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 Church That Should Have Died"

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"It looked like the church would die. The charts showed decades of decline. The roof was leaking, the congregation aging, and the former pastor had left in a scandal. The neighborhood was undesirable. There were a few bright spots, but you had to use your imagination to see them. The odds weren't good.

But they called a pastor. The pastor was an academic who had recently earned a Ph.D. from Cambridge. One of his references said that he probably didn't have what it would take to hold the pulpit. The pastor believed he should accept the charge, but he didn't expect that things would change very much. He thought he would stay a few years, pray and preach, and eventually leave to teach in a seminary.

One more wrinkle: in the middle of the seeker-sensitive and Willow Creek era of church, this pastor believed that the church should set the bar high for membership, and reach into the past. He cared more about biblical principles than business principles. He dug out the church covenant and statement of faith and hammered away at Baptist polity. Could a pastor like that swim against the tide and see the church move to health?

I attended that church this past weekend along with 160 or so church leaders. Over twenty years into the experiment, the church is teeming with young people. There's nothing fancy about the church: the pastor says that he aims for a mere church with few accouterments. The worship is simple, the songs old, the preaching long, and the expectations high.

Over a thousand now call themselves members of that church. Not just members, but active members. It’s also become a launching pad for church plants and church planters. They ignore virtually every principle of the church growth movement by holding Sunday School, Sunday morning and evening services, Wednesday midweek meetings, and two-hour member meetings complete with church discipline. They do all of this in an urban setting far from the Bible Belt, and yet they continue to bear fruit.

One of their leaders calls it Jurassic Park. The church looks like a dinosaur, but it's alive. You'd think that such a church would have gone extinct. It's shocking to see it not only alive but thriving.

8 Things I Love about My Present Ministry

Pulpit view from inside FBC Freeport's sanctuary

As I reflect on the past I have much to thank God for today.

1) The leadership team and I share the same doctrinal commitments, the same core values, and the same philosophy of ministry. In many ways our biblical convictions have been forged in/through fire.

 As you labor together in ministry, especially in the trenches during difficult seasons, you see each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and quirks. You also grow to love and to appreciate one another all the more (Eccl. 4:12; Prov. 18:24).

It has been said that you do not really know what you believe (or at least how deeply your convictions are) until you have to suffer for it (2 Tim. 2-3). Over the years I have been blessed to be surrounded by faithful lay leaders who have been willing to endure hardships for the sake of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). Church revitalization is definitely not easy but it is nonetheless biblically prescribed (see Titus 1:5).

2) The men and I are able to agree to disagree on wisdom matters without growing apart (Eph. 4:1-3). By God’s grace we also know when we need to agree not to disagree on something. For a lengthier explanation read this article on Maintaining Doctrinal Standards and Revising Church Constitutions.

3) The church and leadership team have always given me ample time to study and to preach the Word (per 1 Tim. 5:17-18; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 4:10-11).

Why Revitalize?

     

9 Marks Journal Article
By Matt Schmucker

"I asked the young man sitting across from me at lunch, “Why did you decide to go to seminary?” He said, “I want to do great things for God!”

His answer made me shudder slightly. I wondered if he had ever read any biographies of men who had “done great things for God.” Did he know the sacrifice that comes with “greatness?”  Many of the great ones were reformers. They saw something broken, directionless, or distorted, and set about to change course—to re-make. Those great ones were actually pastors: they were students of the Word who took on the burden to proclaim. They worked like prophets, not through foretelling, but through forth-telling: being forthright about the present in light of what was written in the past. That’s what a pastor does. He holds up God’s Word and calls men and women to renew their minds and reform their ways. If you don’t want to be a reformer, you don’t want to be a pastor.

MOTIVATIONS FOR REFORM

When you look at a small, broken, unhealthy, body of believers, what could drive you to begin the reforming work that’s necessary? Let me suggest six motivations:

1. For the Christian’s Sake 

In John 21, we hear Jesus ask Simon Peter (three times), “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Three times Simon Peter says, “Yes.” And three times Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” In Luke 15, we read of Jesus valuing his own people so highly that if they were sheep he would “leave the ninety nine in the open country” to rescue the one lost. God loves his people. He wants them gathered, and he wants them fed.

In every church revitalization I’ve seen, there have been at least a few sheep present (often amidst wolves). They have been malnourished and even mistreated. But they have been adopted by Christ and are therefore deserving of care. Consider revitalizing a church for the benefit of the true believers who are there.

When a Church Repents

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When a local church is growing numerically and financially they may be in a very dangerous position (1 Cor. 10:12).  As with our personal lives, when everything is going well we Christians are (more) prone to wander, drift, or grow lukewarm and NOT EVEN REALIZE IT.  Anyone who has been in Christ for a long time will testify to this reality.  Proverbs 30:8-9, Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches.  Feed me with the food that is my portion.  That I may be full and not deny you and say, "Who is the LORD?" or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.

Word-driven believers do not pray for trials and hardships but we do learn over the years to "kiss the waves that throw us upon the Rock of ages."  In time we come to "consider it all joy when we encounter trials of various kinds KNOWING that the testing of our faith produces many good things" (James 1:2-6).  We come to view the discipline of our Father as being a gracious act of love. Hebrews 12:9-11 puts it like this, "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."

What is true individually is also true corporately.  Seminaries and local churches have a tendency to drift, grow lukewarm, and compromise without even realizing it.  Consider the sad story of Fuller Theological Seminary or the joyous turn around at Southern Seminary.  After many decades of compromise Fuller is sadly one of the leading Liberal training centers in America.   In God's grace, Dr. Mohler helped "save" Southern seminary from a similar fate- but not without first shedding blood, sweat, and tears.  If you are involved in true reformation and/or revitalization work their is a price to be paid!  Anyone who has led such efforts has the personal scars to prove it.  I wish I would have been better prepared for what was in store for me when I became the lead pastor of a church that was once "sick" (which is one of the reasons why I started this blog).

"Saving A Seminary" (the story of SBTS and Al Mohler and why it matters).

Saving a Seminary was the title of a June 13th World Magazine article with Marvin Olasky and Dr. Al Mohler.  Over the past many years Dr. Mohler has been repeatedly asked how he turned around a once liberal leaning seminary into a bastion of orthodox (biblical) Christianity.  

Mohler has been open and honest while recounting the past and has candidly stated that biblical change doesn't just happen without the shedding of blood, sweat, and tears.  Dr. Mohler has not shared these details in order to present himself as a Christian martyr.  These painful stories remind men that you must be willing to pay a price if God calls you to serve in this type of ministry context.  I have provided plenty of article over the years that emphasize this very point.  This is especially important for pastors and lay leaders who are involved in church revitalization contexts.  We must "consider the cost" before building God's tower.

In view of what God has done in Louisville many leading evangelical leaders have offered praise to God for the reformational efforts of Mohler at Southern seminary.  Dr. Mohler would be the first person to tell you that ONLY GOD can rescue (or turn around) a spiritually sick seminary or church.  Having  said that, the Scriptures also teach that God not only ordains the end He also ordains the means.  In other words, God often chooses to use faithful Christian servants in order to carry out His purposes on earth (see Titus 1:5f; Col. 1:28-29).  In this manner. Dr. Mohler was the primary human instrument that the Lord used to "save" SBTS seminary.

8 Years-8 Transformations

Photo Credit: factsandtrends.net

In a previous post I highlighted some of the ways God has been refining the Senior Pastor at FBC, Freeport.  Today I want to mention some of the ways God has been refining the ministry.  Over the past 8 years how has God changed and reformed the church itself?

After much blood, sweat, and tears:

 1) Our worship service is Word-driven and God-centered; (8+ years ago our worship services had become too man-centered; see Gary Gilley's book, this little church went to the market: the church in the age of modern entertainment).  My primary priorities in coming to First were to preach the Word faithfully (establish an expository pulpit), to develop personal relationships (to be a pastor-teacher), to help train men to be effective shepherd-leaders, and to reform our Sunday morning liturgy.  

Paul charged Titus in Titus 1:5 to "set in order what remains" (which suggests he was to put a broken bone back in place) and to appoint qualified lay leaders (elders) who would help this young pastor reform the church in Crete.  Today this kind of local church ministry is often called church revitalization.

In order for a church to go from "embers to a flame" a congregation must humbly acknowledge that they are sick and in need of biblical medicine, that they are lost and need spiritual direction, and/or that they have drifted and need to be brought near to the Good Shepherd once again.  Dr. Harry Reeder makes this very point in his helpful book, "From Embers to a Flame: How God can Revitalize Your Church."