Russell Moore delivered a very convicting chapel address at Southern Seminary entitled: "The Devil Votes Christian Values, Why We Are Tempted to Be Glorified Satanists Rather Than Crucified Followers." A student and I listened to it together tonight and he shouted out "Amen!" more than once and we both agreed it was a very much needed message. It led to my own self-reflection and we talked for quite awhile about the pitfalls of ministry and how temptations to pride and envy are the water we swim in. Anyway, this would make for a great conversation starter among your leaders or among ourselves. Even if you do it on your own, you ought to give it a listen.
Listen here.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Keller's Planting Manual- $35
I had mentioned Tim Keller's church planting manual in a previous post. Here is a link to where you can get it. It has gone up in price since when I bought it a few years back, but it is good and would be worth the money especially if you know someone doing urban work.
2009 Next Conference church planting talk mp3
Just in case you are a church planting nerd and are interested in how different groups approach the church planting process, at this year's Next Conference (a conference targeting college students put on by Sovereign Grace Ministries which usually attracts some big name speakers)the Sovereign Grace church planting team explained what is going on with them and share some insight into their process.
You can hear it here.
You can hear it here.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Ed Stetzer Talks
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Yes plant, but don't forget the others either...
Al Mohler wrote an article some time back that I found thought provoking. I came across it again today and figured I'd go ahead and share it with you. In it he cheers on the church planting movement while at the same time wanting to encourage young pastors not to give up on established churches. He writes:
There can be no doubt that the planting of new congregations is a New Testament model. This approach comes with apostolic encouragement, as any reading of the Book of Acts and Paul's letters will reveal. Many of these new congregations will be fueled with great passion for the Gospel and for reaching unreached communities, people groups, and sectors of our society. This is indeed good news.
At the same time, we also need this generation of young pastors to go into established churches and revitalize a Gospel ministry through expository preaching and energetic leadership. Giving up on the established church is not an option. Some young pastors see church planting as a way of avoiding the challenge of dealing with the people and pathologies of older congregations. This is an abdication of responsibility.
Part of the reason I found this article thought provoking is because that second to last line describes many of us planters. I know it described me when I was graduating from seminary. I didn't have a mission mentality as much as I had an "avoidance" mentality (i.e. avoid all the grumpy stick-in-the-mud church members who are in established churches). Once I hit the field, my mindset shifted and I became very missions minded- but, nevertheless, my initial motivation was not so much missions as it was efficiency. Granted, I was encouraged to think this way by church growth classes and fellow seminary students who had more horror stories than I could shake a stick at. I had very little ministry experience at this point (I had only been a volunteer youth leader) and their stories scared me silly. Any way of avoiding that was a no brainer to me.
Would I do it differently this time? I don't think that is a question I can ask- God as put me on the path I'm on and I believe wholeheartedly that I have been used where He desired me to be. I do think that I would have thought differently this time- and I'm very glad to be able to say that.
Read the full article here.
There can be no doubt that the planting of new congregations is a New Testament model. This approach comes with apostolic encouragement, as any reading of the Book of Acts and Paul's letters will reveal. Many of these new congregations will be fueled with great passion for the Gospel and for reaching unreached communities, people groups, and sectors of our society. This is indeed good news.
At the same time, we also need this generation of young pastors to go into established churches and revitalize a Gospel ministry through expository preaching and energetic leadership. Giving up on the established church is not an option. Some young pastors see church planting as a way of avoiding the challenge of dealing with the people and pathologies of older congregations. This is an abdication of responsibility.
Part of the reason I found this article thought provoking is because that second to last line describes many of us planters. I know it described me when I was graduating from seminary. I didn't have a mission mentality as much as I had an "avoidance" mentality (i.e. avoid all the grumpy stick-in-the-mud church members who are in established churches). Once I hit the field, my mindset shifted and I became very missions minded- but, nevertheless, my initial motivation was not so much missions as it was efficiency. Granted, I was encouraged to think this way by church growth classes and fellow seminary students who had more horror stories than I could shake a stick at. I had very little ministry experience at this point (I had only been a volunteer youth leader) and their stories scared me silly. Any way of avoiding that was a no brainer to me.
Would I do it differently this time? I don't think that is a question I can ask- God as put me on the path I'm on and I believe wholeheartedly that I have been used where He desired me to be. I do think that I would have thought differently this time- and I'm very glad to be able to say that.
Read the full article here.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Planting Resources from Sovereign Grace
I just came across this and haven't had a chance to peruse the materials, but Sovereign Grace Ministries (C.J. Mahaney, Joshua Harris, etc.) has a section on church plating on their website. The intro reads:
In Sovereign Grace Ministries, starting new churches is the natural overflow of our passion for the gospel. Indeed, the message of Christ crucified provides the ultimate reason for church planting and is itself the power of God behind all our church-planting efforts.
This section is designed to familiarize you with our church-planting model, answer some common questions about church planting in Sovereign Grace, and offer resources that we hope will prove helpful.
Looks like it could be helpful. Check it out and let us know what you find:
Click here for Sovereign Grace church planting resources.
-Doug
In Sovereign Grace Ministries, starting new churches is the natural overflow of our passion for the gospel. Indeed, the message of Christ crucified provides the ultimate reason for church planting and is itself the power of God behind all our church-planting efforts.
This section is designed to familiarize you with our church-planting model, answer some common questions about church planting in Sovereign Grace, and offer resources that we hope will prove helpful.
Looks like it could be helpful. Check it out and let us know what you find:
Click here for Sovereign Grace church planting resources.
-Doug
Monday, June 15, 2009
Evangelicalism's Biggest Problem
From an interview with Dan Phillips (pyromaniacs blog):
Question: What is the biggest problem facing evangelicalism today and how should we respond?
DP: Here's exactly what I think it is: failure truly to understand, believe, embrace, and live out a robust conviction of the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. I see that as the common theme behind the various church-growth fads, the Emerg*** movement, crippling forms of mysticism and charismaticism, and pulpit ills in general. We don't really believe Scripture is enough. It must be supplemented with techniques, programs, experiences, exercises, entertainment. The Reformation put the pulpit (for the preaching of the Word) at the center, and we're working hard to move it aside and replace it with a thousand and one distractions. "Preach the word!" Paul cried to Timothy as he finished his own course. God grant us ears to hear, greater hearts to grasp, bolder lips to proclaim, and stiffer spines to stand on the Word alone.
Question: What is the biggest problem facing evangelicalism today and how should we respond?
DP: Here's exactly what I think it is: failure truly to understand, believe, embrace, and live out a robust conviction of the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. I see that as the common theme behind the various church-growth fads, the Emerg*** movement, crippling forms of mysticism and charismaticism, and pulpit ills in general. We don't really believe Scripture is enough. It must be supplemented with techniques, programs, experiences, exercises, entertainment. The Reformation put the pulpit (for the preaching of the Word) at the center, and we're working hard to move it aside and replace it with a thousand and one distractions. "Preach the word!" Paul cried to Timothy as he finished his own course. God grant us ears to hear, greater hearts to grasp, bolder lips to proclaim, and stiffer spines to stand on the Word alone.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Theology of the City
Over at the Nine Marks Blog, Greg Gilbert gives some responses to a book that he has read concerning the "theology of the city."
This seems to me to be something that planters in more urbanized areas ought to be considering and Tim Keller has really majored on this topic. You can go to his church's website (Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City) and go to the church planting section. From there you can order a church planting manual that he has crafted for planters in New York.
I purchased it before moving here and found it to be very helpful- more so than many church planting helps I've encountered over the years even though it focused on the city- and it only cost about $14.
Anyhow, check out Gilbert's take on what he's read so far (here) - it is a few good reminders to us all.
This seems to me to be something that planters in more urbanized areas ought to be considering and Tim Keller has really majored on this topic. You can go to his church's website (Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City) and go to the church planting section. From there you can order a church planting manual that he has crafted for planters in New York.
I purchased it before moving here and found it to be very helpful- more so than many church planting helps I've encountered over the years even though it focused on the city- and it only cost about $14.
Anyhow, check out Gilbert's take on what he's read so far (here) - it is a few good reminders to us all.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
CPN Date Changes
More filling, less calories, we have two changes to our CPN schedule:
The June 25th meeting has been moved to Friday, June 26th. Larry Black will be joining us and desires to get to know everyone- so please make sure you make it. 12:00 Noon at Acts 2 in Roanoke.
Also, the August meeting has been switched from a Statewide meeting to a regional. So, it will also be in Roanoke.
The June 25th meeting has been moved to Friday, June 26th. Larry Black will be joining us and desires to get to know everyone- so please make sure you make it. 12:00 Noon at Acts 2 in Roanoke.
Also, the August meeting has been switched from a Statewide meeting to a regional. So, it will also be in Roanoke.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Don't You Worry?
An excerpt from John MacArthur's sermon on 2 John 1:4. I find this very convicting.
-Doug
At this point, I told you this morning I want to just say a personal word. This is John MacArthur, not the Apostle John. But I...people ask me often, "Do you ever worry about what people think about what you say?" And I can honestly say I don't. Actually the thought doesn't enter my mind. I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm not trying to be unloving, I'm not trying to be unkind, I'm not trying to ride roughshod over people either their understanding or their feelings. But, you see, what men think bears very little weight to me. It is not a heavy burden for me. There is a far greater weight that I feel and it's the weight of the revelation of God. That is a heavy thing to me. The truth of God is very heavy upon me. It is the greatest weight that I feel in my life by far. The glory of God, the Old Testament word for glory is the word in Hebrew weight. I have a rather heavy view of God and His Word. It weighs heavy on me and nothing equals the weight of that. Human opinion, popularity, whatever, bears very little weight. It is as a feature compared to the weight of the revelation of God that I feel.
God has exalted His Word to the level of His name, Psalm 138. It is as heavy as God is weighty. And I feel the weight of that and that is why for me study and preaching is so intense because this is my responsibility to feel the weight of the truth of God and then to dispense it to you.
This is my calling. This is not unusual. I 'm not alone in this. This is the calling of every man of God, of every teacher of the Bible, of every leader in the church, every pastor, elder. At least this is what the church is about. We are the pillar and foundation of the truth. And it is a weighty matter to me. Nothing is as important to me as divine truth, for it is in divine truth that I know God, it is in divine truth that I know Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation, that I understand everything I need to understand that matters.
-Doug
At this point, I told you this morning I want to just say a personal word. This is John MacArthur, not the Apostle John. But I...people ask me often, "Do you ever worry about what people think about what you say?" And I can honestly say I don't. Actually the thought doesn't enter my mind. I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm not trying to be unloving, I'm not trying to be unkind, I'm not trying to ride roughshod over people either their understanding or their feelings. But, you see, what men think bears very little weight to me. It is not a heavy burden for me. There is a far greater weight that I feel and it's the weight of the revelation of God. That is a heavy thing to me. The truth of God is very heavy upon me. It is the greatest weight that I feel in my life by far. The glory of God, the Old Testament word for glory is the word in Hebrew weight. I have a rather heavy view of God and His Word. It weighs heavy on me and nothing equals the weight of that. Human opinion, popularity, whatever, bears very little weight. It is as a feature compared to the weight of the revelation of God that I feel.
God has exalted His Word to the level of His name, Psalm 138. It is as heavy as God is weighty. And I feel the weight of that and that is why for me study and preaching is so intense because this is my responsibility to feel the weight of the truth of God and then to dispense it to you.
This is my calling. This is not unusual. I 'm not alone in this. This is the calling of every man of God, of every teacher of the Bible, of every leader in the church, every pastor, elder. At least this is what the church is about. We are the pillar and foundation of the truth. And it is a weighty matter to me. Nothing is as important to me as divine truth, for it is in divine truth that I know God, it is in divine truth that I know Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation, that I understand everything I need to understand that matters.
Why is My Self-Therapy Needed?
This morning I felt like a failure.
We had a good Sunday service, a first-timer attended and a group of us took him out to lunch. Afterwards we did our monthly volunteer work at the local nursing home singing hymns with them and they sang like birds (more like geese than nightinggales - but birds nonetheless). So what was my problem?
My problem was that the group I was preaching to was much smaller than I had hoped it would be at this point.
My problem was that, though we have baptized two during my tenure here, they were both family members of church members. We have done outreaches- both servant and door to door evangelism; we have done community events; conducted several Backyard Bible Clubs; the members of my church are doing personal evangelism and we have joined together to pray for those we are reaching out to; I have shared the Gospel at Starbucks with co-workers and invited customers to come to church. And yet, the baptistry is empty.
Epic Fail.
At least that is the way I felt for a few fleeting moments today until I, gratefully, snapped out of it through some self-therapy.
The question that I am now wrestling with is "Why?"
"Why is it that these feelings of failure creep in in the first place?"
There are times when these feelings are legit. I realize that.
For example, I have really been convicted about how I did not devote enough time to visiting my folks (particularly the college students) this past spring. I had a group of them over our home each week, but there were some that I spent very little time with. Fail? Yes, fail. I intend on fixing that.
But this is not one of those times.
There is only so much control we have over the number of people who show up on Sunday and who get saved (did I say "so much control"? Maybe more acurately "no control?").
Last CPN, you may recall that Tom shared his own feelings of failure although he has seen two women saved out of Mormonism here recently.
How is that a failure?
How is it possible that we label ourselves as such?
Some thoughts on this would be helpful. Maybe if we diagnose the problem, we could be on the way to the cure.
-Doug
We had a good Sunday service, a first-timer attended and a group of us took him out to lunch. Afterwards we did our monthly volunteer work at the local nursing home singing hymns with them and they sang like birds (more like geese than nightinggales - but birds nonetheless). So what was my problem?
My problem was that the group I was preaching to was much smaller than I had hoped it would be at this point.
My problem was that, though we have baptized two during my tenure here, they were both family members of church members. We have done outreaches- both servant and door to door evangelism; we have done community events; conducted several Backyard Bible Clubs; the members of my church are doing personal evangelism and we have joined together to pray for those we are reaching out to; I have shared the Gospel at Starbucks with co-workers and invited customers to come to church. And yet, the baptistry is empty.
Epic Fail.
At least that is the way I felt for a few fleeting moments today until I, gratefully, snapped out of it through some self-therapy.
The question that I am now wrestling with is "Why?"
"Why is it that these feelings of failure creep in in the first place?"
There are times when these feelings are legit. I realize that.
For example, I have really been convicted about how I did not devote enough time to visiting my folks (particularly the college students) this past spring. I had a group of them over our home each week, but there were some that I spent very little time with. Fail? Yes, fail. I intend on fixing that.
But this is not one of those times.
There is only so much control we have over the number of people who show up on Sunday and who get saved (did I say "so much control"? Maybe more acurately "no control?").
Last CPN, you may recall that Tom shared his own feelings of failure although he has seen two women saved out of Mormonism here recently.
How is that a failure?
How is it possible that we label ourselves as such?
Some thoughts on this would be helpful. Maybe if we diagnose the problem, we could be on the way to the cure.
-Doug
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Worldliness
I had posted a link to this extract a number of weeks back. After having posted the last Spurgeon quote (below) I found myself returning to this and re-reading it and, again, saying "wow."
So, in case you did not have the energy to click on the link I provided last time, I have copied it in its entirety below. This is from the Banner of Truth website.
Read it for your edification.
-Doug
By Iain MurrayAn edited extract from Mr Murray's new book Evangelicalism Divided (Banner of Truth)
In his book on Evangelicalism, James Davison Hunter wrote: 'A dynamic would appear to be operating [in Evangelicalism] that strikes at the very heart of Evangelical self-identity'.
What is this 'dynamic'?
I believe that all the evidence points in one direction. It is that Evangelicals, while commonly retaining the same set of beliefs, have been tempted to seek success in ways which the New Testament identifies as 'worldliness'.
What is worldliness?
Worldliness is departing from God. It is a man-centred way of thinking; it proposes objectives which demand no radical breach with man's fallen nature; it judges the importance of things by the present and material results; it weighs success by numbers; it covets human esteem and wants no unpopularity; it knows no truth for which it is worth suffering; it declines to be a 'fool for Christ's sake'.
Worldliness is the mind-set of the unregenerate. It adopts idols and is at war with God. Because 'the flesh' still dwells in the Christian he is far from immune from being influenced by this dynamic.
It is of believers that it is said, 'the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary one to another' (Galatians 5:17). It is professing Christians who are asked, 'Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?' (James 4:4) and are commanded, 'Do not love the world', and 'keep yourselves from idols' (1 John 2:15, 5:21).
Apostasy generally arises in the church just because this danger ceases to be observed. The consequence is that spiritual warfare gives way to spiritual pacifism, and, in the same spirit, the church devises ways to present the gospel which will neutralise any offence.
The antithesis between regenerate and unregenerate is passed over and it is supposed that the interests and ambitions of the unconverted can somehow be harnessed to win their approval for Christ. Then when this approach achieves 'results' - as it will - no more justification is thought to be needed. The rule of Scripture has given place to pragmatism.Converted to the worldThe apostolic statement, 'For if I still pleased men, I would not be the servant of Christ' (Galatians 1:10), has lost its meaning. No Christian deliberately gives way to the spirit of the world but we all may do so unwittingly and unconsciously.
That this has happened on a large scale in the later-twentieth century is to be seen in the way in which the interests and priorities of contemporary culture have come to be mirrored in the churches.
The antipathy to authority and to discipline; the cry for entertainment by the visual image rather than by the words of Scripture; the appeal of the spectacular; the rise of feminism; the readiness to identify power with numbers; the unwillingness to make 'beliefs' a matter of controversy - all these features, so evident in the world's agenda, are now also to be found in the Christian scene.
Instead of the churches revolutionising the culture, the reverse has happened. Churches have been converted to the world. David Wells has written: 'The stream of historic orthodoxy that once watered the evangelical soul is now dammed by a worldliness that many fail to recognise as worldliness because of the cultural innocence with which it presents itself. ... It may be that Christian faith, which has made many easy alliances with modern culture in the past few decades, is also living in a fool's paradise, comforting itself about all the things God is doing ... while it is losing its character, if not its soul' (No place for truth, pp. 11, 68).
Inducements
This same worldliness has come to affect the way in which the gospel is often presented to the unconverted. Leonard Sweet has pointed out that Evangelicals and liberals are often similar in the inducements which they propose to their hearers why they should become Christians.Both offer such things as more success in life, a happier marriage, an integrated personality, more meaning to existence, and so on. In other words, the reasons for becoming a Christian are pragmatic and they are presented with stories of how it has worked for others.
The subject of worldliness, however, has a deeper bearing. Human conduct is not capable of being understood so long as it is imagined that man is self-contained and insulated from any power other than his own.
Worldliness, it is true, is the outcome of man's fallen nature, but the same fall which introduced that nature also brought man under the control of Satan and demonic powers. Worldliness is no accident; it is the devil's use of such idols as pride, selfishness, and pleasure, to maintain his dominion over men.
The malice of Satan
What Satan proposes for man's happiness is, in truth, the result of implacable malice towards the whole human race. He means to exclude God and to destroy men, and the system he has devised to do this is so subtle that man is a willing and unconscious captive: 'You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him' (John 8:44).
Scripture says a great deal on the reality of the demonic, and yet the subject is today largely passed over in silence. Human wisdom has no place for the very idea and diverges completely from the revelation in Scripture.
The devil is a mere fable and superstition, so men believe; according to Scripture he is the unseen enemy who constitutes the greatest problem for men in general and for the churches in particular. Man is in the midst of a supernatural conflict; and the adversary - 'the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience' (Ephesians 2:2) - is vastly superior to all the intelligence and energies of men.
Supernatural power
While we may expect unregenerate men to have no discernment on this issue, it has to be a matter of concern when - given the prominent warnings of the New Testament - the demonic ceases to be a vital part of the belief of professing Evangelicals.
For the apostles, understanding the existence and wiles of Satan was essential to Christian living: 'Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might ... For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age' (Ephesians 6:10, 12). This teaching determines the biblical view of human need.Non-Christians are in a condition of blindness and bondage. They are under a power greater than the will of man and from which only Christ can set them free. Here was the recognition which led the apostles to repudiate all the world's methods for winning disciples.Supernatural power had to be met with supernatural power: 'For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds' (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).
Darkness and confusion
The biblical revelation on evil spirits is no less relevant to the way in which the church is to defend herself against the demonic. We are constantly warned that Satan works principally through doctrinal deception and falsehood. He was the inspiration for all the false prophets of the Old Testament: 'He is a liar and the father of it' (John 8:44).
His great intent is to bring darkness and confusion into the church as he did among the Jews. It was a lie of Satan which brought judgement into the infant church at Jerusalem (Acts 5:3). It was Satan who at Paphos opposed Paul on his first missionary journey by using a sorcerer 'to turn away the proconsul from the faith' (Acts 13:8).
The church at Corinth was in danger of allowing 'a different gospel' to be unopposed because 'the serpent who deceived Eve by his craftiness' was working to mislead her (2 Corinthians 11:3).
False prophets arise within the church yet they do not appear as such: 'And no wonder!', writes the apostle, 'For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light' (2 Corinthians 11:14).
The idea that Christianity stands chiefly in danger from the forces of materialism, or from secular philosophy, or from pagan religions, is not the teaching of the New Testament. The greatest danger comes rather from temptations within and from those who, using the name of Christ, are instruments of Satan to lead men to believe a lie. 'False christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect' (Matthew 24:24).
Resolute resistance
No one can rightly believe this without seeing the seriousness of error. Wrong belief is as dangerous as unbelief. To deny the deity and the work of Christ will shut men out of heaven as certainly as will the sin of murder (John 8:24; 1 John 2:22-23).
To preach 'another gospel' is to be 'accursed' (Galatians 1:6-9).Those who support heresies 'will not inherit the kingdom of God' (Galatians 5:20-21).This means that a large part of the preservation and defence of the church lies in resolute resistance to falsehood and in forthright teaching of the truth.Such warnings as 'beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees' (Matthew 16:12), for they 'shut up the kingdom of God against men' (Matthew 23:13), run right through the New Testament.
The apostles, filled with the Spirit of Christ, suffered no toleration of error. They opposed it wherever it arose and required the same spirit of all Christians. Eusebius, the early church historian, wrote of their outlook: 'Such caution did the apostles and their disciples use, so as not even to have any communion, even in word, with any of those that thus mutilated the truth, according to the declaration of Paul: "An heretical man after the first and second admonition avoid, knowing that such a one is perverse, and that he sins, bringing condemnation on himself".'
Consistent with love
Yet today this kind of witness against heresy and error, if not altogether silenced, has become muted to an extraordinary degree. 'Even the mildest assertion of Christian truth today sounds like a thunderclap because the well-polished civility of our religious talk has kept us from hearing much of this kind of thing' (Wells, No place for truth, p.10).
The explanation often given by Evangelicals for the lack of confrontation with error is that a harsh militancy has done more harm than good. As Christians, it is said, we do not want to be party to the kind of strident controversy which has too often marred the faith. Dr Billy Graham has often blamed 'fundamentalists' for this fault.
But the fact that what the New Testament says on love has been ignored, is no reason why its injunctions against error should not be obeyed. That some have followed these injunctions in a contentious spirit is no excuse for others not to follow them at all.A biblical contending against error is fully consistent with love; indeed it is love for the souls of men which requires it. The command to contend for the faith is not abrogated because some have failed to speak the truth in love.
Be watchful
However, there would appear to be a far more probable reason for the contemporary absence of opposition to error. It is the way in which the instrumentality of the devil in corrupting the truth has been so widely overlooked.
In this, as I have already said, we differ widely from Scripture. Instead of believers in the apostolic age being directed to listen to all views 'with an open mind', they were told how to 'test the spirits, whether they are of God' (l John 4:1). For there are 'deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons' (1 Timothy 4:1); false teachers 'who will secretly bring in destructive heresies' (2 Peter 2:1). There are words which 'spread as a cancer' (2 Timothy 2:17).
When churches have been in a healthy state they have always been watchful in this regard. In the great persecutions of the first three centuries, for example, Cyprian (c. 200- 258), bishop of Carthage, is to be found writing as follows:'It is not persecution alone that we ought to fear, nor those forces that in open warfare range abroad to overthrow and defeat the servants of God. It is easy enough to be on one's guard when the danger is obvious; one can stir up one's courage for the fight when the Enemy shows himself in his true colours.'There is more need to fear and beware of the Enemy when he creeps up secretly, when he beguiles us by a show of peace and steals forward by those hidden approaches which have earned him the name of the "Serpent" ...
'Light had come to the gentiles and the lamp of salvation was shining for the deliverance of mankind ...Thereupon the Enemy, seeing his idols abandoned and his temples and haunts deserted by the ever growing numbers of the faithful, devised a fresh deceit, using the Christian name itself to mislead the unwary.'He invented heresies and schisms so as to undermine the faith, to corrupt the truth, to sunder our unity. Those whom he failed to keep in the blindness of their old ways he beguiles, and leads them up a new road of illusion'.
Evangelicalism Divided; a record of crucial change in the years 1950-2000, is published by Banner of Truth, 352 pp., at £13.50 (ISBN 0-85151-783-8).
So, in case you did not have the energy to click on the link I provided last time, I have copied it in its entirety below. This is from the Banner of Truth website.
Read it for your edification.
-Doug
By Iain MurrayAn edited extract from Mr Murray's new book Evangelicalism Divided (Banner of Truth)
In his book on Evangelicalism, James Davison Hunter wrote: 'A dynamic would appear to be operating [in Evangelicalism] that strikes at the very heart of Evangelical self-identity'.
What is this 'dynamic'?
I believe that all the evidence points in one direction. It is that Evangelicals, while commonly retaining the same set of beliefs, have been tempted to seek success in ways which the New Testament identifies as 'worldliness'.
What is worldliness?
Worldliness is departing from God. It is a man-centred way of thinking; it proposes objectives which demand no radical breach with man's fallen nature; it judges the importance of things by the present and material results; it weighs success by numbers; it covets human esteem and wants no unpopularity; it knows no truth for which it is worth suffering; it declines to be a 'fool for Christ's sake'.
Worldliness is the mind-set of the unregenerate. It adopts idols and is at war with God. Because 'the flesh' still dwells in the Christian he is far from immune from being influenced by this dynamic.
It is of believers that it is said, 'the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary one to another' (Galatians 5:17). It is professing Christians who are asked, 'Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?' (James 4:4) and are commanded, 'Do not love the world', and 'keep yourselves from idols' (1 John 2:15, 5:21).
Apostasy generally arises in the church just because this danger ceases to be observed. The consequence is that spiritual warfare gives way to spiritual pacifism, and, in the same spirit, the church devises ways to present the gospel which will neutralise any offence.
The antithesis between regenerate and unregenerate is passed over and it is supposed that the interests and ambitions of the unconverted can somehow be harnessed to win their approval for Christ. Then when this approach achieves 'results' - as it will - no more justification is thought to be needed. The rule of Scripture has given place to pragmatism.Converted to the worldThe apostolic statement, 'For if I still pleased men, I would not be the servant of Christ' (Galatians 1:10), has lost its meaning. No Christian deliberately gives way to the spirit of the world but we all may do so unwittingly and unconsciously.
That this has happened on a large scale in the later-twentieth century is to be seen in the way in which the interests and priorities of contemporary culture have come to be mirrored in the churches.
The antipathy to authority and to discipline; the cry for entertainment by the visual image rather than by the words of Scripture; the appeal of the spectacular; the rise of feminism; the readiness to identify power with numbers; the unwillingness to make 'beliefs' a matter of controversy - all these features, so evident in the world's agenda, are now also to be found in the Christian scene.
Instead of the churches revolutionising the culture, the reverse has happened. Churches have been converted to the world. David Wells has written: 'The stream of historic orthodoxy that once watered the evangelical soul is now dammed by a worldliness that many fail to recognise as worldliness because of the cultural innocence with which it presents itself. ... It may be that Christian faith, which has made many easy alliances with modern culture in the past few decades, is also living in a fool's paradise, comforting itself about all the things God is doing ... while it is losing its character, if not its soul' (No place for truth, pp. 11, 68).
Inducements
This same worldliness has come to affect the way in which the gospel is often presented to the unconverted. Leonard Sweet has pointed out that Evangelicals and liberals are often similar in the inducements which they propose to their hearers why they should become Christians.Both offer such things as more success in life, a happier marriage, an integrated personality, more meaning to existence, and so on. In other words, the reasons for becoming a Christian are pragmatic and they are presented with stories of how it has worked for others.
The subject of worldliness, however, has a deeper bearing. Human conduct is not capable of being understood so long as it is imagined that man is self-contained and insulated from any power other than his own.
Worldliness, it is true, is the outcome of man's fallen nature, but the same fall which introduced that nature also brought man under the control of Satan and demonic powers. Worldliness is no accident; it is the devil's use of such idols as pride, selfishness, and pleasure, to maintain his dominion over men.
The malice of Satan
What Satan proposes for man's happiness is, in truth, the result of implacable malice towards the whole human race. He means to exclude God and to destroy men, and the system he has devised to do this is so subtle that man is a willing and unconscious captive: 'You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him' (John 8:44).
Scripture says a great deal on the reality of the demonic, and yet the subject is today largely passed over in silence. Human wisdom has no place for the very idea and diverges completely from the revelation in Scripture.
The devil is a mere fable and superstition, so men believe; according to Scripture he is the unseen enemy who constitutes the greatest problem for men in general and for the churches in particular. Man is in the midst of a supernatural conflict; and the adversary - 'the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience' (Ephesians 2:2) - is vastly superior to all the intelligence and energies of men.
Supernatural power
While we may expect unregenerate men to have no discernment on this issue, it has to be a matter of concern when - given the prominent warnings of the New Testament - the demonic ceases to be a vital part of the belief of professing Evangelicals.
For the apostles, understanding the existence and wiles of Satan was essential to Christian living: 'Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might ... For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age' (Ephesians 6:10, 12). This teaching determines the biblical view of human need.Non-Christians are in a condition of blindness and bondage. They are under a power greater than the will of man and from which only Christ can set them free. Here was the recognition which led the apostles to repudiate all the world's methods for winning disciples.Supernatural power had to be met with supernatural power: 'For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds' (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).
Darkness and confusion
The biblical revelation on evil spirits is no less relevant to the way in which the church is to defend herself against the demonic. We are constantly warned that Satan works principally through doctrinal deception and falsehood. He was the inspiration for all the false prophets of the Old Testament: 'He is a liar and the father of it' (John 8:44).
His great intent is to bring darkness and confusion into the church as he did among the Jews. It was a lie of Satan which brought judgement into the infant church at Jerusalem (Acts 5:3). It was Satan who at Paphos opposed Paul on his first missionary journey by using a sorcerer 'to turn away the proconsul from the faith' (Acts 13:8).
The church at Corinth was in danger of allowing 'a different gospel' to be unopposed because 'the serpent who deceived Eve by his craftiness' was working to mislead her (2 Corinthians 11:3).
False prophets arise within the church yet they do not appear as such: 'And no wonder!', writes the apostle, 'For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light' (2 Corinthians 11:14).
The idea that Christianity stands chiefly in danger from the forces of materialism, or from secular philosophy, or from pagan religions, is not the teaching of the New Testament. The greatest danger comes rather from temptations within and from those who, using the name of Christ, are instruments of Satan to lead men to believe a lie. 'False christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect' (Matthew 24:24).
Resolute resistance
No one can rightly believe this without seeing the seriousness of error. Wrong belief is as dangerous as unbelief. To deny the deity and the work of Christ will shut men out of heaven as certainly as will the sin of murder (John 8:24; 1 John 2:22-23).
To preach 'another gospel' is to be 'accursed' (Galatians 1:6-9).Those who support heresies 'will not inherit the kingdom of God' (Galatians 5:20-21).This means that a large part of the preservation and defence of the church lies in resolute resistance to falsehood and in forthright teaching of the truth.Such warnings as 'beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees' (Matthew 16:12), for they 'shut up the kingdom of God against men' (Matthew 23:13), run right through the New Testament.
The apostles, filled with the Spirit of Christ, suffered no toleration of error. They opposed it wherever it arose and required the same spirit of all Christians. Eusebius, the early church historian, wrote of their outlook: 'Such caution did the apostles and their disciples use, so as not even to have any communion, even in word, with any of those that thus mutilated the truth, according to the declaration of Paul: "An heretical man after the first and second admonition avoid, knowing that such a one is perverse, and that he sins, bringing condemnation on himself".'
Consistent with love
Yet today this kind of witness against heresy and error, if not altogether silenced, has become muted to an extraordinary degree. 'Even the mildest assertion of Christian truth today sounds like a thunderclap because the well-polished civility of our religious talk has kept us from hearing much of this kind of thing' (Wells, No place for truth, p.10).
The explanation often given by Evangelicals for the lack of confrontation with error is that a harsh militancy has done more harm than good. As Christians, it is said, we do not want to be party to the kind of strident controversy which has too often marred the faith. Dr Billy Graham has often blamed 'fundamentalists' for this fault.
But the fact that what the New Testament says on love has been ignored, is no reason why its injunctions against error should not be obeyed. That some have followed these injunctions in a contentious spirit is no excuse for others not to follow them at all.A biblical contending against error is fully consistent with love; indeed it is love for the souls of men which requires it. The command to contend for the faith is not abrogated because some have failed to speak the truth in love.
Be watchful
However, there would appear to be a far more probable reason for the contemporary absence of opposition to error. It is the way in which the instrumentality of the devil in corrupting the truth has been so widely overlooked.
In this, as I have already said, we differ widely from Scripture. Instead of believers in the apostolic age being directed to listen to all views 'with an open mind', they were told how to 'test the spirits, whether they are of God' (l John 4:1). For there are 'deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons' (1 Timothy 4:1); false teachers 'who will secretly bring in destructive heresies' (2 Peter 2:1). There are words which 'spread as a cancer' (2 Timothy 2:17).
When churches have been in a healthy state they have always been watchful in this regard. In the great persecutions of the first three centuries, for example, Cyprian (c. 200- 258), bishop of Carthage, is to be found writing as follows:'It is not persecution alone that we ought to fear, nor those forces that in open warfare range abroad to overthrow and defeat the servants of God. It is easy enough to be on one's guard when the danger is obvious; one can stir up one's courage for the fight when the Enemy shows himself in his true colours.'There is more need to fear and beware of the Enemy when he creeps up secretly, when he beguiles us by a show of peace and steals forward by those hidden approaches which have earned him the name of the "Serpent" ...
'Light had come to the gentiles and the lamp of salvation was shining for the deliverance of mankind ...Thereupon the Enemy, seeing his idols abandoned and his temples and haunts deserted by the ever growing numbers of the faithful, devised a fresh deceit, using the Christian name itself to mislead the unwary.'He invented heresies and schisms so as to undermine the faith, to corrupt the truth, to sunder our unity. Those whom he failed to keep in the blindness of their old ways he beguiles, and leads them up a new road of illusion'.
Evangelicalism Divided; a record of crucial change in the years 1950-2000, is published by Banner of Truth, 352 pp., at £13.50 (ISBN 0-85151-783-8).
Preaching in a True Church
When sermons are preached
without so much as the mention of Christ’s name, it takes more than
charity, it requires you to tell a lie to say, “That was a Christian sermon”;
and if any people find their joy in a teaching which casts the Lord Jesus
into the background, they are not his church, or else such teaching would
be an abomination to them. Yet have I heard it said that from some
ministries you may go away like Mary Magdalene from the sepulcher,
exclaiming, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they
have laid him.”
The true church saith, “Give
us what learning and eloquence you will, but we cannot be content except
Christ be glorified; preach us what you may, we will never be satisfied
unless he who is the express image of the Father shall be set forth in our
midst.” Then, I say, she speaketh like the true bride of Christ, but if she can
be content to see her Lord dishonored she is no chaste spouse of Christ.
-Spurgeon
without so much as the mention of Christ’s name, it takes more than
charity, it requires you to tell a lie to say, “That was a Christian sermon”;
and if any people find their joy in a teaching which casts the Lord Jesus
into the background, they are not his church, or else such teaching would
be an abomination to them. Yet have I heard it said that from some
ministries you may go away like Mary Magdalene from the sepulcher,
exclaiming, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they
have laid him.”
The true church saith, “Give
us what learning and eloquence you will, but we cannot be content except
Christ be glorified; preach us what you may, we will never be satisfied
unless he who is the express image of the Father shall be set forth in our
midst.” Then, I say, she speaketh like the true bride of Christ, but if she can
be content to see her Lord dishonored she is no chaste spouse of Christ.
-Spurgeon
Friday, June 5, 2009
rainless clouds
The grandest discourse ever delivered is an ostentatious failure if the doctrine of the grace of God be absent from it; it sweeps over men's heads like a cloud, but it distributes no rain upon the thirsty earth; and therefore the remembrance of it to souls taught wisdom by an experience of pressing need is one of disappointment, or worse.
-Spurgeon
-Spurgeon
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Non serving servants
Another church has given money to its parishioners in order for them to serve others in need. This time it was $100. Story here.
What do you make of this?
The way I see it, anytime a church has to pay its members to serve others, it does not speak well of them. In fact, what was intended to be something that demonstrates servitude doesn't do so at all. It says: "We are a 'church' composed of people who will not serve unless it costs them nothing."
If I'm right, then what does this say about the God they claim to serve?
Doug
What do you make of this?
The way I see it, anytime a church has to pay its members to serve others, it does not speak well of them. In fact, what was intended to be something that demonstrates servitude doesn't do so at all. It says: "We are a 'church' composed of people who will not serve unless it costs them nothing."
If I'm right, then what does this say about the God they claim to serve?
Doug
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