Priority of the Word - follow up

For a perfect example of the lack of the biblical emphasis I discussed in my last post, read this little piece over at the Pyromaniacs site.

The Priority of the Word

As I’ve been preaching through the book of Acts, I’ve been excited about reaching chapter 20 (only took me 14 months to make it here!). I love this chapter for two reasons: Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian elders, and the story of Eutychus.

Over the years I’ve joked that the reason I love the story of Eutychus is because it allows me to say, “As bad as my preaching is, at least it’s never killed anyone.” Paul can’t say that. However, there is a much more serious point to this story.

We occasionally get caught up in the amazing and unique aspects of a story and miss the underlying point. We fixate on the Jonah’s sojourn inside the big fish and forget the whole point behind it; things like Israel’s racism and failure to be a missionary people, God’s sovereign choice to have mercy on whom He will have mercy, etc.

In Eutychus’ case, we focus on the sleeping in church, falling out of the window and dying, etc. and we overlook one thing. How little attention is given to the whole thing.

Just a refresher. Paul is preaching in Troas at a Sunday night church service. He preaches on and on and on, past midnight. It’s at about that time that poor Eutychus is finally overcome by sleep and makes his fatal fall. Paul goes down, prays over him, God miraculously brings the boy back to life, and they all go back upstairs.

Now here’s the really interesting part. They don’t spend the rest of their time focusing on Eutychus. They don’t put him on stage and begin asking questions. “What’s it like to be dead?” “Did you see heaven; what’s it like?” “Did you see your family?” “Did you see a white light at the end of a tunnel?” You get the idea. No one asked him to right a book on his “90 Seconds in Heaven,” though I’m sure he could have made a mint off of it.

No, instead they go back to the church meeting, share communion, and then Paul goes back to preaching. Amazing! It’s because they knew that the Word of God is the Priority! Eutychus couldn’t have told them anything that was more important than the Word of God Paul was preaching to them.

This is why they were here to begin with. This is in the days before weekends. Sunday was just another work day in Troas. These people gathered together after work because the Word was that important. Paul spent so much time because he knew he was leaving in the morning, and there is just so much in this Word that is important to get out. Even a death and resurrection in their midst isn’t more important than the proclamation of this Word.

I’m sure you can make all the appropriate applications to the Word Faith types, and those who want to focus on miracles and revelations. It even has something to say to those who want to entertain just to draw crowds (boy, could Paul have built on this one!)

Folks, there is nothing more important, more relevant, more imperative for His people to focus on than the miracle of His written Word. May the church find this as our priority once again.

True Humility - addendum

In case you're interested, here is the speech from David Robinson I mentioned in the last post.

True Humility

I'm not the biggest basketball fan. Growing up in St. Louis, it was Baseball, Football and Hockey. Later I developed my passion (obsession?) with NASCAR. But being a sports fan in general, I have always tried to at least catch NBA playoffs and of course March Madness.

In the course of that, I came to appreciate David Robinson of the Spurs. Though a great player, he always seemed to be humble, and I often heard of his faith as well. He was recently inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, and this genuine humility came through again.

Voddie Baucham did a wonderful job putting the Robinson speech along side the more self-centered address by legend Michael Jordan. I encourage you to go HERE and read it. Good job, Mr. Robinson.

Our Amazing Creator!

As usual, I'm a day late on things. Living in the hometown of Edwin Hubble of Hubble Telescope fame, you'd think I'd pay some attention to things involving the old eye in the sky. Our local TV news did a little story on the latest pics from the telescope, and after following their link to the Hubble website I was overwhelmed by the pictures there. My first thought was "Our God is an Awesome God." So I'd been preparing to write about God's glory in the universe and direct people to the Hubble site. And then, lo and behold, Dr. Al Mohler just did that, and did a much better job than I ever would. So let me just direct you to his blog post HERE, and then encourage you to go the the Hubble site HERE and prepare to be amazed at our Amazing Creator God. He is Awesome in the strictest definition of that term.

Obama Speech Not A Problem for Us

The whole controversy surrounding the President's address to our school children was not an issue for our family. Why? Because our children are not in government schools. Here's a great old video explaining why.

Book Review: Fearless by Max Lucado

I have to admit that it’s been awhile since I read a Max Lucado book. Earlier in my ministry life I read several. And while I enjoyed them, to me they came to represent in part what was wrong with the church in general: namely, an overly simplistic approach to the Gospel; Christianity-lite. I know that sounds arrogant and judgmental. I really don’t want to be. It’s just that these books are in large part written for “the masses,” and let’s face it; like it or not, “the masses” in the church today have been taken in by a shallow Gospel; a “me-centered” religion where Jesus is my BFF, not the Holy Creator and Redeemer of the world.

Anyway, when Thomas Nelson offered to send an advance copy of Lucado’s latest book Fearless to review, two things made me say yes, both related to the topic. As the title suggests, this is a book about living life without fear; overcoming anxiety. And as I’ve confessed on this blog before, this is an issue I struggle with, so that’s one reason. And two, we live in a world of ever growing fear, so this is certainly a timely issue. So here we go.

There is much to like about this book. Like some previous offerings, it still has a tendency to be overly simple in its approach to the gospel. Often more care is given to turning a clever phrase than to adequately present the reality of man’s depravity vs. the holiness of God and the sacrifice in Christ that was necessary to bridge that gap.

However, there are some places where the message is less sugar coated. Speaking of the disciples in the boat with Christ during a storm, Lucado points out that “this story send the not-so-subtle and not-too-popular reminder: getting on board with Christ can mean getting soaked with Christ.” The Christian life is not the pleasure cruise so many want to make it out to be, and that reminder is welcome.

And yet, in the midst of those things, we are reminded that God has commanded us to not fear. Lucado points out that the largest percentage of direct Christ-issued imperatives in the New Testament are of the “Do not be afraid” variety. Have courage. Take heart. Do not fear. It’s a command.

The book then deals with a variety of areas in which we experience fear: fear of insignificance, fear of violence, fear of global crisis, fear of death, fear of the future. In each case, we are given some good Scriptural reminders of how God has made provision for these issues. Ultimately, the reminder is that God has given us Himself: just as Christ was in the boat with his disciples, He has promised to never leave nor forsake us. We know that, but need the reminder often. In enjoyed the repeated focus on prayer and God’s presence, the ultimate fear busters.

I was a bit disappointed in the chapter on the “fear of disappointing God.” He actually suggested that Adam and Eve’s original sin stemmed not from pride, but from fear. He pushes the text a bit to make the point. And the truth is, that in our sin, we do disappoint God. So much so that it required the death of His Son to overcome the breach of relationship. But at the same time, I understand the point that those who are truly saved need to rest in the finished work of Christ, and not constantly live in fear that somehow we will do something to make God take back that salvation.

Likewise, I was a bit uneasy with one of the final chapter’s insistence that God cannot be defined by doctrine. I think I know what he’s saying; the whole “let’s not underestimate or limit God” kind of thing. But in truth, God has given us His Word to give us some “definition” of Himself, and that Word tells us to hold on to sound doctrine, to promote sound teaching, etc. We have to be careful not to open that door to wide so as to make anything and everything that claims to be “godly” acceptable.

Still, overall I enjoyed the reminders given here, and the group discussion guide at the end was certainly helpful. The whole thing could be summed up well by the quote from John Chrysostom shared by Lucado on p. 88: “What can I fear? Will it be death? But you know that Christ is my life, and that I shall gain by death. Will it be exile? But the earth and all its fullness is the Lord’s. Will it be the loss of wealth? But we have brought nothing into the world, and can carry nothing out. Thus all the terrors of the world are contemptible in my eyes; and I smile at all its good things. Poverty I do not fear; riches I do not sigh for. Death I do not shrink from.”

As Paul reminds us in Romans 8: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:31-39)

On Gay and Drunken Preachers

The use of satire and sarcasm in trying to convey spiritual truth has long been debated. Although we see the use of both in Scripture, those who try to use these forms today are often misunderstood and ostracized.

One of my favorite Christian artists has always been Steve Taylor. Known by many for his behind the scenes roll producing and writing songs for the Newsboys, Taylor was a pretty hot commodity himself back in the day. But he caught a lot of flak from the Christian music industry for satirical songs like "I Blew Up The Clinic Real Good." People didn't get it. He was ridiculing the kind of thinking portrayed by the character in that song.

Anyway, I've always been a fan of the satire and sarcasm. I think it often shocks us into seeing the truth of things where we might have overlooked it otherwise. This is why I like the Sacred Sandwich site so much. And I especially like their most recent article responding to the ELCA officially approving of homosexual clergy.

The ridiculous nature of that is brought to light by this sarcastic and satirical article which tells of another "denomination" which has now approved of "drunken clergy." This Sacred Sandwich article really highlights the slide toward total immorality being embraced by the church.

Go HERE to read the article.

Lessons From the Bristol Night Race

Since I was feeling so guilty about skipping out on church to go to Bristol this weekend, (see my last post) I thought I might try to “redeem the time” by drawing out some lessons I learned from the whole experience; some general lessons, most lessons that would be useful for the church to really learn.

Fellowship
Every pastor should spend several days on a road trip with a deacon. Deacon Ron, his wife, son and myself logged over 1600 miles over four days. During that time, we talked, laughed, joked, filled in some “holes” in our respective life stories. We spent time talking about Christ, life, ministry. This is lacking in many churches, the sharing of life and faith at a deeper level as we live together day by day. It’s too often just about the weekly services. We need to spend more time with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Generosity
Originally, these four tickets were to include a fourth family member. But when she couldn’t come, Ron offered to take me; at his expense. Granted the tickets were already bought. But he didn’t offer to sell the ticket to me to get back some of his investment. He wouldn’t even let me pay for part of the gas (though I did manage to sneak in a pay for a couple of smaller things along the way). He knew that I would enjoy this trip and he offered it as a gift, a ministry, to me. How great it would be if we all spent more time thinking of how we might make someone else’s day, how we might serve them, instead of always thinking of ourselves and our own wallets.

Passion and Commitment
Again, we logged over 1600 miles, just to see a race. Others came from even farther. They drove for days, camped out overnight, or parked a mile away and walked in (okay, maybe not a mile, but it seemed like it). Once there, you could see right away where their commitment was. People wearing hats and t-shirts with their favorite driver’s “colors.” They had seat cushions and coolers and radio head sets with that team’s number and paint scheme. No one had to even ask where their loyalty lay.

Where is that kind of passion and loyalty in the church? Why don’t we wear our “colors” for the whole world to see? Why do so many Christians just blend in to the world around them, and you’d never know that our loyalty was to Christ? I’m not saying that wearing a Christian t-shirt is the answer (in fact, too often that’s a result of the easy gospel we’ve come to market in this country, where wearing a t-shirt is about all we do for Christ). I’m talking about how we live, the passion with which we show our commitment to Christ, the things we’re willing to endure, the lengths to which we would go for His service, for His glory. Sadly, that passion just isn’t there too often.

Unity in Diversity
Go back to all those various team loyalties. In a crowd of 120,000 you have a whole hodgepodge of loyalties. You have rabid Jeff Gordon fans sitting in the seat next to an even more rabid Tony Stewart fan. Right below them are Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans. A few rows over is someone passionate about Mark Martin, or Matt Kenseth, or even that (shudder) Kyle Bush guy. And yet as passionate as they are about their driver, there’s no real animosity, no fights breaking out. Because we’re all here for the same reason, to enjoy a great race, one big NASCAR family.

Why can’t the church come together like that sometimes? I’m not suggesting that we ignore real differences in theology; faithfulness to sound Biblical doctrine is non-negotiable. But why is it that we so often gather in groups “just like us.” It’s like a stadium full of nothing but Jeff Gordon fans (now that would be cool!). We need to see that we may all have different backgrounds, different socio-economic standing, different life experiences, different racial identities; but we are all one in Christ. We are here for one reason: to lift up and glorify the name of Christ and make Him known to the lost world around us. Jesus even prayed for us to be one, so why can’t we put selfish things aside and be one?

Honor and Respect
At the beginning of this race, there was a brief ceremony to honor Mark Martin, who was making his 1000th career start in NASCAR. He’s one of the true “good guys” in this sport. (He proved that at the end of the race by not wrecking the 18 for the win when he could have, and when just about everyone else would have, and when the crowd would have loved it if he had!) We even got to be part of the “card stunt” where our grandstand area spelled out a big message in tribute to Mark (how cool was that?!).

The point is, the crowd went crazy. People wearing the competition’s “colors” were all on their feet yelling, screaming and applauding someone else’s driver. Because we respect him.

Too often in the church, we fail to respect and honor those who have faithfully served the kingdom. Period. We fail to mark those occasions and recognize their service in general. Furthermore, even if they are honored, we don’t join in the celebration if they’re not “one of us.” We need to get over it folks. We’re all on the same team. Faithful saints of God deserve our respect and honor whether they like our songs, read from the same translation, etc. We need to recover a healthy respect for our “elders” in the church.

Patriotism
I know this is getting long, and this really has nothing to do the church per se. I’m not one of those who think Jesus is an American and that God must bless America. But in this day of anti-patriotism, where our military is ridiculed and scorned, where loyalty to your country only goes as far as party lines will allow…it was nice to be in a truly patriotic crowd.

Before the race, there was a tribute to our men and women serving in the military. Every now and then the video would break away from pictures of soldiers over seas, to live video of soldiers there at Bristol. And the crowd went crazy in its applause. Walking around the track, soldiers in uniform were constantly being stopped by other fans. They slapped them on the back, gave them a big handshake and thanked them for their service to our nation. During the national anthem every hat was removed, hands were placed over hearts, and when three fighter jets flew over at the end of the song, it put goose bumps on your arms and tears in your eyes. As Deacon Ron leaned over and said to me “If that don’t bring a tear to your eye, you’re just not a real American.” (Or as the Lt. Governor of Tennessee called us in his pre-race comments: God-fearin’, gun-lovin’, real Americans. To which the crowd said: Yeaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

There we actually some other things I thought of, but this is way too long already. I’m not suggesting that the church should be like a bunch of beer drinking race fans. Even though they all shouted “Amen” after the pre-race prayer, I’m sure that more than a few, if not most, don’t truly know Christ. But I would say that there are some lessons about passion, honor, etc. that we could learn here. And really, they are lessons that we should be learning from Scripture, because they’re all right there in the Book.

Now that all that serious stuff is out of the way, let me just say this: The Bristol Night Race Absolutely Rocks!!!!

Purely Pagan Pleasure

Obviously I’ve not posted here in awhile. Life has just gotten pretty hectic in the last week or so. However, I’m looking forward to a little break to indulge in a road trip that is a “dream come true” for me.

One of our deacons ended up with an extra ticket for the Bristol Night Race. If you are not a NASCAR fan you will not understand the import of this; and nothing I can write here will adequately describe it for you. Suffice to say that I have always told my wife that if I could ever attend just one Cup race in my lifetime, it would be the Bristol Night Race. It’s been a few weeks since he offered, and I’m still not sure it’s a reality yet.

Now, I understand that this is pure pagan delight. I will of course miss church this weekend. A preacher skipping church for a stock car race must be the height of idolatry. However, I can’t help myself.

Actually, I’ve been working on my NASCAR habit recently. Having reduced our satellite package to the bare minimum, I haven’t actually even seen a race on TV in a couple months (no Speed Channel, No ESPN, etc.). I haven’t wasted money on racing paraphernalia in almost a year. I’ve been doing quite well. But this is the complete fall off the wagon kind of thing!

Pray for our 12+ hour road trip. Pray it doesn’t rain and postpone the race! And pray that I will be forgiven for this little indulgence into worldly pursuits. Oh, yeah, and…GO JEFF GORDON!!!