GOSPEL DELTA

Gospel-Centered Leadership

// March 15th, 2010 // No Comments » // Doctrine, Life

To supplement what I’m learning in the 5-week Gospel-Centered Leadership class I’m taking at River West Church, I have been listening to a few resources that I have found invaluable and would highly recommend to anyone involved in leadership or considering it for the future. The first is a 5-part seminar from two pastors from Sovereign Grace Ministries examining what it means to be called to leadership in God’s church. I found the wisdom and teaching of Dave Harvey (author “When Sinners Say ‘I Do’” and “Rescuing Ambition”) to be incredibly edifying. The second is a conference that took place last year in conjunction with the release of Colin Marshall and Tony Payne’s latest book “The Trellis and the Vine”, and focused on exploring the paradigm shifts that need to occur in our thinking if we are going to build ministry around people not programs.

The Summons: Exploring the Call to Ministry (Sovereign Grace Ministries)

Dave Harvey and Jeff Purswell

• In December of 2004, men from three nations and representing more than 20 churches gathered at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania for this one-day seminar. The teachings presented that day are designed to provide pastors, leaders, and potential leaders with a biblical framework for exploring a sense of calling to full-time ministry.

1. The Caller and the Summons Part 1 (Dave Harvey)

2. The Caller and the Summons Part 2 (Dave Harvey)

3. Eldership and the Call to Character (Jeff Purswell)

4. The Call to Prepare (Jeff Purswell)

5. Q&A Panel Discussion (Dave Harvey and Jeff Purswell)

GOSPEL GROWTH = PEOPLE GROWTH (Matthias Media)

Gospel growth happens “in” people and “through” people.

• IN PEOPLE: You can have growth in numbers, in budgets, in programs, in activities, in staff, in baptisms, in buildings, in reputation, and even growth in the quality of preaching, but unless individual people are growing in knowledge, in faith, in godliness, and in love as disciples of Christ, it’s all a noisy clanging gong. Are your people really growing? How would you know whether they are or not? Who is discipling each person in your congregation?

• THROUGH PEOPLE: Jesus commissioned every disciple for disciple-making, and a pastor-teacher’s job is not only to proclaim and to pray but also also to equip, train and mobilize People for the task. Gospel growth multiplies as Christians get involved in the three P’s: Proclamation, Prayer, and People — in prayerfully speaking God’s word to other people, in whatever way they can, large or small, at home or at work, in small groups or one-to-one. Is this happening where you are? Or is the ministry basically done by the staff? How many people in your congregation, for example, would be willing and able to do the foundational personal discipling work of following up a new believer and establishing them in the basics of the faith?

Don’t Be an Oxymoron

// March 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // Doctrine, Life

In speaking about how he came to a Reformed understanding of the Gospel, Tullian Tchividjian confessed in a recent interview how the snare of pride turned him into a walking contradiction early on, until God tempered his zeal with humility. Professors of the doctrines of grace all too often live out of a doctrine of religiosity.

“Soon after God saved me (if indeed I was saved at 21 instead of 5), God gave me an overwhelming hunger and thirst to study, to read, to learn. So at first, I simply began reading books that my pastor (we were attending a PCA church at the time) encouraged me to read (this included books by Packer, Sproul, Lloyd-Jones, the Puritans, etc.). I really wrestled with the doctrine of election. But after a long hard struggle with the Bible I came to the realization that I could choose not to believe this doctrine but I could not in good conscience say that the Bible doesn’t teach it. It was clear to me that from cover to cover Scripture highlights God’s sovereignty in salvation. After I was convinced of the Doctrines of Grace, however, I became a real pain in the neck. Every non-Calvinist was an idiot, so I thought, and I made sure to tell them. Thankfully, God quickly tempered my zeal and I came to realize that an arrogant Calvinist is an oxymoron. If we truly believe we’ve been given it all and deserve only death, then we should be the most humble people on the face of this earth.” -Tullian Tchividjian

• Visit Tullian’s church website (here) or listen to his sermons (here)

• Read Tullian’s blog (here).

HT: Justin Taylor

Saint Patrick

// March 12th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Life

by Mark Driscoll

“I am a servant of Christ to a foreign nation for the unspeakable glory of life everlasting which is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Patrick

My family name was originally O’Driscoll until it was changed a few generations ago by relatives hoping to more fully assimilate into American culture after immigrating from Ireland. Though I was raised Irish Catholic, I knew virtually nothing about Saint Patrick other than the green beer, parades, shamrocks, leprechauns, and drunken Red Sox fans that celebrated in his honor every March 17th.

Technically, Saint Patrick is not even a saint, as he was never canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Additionally, Patrick was not even Irish. Rather, he was an Roman-Britain who was a Roman citizen that spoke Latin and a bit of Welsh.

Patrick was born around 390 A.D. When he was roughly 16 years of age he was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland on a ship where he was sold into slavery. He spent the next six years alone in the wilderness as a shepherd for his masters’ cattle and sheep.

Isolation

Patrick was a rebellious non-Christian teenager who had come from a Christian family. His grandfather was a pastor, and his father was a deacon. However, during his extended periods of isolation without any human contact, Patrick began praying and was eventually born again into a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. Patrick endured the years of isolation in rain and snow by praying up to 100 prayers each day and another 100 each night.

In his early twenties God spoke to Patrick in a dream, telling him to flee from his master for a ship that was waiting for him. Amazingly, Patrick made the 200-mile walk without being caught or harmed to find a ship setting sail for his home, just as God had promised. The sailors were out of food for the journey, and after Patrick prayed a herd of pigs miraculously ran toward the ship, providing a bountiful feast for the long voyage home.

God Speaks to Patrick

Upon returning home, Patrick enrolled in seminary and was eventually commissioned as a pastor. Some years later God spoke to Patrick in a dream, commanding him to return to Ireland to preach the gospel and plant churches for the pagans who lived there.

The Roman Catholic Church had given up on converting such “barbarians” deemed beyond hope. The Celtic peoples, of which the Irish were part, were an illiterate bunch of drunken, fighting, perverted pagans who basically had sex with anyone and worshipped anything. They were such a violent and lawless people, numbering anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000, that they had no city centers or national government and were spread out among some 150 warring clans. Their enemies were terrified of them because they were known to show up for battles and partake in wild orgies before running into battle naked and drunk while screaming as if they were demon-possessed. One clan was so debased that it was customary for each of their new kings to copulate with a white mare as part of his inauguration.

Unique Missionary Strategy

In faith, the forty-something year-old Patrick sold all of his possessions, including the land he had inherited from his father, to fund his missionary journey to Ireland. He worked as an itinerant preacher and paid large sums of money to various tribal chiefs to ensure he could travel safely through their lands and preach the gospel. His strategy was completely unique, and he functioned like a missionary trying to relate to the Irish people and communicate the gospel in their culture by using such things as three-leaf clovers to explain the gospel. Upon entering a pagan clan, Patrick would seek to first convert the tribal leaders and other people of influence. He would then pray for the sick, cast demons out of the possessed, preach the Bible, and use both musical and visual arts to compel people to put their faith in Jesus. If enough converts were present he would build a simple church that did not resemble ornate Roman architecture, baptize the converts, and hand over the church to a convert he had trained to be the pastor so that he could move on to repeat the process with another clan.

Patrick gave his life to the people who had enslaved him until he died at 77 years of age. He had seen untold thousands of people convert as between 30-40 of the 150 tribes had become substantially Christian. He had trained 1000 pastors, planted 700 churches, and was the first noted person in history to take a strong public stand against slavery.

Roman Opposition

Curiously, Patrick’s unorthodox ministry methods, which had brought so much fruit among the Irish, also brought much opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. Because Patrick was so far removed from Roman civilization and church polity he was seen by some as an instigator of unwelcome changes. This lead to great conflicts between the Roman and Celtic Christians. The Celtic Christians had their own calendar and celebrated Easter a week earlier than their Roman counterparts. Additionally, the Roman monks shaved only the hair on the top of their head, whereas the Celtic monks shaved all of their hair except their long locks which began around the bottom of their head as a funky monk mullet. The Romans considered these and other variations by the Celtic Christian leaders to be acts of insubordination.

In the end, the Roman Church should have learned from Patrick, who is one of the greatest missionaries who has ever lived. Though Patrick’s pastors and churches looked different in method, they were very orthodox in their theology and radically committed to such things as Scripture and the Trinity. Additionally, they were some of the most gifted Christian artists the world has ever known, and their prayers and songs endure to this day around the world, including at Mars Hill where we occasionally sing the “Prayer of Saint Patrick” and the Celtic hymn “Be Thou My Vision.”

For Further Study:

• At www.ccel.org there is a free copy available of Patrick’s book Confessions.
• Steve Rabey’s book In the House of Memory is a good introduction to Patrick and Celtic Christianity.
• Thomas Cahill’s book How the Irish Saved Civilization is a fascinating historical look at Patrick and the implications of Celtic Christianity on western history.
• www.ChristianityToday.com/history is the site for Christian History and Biography magazine, which is a wonderful resource that includes an entire issue on Patrick and Celtic Christianity.

Hirsch on Auschwitz and Christo-Paganism

// March 10th, 2010 // No Comments » // Life

Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Christo-Paganism of Europe

by Alan Hirsch

I am still trying to process the visit to the world’s worst death camp. Needless to say it is an overwhelming experience. Let me be upfront and say that part of my struggle arises from my European Jewish heritage. I tend to see Europe, particularly religious Europe, through the distinct lens of my Jewish identity.

Anyone visiting such places leaves there with the perplexing questions of ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ I know that greater minds and hearts have tried to probe the mystery of human evil and failed, so I won’t even pretend to try. But the the question that just won’t leave me, is simply this: ‘how the heck did this absolute evil horror emerge from so-called Christian Europe??’ I simply cannot understand how, after having the light of God’s Word for at least 17 Centuries, European ‘Christian civilization’ could produce the unprecedented horror of the holocaust? Most Christians dodge this question by simply saying that “well, it was not real Christianity that did this”, or ” we can’t judge other eras”. But that dodges the issue that it was the very Europe that claimed to represent the Christian story that produced violence, antisemitism, and xenophobic bullying for as long as the Christian story has been in that context. Some of our spiritual heroes…Chrysostom and Luther for instance (and they are the tip of the iceberg) were given to bouts of vitriolic antisemitism. It was out of this sordid history that Nazism drew some legitimacy.

The only way I can possibly get to an answer of this disturbing question is to say that what has passed as Christianity in Europe is for the most part only really a thinly veiled, thoroughly syncretistic, religion called Christo-paganism, but it is paganism nonetheless. Any visit to the high Catholic cathedrals does leave a disinterested observer with the distinct impression that idolatry, nature worship, and the worship of the female divine lies under the surface of the overt Christian symbols.

No less than Newbigin reflected this same insight when he suggested that European Christianity was like a stone that had been immersed into a river for thousands of years: Take it out of the water and it is wet all around, crack it open and it is completely dry on the inside. I suggest that one can easily come to the conclusion that the religion of Europe is actually a veneer of Christianity but the deepest mythos, its cultural heart so to speak, is largely pre-Christian. At the very least it is highly syncretistic.

This is exactly why the Nazis could use Wagner’s operas to conjure up/reinvoke the violent Teutonic gods of pre-Christian Germany. We can only conclude that they were always there–they were never effectively exorcised from the German mythic imagination! Certainly they were not displaced by the cultural Christianity imposed during the Christendom period. So, after 1600 years they rose up to inform the 20th Century national narrative…as amazing as it is horrifying!

Many are going to be completely offended by this, but I don’t think we can seriously come to any other conclusion. And to be honest, I don’t particularly feel inclined to be particularly generous at this point. And these are not thoughts that have only emerged from a visit to Birkenau. Whenever I visit Europe I am haunted by its past…I see shadows everywhere…lots of blood, superstition, and hatred…and yes, evil amidst all the beauty, culture, and history. And this is not to say that there are not real saints in the midst and that Europe has not produced some marvelous Christian movements. My Debs always reminds me when I get dark like this that God always preserves a remnant for himself, and clearly this is true (e.g. the Celts, Francis, Wesley, etc.) What I am saying is that the prevailing religion of Europe, and the accompanying Christian civilization built on it, cannot claim to be authentically Christian–not in the Biblical sense of the word at least. Either this is true or my capacity to discern Biblical truth manifested in human experience is seriously marred. I have to concede that this might be true but I have to trust my perception on this. I am amazed, along with Anglican poet, T. S. Elliot, that “After two thousand years of Christian Mass // We have come as far as poison gas”. How the hell can this be so? How can we commune with Christ and produce horrors!

My response is to get on with evangelizing this continent and stop mourning the loss of so-called ‘Christian Europe’…I seriously doubt it was ever truly Christian in the first place. Besides any religion that creates holocausts (or passively stands by while they take place) is in my opinion not worth preserving and clearly needs to ‘hear’ the Gospel and repent like all non-believing pagans do. In the end, it appears that pagan is what pagan does.

Some of you are going to have to forgive me for the nature of this rant. I admit to feeling somewhat involved in all this…how can I not? But I don’t want you to dodge the probing question that lies behind it. How could anything approximating a Jesus-shaped Christianity produce the systematic evil and violence normally associated with Satan? Answer that and we will have come a long way to solving the enigma of European religion.

Dug Down Deep

// March 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Doctrine, Life

“Orthodoxy literally means ‘right opinion’. It is shorthand for getting your opinion or thoughts about God right. It is teaching and beliefs based on the established, proven, cherished truths of the faith. These are the truths that don’t budge. Orthodox beliefs are ones that genuine followers of Jesus have acknowledged from the beginning and then handed down through the ages. Take one of them away, and you’re left with something less than historic Christian belief.”

“Orthodoxy matters because the Christian faith is not just a cultural tradition or moral code. Orthodoxy is the irreducible truths about God and his work in the world. Our orthodox faith is not just a state of mind, a mystical experience, or concepts on a page. Theology, doctrine, and orthodoxy matter because God is real, and he has acted in our world, and his actions having meaning today and for all eternity.”

“Theology matters, because if we get it wrong, then our whole life will be wrong. We’re either building our lives on the reality of what God is truly like and what he’s about, or we’re building our lives on our own imagination and misconceptions. We’re all theologians. The question is whether what we know about God is true.”

The quotes above are from a book I’m reading called “Dug Down Deep” by Josh Harris. My wife and I are currently reading through this book together. It’s a wonderfully accessible introduction to orthodox Christian doctrine. Here is a graphical breakdown of the chapters and their associated theological topics:

Navigating the shifting currents of doctrine in American Christianity is a daunting task and something that I have been passionate about ever since God saved me a handful of years ago. Two years into my new life as a Christian, I started leading a bible study on the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation. Needless to say, I’m a guy who loves theology.

One of the first doctrinal statements I ran into as a new Christian was the at the Acts 29 Church Planting Network. Thank God for it, as this doctrinal statement has been incredibly formative for me and continues to be tremendously clarifying as a framework to understand the various aspects of orthodox doctrine that I’m encountering as I delve deeper into the Gospel.

This is the hierarchy of theological distinctives for churches that comprise the Acts 29 network. The order is crucial. I have often wondered whether we should we wear our theological distinctives on our sleeves and how to balance this in the context of community. This framework helps me prioritize the things that I lead with in communicating what I believe to other people, and it helps me keep a charitable and humble stance as I encounter Christians with differing beliefs. This hierarchy also helps me discern where my boundaries are in regard to ecumenical cooperation. They go on to describe each point:

First, we are Christians which distinguishes us from other world religions and cults. Therefore, we adhere to both the Apostles and Nicene Creeds.

Second, we are Evangelicals and in agreement with the doctrinal statement of the National Association of Evangelicals:

• We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
• We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
• We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
• We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
• We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
• We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Third, we are Missional:

• We believe that our local churches must be faithful to the content of unchanging Biblical doctrine (Jude 3).
• We believe that our local churches must be faithful to the continually changing context of the culture(s) in which they minister (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
• We believe that our mission is to bring people into church so that they can be trained to go out into their culture as effective missionaries.

Fourth, we are Reformed:

• We believe that God created the heavens, the earth.
• We believe that God created man and woman in a state of sinless perfection with particular dignity as His image bearers on the earth.
• We believe that our first parents sinned against God and that everyone since is a sinner by nature and choice. Sin has totally affected all of creation including marring human image and likeness so that all of our being is stained by sin (e.g. reasoning, desires, and emotions).
• We believe that because all people have sinned and separated themselves from the Holy God that he is obligated to save no one from the just deserved punishments of hell. We also believe that God in His unparalleled love and mercy has chosen to elect some people for salvation.
• We believe that the salvation of the elect was predestined by God in eternity past.
• We believe that the salvation of the elect was accomplished by the sinless life, substitutionary atoning death, and literal physical resurrection of Jesus Christ in place of His people for their sins.
• We believe that the salvation of the elect, by God’s grace alone, shows forth in the ongoing repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ that leads to good works.
• We believe that God’s saving grace is ultimately irresistible and that God does soften even the hardest heart and save the worst of sinners according to His will.
• We believe that the gospel should be passionately and urgently proclaimed to all people so that all who believe may be saved through the preaching of God’s Word by the power of God’s Spirit.
• We believe that true Christians born again of God’s Spirit will be kept by God throughout their life, as evidenced by personal transformation that includes an ever-growing love of God the Father through God the Son by God the Spirit, love of brothers and sisters in the church, and love of lost neighbors in the culture.
• We believe that God is Lord over all of life and that there is nothing in life that is to be separated from God.
• We believe that the worship of God is the end for which people were created and that abiding joy is only to be found by delighting in God through all of life, including hardship and death which is gain.

READ THE REST OF THEIR DOCTRINAL STATEMENT HERE

The Gospel in Life

// March 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection, Doctrine, Life

“The Gospel in Life” is the title of a new intensive survey course that Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NY developed to explore how the gospel changes us. Here is the explanation from the Gospel in Life website:

www.gospelinlife.com

This eight-session small group course includes a DVD of Timothy Keller’s teaching for each session as well as a detailed study guide which features Bible studies, discussion questions, quotations from literary sources, and home study work. It is designed for both lay people and ministers.

The material can also be adapted to a shorter or longer time period, from a single-day workshop to a 24 week study.

Gospel in Life will be available in March 2010.

Table of Contents:

Week 1: City – The World That Is
Week 2: Heart – Three Ways to Live
Week 3: Idolatry – The Sin Beneath The Sin
Week 4: Community – The Clue To Change
Week 5: Witness – An Alternate City
Week 6: Work – Cultivating The Garden
Week 7: Justice – A People For Others
Week 8: Eternity – The World That Is To Come

Tim Keller says, “The concept behind the “Gospel in Life” course is that Christ-likeness happens when we bring the gospel to bear on the roots of a person’s heart. We want to help people work out what it means to believe the gospel more deeply and rejoice in Jesus’ salvation more fully in a community. So we’re working these things into people’s lives, we’re doing it in community and that is the basic concept behind the ‘Gospel in Life’ discipleship curriculum.”

Check out the Resources Page

Integrating Community and Mission into Your Normal Routine

// March 7th, 2010 // No Comments » // Life

List all of the daily activities – including the mundane – that make up your normal:

1.      Daily Routine

(e.g. commuting to work, eating meals, chores, walking the dog, playing with children)

2.      Weekly Routine

(e.g. grocery shopping, watching favorite television programs, getting exercise)

3.      Monthly Routine

(e.g. house/yard work, getting a haircut, going to a movie)

For each activity, think about how you might add a:

1.      a Community component

= involving another member of your Christian community

2.      a Missional component

= involving an unbeliever

3.      a Gospel component

= talking about Jesus

Keeping a Gospel Church

// March 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // Affection, Doctrine, Life

The following is an excerpt from Dick Kaufmann’s paper entitled “The Gospel-Driven Church” (Aug 2006). Dick Kaufmann is the former executive pastor of Redeemer Pres in NYC and current lead pastor of Harbor Pres in San Diego, CA.

One of the most important questions you can ask about ministry is: What kind of church do you want?  What kind of church are you seeking to plant, grow and be? My philosophical approach to ministry has been greatly influenced by John Frame’s tri-perspectivalism. John writes: “The knowledge of God’s law, the world, and the self are interdependent and ultimately identical” (The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God, Presbyterian and Reformed, 1987, p.89). “Human knowledge can be understood in three ways: as knowledge of God’s norm, as knowledge of the situation [environment], and as knowledge of ourselves. None can be achieved adequately without the others. Each includes the others” (p.75).

In thinking about ministry from a tri-perspectival approach, we thought about what makes our church distinctive in its relationship to God’s Word, the world, and our selves.  In relation to God’s Word, it is a Gospel-centered church.  In relationship to our selves, it is a Grace Renewal church. And in relationship to the world, it is a Missional church. Let’s look of each of these.

A Gospel-Centered Church

The whole Bible is the Gospel of Christ

· Luke 24:25-27 – He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

· Luke 24:44-47 – He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”  Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.  He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

· 1 Corinthians 1:22-24; 2:2 – Jews demand miraculous signs [power] and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God… For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Implications:

1. We resolve to read the Bible as the Gospel. Since the central theme of the Bible is-the sufferings and glory of Christ, we resolve to read the Bible as the story of salvation, not moralistic lessons. We resolve to see how the law, the ceremonies, and the history all point us to their fulfillment in the coming of the Deliverer promised in Genesis 3:15 and throughout the Bible.

2.    We resolve to preach and teach the Gospel to believers, not just unbelievers. We become Christians and we grow as Christians by grace through faith in Jesus.  Therefore, we resolve to preach the Gospel as the means to grow, not ‘biblical principles for living’ (which means ‘the law’) to believers..

3.    We resolve to preach and teach the Gospel in every sermon and every lesson. The most desperate need of both unbelievers and believers is to hear and appropriate the Gospel to their lives each and every day.  Therefore, we resolve to point people to the Gospel in every sermon, lesson, small group meeting, etc.

4.    We resolve to receive the Gospel as the “milk” and the “meat” of God’s Word. Since the whole Bible is the Gospel and Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God (1Cor.1:22-24), then we never move beyond the Gospel to something deeper.  There is nothing deeper than the Gospel.  Therefore, we resolve to view the Gospel as both the A-B-C’s and the A-to-Z of Christianity.

5.    We resolve to view the world and the church through the lens of the Gospel. Since the Bible is our ultimate authority and the Bible is the Gospel, we resolve to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1Cor.2:2).  This means our understanding of the world and church and how to address its needs and problems will be based on the Gospel.

A Grace Renewal Church

We live and grow by grace through faith in the Gospel of Christ.

· Galatians 3:1-5 - You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing-if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

· Galatians 5:1-6 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

· Romans 1:16-17 - I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the Gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

· Colossians 2:6-8 - So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Implications:

1. We resolve to live in ongoing grace renewal. To that end, we resolve to preach the Gospel to our selves, love our neighbors, and pray it forward through kingdom centered prayer-all done in a community of grace.

2. We resolve to be “new” people, not “nice” people. The Gospel is out not to reform people but to transform people. Churches that preach for behavioral reformation tend to elevate middle-class values to the level of biblical norm and focus on external change.  We resolve to seek transformation at the motivational and character level, not merely behavioral modification.

3. We resolve to believe that the Gospel can change anyone. Since we are saved by grace, there are no hopeless cases and no hopeless situations.  Since we are saved by grace, we resolve to have great respect and great hope for every unbeliever.

4. We resolve to motivate with grace, not guilt. The Gospel is the power of God to motivate us.  Those gripped by the Gospel are compelled by the love of Christ (2Cor.5:14) to serve, give, and witness.  Therefore, we resolve not to motivate people through guilt trips driving them to obey out of fear.  But rather we resolve to motivate people through the Gospel that sets us free to love unconditionally out of gratitude for God’s grace.

5. We resolve to solve all problems (personal, church, social) with the Gospel. The root of all of our problems is that something other than Christ is serving as our functional savior.  Therefore we neither tell people: “You shouldn’t act like that–stop it!” nor “You need to accept yourself as you are!”  Rather, we call them to repent of their idols and trust in Christ who through his life and death is the only one who can give them all they are longing for.

A Missional Church

The Gospel calls us to be “for” the city/culture/people.

· John 17:18-19 – [Father] as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.  For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

· Matthew 28:18-20 – Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

· Acts 1:8 – You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

· Acts 8:1,4 – On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria… Those who were scattered preached the word wherever they went.

What does it mean to be missional?

· Bottom-line it means: We are a church “for” the city/culture/people where God has placed us, and through it the world.

· Some churches are “of” the culture. They so embrace the culture that they lose their distinctiveness.

· Some churches are “against” the culture. They so oppose the culture that they lose their relevance.

· And some churches are “above” the culture. They so “super-spiritualize” life that they lose their point of contact.

· On the other hand, a church “for” the culture engages the culture in order to transform it.

The following implications are based on Tim Keller’s paper entitled “The Missional Church” (June 2001).

Implications:

1. We resolve to learn and speak the language of our culture. We resolve to avoid speaking ‘Christianese’, ‘holy-huddle’ talk, pious prayer language, in-house ‘jargon’, and ‘super-spiritual’ talk.  We resolve to avoid technical theological terms, unless we explain them.  We resolve to avoid ‘we-them’ language, language that belittles people of different political, spiritual, social positions, or is disrespectful of people who we disagree.  We resolve, instead to engage people by humbly admitting our weaknesses and failures, while demonstrating the joyful difference the Gospel makes.  We resolve never to talk as if non-Christians weren’t present.  We resolve to do this not as an out-reach strategy but as the fruit of a Gospel-changed heart.

2. We resolve to sincerely listen to people and their ‘stories’. We resolve to understand, love and respect them unconditionally, and serve them by showing them how the Gospel meets their deepest longings.  To do this we resolve to have a knowledge and appreciation of the culture’s movies, books, music, etc., in order to understand the culture’s hopes, dreams, stories, and fears.  So, we can show people that only Jesus can fulfill their greatest desires.

3. We resolve to be a Christian community that is counter-cultural/intuitive. We resolve to show the world how radically different a Christian society is with regard to relationships, sex, money, and power.

Regarding relationships: We resolve to celebrate diversity and cultivate unity-to radically love each other-so that the world will see the difference Jesus makes.  We resolve when there is conflict we will not just walk away but we will actively work at reconciliation with one another.

Regarding sex: We resolve to avoid the extremes of idolizing sex and fearing sex.  Instead we will hold a glorious view of sex in marriage as a pointer to intimacy with Christ.  We also resolve in regards to people whose sexual lifestyles are different than ours, that we will show love rather than hostility or fear.

Regarding money: We resolve to be radically generous in our giving of time, money, skills, and relationships to working for social justice and caring for the poor, weak and needy.
Regarding power: We resolve to share power and build friendships between different races and classes.

We resolve to be more involved in deeds of mercy and social justice than traditional liberal churches and at the same time more involved in evangelism and church planting than traditional conservative churches.

4. We resolve to live out our Christianity in our work and recreation. We resolve to learn together how to think, do, and be distinctively Christian in our work and recreation.  We resolve to learn: a) what in our culture is good and can be enjoyed and celebrated, b) what in our culture is anti-Gospel and must be rejected, and c) what in our culture can be renewed and adapted for good.  We resolve to encourage and celebrate Christians who are advancing the “kingdom of God” in the public square.  We resolve to show Gospel love and tolerance toward those with whom we strongly disagree with.  One of the biggest criticisms of Christians is that we are intolerant.  But since we are saved by grace, we should be the most humble, tolerant people in society.  And so we resolve to be.

5. We resolve to demonstrate the unity of the church in the city. We resolve to celebrate what God is doing in other churches, instead of criticizing other churches.  We resolve to develop alliances with other like-minded churches in order to serve our city together.  We resolve, beyond that, to cooperate and develop meaningful relationships even with congregations much different than us.  Although this will raise some areas of tension, we will continue to head in the direction of cooperation.

Case Study (Tim Keller)
“Let me show you how this goes beyond any ‘program.’ These are elements that have to be present in every area of the church. So, for example, what makes a small group ‘missional’? A ‘missional’ small group is not necessarily one, which is doing some kind of specific ‘evangelism’ program (though that is to be recommended). Rather, 1) if its members love and talk positively about the city/neighborhood, 2) if they speak in language that is not filled with pious tribal or technical terms and phrases, nor disdainful and embattled language, 3) if in their Bible study they apply the Gospel to the core concerns and stories of the people of the culture, 4) if they are obviously interested in and engaged with the literature and art and thought of the surrounding culture and can discuss it both appreciatively and yet critically, 5) if they exhibit deep concern for the poor and generosity with their money and purity and respect with regard to opposite sex, and show humility toward people of other races and cultures, 6) if they do not bash other Christians and churches–then seekers and non-believing people from the city A) will be invited and B) will come and will stay as they explore spiritual issues. If these marks are not there it will only be able to include believers or traditional, “Christianized” people.”

The Pilgrim’s Progress

// March 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Life

With 2010 already flying by, and conviction setting in about falling behind on discipline and resolutions, it was interesting to stumble across this post from last year, and encouraging to see that God’s grace has been abundant over the course of this last year. Deep relationships have been forged, a lot of pruning has happened in my own heart and life, and the Gospel has certainly advanced. We need to regularly take stock and cultivate thankfulness, or we can all too easily lose perspective. And we need people to speak into our lives and to walk with us, to remind us of the gospel and to help us enjoy grace.

January 6, 2009: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). My main resolution for 2009 is to die. Die to self. I need to learn how to be a more faithful cross-bearer, not a better person. If I don’t let go of my life this year and let the Spirit do his work, I’m going to crash and burn hard, I’m sure of it. It’s hard to know what a new year will bring. The Lord has blessed me abundantly, I never want to forget that; I have a beautiful pregnant wife, a baby girl on the way, the resources to provide for them, and a relationship with God that is deepening every day.

This is the first year in a long time that I’ve had the opportunity to devote serious time to reading and studying Scripture. I’ve been up to my ears for the past 8 years in business textbooks and MBA curriculum, and I feel blessed with the chance to start the year off digging deep into theology. 2009 is going to be Gospel-saturated. Of course, I know that it”ll be a struggle to maintain discipline with the sleep deprivation and the crazy schedule that comes with a newborn baby, so I’m keeping my list pretty short and my expectations low. With the baby coming in mid-March and recently being laid off from my job, I have a lot on my plate. The Lord has put me in a place of humility and complete dependence on him. My faith will surely be tested. If don’t stay close to Jesus in this season, and I begin to distance myself from God’s Word, the effects will be devastating.

Being unemployed with a baby on the way is a terrifying thing to face. The stakes are high and the pressure is weighing on me in a way that I’ve never felt before. In spite of all this, the main question I need to answer this year is: What has Christ freed me from? That’s really what matters. Do I need a Savior? Is this life about Jesus, or is this all about me? Can I reflect the discipline, peace and joy of Christ in the midst of these challenging circumstances? Can I worship God, chase hard after Jesus, repent of sin, love my family, and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit even when the chips are down? Or will I bend inward and fall apart. These are the questions that need to be answered in 2009.

Back to basics. If I accomplish anything this year, a deeper relationship with Christ through devotional reading, meditation and prayer will be my major focus and goal. For my devotions, I hope to gain a greater grasp of the Story of God and biblical theology with the ESV’s chronological reading guide and audio podcast. In regard to in-depth study, I have the incredible opportunity to study the Gospel of John in community through the preaching series at River West and our small group, as well as tackle Paul’s Letter to the Romans in tandem with Luther’s Lectures on Romans through a men’s discipleship group.  Above is the short list of books that I’m reading this year, and some others that I hope to read. I pray that the Lord will keep me close, that he will increase as I decrease, that he will strengthen and galvanize me for the trials ahead…but most of all I pray that Christ would keep my eyes focused on the cross rather than my own efforts and accomplishments.

Put Your Humility in the Right Place

// March 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // Doctrine, Life

“What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert-himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt - the Divine Reason [The Gospel]. . . . The new skeptic is so humble that he doubts if he can even learn. . . . There is a real humility typical of our time; but it so happens that it’s practically a more poisonous humility than the wildest prostrations of the ascetic. . . . The old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which makes him stop working altogether. . . . We are on the road to producing a race of man too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.”  – G.K Chesterton

Un-Gospel character:

prideful about yourself and your efforts

+

humble about the Truth

=

Cowardice

Gospel character:

humble about yourself and your efforts

+

prideful about the Truth

=

Courage