Getting Back to Blogging--Church Membership

Hi Friends,

It's been a while since I blogged somewhat consistently, but I am planning to start up again.  I am going to shoot for one substantive (yet concise) blog a week, and perhaps a few short links with notes in between.  I hope this will help believers to think about what it means to be a part of the church of Jesus Christ and perhaps challenge some unbelievers to consider trusting in Christ.

The first topic that I would like to take up is active church membership.  Is it important that Christian become active members of a local church?  What is church membership about?  What are the New Testament responsibilities of church members?  What are the church leaders responsibilities to their members?  What do baptism, the Lord's supper, and church discipline have to do with church membership?  How does active church membership display God, and the gospel and draw people to Christ?  

I have been doing some study on this topic mostly through listening to and reading people such as Mark Dever (Senior Pastor, Captiol Hill Baptist Church, Washington D.C.--9 Marks); John MacArthur (Senior Pastor, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA); Austin Duncan (Student Ministries Pastor, Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, CA); Byan Chapell (Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Luis MO); Colin Marshall and Tony Pane (Matthias Media); and others.  

These men have challenged my thinking and helped me to understand that church membership is a glorious provision of our Lord for the sake of the display of the gospel to the world and the joy and growth of His Saints to the glory of God.  

Church Membership:  Is it Important?

I believe that church membership is not explicitly commanded and the process explicitly delineated in the New Testament, but it is everywhere implied and illustrated there.  I believe that active church membership is essential for every Christian and the greatest advance of the gospel will happen through this God given means.  

For starters let's look at Acts 2:40-47 (our first glimpse at church membership in action) and briefly highlight indicators that church membership is important from the context:

Acts 2:40–47 (NASB95)

40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” 

41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. 

42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 

43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 

44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 

45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 

46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 

47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Church membership Implied and illustrated:

1.  Those who responded to Peter's message by embracing Christ as their Savior and Lord were publicly baptized and added to a recognizable number of people who confessed the same.  

2.  Those people became recognizable as "they" in v. 42.  "They" were a distinct group of believers associating with one another.  

3.  This group then with one mind devoted themselves to certain things:  1.) The apostles teaching; fellowship (literally sharing their lives and sharing their faith with one another as they gathered together); to the breaking of bread (sharing the Lord's supper together as a group); and prayer (this was a corporate togetherness for the purpose of prayer--v. 42). 

4.  This group purposed to be together often and to share their possessions with one another as people had need (vv. 44-45)

5.  This group organized daily services in the temple, and regular gatherings where they enjoyed the Lord's supper in houses.  They purposed to share their lives together and meals together in Christian fellowship (v. 46)

6.  They became known as those who were constantly praising God and having favor with people.  In other words there was a winsomeness about their love, and joy in Christ and each other that was attractive to the watching world.  

7.  The display of the gospel seen in their lives translated into many more coming to Christ and intentionally joining themselves to this defined group of people (v.47b).  

A few conclusions:

1.  Membership is clearly implied and illustrated here.

2.  Their are things that every genuine church member must be committed to:  1.) The gospel 2.) Baptism 3.) Association with other believers (membership) 4.) The apostles teaching 5.) Christian fellowship (sharing their lives with other believers) 6.) The Lord's supper 7.) Corporate prayer 8.) Meeting the needs of fellow members 9.) Fellowship with one another in daily life 10.) The glory of God displayed in their lives as they fear HIm and love one another together 11.) Seeing other added to their number through these means.  

3.  Final thought:  Real, healthy church growth happens when we take membership seriously!

For more on NT indication and implications of Church membership:

See this helpful brochure from Grace Community Church, Sun Valley CA:  Church Membership

Listen to this Seminar by Austin Duncan:  http://www.gracechurch.org/media/6758/membership_matters/

Read this Article by 9Marks:  http://www.9marks.org/what-are-the-9marks/membership

Listen to this seminar by Mark Dever:  http://graceforus.org/resources/media/?sermon_id=703

Looking to join a Christ centered, Bible teaching church in Martinez, CA:  www.bethanybaptistchurchmartinez.org   http://www.facebook.com/bethanybaptistmartinez

Ashamed of the Gospel Chapter 9: "I will build my church".

As MacArthur moves toward the conclusion of the book he keys in on Matthew 16:16-19  

Matthew 16:16–19 (NASB95)

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 

18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 

19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

He points out that, all though He is the pastor of a large church, he never sought to build a large church.  He reminds us that we can no more grow a church than grow a tree.  We can apply the principles for leading a church from God's word, but the growth is entirely up to Him.  

He includes a corrective to the teaching of the Catholic church that Peter is the Rock that the church is built upon along with the papal succession.  Instead he points out that Christ Himself is the Rock and He build Him church on Himself.  Nothing will stop the growth of His church.  We want to make sure, then, that we are not competing with Christ.  We simply need to be faithful to His Word through His Spirit and we can be a part of what He is doing.  

He shows that the keys to the kingdom here do not have to do with the priestly right of absolution, but instead with the church having the keys to heaven in the gospel message that we preach!  If we do Christ's work his way then we will through Him open heaven for all who believe!

He concludes by giving a list of the Marks of an Effective Church.  It is a great list and so I include it here:  

Marks of an Effective Church

It should be clear that the church is a supernatural work. Christ Himself—not marketing know-how, human cleverness, or church-growth techniques—adds to the church, causes its genuine growth, and blesses the church with health and vitality.

Numerical growth alone does not insure a healthy church. To be sure, growth is one of the signs of life, but as we have seen, size is no proof of God’s blessing or of a church’s spiritual health.

What are the signs of a healthy church? What are worthy goals for a church to pursue as we seek to let the Lord build His church His way? In closing, let me simply suggest a few marks of a healthy church. I have expanded on this list elsewhere, but perhaps this brief summary will be helpful for those seeking something besides marketing principles that can help a struggling church get on target. These, I believe, are the basic biblical principles that provide a blueprint for the church Christ builds:

GODLY LEADERSHIP

Jesus’ own earthly ministry was invested primarily in eleven men who would become the core of leadership for the early church. Leadership is primary, and the principal requirement for church leaders is that they must be skilled teachers of the Word of God who are above reproach.

I would venture to say that the chief deficiency in most churches today is in this area of leadership. Too many churches ignore the spiritual requirements for leaders, and choose instead those who seem like strong natural leaders or motivators, are successful in business, have money, or wield influence. But church leaders are above all to be godly teachers, “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching … able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9).

First Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9 contain Paul’s profile of the kind of people who should be leading the church. Putting those two passages together, we come up with a comprehensive list of spiritual qualities pastors and elders must possess. They are to be above reproach, devoted to their wife, temperate, prudent, gentle, respectable, just, devout, hospitable, lovers of good, able to teach, not self-centered or self-willed, not quick-tempered or pugnacious, not contentious, free from the love of money, good managers of their own household, men with a good reputation among unbelievers—and mature believers, not recent converts. From that platform of godly example, they teach the Scripture and lead their people to Christlikeness.

Do those seem like extremely high standards? Yet those are the qualifications Scripture establishes. Churches that ignore those guidelines set themselves against God’s design and forfeit His blessing. To compromise on the issue of leadership is, as Charles Spurgeon would say, “the most suicidal act that a church can commit.”

Surely one of the tragic disasters of American evangelicalism in our generation is the ease with which a man can be restored to leadership after spiritually and morally disqualifying himself. It is not at all uncommon for Christian leaders to scandalize the church through gross moral failure, then step back into leadership almost before the publicity dies away. This is a fatal compromise of the biblical standard. It is one of the most pernicious results of modern pragmatism.

Am I saying there should be no restoration for a leader who fails morally and genuinely repents? Certainly there should be restoration to fellowship, but not to the role of an elder or pastor. Churches cannot abandon biblical standards to accommodate their leaders’ sin. The biblical requirements for leaders are purposely set high, because leadership must be by example. Those who scandalize the church are not above reproach. They are disqualified from leadership as long as their reproach remains. In cases involving sexual scandal or unfaithfulness, that may mean a permanent disqualification (Prov. 6:32, 33). The apostle Paul recognized that possibility. He wrote, “I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27).

If a church’s leaders fail in the matter of personal holiness, the church itself is discredited—no matter how orthodox its confession of faith. Those who ignore the biblical prerequisites for church leaders are building a structure with useless materials not in accord with the true foundation (cf 1 Cor. 3:10, 11). No matter how strongly we call for truth and righteousness, if our leaders’ lives don’t back it up, many will reject their teaching as hypocritical, or simply conclude that genuine godliness is optional.

BIBLICAL GOALS

There is certainly nothing wrong with a church that sets goals. In fact, a church must have some functional goals or it will have no direction.

But our goals for the church must be biblical. Wrong goals set a wrong direction, and that is as bad as having no direction—maybe even worse. What are biblical goals? They include worship, fellowship, spiritual growth, and evangelism. Those would be primary goals. More specific goals—such as strengthening families, offering biblical counseling, providing childhood education, and similar purposes—must be seen in light of how they help accomplish the primary goals. And they must be kept subordinate to the primary goals. For example, a church might have a notable music ministry or operate a Christian elementary school. If it does so just to boost attendance figures or to make money, those are not worthy goals. But if it sees the ministry as a means to strengthen the church family spiritually or extend the reach of the gospel, that is a legitimate goal. If we can evaluate every church ministry in light of how it promotes the primary goals, that perspective will help keep the church on track.

DISCIPLESHIP

The church is not an arena where a professional minister is cheered on by lay people who are nothing more than spectators. The church should be discipling and training Christians for ministry. Church members, not just staff, are supposed to be ministering. That is the point of Ephesians 4:11, 12. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers are given to equip the saints to do the work of ministry.

All of this results from discipleship. Discipleship is the ministry of developing deeply spiritual friendships focused on teaching biblical truth, applying Scripture to life, and thus learning to solve problems biblically. It must be reinforced by a godly example, not just delivered as a set of academic precepts. Therefore, discipleship involves time and personal involvement with people. Jesus’ earthly ministry to His own disciples is the biblical model. The church must provide an environment that encourages that kind of discipleship at every level, from the pastor to the newest convert.

Outreach

The church built by Christ will have a strong emphasis on evangelism, beginning with its own community and extending to the uttermost parts of the earth. The early church turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). The Jewish leaders told them, “You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching” (Acts 5:28). In a short time their message penetrated the entire community.

Too many Christians think they have fulfilled their responsibility to be witnesses if they drive to church in a car that has a fish sticker on the bumper! Effective churches emphasize the importance of regular, personal outreach on every level.

Our church has been labeled in some circles as non-evangelistic. Yet we have a baptism service for new converts nearly every Sunday night. As they are baptized, people give their testimonies before the entire congregation. Do you know what brings most of these people to a saving knowledge of Christ? Their personal contact with faithful Christians. People in our church witness to their neighbors, co-workers, other parents in Little League, friends at school, people in the markets, their doctors, their attorneys, and everyone they meet. And over the years the Lord has blessed that one-to-one evangelistic activity to bring more people to faith in Christ than any service, program, or event we have ever sponsored.

If a church lacks this emphasis on outreach, it is doomed to stagnation, decline, and ultimately to failure. The means Christ uses to build His church is the faithful witness of Christians on His behalf.

CONCERN FOR ONE ANOTHER

In the church Christ is building, people are involved in one another’s lives. The church is not a theater where people go to watch what happens. People are not supposed to come in, sit down, walk out, and have no other involvement with the fellowship. We are not supposed to encourage anonymity and uninvolvement. Instead, we’re commanded to “consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Heb. 10:24, 25).

“One another” is a repeated expression in the New Testament instructions to the church. Here is a sampling of some of these commandments:

• “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor” (Rom. 12:10).

• “Be of the same [lowly] mind toward one another” (Rom. 12:16).

• Do not judge one another, but determine not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way (Rom. 14:13).

• “Be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus” (Rom. 15:5).

• “Accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7).

• “Admonish one another” (Rom. 15:14).

• “Through love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).

• “[Show] forbearance to one another in love” (Eph. 4:2).

• “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).

• “Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ” (Eph. 5:21).

• “Regard one another as more important than himself” (Phil. 2:3).

• “Do not lie to one another” (Col. 3:9).

• Bear with one another and forgive each other (Col. 3:13).

• “Encourage one another, and build up one another” (1 Thess. 5:11).

• “Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another” (James 5:16).

• “Fervently love one another from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22).

• “Be hospitable to one another without complaint” (1 Peter 4:9).

• “Employ your spiritual gifts in serving one another” (1 Peter 4:10).

• “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another” (1 Peter 5:5).

That list alone is infinitely more valuable than all the volumes on marketing techniques and user-friendliness that have ever been written. Those are the qualities of the church Christ is building. Like the builder Himself, the church that puts those “one anothers” in practice will be a caring, sensitive, and loving church. Add to that the proper exercise of spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:3–8; 1 Cor. 12:4–11; and 1 Peter 4:10, 11), and what will be produced will be a community conformed to the very image of Christ. But it will not be conformed to the world.

A COMMITMENT TO THE FAMILY

Modern society has unleashed an unprecedented onslaught against the family. Most of the major controversial issues in the news today—such as homosexuality, abortion, feminism, divorce, youth gangs, and so on—are direct attacks against the family. People’s families no longer are where their strongest loyalties lie. Few families function as units. This fragmentation of the family has undermined morality and stability throughout all of society.

The church cannot tolerate or accommodate this devastation. It must confront and correct, then train its families. Strong families are the church’s backbone. And strong families build strong individuals. We will pay a high price if we don’t make the family a priority. That means we must help our people develop solid marriages and sturdy families by teaching husbands to love and lead their wives (Eph. 5:25), wives to submit to their husbands (5:22), children to obey their parents (6:1), and parents not to exasperate their children but to nurture them in the Lord (6:4).

BIBLICAL TEACHING AND PREACHING

No church can remain healthy for long if the pulpit is not strong. And no pulpit is truly strong if the Bible is not the basis of the preaching. That, of course, has been the whole message of this book. But it is certainly worth emphasizing again. As D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote:

The moment you begin to turn from preaching to these other expedients you will find yourself undergoing a constant series of changes. One of the advantages of being old is that you have experience, so when something new comes up, and you see people getting very excited about it, you happen to be in the position of being able to remember a similar excitement perhaps forty years ago. And so one has seen fashions and vogues and stunts coming one after another in the Church. Each one creates great excitement and enthusiasm and is loudly advertised as the thing that is going to fill the churches, the thing that is going to solve the problem. They have said that about every single one of them. But in a few years they have forgotten all about it, and another stunt comes along, or another new idea; somebody has hit upon the one thing needful or he has a psychological understanding of modern man. Here is the thing, and everybody rushes after it; but soon it wanes and disappears and something else takes its place.

This is, surely, a very sad and regrettable state for the Christian Church to be in, that like the world she should exhibit these constant changes of fashion. In that state she lacks the stability and the solidity and the continuing message that has ever been the glory of the Christian Church.

Biblical preaching cannot be geared toward meeting felt needs, solving psychological problems, amusing the audience, making people feel good about themselves, or any of the other hollow fads that have commandeered pulpits in this entertainment-oriented age. Biblical preaching must uphold the truth of God and demand that it be heeded. There is plenty of room for innovation and creativity within those guidelines, but the message itself cannot be altered or abridged in any way without prostituting the church’s responsibility. Truth proclaimed powerfully from the Scriptures is the sine qua non of the church. Any other kind of preaching is not worthy of the church Christ is building.

A WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE

Healthy churches must be willing to change.

Wait a minute! someone says. Aren’t you appealing for traditionalism in churches? No. There’s nothing sacred about human tradition. I’m not in favor of staid formalism or hackneyed custom. I agree with those who warn that stagnation can be fatal to a church. I just don’t believe the church needs to abandon the centrality of the Word of God, the primacy of preaching, and the fundamentals of biblical truth in order to be fresh and creative.

 Someone has said that the seven last words of the church are, “We’ve never done it that way before!” An inflexible attitude is the bane of a healthy church. We must be willing to grow and adapt and try new things—but never at the expense of biblical truth, and never to the detriment of the gospel message.

WORSHIP

I’ve saved worship for last, certainly not because it is least crucial but because it sums up all the others. Several years ago I wrote a book on worship titled The Ultimate Priority. I do believe that worship is the church’s—and the individual Christian’s—highest priority. True worship comprises and fulfills all these other characteristics of the church Christ builds. The church that sets its focus on God will find that all other things fall naturally into place.

Here is precisely the problem with the market-oriented, user-friendly, pragmatic approach to ministry: it is man-centered, not God-centered. Its concern is what people desire, not what God demands. It sees the church as existing for people’s sake rather than for God’s sake. It works from a faulty blueprint rather than fulfilling the plan of the Master Builder.

User-friendly, entertainment-oriented, market-driven, pragmatic churches will probably continue to flourish for a while. Unfortunately, however, the whole movement is based on current fashion and therefore cannot last long. When the fickle winds finally change, one of three things may happen. These churches will fall out of vogue and wane; or they will opt to change with the spirit of the age and very likely abandon any semblance of biblical Christianity; or they will see the need to rebuild on a more sure foundation. My prayer, of course, is that they will take the third course of action and not wait until worldliness and compromise have so permeated their fellowships that it becomes impossible to change.

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “It is hard to get leaven out of dough, and easy to put it in.… Oh that those who are spiritually alive in the churches may look to this thing, and may the Lord himself baffle the adversary!”

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Ashamed of the Gospel Chapter 8: "The Sovereignty of God in Salvation"

If you have ever had questions about the Sovereignty of God in Salvation this is the chapter for you.  MacArthur does a great job of summing up the biblical principles on the topic and applies it to the methodology of evangelism.  He points out that the pragmatic church in Spurgeon's day and in our day went off track because of a lack of understanding of this doctrine.  If one believes that salvation is a matter of human will and decision then the aim would be to manipulate the will of humans to make a decision for Christ causing their salvation.  If salvation is a work of God, which it is, then the aim is to employ God's methodology--the preaching of the gospel and depend on Him to do the work of salvation that only he can do!  MacArthur explains  1 Peter 1:1-4.   He shows that foreknowledge does not have to do with God knowing who would choose him and so choosing them or of him choosing someone based on the fact that he could look through the corridor of time and see that they were worthy.  Instead foreknowledge is a matter of God setting his love on someone before the foundation of the world and choosing to save them based on His love.  He also shows that God not only predestines salvation, but also sanctification.  Finally, he shows that a real understanding of God's sovereignty in salvation does not diminish human responsibility, but instead fuels evangelism and continues to hold men accountable for their decisions.  This chapter will be well worth your time to read!  Also, I would encourage every Christian to read "All of Grace" by C.H. Spurgeon.  

1 Peter 1:1–4 (NASB95)

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, 

To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

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Ashamed of the Gospel Chapter 7: Paul on Mars Hill

Many Christians believe that the apostle Paul's approach to outreach on Mars Hill in Athens, Greece is a classic example of how we should contextulize the gospel to the culture that we find ourselves in.  This then is the premise behind downplaying truths that offend the sensibilities of those who abhor the idea of hell, or exclusivity, or absolute truth, or creation.  These folks believe that since Paul quoted from Athenian poets he was then appreciating their point of view and adapting his message to fit their point of view.  However, in this chapter MacArthur shows us clearly that although Paul certainly appealed to the Athenians in terms they could understand using some of their vocabulary and he did so with tact so as not to unnecessarily offend them, he did not change or water down the clear and challenging message of truth in the least.  Paul was not impressed with their philosophy and did not want to immerse himself in it.  He was grieved by their idolatry and wanted to see them repent.  He used their altar to the unknown god as a perfect inroad to declare to them the true God of the Bible: the creator, sustainer, sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God who demanded their worship! He called them to repent in view of the fact that Christ had appointed a judge who had risen from the dead who would call them to account.  This is a bold message delivered in unmistakable and unequivocal terms.  Some mocked, some wanted to hear more, and some followed.  This is what God calls us to do: deliver his message in wise and tactful ways with the goal of being faithful to his message and the hope of seeing some follow Him!  Paul did not win over the city of Athens with his charm, but he did remain faithful to the gospel and he did plant seeds that yielded a harvest of souls through God's Spirit and power!  This is a great chapter and I hope many read it even if they don't read the whole book.  Spurgeon faced a radical departure for the plain teaching of the gospel in his day and saw many preachers that were formerly dissenters for the sake of the gospel seeking to gain more respectability by going back to sacrementalism. He decried this and was grieved by it.  

In days gone by, [preachers on the down-grade] aimed at being thought respectable, judicious, moderate, and learned, and, in consequence, they abandoned the Puritanic teaching with which they started, and toned down their doctrines. The spiritual life which had been the impelling cause of their dissent declined almost to death’s door.… Alas! Many are returning to the poisoned cups which drugged that declining generation.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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Ashamed of the Gospel Chapter 6 "The Power of God Unto Salvation"

Romans 1:16 (NASB95)

16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

MacArthur begins this chapter discussing how those in the seeker movement believe that we live in different times and therefore we need a different message.  The argument goes like this: people don't have the stomach to listen to strong bible teaching today.  They want a message that is only encouraging and positive.  He talks about how pastors are encouraged to survey their congregations and communities to find out what people's felt needs are and then shape their sermons positively around these things.  They are encouraged to keep their messages short (20 minutes) and full of anecdotes and light.  MacArthur rightly points out that no message like that will have much biblical power!  I love the way he sums up the futility of market driven preaching:

The simple reality is that one cannot follow a market-driven strategy and remain faithful to Scripture. Preachers who concern themselves with user-friendliness cannot fearlessly proclaim the whole counsel of God. Those who aspire to preach a timely message will find themselves at odds with the timeless truth of the Bible. Ministers who take their cues from USA Today rather than from God’s Word will quickly discover the message that seemed so relevant last week is now yesterday’s news. Preaching that conceals the unchanging gospel behind the fleeting issues of our time cloaks the very force that makes good preaching truly powerful. After all, it is not our anecdotes, applications, how-tos, jokes, catchy titles, clever outlines, or other contrivances—but the gospel that is “the power of God for salvation” (Rom. 1:16).

MacArthur goes on to show how in the book of Romans it is clear that Paul's whole life and minister is committed to the preaching of the gospel.  He considers Himself a debtor to every person (Jew and Gentile) because he has been given grace as the greatest debtor (in his mind).  His debt owed was to preach the gospel to everyone.  MacArthur points out that the gospel is not just the "ABC's" of the gospel, but the whole message of Christ in scripture.  Paul saw it not only as his obligation, but also as his joy to preach this gospel.  He was "eager to preach the gospel."  Why was he so eager to preach the gospel.  Because he believed that is was the "power of God unto salvation for those who believe."  The problem with shaping out sermons around felt needs is that people really don't know what they need, and added to that they don't want the treatment they need for the problem they have.  God does know what we need and He is generous in His prescription for us!  We need the gospel!

MacArthur goes on to show that many have subverted the message of the gospel by making it a man centered gospel.  The seeker driven gospel is this "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life."  It is as if God is just hoping that you will consider him because you are so special and he can't live without you.  When in actual fact God does not need us, but we need Him!  The problem that we have is that we were created by God to serve Him and bring Him glory and we have turned our back on Him and gone our own way.  Because of this we deserve His wrath forever (Romans 1:18ff).  There is nothing that we can do to save ourselves from this wrath. God's righteousness must be honored.  Because of this the guilty must be judged.  But there is good news (gospel), God has chosen to provide righteousness for us in His Son.  This is why Paul says that in the gospel "the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith."  Jesus is the perfectly righteous Son of God and the Son of Man.  He died in the place of sinners, was buried, and rose again.  In doing so He satisfied the righteous demands of a Holy God by taking sin's curse upon Himself.  He offers all of His righteousness in exchange for all of our sin if we will turn to Him.  This way God can be "just and the justifier of sinners." Then the just shall live by faith!  God desire us to be righteous as His children.  We are given that righteousness through Christ through His righteous life and His sacrifice, and then we are given the power as Christians to daily put off unrighteousness and put on His righteousness.  This is why we need the gospel to be preached to us every day in its full orbed explanation throughout scripture.  

Because of this we cannot have a steady stream of man centered "self-help" messages from the pulpit.  We need the gospel of God unfolded throughout scripture in full strength.  The seeker driven church does not want a steady stream of messages that point out our sin and our need for a Savior, but this is what we need!  We need the gospel!  MacArthur reminds us that we don't need a different message today: 

If church history teaches us anything, it is that different times and different societies do not require different messages. Those who preach anything other than the unadulterated gospel forfeit the power of God in their      ministries.

Charles Spurgeon said the modernists of his day were trying to devise “a faith fashioned for the present century—perhaps we ought rather to say, for the present month.” He wrote,

The idea of a progressive gospel seems to have fascinated many. To us that notion is a sort of cross-breed between nonsense and blasphemy. After the gospel has been found effectual in the eternal salvation of untold multitudes, it seems rather late in the day to alter it; and, since it is the revelation of the all-wise and unchanging God, it appears somewhat audacious to attempt its improvement. When we call up before our mind’s eye the gentlemen who have set themselves this presumptuous task, we feel half inclined to laugh; the case is so much like the proposal of moles to improve the light of the sun.… 

  Do men really believe that there is a gospel for each century? Or a religion for each fifty years?

Spurgeon clearly understood that those who desired to be embraced as “relevant” by a changing world could not and would not long remain faithful to the unchanging Word of God. He quoted approvingly from a letter written by Henry Varley to the editor of a periodical titled Word and Work. Varley wrote, “Revelation, which is unchanging, is not fast enough for an age of which it may be said, ‘Change is its fashion.’ All the more necessary, therefore, does it become to ‘hold fast the form of sound words,’ and contend earnestly … ‘for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.’”

May we be faithful to only preach the only message that has the power of God unto salvation today: the gospel of Jesus Christ!

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Jesus: Love Embodied!

In meditating on 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, I thought of how perfectly Christ demonstrates love embodied for us: 1.) He is patient with us: How often has he and does he put up with our sin and pour out love grace and mercy to us? 2.) He is kind: think about His kindness in taking in human flesh, in humbling himself as the servant of all, in going to the cross for us, in sending the Spirit, in restoring us to the Father, in filling us with innumerable gifts and joy and grace upon grace, in giving us His word and...3.) He is not jealous concerning us in the sense of not wanting us to have all goodness. He wants to shower goodness upon us, He wants us to be satisfied, He wants us to be filled with joy, he gives us richly all things to enjoy, even the trials he brings are for our good! 4.) He did not come to the earth bragging with arrogance, He came in the lowliest way, he made himself the servant of all, He poured himself out and completely submitted Himself to the Father's will! 5.) He does not act unbecomingly: He always acts in a way that accords with righteousness and truth, He always does the will of the Father, He is always good, and just and gracious! 6.) He did not come seek his own, but the Father's will and redemption and blessing for others. He laid His life down! 7.) He was not provoked: think of the Jewish leaders railing against Him, falsely accusing him, abusing him; think of Herod's mockery of him, think of the Romans cruelty to him. As they spat in his face, whipped Him, beat Him and crucified Him, He was never once provoked to anger or hate, or bitterness, instead He said "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!", He entrusted Himself to His faithful Father and finished the work of offering Himself for our sin as our Savior! 8.) He did not keep an account of wrong's suffered. Remember how all of his discipled abandoned Him at his moment of greatest need. He did not hold that against them, but instead he restored them in Galilee. What grace and mercy to give Peter the opportunity to profess love 3x to Him to erase his 3 fold denial of Christ. What grace to send these men out to represent Him fully restored after they had forsaken them. What grace that He does not hold our sin against us if we are trusting in Him and embracing His forgiveness! 9.) He never rejoices in unrighteousness, but always rejoices in the truth. He loves us to much to allow us to remain in our sin--He wants to redeem us from every lawless deed. He has given his Word and His Spirit turn us from sin and turn us to truth and righteousness. 10.) He always bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things with us. Again think of his dealing with the disciples. He could have focused a lot on their weakness and sin, but instead He encouraged them and gently brought them along! He bears with us and our weakness and warts, and sin as well. He sees the good that he is working in us through His Spirit and forgives and forgets the bad, He knows that he will fully conform us to His image of perfection, He endures all that we do and remains faithful to us to the end! What a challenge to love in this way with a love that never fails! Lord, give us this love!

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Ashamed of the Gospel Chapter 5 "The Foolishness of God"

Over a century ago, John MacArthur reminds us, there was a movement that came about in Christianity called fundamentalism.  This movement was a reaction against the downgrade toward liberalism that was taking place in Europe and America.  Christian leaders from a number of different denominations were intent on reestablishing what were the fundamental truths of the Christian faith and recommitting themselves to defending these at all costs.  Fuller seminary was original established under this greater movement.  George Marsden wrote a book called Reforming Fundamentalsim:  Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism.  The book shows how gradually Fuller Seminary abandoned it's fundamentalist evangelical roots and entered into an evangelicalism that questioned the full inerrancy of the scripture.  MacArthur reminds us that this happened because a desire rose up from that seminary to be academically credible and acceptable to the world.  

We Christians sometimes chafe at the idea that the world thinks that we are idiots.  We are tempted to want to show them that we are not stupid and that our ideas are academically viable.  What we forget is the principle that comes from 1 Corinthians 1:18 (NASB95) "18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

MacArthur unpacks this and the verses that follow and challenges us to remember that the wisdom that should captivate our thinking is not the wisdom of the world, but the wisdom of Christ.  Only those who have trusted Christ as Savior and Lord can understand that "In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:6).  We look at the world entirely through the lens of Christ.  How can we expect the world to understand or appreciate our wisdom unless they turn from their sins to Him.  How can we expect to incorporate a philosophy from the world back into our institutions or churches that is not subject to the wisdom of Christ?  

MacArthur makes these profound statements derived form 1 Cor. 1.  HUMAN WISDOM IS TEMPORARY; DIVINE WISDOM IS ETERNAL; HUMAN WISDOM IS IMPOTENT; DIVINE WISDOM IS POWERFUL; HUMAN WISDOM IS FOR THE ELITE; DIVINE WISDOM IS FOR ALL.  

One of the greatest things that stood out to me was the fact that human wisdom has never solved the ultimate issues of life, but the wisdom of Christ gets to the heart of man's problems and provides a solution to everything.  In Him we have salvation from our sin, the understanding from His word of how we got here, what our problem is, how God redeems us, what we are supposed to be doing, where we are going, and all of the other moral and practical issues of life!  If we have all of the at from Christ, why do we we go back to the world for wisdom of acceptance?  

The allurement of seeking to become more acceptable to the world always causes Christians to abandon Christian wisdom and replaces it with the worlds wisdom.  This actually causes the world to evangelize the church instead of the church evangelizing the world!  

MaCarthur closes with some quotes from Spurgeon.  I share a brief one here:  

Jesus Christ is made of God unto us wisdom. We look no more for wisdom from the thoughts that spring of human mind, but to Christ himself; we do not expect wisdom to come to us through the culture that is of man, but we expect to be made wise through sitting at our Master’s feet and accepting him as wisdom from God himself.

Let us always embrace the wisdom of Christ no matter what the world thinks of us, for it is the power of God unto salvation!

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Ashamed of the Gospel Chapter 4: "All things to all men"

Over the course of my ministry I have heard many people justify many programs and methods in the name of being "All things to all men." There is usually something worldly that is going on in the church to attract people, or something worldly in that persons life that they are saying is just a tool to reach more people for Christ. MacArthur takes this idea on and completely dismantles it.

He walks through the context of 1Corinthians 9:22-23

“I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it” (1 Cor. 9:22, 23).
He also highlights features of Paul's ministry and his methodology. What he shows is that Paul never adopted or adapted methods of the world to attract people or please people. Instead what he did was deny himself certain rights and work within various religious expectations in order not to be an offense so that he could have the opportunity to clearly present the gospel in word and deed to the lost. If you have every debated what it means to be "all things to all men" or every used that phrase to justify worldliness in your life or in the church, you should read this chapter. It is spot on!

We should never sacrifice godliness or the clear teaching of scripture to try to reach more people. Instead, we should sacrifice our own preferences, without sacrificing truth, to humble ourselves to reach everyone we can reach with the gospel without compromise.

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Ashamed of the Gospel Chapter 3 "Give Me That Showtime Religion"

Every once in a while we wake from a slumber to see things the way that they actually are.  This chapter certainly helped to reawaken me as to how much the entertainment industry has affected the culture, my life, and the church.  

MacArthur quotes Neil Postman who speaks of the end of the "exposition era".  People used to spend much more time in intellectual and philosophical debates.  There was a genuine interest in truth, content and meaning.  Postman says that we are now in the "entertainment era."  This is so true!  What do people want to do with their free time in our day: be entertained:  watch TV; watch a movie; go to a show; listen to music; play games; go online; read light, entertaining books, magazines, etc; play sports; go outdoors; go out to a bar; socialize in many ways; gamble; and on and on it goes.   Many of these things can have their place in measure, but our culture worships these things and lives for these things.  It is never enough.  

In C. H. Spurgeon's day back at the end of the 19th century he say that the church was no longer taking a stand against the god of entertainment. Instead, they invited her in to the church to see if they could increase their numbers.  He was very concerned about were this was leading.  In the middle of the 20th century A.W. Tozer sounded the same alarm as the churches at that time were using films, up tempo music, and humorous speakers as a main way of attracting people in.  Churches in our time have thrown out all the stops when it comes to the use of entertainment to draw people in and keep them in.  MacArthur mentions a church that staged it own full scale wrestling match WWF style.  Many churches look for a pastor who can be a master of organizing entertainment.  Churches research all of the methods of the entertainment industry and employ them even as far as having pyrotechnic shows in the service and hiring 100 clowns to give away gifts!  

MacArthur points out that all of this comes from a Philosophy called pragmatism that says that the end justifies the means.  In other words if we have thousands of people gathered who will hear the gospel then what does it matter how we got them there.  He shows the link between pragmatism and the church growth movement.  Churches and movements are studied and the most effective means are deduced and employed with out any thought of how biblical and Christ honoring they are and who is using them and why.  

MacArthur questions the whole approach of focusing on numerical growth.  he speaks of Jeremiah the prophet who ministered for his whole career without seeing a convert and was a faithful servant of the God.  He quotes 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 which indicates that growth is the work of God and not ours.  

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6, 7, emphasis added).

MacArthur says that it is the pastors job to be concerned with the depth of the ministry and we should let God take care of the breadth.  In other words pastors and church leaders need to seek to help people have a deep understanding of God from a deep understanding of His word and focus on discipleship and spiritual growth and not numbers.  He points out that numbers are not wrong and shares that his own church has 10,000 regular attenders. However, he has always said that all they ever tried to do was to remain faithful to God's word and God has chosen to bring numerical growth.  I have also heard him say recently that a pastor may be faithfully preaching the word and ministering well and yet the church may not grow.  It is entirely up to the Lord.  When God grows a church through His word He grows in deep and wide.  It has been said that the modern church is an inch deep and a mile wide.  

Evangelical churches today pride themselves on being clever and slick in their presentation to the world.  MacArthur explains that this is the opposite of what the apostle Paul did:

On the contrary, the apostle Paul shunned clever methods and gimmicks that might proselyte people to false conversions through fleshly persuasion. Paul himself wrote,

When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God (1 Cor. 2:1–5).

He reminded the church at Thessalonica,

For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men but God, who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness—nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority (1 Thess. 2:3–6).

Biblical correctness is the only framework by which we must evaluate all ministry methods.

One of the most important things that MacArthur points out is that pragmatism is a bankrupt philosophy.  The church has jettisoned the preaching of God's word because it is not "relevant" and has replaced it with entertainment.  But as MacArthur says "What could be more relevant than God's word!"

He draw an interesting parallel between modern churches and a pub mentality.  Many pastors want people to feel just as comfortable sitting in a pew (or chair) at church as they do bellying up to the bar!  The problem is that God's message is not a comfortable message to a sinful heart, and why should it be?  Should people who are on their way to hell feel comfortable about it?  No!  People need to feel uncomfortable about their sin, so that they will realize their need for a Savior and turn to Him!

Acts 17:30–31 (NASB95)

30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 

31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

MacArthur also asserts that the problem with the modern church is not that they have bad Theology it is that they have no Theology.  Many churches have fine looking doctrinal statements, but you will never hear these expressed or explained in a service.  Instead you will be entertained to your hearts delight while theology is completely avoided.  

In the down grade controversy in Spurgeon's time Spurgeon equated the entertainment inroads into the church as leprosy.  That leprosy has surely spread and whole pieces of the evangelical landscape have no completely fallen off.  It begs the question:  what's next?  

Will we wake up?  

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Ashamed of the Gospel Chapter 2: "The User Friendly Church"--The Steve Jobs Method Doesn't transfer

Let's face it, what Steve Jobs did with computers in nothing short of amazing.  He didn't invent the technology, but he made it user friendly.  Why did I buy a Macbook Pro?  Because I wanted a laptop that would be user friendly and work the way I wanted it to.  Guess what, it has not disappointed!  Music player:  Ipod touch.  Next phone: hopefully Iphone (I currently have an android phone, but it just isn't, well, all that user friendly).  He made it work and he made it cool.  I am saddened by his death and I am praying for his family and friends.  

The Steve Jobs method fits very well in the corporate world, but not so much in the church.  

The church "gurus" of our day are trying to make the church work for the world and make the church cool to the world.  I have no doubt that there are some sincere desires in this:  to reach more to do more.  The problem is that Christ's idea of the church does not fit with the world and will never be cool to the world.  

MacArthur describes this attempt by church leaders to make the church more appealing to unbelievers:

The experts are now telling us that pastors and church leaders who want to be successful must concentrate their energies in this new direction. Provide non-Christians with an agreeable, inoffensive environment. Give them freedom, tolerance, and anonymity. Always be positive and benevolent. If you must have a sermon, keep it brief and amusing. Don’t be preachy or authoritative. Above all, keep everyone entertained. Churches following this pattern will see numerical growth, we’re assured; those that ignore it are doomed to decline.

Almost nothing is out of bounds for those who are absolutely committed to wooing the world:  from cage fighting to sex education.  One thing that is out of bounds for the "Steve Jobs" church is preaching on hell or sin.  These things are to be avoided if you want to draw a crowd.  

MacArthur talks about how many mega churches were born through surveying the community to find out what they want and then giving it to them.  The result, MacArthur says, is the at the customer becomes sovereign over the church rather than God. This is "turning the church growth theory upside down."  

Scripture says the early Christians “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6, kjv). In our generation the world is turning the church upside down. Biblically, God is sovereign, not “unchurched Harry.” The Bible, not a marketing 

plan, is supposed to be the sole blueprint and final authority for all church ministry. Ministry should meet people’s real needs, not salve their selfishness. And the Lord of the church is Christ, not some couch potato with the remote control in his hand.

MacArthur goes on to show that in the explosion of the early church in the book of Acts they were not preaching a user friendly message and God did not use user friendly means.  Acts 2:42 tells us that they were "devoting themselves to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer."  

What was the apostles teaching?  Well the center of it was that "Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Cor. 15).  Peter told the Jews that they had killed their Messiah and that they needed to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.  

Once they responded to the gospel the people were wholly committed not to serving themselves but to serving their Savior and serving others.  They commemorated His death on their behalf regularly and spend great amounts of time in prayer.  They did not try to imitate the world around them, but instead they wanted to imitate Christ.  People even sold their land to meet the needs of others.  

MacArthur points out that some prideful hypocrisy arose in the church.  Ananias and Sapphira sold their land but kept back part of the proceeds, and they acted like they were giving all of the money (Acts 5).  They were not interested in the glory of Christ in this, but their own glory.  The Lord struck them down and they died as an example of how serious Christ is about sincere worship.  MacArthur points out that this is not "user friendly" to the world.  Great fear came over not only the church, but the community around them and yet their were people being added to the church daily.  How can we explain that:  God's word accomplishes His work!  

MacArthur points out that God wants us to deal with sin seriously:  

Matthew 18:15–20 (NASB95)

15  “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 

16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 

17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 

18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. 

19 “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 

20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

He also points out the Christ had more to say about eternal hell for sinners than any other person in scripture (Mt. 25:46; Luke 16:23.24).  

In fact the certain reality of hell should motivate us to see sinners saved:  

“Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11).

We are not so much concerned with what the world wants, but what the world needs!  What they need is to be forgiven of their sins through Christ so that they can be restored to their creator and their purpose to bring Him glory and rejoice in Him and His gifts.  

MacArthur concludes the chapter with these words:  

Too many who have embraced the user-friendly trend have not carefully pondered how user-friendliness is incompatible with true biblical theology. It is, at its heart, a pragmatic, not a biblical, outlook. It is based on precisely the kind of thinking that is eating away at the heart of orthodox doctrine. It is leading evangelicalism into neo-modernism and putting churches in the fast lane on the down-grade.

The answer, of course, is not an unfriendly church, but a vibrant, loving, honest, committed, worshiping fellowship of believers who minister to one another like the church in Acts chapter 4—but who eschew sin, keep one another accountable, and boldly proclaim the full truth of Scripture. People who have no love for the things of God may not find such a place very user-friendly. But God’s blessing will be on the fellowship of true believers,

  because that is what He ordained the church to be like. And He will add to the church, as He promised.

Steve Jobs was a technological and marketing genius, but let's not try to go "Steve Jobs" on the church.  Let us trust Christ do what he promised to do: build His church (Mt.16:18).  he does this as we stay faithful to his message (Romans 10:16).  

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Ashamed of the Gospel Chapter One: "Christianity on the Down-Grade"

In this chapter MacArthur compares the market driven approach to ministry in our time to the modernist approach to ministry during the down grade controversy of Charles H. Spurgeon's time.  Spurgeon withdrew from the baptist union because they were adopting a worldly methodology that he felt would soon be followed by false teaching.  He compared introducing worldly philosophy in to the church to some step of the peak of a mountain (the peak representing faithfulness to God's word).  Once you step off it is a slippery slope and you are on the downgrade heading towards apostasy.  100 years later, MacArthur points out, his concerns are validated.  The mainline denominations have rejected the authority of scripture.  

In our day the worldly philosophy that has bled into many churches is the idea that we package and market Christianity to the unchurched in such a way that we will reach more for Christ.  We can simply down play the not so palatable parts of scripture and focus on the things people want.  MacArthur shows us that this is the opposite of what Paul the apostle instructed Timothy  in his letter (1 Tim.) to do when the people of his church were crying out to have their ears tickled with what they wanted.  He gives an extensive summary of Paul's challenge to Timothy and then boils it dow to this:

To sum it all up in five categories, Paul commanded Timothy: 1) to be faithful in his preaching of biblical truth; 2) to be bold in exposing and refuting error; 3) to be an example of godliness to the flock; 4) to be diligent and work

hard in the ministry; and 5) to be willing to suffer hardship and persecution in his service for the Lord.

This is the same calling that any pastor has today or in any day no matter what people want from the church.  

MacArthur points out that most books on philosophy of ministry today having nothing to do with these things.  When he wrote this book preaching was out of vogue and it is even more so now.  Some postmodernist think that preaching is an act of violence against people because you are forcing your opinion on another.  

As he summarizes the message that Paul gave to Timothy at the end of his second letter to Timothy ( 2 Timothy), MacArthur reminds us that we really have one job to do:  "Preach the Word" (2 Tim. 4:2).  We are to do this because God has called us to do this and we report to Him.  We must rebuke, reprove and exhort with great patience.  We are to do this when it is in style and when it is out of style.  We are to be willing to suffer for this and not be ashamed because we represent Christ.  It will take self control and steadiness of mind because we will be tempted to please men and not God.  We are not only to proclaim Christ's word to the church, but also to the world: we are to "do the work of an evangelist."  

MacArthur points out that though Timothy had been wavering, due to heeding Paul's challenged, he did stand unashamed of the gospel and preached the word.  It landed him in prison (Heb. 13:23).  

He ends the chapter with an excerpt from a sermon that Surgeon preached in the middle of the controversy entiled "Holding Fast the Faith."  Spurgeon reminds his people that all of God's faithful messengers have had to suffer and encourages them not to expect anything different.  Her are some of my favorite quotes:

Brethren, we must be willing to bear ridicule for Christ’s sake, even that peculiarly envenomed ridicule which “the cultured” are so apt to pour upon us. We must be willing to be thought great fools for Jesus’ sake.… For my part, I am willing to be ten thousand fools in one for my dear Lord and Master, and count it to be the highest honour that can be put upon me to be stripped of every honour, and loaded with every censure for the sake of the grand old truth which is written on my very heart.… 

Before I could quit my faith … I should have to be ground to powder, and every separate atom transformed.

It is to-day as it was in the Reformers’ days. Decision is needed. Here is the day for the man, where is the man for the day? We who have had the gospel passed to us by martyr hands dare not trifle with it, nor sit by and hear it denied by traitors, who pretend to love it, but inwardly abhor every line of it. The faith I hold bears upon it marks of the blood of my ancestors. Shall I deny their faith, for which they left their native land to sojourn here? Shall we cast away the treasure which was handed to us through the bars of prisons, or came to us charred with the flames of Smithfield?

Stand fast, my beloved, in the name of God! I, your brother in Christ, entreat You to abide in the truth. Quit yourselves like men, be strong. The Lord sustain you for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

MacArhur challenges us:  Spurgeon handed down the baton--what will we do with it?  

I am duly challenged.  Are you?  

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Reading "Ashamed of the Gospel" 3rd ed. by John MacArthur

A while ago I had intended to read and critique Love Wins by Rob Bell, but a very basic understanding of the premise of the book refutes itself when compared to scripture.  Also, reading it made me nauseous.  Thus, as I prepare for ministry as pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Martinez, CA, I want to read and blog about John MacArthur's classic book "Ashamed of the Gospel."  I read the prefaces to the book the other day and I am excited to read it and be challenged again to remain faithful to the preaching of the word!  MacArthur reread the book recently and was struck by how relevant the message remains after nearly 20 years.  100 years ago Charles H. Spurgeon and those who were preaching the word fell on hard times with "the down grade controversy." The people then were clamoring for a message and a methodology that was more in step with the culture of modernism.  The church today is being tempted by this same clamoring for relevance, only now the prevailing philosophy is postmodernism.  MacArthur challenges us to remain true to our mission:  Make disciples by preaching the Word (Matt. 28:18-20; 2 Tim. 4:2)!  True Christianity in this century and beyond, should the Lord tarry, will not be marked by innovation and riding the waves of the culture, but by dedication to the clear preaching of God's word!  

Looking forward to it!  

Sola Dei Gloria!  

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Rob Bell--Love Wins ch. 1- initial impression

Just finished reading chapter 1. For now I will just say this, Bell asks several questions about heaven hell and assurance of salvation and makes it look as if Scripture is fuzzy concerning these things. Just because some who have said they are Christians don't act like Christians and often are not Christians does not mean that the Gospel needs to be altered.

The truth is if each of the examples given from scripture are looked at in the light of the context of the passages as well as the context of the Bible as a whole, the answers are very straightforward.

Since that doesn't seem compelling to a world that doesn't want absolute truth, Bell offers murky options.

That is not what Christ offers:

John 14:6. "I am the way the truth and life, no man comes to the Father but by me"

I will refute Bells murky picture with the clarity of Biblical truth next post.

Bell makes a few good points in the chapter, but most of it is utter nonsense.

Sent from my U.S. Cellular® Android phone

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Notes on "Love Wins" by Rob Bell

Well, I am not sure I want to, but I need to read and respond to Rob Bell's book Love Wins.  

Here are my thoughts from just reading the preface so far:

Bell believe's that he is rescuing Christianity from a narrow message that is turning off millions of people from considering it.  

He says that one of the "hijacked stories" from what is the real story is that "A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better."

I would say, Rob, if that is a "hijacked" version of Christianity, then why does it come from Christ Himself?

Matthew 7:13 (NASB95)

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.

Also. once again Rob Bell takes a "Pirates of the Caribbean" approach to the scripture and acts like they "are more guidelines" than anything.  

He acts as if the biblical heroes of the faith felt justified in questioning God's word.  He says that people who have a narrow view are subverting the faith.  Well, speaking of subverting--think about what He has done to Christ's actual statement above.

I'm not looking forward to this...

Jn. 17:17; Rom. 10:17

Christ wins and those who trust Him in truth!

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For those who thought he was solid: Rob Bell, as promised, is a Universalist

A while back I did a review on the book Velvet Elvis (or at least part of it) on my blog.  Sadly, my concerns about Rob Bell were well founded.  

See article by Albert Mohler.  

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Preaching from the Soul!

I was challenged as I read this from Erwin Lutzer's Book Pastor to Pastor this week.  

May my preaching be from the soul!  

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Trouble in Rome--What Happens When "the church" ignores the Bible

USA Today reports "Fla. ex-Catholic priest writes of his romance".  

This priest wrongly went against his vows, but he rightly points out that the Catholic priesthood is plagued by sexual sin as a direct result of forbidding marriage!

If the Catholic church paid attention to the Bible (the Word of God), then they wouldn't have this problem.  

1 Timothy 3:2 (NASB95)

2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 

1 Timothy 4:1–5 (NASB95)

1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 

2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 

3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 

4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; 

5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. 

Marriage is to be honored and exemplified by church leaders, not forbidden.  The results are of doing so are devastating as we are seeing in the Catholic church.  

May the Lord help us to uphold Holy Matrimony!

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Did Mary the mother of our Lord appear near Green Bay, WI?

The Green Bay Press Gazette Reports Virgin Mary apparitions at Green Bay-area shrine recognized as first in U.S.

I used to live just down the road from the spot in Champion, WI where the apparition of Mary was said to appear back in 1859 to Adele Brise three times.  Since then countless miracles are said to have occurred there.  

This is big news for Catholics because this is the first place in the US where it is said officially that Mary appeared.  She is said to have appeared and given Adele a mission.  She is said to have announced herself as "The Queen of Heaven who intercedes for the saints."  Adele was told to intercede for the saints and make converts.  She based her life on this appearance.  

The question I have is this:  Why would Mary the mother of Jesus appear in Champion, WI to tell a woman to do these things?

What does the Bible tell us about Mary?

1.  Mary was a virgin betrothed (engaged) to Joseph a, descendent of David, when she was told by an angel that she was with child by the Holy Spirit.  The text in Luke tells us that she found favor with the Lord.  Favor has to do with grace or God's undeserved blessing on one unworthy.  She is not to be afraid of the angel because God has granted her grace.   She gave birth to the Savior in Bethlehem.  (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:27-38; Luke 2)

2.  Mary had 4 other sons and at least 2 daughters.  (Matt. 13:55; Mk. 6:3)

3.  Mary saw herself as a sinner in need of a Savior and she rejoiced in the Lord and Savior whom she would give birth to.  She is not blessed because of her own intrinsic goodness, but because God chose her to give birth to the only good one and the only Savior of sinners.  (Luke 1:46-48)

4.  Mary was a good mother and cared for Jesus well.  She became His follower and was there when he died and rejoiced when He rose.  She is an example to women in her devotion to the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ.  However, she was not sinless.  She spoke out of place to Christ at Cana.  She questioned some of the things Jesus did, and she too needed a Savior.  (John 2:4; Luke 2:48; Mk. 3:31-35; Luke 1:46-48)

5.  The Bible does not record any "immaculate conception" of Mary.  She is assumed to have born of natural birth.  

6.  The Bible does not speak of Mary as a "co-redemptrix".  The bible never speaks of Mary as the "Queen of Heaven".  Instead Jesus is said to be the one way of Salvation.  He is the one Savior and Lord.  No one is ever told to pray to Mary or worship Mary.  (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Ex. 20:3; Eph 4:4-6; 1 Tim 2:5).  

In view of these things I see no reason why God would send Mary to appear in Champion WI and to have so many people look to her and this appearance for there hope.  

Instead, God wants us to pay attention to the revelation of His Son: the one true Lord and Savior and to trust in Him and Him alone for our salvation and hope!  (Eph. 2:8-9; Acts 16:31; Romans 5:8; Romans 10:9-13)

Anything less or more is against God and the message of the Bible.  

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The Pilgrim Teenager: Salt and Light

At our Youth Ministry meetings on Wednesday night we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount.  The last few weeks we talked about being salt and light.  We are not encouraged to be salt and light by Christ we are pronounced to be salt and light by Him!  We are here for the express purpose of bringing a savory, purifying, and winsome message of the light of the gospel to a lost world.  If we say that we are Christians and we are not doing this than we deny the essence of who we are.  

I am reading The Pilgrims of New England  by Annie Webb-Peploe.  It is a very interesting book and fills in many of the gaps that I had about understanding the pilgrims.  

I am particularly struck by young Henrich Maitland and how he became salt and light.  His father had killed an Indian Chief's son in an early skirmish in which the pilgrims were attacked.  Henrich himself was shot in the leg in the skirmish and almost died.  While he recovered he was discipled by Brewster and elder of the pilgrims.  Later her learned Indian ways and the local dialect from another friendly tribe.  The chief sent a party that was finally able to kidnap Henrich.  He was spirited far away from his family and friends and they thought he had died.  His life was spared, but he was all alone among a heathen nation.  Here instead of becoming despondent or amalgamating to the new culture, he evangelized his young companion: the chief's daughter who had begged for his life.  

As he spoke with her day after day about the one true supreme being and His Son, Jesus Christ the savior, she came to know the love and joy of Christ!  In the chapter I am reading now he is evangelizing a new friend!  

All of this for Henrich at the age of maybe 13 or 14 years old!  

While I don't agree with everything in this book, I would highly recommend it from what I have read so far.  These simple pilgrims were faithful people who lived the truth and trained their children to truly walk with God and understand the gospel!  What a missionary adventure!  

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"I Praise You 24/7...and this is how you do me"--Steve Johnson

Th NY Daily News reports "Steve Johnson, Buffalo Bills wideout, blames God on Twitter after dropping game-winning pass"

News flash Steve:  You are getting way better than you deserve.  That breath you are breathing--on loan from God.  That incredible physical talent:  a gift from Christ.  Lack of hell fire surrounding you:  mercy and grace.  

I know it was a hard day, but don't blame God for your dropped pass.  He allowed it to happen.  If you are his then you should realize that he might have much to teach you through this.  (James 1:2-5)  You say that you praise Him--do you praise Him in good and bad? See Job.  

Let us not as sinful creatures who have rebelled against our creator blame God for anything bad that happens.  No, instead let us recognize that He is the all wise, all gracious, all merciful, all just one who chooses to provide salvation in Christ and hope to the sinner who will trust in His Savior as their master.  These slaves of Christ do embrace what their master gives--joyfully!

1 Timothy 1:15–16 (ESV)

¹⁵ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 

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