Stand Firm!

After nine years of church revitalization work in a previous ministry context I can personally affirm the points Charles Spurgeon drives home in his short address on "Standing Firm."

As was noted in a previous article the three major Trojan Horses that are sneaking into the Bible-believing Church right now are: 1) Thin Complementarianism ("Christian feminism" is en vogue again); 2) A modified view of sexuality (note Same Sex Attraction teaching), 3) A left leaning understanding of racial justice (i.e. a Christianized version of critical race theory/cultural Marxism).  Because conservative evangelicals have been swept away in the "Celebrity Culture" the Church today as at risk of making subtle compromises.  Have you noticed how if well known church leaders ("experts") from the Gospel Coalition or _____ promotes something how the masses seem to almost blindly follow?  Sola Scriptura is affirmed on paper but is often not fleshed out in daily life and in church ministry.  Now more than ever, do we need courageous believers who are willing to flesh out the implications of 1 Corinthians 16:13 and to stand firm (regardless of the cost)! 

The Myth of Adolescence

15+ years ago I heard a series of lectures that addressed biblical youth ministries and "the Myth of Adolescence."  This message was quite helpful in shaping my Biblical Philosophy of Ministry in relation to youth and family ministries.  

"Where does most of this come from? Let me begin by highlighting the myth of adolescence. You know the age with which youth ministry deals with is commonly known as 'adolescence,' and our society has been identified as unique in history by calling people between age twelve and age twenty 'adolescents.' Let me give you the history of that, okay?

 In 1904, G. Stanley Hall—this is all on your CD, by the way—G. Stanley Hall published a book called.. .and guys, if you publish a book, please, please don’t do this, okay? Here’s his book, Adolescence: It’s Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education. How do you put that on the spine of… anyway. 1904. This is the first known treatise on adolescence. 1904. The first place to identify that age. In this book, by the way, Hall argues that the stages in a child’s development parallel in mankind’s evolutionary development in history. The thesis of his book and the idea of adolescence is that the period between thirteen and eighteen is a crisis and stormy period of a young person’s life. Hall concluded that these years almost always include extreme inclinations for a person to be very good or very bad.

Has anyone outgrown adolescence? Has anyone in your church outgrown adolescence according to that definition? By the way, it was his book and these expectations that were the basis for segregating school children by age for educational purposes. It was at this point, 1904, that adolescence was—keyword—invented.

Pragmatism and the Pulpit by John MacArthur

Pragmatism and the Pulpit 

by Pastor John MacArthur

"In a column published some years ago in a popular Christian magazine, a well-known preacher was venting his own loathing for long sermons. January 1 was coming, so he resolved to do better in the coming year. "That means wasting less time listening to long sermons and spending much more time preparing short ones," he wrote. "People, I've discovered, will forgive even poor theology as long as they get out before noon."

Unfortunately, that perfectly sums up the predominant attitude behind much of ministry today. Bad doctrine is tolerable; a long sermon most certainly is not. The timing of the benediction is of far more concern to the average churchgoer than the content of the sermon. Sunday dinner and the feeding of our mouths takes precedence over Sunday school and the nourishment of our souls. Long-windedness has become a greater sin than heresy.

The church has imbibed the worldly philosophy of pragmatism, and we're just beginning to taste the bitter results.

A Much Needed Reminder From the Doctor

The greatest preacher in Europe during the 20th century was Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Though dead, the good doctor still speaks.

In page 284, volume 2 of his biography we read this, "Two columns in a LA newspaper headed, 'British Cleric Pleads for Stress on Preaching.' The paper reported him as saying, 'Too little preaching and too much music, ritual and entertainment are leading to too much Christian superficiality.'" Talk about prophetic.

"Evangelism, he told them, has to be church-centered and the churches need no special technique or advertising. They are built up by sound preaching, preaching the Word of God in a Christ-centered way, with conviction, and looking to the Holy Spirit to apply it...When the local church has a spirit of evangelism, members tell others about Christ, and through personal contact among friends, acquaintances and business associates bring many into the church." Talk about relevant.

May the Lord raise up more "Lloyd-Jones'" to strengthen and grow His precious Church
(Colossians 1:28-29; Eph. 4:11-15).