Blog Break

The blog is going to be dormant until some time around November 15th. I'll be on a retreat with my fellow elders from Joy Community Fellowship this weekend, and then will be taking 10 days of vacation. In the Lazarus household, vacation means no computers at all.

If I still have any readers left, I'll see you all mid-November.

DeYoung & Keller on Generous Justice

If I can say this without sounding like the president of his fan club, I really do love Tim Keller. His emphasis on the centrality of the gospel for all of life, for both believers and unbelievers, has been life-changing and ministry-changing. I say that without exaggeration.

Keller's new book, Generous Justice, is due out in the next couple of weeks, and I am eager to read it. Today Kevin DeYoung, another sharp thinker whose ministry has been an encouragement to me, interviewed Keller about the new book. I thought this quote was especially helpful:

I believe that making disciples and doing justice relate (not exactly) but somewhat in the same way that faith and works relate to one another. We would say that faith alone is the basis for salvation, and yet true faith will always result in good works. We must not “load in” works as if they are an equal with faith as a salvation-base, but neither can we “detach” works and say that they are optional for a believer. Similarly, I would say that the first thing I need to tell people when they come to church is “believe in Jesus,” not “do justice.”

Why? Because first, believing in Jesus meets a more radical need and second, because if they don’t believe in Jesus they won’t have that gospel-motivation to do justice that I talk about in the book. So there’s a priority there. On the other hand, for a church to not constantly disciple its people to “do justice” would be utterly wrong, because it is an important part of God’s will. I’m calling for an ‘asymmetrical balance’ here. It seems to me that some churches try to “load in” doing justice as if it is equally important as believing in Jesus, but others, in fear of falling into the social gospel, do not preach or disciple their people to do justice at all. Both are wrong. A Biblical church should be highly evangelistic yet known for its commitment to the poor of the city.

Check out the whole article here.

Humble Thinking

From John Piper's book Think:

Any knowledge that does not stand in the service of love is not real knowing. It is prostituted knowing. It's as though God put surgical tools in our hands and taught us how to save the sick, but we turned them into a clever juggling act while the patients died. Knowing and thinking exist for the sake of love -- for the sake of building people up in faith. Thinking that produces pride instead of love is not true thinking. We only imagine that we are thinking. God does not see it as thinking. It's not surgery; it's juggling.

The Gospel Every Day

Pastor Tullian:

Once God rescues sinners, his plan isn’t to steer them beyond the gospel, but to move them more deeply into it.

Or to put it another way:

The gospel is not only growing wider in the world but it’s also growing deeper in Christians.

Or to put it another way:

The gospel doesn’t just ignite the Christian life but it’s also the fuel that keeps Christians going and growing every day.

Or to put it the way the Apostle Paul put it (in Colossians 1:6):

"Of this (the believer's future heavenly hope) you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth."

Bottom line: make your chief ambition of every day to get your heart deeply rooted in the gospel.

Gems from Gospel Math

Three of my favorite quotes from Tullian's talk at the DG conference which I posted yesterday:

The irony of gospel growth is that those who end up obeying more are those who increasingly realize that their standing with God is not based on their obedience but on Christ's. Those who end up performing better are those who understand that their standing isn't based on their performance for Christ, but on Christ's performance for them.

The world spends a lot of money trying to tempt us to locate our identity in someone or something smaller than Jesus (therein lies the depth of my disappointment at the Philles' current woes).

In Christ my identity is secure, which frees me to give everything that I have because in Christ I already have everything that I need.

The Mathematics of the Gospel

I've mentioned Tullian Tchividjian many times on the blog. Here's a good introduction to his ministry: his seminar given at Desiring God's National conference a few weeks ago called Giving Thought to Gospel Math: Why Jesus + Nothing = Everything (If viewing this in a feed reader, you may need to click through to the site to see the video).

Thinking about the Lord's Supper

File this in the category of items that I post here simply for my own future reference. If it benefits others too, all the better! Via JT:

Here is a thoughtful, helpful essay from Kim Riddlebarger, entitled “The Reformation of the Supper” (PDF), from the new book, Always Reformed: Essays in Honor of W. Robert Godfrey, ed. R. Scott Clark and Joel E. Kim.

The essay looks at three issues related to how often the Lord’s Supper should be celebrated, and how one’s theology of the Supper can impact the answer to that question:

1. The Biblical Evidence for the Frequent Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
2. The Historical Evidence for Frequent Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
3. Some Pastoral and Theological Implications of Frequent Celebration

Don't Forget to Groan, 10/16

A daughter of Lt. Col. Robert Baldwin, of Eliza, Ill., looks on as a flag is presented during his burial service at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Oct. 6. Baldwin was killed in Afghanistan.

(Why should we groan?)

Busy Christians

"How are you doing?"

It seems like one of the most common answers to that question is: busy. Busyness seems to be a paralyzing illness in our society, and especially in the church.

A few years ago Tim Chester (whose book You Can Change I have recommended many times on this blog) wrote a book called The Busy Christian's Guide to Busyness.

In it, he says that one of the important ways to deal with our busyness is to identify the desires of our hearts that make us try to do more than God expects of us. Here are some examples, along with the accompanying truths of God that can liberate us from the tyrannies of our sinful desires:

• I’m busy busy because I need to prove myself-The liberating rest of God
• I’m busy because of other people’s expectations-The liberating fear of God
• I’m busy because otherwise things get out of control-The liberating rule of God
• I’m busy because I prefer being under pressure-The liberating refuge of God
• I’m busy because I need the money-The liberating joy of God
• I’m busy because I want to make the most of my life-The liberating hope of God

If you find that you're always telling people about how busy you are, this might be a good book to check out.

Double Jeopardy & God's Justice

"Did Jesus die for the sins of all people?" Almost every evangelical Christian is going to answer that question with a resounding, "Yes!"

But I think the question is worthy of some reflection, because of the idea of double jeopardy: that is, the legal principle that a person cannot be convicted and punished twice for the same crime.

The question about Jesus dying for the sins of all people begs this further question: if Jesus did in fact die for the sins of all people -- even those who reject Christ and endure eternal punishment in hell -- why would a righteous God send those people to hell? If Christ died for their sins, then the punishment has been paid. To send that person to hell would seem to significantly call God's justice into question.

So, did Jesus die for the sins of all people?

Don't Waste Your Work

Piper, from Don't Waste Your Life:

"You don't waste your life by where you work, but how and why."

So a "secular" vocation (ie, one that is not structurally connected to the church) has every bit as much value and dignity in God's sight as the vocation of pastor or missionary.

What is Church?

How likely is it that you and your family can embrace and live out the following commands in Scripture by gathering with people for an hour and a half on Sunday morning?

John 15:12 – Love one another
Romans 5:13 – Don’t pass judgment on one another
Romans 12:5 – Be members of one another
Romans 12:10 – Honor one another
Romans 12:16 – Live in harmony with one another
Romans 14:19 – Build up one another
Romans 15:5 – Be like-minded toward one another
Romans 15:7 – Accept one another
1 Corinthians 12:25 – Care for one another
Galatians 5:13 – Serve one another in love
Galatians 5:26 – Don’t provoke or envy one another
Galatians 6:2 – Bear one another’s burdens
Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another
Colossians 3:13 – Bear with each other and forgive one another
1 Thessalonians 3:12 – Abound in love toward one another
1 Thessalonians 4:18 – Comfort one another
Hebrews 3:13 – Encourage one another
Hebrews 10:24 – Stir up one another to love and good deeds
James 5:16 – Confess your sins to one another
1 Peter 4:9 – Offer hospitality to one another
1 Peter 5:14 – Greet one another
1 John 1:7 – Fellowship with one another
1 John 3:11 – Love one another
Ephesians 5:21- Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ

That's probably not all going to happen this Sunday. So as much as I love Sunday mornings with the flock at Joy Community Fellowship, we better not reduce church to what happens in that weekly meeting, right?

A Story of Perception

I thought this was a cool story:

In a Washington DC subway station, Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world, recently played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music. But in the subway station, practically nobody cared or even noticed him.

Check out the rest of the story here.

Seven Questions to Enter the Pulpit With

In his recent message at the Desiring God National Conference, Francis Chan mentioned seven questions that he asks himself in preparing to preach:

1. Am I worried about what people think of my message or what God thinks? (Teach with fear)
2. Do I genuinely love these people? (Teach with love)
3. Am I accurately presenting this passage? (Teach with accuracy)
4. Am I depending on the Holy Spirit's power or my own cleverness? (Teach with power)
5. Have I applied this message to my own life? (Teach with integrity)
6. Will this message draw attention to me or to God? (Teach with humility)
7. Do the people really need this message? (Teach with urgency)

I think I might well print these questions and place them in my binder, so I can be reminded of them as I prepare to preach God's Word to the congregation I have the privilege of serving.

Laughter

Randy Alcorn:

We need a biblical theology of humor that prepares us for an eternity of celebration and spontaneous laughter.

And he's got a text to back it up:

"Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh" (Luke 6:21).