a troubling question about prayer from Charles Spurgeon

Here is a convicting excerpt from a Charles Spurgeon sermon:

“If the Son of Man were to come into this world, would He find pure faith among His disciples?”

He then gives an example of how people in his church responded when God answered a man’s prayer:

“Mr. Muller, of Bristol, believes in God for the support of his benevolent institution—and God supplies him with all his needs. But whenever you speak about him you say, "What a wonderful thing!"

And here’s where it gets convicting:

“Has it come to this, that in the Christian Church it is accounted a marvel for Christians to believe in the promises of God, and something like a miracle for God to fulfill them? Does not this wonderment indicate more clearly than anything else how fallen we are from the level of faith at which we ought constantly to live? If the Lord wants to surprise His people, He has only at once to give an answer to their prayers! No sooner had they obtained their answer than they would say, "Who would have thought it!" Is it really surprising that God should keep His own promise? Oh, what unbelief! Oh, what wretched unbelief on our part! We ask and we receive not because we do not believe in God!”

Why is it such a shock to us when God answers prayer? That’s a troubling question.

(from sermon no. 3546, entitled “Assurance Sought”)

"I have a fear that the church in the West will disqualify itself from being a missionary-sending region..."

"I have a fear that the church in the West will disqualify itself from being a missionary-sending region by portraying to its membership a Christianity that is a nice religion but that lacks a radical edge. In my visits to the West, the most common response I hear to sermons I have preached is something to the effect: “I enjoyed that sermon.” Sermons should disturb, convict, and motivate to radical and costly obedience. I have wondered whether people’s desired result from sermons is to enjoy themselves rather than to be changed into radical disciples who will turn the world upside down. If this is so, the church has assimilated the postmodern mood that considers inner feelings more important than commitment to principles. A minor feature of wor­ship—bringing enjoyment—has become a primary feature. Such a church may grow numerically, but it would not be able to produce the type of mis­sionaries that the world needs—men and women who will pay the price of identification with the people they serve and endure the frustrations that involves." (Ajith Fernando, 23)

Note: I would balance his comment about sermons by including the fact that at least some sermons should encourage and comfort people as well.

Christian, contextualization means identifying with unbelievers, not accommodating to nominal Christians.

A church built on consumerism will inevitably focus more on meeting demand than making disciples.

the local church as an embassy from the future

"Think about the local church as an embassy from the future. It's a formally constituted gathering of Spirit-indwelt kingdom citizens who proclaim and display Christ's end-time rule...these eschatological embassies on earth, spread out like pins on a map, should be characterized by an unworldly culture. It's not defined by sushi, cricket, or burqas, but by the habits of holiness and love and the ambassadorial work of discipling, evangelism, hospitality, and caring for the needy." Jonathan Leeman

I think we desperately need to deepen and expand our understanding of what the local church really is. It's pretty amazing.

Christians enjoy feeling convicted

“I see a trend in many churches where people are beginning to enjoy convicting sermons. They walk out feeling broken over their sin. The distorted part is that they can begin to feel victorious in their sadness. They boast, ‘I just heard the most convicting message, and it ruined me!’ The focus is on the conviction itself and not the change it is meant to produce—change that doesn’t necessarily follow when we stay focused on conviction. Guilt is not always a good thing. It is only good if it leads us past sorrow to the joy of repentance.” Francis Chan

"Technique is a terrible substitute for the presense of God." Darren Patrick

the church and the reign of Jesus

“The Church is, quite simply, the community ahead of time, the community that acknowledges now what one day will be acknowledged by all.  As ambassadors of a disputed sovereignty, we propose a claim that awaits a future and cosmic vindication.  For those who accept that claim, it is already vindicated by faith.  For them, the future is now.”  

- Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a FridayAfternoon

On Pins & Needles: How Churched People Often Feel About Christianity [dope song]

Mute Math has quickly become one of my favorite bands. A great blend of seemingly boundless creativity,  outstanding musicianship, and penetrating lyrics. Not to mention a downright transcendent live show. In short, this band is SICK!

This particular song, I think, expresses how so many (especially young) people feel who grew up in church. The song is a mix of disillusionment, doubt, and a burgeoning realization that there's something better than burdensome religion.

My favorite line is "I'm growing fond of broken people as I see that I am one of them." I think the early Christian leader, the Apostle Paul, could probably have made this song the soundtrack of his life leading up to his conversion.

This song screams for the Gospel.

Would love your thoughts.

Paper-thin conviction

Turning another page

Plotting how to build myself to be

Everything that I am not at all

Sometimes I get tired of pins and needles

Facades are a fire on the skin

And I'm growing fond of broken people

As I see that I am one of them

Oh, why must I work so hard

Just so I can feel like the noble ones?

Obligations to my heart are gone

Superficial lines explain it all

Sometimes I get tired of pins and needles

Facades are a fire on the skin

Oh, I'm growing fond of broken people

As I see that I am one of them

the delicate and dangerous balance between people and programs

"...ministry without heart, even well-financed ministry, is not ministry in God's eyes. A ministry can possess the best equipment, the finest quality of buildings, and the largest mailing list, and still not be doing God's work with quality if people do not remain more important. Excellence defined by standards of appearance is not excellence in God's eyes. I have seen organizations lose effectiveness in their testimony because they developed a reputation for caring more about programs and buildings than people. I have also been in ministries, especially in poorer countries of the world, where the buildings and facilities leave much to be desired, but heart is in the ministry so that people are cared for as a matter of priority. Throwing money at a ministry and paying others to do the church's work while making it look nice is not ministry in God's sight."

- Darrell Bock, The NIV Application Commentary on Luke, p.225

"The church is not an audience of spectators; we are a fellowship of disciple-makers." David Platt

"somewhere along the way we have succumbed to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning"

A friend of mine sent me this quote today. Such a good reminder, based on 1 Corinthians 1:18, to trust God's power and wisdom over our own:


"At the moment, books are pouring off the presses telling us how to plan for success, how 'vision' consists in clearly articulated 'ministry goals,' how the knowledge of detailed profiles of our communities constitutes the key to successful outreach. I am not for a moment suggesting that there is nothing to be learned from such studies. But after a while one may perhaps be excused for marveling how many churches were planted by Paul and Whitefield and Wesley and Stanway and Judson without enjoying these advantages. Of course all of us need to understand the people to whom we minister, and all of us can benefit from small doses of such literature. But massive doses sooner or later dilute the gospel. Ever so subtly, we start to think that success more critically depends on thoughtful sociological analysis than on the gospel; Barna becomes more important than the Bible. We depend on plans, programs, vision statements—but somewhere along the way we have succumbed to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning. Again, I insist, my position is not a thinly veiled plea for obscurantism, for seat-of-the-pants ministry that plans nothing. Rather, I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry." (D.A. Carson in The Cross and Christian Ministry, p.26)


This may seem to be lifting up a false dichotomy between gospel ministry and strategic planning. I don't think that's what D.A. Carson is doing. This is obviously a quote out of a book, from a publisher, and marketed to consumers. There was certainly some strategy in there. But I think the operative words are trust and depend. We should use the wisdom God has given us in strategic planning and demographic research, but at the end of the day we have to trust that the gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). Strategic planning done well will get us to the people who need the gospel but then we must rely on the gospel itself to do its work.

Confessions of a Gay Christian - Some Thoughts

I just read an article published in Relevant Magazine and I think it's an important article for Christians to read because it articulates a very painful struggle for some of the people in our churches. Here are several applications I took from it and I think Christians, especially Christian men, need to consider:

1. "Gay jokes" are unwise, insensitive, and unacceptable. If you struggle with this, I'd encourage you to study and meditate on Ephesians 4:29, James 3:9-12, and Matthew 12:33-37.
2. Christians tempted with same-sex attraction need the Church to be a community marked by humility, compassion, and truth. Humility = I'm not better than you. Compassion = I am drawn to you in love not repelled by you in disgust. Truth = Love is not synonymous with unbiblical compromise.
3. Christian men shouldn't be afraid of gay men. (I'm sure this applies to women also but seems to be predominant among men).
4. Parents, we MUST teach, emphasize, and model passion for the Gospel and not just the "rules" of Christianity. D.A. Carson says, and I agree, that people don't usually remember what you teach; they remember what you're passionate about.
5. Parents, we should create an environment where our children can doubt, ask questions, and seek truth. They will do that with or without your guidance.
6. Pastors, we can't just preach against homosexuality in the abstract, we must disciple people dealing with it.
7. Pastors, we need to equip the men in our churches to put off the homophobia of secular masculine culture, and put on the grace-and-truth-filled character of Jesus.
8. Christians who stay faithful to the biblical view of sexuality will be increasingly treated with disgust, "moral" indignation, and hostility. And yet, out of love for people and faith in God, we cannot cave in to societal pressure (2 Timothy 3; 1 Peter 4:12-19). Quite frankly, this is a hard one for me because many racists made the same argument for upholding New World slavery and, later, Jim Crow segregation. Bigotry has often been defended by appeals to purity. However, we must hold fast to truth, knowing that biblical truth, truth inspired by the Holy Spirit, is always accompanied by humility not self-righteousness, service not oppression. The wisdom of God has a distinctly humble quality to it (James 3:17). So while we will be treated like bigots, our lives must prove that to be a false accusation (1 Peter 2:12).
   
   

praying for preaching

"It is of no use for me to preach to the people, my dear Christian brothers and sisters, unless you pray for them. It is of no use holding special services for the quickening of the spiritually dead unless the Holy Spirit is brought to them by our prayers. It may be that you who pray have more to do with the blessed results than we who preach." (Charles Spurgeon from a sermon in 1868 called Prayer-Meetings)

stay in intellectual shape

Pastor, one way to "stay in shape" intellectually (post-seminary) is to form a theology reading group where you read and process classic and current material with others. This could be done with your Elders/Pastors as a way to hold each other accountable to theological growth and discernment (kind of like spotting partners at the gym) or with a small group of like-minded people in the congregation.

we need to get back to biblical discipleship

"We have programmed everything to death in our Church. We have rallied it, principalized it, best practiced it. We've gotten so confused...Whatever is the latest, greatest thing becomes a surrogate for discipleship. We need to get back to biblical discipleship, getting guys connected with Jesus and staying with Him." Crawford Loritts, Desiring God 2012 Pastors Conference

Be careful. An OVER-reaction to something negative still lands you on the wrong side of positive.

This is always true.

It applies in so many spheres of life (e.g. personal, social, etc.) but I've become increasingly aware of how true this is in theology and church life. Cessationists overreact against charismatic extremes and end up treating the Spirit like something to be managed rather than Someone to be submitted to. Charismatics overreact against stoic intellectualism and often divorce experience from truth (yes, there is a difference). Liberals (like the emergent church movement) overreact against dogmatism and lapse into relativism (among other errors). Fundamentalists overreact against secularism and end up isolating themselves from...well, everybody.

Social activists overreact against the often reductionistic emphasis of many churches on evangelism and end up reducing the gospel to the good news of upcoming service projects. Evangelism people overreact to social justice people and make serving the poor the equivalent of the free weekend you get at a resort as long as you listen to the timeshare presentation (That's not service by the way; that's marketing). Grace people overreact against moralism and minimize (or eliminate) the necessity of hard work inherent in our sanctification. Seeker-friendly churches often overreact against inward-focused churches and end up making customers rather than disciples.

I could keep doing this. And I will keep doing this as I see overreactions in my own life.

Scripture is the weight that brings us into balance. And yes, we often ironically justify our overreactions with Scripture. But that's a problem with us, not the Bible. We have to continually come before God in His Word, with confidence that His Spirit guides us and with humble awareness that our view may in fact reflect more of our particular theological tradition than the text itself.

But hey, maybe this post is an overreaction....Nah.

expedient diversity

Gabe Lyons, in his blog post To Cade and the Eight Percent, offers this stinging indictment on our public efforts at diversity:

"We embrace differences when they fall within our market-driven, politically correct framework but rarely when they disrupt our status quo."

It is no question that diversity/inclusivity is one of the core values of our emerging generation. However, in his post, Lyons is specifically questioning whether or not this "en vogue" diversity has room for inconvenient people, like children with Down Syndrome. It's a great, thought-provoking article and I encourage you to read it.

I don't want to hijack his article because his primary concern that "people with down syndrome have been targeted for extinction" is one that warrants serious consideration. But, his criticism struck me more broadly and made me think about my own commitment to diversity as well as that of the Church.

I am passionate about allowing the Spirit, through the gospel, to expose, evaluate, and exterminate the idolatrous allegiances we have to "our people" that seem to so often trump unity in Christ. I am passionate about seeing the Church embody the kind of diversity that characterized the first century church and in some ways legitimized their witness to the supernatural power of the gospel (See John 13:35; 17:20-21 in the context of what would on a global and in some cases local level become an incredibly diverse church of slaves, freeman, Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans, men, women, Italians, Africans, etc).

And yet, have I...have we...limited our categories of diversity to what in the end amounts to be "cool", convenient, and pretty superficial?

Ethnic diversity yet economic/educational homogeneity? Aggressively making room for different races yet indifferent toward, at best tolerant of, those with mental and physical limitations?

Don't have an answer. Just reflecting. None of the above is easy and every sincere effort in any above category is at least good start. But it's definitely making me think.

major doctrines vs. minor doctrines

Elders/Pastors have the responsibility of delineating which doctrines are clear and necessary to believe for church membership/leadership and which doctrines are less clear and less critical.

Wayne Grudem offers a helpful guideline for making those distinctions:

"A major doctrine is one that has significant impact on our thinking about other doctrines, or that has a significant impact on how we live the Christian life. A minor doctrine is one that has very little impact on how we think about other doctrines, and very little impact on how we live the Christian life" (Systematic Theology, p.29).

Obviously, that is is still subjective--we have to decide how to measure "significant" versus "little" impact--but I think it's a helpful start in trying to sort through it all.

note to worship leaders

"Far better than the sweet harmonies of a few trained singers is the rough and hale sound of pardoned criminals, delighting with one voice in their Savior. The most beautiful instrument in any Christian service is the sound of the congregation singing." (Jonathan Leeman in Reverberation)