tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60455409676399064402024-03-14T00:39:10.549-04:00A Slow Revivaljdchechilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04740020377182784396noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-81870614557447798802017-01-22T08:48:00.001-05:002017-01-22T08:53:27.652-05:00Reflections on Inauguration day<div class="MsoNormal">
I spent a portion of Friday watching the inauguration
proceedings. As I watched the proceedings, I found myself encouraged on by some
statements that were made by our new president, and troubled by several as well.
To a degree, that is to be expected. No person is all right, or all wrong, and
so I should have expected that I would be encouraged and troubled at the same
time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As I think about the speech of our president, I think there are some things that are worthy of commending. What i saw in our new president is a heart for the rural and downtrodden regions, and blue collar workers that have been hurt by our current economic culture. He wants to see people put back to work, and to
see struggling areas restored. He hears the pain of the rural and struggling
regions, and wants their good. I was encouraged by that.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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But I was also deeply troubled by some of the ideas and
assumptions I heard, and as I thought about what troubled me, I realized that
there were three core ideas that were embedded in the speech that troubled me
above all. Set aside our policy differences, his morality issues, and all of the trust issues that surround him, when it came to the speech,
there were three ideas from the speech that troubled me above all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first idea was that was troubling was the idea that
“America united is unstoppable”. <i>“When America is united, America is
totally unstoppable”</i>, President Trump declared. All I could think of was
Babel. We can’t ascend to God, even if we think we can. The lesson of Babel is
that we are always trying to attain a power and prerogative that is not ours.
We are not Sovereign and almighty, he is.<i><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"> </span></i>We stand humble before God. We are not
almighty, he is. The only unstoppable force in the universe is the creator of
the world, our Triune God. As R.C. Sproul states "<i>No matter who is
President, or who holds the house or the Senate, Christ holes the whole world
in his hands"</i>.To allow any other assumption into our mind is
dangerous, and foolish.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The second idea that troubled me in particular is the idea
that “<i>we share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny”</i>. Nothing
could be farther from the truth. America is not given any such promise. The
promise of a glorious destiny belongs to the people of God alone, and is rooted
in the reality that someday, we shall go before God and hear, “my beloved” and
be invited into eternity with him. It is not rooted in anything we accomplish,
and it does not belong to this or any other nation. At the root of this
statement is what is sometimes called “kingdom confusion”. It’s assuming that
what is true about God, and his people and his kingdom, is true about this
nation and its leaders. We must not make this category mistake. We must not
make the mistake of confusing the president and the nation, with Christ and the
kingdom of God. The two are not the same. This is a crucial distinction to
remember. On our best days, we face a temptation to give in to kingdom
confusion, to think that America and its greatness are somehow synonymous with
the kingdom of God, but we must not make that mistake of thinking that the fate
of Christianity and the fate of America are linked. Ten thousand years from now
the United States will be on the ash-heap of history, but the gospel will still
hold its power. Kingdoms rise and kingdom’s fall. The kingdom of God our will
last forever. We must not forget this truth.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The third idea that troubled me, and troubled me above all,
was the assumption that total allegiance belongs to the state. The President stated "At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When i head that, it made me pause on the spot. Here's the problem. That statement holds an eerie resemblance to the demand Rome mad for total allegiance to Rome and Caesar. It's a demand that we cannot and will not accept, because we owe total allegiance to one name and one name alone, Christ. Christ is Lord and there is no other. The early Christians bled and died because they would not bow the knee to Caesar and give total allegiance to anyone but Christ. The knew that total allegiance does not belong to Caesar or any other earthy power, and that they could not give total allegiance to anyone but Christ. There can be be a
temptation to allow our final allegiance to go to the wrong king. We must not
fall into the trap of giving our final allegiance to the wrong king. We love
this country. We serve this country. We joyfully call it our home for now, but
we do not think that this nation, or any other nation deserves total
allegiance. That belongs to Christ alone. Jesus said, <i>"Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to God that which is God's"</i> (Mark 12:17). We do not give what belongs to God to Caesar, or any other power, no matter how tyrannical or benevolent. Total allegiance belongs to Christ alone. That
is true when the president is a scoundrel, or a hero. It is true every day.
Total allegiance never belongs to anyone but Christ.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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As we stand on the backside of the inauguration, I encourage
you to pray for the nation, and seek its blessing, and prosperity. I encourage
you to pray for the president, remembering the worlds of 1 Timothy 2:1-2, "<i>First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksfiving be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way". </i>But along with this, I
encourage you to know that God alone rules over the affairs of men, that
eternity and a glorious destiny is not promised to this or any other nation, and
that he, and he alone, deserves total allegiance.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-13004825160734187302016-11-09T16:36:00.002-05:002016-11-09T16:55:24.876-05:00Election Thoughts<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The Nation has spoken. Donald Trump is president. As we
stand on the far side of the most divisive election in decades, my question as
a pastor and Christian is, how do we move forward as Christians? As people who
name the name of Christ and want to see him glorified? Whether you voted for President
Elect Trump, or for Secretary Clinton, or one of the other candidates, whether
your candidate lost, or won, or never had a chance, how do you move forward?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I write this as someone who was a #NeverTrump voter, and
refused to vote for either major party candidate. But the question is for all
of us. How do we move forward, together? How do we act as the church on the
back side of election day?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">First, speak and act
with respect. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">8 years ago, as we came up I to the election of president
Obama, I was listening to a news report, and the reporter referred to the
president as Mr. Bush, rather than President Bush, and was sharply critical of President
Bush. Soon after that, I heard a local talk show personality from a different
perspective state that if one political candidate won, he would not call that
candidate president, and do everything that he could to see that this man’s presidential
agenda was undermined. That was in 2008, and things have just gone downhill from
there. We have reached a point where it seems that respect and civility is dead
when it comes to our political dialogue. Worse, many Christians do not act much
different. We show much of that same disrespect. We often act the same way that
those who are not Christians act, showing the same disrespect that those who
are not Christians show. This cannot be. It cannot be, <i>can saltwater and freshwater flow from the same spring</i>, James asks?
The answer is no. of course not. And the same goes for us, and what we say. We
must speak and act with respect. 1 Peter pointedly remind us in 2:17 that we
are to “<i>Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear
God, honor the king.</i>” Paul echos
this thought when he says in romans 13 <i>Everyone
must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority
except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been
established by God. Consequently, he who
rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and
those who do so will bring judgment on themselves… Give everyone what you owe
him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then
respect; if honor, then honor.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Everyone means everyone, it
means people, on both sides of the aisle. Gay. Straight. Old. Young.
Man. Woman. Rich. Poor. Urban. Suburban. Rural. Black. White. Hispanic. Asian. Everyone.
Model grace, model dignity, model
civility. Remember that we are called to bright red dots, spiritual salt and
light in a dark world, and do not engage with hostility and disrespect. However
you feel about the election, and however you feel about both the winner, the
loser, and the parties of either, show a different path to the watching world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Second, pray for the
new president and pray for the nation.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">On election night, I stayed up late, and reached the point
where I couldn’t stay up any longer. At that point I said, <i>“Four years ago I basically said
congratulations to the president for winning the election again, and called on
people to pray for the new president and honor him. Today we've elected a new
president.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Same thing folks. Congratulations
to president elect Trump. Fear God, honor the king</i>”, referencing Peters words in 1 peter 2:17. “<i>I pray the he
may find a way to unify the nation and heal its wounds. I pray he shocks me and
leads well</i>.” That call needs to be
cranked up to ten. We need to pray, and keep praying, remembering the words of
1 Timothy, “<i>I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers,
intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in
authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and
holiness</i> (1 Tim. 2:1-2)”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But with this, we must pray for the nation. “<i>When God wishes to judge a nation, he gives
it wicked leaders</i>”, said Calvin. The track record of both candidates was such
that we were all but guaranteed a wicked leader, which means that we need to be
praying for God to work in hearts and minds to transform this nation, knowing
that apart from his mercy, we are going to experience his great and terrible
judgment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Third, work to extend grace
but do not excuse evil. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Every president will succeed in
some places and fail in others. Every one of us does. Remember that King David
was a man after God’s own heart, the greatest king of Israel, and the
progenitor of the messiah. And he had an affair, and then killed the husband of
Bathsheba. Ever leader fails in some way shape or form. This will be true of
every leader until the day that Christ restores the world and brings everything
to complete submission to his perfect will. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But with that said, there cannot
be a hint or a whiff of excusing racism, torture, misogyny, the mistreatment of
others, and the like. Not one hint or whiff. We must be willing to call sin,
sin, and be absolutely unflinching in our refusal to wink at or paper over
moral evils. Right now, many are looking at the church, waiting to see if we
will excuse the bad behavior of Donald Trump (or worse, join in), or if we will
take seriously what the bible says about sin. 20 years ago, many Christian
leaders rightly called Bill Clintons activities sin, and now many of these men
turned around and excused it with trump. Other leaders rightly stood up and
said, his words and actions are a problem. I’m trying to be cautiously
optimistic. But, at the same time, I have no intention of excusing one bit of
sinful, evil behavior. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Fourth, expect that Christians in America now have allot
of repair work to do to our reputation. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Many are looking at the church, asking, how
did a man with his moral track record end up with such an incredibly high number
of believers voting for him? I believe part of the answer is that they believed
the other candidate was worse. But, with that reality, we must understand that our
reputation is in taters to a watching world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Writer Jared Wilson of the Gospel Coalition
rightly observes <a href="https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/gospeldrivenchurch/2016/11/09/the-biggest-losers-a-2016-election-reflection/">that</a> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“<i>There</i><i> may have been
no popular image more representative of this winning campaign than that of
Jerry Falwell Jr. gleefully standing with Donald Trump in his office, Playboy
Magazines prominently on the wall in the background</i>”. He goes on, “<i>Again,
this may sound counterintuitive, since the candidate backed by what’s left of
the Religious Right and the Moral Majority won handily last night. But what
institutional evangelicalism has gained in a presidency it has lost, in my
estimation, in gospel witness. And it’s not like this was hanging in the
balance. Evangelical credibility was already circling the drain. It just
experienced a decisive flush last night. Our new president had the full-throated
support of the Klu Klux Klan and other white nationalist/supremacist groups,
the conspiracy-obsessed tabloid alt-right, misogynistic shock-jocks, and . . .
evangelical Christians? As the weeks went by and more of us became shocked by
the kind of thinking — poor logic, poor theology, poor spirituality — on
display from certain Christian Trump-supporters, it wasn’t so much a Trump
ascendancy we feared but a certifying of evangelicalism’s biblical illiteracy
and, thus, theological bankruptcy.<br /><o:p></o:p></i></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i><o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I said it before the election and I’ll say it now: most
evangelical support of Donald Trump was hypocritical, double-minded. Character
matters, except when it doesn’t. Biblical virtue matters, except when it
doesn’t. When power and influence (and fear) are on the line, we will sell out
in a heartbeat. The result is this: evangelicalism as an institutional movement
has revealed itself to be exactly what the world has accused it of being all
along. What will it profit the movement to gain the White House and lose its
convictional soul?</span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<i><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He’s right. Which means we have an incredible
amount of repair work to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Finally, keep your hope in Christ</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">On the backside of this election, the world
has not changed. Christ still rules. “He changes times and seasons; he sets up
kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the
discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him. (Dan. 2:21-22). He makes clear that there is
no salvation in politics. He tells us in his word that we are not to “p<i>ut our trust in princes, in a son of man,
in whom there is no salvation. He says in his word “Blessed is he whose help is
the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever” (</i>Psalm 146:2-6)<i>.
W</i>e must never forget this. On the backside of a crazy election we must
remind ourselves of it regularly. Our only hope is found in Christ, the perfect
king, who will right the world. We are citizens of his higher kingdom. Keep
your hope in Christ, and Christ alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-15392986876359722232016-06-13T14:19:00.000-04:002016-06-17T11:13:35.275-04:00Orlando<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">Another mass shooting. I’ve lost track of the amount of them
since I became a pastor. And I find myself thinking, I don’t feel like I have
anything new to say. I really don’t. Nothing of substance. Nothing of note.
There’s a constant urge to say something new. To get to the front and speak.
But some days, you just need to mourn. Or stare at a tragedy until you find the
capacity to mourn. These are 49 image bearers that no longer live. People who
were made in the image of God, and had their lives snuffed out. We should be
heartbroken by this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">But more than that, we also need to speak clearly on this as
Christians. There is no place for violence against those in the LGBT community.
Some are going to be tempted to say, they got what they deserve. No, they did
not. No one deserves to be gunned down in cold blood. No one. I watched a
pastor say that they deserved it. That kind of thinking has no place in the
church. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">Christians must not betray their own convictions on the
subject of homosexuality. But Christians must never go beyond where the text
takes us. There is no place for even considering justifying this. Murder is
evil. This attack is sin. We must call it what it is, an assault on those who
bear the image of God, and an evil to be decried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">The other think we need to do, is to guard against a
temptation to use this to make an argument for our cause, whatever it is. There
is a tendency to move to pet issues when something like this happens. It’s been
evident in the news. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">Shots fired. The shooter is Muslim. The problem is Islam. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">Shots fired. The problem is guns. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">Shots fired, God gave them what they deserved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">Sometimes, God allows us to look in the mirror and ask, “Where
is our heart?” This weekend, different writers and politicians have put their
spin on this and score political or social points. We must not do that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">The real question for us this day is, “Do you weep with
those who weep, and mourn with those who mourn”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">This is a time when we must weep. Whatever our disagreements
with the gay community, this is not the time to have that conversation. Many of
them are scared and stressed. They worry that this will happen in their cities
and neighborhoods. Will we love? Will we weep? Will we offer hugs and comfort? Will
we hold up hope and say, we stand for your protection, safety, and best?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">There is no place for violence against the gay community. No
one should be physically assaulted because they are gay or lesbian. Pray for
the peace of Orlando, and pray that in this moment, they receive not our
begrudging nods that this is bad, but real, true heartfelt compassion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">Let me end this, with a prayer. I did not write it. My friend
Brandon did. It appeared originally at his blog.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><i>O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or
cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise. </i>(Habakkuk 1:2-3)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">Gracious Father, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">As we wrap our minds and hearts around this weekend’s tragedy in
Orlando—the murderous rampage of an Islamic terrorist targeting the LGBT
community—we’re shocked by the magnitude of callous hatred, devastated by the
sweeping loss of life, and reminded yet again that this world is severely and
sickeningly broken.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">Moreover, we confess that at times like this we wonder where you
are and why this happened. This is not how your world is supposed to work.
Human life is precious to you—every soul made in your image. Our hearts break
at the thought of cries for help going unanswered amid the attack. We mourn
with the families and friends whose lives have been forever changed through
such wanton violence. And we join their cry, “How long, O Lord?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><i>How long will violence go unanswered?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><i>How long will fear and hatred rule our culture?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><i>How long until you bring an end rebellion and sin on this earth?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">We know that moments like this are not times for explanations,
but first and foremost for grief and mourning. And so raise our voice in lament
over this tragedy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">And yet we know that even when it doesn’t feel like it, you do
hear our prayers. You do see the violence committed on earth. And you have
promised to act. The day will come when you will bring the ungodly to justice
and wipe every tear from our eyes. A day when mourning will cease and death
will be no more. And we have confidence in that day because you have already
acted to establish justice, conquer death, and offer mercy through the life,
death, and resurrection of your eternal Son, Jesus Christ. In Christ there is
hope, and in that hope we pray:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;">WE PRAY for the victims and their families, those for whom this
is not some distant news story, but a personally crushing blow. We ask that you
hold them in their grief, and comfort them in their loss, anger, and
devastation. Fill them with a comfort that can only come from your Son.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">WE PRAY for justice for the perpetrators. Not only for the
gunman, who now awaits your divine judgment, but for the culture of death that
radical jihadist Islam has fueled in this world. Would you open blind eyes to
the evil of this corrupt and corrupting system. For those who are attracted to
the idea of worshiping god through murder and hate, would you convict them of
sin and open their eyes to the truth, forgiveness, and new life of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">WE PRAY for those in the LGBT community, upon whom a shroud of
fear has now descended through this weekend’s tragedy. No person deserves to
live in fear of their life being taken, especially because of something like
sexual orientation. Would you remind each person that they are fearfully and
wonderfully made, precious in your sight, and loved by their Creator. Would you
work in our world to bring about changes that protect and honor the dignity of
all human life, regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
developmental ability, or age. Would you help those in the LGBT community to
look to you for strength and security, and not to what this world can offer.
Guard their lives and guide their steps to a love and security that nothing in
this world can take away—the love and security of new life in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">WE PRAY that our churches would be places of safety and love for
the LGBT community, and that our Christian witness would be one of hope and not
hatred. May we not let our differences of conviction about sexuality and
marriage allow us to tolerate hatred or withhold dignity and respect. May we
stand united against hatred and terror, and work together for the protection
and preservation of all human life, even as we continue to hold out the
life-changing message of the gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">WE PRAY, finally, that our Lord Jesus Christ would come again.
We long for the day when Christ himself will “will wipe away every tear from
their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor
crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).
Come Lord Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">In Christ’s powerful name, Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">This prayer was originally found at <a href="https://in-the-meantime.com/2016/06/13/a-prayer-for-the-tragedy-in-orlando/"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">https://in-the-meantime.com/2016/06/13/a-prayer-for-the-tragedy-in-orlando/</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-60379765763857291572016-03-23T15:06:00.000-04:002016-03-23T15:06:09.978-04:00Living as Resurrected People in a Challenging age<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 7.1pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Sometimes you think the headline is
a joke. The headline read “Christians banned simply for being Christian”. The
article from Australia, went on to talk about how the University of Sydney
Union for students had given the Evangelical Union two weeks to change its
constitution to allow non-Christians to be members, or face deregistration.
Basically, this is saying that the equivalent of Intervarsity or Navigators
must stop asking that the members or officers to be Christians (<i>could you
imagine how that would go down if a school asked the local atheist club to stop
asking that its members- not those coming to the meetings- the members and
officers, don't have to be atheists?</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The whole request, and many more
like it that we see here in the United States, are somewhat absurd, but they
are just one part of a larger story, the story of the increasing
marginalization of Christianity in the modern western. Christianity one lived
at the center of the Western culture. It founded Modern Western Civilization as
it exists today. The beliefs and ideas of Christianity provided the intellectual
framework that undergird Modern Western civilization, and because of that, its
institutions and leaders were looked at and revered. And yet, for a variety of
reasons, Christianity, and Christians with it, find ourselves not at the center
of the culture, but on the outside looking in, feeling like exiles in our own
homeland. And the question is, “how we will then live?” As people called by the
gospel for the glory of God, as people called to live as “Aliens and
strangers”, people whose citizenship is “kept in heaven for you”, people who
are equipped and sent out by the fact that Christ rose, how will we then live?
How will we live when we are not the majority living in the promised land, but
the exiles in Babylon and the diaspora, spread out in a land not our own (or
our own any longer)? How do we live, when we’re not the majority, but the
minority, and worse yet, part of a hated minority?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The Scriptures are rife with
resources to answer this question. They tell of Esther, a young women in a foreign
land, being called to be the queen of Persia. They tell us of Daniel, the
righteous young man who is called to serve the empire who has conquered his
homeland. They tell us of God’s word to the exiles through the pen of Jeremiah,
and more than that, they show us how the early church, pressed by Jewish
religious leaders on the one hand, and the Rome on the other hand, pushed out
into the world, and loved and served and blessed the world, even as they lived
as exiles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Over the next few months, we’re going to explore what it
means to live as the minority for glory of God as we continue to think about
what it means to be aligned by orthodoxy, as a church and the people of God.
We’re going to do this, by looking specifically at the Jeremiah 29, the first half
of Daniel, and by ranging through the Bible from there as we think about the
call of God to us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">And what we will see, is not the approach of hiding in the
shadows, as people who felt like they had drained the cup of bitterness to the
dregs and now just wanted to curl up and protect themselves, but a people who
were out, living and engaging the world around with gusto for the glory of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We live in tumultuous times. There may have never been a
more challenging time in this country’s history to be a Christian, but we have
been called, like Esther, for “such a time as this” I’m looking forward to this
series, and to exploring with you the question of how do we live not as the
majority but the minority, for the glory of God.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-8721284383923485832015-10-27T13:32:00.000-04:002015-10-27T13:32:17.985-04:00Keeping the Main Things the Main Things<div class="MsoNormal">
In the back of my journal, I have a series of quotes and
verses written down. <i>Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be added unto you</i>. The chief end of man is to
glorify God and enjoy him forever (Question 1 from the Westminster Catechism).
John 3:16. The Gospel Changes everything (Tim Keller). <i>When I am weak, then
I am strong. </i>It’s disciple-making stupid (Me). <i>God made him who knew no sin
to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God</i>. <i>Unless
the Lord builds the house, the labor is in vain</i>. <i>Pray without ceasing</i>.
Never, never, Never give up (Churchill). </div>
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Why are they there? They are a reminder to me that I need to
keep the main things the main things. We are all prone to mission drift. We are
all prone to letting things pile up in our lives to the point that they clutter
our lives and our souls. It’s so easy. We take our eyes off what is truly
important, and allow the irrelevant or even somewhat good to crowd out the
really good and truly important. We collect activities and stuff and good
things the way a hoarder collects trophies and trinkets, because we say, “What
a deal”, “It’s a good cause” or use any of a hundred excuses not to say no. And
before we know it our schedule books (or Apps) and to do lists look like the
collision of 100 forces at once, our attics look like they could double for a
storage locker or the transfer station, and we feel like we are living in chaos
and disorder. </div>
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Which is why we have to continuously and constantly be
asking ourselves “Is this important?” Do I need to do it? Do I need it? Does it
help? We need to take work a page out of Google's playbook. They are a
fascinating example of keeping the main things the main things. They vigorously
resists the temptation to allow other things to distract from the main mission
of <i>search</i>. If you go to Yahoo’s home-page, you have the search feature,
news, different interest items, and etc. It’s cluttered and busy. Go to Google,
and it’s all but empty. Up in the corner of the page, there is a little box
line with the other stuff they do. At the bottom is a footer with a few things.
But what confronts you is a clean white page with a search box, because they
have a corporate commitment to not lose sight of what is truly important. </div>
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If we don't resist this temptation, we quickly feel like the
pain, and usually encounter that distinct sense that we barely keeping our
heads above water. And worse, we fail to do the things that we really need to
do, because everything else has crowded them out. </div>
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I saw a vivid illustration of this recently. A group of
church members went into the attic of the church, and cleaned it. It was out of
control, it hadn’t been organized in ages, stuff had been stuck in any old
place, and old stuff was on top of even older stuff. It was an illustration of
what happens if you don’t work to keep what is important and let go of the
rest. We took 5 truckloads of stuff to the dump. We found stuff dated 1978 in
there (I was born in 1979), stuff that looked like it hadn’t been touched since
then. It had become chaos, and the space had become unusable. </div>
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So we exercised our pitching arms, and purged. It was an
almost spiritual act of letting go of the clutter. We kept the important
things. We kept what was needed, the good and the valuable and the useful. We
kept and honored that. But the rest we let go so that the space could actually
be used again for something productive and God glorifying. </div>
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Are you working to keep the main things the main things? We
need to be continually doing that in our lives as we seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness. Examine your life and work to do it. If need be,
find tools to help you. Someone recently showed me an activity grid that I have
found helpful. On the side it says urgent, and not urgent, and on the top it
says, important, not important. It’s a helpful grid for asking, do I need to do
this?</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_kMaany_EEQ/Vi-0WBBPV5I/AAAAAAAAAe4/yNBTXquVMpo/s1600/Eisenhower.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_kMaany_EEQ/Vi-0WBBPV5I/AAAAAAAAAe4/yNBTXquVMpo/s1600/Eisenhower.png" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_kMaany_EEQ/Vi-0WBBPV5I/AAAAAAAAAe4/yNBTXquVMpo/s1600/Eisenhower.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>Too often, rather than staying in the urgent and important,
or not urgent and important boxes, the urgent and not important rules the day
because it is urgent and calls the loudest. We need to make sure that we stay
in the important boxes. Praying every day may not feel urgent, and sometimes it
doesn’t feel important, but it’s far more urgent and of far more importance
than almost anything else we do. Getting in God’s word doesn’t always feel
urgent, but if we’re not careful, we’ll starve ourselves spiritually. If we’re
too busy to pray, or read God’s word, too busy to really feed our souls, or
worship, or share the gospel, and be emissaries of God’s love, and if we’re too
busy to love and care for our spouses, or kids, and to take care of our
responsibilities there, then we need to reassess things, and make sure that
we’re keeping the main things the main things, and let go of the things that need to go.</div>
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Work to keep the main things the main things. When we attend
to what we should attend to, we can be used. When we allow everything to crowd
in, it’s a mess. We are about to enter the Holiday rush. Thanksgiving and
Advent are staring at, and in the next two months, there will be a million
things to do. As you enter this season, let go of what needs to be let go of, and
keep the main things the main things, for the glory of the Christ, and the good
of your soul.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-81999177378067758262015-07-16T05:49:00.000-04:002018-10-15T15:07:48.500-04:00A Profound SadnessI feel a profound sadness right now. I see Christians losing their minds. I see culture, and even Christians, calling what God calls evil, "good". I see Christians trying to argue that abortion is “an option”, and saying that calling it murder is just “your interpretation.”<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XnOWFbrnrYQ/Vad-_DWYmhI/AAAAAAAAAbM/AGWWM1d7yw8/s1600/16-week-unborn-baby1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XnOWFbrnrYQ/Vad-_DWYmhI/AAAAAAAAAbM/AGWWM1d7yw8/s320/16-week-unborn-baby1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Let me set the record straight. Calling abortion murder is not an interpretation; it’s a pretty accurate description of what happens. A life is ended. What else do you call that? A procedure? Its nothing less than a monstrous evil.<br />
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John Calvin, the Swiss theologian, commenting on <a href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Exod%2021.22-25">Exodus 21:22-25</a>, observed "<i>The fetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being (homo), and it is almost a monstrous crime to rob it of life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man’s house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light</i>."<br />
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Some will try to say, "look, the bible says nothing on this". That's a lie. The bible has a great deal to say when it comes to the unborn. It says that God knits us together. He creates our “inmost being”, and knits us together in our mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13). It tells us that he knows us before he forms us in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5 ). It says, “<i>If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise</i>. (Exodus 21:22-25). In other words, if there’s no harm, pay a fine for bad behavior. If you kill the baby you die, because you took a life. More than that, it says, let the little children come to me (Mark 10:14). Come to me. Not let the little children come to the abortuary. If we are to let the little children come to Jesus, let’s all agree that they have to make it out of the womb to do so. Above all, it says, “you shall not commit murder (Exodus 20:6). <br />
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It does not leave open the door for murder. I know this is not a popular opinion in our culture, but the bible says, no to abortion. It’s not up for debate. It’s not up for discussion; it’s not, my interpretation. The bible doesn’t leave you the option. It says, you shall not murder.<br />
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And if you say, how do we know when life begins. Stop. Just stop. Stop and consider how old Jesus was when he and john met in utero. 1 week? 2 weeks? Max three weeks. It may have been days. The angel shows up to Mary, and tells her, "You’re going to carry the son of God". She takes off and goes to visit Elizabeth. How long does it take to walk from Galilee to Judea? What’s the timeline on that? It’s not long. Don’t say, we don’t know. When the egg and the sperm meet, under normal circumstances, unless something goes tragically wrong, you’re going to have a child. You’re going to have a human being made in God’s image and likeness. Don’t you dare murder that child. That child deserves your protection. It deserves to be treasured and loved. It doesn’t deserve your saying, “it’s a choice”. Adoption is a choice. Parenting is a choice. Murder is not a choice. It’s an abomination. These children deserve our care.<br />
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The early Christians knew this. That’s why they would trawl the Tiber looking for babies to pull out. They knew that the practice of throwing them in the river was evil. They knew that exposing children was wicked. Because of that, they would find them, and raise them as their own, which is no small thing. They made it a point to care for those that the culture threw away. They adopted them and raised them. They taught them to love God and live for him. They did this because they knew that they were made in God’s image, and to be treasured. <br />
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You know what abortion is? It’s child sacrifice. It’s saying, “I’m not ready. I didn’t plan this. it doesn’t fit my lifestyle. It will ruin my plans for the future. It will make me drop out of school, or upend something... therefore I will kill it”. What is that other than just feeding your children to the god of money and success? “My life won’t have the standard of success I wanted. I won’t have the lifestyle I wanted. Therefore I will murder my child”. What is that? It’s nothing more than money worship. We should protect the least of these, not murder them.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jiQAsAj8FaU/Vad9yC6J45I/AAAAAAAAAbA/VmtheHXgJjU/s1600/baby%2BJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jiQAsAj8FaU/Vad9yC6J45I/AAAAAAAAAbA/VmtheHXgJjU/s320/baby%2BJ.jpg" width="240" /></a>Let me tell you about a child who would have made a great candidate for abortion. His name is baby J. He’s my sister’s son. His mom and her husband where on the rocks. It looked like they were going to get a divorce. One last sympathy screw because it’s easier to do this than not. The marriage was toxic; she was on her way out. And then she got pregnant. What to do? She’s looking at single motherhood as a real option. A baby could stall her career. It would be hard. He’s become one of the main joys of her life. Think carefully. Would you advise her to murder this child now? The marriage isn’t good by any means. It’s better, not good. Would you advise this? That’s what you’re talking about. <br />
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I don’t even want to go into the sale of body parts. That’s whole different issue. Planned Parenthood has descended to the level of the Nazi’s. They sipped beer and wine while dealing with the Jewish problem. Planned Parenthood looked awfully similar this week. Eisenhower made the Germans go look at the concentration camps to see what they allowed in their backyard. Maybe we should do the same. I don’t know. <br />
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But I do know this. If you are a Christian and you have called this a choice. You need to repent. Repent right now. Get in your bible, read it. Read it again. Read it again. Look at the ethic it holds up. Don’t pick, choose, and twist the scriptures to fit your whim, or the whim of the culture, see the pattern. See that it says, "We are made in God’s image". People to be treasured. People to be protected. See that it says, God you shall not murder. Repent of being silent. <br />
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If you have had an abortion, repent. There is no sin that is unforgivable. David murdered Uriah. he was forgiven. There is not sin that is unforgivable. Whoever you are. Wherever you are, look at abortion, and repent. <br />
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And then fight it. It’s an evil stalking our land. Fight against it.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-69235872526575210642015-06-17T12:40:00.003-04:002015-07-16T06:56:15.709-04:00Tread carefully<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Have you ever had a situation where you thought, “I’ve seen something, I’ve found something. Something that I have to tackle. I have to speak now”? A word of Advice. Take a second look, and tread carefully.<br /><br /><div>
Recently, I had that experience. I deferred my taxes due to some of the things going on in our family’s life. As I was slogging through the paperwork, what I was finding was that the numbers were not adding up. I looked at them, I looked at them again, and as the night went on, I just kept staring at it, not sure what I was seeing, thinking it was bad. <br /><br />I eventually gave up and went to bed frustrated and a little scared. I thought I had to speak to the church leadership and say that the churches 72 year old secretary and treasurer (whom I have come to love deeply) had made a major, potentially job costing mistake. No one wants to do that. After all those years of service, she should get the privilege of retiring gracefully. But it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. As I looked at it, it seemed that there was a difference of several thousand between the pay documents and my 1099. <br /><br />The next morning, I kept studying the documents. Thinking, I must have missed something. Then it hit me. I was looking at the debit column, showing what came about and came to me, but there was also a credit column, where mistakes that had been made, were corrected. Money out, money back in. I looked, and looked again, started to breath, got out my calculator, and carefully tallied everything up. They all lined up. Hallelujah, thank you God, crisis averted. She had done her job right. <br /><br />As I breathed easier, I started to thank God for his blessing. Can you imagine what would have happened if I had taken this to the board and accused and then been shown wrong? First, I would have looked like an idiot who couldn’t read a document. Second, I would have unwittingly slandered an innocent person. Third I would have damaged a relationship that I care deeply about. Fourth, I would have critically damaged my reputation as a leader and a trustworthy voice on anything. But finally, I would have critically wounded my church. Factions would have formed, sides would have formed, before the facts were looked at, and when they were, so many would have been hurt emotionally. <br /><br />But I also started to ask, what can we learn from this? What can you and I learn from this. Tread carefully. Be slow to assume, examine and re-examine, and always think before you speak. When you think you see something, be completely sure. Analyze the facts carefully. What you see may not be the real situation. So often we think we see something and then we charge ahead. This is the basic approach of most of the news media, create a narrative, build hype, "Who cares about what really happened?" Go with the story. Whether you are a business leader, a church leader, someone who works in a factory, a teacher, whatever you are, before you speak, you need to really know the facts. You need to try to get the facts nailed down cold before you put your finger on something. Christians are called to “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (Jam 1:19 NIV)”. But additionally, you have the responsibility to use wisdom and discernment, to be wise as serpents and innocents as doves, and part of that is carefully examining the facts, to seek the Lord’s leading, and only then, if the situation warrants it, speak. </div>
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Along with this, there is a lesson on attributing motives that may or not be there. We have to assume the best intent, and then wait for the evidence to come down one way or the other. When we think we find something. We can’t fly off the hand. We can’t causelessly assume the worst and attribute ill motives. We can’t do that. It’s a failure to love. A failure to see people as ones made in the image of God and loved by God, and therefore, worthy of our respect. If we attribute ill motives, we will take ourselves into a pattern, and find that we are living in a place of constant mistrust. Assume the best in people. Give them every chance to succeed. If you do, they might surprise you. </div>
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<br />I’m thankful that I kept looking. I’m thankful that it turned out that the secretary and church treasurer did her job well. I’m thankful that I looked and analyzed the situation. But most of all, I’m thankful that God protected me. My hope and prayer is that we all have the wisdom to continually take the steps necessary, and tread carefully.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-49728623802979893522015-06-11T13:57:00.001-04:002015-07-16T06:52:36.606-04:00Heartbreaking Celebration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On Saturday, I attended the 350th anniversary of First Baptist Boston. I left with a broken heart. It is the 3rd church founded in Boston, the 5th Baptist church ever planted in America, and one of the most historically important churches in the nation, and it is literally falling in on itself. The experience of visiting the church was absolutely heartbreaking. When you walk in you are immediately captured with the grandeur of the front of the sanctuary. It’s amazing. The organ towers upward and you are transfixed with awe. The stage is amazing, beautiful, and everything you’d expect in a great, historic church that has faithfully proclaimed the gospel and stood for century upon century.<br /><br />But then you look around. The woodwork has not been maintained and is decaying. The stained glass is coming apart in places. There is evidence of water damage everywhere you look. At least one of the pillars is massively decaying. The ceiling shows signs of leaking in dozens of places and the sections of the ceiling are gone, exposing bare wood. The walls are all wracked with water damage, and you can see the lathes behind the plaster in many places. Nowhere is this more evident than when you stand in the pulpit and look out and see a gaping hole where the plaster is peeling back. The floor is no better. The carpet is decaying and threadbare, and the marble under the pews is cracked and broken. All around, there are signs of decay. Historic paintings have been damaged by water. The side chapel reveals more peeling paint and decaying plaster. On and on it went. I’d estimate that the damage I saw is in the 10’s of millions. In short order, you feel like you are standing in the presence of death, while the (paid) choir sings on. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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But, by and large, that’s secondary to the true problem. When you look around, you realize that the building is a reflection of the state of the congregation. There are not many people there. There were less than 50 people there for the 350th anniversary of one of the moist historically important churches in the country. The membership has dwindled, and so has the impact of the church on the community, and the American Baptist Church of Massachusetts. <br /></div>
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What I left thinking is that "this is what happens when a church loses sight of its mission. Its mission is to make disciples. Its mission is to proclaim the gospel and bring people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and lead them to live for His glory. And when it doesn’t do its mission everything else rots. What I saw at First Baptist Boston is a great love of the church. There is something laudable in their love for their church. One gentleman lived in Florida and still comes back every other Sunday because of his deep love of the church. I truly enjoyed my conversations with the members of the church But there is also real decline. It is clear that the church has become inwardly focused. They are not making disciples right now. Everything that I heard was about the history, what we have done rather than what we are doing. It sees itself in light of its history, rather than who it currently is. Like the church in Sardis, which lived in a city that loved its history but did not see that it is already dead, and reflected the heart of the city in its thinking, FBC Boston is shaped more by the past than the present. This was illustrated when someone quietly told me that “they don’t call pastors, they hire them”. The difference is everything. One is calling someone to lead them to be a church faithfully proclaims the gospel and glorifies God. The other is hiring someone to do what you tell them. When people insinuate that this is your approach, and when the stories they whisper about you are about power plays and the church being like a non-profit you’re in trouble, because you’ve lost sight of your task to be a gospel centered, disciple making, God glorifying church. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d5Czc9rIpXY/VaeLNqfIAiI/AAAAAAAAAbo/b0KVlejKpAc/s1600/fbc%2Bboston%2Btower.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d5Czc9rIpXY/VaeLNqfIAiI/AAAAAAAAAbo/b0KVlejKpAc/s1600/fbc%2Bboston%2Btower.png" /></a>But, just as in Sardis, that is not the last word. I left heartbroken. I also left hopeful. The president of the ABC, Donald NG, spoke on two passages. He spoke on Ezekiel 37 where Ezekiel sees the valley of the dry bones and is commanded to prophecy to it. He also spoke on 1 Peter 2, and how we are living stones, living stones that can be built up once more. And as I look at it, therein lies hope. The hope of the gospel. Because the church is living stones, built up, with Christ, the living Stone, rejected by men as its corner and capstone. We are built up in Christ. </div>
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As I was reflecting on Doctor NG’s sermon, I couldn’t help but think about what Jesus says to the church in Sardis. After delivering blistering news that they were dead, that they needed to "wake up and strengthen what remains, remember what you have heard and keep it, and repent”. He also says, “<i>You have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels”</i>. What Jesus is saying is that some in Sardis needed to repent. They are Christians (that is the implication of the fact that they “have not soiled their garments) but they need to repent. But some are not. They have soiled their garments. To them He says, become Christians. “<i>He who overcomes will, like them (the unsoiled), be dressed in white</i>”. He makes them an offer to come to Him. For all those reasons, I am hopeful. I am hoping that God can and will move. </div>
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The church has atrophied. I don’t know the spiritual state of those there. It may be that God has been pruning it, and is preparing it to be led by the current interim to reset and reach out in a new way, and that God uses the membership is there to reach the city with the gospel. It may be that He is bringing them to a point where they will turn and ask a young replanter to come serve, and invite that pastor to go to plant, replant, and revitalization minded churches, and ask for them to help by sending people to be part of a core team to that begins to rebuild the church, much in the way that the exiles had to gather a group to go and rebuild Jerusalem. It may be that they will not follow their pastor’s wisdom (and their current pastor is very wise- of course I'm biased, he was a professor of mine), continue to decline, and spiral to death. I don't know what God is going to do or will do in the future. But I do know that when God says to the church in Sardis, and to all of our churches, that He has not found their deeds "complete in the sight of my God", He is giving us all a powerful impetus to look at our church and ask, "What is decaying", "What is dying" And "how can we strengthen what remains in our churches, so that real whole life disciples who connect to the gospel and live out of the gospel in all of life are nurtured?" "How can we glorify God in our Church?" May we ask these questions, so that in the end, we will be living stones who are built up in Christ for the glory of God.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-64877598337710017682015-06-10T07:23:00.000-04:002015-06-10T07:23:37.594-04:00Sacred Programs<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve been thinking about the things that churches, our and all churches, have to do, and do well. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Churches needs to gather and worship- to sing, to pray, to preach, and to celebrate the sacraments. Churches need do </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">outreach</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> that make new Christians. This has to happen both locally and globally. </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Locally, it can include everything from fun or service events that just build relationships and have a long term goal of getting people to move into each other’s spheres, to events with deep and strong gospel presentations where we actively seek to see people trust Christ with their lif</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">e. It also may include individual outreach, church outreach, and even the support of local missionaries. Obviously, it encompasses a great deal. Globally, it can include everything from mission’s trips to the funding of missions organizations and missionaries to something else entirely.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beyond this, Churches need to teach and equip the saints so that they grow as followers of Christ. This is true for both adult and children. For a Church to be healthy there has to be some kind Christian education happening, so that people of all ages can connect their faith and their life. That can be done through small groups, Sunday school, youth group, new member’s classes, adult or children’s catechism, or other things. The key is that we have to be teaching people of all ages the truths of gospel and the implications of the gospel, and how to apply the truth of the gospel apply to every area of their life so that they are whole life disciples. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Furthermore, they need to care for the congregation in times of need. The sick need to get visited, people have to be met with and spiritual condition checked on. The grieving need to be ministered to, etc. Moreover, they need to develop and train leaders. Without good leadership, a church will struggle, at best. Along with this, there needs to be real fostering of healthy community. Finally, they need to have some sort of an administrative system so that they can care for the infrastructure and the property that are owned (if it owns property), manage the finances, pay the bills, and the like.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is a big list. There are other things that are important. But these are the most important. But while this is a big list of things, I want you to notice something. None of these are programs. Programs are forms and structures. These are functions; things that need to be done and ends that result in the great end, the glorification of God. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The distinction is important. Often, we think of programs and structures as the ends, but programs and </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">structure serve these things, not the other way around. Programs and structures and activities come and go. They can be picked up, used, and laid aside, as long as they accomplish their ends</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. While we sometimes fret over the forms, they are ultimately not the thing that is primary. Sometimes we have a beloved program that we feel really strongly about. But if it doesn’t accomplish its function, it’s time has passed. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why am I bringing this up? Because one of the things we need to understand is that as a church overhauls, it has look at everything, and do it with a baseline assumption</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. No committee, program, or structure is totally sacred. When a church makes a program sacred, the end is in sight, because we lose sight of what is truly important. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: 12pt; language: en-US; mso-ansi-language: en-US; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We can’t make that mistake. We may love a program or structure, we may have strong attachments to it, but if its outlived its usefulness, it will be replaced with something that will accomplish the function. So for instance, for the last several years at my church, we have had separate Bible studies for men and women. This developed organically and worked for awhile. This year, it floundered. What should my church do? We may need to examine another option, because in the end, the aim is the education and development is followers of Christ. The form isn’t important, the function is. As a church seeks to be effective for the glory of God, it has to keep its eyes on what is truly important, release what needs to be released, implement what needs to be implemented, and do the things that it needs to do so that it may see God glorified and lives transformed by the gospel.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-3205858864323103872014-10-16T15:10:00.000-04:002014-10-16T15:10:00.605-04:00Don't Lose Sight of This!<span style="color: white;">
</span><span style="color: white;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: white;">It’s the
economy stupid.” It was an obnoxious, laser focus line that controlled
everything that was said in the 1992 presidential campaign by Bill Clinton.
“It’s the economy stupid.” Why did they have such a laser-like focus? Because
they knew, that this was the issue that controlled their destiny. If they
talked about foreign policy, they were sunk. President Bush had just overseen
an awesome victory over Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War, and there was no
way they were going to win on that topic, and so in a brilliant strategy move,
they decided to keep the discussion to the thing that mattered most to them for
them. The economy. Which is why they drove it into their teams head, keep your
eyes fixed on what is most important, </span><i><span style="color: white;">don't lose sight of this!</span> </i></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: white;">I’ve often
thought that there is a lesson for churches. In the final words of Matthew,
Jesus declares that “<i>All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me”, and in light of that he says “Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey <span style="color: white;">everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.</span></i></span><span style="color: white;">" In John 20
we read, <i>“As the father sent me, so send I you”</i>, and in Acts 1 we read,
“<i>you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth." </i></span></span></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p><span style="color: white;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: white;">With these
words, Jesus says , I have a task for you. Make disciples. Nurture disciples.
Teach disciples. Build up disciples, knowing that I have authority and I am
with you because I lived the life you should have lived and died the death you
should have died, and now have risen. Keep your eyes on this. My commission to
you is to make disciples, just as I made disciples. Don’t forget that.</span> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: white;">The final
instructions are very important. They tell us what is most important to that
person. Before He ascends, in His last times with His disciples Jesus says this
is it. Disciple-making. And just as the Clinton campaign had a laser-like
focus, so too must we. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s so easy to
lose focus. We all live busy, packed lives with lots of demands. And yet if we
are not careful, we can lose sight of this command and think that it’s someone
else’s job. We must be on guard to not let this happen. In the Parable of the
Sower, Jesus talks about how some people are “<i>like seed sown among thorns</i>”.
Who</span> <span style="color: white;">“<i>hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of
wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word</i>”. The
result is that they are made “<i>unfruitful</i>” (Mark 4:18-19). We must not
allow that to happen in our lives. We must keep Jesus commands firmly in view.
When we are called to faith in Christ, we are given a mission and commission.
We are to be actively and intentionally seeking to lead people to faith in Christ
so that they too become disciples of Christ who make disciples who make disciples.
We do this through love, through service, through living holy before the Lord,
through obedience to everything that He has taught us, but most importantly we
do it through words. By opening our mouth and inviting people to faith in Christ.
This is</span> </span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">the mission Christ has commanded
us to fulfill.</span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: white;">Be disciples who make disciples
who make disciples. Don’t lose sight of this command. It’s so easy to lose
sight of it, which is why we need to remind ourselves of it daily. Just as we
need to remind our-selves of the gospel daily, in a very real way, we need to
remind ourselves of this daily. <i>We all do. Myself included</i>. If you come
behind my desk, you’ll see a whiteboard with the words, “<i>it’s
disciple-making stupid</i>!” on it. I keep it there for one reason. I can get
so bogged down with the running of the church, and <i>the this and the that</i>,
that I too need to be reminded. I too drift. I too get trapped by the thorns.
And so I need to say to myself it’s <i>disciple-making stupid</i>. Don’t lose
sight of this command. The call to me, and to you, and to all Christians, is
that we are to be disciples who make disciples. Remember that this is our final
instruction. Don’t lose sight of this command. We are called to make disciples,
and if we are not, we’re not obeying our Saviors final instructions and we are
showing ourselves to be false disciples. May we be disciples, who are
obediently making disciples, who make disciples. </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-52709468355607417272014-06-21T14:35:00.000-04:002014-06-21T14:35:25.129-04:00Morality: Paul Tripp<span style="color: white;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">I’ve really come to appreciate Paul Trip’s work over the
years. Recently I came across something that I’ve found incredibly worthwhile
from a series he was doing on Psalm 15, looking at the standard of holiness
that God calls his people to. In the previous article on Psalm 15, he wrote
about how the Psalmist considered a God-honoring way to live with our friends
and neighbors. Then he moved on to looking at how the Psalmist continues to
list the Lord's standard of righteousness, looking at Psalm 15:4, <i>"Who
shall dwell on your holy hill ... [the person] in whose eyes a vile person is
despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord."</i> Please read
</span><a href="http://www.paultripp.com/wednesdays-word/posts/morality"><span style="color: white;">this</span></a><span style="color: white;">, and be challenged.</span> </span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">Trip writes: </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"></span><span style="color: white;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white;">This verse reveals an unshakable moral
commitment to what is right. The person described has such a deep allegiance to
God that he or she is revolted by sin as much as the Lord is. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white;">I don't know about you, but there are
times when my heart is seduced by evil. It may only be for a moment, but I
catch myself chasing after - not despising - vile things. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white;">I don't want to come across as
legalistic, but I think it's my job to draw an uncomfortable line: what do you
need to give up that has the potential to make evil look beautiful? </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">There are television shows that you
might need to turn off. There are books and magazines that you may need to put
down. There are movies and websites that you may need to stay away from. I'm
concerned that the body of Christ is losing its edge. I've found that we're too
willing to expose ourselves - in a fairly consistent manner - to things that
are dangerous and polluted, that dull our moral sensitivity, and that present
evil in a seductive manner.</span> </span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">You see, here's what you need to admit:
as long as you're still breathing, you have the capacity to find vile things
beautiful. Even as a child of God, you're not free from corrupted desires. Are
you willing to admit the depth of your spiritual need? And are you willing to
sacrifice some of your entertainment and leisure preferences for the health of
your soul? Maybe it's time we fight a little harder for our morality.</span></span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">I would encourage you to reconsider your
lifestyle, but know that your hope for change won't be found there. Your hope
is in the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. He gives you the power to say
"No!" to vile things and gives you the ability to see beauty where
God sees beauty.</span></span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">God bless,</span></span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">Paul David Tripp</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"></span><b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="color: white;">REFLECTION QUESTIONS</span></span></b></div>
<ol>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<!--[endif]--><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">What are some forms of entertainment - TV, books, magazines, websites, social media - that are consistently promoting vile things?</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">How does entertainment mask those vile things in "beautiful" ways?</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">Why does your heart buy into those masking lies?</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">Why won't turning off the TV and disconnecting from Internet solve your ultimate problem?</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"><span style="color: white;">How can you commune with the Holy Spirit and find the power to say "No!" to vile things?</span></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-29490432370545032292014-05-22T10:53:00.000-04:002014-05-22T11:30:24.312-04:00I Asked The Lord that I Might Grow: By John Newton<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I asked the Lord that I
might grow, In faith, and love, and
every grace; Might more of His salvation know, And seek, more earnestly, His
face.</span></span><br />
<br />
</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">’Twas He who taught me thus
to pray, And He, I trust, has answered prayer! But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wQS8LZu03no/U34WRlv_G-I/AAAAAAAAARY/joJCgEPEcQA/s1600/grow.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wQS8LZu03no/U34WRlv_G-I/AAAAAAAAARY/joJCgEPEcQA/s1600/grow.png" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I hoped that in some favored
hour, At once He’d answer my request; And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Instead of this, He made me
feel, The hidden evils of my heart; And let the angry pow’rs of hell, Assault
my soul in every part.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yea more, with His own hand
He seemed, Intent to aggravate my woe; Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lord, why is this, I
trembling cried, Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death? “’Tis in this way, the
Lord replied, I answer prayer for grace and faith.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These inward trials I
employ, From self, and pride, to set thee free; And break thy schemes of
earthly joy, That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-82108826629414752232014-05-21T16:45:00.001-04:002014-05-22T10:55:41.331-04:00Beat it into their heads continually by Martin Luther<div class="entry-title">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Something to chew on from Martin Luther, the great reformer, speaking of our tendency to default to works righteousness. His words are genius.</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“The law is divine and holy. Let the law have his glory, but yet no law, be it never so divine and holy, ought to teach me that I am justified, and shall live through it. I grant it may teach me that I ought to love God and my neighbor; also to live in chastity, soberness, patience, etc., but it ought not to show me, how I should be delivered from sin, the devil, death, and hell.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teacheth me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law,) but what Jesus Christ the Son of God hath done for me : to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel willeth me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.”</span></span></blockquote>
<div class="entry entry-content">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Martin Luther, <a href="http://www.wtsbooks.com/product-exec/product_id/3260/nm/Galatians+(Crossway+Classics)_?utm_source=nroark&utm_medium=blogpartners"><i>St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians</i></a> (Philadelphia: Smith, English & Co., 1860), 206.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-3375139941759109732014-04-24T16:23:00.000-04:002014-05-21T16:25:05.558-04:00From the Newsletter: Sovereign<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">God is on
the throne. We need to remind ourselves of this often. I need to remind myself
of this often. At times, we can look around and feel frustrated, and say “do
you remember when?” Do you remember when work was going better. Do you remember
when the family was doing better, do you remember when the community was more
together, when we didn’t feel like we where harried and frustrated, and living
a life marked by struggle and tension. Do you remember when the church was
full? When it didn’t seem like culture was against Christianity. Do you
remember when it seemed like God was on the move? Its easy to feel discouraged
during certain seasons of life. It feels like the bottom is dropping out,
things are going nowhere God, and yet, the fact is, God is on the throne and at
work no matter what. </span></span>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A few weeks
back, I was reminded of this in a wonderful way. Teen challenge came and lead
us in worship, and shared about their ministry, and the church was rather empty
that Sun-day. And all through the worship service I was feeling particularly
discouraged. I try not to look at numbers. I try not to count faces. I try to
remember that there is hope at all times, and that counting faces shows that in
the back of our minds we equate size and health, big with blessedness, and that
this is not the case. I try to remind myself of the fact that far true signs of
health are found in the depth of disciples, and their love of the gospel, and
in their desire to live on mission for the glory of God. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">But I was
forgetting all that, and counting faces, and feeling down. I all but apologized
to the leader of the Teen Challenge team for such a low attendance Sunday. And
then I went down to lunch. We had an all church lunch so that we could spend
more time with the men and learn more about what God is doing in their lives,
and that’s when Lucy Mbugua came and sat down next to me, and introduced me to
her friend Joyce. Joyce serves at a church of 700 back home in Kenya. And she
told me that she is interested in bringing Teen Challenge back to Kenya. IN
that moment, I was reminded once again the God is sovereign. That God is
working even in what seems like a moment of failure, and de-feat. I was
reminded that He is doing His will even when we have no idea what's going on. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Even when
we're think we think were blowing and He’s not there, and just feeling totally
crushed. The reminder for me, and I believe for all of us, is that God is on the
throne. God is in control, and we need to find our life in him I need to find
my life in him, and only/ in him. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">He's at work
in the great and glorious, and he is at work in the mundane things like an invitation
to Teen Challenge and invitation by a friend to visit the church. He’s working
in the time you leave the office, and the interactions you have on the way out
the door. We never know what He is doing, but we do know that we can trust Him,
and hope in Him, and find our life and our rest in Him. So often we run around
trying to control the details of our lives. We are constantly stresses and
worried that if we don’t do something it won’t get done, and if we don’t act
and speak in a certain way, we’ll ruin everything. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And yet,
what we are reminded is that we don’t have to live with this sword of Damocles
over our heads. He is in control, and we rest in His finished work, and then
live out of it with hope and joy. In Psalm 42, the writer frets speaks about
how frustrated and distressed he is. And he talks about how he frets and
worries in the midst of tense times. He says his tears have been his food day
and night, while men say to him all day long, "Where is your God?"
And he remembers how he used to hope, and how he lost his hope, and he lays out
his frustrations. But in the midst of that he says something profound. He says
it twice. He says “<i>Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within
me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God</i>”<i>,
</i>and he rejoices, saying, “<i>Deep calls to deep in the roar of your
waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. By day the LORD
directs his love, at night his song is with me-- a prayer to the God of my life</i>.”
</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Even when we
are frustrated. Individually, or corporately, even when we feel like the
bottom us dropping out on us, He Is Sovereign! We can find our hope, our rest,
our life in him. Trust Him. Find your life in Him. Seek to glorify Him, and
then trust that He will indeed work for the glory of His name no matter what it
seems like at first glance. </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-22284783420576557962014-02-20T14:42:00.000-05:002014-02-20T20:50:47.892-05:00From the Newsletter: Thoughts: Four resources Christianity gives us for suffering <span style="font-size: small;">Over the last few months we’ve had 2 funerals, and many other maladies at our church. From accidents to illness to death, the church family has encountered suffering and hardship. Something I wanted to say in my recent sermon on suffering from Romans 8, but needed to cut, is that Christianity offers us rich resources to lean into when sufferings come. Often Christians don’t lean into them, but they are there inviting us to lean into them. </span><br />
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There are four key doctrines that make up the foundation of these resources for dealing with pain, suffering and evil. Together, these four key doctrines stand over and against the secular or deistic view that sees suffering as an interruption to be pushed away or drowned out, and show you how you can move through it with hope. </div>
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The first is the belief in a personal, wise, infinite, and therefore inscrutable God who controls the affairs of the world–and that is far more comforting than the belief that our lives are in the hands of fickle fate or random chance. </div>
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The second is that, in Jesus Christ, God came to earth and suffered with and for us sacrificially–and that is far more comforting than the idea that God is remote and uninvolved. The cross also proves that, despite all the inscrutability, God is for us, and more than that, it shows us that "Suffering is actually at the heart of the Christian story. </div>
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The third doctrine is that through faith in Christ’s work on the cross, we can have assurance of our salvation–that is far more comforting than karmic systems of thought. We are assured that the difficulties of life are not payment for our past sins, since Jesus has paid them. As Luther taught, suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you. Secularity cannot give you that, and religions like Buddhism and Hinduism that teach variations of karma and provide salvation through virtue and good works cannot give it either. </div>
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The fourth is the doctrines of the bodily resurrection from the dead for all who believe. This completes the spectrum of our joys and consolations. One of the deepest desires of the human heart is for love without parting. Needless to say, the prospect of resurrection is far more comforting than the beliefs that death just takes into nothingness or into an impersonal spiritual substance. The resurrection goes beyond the promise of an ethereal disembodied afterlife. We get our bodies back, in a state of beauty and power that we cannot today imagine. Jesus’ resurrection was corporeal –it could be touched and embraced, and he ate food. And yet He passed through closed doors and could disappear. This is a material existence, but one beyond the bounds of our imagination. The idea of heaven can be a consolation for suffering, a compensation for the life we have lost. But resurrection is not just consolation–it is restoration. We get it all back–the love, the loved ones, the goods, the beauties of this life–but to new, unimaginable degrees of glory and joy and strength. It is a <i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">reversal </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;">of the seeming irreversibility of loss" I mentioned this thought during the meditation at Al’s funeral. When JJ was told that Mr. Blood had died, he said that he didn’t want him to be in heaven, and when Veronique told him that now Al’s not sick, he asked "does that mean he has two arms now that he’s in heaven?" The resounding answer is yes. That’s the promise of the resurrection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In this life, we will all face hardship, and the question we will face is, "</span><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">How can you be to-tally sure when you look at all the horrible stuff that has happened in your life and out in the world that someday God is going to make it all right? How can you not just hope so, but be absolutely sure that in spite of your own failures, God loves you and will never let you go? How can you know that when you face death it is not the end? Only if you know that Jesus rose from the dead and there-fore so will you. </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;">You know what else this means? You can have incredible hope in suffering. Tim Keller, whose incredible book </span><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Walking-God-through-Pain-Suffering/dp/0525952454">Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering</a> s</span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;">upplied most of these thoughts, points out that what this knowledge means for us is that "</span><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy</span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;">". Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you, but the more you dive into your resources, the more you are able to face it. </span></div>
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</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-76061283514076390482014-01-28T16:39:00.000-05:002014-01-28T16:39:21.679-05:00Use Your Time Well <div style="text-align: justify;">
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<![endif]--><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Since Bonnie
called me to tell me that her husband Bruce had passed away, I’ve found myself
thinking about how finite and fleeting life is, and that you never know what a
day or a week may bring. One day, he’s home and looks like he’s headed back
towards healthy, and just five days later, he’s gone. </span>
</span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">And it’s made
me think about how fragile this life really is. We live in a comfortable
western world where we are usually insulated from swift and tragic deaths, and
for those that know him, this was a stark reminder that we are much less
insulate than we think, and we have far less time than we think we do. <i>The
years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; </i>says
Psalm 90, <i>yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we
fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to
the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of
wisdom (90:10-12). Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate
are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a
breath, says Psalm 62 </i>(62:9). </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">This all
leaves me with a question for those who know Christ: <b>How are we using our
time</b>? All too often, we waste it. We live in a celebrity, entertainment culture,
which sucks us in without us even knowing it, unless we actively fight it. I
don’t know if there has ever been a culture more given over to seeking to be
entertained than this one. The Romans famously had their bread and circus, but
that wasn’t every day. The average American watches 5 hours a day of TV, which
works out to around 35 hours a week, <i>or 9 years of your life</i>. And as you
get older, apparently TV viewing increases. We all bemoan the</span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"> fact that the
average American youth watches 1200 hours of TV in a year, while they only go
to school for about 900 hours, but what we don’t says is that apparently, as
you get older, apparently TV viewing goes up. The average youth watches 24
hours of TV, but after that it rises steadily until people over 65 average 48
hours a week, or nearly seven hours a day. </span></span></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span>
</span></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">But it’s not
just TV, at any time; we have a constant stream of entertainment running by us.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, this update on my phone calling for my attention.
And I haven’t even gotten to video games and the internet. We live in a culture
that says, in the words of Nirvana “<i>here I am now, entertain me</i>”. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">And it’s so
corrosive. Pastor and Theologian John Piper once said that “The greatest enemy
of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the
wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of
the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of
triviality we drink in every night.” He’s right. It deadens our mind and
softens our heart for God, giving us a love for the world, and a desire for
comfort. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">The result is
that we sit around and spend our time on the trivial and unimportant, and then
moan that we don’t have time to read our Bible and pray, and pursue the things
of God. Piper commented that “One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook
will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of
time”, ouch. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Beyond that,
there is our general pursuit of leisure. Moments of leisure are not bad in of
and of themselves. But, our culture has made leisure one of the great goals of
life. Work, so then you can then do nothing. It’s the great end of life. But
the bible says that we where created to work. Work is good. We were created to
work for the glory of God, leisure and rest is never the end, the glory of God
is. </span></span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="Default">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">And then
there’s our pursuit of stuff. The great ability of advertisers is to create an
ever in-creasing hole of desire that can never be filled, and so we chase this
trinket and that thing, because we’ve been told that if we have that,
everything will be complete. And so we run and run on the treadmill chasing
things that do not matter. Bubbles and status symbols, things that we think we
have to have to fit in, but will one day populate a landfill, because they have
been replaced by a newer version. </span></span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="Default">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">We have 168
hours in a week. That's it. What are you doing with them? If we truly believe
the gospel, we should reprioritize how we spend our time. Is prayer and
scripture near the top of our agenda? Do we prioritize sharing the gospel? Are
we prioritizing reading things that build our mind and give us a distinctively
Christian worldview and approach to life, or are we taking in drivel? Are we
actively dreaming and scheming about how to spread the gospel, or dreaming and
scheming about the next movie we’re going to watch? Are you building
relationships that you allow for the spread of the gospel, or building your
Candy Crush score (if you don’t know what Candy Crush
is, that’s a good thing). Don’t waste your life. Desire that your life count
for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Don’t
coast through life without a passion, being entertained along the way. </span></span></div>
<div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Someday
you will stand be-fore God, and give an account of how you used your time, and
so I say again, don’t waste it. It is better to lose your life than to waste
it. Young, old, especially those of you that are retired, may you use your time
well, because life is too short, precarious, and painful to waste it on entertainment
or chasing baubles that will fill landfills. <i>Heaven is to great, </i>in the
words of piper, <i>hell is too horrible; eternity is too long that we should
putter around on the porch of eternity. </i>It is better to lose your life than
to waste it. May you use your time wisely, may it count for eternity, and may
you be able to say with great joy, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith
(2Tim. 4:7)</i>”, rather than, I have no idea where the time went. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="Default">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">TV Stats
came from: <a href="http://www.statisticbrain.com/television-watching-statistics/">Staticbrain</a>, and the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/americans-spend-34-hours-week-watching-tv-nielsen-numbers-article-">NY daily News</a>. </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-10538819800836076462013-12-30T15:59:00.000-05:002015-06-17T12:41:34.961-04:00From the Newsletter: Holiness and Resolutions
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;">For a long
time, I have been a fan of the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. At a young age,
he committed himself to live for God. He starts his list of resolutions with the
words, “<i>Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help,
I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions,
so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake. Resolved, That I
will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good,
profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration; without any consideration of
the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved, to do
whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of man-kind
in general. Resolved, so to do, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many
soever, and how great soever. </i>The list includes 70 resolutions that he
makes, and taken as a whole, it’s a commitment to personal holiness, to living
for God and the furthering of God’s kingdom with his face turned away from sin.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;">Time and
again, scripture calls us to holiness. Paul writes, “<i>Among you there must
not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of
greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be
obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather
thanksgiving </i>(Ephesians 5:3-4). Peter says, “<i>As obedient children, do
not conform to the evil de-sires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just
as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written:
"Be holy, because I am holy </i>(1Peter 1:14-16)”. Most importantly, all
the way back at the exodus, God declares, <b><i>'Be holy because I, the LORD
your God, am holy</i></b>. (Leviticus 19:2). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;">From start to
finish, the holy creator of the universe says, “I am holy, and you are to
reflect My holiness”. This goes way beyond clean television and keeping our
noses clean. It goes beyond being nice and kind. It is those things, but it’s
way more. It’s a call to live lives that are turned away from sin, and to God. Its
living lives that are marked by a deep de-sire to reflect the goodness and
perfection, the rightness of the heart of our creator. This is the call that
lays before us. This realization led Jonathan Edwards to write “<i>As God
delights in His own beauty, He must necessarily delight in the creature’s
holiness which is a conformity to and participation of it” </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;">Unfortunately,
our lives are not marked by this kind of commitment to the things of God. I
found myself thinking about the contrast between Edwards’s resolutions to live
as one holy and commit-ted to God with a heart saturated in the gospel, and the
observation that writer and theologian Os Guinness made in passing during his
recent trip to Med-way. He commented that one of the main problems that the
American church has is that “we are worldly”. We should be holy. But we are
worldly. It’s a hard and true word. Unfortunately, there’s all kinds of evidence
to back that up. That’s another article. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;">But why is
that the case? I think in part, it’s because we often expect that things of
faith, and the life of faith will come easy, and holiness is hard. We tend to
like the path of least resistance, and the comfortable path. But you don’t just
end up holy. Theologian D.A. Carson observes in his book, “The God of Promise
and the Life of Faith” that “<i>People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from
grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer,
obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward
compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it
freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the
indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward
prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we
slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated</i>.”
(D.A. Carson. The God of Promise and the Life of Faith. Crossway Books, 2001,
p. 99.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;">So what does
this mean for us? As people who seek to live for the glory of God in this
world, and to obey everything that Jesus has commanded us (Matthew 28:20). It
means that the resolution of our hearts must be to delight in God’s beauty, and
seek to conform our nature to the nature of the God we love and serve,
remembering the words of 2 Corinthians 3:18, “<i>And we, who with unveiled
faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness
with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit</i>”.
It means that we must seek to continue the struggle for holiness, looking to
the cross, and remembering that our deepest motivation for holiness come from
seeing what God has done for us in Christ. And, it means that as we gaze upon
the cross, we must continue to see the invitation of the cross to live holy
before the Lord. “<i>Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us</i>,
the writer of Hebrews says, “<i>looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of
our faith, 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</i>. Holiness
requires great effort. You don’t drift into holiness; you don’t drift into
living for God. You drift into worldliness. We must be resolute in our
commitment to being people who are holy to the Lord. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="Default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.5pt;">Every year,
millions of Americans make resolutions. “<i>I will do this, or that. Lose
weight, read that book, accomplish that mission. Be a better parent, husband,
wife, employee… this is the year I will…” </i>As you face the coming year, and
think about what you hope to see happen, and make your own resolutions, my
invitation to you is, take stock of your life and resolve to live a life
committed to living a life of holiness, a life that seeks first the kingdom of
God and the things of God, and runs from the things that don’t honor God. Look
at your life, look at scripture, and say, how, in 2014, can my life reflect a
heart for the things that God loves, and an abhorrence for the things he hates?
How can I be seeking His kingdom and His righteousness, and living for His
glory? How can I be furthering the kingdom of God, and not living for the
fading pleasures of this world, but for “<i>an inheritance that can never
perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you </i>(1 Peter 1:4)”? How can I be
living such a good life here in this post-Christian culture that they may see
my <i>“good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us”</i> (1 Peter 2:12)?
How can my life be marked by a commitment to live holy to the Lord? Be
pondering these and many other questions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In this
season of resolutions in the face of a new year, my call to you is <i>be holy</i>.
Make that your resolution. Live holy to the Lord. Seek to honor him with your
all. As you do, remember that you cannot do this without God’s strength. Don’t
forget that Ed-wards starts the resolutions by writing, “<i>being sensible that
I am unable to do anything without God’s help</i>.” But as you ponder the great
salvation God has provided in Christ, may you hear the words of scripture <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>calling you to holiness, and resolve to live
holy to the Lord. And when you stumble, as we are all often prone to do, may
these words by America’s greatest theologian echo in your mind. “<i>Resolved</i>,
<i>Never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions,
<b>however unsuccessful I may be</b></i><b>.” </b>Pastor Jonathan</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-49862531441831095732013-11-26T13:55:00.002-05:002015-09-30T15:43:51.193-04:00Open Letter on the Interfaith Service<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">To
the Congregation of First Baptist (and anyone else interested), <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">As
many of you have heard, I have reached a decision that I cannot take part in
the Medfield interfaith service in good conscience. As you all know, I have
taken part in it since I started as your pastor. I did so because it seemed to
be something that our church had been part of, and a duty of the position.
However. I have always felt uneasy about taking part, and over this last year,
came to this decision. I feel I owe you an explanation for discontinuing my
involvement. Here are my reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i>First</i>, there has been
increasing pressure to avoid the mention of Jesus. <i>For example, last year,
in the meeting preparing for the service, a strong objection was raised to the
passage in Luke where men come and show thanksgiving to Jesus for healing them.</i>
In fact, anything specifically that mentioned about Jesus is viewed as
unacceptable by some of those participating in the service, and this has led to
an increasing pressure to avoid referencing Jesus and His saving work. <o:p></o:p>If
Jesus is all but taboo, and if there is a strong pressure to make Christ
disappear, what am I doing there as a Christian pastor? If I, as a Christian,
am asked not to pray in Jesus name, or preach about my Lord and savior Jesus
Christ (and that is, in fact, the request), lest I offend someone, it seems
clear to me that I’m at the wrong service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Now,
on one hand, it makes sense to say, “<i>well, why don’t you, and we (first
Baptist), fight to put Jesus back in it”</i>. Here’s the problem. The whole
logic of interfaith dialogue and interfaith worship flows in this direction.
The idea is to highlight our commonality, and downplay the things that divide
and make one distinct. But to do that, we have to give up the things that make
us distinct, and that thing that makes us Christians distinct is Christ. The
good news - that <i>there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all</i> and that Jesus is <i>the way the truth and the life - </i>is not welcome at the interfaith service. How
can I take part in that in good conscience? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i>Second</i>, it’s
syncretism. Syncretism is “an <span lang="EN">amalgamation
or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of
thought”. Think of it this way, it’s pouring all the traditions together and
calling them the same thing. But what’s left when that is done is that we
(those taking part), have stripped off everything distinctive, and what we are
left with </span>is
a focus on the act of giving thanks, but a deliberate avoiding of clarity about
to whom thanks is being given. It’s just “Thanksgiving for the sake of
Thanksgiving”, because if you can’t agree on the concept of God (and that is
the case Unitarians, Christians, and Jews don’t agree on their doctrine of
God), you are giving thanks to what, collectively? The point of the service is
to express thanksgiving… to whom? To God? How is God defined and understood? In what meaningful sense can Christians, Jews, and
Unitarians (or for that matter, Hindus and Muslims, Buddhists, or any of the
other many different religions) come together for an “interfaith” service? We
are unable to agree on the concept of God. We can’t agree on what we are
declaring the “worth-ship” of (since that is what worship is, declaring the
worth and value of something)? What is the point? We aren’t praying to the same
God. We don’t even share the same conception of God, which means that at best
it’s a thanksgiving to the nebulous sense of “deity”. But more accurately, it’s
just “Thanksgiving for Thanksgiving sake”. It's clearly not a service of thanksgiving
to the God who has done more then we can ask or imagine through the saving work
of Christ. Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with warnings against
idolatry. I cannot take part in that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i>Third</i>, and most
importantly, I believe that I may be damaging my Christian witness, and the
Christian witness of First Baptist, by sending a confusing, dangerous message
to the world around. By taking part in this interfaith worship and by standing
sholder to sholder with religious leaders of other religions (<i>not other
Christians- other religions- those that do not claim Christ as Lord and savior
in any way</i>), some might fairly infer by the fact that I am
there that I (or First Baptist) feel there is agreement on essential matters of faith. And why wouldn't they? When
we gather and worship in this way, aren’t we saying, in essence, that we all
agree in faith, and are brothers and sisters in faith. Aren’t we saying that
all religious traditions and spirtualities and faiths are equally valid and that “<i>it’s
ok to believe whatever, as long as you are a person of faith</i>”? That is the
message we send when we worship together in this manner, and this clearly is
not the case.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Remember,
not long ago (last winter), a local Unitarian “church” (Milford), was hosting a
"medium connection"? For $25 you could attempt to chat with the
dearly departed. Great. Another word for that is séance. It’s witchcraft, pure
and simple. Now, to be fair, that has not happened here in Medfield. But to
even allow someone to think that we are of “like faith” with those who might
call the actions of this Unitarian church acceptable, and call those in that
“church” “brothers and sisters in faith” is to create a confusing witness.
Christians are not brothers and sisters in “like faith” with Unitarians (or Jews,
Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or whatever other faith might get added in). “<i>What harmony is there between Christ and
Belial</i> (2 Corinthians 6:15)?” None. There is only one name in which
salvation is found, and to take part and possibly confuse the watching world
around is a failure to be <a href="http://logia.org/blogia/?p=484">salt and light</a>. It sends a dangersous message, and it damages my witness, and the
witness of First Baptist. The more I think about it, the more I believe it. Some
who take part in the service are brothers and sisters in Christ. But other
“churches” and religions are not, and we send a confusing message that “<i>it’s ok to believe whatever, as long as you
are a person of faith</i>”, when we worship together in this manner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Now,
I know that some of you have some objections forming in your mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>First</b>, didn’t you
work with the Episcopal church and the UCC on the VBS? Yes. I worked with
Christian churches on a Christian VBS. Churches that at the very least, could agree on the
top level issues without which you cannot be a Christian. And furthermore, I
insisted that it be a Christian VBS right from the start (and may I say, we
were all in agreement- lest anyone take this to mean that we had any disagreement on this- To my knowledge we were all on the same page from the start). So it
was not interfaith work, it was ecumenical work- all were Christians,
partaking in a Christian VBS that pointed kids to faith in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>Second</b>, so what about
ecumenical worship? Christians worshiping together as Christians of a variety
of Christian traditions. I have no problem with that, in fact, I think it’s
absolutely acceptable and honorable to worship alongside other Christians
traditions. In that, we are expressing that we are brothers and sisters “<b>in
Christ” </b>(This is probably a watered down litmus test but the question I ask
is, could they recite the creed’s of Christianity in good faith. Could they
say, with you and I, “<i>I believe in God the father almighty, maker of heaven
and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our lord? Could they confess the
life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and that someday he will come to judge
the living and the dead</i>?). But this is not ecumenical worship, this is
interfaith. And that’s where the rub lies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>Third,</b> for a church
trying to reach the community with the hope of the gospel, doesn’t this cost us
influence? Maybe, but I don’t think so. In fact, I think it will actually
heighten our influence. When we say, we are Christians, we worship as Christians,
and we do so, because salvation is found in no other name, it will push some
people to consider the claims of Christ in a new and fresh way. To think
through the message that we proclaim to the world: To consider the message of
Christianity.<i> God made the
world. He made it perfectly, with us ruling under His authority, and living in
relationship with Him. But then something terrible happened. Our first parents,
Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying and rebelling against God. They wanted to run
things their way, and sought to be their own Lord and God. The result was that
they brought God’s judement on themselves and all humanity. Everyone was marred
by their sin, so that all follow their steps, sinfully rebel against God and
bring God’s just judgment on themselves. That’s the bad news. But in his love,
God sent Jesus Christ, the second member of the trinity, God in the flesh, to
live perfectly and sinlessly, to die as an atoning sacrifice paying the price
that God’s justice demanded for this act of cosmic rebellion, and reconciling
us to God if we place our faith in Chirst. Christ rose again on the third day,
proving he accomplished all that he claimed he would do. He now sits on the
throne of heaven, and someday He will judge the world. We are called to repent
and believe the good news, and worship the triune God who has provided this
great salvation. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">If
that message is banned at the interfaith service, if we are not going before
our saving God with thanks, I think that it is far more preferable, to not take
part and find venues that allow for the message of the gospel to be stated
clearly.<b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>Fourth</b>, does this mean
that I feel that I am above the fray, and that we Christians at First Baptist
are better than others? Do I think Christians are superior people to those that do not believe that salvation is found in Christ. No and No. I am not saying that Christians are superior or
better people than those that are not Christians. It may be that a Unitarian,
or Jew, or Hindu, or Muslim is in fact a kinder, nicer, more compassionate,
just person than many Christians. Being a Christian does not mean that you are
proud because you are a better person than someone else, in fact, the logic of
the gospel strikes at the very root of that attitude. It calls us to recognize
that we are sinful people in need of salvation because of our deeply flawed,
sinful nature. That’s the entrance fee to Christianity, if you will. So we
aren’t saying that we are better than others in any way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Furthermore,
we are not saying that we don’t want to interact with those of other faiths, or
no faith at all. As a Christian, I believe that I, First Baptist, and other
Christians are called to enter into our community, loving the community,
serving the community, and declaring, we are here for the good of the community
as Christians. We can work and serve for the good of others, Christian or not.
We are not partisan in wanting the best for others. <i>Do unto others as you
would have them to you, </i>Jesus says. “<i>Seek the good of the city”, </i>God
says through Jeremiah<i>. “Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you
too will prosper</i>.” (Jeremiah 29:7) We aren’t just here just for ourselves.
But to seek the best for all humanity, and certainly Medfield. Hear me on this.
I’m not trying to be mean or exclusive, or make our church mean or exclusive. I
think it’s one thing to work alongside of someone, or be friends with someone. Christians can work alongside of anyone for the common good, and be friends with anyone.
Anyone. And we can talk with anyone. There is no one from whom we withdraw and say, I can have nothing to do with you. But worship is different. When it comes to worship, we must not engage in syncretism and damage our witness, <a href="http://logia.org/blogia/?p=484">as one writer put it</a>, "<i>genuine witness in the public square can take
place through discerning dialogue and engaging conversation as well as
acts of human care and mercy.
We witness in the public square, but we do not worship there.</i> "</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">So
those are my thoughts. I am not partisan in wanting good for all, and I do not
want First Baptist to be some partisan “holy huddle” that looks out for its
interest alone. I want First Baptist to be loving and serving the community,
seeking it’s good as I and it proclaims the distinctly Christian message that there
is hope in a hopeless world, the gospel. But when it comes to worship, I do not
believe that I should be taking part and helping lead this service. I am not a
religious leader, and Christians are not religious people, or people "of faith". I am a Christian Pastor, and First Baptist is a Christian church, and we are all
about worshiping the God who has done more than we can ask or imagine in providing salvation through Christ Jesus. To pretend we’re all the same waters down or worse,
eliminates our distinctively Christian message that salvation is found in
Christ alone, and thanks belongs to God alone for our provision, hope, and life
itself. Christians must not send any other message to a world desperately in need of
the hope of the gospel. I must not send any other message. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I have no quarrel with those of other faiths who do
what they wish to do. They can worship as they wish, and we can have sincere
disagreements, and live at peace with each other. I don’t begrudge them their
worship or practice. But let’s not kid ourselves, we are not all in agreement
in faith. A nebulous sense of the “holy” is not the God of the Christian bible,
and we must not send any other message. Christians should not pretend something that is not true, is true so that everyone can hold hands and sing. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">As I say this, I’m not trying to be a mean curmudgeon<span lang="EN">, or
arrogant;</span>
I’m trying </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">instead </span>to be logical and wise. And the more I've thought about it, the more
convinced that my participation in the interfaith service sends the inadvertent
message that I believe it’s ok to
believe whatever - even if it's contrary to the Gospel - as long as one is a
person of "faith”, and while <span lang="EN">I am not so proud as to think that I can come to the end
of any subject, I’m with Luther in saying that “<i>unless</i></span><i> I</i><i><span lang="EN"> am convinced by scripture and plain reason</span></i><span lang="EN">” this is the position I will hold.</span> I leave it to you and your conscience to do
what you feel is right regarding your participation in the interfaith service.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">But as you consider what to do, let me point you to the words of one
of my favorite bloggers and writers, Kevin Deyoung. He captured part problem with
interfaith services a few years back when looking at the inauguration of the
president. <a href="http://heraldblog.squarespace.com/kevin-deyoung/2009/1/22/wwjd-and-interfaith-services.html">He wrote</a> “<i><span lang="EN">Imagine it's early
in the first century, in and around Palestine. A new emperor, or local
governor, has come to power. As a nod to the diverse religious traditions of
the land, there is a prayer service to the gods on behalf of the new leader. In
the mix we find worshipers of Asclepius, priests of the Artemis cult, believers
in Hermes, leaders in the local fertility cult. Would we find any Jews there?
What about Jesus? Can you imagine Jesus participating in such an event?
With the warnings of Israel's history and the seriousness of the Ten
Commandments, is there any way Jesus, would possibly agree to participate in
such a ceremony? We aren't talking about giving taxes to Caesar, or praying for
the Emperor in synagogue worship, or living out your faith in public. We are
talking about a worship service where the "God" worshipped is the
"God of our many understandings", to borrow a recent phrase. and the
tacit assumption is that we can all share in genuine spiritual fellowship. In
Revelation, as best as we can tell the context, Jesus rebuked several of the
churches for simply going along with ritual meals to various gods in the guilds
of the day. What would he say about sharing a worship service? Would the
Apostle Paul, who warned his churches of syncretism and idolatry so often,
consider for even a moment participating in a worship service where several
different gods were invoked? </span></i><span lang="EN">The same points all
stand in relationships to interfaith thanksgiving services. I leave it to your consciences to make the choice about whether you participate in the interfaith service of Medfield.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN">Your Pastor,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN">Jonathan Chechile</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN">P.S. Here are some articles that helped me clarify my thinking over the last month as it became clear this would be an issue. </span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://logia.org/blogia/?p=484">Salt & Light: Syncretism?</a> - Prof. John T. Pless </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://heraldblog.squarespace.com/kevin-deyoung/2009/1/22/wwjd-and-interfaith-services.html">WWJD and Interfaith Services</a> -Kevin Deyoung</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://ccm-inc.org/oldsite/interfaith/article01.html">The Problem with Interfaith</a> - Nadeem Abdul Hamid (a Muslim take- Very interesting)</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.keepbelieving.com/blog/2009-1-17-why-we-cant-really-have-an-interfaith-service">Why Interfaith Services Don’t Work</a> - Ray Pritchard </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN"><a href="http://issuesetc.org/2013/02/14/1-inter-faith-prayer-services-dr-albert-mohler-21413/">Interfaith Prayer Services</a> - Dr. Albert Mohler (Audio Interview)</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN"><a href="http://www.jesus.org/following-jesus/discipleship/are-interfaith-worship-services-appropriate-for-christians.html">Are interfaith worship services appropriate for Christians</a> - Ray Pritchard </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0.67em 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/christian_worldview/why_is_a_christian_worldview_important/when_no_one_is_wrong.aspx">When No One Is Wrong: A Response to the Interfaith Movement</a> - Lynne Thompson </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-8356712719525286542013-10-09T11:38:00.000-04:002013-10-09T13:40:28.744-04:00Morning Musings: The fall of Satan and our own foolish thoughts<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why did Satan fall? This morning, I was reading Ezekiel 28, which describes the fall of Satan, and it's a fascinating passage, and it answers the question of what made Satan become the archenemy of Satan. The answer is shocking. Pride. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The passage starts as a statement to the king of Tyre, but you quickly realize that its talking about the power behind the king of Tyre, because we're told that he was in Eden, the Garden of God.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So what do you see? First, you see a being that is blessed in every possible way. In t<span style="font-family: inherit;">he description of Satan in
Ezekiel 28, you see that he is the model of perfection. Full of wisdom and beauty.
Adorned with all kinds of precious stones. Anointed as a guardian cherub. Ordained by God. He walked among the fiery stones. I don know what the fiery stones where, but I'm betting they where amazing. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But then look at what he said. "I am a god. I sit on the throne of God."
He looked himself and he wanted the same status as the Creator. He wanted his standing
to be equal with God. He forgot that he was a created being rather than the
creator, and claimed the prerogative of God. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's the thing that struck me. Do we not do that when we seek self autonomy? Do we not do
that when we think "I can handle this. I got this, I don't need God for this." Is this not us
much of the time? "<em>I am in control, I can handle things, I don't need God
for this. He can take care the big things I'll take care of this</em>". </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If
we're depending on him for out very breathe how can we say this? If we
acknowledge that he orders and numbers our days, and is sovereignly in charge
of all creation, how can we say this with a straight face? He is God. He is in
control. He alone rules all things. May we not be so foolish as to think that we are in control. May we not be so proud as to think that we've got this. Only God "has this", only God most high is in control.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So here's my final though and prayer (my prayer for myself, my family, my church, and for everyone who reads this). May we see at all times that God is God,
and we are not. And may we be on our knees crying out for God to work through
us what is pleasing to him. May we see that there's nothing
that we can do apart from him that will have any real value. All we do is sinful to the core. It's filthy rags. We need Him to be at work. May he be at work for His glory and not ours, and may we
acknowledge that he's got this (whatever this is) and we do not.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-16704907199937267062013-09-25T16:29:00.000-04:002013-10-10T10:47:22.438-04:00ResourcingThe Bible never envisions disciples who don’t
make disciples. It never pictures or presents a situation where one two, three,
or even a percentage of the church are the ones doing most of the work of the
kingdom, and everyone else stands back, and watches. It shows elders leading
and teaching, and equipping all the saints for mission. We are told that God
gave different leaders with different gifts “to prepare God's people for works
of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”. The more we know God’s
word, the more we sense this. <br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<div class="default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
This summer, I started getting requests, please give us
resources for evangelism, and in light of that, we crafted the fall Bible
studies around this need. In addition to the Bible studies, I want to tell you
about two other outreach training resources that I would like to invite you to
be part of. </div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<div class="default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The <b><i>First is a Missional Church Learning Experience
(MCLE) </i></b>that the Boston Southwest association will be hosting. What is
an MCLE? Basically, it’s a group of churches gathering together to form a
learning community to ask <i>what God is saying to the Church today, and how
can we best serve God on mission in this rapidly changing culture in a group
context</i>. The Boston Southwest Association is bringing in Glynis Lavar (the
ABC’s lone missional thinker of note- as best I can tell) for three training
sessions to help us think through how we can begin to impact our community as a
church that is living on mission for God. We have been asked by the Association
to put together a team of people who are interested in exploring the future of
Christian faith in America, who will take what they have learned, and begin to
help the church implement the things they are learning. The commitment that is
required is that you be willing to set aside the 16th of November, the 8th of March,
and 28th of June 2014, the dates Glynis Lavar is coming to lead the workshops.
If you are interested in learning more about the MCLE, email me, or check out the <a href="http://www.abhms.org/mcle/">ABC's MCLE page</a>. </div>
<br />
<div class="default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/fnozr7J5kSM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>The other thing that I would like to mention is coming up
quickly. <b><i>On the 27th of October, Roger Haber, </i></b>one of the pastors
in the area, will be coming to put on a workshop for the Billy Graham <i>My
Hope </i>training at 6:30 at the parsonage. What is <i>My Hope</i>? It’s a
national outreach program being run by the Billy Graham association, and we are
participating. What we are looking for is people who are willing to do what
Matthew did. He invited some people over to meet Jesus. The idea is that you
invite people over, have a great meal with them, show a video presentation by
Billy Graham, share how you came to Christ, answer questions and have a
conversation about the gospel, and invite your friends to know Christ. The
Billy Graham Association is launching the outreach in November. For more
information, check out the video, email me, or check out Billy Graham's <a href="http://myhopewithbillygraham.org/what-is-my-hope/?">My Hope Page</a>. </div>
<div class="default" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-16700944385066838482013-07-08T14:17:00.000-04:002015-05-27T10:51:29.995-04:00From the Newsletter: Missional Church - Part 2<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PJchJJihPV8/UjtAC-Qh1FI/AAAAAAAAANM/sg54z0xiwLY/s1600/imagesCANBNAGL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PJchJJihPV8/UjtAC-Qh1FI/AAAAAAAAANM/sg54z0xiwLY/s320/imagesCANBNAGL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">We
live in a mission’s field. The day has passed when the mission’s field is “over
there” somewhere across the sea. It is here. New England is a mission’s field
by just about any imaginable standard, </span><span style="font-size: small;">and that means that we need to start
thinking of ourselves as missionaries, and it also means that we need to shape
our church and our life around the mission of God, and seek to be a church and
people that live on mission for God as missionaries here in Medfield and the
Boston metro. We have to. As Ja</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">red Wilson has noted that "<i>The need for Gospel- Centered Missional Churches throughout New England is Dire</i>.</span> We have to. A</span>nd that brings us back to the subject of the missional
church. </span><br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0WLiixdxFtM/Ujs7ZD9VycI/AAAAAAAAAMU/7-adX6ptniw/s1600/missional+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0WLiixdxFtM/Ujs7ZD9VycI/AAAAAAAAAMU/7-adX6ptniw/s1600/missional+1.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">Last
month, I started to talk about the subject of the missional church. I noted
that throughout the church world, there has been a lot of discussion about the
missional church. What it means to be a missional church, and how to be
missional, and I looked at two questions. <b>What is leading the missional
church discussion</b>? I noted that what was driving the discussion is that we
no longer live in the world of Christendom, where the culture helped
“Christianize” people. Now, we are people living in a pluralistic, pagan
society, where we must see ourselves as missionaries, rather than people in a
converted culture. Second, I asked <b>“what are the theological motivations for
missional church</b>? I tried to show
some of the theological foundations for the argument that the church should be
shaped around mission, and I noted that God is a missionary God. He is the
ultimate missionary, and we are sent, as the father sent the son. This month, I
want to look at two more questions.<b> What is a missional<i> </i>church, and
how do we become a church that loves and serves our community missionally?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--M-Nc9QP6uQ/Ujs8gs-VivI/AAAAAAAAANA/dzBuMlQYI4g/s1600/what+exactly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--M-Nc9QP6uQ/Ujs8gs-VivI/AAAAAAAAANA/dzBuMlQYI4g/s1600/what+exactly.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">First,
<b>what is a missional<i> </i>church? What exactly does it mean to be missional? What does a missional church that is sent
to the world look like?</b> In short, it’s a church aimed outward. It seeks to point
its nose outward rather than inward, and incarnationally serves the world, as
the Son served the world, because it’s shaped by a love of community. It sees
that God loves people, we are made in His image, and that means we are shaped
by a love of the community, not just the landmarks, but the people in it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Different
writers give different lists, all with big overlap. According to the Gospel and
Our Culture Network, one of the original team of missional thinkers,
there are at least 12 hallmarks of the Missional Church: </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">First,<i> The missional
church proclaims the gospel</i>. It contextualizes the gospel
(Contextualization is about making the church as culturally accessible as
possible without compromising the truth of Christian belief), but it does not
skimp on the gospel, or compromise the gospel. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Second, “<i>the missional
church is a community where all members are involved in learning to become
disciples of Jesus</i>”. It is reproductive by nature. It seeks to grow people
in the gospel. Since it understands that those involved are missionaries on the
front lines, it seeks to train people as Disciples of Christ who are prepared
to live on mission for Christ.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Third, “<i>the
Bible is normative in the Missional churches life</i>”. It has authority
and shapes the life of the church. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Fourth, “<i>the missional church understands
itself as different from the world because of its participation in the life,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ</i>”. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Fifth, “<i>the missional church
seeks to discern God’s specific missional vocation for the entire community and
all of its members</i>”. It goes into the cultures and learns who is in its
community and culture, and seeks to minister there. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Sixth, “<i>a missional
church community is indicated by how Christians behave toward one another</i>”. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Seventh “<i>a missional church is a community that practices reconciliation</i>”.
It doesn’t just talk about repentance and reconciliation, it practices it. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Eighth, “<i>People within the missional church community hold themselves
accountable to one another in love</i>”. We call our brothers and sisters on
their sin, and seek to push each other towards holiness. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Ninth, “<i>The
missional church practices hospitality</i>”. Not just the occasional meal, but
really practicing hospitality, getting in each other’s lives often. Tenth, “<i>worship
is the central act by which the community celebrates with joy and thanksgiving
both God’s presence and God’s promised future</i>”. Eleventh, “<i>The missional
church community has a vital public witness</i>”. It is visible to the
community. It doesn’t hide in its church. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Finally, “<i>There is a recognition
that the missional church itself is an incomplete expression of the reign of
God</i>”. This world is fallen, and will remain fallen till the day that Christ
returns. It can’t be put right by us. But someday, Christ will make it right,
when he comes to rule and reign in glory.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Now, if you’re like me, none of that seems all that radical. But let’s take a look
at what Keller highlights about things that mark a missional church. Here is
where the ante goes up. </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>First, discourse in the vernacular.</i> </b>In
Christendom, there is little difference between the language inside and outside
of the church. For instance, the documents of the early U.S. Congress, for
example, are riddled with allusions to and references from the Bible. Biblical technical
terms are well-known inside and outside. But in a missional church, however,
terms must be explained so that all understand what is being talked about, The
missional church avoids 'tribal' language, stylized prayer language, <i>unnecessary
</i>Christian jargon, and archaic language that seeks to set a 'spiritual
tone.' Furthermore, the missional church seeks to avoid talking as if
non-believing people are not present. Keller argues that “If you speak and
discourse <i>as if </i>your whole neighborhood is present (not just scattered
Christians), eventually more and more of your neighborhood will find their way
in or be invited”. This approach has a great deal of respect for people who do
not believe. It understands what it like not to believe, and allows this understanding
permeates every aspect of ministry.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Second,
Keller says, <b><i>we need to enter and re-tell the culture's stories with the
gospel.</i></b> “In "Christendom" it is possible to simply exhort
Christianized people to "do what they know they should." There is
little or no real engagement, listening, or persuasion. It is more a matter of
exhortation (and often, heavy reliance on guilt.). In a missional church
preaching and communication should always assume the presence of skeptical
people, and should engage <i>their </i>stories, not simply talk about "old
times." To "enter" means to show sympathy toward and deep
acquaintance with the literature, music, theater, etc. of the existing
culture's hopes, dreams, 'heroic' narratives, fears. The older culture's story
was--to be a good person, a good father/mother, son/daughter, to live a decent,
merciful, good life. Now the culture's story is-- a) to be <i>free </i>and
self-created and authentic (theme of freedom from oppression), and b) to make
the world safe for everyone else to be the same (theme of inclusion of the
'other'; justice).” So what does it mean to retell the cultures stories? “To
"re-tell" means to show how only in Christ can we have freedom
without slavery and embracing of the 'other' without injustice.”<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Third,<b>
<i>we need to theologically train lay people for public life and vocation</i>.
This is big. </b>In 'Christendom' you can afford to train people just in
private world skills- prayer, Bible study, evangelism -because they are not
facing radically non-Christian values in their public life--where they work, in
their neighborhood, etc. but in a missional' church, the laity needs
theological education to 'think Christianly' about everything and work with
Christian distinctiveness. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Fourth,
<b><i>we need to create Christian community which is counter-cultural and
counter-intuitive</i>. </b>In Christendom, 'fellowship' is basically just a set
of nurturing relationships, support and accountability. That is necessary, of
course. In a missional church, however, Christian community must go beyond that
to embody a 'counter-culture,' showing the world how radically different a
Christian society is with regard to sex, money, and power. We understand that
because of the gospel, everything is different; we have a different mindset,
and different approach to all of life because of the gospel. Furthermore, he
argues that “<i>in general, a church must be more deeply and practically
committed to deeds of compassion and social justice than traditional liberal
churches and more deeply and practically committed reaching those that don’t
know Christ and leading them to saving faith than traditional fundamentalist
churches. This kind of church is
profoundly 'counter-intuitive' to American observers. It breaks their ability
to categorize (and dismiss) it as liberal or conservative. Only this kind of
church has any chance in the non- Christian west</i>.” <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Fifth<i>,<b>
it practices Christian unity as much as possible on the local level</b></i>. He
argues that we need to focus on what unites us, and seek to co-operate where we
can with other churches.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: small;">These
are a few of the different attempts to define what a missional church looks
like. As you can see, it’s faced outward, but it’s also deep, because it’s
preparing missionaries, and not consumers. As I’ve thought and read, what I’ve
seen is that these things just scratch the surface of the picture. Let me get
at some of the things that I closer to the ground.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">First,
being mission involves having lives shaped by the gospel, and recovering some
of the personal spiritual disciplines that have shaped Christian life, for
centuries. Personal spiritual disciplines, both internal (such as meditation on
the word, prayer, fasting, and study), and external disciplines (such as
simplicity and frugality, stewardship, holiness, submission, service, solitude,
evangelism, hospitality, and chastity), and corporate spiritual disciplines
(such as prayer, the preaching of the word, confession, worship, service,
hospitality and fellowship, guidance, and celebration). In all this, there has
to be a commitment to having the DNA of the individual and the church shaped by
the gospel, and then continually growing deeper in our understanding of the
gospel and its implications, rather than the values of our community and
culture (such as success and standing, , career and money, hobbies, or even
family)<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Second,
being mission includes asking what God is doing, and how can we be a part of
it? Where is God working, where are the needs, where is the brokenness, and
what is God calling us to do in that place?<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Third,
being mission involves becoming people who actively analyze as missionaries.
Missionaries think before they act. This means we need to analyze our culture
and the people around us to really understand who they are and what makes them
tick. It also involves analyzing the media, and entertainment that we see, and
rather than just enjoying it, think about what it is saying to us. What message
is it communication, and how is it shaping us, and those around us? Should we
accept that message, reject it, is it redeemable? We need to actively think
through everything we can.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Fourth,
being mission includes radical service to the world around, as we seek to
incarnate the gospel to the world around. We should not expect that people will
just be drawn to church. Non Christians will not just walk in and decide to
follow Christ. The reality is that the world has changed. This is not 1955 or
even 1975. Most of our neighbors have already decided they will never ever step
foot in our church buildings as long as they live, which means that if we want
to see people come to Christ, we must get out of the building for as long as
possible, and serve them, and paint a picture of the Christian life for the
world to see. Most people need to see a picture of the Christian life before
they will be willing to consider the gospel, but if they do, it can be
transformative. The biggest things that led to the growth of the early church
was the way they served the world around and painted this picture. One Caesar
lamented that the “Impious Galileans” didn’t just take care of their poor,
needy, and hurting, but also the poor, needy, and hurting of pagan Rome as
well, and that built incredible standing and credibility for their message. We
need to do the same. We must go, and serve, and incarnate the message, and to
take the gospel to the watching world. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Fifth,
being mission requires that we seek to make disciples, rather than grow the
church. When we try to create or grow our churches, we rarely get disciples.
That's because disciples don’t just happen. Disciples are formed, loved,
invested in, sacrificed for, raised up and sent . . . to do it all over again
themselves. And that raises a question I was confronted as I have thought
through the missional church material that I am getting from the denomination,
and from my reading. How many of us have been discipled? I mean, like Jesus
discipled the Disciples? Have you been? If you are one of the few rare
followers of Jesus who have been, you know that in the time when that occurred,
you grew more as a disciple than in all your other years combined. The early
church got this, but we’ve forgotten it. And the result is that we’re not
growing reproducing disciples, which is leading to the death of countless
churches.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> We
need to be seeking to make disciples for the sake of Christ, rather than
building our church, because ultimately, it’s not about our church, but about
God, and seeing people know and worship God. “<i>Mission</i>”, John Piper said,
“<i>exists, because worship doesn’t</i>”.
Building our church is a fading glory, building disciples who know God and live
for his glory and honor, and then build more disciples, who build more
disciples, is what we should be seeking… it’s not about getting people into
church, but out of the church, so that we can take the news of the gospel, and
evidence of the kingdom of God before the world continuously.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Sixth,
being mission means that we need to grow deep community. Our community must be
more than countercultural, it must be deep. It has to go beyond just saying hi at
coffee hour, but involve actively being in people’s lives, helping each other,
serving each other, living lives that say we care about each other. Think acts
2:42-47. This will involve laying down rights and privileges, and not seeing
ourselves as autonomous, self made, self focused individuals, but as people
living in community for the sake of Christ. This also includes loving each
other deeply. One of the statements about the early church was, “see how they
love one another”. They practiced forgiveness and reconciliation, and
hospitality, inviting the friend and the stranger into their homes, and so must
we. We must practicing these things as we seek to show that we care about each
other because of the gospel.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> And
here’s the thing, community is key to making disciples. As people see the
community, and see the lives of the members of the church community, they are
attracted (or should be), that allows them to talk about what’s going on, and
process the gospel within community. As I’ve thought about Dennis coming to
Christ, it started with him getting dragged to church, where he got introduced
to people, and then as he came into community, and got to know people, he heard
about the gospel from multiple people, and he heard preaching from me, and
others that were recommended to him, and eventually, he came to trust Christ.
Ultimately, the introduction to people in the community and building of
relationships leads to the sharing of the gospel in a much more organic way
that so much of what has passed for evangelism does, which makes deep community
all the more important.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Will
moving in this direction be easy? No, it will be messy and hard, what is easier
by far is coasting along unchanged, affecting nothing. Satan would like nothing
more than a church that just coasts, I promise you that. But that’s not what
God is calling the church to do, and the call to missional church is a call to
see that we are the gathering of the redeemed sent to participate in the work
of Jesus in this world. It’s not to huddle together for warmth. It’s not to
just pour most of our time, energy, money on serving ourselves or our loved
ones. It’s to go out as sent ones. I’ve been seeking to paint this picture for
awhile, because I believe that we need to see ourselves differently, not as a
club, but as a community of people whose very purpose is to be people who go as
“the sent ones” into our communities to be salt and light. The call of the
missional church, the call that has been grabbing at me, and I hope you, is
that we need to be shaped by the need for reaching the world rather than the
comfort of those in the pews, because the church is not primarily about us, but
about God’s mission in the world. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Now,
let me be clear, this all feels like it will be a massive deconstruction of how
the church approaches things. It may even feel like a deconstruction of the
institutional church. it’s not. Some say that deconstruction is the right road.
But I don’t, and neither do any of the serious and best missional thinkers.
Instead, this is a critique of the approach that hangs up a shingle, and waits.
It’s is a critique of the seeker sensitive movement, it a critique of the fact
that as Christendom ended, and it’s a cry, led by people who love God and love
church, that we need to get in gear, and reach those around us. It’s a scream,
for us to recognize that we are missionaries, and to start thinking like
missionaries, learning to understand those around us, learning how to serve and
care for them, and love them, because God loves them, and wants them to know
him and then grow as his disciples. </span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Ultimately, being a missional church is not
about being one style of church or another. It’s about galvanizing into
distinct movement, understanding that you are sent into an irreligious world to
live as a Christian and to lift up and proclaim the good news of the Gospel.
It’s about seeing that every believer is sent on this mission by God just as
Jesus was sent on this mission (John 17:14-16, 18; 20:21). It’s about seeing
that if the people outside of the church will not relate to anything we are
currently preoccupied with protecting, we need to shift. It’s about being a
theologically-formed, Gospel-centered, Spirit-empowered, united community of
believers who seek to faithfully incarnate the purposes of Christ for the glory
of God. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The
mission of the church is found in the mission of God who is calling the church
to passionately participate in God's redemptive mission in the world (Matt.
28:18-20; Acts 1:8). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Remember
that this goes so much deeper than just having a missions program, and being
“missions-minded” A missional church is a church that sees mission as being not
just one part of what the church does, but instead, finds that the church’s
mission shapes and forms its identity, lifestyle, strategy, priorities,
spending, leadership, structure, and decision-making and has a focus on
missional outreach. This mission is based upon the life and mission of Christ.
Every member of the church is “sent”. It’s not about “sending and supporting”
missionaries. It’s about “participating here” rather than having someone
“represent you there”. It’s not a program – but the very essence of the church.<b>
<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So,
<b>how do we become a church that loves and serves our community missionally?</b>
How do we become what might be called a missional church? We don’t do it to be
cool, but to be faithful. So how do we get there? Honestly, that’s where I’m
the weakest, in large part, because that’s the 64 million dollar question that
everyone is trying to figure out. It’s pretty clear, that with culture as
diverse as it is now, it’s not one size fits all. There is no church in a box,
silver bullet solution. If there is one thing that I have found out as I have
read, and read, it’s this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">As
I have indicated, I think it starts with shifting our thinking. We need to
understand that this is not a program, slap it on, and we’re good to go.
Ultimately, being missional is about how we see ourselves, and that requires a
change of mind, asking, ourselves, are we people who see Christianity as one
ball to be juggled, or as people who are shaped and defined by the gospel, and
then live out of the gospel in every area, as we seek to bring the gospel to
the world around. And are we doing it because we want the church to grow, or
because we want people to know the savior who has radically transformed our
lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Second,
I think it includes dealing with some things. We have rifts that need to be
healed. It occurred to me, as I reflect on my time here, that there have been countless
skirmishes and battles, and that we do not love each other the way that we
should. Division has marked my time, and that saddens me. But then I reflected
more deeply, and realized that this is the history of the church. We need to
repent of our sin, especially when it comes to our rights, and expectations,
and selfishness (remember that one part of those founding First Baptist were
driven by not wanting to pay taxes, that strand of selfishness is still in our
DNA), and ask for forgiveness of those we have wronged, and those places where
we have insisted on our rights, and really seeking to love one another with
deep Christ-like love, so that the town of Medfield will say, “see how they
love one another”. Then we need to be in each other’s lives, showing that we
care about each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Third,
I think it requires that we stop lamenting the end of Christendom (I’m talking
to myself as I say that). Christendom made the church a cultural captive.
Because it was the arbitrator of culture, it couldn’t call culture on its
systemic sins, it could only confront the private sins. But if Christendom is
gone, and that releases us from cultural captivity, allowing the church to not
be the arbitrators of the culture, or even the cultures morality, but to call
people to run against the grain, and live lives marked by the gospel and the
disciplines of Christina life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Fourth, I think it includes understanding that this
will take time, and is dependent on God. This is more of a process, like
growing a garden than starting a machine. It’s not church in a box.
Furthermore, only God brings revival. I can’t promise that we will succeed in
anything we try; only God grows the fruit. I plant, Apollos waters… God makes
it grow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Fifth, I think it includes really connecting to those
in our community, and getting to know our neighbors, and really seeking to know
them. And asking what are the challenges people are facing. What are they
struggling with? What’s happening in their lives? It also involves asking,
where can we find ways to bless our town, in Jesus name, because we want to
love them as Christ loved them? It starts with finding ways to partner with
others in our community, to serve Medfield, and Metro-west, and meet its needs,
simply because God loves this community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Furthermore, I think it includes thinking
theologically, biblically and missionally about how you live, and how you can
be someone whose live is a powerful witness to what God has done in your
life.(Acts 4:32-34). It includes regarding yourselves as “Ambassadors” of
Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-20), and guard your heart against syncretism
(worshiping things other than God- looking to what Keller calls counterfeit
Gods) and sectarianism (huddling away from the community). It includes looking
at everything we do through the prism of the gospel, and not visa-versa (Acts
10). It includes loving God, His mission, and His people, and having your own
life shaped by the gospel. It also requires that we do everything we can with
excellence, in a way that says, we care about the community, and that includes
even the little things like taking care of the building. The list is endless. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">But
there is one more thing that we can do as we seek to become a church with this
missional instinct. The Boston Southwest Association has invited Glynis
LaBarre, one of the denominations few missional thinker (as best I can tell),
to lead any churches that are interested in a “missional church learning
experience (MCLE)”. It’s not a perfect program, but it’s designed to allow our
church to work alongside other churches, and try to take baby-steps in serving
our community and incarnating the gospel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Ultimately,
this will require everyone working in the same direction, and learning together
I’m going to admit upfront, I can’t turn make this shift happen on my own. I
can’t save the church, as many hope that I can do. Furthermore, I think that we
need to stop worrying about saving the church, and reaching Medfield with the
gospel. We need to understand that success is measured in people knowing Christ,
not saving the institution. And for this, I don’t have a complete roadmap for
success. I’ve got suggestions, and lots of thoughts. I have freely barrowed
from many sources in putting this together (If you would like a list of some,
email me, and I will provide you with some things to chew on), but I don’t have
a ten point plan (intentionally). I don’t want to present you with a top down
plan of, here is how we do this. Instead, my hope for all this, is to jump
start a conversation about how we can reach our community and region together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I
know it will require sacrifice, and that we might be tempted to reject the task
because of the cost. But I also truly believe that we all want to obey God and
see lives changed by the gospel, and that’s the reason to go through what looks
like a daunting transition (daunting even for the change pastor). In the end,
it all comes down to the desire to further the kingdom. To see people know
Jesus, and become his disciples. To obey our king, serve our king, and follow our
king. To be sent, as He was sent. We know that the world is changing, that
Christendom is past, and we face a new paradigm for ministry. We know we’re not
alone in feeling like the world has turned upside down. We know we’re one of a
hundred churches that feel the same way, just in the Boston area. From seminary
presidents, to denomination officials, to pastors and church leaders, and
church members, everyone is struggling to find the answers. We’re going through
the biggest cultural shift since the reformation and enlightenment that led to
the rise of modernity. Everything is out of balance; we’re all being bombarded
with change that is requiring personal, systemic, and cultural transformation
inside and outside of the church. And yet in this, God is acting, and we need
to be working together to see lives changed by the gospel.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So
how can we bring the gospel to people in such a time as this? What is he
calling us to? Lets spend the summer talking about this. If He is a sending
God, how can we be living on mission together in a way that reaches Medfield
and Metro-west and makes disciples? That’s the conversation I hope to get you
all involved in. As I ponder this, I know that I am still a relative newcomer.
This was your town and region first; all of you know this community and region
far better than I do. I have no doubt that you see things I miss. Reaching our
community is going to require all of us working together, and I need your help,
as together we seek to hear from God and follow God, and live for the glory of
his name. Consider these last two articles. Consider the Mission field of New
England, and of Medfield and Metro-west, and consider what that requires of all
of us, together, as we seek to live as people sent on mission. My hope is that
wherever God is taking First Baptist, and the greater church community, that we
will go through this change well, and that that the result will be that the
kingdom of God is furthered, and that people connect to the gospel, grow in the
gospel, becoming mature disciples, serve from the gospel, share the gospel, and
that all are truly changed by the gospel.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-22949646614083060272013-06-05T14:15:00.000-04:002015-05-27T10:51:30.003-04:00From the Newsletter: Missional Church- Part 1<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">We live in a mission’s field. The day has passed when
the mission’s field is “over there” somewhere across the sea. It is here. New
England is a mission’s field by just about any imaginable standard. And the New
England church, by and large, is not reaching New England as missionaries.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So how do we approach the community that we
live in, and seek to be salt and light? How do we minister in such a way that
we bring the gospel to bear on people’s lives and make disciples? It starts by
seeing ourselves as missionaries, by seeing ourselves as people who have been
sent on mission, and by shaping our lives around this reality. But it also
includes shaping our church culture around this reality. And this brings me to
the subject of the missional church. Throughout the church world, there has been
allot of discussion about what it means to be a missional church, and how to be
missional, and so I just want to look at four questions, two this month, and
two next month. <b>What is leading to the missional church discussion? What is
the theological motivation for missional church? What is a missional<i> </i>church?
And how do we become a church that loves and serves our community missionally?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">So first, <b>what is leading to the
missional church discussion? </b>The motivation for missional church is that
Christendom is failing, and the church has by and large, failed to adapt to the
new reality on the ground. For nearly 1000 years, the west has lived in a world
where the culture, was known as “Christendom”. The Church and the society where
fused together, and “<i>the institutions of society Christianized people, and
stigmatized non Christian behavior</i>”. The problem, notes Tim Keller* in his
article <i>Missional Church</i>, is that<i> </i>“<i>Though people were
"Christianized" by the culture, they were not regenerated or
converted with the Gospel</i>”. In this culture, the church's job was then to
challenge people to come to a living, saving faith in Christ. There were huge
advantages and huge disadvantages to 'Christendom' that existed side by side.
The advantage was that there was a common language for public moral discussion,
which allowed society to debate and define what was ‘good’, and ‘not good’. “<i>The
disadvantage was that Christian morality without gospel-changed hearts often
led to many problems, severe cruelty, and great hypocrisy”. </i>Many people who
claimed to be Christian lived lives that were anything but. Furthermore, <i>“under
"Christendom" the church often was silent against abuses of power of
the ruling classes over the weak. For these reasons and others, the church in
Europe and North America has been losing its privileged place as the arbiter of
public morality since at least the mid 19th century</i>”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The decline of Christendom began to
accelerate significantly after World War 2. Tim Keller observers that in 1950,
the British missionary Lesslie Newbigin went to India, and while he served
there, he was involved with a church living 'in mission' in a very
non-Christian culture; when he returned to England some 30 years later, he
discovered that now the Western church too existed in a non-Christian society,
but it had not adapted to its new situation. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dduWBjnwntc/Ujs8bqV0KpI/AAAAAAAAAMs/1CuHPrwZ4Vo/s1600/missional+vs+attractional.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dduWBjnwntc/Ujs8bqV0KpI/AAAAAAAAAMs/1CuHPrwZ4Vo/s1600/missional+vs+attractional.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">Though
public institutions and popular culture of Europe and North America no longer
'Christianized' people, the church still ran its ministries assuming that a
stream of 'Christianized', traditional/moral people would simply show up in
services, taking what some have described as the attractional “<i>if you build
it they will come” </i>approach. Some churches certainly did 'evangelism' as
one ministry among many, notes Keller, “<i>but the church in the West had not
become completely 'missional'--adapting and reformulating absolutely everything
it did in worship, discipleship, community, and service--so as to be engaged
with the non-Christian society around it”.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">There are many reasons
for this, but a big one, according to Missiologist Ed Stetzer, is that North
America (and Europe) was not and is not seen by the Christians that live there
as a missions field, or it is seen as a reached field only in need of an
evangelism strategy. The problem with this, Stetzer argues in <i>Breaking the
Missional Code</i>, is that we need to realize that we there is a core
difference between evangelism and missions.<i> “Evangelism is telling people
about Jesus; missions involves understanding them before we tell them”. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Most American
churches, and certainly most New England churches, aren’t there. We still
assume that the average people outside the church thinks as they did under
Christendom, and are looking for a church, and know they should belong to one.
But by and large, they don’t. And we still struggle to get that. The result is
that the church, rather than being salt and light, is a smaller and smaller
minority that seeks to survive and outlast the onslaught of changes in our
culture, while lamenting that we no longer have home court advantage. In this
environment, many churches are just happy to be alive, the mantra of a group of
people who feel incapable of relating to the changing environment becomes “<i>We’ve
stayed alive another year, praise the Lord</i>”. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dfUhTysHrb0/Ujs71cb2cJI/AAAAAAAAAMg/rdaWvFUKAvA/s1600/miss+vs+consumer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dfUhTysHrb0/Ujs71cb2cJI/AAAAAAAAAMg/rdaWvFUKAvA/s320/miss+vs+consumer.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">Add to that the fact that many have become consumers of church, retreating
into the comfort of our sanctuaries, encouraging one another, helping one
another, hoping that what is going on in our little boxes will attract those on
the outside, and the fact that we have all been infected by the seeker
mentality (A seeker mentality that is fiercely pragmatic and consumer driven,
that starts with the assumption that the church is a business that produces
goods and services to a market and therefore, the demands of the market
determine the message and ministries and even the mission of the church), and
you can see a problem. Consumerism was met with a product sold by churches
whose goal was a larger and larger market share. The old attractional model was
put on speed. But the problem was that often, the seeker churches often just pulled from
other churches, while not reaching the un-churched and secular society around
with the gospel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WGLf8hqCgeY/Ujs7jfPiRdI/AAAAAAAAAMc/B1nNxs2vWLM/s1600/Missional%252520Living.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WGLf8hqCgeY/Ujs7jfPiRdI/AAAAAAAAAMc/B1nNxs2vWLM/s320/Missional%252520Living.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">In the face of these dynamics, the church has failed to develop a
'missiology of western culture' the way it had done so for other non-believing
cultures. This is sad, and ironic. The church has put innumerable hours into
thinking about how to reach the world around us, but has not thought long and
hard about how to reach our communities. We assume that if we do a little
evangelism, then everything will be all right. But the result, notes Stetzer,
is that “<i>many churches fail to reach people in the shadow if their own
steeple</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Now, in some places, the church is still thriving, especially evangelical
churches. In the Deep South, and in many and places in the Midwest, it has not
experienced the same massive decline as the Protestant churches of Europe and
Canada, in large part because of the remnants of the old 'Christendom' society.
There the informal public culture (though not the formal public institutions)
still stigmatizes non-Christian beliefs and behavior. But those places are
slowly disappearing, and even there, most traditional evangelical churches
still can only win people to Christ who are temperamentally traditional and
conservative. The reality is that this is that every church will have to learn
how to become 'missional'. If they do not, they will decline or die. As one
writer, Scott Thomas, put it,<b> “</b><i>Since Christianity is a minority voice
in the postmodern culture, the church must adopt an approach to ministry
learned from the foreign missionaries who communicate and relate in
understandable ways to the godless inhabitants in their respective cultures</i>
(1 Cor. 9:22).”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So the situation is bleak. We get that. Is that enough? What’s the bible
say? The call that you are making is that we should aim at being a church that
is mission. Why? <b>What is the theological motivation for missional church</b>?
The reality that God is a God on mission. The missional church is a church that
is shaped by the fact that God is a God on mission, a God seeking and saving of
the lost, making of disciples, and displaying His glory over all the earth.
From the very beginning of scripture, we see that God is a missionary God how
propels himself out as the Ultimate Missionary. In Genesis he sends out His
Word and creating. He creates the world. Later, He creates Israel, choosing a
man and making a covenant with him, and declaring that though this man He was
going to bless the world. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Throughout
scripture, we see that God is constantly sending himself. The history of Israel
is a history of God’s “sentness” Israel’s great discovery was that God does not
live in a temple. They encountered God in Babylon, Nineveh, and bottom of the
ocean. The Sending One is always moving outward after His people.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">For over 20 years, an ever-growing movement referred to collectively as
the Missional Church Movement has been make in call for churches to re-orient
themselves from their own wants, needs and desires, to the agenda of mission,
arguing that the mission of God, the Missio Dei, should be the organizing
principle around which all other things are organized. The starting point for
the missional church movement is that man is not the center that needs to have
a program for every felt need, but instead, understands that God is on a
mission for His purposes, and that the churches mission is to become enlisted
in that purpose to the world. David Bosch writes in this book, <i>Transforming
Mission</i>, that <i>“The term mission presupposes a sender, a person or
persons sent by the sender, those to who one is sent, and an assignment.” </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The very doctrine of the Trinity bears this out. Scripture makes clear
that God the Father sends God the Son to redeem a lost world. In Luke he
declares that he came to “<i>seek and to save the lost</i> (Luke 19:10), and in
John, we see repeatedly that he was sent, He says "<i>My food is to do the
will of Him who sent me<b>,</b> and to accomplish His work</i>." (John 4:34),
“<i>I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment
is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.</i>
(John 5:30)” “<i>For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but
the will of Him who sent Me. </i>(John 6:38)”. Jesus was sent. This sentness is the thing that sends us as well. After the resurrection,
Jesus comes to his disciples and says, “<i>Peace be with you; as the Father has
sent Me, even so, I send you<b>.” </b></i>His sending becomes the basis for our
sending. Being missional is a response to the fact that God is a sending God;
it’s an imitation of His impulse as a sender, and an acceptance of the fact
that we were created and chosen for His missional purposes. <i>Jesus said,
"You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you
should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you
ask of the Father in my name, He may give to you"</i> (John 15:16), God is
the one who sends us on mission, we didn’t choose the mission, God chooses us
for the mission, and we are invited to take part in the mission He chooses for
us. Mission is not something we do, it’s not a program, it the essence of the
church, our central mission is God’s mission, to <i>“seek and to save what was
lost”</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The sending of Christ gives us the how of the mission as well as the
reason for the mission. <i>“As the Father sent me, even so, I send you”</i>.
The way that we are to go, is shaped by the way Christ went. As people who are
being conformed to His image, we are to carry His image out the same way that
He carried God the Fathers out. We are to live as He lived, love as He loved,
pursue what He pursued, as we seek to accomplish His purposes. So how did
Christ come? Speaking, declaring, sharing, but also loving and serving. He
cared for the sick and the needy. He touched hearts and minds, and brought
healing, and He served humbly, not because He got anything out of it, but for
the blessing of those he ministered to.
And He spoke. He proclaimed the gospel. Boldly. When we look at Christ,
we get a sense of how our own mission is shaped. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Now, none of this is new, and that’s the point. The early church was
shaped by this kind of mission-mindedness, and the proponents of the missional
movement make clear that what they seek is a return to the mission-mindedness
of the early church, a mission-mindedness that many churches have at their
beginning, but lose as they became more inward-focused and move “missions” to a
separate category altogether. But being missional is not an extra for the
church, it is the church, and it’s about bringing the church and mission back
together and seeing the mission as the core, overarching, motivating logic for
all that we do. The church exists neither for itself nor its parishioners, but
for the kingdom and mission of God. As Jurgen Moltmann, the German theologian
notes, <i>"It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill
in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father
that includes the Church." There is Church because there is mission, not
vice versa)… the Church is participating in the mission of God. The church's
mission is a subset of a larger whole mission.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Next
month, we will come back to this subject, and look at our final two questions.
But for now, I ask you; think about what it means for us. If God is a sending
God, what does that look like for us as individuals, and as churches?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="yiv1937964967msonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">*NOTE: I have quoted freely from many sources. Sometimes I have attributed, but not always. This was originally a newsletter article for the church, not a research paper.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-66521492028967850402013-04-26T23:15:00.002-04:002013-04-26T23:15:39.817-04:00From the Newsletter: On the day that darkness comes home<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OcxTE6vUDP0/UXtCgLM7L8I/AAAAAAAAAK8/u6q2i1rA5_A/s1600/bos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OcxTE6vUDP0/UXtCgLM7L8I/AAAAAAAAAK8/u6q2i1rA5_A/s1600/bos.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I think everyone in the Boston Metro is going to be
able to tell you where they were and what they were doing when they heard about
what some have referred to as “the Boston Massacre”. The act of homicidal evil
perpetrated by the Tsarnaev brothers shook the Boston metro and brought it to a
standstill. No one was unmoved. People moved on pins and needles, and fear
infected hearts. It was a day that darkness came home to all that live in the
Boston metro; a day when it became so real that you could taste it.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Some things jump to the head of the line. This is one of
them. This was a hard moment for Boston, one that should not go unexamined.
What should go through our mind when evil happens, and how should we respond
when evil is perpetrated on us? Not just when bombs go off, but when other
terrible and tragic things are done, both around us and to us? Here are five
things I would encourage you to think about on those days when darkness comes
home to your life.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First, remember that our world is fallen and therefore
we should expect evil things to happen around us and sometime even to us.
Haddon Robinson, my professor of preaching, began the first class by saying “<i>I
believe in two things, the sovereignty of God and the depravity of man</i>”. No
words are truer. This world is broken. It is not as it should be. It bears the
marks of sin, everything in all creation groans under the weight of sin, and
our lives groan under the weight of the evil we bring upon each other. There is
no one that is not sinful and corrupt by nature. When Adam sinned, we all
sinned with him, and the result is that every one of us is corrupt and sinful
by nature, we are hostile to God from birth. <i>“Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me”</i> (Psalm 51:5-6) David writes.
When we look around, with honest eyes, we see this. G.K. Chesterton, the
British scholar, once wrote that original <i>sin "is the only part of
Christian theology w</i></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">hich can really be proved."</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> At our core we know that to be true. We like to say
that we think people are naturally good, but let’s face it, the reason people
move to places like Medfield is that “<i>we are looking for a safe place to
raise our kids</i>”. We inherently know that something is gravely wrong with
this world. Events like the ‘Boston Massacre’ remind of this. But so do those
other moments. Those moments when you find out a corrupt stock broker blew up
your investments, or your grandkid got mugged, or, or, or. We should never
forget this world is evil. We should expect that evil things will happen around
us or to us.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Second, do not doubt the sovereignty of God.
Thankfully, we can’t stop with recognizing that the world is evil. We can know
that God is sovereign. He created the world. He sustains the world. He holds
all things in his hand. He’s not an 80 pound weakling who’s begging for us to
like him. He’s over all things. There is nothing that happens that can thwart
his will. He is the God who knows all things and controls all things. Scripture
says that he numbers your days. He holds all things together, and yet he knows
everything about you, even the number of hairs on your head. He is in control
of all things. And yet, He is at work for your good. He is the God who says, <i>“I
know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans
to give you hope and a future” </i>(Jeremiah 29:11), and makes clear that <i>“all
things work together for the good of those who love him and are called
according to his purpose” </i>(Romans 8:28). He is sovereign, nothing can
thwart His will, and He is working for your good. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">N</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ow, does He allow sin to be at work for now? Yes,
it’s a result of the fall. But even so, while he gives us free will and allows
sinful rebellion, He does not allow our free will to run and evil hearts to run
unchecked. He restrains our conscience, and upsets the thwarts the plans of the
wicked. Scripture says that “<i>He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so
that their hands achieve no success”</i>(Job 5:12). Think of how this worked
out last week in Boston. As I mentioned several times after the event, it’s
worth pondering that only 3 people were killed in the bomb. Many were wounded,
but only three were killed. That’s amazing. Think of how few died, compared to
how many probably would have if they hadn’t done this so close to where all the
medics were. Now three deaths is a tragedy. All deaths reflect the fact that
this world is not as it was designed to be since the fall. But for them only to
have gotten three is amazing to me. Yes, he allowed these men to exercise their
free evil will, but he also thwarted the plans of the wicked. Not only does He
thwart the plans of the wicked, but scripture makes clear that someday every
wrong will be righted and everything sad will come untrue. Someday Christ will
return and deal with evil once and for all. He came and went to the cross, so
that someday He could destroy evil once and for all, without destroying us.
Someday, He will return and deal with evil totally and completely. He will
return with power and glory, not as a humble baby in a manger but as the King
of Kings who comes on a white horse with a sword and garments dipped in blood,
having tread the winepress of the wrath of God. He will destroy evil once and
for all. God is sovereign.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Third, know that God doesn’t leave us alone in the
middle of hardship and pain. Scripture makes clear that Christ is with us in
the middle of our hardship. We have a savior who was tempted and tested and
tried, who suffered, died, and rose in glory, and declares <i>"I will be
with you always, even to the end of the age". </i>When hardship comes, we
can rely on God. Psalm 46 tells us that “<i>God is our refuge and
strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though
the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its
waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging”</i> Even when
things seem terrible, when things seem hard, and painful. Even when bombs go
off and you feel like huddling at home under the bed, He is with you. And that
does not guarantee that bad things will not happen around you or to you. But it
does mean that you are not alone in the hardship and pain. He is with you,
walking beside you, going ahead of you and forging the path. You are not alone.
Fear not. Even when bad things are happening around you or to you.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Fourth, keep in mind that we bear a message of hope to
preach to ourselves and to others. God is at work. In the midst of this broken
world, He is redeeming for himself a new people who are called by His name. A
people who are marked by His grace. A people who bear scars, but know that
their savior bears greater scars, and no matter what pain enters your life,
your savior took greater pain, so that this pain cannot destroy you. Yes,
darkness came home to Boston. But on the cross, darkness came home to his life,
as the ultimate darkness of eternal wrath crashed down on him. Now, He brings
healing and hope to us. There is freedom and life and grace, even in the mist
of darkness. There is restoration and salvation in the midst of darkness. We
tend to look around and say. The world is falling apart. But that’s the wrong
attitude. Carl F. Henry, the founder of Christianity today, notes that “<i>The
early Christians did not say ‘look what the world is coming to!’ but ‘look what
has come into the world!</i>” We bear a message of hope. Look what has come
into the world. Redemption! Salvation! A new power, a restoring power. This
message is hope for all<i>. </i>Freedom and life and grace is offered and
available to everyone, even the vilest of sinners, even Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. It’s
an across the board offer. The sweetest grandmother, the vilest offender, the
kindest child, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, all are offered Gods saving grace. There is
hope that is held out in the midst of darkness. Are times like the last week
hard? Yes. But there is hope; hope of healing, of restoration, of his presence,
and life and light. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finally, understand that there is joy in Christ
available in the midst of hardship. The reality is that we live in a fallen
world. One that has been and will continue to bear the marks of the fall. But
the gospel means that because Christ died and rose you can trust him and rely
on him in the middle of dark days and even find real joy in the middle of it
all. Will tragedy happen? Yes. Will the sovereign Lord of all be with you? Yes.
And in the midst of it you may find great joy. In his book, <i>Margin</i>,
Richard Swenson writes of A Vietnamese pastor who was thrown into prison,
leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves. The family’s home was
taken, so that the destitute wife and children were forced to live on an open
balcony, exposed to the drenching rain. And yet, she was full of joy in the
Lord for His comfort and care. She wrote, "<i>When we experience
misfortune, adversity, distress and hardship, only then do we see the real
blessing of the Lord poured down on us in such a way that we cannot contain it.
I do not know what words to use in order to describe the love that the Lord has
shown our family. I only can bow my knee and my heart and offer to the Lord
words of deepest thanks and praise. Although we have lost our house and our
possessions, we have not lost the Lord, and He is enough. With the Lord I have
everything. The only thing I would fear losing is His blessing! She concluded,
“As far as my husband is concerned, I was able to visit him this past summer.
We had a 20-minute conversation that brought us great joy</i>” (Cited by
Richard Swenson, <i>Margin </i>[NavPress], pp. 188-190.).I don’t know if I
could say that, but she knew that God was with her in tragedy and hardship. She
encountered His grace and sustenance in the middle of the hardship. She was
able to say with the psalmist, in the middle of darkness, “<i>You have turned
for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me
with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my
God, I will give thanks to you forever</i> (Psalm 30:11-12)! “<i>Those who sow
in tears will reap with songs of joy” (Psalm 126:5).</i></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y_GSxiZQizk/UXtCG9IlhuI/AAAAAAAAAK0/q15TNuWla-Q/s1600/time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y_GSxiZQizk/UXtCG9IlhuI/AAAAAAAAAK0/q15TNuWla-Q/s1600/time.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last week may have been unprecedented, or it could be
(as some commentators and pundits are suggesting) the new normal. We don’t
know. But I promise you, hard times will come into your life. Times that make
you sob will assault you. Be it terrorist bombs or something that is ten times
less scary, and still real and hard. In those moments you are not alone. There
is hope. There is joy. There is the presence of God at work even when the
darkness comes home. Evil is real. But God is sovereign, and even though hell
itself pour down on you, if you have placed your faith in Christ, He is with
you. When the day of darkness comes crashing down, do not forget this.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-55008415771297330932013-04-10T16:34:00.000-04:002013-04-26T16:35:25.649-04:00From the Newsletter: The Great Missions Field Called New England <div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yh3Nt6Q7ArU/UXrjWu5K1qI/AAAAAAAAAKc/q3A1TczRGTg/s1600/ne+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yh3Nt6Q7ArU/UXrjWu5K1qI/AAAAAAAAAKc/q3A1TczRGTg/s1600/ne+3.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
think it’s safe to say that New England is in my DNA. My mom’s family has been
in New England since the 1600’s, and they were some of the first people to move
into Vermont. I grew up in New England, and God seems to be making it clear,
that I will be a New England pastor for the rest of my life. When I was young I
dreamed of going oversees to train locals for ministry because they know the
culture that they are ministering to backwards and forwards, and at 18 I left
New England and never expected to return. But at 23, something funny happened,
God made clear that I was supposed to return to New England and go to Gordon
Conwell. Since then he has been making clear that all along he has been making
me someone who is built for ministry in New England. Someone from New England,
who speaks it’s language, loves what it loves, mourns and cheers when it does,
and bleeds when the Sox lose. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Which
is why I look around and feel a deep sadness and excitement. </i>I feel a deep sadness, because I see a place, in
desperate need of the gospel. I was at a recent association meeting for the
denomination, and the speaker was Glynis LaBarre (LaBarre is a “<i>transformation
strategist</i>” for the denomination, and the leading missional thinker in the
ABC -as far as I can tell, the only one -we’ll get to the missional church next
month), And at one point, she spoke about “the numbers”. She noted that the
world that we live in has changed. It used be a world shaped by, and friendly
to the church. 8 of 10 used to be in church. Now it’s 2 of 10 of ten, if...
Soon it will be 1 of 10. LaBarre, who looked to me to be in her late 50’s,
commented that “<i>in the generations under me, less than 1 in 10 has a
significant connection with love of God</i>”. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But,
the facts on the ground are worse in New England. A 2009 Gallup poll placed the
six states of New England in the top ten least religious states in the nation.
According to the NETS Institute for Church Planting, all six New England states
rank in the top 10 least religious states in the US. Vermont, New Hampshire,
Maine, and Massachusetts make up the top four. Roughly 2% of New Englanders
attend evangelical churches. One of every six residents of Massachusetts and
Connecticut is atheist or agnostic, nearly double the national average.
Of the 27 most populous states, Massachusetts has by far the lowest percentage
of self-professed "born agains." There is a higher percentage of
evangelical church attendees in Mormon Utah than in Rhode Island. <i> That’s
pretty mind-blowing. </i>Furthermore, there is very little biblical literacy to
speak of. According to a Barna poll entitled “<i>America’s Most (and Least)
Bible-Minded Cities</i>” that came out this winter, 5 of the 6 least biblically
literate cities are in New England. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As
you well know, things are pretty grim here in New England, which is why New
England has been designated an unreached people group by some denominations. As
a native New Englander, my heart breaks when I think of the reality on the
ground here. New England, as a region, fits the category of unreached people.
The missions field is not just, over there. It’s here, in our backyard. And
this is not new<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>info to many of us. We
live in a giant mission field.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uBznzAbzHmY/UXrj-ZmpsaI/AAAAAAAAAKk/2tueCBjZiaI/s1600/ne+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uBznzAbzHmY/UXrj-ZmpsaI/AAAAAAAAAKk/2tueCBjZiaI/s1600/ne+1.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">So
that’s the bad news. However, and there’s the big huge however, at the same
time, I’m excited. First, all the bad new means that we have an unprecedented
opportunity. Paul dreamed of going and sharing the gospel where no one else
had. We get to. We get to work, in almost untilled ground. You, and I. We are
the people God has called to proclaim the gospel, and model the gospel to a
place that desperately needs the good news of the gospel. That excites me. Will
it be hard? Yes. But we get to be missionaries to a place that desperately
needs the gospel. We get to walk out the door into one of the toughest missions
field imaginable and take the gospel there! We have been called to take on this
mantle. That thrills me. I dream of seeing God move here in New England. I
dream of seeing revival in New England as in the days of Edwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I long for revival. For the day when the
gospel is preached from pulpits, shared by friends at the coffee shop, over
lunches and dinners, at work and at the ballgame, and wherever we go! I dream
of a day when the ripe harvest that I see here in New England is reaped. <i>The
scary and awesome thing is that the bad news means we have an unprecedented
opportunity to share the Gospel</i>!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Furthermore,
there are plenty of signs that God is at work in a big way. In the Lion the Witch
and the Wardrobe, there are signs that Aslan is moving well before he is seen.
Every part of Narnia buzzes with his presence. The rumor is passed with
excitement, and the snow starts melting, and flowers bloom. Father Christmas
returns. Throughout Narnia, there are hints, and whispers that the dark days
may be ending, and here in New England there are signs that God is beginning to
send long prayed for revival; signs that God is already doing something
amazing. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here
are a few. First, I look around and see young pastors being called to New
England ministry. A few weeks ago, Veronique and I attended an overnight
retreat hosted by the New England Church revitalization network, and gathered
with other pastors and their spouses doing revitalization work here in New
England. Most were young, and all of us were telling stories of God working
slowly but faithfully. There was a sense that there are shoots appearing both
near and far.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Second,
last fall, 1300 Christians gathered for the Gospel Coalition NE Conference.
1300 people! Some were pastors, but many others where faithful Christians who
where there to be fed, energized, and equipped for life on the missions field
of New England. 1300 Christians excited about living gospel centered lives, and
caring enough to get to a conference in the heart of Boston!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Third,
shortly after the Gospel Coalition Regional Conference an interesting article
appeared in Slate, entitled, “<i>Re-evangelizing New England<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘how church planting and music festivals are
bringing about a quiet revival</i>”, and it spoke of some of the things that
God is doing in New England, and pointing out that there is a quiet revival
going on in New England that has been flying under the radar. It points out
that “<i>In Boston, though the population has dipped slightly below its level
in 1970, the number of churches has almost doubled, and the number of people
attending church has more than tripled in that same period</i>”. Dozens and
dozens of churches have been planted here in New England in the last 10 or 15
years; this article is just catching onto something that has been happening for
awhile. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Fourth,
there are churches returning to Gospel faithfulness even in our own mainline
denomination. Dale Edwards, the executive Director of VT/NH ABC was one of the
speakers at the retreat Veronique and I recently went to, and he told us that
most of the ABC churches in VT/NH are now somewhere on the spectrum of
orthodoxy. In the ABC!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">These
are some of the reasons I’m excited. It’s a good time to be in New England.
Shortly after the Gospel Coalition <span style="color: white;">gathering in October, Collin Hansen, one of
the speakers at the conference, wrote an article <span style="mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">entitled, “</span><i><span style="mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">T</span><span style="mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he best of times in New England</span></i><span style="mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”, one line stood out to me above all the rest. </span></span><span style="color: white; mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>These are
the best of times in New England because God has raised up local church leaders
who love their communities, who have committed to staying over the long haul as
they trust Christ to change hearts and redeem souls. They understand the
challenges. The have endured hardship. They have been tempted to hunker down
but defied Satan to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to their neighbors and
encourage fellow believers to do likewise”</i></span><i></i><span style="color: white;">.</span> <o:p></o:p><span style="mso-armenian-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-currency-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I
look around, and feel a deep sadness, and great excitement. But the work is
just beginning. I was speaking with a friend recently and I commented that
I am feeling the weight of the great commission<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>more and more, and I’m sure it is because I know that in large part the
work is just beginning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My
hope and prayer is that you do too. My hope and prayer, is that you feel the
weight of the facts that lay before us, and that they break your heart. May
they break your heart for New England, for Massachusetts, for Metro-west, and
for Medfield. But I hope that as they do, that you will be excited about the
fact that God has called us to be here at this time and place for this very
reason. He is sovereign, and he has called you and I to such a time as this.
May God use you to be about his work, to be one of those men and women, that
look at the world, and hear the words of your Lord, "<i>The harvest is
plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to
send out workers into his harvest field </i>(Matthew 9:36-37)." My hope
and prayer is that you will be one of those workers, who shares the gospel, who
hears the great commission, who hears the reminder that fields are ripe with
harvest, and shares the good news of what Christ has done <i>as you are going</i>
through the day to day parts of your life and live for the glory of his name.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Next
month, I will talk about the Missional Church movement, which I believe is one
of the fundamental church culture shifts that the American church, and
especially the New England church, will need to go through, as we switch our
gaze from ourselves, to the lost world around us. But for now, let me just ask
you to do one thing. Pray, seriously pray, for revival. I dream of revival, I
long for revival. I want to see that day with all my heart. But it starts, with
prayer.<span style="color: white;"> It will not happen without prayer. As Stepehn Um, one of my professors
at GCTS and one of the speakers of the Gospel Coalition NE noted “ </span><span style="color: white;"><i>God puts us into situations that show us
we cannot rely on anything else but God who raises the dead." Not
cutting-edge ministry methods. Not the memory of a Christian past. Not the
social benefits of church attendance. Only the power of the Holy Spirit, the
promise of union with Christ, and the persevering love of our heavenly Father”</i>. Prayer is needed. We will not see any
change, without prayer. L</span><span style="color: white;">ots and lots of
prayer, and so my request is that you pray, earnestly, fervently, for God to be
saving souls, for God to be sending revival. The stats are all bad, but we
serve the God who opens channels through the sea, who make the mute speak,</span> and
rose, in power. He’s the God who created all things, sustains all things, and
holds everything in the palm of his hand. Long odds are nothing new for him,
nor all that intimidating to him. So pray. Pray for him to act. Pray for your
home region. Let your heart break for New England. My guess is that New England
is in your DNA too. Pray for God to move once again in New England.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045540967639906440.post-60329234052295733742013-03-30T22:47:00.001-04:002013-03-30T22:47:31.994-04:00Is it the eggs? What’s Easter really about?
This weekend, many will gather
with their families, and enjoy great meals and watch their kids hunt for Easter
eggs and gorge themselves on to much candy. But what is the point of Easter? Is
it just the eggs? What’s Easter all about? The Christian view of Easter is that
it is a historical event that changes everything. Christians assert that after
being killed by crucifixion, Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead, and
that this historically event changes everything. Now, the sting of death is
gone, and a whole new future lies before those who place their faith in Christ.<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
This seems like lunacy today,
just as it did then. We often think that we’re a more advanced, enlightened
culture than those in the past. But when you read the Bible, you realize no one
was interested in believing it then either. But they had a problem, the facts
were against them.<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
Here are the facts. On Easter
morning, the tomb was empty. It was empty despite the fact that it was guarded
by Roman soldiers; and as much as the authorities might have wanted to they
couldn’t haul out Jesus’ rotting corpse because there wasn’t one to haul out.<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
Additionally, there were many
eyewitnesses to the resurrection. One of the historical documents from the
early church, 1 Corinthians, tells us that not only did the apostles see Jesus
risen but that at one point after the resurrection 500 people saw him at one
time. This was a letter to a whole church, a public document written somewhere
between 15-30 years after the resurrection, and what St. Paul is basically
saying is, “<i>all these people who saw Jesus raised from the dead are still
alive. You don’t have to trust me, you can go ask them</i>”. He’s all but
daring the readers to check the facts. He couldn’t do that unless most of these
people were still alive.<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p> </o:p><br />
Furthermore, there are the
disciples changed live. This may be the greatest proof for the resurrection.
When Jesus was arrested, his closest followers all fled and hid. How do these
men who ran for their lives and hid end up preaching that Jesus is the savior
of the world and telling everyone that he rose just weeks later? They saw the
Jesus who said “I<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>will die for
all the sin and rebellion that you see, reconciling you to God if you place
your faith in me and then rise from the dead to prove that I’ve paid the
penalty</i>”, risen. Apart from that, there is no logical reason to preach the
gospel. Who suffers and eventually dies for something you know is a lie?<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
Everything about Easter says with
one voice, it happened. Some will tell you that Easter is simply a symbol for
death and renewal; that there is a circle of life, after death comes new life
and after loss there is always gain. They point to nature, and say, “<i>See the
lesson of Easter, after winter there’s spring. From the death of the acorn
comes a new tree. Therefore, we need to realize that there is always hope</i>”.
The problem is that this doesn’t line up with reality. Reality is that, as
Tennyson wrote “Nature is red in tooth and claw”. In nature the strong eat the
weak. The Easter bunny is a meal for the Coyote. The argument that Easter is
just a symbol does an end run around your intellect, and is of little hope when
you find yourself staring at a lost loved on, or a child in the ER.<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
But the Christian view of Easter
is that God entered into the world, and changed history in the most
counterintuitive way, he died on the cross as our substitute, and proved it by
rising, and if you place your faith in Christ everything about your whole
existence is changed. Your past is changed, your present is changed, and your
future is changed. Everything changes. In the good and especially in the bad.
In those moments of sorrow and hardship you can know there is hope because of
what Christ did for you.<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This Easter, my invitation to you
is go to a church and hear about what God has done through Christ. He lived the
life you should have lived, and died the death you should have died, and then
he rose to show that everything is changed. I will be speaking about the death
and resurrection of Jesus at First Baptist Church of Medfield, our service
begins at 10:30am. I know there are many other churches that will be doing the
same. Wherever you go, take the time this Easter to learn about what God has
done for the world through the historical event that we celebrate as Easter.</div>
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