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Archives For April 2012

In Defense of Pastoral Tweet Bombing

April 25, 2012 — 3 Comments

What use is Twitter and Facebook when it comes to pastoral ministry? Should we even try? Is it really smart for pastors to lob verbal grenades into cyber space where any number of people in any number of conditions and situations may do anything they like with them? Is it really all that helpful? I want to defend the practice and encourage those who feel inclined to give it a try.

Why?

First of all, I would defend the art of pastoral tweet bombing by pointing to the perfect pastor: Jesus Christ. He’s the Head Pastor of the Church, the Chief Shepherd, and we take our cues from Him. Jesus invented Twitter. Jesus was the first pastor to employ Twitter in His pastoral ministry.

He may not have had a smart phone or even a dumb phone, but Jesus was the master of throwing out short truths that were calculated to poke, prod, and offend.

Here are a few samples from Matthew’s Twitter Feed:

“Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead.” (Mt. 8:22)

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Mt. 9:12-13)

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” (Mt. 10:34)

“I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Mt. 10:35)

“Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” (Mt. 16:6)

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow Me.” (Mt. 19:21) Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Pastoral Theology, Wisdom
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How Worship Ought to be Feminine

April 24, 2012 — Leave a comment

When you attend a worship service led throughout by men, that worship service is appropriately feminine. You don’t make a service feminine by putting women up front, you make a service feminine and submissive by doing what our husband has required of us.

-Douglas Wilson

Read the whole post here.

In Against Christianity, Church Polity, Culture, Sola Scriptura, Worship
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Jesus is Here

April 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

With the historic Church through the ages, we believe in the real presence of Jesus at this table. We believe that when we gather in the Name of Jesus, the Holy Spirit lifts us up into the heavenly places. This is what we mean when we say: Lift up Your Hearts!/We lift them up to the Lord! We mean we’re going into the presence of God; we’re going into heaven. And therefore, the real presence of Jesus extends to the whole worship service, but there are particular warnings and promises tied particularly to this table. Jesus promises that those who eat His flesh and blood will live forever, and at the same time there are warnings. Some in the Corinthian church had died and were sick because they were coming to this table and being poisoned. Some of you may have physical ailments or troubles in your lives because you are harboring sin. You are Achans in the camp with sin buried in your tent, and you have to know that it really is not private. It really isn’t personal. You’re not only inviting the judgment of God on yourself; you’re inviting the judgment of God on everyone here. You cannot say the body of Christ/the blood of Christ to your wife or children or husband or roommate and then go home and snap at them, ignore them, mistreat them, manipulate them. Jesus sees. Jesus is here. He is watching.

But if you know your sin, if you hate your sin, if you are starving for the goodness of God, starving for his grace and forgiveness, then this is life for you, this is eternal life for you. His body was broken for you. His blood was shed for you.

 

In Bible - 1 Corinthians, Eucharistic Meditations
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Faking Godliness

April 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 and warns him that in the church there will be men who are lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, unloving, unforgiving, brutal, traitors, headstrong and haughty, but Paul says that these men will have a “form of godliness” – they will learn the catechism questions and pass Lordship class and become members of Church and homeschool their children and be pro-life. But this form of godliness is not the real thing because they will deny its power. And Paul says to stay far away from those people. But they will put on such a good show that they will creep into households and make captives of gullible women, loaded down with sins.

There are two exhortations here, and they go together: We are not here to put on a show. We are not here to look respectable. We are not here to punch our religious cards. We are here because a man named Jesus has taken away our sins, and now we are clean. We were blind, but now we see. We were lost, but now we are found. We are here because Jesus is God in the flesh, and he was crucified for us and on the third day rose up from the dead. We are here because of the power of God, and specifically, the power of God to take away our sin and to make the foulest clean.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about or if you think this is all a little too dramatic for the beginning of the worship service. Please go away, get up now and leave. This place is not for you. This place is for sinners who know their sin, and have found their only refuge in the cross of Christ.

 

In Exhortations
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Third Sunday in Easter: Eighth Commandment II: Ex. 16:1-18, 2 Cor. 8:1-15, Mt. 25:14-30

April 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

Introduction
We established last week that the Eighth Word not only prohibits taking the gifts and opportunities that God has given others, but it also includes the positive invitation to treasure Christ and His Kingdom more than all things, allowing those priorities to shape our lives. Today, we consider the grace of Christ which is the source of that way of life.

The Text
Paul is in the midst of writing one of the most challenging support letters ever written by any missionary. He has rebuked these people pretty sharply (2 Cor. 7:8-10) and now he has the audacity to be asking for money! He points to the saints of Macedonia as an example: the grace of God enabled them to give a generous gift in the midst of great affliction, freely, even insistently (2 Cor. 1-4). But Paul is careful to note that this was first a complete offering to God and then to the needs of the saints (2 Cor. 8:5). It is for this reason that Paul is sending Titus, to “complete this grace” in the Corinthians, to test the sincerity of their love (2 Cor. 8:8). This “grace” is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though He was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). This root word for “poor/poverty” is used in the Septuagint to translate a broad range of Hebrew words referring to agricultural scarcity (Dt. 8:9), sacrificial generosity (1 Chr. 22:14), sin (Ps. 31:10, 79:8), affliction (Job 30:27, Ps. 44:24), sorrow (Ps. 88:9), death (Ps. 107:10), poverty (Ps. 107:41, Pr. 23:21), and judgment (Lam. 3:1). The point of noting these uses isn’t a strictly lexical one, but rather a helpful list of all the ways in which Christ became poor for us in His incarnation and particularly on the cross. Paul knows that this rich grace of Christ produces abundance in the people who are gripped by it, and he advises the Corinthians to let it rip (2 Cor. 8:10, cf. 8:7). It begins with a willing mind and it takes the shape of whatever gifts God has already given (2 Cor. 8:12). The body of Christ is made up of many members with many different gifts, and their grace is their glory and it’s for the benefit of the whole body, creating an equality within the diversity (2 Cor. 8:13-15). Paul’s aim is not to get people to give by compulsion, under obligation, but to stir up the grace in them to cheerful, sacrificial generosity (2 Cor. 8:24, 9:5-7). That grace may take many forms, but it always has the quality of cheerful sacrifice. Continue Reading…

In Bible - 2 Corinthians, Bible - Exodus, Bible - Matthew, Sermon Outlines
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Second Sunday after Easter: Eighth Commandment: Gen. 2:8-3:13, Phil. 4:8-19, Lk. 12:13-34

April 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

Introduction
The Eighth Word introduces perhaps one of the areas of greatest conflict and stress in all of life: the areas of possessions and property, economics and money. If you are human, you struggle with being at peace with your situation in life and the world around us. Typical situation: Husband is laid back and the wife is stressed. This causes tension in marriages. Are we saving enough? What about health insurance? What about school? Are we giving enough? Are we charitable enough? Children grow up hearing – “That’s sooo expensive. That’s outrageous. That’s a rip off. We can’t afford that.” This can cause tension with kids: how come you get to buy a new four wheeler and can’t get those shoes? Or maybe you have money, but it’s just stressful. Do we buy this or that? Do we go ahead with the remodel or do we upgrade the car or replace the dryer? What if I lose my job? What if we can’t make the mortgage payments?

On the one hand, some of this stress is just called being grown ups, being mature. God wants His people to grow up into wisdom. But the great complicating factor, the thing that makes this truly stressful, worrisome, terrifying is the fact that every descendent of Adam has a fundamental distrust of God and His world. Because of our own sin, we are thieves. We cheat, we steal, we commit fraud, and vandalism. And because we know that we are untrustworthy, we suspect that everyone else and this world in general is untrustworthy. Whatever the gods of this place are up to (economic forces, societal pressures, bad guys, etc.), they are surely trying to steal and cheat.

Luther said that we are all thieves. Calvin said much the same. You steal from God when you do not tithe. You steal from the poor, when you don’t care for them. You steal from others when You try to get something for free or next to nothing. You steal from your wife/children when do not provide for them. Everyone is complicit in the evil economic systems in our world, run by wicked men. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Genesis, Bible - Luke, Bible - Philippians, Creation, Culture, Economics, Justice & Mercy, Sermon Outlines
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Why Real Men Bed the Same Woman Every Night

April 10, 2012 — 1 Comment

My friend Remy Wilkins extols the glories of monogamous sex:

We have bought into certain lies that are flimsy as our pick-up lines. One of the most absurd is thinking that the more women you sleep with means more sexual skills, that more women equals more experience. Nothing could be further from the truth. Consider the  man who declares his love of cities, all cities and talks about his vast knowledge of cities. He spends the night in a different city one day after the next. He gets off the bus, buys a t-shirt, notches his belt and hops back on the bus. He is suppose to be a grand lover of cities? Rather his is the most worthless of tourists, he’s the doofus in the fannypack mugging in front of every giftshop across the nation. He knows nothing of the city, does not love any city at all, but rather he loves to see his greasy unshaven mug in different settings each  night. The man that says he knows New York City because he was once laid-over there one rainy insignificant night is a great fool.

So too the lothario, who beds women with tricks and well worn moves. He’s never had to please a woman night after night. He can only pick up women at the watering hole looking to be watered, the lowhanging fruit. A real man knows how to please the woman who’s dealt with screaming kids all day, who went through the day with peanutbutter in her hair, wearing sweatpants and grannypanties because the laundry is stacked to highheaven. A real man can’t rely on a couple of cheap sex tricks to please a woman, running the same two plays on an unsuspecting defense, a real man has to play the same team night after night and the things that worked last night aren’t good enough for today. Real men bed the same woman every night keeping it new and fresh and exciting. Lotharios, in the extremity of their lameness, have so little game they have to move from woman to woman with their smoke, mirrors and hand dancing.

Read the whole interview here.

 

In Culture, ethics, Marriage Bed, Pastoral Theology, Wisdom
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Resurrection Sunday: Ps. 68:11-25, Eph. 4:1-16, Jn. 20:1-23

April 9, 2012 — Leave a comment

Introduction
The resurrection of Jesus was a Pentecostal event. Jesus was raised from the dead and proven to be the rightful King of the world by the Spirit of holiness (Rom. 1:4). The powerful presence and working of the Spirit in the resurrection is the declaration of Christ’s innocence and glory.

Ephesians 4:1-16
Paul urges the Ephesians to walk worthy of their vocations in Christ by bearing patiently with one another to keep the unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4:1-6). This grace for unity is found particularly in the gifts that Jesus gives having ascended on high, leading captivity captive (Eph. 4:7-9). Paul points out that Christ’s ascent is predicated on his descent: whether Paul is referring to the entirety of Christ’s time on earth or specifically to His death and burial, the point is the same: Jesus lived and died so that He might rise from the dead having plundered the grave and received all authority (Eph. 4:10). Jesus rose in order that His Spirit might fill His people to accomplish His mission (Eph. 4:11-12): that the whole world might come to the glorious maturity and unity of Christ through the ministry of the Church (Eph. 4:13-16).

Easter Means Pentecost
Jesus spoke of His death and resurrection as being inextricably linked with His ascension and the gift of the Spirit (Jn. 16:5-7, 20:17, 22-23). In some sense His resurrection included His ascension and culminated in the gift of the Spirit. Though it is absolutely and wonderfully true that Jesus rose up from the dead on the third day, the resurrection was not fully proven and proclaimed until the fiftieth day. This is because the resurrection of Jesus is not merely a man coming back from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is God conquering the power of sin and death and Satan and beginning a new world. This is why we must insist the resurrection of Jesus means radical transformation of lives, families, cities, nations, and the entire course of history. Jesus didn’t rise from the dead to leave us or the world unchanged; He rose to renovate everything. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Ephesians, bible - John, Bible - Psalms, Church Calendar, Sermon Outlines, Theology - Christology, Theology - Pneumatology
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Why Do We Repent?

April 7, 2012 — 1 Comment

I want to ask a question that may initially seem off topic for the theme of this evening’s service. Why do we repent? Why do we say we’re sorry and ask for forgiveness? We’re Christians, and so we know that we should repent, we should ask for forgiveness. We have been taught to keep short accounts. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger. If you bring your gift to the altar and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift, and go make it right immediately.

But why do we repent? Why do we ask for forgiveness? Why do we apologize? Why do we want to go make it right?

There are ultimately only two possible answers to that question. In this world, there are really only two motivators, only two engines that drive every human soul. There is the way of fear and the way of love. The engine of fear drives people to try to obey, to try to do what’s right because they are afraid of the consequences, afraid of what people might think, afraid of pain, afraid of shame, afraid of embarrassment, afraid of being rejected, afraid of losing friends or loved ones, afraid of being alone, afraid of sickness, afraid of disease, and ultimately this is because people are afraid of death (Heb. 2:15). But this kind of fear is ultimately selfish and self-serving, and so it must collapse back onto itself. This kind of fear operates in order to protect self, in order to protect yourself from those fears. But selfishness is always self-defeating. Jesus says that those who try to save their lives will lose them. Those who try to protect themselves will be destroyed. This is because selfishness is actually a thick blindness, and this means that for all the thrashing about, you’re still on a hook that’s drawing you to your death. You’re a lousy protector, a lousy god, and you’re still going to die. And thus, fear begets more fear. Continue Reading…

In Church Calendar, Grace, Lent, Wisdom
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Of Gnats and Camels and Rat Poison

April 5, 2012 — 9 Comments

There was a recent Facebook extravaganza (conversation) regarding prayers to the departed saints which was touched off by my claim that this was little better preparation for heaven than studying the latest Playboy centerfold in preparation for marriage. Towards the end of the comments section, I suggested that there was a bit of gnat straining and camel swallowing going on, and my friend Matt Peterson was somewhat taken aback by that characterization and requested an explanation. So here it is.

While I haven’t had the time to go back through and read all of the comments (I have a wife and four young children), from what I skimmed over, I actually don’t have a huge problem with the points Matt was making. He seems to have been working hard to guard some broader principles regarding our union with Christ, and he wasn’t so concerned about defending the particular practice of prayers to saints. He just wanted to make sure that I (and the cyber world at large) didn’t reject it on the wrong grounds. And fair enough. I have no qualms with careful distinctions; truth matters.

But here’s my concern that I don’t think Matt has caught on to yet. Whether we’re talking about icons or prayers to the saints in the Eastern or Roman churches or walking the aisle, praying a prayer, and signing a card in the Evangelical churches, there are millions of souls in grave danger. They are in grave danger because they think they are saved because of this external conformity to some ritual or practice. But this is not the same thing as being born again, being forgiven, washed clean with the blood of Christ, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. And Reformed people do it with Calvinistic soteriology, infant baptism, Christian education, whatever. Every tradition has their shibboleths. And then on top of that, there is a current outbreak here in the US, where the Roman and Eastern churches are getting inundated with Evangelical burnouts. These are people who don’t understand the gospel, have serious issues in their families, don’t understand submission to authority, and in a grip of an idea, something shiny and ancient looking, are sprinting towards full blown idolatry looking for something to bandage the gaping hole in their souls. Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Marriage Bed, Pastoral Theology, Theology - Soteriology, Why I Won't Convert, Wisdom
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