Why Is Missional Important? Pt. 1

There are many facets of the answer to the question I posed above but let me show you my cards beforehand and say: Missional theology and ministry is important because it gets the Gospel!  If this is the case then the trendy label “missional” is at least an accurate description of a key aspect of our Biblical faith and at most an apt synonym for the entire package of Biblical Christianity. 

 

Now, after making such a bold statement the question could legitimately be asked, “If Missional is a buzzword for Biblical Christianity then why the label?”  Let me give some background:  The modern missions movement begain in the late 1700’s when the renown Reformed Baptist and Father of Modern Missions, William Carey, departed England for India.  As he went out and other western missionaries followed his example into the uttermost parts of the Earth they were all forced to come to grips with an aspect of the task they were entrusted with.  That is, they were forced to deal with the phenomenon of Culture and in case anyone is wondering, 18^th century European and North American culture was in no way similar to the various cultures that met these pioneering missionaries as they spread out over the non-western world.  And so, while the essential gospel message that these men and women taught was the same it took different shapes and forms in order to incarnate itself into the local culture.  They had discovered essentially what Paul meant when he said:

 

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.  To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.  To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law.  To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.  I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.  I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings

-       1 Corinthians 9:19-23 ESV

 

As time progressed, Missionaries became more and more skilled at incarnating the gospel into the various cultures to which they were sent and principles began to be developed on how to handle the difficult balance of being faithful to the message and theology of the Gospel and how to dress that message in the clothing of the local people.  However, even while these developments were happening in missions, there was an neglect of these principles at home in the Western world.  For a long time though, churches were able to continue to preaching and teaching in the ways that they always had while being oblivious to the culture because at its core, Western Society was still firmly rooted in an understanding of the gospel.  Christians were oblivious to how to incarnate the gospel because, to a great extent, they didn’t need to. 

 

However, with the increase in Philosophical Skepticism and the increasing advance of Cultural Postmodernism, we in the West are now living in a Post-Christian society and culture.  The air we breathe is not the same air that even our Parents or Grandparents grew up breathing and this calls for new ways for the gospel to be articulated in order for it to be brought to bear on our culture.  Basically, the Western church is now in desperate need of the incarnational principles that have been developed by missionaries and missions agencies serving in non-western contexts.  However, now these ideas and principles are being applied at HOME.  There is an enormous need for the church to be missionaries in OUR OWN CULTURE.  This is where we get the term “missional”. 

 

One thing I would like to point out is that the Church’s role as “missionaries” in it’s own culture is technically not a new development.  This is what the Church has ALWAYS been called to and it is only because it has largely NEGLECTED this mission that we now find ourselves in a position where some who claim the name of Christ are actually hostile to this idea of incarnating the gospel into our own 21^st century Western Context.  It is only because the fish worked hard enough to convince itself that it wasn’t living in water that it was surprised to wake up one morning feeling wet.  But more on that tomorrow…

Filled by God

To be filled with You, O God, what would be the cost?

Would it be the mocking and jesting of the multitude,

Or even the sacrifice of my flesh on the altar?

To be stripped, beaten; bruised, battered;

Ripped and torn, speared and skewered,

These are what my precious Lord demands of me?

Then let them be mine, with all the joy that there attends;

For I am not filled with I, but with Thee!

Joy in Thanksgiving

This is from an article that I wrote for the Carey Baptist Church newsletter while I was in India.  I know that our Thanksgiving/Holiday season is still a few months away but I hope that it can be profitable in preparing us mentally and spiritually for these occasions.

The Christian’s Delight in Thanksgiving

By

Scott Newman

 

“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High… The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

-Psalm 50:14+23

 

            In my home town, as the summer months give way to the cooler air and brighter colours of autumn a festive sprit begins to be felt among all the people.  Then, as the calendar rolls on into the month of November, one can notice that all the markets and places of business begin to be decorated with the gorgeous hues of fallen leaves and cornucopias filled with delicious food.  The holiday of Thanksgiving is then celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.  Thanksgiving is not just an American holiday, many people from all over the world celebrate Thanksgiving during the month of November when, traditionally, the farmers would finish gathering all their crops and villages would gather to celebrate the bountiful harvest and to praise God for His abundant provision for them.  This time of year has, for many cultures, become a time to reflect on the blessings that have been bestowed on them during the past year. 

           

            In reflecting on the idea of Thanksgiving as a cultural event in many parts of the world, I began to wonder what the idea of Thanksgiving should mean for the Christian.  There are many people all over the world who have not repented of their sins and live in peaceful fellowship with Christ who set aside time to be thankful for what they have.  In my home town, often the Thanksgiving celebrations of the Christians differ very little from those who have no commitment to Christ whatsoever.  This began to puzzle me as I thought about it.  It seems that the motivations and the ways that at Christian gives thanks should be much different than the ways a non-Christian would give thanks.  But how should this be?  As I reflected on this apparent dilemma, I remembered Psalm 50; one of my favorite Psalms.  I believe that a little reflection on what the Psalmist, Asaph, has to tell us here will change the way that many of us view and practice thanksgiving. 

 

            Asaph begins this psalm with a marvelous statement of the greatness and glory of our God.  He speaks of God’s power in ruling creation, the light and perfection of His beauty, and His holy hatred towards sin.  Then, God Himself begins to speak and condemns the Israelites for their sacrifices which they were offering to Him saying, “I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds.  For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.  ‘If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.’”  God is rebuking the Israelites for thinking that they were somehow helping Him out with their sacrifices.  As the creator and sustainer of the Universe, everything belongs to God and so, when the Israelites would come and offer sacrifices, they were offering to God things that already belonged to Him.  So then, if God already owned these things, then why would He command the Israelites to bring sacrifices to Himself?  God enlightens us as to His purposes and desires for sacrifice saying, “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” 

 

What God requires from His people are hearts that are united to fear His name and that glorify Him in every aspect of daily life.  It is from a heart that stands in awe of the beauty and greatness of God that true thanksgiving will pour out in a pure stream of thanksgiving.  This is why the Psalmist speaks of the greatness of God in verses 1-3 of Psalm 50; because in order to have a heart that is thankful to God, we must first understand Him accurately.  The essence of the glory of God is the display of His perfect and awesome character for the world to see.  For a Christian to see and accurately understand God is the most joyful, soul-satisfying experience that is possible in this Universe.  When a soul begins to taste of this heavenly joy and satisfaction, its life is radically transformed and it begins to desire nothing else than to praise God for His glory!  And it is as this praise comes from the heart of a Christian that God’s glory is proclaimed in the world and He is mightily glorified in that.  Biblically, this is what thanksgiving should look like; it should be a heart that is taken captive by the wonders of God’s grace towards us and His Sovereign Majesty and then simply wonders that God should choose to make these things abound towards us. 

 

However, what I have often seen among Christians is that they begin to give thanks to God simply for the benefits and material things which He has graciously given to them.  It is right that we should seek to praise and thank God for these things but it is often the case that this kind of thanksgiving replaces what we see God desiring from us in Psalm 50.  The thanksgiving which He desires is a heart which has been overwhelmed by the greatness of God which saved it and desires nothing more than to sing His praises.  Whenever we begin to praise God for His gifts rather than for the joy of who He is, this praise and thanksgiving becomes drudgery and the focus is shifted from the God who lovingly bestows His gifts in order to make Himself known to man who receives the gifts.  The greatest delight then is then experienced by the one who has been moved by God to have the joy in His presence overflow in thanksgiving and praise.    

 

This year, as Christians, let us ask that God would allow us to see Him and taste fellowship with Him from His Word in such as way that our thanksgiving flows out of us as the overflow of the incredible joy that we have in Him.  The motivations for living our lives and the way we live our lives as Christians should be radically different from the world and this Biblical idea of thanksgiving is simply another way in which our lives, particularly during this time of year, should stand in such contrast to the world that they stand up and take notice of the difference that our delight in the greatness of God has brought into our lives. 

We've Arrived!!!

Well, after 3 days of long driving we've finally made it to our new home in the West Suburbs of Chicago!! We didn't end up having internet during the trip so I'm just now able to post some info. We stayed our first night in Grand Junction, CO and our second night in Lincoln, NE and then arrived in Wheaton tonight around 7:00 local time. We're enjoying Brian and Monica Gee's hospitality for a couple nights and then moving into our new apartment on Friday! Here's some pictures from the road for you to enjoy!

Katie In Utah

Utah Skyline at Night

Scott at the Colorado River in the Rockies

Us enjoying ourselves!!!!!

"We're finally in Illinois!!!  Yeah!!!!!"

Chicago!!

Only 8 Days Until We Leave for Chicago!!

The Rapture of Our Wills

            The realm of human love relationships is a very interesting one indeed!  I speak from the perspective of a male because that is all I know.  I know how a man goes about pursuing relationships and the things that delight us and the things that frustrate us.  This perspective illustrates some important things that we can see about God’s sovereign will over ours and how that interacts with love. 

 

            Most men, if they are honest with themselves, desire to be loved by a woman and to be in a love relationship with one.  While we all have various requirements for the “woman of our dreams”, the basic fact is that we desire to be loved by this “perfect person”.  The responsibility which weighs upon the shoulders of a man, at least in our western culture, is that he is the one who is supposed to take the initiative in the relationship in every phase from initial pursuit to engagement and marriage.  But, how are we to go about this pursuit of relationships and how are we going to get that “perfect woman” to fall in love with us?  Every man, again, if they are honest, would say that they desire to be loved freely by this woman.  She should fall in love with us without any coercion on our part.  How many of us would brag about the fact that we were in a relationship with a girl because we had forced her or convinced her through complex arguments that they should be with us?  I think that not many would desire this scenario.  Having a woman say, “I love you” when she was forced or convinced to say that would not be very fulfilling or pleasing to us.  No, coercion would seem to take something out of the basic essence of love and so we all want to be loved freely.  However, there is a third option to this scenario.  What if a woman did not love you freely, simply because she arbitrarily chose to and she did not love you because you forced her or convinced her to love you but loved you simply because in light of who you were she could do nothing else.  Everything about who you are draws her attraction and when she is allowed to see you for who you are, she is unable to do anything else but love you because of your perceived beauty and perfection.  Would this not be the most satisfying scenario for most men?  She loves you not because of an arbitrary choice or coercion but simply because you are so amazing that it would be impossible for her not to love you.  How incredible! 

 

            I think that this illustration from human relationships shows us something which is not often understood in our thinking about God: namely that He draws us to Himself because of His ultimate beauty and perfection and when our souls accurately perceive this, it is impossible for them not to be drawn to God.  I have often heard the objection made against Calvinistic Theology that God desires to be loved freely by His creation and so any Sovereign Act of His will in that process would cause the love He receives not to be genuine love.  Thus, for God to be truly glorified and loved by His creation, there must be something of our autonomous choice in the matter, otherwise He is not loved and He does not receive true pleasure in being loved.  And so, the matter is often bifurcated in this way: either God does all the work of saving in which He takes our wills and “forces” them to choose Himself or we are left to our own choice with God “hoping” that we will choose Him and love Him so that He can be glorified.  However, from my perspective, these are both wrong estimations of the issue and both of them are, ultimately, not very glorifying to God.  What if God’s irresistible grace worked in another way completely different to anything we have yet examined here.  Let me propose this scenario.  Our minds are darkened by sin so that they cannot rightly understand or perceive God.  They spend all of their energy on the pursuits of the things that their darkened minds think will give them pleasure.  What our minds do not accurately perceive is that God, in all of His beauty and perfection, is the source of all the pleasure our souls could ever want.  And so God, in His sovereign mercy, lifts the veils off our eyes to behold His glory.  When God is then beheld by the soul in all of His glory, the soul is enraptured by this beauty and perfection and is unable to do anything but gladly and with great rejoicing, forsake whatever it had pursued in the past and drink deeply from what it not understands to be its true pleasure.  God brings men to themselves and they are brought to love Him not by some arbitrary choice which it makes and not by some dry and impersonal force of God’s will but by the beholding of God in His infinite perfection and beauty.  This is what is ultimately most pleasing to God because He is delighted in by His creation because of what He has enabled them to see: namely His beauty.   

Irresistible Grace

Irresistible Grace!

Apprehended by the love of Christ, what shall I do?
To the right or left my heart cannot go,
But only straight on through
To the rapturous delights of Divine Love!

Shall my heart now grumble at its apprehension?
How could that ever be so;
For in that wonderful, Divine Condescension
My Soul apprehends its perfect joy!

“God’s yoke is burdensome” my heart shall never say.
But ever will it praise the One
Who bore the burden that my soul may,
By Grace, see and be satisfied!

Banned Video

I think everyone should see this video by Mark Driscoll on Church Planting. Because Bill Hybels disapproved of it's not mentioning Women as church planters, it was not distributed to church planters at a conference in Florida. If you want to see what it means to plant churches and be faithful to God... check this out!

Persecution in India

Many of you know that I had the priviledge of spending six months in India working with a ministry training young men to be pastors and church planters in their rural villages. Since returning home, Katie and I have had the priviledge of supporting one of my students. I received an email today saying that he experienced severe persecution for taking a stand for their faith in the midst of a Hindu Festival. Please pray for them as you read this... I have changed the names to protect them should anyone desire to use this for hindrance of the work of the ministry. Praise God that He has been sufficient for them during this time!

Dear Scott & Katty,

Greetings in the name of
our Risen Saviour!

Thank u for ur mail to A____. u two have
been very much in our prayers. May the Lord help u with ur
study.
S___ & his family went through a difficult time last year in the month of
October. PEOPLE FROM OTHER FAITH came to their village and beat them up
for not co-operating with them during their
festival time. His parents were beaten up. His wife who was in family way was
not speared. Due to the beating she lost her child. But the Lord was with them
and the remaind faithful to Him. Continue to uphold him in your prayers.

With prayer,
T___ da

Meditation on Discipleship from First John

The way to inspire obedience and devotion is to inspire Love and Awe. This is the way that God deals with His children!

Note: This does not leave out discipline. An absolutely necessary part of love is discpline!

Mars Hill Church

Anyone looking for good preaching should check this out!

Modern Day Puritans

In honor of Purgatorio's search for the ultimate modern Puritan, I've compiled a list of those who, in my opinion, most embody the spirit of those great, godly men and women from the past. (Note: by Puritan I do not mean the stuffy, stodgy and legalistic portrait that has been painted of them in contemporary times. I mean to emphasize the great vision of the Glory of God in theology and the Christian life that these people had as they strove to reform the Church in England.)

1. John Piper: Piper has become synonymous for me with the spirit of modern day puritanism. Piper, more than any other contemporary author I have read is passionate about the glory of God and seeing that worked out in the life of the church and individual Christians.

2. Mark Driscoll: Driscoll is a great encouragement to me in that he is extremely theologically driven and yet has a very balanced view of the Christian life. I think that we can expect to see him have a bigger influence on the church in coming years than just about anyone else I that I know of.

3. J.I. Packer: Packer has been seeking for his whole ministry to reform the Anglican church with Reformation doctrine. What can be more Puritan than that? He has combined depth of theological insight with with a concern for how it fleshes itself out in the Christian life.

4. Grant Horner: Horner is professor of English at The Master's College in Santa Clarita, CA. I almost learned more theology from him than I did from my theology classes! Following in the footsteps of John Milton, he effectively teaches discernment in theology and life both in the academy and the church.

5. Scott Hafemann: His book, "The God of Promise and the Life of Faith: Understanding the Heart of the Bible" ought to become a classic of Christian theological/devotional literature. He makes Biblical Theology practical!

6. D.A. Carson: Carson may be the John Owen of our time... enough said!

7. Paul David Tripp: Tripp, along with David Powlision, Ed Welch and Ted Tripp have done much for advancing today's Biblical Counseling movement... which is really the grandson of the Puritan's view of discipleship.

8. Tim Keller: Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian church, Keller is the thinker and theologian for today's missional churches. Just as the puritans were seeking to renew the church and the culture, today's reformed missional church movement is striving to accomplish this in our culture today.

9. Jerry Bridges: Possibly the John Bunyan of today.

10. Graeme Goldsworthy: More than anyone, Goldsworthy has brought the heart piercing benefits of Biblical Theology centered on Christ into the church for the benefits of preachers and congregations everywhere.

If anyone happens to read this and thinks that I've left someone out, please feel free to let me know who you think I should add. God bless!

Random

The Enlarged Heart

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame! I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!
- Psalm 119:30-32

One of the things that I love so much about the Book of Psalms is how the authors, fully possessed by the Spirit, expressed such a radical and absolute dependence on God for enabling in all sorts of practical areas of life. No less so in these verses, the writer expresses to God his earnest desire to grow and be faithfully obedient and yet recognizes that there is nothing he can do in and of himself to accomplish what he has purposed to do.

These verses appear on the Daleth portion of Psalm 119. Interestingly enough, Hebrew poets seemed to love the acrostic form of poetry. This Psalm is an acrostic using each of the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet. Each separate section functions almost as it's own separate Psalm but the whole is tied together by the author's longing after God through His Word IE: The Law.

Verses 25-29 in Daleth, the Psalmist expresses his absolute need for God to reveal to him and teach him the truth and meaning contained in the written revelation. His goal is seeking to have true understanding of God's Word is not simply the experience of knowing the Word because that would seem to be a rather meaningless and hollow dead end. Rather, He expresses that he desires to know and be taught the Word to the end that He might have life v.25, meditate on the marvelous character and workings of God in history v.27, be strengthened through joy v.28, and that he might reflect the glorious Holiness of God to those around him v.29. The author seems to genuinely perceive that the text of Scripture is the means that God's Spirit uses to grant greater fullness of communion with Himself. The inevitable outworking of this is that the Psalmist would be a man visibly passionate about the Law, the Glory of God and a man whose life radiated God's glory and holiness as expressed in the commandments of the Law.

It is with this knowledge and humble dependence that the Psalmist joyfully and triumphantly proclaims that he has "chosen the way of faithfulness" to God, that he clings to God's testimonies and that he will run (not walk or meander)the way of God's commandments. He resolves that his will be a life not of the dull humdrum of making it through life as comfortably as possible but rather the excitement of pursuing fullness of joy in God through relationship and fellowship with Him!

How is it possible now for the Psalmist to proceed with these bold and God-glorifying statements? It is unimaginable that after expressing such absolute inability in himself to grasp and be grasped by God's Spirit through His Word that he should now go out and expresses so much confidence in Himself to carry out what he has tasted in the Word. No, he tells us that not apart from God enlarging his heart will he be able to live any of the righteousness that he so desires. God must so work in his hard and stone-like heart that his heart is as if totally transformed into a heart that is soft and tender like young flesh. This was begun in nothing other than God's Sovereign act of recreating His whole soul (heart) and continues now as he grows through God's Sovereign grace that is poured out continually by the Holy Spirit.

I confess, along with the Psalmist, that apart from God sovereignly enlarging my heart, moving my will and directing my way, I have no hope of pursuing a life that will bring honor and praise and worship to Him. I don't say this with a mere stoic attitude of flippancy towards whatever happens. I recognize that unless God looks kindly on me and pours out Grace, that I would be left in the mess that I am continually being redeemed from.

The Cobbler

I wonder what William Carey must have thought as he would sit in his little village in England and work on peoples shoes. Did he feel that such work was trivial to someone who wanted to pursue the ministry? Had he ever struggled with contentment in working such a base profession when what he truly desired to do was preach and proclaim the excellencies of the Gospel? I wonder what the Lord used that time to teach him and the kind of grace that He poured into his life through that time.

History knows William Carey as the father of the modern missions movement. He was a man who was accomplished as a Pastor, Theologian and Linguist. During his lifetime, he founded the first modern church plant, wrote the first treatise on the work of missions, translated the bible into over 100 Indian dialects (most of which are still being used today) and taught Sanskrit at Calcutta University. God has caused the effects of his life to be felt up to our present day and, I'm sure, for many more generations to come! Yet, he was a man who toiled in the profession of a Cobbler for the first part of his life and even during his first years in India. God must have used that time to fuel his passion for ministry and zeal to be freed up to pursue ministry endeavors with all his time.

The story is told that one Sunday, some disgruntled members of his congregation at Lal Bazaar Baptist Chapel hung their sandals in his pulpit before he arrived for the morning worship service. In Indian society, this is one of the worst insults you can direct at someone. Carey, when he climbed into his pulpit to begin the service saw the sandals and tooke them from the pulpit. As he looked at the sandals, he began to tell the congregation how he was only a simple Cobbler who desired to please the Lord with his life and the ministry entrusted to him.

William Carey's Pulpit at Carey Baptist Church in Kolkata

Calvary's Elucidation

Yet Listen Now,
Oh, listen with the wondering olive trees,
And the white moon that looked between the leaves,
And gentle earth that shuddered as she felt
Great drops of blood. All torturing questions cease
In him who girds his soul to listen there.
There, only there, can we take heart to hope
For all lost lambs---aye, even for ravening wolves.
Oh, there are things done in the world today
Would root up faith, but for Gethsemane.

For Calvary interprets human life:
No path of pain but there we meet our Lord;
And all the strain, the terror and the strife,
Die down like waves before His peaceful word.
And nowhere but beside the awful Cross,
And where the olives grow along the hill,
Can we accept the unexplained, the loss,
The Crushing agony, and hold us still.
And nowhere is that clearer vision given
Which pierces a bewildering providence,
And opens windows upon highest heaven,
But where we see Suffering Omnnipotence.

Amy Carmichael's words are brilliant. There is not a reason in the world that a Christian should continue in faithfulness and pursue fulness of Joy in God except that Christ has, on the Cross, shown us that all our wisdom and attempts to understand are worth nothing compared to the excellencies of His wisdom. We can hope, love and enjoy because of God's Glorious work through Christ!

Just for Kicks :-)

Why is Hell Just That... Hell?

How many people really have ever wondered why the place that Christianity has traditionally called Hell is just that... Hell? It's not something that I've ever particularly desired to spend much time thinking in depth upon and I think most people would echo similar sentiments. Hell is something that is not very pleasant to dwell upon and as a result, we don't spend much time focusing on it. However, if we would take a moment to examine why Hell is a place of torment, we might be surprised with what we learn.

I take as my starting point 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 4:6. "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is spirit." "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Paul makes it explicitly clear that the transformation in the life of a believer comes as a result of SEEING GOD! As we look through scripture this truth is confirmed as we examine the lives of various people who had encounters with God. Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Apostle Peter and the Apostle John are all examples of this. Their lives were transformed as they gazed upon the beauty and glory of the Lord such that they were drawn to him and transformed. This transformation is ultimately God's work but the means he uses is the delight and satisfaction that come from seeing God as He truly is. Therefore, although much more could be said of this by way of proof, we understand that seeing God truly with spiritual eyes is to delight in him. The very joy of eternal life comes not in living forever without dying but living forever without dying in a state of sheer, ever increasing bliss because of the presence of our Father God!

There will come a day when all men will be resurrected and stand before God in judgment and worship. As Paul tells us in Philippians 2:10-11, all men, not just Christians, will worship God at the last day. I take this to mean that all men, Jew or Gentile, Christian or Non-Christian will come to see the full-glory of God in all its delightful, satisfying radiance. Now, imagine catching a true glimpse of that which you finally realize is the true satisfaction of your soul. For a moment you are able to worship it and bask in its glory and then, you are suddenly whisked away and completely shut out from that which you finally realized is your satisfaction. I think that would be the greatest torment for any human being to endure! The Bible describes Hell as a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth". What better the cause of this weeping and gnashing of teeth than for a soul to realize that it had done the greatest offence of scoring the Glory of the God of the Universe. It's likely Biblically that this is not the only torment of Hell. It's very possible that there may be literal, physical torment of flames. It's very possible that a soul may be embittered and tormented by it's own darkness as every last shred of Common Grace is removed from it. But I believe that greater than anything else man can come up with, the greatest torment is to be totally shut out from the glory, light and benevolence of God.

The thought of this eternal torment of a human soul is not a very encouraging or delightful subject to spend much time thinking about. However, it does highlight something very precious that we have as believers. The extent of the miseries of a soul suffering for eternity in Hell is the exact opposite of the extent to which we will delight and grow in delight in God for all eternity! While the absence of the glory and presence of God is the greatest torment a human soul can experience the presence of God's glory is the supreme and most sublime delight that we will experience. At the moment, we experience God's glory and presence in a way that can not even come close to the extent we will enjoy God in the New Creation. Praise be to God for this!!

Pervasive Depravity

Katie and I took our Pastor and his wife (Brian and Chandra Howard) out to dinner tonight. By the way, this is a great thing for people in the church to do, especially if you pastor has kids at home. As we were discussing the counseling ministry that our church is beginning to start up, he made a very interesting statement. He said that the more he talks to and counsels people, the more he truly believes that very few people even in the church have their act together like they would like people around them to believe. It's easy to go through life believing that most people live good lives free from the kinds of gross sins that are looked down upon by the Church and Society in general. However, we know biblically and practically speaking that this certainly isn't the case. The Bible teaches that men are totally depraved and who are we kidding (and harming) but ourselves to let this sin remain hidden. Now, that's not to say that we should go about proclaiming and parading our sin for everyone to see. However the public confession of sin is something that is very healthy in the church. It is a sign that the Spirit has been working through the Scriptures to bring people to conviction. More than that, for true believers, it is a sign that we are truly trusting ourselves to the Grace of God and the transforming power of His Spirit working to reveal His irresistable Glory. As believers, we all struggle to relate to God on the basis of Grace and not on the phantom concept of works righteousness. Trusting in God's grace means that we won't fear the illumination of our sin but rather rejoice that God has already dealt with it on the Cross of Christ and that His Holy Spirit is working to root that sin out from our lives to enable us all the more to enjoy making much of God!

Homiletics and Preaching Part 1

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
- 1 Corinthians 1:17

As someone who aspires to the preaching ministry, this is a passage which has scared me for a long time! The implication that Paul is stating in this passage is enormous if we would but take a moment to really think about what He is saying. Essentially, it boils down to the fact that if he (or, I assume, any other preacher) preaches the gospel "with words of eloquent wisdom" then the ability of the cross to save is totally removed! So the responsibility of the preacher and the implications for HOW HE PREACHES are absolutely staggering. So then it would befit preachers to understand exactly what Paul means here or else run the risk of totally destroying all that they set out to do in preaching ministry.

This passage is set against the background of the intellectual Greek world. The city of Corinth was very near in proximity to Athens, the historic center of Greek intellectual and artistic culture. Oration or public speaking was one of the common facets of Greek life. One could always hear philosophers debating or giving speeches on a given topic in the market place, the center of Greek life. Many Greek orators were impressive in their ability to use rhetoric to influence an audience towards their perspective. This is something with which the Corinthian church would have been very familiar having spent their entire lives immersed in this culture which practically worshipped this kind of intellectual prowess.

Therefore, as the gospel was entering the Greek culture or any culture for that matter, it would have been very tempting for evangelists and pastors to preach using this very well crafted, rhetorical style of speaking in order to most effectively stir their audiences to action. This is what I believe Paul means when he speaks of "eloquent words of wisdom". So, it is this eloquent, rhetorical preaching which Paul says will "empty the cross of Christ". But how exactly is it that preaching in this way removes the cross' ability to save?

Let me offer two similar but different scenarios. First, a man comes to town preaching the gospel. His style is very polished, his homiletics are impeccable and he does all "the right things" that a preacher should do. He pauses at all the right critical junctures and lilts his voice at all the exclamation points. His preaching stirs many people in the crowd to action to do what he is urging them to do, namely repent. Now, if an observer were looking on to this scene what would he attribute the amazing response to? Well, of course it would have to be attributed to the remarkable rhetorical and homiletical ability of this man. He is his great speaking ability was able to move the crowd to accept and believe the position he was advocating. In our second scenario, a man comes into a town preaching the gospel. His appearance is not the neatest or cleanest and his speech is not very impressive. However, as he preaches the gospel, the audience is rowsed, convicted and many people are converted. In this second scenario, who would get the glory? From a human standpoint, it would be hard to attribute such a remarkable response to the work of this unimpressive person. The only real explanation for this would be to attribute it to the working of God and His Spirit. In this case, he gets the glory!

I believe that this understanding calls for us to radically think through the process of preaching and the homiletics which accompany that act!