Diminishing the Power of God’s Word

Is there a way that preachers can diminish the power of the written Word of God through how they preach? I think so. I think there is a danger for those who read the Bible and tell what it means to diminish the power of God because God’s Word sometimes  is difficult to hear.

This might be nothing more than poor exegesis, which can be changed, but it also might be a shrinking back of what God’s Word has to say because we fear the repercussions of that Word. We are afraid that our hearers do not want to hear the difficult parts because they are difficult, when in fact, the teacher should be very open about such difficulties.

For example, we had a guest come and speak to us recently speak to us on Eph. 5:15-16, about being careful how Christians are to walk, not as fools, but in wisdom, because the days are evil. There is a lot in the context of those two verses that can be said about how Christians might foolishly walk. It might be right to speak about v18, and how to use alcohol wisely, or even the importance of coming together regularly as Christians so to obey v19 of addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, or v21 in the power of submitting to one another, and how this will lead to wise living, not unwise living. It might even be appropriate to look at the context prior to those two verses and consider Paul’s warning about taking part in the unfruitful works of darkness in v11. I could even seen appropriateness of v3 for Christians to flee sexual immorality and all impurity. That is an example of wise living knowing that the days are evil.

Our guest speaker instead spoke about not copying music and movies illegally from the internet. What?!? I agree, copyright laws are still laws that are to be obeyed and followed or one must be willing to receive the due penalty for such action, but I somehow missed how that was connected to being careful about how Christians live day to day. Sure, I think that eventually, as we get down through different applications, eventually, this could be appropriate, but only after many other applications are first drawn out.

The result, I think, is that the preacher unknowingly is diminishing the power of God’s Word. There are many problems in this world and therefore many problems with sin in the hearts of Christians. I do not think it is any secret that Christians struggle with sexual sin. I do not think it is any secret that Christians struggle with alcohol usage, or corrupting talk, or even coming to church regularly on Sundays! There is no secret that those are real issues in every church! But the reality is that they are difficult issues. They are issues that are uncomfortable, and touchy, and people do not like having their idols of their hearts being broken down from God’s Word.

Yet that is exactly what God’s Word is designed to do. That is precisely what God does in our hearts so that we would love Him alone, and not the things of this world. It is absolutely appropriate to make the best use of our short time, to take advantage of the opportunities before us, knowing that the days are evil, that sin is rampant in the world, and we are called to be Christ’s ambassadors to a broken world.

While there is a place to speak about not copying music and movies illegally, there is much to speak about from God’s Word about how to make the best use of time because the days are evil. Friends, brothers and sisters in the Lord, look carefully how you live from day to day. Live wisely, not unwisely. Flee sexual temptation, sexual immorality, drunkenness, filthy talk, and flattery that means nothing. Understand that sin is powerfully at work in the hearts of people everywhere. Christians, understand your role as Christ’s ambassadors to a broken world. Make the best use of your time, and be very careful that you do not diminish the power of God’s Word by shrinking back from what it says.

Questions to Ask Before Joining

Here at Campbell, we strive to be very careful before bringing people into membership. This is not because we only want rich people, or business men, or large families, or perfect families- nothing could be further from the truth. While we do want the rich to join, we also want the poor to join. We want business men, students, the jobless, the factory worker, CEO, and everything in-between. We love having singles, married, married with children, virtually any combination you can think of.  In fact, one really neat part of being at Campbell is the diverse flavour we see within our walls. Just off the top of my head, I am thinking of people who are from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, France, India, the United States, Canada, China, and more that are all worshipping our Risen Saviour Jesus. It is a powerful thing to look among the congregation and see just a glimpse of how the gospel has been reaching the nations.

That being said, to become a member, we have Christians take our membership class to get to know what we believe, what it means to become a member at Campbell Baptist Church, go through an elder’s interview, and then to be brought before the congregation for the body to vote on each member to bring them into membership. I’ll write at another time as to why we see it so important that we have each of these aspects before someone becomes a member for regenerate church membership, but for now, I want to consider some good questions that someone should ask before he or she becomes a member. Just as much as I as an elder will ask questions to the potential member, often times that person fails to ask some questions that I think are quite important for their own choice to become a member.

Brian Croft, a pastor in Louisville, KY suggests four important questions to ask. Read his full blog here (it is worth reading), but I want to put his four questions here. As you consider what church to join (and I believe that joining is a New Testament idea, not my own) I encourage you to ask the following four questions:

1. Is this a church where my family will be regularly fed by God’s Word?
2. Is this a church where I am convinced the care of my soul will be a priority?
3. Is this a church where my family will experience meaningful Christian fellowship and accountability?
4. Is this a church where I can serve God’s people and use my gifts for its benefit?

Take notice for a moment what these questions are showing as priorities for a healthy church. First, that above the worship style, the songs that are sung, what the instrumentation set up us, or how many screens are being utilized, the first priority is how and to what degree God’s Word is being proclaimed into your life. Notice that the second question realizes that Christians are not perfect, but are actually battling sin every day and so their soul needs to receive care, just like a sick person in a hospital. Church needs to be much more than just a social club. The third question reminds us that while a church needs to be much more than a social club, it must never be less than that. Meaningful fellowship and keeping account of one another need to happen if we actually believe we can fight sin. We need each other to bear up our burdens so that in another time I can bear up your burdens and sorrows. The fourth question is quite interesting, simply because Brian Croft is making a distinction between serving and using your gifts. I have never met someone with the spiritual gift of changing dirty diapers, but that is a wonderful way to serve the mothers of young children in the church. Service first is to  where service is needed, not where your primary gifting is. This does not mean that one should not serve where they are gifted, but being the hands and feet of what is needed often trumps where we are most gifted. If someone needs help painting their house, it doesn’t matter if my strongest gift is crafting a sermon, I go and help paint the house!

So before joining a local assembly, (again, biblically living as a Christian means becoming a member of a local church) consider these four questions to ask before you join.

 

Heaven is for Real

In the book and recent movie, Heaven is For Real, Todd Burpo describes his son, Colton’s near death experience where Colton claimed he went to heaven, met different people connected to his life, personally met Jesus while riding on a rainbow-colored horse, and a variety of other exciting events. It has gained lots of attention through the book that has sold over 200,000 copies and is in the top 10 list, as well as has been made into a movie lots of people have gone to see.  

What should Christians think about this? Should Christians take their families? If this little boy has seen so many things that are otherwise unexplainable, wouldn’t that mean that this really happened? 

David Platt has posted two really helpful blogs on this, here and here. The 2nd is when he is being interviewed on a local Fox news station, the first is a talk he gave that is also found on YouTube. Each video is less than 5 minutes long and worth your time considering.

To summarize the arguments, why is it that people, who have died and come back to life in the Bible, why is it that those people speak to nothing about what heaven is like? Why is it that the description of heaven in the Bible, seems to be so different from the account that Colton is describing?

Christians are called to be people of God’s Word. We live by God’s Word and may be called to die for God’s Word. Let us not be so swept up in the popular theologies of the day where we fail to use God’s Word as a filter for truth about Heaven and about how to live as a Christian.  Scarier yet, if this description of Heaven is not coinciding with God’s infallible, inerrant Word, what does that mean about its content? 

Just because it is a movie made by Christians does not mean it is worthy of your time, or money. Hebrews 10 I think is particularly helpful here. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (ESV). 

Let us care more about how we are stirring each other up for love and good works because the reality is that there is a day when the sky will open, the trumpet will sound, and for each person in this world, there will either be the hope of heaven or the fear of hell. Let us be people of God’s Word, washed by his Word, that we may be the Bride that will run to her Lover’s arms.

Consider your theology. What you believe about God is important. Therefore so is what we think about heaven. 

 

Easter Pageant gone astray! Click here.

Easter Pageant gone astray! Click here.

Growing up in a church that frequently had drama ministry, seeing an Easter pageant is normal. But be careful little pageants how they go….

T4G 2014

I (Brian) just returned from the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY. It was great to meet up with old friends, friends from old, other pastors from Canada, and other pastors who are unashamed for the gospel.

Unashamed enough to take the gospel back to the churches where they preach and to make church life, to make Christianity, and to make their personal lives founded on the good news of Jesus- the good news of Jesus dying in place of sinners like you and me for our due penalty for the wrong things we have done, thought, desired, and said; Jesus dying in our place, taking our condemnation, taking our sin, taking God’s wrath, and having it rain down on Jesus instead of us; then Jesus rising 3 days later from the grave showing that death could not hold him and Jesus now calling those who would follow him to turn from our sin and turn to Jesus for life, for godliness, for forgiveness, for salvation- that good news of Jesus.

I firmly believe that when the good news of the gospel really is good to us, that it will be evident in our speech, in our actions, and in our desires. Christians, be Unashamed for the gospel.

Just to get your appetite going a little, here is one of the videos we watched to encourage us to be unashamed. There are more to watch than just this one.

The content of each message was fantastic. Each message fed my soul in fantastic ways. If you have 10 hours, I would encourage you to listen to the speakers, for there is about 10 hours to speaking. But if you have only one hour, and you want that hour to powerfully transform your life, for you to hate your sin much, much more, for you to love your Saviour even more, than listen to Lig Duncan’s message on the Gospel by Numbers. You can listen it here.

I am really looking forward to sharing more with you in the coming months. For now, be unashamed brethren.