"For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you...v. 5, holding fast the faithful word that he(the elder) has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict," Titus 1:5, 9.
There is no time to mess around, we must cut to the chase here. The American Evangelical Church, those who claim the title evangelical, is about to die. It has given in to almost every crass whim of culture and is breathing its last breath. The final sign of its impending rigor mortise is this: the satellite "church". What I mean, to be clear, by satellite "church", is a "church" whose primary teacher/preacher is piped in on a big screen from miles(sometimes hundreds or more) away. A recent survey showed that 59 of the 100 fastest growing churches in the country are of the satellite variety. Friends, what this displays is a complete and total lack of discipleship and the fawning adulation of the celebrity pastor. This trend is sweeping the church and even once reliable men like John Piper are allowing this charade to be played, miming the idiocies of the business conference world. Mark Driscoll, James McDonald, Ed Young Jr. and multitudes of other popish pastors are emulating this silliness forgetting that their primary charge is to disciple others and furthermore, as Paul admonished Titus, select particularly mature and faithful men to teach and exhort their flocks.
Having sounded the alarm, more will have to be said as the rotting edifice of American evangelicalism collapses upon itself. While it may sound as if I am alarmed, I know that God will keep those who are His, He is sovereign, holy, gracious and just. What arises out of this destruction will be a stronger, more faithful and more loving church in America. It is in times such as these that we must, more than ever, learn, live and love the glorious gospel of our loving Savior!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
3 Reasons to Start Discipling Using Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," Gen. 1:1.
Tomorrow I will be teaching a group of men and I decided I would start at the beginning, Genesis 1:1. Here are at least 3 good reasons to start with this text.
1) It is foundational. God started here and He could have started with anything. He could have told Moses about our sin and need for redemption through His Son Jesus Christ right away but He, in His truly infinite wisdom, started with, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." So this seems like a great place to start discipling men. Even more, we have such a low tolerance from so many "evangelicals" for the first two chapters of Genesis. This silliness started with C.S. Lewis who often showered contempt on the Old Testament and believed that the OT was more myth than anything. His disciple, Tim Keller, continues in his tradition and mangles the creation account of Genesis into something so far fetched not even a three year old could believe it. Evangelicals who take the whole counsel of God seriously need to return to sanity and teach and understand the whole of scripture as it was intended to be understood. We must turn from the heresies of men like Lewis and Keller.
2) It magnifies Christ's atoning sacrifice for our sins. Modern evangelicals have largely reduced the gospel to what Christ did on the cross for our sins. They provide no context for this and largely ignore the rest of the gospel. Yes, there is more to the gospel. Mark' account starts off with, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." He didn't launch into the Crucifixion account immediately but told the whole story of Jesus starting with the beginning of His ministry. Included in this are the words of Jesus' about God's creation and Jesus took it seriously. We are also told, in John's Gospel, that Jesus was the one who God the Father created everything through. Christ is not just our redeemer but He is the One who spoke and the universe leapt into existence. Christ upholds all things even now. He is the all powerful creator of the universe, "whom was pierced for our transgressions and who was wounded for our iniquity. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed," Isaiah 53. When we juxtapose these two awesome truths, it makes Jesus' obedient, loving sacrifice that much more astounding. Like finally walking to the edge of the Grand Canyon after only seeing it in photos all of your life. He "traded Heaven's throne for a cross," 1John, and that is beyond compare!
3) It magnifies/glorifies God and puts man in his place. We all need to see things from God's perspective. Before we judge someone, we are always told to "walk a mile in their shoes." Genesis 1 helps us to put God's shoes on. Genesis one tells us that God is before time and He is in time. Confusing? Yes. Contradictory? No. I'm not going to explain it, well, because I can't, but meditate on it. He also created everything. We are, in reality, not able to create anything. Sure, we can rearrange God's stuff to make stuff, but we can't speak it into existence. God did and can. Because God created all things, He knows it all. I can't remember more than ten phone numbers. There are many other things that we can know about God through this one verse, but that is for you to ponder and meditate(biblically) on. We should consider these things and it should help us to see God in all His glory and that should motivate us to speak of God and His power and glory to those we meet. It will make all our problems seem insignificant next to God's all consuming power and love. It has been said that, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Those are powerful words and Genesis 1 is our first step to knowing Him and enjoying Him for all eternity.
God bless you and learn, live and love the Gospel!
Tomorrow I will be teaching a group of men and I decided I would start at the beginning, Genesis 1:1. Here are at least 3 good reasons to start with this text.
1) It is foundational. God started here and He could have started with anything. He could have told Moses about our sin and need for redemption through His Son Jesus Christ right away but He, in His truly infinite wisdom, started with, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." So this seems like a great place to start discipling men. Even more, we have such a low tolerance from so many "evangelicals" for the first two chapters of Genesis. This silliness started with C.S. Lewis who often showered contempt on the Old Testament and believed that the OT was more myth than anything. His disciple, Tim Keller, continues in his tradition and mangles the creation account of Genesis into something so far fetched not even a three year old could believe it. Evangelicals who take the whole counsel of God seriously need to return to sanity and teach and understand the whole of scripture as it was intended to be understood. We must turn from the heresies of men like Lewis and Keller.
2) It magnifies Christ's atoning sacrifice for our sins. Modern evangelicals have largely reduced the gospel to what Christ did on the cross for our sins. They provide no context for this and largely ignore the rest of the gospel. Yes, there is more to the gospel. Mark' account starts off with, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." He didn't launch into the Crucifixion account immediately but told the whole story of Jesus starting with the beginning of His ministry. Included in this are the words of Jesus' about God's creation and Jesus took it seriously. We are also told, in John's Gospel, that Jesus was the one who God the Father created everything through. Christ is not just our redeemer but He is the One who spoke and the universe leapt into existence. Christ upholds all things even now. He is the all powerful creator of the universe, "whom was pierced for our transgressions and who was wounded for our iniquity. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed," Isaiah 53. When we juxtapose these two awesome truths, it makes Jesus' obedient, loving sacrifice that much more astounding. Like finally walking to the edge of the Grand Canyon after only seeing it in photos all of your life. He "traded Heaven's throne for a cross," 1John, and that is beyond compare!
3) It magnifies/glorifies God and puts man in his place. We all need to see things from God's perspective. Before we judge someone, we are always told to "walk a mile in their shoes." Genesis 1 helps us to put God's shoes on. Genesis one tells us that God is before time and He is in time. Confusing? Yes. Contradictory? No. I'm not going to explain it, well, because I can't, but meditate on it. He also created everything. We are, in reality, not able to create anything. Sure, we can rearrange God's stuff to make stuff, but we can't speak it into existence. God did and can. Because God created all things, He knows it all. I can't remember more than ten phone numbers. There are many other things that we can know about God through this one verse, but that is for you to ponder and meditate(biblically) on. We should consider these things and it should help us to see God in all His glory and that should motivate us to speak of God and His power and glory to those we meet. It will make all our problems seem insignificant next to God's all consuming power and love. It has been said that, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Those are powerful words and Genesis 1 is our first step to knowing Him and enjoying Him for all eternity.
God bless you and learn, live and love the Gospel!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Pray Without Ceasing: Don't Flirt With Disaster
"Pray without ceasing," 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
Today as I was driving my route truck down a dusty gravel road in south central Nebraska, I heard a sports talk show host incredulously ask why people would pray for an athlete's contract negotiation. He remarked that he wouldn't go into detail regarding his religious views yet his dogma's showed forth despite his foggy pronouncement. He was reading a Buddhist book and remarked that he kept his prayer life focused on his families health and the well being of those in the midst of disastrous occurrences.
We see this elitist incredulity pop up often this time of year as camera's will glance at large men, all geared up, sitting in a circle and praying before and/or after a game. These folks will banter about why God would care who won a football game when there are earthquakes, wars and famines all over the world! The aforementioned sports talker cajoled that, "these people(who pray for players contract negotiation) are probably the type who pray for kitties!" Yep, I pray for my dog, I would pray for a cat too if we had one. But, we must ask, are these elitist's correct? Does God have more important things to worry about than football stuff, kitties and dogs?
Well, yes He doesn't! There are people scattered around our globe suffering beyond what we can imagine and people living right in your neighborhood who are in desperate condition. God can handle them. In fact, God may use us as an instrument of mercy in their life. Yet, the question reveals a lot about the questioner's faith. They have a deficient view of God and a complete misunderstanding of the Christian life at the very least. Their view of God seems to indicate that they believe in a less than all powerful deity. They seem to think that God only has time and or energy to deal with the really, really big stuff. We can handle the small stuff on our own. We don't want to overload poor, kind of powerful God. We are strong ourselves and can do some of the lighter lifting, allowing God to do the really heavy stuff. This view shrinks God and elevates man. God owns the the cattle on a thousand hills(understatement) and spoke the universe into existence. I don't even own the house on our hill and I speak my ignorance into infamy daily. God can handle anything...anything. Me on the other hand, I'm a fairly impotent little man.
Even more, this question reveals that those who ask it do not understand the Christian life(or the Gospel itself) at all. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God and His peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus," Philip. 4:6-7. We are to "pray without ceasing". How is this done if we do not pray about the situation at hand, whether it is a football game, a hurting neighbor, an election, a hurt toe or any number of other random, normal occurrences that present themselves daily. A Christian's life is to be marked by prayer. How did Daniel's enemies trap him? They set him up so that his righteousness, particularly his fervent prayer life, would get him thrown into the Lion's den. Nehemiah prayed silently to God and requested a great favor from King Xerxes at the same time! Who said that men cannot multitask! Prayer to a Christian should be a continuous conversation with God. It is a relationship and God does not want us to take our eyes off of him. When a brother/sister has an issue, tell them you'll pray for them...and do it, now, and then again later. If your car is making weird noises, ask for God's help. It would seem to be an easy enough problem for Him. Is there such a thing as a big problem for God? His answer isn't always our desire(it should be) but we must learn to turn to Him on all occasions, with fervency and humility. Even if it is for your kitty.
God bless you all and learn, live and love the Gospel!
Today as I was driving my route truck down a dusty gravel road in south central Nebraska, I heard a sports talk show host incredulously ask why people would pray for an athlete's contract negotiation. He remarked that he wouldn't go into detail regarding his religious views yet his dogma's showed forth despite his foggy pronouncement. He was reading a Buddhist book and remarked that he kept his prayer life focused on his families health and the well being of those in the midst of disastrous occurrences.
We see this elitist incredulity pop up often this time of year as camera's will glance at large men, all geared up, sitting in a circle and praying before and/or after a game. These folks will banter about why God would care who won a football game when there are earthquakes, wars and famines all over the world! The aforementioned sports talker cajoled that, "these people(who pray for players contract negotiation) are probably the type who pray for kitties!" Yep, I pray for my dog, I would pray for a cat too if we had one. But, we must ask, are these elitist's correct? Does God have more important things to worry about than football stuff, kitties and dogs?
Well, yes He doesn't! There are people scattered around our globe suffering beyond what we can imagine and people living right in your neighborhood who are in desperate condition. God can handle them. In fact, God may use us as an instrument of mercy in their life. Yet, the question reveals a lot about the questioner's faith. They have a deficient view of God and a complete misunderstanding of the Christian life at the very least. Their view of God seems to indicate that they believe in a less than all powerful deity. They seem to think that God only has time and or energy to deal with the really, really big stuff. We can handle the small stuff on our own. We don't want to overload poor, kind of powerful God. We are strong ourselves and can do some of the lighter lifting, allowing God to do the really heavy stuff. This view shrinks God and elevates man. God owns the the cattle on a thousand hills(understatement) and spoke the universe into existence. I don't even own the house on our hill and I speak my ignorance into infamy daily. God can handle anything...anything. Me on the other hand, I'm a fairly impotent little man.
Even more, this question reveals that those who ask it do not understand the Christian life(or the Gospel itself) at all. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God and His peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus," Philip. 4:6-7. We are to "pray without ceasing". How is this done if we do not pray about the situation at hand, whether it is a football game, a hurting neighbor, an election, a hurt toe or any number of other random, normal occurrences that present themselves daily. A Christian's life is to be marked by prayer. How did Daniel's enemies trap him? They set him up so that his righteousness, particularly his fervent prayer life, would get him thrown into the Lion's den. Nehemiah prayed silently to God and requested a great favor from King Xerxes at the same time! Who said that men cannot multitask! Prayer to a Christian should be a continuous conversation with God. It is a relationship and God does not want us to take our eyes off of him. When a brother/sister has an issue, tell them you'll pray for them...and do it, now, and then again later. If your car is making weird noises, ask for God's help. It would seem to be an easy enough problem for Him. Is there such a thing as a big problem for God? His answer isn't always our desire(it should be) but we must learn to turn to Him on all occasions, with fervency and humility. Even if it is for your kitty.
God bless you all and learn, live and love the Gospel!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
These Words Ministry: 3 Ways to Avoid Being a Hypocrite
These Words Ministry: 3 Ways to Avoid Being a Hypocrite: " 'For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,' Romans 3:23. Hypocrisy is a sin that often cripples a Christians wit..."
3 Ways to Avoid Being a Hypocrite
"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23.
Hypocrisy is a sin that often cripples a Christians witness to the world and his/her walk with the Lord. It is a n easy trap to fall into for the Christian and one that we must always be vigilant to avoid. Hypocrisy is largely a byproduct of self righteousness and conceit. The Apostle Paul stated that we should always consider others first so conceit should be anathema to a Christian. We should never say something like, "I would never do that!" Really, do you know who you are? Adrian Rogers said it well, "Conceit is a disease that makes everyone sick except the one who has it." That is well said except that eventually conceit devours the one who has it. So, what are three ways(not the only three) for us to avoid this trap of hypocrisy?
1) Remember your depravity, your uselessness apart from Christ. Think back before you were born again. Heck, think back to a few weeks ago when you struggled with something. Even ten minutes ago for some of us! I don't know about you but my sin is ever before me and I echo Paul's thoughts when he called himself "the chief of sinners". Remember what Christ had to do for you to make you acceptable to the Father: "For our sake he made him who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God," 2Cor. 5:21. Our righteousness, on our best days, is described as "filthy rags". Let's not spread our filth around but dwell on the righteousness that spreads Christ around. Our works are filthy, that is why Paul told us that, "For by grace you are saved, through faith, it is a gift of God lest anyone should boast," Ephesian 2:8:9. It is because of our conceit that God had to send His Son to die for us. He knows that we cannot help but boast. So let us boast in Christ and His righteousness that cost Him everything. Let us be filled with Spirit and walk in the works that Christ has prepared for us and let His righteousness than boast through us!
2) Dwell on and remember God's greatness and glory! This struck me while I was do my daily reading and read something in 1 Timothy. "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world and taken up in glory." When Paul considered godliness what did he do? Did he fall back into morals and rules, do's and don'ts? Nope, we must know those things to define our walk but Paul started remember Christ and what He did for him. What was the Passover about? Remembering God's awesome work in delivering the Hebrews from bondage. What did Jesus tell those men on the road to Emmaus? He expounded on God's great works, he remembered and reminded. We need to pray back God's word and promises to Him and pour out our hearts in reverence. We must seek then to live His glory through ministering to the church and the lost world we live in, seeking every opportunity for God's grace to flow through us. Ask people for prayer requests and pray for them, maybe even right there! Say God bless you and Lord willing and mean it, instead of the empty words we use so often in conversation. Correct people when they take the Lord's name in vain. Let them know who it is they are speaking of and how awesome He is! Let God's glory consume you and watch the sparks fly!
3) Confess and repent. Do this daily. Do this as you need it and do it in private and in public. Repent to those who you've offended and do it as quickly as possible. Paul's instruction to husband's and wives to "not let the sun go down on their anger" is no less instructive for any other relationship. We are also told to not let bitterness grow and if we are repentful at all times this will be like spraying round up weed killer on the growth's in our soul.
If we allow the Spirit to continually fill us and we walk in Him, we are promised that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh! That is an awesome and perfect promise. If we are in Him we CANNOT sin. Only in ourselves can we fall into sin, especially the public sin of hypocrisy. We can do this friends! I mean, He can do this, if we allow Him!
God Bless you and learn, live and love the Gospel!
Hypocrisy is a sin that often cripples a Christians witness to the world and his/her walk with the Lord. It is a n easy trap to fall into for the Christian and one that we must always be vigilant to avoid. Hypocrisy is largely a byproduct of self righteousness and conceit. The Apostle Paul stated that we should always consider others first so conceit should be anathema to a Christian. We should never say something like, "I would never do that!" Really, do you know who you are? Adrian Rogers said it well, "Conceit is a disease that makes everyone sick except the one who has it." That is well said except that eventually conceit devours the one who has it. So, what are three ways(not the only three) for us to avoid this trap of hypocrisy?
1) Remember your depravity, your uselessness apart from Christ. Think back before you were born again. Heck, think back to a few weeks ago when you struggled with something. Even ten minutes ago for some of us! I don't know about you but my sin is ever before me and I echo Paul's thoughts when he called himself "the chief of sinners". Remember what Christ had to do for you to make you acceptable to the Father: "For our sake he made him who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God," 2Cor. 5:21. Our righteousness, on our best days, is described as "filthy rags". Let's not spread our filth around but dwell on the righteousness that spreads Christ around. Our works are filthy, that is why Paul told us that, "For by grace you are saved, through faith, it is a gift of God lest anyone should boast," Ephesian 2:8:9. It is because of our conceit that God had to send His Son to die for us. He knows that we cannot help but boast. So let us boast in Christ and His righteousness that cost Him everything. Let us be filled with Spirit and walk in the works that Christ has prepared for us and let His righteousness than boast through us!
2) Dwell on and remember God's greatness and glory! This struck me while I was do my daily reading and read something in 1 Timothy. "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world and taken up in glory." When Paul considered godliness what did he do? Did he fall back into morals and rules, do's and don'ts? Nope, we must know those things to define our walk but Paul started remember Christ and what He did for him. What was the Passover about? Remembering God's awesome work in delivering the Hebrews from bondage. What did Jesus tell those men on the road to Emmaus? He expounded on God's great works, he remembered and reminded. We need to pray back God's word and promises to Him and pour out our hearts in reverence. We must seek then to live His glory through ministering to the church and the lost world we live in, seeking every opportunity for God's grace to flow through us. Ask people for prayer requests and pray for them, maybe even right there! Say God bless you and Lord willing and mean it, instead of the empty words we use so often in conversation. Correct people when they take the Lord's name in vain. Let them know who it is they are speaking of and how awesome He is! Let God's glory consume you and watch the sparks fly!
3) Confess and repent. Do this daily. Do this as you need it and do it in private and in public. Repent to those who you've offended and do it as quickly as possible. Paul's instruction to husband's and wives to "not let the sun go down on their anger" is no less instructive for any other relationship. We are also told to not let bitterness grow and if we are repentful at all times this will be like spraying round up weed killer on the growth's in our soul.
If we allow the Spirit to continually fill us and we walk in Him, we are promised that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh! That is an awesome and perfect promise. If we are in Him we CANNOT sin. Only in ourselves can we fall into sin, especially the public sin of hypocrisy. We can do this friends! I mean, He can do this, if we allow Him!
God Bless you and learn, live and love the Gospel!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Hi, My Name is Chris and I'm a Hypocrite
"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward," Matt. 6:5.
Nothing gets more mileage in our age than whenever a Christian stands up for righteousness they are scolded for their imperfection and called a hypocrite. Truly, this is a most deserving charge because we are all sinners and we have all fallen far short of God's glory. But, while this charge may be true in its most general sense , it still fails as a real effective argument against man's sin and depravity in the light of God's holiness and judgment. Speaking for most of the Christians I know, we do not believe that we are completely holy vessels and the perfect embodiment of righteousness on this earth. My sin is ever present before me and I make no pretense of perfection. If Jesus is saying that only perfect people can pray in public and preach righteousness and repentance than we have some major problems! What exactly is Jesus saying here?
First, lets look at the word hypocrite. The sense that Jesus has in mind here is that the person praying(more than likely a scribe or Pharisee per chapter 23) is just playing a part. In the Greek it has in mind an actor, someone who is wearing a mask and concealing his/her identity. You may have seen pictures of the iconic image of Greek theater which show two masks, side by side, one laughing and the other crying both with contorted faces. The hypocrite is someone who is saying something he does not even believe, like he is reading from a script. As a friend said the other day, "They(hypocrites) speak with no intent." So Jesus is telling us that a hypocrite is a phony believer who is acting like a real believer.
So we know who hypocrites are, actors and what they do, play a part, but why do they do it? "That they may be seen by others." Do you ever watch those horrific award shows or reality TV? These are mostly people who want to be seen by others. They love themselves and have copious amounts of self esteem. They are narcissistic to the core. As Christians, we must of all people guard against this. We must make sure that we are humble before God and seek His glory not our own. We must not be seekers of self esteem and want the applause of others even if we have been in labor for the cause of Christ. Do we really labor for the cause of Christ if we are offended if our names aren't mentioned or we don't get a ribbon for our service? I often find my thoughts drifting towards vain glory and I must repent of them or my heart will start to rot. Even our deeds of generosity need to be veiled as Jesus stated in the verses previous to this. How many foundations and charities are named for people and they use their charity as an advertising tool or marketing gimmick.
Finally, what does Jesus say about those, Christian or not, who even do the best of deeds to be seen by men? They have their reward. The actor who gushes over a golden statue(calf): he has his reward. The narcissist who plays the fool in front of the whole world to win some money or fame: they have their reward. The person who professes Christ and does not realize his own depravity and prays for the applause of men: he has his reward and Jesus will say to him, "Away from Me, you worker of lawlessness." The cure for hypocrisy is surrender. We need to walk the narrow road that all prisoners who have lost a battle must walk. A prisoner must never walk along the wide road, he will be roughly disciplined for that. He must walk the narrow road, single file, eyes forward, one step before the other, looking at his Master for his next step.
Live, learn and love the glorious Gospel of our blessed Savior!
Nothing gets more mileage in our age than whenever a Christian stands up for righteousness they are scolded for their imperfection and called a hypocrite. Truly, this is a most deserving charge because we are all sinners and we have all fallen far short of God's glory. But, while this charge may be true in its most general sense , it still fails as a real effective argument against man's sin and depravity in the light of God's holiness and judgment. Speaking for most of the Christians I know, we do not believe that we are completely holy vessels and the perfect embodiment of righteousness on this earth. My sin is ever present before me and I make no pretense of perfection. If Jesus is saying that only perfect people can pray in public and preach righteousness and repentance than we have some major problems! What exactly is Jesus saying here?
First, lets look at the word hypocrite. The sense that Jesus has in mind here is that the person praying(more than likely a scribe or Pharisee per chapter 23) is just playing a part. In the Greek it has in mind an actor, someone who is wearing a mask and concealing his/her identity. You may have seen pictures of the iconic image of Greek theater which show two masks, side by side, one laughing and the other crying both with contorted faces. The hypocrite is someone who is saying something he does not even believe, like he is reading from a script. As a friend said the other day, "They(hypocrites) speak with no intent." So Jesus is telling us that a hypocrite is a phony believer who is acting like a real believer.
So we know who hypocrites are, actors and what they do, play a part, but why do they do it? "That they may be seen by others." Do you ever watch those horrific award shows or reality TV? These are mostly people who want to be seen by others. They love themselves and have copious amounts of self esteem. They are narcissistic to the core. As Christians, we must of all people guard against this. We must make sure that we are humble before God and seek His glory not our own. We must not be seekers of self esteem and want the applause of others even if we have been in labor for the cause of Christ. Do we really labor for the cause of Christ if we are offended if our names aren't mentioned or we don't get a ribbon for our service? I often find my thoughts drifting towards vain glory and I must repent of them or my heart will start to rot. Even our deeds of generosity need to be veiled as Jesus stated in the verses previous to this. How many foundations and charities are named for people and they use their charity as an advertising tool or marketing gimmick.
Finally, what does Jesus say about those, Christian or not, who even do the best of deeds to be seen by men? They have their reward. The actor who gushes over a golden statue(calf): he has his reward. The narcissist who plays the fool in front of the whole world to win some money or fame: they have their reward. The person who professes Christ and does not realize his own depravity and prays for the applause of men: he has his reward and Jesus will say to him, "Away from Me, you worker of lawlessness." The cure for hypocrisy is surrender. We need to walk the narrow road that all prisoners who have lost a battle must walk. A prisoner must never walk along the wide road, he will be roughly disciplined for that. He must walk the narrow road, single file, eyes forward, one step before the other, looking at his Master for his next step.
Live, learn and love the glorious Gospel of our blessed Savior!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Book Review: The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century by Francis Schaeffer
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, whether in heaven or on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, rulers or authorities-all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent," Col. 1:15-18.
You will probably notice fairly quickly that I give positive reviews to almost all the books I read. The reason for that is simple: I don't have time for nonsense. As a husband and father with a job that takes a lot of time to do to provide for my family, I simply see no reason to read something that will not, from all indications, be edifying. I tend to read blogs and articles in which I'm often in disagreement but those are not terribly time consuming. Now that I've made this point I'm certain that I will probably come across a book that will inspire a negative review and, in fact, I think I may be reading a commentary that fits that bill!
Anyway, this is not that negative review and I cannot recommend "The Church at the End of the 20th Century" enough. While you may be wondering, "Why should I read a book about the church at the end of the twentieth century", I assure you that this book was prophetic almost 40 years ago and it is no less important today. You see, Schaeffer was a Presbyterian pastor in the U.S. who decided to pack up and go to Switzerland and start a ministry to wayward folks struggling with life. He founded L'Abri Fellowship in the Alps and he wrote many prophetic and influential books dealing with the church, the dying western world and our relationship and ministry to it. He was an orthodox C.S. Lewis who did not insult our biblical intelligence(like Lewis and many of his acolytes today) by denying the early chapters of Genesis or foregoing difficult doctrines in a politically correct world. Schaefer took all of the Bible seriously and did not forfeit any of it to the pc gods of our secular age.
There are at least four things that commend this book to the serious(is there any other) Christian: 1) Schaeffer emphasized a holistic approach to truth that is believed and preached and lived. 2) He understood how important marriage was. Not just the institution, which is foundational, but the picture it gives us of God's relationship to His people, both in the OT and the NT. 3) He emphasized the idea of the church having "form and freedom". "...there is a place for the institutional church and that it should maintain the form commanded by God, but on the other hand, that this also leaves vast areas of freedom for change," he goes on, "In other words, the New Testament sets boundary conditions, but within those boundary conditions there is much freedom to meet the changes that arise in different places and different times," pg. 67. Finally, and most importantly, as I previously mentioned, Schaeffer takes the whole Bible as intended and especially the first half of Genesis. He mentions several times how important Genesis is to our approach to the Bible.
Finally, I have a pastor who recommended highly Schaeffer to me and I searched the library for his books and this was the only one not checked out. It was a quick read, though deep and challenging. It is only 153 pages and I was able to read it all on Saturday. Yet now I must read the rest of Schaeffer's library and I'm not sure how appreciative I should be to my pastor who has inflicted upon me this appetite for Schaeffer's books! Seriously though, this book got my synapses firing on several cylinders and prodded me to dig deep not just into a Christian philosophers bulging library but into the Bible itself. I'll leave with my favorite quote from the book, "People(unbelievers) are looking at us to see if, when we say we have truth, it is then possible for this truth not only to take men's souls to heaven, but to give all of life meaning in the present time, moment by moment," pg. 72.
God Bless you and learn, live and love the Gospel.
You will probably notice fairly quickly that I give positive reviews to almost all the books I read. The reason for that is simple: I don't have time for nonsense. As a husband and father with a job that takes a lot of time to do to provide for my family, I simply see no reason to read something that will not, from all indications, be edifying. I tend to read blogs and articles in which I'm often in disagreement but those are not terribly time consuming. Now that I've made this point I'm certain that I will probably come across a book that will inspire a negative review and, in fact, I think I may be reading a commentary that fits that bill!
Anyway, this is not that negative review and I cannot recommend "The Church at the End of the 20th Century" enough. While you may be wondering, "Why should I read a book about the church at the end of the twentieth century", I assure you that this book was prophetic almost 40 years ago and it is no less important today. You see, Schaeffer was a Presbyterian pastor in the U.S. who decided to pack up and go to Switzerland and start a ministry to wayward folks struggling with life. He founded L'Abri Fellowship in the Alps and he wrote many prophetic and influential books dealing with the church, the dying western world and our relationship and ministry to it. He was an orthodox C.S. Lewis who did not insult our biblical intelligence(like Lewis and many of his acolytes today) by denying the early chapters of Genesis or foregoing difficult doctrines in a politically correct world. Schaefer took all of the Bible seriously and did not forfeit any of it to the pc gods of our secular age.
There are at least four things that commend this book to the serious(is there any other) Christian: 1) Schaeffer emphasized a holistic approach to truth that is believed and preached and lived. 2) He understood how important marriage was. Not just the institution, which is foundational, but the picture it gives us of God's relationship to His people, both in the OT and the NT. 3) He emphasized the idea of the church having "form and freedom". "...there is a place for the institutional church and that it should maintain the form commanded by God, but on the other hand, that this also leaves vast areas of freedom for change," he goes on, "In other words, the New Testament sets boundary conditions, but within those boundary conditions there is much freedom to meet the changes that arise in different places and different times," pg. 67. Finally, and most importantly, as I previously mentioned, Schaeffer takes the whole Bible as intended and especially the first half of Genesis. He mentions several times how important Genesis is to our approach to the Bible.
Finally, I have a pastor who recommended highly Schaeffer to me and I searched the library for his books and this was the only one not checked out. It was a quick read, though deep and challenging. It is only 153 pages and I was able to read it all on Saturday. Yet now I must read the rest of Schaeffer's library and I'm not sure how appreciative I should be to my pastor who has inflicted upon me this appetite for Schaeffer's books! Seriously though, this book got my synapses firing on several cylinders and prodded me to dig deep not just into a Christian philosophers bulging library but into the Bible itself. I'll leave with my favorite quote from the book, "People(unbelievers) are looking at us to see if, when we say we have truth, it is then possible for this truth not only to take men's souls to heaven, but to give all of life meaning in the present time, moment by moment," pg. 72.
God Bless you and learn, live and love the Gospel.
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