A Follow-Up to Sanctity of Human Life Sunday

This past Sunday we dealt with a very heavy issue. We looked together at how God values human life and considered how our culture has moved further and further away from God's heart in this matter. Specifically, we spoke of the implications of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling known as Roe v. Wade, which functionally made abortion legal on demand. (The Roe decision was released on the same day as the decision from the Doe v. Bolton case in Georgia, in which a preexisting law prohibiting abortion except in the case of rape, severe fetal abnormality, or the possibility of severe or fatal harm to the mother was struck down. This decision did on the state level what Roe v. Wade accomplished on the national level.) 

The topic could have been approached from several different angles, all of which would have been appropriate. I appreciate Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church, and his way of speaking so passionately about the real issues at play. 

Take a look at this 6 minute video and continue to think biblically about the issues that touch our world so deeply. Does the Bible speak to the culture of our day? Absolutely.

Get Ready to Read!

'Tis the season for selecting and beginning your Bible reading plan for 2015. I know that many of you have started well in Genesis, glorying in the Creation, tracking along with the faith-filled Abraham, and celebrating as God delivered his people through Joseph, the young man of influence and favor.

Exodus picked up where Genesis left off with exciting narrative and amazing accounts of God's power. The wilderness wanderings may have caused you to feel the reality of sin in your own life and prompted you to follow after God with your whole heart.

Then you got to the plan for the tabernacle and you weren't sure why you needed to know all the details about the types of fabrics used for the curtains, the amount of ringlets in said curtains, and just how the altar is to be constructed. You press on, though, because you are going read through the this year.

Then, somewhere between Leviticus and Numbers, you find yourself in your own wilderness wandering as your zeal for Bible reading and your understanding of the texts you do read both begin to dwindle.

If this timeline matches up with your experiences in years past, then here is my advice to you. Don't give up! It's that simple. Resolve to get at it again. Choose to pick up your Bible and get back in it. As you get geared up for another go around, let me also encourage you to pick a reading plan that works for you.

I have been reading the Bible for a long time and have figured out what works for me (reading a lot of chapters from a lot of different sections of Scripture each day), but I am fully aware that my way doesn't work for my wife, many of my fellow church family members, and maybe even you. You might need something that walks you through the gospels everyday and then adds some Old Testament readings. Maybe you would do well with an approach that gives you one New Testament and one Old Testament reading each day. There are plans with catch-up days or ones with readings on weekdays only. Be real about what works with you and what you can realistically keep up with.

To help you out, I have included a link below to the blog of Tim Challies. Challies gives several great reading plans for you to choose from. The link he provides to the Ligonier website has many traditional reading plans. He then includes some others that are a little different than those that are often used by most folks. I have been using the reading plan developed by Grant Horner for several years now. You can check that one out on Challies' site.

One last encouragement. Find someone else who is taking up the challenge this year as well. Make it a point to encourage each other in your efforts and to get together once in a while to discuss what you are learning.

Happy Reading!

Tim Challies' site is here.

Financial Lessons for The Church Investing in Global Missions

Missionaries have always been on the hearts of church leaders. Calling a church to walk alongside our cross-cultural workers is not a new development. In fact, we have biblical evidence that presses us to give of our finances for the sake of sending the gospel to the nations.

I sat in my office this morning and read from 3 John. 3 John is one of those letters that are so short that you don't reference chapter numbers when navigating through them. All you need are verse numbers and you can find your way around this great letter.

It seems like the main issue that John was addressing when he penned this letter was the fact that there were some in the church, one for sure, who were trying to stop the church from financially supporting missionaries.

Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 3 John 5-9

Behind the resistance against missionary support was a man named Diotrephes. John says he liked to put himself first and did not acknowledge the Apostle's authority. The solution was to bring this man before the church and allow the church to make a decision about what to do with him.

In the context of this letter, I see a few important truths for us as we consider how we can care well for missionaries.

1) Financially giving to missionaries is a good thing.

John says, "You will do well to send [the missionaries] on their journey." This is a pretty straight forward instruction. As a church we will do well to offer continued support of our missionaries around the world.

2) There is a good way to do a good thing.

John adds that modifier, "in a manner worthy of God." This detail clues us in to the fact that there is a way to send out missionaries that is not in a manner worthy of God. We can probably discuss the details at length, but I think at its most basic level sending well means that we send missionaries out with sufficient finances, quality training, and meaningful relationships.

I do not want our missionaries to be hamstrung financially. Life is hard enough when you are living as a cross-cultural worker. We should do all we can to enable our workers to focus on their main tasks; taking the gospel to the nations and not trying to raise money to do so.

I also want our missionaries to receive quality training. I don't think every missionary needs to have an advanced degree, but I do think they all need to be equipped to do what God has called them to do. While this certainly includes theological training, it also includes anthropological perspectives, development of mission strategies, language learning, and maybe even small engine repair, medical clinic development, or computer networking. Whenever a person is called to go overseas for the sake of the gospel, the church must seek to invest in training that person so that he is in the best position possible to fulfill his calling.

Missionaries are sent out in a manner worthy of God when we send them with meaningful relationships. We cannot afford to be a church that only writes a check. Now, we must write checks and give financially, but our investments will fail to return what they should if we are not personally connected to our missionaries. And this means more than just the church as an entity connecting to the missionary. Individuals within that church must take on the responsibility to pray for, love, and encourage our missionary partners.

3) It is our responsibility to financially support missionaries. 

John noted that the workers sent out by the church did not receive support from the Gentiles. In other words, it is the church's job to send out laborers into the harvest. Friends, the bottom-line truth is that if we don't do it, the Kiwanis Club isn't going to stand in the gap. The church is the only disciple-making, missionary-sending, gospel-proclaiming entity in the world.

4) When we offer financial support to others, we are included in their labors.

This is where the simplicity and frankness of God's mysteries is experienced by the church. Simply giving money to our missionaries makes us fellow workers along with them. That is pretty straight forward. But there is mystery to it. When we give so that a couple can open a sewing center in the Middle East in order to offer life-skills to women as well as to offer Christ to them, we are, in a way, there with them. When a man has the opportunity to take money we have given and pay for transportation to a remote village in Chad, we are there with him as shares the gospel with people who have never heard. There is a beautiful partnership forged when we give to those who are sent.

As I think about this text from 3 John, I am thankful for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions and for our Cooperative Program as a whole. Through these efforts we can fully fund our missionaries and offer them the best training possible. We come up a little short, however, in personally connecting with our missionaries. We must become creative and intentional in making personal partnerships flourish.

We will meet several missionary families this Christmas season as we seek to support them in a manner worthy of God. Each Sunday in December, we will interact with folks from around the world and seek ways to continue to love and support them well. I hope you will prayerfully consider what God would have you give above and beyond your normal giving to our Lottie Moon offering this month.

Osteen and Owen: Who Should We Read? Where Should we Affix Our Gaze?

As my church family and I worked through Philippians 3:17-4:1 yesterday, we came to the conclusion that we need to fixate our gaze on the right people and the right teachings, and turn away from that which is detrimental to our walk with Jesus. This reminded me of an experiment that I did a few years ago. I share it again now as a reminder to be careful when choosing what read and where to look.

In college I took a class called, "Methods of Social Research." As a young sociologist-in-training I needed to learn the ins and outs of using research instruments in order to obtain accurate information about any number of subjects. There are people who make a lot of money measuring or manipulating social research. I, on the other hand, got a 'C' in the class. With that said, there is no scientific merit to my experiment. It actually only serves to support my own presuppositions and should not be used as a reference or source of actual truth. Now that I have craftily drawn you in so that you are saying, "Tell me more! Tell me more!" I will reveal to you the results of my findings.

I was in a Walmart getting a tire changed several months back. I walked over to the book section to find something to pass the time and stumbled upon one of Joel Osteen's offerings, It's Your Time: Activate your Faith, Achieve your Dreams, Increase in God's Favor. I thought this would be a good time to care for the flock of God by examining the popular "Christian-like" literature out there so that I could protect our church from false doctrine. (You should already see a presupposition at work here.) I opened it up and began reading. In 45 minutes I was done with all 320 pages. I know that you are saying, "Wait a minute, Pastor. Are you telling us that you read over 7 pages per minute? That is less than 10 seconds a page." 

Joel Osteen

Let me explain. Through the years I have learned how to scan well, so I am able to read lighter works quickly. Alas, Osteen's book is the epitome of a lighter work. There is more genuine theological content in some of the books on my youngest children's bookshelves than what I found in It's Your Time. That may sound harsh, but I am borrowing from the approach of the Apostle Paul. He reserved his harshest words for the church because he expected them to live worthy of the calling to which they had been called (Ephesians 4:1). 

If Osteen was not claiming to be a Christian, and he didn't bear the title, "pastor", and his gathering wasn't called a church, and he wasn't so stinking popular, I might say, "Well, that was a sweet little booklet that could offer the illusion of hope in the midst of a difficult situation." The problem is that the book is just a repackaged version of the prosperity gospel with all of the focus placed on the power of the individual, the demand upon God to act in accordance with our desires, and no consideration of the reality of individual sin and its consequences. He uses the classic health and wealth interpretations of Scripture which take them completely out of context and leave the reader with the thought that things can get better, but offers them nothing to hold on to beyond the smooth speech and gleaming smile of a self-help guru who makes a lot of money by scratching people's itching ears. Okay...on to my experiment.

To contrast Osteen's contribution to today's Christian bookshelf with some popular works of yesteryear, I decided to see how many pages I could read in a Christian classic. I chose John Owen's, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. John Owen was an English Puritan who wrote this particular volume in 1647 in 

John Owen

order to demonstrate "that the doctrine of universal redemption is unscriptural and destructive of the gospel (taken from J.I. Packer's introductory essay in his 1959 reprint of Owen's work)." So how far did I get in 45 minutes? 14 pages. That's it. 

You might say, "That's great, but I am sure you weren't scanning Owen's work like you were Osteen's." How right you are, and that is just the point. You can't scan Owen. His words are so loaded with theological meat that you would have no understanding of what he was saying if you were just to scan them. You might only be able to say, "Wow, he sure does use a lot of Scripture in there." Which you just couldn't say about Osteen's work (I won't even go down that road). I would argue that there is more benefit for your soul found in 14 pages of Owen than in all of Osteen's writing combined. I know that is a pretty bold statement, but just consider the following quote from Owen. 

"[Christ] did not suffer for [the church], and then refuse to intercede for [it]; he did not do the greater, and omit the less. The price of our redemption is more precious in the eyes of God and his Son than that it could, as it were, be cast  away on perishing souls, without any care taken of what becomes of them afterward. Nay, this also is imposed on Christ, with a promise annexed: 'Ask of me,' saith the Lord, ' and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession,' Ps. ii. 8 who accordingly tells his disciples that he has more work to do for them in heaven (64)." You may need to read that again. I know I did. Those words will give you something to chew on for a long time.

I am not saying that you should only read the Puritans or only in-depth, theological works. I am saying, that the stuff that is pumped out by today's publishers with such rapidity that it will make your head spin leaves its readers wanting for something more. This desire is usually fed by said publishers by releasing more light-weight garbage sooner than you can say, "I've lost my sugar high." (Consider that it took Owen seven years to write The Death of Death.) 

So what does my experiment conclude other than the fact that if the books we read are an endorsement of the people we are, then the Christian Church is in trouble? I am not sure. I hope that in my own life it reminds me to read well. I hope to not waste the few moments God has given me in this life on things that do not draw me up into the worship of the Almighty God who is beautifully excellent and worthy of every ounce of intellectual effort I can put forth. I know that I will fail at this. The desires of my flesh are strong and are always working to pull me away from the things of the Spirit. Even so, Christ has died for my sins, and has been raised for my justification. Death has been put to death in the death of my Savior, King Jesus.This is truth that pierces my heart with joys inexpressible. 45 minutes, 14 pages, countless blessings. 

And, by the way, Osteen can't hold a candle to Owen when it comes to hair either. Happy reading.

How Do You Pray For The Persecuted Church?

Yesterday was the International Day of Prayer. We, along with many other churches around the world, took time to pray for the persecuted church. This day was sandwiched on either end by times of learning and praying on both Saturday and Sunday nights. 

As we gathered on Sunday night, we used the World Watch List, produced by Open Doors USA, to help us learn about the persecuted and to equip us to pray effectively for them. This is a resource that you can continue to use as you seek to pray for those who are suffering because of their relationship with Jesus. Here is a very simple way to use this website in your praying.

1) On the home page either click on the country on the map or on the list below.

2) Read the overview of the country and the situation facing the persecuted church.

3) Watch the video resource on the left.

4) Take a few moments to pray through the three prayer points offered just under the overview.

If you add this to your normal prayer schedule (or to your normal internet browsing schedule) you will soon find that you have prayed through the 50 countries where persecution is at its worst. You will have cared well for the global church. 

The Ways Joy Cares for Us

In yesterday's sermon we saw from Paul's words to the Philippians in 3:1 that being commanded to
rejoice in the Lord was safe for the church. We briefly looked at five ways that joy offers us protection in life. I thought it might be helpful to post these five ways that joy cares for us.


1. Joy reigns in my heart from its idolatrous tendencies.


I am inclined to give in an inordinate amount of attention and devotion to things other than God.

Work, sports, rest and relaxation, my sense of entitlement, etc. all call for the allegiance and adoration of my heart. Joy in the Lord draws my heart back to a place where my devotion and worship is rightly ordered with God being first above all. The psalmist connects our delight in God and his greatness above all things with our joy and gladness.

Ps 35:27- Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say forevermore, “Great is the LORD.”

Ps 43:4- Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy.


2. Joy protects me from straying after sin. Not only does it affect my heart, but it actually shapes my character and directs my actions.


Ps 119:11- Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.

It is hard for people who do not find their joy in the Lord to understand why Chrsitians would want to obey the commands of the Lord. But when your joy is in the Lord, it makes plain sense. I love these statutes, these testimonies, and these commands. They are my joy because they come from God who is my joy.


3. Joy equips me to persevere in my walk with Christ, to not shrink back, but to press forward in faith.


Nehemiah 8:10- Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to the Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Finding our joy in God is that which produces strength in us to walk faithfully after God.


4. Joy gives us perspective in trials and draws us toward faithfulness in those trials.


Ps 126:5,6- Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

When my perspective on this life is directed by joy, I can see that God has bigger plans for me than just what is happening in front of me, and that ultimately his plan is for me to know true joy, whether that is here in this life or in heaven.


5. Joy is a genuine fruit of a life lived with God, so it ministers to our hearts in that it testifies to the reality of God’s presence in our lives.


Is 26:19- Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!

1 Peter 1:8- Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.

Paul's command to us to rejoice in the Lord is not burdensome. It is good and right. And it provides us with protection that our souls desperately need. Joy is an excellent care-giver.

God TOTALLY Cares That You Had Your Quiet Time This Morning

In John chapter four Jesus tells a Samaritan woman, “the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father…the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (21, 23).” In the overall context of this interaction Jesus had a very specific lesson that he was teaching this woman. For our discussion, however, our Lord’s use of some specific terms made me think a little about the logistics of my spiritual disciplines (Bible reading, prayer, fasting, gathering for worship, etc.).

I wouldn't mind having my quiet time here...

Jesus used the Samaritan woman’s evasive religious statement (“Our fathers worshiped [a time in the past] on this mountain [place]”) to show her the type of worshipers God desires. He was telling her that the time was at hand for something new. It was time for this woman to consider what true worship was to look like in her own life. The time was coming when the externals of religion would be of little consequence without the inward transformation of the worshiper's heart in spirit and in truth. Jesus also brought her attention to location. When this time came, which in fact was being ushered in by Jesus’ very words, the physical location of worship would no longer be important. For the Jew and the Samaritan, location was everything. The Jews had the temple in Jerusalem while the Samaritans had their own. Which was better? Which was more effective? Which was right? Jesus answers all of these questions with, “neither.” In Christ we are the temple (both individually and collectively) of the Holy Spirit being built together “into a dwelling place for God (Ephesians 2:22).”

We learn from the words of Christ that true worship is not about the externals. True worship occurs when an individual is transformed by the Holy Spirit and has his affections turned upward toward God and has his mind engaged by the truth of God’s word. So we can worship wherever we are and whenever we are there. We can walk through this life as living sacrifices (Romans 12) always being to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing (to borrow Paul’s deeply liturgical language of 2 Corinthians 2). The woman was concerned about what worship looked like, but Jesus taught her what worship really was to be about.

...or here.

Just for the sake of stirring things up, let me say that I think we need to have a little more of a “woman at the well” perspective in our spiritual practices. What I mean by this is that we need to bring time and place more to the forefront of our minds. 

Think with me about this example. I recently spoke to a friend of mine who has his finger on the pulse of a variety of prayer movements taking place around the world. He was telling me that a gentleman involved in one of the larger movements made a great point about the importance of time and place. He said that you can take a person who is highly passionate about prayer, has a deep faith in the power of prayer, and really takes hold of the throne of God when he enters into a time of prayer and put him alongside someone who has a set time when he prays and a particular location where he prays. He said that the latter will always pray more than the former. He said that one of the greatest factors, if not the greatest, involved in the growth of the particular prayer movement with which he was involved was a scheduled time and place of prayer among the participants.

This is a lesson that we can apply to our spiritual disciplines. I love Jesus. I know the value of His word. I sense the rest that is mine in the gospel. I never have to perform in order for God to accept me. I could pray every so often, read my Bible occasionally, and never tell people about Jesus and God would love me no more than he would if I spent every day fasting, praying, and speaking of Him. 

With that understanding, though, the more I can set aside a particular time each day to meet with God, and have that become the normal expectation and experience, the deeper my walk with Him will be. I can just about guarantee it.  And I find that in the midst of this consistency, I can be flexible when needed.

So the woman at the well had some serious heart issues that Jesus stepped into and transformed. But she might have been on to something when she gravitated toward time and place. Who knows, maybe she was just a highly organized planner. Probably not, but who knows?