Thursday, June 28, 2012

How is Your Summer? Don't Waste It!

Summer is in full bloom, but it will soon be gone. I am not trying to be a killjoy. I am not trying to be "that annoying kid" who always whined about the end of summer that was coming instead of enjoying the remaining days.  The reason I bring it up is to remind you of my challenge to you this summer. Do you remember?

The challenge was to make diligent effort to grow, by God's grace, in godliness (Christ-likeness).  If you participated in the book club/discipleship group, I encourage you to review the book (How Can I Change?) and use the principles to grow in a specific area of your life.  Don't be vague and general. We don't change in nebulous clouds of vagueness. God calls us and empowers us to change in specific attitudes and actions.  If you weren't able to participate in our discipleship group, I encourage you to read the book on your own (you can get a digital version free here).

Also, you may benefit from re-reading my blog series from the beginning of the summer on godliness.  You can find it by searching "Grow in Godliness This Summer" in the search bar.

I pray that through your Spirit empowered work God would give you genuine, perceptible, growth in godliness this summer.  Don't waste your remaining summer.  It is a gift to be enjoyed for God's glory and your spiritual good.

Monday, June 25, 2012

A FAQ on the Differences Between Mormonism & Biblical Christianity

As Christians, we are people of the book- the Bible. We invest time studying and delight in God's Word.  It is also good to know something of the false.  What I mean is that it is good to know a little something about other worldviews or religions that you might encounter which are in opposition to the truth. There is a danger here though. We are not to invest more time in this pursuit than we do in seeking to know God's truth.

Here is a helpful FAQ on the differences between Mormonism and Biblical Christianity.  I hope this helps you better understand the truth ultimately.  And I hope it helps you better witness to your Mormon friends.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Does the Old Testament Condone Polygamy?

Here is a great article by Lionel Windsor on the issue often raised in the marriage debates of our day, "Doesn't the Old Testament condone polygamy?  So, why appeal to it to defend marriage as a union between one man and one woman?"  I think this is a timely article to read given our culture's confusion in this area, and it fits with what we have been learning as we study 1-2 Samuel and see polygamy there.

Below is a great excerpt from the article.

Why did this interviewer think the Old Testament condones polygamy? Clearly he’s expressing a common point of view. Where has it come from? I reckon it stems from the fact that a lot of people in our world don’t really know what the Bible is about. A large number of people (maybe as a result of ineffectual communication by Christian teachers) think the Bible–and especially the Old Testament–is just a list of moral commandments, along with some stories to give us examples of how to be good. So when they do get around to reading the Old Testament, they read it with this moralistic framework in mind. And they find quite a few stories where the lead character is a polygamist. Furthermore, they don’t find any explicit commands that say “Thou shalt not commit polygamy”. So, since they are assuming that the Old Testament is just a book of moral commandments and morality tales, they conclude that the Bible says polygamy is OK.

The problem, of course, is that the Bible–even the Old Testament–is not really a book of commandments and morality tales. The Bible does of course contain commandments, and lots of narratives. But hardly any of the narratives are about morally upright heroes who keep God’s commandments. Most of the narratives are about God’s actions and plans to save immoral human beings. Most of the human characters in Bible stories (even some of the most faithful ones) are morally dubious at best; in fact, many of their activities are downright sordid. You’re not supposed to read these stories as direct examples for your own life; you’re meant to read them to understand God’s actions in the midst of a tragic human history.
It is true that the stories will also teach us something about God’s moral order. But we don’t usually discover this moral order simply by reading the stories as if they were straightforward examples to emulate today. Like many good stories, the Bible’s stories can communicate deep moral truths without needing to resort to explicit commandments. Indeed, stories are often more morally powerful when there is no explicit moralising. Think of a movie like Schindler’s List, a powerful story telling us about one of the darkest moments in Western history. Now imagine, at the end of the movie, as you’ve been hit with the human horror of the holocaust, just before the credits, a commandment comes up on the screen: “The director would like to point out (in case you missed it) that you should not be racist.” Not only would this be unnecessary, it would destroy the power of the story.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Marks of a Healthy Church: Biblical Leadership

What is it?

The Bible teaches that each local church should be led by a plurality of godly, qualified men called elders.

Where is it in the Bible?

Paul lays out the qualifications for elders in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. Passages that evidence a plurality of elders in one local church include Acts 14:23, Acts 20:17, 1 Timothy 4:14, 1 Timothy 5:17, and James 5:14.

Why is it important?

God gifts churches with elders to
The bottom line? Biblical church leadership is important because without it, God’s people are like sheep without shepherds.

http://www.9marks.org/what-are-the-9marks/leadership

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Marks of a Healthy Church: Discipleship

What is it?

Scripture teaches that a live Christian is a growing Christian (2 Pet. 1:8-10). Scripture also teaches that we grow not only by instruction, but by imitation (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1). Therefore churches should exhort their members to both grow in holiness and help others do the same.

Where is it in the Bible?

  • Peter exhorted his readers to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18)
  • Paul exhorted the Ephesians to grow by speaking the truth in love to one another (Eph. 4:15).
  • Many passages in Scripture instruct us to imitate godly leaders (Phil. 4:9; Heb. 13:7).
The point is that, according to Scripture, all Christians should grow in Christ, imitate other godly Christians, and encourage others in their growth in Christlikeness.

Why is it important?

  1. Promoting biblical discipleship and growth is important because none of us are finished products. Until we die, all Christians will struggle against sin, and we need all the help we can get in this fight.
  2. If a church neglects discipleship and growth, or teaches a skewed, unbiblical version of it, it will discourage genuine Christians and wrongly assure false Christians. On the other hand, if a church fosters a culture of Christian discipleship and growth, it will multiply believers’ efforts to grow in holiness.
  3. A church that is not growing in the faith will ultimately yield an unhealthy witness to the world.
http://www.9marks.org/what-are-the-9marks/discipleship

Monday, June 4, 2012

Marks of a Healthy Church: Church Discipline

What is it?

  • In the broadest sense, church discipline is everything the church does to help its members pursue holiness and fight sin. Preaching, teaching, prayer, corporate worship, accountability relationships, and godly oversight by pastors and elders are all forms of discipline.
  • In a narrower sense, church discipline is the act of correcting sin in the life of the body, including the possible final step of excluding a professing Christian from membership in the church and participation in the Lord’s Supper because of serious unrepentant sin (see Matt. 18:15-20, 1 Cor. 5:1-13).

Where is it in the Bible?

Why is it important?

Think of discipline as the stake that helps the tree grow upright, the extra set of wheels on the bicycle, or the musician’s endless hours of practice. Without discipline, we won’t grow as God wants us to. With discipline, we will, by God’s grace, bear peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12:5-11).

http://www.9marks.org/what-are-the-9marks/discipline

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Marks of a Healthy Church: Church Membership

What is it?

According to the Bible, church membership is a commitment every Christian should make to attend, love, serve, and submit to a local church.

Where is it in the Bible?

  • Throughout Old Testament history, God made a clear distinction between his people and the world (see Lev. 13:46, Num. 5:3, Deut. 7:3).
  • Christ says that entering the kingdom of God means being bound to the church “on earth” (Matt. 16:16-19; 18:17-19). Where do we see the church on earth? The local church.
  • The New Testament explicitly refers to some people being inside the church and some people being outside (1 Cor. 5:12-13). This is much more than a casual association.
  • The church in Corinth consisted of a definite number of believers, such that Paul could speak of a punishment inflicted by the majority (2 Cor. 2:6).
  • Not only does the New Testament speak of the reality of church membership, but its dozens of “one anothers” are written to local churches, which fill out our understanding of what church membership should practically look like.

Why is it important?

Biblical church membership is important because the church presents God’s witness to himself in the world. It displays his glory. In the church’s membership, then, non-Christians should see in the lives of God’s changed people that God is holy and gracious and that his gospel is powerful for saving and transforming sinners.

http://www.9marks.org/what-are-the-9marks/membership

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Marks of a Healthy Church: Evangelism

What is it?

Evangelism is simply telling non-Christians the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to save sinners. In order to biblically evangelize you must:
  1. Preach the whole gospel, even the hard news about God’s wrath against our sin.
  2. Call people to repent of their sins and trust in Christ.
  3. Make it clear that believing in Christ is costly, but worth it.

Where is it in the Bible?

Scripture contains both teaching on evangelism (Matt. 28:19-20; Rom. 10:14-17; 1 Pet. 3:15-16) and examples of evangelistic preaching (see Acts 2:14-41, 3:12-26, 13:16-49, 17:22-31). Moreover, any time Scripture speaks of the gospel, it is teaching us what we are to share in evangelism (see, for example, Romans 1-4 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Why is it important?

  • When a church has an unbiblical understanding of the gospel, they don’t evangelize, they evangelize in misleading or manipulative ways, or they share a message that’s not the gospel.
  • On the other hand, a biblical understanding of evangelism clarifies our role in the mission God has given to the church: we are to preach the good news about what Christ has done and pray that God would bring people to believe it.
http://www.9marks.org/what-are-the-9marks/evangelism

Friday, June 1, 2012

Marks of a Healthy Church: Conversion

What is it?

A biblical understanding of conversion recognizes both what God does and what people do in salvation. In conversion, God
And in conversion, people
A biblical understanding of conversion recognizes that only God can save, and that he saves individuals by enabling them to respond to the gospel message through repenting of sin and trusting in Christ.

Where is it in the Bible?

Why is it important?

A biblical understanding of conversion is important for churches because
  1. It clarifies how churches should exhort non-Christians—they should call non-Christians to repent of sin and trust in Christ.
  2. It reminds churches that they must rely upon God in all of their evangelistic efforts; only he can give new spiritual life.
  3. It teaches churches to maintain a sharp distinction between themselves and the world.
    • Church members’ lives should be marked by the fruit of conversion,
    • Churches should admit to baptism and the Lord’s Supper only those who show evidence of conversion.
Churches should evangelize and teach about the Christian life in such a way that the radical nature of conversion is continually emphasized.

http://www.9marks.org/what-are-the-9marks/conversion