backpacking light

I read this article today in Backpacking Light and immediately the spiritual applications starting ringing in my ears. I urge you to stop trying to get all the latest gadgets and tools and focus on being prepared, in season and out of season, to share the Gospel by word and deed.

Check it out here.

-joe

take it easy

Taking it easy in evangelism is the theme of the times.

Slow down, develop a solid friendship so that you can open up lines of true communication.

Ease off the judgmental language of saying that someone is guilty before God.

Hell is too harsh to put into a friendly conversation.

Just talk about purpose and how God has one for you and He just loves you so much.

That's all evangelism is, right? Talking about God's love and his purpose for you?

Sorry to bust your bubble, but evangelism is much more robust than that and must necessarily have elements of God's holiness, his judgment, one's guilt, Jesus sacrifice on our behalf and his resurrection. It must also have words like repent, believe, turn away, follow and the like. It must.

You've gotta work on consistently turning conversations to the majesty of God through the love of Christ. And then, when you get into a conversation with someone who does not believe the Gospel it will be a natural outflow of conversation and not a forced evangelistic talk. You'll evangelize simply by talking normally if you work at seasoning ALL of your conversations this way.

So, don't take it easy. Work at making your speech salty because even the sweetest cake needs salt to make it taste right.

-joe

evangelizing jericho

Years ago I began changing my stance on evangelism. (For awhile it was nearly non-existent, thankfully a good man named Scott gave me a good chewing out to get that idea out of my head.)

But, early on in my zeal I was notoriously the arguer. I wanted to smash every single rational defense against faith. I wanted to break down the walls and I wanted to show people that the Gospel was real.

Oftentimes it would take the form of debating creation/evolution or the problem of evil. More recently it might be apparent contradictions in Scripture or the fallibility of the church.

All of those things, as good as they may be, are not evangelism. Not even close.

Think about it like this.

Your friend is like the city of Jericho. He is a fortress city with high walls and great defenses. He can withstand attack after attack on his non-faith because he has spent years stockading.

Your job isn't to pull down his walls of defense brick by brick. Your job isn't to try and smash your way inside the heart of your friend.

Your job is to trumpet the good news of the Gospel and watch those walls crumble beneath the power of the Holy Spirit.

Evangelism is not our battle to fight. It is our duty to trumpet the news of the already won war. So, the next time you find yourself trying to tear down the walls of Jericho to witness to someone take a step back and realize that's not your job. Get out your Gospel trumpet and declare the majesty of God, the culpability of man and the good news of Christ. And then let the Spirit do the battle.

-joe

the telling of the heavens

From The Treasury of David, Psalm 19:

It is not merely glory that the heavens declare, but the "glory of God," for they deliver to us such unanswerable arguments for a conscious, intelligent, planning, controlling, and presiding Creator, that no unprejudiced person can remain unconvinced by them. The testimony given by the heavens is no mere hint, but a plain, unmistakable declaration; and it is a declaration of the most constant and abiding kind. Yet for all this, to what avail is the loudest declaration to a deaf man, or the clearest showing to one spiritually blind? God the Holy Ghost must illuminate us, or all the suns in the milky way never will.

Romans 1 says that these declarations make all men guilty before God because they have seen them and not given him His due glory. Oh, that Psalm 19 and Romans 1 would awaken us to the importance and immediacy of evangelism.

They may have the heavens to declare them guilty but we have the Truth to declare them righteous and free! Why are we so small minded not to pray, as Paul commands in 1 Timothy, for all peoples to be saved? Why are we so slow to act when every night we see the judgment of God on our neighbors?

-joe

the terrible temple and the throne of grace

God is a god of glory. Unbelievable, immense, awe-inspiring glory that makes your hands sweat and your heart race and your knees quiver. To think that standing before God would do anything other than make us burst at the seams is to think of the wrong god. God's very presence is enough to make a mountain shake (Exodus 19.)

This is the same vision that we get in Isaiah 6 in the year that Uzziah (the king) died. First, a little background on Uzziah from 2 Chronicles 26 and 2 Kings 15.

He was, for the most part, a good king. He did a lot of things right but then his pride took over and he decided to enter the temple and light the holy incense instead of letting Azariah and the priests handle it. He went in and desecrated the earthly temple of the Lord God and was stricken with leprosy until he died. He messed with something declared holy on earth and God was angry enough to curse him with disease and shame.

Now, in the year that Uzziah died, Isaiah is swept up in a vision to the very throne-room of heaven. He is put in the very temple of God in a place that is not declared holy, but it is holy because it is where God is. And Isaiah knows that on earth, if you enter the temple of God unclean, you are usually cast out of Israel, or even killed for some offenses. So, now Isaiah is in the heavenly temple and is, rightfully, scared out of his mind. Trembling in fear. Sweat pouring off his hands and face. Finding it hard to swallow. Fighting back tears.

And he cries out "WOE IS ME! WOE IS ME! I'M A MAN OF UNCLEAN LIPS AND I LIVE AMONG A PEOPLE OF UNCLEAN LIPS!" He is afraid because he knows he is guilty and is standing in the presence of a righteous and holy God.

This is the God that rules the world. This is the God of Christianity. He is still seated on his throne and his robe still fills the temple. The seraphim still call in loud voices that he is "holy, holy, holy" and their voice still shakes the temple thresholds of heaven. He is to be feared. He is great and powerful and mighty.

Then, after Isaiah declares his own guilt, God mercifully sends a seraph to cleanse his lips so that he can endure the voice and presence of God.

In the same way, Christ has done this for anyone who believes in Him, that he died for their sins so that they can stand in God's presence without fear of death. In Hebrews 9 and 10 we read that Jesus spilt His blood as an eternal sacrifice to purify us of our sins and evil conscience. His sacrifice gives us confidence to enter the most holy place of heaven without fear because we are wiped clean and look righteous in God's eyes.

Therefore, we should have a full assurance of faith because He is faithful. He died for us to save us from Himself. To save us from our certain death in His presence because of our sin. Because He has done that, we can draw near to Him in faith. He is gracious. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved from the terrible temple of God so that you can enter boldly the throne-room of grace.

And, if you are a believer and have tasted the sweetness of His salvation, then declare it boldly to save others from His presence. This is what Isaiah says when, after reading off many prophecies of Christ and many condemnations of God's justice, he says in chapter 12:

Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

-joe

(this is the first lesson of a series I am doing called "The Mission of the Gospel: A Call to Evangelism." I hope to reduce the lessons into a readable format each week so that you can be spurred on toward a greater diligence to preach the Gospel.

short sermon

Today I preached what was easily my shortest sermon. It lasted less than 10 minutes and contained several different remembrances of Ashley. Interwoven was the Gospel, as seen in John 14:1-7. There is only one hope, and it is Christ. He has promised that if we believe in Him, that he died for our sins and rose the third day to save us, we will be with him in paradise.

Despite its brevity, this sermon affected me more than any other time I have talked about the Gospel. As I looked out at the faces in the room, I became acutely aware of the fact that some of these people would never concede to the grace of God and would instead, choose hell because of the hardness of their hearts.

Fresh in the eyes of death, I saw the finality of the Gospel. That, at some point, we will no longer have the ability to teach them the Gospel. How horrible a thought. So horrible, that my whole body feels weak. How terrible the grace of God can be, when it is denied by the very people he came to save.

This brings the idea of evangelism (a topic that I'm teaching in a Wednesday evening class) to a new height. Oh, that my complacency towards those who don't believe would be kindled.

-joe

(18 Words will be posted tomorrow: the World and Sin)

evangelism

HT: Vitamin Z

-joe

a little late

I was busy yesterday evening so I didn't have a chance to check this over and post it. So, I'm doing it over my lunch hour (after holding my nephew for 10 minutes or so.)

Recently, there have been lots of things springing up in the church that I perceive as good things. There is a study going on discussing Mark Dever's The Gospel and Personal Evangelism that is sparking some great conversation and action.

There are several women who are now holding an outreach Bible study at a (for the most part) retired apartment complex here in Rochester. That makes my heart sing. (It would sing more if some dudes would step up to the plate, but...at least we are talking about Jesus.)

There is a swell of people wanting strong discipleship from the leaders of the church. There are youth getting excited about missions abroad. There are new folks coming to church every week. There are two baptisms in the next month.

These are great things. I'm excited for them.

And then, I hear that at the book study on Dever's book there was a lengthy discussion that went on concerning who is really saved. Now, the discussion came about because the book warns against emotional responses to the Gospel instead of heartfelt and true repentance and belief...it is good to know that there is a difference and to do our best to guard against it. But...it lead to some folks saying that you basically have to be perfect in order to be saved. You have to lead the "sermon on the mount" life or you don't have saving faith. Hold the phone...Put down the fish. Did you hear that? That is absurd. Ridiculous. And a great insult and de-glorification of the great salvation offered through Christ on the cross.

Thankfully a friend of mine (I am not in the study because I work with the youth) stopped things and said. "HOLD UP! Are you insinuating that unless you live a perfect life that you are not saved? Are you serious?! Let me lay it down John Piper style. We are saved because of Jesus substitutionary death on the cross and we are renewed to life by the same Spirit that resurrected Him from the grave. That is the "blazing center" of the Gospel. That is what we are talking about here. The center. The middle. The most important thing. We are talking about evangelizing and you are talking about the effects of sanctification and whether or not you can tell someone is saved. That is absurd. Jesus saves and then we live holy. Living holy means nothing without the cross and that is what we are to be doing...evangelizing the good news of the death of Jesus."

Whew. I am glad that he was there. I am also glad that through God's providence I am preaching on sanctification this Sunday. Oh Lord, let me speak openly and honestly and through the power of your Spirit so that these wretched thoughts will be cast out from among our midst.

-joe

giving

A few days ago I wrote about how it upsets me that people have to think twice about giving to someone in need. Now, in order to clarify a few things (since that post was written in haste...in a little bit of anger. ok...a lot of anger).

When someone approaches me (which happened just a week or so ago) and asks something of me, I gladly give if I can. I also do my best to share the good news of Christ with them. It is usually my 30-second Gospel and is usually met with a "Yeah, I believe in God." By this point the person is typically disinterested in what I have to say, so I ask if I can pray for them. To me, this is one of the greatest time of Gospel proclamation because I can thank God for His saving grace in prayer and ask for Him to show the Gospel to be true to that person.

And, since I am talking about giving, I have these thoughts to add. I think that any giving which comes from habit (meaning tithes and gifts to organizations that you do regularly), should go only to the church. That's right. I don't think a Christian should give a dime to any organization that is not evangelistic in nature. That means no Invisible Children, no Bono, no End World Hunger campaign. Nothing, unless it is directly involved with the Gospel and the church.

Some may call me cold-hearted because so many organizations exist to help people who are suffering physical and emotional distress. But, I counter that the good news of Christ is the only way to truly take care of those needs. By giving to a secular organization who cares for their worldly needs we have taken another step in hardening the hearts of non-believers who now think that salvation can come in many forms instead of just one, Jesus Christ.

Also, there are many Church and para-Church organizations that help with the same problems as the secular ones. If the people of the Church would faithfully give to those causes, then we would have many more resources for God to use through us for the spreading of the Gospel.

So, if you are a Christian, increase your charitable giving...to the Church.

(A PS before the end. I do think that if you are confronted with a one-time plea for help, like those at stores that ask if you'd like to give $1 to something or other, then we should give. To me, those show the love of Christ to those outside the church. I am only talking, again, of habitual giving, when I say one should only give to the Church.)

-joe

night light

My light burns longer than everyone else in my family and tonight I needed to share two things.
One is that I have recently begun praying this psalm for the youth in Rochester:

12May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
cut for the structure of a palace;

Oh, that God would raise up the young men and women in my youth groups and use them to spark a great revival of hearts and minds in Rochester. I pray that the baby-boomers would see the great love of Christ dwelling richly in the youth and that their hearts would be quickened to that same joy and love.

The second is related to the first...it has to do with evangelism (which must occur to see our sons and daughters grow). Below is a quote found in The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever (which is a great easy read. no theological jargon. no hard to read statements...just down to earth writing in about 115 pages). The quote is by John Stott:

The invisibility of God is a great problem. It was already a problem to God's people in Old Testament days. Their pagan neighbors would taunt them, saying, "Where is now your God?" Their gods were visible and tangible, but Israel's God was neither. Today in our scientific culture young people are taught not to believe in anything which is not open to empirical investigation. How then has God solved the problem of his own invisibility? The first answer is of course "in Christ." Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. John 1:18: "no one has ever seen God, but Bod the only Son has made him known." "that's wonderful," people say, "but it was 2,000 years ago. Is there no way by which the invisible God makes himself visible today?" There is. We return to 1 John 4:12: "No one has ever seen God." It is precisely the same introductory statement. But instead of continuing with reference to the Son of God, it continues: "If we loves one another, God dwells in us." IN other words, the invisible God, who once made himself visible in Christ, now makes himself visible in Christians, if we love one another. It is a breathtaking claim. The local church cannot evangelize, proclaiming the gospel of love, if it is not itself a community of love.

So, let us take up the charge of evangelizing our youth by being a community of love so that God, the invisible, is displayed. And then, then...we will see the fulfillment of our prayer that God would make our sons and daughters like pillars and full-grown trees.

-joe

the basics...

my buddy matt and I were talking about the basics of the faith tonight. The conversation came when we were posed with the idea that the Christian faith is not based on facts in the uttermost sense. That, without the facts of the faith, someone could still be saved. (This is a very dumbed down version of the actual question, but it gets to the heart f it.)

Here is what I think, regarding the bare faith of Christianity. I will give a metaphor and a short fictional story to show my ideas.

The first is the story. Suppose a man named Abihu meets a man named John. They meet randomly as John is on his way to another place in the jungle. John is a Christian and desires that Abihu also believe so that Abihu might know the glory of God and joy of salvation. Abihu hears the following version of the Gospel in the 2 minutes that John is in contact with him. "Jesus was a man, who was also God. He came to this earth and had a ministry of several years. He performed many miracles. He was anointed with precious perfume. He died taking on the sins of the world. He rose again and spent 40 days more on the earth. He then ascended into heaven. If you believe in your heart that Jesus rose from the dead and confess with your mouth that He is Lord, you will be saved from the judgment of the most Holy God."

Abihu hears this and in his heart, believes. He leaves the brief encounter rejoicing. He goes back to his tribe, being the only one who has ever met a Christian. He tells them all of this news that he has heard. He preaches it faithfully for 30 years. All of his tribe also believe.

Thirty years later, another man, Tim, who is also a Christian, comes to the tribe of Abihu to tell them the good news of Christ. Much to his surprise, Abihu and the tribe already profess faith in Jesus, despite this tribe never having been ministered to by a missionary. Tim asks how they know of Jesus and Abihu tells him of the brief encounter with John.

Tim stays with the tribe and continues to teach them the faith, entrusted to the saints. Surprisingly, the tribe accepts, with little hesitation, all that Tim tells them. They readily acknowledge that Jesus was born of a virgin. They see how the Trinity must be. They find much comfort in the joys and sufferings of the folks in the Bible.
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This story illustrates, to me, the basic faith of Christianity. It is true, that all one must do to be saved is acknowledge Jesus as Lord and recognize Him to have been resurrected. The key to the story is that 30 years later, all the other doctrines of the faith are brought in, and because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the tribe of Abihu, they readily agree to the other doctrines of the faith. So too, we must readily accept the doctrines of the faith if we believe. It is true that they are not utterly necessary but if we believe we will want to know deeper the fullness of the Gospel. We will want to understand more and more the joy of our salvation. Our desire will not be to stagnate and be satisfied with the absolute minimum of faith.
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The metaphor (I might have used the wrong word...analogy? simile? i never know...)

Suppose one is learning to drive. That person is told "This is the gas. This is the brake. This is the steering wheel. The gas moves you forward. The brake makes you stop. The steering wheel makes you turn."

That is, essentially, what driving is. Three things. But isn't there more? What of shifting to a different gear? Driving in the rain? In the dark? Why use turn signals?

Even though this person might be able to "drive" they will not be very successful if the driving gets difficult. If, however, they are taught the full measure of driving...they will have much greater success. (It is true that they may not...which is true of faith as well. Some may know all that Christianity entails, but not believe.)

Thoughts back?

-joe

romans 3

Tonight at senior high we discussed the practical implications of Romans 3. That those who continue in sin so that "grace may abound" do not understand the Gospel, that it is the power of faith to those who believe. We talked about the mission of evangelism and the weight of our duty as Christians to tell the world the Gospel. In doing so, we are not to judge the world, because to tell them to act like Christ before they have the Spirit of God is to tell them to obey a law that leads them to a dead-end. The law apart from Christ is nothing.

We also talked about those on the flip side who do everything according to the law of 'goodness'. Who walk this earth as saints by their good deeds but do not have a faith in Christ and never point anyone towards the Gospel of repentance. For them, the law of works is also a dead end. Both of these sides must end in the propitiatory death of Jesus Christ.

Because of this idea, evangelism becomes most crucial. It also becomes most difficult because of the weight of the souls of men and the unwillingness of us, as believers, to actually tell anyone about the Gospel. It should weight heavy on our minds each day that those without Christ may cease to be alive tomorrow and will not be with God in heaven, but they will be forever in the torment of hell.

It is undeniable that we must do a better job of telling others the joy of Christ and the life that we live in accordance with faith in Him. We must again seek the power of the Gospel, the good news, so that all those who are destined will come to faith in Christ.

It all comes back to the Gospel. Live it and preach it.

-joe

worship

the author of the book "worship as evangelism", Sally Morgenthaler, has completely changed her mind since the time she wrote the book. 
her article gets to the heart of the problem of missional worship. i highly recommend it...for those who would not listen to these words coming from someone like me (a crazy opinionated Calvinist)...give this woman your ear (or eyes) for a little while. Let her talk to you about the change that happened in her heart regarding worship in the modern era.

-joe

social stuff and some Scripture stuff

my older sister and i had a good conversation last night about the difference between social activism and justice with and without Christ as the central message and method. we talked until 3 am.

our conclusion: good done to man, in order that he might improve on his life, is of no worth unless he understands the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for if that man, who is now helped, does not repent and believe...then you have only spared him a few years on this earth away from the eternity of hell. therefore, we must always, when seeking to serve, preach the Gospel as well.

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something else some of you may find of use is a post on the 9marks blog about the way to go about reading and interpreting Scripture (it is meant for teachers, but can easily be adopted for anyone).

-joe