“The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.” (Prov. 20:29)

Ever wonder why God has given energy, strength and vigor to youth? Perhaps you have given it much thought. Just as you never really consider your health until you become ill, the gift of physical endurance isn’t weighed until it’s beginning to fade. And it happens faster than you think.

Do you ever wonder why God has given you this gift (and it is a gift) for this particular time in life?

Most youth waste their prime years in frivolous pursuits. They either devote all their energy and strength to vanity or they squander their allotted time in front of the T.V. being fantasy warriors.

Both trajectories are wrong, both are foolish. [...]

This past weekend, we held a small group training at my church, Foothills Church, for up-and-coming potential small group leaders.  This training is not a normal training though, in my experience, at least.  We spent two days being intentional about training our soon-t0-be small group leaders on our discipleship strategy, the art of being a good facilitator, while also pushing them to see some of their blind spots.  This last thing often makes people feel a little uncomfortable, as we breakdown personality traits, leadership ability, and spiritual gifts, pushing them to think through hard things.  The ultimate goal of the training, however, is not to become a good small group leader.  It is, ultimately, to become more like Jesus.  During the first night of training, we take all of the potential leaders through how a regular small group would run.  From the beginning to the end, we have a small group, as if we would one in someone’s living room.  During this particular small group training, I began by telling the story of the Prodigal Son.  And what happened blew me away.

Over the past year, the story of the Prodigal Son has been a thorn in my side, of sorts.  I have told the story to small groups, to potential leaders, etc., almost 10 times over the past year.  After the story is told, the facilitator poses this question to the group:  ”What character do you find yourself relating to the most?”

I guess this question has been more of a thorn than the actual story itself though.  I go around the room and listen to everybody tell which character their life or past life most resembles.  Maybe it’s the older brother who finds himself in jealousy because of his faithfulness to his family, though his family seems to uphold and champion the immorality of the younger.  Or, maybe it’s the younger brother who goes through a time of rebellion, reflecting the Christian who back-slides, or the teenager who raises hell, instead of hearts.  Or even more, maybe it’s the father who is praying for the younger son to return home, or the heart of stone of the older child to turn to a heart redeemed by the gospel.  Either way, everybody seems to relate to one or the other.  Obviously, we all relate to the younger son, as believers, in the way the Father saves us through the blood of Jesus, restoring our relationship with him.

However, over the last year, I have racked my brain on which character I, myself, actually relate to in this story.  I don’t relate to the rebel brother, or the jealous brother, or the father.  Am I the servant?  Or the fattened calf?  It can’t be!

As I was listening to the stories of those at our training this weekend, it clicked.

I am the young son before he rebels, I thought.

I went home and thought more about it.  I am the younger son who has been given many blessings, and by the grace of God, I have not yet squandered it.  I have, however, committed my roll-a-dex of sins.  I have had my struggles throughout the years.  But it seems that my life is reflective more of the younger son that has yet to live with the swines.  As I look over my life, I see the blessings the Father has shared with me.  I have one gorgeous and faithful wife.  I have one unbelievably beautiful daughter.  I have a growing student ministry in a growing church under the title of student pastor.  I have the opportunity to take missions teams all over the world under the title of missions pastor.  I have the opportunity to write and speak and preach and make disciples.  I have an amazing immediate family and extended family, on both sides.  I have great friends who encourage, inspire, and rebuke when needed.  I have much.  I have too much.  All of which has been given to me by the grace of God, the Father, alone.  Nothing deserved.  Though never rebelled, either.

And what scares me…

All of this could be taken away at the snap of a finger, leaving me as the younger brother who lives with the swine.

I pray, on my knees, and with extended hands, that criticism would not break me, as I have seen it break so many other younger pastors — and sent them away from ministry for the pursuit of something “easier.”  I pray for a strong back-bone and tough skin.  And I pray, with a heavy and careful heart, that I would be a Godly man and pastor who would live his life above reproach… for the rest of his life.  I want accountability.  I want my wife to know all of my passwords.  I want older men and brothers in Christ always asking me the hard questions.  I want, as Billy Graham has stated, “to always have safeguards in my life against the Serpent.”

I want to look back on 50+ years of ministry and always be the younger son who never squandered his inheritance, who never left his Father’s house, and who never lived with the pigs.  And by the grace and favor of God, I pray that for you as well.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” –James 5:16

Confession among evangelicals is a biblical practice rarely emphasized and hardly understood. For most, including myself growing up, it was a “Catholic” practice involving a priest as mediator between man and God who granted absolution of sins –one a Baptist had no need of. A “personal” relationship with God made the issue of confession to other believers a non-essential. If God has forgiven me as I John 1:9 says, then I’m only accountable and obligated to Him for my transgressions.

Of course, James 5:16 still exists, so what’s to be made of it? Does it mean we confess all our sins to other Christians? What about the healing part? God alone forgives sins, so what good comes from confessing them to someone else?

In Sacramental Theology, confession is an ongoing practice in the process of salvation. A believer goes to the priest and confesses his or her sins after which the priest instructs the confessor on what they should do (different degrees of penance depending on the severity of the sin) to be right with God.

For modern Protestants, taking from I Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God, and one who mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” sin becomes an issue strictly confined to the individual and God. And while it is clear that we do receive forgiveness from God alone, confessing to others is urgent and salutary for being victorious over sin. .

In his classic devotional Life Together Dietrich Bonhoeffer addresses the issue of confession among the body of believers. He says,

“In confession the break-through to community takes place. Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation. Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of the unexpressed it poisons the whole being of a person. This can happen even in the midst of a pious community. In confession the light of the Gospel breaks into the darkness and seclusion of the heart.”[1]

People aren’t created to be alone but in community. Christians need others to live victoriously. Sin thrives in darkness and solitude. When we confess our sins to others, we see wickedness for what it really is. Bonhoeffer asks an important question: Why we find it easier to confess sin to God than to our brother?

“God is holy and sinless, He is a just judge of evil and the enemy of all disobedience. But a brother is sinful as we are. He knows from his own experience the dark night of secret sin. Why should we not find it easier to go to a brother than to the holy God? But if we do, we must ask ourselves whether we have not been deceiving ourselves with our confession of sin to God, whether we have not rather been confessing our sins to ourselves and also granting ourselves absolution.”[2]

Bonhoeffer reasons that a low view of God’s holiness and false repentance results in believers continually falling back into sin. Self-forgiveness never yields a changed life. Confession to a brother guards against the temptation for self-absolution and self-justification of sin.

“As long as I am by myself in the confession of my sins everything remains in the dark, but in the presence of a brother the sin has to be brought into the light. But since the sin must come to light some time, it is better that it happens today between me and my brother, rather than on the last day in the piercing light of the final judgment. It is a mercy that we confess our sins to a brother. Such grace spares us the terrors of the last judgment.”[3]

Confession to Christian brothers is not a divine mandate. It is not necessary for forgiveness –but it is for our benefit. Says Bonhoeffer, “No confession is not a law, it is an offer of divine help for the sinner.”

Confession is an act of mercy. It is dealing drastically with sin. It exposes and confronts sin here and now.

Bonhoeffer gives some practical ways to carry out confession.

“It is precisely for the sake of this certainty that confession should deal with concrete sins. People usually are satisfied when they make a general confession. But one experiences the utter perdition and corruption of human nature, in so far as this ever enters into experience at all, when one sees his own specific sins.”[4]

He suggests using the Ten Commandments as a right preparation for confession.  He also advises that we find a trusted believer of the same sex to whom confession will be mutual.

For those wary that his or her sins will “shock” the hearer of a confession Bonhoeffer says this:

“Anyone who lives beneath the Cross and who has discerned in the Cross of Jesus the utter wickedness of all men and his own heart will find there is no sin that can ever be alien to him. Anybody who has once been horrified by the dreadfulness of his own sin that nailed Jesus to the Cross will no longer be horrified by even the rankest sins of a brother”[5]

Confession is Biblical. It is results in a high view of God and a rightfully lower view of ourselves. It is effective……. and is for our benefit.

I preached this sermon at Ryker’s Ridge Baptist Church on the morning of November, 13 2011. In this message, I speak of Paul’s gracious calling as an apostle, his gracious welcome to the churches at Galatia, and his gracious warning to those who are believing and teaching a false gospel. Grace is something that characterizes Paul’s ministry, and it should ours as well.

I sincerely hope you benefit from this message!

SERMON: Grace to You and Peace – Galatians 1:1-10

As Christians, we are called to understand culture, engage culture, and create culture.  We do a great job of the first two but we do a horrendous job at the final one.  Creating culture seems to be what the culture at large does for the rest of us.  The most popular of the arts (music, film, and literature) are the primary catalysts for creating this culture.  For years, we have nestled comfortably in our homes and have enjoyed our $100 a month television programs — all at the click of a remote control.

In today’s world, however, it is increasingly becoming a norm where TV shows are watched via the computer screen.  Online viewership is at an all-time high.  Words like “VCR, Tapes, and Box TV’s” are becoming more and more obsolete.  And words like “remote control and cable television” might be soon enough.

The Washington Post noted,

While television ownership has dropped, online video viewership has only increased. Last May marked an all-time high— 145 million online viewers in all. Cable companies and their content producers are trying to meet the demands for online content, but like the music, movie and journalism industries, are struggling to find the advertising dollars that would support big-budget television shows for small-budget advertising revenue online. Instead, many are attempting to create apps that will keep viewers engaged with their content throughout the day.

Many of my friends have already jumped on the “online TV” bandwagon.  Think about the benefits for a second:

1. You can spend $16.00 a month and get the entire Netflix deal — instant online streaming & unlimited DVD in the mail packages.
2. You can spend $7.99 a month for Hulu Plus and get many of the shows Netflix does not have in instant online streaming format.
3. You can spend around $7.00 a month for Amazon Prime, which will allow you to have access to thousands of online video movies and TV shows with just a click.

One month into my second semester at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, I’ve found my head continually in the books. This is of course, well-known and expected for any M.Div. student.  An elective course I’m enrolled in is a class titled classics in Christian Devotion. It has quickly become my favorite.

The class involves reading a number of devotional works by Christian authors through history: Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Andrew Fuller, St. Teresa of Avila and Jonathan Edwards among them.

I just finished The reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter. Baxter, a 17^th century English Puritan Pastor in the Church of England published in 1656 what is considered a classic in pastoral care. The book is an incredibly convicting, motivating and earnest piece for any man desiring to go into the ministry. Baxter sets the bar at a level most would consider unattainable. A noteworthy theme he addresses is evangelism. He is passionate about the salvation of souls and declares that no man should be a preacher of gospel if he does not care for the lost.

He proved his words in practice by transforming the people of Kidderminster from ‘an ignorant, rude and reveling people to a godly, worshipping community ’during his generation.

Below are a number of quotes I found convicting for any Christian, but especially to those desiring to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Brethren, if the saving of souls be your end, you will certainly intend it out of the pulpit as well as in it! If it be your end, you will live for it, and contribute all your endeavors to attain it.” P. 65

“Every Christian is obliged to do all he can for the salvation of others; but every minister is doubly obliged, because he is separated to the gospel of Christ, and is to give up himself wholly to that work” P. 196

“Your study of physics and other sciences is not worth a rush, if it be not God you seek after in them. To see and admire, to reverence and adore, to love and delight in God, as exhibited in his works –this is the true and only philosophy; the contrary is mere foolery, and is so called again and again by God himself.”  P. 58

“Take heed, therefore, brethren, for enemy hath a special eye upon you. You shall have his most subtle insinuations, and incessant solicitations, and violent assaults. As wise and learned as you are, take heed to yourselves, lest he outwit you. The devil is a greater scholar than you, and a nimbler disputant: he can transform himself into an angel of light to deceive: he will get with in you, and trip up you heels before you are aware.” P. 75

“When your minds are in a holy, heavenly frame, your people are likely to partake of the fruits of it. Your prayers, and praises, and doctrine will be sweet and heavenly to them. They will likely feel when you have been much with God: and which is most on your hearts, is like to be most in their ears. I confess I must speak it by lamentable experience, that I publish to my flock the distempers of my own soul. When I let my heart grow cold, my preaching is cold; and when it is confused, my preaching is confused; and so I can oft observe also in the best of my hearers, that when I have grown cold in preaching, they have , and the next prayers which I have heard from them have been too like my preaching.” P.61

“To cry down the sin of others, and engage them against it, and direct them to overcome it, will do much to shame us out of our own; and conscience will scarcely suffer us to live in that which we make so much ado to draw others from” P. 186

“But most have an ungrounded trust in Christ, hoping that he will pardon, justify, and save them, while the world hath their hearts, and they live to the flesh. And this is the trust they take for justifying faith.” P. 196

“I marvel how I can preach of them slightly and coldly, and how I can let men alone in their sins, and that I do not go to them and beseech them, for the Lord’s sake, to repent, however they may take it, and whatever pains or trouble it may cost me!” P. 203

“And now, brethren, what have we to do for the time to come, but to deny our lazy flesh, and rouse up ourselves to the work before us. The harvest is great, the labourers are few; the loiterers and hinderers are many, the souls of men are precious, the misery of sinners great, and the everlasting misery to which they are near is greater, the joys of heaven are inconceivable, the comfort of the faithful minister is not small, the joy of the extensive success will be a full reward.” P. 202

As a relatively new pastor, I have come to realize to a greater degree the pervasiveness of sin–the tight grip it has on the world and even its influence over Christians. Quickly, I am coming to recognize the essentiality of being skilled in biblical counseling. Sin, with all of its evil, continues to give rise to one of the most common subject matter for counseling–broken or damaged relationships. It sincerely breaks my heart as a pastor, and especially as a fellow-Christian, to see disunity among Christians. This is particularly and pronouncedly true when it comes to broken and damaged marriages.

Why are broken marriages so painful for me to observe? Honestly, it has to do with the fact that “Christians” have lost their fear of God. Consequently, when a man and woman exchange vows on their wedding day, the promise or covenant that that they make with each other, with God, and with the observing congregation becomes nothing more than a formality for many. When people make the decision to get a divorce, they act as functional atheists as they disregard this covenant and promise and spurn the authority of God. Neither is God the foundation of the relationship, nor does He prove to be the Lord or Master of the individuals involved in the relationship. Covenant and promise have sadly lost their significance in this functionally atheistic and pseudo-Christian church culture.

I have recently been encouraged by two videos–one, a conversation between pastors and theologians, and a second, a music video. In these videos, what is made central and foundational to a marriage relationship is not health, comfort, sex, money, romance, chemistry, or anything material or physical; it IS covenant and promise. Marriage relationships will always be wrought with difficulties and challenges, but as Andrew Peterson says, “That’s what the promise is for.” If marriage can be founded on this promise and covenant, then (and only then) will they be able to experience the true joy that the marriage relationship can bring as they seek to live out the Christ-church marital dynamic for the glory of God and their joy. For those of you who might be struggling with your marriage, don’t give up. And look to Christ who has given himself for us, instituting an unbreakable covenant with us in order to save us from our sin. Covenants and promises are not made to be broken. God will never break his. Neither should we.

How many times do you start a project, never looking ahead to discover your end goal, only to find you’ve made a crucial mistake along the way? For you, maybe that doesn’t happen. For me, it happens most times I start a project. I suffer from overeager disorganizationalism. It is a workable condition; it just requires lots of patience as it inevitably leads to blindsided-by-the-obviousization. I want to share how these personal afflictions led me to a new appreciation for the lordship of Christ.

My condition is not new to me. When I was in the fourth grade my teacher, Mr. Shirey, gave us an art project to do in class. He gave us a sheet full of instructions, a blank sheet of paper, and a pencil. His only directive to us was to make sure we read the instructions before we started. Well, I have to admit, I have always had a little bit of a competitive streak in me, and when he said we were all doing the same project all I heard was we were all racing to finish the same assignment. Needless to say, I did not read the instructions. Mr. Shirey told us repeatedly during the exercise to make sure we read the instructions, but I paid him no heed; after all, I had an imaginary race to win!

So there I am, pencil working feverishly, trying to finish this project until I reach the last instruction. It says something to the effect of “At this point, turn in your sheet of paper, but it must be blank. If you read ahead, you may turn in your paper now. If you did not read all the instructions, you must erase everything you have done in order to turn in a blank sheet.”

Little did I know that in the midst of my frantic drawing, the vast majority of my classmates had read ahead and turned in the project without touching a pencil. All I had to do was read ahead, but I was too entranced by what was right before me.

Last night, I had the occasion to discover yet another area of my life where this affliction (overeager disorganizationalism) runs rampant. I was spending some time reading through the Word as I prepared for bed. I have been reading through the New Testament and am currently in Acts 10. Last night, in chapter 9, I came to where God calls the church’s greatest persecutor out of darkness, into the light, and molds him into the church’s greatest apostle.

As I read the account of Paul’s conversion I came to where God spoke to Ananias, telling him to go and lay hands on Paul to restore his sight. Ananias objects, and God responds in verse 15 by telling Ananias that Paul is “a chosen instrument of mine, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.” I got all excited, and scrambled for my pen, praying as I began underlining, “Lord, let this proclamation become the task to which you have called me as well.” Then, as I was underlining verse 15, I realized there was more to God’s proclamation about Paul in verse 16. Suddenly, my excitement was staunched, and my prayer was stilled. In verse 16, God continues explaining why Ananias needs to go to Paul. God says got to him, “for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” I had to stop my frivolous underlining and ask myself “if I desire the proclamation God spoke of Paul, am I also willing to underline and embrace the cost God required of him?” It was a sobering moment.

God’s call is not always a call to a life of ease. Sometimes He calls us to a life of glorious suffering. Sometimes His call is not about our life at all. When I read about Paul’s call, I realized how tough was God’s call to Paul. I am reminded of Bonhoeffer’s insight that frequently when God calls a man, He bids him, “come and die.” Considering all of this, I asked my wife if I was allowed to scratch out my underline, but she said no. Trusting her judgment, I continued to underline to the end of God’s call to Paul.

Much like my art project in fourth grade, last night I realized the danger in starting down a path of action without first counting the cost. Nonetheless, I am thankful to the Lord, who has brought me far enough along the path of sanctification that I am willing to count the cost, and still willingly bend my knee. Christ is my Lord, and I trust Him in every situation, both peaceful and painful, to be my portion, my prize, and my redemption.

I only hope to one day encounter suffering for His name’s sake, as did Peter and the apostles, which leaves my flesh limping as my spirit soars, rejoicing that I may be considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.

I wanted to make our readers aware of a fantastic discussion going on between Sam Storms and Michael Patton about the continuation of the gifts. To give you some background — Sam and Michael are good friends; Sam, as I understand it, was actually something of a mentor to Michael as they began in ministry. Today, they regularly work together, hosting a weekly podcast on theology (which is definitely worth checking out), but they nonetheless fall on different sides of the massive evangelical divide referred to as the Gifts of the Spirit. I encourage you to follow the link at the bottom of the page, add their website to your favorites tab, and continue following the conversation as it unfolds.

Ordinarily, I would encourage believers to explore this discussion in the comfort of their home seated across a coffee table  from a good friend, engaging with a searching, open heart. Having contentious debates over the blogosphere turns very nasty, very quickly. Not because we are nasty people, but because we are incapable of sharing tone, inflection, and an apologetic smile in the comment line of a blog. Sam and Michael manage to maintain civility toward each other throughout their dialogue (despite the many comments which are not so civil flooding the inbox below) and their conversation is edifying and convicting.

Read their conversation and look for yourself in their musings. I am thankful to say Sam’s Story exposed my preconceptions and self-righteous judgments against the straw man I called a “charismatic”. I now address Charismatics in my church with much more grace, understanding, and compassion than I used to.

Follow the link, and check out an informative and edifying conversation between two men who do not pursue truth to the detriment of their relationship, a skill I know I need to learn!

Why I Am/Not Charismatic

I am frequently haunted by a black dog of despair and anxiety, and it strikes during times of disappointment and trial.

When life is going well: Good health, good job, great church, awesome marriage, and nothing is currently annoying me, this black dog of despair seems small and harmless.  Like a toy poodle.

But when disappointment and strife enter in, then this little black dog turns into a growling, rabid wolf.  And it’s going for the jugular of my faith: “Why is God so far away?”
“What did I do wrong that God is doing this to me?”
“Does He even care?”

It’s times like these that I have to be reminded of the very great promises of the Gospel.

As Jon Bloom writes,

A very precious thing Jesus says to you, as a disciple, is this: “You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit . . .” (John 15:16).

But this also implies that Jesus will dis-appoint you many times—meaning, there are some appointments from which Jesus will remove you, and others that he simply will not grant to you.

At these times we must “not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment” (John 7:24). In Christ, God is pursuing you only with goodness and mercy (Psalm 23:6). His promise is this: “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?” (Romans 8:32).

When feeling disappointed, follow your emotions to their roots. You will find unbelief that requires the herbicide of God’s promises for you.  [emphasis added]

________

For full article see Disappointed By Jesus by Jon Bloom.