Why We Need Steady Bible Intake

A snippet from the introduction to my sermon this past Sunday morning:

Let me go on a little rant here and tell you that this is why Bible reading, Bible study, and church attendance is so important for the Christian.  If you are not reading your Bible every day, then I can say with complete confidence that you are not repenting every day.  You are not changing your mind about Christ, about sin, or about your life because you are not being confronted with the facts of our life in Christ as God knows them and has told us.  If your mind is not being changed then your passions are not being changed.  If your passions are not being changed then your conduct is not being changed.  Instead, you are repenting backwards.  All that you see and hear in this world is going into your mind unchallenged by God’s truth and changing your mind about Christ, about sin, and about your life.  Instead of being conformed to the image of Christ through the Gospel you are becoming conformed to the mindset of the world through music, movies, media, and the mouths of friends, co-workers, acquaintances.  The same goes for church attendance.  If you do not regularly attend a church where the Bible is preached according to what it says, then even your personal Bible reading can be corrupted by the onslaught of information that is coming from the world.  We need Pastors who will tell us, “This is what the Bible says and this is what the Bible means when it says this.”  We need that.  We need it because our enemy controls most of what we see and hear in this world.  And Pastors need Pastors too.  That’s one reason we have more than one Pastor here.  I need to hear the Bible preached to me just as much as you do, because if I don’t have that, then just like with you, the world will influence the way I read the Bible and understand the Gospel.

Jesus Came Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom

Jesus came preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.  Matthew 4:17-25 tells us of this beginning of Jesus’ ministry of preaching.  We see the topics of His message (verses 17, 23):

1. Repentance.
2. The Kingdom is at hand.

We see His disciples respond to this message (verses 20, 22):

1. They left their nets/boats/families.
2. They followed Jesus.

Finally we see the vindication of His message (verses 23-25):

1. He heals the sick.
2. Great crowds follow after Jesus.

These are necessary verses to put the Sermon on the Mount into its proper context.  When Jesus sees these crowds following after Him, He ascends up on a mountain, calls His disciples in close, and begins to teach them more accurately the good news of the Kingdom.  The good news is this (according to 5:3-12);

1. We are ‘Blessed’(supremely favored by God, we bask in the face of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, who for a time suffered the disfavor and ‘woe’ of God that we might live in this blessed state).
2. We have a present citizenship in the Kingdom.
3. We have a future hope of a revelation of the Kingdom.
4. Our circumstances here do not always reflect the true reality as God sees it.
5. Our present manner of life has eternal consequences.
6. Our present treatment by the world works for us a greater weight of glory.

Therefore…

1. We should respond to the call of repentance by renouncing all that holds us in the kingdom of darkness and follow our King, Jesus Christ.
2. We should have a joyful spirit which displays itself through the physical emotion of happiness even in the midst of poverty, mourning, hunger, thirst, and persecution.
3. We should conduct ourselves in a meek, merciful, pure, peacemaking manner in the midst of a world that seeks to dominate, threaten, defile, and separate us from the love of Christ.
4. We should be known by our joyfulness as we rejoice and are glad that we have been worthy to suffer after the manner of our Lord and Savior who endured such hostility from sinners so that He might redeem us from our sin and produce these marks of true religion in us.

Bible Reading for 2009-UPDATED!

I accidentally uploaded a working draft of my Bible Reading Plan.  Here’s my updated 2009 Bible Reading Plan.

Following this plan I hope to read through the Bible twice this year.  There’s a lot of room spread around for catching up.

Preaching through Mark

Beginning the first Sunday in January I will be preaching for 17 Sundays through the book of Mark.  In this series I will be focusing on one question from the text of each chapter, except chapter 14 where there are 2 questions and 72 verses, that gets to the heart of what each chapter is about.

The reason I am taking this approach is three-fold;

1)  Our Church has three Pastors.  Up until now we have been taking turns each Sunday preaching and have not really been able to focus on one book of the Bible.  We believe that our Church needs the benefits of preaching through books of the Bible.

2)  Since we have three Pastors, we decided to divide the year into thirds and rotate through the services.  I will be preaching the first four months on Sunday morning, Charlie Henderson will be preaching Sunday nights, and David Rosati will be preaching Wednesday nights.  Then we will rotate the next four months.

3)  We have more than one Pastor for several reasons.  Besides that fact that we believe a ‘plurality of Elders’ is biblical, we also do not want to have Crossway Baptist Church identified by any one man.  We want to be identified by our loyalty to Christ and sound doctrine.  We as preachers want to be identified as sound in our theology, but we don’t think that any one person’s reputation should rise above that of the Church.

Alright?

Glorify God With Your Vote part 2

I finished my post yesterday like this;

So there are the options.  Sort of ‘pro-life’, ‘pro-abortion’, and Pastor.  What is a Christian to do with his vote?  Y’all discuss this for a while.  Meanwhile, I’ve got some more stuff to consider that I’ll tell you about later…like Scripture.

So…here it is.  As Christians in a country that gives us the privilege to elect our leaders, how should we elect those leaders?  In answering this question I want to make sure that I am as clear as Scripture is.  So while I am going to tell you how to vote, I am not going to tell you who to vote for.

The first Scripture I think we need to remember, as reflected by the title of these posts, is;

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1Corinthians 10:31) ESV

That’s a pretty broad statement.  What it means is, no matter where you are or what you are doing, you should do whatever it is that you do for God’s glory.  Obviously this applies to Christians in the United States casting their ballots for President.

So the question then becomes, “How do I, as a Christian, vote for God’s glory?” Let me assure you, there will be no option on your ballot marked, “God’s Glory”.  And yet we are told that even this action of going into the voting booth on our part must be conducted in such a way as to reflect, promote, and offer up glory to God.

I think looking at what Scripture has to say about government might be a good place to start.  The most obvious place to look in Scripture is Romans;

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. (Romans 13:1-7) ESV

Here Paul very clearly tells us that government is instituted by God for our good.  Interesting side note here, Paul is saying that government is ordained by God for our good and that there is nothing to fear from government if we do what is right.  Then government chopped his head off.  Government is ordained by God, but that does not mean government is always right.  But even when government is corrupt and comes to the point of persecuting Christians, Christians are to submit to government as our friend.  But this can only happen if we remember what Paul has already said in the previous chapter;

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19) ESV

Taken in this context, Paul is telling us first, that God uses government to exact His wrath on the unjust, and second, that government to is subject to the wrath of God when it acts unjustly, especially against His saints.

But the fact remains, government is instituted by God to protect and provide justice to those under it’s authority.  So when we are looking at a Presidential candidate we must remember that a clear sense of justice is a requirement in governing authorities.

A second Scripture to look at is;

The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him: What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows? Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:1-9) ESV

Here again we see this issue of justice as a requirement for King Lemuel.  But there are other considerations here as well.

First is the man’s character. He is not give away his strength to women, or be involved in adulterous relationships.  This conduct will destroy a ‘King’, not only in his own house, but in the execution of his authority.  Adultery is injustice.  When a ‘King’ is unjust he has perverted his office of administrator of justice.  Instead he is to be faithful to his own wife, showing that he will be faithful to administer justice to his people.

Second is the man’s self-control. He is not to be a drunkard.  Drunkenness impairs judgment, and impaired judgment leads to injustice.  Instead he is to be a sober man, able to make correct judgments whenever necessary.

Third is the man’s compassion. He is to ‘give strong drink’, or, comfort, to the perishing and those in bitter distress.  That is, he should be able to discern and care for the needy in their trouble.

Fourth is the man’s conscience. He is to speak on behalf of those who have no voice.  He is to come to the aid of the innocent when they are accused and sentenced to death.  Let me take a moment and talk about abortion here.  If there was ever a description of the unborn it is that they are voiceless.  Even in our free society where we have freedom of speech, their voice will not be heard unless we speak up for them.  They are the truly innocent who in far too many cases have been sentenced to death for no good reason.  I simply cannot, indeed will not ever, for any reason cast a ballot for anyone who refuses to speak up for the unborn.  This in my mind is probably the greatest injustice in our world today, and second only in history to the murder of Jesus Christ by the hands of sinful man.

Finally, the man’s convictions. He must be a man who is not afraid to speak up against the rich when they have oppressed the poor.  Larry Norman wrote a song titled, “The Great American Novel”.  This song at one point asked the question, “You say all men are equal, all men are brothers, well, why are the rich more equal than others?”, or something to that effect.  While I certainly do not believe that the majority of the rich are actively seeking the oppression of the poor, I would be a fool to deny that it happens.  And when it does, the man that we elect must be a man who doesn’t mind refusing bribes or remaining certain in his convictions when he speaks up for the oppressed.

In short, the God-glorifying way to vote is to vote for the man who most clearly embodies these characteristics.  It is to vote for the man who protects the citizens and embodies the good judgment to give justice to those who most need it.  These are the reasons God gave government, and the way that God will be glorified through your vote is for you to vote your conscience on these issues.  Look at the policies, whether foreign policy, domestic policy, financial policy, education policy, etc., and vote for the man whose policies are colored by a clear sense of justice as evidenced also by his character, self-control, compassion, conscience, and conviction.

But recognize this as well, there is only one Just Ruler, and He will be faithful and compassionate to His saints and avenge them of their oppressors.

What’s your style of worship?

As I have talked to many people about our Church Plant here in East TN, this is one of the questions that comes up.  The other two are;

Who are you trying to attract?, and
Are you reformed?

Good questions, I guess.

First, Worship style…Gospel-centered.

If by worship we are talking about the time when our local assembly comes together to worship God, here’s what our worship ‘style’ is.  We worship God through Christ by the Spirit in the reading of the Scriptures that testify of Christ, preaching the Gospel from the Scriptures, hearing the Gospel in the Scriptures, singing the Gospel in accordance with the Scriptures, showing the Gospel as commanded in the Scriptures, and fellowshipping in the Gospel around the Scriptures.  If we’re talking about our music style…whatever is Biblical and easy to be sung by the WHOLE congregation.  Ancient, Old, Modern, New…so far in the first month we have sung them all…without music for the time being, hopefully with music in the future.

Second, Focus Group…the lost in our communities.

The conventional wisdom in Church-planting today seems to be identify a particular sub-section of culture and limit the growth of the Church those ‘four and no more’.  I know that limiting the attenders is not the purpose, but it does end up as the natural result.  Imagine a Church tailored to meet the needs of one subset of Americans…let’s say golfers.  All the illustrations in the sermon relate tothe ‘golfing’ lifestyle (is there a golfing lifestyle?), all the music sounds like the music being played in the clubhouse, and the Pastor wears Izod brand knickers to preach in every Sunday.  Who are you going to attract?  Golfers.  Who are you not going to attract?  Me.  Because I don’t feel welcome in your Church.  I have never golfed, I have worn Izod before, it was a gift, and I don’t speak the language.  Now take look at another Church.  The worship is tailored to God.  Suddenly I have something in common with everyone who attends there.  We’re all not God.  But we all need Him.  This is where I can hang my hat.  I have no doubt that we won’t attract all of Loudon County, but we have a bigger pool to draw from than the Golfer Church does.

Finally, Are you reformed?…No.

I hope I never become so comfortable with myself as to say that I’m reformed.  I hope I am always reforming.  For many being reforemd centers around five doctrines and I hold those doctrines near and dear to my heart as any regualr reader of this blog knows.  But those five doctrines do not a reformation make.  They are a good start, but they are not an end in themselves.  Orthdoxy leads to doxology which affects our orthopraxy.  In English that means that right doctrine leads us to worship God in the right way.  There are many practices in Southern Baptist Churches that stand in need of reformation.  Many churches neglect the public reading of Scripture.  Many sing songs that are simply not Biblical.  Many pull professions out of their youth under high pressure, just like the Muslim in the video from the last post.  Many do not preach thier text.  Many do not practice Church Discipline.  I could go on, but you get the point.  But the biggest point in this is that I do not believe even myself to be completely perfect, therefore as I study God’s Word I must be reforming myself and my practices by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Any questions?

Big Announcement

Here’s the big announcement…

Having recently been somewhat ‘removed’ from the church where we were members, several families have come together in an effort to continue meeting as a church.  We are currently meeting on Sunday evenings in my house where those who attend have to listen to me talk for an hour or so.

Anyway, four of those of us who left the church are preachers.  The four of us met together last Tuesday evening to discuss what our visions for the future are.  We all came up with basically the same answer…Establish a Church in this community that is founded upon the regular exposition of God’s Word in order to reach our area with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to provide a place for the continued growth of others who have been left without a church home through no fault of their own.

I think we have pretty much settled on a name, and we know what we believe, and we know what our vision is for the church, but we still have a lot of work to do in drawing up those documents, taking care of the legal issues, and securing a place for corporate worship.

From all of you out there in blog-land we would request your prayers as we are seeking to fulfill God’s will for our lives as we understand it here in Loudon County, Tennessee.  Above all, pray that God would use the faithful, clear, and uncompromising proclamation of His Word to bring forth fruit.

Thank you.

THREE MARKS OF LEGALISM

By Jeremy Weaver

Here’s the outline of the last Sunday School lesson I preached taught at a Church of which I was a member. May God use the memory of it to bring repentance.

LUKE 11:46-52

Introduction: Jesus spent much of His time either confronting legalists in His day or warning His disciples about the dangers of legalism. Although there are many more, in these verses we find three marks of legalism, and the reasons they are poison to Christianity.

I. Burdening Men

A. The act of burdening men
B. The inaction concerning the bearing of the burdens

II. Building Tombs

A. The murder of the prophets
B. The burial place of the prophets
C. The punishment for this sin

III. Blinding Sinners

A. The key of knowledge
B. A locked door
C. Hindering those who would enter

Conclusion:The sin of this Church is the same as the sin of the Pharisees and Lawyers. We have taken away the clear preaching of the Scriptures by focusing details. While the legalists in Jesus day were looking at the letter and missing the message, the legalists among us are looking at the translation and missing the message. We have burdened men with a translation that we ourselves have trouble understanding. We have taken the work of the Reformers and Puritans in giving us God’s Word in our language and dishonored their memory by taking away the pure and clear meaning of Scripture and hiding it under a grave of beautiful, archaic language. We have taken the key of knowledge away from poor uneducated sinners who would desire to enter into God’s rule, and put them under our rule, hindering them from entering the Kingdom of God. May God grant us mercy.

This Is Where I Am Right Now

Galatians 2, Romans 14, and Luke 11:46-52.

Posting will continue to be sparse.    Bye.

Memory and Hearing the Gospel

There are three classified types of memory in the Human brain; Sensory, Short-term, and Long-term.

Sensory memory operates as the ability to identify something that has affected one of our five senses. For example, I look out the window and see a tree. I can close my eyes and remember what the tree looks like. However, after seeing several trees, the details of the first tree are easily forgotten.

Short-term memory operates as the ability to recall information that may be important for the moment but not needed for daily use. For instance, a phone number that will only be used once can be recalled for a few minutes.

Long-term memory operates as the ability to continually recall facts whenever we need them. In keeping with the theme of a phone, a phone number that is repeatedly dialed throughout our lives, such as the number of a friend or relative, will be stored in our Long-term memory. The act of daily pushing the buttons on the phone keeps this number fresh in our mind.

Many times when we are listening to God’s Word, whether in the pew listening to the preacher, or at home in daily reading, we find ourselves using only our Sensory memory.  We hear the sound of the words and recognize them, or we read see the words on the page of the Bible and can connect the letters in such a way to make words, but we quickly forget what we have heard or read.

Other times we find ourselves using our Short-term memory, hearing and thinking about what is being said while seated in the pew, but then when the last ‘Amen’ is spoken, we stop thinking about what has been said as we go on with our daily lives.

Although both our Sensory and Short-term memories are necessary for initially comprehending what we have heard or read in God’s Word, God’s Word should not be confined to these two types of memory.  We seek to commit God’s Word to our Long-term memory.  We are to be ‘dialing up’ the Gospel daily.

How do we daily ‘dial up’ the Gospel? First, by meditating upon what we have heard or read in the Bible.  Think through all the Gospel implications of the sermon or passage we have heard.  Second, by applying what we have heard.  Identify different ordinary instances in your life where the Gospel demands a change.  Third, by using what we have heard.  Offer up God’s Word back to Him in worship, in song, or in prayer.  Fourth, by sharing what we have heard.  Discuss the Gospel with other believers and testify of it with unbelievers.  Finally, by memorization.  Committing Scripture to memory is very useful in keeping the Gospel ‘dialed up’ constantly before you, provided you have not merely memorized words, but have followed the first step of meditating on the meaning of the verse you have memorized.

The purpose of all this is to live a life that is consistent with the Gospel.  And the only way to live a life consistent with the Gospel is to let the Holy Spirit penetrate your life through the Gospel and transform you by the Gospel.  But it all begins with how we hear the Gospel at the first.