Music

I thought I'd just post a couple of songs that I really enjoy. I'm not much of an Andrew Peterson fan, though he is growing on me, but I like his use of the biblical story line in "So Long Moses" The second song is my favorite song by Derek Webb and one of my favorite contemporary songs period. For those who were at our service this morning, I think this song compliments well the message. There are a couple great lyric but my favorite is his last verse:

"Oh I dont know the sufferings of people outside my front door.
and I join the oppressors of those I choose to ignore.
I'm trading comfort for human life
And that's not just murder, it's suicide.
And this too shall be made right.

C.J. Mahaney's Testimony

C.J. Mahaney's testimony is quite remarkable. Here it is if you have never heard it.

Romans 2:6-11

He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking [1] and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality. (Romans 2:6-11)

One of the best ways to study the Scriptures is to ask hard questions about what you read. And one of the best ways to be deeply affected by the text is to think deeply about it. So instead of just providing some comments, Im going to raise a couple of questions that this text provokes in me. I look forward to your thoughts on them. Here are my two basic questions.

1) Being self-seeking leads to God’s wrath, but isn’t doing good to gain glory, honor, and immortality self-seeking? Isn’t doing good for an eternal gain self-seeking?

2) Aren’t you granted immortality based on grace and not on works? If bad works leads to God’s wrath and good works leads to honor, peace, etc. then isn’t that getting eternal life through good works and not through God’s grace?

Wimpy Christians

Click here to watch John Piper answer a question about wimpy Christian worldviews. The question is related to one of his latest books called Spectacular Sins in which he seeks to demonstrate God's sovereignty over and gracious intentions in the worst of human evil. I have not read the book, but this is a good little clip. I would encourage you to watch the video and not just read the manuscript.

Romans 2:1-5: Indulgence and Judgmentalism

As I said in my last post, in this passage Paul levels both indulgence (“God will forgive me no matter what I do, that’s His job”) and judgmentalism (“God needs to judge those people”). I want to look at each.

Indulgence - I have been reading George MacDonald’s The Princess and Curdie to my daughter. At one point, Curdie, the hero, is given a gift by which with the touch of his hand he can discern which people are descending into animals and which are becoming more human. No literal mutation actually takes place, but MacDonald’s point is that the descent into evil is a descent from being human. Sin isn't just a violation against God's law, though it is that, is also becoming enslaved to subhuman passions and instincts (cf. Philippians 3:19). Each move in our life is a move toward true humanity or beastdom. This brings us to a question. What good would God be doing if he just turns a blind eye to your sin? What kind of love has little care to save you from your descent to beastdom? “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” All he does, including his patience, is meant as a rescue operation. And the rescue is not only from what judgment you are facing, but also what subhuman you are becoming.

Judgmentalism - This is Paul’s primary focus. It is often the focus of Old and New Testament, for it is the most insidious of sins. As Paul demonstrates, judgmentalism holds together two seemingly contrary ideas in a volatile combination. In order to be judgmental you have to 1) see a God who judges, and 2) see a God who forgives. Of course, the Bible presents God as both, but what makes the combination volatile is the location assigned to judgment and mercy. Judgment is for others, but mercy is for me. That’s a hard sell to make, but a sell you must make if you are going to have any peace in your life. This is why judgmental people tend to act like they are in desperate need of a fiber supplement. Indulgence in one sense is much easier to live; God doesn’t care, so I don’t care. But in judgmentalism, you know God cares. He does not tolerate evil, so you spend most of your time justifying your sin (blame-shifting, excuse making, etc.), paying for your sin, and magnifying the sins of others (you need a reason why God is judging them and not you). Your view of God is closer to the truth. So that’s good, right. Wrong. “You are storing up wrath for yourself . . . when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” Doesn’t sound good. The more truth you have, the more you have to deceive yourself. Loose morals or self-righteousness, which is the greater sin?

R.C. Sproul on Christmas

Sproul has written an interesting article defending the practice of Christmas. Here is an excerpt:

Christmas is a holiday, indeed the world's most joyous holiday. It is called a "holiday" because the day is holy. It is a day when businesses close, when families gather, when churches are filled, and when soldiers put down their guns for a 24-hour truce. It is a day that differs from every other day.

Every generation has its abundance of Scrooges. The church is full of them. We hear endless complaints of commercialism. We are constantly told to put Christ back into Christmas. We hear that the tradition of Santa Claus is a sacrilege. We listen to those acquainted with history murmur that Christmas isn't biblical. The Church invented Christmas to compete with the ancient Roman festival honoring the bull-god Mithras, the nay-sayers complain. Christmas? A mere capitulation to paganism.

And so we rain on Jesus' parade and assume an Olympian detachment from the joyous holiday. All this carping is but a modern dose of Scroogeism, our own sanctimonious profanation of the holy.

Read the rest

Parenting Tips

Matt and Elizabeth Schmucker of 9 Marks provide a very helpful list of things to do, know, and not do to your children. Here is the list of ways to provoke your children.


1. Make it a habit to discipline your child while angry.
2. Make it a point to scold your child – especially in public. Mockery and ridicule work well.
3. Deliberately embarrass your child in front of his/her friends. Name calling really gets their attention.
4. Create double standards so that the child never knows who or what to follow.
5. Preach and hold the child to a gospel of self-discipline instead of a gospel of grace. (Note: the Bible presents Pharisees as very unhappy people.)
6. Never admit you're wrong and never ask your children for forgiveness.
7. Inspect your child until you find something wrong. Holding them to an unreachable standard makes this task easier.
8. Judge a fight between your children before you've listened to them.
9. Compare your child to others.
10. Promise your children things early in the day and then don't fulfill the promise.

I found these deeply convicting and very true. Click here for the rest.

Romans 2:1-5

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.(Romans 2:1-5)

Verse 1 of Romans 2 is perhaps the biggest gotcha verse in the Bible. It turns out that Romans 1:18-32 was a kind of set up. Paul is writing to a mixed congregation in Rome, partly Jew partly Gentile. The Jews, along with most Jews of Paul’s day, would have read the last part of chapter 1 with some relish. “Get’em Paul,” would have been their thought. “Idolatry, homosexuality, a total decline in moral standards, those Gentiles justly reap the repercussions of their sin.” Then comes chapter 2:1, “Therefore you have no excuse.” “No excuse” like the pagan who suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. Only this time it is not the pagan Paul is addressing: “You have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges.” If you happened to be reading verses 1:18-32 and thinking certain groups of people (i.e. American culture, western society as a whole, Hollywood, the gay community, etc.) justly deserve God’s retribution, that is you were cooly judging them, then you too have no excuse. You too stand condemned before God.

In fact, you are the very one who condemns yourself, for you condemn what you practice. Envy, strife, deceit, gossip, slander, boasting, disobedient to parents, faithless, heartless, are you innocent of these? We hold that God rightly judges such practices, so does he not also judge you? Paul’s logic here is devastating. There is really no escape.

But there is one more path to possibly get us off the hook, the path of God’s mercy. Jews could easily conclude, “Yes, well we are God’s chosen, and he is a God of mercy and compassion.” They even had some historical precedence for such a hope. God did put up with a lot of garbage from Israel. Of course, this objection comes to us today in various forms. It is the “God is love” objection. If God is a loving God will he really judge us severely? We too have some historical, biblical, and theological precedence for the belief. God is declared by and demonstrated in Scripture to be gracious, patient, and long-suffering. But there are two ways to look at God’s patience. One is to say that God is just over-looking our disobedience. Most assume this option. The alternative is what Paul agues: “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” Mercy is meant merely to give you more time to repent. God is passing over your sin. He is just delaying your judgment. Therefore, the longer you fail to repent the more wrath you “store up” for yourself. Thus, in this small passage Paul has leveled the paths of self-righteousness (“those people over there deserve God’s judgment) and indulgence (“God will tolerate my failures because He is a God of love”). But more on that later.

Christmas Gift Ideas

The Reason For God - This is a great book for those more intellectually minded. Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in NYC. He is known for his ability to reach those of a more secular, yuppy, and liberal culture. This books is both for the unbeliever and the believer. In the first part of the book Keller answers some of the toughest questions that people are asking about Christianity (e.g. "Does science contradict the Bible," "Aren't all religions equal," etc.). The second half is devoted to a sort of new spin on the gospel. It's all very orthodox, but Keller has a way of describing the gospel to modern people that both deeply convicts and excites.



The Prodigal God - Yes, another Keller book. I first heard his sermon upon which this little book is based and it opened up the gospel in a whole new way for me. For those of you in our church's small groups, know that we will be doing this book next.



ESV Study Bible - See the post below



To The Golden Shore - A rich, lively biography. Judson's story is truly amazing, and this book is very hard to put down. It reads almost like a novel, only it really happened.



Sir Gibbie - For kids and adults alike. George MacDonald's classic is delightful and convicting. My daughter and I couldn't stop reading it. The chapters are extremely short, which makes it more accessible for those lacking in attention span.



Keeping Holiday - Another great book to read with your children. Star Meade is able to weave an allegory of the gospel into this intriguing story in vein similar to that of C.S. Lewis.



Do Hard Things - Written by teenagers, but the Harris brothers are not your typical teenagers. The subtitle pretty much sums up the book: "A teenage rebellion against low expectations." Young or old, you'll find yourself wanting to do hard things after reading this book.




When Sinners Say, "I Do" - My wife and I have used this book in marriage counseling. This is not merely some good advice on relationships, nor a manual for marriage. This book does what most Christian and non-Christian books fail to do, point to the gospel. It is a book filled with hope and grace.



Humility - Written by a very humble guy, at least comparatively, Mahaney has written another deeply convicting book. His thesis is that pride is the root of all sin, so if you nip pride you getting the whole gamut. A very small and easy to read book.



Culture Making - If you are struggling as to how you can glorify God in your "secular" employment or hobbies, this book will be a great help. Culture making is what humans are meant to do, and Andy Crouch provides some deep insight on how we can do it better.

ESV Study Bible

The ESV Study Bible has been out for some time now, but I thought I would post this introduction as well as a few thoughts about it. I'm not typically a big fan of study Bibles. My man beef with them is that they tend to become a sort of Bible answer book. As a teacher and preacher, I've gotten quite tired of pouring in hours to study a text only for someone to comment, "That's not what my study Bible says." Perhaps, this notion goes back to the Schofield Study Bible, perhaps even further back. What often seems to happen, though, is that the study Bible becomes the interpretative key of Scripture. Rich, deep, complex themes are reduced to a few lines in a footnote, and the reader takes no more effort than that. Of course, there are many who use their study Bibles well, but the message sent by the various study Bibles as a whole is, "This is clearly what this text means. You need to look no further." What I have always dreamed about is a study Bible that gives cultural, geographical, and theological background to texts in order to aid interpretation and not provide all the interpretation. In other words, a Bible that gives the reader the tools to understand the text for themselves. The ESV does just this. I've been using it for a couple of months now, and it is everything that I hoped it would be. So for all of those seeking to dig deeper into Scripture, this would be a great Christmas gift.

Romans 1:24-32

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:24-32)

Up to this point, Paul had been describing why exactly God has cast his wrath upon mankind, but this section describes what that wrath is, what God’s judgment looks like. The theme of these verses, repeated three times, is “God gave them over.” God’s wrath is coming against humanity, and what that means is this giving over. Three things God has given humanity over to: “the lust of their hearts . . . and dishonoring of their bodies(1:24),” “dishonorable passions(1:26),” and “to a debased mind(1:28).” Here are some of my observations.

First, sin is the judgment. You constantly hear Christians talking about the judgment that is going to come against America because of its perversion and evil. God is going to condemn us because of homosexuality, abortion, pornography, etc. But Paul is saying that these are the judgement. Homosexuality is the judgment. God is giving men and women over to unnatural and unhealthy patterns of life that separates them now and forever from everlasting joy. Pornography is not going to bring more judgment in the sense of terrorists attacks or more natural disasters. It’s going to breed more sexual addiction, degrade more women, ruin marriages, incapacitate men from being productive, permeate the society with sexual abuse, and so on. The sin is the judgment. You can translate this principle, I think, into eternal condemnation as well. Hell is when God abandons you to the “lust of your flesh” and to a “debased mind.”

Second, there seems to be an escalation of judgment. First God abandons men to themselves to exchange the truth of him for “the lie”(that’s the way it read in Greek). That in turn leads to unnatural and dishonorable passions, which then leads to a debased mind and the whole gamut of evil that follows (i.e. the list in 1:29-32). A good and helpful meditation might be on how this all plays out on an individual level and a societal level, because I think it is applicable to both. What is striking about this escalation is that those sins with the greatest stigma, at least in our society, like sins of lust or homosexuality are lower level judgments than more socially acceptable sins. For example, Paul seems to consider “gossips,” the “boastful,” the “disobedient to parents,” the “heartless,” etc. as deeper entrenched in evil than a man who gives in to “unnatural relations.” For many Christians this is quite radical. Let me say that none of these sins are acceptable, and all are examples of God’s wrath. Nevertheless, if we take this text seriously, and if you believe that the Bible is God’s Word then you have to, there are patterns of sin in our own lives and churches just as destructive as say homosexuality, if not more so. Paul presents sins of lust, like pornography, homosexuality, etc., as stepping stones on the humanities moral decline. But it makes us no better people if we skip step one and two and jump immediately to step three. Unbridled lust does lead to further sins of deceit, strife, gossiping, boasting, heartlessness, etc., but you cannot be too proud if you didn’t need the sins of lust to ease you into the sins of envy and deceit. You’ve simply chosen not to mess around with the marijuana and went straight for the heroin. I often hear Christians complain about the greater acceptance of gay and lesbian lifestyle when the Scriptures are so clear in condemning it. But is God less clear about our pride, judgmentalism, unforgiveness, gossip, deceit, anger, lack of mercy, sins which we are too often more than willing to tolerate in our own life? It’s something to think about.

Romans 1:21-23

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things (Romans 1:21-23).

“Although they knew God.” Many of the leading minds over the last several decades have predicted that as modern people get a better grasp of the world through science and technology that belief in God will dwindle. The obvious assumption behind this claim is that belief in God is a mere crutch to make sense of the unpredictable and unknowable. Once those unknowables are explained by science and harnessed by technology, there will be no need for the crutch. But the theory has not panned out. In fact, many scholars have noted that this is one of the most “spiritual” generations in American history. Poles indicate that the vast majority of Americans have faith in some god. So why is belief in God so difficult to budge? In this verse, Paul offers a different theory, a much more radical theory. Belief in the divine lingers on because it is deeply woven into the consciousness of all people.

“They did not honor him or give thanks to him.” The problem with humanity, says Paul, is not an information problem. It is a heart problem. I remember having a conversation once with a friend who at the time was uncertain about the existence of God. We had some pretty deep discussions, and one day I was asking him about the reality of death. “How would you feel if you found out you were going to die tomorrow,” I asked. He responded, “I think I would be thankful for my life.” I interrupted, “Thankful to who." I wasn't trying to be smart, but the question begged answering. We all walk through our days either thankful or not so thankful. But in either case, the question is same. “Thankful to who?” “Angry with who?” “Treated unfairly by whom?” You can’t escape the sensus divinitatis(sense of the divine). So why aren’t we asking that question? The problem isn’t the head. It’s the heart.

“They became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Failure to give God his rightful position has massive systemic effects upon humanity. You cannot understand your life, your meaning, your responsibilities, your value, your purpose, nor the value, meaning, purpose of the world around you. Belief in God or lack of it is the rock upon which your entire life is built.

“Claiming to be wise, they became fools.” Enter into almost any higher education institution and suggest that you believe in the supernatural, and you are certain to be greeted with snickers if not outright guffaws. The “wise,” the “informed,” the “intelligent” would never give themselves over to a belief in God anymore than they would to belief in the tooth fairy. Proponents of this position often think themselves to have a very new approach to the question of God. Paul, writing two thousand years ago, says this is always the way. Men believe rejecting the true God is the wise and informed thing to do. If there is no God, they are indeed wise. But if they are wrong, there cannot be bigger fools.

All Life Is Sacred

Thanks Doug for sharing this video with me. I think it provides a powerful illustration of how sacred any life is.

Romans 1:18-20

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse"(Romans 1:18-20).

The gospel is the “power of God for salvation,” for the “righteous live by faith.” From here until chapter 12, Paul is attempting to flush these thoughts out, and he begins with the wrath of God. That is not surprising, since explaining salvation requires an understanding of what you are saved from. This text is so important that I’m just going to try and explain it.

First, I notice that God’s wrath is revealed against “all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” It is not wrath against the really bad stuff. In fact, notice what the “unrighteousness” is. Unrighteousness is revealed in “suppressing the truth.” It is not breaking a law or doing something shameful. Sure it comes to those things, but that is not where it starts. It starts with suppressing truth. To suppress means that you possess. You cannot suppress what you don’t have. When someone “suppresses” evidence in a trial it means that they possess the evidence and hide it. Stunning point here: all men possess the truth, and at the root of their sin is a suppression of it. Let that sink in for a moment, because that is a monumental statement.

Paul goes on to explain. Men suppress truth in that “what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.” And what has God shown them? “His invisible attributes” (read power, love, goodness, beauty, infinite value, greatness, etc) and especially his “eternal power” (i.e. He is all-powerful and can do whatever he wants) and “divine nature” (i.e. the fact that He is God). How are these things clearly seen? They have been “perceived . . . in the things that have been made.” Here is an illustration of what I think Paul is saying. You take a little flower, just a flower. You see bright colors, symmetry, soft, silken petals, and it’s living. It grows from a tiny seed in the dirt and becomes this radiant bloom. It’s so beautiful that artists attempt to photograph it, paint it, draw it. Some are very good, and the art is beautiful. But never, never is the art as exquisite as the flower itself. And it’s smell is so transfixing that companies attempt to mimic it, bottle it, and sell it to wealthy women, so they can have the aroma of a flower rather than their own natural body odor. Where does such beauty, such order and symmetry come from? It’s very existence shouts the overflowing power and goodness of the one who designed it, and it shouts that that One is worthy of our gratitude, homage, and praise. All men naturally suppress this. To bolster the point, here are a few interesting quotes.

“Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against common sense is the key to an understanding of the real struggle between science and the supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counterintuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a divine foot in the door” (Atheist Richard Lewotin in New York Review of Books).

“ I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn't just that I don't believe in God and, naturally, hope that I'm right in my belief. It's that I hope there is no God! I don't want there to be a God; I don't want the universe to be like that. . . . My guess is that this cosmic authority problem is not a rare condition and that it is responsible for much of the scientism and reductionism of our time. One of the tendencies it supports is the ludicrous overuse of evolutionary biology to explain everything about life, including everything about the human mind. Darwin enabled modern secular culture to heave a great collective sigh of relief, by apparently providing a way to eliminate purpose, meaning, and design as fundamental features of the world”(Thomas Nagel in The Last Word).

The way in which all men live their lives is by assuming that there is a kind of order to the world, that the world makes sense, that there lives have some sort of meaning and purpose. You don’t need a religion to feel this. It is universal in every culture. Even those who reject such things must admit that they live as if they are true. And all of this assumes a God. God is the elephant in everyone’s room. He may be the subject constantly ignored, but not because of lack of information. Paul’s conclusion, then, is that all men are “without excuse.”

Romans 1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

These two verses really set the stage for this whole book. Here Paul gives the grounds for why he is eager to preach the gospel in Rome (Romans 1:15). Not only is he not ashamed of this gospel, but he sees it as the “power of God for salvation.” Paul says something very similar in 1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the word of the cross . . . is the power of God.” The gospel is a message. It is by definition “good news.” But Paul speaks of it as a power, a force, a cause. It isn’t just a neutral piece of information. It is message that does something to its hearers. It moves upon them, effects them, and changes them. This statement helps explain why Paul spends so much time breaking down this gospel message in Romans with such intimate detail. He does it because the gospel is the “power of God for salvation.”

I’ve been thinking about how a message is a power, but in some respects it isn’t that difficult to figure out. This message reveals our desperate need, our evil hearts, our utter hopelessness. It declares a God who willingly crushes his Son in our place so that we can become the righteousness of God. It opens up to us a future in which the entire creation is renewed, a glory that far outweighs the pain and suffering of the present time. There is simply too much at stake in such a message to not have an effect upon the hearer. A message like “You just inherited one million dollars from your deceased uncle Filbert” is too powerful not to affect you. Either you say, “Filbert? I have no uncle Filbert. You’re a liar,” or “Filbert left me a million dollars! Are you serious? Thank you uncle Filly.” It creates either disbelief and doubt or joy and excitement. In fact, most messages are not benign. They bring about some emotion, thought, and reaction from us. But a message as massive and embracing of all of reality like the gospel, a message that exposes such darkness but also gives such hope will always cause a response.

Paul says more than this, though, for the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” The power of the gospel is not just that it causes a response, but that it actually brings about salvation. It is a message that brings life from death. How does it do that? Part of the answer lies in the next verse. I think the NIV rightly translates the phrase “from faith for faith” as “by faith first to last.” Salvation from the very beginning to the very end comes by faith, for “the righteous shall live by faith.” A large reason as to why a message can be a power to salvation is because salvation comes through faith. Salvation does not come by law-keeping, by national identity, by personal effort. It comes simply by the reception of a gift, which is told in the message of the gospel. But of course, for this all to make sense, Paul has to mean that in some sense the message of the gospel has the power to make faith happen. For now I just want to observe that fact. I think Paul will explain it later.

So application wise this text gets me excited about communicating the gospel message to others. We don’t need gimmicks. We don’t need to win an argument. We just need to tell the world the truth about Jesus. And as we proclaim that truth in conversations, in teaching, in our small groups, we are proclaiming a power that affects faith and leads to salvation. The gospel is the greatest power that we have. It is the greatest power on the planet. Let us wield it with confidence and not be ashamed of it.

Words Are Not Our Own

Some great thoughts from Paul David Tripp. This video was part of the promotion of The Power of Words and the Wonder of God Conference held by Desiring God this past September. There was a lot of great content in that conference, so if your interested check it out here.

Roman 1:8-15

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. (Romans 1:8-15)

Paul makes clear his appreciation for the Roman church, his constant prayer for them, his deep desire to come to them, and the fact that he has tried several times to visit. Mostly, though, Paul communicates the reasons behind his desire to visit them. It looks to me like there are basically two reasons, and both are challenging. The first reason is that Paul wants to “impart . . . some spiritual gift to strengthen” the Roman Christians (Romans 1:11). Now that may come across a tad arrogant. Kind of like here is Paul to save the day. So Paul explains further, “that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine”(Romans 1:12). In other words, Paul wants to come to see these Christians both to give and to get. Personally, I expect the give part. He is after all the apostle Paul. It is the get part that shocks me. This is Paul, and he longs for relationships with other Christians to get strength from their faith.

Honestly, I think the get aspect is often more difficult than the give. Let me explain. Of course, in a consumer driven culture, we automatically think “get” all the time. But that is a selfish sort of get. We feel we need some kind approval, kindness, appreciation, to feel like we have some worth. Of course, with this kind of “get” you don’t really need the church of Jesus. You can get, or at least try to get, those things from any group of family or friends. But when it comes to our faith, we tend to diminish the “get.” At least, the “get” from other people. You need God. You need Jesus. You need the Spirit. You need the Bible, and you get a lot from them. But do you get all you need? That is a trick question. The answer, of course, is “Yes, you get all you need from God, Christ, the Spirit, and God’s Word.” But without interacting with the faith of others, you don’t get all you can, or dare I say all you need, from God and His Word. Christianity is not and was never meant to be a solo sport. Even Paul the apostle needed the church to sustain and build his faith. That’s kind of why I’m asking others to join this discussion. I think we can all get a lot more out of our Bible study in the context of community. We need one another to get more of God.

It is this kind of mentality that seems rare among Christians. It is more common and certainly easier to accept that people need me to give, to serve, and to help them. I after all do have a lot to offer. It is kind of scary, but the desire to serve can be a subtle cloak of our arrogance. True service desires to give and to get. In true service our service isn’t an act of manipulation to receive a need, but we are humble enough to see the benefit we are getting in the relationship. And we are humble enough to know that we need relationships to grow in our faith.

Well, I spent enough time on the first reason. The second reason for Paul’s desire to visit Rome is that he longs to proclaim the gospel. I’ve already written enough, so perhaps some of you can comment on this one.

The Poor

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the church's role in helping the poor. I just read this in N.T. Wright's Surprised By Hope

The future hope held out to us in Jesus Christ leads directly and, to many people, equally surprisingly, to a vision of the present hope that is the basis of all Christian mission. To hope for a better future in this world--for the poor, the sick, the lonely and depressed, for the slaves, the refugees, the hungry and homeless, for the abused, the paranoid, the downtrodden and despairing, and in fact for the whole wide, wonderful, and wounded world--is not something else, something extra, something tacked on to the gospel as an afterthought. And to work for that intermediate hope, the surprising hope that comes froward from God's ultimate future into God's urgent present, is not a distraction from the task of mission and evangelism in the present. It is a central, essential, vital, and life-giving part of it. Mostly, Jesus himself got a hearing from his contemporaries because of what he was doing. They saw him saving people from sickness and death, and they heard him talking about a salvation . . . that would go beyond the immediate into the ultimate future. But the two were not unrelated, the present one a mere visual aid of the future one or a trick to gain people's attention. The whole point of what Jesus was up to was that he was doing, close up, in the present, what he was promising long-term, in the future. And what he was promising for that future, and doing in the present . . . [was] that renewal of creation which is God's ultimate purpose.

The question I have is how do we go about bringing the spiritual, physical, emotional, psychological hope that is ours in Christ into the present hurting world? How do we go about helping the poor? That's where these videos come in. The first gives us some helpful ideas about what not to do. The latter, which comes from that conversation between Piper, Carson, and Keller that I posted earlier are some ideas on what to do.

Roman 1:5

"Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations"(Romans 1:5)

This verse captures me. It is in one brief statement the whole purpose of the church. We exist by the grace ours in Christ to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all nations. Let’s break it down.

“To bring about the obedience of faith.” The “obedience of faith” seems a rather strange phrase. “Faith” is, we think, just believing in something, trusting in something. Obedience is doing something. So how do these connect? We could put these together in at least two ways. One way would be to say that faith is a form of obedience to God. God commands, “Believe in Christ,” and to do it is to obey him. The second way would be to say that true obedience is an expression of faith. You only have the power to truly obey God when you are living by faith in Christ. Given what is yet to come in Romans, I think the later of these is the correct choice (See Romans 3:20; 6:15-22; 7:21-25; 8:1-4). So here is the bottom line. Paul’s mission is not simply to bring about a single response to Christ, a simple act of the will, a “yes” to Jesus. He’s not looking for a mere prayer. He wants a world living in total obedience to the will of God, a new humanity, which is only possible by faith. To Paul, real faith in Christ leads to total life transformation. We’ll leave the “how” faith transforms to be flushed out later. For now, maybe we should consider the possibility that our definition of faith may have to be revamped.

“For the sake of his name.” Faith is the means to obedience. Obedience is the means to God’s glory. The ultimate aim is not moral conformity to God’s rules. The ultimate aim is the spread of joy and delight in God.

“Among all the nations.” This is the climax of Paul’s vision. The grace that enables worship, that crushes sin, that awakens our dead hearts streams from the cross of Christ. That grace is expressed in us through our faith, which is the reception of that grace. It then moves us, changes us, and drives us to true worship of God. And as the faith and delight grow, it unavoidably spreads to others. But Paul is not content that it should spread to just neighbors and friends. God is worthy of the worship of the nations. So Paul longs for the “obedience of faith” to grip the whole globe. Sound like a pipe dream? Just remember that as Paul wrote this Christians only existed in a relatively tiny portion of the world and accounted for such a minute percentage of the human population that they wouldn’t have even shown up in the statics on world religions. Now thousands of miles from where Paul wrote, in a land Paul had no idea existed, from a people group Paul had never seen, sit you and I reading his letter to Rome

Romans 1:1-7

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1-7)

This is just Paul’s formal greeting to the church of Rome, but he has already spoken with more content and depth than what many of us will speak in this whole day or in a hundred emails. Here are few things I noticed.

First, his emphasis is on God’s work and not ours. Neither in complaint or in boast does he speak of himself. This guy second only to Jesus probably changed the world more than any other person in history. And yet his words all emphasize God’s activity. Just take the words “called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” There are a lot of ways that Paul in essence could have said the same thing without putting God’s role front and center. He could have just said, “It’s me, Paul, the apostle (you know the one with direct divine authority), who is taking the gospel to the Gentiles because nobody else would do it, and somebody had to step up and get it done. The one who promoted this whole movement of Christianity going into all the world including Rome. The one who is largely responsible for your salvation and your church.” No, the gospel has spread through him because he was “called” by God, “set apart” for the task, and later “received grace and apostleship”(Romans 1:5).

Furthermore, this gospel is all of God’s doing. God promised it throughout the Old Testament (By the way, he says, “Through his prophets,” but first century Jews considered anyone whom God spoke to and through a prophet. Abraham, Moses, David, etc. were prophets). What God promised, he delivered in the form of His Son who descend from David (see 2 Samuel 7:12-13) and thus is the Messianic King, and whom God declared to be His divine Son through the power displayed in his resurrection from the dead. In other words, the only reason Paul has any meaning or purpose at all is because God has been working out his grand plan of salvation throughout the history of the world, and has now brought the climax to pass in Jesus the Messiah (i.e. Christ) our Lord.

Even when he speak of the Romans, he refers to them as those “who are loved by God and called to be saints.” He does not say, “Those who had the faith to call on God and love God.” Certainly, he believes that they have faith in God and love for Him. But always in Paul’s eyes it is God’s call and God’s love that takes priority. “You are,” he says to the Romans, “people whom God called to Himself, whom God pursued, whom God bathed in His love. That is who you are. That is your identity.” The bottom line is that Paul grounded what he thought of himself, his mission, and of others first and foremost in God.

New Study: Romans

Perhaps the most treasured book in all of the Scriptures, Romans is absolutely vital to understanding the mission and achievement of Jesus the Messiah. Romans is also one of the most difficult books to understand and has drawn more study then maybe any other book. So I think it is more than worthwhile to spend a good while soaking in its message. I have a very personal attachment to this book. When I was in high school, I began questioning the faith that I had been raised in. I turned to Romans. Not because I knew it could answer my questions, but most likely because I was taught so many verses from this book. Surely, there had to be something of importance in this oft quoted book of the NT. I was not disappointed. Rather than the fuzzy, warm-hearted mush typical of the Christians that surrounded me, I found deep wells of fiery logic. I didn’t fully comprehend all that I was reading (I still don’t, though I have come a ways), but I did see that this Paul guy thought, and he thought deeply. What’s more is that he felt what he thought. It burned in him. It was in Romans that I first came to realize that it’s all about God. Life is all about God. I can’t point to the exact text, but suddenly it all became clear. Reading this book at the formative point in my life changed the course of my life.

So it is no surprise that I would find myself wanting to spend some more time in Romans, even though the years after that first soak in the book has been filled with many additional and frequent soaks. But I want to try something new with this blog in order to utilize the full power of the blogosphere. When I was youth pastor, I began leading my youth group through Romans. We spent a lot of time just discussing it. I was amazed. These teenagers, many of whom I had to explain almost every word, brought up new courses of thought and application that I had not touched. I learned something that I now hold very dear. Truth is most powerful in the context of community. So here is my proposal. Rather than just me writing some thoughts about each section of Romans, I want to ask some of you to commit to reading the text and adding your comments as well. How is the text impacting you? What are some nuggets that you perceive? How are you applying the text to your life? You can interact with me and with each other. In this way, we can have sort of an e-discussion over some of the richest Scripture in all the Bible. My goal is to post something on Romans three times a week, and usually the sections will consist of less than 10 verses. If you’re game (even if you can only get in once or twice a week) please shoot me an email at dstrong@lebanonbbc.org. I will continue to post my favorite videos on weekends.

Fight Club

This is a great article by Jonathan Dodson on fighting sin.

Piper on Election

John Piper offers some sage advice on the upcoming election.

Happy Reformation Day!

Many don't realize that in 1517 Martin Luther deliberately used All Hallows Eve (Halloween), the night prior to All Saints Day, to nail his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church of Wittenburg, and thus officially begin what is now called the Reformation. I'm not a big Halloween guy, but I do love the Reformation. So in celebration of that glorious day when Luther began the fight to reclaim the gospel, I'm posting this. Reformation, Germany, celebration, polka. It all works, right?

Acts 27-28: God Never Quits

Read Acts 27-28

God never quits. That seems to be the note on which Acts ends. God has a mission of salvation to accomplish, and nothing stands in its path. For this reason, Paul can confidently face terrifying, life-threatening circumstances with boldness and courage. It’s the reason, Paul can confidently proclaim the gospel to Roman Jews when he knows many of them will turn against him. It’s the reason, chains, shipwrecks, imprisonment does not thwart the advancement of the gospel.

God never quits. Salvation is his plan, his purpose, and advances in his power. And he never quits. It is so easy for the church to forget. How do we advance the gospel? How do we connect with the world? How do we build the church? If we forget that God has never quit, will never quit, our answers to those questions will be many, and they will all be wrong. I fear that so much of what is promoted as ideas for “church growth,” being “relevant,” “connecting with the culture,” etc. has at its base a failure to remember that God has not quit. Of course, there is nothing wrong with church growth, relevance, or connecting with the culture. No Christian should ever want no growth, irrelevance, or being disconnected from culture. Churches should think about these things and pursue these things. Nevertheless, I fear that much of what passes as good strategy is in reality built on forgetfulness of God’s involvement. We often don’t approach these issues with the confidence that God is on the move, that God will advance his glory, that He loves to save, that the church is precious to Him. Instead, we approach strategic planning with the anxious outlook that if we don’t get it just right, churches will fail, the gospel will die, and the culture will be lost. This anxious outlook further leads to a search for any and every new strategy that comes along and shows the slightest bit of promise. It matters little if it retains biblical fidelity or is gospel-centered. It works, enough said. When God quits, the church become pragmatists.

A great self-diagnosing question is to ask, “Am I (are we) going about this as if God has quit?” He doesn’t quit, and we should never forget it.

Family Man

This is a pretty cool video. I'm currently laying in bed with my wife and baby. It's amazing.

Tim Keller, D. A. Carson, John Piper Conversation

There are few men in the evangelical world that I respect more than these three. How I would love to hear these three great, gospel loving minds in conversation. Thanks to the Gospel Coalition, we can. I'm only posting four of the videos. You can see them all here. They are worth the time if you have it. Otherwise, I would click on the first of the videos that I have posted and start listening around 7:30 mark when Keller starts talking about being Gospel-centered. From then on, their words are incredibly helpful as they apply the gospel to our fight with sin.

Acts 23:12-26:32: Incessant Evangelism

Read Acts 23:12-26:32

The vision of Paul set forth in this text I find extremely convicting. Here we see Paul as the constant, tenacious evangelist, yet the setting of his evangelism is the court room. Yes, the court room. Paul is repeatedly on trial for his life. While he presents powerful argumentation for his innocence, he preaches the gospel. To each of his examiners and judges he presents the facts as well as the truth of God's Word in hopes of not only being released but also of gaining a convert for Christ. Paul is somehow able to guide each case into a presentation of Christ. Being that he was imprisoned for his preaching of Jesus resurrection, it was not terribly difficult. But Paul went beyond presenting just facts.

First, when speaking with Felix and his wife Drusilla (Acts 24:24-25), Paul “reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment.” Roman governors were not known for their moral scruples, and Felix was no different. In fact, Felix employed a “magician” to coax Drusilla to divorce her first husband and marry him. Can’t imagine Felix wanting to hear about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment. Notice Felix’s quick dismissal of Paul after the message. Not exactly the way to win friends. The explanation for Paul’s approach can only be that he was not as interested in winning a friend as he was in bringing sinners to repentance. I am repeatedly amazed by Christian leaders the urge us not to speak of “righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment” because people today don’t want to hear that. Whereas Felix and Drusilla did? If Christianity is a popularity contest, then these are taboo subjects. But it isn’t a popularity contest. It’s truth. Truth that makes an eternal difference. Therefore, popularity and likability can never replace this world’s desperate need to hear the truth of righteousness, self-control, and coming judgment.

Paul’s approach to Agrippa is entirely different. It is not that Agrippa had an upstanding moral character (Bernice is his slightly younger sister and apparently also lover), but he had a knowledge of the OT and Judaism. Knowing that Paul begins presenting more fully the whole gospel of Jesus as the fulfillment of the OT. Agrippa’s response: “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”(26:28) Paul’s answer: “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am”(26:29). I believe that there are many well-intentioned Christians who desire the same thing as Paul. Many do not lack the desire for others to turn to Jesus. What we lack is the correlating conviction that the gospel has the power to bring others to Jesus. In other words, our desire for other’s salvation ironically keeps us from sharing the gospel, because we are afraid of pushing them away. Paul wanted others to know Christ and believed the only way for that to happen was to present the truth about Jesus. The incessant evangelist is the one who can bring these two convictions together: a passion for the salvation of others and a confidence in the gospel. May God grant us more of each.

James 3 Video

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water (James 3:5b-12)

The Most Radical Pro-Abortion Candidate Ever

Princeton Professor Robert George weighs in on the issue of abortion in presidential politics. He argues that Obama is the most radical pro-abortion candidate ever to run for president. He builds a very strong case for that assertion and portrays a very frightening picture of America with Obama as president. This is the best article to date that I have seen on Obama's pro-abortion record. Read here.

Acts 21-23:11: Traditional and Trendy Walls

Read Acts 21-23:11

It is very easy to get people to hate you. Some Christians even think that it is their calling. The cross is an offense, so they conclude that the more they offend the more they are like Jesus. In fact, not only is this true of some Christians, it is true of many churches. They almost revel in the fact that they are disliked by the culture and communities around them. Some like being disliked because they are so zealous in their moral or religious scruples. Others like being disliked for their lack of moral or religious scruples. In this text, we see Paul as a man who is clearly hated by many. So there is something to this business of not being liked. Your popularity is certainly not the best sign of your effectiveness. The cross is an offense, Jesus was murdered, most of the apostles were martyred.

However, at the same time I think it is helpful in this text to see what Paul was and was not hated for. When Paul gets to Jerusalem, he immediately takes a purification ritual performed by zealous Jews. What is more revealing is the purpose for this ritual, to disprove the accusations that Paul was discouraging the practice of the law by the Jews. Whatever the Jews of the day believed about Paul, the notion that he hated the law and preached its abandonment was false. He was not hated for his cutting edge style of personal devotion. The indications are that in many ways, Paul kept up the traditions of the law.

There was one part of the current tradition that Paul absolutely abhorred, and that was the dislike, even hatred, of the Gentiles. Paul deliberately broke the rituals of separation with Gentiles (Galatians 2:11-14). And it was this aspect of Paul’s ministry that put him into so much trouble. The Jewish leaders erupted a riot against him in the temple because they thought he brought in a Gentile. They Jewish crowd quietly listened to Paul’s defense until he declared that God called him to go to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21-22). The Jewish leaders hated the gospel of Jesus, but what they hated more were the implications of the gospel that said all men can have the future and eternal blessings given to Israel in Jesus.

I think there is a helpful lesson here. Repudiating the sometimes unbiblical traditions (that is, traditions not clearly mandated in Scripture) in the church simply because they are old, aren’t cool, etc. seems out of sync with the example of Paul (and Jesus for that matter). What we should cast off are the traditions, attitudes, practices, etc. that result in the exclusion of outsiders. In other words, new vs. old or trendy vs. untrendy are not the categories Christians should think in. Arrogance vs. humility, legalism vs. repentance, traditions-centered vs. Christ-centered are the sorts of categories that Christians should think in. Sometimes certain Christian beliefs and practices will be trendy and other practices unpopular. Indeed, that is the way it has always been and always will be. Christianity and Jesus are always loved and hated for different reasons in different cultures and times. Nevertheless, inclusion into the Christian community should not depend upon one’s adherence to certain traditions but to one’s connection to Christ. Of course, this issue is complex and deserves more qualification. For example, the pattern of one’s life choices is the only way to determine one’s connection to Christ, so certain practices are necessary. But the general unqualified point is that we should seek to eliminate any dividing wall except that of Christ, and the dividing wall can be a trendy or traditional one.

Love Songs to God

Here are a few good thoughts from Jonathan Dodson on contemporary worship music. Jonathan is a church planter in Austin, TX (one of the coolest cities around) and a personal friend.

Undercover Worshippers

Here is a frightening article in the Wall Street Journal on mystery worshippers. These are guys who go undercover in worship services as first time attenders. They then rate your church on a five star scale. All this is part of a new trend in church marketing--church consultant firms. I thought the most revealing comment was the pastor at the end who states that Cracker Barrel is his chief competition. Love to hear your thoughts.

Ernie Davis Story

This looks like a great movie and a great story. Ben Witherington offers some helpful commentary on the movie.

The Power of Stories

I just listened to Dan Taylor's talk at the DG 2008 National Conference on the power of story. This clip gives you some idea about where he is going. If you would like the whole thing, you can either watch it, download the audio, or read it here. His message is going to have a pretty major effect on how I preach, what I read, how I read the Bible, and how I communicate with others.

Earth From Above

Check out these amazing pictures of world

Acts 20: The Paradoxes of Paul

Read Acts 20

This passage more than any other reveals the emotional side of the apostle Paul. As such, it is probably the passage most reflective of Paul the man. In Paul I find man filled with paradoxes. I will just list a couple that I think helpful.

Passion and Compassion. Here we find a man so passionate about his mission that he is not willing to stop over in Ephesus to visit the church there because it would delay his mission (Acts 20:16). But at the same time he sends word to the elders of Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, and there bears his heart to them. He is man torn between the glory of his mission and his love for the people of the church. Nothing would deter him from moving forward in his mission, though he knew it would lead to his death (Acts 20:25; 21:13). He was willing to proclaim “anything that was profitable”(Acts 20:20), would not “shrink from declaring . . . the whole counsel of God,” and did not account his life of “any value” for the sake of the gospel (Acts 20:24). But his passion was not just for a cause. Paul also taught and admonished “with tears”(Acts 20:19, 31). He was broken for people and their salvation. In other words, he was not merely passionate for the mission of Christ to go forward, he was also filled with compassion for the people to which he spoke. Thus, in Paul I think we see true passion for Christ. The zeal that drives us to proclaim Christ must be saturated with a compassion for the people to whom we speak. If there is no compassion, then there probably is no passion. At least, there is no passion for Christ. There is merely passion for our own self-aggrandizement, a passion to be right, or a passion to appear righteous.

Boldness and Humility. In the most hostile environments, Paul would not shrink from proclaiming the whole counsel of God. We must remember that proclaiming the kingdom of God got the first leader of Christianity, Jesus, murdered, which was an event that happened in Paul’s lifetime. Paul knew that when he spoke his message would be despised by many and could very well result in his own murder. Yet so bold was Paul, his presence was apparently all that was needed to keep the “fierce wolves” at bay (Acts 20:29). As unintimidating as his physical presence was, he caused fear in his opponents. Paul was a man’s man. He was the little wirey guy that would stare down the biggest, ugliest thug without flinching and make him cry. Nevertheless, Paul served the church “with all humility and with tears”(Acts 20:19). He wasn’t just feared; he was deeply loved (20:36-38). So what makes a bold guy so meek? I think the very thing that made him bold made him humble. In think the key verse is Acts 20:24. He knew his purpose. Men who know their reason for existence are fiercely bold. They don’t need high approval ratings. Paul knew that he existed to testify to the gospel, period. Nothing less and nothing more. No additional value was attached to his life. In preaching Christ, his life fulfilled the only meaning that it had. To not preach Christ would save his life, but then it would be a life not worth living. This mentality results not only in boldness but also humility, for his value lies only in his message. Paul wasn’t concerned whether people loved Paul but whether they loved Christ. All the value went to Christ leaving nothing left over for Paul. The most humble people are always the most bold. Those who account no value to their life except that of their mission are always the most tenacious when it comes to their mission. And those who are mindful of their own value are the most cowardly when it comes to the mission.

The World Needs To Know

Here are some videos from Abort73.com. If you can stomach it, I would also recommend watching this video. It is a tragedy that abortion has become a primarily political issue. It is so much more, and the only way to wake the world up to its evil is to show what it does.

Acts 19

Read Acts 19

Again we see the church growing at a rapid pace. In Acts 19:10 Luke states that “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, Jews and Greeks.” Is he serious? Of course, this “Asia” was a Roman province and not the same the present day continent, but still. In the span of 2 years, the message of Christ never heard before had been proclaimed throughout this province. How does this happen? Certainly there is a good deal of aggressive evangelism, friends sharing with their friends. However, Luke says very little about these things. Instead, he records that Paul taught the Scriptures and reasoned daily for two years in Ephesus (Acts 19:9), the capital of Asia. Secondly, Christians,and particularly Paul, became very well known for their extraordinary supernatural works (Acts 19:11-12). Thirdly, the church became renown for its opposition to the state cult and pagan worship (Acts 19:23-41).

Several things I observe from all this. First, Luke links the spread of the “word of the Lord” with the advancement of the church. It is not its public approval rating, which fluctuated quite drastically throughout the passage. In some ways the church was hated and in others it was loved. It was not Sunday’s attendance, though obviously that was growing. It was that the message of the gospel was being proclaimed and received. Good solid, biblical, Christ-centered teaching by Paul is at the epicenter of this Asian crusade. In other words, it is the power of the message that is transforming lives.

Secondly, Paul and the Christians reach the province of Asia by focusing upon its major metropolitan center of Ephesus. Such a strategy seems obvious, and I only mention it because we need more of this in our church today. We need people willing to go the cultural centers, the cities, and begin to proclaim the message of Christ.

Thirdly, early Christians were not known for their inclusion of other religions. They were highly exclusive, though lovingly so. Those who worshipped Christ refused to accept the dictates of Judaism or to participate in the worship of pagan gods like Artemis, and they were hated for it. They saw all those involved in such practices as needing conversion to Christ, and they strove for it with all their might. It is becoming more and more popular to say that those of other religions are not so very different from Christianity and that we should stop seeking their conversion. Instead, we should merely join hands with them in attempt to bring social aid to the world. While I’m all for helping the poor and starving and am willing to work with anyone to do it, such a view is clearly not the early Christian practice. The orthodox Christian stance has always been that there is one God, one Lord, one salvation, and it is all found in only one person, Jesus.

Acts 18

Read Acts 18

During the reign of emperor Claudius all the Jews were expelled from Rome, as is recorded in this chapter. It is quite possible that the expulsion was due to riots that erupted against Christians. At the time, Christians were attempting to set themselves within Judaism. One reason was because the Jews had carried the message of the coming Messiah for centuries, so it was obviously a natural leap for them to faith in Jesus the Messiah. Another reason, though, was that Rome recognized Judaism as a tolerated religion. Many Jews adamantly fought the placing of Christians in Judaism. So it might seem at first that some of the incidents of this passage are marginal in importance. When Christians were expelled from Rome with Jews and when Gallio decided not to treat Christians as a separate religion from Judaism, it was a big deal. Christians were regarded as Jews and therefore would be not come under official Roman persecution.

Of course, that didn’t mean there was no persecution at this time, for many Jews did whatever they could to oppress Christians. And in fact this increasing hatred for Christians forced Roman officials to consider whether Christianity was indeed a Jewish sect. Eventually, they decided they weren’t, and all hell broke loose. However, this period of unofficial persecution allowed Christianity to settle firmly within the Graeco-Roman world. At this time, we see some very prominent individuals teaming up with Paul. There is the couple Priscilla and Aquila, leaders of the Roman church (Romans 16:3),the nobleman Titius Justus, the synagogue ruler Crispus, and the Alexandrian Jew Apollos (who most likely was well trained in rhetoric and philosophy. Alexandria was the intellectual capital of the world in that day).

Christianity was marching on at remarkable pace. But what is most remarkable is that the spread of Christianity was very much a normal lay movement. It did not start with professional clergy establishing institutions of worship. It was started and promoted by typical Jewish, Greek, and Roman individuals of all walks of life. Some were government officials, leaders in the Jewish community, well-trained intellectuals, soldiers, peasants, and even slaves. God didn’t change the world through one specific demographic or through professionally religious people. He did it through normal people whose lives he transformed. And he aided it with typical government procedures.

My point is that God uses everyday, normal events and people to accomplish his purposes. It should be very clear from the Bible, that God is a God of history. He doesn’t do his work apart from the normal events of history. He acts within history, and uses the typical people and events of history to change the world. Everyday life is the medium of God’s saving work. The typical events of our lives, our families, our government, and our society is all very much a part of God’s plan, and thus should should very much be a part of our ministry.

Challenge

Alright, if you haven't already watched the video from my last post, watch it now. Otherwise this will ruin all grand thoughts about music. Trust me. I want to post a challenge. A prize to anyone who can make it all the way through this video. And let me offer an advanced apology for the nightmare fuel.



Quick listen to this to get that tormenting tune out of your head. Contemporary Christian music, in my opinion, still has a long way to go, but thankfully it has already come a long way.

Kauflin on Singing in Heaven

This video was taken in preview of the Power of Words and Wonder of God Conference by Desiring God that is actually taking place at this moment. I cannot wait to listen to the audio of this conference. I love the subject of heaven (duh), and any picture that makes me thirst for it more is worth my time. I think Kauflin provides such a picture.




Here is a quote from Martin Luther that Kauflin used in his address at the DG Conference. Only Luther could say it like this.

When man's natural musical ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift; we marvel when we hear music in which one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four, or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance, where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress and embrace. A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.

Awesome Creator

I've been swamped as of late, so sorry about the lack of posts. Here is a mind boggling, and I think worshipful, multimedia description of our universe and its Creator.

me Church

The small groups at our church are currently going through Stop Dating the Church by Josh Harris. I thought these videos fit nicely with that study.

Acts 17 and Gospel Contextualization (Part 2)

Sorry it has taken so long to get up the rest of my thoughts on this passage. Hope you find them helpful.

Start With A Creator God - This is where Paul starts and with good reason. If a person doesn’t believe in one true personal God who created everything and thus has authority over everything and everybody, then you have almost no point of connection with them. A major reason our culture so highly values the individual is because it has lost its sense of accountability to the Creator God. I’m not suggesting that you need to get into debates over evolution and creation all the time. In fact, many times such a debate distracts from the gospel. You can believe in evolution and be a Christian. Many do. But you cannot believe in a naturalistic evolution (evolution not started and guided by God but by natural processes) and be a Christian. I’d rather someone believe that God created aliens and then guided them to create this world, then that they believe in naturalistic evolution. So however one wants to account for the origins of the universe, it must be clear that in Christianity God is the ultimate cause.

Don’t Bypass Judgment - Our culture doesn’t like to hear about God’s wrath. Who would? We’re not really supposed to like to hear about God’s wrath and judgment. It seems that many Christians think this was an okay topic back in Bible days. Back then people liked hearing they were going to hell, but now it makes people feel bad. Not likely. Our culture desperately needs to hear that they are accountable for their evil to an all-powerful Creator God who hates their sin and destroys sinners. Not that we should be mean about it, but that truth needs to be clear.

Don’t Leave Out Resurrection - I believe in Jesus because he rose from the dead. If he didn’t, then there would be no point in trusting that he is different than any other great religious thinker. The resurrection is an issue for which every person has to have a good explanation. If it happened, then that changes the entire universe. Natural laws have been broken, death has been defeated, Jesus is God, the universe is turned on its head. It transforms the way you view suffering, death, morality, God, yourself, everything.

Don’t Feel Compelled To Say Everything - Paul’s sermon is fairly general, and leaves out a ton of information about Jesus, the cross, the Church, etc. Many think that once they engage someone in a conversation about God that they have to summarize the whole gospel and bring it to a point of decision. Often this isn’t realistic or necessary. If a person can’t get past a Creator God, then asking them to put their trust in Christ right now doesn’t seem wise. We don’t have to say everything. Sometimes we can and should, but that’s not every time. And the further our culture drifts from a Christian worldview, the more time we’ll have to spend building a foundation.

Acts 17 and Gospel Contextualization (Part 1)

Read Acts 17

This got kind of long so I'll give it in two parts.

Acts 17:16-34 probably more than any other biblical text gives an account of evangelization that most closely parallels our own culture. Athens was a highly pluralistic city that valued philosophical and religious diversity, but which at the same time had low moral standards. It was also a culture totally unfamiliar with the OT Scriptures and the God of the Jews. In this passage, Paul dialogues with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Epicureans were atheistic naturalists (contrary to popular opinion naturalism, even evolution, was not invented by Darwin). Stoics were pantheists. That is, they believed in a divine impersonal life force that guided all things down an inevitable path of fate. Almost every major modern philosophical position outside of monotheism will fit quite well into either Epicureanism or Stoicism. There is nothing new under the sun, right? In reaching these people with the gospel, Paul held firm to his gospel while at the same time contextualizing it to the people with which he was speaking. So what insight can we pick up from Paul about reaching our own culture with the gospel?

Be provoked - Paul saw all the idols in the city, and he was greatly disturbed. Every culture has its idols. Paul had the convenience of looking at a foreign culture and thus enabled him to see their idolatry, which is much more difficult to do when you live and breath the culture. Nevertheless, if you fill your mind with a biblical framework, all you have to do is watch a little TV, read a modern novel, open the newspaper, engage in conversations, and the idols will appear everywhere. In response, we like Paul should be incredibly provoked. This culture worships the self, possessions, entertainment, etc. instead of the true God. We need to be disturbed by that.

Converse - Engage people of different backgrounds in our daily life. Paul used his job as a tentmaker to converse with people in the marketplace. We need to use our everyday life situations to build relationships. Perhaps, we should even put ourselves into contexts where relationships will inevitably happen.

Know Your Culture - Paul, though Athens was a foreign city to him, obviously had a grasp of Stoic and Epicurean philosophy as well as the popular paganism. We need to study and know not only our own position as Christians, but also the thoughts and beliefs of those we engage. What do they value? Where do they find ultimate significance? What biases do they have? What do they have right? What historical events have shaped the way they think (e.g. the early American pioneering spirit as well as the American Revolution have had massive effects upon America's emphasis on the individual)? What are the beliefs behind popular opinions?

Use Language They Can Understand - Paul doesn’t use a bunch of OT terminology. He uses language that his audience can relate to. We should be careful about using church language like “saved.” Furthermore, even the religious language we do use needs to be defined. Words like “God,” “love,” “good,” “sin,” “right,” “wrong,” and many others, have a different meaning to us than to our culture.

Appeal To Popular Culture When Possible - Paul quotes Greek poets in order to make his point. If it works, use it. Find what our culture has right and use examples of popular media in order to make your point. Of course, this requires a very analytical mindset when viewing popular entertainment.

American Narcissism

First, a parenthetical remark. This video is not intended to belittle the wake of destruction caused by hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

When I was in college I remember watching a news broadcast when at the end of a few reports the newscaster said something like, "Also in Guatemala there are reports of up to 16,000 people killed by mudslides. Now let's kick it over to sports." I was horrified. I went to chapel the next day (my school had a chapel you could attend every day) hoping that something would be said. If sixteen people would have been killed in any kind of American natural disaster, we would have been praying about it. Nothing was said. Nothing was ever said. This satirical video by The Onion, though hilarious, does reveal a sickening American narcissism. By the way, I don't think it is limited to one political party. The party more concerned with social justice in the world also fights against the loss of American jobs to foreign countries. But hungry people don't just need food. They also need jobs, which might help a bit with the food. The party that is willing to employ military intervention to bring democracy and freedom to other countries also seems fairly unconcerned about the tyrannies of Aids, malaria, and starvation. And virtually all Americans care very, very little about the Mexican poor on our own continent. Enough of the rant. Enjoy the video.


Hurricane Bound For Texas Slowed By Large Land Mass To The South

Acts 16

Read Acts 16

God is on the move again advancing his church. In this chapter he leads Paul and Silas by way of vision and by way of pain. We’re all about the visions, or at least I think we would be if we had them. And God clearly leads his people on occasion through very mystical sorts of means like He does in vs.9 with Paul. But much more often God leads with pain.

So here is how this story plays out. Paul and co. preach the gospel. They see one convert. They are chased by a freaky, fortune teller all around town. It gets really annoying, so Paul commands the “spirit” to leave the girl alone. She was a hot act, so her owners get pretty ticked off. They stir up the crowd and the city officials. Paul and Silas get mauled and land in the clink. Their feet are put in stocks, they are probably in total darkness, rats and vermin crawling all over them, the ground is most likely covered with human waste, and why is this happening? Because they were being obedient. They follow God and go to where he told them to go in a vision, and that grand vision has landed them in a dungeon. So Paul and Silas sing and pray. It sounds crazy, but that is what they do. Unlike you or I, Paul and Silas do not assume God misled, but that this pain is part of the plan. In fact, you kind of get the feeling they almost expected it. They preach the gospel in the city, and they get one convert. They get thrown into a dungeon, and they assume this is where God must want them to preach the gospel. The pain isn’t an obstacle. It’s just a guidepost. It eventually leads to presenting the gospel to the jailer and his family, who are most astonishingly converted. Those conversions would never have been possible had not Paul and Silas been in prison or been willing to sing the gospel.

So the message that I’m preaching myself today is this: “Don’t waste your pain. Your problems and trials are opening doors of opportunity. Don’t just get abused by your struggles. Assume that they are part of God's plan to direct me to places of ministry.”