Transfer: God's Presence

What if God were just an idea?  What if all the rest of our practices and beliefs stayed the same, but God was just an idea, not personal, not a being.  Of course God the idea would still be all that the Bible says he is–holy, just,  loving,  merciful, and eternal–all in our religious imaginations. We could have conferences describing what the Bible says God the idea is–that He is a trinity, that his righteousness must be vindicated, that he will finally punish all those who reject his offer of forgiveness.  And of course heretics to these ideas would be excluded from our orthodox religion of God–the idea.  In the end it would all matter–since ideas influence our lives.  After all, ever other belief system is basically grounded in…ideas.

Here’s a tragic scenario.  What if God were treated as an idea by those who know He is a personal Being? What if we functioned as religious philosophers–full of orthodox vigor–and moralists–full of righteous zeal, but we never desired to know God, the Triune Being?  What if we were content with ideas but never hungered for a person, never thirsted for the nearness, the reality of God? This would be the Christian faith emptied of its core, void of its heart, bereft of its hope.  This, this lifeless orthodoxy, this moral travesty,  is what we desperately want to resist by transferring a passion for God’s presence.

God is not an idea, He is a personal Being—three Persons, one God.   His unveiled presence is our final eternal hope; the ache in our souls is meant to be satisfied only by the eternal glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  Our current oxygen is enjoying the Holy Spirit, given to transform our lives from ordinary mortal experience to supernatural vibrancy, to reveal heaven touching earth in the heart and life of each believer.   So, let’s ask, evaluate, and change.  Is God more like an idea, or…God, in our lives right now?

*Originally posted at www.thetransfer.org

Praying For Newtown

Father, please bring the comforting presence of your Holy Spirit to the hearts of the surviving children.  Lord, these are little children--please remove the fear from their hearts, help them to sleep peacefully, remove all nightmares,  bring them quickly back to a sense of peace and security and joy.  Lord Jesus,  please be present with the parents and family of those who have died. Please send your Spirit to them to bring comfort that no other person could provide.  Lord,  you understand the depth of pain and suffering that they are experiencing even though I do not.  Show them that you understand their grief, that you are present to offer comfort and eternal hope in the face of darkness and death.  

Lord Jesus, come quickly to remove all evil from this dark world.  Save many by the good news of your grace.  Bring us into the joy and peace of heaven, where violence and death will be no more. Amen. 

Worship as Mission

A few posts ago I included worship as part of our new church's definition of mission.  I included it because it seems possible for a church's missional definition to focus only on the evangelistic part of our purpose, or perhaps to attempt a balanced purpose statement including community and outreach.  But worship must not be an assumed part of our corporate identity, or an afterthought of our mission.   Worship is at the core of our purpose. Indeed we might say that worship is the river out of which all other missional tributaries flow.  We preach the gospel to unbelievers because we first love the God of the gospel.  We build community with each other out of love for our Triune God.  Proselytizing is not unique to Christians, nor is the building of community. Every religion seeks to gain converts and almost all organizations seek to cultivate community. But Christians do all that they do out of love for and obedience to God.

Worship has both a corporate and private dimension.  It is corporate when we gather together as a church to worship God in song and in prayer, to worship God by sitting in submission under his Word, to worship God by encouraging one another, to worship God by remembering His gospel in baptism and the Lord's Supper.  Our Sunday morning gathering certainly builds community and certainly shares the good news with unbelievers, but underneath these goals is the purpose of bringing God glory--of worshiping God.

Worship is also our purpose when we "scatter" as a church to worship God throughout the week.  Our daily lives are to be a sacrificial offering to the Lord (Rom. 12:1-2) and we are to do every activity for His glory (1 Cor. 10:31).  And certainly as we live on God's Word as our spiritual bread, and drink of His Spirit as living water, and live out our gospel calling by loving the Lord with all that we are  (Luke 10:27), we are worshiping God. 

All can certainly affirm John Piper's clarion sentence: "Missions exist because worship does not."--We are missional so that others may become worshipers of God.

The reverse is also the case:  True missions exist because worship exists.    We preach the gospel, and build community, out of love for God.

And one more clarifying point is worth making.  We want to be neither 'pietists' or 'pragmatists' in our worship of God--neither claiming that God is only worshiped through song, prayer, and "devotional" activities, nor claiming that God is only worshiped in activities like evangelism or practical service.  The Bible defines both as worship and so should we.

What we must insure is that in all that we do, our affections are set on the Lord of glory, that our motive would be to know Him more deeply and serve Him more fully.  We do this because,  "he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." (2 Cor. 5:15)

Transfer: God's Word

I’m not a big fan of honey. My children love it and my wife says it’s a more healthy sweetener than sugar. Of course, in my mind, sweet and healthy have no real need to hang out together in the same sentence…or food. So, its slightly harder for me to appreciate David’s heart in Psalm 19:10 when he says that God’s Word is “sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.” I have to go back in time and imagine life in David’s world—no flavored coffee, ice-cream, Oreos, Skittles, or Snickers. Just, honey.

Honey represented the sweetener of life. The sweetest food to be imagined.  Back then honey must have seemed like a gift directly from heaven to transform the diet of a fallen world. From a food standpoint, honey was experiencing the joy of heaven on earth. And that, I think, is what David is getting at when he says that to him God’s Word is sweeter than honey. So, now, I ask, is it that sweet to me?

Of course most of us believe in the authority of God’s Word; we know it should be part of our regular spiritual diet. But too often we feel towards it a bit more like…eating our vegetables than…enjoying honey. When we talk about transferring the value of God’s Word, of course we mean upholding its authority, sufficiency, clarity, and inerrancy. Of course we want to trace the storyline of redemption and obey biblical commands. But in all of these disciplines, we want to transfer and receive something else. We want an uninhibited,  emotional, passionate joy in God’s Word. We want it to be more than nourishing, more than only truth. We want it to be delightful and joy-inspiring. Like honey for our souls.

*originally posted at thetransfer.org

Mission: Worship God

In recent weeks I've been writing about the theological vision of our church, walking through the following sentence: 

Under the authority of God's Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be a gospel centered church that worship God, loves one another, and proclaims the gospel to the world. 

To this point I've discussed God's Word, the Holy Spirit, and gospel centrality.  Now, let me continue by considering our mission of worship.

A Church that…Worships God (Exodus 20:1-6, Psalm 1, Psalm 16, Psalm 63, Jeremiah 9:23-24,  Matthew 22:37, Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:15, Philippians 3:8, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 5)

I love how Augustine begins his famous Confessions. “You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until we find our rest in you.”  To be grounded in God’s Word, empowered by God’s Spirit and centered on God’s gospel is to have this as our glorious goal—to live passionately for the glory of God, ever growing in our relationship with God and reflecting his righteousness in our lives.  We want to be a church that does not assume this vertical dimension of our calling, this most important mission.   As Jesus said, our calling is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37).  Or as Paul said we “count all as loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:8).  Practically, this means that our Sunday gathering will always prioritize worshiping the Lord in songs that describe who God is and what He has done in salvation and that express a heart of awe, affection, and gratefulness toward Him.  And since all of our lives are intended to be offered as worship to the Lord, our sermons will have an aim toward real growth in our knowledge of God and real transformation of our character into the image of our Savior.  To be a church that worships God also means that each of us will seek to prioritize our relationship with God in private worship and that our small group meetings will seek to encourage us onward in our growth in godliness.  We will seek to live up to our spiritual ancestors who said that the chief end of man is “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

Jon Payne: Church Planting and Misplaced Glory

Jon Payne: Church Planting and Misplaced Glory 

Lessons from History

I like reading biographies of dead people. Actually, biographies of dead people are just about all I read for fun. Some of my friends consider me weird and wonder why I don't have any good hobbies. But I love getting to know a person from a former era, someone history has chosen to remember for some victory or office, some heroic act or unique accomplishment. I especially enjoy reading biographies of leaders who abandoned themselves to the opportunities of their time, hoping to make a difference for good. Men like John Adams, Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, George Marshall, and Abraham Lincoln have taught me countless lessons about leadership, courage, vision, and endurance.  

Temptations to Pride

However, reading biographies of leaders comes with one gigantic temptation, one enormous risk. The risk: In reading about the men history considers great, I'm enticed to be great in the eyes of history. On some future date, perhaps one hundred years from now, I hope that someone will read about me. Of course I don't hope to be a great politician or military leader, like these men were. I am a pastor. Next year, Lord willing, I will plant a church. My course in history tends in a very ecclesiastical direction. But I hope, in my own little evangelical world, to make a big enough mark in history that someone will read of me, of my church, of my preaching, one hundred years from now. I'm envious of those men, my own age, who already seem on track to have a hundred-year-old name. And church planting comes filled with temptations to desire prominence--to make my church a platform for my reputation. Deep down I want a hundred-year-old name. A ridiculous desire, unrealistic, considering my gifting and capacity. But it's present all the same. 

Ambitious for God's Glory

Why? Why this disgusting, pathetic desire? Not because I am ambitious, not because I am driven, no. Far from it. My heart is too easily satisfied with the glory that comes from men. Instead of wanting the truly valuable, the honor of living and giving and sacrificing for God, I want a worthless hundred year name. Instead of wanting the eternal honor of His reward, I am focused on the cheep blue ribbon of a hundred-year-old biography. I see this scrap of desire blowing around the back alley of my heart, almost every time I read or hear of a famous man. And, ironically, every time I meditate on this worthless scrap of desire, it turns into a great weight of anxiety, fear, and worry. But Jesus has created in me a greater longing, more powerful still. He has planted in me the desire that His name would be glorified in me, and me in Him, according to His grace. (2 Thess. 1:12) He has paid in full for every prideful desire and bestowed His own nature of humble service within me. Because I am in Him, I can have my eyes set on eternity and the glory of God, not on the acclaim of this earth. All that I need for life and godliness and endurance and motivation and pastoring is found in Him. I have all that I need in Him to kill my ambition for earthly fame and cultivate a hunger of His glory.

Helpful Reminders

So, to my fellow church planters. To any who share this sad desire for a hundred year name, let me encourage all of us with the following reminders:

• The Lord has already written our biography, whether famous or forgotten in history
• The Lord's approval is all we need, all we want
• Service in secret receives heavenly acclaim
• The Lord remembers what man often forgets, and honors what man often disdains
• The Lord's sheep are more valuable than our reputation

The Lord has called us to live for his glory. Let us not trade loving His glory for craving a hundred year name on earth.
After all, a hundred years from now, we will be with Him. 



*Originally Posted at www.sovereigngraceministries.org

Mission: Gospel-Centered (Because We Must Be)

In my last post I spoke to the center of our mission as we plant a church in Austin, Texas.  Our "center" is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I want to clarify why this is the case.  We are not going to build a gospel-centered church because we believe it is a preferred option out of a number of legitimate options in church mission focus.  It's not as though we went to the "church building fair" and visited a number of different booths, one labeled "community focused", another "evangelism centered", a third "worship driven", a fourth "mercy ministry emphasized" and finally came to the "gospel-centered" booth, liked what we saw, and plunked down our mission money.  Neither are we choosing to be gospel-centered because we believe it is the fastest way to attract people or to have an international platform or to create a buzz in the city.  Actually, one way of saying it, is that we don't feel we have a choice at all.  We are gospel centered because we believe the Bible is and what the Bible is we must be.

Now to clarify this clarification, to say the Bible is gospel-centered doesn't mean that it is gospel-exclusive---as though the facts of Jesus life and death and resurrection and the results of His work are just repeated in their simplest form over and over in the Scriptures.  The Bible does indeed talk about community, and evangelism, and worship, and mercy, and a host of other topics that are not in themselves the basic message of Jesus Christ, the good news. However,  the storyline of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation centers around the person and work of Jesus Christ in saving sinners and redeeming mankind for God. 

Let me give a few examples, working from the end, back to the beginning, since newer revelation should always interpret older.

• Revelation chapter five makes it clear that the Lamb, who is also the Lion, is the one given the charge of all of God's purposes for redemption and judgement.  And the worship song he receives focuses on his atoning death to pay for sinners. History pivots on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• The epistles focus on extolling and applying Jesus death and resurrection.  We are reminded of our lost estate without Christ, encouraged by our inheritance in Christ, and exhorted to live worthy of our calling from Christ. Many diverse letters, but the epistles proclaim Christ as the center. If you are uncertain of this, simply peruse through the epistles focusing on the phrases "in, with, or through Christ",  or "in the Lord."  They are everywhere, connecting everything we do to who He is and what He has done.  
• The gospels culminate in an extended meditation on Jesus death and resurrection.  Yes, they celebrate His birth, His teaching, and His ministry, but the accent in all four, is on his Passion Week. 
• The prophets lament the sin of God's people, rebuke their faithlessness, and look forward in hope to a new day, the day of the Lord.  In the New Testament, these Old Testament needs and hopes are applied to the fulfillment of Jesus ministry and His provisions for His people.  He is the hope of the prophetic word.
• The historical books chronicle the tragic laps of the people into sin, with an emphasis on the sinful leadership of the Israelite kings. The march toward exile, despite the patient grace of God, makes clear the need for a more transforming redemption, and for One who will baptize His people with the Holy Spirit and write His law on their hearts.
• The books of the law, with all of their prescriptions for dealing with sin and placating judgement, are shadows, interpreted by the New Testament to be foretelling the better ministry of Jesus Christ.  He is our priest, our sacrifice, our temple. If we follow the course of the New Testament writers, and we should, the Old Testament is intended by God to be exegeted toward fulfillment in Christ.
• The tragic, treasonous blasphemy of Genesis 3 is also the context of God's promise, that a great Child would come who would crush the head of the Serpent and who would also experience his own "wound" in the process.  The prelude sets up the story.  Jesus would destroy the destruction of Satan through suffering the wounds that should have been ours on the cross.

The Bible is gospel-centered, it is Christ centered. And what the Bible is, so must we be.