Thursday, November 29, 2007
Making a Jesus Out of Your Faith
From ideliglog
William Romaine (18th century English Anglican Evangelical) was a great man. His Letters are spectacular and in fact the great Thomas Chalmers said that Romaine’s letters are the best book to read to heal you of a legal spirit (i.e. legalism.) In Letter 37 of the Select Letters (kept in print by Old Paths Gospel Press and sold by Dr. Beeke at http://www.heritagebooks.org) he writes about the problem of making a Jesus out of our faith and how this robs us of our comfort. Here is an excerpt:
“For you are looking, not at the object of your faith, at jesus, but at your faith. You would draw your comfort, not from Him, but from your faith. And because your faith is not quite perfect, you are as much discouraged as if Jesus was not quite a perfect Savior… But, besides this mistake, I can see one of the greatest sins in your way of reasoning, and yet finely cloaked under a very specious covering. I pulled it off; and behold there was rank treason under it, against the crown and majesty of my Lord and God; for you are kept looking at your act of believing. What is this for? Why, certainly, that you may be satisfied with it. What then? No doubt you will then rest in it, and upon it, satisfied now that Christ is yours, because you are satisfied with your faith. This is making a Jesus of it, and is in effect taking the crown of crowns from his head, and placing it upon the head of your faith. Lord grant you may never do this any more!
"I observe… how, by this mistake, and by this great sin, the sin of sins, you are robbed of the sweet enjoyment of the God of all comfort. You lose what you seek, and lose it in the way of seeking. You want comfort, and you look to your faith for it. If faith could speak it would say, ‘I have none to give you, look unto Jesus, it is all in Him’ Indeed my friend it is. The Holy Ghost, the Comforter, will not glorify your faith. he will not give it the honour of comforting you. he takes nothing to comfort with but the things of Christ - and His things, not as used by you, but as given by Him, who is all yours… I grant you, and I know it well, that much faith brings much comfort from Christ, and carries much glory to Him; but the way to get much faith is not to look at it, as you do, but at the Savior; not to look at your hand, but at Jesus; not how you hold Him, but that He is yours , and holds you, and your faith too, and therefore you shall never perish, but shall have everlasting life.”
William Romaine (18th century English Anglican Evangelical) was a great man. His Letters are spectacular and in fact the great Thomas Chalmers said that Romaine’s letters are the best book to read to heal you of a legal spirit (i.e. legalism.) In Letter 37 of the Select Letters (kept in print by Old Paths Gospel Press and sold by Dr. Beeke at http://www.heritagebooks.org) he writes about the problem of making a Jesus out of our faith and how this robs us of our comfort. Here is an excerpt:
“For you are looking, not at the object of your faith, at jesus, but at your faith. You would draw your comfort, not from Him, but from your faith. And because your faith is not quite perfect, you are as much discouraged as if Jesus was not quite a perfect Savior… But, besides this mistake, I can see one of the greatest sins in your way of reasoning, and yet finely cloaked under a very specious covering. I pulled it off; and behold there was rank treason under it, against the crown and majesty of my Lord and God; for you are kept looking at your act of believing. What is this for? Why, certainly, that you may be satisfied with it. What then? No doubt you will then rest in it, and upon it, satisfied now that Christ is yours, because you are satisfied with your faith. This is making a Jesus of it, and is in effect taking the crown of crowns from his head, and placing it upon the head of your faith. Lord grant you may never do this any more!
"I observe… how, by this mistake, and by this great sin, the sin of sins, you are robbed of the sweet enjoyment of the God of all comfort. You lose what you seek, and lose it in the way of seeking. You want comfort, and you look to your faith for it. If faith could speak it would say, ‘I have none to give you, look unto Jesus, it is all in Him’ Indeed my friend it is. The Holy Ghost, the Comforter, will not glorify your faith. he will not give it the honour of comforting you. he takes nothing to comfort with but the things of Christ - and His things, not as used by you, but as given by Him, who is all yours… I grant you, and I know it well, that much faith brings much comfort from Christ, and carries much glory to Him; but the way to get much faith is not to look at it, as you do, but at the Savior; not to look at your hand, but at Jesus; not how you hold Him, but that He is yours , and holds you, and your faith too, and therefore you shall never perish, but shall have everlasting life.”
Friday, November 23, 2007
An Honest Atheist
By Living Waters quotes atheist Thomas Nagel...
"In speaking of the fear of religion…I am talking about…the fear of religion itself. I speak from experience, being strongly subject to this fear myself: I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God, and, natural, hope that I’m right in my belief. It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God’ I don’t want the universe to be like that… My guess is that this cosmic authority problem is not a rare condition and that it is responsible for much of the scientism and reductionism of our time. One of the tendencies it supports is the ludicrous overuse of evolutionary biology to explain everything about life, including everything about the human mind."
This comes from Thomas Nagel’s The Last Word (Oxford University Press, 1997) 130-1.
"In speaking of the fear of religion…I am talking about…the fear of religion itself. I speak from experience, being strongly subject to this fear myself: I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God, and, natural, hope that I’m right in my belief. It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God’ I don’t want the universe to be like that… My guess is that this cosmic authority problem is not a rare condition and that it is responsible for much of the scientism and reductionism of our time. One of the tendencies it supports is the ludicrous overuse of evolutionary biology to explain everything about life, including everything about the human mind."
This comes from Thomas Nagel’s The Last Word (Oxford University Press, 1997) 130-1.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Long-Haul Preaching
Long-Haul Preaching
by Steve Mathewson
David Jackman, veteran preacher and President of The Proclamation Trust in London, England, made this statement last week in a preaching lecture in Chicago: “Life transformation takes time. So preach over the long haul. You are a long distance runner.”
I needed to hear this statement because I’m prone to impatience! I can get impatient with the people to whom I preach. Why don’t they get it?! Why are they still the same old bunch that they were last week or last month or last year? But this line of thinking doesn’t stop with my congregation. It invariably leads to impatience with myself! What’s wrong with my preaching? What must I do differently? The lack of response must be my fault!
Now I’m not suggesting that preachers avoid rigorous self-evaluation. I’m on a life-long quest to improve my preaching for the glory of God and the good of His people. But I cross the line from healthy critique to unhealthy blame when I forget that life-transformation takes time.
Why don’t I get this? Perhaps it’s because God sometimes bring dramatic, instantaneous change in listeners’ lives. Sometimes. But these “sometimes” raise my expectations that God will do this almost every time. Yet that is not God’s usual way of working. As Richard Mouw claimed in a sermon a couple decades ago, we need to hear more about the slowness of God. God has the power create and change things instantly. But from our vantage point in the unfolding drama of redemption, it appears that God takes his time. Sanctification is a slow process. It happens over the long-haul. So behind my impatience with my listeners, myself, and the process of preaching is impatience with God. Lord, have mercy on this impatient preacher!
I still pray that this Sunday will be the moment in someone’s life – or in a number of lives – when striking transformation occurs. But whether it happens or not, or whether I see it or not, I need to stay the course and do my best to proclaim God’s word over the long haul. May God grant you the grace and perseverance to do the same.
by Steve Mathewson
David Jackman, veteran preacher and President of The Proclamation Trust in London, England, made this statement last week in a preaching lecture in Chicago: “Life transformation takes time. So preach over the long haul. You are a long distance runner.”
I needed to hear this statement because I’m prone to impatience! I can get impatient with the people to whom I preach. Why don’t they get it?! Why are they still the same old bunch that they were last week or last month or last year? But this line of thinking doesn’t stop with my congregation. It invariably leads to impatience with myself! What’s wrong with my preaching? What must I do differently? The lack of response must be my fault!
Now I’m not suggesting that preachers avoid rigorous self-evaluation. I’m on a life-long quest to improve my preaching for the glory of God and the good of His people. But I cross the line from healthy critique to unhealthy blame when I forget that life-transformation takes time.
Why don’t I get this? Perhaps it’s because God sometimes bring dramatic, instantaneous change in listeners’ lives. Sometimes. But these “sometimes” raise my expectations that God will do this almost every time. Yet that is not God’s usual way of working. As Richard Mouw claimed in a sermon a couple decades ago, we need to hear more about the slowness of God. God has the power create and change things instantly. But from our vantage point in the unfolding drama of redemption, it appears that God takes his time. Sanctification is a slow process. It happens over the long-haul. So behind my impatience with my listeners, myself, and the process of preaching is impatience with God. Lord, have mercy on this impatient preacher!
I still pray that this Sunday will be the moment in someone’s life – or in a number of lives – when striking transformation occurs. But whether it happens or not, or whether I see it or not, I need to stay the course and do my best to proclaim God’s word over the long haul. May God grant you the grace and perseverance to do the same.
Authenticity of the Gospels
From Pen & Parchment: The Gospels: Embarrassingly Authentic?
This is why the potentially embarrassing elements of the Gospels are a significant part of their historicity. Notice these accounts from the Gospel of Mark taken from Gregory Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy in their excellent new book Lord or Legend: Wrestling with the Jesus Dilemma.
* Jesus’ own family did not believe him and even questioned his sanity (Mark 3:21)
* Jesus was rejected by people in his hometown and couldn’t perform many miracles there (Mark 6:2-5)
* Some thought Jesus was in collusion with, and even possessed by, the devil (Mark 3:22)
* At times Jesus seemed to rely on common medicinal techniques (Mark 7:33; Mark 8:23)
* Jesus’ healings weren’t always instantaneous (Mark 8:22-25)
* Jesus’ disciples weren’t always able to exorcise demons (Mark 9:18), and Jesus’ own exorcisms weren’t always instantaneous (Mark 5:8-13)
* Jesus seemed to suggest he wasn’t good (Mark 10:18)
* Jesus associated with people of ill-repute and gained a reputation of being a glutton and drunkard (Mark 2:15-16)
* Jesus sometimes seems to act rudely to people (Mark 7:26-27)
* Jesus seemed to disregard Jewish laws, customs, and cleanliness codes (Mark 2:23-24)
* Jesus often spoke and acted in culturally “shameful” ways (Mark 3: 31-35)
* Jesus cursed a fig tree for not having any figs when he was hungry, despite the fact that it wasn’t the season for figs (Mark 11:12-14)
* The disciples who were to form the foundation of the new community consistently seem dull, obstinate, and cowardly (Mark 8:32-33; Mark 10:35-37; Mark 14:37-40)
* Jesus was betrayed by an inner-circle disciple (Mark 14:43-46), and Peter cowardly denied any association with him (Mark 14:66-72)
* Women were the first to discover Jesus’ tomb was empty—while the men were hiding in fear! (Mark 16:1-8)
* The primary hero (Jesus) was crucified on a cross bringing a definite curse upon him (cf. Deut. 21:22-23)
If the Gospels served to form the backbone of the emerging Christian community of the first century, why include such details if they were not true? In other words, historic inquiry must ask the question concerning the raising of such stories, What explanation best accounts for their inclusion? Why make up details that are damaging?
This is why the potentially embarrassing elements of the Gospels are a significant part of their historicity. Notice these accounts from the Gospel of Mark taken from Gregory Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy in their excellent new book Lord or Legend: Wrestling with the Jesus Dilemma.
* Jesus’ own family did not believe him and even questioned his sanity (Mark 3:21)
* Jesus was rejected by people in his hometown and couldn’t perform many miracles there (Mark 6:2-5)
* Some thought Jesus was in collusion with, and even possessed by, the devil (Mark 3:22)
* At times Jesus seemed to rely on common medicinal techniques (Mark 7:33; Mark 8:23)
* Jesus’ healings weren’t always instantaneous (Mark 8:22-25)
* Jesus’ disciples weren’t always able to exorcise demons (Mark 9:18), and Jesus’ own exorcisms weren’t always instantaneous (Mark 5:8-13)
* Jesus seemed to suggest he wasn’t good (Mark 10:18)
* Jesus associated with people of ill-repute and gained a reputation of being a glutton and drunkard (Mark 2:15-16)
* Jesus sometimes seems to act rudely to people (Mark 7:26-27)
* Jesus seemed to disregard Jewish laws, customs, and cleanliness codes (Mark 2:23-24)
* Jesus often spoke and acted in culturally “shameful” ways (Mark 3: 31-35)
* Jesus cursed a fig tree for not having any figs when he was hungry, despite the fact that it wasn’t the season for figs (Mark 11:12-14)
* The disciples who were to form the foundation of the new community consistently seem dull, obstinate, and cowardly (Mark 8:32-33; Mark 10:35-37; Mark 14:37-40)
* Jesus was betrayed by an inner-circle disciple (Mark 14:43-46), and Peter cowardly denied any association with him (Mark 14:66-72)
* Women were the first to discover Jesus’ tomb was empty—while the men were hiding in fear! (Mark 16:1-8)
* The primary hero (Jesus) was crucified on a cross bringing a definite curse upon him (cf. Deut. 21:22-23)
If the Gospels served to form the backbone of the emerging Christian community of the first century, why include such details if they were not true? In other words, historic inquiry must ask the question concerning the raising of such stories, What explanation best accounts for their inclusion? Why make up details that are damaging?
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Observations on Church Planting
From John Piper:
1. There are 195 million non-churched people in America, making America one of the top four largest “unchurched” nations in the world.
2. In spite of the rise of mega-churches, no county in America has a greater church population than it did ten years ago.
3. During the last ten years, combined communicant membership of all Protestant denominations declined by 9.5 percent (4,498,242), while the national population increased by 11.4 percent (24,153,000).
4. Each year 3,500 to 4,000 churches close their doors forever; yet only as many as 1,500 new churches are started.
5. There are now nearly 60 percent fewer churches per 10,000 persons than in 1920.
* In 1920 27 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.
* In 1950 17 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.
* In 1996 11 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.
6. “Today, of the approximately 350,000 churches in America, four out of five are either plateaued or declining.”
7. One American denomination recently found that 80% of its converts came to Christ in churches less than two years old.
8. Hence the claim of many leaders: “The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches” (Peter Wagner).
1. There are 195 million non-churched people in America, making America one of the top four largest “unchurched” nations in the world.
2. In spite of the rise of mega-churches, no county in America has a greater church population than it did ten years ago.
3. During the last ten years, combined communicant membership of all Protestant denominations declined by 9.5 percent (4,498,242), while the national population increased by 11.4 percent (24,153,000).
4. Each year 3,500 to 4,000 churches close their doors forever; yet only as many as 1,500 new churches are started.
5. There are now nearly 60 percent fewer churches per 10,000 persons than in 1920.
* In 1920 27 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.
* In 1950 17 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.
* In 1996 11 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.
6. “Today, of the approximately 350,000 churches in America, four out of five are either plateaued or declining.”
7. One American denomination recently found that 80% of its converts came to Christ in churches less than two years old.
8. Hence the claim of many leaders: “The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches” (Peter Wagner).
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