June 30, 2013 | 1 Corinthians 6:9-14

Here are the audio and notes from Sunday's sermon taken from 1 Corinthians 6:9-14. Next week we will return to our series on the cross by looking at the doctrine of redemption.

⁹ Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

¹² All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³ Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴ Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.





Audio
Notes

Cool Churches Are Empty Churches: The Wall Street Journal Wakes Us Up

The Wall Street Journal has an article that is a must read for every Christian and church leader to read and seriously think about.  Here's the issue:  are cool churches growing and making a difference, or considered foolish and irrelevant?  Two things will empty a church:  liberalism and pursuing relevancy.

The article is entitled The Perils of Hipster Christianity and Why Young Evangelicals Reject Churches That Try to Be Cool. A smaller title is "The Perils of 'Wannabe Cool' Christianity.  As the titles suggest, churches that are spending their time wearing trendy jeans and doing sermon series on how to have better sex are being rejected by young people in droves.  In other words, relevancy makes us irrelevant.

Brett McCracken, the article's author, gives ample evidence on the subject.  It is at this point that we must ask ourselves if we are falling for this trap.  Will we grow simply because we change our style of music?  Will we explode because we look trendy?  Will the culture love us and want to hear us if we change our message?  The answer is an emphatic no.  Our effort to be more like the culture corrupts and strangles the gospel.

No amount of messy games with the youth will make the gospel more powerful.  No drum set will make the gospel more affective.  No holes in the pastors and staff's jeans will make the Holy Spirit move more.  If the gospel is transcendent, then music, clothes, tattoos, games, technology, and jokes will have no affect on the power and reception of the gospel.

As a guy who worked exclusively with youth for a half a decade, I have found that being "cool" is more ineffective than being honest.  Let's be honest.  If I wanted to play games, I would stay home and turn on the Playstation, not go to church.  If I want to learn about the mechanics of sex, I would wait for lunch at school, not go to church.  If I want to be entertained, I would go to the movies, not go to church.  And yet many Christians and churches have fallen for this trap.  Hear the evidence.  Pursuing relevancy makes us irrelevant.

So where do we go from here?  No where.  We stand firmly on the gospel.  Instead of debating music styles or cultural trends, let us proclaim with boldness the gospel of Jesus Christ and only the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Unless we look to the cross and preach the resurrection to everyone including ourselves, we will be irrelevant because we are without the Holy Spirit. 

In other words, preach Christ and when we're done, preach Christ again.


Brian McCracken (The Wall Street Journal) - The Perils of 'Wannabe Cool' Christianity  


For more:
Commentary - Accomodationism Breed Irrelevancy:  Why Liberalism Fails and the Transcendent Gospel Triumphs  
Sermons - November 29, 2009:  The Transcendence of the Gospel  
Goshen - Are We Contemporvant? 
Goshen - "Christ, Christ Baby!":  Why I Do Not Seek to Be Relevant 
Reviews - "Do Hard Things"  
Theology - Mohler:  Youth Ministry in a New Key?  Substance Over Sugar-Coating 
Theology - Lets Get Back to Ministry:  When Entertainment Creeps into the Church 
Theology - Old Enough to Know Better. But I'm Still Too Young To Care 
Reviews - "Start Right Here"
Reviews - "Already Gone" 

Mephibosheth and the Sanctity of the Disable: God's Glory In the Face of Deformity

This upcoming Sunday, we will be looking at the fifth Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness. We will be looking at 2 Samuel 9 which gives us the account of how David showed kindness toward Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul (David's enemy). The fact that David would do this is quit astonishing. Typically, in ancient times (and somewhat today. When there's a new President, he rarely keeps anyone from the previous administration), whenever a new dynasty would take the thrown, anyone perceived to be a threat to the new king's throne or anyone who might be considered an heir to the previous king's throne would be immediately killed, exhiled, enslaved, or imprisoned.

But David did the complete opposite. Saul, the king, was dead. His likely heir, Jonathan (David's closest friend) was also dead. Upon taking the throne, rather than killing all potential threats and challengers, David goes out of his way to show kindness to someone who should be his enemy.

But there is another aspect of this story that we can't miss. Mephibosheth (try saying that 10 times fast) is handicap. 2 Samuel 4:4 tells us why. He was essentially dropped by his nurse after his father (Jonathan) and grandfather (King Saul) died in battle. His nurse feared that they would be coming for him and so fled. She then tripped and dropped him leaving him lame. Since the crowning of David, lame Mephibosheth lived in Lo-Debar (which might mean "No Pasture"). Lame, without any family, and lost of his prestige as the grandson of the king, Mephibosheth had to assume that his life would be worthless. He had lost everything he had and was born with.

To be handicap like this was no small issue in ancient times. There was no disability check coming. Oftentimes, family members would require their handicap relative to beg for money (usually at the Temple where people are feeling most generous; see Acts 3) in order to contribute to the family funds.

Furthermore, the disabled were rather outcasts in society. If a Levite was disabled, they were not allowed to go into the Temple or near the altar. Leviticus 21:16-23 reads:

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

In other words, one born to be a priest and yet handicap, would not be able to fulfill their role as a priest. And so the hopelessness of the disabled continued for centuries.

But this story does make one incredibly important point: God has a purpose and has revealed his grace even to the outcast and disabled. The story of Mephibosheth is one of kindness, grace, mercy, and love. Mephibosheth becomes a metaphor of us. We are all like Mephibosheth who, as a result of our sin, are seperated, disabled, and helpless before God. We deserve nothing but death and hell. And yet God showed His great love, mercy, kindness, and grace towards us by not giving us what we deserve, but in giving us what we don't deserve: salvation.

Furthermore, Mephibosheth is an example that even those handicap and disabled are beyond God's reach and purpose. The ancients would oftentimes leave disabled babies for dead in the wilderness because they considered them unworthy (such as the Spartans). Both Plato and Aristotle favored infanticide and believed that the State should have a greater role in deciding who should live and who shouldn't.

But the Judeo-Christian worldview is quit different. All life is sacred and not beyond the grace and purpose of God. Even the most handicap reveal God's goodness and grace. Yes, even though disability reminds us of the affects of the fall, God shows his grace even though deformaty and pain.

Recall the healing of the man born blind in John 9. The text begins by showing us that even this blind beggar has a purpose in God's eyes:

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." -John 9:1-5

Did you notice that? The reason this man was born blind was so that God might be glorified. All life is sacred not because we say it is, but because God's glory is revealed in all of life. The fact that even the worst of deformities can still bring God glory is a constant reminder that God is still on His throne and is still good.

In a culture that is exterminating those with Down Syndrome, we need to hear this message. Yes, God even has a plan, purpose, and is glorified greatly even in the disability of Down Syndrome. A secular culture that has replaced God with Darwin misses this. Life becomes an issue of economics and "happiness." If the handicap are a burden on the parents or society, it would be best if they didn't exist at all. After all, resources are limited.

That's what I love about this story. Without Mephibosheth's handicap, we would never had such a wonderful picture of God's grace, mercy, love, and kindness toward us and the call to mimic God's goodness by being good towards others, and we would miss the fact that even in a fallen world that results in producing horrific and unfortunate disabilities and handicaps, God has not removed Himself from us. Beauty can be found in the midst of deformaty and disability to the glory of God.

Let us not forget this important lesson. Isn't it wonderful that even in the face of depravity and the consequences of our sin, God's glory is revealed. The light really can outshine the darkness. And beauty really can outshine the deformity.

For more:
Get Religion: The patriotic duty to die
Colson: The March of Death
Hitler Is Alive And Well: Repeating the Mistakes of the Past
Colson: Deadly Trend
The Lust For Blood: The Culture of Death and Infanticide
"Freedom is Dead, And We are It's Murderers" - Nietzsche Was Almost Right
Colson: What Would Darwin Advise?
A Return to Rome: When Death Becomes Entertainment
Another Terry Schiavo Condemned to Death
Mohler: The Death Culture Strikes Again
Albert Mohler - The Death Culture Strikes Again
Mohler: A Threat to the Disabled . . . and to Us All
Mohler: The Rise of Infanticide?
Colson: Thirty Pints of BloodWhere the Logic of The Culture of Death Will Take Us
Euthanasia: A Good Death?
Albert Mohler: That Was Then . . . This is Now? A Nazi Nightmare

Weekly Recommendation: "The Faith"

What does it mean to be a Christian? What is a Christian? Sadly, most Christians in America today don't know the answer to such questions. Some use moral terms, Christians love their neighbor, and other terms to describe the Christian life. Not long ago, I read a book by Charles Colson called, "The Faith: Given Once, For All What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters." Colson answers these questions with biblical truth, theological pricision, and cultural and practical application.

Christianity is not a boring faith. Christian theology should not be a dry uptaking. Colson walks the reader through the various doctrines of the Christian faith and shows them how critical they are, how unshakale they must be, and why it all matters. What I loved most about Colson's book was that he took Christian theology and applied it. He shows why it is important for us to believe in God, that the Bible is inspired, that God created, why Jesus death was substitutionary, etc.

Colson is an excellent writer who has experienced much in his life who is deep in his theology and cultural analysis. I strongly encouage everyone to pick it up and read it. It is well worth the time and let us hold firmly to the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

I have given a fuller review of the book. To read it, click here. I consider this book to be among the best of the books I read all of 2008.




For more:
"The Faith"
How Now Shall We Live
The Body
My Top 5 Must Reads
My Best of 2008
"Breach of Faith"

Thesis Availble Online

I am finally completely finished with my M.Div. Thesis. It is on the Emerging Church; specifically on Brian McLaren and his understanding of the gospel. McLaren is perhaps the most influential leader in the movement and through such influence, the gospel has been smothered and redefined within the Emergent movement. Anyone interested in understanding how dangerous a cultured-stained gospel can be, I encourage you to read it. However, remember that it is an academic paper and so uses words and concepts for academia.

The title: Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Social Gospel.

You can download it for free by clicking on the above link. I will also make it available on the left side of this page.

Married With Children . . . Lots of Them!: What We Can Learn From the Duggar Family

This Sunday for Mother's Day, I will likely be referring to an article I wrote regarding the growing Duggar family. As many know, the Duggars have 18 kids and will probably have more. They have their own show and my wife watched it constantly in the weeks prior and after she gave birth to our own son, Elijah.

After their 16th child, an article was written in the San Francisco Gate regarding this family that shocked me. The author goes beyond journalist objectivity and attacks the family as a bunch of homophobes, bigots Christians in whose kids will grow up as mind-numbed robots just like their parents and will not receive the type of attention they need.

In response to the article, I wrote an article critiquing the argument from the SF Gate. I encourage you to read both articles and see what you think. The reason I bring this up is being that this Sunday is Mother's Day, I am reminded of the confusion our culture has regarding children, family, and marriage. The culture is left scratching its head when watching the Duggars and yet as Christians, we must give God the glory for a family willing to raise children, not to mention 18 of them!, to obey and follow our Savior.

As a culture, and even as Christians, we need to recover this understanding of children. They are not burdens, but blessings. Children are worth the investment (lack of better word) and time. There are two ways in which we are called to fulfill the Great Commission: evangelize and have children.

I encourage you to read the articles for yourself as I believe they will open your eyes to conversations taking place in the culture that are rather shocking. It is this sort of rhetoric and nonsense that rationalizes abortion, euthanasia, infanticide, divorce, cohabitation, the culture of death, and the many other issues we face today. Whenever we view children as a burden and marriage as just a certificate (rather than a covenant) is the moment our culture (including the Church) begins, and has begun, to decay before our very eyes.

Here are some excerts from the SF Gate article:

...this might be the most disquieting photo you see all year, this bizarreDuggar family of 18 spotless white hyperreligious interchangeable people with alarmingly bad hair, the kids ranging in ages from 1 to 17, worse than those nuked Smurfs in that UNICEF commercial and worse than all the horrific rubble in Pakistan and worse than the cluster-bomb nightmare that is Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise having a child as they suck the skin from each other's Scientological faces and even worse than that huge 13-foot python which ate that six-foot alligator and then exploded...

...if you study the above photo (or the even more disturbing family Web site) too closely you will become rashy and depressed and you will crave large quantities of alcohol and loud aggressive music to deflect the creeping feeling that this planet is devolving faster than you can suck the contents from a large bong?...

Perhaps the point is this: Why does this sort of bizarre hyperbreeding only seem to afflict antiseptic megareligious families from the Midwest? In other words -- assuming Michelle and Jim Bob and their massive brood of cookie-cutter Christian kidbots will all be, as the charming photo suggests, never allowed near a decent pair of designer jeans or a tolerable haircut from a recent decade, and assuming that they will all be tragically encoded with the values of the homophobic asexual Christian right -- where are the forces that shall help neutralize their effect on the culture? Where is the counterbalance, to offset the damage?

See why I am concerned?

McDanell - Married With Children...Lot's Of Them!

SF Gate - God Does Not Want 16 Kids: Arkansas mom gives birth to a whole freakin' baseball team. How deeply should you cringe?

Official Family Website - http://www.duggarfamily.com/
The family have also written a book which I believe you can check out at our local library - 20 and Counting.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! -Psalm 127:3-5a

Romans 1:18-32: The Depravity of Man - Part 1

Again, the notes will be available at the end of our study on Romans.