What role does sanctification play in salvation?

The following article below is a continuation of a series of post on "Salvation: Past, Present And Future".

The following link is another articles related to the subject "Salvation: Past, Present And Future".
http://iij-jesus.blogspot.com/2009/12/salvation-past-present-and-future-part.html

What role does sanctification play in salvation?

By Donald Whitney

Since 2005, Don Whitney has been Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also serves as Senior Associate Dean. Before that, he held a similar position (the first such position in the six Southern Baptist seminaries) at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, for ten years. He is the founder and president of The Center for Biblical Spirituality.

How important is this question? This is not an abstract question about theology, it is a down-to-earth issue for both evangelism and ministry. It is at the heart of one of the great plagues of evangelicalism—the unconverted church member. This question is at the root of the “Lordship Salvation” controversy as well as the so-called “Carnal Christian” conundrum, two intensely practical pastoral issues. Moreover, this matter relates directly to Christian parents who long for the conversion of their children. To phrase the question another way, can a person go to Heaven who doesn’t live like a dedicated Christian? If not, and we say that Christian living is necessary for salvation, aren’t we contradicting the Bible’s teaching on salvation by grace and not by works?

What is sanctification? According to question 38 of The Baptist Catechism, “Sanctification is the work of God's free grace (2 Thess. 2:13), whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God (Eph. 4:23, 24), and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness (Rom. 6:4, 6).” (This is identical to the Westminster Shorter Catechism question 35.) Regeneration is the new birth, sanctification is the growth that necessarily results from it. Justification is God’s declaration that a believing sinner is righteous because of the merits of Christ imputed to him. Sanctification is the believer leaving the courtroom where God has once and for all time declared him righteous, and immediately beginning the process whereby God’s Spirit enables him to increasingly conform to Christ’s righteousness, both inwardly and outwardly. Jonathan Edwards said of the Christian’s inevitable desire for sanctification, “‘Tis as much the nature of one that is spiritually new born, to thirst after growth in holiness, as ‘tis the nature of a newborn babe, to thirst after the mother’s breast.”* The process is progressive, but is never completed in this life. Sanctification is ultimately fulfilled in glorification.

In one sense we may say that sanctification has nothing to do with regeneration or justification, and yet it has everything to do with demonstrating that one has experienced them. (Notice statements similar to “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because . . .” in the letter of 1 John.) Sanctification alone doesn’t save, but there is no salvation without it. As Paul told the Thessalonian believers, “. . . God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” (2 Thess. 2:13). The experience of salvation begins with regeneration and justification, continues with sanctification, and is fulfilled in glorification. All who are regenerated and justified are being sanctified. All who are being sanctified will eventually be glorified. While we may distinguish between regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification, we must not separate them. In other words, the person who truly experiences one will experience them all (and in the order listed.)

So the old theological shorthand that “we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved” applies here (emphasis added). Sanctification isn’t included in the “we have been saved” part of salvation, but it is synonymous with the “we are being saved” part. And without sanctification, there is no “we will be saved.” For as Heb. 12:14 teaches, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

How do I “Pursue . . . the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord”? Unlike regeneration, there is much Spirit-filled human effort involved in sanctification. On the one hand, “it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Col. 2:13). “On the other hand,” we’re commanded in 1 Tim. 4:7, “discipline yourself for the purposes of godliness.” God uses means of grace to sanctify us, chief of which are the personal and corporate spiritual disciplines. In the personal realm, these include intake of God’s Word, prayer, private worship, fasting, silence and solitude, etc. These are balanced by disciplines we practice with the church: public worship, hearing God’s Word preached, observance of the ordinances, corporate prayer, fellowship, etc. And all along, our confidence is not in ourselves, but in God. As Paul put it, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).

Additional Reading:
Biblical: Galatians; 1 John
Theological: Jonathan Edwards, “Religious Affections”
Practical: Jerry Bridges, “The Discipline of Grace”

*Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2, Perry Miller, gen. ed., Religious Affections, ed. John E. Smith (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1959), page 366.

http://www.9marks.org/CC/CDA/Content_Blocks/CC_Printer_Friendly_Version_Utility/1,,PTID314526_CHID598016_CIID1553028,00.html

Last Friday, the 4th of December, Matt Chandler had surgery to remove a growth on the frontal loab of his brain. He is currently recovering in the hospital receiving physical therapy. The following is a link to Matt's video message to the congregation he pastors, The Village Church, Flower Mound, TX.

Address: http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/blog/pastors/?p=363

Tiger Woods - Sin Makes Us Fools

Tiger Woods' transgressions, should be a signpost to us concerning our own need to deal with our own sins which are so destructive and deceptive. The following is an excellent article from Anthony Carter on how sin has made fools of us all and our need for God's grace to restrain us from sinful foolishness.

Sin Makes Us Fools

When I was playing football (seems like a lifetime ago), we would often say, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Since I have been a Christian, especially since receiving the call to ministry, I have been frequently reminded, “Sin makes fools of us all.”

Much has been made of Tiger Woods and his admission of sins and our collective gasp at the seemingly frequent and foolish indiscretions. I admit to not only being saddened but even shocked at these revelations. Also, I am thoroughly disappointed. My disappointment, however, is not only at Tiger, but even at myself. The self-disappointment is the lack of time I really give to consider the nature of my own sin, and if given Tiger’s situation and opportunity, how might I fair.

The Bible reminds us, “Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil” (Psalm 36:1-4).

One popular comedian has said, “A man is only as faithful as his options.” While I would take serious issue with this statement, I am nevertheless left to ponder what might my heart be without the grace of God, the restraining power of the Holy Spirit, a praying wife, and an accountable Christian community of brothers and sisters. Though I like to think otherwise, because of the nature of indwelling sin I am often more like Tiger than I care to admit. To look at Tiger’s life and then to think of him risking all of it for a few (or however many) fleeting moments of pleasure is to think of only one word — foolish. Yet, sin makes fools of us all. And whether it is David, Nebuchadnezzar, Tiger, or me, folly is only a sinful thought or deed away.

The good news is that because we are fools, we are prime candidates for the redeeming grace of God. The Bible reminds us that God redeems the foolish (1 Cor. 1:26ff — at least those who are willing to admit to the folly of their sin). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the everyday reminder that I have been graciously received into God’s Recovery Program for Fools.

And Tiger, while there are millions already enrolled, there is always room for one more. However, you must be willing to say, “Hi. My name is Tony. I am a fool saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, my Lord.”

Anthony Carter is Lead Pastor of East Point Church in East Point, GA and serves as a Council member with The Gospel Coalition.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2009/12/10/sin-makes-us-fools/

Salvation: Past, Present And Future - Part 2

This is a contiuation of the post from yesterday concerning Salvation: Past, Present And Future.

Phil. 2:12-13. Work Out Your Salvation?

Phil. 2:12-13 is difficult only when we do not hear it within the context of everything else Paul says about God's work of redemption and our involvement in that work. Certainly since the Reformation, when the essence of Paul's gospel was captured in the joyful proclamation sola gratia sola fide ("by grace alone, by faith alone"), anything which even hints at "works righteousness" or "salvation by works" is suspect. And that is the concern which often emerges when believers read these verses.

A careful look at Paul's teaching on all aspects of God's redemptive work in Christ reveals that salvation is not based on the accumulated merits of our piety and good deeds. No, salvation is God's business from beginning to end. It is inaugurated, maintained and completed by him. Yet we human beings, the objects of that divine activity, are not robots manipulated by the divine button-pusher. We are creatures created in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27), called to respond in faith and love to the Creator and to give ourselves in active participation to God's purposes. It is this dual perspective of divine action and human response and participation which is in view in this text.

The center of Paul's proclamation, repeated in numerous ways throughout his writings, is most concisely and eloquently stated in Ephes. 2:8-9: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." The meaning is without ambiguity; there are no conditions imposed (such as "if . . . then"). God's reaching toward us in unconditional love (Romans 5:8) is all grace. We neither deserve it nor earn it, and therefore we cannot take credit for it ("so that no one can boast"). The verb "you have been saved" is in the perfect tense and the passive voice, which means that the action comes from outside ourselves and that it is something which is both an accomplished act and a reality which continues in its effectiveness through the present and into the future.

Now this strong affirmation is immediately followed in Ephes. 2:10 by the words "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works." Here, as throughout his letters, Paul is very clear about the fact that restored relationship with God is the condition within which our lives are being transformed in such a way that God's purposes for our lives are brought about. A few examples will make this abundantly clear.

In Romans 6 believers are defined as those who have been baptized into Christ, buried with him and raised with him so that we "might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4 RSV). Here the transaction of being saved is pictured as accomplished fact; the "walking in newness of life" as a possibility yet to be realized. Then Paul goes on to say that our sinful self has been "crucified with" Christ, that we are no longer "slaves to sin" (Romans 6:5-11).

The affirmation of this accomplished fact is then immediately followed by the imperative: "Therefore do not let sin reign. . . . Do not offer [yourselves] to sin as instruments of wickedness . . . but rather to God . . . as instruments of righteousness" (Romans 6:12-13).

In Galatians, where salvation by faith in Christ is particularly stressed (for example, in Galatians 2:16, "a man is not justified by observing the law but by faith in Jesus Christ"), Paul can also stress that "in Christ," that is, in our relationship to God in Christ, what really matters is "faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6). Therefore, "serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:13).

The seeming tension between affirmations of accomplished salvation and a life in which a new reality is expressed and put to work is partially due to the fact that Paul's use of particular words or expressions is somewhat flexible. In this Philippians text, salvation is a reality still in process and yet to be accomplished. In Romans 1:16 and Ephes. 1:13 the term salvation is used in a general, comprehensive sense and as a synonym for gospel (that is, the good news of, and power for, salvation). In 2 Cor. 7:10, repentance is said to lead to salvation. There are other texts in which salvation is depicted as the final stage or event in the redemptive activity of God. The Thessalonians are told that they were chosen "to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit" (2 Thes. 2:13) and that one piece of the Christian's armor against the darkness was "the hope of salvation" (1 Thes. 5:8). The clearest example of the futuristic use of the term is in Romans 13:11, where we hear that "salvation is nearer now than when we first believed."

When we take all these aspects together, we see that Paul thought of salvation as the totality of God's redemptive work; yet he freely used the term also to denote various parts of the whole. The best illustration of Paul's understanding of salvation in its totality, described in terms of its various stages, is found in Romans 5. We "have been justified through faith" (Romans 5:1). To be justified—Paul's most usual term for what happens to us when we respond in faith to God's love in Christ—is to be brought into right relationship with God, a condition he describes as "peace with God" (Romans 5:1). The culmination of that which has thus begun is sharing "the glory of God" (Romans 5:2). Between these two poles, Christian life is characterized by joy in the midst of adversity, hope in the midst of suffering (Romans 5:3-5), because, having been justified by Christ's sacrificial death (Romans 5:9), the continuing work of the resurrected Lord in the life of the believer will lead to final salvation (Romans 5:10).

The larger context for this saying, as worked out above, consists of three elements: (1) the duality of "already" and "not yet"; (2) the actuality of restored relation with God and the necessity of living in newness of life; (3) the understanding of salvation as the comprehensive work of God in which we participate through faith, hope and love. Within this context, Phil. 2:12-13 is best understood.

Paul calls his readers to unity in their common life, to be achieved through humble other-directedness (Phil. 2:1-4), motivated by the example of Christ's humiliation and utter self-giving (Phil. 2:5-11). It is this work of Christ which for Paul is the basis ("therefore") of the imperative "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). The salvation which comes to us through Christ's "obedience to death" (Phil. 2:8) is to be "incarnated," implemented and worked out, within the context of our relationships with each other. The motivation for this "outworking" is "fear and trembling," not in the sense of "being afraid of," but rather in the sense of "awe," namely, the "awe" which comes when we contemplate God's work of "amazing grace" in Christ.

But this "outworking of salvation" in our human contexts—in Philippi toward unity within the congregation—is not "human achievement" on the basis of which we can "boast." No, for this outworking of salvation is empowered by the continuing operation of God's grace, for God is at work "in you" (or "among you").

Salvation is not something we possess. It is rather a relationship in which we stand. And within that relationship, we become partakers of God's Spirit. Thus Christian action is never "our work"; it is always the outgrowth of a dynamic relationship, whose author and completer is God.

See also comment on Romans 6:2, 7; 2 Cor. 5:17; James 2:24; 1 Peter 1:9.
— Hard Sayings of the Bible

Salvation: Past, Present And Future

Last night at the Wednesday evening service, several asked me about my usage of the termonology of "being saved" and "our need to be saved". We often think of salvation as being something that "has happened". The New Testament teaches it in terms of "Salvation: Past, Present & Future". The following is from Hard Sayings of the Bible concerning the issue of salvation, past, present and future.

1 Peter 1:9. Salvation: Past, Present or Future?

Evangelical Christians frequently speak of being "saved." In other words, it is easy for them to speak of having received salvation at some point in the past, when they committed themselves to Jesus as Lord. But does this language fit with that of 1 Peter? Peter appears to be speaking of salvation as a goal, an end result, not as something already possessed. Does this mean that salvation is uncertain?

Peter uses the term salvation four times in his first epistle (1 Peter 1:5, 9-10; 1 Peter 2:2); he refers to being saved three more times (1 Peter 3:20-21; 1 Peter 4:18). One of these references is to a present process of salvation (1 Peter 3:21, the subject of a later chapter), and the rest refer to a future salvation (except 1 Peter 3:20, which refers to Noah's salvation). In 1 Peter salvation will not be revealed until the last time (1 Peter 1:5). It comes after the end of the present process of suffering for Jesus (1 Peter 4:19). Therefore it is something that one can grow up into (1 Peter 2:2; not "in" as NIV). In other words, Peter is relatively consistent in viewing salvation as something future.

It is true that the New Testament sometimes speaks of salvation in the past tense. Jude 3, for example, speaks about "the salvation we share," and Titus 3:5 states, "He saved us through the washing of rebirth." Acts 15:11; Romans 8:24; Ephes. 2:5, 8; and 2 Tim. 1:9 also speak of salvation in the past tense. But these are a minority of the references to the term in the New Testament. It is far more common to speak of salvation as a present process (1 Cor. 1:18; 2 Cor. 2:15) or a future event (Romans 5:9-10; Romans 10:9; Romans 11:26; Romans 13:11; 1 Cor. 3:15; 1 Cor. 15:2; 2 Cor. 7:10; Phil. 1:28; 1 Thes. 5:8-9; 1 Tim. 4:16; Hebrews 1:14; Hebrews 9:28; Hebrews 10:39). While some may argue with the categorization of this or that verse, the general trend is evident in these lists of passages. Salvation may be thought of in terms of a past event, but normally it is viewed as a future event.

This focus on the future has to do with the very nature of salvation. All of the verses that speak of salvation as past focus on the basis for salvation, which is Jesus' death appropriated by commitment to him (faith), not human rituals, even those in the Old Testament. But most of the verses speak of the reality of salvation, and that is future. Salvation means deliverance from some danger. When the term is used theologically, it means the danger of condemnation in the final judgment (Romans 5:8-9). Since that is the nature of the danger, then the salvation cannot become actual until the final judgment happens. Until that point the Christian has hope of salvation (1 Peter 1:3), but not the salvation itself. By "hope," of course, Peter does not mean an "I hope so" type of hope, but a confident expectation that something will happen. It is the type of hope one has for graduation when the registrar of the school has already indicated that the requirements have been met and one's place in the graduating party reserved.

Salvation, then, is a goal. It is what Christians are moving toward. According to 1 Peter it begins with baptism (1 Peter 3:21), but it is finally revealed only in "the last time" (1 Peter 1:5). The mark of those who are "being saved" is their remaining firm in the faith under pressure.

Should evangelical language be revised? It would not be a bad idea to regain the balance of Scripture. In speaking of salvation almost exclusively as a past event there is a loss of two things. First, there is the loss of a sense of the last judgment. That creates a lack of seriousness about judgment, which no New Testament author had. Second, there is a loss of the sense of tentativeness. It is not those who "make a decision for Christ" (which is not a New Testament term), but those who "stand firm to the end" (Matthew 10:22; Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:13) who will be saved. Historically, theologians have expressed this in two ways. In the Wesleyan tradition, salvation is truly tentative and may be lost, while in the Reformed tradition, God assures that those whom he has truly regenerated will in fact endure (persevere) But both traditions accurately reflect the biblical stress that it is not a one-time decision, even if long ignored, that brings salvation, but a commitment to Christ lived out through obedience to the end of life. Salvation is fully certain, but only for those who are now living life in obedience to Christ. While we must not forget the basis for our salvation and totally stop referring to our having been saved (past) by the death of Christ on the cross, it would be helpful for language about salvation to reflect the tentativeness and sense of the final judgment observed in the New Testament. Then, with 1 Peter, people will look forward to salvation more as a goal than as a past event.

See also comment on Phil. 2:12-13; Phil. 3:10-11; 2 Peter 1:10; 2 Peter 2:20.

Hard Sayings of the Bible
by
Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.
Peter H. Davids
F. F Bruce
Manfred T. Brauch

The Effects of Pornography

From Ed Stetzer, Lifeway Research...

Wednesday December 9, 2009

A new study done by Patrick F. Fagan examines the effects of pornography on individuals, marriage, family and community. Fagan is Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Research on Marriage and Religion at the Family Research Council. He specializes in examining the relationships among family, marriage, religion, community, and America's social problems. This study is important for everyone to read as it demonstrates that it has damaging effects on individuals and families. In the summary Fagan explains,

Pornography is a visual representation of sexuality which distorts an individual's concept of the nature of conjugal relations. This, in turn, alters both sexual attitudes and behavior. It is a major threat to marriage, to family, to children and to individual happiness. In undermining marriage it is one of the factors in undermining social stability.

Social scientists, clinical psychologists, and biologists have begun to clarify some of the social and psychological effects, and neurologists are beginning to delineate the biological mechanisms through which pornography produces its powerful negative effects.


Some of the findings inside the study include:

• Pornography is addictive, and neuroscientists are beginning to map the biological substrate of this addiction.
• Users tend to become desensitized to the type of pornorgraphy they use, become bored with it, and then seek more perverse forms of pornography.
• Married men who are involved in pornography feel less satisfied with their conjugal relations and less emotionally attached to their wives. Wives notice and are upset by the difference.
• Pornography use is a pathway to infidelity and divorce, and is frequently a major factor in these family disasters.
• Among couples affected by one spouse's addiction, two-thirds experience a loss of interest in sexual intercourse.
• Many adolescents who view pornography initially feel shame, diminished self-confidence, and sexual uncertainty, but these feelings quickly shift to unadulterated enjoyment with regular viewing.
• The main defenses against pornography are close family life, a good marriage and good relations between parents and children, coupled with deliberate parental monitoring of Internet use. Traditionally, government has kept a tight lid on sexual traffic and businesses, but in matters of pornography that has waned almost completely, except where child pornography is concerned. Given the massive, deleterious individual, marital, family, and social effects of pornography, it is time for citizens, communities, and government to reconsider their laissez-faire approach.

You can (and should) download the study here, and then jump into the comments to talk. Is your church addressing the issue of pornography? Should it? How?


Posted on December 9, 2009 at 5:47 AM

http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2009/12/the-effects-of-pornography.html

Hunting Tiger Woods

The key to this article by C.J. Mahaney, is found in the last 2 paragraphs - keep reading, it's worth the read.

Hunting Tiger Woods
by C.J. Mahaney 12/3/2009 3:10:00 PM

Tiger Woods wants his privacy back.

He wants the media entourage to disappear from his life.

He wants to be left alone so he can manage his personal problems in private.

Not a chance.

The story began unfolding in the early hours of last Friday when he crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a tree and a fire hydrant near his Florida home. He refused to speak with the police about the incident, raising curiosity about the circumstances. The story has now escalated into allegations of marital infidelity, and that generated a blog post from Tiger that stated, “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.” This statement by Tiger has led most to believe that the allegations of infidelity are true.

Hunted by the Media

As expected, the allegations of adultery involving a public figure are attracting a media pile-on. This is a big story with a big audience and it’s a story that will not disappear soon. Tiger Woods is being hunted by the media.

But let us make sure we do not join the hunt. A Christian’s response to this story should be distinctly different. We should not be entertained by the news. We should not have a morbid interest in all the details. We should be saddened and sobered. We should pray for this man and even more for his wife.

And we can be sure that in the coming days we will be in conversations with friends and family where this topic will emerge. And when it does, we can avoid simply listening to the latest details and speculations, and avoid speaking self-righteously, but instead we can humbly draw attention to the grace of God in the gospel.

Hunted by Sin

But Tiger is being hunted by something more menacing than journalists. Tiger’s real enemy is his sin, and that’s an enemy much more difficult to discern and one that can’t be managed in our own strength. It’s an enemy that never sleeps.

Let me explain.

Sin Lies

The Bible in general, and the book of Proverbs in particular, reveals an unbreakable connection between our character, our conduct, and the consequences of our actions. These three are inseparable and woven by God into His created order.

Deception is part of sin’s DNA. Sin lies to us. It seeks to convince us that sin brings only pleasure, that it carries no consequences, and that no one will discover it. Sin works hard to make us forget that character, conduct, and consequences are interconnected. And when we neglect this relationship—when we think our sins will not be discovered—we ultimately mock God.

Sin Hunts

We’ve all experienced it: Sin lies to us. We take the bait. And then sin begins to hunt us.

One commentator on Proverbs articulated this truth like this: “The irony of a life of rebellion is that we begin by pursuing sin…and end up being pursued by it!….You can ‘be sure your sin will find you out’ (Num. 32:23…).”* In other words, sin comes back to hunt us.

In light of this fact, sin is an enemy Tiger can’t manage. He can’t shape this story like he does a long iron on a par 5. Tiger doesn’t need a publicity facelift; Tiger needs a Savior. Just like me. And just like you. And if by God’s grace he repents and trusts in the person and work of Christ, Tiger will experience the fruit of God’s promise that “whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

Conclusion

Tiger cannot intimidate this enemy like he can Pebble Beach or any of the field of professional golfers. And there is no privacy he can claim from this enemy, regardless of his resolve, his silence, or the name painted on his yacht. It’s likely Tiger only perceives the press hunting him out of a vain “curiosity about public figures.” But Tiger is being hunted and hounded by a far greater foe: the consequences of his sin.

And this story should humble and sober us. It should make us ask: Are there any so-called “secret sins” in my life? Is there anything I have done that I hope nobody discovers? Is there anything right now in my life that I should confess to God and the appropriate individuals?

And this should leave us more amazed by grace because there, but for the grace of God, go I.

-----------------

*John A. Kitchen, Proverbs (Fearn, Scotland: Mentor, 2006), 294–295.

from: http://www.sovgracemin.org/Blog/post/Hunting-Tiger-Woods.aspx

The article below is from Matt Chandler's blog entry today. Matt is one of America's most influential pastors who is committed to calling the Church to refocus on the centrality of God and the Gospel. As of this posting, Matt is in the early stages of surgery to remove a good portion of his right frontal lobe. Please pray for him and for God's glory to be manifested through this trial.

My Heart is full…I am Thankful - Matt Chandler
Matt Chandler 2009-12-04

The last seven days have been some of the most interesting of my life. I have felt anxiety, fear, sadness and a deep and unmovable joy simultaneously and in deeper ways than I have felt before. I am grateful for this heightened sense of things. Today at 10:45 a.m. CST I will have a good portion of my right frontal lobe removed. I head into that surgery with a heart that is filled with gratitude and hope.

Here are some of the things I am thankful for in no particular order:

I am thankful for the thousands of you who have prayed and fasted for my health. It has brought far more tears to Lauren’s and my eyes to receive this kind of attention from the Church universal than this tumor has.

I’m thankful for health insurance because I’m guessing they aren’t doing my five-hour surgery for free!

I am thankful that I have deep, real friendships at The Village with Michael Bleecker, Josh Patterson, Brian Miller, Chris Chavez and Beau Hughes. They have been such a comfort to me and my family this past week. Pastors should have good friends on their staff. It’s risky but worth the risk.

I am grateful for the men of God in my life, namely John Piper who taught me to hold my life cheap and to join with Paul in saying “I don’t count my life of any value or as precious to myself if only I might finish my course and complete the work that He gave me to do to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God. I’m nothing, I just have a job. God keep me faithful on the job and then let me drop and go to the reward.” Without this strong view of God’s sovereign will, I’m not sure how you don’t despair in circumstances like mine.

I am thankful for my wife Lauren. “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’” “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

I am thankful for my children. Audrey the Beautiful, Reid the Valiant and Norah the Joyous. Being a daddy to these three is one of the greatest joys of my life. The privilege of seeing and appreciating all of life through the grid of a heightened sense of my own mortality.

I am thankful for brilliant doctors and surgeons who have been given a real gift by our great God and King to repair things as complex as the brain.

I am thankful for The Village Church. If there is a place that loves Jesus more, takes sanctification as seriously and wants to see the lost love the great King deeply I am unaware of it. These last seven years have been a spectacular joy!

More than anything else I am grateful to my King Eternal, my Lord Immortal, for my God invisible. He alone is God. All Glory and Honor, Forever to You O God. I am overwhelmed in these moments by God Himself and the assurance of a future inheritance of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken and where all things are made new (Hebrews 12).

Christ is All,
Matt Chandler

Address:
http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/?p=357

A Prayer About Heart Guarding

Please take time to read this prayer. You will be thankful for doing so.

Other prayers and articles can be found at:
http://www.christcommunitylive.org/AboutUs/ChurchLeadership/Pastors/PastorScottySmith/ScottysBlog/tabid/175/Default.aspx

Nov 8
Written by: Scotty Smith
11/8/2009 6:03 AM

A Prayer About Heart Guarding

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:21

Heavenly Father, how I long for the Day when I will no longer be tempt-able, deceive-able, or even capable of worshipping any other “god” but you. I so look forward to an eternity of giving you the adoration, affection, attention and allegiance of which you alone are worthy. No one cares like you. No one understands like you. No one redeems like you. No one loves like you. No one restores like you. There is no God but you.

In Jesus, you have already given me a new heart and have placed your Spirit in me. In Jesus, you have already turned my heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:25-27). In Jesus, you have already given me a heart to know and love you (Jeremiah 24:7). In Jesus you have already written your law upon my heart (Jeremiah 31:33). In Jesus, you have already given me a perfectly forgiven heart.

YET, it is not a fully perfected heart. The battle for my heart’s daily worship continues, and will continue until the Day Jesus returns to finish making all things new. Thus, the warning to keep myself from idols has never had more meaning, Father. Help me discern which “idols of the heart” (Ezekiel 14:4) I am most susceptible to trusting in, rather than you. When I don’t think you are “enough,” where do I take the worship you deserve—where do I go for life, deliverance and salvation?

Sometimes the collaboration and conspiracy of the duplicity within me… the world around me… and the devil, invisible to me, is overwhelming… I need the gospel every minute of every hour.
I praise you for the assurance that I am already one of your “beloved children.” You cannot love me more than you already do, and you will never love me less, for you love all of your children just as much as you love your beloved Son, Jesus. Surely the gospel, this gospel, will win the day, my heart and the entire cosmos. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ name.

Scotty Smith
Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship
Christ Community Church
1215 Hillsboro Rd.
Franklin, TN 37069
615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

GRACE HAPPENS

God's wonderful mercy and grace is awesome. Every life is a miraculous gift from God - even your life is an awesome gift!

A Prayer About MY Ongoing Need of Jesus

Wow! What a great prayer Scotty Smith prays. The kind of prayer I need every day!

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which WE must be saved.” Acts 4:12

Dear Lord Jesus, as a young Christian, I remember many late nights of debating this Scripture, and its strong affirmation that salvation can only be found in you. While I still believe you are the only Savior, with all my heart, I now see how more of my heart needs more of you and more of the gospel.

There is nobody on the face of the earth that needs the gospel today, and its transforming resources, more than me, and I am SO glad to be able to acknowledge this reality. I need you today, Jesus, as much as I did in March of 1968 when you washed away all my sins and covered me with the robes of your righteousness.

The high priest was rattled by Peter’s affirmation of “no other name”, but I am relieved and rescued by his affirmation, “WE must be saved.” Peter placed himself in that great grace community called “we,” and so do I, Lord Jesus. You have saved me in the past, when I was justified by grace alone through faith alone; you are saving me in the present, as the Holy Spirit applies more and more of your finished work to my whole being; and you will save me in the future, when you return to finish making all things new, including ME!

Lord Jesus, though I’m never tempted to look to any other name for my justification, I am very tempted to look to other names and means for my transformation—worse of all, is when I look to me to be my own savior. But only you, Jesus, are able to save completely those who come to God through you, for you are always living to pray for us and to advocate for us (Heb 7:25). You are my righteousness, holiness and redemption, and that’s why I only boast in you today! (1 Cor. 1:30-31)

So I come to you today, Jesus, right now! Save me more fully from my fear of man, my need to be in control, my ticky-tacky pettiness. Save me from trying to be anybody’s savior. I want to get irritated far less often and to be spontaneous much more often. I want to “light up” more quickly when I hear your name, Jesus, and not be downcast, when I don’t hear my name.

That’s more than enough confession for one Saturday… Indeed, Jesus, I must be saved, I am being saved, through your name alone. Hallelujah! So very Amen, I pray, with boldness and humility.

Scotty Smith
Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship
Christ Community Church
1215 Hillsboro Rd.
Franklin, TN 37069
615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

Give Me Jesus - Fernando Ortega Ruth Graham Tribute

Billy Graham Library Dedication Ceremony

I was tremendously moved by the words of Billy Graham in this video on the Dedication of the Billy Graham Library.

Idolatry - Is It Relevant

Ed Stetzer, President of LifeWay Research posted the following link concerning idolatry. It is a brief segment from NightLine that aired last night (10-05-09). Here is the link.

http://is.gd/40rn2

Do Jews Have A Divine Right To The Promised Land

John Piper provides some thoughtful words of guidance concerning this question...

By John Piper April 17, 2002

How should Bible-believing Christians align themselves in the Jewish-Palestinian conflict? There are Biblical reasons for treating both sides with compassionate public justice in the same way that disputes should be settled between nations generally. In other words, the Bible does not teach us to be partial to Israel or to the Palestinians because either has a special divine status.

I do not deny that Israel was chosen by God from all the peoples of the world to be the focus of special blessing in the history of redemption which climaxed in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. "The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth" (Deuteronomy 7:6).

Nor do I deny that God promised to Israel the presently disputed land from the time of Abraham onward. God said to Moses, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, 'I will give it to your offspring'" (Deuteronomy 34:4).

But neither of these Biblical facts leads necessarily to the endorsement of present-day Israel as the rightful possessor of all the disputed land. Israel may have such a right. And she may not. But that decision is not based on divine privilege. Why?

First, a non-covenant-keeping people does not have a divine right to hold the land of promise. Both the blessed status of the people and the privileged right to the land are conditional on Israel's keeping the covenant God made with her. Thus God said to Israel, "If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples" (Exodus 19:5). Israel has no warrant to a present experience of divine privilege when she is not keeping covenant with God.

More than once Israel was denied the experience of her divine right to the land when she broke covenant with God. For example, when Israel languished in captivity in Babylon, Daniel prayed, "O Lord . . .we have sinned and done wrong . . . To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame . . . to all Israel . . . in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you" (Daniel 9:4-7; see Psalm 78:54-61). Israel has no divine right to be in the land of promise when she is breaking the covenant of promise.

This does not mean that other nations have the right to molest her. She still has human rights among nations when she has no divine right. Nations that gloated over her divine discipline were punished by God (Isaiah 10:5-13).

Secondly, Israel as a whole today rejects her Messiah, Jesus Christ, God's Son. This is the ultimate act of covenant-breaking with God. God promised that to Israel "a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6-7). But with tears this Prince of Peace looked out over Jerusalem and said, "Would that you . . . had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. . . . You did not know the time of your visitation" (Luke 19:42-44).

When the builders rejected the beautiful Cornerstone, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits" (Matthew 21:43). He explained, "Many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness" (Matthew 8:11-12)

God has saving purposes for ethnic Israel (Romans 11:25-26). But for now the people are at enmity with God in rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ, their Messiah (Romans 11:28). God has expanded his saving work to embrace all peoples (including Palestinians) who will trust his Son and depend on his death and resurrection for salvation. "Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith" (Romans 3:29-30).

The Christian plea in the Middle East to Palestinians and Jews is: "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). And until that great day when both Jewish and Gentile followers of King Jesus inherit the earth (not just the land), without lifting sword or gun, the rights of nations should be decided by the principles of compassionate and public justice, not claims to national divine right or status.


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"The Sin of Infant Baptism", written by a sinning Baptist

The following is a great illustration of how Christians can have differing convictions concering the meaning of Scripture, but yet find humility and fellowship as fellow sinners.

March 19, 2009

by Mark Dever

In my article in the new 9Marks e-journal, I wrote, "I have many dear paedo-baptists friends from whom I have learned much. Yet I see their practice as a sinful (though sincere) error from which God protects them by allowing for inconsistency in their doctrinal system, just as he graciously protects me from consistency with my own errors."

That statement, much to my surprise, has caused concern among some. That a Baptist thinks infant baptism is wrong was no news to earlier generations of paedobaptists. Today, it seems to be a surprise. Now, the truth is out, all of these years, I have been cooperating with those I take to be sinners--Ligon Duncan, Peter Jensen, Phillip Jensen, Philip Ryken, J. I. Packer and many others too numerous to name--sinners specifically on this point of infant baptism. I have been speaking with them at conferences, having them as friends, reading their books, learning from them and inviting them to preach in our congregation, even as I happily preach in theirs. Indeed, several paedobaptist ministers even have articles in that same 9Marks e-journal.

Some may think that such a "wrong" should not be called a sin. I understand a sin to be disobedience to God (regardless of intent). When I read Numbers 15:29-30 and Hebrews 9:7 I certainly see that Scripture presents some sins as being deliberate, and others as being unintentional. I certainly do not think my paedobaptist brethren are intentionally sinning in this. In fact, they even think that they are obeying God so, short of them changing their understanding of the Bible's teaching on this, I can't expect any "repentance," because they lovingly but firmly disagree with the Baptist understanding of this.

Nevertheless, as I understand the words of Christ in Matt. 28:18-20 Christians are commanded to baptize and to be baptized, and the practice of infant baptism inhibits the obedience of what I take to be a quite straightforward command. I understand explanations that have been given about the practice of infant baptism (Orthodox/Roman, Lutheran and Reformed) but am sincerely persuaded that none of them line up with God's own Word. This does not cause me to doubt the sincerity of my reformed paedobaptist brethren, nor even their judgment in general. It is simply that on this point they've got it wrong, and their error, involving as it does a requiring of something Scripture does not require (infant baptism), and the consequence of a denying of an action Scripture does require (believers baptism) is sinful (though unintentionally so).

I cannot do better than cite a Baptist minister from 150 years ago who made a similar point--J. L. Reynolds: "On the subject of infant baptism, and what seems to me to be its legitimate tendencies, I have recorded my sentiments without reserve, and, I trust, without offence. I impeach no man's motives; nor do I question the piety and sincerity of those of my Christian brethren who believe that the practice is sanctioned by divine command. Many pedobaptists are among the lights and ornaments of the age; their ministry has been blessed of God to the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom, and their Churches present numerous examples of pure and unaffected piety. Such men would not, knowingly, contravene the law of Christ. They would welcome the obloquy of the world, and even the agonies of martyrdom, in obedience to the command of their Lord and King, and rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ's sake. It is impossible not to admire and love men whose faith and practice associate them with Baxter, Leighton, Edwards, and Martyn, and who breathe their heavenly spirit. While I think I see and regret their errors, I would extend to them the same indulgence which I ask for my own," (Dever, ed., Polity, p. 328).

Of course, my paedobaptist brethren may very well think that I am in sin in withholding from children the sign of God's gracious covenant. I understand and regret the disagreement, but am well used to it by this point, and look forward to heaven, where all our disagreements will be composed. Until that time, I intend to encourage ministers to be Together for the Gospel as much as we can, working together in the extension of the Gospel in our own towns and cities, and around the world. I see no inconsistency in working with others who hold precious the same Gospel, regardless of what other disagreements we may have.

March 19, 2009 Permalink

Bald Eagle "Spirit" at Auburn vs. Louisiana Tech Gave

It looks as if "Spirit" the Bald Eagle flew outside of the stadium. I wonder if that is a scary moment for the handlers of "Spirit".

Worship songs aren't for the blokes. Matt Redman comments

Matt Chandler - De-churched

Has the Notion of Sin Disappeared?

The denial of sin has as much to do with the denial of the Person of God. As noted at the end of Dr. Mohler's excellent article, a small God equals small sins. Not only has the American Evangelical Christian's perception of sin changed, but our perception of God has changed.

by R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_print.php?id=1120

Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 3:53 am ET

Cathy Lynn Grossman of USA Today asked the question, "Is sin dead?" The headline of her article in the paper was: "Has the 'Notion of Sin' Been Lost?"

Early in the article, Grossman answers her own question -- "No, not by a long shot." Still, her report raises some important issues about just what many people -- and preachers -- believe about sin. She also points to a question that should trouble the Christian conscience: "How can Christians celebrate Jesus' atonement for their sins and the promise of eternal life in his resurrection if they don't recognize themselves as sinners?" That question demands an answer.

Some observations from the article are worthy of note. The report reveals a great divide over the question of sin.

David Kinnaman of Barna Research suggested: "People are quick to toe the line on traditional thinking" that there is sin "but interpret that reality in a very personal and self-congratulatory manner" -- I have to do what's best for me; I am not as sinful as most.

There is something to this analysis. There is indeed something self-congratulatory about the way most people seem to think about sin and its consequences. Spend a few minutes watching the news and see if you are not tempted to feel better about yourself.

A key section of the USA Today article is this:

Popular evangelist Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, never mentions sin in his TV sermons or best sellers such as Your Best Life Now.

"I never thought about (using the word 'sinners'), but I probably don't," Osteen told Larry King in an interview. "Most people already know what they're doing wrong. When I get them to church, I want to tell them that you can change."

A preacher who never even thought of using the word sinner? If people "already know what they are doing is wrong," why do we need the Law of God? What, we should ask, are the consequences of sin? Furthermore, does he really believe that the Gospel is about how we can change ourselves? That is the not the Gospel of Christ, but the false Gospel of the self-help movement. Then again, if you do not believe that we are sinners facing the just judgment of a holy God, maybe the self-help message seems just fine.

Michael Horton, professor of theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Escondito, California, offered a thorough and perceptive response to Osteen's "moral therapy:"

"It's changing your lifestyle to receive God's favor," Horton says. "It's not heaven in the hereafter but happiness here and now. But it is still up to you to make it happen."

He finds sad truth in an old newspaper headline he once saw: "'To hell with sin when being good is enough.' That's the drift of American preaching today in a lot of churches. People know what sin is; they just don't believe in it anymore. We mix up happiness and holiness, and God is no longer the reference point."

In other words, he asks, if you can solve your problems or sins yourself, what difference does it make that Christ was crucified?

I was quoted in the article, and in this section I pointed to the loss of biblical authority and the secularization of our cultural understanding of sin:

Even some people who say sin is real still steer by a compass of "moral pragmatics," not a bright line of absolute truth, Mohler says. "People say, 'I have high moral expectations of myself and others, but I know we are all human so I'm looking for a batting average.'

"We find a comfort zone of morality, a kind of middle-class middle level where we think we are doing well. We cut the grass. We don't double-park. But we ignore the larger issues of sin.

"Instead of violating the law of the Creator, it becomes more a matter of etiquette. … We want our kids to play well in the sandbox and know their place in line. We want people to do things decently and in order. But it's etiquette of morality without the ethics. The end result is that when we do things we wish people wouldn't do, there's no sense of guilt or shame."

As a matter of fact, the eradication of guilt and shame is one of the primary goals of the therapeutic culture, and the movement has been hugely successful. Sin is now celebrated in so many cases, not scandalized.

The article offers much more. Perhaps the most interesting angle on the story is the fact that the secular world seems to understand that something has changed when it comes to the preaching of many churches and the beliefs of many who call themselves Christians.

We are reminded yet again that an understanding of sin is preliminary to understanding the Gospel. The magnitude of our sin explains the necessary magnitude of Christ's atonement.

As John Bunyan observed: "No sin against God can be little, because it is against the great God of heaven and earth; but if the sinner can find out a little God, it may be easy to find out little sins."

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

The article below is Dr. Al Mohler's comments concerning the concept of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, described in the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The basic tenets of this belief are:

1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human
life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in
the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about ones
self.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when
God is needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.
http://www.ptsem.edu/iym/lectures/2005/Smith-Moralistic.pdf

How is it that "Christian teenagers" could have adopted such a world view? Could it be that the reason for such a world view is that they are actually reflecting the world view of their "Christian parents", from whom they learned this world view?

How do pastors and Church leaders counter this false gospel with the real Gospel? We must contrast the false gospel of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism with the Gospel revealed in Scriptures. I believe Matt Chandler gives insight and practical guidance to this question in the following clip:


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Moralistic Therapeutic Deism--the New American Religion
Monday, April 11, 2005

When Christian Smith and his fellow researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill took a close look at the religious beliefs held by American teenagers, they found that the faith held and described by most adolescents came down to something the researchers identified as "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

As described by Smith and his team, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these: 1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth." 2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about ones self." 4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem." 5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."

That, in sum, is the creed to which much adolescent faith can be reduced. After conducting more than 3,000 interviews with American adolescents, the researchers reported that, when it came to the most crucial questions of faith and beliefs, many adolescents responded with a shrug and "whatever."

As a matter of fact, the researchers, whose report is summarized in Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Eyes of American Teenagers by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton, found that American teenagers are incredibly inarticulate about their religious beliefs, and most are virtually unable to offer any serious theological understanding. As Smith reports, "To the extent that the teens we interviewed did manage to articulate what they understood and believed religiously, it became clear that most religious teenagers either do not really comprehend what their own religious traditions say they are supposed to believe, or they do understand it and simply do not care to believe it. Either way, it is apparent that most religiously affiliated U.S. teens are not particularly interested in espousing and upholding the beliefs of their faith traditions, or that their communities of faith are failing in attempts to educate their youth, or both."

As the researchers explained, "For most teens, nobody has to do anything in life, including anything to do with religion. 'Whatever' is just fine, if that's what a person wants."

The casual "whatever" that marks so much of the American moral and theological landscapes--adolescent and otherwise--is a substitute for serious and responsible thinking. More importantly, it is a verbal cover for an embrace of relativism. Accordingly, "most religious teenager's opinions and views--one can hardly call them worldviews--are vague, limited, and often quite at variance with the actual teachings of their own religion."

The kind of responses found among many teenagers indicates a vast emptiness at the heart of their understanding. When a teenager says, "I believe there is a God and stuff," this hardly represents a profound theological commitment.

Amazingly, teenagers are not inarticulate in general. As the researchers found, "Many teenagers know abundant details about the lives of favorite musicians and television stars or about what it takes to get into a good college, but most are not very clear on who Moses and Jesus were." The obvious conclusion: "This suggests that a strong, visible, salient, or intentional faith is not operating in the foreground of most teenager's lives."

One other aspect of this study deserves attention at this point. The researchers, who conducted thousands of hours of interviews with a carefully identified spectrum of teenagers, discovered that for many of these teens, the interview itself was the first time they had ever discussed a theological question with an adult. What does this say about our churches? What does this say about this generation of parents?

In the end, this study indicates that American teenagers are heavily influenced by the ideology of individualism that has so profoundly shaped the larger culture. This bleeds over into a reflexive non-judgmentalism and a reluctance to suggest that anyone might actually be wrong in matters of faith and belief. Yet, these teenagers are unable to live with a full-blown relativism.

The researchers note that many responses fall along very moralistic lines--but they reserve their most non-judgmental attitudes for matters of theological conviction and belief. Some go so far as to suggest that there are no "right" answers in matters of doctrine and theological conviction.

The "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" that these researchers identify as the most fundamental faith posture and belief system of American teenagers appears, in a larger sense, to reflect the culture as a whole. Clearly, this generalized conception of a belief system is what appears to characterize the beliefs of vast millions of Americans, both young and old.

This is an important missiological observation--a point of analysis that goes far beyond sociology. As Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton explained, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism "is about inculcating a moralistic approach to life. It teaches that central to living a good and happy life is being a good, moral person. That means being nice, kind, pleasant, respectful, responsible, at work on self-improvement, taking care of one's health, and doing one's best to be successful." In a very real sense, that appears to be true of the faith commitment, insofar as this can be described as a faith commitment, held by a large percentage of Americans. These individuals, whatever their age, believe that religion should be centered in being "nice"--a posture that many believe is directly violated by assertions of strong theological conviction.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is also "about providing therapeutic benefits to its adherents." As the researchers explained, "This is not a religion of repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of sovereign divinity, of steadfastly saying one's prayers, of faithfully observing high holy days, of building character through suffering, of basking in God's love and grace, of spending oneself in gratitude and love for the cause of social justice, et cetera. Rather, what appears to be the actual dominant religion among U.S. teenagers is centrally about feeling good, happy, secure, at peace. It is about attaining subjective well-being, being able to resolve problems, and getting along amiably with other people."

In addition, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism presents a unique understanding of God. As Smith explains, this amorphous faith "is about belief in a particular kind of God: one who exists, created the world, and defines our general moral order, but not one who is particularly personally involved in one's affairs--especially affairs in which one would prefer not to have God involved. Most of the time, the God of this faith keeps a safe distance."

Smith and his colleagues recognize that the deity behind Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is very much like the deistic God of the 18th-century philosophers. This is not the God who thunders from the mountain, nor a God who will serve as judge. This undemanding deity is more interested in solving our problems and in making people happy. "In short, God is something like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist: he is always on call, takes care of any problems that arise, professionally helps his people to feel better about themselves, and does not become too personally involved in the process."

Obviously, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is not an organized faith. This belief system has no denominational headquarters and no mailing address. Nevertheless, it has millions and millions of devotees across the United States and other advanced cultures, where subtle cultural shifts have produced a context in which belief in such an undemanding deity makes sense. Furthermore, this deity does not challenge the most basic self-centered assumptions of our postmodern age. Particularly when it comes to so-called "lifestyle" issues, this God is exceedingly tolerant and this religion is radically undemanding.

As sociologists, Smith and his team suggest that this Moralistic Therapeutic Deism may now constitute something like a dominant civil religion that constitutes the belief system for the culture at large. Thus, this basic conception may be analogous to what other researchers have identified as "lived religion" as experienced by the mainstream culture.

Moving to even deeper issues, these researches claim that Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is "colonizing" Christianity itself, as this new civil religion seduces converts who never have to leave their congregations and Christian identification as they embrace this new faith and all of its undemanding dimensions.

Consider this remarkable assessment: "Other more accomplished scholars in these areas will have to examine and evaluate these possibilities in greater depth. But we can say here that we have come with some confidence to believe that a significant part of Christianity in the United States is actually [only] tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition, but is rather substantially morphed into Christianity's misbegotten step-cousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

They argue that this distortion of Christianity has taken root not only in the minds of individuals, but also "within the structures of at least some Christian organizations and institutions."

How can you tell? "The language, and therefore experience, of Trinity, holiness, sin, grace, justification, sanctification, church, . . . and heaven and hell appear, among most Christian teenagers in the United States at the very least, to be supplanted by the language of happiness, niceness, and an earned heavenly reward."

Does this mean that America is becoming more secularized? Not necessarily. These researchers assert that Christianity is either degenerating into a pathetic version of itself or, more significantly, Christianity is actively being colonized and displaced by a quite different religious faith.

This radical transformation of Christian theology and Christian belief replaces the sovereignty of God with the sovereignty of the self. In this therapeutic age, human problems are reduced to pathologies in need of a treatment plan. Sin is simply excluded from the picture, and doctrines as central as the wrath and justice of God are discarded as out of step with the times and unhelpful to the project of self-actualization.

All this means is that teenagers have been listening carefully. They have been observing their parents in the larger culture with diligence and insight. They understand just how little their parents really believe and just how much many of their churches and Christian institutions have accommodated themselves to the dominant culture. They sense the degree to which theological conviction has been sacrificed on the altar of individualism and a relativistic understanding of truth. They have learned from their elders that self-improvement is the one great moral imperative to which all are accountable, and they have observed the fact that the highest aspiration of those who shape this culture is to find happiness, security, and meaning in life.

This research project demands the attention of every thinking Christian. Those who are prone to dismiss sociological analysis as irrelevant will miss the point. We must now look at the United States of America as missiologists once viewed nations that had never heard the gospel. Indeed, our missiological challenge may be even greater than the confrontation with paganism, for we face a succession of generations who have transformed Christianity into something that bears no resemblance to the faith revealed in the Bible. The faith "once delivered to the saints" is no longer even known, not only by American teenagers, but by most of their parents. Millions of Americans believe they are Christians, simply because they have some historic tie to a Christian denomination or identity.

We now face the challenge of evangelizing a nation that largely considers itself Christian, overwhelmingly believes in some deity, considers itself fervently religious, but has virtually no connection to historic Christianity. Christian Smith and his colleagues have performed an enormous service for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ in identifying Moralistic Therapeutic Deism as the dominant religion of this American age. Our responsibility is to prepare the church to respond to this new religion, understanding that it represents the greatest competitor to biblical Christianity. More urgently, this study should warn us all that our failure to teach this generation of teenagers the realities and convictions of biblical Christianity will mean that their children will know even less and will be even more readily seduced by this new form of paganism. This study offers irrefutable evidence of the challenge we now face. As the motto reminds us, "Knowledge is power."


© 2009, All rights reserved, www.AlbertMohler.com

Is the Bible Corrupted & Is Allah God?

Jay Smith, the one featured on these videos, is a prominent Christian Apologist who speaks weekly at the Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, London, England. His primary audience often is Muslims. This past Spring I was blessed to join a team of Christians who witnessed along side him in the park.

What Is The Good, Acceptable & Perfect Will Of God?

What Is Good and Acceptable and Perfect
Thoughts on Romans 12:2
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By John Piper September 29, 2004
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http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2004/1269_What_Is_Good_and_Acceptable_and_Perfect
When we were focusing attention on Romans 12:2 you may recall that I did not say much about the last part of the verse. Verse 2 says, “ Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” I said almost nothing about those last three words: good, acceptable, perfect. So I ask now, What do they tell us?

First, they are not telling us that there are three different things God wills: good things, acceptable things, and perfect things. He is not saying that some things that God wills are good (and not acceptable to God), and other things are acceptable to God (and not good).

In other words, “good” is one way of describing the will of God, and “acceptable” is another way of describing it.

When Paul insists that “good” acts are the will of God, he is making sure that we do not treat Christianity as a mystical religion with no concrete moral demands. He is saying: there is good and evil in the world. God wills the good. Do good things, and you will be doing the will of God. Don’t just have mystical experiences and call yourself a Christian. Ask: What is good? And do it. That is the Christian way of walking in the will of God.

However, that’s risky talk. It sounds moralistic. That is, lots of “moral” people try to do what’s “good,” but are not Christian. There are moral crusades of all kinds that are not grounded in God, let alone Christ. So Paul goes further and adds “acceptable.” He means “acceptable to God.” The same word is used in verse 1 where acceptable is explicitly related to God. (“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”)

Therefore, what Paul is doing with this word is defining the “good” as good in relation to God. “By euareston (acceptable) he underlines the fact that the goodness which is in question is no anthropocentric goodness but a goodness determined by the revelation of God’s will, a matter of obedience to God’s commandments” (C.E.B. Cranfield, Romans, vol. 2, p. 610). In other words, it will not do to just say: “the good” is God’s will. Rather we must say: the good is defined by God’s will. That is, the good is what is acceptable—to God. That’s what Paul says.

Then comes the final word which defines the will of God in Romans 12:2, namely, the word, “perfect” (teleion). Could it be anything else? Well, you may have to keep in mind the distinction I made in the sermon from August 22, 2004 (What Is the Will of God and How Do We Know It?) between the sovereign will of God and the revealed will of God. I said that the New Testament speaks, on the one hand, of God’s will as everything that comes to pass under God’s sovereignty, including sinful acts like the murder of Jesus (Acts 4:27-28) and the persecution of Christians (1 Peter 3:17; 4:19). But, on the other hand, it also speaks of the will of God as what God commands, which never includes sin! For example, “This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). What God commands is his will. And God never commands us to sin.

When Paul says that we should be transformed in the renewal of our minds so that we can discern and do what is the will of God (Romans 12:2), he means the revealed will of God and its proper applications to life. He does not mean: try to figure out God’s sovereign plan and do it. That is God’s secret. We are to do his revealed will and leave the sovereign running of the universe to him.

So let’s go back to the word “perfect.” We should discern and do what is the will of God: what is good and acceptable and perfect. What’s Paul saying? He’s saying: strive to know and do the good, namely what is pleasing to God, namely, what is perfect. It cannot be otherwise. God will not command imperfection. His goal for us is perfection. Indeed, from the beginning to the end of the Bible his demand from us is perfection.

When God said to Adam, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eatof it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17), he did not mean: “if you eat a little bit of it, you won’t die,” or: “if you eat it only once, you won’t die,” or: “if you have a good excuse, you won’t die.” He meant: perfectly obey this command, or you die.

Jesus said, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). And Romans 12:2 says, Be transformed so that you can do what is perfect. Is this not why Paul puts all of Romans 12 under the banner of mercy: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God. . . .” All of Romans 12 is based on the first 11 chapters of Romans. And those chapters are about God’s mercy in Christ. This is what saves us in spite of our imperfection. And Romans 6 and 7 make it plain that this imperfection continues into our Christian lives.

So the command of verse 2 that we do what is “good, acceptable, and perfect” throws us back again on the “mercies of God” in Christ. And this mercy sends us back again to pursue perfect obedience. No one can stand at the cross receiving mercy and be casual about the will of God. The cross impels us with great gratitude and hope and joy to cut off our hands, if we must, to follow Christ. So let us live at the cross for merciful blessing, and let us carry the cross in merciful obedience.

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A Conversation with Three Pastors

The following link is to a specific program of Dr. Al Mohler's daily radio broadcast. These men are examples of pastors that have led their Churches in renewal toward being more God centered and mission conscious.

A Conversation with Three Pastors

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Good News: 13 Tears

From my friend Vic Dove

By Vic Dove

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that beliveth.” Romans 1:16

The morning of April 20th 1999 was pretty much like any other in Littleton, Colorado. This was just another day it seemed for Rachel Scott as she got out of bed, did her devotional, took a shower and began thinking about what in the world she would wear to school. However, this day would prove to be a day filled with pain and suffering for not only Rachel and the town of Littleton, Colorado, but for the nation and for the whole world.

Two guys, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, decided that on the 110th anniversary of Adolph Hitler’s birthday, April 20th, 1999, they would walk into Rachel’s high school with automatic weapons at around 11:30 am and begin shooting everything that moved. After killing 12 students, one of which was Rachel Scott, and one teacher; the two boys Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold turned their guns on themselves and this terrible event in history came to an end.

Rachel Scott’s life ended that day, but her legacy will live forever. You see Rachel was a saved devout Christian. With a gun pointed at her head she was asked by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold did she still believe in God, she said and I quote “I am not going to apologize for speaking the name of Jesus, if I have to sacrifice everything I will.” The boys said so be it, and shot her in the head.

Rachel Scott was not only a martyr for the gospel; she was a prophetess of sort. You see, in her journal she had many entries concerning her spiritual life, and she had numerous sketches of different images.

Her final sketch inspired a book, written by her parents, called "Rachel's Tears". That drawing was a picture of her eyes shedding 13 tears that touch a rose and turn to blood drops. The rose is growing out of a Columbine plant and is connected to a verse from the Bible that says, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man would lay his life down for his friends". Within 2 hours of Rachel drawing that picture 13 people had been killed at Columbine: A teacher and 12 students. That week was Easter, or Passover Week, and just 2,000 years earlier another teacher and 12 students had impacted the world." (Jesus and the 12 Apostles)

Rachel may have been the first student shot that day, but her devout love for God and His Son Jesus Christ helps us all remember that she was not ashamed of the Gospel. Ten years have pasted since this tragic event. Rachel’s life, though brief, will be etched in our hearts forever.

May God Bless You and Your family
Bro. Vic

Getting The Gospel Right

Sunday, July 19, 2009 AM Sermon Outline

Text: Mark 8:27-38

Peter and disciples thought that they comprehended the Gospel, but they didn’t… Mark 8:27-33
· The disciples perverted the Gospel from being God centered and made it man centered [But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Mark 8:33 (ESV)]
· We will spend a lifetime, actually an eternity comprehending and seeking to understand the Gospel and its’ implications… And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, {7} in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Eph 2:6-7 NIV)

Getting The Gospel Right Means:
1) Jesus Is The Gospel – vs.34
2) Jesus Is Greater Gain (Than) – vs.34-36, 38
3) Jesus Solves Our Divine Need For Forgiveness – vs.37

Getting The Gospel Right Means:
1) Jesus Is The Gospel – vs.34
A) And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Mark 8:34 (ESV)
B) (Mat 13:44-46 NIV) "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. {45} "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. {46} When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

2) Jesus Is Greater Gain (Than)
A) Self – vs.34
• Possessing God’s will becomes our passion…
B) Pain – vs.34
• Loving God unconditionally becomes our passion…
• Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him… (Job 13:15 NIV)
C) Shame – vs.34, 38
• Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"-- (Gal 3:13 NASB)
• Worried about what others think…
• Who are you going to offend – God or people? You are going to offend, the question is “Who?”
D) Control – vs.34-35 “follow me” &…
• Yielding control of our lives to Christ…
E) Possessions – vs.36
• When possessions become our focus they are idols…
• Idols enslave us…
• Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; {19} but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19 NIV)

3) Jesus Solves Our Divine Need For Forgiveness – vs.37
Mark 8:37 (ESV) For what can a man give in return for his soul?
A) Forgiveness is a divine problem… Ps 51:4 – “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” We have offended God!
B) Our offense has been so egregious, having sinned and having broken our capacity to reflect the image of God… only God can restore that capacity…
C) Unpack the following verse… “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit… But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah” Psalms 49:7-9, 15 (ESV)
D) Luke 5:17-26
• And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Luke 5:21 (ESV)

A Tale of Two Funerals

(from http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2009/07/a-tale-of-two-funerals.html)
Wednesday July 8, 2009
While 31 million people were watching Michael Jackson's memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7th, I joined a few hundred people at Life Point Church in Smyrna, TN for the funeral of 17-year-old Gabe Brewer, the son of Chris Brewer, my friend of many years. Chris and his friend Tim Miles helped me write my first book. Chris and I have traveled to Romania to teach church planting. And, I know how much Chris and Judy loved Gabe.

Many have shared their thoughts on the passing of a pop culture icon, and the spectacle that was his very public memorial service. I don't want to rehash what others have said so well about our culture's habit of deifying and worshiping men whose talents and gifts should point us to the giver of all good things, but I was so struck by these two different services I am compelled to talk about it.

Michael Jackson was one of the most famous men of his lifetime, selling over 300 million records, earning hundreds of millions of dollars, and was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-- twice. And if you're over 30 and under 70 you owned the Thriller album. Don't lie, you know you did. Everyone had it.

Gabe Brewer was entering his senior year at Lancaster Christian Academy. He loved the Lord and his family. He was a leader among his peers, a good student, and played football and soccer. Chris told some wonderful stories in our time together and at the funeral. Gabe's faith and passion were clear.

Only one of these men was famous before men, but both were precious to God and stood before Jesus when they died. And, I saw both services the same day.

Against the advice of many, Chris preached his own son's funeral. I am glad he did.

He called men and women to faith in Christ... and then asked them to come forward to counselors waiting at the front. The song they sang was "Give Me Jesus," which was the song that they sang together a few days before as Gabe left this earth and came into the loving arms of Jesus.

Listen to the words. You can see Chris at the front inviting people to Christ, Gabe's picture is on the screen, and the people responding are at the front. I originally made this short and grainy video to send to Chris later on, but he encouraged me to post it here so that others might be blessed by Gabe's life and his faith.

Gabe Brewer Funeral Clip from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.

Millions tuned in to watch Jackson's memorial service where the King of Pop was remembered, and his work was lifted up. Everyone looked back, and it seemed there was nothing to look forward to. The golden casket seemed, at least to me, a sad reminder that not even a Pharaoh could take wealth into eternity.

A few hundred gathered at Gabe Brewer's funeral where the young man was remembered. But while we all looked back at the life Gabe lived, Chris also called us to look back to the One who gave his life that we might find ours; to Him who was raised from the dead victorious over death. And he called everyone there to look forward-- to the rest of our lives and called everyone there to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ.

Gabe didn't have a golden casket, but he is walking on streets of gold.

This was quite the contrast.

Thanks, Gabe, for your life. Thanks Chris for your witness. And, I pray for Chris and Judy in their pain and loss.

I remember the day I watched my teenage sister die of cancer. There are few things as painful. And, contrary to all the platitudes of well-meaning Christians, there are often few answers this side of eternity. But, I know this: Gabe, and his parents, are in the love and care of a loving Father.

Posted on July 8, 2009 at 8:16 PM ~ 11 Comments

All I Really Wanted Was a Dad

The following quotes speak to the realities of the longings and desires of our hearts.

“Through the grace of God, I have been fortunate to have achieved many of my artistic and professional aspirations realized early in my lifetime. But these, friends are accomplishments, and accomplishments alone are not synonymous with who I am. Indeed, the cheery five-year-old who belted out Rockin’ Robin and Ben to adoring crowds was not indicative of the boy behind the smile. . . I am the product of a lack of a childhood. . . when I was young I wanted more than anything else to be a typical little boy. I wanted to build tree houses, have water balloon fights, and play hide and seek with my friends. . . There was no respite from my professional life. . .


“My father was a managerial genius and my brothers and I owe our professional success, in no small measure, to the forceful way that he pushed us. He trained me as a showman and under his guidance I couldn’t miss a step. But what I really wanted was a Dad. I wanted a father who showed me love. And my father never did that.”

-Michael Jackson, speech at the Oxford Union, March 6, 2001