None Can Ever Ask Too Much

It's prayer week at Harvest! The Lord has given us big dreams for this summer. We want God to be glorified and people to be changed forever through our gospel efforts!

This morning I came across a hymn written by John Newton. It expresses some wonderful encouragement for the kind of big, bold requests we are praying this week for ourselves and for our community:

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare:
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
He Himself has bid thee pray,
Therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.

With my burden I begin:
Lord, remove this load of sin;
Let Thy blood, for sinners spilt,
Set my conscience free from guilt.

Lord, I come to Thee for rest,
Take possession of my breast;
There Thy blood bought right maintain,
And without a rival reign.

As the image in the glass
Answers the beholder's face;
Thus unto my heart appear,
Print Thine own resemblance there.

While I am a pilgrim here,
Let Thy love my spirit cheer;
As my Guide, my Guard, my Friend,
Lead me to my journey's end.

Show me what I have to do,
Every hour my strength renew:
Let me live a life of faith,
Let me die Thy people's death.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. (James 5:16-18)

HT: Desiring God Blog

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What Made the Early Church So Effective?

Believers often speak wistfully of the early church, wishing we could recover the spirit of that day. Those early believers were indeed a remarkable group, spreading the gospel of Christ with remarkable effect. So what made the early church so incredible? John Piper makes 6 observations based on Stephen Neil's A History of Christian Missions:

1. First and foremost was the burning conviction which possessed a great number of the early Christians.

2. The solid historical message which Christians brought was indeed good news, and a welcome alternative to the mystery religions of the day.

3. The new Christian communities commended themselves by the purity of their lives.

4. The Christian communities were marked by mutual loyalty and an overcoming of antagonisms between alienated classes.

5. The Christians were known for an elaborate development of charitable service, especially to those within the fellowship.

6. The persecution of Christians and their readiness to suffer made a dramatic impact on unbelievers.

In other words, the early church truly believed the gospel! Consequently, Christ transformed every aspect of their lives and bore much fruit through them.

What makes a church effective? It's no great mystery: the life-transforming gospel of Jesus!

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10 Things To Pray For Your Church

Before the year 2010 began, the Lord laid on my heart to make a list of ten things our church should be praying for as the body of Christ. The original intention was to encourage our people to make an all out effort to pray faithfully for these ten things only in the year 2010.

Later, I realized that these ten requests needed to always be upheld before our Lord for the overall health of our church no matter the year (duh, sometimes I am a little bit slow). So up to this day, even though it is 2011, we continue to pray this way as a church family for God's help as we carry on the gospel ministry for His glory alone.

I know by no means is this is an exhaustive list, but I hope it will help guide and encourage you as you faithfully pray for your church as well.

PRAY....

THAT OUR UNITY AND LOVE WILL ALWAYS BE GENUINE.

THAT EVERYTHING WE DO WILL BRING GLORY TO GOD.

THAT WE WILL REACH THE LOST FOR CHRIST AND MAKE DISCIPLES.

THAT WE WILL GROW IN SPIRITUAL MATURITY.

THAT OUR FAMILIES AND MARRIAGES WILL BE STRENGTHENED.

THAT WE WILL STAY HOT FOR CHRIST - TREASURING JESUS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

THAT THE LORD WILL USE OUR JOYFUL WORSHIP AS A MEANS TO DRAW OTHERS TO HIMSELF.

FOR ONE ANOTHER DAILY.

FOR THE LORD'S PROTECTION FROM SATAN AND SIN.

FOR THE PASTOR AND HIS FAMILY.

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The Greatest News in all the World

Preaching on the resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, John Piper highlights "the greatest news in all the world:"

In raising him [Christ] from the dead:

(1) He gave us forgiveness and glorified Jesus as the all-sufficient forgiver;

(2) He gave us a friend to count on and glorified Jesus as utterly reliable;

(3) He gave us guidance and unchanging truth and glorified Jesus as the absolute foundation for truth and holiness;

(4) He gave us a life that is not pitiable but enviable, a ministry that is not in vain but fruitful, and glorified Jesus as the source and goal of all life and all ministry;

(5) He gave us everlasting joy that will not be ended by death, and glorified Jesus as the author of life, the victor over death, and the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

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Doctrinal Devotion

I spent a few hours today reading through a Systematic Theology. As I closed the book tonight, I was reminded again of the need for my head and heart to meet in a kind of "doctrinal devotion." The Puritans were correct of course, that the Word must not only inform our heads but inflame our hearts.

When I put together my doctrinal statement, I included this quote from John Owen at the beginning of the statement. It speaks well to this issue:

"What am I the better

if I can dispute that Christ is God,

but have no sense of sweetness

in my heart from hence

that he is a God in covenant with my soul?

What will it avail me to evince,

by testimonies and arguments,

that he hath made satisfaction for sin,

if through my unbelief,

the wrath of God abideth in me,

and I have no experience of my own being made

the righteousness of God in him,—

if I find not, in my standing before God,

the excellency of having my sins imputed to him

and his righteousness imputed to me?

Will it be any advantage to me, in the issue,

to profess and dispute

that God works the conversion of a sinner

by the irresistible grace of his Spirit,

if I was never acquainted experimentally with

the deadness and utter impotency to good,

that opposition to the law of God,

which is in my own soul by nature,

with the efficacy of the exceeding greatness

of the power of God

in quickening, enlightening, and bringing forth

the fruits of obedience in me?

It is the power of truth in the heart alone

that will make us cleave unto it indeed

in an hour of temptation.

Let us, then, not think

that we are anything the better

for our conviction of the truths

of the great doctrines of the gospel,

for which we contend…

unless we find the power of the truths

abiding in our hearts,

and have a continual experience

of their necessity and excellency

in our standing before God

and our communion with him."

~John Owen (1616-1683)

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Man's Great End

I have found the little book, The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions to be a tremendous blessing in my walk with God. I believe it is a must for every believer's library. I would like to share one of those prayers with you and trust that it would encourage your heart and would daily be your prayer also.

There is one thing that deserves my greatest care,

that calls forth my ardent desires,

That is, that I may answer the great end for which

I am made-

to glorify thee who hast given me being,

and to do all the good I can for my fellow men;

Verily, life is not worth having

if it be not improved for this noble purpose.

Yet, Lord, how little is this the thought of mankind!

Most men seem to live for themselves,

without much or any regard for thy glory,

or for the good of others;

They earnestly desire and eagerly pursue

the riches, honours, pleasures of this life,

as if they supposed that wealth, greatness,

merriment,

could make their immortal souls happy;

But, alas, what false delusive dreams are these!

And how miserable ere long will those be that

sleep in them,

for all our happiness consists in loving thee,

and being holy as thou art holy.

O may I never fall into tempers and vanities,

the sensuality and folly of the present world!

It is a place of inexpressible sorrow, a vast empty

nothingness;

Time is a moment, a vapour,

and all its enjoyments are empty bubbles,

fleeting blasts of wind,

from which nothing satisfactory can be derived;

Give me grace always to keep in covenant with thee,

and to reject as delusion a great name here

or hereafter,

together with all sinful pleasures or profits.

Help me to know continually

that there can be no true happiness,

no fulfilling of thy purpose for me,

apart from a life lived in and for

the Son of thy love.

The Valley of Vision, pp. 22-23

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Battling the Unbelief of Anxiety

John Piper, in Future Grace (p. 59-61):

We should battle the unbelief of anxiety with the promises of future grace.

When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I battle unbelief with one of my most often-used promises, Isaiah 41:10. “Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you, with My victorious right hand."

When I am anxious about my ministry being useless and empty, I fight unbelief with the promise of Isaiah 55:11. “So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

When I am anxious about being too weak to do my work, I battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

When I am anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, I battle unbelief with the promise, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).

When I am anxious about facing opponents, I battle unbelief with the promise, “If God is for us, who is against us!” (Romans 8:31).

When I am anxious about the welfare of those I love, I battle unbelief with the promise that if I, being evil, know how to give good things to my children, how much more will the “Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11). And I fight to maintain my spiritual equilibrium with the reminder that everyone who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for Christ’s sake “shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).

When I am anxious about being sick, I battle unbelief with the promise, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). And I take the promise with trembling: “Tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise, “Even to your old age, I shall be the same, and even to your graying years I shall bear you! I have done it, and I shall carry you; and I shall bear you, and I shall deliver you” (Isaiah 46:4).

When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that “not one of us lives for himself and not one of us dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Romans 14:7-9).

When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promises, “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:6); and, “He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Let us make war...with our own unbelief. It is the root of anxiety, which, in turn, is the root of so many other sins. So let us...keep our eyes fixed on the precious and very great promises of God.

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Preach Christ, and You Will Have Morality

"I believe that as people's confidence in Christ grows, they do, ordinarily and inevitably, bear fruit that accords with faith. Thus, there is no need for some trade-off here, or some alleged dichotomy suggesting that we need to preach morality if we are to have morality. No; preach Christ, and you will have morality. Fill the sails of your hearers' souls with the wind of confidence in the Redeemer, and they will trust him as their Sanctifier, and long to see his fruit in their lives. Fill their minds and imaginations with a vision of the loveliness and perfection of Christ in his person, and the flock will long to be like him. Impress upon their weak and wavering hearts the utter competence of the mediation of the One who ever lives to make intercession for them, and they will long to serve and comfort others, even as Christ has served and comforted them."

- T. David Gordon (Why Johnny Can't Preach [Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2009], p. 78)

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A New Book From Rob Bell... Heresy On Display?

For those of you who follow these things within the Evangelical church, you know that for quite some time Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, has been a very controversial figure. He is a well-known and widely followed guru within the Emergent Church movement, which has from its inception denied cardinal doctrines of the faith. Well, it appears that Bell's latest book will be a complete repudiation of the historical and Biblical doctrine of Hell. I hope I'm wrong here, but there are plenty of reasons to have doubts.

I encourage you to read more about it here at Phil Johnson's blog Pyromanics, and be sure to watch Bell's video promotion of this latest offering from him. I have to admit, its slick. Very well done, compelling video... And this is why I think he's actually so dangerous. He knows how to communicate to a young, sensory and image-oriented generation.
Check it out here.

UPDATE: Love Wins has been released for review:
"Does Rob Bell deny the existence of hell? He would say no. We would say yes. He affirms, but only after redefining. And that’s just a clever form of denial."

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The Prosperity Gospel: "A Ponzi Scheme"

The 3-minute audio below is a clip from a panel discussion during the 2010 Together for the Gospel conference. Mark Dever poses a question to John MacArthur regarding the prosperity gospel.

MacArthur compares the prosperity gospel to "a Ponzi scheme: the guys at the top get rich and everybody else is left in shredded rags, in the name of Jesus Christ."

MacArthur's comments also include an interesting comparison to Luke 21:1-6: "Any religious system that takes the last two pennies from a widow is coming down."



Metro Detroit does not need more gospel; Metro Detroit needs the right gospel.

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All The Way My Savior Leads Me

Some encouragement for your week:

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Six Observations of "Christianity" in America

After conducting 5,000 interviews in 2010, the Barna Research Group has identified "Six Megathemes" indicating change in the religious environment of America:

1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.
"The theological free-for-all that is encroaching in Protestant churches nationwide suggests the coming decade will be a time of unparalleled theological diversity and inconsistency."

2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.
"Despite technological advances that make communications instant and far-reaching, Christians are becoming more spiritually isolated from non-Christians than was true a decade ago.... With atheists becoming more strategic in championing their godless worldview, as well as the increased religious plurality driven by education and immigration, the increasing reticence of Christians to engage in faith-oriented conversations assumes heightened significance."

3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.
"The turbo-charged pace of society leaves people with little time for reflection.... Spiritual practices like contemplation, solitude, silence, and simplicity are rare. Practical to a fault, Americans consider survival in the present to be much more significant than eternal security and spiritual possibilities."

4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.
"Despite the increased emphasis, churches run the risk of watching congregants’ engagement wane unless they embrace a strong spiritual basis for such service. Simply doing good works because it's the socially esteemed choice of the moment will not produce much staying power."

5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.
"There are fewer and fewer issues that Christians believe churches should be dogmatic about. The idea of love has been redefined to mean the absence of conflict and confrontation, as if there are no moral absolutes that are worth fighting for. That may not be surprising in a Church in which a minority believes there are moral absolutes dictated by the scriptures."

6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.
"The most influential aspect of Christianity in America is how believers do - or do not - implement their faith in public and private.... With little time or energy available for or devoted to research and reflection, it is people’s observations of the integration of a believer’s faith into how he/she responds to life’s opportunities and challenges that most substantially shape people’s impressions of and interest in Christianity."

Sobering observations.

Sheep tend to reflect their shepherds. Pastors, please heed these inspired words!
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
(2 Timothy 4:1-5)

Metro Detroit doesn't need more gospel; Metro Detroit needs the right gospel.

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The Message of the Bible in 240 Words

D. A. Carson:

"God is the sovereign, transcendent and personal God who has made the universe, including us, his image-bearers. Our misery lies in our rebellion, our alienation from God, which, despite his forbearance, attracts his implacable wrath.

"But God, precisely because love is of the very essence of his character, takes the initiative and prepared for the coming of his own Son by raising up a people who, by covenantal stipulations, temple worship, systems of sacrifice and of priesthood, by kings and by prophets, are taught something of what God is planning and what he expects.

"In the fullness of time his Son comes and takes on human nature. He comes not, in the first instance, to judge but to save: he dies the death of his people, rises from the grave and, in returning to his heavenly Father, bequeaths the Holy Spirit as the down payment and guarantee of the ultimate gift he has secured for them—an eternity of bliss in the presence of God himself, in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

"The only alternative is to be shut out from the presence of this God forever, in the torments of hell. What men and women must do, before it is too late, is repent and trust Christ; the alternative is to disobey the gospel (Romans 10:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17)."

"The Biblical Gospel" in For Such a Time as This: Perspectives on Evangelicalism, Past, Present and Future, ed. Steve Brady and Harold Rowdon (London: Evangelical Alliance, 1986), p. 80.

HT: Of First Importance

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Distortions of the Gospel

James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago has written a tremendous article exposing "Five Distortions of the Gospel in Our Day." Here's how it begins:

A.W. Tozer and James Kennedy (both wonderful Christian leaders in their day)...believed that many, if not most, professing believers they encountered around the country were not actually saved. They were deeply troubled by the distortions of the gospel that were the result of trying to get the gospel to more people. Well intentioned yes, but eternally dangerous for the souls of men and woman who had not heard the whole message.

Let me strongly encourage you to read the whole article. It is a word of exhortation sorely needed in our day, particularly right here in metro Detroit. Many prominent pastors in our area have sadly stooped to preaching what MacDonald calls the "Cake Mix Gospel," the "Cultural Gospel," the "Cool Gospel," the "Carnal Gospel," or the "Careful Gospel." No matter how well intentioned, a distortion of the gospel is as bad as no gospel at all (Gal. 1:8-9).

Metro Detroit doesn't need more gospel; Metro Detroit needs the right gospel. Check back for more on this topic soon...

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Can You Hear the Cries of the Children?

January 23 is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.

Justin Taylor links to a disturbing video produced by Abort73.com, which includes graphic images of "the modern-day holocaust."

You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb.... My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my embryo. (Psalm 139:13-16)

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