What I Value Most in Preaching

"A sermon is very much a jar of clay; even the best are far from perfect. Even though they bear the flaws of the preacher, God is still pleased to graciously work through humble servants and their earthly efforts (1 Cor. 1:21; Col. 1:28; 2 Tim. 4:1-5).

The more I preach, the more I witness confirmation that the Spirit must supernaturally illuminate the Word of God in the hearts of people in spite of my feeble attempt to explain and apply it. I don’t think there’s a formula or process that can guarantee this, other than actually preaching from the Scriptures.

I’ve recently been asked what I value in a sermon. The more I thought about it, I figured I should put these values down on paper if only for the purposes of accountability. So, upon reflection, here are 6 values I hope are reflected in my preaching.  It is my goal that my sermons would be:

1) Expositional– An expositional sermon is one in which the main idea of a text of Scripture is the primary point of the sermon, and ideally the sermon would show the congregation how (here’s a nice summary by Mike Bullmore on expositional preaching). This is where all the original language, grammar, history, genre awareness, and literary analysis pay off in studying a passage.

2) Informed by Biblical Theology– The sermon’s content and main idea should be nuanced in light of the whole of the Scriptures. It’s easy to become so focused on the passage in question that the forest of Scripture is lost. In this I want to be aware of NT/OT connections, as well as the way certain themes are developed in the whole of the canon.

3) Saturated with Pastoral Exhortations– Local Church pastors are commended to "reprove, rebuke, and exhort" the flock with "great patience and careful instruction" (2 Tim. 4:1-5).  One will benefit from listening to the likes of John MacArthur.  Just realize that as a local church pastor he is preaching a specific message to his congregation.  A sermon should be infused with examples of how the passage should be believed, applied, and/or obeyed. Shepherds are called to pastor the flock through the pulpit ministry of the church.  As a sheep you want to come to worship with this expectation.  You should expect your toes will be stepped on and should be grateful for such correction (see Proverbs 9:8).

Is “Missions” Undermining the Great Commission?

"The final marching orders of Jesus to his church in Matthew 28:18–20 and Acts 1:8 are where we derive the term “Great Commission” from. Here is that specific task, given to Christ’s church, with the expectation of fulfillment:

“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:18–20)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

For our times, though, the clarity of that task seems to have been replaced by a degree of fuzziness, usually encapsulated in the word “missions.” Missions has become a catch-all that can mean whatever we want it to mean. Missional churches, missional communities, missional living, people on mission, my neighborhood is my mission field, short-term missions, long-term missions; the list is never ending as to what qualifies as mission or missions. What once was commonly understood to mean taking the gospel to the unreached people groups, while having to cross significant obstacles (new languages and cultures, severe climates and countries, governments hostile to Christianity, etc.), has now been swept up into the kaleidoscope of “missions.”

An Eye-Opening Comment

Exodus and God’s Eternal Plans (pt. 2)

In part 1 of this series, God established a theology of salvation in Exodus 1-2 by raising up a deliverer and initiating deliverance. In the following chapters, we observe God’s revelation of this salvation. The details of the text present rich theology ingrained into these familiar passages. 

PHARAOH ATTEMPTS TO STEAL GOD’S GLORY

Exodus 5 opens with Pharaoh’s insolent speech. The king of Egypt questions the supremacy of God: “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?” (Ex 5:2). He also asserts himself in the place of God when he declares, “Thus says Pharaoh,” (Ex 5:10) an intentional mockery of “Thus says the Lord.” Pharaoh believes God is nothing, insults His words, and claims to be divine.

In his audacity, Pharaoh commands, “let the labor be heavier on the men” (Ex 5:9). The word for “let the labor be heavier” is the word “glory.” Pharaoh is essentially saying, “Let me demonstrate my glory by placing Israel under hard labor.” With these arrogant words, Pharaoh is both stealing God’s glory and disputing His authority.

Pharaoh repeats this offense when he hardens his heart. The word used for “harden” is the same word “glorify” (כבד). The use of this word exhibits the attempts of Pharaoh to harbor his own glory rather than attribute glory to God. God has once again been challenged by Pharaoh, as he arrogantly asserts that he deserves all glory. 

GOD REVEALS HIS POWER

In response to this affront, God reveals Himself more fully. With plagues He devastates Egypt, the world’s first superpower.

These plagues unveil His glory and supremacy in the following 4 ways: 

1. The plagues display God as Creator.

Why are there ten plagues? The number “ten” points back to the creation account in Genesis. When God creates the world, He speaks ten times (Genesis 1:3–30). Another set of “ten” in Exodus confirms this association. The ten commandments are called in Hebrew literally the ten “words,” or ten “speakings.” This again refers to the ten times God spoke in creation. The ten plagues parallel this logic. They show in sum that God is Creator; He is absolutely supreme.

2. The plagues establish the lordship of God over the world.

Encouragement for Those at the Crossroads of Life: College Bound

I do not want you to experience what too many church kids have experienced.   Many adults will have their deepest regrets in regard to the choices they make from age 18 to 26. These years are the crossroads of life. You decide many things during these years – will I continue to worship God outside my parents’ influence? Will I still gather with God’s people in worship on the Lord’s day? Am I going to work hard to earn a living? Am I going to be generous with what I have? With whom will I choose to spend my life?

Sadly, many have walked away from the faith during these critical years, never to return. My desire and prayer is that this will not be your story.

Whether you go to school in the bubble of a Christian college or a secular university; whether you are headed into the workplace or taking a gap year – the danger remains the same.

I want to give you three words that will help you handle your newfound freedom and maximize it for your spiritual growth.

PURPOSE

Purpose is word number one. Too many students transitioning from high school to college lack purpose. They don’t know the why behind what they’re doing. They don’t even know why they’re going to school except that it’s expected. Most don’t know why they’re here on the planet.If you waste your days, you waste your life

It is sad to see these college years lived with such a lack of purpose. If you don’t understand your purpose in these pivotal years, you will waste an extraordinary portion of your life that could have been maximized for your future self and for the glory of God.

If you wrote yourself a letter 20 years from now, I’m confident that you would tell yourself to live these years with purpose, to be mindful of the tremendous opportunities and freedoms at your fingertips, and to use these in a way that would bring God the most glory and your soul the deepest growth.

Paul, in Ephesians 5:15-16, writes,  Be careful then how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.

This verse first tells you to be mindful of how you walk.

This is one of the most abundant metaphors in the New Testament – walking. It’s just one foot in front of the other. The Christian life is about getting up each day in order to be obedient to Jesus.

The Christian life is not ordinarily filled with the exhilarating sweeps and swoops of a rollercoaster, nor daily do we experience the majestic peaks and dark valleys of the Himalayas. Instead, the majority of the Christian life is spent walking – one foot in front of the other. It requires consistency, balance, and care as you find your footing."

Then the author defines the Christian walk as it relates to time.   "In these transitional years, you have the opportunity to harness the time to benefit your soul. Time is ticking; the clock is turning. Another day has passed, and with it, a myriad of opportunities that, when judgment day comes, you will wish you would have seized.

The author tells you to redeem the time. But you likely do not think of an hour as something to redeem. The word redeem comes from slavery. Slavery was far different in the ancient world than the evils with which we relate the term. Slavery was a condition that people could be bought out of – or redeemed from.

Redemption is an intriguing word to use in reference to time. It’s as if to say you could buy back time. The word for time used is one that refers to periods of time – epochs, ages, stages, or moments. It refers to longer sections of time; not so much measurable units as periods of life.

However, do not make too much of the distinction between stages of time and minutes of time, because stages are made of minutes. Seconds become minutes and minutes become hours and hours become weeks and weeks months and months years and years decades and decades lifetimes. If you waste your days, you waste your life.

This does not mean that you must nail down every detail of your future life. The Bible warns against this kind of thinking. But a wise man plans. In Proverbs, the wise man plans how he will sow seed and harvest it to yield a profit. Planning is deeply biblical.

This can be done in simple ways – like not changing your major 700 times; like finishing the classes you start; like learning to be responsible with the small amounts of money you have. All these habits you train yourself in today will later pay dividends.

None of this is flashy. But before you can be the next Hudson Taylor, you must understand that Hudson Taylor had his act together. And that’s what I’m pleading with you to do.

I’m telling you the truth. I’m telling you what I believe you would tell yourself decades from now: to use these years better than you would have. 

PROGRESS

Too many young Christians don’t make enough of the word progress.

The Mandate of Biblical Inerrancy, Authority, and Sufficiency: Expository Preaching

"Preaching ought to reflect our conviction that God’s Word is infallible, inerrant, and If we believe that “all Scripture is inspired by God” and inerrant, must we not be equally committed to the reality that it is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17)? Expository preaching is the proclamation of the truth of God as mediated through the preacher

Paul gave this mandate to Timothy: “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim 4:1-2, emphasis added). Any form of preaching that ignores that intended purpose and design of God falls short of the divine plan.

The only logical response to inerrant Scripture is to preach expositionally. By expositionally, I mean preaching in such a way that the meaning of the Bible passage is presented entirely and exactly as it was intended by God. Expository preaching is the proclamation of the truth of God as mediated through the preacher.

GOD’S WORD IS INFALLIBLE AND INERRANT

Too often, preaching does not reflect the reality that God’s word is infallible and inerrant. In fact, there is a discernable trend in contemporary evangelicalism away from biblical preaching and a drift toward an experience-centered, pragmatic, topical approach in the pulpit.

Many evangelicals hold to limited inerrancy, but they cannot have their cake (trustworthy Scripture) and eat it too (limited inerrancy). If the Bible is unable to produce a sound doctrine of Scripture, then it is thus incapable of producing, with any degree of believability or credibility, a doctrine about any other matter. If the human writers of Scripture have erred in their understanding of Holy Writ’s purity, then they have disqualified themselves as writers for any other area of God’s revealed truth. If they are so disqualified in all areas, then every preacher is thoroughly robbed of any confidence and conviction concerning the alleged true message he would be relaying for God.

Exodus and God’s Eternal Plans (Pt. 1)

In our study of the Bible, we suffer from over-familiarity—an attitude that says, “I know this. I’ve heard this before.” This is the dilemma of the book of Exodus. We know the book’s stories: Moses, the ten plagues, the Ten Commandments, the golden calf, and the tabernacle. We tend to sprint through narrative passages when their stories are familiar to us.

But, we ought to pause for one compelling reason: narratives contain theology.

In the Scriptures, history is the basis for theology. When we read, we need not only to look for the facts of what happens, but also for the reasons why. What is God doing in narratives as He moves people and maneuvers situations? This approach to reading narrative passages provides a glimpse into the theology that is developing and the character of God that is being displayed.

Let’s examine the familiar passage of Exodus 1-2 and see what rich theological truths can be gleaned.

A THEOLOGY OF A DELIVERER

The book of Exodus has an epic beginning. In the first verses, the list of names of descendants and offspring are quoted from Genesis 46, where God expounds how He has kept the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. This covenant includes three major promises: land, seed, and blessing. This hook in Exodus 1 highlights the promise of seed—a promise that traces back as far as Genesis 3:15, where God promises that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. By opening Exodus with these verses, God is saying, “I’m continuing my plan for Israel. I’m moving forward with Genesis 3:15.”

Israel was not crying out to anyone. They were not praying to God

Did the Old Testament Prophets Know What They Were Saying?

"When reading Scripture, the tendency of many Christians is to think in terms of what this verse means to me. What the Bible means to a given individual, however, is completely irrelevant, for the true meaning of Scripture is found not in the subjective impression of the contemporary reader but rather in the specific intention of the original author. For this reason, we often speak of “authorial intent” as the goal of Bible interpretation.

But this only raises a further question: exactly whose intent are we seeking to ascertain? The intent of the human author or the intent of the divine author? Or is it possible that there is actually no tangible difference between the two? Herein lies one of the key issues in the field of hermeneutics today—the question of whether the human intention and divine intention of Scripture are one and the same.

A Closer Look at a Difficult Passage
Some interpreters point to 1 Peter 1:10 as evidence of a sharp distinction between of the human and divine intention of OT prophecy. In this passage, the apostle Peter writes:  (10) As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, (11) seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. (12) It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

According to this view, 1 Peter 1:10-12 teaches that the OT prophets did not understand the meaning of their own prophecies. For this reason, it is said, the human and divine intent of Scripture cannot be regarded as one and the same.

The Daring Mission of William Tyndale

"Many people misunderstand the main point of the Reformation. It wasn’t a worship war between the Roman Catholic Church and those who were protesting. It wasn’t a mere protest. It certainly wasn't a petty squabble over insignificant truths.  It was about God raising up faithful men who would protect the gospel of Jesus Christ from the perversion of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church...

How was this possible? It was necessary to bring the Bible out of the shadows. For ages, the Bible had been locked away in a dungeon and the religion of Rome insisted that people could only hear the Word of God spoken in Latin (even though people couldn’t understand it). They were certainly not permitted to have the Bible in their own homes. Therefore, the protection of the purity of the gospel came through a rediscovery of God’s Word.

Standing upon the shoulders of Martin Luther was another man—William Tyndale. He was born in 1494 in rural western England. At age 12, he entered a preparatory grammar school at Oxford University. He learned grammar, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, rhetoric, logic, and philosophy. He had a gift for the languages and made great progress as he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1512 and his master’s degree in 1515.

While studying theology, he came into contact with the writings of Martin Luther. In 1521, Tyndale stepped away from academic atmosphere in order to pursue his thoughts on the Reformation. During this time, he would be called upon to preach in small churches. His beliefs were aligning with Luther and people were noticing it. He would have meals with priests often and he became appalled at their ignorance and false doctrines.

Whatever Happened to Expository Preaching (pt. 2)

In his book, He Is Not Silent, Dr. Al Mohler raises a provocative question: “If you picked an evangelical church at random and attended a Sunday morning service there, how likely is it that you would hear a faithful expository sermon, one that takes its message and its structure from the biblical text?”  In most communities the odds would not be very good. As Dr. Steven Lawson has suggested, when it comes to solid Bible preaching there is nothing short of a famine in the land.

In the eyes of many, expository preaching is simply no longer relevant because it fails to connect in any kind of meaningful way with the average person in today’s culture. This criticism, of course, is hardly new. Back in 1928, a prominent liberal Baptist minister named Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote an article for Harper’s Magazine entitled, “What’s the Matter with Preaching?” In the article, Fosdick wrote:  Many preachers indulge habitually in what they call expository sermons. They take a passage from Scripture, and, proceeding on the assumption that the people attending the church that morning are deeply concerned about what the passage means, they spend their half hour or more on historical exposition of the verse or the chapter, ending with some attendant practical applications to the auditors. Could any procedure be more surely predestined to dullness and futility? Who seriously supposes that, as a matter of fact, one in a hundred of the congregation cares (to start with) what Moses, Isaiah, Paul, or John meant in those special verses, or came to church deeply concerned about it. Nobody else who talks to the public so assumes that the vital interests of the people are located in the meaning of words spoken 2000 years ago.

Fosdick himself died in 1969, but his view of expository preaching lives on. Many still see it as the epitome of dullness and futility. Many still insist that it fails to connect to the vital interests of the average person in the congregation. Many still believe it is doomed to failure because it hasn’t kept up with the evolving needs of contemporary culture.

According to Mohler, this rapid decline of expository preaching has been one of most troubling developments of the last several decades.  Numerous influential voices within evangelicalism are suggesting that the age of the expository sermon is now past. In its place, some contemporary preachers now substitute messages intentionally designed to reach secular or superficial congregations—messages that avoid preaching a biblical text and thus avoid a potentially embarrassing confrontation with biblical truth.

Various alternatives to expository preaching may indeed connect with the masses and fill the pews, but at what cost? Time will eventually tell.

Article written by Pastor by Matt Waymeyer

Whatever Happened to Expository Preaching (pt. 1)

In September of 1982—more than a decade before the rise of the Internet—journalist Allen Neuharth launched a newspaper that would revolutionize the world of print media. What made USA Today so unique is that its approach and design were based on the most thorough market research ever performed on behalf of a newspaper. By surveying readers about their likes and dislikes, Neuharth was able to present the news in a way that catered to the desires of his potential audience.

In his research, Neuharth discovered that people liked lots of color, lots of pictures, and lots of graphics. They wanted short, easy-to-read articles that didn’t continue on a later page. They wanted less international news and more human interest stories. In short, they wanted something that reminded them more of television than a newspaper. So that’s what he gave them. And even though critics began referring to USA Today as “the junk food of journalism,” the end product was an amazing success, at least in terms of circulation.

Unfortunately, many churches today have taken a similar approach to designing their worship services. The trends reveal that people want less doctrine and more drama, less preaching and more props, less declaration and more dialogue. They want short, easy-to-listen-to sermons that don’t get too deep and that don’t focus too much on God and not enough on me. In short, they want something that reminds them of the Sunday morning edition of USA Today. And that’s exactly what they’re given.

The Shepherd Preacher

In his new memoir Outsider Looking In, Gary Wills, leftist intellectual and former conservative journalist, made an interesting observation about politicians who try to become academics after they leave office. 

 “Politicians live for contact with people. They lose the gift for contemplation, or research, or simple reading. Being alone with a book is a way to die for many of them.”

Real shepherds know the sheep, live with the sheep, and even eat the same sheep food. This sort of life demands both public engagement with real people and meaningful private moments alone with piles of books. In churches we have code language that goes something like this. If the guy is warm and friendly but can’t preach to save his life, it is said of him that “he has a pastor’s heart.” Conversely, many wonderfully skilled expositors are nothing more than full-time conference speakers who drop into their congregations most Sundays and deliver a conference-like message. In short, if our vocation hovers anywhere near the end of Ephesians 4:11 we need to embrace the full weight of what it means to be a pastor and the commitment involved for those who are called to teach the Word. Are you a pastor or a teacher? The answer should be “both.”  God calls pastors to shepherd the flock with their fellow elders (1 Peter 5) and to preach and teach the whole counsel of God (1-2 Timothy)

Will You Pray For Me?

Looking up with tears in his eyes, he could only mumble the words, “Will you pray for me?” He was a fellow pastor in a nearby town that I had agreed to meet for lunch. When he initially called, he indicated that he was straining under the weight of problems in his congregation. To be honest, the problems in his church are not uncommon because sin has a way of finding a home in every flock. Struggling marriages, difficult deacons, wayward children, job losses, deaths, and an occasional “anonymous email” had greatly increased the burdens of ministry for this brother.

The truth is, this story could be repeated thousands of times over. It is safe to assume that the leadership of your church has and will face many unique challenges to their ministry. Will you commit to pray for your leaders? I hope the answer to this question is “yes” but I also know that many struggle with how to pray for church leaders. Scripture is replete with examples and encouragements to pray for those who minister the Word. This is especially pronounced in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Against the backdrop of this ministry we learn how to pray for ministers of the gospel.

As Paul concludes the last chapters of his letter to the church at Rome, he says something that we should not easily pass over. In light of surmounting opposition in Judea, Paul petitions the Roman church, “strive together with me in your prayers” (Romans 15:30). In the context we learn that Paul wanted to partner with this church for his missionary journeys but he also knew that they could spiritually refresh his spirits. As he does here, Paul often attached the prayers of the people to the importance of his ministry of the Word (cf. Romans 15:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:1). There are at least three requests that Paul continually brings to the churches.

1. Pray that the Word is Received

Church leaders are called on to do many things but one thing they must do is teach the Word (1 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:9). In the course of any given week this takes place over lunch, in counseling, at bedsides, and from pulpits. Pastors are not called to give opinions but to faithfully shepherd the flock of God as heralds of God’s Word (1 Peter 1:1). Notice how Paul calls the church at Ephesus to pray:  “and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:19).

Though Paul’s apostolic ministry is markedly different from that of elders today, the bottom line is the same, “that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly.” Pray that your leaders will speak with boldness, clarity, conviction, and pastoral compassion from God’s Word. Also, that they would dispense this ministry as they “ought to speak.” The temptation to “tickle ears” is great so pastors must be diligent (2 Timothy 2:3). Pray that your church will receive the Word with obedience and joy (1 Thessalonians 1:13; Hebrews 13:17).

2. Pray that the Word is Clear

“HE’S IN A BETTER PLACE:” FACTORS CHRISTIANS NEED TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE SPEAKING

Immediately after he passed away, a nurse came in and made an empty attempt at comfort, “He’s in a better place” she said. As soon as the words were uttered they seemed to bounce around the room with nowhere to comfortably land. For the sake of context, this was spoken to a dear woman, only nanoseconds removed from the loss of her husband and best friend of forty-eight years. Better place? Really? Is it wise to tell a woman who has just lost the closest of human relationships that your husband is better off because he’s no longer here with you? Regardless of intentions and whatever this might mean, I’m convinced that Christians can do better.

Now this is not to open a discussion on the nature of heaven. I believe that “heaven is for real,” not because some four year old has an out of body experience and lives to tell about it. Heaven, like hell, is real because the Bible assumes the veracity of both. Christians are often easily duped into throwing out the Bible and taking up second-hand experiences as proof of this and that. We should remember that the Bible is sufficient reason enough to believe that after our earthly existence, our souls will be immediately present with Christ and will await a future resurrection of our bodies in which the ultimate destination (i.e., place) becomes a new heaven a new earth. This I know because the Bible tells me so.

Could this be what that poor nurse was getting at? Was she attempting to emphasize that, “he’s in a better place”? If so, it would seem that the weight of scripture would be on her side. The great Apostle surely indicates as much, stating that to be absent from the body is “to be at home with the Lord” (emphasis mine, 2 Cor 5:8). Also, we believe in the immortality of the soul so if it’s not here then it has to be somewhere. So if this were her intention she would be theologically correct on a number of points. However, I don’t think this is what she was aiming for.

Is It Sunday Yet?

Is it Sunday yet?  The Lord's Day should be the best day of the week.  By the grace of God, for my family it certainly is.

This coming Sunday we prayerfully anticipate another morning of vibrant Christian fellowship.  Spirit-filled praise.  Edifying, and sometimes humorous and/or tearful, conversations.  And focused expository listening.

The believers that make up Lake Country Bible Church are full of Christian joy and hope.  Our founding pastor worked hard to ensure that this fellowship was Word-centered; without losing our identity of also being a loving family of believers.  Pastor Sal believed that the Lord's Church is to be known for its commitment to Christ-like love (John 13), absolute truth/sound doctrine (1 Tim. 3:15; Jude 3; Eph. 4:11-16), and "good deeds" (Heb. 10:24-25; Eph. 2:10).  It's both/and rather than either/or.

During the 9 AM Sunday School hour our children/teens will be in stage of life focused classes.  Our wonderful teachers will highlight biblical truth using Answers in Genesis material.  One of our elders (Dave) will lead the adults in prayer and then continue his excellent series through Galatians.

At 10:15 AM the entire congregation will come together for our corporate worship service:

1) We will sing a number of praise songs and hymns (Col. 3:16; "Jesus Shall Reign;" "10,000 Reasons;" "His Mercy is More;" "Before the Throne of God Above;" and "By Faith.")

5 Principles for Evangelical Leadership

Time for a confession: I once thought an evangelical leader had to be a good marketer. Sensing a call to serve the church vocationally during high school, and since most pastors I knew were polished message crafters and used slick methods, I set out to study marketing in college to prepare for ministry in “seeker-sensitive” churches. Leaders in the church were studying the latest advertising trends and picking up gleanings from sociological research to ensure we could pull the correct “felt need” levers. Focus group theology sounded about right to me. My colleagues and I headed to seminars and sought to take those best practices back to our student ministry. Better sound system. Skits and videos. Rocking bands. Smoke machines. We chided those who didn’t “get it” and grew impatient with those who we perceived were anemic about reaching the lost. God’s kingdom depended on us. If we did not act now, God’s purposes in this world would be thwarted.

Enter the ministries of John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul. I cannot remember which came first, but they were my mentors in the faith. It was transformative. They articulated a robust understanding of the authority of Scripture, the finished work of the cross of Christ, the Lordship of Jesus in the life of His disciples, and a high view of gospel preaching, God-centered theology and church life that was, at least to me, radical. Zeal for evangelism was bolstered by an unshakable confidence in the God who works through His un-thwartable Word. Gone was the tiring treadmill of pursuing the next best thing. They introduced me to a chorus of evangelical leaders calling the church to the pursuit of God as He sovereignly worked out his purposes in this world.

Iain Murray recently released a biography of John MacArthur. (Do try to pick up a copy.) In the opening of that book, he uses some of Dr. MacArthur’s teaching to illustrate five qualities of an evangelical leader. We asked Mr. Murray if we could reprint a portion and he graciously agreed. Twenty years ago, this wise counsel would have saved me several years of heading down an unfruitful path. Perhaps it can do the same for another generation.

Please Do Not Reimagine Worship

"Recently I observed an advertisement for a bank and it was a commercial that talked about how their new design was “banking reimagined.” It was not the typical banking atmosphere. It was complete with a coffee shop, modern seating, and appeared to be more of a lounge than a bank. It is very common within evangelical circles to hear people talking about how they have reimagined church or reimagined worship. This typically means they have redesigned it for a modern audience with a fresh new look or purpose. It would do us well to remember that God doesn’t need our imagination to repackage worship. He has given us everything we need in the Scriptures in order to detail they way in which God should be approached in worship.

The Archbishop of Canterbury (William Temple) in the 1440s described the purpose and functionality of worship. He said, “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” In other words, while we are impacted, changed, and beneficiaries as a result of worship—we must view worship as primarily centered upon God.

The primary audience for our worship is God himself. It’s not the congregation, because the congregation is called by God to engage as participants in worship. It’s not the seeker who is coming looking for God, for that person doesn’t truly exist. The true seeker is God himself. Therefore, in our weekly worship as a gathered church—our worship is offered up to God since he alone is the primary audience. Therefore, that means that we must take our worship of God seriously.

If The Radical Left Takes Over, You Can Kiss Your Freedoms Goodbye

"The pattern is as predictable as it is obvious. When the left (especially the far left) talks about freedom, it means freedom for those who conform. When it talks about diversity, it means my way or the highway. Political correctness is to be enforced. Dissent will not be tolerated. So much for the left bringing “liberation.”

Shutting Down Dissenting Views

Of course, the left will say to us, “No, you are the ones who require conformity. You are the ones who refuse to recognize marriage when it’s different than what you’re used to. You are the ones who want to forbid a woman from having control over her own body. It is our side, the left, which loves freedom.”

But that objection misses the point.

Our argument is that marriage in our society has a certain meaning and history and function. To tamper with that is to tamper with our foundations.

But if two men or two women want to live together, that’s their choice. We simply don’t want to be required to validate or celebrate that choice.

When it comes to abortion, notice that, despite our abhorrence of that sinful practice, we’re not forcibly stopping women from having abortions. We’re arguing that no one has the right to terminate the life of an innocent baby and we’re advocating a change in the laws and the culture through political and persuasive means.