The Collapse of the Church Culture

“The current church culture in North America is on life support. It is living off the work, money, and energy of previous generations from a previous world order. The plug will be pulled either when the money runs out (80 percent of money given to congregations comes from people aged fifty-five and older) or when the remaining three-fourths of a generation who are institutional loyalists die off or both.

“Please don’t hear when I am not saying. The death of the church culture as we know it will not be the death of the church. The church Jesus founded is good; it is right. The church established by Jesus will survive until he returns. The imminent demise under discussion is the collapse of the unique culture in North America that has come to be called “church.” This culture has become confused with biblical Christianity, both inside the church and out. In reality, the church culture in North America is a vestige of the original movement, an institutional expression of religion that is in part a civil religion and in part a club where religious people can hang out with other people whose politics, worldview, and lifestyle match theirs. As he hung on the cross, Jesus probably never thought the impact of his sacrifice would be reduced to an invitation for people to join and to support an institution.

“We are witnessing the emergence of a new world. The church of Jesus is moving into the postmodern world. Its expression is going to be more different than most people realize or may want to imagine. The scale of the shift will rank along with the epochal transitions of ancient church to medieval, from medieval to modern.

This phenomenon has been noted by many who tag the emerging culture as post-Christian, pre-Christian, or postmodern. The point is, the world is profoundly different than it was at the middle of the last century, and everybody knows it. Even the church culture. But knowing it and acting on it are two very different things. So far the North American church largely has responded with heavy infusions of denial, believing the culture will come to its senses and come back around to the church. This denial shows up in many ways. Many churches have withdrawn from the community. An alternate form of denial has been the attempt to fix the culture by flexing political and economic muscle. Still another form of denial shows up in the church’s obsession with internal theological-methodological debates designed to determine who the true believers are while the world is headed to hell in a handbasket.

(By Reggie McNeal, The Present- Future Church: Six Tough Questions for the Church. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. 2003. pp 1-2.)

Anthony Burger dead at the age of 44

Whether or not you are a fan of the Bill Gaither Homecoming Series of videos and CDs, you still have to appreciate the piano stylings of one Anthony Burger. I have played piano since I was six years old and had the privilege of being classically trained both on a bachelor’s and graduate level academically, but when I would see and hear Anthony Burger play I’d almost give up the instrument. He could play some throw-down Southern Gospel then turn right around and play Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue or Debussy’s Clair de Lune flawlessly.

But alas, the shortness of our life and the fact that our life is a mist and a vapor — here today and gone tomorrow — is now in the forefront of everyone’s mind that enjoyed Burger’s piano work. As Janet Parshall sang at so many Gaither Homecoming Concerts, “Another soldier’s coming home.”

Click on the blog title to read the USA Today’s account of Burger’s passing.

Puritans — Physicians of the Soul

J.I. Packer, currently on Board of Governors Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, tells of why the Puritans still matter much in our 21st century culture. I love the Puritans — they minister to my soul better than any of the religious writings of today.

Click on this blog’s title to read the article.

Packer has written many books, my favorite of which is Knowing God. You would do well to purchase this book. It is a gem!

Bruce Wilkinson to Leave Africa

Bruce Wilkinson, an exceedingly gifted teacher in the evangelical world whose main ‘claim to fame’ was his work on “The Prayer of Jabez,” has entered into retirement from active ministry. Wilkinson was the founder and longtime president of Thru The Bible Ministries. His “Seven Laws of the Learner” teaching curriculum changed my life in how I teach and is highly regarded by those inside and outside of the church.

But after Wilkinson penned “The Prayer of Jabez” and found it to be a monumental success and long-time best seller, he used the fortune made from those sales to leave Thru The Bible to go to Africa in 2002. He felt God calling him to wipe out poverty in Africa — so he began the ministry “Dream For Africa.”

I agree with Josh Harris’ assessment that this article from Christianity Today (click on the title of this blog entry) is very balanced in commending Wilkinson for his desire to spread the Kingdom in a hands-on way, but also outlines some rather serious oversights in accomplishing this on the African continent. The lessons shown in this must not be missed.

I have gone on record in saying that I am not a Prayer of Jabez fan. It expanded a bit too much into a good luck charm. If you want what I believe is a better treatment of the Prayer of Jabez is found in a sermon by none other than Charles Spurgeon (click here).

Please keep Dr. Wilkinson in prayer. Here are two short paragraphs from the CT article that puts Dr. Wilkinson’s feelings in perspective:

“Bruce was quite broken at this time,” a source who requested anonymity told CT. “[DFA] had physically, emotionally, spiritually, and financially taken a serious toll.” … Like many missionaries, he burned out. Wilkinson, who admits that his Jabez-like prayer for the audacious project did not work, told The Wall Street Journal, “I’ll put it down as one of the disappointments of my career.”

 

Please keep him in your prayers and the orphans in Africa ravaged by AIDS as well.

Timely Exhortation From the Prince of Preachers

The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon, gives a very timely exhortation for preachers. Thanks to Phil Johnson of PyroManiac for posting this. Click here to read it.

Membership, Glorious Membership (Mark Dever)

I am a strong advocate for church membership. Not that church membership does anything to save, but it is key for growth and maturity. Just as a child says, “Mine, mine, mine!” so too do many Christians who feel that their spiritual life is all about me, my, and mine! I believe Scripture is clear: there is no true Christianity, no true Christian walk apart from being a part of a local church. Read Acts — every city had a church that Christians were to belong. Hebrews 10 speaks of not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together (10:25). It’s part and parcel of the Christian walk. Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” We as followers of Christ definitely need that sharpening!

Having said that, please read this great article by Mark Dever on his Together For the Gospel blog (thanks to Mark Combs of Reformation Underground for sending this my way).

A “Serve Us” Rather Than a Service Mentality? by Bob Russell

Click here to read this article from Church Health Today. Really good!

A “Serve Us” Rather Than a Service Mentality? by Bob Russell

Click here to read this article from Church Health Today. Really good!

Who’s Afraid of an Argument? The Insecurities of the Abortion Rights Movement

by Albert Mohler, President
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY
Monday, February 20, 2006

“Don’t waste time talking to anti-choice people.” That is the straightforward instruction provided by NARAL Pro-Choice America in its “Campus Kit for Pro-Choice Organizers.” The director of the Pro-Choice Action Network answered a question about why his group does not engage in conversation with pro-life advocates with this statement: “Along with most other pro-choice groups, we do not engage in debates with the anti-choice.” In other words, they are scared to death of a genuine argument.

This point is made abundantly clear in a recent article by Jon A. Shields of the Center on Religion and Democracy at the University of Virginia. Shields’ article, “Bioethical Politics,” is published in the March/April 2006 issue of Society, one of the nation’s most influential social science journals.

“If the conventional wisdom is correct, the religious right is once again corrupting American democracy by pushing religious dogma over and against science and reason,” Shields asserts. Nevertheless, he goes on to prove that the “conventional wisdom” is anything but wise.

(Click the title of this entry to read the full article.)

Forwards and Attachments Warning — Please Read

One of emails biggest irritants is the world of attachments. Attachments are the easiest way to get a virus. One of our friends just got another virus by assuming that if an attachment came from a friend, it is OK to open it. WRONG! Attachments are frequently forwarded and re-forwarded – you never know where they’ve been and what kind of crud they picked up. If you want to be safe, never open an attachment. You won’t get a virus from an email with an attachment UNLESS you open the attachment. If you don’t have virus protection, go to www.avast.com and download their excellent free virus control.

Another attachment irritant is getting attachments that are too big. The other day I got one that was almost 5000 K.B. (normal email is 5 K.B.). It took 20 minutes for the email to come in. If you feel you have to send someone a picture, you need to reduce it to 1/3 of its size before you send it. If you don’t know how to do that, don’t send it until you write me and ask how to reduce it. To be a good emailer, don’t send an attachment unless it is a picture you took yourself, have reduced it to one-third and have saved it in jpg. format. If you don’t know how to do all three of those things, it would be better if you didn’t send the picture. If I send an attachment with an E-Cheer, I’ll tell you in advance that I’m sending it and that it is OK to open it.

Some folks think they have to forward every cutesy thing that comes along. They don’t bother to check the KB size – they just blindly send it. That’s not good email netiquette. Please resist the urge to forward all the cutesy stuff you get by email. Number one, it may irritate the recipient who has to wait for the download; No.2, it has probably been forwarded many times and there is a good likelihood that it carries a virus; No. 3, you have no idea whether or not the recipient has a good virus protection program; No. 4, most people who forward don’t bother to eliminate all those forwarding addresses. That should be declared illegal, because you are sending people’s e-addresses to all kinds of people without their permission.

I know I’ve talked with you about these issues before, but some folks still refuse the advice and send you and me attachments that ignore all of the above issues. I rarely open attachments, so please don’t send them.

If you have problems with frequent unwanted forwards, send this email to the sender.

— Dave George, Citrus Springs, FL, who is a stroke victim who sent daily pieces of encouragement via e-mail.

“Don’t Waste Your Cancer” by John Piper

February 15, 2006

I write this on the eve of prostate surgery. I believe in God’s power to heal—by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.

1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.

2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.
The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7). God’s design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9, “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The aim of God in your cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.

4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.
We will all die, if Jesus postpones his return. Not to think about what it will be like to leave this life and meet God is folly. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning [a funeral] than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” How can you lay it to heart if you won’t think about it? Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering your days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will you get a heart of wisdom if you refuse to think about this? What a waste, if we do not think about death.

5. You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.
Satan’s and God’s designs in your cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy your love for Christ. God designs to deepen your love for Christ. Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean you off the breast of the world and feast you on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help you say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” And to know that therefore, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).

6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.
It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3). It is meant to waken us to the truth of Daniel 11:32, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” It is meant to make unshakable, indestructible oak trees out of us: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2). What a waste of cancer if we read day and night about cancer and not about God.

7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.
When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, “He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” (Philippians 2:26-27). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don’t waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.

8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.
Paul used this phrase in relation to those whose loved ones had died: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There is a grief at death. Even for the believer who dies, there is temporary loss—loss of body, and loss of loved ones here, and loss of earthly ministry. But the grief is different—it is permeated with hope. “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Don’t waste your cancer grieving as those who don’t have this hope.

9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.
Are your besetting sins as attractive as they were before you had cancer? If so you are wasting your cancer. Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination—all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don’t just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25).

10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.
Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.

Remember you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Pastor John

©Desiring God

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you do not make more than 1,000 physical copies. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Desiring God.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. ©Desiring God. Website: www.desiringGod.org. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 888.346.4700.

“Don’t Waste Your Cancer” by John Piper

February 15, 2006

I write this on the eve of prostate surgery. I believe in God’s power to heal—by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.

1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.

2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.
The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7). God’s design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9, “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The aim of God in your cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.

4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.
We will all die, if Jesus postpones his return. Not to think about what it will be like to leave this life and meet God is folly. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning [a funeral] than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” How can you lay it to heart if you won’t think about it? Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering your days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will you get a heart of wisdom if you refuse to think about this? What a waste, if we do not think about death.

5. You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.
Satan’s and God’s designs in your cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy your love for Christ. God designs to deepen your love for Christ. Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean you off the breast of the world and feast you on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help you say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” And to know that therefore, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).

6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.
It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3). It is meant to waken us to the truth of Daniel 11:32, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” It is meant to make unshakable, indestructible oak trees out of us: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2). What a waste of cancer if we read day and night about cancer and not about God.

7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.
When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, “He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” (Philippians 2:26-27). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don’t waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.

8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.
Paul used this phrase in relation to those whose loved ones had died: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There is a grief at death. Even for the believer who dies, there is temporary loss—loss of body, and loss of loved ones here, and loss of earthly ministry. But the grief is different—it is permeated with hope. “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Don’t waste your cancer grieving as those who don’t have this hope.

9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.
Are your besetting sins as attractive as they were before you had cancer? If so you are wasting your cancer. Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination—all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don’t just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25).

10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.
Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.

Remember you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Pastor John

©Desiring God

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you do not make more than 1,000 physical copies. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Desiring God.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. ©Desiring God. Website: www.desiringGod.org. Email: mail@desiringGod.org. Toll Free: 888.346.4700.

Jim Richards on the IMB Controversy

For too long I have been deafened by the silence of doctrinal debate in Southern Baptist life. We struggled for 20 years to establish the basis of our belief concerning the nature of Scripture. Southern Baptists settled the discussion by saying the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. We had little time to discuss other doctrinal issues.

Regardless of the position you take on speaking in tongues, the practice has never been widespread in Baptist churches. Pentecostalism at the turn of the 20th century and the charismatic movement in the 1970s popularized tongue speaking, but neither made it biblical. Whether you are a closed dispensationalist or require tongue speaking to conform to rules found in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14, the modern practice in American churches does not qualify as scripturally authentic. There is more I could say but I find the baptism controversy even more intriguing.

Liberalism, neo-orthodoxy and existentialism had an impact on how many people approach the practice of Christianity. This approach would place the highest value on the individual’s experience and personal opinion. You see baptism is not a personal issue. It is not about “how I feel about my baptism.” It is not just the sincerity of the candidate. It is about scriptural authority. The question is whether baptismal authority is individual or congregational.

Jesus gave the commission to baptize to the local church. If the commission were given to every believer then any 9-year-old girl who was a Christian could baptize her convert in the backyard swimming pool. Jesus vested the authority to baptize in the church. The Baptist Faith and Message says baptism is a church ordinance. The local church is the custodian of the ordinances. Only a New Testament church can administer scriptural baptism. There are a few identifying marks of a New Testament church. Are all Baptist churches, New Testament churches? Probably not! Are there New Testament churches that are not Baptist churches? Sure, because what makes a New Testament church is what it teaches, not the name over the door. By the way, one of the identifying marks is that a New Testament church will teach security of the believer.

Doctrine does matter. It is not too late to raise the banner of doctrinal sufficiency of the Scriptures and reclaim our heritage as people of the Book.

(Jim Richards is the Executive Director of the Southern Baptists of Texas state convention. The above is part of an article he wrote on the IMB controversy in the Southern Baptist Texan Issue on Feb. 6, 2006. I was especially glad to see Richards is a strong believer in church authority in baptism and is doing his best to encourage and remind others of the doctrinal heritage that Baptists have.)

(Sent to me by Ben Stratton: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LandmarkSouthernBaptist )

Three Secular Reasons Why America Needs God

William Federer writes a very compelling argument on three secular reasons why America needs God. I have posted it on my Politicalogistix blog and you can click here to read. Some great history here.

What do you know about the Constitution?

What do you know about the Constitution? Click here to take a quiz!

“In That Macho Way”

 

“In That Macho Way”

 

Great and Small, He’s Lord of All (Mark 14:12-21)

As our church continues through the Gospel according to Mark, I invite you to listen to this past Sunday’s sermon “Great and Small, He’s Lord of All.” You may go to http://www.boonescreekchurch.com/sermons to listen to this via RealAudio. If you would like to receive sermon transcripts of each sermon, go to the margin of this blog and put in your e-mail address in the appropriate box.

I pray you had a blessed Sunday.

Great and Small, He’s Lord of All (Mark 14:12-21)

As our church continues through the Gospel according to Mark, I invite you to listen to this past Sunday’s sermon “Great and Small, He’s Lord of All.” You may go to http://www.boonescreekchurch.com/sermons to listen to this via RealAudio. If you would like to receive sermon transcripts of each sermon, go to the margin of this blog and put in your e-mail address in the appropriate box.

I pray you had a blessed Sunday.

Comments about my Comments section

Just to be clear, every comment that I receive in my blog I do not post. Some have asked me about this. I have some simple ground rules. If you are condescending, a smart aleck, or just plan smug, I will not post it… not for my own sake (I can handle it) but for yours.

Case in point: someone rightly pointed out that I misquoted Charles Schulz in a last post. He emailed me, I fixed it, but didn’t post his comments because I simply thought he was letting me know for informational purposes. When I didn’t post it, he sends me another comment through the blog:

“I see you fixed it … you’re welcome.” I couldn’t respond to the guy because I didn’t have his individual e-mail. This particular person comes across as quite smug in this arena. I did not post it because I did not want this perception to continue for him.

Just wanted you to be aware! One may not like this policy, but that’s what’s in place. In the meantime, be careful how you come across — especially as a seminary student. I hope some of you are not this smug and contentious in your ministry settings. It will not serve you well.

Rivalries — fun in sports, deadly in church!

I have lived a number of places and here are the sports rivalries I’ve been exposed to! I was born in Virginia, so the main in-state rivalry was:

vs.

In Michigan, the in-state rivalry was nothing. But this one? Wow!

vs. (Go Buckeyes!)

Then I moved to Florida — even better!!!

vs. vs. (Go Gators!!!)

Now, here I am in Kentucky, and guess what the grand rivalry is:

vs. GO CARDS!!!!

Sometimes, these rivalries can get rather heated, especially if I bring up to a fan! But for the most part these rivalries are intended to be friendly and add some excitement to the respective sport.

Even in the political realm it’s:

vs. vs. (yes, there are other political parties out there besides the GOP and the Dems!)

 

It’s easy to get into an ‘us against them’ mentality. Does that translate in how the church operates? Is it an ‘us against the world’ mindset? In one way, yes. We have to certainly contend and protect the faith and help the sheep stay faithful in resisting temptation and resisting unholy living and attitudes.

But what about those with differing worldviews? I then say, no. They are our mission field. They are the ones to whom we speak the truth, but do so in love. All of us are sinners in need of God’s grace. If the church turns totally into an ‘us against them’ institution and organism, then we are violating Christ’s Great Commission and Great Commandment.

Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 22:37-39 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the great and first commandment. [39] And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Let’s keep it in perspective, yes?

Charles Schulz, Theologian and Philosopher

Charles Schulz is one of the great geniuses of the 20th century. He beautifully combined entertaining comics outlining human natures with oftentimes great theology. The books by Robert Short called “The Gospel According to Peanuts” and “The Parables of Peanuts” make this case quite clearly. Check out these books — you’ll truly enjoy them.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Josh Buice, a 3rd year divinity student at Southern, has been engaged in a discussion with a 32nd degree Freemason (maybe two) as I have been over the last few days. This same 32nd degree Mason noted that those who believe in a literal interpretation and rendering of the Bible will have a hard time with the Masons. Plus there is a definite gnostic influence to this organization where more knowledge (gnostic comes from the Greek gnosis which means ‘knowledge’) is acquired the higher one rises in the ranks. (See the original article and ensuing comments here). So my concerns seem to be growing in how a Christian can reconcile being in the Masons. Stay tuned — this has been very helpful!

A praise. The man I went to see in the hospital did indeed receive Jesus Christ as His sole Lord and Savior. Keep him in prayer — his heart is still quite weak and damaged… but bodies wear out. I praise God that through His Sovereign grace He sought to bring this man into the Kingdom!

Why do we trust the Scriptures as our authority? Are they truly inspired, or really just a collection of writings by gifted holy men? Of all the holy writings around, why do we treasure the Word of God, the Holy Bible — as opposed to the Book of Mormon, the Nag Hammadi, or even the Koran? John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA, and host of Grace to You outlines the answer to this question here. (I will speak more on this in upcoming posts — time with pastoral duties simply does not permit this today.)

How can you spot a false teacher? Here’s my outline from last night on 2 Peter 2.

1. They will certainly find their way into the church (2 Peter 2:1)

2. They will bring in destructive heresies secretly (2:1).

3. They will unabashedly act on their instincts and passions like animals (2:2, 12-14).

4. They will follow the way of Balaam (2:3, 15-16; Numbers 22).

5. They have not learned their lessons from past rebels and that God will rescue the godly from their oppression (2:4-9).

6. They despise authority — especially that of our Lord Jesus (2:10).

7. They are bolder than even the angels in heaven (2:11).

8. They promise freedom while they themselves are enslaved (2:19-20)

9. They would have been better off not to know the way of righteousness at all (2:21-22)

(Couple this with The Acid Test post from Tuesday — and this should be a good initial grid for you to work by.)

Have an exceedingly blessed day in Christ Jesus.

http://www.twowaystolive.com .

The Wastefulness of Worshiping Jesus

This is what I preached this past Sunday from Mark 14:1-11. Click here to listen (you need RealAudio to do so).

The Joy of Being a Pastor

When God called me into the pastorate after many profitable and blessed years in music ministry, I resisted at first. I had served with a number of pastors who struggled with their congregations. People would hound them and almost bury them over the most trivial nonsense imaginable. When I saw all they had to put up with, I told myself, “I will never be a pastor! It seemed to be the most thankless job on planet Earth.”

And now that I am one, I would honestly have to disagree with myself. Granted, God has blessed me with a wonderful church now — so maybe if I had a church with a number of folks who were hard to get along with, I’d feel differently.

But last night I found myself sitting in a hospital waiting room sitting with the family who was waiting on their husband/father/grandfather/uncle who was having numerous heart procedures. As a pastor,

• I was able to serve as a conduit of the Holy Spirit to administer comfort and to share the Gospel.
• I was able to sit and cry with the family as they wondered what was next.
• I was able to pray with them that the God of all comfort would be their sole comfort during this time.
• I was able just to be … there! The unbelievable ministry of just someone’s presence knows no bounds.
• And this Sunday, I by the grace of God will be able to stand before God’s people and preach His Word to spread His glory, to strengthen the church, and to share His Gospel.
• I have the joy of hugging and shaking hands with God’s people as they walk out that front door — not in an assembly line fashion, but taking time to speak to each and every one. Sure, the line backs up — but I enjoy talking to God’s people too much!
• There is the joy of receiving an e-mail from a number of members here in our church asking me about a certain Scripture or a certain area of their lives where they need Scripture to answer a question, etc. To help in this area is a great joy as a pastor.
• There is the joy of confronting doctrinal error and working through it to hammer out the truth revealed in Scripture.

There is more … lots more. I am so thankful that God bestowed this charge upon this hopeless sinner whose only hope is in Christ who called me to salvation and into the ministry.

Ronald Reagan on the Church

“The churches of America do not exist by the grace of the state; the churches of America are not mere citizens of the state. The churches of America exist apart; they have their own vantage point, their own authority. Religion is its own realm; it makes its own claims. We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief.”

Southern Baptists … an Unregenerate Denomination? (by Jim Elliff)

As a Southern Baptists, I grieve over certain trends I see in our denomination. Jim Elliff has written a rather thought-provoking article on some of the problems we have an how maybe some of the ‘growth’ we see is truly phantom growth — we get folks on the rolls as church members, but struggle to get them not only to be involved in serving Christ in ministry but often we struggle just to get them to come to church. Click here to read the article. This is the main desire for Ecclesiologistix — to help the church be … the church!!!

What do you think? Is he off-base?

The acid test

Your theology will make or break you. Your theology will dictate how you live. Your theology will help lead you down the path to righteousness or destruction. Theology is ‘the study or science of God.’ Theology represents your thoughts about God and this is the foundation and paradigm from which you work. For some, their theology is that they think about God only in the doors of the church, then think about ‘real life issues’ when they leave. For some, their theology submits to the whims and traditions of family, friends, culture, background, upbringing, etc. (I’ll follow after God as long as it doesn’t get in the way of my life.)

Sunday evening, I wrote an article about some general concerns I had about an organization my father belonged to and one that my Uncle belonged to right up until his death a week or so ago. Thus, the article about this subject arose simply because I was once again confronted with it and once again had to process some things.

But as I began to ponder some issues, I realized that with other issues unrelated to Sunday’s entry that I found myself having a grid — an acid test, if you will — from which to work. I really wasn’t too terribly aware of it until my return from Trinidad, but it is there firmly in place. My acid test for most mindsets and organizations is this:

Who do they say saves you and who do they say keeps you?

So let’s move away from that specific issue from Sunday and look at some broader issues that we as Christians must understand are non-negotiables — essentials to the Christian faith.

Matt Slick of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry rightly states three markers that will help you determine whether a person or group is compatible with Christianity:

(1) They hold to the deity of Christ — meaning they believe that Jesus is fully God and fully man (John 1:1; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3). This also includes holding to the Trinity as well.

(2) They hold to the fact that Jesus bodily arose from the grave (1 Corinthians 15).

(3) They hold that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone without any works involved in the salvation act (Ephesians 1:3-14; Romans 3:21-26; Ephesians 2:8-9).

If any of these issues are compromised, then one cannot say that any religious group or organization is Christian nor compatible with Christianity. The implications are too far-reaching to compromise on.

Take the deity of Christ. With Jesus being God, He is powerful and able enough to take our sin. With Jesus being fully man, He remained sinless and is a worthy atoning substitute. He stands in our place to take the penalty of sin which we could not take! This is crucial! Our whole salvation depends on it!

The resurrection. Read this passage carefully!

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [13] But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [14] And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. [15] We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. [16] For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. [17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. [19] If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. [20] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. [21] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

No resurrection, no freedom from sin and death. No hope. And we are the people most to be pitied if Christ is still in the grave. But He is not. He is risen! And with that comes life because if we place our trust in Him alone, then since He arose, we will arise as well!

Salvation by grace. Christianity is the only religion in the world that says, “You cannot save yourself. You cannot climb to heaven, so heaven will come down to you in the person of Christ. You can’t get to God on your own, so God will come to you. Live with you. Die among you. Defeat death for you. Then, as Jesus paves the way for those who trust in Him and have turned from their sins, we will follow Him into Heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father.

This is my acid test. My grid. It is firmly entrenched in the Scriptures — I cannot deviate from it because I am persuaded by the truth and the God who inspired that truth.

My desire is that you have this same grid to work by. Don’t take someone’s word for the viability of any person, church, program, organization — anything that makes any religious claims — without putting this test to it. Otherwise, you may allow yourself to be ever so subtly drawn down the path away from righteousness.

One more thing: cults (JWs, Mormons, etc.) get more converts from Southern Baptists than they do any other denomination. Why? Because SBCers by and large do not know what they believe and will follow anything that sounds remotely good. Why? Because for Baptists, there is an absence of applying doctrinal tests to all these worldviews flying around and bombarding us.

Just please — know what you believe and put all things to the acid test.

The Freemasons — Some Concerns

My father was a Freemason for almost 25 years before he felt so convicted about the practices of this brotherhood that he burned his aprons in an impromptu backyard ceremony while I was in college. He had advanced only to the third degree (the Blue Lodge). What prompted his departure? A video on Mormonism.

You see, back in the mid 1980s while I was in high school, our Pastor (Tom Maley) of First Baptist Church of Beverly Hills, FL, showed a video on the cult of Mormonism. It was very informative — even had cartoons in it to illustrate some of their teachings. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

But then I saw something that made my father turn white as a ghost. They depicted some of the secret ceremonies — and those ceremonies that were depicted there were the same ones executed in the Masonic Lodge. My father was mortified because of these secrets seeing the light of day. Soon after, my father left the Lodge not just for Joseph Smith (the founder of the Mormon faith) and his connection with the Freemasons, but also he saw that it just did not jibe with the Christian faith.

How? Here is what I put together from what he and others have said.

The square and compass (given above) was introduced to my father. When I asked him what the G stood for on his ring when I was little, he couldn’t tell me nor anyone else. But later he said it referred to “God.” (Actually, it stands for Geometry — long story.) But when he was introduced to this symbol, the leader said, “Look at this! This is your God!” Are you kidding? That’s idolatry in the worst form!

But they say that by being a good Mason you can attain the “Celestial Grand Lodge.” Folks, that heaven. And you cannot attain heaven by being a good anything! It’s only through Christ. That right there makes me suspect of belonging to this group. It’s a secret organization that many see as a civic organization. But when they introduce an idolatrous symbol and then talk about how to get to heaven (the Grand Lodge) — this smells like a religious order.

How is one saved? Not by belonging to any civic organizations or lodges! Not by doing all sorts of philanthropic work or giving abundantly to charitable organizations! Not by living a good life and taking care of your kids and grandkids.

One is saved not by what one does but what One has already done — His name is Jesus Christ. Take some time to read http://www.twowaystolive.com . I pray that Jesus Christ is your only hope. If you find yourself saying, “I’m a Christian!” but are more interested in your lodges and organizations rather than being with the people of God at church, please do what Paul says and “Examine yourselves — test yourselves to see whether you are in the faith” (see 2 Corinthians 13:5).

Anyone out there with any connection to the Freemasons? Past or present? Relatives? Friends? What think ye?

We mourn the passing of Bro. W.B. Casey (1913-2006)

Boone’s Creek Baptist Church mourns the loss of one of her great pastors and servants, Bro. W.B. Casey (1913-2006). He served Boone’s Creek later in his ministry from 1974-1979 and even to his death was our pastor emeritus. If you do the math, he retired at 65-66 years old. But what did he do? Did He simply stop preaching and take it easy for the rest of his life? No … he and his wife Lucy financed their own way to serve for a year in Zambia (yes, that Zambia … in Africa). He would come back periodically to Boone’s Creek, especially on the first Sunday in December to see our Parade of Flags — a ceremony that kicks off our Lottie Moon Emphasis for International Missions — where 80-90 countries’ flags would be carried by our teenagers to help us focus on the need all over the world for those who need Christ! He loved missions and lived it as well.

One of the members here at Boone’s Creek made a tape of Bro. Casey preaching in 1976 and let me borrow it. The tape was of poor quality, but the sermon was not because he preached the pure, true and undiluted Gospel of Jesus Christ. If I were to describe his preaching from a purely rhetorical standpoint, I would say that Bro. Casey used ‘an economy of words.’ He could say so much in so little time — what a gift. But if you were to ask most of the people here at Boone’s Creek what they loved most about him, they would to a person say, “He showed that he truly loved us, too.” And Bro. Casey felt the same way.

And that’s a lesson to all of us preachers. If you really want to be used of God in your place of service, preach the Word and love your people. Don’t forsake one over the other.

The funeral will be at the Lexington Avenue Baptist Church in Danville, KY, on Friday at 12:30 p.m. Visitation will be at Stith Funeral Home in Danville from 4-8 tonight and from 11:00 – 12:30 at Lexington Avenue BC on Friday. Please keep the Casey family in your prayers.

Click here for an expanded obituary.

First Kobe’s 81, now Prince’s 113?!?! Believe it!

Click here to read about this unbelievable accomplishment of this talented girl’s prep star, Epiphannie Prince.

First Kobe’s 81, now Prince’s 113?!?! Believe it!

Click here to read about this unbelievable accomplishment of this talented girl’s prep star, Epiphannie Prince.

You Supply the Caption (a la Purgatorio)

As I tip my hat to one of the funniest and most clever blogs in the blogosphere in Purgatorio, I would ask you to supply the caption to this photo of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton seen just before the State of the Union address!

Seminary Students Know Everything, Right? (Part I)

It seems too often some seminary students seem to feel they are an authority on everything! How does this come to be? Does being accepted into a school of graduate level academics cause one’s head to swell with pride and grant a feeling of elitism? Does being in seminary mean that someone has attained the ’super-spiritual status’? Does hob-nobbing with world-class seminary professors who know you on a first name basis when they see you in the hall bestow upon you some great inside track into the evangelical world?

It’s easy to let happen, that’s for sure — and it is something that we must guard against. I know that I’ve seen this happen in various blogs and articles written by seminary students that show this type of elitism. Mr. and Mrs. Grammar and all their offspring tend to lurk these pages in SBTS blogdom, and often feel it necessary to correct misspellings and misuses of terms and various phraseologies. One friend of mine had a seminarian (actually, he hadn’t started yet) who felt the need to chastise him over a misspelling of Samuel Alito’s name (he spelled it Olito). Here is what he wrote:

Sorry. I saw you misspelled the recent Supreme Court nominee’s name “Olito” and I was unable to read the rest of your post. I have become like my curmudgeony old History professor who said, “If I get hung up on your grammar or usage, I can’t even evaluate your argument.” of correcting papers. I will try in my mind to substitute “Alito” and reread your posting.

If this fellow was an old history professor, maybe. If this fellow was actually grading a paper, then I would understand. But this is an almost fellow seminarian who, rather than saying, “Good post! Just thought you might want to know, but his name is spelled with an “A” rather than an “O” — otherwise, a good post!” — he speaks this. We have to be careful of eminating an aura of elitism even amongst our peers.

Now, contrast that with a mistake I made and then see the response:

Thanks for the plug. Small correction: the blog is Provocations and Pantings. Not a big deal calling it Panderings, especially since I get ragged by my friends as “Provocations and Panties.”

See what a difference in approach makes? “Timmy” corrected me, but mixed in a word of gratitude sprinkled with humor (I actually laughed out loud).

Having said all that, let me say this. Having graduated from a Bible college in 1994 (Palm Beach Atlantic University) and twice from Southern Seminary (M.C.M. in 1997, M.Div in 2003 — currently pursuing a D.Min. in Expository Preaching), I certainly felt a sense of accomplishment. But that lasted for about five seconds. Heaven knows that I would not have gone to seminary had not God explicitly laid that calling upon my life. I ran from His calling for years — desiring to attain my accounting degree then pursue my theological studies. But when God called, He actually expected me to respond immediately, not on my timetable. So off I went to college, then to seminary. Every day I am out of seminary is another day I realize that I do not know hardly anything at all! Books? Yes. But do I know my God? Do I love those around me? Do I truly understand the inner workings of my own heart? I began to see that I really know very little and I need to get to work to know my God, love my people, and to guard my heart.

But I believe the battle over one’s pride and other areas of fleshly behavior really come to the forefront at seminary. Seminary, for all its wonders, is a very lonely place even when surrounded by 2000+ other students (as is the case at Southern). If you take a full-load (12-15 hours), you spend the majority of your time studying … and studying … and studying. And after a while, it begins to wear on the average person.

One of the first things I noticed when I first came to seminary was the fact that very few people walking down the hallways looked happy. They didn’t even look content — not even close. Very few said ‘hi’ unless they knew you. At first, I didn’t understand, but now I do — seminary, for all its wonders (have I said that already), is a lonely place and very hard work. When one first arrives on campus, one may feel they have reached the zenith of their spiritual walk. But many leave disillusioned because the vibrancy of a once active spiritual life has been relegated to mere academia, mere knowledge-crunching, a mere exercise in short-term memory on the highest level to get by on tests.

Seminary, if we are not careful, can turn even the most outgoing student inward. We cocoon ourselves from outward distractions so none of those Greek words we’ve worked so hard to parse leak out of our porous brains. We wrap ourselves up so we can remember the birth and death dates of Benjamin Keach and the advent of the Philadelphia Baptist Association. As a music student, I barracaded myself in my dorm room and the piano practice room for two days prior to Dr. McElrath’s hymnology exam so I wouldn’t forget the 50+ hymn tunes I needed to know for the upcoming test.

What’s the solution? First, to remember 1 Corinthians 1:26-31:

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. [27] But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; [28] God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, [29] so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. [30] He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. [31] Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

God places His calling on the ones that the world deems unfit. Yet, it seems that even with this we want to seem ‘fit’ before the world. We should desire to be ‘fit’ before God rather than strutting around our gifts and talents so the world will notice. The Pharisees did this, and they had their reward of applause than immediately came (Matthew 6:1-8).

Secondly, as seminary students, love one another and take care of one another. When you walk down the hallway, smile and say hello to someone! That may be the first encouraging thing they have heard in days because their seminary classes and other relationships may have been burying them in a heap! If you see someone sitting alone in the cafeteria, pull up a chair and have lunch with them and start a conversation! Help bear the burdens of one another (Galatians 6:2). Do something for someone else, rather than spend all your time telling of how well you are doing in your classes. That may come up, but we are called to build up one another in Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16). We can speak the truth (like the fellow who pointed out that Alito was spelled with an ‘A’), but make sure the truth is spoken with love! We will learn the truth at seminary, but we must seek God with all our heart to help us maintain the attitude of love in our hearts toward Him and others!

More on this later.