This is the title of a good recent article at Kairos Journal. The article is a good, brief argument for the value of history generally for Christians and an encouragement for pastors to teach their people about the works of God in history.
I encourage you to read it and to sign up for Kairos Journal (for free!).
Ray Ortlund is a regular reminder to me of the centrality of grace. Two of his recent posts speak directly to the theme of my last two posts (one, two). First, in words I have heard him use elsewhere Ortlund presses the implications of being under grace and not law. He writes:
You are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:14
If I am not under grace but under law, then the burning issue in my life moment by moment is, Am I sinning?
If I am not under law but under grace, then the burning issue in my life moment by moment is, Am I forgiven?
Then in another post he cites this powerful excerpt from Luther, who is so helpful on this point. This is good preaching to contemplate and take deeply into our souls:
“God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We however, says Peter (2 Peter 3:13), are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God’s glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins?”
Martin Luther, writing to Philip Melanchthon, 1 August 1521.
Following on from my previous post, here is my recent attempt to proclaim the reality of God’s love for His people from Isaiah 43. I read from and alluded to Isaiah 42:18-43:21, but focused the exposition on 43:1-7 which says:
43:1 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
5 Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
This is a beautiful and amazing text full of gospel promises. I am aware that some OT scholars would be displeased with my handling of the text, but I am unapologetic. I move very quickly from these statements directed to Israel centuries ago to applying them to the people of God today. I know that the return from Exile is in view, but these statements are not confined to that situation. This is the reiteration of the covenant promises of God for the people of God, and they apply directly to the people of God today.
As we wrestle with sin and are subtly tempted to believe that we remain saved by our own worthiness, we need to be reminded that God says to those who are in Christ, “I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” Yes! The God of the universe, who does not need me has chosen in his inestimable mercy to say to me, a sinner, “You are mine!” What beautiful words! What soul enriching words! What freeing words!
And, in spite of what I know about the deceitfulness of my own heart and about my own unworthiness, the Lord of all creation declares, “you are precious in my eyes,and honored, and I love you.” This is what we struggle to believe. It is so good that it seems it cannot be true.
Brothers, let us believe this amazing truth and proclaim it to our people. They are dying to know it- even some who have heard it all their lives.
What a message! What a privilege to proclaim it! What a God!
I am increasingly mindful of the struggle Christians have to really believe that God loves them and forgives their sin. Part of our task as pastors in proclaiming the gospel is to remind the people of God that God does truly forgive sin. This is a crucial aspect of the gospel. But for some of our people it will be easy to believe that God hates sin, that God judges sin, and even that God forgives the sins of other people but not that he really & truly forgives their own sin.
Honestly, I am more accustomed to dealing with the error of minimizing God’s holiness and the horribleness of sin. This is a real problem in the church, but we must be wary of the error on both sides of the road here.
Eric Smith has a wonderful recent post on the task of proclaiming forgiveness individually to our people. He uses a great quote from Calvin on the fact that while we reject the Catholic practice of priestly pardon we do still as ministers of Christ, speaking as his heralds, proclaim the pardon of Christ to believers.
Eric then closes with these four searching questions which do truly get to the heart of pastoral ministry.
1) Am I striving to know my people in such a way that I can tell when they are burdened, and when they are rejoicing? Or am I content to prepare my sermons without thought to their needs and shake their hands on their way in and out of church on Sunday mornings?
2) Do I present myself as a knowable pastor, himself conscious of his sin and carried away by mercy? When my people think of someone who is approachable and sympathetic, do they think of me? Or do I come off as high-handed, demanding, and scolding?
3) Do I preach the Gospel beautifully, as the best news any sinner has ever heard, as sufficient to cleanse the deepest stains upon the conscience and heart? I personally find it much easier to preach legalistically about what we should do and not do, than to preach the Gospel of glorious free grace. My default mode is to try and modify our sinful behavior, rather than to exalt a merciful, life-giving Savior.
4) Am I able to personally apply the Gospel to the lives of my people when sitting across the table from them and listening to their stories as Calvin described? Or would I bungle this, able only to talk in generalities before a crowd? Have I thought through the sorts of sicknesses from which my people will suffer that will require tonic of the Gospel?
May we be the sort of faithful shepherds in view here.
If you do not already read Justin Wainscott’s blog, Theology in Verse, I encourage you to do so. He often posts theologically rich and powerfully emotive poems, some of his own and some from others. Today he posted the following poem which I particularly appreciated. The meter is 8.6.8.6 I believe, so it could be sung to “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” “There is a Fountain,” or any other tune in that meter.
Christ’s Atoning Wounds
M. Justin Wainscott, © 2009
That sacred stream which ever flows,
Flows from the Savior’s wounds,
Does in the souls of saints compose
Sweet, Christ-exalting tunes.
So let the saints in chorus flood
This place with songs of praise;
And sing of Christ’s redeeming blood,
And marvel at his grace.
The precious wounds of Christ above –
His hands, his feet, his side –
Stand as a witness to his love
For us, his ransomed bride.
Those wounds which paid our sinful debt
Remove all grounds for pride;
For God’s requirements all were met
When Christ our Savior died.
So let us boast in him alone,
And in the wounds he bears;
Since he who sits on heaven’s throne
Those sacred scars still wears.
And when before that throne we stand,
And on our Savior gaze;
We’ll truly come to understand,
His wounds deserve our praise.
This Fall, October 6-9, Union University will host a major conference on the theme, “Southern Baptists, Evangelicals and the Future of Denominationalism.” I referred to this conference in passing previously, but now the conference website is up with details and registration.
The conference is timed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Baptist movement and intends to examine some of the most vital issues facing Southern Baptists and Evangelicals as we prepare to move into the second decade of the 21st Century.
I have pasted in the schedule below so you can see who is speaking and what their topics are.
My address will focus on the renewal needed in our vision of pastoral ministry- the need to reclaim the centrality of the oversight of souls. I hope to see you here.
Schedule
Tuesday, October 6
5:00 p.m. Ed Stetzer: Denominationalism: Is There a Future?
6:00 p.m. Dinner
7:00 p.m. Jim Patterson: Reflections on 400 Years of the Baptist Movement: Who We Are. What We Believe.
Wednesday, October 7
Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Harry L. Poe: The Gospel and Its Meaning: Implications for Southern Baptists and Evangelicals
10:00 a.m. Timothy George: Baptists and Their Relations with Other Christians (G. M. Savage Chapel)
Noon Luncheon Address – Duane Litfin: The Future of American Evangelicalism
2:00 p.m. Ray Van Neste: The Oversight of Souls: Pastoral Ministry in Southern Baptist and Evangelical Life
Afternoon and dinner on your own
7:00 p.m. Corporate Worship: Robert Smith, preaching, (G. M. Savage Chapel)
Thursday, October 8
Continental Breakfast
10:00 a.m. Daniel Akin: The Future of the Southern Baptist Convention
Noon Luncheon Address – Michael Lindsay: Denominationalism and the Changing Religious Landscape in North America
2:00 p.m. Jerry Tidwell: Missions and Evangelism: Awakenings and Their Influence on Southern Baptists and Evangelicals
6:00 p.m. Banquet
7:00 p.m. David S. Dockery: Denominationalism and a Global Evangelical Future
8:00 p.m. Mark DeVine: Emergent or Emerging: Questions for Southern Baptists and North American Evangelicals
Friday, October 9
Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Nathan Finn: Southern Baptists and Evangelicals: Passing on the Faith to the Next Generation
10:00 a.m. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.: Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, and the Future of Denominationalism (G. M. Savage Chapel)
One of the young men at our church, Mike Evans, is serving as an intern this summer at Central Baptist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe and is chronicling his experience at a blog, “Entrusted With the Gospel.” I am finding his reflections encouraging and challenging so I wanted to pass it along. The following is from a recent report about his labors in pastoral work:
Day by day, the Lord provides me with the graces I need to go on, but I will be honest that I am tired. As I write this, my eyes are filled with tears by the things that I have seen and the pain that I am surrounded by. HIV/AIDS is rampant, and the needs are great, even among our church family here. My eyes are being opened to what it means to oversee the flock, to meet one another’s needs (even as I have sat here, a family has come in to give me some money as a gift), to care for widows and orphans and the fatherless, to see each of these to maturity in Christ, to teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, to read the Bible together and to eagerly long for the return of Christ. More and more, my heart is being turned toward the needs of God’s people as they cry out for relief, and they gather as a church body to lean on one another, hoping that they will have the faith to persevere tomorrow.
Douglas Bond, whose books my family particularly enjoys, is leading a tour of key places in the life of John Calvin in honor of the 500th anniversary of his birth. Bond is journaling the tour at his blog complete with photos and video. He has recently written a fascinating historical novel on the life of Calvin (The Betrayal: A Novel on John Calvin
I have mentioned previously here the new church start, Grace Community Church. After their first official meeting as a church, Chad Davis, one of their pastors, sent this prayer to the congregation. I asked permission to post it here as an example of praying Scripture for your people. Scripture (especially Paul’s prayers) provide us great material for praying specifically for our people. I hope this is an encouragement to you as it was to me.
Heavenly Father,
I thank you today for loving this world enough to send your only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life (Jn. 3:16). Thank you for choosing us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). Thank you that, in Christ, we have redemption through his blood (Eph. 1:7). And thank you that, in Christ, we have obtained an inheritance (Eph. 1:11) that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading and is waiting in heaven for us (1 Pet. 1:4).
I thank you as well for the people of Grace Community Church. Thank you for shining into our hearts the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). Thank you for delivering us from the domain of darkness and transferring us to the kingdom of your Son (Col.1:13). Thank you for arranging the members of this body as you have chosen (1 Cor. 12:18), for your glory.
I pray for us today that we would have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ so what we would be filled with all of your fullness (Eph. 4:18-19). And as we begin to comprehend that incomprehensible love, I pray that we would walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us (Eph. 5:2). I pray that we would love one another because we have been loved (1 John 4:11,19). Fill our hearts with the glory and beauty of the gospel and of our Savior so that such joy and love will overflow into our relationships with each other.
Help us to glorify you by exalting Christ through the power of the Spirit today. Amen.
, J. R. R. TolkienThis is a fun story to share with your children. It is not a grand epic like Lord of the Rings but a light-hearted story Tolkien spun for his own children. The introduction in this edition is nice because it explains the setting from which this story arose. One of Tolkien’s sons lost a beloved toy dog and to help comfort him Tolkien began telling a story of a real dog who had been turned into a toy by a spell, was found by a boy and then was lost by the boy and went on adventures to the moon, the bottom of the ocean and elsewhere. It is fanciful and fun.
One of the most endearing parts of this story to me was the opportunity to see Tolkien, the father, in action. This story was not originally prepared for publication. Rather it was simply a story told to entertain and comfort his children. You can see Tolkien’s own delight in playing with words, his fascinations with old tales, his wit, critiques of issues in his day and his love for his children.
My boys enjoyed the story with me, and we commend it to you. Perhaps it will encourage you to make up stories for your family as well!