Are You Prepared For Your Future? Part II

(Preached at the Boone’s Creek Baptist Church, Lexington, KY, on June 24, 2007. To listen to the sermon via mp3, just click on the link to the side.) 

(To read Part I, click here.) 

Be Faithful with the Master’s Treasure

Jesus asks another question to his listeners: “And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own” (Luke 16:12, ESV)? The manager wasted his master’s possessions — thus the reason of his release from the rich man’s employ. This posed a concern for his ability to take care of his own possessions. Since this manager was so inept in taking care of possessions entrusted to him by another, would he fare any better being responsible for his own?

Darrell Bock notes, “If someone is unfaithful as a steward, why should that person be entrusted with ownership? Handling wealth is a preparatory lesson for other responsibilities before God.” God entrusts to us a number of treasures for us to use for his glory and our good. The first treasure is entrusting man with dominion over the earth and continuing the species through procreation. Genesis 1:27-28 says plainly:

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27-28, ESV).

He entrusts us with the treasure of the Gospel. Second Corinthians 4:5-7 says:

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2 Corinthians 4:5-7).

Paul describes the Gospel as “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” as the gospel, as “this treasure.” God places that treasure in us, the “jars of clay” (2 Corinthians 4:7) — he places that treasure in all who are followers of Jesus Christ.

He entrusts us with time. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5:15-17 says: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15-17, ESV).

He entrusts us as believers with spiritual gifts. The Apostle Paul says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6, ESV).

Pertaining especially to this particular parable, he entrusts us with the treasure of this world. Psalm 50:10-11 establishes to whom all things on earth belong:

For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine (Psalm 50:10-11, ESV)

In Malachi, God calls us to return a portion of that which he gives us back to him with the storehouse tithe (Malachi 3:10) along with all other offerings with a cheerful heart (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). Warren Wiersbe puts it well:

True stewardship means that we thank God for all that we have and use it as He directs. Giving God 10 percent of our income is a good way to begin our faithful stewardship, but we must remember that God should control what we do with the remaining 90 percent as well.

How do you view what God has entrusted to you? The questions Jesus asks do indeed probe our preconceptions. The first question implies that these resources belong to the perceived earthly owner. The second question crystallizes the fact that all we have ultimately belongs to God. Which way do you ultimately view your possessions: as yours or God’s?

Be Faithful to the Master Over All Other Treasure

Jesus brings his parable to a fine point when he states in Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

In this parable, we have seen how Jesus wants us to be shrewdly faithful in the possessions we have as well as those possessions entrusted to us by our Master. Yet, we risk becoming so focus on taking care of our possessions that we forget the one to whom all things belong. We need to remind ourselves of James 1:12 that “every good and perfect gift is from above” (ESV). Let us beware lest we focus on the ‘good and perfect gift’ rather than on the good and perfect giver of that gift.

Proverbs 30:8-9 says:

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

In essence, this passage says, “God, just give me what I need.” This passage reminds us of what Jesus said during his model prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:10, ESV). In our materialistic culture, we often miss the connection between what we worship and how we live. We miss the connection in that how we view God directly proportionate to how we view money, and vice versa.

This verse is parallel to a passage from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:19-21, 24, ESV).

During one Star Trek episode when Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock discussed the possibilities of computers controlling everything we see, Kirk was shocked to hear the ever-logical Mr. Spock lament such a notion. When Kirk asked why, Spock made the comment, “Computers make wonderful servants, but terrible masters.”

When we turn our attention and base our contentedness based upon the amount of finances we have, we elevate our finances to a place where God must occupy. The Apostle Paul in 1 Tim. 6:6-10 has the right perspective:

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils (1 Timothy 6:6-10a, ESV).

What My DMin Week Taught Me — And Not Necessarily in the Classroom

1. There is no substitute for study and meditation on the Word of God.  Preachers have so many shortcuts they can take.  Funny stories galore, purchasing a sermon online and preaching it as one’s own, reliance on commentaries and commentaries alone, and the list goes on.  Yet, there is absolutely no substitute for study and meditating on the Word of God.  2 Tim. 2:15 tells us, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV).  Ezra 7:10 shows the model Ezra gave before the people: “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.”  No substitute for study!
2. There is no substitute for the sharpening of friends in the ministry.  The names Ben, Roberto, Kevin, Steve, Don, and Mark may not mean much to you, but they have meant the world to me over the past few years in ministry.  One thing about it:  ministry leaves me in a perpetual state of guilt.  Trying to balance family, church, and school is like spinning plates on the end of a stick.  You get one rolling well, then the others start to wobble.  Rarely do we find ourselves doing all three “well.”  And few outside the ministry understand that.  But these men do — and we offer encouragement to one another.  That has been priceless to me. 
3. There is no substitute for leadership.  It’s one thing to preach.  No substitute for this (look at #4).  But we have to model what we preach.  We have to proclaim, then implement.  We have to motivate, then give those who are motivated an outlet for ministry.  In preparing for my project, I found out that those in our 40509 area code are about to have an explosion growth.  Over the next 5 years, the population in the 40509 zip code will increase by 13.8%.  They will comprise of 20 year olds with graduate degrees.  If we do not actively find ways to be missional to our growing community, then shame on us.  Pray that God would give me his vision to lead.
4. There is no substitute for preaching.  God spoke the Word, the universe was born.  Ezra brought out the Book, revival took place (Nehemiah 8:1-8).  Jonah spoke the Word, evil Nineveh repented (Jonah 3:1-5).  The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we had life eternal (John 1:14, John 3:16).  Peter preached the Word, and revival broke out at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-45).  Each Sunday, I feel the pleasure and the weight of this responsibility God has given to me.  May God continually prod me if I start to go to cruise control in this area.  I honestly do not care if I flame out in every other area — if I take for granted the preaching of God’s Word, then I am a fraud. 
      

      

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Have You Prepared for Your Future? (Part I)

(Preached at the Boone’s Creek Baptist Church, Lexington, KY, on June 24, 2007. To listen to the sermon via mp3, just click on the link to the side.)

“Have you planned for your future?” How often have we seen advertisements posing this question? We first hear this question as we approach high school graduation. One flyer from a university with an inset picture of a thumbtack says, “Don’t get stuck without a plan … be prepared for your future.” Once you graduate, then you have to prepare for your future through finding gainful employment. Soon, you may consider types of investments you will make to help provide for your children’s college education. Also, do not forget about preparing for retirement. An article I came across said, “Prepare for Your Financial Future: Know What You Can Expect from Social Security.”

Do you feel stress about these matters? Do you have a plan for your future? While the world’s way of thinking may take them to issues such as graduation, jobs, marriages, buying a house, or retirement — I am referring to more important plans — plans that not only deal with our earthly future, but our eternal destiny. Are you using the resources God gives you now to help prepare you for eternity?

This morning, God has us examining a very difficult parable known as The Parable of the Dishonest Manager from Luke 16:1-13. As we sort through Jesus’ words, hear his plea for us to be good stewards of our possessions as we ready ourselves for eternity. Hear his plea for us to use what he entrusts to us for his glory and for the good of all. Toward the end of Jesus’ explanation of this parable, he declares the central truth of this particular parable in verse 10, “One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much” (Luke 16:10, ESV). How faithful are we being with what God has given to us?

Be Faithful With the Possessions You Have

Randy Newman in his wonderful book Questioning Evangelism crafts his book around how Jesus’ habit of asking questions so that his listeners would probe their own souls and mindsets more deeply. Newman calls this “rabbinic evangelism ” — answering questions with questions.

Jesus constantly dealt with the questions of his disciples as well as his enemies. They enjoyed trying to put Jesus in a corner. Jesus used questions to probe our preconceptions about our thinking and living. Notice this first question: “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you to the true riches” (Luke 16:11, ESV)? To understand this, let us read Luke 16:1-4:

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses’ (Luke 16:1-4, ESV).

The rich man hired this manager to oversee his finances. This manager would collect on bills owed to his employer and would invest the finances so the rich man would receive a good return. Yet, this rich man fired his manager, for he was “wasting his possessions” (Luke 16:1, ESV).

Now the manager was in a bind! He had grown accustomed to the life of luxury and ease. What would he do now? Would he dig? The rich life had weakened him due to the lack of manual labor. Would he beg? No! Everyone knew his association with the rich man — he could not associate himself with beggars now. What would everyone say?

Yet, he used what resources he had at his disposal to prepare for his future. What did he do? Read with me verses five through eight:

So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light (Luke 16:5-8).

Some controversy arises as to what this fired manager was doing. Was he simply forfeiting his commission? Was he releasing the debtors from illegal taxes levied by the rich man? Quite frankly, we do not know — each of these options could be a possibility. Jesus does not feel the need to say and it seems as if the listeners understand.

This much is clear: the fired manager wasted his master’s wealth, so now he needs to make sure he does not waste opportunities from this point forward. In fact, his former boss compliments him, not for his dishonesty, but for his shrewdness in taking care of his future plans. “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light” (Luke 16:8, ESV). This dishonest manager used the world’s wealth to gain friends who would help him after his termination.

What friends should we try to make? Luke 16:9 says, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9, ESV). God wants us to use the world’s wealth so that our ‘friends’ will welcome us into our eternal dwelling — namely, God and all the heavenly angels waiting to greet them. Robert Stein notes, “Believers should so conduct their lives that when this world and its wealth comes to an end, God will welcome them into his presence.”

Are we using our resources with the shrewdness that God gives us in order to honor, glorify and befriend him? When Jesus told us in John 15 that “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (John 15:10a, ESV). He demonstrated that love by laying down his life for his friends. He said, “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14, ESV). We are faithful with our future when we befriend our Lord Jesus through faith and obedience.

Liveblogging my DMin Week at Southern (Day Four — 4:55 p.m.)

I sit here in the computer lab checking e-mail and will soon go over my sermon this coming Sunday on Hebrews 5:11-6:8.  The title of the sermon is “Why Settle?”  In school, we settle for grades just good enough to get us through.  In church, we tend to be willing to lead areas and serve on committees — just so long as the bare minimum is required.  And in the Scriptures, God issues stern cautions and warnings for those Christians who want to come to Christ — but only if they can do so with minimal commitment.  Whereas the late 60’s may have been, as the song goes, “the Age of Aquarius,” we are living now in the Age of Mediocrity.   We settle for far too little in too many areas of life.

One man who did not settle for too little was our guest professor today, Dr. Thomas Schreiner.  Schreiner serves as the James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Studies and the Associate Dean for Scripture and Interpretation here at Southern (a title so long, he carries two business cards because one business card cannot contain it all).  He came in today to show us how to trace Paul’s various arguments in his epistles.  He is working on a commentary on Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians and has a wonderful new work coming out in 2008 on New Testament theology. 

Schreiner today inspired me.  He is a scholar who is brilliant, but has a passion for the pure undiluted Word of God.  His books are very accessible, especially his book on Paul: The Apostle for God’s Glory (IVP, 2006, $15.25 at WTS — click title link).  He gave us some very helpful tools in truly understanding the flow of Paul’s thinking.  He helped us be able to mine out some wonderful nuggets of gold from the Word.

Here are some books I would like to recommend to you by Dr. Schreiner:

• Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ (Hardcover)
  by Thomas R. Schreiner and Shawn D. Wright (Editors)
• Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance & Assurance
  
• Romans (BECNT)
  

 Later tonight, I shall blog on how this week will help me in the ministry at Boone’s Creek. I’m hoping to answer the “so what?” question concerning my time here at Southern. Let’s just say I have been quite refreshed, inspired, and convicted.
More later.

Liveblogging my DMin Week at Southern Seminary, Day Three (10:23 p.m.)

Today, Dr. Robert Plummer demonstrated a wonderful Bible software program called BibleWorks.  I purchased this program back in the fall — yet I did not realize that I had the Porsche of all Bible study software.  When I found out all that I could do with this program, I was stunned.

I began to think — isn’t that how we are as Christians?  We walk around defeated and joyless, yet we forget all that we have in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 4:19). 

I had dinner today with Mark Combs, Josh Martin, and Kevin Whitt (formerly known as the moderators of Reformation Underground).  We discussed the singles conference we’d be conducting in November, so pray for us as we begin planning to be ready for what God has in store.

Tomorrow we have class with Dr. Tom Schreiner.  He is one of my favorite theologians and New Testament scholars.  I’ll fill you in tomorrow.

 

Liveblogging my DMin Week at Southern (Day Two — 9:35 p.m.)

After having a rather stimulating talk on preaching the parables of Jesus, we were graced with the presence of Dr. Al Mohler, seminary president, who spoke to us for a couple of hours on the topic of preaching. 

He shared with us a story of a search committee of a rather large megachurch who called him about a potential pastoral candidate.  After 45 minutes of conversation, Dr. Mohler asked, “Would you like to hear about his theology?”  They seemed taken aback.  They basically said they were looking for someone who wouldn’t “preach” but would “communicate.”  They also said they were looking for someone to reach young people.  Mohler asked, “Well, how do you want him to do that?”  They responded, “I don’t know … that’s up to him?”  Dr. Mohler pressed, “What do you think is his primary task in reaching people?”  They were silent. 

The point was, too many want to fall on so many other methods, yet the pastor’s primary task is the preaching of the Word of God — all of it.  Especially in our day when many in our churches fail to see the urgency of God’s Word proclaimed from our pulpits.  Here is how he defined expository preaching:

Expository preaching is that mode of Christian preaching which takes as its central purpose the presentation and application of the text of the Bible. All other issues and concerns are subordinated to the central task of presenting the biblical text. As the Word of God, the text of Scripture has the right to establish both the substance and the structure of the sermon. Genuine exposition takes place when the preacher sets forth the meaning and message of the biblical text, and makes clear how the Word of God establishes the identity and worldview of the Church as the people of God.

He acknowledged that “meaning” and “message” could be viewed as synonymous, yet in our day people may understand the message, but then the ’so-what’ factor sets in. “Yes, that’s what it says… so what? What does that message mean to me?” It is up to faithful expositors of the Word not only to tell what the passage says, but also to give the implications and applications of what the text means. And for many young preachers (myself included), we are far more comfortable finding the message of the text than we are trying to apply it to the listeners’ lives. That comes with time and a growing knowledge of your congregation, I would say.

All of our DMin cohort went to Applebee’s off Hurstbourne Lane. What a great time we had just sitting with Dr. Cook, our professor, and just picking his brain about all things New Testament. He shared with us how much Leon Morris, F.F. Bruce, and John Stott (minus his views on hell) have been an influence on him.

My friend and rooming, Mark Combs of Intersect lore, is really enjoying and benefitting from his first set of DMin classes in Evangelism and Church Growth. I’ll never forget something he shared. He said that many of our gospel presentations were crafted from a Christian worldview for those who have a Christian worldview.

For instance, take the FAITH presentation which springboards the salvation message with the question, “What in your opinion do you think it takes for a person to go to heaven?” According to the program, there are only four answers: Jesus, works, don’t know, not sure. Yet, in our day, some may answer, “I don’t believe there’s a heaven.” Bobby Welch, former pastor of FBC-Daytona, insists on using the exact wording of the program in order for greater success. Yet, do we make provision in these canned passages for such a response?

I am convinced more and more that we need to understand the Gospel story of God’s creation, the Fall of Man, God’s redemption through Christ, our response. But instead of a canned presentation, strike up a conversation and just ask about spiritual beliefs — then incorporate that into the conversation. It’s not about presentations and numbers, but about establishing authentic relationships to where people won’t be suspicious of you trying to get them to “join the group,” but will see you genuinely care about them as one made in the image of God.

Tomorrow, Dr. Robert Plummer will come in and show us how to use some Bible software to help us in our study of the Word of God. Then on Thursday, Dr. Thomas Schreiner will come in to help us in the Epistles. I can’t wait to fill you in. God’s been gracious.

Liveblogging my DMin Week at Southern Seminary, Day One (11:00 p.m.)

After taking my friend Ben to Wal-Mart, I spent the majority of my time in the library.  I ran into Steve Weaver who was doing some research (and why not?  After all, Southern has the greatest theological library in the world with over 900,000+ volumes!). 

I spent the majority of my time working on my Prospectus (that is, my proposal for my dissertation for my doctorate).  My proposal is to train aspiring ministers and lay preachers in the basics of expository preaching at Boone’s Creek Baptist Church.  After looking at how Jesus trained the disciples for ministry (Matthew 28:19-20, Luke 24:27, Acts 1:3) and see how they in turn preached the whole counsel of God in their area of ministry, I am hoping to use those biblical foundations to implement a solid ministry in that area here at Boone’s Creek.  I’d appreciate your prayers.  That 25-page prospectus is due September 3. 

Bedtime beckons.  Fortunately, our class doesn’t start until 9:00 rather than the 8:00 time our other class began.  Pray that I will absorb what I learn in class and that I would be a good steward of my time outside of it. 

May Jesus Christ be praised.

Liveblogging My DMin Week at Southern, Day 1 (5:30 p.m.)

Monday, June 25, 2007 — 5:30 p.m.

An eventful day.  I originally stayed in a room that was handicap-accessible.  However, I was asked if I would be willing to move to another room so someone who could make better use of that room could stay.  Around 1:00 p.m., they called and said that the one who needed our original room was there, yet housekeeping had not finished with the new room.  So we had to vacate, re-pack the car, then wait until they were done.  As compensation for my troubles, they gave me five free cafeteria passes.  Good stuff!

I had a New Testament class with Dr. William Cook, New Testament professor here at Southern.  What a wonderful class!  Whereas many of our professors come at their particular field with only an academic knowledge.  He serves as Pastor of Ninth and O Baptist Church in Louisville, so he understands all the particulars about pastoring and sermon preparation. 

The information he gave was so incredibly helpful, especially in dealing with preaching from the Gospels (Matthew-John).  He notes that too many preachers preach the Gospels like the Epistles — only a paragraph at a time.  As a result, many of the stories in the Gospels are encapsulated and divorced from previous and upcoming events.  Thus we miss much of the thrust of what Jesus is doing and the lessons he teaches. 

Tomorrow, all of the preaching classes will be with Dr. Al Mohler, President of Southern Seminary.  I can’t wait to inform you all about what he has to say.

Liveblogging my DMin Week at Southern

This week, I am in Louisville getting ready for a seminar in New Testament. I am about one year in to my three-year study for a DMin at Southern Seminary. I and my friend/roomie for the week, Mark Combs, will be liveblogging this rather … fascinating time. Really, it’s an intense week and this will be a good way to let off some steam.

Sunday, 10:41 p.m.

After going to eat at Moe’s Southwest Grill (I got the Billy Barou nachos, which was like eating a small town), we arrived at Southern around 8:45. We went to the store to pick up some food, since it’d cost an arm and a leg to eat out every meal. Mark’s a runner, so he can eat a side of beef and run it all off. I on the other hand am not a runner, and only run when someone has a needle in their hand (just ask my wife when she tried to give me a tetanus shot — not pretty). 

We’re now sitting here watching the Detroit Tigers play the Atlanta Braves. The Tigers look solid and the Braves lack that fire. I will say that Jeff Francoeur made a dynamite double play by catching a pop-out 3/4 of the way back in the outfield, then throwing out a runner tagging up from third.

Tomorrow will be the fun time. All the DMin students will meet for a Welcome Breakfast at Heritage Hall. For me, I’m excited about the bacon. Really. Bacon tends to do that to me.

But I am blessed to have a great cohort group:

• Don Brown, pastor of Village Church at Holly Springs, NC;
• Steven Lookabaugh, pastor, Medway Baptist Church, Medway, OH
• Roberto Sanchez, pastor of a Hispanic church he planted seven years ago in LA;
• Ben Skaug, pastor, Central Baptist Church, Aurora, CO;
• Kevin Wilson, Youth Pastor, Ephesus Baptist Church in Winston, GA.

More tomorrow.  (Riveting, isn’t it?)

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The Shallow Bag of Goods Sold in the Prosperity Gospel (Piper)

You Belong to the City, Don’t You? (Part IV: Are We Ready to See God’s Judgment on the City?)

Too often, our prejudices get in the way of our compassion in Christ. Jonah was in the same spot, wasn’t he? Look at Jonah 3:10

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

What was Jonah’s reaction? Jonah 4:1-3 says:

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. [2] And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. [3] Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Do we have people in our personal lives or people with different belief systems where we would rather die than see God have mercy on them? Are there people on earth, dear Christians, with whom you wish to see God send his unrelenting justice?

Remember when I mentioned Randy Newman’s shock to man who requested prayer for Al Qaeda? Newman serves with Campus Crusade for Christ and has for more than twenty years. He’s a tremendous man of God with a passion to see college students come to Christ. But here was his honest reaction to this prayer request:

Pray for the members of Al-Qaeda? I don’t think so! Knowing God, he’ll be “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and bounding in loving-kindness, a God who relents from sending calamity” (Jonah 4:2). Then what? He’ll answer our prayers and those so-and-so’s will get off the hook!

Newman quickly repented and found the need to pray for himself!

Jonah went out to sulk. And isn’t that the point? He went out of the city and gave up on the city and said, “Let God do to that city what he will — they are vile!”

Have you considered that Jesus never did this? I remember that time in John 11 when he set his face to Jerusalem, the center of Israel’s religion and culture (which at that time were inseparable). He knew that he had to return there. There the corrupt court system would try him, the cowardly Pontius Pilate would turn him over to the city rabble who would then turn him over to execution.

Yet Christ went to the city out of love! He loves those whom he created in His image. Jonah loved his plant and had compassion on it — and his heart broke over his plant. Do our hearts brake more over material possessions, traditions, lifestyles, than over the people whom God created?

But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?”

“I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.”

But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

God is — and so should we. We should have more compassion for those made in God’s image than for those things which bring us material comfort.

Here in Lexington, we have our city council, we have UK, Bluegrass Community College, we have EKU down the road, we have a number of businesses, financial institutions, horse industries, and many other businesses which not only have our future leaders, but also train our future leaders. It’s been said that ministering in rural sections, you’ll win the lawyer — but ministering in the cities, you can win the law practices. In rural areas, we minister to the doctor and win him — but in ministering in the cities, we can win the medical profession. Same with finances, race relations, and numerous others.

If we delude ourselves to thinking that Jesus is only good for us in the spiritual realm, and think that John 10:10 only means eternal life in heaven and not the fact that the Gospel transforms all of our thinking and living — we are missing the great understanding of being salt and light in our community and our world.

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You Belong to the City, Don’t You? (Part IV: Are We Ready to See God’s Judgment on the City?)

Too often, our prejudices get in the way of our compassion in Christ. Jonah was in the same spot, wasn’t he? Look at Jonah 3:10

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

What was Jonah’s reaction? Jonah 4:1-3 says:

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. [2] And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. [3] Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Do we have people in our personal lives or people with different belief systems where we would rather die than see God have mercy on them? Are there people on earth, dear Christians, with whom you wish to see God send his unrelenting justice?

Remember when I mentioned Randy Newman’s shock to man who requested prayer for Al Qaeda? Newman serves with Campus Crusade for Christ and has for more than twenty years. He’s a tremendous man of God with a passion to see college students come to Christ. But here was his honest reaction to this prayer request:

Pray for the members of Al-Qaeda? I don’t think so! Knowing God, he’ll be “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and bounding in loving-kindness, a God who relents from sending calamity” (Jonah 4:2). Then what? He’ll answer our prayers and those so-and-so’s will get off the hook!

Newman quickly repented and found the need to pray for himself!

Jonah went out to sulk. And isn’t that the point? He went out of the city and gave up on the city and said, “Let God do to that city what he will — they are vile!”

Have you considered that Jesus never did this? I remember that time in John 11 when he set his face to Jerusalem, the center of Israel’s religion and culture (which at that time were inseparable). He knew that he had to return there. There the corrupt court system would try him, the cowardly Pontius Pilate would turn him over to the city rabble who would then turn him over to execution.

Yet Christ went to the city out of love! He loves those whom he created in His image. Jonah loved his plant and had compassion on it — and his heart broke over his plant. Do our hearts brake more over material possessions, traditions, lifestyles, than over the people whom God created?

But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?”

“I do,” he said. “I am angry enough to die.”

But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

God is — and so should we. We should have more compassion for those made in God’s image than for those things which bring us material comfort.

Here in Lexington, we have our city council, we have UK, Bluegrass Community College, we have EKU down the road, we have a number of businesses, financial institutions, horse industries, and many other businesses which not only have our future leaders, but also train our future leaders. It’s been said that ministering in rural sections, you’ll win the lawyer — but ministering in the cities, you can win the law practices. In rural areas, we minister to the doctor and win him — but in ministering in the cities, we can win the medical profession. Same with finances, race relations, and numerous others.

If we delude ourselves to thinking that Jesus is only good for us in the spiritual realm, and think that John 10:10 only means eternal life in heaven and not the fact that the Gospel transforms all of our thinking and living — we are missing the great understanding of being salt and light in our community and our world.

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You Belong to the City, Don’t You, Part III: Are You Reluctant To Minister in the City?

One inner city pastor was asked, “Why do you stay in the city?” His response sounded humorous at first — he said, “In rural areas, they have more plants than people. In the city, they have more people than plants. God loves plants, for sure — but he loves people more.”

Randy Newman, in fact, compared the Ninevites to a group that’s around today. He noted that during a time for prayer requests, someone stood up and said, “Pray that the members of Al-Qaeda, those responsible for the September 11 attacks on America, hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan, will be convicted of their sin, come to faith in Christ, and forsake their ties to this terrorist organization.” Some will find it hard to pray such a prayer.

Now you know how Jonah felt. Nineveh had a “well-deserved reputation as heartless rapists and unrelenting murderers. The similarity between Nineveh and Al-Qaeda might be closer than you think.” Do we find ourselves being more like Jonah who was reluctant and rebellious in reaching the city? Do we really believe that Christ wants us to vacate the city? Do we see what Christ has for the city?

Matthew 23:37-39

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! [38] See, your house is left to you desolate. [39] For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ “

If this awaits for the people of God who have, as Romans 9:4-5 says, “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever” — what will the doom be for those who have not this understanding? Well, look at Matthew 11:20-24:

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. [21] “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. [22] But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. [23] And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. [24] But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Those who know God’s promises and have a country laid on the foundations on God’s Word will be held more accountable than even Tyre and Sidon — and even moreso than Sodom and Gomorrah! Why? Because we know the principles on which the this country was laid — the Word of God. It’s the same rationale as to why James 3:1 says that teachers of God’s Word will be judged more harshly — because teachers know what God’s Word says. Judgment comes first and harshest to those who know God’s Word, but choose to ignore it!

Some say that our nation and our nation’s founders did not begin this nation on the tenets of God’s Word and God’s principles. In 1620, when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Bay, William Bradford drafted the Mayflower Compact which says,

“Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together…”

John Adams, our first Vice President under Washington and our second President, said this:

The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.

Adams also delivers this warning on October 11, 1798:

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Some will say that the government should not be influenced by Christianity, but what the constitution says is that the government shall not promote a national religion! A big difference!

With this being our beginnings, what will happen if the United States continues its downward spiral? What will happen is a great and terrible judgment — the likes of which we could scarcely imagine! And, again, since the cities drive the culture through people, power, and influence, we need to find ways to minister the name of Christ in the cities.

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You Belong to the City, Don’t You, Part III: Are You Reluctant To Minister in the City?

One inner city pastor was asked, “Why do you stay in the city?” His response sounded humorous at first — he said, “In rural areas, they have more plants than people. In the city, they have more people than plants. God loves plants, for sure — but he loves people more.”

Randy Newman, in fact, compared the Ninevites to a group that’s around today. He noted that during a time for prayer requests, someone stood up and said, “Pray that the members of Al-Qaeda, those responsible for the September 11 attacks on America, hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan, will be convicted of their sin, come to faith in Christ, and forsake their ties to this terrorist organization.” Some will find it hard to pray such a prayer.

Now you know how Jonah felt. Nineveh had a “well-deserved reputation as heartless rapists and unrelenting murderers. The similarity between Nineveh and Al-Qaeda might be closer than you think.” Do we find ourselves being more like Jonah who was reluctant and rebellious in reaching the city? Do we really believe that Christ wants us to vacate the city? Do we see what Christ has for the city?

Matthew 23:37-39

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! [38] See, your house is left to you desolate. [39] For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ “

If this awaits for the people of God who have, as Romans 9:4-5 says, “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever” — what will the doom be for those who have not this understanding? Well, look at Matthew 11:20-24:

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. [21] “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. [22] But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. [23] And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. [24] But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Those who know God’s promises and have a country laid on the foundations on God’s Word will be held more accountable than even Tyre and Sidon — and even moreso than Sodom and Gomorrah! Why? Because we know the principles on which the this country was laid — the Word of God. It’s the same rationale as to why James 3:1 says that teachers of God’s Word will be judged more harshly — because teachers know what God’s Word says. Judgment comes first and harshest to those who know God’s Word, but choose to ignore it!

Some say that our nation and our nation’s founders did not begin this nation on the tenets of God’s Word and God’s principles. In 1620, when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Bay, William Bradford drafted the Mayflower Compact which says,

“Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together…”

John Adams, our first Vice President under Washington and our second President, said this:

The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.

Adams also delivers this warning on October 11, 1798:

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Some will say that the government should not be influenced by Christianity, but what the constitution says is that the government shall not promote a national religion! A big difference!

With this being our beginnings, what will happen if the United States continues its downward spiral? What will happen is a great and terrible judgment — the likes of which we could scarcely imagine! And, again, since the cities drive the culture through people, power, and influence, we need to find ways to minister the name of Christ in the cities.

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matt-perry.com Turns 40,000

Today, matt-perry.com had it’s 40,000th hit! Thanks to all of you who grace this blog with your presence. Keep us in prayer as we seek to advance the Kingdom of Christ!

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You Belong to the City — Don’t You? (Part II: Are You Running Away From the City?)

Given the “White Flight” syndrome, the obvious answer is that, yes, we may be reluctant to go and minister in the cities, prayerwalk in the cities, and engage those in the cities — much less live in the cities. But notice Nehemiah 11:1-2 once again:

Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns. And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.

Scholars have estimated that approximately 100,000 people came back to live in Jerusalem. The leaders lived in Jerusalem — and those leaders would help determine the direction for Israel’s culture, finances, military, etc. Yet, they needed more than just the leaders — they needed Israelites to come and help contribute as well. So they cast lots and 10% of the population was to come and live in the holy city. Notice verse two “And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.”

Though this was the holy city, we know that even this city was prone to issues most cities have. Jesus healed a number of beggars who were blind or lame — they were prevalent in Jerusalem. The city officials were corrupt when they were conducting illegal activities such as moneychanging in the Temple. Even Jesus’ trial broke numerous laws — not the least of which was condemning an innocent citizen to die like a common criminal by crucifixion.

How blessed it is to see this willingness — faithful, on-fire believers on fire for the city. How tragic, though, that instead of us relating to these men, we relate to another who served as a reluctant prophet. Turn with me to the book of Jonah.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, [2] “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” [3] But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:1-3, ESV).

Four times in the book of Jonah, God refers to Nineveh as “that great city” (1:2; 3:2; 3:3; 4:11) — ‘great’ meaning that of power, persons, and influence. Nineveh served as the capital of Assyria and had plundered Israel and other countries and committed great atrocities against them. Persons? 120,000 as Jonah 4:11 says. Influence? No doubt with its powerful military, they could be very influential — and very wicked at that (which we will speak about in a moment).

Can we relate to Jonah? When we look at the maps of our presidential elections, we see that the cities hold to very different values than do the “heartland” states. The cities are populated and diverse, which allows for more opportunities for numerous races and classes to prosper, but also allows for more racism and violence and many other issues that are exclusive to the city. Yet, God is not simply wanting his people to have the right values! He wants his people to have a righteous heart!

If we who have the Gospel of Jesus Christ — the only thing on earth than can make a sinful heart righteous — do we really do well to run away from the city?

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You Belong to the City — Don’t You? (Part II: Are You Running Away From the City?)

Given the “White Flight” syndrome, the obvious answer is that, yes, we may be reluctant to go and minister in the cities, prayerwalk in the cities, and engage those in the cities — much less live in the cities. But notice Nehemiah 11:1-2 once again:

Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns. And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.

Scholars have estimated that approximately 100,000 people came back to live in Jerusalem. The leaders lived in Jerusalem — and those leaders would help determine the direction for Israel’s culture, finances, military, etc. Yet, they needed more than just the leaders — they needed Israelites to come and help contribute as well. So they cast lots and 10% of the population was to come and live in the holy city. Notice verse two “And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem.”

Though this was the holy city, we know that even this city was prone to issues most cities have. Jesus healed a number of beggars who were blind or lame — they were prevalent in Jerusalem. The city officials were corrupt when they were conducting illegal activities such as moneychanging in the Temple. Even Jesus’ trial broke numerous laws — not the least of which was condemning an innocent citizen to die like a common criminal by crucifixion.

How blessed it is to see this willingness — faithful, on-fire believers on fire for the city. How tragic, though, that instead of us relating to these men, we relate to another who served as a reluctant prophet. Turn with me to the book of Jonah.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, [2] “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” [3] But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:1-3, ESV).

Four times in the book of Jonah, God refers to Nineveh as “that great city” (1:2; 3:2; 3:3; 4:11) — ‘great’ meaning that of power, persons, and influence. Nineveh served as the capital of Assyria and had plundered Israel and other countries and committed great atrocities against them. Persons? 120,000 as Jonah 4:11 says. Influence? No doubt with its powerful military, they could be very influential — and very wicked at that (which we will speak about in a moment).

Can we relate to Jonah? When we look at the maps of our presidential elections, we see that the cities hold to very different values than do the “heartland” states. The cities are populated and diverse, which allows for more opportunities for numerous races and classes to prosper, but also allows for more racism and violence and many other issues that are exclusive to the city. Yet, God is not simply wanting his people to have the right values! He wants his people to have a righteous heart!

If we who have the Gospel of Jesus Christ — the only thing on earth than can make a sinful heart righteous — do we really do well to run away from the city?

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You Belong to the City — Don’t You? (Part I)

Most of us when we think of the cities, we seldom think of it with any positive thoughts at all. In fact, most of us avoid the city. We think of the cities in the Bible such as Sodom and Gomorrah, the city of Jericho, Nineveh, Tyre, Sidon, Athens, Corinth, Rome — they were centers of culture, learning, and refinement. Yet they also carried great idol worship and debauchery.

Yet, we see the city playing a great role in the work of God. Abraham in Hebrews 11:10 shows how he was longing for a city ‘whose builder and maker was God.’ When God told Adam and Eve to have dominion over the earth, he expected them to build a civilization which honored their Creator.

What does the city provide for our culture? Three things: people, power and influence. First the people. Recently, Albert Mohler directed my attention to an article from The Economist called “The World Goes to Town.” In that article, he mentions that in 1900, 13% of all the world’s population lived in the city. Within the next few months, over half of the world’s population will live in the cities. Consider this:

Within ten years the world will have nearly 500 cities of more than 1m people. Most of the newcomers will be absorbed in a metropolis of up to 5m people. But some will live in a megacity, defined as home to 10m or more inhabitants. In 1950 only New York and Tokyo could claim to be as big, but by 2020, says the UN, nine cities–Delhi, Dhaka, Jakarta, Lagos, Mexico City, Mumbai, New York, São Paulo and Tokyo–will have more than 20m inhabitants. Greater Tokyo already has 35m, more than the entire population of Canada.

The sheer scale and speed of the current urban expansion make it unlike any of the big changes that have punctuated urban history. It mostly consists of poor people migrating in unprecedented numbers, and then producing babies on a similarly unprecedented scale. It is thus largely a phenomenon of poor and middle-income countries; the rich world has put most of its urbanisation behind it.

In poor countries, though, the trend is set to continue. The United Nations forecasts that today’s urban population of 3.2 billion will rise to nearly 5 billion by 2030, when three out of five people will live in cities. The increase will be most dramatic in the poorest and least-urbanised continents, Asia and Africa. They are the ones least able to cope. Already over 90% of the urban population of Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda, three of the world’s most rural countries, live in slums.

The second item, power. The direction of the military, education, finance, and business (just to mention a few) come from the cities — especially the capitals of our states and countries. The cities allow for more diversity in education, backgrounds, race relations, and finance — which leads to the third: influence. Consider how much the cities influence the direction of the culture. New York, Hollywood/Los Angeles, and Chicago drive the machine of what is popular. Consider the top five most populated cities in the United States: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia. They make up 20,000,000 people, or 6% of the population — in five cities! Before, it would take months, sometimes years to get through. Now with cable and the internet, people in Fargo, North Dakota, Peoria, IL, and even in Brazil, Hungary, or Japan find themselves influenced by American pop culture from New York, LA, and Chicago.

What are some negatives? Crime, for one. With the pluses of diversity come the negatives. Racism, violence, and corruption plague many of our cities. Our major cities have a much larger crime rate than do those in the suburbs or in rural farming areas. Drug use, rampant homelessness, noise and air pollution are other reasons why some do not feel safe in the cities and long for the quiet, orderly, peaceful life of the suburbs and rural areas. This has often been referred to as “white flight” where many whites leave the cities.

Here’s the question: given all the ways the city steers the direction of our culture in government, the fine arts, commerce, education, is it right for us to leave the city? I’m not simply talking about geographically but also leave it to those who could care less about anything with a biblical worldview?

(Tomorrow, Part II: Are You Running Away from the City?”)

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You Belong to the City — Don’t You? (Part I)

Most of us when we think of the cities, we seldom think of it with any positive thoughts at all. In fact, most of us avoid the city. We think of the cities in the Bible such as Sodom and Gomorrah, the city of Jericho, Nineveh, Tyre, Sidon, Athens, Corinth, Rome — they were centers of culture, learning, and refinement. Yet they also carried great idol worship and debauchery.

Yet, we see the city playing a great role in the work of God. Abraham in Hebrews 11:10 shows how he was longing for a city ‘whose builder and maker was God.’ When God told Adam and Eve to have dominion over the earth, he expected them to build a civilization which honored their Creator.

What does the city provide for our culture? Three things: people, power and influence. First the people. Recently, Albert Mohler directed my attention to an article from The Economist called “The World Goes to Town.” In that article, he mentions that in 1900, 13% of all the world’s population lived in the city. Within the next few months, over half of the world’s population will live in the cities. Consider this:

Within ten years the world will have nearly 500 cities of more than 1m people. Most of the newcomers will be absorbed in a metropolis of up to 5m people. But some will live in a megacity, defined as home to 10m or more inhabitants. In 1950 only New York and Tokyo could claim to be as big, but by 2020, says the UN, nine cities–Delhi, Dhaka, Jakarta, Lagos, Mexico City, Mumbai, New York, São Paulo and Tokyo–will have more than 20m inhabitants. Greater Tokyo already has 35m, more than the entire population of Canada.

The sheer scale and speed of the current urban expansion make it unlike any of the big changes that have punctuated urban history. It mostly consists of poor people migrating in unprecedented numbers, and then producing babies on a similarly unprecedented scale. It is thus largely a phenomenon of poor and middle-income countries; the rich world has put most of its urbanisation behind it.

In poor countries, though, the trend is set to continue. The United Nations forecasts that today’s urban population of 3.2 billion will rise to nearly 5 billion by 2030, when three out of five people will live in cities. The increase will be most dramatic in the poorest and least-urbanised continents, Asia and Africa. They are the ones least able to cope. Already over 90% of the urban population of Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda, three of the world’s most rural countries, live in slums.

The second item, power. The direction of the military, education, finance, and business (just to mention a few) come from the cities — especially the capitals of our states and countries. The cities allow for more diversity in education, backgrounds, race relations, and finance — which leads to the third: influence. Consider how much the cities influence the direction of the culture. New York, Hollywood/Los Angeles, and Chicago drive the machine of what is popular. Consider the top five most populated cities in the United States: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia. They make up 20,000,000 people, or 6% of the population — in five cities! Before, it would take months, sometimes years to get through. Now with cable and the internet, people in Fargo, North Dakota, Peoria, IL, and even in Brazil, Hungary, or Japan find themselves influenced by American pop culture from New York, LA, and Chicago.

What are some negatives? Crime, for one. With the pluses of diversity come the negatives. Racism, violence, and corruption plague many of our cities. Our major cities have a much larger crime rate than do those in the suburbs or in rural farming areas. Drug use, rampant homelessness, noise and air pollution are other reasons why some do not feel safe in the cities and long for the quiet, orderly, peaceful life of the suburbs and rural areas. This has often been referred to as “white flight” where many whites leave the cities.

Here’s the question: given all the ways the city steers the direction of our culture in government, the fine arts, commerce, education, is it right for us to leave the city? I’m not simply talking about geographically but also leave it to those who could care less about anything with a biblical worldview?

(Tomorrow, Part II: Are You Running Away from the City?”)

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A Calvinist and an Arminian Square Off at a Business Meeting (Humor — CT’s Church Laughs)

(HT: Church Laughs of Christianity Today)

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A Calvinist and an Arminian Square Off at a Business Meeting (Humor — CT’s Church Laughs)

(HT: Church Laughs of Christianity Today)

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Do I Wish I Could Have Gone to the SBC Annual Meeting? Absolutely!!

A number of Southern Baptists bloggers have lamented not being able to go to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting in San Antonio.  Give all the videos
put up online from the convention, I feel as if I was there. 

While some have expressed even thankfulness that they could not go, I regret that I could not — and even now am looking forward to the 2008 Annual Meeting in Indianapolis — a scant three hours from Lexington!  Why do I wish I could have gone to the Convention and why am I looking forward to next year’s?  Here’s a few reasons off the top of my head:

1.   Fellowshipping with other Southern Baptists.  Over the past decade, approximately 10,000 Southern Baptists attend the annual meeting from all over the world.  On occasion, I see some friends I have known in past churches or from seminary days gone by.  At the 2006 convention, my family and I were able to fellowship with Chris Whaley, my former pastor back in college days.  Chris helped me with my first summer intern positions in the early 1990s which really helped get my feet wet in full-time Kingdom work. 

2.   Seeing Christians cooperate.  Some deplore the political nature of the convention, others lament over the parlimentary procedural nature of the convention (making into one long business meeting, of sorts).  I like seeing Baptists come together and cooperate.  We may not like some of the decisions concerning some of the resolutions — and we may have a problem with some of the agendas put forth.  I, however, enjoy seeing 10,000 SBC messengers come together and have a say in the direction of our convention.  To me, it’s a beautiful thing to see.

3.   Taking my family along.  I love going to these meetings with my wife.  Why?  Because I so seldom get to take her to anything like this (and depending on some weeks, I so seldom take her anywhere due to meetings, services, visitation, etc.  You may say, “Matt, you have four kids — what about them?”  They have a place for your children to learn, play, and have fun with other children their own age.  It’s an incredible set-up. 

4.   Personally seeing what happens first-hand.  I am head-long into the blogosphere.  And it is so interesting to see how many different interpretations come about from someone’s address or motion from the floor, just to mention two.  When I fail to attend the convention as I did this year, I have to rely on what others say about it who were there.  As some consolation, I am thankful for SBC Voices who actually put up video footage from the convention so we can watch these particular addresses ourselves and come to our own conclusions.  But nothing beats seeing it firsthand.

5.   The ministry in surrounding areas.  You go to the hotel, you have a chance to say you’re with the Southern Baptists for the convention and an opportunity opens up to plant Gospel seeds.  You go to an area restaurant, same thing.  You see someone on the street handing out a flyer or pamphlet denouncing what Southern Baptists are all about, and you have an opportunity to engage them in a conversation.  Plus, they have booths at the convention which hand out free tracts to distribute to the various stores, hotels, restaurants and all points in-between. 

6.   The booths of all the SBC agencies, seminaries, colleges, and organizations.  It’s so wonderful to see the ministries in which the SBC is engaged.  God has blessed us financially, missionally, and educationally. 

So when the time comes for the SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis in 2008, I’m there — it’s only a three hour drive and I just might take the whole family (we’ll see). 

And as the old hymn writer wrote, “Oh, who will come and go with me?”

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Ed Stetzer’s Address at SBC Meeting a Must Listen

 (HT: SBC Voices)

Ed Stetzer’s Address at SBC Meeting a Must Listen

 (HT: SBC Voices)

I Just Don’t Care About Growing As a Christian — It’s Too Hard a Work

Jonathan Edwards in his sermon on “Christian Knowledge” gives us this gem to think on:

It doubtless concerns every one to endeavour
to excel in the knowledge of things which pertain to his
profession, or principal calling. If it concerns men to excel in
any thing, or in any wisdom or knowledge at all, it certainly
concerns them to excel in the affairs of their main profession and
work. But the calling and work of every Christian is to live to
God. This is said to be his high calling, Phil. iii. 14.
This is the business, and, if I may so speak, the trade of a
Christian, his main work, and indeed should be his only work. No
business should be done by a Christian, but as it is some way or
other a part of this. Therefore certainly the Christian should
endeavour to be well acquainted with those things which belong to
this work, that he may fulfill it, and be thoroughly furnished to
it.

It becomes one who is called to be a soldier, to
excel in the art of war. It becomes a mariner, to excel in the art
of navigation. It becomes a physician, to excel in the knowledge of
those things which pertain to the art of physic. So it becomes all
such as profess to be Christians, and to devote themselves to the
practice of Christianity, to endeavour to excel in the knowledge of
divinity.

The soldier is passion to learn his craft, as is the mariner and the physician.  And yet too many Christians basically say, “I just don’t care about growing as a Christian — it’s too hard a work.” 

Do we really care about growing into what we were predestined for — to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).  Do we care more about growing as a blogger?  Or a preacher?  Or a writer?  Or a student and scholar?  In and of themselves, they are dead — we should desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). 

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I Just Don’t Care About Growing As a Christian — It’s Too Hard a Work

Jonathan Edwards in his sermon on “Christian Knowledge” gives us this gem to think on:

It doubtless concerns every one to endeavour
to excel in the knowledge of things which pertain to his
profession, or principal calling. If it concerns men to excel in
any thing, or in any wisdom or knowledge at all, it certainly
concerns them to excel in the affairs of their main profession and
work. But the calling and work of every Christian is to live to
God. This is said to be his high calling, Phil. iii. 14.
This is the business, and, if I may so speak, the trade of a
Christian, his main work, and indeed should be his only work. No
business should be done by a Christian, but as it is some way or
other a part of this. Therefore certainly the Christian should
endeavour to be well acquainted with those things which belong to
this work, that he may fulfill it, and be thoroughly furnished to
it.

It becomes one who is called to be a soldier, to
excel in the art of war. It becomes a mariner, to excel in the art
of navigation. It becomes a physician, to excel in the knowledge of
those things which pertain to the art of physic. So it becomes all
such as profess to be Christians, and to devote themselves to the
practice of Christianity, to endeavour to excel in the knowledge of
divinity.

The soldier is passion to learn his craft, as is the mariner and the physician.  And yet too many Christians basically say, “I just don’t care about growing as a Christian — it’s too hard a work.” 

Do we really care about growing into what we were predestined for — to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).  Do we care more about growing as a blogger?  Or a preacher?  Or a writer?  Or a student and scholar?  In and of themselves, they are dead — we should desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). 

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Dad’s Surgery Went Splendiforous!

Dad’s surgery went wonderfully!  In fact, he got up and walked down to the end of the hall today.  Thank you for your prayers!  God has continually sustained him and will continue to do so. 

Dad’s Surgery Went Splendiforous!

Dad’s surgery went wonderfully!  In fact, he got up and walked down to the end of the hall today.  Thank you for your prayers!  God has continually sustained him and will continue to do so. 

Prayer for Upcoming Conferences

This fall promises to be an exciting time of fellowship and discipleship at our church.  Please keep us in prayer for the following:

Boone’s Creek Annual Missions Conference, Saturday, September 22, 2007:

FROM OUR NEIGHBORHOODS TO THE NATIONS:
Inspiring You to Reach Your Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Ends of the Earth

     
We have been very blessed to have had two wonderful speakers at our Fall Conferences.  Chuck Lawless blessed us on his talk on Spiritual Warfare in 2004, while Tim Beougher challenged us in 2005 with his presentation on Lifestyle Evangelism.

 

This year, the Theme for our conference will be “From our Neighborhoods to the Nations” and will deal with the area of missions on a local as well as a worldwide basis. 

 

This conference will take place on Saturday, September 22nd, with pre-registration and continental breakfast beginning at 8:30.  Speakers will be:

• Matthew Perry (me);
• John Fergusson, Lexington Rescue Mission, Lexington, KY
• Hershael York, Pastor, Buck Run Baptist Church; Professor, Southern Seminary; Past Kentucky Baptist Convention President (2004-2005);
• Bill Barker:  Director, Appalachian Regional Ministry, NAMB
• John Divito, Centers for Apologetics Research, Missionary To-Be in Uganda.

---

The Five Points of Christian Growth
Salem Baptist Church, Salem, KY
October 14-17, 2007

I will be leading some revival services at my good friend Mark Combs’ church.  My five points are:

1. Attend church faithfully;
2. Pray constantly;
3. Study Diligently;
4. Give Cheerfully
5. Worship Joyfully

---

Singleness and the Glory of God
Finding our Satisfaction in Christ Alone
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Boone’s Creek Baptist Church, Lexington, KY

Have you been deceived to think that God’s purpose for you is to be
married or at least not alone? God’s purpose for you is to be holy —
everything else is just details!

This conference is sponsored by Boone’s Creek Baptist Church and Reformation Underground (http://reformationunderground.blogspot.com).

Music, door prizes, main group times and breakout sessions.

Leaders will be:

Matthew Perry, Pastor, Boone’s Creek Baptist Church, Lexington, KY (For more about him go to http://www.boonescreekchurch.com/pastor or http://www.matt-perry.com)

Mark Combs, Pastor, Salem Baptist Church, Salem, KY
(For more about Mark, go to http://markcombs1978.wordpress.com)

Josh
Martin, Founder and Leader, The Josh Martin Band; Youth Pastor, Harvest
Community Church, Eminence, KY (For more info about Josh, go to http://www.thejoshmartinband.com or http://joshuamartin.wordpress.com)

Kevin Whitt, Lead Pastor, Harvest Community Church, Eminence KY (http://www.harvestcommunity.com)

Schedule forthcoming.

Please keep all these conferences and services in prayer.

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My Father is Having Surgery — Please Pray

This coming Monday morning at 8:30, my father will have surgery to reverse a couple of areas.  I thank all of you who have prayed for my dad over the last nine months after he sustained some very serious and life-threatening injuries (click here to read about them). 

Dad has been exercising and getting his strength up a bit so he’s more ready for the surgery.  Two weeks ago, he went into the hospital for dehydration (a common occurence after having a barium enema, from what I understand).  This trip will help him, I believe. 

Given that Dad went from 185 pounds before his fall to where he’s now 148-150, you can imagine the butterflies all of us have.  God is sovereign, but we all love Dad.  And given the fact that Dad had 21 major injuries to his body as a result of this fall, a normally 90-minute procedure will take around four hours. 

I am leaving Sunday afternoon to fly down and will return on Wednesday.  If I blog any during that time, it will simply be some quick reflections.

Thank you in advance for all your prayers.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, ESV)

   

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5 Reasons Why I Won’t Lead My Wife (Provocative Church) — great post!

Last night my wife and were talking. We were talking through some questions and issues of faith and life. During our conversation, I picked up on a couple of issues that have been a reoccurring theme in her relationship with God (at this point those issues will remain cryptic – this is my blog and not hers and therefore I am entitled to expose myself and not my wife).  I felt the Lord impress on my heart that I needed to step up to lead her and disciple her through these issues. I made the big pronouncement that we should do this Bible Study together that really helped me sort out this stuff in my own life and walk with the Lord.

As soon as I spoke those words, I felt impending doom. I had made those pronouncements before. But when push came to shove, I didn’t deliver. During some time with God this morning I came up with 5 reasons why I won’t lead my wife.

(Click here to read the five reasons. He absolutely nails it!)

(HT: Mark Combs)

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5 Reasons Why I Won’t Lead My Wife (Provocative Church) — great post!

Last night my wife and were talking. We were talking through some questions and issues of faith and life. During our conversation, I picked up on a couple of issues that have been a reoccurring theme in her relationship with God (at this point those issues will remain cryptic – this is my blog and not hers and therefore I am entitled to expose myself and not my wife).  I felt the Lord impress on my heart that I needed to step up to lead her and disciple her through these issues. I made the big pronouncement that we should do this Bible Study together that really helped me sort out this stuff in my own life and walk with the Lord.

As soon as I spoke those words, I felt impending doom. I had made those pronouncements before. But when push came to shove, I didn’t deliver. During some time with God this morning I came up with 5 reasons why I won’t lead my wife.

(Click here to read the five reasons. He absolutely nails it!)

(HT: Mark Combs)

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My Favorite Books on Preaching

After 15 years of ministry and a good bit of college and seminary training, I would like to tell you my favorite books which deal with the subject of preaching and teaching. 

• Light and Heat: The Puritan View of the Pulpit by R. Bruce Bickel
• Preaching and Preachers by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon
• Spirit-Empowered Preaching: Involving the Holy Spirit in Your Ministry by Arturo Azurdia, III
• Preaching with Bold Assurance: A Solid and Enduring Approach to Engaging Exposition by Hershael York and Bert Decker
• Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: An Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching by Graeme Goldsworthy
• Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today by John R. W. Stott
• The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper
• Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon by Bryan Chapell

Here are some books on preaching that I have not fully read, but seem to have potential:

• Spirit-Led Preaching: The Holy Spirit’s Role in Sermon Preparation and Delivery by Greg W. Heisler
• On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons by John Broadus
• The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church (6 volumes) by Hughes Oliphant Old

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Should I Not Pity That Great City?

Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, has blogged about “The Great Challenge of the Cities: ‘The World Goes to Town.’”  He reflects on a recent article by The Economist, which he describes as “one of the world’s great news organizations, publishes several major
survey reports each year — and each is priority reading for the
world’s leaders.”  (Click here to read Dr. Mohler’s article.)

Whenever I think of the city (outside of the city in which I live — Lexington, KY) I think of the book of Jonah.  Jonah avoided Nineveh, which God called “that great city” (1:2, 3:1, 4:11) because of it’s immense population.  Randy Newman in his book Questioning Evangelism equates the Ninevites and their gruesome atrocities to current day Al Qaeda and their atrocities.  Put in this light, we can understand why Jonah had a staunch hatred for these people.   Yet God exhibited compassion has he “relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them” (Jonah 3:10). 

Our cities in the United States are by and large liberal hotbeds.  Usually, they vote to the left toward being pro-homosexual, pro-abortion, pro-evolution — issues that the Bible seems quite clear on.  So many of us who live in the heartland of America who hold to “traditional values” (whatever they may be) have a genuine distrust for the things the city produces.  For many, the cities seem to be on a fast-track away from the authority of God’s Word.

How will we react?  Will we be like Jonah sitting east of the city where we make a grandstand and just wait for the city’s demise?  Or will we be like God and “pity … that great city” (Jonah 4:11) where so many reside outside of God’s camp? 

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My Favorite Biographies

I love biographies.  These works show me how men of God lived — not just what they taught.  Here are five of my favorites:

• Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George Marsden
• Spurgeon: A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore
• To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson by Courtney Anderson
• No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green
• Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan

I’m always looking for a good biography… can you recommend anything?

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Greener Pastures Syndrome Bites Billy Donovan — Will You Be Next?

So the Greener Pastures Syndrome (GPS or GreenPasSyn) has claimed one more casualty in our midst. Billy Donovan, coach of the University of Florida basketball program since 1996 and two-time national champion has bolted for the National Basketball Association’s Orlando Magic to become their head coach. While Jeremy Foley, UF’s Athletic Director, was prepared to offer Donovan a seven year contract in the neighborhood of $3.5 million per year, he opted for a five-year, $27.5 million ($5.5 million per year) to go from the college to the pro ranks.

My point is not simply to go through the list of those who have tried and failed (miserably) at the professional level after succeeding in college. Pat Forde of ESPN.com has done admirably in that regard. That list includes some very elite names.

What frustrates me about this is that these coaches who ‘make the jump’ fail to learn the lessons of their past colleagues. Look at what Forde has to say about what Donovan leaves behind:

Billy Donovan is leaving a great thing at the University of
Florida. He is leaving a program he built into the finest in the
country, the winner of consecutive national championships, to chase the
white whale of success in the NBA. He might wind up the next in a
series of Ahabs.

He’s abandoning the chance to be the next Mike Krzyzewski –
for my money the second-best coach in college hoops history — for the
chance to be the next Leonard Hamilton. Make no mistake: with two
national titles at age 42, Donovan was on a flight plan toward
immortality.

How many titles do you want to win, Billy? Three, which would
put you on par with Kryzewski and Bob Knight? Four, which would tie you
with Adolph Rupp? Why not go for five, leaving you ahead of everyone
not named John Wooden?

Historic greatness was within his reach.

Instead he’s chosen to grasp for glory in the pros.

Why make this move? Some reasons come to mind:

• Maybe Donovan feels he has nothing left to prove at the college level. He took a program whose college was known as a ‘football’ school and turned it into the best basketball country in the nation, bar none. He needed another challenge.
• Maybe the Orlando Magic are the right fit. Dwight Howard is blossoming into a superstardom; they have some great pieces in place. A couple of right moves could have the Magic contending in what many consider a very weak Eastern Conference.
• Maybe it was because he was able to stay in Florida near his family;
• Maybe it was because $5.5 million per year is just hard to turn down.

Lessons for Pastors

Recently in the Western Recorder, our state Baptist newspaper, they ran an article on the main reason why pastors leave their churches for other churches. The number one reason? Money. Not that God called. It was money.

I have a number of things to say about this. First, if the church where you pastor is not permitting you enough to provide for your family, then you have to explore other options such as bi-vocational pastoring or, if they can but won’t help, moving along. The reason for this last portion is not that you want to live the high-life, but 1 Timothy 5 tells us that a pastor is worth ‘double honor.’ Churches must do all they can to take care of their pastors. If they don’t, it is a deeper problem than simple salary — it’s a faith problem and a stewardship rpoblem. Consider this from Lazarus’ Ministries:

I’m sure you are much too spiritual for money to matter. Unfortunately the electric, phone, gas, grocery, and insurance people don’t feel the same way. They like to be paid, and promptly too. Then there is your wife and kids who have gotten accustomed to eating several times a day, and wearing shoes. Nothing will kill your ministry faster than a lack of finances to adequately take care of your family. Many people see the pastor’s salary as a minor issue, but It becomes increasingly difficult to focus on the needs of others when your own family is wondering how to keep the lights on and food on the table.

Your family will see the expectations upon you 24 hours a day 7 days a week, yet they will feel neglected by you and the church if their needs are not taken care of. Your children will grow up with distain for the church, because they will feel you have been used by people that were supposed to be loving and caring, yet didn’t notice or care that your family often went without.

The other side of the coin is that most churches are not wealthy and can’t provide thier pastor with a good salary and financial package. They base their expenditures upon what they received in last year’s offerings and if the people are not good tithers they don’t have much to work with.

Here is the bottom line, 70% of pastors feel grossly underpaid.  80% of pastor’s wives feel left out and unappreciated by church members.  When pastors and their families are struggling to stay afloat, the ministry will suffer too. (click here to read the rest)

Survival is one thing — you know, eating, being clothed, insurance, etc. Yet, if you are able to provide the basics for your family and the church makes every effort to provide this, then stick around and see the task through that God has for you and his church. It’s a tough balance to find for many pastors.

Back to Donovan: this should not have been a difficult decision in my opinion. He could have been a legend. At 42, he already had two championships and four Final Fours, I believe. He could have left Coach K at Duke and Bobby Knight(3), Adolph Rupp (4) in the dust. Maybe even (dare I say it) John Wooden who won 10 at UCLA in the 1960s and 1970s. He had a good thing (I know he wouldn’t have starved with $3.5 million per year).

Pastors must balance calling with making sure their family is taken care of (as should churches). Being bitten by the Greener Pastures Syndrome clouds the judgment of many. Are they leaving because of money, or because of calling and making sure family is taken care of? If it’s really due to the money, then what is over the hill at your next situation will not be what you expect it to be.

I fear this will be the case for Billy Donovan. He may just buck the trend and succeed. Or he may become frustrated and return to the college level only to go back to Square One.

As Jim Valvano said, “Don’t mess with happiness.” Sure, the money will be there, but Paul noted to Timothy that “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:9). Money is necessary to survive. You need money to eat, clothe yourselves, send your kids to school, buy gasoline, for insurance, retirement, savings — you know, to survive. But when you are surviving nicely and God is taking care of you — don’t mess with what God provides you.

Conclusion

What would I have done if I were Donovan? I would have stayed. I know what I’m getting. I know what’s expected of me. I would stay to help groom young men not just in the game of basketball but in the reality of life. That is something that money just could not buy.

Related articles:

• Finance & Law: What to Pay the Pastor
• You Are Going to Pay Me How Much? (Lazarus Ministries)
• Here’s Hoping Billy’s Not Like the Others (Pat Forde, ESPN.com)
• Face of the Franchise (Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo Sports)

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