I call ministerial expenses. These funds are usually used for purchasing spiritual and intellectual fodder - that would be books, of course.

I had saved up somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 or so. I had my eye on the Banner of Truth set, The Works of Thomas Brooks. I also have a list of books I keep on my PDA called "Books to Buy." There is well over $200 worth of books on that list. In addition, I was headed up the Piper conference and would undoubtedly need a little food and gas money.

However, I was struck by an epiphane over a week ago. About three weeks ago my wife and I were perusing the aisles of StuffMart (a.k.a. Sam's Club). She eyed a Wolfgang Puck 700 watt mixer/bistro blender combo deal she'd been wanting since Christmas of last year. They still had several in stock. And they were an amazing $179! (If you know anything about small kitchen appliances, a blender this powerful at this price is simply unheard of. I'm secretly looking forward to using it to mix some cement for a home improvement job I'd like to do soon!) By the way, if you're a husband who doesn't keep up with stuff like that, shame on you. Make at least a mental list of these kinds of things. After all, things with a cord generally end up benefiting you in the long run, don't they!

So, back to the epiphany, when it hit me, I left immediately after dinner to make the thirty minute drive into town (we live in the country), and I made it to StuffMart after closing. So I snuck in the exit, made my way toward the right aisle, picked up a unit, paid for it and left. And I did all that while talking to my buddy Lance Quinn on the mobile phone! (Pretty talented, huh?). I took home $4.00 in change.

The lesson? I'm no gospel-hero. This is a highlight in my life, which is why it gets a post. But I love my wife. And the concept of dying to self, as Jesus taught us to do, is something inherent in the call of the gospel (Luke 9:23). Thinking of the needs of others as more important than our own needs, is what it means to have the mind of Christ in us (Phil. 2:3-5). (She justifiably needed the unit since (1) she had no mixer - and she the amount of homemade loaves of bread she makes every week to feed a family of six needs a hefty mixer like this one; and (2) she had no blender, since she dropped a fork into the last one while it was blending a blueberry/rasberry smoothie. The thing shattered, juice flew everywhere, you get the picture.)

In return, I got what the normal response from my wife. She's so unassuming. She had no idea I was doing this, but did know what I needed the money for. So after she picked her jaw up from the 1970's dated kitchen floor, she threw her arms around me, and the rest is not for blog history.

So back to yesterday. My wife does her grocery store shopping every Monday. She does an unbelievable job of spending about $80 a week in cash for groceries to feed us all. Amazing, huh? I spent that much on myself alone when I was single! But you know what she did? She did what she could for me. She scrimped on the shopping that week to save $18 for me to take on my trip with me. What a wife. I mean really, isn't this what gospel-centered marriage is supposed to be about? Giving and receiving, pouring out grace on each other as much as we can, in as many creative and helpful ways as we can? I relish this relationship. And the better part of it is that our kids watch it all and learn from it.

So I used part of that $18 to buy me an Chilled Chai Late at Panera Bread Company where I sit, sipping on my Chai, waiting for the conference registration to begin, while mooching off their free WiFi access to make this post. Life is good. Enjoy the wife of your youth. Be a spouse who lives for the other. As my dear friend Lou Priolo told me in my premarital counseling time, "you should be so Sherri-oriented that the two of you are tripping over each other to serve each other."

Million Dollar Baby, Atrocious Shepherding, and the Omission of the Gospel

Million Dollar Baby,
Atrocious Shepherding,
and the Omission of the Gospel

I believe it was yesterday that Matt Self (at Gad(d)about) commented on my blog as making up for everyone else's omission of the gospel. What was meant as an encouragement actually ended up driving me crazy for most of the day. Why? Because I was trying to figure out just why the gospel has in fact been such an omission in the church today? I'm no David Wells or Os Guiness, so I can't explain my feelings and thoughts on the matter as well as they. But I will share them nonetheless.

Providence arranged my day yesterday such that Matt's comments began my day, and the hot movie Million Dollar Baby ended it. What a surreal ending to an otherwise 'good' day. My wife stopped by our local video store (yes, a town of 600 citizens does have a video shop among other conveniences!) to pick up a flick for me to use to get my mind off my gout bout.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie...except for the last 10-15 minutes. I had only heard a comment previously about the ending, but I went into the movie having forgotten that comment. If you want to, watch it til the last 10 minutes and then hit the eject button. The conclusion is quite disturbing, to say the least. It accounts for the "Thematic Material" for which it is rated PG-13.

Between my short excursions in log-sawing last night, thinking through the movie with Matt's comments seemed to go hand-in-glove as I tossed and turned to find a comfortable spot for my mutant toe. What hit me like a ton of bricks immediately following the movie was the sorry excuse for a priest that Frankie Dunn (played by Clint Eastwood) had. (However, the theological questions Frankie posed to his priest toward the beginning of the movie were humorous reminders of previous similar encounters in my own ministry!)

We find out toward the end, as Frankie is sitting beside his priest on the front row of his local church, wrestling through the request Maggie Fitzgerald (Hillary Swank) made of him while she lie completely paralyzed, unable to even breathe on her own, her spinal column having been broken between C-1 and C-2 after a rogue punch between rounds in her title fight.

She had asked her trainer to basically end her misery. She reasoned that her whole life up to that point had been a dream: a hillbilly girl from Missouri, training for boxing as late as 32 years old, followed by a knock-out of a knock-out record, which rocketed her into stardome, fighting all around the world. Who would want to live like Christopher Reeve after a life like that? Evidently, Chris Reeve did.

Back to Frankie's priest, he began his reply to Frankie with a statement that probably others passed right by, but one which caught my attention immediately. The priest stated first that Frankie ought to step aside and let God handle the matter. Only God could determine life and death. So far, so good.

Then, the priest continued by stating that Frankie had been coming to mass for 23 years. And through all those years Frankie had been forgiven of all his sins. But if he committed this one, he would lose himself forever. I think his comment was more about the emotional/mental consequences than it was any kind of cloaked reference to the consequences of assisted suicide as a mortal sin.

Here's where the omission of the gospel is committed. This priest had 23 years to preach the gospel to Frankie Dunn. But there's not the slightest mention of it anywhere, excepted in a passing reference to forgiveness. You say, "Well, Rob, that's normal. Hollywood isn't going to talk about the gospel of Christ in a movie!" Exactly. You make my point for me.

What we find in this priest is a model-reflection of Christian preachers in general. Hollywood reflects them well, don't they? Where was the power of the gospel of Christ in Amityville Horror or the Exorcist, for example? Where's the essence of the gospel in O Brother, Where Art Thou? How about in The Shawshank Redemption, or Braveheart, or...name your favorite movie with religious, redemptive overtones.

Frankie Dunn's priest had 23 years to share the gospel with Frankie....more than enough time to help shape at least a beginner's world view according to Christ, don't you think? And had the priest done his job, Maggie's request to Frank would surely have triggered the truth so that he would have been able to understand it more clearly. And then Frankie would have had multiple opportunities, as he sat by her hospital bed hour after hour, day after day, to share the gospel with her, redeeming her own world view.

At the risk of sounding like Rick Warren, God did have a purpose for Maggie Fitzgerald in her condition, and it was to glorify Him by enjoying Him forever. The power of God in the gospel of Christ finds a testimony through such vessels of weakness who carry in themselves the very marks of Christ and what it means to suffer for His glory. Who knows but that 35 year old Maggie Fitzgerald might have become successor to the Joni Earekson Tada legacy!

But without a gospel-centered worldview, her life was in fact meaningless. The poor woman had no hope as she lie in bed there, with a breathing tube connected into her throat. The only recourse she had after Frankie's first refusal to her request was to bite her tongue so she would choke to death on her own blood. Shame upon shame be upon Frankie's priest for his atrocious shepherding.

No, this isn't a real story, and yes I mean to talk as if it were. Why? Because it parallels reality! Frankie's priest is real, and he is alive in many priests and preachers all around the world. They lead mass every week, preach sermons and homilies every Sunday, write articles and publish sermons every week. But where is Christ? Where is the 'good news'? Where is the essence of redemption? Where's the message of peace with God, forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with our offended Creator?

Without these truths, there is no meaning to life whatsoever. And Hollywood continues to accurately portray the real reflection of the modern preacher and pastor as one who, at least in biblical terms, us really and utterly unable to make much sense out of life himself (or herself in many cases). They themselves are still struggling through basic questions and answers, such that they have no authentic and effectual hope to offer their people, short of the standard denominational answers they learned in seminary.

What's the alternative? It can't be megachurches, church growth strategies, programs, multisensory worship experiences, or thematically oriented sermons. It can't even be reactions to whatever it is in historic Christianity that we may dislike with a passion (knock, knock, Emergent Church Movement).

The right alternative has got to take us back to the simple message of the gospel. The souls of people like Frankie Dunn and Maggie Fitzgerald are at stake. Will we let them die and murder each other, living as those without hope?

Beloved, if we are truly ambassadors of Christ, messengers of reconciliation, as Paul implies that we are in 2 Corinthians 5:20, what in the world are we doing? If what we are doing does not flow out of the gospel or back into it....if what we do is not connected to the gospel...if what we do is not energized and generated by the gospel...then I must ask, what are we doing? We are wasting our time, and contributing to the condemnation of others (and yes, that even includes Calvinists!).

In closing, might I add a more practical way that we can lurch backwards into the simplicity of the gospel message of Christ and Him crucified? It involves a 'put off' and a 'put on.' First, let's put off Hollywood. It offers nothing but a mirage. Too many Christians, including myself, watch movies in order to gain some redemptive element which we can use as common ground to share the gospel with others. That works sometimes. But I'm beginning to think that when that is used as common ground, generally their perception of Christianity, priests, and preachers is just what Hollywood has told them it is. So if we start with Hollywood, we're already starting with a broken tool...a severely broken tool. I say let's ditch the whole thing. Ironically, it's filled with nothing but emptiness. There's no gospel in Hollywood, so let's stop allowing it to seep into our minds, hearts, and homes.

Second, let's put on the Lord Jesus Christ as He's already revealed Himself in the Bible. He hasn't revealed anything of Himself in Hollywood. If we read our Bibles as much as we watched Hollywood's products, or better yet, if we read our Bible as much as we watched Hollywood's products and instead of Hollywood's products, what kind of Christians do you think we would be? We could be the type who could have offered Frankie Dunn and Maggie Fitzgerald real hope, that's what! We can stand in the gap for the atrocious shepherding that many are experiencing right now. We can interpret the gospel for them with our very lives.

Who needs Hollywood when we've got the only inspired, divine message of special revelation directly from God to man on what's wrong and how God has made it all right! So let's turn off the stinkin' T.V. and start reading our Bibles! Let's save the clams we formerly used to support Hollywood and entertain ourselves, and let's use those clams to buy resources that help us understand and relish the gospel...to fund outreach efforts to get into the lives of our neighbors and fellow citizens with the good news...to support our local churches whose very function on earth is to be the pillar and support of the gospel truth.

"Father, forgive our omission of Your gospel. Forgive it in our own lives...in our homes...and in our pulpits. Forgive my omission and embolden my ranting!"

MOG Issued Warnie Award

MOG Issued Warnie Award!

Earlier today, Adrian Warnock, a blogdom hero not of old English folklore but of present day legend, issued this site the coveted Warnie Award. My blog is now number 17 on a growing list of otherwise outstanding blogs. I'm truly humbled. I think about the only thing better than this would be sitting in a pub for a couple or three hours with Adrian and the Pyromaniac! Now for an acceptance speech!

I only started blogging a few months ago. But given our conviction that the gospel is not just the most important thing but the only thing, as C.J. Mahaney puts it, I created this blog initially as a simple tool to flesh this out for myself. But being a pastor, it would naturally be worded and wielded for the good of all mankind. Thanks chiefly to Adrian, I've learned much of what I know about blogging and honestly have to attribute any success it has to listening and learning from his gratuitous posts on this topic alone.

The person and work of Jesus Christ, summed up the word 'gospel' or good news, is the centrifuge of our life and breath as Christians. May we experience a lurch backward to the core of everything for us. It is filled with simplicity, isn't it. Yet all its truths, implications, connections and applications can no more be discovered and mined than the sea floor of the Mariana Trench can be.

I'm convinced that so much of ministry, preaching, teaching, scholarship, academia, counseling, etc. has become tangential, not even peripheral any longer. It's just stuff that is so way out there, untethered to the gospel in anyway, that it's no wonder marriages are failing, relationships stay broken, churches split, and believers stay trapped in sin.

So if this award means anything at all, let it be a proclamation to lay aside the issues and movements that easily beset us. And let us return to the cross and behold the wonder of every splinter!

Gospel Medicine for Gout

Gospel Medicine for Gout

My bout with gout took a turn for the worse yesterday. The swelling increased so badly that it felt as if the skin on my foot would split open. The joint is a nice, shiny shade of purplish-red. It entered a new phase of hurt and pain yesterday unlike anything I'd ever felt before. In fact, I tried to describe it to my wife and I couldn't find the right combination of words or phrases or feelings. So I won't even try here. Let's just say the pain leaves me wincing and grimmacing and literally sweating at various intervals. Last night was by far the worst yet. I'm blogging on sleep-fumes here, if you get my meaning. I'm praying for the common grace of Vitamin C with bioflavinoids, Vitamin B-Complex, and Aleve (seeing the commercial on T.V. just makes me plain mad...I'm not smiling and partying like those folks on the commercials! What's with this "All Day Strong, All Day Long" stuff?!) to take their intended effect very soon.

There are two things I learned yesterday about gout.

First, don't eat at Backyard Burger when you have gout. I knew I wasn't supposed to do this. But when my good buddy and pastor-friend John Crotts (pastor of Faith Bible Church in Peachtree City, GA) suggested it for lunch, and given my diet of raw fruits and vegetables for the last two days, you can imagine my glee and delight as I considered the prospect of tasting meat for the first time in three days! An angus burger, seasoned fries, sweet tea, and blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream was all just too good to pass up. Problem is, that's kind of what caused the gout in the first place: too many foods with purinic acid, such as meats, saturated fats, sugar, etc. You know...all the good stuff! So lesson one, if you have gout, don't eat at Backyard Burger, even if your good buddy invites you! (By the way, I had a great time yesterday John!)

Second, meditate on Romans 8:18-25. It's gospel-medicine for gout, and really for any sickness. My mind clung to it between dreams last night. The gospel teaches me that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing [especially my big left toe right now] for the revealing of the sons of God."

Because of sin, my foot was subjected to futility, not willingly mind you, as the text says. But God subjected my foot to futility, along with all of creation, for one purpose: "in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay [and gout] and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." This hope is created in us when we experience pain because, "we know that the whole creation has been groaning [heard most loudly in my life by my foot!] together in the pains of childbirth until now." Meditate on that prepositional phrase. It's a beauty.

What that means is that since the cross, the redemption of our bodies draweth nigh (v. 23)! How do we know? Because that hope I just mentioned, that Paul actually mentions, is the hope in which we were saved (v. 24). That is, part of the reason we were saved is for the redemption of our bodies as well as our souls. That means God cares as much about my gout as my soul! And the gospel applies to both, for just as it has saved the one, it will save the other. It can no more fail to save my foot, and my whole body for that matter, than it can fail to save my soul!

Now that's better medicine than any pill can give. It doens't take away the pain. Instead it uses the pain to create fresh hope in my heart for what God has promised to do with my body. That is why we must, "wait for it with patience" (v. 25). Now, come back and talk to me in three more days with this kind of pain and let's see if I still feel this way!

A Gospel Perpective on the 'Bad' Stuff - Katie-Abigail Elise Raider

A Gospel Perpective on the 'Bad' Stuff

Katie-Abigail Elise Raider

I stopped by to visit some dear friends today. They just had a new baby! She's the sweetest thing (next to my little girl, of course!).

As we talked, Daniel and Faith told me that Katie-Abigail had evidently not passed her hearing test. Now, I'm no expert, but I never heard about my babies taking a hearing test. Do they lift the hand or finger that corresponds to the ear hearing the beep? (That's not Katie-Abigail in the pic to the right! That's just a sample-baby. But man, it sure could pass for her! But could it be because most babies look alike when they are born? I'm sure I'd get a smack from Faith if I were posting at their house!)

What was encouraging to me was the faith with which Faith was filled! She certainly lived up to her name's sake! Daniel is filled with that same faith as well. His words to me were something like this: the moment we heard, we were filled with the faith to not worry because we realized what ministry opportunities this would open up to us if Katie-Abigail did in fact turn up deaf. Faith has evidently meditated in that direction that she implied a bit of disappointment if her little girl did in fact turn up able to hear!

No, they are not sadists. No they are not child-abusers. They have been changed by the gospel! They have gained a gospel-perspective on the 'bad' stuff, seeing it instead for what it really is - the goodness of God toward His glory and kingdom, and toward our good.

I myself was filled with faith as I left today. Here's a couple, young as they are, that gets it. But more than that, they think it and live it.

I love you guys! And I love you too, Emma and Beth!

A Gospel-Perspective on Good and 'Bad' Events

A Gospel-Perspective on

Good and 'Bad' Events

What's your perspective on the 'bad' stuff that happens to you? In my life, as we make our transition to another city, job, and church family soon, the goodness of God has been great. He's confirmed housing, church family, and possibly a job. But when He starts mixing in the 'bad' it's another reminder of the kind of gospel-perspective we ought to have as brothers and sisters of Christ Jesus.

The last few days have been a mix of the good and bad. Starting this past Sunday I encountered my first bout with gout. For those who don't know what this is, a build up of purinic acid settles into the joints of, say, the big left toe, in my case, and it crystalizes into the shape of needles. It swells and causes a sharp burning, throbbing pain unlike any other pain I've experienced. Breaking my 'pinky' toe last year didn't feel anything like this. Much sleep is lost, and the pain is so intense at times I can't even read or concentrate. Today is round four. Who knows how much longer I have to fight with this thing.

To get more detailed, the diet my wife has put me on to help flush this stuff out of my toe has been raw fruits and vegetables, cherry juice, thousands of mgs of vitamin C, B-complex, distilled water... You get the picture. Put diarrhea alongside the gout and you've got double the pleasure!

Then yesterday, my two oldest boys and I were dumpster diving for boxes. We loaded the truck bed full to the rim. Then, just a few minutes later, a massive thunderstorm moves in and soaks it all. There's perfectly good gas and time wasted.....it seems. So not being able to see for the rain, we dip into the theatre to catch a late afternoon flick. And four times during the course of the movie, the lightening knocks the power out. A two hour movie took three hours yesterday.

So how should we look at the 'bad' stuff that happens to us? How does it plug into the gospel-perspective we ought to have?

I don't have a Bible in front of me, so I'll have to work from memory (I'm getting more rusty by the year!). Wasn't it Job who rhetorically asked his wife, "shall we receive good from the hand of God and not the bad also?" The preacher in Ecclesiastes wrote these words, "In the day of prosperity be happy; but in the day of adversity, remember that God has made one as well as the other."

So what's the grounds for believing something like this? What kind of hope does this provide us, and where does that hope come from? From the cross, of course. Romans 8 provides the bedrock of truth for believing this way, and living this way.

Here's the first gospel-perspective. Romans 8:28 teaches us that God causes all things (even the 'bad' stuff) to work together for our good because we were called in Christ Jesus. The next two verses continue the thought. We were foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified by God...all in order to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. There's our first grounds for understanding that the gospel isn't a magic-carpet ride to heaven! If the gospel is about being conformed to Jesus Christ, and if His life was filled with good and 'bad' then ours must be too. What was that Jesus told His disciples in John 15? No servant is greater than His master. If the Master suffers, the servants will too.

Here's a second gospel-perspective. A few verses later in Romans 8, Paul wrote those words that have changed my outlook forever. Several years ago while expositing Romans 8 for a Bible Study class, the words hit me: "If God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how much more then, will He not also give us all things!" God gave us Jesus! His own Son! He gave the best to us and for us! Do we think that just because we encounter some 'bad' events that this is God's deciding to somehow not keep His promise! In giving us Jesus, He has given us all 'good' things.

Do you know what that means? Even the 'bad' is actually good. Remember Joseph's words in Genesis 50:20 (I remember that reference!). "As for you, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good." The effect of that horrible, 'bad' event (or rather string of events) was that God caused all the 'bad' events of Joseph's life to work for good, in order to save God's chosen people! And again, God is causing the 'bad' events of our lives to work for good, in order to save us, His chosen people! This has been a much treasured text for me and my family in this past year. What the opposition to our leadership has meant for evil, God will work for good.

So encountering 'bad' stuff is, for the Christian, merely a sign that he or she is being conformed to the image of Christ, and that God is causing the 'bad' to turn into the good, for our good, and for the good of His glory. Don't sweat the small stuff! Perceive it for what it really is - the fire God uses to mold and shape us into the image of His Son. And is this not a good thing?

The Waiting is Almost Over - a Brief History and Our Present Transition

The Waiting is Almost Over!

A Brief History and

Our Present Transition

Finally, the Lord has granted freedom to point to the background of my previous post. For quite some time, since my eighth week here as pastor to be exact, the Lord has been teaching me this lesson of waiting as it relates to the gospel. So the lesson taught there, though short in nature, has been deep and lengthy in its teaching process, and still promises to be so in the near future as it relates to my current trial.

I will not go into much detail on this blog about the details of my trial, but suffice it to say that my trial has been both a literal trial as well as a spiritual one. The leadership of the church, as well as every member in attendance here at present, are convinced that our trial has been, at root, about the gospel of Christ. To be sure, it took form in allegations of Calvinism starting my second week as pastor! It quickly escalated, however, to four petitions and three church conferences to remove the entire leadership of our little flock. The foundation of it all was Calvinism and the nature of the gospel.

There were probably only a handful in the group who stood against the leadership who understood what the term meant. But none seemed to understand what it truly taught. As is usually the case, a caricature of Calvinism was constructed, essentially a straw man, which was then set on fire for the community to see. Our little church was split right down the middle, the older constituency being the opposition. And our little Christian school lost 85% of its enrollment as well as the same percentage of teachers, or thereabouts.

The covenant of our little church on which it as founded, teaches clearly about the treatment 0f other believers which the gospel demands of us all. This includes the utilization of passages like Matthew 18 to resolve conflict and difficulty. But it seemed that every member of the opposition was unwilling to live in accordance with this kind of biblical, gospel-0riented treatment. Unfortunately it eventually extended itself not only toward the leadership of the church but also to those who wished to join as members.

The final church conference in June of last year brought the conflict to a head. The opposition, viewing the conflict as a battle over member-rights in the local church, brought the government in as an attempt to resolve the matter. Since we are a non-profit corporation in the state of Georgia, the opposition decided to use the non-profit code of law. This meant viewing the leadership as directors of a corporation, rather than spiritual leaders of a local church. Despite the wording of the non-profit code itself on the issue (namely, when doctrine conflicts with the non-profit code, doctrine shall prevail), it was used anyway, and thus conceived the entrance of the state government into the affairs of our local church.

When this plan did not succeed, because again the bylaws and covenant of our church and its gospel-spirit were in continued violation - the opposition sought to bring the government into the affairs in a different way. Violating 1 Corinthians 6:1 ff, the opposition rationalized that since the leadership of the church would not operate in a way which was in keeping with the traditional model, though that traditional model violated Scripture regularly, they had every right to protect themselves by suing the leadership, bringing a lawsuit against other believers.

We've been in litigation ever since that day. The judge's injuction has remained in effect since June of last year, prohibiting us from accepting any new church members (from growing, that is), as well as from disciplining any disobedient church members (from keeping itself pure, that is). The lawsuit has crippled any effects the gospel might have through a little church in a community of 600 plus citizens. And here we wait, faithfully following the Savior, until the day when a verdict from the Appeals Court of the State of Georgia comes to render its final decision in the matter.

So the lawsuit and the trial have been, from the very beginning, about the gospel of Christ. It was the gospel as preached from the Scriptures that first generated the opposition. Then it was the kind of gospel-living as taught in the Scriptures that fueled the opposition. And it was the peace which the gospel demands as taught in the Bible that continues to keep the conflict firmly in place, ironically enough. This would be the background then, not only to the previous post, but to all the recent posts dealing with offenses and forgiveness.

In light of all this, it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to our leadership team that my family and I transition from this work very soon. For the good of the local church, my departure may relieve much of the tension inherent in the conflict. But what feels good to this pastor is to know that the leadership remaining behind has been strengthened in the gospel to the extent that the 'good fight of faith' will continue in my absence. So while it will be alleviated in my absence, it will certainly not go away. There is still an issue of gospel-love which believers ought to have for one another. And until this becomes a necessary part of the thinking and living process witin the opposition, the conflict must continue.

Pray for us in this transition. The Lord is good. His confirmation of this decision has been clearly made known to us. We will move to Athens, GA and meld ourselves into the community at Crossway Fellowship Church in Watkinsville, GA. My friendship with Paul Cooke, the pastor there, as well as with his family has been a ministry to my family that words simply cannot describe. We anticipate great things from God's hand as we heal, grow, and mature under his leadership as well as in the fellowship there. And it is within that context that I will submit my calling to ministry, waiting patiently in God's timing for His direction there.

In the meantime, the Lord has provided housing in what is really an amazing, incredible display of His providence. And it appears, at least at present, that the Lord is providentially moving myself and Diversified Communications Group (a company for whom I used to work several years ago) together in a very unique way that can only be explained by sovereign providence. He is so good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

So there you have it. The short (and long!) of it behind this blog in the last year - the gospel's effects in my own life, family, and pastoral ministry. But while the pastoral ministry may be coming to an end here soon, this blog will not, for it has always been about the effects the gospel must have in our lives, and all the areas it touches (whether we feel it or not!).

P.S. If I know the opposition, they're are probably readers of this blog, if for no other reason than to gather more 'ammo' for the fight. To them I say: May the Lord answer my prayers for you to bless you and make you prosper. I long for reconciliation and peace, but that can only come through the cross and its gospel message. But until that day comes, my heart reaches out for the throne of God for you all that God might touch your hearts with his gospel and what it requires. To the rest I say: don't be surprised by the comments section which will follow this particular post!

An appropriate song the Lord has used greatly to minister to us in this time is the SGM song, "Oh, What a Glorious Mystery." Listen to it and see what a glorious mystery God is and has been to our family!

"How Much Longer Dad?" - The Gospel of Promise and Waiting

"How Much Longer Dad?"

The Gospel of Promise, Waiting, & Doing

Often times, we forget that the gospel was born as a promise. Paul wrote to the Galatians that, "the Scripture, forseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed'" (Gal. 3:8). The promise was given to Abraham in Genesis 12:2, "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." That promise would eventually come to pass, according to Paul, through the inclusion of the Gentiles, a massive group of humanity who was basically and instantly excluded from the covenant the very moment God chose Abraham!

What else can that possibly mean except waiting! "How much longer til we get there, Paw? Only 'bout two thousand more years sonny!" That's about how long it was before God's original promise to Abraham began to be fufilled in volume-level quantities. (Of course, it was taking place in trickling quantities all throughout the OT history.) Lest we forget, Abraham's entire life was about waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting on God to tell him what to do and where to go next. I could never be Abraham. But God has called me to this...He's called all of us to this.

What else can this possibly require except faith! "How much longer til we get there, Paw? Don't you worry your pretty little head 'bout that right now. You just sit back and enjoy the right. Trust me sonny, we'll get there." Promise and waiting require doing. And that doing is simply trusting and believing. "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going...For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Heb. 11:8, 10).

To sum it all up then, since the gospel message was originally born as a message of promise, faith in that message is all about waiting on God to fulfill His promise. The gospel has always been about a promise from God. For Gentiles it has been about receiving a promised share in Abraham's inheritance, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. But before that chapter in history of the gospel-promise, there was a whole lot of waitin' around. So it seems to me that inherent in the gospel, from the very beginning, is the challenge of waiting and believing. Isn't this some of what we live for each day as we await Christ's promise to return and get us, to take us to Himself so we can be with Him forever (John 14:3)?

That's a big part of it, you bet. But that's not all. There's also waitin' around for God's continued promise of sustenance and just plain survival! That's where I'm at, as of recent. I'm in the middle of something huge, something big in my life at the very moment of typing this post. And I'm really excited about it! But what builds that excitement is waiting, namely, waiting on God to continue fulfilling His gospel promises.

His gospel makes promises that demand me to wait for fulfillment. Dadgum, that's hard to do. But man is it exciting! The waiting and trusting I do is merely painting the background with more and more illustrious, variegated, sharp, and very vivid hues and saturations. Then, when the fulfillment is (sometimes slowly, and sometimes quickly) painted into the foreground, the 'big picture' and final product is nothing short of AWESOME!

I think...no, I know that so often I have missed the 'shock and awe' at the powerful fulfillment of God's gospel promises to me simply because I have not waited and trusted. Oh, He is always and forever will be painting that background. But when I don't wait and trust, I don't notice the deep beauty and profound mystery of the background. And consequently, the foreground of fulfillment doesn't capture and enrapture me with God's grace, love, mercy, and eternal goodness. That fulfillment seems somehow dull, unattractive, indistinguishable, disguised, and...well, I simply just don't notice it at all. I miss it because I haven't just sat back and enjoyed the ride along the way...waiting...and trusting the Heavenly Father to get me where He has decreed to get me in and because of His Son.

For those who read these posts regularly, pray hard for us. When I ask God, "God, what's going to happen?", I can often hear those famous words of HAL9000 (from the movie 2010: The Year We Make Contact) reply, "Something Wonderful"! I don't want to miss the Spirit's remarkably distinct leadership we've experienced here in the last week.

The Humility the Gospel Demands (Revised in Modern English)

The Humility the Gospel Demands

(Revised in Modern English)

After reading through this passage many times yesterday to meditate on the deeply valuable insights, I determined that perhaps it may be more helpful if it were revised in modern English. Thus, the post was issued again today.

I'm finishing up my last sermons on Philemon this week. As I was working through the homilies of the famous 4th century pastor John Chrysostom, I was struck by the 'rabbit trail' he took regarding the issue of humility that slaves and masters must work diligently at showing to one another. Evidently, this was a continued substructure within the church body at this time, and it is this issue that provides the context for the specific remarks I give below, for these are deeply penetrating words. Here, then, is how Chrysostom sees the

humility which the gospel demands.

But as I said before, and on which account I have said all that I have said, let us be as humble-minded as we should, and let us be as moderate as we should. But for us it shouldn't be an occasion of being puffed up. Are you humble, and humbler than all others? Do not be high-minded because of that, and do not look down on others, lest you lose the very thing in which you boast.

For this very cause you are humble, that you may be delivered from the insanity of pride. If therefore through your humility yhou fallest into that insanity, it would be better for you not to be humble at all! For hear Paul saying, "Sin works death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful." (Rom. vii. 13.)

When it enters your mind to admire yourself because thou are humble, consider your Master - to what He descended - and you will no longer admire yourself, or praise yourself. But you will deride yourself as having done nothing. Consider yourself altogether to be a debtor. Whatever you have done, remember that parable,

"Suppose one of you had a servant...Would he say to that servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'?" (From Luke 17:7, 8)

Do we return thanks to our servants just because they wait upon us? Of course not. Yet God is thankful to us, even though we don't serve Him, but do that which is necessary to meet our own needs.

But we shouldn't be so affected in a backwards way, as if He owed us any thanks, or that He owes more. But be affected in the right way, seeing yourself as only discharging a debt, doing your duty. For the matter at hand here truly is a matter of debt, and everything we do is about paying back that debt.

For if when we purchase slaves with our money, we wish them to do everything they do for us, and whatever they possess personally to use it for us, should it be any less with Him? After all, He brought us into being out of nothing. And if that wasn't enough, He bought us with His precious Blood. He paid such a price for us that no one would endure to pay for his own son. He shed His own Blood for us.

If therefore we had ten thousand souls, and should lay them all down for Him, would that really be considered an equal return for His purchase? Of course not! And why? Because He did this, owing us nothing, but the entire thing was a matter of grace.

But from this point forward we are debtors. And being God Himself, He became a servant, and not being subject to death, subjected Himself to death in the flesh. Now, if we do not lay down our lives for Him, the law of nature tells us that we must certainly lay them down at some point. And a little later we will be separated from our lives, however unwillingly.

So also in the case of riches, if we do not spend them for His sake, we will give them up out of necessity when we die. So it is also with humility. Although we are not humble for His sake, we will be humbled by tribulations, by calamities, by over-ruling powers. Don't you see, therefore, just how great is the grace! ...

For this also is the glory of a Master: to have grateful slaves; to love His slaves; to claim for His own what belongs to them. And this is also the glory of a Master: not to be ashamed to confess before all that he owns them. We should, therefore, be struck to the core with awe at this love of Christ which is so great. Let us be inflamed with this love-potion.

Though a man be of a lower class in society and own little if anything, yet if we hear that He loves us, we are above all things warmed with love towards him, and honor him exceedingly. And then do we love? And when our Master loves us so much, are we then not excited?

Let us not, I beg of you, let us not be so apathetic about the salvation of our souls. But let us love Him according with all our might, and let us spend everything we have upon His love - our life, our riches, our glory, everything! - with delight, with joy, with alacrity, not as rendering anything to Him, but to ourselves. For such is the law of those who love: They think that they are receiving favors, when they are suffering wrong for the sake of their beloved! Therefore let us be so moved and affected towards our Lord, that we also may partake of the good things to come in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Have you ever read such moving words from a 'crusty old' church father? Chrysostom moves me because Christ moved him. This kind of humility is a magnet. May we be that magnet as Christ lives in us and through us, thereby drawing all men to him, even irresistibly so!

The Emergent Church Movement and the Gospel: The Purpose of Exegesis

The Emergent Church Movement

And the Gospel:

The Purpose of Exegesis

A fitting challenge to all students of God's Word (and hopefully that means all Christians), are the following paragraphs by Gordon Fee from his book entitled, To What End Exegesis? As I was reading through chapter seventeen which carries the self-title of the book, I was struck by a few paragraphs which seemed to elucidate for me what it is that so many in the Emergent Church claim they have been looking for and struggling with.

So, when read in light of the current debate over the Emergent Church Movement, his words are challenging because the absence of what he suggests here is just the sort of thing that has created such a hunger for difference, change, and meaningfulness in the previous church experiences some ECM'ers seem to have had.

So I offer Fee's words as a help to those who are anti-ECM, in order to help them (and me?) understand some of their frustrations from a very legitimate viewpoint. To often we write off the frustrations of others simply because we don't understand what they are talking about, or because we haven't taken the time to do so.

But I also offer these words for those who are pro-ECM, in order to help them also, because there is a tone in these words that those thinkers and leaders within the ECM would seem to very much benefit from. While they have nailed, in their analyses, what seems to be lacking in most churches today (with regard to the lifestyle the gospel demands of us), I perceive they have missed the submission to God's special revelation which ought to belong to those who profess to believe His gospel. Those explanations aside, here is Fee.

"I have long argued that the first task of exegesis is to try to understand the intent of the author of a text, as much as this is historically possile, with all of the tools available to us as historians. And I still believe this to be so, even in this postmodern age, where scholars, full of inner contradictions, intentionally write books and articles to tell me that an author's intent may be irrelevant to a good reading of a book. The light that finally dawned, of course, was the plain reality, writ large in almost every text in our canon, that the real intent of these texts was the Spiritual one: obedience to God, be it in the form of behavior, instruction, worship, doxology, or whatever it might be, including a carefully articulated biblical theology.

"Thus, rather than seeing exegesis and Spirituality as opposed to one another, or as one preceding or following or having precedence over the other, I came to realize - and herewith propose for our mutual consideration: (1) that faithful biblical exegesis must, by the very nature of the documents themselves always take into account the Spiritual purposes for which they were written, and (2) that this exegesis belongs within the framework of the believing community, with those who follow (whether exactly or not, ats least intentionally) in the train of the original believing communities for whom and to whom these documents were written.

"Thus let us say wiht uncharacteristic passion: the ultimate aim of exegesis (as I perceive it) is to produce in our lives and the lives of others true Spirituality, in which God's people live in faithful fellowship both with one another and with the eternal and living God and thus in keeping with God's own purposes in the world. In order to do this effectively, I would further argue (but will not take the time to do so here), true "Spirituality" must precede exegesis as well as be the final result of it. We must begin as we would conclude, standing under the text, not over it with all of our scholarly arrogance intact. And we must end that way as well, or all is vanity, chasing after the wind.

"I would therefore make bold to insist that proper exegesis should be done in the context of prayer, so that in our exegesis we hear the text with the sensitivity of the Spirit. Only as we ourselves do our exegesis in th proper posture of humility - on our knees, as it were, listening to God - can we truly expect to speak the Word of God with clarity and boldness so as to comfort, inspire, or speak prophetcally to God's people, the people for whom these texts were written in the first place."

On Parenting with the Gospel

On Parenting with the Gospel

One of the toughest moments in parenting is that brief lapse on the clock between the time my child's disobedience comes to my attention, and the time I begin to respond. What I do in that brief lapse in time can make all the difference in the world as to how I respond to my kid.

The reason it is such a tough moment is because the way I respond will largely shape and mold my child's understanding of sin as well as, most importantly, the gospel.

There are two dangers we have to avoid in formulating a response.

The first is an overreaction, usually manifested in irritation and frustration. You know what I mean, if you're a parent. Depending mostly in your mood at that moment, your frustration and irritation with their sin can fall anywhere on the Richter scale of parenting. Our kids could experience anything between an unfelt tremor in our relationship with them, and a house-destroying, child-abusing massive earthquake of sinful anger and wrath. Most of us don't make it a habit of crossing the 4.0 mark, though some have perhaps gone past 8.0 at one time or another, or perhaps even repeatedly. If so, there is grace, much grace, for such parents.

What happens, if this pattern of responding with irritation, frustration, or moodiness is consistently followed is that we create an environment of performance-oriented behavior in our kids. That is, they'll learn to behave in a way that doesn't make us overreact. And let me tell you, from experience, they learn to play that game. I've watched my kids even ask me sometimes, "Dad are we irritating you?" I feel terrible, because I know that my gospel-less handling of their sin before has largely contributed to such a question.

When we create a performance-oriented atmosphere, or a "don't make mom or dad angry" environment, we set ourselves up in our parenting so as to never get inside their hearts to identify and correct the root problem in their sinful behavior. Overreaction is a sure means of obscuring the gospel from our kids.

The second danger is as bad as the first: an underreaction. It is usually manifested in a failure to deal with the sin at all. This danger, if not avoided consistently, will teach our kids that sin isn't that important, and that it's no big deal to worry about it.

Perhaps your home reflects this danger more than the first. How often do your kids get away with sinful behavior? How much of it goes unnoticed? If you're answer to the first is that you don't see sinful behavior that often, it's time to spend more time at home, getting to know your kids. And if you are at home enough but don't notice the behavior, turn off the television or put down the magazine and again, get to know your kids.

There are parents like this who desperately want their kids to come to know Christ and to be saved. But perhaps no one has put two and two together for them. If that's what they want, then they have to be saved from something. That something is, of course, their sin. But if they don't have anyone pointing out their sin, then they will have no lense through which to view the Savior, and hence no desire for Him whatsoever.

This failure, like the first, also does not get at the heart of the child to identify and deal with the root problem of the sin. Underreaction also obscures the gospel from our kids.

If the first danger over emphasizes sin, the second danger ignores sin almost completely. So what's the balance? A reponse that deals with the sin in a gentle yet firm manner.

This manner doesn't let sin escape either our notice or theirs. It firmly makes as much of the sin as God does (describing in biblical terminology so they can know exactly what God calls it and thinks about it). But it also gently applies the divine remedy to the wounded or hardened conscience, hopefully either healing it or breaking it.

This mannner firmly yet gently takes the necessary time to explore with the child their heart - the motivations and/or influences provoking their sinful behavior. It uses the Scriptures to identify the sin, call it what it is, and unashamedly point to its consequences both temporally and eternally. Yet this manner also uses Scriptures as a book chock full of stories, stories about how God loved and redeemed His own disobedient children called the nation of Israel.

This manner firmly yet gently discusses God's demands of repentance from that sinful behavior. But it also discusses the necessary and vital role of the Holy Spirit's help in making such repentance a success.

This manner firmly yet gently holds the child - regenerated or not - in a place of accountability, where the child is forced to at least reckon with God's view and solution of their sin, and hopefully bring them willingly to the cross for redemption and/or reminder of the truth of justification.

So in that brief moment between the time your child's sin comes to your attention and the time you actually begin responding, put sinful anger to death. Your child's behavior doesn't need to become driven by your mood. It needs to be driven by an inward desire to please King Jesus. And if necessary, renew your own mind even more with a fresh reading of God's record of redemption in the Scriptures, preparing yourself for your next corrective moment.

But whatever you do, don't ignore it either! Deal with it squarely, face to face, exercising the privilege and responsibility God has given you to rear your child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. If you've ignored it before because it's too much of an inconvenience to you, put your convenience to death. Peacemaking is never convenient. Ask Jesus about that, because He made peace between you and God and it was by no means convenient! And if you've ignored it before because that's what your parents did, then don't be like them. Be like God the Father, and study how He deals with His disobedient children. And finally, that last suggestion applies also to those who have ignored it before because they don't know how to respond.

It's a growth issue, for both you and them. You grow in your responses to them, and they grow in their obedience to you and King Jesus. There's much grace for the journey as both of you walk that sometimes weary and winding road. But be assured that at the end of that road, there is the tangible prize of a child who fills you with joy and makes the Heavenly Father's heart glad.

Handling Pain and Offense with the Gospel

Handling Pain and Offense With the Gospel

The gospel doesn't allow us to rearrange our lives so there will not be any pain. Pain lin life, of any size, shape, or form is inevitable. Some people try to arrange and/or rearrange their lives (esp. emotional and mental) to avoid pain (and stress!).

But the gospel will not allow this. The center of the gospel is forgiveness. It forgives the pain others cause us because it teaches us that God forgave the pain we caused Him. All of life has already been rearranged around the cross and there all pain finds its consummation. It is an already/not-yet consummation, of course.

Therefore, we must arrange our pains and hurts around the cross, and bring it to bear with penetration and saturation on our pains, offenses, and hurts. If we live life in such a way as to avoid pain, the Christ of the gospel is not magnified. The gospel teaches us to take risks, knowing that others will hurt us, because that same gospel teaches us that love covers a multitude of sins.

The gospel is the only remedy for those who have been hurt so many times in so many ways.

Coming Soon: Pyromaniac Tattoos

C O M I N G S O O N :

Pyromaniac Tattoos

A&E, the cable channel, had a special on recently which fascinated my wife and I. It was on the art of tattooing. That's a culture I know nothing about, honestly, though I did have a dear friend of mine I was discipling while I was in seminary. His name was Jeff and he had the entire outside of almost 30" arm tattooed with the most exquisite color ink rendering of Jesus yet. He was wearing a crown of thorns on Jeff's arm, and the 'tat' was quite graphic. When I inquired of Jeff why he would go out and spend hundreds of dollars on something like that his response was from the heart and I'll never forget it: "Well, I figure if Jesus could endure all that pain for me on the cross this is the least I could do for Him."



So that got me thinking. Phil's waiting on his new computer which means I've got some down time between reading his hilarious but true critiques of Evangelicalism. And what's more, I still haven't got my Pyromaniac bobblehead doll (whassup with that Dan?). But while I'm waiting I've got my own marketing idea.

Introducing the: 'Pyromaniac Tat.'


Once Phil registers his patent for the designs people could print it off and (a) take it to the nearest tat dog and have him imitate it, or (b) print it off on the color ink-jet with iron-on paper. Either way, it'll hurt pretty darn bad - whether you use a needle or an iron.

But it'll be really cool! Until you happen upon a post you don't like and then you're in trouble. And then its out with the belt sander or off to the dermatologist to have your favorite blogger removed from...your belly?

(I found this pic online of Phil's fraternal twin, Filippe, also known as the Irish Reformer. He gets fired up about the Pyromaniac and he's not afraid to show it! And that's an IBC (Ideal Beer for Christians) collector's edition in his hand, for you Baptists out there.)

What the Emergent Church Believes About the Gospel: Part Four - Dan Steiger

What the Emergent Church

Believes About the Gospel

Part Four - Dan Steiger

Dan Steiger in an article entitled "A Progressively Better Gospel" commented upon "the gospel's progressive or cascading impact upon responding audiences" as supposedly reflected inPaul and Barnabas' first missionary journey in Acts 13 and 14. He posted his article at Open Source Theology, and so I can only presume it is connected in some degree as an effort toward helping the ECM.

"...over time a fuller proclamation of the basic kerygma seemed to regularly involve supplementation with essential doctrine. Without this additional secondary material, the original gospel could conceivably not root in someone’s life. This subsequent teaching, probably equivalent to Paul’s “good deposit” (II Timothy I:14), helped foster an environment in the heart conducive to growth in the gospel. It’s not that the gospel was in any way deficient; it’s just that the assimilation of it seemed to involve ongoing reminding, processing and wrestling with further complementary teaching (including core gospel material)...What I’m getting at is this: we cannot rightly talk about the “gospel” in isolation from the necessary follow-up ministry of under-girding that gospel. It trails behind but is still part and parcel to the kerygma seating itself in people’s hearts and lives. As Paul noted to Timothy, sound doctrine is in accord with or “conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God” (I Timothy 1:11). This suggests that the good news is ideally shared in a multi-layered fashion over time, with an outer prominent kerygma, but also with accompanying layers of deeper material. These layers complement and further enrich it as good news. "

My thoughts? Be sure to read the entire article to get a full understanding of Steiger's arguments. Be sure to note the influence of C. H. Dodd on Steiger's theory, as well as the fact that this 'complimentary material' provides the grounds, in this theory, for viewing certain categories such as the role of women and slaves "as cultural elements which over the centuries have been superceded." This would be a theory explored in William Webb's book Slavery, Women, and Homosexuality: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis. The conclusions seem to point toward a belief that as culture progress so does the gospel, and therefore, so should the gospel's applications to culture. I'm afraid, however, that this seeks to bend hermeneutics away from authorial intent toward cultural intent, that is, away from what the original author intended to say (and therefore, what God, the co-author also has to say to us through that text) and toward what culture has to say.

This latter portion of Steiger's theory, though I disagree with this reasoning, does not discount his theory altogether however, for there is much in it that is worthy of consideration and application (especially his concept of a body of doctrine surrounding the gospel that is intentionally put there and taught in order to protect the gospel). That said, I recommend this article for 'mature audiences only'! One needs to have a more intermediate to advanced understanding of theology and taxonomy before working through it or working it over. But doing so will yield a much greater understanding of how many in the ECM understand the gospel.

The Emergent Church and the Gospel: Rob Bell's New Book

The Emergent Church and the Gospel:

Rob Bell's New Book

Rob Bell's new book, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith is out, published by Zondervan. Rob is a pastor of a 10,000 member non-denominational Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, MI. The church was about 2 miles down the street from my house in Jenison, MI where I used to live while serving on the pastoral staff at Grace Community Church in Hudsonville, MI. I visited the campus a couple of times and it is quite a site to see. It is a converted mall, with just that feel as you walk the indoor campus.

Rob and I have several things in common. We both have a great name, we're both 34 years old, we both pastor, we're both cool (in our own ways, of course, though he's definitely got 'way cooler' hair than I do), and we've both got a great Savior. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else we have in common because I never had the privilege of meeting him. We would differ significantly on issues like the role of women in ministry, and postmodernism's influence on the local church. Rob has never forthrightly stated he is an ECM'er, at least that I'm aware of. But he fits the mold perfectly. His newest book reflects this fact clearly. (And even CT would view him this way also!)

Read a recent interview Rob had with Charles Honey from the Grand Rapids Press, entitled "Repainting Faith: Dynamic Pastor Publishes Book." It will help explain Rob's approach to pastoring as well as his approach to the gospel, which he believes, for example, "must be repainted for each generation if it is to avoid the fate of his velvet Elvis." Bell is offering what many Christians in his church (and perhaps in others) are looking for, namely, ""a fresh take on Jesus."

I get the point, before even reading the book. I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment that our faith must be repainted for each generation. But while I get the point, I don't agree with the illustration. We are not to repaint Jesus afresh. That's silly. We can't do that. What we must do is to preach Christ afresh. That's not the same thing as painting him afresh. Our job is to expose Jesus to the world, and not to take brush in hand, on a fresh piece of canvas, and begin repainting Him all over again. So I agree somewhat with his mindset, but not his illustration. That said, his illustration still seems to reveal clearly what he means by repainting, and perhaps I disagree with it more than I think.

"What often happens in religion is people freeze the faith at a certain point," Bell explained. "There's no more need to paint. We've got the ultimate painting." On the contrary, he asserts -- religion, like art, must keep exploring and reforming, or "you end up with a velvet Elvis on your hands..."Every generation has to ask difficult questions about what does it mean to follow Jesus. What does the kingdom of God look like as it explodes at this time, in this place?"

The Emergent Church and the Gospel: Recent Comment by Dallas Willard

The Emergent Church and the Gospel:

Recent Comment by Dallas Willard

Picked up a blog post by a fellow named Charlie Wear this morning. It is very helpful toward my observations of the ECM and the gospel.

Willard on the emerging church...

Via Darryl Dash via Leadership Journal [Summer 2005] the following quote about the emerging church from Dallas Willard:"Dallas Willard: They have a justifiable and healthy reaction against the model of programmatic church, and I think that it's good in many respects. I hope and pray that they find their way and bring us something really positive and good. That remains to be seen. The great challenge for the emerging church is determining their message. Reacting against the modern church is not a gospel. But if their message becomes living in the kingdom at the street level, then that's going to be wonderful."

Let it be so...

Every Offense is an Opportunity to Preach the Gospel

Every Offense

is an Opportunity

to Preach the Gospel

I posted last weekend about a wonderful illustration on the gospel I ended up using in yesterday morning's message on Philemon 8-13. I wisely placed it as a concluding illustration of the "Six Foundations of Forgiveness," something I hope to turn into a series of post later this week.

As I shared the illustration, it struck me what Black was doing. He was using the offense as an opportunity to share the gospel. And the gospel was shared in two ways: by forgiving the debt (sharing in action), and communicating the meaning of the action (sharing in word).

The parallel to Philemon is striking. The point of the letter from Paul is that when Onesimus walks up to the front door of Philemon's house, carrying that very personal letter, the response is to be one of open-armed, welcoming forgiveness. Paul wants Philemon to use Onesimus' offense (of stealing from his master and running away) as an opportunity to share the gospel in action (for the rest of the local house-church body to observe) and to share the gospel in word (with Onesimus and others).

A couple of thoughts based on this.

First, it strikes me that here is another means of sharing the gospel with each other, especially with other believers. How often do we sin against each other? How often do we unintentionally or purposefully hurt each other with our words and actions? Think of just a few times in which our immaturity has rubbed others the wrong way. Recall a couple of events, for a moment, in which we responded in sinful anger to someone, or in irritation or frustration.

If the wonderful news of the gospel is that these sins have been covered and wiped away by the blood of Jesus, why can't our offenses become a time of confession, repentance, and celebration!? Shouldn't we make our offenses an opportunity to celebrate the good news of the gospel together? The offended has an opportunity not only to forgive the offender (sharing the gospel in action, just like Paul illustrated in Philemon 18-19), but he also has an opportunity to exposit his action with word by preaching the glorious good news of the gospel (yes, one on one!).

Further, the offended has the opportunity to share the gospel in action even further by simply going to the offender to reconcile. Is this not what God has done for us? Was He the offender? And yet strangely, He is the one who pursued us to reconcile us to Himself! So Matthew 18:10-15 should be enacted with a gospel (redemptive, reconciliatory) mindset, for it reflects that those who act in this way are acting just like God (see Romans 5:6, 8, 10).

Conversely, the offender, if he knows that he has offended someone, he has the opportunity to share the gospel in action by going to the one whom he offended and confessing it, repenting of it. When this happens, a gospel celebration can take place for the one who has sinned has said they have repented (Luke 17:3,4). And in this light, Matthew 5:23,24 can also be viewed and enacted through a gospel-lens.

Second, why do we allow faults, offenses, sins and other ungodly words and actions to separate us from each other when Christ died to put away our sins and unite us to each other and to Himself? This is perhaps the biggest mystery in Christianity, isn't it? We are united, yet we choose to remain separated. And we choose this path for the sake of small and insignificant things that simply make us feel too uncomfortable to be around so and so. Yet when we compare what they have done to us with what we have done to God, is there any real comparison? (And strangely enough, I write this particular sentence while minding to two separate instances of my children sinning against me and each other...back to back!). Who are we to hold out another's sin against us (through bitterness, grudges, resentment, etc.) when God has never once, and never will once, hold out any of our sin against us? If God will eternally apply the merits of Jesus Christ to our account, why should we withold those same merits from the one who has sinned against us?

So then, sin against each other, regardless of whether it is between us and an unbeliever or us and another believer....sin against each other must become, and indeed can become, an opportunity to celebrate the goodness of God in the work of Jesus Christ. When He becomes the focus of our confession and repentance with each other, Jesus will remain at the center of our relationships and not our petty differences (however significant they may seem). I'm afraid I focus too often on the offenses themselves when it comes to dealing with sin, rather than on the merits of Jesus Christ. In other words, I'm afraid the subject of their (or my) sin takes up more of my focus in these kinds of interchanges than the work of Jesus Christ for us does. And I think this is largely the reason why offenses generally don't get cleared up permanently, but rather tend to linger and build, causing relationships to grow stagnant even to the point of separation. When Christ and the glorious good news of what He has done for us becomes the subject of all interchanges between offender and offended, the gospel is celebrated and we are all renewed in Christ and reunited to each other.

May God grant us the grace to utilize every offense others have with us, or which we commit against others as an opportunity to relish the good news of the gospel and thereby encourage ourselves and each other.

The Emergent Church and the Gospel: Diverging from the Gospel - Chris Pixley

The Emergent Church and the Gospel:

Diverging from the Gospel

Chris Pixley

My dear friend Chris Pixley has recently written regarding the Emerging Church Movement, "Not content with the wisdom made available through belief in the profoundly simple gospel message (in all of its objectivity and absoluteness), they go looking to the world to help them better understand who God is and what He has done. Of course, all of this is cleverly cloaked in the language of open dialogue and discussion, so as to blunt the reality that it is really a move away from the clarity of the biblical gospel."

Be sure to read the full post here.