And The Answer Is....

Here is a question that begs to be answered by each of us as we prepare to leave our homes on Sunday. Why am I going to church today?

What would be your response?

posted by john d.

The Wolf As The Door?

"For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach." (Titus 1:10-11 KJV)

For the less Elizabethan inclined the CEV - Contemporary English Version - states, "There are many who don't respect authority, and they fool others by talking nonsense. This is especially true of some Jewish followers. But you must make them be quiet. They are after money, and they upset whole families by teaching what they should not."

Paul sermon to the Ephesians included this warning, " I know that after I am gone, others will come like fierce wolves to attack you. Some of your own people will tell lies to win over the Lord's followers. Be on your guard!..." (Acts 20:29-31 CEV).

To place my posting of these biblical texts in the context of this blog you need to read Dr. John MacArthur's latest message titled 'Unholy Trinity' at the Shepherds Fellowship site which is available by clicking here .

Here are my thoughts concerning Dr. MacArthur's comments:

What can we do as orthodox, biblically sound Christians, to counter-act those heresies identified by Dr. MacArthur? Specifically what can we do as a church and as an individual believer in the Truth of the Word of God? Even when the pulpit preaches the Truth there are few that are paying attention and those outside can't hear it.

Even in our small community we have churches that are proclaiming the "health-and -wealth" gospel. There are locally available faith healers that can't heal; prophets who can't deliver on the message, etc. We have locally prosperity preachers who fleece the flock of Christ by offering everything now, contrary to Jesus' call to "taking up His cross". And there are those who preached a "works salvation" contrary to the Gospel of Grace and others who disdain the message of the gospel altogether by ordaining biblically unauthorized pastors. In our small town we even have a "Temple of Gaya" which worships the earth promoting hyper-environmentalism including it's twisted step-children such as the current climate change hysteria which is rapidly warping into population control.

So my question is, what can we, as individual biblical Christians, do to promote true Biblical Truth as evidenced in the Gospel of Christ? Can we do better than what we are doing now? How?

These are my thoughts, what are yours?

posted by john d.

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

What profit has a man from all his labor

In which he toils under the sun?

One generation passes away, and another generation comes;

But the earth abides forever.

The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,

And hastens to the place where it arose.

The wind goes toward the south,

And turns around to the north;

The wind whirls about continually,

And comes again on its circuit.

All the rivers run into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full;

To the place from which the rivers come,

There they return again.

All things are full of labor;

Man cannot express it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing,

Nor the ear filled with hearing.

That which has been is what will be,

That which is done is what will be done,

And there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there anything of which it may be said,

“See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.

There is no remembrance of former things,

Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come

By those who will come after.

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

posted by john d.

SPURGEON’S PRACTICAL WISDOM - On More Spending

I suppose we all find the money goes quite fast enough, but after all is was made to circulate, and there’s no use in hoarding it. It is bad to see our money become a runaway servant, and leave us, but it would be worse to have it stop with us and become our master. We should try, as our minister says, ‘to find the golden mean’, and neither be lavish nor stingy. He has his money best spent who has the best wife. The husband may earn money, but only the wife can save it. “A wise women buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with here hands’. The wife it seems, according to Solomon, is the builder or the real puller downer. A man cannot prosper till he gets his wife’s leave. A thrifty housewife is better than a great income. A good wife and health are a man’s best wealth. Bless their hearts, what should we do without them? It is said they like to have their own way, but then the proverb says, a wife ought to have her will during life, because she cannot make one when she dies. The weather is so melting that I cannot keep up this talk any longer, and therefore I shall close with an old-fashioned rhyme-

Heaven bless the wives, they fill our hives-

With little bees and honey!

They soothe life’s shocks, they mend our socks-

But don’t they spend the money!

posted by Delores D.

SPURGEON’S PRACTICAL WISDOM On Spending

As soon as the spendthrift gets his estate it goes like a lump of butter in a greyhound’s mouth. All his days are the first of April; he would buy an elephant at a bargain, or thatch his house with pancakes, nothing is too foolish to tickle his fancy; his money burns holes in his pocket, and he must squander it, all the while boasting that his motto is, ‘Spend, and God will send.’ He will not stay till he has his sheep before he shears them; he forestalls his income, draws upon his capital, and so kills the goose which lays the golden eggs, and cries out, ‘Who would have thought it?’ He never spares at the brim, but he means, he says to save at the bottom. He borrows at high interest of Rob’em, Cheat’em, and Sell’em-up, and when gets cleaned out, he lays it all upon lawyers or else on the bad times.

posted by Delores D.

More MLJ

Regarding trials in the Christian life:

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:6,7

There is a superficial view of Christianity which would regard (trials and temptations) as quite impossible, the kind of view of the Christian life which simply says that all the problems have gone and now 'I am happy all the day'. Such people cannot accept Peter's description for a moment and would say of any Christian who is 'in heaviness' that it is doubtful whether he is a Christian at all. There is that teaching concerning the Christian life which gives the impression that once one has arrived at a decision, or once one has been converted, there are no more troubles, no ripples on the sea of life. Everything is perfect and there are no problems whatsoever. Now the simple answer to that view is that it is not New Testament Christianity. That is the kind of thing which the cults have always offered and which modern psychology is also offering.

...we must look at the Christian life in this way. We are walking through this world under the eye of our heavenly Father. That is the fundamental thing, the Christian must think of himself as in a peculiar relationship to God. This is not true of anyone who is not a Christian. There is a very definite plan and purpose for the whole of my life, God has looked upon me, God has adopted me and put me into His family. What for? In order that He may bring me to perfection. That is His objective - 'that you may be made (more and more) conformable to the image of His dear Son'. That is what He is doing. The Lord Jesus Christ is bringing many sons unto God, saying: 'Behold I and the children that Thou hast given me'. If we do not start with that fundamental conception of ourselves as Christians, we are bound to go astray, and we are certain to misunderstand these things.

The doctrine of the Scriptures is, at the very lowest, that God permits these things to happen to us. I go further, God at times orders these things to happen to us for our good. He may do it sometimes in order to chastise us. He chastises us for our slackness and for our failure. We were looking in the previous chapter at the failure of the Christian to discipline himself. Peter exhorts the Christians to discipline themselves, to add to their faith, to furnish out their faith, not merely to be content with a bare minimum but to let it be a full-orbed faith. We may not pay heed to that exhortation, we may persist in our slackness and in our indolence. Well, as I understand the New Testament doctrine, if we do that we must not be surprised if things begin to happen to us. We must not be surprised if God begins to chastise us. The argument in Hebrews 12 is as strong as this: 'Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth'. If you have not known chastisement I doubt whether you have ever been a Christian. If you can say that since you have believed you have never had any trouble at all, your experience is probably psychological and not spiritual. There is a realism about Christianity, as I said at the beginning and it goes so far as to teach that God, for our good, will chastise us if we pay no heed to the exhortations and the appeals of the Scripture. God has other methods also. He does not do these things to those who are outside the family, but if they are His children He will chastise them for their own good. So we may be experiencing manifold trials as part of our chastisement. I am not saying it is inevitable, I say it may be so.


From the book "Spiritual Depression, Its Causes and Cure" by Martin Lloyd-Jones. Published in Great Britain by Pickering Publishers, 1965 (pgs. 219-220 and 224-225).

posted by john d.

To Be "Missional"

The following was gleaned from the Berean Missional Church located in St. Paul. I thought their concept of missions was good so I'll pass it along. I especially like their emphasis upon a "...call away from our personal interest and toward others."

The term "Missional" refers to a God-centered, holistic understanding of the Great Commission. This idea is also seen in Christ's charge to His disciples: ". . . As the Father has sent me, I also send you" (John 20:21b). The implications of the mission's mandate for us are derived directly from the Trinitarian nature of God - Jesus sends us just as the Father sent Him (John 20:21-22). This emphasis causes Missional church members to see the church corporately and each individual as the instrument to fulfill God's mission.

As an example, the "Missional" church will embrace an understanding of participating in the mission of God as a call for every individual Christian to leave their place of security, and to travel to the place where others are. Missions, then, is always in the direction of the other, and away from ourselves. Some may take the imperative "Go" (Matt. 28:19) as a call to go overseas. Others may see the full God-centered "Missional" implication in that it is a call to "Go" to those in their own societies and overseas. In any event, it is a call away from our personal interests and toward others. The leaders of Berean Missional Church understand that our purpose is not to rework programs, but to rediscover our mission as the body of Christ. In short, we must become "Missional."

From the BMC website located at : http://www.bemissional.org/index.html

posted by john d.

Self-Destruction and God's Love

My regular routine in the morning includes reviewing some blogsites that have articles encouraging and/or informative. Among the best is the Pyromaniacs blogsite. I am often stimulated by their thoughtful biblical analysis of today's culture - Christian and otherwise. One such article was posted recently which questioned the "mass marketing" false teachers who recite the mantra of "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" which may not be the truth.

I've noted that speaking the truth in love is not always easy nor is it willingly received as it is often perceived as harse or unkind when it in reality is the ultimate kindness. (I know, I know, there is a way we can intend to speak the truth in love when we are really expressing a harsh opinion...but I'm speaking here of having a true concern for the soul of recipient.)

Anyway, I've linked to a recent post by Dan Phillips regarding God "accepting you just as you are". Mr. Phillips proposes perhaps God is NOT accepting you as you are but is instead judging you just as you are.

Here is a small quotation from the article:

"These men (and women) take on the mantel of authority, stand in the pulpit, and tell every last one of their hearers unconditionally and without qualification that God loves them, accepts them just as they are, approves of their hopes and dreams and aspirations, and wants nothing more than He wants for them to be happy and fulfill their desires. ..... In fact — I have to say it; truth and love for God and you constrains me — He may well not accept you, just as you are, right now."


Read the whole article HERE.

Then let me know what you think.

posted by john d.

My Church or the Kingdom?

The following is from Ray Ortlund's blogsite (available here) where he responds to an interesting statement sometimes stated out loud but most often thought especially by those we call the "lone rangers" of Christianity who 'attend church' but never becomes committed enough to become a part of the local assembly of believers. (One often wonders if they are committed to anything.)




"My passion isn't to build up my church. My passion is for God's Kingdom."

Every heard someone say that? I have. It sounds large-hearted, but it's wrong. It can even be destructive.

Suppose I said, "My passion isn't to build up my marriage. My passion is for Marriage. I want the institution of marriage to be revered again. I'll work for that. I'll pray for that. I'll sacrifice for that. But don't expect me to hunker down in the humble daily realities of building a great marriage with my wife Jani. I'm aiming at something grander."

If I said that, would you think, "Wow, Ray is so committed"? Or would you wonder if I had lost my mind?

If you care about the Kingdom, be the kind of person who can be counted on in your own church. Join your church, pray for your church, tithe to your church, participate in your church every Sunday with wholehearted passion.

We build great churches the same way we build great marriages -- real commitment that makes a positive difference very day.

posted by john d.

Faith, Hope, Love

Another exerpt from the "Reminiscences" regarding street preacher Robert Flockhart by James Robertson.

"As his end drew near, his thoughts appeared to dwell the more delightedly on 'the things that are above'. For instance, one afternoon when heaven was the theme of our conversation, he remarked that 'Faith, Hope, and Love will be our good company all the way up to the door of our Father's house. But there Faith will make her bow, and retire, saying, 'You'll not need me more, for you're now to see Him as he is, without a veil'. And Hope, too, will say, 'Farewell! I've been glad to get you guided this length. And now, when I've served your turn, I must see after other pilgrims coming the same road.' But Love will smile and say, 'You and I are not to part that way. No, no! I'm going in to stay with you to all eternity'.



Rev 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!"




(From Autobiography of Robert Flockhart - The Street Preacher, publ. Baker Book House, 1977)

posted by john d.

The Use of the Law in Conversion

The following is taken from "Reminiscences" by James Robinson on the life of Robert Flockhart and dated December 1857. Mr. Robinson had been requested by Dr. Guthrie to contribute some record of Mr. Flockhart's last years of his life and kindly responded.

One of the first remarks Robert Flockhard made to Mr. Robinson when they first met was when they were speaking of how difficult it is to awaken reflection and produce conviction in the minds of the ungodly, when he (Flockhart) stated he had almost always found the most alarming subjects the most useful, and he added, " You never saw a woman sewing without a needle? She would come but poor speed if she only sewed with the thread. So, I think, when we're dealing with sinners, we must put in the needle of the law first; for the fact is, they're sleeping sound, and they need to be wakened up with something sharp. But when we've got the needle of the law fairly in; we may draw as long a thread as you like of Gospel consolation after it."

(From "Autobiography of Robert Flockhart - The Street Preacher" published by Baker Book House, 1977)

posted by john d.

Ecclesiastes 6:11

The more the words, the less the meaning

and how does that profit anyone?

posted by john d.

Do We Chose Christ?

Is it permissable to encourage unbelievers to "choose" Christ? This was a question posed by Dan Phillips at the Pyromanicacs blogsite. Periodically he presents a question for the purpose of sparking a debate among readers and recently posted the question, "Are Calvinists obliged to snort, jeer and mock at every use of the verb choose (or decide) where God is not the subject?" In other words is the proclamation to the unregenerate to choose to follow Christ or other such verbage legitimate knowing that they are dead in sin, unable to choose, etc.

Three responses were offered and I thought I'd post them for your enlightenment.

The first response:

An anonymous hymnist in the late nineteenth century wrote, "I sought the Lord, and afterwards I knew he moved my heart to seek him." I believe that is the experience of most Christians - even most Calvinists. It is certainly mine. So why would I suddenly expect a new believer to know right away what I only knew “afterward”? The gospel message ends with “Come and believe,” and that involves choice. It is only through growth in grace that we come to perceive the sovereign action by which God led us to that choice. As with any of the finely balanced truths which surround the doctrine of conversion, the truth about decisions can easily be twisted. When an evangelist says, “The decision is now yours; God has done His part and you must do the rest,” he speaks an untruth about the God who saves, but if he says merely, “It’s time for you to decide to turn away from sin and to trust in Jesus,” is he really saying anything more than “Choose this day whom you will serve”?

Another response:

It's funny that it's OK to say that we are commanding people to obey the Gospel, and when they do we get offended that they would say so. If they are cut to the heart, and ask 'what shall I do?', tell them what they should do, and help them do it. If you're rather not call that a decision, well, don't let you semantics get in the way of their repentance.

And finally:

Upon first realizing I believed the doctrines of grace, I often made this mistake. Ive also tried to explain the doctrines of grace in a way that misses the point that: We do choose Him. He wants His elect to choose Him. Now, the fact that they are totally incapable of choosing Him without His divine calling does not change the fact that being elect means we WILL call upon the name of the Lord! The issue is not whether you chose, praise be to God He makes Himself lovely in our eyes and stirs us to WANT Him. the issue is why did you choose? And I think that conversation can be had in a way that does not discourage or minimize their "decision" but causes them to rejoice in the goodness of God all the more!

posted by john d.

Evaluating The Message

Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New York City (Pastored by Tim Keller) uses a form to evaluate a preachers message. While I think it may seem to be too formal it does have the ability for a preacher to gain a sense of his effectiveness (humanly speaking) in reaching his intended audience.

The form is divided into two main sections. First, Faithfulness to Scripture and to God - which is intended to determine the preachers theological accuracy; Second, Message Delivery and Communication - questions related to the preacher's communication abilities and connection with the intended audience - the congregation. The responses can vary from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree.

My thoughts are in italics.


FAITHFULNESS TO SCRIPTURE AND GOD.

1. The preaching assertions (points) were clearly rooted in the text and squared with the whole teaching of scripture. [indicating the message adheres to the context of the text and the analogy of faith]

2. The central theme was an illustration of Christ - the message was clearly all about Jesus. [after all, the Scriptures are the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ to His people]

3. The speaker seemed aware of God, not just his sermon and the audience. [the Holy Spirit must accompany the message]

4. The speaker avoided moralizing or psychologizing, and distinguished these from the gospel.

5. The goal was to get people face-to-face with God, rather than merely instruct. [the priority is to know God]

6. Christ and His finished work were applied as the practical solution to any problem.

MESSAGE DELIVERY AND COMMUNICATION

7. It was clear where the preacher was driving - and the progression of points was traceable. [as opposed to rambling and overly repetitive]

8. The points were presented in a fresh, wise, and striking way (as opposed to boring & cliche). [if the first six questions are in the affirmative then the message will be anything but boring]

9. At the end of the preaching, the main point was both clear and persuasive. [not based only on the authority of the preacher]

10. It was clear the speaker understood the hearers’ hopes, fears, problems, concerns, etc.

11. The central metaphor or "hook" was gripping. [interesting might be a better description]

12. Jesus was made visible, not just taught about.

13. There was a balance of warmth, love and humility on the one hand and force, power and authority on the other. [the emphasis is upon balance]

14. The notes followed the message and enhanced comprehension. [not everyone provides notes or outlines to their sermons but I think it might be helpful to the hearer both during the message or afterwards for discussion]

For those more interested the form can be viewed in it's entirety here.


So, what do you think?

posted by john d.

Character Or Personality

The following is an excerpt from a post from Guy Davies, a Reformed Welsh preacher in the southwest of England. You can read his entire post here.

These days you don't have to do anything special to be a celebrity. Some like the late, lamented Jade Goody are famous simply for being famous. What matters is "personality" rather than character. If someone has a charismatic personality, or even better an outrageous personality, then they are worthy candidates for fame and celebrity. But isn't character much more important then "personality"? Martin Luther King had a dream that one day a man would not be judged by the colour of his skin, but the content of his character. Character has to do with virtue - honesty, integrity, kindness and compassion. No amount of "personality" can compensate for a lack of moral substance. What would you rather a slick, charismatic politician who could work the media and play the crowds, or one who could be trusted to tell you the truth?

The Christian faith puts character before personality and decency before celebrity. God is in the business of changing people. By the power of the Spirit he works in believers to make them more like Jesus. The apostle Paul wrote, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23). Having a Sprit-transformed character may not bring you fame and fortune, but only those who have been born again will see the kingdom of God.

posted by john d.

A Gospel Catechism

Our Sunday morning Bible study group has been going through a series of audio messages preached by Pastor William Downing titled "A Gospel Catechism". The series is currently out-of-print but my wife managed to obtain one of the last copies of the cassette tapes with an attendant booklet and painstakenly dubbed the messages to MP3 CD's and retyped the booklet which we have reproduced and are using in our Sunday morning Bible study.

The catechism lists twenty-nine essentials of the gospel in a question and answer format such as:

1. Q: What is the Gospel? A: The Gospel is the "Good News".
2. Q: To Understand the Gospel, where must be begin? A: We must begin with God.
3. Q: Where do we learn about God? A: We learn about God in creation and in the Bible.

etc.

Under each answer are subpoints and Biblical references which are further explained and expanded on in the audio message.

In short, the series is very Biblical and thorough....as is all of Dr. Downing's preaching.

Last Sunday we dealt with Question 14: When does salvation enter the experience of the sinner? Answer: At saving conviction of sin. A saving conviction of sin is the first awakening of conscience that one is a sinner before God. This implies several realities:

1. That the truth is preached to the extent that there is a true conviction of sin! The sinner under the preaching of truth is convinced that he is a sinner before God, i.e. that he begins to see sin as God sees it.

2. That the conviction of sin is saving conviction. There is a natural conviction of conscience and a religious conviction that derives from tradition or training. These are not necessarily saving conviction. There is also a conviction over certain sins that is not saving conviction of sin as the ruling or dominating power in the life.

(emphasis mine)

In explaining this topic Dr. Downing stated that "preaching the love of God produces sympathy not conviction of sin". The preaching of the Law brings conviction. He also reminded us that, "sin is defined by God in the Word of God" not by our definition or the definition provided by our church or denomination (i.e. don't smoke, drink, or chew, or go out with girls that do). Sin is a matter of the heart. And, finally, "conviction of conscience is not conviction of sin". I can be convicted of my bad habits or fear of hell but this is not necessarily the same as seeing my sin as God sees it...as an affront to His Holiness and Righteousness. I might be convicted over my particular sin but not of SIN as the ruling power in my life.

A clear message to those who would seek to share the Gospel . "Repentance" of particular sins or desire to change life-habits or experience a "reformation" is not the same as having a clear understanding of SIN as the "ruling or dominating power in the life"... we must come to understand our depraved nature as revealed in the Scriptures and our inability and helplessness and hopelessness to save ourselves apart from that redemptive, substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ ... this is conviction of SIN as required in presenting the Gospel as "good news".

Pastor Downing is senior pastor of the Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Silicon Valley, CA.

posted by john d.

A Question of Accountability

Professor Carl Trueman, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, gives some pointed advice to students pursuing PhD's. His advice is applicable to all of us who seek a greater understanding of the Word of God and want to be greater "theologians". I've extracted some of his message but the whole made an impression upon me, especially the part about..... but you can read the entire article here.

Professor Trueman writes, "The study of theology engages heart and mind; to put it in the idiom of Calvin, true knowledge of God and true piety are inseparable. In addition, the temptations of theological study are huge.

The simple way for theological students to resist both the temptation to pontificate beyond their pay grade and the temptation to pride and the moral and intellectual problems that inevitably come in its wake-fall is to find the proper context for accountability, to find their true home; and the good news is that this true home is easy to find—simply join an orthodox, gospel-believing and proclaiming church as member, submit to the elders, attend the corporate worship services, fellowship with the saints on a regular basis, get involved in the day to day work of the local body, even if it is “only” the cleaning rota (and, hey, worshipping in a dirty church quickly reveals how important that is), and pursue a disciplined life of private devotion."

Check out the article for it's a "good read". Trueman hits the nail on the head with clarity and wit.

posted by john d.

Filling Up The Afflictions Of Christ

The following is an excerpt from John Piper's book, Filling Up The Afflictions Of Christ. I have only begun to read it and find in it an biblically intelligent and intriguing response to the question, why God permits the persecution of His people. We often respond, "To Glorify God". But how does persecution glorify God? The book is available in PDF form here.

Piper begins with a letter from John Calvin to five French Christians who are about to be martytred.

Now, at this present hour, necessity itself exhorts you more than ever to turn your whole mind heavenward. As yet, we know not what will be the event. But, since it appears as though God would use your blood to seal His truth, there is nothing better for you than to prepare yourselves for that end, beseeching Him so to subdue you to His good pleasure, that nothing may hinder you from following whithersoever He shall call. . . . Since it pleases Him to employ you to the death in maintaining His quarrel, He will strengthen your hands in the fight and will not suffer a single drop of your blood to be shed in vain.

Your humble brother, John Calvin

John Piper writes, "Afflictions are not merely the result of missionary fruitfulness, but also the means. God has appointed our pain to be part of his powerful display of the glory of Christ. The worth of Jesus in the world shines more brightly in the lives of those who say by their sacrificial lives, 'I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ' (Philippians 3:8) ".

posted by john d.