Wednesday, April 27, 2011

my rule for Christian living

“My rule for Christian living is this: anything that dims my vision of Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it.”

- Wilbur Chapman

Saturday, April 23, 2011

"We just tryin' to get you to hear the real voice of God 'cause some of these preachers be T-Pain'n it" D-Maub

Wow. Sounds cheesy on the surface, but when you meditate on it for a while it becomes incredibly perceptive.

For those who are not familiar with T-Pain, he is a music artist who is known for his extensive use of auto-tune. According to Wikipedia (my trusty research source), auto-tune is used to "correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform perfectly tuned vocal tracks without needing to sing in tune."

D-Maub's point is that so many of today's sermons are "out of tune" with the truth of Scripture but "auto-tuned" to the modern, cultural ear. So you get two pretty common dynamics happening in modern pulpits.

First, many preachers use what I'll call "antics" to make up for the lack of substance in their sermons. Like an audience so used to auto-tune, the congregation is so tuned up to fluff and hype that they don't hear how out of tune the sermon is with God's Word.

Secondly, many preachers, in an effort to make the voice of God (i.e. the Scriptures) more "appealing", distort or downplay truths and characteristics of God that they deem to be harsh to the modern ear. What you end up with is a very sanitized, "auto-tuned", presentation of God that appeals to our modern cultural sensibilities and desires.

The problem is that the Scriptures do not present "off-key inaccuracies and mistakes" about God. The truths of Scripture are in tune with the reality of God. WE are the ones out of tune.

"For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." (2 Timothy 4:3)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

"People don't learn what you teach. They learn what you're passionate about." Don Carson

In context, his point was that what really sticks with people over time is what you're passionate about, not necessarily all of the content you teach.

Monday, April 18, 2011

The gospel is not merely the gate through which we walk and leave behind; it is also the ground."

That statement may seem a bit abstract but the more you walk with the Lord, the more you see that the promises of the gospel undergird and motivate all of the Christian life.

Here's a book that has been extremely helpful to me in centering my life on my gospel:

Sunday, April 3, 2011

a passage every preacher should memorize

"just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts." (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

I feel like this passage should be memorized and kept visible by every preacher and teacher of God's Word.

Just reflect on those truths for a few minutes:
  1. we have been entrusted with the gospel -how humbling is it that God chose to entrust you with such a monumental task? how sobering is it that you have to give an account for how you handled it?
  2. we speak not to please man - how does "pleasing man" creep up in your heart during sermon prep or after your sermon?
  3. we speak to please God - what pleases God in a sermon? what pleases God in a preacher? after you preach, are you more preoccupied with what God thinks or what your audience thinks?
  4. God tests our hearts - people will critique your sermon, but are you aware that God is critiquing your motives?