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Weekend Recap – Church & Leaders

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My 11/4/12AM sermon, Church and Leaders, from Hebrews 13:17 is online.  In this sermon, I sought to explore how the church at large is to relate to the leaders that God has given her.  Considering their teaching, lives and care for the souls of others should provoke people to put their trust and confidence in leaders for their own advantage.  It was a hard message to give — hoping that I was able to humbly unpack God’s Word and give some contours of thought that might help the people of Crestview glorify God more effectively.

Hope you had a productive Sunday as well.

Tweets from Revelation 18

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In late May, I began 202 days of journaling through the 404 verses of the final book of the Bible, Revelation.  To go along with my personal study and preparation to preach through this book in 2013, I’m trying to tweet something from every verse.  Today I finished chapter 18.  Here’s a compilation of my tweets followed by the reference.


Those sent by God for His purposes shine gloriously. (Revelation 18:1)
The judgment of the wicked includes speaking of her fallenness. (Revelation 18:2)
Immorality is a huge, detestable blight to mankind. (Revelation 18:3)
God consistently, out of His mercy, calls us to forsake sin or face its consequences. (Revelation 18:4)
God will surely punish sin. (Revelation 18:5)
Unrepentant sinners will one day reap what they’ve sown. (Revelation 18:6)
The pride of a sinner can easily blind them to their condition before a holy God. (Revelation 18:7)
God is mighty in His fair and just judgment. (Revelation 18:8)
Instead of repenting, God’s judgment of sin creates sin sympathizers. (Revelation 18:9)
Instead of bowing before God, sin sympathizers lament the swift judgment of God. (Revelation 18:10)
Sin sympathizers mourn their lack of outlets for sinning. (Revelation 18:11)
The world’s cargo has everything a sinner would enjoy. (Revelation 18:12)
The world’s cargo carries away human souls into slavery. (Revelation 18:13)
The spiral of sin is that what seems enjoyable leads to captivity. (Revelation 18:14)
Sin sympathizers aren’t concerned about the captivity of souls but selfish gain. (Revelation 18:15)
Again, sin sympathizers cry out for the world’s goods. (Revelation 18:16)
And again, sin sympathizers lament the swiftness of God’s judgment. (Revelation 18:17)
Sin sympathizers can’t see the true reality of sin’s work. (Revelation 18:18)
Rather than mourning their sin, sin sympathizers are appalled at God’s response to it. (Revelation 18:19)
Believers are called to rejoice in God’s final judgment of the world. (Revelation 18:20)
God gives a graphic picture of His judgment of the world. (Revelation 18:21)
The world’s sound of celebration in itself will be silenced in God’s judgment. (Revelation 18:22)
God’s judgment is due, in part, to the world’s deception of people. (Revelation 18:23)
God will also right the wrongs of persecution and martyrdom. (Revelation 18:24)

Weekend Prep (2) – Godly Leaders

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Following up on yesterday’s post, having seen what kind of godly men leaders are to be, we see that there is, indeed, an appropriate response to godly leaders.  Hebrews 13:17 gives us this:

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give  an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning,for that would be of no advantage to you.

Now, we may not like what the Bible has to say to us about our response to godly leadership, but we are called to such a thing nonetheless.  We aren’t to follow our leaders into sin or encourage them in paths that are dishonoring to God; however, following them is all about God being in charge and having authority over our lives.  If we esteem Him, then we will respond to the leaders He’s given the local church appropriately.  This weekend, we’ll be exploring this text.  I hope you come with a humble, teachable heart to love God supremely, especially in your local church.  

Weekend Prep (1) – Godly Leaders…

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This coming Lord’s Day, we will be looking at Hebrews 13:17 and its call for people in the church to relate to their leaders.  Too many pastors in evangelicalism use this verse to beat up people.  I heard one pastor say that this verse means that the church is to obey her leaders “no ifs, ands or buts.”  The only problem is that this verse comes with a context and language.  For instance, in highlighting the work of these leaders as “oversight of souls”, the readers of Hebrews are mindful that this is an entire congregation job, as well (Hebrews 3:12-13, Hebrews 12:15)  So, leaders aren’t to be obeyed or given a free pass on sin, having a hard heart, being proud, arrogant, or teaching false doctrine.  But, they are to lead so persuasively with their lives and teaching that people would want to put their trust and confidence in them.

Along these lines, then, I am LOVING Tom Schreiner’s message at a recent SBTS chapel.  It’s entitled, Shepherding God’s Flock from Acts 20:17-38.  Around the 15:15 mark, here’s what he said:

“Pastors and teachers, I’m speaking to myself here too, we can become deeply unspiritual and selfish even while preaching on the importance of being godly.  We must remember that everything that happens in the church and in the ministry is for our sanctification as well, as pastors, it’s for our holiness.  I think there’s an amazing tool of the devil here:  We can teach people how God uses trials to sanctify them and to make them holy and we can forget, amazingly, that the trials we’re receiving in our own church are meant for our holiness and our sanctification.  Instead, we can begin to view the difficult people in our churches–and they’re there–we can begin to view them as opponents instead of loving them, instead of recognizing that God’s using them to make us more like Jesus…we may forget that we are sinners who need forgiveness everyday and we may inadvertently hold our people to a standard that we don’t match ourselves.  We can become bitter about our flock, instead of loving them.  We can get together and criticize our sheep, instead of caring for them.  So, we need the grace of God everyday, don’t we?  We need the Holy Spirit to love our flock the way God wants us to do so.  We need to be quick to confess our own sins and our own shortcomings as pastors.  We too stand in need of the wonderful grace of God.”

This is the kind of leader that is to be obeyed and submitted to in Hebrews 13:17.  More to come on that response tomorrow…

Gratitude

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Here’s an article I wrote for our church’s newsletter, the Edifier:

As we near the end of the book of Hebrews on Sunday mornings, it’s been interesting to note how the theme of gratitude has popped up a few times.  And, as we end another year at Crestview, it’s good to be reminded that gratitude is the attitude we must employ, as well. 
In Hebrews 12:28, we were urged to “be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”  Gratitude in Christ’s work for us propels us to be a worshipper rightly relating to God in fear and adoration.  In Hebrews 13:15, we were called to “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.”  These words “sacrifice of praise,” also occur in an ancient OT translation of Leviticus 7:12, speaking of the highest form of a peace offering that was offered under the Old Covenant.  The purpose of this offering was to express gratitude to God for removing the sin of the worshipper.  Offering up gratitude to God, then, is seen as we acknowledge who God is (Hebrews 13:15) and give ourselves in service to others (Hebrews 13:16).  In light of all that God’s done for believers through Christ, we should respond with gratitude, with grateful hearts that God’s given us what we don’t deserve. 
All of this is very timely for us as a people.  First, there’s the political arena.  We have a huge election coming up in our country.  On November 6, we have the privilege (and responsibility!) in our democratic republic to make decisions and select leaders.  And, if our heart is not oriented to God properly, we can easily become anxious, worried and wonder what will happen if something we didn’t vote for is passed.  I’ve also found that when I’m grumbling, complaining, finding fault with other people or the various processes inside and outside the church, my heart hasn’t been well-nurtured in the streams of gratitude.  God, in His grace, then, allows our hearts to be exposed in things like a national election.  Guard your heart.  Nurture it in gratitude to God and make decisions at the ballot box accordingly. 
Secondly, this also relates to end of year decisions in the church.  While we are led by elders, the congregation gets to participate in affirming leaders and a budget each year.  On December 9, after the AM service, our members will gather to affirm recommendations from the leaders.  Hebrews 13:17 urges us to “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”  How is this possible?  Again, we can only live rightly in the church with a spirit of gratitude to God.  Recognizing the blessings He’s given will help us to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Without gratitude, we’ll complain and voice our opinions in ways that might not be the most helpful for the good of the whole.  With gratitude, our words will be seasoned with grace and, hopefully, bless the ones who serve us so joyfully.
Finally, we have Christmas.  I know it seems like it’s a long time from now, but it will be here soon.  Gratitude to God for Christ will keep our hearts and minds directed to glorify God through a busy holiday season.  When we are consumed with the presents and activities and not mindful of all that God launched into motion in sending His Son, we will be grumbling, complaining Scrooges.  But, hearts nurtured by gratefulness to God will truly be able to celebrate the good news of great joy for all people: a Savior is born. 

Therefore, I hope you are full of gratitude as this year comes to an end so that we might be a people who glorify and enjoy God, forever.  

Leadership Email: Diagnosis Is Needed

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Here’s my leadership email to Reno County Leaders on Monday, October 29:

I had a child wake up croupy this morning.  You know what that means, since I’m not an M.D….a trip to the doctor.  Diagnosis is needed.  For the next few weeks, we are going to explore diagnosing the situation again.  It’s a key part of the KLC Competencies.  I’m lifting some of this content from a document that’s available online: The Competencies For Civic Leadership. 
Under DIAGNOSE SITUATION, we read:
“What does it mean to diagnose situations for the purpose of exercising effective leadership on difficult civic challenges?  And why is it the first of the KLC Competencies?”
“If you are trying to intervene to make progress on a tough issue, it is critical you understand what you are intervening into.  And our experience and observation is that the biggest single mistake people make in trying to exercise leadership on civic challenges is in misdiagnosing the situation.  Chuck Krider, a longtime godfather of Kansas economic policy, put it this way: ‘Problem identification is key.  If you don’t identify the right problems, then you are working on the wrong thing!  What are you going to work on?  What are you going to do?  To set good objectives and goals, you have to understand the problem.’”
We’ll stop there for today.  Hopefully you feel the importance of this.  Maybe begin our journey in reacquainting yourself with diagnosing the situation by thinking of a difficult challenge you’re facing.  Like a diamond with multi-faceted beauty, your challenge probably has multi-faceted problems and solutions.  Think of how you typically have responded.  What other things might you need to consider.  This is how we begin to diagnose.  We recognize a problem and notice the gap between where it leaves us and where we’d like to be. But, more on that next time…
I hope you’re encouraged in the difficult and needed work you are giving to our community.  With you in the trenches of leadership…

Weekend Review – Offered Sacrifices

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My 10/28/12AM sermon, Offered Sacrifices, from Hebrews 13:15-16 is online.  While Christ’s work for redeeming sinners is completed and there are no further sacrifices needed, the writer of Hebrews gives us two sacrifices of praise that should still come out of lives: a sacrifice of praise in gratitude to God and a sacrifice of loving acts toward others.

In this sermon, I tried to root out some remaining remnants of selfishness that might keep us from offering to God sacrifices of praise and really tried to emphasize that these sacrifices don’t happen by gutting it out effort, but they are offered THROUGH CHRIST.

It was a convicting word for me personally and one that I hope helped the people I love to serve.

Hope you had a great weekend, as well.

Worship, Praise & Sacrifices

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These words evoke images that are striking for some and not so striking for others.  Worship and praise, those are good buzz words in church culture.  Sacrifice, well, as long as it’s convenient.  Tomorrow, as we gather for worship, we will be exploring Hebrews 13:15-16 and the sacrifices that God delights in.  Specifically, we will see that a sacrifice of praise is pleasing to God and comes out of lives changed by the Gospel of Christ.  Come and be challenged to live lives of worship that please this God.

What Does It Mean For Me vs. Who Are You Looking For

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Here’s a great quote from Michael Reeves Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith:

“…when you see that Christ is the subject of all the Scriptures, that he is the Word, the Lord, the Son who reveals the Father, the promised Hope, the true Temple, the true Sacrifice, the great High Priest, the ultimate King, then you can read, not so much asking, “What does this mean for me, right now?” but “What do I learn here of Christ?”  Knowing that the Bible is about him and not me means that, instead of reading the Bible obsessing about me, I can gaze on him.  And as through the pages you get caught up in the wonder of his story, you find your heart strangely pounding for him in a way you never would have if you treated the Bible as a book about you.” (pp.82-83)

I so love this quote because in an effort to make the Bible apply (which isn’t necessarily wrong), we can miss out on what the Bible actually says (which would be wrong).  Look to exalt the Son as you read God’s Word and find Him satisfyingly good.

Leadership Email: Suspect #1

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Here’s the email I wrote to leaders in Reno County on Monday, 10/22/12:

I love Sherlock Holmes stuff.  Everything from the old BBC series starring Jeremy Brett to the new BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatchto even the new CBS series Elementary starring Lucy Liu draw my attention in quickly.  One particular episode stuck out to me (it’s called the Naval Treaty).  Holmes believes to have solved it, but when questioned about whom he suspects, he pauses and says, “I suspect myself, for coming to conclusions too rapidly.”  In recent weeks in leadership emails, we’ve discussed taking care of ourselves and, most recently, identifying triggers.  I find that one consistent problem in my leadership is actually me.  The leadership principles of the KLC say that Leadership starts with you and must engage others.  My weaknesses and rushing to conclusions too easily stand in the way of my most productive acts of leadership.  I’m guessing that may be the case for some of you.  So, my simple request today is to manage self and realize that as you do, you’re positioning yourself to be the most effective leader you can be.  That’s where we all want to be.  Today, then, examine yourself.  And, after making the necessary corrections, step out to engage others and see if we don’t make a difference in those issues we care about so deeply.
With you in this adventure…