Gripped by the Gospel

The Gospel, Suffering, and (Greater) Joy

2012-02-23T08:26:00.001-08:00

When I read this to my wifelast night before we fell asleep, we both could not help being grabbed by thetriumph and brilliance of its truth. Read it slowly. Devotionally. And let thiscertainty bring you comfort: our suffering only exponentially increases our joy– now and forever – in the God of our redemption.

God permits Satan to rulein order to glorify His name in the recovery of His elect children, snatchingthem from the grasp of this ruling demon. When this war is finished, howglorious will be the name of God! He came into the battle when this enemyclaimed every man, body and mind and heart. Not a one of all the offspring ofAdam offered to volunteer in the service of God. Then, as He willed, God madecertain chosen ones willing in the day ofHis power (Ps. 110:3). In the end every creature shall magnify the name ofGod: for His workmanship in creating Heaven and the earth; for His providencein preserving His elect; for His power in giving the saints new life, the newheart, and the faith to become sons of God through Christ. And this newcreation, this new babe of grace, is then enabled to beat the Devil out of thefield and cause him to flee (James 4:7). By introducing Adam to sin, Satan wasable to drive him out of Paradise. But God’s children will drive the Devil outof this world into the Lake of Fire. And all works and events will emptythemselves into one great swelling redemption. If God had not permitted Satanto take His elect ones prisoners (Eph. 2.1), they would not have been able toenter Heaven with such acclamations of triumph. There are three expressions of great joy on the Scripture: the joy ofa woman after she travails; the joy of harvest; and the joy of one that dividesthe spoil. These exultations come with sadness: the pain and tears of thetravailing woman; the fear of failure of the farmer; the perils and wounds ofthe soldier. But at the last they are paid for all, theremembrance of their past sorrows feeding their presents joys. If Christhad come and entered into affinity with our nature, and had returned peaceablywith us to Heaven, finding no resistance, what then? It would have been anadmirable love; it would have afforded the joy of marriage. But how much morejoyful is the nuptial song we sing because He came as a conqueror, who rescuedHis bride from the vicious rulership of Satan, snatching them from the verychambers of hell, as he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men (Eph. 4:8).– WilliamGurnall, The Christian in Complete Armorin The Fifty Greatest Christian Classics,Vol. 2 (48), emphasis mine

So, what's the problem?

2012-02-10T07:44:00.000-08:00

I read the followingrecently. O, that we would all rememberthe truth of it in our daily lives! Don’t think of who needs to hear it – forthat defeats the purpose of it! – but simply read it and acknowledge your owndepravity. The gospel is not good news until the reality of our personalsinfulness is grasped in the depths of our heart.

Apart from the new birth,I am my main problem. Youare not my main problem. My parents were not my main problem. My enemies arenot my main problem. I am my main problem. Not my deeds, andnot my circumstances, and not the people in my life, but my nature is my deepestproblem…My nature is selfish andself-centered and demanding and very skilled in making you feel like theproblem. And if your first response is to that statement is I know people like that, you may betotally blind to the deceitfulness of your own heart. Our first response shouldnot be finger-pointing. That's part of the problem. Our first response shouldbe contrition. –John Piper, Finally Alive (49), author’s emphasis

The Deadliness of Overlooking Sin: A Historical Illustration

2012-02-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

There’s a famous quote ofthe Puritan divine John Owen that many preachers have used in the last severalhundred years. “Bekilling sin, or sin will be killing you.” To illustrate this, I’dlike to share with you something I read recently in a book I’m reading,entitled Churchill by Paul Johnson.It gives practical gravity to Owen’s quote when seen through the lens of asobering story from last century.

[Churchill’s] ideas, whenthey prospered, sometimes had a huge effect on the future. When they foundered,they left a desolating feeling of what might have been. He regarded Lenin’sBolshevik coup of November 1917, his subsequent murder of the czar and hisfamily, and the creation of a Communist state as one of the greatest crimes ofhistory. He was determined to reverse it and send troops and armies toRussia…This intervention had begun before Churchill took over the War Officebut he increased its scale and inflated it with his rhetoric, and had he beenallowed he would have done more, and for longer. It did not seem to be working,and his colleagues insisted he pull out. Once again, he was ‘conspicuous,’ andgot all the blame…If it had succeeded, more than 20 million Russian lives wouldhave been saved from starvation, murder, and death in the gulag. It is mostunlikely that, with Bolshevism crushed, Mussolini could have come to power inItaly, or still less, Hitler in Germany. Imagine the post-war world withouteither triumphant Communism or aggressive Fascism! (pp. 59-60)

Brothers and sisters, thereare sins in our lives that we know are dangerous and can lead to ourdestruction. Do not allow your fallen reasoning to tell you in any situation orcircumstance, “Your pursuit of Jesus isn’t practical!” Do not allow this fallenworld’s colleagues – even from within the church – to sway you from your holycourse of action to slay the smallest movement of sin in your soul. For, likesocio-political climates, any sin, given the right circumstances, has theability to morph into a dark stronghold that – similar to the dictatorships ofLenin, Mussolini, and Hitler – can ultimately destroy us and countless otherlives. Letus look to our Warrior-King, Who has provided both the power to fight and thevictory to conquer from His own battle-resulting blood!

Giving Up His Gifts to Prize the God of the Gospel

2012-02-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

While this quote is lengthy,I’m confident you’ll not only be challenged but also changed if you take it toheart. Read it slowly, prayerfully, and contritely. After reading it, askyourself, “How hungry am I for God?”

Christian fasting, at itsroot, is the hunger of a homesickness for God…Half of Christian fasting is thatour physical appetite is lost because our homesickness for God is so intense.The other half is that our homesickness for God is threatened because orphysical appetites are so intense. In the first half, appetite is lost. In thesecond half, appetite is resisted. In the first, we yield to the higher hungerthat is. In the second, we fight for the higher hunger that isn’t. Christianfasting is not only the spontaneous effect of a superior satisfaction in God;it is also a chosen weapon against every force in the world that would takethat satisfaction away.

The greatest enemy ofhunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wickedthat dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of theworld. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality wedrink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describeswhat keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yokeof oxen, and a wife (Luke 14.18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God isnot his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for thepoison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replacean appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almostincurable.

Jesus said some peoplehear the word of God, and a desire for God is awakened in their hearts. Butthen, “as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasure of this life” (Luke 8:14). Inanother place he said, “The desire forother things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark4:19). “The pleasures of this life” and “the desires for other things” – theseare not evil in themselves. These are not vices. They are gifts from God. Theyare your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading anddecorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing andshopping and exercising and collecting and talking. And all of them can becomedeadly substitutes for God.

Therefore, when I saythat the root of Christian fasting is the hunger of homesickness for God, Imean that we will do anything and go without anything if, by any means, wemight protect ourselves from the deadening effects of innocent delights andpreserve the sweet longings of our homesickness for God. Not just food, butanything.

The issue is not food perse. The issue is anything and everything that is, or can be, a substitute forGod. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), the pastor of Westminster Chapel inLondon, delivered a great sermon on fasting when he was preaching through theSermon on the Mount in 1959-1960. In it he said,

Fasting if we conceive of it truly, mustnot…be confined to the question of food and drink; fasting should really bemade to include abstinence from anything which is legitimate in and of itselffor the sake of some special spiritual purpose. There are many bodily functionswhich are right and normal and perfectly legitimate, but which for specialpeculiar reasons in certain circumstances should be controlled. That isfasting.

When you take your standon the finished work of God in Christ, and begin to drink at the River of Lifeand eat the Bread of Heaven, and know that you have found the end of all yourlongings, you only get hungrier for God. The more satisfaction you experiencefrom God, while still in the world, the greater your desire for the next.

The more deeply you walkwith Christ, the hungrier you get for Christ…the more homesick you get forheaven…the more you want “all the fullness of God”…the more you want to be donewith sin…the more you want the Bridegroom to come again…the more you want theChurch revived and purified with the beauty of Jesus…the more you want a greatawakening to God’s reality in the cities…the more you want to see the light ofthe gospel of the glory of Christ penetrate the darkness of all the unreachedpeoples of the world…the more you want to see false worldviews yield to theforce of Truth…the more you want to see pain relieved and tears wiped away anddeath destroyed…the more you long for every wrong to be made right and thejustice and grace of God to fill the earth like the waters cover the sea.

If you don’t feel strongdesires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you havedrunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at thetable of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is noroom for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite forGod. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects offood and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast: “This much,O God, I want you.” – Hunger forGod: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer by John Piper (pp. 14-16, 23)

The Gospel and Christian Growth

2012-01-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

Ithink when most people think about Christian growth or what it means toprogress in the Christian life—they would never say it this way—but theimplication is we needed Jesus a lot for justification and we need him less forsanctification.

Christiangrowth, the way many people think about it, is we are becoming stronger andstronger, we’re becoming more and more competent, and yet the Bible makes itpretty clear, certainly Paul does, when he says he’s accomplished more than anyof us could ever do for Jesus, and yet at the end of his life he says, “I’m theworst guy I know” (I Cor. 15.9). This signals to me that Christian growth and progress in theChristian life is not, I’m becoming stronger and stronger, it’s I’m becomingmore aware of just how weak I am.

It’snot that I’m becoming more and more competent, it’s that I’m growing in myrealization of how incompetent, how dependent I am on Christ. He stoodcondemned in my place and sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah! What aSavior! The Christian life is not about my transformation; it’s about Christ’ssubstitution. He did for me what I could never do for myself, and that’s whyPaul was so free at the end of his life to say, “I’m the worst guy I know! Andit’s okay for me to tell you that because, in Christ, I have no reputation toprotect. I don’t need to pretend. I don’t need to put on masks and make youthink that I’m something I’m not. I am free—absolutely free—to say from therooftops I am the worst guy I know, Jesus paid it all.”

Ialready possess everything in him. It’s about him; he’s the hero of the story,I’m not. This entire thing has nothingto do with me and it has everything to do with him. And when we rest inthat, our hearts are gripped by it and our lives are totally changed andtransformed because we’re no longer thinking about our transformation—we’rethinking about Christ’s substitution. – Tullian Tchividjian (in aninterview entitled This Entire Thing Has Nothing to Do with Pastor Tullian)

The Gospel and Our Circumstances

2012-01-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

There arethings that happen to us that we can't – to a large degree – control. When suchcircumstances aren’t favorable, they make us feel helpless, as if outside forces are imposing their will on ourlives. Other circumstances can be volitionally influenced by our initiative,direction, and participation. However, when such things don’t go according toour planned expectations, we’re left feeling hopeless.

Ourrelationship with God often suffers in these times of feeling helpless andhopeless. Why? Many of us view God’s love for us through the lens of ourcircumstances. In other words, we interpret His love through the filter of eitherwhat’s happening to us or how our plans have gone awry.

I knowboth of these conditions well. They are the default of my fallen heart. I don’tthink I’m alone. As professing Christians, we’re emotionally tossed aroundalmost daily – if not hourly – by what’s happening to us or by our frustratedplans. And because we know He’s ultimately in control of our lives andeverything that happens to us, we turn to the right Source – but often come toa wrong conclusion: “You must not love me.”

How doesthe gospel speak to this? How can it help us? How can it change us? Allow me toshare something with you that greatly assisted me. When I read it early thismorning, it blew through my soul with a cleansing and warm wind that gave me anundeniable peace and joy. I hope and pray it does the same for you as youmeditate upon it. May we all be changed as we’re more and more gripped by thegospel, refusing to allow difficult circumstances to deter our gaze from thatone demonstrable act of love that speaks to every situation that enters ourlives: the cross.

God came into the world and suffered and diedon the cross in order to save us. It is the ultimate proof of his love for us.And when you suffer, you may be completely in the dark about the reason foryour own suffering. It may seem as senseless to you as Jesus’s suffering seemedto the disciples. But the cross tells youwhat the reason isn’t. It can’t be that God doesn’tlove you; it can’t be that he has no plan for you. It can’t be that he hasabandoned you. Jesus was abandoned, and paid for our sins, so that God theFather would never abandon you. The cross proves that he loves you andunderstands what it means to suffer. It also demonstrates that God can beworking in your life even when it seems like there is no rhyme or reason towhat is happening. – Tim Keller, King'sCross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus (p. 207), emphasis mine

Anxiety and the Gospel

2012-01-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

Is anxiety a constant struggle for you? I've confessed to my congregation that it's one of my "besetting sins" that I continually seek to battle with the truth of the gospel. In 2011, I saw some encouraging breakthroughs, though I still have more ground to reclaim in 2012 for the flag of the emperor of the universe, the emperor of my heart - Jesus Christ.

Do you worry about dying? The gospel proclaims that Jesus has conquered death (I Cor. 15.54-57), and announces freedom from the fear of it to all who believe its message (Heb. 2.14-15). Is your anxiety rooted in personal or relational insecurities? The gospel says that nothing in the universe can come between you and the eternal love that God has demonstrated toward you in Christ (Rom. 8.38-39). Are you fearful of that "unknown tragedy" coming down the road straight towards your life, family, or finances? Tell such fear that if and when it comes that you have a loving heavenly Father who intends for such tragedy to display His glory in the gospel and benefit your eternal welfare (Rom. 8.28). Are you up at night worrying about losing your wealth or not earning enough to sustain a living? Preach to your heart that those who believe the gospel will never go without life's necessities (Matt. 6.25-34).

"Do you know where constant worry comes from? It’s rooted in an arrogance that assumes, I know the way my life has to go, and God’s not getting it right. Real humility means to relax. Real humility means to laugh at yourself. Real humility means to be self-critical. The cross brings that kind of humility into our lives." - Tim Keller, King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus (pp. 145-146)

Mission

2011-11-19T13:20:00.000-08:00

Along with some venerable and legendary voices from church history, I believe Romans is the greatest book in sacred Scripture. Romans 1:16 says the gospel "is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." This is the message of Romans - the gospel - and Paul spends the entire book explaining it and its theological, ecclesiological, and social implications.

It's the only thing that can transform a soul from selfishness to service, from idolatry to true worship. It's the only sure foundation upon which to build a church. Everything else is sinking sand. A church might thrive and grow on the outside but lack gospel-centeredness, have high numbers but be spiritually impotent. I challenge you: study what the apostles have to say in the NT about what comprises a church and causes it to grow spiritually and numerically. I think you'll find what has become my firm conviction: it's the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This gospel must be spoken to unleash it's soul-transforming, church-edifying, culture-changing power (Rom. 10.9-17). And its implications must be lived (Matt. 5.13-16). But what's its content? What's its goal for our lives? God's glory. This is what the gospel does more than anything else in the universe - namely, it reveals God to us; it makes us like Him. (As it concerns the latter, I refer to what theologians call His communicable attributes [cf. Gal. 5.22-23].)

I John 1.1 says, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands." John's saying, "My retinas beheld the glory of God for three years, and it rocked my world!" Doubt it? Hear the same testimony in another book he penned. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory" (John 1.14). Let me translate: "God's glory manifested with fingernails, skin pigment, and a specific hair color!"

My friend, it is the primary responsibility of the local church to proclaim such earthy glory in everything it does. The gospel's power both evangelizes sinners (Matt. 28.19) and edifies saints (Matt. 28.20). In other words, a church is established and grows through promoting and protecting the gospel (cf. I Tim. 3.15).

However, we lack the ability to fulfill this mission - individually and collectively. With our own strength and resources, we'll fall flat on our faces every day and every time. Unless we're given divine power. Brothers and sisters, this is why our God has given us His Spirit! Pentecostal power enables us to appropriate Calvary's power for our character and congregations (cf. Acts 2.42-47). Pentecost is not primarily about speaking in tongues; it's fundamentally about God graciously giving His people the promised ability to do what He commands (Ezek. 36.26-27) - commands which point to a Person (cf. Matt. 5.17; Luke 24.25-27, 44-45; 2 Cor. 1.20). Only in the power of the Holy Spirit are we able "to walk in the same way in which he walked" (I John 2.6).

For all these reasons, the mission of new3c is to proclaim God's glory in the gospel of Jesus Christ through a Spirit-empowered community. That's something worth living and dying for, don't you think?

Vision

2011-11-15T11:59:00.001-08:00

Everything starts with vision. If there's no long-term goal - no matter the area of life - individuals and groups begin to feel purposeless. Restless. Frustrated. Quite honestly, I've seen this with the flock entrusted to my care over the last three years.

We began New Covenant Community Church (or "new3c" as we call it) out of simple desire to start a church in south Denver that glorified God, preached the gospel, edified the saints, and evangelized the lost. Unfortunately, we didn't have church planting experts or sages assisting us with how to most effectively do it. We had simple desires, simple structure, and a small, faithful core. While this was adequate in the intial months, we quickly began to see this wasn't enough (both on an ecclesiological and administrative level). We've learned as we've gone along, and we've taken our lumps at times.

I began to see last spring that we really needed direction, goals, and distinctives as a local church. Without an overarching purpose and direction, we'd always wander in circles and/or "maintenance mode." We were surviving because of God's benevolent grace and the faithful service of a small few in our midst, yet I felt like we were floundering at times because we lacked specific direction.

(Typically, all things "vision, mission, and core values" isn't encouraged by the "old school" guard of Reformed theology. They often poo-poo it as something that "those church growth guys" do. But, if we have solid theology and a gospel-centered ministry model in a local church, don't we want to grow? Just a question.)

Due to the encouragement of a long-time (fellow church planting) friend (with whom I attended Moody Bible Institute and Southern Seminary), the influence of Acts 29, and some internal conflict that could've been avoided if we had such boundaries in place, I began to see a vision/mission statement and core values as not just a good idea but an essential need.

Hence, one of the things we lacked was an overarching vision statement. The big picture. Once I sat down and thought about it, the vision of new3c wasn't rocket science, but the cry of my heart for over a decade. It is to firmly establish a thriving and growing gospel-centered church in South Denver.

I grew up in this wonderful city of Denver. Minus stints in Chicago and Louisville, KY for undergrad and grad school, I've called South Denver my home my entire life. I've had a burning desire since my mid-twenties to pastor a church here. The Lord has graciously granted this desire of my heart. (You might say I'm an indigenous missionary to my own "people group.") As this desire matured and became a reality, I began to see that the only solid foundation for any local church - be it a rural, urban, or suburban setting - is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In my next blog, I'll explain what I mean by this.

A New Blog Series

2011-11-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

Back in July, I began introducing our congregation to the vision, mission, and core values of New Covenant Community Church. It was refreshing to take a break from my typical schedule every Sunday of preaching through books of the Bible one paragraph at a time. I love expository preaching, but as every pastor knows who's done it for an extended period of time without much of a break, it can be exhausting - especially if you really roll up your sleeves and do the hard work of exegesis week in and week out.

(I am compelled to add this parenthetically: for those who think an "exegetical sermon" means you preach at such a high level that very few - except a small group of theological elites - understands you, that's not expository preaching. With all due respect, that's called homiletical "left-field." We are called as pastors/elders to make the Word of God understandable to the average congregant.)

I'd like to introduce you to the topics of these sermons over the next several weeks. I hope you enjoy it. If you do, please sign up as a "Member" of Gripped by the Gospel. I'd love to have you leave a comment or two as well. Thanks!

The Gospel Eradicates Racism

2011-10-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

In about an hour and a half, I'm going to have the sacred privilege of preaching from the inspired, inerrant, infallible, authoritative, and eternal Word of God. And I'm excited about today's text - Galatians 3.26-29. I'm excited about it because it explains that the ground is level for all those who are in Jesus. Christ, the true seed of Abraham (Gal. 3.16), is the fulfillment of what God spoke to the patriarch in Genesis 12.3, and all those who place faith in Jesus for salvation receive an eternal inheritance in Him that's as vast as the galaxy in which the billions of stars exist.

But there's also an ethical implication to this text. The Jews thought that their DNA caused them to be inheritors of the promise made to their forefather, Abraham. They believed their scrupulous allegiance to the Law of Moses merited for them the promise made to the patriarch. Many Jews consequently believed they were superior to other ethnicities, and the Law was a fence (a barrier) to separate them from the surrounding nations. This resulted in a racism that we see men like Jonah and Peter both struggle with (cf. Jonah 4.1ff; Gal. 2.11ff.). Paul informs us that the identity of the sons of the promise - the sons of the gospel (cf. Gal. 3.8-9, 14, 26, 29) - has nothing to do with ethnicity, but it has everything to do with faith alone in Jesus Christ (Gal. 2.16; 3.11, 14, 23b, 24b, 26).

That is why in Galatians 3.28 he says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek." This, my friends, means there is no room for racial superiority in the church of Jesus Christ. It doesn't remove the beautiful distinctions each of our ethnic heritages bring to a local church (for God Himself created ethnicity!), but it removes an attitude of ethnic hierarchy in one's mind that erroneously elevates one's standing before God above others in that local church.

I watched a video a week ago that beautifully tells a story of how the gospel removes such a superior racial mindset from the mind of a believer. One of my favorite preachers, John Piper, tells it. I was very moved by it. It ought to encourage every one of us that we still have mindsets - though we've embraced the gospel - that the Spirit of God intends to deal with on this issue of race. Conversion to Christ doesn't mean we're automatically purged of every carnal mindset. We're in process. Some of us are still racists in some areas of our lives. But we don't see it. Our pride has blinded us to this awful, divisive attitude. My prayer is that the following video will be used by Jesus to shine the light of His gospel on those ethnically superior attitudes of your soul. I pray the gospel so grips your heart that racism is squeezed out...forever.

An Apologetic for Christian Hip Hop & Rap

2011-10-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

There's been a particular genre of music in my life that's been extremely encouraging, edifying, and enjoyable for the last year and a half that I'd like to begin sharing with you every so often. It's Christian hip hop & rap. I know, I know. Some of you may respond, "What?! How can it be called 'Christian'?"

Here's my apologetic for it. I believe these brothers (and sisters) in the Lord are imaging the incarnate Christ in what they are doing. Although God created everything that exists to reflect His character and nature, our first parents brought ruin, rebellion, and chaos to it by their sin. But God did not leave his creation helpless in this state. He brought redemption to it through the seed of the woman (Gen. 3.15), the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3.16). God's Son left the culture of heaven, incarnating in the "stuff" of creation, and came to a culture (this planet) that was fallen and in rebellion. Through His perfect life, substitutionary death, and glorious resurrection, He inaugurated a new age and offers redemption to His creatures. All who believe in Who He was and what He did are guaranteed eternal life (John 3.16) and reconciliation with the Father of creation (John 14.6); this is the gospel.

As agents of reconciliation, our brothers in Christian hip hop/rap are "incarnating" the message of the gospel to a culture enslaved in depravity (e.g., sex, greed, crime, murder, and rebellion), and they are seeing those in darkness come to the light of Christ. Not only this, they are catechizing a new generation of believers in the truths of deep, rich biblical theology. Some call it lyrical preaching/theology. It's pointed me to Christ in beautiful ways. And it's enjoyable.

So, today, let me introduce to you two videos for your edification. If you're still skeptical, I would like to strongly suggest you watch the following testimony of my favorite artist, Lecrae. I found it on reach records.com, and it led me to another great movement that I'm excited about called I AM SECOND. (I would highly recommend you peruse iamsecond.com and listen to the videos of some well-known individuals. You will be touched and greatly edified.) Here it is.

Powerful, isn't it? Even if you never enjoy or come to appreciate the music of brothers like Lecrae, no one can argue with the testimony of a man changed by the gospel.

Now for some fun. The following video is by one of Lecrae's friends. His artistic name is Flame. He currently attends the seminary I graduated from - The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you don't think Christians should dance, minimize the screen and listen to the words of this song. (Or click on another YouTube version of it with lyrics.) I've been jammin' to it for a couple weeks now. It's fly!

Soli Deo Gloria. Have a great weekend. Be gripped by the gospel.

Steve Jobs and Common Grace

2011-10-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

A week ago it was all over the news. Steve Jobs had died of pancreatic cancer. The world had lost a genius. A cultural titan of innovation had passed away.

Jobs founded Apple Inc. with his partner, Steve Wozniak, in 1977, and ran it out of his garage in the early days of the company. Though Apple exploded onto the scene over the next eight years, ironically Jobs was forced to resign in 1985 by the company's board. Apple floundered and declined until he was asked to return in 1997. The rest, as they say, is history. What seemed like an insurmountable task of taking back the techie landscape by eclipsing Microsoft and Bill Gates was done slowly but surely with mind-blowing creativity, savvy, and visionary leadership in a little over a decade. The iPod, iPhone, and iPad made the once-dominant Microsoft look as hip as your dad wearing Ocean Pacific corduroy shorts to a church picnic in the 1990s.

But how's a Christian to view a man like Steve Jobs? Two things immediately popped into my mind last week. The first was his leadership. As a young leader myself, I've been trying to study great leaders and learn what I can from both their successes and failures. One of the books I picked up again - that I'd read as a student-leader in college - was John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. As I was reading it last year, one particular section jumped off the pages. It reads:

In its glory days, Apple had sold 14.6 percent of all personal computers in the United States. By 1997, sales were depressed to 3.5 percent. That was when Apple again looked to the leadership of its original founder, Steve Jobs, for help. The failing company believed he could save it.

Jobs intuitively reviewed the situation and immediately took action. He knew that improvement was impossible without a change in leadership, so he quickly dismissed all but two of the previous board members and installed new ones. Executive leadership also experienced positive change at his hands.

Once new leaders were in place, he looked at the company's focus. Jobs wanted to get back to the basics of what Apple had always done best: use its individuality to create products that made a difference. Jobs said, "We've reviewed the road map of new products and axed more than 70% of the projects, keeping the 30% that were gems. Plus we're adding new ones that are a whole new paradigm of looking at computers." He also sensed a problem with the company's marketing, so he fired the ad agency and held competition for the account among three firms.

Maxwell wrote this in 1998, and his words about Jobs at the tail end of the chapter struck me with chronological bite from my 21st century vantage point:

Apple looks as if it's turning around. Prior to Jobs's return, the company had posted net quarterly losses the previous year totaling more than $1 billion. However, in the first fiscal quarter of 1998, Apple finally recorded a net profit of $47 million. In the long run, it's hard to know whether the company will ever recapture its former success. But at least it now has a fighting chance.

Jobs gave Apple more than a "fighting chance." He made the company recapture and surpass its genesis of early glory and grow to dominate the market. Leadership is a gift from God. He graces this earth with remarkable men and women who have an astounding capacity to see what they want the future to be (vision), reverse-engineer a plan of how to arrive there (mission), and unite individuals of different talents around them to carry it out (leadership). One does not have to be a Christian to do this. Jobs wasn't. It's what theologians call God's common grace. We should praise God for such people in society. We should pray that they might come to know the One who gave them such phenomenal talents to blaze trails and lead culture(s) into new paths of productivity.

Related to the new paths Jobs's leadership forged, a second thing comes to mind regarding his life: his ingenuity - his "genius" - yet another evidence of the glory of God's common grace to the world through this man. Upon his death last week, some immediately put him on the hallowed level with Henry Ford, Sam Walton, and Thomas Edison - entrepreneurs, innovators, and inventors who sent Western culture and (ultimately) the globe in different civilized trajectories. Here's how Steve Wozniak put it:

Almost everybody who's high up in the technology business recognized that somehow he had the ability to think out new ways of doing things, not just ways to improve what we have - do a better version of something - but do it in a totally different way that the world would swing towards.

This was the imago dei - the image of God - shining through the life of Steve Jobs. God's creativity was marvelously reflected in this man who, tragically, did not know Him as Savior and Lord. Nonetheless, we can thank God for a man who reflected to us our Creator, Who invented far "cooler" things than anything "i-" (and here's the kicker) from nothing. But ever the Giver of good gifts, our God even sends us men who - even though they reject the claims of Him as Creator (Rom. 1.18ff.) and Savior (John 3.16; 14.6) - bless the creation with inventions and innovations that assist and enhance our pilgrimage on earth.

This should cause us who are gripped by the gospel to worship rightly when it comes to all things Apple, Mac, Steve Jobs, and technology. So next time you're enjoying a sermon or song on your iPod, thank the One Who created Steve. Next time you're enjoying the intuitiveness of an iMac or iPad, worship the One Who grants the gift of creativity to His creatures. And next time you're able to search the web on your iPhone, smart phone, or PC, praise Jesus for knitting Steve - and Bill - together in their mothers' wombs (Ps. 139). But thank, worship, and praise Him.

I close with a comparison of the omniscient Creator and one of His brilliant creatures on the ultimate topic: death and the afterlife.

Death is very likely the single best invention of life. - Steve Jobs

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? - Jesus

Remember: Steve Jobs is dead. Jesus Christ is alive.
(written on my new iMac)

A Woman Gripped by the Gospel

2011-09-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

To say my late mom loved her birthday is an understatement. Today would’ve been her 62^nd birthday. In anticipation of today, I was thinking yesterday about what this day would’ve been like if she was alive. Dad would’ve taken her to Park Meadows and bought her some classy clothes in the late afternoon. Then, they would’ve been off to Fresh Fish Co. for dinner at 62% off. (Does that place even exist any more?) Then she probably would’ve wanted “Goldie” (as she affectionately called my dad) to speed back to “10157” to be with her grandchildren and some carrot cake made by my wife, Rachel. I can see her with a cute, stylish hairdo, slapping her thighs with her hands as she leans over to speak with each of our children – Katie, Braedan, Gavin, Kevin, and Chandler – laughing with delight at their birthday greetings and stick-figure, crayon-drawn birthday cards. A cacophony of voices would sporadically yell, “Happy Birthday, Mimi!” as they surrounded her with hugs, squeals, and (no doubt) competitive closeness. Then, she’d say, “Let me hold my baby,” as she reached for Clara, my seven-month old daughter.

Instead we’ll do what we’ve done every year since her death 6-1/2 years ago: drive a half-hour to Mt. Olivet Cemetery to visit her grave.

I loved my mom. I still do. She was such a special lady. I could say many things about her life and legacy today. But one thing eclipses all others. If there was ever a woman I’ve known who was gripped by the gospel, it was her. When I say she loved her birthday, most of you know that I’m saying that she enjoyed it immensely. But what my mom loved more than anything in life was Jesus Christ. Let me share something with you that illustrates this.

February 15, 2005 was a day I’ll never forget. I arrived home from a full day at seminary to receive a call from my sister, Molly. My mom’s condition at Porter Hospital was quickly worsening. The doctors were asking my dad what his wishes were if she went into cardiac arrest. Plane tickets became available to us from my cousin, Lyni, and there was a flight leaving Louisville, KY (our home at the time) somewhere around 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours. I ran to our storage, ran back with the suitcases, started throwing clothes into them and gasping through tears, “God, please don’t take my mom! Let me get to her! Please, Lord!” A friend from seminary drove on the wrong side of the road at one point to get us to the airport in rush hour traffic. The lady at the ticket counter almost didn’t allow us to board. “M’am, my mom is dying. We’ve got to get on this flight,” I pleaded. Somehow she put us on it. Then there was a delay at the gate for over an hour; then a long stopover in Chicago where we met up with my (now) brother-in-law, Josh, at O’Hare Airport as he joined us on the flight to Denver. I remember my last moments before landing, thinking, “Lord, give me strength for what awaits me.” We drove to Porter Hospital. After coming up a storage elevator, I was amazed to see the hospital hall outside her room filled with relatives and friends, sitting in wearied anticipation, waiting for our arrival.

I went in to see her. “Hey, babe,” she said. “Thanks for coming.” I opened my small Bible. I don’t remember what I read her, but I wanted to comfort her with the only thing that’s truly comforting: the truth of God’s Word.

“I’m afraid to die,” she confessed.

“Oh, mom, don’t be afraid,” and then I tried to speak of what Christ had done for us to remove such fear.

To be completely candid, I felt for the first time how inadequate we are in those moments when death lingers like a mist over our loved one. When you hear them express their fear, it punches your soul. They’re in the greatest test of their Christian lives, and you’re speaking gospel comfort from this earth’s shore as their life begins slowly drifting towards eternity. It shakes you. It ought to. Our eternal destiny is no game. That’s why the Word of God is really the only word of comfort during such moments. My undying love and strong presence was not what she needed most that late night/early morning. Christ’s dying love and risen power was. And so I read to her. And prayed with her.

We don’t get to practice death several times so that we’re confident about the experience when it’s finally time to die. We go through the darkest valley we’ll each experience only once. And there’s no test-run. This was what my mom was struggling with, the unknown existence of what lay beyond the only thing she’d ever known – 55 years of life on this earth.

So where’s the comfort? What are we each going to cling to when we feel our soul slipping from our body? What will anchor our confidence? When death grips our body, what will grip our soul with hope? Brothers and sisters, it is this: our elder brother, our Messiah, the emperor of the universe, Jesus Christ, experienced death for us…and then He came back from stone-cold death to live forever! And so shall all who repent of their idolatry and believe that His life, death and resurrection reconcile us to the one and only God!

…something changed a little over a week later. Death’s misty fear gave way to brilliant confidence – and longing. On February 25^th she told my dad, sisters, and me,

“You guys need to let me go. I need to go and be with my Lord and Savior.”

One day fear-stricken about death. Another day begging to depart this life. How can we account for this? Scientists may relegate it to a chemical release. Philosophers may explain it through a time-tested theory. Anthropologists might academically assess it through the lenses of their secular sociology. Not so for Christians. We know such transformations are a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit – and nothing else.

The cultivation of gospel truth that daily gripped Maureen Gold’s life over 2-1/2 decades sprouted an overcoming faith that moved the last, great mountain of unbelief – death – in her greatest moment of need. She didn’t just become gripped by the gospel on her deathbed. She was gripped by it everyday. Can the same be said of you? If so, sing with me today…

I will rise when He calls my name

No more sorrow, no more pain

I will rise on eagles’ wings

Before my God fall on my knees

And rise

I will rise

In loving memory of

Maureen Frances Gold

September 14, 1949 – February 27, 2005

“To Live is Christ. To Die is Gain.”

The Glory of the Ordinary (by Kent Hughes)

2011-09-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

"Paul's writings powerfully substantiate that man's ordinariness, even his weakness, provides ready ground for God's extraordinary power. In discussing his own apostolic ministry, Paul made this unforgettable observation: 'But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us' (2 Corinthians 4:7). Paul summarized the secret of his ministry by referring to the ancient custom of hiding priceless treasures in common earthen, clay pots beneath the earth. The 'treasure' was the gospel, and the 'jars of clay,' a penetrating metaphor for frail humanity. Thus the glorious gospel is committed to common, frail human beings - so that the immensity of the power may be seen as God's and not man's! Clearly, then, an awareness of one's weakness, one's ordinariness, can be an asset in the gospel ministry, for such an awareness may more easily depend upon the power of God...The men and women God has used have always lived with the reality that they are merely clay. When they saw Jesus Christ, they became unconscious of all they used to call their wisdom and strength. And rather than focus on their weakness, they made it their business to open wide for all his treasure. From this flowed the surpassing greatness of his power." - Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome, pp. 136-39 (emphasis mine)

God's Hatred...and the Sweetness of the Gospel

2011-09-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

God hates. The Holy Spirit tells us in Proverbs 6.16-18:

There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.

Where are you found lately in Proverbs 6.16-18? Are the windows of your soul communicating arrogance because of some accomplishment or status in life you’ve attained? Are you trying to maintain your status or public perception by a tongue that’s spouting false realities to cover for your deficiencies and insecurities? Have your hands or feet been instruments of unholy anger or passion, driving you to do things that later, upon reflection, makes you horrified with shame? Has your soul been scheming to enjoy sin in the dark corners of your “private” life? Have you intentionally withheld or added details to a story you’ve told in order to damage another’s reputation and exalt yourself? Are you a source of disunity within your extended family, group of friends, or local church – consistently and subtly incriminating others’ motives and actions to any who will listen? Friend, God hates such things.

Who of us is innocent? Who of us can say, “Nope. Not here. I’m good.” Only those who are blinded to their sin and minimize God’s holiness. Only those who don’t see their desperate need for Jesus. Only those who aren’t gripped by the gospel.

So great is the anger of God against the sins of human beings that one famous prophet in the OT implicitly informs us what He righteously desires to do when transgression occurs: wound, crush, chastise, and lacerate (cf. Is. 53.5). “That’s offensive,” one might respond. I agree. But not as it relates to the rightness of such punishment. What’s offense is our sin. God hates it. And He’s perfectly justified to do so as Creator.

But that’s not the point of this blog – or, praise God, the Bible! Do you see that instead of God’s hatred being unleashed on you – by wounding, crushing, chastising, and lacerating you for all eternity in hell – He unleashed it on His favorite and only Child? This is the beauty of the cross!

Where are you found lately in Proverbs 6.16-18? Friend, if you’re gripped by the gospel, know today that Another soaked up the punishment for your hated transgressions. Your sin was completely absolved on a splintery instrument of capital punishment! Let us worship with gratitude today for this glorious truth!

How deep the Father's love for us

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory

– Stuart Townend

Gospel Listening

2011-09-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

I read something this morning that I resonated with – something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time – especially in the last six weeks or so. It’s found in a book by my favorite scholar, D.A. Carson, entitled, Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The Life and Reflections of Tom Carson. The book’s about Carson’s father, an “ordinary” pastor. However, something about his mother, not his father, leapt off the pages. Speaking of his mother, Carson writes,

"She was amazingly insightful on a wide range of both personal and theological issues. My sister Joyce recalls that when she returned home for a visit during her own training to become a nurse, she went out with a friend one evening and then the two returned home to continue conversation. When the friend left (Joyce writes),

Mom mentioned to me how interested I can appear when the topic is important to me but how I obviously tuned out my friend when she spoke of things that mattered to her but that I didn’t care about. Although I resented her analysis at the time, I soon took a second look at what she said and realized that it was all too true. The memory of those words have helped me greatly over the years when I see myself reverting to this un-Christlike behavior."

Has the gospel so gripped your soul that it’s influenced your listening skills? When others open their mouths to speak, do you tune out or tune in?

Think about this. Jesus is the ultimate listener. While the gospels relate a Savior who’s mostly doing the talking, I don’t think that’s the whole story. Have you ever wondered what it was like to grow up with Jesus? Well, one leader in the first century church knew first-hand – Jesus’ brother, James. I think he’s sharing from personal experience when he says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak…” (1.19). Perhaps James learned the grace of listening from his eldest sibling?

This weekend is one of the more enjoyable of the calendar year. I want to encourage you to be a good listener. Ask personal questions. At the party or event you’ll be attending, have an eye for the “least of these” who’s rarely listened to. Ask them how they’re doing – really doing. Ask questions to better understand their heart, then listen – even if it’s difficult. Sympathize with someone walking through a dark season; rejoice with his good fortune; show interest in her mundane existence. And here’s an even bigger challenge: patiently listen to that person who’s good at talking and terrible at listening…because it may help you see how patiently attentive God is when you speak to Him in prayer. Be Jesus – be gripped by the gospel – by the ministry of listening.

Back in the Saddle

2011-08-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we've moved into our new home and recently arrived back from vacation. For the foreseeable future, this blog will have the following two purposes. First, I will continue to post quotes that have the ability and potential to grip your heart for the gospel. Second, I also intend to address societal issues and ask, "How does the gospel speak to this?"

For today, here's a quote I recently read in the introduction to the City of God by Saint Augustine. It's simple, but I was blessed by reading it.

Christianity is the life and death and resurrection of Christ going on day after day in the souls of individual men and in the heart of society. – "Introduction," by Thomas Merton in Augustine's City of God (Random House: New York, 1950: xiii)

Comfort or the Cross

2011-07-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

Today's quote is a follow up to yesterday's blog. Read it, soldiers of the cross, and embrace the road of discipleship – a path full of sustaining grace. Will we choose the comfort of grace or the comfort of culture?

“Frustration is normal, disappointment is normal, sickness is normal. Conflict, persecution, danger, stress – they are all normal. The mind-set that moves away from these will move away from reality and away from Christ. Golgotha was not a suburb of Jerusalem.” – John Piper, The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce (19)

Gutting It Out for the Glory of Christ

2011-07-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

We're moving from our (Lord willing) last rental into our first home. This is the 9th move in 10 years of marriage. Thanks to the anticipated help of servant-hearted congregants and friends, this Saturday's move should be the last one for a while. God is gracious. And we're pooped.

Life with four small children, readying our rental for real estate showings, doing all-things house shopping and buying, and seeking to be servant-leaders to the small church we planted three years ago has been exhausting. Yet, we have a love for our people that is profound. When someone leaves - due to moving out of state (as one did lately), an offense taken, or disappointed expectations – we feel it, acutely, to the core of our souls.

I'm no different from you. When I'm taxed physically and emotionally, discouraged from setbacks, have to say goodbye (for whatever reason) to another relationship, and must still put one foot in front of the other to continue being faithful with the responsibilities God has given me, my soul starts to yearn for a life without any pain, discomfort, or trial.

I'm realizing, first, that this is a yearning for the new heavens and the new earth – where work is constantly fulfilling, easy, and done with joy; relationships have no weird vibes, constant struggle, painful history, or brokenness; and there’s no fear of death, rejection, failure, sickness, accidents, lack of provision, the unknown, or of "the other shoe dropping." In sum, no sin.

However - and secondly - I'm realizing that I'm a part of a culture that wants it easy. Comfortable. Safe. And for insidious reasons (that could fill innumerable blogs), this desire has saturated the entire church of Jesus Christ in the Western world – so much so, that when life's not easy, comfortable, and/or safe, we look up and cry, "Why, God?!"

I was talking with two godly men a while back. One is the father of five who goes to another church. One attends new3c with his wife and child. They both said the same thing to me within about two weeks of each other – that is, our generation is always looking for the better job, the better life, the easier path. We know very little of what it means to plod and persevere. Now, these dudes aren’t slouches. Far from it. Both are very successful men in their chosen careers. But, they saw and were confessing that they saw such softness in themselves, in our culture. They knew they needed to gut it out for the glory of Christ, even as they struggled to find contentment as Christian husbands, fathers, churchmen, and bread-winners. Their words have stuck with me for months.

This reminds me of another Christian I've recently sought to pastorally assist. They didn't like what I basically counseled them. I brought what I believe to be the only biblical answer to their situation. Stay where you are. Don't move from where God has you right now. This is not easy advice – nor is it the only thing I said to encourage them. (I sought to employ great sensitivity, gentleness, compassion, and hope – encouraging them to look to the example and empowerment Jesus provides for them in their situation.) But it wasn't what they wanted to hear. I could feel the invisible walls go up when I saw them the next couple times.

The most interesting response this person gave me when I spoke to them about the Bible's counsel to their specific situation was, "I don't think God wants me to be miserable." That statement is telling on many fronts. It speaks to how our therapeutic culture has infiltrated evangelical Christianity. It reflects how our emotions caste blinding shadows over the biblical text's explicit meaning and application to our lives. And it is the summation of our anemic, 21st century pop-culture theology in the Western world.

I read the following quote today that challenged my heart in regards to all this. It's convicting. And, yet, I hope that you, like me, find comfort in it if you're a battle-worn disciple of Jesus.

"There is a mind-set in the prosperous West that we deserve pain-free, trouble-free existence. When life deals us the opposite, we have a right not only to blame somebody or some system and to feel sorry for ourselves, but also to devote most of our time to coping, so that we have no time or energy left over for serving others.

"This mind-set gives a trajectory to life that is almost universal – namely, away from stress and toward comfort and safety and relief. Then within that very natural trajectory some people begin to think of ministry and find ways of serving God inside the boundaries set by the aims of self-protection. Then churches grow up in this mind-set, and it never occurs to anyone in such a community of believers that choosing discomfort, stress, and danger might be the right thing – even the normal, biblical thing – to do.

“I have found myself in conversations with Christians for whom it is simply a given that you do not put yourself or your family at risk. The commitment to safety and comfort is an unquestioned absolute. The demands of being a Christian in the twenty-first century will probably prove to be a rude awakening for such folks. Since we have not embraced the Calvary road voluntarily, God may simply catapult us onto it as he did the home-loving saints in Acts 11:19: ‘Those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word.’” – John Piper, The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce (18)

Before I leave you, I have one more thought that confirms with Dr. Piper’s talking about. I’ve been a church planting pastor for 3 years now. I can’t tell you how many people have walked in – and out – of our church because of the very thing addressed in the quote above. The reasons many Christians have chosen not to join what we’re endeavoring to build had nothing to do with the fact that we were asking them to leave their jobs, their homes, their family, or their relatives for the cause of Christ. No, it had everything to do with the discomfort and stress a small church demands. It requires extreme self-sacrifice – on the part of every member – for that church to grow in numbers and gospel influence.

Instead, most suburban Christians want to drop their children off in a world-class childcare facility, send their teenagers to a “wow” experience youth group, hear a sermon by a guy who’s job is solely just preparing sermons, find a “click” within that large church (and avoid the rest of the “weirdo’s” [translated: different than they are] who go there), and serve without it being too taxing on their already-established and “very busy” lives. Church plants, like international missionary endeavors, are by nature very uncomfortable, very demanding, very stressful, and sometimes even dangerous (to our present social circles). But both are seeking to do what the Great Commission commands: make disciples.

Are you gripped by the gospel? Really? Here’s a test: are you willing to leave your big, comfy church to establish a new one? Here’s an even deeper question: what if God called you to leave the

United States

to serve in a foreign country? If your answer is, “No,” to either question, you’re not gripped by the gospel. You may not even know it. Christ is looking for those who are willing to gut it out…for His glorious purposes in this world. What’s your answer? “Here am I, send me!” Or, “God doesn’t want me to be uncomfortable.”

Building Churches

2011-06-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

The following is a quote I read a while back that really encouraged me. I hope it inspires you to pray for your local church. Pray for your pastors to have this vision and desire. If they already do, pray they remain steadfast in it, and rejoice in their leadership! For it puts ultimate things before extraneous ones, theology before methodology.

"I think we have enough churches being planted by means of music, drama, creative scheduling, sprightly narrative, and marketing savvy. And there are too few that are God-centered, truth-treasured, Bible-saturated, Christ-exalting, cross-focused, Spirit-dependent, prayer-soaked, soul-winning, justice-pursuing congregations with a wartime mindset ready to lay down their lives for the salvation of the nations and the neighborhoods. There is a blood-earnest joy that sustains a church like this, and it comes only by embracing Christ-crucified as our righteousness." – John Piper, Counted Righteous In Christ (33-34)

For those who might conclude from reading this quote that I don't think there's a need for what's in the first sentence, you misunderstand why I've posted it, as well as Piper's point. He's speaking to the ultimate priorities and passions that ought to drive a local church. He's not discrediting the means and methodology of building one.

Another pastor - who, ironically, considers John Piper as a mentor - built his church with a technological and cultural savvy that's now a model for many church planters and pastors around the country. Yet, the following sentence, in a book that tells the story of the hard lessons he learned while doing so, jumped out at me more than any other: "There is enough power in the preaching of God's Word alone to build a church from nothing." – Mark Driscoll, Confessions of a Reformission Rev. (p. 78)

When we plant a church and place more time focusing on methods and marketing than on the preaching of the Word, we show where our trust is for “success.” That’s because we’ve defined “success” by numbers. And numbers will inevitably show up where there is top notch music, drama, creative programming, seamless transitions, and the general wow-factor. But are they coming back for more of the gospel or more religious entertainment? Do they look forward to church because it’s akin to a weekly motivational seminar – with free child-care thrown in – or to gaze upon the Son with the gathered saints? The former is only temporarily therapeutic. The latter changes you on the spot.

I heard it said in seminary, “What we win them with, we win them to.” Are our churches winning people to Christ-crucified as our righteousness? If we really believe Jesus’ own words that Scripture is about Him from cover to cover (Matt. 5.17; Luke 24.25-27; 44-45; John 5.39) and that exalting His atoning death is the key to drawing men to salvation (John 12.32-33), then our primary focus as churches (both planted and established) will be the gospel – not gadgets, preaching – not programs, Christ-crucified – not contemporary Christian music.

Thinking Too Highly of Ourselves

2011-06-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

There's a problem infecting Western Christianity today. We're more enthralled with ourselves than with God. We think high thoughts of ourselves and low thoughts of our Creator. We're obsessed with our own needs and ignore His sovereign purposes. We love sharing our life experiences with anyone who'll listen, yet we're ashamed to tell His story.

Why is this? I believe it goes back to the root of what we've been told from the moment we were introduced to the general tenor of Christianity in the Western world - be it as a child or an adult. The typical gospel invitation makes much of us. It's sold like a business transaction with the primary beneficiary being us, not God. Does the gospel benefit us? Of course! But Jesus did not primarily come to make much of Himself or us. He came to make much of His Father (John 8.54; 12.27-28; 13.31-32; 17.1). God's glory first. Our welfare second. The Creator's exaltation first. Our intrinsic value as creatures next. If it was so for God's Son, should this divine priority be any different for those He came to save?

But the very "self" that's being solicited in so many evangelistic appeals is one and the same with pop-psychology and modern therapy. It just has Jesus language slapped on it. How is it different from the Oprah montra of, "You can be whatever you want to be! [Solution?] You just need to love yourself."? Some evangelical authors, seminar holders, pastors and evangelists often say the same thing. "Jesus loves you! [Conclusion:] So you can have whatever you want to have; be whatever you want to be; do whatever you want to do!" It's a gospel of self-actualization; Scripture calls for death to this self - called the "flesh" in the NT, which comes from the first Adam and is wickedly rebellious to God and His ways. But once we die to it through the cross of Christ (Rom. 6.6-7), we find resurrection life on the other end (6.8-9; cf. Gal. 2.20).

We're misssing out. On joy. On love. On true usefulness. By making much of ourselves and not God, we've become false converts (at worst). We've retarded our Christian growth (at best). Some of us need to go back to the roots of our American Christianity and realize we were lied to. God did not come to make much of me. He came to make much of Himself through me. But before He can even do that, I must so identify with His Son's death that it becomes mine. And why must I die? Because the rebel needs to be slaughtered...in order for Jesus to be reflected. And this does not come from first loving myself. It comes by despising that which is in me that wants to eat forbidden fruit - constantly. And when this starts happening, the Holy Spirit is at work. The gospel's grip is taking hold.

"We cannot seriously aspire to [God] before we begin to become displeased with ourselves." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. by John T. McNeil, Vol 1 (37)

The Profundity of the Gospel

2011-06-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

Do you share my struggle? Do you find yourself wondering at times if you really understand the gospel? Does the frailty and finiteness of your mind struggle to grasp the immeasurable magnitude of the infinite love of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, suffering under the fullness of God’s wrath for your eternal punishment? If you resonate with this, you are not the first. You’re actually in very good company. Here’s what the lion of Protestantism, Martin Luther, had to say about this:

“Particularly when you hear an immature and unripe saint trump that he knows very well that we must be saved by the grace of God, without our own works, and then pretend that this is a snap for him, well, then have no doubt that he has no idea of what he is talking about and probably will never find out. For this is not an art that can be completely learned or of which anyone could boast that he is a master. It is an art that will always have us as pupils while it remains the master. And all those who do understand and practice it do not boast that they can do everything. On the contrary, they sense it like a wonderful taste or odor that they greatly desire and pursue; and they are amazed that they cannot grasp it or comprehend it as they would like. They hunger, thirst, and yearn for it more and more; and they never tire of hearing about or dealing with it.” – “Psalm 117,” translated by Edward Sitler in Selected Psalms III from Luther’s Works, vol. 14, edited by Jaroslav Pelikan (St. Louis: Concordia, 1958), 37; qtd. in Thomas R. Schreiner, Galatians (ECNT, 175-76)

The gospel is omnisciently profound. We are profoundly dull. The gospel is a glorious condescension from the highest heights of triune deity to the lowest place of our fallen depravity. Transcendent truth has visited our lowly state. Therefore, while a child can understand it, adults can swim beneath the surface of its bottomless depths for a lifetime. And, as Luther said, it will take a lifetime – and beyond – to pursue comprehending the glorious gospel. Go diving today, saints. Be gripped by the gospel.

Making Much of Ourselves: Misusing the Law

2011-06-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

God's Law is a wonderful thing to be prized and celebrated (Ps. 19.7-11). The reason for this is it reflects His character (Ps. 119.37), instructing us in how we ought to live (Ps. 119.105). However, due to our rebellious nature passed down from the 1st Adam (Rom. 5.12), we fall pitifully below this divinely perfect standard of living. Consequently, as the apostle Paul explains, the Law reveals our sin (Rom. 3.19-20; Rom. 7.7-12; I Tim. 1.8-11). When we see we are completely unable to keep the Law, the Holy Spirit then reveals our desperate need of the One who perfectly obeyed it in thought, word, and deed (Heb. 4.15; I Pet. 2.22; I John 3.5). This is what qualified Him to be the substitutionary sacrifice for our Law-breaking (I Pet. 1.18-19; 2.24a; I John 2.1-2), receiving the eternal penalty on the cross that was due us (Is. 53.4-6). Those who place faith in the message of the gospel receive the positional righteousness of our flawless Law-Keeper, Jesus Christ, in exchange for the penalty He endured on the cross for our law-breaking (2 Cor. 5.17; I John 3.4-5).

God's Law - as it pertains to Christians in the new covenant era of redemptive history - is not a simple discussion. Theologians have debated this for centuries. Christians continue to debate its applicability to the present day, and will until the eschaton. I don't pretend for this blog to cover every issue related to the topic of the Law and the NT believer. (I hope you don't, either.) My express desire is to encourage you not to misuse it.

The issue I want to address is the misuse of the Mosaic Law in such a way so as to justify ourselves before God. This is when we take the Law and, like the Jews in the OT, see it as a means to make much of ourselves. Rather than allowing the Law to expose our deep and extensive sinfulness, it becomes a tool to feel more righteous about ourselves. This is the deception of Law-oriented religion. Individuals think they’re obeying it when the exact opposite is the case. This is because they have an erroneous standard of righteousness. Such religious self-deception causes an individual to think he is justified – has a righteous status – before God when in reality his own righteousness is keeping him from the very One to Whom the Law points and personifies (Luke 18.10-14; 24.25-27, 44-45; Matt. 5.17-19; John 5.37-40). Paul sums up the history of religious Israel in Romans 10:1-3: “Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.”

Those who use the Law “to establish their own [righteousness]” have no need for Jesus. The gospel – because it doesn’t make much of their self-righteousness but of the glory of God in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4.3-6) – is “a stumbling block” to them (I Cor. 1.23). Rather than looking to the One to whom it points (Matt. 5.17-19; Luke 24.25-27, 44-45; John 5.37-40), they want to use it to set up a system of righteousness that’s erroneous (Matt. 5.20). This is exactly what Christ came to put a stop to, as Paul goes on to say in Romans 10.4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (emphasis mine).

I think this is what Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, NY, is speaking to in the following quote.

“Careful obedience to God’s law may serve as a strategy for rebelling against God…Most people think of sin as failing to keep God’s rules of conduct, but, while not less than that, Jesus’ definition of sin goes beyond it…You can avoid Jesus as Savior by keeping all the moral laws. If you do that, then you have ‘rights.’ God owes you answered prayers, a good life, and a ticket to heaven when you die. You don’t need a Savior who pardons you by free grace, for you are your own Savior…religious people commonly live very moral lives, but their goal is to get leverage over God, to control him, to put him in a position where they think he owes them…If…you believe that…then Jesus may be your helper, your example, even your inspiration, but he is not your Savior.” – Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (37-38)

Is this you? Do you feel more accepted by God based upon what you’ve done or what you’re doing? Do you think that if you live by biblical principles God is absolutely obligated to give you the life you think you deserve? Are you disillusioned and bitter because you were told growing up in Christian subculture that if you lived by God’s Law He would do “x, y, and z” for you, only to find that His sweet providence has granted you a life of suffering and trials instead (cf. Phil. 3.1-11; 2 Cor. 6.3-10)? Could it perhaps be that you approached the Law as a sort of “spiritual” rabbit’s foot to be used (as a simplistic tool of divine cause and effect) to realize your personal desires rather than as something that points you to the greatest gift of all – Jesus Christ and His story? As Keller points out in the quote above – and in the book Prodigal God – such is the rebellion of moralists, Pharisees, and self-righteous religionists. And they – or shall I say “we” – have just as much of a need of forgiveness and redemption from our morality as the prodigal does from his immorality. Meditate on that. It will change you.

I don't have much to say...but others do.

2011-04-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

Much of the reason I wanted to start a blog was not to share my own wisdom (what little I have), but the wisdom of others. As a pastor, I think one of the most crucial things I can do is read (along with cultivating a vibrant prayer life). Reading is a regular part of my day - usually in the morning. More times than I can count while reading last year, I'd think, "That is such a good quote! I'd love to share that with as many people as I can!" Voila, blogging. So, prepare to be blessed when you read "Gripped by the Gospel" - not by what I write - but by what others have written. I don't have much to say...but others do.

Abnormal Christianity

2011-04-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

I was reading Acts 14 this morning . When I hit verse 22, I was struck by its potency.

"Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."

If you read the entire chapter, it gives much more meaning to this verse. In verse 8, we're told Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra when they met a man who'd been crippled since birth. In verse 10, the man is healed by God's power through Paul. In verse 11-17, things become interesting. The crowd who witnessed this miraculous healing turned idolatrous...toward Paul and Barny. Paul and Barny freaked out, telling the people to stop it - to the point of ripping their clothes in angst (v. 14). Why? It grieved them to the point of holy indignation and frustration that their ministerial works and power should result in worship towards mere mortals like them (v. 15b), rather than toward the living God of the gospel (v. 15c) and creation (v. 15d) who had shown them forebearing mercy (v. 16) and common grace (v. 17). To their relief, this quick sermon worked, but not without a spiritual battle (v. 18).

Proving the fickleness of idolatry, some out-of-town Jews who passionately hated Paul and Barny's missiological message talked the mythological madness out of the crowd (cf. vv. 11-13 with v. 19). Consequently, the religious rock concert atmosphere of Greek mythology morphed into a rock-throwing contest, and Paul was the target. The frenzy of stone pelting was sucessful. Paul's bruised and broken body was dragged like a dead animal out of the city, "supposing him to be dead" (v. 19). Was this the end of Paul's ministry? Hardly.

I love verse 20. Once Paul's own crew showed up - those who loved his message and method ("the disciples") - and encircled him - and all the murderous religious folks were gone, "He got up and entered the city." Did they have a prayer session and raise Paul from the dead? Was he playing dead to the glory of God? Who knows. The text doesn't say. It just says what it says, and I find it intriguing...and kind of hilarious.

The second part of verse 20 and the first part of 21 reveal a man who's both tough and tenacious for the gospel. Paul goes to another city after standing up, post-stoning. There the apostle continued preaching Jesus and saw converts come to the message of the cross. But then he does something most of us pastors, missionaries, and Christians don't do. Verse 21b informs us that he heads back to the stomping grounds of his stoners (and I'm not talking about kids dressed in all-black who smoke just off high school grounds [if you weren't a teenager in the 80's, never mind]). He returns to where he was pelted for Jesus and to the towns where his would-be murderers resided. And what'd he do? It's worth reading again.

Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."

There's nourishment here for us. I love the beauty of the grammar of this verse. How did he strengthen those believers who may be scared and wavering in their resolve to follow Jesus - primarily because they saw what that might mean for them through Paul's stoning? He encourages them to persevere in the gospel ("the faith"). And what's the content of that encouragement? What's the crux of his message of exhortation? "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." To sum it up: he strengthens Christians by encouraging them with this message: "Persecution is not unusual. Christianity - following Jesus - is full of difficulties. And those difficulties will not end until He comes again...or He calls you home."

And this is supposed to ground them? This is supposed to keep them from falling away because of persecution? This is the crux of what he tells those who want to give up? This is the "encouraging" sermon to those who've beheld demonic mobs who want to crush their skeletal systems? Hmmmm. It's no wonder why Joel Osteen never touches this text. I never heard it growing up in a church that had the likes of Copeland, Hinn, and Duplantis darkening our pulpit (and I use darkening very intentionally). I don't think it's in Love Wins. Do you know why? Because it's not soft. It doesn't fill seats. And it doesn't sell. It's real; it's rough. But, most importantly, it's redemptive - because it points us to the One Who "through many tribulations" purchased redemption for us! He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with much grief" (Is. 53.3). Do we think it will be any different for us? Maybe this is why the author of Hebrews said something similar to a group of our brothers and sisters who were also enduring severe persecution two thousand years ago. "For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" (12.3).

What's crucial to persevering through seasons of gospel persecution is not a stoic, grit-your-teeth attitude. We must focus continually on our Savior and, in doing so, find the grace to imitate His joy in the face of trials, as well as His defiance against the trap of self-pity that comes with such persecution (Heb. 12.2). We must remember, as hard as things can be at times while following Jesus, we still haven't shed any blood - as He did for us (Heb. 12.4). The Holy Spirit is not relegating our pain to the category of inconsequential by such a statement in Hebrews 12.4, but puts our gospel pain in perspective for us. And who of us doesn't need some perspective when suffering for His name's sake? I know I do...every time...without fail.

Let's keep such truths in the forefront of our minds this Easter week, saints. When it's easier to sin than obey the commands of God this week, remember Jesus who "learned obedience from the things which He suffered" (Heb. 5.8). When standing for truth in a loving manner becomes a tensious burden with someone to whom you are very close, let us remember that he said, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14.26). When sharing the gospel may result in being shunned - by coworkers, family, neighbors, or your barista, "Let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach" (Heb. 13.13).

For just as Paul told the believers of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, the Holy Spirit proclaims to us in the 21st century: such things are not abnormal to Christianity. It's abnormal when they're not normal.

Boasting

2011-04-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

I've never had a blog before - ever. I'm not even a "blog-aholic." I've had an aversion to the craze going on over the internet with all things blogs, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and personal webpages. The reason is simple: narcissism or self-absorption. I can't stand that side of our Western culture that's crying out - around the clock - "Look at me!" It reminds me of a little girl my wife and I interacted with about ten years ago.

We were visiting with her parents in their basement after dinner, and, while we were trying to have a conversation, she stood on an elevated ledge and kept shouting incessantly at the top of her lungs, "WATCH ME!!" Because her parents lacked skill and wisdom in training children (which was evident at dinner time as she and her twin sister ran circles around the table and even put a piece of cream pie on their father's chair when he stood up to momentarily do something, deviously thinking it would be funny and then laughing hysterically when he unknowingly sat back down on some dessert), they continually put up with her rude, self-centered, and obnoxious behavior. Adding to my analogy with social media, every time (and I mean every time) we'd all turn our faces to acknowledge her screaming demand for attention, her moment of the spotlight had no substance, just jibber-jabber that was neither discernable nor remotely profitable (even in a redeeming, child-like way, as we often do with children who "perform" for us - i.e., "Oh, thanks, Charlie. That was a nice song!"). She just wanted - no, demanded - our gaze. But once we gave it, I was embarrassed for and frustrated with her...that she ever demanded our attention in the first place!

That, to me, illustrates our craze with ourselves today through the vehicle of technology and its outlet of social media. It's one of the reasons I loathe what I so often see on a FB post when I sneak a peak. "I ate pancakes this morning while listening to Michael Jackson's Billie Jean." What?? Who cares! But then, when I see Christians falling into this labyrinth of self - drowing us all in the monotonous details of their lives - then I want to scream! But I don't want to join the millions (or is it now billions?) screaming, "WATCH ME!" No, I want to shout, "Stare at him - living perfectly, bleeding for your sickening rebellion, rising for your everlasting victory, ascending for your eternal comfort! Look to Jesus - not yourself - for only there is freedom, joy, and fulfillment found! And if you're going to demand my attention, make sure you're redirecting me to Him!"

Now, let me say this: it's fun to make contact again with old friends. It's phenomenal to follow amazing leaders and gain wisdom and resources through their ministries, research, and connections. The world has shrunk and we all feel more informed and connected (in an albeit superficial, technological way).

I'm after motivations, though. That's why most of us aren't worth paying attention to on the web. I don't read anyone's blog regularly but Al Mohler's. I don't want to follow anyone on Twitter except for those individuals who really have something to say. I don't have a FB account. I don't have time for all things social media!

So, I can hear the critic say, "Why are you writing this blog?" Good question. To be honest, I'm seeing if I can primarily impact the little flock I pastor to a greater degree. This blog really isn't for the masses. (The masses don't care.) I now Tweet and blog to be in the ear - in a loving, shepherding way - of my sheep in a Monday through Saturday manner. If I feel - after an extended period of trying these amoral, technological vehicles out for a season - that no one is edified in Christ or sees gospel growth from them (and I'm just talking to myself), I'll lay them aside to better spend my time - and my people's time - on other things that will help us fix our eyes on the author of the gospel (Heb. 12.1).

In this spirit, I want to share a video from a song that's become an anthem for me as a Christian man, husband, father, and church-planting pastor. You could say it's the anti-athem of contemporary social media and self-engrossed culture. It brings tears to my eyes and great gospel-aspiring emotion to my heart almost every time I listen. Let it be your anthem if you have sworn absolute allegiance to the swollen, blood-caked, gasping Savior who died two thousand millennia ago for your narcissism...and rose to make you radically absorbed with Himself. Let your boast be not in yourself...but in Jesus.

If you have problems viewing this video, click here.