Are We Really Ready for This?

In a letter to one of his missionaries, Jack Miller, a pastor and the founder of World Harvest Mission, discussed his desire to see the churches he wanted to plant grow in biblical character. Miller wanted to move beyond a small, human-sized vision to embrace a grand, God-sized mission, but he also understood the sacrifice required. Here is a portion of that letter that challenges me as I think about the new visions being formed by the various outreach bodies of my church. (The North he references here is Brownlow North, a Presbyterian leader who challenged his church about the lack of prayer and leadership development within the church.)

Our aim is to gain a bigger vision for what God can do in church planting and mobilizing leaders. As I believe you have put it, "I have been thinking too much about planting a single church, when I should also be thinking about how we can moblize and train our own missionaries and leaders to plant 200 churches..."

The rest of us share your vision, I do believe. But if North is right about us, then we have problems. It simply cannot happen unless we learn to pray better and train better--and also to think more clearly. We all have a heart burden to plant churches in the world's darkest places. But think for a moment. This requires sacrifice, suffering, endurance, even death on the part of American and national missionaries. Are we really ready for this?

I do believe that of ourselves we would never be ready. But in spite of our many weaknesses, I am persuaded we are moving in the right direction. The glory is all God's.

Three items draw my attention here and deeply humble me as a pastor.

1. We are right to seek the bigger vision of God. It is good for God's people to be so passionate for his glory that we want to see the Gospel proclaimed everywhere. We don't need to settle for what is currently working, or even for what seems possible. If God gives us a vision for what seems impossible, we should pursue it and assume the Holy Spirit will act in ways we cannot.

2. We will almost certainly underestimate the cost of God's bigger vision. That first point makes me feel good. This one doesn't. To press into God's bigger vision does not mean we will be safe or happy. All wars have casualties, and it was Jesus himself who said that those who lose their lives for his sake and the Gospel's will find eternal life. Sometimes we lose our lives metaphorically by obedience and sometimes we lose our lives physically by obedience. But make no mistake, all followers of Jesus lose their lives. And if we embrace a greater vision given to us by God, it will certainly come with greater personal sacrifice. Miller is right to ask, "Are we really ready for this?"

3. To achieve God's bigger vision, we need to pray, train, and even think better. If we are going to embrace a grand, God-sized vision for our ministry, and we know with it will come greater sacrifice, then we need to prepare spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and even physically. If we are going to do greater things as a church, we need to pray more fervently and think through the plans with more clarity. I know that I have a tendency to assume I can do more work without exerting more effort; that somehow success will just "happen." But the fact is God calls his church to pray, work, and think hard. That's why he gave us a day to rest: he knows how hard we need to work to do our part in the Kingdom of God!

Contemporvant Worship

There's a new video getting a lot of attention around the web in evangelical circles. I'm not sure what to think of it. It's very funny. I love parody, especially when it's produced by those who are making fun of themselves (This was produced by North Point, a big church in Atlanta that looks just like this.) I'm 32, so I'm supposed to like this sort of service, and sometimes I do. Most of the time, though, I prefer a more contemplative form of worship that prizes Scripture reading, communion, corporate prayer, and lengthy expository preaching. But I see a place for sevices like this, and I think elements of these services should be incorporated into all church services. So I'm torn. Watch it and decide how it makes you feel.

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

You Give and Take Away...

How do you understand the trials of life? Do you explain them away? Do you believe there are certain aspects of reality over which God has no control? Or do you, like Job, James, Paul, Peter, and Jesus himself, give God the glory for everything, understanding that he is in full control?

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

Hudson Taylor on Leadership

In his book Spiritual Leadership, Oswald Sanders records a letter that the missionary Hudson Taylor sent to his secretary while serving in China. In the letter, Taylor outlined 6 areas he felt needed improvement within China Inland Mission, the organization he founded. The 6 points are pretty insightful for pastors, leaders at all levels within the church, and really for leaders anywhere.

I have listed them here in Taylor's words, followed by a brief description of each offered by Sanders.

Improve the character of the work
The leader must discover which departments are functioning below standards and remedy the defect.

Deepen the piety, devotion, and success of the workers
The spiritual health of the leadership group should be the top concern among higher echelon leadership.

Remove stones of stumbling, if possible
Friction among a team should be minimized. When problems are neglected, morale drops and performance decreases. If the problem has a remedy, it should be put into place at once.

Oil the wheels where they stick
Warm relationships among team members are vital. Some workers prefer to administer; others want to love people. Only the latter are leaders.

Amend whatever is defective
Creating problems is easy; solving them is difficult. The leader must face the problem realistically, and follow through until the solution is reached.

Supplement, as far as may be, what is lacking
Criticizing plans is easier than creating them. The leader must see the goal clearly, plan imaginatively, and employ tactics that lead to success. In this department there is always a short supply of people ready and qualified to perform.

In these points I see both my own weaknesses, strengths, and the weaknesses and strengths of the teams with which I work.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

If you're downtown tomorrow afternoon, be sure to check out the Cinco de May block party between King St. and the Square all along Main St. And be sure to stop by the King Street Church booth, which will be near the KSC Main St. office. It should be a really good time.

If you're wondering, Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the unlikely victory of Mexican forces over the invading French army in 1862. It is not Mexican Independence Day, which is celebrated Sept.16. You can read an excellent article here.

What I find most interesting about the history of Cinco de Mayo is that this French invasion was taking place during the middle of the U.S. Civil War. There was a significant threat during the Civil War that France and England would join forces with the Confederate army in order to secure cotton imports. Had the Mexicans not held off France in 1862, France would have been in a very good position to help the Confederates and there may have been a different ending to the war in the north.

So if you love the U.S., you should be thankful for Cinco de Mayo and our neighbors to the south! Viva la Mexico!

Antony Flew Dies

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Antony Flew was a British philosopher renowned for his commitment to atheism. He was an author and debater committed to the notion that in the absence of confirming evidence, and by that he meant scientific evidence, one should not hold to belief in God. He held this view from the age of 15 to the the age of 81.

When he turned 81, Antony Flew changed his mind.

Al Mohler wrote a very good article here, in which he processes Flew's transformation from an evangelical perspective.

One of the most striking aspects of Flew's change of mind is his willingness to radically shift his worldview later in life and in the face of his legacy. The man wrote dozens of books arguing for the futility and nonsense of belief in God, and then, when impressed by theistic philosophers and the discoveries of design through scientific inquiry, he was willing to set aside his life's work and accept the view of his partners in the debate at the age of 81.

There is much to learn from Antony Flew, not the least of which is that there is something far more important than human ego. There is truth.

Never Read a Bible Verse

Some of you, especially those of you in my Acts class, know what an advocate I am for careful reading of Scripture. Here is an excerpt from an excellent article written by Gregory Koukl on the subject of Bible verses. Take this to heart.

Meaning always flows from the top down, from the larger units to the smaller units, not the other way around. The key to the meaning of any verse comes from the paragraph, not just from the individual words.

The numbers in front of the sentences give the illusion the verses stand alone in their meaning. They were not in the originals, though. Numbers were added hundreds of years later. Chapter and verse breaks sometimes pop up in unfortunate places, separating relevant material that should be grouped together.

First, ignore the verse numbers and try to get the big picture. Then begin to narrow your focus. It's not very hard or time consuming. It takes only a few moments and a little observation of the text.

Begin with the broad context of the book. What type of literature is it history, poetry, proverb? What is the passage about in general? What idea is being developed?

Stand back from the verse and look for breaks in the narrative that identify major units of thought. Ask, "What in this paragraph or group of paragraphs gives any clue to the meaning of the verse?"

There's a reason this little exercise is so important. Words have different meanings in different contexts (that's what makes puns work). When we consider a verse in isolation, one meaning may occur to us. But how do we know it's the right one? Help won't come from the dictionary. Dictionaries only complicate the issue, giving us more choices, not fewer. Help must come from somewhere else close by: the surrounding paragraph.

With the larger context now in view, you can narrow your focus and speculate on the meaning of the verse itself. Sum it up in your own words.

Finally and this is critical see if your paraphrase makes sense when inserted in the passage. Does it dovetail naturally with the bigger picture?

The rest of the article contains soild examples of how to avoid the traps and do sound Bible reading. You can read it here.

Visit to Minneapolis

I haven't blogged for a bit because I've been in Minneapolis receiving some training on how to lead short-term missions teams well. I had the chance tonight to visit The Fusion Community, a ministry led by my friend Bryan McWhite, in whose guest room I am currently typing this and where I've been sleeping for the last 4 nights.

Bryan is a gifted teacher, and I recommend to you the sermon he presented tonight which covered the end of 1 Cor.10. Check it out here.

In hope to share with you some insights on my training in the days to come.

Life in the Vine

My two part Life in the Vine series is now available. I welcome any comments or helpful suggestions. Thanks.



Part 1 John 15:1-8




Part 2 John 15:9-17

Election as a Call to Love First

I have enjoyed carefully examining a short portion of Jesus' discussion with his disciples during the last supper in John 15:1-17. Over the last few days I have been pondering 15:16, a verse that I am sure will raise some eyebrows tomorrow when I discuss it in the sermon. It stands out for its theological bluntness on the doctrine of election.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. John 15:16 ESV

What it says is plain enough. We did not choose Jesus. Jesus chose us. His move was primary, and any decision we feel we've made with regard to Jesus is a result of his sovereign choice. That's clear enough; but what I've been pondering is the location of this particular bit of theological precision. Jesus is talking about his love and how we as his beloved friends are to abide in his love and love others in the same way he loves us. Why, seemingly out of the blue, does Jesus switch to the topic of his sovereign choice?

And then it hit me. Election is not only Christ's sovereign choice of the people for whom he will sacrificially give his life; election is also the model for how we are to love others first. Now, my thoughts on this are just now simmering, so I would welcome any perspective or critique you may bring to them.

Here's what I think I'm seeing. In 15:12, Jesus says we are to love others as he has loved us. This means sacrificially, which is clear from the next verse that says no one has greater love than he who gives his life for his friends. Now that's challenging enough. To love to the point where you are willing to die in the place of the other person is beautiful, costly love, and it is absolutely the central message of the cross, because Jesus dies as the substitute sacrifice for the sins of his people.

But 15:16 heightens the challenge by showing us yet one more aspect of Jesus' love for his people that must be modeled in the loving fruit they produce, namely, that we are to be the people who love others first. The disciples didn't choose to love and abide in Jesus. Jesus chose them when they were perfectly content to keep on fishing, collecting taxes, etc. without any love for Jesus at all.

I've talked to enough people, done enough counseling, and searched my own heart enough to know that we humans are not inclined to love first. What I am inclined to do is love conditionally. I will extend love as an invitation to others, and if it is accepted, friendship begins. When it's rejected, I assume the other person is not worth my love and move on. That's what my sinful heart wants to do. I want to revoke the invitation.

But Jesus' love isn't an invitation, it's a selection. He chooses us, and we become his beloved friends. As such, my love isn't to be simply an invitation, but a choice to love. I don't get to decide how and to what extent I'm going to love other people anymore than I decided how and to what extent Jesus was going to love me.

Now of course, my love for another person is not irresistable like Jesus' love. My love doesn't bring about new birth or new creation in another person. But it is not the doctrine of irresistable grace that Jesus references. It is the doctrine of unconditional election, and to that end my love for another person must pour from me regardless of how it is received.

Imagine if everyone who followed Jesus realized that they were chosen, in spite of themselves, by Jesus, and used that love as a model for loving everyone else. Imagine if we said, "No matter what you do to me or how you receive me, I am going to love you first as unconditionally as Jesus loved me first, even if it kills me."