Valley of Vision: Desires

O THOU THAT HEAREST PRAYERS,

Teach me to pray.

  I confess that in religious exercises 

the language of my lips and the feelings

 of my heart have not always agreed, 

that I have frequently taken carelessly upon 

  my tongue a name never pronounced above

     without reverence and humility, 

that I have often desired things that would 

  have injure me, 

that I have depreciated some of my chief mercies, 

that I have erred both on the side of my hopes 

  and also of my fears, 

that I am unfit to choose for myself,

  for it is not in me to direct my steps.

Let thy spirit help my infirmities,

  for I know not what to pray for as I ought. 

Let him produce in me wise desires by which 

   I may ask right things, then shall I know thou hearest me. 

May I never be importunate for temporal blessings, 

  but always refer them to thy fatherly goodness, 

  for thou knowest what I need before I ask; 

May I never think I prosper unless my soul prospers, 

  or that I am rich unless rich towards thee, 

  or that I am wise unto salvation. 

May I seek first thy kingdom and its righteousness. 

May I value things in relation to eternity. 

May my spiritual welfare be my chief solicitude. 

May I be poor, afflicted, despised and have 

    thy blessing, 

  rather than be successful in enterprise,

  or have more than my heart can wish,

  or be admired by my fellow-men,

    if thereby these things make me forget thee.

May I regard the world as dreams, lies, vanities, 

     vexation of spirit,

   and desire to depart from it. 

And may I seek my happiness in thy favor, 

     image, presence, service.

From The Valley of Vision pages 194-195

Homosexuality: How do we respond? Part 3

Recently, I was asked if there is a place for Homosexual lifestyle to be affirmed within Christianity. This week, I’ve been sharing some of my thoughts on this issue. Tuesday I looked at the subject in relationship to our identity as people of the book and God’s design for sexuality. Yesterday, I looked at love and repentance. Today I want to look at sexual brokenness, identity, practical considerations, and witness. I’m adding practical considerations, because I think that we need to asses our situation and work from where we are at.

Let’s start with the issue of sexual brokenness. Here’s the question, “Aren't Homosexuals God's children?” Yes. Absolutely. Each person, homosexual or heterosexual (gay or straight), is created in the image of God. However, at the same time, each one of us is fallen. The bible makes clear that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God in Romans. It says in Isaiah “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way (Isa 53:6).” All creation was marred by the fall. Everyone is a rebel in need of God’s saving grace. And every area of our life is damaged by sin. I was asked “do we need to assume they (homosexuals) are sinners rather than variations of God's great creation?”  My answer is yes. Now that sounds cold, but let me fill in the dead air. That’s the case with every one of us as well. Think about this. All of us, gay and straight, have a fallen sexuality. Let me just take us straight men. We want to sow our oats. Have lots of sex with lots of women. Eventually we “settle down”, which is an underhanded way of saying, “we quit the race, and just “settled” on one person”. Like we knew we couldn’t keep at it forever, so we might as well get out when we’re ahead. All of us have a broken set of sexual desires.

The bible makes clear that every part of creation is groaning because of the fall. It says, when Adam and Eve rebelled, they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they fell, and all of their hopes, desires, and instincts; everything, was marred. And that extends to us. It’s the doctrine of original sin. So while we are God’s creation, made in the image of God, at the same time, that image is marred, we are all affected by sin. Our hopes, dreams, desires, are all marred and twisted. And therefore, straight or gay, our sexuality is marred. Why is it that straight men look at porn, and cheat on our wives, and on and on and on? Straight, not gay… Because everyone’s sexuality is broken in some way.

So just working through the main question, I would say no, there is no place in Christianity to affirm homosexuality. But there is no place in Christianity to affirm a straight couple sleeping together outside of marriage. However, while there is no place to affirm homosexuality, that does not mean we repress and shame. In love, we hold up the same message to everyone. You are a sinner, your need Christ. Turn to Christ. And then, on the basis of faith in Christ, call all to lay aside their sin, whatever that is. And remember, every day, everyone, even Christians, sin. Martin Luther (the man who started the reformation) noted that that we were simultaneously sinners and saints. We are recipients of the gospel… recipients of grace, yet we will sin till the day we day.  So, shame, no. Repress. Absolutely not! Call to repent, yes.

Now, here’s the thing. The church has an atrocious record (what do you expect of people who are sinners? Repentant sinners, but by no means perfected yet. At times Christians have been cruel, and unloving, and evil. And that was and is wrong. It is as sinful a course of action as you can find. There is a difference between saying something is sin, and being a jerk about it. And on top of that, let’s face it; most Christians don’t live as God calls us to live. We look far more like the culture around than like people who have responded to the grace of God with joyful obedience. Let’s all acknowledge our brokenness.

Now, while I’m here, “does everyone need to reproduce?” No. Paul was called to live as a celibate Christian. So have many others. A hero of the faith, John Stott, recently died. He was never married, and lived as a celibate man.

Also, “do Christians believe that they really aren't gay and just need to be saved”? I would say they are gay. Their desire is marred, just like my desire is marred. I’m not going to play that game. I think that only by Gods grace will their desires be changed, but currently, their desire is to be gay. All I can say is what I would say to an unmarried straight person. What are the boundaries of sexuality as the bible holds them forth? Glorify God by following them.

Now, this brings us to the subject of identity. Having grown up near Brattleboro VT, I have known a fair amount of gay people. When I was a kid, people used to cite some study that Brattleboro had the third highest per-capita percentage of homosexuals in the nation, after SF, and Northampton Ma. I’ve never looked up the numbers because it didn’t matter. Brattleboro was and still is a huge gay Mecca. When I was a teenager, the owner at the restaurant I worked at was gay, as were several of the staff, from the chefs, to the waiters, to interns. Later, when I was in college, I was friends with a guy that I worked with who is gay, and I’ve got a friend from home who is married to his partner.

One thing that I’ve often think is unwise is that those in the gay community identify themselves first and foremost as gay. I also think that we are doing those in the homosexual community a disservice by allowing them to see themselves only in light of their sexuality; “I’m a man who has sex with man, that’s what I am about”. What is going on in that is an idolatry of sex, in this case homosexuality. Martin Luther showed something interesting. He showed the way sin works is to create idols, counterfeit Gods if you will. He pointed out that the first commandment in the ten commandment is “"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”You shall have no other gods before me.” The second is, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them, (Exodus 20:2-5)”. Luther showed that to sin, in any way, you have to break commandments one and two. You place something else on the throne of your life. It becomes a “counterfeit God”. Whatever gives you that hope and joy in life, whatever sits on the throne of your life and names you, is a counterfeit God.

But here’s the thing, there is more to anyone than just their sexuality. There is a person in the West Wing, one of my favorite shows, and he’s a gay republican congressman, and he lectures one of the main characters about how there is more to him than who he sleeps with. I think when we see someone only on the basis of their sexual identity, we reduce the person. Are we doing them a favor in saying, this is who you are? Are we doing anyone a favor by over sexualizing the culture, saying, this is who you are, gay or straight?

And thinking about it this way, if all are sinners by nature, we all lie, cheat, steal, do little things that breaks God’s laws, would we want to encourage someone to identify their sin as the thing that drives and motivates them? “I’m Jonathan, I’m a liar, please celebrate that”.Also, lets keep in mind that we are more than able to be freinds with someone that is gay while not celebrating their lifestyle, and ecnourageing theri idolatry. There is a difference between a) unconditional acceptance of their lifestyle and unconditionally encouraging them to identify their sin as the thing that defines them; and b) liking them as a person and being friends with them. Jesus was known as a freinds of sinners. I think we should be to.

Now here’s the thing. I think we need to stop and address some practical considerations. The bible says ‘no way’ to affirming the homosexuality within the church. It’s a sin to be turned from, not something to be ‘celebrated’, and it makes clear that while homosexual sex as sin, grace is offered to all. Straight sinner and gay sinner are called to repent and be saved. But that’s the boundary within the church. As a church, for all the reasons I have listed, we can’t affirm their lifestyle, but in a secular society, I’m not sure where the boundaries are. Is it legitimate in a secular society for me to impose my morality on others?  Legislated Christianity? Legislated morality? The early church didn’t seem to do this. They lived in such a radically different way, that the world was attracted to them, and joined them. The sexual ethics of the early church were radically different in a world that was incredibly broken in terms of its sexual ethics. But that was inside the community. Outside, the culture was free to be as broken as it wanted to be. The churches duty was and is to guard the witness of its community.

Furthermore, and this is just practical, it seems to me that we should be working to guard the boundaries of the church because this is a done deal. Gay marriage will be the law of the land within 5-10 years. Many wiser than I have made a case that the church has already lost battle in the wider culture. And I wonder if it would be better if we just urged the state to offer some sort of civil union for all, and leave marriage for the church. I’m not sure. I think it might be. Allow the gay community to have the protections of civil union, but leave marriage for the church and religious institutions.

At the same time, if (as many argue) it’s a done deal, we should be thankful that the constitution guarantees the freedom of religion, and speech, which protects those who see it as a sin continue to be able to speak against it, and it protects us from being legislated out of existence.

Final section. Witness. The churches responsibility is to witness with grace. We cannot, must not, act in pride, anger, or from a position of “we’re better”. It’s only when we see ourselves, as people who have been shown the mercy of God, but are always going to have the tendency to sin, that we can have any credibility. It’s only when we are seeking the good of those around us, the good of the gays in our community, that we can say, “hey, God has something better for you”.

Since the sexual revolution in the 60’s, the bibles stance on sex have seemed outmoded to most of our culture. But yet, when you look around, you see that our families are in disarray, and kids are far more venerable than they used to, and you have to wonder, did the sexual revolution really free us, or enslave us in a different way? Personally, I think the fact that the church has all but capitulated to the sexual ethics of the world inside the church, the fact that the church has failed to hold up and follow Christ’s teaching on sexuality has damaged its witness. And why has it happened? Because we have also allowed sex to become an idol in our hearts at one time or another. And I’ve done it, and so have many in the church have done it, and the result is we’ve damaged our credibility, and dishonored our Lord. At that point, all we can do is repent, and seek God’s forgiveness, and then get our house in order, knowing that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1Johb 1:9) From there we seek to glorify God in our lives and urge others to do the same.

One last thought. At the end of the day, I’m with Keller. It all comes down to the gospel, and the issue of the cross and resurrection. If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.” This should be our message to the world.  Figure out what you believe about Jesus and the resurrection. Is Jesus who he said he is, the Son of God risen from the dead? If he is, that changes everything. And if he’s not, that to changes everything.

Does this help. My hope is that as a pastor I can give you a framework in which to think through this biblically. Has it helped? I’d love to hear responses.

Homosexuality: How do we respond? Part 2

Recently, I was asked if there is a place for Homosexual lifestyle to be affirmed within Christianity. Wouldn’t Jesus have accepted gays, aren't they too God's children, do we need to assume they are sinners rather than variations of God's great creation, did God really need everyone to reproduce, and at the heart of the issue, can't there be a place in Christian ideals for gays to flourish, should these people really be repressed and ashamed? Do Christians believe they really aren't gay and just need to be saved?

It’s a big question. In some ways, the way a church responds reveals their fidelity to the scriptures more than any question of out age. Yesterday I looked at the subject in relationship to our identity as people of the book and God’s design for sexuality. Today, I will look at love and repentance. Tomorrow, I will look at sexual brokenness, identity, and witness.

Love and repentance. Wouldn't Jesus have accepted someone who is gay? Great questions, especially in light of the way that some “Christians” act. The Westboro Kansas group would tell you “God hates fags”, and just stop there. Some in many churches just want to throw a rainbow on the sign and forget that the passages in the bible about homosexuality exist. But this is more thoughtful. How would Jesus have acted, since He is our savior and model for all of life? 

Lets try it this way. Yes, but…. First the yes. Jesus absolutely met people where they are at. We see him sitting and eating with tax collectors (who were the worst of traitors). He went to parties. He ministered to the sexually broken. Time and again he welcomes sinner, hangs with sinners, accepts sinners. He sits and talks with the woman at the well in great length. The thing that irritated the religious leaders the most was that he rubbed shoulders with those they thought of sinners.

So that’s the yes…Here’s the but.  He doesn’t leave people the same. Encounters with Christ lead people to turn from their sin. Sometimes He confronts the sin in people’s lives, sometimes they know it instinctively.

Take the woman at the well in John 4. He sits and talks with the woman at the well in great length. He’s traveling, he comes to this village, and he and his disciples decide to stop at about the sixth hour, early afternoon. He stays by the well, while his disciples go into town. While he is there, a woman comes out  to get water (this tells us allot about her- because this was usually done in the morning or evening, when it was cooler. She’s an outcast on some level). She and Jesus strike up a conversation. He asks for a drink, and she asks, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)  Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (here Jesus is speaking of salvation. Living water is a metaphor for salvation) The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." Look at what happens when she says that. They are talking about salvation. Suddenly, he changes the subject to sex. Out of the blue. She says "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." And what does he say, be saved? No. Verse 16 tells us that “He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." He confronts her with her sexual sin. He points out that there are things that have to be dealt with in her life.

Or take another example, this one having nothing to do with sex. Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus is a tax collector (which means he’s a thief and a traitor- the Romans would make a contract with a tax collector, you give us X, whatever you get over that, you can keep. It was completely corrupt, and meant selling out your people, to the Romans- Jews hated tax collectors). Jesus comes and says, “I must stay at your house today.” So he (Zacchaeus) came down at once and welcomed him(Jesus) gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'" But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:5-10) Now, is there a confrontation? No, but the result of meeting Christ, is that he turns from his life of sin.

From the very beginning of Jesus ministry, he preached repentance. He say “The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mar 1:15). Now is God’s grace free. Absolutely! Grace is free, but an encounter with grace brings change in your life. It causes you to turn from sin, to God. It calls you to trade one love for another love. 

So, the church has a responsibility to show love to all. Absolutely! It has a responsibility to reach out to all, but to gay and straight, no matter what the sins, we call for repentance. And here’s the thing. If someone comes into my church that is gay (and they have), I’m not going to kick them out, I’m not going to say, you dirty homosexual. I’m going to welcome them. I’m going to seek to get them to think about Christ and the resurrection, and only then are we going to deal with the issue of homosexuality. And that’s how I would deal with anyone’s sin. Be it sexual sin, theft, lying, greed, gossip, or you take your pick... One of the pastors who’s influenced me allot is a guy named Tim Keller (I think people in the church get sick of hearing his names I invoke it so often). He has a great statement. He says that people come to him, and they have this objection, or that objection (and one of them is homosexuality- he pastors in Manhattan NY), and he says that he points out that “If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.”

Does this resonate? Chew on it. Think about it. As Christians, have a responsibility to show love to all. But to gay and straight, we say the same thing. Figure out the gospel and the resurrection, turn to Christ in repentance, flee from sin and live lives that glorify him.

Homosexuality: How do we respond? Part 1

Recently, I was asked if there is a place for Homosexual lifestyle to be affirmed within Christianity. Wouldn’t Jesus have accepted gays? Aren't they too God's children, do we need to assume they are sinners rather than variations of God's great creation, did God really need everyone to reproduce, and at the heart of the issue, can't there be a place in Christian ideals for gays to flourish, should these people really be repressed and ashamed? Do Christians believe they really aren't gay and just need to be saved

It’s a big question. One that all of us will face, because homosexuality is gaining ground, and exerting more and more pressure to be accepted, and yet the bible clearly declares that homosexuality is a sin (as is any sex outside of monogamous heterosexual marriage). This is, in many ways, one of the tests of gospel faithfulness in our day. are you willing to stand on the word of God, and lovingly say "NO"? We love you, but it's not healthy or God ordained?

This week, I will be sharing some of my thoughts on this issue. Today I will look at the subject in relationship to our identity as people of the book and God’s design for sexuality. Tomorrow, I will look at love and repentance. And Thursday, I will look at sexual brokenness, identity, and witness.

First, people of the book. As Christians, we believe that the bible is the inspired word of God. It’s not just a group of people telling about what they think God is like, but that God directed and shaped the content of Scripture. In doing so, we are following Jesus example and belief. Jesus, looking at the Old Testament, make clear that he saw scripture as the word of God time and again. Let me give you one example, because it comes in the context of marriage. “Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."  (Matthew19:3-6). When you go back and look, you see that this is a footnote added by the writer of Genesis. But Jesus makes clear that ultimately, it’s there because God put it there. Jesus had an incredibly high view of scripture, and so all the time we see him saying, it is written, and how will scripture be fulfilled?” He was shaped and molded by scripture. He viewed it as the word of God. Later, when you get the epistles, you see that Paul says, “all scripture is God breathed”, and Peter says “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Pe 1:19-21).

Now, the issue before Christians is this. If we take Jesus view of scripture, we cannot affirm homosexuality. Scripture tells us that a man should not lay with a man. Leviticus 18:23 say “do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable. Leviticus 20:13 say “if a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads”. Notice that what’s condemned is the action, not the inclination. Furthermore, scripture makes clear that those who practice homosexuality (and many other sins) are under the condemnation of God. Romans lays out  famously that “the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,  slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Rom 1:18-32). 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 also jumps in, and says, “do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Now here’s the question. What does the bible say about sexuality in general? It condemns homosexuality, but what else does it say about sexuality? It tells us that God designed marriage, one man, one woman, in lifelong union. We’re told God designed the woman to be the perfect complement to the man (quite literally). He created woman to be the equal and complimentary partner to the man. In genesis we read that “The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, ' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (Gen 2:16-25)

The bible does not just condemn one thing, it holds up something else, an ideal. It shows that  God designed marriage, a man and a woman together for life, and the woman to be the perfect compliment to the man (quite literally). She’s not his underling, not from his feet; or over him, from his head, but from his side. His equal, one to support him, encourage him, be with him for life. When you read through the bible, time and again, it makes clear, that’s the only context for sexuality. All sexuality. What did Jesus say directly about homosexuality? Nothing. But when he’s asked about things in the wheelhouse of sexuality, divorce, what does he say? He takes the questioners right back to genesis. He grounds all human sexuality in terms of marriage, and makes clear that there is only one confine for sex; lifelong marriage. In other places, he says things that are incredible. He says looking with lust at a woman is as adultery in the heart (You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Mat 5:27-28). He condemns adultery in other passages. And he affirms the scriptures. He makes clear that all the passages in the old testament that tell us, sex before marriage is sin, sex with someone other than your wife is sin, and on and on, (think the law in Exodus –Deuteronomy), are still valid. And while he fulfills the clean laws (he lived sinlessly- doing what Israel failed to do- he kept the law), and makes clear that the clean laws are abrogated, they no longer apply (see mark 7), he affirms the creation mandate of sexuality, and affirms the law. And think about the implications of that for divorce. Divorce and remarriage, is not in line with God’s design. In Matthew, he makes clear that the only grounds for divorce and remarriage, is adultery.

The bible, from beginning to end, says that there is only one acceptable confine for sex; marriage between a man and a woman. It says everything outside that boundary, is sin. Here’s the thing. We Christians wear egg on our face, because we sit here and say, homosexuals. Sinners. But, the bible says, sexual sin is sexual sin. Period and end of discussion. It says divorce without cause (adultery or abandonment by a non-believeing spouse) is sin. It lays out an incredibly high sexual ethic.

Now. We Christians fail to live up to this ideal? Yes. Absolutely.

But here’s what makes our sin even more grievous. The bible says that marriage is a God designed picture of Christ and the church. It shows us that way before creation, God planned on the great work of salvation, and he created marriage to be a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church. Ephesians tells us “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. ²² Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--  for we are members of his body¹ "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Eph 5:21-33)

So  here’s the issue. With the fact that we follow our master in being people of the book, with the fact that there are passages that say homosexuality is sin, and with the fact that heterosexual marriage is God design for sexuality, and with the fact that Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church, how can we possibly we affirm it?

Valley of Vision: Conflict

O Lord God,

Thou art my protecting arm, 

   fortress, refuge, shield, buckler.

Fight for me and my foes must flee;

Uphold me and I cannot fall;

Strengthen me and I stand unmoved, unmovable;

Equip me and I shall receive no wound;

Stand by me and Satan will depart;

Anoint my lips with a song of salvation

  and I shall shout thy victory;

Give me an abhorrence all evil,

  as a vile monster that

   defies thy law, cast off thy yoke,

   defiles my nature, spreads misery.

Teach me to look to Jesus on his cross

  and so to know sins loathsomeness in thy sight.

There is no pardon but through thy Son's death,

  no cleansing but in his precious blood,

  no atonement but his to expiate evil.

Show me the shame, the agony, the bruises

    of incarnate God,

  that I may read boundless guilt in the

    boundless price;

May I discern the deadly viper in its real malignity,

   tear it with holy indignation from my breast,

   resolutely turn from its evil snare,

   refuse to hold polluting dalliance with it.

Blessed Lord Jesus, at thy cross

  may I be taught the awful miseries from which

    I am saved,

  ponder what the word 'lost' implies,

  see the fires of internal destruction;

Then may I cling more closely to thy broken self,

 adhere to thee with firmer faith,

 be devoted to thee with total being,

 detest sin as strongly as they love to me

   is strong,

And may holiness be the atmosphere 

    in which I live.

From The Valley of Vision pages 182-183

Is the only way to God through Jesus?

This morning, I started thumbing through the couple hundred emails in my inbox, and as I sorted out the junk, I found a jewel, someone in the church asked me to weigh in on this video of Katharine Jefferts Schori teaching on "is the only way to God through Jesus?". Apparently it's been going around on Facebook. Since it was the weekend, so I missed it as I was lost in my sermon.

Here are some thoughts. First, what comes to my mind is the words of Paul to Timothy. Note 4:3-4.

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

Second I saw several problems with this, but let me take three. 

First, the promise to… thing. 

A) Schori gets Ishmael wrong. Straight up. At least in terms of what the bible says, which is the only turf she should be walking as a “Christian” minister. Go read genesis 21. The only thing that is promised to the Ishmael is that he will be a great nation. He is clearly not the carrier of the line of promise. He is not given some special role in the salvation plan. That goes to Isaac.

B) Schori not only blows the Ishmael discussion, She seems to be missing that Jesus is the one in whom the promises find fulfillment. He is the remnant of the remnant of the remnant; and He comes as the Jewish messiah. First and foremost, he is the Jewish Messiah. That's Matthew's whole point. He's the promised one for whom Israel has longed. When a gentile comes and asks for help, he says, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel" (Matthew 15:24). He ministered (with super rare exceptions) entirely to his own people. Paul points to this reality when he says "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 1:16-17). In some ways, you could say that the true Jews are the ones who follow Jesus, the Jewish messiah. Someday, they will. Zechariah points out that the day is coming when the people of Israel will get it. He says, “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son (Zechariah 12:10). Revelation repeats that promise “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. (Revelation 1:7). That day hasn’t come, but it will.

Second, line Schori up against John 3:16 and Romans 10:9-10, . 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

She says, any action is works, yet Jesus says whoever believes is saved. Paul says the same basic thing in Romans 10. Here’s the thing, her claim that we have turned salvation into a work doesn’t hold water because you cant even believe unless God makes it so. She overlooks election. We are dead in trespasses and sin. Colossians tells us that,

"In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:11-15).

Notice that. Dead in sin. Dead people don’t respond. it’s only if God breathes life into us that we can respond. Ephesians tells us God chose us. That’s why we can respond. It says,

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:3-8).

Schori completely misreads how the doctrine election comes into play, and therefore turns this into, "any act, even belief, is works". But election says, you don’t earn the gift, but you do have to accept it, you have to believe. But you can’t even do that unless God acts in you. She’s looking hard to say that all are saved, but it’s just not the case. 

What’s funny is that she has an implicit reference to John 3 when she says he came to save the whole world. John 3:17 says 

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.(John 3:17) ”

But look at the context,

¹⁶ "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son (John 3:16-18). 

Schori needs to be sent to the blackboard and be made to write “Context is king” one hundred times (or maybe "I will not get involved in this discussion"). You can’t rip that statement out of its context. Before and after the declaration that he came to save the world, is the declaration that belief is necessary. You have to respond to the grace (and you cant do that without election).

Third, Schori is confusing Common grace with Saving grace. The basic idea of common grace is that there are some things that are given to believers and non-believers. He allows some people to be gifted with this or that ability (including likes of Gandhi- clearly a non-Christian). This concept is shown most clearly by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when He says of God, 

 “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45)”. 

Notice that while God is allowing both good and evil to escape his wrath, and receive His benefits (for a time), there is nothing saving in it. Furthermore, while to take Gandhi, the bible makes clear that  

“The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. (Proverbs 21:1)”. 

There are times that God uses non-believers to accomplish His will. Was Gandhi used to:

Humbling the British empire that had become corrupt? Free an oppressed people? Something else? All of the above? I don't know. 

But keep in mind, even Judas was used by God. His evil sin was used by God to bring about the cross. But that does not mean that Judas was saved. And while Gandhi was a way better person that Judas (as are the Dali Llama and the others she sites), and while they may have  That doesn't mean that they are recipient of saving grace. Let’s not act like they are.

Now, one final thought. Schori's words aren't that bold. There is nothing counter cultural in this. It's standard pluralistic boilerplate, and from the looks of the audience she was preaching to the choir. This group, from the looks of it, was an upper middle class group (based on dress). Interestingly, that kind of Christianity has never flown among the poor. Those in the upper middle class lap this stuff up. "Jesus just wanted to love all". "Jesus came with a teaching". The resurrection is a symbol". Etc, ect, etc. The gospel comes and says, "Jesus came and lived the life you should have lived, and died the death you should have died, in your place and for your sins. He took your place, and then he rose, and that changes everything. Now, if you place your faith in Christ, if you believe, you have a new standing before God. If you believe, you become his child, and that means your past is wiped clean, and your life is changed now, and your future is forever altered." Go to the poor, see what kind of faith changes them. See what they are saying in the little storefront churches. They are not saying “lets get together and feel alright”, they are saying HE IS RISEN! He bled, he died, and he rose again, and that changes everything! Peter claimed this boldly. Christians claim this boldly.What Schori's saying wont get anyone killed. it will tick off many Christians, because it is Heterodoxy (heresy), but it's exactly what the world wants to hear. Christians declare a truth that may get you killed. 

 "Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is " 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. ' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Act 4:8-12)

That’s my response to Katharine Jefferts Schori little video (and my take on the question "Is the only way to God through Jesus?"). What's yours? How do you respond? Are you ready for this kind of argument? This is the kind of defeater belief you need to be ready to meet when you witness. I’m all fired up and ready to take the world… I hope you are too.

9 Reasons Why I Preach Expositionally

Why preach expositionally? I've been consistently committed to expositional preaching since I graduated. Recently I saw this post on expositional preaching, and thought it was worth sharing, because the author hits many of the themes I have mentioned again and again.

I am absolutely convinced that expository preaching is the best way to approach the most sacred task of pastoral ministry. The best definition of expository preaching I have heard came from Mark Dever, “The point of the passage is the point of the message.” Since I started at Pembroke, I have done what my preaching professor, Hershael York, at SBTS said to do: I have made it my “bread and butter.” I have preached through books of the Bible section by section, sequentially and consistently.  I have sought to simply unfold God’s Word to God’s people in an understandable and applicable way.
Here are some reasons why I am convinced of this type of preaching.
1. Expository preaching lets God set the agenda. God wrote the Bible through men exactly like he intended to. When we approach the Bible with the intention of preaching through it in the order it was inspired (to men) and expired (by the Holy Spirit), we are more likely to take God’s Word on its own terms. I used to wish that the Bible was more like a theology textbook, with chapters and topics. It’s good I wasn’t in charge, because God wove a beautifully complex and elegant story exactly how he intended.
2. Expository preaching forces me to preach Christ and him crucified every week. Every part of the Scripture points to and centers ultimately on Jesus, and a sermon that does not get to Jesus and the Cross violates God’s Word. No matter the text, the sermon will get to Jesus and call sinners to him. It is the most consistently evangelistic kind of preaching there is.
3. Expository preaching forces me to address things I might not. For example, on Sunday I preached from Genesis 34, which is the story of Jacob’s daughter Dinah being raped and her brothers slaughtering an entire city in vengeance. Just straight up, I would probably never have preached that passage in my entire ministry if I wasn’t committed to preaching through Genesis. And I’m glad I did, because God has used that sermon in our church in amazing ways. There is power in every part of Scripture. Likewise, it also prevents me from riding my favorite hobby horse doctrinally, or from picking my sermon based on how the week has gone.
4. Expository preaching keeps me in context. It helps to prevent me from cherry picking verses and using them illegitimately. It does the same for the hearers. For example, when I preached on Jacob and Laban at Mizpah, and we got to 31:49, “The LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight,” I explained that this is not a “friends are friends forever” verse, but actually a warning between Jacob and Laban. One of our members told me afterward that a previous church of hers actually spoke that verse to each other as a blessing at the end of every service. Expository preaching helps provide proper context to every verse of Scripture.
5. Expository preaching shows my church that I want to base everything about my ministry directly on the Bible. Of course, I am about a zillion miles from perfect in this or any other area. But I hope and think that in the past three years I have shown my commitment to be a “man of the Word” above all else.
6. Expository preaching models how people should read their Bibles. I am not taking pot-shots, but how many people approach their Bible like topical preachers approach their sermons? Topical preaching might give the audience a fish for the day, but I believe in the long run expository preaching teaches the church to fish for a lifetime. It gives them insight into how to study God’s Word. It helps them see that it’s not a big mystery, and that they can understand the Bible.
7. Expository preaching makes sermon planning less time consuming. When I have to preach a topical message, I spend a ton of time just picking out a passage or topic. That time would be better spent in study, prayer, and application of the Bible to God’s people.
8. Expository preaching provides depth and not just breadth. It helps people know Jesus and his Word more deeply. It speaks not just to the lost, but to the found.
9. Expository preaching creates Bible-soaked preachers. I found gold recently. I discovered that I didn’t have to divorce my personal Bible reading from my sermon or study preparation! It has freed me to study the Bible for my own soul before I feed it to others. It helps me view the text as urgent for “me” and not just for “them.” I could say more, but I’ll stop there. I have committed myself to preaching expositionally, and I have seen God do great things through his Word. What are your thoughts? Have you been exposed to this kind of preaching, and what are your thoughts?

Together for the gospel affirmations and denials

The Together for the Gospel Affirmation and denials are interesting and worth reading. They present the Gospel powerfully. Note that they not only affirm Christian truths, but deny the things that are against the gospel. Here are some excerpts, Read it all Here. (Note. I've only included some of the list, and I've highlighted things that I think are especially worthy for the New England Church to pay attention to).

We are brothers in Christ united in one great cause – to stand together for the Gospel. We are convinced that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been misrepresented, misunderstood, and marginalized in many Churches and among many who claim the name of Christ. Compromise of the Gospel has led to the preaching of false gospels, the seduction of many minds and movements, and the weakening of the Church’s Gospel witness. As in previous moments of theological and spiritual crisis in the Church, we believe that the answer to this confusion and compromise lies in a comprehensive recovery and reaffirmation of the Gospel – and in Christians banding together in Gospel Churches that display God’s glory in this fallen world. We are also brothers united in deep concern for the Church and the Gospel. This concern is specifically addressed to certain trends within the Church today. We are concerned about the tendency of so many Churches to substitute technique for truth, therapy for theology, and management for ministry. We are also concerned that God’s glorious purpose for Christ’s Church is often eclipsed by so many other issues, programs, technologies, and priorities. Furthermore, confusion over crucial questions concerning the authority of the Bible, the meaning of the Gospel, and the nature of truth itself have gravely weakened the Church in terms of its witness, its work, and its identity.

We stand together for the Gospel – and for a full and gladdening recovery of the Gospel in the Church. We are convinced that such a recovery will be evident in the form of faithful Gospel Churches, each bearing faithful witness to the glory of God and the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Article I

We affirm that the sole authority for the Church is the Bible, verbally inspired, inerrant, infallible, and totally sufficient and trustworthy.

We deny that the Bible is a mere witness to the divine revelation, or that any portion of Scripture is marked by error or the effects of human sinfulness.

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Article II

We affirm that the authority and sufficiency of Scripture extends to the entire Bible, and therefore that the Bible is our final authority for all doctrine and practice.

We deny that any portion of the Bible is to be used in an effort to deny the truthfulness or trustworthiness of any other portion. We further deny any effort to identify a canon within the canon or, for example, to set the words of Jesus against the writings of Paul.

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Article III

We affirm that truth ever remains a central issue for the Church, and that the Church must resist the allure of pragmatism and postmodern conceptions of truth as substitutes for obedience to the comprehensive truth claims of Scripture.

We deny that truth is merely a product of social construction or that the truth of the Gospel can be expressed or grounded in anything less than total confidence in the veracity of the Bible, the historicity of biblical events, and the ability of language to convey understandable truth in sentence form. We further deny that the Church can establish its ministry on a foundation of pragmatism, current marketing techniques, or contemporary cultural fashions.

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Article IV

We affirm the centrality of expository preaching in the Church and the urgent need for a recovery of biblical exposition and the public reading of Scripture in worship.

We deny that God-honoring worship can marginalize or neglect the ministry of the Word as manifested through exposition and public reading. We further deny that a Church devoid of true biblical preaching can survive as a Gospel Church.

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Article VII

We affirm that Jesus Christ is true God and true Man, in perfect, undiluted, and unconfused union throughout his incarnation and now eternally. We also affirm that Christ died on the cross as a substitute for sinners, as a sacrifice for sin, and as a propitiation of the wrath of God toward sinners. We affirm the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Christ as essential to the Gospel. We further affirm that Jesus Christ is Lord over His Church, and that Christ will reign over the entire cosmos in fulfillment of the Father’s gracious purpose.

We deny that the substitutionary character of Christ’s atonement for sin can be compromised without serious injury to the Gospel or denied without repudiating the Gospel. We further deny that Jesus Christ is visible only in weakness, rather than in power, Lordship, or royal reign, or, conversely, that Christ is visible only in power, and never in weakness.

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Article IX

We affirm that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s means of bringing salvation to His people, that sinners are commanded to believe the Gospel, and that the Church is commissioned to preach and teach the Gospel to all nations.

We deny that evangelism can be reduced to any program, technique, or marketing approach. We further deny that salvation can be separated from repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Article X

We affirm that salvation comes to those who truly believe and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We deny that there is salvation in any other name, or that saving faith can take any form other than conscious belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving acts.

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Together for the gospel 2012

In 2006, four gifted and prominent leaders of the American Church, Mark Dever of 9 Marks and Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Ligon Duncan of RTS and First Presbyterian Jackson, C. J. Mahaney of Sovereign Grace Ministries, and Albert Mohler, the President of Southern Baptist Seminary got together to create a conference called Together for the Gospel (T4G) to encourage other pastors to stand together for the gospel.The T4G conferences was repeated in 2008, 2010, and this week. The talks are now all available! Check them out! All of these guys are super solid. The Gospel Coalition has videos up from the conference, and you can get it just the audio here. 

So far, I've only listened to Mark Dever's sermon (I'll start working on them seriously once they are available in podcast. But Dever's sermon is gold . Here are a few quotes.

"Our congregations are made up exclusively of sinners. So as pastors we spend all of our time with sinners, even when we're alone."

"False teaching will bring converts, but false converts. And false converts will hire false teachers." (At that I burst out laughing, and then wanted to put on sackcloth and ashes) 

"He who thinks lightly of sin will think lightly of our Savior." 

"When we get this right [that Christ is our only hope], we offend and attract all the right people."

The Scripture is the Word of God

Excerpts from Jonathan Edwards sermon on 2 Timothy 3:16, All scripture is given by inspiration of God." The whole sermon can be found here.

There must be some Word of God. ’Tis unreasonable to think that God would always keep silence and never say anything to mankind. God has made mankind and given him Reason and Understanding. Has made him the chief of all the creatures. Given him reason that he might know God and serve Him. Did not give the other creatures reason: He did make ’em to serve Him. Other creatures are made for man. Man was made for God: to serve God, or else he was made for nothing.

But we may be sure He did not make such a creature as man for nothing. But how unreasonable is it to think that God would make us for Himself and never say anything to us. God is the King that rules over all nations. But how unreasonable is it to think that God would make us for Himself and never say anything to us. God is the King that rules over all nations. But how unreasonable is it to suppose that He should be a King and never say anything to His subjects.... be a King and never tell them what His will or what His commands are, that His subjects may obey Him. Is as a Father: all His Family. But will a father be always dumb and silent, etc.?

God has given mankind speech: so that they are able to speak and make known their minds to one another. And therefore ’tis unreasonable to think that God never would speak to men and make known His mind to them. We need to have God teach us as much as a child needs to be taught by his father. And since God has given mankind understanding He doubtless will teach him and instruct him How can we know Him to worship God if we have no Word of God to tell us? We should not know what way of worship would please Him... whether to pray to Him or to sing or to keep the Sabbath, or be baptized, or come to sacrament, or what else we shall do.

The Bible gives right notions concerning God. Tells how God made the world.... made men.... how men became wicked. What God will do with men in another world. What way we may have the forgiveness of sin. What is the way of salvation? What God’s mind, and [what His ] will, is.

All the Rules and Commandments in the Bible are holy. Here told what man’s duty is in many things.  All sin is forbidden. How God will be served. The great things God has done for His people through all ages. What the Savior did and suffered: how He ascended into Heaven.  How the world will come to an end.  How God will judge the world. Another thing that shows that the Scriptures are the Word of God is this: — That when God told the wise and holy men to write the Bible He gave ’em power to work great MIRACLES, to convince men that it was His work.

Moses was a man that wrote all the first part of the Bible. And God, to show that the Word he wrote was His word.... And so the other Prophets that wrote other parts. Jesus Christ gave us the Scriptures of the New Testament. He spoke the Word of God. He, to show that His Word was the Word of God, wrought great miracles. He told His Disciples to write down what He said.... enabled them to do great miracles. The Apostle Paul. That there was such a man as Christ.... that great miracles [were wrought] even His enemies own: none deny it.   Another thing that shows the Scriptures to be the Word of God is that the Scripture FORETELLS a great many things. The Old Testament that was given to the Jews a great while before Christ was born foretold Christ’s coming. And a great many things concerning Him. All which are FULFILLED. The Scriptures of the New Testament foretell a great many things.... all came to pass.

The Scriptures we here read is the same Word that was given of old. The same Word has been kept all along: it has not been changed…no Book reaches the hearts of men so much. No word so AWAKENS the conscience. No word is so powerful to change the heart. Great many have been made ‘new men:’ very wicked men. No word so powerful to the Bible. Better they are the more they love it... the more they are convinced that it is the Word of God. The more wicked men [are] the more they are AGAINST IT.