For four messages about Jonathan Edwards from the Desiring God Ministries' Conference, as well as links to other great web sites and resources about this remarkable man, visit this Desiring God page.
with twice-removed envy to Joy
From Bryan Chapell's Christ-centered preaching.
I realize this is more like a seven course meal than a tidbit. I don't do this often, and they've been piling up for the last couple of weeks. Since they all elevate grace, I think they belong together. I hope you read them. All of them. I assure you it will do you some good.
Preaching without a grace focus concentrates on means of earning divine acceptance, proofs of personal righteousness, and contrasts with those less holy than we.
A message that merely advocates morality and compassion remains sub-Christian even if the preacher can prove that the Bible demands such behaviours. By ignoring the sinfulness of man that makes even our best works tainted before God and by neglecting the grace of God that makes obedience possible and acceptable, such messages necessarily subvert the Christian message...a message that even inadvertantly teaches others that their works win God's acceptance inevitably leads people away from the gospel.
Spirituality based on personal conduct cannot escape its human-centered orbit though it aspires to lift one to divine heights.
Such preaching errs not by detailing what God requires but by implying or directly stating that God's favor is a consequence of our obedience rather than proclaiming that obedience itself is a blessing that results from the favor of God purchased for us in Christ.
Evangelical preaching that implies we are saved by grace but held by our obedience not only undermines the work of God in sanctification but it ultimately casts doubt on the nature of God.
We [must] never inadvertantly teach others to seek answers without his truth, perform his bidding without his strength, or reap his blessings without the acceptance he alone provides.
Self-protection and self-promotion are sad alternitives for "glorifying God and enjoying him forever," but the former alternatives are the definite products of lives devoted to God out of servile dread and slavish fear.
I was forcing people to question, "What action of mine will make me right with God?" No wonder their faith did not mature. Their faith was in what they could do to fix their own situations with God. I was encouraging people to look to themselves rather than to the cross as the place for erasing guilt and finding God's favor.
We may experience more of God's blessings and sense more of his fellowship as a result of our obedience but do not risk God's rejection because of our failures.
Preaching that is faithful to these biblical truths never prods believers toward holiness with the threat of divine rejection, for to do so would be to make works rather than grace the foundation of our relationship with God.
True holiness flows not merely from an awareness of the malignancy of sin, but from a deep apprehension of the ability of grace alone to cure it.
There's a new feature available now on my blog called comment subscription.
Beside the lines you have to fill out to post a comment is a "subscribe" button. By clicking in the radio button (or the little circle, if you'd rather call it :-), you will receive an email notifiying you every time a new comment is posted on that entry. If there's a discussion you've been following or want to keep up with, this feature is a much better way to do that than repeatedly coming back to the post to see if anyone has added any comments. You can also unsubscribe at any time, although I have no idea why you would want to do that. :-)
Many thanks to the one and only Ben-jamin, Idea man, site host, and blogmaster extroidinaire. Check out his business site, Big Blue Hat, and of course his blog.
"The nature of things is that if they don't get lost, they get stolen, and if they don't get stolen, they get broken, and if they don't get broken, they fade or fall apart. This law applies to teacups, cars, people, sweaters, pets, computers, earrings, and just about everything you can touch or buy or have."
Geneen Roth, quoted from Torah.org
(this is not a straight steal from...another blog. :-) i got an email about it this morning. she just got it posted before me. really.)
"Think about how all
the lack of love,
the indifference to the needs, feelings, and weaknesses of others,
the sharp and hasty judgments and utterances so often excused by our cries of being upright and honest,
the manifestations of temper and irritation,
the bitterness and estrangement,
have their root in pride."
from Andrew Murray
(thanks Natalie)
One of Micah's comments mentioned he had just been considering this whole perspectives concept recently. Made me curious, so I re-read his "Vantage" blog.
Check it out by clicking here.
This perspective comes from G.A. Pritchard's amazingly thought-provoking book Willow Creek Seeker Services: Evaluating a New Way of Doing Church.
(before you make your next comment about the market driven church, but especially before you state something about willow creek directly, it would behoove you to read this book.)
Willow Creek uses drama at every seeker service, followed by a "talk" that lasts around 35 minutes.
(if the broader topic of Christian drama interests you, i highly recommend that you visit and interact to Steph's announcement as well as her ongoing discussion.
Page 93
When Willow Creek has attempted to use drama to teach answers to unchurched Harry, the results have been less than satisfying.
As Lee Strobel explains, these attempts "ring hollow to Unchurched Harry and Mary, who are demanding more sophisticated and detailed answers than can be presented through a brief, broad-brush dramatic scene."
Beach believes, "If it could be better said in a message, then it probably shouldn't be said in a drama...Drama is terrible for trying to preach at people."
Willow Creek dramas usually end unresolved, and the problems they raise are unanswered. As a drama writer explains, "The drama's job is just to open up a can of worms and sort of stick our fingers in there and stir them around. Then it's the speaker's job to deal with the worms."
In a sense the drama serves as a way of clarifying the emotional issues that unchurched Harry and Mary are already feeling. By doing this the programming is able to bring "the problem into relief so it can be seen, isolated," and felt.
Got this from Joy's site--don't play too long. ;-)
As a side note, you're missing more than fun stuff if you haven't paid karagraphy a visit lately.
If we serve God because we believe he will love us less if we do not, punish us more if we do less, or bless us more if we do more, then we are not worshiping God with our actions; we are only pursuing our self-interests.
In this case the goal of our lives is personal promotion or personal protection rather than the glory of God, and even our seemingly moral activities are a transgression of the first commandment.
Bryan Chapell, in Christ-Centered Preaching
I've begun a new category called "Perspectives." You may have noticed its first post regarding cross-references. (i was more than pleased with its stunning success. :-) I felt there were some very valuable thoughts presented, and I hope future blogs meet my expectations as well as it did.
The "Perspectives" blogs wil present diverse views on a variety of issues. I hope to cull them from books I read, people I hear (and overhear), and from my own thoughts.
I'd also love to get your perspectives. As always, comments are welcome, but I'd like to invite you to do some writing of your own. Simply email me with your perspective (you can send a Word attachment or just send it as an email), and I'll post it under your name. (i do reserve the right to choose what i wish to post and what i don't, but i guarantee freedom from editorial tampering)
If you ever wanted to do some blogging, or simply share some thoughts, here's your big opportunity! (and if you haven't....i can't imagine why you haven't, but i suppose that's another perspectives story. :-)
So share away...
Perspectives, please.
I heard the most interesting idea the other day. ('most interesting' meaning 'i've never heard this before in my life.') An anonymous, but much more educated than I, someone suggested that cross-referencing is actually a blight on expository preaching. His reasoning stemmed from the fact that each passage of the Bible can stand on its own and is clear as it was written. (a sort of perspicuity of each text, if you will) He said, "You wouldn't want to convey the idea to your people that any passage can't stand on its own as its written." He did allow for the value of contextual cross-referencing, but very strictly limited its use. He said we needn't heap reference after reference on top of each other, as if it wasn't enough that God said it once.
Instead of rejecting the idea outright (as i was tempted to do), I decided to think about it for a while. It seems to me that perhaps there's some merit to what he said. I mean, some people cross-reference you to death. It's especially annoying when the passage was pretty clear, and the attending references only reiterate what was plain the first time around. And in the mass of references, it becomes easy to lose the flow of the original passage. Or when the cross-reference is actually part of an entirely different context and just happens to share a few English words with the text at hand.
On the other hand, will pastors ever teach their people about the analogy of the faith if the Bible is viewed in such a compartmentalized way? There is a beauty and an emphasis in the repitition of Scripture, and sometimes it's an amazing testimony to inspiration to see diverse authors separated by time and space make similarly compelling and striking arguments.
So what do you think? Do we need cross-references in preaching to clear up the point of some texts? If it's a valid method, can it be overused, and how can you tell?
Perspectives welcome.
...we must remember that the Bible simultaneously pictures God as utterly sovereign, and as a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God. Unless we perceive this, and learn how to act on these simultaneous truths, not only will our views of God be distorted, but our praying is likely to wobble back and forth between a resigned fatalism that asks for nothing and a badgering desperation that exhibits little real trust.
D.A. Carson, in A Call to Spiritual Reformation