Tell People About the Gospel from a Heart of Love and a Life of Service

John Piper is still on sabbatical, which was scheduled for a year. I miss his voice.

This was a blessing to me at 12:52 in the a.m.

It is Easy to Do This

I don't believe roller coasters are something Christians should participate in. Even those who enjoy them confess there is a fear factor involved, a "thrill" if you will. God has given us this natural fear sensation for our good, not our amusement. (We certainly don't have any indication in Scripture that Jesus pursued entertainment of any kind.) In addition, the Bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear and that perfect love casts out all fear. To cultivate fear then, especially for something as frivolous, for the purpose of reveling in fear is spiritually perverted. Given all the suffering in the world, including that endured by our Christian brothers and sisters, riding roller coasters at the very least seems like a poor use of precious time, an obvious violation of Philippians 4:8.

Your Taste Buds Have to Change or Somethin'

My 7 year-old, Grace, is often deeper than she knows. At lunch today the family was discussing who liked hot sauce and who didn't. The question came up about being on "Mom's team" (those who don't like hot sauce) or "Dad's team" (those who like hot sauce), and this is what Grace had to say about getting on teams of this sort:

You can't just decide to like something. Like, you can't just say, I'm going to like this now and decide to like. You have to actually like it.

I told her that people decide to start liking something all the time. If what she said is true, how does that happen? She said:

You can't just decide to start liking something. You have to actually like it. Your taste buds have to change or somethin'.

Yes! She was speaking truth deeper than she realized.

The following is a bit from my next book. Titled Gospel Wakefulness, it is coming next year from Crossway.

The kingdom itself is a treasure, often hidden from our spiritual senses while we are seeking satisfactions everywhere else, but once it has been dug up in the rocky soil of our sin and suffering, we will with great joy sell all we have to claim it. Once the tears of brokenness have cleared our eyes to behold the beatific vision of the gospel of God’s grace, we are ready to see the soul-stirring inheritance that is ours in Christ. When we have deeply felt the spiritual poverty of self-rule we will be prepared for the riches of the King, which are immeasurable, unsearchable, glorious, and full.

And, yes, I am praying my family will have its spiritual eyes opened to taste and see that hot sauce is good. :-)

But Believe More Boldly Still

Luther really did say "Sin boldly," but it doesn't mean what we think it does. It's a rhetorical statement that in context takes on more clarity.

Here is the passage from his message to Philip Melancthon:

If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God's glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.

Elsewhere, Luther talks about committing a token sin (of sorts) to spite the devil, by which he means if the devil is foisting legalism upon you on matters that are not real sins (drinking, mowing your lawn on Sunday, etc.), you could spite him by doing just that. But in this instance he is not literally advocating sin. He is only saying that Christ died for what sin truly is: bold, willful rebellion against God. Let your sin be named as that. Cop to it. You don't have to pretend your sins are tame. Be a bold sinner. But be a bolder believer in the redemption of your depravity.

The Blessing of Persecution

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
-- Matthew 5:10

At the time of the Boxer Rebellion, 230 Christian missionaries and 23,000 Chinese Christians were killed in China. In the years following, the number of Christians in China grew to 70,000. Then communist China really cracked down, outlawing Christianity and expelling all Christian missionaries. The number of Christians in China grew 100 fold to 70 million.

In our nation there is some concern among Christians about religious freedoms and the state recognition of Christian expression. These concerns are, for the most part, justified. Arguably. But there are many overreactions, many voicing of concerns that belie the reality of the God who is sovereign over everything, including nations, kings, and laws.

But let's not presume to think we are presently persecuted. In Matthew 5:11, Jesus says, "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." Persecution is a blessing. Either he meant that or he didn't. The Beatitudes are proclamations, not commands, so we don't need to seek persecution. It's not the blood of the one with a martyr complex that is the seed of the church. Perhaps socialism is creeping into America. We should be concerned about this and talk about it, against it even.

But let's also not assume that persecution would be the worst thing to befall us. It could be, actually, that persecution, should it come, is the best thing to happen to the American church.

Eugene Peterson on The Blessing of the "Institutional Church"

"Love the church; hate the institution." So many say.

Doesn't make sense to me. It's like saying "I love my wife; I hate marriage."

Many fans of disorganized religion, I guess. :-)

Here's Eugene Peterson answering some interview questions on the "institutional church" in a now-classic exchange called "Spirituality For all the Wrong Reasons" (published in total at previous link).

So how should we visualize the Christian life?

In church last Sunday, there was a couple in front of us with two bratty kids. Two pews behind us there was another couple with their two bratty kids making a lot of noise. This is mostly an older congregation. So these people are set in their ways. Their kids have been gone a long time. And so it wasn't a very nice service; it was just not very good worship. But afterwards I saw half a dozen of these elderly people come up and put their arms around the mother, touch the kids, sympathize with her. They could have been irritated.

Now why do people go to a church like that when they can go to a church that has a nursery, is air conditioned, and all the rest? Well, because they're Lutherans. They don't mind being miserable! Norwegian Lutherans!

And this same church recently welcomed a young woman with a baby and a three-year-old boy. The children were baptized a few weeks ago. But there was no man with her. She's never married; each of the kids has a different father. She shows up at church and wants her children baptized. She's a Christian and wants to follow in the Christian way. So a couple from the church acted as godparents. Now there are three or four couples in the church who every Sunday try to get together with her.

Now, where is the "joy" in that church? These are dour Norwegians! But there's a lot of joy. There's an abundant life going, but it's not abundant in the way a non-Christian would think. I think there's a lot more going on in churches like this; they're just totally anti-cultural. They're full of joy and faithfulness and obedience and care. But you sure wouldn't know it by reading the literature of church growth, would you?

But many Christians would look at this church and say it's dead, merely an institutional expression of the faith.

What other church is there besides institutional? There's nobody who doesn't have problems with the church, because there's sin in the church. But there's no other place to be a Christian except the church. There's sin in the local bank. There's sin in the grocery stores. I really don't understand this naive criticism of the institution. I really don't get it.

Frederick von Hugel said the institution of the church is like the bark on the tree. There's no life in the bark. It's dead wood. But it protects the life of the tree within. And the tree grows and grows and grows and grows. If you take the bark off, it's prone to disease, dehydration, death.

So, yes, the church is dead but it protects something alive. And when you try to have a church without bark, it doesn't last long. It disappears, gets sick, and it's prone to all kinds of disease, heresy, and narcissism.

In my writing, I hope to recover a sense of the reality of congregation -- what it is. It's a gift of the Holy Spirit. Why are we always idealizing what the Holy Spirit doesn't idealize? There's no idealization of the church in the Bible -- none. We've got two thousand years of history now. Why are we so dumb?

Our Church Isn't "Cute"

"Oh, it's so cute."

The photo is of the building in which Middletown Springs Community Church, the church I pastor, gathers each week.

The quote is something I've heard several times -- that or something like it -- typically from friends and family hailing from some steamy portion of Six Flags Over Jesus where church buildings are indistinguishable from office parks or the galleria.

Our church is "cute." Because it's small, old, traditional. "Cute" is the backhanded compliment for those who'd never go to a "cute" church, but want you to know they admire it and perhaps even those who aren't privileged enough to go to a church "successful" enough for a building that is big, impressive, full-service. You know, not cute, but rather "awesome."

But our church isn't "cute." It's beautiful like a bride both blemished and perfect.

Our building is just a building, but it has stood for over 200 years on the stony soil of the oldest part of our nation, the land of Christian pillars Whitefield and Edwards, of the Great Awakenings, of Puritans and patriots, of Green Mountain Boys and hundreds-of-years-old family farms. The building is just a building but it has weathered over 200 years of harsh Vermont winters, not to mention pastors strong and weak, congregations passionate and passive, spiritual ebbs and flows of Old Testament proportions. Once upon a time the church kicked out Joseph Smith's secretary for heresy.

Our building is just a building, but it's not just a building. It's a symbol of the enduring evangelical presence, small but hearty, in this least-churched state in the nation, and of the endurance of the great salt-of-the-earth people who are the church that gathers in the building for which they're called.

The gates of hell will prevail against espresso bars and KidzTowns. But not our church.

Our church is not cute. It is epic.

Your Church Might Not be a Church If . . .

You never hear the word "sin" there.

You hear the word "sin," but only briefly or redefined as "mistakes."

You can't remember when you last heard the name of Jesus in a message.

The Easter message isn't about the resurrection but "new opportunities" in your life or turning over a new leaf.

On patriotic holiday weekends, the message is about how great America is.

On the other weekends, the message is about how great you are.

There are more videos than prayers.

People don't sing during "worship," but watch.

The pastors' chief responsibilities are things foreign to Scripture.

There is more money budgeted for advertising than for mission.

The majority of the small groups are oriented around sports or leisure, not study or service.

You always feel comfortable there.

Church membership just appears to be a recruiting system for volunteers.

You only see other church people on Sunday mornings at church.

---
If your church meets one or more of these, it might be a spiritual pep rally, a religious performance center, a Christian social club, or something else entirely, but it is probably not, biblically speaking, a gathering of the biblical church.

Previously: You May Not Be a Church If . . .

Sounds Like Gospel Wakefulness

Lifted entirely from Ray Ortlund, Jr.:

“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

John Wesley, Journals (London, 1836)

I have heard some scoff at this account. “Pietistic” was the word used, as if that settled it. I’m not big on man-made labels one way or the other. But what God gave Wesley that evening I revere as biblical, I cherish as personal, I respect as powerful. I believe in theologically aroused heart-religion. It is the gospel getting traction inside us where it really counts.

God helping me, I will promote this glorious power to my dying day — and consider it a privilege.

Steps to Grace-Driven Sex

1 Corinthians 7:1-5:

1Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: "It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman." 3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Within the marital covenant, sexual intimacy can be a joyous, mutually satisfying, and mutually encouraging gift. But many husbands and wives don't know how to "get there." In 1 Corinthians 7:1-5, Paul is telling Christian married couples to not think of their bodies as their own, but as existing for the service of their partner in one-fleshedness. In his excellent book Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas writes, "Sex is serving each other with our bodies."

Perhaps we may recapture the cultural circumlocution "making love" and recast it in the vision of grace-driven sex as the fruit of a grace-driven marriage, a marriage relationship that is captured by the grace of God in the atoning work and resurrection of Jesus Christ and therefore seeks to glorify God in Christ in Spiritual power through the daily "drudgery" of the marriage. If a man carries around in his heart the question(s) "Do I have what it takes? Am I a real man?", and if a women carries around in her heart the question(s) "Am I desirable? Am I lovely? Am I acceptable?", grace-driven sexual intimacy then can answer these questions affirmatively and simultaneously, thereby "making" love.

Apart from (what Paul David Tripp calls) "body parts issues," what are some practical ways that husbands and wives can submit to each other and sacrifice for each other in pursuit of grace-driven sex?

3 Practical ways wives can submit their bodies for grace-driven intimacy:

1. Be visually generous – You likely know that men are visually wired and therefore easily captivated. A wife can engage and captivate her husband, then, by becoming generous with how she presents herself to her husband, appealing to him sexually in the (un-sinful) ways in which he's wired. Maybe it means keeping the lights on. Maybe it involves flirtation and seduction. Maybe it means bringing the lingerie out on more than just Valentine's Day. But even outside the bedroom, there are many circumstances in which men may feel as though their wives have given up seeking to captivate their vision. We all see the "funny 'cause it's true" humor in the wife in sweatpants and baggy tees, but is this much different than a husband who gives up on becoming presentable, putting the pressure on his wife to give grace to his sloppiness? Do you dress to "impress" for people more than for your husband? A wife can rightfully say, however, "But shouldn't my husband accept me as I am? Shouldn't my home be a place where I can just be myself and not have to try to impress anybody?" Of course. And your husband should love and accept and cherish you no matter how you look. But I think the overarching question, the one that gets most at the heart is this: Whose vision are you interested in captivating?

2. Engage/enjoy - There are certainly exceptions, and many men are willing to settle, but the majority of men are not merely interested in sex for the release. In Shaunti Feldhan's For Women Only -- highly recommended, by the way -- she reveals the results of her survey question, "With regard to sex, for some men it is sufficient to be sexually gratified whenever they want. For other men it is also important to feel wanted and desired by their wife. How important is it to you to also feel sexually wanted and desired by your wife?" A whopping 97% said it was "very" (66%) or "somewhat" (31%) important to feel sexually wanted and desired by their wives. Only 2% said it wasn't important so long as they got enough sex.

What Feldhahn discovered, to her surprise, is that for men, sexual satisfaction is tied only superficially to sexual release -- it's not less than that, but certainly more -- but also to feeling desired, accepted, encouraged, adored, and attractive to their wives. She concludes -- and most men would affirm -- that it is important for wives not just to be willing, but to participate, cultivate eagerness, to engage and enjoy. (I am not saying getting to that point is easy; I'm only saying that that point is the point of your husband's greatest satisfaction, so from a grace-driven perspective, I would hope a Christ-revering wife would at the least be interested in getting there.) The absolute best biblical example of this, of course, is the bride's disposition in Song of Songs.

3. Talk – Men are not wired very well for context clues, and because a woman's body has ebbs and flows to what she may find desirable, arousing, etc., men often feel lost. (e.g. That thing "worked" the last time, didn't it? Why isn't it working now?) Meanwhile his wife feels he doesn't know her at all. Look, men may not ask for directions, but they'll accept them if given lovingly. Most men really do want to please and satisfy their wives and find pleasure themselves in doing so. It is odd that many women will want to talk about everything on their mind but this one thing. It's okay to ask for something, to guide a man's hands, etc. And while, of course, it would be great if he just already knew exactly what you wanted/needed, nobody gets good at something without practice and direction. Given enough of that over time, a man of average intelligence and interest will learn how to satisfy his wife. Don't give up; give instructions.

3 Practical ways husbands can submit their bodies for grace-driven intimacy:

1. Listen and remember. – Men, cherish your wives. This means actively listening when they're talking to you and remembering what they say. What does this have to do with sex? Almost everything. For women, preparation for sex begins long before you hit the bed. The more cherished the average wife feels, the more interested she will be in (and more enjoyable she will find) sex with you. Women above all want to be wanted for more than their bodies. This means you cannot reserve affection and conversation solely for times you are interested in leveraging them into sex. Love your wife's whole person and love her wholly. A wife will most engage in sexual intimacy -- emphasis on the "intimacy" -- when she feels safe, when she feels that you are interested in her heart and mind, not just her body. So listen to her all the time and remember what she says so she knows you really were listening. Remember that emotional connection comes first, sex second.

2. Make your wife your standard of beauty. - There is almost nothing more shaming to a wife than to feel as though her husband's vision is captivated by someone else, even if it's just a pretty stranger who happens to pass by. Over time, as couples become more and more familiar with each other, and bodies change, etc., a wife's fear of losing her husband's eye typically grows. Husbands, make it your firm commitment -- a covenant with your eyes -- that you will not measure your wife against anybody else, real or imaginary. If measurement takes place, they must measure against her, and they must all fall short. In Proverbs 5:18-19, the father warns his son against adultery and says:

18Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
be intoxicated always in her love.

The Hebrew word there that is rendered "breasts," by the way, is of course best translated as breasts. This is not metaphorical, and it's not temporary. May the breasts of your young wife satisfy you at all times, which means even when neither of you is young any more. Is your wife skinny? You like skinny. Is she not? Then you like "not." Maybe her body changed. Well, then, you changed too. And this can't be something you just say; it must be something you actually feel.

3. Forethought is foreplay. – Someone wrote a book called Sex Begins in the Kitchen, and they weren't talking about gettin' wild. They were talking about preparing of a wife's heart, about romancing her, and this, in the context of children and family, domestic duties and chores, routines and schedules, and just the weariness of age and days going by way too fast, means really taking care of your wife. It means having a vision of sexual intimacy that begins with "unromantic" romance like babysitting the kids so your wife can get away with friends or have time to breathe and chase a hobby or study the Bible, doing the dishes and cooking dinner so that's one less thing she feels wearied by. A woman's mind becomes cluttered, and when her mind becomes cluttered, her body becomes tired. A grace-driven husband, then, will recognize that foreplay isn't just the lighter touches and affection that immediately precede intercourse, but all the romancing he can do in the days and hours leading up to "hitting the hay" by way of removing obstacles and stress from his wife's way. Rescue her body long in anticipation of having access to it.

Many men and women will have reluctances or objections to some of these steps, and some of these hesitations will be legitimate. None of these steps are to say that the precious gift of mutually satisfying sexual intimacy is easy to achieve, but merely to say that couples interested in selfless love of their spouse in the area of sexual intimacy could do a lot worse than the ideas mentioned. :-)

Vacation Bible School Goes Missional?

Before the pastor I succeeded retired, he came up with a really cool twist on Vacation Bible School for the church and our community. It's called Vocation Bible School, and, no, that "o" is not a typo. The church didn't run the program last year, but in my first summer here, I could see the previous pastor's and his wife's passion for such a simple but innovative idea and thought we should give it another whirl. Since it's his baby, the previous pastor, who is still a part of our congregation, is heading it up.

Basically, Vocation Bible School involves volunteers from the church leading/teaching a series of workshops/classes -- two per night -- on various crafts, skills, or arts. One guy is doing a class on small engine repair. My wife is doing one on scrapbooking. There's a photography class and a knitting class and a bug catching/identification class for littler ones, etc. And the idea is that kids and their parents attend together.

We kick the whole thing off with a community dinner, then dismiss into classes, each of which is 30 minutes long, and kids sign up for 2 different ones, which they'll attend 3 times over the course of 3 evenings.

At the end of the evening, we all gather again for the part I'm in charge of, an interactive "radio drama"-style presentation of the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. We'll get kids up on stage to work as "Foley artists," making sound effects, and then I'll wrap the whole thing up by explaining the significance of the 3 parables and sharing the gospel.

We have previously unchurched families in our church now who were introduced to our church through Vocation Bible School 2 years ago, so we know this approach has much potential. The hands-on, trade/skill-type classes open up the interest level of unchurched kids in our community in a way that a traditional Vacation Bible School would not, and the inclusion of parents/families is crucial to making relational connections.

This is an on-site/in-building program, so it's not exactly missional in the sense that a backyard vocation Bible school might be, but it is using our facility in an innovative and community-open way.

"He Pervades the Remotest Bounds"

“In Christ all things are ours. There is now for us no awful Beyond of mystery and fear. We cannot, indeed, explain the world, but we rejoice now that we cannot explain it. To us it is all unknown, but it contains no mysteries for our Saviour; He is on the throne; He is at the centre; He is ground and explanation of all things; He pervades the remotest bounds; by Him all things consist. The world is full of dread, mysterious powers; they touch us already in a thousand woes. But from all them we are safe.”

—- J. Gresham Machen, What Is Faith?

via: OFI

Steps to Grace-Driven Marriage

What I mean by a marriage that is grace-driven is a marriage in which one or both parties have been captured by the grace of God in the atoning work and resurrection of Jesus Christ and therefore seek to glorify God in Christ in Spiritual power through the daily "drudgery" of their marriage. The chief step to this reality is believing the gospel.

In Ephesians 5:21-25, Paul writes:

. . . submitting to one another out of reverence to Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her . . .

There is a snapshot of what a grace-driven marriage looks like. Its central theme is the Person of Jesus, and the dynamic of "mutual submission" to each other's needs is chiefly about reverence for him.

The wife shows reverence for Christ in her submission to her husband. Submission to his headship is an act of grace to him, reflective of the grace given to her by God. She can demonstrate this grace-driven submission in many ways, but here are three:

1. Respecting him verbally and publicly. Men are terrible mind-readers and context-clue-picker-uppers, not because they're stupid but just because of the way they're wired. They need to hear that they're respected, as well as shown. They need to be verbally encouraged, and even if a wife finds opportunities to publicly praise her husband difficult to come by, she can "settle" for not criticizing him in front of others or bringing disagreements/difficulties between the two of them into public conversations. This shames a husband and is a sabotage act of legalistic leverage, not grace.

2. Repenting of leveraging anything. This includes use of passive aggression, sexual intimacy as reward or withholding of same as punishment, "I told you so" when results meet your expectations but not his, tit for tat on anything. Women have long memories and great is their temptation to use them in winning arguments, wars of wills, etc. Don't do that. These are all reflections of the way Eve exploited Adam's passivity and usurped his headship to exert her own control. She was "quite deceived."

3. Defer on decisions. A wife who says or even merely thinks toward her husband, "I don't care what you say" has gone rogue. She may enjoy for the moment being free of her husband's authority, but she will not enjoy coming out from God's. It is sin to submit to sin, so never acquiesce to a husband's headship when takes you out from under Christ's, but remember: it's not submission if you agree with the decision. In matters that are not sin, but merely disagreement, advise, counsel, pray, encourage. But defer.

By all means, don't do any of these things if you don't want a confident, happy, encouraged husband. Some ladies like the milquetoast types. I hear the pasty British vampire thing is "in" right now.

Husbands, your call to grace in your marriage to your wife is deeper and more demanding. It is nothing less than self-crucifixion in "reverencing" your wife as you would reverence yourself. Her call is to submission; your call is to sacrifice. Here are three practical ways to love your wife as Christ loved the church.

1. Honor her by way of priority. Put her first. Above yourself, above your kids. Make her fulfillment the gauge of your success. Do not coast. There is no autopilot setting for husbanding. If you fail to take the initiative in loving and respecting -- verbally, actively, constantly -- you implicitly take responsibility for your marriage going over the cliff. Treat your wife as precious. She is not your employee. Do not exploit her submission, and do not abdicate your responsibility if she neglects hers. Do not grow weary in an effort to present her pure and spotless before the Lord. Passivity is masculinity at its most fallen.

2. Talk! Christ engaged the Church; he put skin on and communed with her. He dines with her, speaks with her, sings over her, delights in her. Open your mouth and talk to your wife. Ask her how she feels. Ask her what she needs/wants. Ask her what her dreams/struggles/fears/concerns/entertainments are. Be her friend.

3. Worship God. In all things, including the self-emptying in the obedience of the cross, the Son submitted to the Father. If your wife is pulling the spiritual weight in your family, repent and believe in the gospel. Then lead your family. Your authority comes from God's authority, so if you neglect his, you give up the grounds for expectation of submission to yours. Your wife longs in her heart to hear she is desired, approved, and accepted, so "evangelize" her often, and your children as well.

What Christians who claim to love the gospel should want is a marriage that makes as much of Jesus as possible.

Spiritual Pride Smells of Hell

“Spiritual pride is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christianity. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit, to darken the mind and mislead the judgment. It is the main source of all the mischief the devil introduces, to clog and hinder a work of God.

Spiritual pride tends to speak of other persons’ sins with bitterness or with laughter and levity and an air of contempt. But pure Christian humility rather tends either to be silent about these problems or to speak of them with grief and pity. Spiritual pride is very apt to suspect others, but a humble Christian is most guarded about himself. He is as suspicious of nothing in the world as he is of his own heart. The proud person is apt to find fault with other believers, that they are low in grace, and to be much in observing how cold and dead they are and to be quick to note their deficiencies. But the humble Christian has so much to do at home and sees so much evil in his own heart and is so concerned about it that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts. He is apt to esteem others better than himself."

-- Jonathan Edwards

HT: Ray Ortlund, Jr.

The Gospel is the Story of a Dragon-Fight

I love this.

"We fell into sin as a race because we were beguiled by a dragon (Gen. 3:1). God promised to send a warrior who would crush the seed of that serpent (Gen. 3:15), and He has done this in Jesus Christ. In sum, the gospel is the story of a dragon-fight. The serpent of Genesis is the dragon of Revelation (Rev. 20:2), and we are called to rejoice that the dragon has been slain. In contrast, we have reduced the gospel to four basic steps toward personal happiness, and we are much farther from the truth than our fathers were when they told their glorious stories. This is another way of saying that dragon-lore is truer than therapy-speak."

-- Doug Wilson, Future Men

Primer: How to Study the Bible

Our church began a Wednesday night theology series last week we're calling PRIMER, and I've had a few people ask if I could share the outlines we're using. So below is the content of the handout from last week, plus a few added notes to explain points that were expanded on in class but may not be clear from the outline itself.

The first class was on How to Study the Bible.

I. Know What the Bible Is
(. . . and how it is it)

Your interest in Scripture will correlate to what you believe about it.

Genre: What kind of writing is this book?
Author: Who wrote this book? What kind of person was he?
Audience: Who was this book written for?

II. Get Help

Pray for illumination from the Spirit
Seek the gifted teaching of other believers and the communal clarity of church tradition in Bible study & worship

Resources:
Study Bibles
Commentaries
Bible dictionaries
Concordances

III. Adjust Your Expectations

Many times we burn out quick in Bible study because we take on a heavy load ourselves but are skeptical about the Word proving itself to be transforming.

Take the pressure off yourself and put it on God. He can handle it.

Engage according to your wiring: Maybe a few verses a day will be profitable to you than many chapters. Maybe studying in the evening is more fruitful for you than in the morning. Etc.

Grazing vs. Feasting: Take time in Bible study to both meditate (chew the cud) and inundate (drink deeply).

IV. Interpret Before Apply

Ask “What does this mean?” before you ask “What does this mean to me?”

Commonly misapplied verses:

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

e.g. Jesus turning water into wine (is not primarily about Jesus loving to party)

V. Context, Context, Context

The smaller your text, the bigger your potential for error.

Philippians 4:11-14
11Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 14Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.

e.g. Hebrews 6:4-6,9

VI. Make Connections

Making connections helps us see all of Scripture as a unified story, a fabric with connected strands.

Cross references
This reminds me of this . . .

e.g. Jesus walking on the water connects to . . .

VII. Find Jesus and His Gospel

“The New Testament is in the Old concealed, and the Old is in the New revealed.” – Augustine

Ask “What, if anything, does this text say about Jesus and his work?”

Ask “What does this text say that God has done or is doing?” before you ask “What does this text tell me to do?”

Philippians 3:12-16
12Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Always look for the gospel.

Deeds and Creeds

Matthew 25:41-46:

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

This passage tells us that if you call Jesus "Lord" but don't really live like he is, you do not really worship him. Your deeds matter.

Matthew 7:22-23:

On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

What I find interesting about this passage is that the unrighteous are pleading their deeds. They allegedly did "mighty works" in Jesus' name. But he still says to them, "I never knew you." Clearly creeds (or beliefs) matter. (And what I find interesting is that despite their works, Jesus faults them for working "lawlessness," which would seem to imply to me that good works done apart from saving knowledge of Jesus Christ -- which we could just call moralism -- are lawless deeds. It is like trying to live a kingdom without its King.)

What these two passages together tell me is that neither good works nor good standing with Christ are expendable. What they tell me is that "deeds vs. creeds" is a false dichotomy worthy of hell.

Missions: Someone Else's No is Your Yes

I received an email a while back from a missionary to a rather dangerous South American nation sharing with me how he has become estranged from his parents because of his vocation. Missions was not the dream they had for him, and at first they assumed it was a bit of a lark. Now that he has been entrenched in and committed to the field, they have cut off communication with him, so great is their disappointment and discouragement. They think he is crazy to take his wife and children someplace not safe, and the cause of the gospel is not great enough in their minds to justify the risk.

I was reminded of this message this past week when I received a reply from a missionary to the Middle East we support to an email I had sent. My message had been flagged, she said, and she asked that I be very careful when messaging her not to use the "m" word (mission/ary) for her safety. What a startling reminder again about how cheap Christian missionaries consider their lives in light of how precious they view Christ and his gospel.

Last night I had the great privilege of preaching the commencement sermon at a Christian school graduation here in Vermont, and one thing I always try to do when speaking to young adults in New England is encourage them to listen to whether God is calling them to ministry. New England needs its young generation of Christians to get passionate about indigenous church planting and missional ministry. And then I turned my attention to the 300-some parents and grandparents and friends present and challenged them not to become disappointed if their young people spurn the appeal of earthly success, count the cost, and become missionaries, abroad or home. I begged them not to settle for the American Dream as their hope for their children, but to be encouraged, encouraging, and joyful if their child should give up a great career and hopes of wealth and comfort to reach the lost.

Afterwards a pastor local to the area said he was in New York for a pastors' conference recently and one of the other pastors said to him: "You're from Vermont? What a dark, dark place. Why would anyone ever want to live there?"

My new pastor friend said he replied, "Because it's a dark, dark place."

When our family announced we were moving to Vermont, a relative of mine emailed with some negative stats about the state: how liberal it was, least religious state in the nation, the whole gay marriage thing, etc. And then he sarcastically quipped, "Yeah, sounds like a great place to live."

I wonder if we had announced we were going to Africa or Afghanistan if he would have been so dismissive. He might have been concerned that Africa isn't a safe place to live, but I doubt he would have been derisive.

How easy it is for American evangelicals to think missions is for overseas and as long as we're stateside, we might as well enjoy as much safety and comfort as we can. This results in the insular nature of the church in spiritually parched areas of our own nation. But it is distinctively unChristian for Christians to only want to be around other Christians.

Francis Chan talks about how lots of people in his area (Simi Valley in California) want to go to Asia, but nobody wants to go to South Central Los Angeles.

Where my relative sees the negatives of Vermont, missionaries see the need.
Where others avoid the darkness, missionaries seek to bring the Light.

Take heart, missionaries. God delights in and over you. You are precious to him, because where the disobedient look at the landscape and say "no," you see it through the eyes of the glory of God and say "yes." I am grateful for you.

Wandering Prayer

"Our obsessive drive to control our minds in the presence of God, that is, to pray about one thing or stick to one list, may be a form of hiding from God."
-- David Hansen, Long, Wandering Prayer

The great thing about our God is that he takes us as we are but does not leave us as he finds us. This means that a wandering mind (and even body) is okay in prayer. If you are engaged in the practice of intentional prayer in solitude and quiet, God who is outside of time is not offended if it takes you time to get everything expressed or you have to wander around your house or neighborhood or park to clear yourself of noise. There is nothing magical about staying in one place or staying on one track mentally. You may begin with many words and slowly run out, but if you are drawing close to God, stay there and think. Let your mind wander and then find its way back to prayer. There is no such thing as perfect prayer. Jesus is perfect and he bears the burden of perfection in prayer for you. Walk around. Sing. Read. Intersperse prayer with devotional reading or Bible study. Talk to yourself a bit. Work out the kinks. It’s okay. God can handle “messy.” The effort of wandering prayer is dirt enough for God to breathe life into.

"Come overwhelmed with life. Come with your wandering mind. Come messy.”
-- Paul Miller, A Praying Life

(This is a slightly edited excerpt from the session called "Intentional Prayer" in my book Abide: Practicing Kingdom Rhythms in a Consumer Culture)

Kill Your Jesus Talisman

I can win any slam dunk contest through him who gives me strength. If I will ask God for the ability to do so "in Jesus' name," of course.

When I was a kid I had a poster of Philippians 4:13 -- "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" -- with a photo of a guy dunking a basketball. You can bet I thought long and hard about how Jesus was gonna help me dunk on some fools.

Paul wrote the letter to the church at Philippi from jail. Chapter 4, verse 13 may sound like it needs to be slapped on whatever the Christian equivalent of a PowerBar is, but Paul was not talking about Jesus being our genie, but Jesus being our satisfaction in all situations, whether rich or poor, free or enslaved, healthy or sick, successful or getting dunked on. Wherever our promised trouble-full life finds us, we will persevere only in Christ.

Similarly, Jeremiah 29:11 is a great verse, but it's not an affirmation of the American dream. It's an affirmation of God's predestining purposes even when the American dream crashes down around us and we are crushed. You can put it on a coffee cup, I s'pose, but don't throw it away when you're on the streets and you need it to beg for change. The verse will still be true.

Jesus is no talisman. Crucify "Jesus as key to your personal achievement" and he will stay dead. But the real Jesus achieves a victory greater and far superior to any wish-dream of any man. He is life itself, and life eternal. Worship that Jesus.