Author: David Thomas

Be confident of the gospel and preach Jesus

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Here’s a great post from Jeff Bethke on reaching the next generation.  His bottom line concern with current youth and children’s ministry

The biggest mistake by an adult is to think the younger generation “can’t handle” all of the truth or can’t comprehend it.

Amen to that.  Here’s Jeff’s 10 must do’s

1. Preach Jesus

2. Don’t Take Yourself Seriously.

3. Speak Truthfully, Boldly, and Fervently.

4. Preach Jesus With Your Life.

5. Don’t Shy Away From “Taboo” Sins.

6. Be Transparent.

7. Lead In Repentance.

8. Show God is After Our Joy, Not Our Buzzkill.

9. Don’t Water Down Jesus’ Harsh Sayings.

10. Preach And Articulate Real, Biblical, Transforming Grace.

Not a word about needing to be young, be with it, good at sports, or able to empathise with teenage angst.  Nothing about keeping kids off the streets or out of trouble. Teaching them to be good, upright, respectable citizens wouldn’t even make the top 50.

Simply be confident of the gospel and preach Jesus with your words and life. Once again, amen to that.

Psalm 78:1-7

Success is not God’s seal of approval

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More Monday morning wisdom from Paul Tripp here directed to pastors in ministry but applicable to all Christians.  In particular Tripp writes from experience on his wrong understanding that success in his ministry had to be taken as a sign that God was happy with the way he was living his life.

It’s easy to fall into the temptation of assuming that observable blessings – growth in numbers, commitment, desire for the souls of the lost, must be God’s seal of approval on the way I’m living my life.  In reality we need to continually cry out to God

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! – Psalm 139:23-24

Tripp writes of his own experience,

I confused ministry success with God’s endorsement of my living. Pastoral ministry was exciting in many ways. The church was growing numerically, and people seemed to be growing spiritually. More and more people seemed to be committed to be part of a vibrant spiritual community, and we saw people win battles of the heart by God’s grace. We founded a Christian school that was growing and expanding its reputation and influence. We were beginning to identify and disciple leaders.

It wasn’t all rosy; there were painful and burdensome moments, but I started out my days with a deep sense of privilege that God had called me to do this ministry. I was leading a community of faith, and God was blessing our efforts. But I held these blessings in the wrong way. Without knowing that I was doing it, I took God’s faithfulness to me, to his people, to the work of his kingdom, to his plan of redemption, and to his church as an endorsement of me. My perspective said, “I’m one of the good guys, and God is behind me all the way.” In fact, I would say to Luella (this is embarrassing but important to admit), “If I’m such a bad guy, why is God blessing everything I put my hands to?”

God did not act because he endorsed my manner of living, but because of his zeal for his own glory and his faithfulness to his promises of grace for his people.

7 key themes in Lewis

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Over here Art Lindsley lists 7 key themes that shaped and are influential for C. S. Lewis.  The 7 ideas are

  • Chronological Snobbery
  • Desire
  • Imagination
  • Objective Values vs. Relativism
  • Myth
  • Immortality
  • Comprehensiveness

Two great quotes from Lewis himself, first on desire

Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

And then from the final words of The Last Battle, on immortality

And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

Feel free to insult me

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What do the Christian Institute, the National Secular Society and Peter Tatchell have in common?

They are all supporters of a new campaign to reform Section 5 of the Public Order Act, by removing the word insult from it.  At present the police and law courts can decide if you or someone else has been insulted and can prosecute because of it.

If you believe that street preachers should be allowed to preach the gospel of salvation in Christ alone, that  a Christian cafe owner should be free to display Bible verses on the walls of his cafe, and that we should all be free to disagree with others on issues of religion and sexual conduct, you could profitably inform the Home Secretary, Theresa May of that on the other side of this click.

Will you be my Facebook friend – Part III

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Tim Chester has been keeping busy writing some really engaging stuff on Facebook.  In his next two articles, here and here, Tim deals with the issue of our craving for “digital disincarnation” in cyberspace.  Both articles are really worth reading in their entirety.

We were created to be embodied beings but social networking, and for that matter online gaming, encourage our desire to leave the constraints and problems of our actual circumstances and become someone else – freed from my constraints, freed from the reality of the person God has called me to be.  Tim  says

You are opting for disembodied life over embodied life.

Now disembodied life is easier. But it is less fulfilling, less real and less satisfying.

Embodied life is harder. But it is more fulfilling, more real, more satisfying. It is more substantial – you can touch it, feel it, embrace it!

He concludes with some insightful contrasts between life online and life within the actual, touchy-feely, kick it and it hurts world where God has put you.

Facebook encourages you to live elsewhere. The gospel encourages you to live life here and now.

  • You can tend your Farmville farm or you can get an allotment.
  • You can catch up with friends on Facebook or you can go out on a cold, dark night to see real friends.
  • You can catch up with “Friends” by watching the latest episode on the television or you can serve your neighbours.
  • You can build a new city on Sims or you can be the city of God set on a hill with your Christian community.

Here is the test: Am I using Facebook to enhance real world friendships or to replace them?

Love Your Enemies, Huh?

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The Resurgence have posted the next in the series of ‘deleted scenes’ from the Collision DVD here, in which Christopher Hitchens and Doug Wilson debate whether Christianity is good for the world.   What’s so helpful here is Wilson’s analysis below the video where he highlights Hitchens’ advocacy of how we are to treat our enemies, whist condemning that very same attitude in God.

Ministry that identifies with

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Paul Tripp has written another insightful article on ministry for pastors here, but the paragraph below is helpful for all of us as we seek to disciple one another.

You are most loving, patient, kind, and gracious when you realize you desperately need every truth you could give to another. You are most humble and gentle when you realize the person you are ministering to is more like you than unlike you. When you have inserted yourself into another category that tends to make you think you have arrived, it is very easy to be judgmental and impatient.