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Read Death by Love!

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I really enjoyed Mark Driscoll’s latest book Death by Love. In this book, Driscoll writes a series of letters to encourage people in his church who are facing various questions about whether or not the Gospel can give them hope. In the midst of these letters, what emerges is a love and passion for the Gospel — specifically Jesus’ work on the cross and how that can enable someone to face life head on and have hope in the midst of what would otherwise be hopeless scenarios. I was drawn into each chapter and there, like a jewel shining on the floor of the ocean, were great Gospel truths to dive deep into. I would encourage you to read these, for it will help you make Gospel connections to life.

TCT – On Ministering to Children

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As we continue our consideration of the book Total Church, in chapter 12 they address ministering to children and young people. I thought the chapter was excellent on why the need for prioritizing ministry to these age groups is important. But they don’t encourage a typical evangelical feel for ministry. The authors seek to use the same Scriptural, community-centered approach that ministers to others: letting God’s Word speak to these ones of their need for the Gospel then incarnating Christ to them through genuine community and encouraging their involvement in community. In a day when age-graded divisions are seen as the norm, the insight in this chapter was fresh.

Here’s their summary from p.190:

We have a simple rule of thumb in our church: if we would do this as family, we can do it as church; if we would not do this as family, why do it as church? This is not intended to cover every possible eventuality, but it has proved useful in maintaining a church life that is refreshingly simple and uncluttered, with space for relationships and front-line evangelism. But these pragmatic benefits are only favorable consequences; the principle of church as family is primary. Mutual responsibility between the generations is normative for family life and the way in which values are transmitted. Should that not be normative in the church also? As those relationships develop and grow over the years, and as the child moves into adolescence, the strength of those intergenerational friendships can be powerful means of grace. In the purposes of God they can be ways of keeping the young adult from becoming one among the hundreds who leave our churches each week never to return.

Is this not a compelling picture of what God intended the church to be? Let’s honor God and relate to those who aren’t the same age as us.

MM – Got Bitterness?

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For today’s Marriage Monday, I thought I would give good encouragement to “be kind and tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God, in Christ, has forgiven you.” Recently I’ve been reading an excellent book entitled, How To Be Free From Bitterness. In just the first chapter, the author was used by God in tremendous ways to get at my heart and reveal how bitter I really am over some things. Here’s an excerpt:

How can we tell if we are bitter?
One good rule of thumb is this: bitterness remembers details. You have had thousands of conversations in your life, most of which you have forgotten. But this one took place five years ago, and you remember every single word, his intention, and the inflection of every part of his voice. You know exactly what happened–which means you are bitter.

Scripture calls on us to get rid of all bitterness. Is there any bitterness you need to turn away from today? Don’t let the canker of bitterness sour you! Kill it and walk in victory.

You don’t have the right…

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to worry. Here’s how MLJ put it:

It is a poor type of Christianity that has this wonderful faith with respect to salvation and then whimpers and cries when confronted by the daily trials of life.

There is no circumstance or condition in this life which should lead a Christian to worry. He has no right to worry; and if he does he is not only condemning himself as being a man of little faith, he is also dishonouring his God and being disloyal to his blessed Savior.

Taken from p.403 of Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

So, what does your worrying about “stuff” really communicate?

TCT – Defending the Faith

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As we continue to look at Total Church, this week brings us to chapter 11 on Apologetics. I thought the authors did a great job of unfolding the history of how the faith is defended. They eventually call for a “relational apologetic”:

Apologetics is answering questions raised by our lives. This is not simply a matter of lone Christians living godly lives and doing good works. In the Old Testament it was the life of the covenant community that was to function as a light to the nations. And in the New Testament too it is the life of the community that commends the gospel…We need to persuade people that our story, the story of God, is true. But they will only explore its truth if we can first persuade them that it might be a better story. We need to address their hearts before we can begin to address the questions in their heads. (pp.178-179)

There are some enormous implications: 1) The Christian community should demonstrate the Gospel. 2) We should be more concerned about hearts over heads. Both of these are traditionally weaknesses in my own life and in the life of the church. We seek to make evangelism a door to door with one person all alone kind of thing. But there are corporate elements that need to demonstrate the Gospel. Also, we need to avoid a campaign to just win arguments. Hearts have to be addressed. People in our culture need to see a demonstration of people gripped by truth. This will awaken our role to speak to the head questions. Let’s defend the faith properly, in a corporate witness that demonstrates the power of God.