Keller, Horton, Chandler: The Church and Culture

Chandler, Horton, and Keller on the Church in Culture from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

John the Baptist

No greater man was ever born of woman than John the Baptist.  He was the forerunner of the Son of God.

He was a mountain giant, raised in the Judean hills; he fed on locusts and wild honey, was poorly clad, but fearless.  His head never bowed until he met the Christ, the Son of God.

He was a preacher of righteousness, a heralder of a new dispensation, the voice of a new approach to God.

His pulpit was the peaks of the Judean mountains; his auditorium the arching sky and the deep valley.  His congregation was made up of many sorts of people-Sadducees, Pharisees, soldiers, courtiers, governors, kings.  His message pierced the armor of indifference in every hearer.

He was explicit in his teachings, clear and pointed, forceful in presenting the truth.  So much so that some wondered and inquired, “Art thou the Son of God?”

The characteristics which dominated his life were—

Simplicity.  No strut nor pride was ever seen in John the Baptist.

Honesty. He never rounded the corners or shaped his message to suit the crowd.

Humility.  He was positive in the depreciation of himself, and powerful in the declaration of the greatness of the Son of God.

Courage.  Because of his preaching he lost his head, but he kept his purity of soul and a clear conscience.

The compass of his sermons ran the whole gamut of Christian theology.  Sin was exposed in its hell-deserving awfulness.  Repentance was demanded of men in all walks of life.  Faith in Christ’s death as the Lamb of God was declared to be the only way to salvation.  The deity of Christ was affirmed in positive terms.

From the life of John the Baptist we learn that life in its eternal outgoing does not consist of meat, drink, clothes, earthly honor, or space of years.  It consists in doing God’s will, in God’s place with God’s power.  This is the mark of true greatness and is the coin the God’s eternal world.

--Oliver G. Wilson

"Hurt" - Rhema Marvanne 8 yr old Gospel Singer

This song is dedicated to my mommy in heaven 11/08/08.

I Waited Patiently… Psalm 40:1

Why shouldn’t I wait for the Lord? He waited so long for me.  In fact, “He called me long before I heard, before my sinful heart was stirred.”

But I have not always waited patiently for the Lord.

Patience was one of David’s outstanding virtues.  After his anointing by Samuel, David waited for over ten years before becoming king of Judah.  For seven and one-half years longer he waited for his coronation by the united twelve tribes.

David was not patient because he was sluggish and unambitious.  Several times David’s ambitions led him beyond the divine restraints.

Patience is the virtue of the active and ambitious.  It is a virtue developed under strain—“tribulation worketh patience.”

It is difficult for the spiritually sensitive soul to be patient.  He sees so much of the rebellion of the wicked and so much of the sluggishness of saints that he must experience a large measure of grace to wait patiently for the Lord.

David did not wait to see what would happen.  He waited on the Lord so that God could introduce and follow through His own purposes.  Of course God’s purpose will prevail, but whether we shall find our place in that purpose or not will depend upon our waiting.

God always answers and always helps those who patiently wait.  Only God can change the things that need changing most, but God can only change many those things through a surrendered life.

God continues to wait patiently for me—for my prayertime, my glad personal witness, my selfish interest in others, my vigorous promotion of His work in the Church, my sacrificial giving, my willingness to co-operate with others.

As we wait upon the Lord, we give God a chance to accomplish His will in us and His purpose for us.

--George E. Failing

Monday Morning Chuckles :-)

Revival Will Come

WHEN	the thorn tree of strife is rooted from the heart.
WHEN	apologies are made for unkindness and grievances are adjusted in a manner pleasing to God.
WHEN	the dead atmosphere of indifference, indolence and lukewarmness is dispelled by a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit.
WHEN	there are long vigils of prayer in which the soul is laid bare before God in humiliation and contrition.
WHEN	the killing frost of smug complacency is confessed and renounced.
WHEN	faith takes hold of God’s promises and resists every attack and accusation of Satan.
WHEN	fasting is practiced for self discipline, and self is forgotten in service.
WHEN	personal testimony is warm and buttressed by a holy life.
WHEN	we attempt great things for God and expect great things from God.
WHEN	holy people are willing to face opposition, ridicule, persecution, hate, suffering, shame and misunderstanding for Jesus’ sake rather than compromise their convictions or soften their witness against sin.
THEN	revival will come in supernatural power.

(Selected)

First Things First

In a day when small statistics

Urge the church to higher goals,

Shall we, in quest of numbers,

Counting heads, neglect men’s souls?

Without multiplied committees

Minus consecrated hearts,

And every means and method

This modern age imparts,

Shall we offer entertainment

To dry a nation’s tears

When crime and wars and weariness

Becloud the air with fears?

What can a social program

Which crowds each night and day

Accomplish, if our churches

Are too occupied to pray?

Does not our Babel-busyness-

The Spirit’s name profane?

Can we employ the tools of time

And reap eternal gain?

Let us pause, discern the needs of men-

Heart-hunger, spirit’s thirst-

And, by the grace of God, declare

We shall place first things first.

--Kay L. Halliwell

Pastors Are People (Part 2)

Pastors Make Mistakes—

Pastors are people!  They make mistakes.  Just because a person is called to preach the Gospel, he or she is not necessarily placed beyond the possibility of making human errors.  The Scriptures say that we shall be like Jesus, when we see Him as He is; but until that time, we are in the flesh, and are heirs to the weaknesses of the flesh.  All of us are capable of making wrong choices, unwise decisions, unfortunate remarks.  We all exhibit flaws and make mistakes.  To lead a victorious life should be the goal of every Christian—not just the pastor—and to expect perfection in them (which we do not achieve in ourselves) is unfair.  Pastors will sometimes make mistakes.  These are God’s concern, not ours.  The Scriptures say, “To his own master he standeth, and falleth.”  Indeed, they say more, “Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make them stand.”

Pastors Need Privacy—

Pastors are people!  They need privacy.  Because men and women of God, like persons of medicine, are on twenty—four hour call, their private lives are constantly invaded.  The pastor has less time with their family than does the average person—but needs more.  They who give constantly to others have needs of comfort, understanding, and warmth which are the basic portion of life within the family circle.  Unnecessary phone calls to their home rob them of their all-too-brief opportunity to be alone with their own.  The surprise “I-just-dropped-in” visit you were planning to make may be more than a surprise—it may be an intrusion.  It is God Himself who “setteth the solitary in families”—so there must be something there which a person can find nowhere else.  The pastor’s privacy needs to be guarded by their congregation.  Over against this fact, there stands another opposed to it, but equally true.

Pastors Become Lonely—

Because pastors are people, they are often a little lonely.  The very nature of their tasks makes them that way.  They have been set apart by God for a holy work, and they spend much time apart with God, in preparation for that work.  For this reason they often seem aloof.  The man or woman in the pulpit has been dwelling “in the secret place of the most High,” and it is as unfair to expect them to come suddenly down to earth at the sanctuary door as it would be to expect Moses of the shining face to come down from the mountain to inquire, “And how are all the children?”

The pastor’s aloofness may trouble them more than anyone else.  He or she must no play favorites with the members of their flock; he or she dare not discuss their problems with anyone in the congregation.  They are people who “must show themselves friendly,” yet have few intimate friends of their own.  If they seem a bit aloof, don’t forget that they are a bit lonely, too.

Pastors are people—very special people, to be sure—chosen vessels of the Lord, to be used of Him that others might know the Saviour; but they are human, nevertheless.  As people, they have feelings, physical limitations, human desires, weaknesses as well as strengths, even as you and I.  Perhaps they would like for us to remember this sometimes.

Perhaps the greatest service we can render our pastors is to grant them the same understanding that we would extend to any fellow Christians, and not expect of them more than we would have them expect of us.

-Helen Frazee-Bowler

Pastors Are People (Part 1)

In my many years of Christian experience I have received the Gospel from the lips of many men of God—some brilliant, who spoke with great eloquence; some humble, who spoke with great simplicity.  From each I received a blessing.  In fact, I can in all honesty that almost never have I gone to the house of God and come away empty.  Part of the reason for this may have been that, like the lame man at the gate called Beautiful, I looked on these men “expecting to receive” something; but mostly, because God honors His Word wherever it is preached in sincerity and truth.  Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto men.”  And He does.

Any man or woman called of God to preach the Gospel has been chosen for the most exalted position this world has to offer.  It is certainly with no idea of detracting from the honor of their position that I make the statement, “Pastors are people.”  These words are not meant to convey the thought that they are merely people, but rather that they, too, are people.

Pastors Have Feelings—

Pastors are people!  They have feelings.  Few of us would think of criticizing a fellow member of the congregation for the way their spouse dresses or their children behave, but we seem to think it is our business to keep an eye on the pastor’s family.  Did you ever hear this: “Why are the preacher’s children always the very worst?”  The answer, of course, is that they are not.  It is only that more people observe them.  Ministers are public servants, but their families are not public property.  It is true that “a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid,” but that is no reason one should throw stones at it.  What would be considered rudeness, if spoken of anyone else, is sometimes said of the pastor’s family with an actual sense of having fulfilled a glorious obligation.

Pastors Get Tired—

Pastors are people!  They get tired.  They have physical limitations.  It is no easier for them to work constantly than for any other human being.  Even Jesus became weary, else why was He asleep on a pillow during the storm at sea?  How prone we are to ask of the pastor, “Where were you when I was sick?” as though we were the only folk they had to look after!

Our individual troubles are not unique to the pastor; they are a part of a long succession of similar experiences covering the entire congregation.  No matter how much one may long to do for others, human strength cannot be stretched beyond a certain limit.  There is a breaking point for all men or women.  One of the finest sermons I ever listened to was preached by a pastor who had been up all night with a dying man.  His message was undoubtedly enriched by this experience.  Nevertheless, his life was shortened because he spent his strength too freely for his people.  Because few pastors will spare themselves when they feel they are needed, it becomes the obligation of the congregation not to make thoughtless demands upon them.

--Helene Frazee-Bowler

God's Incredible Universe

Ocean Sky from Alex Cherney on Vimeo.

Hope in the Gospel

Who shall deliver us from this body of death?  Let us than God that Jesus Christ can. He is that divine Physician, who can make old things pass away and all things become new.  In Him is life.  He can wash us thoroughly from all the defilement of sin in His own blood.  He can quicken us, and revive us by his own Spirit.  He can cleanse our hearts, open the eyes of our understandings, renew our wills, and make us whole.  Let this sink down deeply in our hearts.  There is medicine to heal our sickness.  If we are lost it is not because we cannot be saved.  However corrupt our hearts, and however wicked our past lives, there is hope for us in the Gospel.  There is no case of spiritual leprosy too hard for Christ.

-J.C. Ryle

The True Power of Witnessing

There is a Bible qualification for effective witnessing.  What is it?  I am persuaded many have missed what the Scriptures actually say at this point.   We have not carefully taught the close relation of the Holy Spirit’s enduement to power in witnessing.   Many have sought the Holy Spirit for cleansing, for purity and for fullness.  Few have sought the Holy Spirit for the express purpose of being of witness for Christ.  We have emphasized the inner provision in the belief that the call to witness would take care of itself.  But the call to witness has not taken care of itself.  Saving contacts of Christians with unbelievers are at an all time low today.  Something like a “no-man’s land” exists between those who know Christ and those who know Him not. Purifying of the heart and power in service are both important.  Both must expressly be sought.

Take our Lord’s example.  How faithfully He recognized the Holy Spirit in His own mission.  The Christ who received the baptism of the Spirit at Jordan, who was led of the Spirit into temptation, clearly moved into Galilee in the power of the Spirit.  He began His discourse in the synagogue at Nazareth with the words, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”  Consider John’s explanation of the power of Christ’s words in the phrase, “for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.”

When the Master was preparing His disciples to preach repentance and remission of sins among all nations, He urged them to delay any beginning of this work until “ye be endued with power from on high.”

Look at the familiar promise in Acts 1:8.  The very first reference to the work of the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles is a reference to His power to make us witnesses.  The promise does not say “ye shall receive purity.” Important and basic as that is, but “ye shall receive power … and ye shall be witnesses!”

And everywhere the power of the Holy Spirit in the believer is associated with witnessing.  Not power for miracles or wondrous works; not power to be clever and to be idealized of men; not power that will change you from a one-talent to a ten-talent person; but power that will take your tongue and your lips, your hands and your feet, your mind and your heart, and set your whole being aglow as a witness to Christ.  This power will not make  you spectacular, or popular.  Rather it may make you unpopular, but zealous for the praise of Christ.

Trace the same thought in the Epistles.  Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, “Our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance.”

Paul’s statement to the Corinthians was similar:  “My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

Paul never forgot what happened when Ananias laid hands on him in Damascus.  He was filled with the Holy Spirit.  After that Paul was forever preaching, “Be filled with the Spirit.”  Let us not become so engaged in remembering what happened to Paul near Damascus that we overlook what happened to Paul in Damascus.  You simply cannot go over the pages of the New Testament carefully and not be impressed with the fact that the first century Christians were filled with the Holy Spirit in a way more glorious and more powerful than we generally see about us today.  Moreover, this fullness of the Spirit was the secret of their power of witnessing.

Let us have it forever settled that the energy of God which came to the disciples at Pentecost is quite different from the best human effort to be good Christians.  The enduement with power must come.  And it is as necessary and possible today as it was the First Century.

There is not space here to analyze the elements of this powerful witness.  Certainly there is the reality of a personal experience of God’s saving power.  There is the overwhelming certainty of faith.  There is also the deep inner conviction of the rightness of God’s way.  The Spirit of God can come to a man’s life and flood his being with such a self-evidencing sense of His presence that one can at last say “This is He, this is He, there is no other.”  And out of such conviction springs a great boldness—a sturdy winsomeness.  Our witness is made winning and compelling.

Have you sought the Spirit’s enduement with power?  Have you seen this enabling as the answer to your feebleness and failure in witnessing?  Will you wait for His promised power as God’s answer in making you an apostolic witness?  Will you seek Him earnestly in prayer with this end in view?  Christians are to be witnesses.  That is commanded.  How?  By the power of the Holy spirit who is given “to those who obey Him.”

--General Superintendent H. K. Sheets

Difficulties of the sanctified life common to youth.

Difficulties are not peculiar to young people, but there are some special difficulties common to youth, just as there are particular problems common to old age.

Many difficulties arise out of differences.  There are, for example, differences in the conception of the sanctified life.  Is the sanctified life chiefly a doctrinal position or a daily walk, or both?  Does the sanctified life center in a blessing or in a Person?  Is attaining this life my responsibility or the Lord’s?

Within the ranks of people who emphasize the second blessing there are divergent views.  One young person asked me a surprising question:  “Brother Failing, do you really have no carnality?”  When I had recovered from the forthrightness of the question, I replied.  “Have I given occasion to make you think I am carnal?  If so, I’m sorry.”  “No,” she rejoined, “It’s not that.  But how does a person know when one is rid of carnality?”

This individual had been instructed often in holiness teachings, but there was some confusion and difficulty remaining.

What is a fundamental conception of the sanctified life?  Sanctification implies fitness—“sanctified, meet [fit] for the Master’s use” ( 2 Tim 2:21).  Recall that the burn offering of the Mosaic dispensation had to be a clean animal, free from defect and disease.  Under this new covenant we are urged to present to God a sacrifice that is holy and acceptable.

This fitness is first of all an inner purifying of character with a view toward being “pure in heart,” toward being “perfect” (in love), even as the heavenly Father is perfect.  The initial experience is a fundamental character adjustment to the holy will of God, but finer adjustments will continue to be needed and made.

In the second place this fitness is a service enablement—a power, an anointing, an insight, a boldness—that makes us a convincing witness unto Christ.  Without this enablement it is safe to say that no revival can extend far enough or be thorough enough; no sermon can be sufficiently unctuous; no life be adequately endued with power.

Another difficulty encountered by youth is the difference set forth in the reception of a sanctified life.  How is the experience received?  Is it important to claim victory with a shout, or is it enough to quietly receive the Holy Spirit in His sanctifying work?  Is it a dying out, or a work of faith?

One would not be contentious here.  It is important to receive the Holy Spirit in His sanctifying power; and certain demonstration is relatively unimportant.  It does seem clear to me, however, that there is a lively, active engagement of the individual in the experiencing of the heavenly purifying.  It is clear, real, vital, knowable experience.  Regarding the second question, one may observe that receiving the sanctified life is both a dying out and a work of faith.  It is a total surrender and a supreme trust.  And I cannot see how the order could be reversed.  It also appears to me that surrender of the self and death to the “old man” is essentially related to the final repudiation of unbelief and the taking on of the easy yoke.  I can understand how the final crisis experience either would be like the successful storming of a citadel or the glad restful surrender to the Captain of the hosts of God.

One more difficulty encountered by youth in their understanding of the sanctified life is the question as to how this utter consecration is to find expression in the various areas of living.  How does entire sanctification direct one’s affections?  It does not make void human love, but it both deepens and qualifies it.  Divine love makes human love surer and purer because it makes it secondary.  Love to God and His kingdom is ever first.

Is God interested in my career?  Yes, He is.  God does not want all to choose the same career or profession, but He does call some to special Christian service.  What a happy privilege it is to be fully and directly employed in the service of the King!  On the other hand, if a young person who volunteers to do God’s complete will does not receive such a call, it may be accepted as evidence that he may honor God and adorn the Gospel in any honest profession.

Other adjustments must be made.  There is the question of adjustment to people, the kind and the unkind, the orthodox and the unorthodox, the discourteous and the considerate, those liked and those not liked.  How can one maintain a gracious, blessed attitude toward all of these?

One may observe that a lot of these adjustments must be “learned by suffering.”  Out of the experience comes the knowledge.  Related to one’s  attitude to people is one’s attitude to conditions, such as poverty or wealth, honor or dishonor, health or sickness, companionship or loneliness.  It is too easy to whisk these aside by the comment, “If you are truly sanctified, they will not bother you.” Paul put it more correctly:  “I have learned … to be content.”  He does not say how long it took him to learn, but he had learned!

Some adjustments must be made to social, business, and political life.  How many and what kinds of public contracts are necessary and essential to consecrated Christian living?  Some can be engaged in most profitably.  The sort of government one lives under does make a difference in religious freedom and opportunity for the gospel.  Young people ought to exercise the great franchise of our land, the secret ballot.  There is probably a limit of participation in secular activities, the limit imposed by a supreme consecration to “the kingdom of God and his righteousness."

But, may I add, though there are many mountains and adversaries in Canaan, the abiding of the Spirit gives joy and sustaining grace.  The fruits of the land are worth every effort.

Psalm 100 Boy!

What Preaching Means to Me

Preaching is a sacred trust.  God trusts me in a special way when He calls me to preach.  “The glorious gospel…was committed to my trust” (1 Tim. 1:11).  God trusts me not to dilute the gospel for selfish gains.  What a betrayer a preacher could be!

Preaching is an impartation of life as well as of message.  “We were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls” (1 Thess. 2:8).  Unless my soul is vigorously, abundantly alive, my preaching is uncreative.  Life-giving preaching is costly preaching, I have found.  It isn’t so costly to give twenty dollars to missions as to give my life in a message.

Preaching is one of the ultimate in self-revelation.  Preaching is my willingness to make transparent my motives and purposes.

If I preach truly, I tell God’s word through my own mind an life experience.  Preaching has as personal a stamp on it as the New Testament epistles have on them.

It is a humbling exercise, to expose so much of my inner life to others.  More than once Paul explains, apologetically and parenthetically, “I speak as a fool.”

Partly for this reason, perhaps, Inspiration speaks of “the foolishness of preaching.”  And in the truest and simplest ministry of the Word of Life, there is so much of me that may be ridiculed that I am ever reluctant to preach again unless God anoints me and guards the truth while I unveil my inmost thoughts to others.

To me, preaching is the regal function of the Christian minister, just as prayer is the priestly function.

The pulpit is a throne, in the sense of the place of announcing a glorious proclamation.  It is the authoritative announcing of the conditions and benefits of the gospel.  Something about the awful glory of this elevates my soul and stirs me as nothing else can.

Finally, preaching literally compels me to “search the scriptures,” “feed among the lilies.”  There is only one gospel to preach, the revealed gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord.  I cannot preach if I do not know Him.  I cannot preach as I should unless I know Him better than my best friend.

Scripture history and geography intrigue me; sacred languages and customs beckon me; sacred biography is the challenges of my thought and devotion.  I love to live among the thunders of Sinai, in the darkness of Calvary, in the sunrise of the Resurrection Morning, among the flames of Pentecost, along the New Testament mission trails of Asia and Europe.

The preacher’s “first” blessing is the revelation of truth to his own soul; his “second” is the imparting of the truth to others.

-George E. Failing