More on Ordination

/
Some time ago, I wrote on ordination.  Recent events and additional study has afforded me more opportunity to think about the topic and add some additional comments.

Although the practice of commissioning, setting apart, or ordaining is found in both the Old and New Testaments, I believe that the best understanding for Church operation today is found in the New Testament. There is a long tradition of ordination within many Christian denominations, yet the Bible must be our authority above tradition.  And interestingly enough, I don't think many of our traditions hold closely to what we find in the Bible, which is why I can use commissioning, setting apart, and ordaining as interchangeable words, whereas many traditions cannot. 

In Mark 3:13-19, Jesus choose and appointed twelve servants to do a number of tasks including preaching and casting out demons. Acts chapter 6 shows that seven servants were chosen to minister to the Church as deacons. Once identified, they were presented to the Apostles. The Apostles then “prayed and laid their hands on them” (Acts 6:6, ESV). An event recorded in Acts 13 shows that after worshiping and fasting, the Apostles were instructed by the Holy Spirit to “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2, ESV). Here, God called and set apart two individuals for His appointed tasks. The Acts 13 passage continues, “Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off” (Acts 13:3, ESV). We see that prayer and fasting came after God’s call but before sending Barnabas and Saul off to do the work for which they were called. A picture of submission to God’s call for Barnabas and Saul, unity among the body, and communal support, prayer, and encouragement is presented as the leaders laid hands on those called to a specific God-appointed task.

Therefore, it seems that a commissioning, setting apart, or ordination of a team or individual is a public recognition of God’s choice and calling for a specific ministry purpose, varying in qualifications, scope, duration, and authority. As we find in the Bible, this purpose may be as diverse as going ahead of Jesus and proclaiming the gospel in every town, leading as an elder, distributing bread, or embarking upon a missionary-church planting journey. Each of these callings served the church in different ways, for differing periods of times, requiring different qualifications, with different levels of necessary authority. And each of these tasks, some being more specifically defined while others less so, held criteria and qualifications that were to be met within the individual, primarily dealing with character. However, in every case, it is clear that ordination is nothing more than acknowledging a calling already set by God.

We often seek a single qualification for the role of ordination.  We ask questions like, "Who can be ordained?"  Often conversation turns toward the question, "Does this church or that church ordain women?"  The difficulty with these single issue questions is how much broad-brush thinking they require.  We need to take a deeper look at our definitions and the qualifications set for the various callings.  And within the proper definitions and qualifications, understand the reasons necessary for ordination.

The ministry of a deacon, for example, greatly varies from that of the elder, as does the ministry of many other ministers within specific Church related service. By God’s design, the qualifications and responsibilities are as equally diverse as the various callings. It is my understanding that called men and women of godly character may serve as commissioned ministers within the Church, still working under the leadership of the elders. Godly men and women who meet the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3:8-13 may serve the Church as deacons. And called, godly men who meet the qualifications 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-16 may serve in the leadership office of elder. All of the Lord’s faithful servants are equal in value, regardless calling, although he or she may be called to different ministries for the benefit of the Church and glory of God.  And when we view ordination in this light, it helps us solidly answer many of the questions that seem so divisive lately.


* The photo of "Ordination of a Bishop" was taken by M. Bastien is registered under a creative commons license and is used by permission.



Pray and Watch - Colossians 4:2

/
What's my evangelism plan?  How do we engage in evangelism at Risen Life Church where I'm a minister?  We Pray and Watch.  We pray specific prayers for the lost and watch for the opportunities God may provide. In general, we encourage people to pray for five people with whom they have some kind of contact, whether it's a family member, co-worker, neighbor, the lady poring your coffee, or whoever.  Then when those opportunities are presented, we faithfully and boldy act in ways appropriately called for with confidence in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  That's it; nothing fancy.



Many people hear this and say, "It's too simple."  They argue that there should be complex planning and training and books and tracts and so-on.  "Evangelism means we do hard stuff," they say.  "If we don't roll up or sleeves and get to work, people will go to hell," some even shout, trying to guilt God's people into doing the work God says he does.  It's interesting how often people would prefer to go under the power of their own steam rather than trusting God. It's our default position. (I find myself battling this thinking often as I tend to have the same desires.) It's amazing how little weight some 'evangelism programs' give to prayer.

But the Bible shows us how amazing prayer is.  We see that we are called to partner with God, not do the job apart from him.  Jesus builds his Church while we are asked to be faithful.  So we should be faithful and we must trust that he will build his Church.

I would like to encourage you to pray and watch.

Prayer is Relational

/


The Bible is full of prayers. Herbert Lockyer says, "Exclusive of the Psalms, which form a prayer-book on their own, the Bible records no fewer than 650 definite prayers, of which no less than 450 have recorded answers."[1] As early as Genesis 4:26 we read that "people began to call upon the name of the LORD." Recorded prayers allow the student of the Bible a glimpse of the prayers of others, at times providing the specific words and at other times only demonstrating that the individual engaged in prayer of some sort. Even communication between the Godhead—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is made available to us in the written Word. Biblical instructions include praying often (without ceasing in fact), with faithfulness and hope, for others and ourselves, in line with God's will, with and without words, and by divine help. We're given specifics for which to pray. The prayers of the Pharisees are condemned, and we hear warnings about wrongful prayer. We even read about disciples learning directly from our Savior specifically about how to pray. Yet in a book loaded with prayers, there is no clear and obvious definition of what prayer actually is.

For centuries theologians have attempted to define prayer. They diligently examine the various prayers contained within the Canon as well as the instruction and teaching on prayer. Through their findings, they've come to an understanding of prayer and attempt a definition. For example, Wayne Grudem says, "Prayer is personal communication with God."[2] Millard Erickson argues that "Prayer is in large part, a matter of creating in ourselves a right attitude with respect to God’s will."[3] Appealing to Psalm 27:8, John Mueller suggests the definition is, "the communion of a believing heart with God."[4] And John Calvin, while not providing a clear definition of prayer, still says it is, "a kind of intercourse between God and men."[5] As varied as all of these definitions are, they all seem to get at the same thing: a relationship between God and man.

God desires to be in relationship with his creation. Nothing in the Bible could be clearer. In fact, the Bible itself—God's Word—is a merciful revelation intended as a mechanism of communication that draws us into a relationship with its divine Author. God is reaching out to us, calling us into a relationship with himself. Prayer is an important aspect of this relationship.

Jesus teaching was purposed to draw all men into a salvific relationship with the Trinity. Notice that Jesus proclaims, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:8); but James 4:2 says, "You do not have, because you do not ask" and 1 Thessalonians 5:17 instructs that we should "pray without ceasing." Is this some kind of contradiction? Why would God want us to pray if he already knows our needs? Because he wants a relationship with us! Jesus paints a beautiful picture of this relationship in Luke 11:9-13:
"And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Do you see the relational factors in Jesus' plea? “Ask!” he says, as if almost begging. And look at the question and answer that follows. Father, children, good gifts. Jesus desperately wants his disciples to enter into this relationship and he wants them to pray.

Prayer is about a relationship with God.

__
1. Herbert Lockyer, All the Prayers of the Bible: A Devotional and Expositional Classic (Grand Rapids: Mich, Zondervan, 1959), Publisher’s Forward.  
2. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Mich, Zondervan, 1994), 376. 
3. Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Mich, Baker Academics, 1998), 431.
4. John Theodore Mueller, Christian Dogmatics (St. Louis: Miss, Concordia, 1934), 428-429.
5. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Peabody: Mass, Hendrickson, 2008), 564.

Prayer is Partnering with God

/


God asks us to ask him for the things we need, yet he already knows what we need before we ask him. (James 4:2, Matthew 6:8 for example.)  This seems paradoxical.  Yet, God's desire is for us to partner with him; not because he needs us, but because we need him. 

When we pray, we are partnering with God. Prayer helps us join in God's mission and will. We see this in Genesis with guys like Noah, Abraham, and others.  How about the partnership with Moses in Exodus? Nehemiah? The disciples in the Acts?  God brought his people into his plan for their own good even though he did not need to.  Even today, God brings you into his plans as a partnership for your good. But it is important to remember that this is the most unequal partnership we could imagine.  We bring nothing to the table and God brings everything.  It's almost shocking that we hesitate to partner with God.  

Prayer is entering into a partnership with God. Be praying!

Christian Suffering 1 Peter 4:12-19

/
The Christian life is no bed of roses.  From time to time, followers of Jesus Christ face fiery trials and in these trials we sometimes find ourselves confused.  We ask questions like, "How can God let me suffer like this?" or, "Doesn't God even care that I'm suffering?" or maybe even, "Am I suffering because God is punishing me for something?"  In our times of difficulty, these questions become more than questions, they often become our way of inditing God.  But before we throw down accusations, we really aught to re-think Christian suffering.  

What often troubles us is why Christians suffer.  It's a serious questions and one worth wrestling through.  1 Peter 4:12-19 is one of the great texts that helps us come to a better understanding of God's will and purpose in our fiery trials. 

I recently preached on this topic at Risen Life Church in Salt Lake City.  If you're a Christian, you've likely suffered, are suffering right now, or will suffer sometime in your future.  If this is you, it is my hope that this sermon may be helpful to you. 

Christian Suffering -- 1 Peter 4:12-19

How Does the Kingdom Grow?

/
Books on missions and evangelism could fill libraries and bookstores, pastor's shelves and recycle bins.  Many of these books are very good, but I've found most the ones that I've read are more focused on a new plan.  Do we need a new plan?  These books talk a lot about Kingdom growth, but how does God's Kingdom grow?  The Jesus often discussed Kingdom growth and used illustration like light, seeds, and yeast.  He seemed to teach that the Kingdom grows one person at a time as God's people bring the light into dark places.



The above example is how the Kingdom could grow in Salt Lake City, Utah, but the idea applies everywhere in the world.  We are called to be light in dark places.  Our relationship with Christ should be spilling over everywhere we go.  Be filled with Christ and let your relationship with him overflow into all the places you go and wherever you find yourself.

Book Giveaway: Brothers, We Are Not Professionals

/
[Update: Jason Benson is our winner!  Thanks for participating.] 

Salty Believer Unscripted, the podcast, is giving one lucky winner a free copy of the newly expanded and revised, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry by John Piper.

This book is not limited to pastors, or just for brothers for that matter.  Many the chapters have great application for the Christian life.  You may read a review here or purchase a copy (if you don't win) here.

The winner will be chosen from the entries at random on March 5th, 2013, notified, and announced on a later podcast of Salty Believer Unscripted.  B&H Publishing Group will send a new paperback copy directly to the winner.  (The winner will be required to privately supply a mailing address upon notification.)

Contestants may enter by completing one or more of the 6 entry methods below.  Completing each individual method will count as one entry, but completing the same option multiple times will still only count at a single entry.  Completing multiple entry methods will increase your chances of winning.  Good luck!

To enter, complete one or more of the following:
1.  Visit SaltyBeliever.com and contact Bryan Catherman via the Contact Me form.  Let him know you'd like to be included in this book giveaway contest. 

2.  Visit EntrustedWithTheGospel.com and contact Jared Jenkins via the Contact Me form.  Let him know you'd like to be included in this book giveaway contest.

3. Share this book giveaway contest on Twitter. Click here to Tweet this contest on Twitter.

4. Share this giveaway contest on Facebook. Click here share this contest on Facebook.

5. Share a link on Twitter to the Salty Believer Unscripted podcast. Click here to Tweet a link to the podcast.

6. Share a link on Facebook to the Salty Believer Unscripted podcast. Click here share a link to the subscribe to the podcast on Facebook.

Brothers, We Are Not Professionals

/
Piper, John. Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry. Nashville, Tenn: B&H Publishing Group, 2013.

John Piper has penned more than 50 books to include, Desiring God, Don't  Waste Your Life, and The Future of Justification.  He is the pastor of preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church, served as the a professor of Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is the founder of Desiring God Ministries.  He holds a Doctorate of Theology from the University of Munich and is presently the chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary.  Often called 'A pastor to pastors' Piper has re-released his 2002 publication, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, now updated and expanded. 

John Piper discusses the re-release of Brothers, We Are Not Professionals:



In addition to some revisions, Piper added six more chapters.  Chapter 4, 'Brothers, God Does Make Much of Us,' and Chapter 6, 'Brothers, God Is the Gospel' were added for theological reasons. In his pursuit of being a better preacher, he added Chapter 13, 'Brothers, Be Bible-Oriented--Not Entertainment Oriented Preachers' and Chapter 18, 'Brothers, Pursue the Tone of the Text.'  For family reasons relating to his sanctification, he added Chapter 22, 'Brothers, Help Them Act the Miracle.'  And for personal reasons, he added Chapter 27, 'Brothers, Bodily Training is of Some Value' (xi). 

Piper opens with a charge against today's pastorate: "[...] the pressure to 'professionalize' the pastorate has morphed and strengthened" (ix).  He goes on to ask, 
"Is there professional praying? Professional musing on the depths of revelation? Professional treasuring the riches of Christ? Professional walking by the Spirit? Professional exercise of spiritual gifts? Professional dealing with demons? Professional pleading with backsliders? Professional perseverance in a hard marriage? Professional playing with children? Professional courage in the face of persecution? Professional patience with everyone?" (ix-x)
His questions are good.  Ministry does, he argues, have a side of professionalism, but these are in "areas of competency where the life of faith and the life of unbelief overlap" (x).  Professionalism in other areas need not be compartmentalized.  "These are not marginal activities in the pastoral life;" writes Piper, "They are central.  They are the essence" (x).   Therefore, Piper sets out to make two primary arguments with this book.  The first is, "professionalism should always be marginal, not central; optional, not crucial" (x).  The second is like it.  "The pursuit of professionalism" he argues, "will push the supernatural center more and more into the corner while ministry becomes a set of secular competencies with a religious veneer" (x).  Thirty-six short chapters follow to fill out the details of his thesis. 

Most pastors today are likely dealing with the very issues Piper sets out to reshape.  That being the case, this book is a helpful tool for pastors.  One gets the feeling while reading Brothers, We are Not Professionals, that Piper is simply putting all the aspects of ministry that interest him on paper to help the next generation.  But this is not to say that this book is limited to pastors alone, or just for brothers for that matter.  Many (but not all) the chapters have great application for the Christian life.  Those in positions like worship leaders, teachers, small group hosts, or other ministry areas will benefit from this book.  Men leading in their homes will find this book compelling.  And women will have just as many areas of application as the men, although Chapter 35, 'Brothers, Love Your Wife' may need some adaptation. 

Piper is honest about his own walk in ministry, which is most likely why this book is as compelling as it is.  There is not one single word that is not backed by his emotion, passion, and service to the Kingdom.

One criticism however, might be that a small selection of the chapters are 'Piper specific,' that is, rather specific to his ministry.   For example, "Brothers, Sever the Root of Racism" and "Brothers, Blow the Trumpet for the Unborn."  While both of these issues are extremely important and obviously a passion of Piper's, they provide very little instruction for issues to which other pastors may be called in other times, cultures, and places. Racism and abortion must be ended, but what about those serving to eradicate issues of poverty, the sex-trade, illiteracy, child labor, violence, drug addiction, or many other ills in our fallen world today? While I appreciate Piper's call to the two above mentioned issues, understanding better tools to fulfill other passionate callings may have been helpful for those in circumstances where additional matters must be addressed.

Apart from this fairly insignificant criticism,  Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, is a fantastic work and well worth the time to read.  It is a must read for pastors and I also highly recommend it to those not serving in the paid pastorate.

ATTENTION: In partnership with B&H Publishing Group, Salty Believer Unscripted, our podcast, is giving away a copy of this book.  Here's more info. 

For other book recommendations, please visit the SaltyBeliever.com resource page. 

* A copy of this book was provided in exchange for a review; however, the content and quality of the review were completely as my discretion.

Saul Consults a Necromancer? - 1 Samuel 28

/
Christians in the West are often slow to credit any kind of spiritual power behind witchcraft or mediums or necromancers or the like.  While this credit belongs not with God and is certainly not positive, it is power even if demonic power.   It almost seems as if we say, "these things hold no power, demonic or otherwise," so as to undercut the legs of the spiritual warfare happening around us.  But when we do this we're wrong!  Saying there's nothing behind the medium, witchdoctor, or practitioner of the demonic is not to see the situation for what it is.  Saying there's nothing behind the practice neglects the words of Paul to the Corinthians when he writes, "I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons" (1 Corinthians 10:20, ESV).  There is indeed a demonic power of some sort behind these practices today just as the pagan sacrifices  in Corinth were demonic.

In light of our feelings surrounding witchcraft and talking with the dead, we tend to be a bit shocked when we come across 1 Samuel 28.  Here, Saul consults a medium in an effort to hear the Word of the Lord through Samuel, who had passed away.   Saul is in direct disobedience to God's Law that says explicitly not to consult mediums (Leviticus 19:31, Deuteronomy 18:10-12).  In addition, in 1 Samuel 28:3 we see that Saul himself had put the mediums out of the land and even had to travel by night to En-dor in disguise because he knew he was doing wrong.

The necromancer is concerned that she will be in trouble by practicing this evil behavior for Saul, but Saul assures her that it will be okay and then emphatically pleads with her to raise Samuel so he can talk with him.  At one point in the chapter, it seems that Samuel is raised, although the text really only demonstrates that Saul believed he was talking with Samuel.  (Scholars disagree as to whether this character was actually Samuel, some kind of demon, or some sort of messenger of God.)

The point of this chapter however, is not to get into the hows and whys of witchcraft, but instead demonstrate the distress Saul is in and his subsequent misbehavior as he demanded to hear from God concerning his own glory and well-being.  It only stands to further show the depths of Saul's rebellion and even provides support for God's tearing the kingdom from Saul and giving it to David, a man after God's own heart. As is always the case, it is important to see this text in light of the context and primary point.  That being said, I'd like to encourage you to pick up your Bible and check out 1 Samuel 28.  In addition, Jared Jenkins and I discuss this particular text as one of our "Tough Text" series topics.  You can listen to that 20-minute podcast or subscribe to Salty Believer Unscripted for many other unscripted discussions.

*Photo of Lassa witch doctors was taken and used by the CDC.  It is presently in the public domain.

Two More Book Recommendations

/
It's my preference to offer more comprehensive book reviews; however, on occasion all I can do is provide a recommendation due to time constraints or my lack of availability to the physical copy of the book.   Today, I'd like to recommend R. C. Sproul's Holiness of God and Dallas Willard's Hearing God.
Sproul, R. C. The Holiness of God. Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House Publishers, 1985. 
Willard, Dallas. Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1999. 
I listened to both of these great books in a narrated audio version while  conducting other tasks.  The upside to listening to books is how the book can be enjoyed at times when reading would not normally be possible.  The downside is being unable to return to the book later for additional study or for the purposes writing a review.   (I've encountered this audio book issue before when I recommended Piper's Don't Waste Your Life.)

I enjoyed both of these book enough to order hard copies for future study and so I can lend them to others. 

R. C. Sproul looks at how remarkable and holy our God really is in his rapidly-becoming-a-classic, The Holiness of God.  His work, much like Piper's Desiring God or J.I. Packer's Knowing God takes the reader through an enjoyable tour of something so present but often so overlooked.  There is no "how to" aspect of this book, yet it is practical in its teaching and accessible to those with little to no theological background.  That being said, even the educated theologian will benefit from Sproul's observations.   I highly recommend this book to anybody wanting to see God in a life changing way and be transformed by knowing God better and loving him more.

Dallas Willard on the other hand, offers a practical book on how to converse better with God.  Are your prayers one-way?  Do you spend your time talking at God but give no time to hearing from him?  Do you long to hear from God?  How would having a conversational relationship with the Creator of the Universe change the way you live?  Willard deals with these questions and so much more in his book Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God.  In this book, Willard guides his reads through some easy and realistic ways to develop ears to hear from God.  This book, if put into practice, will change lives as well as relationships with God, that that, I believe, will change the world.  I highly recommend it.

I picked up both of these book as well as a few others from ChristianAudio.com.  If you're looking for audio books, ChristianAudio.com is worth checking out.  Their prices are good and they run specials often.  In addition, if you create a free account, you will be eligible to download their free monthly offering (where, I admit, I got both of these great books). Most books come in many different audio formats and the downloading and purchasing process is easy.  ChristianAudio.com comes highly recommended too.


*I have no connection, material or otherwise to any of the books recommend in this post.  I receive no financial gain or special gifts by mentioning ChristianAudio.com. 

Seminary vs. the Pastorate

/
I get many questions about attending seminary from potential students and pastors trying to weigh out the options.  Which seminary? On campus or on-line? What courses should I take and where should I put the bulk of my attention?  In the end however, the answers all depend upon calling and circumstances.

I selected to remain in the mission field and attend seminary through distance education options, partly so I could remain in ministry where I'd be serving post-seminary.  It worked well for me, but this is not to say that it's the best answer for everybody.  I selected Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (LBTS) primarily because at the time they had the best distance education options, but this is changing at a rapid rate and now there are many good seminaries embracing the value of distance education for ministers.

Jared Jenkins, a friend I work with, went to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) on campus.  One of the earliest Salty Believer Unscripted episodes was about our seminary experiences. He had just graduated and entered the pastorate with me in Salt Lake.  At the time of the video, I had a single semester remaining and had been on staff for a little over a year (a part-time intern for about 9 months and 3 months full-time working officially on staff with Risen Life Church.) You can listen to that podcast here or watch the video below.



 

A year later, we recorded another podcast about seminary and the pastorate. After working with people, teaching, preaching, and serving in the ministry setting far removed from seminary, our thoughts were a bit different.  In what areas do we feel we were unprepared?  What might we have done differently?  What surprised us or did we not expect?  If you're in seminary or thinking about attending, or even if you're simply a "man or woman in the pew" and curious, I think this is worth listening to:  Salty Believer Unscripted - Seminary vs. the Pastorate One Year Later. 

I'm happy to chat with you about seminary.  If you're considering attending and have some questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.  In addition, here are some related posts that may help you pick a seminary or guide you along your journey while in your formal studies:

Choosing a Seminary
LBTS, Post Dr. Jerry Falwell
Thinking of Enrolling in Seminary? 


Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
(Non iTunes: Video | Audio)
* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same. 

*Photo by Mbiama Assogo Roger is registered under a creative commons license and is used by permission. 

American Genocide - Planned Parrenthood Killed 333,964 in 365 Days

/
Planned Parenthood has published their 2011-2012 Annual Report.

From October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011, Planned Parenthood provided 10,864,959 services to women and men that included screening for sexually transmitted diseases, cancer screenings, pregnancy tests, distributing birth control, and a number of other services.  Normally this would be celebrated if not for the dark shadow cast over it all.  3% of these services were abortions, totaling 333,964.  Nearly 11 million women and men, girls and boys, entered a Planned Parenthood clinic to receive services; but of them, 333,964 girls and boys were summary executed in the name of becoming "the healthiest generation ever."  That's one murder ever 94.4 seconds preformed by Planned Parenthood, and they are but one institution that conducts these organized executions. (The Gospel Coalition reports that, "In 2009, 784,507 legal induced abortions were reported to the Centers for Disease Control from 48 reporting areas.")

If the death of 333,964 lives were not enough, there's at least a third of a million women who will live the rest of their lives with this black stain, this year, if not more.  There's probably another another quarter of a million men who must live with this blood on their hands, this year.  How many relationships where ripped to pieces or suffered great difficulty because their baby was an unwanted burden, collateral damage from their sexual fun?

Of the 1 billion dollars of annual revenue, $542,400,000 is listed under the "Government Health Services Grants and Reimbursements" column.  Although Planned Parenthood offers many services, it should still be shocking that the American people were willing to give over 500 million dollars to an organization that openly kills babies.  This same organization, interestingly enough, only spent 41.5 million dollars on sexual education.  That's 15 million dollars less than they spent on fundraising and 10 million dollars less than they spent on lobbying law makers to shape public policy in their favor and defend their practices from political attack.   Even the opening letter and message from Cecilia Boone, the Chair and Cecile Richards, the President gives more words to politics than it does to anything else.

How much is life worth at Planned Parenthood?  What is the real cost of becoming the healthiest generation?  Another way to look at the services rendered at Planned Parenthood is to measure them against the cost of the lives taken.  10,530,885 health services to include STD testing, cancer screenings, and preventive care were provided and it only cost the life of one child per 31.5 visits.  Maybe we should look at the daily operating cost of each clinic.  If 63 people were to walk though to doors to get free or low cost cancer screenings or birth control, only 2 human beings have to give up their rights to a healthy life; only 2 human beings have to give up their future potential; only two human beings have to die for today's health services rendered. Is this how we should place value on human life?

I wonder how much more good Planned Parenthood could do with much less political involvement and costly lobbying if they simply stopped contributing to this genocide?  After all, it only accounted for 3% of the services they render.

[Jared Jenkins of EntrustedWithTheGospel.com does a really nice job expanding what this report should mean to us in light of our worldview and understanding of the Gospel.  It's well worth reading.] 


* With exception to the Gospel Coalition quote, all information cited in this post came directly from the 2011-2012 Planned Parenthood Report. 
** Photo by Flickr user longtrekhome, is registered under a creative commons license and is used by permission. 

Post Church?

/
Revisiting a group of writer-friends and their affiliated publication, I was reminded of the growing group of jaded Christians who no longer worship in any kind of church setting.  They call themselves "post-Church" as if they have somehow evolved beyond Christ's institution for his people.  "The Nones" is another name they like, taking it from the check box they would self-identify to the question of religious affiliation on a census questionnaire-- None. 

This post-Church crowd will argue that they just weren't getting what they wanted or needed from their local church community.  It wasn't a satisfying experience and the church leaders weren't providing them with the faith journey they desired.  So, they divorced their community for a different mistress, maybe a group who shares their affinity for popular issues of social justice, artistic expression, politics, dietary fads, some kind of on-line connection, or a gang with similar level of anger toward Christ's Bride.  Interestingly, these post-Christians don't seek a different local church community where they might find opportunities to connect with, grow in, and serve Christ, but instead cast off Church, big-C Church all together.  They would argue that they are still part of the Church but just hate local church.  They "love Jesus, just hate Christians."  But the truth is Jesus indwells his people and the local church is a part of the big-C Church; therefore, Jesus and his Church get tossed out too.

I've read of these new post-church communities meeting in coffee shops or homes for shared meals where a communal fellowship is touted but there is decidedly a void of any worship, teaching, Bible reading, or anything that may look like "church."  Jesus is typically intentionally or unintentionally uninvited.  Some of these gatherings will pray, but that's often the extent of it. (I wonder how God might receive the prayer of those who reject God's people as well as the institution he set up for them?)  I am familiar with a single group that sits on the post-church precipice which does, on occasion, discuss Scripture, but generally is void of any deeper study or application because in fact, they are lacking any kind of shepherd.

Indeed there is a time to divorce a fellowship.  When irreconcilable differences surface in the essential theological matters one should talk with the leaders to consider if finding a different local church, breaking fellowship, or some kind of further study may be appropriate.  Cases of egregious unrepentant sin among the leadership may also be a time to break fellowship, after the appropriate course of action has taken place.  (See Matthew 18:15-18.)    False teaching too.  But to toss up your hands and say your are done with any kind of Christian gathering only to trade it in for a cult community of your own making because you don't prefer what's offered is a very different thing.

Nowhere does the Bible speak of a Christian who rejects Christ's Bride, the Church.  It's quite the opposite in fact.

For example, Paul opens his letter to the Philippians as follows: "To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons" (Philippians 1:1b, ESV, italics added for emphasis.) Paul says these saints are with the leaders and servants, not consumers of the goods and services the leaders provide or members of their social club.  The saints are in community together.  Many of Paul's letters open with this picture of community centered around the gospel called the local church.  He also talks about the necessity of being part of the body, one body with many parts.  His explanation of communion and his rebuke for the local church that shows favoritism toward the rich show Paul's concern and care for community within the local church.  John's third letter is to an individual and yet it still seems to suggest that Gaius is part of a larger community.  John's second letter is also to an individual and here he's calling this lady to hold fast to the teaching of Christ.  Christ didn't ever tell anybody to be a solitary loaner or gather in a community that is held together with bonds other than the love of Christ.  Christ is building his Church and the local churches are a part if they hold to Christ and his teachings.  Christ is so serious about the Church that we often see the Church called the Bride of Christ, that is, Christ's special love.  Men are called to love their wives as Christ loves the Church, the Church Jesus died for (Ephesians 5:25).  There are many accounts of the believers eating and praying together, and being sanctified into Christ's likeness through those with whom they are in community.  And these groups don't appear to be splinter groups rejecting the Church.  

This post-Church movement raises a number of questions. 

Were these disgruntled individuals actually Christians, or were they simply members of a social club for social reasons?  Or maybe they were moralists and what they walked away from is not what they think they rejected because they were never truly a part of the Body in the first place?

Do these "post-Church" gatherings bring about sanctification and Christ-likeness or are these groups more about filling the community void?

How much does a member of the Nones hear from God and speak to him, read from his Word, worship, and grow?  The Bible is the only book that reads us.  From within it's pages we should experience transformation and sometimes that transformation is difficult and even painful.  Is the post-Church experience bringing about gospel-centered change or is it all just a happy bed of roses that eventually leads to self-worship?

Is the exodus from the local church about pride?  Is there a lack of humility?  Is there fear to talk with with leadership about a problem?  If the leadership did not listen, was there any self-reflection to see if personal repentance was necessary? And if personal repentance or pride are not the issue and it may be a legitimate time to break fellowship, is there a fear or laziness or cowardice to find the healthy local church body God may be calling them to?

What is the end result of the post-Church movement?  Is it drawing people closer to Christ or further away?

If you are reading this because you are post-Church, call yourself a None, or are concerned about a friend or family member, I know that there are local churches that hurt people, and that is tragic!  If you have been hurt by fellow Christians, I'd like to recommend a book called The Exquisite Agony (originally titled Crucified by Christians) by Gene Edwards.  I hope that at some point you can find healing from this pain as well as find a fantastic body of believers with which to fellowship and grow.  If it is not about a hurt, might it be about pride?  If so, is this pride really helping you or is it self destructive?  If you do still call yourself a Christian but struggle with the local church, pray about where to connect.  Ask Jesus to show you his Bride in a new way.  And by all means, don't give up!  God has a great fellowship of believers out there for you.  Hang in there and keep praying!


If this article connected with you in any way, encouraged you, or made you angry, you are more than welcome to contact me to share your story, ask questions, complain, or seek help finding a local body.  Or if you don't call yourself a Christian but would like to find out more about becoming one, you can contact me too.  Click here. 

Interconnectedness of the Bible: 1 Chronicles 28:9

/
"It's clear that the Bible is too superintended to be a random collection of books," a pastor friend once said to me.  I agree.  Like watching a good flick, reading the Bible a few times opens up a fascinating realm of things missed on a first or second pass.  This exploration can continue for a life time if you just keep reading the Bible.  It's a supernatural interconnected single story, woven together through the merciful revelation of God to his creation over the course of about 2,000 years through forty or so human authors.  (More technically, the Bible is God's divinely authored revelation of himself to his people, written through his people.  It's a complex dual authorship!)  And it is the Holy Spirit who illuminates new things as you read, learn, and grow; therefore,  as you keep reading you grow more and more convinced of the truth of God's Word, the Bible.

Evidence of the Bible's interconnectedness abounds.  I've not done a formal study or count, but I'd venture a guess that there are thousands of passages that point to other passages in one way or another and they all point toward Christ.  We'll use 1 Chronicles 28:9 as an example.

Chapter 28 of 1 Chronicles opens with David, the king of Israel, giving a speech to the officials assembled in Jerusalem.  He tells them that he had a heart to build a temple for God but God had not allowed him to do so.  He also expressed that Solomon, his son, was chosen by God to be his successor and it will be Solomon who will build the temple.  At verse 9 David shifts his speech directory toward Solomon.  He gives him a charge and some instruction.  "And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought.  If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever" (ESV).

I found well over 100 cross references for the various aspects of this passage, but for the sake of this post, I'll only deal with a couple parts of this very loaded verse, and even in that, I'll only provide a small sample of interconnected verses. 

First, much of the Old Testament talks about God in terms of the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, or in other terms--the God of our fathers.  Many times the God of one's father becomes one's own God, as if there's a transition from one to another or a personal acceptance or relationship as the son grows and begins to know the God of his father for himself.  God is no longer the God of someone else, but personal.  This talk of the God of our fathers as well as the transition can be seen in verses like Genesis 28:13, Exodus 3:16, and Exodus 15:2.  In 2 Kings 21:22 Amon walks away from the God of his fathers, whereas Josiah does walk in the way of the God of David, that is, the God of his fathers (1 Kings 22:2). This language is found over and over again until Christ walks among his people and actually calls God his Father! No longer is the worship and service to the God of our fathers, but the Heavenly Father himself. Then, because of Jesus, we too are able to call God our Father because we are adopted into his family (Romans 8:15, 23; 9:4; Galatians 4:5; and Ephesians 1:5).  

Next, as early as Genesis 6:5, the Bible indicates that God knows the thoughts and intentions of man.  1 Samuel 16:7, at the time when they boy David was being identified as Israel's king, it is said that God does not look at the outward appearance, but at man's heart.  Psalm 7:9 identifies God as one who tests minds and hearts. Psalm 139:2 says that God can even discern these thoughts from a distance.  The idea of testing thoughts and intentions is present again in Jeremiah 11:20 and again in Jeremiah 17:10.  So it should help us see that Jesus is God when he has this very ability.  In John 1:47 Jesus looks into the deep of Nathanael. Repeatidly, Jesus knew what the Pharases were thinking as well as his disciples (see: Matthew 9:4; Matthew 12:25; Luke 1:51; Luke 5:22; Luke 6:8; and Luke 11:17).  And the disciples new and believed that God searches the heart as is evident in Acts 1:24.  Paul also writes about it in Romans 8:27.

Jeremiah 29:13 says that seekers of God find him.  Jesus, as the Messiah and God, repeats the same seek and you will find  theme in Matthew 7:7-8, and in Revelation 3:20 he extends an invitation for a relationship.  Throughout both the Old and New Testaments there are repeated invitations to enter into a relationship with God, no longer serving the God of our fathers but the Heavenly Father himself.

It is because of the interconnectedness that we use the Bible to interpret the Bible.  The more plain passages help us understand the more complex ones.  The connections between the books, the players, and various smaller stories help us understand the larger story of God's redemption.  It's all interconnected.  It's one story woven together like a beautiful basket.

*Photo of weaved basket by Damian Gadal is registered under a creative commons license and is used with permission.

Tough Texts on Salty Believer Unscripted

/
January 1, 2013

Jared Jenkins and I are working through a series on Salty Believer Unscripted called "Tough Texts."  Inspired somewhat by the guys at Credo House as well as our desire to diligently keep our exegetical work sharp, we identified some biblical texts that are difficult to interpret, confusing, shocking, or greatly misunderstood without a little labor.  On the whole, the Bible is written in simple language and is easy to understand, but that does not mean that we don't at times find its words difficult.  Our listeners helped us out by e-mailing us some passages they've struggled with over the years and we selected some of our own to add to the list.

Examples include Paul's words in 1 Timothy 2:13-15 where he talks about women being saved through childbearing.  Genesis 6:1-5 has this strange thing with the Nephilim.  Can people be baptized on behalf of the dead or does 1 Corinthians 15:29 get at something different?  Does Paul suggest that parts of his Epistle are not inspired by the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 7:12?   1 Samuel 28 contains a shocking story of Saul consulting a witch-like medium and raising Samuel to talk with him.  Uzzah is struck dead for touching the ark in 2 Samuel 6:5-7. How in the world can the psalmist write about smashing babies on the rocks in Psalms 137:9?  Romans 1:26-27 discusses unnatural relations and something about God giving these people up to their own desires.  Is total genocide to include even the animals what 1 Samuel 5:13 is getting at?  Peter is the rock has many meanings in the Church today based on how people understand Matthew 16:18.  1 Corinthians 11:27-30 seems to suggest that some believers have died for taking the Lord's Supper incorrectly.  And 1 Peter 3:21 has at times been taken to mean that baptism is an act that actually brings about salvation; how can this be?  We're dealing with all of these and we're still open to add some to the list if we get more tough texts before the end of the series. (You can contact us with a difficult passage you'd like us to address by using this contact form.) 

Jared and I believe that if it's in the Bible, we need to be able to deal with it, understand it, and allow it to change us no matter how difficult or shocking.  It absolutely cannot be that students of the Bible simply skip over parts of God's Word because it's tough, and it is for this reason that we want to discuss the tough texts and help those who truly seek the whole counsel of God.

You can find these podcasts as well as many other resources on the Resources pages of SaltyBeliever.com and EntrustedWithTheGospel.com or you can subscribe to the Salty Believer Unscripted podcast.

Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
(Non iTunes: Video | Audio)
* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same.  


*The picture use in this post is in the public domain. 

Reading More of God's Word

/
Christmas has passed.  The wrapping paper is picked up and the tree is down.  Many of us start shifting our thinking to the up coming new year.  We may set goals or even proclaim our resolutions for the next 365 days (which most of us forget by February).

This year can be different.  I'd like to encourage you, or maybe even challenge you to be in your Bible more.  Feast on more of God's Word in the coming year than you did in last and allow God, the Author to speak to you.  Be filled!  Be transformed by what God has for you this year.  Whether you decide to read the same book over and over every month, or the New Testament or Old Testament, or the entire Bible, or the parts you've read the least, or your favorite sections of Scripture you love, be reading and reflecting on the message of the Bible.  Be reading often, even if it's only a single verse each day.

Despite what some people may argue, you don't have to read your entire Bible in a year, every year.  You can read your entire Bible many more times in a year, or you can focus on only a section.  The key is that your are reading.  

One thought might be to get in touch with your pastor and find how what will be preached and taught in the coming year.  Start reading those books of the Bible a couple times before they are preached on.  Another idea might be to go back through past sermon series you've enjoyed and read those books again.  You might even be able to find an archive of those sermons to listen to as a supplement to your reading. 

And by all means, be reading an age appropriate Bible to your children! Here are some suggestions.

There are lots of reading plans out there.  Some cover the the New and Old Testaments as well as the Psalms each day, some are chronological, some start at the front and end at the back.   Some go through the entire Bible in a year; others don't.  It's not that important as long as you are in the Word.

I have found that having a plan and using a list of some sort really helps me.  It may help you too!

But please remember, the idea is not to read to be able to smugly say, "I read the entire Bible this year;" the reason for reading to connect with God, grow in your knowledge of Him so you love Him more, and be transformed by allowing God to speak in to your life.  It's not enough to mentally know the Bible, you've got to ingest it and allow it to fuel your soul.

YouVersion is a free Bible app for phones, tablets, and computers that has lots of reading lists and study tools.  You may find that your Bible or study Bible has a reading plan in an appendix.  If your church is using The City, check out the  "Bible" feature in the left menu and explore your Bible more.  You can also visit ESV Reading Plans or Read the Bible in a Year for many downloadable or print plan options.

Here are some useful tools as well:
Scriptures to Know
Chronological Bible Reading List
The Bible in 180 Chapters
Bible Reading Checklist
New Testament Reading Checklist 

It's my prayer that God's people are reading his Word, the Bible, more this year and are greatly transformed by what He has to teach us! Or if you've never read the Bible, it's my hope you start.


*Photo by Imagens Evangelicas is registered under a creative commons license and is used with permission.

Children's Sermon, Christmas Eve 2011

/
December 18, 2012.

Christmas Eve services are a great way to keep the Christmas focus on Jesus.


Children's Sermon, Christmas Eve Service. 2011.

If you are not a regular church attender, find a good Christmas Eve service and attend.  Meet and worship Jesus this Christmas.  If you're in the Salt Lake area, consider Risen Life Church.  6:00pm and 7:30pm.  2780 E. 3900 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84124.  (www.RisenLifeUtah.org)


* This video, others like it, and many other resources are available here.

The Confession Statement of Risen Life Church

/
December 11, 2012 

Not long ago, I argued for the need of a doctrinal statement and the importance of forming a personal or organizational confession.  (If you have not read that, you may find it here.)   I have also made a personal confession available on this website for the past three years.  Now I am pleased to share the doctrinal statement written by Jared Jenkins and me after lengthy discussions between the two of us as well as Robert Marshall and Kevin Lund.

Rather than starting entirely from scratch, we looked at the confessions of believers who came before before us.  One in particular, from The Gospel Coalition, became our starting document.  From here, we read each article and discussed, first we asked if the article or doctrine was something we must make a biblical stand on, and second, if it needed an adjustment in some way.  It was a wonderful process and I am pleased with how it turned out.

For both Jared and me, this process was a part of our journey toward ordination at Risen Life.  Not only had we both completed our MDiv studies, we read additional books as well as wrote a paper.  In addition, it was great working with Jared on the project.

Here is the doctrinal statement of Risen Life Church:
God's Word, The Bible
God has graciously disclosed his existence and power in the created order, and has supremely revealed himself to fallen human beings in the person of his Son, the incarnate Word. Moreover, God is a speaking God, who by his Spirit has graciously disclosed himself in human words: we believe that God has inspired the words preserved in the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which are both record and means of his saving work in the world. These writings alone constitute the inspired Word of God, which is utterly authoritative and without error in the original writings, complete in its revelation of his will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. We confess that both our finitude and our sinfulness preclude the possibility of knowing God’s truth exhaustively, but we affirm that, enlightened by the Spirit of God, we can know God’s revealed truth truly. The Bible is to be believed as God’s instruction, in all that it teaches; obeyed as God’s command, in all that it requires; and trusted as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. As God’s people hear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and witnesses to the gospel.

The Triune God
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. This one true and living God is infinitely perfect both in his love, in his holiness, and in any other attribute we could name of him. He is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy to receive all glory and adoration. Immortal and eternal, he perfectly and exhaustively knows the end from the beginning, sustains and sovereignly rules over all things, and providentially brings about his eternal good purposes to redeem a people for himself and restore his fallen creation, to the praise of his glorious grace.
Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:22, Genesis 11:7, Exodus 34:6-7, Leviticus 11:44, Deuteronomy 6:4, Deuteronomy 33:27, Isaiah 40:28, Isaiah 42:5, Isaiah 45:5-6, Isaiah 45:7, Isaiah 46:8-10, Ezekiel 36:22-32, Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 28:19, John 1:1, John 13:31-32, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Ephesians 4:4-6, Colossians 1:16, 1 Timothy 1:17, 1 Peter 1:2, 1:16, Jude 20-21, Revelation 4:11, Revelation 21:6
Creation of Humanity
We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in his own image. The purpose of man being to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Adam and Eve belonged to the created order that God himself declared to be “very good," serving as God’s agents to care for, subdue, manage, and govern creation, living in holy and devoted fellowship with their Maker. Men and women, equally made in the image of God yet imbibing different roles, enjoy equal access to God by faith in Christ Jesus and are both called to move beyond passive self-indulgence to significant private and public engagement in family, church, and civic life; proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women, such that marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church. We believe the home is the first vehicle through which God desires ministry to be expressed. With complete equality between husband and wife, we believe the husband, as the designated spiritual head of the home, is the defacto pastor of the family. As such, the husband is the first to sacrifice for the needs of the family for the purpose of bringing spiritual maturity to those under his responsibility. The Church is to aide and equip the home to proclaim Christ to both the family in particular and society in general. In an effort to maintain consistency of expression from the home to the church, we desire the leadership of the church to mirror that of the home by exhibiting equality with a strong male tone.
The Fall
We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness from God and allegiance to God—for himself and all his progeny—by falling into sin through Satan’s temptation and his own desire. This fall from grace is recorded in the account of Satan tempting Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and Eve’s compliance in sin, as well as Adam’s complacent participation in the sin event, relinquishing his God-given role of ruler-ship.  As a result, all human beings are alienated from God, subjected to the rule of Satan, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually), no longer able to carry out God’s original purposes for mankind, and condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself.
Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 3:1-19, Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 15:18-19, Mark 7:21-22, John 3:36, John 8:44, John 14:6, Romans 1:18-28, Romans 3:10-18, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:12, Romans 6:23, Romans 18-19, Romans 7:18, Ephesians 2:3, Ephesians 2:4-10, Ephesians 4:18, Colossians 2:13, Colossians 3:5-7, Titus 1:15, James 1:14-15
The Plan of God
We believe that the plan of God is to justify and sanctify those who by grace have faith alone in Jesus, and that he will one day glorify them--all to the praise of his glorious grace.  Furthermore, all of God's activity is for the purpose of glorifying himself. In love God commands and implores all people to repent and believe, having set his saving love on those he has chosen and having ordained Christ to be their Redeemer.
The Gospel
We believe that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ—God’s very wisdom. Utter folly to the world, even though it is the power of God to those who are being saved, this good news is entirely centered on Christ.  The gospel is not proclaimed if Christ is not proclaimed, and the authentic Christ has not been proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not central.  This good news is biblical (his death and resurrection are according to the Scriptures), theological and salvific (Christ died for our sins, to reconcile us to God), historical (if the saving events did not happen, our faith is worthless, we are still in our sins, and we are to be pitied more than all others), apostolic (the message was entrusted to and transmitted by the apostles, who were witnesses of these saving events), and intensely personal (where it is received, believed, and held firmly, individual persons are saved).
The Redemption of Christ
We believe that, moved by love and in obedience to his Father, the eternal Son became human: the Word became flesh, fully God and fully human being, one Person in two natures. The man Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel, was conceived through the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary. He perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven. As the mediatorial King, he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, exercising in heaven and on earth all of God’s sovereignty, and is our High Priest and righteous Advocate. We believe that by his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ is our representative and substitute. He did this so that in him we might become the righteousness of God: on the cross he canceled sin, propitiated God, and, by bearing the full penalty of our sins, reconciled to God all those who believe. By his resurrection Christ Jesus was vindicated by his Father, broke the power of death and defeated Satan who once had power over it, and brought everlasting life to all his people; by his ascension he has been forever exalted as Lord and has prepared a place for us to be with him. We believe that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. Because God chose the lowly things of this world, the despised things, the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, no human being can ever boast before him—Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
The Justification of Sinners
We believe that Christ, by his obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified in him. By his sacrifice, he bore in our stead the punishment due us for our sins, making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice on our behalf. He took our sins; we received his righteousness. By faith alone the perfect obedience of Christ is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God. Inasmuch as Christ was given by the Father for us in love, and his obedience and punishment were accepted in place of our own, freely and not for anything in us, this justification is solely by grace, in order that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. The result of being justified by Christ is engagement in the sanctification process including: a zeal for personal and public holiness, obedience to the commands of Christ, and participation in evangelism.


Isaiah 53:1-12, John 15:1-11, Romans 3:1-31, Romans 5:1, Romans 8:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:11-20, Ephesians 2:8-10, Ephesians 4:17-24, Philippians 2:5-11, 1 Peter 1:13-16

The Power of the Holy Spirit
We believe that salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to his people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening them to repentance and faith, and in him they are baptized into union with the Lord Jesus, such that they are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. The Holy Spirit is himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells, guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.  By the Spirit's agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God's family; they participate in the divine nature and receive his sovereignly distributed gifts. We believe in the full range of spiritual gifts, exercised under the careful guidance of Scripture and the oversight of pastoral leadership.
The Church
We believe that those who have been saved by the grace of God through union with Christ by faith and through regeneration by the Holy Spirit enter the kingdom of God and delight in the blessings of the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins, the inward transformation that awakens a desire to glorify, trust, and obey God, and the prospect of the glory yet to be revealed. God’s new covenant people have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem; they are already seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Living as salt in a world that is decaying and light in a world that is dark, believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it: rather, we are to do good to the city, for all the glory and honor of the nations is to be offered up to the living God. Recognizing whose created order this is, and because we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the household of God. The kingdom of God, already present but not fully realized, is the exercise of God’s sovereignty in the world toward the eventual redemption of all creation.  It therefore inevitably establishes a new community of human life together under God. This community may be seen in the universal church and is manifest in local churches of which Christ is the only Head; thus each 'local church' is, in fact, the church, the household of God, the assembly of the living God, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. The church is the body of Christ, the apple of his eye, graven on his hands, and he has pledged himself to her forever. The church is distinguished by her gospel message, her sacred ordinances, her discipline, her great mission, and, above all, by her love for God, and by her members’ love for one another and for the world. Crucially, this gospel we cherish has both personal and corporate dimensions, neither of which may properly be overlooked. Christ Jesus is our peace: he has not only brought about peace with God, but also peace between alienated peoples. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both Jew and Gentile to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. The church serves as a sign of God’s future new world when its members live for the service of one another and their neighbors, rather than for self-focus. The church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit, and the continuing witness to God in the world.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself. Baptism, which should occur soon after initial conversion, is symbolic of the believer’s entrance into the new covenant community and whose normative means is by immersion. In Baptism the believer is buried in the water symbolizing their death and raised from the water symbolizing their new life in Christ. The Lord’s Supper is symbolic of ongoing covenant renewal found in Christ through repentance and belief. The bread is taken as a symbol of Christ as the bread of life, and the wine or juice representing Christ’s cleansing blood that was poured out for us on the cross.  Both elements are to be taken after examining oneself against the Body of Christ. Together, the ordinances represent the following: God’s pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace whereby we as believers participate spiritually with Christ, our public vows of submission and unity to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ and his body the Church, and anticipations of his return and of the consummation of all things. Finally, participation in these ordinances does not ensure salvation, but participation must be coupled with ongoing repentance and belief in Christ.
The Restoration of All Things
We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his role as final Judge, and his kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness.  We believe that both of these eternal realms, hell and the new heavens and the new earth, are physical and real and not just ethereal spiritual states.  In the new heavens and the new earth the church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and his people will be enthralled by the immediacy of his ineffable holiness, and everything will be to the praise of his glorious grace.  Humanity will return to the perfect blessedness and communion with God that it had in the garden; yet a blessed that has far surpassed our original state because of the work of Christ.  It will be very good.
Isaiah 65:17, Isaiah 66:22-24, Daniel 12:1-4, Matthew 22:1-14, Matthew 25:31-46, John 5:25-29, Romans 8:19-21, 1 Corinthians 15:1-58, Ephesians 5:22-33, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10, Hebrews 1:10-12, Hebrews 12:26-27, 2 Peter 3:10, 2 Peter 3:13, Jude 1:24, Revelation 19:7-10, Revelation 19:11-16, Revelation 20:11-15, Revelation 21:1-22:6

* This confessional statement was produced through discussion between Risen Life pastors and the editing of a variety of other confessions and doctrinal statements.  Other than the Bible, the Gospel Coalition provided the primary document from which we started.

You Will Be My Witnesses

/
December 4, 2012.

I am truly bless to serve on a church staff that provides me with so many opportunities to grow as a pastor.  We're presently in a sermon series titled, "As We Reach" because about a year ago we added the word 'Reach' to our mission and it's our hope that a lifestyle of evangelism becomes a part of our DNA in the coming years.  At Risen Life Church we seek to experience real life transformation and we do that through our mission: "connect, grow, serve, and reach."   This week I was able to step into the pulpit and preach a message titled "You Will Be My Witnesses." 

In addition, we've had some video testimonies that open each sermon.  Nathan Sweet, a gifted photographer and film maker, has been helping us create these videos.  (They've been really great.  Here's a sample, and another, and even another.) However, we didn't have anybody lined up for this recent week so we didn't shoot an interview.  Nathan is a busy student so when Pastors Kevin and Robert asked if we could still have a video, I stepped up to the director/editor plate.  It's certainly not of the same quality as the videos Nathan produces for us and there's one really bad edit (oops!), but I feel like we were still able to tell a story, thanks to a willing participant, some construction lights, the help of Sean Patrick on the sound board in our worship center, and a couple video cameras (one of which uses video tapes--remember those!). Because of our sound limitations, we were also limited to the worship center backdrop.  Here's Tina Pelton in the video that ran just before I preached the message:



It's not often you find a pastor so willing to raise up future leaders and even share the pulpit.   I get to work with two!  We serve in a team ministry model so our senior pastor, Kevin, works closely with Pastor Robert and they rotate each week in the pulpit.  And even with this arrangement, they allow me and another pastor (Jared Jenkins) to preach from time to time--even more in 2013.

Like I said, I am blessed and couldn't ask for a better place to serve and learn after completing seminary!