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Weekend Preview – Ecclesiology

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This weekend, we are taking a break from Colossians in the AM to address some issues in church life from Titus 2:1-8. I’ve entitled the sermon Ecclesiology 101. Ecclesiology is the “study of things pertaining to the church.” This passage holds relevant instruction for: why we put such a priority on teaching, how men’s and women’s ministries should function and what kind of life we are all called to live. It really will be a good, fresh reminder of some core convictions we hold to.

In the evening, we will finish up Hosea, looking at Hosea 13:4-14:9. This book has been a great treasure for us on Sunday evenings this year. My basic outline for this sermon has to do with God’s attributes of justice and love.

Hope to see you this weekend!

Thoughts on Facebook…

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I’ve had people nagging me for some time to join Facebook. For me personally, it is time consuming enough simply to get posts on a blog and I find my blog helpful in helping me catalog helpful things I’ve found online. It also makes it easy to recommend a site to someone to have them visit my site, where I’ve linked to it.

Facebook is more than these things, though. A recent report said the average user of Facebook spends 3 days messing with it over the course of a year. Couple this with a recent report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which says that their can be some positives in new media.

Here’s the rub for me: the Bible commends the local church as the community in which life is to function. People will, for instance, get on Facebook and communicate for everyone what their struggles are or what’s happening in their lives, but not even communicate those things in a small group or with the Elders or people in the local church (unless those people are “friends on Facebook”). I don’t think this should be. Maybe I need to get on Facebook and become friends with all the people in the church that are on it (so I can effectively shepherd). I don’t know. It just seems to be a disconnect. Sure Paul wrote letters to communicate with churches and we do have amazing gifts in technology. But there is still something unique about practicing the one anothers with, well, one another. How can these be balanced?

Are You Rocking Or Rowing the Boat?

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From Ed Stetzer:

In church life, the people that are rocking the boat are hardly ever the ones rowing it.

I think this has generally been my experience, although we can even get insight and learn from those who are doing the rocking. A godly view of Biblical criticism is a must for church life.

The Need of Small Groups…

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A friend sent me an email the other day highlighting the following (from Piper’s sermon The Love of Human Praise as the Root of Unbelief):

7 Reasons We Need Small Groups
He has given pastors to the church “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12). I believe in what I do. And I believe that it is not enough. Here are the seven reasons I gave the small group leaders.

1) The impulse avoid painful growth by disappearing safely into the crowd in corporate worship is very strong.
2) The tendency toward passivity in listening to a sermon is part of our human weakness.
3) Listeners in a big group can more easily evade redemptive crises. If tears well up in your eyes in a small group, wise friends will gently find out why. But in a large gathering, you can just walk away from it.
4) Listeners in a large group tend to neglect efforts of personal application. The sermon may touch a nerve of conviction, but without someone to press in, it can easily be avoided.
5) Opportunity for questions leading to growth is missing. Sermons are not dialogue. Nor should they be. But asking questions is a key to understanding and growth. Small groups are great occasions for this.
6) Accountability for follow-through on good resolves is missing. But if someone knows what you intended to do, the resolve is stronger.
7) Prayer support for a specific need or conviction or resolve goes wanting. O how many blessings we do not have because we are not surrounded by a band of friends who pray for us.

So please know that when this small-group ministry of our church is lifted up, I don’t think it’s an optional add-on to basic Christian living. I think it is normal, healthy, needed, New Testament Christianity. I pray that you will be part of one of these small groups or that you will get the training and start one. This is the main strategy through which our pastors and elders shepherd the flock at Bethlehem.

This was so well put and a great needed reminder. If you desire more info on Crestview’s small groups, check out that portion of our website.

The Needs of the World vs. Comfortable Christians…

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Writing from Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22, Ajith Fernando says:

The thing I find hardest in this list is Paul’s statement that he became weak in order to win the weak. We all like to operate out of a position of strength, to be in control, to have things going the way we want them to go. But that is not the way of the gospel. It is quite common for people to say they are looking for a church they are comfortable with. I think that is a scandalous statement. When were churches supposed to be comfortable places? There is too much need in the world for Christians to be comfortable. (from p.94 of the Call to Joy and Pain)

It seems that we are not immune to this kind of thinking. We serve our comforts much more than we serve the world. I think Ajith is right. This is not only a scandalous statement, it is a scandalous way to live in light of the calling believers have upon their lives.

Wells on the Church….

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David Wells’ recent article in Tabletalk is online. The article entitled “Quitting and Finding Church“, would be well worth your time. He concludes:

We who worship and we who preach really do need to humble ourselves before God and ask for a restoration in our country of the kind of preaching that He can really use. If God does not visit us afresh in this regard, I am afraid that our “churchianity” will continue unabated and there will be many who genuinely are asking for something better who will not be able to find it.

This is a great call and reminder that we need God to move, not another program or technique. Are you desperate for God?

Keeping the proper perspective on family…

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I was directed back to Voddie Baucham’s excellent book Family Driven Faith recently. One of the major themes of the book is how God has set apart the family as the primary means of grace for children to be reared on a proper foundation of loving God. Unfortunately, many today feel that this role should be done by the church. Voddie comments on how reading an average youth ministry’s purpose statement sounds really incredible, covering all of the bases, but then he laments:

There’s just one problem with the aforementioned mission statement. It makes absolutely no mention of parents! This ministry sets out to do for teens what God commands parents to do. Think about it. It is not the job of the youth pastor to evangelize my child — that’s my job. It is not the youth pastor’s job to equip (disciple) my child — it’s mine. And it is not the youth pastor’s job to send my child out to engage the world; you guessed it — that’s my job too. (pp.176-177)

There are an increasing number of people who think that it is the church’s job to provide all this kind of “meaningful programming” for their kids. All the while, in their very admission, they are confessing with their life and lips that they don’t measure up the standard God has clearly set forth for them in His Word. This doesn’t mean the parenting task is easy or that we shouldn’t seek help in doing this most effectively. It does mean that we shouldn’t shirk our duties to others.

Isn’t this an amazing gift that God has given us? May all of our families be tools in God’s hands to further glorifying and enjoying God, forever, in the lives of our children.

For more info on Voddie and his ministry, visit Family Driven Faith.

Loving the Church…

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Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck, who recently wrote a book Why We Love The Church were guest columnists this week in the religion section of the Washington Post/Newsweek forum. Their comments are very revealing:

Perhaps Christians are leaving the church because it isn’t tolerant and open-minded. But perhaps the church-leavers have their own intolerance too–intolerant of tradition, intolerant of authority, intolerant of imperfection except their own. Are you open-minded enough to give the church a chance–a chance for the church to be the church, not a coffee shop, not a mall, not a variety show, not Chuck E. Cheese, not a U2 concert, not a nature walk, but a wonderfully ordinary, blood-bought, Spirit-driven church with pastors, sermons, budgets, hymns, bad carpet and worse coffee?

This is a great challenge for us in this day and age where we church hop and shop around based on our whims and desires. We’ve heard of going to those churches who can give you an oil change while the service is happening. What Christ calls us to, however, is not a casual relationship with His bride, but a commitment. Let’s, to use the words of DeYoung and Kluck, give the church a chance.

Our Basement…

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Our basement at the church has flooded, which leaves me with some theological musings…

1) Is this depth of water level what liberal scholars really think Pharaoh and his army perished in when chasing the children of Israel out of Egypt. (They say that the children of Israel actually crossed the Sea of Reeds, which was just a few inches deep.) The only problem is the drowning of those chasing. Just a thought.

2) Our insurance company says that this isn’t covered because it isn’t an “act of God.” (I jokingly told our treasurer we should sue on theological grounds. You see, we believe in God’s providence, which means that He is sovereignly in control and governing ALL THINGS. Not an act of God. Ha! I can read the headline now, “Local Church in KS Sues Insurance Company Over Doctrine”. Oh, well. NO need for mean-spiritedness.)

3) There has to be some sort of ramifications for Baptists and Presbyterians with all this water.

Oh, well. God is gracious and we are trusting Him to provide the means and take care of us. When you pray, ask God to endow us with wisdom.

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