I will be the one to tuck my child into bed.  I will be the one to teach her to ride a bike for the first time.  I will pack their lunch for school.  I will pray with him before meals, and when he is scared, and on many other sorts of occasions.  When she practices her most enchanting hobbies, spending free time in a way that most pleases her, I will be the one next to her.

I will be the one that celebrates these moments with them.  I will be there whispering in their ear that they are loved by me, and loved even more by God in Jesus.  What could be more powerful a safeguard than that?

Pray for the people of Haiti*

Almighty God, our Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Mighty Fortress, You are our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Though the Earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging we will not fear for you have entered into and overcome human suffering in the suffering of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. We join in the prayers of your people all over the World, interceding in agreement, pleading for your merciful intervention for the sake of your people in Haiti. We believe there is a river whose streams make glad the City of God, and we pray this river of mercy to flow through the streets of Port Au Prince.

In your mercy, by your Spirit, through your people and in the name of your son Jesus, would you:

bless the poor, comfort the mourners, rescue the orphans, protect the widows, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, raise the dead, renew the hope, repair the ruins, restore the land, release miracles, send workers, compel relief, and cause Salvation to spring up through the brokenness of the ground as a witness to your compassionate Glory.

Please hear our prayers. Make us into your mercy and show yourself mighty to save.

We agree in these prayers in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

*Reliance on Psalm 46

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The Gospel transcends time.  Its relevance penetrates the soul and in its beautiful irony it puts all other ideologies to shame.  And yet God chose the church as his agent of truth.  1 Timothy 3:15 honors us while obliging us to something.  We’re called the pillar of truth–that ancient architectural element that supports structures.  We the church are commissioned to be the foundation that upholds, honors, and leads the way in the truth enterprise.  It seems the Gospel message has been entrusted to a people who are less than perfect and who are notorious for being lazy in our evangelism and missions, i.e. keeping God ourselves.  And still our greatest mistake may soon come to be not our inactivity but our complacency in how we view God.  I consider that the Gospel message will suffer most when the church has a lesser view of God than rightfully belongs to him.  Here’s the unpacking: we think we can fully wrap our minds around an infinite God who is wholly different from us.  Furthermore, we bind him in paradigm that lets us sit back in comfort as we think to ourselves, “Ah yes, we’ve sorted this matter out.  Nothing further.”  Confessions, creeds, and theologies of  a different era are mistakenly considered sufficient for engaging our world today, and our teachers crouch behind systematic theologies that are thought to settle the score once and for all.

We think the world isn’t worth exploring and that it has nothing to tell us about God, even though Scripture clearly tells us otherwise (Rom. 1:19-20).  We cower in fear as the “secular disciplines” rear their ugly heads.  Sociology, anthropology, psychology and the like are changing the way people understand the world because they reveal so much about who we are.  So it makes sense that something like anthropology and theology proper should be in constant conversation.  The design says much about the designer!  The more we understand ourselves and the world we live in, the more we should understand God.  The Gospel message suffers when theology doesn’t keep up.  The Gospel message suffers when the church retreats instead of engaging.

We live in the Information Age—an age of specialization, where Masters degrees are becoming the norm for landing a job.  The young adult freshly graduated from college can often stump the middle-aged believer with her simple palette of dilemmas she learned in certain 101 classes.  Part of the reason is because the church has created a ghetto for itself, one based on a misunderstanding of what it means to be a people of faith.  And this happens in Christian academia as well, largely due to the problem of fear or slippery slope arguments.

What I’m submitting is that the popular understanding of sola Scriptura is not enough (and itself not found in Scripture).  A contextual study of Luther’s circumstances will reveal he never intended it to be so narrowly understood either.  He demanded that Canon Law be considered null in the soteriological debates of the time because the truth taught in the Bible and stood in clear contrast to it.  For us today, while Scripture should remain primary in our theological method, it is a naive myth to think it is the sole source for our theology.  Our assumptions influence our worldviews so much that when honed properly and submitted to the primacy of Scripture, the scientific disciplines can help us ferret out our presuppositions and offer context, clarity, and correction to our beliefs.  When an apparent contradiction between our sources surfaces, it is due either to our misunderstanding of a particular Bible passage or to our misunderstanding of nature.

We render ourselves irrelevant when we become illiterate.  Let us engage the developments of the secular sciences.  Let us be learned.  Let us not so narrowly understand the gift of Scripture that we miss the beauty and usefulness of God’s general revelation.

1. Institutional learning challenges the assumptions we often bring to our understanding of God and our world as individuals. We can’t escape the conditioning which shapes our worldview, but learning from others and following tracks set for us is a way to ferret out our presuppositions and discern if they are worth hanging on to.  This factor increases exponentially if you study at a school with a  tradition different from yours.
2. Formal Bible training, in its simplest form, is merely a highly concentrated effort for students to learn God’s word. Energy, time, and money is offered as a sacrificial act of worship to God in an effort to familiarize oneself with God’s truth.  Lest the word “formal” turn someone off, consider the nature of what was happening in Acts 19:9.  This is the first Christian seminary!
3. Studying on your own often results in following pathways that aren’t worthwhile. Higher learning institutions that are accredited have qualified professionals who mentor your learning process.  They know where good places are to begin and can shield you from wasting time in books or topics that are not going to be as effective in training you for your ministry.  This makes your growth more efficient and helps ensure good stewardship of time.
4. Going to school helps you discover, rather than re-invent concepts. Studying without the aide of a tutor will often result in you spending an unjustifiable amount of time “re-inventing the wheel.”  You’ll spend an unwise amount of time in exegesis, systemizing theology, or philosophizing if you don’t have the right reference points.  Others have gone before you–use this blessing God’s provided you with!

To be continued (maybe).

I’m very skeptical of anyone who claims right-standing with God but doesn’t attend church.  So although this apologetic for ‘going to church’ was stirred by a cultural need to defend and promote this discipline for the nonbelievers in our world, I also recognize that some people in the church genuinely struggle understanding the worth of gathering regularly for worship, instruction, fellowship etc.  Let’s admit it—sometimes sermons are poor, people are curiously peculiar, and attending service can be  like watching C-Span.  I’m not immune to feeling that sometimes I could have gained more from a personal Bible study at home or watching a Podcast from one of my favorite teachers.

With these realities in mind, I hope to shed light on why Christians should go to church.  This may serve as an apologetic both for believers and nonbelievers.

Let’s just ignore the fact that the Bible straightforwardly commands Christians to attend church (Heb. 10:25)!  Furthermore, it’s helpful to understand that the Bible hardly expounds on this practice because it was an assumed discipline and the early communities were keenly aware of why they were assembling together (something churches in free societies, where they do not suffer persecution, are less prone to).

The nature of my argument is a very pragmatic one.  I have traditionally taught that Christians should go to church for two simple reasons.  Though they are uncomplicated in theology, I don’t consider them lacking profundity.  Those who actively attend church and live out these two reasons will understand the strength of my argument.

God wants Christians in a church so that they can grow.

There are so many dimensions that we need to grow in as God’s people.   There’s worship (Col. 3:16), knowledge (Acts 2:42), character (Heb. 13:17) to name a few.  Local churches serve as the environment through which God wants you to experience this.  They provide relationships that will serve as an avenue for your spiritual growth.  Pastors, teachers, mentors, accountability partners cannot be found in solitude.  The cap to your personal growth will be your own experience if you attempt to grow spiritually on your own!  By joining a church, you humbly recognize that the Spirit has been working in his church (universal) long before you came upon the scene, and are given access to knowledge, understanding, and experiences that you can only gain from others.

God wants Christians in a church so that they can grow others.

All Christians are ministers (1 Cor 7:7; 12:7).  God wants you to be intentional about the relationships that you are going to serve others in.  This means you have gifts, talents, experiences that you’re supposed to use to build people up.  In a local church, people enter into a mutual agreement of edification.  It is understood that no two people are exactly alike, and that God wants to use everyone in a unique way to grow each other.  Social groups outside the church also need you, but the church acts a group of people who are seeking the same purpose.  This makes growth more efficient.  The church serves as a catalyst in forming Christ-likeness.

Recently I have been reading theologies of community (I will most certainly look back one day and recognize the influence John R. Franke has had on my thinking).  He argues that community should be what he calls theology’s integrative motif.  Put another way, we may ask what connects our seemingly dispread Christian doctrines into a unifying purpose?  Community formation.

God is inherently relational in that throughout all of eternity God is a triune community of love.  In turn, God’s goal for humanity is that we represent God by reflecting the divine nature, which is our destiny in Christ.  In this context, the church is viewed as the foretaste of the new humanity.  Hence, the divine design for Christ’s community is that we be a people who, because we share in the Holy Spirit and thereby participate in the eternal love of God, represent God in the midst of a fallen world through lives that reflect God’s own loving Character.  Only through relationships and in community can we truly show what God is like, for God is the community of love, the eternal relational dynamic enjoyed by the three persons of the Trinity.*

God wants you in a church so that you can grow and so that you can grow others.  But that’s not all.  The world needs to see what restored relationships look like, and this can only happen in community.  When we worship in local communities, we are reflecting the triune nature of God’s relationality to the world.  This can take the form of sharing in communion, musical worship, teaching, sharing a meal, meeting in small groups, playing sports together, entertaining people–all in the name of Christ.  When these meetings are marked by relationships filled with mutual love, we the church testify to God’s character and mission.  He wants you to be part of that, and this is why going to church is imperative for anyone who considers themselves Christian.

*John R. Franke, The Character of Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 123.

So what does it mean to be missional?  Well, for starters, it means that you’re on top of the latest thing in church circles (which is not a bad thing!).  If emerging and organic weren’t enough to describe postmodern approaches to doing church, now we have missional.  I honestly celebrate this– don’t let my facetiousness deceive you (I have a purpose to writing this way, which will be apparent later).  But back to this paragraph’s original question; we must settle on a definition.  Since there isn’t much controversy surrounding the term, allow me to define it from memory, with no references.  To be missional means to do ministry with particular attention paid to proper contextualization of the Gospel and engagement of varying cultures.  For a better understanding of this, see this video by Tim Keller and read Confessions of a Reformission Rev. by Mark Driscoll.

I love that we can put a label on a particular approach to ministry.  It helps keep the church honest; it helps us measure success and failures; it helps us have meaningful discussions that move us forward.  Missional churches, much like “missionaries” who do cross-cultural evangelism, are really good at engaging ideas from different people groups.  The most culturally heterogeneous areas are universities and cities.  That’s why urban communities are really good at relating the Gospel message in a way that engages different theology, philosophy, politics, art, literature etc.  So, to draw attention to this important need in today’s church is of vast importance (the need to be missional)!

My only quibble is that this is in fact a modern concept!  That is not to say it is harmful or unbiblical, but it is most definitely not taught in Scripture.  In fact, the word “mission” is only used in the New Testament once!  And even in this instance, it refers to the act of being involved in a purposeful, particular event (Acts 12:25).  Furthermore, the ministry of “missionary” is not found anywhere in Scripture either, whether one wants to think of it as a gift or office.  Biblically, the closest thing to missionary is that of evangelist.

The point of this post is to call certain leaders back to a more honest position.  It is unfair to speak of “missional” churches as holding a monopoly on effective contextualization.  Also, it is unwarranted to posit missional churches against other labels such as “seeker.”  Seeker and missional are not mutually exclusive.  Furthermore, it is a bad move to contrast being missional with evangelistic.  “Evangelistic” is a biblical term used of the church; I wouldn’t want to distance myself from this word.  Finally, let’s ‘fess up and recognize that some people have an unfair stigma toward labels like “purpose-driven,” but all too readily accept other labels like missional.  This demonstrates pure hypocrisy.

Adopting missional in our vocabulary would be a great step forward in making disciples of all the nations!  I already have, and it’s helped me better my ministry.  At the same time, be honest with yourself while being charitable with others.  The fruit of your character and labor will be much sweeter.

Martin Luther, The Short Catechism, 1529

My thoughts on preaching, teaching, pastoring, evangelizing:

If preaching the Gospel has gathered for me riches, I am not living the Gospel.

If preaching the Gospel has offered me much physical rest, I am most likely slumbering spiritually.

If preaching the Gospel has never resulted in conflict in my community, my message is at odds with God’s.

If preaching the Gospel has made me exclusively popular with the crowd, Christ may say He never knew me.

If preaching the Gospel has created only safety in my life, my soul may be in grave danger.

If I set my heart on receiving a reward that is anything other than Jesus, I have forfeited the personal fruit of my labor.

As a young minister, I pray that God guard my heart so that I can honestly count all other things as rubbish compared to the awesome joy there is in knowing Jesus Christ.  May my glory be in Christ (Philippians 3:3).  May yours be too.

I must begin by commending the author’s passion for reviving strong families in America.  This is what God wants.  One of our culture’s biggest downfalls is that fathers are not leading and mothers are not nurturing.  Children are not raised to fear God, and teenagers are too readily given up on.  This leads to weak relationships within family units, and a church can only be as strong as its individual parts.  Mr. Boureston has earned my utmost respect because his essays, internet presence, and overall ministry calls Christian adults to work at rebuilding strong families.

I would like to suggest that his main premise– that discipleship needs to happen in families– leads to the logical conclusion that families are failing the church, not small groups.  If discipleship is not happening, and it should be happening primarily in homes, then the home is what needs attention.  Our focus should not be on dismantling a strategy that has effectively worked in maturing person’s faith.  Our focus should be on impressing the need to repair unhealthy families.  I have personally experienced growth in small groups, witnessed people grow in small groups, and heard wonderful testimonies of small groups’ usefulness.

That being said, I would like to address some of the specific points:

• “Would a shepherd let anyone who volunteered take care of his flock?” (part 1)

That is not how most churches go about selecting small group leaders.  I have yet to meet a church pastor who “let anyone” get involved in small groups leadership.

• “Small groups are just one of many bandwagons that the church has jumped onto in an effort to assuage and comfort their flock.” (part 1)

I don’t know of any church that began a small group ministry for the purpose of merely comforting people.  It should also be noted that since offering counsel is one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit, there is no reason it should not be the church’s as well.

• “But God doesn’t ask us as Christians to stay in touch with each other,  God calls us to make disciples of the nations” (part 1)

This seems to be an overstatement of the Great Commission.  The church of Jerusalem enjoyed a tight fellowship as did the communities that Paul & the other Apostles planted.  “When you come together…” (1 Cor. 14:26)  “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people…” (Eph. 4:11-12)

• “Learning out of context is most small groups, is Sunday school, and unfortunately is church in most churches.  Do you live with everyone who is the same age as you, the same sex, and the same exact interests?  Probably not.  Those types of settings are artificial.  They are contrived.” (part 3)

They are not completely artificial.  People join clubs because they share interests/hobbies; they visit attractions that draw them; young people hang out together; college campuses are full of students who are effectively at the same life stage.  The idea is that when it comes to spiritual growth, it’s OK to learn and grow outside of the family as well.  If it happens naturally in other areas of life, why not have it aide in discipleship as well?

It is not small groups that are failiing the church, it is unhealthy families.  We must recognize that accountability happens best in families, while acknowledging that parents need to lead their children in the faith better.  On the other hand, small groups are not a modern concept– it is a bibical one (see my article “Small Groups and the Christian“).  As a church, let’s call our members back to a faith practiced in families, while still retaining methods that are healthy and helpful.  Let’s keep small groups.

4,000/Day – 25,000/Week – 109,000/Month – 1.3 Million/Year

Since 1973, over 40 million children lost their lives.

“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” Proverbs 24:11

Roe (plaintiff) vs. Wade (her state’s attorney general) 1973

-This Supreme Court case ruled that unborn babies are not persons who are protected by the right to life under the constitution.  It also determined that a woman has a right to the privacy of making decisions pertaining to her body.  Therefore, the issue that now needs to be resolved is when a baby (embryo, fetus) has personhood.  If the case can be made that an embryo has personhood, they too should be protected under the constitution’s right to life, making abortion illegal.

Where the court went wrong: Biologically, an embryo has the genetic make-up which makes something a person.  Consciousness, reasoning, and communication are not the qualifications for personhood, otherwise the mentally handicap, clinically insane, or those in a coma should not be considered persons.  But that would be absurd.  Therefore, an embryo/fetus is a person and their right to life is more basic of a right than a woman’s right to privacy.

What the Bible has to say on abortion: Exodus 21:22; Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 1:20.  Life begins at conception.

What you can/need to do: Pray for our country, vote with this in mind (Matt. 23:24), educate yourself, speak out against this injustice, offer hope and love to those considering this procedure: http://optionline.org

1-800-395-HELP.

Learn more: http://abort73.com

You have my permission AND suggestion to link to, copy, paste, further alter, and please print this information off to inform Christians on the issue.

See also “The New Evangelical Politics: Camels & Gnats“

If you’re an evangelical Christian you’ll agree that sin separates people from God and that the atonement–however you define it–provided for us, through Jesus’ death on the cross, reconciliation.  In other words, the Gospel is largely about sin in the heart of the individual and that God saved us and allowed us to be in right relationship with him both now and in eternity.

The disagreement lies in how complete this good news is.  Certain churches and authors have rightfully, I think, reacted to conservative Christianity’s failure in reaching the social needs of the world in which we live.  New perspectives submit that God has a much bigger plan in salvation, that goes beyond the condition of individuals persons.  He is “reconciling the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19) and working on restoring all of creation to its original design (see Romans 8:19-22 & 2 Peter 3:10-14 & the end of Revelation).  So, although Jesus Christ came to save persons, persons are merely the parts of a bigger picture.  Part of the bigger picture includes how redeemed persons are to relate to this world.

This is to say that too many Christians have an escapist mentality when it come to salvation.  An unbiblical theology will tell you that this world doesn’t matter, our bodies don’t matter, the environment doesn’t matter, and the poverty of my neighbor doesn’t really matter all that much either.  What matters is eternity and saving people from their sin.  This type of teaching stands in stark contrast to the word of God.  If we are to include the idea of repentance in the Gospel, we must repent of our negligence, apathy, and uncompassion when it comes to our neighbors.  God wants to use his church to usher in the kingdom of heaven onto this earth, his creation.  The kingdom lifestyle includes all those things which make earth a better place to live, with the law of Christ serving as our guides.  To reduce the work of Christ to “getting us into heaven” misses Jesus’ teaching that the kingdom is coming to earth.

So we return to the Gospel.  What is it?  It is essentially about God making a way, through Jesus’ death on the cross, for us to be in right relationship with him.  What matters most is that people repent of their sin and turn to God so as to enter into communion with him, avoiding the pains of hell and enjoying the pleasure of heaven in eternity.  But remember that Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is near, it has come with power, and it is indeed in us (Luke 17:21).  An essential ministry of the church is to preach, teach, live, and usher in the kingdom of God here on earth.  This can only happen after sin is dealt with in our hearts, but must continue with acts of love to all those whom we share this planet with.  Since no one exists outside of relationships (i.e. we are social beings), the Gospel deals with our relationships.  The Great Commandment means that loving our neighbor is a necessary dimension to living out the Gospel, which translates into being concerned for God’s justice for all peoples.  The Gospel is God making all things right.

One last note. 1 Corinthians 15, often referred to when defining Gospel, is very revealing.

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (NIV)

God could have accomplished the atonement without the resurrection.  Jesus was raised from the dead not merely as a confirming sign that he was the Son of God, but he was the firstfruit of what is to come!  We are going to be resurrected in the last day and will inhabit a new earth, not some immaterial place called “heaven” (see above references).  Our bodies matter. This world matters.  Matter matters. This is why social justice matters.  If God was just going to rescue us from this world, Jesus could have remained in the grave and our faith would not have been in vain.

As John Piper once said, “We exist to relieve all suffering, especially eternal suffering!”

Watch this video for a very helpful discussion between Tim Keller, John Piper, & D. A. Carson.