In the below video, John Piper challenges us (in particular church leadership) to do something that may/will cost you everything.
Monthly Archive for March, 2009
I’ve been absent for a while, and I hope the content of this post doesn’t make you think I’ve lost it. Last week Mark Driscoll was on Nightline with three others discussing the reality/existance of Satan. I didn’t count, but my guess is that he gave the gospel no less than 3 times and pointed to Jesus as the remedy for evil at least a dozen times.
Mark rocked ‘em! This will take about an hour of your life, but it is well worth it. WATCH
…preaching that aims to produce true evangelical remorse and contrition must devote itself to making God and His holiness look alluringly attractive and satisfying, so that, by the grace of regeneration and illumination, people will come to love it so much that they feel intense remorse over falling short of it.” ~ John Piper, “Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry“, Pg. 125
Prophecy is God’s signature in the Bible. It speaks clearly to His sovereignty, especially in the affairs of man. One thing we know in this respect, is that prophecy tells us that history is going somewhere and that somewhere is the fulfillment of God’s purposes. History is not out of control and nothing has taken God by surprise, nor have any of the affairs of men thwarted in any respect God’s determined plan.
~ Pastor Mike H
Psalms 66:7 (NKJV) 7He rules by His power forever; His eyes observe the nations; Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
According to Scripture, the moral law is a revelation of the character of God. It therefore exposes sin (Rom. 7:7), but it also points to the nature of the believer’s future glorification. Salvation has as its purpose the recovery of sinners to the image of God in Christ; the provisions of redemption are not therefore a substitute for law, rather, as Paul writes, it is by the gospel that “we establish the law” (Rom. 3:31). Christ died, believers are told, “that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Rom. 8:4). “Free from the law” means deliverance from its condemnation through Christ; not exemption from the moral perfection it requires. It is the deepening awareness of the holiness God requires that leads the Christian to a growing awareness of sin, and to humility before God. ~ Iain Murray, Truth Endures, pg 51-52
Martin Luther, following the Diet of Worms in April 1521 came to the conclusion that the central issue that he had with Rome was the doctrine of ”sola fide” – faith alone. This is the instrumental cause or the means by which justification comes to the believer. So, for Luther the doctrine of justification by faith alone was the preeminent doctrine on which the whole of the Gospel stood.
“The article of justification is the master and prince, the lord, the ruler, and the judge over all kinds of doctrines; it preserves and governs all church doctrine and raises up our conscience before God. Without this article the world is utter death and darkness” (Martin Luther, What Luther says: An Anthology, ed. Ewald M. Plass, 3 vols , St Louis: Concordia, 1959, vol. 2 pg 705-705).
The post-modernist takes the position that when a person speaks from conviction, especially the conviction that is born from the Scriptures he is arrogant. But this kind of thinking is nothing new and G. K. Chesterton saw it years ago when he commented;
“…is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition…[and] settled upon the organ of conviction, where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. We are on a road to producing a race of men too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.” G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, New York; Doubleday, 1959, pg. 27-28
Matthew 7:28 – 29 (ESV) 28And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
Thursday evening Dr. Albert Mohler preached. His text was the above passage. He encouraged us to remember that as Jesus preached with inherent authority we are to preach with the authority of the Scriptures. To paraphrase, he lamented that all too many pulpits today preach with commas and question marks and not with periods and exclamation points! I could not agree more.
Many of our seminaries have imposed a post-modern ethos into the teaching of homiletics. They have taught their preachers to engage their congregations in discussion and dialogue instead of proclamation. They no longer preach the text. The authority and force of the Scriptures in their preaching has been replaced with ambiguity and an imposed context that does not belong to the text (contextualization). They are no longer sure what the text says and to assert such a notion in their preaching is considered arrogant.
Unlike the scribes of our Lord’s day who preached around the text, added or subtracted from the text, or taught the latest nuance, imposing unwarranted typology or tradition, Christ spoke with clarity and authority so that the audience who heard the “Sermon on the Mount”, were astounded and surprised at His teaching and realizing He spoke with the authority of God. There was no confusion, they got it and were confronted with the truth of His words.
It is the job of the preacher to give the clear sense of the Scriptures (Nehemiah 8:8). That is his God ordained responsibility. It is then that the Holy Spirit is free to bring the truth of the Scriptures to the heart of the hearer. This is expositional preaching.
For our Lord, His authority is inherent in His person. For the preacher, it is delegated to him from the Word of God. God intended His Word to convict, teach, reproof, instruct in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16; 4:1-2) and bring the disciple of Christ to maturity (vs.17). God’s Word is to be preached with clarity and the authority of a thoroughly studied preacher who is clear about what the text says! His congregation deserves it and his Lord demands it.
Thanks, Dr. Mohler for the reminder and driving the responsibility of the preacher home once again to a bunch of thirsty and appreciative pastors.
Psalms 133:1 (NKJV) 1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Our first day at Shepherd’s Conference was a rainy one. But what a joy it is to be here! Four thousands pastors and church leaders gathered together to hear the Word of God preached and be encouraged together. This conference is not about “retooling” because our culture has changed, or how you can grow a large church, or about who has the latest technique etc. but rather it is about staying true to the Word of God and steadfast in spite of the latest fad. The intellect was certainly here but it revolved around the exposition of the Word of God not some new way to retool the Gospel and thereby destroy the power of its message.
There is no pretense, no glamour, no worldly wisdom, just an intense, joyful exposure to the Word of God in its power and glory. How refreshing it is to hear men encourage to “hold fast our profession of faith (Hebrews 4:14) and be trustworthy conduits of the precious Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What a joy it to fellowship with total strangers and never have a pastor ask you how big is your church and where did you go to school. Instead conversations revolve around the beauty and sufficiency of the Word of God. If there is anything that was of a negative nature it has always been about how one is grieved over the reduction of the Gospel message.
The reason the verse above is evident at Shepherd’s Conference is because of the supreme love these men have for the Word of God and the Savior who purchased them and placed them in the ministry. This week we taste a little bit of heaven!
I will have a post coming soon with the last installment of “A Reductive Gospel” as I explore briefly what is fiduciary faith.
Dear all, things are going to be a little slow this week. Since the Shepherd’s Conference is on full boar as of this morning. There will likely be a few postings regarding the activities in So. Cal.
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