“Is There Enough Teaching in the Church?”

Kevin DeYoung gives an answer you may not expect, and I totally agree with. We need more teaching in the church, not less.

Loving Jesus and Hating Religion?

Jeff Bethke’s video called “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” went viral and ended up all over the Internet, including numerous Facebook posts. The early response was very positive, but some needed correction and perspective has been given by Kevin DeYoung and Glenn T. Stanton.

Some of what Jeff said was right, but some of it was wrong at best or misguided at least.

You can read DeYoung’s response here.

You can also read some interaction between Bethke and DeYoung here, to both of their credit (a good example of brothers in Christ having a good discussion).

Glenn Stanton adds his thoughts here – more on the reaction to the video.

All of these pieces are worth our consideration and the issue raised by Bethke is worth discussing.

Sermon in a Sentence

This morning, I had the privilege of preaching on Genesis 1:26-31. Here is a summary of my sermon in one sentence: God created human beings to reflect Him, rule in creation, and reproduce a godly heritage.

Spurgeon on God

Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

God writes in a pen that never blots, speaks with a tongue that never slips, acts with a hand that never fails.

Two Good Reads

Does what you wear to church matter? Duane Litfin has an excellent, well-reasoned article, which can be found here.

If you’ve never read Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, you need to. You can find it here.

Enjoy and get ready to be challenged.

A Few Words about Humility

C.J. Mahaney defines humility as “honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.”

C.S. Lewis describes humility in the following way: “In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that – and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison – you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

Proverbs 15:33 says, “The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility.”

Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,  but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; and do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

1 Peter 5:5 says, “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for ‘God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”

Lord, we are far too proud and far too full of ourselves. Give us grace that we may be humble and forgive us for our irrational and unfounded pride. Develop the virtue of humility in our hearts so that it may work its way out into our actions. In the Name of the One whose humble example we’re to follow, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sermon in a Sentence

This morning, I had the privilege of preaching on Genesis 1:1-25. The following is a summary of my sermon in one sentence: God created everything out of nothing for His glory and our good.

Sermon in a Sentence

I had the privilege of preaching on Genesis 1:1 this morning (actually the first four words in English – “In the beginning God”). Here is a summary of my sermon in one sentence: God has first place in everything.

Newton re: Himself

John Newton, former slave trader marvelously saved by the grace of God, served for many years as a pastor. Near the end of his life he wrote an assessment of himself that may sound harsh, but I know we can all relate to it.

I am not what I ought to be – ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be – I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be – soon, soon I shall put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was; a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”

We are not what we ought to be, but we are not what we once were. Praise God!

The Importance of the Heart

Our hearts (not the actual organ that pumps blood) are the center of who we are. The heart is made up of our mind, affections, and will. It includes our passions, desires, emotions – it’s what drives us. The importance of the heart cannot be overestimated.

Behaviorism works, but not for long. As soon as the “hook” – the reward or punishment – is removed, the behavior returns (most likely in a stronger fashion). Tom Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida, wrote about the heart in a past issue of Tabletalk. (The following are selected quotes from the article “The Heart of the Problem.”)

Jesus teaches us that there is something far more fundamental to our sinfulness than the actual sins we commit. Our sins do not make us sinful. Rather, we commit sins because, at the very center of our lives, we are sinful. Sin has invaded the inner recesses of our personalities.

This is essential information for spiritual health because it keeps us from misdiagnosing our real problem. So often we are quick to blame others for our failures and shortcomings. We even mask how we do this by employing the “if-only” rationale to excuse our sin. “If only I had been raised differently…I had a better job…you hadn’t provoked me…my husband would listen to me…my church were better…” The list is endless and usually contains genuinely flawed people and circumstances that are blameworthy.

But no circumstance, other person, or activity can ever justify my sin. I sin, Jesus said, because my heart is sinful. That is a shattering reality. But we must humbly face it if we want to be spiritually healed.

Failure to accept our Lord’s teaching at this point inevitably leads us to locate sin outside of ourselves.

But Jesus teaches us that sin does not originate “out there.” Its haven is the human heart. Martin Luther came to see this and it caused him to say, “I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals.”

The only way to make the stream pure is to purify the fountain. And the only way to deal with  our sin is having our hearts engaged.

This is precisely what the Gospel does. God does not merely call us to stop sinning. He calls us to be transformed from within. And He provides such transformation through the power of the Gospel.

Sin is not yet purged from the Christian’s heart, though one day it will be. But its power is broken so that, by faith in Christ, we can pursue real holiness from the inside out.