Clowning around in the Pulpit…literally.

Clowns in the Pulpit

A recent column by Josh Rottenberg in Entertainment Weekely sighted the awkward and many times blasphemous crossroads where Hollywood and faith have met.   In it, he discusses the failure of Christians to attend movies primarily for religious reasons.  Attempts to make Christian-targeted films resulting in massive box-office smashes have failed.  This was Hollywood’s pragmatic attempt to use the pulpit to find a market for its movies.

“‘After The Passion, there was a gold rush,’ says Phil Vischer, a co-creator of the Christian-themed cartoon franchise VeggieTales.  ’Hollwood thought, ‘This is great! We can market movies to pastors and they will get up on Sunday and tell their whole congregation to go see them! It’s a new button we can push, and money will fall from the sky! It was doomed from the get-go.”

As a result, though somewhat successful, Christian-themed movies (however blasphemous or vague)  like The Chronicles of Narnia, Evan Almighty, The Da Vinci Code, The Golden Compass, and The Nativity Story, have largely fell short of expectations in this theory. Instead, the Christian community has found identification with the Edenic-themed WALL-E, the amoral The Dark Knight and the strangely pro-life comedy Juno.  Why can’t Hollywood capture Christian audiences when it means to?

“Hollywood still hasn’t quite figured out how to crack the Christian code. ‘With a snap of his fingers, [mega-church pastor] Rick Warren could deliver hundreds of thousands of people to a movie,’ says Matthew Crouch, producer of the 1999 Christian film The Omega Code, ‘Hollywood is trying to figure out how to reach them.  But how do you get Rick Warren to sign on to a script? That’s the six-million dollar question Hollywood’s trying to answer.  But they don’t know how easy it is to offend that faith. You have to realize you’re playing with fire.”

Could I suggest something?  The reason Hollywood cannot reach the Christian community is the reason that Rick Warren can reach so many people.  Nominal Christians want the gospel and _________. Hollywood fails to understand the power of the gospel.  That though they classify us as a “faith,” our faith is real because it has an object–the person and work of Jesus Christ, the only name given under heaven whereby men may be saved.  Rick Warren does not understand this, hence EW ’s citation of his success. Rick Warren wants a faith-based program ministry that forgets that we are a people who are not of this world.  Though we want to help alleviate the ailments of this world, we understand that the most important ailment is sin, and its only remedy is the gospel of God.  Rick Warren does not get this.  Hollywood does not get this.  We are not of this world. We are passing through; the gospel is not. God has a purpose for the gospel in this world–to save sinners for himself and therefter to hear the praises of his glory in his Son.

What we have here in this article is a sad realization of the modern liberalism that has crept so pervasively into our churches–a watered-down version of Christianity that defines itself merely on a works-based mantra-”follower of Christ.” Any attempts to “reach people” are found in sweeping them through a gospel doorway right onward to an unoffensive life of service.  Before I continue, let me be clear: I believe that we are called to a life of service to mankind.  I do not believe that we are called to this life of service apart from a clear and uncompromising proclamation of the gospel.  This is our purpose: to lift up the Son for all to turn to and so be saved. Christians are the only people in the world who have a reason to do service–namely, to testify to the power of God to save sinners because of the person and work of Christ.

I have made quite certain that I am at odds with Rick Warren.  His gospel is watered-down, empty, and cursorily.  He has “bigger fish to fry,” namely, the PEACE plan. A acronym that basically stands for the gospel + good works.  We note the way he popishly declares people saved who read his book if they said that prayer at the end of his book.  “Welcome to the Family of God!”  He then ushers them on to service as if to say, “Now that you considered the gospel (a very thin one at that), you need to move on to bigger things, like service to mankind.” Foolishness…

There is no experience of weight under the law of God, there is no sense of shame for sin before a holy God, there is no mediating advocate through the finished and complete work of Christ, there is no repentance, there is no faith.  The gospel of Rick Warren is dead because it is natural.  It not the supernatural faith once for all delivered to the saints. It is pragmatic and cursorily.

I find in this interesting article from EW an indication that many clergy are reaping what they have sowed.  By ignoring the supernatural power of God’s purpose in the gospel, we have turned to all manner of natural elements to reach the carnal mind.  We will even dress up like clowns to entertain it. Note the interesting testimony Rottenberg uses to begin his article:

“It’s one thing for some nerdy fanboy who lives in his parents’ basement to show his enthusiasm for The Dark Knight by dressing up as the Joker. But for a pastor to stand before his congregation in full Joker regalia, complete with ratty wig and gruesome makeup, and deliver a sermon on good and evil–that’s something else altogether.  Last summer, in a radical attempt to engage his young congregants at the Christ Chapel Mountaintop Church in Manassas, Va., pastor Rob Seagears did exactly that.  Each Sunday, Seagears dressed up as a character from that weekend’s top-grossing film and used the movie–no matter how vulgar, violent, or ungodly it seemed–as the basis for a discussion of Christian morality.”

Reading this with as much charity as possible, I acknowledge that I don’t know this pastor’s heart and intention.  I also don’t know the content of his message (or even if there was one).  He might have had a clear presentation of the gospel in his message, but based on this information, it was probably what it said-”a discussion of Christian morality.” 

This is not the gospel.  This man, literally, was clowning around in the pulpit.  This is not the charge of the pastor.  The pastor is called to preach the gospel (2 Timothy 1:8-14; 2:15; 4:1-2).  Paul himself refused to turn from it in the name of “contextualization.” 

As Mark Dever once so wisely proposed:  “Here’s a good measure to see if your contextualization is a good contextualization that honors God.  Does it make the offense of the gospel clearer or does it disguise it?”

For the Corinthians, Paul refused to talk to them in the style of some Greek orator and so titillate their carnal intellectualism.  For the Galatians, he refused to have them think the gospel must be added to circumcision and other Judiaic laws and so massage their carnal desire to be self-righteous.  For the Colossians, he refused to allow them to think that wisdom, knowledge and spiritual experience was found anywhere but in Christ–not in the worship of angels, mysticism, or aceticism–and so “transcend” to the upper realms of spirituality.  Paul wanted to know nothing among his people but Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).  Indeed, this was of first importance to Paul (1 Corinthians 15:1-3).

My first reaction to the story given of this pastor is to call him a false teacher who is disqualified from the ministry, but after I calm down, I remember this quotation he gave to EW:

“Pop culture is the language they speak…This was about meeting them where they are and trying to build a bridge back to God.”

I will trust what he said and take it to mean that he truly wants to reach people.  But what does it mean when we say “reach people”? Does it mean that we want to help them live their best life now and so ignore their need for Christ’s righteousness? Does it mean we want them to have a purpose-driven life and so forget the cross in the dust of our service projects?  Or does it mean that we want to reconcile them to God through faith in Christ by an open and pleading proclamation of the gospel (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)?

My purpose here is not to attack cultural engagement.  My purpose here is not to attack this pastor (though I still will contend that he requires church discipline for mocking the pulpit).  My purpose here is to call pastors back to their charge in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus: Preach the Word! (2 Timothy 4:1-2).

This man wants to discuss Christian morality by dressing up like a clown, or by dressing up like Indiana Jones, or by driving up to the pulpit in a motorcycle dressed up like Batman.  What foolishness, what a shame, what a mockery to that sacred desk…

Paul wants to know nothing among his people but Christ’s death and resurrection.  Don’t ever assume that your people know the gospel.  Unpack all of its glorious facets for the rest of your preaching ministry.  This is your charge.  People will respond to the gospel because this is where God has placed his power.  Either they will respond to it with derision or they will respond to it in faith.  This is what we have been promised from the beginning (2 Timothy 4:3-4; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6).

Hollywood can’t reach the carnal mind for Christ–the gospel can. The Men of God, however, must guard that good deposit entrusted to them (1 Timothy 6:20).  Don’t make a mockery of that good deposit.  We are not clowns; we are preachers. Let Hollywood mock the Cross, but we will stand by it until our Master returns.

Working with you for the gospel,

Vince R.

The Goodness of God and the Pure in Heart: Meditations on Psalm 73:1

For the past week, I have been meditating on Psalm 73:1.  It is my spiritual goal to meditate on one verse of this Psalm each week until I finish it.  I want to share some of my meditations with you.

Psalm 73:1 “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”

There is a longing in us that wants to believe in a benevolent God.  We want to believe that God is good–all the time.  Even when we hear the age old question: If God is so good, why does he let evil happen?, we still cling to the promise the Scripture gives of God’s omnibenevolence.

But why is it so hard to believe sometimes?

Asaph wrote Psalm 73.  He doubted God’s goodness.  This desperate poem and song to God truly meditates on the real experience of doubting God’s goodness.  Verse one openly proclaims the truth that Asaph has come to doubt.  It also answers the question I just proposed.  Why is God’s goodness hard to believe? Because our hearts are not pure. I see two things that this verse communicates, both explicitly and implicitly.

1.)  God is good, specifically in the person and work of Christ.

There is no doubt that the scriptures declare his goodness uniformly and specifically.  Psalm 136 is the text of the congregational song of Israel.  It repeats this phrase in its first verse:  “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” It is the phrase that the people of God sing to him when they meditate on his wonderous deeds.  Psalm 118 describes this as well.  The Psalmist who wrote the longest chapter in the Bible declared it completely:  “You are good and do good; teach me your statutes” (119:68).  When Moses pleaded to God to show him his glory, this is how the LORD answered him:

“I will make my all my goodness pass before you  and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.” And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19).

In the New Testament, Jesus chastizes one man for calling him “good teacher.”

“Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18).

It is the apostle John, however, who ties the encouter that Moses had with God with Jesus.  He makes it clear that Jesus was not denying his own deity in Mark 10:18, but he was rather pointing out the heart of the man who approached him, for this man cared little about the goodness of God.  Though Moses couldn’t see God (Ex. 33:20), Jesus is described as the only one who seen God and can perfectly reflect him.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…And from his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:14, 16-8).

John doesn’t so much emphasize the Mosaic law (condeming man) and Jesus (liberating man) as he is emphasizing God’s glory being made known perfectly in the person of Jesus Christ.  “He has made him known.”  It is here that we are given the undeniable truth that Jesus is the good God spoken of in the Old Testament.

Indeed, Christ’s miracles manifested his glory (Jn. 2:11), but most specifically, God’s glory in Christ is made known when evil men do not believe in him.

“Though he had done so may signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ [Isa. 53:1] Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them’ [Isa. 6:10]. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.  Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess, so they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:43).

It was that frightening vision of God’ s glory in Isaiah 6 that changed, justified, and atoned for Isaiah.  It is here that John makes it clear: Isaiah saw Jesus Christ.  “He is the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 4:3). “…the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:4, 6).  Every bit of God’s glorious nature is found in Christ.  Most especially, God’s goodness is found in Christ.  If we look at 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, we see that the glory of God is found in his gospel.

This is the way the writer of Hebrews describes God’s good for his people-

“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).

It is because of God’s goodness in the giving of the Son that we have “an eternal redemption” paid for “by means of his own blood.”  This is the ultimate way God is good to his people.  He gives us his Son so he can bring us to himself.  He wants his goodness to be known to his people, so he provides the way for them to experience it. Notice how Jeremiah prophecies of this giving of the Son as the means by which God will finally dwell with his people:

“And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.  I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.  I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them.  And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.  I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and soul” (Jeremiah 32:38-41).

God is good to his people-with all his heart and soul. This is amazing!  But notice this passage’s emphasis on the heart. “I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.  I will rejoice in doing them good…”  He even speaks of giving his people “one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever.”  It is in this sense, then, that we see what God’s goodness does to our hearts.

2.) God’s goodness makes us pure in heart.

If God has nothing but good for his people, and this is most specifically manifested in the gospel, we must consider what the gospel does to us.  “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God“  The way in which we draw near to God (and this is the climax of Psalm 73) is through the gospel.  The gospel  purifies our hearts and thusly allows us to see God the clearest.  Matthew 5:8 says it this way: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”  There is a direct tie between purity of heart and seeing God for who he is.  Note how the apostle John puts it:

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

The very appearance of God (as he is) and the fervent meditation of God (as he is) inevitably leads to purity.  Being near to God thus equals purity of heart.  The apostle James says this:

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded” (James 4:8).

Conclusion:

Thusly, I think we see from Scripture that God’s goodness both demands purity and supplies what it demands.  This is grace so amazing!  By being close to God and considering him for who he is, the heart is purified.

Application:

If in those times of doubt, when you speculate and intellectualize over the goodness of God with a heart of unbelief, you are committing grievous sin.  God’s goodness is not subject to your belief.  Your belief is subject to his goodness!  God is good to his people. Though evil surrounds you and doubt fills your minds, the goodness of God is not compromised.  Your purity is compromised!  Hoping in him as he says he is will result in a pure heart.

This has tremendous implications for our holiness because anytime we sin we demonstrate that we are 1.) impure in heart, 2.) far from the true and revealed God, 3.) doubtful of whether or not God is good.  Anytime we sin we demonstrate that we doubt if God’s way (of holiness, godliness, honor, integrity, blamelessness, pleasure) is good.  It is a heart of unbelief.

God says he is good, and though you cannot now see every way in which his goodness is made known to you, you must hope in him as he says he is.  But behold the manifold ways he has revealed his goodness!  Have you forgotten the wonderous deeds of the Lord in your life?  Have you spurned his blessing of life? Have you begrudged his blessing of family, friends, food, home, and other providences?  There is always a reason to give thanks.  But if, by some wise and gloriously good plan of God, you have nothing but loneliness, hunger, homelessness, persecutions, and sword, have you spurned God’s ultimate good blessing?  Have you forgotten the gospel?  He gave his Son! Is that not enough for you? If you, like Asaph, wonder if God is truly good to Israel, you must examine your heart, for it is not God who has ceased to be good, it is your heart that has ceased to be pure.

Fly to the gospel and thusly purify your hearts.  What love the Father has made known to you in Him!  His goodness and glory washes you from all uncleanliness and unbelief.  Purify yourself, and wash your hands by drawing near to God, meditating on who he says he is.

I leave you with four truths from St. Augustine that have helped me:

1.) God always enables that which he commands.

 “Lord command what you will, and will what you command.”

If he says to believe him, he will create that in your heart.  Plead with him until he makes his goodness pass before you!

2.) Our hearts will never rest until they rest in God as he has reavealed himself to be.

“Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”

You will have a wayward, tossed, double-minded way about you until you rest finally in the truth of God’s goodness.

3.) Our love for God is compromised when we love anything apart from him.

“He loves thee too little who loves anything besides thee which he loves not for thee.”

God goodness wants you to enjoy his blessings.  God’s goodness also wants you enjoy them for him.  His goodness will thus take that from you which will result in your losing sight of his goodness.  He gives! But he will take away, and this is his goodness, kindness, and mercy.  Remember, however, that there is one thing God cannot take away: His promises in the gospel. Find your love for God in this love he has for you.

4.) To truly experience the goodness of God, we require one thing: Humility.

“If I should be asked what is the first thing in religion. I would say that the first, second and third thing therein is humility.”

Doubt and speculation are not admirable.  Humble and contrite hearts that tremble at his word is what God looks to. Carnal speculation and fleshly intellectualism do not impress God.  He does not command your theodicy; he commands your humility.

Working with you for purity,

Vince R.

Regeneration vs. the Idolatry of Decisional Evangelism

It was about the time I heard this sermon that I was only 90% sure how I felt about the “sinner’s prayer.”  After this sermon, I was 100% sure.  I put the “sinner’s prayer” in the ground, buried it, and put up a tombstone that said “anathema.” Our evangelism is weak, unbiblical, and it is eternally destroying some.  What are we preaching? See for yourself, and examine yourself. What are you preaching?

The New Atheism and the Endgame of Secularism

Dr. Mohler’s lecture last year at Dallas Theological Seminary.  I plan on quoting it in my final paper for the class entitled  The Victorian Period.  He speaks of “the Victorian Loss of Faith.”  My working title is: “The Ebb of Faith’s Sea: Doubt and Modernism in Tennyson and Arnold.”

“The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.” -From Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold

Albert Mohler and the City of Man: A Book Review

"In the end, the culture and its challenges will pass away. But our Lord has left us here for a reason-as His people, we are to be salt and light to a dying world."

As I finished Dr. Mohler’s book Culture Shift: Engaging Current Issues with Timeless Truth, I realized the unrelenting importance of cultural engagement.  I may not be one called toward academic cultural apologetics, but as a Christian, I have a responsibility to know the place where the people dwell.  As I recall Discern Your Culture at New Attitude 2007, I remember a profoundly affecting and simply stated truth Dr. Mohler brought, “The only reason we care about the culture is because the culture is where the lost people are.”  Very simple; but often overlooked.  In the name of cultural engagemet, Christians often forget their responsibility to holiness and Christ-centeredness.  And just the same, in the name of holiness and Christ-centeredness, Christians often forget their responsiblity to love their neighbor.

This book heightens my intensity and passion for engaging the City of Man.  Here is an excerpt that powerfully portrays the necessity for Christian engagement with the culture.  Dr. Mohler springs off the shoulders of St. Augustine with simple theological dexterity:

“The City of God is eternal and takes as its sole concern the greater glory of God.  In the City of God, all things are ruled by God’s Word, and the perfect rule of God is the passion of all its citizens.

In the City of Man, however, the reality is very different.  This city is filled with mixed passions, mixed allegiances, and compromised principles…citizens of the City of Man demonstrate deadly patterns of disobedience, even as they celebrate moral autonomy, and then revolt against the Creator.

Of course, we know that the City of God is eternal, even as the City of Man is passing.  But this does not mean that the City of Man is ultimately unimportant, and it does not allow the church to forfeit its responsibility to love its citizens.  Love of neighbor–grounded in our love for God–requires us to work for good in the City of Man, even as we set as our first priority the preaching of the gospel–the only means of bringing citizens of the City of Man into citizenship in the City of God…

Love of neighbor for the sake of loving God is a profound political philosophy that strikes a balance between the disobedience of political disengagement and the idolatry of politics as our main priority…we are concerned for the culture, not because we believe that the culture is ultimate, but because we know that our neighbors must hear the gospel, even as we hope and strive for their good, peace, security, and well-being.”-pp.3-4

If you are looking for a work that serves as a nice introductory seque into worldview apologetics and cultural engagement, I strongly suggest you begin with Dr. Mohler.  He is a nice bridge into more thorough and dense works from Francis Schaeffer, C.S. Lewis, David Wells, and many more.  As C.J. Mahaney puts it in his review of the book,

“Al Mohler is a unique gift to the church.  His writing combines penetrating theological discernment and insightful cultural analysis with a passion to faithfully proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

I must agree.  Dr. Mohler refuses to leave the gospel.  For him, cultural engagment means that we go straight to the need of the lost–a regenerated soul.  For without that happening to us first, our worldview would not be any different from theirs.

Working with you to bring a gospel-centered worldview to the market place,

Vince R.

Preaching to Heart Part II: Watching Pastor Paul at Colossae

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you…” Colossians 2:1

There is a great struggle spoken of in this passage.  Pastor Paul writes of it to these believers.  It is a great struggle he has for the church at Colossae and for the believers at Laodicea.  He must be struggling inwardly.  Paul was a man of the heart.  His messages emitted naturally from a newborn heart–a heart suffering for the sake of the church, a heart filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.  His is a heart that received from God a certain calling.  He is as he said earlier, “a minister.”  What is the main focus of his ministry?

“And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which you has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.” Colossians 1:21-23

Here we see that Paul ministers to God’s people for their sanctification.  God is working through Christ to present his people “holy,” “blameless,” and “above reproach” before him.  The main end of the minister’s work, therefore, is help God’s people reach these fruits of sanctification–holiness and blamelessness.  If the minister is not aiming for this, what is he doing?  He is not following the lead of Pastor Paul; and likewise, what Bible is leading him?

More particulary, we see that Paul exhorts the people toward these fruits by way of  three qualities–faithfulness, stability, and steadfastness.  If a minister is not exhorting his people to these three qualities, what is he doing? He is not following the lead of Pastor Paul.

But this is made even more particular.  Look at what the people are told to be faithful to, stable in, and steadfast for:

“not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which you has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.” v. 23

This clearly demonstrates the way for a people to be holy, the way for a people to be blameless.  The way for a people truly to be God’s people is found in their faithfulness to the gospel, their stability in the gospel, and their steadfastness for the gospel.  Paul says at the end of this verse that he was made a minister of that gospel.  If we say we are ministers of the gospel, are we even preaching it?  If we are not preaching the gospel, we are not ministers of it.  Indeed, we cease to be ministers of anything the Bible has any knowledge of.  We have fallen from our ministership.

Paul says a little later that he is suffering for the church because “[he] became a minister [to it]” (1:24-25).  He then clearly acknowledges the nature of that ministry.  It is a “stewardship from God given to him for [the church]” (1:25).  The minister who calls the ministry his own with no heart-felt knowledge of the stewardship of it, ceases to be the minister the Bible speaks of.  He is a selfish man, building a kingdom, not God’s, but rather his own.

Stewardship signifies reception. If God has called you to this ministry of the gospel, why is there no reception?  You spurn the calling of the Lord, like some disobedient Jonah.  Away to Tarshish, yet God will find you!  A giant fish awaits the called runner. But Paul did not run.  It says in Acts 26:14 that upon the call from the Lord, he had “fallen on the ground.”

Stewardship signifies holding.  The minister of the gospel holds something that is not his own.  He has had something “entrusted” to him (See 1 Timothy 1:11).  It is not his own, yet why do some ministers act as though they invented the gospel?

 ”Man never could nor would have invented and devised a gospel which would lay him low, and secure to the Lord God all the honor and praise.” -C.H. Spurgeon

If any man has forgotten the nature of the gospel as here explained by Mr. Spurgeon, what is he preaching?  The end of the preaching of the gospel is the glory and praise of the Lord God, not the praises of men to the minister.

Stewardship also signifies selflessness.  “the stewardship from God that was given to me for you.”  It is not given by God for the ministers own personal parading prideful pulpiteering!  God has given the minister the stewardship for the sake of others.  Pastor Paul understood that he was given the ministry for the church, not himself.

Stewardship also signfies faithfulness. “…to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.”  Paul refused to do the ministry half-heartedly.  He declared the whole counsel of God!  He made it fully known! This is the faithfulness of the minister.  He knows his mission, and he does it, fully. What mystery has been made known to us! Yet we preach some other thing as though there is no mystery and all people knew of it.  Don’t ever assume your people already know the mystery; and don’t ever think they know it well enough.

“Never be content with your grasp of the gospel. The gospel is life-permeating, world-altering, universe-changing truth. It has more facets than any diamond. Its depths man will never exhaust.” - C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life

The minister of God also has one proclamation for his people.  “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” (1:27-28)

What message do we preach?  Is it Christ and him crucified? For Paul would know of nothing else! (See 1 Corinthians 2:1)  What goofy, moralizing, cream-puff exhortations fill the pulpits of men who preach something other than Christ!  They want growth of church, but they forgot the seed–the gospel!  People may have ears for moralistic exhortation, but their hearts will be far from Christ and closer to their own self-righteousness.  “Stop complaining” is no sermon content!  Even the pagans don’t like complainers.  God’s people will stop complaining when they understand the gospel, when they see that the rock guiding them in the desert is Christ (See 1 Corinthians 10:1-11).

The minister of God also has one process for his people. “warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom.”  The only wisdom Paul knows of he gets from Scripture.  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding” (Psalm 111:10).  Also, Paul knows that his Lord is a truine Lord.  He goes on to say, “Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (2:3).  If a minister wants wise and knoweledgable people with good understanding his process should be to warn them and teach them with this wisdom; that is with this Christ.

The minister of God also has one purpose for his people.  “that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”  That is the purpose the minister of God has for others–their maturity in Christ.  For indeed, he must present them before God!  Will they be mature in Christ?  But yes, they will with God’s help.

The minister of God also has one power for his people.  “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (1:29).  The minister of God knows that two very difficult truths exist together.

1.) I must work, toil, and struggle. (This is our responsibility.)

2.) God gives the strength to endure that toil and struggle. (This is his sovereignty.)

And so, this was the struggle Paul had within him for the church.  He wanted to declare to them the riches of Christ for their joy and God’s glory.  What else is the minister to do?

Working with you to preach to the heart,

Vince R.

Not What My Hands Have Done

I just wept as I pondered the truths of this hymn; he died for me.  He became a curse! What else is there to preach?

Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load.

Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;
Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.
No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;
No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through.

Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest, And set my spirit free.

I bless the Christ of God; I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and heart I call this Savior mine.
His cross dispels each doubt; I bury in His tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear, each lingering shade of gloom.

I praise the God of grace; I trust His truth and might;
He calls me His, I call Him mine, My God, my joy and light.
’Tis He Who saveth me, and freely pardon gives;
I love because He loveth me, I live because He lives.

-Horatius Bonar, Not What My Hands Have Done

Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill: Book Review

"No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying."

Leonard Ravenhill is a passionate man, and indeed, he will beat you senseless until you are, too.  This book reintroduces much of the revivalistic fervor that has so departed from the hearts and minds of today’s evangelical church.  I was brought to my knees many times while reading this book.  Any man who says that he wants to lead God’s people needs his world shaken, this book will help him. It will become required reading for any young man who asks me to disciple him.  I find in this book a calling for deep sorrowful repentance for the lack of prayer in my life, and I find also a soul-wrenching rebuke to weep for the lost more than I ever have before.  Then, it demands that my weeping turns into action.

Some people will despise this, throw it down and start calling out names like “fundementalist” or “old school.”  The person who does that demonstrates that his heart is not properly submitted to the Word of God because Ravenhill’s book is directly in line with it.  ”Whether you hear or refuse to hear,” after reading this book, you will know ”that a prophet has been among you.”

“A popular evangelist reaches your emotions.  A true prophet reaches your conscience,” he wrote. Then Ravenhill is a true prophet.

With deep pangs for prayer and evangelism,

Vince R.

Preaching to the Heart Part 1: Watching Pastor Paul at Lystra

 

Paul and Barnabas at Lystra

“But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. ” Acts 14:14-15

We enter the city of Lystra with Paul and Barnabas.  Think of it, men of God in the midst of an alarming reality.  Paul and Barnabas at Lystra encounter a man who never had the experiences that many of you have had.  They come upon a man “sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked.”  He had never walked.  This is an astonishing reality.  This man sat there in that community, accustomed to the stares at his helpless immobility.  But as he sat there, he heard something he had never heard before.  He heard the sound of a voice declaring strange things.  “He listened to Paul speaking,” says Luke.  This man sat and listened to the truths Paul preached.  Could he stop listening?  No, his soul was enchanted with truth.

Paul is no pompous orator, showing his eloquence or intellect in the pulpit while ignoring the struggling sinner.  Contrarily, Paul, while speaking intently also does something else intently.  “And Paul, looking intently at him” saw something developing in this man.  He saw “that he had faith to be made well.”  Paul’s pastoral intention saw the longing soul in the congregation, and with pointed clarity, he  ”said in a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’”  His declaration was as one with authority.

He fulfilled his calling there at Lystra.  He declared the truth and went for the heart of this crippled man.  The heart, as many like me often forget, is the heart of the matter.  This man’s heart beamed with faithful reception.  Paul looked “intently” at him, and declared openly, “Stand upright on your feet.”  The most recent time we see Paul looking “intently” at someone is found in the previous chapter.

“But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at [Elymas the magician] and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?’” Acts 13:9-10

Here we see Pastor Paul reading the man and applying the truth to his heart.  For this man was not concerned with the conversion of souls, but rather he was  ”seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.”  Paul is no cowardly minister, he as Mark Driscoll puts it, “shoots the wolves.”  Yet in returning to chapter 14, we see Paul doing what Driscoll says is “feeding the sheep.”  He proclaims the truths and so feeds the sheep.  This crippled man from Lystra believed, and by his faith, he was made well.

But then we read what the Lystran population did in response to this demonstration:

“And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, ‘The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!’ Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.” Acts 14:11-12

The men of Lystra were amazed at Paul’s Spirit-wrought power.  Indeed, Paul was a spiritually-minded preacher, and like the crippled man, his preaching begot spritually-minded people.  “I have begot you through the gospel,” said Paul to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 4:15).

But these men of Lystra were amazed at signs.  They were not amazed at Christ.  Likewise, today’s church is amazed at the good works of the gospel and not the gospel itself!  Shameful…When we replace God’s supernatural mercy on sinners with our natural mercy on sinners, we beget an ignorant blind people who love good works but despise the work of Christ.  People will gladly accept the good works of the church if the church lets them see the good works by themselves.  But will the people accept God’s good work?

Today’s church doesn’t seem to care.  It is much too hard to read all of John 6.  We enjoy the part about feeding the five thousand with bread; we would like to cut out those parts about eating the bread of life.  “People will rebel against it!” says one, but did not many “disciples” turn away from Christ that day, too.  But we would rather find a mass of unconverted church members than twelve men like Peter who can say simply, ““Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”  The only saving faith is that which says simply to Christ, “To whom shall I go but you? You have the words I need.”

Today’s preachers would react much differently than Paul and Barnabas. They might stand timidly in the corner as these pagan men marched around them calling them gods.  They might even relish the opportunity!  They devour the compliments that said they speak with “the voice of a god and not of a man!” They, like Herod, would find the angel of the Lord smiting them for not giving the glory to God (Acts 12:20-23).

But where is the man who would react like Paul and Barnabas?  “But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments” (Acts 14:14).  They react with sorrow! Where is the sorrow for the lost soul?  These men know not what they do, says our Lord.  And indeed, these preacher men don’t timidly offer another alternative to these lost souls. They don’t interject a differing opinion.  But instead, they  ”rushed out into the crowd, crying out, ‘Men, why are you doing these things?’”  They did not walk and politely offer.  They did not stroll and gracefully proffer.  They rushed and cried.  Would that I would rush and cry for the souls of men!

The soul is the most fragile thing that the minister can deal with.  I learned this from Leonard Ravenhill.  I should have just learned it from Paul.

“We also are men, of like nature with you,” cries Paul.  Sinners preaching to sinners.  Where is that understanding in me?  Paul understood it, and he said clearly that the only difference was they  “bring…good news.”  Indeed, this is all there is to the way we differ.  We have found the bread of life.  We have found the way.  We are the people who should be the voice in the wilderness crying out against all “vain things,”  pressing and pleading with the souls of men and saying “turn from these vain things to a living God.”  We are the people who know the difference. The church is a pillar of proclamation and a buttress of truth, yet we so often act like a pillar of privacy and a buttress of buttoned-lips.

We have the message, and we have the God who created all things.  We know “a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”  The LORD is creator, and by that very claim we state so much more than we think.  We state clearly that this world belongs to our Father in heaven.  “Let the whole race of creatures bow and pay their praise to him.”  By the very nature of being the created, we owe everything to the creator.

Paul knew the God he served, and he would be damned lest he see more souls go to hell (Romans 9:1-3).

Working with you to minister to the heart,

Vince R.

God Himself Will Teach You: The Forgotten New Covenant Promise

John 6:48 "I am the Bread of Life."

“Jesus answered them, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves.  No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.  It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me–not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.  This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.  And the bread that I give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

John 6:43-51

These verses struck me. God himself teaches his people because he reveals himself in Christ. They whom he has called will not suffer from spiritual starvation. They have Christ. This is one of the most often forgotten promises of the New Covenant. [Jeremiah 31:33-34]

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.’”

Any disciple of Christ knows God. He needs no mere man to disciple him, for God himself will do it.  Many years ago the visible church engaged in a movement in which they decided that the biggest problem with the church was a lack of discipleship.   No.  The problem with the visible church is a lack of true conversion.

Beware the man who says that God’s church is divided and failing!  God’s church is intact, flourishing in faith and growing in godliness.  The man who says that God’s church is failing has called God a liar.  For God himself has said that the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  The Body of Christ is being washed in the word by her bridegroom to be presented before him without spot or blemish or any such thing.

Any man who knows God is a member of that body.  That man will be taught by God.   God will provide the means of grace whereby he will learn of him.  Can you not find those means? Ask him for it!  Are those means your idols, substitutes for the Savior himself? A religious and theological education is a shameful substitute for the fellowship of the Great Shepherd.

The true convert is driven to the bread of life, himself.  Are you driven to that bread?  Before he longs for the counsel of wiser men or women in Christ, he desires the counsel found at the feet of his Lord.  Indeed, he cannot help but go to him for his sustenance! Are you starving for godly counsel?  Why!  Go to the Lord and ask of him who gives to all liberally and reproaches us not.

Any man who calls himself a Christian and yet can live his life without feeding on God has profaned God’s name and that man’s conversion is false.

God’s man eats of Christ’s flesh thoroughly and joyfully, and he grows thereby. He smacks his lips with the fulfillment of his soul for God himself has taught him of Christ.  The heavenly manna from God has fallen at his feet.  He eats it and goes forth in God-wrought obedience to the word of life.  Where a man eats of Christ’s flesh, he will grow into the fullness of Christ’s stature. To keep people from going out the back door of our churches, teach them of Christ and even more, teach them how to go to him themselves.  Christ’s blood bought your personal fellowship with him, and no man can do it for you. Christ deserves no less than that for which he paid. Indeed, we are foolish when he look to the sweet results of another man’s fellowship with God rather than the results of our own.  Ask yourself:  Are there any results at all? or Are you the mouthpiece for other men’s walks with God?

Repent and go to him who has bought you so he can teach you himself.  Drink deeply of the milk of the word, that YOU may grow thereby.  Christ, at the end of these verses, makes this issue a gospel issue.  Indeed, that is the root of all starvation.  We starve when the gospel is not enough for us.  “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.  And the bread that I give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

His flesh was broken for you, just as the bread. Eat of that flesh which was given for you, and believe on him as your only hope of sustenence and salvation.  There is no other way to live.

Working with you to eat Christ’s flesh and to walk in the abundance of life,

Vince R.