From C Michael Patton

We have downgraded belief, truth, doctrine, and “understanding” to a secondary level of importance. It has become the handmaiden of immediate application. We are losing our reason for boasting.

In reality, application is the handmaiden of truth. God wants us to know and understand him. Statements such as “Belief is no good without practice” fails to understand that belief is the foundation of practice and that belief—right belief—brings as much glory to God as anything.

Preaching right belief and understanding, unfortunately, has become the red taped taboo of our generation. Avoidance of such is justified in the name of baseless pragmatism. It is the Evangelical and Emerging misdirection that could alleviate the church of the only legitimate reason we have for boasting. I believe that it is the crisis of the church today.

Friends, if people believe correctly—and I mean truly believe—they will act correctly when the situation calls for it. Not only this, but their good works will be done for the right reasons, based on a motivation of truth. Knowing and understanding God will change lives by bringing people in a right orientation with the way things actually are.

I know that not everything can be understood. I know that God has not revealed himself to us fully. And I know that there is legitimate room for disagreement on many things. But this does not alleviate us of our search for God. Theology, truth, doctrine, understanding, and belief are foundational to all else. God rejoices in correct doctrine.

Lewis Sperry Chafer, the late founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, used to end each class with this statement, “Men, give them something to believe.” I end with the same.

From Tim Chester , author of Total Church

I read Paul’s farewell exhortation to the leaders of the church in Ephesus in Acts 20 this morning. As it happens, we have a leaders’ meeting this evening at which I’m handing over some leadership to others so it felt timely. Here are six things I want to highlight with my leaders …

1. Both feed and guard the flock (28-31)

What do leaders do? ‘Guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock.’ (28) Leaders do the positive work of feeding, teaching and instructing the flock. But they also do a negative work of guarding and watching over the flock – warning, rebuking, correcting. And it’s this element that Paul seems to emphasis. Perhaps because we have a tendency to shrink back from confrontation …

2. Never shrink back (20, 26-27)

‘I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear.’ (20) Don’t make it your aim to be loved. You often hear stories of leaders who are deeply loved by their flock. That’s a wonderful thing when it happens, but it’s a dangerous aim because you may shrink from telling people what they need to hear. More often than not, those leaders who are now so loved have come through periods of conflict when their message was opposed. Your aim is to ‘well done, good and faithful servant.’

3. Trust grace (21, 24, 32)

‘I entrust you to God and this message of his grace’ (32). Of course we preach grace. But in reality we often find it hard to entrust people to grace. We want to hedge them around, to protect them, to steer them. From good motives, we can add layers of obligation that become legalism. Paul’s message is ‘the wonderful grace of God’ (24) and so his only ‘obligations’ are ‘the necessity of repenting of sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus’. (21) [For an attempt to show how we are sanctified by faith and repentance alone and therefore a pointer to a faith-based approach to pastoral care see my book, You Can Change.]

4. Guard yourselves (28)

‘Guard yourselves and God’s people’ (28). The first three points are about our ministry. The second three are about our own lives. We are to guard God’s flock. But first we are to guard ourselves. Never let the busyness of ministering to other keep from ministering to your own heart. As Robert Murray M’Cheyne famously said: ‘The greatest need of my congregation is my own personal holiness.’

5. Sacrifice (24, 33-35)

‘My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling other the Good News about the wonderful grace of God’ (24). The only life worth living is a life spent serving Jesus because Jesus is the only thing worth living for (Matthew 13:44). Verses 33-35 and striking. Paul works to suply his own needs. And then he works some more so he can help those in need.

6. Shed tears (19, 31)

‘I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears’ (19). ‘Remember the three years I was with you – my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you’ (31). I am convinced that tears are a good sign of authentic ministry. Do we love your flock so much that we weep for them? Let’s ask God to open our hearts and give us a love for people.

From Drew Goodmanson, an elder/pastor at Kaleo Church and CEO of Monk Development. He recently published early results of a study of church web sites.

• 0% of respondents who were Non-Christians said their going to church was influenced by the church website.
• 6% of participating churches had a gospel presentation on their website.
• 27% of the respondents said the church website was how they first learned about the church.

For Visitors (attending the church for under 3 months)

• 77% said the church website was somewhat to very important in my decision to attend the church.
• 83% said the church website was somewhat to very important in facilitating their participation in the church community.

For Beginners (3-6 months)

• 45% said the church website was somewhat to very important for their ongoing discipleship and spiritual growth.
• 73% said the church website was somewhat to very important in sharing their faith with others (friends, business colleagues, others)

Regulars (6+ months)

• 27% said they visit the church website more than once a week.
• Feature Rated Most important: Listen or ability to download Sermons.
• Most requested functionality: Ability to post prayer requests or needs.

From John Piper via Justin Taylor

But the hard truth is that most Christians don’t pray very much. They pray at meals—unless they’re still stuck in the adolescent stage of calling good habits legalism. They whisper prayers before tough meetings. They say something brief as they crawl into bed. But very few set aside set times to pray alone—and fewer still think it is worth it to meet with others to pray. And we wonder why our faith is weak. And our hope is feeble. And our passion for Christ is small.

And meanwhile the devil is whispering all over this room: “The pastor is getting legalistic now. He’s starting to use guilt now. He’s getting out the law now.” To which I say, “To hell with the devil and all of his destructive lies. Be free!” Is it true that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty? . . . Is it a discipline?

You can call it that.

• It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater.
• It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers.
• It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns.
• It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food.
• It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water.
• It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid.
• It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin.
• It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey.
• It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold.

I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer.

God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there spiritual are means of grace. Resist the lies of the devil in 2009, and get a bigger breakthrough in prayer than you’ve ever had.

From Jonathan Leeman at the 9Marks Blog comes this quote from James Gilmore, who spoke at the 2008 Text and Context Conference

James Gilmore wrote a book (with Joseph Pine II) called
Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want
. It was published by Harvard Business School Press (2007). Leadership Journal published a brief interview with Gilmore. Here’s a couple of excellent quotes:

• “As a business guy, I’m always cautious about taking any business thinking and applying it to the church…To me, the church should not aim to be ‘real’ as an end. The church is there to proclaim truth. Trying to be hip and cool and real does a disservice to the church. We’re not called to be successful. We’re called to be obedient, even if they don’t come.”
• “If somebody doesn’t find you objectionable, I wonder if you’re preaching the full counsel of God.”
• “If you truly see people, that comes off as real. If you love, you will automatically come off as real. You don’t need to strive to be real.”
• “Real is telling people about their sin and their need for repentance and their need for a Savior.”
• “Read my book to understand the culture that you’re preaching to, not as an operating model for your church.

Fear and Trembling in the Experience Economy

Decoding the Future, the Phoniness, and the Shifting Sands

Question and Answer with Jim Gilmore

This article from Hunter Baker hits very close to home. I sometimes feel like I defend capitalism more than I should. I need to cling to Christ, not a market system.

Without Christ this is a world in which the strong will abuse the weak, the rich ignore or exploit the poor, and those with authority seek advantages for themselves as they exercise their power. We know these things both from the Scriptures and from examining our own hearts.

If our cultural critique is to have integrity, we must simultaneously respect the market and call the corporate sector to righteousness in its business dealings. As uncomfortable as Mike Huckabee’s concerns with executive compensation made many Republicans, his words suggested a healthy willingness critically to examine corporate behavior. If we question corporations when they produce bad products like pornography and gambling operations, then we necessarily accept the notion that the logic of free markets does not insulate them from critique when they commit other types of wrongs.

Francis Schaeffer (still a model for conservative Protestants) is generally remembered as an advocate for the Christian worldview. What has often been forgotten are his strong words about American materialism. Schaeffer lauded the hippies for their diagnosis of the ills of our society. Americans, he charged, are addicted to personal peace and affluence.

For a long time my natural instinct, the one that kept me deaf to the complaints of those claiming to have been treated unjustly, has been to defend the corporate estate against all criticisms. We must not be so passive even toward a system that has provided so well for most of us. Is the answer more government? No. The answer is to consistently call for righteousness.

Mark Driscoll, of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, has often said that Seattle is the least-churched city in America. I’ve always wondered where he got his stat, not because I disbelieve it, but because I would like to look at that data to see where Ann Arbor stands.

I did some searching yesterday for demographic data, and found the Association of Religious Data Archives, whose “goal is to preserve and provide access to high-quality data on religion in the United States and abroad.” You can search by Zip Code and see, for that county, the number of adherents to particular denominational groups or none. Here are the stats for Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor’s county

I was stunned by those numbers. Only 6.5% of Washtenaw County residents are adherents of an Evangelical Protestant church. I then checked those numbers against King County, which is Seattle’s county.

At least according to this data, Washtenaw County looks less churched than Seattle. It’s entirely possible that the data is completely accurate, but it definitely isn’t encouraging.

This is why I feel called to plant a church in Ann Arbor. The church is basically invisible in this area. Jesus calls us to change that, to make Him visible through the church — His bride and body. I have been praying about this and, Lord willing, I will attend an Acts 29 Boot Camp in the fall to be assessed for being a church planter. I have no clue how God will work all of this, or if He is indeed calling me to plant a church. What I am committed to, though, is to seeking Him, and submitting myself before Him, that I would be a humble servant before Him and before man.

From John Piper comes this challenging article about a girl wrestling in a state tournament and how what a Christian response to it should be. I’ve never thought about it much before, but if Malachi were in a situation like this, the sport comes secondary to my responsibility to him as his father and to God as His son.

Okay, dads, here’s what you tell your son. You say, “There will be no belittling comments about her being ‘a girl.’ There will be no sexual slurs. If you get matched with her, you simply say to the judges, ‘Sir, I won’t wrestle a girl. My parents have taught me not to touch a girl that way. I think it would dishonor her. I hope you will match me with a guy. If not, I am willing to be disqualified. It’s that important.’”

Be a leader, dad. Your sons need you. The peer pressure is huge. They need manly restraints. They know this is wrong. But then they look around, and the groundswell of conformity seems irresistible. It will take a real man, a real father, to say to his son. “Not on my watch, son. We don’t fight women. I have not raised you that way.”

Part 2 of my Church Planting in Ann Arbor series. See Part 1 here

This page has moved to here

David Plotz, of Slate, read through the whole Bible in a year. By his own writing, he is a “lax, non-Hebrew-speaking Jew”. The beginning of the article is exciting as he recounts how reading the Bible gave him insight into his Jewishness.

Reading the Bible has joined me to Jewish life in a way I never thought possible. I trace this to when I read about Jacob blessing his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh at the end of Genesis. I suddenly realized: Oh, that’s why I’m supposed to lay my hand on my son’s head at Shabbat dinner and bless him in the names of Ephraim and Manasseh. That shock of recognition has been followed by many more—when I came across the words of the Shema, the most important Jewish prayer, in Deuteronomy, when I read about the celebration of Passover in the book of Ezra, when I read in Psalms the lyrics of Christian hymns I love to sing

Things become sad very quickly, however

You notice that I haven’t said anything about belief. I began the Bible as a hopeful, but indifferent, agnostic. I wished for a God, but I didn’t really care. I leave the Bible as a hopeless and angry agnostic. I’m brokenhearted about God.

He then writes

the genocides, the plagues, the murders, the mass enslavements, the ruthless vengeance for minor sins (or none at all), and all that smiting—every bit of it directly performed, authorized, or approved by God—I can only conclude that the God of the Hebrew Bible, if He existed, was awful, cruel, and capricious. He gives us moments of beauty—such sublime beauty and grace!—but taken as a whole, He is no God I want to obey and no God I can love.

and refers to God’s acts as “crimes” and God as “unmerciful, unjust, unforgiving, and unloving”.

What Plotz completely misses is the truth that God is merciful (Luke 1:78), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), forgiving (Nehemiah 9:17), and loving (Titus 3:4). God is sovereign, completely above us, yet Plotz “must submit (God) to rational and moral inquiry”. By attempting to reduce God to our limited, sinful, minds, we attempt to make ourselves into gods, into our own functional saviors. What we need to do, instead, is humble ourselves before God and trust in God’s righteousness (Psalm 48:10) and holiness (Leviticus 11:44). Because God is perfect (2 Samuel 22:31), He can never do anything that is wrong or unjust or criminal. That is a hard concept for humans to grasp because we judge based on our view of right and wrong. When we fully embrace God, however, we see how rebellious we really are and understand how we rightly deserve judgement, but in God’s wonderful and loving grace, He has chosen some us from the beginning of time to commune forever with him. Hallelujah.