I am not a great preacher, neither have I studied much hermeneutics and I can’t seem to get my mind around these types of books (The Meaning of Meaning?).  But I do struggle with some of the current preaching today.  Can I give a few suggestions to those of you who stand behind a pulpit or even sit and present a bible study in your home?  Assuming you are true to the text….

1.  Avoid moralism! Your listeners are wired to think moralistically.   In other words, they already are looking to find the next thing they can do in order to be accepted by God.  Don’t make your message an easy target.

Straightening out the lives of parishioners is the stock and trade of the pastorate. But much of this straightening is often unrelated to Christ and the real depth of congregational problems.  Moralism whether it takes the form of denunciation or pep talks, can ultimately only create awareness of sin and guilt or manufactured virtues built on will power. A ministry which leads to genuine sanctification and growth, on the other hand, avoids moralism, first by making clear the deep rootage of sin-problems in the flesh so that the congregation is not battling these in the dark, and then by showing that every victory over the flesh is won by faith in Christ, laying hold of union with him in death and resurrection and relying on his Spirit for power over sin… Ministries which attack only the surface of sin and fail to ground spiritual growth in the believer’s union with Christ produce either self-righteousness or despair, and both of these conditions are inimical to spiritual life. Richard Lovelace, The Dynamics of Spiritual Life (emphasis mine)

2.  Don’t be pedantic. Your listeners don’t want commentary they need life! In the words of DA Carson, we need to devote a fair bit of thought to the relations between ancient text and contemporary context, between expository lecture and expository preaching (where men and women are made to feel the text’s bite and balm), between rigorous exegetical accuracy and colorful presentation.

3.  Remember the gospel! Think motivation.  What motivates Christians to greater levels of commitment, sacrifice and holiness?  Only the Gospel.  In I Corinthians 5, Paul states that the love of Christ controlled him.  What was it that both constrained (think compulsion) and restrained (think banks of a river)?  What both compelled him to be “out of  his mind” and yet restrained him to hold his “reserve”if necessary?  It was the love of Christ, not just his love for Christ, but as the Greek suggests (and the majority of commentators agree) namely “Christ’s love” or “the love Christ showed” for him.  No one doubts that believers’ love for Christ motivates their actions, but here Paul is concentrating on an earlier stage of motivation, namely the love shown by Christ in dying for humankind. (M Harris, NIGNT II Cor).  When preaching we must see that Christians, as much as unbelievers, need the gospel, to see Jesus’ sacrificial love demonstrated at the cross.  That every thing Christ demands of us he has already done for us.  Here are a couple MP3 and articles by Dr. Keller that have really helped me in this area…. (all of these can be found here)

Evangelistic Worship PDF

Preaching to the heart I MP3

Preaching to the hear II MP3

Contextualization MP3

The Centrality of the Gospel PDF

“A time to get and a time to lose”  Ecclesiasties.

Today the stock market dropped to it’s lowest in over ten years.  Most of you reading this are probably not invested but I think it important for you to read the quote below and learn a lesson now before you are older and forget that everything has its season and the outward condition of any man does not determine his/her spiritual condition. OR God’s disposition towards them…

Some people make a lot of money, living in a time for gain. Others lose a great deal.  Prosperity is His gift, and so are stock-market crashes.  God allows us to store it all up. He appoints the day we throw it away, not caring about it any more.  God is the one who gives the power to get wealth (Dt. 8.18). And when men forget Him, He is the one who brings financial calamity upon them  “Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store” (Dt. 28.17).  The commotion of the stock market reveals the hubris of man better than few other things.  We believe we can pump up the Dow forever and make money at a fine clip forever… but we cannot.  The cycles ordained by God for everything in this fallen and silly world will come around again, and many a millionaire will go white in deisbeleif.  “How could this happen?”  Friend, look at the world. How could it not?

Douglas Wilson,  Joy at the end of the tether.  The inscrutable wisdom of ecclesiastes.

It is appropriate at these times to give thanks to our loving Father who knows much better than we what we need.

Many of you who read this are young dads or moms. I hope you find this helpful.

Ask this question in front of a group of reformed Christians:  what is the nature of man? The initial response (although not always I must admit), is that man is depraved. No problem with that.  It’s a good start.  Yet man was also created in the image of God and this is crucially important for our children to understand.

I acknowledge that there is no merit in being image bearers; however in raising children, it is imperative that they have a healthy  (and I emphasize Healthy!) grasp of their beauty, dignity, value and worth before and from God.   Just like our righteousness received in Christ,  it is an alien dignity, an impartation from God himself; A gift to be acknowledged through a humble repentance that recognizes the fall that “darkened” that image and now requires a Savior to truly restore the imago dei.  Without this understanding of the genesis of our dignity, all other views lead only to conceit and ultimately to despair.  One goal as parents is to equip your children to understand that the dignity they have is only a “signpost”  directing their hearts to their Creator God.

As soon as my children were toddlers, I would tuck them into bed at night (an important practice!) and ask them these questions (with infinite variations):

1.  Who made you?

2.  Does God make any mistakes?

3.  Did you chose your birth date, family, or name?

4.  Did you know that God saved mom and dad so that you could hear the good news of Jesus Christ? What if you were born in Mozambique? What would it be like?

Then I would pray for them that they would they would trust Jesus with their lives and not die (a practice of Spurgeon’s mother)…

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. CS Lewis, The Weight of Glory (emphasis his)

Psalm 8:4-6 What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet..

Psalm 139:14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

The goal for my kids is not the ungodly and conceited form of self-esteem that is becoming so prevalent in the Millenial generation; But a deep humility and gratitude towards a loving God that ultimately produces a bowing of their little hearts before Him in repentance and trust.

My good friend Jay Crowdus encouraged me to share this story.

Recently, one evening my wife and I were getting ready for bed, but the kids were still awake. I still have six kids at home ranging from 21 years old to my twins at 10 years.  They were all in the bedroom next to us.  My wife, knowing that it was getting late, called out to them to “get to bed!”  But I noticed something going on that numerous times has brought such delight and happiness to my soul, so I held my wife back from enforcing the “code.”

“Listen,” I said.  As we laid there, we heard all six kids talking simultaneously, laughing, joking, acting out roles of movies,  like best friends!  We sat there and just soaked in the moment.  “Let them stay up,” I said “and let us just relish the moment.  It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Our family has been really blessed to have deep affections for one another. The kids from my oldest at 25 to the youngest at 10 are best friends and continue that way.

I suppose there are many reasons for this.  It could be our natural disposition.  Or simply because we spend a lot of time together. I am sure these help.  But I think in reality, we have “stumbled” onto this more by God’s grace than anything else…   Maybe these are the reasons…

1.  Jesus Christ:  We teach our kids that without the new hearts Christ has obtained for us through his substitutionary sacrifice on the Cross, we would be blind to true affections and be groping in the fog of this secular landscape for solutions.

2.  We are reformed in doctrine:In simple terms we have taught our kids that our salvation is TOTALLY dependent upon God’s free will and not our own.  He predestined us, chose us and gave us new hearts, a taste for Him, because he loved us and not the other way around. We also believe in the complete corruption of our nature before being In Christ and our inability to repent and believe the gospel without first having our nature transformed by a sovereign God.  This gives our kids great humility and gratefulness.

3.  From infancy, we have taught our kids early on that they were created by a loving God in His own image who makes no mistakes in timing, place, family, race, or country.  And that God made them in His image, beautiful, valuable and exalted above the rest of creation. He set them in the Taylor household, by his love, so they could hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.  And that same God saved their parents just so they could hear this good news.  This has given our children a deep sense of their infinite value to God, not because of what they have done, but because they are the Imago Dei. This gives them great humility and confidence!

4.  We home school: This has helped us avoid much of the problems associated with the segregated system we have today in many institutions.  We even keep our kids with us during church!

Now some think that these blessings have come to us in spite of what we believe. That if we truly acted out our beliefs on human depravity, beauty and God’s sovereignty, we would act quite differently.   But I say that it is because of what we believe that we have these affections, not in spite of….

George MacDonald said “the door of opportunity always opens behind you.”  Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you….  Include your kids in the process, they will pay you back in spades…  So will God!

One verse that has helped me understand the righteousness of Hell is the following

Romans 12:19  Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. (NAU)

A couple things from this verse:

1.  There are some things that God prohibits us from doing, while at the same time He sovereignly permits Himself to do.

2.  Inferred in this verse is this: What we cannot do without sinning, God does without sin.

In other words, we are human, God is not.  Let us be careful of forgetting the “otherness” of God.  Too many times we pull him down to our level, which is a grave mistake.  “God created man in His own image, since then man has always been trying to return the favor.” (a quote I read somewhere)

And let us always strive to grasp most fully God’s love demonstrated through Jesus Christ on the cross of calvary, our Substitution and foundation of Hope and the forward look….  (Romans 5.8; 2 Cor. 5.21)

1 John 4:9-10  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Only in the light of Calvary can hell be fully understood….

Well, here goes.  I have heard very few sermons on hell.  I don’t think I can remember even one!  With much discussion going around these days in attempts to “defend” God’s apparent “mean streak”, it is challenging to remain unaffected.  Certainly a loving God would not send anyone to eternal torment? Would He?

Some whom I respect deeply have made attempts to describe hell as a place where sinners would rather be than heaven, and that the doors of hell are “locked from the inside.”  All this to soften the image of God pouring out wrath on sinners who don’t know any better.

This is a tough topic for anyone to get their hands around.   I just listened to a teaching by John Piper given at Resolved 2008.   It will only increase your love, gratefulness, and savor for God.  I hope you will listen to it also.

John Piper:  The echo and Insufficiency of Hell

Dear Friends,

I want to give you this book!

I have been a avid listener and reader of Dr. Timothy Keller for three years now.  His insights into the centrality of the gospel have not only changed my life, which is the most important thing, but also reconstructed much of my harmful thinking i have embraced over the 35 years of my Christian experience.   The exposition of Jesus’ most well known parable in this new little book is the message that Mr. Keller states has helped direct the overriding vision of his church, Redeemer Presbyterian, :   the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This book (along with his message: The Prodigal Sons) is a must read for every Christian and especially young aspiring ministers, both male and female .

I will make an offer to all of you out there, an ethical bribe:  If you refer two readers to my blog, and they read a post, make a comment (hopefully on another post than this, since this one does not contain any content to speak of), and mention your name, I will send you a free copy of this new book!   The only commitment you must make is to read the book within three weeks after receiving it and then make a comment on this post about how the book effected you .  That’s it!

Oh, and you should send me your mailing address to my email address so I can send you the book:  teleoschris@gmail.com.

I may withdraw this offer at any point, so move fast!

with the forward look,

chris

1 Corinthians 3:21-23  So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future–all are yours,  and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Recently, a friend asked me what I had been reading. I replied that I had just finished Gordon MacDonald’s fantasy, The Princess and the Goblin. To which he replied, “Wasn’t he an Arminian?”  I replied that actually George was a universalist (everyone is saved in the end).  End of conversation.  It’s funny how we can quickly label someone and subconsciously use it to imply that his/her insights are not worth reading or considering or even enjoying.

Human nature is such, according to Dr. Timothy Keller, that we take our “doctrinal differences and endow them with moral significance in order to feel superior to others.”  I am of the Reformed tradition and love to meditate upon the sovereignty of God in all things, including our salvation. However, the conviction of having the “right” understanding of scripture can create personalities that are more known for what they are against than what they are for.

This quote by Gordon Fee has really helped me understand this…

The Corinthian error is an easy one to repeat [I am of...etc]. Not only do we all have normal tendencies to turn natural preferences into exclusive ones, but in our fallenness we also tend to consider ourselves “wise” enough to inform God through whom he may minister to his people.  Our slogans take the from of “I am of the Presbyterians,” of “of the Pentecostals,”  or “of the Roman Catholics.”  Or they may take ideological forms:  ” I am of the liberals,” or “of the evangelicals,” or “of the fundamentalists.”   And these are also used as weapons: “Oh, he’s a fundamentalist, you know.”  Which means that we no longer need to listen to him, since his ideology has determined his overall value as a spokesman for God.  It is hardly possible in a day like ours that one will not have denominational, theological, or ideological preferences.   The difficulty lies in allowing that it might really be true that” all things are ours” including those whom we think God would do better to be without. But God is full of surprises; and he may choose to minister to us from the “strangest’ of sources, if we were but more truly “in Christ” and therefore free in him to learn and to love.

This does not mean that one should not be discriminating; after all, Paul has no patience for that teaching in Corinth which had abandoned the pure gospel of Christ. But to be “of Christ” is also to be free from the tyrannies of one’s own narrowness, free to learn even from those with whom one may disagree…. Gordon Fee, NICNT 1 Corinthians.

Walking is a perpetual state of imbalance. It is a recurring prevention or “catching” ourselves from falling. We step forward with our right foot and just before we fall precariously forward our left foot takes the initiative and prevents the disastrous results of the right foot. Even though it becomes second nature, without this fluid state of imbalance, we could only stand still. Interesting…. You can’t move forward without becoming imbalanced first…

I noted in a previous post that there are those who may take exception to some of my posts. I stated it is not my goal to present a balanced view. The reason, in my puny mind is simple: I don’t recall ever being motivated by anyone who presented me a balanced approach to anything of consequence (nothing like a steak dinner over veggie delight!). Trying to portray every perspective on a portrait, besides taking a consuming amount of words and work, may create an image that could be quite unrealistic, much like a Pablo Picasso painting with two eyes on the same side of the face! In an effort to present a balanced perspective of reality, a view from all sides, we may only get a gruesome caricature!

Again, I know there are exceptions to this. That is not my point. Here it is: I believe we do just fine balancing out others’ viewpoints. It’s second nature. What we need occasionally is a voice that challenges us to stretch beyond our inherent nature to “stand still”; that motivates us to take that first step towards another, more radical -and perhaps godly - direction. Many times the balanced perspective is really not taking a position on anything. It’s safe, but not without its risks.

Perhaps it may help to share with you the words of the One who always speaks the truth…

Jesus said you are only satisfied if you hunger and thirst for righteousness. In the words of Peter Kreeft: This is the Lord’s one requirement: to be a saint, that is, a fanatic; to love one thing infinitely; to put all our eggs in his basket; to seek the one pearl of great price.

Fanaticism? Is it? What would your portrait look like if you loved this one thing infinitely?

Kreeft again: It is not that we don’t admire holiness, we don’t admire the passion for holiness. It is the pursuit that we resent in others. The radicalness. We may talk about righteousness all the time, but pursuing it is another thing altogether.  We always have reasons, legitimate reasons …

A passion for anything other than righteousness will not satisfy us here on earth or in eternity.  Yet, as CS Lewis wrote, we are far too satisfied with other things.

So we have the option to respond with “but we know…” perhaps add our “balance” to His words… The upshot according to John will be a Laodicean “niceness.” I don’t recommend this. Jesus didn’t present the exceptions to his own words…  for that I am truly grateful, because He challenges me to take another step of risk towards His direction. What would Western Christianity look like if we took another step Christ’s direction and risked a little imbalance?

The Revolutionary War was erupting.   After a long siege, George Washington had managed to take Boston from the British in March 1776.   As the British evacuated Boston in 120 ships with over 11,000 people placed on board, several loyalists gathered at the rail of one of the ships and expressed confidence that they would be returning soon in triumph. A prominent Boston merchant, George Erving, turned and said solemnly, “Gentlemen, not one of you will see that place again.”   (1776, David McCullough)

This reminds me of the hope (I should call it something… for it is not really hope but a “backward glance”) that lingers in each of us (or maybe just us old folks)  for the return of the “good ol’ days.”  We call it Nostalgia.  I cannot think of a potentially more destructive and paralyzing “look.”.  And it can militate against all true biblical hope which is always focused on the future and promise….

I had a friend growing up through high school; my next door neighbor.  In order to avoid a public hearing scheduled for a drunk driving charge (mine, my friend was far too smart to get caught), we took off and for our junior summer, hitchhiked around the country.  That trip was hell for me.  For my friend, it was “heaven.”  The result…. I got saved and he became froze to the past like Hans Solo in Carbon Freezing.  25 years later, we got together and talked about our lives.  He was still frozen… Remarkably, what contrasted him from me was simply this: He looked back at that trip and said it was the high watermark of his life and he has lived ever since trying to “get it back.”  I reflected and gained insight.   The difference between him and me was the direction of our “look.”   In 1973 my life was transformed by Jesus Christ.  In “hope I was saved” and no longer was I held bondage to the past, but God gave me the forward look.  My friend,  still with the “backward glance,”  continues to try and “get it back.”

The truth is that nothing in this earth can finally satisfy us.  Much can make us content for a time, but nothing can fill us to the brim.  Not the past especially.  As Mark Twain spoke, “It’s characteristically human to remember a lot of things that never happened.”  and so my friend.  (Thanks Cornelius Platinga Jr.)

Let us take to heart the words of Erving:  Gentlemen, not one of your will ever see that place again…  The British never returned to Boston.  Neither can we return to the past, our hope is eternal and in that hope, we are changed and inflicted with Joy!  “Forgetting the past and reaching forward to the future and what lies ahead.”  Paul

As J.R.R. Tolkien put it…. Our final joy lies “beyond the walls of the world,”

(some will “take exception” to this. There are good memories, I know.  And there are always exceptions.  God’s faithfulness in our past is a powerful foundation and affirmation of His future Grace in our lives. My goal is to disclose the hopeless type of “backward glance” that leads to depression, guilt, resentment and anger in the present.   I will make a post about “taking exception” later, but you will have to wait. )