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Twenty Christian Beliefs…

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Myself and the other elders at Grace Bible recently began reading ‘Twenty Christian Beliefs ‘ by: Wayne Grudem. The book is a condensed (159 pgs) version of Grudem’s much larger book, Systematic Theology (1200+ pgs). The first chapter ‘What Is the Bible?’ covers the authority, clarity, necessity, and sufficiency of The Bible. I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter, and really enjoy any good literature and conversation about the Bible. Did you know the longest chapter in the Bible (Psalm 119) is a about God’s Word, the Bible? God knows he gave us a great treasure in revealing himself to us in his Word. Do we?

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from this first chapter:

“Any responsible look at a single Christian belief should be based on what God says about the subject. Therefore, as we begin a to look at a series of basic Christian beliefs, it makes sense to start with the basis for these beliefs—God’s words, or the Bible”

“If God claims that the words of Scripture are his own, then there is ultimately no higher authority on can appeal to for the proof of this claim than Scripture itself. For what authority could be higher than God?”

“…we are to seek and obey the words of Scripture, for in doing so, we are seeking to obey God himself”

“…the Bible is written in such a way that all things necessary to become a Christian, live as a Christian, and grow as a Christian are clear.”

“…in order to become a Christian, ordinarily one must either read about it in the Bible or have someone else explain what the Bible is says about it.”

“…the Bible is our only source for clear and definite statements about God’s will.”

“While the Bible might not directly answer every question we can think up—for “the secret things belong to the Lord our God” (Deut 29:29)—it will provide us with the guidance we need “for every good work” (2 Tim 3:17)

“…in our doctrinal, ethical, and moral teachings and beliefs, we should be content with what God has told us in Scripture.”

This chapter was an informative inspiring reminder of the importance of God’s Word in the life of every Christian, and the life of our Faith Family, the Church.

Helpful Resources…

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discipleship-newSome resources I recently shared with some men in our church:

1. Real Truth Real Quick http://realtruthrealquick.com This is a website from Watermark church in Dallas, dedicated to offering quick, solid answers to tough questions.

The Q & A covers all sorts of topics. Some recent questions addressed include: How Should A Christian Vote If They Don’t Agree With Either Candidate? How Can We Be Sure That The Resurrection Happened? What Does It Mean To Be A Man After God’s Own Heart?  You can click on those, or, you can use the search engine to find specifics topics addressed. They also have a twitter account if that interests you. You can follow them @RealTruthRQ

Todd Wagner, the pastor of Watermark Church is a wise and godly man that I have a lot of respect for. I hope you find this website helpful.

2. A FREE audiobook book from christianaudio.com. This month Taking God At His Word by Kevin DeYoung is available for FREE download. I LOVE this book! I first read it a couple of years ago. One of the biggest issues we have facing us in our culture is a lack of DESIRE for God’s Word. The Bible is more available than ever, but in many cases, less used than ever. This book will help you appreciate and make use of God’s Word as it was intended.

One easy way to get this book is to download the Christian Audio App to your phone and access the book through it. You’ll have to create a free account with Christian Audio, but it’s well worth your time. I’ve downloaded several books from there and I listened to the first couple of chapters of this one while I was mowing this weekend. This would be a great way to redeem the time of your commute to work each day!

One more — here’s like to a great post with 5 Characteristics of a Kind Husband: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-a-kind-husband

10 Ways Churches Get Off Mission

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It’s been said that if everything is the mission, then nothing is. There are things that the church can do, but those things should not be confused with the what the church must do. The church’s mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Most would agree on that. But while we agree that’s what we must do, we still have to be careful that we stay ON MISSION, that we not get distracted away from our central calling of disciple-making.

Jared Wilson offers 10 common hazards we can fall into that can get a church off of our mission in this helpful post:

10…common ways churches engage in “mission drift.”

1. They over-program.

In this way, we mistake activity for mission and busy-ness for fruitfulness. And while Christians fellowshiping and “doing life” with each other is important, some churches fill the calendar with so many programs and meetings, etc. that their people have little to no margin to be on mission.

2. They pour all their energy into the weekend service.

For many churches, the extent of their weekly thinking, planning, strategy, creativity, etc. is channeled into the production of the weekend gathering. They justify this inward focus by trying to design this service as evangelistically and seeker-minded as possible, but it effectively turns the “go and tell” of mission into the “come and see” of attraction.

3. They use too much insider lingo.

The church service in particular is biblically for the Christian, but the New Testament still tells us it ought to be intelligible to “outsiders.” Some churches communicate only “inside baseball” in their services and groups so that it becomes difficult for interested unbelievers to follow and seek to understand.

4. They are just plain unwelcoming.

We all know about churches that don’t acknowledge visitors. There are also community groups that don’t have an open door for curious unbelievers and other visitors. There are people who look down their noses if someone is in their parking space or pew. Some church communities just aren’t interested in growing or reaching out.

5. They are preoccupied with politics.

Their pastors are too busy culture-warring to be soul-winning and their people are too busy arguing about who should be President to consider how their anger and worry might (or might not) adorn the gospel.

6. They are still stuck in the past, culturally speaking.

Some churches look frozen in time. While there are lots of rich things from our history and tradition worth holding onto, having a church that looks like it stepped out of a time machine in the 1970s probably isn’t it. Some churches are so committed to preserving how they’ve always been, they cannot adequately contextualize the gospel for their communities today.

7. They’re trying to re-create the past.

Some churches have moved on from the past, but are desperate to get it back. But a church can kill its future by constantly trying to recapture “the good ol’ days,” mainly because this is an inward focus and also because outsiders, visitors, and the lost don’t care one bit about your church’s “good ol’ days.”

8. They are preoccupied with social justice causes but not doctrine.

Meeting people’s felt needs and addressing systemic, cultural ills can be biblical and valid implications of the gospel, but a lot of churches forget the gospel part. They trade in the primary purpose of the gospel for its implications. This is a particularly deceptive mode to be in, because socially-conscious churches look like they’re on mission. But if the gospel is not at the center of what we say and do, it’s not God’s mission that we’re on.

9. They are doctrinally rigorous but socially withdrawn.

The opposite of the above problem. These churches are hearers of the word only. Sometimes they are so suspicious of “social justice” and the “social gospel” that they’d rather die than be caught making a concerted effort to care for the poor, the widow, and the orphan.

10. They are divided or otherwise riddled with conflict and power plays.

Some churches are fertile ground for power-hungry folks or divisive personalities jockeying for position. In many of these churches, the leaders may be interested in kingdom mission but find that so much of their energy is occupied in mediating arguments, managing contentious member meetings, defending themselves, or just trying to keep the peace. In these cases, people have forgotten what a church is even for.

 

Christ Is Risen…

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…the angel said…“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay…he has risen from the dead…” (Matthew 28:6-7)

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism…

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Last Sunday I referenced some alarming research findings that came out in 2005 regarding the spiritual beliefs of American teens, which really reflect the beliefs of many Americans young and old. One term that emmerged from that research was Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. In short, the research showed that while Americans might say they are Christians, they’re beliefs about God, Man, Christ, and The Gospel were not in keeping with historic or biblical Christianity. Below is a link to a summary of the research as well as a quote:

https://www.ptsem.edu/uploadedFiles/School_of_Christian_Vocation_and_Mission/Institute_for_Youth_Ministry/Princeton_Lectures/Smith-Moralistic.pdf

“It is not so much that Christianity in the United States is being secularized. Rather more subtly, either Christianity is at least degenerating into a pathetic version of itself or, more significantly, Christianity is actively being colonized and displaced by a quite different religious faith.”

You’ll notice that Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is void of what the New Testament refers to as “of first importance” — The Gospel! Click the link below for a breakdown of the gospel, published in Christianity Today.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/june/what-is-gospel.html