The Reformation of the Church

     In his book, The Reformed Pastor, Richard Baxter gives some very valuable insight on how many people tend to view the reformation of the Church. Although these words were written over 300 years ago, they still speak volumes of truth to our present-day situation:

“Reformation is to many of us, as the Messiah was to the Jews. Before he came, they looked and longed for him, and boasted of him, and rejoiced in hope of him; but when he came they could not abide him, but hated him, and would not believe that he was indeed the person, and therefore persecuted and put him to death, to the curse and confusion of the main body of their nation…

…And the reason was, because it was another manner of Christ that the Jews expected; it was one who would bring them riches and liberty, and to this day they profess that they will never believe in any but such. So it is with too many about reformation. They hoped for a reformation, that would bring them more wealth and honour with the people, and power to force men to do what they would have them: and now they see a reformation, that must put them to more condescension and pains than they were ever at before. They thought of having the opposers of godliness under their feet, but now they see they must go to them with humble entreaties…O how many carnal expectations are here crossed!”

“Christians should be readers.”

     Over at the Desiring God blog, Josh Sowin has written a great post on the importance of reading in the life of the believer. I completely agree with Josh when he says, “Our culture has become aliterate. We have the ability to read but not the desire.” He goes on to write:

Reading is one of the best ways to develop our minds. It can help us to know God and ourselves, gain vicarious experience, increase our perception and imagination, train our minds to think critically and logically, and teach us self-discipline.

     I encourage you to read this post, and apply the principles presented to your everyday life. At the end of the post, Josh provides some great links to list of books that would be great for any believer to read. Reading isn’t just for pastors and theologians, I see it as an excerise for every believer so that we may better “love the Lord with all our…mind.” Check out the full post here.

Smoky Mountain Summer Project

     Well, my posts have been very few and far between this summer. This is due to the fact that I’ve been in Gatlinburg, TN for the majority of the summer. I’m here through Campus Crusade for Christ with around 2o other students. We had a few staff members with us until last week when they each left to go the National Staff Conference in Colorado. Now that they have left, we (the students) each have our own role now. Here’s a slideshow I put together reviewing the first half of our stay here in the Smokies:

FREE Book Fridays

     If you are a pastor, teacher, or ministry student then head on over to the Pastor Bookshelf Blog because they are giving a way a free book each Friday…if you get lucky that is. You can checkout the post here. Here’s the announcement from the blog:

Thanks to those of you who participated in our first Free Book Friday book giveaway, and congratulations to SBTS seminarian Matthew Wireman.

This week’s free book is Preaching God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Preparing, Developing, and Delivering the Sermon by Terry G. Carter, J. Scott Duvall, and J. Daniel Hays. Find out more about this book at our PastorBookshelf Overviews entry.

For details on how to participate, visit our Free Book Friday page. We’ve made a change in the entry requirements to accommodate those without blogs.

New Attitude Conference 2007: Discernment

       I’ll be attending the New Attitude Conference in Louisville for the next couple of days. I’m really looking forward to the sessions that we’ll have throughout the conference; each session is on the topic of discernment. The speakers are Joshua Harris (discernment), CJ Mahaney (discern your heart), Al Mohler (discern your culture), Mark Dever (discern your doctrine), Eric Simmons (discern the graymatters), and John Piper (discern what pleases God: Himself and discern what pleases God: personal obedience). Bob Kauflin and his son, Devon, will be leading worship over the weekend. Here are a couple of blogs that will be liveblogging the conference:

• New Attitude Blog
• Tim Challies
• The Rebelution

The Exception

     After I posted my previous post on how the Cross of Christ and the truth displayed in that historic event negates all boasting in our lives, I realized that there was an exception to what I was saying. I think most of the people who read it understood that when I talked about boasting I was taking about boasting in ourselves–sinful pride. But I think that there’s one response to the truth of the Cross that is necessary to our lives as believers: boasting.

     There’s no doubt in my mind that I sound like I’m speaking out of two sides of my mouth, but let me explain what I mean.  The message of the Gospel nullifies all boasting in ourselves; our boasting is excluded by the law of faith (Romans 3). But there is one type of boasting that God permits, and even encourages, us to have in light of the Gospel. This is a boasting in the Cross itself. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Galatians proclaims this truth, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (6:14). Notice the word “except,” this signifies that Paul only desires to boast in the Cross and that alone.

     The question to ask is, “How do I boast in the Cross in my everyday life?” I think in order to answer this question we need to continue to look at Paul’s life. In most of his letters Paul writes to the different congregations about how he boasts about them, and how he boasts in his weaknesses, etc. Is Paul contradicting himself? No, because Paul sees the world through the lens of the Gospel. Paul sees all things in his life as “blood-bought gifts” (Piper). Paul knows that if it wasn’t for the death of Christ on the Cross then he wouldn’t have a church to write to, and if Christ hadn’t rose again on the third day he wouldn’t be convicted of his weaknesses. If the Gospel was a false message then Paul wouldn’t have had a Church to persecute before he became a Christian, and he never would’ve become a Christian after that. I say all that to say this, Paul sees all other boasting as boasting in the Cross of Christ.

     Is this how we see the Cross? Do we see all things in our lives as “blood-bought gifts”? Am I even seeking to boast solely in the Cross? The Cross “pours contempt on all our pride,” but are we only taking off the old self but not putting on the new self? We must do both; take off the past pride and arrogance in ourselves and things of this world, and put on the truth of the Cross and boast in that and that alone.

Why the Cross Negates All Boasting

     I am a prideful person. There are so many instances daily that my main focus is how I can be noticed and how I can get my name complimented and praised. If I was truly honest, I would admit that I want my own self and who I am to be lifted high and maginified. I think more highly of myself than I ought to; I’m consumed with self. Why do I say all this? Well, to ask for you to pray for me in this area, but mainly to expose this reality in light of the truth of the Cross. As I think on this truth, I don’t see any ground for my boasting. How can a man boast before the Cross of Christ? If you think about the Cross and what it means according to the Scriptures, there is no room to boast at the foot of the Cross. Yet, I continue to boast in myself; this is a result of not consistently preaching the Gospel to myself.

     There are a number of truths that can be seen in the work of Christ on the Cross, but there are two that the Lord has been constantly teaching me through His Word these past few weeks. One, God’s grace displayed on the Cross, and, two, man’s sinfulness displayed on the Cross.

     When we look at the truth of Christ being crucified on the Cross, God’s grace is put on full display. If you see the Cross but don’t see the grace of God, then I’m not sure what you’re looking at. The fact that a sovereign, holy, righteous God would send His Son, Jesus Christ, to a world full of sinners that would mock Christ and spit on Him, in order to save those very same sinners completely screams GRACE!! The only explanation for such an event is the grace of God. This undeserved gift of salvation through faith in the work of Christ is our eternal hope. The truth of Christ becoming a “propitiation by His blood” (meaning His death satisfied the righteous wrath of God, and, at the same time, covered our sins), and that we did nothing to earn this or to make it happen is a manifestation of God’s mercy and grace.

     Seeing the Cross not only means seeing God’s grace, but it also means seeing the greatness of our sin. “It was my sin that held Him there;” our sin was the reason Christ had to die. Christ’s death satisfied the penalty for our breaking of God’s law. But, the grossness of our sin is seen in the fact that it killed the perfect, spotless, blameless Lamb of God. See the nails in His hands and feet, the crown of thorns on His head, and the sword in His side– how sinful we are! We were right there with the crowds screaming, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Our sins hammered those nails, our sins shoved the crown of thorns onto His brow, and our sins stabbed the sword into His side.

     The Cross displays both of these biblical truths. Our sin is great, but God’s grace “is greater than all our sin.” We are so wretched and depraved, but the God of our salvation is infinitely merciful and gracious. But we can’t leave Christ on the Cross; the Gospel wouldn’t be the Gospel if it wasn’t for the resurrection. Christ conquered the power of sin and death, and our souls can now have life through the power of His resurrection! May God continue to grow us in our knowledge of the beauty and depth of the Gospel.

VT Update

     The Campus Crusade for Christ movement at Virginia Tech is posting updates on the latest happenings on their campus. A few of the students that were killed in the shootings were members of VT’s CRU movement. From reading just a few of the posts, it seems that God is really using these sad events for His glory. Continue to pray that the renown of God’s Name and the truth of His Gospel would spread through this tragedy. You can read the updates here.

“Ten Great Christian Biographies”

     Dr. Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has put up a post listing ten solid biographies, each telling the story of a few godly Christian men. Some of the men mentioned are guys such as St. Augustine, Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Martin Lloyd-Jones and a few others. He provides an excerpt and description for each biography, so you can read the post in full here. Here are the ten biographies that Dr. Mohler recommends (I’ve provided a link to purchase each one on Amazon.com as well).

• Augustine of Hippo: A Biography by Peter Brown
• St. Thomas Aquinas– “The Dumb Ox” by G.K. Chesterton
• Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland H. Bainton
• William Tyndale: A Biography by David Daniell
• A Life of John Calvin by Alister E. McGrath
• Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George M. Marsden
• George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revival by Arnold Dallimore
• Harry Emerson Fosdick: Preacher, Pastor, Prophet  by Robert Moats Miller
• Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America by D.G. Hart
• D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years, 1899-1939 and D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith, 1939-1981 by Iain H. Murray

New Attitude on the Importance of the Local Church

     About a month ago on the New Attitude blog, Eric Simmons posted a two-part entry on “Why Your Friends Don’t Go to Church.” He starts off with this fact, “70% of people between the ages of 18-34, who once attended church, no longer do.” He goes on to answer the question of why 70 % of this generation are missing from church. It’s some great insight. To see what Simmons has to say on the issue, here’s Part 1 and Part 2. I hope to post more on the importance of the local church because of how much it is lacking in my generation.

QUICK REMINDER: The New Attitude Conference is a little bit more than a month away. Simmons will be one of the main speakers during this conference, along with Joshua Harris, CJ Mahaney, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, and John Piper. It’s in Louisville, KY during Memorial Day Weekend (May 26th-29th). You can get more information here. Registration closes May 7th.