Sunday sermon review - Discipling God-Worshipers

Deuteronomy 6:4-7

“4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.“

Quite frankly I never gave much thought to these verses until God gave me a son. I knew the Great Shema from verse 4 and that the Great Commandment was in verse 5, but verses 6 and 7 never really entered the realm of conscious thought.

However, now that I have a son, these verses take on a special significance for me. It is MY job to teach my son the commands of God. Whether sitting around the house or driving in the car, when we wake up and when we lie down, I am to teach him about our LORD.

Wow. That is going to take some work! Right now, our favorite thing to do in our house is play with our tractors and trains and read books about tractors and trains. When riding in the car we like to watch Nemo on the DVD player. As soon as we wake up it is play time. On the way to bed there IS always a story read… but only sometimes is it a story about Jesus.

I have a lot of work to do.

But then I ask myself, “What do I want my son to be when he grows up?” I don’t mean his profession, what he will do to earn a living. I mean what do I want him to BE? I want his to be a godly man who faithfully directs his family to Christ. Then it hits me… If that is what I want him to be two things need to happen: I need to train him to do that AND that means I have to be that kind of man myself.

So, I am making the commitment to the LORD to teach his commands diligently to me son. It will take work and sacrifice, but the work is not the difficult. It is the same effort I would invest in him anyway. The difference is what I invest in him. Instead of spending all of our time playing together, I will spend our time talking about our LORD from his word. As we eat dinner together, we will talk about God’s work and his glory instead of just staring at the horses in the neighbors yard.

There is too much at stake in my son’s life for me not to take the initiative in his discipleship. It is not the church’s responsibility to teach my son the LROD’s commands, and it certainly is not the public school’s responsibility to teach him! It is my job and my wife’s job to teach him.

By God’s grace we are going to teach him.

Doctrine of the Day: Just War

First of all let me say, Happy Veterans Day and thank you to all who have served our country in the military. We have so many freedoms and blessings that are certainly by God’s grace, but He used our armed forces to deliver these blessings to us.

On a personal note, “Thank you, Dad, for serving in the Navy. I appreciate your willingness to serve our country especially during the trying times of the Vietnam war. Besides, I probably wouldn’t be here today if you and mom had not been in Pensacola in 1973.” : )

In honor of our veterans I give you the following from Al Mohler, President of Southeern Seminary. This was written in 2004 when our country was again entering a conflict that many questioned. We are still involved in that conflict today. Many asked the questions then and still ask them today, “Is this a just war? Is any war just for that matter?”

Here is Dr. Mohler’s response entitled 'Is War Ever Justified? A Reality Check'…

The words of Jesus are unambiguous: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." [Matt. 5:9] These familiar words from the Sermon on the Mount form the basis of any Christian understanding of war and its morality. For the Christian, the standard is already set and the goal is absolutely clear--we are to seek the peace.

The hard part comes in understanding how peace--even the partial and temporary cessation of war we call peace--can be achieved and established. Is war sometimes necessary for the making of peace?

Christians have struggled with this throughout the long span of Christian history. Some Christians have been willing to die but unwilling to kill--whatever the cause. Other Christians mounted crusades to reclaim territory and establish a Christian order by military force. The majority of Christians have struggled with the question in an attempt to be faithful in wars understood to be necessary as well as tragic.

The most thoughtful Christian tradition of moral reasoning on the question of lethal violence is customarily described as the Just War tradition. This pattern of careful thinking goes back to the earliest centuries of the church, when the armies of Rome defended the empire against aggression. When can a state lawfully go to war? What are the conditions necessary for risking and taking life? How is a war to be fought with ethical concern?

Based on biblical reasoning, the Just War tradition insists that war must be the last resort, after all reasonable alternatives have failed. A lawful authority must authorize the military action, and that authority must be driven by an intention to establish a righteous peace--not to gain territory or claim the goods of another lawful nation. Furthermore, any military action must be proportionate to the good that can be gained. No military action is justified that is not absolutely required. There must also be a very real hope of success.

In the final analysis, the only justifiable war is defensive rather than offensive--it is undertaken to right a wrong, not to gain an advantage.

Once military action is necessary and justified, commanders must take care to protect civilians to the greatest extent possible, and must avoid using certain weapons and forms of violence such as chemical and biological weapons, and torture.

These principles have guided Christian moral thought for at least 1,500 years, even as each generation has faced and answered new questions. Now, a new generation of American Christians face the challenge of thinking as Christians about the war in Iraq, the war on terror, and the use of deadly force. Now, with the war over a year old, and with the stark reality of continued warfare before us, these questions deserve our most careful thinking.

Pacifists claim that war can never be justified, whatever the cause or conditions. The moral failure of pacifism is found in its deadly naivete, not in its abhorrence of violence. In reality, the world is a violent place where humans with evil intent will make war on others. In such a world, respect for human life sometimes requires the taking of human life. That tragic fact is as clearly revealed in history as any other, and far more than most. Pacifism fails to keep the peace against those who would take it.

The moral agent of war is the sovereign state--not individuals or international organizations. In the final analysis, nations go to war one by one, and individually they will be judged. At the onset of hostilities in Iraq, President Bush stated his war aim as the removal of Saddam Hussein as a murderous tyrant against his own people and a dangerous aggressor against peaceful nations.

Further, the President claimed that all reasonable alternatives to war had been tried, and had failed. The United States pledged that the purpose of the war is to liberate the Iraqi people, not to subjugate them. The United States declaims any ambition to gain territory or resources from the nation of Iraq, and promises to rebuild the nation, feed its people, and establish a representative government accountable to Iraq's citizens. Is that enough?

With the 2004 presidential race shaping the political debate, President Bush's doctrine of preemptive war is on the agenda. Is preemptive military action ever justified? Admittedly, this is a hard question. But the answer must be yes, if the threat is real and the response is proportionate. President Franklin Roosevelt understood this when in one of his famous "Fireside Chats" he argued, "when you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him."

This simple logic is lost on those who would demand that a nation wait until it has been attacked in full force. A decision to wait is in this case a decision to allow lives to be lost when the warnings were clear. Without doubt, a doctrine of preemptive war can be misused. Statecraft must be humble as well as courageous, and the judgment for preemptive military action must be justified by overwhelming evidence of deadly ability and intention.

War is sometimes required by a motive to protect human life within another nation, when genocide or ethnic conflict threaten the innocent. As with preemptive military action, the evidence must be clear, the motivation for action must be honorable, and the goal must be nothing beyond the establishment of a just peace and respect for human life.

Augustine, the greatest theologian of the early church, gave the question of war one of its most faithful considerations. In summary, he argued that "true religion looks upon those wars that are waged, not for motives of aggrandizement or cruelty, but with the object of securing peace, of punishing evil-doers, and of uplifting the good."

The Christian conscience should struggle with the awful question of war. We know that every human life is sacred--and we know why. Christians must never grow to love war, nor to seek battle, yet those who righteously fight for life serve with honor. Those who fight for life and liberty deserve our gratitude, our support, and our prayer. We must pray for our troops and for their families. The terrors and heartbreaks of war are known most fully by those whose lives and loved ones are in the line of fire.

War is a demonstration of the utter sinfulness of sin. In the name of the Prince of Peace, Christians must seek to establish and maintain our faltering and transient efforts at peacemaking until our Lord comes to establish the only peace that endures. In this fallen world, we must honestly acknowledge that peacemaking will sometimes lead to war. In the final analysis, war is the worst option imaginable, until it is the only option left.

We need joyful, enthusiastic leaders

"The joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10

Mark Driscoll articulates an important leadership lesson here. It is so obvious, so biblical, so often disregarded.

Every church's leadership culture must have the boldness in Christ to look people straight in the eye and say forthrightly, "Hey, c'mon guys. This is for the Lord. Let's go for it!" Enthusiasm reaches for high standards, excellence, accomplishment. Enthusiasm demands of itself the best for the sake of a higher call. Enthusiasm crucifies the too-easily-wounded, silken Self for the sake of Christ. Enthusiasm cheerfully refuses to be held hostage by negative people. Another word for this kind of leadership is humility.

Self-focused leaders worry too much about offending people. Christ-focused leaders risk offense for his sake. Some people will be unable to join in the enthusiasm. Let them go. Let the joy of the Lord triumph. This happy reverence is your strength.

Sunday sermon review - Multigenerational Faithfulness

"Multigenerational faithfulness"

29 Letters...

10 syllables...

2 words...

1 goal for the church

What is multigenerational faithfulness? It means that our responsibility in the church is to make sure that each generation that comes after us has been given the faith once for all delivered to the saints. It means that my job is not only to make sure that my generation hears the gospel and glorifies God, but it also means that the generation behind me is equipped and prepared to preach the gospel to all nations as well.

It is a phrase I picked up from Voddie Baucham. You can learn all about him here.

One of the glaring problems in the church today is fewer and fewer young people are staying in the church as they grow up. There are beaucoups of statistics out there and bazillions of reports about this, but all one really needs to do is look around your average church to see the dearth of young people who are maturing, contributing Christian members.

The idea of multigenerational faithfulness is found all through the Bible, but the passage that sticks out the most to me is Psalm 145…

1 I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless you

and praise your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,

and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The LORD is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
14 The LORD upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
18 The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The LORD preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

The idea of reaching another generation with the gospel for the glory of Christ is not new or all that shocking. But there is another dimension of multigenerational faithfulness that has been severely lacking in the church (at least in the SBC churches that I know). And that is the teaching that it is the primary job of the family to carry on multigenerational faithfulness… NOT the children and youth programs of the church.

Ephesians 6:4

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

It is the father’s job, as the leader of his home, to see that his children grow up in the instruction of the LORD. The church comes along side him to help him and support him, but not to abdicate him from that responsibility.

With the rise of quality children’s and youth ministries we have also seen a decline in parents’ initiative in training their children in our faith.

It is my prayer that we will be committed to multigenerational faithfulness. We need to be obedient to the commands of Scripture. We need parents discipling their children. If not, then we will see “another generation after (us) who does not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). Those generations who forgot the LORD’s work during the time of the Judges were ruled by evil rulers… themselves. “In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

Let us not forget the work of our LORD Jesus Christ. Let us teach each generation that there is a King who rules his creation. Let us teach them to obey Him through his word.

Doctrine of the Day: Learning and Reading

I don’t know if any theologian or Christian thinker has ever articulated a Doctrine of Learning (Google certainly didn’t think so). I suppose you could say that sanctification includes learning. It IS difficult to transform your spirit and mind (Romans 12:2) without learning a thing or two. Even though it seems that learning is implicit in sanctification, it seems that the general way of thinking in the church today is that sanctification and learning are two separate ideas, and that learning is really less important that our sanctification. Well, now that I think about it, right now sanctification doesn’t really seem to be that big of a priority either. Anyway...

I think the modern church is kind of “anti-learning.” And that anti-learning mindset is stalling our sanctification.

Here’s what I mean.

Ask any Christian, “Does God want you to grow in godliness?” and he would probably say, “Yes.”

Ask the same dude, “By what process does He want you to grow?” and you will probably get some quizzical looks and requests for clarification or maybe even a request that you take your crazy self somewhere else.

Those brave enough to answer might say something like, going to church, going to Sunday school, reading the Bible, praying, etc. Those are all good things, but that answer leaves out something really important that the Bible makes a priority: LEARNING.

Most people, whether they articulate it or not, think that they LEARNED all the information they needed while they were in school (whether high school or vacation Bible school). “Yes, I know the story of Elijah and the widow, and Namaan, and Simon the magician. I got it.”

Now they are just applying what they learned. “I’m just trying to get through the day.”

Well, this is not what God intended for us. We are to always be learning and arriving at truth. We are supposed to be readers. We don’t read anymore. Our excuses are that we don’t have the attention span for it. We don’t have time for it. And besides, I don’t need to read.

But we do need to read. Not People magazine. Not the newspaper. Not James Patterson novels. Not Facebook statuses. Not pointless blogs. We don't need to read these.

We need to read the Bible. And not just the Bible. Read Christian biography. Read theology books. Read Christian classics. Read things that point us to God and explicitly help to worship Him.

Why do we need to read these things? Simple. Because the process God wants you to use in order to grow in godliness uses your mind and heart. It is impossible to transform your heart into Christlikeness apart from your mind being transformed also. Romans 12:2, Philippians 4:8, Colossians 3:2 and many other passages point to our sanctification being accomplished as our minds are filled with truth and filter that truth into our hearts.

In Philippians 3 Paul describes his goal in this life: to know God fully by pursuing Him every day. Once God has saved you and brought your heart back from death to life, your desires change. God places within you this desire to know Him fully, never to be satisfied with any thing less than having more of Him.

So, it says something about our sanctification, that it is being short-circuited, when we don’t want to learn more about God so that we can know Him better and worship Him more fully.

Near the end of Paul’s life he writes to Timothy and asks him to bring a few things to him (2 Timothy 4:13)

When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

Paul is about to go be with the Lord, and yet he still wants his books and parchments. He wants to READ. He wants to know God fully. He wants to LEARN. Even to his last day He wants to fill his mind and heart with thoughts and meditations on Christ and Him crucified.

I encourage you, dear reader, never to be satisfied with what you presently know of God. Read the Bible first. Study it. Know your God. Know the gospel. Be transformed by it.

But also read books, articles, blogs, anything you find or is recommended to you that will help you learn and grow in godliness. This is God’s plan for us.

Overcoming Guilt

My continuing struggle in the Christian life is feeling the accusations from the Evil One over my sin. I feel guilt almost every day. The following quote is very helpful to me in guiding me back to the work of Christ on the cross as the foundation of my faith and position in Christ.

“…when the devil comes and says, ‘You have no standing, you are condemned, you are finished’, you must say, ‘No! my position did not depend upon what I was doing, or not doing; it is always dependant upon the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Turn to the devil and tell him, ‘My relationship to God is not a variable one. The case is not that I am a child of God, and then again not a child of God. That is not the basis of my standing, that is not the position. When God had mercy upon me, He made me His child, and I remain his child. A very sinful, and a very unworthy one, perhaps, but still his child!

And now, when I fall into sin, I have not sinned against the law, I have sinned against love. Like the prodigal, I will go back to my Father and I will tell Him, “Father, I am not worthy to be called your son.” But He will embrace me, and He will say, “Do not talk nonsense, you are My child,” and He will shower his love upon me! That is the meaning of putting on the breastplate of righteousness! Never allow the devil to get you into a state of condemnation. Never allow a particular sin to call into question your standing before God. That question has been settled.”

Martyn Lloyd Jones, The Christian Soldier, p. 255

Sunday sermon review - Divorce and remarriage

Yesterday’s sermon was really difficult for me. Divorce is such a painful thing, and preaching about it is painful as well. The very public nature of divorce only adds to the shame and suffering as everyone around you is able to see the fruit of your marital problems.

We in the church are sometimes not very helpful either. We can be just as gossipy and nosy as the rest of the world. Nothing creates headlines in the news like a celebrity divorce, and nothing becomes the talk of the church faster than a couple who marriage is falling apart.

There certainly two ways for us in the church to approach this issue of divorce. One, we need to do a better job of ministering to those who have been affected by divorce, not only the formerly married couple, but also their children, friends and other family members. Two, we need to regain a solid biblical understanding of divorce and what exactly is prohibited and permitted by Scripture.

With all of our enlightenment and cultural development, in the church we still love to brand people with a scarlet letter like Hester Prynne. The stigma of divorce seems to short circuit our conduit of grace for some reason. It is not like we go out of our way to avoid those who have suffered through a divorce, but we don’t know how to relate to them in constructive, helpful ways.

The church is supposed to be a place where recovering sinners saved by God’s grace are nurtured and cared for as the Spirit heals their spiritual wounds. But we are often times like a hospital whose doctors and nurses refuse to treat their patients. Instead we enter their rooms and talk about the weather, our hobbies, etc. and never once pick up their chart, talk to them about what hurts, and prescribe the life-giving balm of Scripture. Oh sure we will carry our Bibles to church on Sundays but we rarely open them or use them to minister to people elsewhere.

We pastors are no better. It is easy to proclaim truth from a pulpit. It is much harder to sit face to face with someone and truly minister to them. That takes time, energy, and drains you emotionally. I need to spend more time actually ministering to people 1-on-1.

What all of this means is that the church needs to cultivate a biblical sense of community. I don’t mean ‘community’ in the popular, emergent sense of the word where we all just sit around and have a conversation about life that does not lead us to the cross of Christ. I mean that we need to regain a biblical understanding of our connectedness in Christ as the children of God.

I just can’t get away from the straightforward, simple commands of Galatians 6:1-2

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

There are two commands given. One, restore those who are caught in sin. The condition, of course, is that we must take care of our own spirit first, but the command still stands. We are supposed to help people who are caught in sin to get out and return to Christ. The modern day notion of tolerance and/or privacy do not apply to the Christian. We do not ‘tolerate’ sin. Nor do we stay out of other people’s business. God calls us to hold each other accountable for sin and to restore each other when we do son. “Just mind your own business” does not belong in the people of God. Those who seek to restore a brother caught in sin MUST do this gently and lovingly, but do this they must.

The second command is a little vague, and I think that is by design. “Bear one another’s burdens.” What burdens? Does that mean helping your neighbor with a project around the house? Does that mean counseling a troubled teen? Yes to both. This is a broad command designed to call us to community. To help one another with whatever we need help with. And frankly, we need help with a lot! Specifically to this blog post, we need to help those whose lives have been torn apart by divorce to be healed. Only Christ can do this, so that means that we must bear one another up into the presence of Christ. Like the four friends who lowered their lame companion through the roof into a crowded room so that Jesus could heal him, so too should we come alongside our hurting church members and bring them to Jesus.

God’s grace is rich, and He lavishes it upon us. He forgives ALL our sins. He restores us fully to himself. The church should continue to facilitate that restoration for all sinners saved by grace. This should not be an afterthought or something that happens by accident. We need to be very intentional about administering God’s grace in its varied forms for the purpose of growing God’s children into mature Christlikeness.

I hope you will join me in praying for our churches, and more specifically, I hope you will join me in being an instrument of righteousness in your church.