the Protestant pastor

Lectionary Life Lesson for January 27, 2012

2012-01-27T07:48:00.001-08:00

It’s a miracle you’re a Christian!

Lectionary text and explanation:

Genesis 17:15-27—PROMISE OF ISAAC: God chose to work through the miracle birth of Isaac (a human impossibility). Likewise, Christians are born “not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:13 NIV84).

Lectionary Life Lesson for January 26, 2012

2012-01-26T06:54:00.001-08:00

Knowing God is a privilege not a right. Those privileged to know God are called to holiness.

Lectionary text and comments:

Genesis 16:15-17:14 – COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION WITH ABRAHAM: God reveals himself once more to Abram and calls him to a holy life. “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless” (Ge. 17:1a ESV).

No Positive Contribution in Conversion

2012-01-25T12:58:00.001-08:00

A few posts back I shared a quote from Lutheran theologian John Theodore Mueller on why converting grace can be resisted. Below is an illustration by Southern Baptist theologian Kenneth Keathley helping explain how conversion can be totally the work of God and yet something we can resist.

Imagine waking up to find you are being transported by an ambulance to the emergency room. It is clearly evident that your condition requires serious medical help. If you do nothing, you will be delivered to the hospital. However, if for whatever reason you demand to be let out, the driver will comply. He may express regret and give warnings, but he will still let you go. You receive no credit for being to the hospital, but you incur the blame for refusing the services of the ambulance.

In this illustration you do not do anything to arrive at the hospital. The only thing you have the ability to do is resist. Any “contribution” made by you is hurtful. Now let the ambulance serve as a metaphor for the work of the Spirit in conversion. If you believe, it is because (and only because) the Holy Spirit brought you to faith. If you do not believe, it is only because you resisted. The only thing you are able to “do” is negative.

Keathley, Kenneth (2009-12-11). Salvation and Sovereignty (p. 104). B&H Academic. Kindle Edition.

Lectionary Life Lesson for January 24, 2012

2012-01-24T10:59:00.001-08:00

Trusting God’s promises has always been the way of salvation.

Lectionary text and comments:

Genesis 15:1-21 – ABRAM BELIEVES GOD and RECEIVES THE COVENANT OF GRACE: “Abram placed his trust in the promise of the Lord with all it implied, and therefore the Lord accepted him into the covenant of His grace. That is the way of salvation for all sinners, the way of obtaining that true righteousness by which we are justified before God” (Kretzmann, Popular Commentary).

Lectionary Life Lesson for January 23, 2012

2012-01-23T13:51:00.001-08:00

The primary way God provides for us is through the ordinary means of time, talents, and treasure. Giving to support God’s work is an ordinary means of expressing gratitude.

Lectionary text and comments:

Genesis 14:1-24 – ABRAM RESCUES LOT and TITHES TO MELCHIZEDEK: Abram used the resources at his disposal to rescue his nephew Lot. As a result of his labors Abram grew in wealth. Abram recognizing God gave him this ability gave ten percent of his gains to support God’s work.

The Sin of the Pharisees

2012-01-21T05:04:00.001-08:00

“Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37b NIV84).

As I’ve been working my way through Mark’s gospel, I’ve been struck by the fact that the basic sin of the Pharisees was refusing to acknowledge the truth about Jesus.

It’s true they were so committed to their ideology that they rejected the truth, but it could have been any ideology. The Sadducees who rejected Jesus had a very different party line, as did the Herodians.

The fact is anyone who refuses to acknowledge the truth about Jesus because they are more committed to a particular ideology than to the truth is committing the exact same sin as the Pharisees who opposed Jesus.

Pharisaic legalism is just one such worldview. Naturalistic atheism is another. Materialism (living for stuff) is yet another. Hedonism (living for pleasure) is yet another. Moralism (being “good” by one’s own standard) is yet another.

Lectionary Life Lesson for January 20, 2012

2012-01-20T07:29:00.001-08:00

God is working out his plan in spite of us and our failures. (It’s a gift!) The only appropriate response is gratitude and worship (resting in what he has done/is doing).

Lectionary text and comments:

Genesis 11:27-12:8 – THE CALL OF ABRAM: God purposes to bless the quite sinful (see Genesis 1-11) nations through Abram. (A sheer gift!) Abram’s response is to build an altar to God for the purpose of worshiping him.

Why Converting Grace Can Be Resisted

2012-01-19T09:17:00.001-08:00

“Although the conversion of man is a work of God’s omnipotent power, Eph. 1:19; 2 Cor. 4:6, divine converting grace nevertheless is not irresistible (gratia irresistibilis), as the Calvinists teach, but resistible (gratia resistibilis), as Holy Scripture affirms, Matt. 23:37; Acts 7:51. The reason for this is evident. Though God is irresistible whenever He deals with man according to His sovereign power (in nuda maiestate), Matt. 25:31-32, He can be resisted whenever He exercises His omnipotent power through means, Matt. 11:28; 23:37. Both in His Kingdom of Power and in the Kingdom of Grace the means by which He purposes to bless man can be rejected. Thus life, the greatest of God’s earthly gifts, though created and sustained by divine omnipotence, can nevertheless be destroyed by man. Similarly spiritual life, or conversion, though offered through the means of the omnipotent Word of God, can be rejected by man through malicious resistance.”

Mueller, John Theodore. (2011-04-17). Christian Dogmatics: A Handbook of Doctrinal Theology for Pastors, Teachers, and Laymen (Kindle Locations 7156-7163). Concordia Publishing House. Kindle Edition.

Lectionary Life Lesson for January 19, 2012

2012-01-19T07:03:00.001-08:00

To know your true origin (God) is to step out of vanity and confusion into lasting purpose and true knowledge of life and its meaning.

Lectionary text and comments:

Genesis 11:1-9 – The tower of Babel is an example of the human tendency to project human hopes and fears into the heavens (creating false gods) which is vanity and confusion (babel means confusion).

An Old Friend

2012-01-18T11:56:00.001-08:00

Let me introduce you to an old friend. This book, more than any other book or teacher, taught me the gospel. It taught me how to rightly interpret the Bible. It gave me the confidence I need as a pastor to know I’m rightly representing the way to eternal life.

I don’t agree with this book on everything, but on the central things I’m in wholehearted agreement.

Here’s a representative quote:

“Unless the Law and the Gospel are thus preached as two distinct and contradictory doctrines (Luther: plus quam contradictoria), the Christian religion is deprived of its distinct content, is paganized by the introduction of work-righteousness as a cause of salvation, and is therefore rendered incapable of saving sinners.”

Mueller, John Theodore. (2011-04-17). Christian Dogmatics: A Handbook of Doctrinal Theology for Pastors, Teachers, and Laymen (Kindle Locations 1333-1336). Concordia Publishing House. Kindle Edition.

Assurance in Calvinism

2012-01-16T09:21:00.001-08:00

I have said that a big difference between the Lutheran and traditional Calvinist is the source of assurance of salvation.

I have said the Lutheran side emphasizes the objective nature of assurance. Since Christ died for all, he died for you; therefore, simply rest in his love.

The Lutheran rejection of limited atonement is based on their conviction that it is unbiblical (as I have argued in earlier posts, looking at Calvinists like Wayne Grudem). This is primary.

Lutherans also point out that Calvinists can’t simply put their trust in Christ because he may not be for them like he is for other people. They may not be chosen and therefore they can’t rest in simply trusting Christ but must start looking for signs of their election in themselves (an inward turn).

This has been disastrous in its effects. A consistent Calvinist has a hard time being at peace, being assured of his or her salvation. Especially when you consider that Calvin taught that God gives non-chosen people temporary faith.

How can you discern whether or not your faith is genuine? Maybe yours is a false or temporary faith? It becomes a terribly inward looking religion, trying to discern whether your faith is real faith.

Here’s Calvin,

“Experience shows that the reprobate are sometimes affected in a way so similar to the elect, that even in their own judgment there is no difference between them [i.e., they can’t tell the difference!!]” (Institutes 3.2.11).

This doctrine of temporary faith or an “experience … so similar to the elect”, I submit, destroys all hope of assurance of salvation for the consistent Calvinist. For all they know they may have an experience similar to the elect but not be among the elect.

The Key Reformation Distinctive

2012-01-13T15:30:00.001-08:00

In past posts I’ve sought to differentiate myself from resurgent Calvinism, essentially arguing that there are other Reformation positions. (The position I hold is very similar to that held by Lutherans.)

In this post I want to highlight the point of commonality between Calvinists and these other Reformation positions.

The key shared Reformation insight is divine monergism. Kenneth Keathley, a southern Baptist theologian who is not a Calvinist (but is a monergist) explains:

“Monergism is the view that God’s grace alone is the efficient cause of our salvation; that salvation is the work of God from beginning to end” (Salvation and Sovereignty, 100).

Arminianism holds (in opposition to monergism) divine-human synergism. Synergism means that salvation involves a working together between God and man (if ever so slightly).

I reject synergism as being unbiblical and a dangerous doctrine. It undermines simple trust in Christ. It gets our eyes (if ever so slightly) off of Christ and on ourselves.

I have argued, following the Lutherans, that Calvinism in its own way tempts us to look away from Christ and at ourselves. The doctrine of limited atonement especially undermines simple trust in what Christ has done, but that is for another post.

Pannenberg on the Purpose of Time

2011-12-30T08:24:00.001-08:00

"Only in the process of time can a finite being act and thus manifest itself as the center of its own activity. After it has won independence, such a being can be preserved in the eternity of God … Because the Creator’s action aims at the independent existence of his creatures as finite beings, he willed time as the form of their existence.”

--Wolfhart Pannenberg

It Doesn’t Affect Me (The Sin of Remaining Silent)

2011-12-21T07:18:00.001-08:00

“First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller

Advancing Knowledge

2011-12-17T18:28:00.001-08:00

I’m reading a couple of books right now on the historical evidence for Jesus. Both of them are excellent.

The feeling I’ve had while reading these books is one of deep gratitude. The scholarship represented by these works is tremendous.

It wasn’t that long ago that scholarship of this type, which truly advances our knowledge, was dominated by those skeptical towards the claims of historic Christianity. Christian traditionalists were in the main on the defensive.

I’m encouraged that these scholars have been able to build upon the true and lasting elements of historical critical scholarship, while convincingly showing the historical basis for traditional Christian claims.

I feel blessed to live at such a time and look forward to more to come. I anticipate the day when Christianity will command increasing respect in the academy as a worldview based on evidence.

The books I’m reading:

The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach

The Historical Jesus of the Gospels

Another excellent book:

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony

Letter to an Ex-Fundamentalist, Ex-Pentecostal

2011-12-08T13:27:00.001-08:00

Dear __________ ,

You mention that you spent 30 years as a fundamentalist, Pentecostal Christian. You say that now you realize it was all you. You’ve been doing all the things you once credited to God.

What I’ve been saying is that you’ve gone halfway. You’ve done away with the supernatural God, but you haven’t done away with the supernatural view of human beings.

The old view, that has deeply impacted the usual way people think about human beings, said that an eternal Spirit created the material world, and this eternal Spirit gave to human beings the quality of spirit.

This quality of spirit made humans able to rise above instincts and drives and genetics and choose freely to give, to love, to care (even when instincts were pushing the other way). Spirit made humans free creatures. Love, compassion, virtue, courage, soulfulness had their basis in the belief that we were more than our drives, instincts, and genes.

By rejecting God (something outside nature) you reduce reality to nature (including human beings). All you are left with is drives and instincts and genes. Everything a human being does may seem like a choice but now (in your view) it must simply be the result of some prior cause (an evolutionary instinct, genetic predisposition, environmental conditioning, etc.).

Humans as we once understood them (the supernatural view) is now dead and gone (even as God is dead and gone). What you are left with are impersonal programs who do Y (some action) because of X (some prior instinct, conditioning). This is no different than a computer. Humans are qualitatively no different from computers.

As impersonal processes there is no need to care for human life. There’s nothing personal about humans. They’re just things. And we can make these things fairly easily and cheaply (making a baby is easier and cheaper than making a computer). So if a human is not very successful at surviving let it go and make another. There’s no reason we should continue to feed and clothe and waste resources on an unsuccessful bit of programmed matter.

Go ahead and live the illusion that you have a relationship with other people but you’re just one programmed bit of matter reacting off another when you talk, laugh, or cry together. It’s not a real relationship of people (like we’re used to thinking). It was this thinking that led to the holocaust and to the mass killings of the former Soviet Union. What a tragedy! Because it’s not right thinking!

We are spirit! We have choices! We are persons, made in the image of the personal God who has spoken! At Christmas day the soul found it’s worth! God spoke in Jesus Christ and confirmed that we are more than nature. We are spirit!

People who compare Christianity to belief in Thor, the flying spaghetti monster and Zeus reveal a colossal lack of understanding about the nature of the Christian claims. Christianity claims to be a historical religion (unlike those myths). The claims of Christianity can be weighed using the methods of historical scholarship and basic laws of evidence (as used in a court of law). If they don’t hold up to examination, don’t believe them. Fact is they have held up for two thousand years. No one has given a better explanation of the facts than the simple assertion that it’s true.

No one has been able to establish a settled explanation for the person of Christ portrayed in the gospels and the historical realities of an empty tomb and the birth of the church that is more convincing than the simple assertion that it’s true. No one. My prayer is that one day you would rediscover the joy of really knowing that God is and has spoken, but at a minimum I pray you won’t act out the logical conclusions of your current beliefs.

God’s Evidence

2011-12-07T13:38:00.001-08:00

The Christian claim is that God has made himself an object of our observation. He began with Israel, working into their very history, culture, and religion the means by which to interpret and understand his ultimate self-disclosure in the appearance of Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus of Nazareth unlocks the meaning of the Old Testament in ways no one else does even as the Old Testament reveals the meaning of Jesus’ life and actions.

Christians find it incredible that the person of Jesus could be a fabrication. The personality is far too perfect for a collection of writers to construct. The history is far too detailed to be foisted on a people during the very period in which it was supposed to have happened. This is not the stuff of legends (like the legends surrounding Buddha which developed long after the fact).

Christians are confused as to how anyone could ascribe ulterior motives to the apostles who gained nothing by proclaiming Jesus. There was no glory for them in that first century world. It brought most of them to a martyrs’ death.

So far from displaying the traits of liars or legend-makers, these apostles reveal a profound morality (see Paul on love, 1 Corinthians 13) and a strong sense of the historical (see Luke’s accurate descriptions of Roman cities, customs, rulers, etc., in the Book of Acts).

The best explanation of the evidence, Christians claim, is that God has appeared in our history. It happened in Bethlehem of Judea.

I happen to think they’re right.

Beyond Modernity

2011-11-04T04:49:00.000-07:00

Back to the Fathers | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction:

"By 1968 I could see the tremendous harm caused by sexual experimentation—even among my friends. I could also see their lives being torn up by family disintegration and mind-altering drugs. The wonderful world they thought they were creating was simply turning to dust, ashes, and pain—enormous pain." (United Methodist Theologian Thomas Oden from interview linked above).

In honor of his 80th birthday Christianity Today has posted an archived interview with Thomas Oden, the United Methodist theologian who went from liberal Protestant to prominent advocate of historic Christianity.

The Power of Ideas

2011-10-29T06:27:00.001-07:00

“If we present a man with a concept of man which is not true, we may well corrupt him. When we present man as an automaton of reflexes, as a mind-machine, as a bundle of instincts, as a pawn of drives and reactions, as a mere product of instinct, heredity, and environment, we feed the nihilism to which modern man is, in any case, prone.
I became acquainted with the last stage of that corruption in my second concentration camp, Auschwitz. The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment — or, as the Nazi liked to say, ‘of Blood and Soil.’ I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some Ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and in the lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers.”
Viktor Frankl, The Doctor and the Soul, xxvii

A Biblical Understanding of Wealth and Poverty

2011-10-28T13:31:00.001-07:00

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27 NIV).

“When we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat’” (2 Thessalonians 3:10 NIV).

I was asked recently for my opinion of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I found myself uncertain as to what to say. Like many, I have a hard time knowing what the movement is all about. So instead I’d like to do a series of posts on formulating a biblical understanding of wealth and poverty, since wealth and poverty do seem to be themes connected with the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Two of the important themes I see in scripture are reflected in the passages cited above. One is the concern for those caught in the power of forces that keep them trapped in poverty (the larger system of society).

Orphans and widows had little opportunity in the ancient world for getting their needs met on their own. They were stuck. Their situation was hopeless. One of the signs of real religion according to the biblical book of James is looking after such people.

Those with a biblically-shaped worldview will seek to change the system wherever the system works against people. They will be motivated to help those who can’t get their basic needs met on their own.

Second is the recognition that work is essential to human flourishing. A community where able-bodied adults are not working is not right.

Those with a biblically-shaped worldview will align themselves with efforts to increase employment. At the same time they will recognize the God-given role of incentives. The Bible is not shy in emphasizing the motivating power of consequences (if you don’t work you won’t have anything to eat).

These are just a couple of the basic truths I see taught in the Bible, but they are foundational for everything else that will be said. I’m looking forward to taking some time and developing further what I see as the Bible’s balanced approach to this ever-important topic.

The Uniqueness of Christian Faith

2011-10-26T15:43:00.001-07:00

“Of all religious beliefs in the world, past or present, none have more thoroughly based themselves on history than Judaism and Christianity. The divine-human encounter in the biblical faiths always involves claims about real people, living in real places, who acted in real events of the past, many of which are also cited in secular ancient history. Both testaments of the Bible use the past tense of narrative prose— history's medium—more than any other form of language.

Because Judeo-Christianity has so thoroughly influenced Western culture, we are prone to imagine that all other world religions have a similarly solid historical base. This is by no means the case. It can, in fact, be argued that every religious system before or since Judaism and Christianity has avoided any significant interaction with history, and instead has asked its followers to believe, by sheer faith alone, [emphasis mine] the claimed revelations of its founder(s). This is true of the mythologies of yesterday and the cults of today, the religions of the East or the "New Age" of the West.”

Paul L. Maier, In the Fullness of Time, xv

W H Griffith Thomas on Faith

2011-10-26T14:01:00.001-07:00

“Trust is the link of connection with Christ. It is the eye of the soul that looks to Him; it is the hand of the soul that takes Him; it is the ear of the soul that listens to Him ; it is the mouth of the soul that appropriates Him. Faith receives Christ; Faith rests on Christ; Faith realizes Christ; Faith rejoices in Christ.”

William Henry Griffith Thomas, The Christian Life and How to Live It, 34-35

Going After the Straying Sheep

2011-10-15T10:05:00.001-07:00

“Every church organization is responsible for the conduct of its members and under obligations to maintain church discipline against impenitent offenders” (Evangelical Belief and Doctrine: The Evangelical Catechism Explained, 94).

Following the Bible the church down through the ages has said that it’s the church’s job to go after Christians who stray from the narrow path (see Galatians 6:1 for example).

Churches have neglected this in large part because it is very hard to do. For one thing no one wants to come off as mean or judgmental.

The language of our church’s constitution which speaks of “the process of Christian discipline” sounds harsh by today’s standards, as does the quote above from a book explaining our church’s catechism. It sounds so cold and unloving.

Yet the overriding factor in the Bible is concern for the other person, as well as concern for those who may be influenced by their behavior.

So what’s the answer? How can churches go after the straying sheep in the 21st century?

Perhaps the best way would be through mutual accountability in a small group within the church. In such groups relationships of accountability could be built. Interventions would take place in the context of prior relationship.

The larger context of the preaching and teaching within the church would reinforce the relational character of being a Christian and the accountability to one another that goes with it.

I think it is no mistake that the decline in the vitality of many churches coincides with the decline in the will to go after straying sheep. The sense of the awesomeness of life was lost, and Christian faith lost the air of dealing with things of ultimate concern. After that, it’s understandable people adopted a take it or leave it attitude towards church.

The key to a renewed church is a renewed conviction that these things are true and deserve our fullest attention to the point that we’re willing to be there for one another, even intervening when someone strays.

Context Matters

2011-10-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

Michael Horton | Interview Transcript | Robert Schuller | White Horse Inn:

"I’m interested in attracting people, and not driving them farther away. There is language I can and will use and there are times, if we are wise, there is language we will not use….If God is a God of love, how do we handle this concept of wrath?" (Robert Schuller quoted in the blog post linked above).

I don’t agree with Robert Schuller’s approach, but I understand why he does what he does.

Preaching what God requires of us quickly feels judgmental when not given the right context. The right context for preaching the law (the standard we are called to live) is the gospel (the message of how God has shown his love for us).

The many blatant sinners who repented when face to face with Christ had all their lives been told that what they were doing was wrong. Now all of sudden they were giving all those sins up! Why? Context.

They found in Jesus something better, something more real. They repented because they had a change of mind (and heart).

Schuller rightly realizes that preaching the law before the gospel drives people away. His approach is to avoid the law altogether. Bad move. Better to preach the law in the context of the gospel with the gospel coming before and behind.

Public Schools and Plausibility Structures

2011-10-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

'IndoctriNation' Film: Public Schools Are the Cause of Christianity's Decline, Christian News:

"“Is there an idea more radical in the history of the human race than turning your children over to total strangers who you know nothing about, and having those strangers work on your child's mind?”" (A public school teacher quoted in the article linked above).

I ran across this interesting article (linked above) on a documentary on the effect of a public school education on the children of Christians. The quote above really hit me.

My kids attend public school. They have had teachers who were very positive towards Christianity and those who were negative. We’ve spent time talking about worldviews. I encourage them to think critically about what they’re being taught.

For us, public school hasn’t really been a threat. The early grades haven’t really dealt with worldview issues, and my daughter’s sometimes hostile-to-Christianity teachers have made high school interesting. The wide range of worldviews has given us a lot to talk about at home.

I’ve thought of other children though, who don’t get that kind of help. For them education is a much more passive thing. Many adopt the worldview that’s predominant, which may be mere naturalism. I’m reminded of the concept of a plausibility structure, the self-evident truths that often hinder us from seeing reality in a different light.

No doubt there are many children of Christians who adopt a materialist plausibility structure as the result of public school. While the documentary mentioned in the article linked above advocates homeschooling as the answer I would rather see an increase in churches teaching kids how to choose a worldview and how to examine the undeclared assumptions of teachers and curriculum. There’s no reason for Christians to retreat. It’s just that we have to do the work. We can’t expect to be backed up by the culture.

Pressing Too Far

2011-10-13T15:15:00.001-07:00

This the second in a series of posts on Calvinism.

Calvinists argue that if Jesus really suffered the penalty for the sins of everyone then no one can be judged. All sin has been forgiven. Hence, they teach that Christ only died for the chosen since the Bible indicates some will be judged for their sins.

The Bible’s answer for why people are still judged is not that Christ didn’t die for them but because of their choosing to stand before God outside of Christ.

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36 NIV).

The Calvinist may answer, “But logically, if God is propitiated how can he be wrathful?”

The answer is that the Bible doesn’t seem to draw that conclusion. It can say things like:

“We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:10).

Wayne Grudem’s tortured interpretation of the above verse highlights the extremes Calvinists will take to flatten out the Bible to fit their system. Grudem says “Savior” here refers to “one who preserves people’s lives and rescues them from danger” (Systematic Theology, 599) and not to salvation from sin.

Rather than sit with the tension Grudem would rather take the most unlikely of interpretations. I can’t go there with him.

Instead, I see the Bible using many ways of speaking about the same thing that together give us the big picture of how it works. Any one of those things, taken alone and pressed too far can be made to cancel out the truth of the rest. It’s that pressing of one aspect too far that leads to tortured interpretations of Bible passages.

Next, I’ll look at the Calvinistic doctrine of irresistible grace.

German Evangelicals and Universal Atonement

2011-10-11T09:38:00.001-07:00

“Jesus Christ has taken our guilt upon Him, has redeemed, purchased and delivered us lost and damned creatures from all sin with His precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. He has borne the sins of the whole world, i.e., of all men of all nations and times as long as the world stands” (Evangelical Belief and Doctrine, 96).

A statement affirming belief in Universal Atonement from Evangelical Belief and Doctrine: The Evangelical Catechism Explained (1916) used for many years at churches like Salem to teach members Christian beliefs.

For Whom Did Christ Die?

2011-10-11T08:58:00.001-07:00

This is the beginning in a series of posts on resurgent Calvinism.

Let me begin by saying once more that there is much I appreciate about this movement. It has done so much to ground younger adults in the Bible. Yet, I am not a Calvinist.

One of the teachings of Calvinism I reject is Limited Atonement. Limited atonement is the teaching that Christ died only for the chosen.

I believe in Universal Atonement. Universal atonement teaches that Christ died for the sins of every person who ever lived. (See here for a statement from Salem Church’s history.)

Now an argument can be made both ways from the Bible, but I agree with theologian Millard Erickson (a self-described moderate Calvinist) when he says,

“the hypothesis of universal atonement is able to account for a larger segment of the biblical witness with less distortion than is the hypothesis of limited atonement” (Christian Theology, 835).

He’s pointing out that there are passages each side can use to back their position, but when it comes to reconciling the passages the limited atonement people have to resort to explanations that seem forced at best.

Take 2 Peter 2:1 for example:

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” (ESV).

The simplest and easiest interpretation of this passage is that the false teachers deny Christ who paid the price for their sins.

It seems obvious to me then as Erickson says, “some for whom Christ died do perish” (Christian Theology, 834), and therefore Christ died even for those who reject him.

Calvinistic teachers of limited atonement can’t accept this and opt instead for what seem to me to be rather tortured explanations. One example is the explanation of this verse given by Wayne Grudem:

“They [the false teachers] were rebellious Jewish people … who were rightly owned by God because they had been brought out of the land of Egypt” (Systematic Theology, 600).

In other words “being bought” refers to the exodus and not to the cross.

I find it very hard to believe this is what Peter meant. Christians hearing this in a Christian context would apply the idea of being bought to the price paid by Christ and not to the exodus.

And there are many more such examples.

1 John 2:2 says plainly that Jesus died for our sins and the sins of the whole world. Isaiah 53:6 says “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (NIV). Yet, the plain meaning of these texts is explained away. Why?

One reason limited atonement Calvinists give is that they can’t see how Christ could take away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and yet some will still be judged for those sins. If universal atonement is true, they argue, then everyone should be saved.

I’ll take up that topic in my next post.

Communing in the Body and Blood

2011-10-01T20:45:00.001-07:00

“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16).

This passage is key for understanding the meaning of communion. It’s remarkable what Paul does not say. He does not say that communion is a sharing in the Spirit of Christ. Instead, he emphasizes the physical human nature of Christ, as it was sacrificed for us.

Strangely, we receive life from his death. Communion unites us to that reality because the things signified come with the sign. As Paul said earlier about the rock in the wilderness. It was Christ. He was there with the Israelites (1 Corinthians 10:4).

When we receive communion we are united with Christ’s sacrifice. His life covers our life and heals our life. He did this in his physical body, and so we need that physical body.

The Glory of God in the Face of Christ

2011-10-01T14:11:00.001-07:00

W. H. Griffith Thomas writes in his book Christianity is Christ,

One of His closest disciples has summed up his own impression of Jesus Christ in the following words: “We beheld His glory full of grace and truth.” These two words “grace” and “truth” describe His personal character. By “grace” we are to understand His graciousness of soul, manner, attitude, speech, and action. We can see this very plainly in His influence on the daily life of those disciples who were his constant companions. It is writ large on every page of the Gospels that He was attractive to people generally and not least to little children. It is a fine test of personal power to observe how little children regard a man, and Jesus Christ answers this test to perfection. Grace was manifest in everything that He was and did. There never was such a life of graciousness to those around.

“Truth” is also another marked characteristic of the life of Jesus Christ. Reality was stamped on everything about Him. His life was holy. His word was true. His whole character was the embodiment of truth. There never has been a more real or genuine man than Jesus of Nazareth.

It is not only the presence but the combination of these two elements of grace and truth in Jesus Christ that calls for attention. We cannot help noticing their perfect blend and their equally perfect proportion. Grace by itself might easily lead to weakness and mere sentimentality. Truth by itself might easily be expressed in rigor, sternness, severity. But when grace is strengthened by truth and truth is mellowed by grace we have the perfect character and the true life of man. It is the union of these opposites in Jesus Christ in perfect balance and consistency that demands our attention. Other men are only fragmentary, one sided, biased. He is complete, balanced, perfect. Ordinary men often manifest unequally one or other of these two elements. Jesus Christ manifested them both in beautiful harmony and exquisite proportion. He embraces all the good elements which mark other men, and it is not too much to say that there is no element missing which men think desirable in the human character. Not only so He possesses all these elements in a higher degree than any one else and with perfect balance and proportion. There is no weakness, no exaggeration or strain, no strong and weak points as is the case with the rest of mankind. Still more there are certain elements and traits of character which are not found elsewhere such as absolute humility, entire unselfishness, whole- hearted willingness to forgive and the most beautiful and perfect holiness. Nor must we overlook the wonderful blending of contrasts which are to be seen in Jesus Christ, the combination of keenness and integrity, of caution and courage, of tenderness and severity, of sociability and aloofness. Or we may think of the elements of sorrow without moroseness, of joy without lightness, of spirituality without asceticism, of conscientiousness without morbidness, of freedom without licence, of earnestness without fanaticism.

The Dynamics of Faith

2011-09-30T13:57:00.001-07:00

Faith, according to the Bible, is that which unites us with Christ. How then does faith work?

We see that faith begins in the Bible by hearing (Romans 10:17). People need to hear the message. The way this worked out in the Bible is the apostles shared the story of Jesus against the backdrop of Old Testament prophecy and religion.

What happens next is people become convinced that it’s true. Having heard the evidence and finding it credible they find themselves believing it. They become convicted.

At any point a person can resist the process. They can refuse to hear the evidence. They can choose to ignore what they now know to be true. This is the point of the parable of the soils (Mark 4:13-20).

But if people don’t resist, conviction leads to surrender to the truth. Surrender is saying to God, “You’re right. I’m a sinner. I need Jesus.” At that moment the person is united to Christ and is saved. Such a person is truly changed.

Come as You are, Leave Changed

2011-09-30T08:37:00.001-07:00

Some years ago the evangelism committee at our church adopted the catchphrase “Come as you are, Leave changed” for church advertisements. A member of the committee suggested it after I used it in one of my sermons. I was trying to convey in that sermon two truths about Christianity people have a hard time keeping together.

On the one hand Christianity proclaims a God of unconditional love. It was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Jesus’ sacrificial death revealed that God already loved us, warts and all, even before Jesus undid the power of sin.

On the other hand, Christianity expects life change in those who receive God’s unconditional love. The Bible says those who live a sinful lifestyle will not inherent the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).

Which is it then? Unconditional love or expected lifestyle change?

The answer is both.

The biblical answer is that the form of receiving Jesus (God’s expression of unconditional love) is confession of need, and confession of need means admitting God is right, and to admit God is right is to “Go and sin more.”

The person who continues in a sinful lifestyle reveals they are closing their heart to Christ. The Bible says plainly that the person born of God will not continue to sin (1 John 3:9).

Judgment and hell exist not because God lacks unconditional love. Rather people reject God’s unconditional love and choose instead judgment and hell.

The church, following Jesus, welcomes all people as they are and at the same time, following Jesus, tells all people “Go and sin no more.” If the church fails to do both things it is being unfaithful and putting people’s souls in danger.

Sadly, far too often, in the name of being loving, churches are implicitly telling people it’s okay to close your heart off to God (by not expecting lifestyle change in their members). That my friends is NOT the loving thing to do. PLEASE don’t love me in that way. I’d rather you gently and with compassion help me to embrace the truth about my behavior. That would be far more loving and far more compassionate. Indeed, you will save me from death and cover a multitude of sins (James 5:20).

Liberal Christianity and the Bible

2011-09-29T18:59:00.001-07:00

This is the fourth and final post in a series of posts on liberal Christianity.

The premise of liberal Christianity is that the Bible is unreliable and incoherent, and therefore the premise of traditional Christianity (a trustworthy Bible) cannot stand.

I have been at many meetings of liberal Christian pastors where in a loud voice it has been again and again asserted that traditional Christians are in denial. The Bible classical Christians take to be infallible is really riddled with errors.

Strangely, traditional Christians seem to be unfazed by this. Are they really in denial or could it be that these loud protests of liberals betray a certain uneasiness on their part?

For two thousand years Christians have been struck by the amazing unity of the 66 books written by 40 different authors that comprise our Bible. They have seen on every page of these 66 books one subject, Jesus Christ.

This man, Jesus, who claimed a unique relation to the Father embodied a life like no other. And there is credible evidence that this man, Jesus, was vindicated in his claims by being raised from the dead.

Traditional Christians take note that this man, Jesus, and his followers treated the Bible as fully trustworthy. Indeed, Jesus quoted it as God’s own word. He based his life on it.

When liberals attack the Bible they cut themselves off from not only centuries of Christian conviction but from the very founder of their religion. Traditional Christians don’t get why liberals do it. It’s just all so unnecessary.

The Bible gives a coherent message. People have found it to be coherent for two thousand years. Surely, if this coherence was forced it would have fallen apart a long time ago.

If the Bible is what Jesus and the apostles said it is then we’re foolish to denigrate it. We ought instead to try to understand it and to obey it.

Liberal Christianity cannot stand because it is based on an obvious lie. The simplest Christian can discern the uniqueness of the Bible.

The brute fact of the Bible spells the end of liberal Christianity. It simply takes too much work to continue to deny the obvious; eventually facts win out.

The Ironic Political Irrelevance of Liberal Christianity

2011-09-27T08:42:00.001-07:00

A second post in a series of posts on liberal Christianity.

With the turn away from the objective gospel to religious feeling liberals were left with an air of unreality about spiritual things. The need for something solid was then filled by politics and social morality.

Most present-day oldline Protestant leaders cut their teeth in the heyday of the civil rights movement, a truly worthy cause, which gave them a powerful sense of meaning about their religious commitments. “Prophetic religion” became the gold standard by which to judge all religious activity. Church was now seen to be at its best when it is about facilitating social change, helping society move along in the inevitable arc of progress.

As a result politics is at the very heart of liberal Christianity. Liberal denominations devout much of their national meeting time to discussion and votes on social policy resolutions, and mission dollars are heavily weighted towards programs aimed at social change.

By contrast conservative denominations devote most of their time and energy to proclamation of the gospel and leave the political and social issues to parachurch organizations and political action committees.

By not abandoning the objective gospel of Christ’s atoning death and resurrection traditional Christians have maintained a vitality that is the envy of most liberal Christian leaders. This vitality has resulted in a great reversal—once mainline churches are now sidelined and the once smaller conservative churches have grown so large that they have come to define the very meaning of the word “Christian.”

Understandably, the conservatives are taken far more seriously by the culture than are the liberals and have come to exert a far greater influence on the political process. This is ironic in that the political is of far greater importance to most liberal Christians than it is to conservatives.

Next, I will look at liberal Christianity and the contemporary conflict over sexual ethics.

Why is Liberal Christianity so Sterile?

2011-09-26T10:30:00.001-07:00

I’ve spent many years among liberal Christians. They have a special place in my heart. They are part of my history. But I’m not a liberal Christian. Liberal Christianity just isn’t that compelling, and evidently a lot of other people agree with me (liberal churches and denominations are dying at an astonishing rate).

What is it about liberal Christianity that makes it so sterile? I think the answer goes back to a fateful move liberals made.

Traditional Christianity has as the object of its trust, Jesus Christ Son of God and savior of the world. Confidence in Jesus is rooted in his resurrection from the dead, evidenced by the empty tomb, the witness of his followers, and the remarkable life and claims he made recorded in the gospels—all of which fulfill Old Testament prophecy and religion in a remarkable way.

As liberals came to doubt the historical reliability of Scripture they looked for a new object of their trust, something else to serve as the anchor of their religion. They chose to put their faith in faith itself, what Friedrich Schleiermacher, the father of liberal theology, called the feeling of absolute dependence.

This inward turn shielded the liberals from the results of the historical method. Whether Jesus really left an empty tomb no longer mattered. What mattered is the ethical system he left behind and the feeling of being committed to the God he represented.

What this subjective turn did was privatize religious beliefs, and since there was no way to corroborate them they basically became irrelevant. This is just as true with the more conservative neo-orthodox theologians who affirmed classic Christian beliefs but claimed these beliefs were not subject to historical verification.

What all this did to oldline Protestant churches was give an air of unreality to what they believed and taught (which continues to this very day). The sterility of liberal Christianity comes from the fact that there’s no way of knowing whether what they’re talking about is rooted in reality, and because of this they look for something more real to preach about, things like politics and social morality.

In my next post I’ll talk about the paradoxical lack of political influence that liberal Christians have even though, believe it or not, politics is far more important to them than it is for most conservative Christians and churches.

NT Wright - Ben Witherington Docudrama on Jesus Coming to PBS this Fall

2011-09-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ben Witherington of Asbury Theological Seminary is reporting that a docudrama he did with Tom Wright and others for the BBC is coming to PBS this fall. (He doesn’t give the date.)

He and Tom Wright will also be hosting a screening of the film at the Society of Biblical Literature meeting in San Francisco.

The Not So Strange Cases of Brad Pitt and Katy Perry

2011-09-23T03:38:00.000-07:00

Brad Pitt, Katy Perry and More Go Back on Christian Beliefs - ABC News

"Many people find religion to be very inspiring. Myself, I found it very stifling. I grew up with Christianity and I remember questioning it greatly. Some things didn't work for me. Some things did" (recent remarks by Brad Pitt on his Christian upbringing).

Some very high profile celebrities have come out renouncing the Christian faith of their childhood. Two in particular, Brad Pitt and Katy Perry, share a common background in nondenominational Charismatic churches.

A common theme in their stories is religious legalism. Pitt talks of an emphasis on always feeling guilty, and Perry speaks of all the things she wasn’t allowed to do. Neither speaks about ever having been convinced that Christianity is true. In fact, as Perry describes it, she was simply told that she needs to have faith.

One gets the impression that neither Pitt nor Perry were led to a place of intellectual assent to the truth of Christianity. What they seem to be renouncing is an unattractive way of life and only incidentally the truth claims of Christianity.

So much could be said about this. Pitt is right. Authoritarian, rule-oriented religion is stifling. Perry is right too. God gave us a mind so we can ask, Why should I believe this to be true?

Fear-based retreat from the surrounding culture is unattractive. It denies the obvious good that can be found in the world around us, including human beings. What we need instead is a stance of critical engagement with culture, including popular culture.

None of this does away with the fact that when confronted with Christ we must come to our own conclusion about who we say that he is. We are responsible for the light we have been given, but let us not forget that the church is responsible for how it stewards that light. Let us strive not to obscure the light with ugly and unnecessary legalism, authoritarianism, and anti-intellectualism.

God Desires All People Be Saved

2011-09-21T15:15:00.001-07:00

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people … This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1, 3-4 ESV).

Pray for everyone!

Why?

God wants everyone to be saved!

Brothers and Sisters

2011-09-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

How Our Siblings Shape Us | On Point with Tom Ashbrook

Heard an interesting piece on the way brothers and sisters affect our lives.

Amazing how my three children exhibit the characteristics for their birth order to a T.

Better to Know the Truth

2011-09-15T09:09:00.001-07:00

“The greatest kindness possible to a person going on a dangerous path is to tell them God’s truth, as it is in Christ. Through self-styled prophets multitudes are led on their way to destruction” (Summarized Bible, By KEITH L. BROOKS on 1 Kings 22).

This morning’s devotional reading from the lectionary is 1 Kings 22:29-45. King Ahab chooses to listen to the false prophets who told him what he wanted to hear rather than to the man who told him the truth—a very bad move.

Those Who Live Like This

2011-09-14T13:19:00.001-07:00

“I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21 NIV 1984).

Living, vital Christianity involves life change. Lack of life change should be a cause for alarm.

Jesus said those who love him keep his commands (John 14:15). If we don’t keep his commands we have to ask ourselves, Do I love him?

It may be that we discover we aren’t Christians (we don’t love Jesus like that). That’s an important discovery to make.

Having made that discovery we’re in the place to be honest with ourselves. We can then ask, Do I really buy Christmas and Easter? Is it all real.

Perhaps this will prompt us to search out the truth about Christ and in so doing we may find ourselves really believing in him, for the first time or perhaps for the first time in a long time.

“Everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning” (1 John 5:18 ESV). They can’t. They love Jesus too much.

This is the gift of truly believing, knowing that Jesus is worthy of our love and devotion and that he can be trusted.

God’s Restraining Grace

2011-07-27T04:05:00.001-07:00

Our main text Sunday was 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11. We looked at how the Bible speaks of the mystery of lawlessness in our world (all are sinners), and how that lawlessness is being restrained by God (God gives us the means for keeping sin relatively in check, even to unbelievers). See 2 Thessalonians 2:7.

I mentioned that theologians have labeled this God’s common grace. It’s because of this common grace that we can work for relative peace and prosperity in this world.

It’s because of common grace that we Christians can be involved in all facets of society, acting as salt and light.

Common grace does not bring people to faith in Christ (that’s the work of saving grace), but common grace does make the world a more livable place.

Jesus told his disciples, “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13 KJV). He meant, “Use your gifts for my glory and the benefit of yourself and others.” May we be moved to greater faithfulness as we await his return!

(Here’s a link to a theological article on common grace.)

An Important Reminder

2011-07-21T12:55:00.001-07:00

“The Gospel everywhere calls out some, but it never, in any place, has been known to convert all, and nothing of this order is to be expected in this age” (Commentary on Acts 15:14 from The Summarized Bible: Complete Summary of the New Testament By KEITH L. BROOKS).

I’ve been using Keith Brooks’ Summarized Bible in conjunction with the three daily Bible readings from our church newsletter (same as the daily lectionary found in the Book of Common Prayer).

Today’s second reading was Acts 15:1-11. While reading Brooks on this chapter I was struck by his comment on one of tomorrow’s verses. He reminds us that the Bible speaks of God taking from the nations a people to be his own.

We should not be surprised when not everyone believes, and we should stand in awe when someone does believe. It is an awesome, awesome thing to be included in the people of God.

The Words of the Prophets Made More Certain

2011-07-18T09:44:00.001-07:00

This Sunday the focus of my sermon was on building confidence in the reliability of the biblical prophets. My key text was 2 Peter 1:19 in the NIV.

“We have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

Peter is saying that Christ’s first coming should build our confidence in the prophets accuracy/reliability. They were so right about Christ’s first coming; therefore we can trust what they say about his second coming and the consummation of all things to come on the last day.

I made reference to the many Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus, following the list that is often included in study Bibles published by Thomas Nelson of Nashville, Tennessee. You can find that list here. Another list may be found here.

These lists are merely a sampling of the prophecies fulfilled in Jesus. Some estimate that over 300 Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled by Christ’s first coming. A helpful book in this regard is Messiah in Both Testaments by Fred Meldau. A free .pdf file of that book can be found here.

Kingdom Come

2011-07-10T16:17:00.001-07:00

We’re beginning a new series of sermons at Salem on the Christian doctrine of the end times. The title of the series is “Kingdom Come” to emphasize that the Christian teaching on the end is properly understood as the fulfillment of God’s plan to establish his kingdom.

These are great and holy things to contemplate, let alone speak of. I pray that throughout the series God would make us sensitive to the reality of the greatness of these things of which we speak.

Today we spoke of the purpose of Christ’s delay in returning. This earlier post quoting C.S. Lewis sums up the biblical teaching well.

Ascension Day 2011–Jesus is Lord!

2011-06-02T10:20:00.001-07:00

“God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear” (Acts 2:32-33 NIV).

C. S. Lewis on the End of the World

2011-05-21T10:28:00.001-07:00

“He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely…I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then...? …Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it” (Mere Christianity).

The Reflections of a Child of the Jesus Movement

2011-05-18T11:07:00.001-07:00

In the days leading up to Mother’s Day I found myself reflecting on my own mother, on her spiritual journey and its impact on my own life.

My mother was a young adult in the late 60’s and early 70’s—a time of profound change. She came into the church through the Jesus movement and the charismatic renewal that were both going on at the time.

Raised nominally as a Lutheran she experienced spiritual reality through the impact of a nearby Wesleyan Church. This church had been touched by a tremendous influx of young people and was part of the then young charismatic movement.

The spiritual life at that church has had a profound impact on my life. Even as a young child I could sense the amazing closeness of this community and knew it was special. There was a reality at that church that was undeniable.

My mother’s generation would go on to impact the church at large in profound ways, even as they impacted the larger society. They would seek to reinvent the church, reshaping it according to their own convictions and tastes.

Looking back I can understand the rebellion. They were reacting against a deadness they perceived in many of the established churches.

My own journey would lead me back into the traditional church, in part out of a search for a rootedness that was lost in all the newness, but I have held onto the conviction that the church needs to be ever renewed in the Holy Spirit—a conviction I have thanks to my mother.

I thank God for my mother and her generation. The baby boomers get blamed for many things (and sometimes deservedly so), but I continue to admire their search for something real.

Introducing Baptism with the Holy Spirit

2011-05-03T13:05:00.001-07:00

An introductory sermon on living a life baptized in the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.

Blueprint to Parish Renewal–False Assumptions

2011-04-14T09:10:00.001-07:00

In this post I want to look at common false assumptions about parish renewal.

False assumptions:

parish renewal is tied to a particular form of worship/service order (in actuality there are all kinds of vibrant, faith-filled churches)
parish renewal is tied to a particular style of music, such as praise music vs. hymns
parish renewal means increasing the emotional intensity of the service and the sermon
parish renewal means incorporating slick media
parish renewal happens as we demonstrate cultural relevance (especially an awareness of popular cultural trends)

None of these things are necessary for parish renewal. The example of a vibrant church in the biblical book of Acts includes:

Faith (believing in the Lord Jesus Christ) expressed in receiving baptism – Acts 2:38
devotion to the apostles’ teaching
devotion to fellowship
devotion to breaking bread (receiving Christ’s presence in the act of sharing the Lord’s supper)
devotion to prayer – Acts 2:42

The result of such things was that “Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles” (Acts 2:43 NIV).

In short, uninhibited Faith expressed in devotion leads to spiritual reality.

Blueprint for Parish Renewal in the 21st Century

2011-04-13T11:49:00.001-07:00

I’m beginning a series of posts on a blueprint for Parish renewal in the 21st century context. I begin here with underlying assumptions.

Assumptions

Wholehearted faith is the key to Spiritual Experience/Reality
Doubt undermines/robs faith of its power to connect us to God
Churches lacking in spiritual reality are weak in faith
Faith is born and doubt destroyed when the facts/evidence for Christ are made known
The decision to act on newfound faith (faith as a decision) leads to spiritual experience and deeper/greater faith
A cycle of faith and blessing is set up (in opposition to the former cycle of doubt and emptiness)

An Ash Wednesday Sermon -- 2011

2011-03-10T08:09:00.001-08:00

Last night’s Ash Wednesday sermon.

Debunking the Da Vinci Code and other Myths about Christianity

2011-03-04T13:11:00.001-08:00

I’ve been preparing my sermon for this Sunday and have been looking at the modern myth that prior to the 300s many Christians believed Jesus to be merely a man, an inspired prophet. I found this video which does a good job of simply explaining some of the facts of history.

Always Relevant: Volf’s Got a New Book

2011-03-02T14:49:00.001-08:00

Picked up a new book on Christianity and Islam by Yale theologian Miroslav Volf. I’ve done some serious skimming through the book in preparation for reading it through. I’ve already picked up a gem.

“[R]ight worship consists above all in receiving the gift of God’s own self given in Christ apart from any human qualifications …. Paradoxically, the only condition for receiving the gift is not trying to satisfy any conditions” (198-199).

Volf is a deep thinker. He’s worth reading. He’s imbibed deeply the Reformation discovery of justification by grace through faith. His book Free of Charge is a helpful, popular level book on that doctrine.

In many ways he seems to be speaking classical Protestant theology into the present-day context. Along those lines I find him helpful for discovering new implications for old doctrines. He’s good at showing that Christianity has something to say about the pressing issues of our time. This also is his weakness/temptation in that he often comes across as overly eager to accommodate his thought to modern concerns.

Volf is always relevant, and I’m sure I’ll learn a lot. At the same time I’m expecting that he may be too quick to find common ground. We’ll see. Expecting a good read no matter what.

What Makes a Sermon?

2011-02-08T14:26:00.001-08:00

“In pulpit oratory are three elements, either of which may control: the text, the subject or theme, and the object or end aimed at. If the text rule, the result is an exposition or exegesis; if the subject, an essay or discourse; if the object to be attained be steadily kept in view, and control the disposition of the parts and the expression and delivery, we get properly a sermon.”

Arthur T. Pierson, Divine Art of Preaching

Deep and Wide

2011-01-28T08:59:00.001-08:00

“How can you go to that church? Don’t you know what they believe?”

These questions were posed to a member of our church by a younger friend. That friend was assuming that our church had adopted the revisionist beliefs of many in our church’s former denomination. (Our church left that denomination and has opted to remain non-denominational.)

The questions of this friend are important because they raise the basic question about who we are as a church. I believe the answer to that question is that we are a non-denominational church which embraces classic Christianity.

Today perhaps the biggest divide in Christendom is not between various denominations but instead between those who hold to traditional Christianity and those who have adopted a radically revised faith.

Thomas Oden, a United Methodist theologian, is a former revisionist who has since embraced what he calls “classic Christianity.” In his writings he shows how down through the ages Christians have held to a core of shared beliefs. These shared beliefs reveal the essence of true Christianity.

What unites us at Salem is our commitment to these essentials. We allow for freedom in non-essentials, recognizing that there are legitimately contested doctrines, but there are those things which have defined Christianity from the beginning that cannot be compromised.

You might say the non-denominational part of our identity expresses our freedom in non-essentials and the classic Christianity part reflects our firm stance stance in holding to the essentials of the faith. I believe this is a rather attractive combination.

We have a lot to offer people looking for a church with both breadth and depth. The challenge is getting the word out about who we are! In the end the best method will always be word of mouth so I’m hoping by boiling it down and expressing the essence of who we are members will be helped in sharing the exciting truth about our church.

Rooted and Relevant?

2011-01-13T12:05:00.001-08:00

Here’s a little something I’ve written for our church’s website on the relevance of a traditional Protestant church.

Rooted and Relevant?

For many people a white wood frame country church (like we have at Salem) is very inviting. It feels safe and comforting. It speaks to them of stability and tradition. For such people anything else just isn’t church.

For other people, however, the perception of a church like ours is that it must be a very strange and uninviting place. The building itself speaks to them of mere religion and empty ritual. They think of people having lost touch with the living reality of the Christian faith. For such people a traditional church seems irrelevant.

It's true that the longer a church is around the greater the chance it will fall into dead ritualism and lukewarm faith. It happens all the time--but it need not be the case, and it’s not the case at Salem.

At Salem we believe it’s possible to be both rooted and relevant. Indeed it’s our conviction that this is God’s intention for us as a church. We say in our constitution that we affirm “the responsibility of this Church in each generation to make its faith its own.” This means we’re committed to a real and living faith.

A Real Faith. The reality of our faith begins with the fact that we affirm historic Christianity. We believe Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the messianic promises and prophecies in the Old Testament and that the biblical gospels share with us the real history of Jesus. The whole New Testament proclaims the central miracle of the Bible, which is the real, bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

It’s from this real faith, rooted in real history, that we live boldly for God in the world.

A Relevant Faith. It’s also from this real faith that all our traditions derive their meaning. When we understand who Jesus is and what he has done we cannot sing hymns or say prayers or recite the ancient creeds without thinking of him. He fills all we do with a sense of awe and wonder and reality. These ancient practices serve to confirm the reality of Christ in us thereby empowering us for relevant witness in the world. Through the lens of our ancient faith we see every person as unique individuals made for relationship with God.

A Relational Faith. As traditional Protestants we are uniquely relational, down to the very core. This is powerfully expressed in our observance of the biblical practice of household baptism (including infants and children of believers). We believe that the Holy Spirit has chosen to express himself in our relationships (as the tangible body of Christ) so that children raised in the household of faith are recipient’s of God’s gracious presence before they are even aware of it. Christ in the church (in its relationships) has already embraced that child in love. Of course, in keeping with our relational nature such children will increasingly need to receive that grace for themselves, but this doesn’t change the fact that God’s grace was at work in them prior to their even knowing it. All this to say we recognize that Christ comes to us in the form of the fellowship of believers and value highly the importance of relationship.

We invite those who may have never considered trying a traditional church to give Salem a try. We believe you will find an ancient, historical faith with surprisingly relevant implications for life in the 21st century.

Facts and Feelings

2010-10-14T19:40:00.001-07:00

“How plain it is that faith is not to be confounded with, nor measured by, feeling. No mistake is more common than to gauge faith by conscious emotion. Faith is confidence in facts and their statement in words. Feeling is a natural consequence of faith, but to get our eyes on feelings rather than keep them on the facts, is a fatal mistake; for the more we turn attention from facts to feelings the less feeling we have.”

--A.T. Pierson

The High Call of Preaching

2010-10-08T20:50:00.001-07:00

“It is a first requisite of the preacher, therefore, that he shall magnify his office. The appreciation of the dignity of his art, the high character of a true sermon, the eternal issues that hang upon its preparation and delivery, cannot but impel him to studious and prayerful fitting of himself for the conscientious and successful discharge of his exalted office.”

“The preacher, as God's ambassador, is a mediator between God and men. and slovenliness or even sluggishness in getting one's self ready for such service is a fundamental if not unpardonable fault; it reveals a lack not only of conscience, but of competency for such a holy trust. A hallowed atmosphere should surely pervade the halls where men study the saving truth of God with reference to its use in saving souls.”

--Arthur T. Pierson

The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ

2010-10-07T06:54:00.001-07:00

“A character so original, so complete, so uniformly consistent, so perfect, so human and yet so high above all human greatness, can be neither a fraud nor a fiction. The poet, as has been well said, would in this case be greater than the hero. It would take more than a Jesus to invent a Jesus.”

--Phiip Schaff

Uncle Sam's Plantation By Star Parker

2010-10-06T07:44:00.001-07:00

Star Parker is no dispassionate social theorist. She approaches the problem of chronic poverty in America as one who has found the pathway to freedom. Having left a life of welfare dependency, drugs, meaningless sex, and abortion her passion is to see others set free.

In Uncle Sam’s Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America’s Poor and What We Can Do About It Parker examines the sources of poverty and vents her anger at the ones she believes to be the culprits in perpetuating the human misery she experienced first hand.

The change in her own life came through her encounter with the church, and she suggests that churches become centers of change. She proposes every inner city congregation start a Christian school to teach the next generation the values that lead to a better life.

Parker covers no new ground when it comes to the causes of poverty. The usual social policies are mentioned, as are the usual bad personal behaviors. What is new is her insider take on the fruit of these policies and behaviors. Her own story of deliverance from poverty is inspirational, and an encouragement to pastors everywhere on the impact one sermon can have on a person’s life.

If you’re looking for detailed statistical analysis of poverty look elsewhere, but if you’re wanting to hear the passion and story of a person who has found a new life through the renewal of her mind this book is for you.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Healthy Doubt

2010-09-30T07:09:00.001-07:00

“There is a kind of doubt that is entirely right, and of that sort is the doubt of one who does not believe what he has no reason to believe, and what he has no proof of, as true. The mind is endowed with powers of investigation, reflection, reason that we may carefully examine into evidence and so decide what is true and what is false.”

“God himself, then, asks of us no blind faith. We should know what we believe and why we believe it. Nothing is to be accepted unless based on good evidence; to believe hastily may be to blindly embrace error and untruth.”

--A.T. Pierson, Many Infallible Proofs

Ouch

2010-09-29T19:47:00.001-07:00

While “actors speak of things imaginary as though real preachers speak of things real as though imaginary .”

--Quoted in The Divine Art of Preaching, A.T. Pierson

The Central Theme of the Bible

2010-09-23T12:10:00.001-07:00

“The coming of Christ, promised in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New--His birth, character, work, teachings, His sufferings, death and resurrection--are the grand, central themes of the Bible. Christ is the bond that ties the two Testaments together. The Old Testament is in the New revealed, the New Testament is in the Old concealed.”

MESSIAH In Both Testaments, FRED JOHN MELDAU

The Limitations of Rationalism

2010-09-23T06:54:00.001-07:00

“Certainly Christ was divine. Certainly His doctrine was like Himself. Both He and it are evident exotics on our earth soil. He has the look of heaven on His face, and His doctrines the aroma of heaven in their garments. The student of ecclesiastical history who fails to note this, and to lay uninterrupted emphasis upon it, as a student, fails to perceive the majesty of the doctrine he attempts to study, and as a writer will compose a history about the Church, but not of it. Rationalism is not competent for the task of becoming the biographer of the Christ, the exegete of His doctrines, nor the recorder of the triumphs of the conquering Son of God.”

--William A. Quayle, The Pastor-Preacher

The Difference between Mere Ceremonies and Symbols and Types

2010-09-18T09:32:00.001-07:00

“The sacrifices of the Old Testament were symbolical and typical. An outward observance without any real inward meaning is only a ceremony. But a rite which has a present spiritual meaning is a symbol; and if, besides, it also points to a future reality, conveying at the same time, by anticipation, the blessing that is yet to appear, it is a type. Thus the Old Testament sacrifices were not only symbols, nor yet merely predictions by fact (as prophecy is a prediction by word), but they already conveyed to the believing Israelite the blessing that was to flow from the future reality to which they pointed.”

--Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministries and Services

A Wedding Sermon

2010-09-18T08:38:00.001-07:00

“At the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate" (Matthew 19:4-6 NIV).

“Male and female—for this reason the two become one.”

BRIDE’S NAME and GROOM’S NAME you were made for marriage. You were made for the possibility of finding fulfillment and joy and happiness in the union of husband and wife.

Marriage means that a man and a woman come together with all the uniqueness of their experience as a man and a woman, and they share that uniqueness with each other. They complete each other.

The husband grows as a human being as he cares for and loves a woman, his wife, and comes to know and understand what it means for his wife to be female.

The wife grows as a human being as she cares for and loves a man, her husband, and comes to know and understand what it means for her husband to be a male.

It’s that differentness that makes marriage exciting and fun, and we gather here today to celebrate God’s gift to you. We pray for you that your marriage would be exciting and happy and fun.

We pray you’d never lose touch with those things that attracted you to each other—the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical attraction. These things are God’s gift. Male and female was his idea.

But God’s gift is not only for your enjoyment but also for your betterment. Marriage is a gift and a calling, a task that demands your all, your best. And it’s as you give your all, your best, to this marriage that you will become the person God’s called you to be. Your marriage will be that which makes you so much more than you are today, and the love you will know in old age will be deeper and so much more profound than it is today.

That’s the promise of marriage, a promise realized as you live the promises you make today, and so we gather to witness the words of promise you’ve come to speak to each other. These words are so much more than a mere formality, as you know. They represent your commitment to this marriage, in good times and bad, to give your all.

Believe me, there will be good times, many, many good times. Last night was a good time as you gathered with your wedding party for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

Right now is a good time, standing in the beauty of this place, surrounded by people who love you, knowing that you’re here with someone who has chosen you as the one to have and to hold from this day forth.

And the reception to follow this service will be good, and I could on and on. Praise be to God who freely gives us all things to be enjoyed. Life is good.

But I would be derelict in my duty as a minister of the gospel if I did not tell you there will be bad. There will be hard times. You can count on it. That’s why they’re mentioned right there in the wedding vows. It’s because hardship is a part of life, and we’re better off if we just accept it and expect it, but we do so in hope, believing that God is able to work all things together for our good.

If we commit ourselves to God and his plan for our lives we find that hardship becomes his tool for making us into the beautiful creatures we were destined to be. It’s a reminder that today is not merely the culmination of a courtship; it’s the beginning of a lifelong adventure, an adventure of discovering who you will become in response to the joys and challenges of life.

That’s why Jesus said, “What God has joined together, let man not separate.” God is saying he is big enough to meet whatever challenges you may face in your marriage, and he is so great he can turn any trial into gold. He is on your side, and if you will turn to him, you will find he is an ever-present help in time of need.

God has great things for you. He intends great things for you. Never forget that. Believe it.

Today is truly the beginning of the rest of your lives. May God grant you grace and the wonder of fulfilling your destiny as you love him and love one another. Amen.

The Joy of Predestination

2010-09-14T06:58:00.001-07:00

I was asked by someone at church to say more about predestination and free will. (I touched on the subject briefly in my sermon Sunday.)

Here goes:

Predestination in the Bible is a matter of great joy. It is always about rejoicing in the fact that a believer’s faith is rooted in eternity. Predestination means God reaches out to us from eternity and chooses us to be his own.

Closely linked with this is the biblical teaching that we don’t seek God; God seeks us. We come to God because he draws us. We are spiritually dead because of our sins, and God awakens us by his grace (see for example Ephesians 2:1-10 and John 6:44).

In short, our wills are freed to believe because of the grace of God. It is by grace we are saved.

These are two of the central truths of the Protestant Reformation.

Problems arise when we search for a rational solution to the fact that God “desires all people to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4 ESV) and the fact that not all people are saved. Instead, “Many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14 NASB).

I am convinced there is no rational solution this side of eternity and that attempts to figure it out inevitably distort the truth.

We would do well to heed the words of Deuteronomy 29:29:

"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (ESV).

Christian faith will invariably involve mystery and paradox because we are dealing with a God who says to us,

“My thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV).

Paradoxically, all these things are true:

We believe only because God gives us the gift of faith.
When we hear the gospel and believe that is a sign we are predestined to salvation.
God truly desires all to be saved.
Tragically, not all are saved.

God Sent a Picture

2010-09-09T06:53:00.001-07:00

“The Tabernacle is the finest portrait of Christ and of His redemption that there is in the Old Testament. God sent a picture before He sent the Person.”

--J. Vernon McGee, The Tabernacle: God’s Portrait of Christ

The Normalizing of Polygamy

2010-09-07T15:04:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Joe Carter at First Thoughts for this.

TLC has a new reality program on a polygamous family. As Carter writes in his blog, “Let the normalization begin.”

The husband of the wives hits the logic on its head. “I fell in love, and I fell in love again and again.”

If the logic of marriage is simply “being in love” there is no reason to limit marriage to two people. It’s not fair. Rights are being trampled. The polyamorous are being oppressed.

The Unitarians have had a lobby group advocating for the rights of the polyamorous for sometime. From their website: “UUPA defines polyamory as the philosophy and practice of loving or relating intimately to more than one other person at a time with honesty and integrity.”

The Only Sure Word

2010-09-04T17:09:00.001-07:00

“The chief thing in the service of worship is not your opinion, as you may be inclined to present it in your sermon; the chief thing is and remains the text. Guilt is not absolved and the dying are not raised up by your believing and opining; here it must be: Thus it is written; this is what the messenger of Jesus is saying to you.”

--Adolf Schlatter, quoted in Minister’s Prayer Book

The Secret to a Noble, Grave, Harmonious Life

2010-09-03T09:46:00.001-07:00

“Our lives will then be noble and grave, and woven into a harmonious unity, when they are based upon continual communion with, continual desire after, and continual submission to, God. If they are not, they will be worth nothing and will come to nothing.”

--Alexander Maclaren, The epistles of St. Paul to the Colossians and Philemon

Why We Should Persevere in Prayer

2010-09-03T09:02:00.001-07:00

“Even for the best of us, there comes times when prayer seems to be unavailing and to penetrate no farther than the walls of the room in which we pray. At such a time the remedy is not to stop but to go on praying; for in the man who prays spiritual dryness cannot last.”

--William Barclay, the Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians

Our Chief Concern

2010-09-02T17:23:00.001-07:00

“Not only does the New Testament provide little support for the idea that God saves apart from faith in Christ, but it also appears at many points to call into question the Reformed assumption that a true believer can never fall away from Christ. From the vantage point of Scripture, the debate in the church should not be over how many unbelievers can be saved apart from faith in Christ but rather over whether even believers can simply presume that salvation can never be lost. The Letter to the Hebrews takes it one step further. The besetting issue there is whether believers who have once fallen away from the faith can even be allowed a second repentance.”

--Robert Gagnon from Is Faith in Christ Optional or an Operating Premise for Salvation?

Professor Robert Gagnon is rigorous scholar and a fearless fighter for biblical faithfulness. In the paper linked above he challenges the idea that salvation can be found apart from explicit faith in Christ. In the quote above he takes on the traditional Reformed doctrine of perseverance of the saints.
Reminds me of the first question of the 1892 Evangelical Catechism:

“What should be the chief concern of man? Man's chief concern should be the eternal salvation of his soul.”

The Tragedy of “Unincarnated” Love

2010-09-02T05:52:00.001-07:00

“The flight from any responsible ‘incarnational’ love is characteristic of the literature of romantic love. Hardly a single example of romance in married love exists in all of the Western romantic love tradition. Lovers scarcely know each other and are more in love with love than with each other. Death always intervenes before there is any significant chance for two people to know each other as they really are. Death, therefore, obscures the need for self-giving kind of love (agape) to supplement and save this romantic love (eros) from its essential preoccupation with self and its idealized projections. The end or destiny of romantic love as a religion is always death, either of the love or of the lovers. Thus death obscures for its adherents the essential self-centeredness and flight that is characteristic of romantic love. All seem to end in daggers, poison, or mutual suicide. The twentieth century has a rather sentimentalized version of this fatal end: marriage.”

“It would be difficult to exaggerate the pain, suffering, and broken marriages of countless people who have been misled over the centuries into thinking that ‘true’ love is always some other, impossible, forbidden love. This love feeds the essential romantic agony, exquisite anguish, self-pity, and death (literal or symbolic, as in marriage seen as death) that characterizes ‘true’ love in eight hundred years of romantic tales. In contrast … Christianity promises redemption and internal change that enables two people to love each other in all their concreteness.”

--From The Cruelty of Heresy: An Affirmation of Christian Orthodoxy

Found this fascinating take on romantic love in The Cruelty of Heresy. The author references a thesis in the book Love in the Western World that the Western idea of romantic love has its roots in gnosticism and its rejection of bodily life. Very interesting.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

2010-09-01T14:51:00.001-07:00

“The gospel of niceness can't teach teens how to confront tragedy. It can't bear the weight of deeper questions: Why are my parents getting a divorce? Why did my best friend commit suicide? Why, in this economy, can't I get the good job I was promised if I was a good kid?"

--From a dead on article at CNN

Bonhoeffer on the Church

2010-09-01T06:27:00.001-07:00

“Since the ascension, Christ’s place on earth has been taken by his Body, the Church. The Church is the real presence of Christ.”

“We should think of the Church not as an institution, but as a person, though of course a person in a unique sense.”

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Where the Action Is

2010-08-31T19:53:00.001-07:00

Doubtless one of the regrets we all will have when we get to heaven will be that we did not spend more time in prayer, especially when we will realize the extent to which our prayers were answered.

--From Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (electronic ed.) (Col 4:2)

Free Books (with a minor catch)

2010-08-31T13:04:00.001-07:00

I’ve signed up for “BookSneeze” with Thomas Nelson Publishers. They send me free books in exchange for an unbiased review on my blog, not a bad deal.

Just requested my first book. Should be here in a couple days. It’s coming from Nashville, Tennessee. (We often stay at the Drury Inn across the street from Thomas Nelson when we’re in Nashville.)

Wright on the Husband’s Leadership in Marriage

2010-08-27T08:35:00.001-07:00

“Within marriage, the guideline is clear. The husband is to take the lead—though he is to do so fully mindful of the self-sacrificial model which the Messiah has provided.”

“If this guideline still seems outrageous in today’s culture, we should ask ourselves: do our modern societies, in which marriage is often a tragedy or a joke, really offer a better model of how to do it? Does the spectre of broken homes littering modern Western culture indicate that we’ve got it right and can tell the rest of human history how we finally resolved the battle of the sexes? Or does it indicate that we still need to do some rethinking somewhere?”

--From Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters

Tom Wright on the Assault on Maleness

2010-08-27T08:16:00.001-07:00

“At the start of the twenty-first century, it has been remarked that it is harder than ever to be a boy.”

“Today in the supposedly civilized and sophisticated countries of the world, there is growing up a whole generation of young men who feel themselves discriminated against simply for being male. They have energy and drive--often turning into aggression and violence--with nobody to help them direct or channel it. Often they grow up in broken homes where their natural father has gone for good and a succession of other men come and go. Few, if any, care much for them. Still less do they provide appropriate role models.”
“Often the message they pick up is: it would be much better to be like girls, to think and feel like girls. Girls are better. Boys--and men--are part of the problem in the world. Only by radical change can they be part of the solution.”
“The results are well known. Many boys end up in gangs. They use drugs; they become violent. They end up in jail. They die young.”
“The word ‘testosterone’ -- which refers to the hormone that produces and sustains secondary male characteristics--is used dismissively or abusively, to indicate that some young male is displaying an unfortunate tendency to be, well, male.”

--From Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters

Bonhoeffer and his Confirmation Class

2010-08-21T09:14:00.001-07:00

"Belief is a decision. We can't get away from the fact. 'You cannot serve two masters'; from now on you serve God alone or you don't serve God at all. You have only one master now--that is the world's master, that is the world's redeemer, that is the world's re-creator. It is your highest honor to serve God."

"Your faith will be led into severe temptations. ... It must all come to pass, so that your belief is tested and fortified, so that you become equal to ever greater challenges and struggles."

–Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1938 Confirmation Sermon

Where God is Found

2010-08-21T08:46:00.001-07:00

“If it is I who say where God will be, I will always find there a God who in some way corresponds to me, is agreeable to me, fits with my nature.”

“The entire Bible [Old Testament and New Testament], then is the Word in which God allows himself to be found by us.”

“Any other place outside the Bible has become too uncertain for me. I fear that I will only encounter some divine double of myself there.”

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditating on the Word

Sermon Outline for August 8, 2010

2010-08-12T06:33:00.001-07:00

Be All That You Can Be!

Colossians 3.5-14

Proposition: “You can live a different life because you are a different person.”

Subject: The Christian Life/Sanctification, it’s basis

Introduction

I. CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE ONLY COMES WITH CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE (v. 10 “have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”)

A. We have to be “renewed in knowledge.”

24. What were the sad consequences of this fall of man?

By this fall man lost the strength and beauty of God’s image and came under the power of satan, sin, and death. This corruption has been transmitted from Adam to all mankind.

1. Renewed in knowledge of the strength (ability)

2. Renewed in knowledge of beauty (what it looks like)

B. We Come to Know/Experience in the doing

Illustration-Teacher learning what it means to be a teacher by doing it.

II. YOU BEGIN TO CHANGE ONLY WHEN YOU BEGIN TO CHANGE

A. Experiencing what you can be requires action

1. Negative side

“5Put to death,” “rid yourselves,” “Do not”

2. Positive side

“clothe yourselves,” “Bear,” “forgive,” “put on,” “Let,” “be”

“make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Ro.

13.14 Esv)

B. There is no reason a Christian should still be involved in these things

sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry, anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language

1. Stop (continued)

2. Avoid tempters/tempting situations

3. Run when temptation comes

4. Confess when you fail and start over again

C. There is every reason a Christian should be able to do these things

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

III. CHANGE CAN HAPPEN ONLY BECAUSE A CHANGE HAS HAPPENED

(v. 9-10 “You have taken off old self & put on new self.”)

A. God did something

COL 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regula tions, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

“you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Co. 1:30)

“he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (1.13)

B. God is continuing to do something

“continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13).

“but Christ is all, and is in all” (3.11).

C. Only real distinction that matters—”Saved or lost”

11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, bar barian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all (3.11)

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (Jn 3.36)

6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming (3.6).

Conclusion

16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children (Romans 8:16).

85. Whereby are we assured of our justification?

We are assured of our justification by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, as it is written Romans 8:15-16: For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.

The Need of Doctrinal Standards

2010-08-07T14:07:00.001-07:00

“But why accept Luther’s Catechism, the Augsburg Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism at all? Isn’t the Bible sufficient? Yes, the Bible would be sufficient were all men unprejudiced and single-minded in their endeavors to find the truth and the whole truth therein stated. But so much that is false and erroneous has been taught about the Bible;—in the course of the centuries past the sacred Book has been interpreted to suit so many men’s idle whims and perverted notions;—parts of it have so frequently been disconnected from the whole and made to fit into the pet scheme of some misled teacher, that it is necessary to have some general interpretation of its salient truths. And the above named books contain the interpretation which we accept” (pg. 21, Evangelical Fundamentals, Part One, Eden Publishing House, 1916).

From a book explaining our church’s beliefs.

Sermon Outline for 7-25-10

2010-07-25T17:22:00.001-07:00

All Wrapped Up in Jesus

Colossians 2.20-3.4

Proposition: The coming of Christ into a person’s life is a traumatic event such that his/her life is no longer the same—the old life died and a new life began. The believer’s life is now all wrapped up in Jesus and because of him there is the ABIDING PRESENCE of God, the ABUNDANT POWER of God working in them, the ASTOUNDING PURPOSE of God being worked out in their lives, and the call to become an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT in what God is doing.

Subject: The Christian Life/Sanctification, the basis for

Introduction

1. ILLUS. — the power of a trauma to change a life (boy in Louisiana, widow)

2. Change in believers life a trauma — you died/new you began

TRANS.—No longer can we see God as distant

I. Because of Christ we have God’s ABIDING PRESENCE in our lives.

A. OT God came temporarily upon & dwelt with the people

B. NT God abides with us & dwells in us

Ex. 40:34 & 1 Kings 8:11 (Glory of God—Tabernacle & Temple

John 14:15-18 NIV

15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you

forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20

18Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are

outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE!

TRANS. —No longer can we see ourselves as powerless against sin

II. Because of Christ we have God’s ABUNDANT POWER at work in us

A. OT God’s nearness awakened/mildly enabled, main help LAW made plain

B. NT God is within, is thinking his thoughts, desiring his desires within us

Galatians 5:16-18 ESV

16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Galatians 3:24-26 NLT

The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. 26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:11-13 NIV

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do

everything through him who gives me strength.

Romans 8:6 ESV

To set( N) the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

YOU ARE ABLE TO DO WHATEVER NEEDS TO BE DONE IN ANY GIVEN SITUATION!

TRANS. —No longer can we see ourselves as placators

III. Because of Christ we know God’s ASTOUNDING PURPOSE for our lives

A. False teachers magical thinking/OT vaguely saw God’s eternal plan

B. NT God has revealed we are to share in his glory

Romans 8:18 NIV

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,

Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

Romans 8:28 NKJV

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NKJV

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

NOTHING CAN KEEP YOU FROM EXPERIENCING GOD’S

PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE!

TRANS. —No longer can we see ourselves as pawns, bound by fate

IV. Because of Christ we know God calls us to be

ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS

A. We are to “set our hearts” —earnestly desire heaven (L-O-V-E)

B. We are to “set our minds” —become mindful of heaven (Pay attention)

Deuteronomy 4.29 NIV

But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Jeremiah 29.13 NIV

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Conclusion

1. You can do better than that

The Power of Preaching

2010-07-09T07:38:00.001-07:00

“It is hard for any mortal to tell, either of himself or of others, what forces worked upon him to issue in some dramatic change of life, but many affirm that the occasion, and no small part of the cause, was one sermon.”

--W.E. Sangster, The Craft of Sermon Construction

The Finished Product of the Ages

2010-07-08T07:44:00.001-07:00

“If one wants to know the meaning and purpose of history, he must look at the end, the final outcome, and the net result. Since prophecy is history written in advance, we have history's final chapter in the Book of Revelation. Turning to the closing pages, what emerges as the finished product of the ages? It is one thing and one alone: the Eternal Companion of Jesus Christ, wholly God and wholly man. The final and ultimate outcome and goal of events from eternity to eternity, the finished product of all the ages, is the spotless Bride of Christ, united with Him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and seated with her heavenly Bridegroom upon the throne of the universe -- ruling and reigning with Him over an ever-increasing and expanding Kingdom. He entered the stream of human history for this one purpose, to claim His Beloved (See: Revelation 19:7, 9; 21:7, 9-10).
Thus the Church, and only the Church, is the key to and explanation of history. The Church, blood-washed and spotless, is the center, the reason, and the goal of all of God's vast creative handiwork. Therefore, history is only the handmaiden of the Church, and the nations of the world are but puppets manipulated by God for the purposes of His Church (See: Acts 17:26). Creation has no other aim. History has no other goal. From before the foundation of the world until the dawn of eternal ages God has been working toward one grand event, one supreme end -- the glorious wedding of His Son -- the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”
--Paul E. Billheimer, Destined for the Throne

The Lasting Value of a Sermon

2010-06-29T11:50:00.001-07:00

“Looked at in one way, a sermon is a most impermanent thing. Hours of deep brooding, honest study, and not a little prayer … and it is gone with the wind. Looked at in another way, it partakes of eternity. Quite literally, the force of some sermons will never end.”

--W. E. Sangster in The Craft of Sermon Construction

How a Preacher Earns Respect

2010-06-24T13:47:00.001-07:00

“Oddly enough, despite their superficial resentment of any mention of their sins (and their denial at times that they have any!), men do not seriously respect a preacher who does not cut into their consciences and make them know that in a sermon they are meeting God and not just hearing another mortal pour out his unimportant thoughts.”

--W. E. Sangster in The Craft of Sermon Construction

What the Answer Isn’t

2010-06-17T13:40:00.001-07:00

"If we ... ask the question: 'Why does God allow evil and suffering to continue?' and we look at the cross of Jesus, we still do not know what the answer is. However, we now know what the answer isn't. It can't be that he doesn't love us. It can't be that he is indifferent or detached from our condition."

Timothy Keller in The Reason for God

A Glorious God

2010-06-04T11:19:00.001-07:00

“Lord God, almighty, immortal, invisible, the mysteries of whose being are unsearchable: Accept our praises for the revelation which you have made of yourself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons and one God; and mercifully grant that, ever holding fast this faith, we may magnify your glorious name; for you live and reign, one God, now and forever.”

--quoted in Minister’s Prayer Book

This past Sunday was Trinity Sunday, an important reminder that God is glorious, the “mysteries of whose being are unsearchable.”

Rooted in History

2010-05-28T08:06:00.001-07:00

Here’s a link to some excellent pictures of the site of the ancient city of Colossae. I’m preaching from the Book of Colossians and have been fascinated by the background and history of the letter.

Colossae Photos and Background

The Tyranny of Modern Permissiveness

2010-05-19T16:54:00.001-07:00

“The so-called new philosophy, ‘permissiveness’ if you like, seen from the right perspective, is only a new puritanism, whereby you’re accused of being repressed or unenlightened if you happen to object to infidelity, promiscuity, and so on. You’re not allowed to mind anything any more, and so you end up denying your instincts again—moderate possessiveness, say, or moral scrupulousness—just as the puritans would have you deny the opposite instincts.”

Quoted in “The Playboy and His Western World” at commentarymagazine.com

A Warning Against Bookishness

2010-05-19T12:30:00.001-07:00

“The bookish preacher is defective because people are more than books; and when a man cannot digest books and brings them into the pulpit as if he brought them in his hand, he becomes a ditto mark with many another preacher. His sermon is not his. It has a tang of a school. He has gotten it by heart, but his heart has not got it. The sea drinks all rivers which crowd from mountain levels to the sea sands; but all rivers become sea when once the mighty thirst of the ocean has engulfed them. So the reading of many books is in keeping with the preacher’s manliness and ministry if all he reads he appropriates as the sea, and gives his multi-information the color of his personality and thought as the sky may give its color to the sea.”

--William A. Quayle, The Pastor Preacher, 1901

Cultural Elites: An Unreached People Group?

2010-05-19T07:24:00.001-07:00

“In their way,the cultural elites of Manhattan and Hollywood are an untouched people group no less in need of hearing the Gospel than the cannibals of Irian-Jaya or the Auca Indians of Ecuador were just a few decades ago. As brave and diligent souls have over the last two millennia risked their lives and lost their lives, and have studied obscure grammars and translated the Gospel of John into the dialects of these and other vanishing tribes, so too we today ought to humbly set ourselves to the noble task of bringing the Gospel to these elites. We should think and pray about moving to those places where they gather, and we should try to communicate with them and learn their folkways and cultural shibboleths with the same diligence we have applied to obscure tribes. And if the Lord has not called us to live in those places, or to work in those industries, which are the front-lines in the struggle for the heart and soul of our culture, then we should pray about whether we ought to send money to help the ministries of those who have been called. And we all should know that we have certainly been called to support them in prayer.”

--Eric Metaxas, “Cultural Elites: The Next Unreached People Group” in Fermi Shorts

Why a Pastor is “Called” and not “Hired”

2010-05-16T19:08:00.001-07:00

“Into a minister’s keeping, people entrust the welfare of their immortal souls. Into his care they place the safeguarding of their children’s souls. They make him their confidant in matters which they do not mention to their closest friends or confide to the dearest members of their own families. Surely, one cannot associate the word ‘hiring’ with the making of a solemn covenant between a man that is to shepherd souls and the souls that he is to shepherd.”

--Walter E. Schuette, The Minister’s Personal Guide

Muscular Christianity

2010-05-16T14:32:00.001-07:00

“If God or man has a manlier business than preaching, that business has not been set down in the list of masculine activities. Preaching is a robust business. It is in nothing ladylike.”

“To be wholesome, a preacher must be brawny. The anemic of spirit can not do this deed. They had better not try. The world has definitely passed and forever passed out of the domain of the priest into the domain of the man. He who does not see that has little gift for seeing. The ‘nice man’ is a past tense preacher-figure.”

--William A. Quayle, The Pastor-Preacher, 1901.

I’m reading The Pastor-Preacher by William A. Quayle. Quayle was a Methodist Episcopal clergyman at a time when a movement known as “Muscular Christianity” was popular.

I see some similarities with Muscular Christianity in the present-day teaching of popular pastors Mark Driscoll and John Piper.

The truth in these movements is the call to act with the courage of our convictions. Jesus embodied strength because he knew who he was and what he was about. He wasn’t defined by what others valued or expected. His focus was on pleasing his father.

Paul was such a powerful force because he never ceased to keep as his focus the supremacy of the person of Christ. Nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to him.

The secret to a potent witness remains the same—stay focused on pleasing God above all else and the rest will fall in line.

If Doing Good Could Save Your Soul

2010-05-14T13:53:00.001-07:00

"I sort of enjoyed it but wasn't particularly happy."

Scott Neeson, former president of a division of Sony Pictures, on his once lavish lifestyle of a multi-million dollar home, yacht, and expensive cars. He gave it all up to help children in Cambodia.

Video: Scott Neeson and his ongoing efforts to rescue children from poverty and hunger

The video linked above tells the inspiring story of a wealthy executive who gave it all up in order to help others.

If doing good could save your soul it seems Scott Neeson would be an excellent candidate. Doing good for others has definitely brought him greater happiness than did his riches.

The Blueprint for a Cool, Hip Church

2010-05-14T12:18:00.001-07:00