Relevant Flames

The question, "Does North America need more churches?" is one that I have heard asked many times. Especially here in the south, where a church building is on every corner, the question seems like a valid one. However, statistical analysis of North America has revealed that there exists a HUGE need for new churches if the task of evangelizing North America is to be completed. Last night a friend sent me to this video which expresses this need.

 Click HERE to see for yourself the need for a church planting movement in North America.
 

Last night I started reading Richard Sibbes' The Bruised Reed (Banner of Truth Trust, 2005). Although written by a puritan in the 17th century, the words contained in this book still apply to us today.

In the first chapter, Sibbes explains why we, as adopted sons of God, are "bruised." Sibbes writes that we are "bruised," or convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit prior to conversion. However, we will not only be bruised at this time, but as we continue to grow in grace, we will continue to be bruised in order that we might learn to rely on God alone to be conformed to the image of Christ.

Sibbes writes, "After conversion we need bruising so that reeds may know themselves to be reeds, and not oaks. Even reeds need bruising, by the reason of the remainder of pride in our nature, and to let us see that we live by mercy." (5)

So, when the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sin, repent and look to Christ! We might not be oaks, but He is! He is the pillar of our faith. Where we fail, He has conquered! And, in some sense, be thankful that you are convicted, as you have the opportunity to dwell in the grace and mercy of our great God!

While surfing the web today, I came across a copy of a sermon by Dr. Bruce Ware of Southern Seminary. Dr. Ware was my professor for systematic theology, and I was constantly humbled by his awesome love for the glory of God. This sermon, I believe, is a wonderful attempt by one humble man to teach others about the all-sufficient nature of our Creator.

 Click HERE to go to the sermon.

 I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
 

Tonight I was eating dinner with a friend who recently became a father. He was telling me of the joy and pain he has experienced in the last month. He and his wife are the parents of twin girls, and when they were born, the second daughter broke her arm while in the birth canal. My friend told me, "Having my daughter experience that pain was a horrible feeling. I would rather have someone take a sledge hammer and break my two arms instead." This struck me as really bold, and then a single verse came to mind:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3.16 (ESV)

If my friend, being a new father experienced such pain at seeing his daughter's broken, imagine the pain our Father felt to see His Son on the cross... yet He loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His Son in order that we might know Him. What great love this is!!!!!

Have you considered this great love of our Father? We must not forget this awesome, sacrificial love. Furthermore, it is our duty to continue to tell others that, "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 (ESV)

Isn't it amazing how God reveals Himself to us in common, everyday conversation?
 

I found the following article today on Baptist Press News. I think that it is a must read for all church leaders who have been influenced by Willow Creek's methodologies.

Click HERE to read the article.

(Please don't misunderstand my intentions for referencing this article. I am in no way condemning the practices of Willow Creek or those who utilize similar methods. I am only reporting for the benefit of others as we all seek to lead others to live for God's glory.)

John Piper never ceases to impress me. Regardless of the text of his sermon or the occasion of his speaking engagement, unlike many of the man-centered preachers of our day, he always points his listeners toward the Glory of God. Each time I read one of his books or listen to one of his sermons, I leave being drawn closer to my Creator.

Last week, while I was in the midst of a family crisis, a friend pointed me to this video by John Piper.

In this midst of a personal tragedy, I had to walk away and simply say, "God is Enough."  

Click HERE to watch.

In case you haven't noticed, it has been several months since my last post. The reason? Well, I just spent 11 weeks serving God abroad. During my time overseas, not only was I able to minister to others, but I was available to God, and He ministered to me.

 As a seminarian, I am always confronted with the question of, "What are your plans following graduation?" It seems to me that everyone I know has asked me this question at one time or another. A similar popular question is, "What do you feel called to do?" This, too, is one I have heard many times.

While in a foreign country and distanced from the internet, TV, comic books, etc., I had much time to dedicate to spending with God. I was able to search the Word and listen to the Spirit in ways which I was previously unable to do. In those times this summer, I attempted to seek God's will concerning my next assignment in ministry (graduation is fast approaching - May 16 2008) I was so concerned with what God wants me to do that I lost sight of what God really intends for me...to be His disciple.

This is what I truly learned through seeking God this summer. Many times we get so caught up in what God wants us to do. "God do you want me to do this? Or do you want me to do that?" Instead we should be seeking who God wants us to become: His sold-out disciples! When we seek God first; when we seek His righteousness and holiness; when we seek to become disciples and disciple-makers, then, and only then will God reveal to us the details on the doing. I am not saying that this is some magical formula, but that I believe that God doesn't want more men who are obsessed with becoming pastors or missionaries or church planters or ministry directors - what God wants is disciples seeking to follow Him, walk closely with Him, and reproduce God-fearing disciples.

Nevertheless, there are times when we do want to know God's will. How then, do we know what to do while we are seeking to be disciples? Well, the Bible states that God does indeed answer those who fear Him and seek to be His disciples:

• "Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose." Psalm 25:12
• "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them." Psalm 145:18-19
• "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;" Psalm 37:4-7a

These may seem like some random thoughts, but I now understand God's will for me - no longer am I to focus on what God wants me to do, instead, I am going to focus on who He wants me to be: His disciple, seeking Him, and reaching out to others for His glory. Maybe after I learn how to do that and be content, He will reveal to me more about the doing.

In this current day, much of the pastor's focus is spent on what he can best do to reach others. Sometimes this is manifest in starting a new program, or attending a new conference, preaching a new sermon series, etc. Recently, I have been thinking much about what God has in store for me following my current assignment. As a result, that one thought has consumed my thoughts and my time.

A few weeks ago, I spent a whole day in the forest alone, seeking God. I wanted Him to answer me about my next assignment. I wanted Him to answer me concerning what I might do to better impact my community. I wanted answers. So, I went into the forest with my Bible and a copy of Words to Winners of Souls by Horatius Bonar and The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter, along with some other excerpts and articles. After praying through a few of the Psalms, I began to read both of these books. Needless to say, I got some answers...just not the answers I wanted...

God said..."You are too busy pursuing answers, and not busy enough pursuing ME"

Allow me to give you some excerpts from my reading that day... 

• Bonar, quoting others writes, "It is much to be feared that we are weak in the pulpit because we are weak in the [prayer] closet," (11) and "lukewarm pastors make careless Christians." (2) Furthermore, "Oh, do that on our souls which thou wouldst use us to do on the souls of others!" (8)
• R.A. Torrey writes, "Other things being equal, your growth and mine into the likeness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be in exact proportion to the time and the heart we put into prayer."
• Richard Baxter writes, "Be careful...that you preach to yourselves the sermons which you study, before you preach them to others." (61) Furthermore, "It is a palpable error of some ministers, who make such a disproportion between their preaching and their living; who study hard to preach exactly, and study little or not at all to live exactly." (64)
  
• Spurgeon writes, "It will be in vain for me to stock my library, or organise societies, or project schemes, if I neglect the culture of myself; for books, and agencies, and systems are only remotely the instruments of my holy calling; my own spirit, soul, and body, are my nearest machinery for sacred service; my spiritual faculties, and my inner life, are my battle axe and weapons of war." (Lectures to My Students, 8)

So, I read these words and heard the answer of God. May we not be guilty of seeking everything but God. Yes, books are good, conferences are good, blogs are good; we need to learn from each other. Correspondence and cooperation are important in ministry. Nevertheless, our personal holiness and nearness to God must NEVER be neglected. That should be our first and foremost task and responsibility. If we "succeed" in drawing near to Christ and being conformed to His image, then "success" in ministry will follow.

As Southern Baptists are now receiving their annual Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions, I find the following excerpt from Paul Borthwick's book, A Mind For Missions very relevant...

Quoting Oswald Smith from The Challenge of Missions (STL Books, 1959), Borthwick writes,

Oswald J. Smith challenges us to give to missions through these four observations:

1. If I refuse to give anything to missions this year, I practically cast a ballot in favor of the recall of every missionary.
   
2. If I give less that heretofore, I favor the reduction of the missionary forces proportionate to my reduced contribution.
3. If I give the same as formerly, I favor holding the ground already won; but I oppose any forward movement. My song is "Hold the Fort," forgetting that the Lord never intended HIs army to take refuge in a fort. All His soldiers are commanded to "Go!"
4. If I increase my offering beyond former years, then I favor an advance movement in the conquest of new territory for Christ.
   

Since Church Planting is so important to reaching North America for Christ, should we not seek to increase our support of those men and women on the front lines, seeking to take the gospel to the vast numbers of lost people around them? Will you join me in not only praying for our North American missionaries and church planters, but will you also pray with me that God will impress upon our hearts the amount which He desires for us to give? May God be glorified in North America and around the World!

 

I recently read Spurgeon: A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore (Banner of Truth Trust), and I must say that I was rather surprised by the amount of references made to Spurgeon's interest in church planting. So many times, we hear him referred to as "The Prince of Preachers," but rarely are his other endeavors mentioned. Not only was he a great preacher, but he started a pastors' college, created almshouses, supported an orphanage, and was deeply involved in planting churches across England. Consider the following passages from Dallimore's work:

"By 1866, in London alone the Spurgeon men had formed eighteen new churches...Preaching was carried on at another seven stations, and the plans were that in each of those a church would shortly be organized." (108)

"Mention has been made of the work of the College students in bringing new churches into being. In all those efforts Spurgeon took a vital interest, giving toward them himself, raising money for them at the Tabernacle, and obtaining helpers for the students from among his people." (121)

"Spurgeon encouraged his people to be out carrying the gospel on Sundays. During his career he frequently arranged to have a group of members leave the Tabernacle to start a new church, and often one of the prominent men of the Tabernacle went with them to provide leadership." (157)  

May we not only follow his example in preaching the whole counsel of God, but may we also follow his example in starting new churches where they are needed!

Last week I went to Louisville, KY in order to take a J-term class at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The class I took was Baptist History taught by Dr. Tom Nettles. I must say that this class was one of the most enjoyable as well as informative classes I have ever taken.

Dr. Nettles did an excellent job tracing Baptist history to its roots in Separatist congregations in  17th century England and continuing to the SBC we know today. His knowledge of history as well as the theological issues involved made the content very applicable to my personal walk with Christ as well as my ministry today.

I've been a Southern Baptist my entire Christian life, and until taking this class, I probably could not have articulated to you why I am a Baptist and not a  ___________. Now, I understand more than ever why I am a Baptist, and especially, a Southern Baptist.

If you would like to read more on this topic, I highly recommend Dr. Nettle's two volume work, The Baptists as well as his book Ready for Reformation. The Baptists speak of the history of Baptists, and Ready for Reformation discusses contemporary applications.

I would love to discuss this further, so please feel free to contact me or comment here.

May we remember:

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
(Luke 2:1-20 ESV)

Let us not simply celebrate His birth, but His victory over death:

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise." And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
(Luke 24:1-9 ESV)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
 

 

I am currently reading The Challenge of the Great Commission (Pinnacle, 2005) edited by Chuck Lawless and Thom Rainer. This book contains nineteen essays, each by a different author, on various topics concerning the Great Commission. Many of the authors are faculty members at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. Included are Russ Moore, JD Payne, George Martin, Brad Waggoner, and others.

One of my favorite chapters is "The Great Commission and Personal Evangelism" written by Timothy Beougher of SBTS. I was greatly impacted by this particular chapter as a whole, but I was especially touched by the following excerpt:

    "We must recapture a passion for the Great Commission mandate in our day. The early Christians were committed to obeying their obligation to witness. They were ready to share Christ with others at a moment's notice, whether 'clergy' or 'laity.' They viewed themselves as 'tent-making missionaries.'
    Let's take a brief quiz together. What do you call a woman who works in a hospital assisting doctors? Here in America we call her a nurse. But if that nurse gets on an airplane and goes to the Philippines, what is she called? A medical missionary, right? Do you see the difference in perspective? Why do we not view her (and why does she not view herself) as a medical missionary here?
    Some years ago while I was visiting a church I overheard a conversation in which a woman was asked what she did for a living. I have never forgotten her reply: 'What do I do? I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, on mission for Him, cleverly disguised an emergency room nurse.' That is the perspective we need to cultivate in our day! What advances would we make in kingdom work if all believers answered questions about their occupation in this way, 'What do I do? I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, on mission for Him, cleverly disguised a____________.'
    I have a friend who teaches a training seminar in churches called, 'The Layman and the Great Commission.' For a final exam in the class, he asks this question: 'In fifty words or less, tell me whose responsibility the Great Commission is.' Do you know the answer for which he is looking? It is not fifty words, but one word - 'mine.'
    The early church ministered in a day of great religious pluralism, like our own, but that did not discourage them. On every page in the book of Acts you see the gospel being shared with others. Our mandate is equally clear." (125-126)

Think about it...

 

For those of you seeking to train your youth groups to be missional in a North American context, the North American Mission Board (SBC) offers a great experience for youth groups. PowerPlant, is a youth-based church-planting initiative which affords youth groups the opportunity to experience church planting first hand. This last summer, I was the ministry coordinator for the New York City PowerPlant, and I was blessed as I watched 215 youth and adults learn about biblical ecclesiology, evangelism, missions, and church planting in a hands-on environment. If you are seeking to have your youth engaged in a wonderful missions experience, then check out http://www.power-plant.net for more information. PowerPlant projects will take place in 16 different cities this summer including Phoenix, Atlanta, Panama City, Cleveland, and others. Trust me, PowerPlant will be an awesome and worth-while investment in the lives of your youth!

I must say that I have enjoyed the various features of the new missional network. Each day, I find something new to enjoy. Today, I took some time during a study break and watched one of the free videos offered on the home page. "Why Culture Matters" by Ed Stetzer is an amazing resource for anyone seeking to better understand the reasons for why the gospel must be contextualized. I encourage each of you to take a few minutes and watch it.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from this video:

"Evangelism is telling people about Jesus; Missions is understanding them before we tell them."

"We have to both Contend and Contextualize" (in reference to Jude 3 and 1 Corinthians 9:22-23)

"We have to hold to our models loosely and to our Jesus tightly."