What about you?

Are you mainstream consumerist, counter-consumerist or anti-consumerist?

Learning meekness

After a month of silence at 21st Century Reformation, Brad Hightower is back with a solid, brief essay on meekness. Also, Mark Loughridge offers related thoughts about depending on God.

Not popular with everyone

Paul Littleton makes the case that all preaching "should be lovingly prophetic."

Priesthood of David's line

It's good to see that Claude Mariottini has been blogging up a storm lately. He's recently done a series on the priesthood of David. I found his posts on the subject delightful in that they got me thinking on the subject in ways I hadn't before. They are on the Priesthood of Melchizedek and Priesthood of the Davidic line. I recommend them both.

Growing anyway

For those of us who have struggled with being "evangelistic," it's encouraging to know that the early church grew not because they were distributing gospel tracts but because they were practicing hospitality, neighborliness and social concern for the poor and marginalized.

- Al Hsu

(HT: DashHouse.com)

A present-day parable

Douglas Groothuis shares a parable about finding God in churches today.

Two main streams of Christianity

Dan Edelen has written an insightful essay on the differences between externally- and internally motivated Christianity:

When we examine the state of the Church in 2007, we find that EM Christianity predominates in the American Church, while IM Christianity marks most regions of the world undergoing revival. IM Christianity thrives in places like China, India, and South America. Those lands have no institutions or systems that support Christianity, anathema to an EM Christian. In fact, institutions and systems in those countries oppose Christianity. This forces the Church there to internalize the Faith. And so it flourishes.

Dan's whole article is worth reading. He's also posted a comparison table.

Coming to a knowledge

If you're willing to consider the Bible's ambiguity, you might like my last two posts at Milton's Daily Dose. Today's dose is about coming to a knowledge of the truth.

How long?

"How long should you preach from one Bible book?"

Another way of living

Christians in the United States don't seem to be giving much thought to the effects of our economic system on the church's thinking. That's why it's good to find this article by Poserorphrophet about Christians and capitalism:

In sum, we are told that capitalism isn't perfect, but it's the best that we've got and it's here to stay -- so let's make the best of it. Indeed, as Christians, it is our duty to make the best of it.

However, I would like to suggest that the pursuit of "capitalism with a human face" is nothing more than an effort to dress a wolf in sheep's clothing. Both "necessity" and "realism" lead us to conclude that this wolf is here to stay, so it's best if we just dress it in a way that makes us feel a little more comfortable in its presence.

That this has become the extent of our economic creativity as Christians suggests to me that we have become accustomed to living with a fatally deficient Christian imagination. When "realism" leads us to conclude that all we can do as Christians is dress wolves like sheep, then there is little or no hope that Christians will actually be a community that offers new life to the world. Consequently, we must learn to let the biblical narrative dictate what is realistic -- and if we do this, then I suspect that we will discover that we are called to live as a people motivated by hope and not by necessity. Furthermore, we will discover that this hope is a hope that, rooted in a subversive memory of God's in-breaking into the world, transforms the present in ways that necessity can't even begin to, well, imagine.

Thanks to Nathan Colquhoun for the link.

Materialism and justice

Dan Edelen writes on the relationship between contemporary indentured servitude and middle-class consumption.

Preaching: Folly in another sense

Here's a twist to the term "folly of preaching":

Judging by the condition of the church in the west, preaching - the cornerstone in the life of most communities - is seriously flawed. Outcome based education asks, “what is the result of our learning practices?” The result is that we have a Christian culture indiscernible from the broader culture. Preaching has not formed us as worshipping beings.

In fact.. I don’t believe preaching can possibly accomplish that end.

The quote is from Len Hjalmarson (HT: Unashamed Workman). As much as I believe in preaching, I actually agree with most of what Mr. Hjalmarson has to say, especially about Cartesian individualism. Also, this assessment is spot-on: "We don’t need more teachers, we need more fathers and mentors, people with whom we get face to face and who know us personally." That's why preaching is more than rhetoric; to be effective it depends on the whole scope of ministry.

Re-imaging the Father

Do your personal experiences cause you trouble with the image of God as Father? How about viewing him as "the Father we always longed for?"

"They fail, but are forgivable"

Anthony Esolen writes insightfully about human weakness, forgiveness, and the comic strip B.C.:

What we see, in our Culture of Tolerance, is a willful incapacity to bear the weaknesses and follies of others; instead, we insist that no one must ever look askance at our own sin. A faithful Christian can rejoice in calumny, because he knows that even if all the world should call him a fool, he looks for praise from the One who counts, and who will reveal the truth in the end. Take that faith away, and loss of reputatioBlogger: Transforming Sermons - Create Postn verges upon a veritable loss of being, and people will snarl in fear and vindictiveness, like small dogs locked in a closet with insufficient food and water.

I recommend reading the whole article.

Everything!

If you like short, punchy devotionals, you might like today's entry on Psalm 148 at Milton's Daily Dose. It's one of my favorite posts on my favorite psalm.

Amen

As I see it, one of the problems with the online world is that it is a giant distraction that keeps too many Christians busy with things of little value and takes up time that could be better spent in more meaningful interaction with others, reading and learning, and real life service. In many ways, the digital world is a pseudo-world that is too often inhabited by people who are looking to escape real life and the demands it makes on each of us. While I do not think the internet is all wrong, or inherently evil, I do think that it has to be used carefully and in moderation. It should never be a substitute for real involvement in the church or in the lives of others who live around us. And we must not spend endless amounts of time surfing here and there, for the simple reason that there are far more important things to do.

- Kirk Wellum

"Faith requires revelation"

I've recently discovered Tantalizing if True, and this post really struck a chord:

No evangelistic method can make somebody believe. No reasoning or apologetics can make someone believe. No technique. No strategy. No presentation, production or performance. Only the Spirit of God can bring someone to faith.

That's why I'm a firm believer in expository preaching. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.

Something to pray for

"Let's stop flirting with the world and pray for a genuine return to Holy Spirit repentance and broken-heartedness before the Lord."

- Victoria Gaines

Learning from leavers

John Schroeder reflects on what churches can learn from those who leave.

Dressed like the son

Christian, have you ever stopped to think that "prayer is a blood-bought privilege"? Consider these words from Mark Loughridge:

The only reason Christians can pray is because Christ has made them acceptable by his death on the cross, where our sins and our shabby efforts at righteousness are placed on him, and his cloak on perfect goodness is placed on us. Like Jacob going in before his father dressed like his brother Esau, and blind Isaac knew the voice was different, but the clothes smelt right, and he poured out the blessing on Jacob. So we stand in God’s presence dressed like Christ, and our voice is different, but the Father is not some blind old man, he is fully aware of what he is doing, and says, "I will bless you because you are dressed like my son. I will listen to you because you are dressed like my son. I will answer you because you are dressed like my son. I will answer even before you cry out because you are dressed like my son."

Wow.

Let's stop gorging and mourn

Christians, I pray we will make a point of avoiding the media gorge-fest of videos, photos, news broadcasts and print articles on the dreadful events this week at Virginia Tech. As someone has said, now is not the time to satiate our morbid desire for information. It's simply time to mourn.

Exactly

I think it’s important that we are justified by faith: not by believing in justification by faith, but by believing in Jesus Christ. Obviously a clear understanding of justification would help a great deal, but I don’t myself regard that as the first thing to explain to a potential convert. Sufficient to draw them to Jesus.

- N.T. Wright

The importance and foundation of preaching

This week Unashamed Workman's "Ten Questions for Expositors" go to Voddie Baucham. Here's a sampling:

So many young preachers pursue the pulpit because they have discovered unusual communication skills in themselves. However, preaching is about so much more. We must be theologians, historians, apologists, churchmen and above all exemplary men, husbands and fathers (see 1 Timothy 3; Titus 1). We must also love and serve the Church. So many young preachers long for conference ministries that reach millions. However, without a love for the local church that goal rings hollow. I want to see a young preacher sweep floors, pick up trash, lead small groups, share the gospel in the secret places, pray for the sick and the afflicted, and manage his home in such a way as to make it a beacon of hope for others. That’s the foundation upon which great preaching is built.

I agree. And there's this:

Without sound preaching and teaching, all else will falter. Hence, preaching is of seminal importance in the grand scheme of church life.

Amen. The whole interview is worth reading

"True change means a heart overhaul"

What really shows what's in our hearts? Carolyn McCulley shares some spot-on insights (HT: Between Two Worlds).

Learning to think differently

Insight in the world's eyes offers wisdom, but the world's ownership of insight is fool's gold. The world says insight breaks generational curses and heals old wounds. This understanding is how Christians can come to accept unBiblical advice, because it chases after the world's view of insight. It allows psychologists to create New Testament-sounding language about the healing impact of forgiveness. It allows scientists to create Old Testament-sounding language about the positive impact of prayer or spiritual contemplation. In the end, what they are offering is not the true spiritual healing or impact of the advance of God's Kingdom in our lives, which is a fundamental message of the Bible. Forgiveness is good, yes. Prayer is calming, yes. But the power is not in forgiveness and prayer; the power is God's will being done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

- Matt Self

No grounds for pride

Do Christians today have any idea of just how shameful and repulsive crucifixion was in Jesus' day? Mark Lauterbach pulls no punches in comparing the shame of crucifixion to having one's name added the sexual predator's list today:

Give us morality so we can improve ourselves. Give us religion so we can discipline our lives. Give us philosophical systems so we can think our way to a better life. Give us money and political power so we can make a good society. But do not give us a crucified, bleeding God. That insults us. We do not want a Savior who humbles our pride -- we want a God who makes us proud -- or we want a God who assists us in our good intentions.

Can you hear the pride in it? Can you hear the quest for respectability? Can you hear the desire for self-help and self-improvement? Can you see the love of visible success and obvious gain?

I have come to a simple question these days -- if this is how humankind hears the Gospel of a crucified Savior -- why do I think I can dress Jesus up in a more appealing way? He simply cannot be dressed up. The Son of God became totally weak, was reduced willingly to the most shaming form of death, and in his suffering and death, God was bringing redemption. Faith in Jesus is a call to be identified with One who was despised -- not with "Jesus as my homeboy"

Amen. That's from Part One. Part two is worth reading, too. Mark concludes: "There is no ground for proud preaching of the cross."

Logs in our own eyes

Unashamed Workman offers some questions for preachers to ask ourselves in examining our own lives.

A much-needed form of grace

Nathan Colquhoun reflects on "the grace for someone to change their mind."

Truth and grace

Bill Gnade points out that Jesus lived in a time of political outrage, when the Roman emperor began to claim de facto, if not de jure power of a god. And yet Jesus' mission was not political:

How is it that throughout Jesus' ministry as recorded in the Gospels He says virtually nothing, nothing at all, about living as a captive to the Romans? How is it He never mentions this injustice; how is it that He never talks about the government at all? Once He mentions Caesar: He holds up a coin and asks, "Whose image is on this?" But He never rails against what was clearly the anti-Christ on that coin; He never mentions Him again. There is no talk in Jesus' ministry about this captivity. He is only focused on the captivity of sin, guilt and the fear of death. There is no mention of social injustice; He is not preoccupied at all with subverting the power structure of the street, marketplace, Senate or Sanhedrin; He could care less about the collusion between opportunistic Jews and their Roman occupiers. Jesus is talking "sheep" and "goats" and "lilies" and "vineyards" and "children" and "adultery" and "stones" and "virgins" and "love." He is not talking politics; He is talking about pastoral life while scribbling in the dirt or fishing in the sea. While Rome the Parasite leeches the life-blood from Israel, the real King of the Jews is not raising the alarm about such parasitism; He merely blesses a few loaves of bread, some fish, and He feeds the masses. In His simplicity there is nothing radical or progressive; He is not seated in Rome as a dying idol, He's a shepherd walking about in a living idyll. And when He meets a Roman centurion -- an oppressor with a sword and a god above him, one he obeys immediately -- Jesus blesses the man for his faith; and in that blessing, Jesus, the King of all, says NOTHING about the centurion's sword, his orders or the gods that he serves. Jesus says nothing.

And yet He is the revolutionary.

In all his writings, Bill demonstrates a gift for observing and analyzing the political world. From this excerpt you may be able to see a glimpse of why I think Bill is one of the best (and most polite) writers on the Internet.

On Hebrews 11 faith

"The frank truth of the matter is that there is not an inevitable correlation between brains, hard work and wealth."

- Kirk Wellum

Taking consumerism seriously

I've linked to this article before, but I want to share a longer quote and encourage you to read it all.

In preaching, I've found the subject that falls flatest with listeners is preaching against consumerism. And that's among folks my age and older. According to Prof. Naomi Rockler-Gladen, Generation Y is even more enmeshed in consumerism than previous generations:

The dreams, the memories, the rites of passage of Generation Y – all of these are intricately intertwined with consumerism. . . . While all of us in the post-war western world have grown up with the association between happiness and consumption, this association is all the more powerful with Generation Y. They have been reared with unlimited advertising and limited models of social consciousness or activism.

And lest older folks think we're somehow better than the media-saturated young adults in Gen-Y, let's consider the culture in which they've entered adulthood, and what that culture says about all of us.

This is the first generation that came of age in the era of rampant advertising in the schools, as well as Channel One, the news program piped into schools complete with advertisements. As a Generation X-er who graduated from high school in 1988, I recall very few ads in school. A relatively short time later, the hallways, lunchrooms, and sports facilities of cash-strapped schools are now frequently sponsored by corporations. When I ask students if this happened in their schools, they supply never-ending examples: stadiums dotted by Nike swooshes, lunchrooms filled with Pizza Hut and Chic-Fil-A, a back-to-school party sponsored by Outback Steakhouse, even book covers underwritten by corporations. Then, of course, there’s the prom. Eschewed by some of my Gen X counterparts, the prom is back and bigger than ever, teaching future brides and grooms important lessons about gowns, limos, and flowers. . . .

The reality is that many young people don’t take consumerism seriously because they feel that as individuals, it does not affect them. As media activists like Jean Kilbourne have argued, this illusion that advertising affects “everybody else but me” is nothing new, but I think this is even more the case with Generation Y. Students claim violence in the media doesn’t matter because they grew up playing Doom and they didn’t turn out violent. Or they claim that unrealistic images of women in the media do matter because they know a lot of girls with eating disorders. Many young people don’t seem to have a language for understanding that the media doesn’t just affect us on an individual level – the media impacts society politically, economically, and ideologically. A student might dismiss ads in his high school by saying they did not affect him; nonetheless, I argue, the proliferation of ads in high schools have affected culture as a whole.

You may not agree with everything Prof. Rockler-Gladen has to say. But consumerism is probably the greatest false god compromising the church in the United States. Preachers, we need to know how to speak out against it.

The Word is powerful enough

Faithful preaching needs no bells and whistles.

Testimony of the Resurrection

On his Resurrection Day post, William Willimon reflects on the testimony of the Resurrection in Luke's Gospel:

If you were Luke and trying to convince people of the truth of the resurrection, would you make your chief endorsements come from those whom the majority of people are least likely to believe? Given the importance that we in our society gives to celebrity endorsements, it’s more than a little disconcerting that the main witness to the resurrection is a woman on the margins.

Unless that was exactly how it happened. Here is a God who tends to work the margins rather than the center, who does not limit divine revelation to the “in crowd.” . . .

I think in this early testimony to the resurrection that we read in the gospels, a parable is here for those of us, all of us in the church, Jesus’ closest friends, the Jesus “in crowd.” We may be the slowest to apprehend the full, frightening, wonderful truth of the resurrection. We may have to listen to the testimony of those whom we don’t consider to be on the “in crowd.” We may have to admit that the resurrection is both our hope and our judgment as followers of Jesus.

Well said.

Not secondary

Darryl Dash makes a case that "Social justice and social action are not secondary. They are fundamental to the gospel and what it means to be Christian."

The discipline of gratitude

It's rare that I quote an entire post on this blog. It's just about as rare that someone packs so much truth into so few words as Mark Frost does in this post:

Just a quick little truism: gratitude gives birth to joy, and joy gives rise to generosity. And gratitude is a decision. But it's more than a single decision. It's a discipline, in the sense that training for an athletic event is a discipline. It is a single-minded focus that governs many other decisions. You don't become a grateful person by accident. It's the result of hundreds of seemingly inconsequential decisions to choose thankfulness over griping, complaining and bitterness. But the fruit of those decisions is really sweet: a rich source of joy within and a spirit of generosity that blesses others.

Amen.

Tim Keller on sermon preparation

Colin Adams interviews Tim Keller in the first installment of his series on "The Questions for Expositors." The balance and common sense of Dr. Keller's answers are impressive.

N.T. Wright on resurrection

Thanks to the The Christian Mind for linking to this article by N.T. Wright on resurrection:

The view that I came to is that the main thing the whole Old Testament is concerned with is the God of Israel, as the Creator God who has made a good creation, and that what matters about human life really is that it's meant to be lived within God's good, lovely, created world. That is equally emphatic in the early period, where you get agricultural festivals that celebrate Yahweh as king over the crops and the land. It's equally emphatic there and in the doctrine of resurrection. From that point of view, the idea of a disembodied, nonspacio-temporal life after death appears as a rather odd blip in between these two strong affirmations of the goodness of the created order and the wonderful God-givenness of human bodily life within that created order.

So, instead of resurrection being a step away from the early period, it is a way of reaffirming what the early period was trying to get at: the goodness of creation.

Once again, thought provoking stuff from Mr. Wright.

Value of biblical theology

Unashamed Workman discusses (with links) the value of biblical theology in preaching.

Growing into childhood

Dan Edelen has a gift for putting discipleship into words. Consider:

I won’t hold myself up as the pinnacle of Christian practice by any means, but the older I get, the more I see God restoring the wonder in my life. Something about maturity in Christ recaptures our childlikeness, that winsome inner spectacle that never ceases to amaze us who are His dwelling place. Anything is possible! What can He not do? If we’re not tracking with that kind of “inverted maturity,” we instead turn into grizzled and bitter veterans of the spiritual war. I see far too many people on the path to that cold, hard anti-faith. God help them!

For the Christian, every day becomes that day when the world was new. If we’re living consecrated, abandoned lives. If we died at the cross.

Exactly.

Tools for the work

As always, you can find useful links for preaching at UW's "Workman's Toolbox."

Open doors and adversaries

Ray Stedman's comment on 1 Cor. 16:9, from a classic sermon text, is still relevant for evangelism work:

Paul is emphasizing here that there have to be both of these things present if you have a true opportunity. There has to be a "wide door," but there have to be "many adversaries." Beware a wide door where there are no adversaries. That could be the trick of the devil to uplift you in pride and make you so confident that you can do something in yourself that you are destroyed thereby. And beware heavy opposition and many adversaries when there is no open door for ministry. Jesus himself told his disciples, "if they will not hear you, shake off the dust from your feet and go to a place where they will," {cf, Matt 10:14, Mark 6:11}. Where there is no opportunity for ministry and oppression is heavy, avoid that; but where there is an open door and many adversaries, then by all means stay with that because you will have one of the most exciting opportunities of your life to see God at work in the midst of great opposition and great pressure. Well, there are the principles for scheduling your life. I hope they will help you as you plan in the days ahead.

They will, indeed.

Preaching stories

Steve Mathewson offers three points of advice for preaching stories.

Bearing the cross

Bobby Valentine writes that "Taking up the cross daily is the hardest and most challenging enterprise a human being can ever engage in."

Taking up our crosses

Doug Floyd writes that "There is a life discovered only in death":

Let us know the bonds of communion in suffering and comfort, in joy and sorrow, in betrayal and love. May the Spirit of Communion fulfill the great and wondrous prayer that we all might be one even as the Father, the Son and the Spirit are one.

Amen.

Mercy as heart softening

Wayne Shih reminds Christians that God's mercy keeps our hearts from becoming hard.

Loving enough to let us hurt

Tom Stamey writes about what's wrong with the movie Facing the Giants:

If the Bible shows me anything, it’s that the Christian walk is not easy. All roads do not become straight and wide when you accept Christ as your savior. Mountains are not leveled in front of you to allow you easy passage. In short, Christ will not make the rest of your days on earth effortless and enjoyable. What He will do is make them possible. He won’t level the mountain, but He’ll walk with you up it. And yes He can heal you, and yes He can make barren wombs give life, and yes He can even help football teams win state championships (though why He would is beyond me), but no, He won’t make your life easy. He won’t do that because if your life was easy, you wouldn’t be challenged, wouldn’t grow, wouldn’t become the person that He wants you to be. You’d be that over-protected brat of a kid you didn’t like when you were in grade school. Christ loves you enough to let you hurt sometimes.

HT: The Weak-Minded Pessimist.

Tinseltown perspective

Hollywood churns out plenty of rags-to-riches stories. But I haven’t seen too many stories of people who went from riches to rags, and learned to be content in the humble circumstances they found themselves in.

- Matt Dirks

Equipping for ministry

As a Methodist, William Willimon's terminology is different from mine, but his assessment is right on target about the respective roles of congregation and preacher:

We pastors ought to see ourselves, not as the “ministers,” but rather as coaches and equippers of those who are called to the ministry of Christ - the laity, the People of God. Years ago, my friend John Westerhoff said, “If you are a layperson and you are spending more than fifteen hours a week at church, you are wasting your time. That is not your ministry. You are not to run errands for the pastor at church, you are to join in Christ’s ministry in the world.”

Westerhoff continued, “And if you are a pastor who spends more than fifteen hours a week working in the world, you are wasting your time. The work of the laity is too tough for them to do that work without being equipped and enabled to do that work. Your job, as pastor, is to equip them for their baptismal work in the world.”

Amen.

Twins separated at birth

What do I do purely for fun? Create (somewhat obscure) twins separated at birth (special Alive & Dead edition).

By grace

I'm convinced that grace was involved in writing today's Daily Dose.

Loving the law

Dave Bish shares "Ten reasons why I love the law."

God's work or our pettiness?

I'm looking for a job, so I won't quote too many details on this blog. But John Schroeder is right on target when he writes about "Cussin' and Fightin' and Carryin' On" and its relationship to evangelism:

Legalism is an ugly, ugly thing. Wasn't that the very heart and soul of Christ's ministry? Some, like Judas, expressed regret that Christ did not come to overturn Rome. That's because He did come to overturn the ridiculous legalism that had grown up within the ecclesiastical confines of His chosen race. . . . My heart hurts when I see us stand in the way of God's good work with our own pettiness.

Amen. I recommend reading John's whole article.

Concrete details in preaching

Steve Mathewson shares a good, specific example of using good, specific illustrations in a sermon.

Plasma-screen idolatry

Dan Edelen recently visited Best Buy for the first time in two years. For some reason, his visit prompted a scathing post on the idolatry of consumerism:

I’ve been writing about the Holy Spirit quite a bit lately, and I think the American Church’s understanding of Him may explain our Big Box Altars. I believe that we made the Lord a mental exercise. The Enlightenment inflicted a dire wound on our grasp of the Faith. We turned the Faith that enlivens us into something we cognitively assent to. Yet in doing so, we stripped the passion, the intense feelings of intimacy, that accompany faith in Christ. Our churches transformed into dim depositories of hazy reflections of what it means to be aflame with love for Jesus.

Ouch.

Contagious

It may not strike you as strongly as it does me, but I find Jesus' healing of the leper (Mark 1:40-41) to be one of the most moving stories in the Bible. It's the subject today at Milton's Daily Dose.

New preaching weblog

Preaching Today has a new weblog. As a commercial venture, of course, it's full of ads, but it has some good content, too. I've added the new blog's feed to the Preaching Weblogs Group (which has recently added a new, annoying box of adverts. Revenues from those group page ads, by the way, must go to Blogdigger, because I certainly haven't made any money from them!).

The good news

The gospel, (good news) is not “If you do these several things, then live a faithful life you will be saved. The gospel is the good news that Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law, lived a perfect life, became a perfect sacrifice, died in my place and yours, and completely paid in full the penalty due for our sins, was buried and after 3 days, was resurrected, defeating death, hell, and the grave. By His perfect living and dying, His burial and resurrection, we are now saved by His life. He freely gives forgiveness of sins and eternal life to those who come to Him by faith (beliving on, or trusting in Him).

- Royce Ogle

Getting over survival

Sam Crabtree warns Christians to "Beware the impulse to survive" (HT: Between Two Worlds).

Exhaustion as ministry metric

Jim Martin shares his insights on busyness and ministry:

I learned something early on in my ministry. Unfortunately, it was not good. I learned that many people primarily see ministry as doing things for God. Now of course that is overly simplified. Yet, that was my perception at the time. It seemed like we especially admired people who looked exhausted. Of course, ministry can be very difficult and exhausting at times. Paul even spoke once of warning a group of people "…night and day with tears." Yet ministry and life in Christ are really to be much more than a life of exhaustion.

You got that right.