The Alethia Center - Morningview Baptist Church
Reid Ward
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
November 28, 2010
MP3: Generational Faithfulness
I. Generational Arrogance
A. Older towards younger:
Deuteronomy 6:1-2:
B. Younger towards older:
Deuteronomy 6:3:
II. Generational Faithfulness
A. The Responsibility of Generational Faithfulness:
B. The Process of Generational Faithfulness:
1) Hide them (commandments, statues and rules) in your heart:
Deut. 6:4-6:
a) Love God;
b) Obey His Commands;
2) Teach them to your children:
Education - Deuteronomy 6:7a:
3) Talk about them:
Discipleship - Deuteronomy 6:7b:
4) Display them:
a) Modeling; Deuteronomy 6:8:
b) Teaching Moments; Deuteronomy 6:9:
C. The Blessing of Generational Faithfulness:
Vs. 1 - that you may do them in the land to which you are going over -
Vs. 2 - that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son –
Vs. 3 - that your days may be long -
Vs. 3 - that it may go well with you -
Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
Ephesians 6:1-3 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land."
Vs. 3 - that you may multiply greatly -
Gensis 18:19: “For I have chosen him (Abraham), that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him"
Gen. 17:4-9: "Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God." And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations."
III. What is our Legacy?
“Here fix your center; here direct your aim; here concentrate your efforts, your energies, and your prayers. Remember, their religious education is your business. Whatever aids you call in from min¬isters or teachers, you never must, you never can, you never should, delegate this work. God will hold you responsible for the religion of your children.” John Angell James
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Celebrating The Gospel Or The “American Dream”?
Celebrating The Gospel Or The “American Dream”?
Developing A Gospel-Centered Holiday Mindset
By: Mike Hall
Christmas, as a holiday, has its fair share of excess baggage. The holiday has its roots in pagan and Catholic traditions. Our Puritan ancestors, to whom we owe a great deal spiritually, absolutely refused to celebrate Christmas. They called it “Foolstide” and preached against the egregious and excessive behaviors associated with the season. While there is much to criticize in the commercialism and excess that accompany Christmas, there are deeper concerns that should give us pause as we approach the celebration.
The celebration of Christmas is not in and of itself evil. There is absolutely nothing in scripture that forbids believers from enjoying the holiday. The issue is not about what is right but what is best. As believers, our focus should be on the gospel. Christmas and all of the traditions that are bound up in it can become a barrier to celebrating the beauty of the gospel. It is so easy for us to get caught up into seeking the ideal Christmas experience that we begin to focus on things that cannot bring us true and lasting peace. This is true not only of Christmas. The pursuit of the ideal Christmas is a part of the pursuit of the American dream where everybody is healthy, happy, well-fed, entertained, and comfortable in peaceful, two-story suburban housing. In an blog post related to this discussion entitled, What’s the Difference In Living For the Kingdom and Living For the American Dream, Pastor John Piper wrote,
Our testimony to the world works precisely opposite to what the prosperity gospel says. When Christians are willing to suffer for the cause of the unborn, for racial justice, and for spreading the gospel, then the world is going to say–just like it does in 1 Peter 3:15–”Where is your hope?”
Our answer will not be, “In houses, cars, and lands.” Rather, we will say, “My hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is going to take me to himself. To live is Christ and to die is gain. I’m here on earth to spread the gospel. I’m going to keep my life as wartime as I can in order to maximize my effect for showing Jesus as valuable, not things as valuable.”
If we truly believe the message that Christ and His gospel are our hope then everything we do including how we celebrate “the holidays” should reflect this understanding. There have been many attempts by believers to move in this direction. Some families reduce the amount of gift giving. Some make manger scenes the focal point of their decorations as opposed to “jolly old saint nick”. These adjustments are good in and of themselves but if we intend to avoid celebrating the American dream Christmas redux, then a more radical change of heart ad holiday are in order.
One means for helping to restore the gospel to its proper place in our December holiday is the celebration of Advent. Many people when they hear the word Advent think of a calendar with chocolates or candy inside. While Advent calendars are a modern derivative, the holiday itself has a much more richer and meaningful history as it relates to the gospel.
The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus which simply means coming. Advent is a celebration of the gospel in the first and second coming of Jesus. It incorporates the whole counsel of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. It’s complete focus is on Christ and it doesn’t carry all of the fluff and baggage that traditionally come with Christmas. There are many reasons why Advent should be the centerpiece of your celebrations but consider the following case built by Elliot Grudem and Bruce Benedict in a blog post from The Resurgence entitled, Why Recognize Advent:
Advent is about much more than gifts and good deeds. The story isn’t all fun and wonder. There is darkness and gloom. There is longing. There is joy and light. There is redemption and grace. There is judgment and final victory. In a way, recognizing Advent is expected. In another way, it’s counter-cultural. Advent allows you to both show the horror of sin and the blessings Christ came to make known, “far as the curse is found.” When you recognize the season of Advent over a number of services before Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, you get to talk about these things. You help your people understand why the inbreaking of God’s kingdom through the birth of Jesus is “good news of a great joy that will be for all people” (Luke 2:10). For example, during Advent you can talk about how to observe the humility of Christ’s birth amidst the gaudy overindulgence of our consumer-frenzied Christmas. You can talk about how crying out, “Come, thou long-expected Jesus” counters our demands for our best life now.
The eternal impact of a shift of mindset and practice towards a more gospel focused Advent celebration is incalculable. If we want to demonstrate to a watching world that we are serious about the gospel and its author our Savior then it is incumbent on us to ask the hard questions about the way we have always done things. Don’t let this season slip by without seizing the opportunity to find “comfort and joy” in a celebration that encompasses more than just a cute manger scene.
Developing A Gospel-Centered Holiday Mindset
By: Mike Hall
Christmas, as a holiday, has its fair share of excess baggage. The holiday has its roots in pagan and Catholic traditions. Our Puritan ancestors, to whom we owe a great deal spiritually, absolutely refused to celebrate Christmas. They called it “Foolstide” and preached against the egregious and excessive behaviors associated with the season. While there is much to criticize in the commercialism and excess that accompany Christmas, there are deeper concerns that should give us pause as we approach the celebration.
The celebration of Christmas is not in and of itself evil. There is absolutely nothing in scripture that forbids believers from enjoying the holiday. The issue is not about what is right but what is best. As believers, our focus should be on the gospel. Christmas and all of the traditions that are bound up in it can become a barrier to celebrating the beauty of the gospel. It is so easy for us to get caught up into seeking the ideal Christmas experience that we begin to focus on things that cannot bring us true and lasting peace. This is true not only of Christmas. The pursuit of the ideal Christmas is a part of the pursuit of the American dream where everybody is healthy, happy, well-fed, entertained, and comfortable in peaceful, two-story suburban housing. In an blog post related to this discussion entitled, What’s the Difference In Living For the Kingdom and Living For the American Dream, Pastor John Piper wrote,
Our testimony to the world works precisely opposite to what the prosperity gospel says. When Christians are willing to suffer for the cause of the unborn, for racial justice, and for spreading the gospel, then the world is going to say–just like it does in 1 Peter 3:15–”Where is your hope?”
Our answer will not be, “In houses, cars, and lands.” Rather, we will say, “My hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is going to take me to himself. To live is Christ and to die is gain. I’m here on earth to spread the gospel. I’m going to keep my life as wartime as I can in order to maximize my effect for showing Jesus as valuable, not things as valuable.”
If we truly believe the message that Christ and His gospel are our hope then everything we do including how we celebrate “the holidays” should reflect this understanding. There have been many attempts by believers to move in this direction. Some families reduce the amount of gift giving. Some make manger scenes the focal point of their decorations as opposed to “jolly old saint nick”. These adjustments are good in and of themselves but if we intend to avoid celebrating the American dream Christmas redux, then a more radical change of heart ad holiday are in order.
One means for helping to restore the gospel to its proper place in our December holiday is the celebration of Advent. Many people when they hear the word Advent think of a calendar with chocolates or candy inside. While Advent calendars are a modern derivative, the holiday itself has a much more richer and meaningful history as it relates to the gospel.
The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus which simply means coming. Advent is a celebration of the gospel in the first and second coming of Jesus. It incorporates the whole counsel of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. It’s complete focus is on Christ and it doesn’t carry all of the fluff and baggage that traditionally come with Christmas. There are many reasons why Advent should be the centerpiece of your celebrations but consider the following case built by Elliot Grudem and Bruce Benedict in a blog post from The Resurgence entitled, Why Recognize Advent:
Advent is about much more than gifts and good deeds. The story isn’t all fun and wonder. There is darkness and gloom. There is longing. There is joy and light. There is redemption and grace. There is judgment and final victory. In a way, recognizing Advent is expected. In another way, it’s counter-cultural. Advent allows you to both show the horror of sin and the blessings Christ came to make known, “far as the curse is found.” When you recognize the season of Advent over a number of services before Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, you get to talk about these things. You help your people understand why the inbreaking of God’s kingdom through the birth of Jesus is “good news of a great joy that will be for all people” (Luke 2:10). For example, during Advent you can talk about how to observe the humility of Christ’s birth amidst the gaudy overindulgence of our consumer-frenzied Christmas. You can talk about how crying out, “Come, thou long-expected Jesus” counters our demands for our best life now.
The eternal impact of a shift of mindset and practice towards a more gospel focused Advent celebration is incalculable. If we want to demonstrate to a watching world that we are serious about the gospel and its author our Savior then it is incumbent on us to ask the hard questions about the way we have always done things. Don’t let this season slip by without seizing the opportunity to find “comfort and joy” in a celebration that encompasses more than just a cute manger scene.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Makings of a Busy Summer
It has not taken as long as I thought to get
things running back up to full speed at
Legacy. In the past three months, we have
been working to move Legacy forward and
I felt that it would take us until early Fall
to get back up to full speed putting
together workshops and new partnerships.
However, I have been on the phone a lot
in the past few weeks developing
relationships with churches who are
thinkingabout transitioning to a family
ministry discipleship model and making
new partnerships that may help move our
message of generational faithfulness
forward, helping us make disciples of all
people, even to the ends ofthe earth.
There are two of these relationships that
I would particularly like to share with you
this month.
In the past month or so, I have been
talking with the Family Ministry Pastor at
Red Bank Baptist in Chattanooga, TN. He
and his team have been researching and
thinking about moving their philosophy of
ministry toa family ministry model. As I
began talking with him, they were
interested in learning more about the
biblical foundations for making disciples
through a family ministrymodel. They
wanted to have a better understanding of
the various models that were out there so
they could discern which one, or
combination, might be best for their
church. They also wanted to talk about
some initial thoughts on how to transition
in implement change I was able to meet
with them in May and spend the better part
of a day sharing with them on those three
issues. It was a blessing and I believe God
is going to use that church to raise up a
generation of leaders to pass God's truth
onto the next generation.
The other relationship I want to tell you
about is with a man named Bob Dukes.
Bob and I have only had one conversation.
However, we met through a mutual friend
who serves on his board of directors.Bob
is the President and Executive Director of
World Discipleship Association. WDA is a
disciple building ministry that started here
inthe US working tomake disciples on
college campuses. They have also focused
on making partnerships and developing
centers overseas. They are now looking to
work through churches here at home and
are interested in hearing about our
Generational Faithfulness Family Ministry
Model as a possible framework and vehicle
for doing that. We are hopeful that we will
be able togo over and visit with them this
month and present the principles of our
model to them.
Please pray for us as we undertake these
new ministry opportunities as well as
continue to work with other churches and
ministry partners. We are grateful for
your support and encouragement.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Word of God Speak
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water, yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.
Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!
Psalm 34:18, 66:12, Proverbs 11:2,12,14, Psalm 66:16-20 (ESV)
You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water, yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.
Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!
Psalm 34:18, 66:12, Proverbs 11:2,12,14, Psalm 66:16-20 (ESV)
Monday, May 3, 2010
Legacy: A Focus on Lasting Impact
I have been reminded this past month that leaving a spiritual legacy is about focusing on lasting impact, not on immediate results. Talking to several ministers about transitioning to a family equipping discipleship model, I have come to realize that there is often a disconnect between our personal motivation and the motivation of our ministry and the people around us.
Most of the guys that we work with have a real sense of conviction that family equipping is a primary role of the church. They see a biblical mandate to invest in parents for the benefit of generational faithfulness. However, the questions they ask are much more pragmatic. They wonder about how to implement smoothly to avoid pushback, how to communicate in a way that gets the most buy in from parents, and how long should this process take.
These are all legitimate questions. However, they reveal a pragmatic approach to ministry that is largely perpetuated by the expectations of their people. We have created that expectation with two generations of corporate model driven ministry that has the ministers playing the role of the professional, and ministry being measured by production numbers and consumer appeal. Timothy Paul Jones has recently reminded me that even our motivation for moving to a family ministry model may be motivated by pragmatism if we are moved primarily by statistics like the legendary drop-out rate.
I have always taught parents that the first step to implementing family worship is that family worship must be born of conviction: “You must be convicted that this is something God is calling you to do as a parent. Ephesians 6:4 says, Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. If you are not convicted of this truth, you will not follow through.” The same thing must be true for our churches implementing a family equipping model as well.
At the conference I attended this past month; Dr. Mohler laid out 8 Trajectories Toward and Adjusted Gospel: Modern Trajectory, Post-Modern Trajectory, Moral Trajectory, Therapeutic Trajectory, Aesthetic Trajectory, Materialistic Trajectory, Pragmatic Trajectory, and Emotional Trajectory. In the panel discussion that followed, John MacArthur said he thought the most dangerous trajectory for our conservative, Bible believing churches is the pragmatic.
We must be mindful, as we develop leaders for the next generation, that we teach them to live with the Bible as our ultimate rule of faith and practice, and not just to say that we believe it should be so.
Legacy Letter: Vol. 7 Issue 5, May, 2010
Most of the guys that we work with have a real sense of conviction that family equipping is a primary role of the church. They see a biblical mandate to invest in parents for the benefit of generational faithfulness. However, the questions they ask are much more pragmatic. They wonder about how to implement smoothly to avoid pushback, how to communicate in a way that gets the most buy in from parents, and how long should this process take.
These are all legitimate questions. However, they reveal a pragmatic approach to ministry that is largely perpetuated by the expectations of their people. We have created that expectation with two generations of corporate model driven ministry that has the ministers playing the role of the professional, and ministry being measured by production numbers and consumer appeal. Timothy Paul Jones has recently reminded me that even our motivation for moving to a family ministry model may be motivated by pragmatism if we are moved primarily by statistics like the legendary drop-out rate.
I have always taught parents that the first step to implementing family worship is that family worship must be born of conviction: “You must be convicted that this is something God is calling you to do as a parent. Ephesians 6:4 says, Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. If you are not convicted of this truth, you will not follow through.” The same thing must be true for our churches implementing a family equipping model as well.
At the conference I attended this past month; Dr. Mohler laid out 8 Trajectories Toward and Adjusted Gospel: Modern Trajectory, Post-Modern Trajectory, Moral Trajectory, Therapeutic Trajectory, Aesthetic Trajectory, Materialistic Trajectory, Pragmatic Trajectory, and Emotional Trajectory. In the panel discussion that followed, John MacArthur said he thought the most dangerous trajectory for our conservative, Bible believing churches is the pragmatic.
We must be mindful, as we develop leaders for the next generation, that we teach them to live with the Bible as our ultimate rule of faith and practice, and not just to say that we believe it should be so.
Legacy Letter: Vol. 7 Issue 5, May, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Final Report from T4G
The final day of T4G was extra-ordinary. The first session was a talk on the presence of the Gospel in the theology of the early patristic church fathers. Ligon Duncan gave a historiography, "history of God's providence with our people," to show that neither should the early fathers be viewed as authoritative, nor should they be viewed has having lost the gospel so that it had to be completely recovered in the reformation. Duncan presented a third way to read the church fathers. He said they should be read, respectfully, carefully, and under the authority of Scripture." He asserted that is the way the magisterial reformers of the 16th century viewed the early fathers.
After a short break we heard from Matt Chandler. Matt shared about his experience with brain cancer and how it has impacted his life and ministry. The thing is that Matt had been preparing his people to suffer as a core value in their church since he became their pastor.
You read the AP Article about Matt's story to get more details and information on what he has been going through and the impact it is having. The extraordinary thing this week was that he was calling us to prepare our churches by pointing out the suffering in the narrative of Scripture. Matt closed by affirming from experience what we all know and had been talking about all week, "Jesus is better than Life." As Matt closed in prayer, I was broken as he prayed for his church, his wife and his children.
C.J. Mahaney followed Matt in order to encourage us to follow Matt's story and example by teaching our people to suffer. C.J. said that this should inform our teaching diet and that we should go after Job, Habakkuk, 1 Peter and other like texts that emphasise suffering well. He also gave a long list of resources he recommended in the practice and teaching of suffering. The list included "How Long Oh Lord" by D.A. Carson and "Beside Still Waters" by C.H. Spurgeon. More than anything he encouraged us to do this by being faithful to preach the Gospel to them, and to "be there at their side when they suffer." After this, the leaders of T4G laid hands on Matt and John Piper lead the entire conference in a prayer for Matt, his family, the church and for Matt's healing, while conference participants laid hands on other pastors in the crowd who are suffering with ongoing and terminal needs. It was powerful to say the least.
After this we had a long break, during which I finally got to the bookstore to buy the 2 books I wanted that they had not already given us. C.J. Mahaney closed the conference preaching from 2 Timothy 4:1-5 - Expository Faithfulness. The call was to preach the word, calling us out using D.A. Carson's biography of his father "Ordinary Pastor." In his unique way C.J. pointed out that the men we had heard this week were all extraordinary, extraordinarily gifted and extraordinary gifts tot he church and the rest of us . . . not so much. He said far too often ordinary pastors are discouraged pastors. He said that was the result of comparisons to other pastors and how we defined success in ministry. He called us to be faithful with our gifts 3 primary ways:
I. Be Faithful to the Message -
"Resolve to be unoriginal because we may not look like much, but there is power under the hood."
Be faithful in every season.
Be faithful to rebuke and reprove - you must be with your people to know what is appropriate.
Be faithful in complete patience - wait on God to move.
How?
1. Remember God's patience with you.
2. Remember sanctification is a process.
II. Be Faithful to your Ministry -
Be Sober Minded
Be Enduring Suffering
Be an Evangelist
III. Be Faithful to the Savior -
No rear-view mirror - look to the future reward.
Press into the Kingdom staying in the shadow of the cross.
After a short break we heard from Matt Chandler. Matt shared about his experience with brain cancer and how it has impacted his life and ministry. The thing is that Matt had been preparing his people to suffer as a core value in their church since he became their pastor.
You read the AP Article about Matt's story to get more details and information on what he has been going through and the impact it is having. The extraordinary thing this week was that he was calling us to prepare our churches by pointing out the suffering in the narrative of Scripture. Matt closed by affirming from experience what we all know and had been talking about all week, "Jesus is better than Life." As Matt closed in prayer, I was broken as he prayed for his church, his wife and his children.
C.J. Mahaney followed Matt in order to encourage us to follow Matt's story and example by teaching our people to suffer. C.J. said that this should inform our teaching diet and that we should go after Job, Habakkuk, 1 Peter and other like texts that emphasise suffering well. He also gave a long list of resources he recommended in the practice and teaching of suffering. The list included "How Long Oh Lord" by D.A. Carson and "Beside Still Waters" by C.H. Spurgeon. More than anything he encouraged us to do this by being faithful to preach the Gospel to them, and to "be there at their side when they suffer." After this, the leaders of T4G laid hands on Matt and John Piper lead the entire conference in a prayer for Matt, his family, the church and for Matt's healing, while conference participants laid hands on other pastors in the crowd who are suffering with ongoing and terminal needs. It was powerful to say the least.
After this we had a long break, during which I finally got to the bookstore to buy the 2 books I wanted that they had not already given us. C.J. Mahaney closed the conference preaching from 2 Timothy 4:1-5 - Expository Faithfulness. The call was to preach the word, calling us out using D.A. Carson's biography of his father "Ordinary Pastor." In his unique way C.J. pointed out that the men we had heard this week were all extraordinary, extraordinarily gifted and extraordinary gifts tot he church and the rest of us . . . not so much. He said far too often ordinary pastors are discouraged pastors. He said that was the result of comparisons to other pastors and how we defined success in ministry. He called us to be faithful with our gifts 3 primary ways:
I. Be Faithful to the Message -
"Resolve to be unoriginal because we may not look like much, but there is power under the hood."
Be faithful in every season.
Be faithful to rebuke and reprove - you must be with your people to know what is appropriate.
Be faithful in complete patience - wait on God to move.
How?
1. Remember God's patience with you.
2. Remember sanctification is a process.
II. Be Faithful to your Ministry -
Be Sober Minded
Be Enduring Suffering
Be an Evangelist
III. Be Faithful to the Savior -
No rear-view mirror - look to the future reward.
Press into the Kingdom staying in the shadow of the cross.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Did Jesus Preach Paul's Gospel - T4G Day 2
The evening session of day 2 was amazing. I must say that it hit at my heart and made a mockery of my legalism and any self-righteousness.
The speaker was John Piper. I have included notes below but commend to you the manuscript to this message that can be found online.
Did Jesus Preach the Gospel of Evangelicalism?
The aim of my title is not to criticize the gospel of evangelicalism but to assume that it is biblical and true, and then to ask whether Jesus preached it.
Did Paul Get Jesus Right?
So the problem I am wrestling with is not whether evangelicalism gets Paul’s gospel right, but whether Paul got Jesus’ gospel right. Because I have a sense that among the reasons that some are losing a grip on the gospel today is not only the suspicion that we are forcing it into traditional doctrinal categories rather than biblical ones, but also that in our default to Pauline categories we are selling Jesus short. In other words, for some—perhaps many—there is the suspicion (or even conviction) that justification by faith alone is part of Paul’s gospel, but not part of Jesus’ gospel. And in feeling that way, our commitment to the doctrine is weakened, and we are thus less passionate to preach it and defend it as essential to the gospel. And we may even think that Jesus’ call to sacrificial kingdom obedience is more radical and more transforming than the gospel of justification by faith alone.
So I am starting where R. C. Sproul left off in his message to us yesterday. And I consider this message as an exegetical extension and defense of what he said: “If you don’t have imputation, you don’t have sola fide (faith alone), and if you don’t have sola fide, you don’t have the gospel.” And my goal is to argue that Jesus preached the gospel of justification by faith alone apart from works of the law, understood as the imputation of his righteousness through faith alone.
Piper then gave and important word about method saying, "One of my goals in this message is to fire you up for serious lifelong meditation on the four Gospels as they stand. I want you to feel the truth and depth and wonder that awaits your lifelong labor of love in pondering the inexhaustible portraits of Jesus given us by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John."
"If you interpret faithfully the deeds and the words of Jesus as he is portrayed in the four Gospels, your portrait of Jesus will be historically and theologically more in accord with who he really was and what he really did than all the varied portraits of all the critical scholars who attempt to reconstruct a Jesus of history behind the Gospels."
Luke 18:9-14 -
I. The Big Picture in Luke’s Gospel
Every verse of all four Gospels is meant by the authors to be read in the shadow of the cross. When we start reading one of the Gospels, we already know how it ends—the death and resurrection of Jesus as a substitute for our sins (Mark 10:45; Matthew 26:28)—and we should have that ending in mind with every verse that we read. And this is exactly what each of the Gospels intends.
A. Jesus’ Most Explicit Reference to Isaiah 53
Jesus makes his most explicit claim to be the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. And, amazingly, he does it in a way that calls attention to Jesus’ work of justification through a righteous one, not only to the forgiveness of sins. In the garden the night before he died, Jesus said, “I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment’” (Luke 22:37).
Those words, “he was numbered with the transgressors,” are a quotation of Isaiah 53:12. The verse immediately preceding in Isaiah 53 (verse 11) speaks of many being counted righteous (justified) by the righteous one. “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11). So in the Gospel of Luke, the way Jesus saves is by shedding his blood and for the forgiveness of sins and by being a righteous one and counting many righteous.
B. Jesus speaks explicitly of justification: Luke 18:9-14.
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
II. 3 Aspects of the Pharisee’s Righteousness
There are three things we need to see about these people in verse 9 who “trusted in themselves that they are righteous.” They are represented by the Pharisee in the parable. First, his righteousness is moral. Second, his righteousness is religious or ceremonial. Third, he believes his righteousness is the gift of God.
A. Moral
First, his righteousness is moral. Verses 10-11:
B. Religious
Second, this Pharisee’s righteousness was religious or ceremonial.
C. A Gift from God
Third, he believed that this righteousness was the gift of God.
Not an Overt Legalist
Confirmation in Luke 17:10
4 Terrifying Words: “Rather Than the Other”
III. What Justified the Tax Collector?
He looked away from himself to God. He trusted in nothing in himself. He trusted in God’s mercy. And Jesus said, “God declared him righteous and acceptable.” That’s what “justified” means (see Luke 7:29).
A Clue in the Context
Luke 18:18-21.
Only One Thing Missing
One Thing or Three?
Jesus: God’s Righteous One
IV. Concluding implications and applications.
Implication #1: Jesus’ Gospel Is Also Paul’s
Implication #2: Nothing We Do Is Basis for God’s Acceptance
Implication #3: Our Standing with God Is Based on Jesus, Not Us
Implication #4: Transformation Is the Fruit, Not Root, of Justification
Implication #5: All Our Goodness Is Evidence and Confirmation, Not Grounds
Implication #6: The Gospel Is for Every Person and Every People
Implication #7: Jesus Gets the Full Glory
Don’t rob the Lord of half his glory in bringing you to God. Christ is our pardon. Christ is our perfection. Therefore, knowing that Jesus and Paul preached the same gospel, let’s join Paul from the heart in saying
I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
In the end, we sing:
Hallelujah! All I have is Christ.
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life.
© Desiring God
By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org
The speaker was John Piper. I have included notes below but commend to you the manuscript to this message that can be found online.
Did Jesus Preach the Gospel of Evangelicalism?
The aim of my title is not to criticize the gospel of evangelicalism but to assume that it is biblical and true, and then to ask whether Jesus preached it.
Did Paul Get Jesus Right?
So the problem I am wrestling with is not whether evangelicalism gets Paul’s gospel right, but whether Paul got Jesus’ gospel right. Because I have a sense that among the reasons that some are losing a grip on the gospel today is not only the suspicion that we are forcing it into traditional doctrinal categories rather than biblical ones, but also that in our default to Pauline categories we are selling Jesus short. In other words, for some—perhaps many—there is the suspicion (or even conviction) that justification by faith alone is part of Paul’s gospel, but not part of Jesus’ gospel. And in feeling that way, our commitment to the doctrine is weakened, and we are thus less passionate to preach it and defend it as essential to the gospel. And we may even think that Jesus’ call to sacrificial kingdom obedience is more radical and more transforming than the gospel of justification by faith alone.
So I am starting where R. C. Sproul left off in his message to us yesterday. And I consider this message as an exegetical extension and defense of what he said: “If you don’t have imputation, you don’t have sola fide (faith alone), and if you don’t have sola fide, you don’t have the gospel.” And my goal is to argue that Jesus preached the gospel of justification by faith alone apart from works of the law, understood as the imputation of his righteousness through faith alone.
Piper then gave and important word about method saying, "One of my goals in this message is to fire you up for serious lifelong meditation on the four Gospels as they stand. I want you to feel the truth and depth and wonder that awaits your lifelong labor of love in pondering the inexhaustible portraits of Jesus given us by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John."
"If you interpret faithfully the deeds and the words of Jesus as he is portrayed in the four Gospels, your portrait of Jesus will be historically and theologically more in accord with who he really was and what he really did than all the varied portraits of all the critical scholars who attempt to reconstruct a Jesus of history behind the Gospels."
Luke 18:9-14 -
I. The Big Picture in Luke’s Gospel
Every verse of all four Gospels is meant by the authors to be read in the shadow of the cross. When we start reading one of the Gospels, we already know how it ends—the death and resurrection of Jesus as a substitute for our sins (Mark 10:45; Matthew 26:28)—and we should have that ending in mind with every verse that we read. And this is exactly what each of the Gospels intends.
A. Jesus’ Most Explicit Reference to Isaiah 53
Jesus makes his most explicit claim to be the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. And, amazingly, he does it in a way that calls attention to Jesus’ work of justification through a righteous one, not only to the forgiveness of sins. In the garden the night before he died, Jesus said, “I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment’” (Luke 22:37).
Those words, “he was numbered with the transgressors,” are a quotation of Isaiah 53:12. The verse immediately preceding in Isaiah 53 (verse 11) speaks of many being counted righteous (justified) by the righteous one. “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11). So in the Gospel of Luke, the way Jesus saves is by shedding his blood and for the forgiveness of sins and by being a righteous one and counting many righteous.
B. Jesus speaks explicitly of justification: Luke 18:9-14.
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
II. 3 Aspects of the Pharisee’s Righteousness
There are three things we need to see about these people in verse 9 who “trusted in themselves that they are righteous.” They are represented by the Pharisee in the parable. First, his righteousness is moral. Second, his righteousness is religious or ceremonial. Third, he believes his righteousness is the gift of God.
A. Moral
First, his righteousness is moral. Verses 10-11:
B. Religious
Second, this Pharisee’s righteousness was religious or ceremonial.
C. A Gift from God
Third, he believed that this righteousness was the gift of God.
Not an Overt Legalist
Confirmation in Luke 17:10
4 Terrifying Words: “Rather Than the Other”
III. What Justified the Tax Collector?
He looked away from himself to God. He trusted in nothing in himself. He trusted in God’s mercy. And Jesus said, “God declared him righteous and acceptable.” That’s what “justified” means (see Luke 7:29).
A Clue in the Context
Luke 18:18-21.
Only One Thing Missing
One Thing or Three?
Jesus: God’s Righteous One
IV. Concluding implications and applications.
Implication #1: Jesus’ Gospel Is Also Paul’s
Implication #2: Nothing We Do Is Basis for God’s Acceptance
Implication #3: Our Standing with God Is Based on Jesus, Not Us
Implication #4: Transformation Is the Fruit, Not Root, of Justification
Implication #5: All Our Goodness Is Evidence and Confirmation, Not Grounds
Implication #6: The Gospel Is for Every Person and Every People
Implication #7: Jesus Gets the Full Glory
Don’t rob the Lord of half his glory in bringing you to God. Christ is our pardon. Christ is our perfection. Therefore, knowing that Jesus and Paul preached the same gospel, let’s join Paul from the heart in saying
I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
In the end, we sing:
Hallelujah! All I have is Christ.
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life.
© Desiring God
By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org
T4G Day 2 Morning Session
What a wonderful morning we had at T4G! 7,000 strong for worship at 8:00 am and then a message from Thabiti Anyabwile of FBC Of Grand Cayman. He talked about how wrongly engaging the culture adjusts the Gospel. He started by showing the difficulty in even defining what culture is. Then he asked at what level we should be engaging culture; at the pop culture level, ethnic culture level, political level, or the high (structure ideas) level. Then the big question. When we engage culture, how do we define success? Can we know when we have effected it, and more can we ever know the results of the effect? Beyond that, do we know how much it has effected us int he process?
He said that when we set out to engage culture, we may find the Gospel adjusted in the process. He gave Four P's to avoid an adjusted gospel:
I. Paul's Pastoral Purpose - Col. 1:24-2:5; To make the word fully know and to present each one mature in Christ.
Is this our burden and purpose?
II. Evangelistic Philosophy Drives Purpose - Col. 2:6-7; Having received the Gospel, walk in its wisdom and knowledge.
How do we help people walk in the wisdom and knowledge of the Gospel?
III. Evangelistic Practice flows from Purpose - Col. 2:16-23; Judge according to the Gospel Purpose not according to culture.
Was not the first Jew a Gentile?
The church is by definition multi-ethnic, but it is not multi-cultural. We are being pushed up into Christ and being made a distinct new culture (third race). every human culture is fundamentally apostate. We are saved from it into a new life, made by adoption God's people. God gives us a distinct culture as His people and citizens of His kingdom.
IV. Evangelistic Perspective - Col. 3:1-4; Set your minds on things above, on Christ, and have the mind of God, the perspective of glory.
The results are found in Col. 3:5-11; "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all."
After a long and much needed break (Thank You Mark Dever) We heard from another master, John MacArthur. He talked about the Theology of Sleep. That's right theology of sleep. He was responding to an attack against him by one in the emergent movement who accused him of being responsible, at least in part, for the 10's of thousands of people going to hell.
His response to that "neo-Finney Pelagian" attack was that he sleeps well. "I enjoy rest and refreshment because my trust is in God." He gave Mark 4:26-29 as the Magna-Carta on Evangelism. Jesus had large crowds but few real believers and this disturbed the disciples who understood the prophecy about the liberation of Israel and the international consequences of the reign of Messiah. Jesus' response was not to change his strategy (which is the response of the flesh) but to preach the Gospel (which is the response of the Spirit).
What was Jesus' evangelistic response? "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
He talked about John 3 where Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again to enter the kingdom and Nicodemus knew he could not be born himself but asked how he must climb back into the womb. He talked about The second thief on the cross next to Jesus who was converted without any visible human means while the first thief perished.
He then drew our attention to the idea in the Greek text that when the soil produces by itself the word is "automatically." This is the same Divine automatically used in Acts 12:10 when the jail doors open by itself.
The conclusion is that we are the farmer, responsible for casting out the seed of the Gospel, and it is the soil that makes the difference. That soil is the hearts of people , as we learned in Mark 4:1-9 where we see the six types of soil. Jesus connects the two pictures for us in His explanation of the parables in verses 10-25. There is no description of the sower. We are just casting seed. We are the means, now the power. The power is in the seed (Romans 10). I can sow the seed, but I CAN NOT CHANGE HEARTS.
So, there are four results:
1. We sow in Humility - (4:3) It is not us, but the soil that makes the difference 30, 60, 100 fold!
2. We sow in Obedience - (21-23) Because we do possess light, we do not cover it up. We are not the power, but we are the means.
3. We sow in Diligence - (24-25) We will be measured by the same standard as our casting. Our usefulness is measured by our seed sown, and our reward will be measured likewise.
4. We sow in Confidence - (30-34) In faith, our small seed produces exponential results, so that the nations (birds) may rest in it.
The session closed with a great panel discussion including those great men, Dever, Mohler and Mahaney.
Praise God it is time for me to go back for more. I will post the results tonight - Lord Willling!
Grace and Peace!
He said that when we set out to engage culture, we may find the Gospel adjusted in the process. He gave Four P's to avoid an adjusted gospel:
I. Paul's Pastoral Purpose - Col. 1:24-2:5; To make the word fully know and to present each one mature in Christ.
Is this our burden and purpose?
II. Evangelistic Philosophy Drives Purpose - Col. 2:6-7; Having received the Gospel, walk in its wisdom and knowledge.
How do we help people walk in the wisdom and knowledge of the Gospel?
III. Evangelistic Practice flows from Purpose - Col. 2:16-23; Judge according to the Gospel Purpose not according to culture.
Was not the first Jew a Gentile?
The church is by definition multi-ethnic, but it is not multi-cultural. We are being pushed up into Christ and being made a distinct new culture (third race). every human culture is fundamentally apostate. We are saved from it into a new life, made by adoption God's people. God gives us a distinct culture as His people and citizens of His kingdom.
IV. Evangelistic Perspective - Col. 3:1-4; Set your minds on things above, on Christ, and have the mind of God, the perspective of glory.
The results are found in Col. 3:5-11; "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all."
After a long and much needed break (Thank You Mark Dever) We heard from another master, John MacArthur. He talked about the Theology of Sleep. That's right theology of sleep. He was responding to an attack against him by one in the emergent movement who accused him of being responsible, at least in part, for the 10's of thousands of people going to hell.
His response to that "neo-Finney Pelagian" attack was that he sleeps well. "I enjoy rest and refreshment because my trust is in God." He gave Mark 4:26-29 as the Magna-Carta on Evangelism. Jesus had large crowds but few real believers and this disturbed the disciples who understood the prophecy about the liberation of Israel and the international consequences of the reign of Messiah. Jesus' response was not to change his strategy (which is the response of the flesh) but to preach the Gospel (which is the response of the Spirit).
What was Jesus' evangelistic response? "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
He talked about John 3 where Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again to enter the kingdom and Nicodemus knew he could not be born himself but asked how he must climb back into the womb. He talked about The second thief on the cross next to Jesus who was converted without any visible human means while the first thief perished.
He then drew our attention to the idea in the Greek text that when the soil produces by itself the word is "automatically." This is the same Divine automatically used in Acts 12:10 when the jail doors open by itself.
The conclusion is that we are the farmer, responsible for casting out the seed of the Gospel, and it is the soil that makes the difference. That soil is the hearts of people , as we learned in Mark 4:1-9 where we see the six types of soil. Jesus connects the two pictures for us in His explanation of the parables in verses 10-25. There is no description of the sower. We are just casting seed. We are the means, now the power. The power is in the seed (Romans 10). I can sow the seed, but I CAN NOT CHANGE HEARTS.
So, there are four results:
1. We sow in Humility - (4:3) It is not us, but the soil that makes the difference 30, 60, 100 fold!
2. We sow in Obedience - (21-23) Because we do possess light, we do not cover it up. We are not the power, but we are the means.
3. We sow in Diligence - (24-25) We will be measured by the same standard as our casting. Our usefulness is measured by our seed sown, and our reward will be measured likewise.
4. We sow in Confidence - (30-34) In faith, our small seed produces exponential results, so that the nations (birds) may rest in it.
The session closed with a great panel discussion including those great men, Dever, Mohler and Mahaney.
Praise God it is time for me to go back for more. I will post the results tonight - Lord Willling!
Grace and Peace!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
First Day at T4G
I was a great first day at T4G. There is just something about 7,ooo people (mostly men) singing our hymns of praise at the top of their voices that gets you ready to be fed by the word. Mark Dever did not fail to bring that word in a powerful and thoughtful way. He talked abut how the church makes the gospel visible by its life and right loving obedience to the gospel.
That was followed by a message from R.C. Sproul where he outlined the antitheses of the gospel that he has seen and confronted in 50 years of ministry and the dangers of synthesis with those various antitheses. Obviously, the panel discussion that followed was GREAT!
After dinner at the Hard Rock Louisville, we were led in more rousing worship that brought us into a message by Dr. Mohler in which he outlined and defined 8 Trajectories Toward and Adjusted Gospel: Modern Trajectory, Post-Modern Trajectory, Moral Trajectory, Therapeutic Trajectory, Aesthetic Trajectory, Materialistic Trajectory, Pragmatic Trajectory, and Emotional Trajectory. It was very helpful for being able to talk about the dangers we all face as pastors and the dangers that our people confront on a daily basis in moving toward the theological tragedy of an adjusted gospel.
A panel discussion that included Dever, Mahaney, Mohler and John MacArthur concluded the night. With that, I find myself here, Mountain Dew in hand, reviewing my thoughts from the day for our mutual reflection.
Grace and Peace.
That was followed by a message from R.C. Sproul where he outlined the antitheses of the gospel that he has seen and confronted in 50 years of ministry and the dangers of synthesis with those various antitheses. Obviously, the panel discussion that followed was GREAT!
After dinner at the Hard Rock Louisville, we were led in more rousing worship that brought us into a message by Dr. Mohler in which he outlined and defined 8 Trajectories Toward and Adjusted Gospel: Modern Trajectory, Post-Modern Trajectory, Moral Trajectory, Therapeutic Trajectory, Aesthetic Trajectory, Materialistic Trajectory, Pragmatic Trajectory, and Emotional Trajectory. It was very helpful for being able to talk about the dangers we all face as pastors and the dangers that our people confront on a daily basis in moving toward the theological tragedy of an adjusted gospel.
A panel discussion that included Dever, Mahaney, Mohler and John MacArthur concluded the night. With that, I find myself here, Mountain Dew in hand, reviewing my thoughts from the day for our mutual reflection.
Grace and Peace.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Getting Ready for T4G
Together for the Gospel: T4G 2010 Conference from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.
Tuesday, April 13
9:00a – 12noon Registration
1:00p – 3:00p Session 1: Mark Dever — The Church is the Gospel Made Visible
3:00p – 3:30p Panel #1
3:30p – 5:00p Session 2: R C Sproul — The Defense and Confirmation of the Gospel — What I Have Learned in 50 years
5:00p – 7:30p Dinner
7:30p – 9:00p Session 3: Al Mohler — How Does it Happen? Trajectories Toward an Adjusted Gospel
9:00p – 9:45p Panel #2
Wednesday, April 14
8.00a – 9.30a Session 4: Thabiti Anyabwile — ‘Fine-Sounding Arguments’ — How Wrongly ‘Engaging the Culture’ Adjusts the Gospel
9:30a – 10:15a Break
10:15a – 11.30a Session 5: John MacArthur — The Theology of Sleep! (Mark 4)
11:30a – 12:15p Panel #3
12:15p – 3:00p Lunch
3:00p Wednesday Breakout Sessions
Eric Bancroft — Convincing Christianity: The Implications of a Robust Gospel in Marriage
Tony Carter — Proclaiming the Comfort of the Gospel
Kevin DeYoung — ‘Tis Mystery All, The Immortal Dies: Why the Gospel of Christ’s Suffering Is More Glorious Because God Does Not Suffer
Greg Gilbert — What Is the Gospel?
Brian Habig — Fears of the Minister
Joshua Harris — Dug Down Deep: Helping Others Build Their Lives on Christ-Centered Doctrine Michael McKinley — Unity, not Uniformity: Diversity in the Body of Christ
David Platt — An Unadjusted Gospel in an Unreached World: Connecting Gospel Theology with Urgent Missiology
4:00p – 7:00p Dinner
7:00p – 8.30p Session 6: John Piper — Did Jesus Preach the Gospel of Evangelicalism?
8:30p – 9:15p Panel #4
Thursday, April 15
8.00a – 9.15a Session 7: Ligon Duncan — Did the Fathers Know the Gospel?
9.15a – 9.30a Break
9:30a – 10:40a CJ Mahaney with Matt Chandler
10:40a – 11.10a Break
11:10a – 12:15p Session 8: CJ Mahaney — Expository Faithfulness (II Timothy 4:1-5)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Back to the Future
I have been talking to several churches the past few weeks who are at various stages of transitioning from a more traditional silo ministry model, where they have the various ministries of the church divided so that their ministry elements rarely come in contact with each other, to a family equipping model, where the various ministries of the church function together under the common goal and purpose of multi-generational discipleship and missions and ultimately generational faithfulness. A main common denominator in many of these churches is the struggle they have communicating what the transition means and what it should look like to the leadership and the congregation. One of the main reasons why this seems so difficult to communicate is that most churches see themselves as family friendly places. They promote family values and preach and teach a basically biblical view of the family, and many even have a family ministry silo.
It is a challenge to communicate how our false equation between activity and spiritual growth causes stress on the already overloaded schedules of families, and how we inadvertently divide families up in the church parking lot—never to see each other again until they get in the car to return home. In many of these same churches, there is an unspoken generational arrogance that actually pits senior adults against young adults and parents against children. They can not see the difference between having disconnected ministries for children, youth, young adults, adults and senior adults, and having a vision for ministry that connects those various ministry emphases with the idea of passing down a spiritual heritage from one generation to the next through personal and family discipleship, worship and missions.
That is why the work that we are doing with these churches is so important. Legacy is able to help leaders communicate the values and vision that under-gird a true family ministry discipleship model. We are able to help communicate to parents their biblical role as primary spiritual leaders in the lives of their children and the practical elements and benefits of fulfilling that role. We are able to help them restructure their ministries under one consistent vision for reaching generations for Christ, and to reorient the various ministry elements within the various specialized ministries in order to facilitate a real partnership between the church and the home for the spiritual well-being of the families that make up the church family.
Thank you for being a part of this work with us for the glory of God.
It is a challenge to communicate how our false equation between activity and spiritual growth causes stress on the already overloaded schedules of families, and how we inadvertently divide families up in the church parking lot—never to see each other again until they get in the car to return home. In many of these same churches, there is an unspoken generational arrogance that actually pits senior adults against young adults and parents against children. They can not see the difference between having disconnected ministries for children, youth, young adults, adults and senior adults, and having a vision for ministry that connects those various ministry emphases with the idea of passing down a spiritual heritage from one generation to the next through personal and family discipleship, worship and missions.
That is why the work that we are doing with these churches is so important. Legacy is able to help leaders communicate the values and vision that under-gird a true family ministry discipleship model. We are able to help communicate to parents their biblical role as primary spiritual leaders in the lives of their children and the practical elements and benefits of fulfilling that role. We are able to help them restructure their ministries under one consistent vision for reaching generations for Christ, and to reorient the various ministry elements within the various specialized ministries in order to facilitate a real partnership between the church and the home for the spiritual well-being of the families that make up the church family.
Thank you for being a part of this work with us for the glory of God.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
OUR CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO GAMBLING
By Dr. Shawn Merithew
Morningview Baptist Church, Montgomery, AL
It is not often that I decide to ascend my soapbox to deal with issues that are being debated in the halls of our secular government. My first and greatest reason for this is that politicians and legislators and judges do not ultimately possess the ability to address society’s greatest ill. The reason we have so many problems in the world and in our country is because man is sinful, and the only remedy for sin is repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, rather than pledging ourselves to a particular political party or social cause, we must first and foremost pledge ourselves to the propagation of His gospel and to prayer for the salvation of our leaders and our countrymen.
While proclaiming the gospel is to be our primary platform and purpose in engaging society, there is still value in letting our distinctively Christian voices be heard on moral issues that the Bible directly addresses. We have the privilege of living in a democratic nation, and though we would all admit to the imperfections of this system, it still affords us freedoms that we should exercise for the glory of Christ. Thus, the children of God should seek to protect the lives of the unborn and to care for orphans. We should seek to protect the institution of marriage from divorce-happy heterosexuals as well as radical homosexuals. We should be good stewards of the environment, though not in an unbiblical way that assaults biblical freedom or the primacy of humanity as God’s unique image-bearers. And we should be first among those caring for and protecting the elderly, the handicapped, the poor, and the homeless.
That is why we should let our voices be heard on the issue of gambling. Gambling is an industry in America that victimizes families and poor people in the name of entertainment and tax revenue. It fosters an addiction based upon human greed where the promise of quick, abundant wealth is continually communicated and never fulfilled. In fact, as it regards the particular issue here in Alabama, addiction counselors have called video slot machines the “crack cocaine” of the gambling industry because it is so addictive.
Gambling is bad economic policy. Gambling is a form of regressive taxation, as studies have shown that the poor and uneducated tend to gamble at a higher rate and with a much greater proportion of their income than the middle class, the rich, and the well-educated. Studies have proven that when casinos open, other local businesses suffer and often close as both discretionary and necessary income is funneled into gaming and profits sent out-of-state. According to John Warren Kindt, in his statement before congress in 1994, “For every one dollar of revenue generated by gambling, taxpayers lose three dollars in increased criminal justice costs, social welfare expenses, regulatory costs, and increased infrastructure expenditures.
Gambling increases crime. The Department of Justice and the National Institute for Justice have found significant links between gambling, crime, and druge use. A 2004 study by E. L. Grinols at MIT found that counties with casinos had notably higher crime rates than non-casino counties. A University of Nebraska study by John Jejkal in 2000 concluded that problem gambling is as much a risk factor for domestic violence as alcohol abuse.
Gambling destroys homes and families and children. SMR Research Corporation has called gambling “the single fastest-growing driver of bankruptcy.” Gambling related bankruptcies in metro Detroit increased by as much as 40-fold within 18 months of the opening of Casino Windsor, just across the Detroit river. Three years after casinos were legalized in Deadwood, South Dakota, felony crimes had increased by 40%, child abuse had increased by 42%, and domestic violence assaults had risen 80%. In Indiana, a review of the state’s gaming commission records revealed that 72 children were found abandoned on casino premises during a 14 month period.
In the National Gambling Impact Study, done at the university of Chicago in 1999, they found that the lifetime divorce rate for problem gamblers was 39.5% and for pathological gamblers it was 53.5%; for non-gamblers, it was only 18.2%. Dr. Rachel Volberg, President of Gemini Research, has noted, “Suicide attempts among pathological gamblers are higher than for any other addiction and second on to suicide attempt rates among individuals with major affective disorders, schizophrenia, and a few major hereditary disorders.”
In short, when gambling is legalized in a commnity or state, an ever-growing tide of human wreckage ensues and the economic situation of the populace worsens. Thus, our response to gambling interests should be certain and strong. Because we belong to Christ, we share His concern for the poor, for families, for children, for marriages, and for human lives. Gambling fosters greed, neglect, indebtedness, crime, a poor work ethic, and ultimately, the loss of human life. Let us therefore pray for strength for those who are fighting the Casino Moguls, let us pray for many of our legislators to be released from their blindness to the facts, let us be heard in their ears as we make the biblical viewpoint known, and let us be seen at the ballot box if they take it that far. I love you all dearly!
http://www.morningview.org/2010/02/10/our-christian-response-to-gambling/
Morningview Baptist Church, Montgomery, AL
It is not often that I decide to ascend my soapbox to deal with issues that are being debated in the halls of our secular government. My first and greatest reason for this is that politicians and legislators and judges do not ultimately possess the ability to address society’s greatest ill. The reason we have so many problems in the world and in our country is because man is sinful, and the only remedy for sin is repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, rather than pledging ourselves to a particular political party or social cause, we must first and foremost pledge ourselves to the propagation of His gospel and to prayer for the salvation of our leaders and our countrymen.
While proclaiming the gospel is to be our primary platform and purpose in engaging society, there is still value in letting our distinctively Christian voices be heard on moral issues that the Bible directly addresses. We have the privilege of living in a democratic nation, and though we would all admit to the imperfections of this system, it still affords us freedoms that we should exercise for the glory of Christ. Thus, the children of God should seek to protect the lives of the unborn and to care for orphans. We should seek to protect the institution of marriage from divorce-happy heterosexuals as well as radical homosexuals. We should be good stewards of the environment, though not in an unbiblical way that assaults biblical freedom or the primacy of humanity as God’s unique image-bearers. And we should be first among those caring for and protecting the elderly, the handicapped, the poor, and the homeless.
That is why we should let our voices be heard on the issue of gambling. Gambling is an industry in America that victimizes families and poor people in the name of entertainment and tax revenue. It fosters an addiction based upon human greed where the promise of quick, abundant wealth is continually communicated and never fulfilled. In fact, as it regards the particular issue here in Alabama, addiction counselors have called video slot machines the “crack cocaine” of the gambling industry because it is so addictive.
Gambling is bad economic policy. Gambling is a form of regressive taxation, as studies have shown that the poor and uneducated tend to gamble at a higher rate and with a much greater proportion of their income than the middle class, the rich, and the well-educated. Studies have proven that when casinos open, other local businesses suffer and often close as both discretionary and necessary income is funneled into gaming and profits sent out-of-state. According to John Warren Kindt, in his statement before congress in 1994, “For every one dollar of revenue generated by gambling, taxpayers lose three dollars in increased criminal justice costs, social welfare expenses, regulatory costs, and increased infrastructure expenditures.
Gambling increases crime. The Department of Justice and the National Institute for Justice have found significant links between gambling, crime, and druge use. A 2004 study by E. L. Grinols at MIT found that counties with casinos had notably higher crime rates than non-casino counties. A University of Nebraska study by John Jejkal in 2000 concluded that problem gambling is as much a risk factor for domestic violence as alcohol abuse.
Gambling destroys homes and families and children. SMR Research Corporation has called gambling “the single fastest-growing driver of bankruptcy.” Gambling related bankruptcies in metro Detroit increased by as much as 40-fold within 18 months of the opening of Casino Windsor, just across the Detroit river. Three years after casinos were legalized in Deadwood, South Dakota, felony crimes had increased by 40%, child abuse had increased by 42%, and domestic violence assaults had risen 80%. In Indiana, a review of the state’s gaming commission records revealed that 72 children were found abandoned on casino premises during a 14 month period.
In the National Gambling Impact Study, done at the university of Chicago in 1999, they found that the lifetime divorce rate for problem gamblers was 39.5% and for pathological gamblers it was 53.5%; for non-gamblers, it was only 18.2%. Dr. Rachel Volberg, President of Gemini Research, has noted, “Suicide attempts among pathological gamblers are higher than for any other addiction and second on to suicide attempt rates among individuals with major affective disorders, schizophrenia, and a few major hereditary disorders.”
In short, when gambling is legalized in a commnity or state, an ever-growing tide of human wreckage ensues and the economic situation of the populace worsens. Thus, our response to gambling interests should be certain and strong. Because we belong to Christ, we share His concern for the poor, for families, for children, for marriages, and for human lives. Gambling fosters greed, neglect, indebtedness, crime, a poor work ethic, and ultimately, the loss of human life. Let us therefore pray for strength for those who are fighting the Casino Moguls, let us pray for many of our legislators to be released from their blindness to the facts, let us be heard in their ears as we make the biblical viewpoint known, and let us be seen at the ballot box if they take it that far. I love you all dearly!
http://www.morningview.org/2010/02/10/our-christian-response-to-gambling/
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The Meaning of Legacy
Legacy; Noah Webster’s 1828 original American Dictionary of the English Language says that legacy has its root in a Latin word that means “to send” or “bequest.” It is to leave or give “a particular thing, or certain sum of money given by last will or testament.” The sentence that he uses to demonstrate the right use of the word is of particular interest to us, “Good counsel is the best legacy a father can leave to his child.”
As I talked about last week, Legacy Ministries has always been about equipping believers who could invest that equipping in the lives of young people in order to help develop spiritual leaders for the next generation. What we have learned is that nobody is in a better position to invest in the lives of students than the people that God ordained to be the primary spiritual influence in their lives, their parents. Just as the original meaning of the word implies, a legacy is something that a father (or mother) gives to his children.
Sometimes, for something to be passed on to the next generation, the old must die so that all things might become new. That is what happens in our lives when we die to ourselves and are raised to the newness of life that we have in Christ. By placing our faith and trust in the person and work of Christ, we become partakers in his death and resurrection.
As partakers with him, we gain both the forgiveness of sins and the newness of life. More than the forgiveness of sins and newness of life, we gain brotherhood. God not only forgives us and raises us up, but he adopts us as his children and makes us joint heirs with Christ. It is in our adoption as sons that we receive an inheritance, our spiritual legacy.
Praise God for the revelation of that truth in scripture. I pray that as we continue to work with families and churches that God will use Legacy to show both that God intends to use families to pass that spiritual heritage from one generation to the next, and that those families serve as pictures to a lost and dying world of the amazing forgiveness and newness of life that comes from being adopted into the family of God.
That really is why we do what we do, and I hope you will commit to pray for us like never before as God calls you to be a part of the ministry that he has called us to. Every person can have a part in sharing the Legacy message as you support us prayerfully and financially.
Again, I ask that you continue to pray for us and to support Legacy in any and every way you can. We desperately need your help to continue to help churches and families to invest in the development of spiritual leaders for the next generation.
As I talked about last week, Legacy Ministries has always been about equipping believers who could invest that equipping in the lives of young people in order to help develop spiritual leaders for the next generation. What we have learned is that nobody is in a better position to invest in the lives of students than the people that God ordained to be the primary spiritual influence in their lives, their parents. Just as the original meaning of the word implies, a legacy is something that a father (or mother) gives to his children.
Sometimes, for something to be passed on to the next generation, the old must die so that all things might become new. That is what happens in our lives when we die to ourselves and are raised to the newness of life that we have in Christ. By placing our faith and trust in the person and work of Christ, we become partakers in his death and resurrection.
As partakers with him, we gain both the forgiveness of sins and the newness of life. More than the forgiveness of sins and newness of life, we gain brotherhood. God not only forgives us and raises us up, but he adopts us as his children and makes us joint heirs with Christ. It is in our adoption as sons that we receive an inheritance, our spiritual legacy.
Praise God for the revelation of that truth in scripture. I pray that as we continue to work with families and churches that God will use Legacy to show both that God intends to use families to pass that spiritual heritage from one generation to the next, and that those families serve as pictures to a lost and dying world of the amazing forgiveness and newness of life that comes from being adopted into the family of God.
That really is why we do what we do, and I hope you will commit to pray for us like never before as God calls you to be a part of the ministry that he has called us to. Every person can have a part in sharing the Legacy message as you support us prayerfully and financially.
Again, I ask that you continue to pray for us and to support Legacy in any and every way you can. We desperately need your help to continue to help churches and families to invest in the development of spiritual leaders for the next generation.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Legacy of Legacy
I was just blown away by the idea that we are starting our seventh year of ministry. It is hard to believe how far we have come and how much work we have done to help churches and families. I sat all morning remembering those early days of forming a board of directors and applying for non-profit status. I remember driving back and forth to Troy to meet with potential board members and Rayanne asking me if we were going to move to Troy. There was no way to know then what God was doing and all that He was going to do through Legacy and in the life of our family here in Troy.
Two of our children were born here and they have all grown up here and think of it as home. We promised friends that we would visit churches when we moved here, but we immediately knew Bush Memorial was home. We could not have know then that we were choosing the church family where we would invest the next six years of our lives.
Just as our family has changed over the years, Legacy has also. We began in those early days to partner with churches to help develop volunteers and adult leaders who could invest in the lives of young people. As we worked with churches all over the southeast, we came to see that we were accomplishing our goal of equipping leaders for the next generation, but we were not helping youth ministers have longer tenures in their churches, we were not helping increase the number of students who lived from a distinctly Christian worldview, and we were not helping to decrease the number of students who dropped out of church after high school.
I remember being heartbroken in 2006 when I began to read statistical evidence that seemed to support what I had been seeing anecdotally in the churches we were evaluating. Praise God for the new vision He gave us for Legacy when I was asked to participate in an advisory board discussion at the International Center for Youth Ministry on Strategic Youth and Family Ministry. At that point, God called us to be part of a larger movement to help recover the biblical roles of churches and families in the spiritual development of children and youth.
Since that time, we have worked tirelessly to help equip churches to partner with families, and to help equip families to take on their primary role as spiritual leaders. We have hosted and participated in conferences, we have published Legacy Leadership, along with other articles on the topic in various magazines and state papers, as well as my regular blog posts at reidward.blogspot.com.
Over the past year, difficult economic times have caused us to struggle to do ministry and God has at various times called my focus to rest with my family and church family. It has been very difficult to balance everything God has laid on my heart this year. I know that we can not go on like this forever. Our financial situation has become such that something must change.
We prayed over two years ago that something would change so that everything did not have to change. It was at that point that God opened the door for me to come on staff at Bush and help lead this church toward a family equipping model. We were able to do this as an extension of what we were doing with Legacy.
It was a great asset to have a place where we were implementing ministry elements and could show that success to other churches we were trying to help. I believe it has been a great asset to the church as well, as we have networked with leaders all over the country to be on the leading edge of family equipping ministry.
Unfortunately, neither Legacy nor Bush Memorial is in a position to be able to support our family for the long-term. Legacy’s annual budget is $61,342. That is based on the projected cost for us to do ministry the way we believe God has called us to.
Roughly $40,000 of that budget is required for the basic operation of the ministry including salary, taxes and fees, office supplies and insurance. Up to that number, we are not able to invest anything but time and energy into actual ministry.
For the past two years, our actual receipts for the year have come in at just about that number. What that has meant is that for every dollar we have invested in ministry, for the Youth Leaders Conference or publishing Legacy Leadership, I have not received in salary.
This year, our total receipts from monthly donations ($22,365), and fund raising and other income ($2,190) have totaled only $24,555. As a result, we are praying for some major change. We are praying that God would meet our financial need according to His will. That might mean that our support base would pick back up and we would be able to meet our obligations. Or, that might mean that God moves us into a new phase of ministry where he leads us to a new place and invites us to join Him in a new activity.
I pray that maybe both of these things would be true in the new year. God has been leading my heart toward this moment for over a year. At various times in the past year, I have thought this might mean various things. Even now, I am not sure what it might mean, but I am sure that I have learned to trust in Christ alone and I have great joy in the anticipation of what He might be doing.
I ask that you continue to pray for us and to support Legacy in any and every way you can. Our goal is to continue to serve churches and families as we continue to follow God in developing leaders for the next generation.
Two of our children were born here and they have all grown up here and think of it as home. We promised friends that we would visit churches when we moved here, but we immediately knew Bush Memorial was home. We could not have know then that we were choosing the church family where we would invest the next six years of our lives.
Just as our family has changed over the years, Legacy has also. We began in those early days to partner with churches to help develop volunteers and adult leaders who could invest in the lives of young people. As we worked with churches all over the southeast, we came to see that we were accomplishing our goal of equipping leaders for the next generation, but we were not helping youth ministers have longer tenures in their churches, we were not helping increase the number of students who lived from a distinctly Christian worldview, and we were not helping to decrease the number of students who dropped out of church after high school.
I remember being heartbroken in 2006 when I began to read statistical evidence that seemed to support what I had been seeing anecdotally in the churches we were evaluating. Praise God for the new vision He gave us for Legacy when I was asked to participate in an advisory board discussion at the International Center for Youth Ministry on Strategic Youth and Family Ministry. At that point, God called us to be part of a larger movement to help recover the biblical roles of churches and families in the spiritual development of children and youth.
Since that time, we have worked tirelessly to help equip churches to partner with families, and to help equip families to take on their primary role as spiritual leaders. We have hosted and participated in conferences, we have published Legacy Leadership, along with other articles on the topic in various magazines and state papers, as well as my regular blog posts at reidward.blogspot.com.
Over the past year, difficult economic times have caused us to struggle to do ministry and God has at various times called my focus to rest with my family and church family. It has been very difficult to balance everything God has laid on my heart this year. I know that we can not go on like this forever. Our financial situation has become such that something must change.
We prayed over two years ago that something would change so that everything did not have to change. It was at that point that God opened the door for me to come on staff at Bush and help lead this church toward a family equipping model. We were able to do this as an extension of what we were doing with Legacy.
It was a great asset to have a place where we were implementing ministry elements and could show that success to other churches we were trying to help. I believe it has been a great asset to the church as well, as we have networked with leaders all over the country to be on the leading edge of family equipping ministry.
Unfortunately, neither Legacy nor Bush Memorial is in a position to be able to support our family for the long-term. Legacy’s annual budget is $61,342. That is based on the projected cost for us to do ministry the way we believe God has called us to.
Roughly $40,000 of that budget is required for the basic operation of the ministry including salary, taxes and fees, office supplies and insurance. Up to that number, we are not able to invest anything but time and energy into actual ministry.
For the past two years, our actual receipts for the year have come in at just about that number. What that has meant is that for every dollar we have invested in ministry, for the Youth Leaders Conference or publishing Legacy Leadership, I have not received in salary.
This year, our total receipts from monthly donations ($22,365), and fund raising and other income ($2,190) have totaled only $24,555. As a result, we are praying for some major change. We are praying that God would meet our financial need according to His will. That might mean that our support base would pick back up and we would be able to meet our obligations. Or, that might mean that God moves us into a new phase of ministry where he leads us to a new place and invites us to join Him in a new activity.
I pray that maybe both of these things would be true in the new year. God has been leading my heart toward this moment for over a year. At various times in the past year, I have thought this might mean various things. Even now, I am not sure what it might mean, but I am sure that I have learned to trust in Christ alone and I have great joy in the anticipation of what He might be doing.
I ask that you continue to pray for us and to support Legacy in any and every way you can. Our goal is to continue to serve churches and families as we continue to follow God in developing leaders for the next generation.
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