A Commentary on Evangelism from Bobby Hill

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:15-17

In many respects the church has done the same attitude as the Pharisees. Non-Christians hear from us – you are sick, we are healthy. When Non-Christians hear that from us, they turn a deaf ear, why? Because in many instances our “morality” is no better than the worlds! Look at the divorce rate. Look at the materialism and debt in the church. Look at how often we read God’s word at home compared to how often those in the church look at porn. Guess what church – We are sick too!

Bobby Hill does an excellent job illustrating this point:

Our culture will ignore us as long as we claim health and accuse them of sickness. We must recognize that salvation is a gift, given by Christ, instead of acting like we earned salvation through our faith.

It is only by the transformation of the Holy Spirit inside of us that we can change.

What are your thoughts?

Sports Bucket List

For those unfamiliar with the term, a bucket list is a list of things you want to accomplish before you die or "kick the bucket."

As a diehard sports fan, if I made a bucket list most of the adventures listed would be sports related anyway. So, I decided to write a bucket list - essentially the 10 sporting events or activities I want to participate in before I kick the bucket.

10) Attend a game a FC Dallas game at every away stadium.

FC Dallas is my favorite team in my favorite sport, soccer. Major League Soccer is growing, especially as teams are building there own stadiums. There are some teams with amazing stadiums such as New York, Los Angeles and Seattle.

9) Attend a Red Sox - Yankees game at Fenway Park.

Fenway is a great ballpark. Red Sox fans are crazy, especially when the Yankees come to town.



8) Participate in the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

This would combine two things I love - travel & sports.





7) Attend an Ohio State - Michigan game in Columbus at the Horse Shoe.

One of the biggest rivalries in College football at a classic location.

6) Watch a River Plate vs Boca Juniors game at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires.

River Plate vs. Boca is like the Yankees vs. Red Sox in the World Series. These two teams hate each other so much that several hundred police are hired to ensure a riot doesn't break out.

5) Play a round of golf at St. Andrew's in Scotland.

St. Andrews is an amazing golf course in Scotland - often the site of the British Open golf tournament.

4) Attend a Manchester United vs. Liverpool game at Old Trafford.

Another amazing rivalry that based on location and difficulty in getting there causes this to be ranked this high.

3) Watch the US Men's National Team play in a World Cup Qualifier in Mexico City.

The US owns Mexico on US soil. Mexico owns the US on Mexican soil. I predict the US will win in Mexico before Mexico wins again in the US. This game is always crazy with the best result the Americans have ever earned in Mexico city being a tie.

2) Attend the opening ceremonies at the Olympic Games.

It's the Olympic games...enough said.

1) Attend a World Cup match with the US Men's National Team playing.

The US has qualified for 6 straight World Cups. Hopefully, one day the World Cup will be in America again where I will do everything in my power to see the USMNT play.


What would you have on your sports bucket list?

Simple Gospel Compelling Faith

I had the privilege to preach at North Richland Hills Baptist Church today. Here is a video of my sermon - if you have insomnia, this should help.

http://www2.truthcasting.com/TruthCastingPlayer.html?channelID=100000325#vString=13960,100000325,469

Thursdays are for Articles (Wednesday Edition) - US soccer gains respect

This blog is not just concerned with exploring trends in church leadership and theology because that is not all that interests me.

Growing up in Colleyville, Texas, I played little league soccer. After the US hosted the World Cup in 1994 and Major League Soccer began in 1996, soccer became a passion.

Traditionally, Europeans look down their noses at US soccer, but with the US Men's National team qualifying for their sixth consecutive World Cup, the US is starting to earn respect as a soccer nation.

Check out his article from "The Guardian," a British periodical:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/oct/15/world-cup-united-states-charlie-davies

My favorite line, "This successful qualification guarantees the sixth consecutive World Cup for the USA team, dating back to Italia 90. That is not an achievement that some fairly high- profile nations can match. Not England. Not France. Not Holland."

What do you think?

The Glorious (and terrible) Day of the Lord

Jeff Johnson wrote a great worship song that celebrates Jesus' life. The chorus, which is reproduced below, exemplifies the song.

Living He loved me
Dying He saved me
Buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified
Freely forever
One day He's coming
Oh, Glorious Day
Oh, Glorious Day

The last verse is primarily concerned with the future second coming of Jesus and it gets to me every time we sing it - not because it is unbiblical or theologically incorrect, but because it seems to leave out one important fact about the coming of Christ.

One day the trumpet will
Sound for His coming
One day the skies with His
Glories will shine
Wonderful day
My beloved was bringing
Glorious Savior this Jesus is mine

Oh, Glorious Day
Oh, Glorious Day
Oh, Glorious Day
Oh, Glorious Day

Regardless of eschatological system, Christians believe that Jesus is returning. As a believer in and follower of Christ, I have the fortune of looking forward to the day that Christ returns as a glorious day. However, if I only celebrate the return of Christ as a "glorious day" I neglect one important fact about that day - it will be terrible for those who do not believe in or follow Christ. In fact, in the Old Testament, more ink was spent in discussing how the day of the Lord is a dreadful day than on how it will be glorious. For example:

"Woe to you who long
for the day of the LORD!
Why do you long for the day of the LORD?
That day will be darkness, not light." Amos 5:18

"The day of the LORD is great;
it is dreadful." Joel 2:11

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." Malachi 4:5-6

Let us not forget in our eager anticipation of Christ's return what it means for those separated from God. It is especially easy for Christians who neglect to share their faith to forget that the coming day of the Lord will be a terrible day. May we eagerly anticipate the return of the Lord while not forgetting our task to make that day terrible for fewer people.

Woot - One Day One Deal

I want to let you in on a little secret. There is a great website if you like electronics at low prices, check out www.woot.com.

They offer great deals, often on new or refurbished items. They dub themselves, "One Day One Deal," but really offer 3-4 new products a week. However, I often find myself checking it everyday.

So far, I have only bought one item from Woot, but the transaction was excellent. I have other friends who have bought multiple items with no complaints.

Check it out although this little tidbit might be too late for Christmas.

Thursdays are for Articles - China stretches the imagination with world's longest sea bridge

Ever since I visited Dubai in the summer of 2005,
amazing feats of engineering fascinate me. At that time, Dubai had a majority of the world's cranes that almost completely dotted the city-state's skyline.

As a result, whenever I hear of incredible new works around the world, I want to learn more.

Apparently, China already has the world's longest sea bridge, and now want another one. They are building a bridge that will connect Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.

You can read more about it here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/15/worlds-longest-sea-bridge

What interests me even more is that in response to the global economic "tsunami" China is working on its infrastructure - this bridge being just one example.

As a proponent of economic conservatism I find it interesting that America is bailing out banks and providing billions in stimulus money while China is setting their economy up for future growth by working on infrastructure.

In my opinion, a government is more likely to ensure the future growth of the economy by spending money on infrastructure than in bailing out failing banks and businesses.

I am sorry but not surprised that China's government understands this principle and America's government does not.

Introspection on 1000 Tweets

On March 5, of this year, I opened a Twitter account and began "tweeting." This was just a few months after opening an account on Facebook as my first foray into online social networking. Some of my friends could correctly accuse me of not just foraying into social networking but of becoming a full-fledged aficionado.

For those unfamiliar with Twitter, allow me a brief explanation. Twitter is a social networking tool that utilizes 140 characters for users to micro-blog. This is different from regular or macro-blogging in which people can use more than 140 characters. For example, this blog is a macro-blog in which I can write as many characters as I want whereas Twitter restricts the number of characters it is possible to use including letters, words, punctuation and spaces.

On Sunday, December 13, I hit 1,000 tweets. As a result, I wanted to do a little introspection on my first 1,000 tweets to see if they reflected my priorities in life, especially if they demonstrated a person diligently trying to follow Jesus Christ as Lord.

I updated my status on Facebook on Sunday night asking 25 friends to give me a number between 1 and 1000 so that I could have an unbiased means to choose what Tweets I reproduce on the blog for my introspection. Below I listed the number and the friend who on Facebook gave me a number. More than 25 replied so more than 25 are listed.

Below each tweet is a sentence of reflection on the tweet and at the bottom I will share what the tweets made me realize about myself.


1 (Steve Cockrum): "Catching up on TiVo before going out of the country"

Before heading out on a mission trip to Argentina I had my priorities straight - not to spend time with Janet and Parker, but to catch up on TiVo - sheesh.

3.14 (Ralph Kunkel): "is not a fan of Ticketmaster."

I think most Americans could agree with this - I bought $35 tickets to a soccer game but after Ticketmaster's surcharges, the tickets cost around $50.

5 (Kim Keiser, Marietta Long) : "Instead of a hug & a kiss, I mowed the yard and washed the dog. "

Still waiting on that hug and kiss. ;-)

6 (Angel Waller): " is playing soccer tomorrow, 1:30 PM, at Smithfield Elementary. If you want to play, text me. "

Soccer is my favorite sport to play and watch because action rarely stops for each 45 minute half. Even when players get hurt, the game keeps going until the ball goes out of bounds. Unlike another sport I like - football, in which a commercial break interrupts play every couple minutes or so.

7 (Patty Williams): "might be starting to get beaten down by Lost. "

I have a love/hate relationship with the popular tv show, Lost. Love because it was so genius in the beggining. Hate because it has become so complicated that time must be invested to read blogs to understand what in the world is going on with the show.

8 (Sydni Levy): "hopes the Suns will win the rest of their games so that the Mavs will be in the lottery"

Alas, the Suns did not and the Mavs made the playoffs loosing in the second round to the Denver Thuggets...I mean Nuggets.

12 (Chris McDonald): "hates Microsoft Word."

Don't we all - again another love/hate relationship.

13 (Brandon Fickle): "Is at Lions Club...the guest speaker is a magician."

Yes, I am 29. Yes, I am a member of the Lions Club. Yes, I am the youngest member by far.

23 (Shannon Miksek, Louise Keeton): "Is getting ready to go to work"

Still getting ready.

29 (Tony Spohn): "rockin Financial Peace University."

My church, North Richland Hills Baptist Church, encouraged each family in the church to attend Financial Peace University (FPU) this spring. FPU is a 15 week seminar by Dave Ramsey on how to become and live debt-free. It was fantastic and life changing for many in the church including my family.

35 (Mary Carr): "just got the "no I'm not talking to you, I'm (blue) toothing." Not a fan of the blue tooth. "

While the cell phone is one of the greatest inventions in the last 20 years, the blue tooth is just the opposite as it seemingly is employed to show that the user is more important than those around him or her.

44 (Sarah Case): "is fixin to have breakfast with one of his heros, Sonny Wynne."

When I was growing up, Sonny Wynne was the associate pastor then the lead pastor at my childhood church, Harwood Terrace Baptist Church. He has a lot of wisdom and kookiness to share.

52 (Anthony Kapp): "Go FC Dallas!"

My favorite soccer team in my favorite sport.

76 (Aaron Arledge): "Nevernudes win again"

Arrested Development is one of my all-time favorite tv shows who's life was all too short lived. One of the main characters had a disorder in which he could never be completely naked, hence he was a "nevernude." In honor of this condition, I named my 3 on 3 basketball team the Nevernudes. Genius, I know.

79 (Misty Lynch): "has been upgraded. Awesome"

American Airlines is good to me...and seemingly to no one else.

88 (Tammy Brown): "The day I worry about Swine Flu is the day Pigs Fly"

The Swine flu or H1N1 panic was absolutely rediculous.

218 (Tim Harsch): "@mattmillsap My only problem was...if it was so perfect in forming passionate disciples, why wasn't the passion passed on?"

A SWBTS professor tweeted that churches in the 50s were excellent in making disciples. My point was that if they were so good at making disciples why did so many of their children and grandchildren leave the church. Matt Millsap is a phd student at SWBTS and a friend with whom I engaged in dialouge about this issue.

When you see "@" before a user name such as "mattmillsap" it means that the tweeter is sending a message to another user.

287 (Susan Holland): "learned to his son's detriment and his wife's chagrin that Parker is too mobile to leave on the coach unsupervised. "

Parker fell off the couch, which I misspelled as coach. I am a terrible speller.

313 (Alejandro Galaviz): "Parker is officially a Spence."

Easily one of my favorite tweets as Parker is our adopted son and in mid-July legally became a Spence.

409 (Rene Floyd): "@wvhooligan who's doing the talk about MLS buying the USL?"

MLS stands for Major League Soccer and is the top flight soccer league in America. The USL or United Soccer Leagues is basically a minor league but is not directly affiliated with MLS.

412 (Angela Roberts): "RT @FCDallasWeb: Breaking FCD News: Marvin Chavez signed. http://twurl.nl/yde8bx"

Solid signing for FC Dallas - a Honduran winger, Marvin Chavez. Clearly, I like soccer and FC Dallas.

429 (Eric McCarson): "@bentune are we still on for lunch tomorrow? 12:45 @ Jason's Deli, right?"

I had a sandwich...it was good with one of my friends and Sunday School teachers, Ben Tune.

444 (MacMo): "#SBC resolves to not allow SBC employees to read/listen to Mark Driscoll. I am now podcasting him. Resolutions against evangelicals = fail"

Mark Driscoll is a controversial evangelical pastor in Seattle at Mars Hill Church. This tweet was wrong as at the Southern Baptist Convention (or SBC) a resolution was introduced but did not pass that would not allow SBC employees to listen to Driscoll's sermons or read his books. That a resolution was introduced and taken seriously belies some of the superficial problems in the SBC.

501 (Kristan Tucker): "@iAlejandro SNL without Tina Fey is SNL without the jajajajajaja"

Jajajajaja is the Spanish version of hahaha or lol. Tina Fey is brillian, her loss on Saturday Night Live or SNL leaves a gaping whole of funnyness.

687 (Wendy Adams): "U2 putting on a great concert. The visuals are amazing"

U2 is one of my favorite bands and they put on a little concert in Arlington. Wendy Adams was there and can verify.

777 (Dean Pickard, Ben Tune): "is enjoying @MattChandler74 's new podcast. He doesn't mince words when it comes to the truth from God's word."

Matt Chandler is a pastor at the Village church in Dallas. He is a great preacher who I try to listen to on a regular basis.

829 (Jim Adams): "FYI - the parenting conference tonight at NRHBC will be in the Fellowship Hall not the Worship Center."

My Twitter and Facebook account is often utilized for church announcements.

843 (Zach Curry): "Check out my blog, http://ahumblecertainty.blogspot.com/ for this week's post: Go Where God Is Not 'at Work.'"

Check out this blog as often as possible. :-) Additionally, I thought that blog post was one of my better ones.

865 (Luis Bueno): "has a great but hard job- sharing the gospel around the world. Who has a harder job? Janet, stay-at-home Moms have a wonderful but hard job."

My wife, Janet, is a stay-at-home mom who has a very hard job keeping up with two kids under an year old and only 8 months apart.

888 (Lisa Rodriguez): "@geoffreypayne yup...which updates my Facebook status."

My Twitter account updates my Facebook status. Why Geoff Payne needed to know this I have no idea.

945 (Josh White): "@L_W_B Yeah - I was exaggerating saying they will loose by 50...I just don't want to see a Big 12 team blown-out and then hear about it..."

If texas university plays like they did against Nebraska they will get blown out in the National Championship game. If they play like they did against Texas A&M, they should win. (As an Aggie and a rival, I just can't root for them.)


Just to be transparent, I fall short of demonstrating that Jesus is the Lord and highest priority in my life. Far too often I find spend time watching, listening or thinking about sports, which is funny because apart from the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA, none of my favorite teams have fared well in the last 10 years or so.

Sports are great entertainment, but more often they provide disappointment and frustration.

My relationship with Christ provides joy, peace and love - almost the direct opposite of what the Cowboys, Aggies, and FC Dallas provides. If "where your tweets are then your heart will be also", I need to transform my Twitter account to speak to the deeper joy provided by Christ.

Thursdays are for Articles - "the Leveraging of the Texas Rangers "

The problem - "the Hicks Sports Group has defaulted on a bunch of loans, which is what has led to the current situation where MLB is having to front the Rangers money and Tom Hicks (or, technically, HSG) is having to sell the team."

The article:

http://www.lonestarball.com/2009/12/1/1180700/tom-hicks-debt-to-value-and-the

A quote: "The 2009 Forbes data supports the notion that the Rangers are a highly leveraged franchise...the team's debt to value ratio is 66%, the third highest in baseball, with only the Yankees and Mets (both of whom took on a bunch of new stadium debt the previous offseason) with higher ratios...What is particularly interesting to me, though, is that this huge debt level for the Rangers was only recently incurred."

What are your thoughts?

Count Your Blessings

In the 1954 movie White Christmas Bing Crosby sings a song that I enjoy. The song I’m thinking of is “Count Your Blessings.” I was reminded of this song when I recently heard an Amy Grant cover of it. In the song, Crosby sings “when I’m worried and I can’t sleep I count my blessings instead of sheep, and I fall asleep counting my blessings.”

This sentiment is especially poignant to me in a time where so many of us tend to focus on the hard times and worries that face us today. I confess that I am not immune. With all the news around us, with the hopes, desires, and dreams that we all have—some of which go often seem to go unfulfilled—it’s easy to get into a funk.

I think of David, who authored many of the Psalms in the Bible. There are times when he pours out his heart to God and we read about his fears, his anxieties, disappointments, and laments. When times are tough, it’s good for us to remember that we are not alone, and that we can take our cares to God. On the flip side, however, it seems like some of us have a tendency to pour out our disappointments to God, while forgetting what He has done for us. Maybe you’ve at some point found yourself saying something like, “nobody understands me,” or “life is really really bad right now,” but neglecting to recognize the things God has done for you. You see, so often we forget what God has done for us. Just think about it for a moment: God is the giver of all good things (James 1:17). What has God given to you?

I know He has given us His Love—He proved it by giving Jesus, His only Son for us. He created a world of beauty for us to enjoy. If you’re reading this, you have the ability to see (not to mention the education to read). You have a computer or other internet-capable digital device. What other blessings do you have? Count them! Sing songs about God’s blessings, think of how He shows His love and favor to you.

Times do get bad. They get bad for all of us, but we do have much for which we ought to be thankful to God. Thanksgiving was not so long ago, did you stop to give thanks to God? He has not changed; His love for you will never change. Next time you feel down, remember to count your blessings.

A Great Evil: The Prosperity Gospel

The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

Luke 17:1-2 "Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin."

Woe to anyone who uses the gospel for their own enrichment - this is a terrible evil that God will judge harshly against.


What do you think? Share your comments below.

Thursdays are for Articles - the future of the global economy

Check out this article written by Richard Florida, author of "Rise of the Creative Class."

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200903/meltdown-geography

His thesis argues that America is not going through a recession, but a "re-setting." The global economy, especially the American economy, is shifting from physical-resource based economies to a human-resource based economy.

What do you think?

"The Forgotten Ways:" Part 3

In last week's post, I discussed the issue of discipleship as discussed by Alan Hirsch in his book, "The Forgotten Ways," and how it applied to my experience and ministry context. This week, I will discuss the problem of consumerism in the church.

Consumerism is prevalent throughout American culture. A person's success is demonstrated by their ability to purchase expensive items and through outsourcing much of the mundane chores of life. Individual Americans have embraced outsourcing as much as our corporations have - we outsource our laundry to Comet Cleaners, our yard-work to a landscape, our cleaning to a maid and our meals to restaurateurs. And those who haven't are more likely to not do so because they cannot afford it than for any altruistic purpose.

Unfortunately, the church is not immune as consumerism also pervades the church.

The issue of consumerism in the church is intimately tied with the attractional church. When the outreach at churches is oriented to be attractional, come and hear the gospel, consumerism is a pitfall. If the emphasis is on attracting rather than on incarnating the gospel, churches are tempted to provide better programs in order to become more attractive. The emphasis becomes on providing better spiritual goods and services in order to attract more people. Rather than creating disciples, the church is creating consumers, and evangelism, incarnating the gospel in the community, is neglected or forgotten.

Political Ideology, Pastors, and the Unborn

Typically, I publish a post on Thursday regarding an article I find interesting. Considering tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I decided to publish this post today.

On Monday, Lifeway research (which is one thing Lifeway does really well is their research department) released an article discussing the effects of political ideology on pastors regarding how often they preach on social issues such as abortion.

http://www.lifeway.com/article/?id=169835

According to the article:

98 percent of very conservative pastors are pro-life.

I am disappointed in the 2%.

The issue of pro-life is especially near and dear to my heart. Because our birthmom chose life, I have Parker as my adopted son. If she chose to abort him, Parker would not be the precious addition to my family that he is.

This issue has nothing to do with a woman's right to choose. The central issue is whether life begins at conception or birth. According to everything in me, including my experience, the Holy Spirit, God's Word, and my love for my son, Parker, life begins at conception.

What are your thoughts?

"The Forgotten Ways:" Part 2

Last week I discussed the need for churches to promote the gospel as a life lived in pursuit of Christ as Lord rather than just the declaration of Jesus as savior.

The pursuit of Jesus as Lord in salvation is an act of surrender. Surrendering one's life, which Hirsch calls, “unqualified demand” is the first step in becoming a disciple. A church that fulfills the great commission does not do so by making converts. Instead, the church must reorient its focus on making disciples in obedience to Christ’s last command to his disciples.

Out of the six elements of mDNA, Hirsch places disciple making in the most crucial role. He contends that if churches “fail here, it is unlikely that we will even get to doing any of the other elements of mDNA in any significant and lasting way.” In my experience the American church is failing in this regard. According to research by the Barna group, (in Kinniman’s book, “Unchristian”) conversion experiences are relatively common among Americans ages 18-41 as 63% claim some type of conversion in their past. Unfortunately, of the 63% a small segment have a biblical worldview, which Barna uses to discern the success of discipleship. This is a poor reflection on the church’s ability to help transition from convert to disciple. Hirsch points out that while the western church may think it is doing a good job at discipleship in reality “our actual practice of discipleship is far from consistent, and as a result this mismatch tends to obscure the centrality of the problem.” I think this is because discipleship in our churches is primarily an education program.

Traditionally, discipleship occurs on the church campus in a structured educational environment set apart from typical life patterns. In each church that I have been a part of, the discipleship ministry is based on the acquisition of biblical knowledge. Therefore, in my experience, Hirsch is correct that the primary focus of discipleship in Western churches has been knowledge which is only one aspect of discipleship. As a result the church has not been successful in creating disciples. Something else has filled the void of disciple-making and that something else is that the church has been very successful in creating consumers of religious goods and services.

Next week I will look at the problem of consumerism in the church.

Thursdays are for Articles - How Different are dogfighting and football?

The New Yorker examines pro football, concussions, and dogfighting, finding that football and dogfighting are not too dissimilar.

Malcolm Gladwell, the author, concludes, "What football must confront, in the end, is not just the problem of injuries or scientific findings. It is the fact that there is something profoundly awry in the relationship between the players and the game."

Check out this article to learn more:

Offensive Play: How different are dogfighting and football?

"The Forgotten Ways:" Part 1

This spring, in my dMin studies at Fuller Seminary, I read The Forgotten Ways by Allan Hirsch. The book resonated with many things that concerned me about the contemporary expression of American church such as the problem of consumerist congregations, who outsource spiritual development to the church.

I want to explore Hirsch's contention that Apostolic Genius needs to be restored in the western church in order for it to be a transformational power in western society. Hirsch breaks Apostolic Genius into 6 elements, which he terms missional DNA or mDNA.

Over the next few weeks, I will look at one of the three elements of mDNA that resonated in my ministry context. These elements are the confession of Jesus as Lord, the problem in contemporary western churches in regards to disciple making, and the missional-incarnational impulse where churches incarnate the gospel in culture.

Today we will look at the pitfalls of proclaiming a gospel that encourages people to declare Jesus as savior rather than following Jesus as Lord and savior.

The lordship of Jesus Christ, according to Hirsch, is the lynchpin for the powerful movements for Christ in history. These historical movements for Christ often result in intense persecution for the church, requiring a central focus on Christ. The pursuit of Jesus as Lord places a stronger claim on the believer’s life than is often understood in evangelical churches. Lordship is much more than a confession of Christ as savior. Instead, it is best understood as “all of life belongs to God, and true holiness means bringing all the spheres of our life under God.” Hirsch confirms my experiences that Western churches tend to stress the need of Christ as personal savior but neglect to demonstrate that to follow Christ is to submit to him as Lord.

My entire Christian life has been as a member of one Southern Baptist (SBC) church or another. SBC Churches seem to be very strong on understanding and fulfilling the obligation that Christ has placed on the church to proclaim the gospel. However, even more important than this mission mandate is the tendency of SBC churches to obsess over numbers. Every ministry or program is rated based on the number or people who participated or the number of “lost” people who prayed to receive Christ. This fixation on numbers has led to a gospel message where the lordship of Christ is diminished, and all that is needed is a prayer to accept Christ as savior. This leads to more people praying a prayer, but few understanding what Hirsch calls, “the primary theme of the Bible: God’s redemptive claim on our lives.” What should be a movement of God due to the importance of missions within the SBC is inflated numbers of a convention teetering on decline. This particular issue hinges on the substitution of lordship with a gospel in which Christ has no expectation for his followers.

Next week, I will explore the issue of discipleship according to Hirsch’s perspective.

Thursdays are for Articles - the Kingdom Strikes Back

Much concern has been expressed about the rise of Islam in Europe and America through immigration and their high reproduction rates. Today's article should shed some light on the issue.

Check out the late great missiologist, Ralph Winter's study on the intersection between the volatile nature of the history of the world and the history of God's people on mission.

http://www.newcovfel.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/thekingdom-strikes-back-ralph-winter_.pdf

According to Winter, God uses "four different 'mission mechanisms...' to bless other peoples: 1) going voluntarily, 2) involuntarily going without missionary intent, 3) coming voluntarily, and 4) coming involuntarily..."

Great speculation on why the western world may be in decline - because if "we in the West insist on keeping our blessing (the gospel) instead of sharing it, then we will, like other nations before us, have to lose our blessing for the remaining nations to receive it."

Read it, think about it, save it, use it and comment on what you think about it.

Go Where God Is Not “at Work.”

“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation.” Romans 15:20-21

A few years ago, I felt the conviction that my church should go fewer places much more frequently on mission trips rather than go several different places each year. We started to pursue partnerships so that we could be actively involved in the discipleship and church planting process rather than in just the evangelism. As a result, we started to work in a barrio in Buenos Aires in which there is not an evangelical presence or church.

After 14 trips over 2 and a half years we have just a couple of Bible studies or house churches meeting. There have been few victories and several set backs. So far the work has been difficult.

Hybels has a great leadership phrase, “vision leaks.” Whenever you establish a vision for your church or ministry, over time the vision “leaks out” among your people and some may encourage you to go in another direction.

For whatever reason, lately, I have been inundated with alternative mission opportunities or partnerships. The advocates for a new location justify the change by proclaiming that we need to go to (blank) location because God is at work there. In other words, they are using Blackaby’s old moniker, “find out where God is working and join with him there.”

I have a few problems with this phrase. When I read the New Testament, it seems like Christ commands his followers to do the exact opposite. Instead, as long the aim was to proclaim his gospel, Christ told his followers to go throughout the world, to testify to all nations, and that he would be with his disciples wherever they go.

The idea of finding out where God is working and join with him there is very appealing, especially to the American desire to be successful. Joining God where it seems like he is working is a lot easier than going to a place where it seems like God has not been at work. It would be easier to go to a place where hundreds of people are “getting saved” every week rather than going to Argentina, but is that really what God called us to do?

For example, if God’s people adopt the idea of going where God is at work, we would never go to places in the world where it seems like the gospel is not advancing. Especially places such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. But God has told us to go throughout the world. He promises to go with us. Therefore, we need to go places where it seems like he is not at work.

After all, I would rather go to the Saddleback community of California than Kandahar, Afghanistan. Saddleback is prettier, the weather is nicer, the people are more welcoming and I may not get shot sharing the gospel in Saddleback. On the other hand, if I go to Kandahar I would live in difficult conditions while fearing for my life.

It would be much easier go where God is “at work” than to go where it seems like God is not. However, if we only go where the gospel is presently at work we would not enjoy the rich blessing of taking the gospel to new places.

The choice is hard. The gospel is hard. But seeing God bless a new work is amazing.

Response to Sexual Detox

Husbands and wives are positioned to do the most good for one another and potentially the most harm. Lately, I’ve seen a lot of men taking steps to overcome porn, a bondage that God freed me from several years ago and by grace, He daily frees me from even now. Things reach a crisis point through confrontations that usually go down like this . . .

Husband gets busted.
Wife to H: “Why do you look at this? It’s wrong and makes me feel ugly.”
Husband to W: “If you were more affectionate/sexual/better, faster, stronger, I wouldn’t have to.”
Wife to H: “I can’t be those things, and I don’t want to be those things.” (rejected, she thinks to herself something must be wrong with me)
Husband: (silent and shamed, he thinks something is wrong with me)

Something is wrong, it’s called sin and this is just one of the countless ways it manifests in a relationship. Both a husband and wife in conflict can be deceived if they fall prey to some really common lies. Subtle twists on the truth can bring men and women to false ends, and I guarantee any couple embroiled in an emotional brawl believe fundamentally wrong things about each other regardless of how long they’ve been married.

Lie #1) I am hopelessly defective.
Truth: Sin impacts every person born but is overcome by the blood of Jesus Christ. God did not make you wrong, the “wrongness” is a result of sin-separation and can be corrected.

Lie #2) My spouse is hopelessly defective.
Truth: You and your spouse are in one of two conditions . . . unredeemed (struggling against sin without the help of an all-powerful God) or redeemed (overcoming sin through a life-long process of restoration).

Lie #3) We are forced to medicate our defects.
Truth: The scriptural termination of sickness in the body, in the mind and in the soul is always healing—not appeasement. The body is either healed in this life or the next. The redeemed mind is healed through washing in the Word. The soul is healed by its Maker in ways that are higher than our ways. Nowhere in scripture does God dole out spiritual analgesic to mask symptoms—He only practices medicine that resolves the root issue.

Our culture lulls us into accepting the notion of perpetual prescriptive treatment. We hear all the time about diseases with no present cure, but for which there are endless medicines to combat symptomatic disorder. There is a 100% cure for sin, which means there is 100% hope for freedom from porn. And just so you don’t think I’m picking on men, the confrontation above could have gone like this:

Wife gets busted.
Husband to W: “Why did you tell all your girlfriends that I’m look at porn!”
Wife to H: “If you were more communicative/relational/nicer, tame, controllable, I wouldn’t have to.”

Within the covenant of marriage, God has appointed us agents of His healing to our spouse. Porn tends to blow up in a marriage after a long cover-up operation. The explosion is so loud it seems like the worst sin ever. Truthfully, withholding forgiveness is just as dark and destructive. We have so much opportunity to heal one another—Lord, let us not waste it.

Thursdays are for Articles - Sexual Detox

Check out these two blog entries from Tim Challies's blog on the terrible effects of pornography on sexual expectations.

Sexual Detox 1: Pornifying the Marriage Bed

Sexual Detox 2: Breaking Free

What does it mean for God to Bless?

September 11th was a seminal moment in the history of our nation, and especially my generation. Similar to the JFK assassination for my parents, everyone remembers where they where and what they were doing when they saw or heard about the terrorist attacks. 9/11 was a day full of emotions. I remember being anxious about the lives of those trapped in the towers and angry – wanting revenge against the terrorists. To this day I have similar emotions just recalling that day.

9/11 had a lasting impact on our country. The stock market tanked and gas prices soared which impacted our pocketbooks. Our prestige worldwide took a hit as our veneer of imperviousness was shattered. Very soon after, our military became engaged in what would turn out to be a lengthy war in Afghanistan.

In the months and weeks that followed, our country seemed to undergo a small revival of faith. People were turning to church as a source of hope and protection.

In one of the lasting moments of that period, Celine Dion sang a powerful and moving rendition of “God Bless America” at the Super Bowl. We needed God to bless us again because we equated blessing with everything America had lost in the aftermath of 9/11. We were living in a new reality in which America’s power, prestige and wealth took a significant hit - a hit that still reverberates to this day.

In the years that followed, Americans moved away from the church. The mini-revival was over almost as soon as it began. Churches in America began once again to pray for revival to spread across America. Then in fall of 2008, America went through an economic tsunami in which the stock market hit lows not seen in decades. With wars still dragging on, once again America’s power, prestige and wealth took a hit.

Once again Americans, especially Christians, started to ask God to bless America.

What does this tell me? It seems to me that we as Americans tend to equate blessing with power, prestige and wealth. Anytime we lose one of these characteristics, we ask God to bless America once again – to restore wealth, power and/or prestige.

Instead, what if we began to equate blessing with God doing whatever it takes to turn our hearts to him? As God’s people, shouldn’t we want God to do whatever it takes to bring people into his kingdom?

The Old Testament bears witness to this issue. When Israel was experiencing a time of peace and prosperity, their hearts turned away from God to idols. When God sent invading armies, Israel turned their hearts back to God.

When was God blessing Israel, during their prosperity or hardship?

We as God’s people must be willing for God to do whatever it takes to turn hearts towards God - however it impacts our wealth, prestige or power.