Mark Dever on Numbers and Faithfulness

I think if we would be honest with ourselves, our default position is to elevate fruitfulness over faithfulness. The two should not be at odds with one another, but when they are, fruitfulness tends to win out. This discussion is one that many are having in evangelical circles today, and I think we need to think it through without making excuses for neglecting either (those not seeing any fruit from their ministry saying all that matters is being faithful, and those with significant fruit saying all that matters is being fruitful).

In light of that, I commend the balanced, wise counsel of Mark Dever regarding the ministerial responsibility to be faithful in discharging the duties of a gospel minister while recognizing that the results belong to God.

The Gospel Alphabet: U is for Unity

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T

In his book, Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way, J.I. Packer has a chapter entitled “The Gospel as of First Importance.”  In that chapter, Packer discusses the pastoral and formational applications of the Gospel.  Many are familiar with the quote from Tim Keller that “the Gospel is not the ABC’s of the Christian life; it is the A through Z of the Christian life.”  Packer writes,

“In that spirit we offer the following ‘Gospel Alphabet’–twenty-six pastoral and formative reasons why the Gospel must retain primacy as the content of Christian education” (108).

This week, we come to the letter “U”.

U is for Unity

A clear Gospel focus in our preaching and teaching has the potential to contribute to the unity of the church. In the latter half of the twentieth century one frequently seen example of this was the evangelistic campaigns of Billy Graham, which typically featured the cooperation of a great diversity of congregations and denominations. At the  beginning of this century new movements are afoot for the sake of the Gospel that aim to be both evangelical and ecumenical. We never seem to achieve perfect consensus here because we need to constantly wrestle with variant details of conviction and, of course, with all kinds of intellectual spin-offs of our fallenness. But magnifying the Gospel as our central point of reference can help us keep a variety of lesser concerns in proper perspective (Phil. 1:18).

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Annotation from me:

Packer seems to be focusing primary on evangelicalism as a whole, and indeed there are gospel-centered movements (Gospel Coalition, Together for the Gospel, etc.) who are working to “renew the center” of evangelical life. But on a local church level, I believe a commitment to the gospel does its greatest work in promoting and protecting unity.  There will always be competing cultures, surging personal preferences, and various approaches or philosophies of ministry.  But what defines the identities and shapes the contours of the church should be the Gospel.  When we are united around the Gospel and all of its implications and applications, we snuff out competing sub-cultures and celebrate diversity in multiple facets of life.

 

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

Michael Horton answers the question about the prevailing religion of the day and why we need a recovery of the gospel.  By the way, if you have not picked up Horton’s trilogy on the gospel, they are must-read’s:

Christless Christianity
Gospel-Driven Life
The Gospel Commission

Thank You John Stott (1921-2011)

Few people have shaped evangelicalism more in the past 100 years than John R.W. Stott, and this morning he departed to glory with a legacy that will far outlast his lifetime.  I never had a chance to meet John Stott, but I felt that I came to know him through his writings in the many ways he came to meet me in the journey of my Christian faith.

In the early days of my studies, I benefited greatly from his classic book Basic Christianity, which I often kept several copies in my car to give away.  In the formative days of my preaching, his book Between Two Worlds was foundational to understanding and communicating God’s Word.  When I wrestled with the nature, extent, and purpose of Christ’s work on the cross, his book The Cross of Christ rocked my world and plunged me deeper into the glories of Calvary that I had ever been.  As I began to consider how to apply what I had been learning to the world around me, his book The Contemporary Christian was a faithful guide.

When I moved onto seminary, my first major topic of interest was understanding evangelical anti-intellectualism, what would you know, but John Stott had written a book on it (actually they are lectures put into a book).  In the following years, I began wrestling with evangelical mission, in particular the relationship of evangelism with social action.  Stott had two books that I referenced regularly, namely Christian Mission in the Modern World and Our Guilty Silence.  Though it is presented as a commentary, John Stott’s commentary on the book of Acts is incredibly helpful and insightful for the mission of the church, and from my reading of Tim Keller very instrumental in his thinking as well.

The are other books by Stott that I enjoyed, but these served almost biographically in my journey over the past ten years and proved to impact me in numerous ways.  I’m confident that I’m not alone in saying that God has used John Stott in big ways and small as a trustworthy guide in matters related to the gospel, the church, and the mission entrusted to us.  Stott was a faithful steward, and I pray that my generation will carry that baton in the shadow of this churchman, scholar, and missionary statesman for generations to come.  Thank you John Stott, for the way God used you to impact my life.

Below is a tribute from Langham Partnership, the ministry outreach of John Stott that has just been made available.

John Piper, Rick Warren, and the Purpose Driven Life

Let’s just pretend for a moment you did not read the title of this blogpost.  Let’s pretend that there was an anonymous Christian minister who explicitly affirmed the following:

I am passionate about the glory of God above all things.
I believe in the absolute sovereignty of God in all things, including sin and tragedy.
I believe in exhaustive, meticulous divine providence.
I believe in the doctrines of grace, including total depravity, unconditional election, and particular redemption.
I affirm the five solas of the reformation and consider myself a monergist both in justification and sanctification of the believer.
I believe in the eternal, conscious torment in a literal hell.
I believe that substitutionary atonement is at the heart of the gospel.
I believe in that the imputed righteousness of Christ is essential to the nature of the gospel.
I believe that God saves us from Himself by sending us His Son as the wrath-bearing propitiation in my place.
I believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
I believe that those who die never hearing the name of Christ will not go to heaven.  They need to hear the gospel, and the church must go to them and make Christ known in order for them to be saved.
Everything I do in life and ministry has an overarching missionary focus.

Having considered these personal beliefs and affirmations, what well-known evangelical preacher might we be talking about?  John MacArthur? Sounds a lot like him. Albert Mohler? Possibly. D.A. Carson? Perhaps.

Who is it that made these personal affirmations?

Rick Warren.

If you don’t believe me, watch and listen for yourself.

Like just about every other evangelical leader I respect, I don’t agree with everything Rick Warren says and does, but I found this interview very clarifying and confirming.  I cannot imagine the controversy and criticism both John Piper and Rick Warren will receive from this interview, but I’m grateful they made this agreement, having demonstrated a substantive, constructive, engagement on important issues from two very different perspectives.

I don’t know of two pastors in our country who have more influence on my generation than John Piper and Rick Warren.  They have asked that we pray for them, especially in regards to pursuing humility, fighting pride, and stewarding their influence for generations to come.  God has given these men incredible platforms to display the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Let’s pray for them and their continued usefulness in such enormous proportions for the advancement of the gospel both in breadth and depth for many years to come.

Amen.

Highway to Hell and the Regulative Principle

Back in October 2oo7, Mark Driscoll started an online game called “Ask Anything” where anyone could ask him a question and people voted on their favorite questions.  The top nine questions would turn into a sermon series which later became his book entitled Religion Saves.

On October 12, I blogged about the question I asked Driscoll.  The question was:

Do you believe that Scripture regulates not only your theology but also your methodology? In other words, do you believe in the regulative principle? If so, to what degree? If not, why not?

The purpose of me asking this question was related to what I saw happening in evangelical life, namely the popularity of pragmatism over theologically driven and biblically sound methodology.  Driscoll used the illustration of the two hands: one being contending for the faith (doctrine) and the other being contextualizing the faith (practice).  My question was specifically geared around the ways in which doctrine (theology) shaped or influenced practice (methodology).  In other words, do these two hands work independently of one another, or does one hand have a tighter grip on the other?  I wanted to know to which degree Scripture determines what you do versus what culture, trends, or “what works” determine what you do. I thought the question was pretty straightforward, simple, and relevant.

Well, a firestorm erupted on the “Ask Anything” website when my question took the top spot after the first week of voting.  After a month of dealing with antagonism and anger from folks, I asked people to stop voting on my question, which resulted in it dropping down to #13.  After a month of silence, the voting came down to the final days, and friends were eager to have me make a final push to get out the vote because they felt the question could possibly get into the #9 slot and get into the sermon series and book.  Little did we know,in a matter of three days the question moved from #13 to #1, taking in 10,000 votes in that short period of time (a total of 25,181 in all).  I must admit, it was a rather fun moment in the history of this little blog.

The reason I bring that saga nearly four years ago is because of the recent discussion between James McDonald, Mark Driscoll, and Perry Noble regarding Noble’s church singing the song “Highway to Hell” in their church service.  Here’s the video:

Rob Bell Briefing

There’s no way to keep up with (or link to) all the articles, blogs, videos, and reviews coming out about Rob Bell’s book Love Wins, which is scheduled to release tomorrow (March 15).  Currently, his book is #8 in all of Amazon–a rarity for any “Christian” book.  I do not recall in my six years of blogging a controversy as heated and widespread as this one which just about every major secular media outlet is inquiring and every major evangelical theologian going on record by article, review, or just a tweet or two.

Today, there were several things that came out recently worthy of your attention.

1.  Here is a video of Rob Bell explaining why he wrote the book, in particular his controlling belief and presupposition that God is love.

I will just mention briefly that I believe the doctrine of the love of God has been historically the gateway to many heresies, and what Rob Bell is doing here is consistent with the convictions of liberal theologians for centuries. Bell is simply making an old heresy available to a new audience, and making it with style.

2.  Three substantive reviews came out today regarding the book.  The first one is by Kevin DeYoung, and it is a beast.  His review, though considerably long, is careful and rather comprehensive.  It is a must-read.  The second one is by Denny Burk.  Denny breaks down his review by addressing each chapter in Bell’s book.  A third review came from Christianity Today’s Mark Galli who takes more of a middle-of-the-road approach, expressing appreciation for Bell raising the issues but also challenging Bell at certain points.

3.  Doug Wilson makes his usually insightful observation about the denial of the existence of hell not as a matter of mere consequence in the afterlife, but making your life now a literal hell.  He explains:

What is less obvious is how those who deny the future reality of Hell are much more likely to create hellish situations in the here and now. Rob Bell believes that hell is what we create when we reject God’s love. Amen. But I would want to add the absolutely critical proviso that this love of God (that is so rejected) must be defined as He defines it in the Bible, and not as we would wish it might be defined in our Big Rock Candy Mountain versions of Heaven. In the Bible, love is defined as Christ bearing the brunt of God’s wrath against our sin. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10). A denial of the wrath of God is therefore a denial of propitiation (which is bearing the wrath of God), and this in its turn is a denial of love as biblically defined. This means that to deny the reality of Hell is to deny the love of God which saves us from the wrath of that Hell, and to deny the love of God is the first step in creating our own little microcosm of that Hell, which Rob Bell is engaged in doing. He is the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, and if he is right about what rejecting the love of God does (and he is), then it would appear that someone is trying to turn that place into Mars Hell.

4.   I was taken back by the comments of Richard Mouw.  I find these words to be very “mysterious.”  In today’s USA TODAY (13B), you will read the following:

But Richard Mouw, president of the world’s largest Protestant seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary based in Pasadena, Calif., calls Love Wins “a great book, well within the bounds of orthodox Christianity and passionate about Jesus.”  The real hellacious fight, says Mouw, a friend of Bell, a Fuller graduate, is between “generous orthodoxy and stingy orthodoxy. There are stingy people who just want to consign many others to hell and only a few to heaven and take delight in the idea. But Rob Bell allows for a lot of mystery in how Jesus reaches people.”

5.  Rob Bell shared on Twitter that the book release party in NYC’s Center for Ethical Culture will be streamed live beginning at 7PM EST.  So if you would like to hear more from Rob Bell himself, this would be a good opportunity.

6.  Lastly, Southern Seminary is hosting a conversation about the book this Thursday (March 17) from 2:30-4:00PM EST. The panelists will include Justin Taylor, Denny Burk, Albert Mohler, and Russell Moore.  This event will also be livestreamed and available through their website.

Theoretical v. Operative Gospels

I will let this quote by Graeme Goldsworthy speak for itself:

“Among evangelicals there are differences in the way [gospel] is used.  It is a matter for some concern that some books and study courses on evangelism seem to assume that every Christian is absolutely clear about what the gospel is, and that what is needed most is help in the techniques of explaining the gospel to unbelievers.  Experience suggests that this assumption is poorly based and that there is a great deal of confusion among believers about what the gospel is.

Preachers may have a theoretical and an operative gospel.  Theoretically we will get into a theological mode and produce, as far as possible, a biblically based notion focusing on the person and work of Christ.  But, in pastoral practice it is easy to be pragmatic.  Our operative gospel will be the thing that preoccupies us as the focus of our preaching and teaching.  It may a particular hobbyhorse or a denominational distinctive.  Baptism, a particular view of the second coming, social action, creationism, spiritual gifts, and the like are all easily raised to the status of the gospel by becoming the main focus of our preaching.  This is especially deplorable when these spurious gospels are made the basis of our acceptance of other Christians.”

– Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 81.

The Weirdness of Our Generation

Francis Chan talks about the weirdness of our generation and the areas incongruent with biblical Christianity.  I hope we have enough humility and self-examination that we don’t have to wait until our generation passes to discover the things we have uncritically adopted which have little or nothing to do with the kind of Christian faith we see demonstrated in Scripture.

The New Middle Road by Francis Chan

I think Francis Chan puts a stinging critique in a humorous way of popular Christianity today, much like David Platt’s new book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (review forthcoming).

HT: The Resurgence

Kingdom Words, Kingdom Deeds

A lesser known evangelical declaration, the Manila Manifesto (1989) was adopted by the Second International Congress on World Evangelization  in Manila, Philippines.  Regarding the gospel and our social responsibility, I would like to post an excerpt:

The authentic gospel must become visible in the transformed lives of men and women. As we proclaim the love of God we must be involved in loving service, as we preach the Kingdom of God we must be committed to its demands of justice and peace.

Evangelism is primary because our chief concern is with the gospel, that all people may have the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Yet Jesus not only proclaimed the Kingdom of God, he also demonstrated its arrival by works of mercy and power. We are called today to a similar integration of words and deeds. In a spirit of humility we are to preach and teach, minister to the sick, feed the hungry, care for prisoners, help the disadvantaged and handicapped, and deliver the oppressed. While we acknowledge the diversity of spiritual gifts, callings and contexts, we also affirm that good news and good works are inseparable.

Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism

Union University, under the leadership of Dr. David Dockery, continues to lead the discussion in Southern Baptist life by putting together the best conferences about Baptist issues in the country.  In recognition of the 400th anniversary of the Baptist movement, the R.C. Ryan Center of Biblical Studies along with the Office of Church Relations is hosting “Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism“ on October 6-9, 2009 on the campus of Union University. This conference is being billed as “one of the most significant conferences to be found anywhere addressing some of the most vital issues facing Southern Baptists and Evangelicals as we prepare to move into the second decade of the 21st Century.”

Conference speakers include Timothy George, Al Mohler, David Dockery, Ed Stetzer, Danny Akin, Nathan Finn, and many more.  Cost of the conference is a reasonable $85, and you can register by downloading this form and mailing it in to UU (online registration coming soon).  Below is the schedule of the conference, including the topics being addressed.

Tuesday, October 6

• 5:00 p.m. Ed Stetzer: Denominationalism: Is There a Future?
• 6:00 p.m. Dinner
• 7:00 p.m. Jim Patterson: Reflections on 400 Years of the Baptist Movement: Who We Are. What We Believe.

Wednesday, October 7

• Continental Breakfast
• 8:30 a.m. Harry L. Poe: The Gospel and Its Meaning: Implications for Southern Baptists and Evangelicals
• 10:00 a.m. Timothy George: Baptists and Their Relations with Other Christians (G. M. Savage Chapel)
• Noon Luncheon Address – Duane Litfin: The Future of American Evangelicalism
• 2:00 p.m. Ray Van Neste: The Oversight of Souls: Pastoral Ministry in Southern Baptist and Evangelical Life
• 7:00 p.m. Corporate Worship: Robert Smith: Preaching (G. M. Savage Chapel)

Thursday, October 8

• Continental Breakfast
• 10:00 a.m. Daniel Akin: The Future of the Southern Baptist Convention
• Noon Luncheon Address – Michael Lindsay: Denominationalism and the Changing Religious Landscape in North America
• 2:00 p.m. Jerry Tidwell: Missions and Evangelism: Awakenings and Their Influence on Southern Baptists and Evangelicals
• 6:00 p.m. Banquet
• 7:00 p.m. David S. Dockery: Denominationalism and a Global Evangelical Future
• 8:00 p.m. Mark DeVine: Emergent or Emerging: Questions for Southern Baptists and North American Evangelicals

Friday, October 9

• Continental Breakfast
• 8:30 a.m. Nathan Finn: Southern Baptists and Evangelicals: Passing on the Faith to the Next Generation
• 10:00 a.m. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.: Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism (G. M. Savage Chapel)

Insight Podcast: Interview with Tullian Tchividjian on Gospel, Church, and Culture

My good friend Doug Baker has continued his long list of excellent podcasts with his most recent addition – Tullian Tchividjian.  It was recently announced that Tullian accepted the position of pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, suceeding Dr. D. James Kennedy.  Tullian is the author of several books, most recently Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different (which we will be giving away at this year’s Band of Bloggers fellowship).

The podcast is broken down in two segments, and the flow of the interview is listed below. To download, click on MP3 next to each part.

Part 1 – DOWNLOAD MP3

A Church Like the World – What We Need?; Wanted:  Servants not Celebrities; The Big Business of Evangelicalism; “Christians make a difference in this world by being different from this world; they don’t make a difference by being the same”; Relevance – What is It?; The Irrelevance of Relevance; Against the World for the World; The Bible as God’s Listening Post; An “Emergent” Humility?; Evangelism – God’s One Great Work?

Part 2 – DOWNLOAD MP3

Culture – What is it?; Sola Scriptura or Sola Cultura?; Jesus and Cosmic Renewal; The Cultural Mandate – What and Why?; What is the Kingdom of God?; Contextualization – What is It?  Do We Need it?; The Church as God’s Greatest Evangelistic Tool.

I’m grateful for Doug continuing to offer informative and engaging discussions on topics that matter from some of the most respected voices in Baptist and evangelical circles.  To subscribe to the Insight Podcast on iTunes, go here.

Carl Trueman on American Celebrity Culture

Back in May of 2007, I asked the question, “Are We Creating a Reformed Celebrity Culture?” which, at the time, gained considerable traction.  A year later, Carl Trueman shared some of his concerns about the celebrity culture while reflecting on Collin Hansen’s book Young, Restless, Reformed. Most recently, Trueman again picked up on the cult of personality and celebrity culture in America.  Here’s an excerpt:

I had often wondered why certain British figures – Jim Packer, N.T. Wright, Alister McGrath etc., were much bigger this side of the Atlantic than back home in their native country.  Was it just the accent?  Surely it couldn’t be the dentistry…..?  Maybe the dress sense? No.  It is all to do with the way America is a personality/celebrity oriented culture in a way that Britain, while she may well be catching up, has historically not been.   The American church reflects the culture: ministries built around individuals, around big shots, churches that focus on god-like guru figures, all of them pointing to one door.  I have lost count of the conversations I have had with church people anxious to tell of who they heard at this conference, of which person they corresponded with, of how this opinion or that opinion would not sit well with this demi-god and is therefore of little value; and, of course, of how anyone who disagrees with, or criticizes, this chosen hero must, of necessity be morally depraved and wicked.  People want the gods to do their thinking for them.  All of the Pelagian, Manichean celebrity malarkey of the American political process is alive and well in the church as well.  The question is: when it comes to churches and ministries built around messiahs who are supposed to point not to themselves but to the true door, who is going to have the guts to leave the temple?

My good friend Owen Strachan has interacted with Trueman’s article, and offers these thoughts:

Our culture can leave us susceptible to the vicissitudes of a personality-driven atmosphere, causing us to trust more in the speaker at the conference, perhaps, than in the Lord of the church. Trueman is right about the way some Christians lean too strongly on certain leaders, seemingly aligning themselves more with earthly leaders than the Lord of the church.  The same is true of contempoary political leaders, not least among them our current President.  In sum, his political analysis is generally on target, and he gives some needed cautions about a celebrity church culture.

[ . . .] At the end of the day, I’m sure that I have a great deal of agreement with Trueman.  I would love for American Christians to put way more trust in the church–and more than this, the Lord of the church–than in conferences, speakers, big-name organizations, and the like.  More of us everyday Christians need to invest in the local work of God and give a little less devotion, perhaps, to big-name Christians.

We could all do a little self-examination on this point and consider whether we’ve bought into celebrity Christian culture and how it might be affecting our view of the church and its mission.  But don’t take my word for it–take Carl Trueman’s.

Good words, both from Trueman and Owen, words we need to hear more than just once, or twice.

Evangelical Socio-Political Priorities

Alright.

I just got through watching the Larry King Live special on Religion and Politics, counted to 10, and took several deep breaths.  As usual, Dr. Mohler was the lone, conservative evangelical voice in the five-person panel, the closest to him being Jim Wallis.  Most frustrating, however, was that every time Dr. Mohler spoke on an issue, Barry Lynn cut him off and immediately rebutted him.  It must be nice to be so reactionary and bankrupt of ideas where the best one can do on an hour long discussion forum is play tit for tat.  Anyway. 

One of the arguments Jim Wallis and others were making was the belief that abortion and homosexuality are no longer the front-burner ethical issues among evangelicals.  They argue that, for instance, the environment and poverty, are rising to the place of prominence among the evangelical corporate conscience to eclipse the central issues of marriage, family, and the sanctity of human life.  Ideally, I think most evangelicals would say it is not an either-or but a both-and matter, but Dr. Mohler was right to assert that every has an hierarchy of needs and convictions.  Consequently, I am curious to know more about just what everyone is thinking on such matters today.

The reason I am writing this post to ask you a couple of questions to get your thoughts on such certain issues.  Let me put the caveat out there that God is neither Republican or Democrat, and I am not siding with either party.  I am specifically asking about issues that matter most to evangelicals.  So let me know what you think.

Here are five questions that came to my mind after the show tonight:

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1.  What do you believe to be the single most important socio-political issue today?

2.  Do you believe that there is an shift to the left in evangelicalism as a result of the emphasis on poverty and global crises?

3.  Are you personally involved in or committed to helping the poor, overcoming oppression, and fighting injustice?  (I am not asking if you believe in that, but are you doing something about it currently)

4.  Would you support or vote for a presidential candidate who is pro-choice?

5.  Do you consider global warming to be a scientifically legitimate issue?  Should it be a priority to evangelicals? 

_____________________________________________________________

As many of you already know, I did extensive study this past semester on Carl F. H. Henry on such front-burner issues.  I will begin assessing and providing excerpts from him soon.  In the meantime, please, if you have time, let me know what you think.  Thanks.