"Ruining Our Witness" & "Worship that Displeases God": A Few Considerations.

For anyone who is regular reader of Elyse Fitzpatrick or Tullian Tchividjian I would highly encourage you to read Daniel I. Block's, "For the Glory of God: Recovering a Biblical Theology of Worship." In it you will find helpful insights like this, "In chapter 3 we established that while the call to salvation is unconditional, the call to worship is conditional and subject to the spiritual and moral conditions of the worshiper."Just because we have experienced the grace of Christ in salvation does not mean that New Testament believers should be casual about worship (nor should we be nonchalant about our witness).

"For many, Sunday morning is just as hectic as any other day. By the time we arrive at the church, we are out of breath, our tempers are short, and we have scarcely had worship on our minds. But, blissfully, we imagine all we need to do is show up in church and God will be impressed. So we take pride in being in the services on Sunday morning, and if we are involved in various youth activities, in campus charities, or in Bible studies (midweek), we are obviously exceptionally spiritual. However, this scarcely fits the picture painted in Hebrew 10 and 12."

I believe hyper-grace advocates would heartily AMEN the second quote but I do not think the first quote would be posted in very many Twitter feeds.  As with most things, biblical balance is desperately needed in this area of theology/practice.  

So how can we elevate the free grace of justification without minimizing the various imperatives related to our progressive sanctification?  Or as Kevin DeYoung puts it, how can we glory in the indicatives while insisting on the imperatives?  How do we avoid the ditch of Legalism (Col. 2:16-17) without falling prey to hyper-grace Antinomianism?

In this vein, how do we balance New Testament warnings like 1 Peter 3:7 without becoming Pharisaic legalists? “You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered”

Pure and Undefiled Religion: Profiles of Faithful Church Members

When you look up “faithful deaconess” in the Christian dictionary you will surely find the name Marilyn Van Drew.   As a faithful servant of the flock Marilyn has worked heartily unto the Lord often without any recognition.   For many decades, Marilyn has served our shut-ins and widows.  She has taken care of children in the nursery.   She has provided hospitality during our many funeral luncheons and fellowship meals.   She has served as the church librarian and the list goes on and on and on.  Mrs. Van Drew regularly clothes herself with the graces of Christ and consistently manifests Christ-like love which is the perfect bond of unity (Colossians 3:12-14).  Marilyn’s costly, selfless, other’s orientated mindset has deepened and sweetened the fellowship of First Baptist Church.   

Scripture exhorts us to render "honor to whom honor is due."  This morning we want to publicly recognize the beautiful legacy of Marilyn Van Drew.  

Desperate Times Call For _____________________

You Are Never Too Young To Serve the Lord! Profiles of Faithful Church Members

1 Timothy 4:12, Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.

This picture of Jordan Niesman is from 2010.  Jordan is a wonderful example of how youth can use their energy and talents to strengthen the local church.  I have pastored the First Baptist Church of Freeport since 2008 and have personally observed Jordan serve our church as an usher, a groundskeeper, a tech booth professional, a nursery volunteer, an Awana leader, and more recently, as a youth group helper. 

Jordan and his family love to serve God's people not only at Church they also serve folks in the community as well.  Jordan has blessed my family many times over.  In this regard, Jordan's testimony is an example to all of us who believe (per 1 Tim. 4:12).

As a young man Jordan has tried to live out the implications of Jesus' words in John 13:12-17.

And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined at the table again, He said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

This summer Jordan will be ministering at a Christian camp in Wisconsin.  His absence will be felt in a big way and that is really the best commendation a church member can receive.  Jordan reminds all of us that you are never too young to serve the Lord!

 

You Are Never Too Old To Serve the Lord! Profiles of Faithful Church Members

1 Peter 4:10-11, As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

One of our oldest church members (93) reminds us all that you are never too old to serve the Lord.  Brother Ed recently lost his wife yet he continues to use his God-given talents to serve his Lord and Savior.  Brother Sincock plays at nursing homes, a number of local churches, and recently he even played hymns over at the Rockford Rescue Mission.

The Lord of the Church not only gives believers the Holy Spirit upon our conversion, He also gives each person special talents and grace gifts.  God gives a diversity of spiritual gifts for the unity of the body (per 1 Corinthians 12-14).  These gifts and talents can be employed in many different contexts but the primary stewardship location is the local church (notice the context of the vast majority of the New Testament 'one anothers').  To serve the flock or not serve the flock is not even a New Testament consideration (note 1 Peter 4:10-11).

Most of the senior saints at First Baptist have gone on to glory.  We have had over 60 funerals in the last fifteen years.  Those who remain are faithful examples to their pastor and fellow church members alike (Hebrews 13:7).  To God be the glory!

Whitefield and Piper on "Why Expositional Preaching Is Particularly Glorifying to God!"

When I first heard this John Piper sermon in person back in 2006 it both rocked my world (who is sufficient for this?) and solidified all of my biblical convictions and aims as it relates to 'exulting' Christ in/through expository sermons.  I would encourage you to listen to Piper's address, if nothing more from minute 3 to 17.  Piper's fifteen minute "summons" is the standard by which every preacher should be evaluated (PREACH the Word)!   http://t4g.org/media/2006/05/why-expositional-preaching-is-particularly-glorifying-to-god-session-vi/

Here is a brief excerpt from this life changing introduction:  “George Whitefield believed in preaching and gave his life to it. By this preaching God did a mighty work of salvation on both sides of the Atlantic. His biographer, Arnold Dallimore, chronicled the astonishing effect that Whitefield’s preaching had in Britain and America in the eighteenth century. It came like rain on the parched land and made the desert spring forth with the flowers of righteousness. Dallimore lifted his eyes from the transformed wasteland of Whitefield’s time and expressed his longing that God would do this again. He cries out for a new generation of preachers like Whitefield. His words help me express what I long for in the coming generations of preachers in America and around the world. He said,

Yea…that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more . . . raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace. They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labor and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat. They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives.

Wolf Hall and the Protestant Reformation

My wife and I have enjoyed watching a new series called "Wolf Hall" on PBS Masterpiece.  In this intriguing show history is retold through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, "the enigmatic advisor to King Henry VIII, as he maneuvers the corridors of power in the Tudor court. This six-part series follows the back-room dealings of this accomplished power broker, from humble beginnings, who must survive deadly political intrigue." 

One of the things that I like to do while watching a show like this is to utilize my smartphone to 'fact check' the details.  For example, did Queen Anne Boleyn ever commit incest or was it a false charge trumped up against her because she failed to produce a male offspring?  What were the actual circumstances surrounding her death?  As a Christian, I am also very interested to know what role genuine believers played during the English Reformation?

For those of you interested in learning more about the heroes of the faith I recommend the following books: Katherine Parr: A Guided Tour of the Life and Thought of a Reformation Queen (one of the many wives of Henry) by Brandon Withrow.  I also would recommend chapter four in Christopher Catherwood's, Five Leading Reformers: Lives at a Watershed in History.    Finally, I would encourage you to read J. C. Ryle's classic book, Five English Reformers.

Undermining the Legacy of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement

My wife and I were finally able to view the film SELMA. Overall, it was a very moving movie with a great cast.  As I watched the film I thought to myself, "Self, I hope you would have had the courage to join/support the peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery had you been alive and pastoring in 1965."  By the grace of God I believe I would have.

 

In this vein, my former pastor John MacArthur, was personal friends with John Perkins.  Perkins was one of the original Civil Rights leaders from the 1960's (Mr. Perkin's brother was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan).  Because of these associations MacArthur was refused meals at "white restaurants" while visiting the deep South.  In fact, John MacArthur was preaching the gospel in Jackson, Mississippi when Dr. King was shot and tragically killed in 1968.  MacArthur and some of his ministry friends drove through the night to Memphis and witnessed the MLK crime scene with their own eyes.  According to historian Iain H. Murray, "The experiences in Mississippi confirmed the truth to John that he already knew: the gospel alone could abolish the racial division, and he saw something of its power in the numbers of young people who were converted; some of them were to train for full-time Christian service;" but now I digress.

 

Back to Selma.  The only thing I did not appreciate in Selma was the theme song that was played near the end of the movie. The music to "Glory" was absolutely beautiful but some of the lyrics were fundamentally flawed.  In my opinion, one of the best ways to undermine the heroic work of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is to connect his Civil Rights legacy with the recent (violent) protests in Ferguson (and Baltimore).   Unlike so many martyrs in the original Civil Rights Movement Michael Brown was not killed because he refused to sit in the back of a bus, nor was he targeted simply because he was black.   Mr. Brown had just robbed a store and had roughed up a fellow minority in the process.  Brown fled the crime scene and was eventually shot and killed by a law enforcement officer (note carefully Romans 13:1-7).  According to news reports Brown was facing other criminal charges as well.   If true, this was not Mr. Brown's first felony arrest.  More importantly, even though the "hands up, don't shoot" narrative was disputed by several witnesses, it remains a dominant mantra among many activists today.  MLK reminded us, (quoting Jesus), that it is the truth that sets men free.

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

 

This past March over four thousands believers came together in defense of sacred Scripture.  Those who traveled to California from around the world, did so specifically, to show their support for the doctrine of inerrancy.  Many of Evangelicalisms' key leaders preached at this important summit (16 guest speakers to be exact). 

The address that seemed to generate the most buzz during the conference was not even a plenary session message.  The following lecture by Dr. Abner Chou is the single greatest presentation I have ever heard/read on the subject of hermeneutics.  How should God's people rightly divide the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)?  This verse is especially true for Bible teachers but is generally applicable to all of us.  Awana ministries, as many of you know, have chosen 2 Timothy 2:15 as their theme verse:  Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed (who rightly divide the holy Word of God).

This breakout session addresses how the New Testament writers interpreted and applied the Old Testament Scriptures.  The hermeneutic of the apostles is a model for the church.  Please consider investing an hour of your week in this vitally important lesson. 

http://shepherdsconference.org/media/details/?mediaID=10928