Click here to read a statement from the elders at The Village Church about how you can help Matt.
11.30.2009
Please Pray for Matt Chandler
Click here to read a statement from the elders at The Village Church about how you can help Matt.
The Christmas War
Media and Your Family
Here are a few shocking statistics about media and the family. After reading these facts think about how much influence the media has over you and your household. Compare these with the time the average person spends devoted to prayer, reading, the Bible, or family devotion.
• Based on the US Census, adults and teens will spend nearly five months (3,518 hours) next year watching television, surfing the Internet, reading daily newspapers and listening to personal music devices.
• People will spend 65 days in front of the TV, 41 days listening to radio and a little over a week on the Internet in 2007.
• Percentage of households that possess at least one television: 9
• Number of hours per day that TV is on in an average U.S. home: 6 hours, 47 minutes
• Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
• Number of hours of TV watched annually by Americans: 250 billion
• Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5
• Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
• Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54
• Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
• Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
• Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000
• Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000
• Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
• Number of TV commercials seen by the average person by age 65: 2 million
HT: Winfield Bevins
What Does It Mean to Walk In Darkness?
11.29.2009
Gospel Enemy #1: Self-Righteousness
True Christianity is a Fight
True Christianity! Let us mind that word "true." There is a vast quantity of religion current in the world which is not true, genuine Christianity. It passes muster; it satisfies sleepy consciences; but it is not good money. It is not the real thing which was called Christianity eighteen hundred years ago. There are thousands of men and women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday, and call themselves Christians. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are reckoned Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian marriage service. They mean to be buried as Christians when they die. But you never see any "fight" about their religion! Of spiritual strife, and exertion, and conflict, and self-denial, and watching, and warring, they know literally nothing at all. Such Christianity may satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded, and His Apostles preached. It is not the religion which produces real holiness. True Christianity is "a fight."
11.23.2009
What Are You Thankful For?
- A Child of God (Romans 8:16)
- Redeemed from the Hand of the Enemy (Psalm 107:2)
- Forgiven (Colossians 1:13,14)
- Saved by Grace through Faith (Ephesians 2:8)
- Justified (Romans 5:1)
- Sanctified (I Corinthians 6:11)
- A New Creature (II Corinthians 5:17)
- Partaker of His Divine Nature (II Peter 1:4)
- Redeemed from the Curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13)
- Delivered from the Powers of Darkness (Colossians 1:13)
- Led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14)
- A Son of God (Romans 8:74)
- Kept in Safety Wherever I Go (Psalm 91:11)
- Getting All My Needs Met by Jesus (Philippians 4:19)
- Casting All My Cares on Jesus (I Peter 5:7)
- Strong in the Lord and in the Power of His Might (Ephesians 6:10)
- Doing All Things through Christ Who Strengthens Me (Philippians 4:13)
- An Heir of God and a Joint Heir with Jesus (Romans 8:17)
- Heir to the Blessings of Abraham (Galatians 3:13, 14)
- Observing and Doing the Lord's Commandments (Deuteronomy 28:I2)
- Blessed Coming in and Blessed Going out (Deuteronomy 28:6)
- An Heir of Eternal Life (I John 5:11, 12)
- Blessed with All Spiritual Blessings (Ephesians 1:3)
- Healed by His Stripes (I Peter 2:24)
- Exercising My Authority over the Enemy (Luke 10:19)
- Above Only and Not Beneath (Deuteronomy 28:13)
- More than a Conqueror (Romans 8:37)
- Establishing God's Word Here on Earth (Matthew 16:19)
- An Overcomer by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of My Testimony (Revelation 12:11)
- Daily overcoming the Devil (I John 4:4)
- Not Moved by What I See (II Corinthians 4:18)
- Walking by Faith and Not by Sight (II Corinthians 5:7)
- Casting Down Vain Imaginations (II Corinthians 10:4, 5)
- Bringing Every Thought into Captivity (II Corinthians 10:5)
- Being Transformed by Renewing My Mind (Romans 12:1, 2)
- A Laborer Together with God (I Corinthians 5:21)
- The Righteousness of God in Christ (II Corinthians 5:21)
- An Imitator of Jesus (Ephesians 5:1)
- The Light of the World (Matthew 5:14)
- Blessing the Lord at All Times and Continually Praising the Lord with My Mouth (Psalm 34:1)
11.20.2009
Reconsidering Children's Church
Recently a friend read and responded to my original post and I think she brought up some good points in favor of Children's Church. Here's part of what she had to say:
(We used to not have Children's Church). Everyone did sit in church together for the duration. Result? Stressed out parents trying to keep their little ones from being fidgety and bored, frustrated kids who did not look forward to coming to church. In talking with a handful of adults we found that "being made" to stay in church proved to be detrimental to their view of church as they matured. Our decision to start church 'just for kids' was actually a result of our wanting to teach the Bible to the next generation, but to create an environment they would enjoy and look forward to coming to, rather than the opposite. We time it so that the children are present for some of the beginning elements of corporate worship with their families, and then dismiss them a bit before the sermon so they can go hear a "sermon" that is appropriate for their cognitive development. I feel pretty strongly about what I see to be the positive elements and outcomes of this! What we have seen in the 5.5 years is that when the kids get a bit older, they become "bored" with the "little kids church" and DESIRE to come to "Big Church."
I'm interested to hear what others think about this issue? I see where Piper is coming from, but I also understand and appreciate the points raised above. What do you think? What do your experiences tell you about what might be the best approach for helping children know Christ and appreciate the Church?
You 86 the rules. You do what just feels right. . .
Youth culture is a map and a mirror. It is both directive and reflective. We watch it to see where it's sending us and our kids. We watch it to see where we are. We monitor, deconstruct, and exegete it to know how to bring the map of the Biblical world and life view to bear on the realities that exist. A world that's not the way it's supposed to be keeps heading in that direction. We're in desperate need of being straightened out, fixed, and made new. That's why we listen and watch carefully.
Looking for a cultural map and mirror to ponder and talk about over the next month or so? Here's one worth engaging.
"You 86 the rules. You do what just feels right. . . "
HT: Vitamin Z
What Does it Cost to Be a Disciple of Christ?
HT: Desiring God
How NOT to be a missional church
Jonathan's posts are based on the messages he delivered at the Lead '09 Conference.
11.19.2009
Something Incredible Is Happening on Sunday Morning
Below is an excerpt, but you can read the entire post here.
When you enter church on Sundays and the music begins, what are you more aware of? Is it the song set? the musicians? the mix? Does the worship band wow you? Does the routine bore you?
Or do you perceive something beyond all this?
Your church is one authentic manifestation of the entire people of God that right now is worshiping before the throne of God. That is the reality of new covenant worship. And when we begin to wrap our minds around that, there springs to mind a thousand reasons to rejoice, to praise, and to sing; and to renounce flippancy, self-display, selfishness, superficiality, sloppiness, and thoughtlessness.
Before the God who is a consuming fire, we don’t shuffle in casually. We don’t demand our artistic preferences. We don’t merely gather with our friends. We don’t merely sing together. As the people of God, we enter into the very presence of God. Encountering God in this way is the very nature of the church. By definition, to be the church is to gather in God’s presence and to worship God together. And when we begin singing, we join the glorious worship that takes place unceasingly before the throne of God.
This is true regardless of how we feel, who leads worship, what songs we sing, or how we think worship went. There is something incredible happening on Sunday morning! Something eternal is going on in there. Don’t miss it.
HT: Sovereign Grace
Twilight and Voluntary Demonization
I believe, and admittedly I take some flack about this from the youth I serve, these movies can be a pathway to occultic activity and idolatry. How? While most teens know that these stories are fictional, but they also often refer to the main character in the series, Edward, as being "perfect" and talk about him in ways that make you wonder if what's intended to be fictional hasn't taken on the role of a very real idol in their hearts.
I think Dr. Sam Storms makes some interesting points in his article, Doors to Demonization, about the possible spiritual danger posed by movies like Twilight and other forms of entertainment which contain an element of the supernatural. Here are some of Dr. Storms' thoughts:
Voluntary Demonization
Voluntary demonization can occur in two ways, by what we neglect to do and by what we do voluntarily.
1. What we neglect to do. The word "neglect" is possibly a poor choice of terms. It isn't that one little, inadvertent, slip-up will lead to demonization, but rather that persistent and unrepentant refusal to do what the Bible says to do may open the door.
a. Failure or refusal to resist the devil (Js. 4; 1 Pt. 5). Is Satan required to flee from us if we don't resist him? No.
b. Failure or refusal to wear the armor of God (Eph. 6). What happens if we engage the enemy unadorned?
c. Failure or refusal to put on Jesus (Rom. 13:14).
d. Failure or refusal to pray for protection from the power of temptation (Mt. 6:13).
2. What we deliberately do
a. Occultic activity (Deut. 18:9-14) For example: astrology, palm reading, any form of fortune telling such as reading tea leaves, using a crystal ball, etc.; Ouija board, tarot cards, witchcraft, sorcery, magic (not sleight of hand or illusion but appeal to supernatural power to effect miraculous events), table lifting, Dungeons & Dragons, automatic writing, hypnosis, séances, incantations, good-luck charms, amulets, water-witching or dowsing, pendulum, etc.
b. Idolatry (Deut. 7:25; Acts 19:18-19; Lev. 17:7; Deut. 32:17; Ps. 106:34-39; 1 Cor. 10:19-21). "When objects are made for occult purposes, or when people look to an object with the anticipation that it has power, demons will meet their expectation quite apart from any qualities inherent in the object itself. Or, in other cases, a person engaging in occult practices may invite demons to empower an object, and in this way the demons may become associated with that object" (Warner, 94).
c. Willful, unrepentant, unresolved sin (1 Tim. 3:7; 1 Pt. 5:8; 2 Cor. 2:11; Eph. 4:26-27).
Read more here.
How Much Do You Have to Hate Somebody to Not Proselytize?
That’s a quote from atheist Penn Jillette, of the magician duo, Penn & Teller. Video, followed by transcript, below:
“I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me along and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?
“I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.”
HT: Justin Taylor
Whom Shall We Invite to Thanksgiving Dinner?
He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers [1] or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” 15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant [2] to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, [3] none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”
11.17.2009
The Greatest of These Is Love: John Piper Sermons
Who Shall Separate Us from the Love of Christ?
The Depth of Christ's Love: Its Cost
The Depth of Christ's Love: Its Undeserving Objects
The Depth of Christ's Love: Its Lavish Benefits
The Depth of Christ's Love: Its Freedom
Faith: The Link Between God's Love for Us and Ours for Others
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself, Part 1
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself, Part 2
But I Say to You, Love Your Enemies, Part 1
But I Say to You, Love Your Enemies, Part 2
Love One Another with Tender Affection
Summer Is for Seeing and Showing Christ
Dying as a Means of Loving, Part 1
Dying as a Means of Loving, Part 2
How Often Are You On Script?
"Hello, how are you?"
"Hi. I'm fine. And you?"
"Aw, pretty good. What's going on?"
"Same old same old. And you?"
"Yeah, me too."
[Long, somewhat awkward pause here]
"Well, we should get together sometime."
"Yeah, let's do that."
"Right."
"Right."
"Well, I gotta run. Shoot, I'm already late!"
"Yeah, me too. Bye."
"Yeah, bye."
Chances are good that this kind of conversation constitutes most of the public conversations that you live through and in everyday. Most of us probably think of these kinds of conversations as necessary, obligations of "being social." Or perhaps as just rituals of politeness when you run into someone you know in the traffic of an ordinary day. If we ignored them we would be considered to be a snob, right?
But really these sorts of conversation are robing us of our ability to connect with each other in any meaningful way. They are scripts, used to acknowledge others, By using these mundane scripts we are exchanging relatively meaningless communication for genuine dialogue. We say so little to each other because we are so busy to say anything else - and just to strangers, but to our spouses, our children, and to those in our church family (to be honest, I can't think of a social setting that I use and experience social scripts more than on Sunday morning in the church).
11.16.2009
Is it possible to love your neighbor as yourself?
When You Don't Want to Do What You Ought To
If your "want to" does not conform to God's "ought to," what can you do to have peace?
John Piper lays out five possible strategies:
1. You can avoid thinking about the "ought to." This is the most common strategy in the world. Most people simply do not devote energy to pondering what they should be doing that they are not doing.
2. You can reinterpret the "ought to" so that it sounds just like your "want to." This is a little more sophisticated and so not as common. It often takes a college education to do this with credibility, and a seminary degree to do it with finesse.
3. You can muster the willpower to do a form of the "ought to" even though you don't have the heart of the "want to." This generally looks pretty good, and is often mistaken as virtue, even by those who do it. In fact, there is a whole worldview that says doing "ought to's" without "want to" is the essence of virtue. The problem with this is that Paul said, "God loves a cheerful giver," which puts the merely "ought-to givers" in a precarious position.
4. You can muster the willpower to do a form of the "ought to" and feel remorse for not having the heart of the "want to." This is not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy hides one of the two contradictory impulses.
5. You can seek, by grace, to have God give the "want to" so that when the time comes to do the "ought to," you will "want to." Ultimately, the "want to" is a gift of God.
"The mind of the flesh is hostile to God…it is not able to submit to the law of God." (Romans 8:7)
"The natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God…because they are spiritually appraised." (1 Corinthians 2:14)
"Perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Timothy 2:25) The Biblical doctrine of original sin boils down to this (to borrow from St. Augustine): We are free to do what we like, but we are not free to like what we ought to like.
God's free and sovereign heart-changing work is our only hope. Therefore we must pray for a new heart. We must pray for the "want to": Incline my heart to Your testimonies. (Psalm 119:36). He has promised to do it: I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes. (Ezekiel 36:27). This is the new covenant bought by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 8:8-13; 9:15).
HT: Desiring God
11.12.2009
This Little Church Had None
To this end this book is dedicated. We want to understand the opposition to having and living a biblical worldview, what steps we must take to implement the same in our churches, and then how to evangelize people from a biblical worldview framework.
Converts vs. Disciples
Some churches focus on evangelism at the expense of discipleship by seeking to win converts instead of making disciples. The goal of evangelism is disciple making. The Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28 is to make disciples who will follow Christ rather than simply win converts. When Jesus said, “make disciples” the disciples understood it to mean more than simply getting someone to believe in Jesus and they interpreted it to mean that they should make out of others what Jesus made out of them. Robert Coleman explains the Great Commission in the following way:
“The Great Commission is not merely to go the to the ends of the earth preaching the gospel (Mark 16:15), nor to baptize a lot of converts into the name of the triune God, nor to teach them the precepts of Christ, but to ‘make disciples’—to build people like themselves who were so constrained by the commission of Christ that they not only follow, but also led others to follow his way.”
Superficial Discipleship
11.11.2009
He is a Refiner's Fire
HT: Desiring God