Does God run interference in your life?

Best book on Acts I

Having just finished the “Acts” portion of my Acts and Paul class yesterday (part of the reason why my activity has been minimal on here), I thought I would share a significant quote on the christian life and God’s interaction.  This quote comes from The Message of Acts in the History of Redemption by Dennis Johnson.

Let me just say, if you are personally studying through Acts, or planning on teaching, do not do so until you have gotten and read this book (or at least, read it along your study/teaching schedule).  This is a great book, and it really shed some light on the significant thrust of the book of Acts, instead of offering up random insight into mot of the particular events.  Well worth the money and the time to read The Message of Acts.

Here’s the quote:

“However correct their statements in Bible studies or Sunday school classes may be, in practice many Christians really assume that God’s ‘interference’ in people’s lives pretty much came to a halt sometime in the past - perhaps in the apostles’ time, perhaps at the Reformation or some revival of bygone days, but surely before our time.

Would we say this out loud? Never!  But our meager prayer lives, our anxiety, our dependence on novel techniques in evangelism, our hope in technology to solve spiritual problems, our doubt that loving discipline can restore wandering brothers or sisters to repentance and reconciliation - all these testify to our unspoken assumption that God’s real action is in the past and in the future, but not in the present.”

Fellow brothers and sisters, God is continuing to work in our lives.  Believe that, then go live in light of it.

New Books: Church, Gospel, World, Reforming?

Well, yesterday I came home and had several new books waiting for me.  I thank the folks at Crossway who keep on sending me good and interesting reading material.  I want to highlight a couple of these and tell you all to be on the lookout over the next couple of months for some reviews.

The first book to mention is Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis.  This book had been previously published only in the UK, but thanks to Crossway and the new publishing banner of Re:Lit, it is now available here.  I have only scanned through the book, but the first chapter is promising.  The gospel is word-centered and mission-centered, so our churches need to be based on the word and on mission - love it!  I actually first about this book from a friend of mine over in South Africa (cheers Stephen!)

Book #2 - Wordliness, by multiple authors, but edited by a pastor’s pastor, C.J. Mahaney.  I wasn’t sure what to think of this book when I first started seeing it pop up on the web, but knowing C.J.’s other books (Humility: True Greatness and Living the Gospel-Centered Life) and pastoral heart (if you need some exposure, go check out his blog), I’m confident that this book will be insightful and helpful in discerning where and how the gospel applies to our world in our cultural situation.

Book #3 - Reforming or Conforming edited by Gary W. Johnson and Ronald D. Gleason.  This book appears to be a collection of various scholars critiquing the emerging church movement.  I haven’t dove in at all, but I will be interested to see if they distinguish between emerging and emergent.  Some of the chapters do seem fascinating (like “It’s Wright, but is it Right? An Assessment and Engagement of the “Emerging” Retreading of the Ministry of Jesus.” Caveat: I find myself being hesitant to read books like this.  I have read some thoughts by some of these guys on the internet and find myself not agreeing with their conclusions.  That being said, I do find myself appreciating the concerns they bring up.  Reading this will hopefully bring the fundamental issues to the front with constructive critique and positive assessments instead of just the reactionary tendencies demonizing those who differ.

Book #4 - Death by Love: Letters From the Cross by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears.  This book looks fascinating.  Its written as a series of letters addressing real live situations and people, with the full theological truth of the gospel.  I wasn’t expecting that, and I like it.  I honestly can’t wait to get into reading this one.  It seems to have a lot of potential of to help all pastors and lay leaders alike appreciate the depth of theological reflection, without losing sight of its pastoral implications.  This book also features some helpful answers to FAQ’s concluding each chapter (thank you Dr. Breshears for that!).  This is similar to their previous book, Vintage Jesus.

So, if you haven’t already done so, you should subscribe to my blog (button on the top right) and watch out for these forthcoming reviews.

Blog on Biblical Masculinity and MMA

Scott Knight is blogging over at the Resurgence site, and dedicating his blog posts to the concept of biblical masculinity.  In his first post, he talks about the sin of King David and then goes in to challenge men who have abandoned their responsibility in fulfilling God’s mission. I’ll give you his concluding quote, but you should go check it out and subscribe to it if this is your thing.

This means that most men in the church today need to get off their blessed assurance and follow God into battle! To that end, I will be using this blog in the future to help train men in the biblical fight principles that Paul outlines in his epistles and we will be using real fighters and real fighting to help illustrate these. But first, I want to talk about the young men in this country who are conspicuously absent from our churches and how we can follow God into the battle for these men’s souls.

Tim Keller on Denominational Renewal

Well,

It’s actually Tim Keller commenting on Greg Thompson’s talk from the 2008 PCA Denominational Renewal conference, and I think it is well worth the time linking and encouraging you all to read.

Click here for the full article.  Here’s a sampling:

As I read this terrific piece, however, it made me think about how we actually will have to do denominational renewal. The PCA is the great and tense place that it is because it is perhaps the only Presbyterian denomination that hasn’t purged or lost one or two of its historic wings. George Marsden says that Reformed churches have always had what he called ‘doctrinalist’, ‘pietist,’ and ‘cultural-transformationist’ wings. Weirdly, they all grow out of aspects of Reformed theology. Historically, they’ve produced some major splits–Old Side (doctrinalist) from New Side (pietist) in the 18^th century, Old School (doctrinalist/pietist) from New School (reformist) in the 19^th century. The OPC, though a doctrinalist church, grew and then shed a pietist wing (New Life Churches.) The CRC, though basically a cultural-transformationist denomination, had a doctrinalist split off (the URC.) In God’s providence, the PCA has significant numbers in all three wings.

The Leadership Dynamic - A Review

The Purpose

Harry Reeder, III writes as a seasoned pastor, who has both planted new churches and re-vitalized established churches.  This passion has led to his ministry Embers to a Flame, with annual conferences and ongoing consultation services.  This book, The Leadership Dynamic is birthed out of Reeder’s conviction that the church’s mission is best served and not complete until we reclaim the position of being a leadership manufacturing plant - a place that defines, develops and then deploys leaders out into the world.

For Harry, this is more than abstraction, it is also the answer to the question of what he would do in ministry differently if he were to go do it all over again - develop leaders out of a biblical model and framework, rather than the usual models of business, or more specifically “contemporary capitalism” with an emphasis on pragmatism and consumption of wealth, rather than the creation of it in order to do good (”traditional capitalism”). Harry writes “The church must escape the swamp of greed-driven leadership prevalent in contemporary corporate America and ascend the high ground of gospel-driven leadership described in God’s Word,” (15).

The Highlights

Harry Reeder does a very good job outlining the current state of the church and its leadership crisis.  He likens our situation today to dealing with the “cultural steroids” the church has for years injected into its various leadership programs, paradigms and structures.  He writes:

“In fear of rejection and with an incessant need for popular affirmation [the church today has] injected the church with cultural steroids to make it ‘relevant and acceptable,’ hoping that somehow the result will be that people will then ‘accept’ Jesus and the church will become bigger and stronger and therefore more influential,” (25).

The danger is that just as in athletics, steroids only produce an “immediate embellishment[s] of size and acclaim] (25), while paving the way for eventual disease and death.  Harry is not denying the need for effectively communicating to the culture around us; just the infusion of worldly principles governing the church and the church’s leadership development over those that Scripture teaches.  “Eventually, thoughtless accommodation to the world becomes capitulation to the world - and our witness for the Lord is rendered useless,” (29).  And Harry rails just as hard against the opposite danger of traditionalism as he does this cultural accommodation.

But he writes from a hopeful perspective, that “The Christian church must become a leadership factory and distribution center for the world, and by the grace of God, it can - if we return to both the biblical definition of leadership and the biblical method of producing leaders for the church and the world,” (15).

The rest of the book launches from this point and explains what Reeder calls “3 D Leadership” - what it means to define leadership the way Jesus does, develop them according to Scriptures model, and then deploy them into the world to further the church’s mission - to glorify God and bring His creation into joyful submission to Him.  Each chapter expounds these three main points, with helpful lists of principles, insightful applications and general traps to be aware of and avoid.

The Good

This book is clear and compelling.  It makes a strong case for the kairos (appointed time) moment the church finds itself in, and offers sensible and Scriptural applications for this season.  As well, reading (and listening to) Harry’s thoughts is an engaging, challenging and thought provoking experience.  Plus, he tells great stories.

The Bad

I honestly could not think of anything to critique in this book.  For a contemporary book on leadership and the church, The Leadership Dynamic excels at laying out the current need and Biblical paradigm for addressing that need appropriately.

The Audience

This book is for anyone who feels compelled to lead in any setting as a Christian.Whether you are a Senior Pastor, or CEO; a freshman in college or a community group leader, I suggest you get this book, read, apply and refer to it often.

My Take Away & Recommendation

Read and apply this book both personally and corporately in your immediate leadership context.  It will be worth your time and Christ’s church will be better served for it.

FYI - Be looking for a future post with an interview I was able to conduct with Dr. Reeder coming up here sometime in the next couple of weeks.  [If you haven't already subscribed to my feed, now would be a good time!]

Thoughts on Thursday: What does it mean to be missional?

I recently read an insightful post on what it means to preach “being missional” over at In the Time of Postmoderns I Was a Puritan.  Here’s an excerpt:

Being “missional” doesn’t mean just dropping the word in sermons hoping people will figure out what it means. It takes talking about specific issues of the church’s mission, grounding them in scripture exposition, and trying to engage your church into thinking about, planning, and pursuing missional goals communally; not merely planting ideas in people head’s that they will individually pursue once they leave the four walls of the church building. That kind of individualism is what is plaguing the church already, we don’t need to blindly continue in it.

He goes on to provide a brief but helpful list of several areas where we can dig in to what it means to be missional.  Read the whole post here.

Leadership Maxims

During a week-long class on Pastoral Leadership taught by Harry Reeder, III of Briarwood Presbyterian Church down in Birmingham, AL, I was challenged and encouraged to begin to use maxims - short, memorable sayings - in order to communicate various principles of leadership.

Here is my running list (at least the start of my list).  Do any of you out there have a few of your own you’d probably add? Leave me a comment:

1. Pack your big rocks first.

2. Character counts - then Content, Competency.

3. Never take counsel from your fears.

4. Be strong in grace, not for grace.

5. Leaders are not know-it-alls, but they are learners.

6. We are born imitators - find models & mentors.

7. Form follows function, then you fill what you form!

8. Push decision making down (as far as possible).

9. Trust the people & the processes.

10. Start out as a Team, not as Loyal Opposition.

11. Don’t expect a baby without the labor pains.

12. Convert your negative situations into positive experiences - step up & lead.

13. Don’t handle spiritual problems functionally or functional problems spiritually.

14. Good leadership learns from the past, contextualizes in the present, & effects change for the future.

15. Have a plurality of unified individuals around you (i.e.Team).

16. Most overnight successes were 20 years in the making

Church planting & missions success? How would you define it!

We’ve been discussing some pretty interesting things in my class, God’s World Mission. One of the most profound is it evaluate the elitist mindset we can have as Western Christians that think “missions” happens when some Anglo-Christian folk waltz into a foreign community, begin to tell people about Jesus and claim that that is when God started working in said area.

It seems that the same could be said for N. American Church Planters at times. Now, as a whole I think that most missionaries, church planters and agencies that support them all, have very good intentions; we want to see people come to know Jesus Christ in real and transforming ways. But often times our methods and attitudes can be tainted more with elitism, than with humility and true, practical, Biblical theology. So, as a would-be church planter, its good to get some perspective check on these matters.

This thought comes from Ben over History in the Making:

“‘It just didn’t work out’ is a bad excuse by cultivators when God’s whole purpose for the plant was to tenderize a community. Likewise, when harvesters make headlines without acknowledging the yeeears of cultivating work that went-on before them in their cities… they strip God of credit.”

We neglect the reality that every corner of this world is His, and He has been working - sometimes ambiguously, sometimes quite clearly - much longer at redeeming His world and the people’s within it than we ever have.

So when it goes well with a church plant, and they are growing and engaging their community and the culture at large - lets praise God! And when it doesn’t seem to panning out, only a handful of people give their lives to the Lord, even though the pastors and leaders are sharing the gospel and teaching it faithfully - lets praise God for that too, that His word will not return void (ultimately, at least) and that He has begun a good work in that part of the world, that someday will be reaped. After all, “from Him, and to Him and through Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever!” (Romans 11:36)

Thoughts, anyone? Agree? Disagree? Too naive? What do you think: How would you define success: as missionaries, as church planters, as commissioned members of Christ in extending the kingdom of God?

[Caveat and Disclaimer: This is not a post about the shortcomings of any particular agency, group, or even socio-political group of Christians (i.e. Western). This is about the presupositions that often times go unchecked, even amongst the most strategic, thoughtful and well intentioned people and groups. I for one am a big fan of many such agencies, like MTW, MNA, Acts 29, Redeemer Church Planting Network, the Sovereign Grace and 9Marks folks, etc., etc.. So, don't hear what I'm not saying! Thanks for letting me clarify.]

Thoughts on Thursday: Planting Gospel-Centered Churches - Confessional (pt. 3)

Let me first apologize for the lack of activity lately. I’ve been in a week long class that pretty intensive on Pastoral Leadership. I hope to post some thoughts from the class some time next week (I take a little while to process - forgive me!) - because it is some really great stuff!

Here’s something to chew on in the meantime:

Part 3 of R. Scott Clark’s posts on … (full post here). Would you: agree, disagree, modify?

“We recognize that our confessions form a charter, a covenant with the past, with God, with ourselves and with our children, which summarizes our understanding of Scripture, to which we have voluntarily agreed, which we confess together publicly, and to which we have solemnly sworn allegiance before Christ and the church, then our confessions must form our ministry and they must provide our definition of mission and missional.”

Some Thoughts on Planting Gospel-Centered Churches - Authenticity

R. Scott Clark just put up a post on the adjective “Authenticity” to describe what is needed in planting churches these days. I liked his thoughts, and look forward to him getting around to his other two (Strategic and Confessional). Here’s what he wrote:

When you receive a telephone call from someone you do not know, what’s the first thing you ask yourself? It’s probably “What do they want?” We live in a time of suspicion. We all exercise a hermeneutic of suspicion. People assume that other people are “working an angle.” People generally assume that others are trying to get something from them. Our congregations must be or become places where, when folks visit, they find a congregation of people who aren’t trying to get something from them, who aren’t trying to manipulate them. Our congregations must be places where people can find folk who only want two things: to glorify God and love their neighbors. This is what I mean by “authentic.” This runs counter to a lot of popular approaches to church planting and “church growth.” There are (and have been since the second “Great Awakening”) lots of methods for getting people to do what you want (walk the aisle or whatever), but those shouldn’t be our methods. Indeed, if methods = manipulation, we ought to be completely shed of them if we want people to trust us and to listen to what we have to say. The question isn’t what we get from people but what we can give them: the good news and love of Christ.

Originally posted here.