Family Friendly?

The following are just some thoughts on what "Family Friendly Ministry" means. I do not know how this all works out in ministry and how one changes how church is done to be truly family friendly. So this is just thoughts that I am working on to see how God leads to incorporate a God driven design for “Family Friendly Ministry.”

Is it just me or does it seem a little contradictory to advertise that a church is “Family Friendly” and then have the family split apart in every direction with numerous “age appropriate” activities. I guess it depends on how you view the family.

I realize that the motives may be good in trying to cater to families by supplying numerous choices for activities but the result is that families are fragmented. The spiritual growth of the children and youth is basically taken over by the Children’s Ministry, Youth Ministry, AWANA or some other activity.

This said I do see that there can be a place for some of these ministries as support for the family as a whole. Such as, youth can have time together but at as an addition to not in place of the family and the same for children, My issue is that while there may or may not need to be different studies on Sunday mornings, for example, what has happened is that this has spawned even further fragmentation with families not even worshiping together. Again, there can be times of added studies that relate to differing life situations and ages but this is in addition to worshiping together.

We have sort of taken the world’s view of supplying so many choices to the consumer that the church is more like a market place than a center of worship and we know what Jesus did when this happened. I think back to Judges 2:10 which speaks of a generation rising that did not know the Lord or the work He had done. As we fragment the family so to will the passing down the truths of scripture be lost. This function will be taken over by others and the family will cease to be what God designed it to be.

I am sure this is not how everyone sees church, obviously as one looks at the church today, but I do think we need to take a hard look and see if it is consumerism that is driving how we do church or scripture. I have to think about how this all works and where it is appropriate for separating ages and such but my personal opinion, for what it is worth, is that these decisions need to be based on how it affects the whole and not necessarily the individual. The individual is important, but as God designed us to be part of a community of believers, just look at Acts, we need to see the individual as part of that community and not simply a lone consumer searching for the next good buy.

This is not a call to go back to some time in the past but a call to be faithful to scripture today. Not to read today’s culture into scripture but to live scripture into the culture and thus change it or at the least be a beacon of light in a lost world.

IT Support and Pastoring

As I do IT work along with Engineering in my secular job I found this at Team Pyromaniac to be quite funny in a weird/sad sort of way, but IT may not be quite as depicted: 26 ways in which doing IT Support is better than being a pastor.

Don't Waste Your Cancer

This is an Article written by John Piper before his recent surgery: Don't Waste Your Cancer

There is much on the horizon for the SBC

After reading a number of blogs this week it seems that the SBC meeting this year could be an important one. From the issues with the IMB and it's proposed policies to the voting in of a new President and the promotion of many higher ups in the convention of Johnny Hunt.

The issues with IMB are complex as it is hard to separate the rights they have as an organization to set policy for who is to be sent to the mission field with the amount of say they should, in essence, have over the local church. Since the SBC really only exists once a year at the annual convention it is issues like this that set the tone for the coming years.

The issue of who will president is important as it to sets a tone. The man that is chosen will say much about the direction of the convention. Will the convention continue to go down the road of focusing on baptisms and confessions rather than going deeper and truly seeking to have a regenerate church membership? I for one would like to see a call for purging the roles of the Southern Baptist Churches of those that by there lack of attendance negate their membership. Let’s get the attendance in weekly gatherings to mirror our roles instead of having membership being so inflated. With this the case it would be good to see the new president be willing to show the way. So many of the men that seem to be mentioned as presidential material have memberships that far exceed their weekly attendance and no matter their baptism numbers the actual ratio of regular attendees to members seems to be spiraling downwards. Also of importance would be to have man that is theologically adept so that regardless of their position on the Doctrines of Grace they can fairly articulate the opposing sides views, this is not the case with many that may be named for this position, especially Johnny Hunt.

There is still hope for the convention but as Tom Nettles shows in his book Ready for Reformation there is work to be done and changes to be made. Reform has to start somewhere and I feel it will tend to come from those that may not have been so ingrained in Southern Baptist life or those that have been on the front lines for some time and now have more reinforcements to work towards the needed reforms.

Tom Ascol’s blog is a good source of information on this and Tom has a good manner in his dealing with the issues.

What Does Truth Matter?

As I was walking by a Barnes and Noble I noticed something in the window that speaks, at least to me, volumes. There, prominently presented, in a window display was large layout of the book A Million Little Pieces. This is the book that has recently shown to contain much fabricated material when it was supposed to be showing the actual happenings of a man in the midst alcoholism, drug addiction, and criminal behavior. Once it was revealed as not what it appeared to be Oprah Winfrey had the author on to speak about this. Winfrey was led to this as she was largely responsible for building up this book and making it a best seller.

The point is that even after it has been revealed to be based on falsehoods it is still being sold and promoted. The world cares little about truth or thinks so little of it that even if a story is fake but gives them some sort of feeling it is OK.

While I realize that it is the state of man’s heart that leads to denying the Gospel we can also from this see why when speaking of truth to people to day it is not all that important to them. This is also why we need to pray for God to work on peoples hearts so they do see truth. Also, churches need to not be enamored by the new emergent look at truth or lack being able to know truth for certain. We, the church, need to preach the truth because in the end the church may be the last refuge of truth as the world spirals further into relativism.

Don’t forget the next big blockbuster movie to hit the big screen will filled with half truths and blatant falsehoods and people will flock too it, The Da Vinci Code.

The new Pope of the Emerging church?

Well maybe he is just a cardinal since Brian Mclaren may be the Pope.

In my wanderings around the web it is interesting to see how often Bono, of U2 fame for those that do not know, is looked to as some sort of enlightened follower of Christ. People seem to clamor to see if he is a Christian or not, obviously his answers to this question are not enough or they would settled the issue long ago. In reality he answers questions with regards to his faith as clearly as most in the Emergent movement. His rhetoric is essentially focused on social issues and as a Christian I would agree that often we fall short in doing what we can. But when it comes to the spiritual bankruptcy of the world he appears to leave well enough alone or is quite vague.

This all leads me to ask: Why is it that Christians are forever looking for that silver bullet to slay the dragon? The Christian community is looking for the next author (Anne Rice), movie star (Jane Fonda), or Rock Star (once it was Bob Dylan and now it is Bono) to cling on to so as to sort of say to the world look who we have. We do the same with other cultural trappings such as movies (The Passion). Well for one I do not see any thing greater about the salvation of a movie star than the salvation of a neighbor or co-worker. We are a culture of excess and it has invaded the Christian world. We have bought into the celebrity-itus, I am sure that is not a word, and constantly laud praise on those that are famous who proclaim to know Christ. We neglect to see that throughout scripture God did not use the famous as much as He used the unlikely; Abraham, Joseph, Moses and David (among others) all leading up to the most unlikely, in the eyes of the world, Christ.

Back to Bono, here are some articles:

Andy Stanley and Bono: Together at Last!
Bono Lauds, Prods Prayer Breakfast
St. Bono Help of Christians

Covenant Theology and Baptists

I have been listening to some very good talks on Covenant Theology from the 2005 Founders Conference Southwest. They do a very good job of explaining how Covenant Theology is not new for Baptists and especially is not new for Southern Baptists. How you interpret scripture will drive your interpretation of the Covenants and how they apply to the church today. Covent Theology also helps one to see that the Church is not simply a parenthesis but has been part of God’s plan from eternity. Covent Theology should not be mistakenly seen as Replacement Theology, as I think some do, but instead shows how all believers are the church, both Jew and Gentile.

Listen for yourselves as you can download the MP3s from the Spurgeon Baptist Association of Churches in Kansas. I encourage you to listen and see how God has worked from the beginning to bring His chosen people, both Jew and gentile, to Himself.

Ready for Reformation

I have just started reading Ready for Reformation: Bringing Authentic Reformation to the Southern Baptist Churches by Tom Nettles and am finding it a very good read. In actuality the call for reformation he makes could just as easily be made for many other denominations.

I have not gotten far but am reading on preaching and its shallowness in many SBC churches and for that matter much of the church as a whole. To relate the importance of solid preaching to the life of the church Nettles says:

“The believer’s only opportunity to hear an argument mounted against the torrent of temporality pressed daily and hourly into his consciousness comes when a Christian minister stands to preach the Word of God. Will he hear anything that challenges and strips bare the lies that have been presses on him from every quarter? Or will he hear a few assertions from a biblical text surrounded by warm stories garnished with the trappings of sentimentality and never enter substantially into truth? Will he be called on without doctrinal instruction to pull himself together and get with it for Christ, decide to do right, and make Christ the center of life?” (Page 32)

These are strong words but rightly needed in today’s day of “don’t worry be happy” preaching. With so many preachers afraid to even mention sin in case it may somehow harm the sensibilities of his listeners and even reduce the size of his congregation it is refreshing to see one, Tom Nettles, who is in a position to foster change make such calls for reformation in preaching. This is a wake up call for all, including myself, to make sure that what we preach is not molded so as to stoke the ego’s of our listeners but to encourage God driven change in their lives and thus the life of the church by preaching the Word of God as if it truly is the Word of God.

To this point the book is not simply a critique of what is wrong but has solid guidance for change and a feeling that change can come by the hand of God on His people. All is not lost to the worldliness of the current church and specifically to the text many SBC churches.

Also, check out Tom Ascol’s comments from late last year when the book came out:

Ready for Reformation?
Ready for Reformation? Pt2
Ready for Reformation? Pt 3
Ready for Reformation? Pt4
Ready for Reformation? Pt5
Ready for Reformation? Pt6

I plan on writing more as I go through this book.

Homosexual Activism and the SBC

Tom Ascol recenlty wrote on a conversation he had with a gay activist. This is a very good article to see how one can be biblical, stand ones ground on truth and also show love.

Examining Ones Faith

The following is an article written by Steve Camp that deals with a touchy area with most professing believers, that of examining their faith to see if it is true. I would encourage you to read this and contemplate the questions at the end. To know where you stand with God is of utmost importance. I can speak from personal testimony that if I had been asked these questions during the 8 years I thought I was a Christian I would have understood earlier my true position with God.



Could I Be Called a Christian?
...what is the evidence of your salvation

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!... " 2Corinthians. 13:5

We all have PhD’s in rationalizing our behavior; we have all graduated with high honors. Most people are "good Christians" in their own judgment and by their own assessment. But we can never render the final verdict upon ourselves for our own conscience is defiled and our discernment skewed. The Apostle Paul gives this insight on the flawed value of self-analysis, "For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord" (1 Corinthians 4:4 emphasis added).

The Narrow Road
If Paul, being the greatest Christian to ever live, would not trust - dare not trust his own self-evaluation, how much more we?. It is a narrow road that leads to heaven (Matt. 7:12ff) and few are they that find it. As Matthew Mead so appropriately states, "...self-love deceiveth truth for its own interest." The heart of man is the greatest imposter and cheat in the world; God himself states it, "The heart is deceitful above all things [and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)]. Despite that astounding appraisal of the human condition, we are still commanded to take self-inventory. We must judge ourselves not by the standard of ourselves, but by the Word of God; by the Lord's standard and rule (2 Timothy 3:16-16); by the Lord's wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:24-25); by the Lord's divine verdicts (Psalm 19:9)..

The Almost Christian
Therefore, we must examine ourselves--eliminating ourselves as the standard, the rule, the judge and jury. Sunday morning worship services in America are littered with thousands of people pretend­ing to be Christians. They enjoy the music, support church programs, find benefit and solace in a stirring sermon, relish in the fellowship, and may even serve as an elder, deacon or sunday school teacher - "yet be no better than almost a Christian" as Mead decisively proclaims. They have come to church but have never come to Christ! They haven't taken stock of their spiritual condition - they have not examined themselves. And if by chance they do, it is not with the probing double edged sword of God's Word (Hebrews 4:12), but with the crooked plumbline of moral standards, good works, philanthropic gestures, acts of kindness or good will, and worse -religion. They are moral people headed for a "moral" hell. Jeremiah Burroughs, a Puritan divine, cuts through that illegitimate prideful system of useless righteousness when he says, "repent not that you are civil, but repent that you are no more than civil." One of the marks of a true Christian is that he embraces a life of repentance - he loves God and hates sin (2 Timothy 2:19).

To still be in love with your sin and "wedded to your idols", as Spurgeon says, is to "insult the gospel, pervert the truth and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness." The Christian life is not marked by a life of disobedience, unbridled passion, unbroken pride and unguarded pleasure. The true Christian is one that is evidenced by a life of obedience, a life of holiness, a life of righteousness, a life of virtue, a life of godliness, a life of Christ-likeness!

How May I Know I Am Elect?
A.W. Pink gives seven points of reflection that I would urge you to use as a thermometer to take the temperature of your spiritual health.

First by the Word of God having come in divine power to the soul so that my self-complacency is shattered and my self-righteousness is renounced.

Second, by the Holy Spirit convicting me of my woeful, guilty and lost condition.

Third, by having had revealed to me the suitability and sufficiency of Christ to meet my desperate case and by divinely given faith causing me to lay hold of and rest upon Him as my only hope.

Fourth, by the marks of the new nature within me - a love for God; an appetite for spiritual things; a longing for holiness; a seeking after conformity to Christ.

Fifth, by the resistance the new nature makes to the old, causing me to hate sin and loathe myself for it.

Sixth, by avoiding everything which is condemned by God's Word and by sincerely repenting of and humbly confessing every transgression. Failure at this point will surely bring a dark cloud over our assurance causing the Spirit to withhold His witness.

Seventh, by giving all diligence to cultivate the Christian graces, and using all diligence to this end. Scripture encourages healthy self-scrutiny.

"Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you" (2 Peter 1:10a). No where more important should this examination occur than when approaching the table of grace - holy communion (1 Corinthians 11:28). John MacArthur reminds us, "Self-examination is as important today as ever. When statistics tells that more than a billion people in the world are Christians, one must wonder who established the criteria. Such figures certainly do not square with what Jesus said about many on the broad road and few on the narrow." (Matthew 7:13-14).

Even those who belong to the right church can be deceived and utterly devoid of the righteousness of God through Christ... The Bible teaches clearly that the evidence of God's work in a life is the inevitable fruit of transformed behavior (1 John 3:10). Faith that does not result in righteous living is dead and cannot save (James 2:14-17). Professing Christians utterly lacking the fruit of true righteousness will find no biblical basis for assurance they are saved (1 John 2:4). These words are not meant to spark feelings of doubt about your salvation if you are genuinely saved. However, they are meant to prick the hearts of those who have a false security in themselves, based on good works absent of true faith. I would implore you to turn the penetrating laser of the Word of God upon your life. Is it "wood, hay and stubble", that will ultimately burn, or will your life stand the test and be proved to be "gold, silver and precious stones"? (1 Corinthians 3:10-15). Is there enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian?

DIGGING DEEPER
*"The Almost Christian Discovered" by Matthew Mead
*"The True Christian Love For the Unseen Christ" by Thomas Vincent

LIFE APPLICATION
1. Think of one example from the past week in which you rationalized or made excuses for some sinful action or attitude on your part.

2. Why is the Word of God the only sure and absolute standard by which we are to examine ourselves, as opposed to our own moral preference or presupposed religious/social expecta­tions?

3. Ponder the following Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 2 Corinthians 6:11; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:19; Ephesians 4:15. Do you think sanctification (growth in holiness and conformity to Christ) is in any way optional for the believer?

4. What is the evidence of a true believer? Is this evidence characteristic of your won life in light of 2 Corinthians 13:5?

5. What areas in your life would cast doubt in the minds of those around you that you are indeed a Christian? Will you commit these areas to the Lord?

New Blog Site: Together for the Gospel (T4G)

This should be a good site to keep up on: Together for the Gospel

The following is the description fo the site:

The T4G Blog is an ongoing public conversation between Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, and Albert Mohler. The authors welcome your comments and may read and respond to them in their posts. However, the only comments that will be available for public viewing are those submitted by the four authors themselves.

One last (I think) link on End of the Spear

Al Mohloer writes a good article on The Controversy Over "The End of the Spear".

More on the End of the Spear

Here is a link to an interview with Chad Allen on the movie End of the Spear. As has been shown over the last week or so he does see this movie as something other than it should be. Here is a section of the interview where he is asked what the movie is about:

WCT: Ultimately, what is this movie about?

CA: Love. It’s a shame that this word is almost overused, but here it involves transformation, forgiveness, passion and God.

He does not see it as a movie about God changing lives.

Also, of concern is the following:

CA: Here’s the thing: There will continue to be [ different ways of thinking ] . If our goal is for all of us to think the same, we’ve got the wrong goal. I was watching a play the other night and someone mentioned how the world is like a stained-glass window and we each have our own colors in that glass with God being the light that shines through it. That’s the way I choose to see it. I don’t need to be right; I just need to be respected.
I’ve really been heartened by the number of Christians who have said that [ homosexuality ] is not a sin and that we should just love and respect each other. Even, Pat Robertson has a link to my Web site—and it’s done in a nice way.

WCT: Is this the same Pat Robertson who said that [ Israeli Prime Minister ] Ariel Sharon’s recent stroke was a sign from God?

CA: Well, it’s his group. I’m not exactly sure who’s behind it. I couldn’t believe it, either.
So now homosexuality is moved out of the realm of sin. Yes we can and should love the person trapped in the gay lifestyle but true love will reveal it is a sin.

Also, if anyone can find the link from Pat Robertson mentioned above let me know as I did not find one. All that I found was a link on the 700 Club page to the movie and it did not deal with this subject. I was curious as to what "..done in a nice way." meant.

Again read the interview and see for yourself if this movie will further the glory of God or man.

Also, I would say that we should not forget to pray for Chad, as we should pray for all of those that are lost, that God would change his heart to see the sin he is and call on God for forgiveness. We should also take the time to relfect on our own lives as we deal with sin on a daily basis and make sure we are repenting of our own sin.

A revealing Larry King

Last Night on Larry King Live the topic was on Brokeback Mountain and gay marriage. The conversation included Al Mohler and Chad Allen. Read the transcripts, here, and you will see that Chad Allen's view that he espouses is to say that homosexuality and Christianity are compatible. Again, as I have said before you have to make the decision with regards to The End of the Spear, which Chad Allen portrays Nate and Steve Saint, for yourselves but it seems clear that the message Allen sends and promotes is that there is not an issue between Christianity and homosexuality. Actually it is just as disturbing that his form of Christianity seems to be very moldable to how each individual understands it instead of grounded in God's word alone.

Here is a section of the transcript that shows how Allen's Christianity is very syncretistic:

CALLER: Chad, by whose standard do you think that it's right to live the way you have chosen to live?

ALLEN: By the standard that I judge all of my actions. These days I judge all of my actions by my relationship with God of my understanding. It is a deep-founded, faith-based belief in God based upon the work that I've done growing up as a Catholic boy and then reaching out to Buddhism philosophy, to Hindu philosophy, to Native American beliefs and finally as I got through my course with addiction and alcoholism and finding a higher power that worked for me.

So again decide for yourslef.


I have seen numerous posts on other sites asking why homosexuality is being singled out over other sins with regards to this case. Well it is in this case the sin that is being promoted. I can tell you if the actor was a Adultery Activist, if there is such a thing, or an Activist for any other sin I would be equally vocal.

Top 50 Most Influential Christians

I was reading a list of the TOP 50 MOST INFLUENTIAL CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA and began to wonder if it was a commentary on those that proclaim to be Christians or on the organization, and those that voted. As one looks at the list I would agree that they are influential, not necessarily for the good, but never the less influential.

What is said when person number one, T.D. Jakes, does not believe in the historic definition of the trinity. From all I have read of him and heard from him it seems clear that he side steps the issue and this would seem to be due to his apparent Oneness Pentecostalism views.

Next on the list is a man, Joel Osteen, that has proclaimed on TV and in print that he does not preach on sin, what happened to the whole council of God, and had to side step comments on Larry King where he was heard to say that Christ may not be the only way to heaven. While he did apologize and try and do damage control, and may actual not believe what he said, it becomes clear that his theology is lacking if he cannot make an easy stand on the issue of the exclusivity of Christianity.

The rest of the list includes such notables as Paul Crouch (#6), of TBN Fame, Robert Schuller (#10), Benny Hinn (#30), Creflo Dollar (#36). It is clear that the Health, Wealth, Prosperity icons are doing well and being heard. What should make us all uncomfortable is that I would agree that these people probably are influential and how they influence is not for the Glory of God but the glory of man. The list finishes with that icon of Christianity at #50, Dr. Phil, who regularly on his show lifts up the individual to be of the utmost important being.

By the way the Emergent church is well represented as well by Rob Bell (#25), Leonard Sweet (#32) and Brian Mclaren (#42).

It takes to #15 (Joni Eareckson Tada) to see a person I would consider worthy of influencing people. You then have to go to #24 (John Piper) to see one of the men that has greatly influenced me and countless others. Apart from these two I do not find much to be encouraged about. Where is John MacArthur, Albert Mohler and others. I realize that when you look closely at the list you find that to be influential you need to be on TV and then make sure that in all you do you dare not reveal to people that there is no good in them apart from Christ changing of the heart. Humanism is live and well.

The Futility of the Seeker Movement

William E. Brown, PhD, associate professor of Evangelism and Church Planting and Nehemiah Project director at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina has written an article for SBC Life, The Seeker, that delves into the whole “seeker” movement. It is refreshing to see an article that acknowledges that man does not seek after God without God first changing the person’s heart and thus his desires.

I do wonder how many in the SBC will read this article and realize the folly of so many of the methods used to “Grow Churches.” From catching the next wave, currently Purpose, to organizing around a smorgasbord of “ancient” rituals (Emergent) churches seem to be more promoting the individual rather than God. The adage “what you do to bring them in you will need to do to keep them” when applied to the church means those churches that cater to the unregenerate will forever be having to change what they do. Also, how you evangelize says much about your view of the Gospel and that is clearly evident in today’s church growth movement. What is said is that man’s will is paramount to God’s sovereignty and just as important is that man’s desires trump scripture. Scripture is so clear, as seen in John 10, that only those that already belong to God, His sheep, will hear His voice so why does the church seem to look everywhere but scripture to “do” church? So biblically there is not such thing as an unregenerate seeker.

I pray that those that read this article will see the futility, regardless of the size of the church, of the seeker movement, in whatever form it presents itself, and change what they do. That they will replace results based evangelism with scripture based evangelism. I now that those that this article speaks about will claim to rely on scripture but I think this is simply a case of making scripture fit ones methods rather than methods fitting scripture. As with all things orthodoxy leads to orthopraxy, right doctrine leads to right practice.



For a video that asks “Do You Go To a “Me Church”, click on picture below.

The End of the Spear movie concerns

In the last couple days I have been reading a number of articles regarding the up coming movie “The End of the Spear”. Some are concerned about the fact that the Gospel message is not as clear as it could be and while I may understand that this was done to make the movie more marketable it is never the less sad to see. Of more concern is that the main character that plays both Nate and Steve Saint is an openly gay activist. Some comments have been made that we all sin and if we avoided those that sin we would not be able to do anything. However I think the point of concern is that in a story that is openly Christian, even if the story is not told as clearly, the choice of a gay activist is disconcerting. Also, disconcerting is that Chad Allen, the actor in question, has made comments that seem to say this movie can be used to the benefit of the gay community, see link below to Sharper Iron article.

We all have to make our own decisions on these issues but I know that this has put a damper on my enthusiasm to see this movie. To tell the truth I would have the same concern if it was revealed that the actor was an open womanizer or adultery so it is not the issue of homosexuality. In actuality it is the activism of Allen and that a story of men who were committed to Christ would be used to promote an agenda that is anti-Christian. It is not even the issue of sin as we all sin but it is the fact that Allen does not find fault in his sin and even wants to promote it. There is a vast difference between one who sins and is convicted by the Holy Spirit and is in the process of change and one who relishes and denies what they do is sin as Chad Allen seems to do.

Jason Janz at Sharper Iron writes on this subject that may give more insight. If you do not see the movie I would recommend seeing the documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor.

Affix your focus on the glory of Christ

In God is the Gospel John Piper, in Chapter 6, talks about “The Glory of Christ in Evangelism, Missions and Sanctification” and this is one of the places were the concept Piper is writing on touches the church by impacting the people that fill her.

By looking at 2 Cor 3:18 three things are revealed that impact the church. First is that the pathway to Christ-likeness is “beholding the glory of the Lord”, beholding is becoming (page 90). God changes us by enabling us to see the glory of Christ. This helps us see that it is not our smarts or presentation that reveals Christ to others but God who does this. This does not mean we are to be lackadaisical about sharing our faith but that in the end it is God that reveals His glory and not us.

Secondly on page 92 the process of sanctification and the dynamics of transformation is shown to be intimately tied to what we admire and fix our attention on. This lets the church see the importance of discipleship and not simply convert making. The road of sanctification is one that relies on being focused on the beauty of Christ and not ourselves and our needs.

Thirdly, the transformation that comes from beholding the glory of Christ in the Gospel does not happen in one moment but over time, incrementally (page 93). The process of discipleship is a journey not a sprint. But what is also seen in this is that there is change and not simply stagnation. We are encouraged by the fact that change is not instantaneous but also convicts that change is an integral part of the Christian walk.

These three insights help us see the importance of the gospel in everyday life. If we simply see the gospel as the benefits we get and not God Himself then we will affix our focus on those benefits and in the end on ourselves. The end result is narcissism, the narcissism that appears to permeate the church. Having a correct view of the Gospel also affects how we portray the Gospel to people on a regular basis. The concept of cross bearing is replaced with self aggrandizement when man is made much of instead of making much of Christ.

I pray that we become a church that’s focus in on Christ and His glory and not ourselves. That we truly be being conformed to His likeness by affixing our gave on His beauty constantly. That we be the Church God desires.

Note on John Piper

From reading Justin Taylor's blog- Between Two Worlds John Piper has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. I would suggest reading the letter Piper worte to his congregation as it is in the midst of the circumstances of life that ones true theology comes to the surface:

Here is the article: Pray for Piper

Keep John Piper and his family in your prayers and also pray that he will be used as much through this circumstance of life as thorugh his teaching.

New Devotional Site

I have started a daily devotional site and will try and have at least one daily devotional in the morning and when possible one in the evening as well. A large part of the devotions will come from a devotion I was led to by Tom Ascol.

The site is called For His Glory-Devotions and can be found at the following link: For His Glory-Devotions

If you want to add a news feed you can add it HERE.