Entries categorized as ‘Church’
From Derek Brown:
Here is a good word from Wayne Grudem that confronts our desire for the “perfect church:”
“Of course, if we are to work for the purity of the church, especially in the local church of which we are a part, we must recognize that this is a process, and that any church of which we are a part will be somewhat impure in various areas. There were no perfect churches at the time of the New Testament and there will be no perfect churches until Christ returns. This means that Christians have no obligation to seek the purest church they can find and stay there, and then leave it if an even purer church comes to their attention. Rather, they should find a true church in which they can have effective ministry and in which they will experience Christian growth as well, and then should stay there and minister, continually working for the purity of that church. God will often bless their prayers and faithful witness and the church will gradually grow in many areas of purity.” (Systematic Theology, 875)
Notice that Grudem suggests, after finding a true church in which we can minister effectively and grow spiritually, we should stay and work for the purity of our church. He also observes that working for the purity of a church is a process, not a one-time or immediate event. This calls for patience, love and prayerful labor. I fear far too many of us are looking for perfect or close-to-perfect churches and are, as a result, wallowing in discontent and neglecting opportunities for fruitful work in the church in which we are already members. Perhaps Grudem’s counsel will begin to reverse this unfortunate trend. [emphasis mine]
HT: Zach Nielsen
Categories: Church
From Juan Sanchez over at the Gospel Coalition:
As Christians, when we observe the Lord’s Supper we commemorate Christ; we remember and honor His name and His sacrifice for sin. The supper is a remembering of a specific event in the life of Christ. We preserve the memory of Christ and honor his name by remembering and reflecting upon what the bread and the fruit of the vine signify. Michael Green reminds us that every time we observe the Lord’s Supper we do so in remembrance of Him in . . .
We look up in adoration. Whenever we eat the Lord’s Supper we remember God’s mercy and grace as the loving Father sent His beloved Son to die on the cross for sin.
We look back in commemoration. Whenever we eat the Lord’s Supper we remember that Christ came into this world to save sinners. He lived a life without sin, yet He was rejected by His own, beaten and ultimately killed for our sake. Through His death, Jesus paid the penalty for sin and liberated those who trust in Him from the bondage of sin.
We look forward in anticipation. Whenever we eat the Lord’s Supper we are eating and drinking in anticipation of the great marriage supper of the Lamb, where a place has been reserved for all those who belong to Christ’s family.
We look outward in proclamation. Whenever we eat the Lord’s Supper our actions proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
We look inward in examination. Whenever we eat the Lord’s Supper we reflect upon our own lives, asking the Holy Spirit of God to expose our own sins, so that we might come into the presence of Christ with clean hands and pure hearts.
We look around in consideration. Whenever we eat the Lord’s Supper we are forced to look around at our brothers and sisters in Christ being reminded that we are sitting at the table as a family.
Next time you participate in the Lord’s Supper, I encourage you to examine your hearts as you sit together at the Lord’s table with God’s people in remembrance of Him.
Categories: Church
Some things Christian Hipsters like:
“Christian hipsters…love taking communion with real Port, and they don’t mind common cups. They love poetry readings, worshipping with candles, and smoking pipes while talking about God. Some of them like smoking a lot of different things. Christian hipsters love breaking the taboos that used to be taboo for Christians.”
Some things Christian Hipsters don’t like:
“Christian hipsters tend not to like contemporary Christian music (CCM), or Christian films (except ironically), or any non-book item sold at Family Christian Stores. They hate warehouse churches or churches with American flags on stage, or churches with any flag on stage, really. They prefer “Christ follower” to “Christian” and can’t stand the phrases “soul winning” or “non-denominational,” and they could do without weird and awkward evangelistic methods including (but not limited to): sock puppets, ventriloquism, mimes, sign language, “beach evangelism,” and modern dance.”
> Read the rest of Brett McCracken’s amusing, thought-provoking post HERE.
Categories: Church · Culture
John Piper shares a journal entry from 24 years ago. Here’s the introduction:
Are you so discouraged you don’t know what to do next? I want to help you get through this. Maybe this will help.
The following quote is from my journal dated November 6, 1986. I had been at Bethlehem 6 years. If you have ever felt like this, remember this is 24 years ago and I am still here.
The point is: Beware of giving up too soon. Our emotions are not reliable guides.
Read the whole thing. Perhaps God will use one brother’s “crisis of vision” to bolster you in the faith and keep you in your current place of ministry for another 24 years — or more.
HT: The Gospel Coalition
Categories: Church
Tagged: John Piper
January 25, 2010 · 1 Comment
From Ray Ortlund:
How to wreck your church in three weeks:
Week One: Walk into church today and think about how long you’ve been a member, how much you’ve sacrificed, how under-appreciated you are. Take note of every way you’re dissatisfied with your church now. Take note of every person who displeases you.
Meet for coffee this week with another member and “share your heart.” Discuss how your church is changing, how you are being left out. Ask your friend who else in the church has “concerns.” Agree together that you must “pray about it.”
Week Two: Send an email to a few other “concerned” members. Inform them that a groundswell of grievance is surfacing in your church. Problems have gone unaddressed for too long. Ask them to keep the matter to themselves “for the sake of the body.”
As complaints come in, form them into a petition to demand an accounting from the leaders of the church. Circulate the petition quietly. Gathering support will be easy. Even happy members can be used if you appeal to their sense of fairness – that your side deserves a hearing. Be sure to proceed in a way that conforms to your church constitution, so that your petition is procedurally correct.
Week Three: When the growing moral fervor, ill-defined but powerful, reaches critical mass, confront the elders with your demands. Inform them of all the woundedness in the church, which leaves you with no choice but to put your petition forward. Inform them that, for the sake of reconciliation, the concerns of the body must be satisfied.
Whatever happens from this point on, you have won. You have changed the subject in your church from gospel advance to your own grievances. To some degree, you will get your way. Your church will need three or four years for recovery. But at any future time, you can do it all again. It only takes three weeks.
HT: Thabiti Anyabwile
Categories: Church
January 24, 2010 · 1 Comment
From Josh Harris:
Acts 20:28 tells us that Jesus obtained the church with his own blood. Is this what your love for the church is based on? If it’s anything less, it won’t last long.
- Don’t love the church because of what it does for you. Because sooner or later it won’t do enough.
- Don’t love the church because of a leader. Because human leaders are fallible and will let you down.
- Don’t love the church because of a program or a building or activities because all those things get old.
- Don’t love the church because of a certain group of friends because friendships change and people move.
Love the church because of who shed his blood to obtain the church. Love the church because of who the church belongs to. Love the church because of who the church worships. Love the church because you love Jesus Christ and his glory. Love the church because Jesus is worthy and faithful and true. Love the church because Jesus loves the church.
Categories: Church
Categories: Church
Tagged: John Piper
J. Lee Grady
As someone who grew up in the Pentecostal/charismatic movement, attended two Bible colleges from the movement and, though now Reformed in my theology, still hold a huge soft spot in my heart toward the movement, I couldn’t agree more with J. Lee Grady’s bold call for repentance within the movement.
From Christianity Today:
J.Lee Grady didn’t wait for an economic recession to battle the prosperity gospel. He has been fighting it for years.
Grady is the editor of Charisma, the magazine that serves as a gathering tent for Pentecostal and charismatic Christians. Its columns and advertisements feature some of the most prominent names in the movement—and some of the most frequent targets of Grady’s criticism.
Other evangelicals have long criticized the teaching that God promises his followers wealth and happiness. But few within the movement have made their calls for repentance so public.
“Martin Luther had to say something, or they were going to keep selling indulgences. Now we have that going on in our midst,” Grady told Christianity Today in his Orlando office. “If someone says, ‘Send your $100 to be saved,’ that is selling indulgences, and there are people doing that on Trinity Broadcasting Network.” The TV corporation’s fundraising appeals have been among Grady’s most frequent targets.
“I don’t want to lump all of those people and everything they teach under the umbrella of indulgences,” Grady says. “But if they’re doing manipulative things to get people to open their wallets, and twisting Scripture just like it was done during medieval times, we ought to challenge that. All we know to do is to get on the housetops and shout for reform.”
Many within the charismatic movement are hearing Grady’s shouts and applauding.
Read entire article at Christianity Today
Categories: Church
Tagged: J. Lee Grady, Pentecostalism
From Perry Noble:
#1 – When excuses are made about the way things are instead of embracing a willingness to roll up the sleeves and fix the problem.
#2 – When the church becomes content with merely receiving people that come rather than actually going out and finding them…in other words, they lose their passion for evangelism!
#3 – The focus of the church is to build a great church (complete with the pastors picture…and his wife’s…on everything) and not the Kingdom of God.
#4 – The leadership begins to settle for the natural rather than rely on the supernatural.
#5 – The church begins to view success/failure in regards to how they are viewed in the church world rather than whether or not they are actually fulfilling the Great Commission!
#6 – The leaders within the church cease to be coachable.
#7 – There is a loss of a sense of urgency! (Hell is no longer hot, sin is no longer wrong and the cross is no longer important!)
#8 – Scripture isn’t central in every decision that is made!
#9 – The church is reactive rather than proactive.
#10 – The people in the church lose sight of the next generation and refuse to fund ministry simply because they don’t understand “those young people.”
#11 – The goal of the church is to simply maintain the way things are…to NOT rock the boat and/or upset anyone…especially the big givers!
#12 – The church is no longer willing to take steps of faith because “there is just too much to lose.”
#13 – The church simply does not care about the obvious and immediate needs that exist in the community.
#14 – The people learn how to depend on one man to minister to everyone rather than everyone embracing their role in the body, thus allowing the body to care for itself.
#15 – When the leaders/staff refuse to go the extra mile in leading and serving because of how “inconvenient” doing so would be.
Categories: Church
October 11, 2009 · 1 Comment
Besides enjoying the 7 minute video tour of C.J.’s library (especially his enormous section of Spurgeon’s volumes) I couldn’t help but chuckle at the 2:07 mark, seeing that I’m a FedEx courier. Trust me, if I saw C.J. doing this every weekday, I too would think the same thing. 
HT: C.J. Mahaney’s Blog
Categories: Books · Church
Tagged: C.J. Mahaney
