How Britain is Turning Christianity Into a Crime

I was reading an article over at The Banner of Truth Trust, How Britain is Turning Christianity Into a Crime, by Melanie Phillips (the author of Londonistan ) about Christianity in Britain.

Although Britain is small we in the US do not seem to be far behind them in many cultural aspects and if this is true are we far behind in Christianity being a crime.

In speaking about what is happening in Britain she says:

“How long will it be before Christianity becomes illegal in Britain? This is no longer the utterly absurd and offensive question that on first blush it would appear to be. An evangelical Christian campaigner, Stephen Green was arrested and charged last weekend with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour. So what was this behaviour? Merely trying peacefully to hand out leaflets at a gay rally in Cardiff”

She then says at the end of the article:

“It is a process before which the Church of England has long been on its knees, going with the flow of moral cultural collapse in accordance with the doctrine of multiculturalism — and then wondering why its churches are so empty, while those of uncompromising evangelicals such as Stephen Green are packed to the rafters.

As a result, Christianity is being steadily removed from the public sphere. Various councils have banned Christmas on the grounds that it is “too Christian” and therefore “offensive” to people of other faiths, and are replacing it with meaningless “winter festivals”. This attack on Christianity is not merely something that seems straight out of Alice in Wonderland. It is not merely a threat to freedom of speech and religious expression. It is a fundamental onslaught on the national identity and bedrock values of this country — and as such will destroy those freedoms which Christianity itself first created.”

While what is happening there is disturbing it is good that we see that the idea of Christianity being a crime in so called civilized countries is not all that far fetched. All too often we equate this sort of issue to third world countries but it is not just in underdeveloped countries that Christians are being looked at differently.

The Works of Jonathan Edwards Online

The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University has made available approximately 25,000 pages of his writings. You can check them out at The Works of Jonathan Edwards Online.

Jonathan Edwards Is My Homeboy T-Shirt

You can now get your Jonathan Edwards Is My Homeboy T-Shirt as seen in the Christianity Today article called Young, Restless, Reformed.

What I'm Reading and Listening to

What I'm reading:

What Jesus Demands from the World - John Piper

I have started reading this book and so far it is very good. While many may step back at the idea of "Demands" the principle that Piper shows is that as believers and indwelled with the Holy Spirit we should not see these demands as burdensome but as a delight.

The Last Disciple - Hank Hanegraaff and Sigmund Brouwer

This book did not appear to get much press as it is definitely the antithesis to the Left Behind series. I even heard there was some controversy with some stores carrying it as it was in its own way showing the faults in the Left Behind books. I think this is a good read and it does show how people would have read the scriptures in the first century.

What I'm listening to:

This is a debate between Gene Cook, Jr. and Dwight Nave concerning The Relationship Between Israel and the Church. So far it has been good. There is an MP3 at the site that you can download. Ihave not finished listening yet but did notice that Dwight Nave uses as one of his arguments that since Martin Luther came to hate the Jews and since he believed in the covenant theology then covenant theology is not only wrong but bad. I also saw that one of the comments on the Fide-O site also used this argument. Why is it that people seem to infer that since people can misuse theology that makes the theology incorrect. It is not the actions of individuals that make theology correct or incorrect but the words of God. Does not the world use this argument against Christianity and I am sure Mr. Nave would argue against using such logic.

I am also listening to the MP3s from the Desiring God 2006 Conference

The Gathered Church - Pt 3

As I continue to contemplate how I feel the gathered church should function, I continually come up against issues that are less about the bible and more about culture and tradition. Such issues as having Sunday School, Youth groups and other such programs are often taken as a given even though I think there is little, if any, biblical grounds for many of these programs.

I have found that since I take more of a “Regulative Principle” view of the church it becomes more restrictive in what I see we can do in the church. I feel scripture reveals that God has the right, and does, regulate how He is to be worshipped so we are not free to do whatever it is we feel like when it comes to worship. I think it is a danger to take the stand that as long as a certain activity is not forbidden one can go ahead and do it. This is where I think many programs of the church have gone down a wrong path. We have often taken a world view, rather than a Christian view, that sees a certain way of doing things and integrated it into the church. One example is the way we often design how we teach people that says we must separate people by any number of characteristics with age being the most prevalent.

When one looks at scripture about the only criteria for separating people may be by gender but that is about it. While the bible may not explicitly restrict age segregation it does not call for it either. So I would see the desire to segregate by age or even social factors as being more of a humanistic view than a biblical one. People see it as working, or appearing to work, in the world and the pragmatic side of our brains takes over and then tries to Christianize the whole concept. This said, none of this says that people may not meet around some common issue but I think it is detrimental to do this artificially and to do this as the prime gathering point of the church.

This whole concept of segregation also appears to show itself in how churches are designed to reach certain types of people. While there may be reasons given I again do not see this concept in scripture. While Paul may have spoken differently to Jews than he did with Gentiles this is not how churches were formed. It is when we realize that it is God who changes hearts and makes the Gospel understandable that we can then see what we need to do in the gathering of the church is to be consistent in preaching the word and living out the word and leave the results to God.

So next, I think I will try and show what I would see as an example of how the gathered church should gather. In doing this I fully understand that how one changes the way the church functions in an existing church is much different than how one would do things if just starting a church. For the existing church the main way to change things is through preaching, teaching, and prayer. If the concepts that are sought after are taught and shown from scripture people will gradually see what needs to be done.

The new church needs to start with a core group that has a common vision so that they can deal with other issues while the basic structure and vision of the church does not become and area of contention. This may mean a new church may not actually function as a biblical church in its start up phase while the leadership is formed and the direction is formed.

More to come.

The Love of God

This last Lord’s Day we were talking about love in Sunday Morning Bible Study as we went through 1 John. The issue was that simply saying “God is Love” needs to be explained as the word “Love” itself has so many meanings with the most prevalent today having to do with feelings and emotions more than anything. So as I was looking at Steve Camp’s site, Camp on This, he had a section out of A.W. Pink’s book The Attributes of God dealing with the love of God. I have reprinted the section on the “The Love of God” below. You can read the entire book on line: The Attributes of God.

THE LOVE OF GOD
A.W. Pink

There are three things told us in Scripture concerning the nature of God. First, "God is spirit" (John 4:24). In the Greek there is no indefinite article, and to say "God is a spirit" is most objectionable, for it places Him in a class with others. God is "spirit" in the highest sense. Because He is "spirit" He is incorporeal, having no visible substance. Had God a tangible body, He would not be omnipresent, He would be limited to one place; because He is spirit He fills heaven and earth. Second, God is light (1 John 1:5), which is the opposite of "darkness." In Scripture "darkness" stands for sin, evil, death; and "light" for holiness, goodness, life. God is light, means that He is the sum of all excellency. Third, "God is love" (1 John 4:8). It is not simply that God "loves," but that He is Love itself. Love is not merely one of His attributes, but His very nature.


There are many today who talk about the love of God, who are total strangers to the God of love. The Divine love is commonly regarded as a species of amiable weakness, a sort of good-natured indulgence; it is reduced to a mere sickly sentiment, patterned after human emotion. Now the truth is that on this, as on everything else, our thoughts need to be formed and regulated by what is revealed thereon in Holy Scripture. That there is urgent need for this is apparent not only from the ignorance which so generally prevails, but also from the low state of spirituality which is now so sadly evident everywhere among professing Christians. How little real love there is for God. One chief reason for this is because our hearts are so little occupied with His wondrous love for His people. The better we are acquainted with His love—its character, fulness, blessedness—the more will our hearts be drawn out in love to Him.


1. The love of God is uninfluenced. By this we mean, there was nothing whatever in the objects of His love to call it into exercise, nothing in the creature to attract or prompt it. The love which one creature has for another is because of something in them; but the love of God is free, spontaneous, uncaused. The only reason why God loves any is found in His own sovereign will: "The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved thee" (Deut. 7:7,8). God has loved His people from everlasting, and therefore nothing of the creature can be the cause of what is found in God from eternity. He loves from Himself: "according to His own purpose" (2 Tim. 1:9).
"We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). God did not love us because we loved Him, but He loved us before we had a particle of love for Him. Had God loved us in return for ours, then it would not be spontaneous on His part; but because He loved us when we were loveless, it is clear that His love was uninfluenced. It is highly important if God is to be honored and the heart of His child established, that we should be quite clear upon this precious truth. God’s love for me, and for each of "His own," was entirely unmoved by anything in them. What was there in me to attract the heart of God? Absolutely nothing. But, to the contrary, everything to repel Him, everything calculated to make Him loathe me—sinful, depraved, a mass of corruption, with "no good thing" in me.
"What was there in me that could merit esteem,Or give the Creator delight?‘Twas even so, Father, I ever must sing,Because it seemed good, in Thy sight."

2. It is eternal. This of necessity. God Himself is eternal, and God is love; therefore, as God Himself had no beginning, His love had none. Granted that such a concept far transcends the grasp of our feeble minds, nevertheless, where we cannot comprehend, we can bow in adoring worship. How clear is the testimony of Jeremiah 31:3, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." How blessed to know that the great and holy God loved His people before heaven and earth were called into existence, that He had set His heart upon them from all eternity. Clear proof is this that His love is spontaneous, for He loved them endless ages before they had any being.
The same precious truth is set forth in Ephesians 1:4,5, "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him. In love having predestinated us." What praise should this evoke from each of His children! How tranquilizing for the heart: since God’s love toward me had no beginning, it can have no ending! Since it be true that "from everlasting to everlasting" He is God, and since God is "love," then it is equally true that "from everlasting to everlasting" He loves His people.


3. It is sovereign. This also is self-evident. God Himself is sovereign, under obligations to none, a law unto Himself, acting always according to His own imperial pleasure. Since God be sovereign, and since He be love, it necessarily follows that His love is sovereign. Because God is God, He does as He pleases; because God is love, He loves whom He pleases. Such is His own express affirmation: "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" (Rom. 9:19). There was no more reason in Jacob why he should be the object of Divine love, than there was in Esau. They both had the same parents, and were born at the same time, being twins; yet God loved the one and hated the other! Why? Because it pleased Him to do so.
The sovereignty of God’s love necessarily follows from the fact that it is uninfluenced by anything in the creature. Thus, to affirm that the cause of His love lies in God Himself, is only another way of saying, He loves whom He pleases. For a moment, assume the opposite. Suppose God’s love were regulated by anything else than His will, in such a case He would love by rule, and loving by rule He would be under a law of love, and then so far from being free, God would Himself be ruled by law. "In love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to"—what? Some excellency which He foresaw in them? No; what then? "According to the good pleasure of His will" (Eph. 1:4,5).


4. It is infinite. Everything about God is infinite. His essence fills heaven and earth. His wisdom is illimitable, for He knows everything of the past, present and future. His power is unbounded, for there is nothing too hard for Him. So His love is without limit. There is a depth to it which none can fathom; there is a height to it which none can scale; there is a length and breadth to it which defies measurement, by any creature-standard. Beautifully is this intimated in Ephesians 2:4: But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us: the word "great" there is parallel with the "God so loved" of John 3:16. It tells us that the love of God is so transcendent it cannot be estimated.
No tongue can fully express the infinitude of God’s love, or any mind comprehend it: it "passeth knowledge" Eph. 3:19). The most extensive ideas that a finite mind can frame about Divine love, are infinitely below its true nature. The heaven is not so far above the earth as the goodness of God is beyond the most raised conceptions which we are able to form of it. It is an ocean which swells higher than all the mountains of opposition in such as are the objects of it. It is a fountain from which flows all necessary good to all those who are interested in it (John Brine, 1743).


5. It is immutable. As with God Himself there is "no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17), so His love knows neither change or diminution. The worm Jacob supplies a forceful example of this: "Jacob have I loved," declared Jehovah, and despite all his unbelief and waywardness, He never ceased to love him. John 13:1 furnishes another beautiful illustration. That very night one of the apostles would say, "Show us the Father"; another would deny Him with cursings; all of them would be scandalized by and forsake Him. Nevertheless "having loved His own which were in the world, He love them unto the end." The Divine love is subject to no vicissitudes. Divine love is "strong as death ... many waters cannot quench it" (Song of Sol. 8:6,7). Nothing can separate from it: Romans 8:35-39.
"His love no end nor measure knows,No change can turn its course,Eternally the same it flowsFrom one eternal source."

6. It is holy. God’s love is not regulated by caprice passion, or sentiment, but by principle. Just as His grace reigns not at the expense of it, but "through righteousness" (Rom. 5:21), so His love never conflicts with His holiness. "God is light" (1 John 1:5) is mentioned before "God is love" (1 John 4:8). God’s love is no mere amiable weakness, or effeminate softness. Scripture declares, "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth" (Heb. 12:6). God will not wink at sin, even in His own people. His love is pure, unmixed with any maudlin sentimentality.


7. It is gracious. The love and favor of God are inseparable. This is clearly brought out in Romans 8:32-39. What that love is from which there can be no "separation," is easily perceived from the design and scope of the immediate context: it is that goodwill and grace of God which determined Him to give His Son for sinners. That love was the impulsive power of Christ’s incarnation: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). Christ died not in order to make God love us, but because He did love His people, Calvary is the supreme demonstration of Divine love. Whenever you are tempted to doubt the love of God, Christian reader, go back to Calvary.


Here then is abundant cause for trust and patience under Divine affliction. Christ was beloved of the Father, yet He was not exempted from poverty, disgrace, and persecution. He hungered and thirsted. Thus, it was not incompatible with God’s love for Christ when He permitted men to spit upon and smite Him. Then let no Christian call into question God’s love when he is brought under painful afflictions and trials. God did not enrich Christ on earth with temporal prosperity, for "He had not where to lay His head." But He did give Him the Spirit "without measure" (John 3:34). Learn then that spiritual blessings are the principal gifts of Divine love. How blessed to know that when the world hates us ,God loves us!

Around the Blogosphere

The Desiring God 2006 Conference Messages are available for download.

Cindy Swanson interviews Justin Taylor about the book Suffering and the Sovereignty of God which he and John Piper edited.

Over at Old Truth.com the question is asked: Should Church Services Ever Be Evangelistic?

Christianity Today has put out their list of: The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals
- I have never heard of the #1 choice while I have heard of many of the others

Sports and the Christian

Steve Camp over at CampOnThis has a good article by David Cunningham called: SPORTSOLOGY: SPORTS AND THE CHRISTIAN. Being one who does enjoy sports it is always difficult to see where sports and faith fit together. My fear is that in all too many instances sports takes precedence and one deals with faith issues with what time is left which is often little or none. With so many things going on in the lives of people today I truly find it hard to see how sports can be as big a part of believers lives as it is. This is not to say that sports are to be done away with, even though for some that may be the answer, but it for sure needs to be put in the correct perspective.

If we remember that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever then maybe we can get sports to where it should be. Until that time sports will be the altar that all too many people worship at.

The Gathered Church - Pt 2

As I continue to work at what I think a healthy gathering of believers looks like I realize that not everybody sees things the same way. This is one of those areas that seems too often gets to be divisive when it should not, if one is to lead a church then those leading should be fully persuaded in how they will do things. This does not mean they will have everything figured out but why would one do something they are not persuaded is correct. So if I put forward a model, and I really hate the word model, I believe is both biblical and correct it is because I am persuaded by scripture that it is so. When it comes to church I really do think that too much that is done today is done based on the world’s desires and not God’s.

We do need to deal with the results of sin in people’s lives, but how much of what we do in church is a direct result of wrong actions of the congregation and the world around us? We have children’s ministry and nursery because parents feel that on the one day that a family should be together they want to just be alone so they ship their children off to the care of others thus really making children’s ministry more of a day care than anything else. We allow our children to be taught by others because we do not do so ourselves. So in the end, the result is that children are separated out and segregated from the rest of the congregation. Some churches do not even allow children below certain ages into the main worship of the church, which I am not ashamed to say is wrong. What boggles my mind on this is that this in essence bars the children, the ones Christ said to bring to Him (Matt 19:14 and others), from the corporate worship. This is all done, in my opinion, out of some individualistic feeling of needing to have their alone time with God at corporate worship.

We have youth groups because parents do not disciple their children or do not feel comfortable doing so. I am sure that many may deny this, but the concept of sending off youth to be discipled by others, often youth themselves is detrimental to the family rather than helpful. The whole idea of a Youth ministry is a new thing and to be truthful the grand Youth Ministry experiment should be deemed a failure (by the way I have been a Youth Minister). The result of allowing youth be shipped off to their own classes and even services is that parents continue not to disciple their children and instead leave that to the youth department and youth leaders. Young people already often feel uncomfortable being around those older than them so we have separate groups for them and keep them separated so that we even here foster still more separation and distance between cultures.

We continue to do this with basically every age group out of what is often a desire to help, but the end result is a hindering of the healthy growth of the church as I think God would want it to be. As long as we segregate the church, it will forever continue to splinter. I find it interesting that if we did the same segregation around ethnicity in churches there would be an uproar so why do we allow it around ages? I will flesh this out more as I go along.

All of this leads me to a view of church that is a multi-generational/intergenerational church that is in many ways 180 degrees away from how many churches function today. This idea is expressed in many ways such as family-integrated, a household of households or a family of families. In the end, names are just that and they often carry connotations that are incorrect. For example, if one calls their church a family-integrated church people will think it is not a place for singles or those that do not fit the perceived model of a family. However, this is incorrect since the concept is that the church itself is a family and it is made up of families. Singles that are not part of a family that is in the church are incorporated into existing families. So in the end this form of church gathering and congregation can fill the needs of all kinds of people and while it may seem unorthodox I do feel it is biblical. As I have said before, so much of how we do church and how we feel church should be done is taken from the world and not scripture. If we truly are to be a people of the Word should we not look more at God’s word for direction than the world?

So, over the next weeks and months I will try and see if I can flesh out how this all works and come up with how I would do church. I realize that where I would like to be in the end may not look like where I am now. Moving a church from the form it is in now to a age-integrated model takes time, patience, and vision, but I do feel it can be done and done to the glory of Christ. In all of this what needs to be kept at the forefront is that the church is here to worship God and to be Christ Glorifying and Cross Centered.

For some resources on this as well as I think a good scriptural basis here are 3 talks by Voddie Baucham that were given at Union University in 2005. The first one on “The Nature of the Family” is one of the best talks on a scriptural basis for the Bible calling for churches to be households-of-households I have heard. The others are very good as well and I encourage you to listen to them all.


Faith in Practice Conference: Voddie Baucham
"The Nature of the Family" Oct 26th, 2005


Faith in Practice Conference: Voddie Baucham
"The Two Skills a Pastor Must Have" Oct 27th, 2005


Faith in Practice Conference: Voddie Baucham October 28th, 2005

Redeem, Reform or Remove

I have heard lately much talk about “redeeming culture”. What I often hear from this is that because we are to take culture and redeem it, or make it acceptable, we can then take what a culture deals out and make it Christian. My question is whether that is truly our mandate since simply because a culture does something are we to redeem it or make it acceptable to God? I speak of this as it relates to the church as a body of regenerate people and not to an organization. While the legislation of morality can help society it can not be changed unless the hearts of that society are changed. So, when I speak of culture I speak of the people of God who live within culture and what they do with regards to culture.

Is it not possible that we are to work at reform (which is what some probably mean by redeem) or even work at removing aspects of culture from the life of the church? I am not here advocating what those things are but to simply ask if we are to redeem all of what culture provides us. The truth is I see much of culture coming from sin rather than from God. My biblical reasoning for this is that we often see culture revolving around languages and peoples. If we go back to the Tower of Babel we see that God confused the languages and in many senses created these cultures. But, we must remember that the reason for this change, or confusion of languages and thus culture, was due to the sin of the people. We can then see at least that some aspects of culture are a result of sin.

Now I realize that culture is a loaded word since even in the Garden before sin there was what may be called culture and in heaven there will be some form of culture. I do not think there is clear biblical evidence that in heaven there will be multiple cultures as Mark Driscoll has said. His reasoning is that since there will people from every tribe tongue and nation there will be every kind of culture but this is a big leap for me. Just because there will be all kinds of people in heaven does not mean there will be all kinds of culture. Simply because there will be differing languages reconciled to God and in heaven does not necessarily mean we will speak those languages there. While we may do I am not convinced that scripture is clear that this is how heaven will be.

This whole idea of redeeming culture leads churches to change everything they do to look like the culture but to Christianize it and in the end the culture subsumes the church and not the reverse. I actually do not know exactly where I stand on this with regards to many parts of culture but I just think that we do have to ask ourselves before we just jump into trying to redeem, or clean up, an aspect of culture if we should work at ridding ourselves of those aspects.

None of this relates to communicating the Gospel in understandable language depending on the prevailing culture. But this is a far cry from also assuming the culture. People use all kinds of words when they speak of this such as contextualize and such but all too often it simply means we are to look like the world and some how Christianize what we do. Again this is all a work in my head but I am just concerned that too many, even so called conservatives, in an effort to reach a dying world begin to look like the dying world. We are so worried about looking out of place that we seek the world’s means to accomplish God’s work.

So the end result of all of this is that I advocate looking hard at scripture to see what it says not simply about a certain aspect of culture but about that aspects effect on the church and the world and then ask if that aspect of culture should be redeemed, reformed or even removed from the life of the church (the church as the body of regenerate believers and not a building). There is for sure a danger of legalism in this but that should not be a hindrance to us obeying God. If one stays cross centered I think legalism can be kept at bay. Our goal should be to glorify God and that will in many cases lead to hard decisions for the believer when it comes to culture but being a believer is never said to be easy. If it was easy we would try and do it ourselves but instead we are forced to rely on the Holy Spirit for the power to do what God desires us to do. I firmly believe that one can do this, deal with culture, and not remove themselves from the world so as to be the light we are called to be.

A Display of His Glory

Well we just got back from 5 days of camping in Yosemite National Park. We stayed at Toualome Meadows and did a little hiking and a lot of realizing the grandeur of God's creation.

I was up here on a hiking trip once and it was asked why we feel closer to God in the wilderness. First is that God's creation is so obvious when you are surrounded by it. Another reason is that there are so many less distractions that one has a greater amount of time and concentration to just marvel at all God has done and continues to do.

Anyone that thinks that places like Yosemite are a result of chance just does not see it for what it is. Of course that is what Romans 1:18-23 is all about. Those that hold to the theory of evolution truly do miss out on what they are looking at. To see places like Yosemite and realize that the God of the universe created this for His glory and that we can, and should, understand it for what it is: A Display of His Glory.

Here are few examples of His work:

The Cross

I was listening to what is presently my favorite CD, Valley of Vision by Sovereign Grace Music, and was struck by the line in the song “How Deep”that reads; “Crushed by Your Father to call me Your own.”

The depth of that line is so great, to think the Father did not simply sacrifice His son but crushed Him (Is 53:5) so that those that would believe could be reconciled to God. That line hit me as all too often we see the horror in the cross but not to the extent that we should. I was at the Ligonier conference this last weekend and with regards to the Cross, which was the theme of the conference, the comment was made that we so often focus on the physical torture of the cross but in reality many people had much the same torture on the cross. What we need to realize is that the weight and depth of sin Christ took on was infinitely worse and no one has taken on that kind of punishment. This in the end should give us hope that the God who would do such a thing for His people would not abandon us. So when things seem out of sorts we can be confident and comforted in God not having abandoned us, when we reflect on the cross in a correct manner.

Since the songs on the CD are based on the Puritan Devotional: Valley of Vision I went and read the devotion it was based on, “Love Lustres at Calvary”. The devotion itself is great as it is so clear from what is said that we really do take the cross too lightly. I have put the words to both the song and the devotion below.


How Deep
You were broken that I might be healed
You were cast off that I might draw near
You were thirsty that I might come drink
Cried out in anguish that I might sing

Chorus:
How deep is Your love
How high and how wide is Your mercy
How deep is Your grace
Our hearts overflow with praise
To You

You knew darkness that I might know light
Wept great tears that mine might be dried
Stripped of glory that I might be clothed
Crushed by Your Father to call me Your own



Love Lustres at Calvary
Enlarge my heart, warm my affections,
open my lips,
supply words that proclaim ‘Love lustres
at Calvary.’
There grace removes my burdens and heaps them
on thy Son,
made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me;
There the sword of thy justice smote the man,
thy fellow;
There thy infinite attributes were magnified,
and infinite atonement was made;
There infinite punishment was due,
and infinite punishment was made.
Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
cast off that I might be brought in,
trodden down as an enemy
that I might be welcomed as a friend,
surrendered to hell’s worst
that I might attain heaven’s best,
stripped that I might be clothed,
wounded that I might be healed,
athirst that I might drink,
tormented that I might be comforted,
made a shame that I might inherit glory,
entered darkness that I might have eternal light.
My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped
from my eyes,
groaned that I might have endless song,
endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
bore a thorny crown that I might have
a glory-diadem,
bowed his head that I might uplift mine,
experienced reproach that I might receive
welcome,
closed his eyes in death that I might gaze
on unclouded brightness,
expired that I might ever live.
O Father, who spared not thine only Son that thou
mightest spare me,
All this transfer thy love designed and
accomplished;
Help me to adore thee by lips and life.
O that my every breath might be ecstatic praise,
my every step buoyant with delight, as I see my
enemies crushed,
Satan baffled, defeated, destroyed,
sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood,
hell’s gates closed, heaven’s portal open.
Go forth, O conquering God, and show me
the cross, mighty to subdue, comfort and save.

The Gathered Church - Pt 1

As I continue to look at the church and the meeting of the church I need to make sure that you know I am in a process of seeing what I envision church to be like. The reason this is important is that my personal views that I am working through may or may not be exactly those of the church I presently serve. We all, or at least we should, need to step back often to see what it is God has given us a vision of and while in that process the vision we have may even conflict with how we presently do ministry.

I do not know if it is just me but when I talk with others about the gathering of the church it seems very hard for people to give up what has become so ingrained. By this I mean if one is to say that the gathering of the church is to be for believers the first thing that some complain about is that they will not be able to invite their unsaved friends because they will feel uncomfortable. Where I am confused by this mindset is that Paul in 1 Corinthians lets us know that the message of the cross is foolishness to an unbelieving world. This will also mean that how we as believers worship and relate to each other will in all probability seem foolish or at the least different. For many people the role of the church in its gathering is evangelism and little else. There may be offerings towards discipleship but they are so minimal that they accomplish little. How one changes this mind set is not an easy endeavor and in all likelihood is going to be uncomfortable.

I, personally, have been thinking about how I would “do” church based on scripture and it is not as easy at it may seem as we all struggle with tradition. Tradition is not necessarily bad but the goal is to weed out tradition based on pragmatism and such and those either blatantly contradictory to scripture or at the least not supported by scripture. One such tradition is the idea of age graded Sunday School. While there may have been good that has come from this system, as well as bad, we have to admit that it is not something dictated by scripture but is a human derived system of education. While the Sunday School system may have had success in numbers and apparent conversions it should not be something that is held onto as if ordained by God. Success in numbers does not make something correct. I say “apparent” success in conversion because it would seem that the great numbers we may see in Sunday School does not always mean those same people persevere to the end. This is seen especially in the youth ministry movement where all too often once a youth leaves the ministry they no longer attend church and simply disappear. As a side note, I personal feel that it is youth ministry that has fostered much of the Emergent Church errors, because the youth ministry has raised children that are unsure of what they believe and are simply in search of an experience. Most youth ministry, just check out a youth ministry site some time, revolves around activities to entertain and even the teaching is designed to be entertaining. So what that in the end develops is a group of people constantly seeking an experience and if the experience is missing or not what they expect they leave. I think if you check out scripture the idea of teaching via entertainment is non-existent. If one feels they have gotten conversions through entertainment means the number of young people leaving the church would say differently. By the way I have been a youth leader so this is not an area that I have not had experience with.

Over the next few weeks I am going to move from simply seeing what the church is to how it should function and what that functioning looks like. This is also an area where toes often get stepped on because once one puts forth a model of ministry it in many ways says other methods may not be as biblical and it also can rattle traditions. Above all my desire is to see the church and especially the gathered local church to be as biblical as possible even if it does of looking out of place. While our culture may direct the words we communicate with, since words do change meanings over time, an unbelieving culture should not dictate how a believing community gathers and interacts.

Previous Posts on the Church:
The Local Church Pt1
The Church Pt 2 - Ekklesia
The Church Pt 3: Church Local or Universal
The Church, Where – Pt 4
The Church – Pt 5

Around the Blogosphere

I have not done this for awhile but here are some items from around the blogosphere:

Tom Ascol at The Founders Blog has some wisdom, in the form of questions, from Isaac Watts to young ministers, or for that matter any minister: Part 1 & Part 2.

Steve Camp writes on church discipline in: "Stop Dating the Congregation" ...pastors who love the Lord, care to discipline sin.

Here is an Article from the Wall Street Journal on the “Purpose Driven” model of church growth: A Popular Strategy For Church Growth Splits Congregants

While I have read and been edified by A.W. Pink’s writings I did not know much about his life. Wade Burleson writes on Pink in: A.W. Pink and Spartanburg, SC.

Mark Dever at Together for the Gospel writes a good piece on evangelism and making sure we are clear with the message we convey: A good offense

How does your church rate?

Tim Challies has a blog entry called, Fantasy Church, and while it is quite funny there is a side of it that is very sad. Some times what we joke about has more truth than we may want to admit.

How does your church rate?

The Importance of Preaching and the Sufficiency of Scripture

While reading through some articles on “Family Integrated Churches” I found the following two articles by Scott Brown to be very good: Preaching the Word in the Family Integrated Church and The Sufficiency of Scripture at Work in the Family Integrated Church.

In the first article it is stressed that while the family is of great importance it can not be what we, in the end, worship. We as the people of God need to keep the Word of God central to all we do. Scott Brown relates that family integrated churches need to be “God-centered, Word-saturated, Christ-exalting churches.” This is so true, while I think that all too many churches have strayed from dealing with families as God desires them to be treated the main cause is that the church has strayed from God being the central focus of church. I am sure that most churches would deny this but what has happened over time is that while we say that worship of God is the central purpose for meeting the reality is that the worship of God is only part of what is done and everything else has become the focus. Whether the focus is the incorrectly labeled concept of “family friendly” or the church being totally designed around evangelism the issue is that the people of God are going to church for all the wrong reasons and often do not even realize it.

The antidote for this is not just to change what we do but to change what we focus on. Once the word of God becomes central and the preaching of that word is done correctly then the direction of the church will change. We can focus on families correctly but if God’s word is not central to what is done then in the end we will do as Mr. Brown is concerned can happen, that the family (or any other thing for that matter) can be come the center of the church as a replacement for Christ.

The second article deals with the idea that the scriptures are sufficient for us to “examine, regulate and reform the church.” Many claim the sufficiency of scripture but then look to everywhere else but scripture to see how the church should function. In today’s culture one of the main places we seem to look for guidelines for the church are the unbelieving world and the culture that it lives in. I do think that if we read scripture we will find principles and practices that are more universal than we may like to admit. What usually happens is that the culture decides that some practice is undesirable and the church in an effort to be “relevant” and “contextualized” changes what is to be done. As the article speaks of , preaching is one of those practices that scripture is very clear is to be central but since preaching is not in vogue today many have either done away with it in an real sense or have minimized it to a place that makes it not preaching at all.

Since the Word of God is unchangeable it should be the one thing we as a church should turn to. This does not mean we are to preach unintelligible sermons but it does say that preaching needs to convey the true meaning of God’s word no matter how offensive and do so in a consistent manner that shows the people of God it’s sufficiency for the church. This also entails us as preachers not only to preach the sufficiency of scripture but to live it. If we proclaim its proficiency but then turn to every thing else when directing the church what have we communicated to the people we lead.

The Church - Part 5

So before I get into what I would see a local church looking like what are some characteristics of the local church that should be common among any local church.

First, based on the simple understanding of the church being a group of called out saints or holy ones I would surmise the church is made up of believers. Of course there may be those that are not truly believers but it is made up of those professing Christ as Savior and Lord. For the church to be made up of regenerate people that takes the Gospel truly being preached so that people are not making pragmatic decisions but ones truly wrought by God from a changed heart. This would also preclude infant baptism since only those that have professed faith would be considered and simply baptizing infants does not make them believers.

Second, since the church is to be made up of believers then the function of the church is to equip those believers and disciple them. For now I am not dealing with how this is done but instead simply want to make it clear that the church is to be there for believers and not the unbeliever. This does not preclude unbelievers attending services and such but it does mean that the meetings of the church are molded around believers based on scripture. So we do not take polls of what an unbeliever would like in church and we do not simply look at the surrounding culture and mold the church to that but we look at the church from a scriptural perspective. There may be items that culture may mean making changes. By this I mean that if one is in a foreign country the cultural aspects such as language would be implemented. But cultural aspects that are unbiblical would not.

Thirdly, just as Paul exhorts Timothy in 2 Tim 4:1-5 preaching the word needs to be central to the church life. There may be other things that are done but the primary thing is that God’s word is preached. The Word of God is central to all that is done. God had a reason He instilled in Paul such a heart for preaching and that is because it was God’s ordained means to proclaim His word. So if the activities of the church take away from the preaching of God’s word then those extraneous activities need to be curtailed so that the church can be saturated with God’s word. We will not know what to do without knowing what God wants us to do and it is His word that informs us of that. This also does not mean we simply hop around God’s word but that we work through it as it comes to us and take the uplifting along with the convicting. This is best done through expository preaching and I think this best accomplishes what Paul claimed in Acts 20:27, that the whole counsel of God is to be preached and this truly only happens if we preach and teach through the Bible. If we stick to thematic sermons we will by nature skip those difficult passages. Also from this preaching will come the doctrinal statement of the church which helps the church to define where it stands on key beliefs about God and His economy. So, it is important to have doctrinal statements so that people truly do know where it stands on certain topics. In today’s post-modern times it is even more important because all too often it is not simply what one claims it is what meaning is meant behind the words that says the most. Doctrinal statements often help to solidify that area and in the long run bring unity and cohesiveness.

Fourth, churches need to be structured as God called them to be in scripture. This would mean that churches should strive to have Biblical Elders (a plurality) and Deacons and not simply positions as they are commonly filled today. Again, the specifics of how many and such is for another time but the main point is that God had a purpose in calling for Elders and Deacons and when we do not aim for God’s best we are basically telling God we know better.

I do not like to say “lastly” as I am sure there are other things and I will add them as I go so I am going to leave it here for now and as I begin to try and formulate what I see the church to look like I will bring out other important areas. Mark Dever at 9Marks has a couple good books on the church that I highly recommend: 9Marks of a Healthy Church & The Deliberate Church. These books have more items that I would also say are important I simply here wanted to list a few things that I think the church as a whole has lost sight of. Things like: Regenerate Church Membership, The Church Being for Believers rather than Unbelievers, The Preaching of God’s Word as Central to the Church, The Organization of the Church. While I only listed four things in truth those four items carry with them a whole lot of other issues and each one can be fleshed out to much broader issues. If the church is inhabited by believers and the word of God is taught diligently then the commands and desires of God will be done by the power of the Holy Spirit then the church will begin to look different from the world rather than a poor copy. If scripture is preached and the Holy Spirit works in the people of God then such things as Biblical church discipline would be practiced, the correct focus on intergenerational aspect of the church would flourish, Biblical evangelism would ensue and so on. So as more things come to me I will add them.

Update on Lakeshore Baptist Church

Those of you that have followed what has happened at Lakeshore Baptist Church in Lakeshore, Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina can find an interview that Cindy Swanson has done with Don Elbourne the pastor of Lakeshore. If you have not heard of Lakeshore you may want to check out Don’s blog, Locust and Wild Honey, to see the grace of God in the midst of the destruction of Katrina.

The Church, Where? - Part 4

After having looked at some general issues surrounding the church in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 I now move on towards more specifics.

It is clear from scripture that while the universal/invisible church does exist the bible deals mainly with the local/visible church. These churches consisted of believers, those that are called by God as saints, but it is clear from Paul’s letters that there were also people in these churches that were in all likelihood not members of God’s family. These unbelievers were there by false conversions not by being admitted as members by the church knowing they were not believers.

It seems that all too often people want to claim to be a New Testament Church or an Acts church but in doing so I think there is an error made. Acts is a historical book and by design of God more of a descriptive book than a prescriptive one. This does not mean we cannot gain principles from it, we should, but to take what was done in the New Testament and apply it exactly as prescriptive for all time is incorrect.

For example to claim we are to have house churches because that is what is in Acts we may miss the point of why house churches were utilized in the 1st century. If we read scripture and look at the times the first Jewish believers still met, initially, in the synagogue if possible until persecution began and then due to the times they met in homes. Thus the principle today is that the place of meeting is not the important aspect and this fits well with the word for church, Ekklesia, since it does not speak to a building but to a people. So the place of meeting is not the focus. When we see a country such as China the circumstances believers face would necessitate the house church but in other places a more localized meeting in a specific building may be more prudential.

The principle I see in Acts is that the church is to be a place where a community of believers/saints meets to worship God and if that takes place in a hut, a school, or a warehouse it should not matter. This community is a group of individuals called to faith by God that meets for the primary purpose of worshipping/serving God. Just as the Jews were called out of Egypt to worship/serve God the believer is called out of the world to worship/serve God (Ex 7:16). Where this is done is of less importance than that it is done.

From this we can see that the where of worship is of less importance than the fact that believers gather to do so. I think the next issue I will cover is to deal more with some things that I think scripture touches on that are to be elements or aspects of the meeting.

It really is - All About Christ

Whether it is a result of my recent studies in Biblical Theology or simply a conviction gained simply by reading scripture I have found lately that there seems to be an excessive amount of preaching and preaching instruction on application. I am not saying that there is no application in scripture as I do see all of scripture leading to some form of application. What I am saying is that all too often the scriptures are put forth as a book of instruction instead of one about Christ.

I do not know if you have ever heard Bible used as an acronym – Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth – with the result the Bible is seen more as a user manual than a book about the creator of the universe. Again, this does not negate that the Bible will promote application but what I think we need to see is that the Bible is not a book about application but is a book that brings about application.

It is our standing with Christ which allows us even to apply what we read in God’s word. If the bible is given as one of instruction then the listener may be inclined to seek after the next thing to do rather than realize it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that any work at all can be done.

As I read about preaching the one thing that seems to be promoted the most is to preach sermons that are applicable to the audience. We should preach understandable sermons but if we simply give instructions about how to save money or have good marriages we will have accomplished nothing if the source the ability to have those things is overlooked. So I would say we need to revive preaching that is Christ centered and then the application that is revealed is then able to be based on Christ rather than simply being a how-to sermon.

I had the privilege of preaching this week on John 19:25-42 entitled - Its All About Christ - and sought to make sure that all I did was focused on Christ rather than man. How successful I was I am not sure but I do know that from now on my preaching needs to first focus on Christ and then move from there to where the text leads. My fear is that in the effort to be relevant we, including myself, have made the Bible to be about man and not about Christ.

I want to make sure I am understood and that is I do believe that we do need to apply what we read and hear from scripture. But, this application has to come from a heart changed and controlled by Christ. So we simply need to remember that scripture Is All About Christ!