Wednesday, March 26, 2014

A Fearful Thing


There is a pervasive trend that has developed within American Christianity, or at least a segment of professing believers. The development is terrifying. What is it? The lessening of sin and dismissal of any such notion in the Bible that God deals with sinners. It seems the gospel message has become all about the love of God with the absence of any warnings and set standard which God upholds. The idea is that God just loves you as you are and you are free to continue living as you do. 

Where does this idea creep in? Well, it usually begins by making claims that the way of Jesus is to welcome and accept sinners. So we immediately throw out Old Testament passages which highlight God's judgment and we go only to Jesus, as if we can pit them against each other. Yet, interestingly, if you examine the Gospels close enough, you will notice Jesus is no pushover on sin. He does not dismiss it or ignore it or lower God's standard one bit. In fact, he warns that anyone who lessens even the least of the commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of God (Matt. 5:19).

Then if you look at other prominent stories that many like to highlight to paint a pushover Jesus, such as the adulterous woman and the woman at the well, you find interesting facts. Rather than being examples of Jesus flippancy or ignoring of sin, they are the opposite. Jesus tells the woman caught in adultery (John 8) to "go and sin no more." He confronts and brings up the sin of the woman at the well (John 4). He is the one who highlights her continuous failed marriages and live-in boyfriend. If sin was of no matter to him, why would he do this?

The reason sin matters, and the reason we should not lessen or lighten it up, is that it shows us our rebellion and separation from God. This in turn shows us our need for a Savior. There is a reason Jesus goes into this woman's sin with her before revealing to her that he is the Messiah. People need to see the reality of their sin before they will understand their need for a Savior.

This is why any "gospel" void of discussing the reality of sin and God's righteous judgment against it is a false gospel. The Good News of the gospel is good news in response to very bad news. The bad news is that sin separates us from God and we are sinners. The bad news is that we are not good people who do bad things, we are rebels against God. We willingly sin and often try to lessen its heinous nature. The bad news is that God is holy, so holy that he cannot ignore and look past sin, and we are sinners, so sinful that we stand condemned before God. But the good news of the gospel is that God so loved us, and desired to ransom us from this condition, that He sent His Son to bear our sin and the punishment attached to it. If you strip away the bad news of the gospel, the good news doesn't really make much sense. 

So back to my original issue. The trend currently in fashion is to lessen sin and God's view of it. The narrative is that God is loving and accepting, and we Christians should not warn people about their sin or their persistence in it. We seem to forget that Jesus warns that a tree is known by its fruits (Matthew 7). So if we see people living in habitual sin, we should rightfully warn that it is not the way of God, and to continue unrepentant is to reject God, which will incur judgment. 

Many will scoff at such sentences, so narrow-minded and Old Testament-like. Yet the Hebrew writer (New Testament, by the way) says in Hebrews 10:31 "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." That is a terrifying sentence. The writer sees falling into the hands of God in judgment as a fearful and dreadful thing. But what is the context of this verse? What provokes the writer to make this statement? Answer: "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." (Hebrews 10:26). Who runs the risk of falling into the hands of God in judgment? Those who know and have been told the truth, yet go on sinning deliberately. 

The Hebrew writer wasn't as cultured and in-the-know as many Christians today are, but he seemed pretty convinced that sin will damn people. So while the trend today may be to lessen the talk about sin and talk more about love, we may find the love they are speaking of has no backbone to it, it is shallow emotionalism, the kind that damns people because it deceives them into thinking sin doesn't matter to God and they can keep living how they want. 


Oh, what a fearful thing.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Why TJC is Partnering with The Haiti Collective

The Journey Church recently finished a six month process of praying and fact gathering to discern where the Lord would have our church invest in global missions. It is our mission as a church to be a gospel-centered church that makes knowledgeable, obedient, and passionate followers of Jesus Christ. We focus our effort to this by 1. celebrating the gospel in WORSHIP each week, 2. applying the gospel in COMMUNITY with each other, and 3. extending the gospel through MISSION both locally and globally. That is our focus as a church. So we have been prayerfully seeking God's direction for how to fulfill the global part of this third component of our mission.

In the beginning we believed we were going to adopt an unreached unengaged people group in Europe. We did a lot of research on this. We made a trip to the International Mission Board's conference for European missions. We made contact with missionaries all over Europe. And we prayed for God's direction. At the end of all our exploration, we did not believe the timing was right for TJC to go to Europe. Our church body was not quite ready financially, or with personnel, to have maximum effectiveness in Europe. We still believe there will be a day when we engage in European missions, we just do not sense it is time. 

Why Haiti?
 
After we looked thoroughly at Europe, we began to set our eyes on a more accessible location for us to invest. We thought about Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti. There were pros and cons to each, but we began to pray about where we could be effective and engage the largest number of people in our congregation in missions. This led us to Haiti, and in particular, The Haiti Collective (hereafter THC).

  (above: the beautiful landscapes of Haiti, below: the stark reality of poverty)

I had been on three previous trips with THC and have seen the amazing work of ministry happening in Haiti. THC focuses on bringing hope to Haiti through the love of Jesus Christ. It is committed to the local church and investing in its leaders and ministries. More specifically, THC seeks partnerships between US churches and Haitian churches. In this partnership, there is pastoral training, orphan care, micro-business, church planting, medical care, adoption, and many other amazing opportunities to serve the Kingdom of God. 

Though this is not global missions to the unreached unengaged, that does not mean this is not a desperately needed and fruitful mission. There are millions of lost people in Haiti and there is a spiritual darkness that exists there because of the presence of Voodoo. In addition to millions of lost people, Haitian churches are filled with believers that do not have the resources afforded to us for discipleship and spiritual growth. The pastors are not theologically educated and can rarely afford the resources to acquire that education. By empowering these local churches and pastors, we are equipping them to reach Haiti with the gospel.

  (above: orphans eating, below: an orphan gets her meal)

Our church has committed to approach local and global missions from a long-term perspective. We do not want to take short-term trips to different places each year. We want to invest in a partnership and relationship that is enduring and lasting. We want to build relationships with those we minister to and with. We want to grow with the leaders and support the orphans. We desire that TJC folks would adopt many of these orphans. THC gives us that opportunity.

Where Are We Investing?

(Port-de-Paix is in northern Haiti)

The Journey Church will be partnering with a church in the city of Port-de-Paix. It has a population of roughly 250,000 people. It is located in the northern part of Haiti on the coast. The church in Port-de-Paix is led by two pastors who work bi-vocationally to lead the church. The church is caring for orphans and providing education, clothing, and food for them. There are so many opportunities for us to partner with this church to extend the gospel.

  (above: clean water filters provided by THC, below: pastor's conference & training)
 
When Are We Going?

We will be taking a team to Port-De-Paix this summer (2014) on August 8th-16th. We will begin promoting this at church soon and enlisting those interested. We are looking to take a team of 4-6 folks. We will be doing theological training with the pastors, evangelistic services, VBS with the orphan children, with the potential of doing some medical missions if we have the right personnel. The cost of the trip will be roughly $2,000 per person. This pays for airfare, ground transportation, food, water, and lodging. Every needed expense on the trip will be covered by this cost. We will look to do some fundraisers to lower this overall cost for those attending.

(above: Haitian children, below: Sunday worship gathering)

Those interested will need to:

1. sign up and indicate your interest level

2. acquire your passport 

3. attend all required meetings about the trip (first mtg April 18th)

4. $100 deposit due before May 8th
 
We will share more details at our first meeting about the trip. If this is something you would like to participate in, mark your calendars now, and begin to make preparations to be a part of this incredible ministry. 

If you cannot go on this first trip in August, we are looking to take another trip in January. We can take multiple trips per year, so be sure to prayerfully seek the Lord about how you may participate in this incredible opportunity to extend the gospel globally through MISSION. 

Every person is responsible for participating in global missions. There are only three possible options: you're a sender, you're a goer, or you're disobedient. Which will you be?

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Monday, March 24, 2014

John Owen on the Grace of Christ

"The endless, bottomless, boundless grace and compassion that is in him who is thus our husband, as he is the God of Zion."

"...if all the world should (if I may say so) set themselves to drink free grace, mercy, and pardon, drawing water continually from the wells of salvation; if they should set themselves to draw from one single promise, an angel standing by and crying, "Drink, O my friends, yea, drink abundantly, take so much grace and pardon as shall be abundantly sufficient for the wolrd of sin which is in every one of you;" - they would not be able to sink the grace of the promise one hair's breadth. There is enough for millions of worlds, if they were; because it flows into it from an infinite, bottomless fountain."

"This infiniteness of grace, in respect of its spring and fountain, will answer all objections that might hinder our souls from drawing nigh to communion with him, and from a free embracing of him. Will not this suit us in all our distresses? What is our finite guilt before it? Show me the sinner that can spread iniquities to the dimensions of this grace. Here is mercy enough for the greatest, the oldest, the stubbornest transgressor." 

Of Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Works of John Owen. The Banner of Truth Trust. Volume 2. Part II. Chapter 3. Digression 1. (p.61-62)

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

The Alter Call and Why We Don't Do It at TJC

The church I pastor (The Journey Church) is 8 years old. Over those years we have witnessed God save hundreds of people and we have had the privilege of baptizing hundreds more. However, during the course of these years we have not offered what is traditionally known as an "alter call" or "invitation." I do not go stand down front and wait for people to walk up to me for prayer or salvation why the band plays "Just As I Am" for the one millionth time. I think this is more for the ego of pastors and/or the assurance that things are "happening" for the congregation.

"But don't you guys want people saved?" We absolutely do! And we have seen people saved, many people! Every week we preach the Bible, we offer Christ to sinners, and invite people to turn from their self-absorbed lives to a life submitted to Christ through faith and repentance. We just happen to believe  this can happen in the seats as they hear the gospel, at home in their bedroom, in their car driving, or any number of other places. An alter call and invitation at the end of service, where 3 minutes is designated for salvation, is unrealistic. Some people have questions, need to work through issues, need to sit down and see things from the Bible, need counsel through difficult situations, and many other things. "Just As I Am" does not offer enough time to do this, nor is the time necessarily the most optimal or ideal.

In the Bible-belt, where we are located, many cannot conceive of any other way of salvation happening, apart from the alter call. But what I found in my time pastoring in the South is many stake their assurance of salvation on "walking the aisle" or "praying the prayer" or "raising my hand" or "praying with the pastor." None of these things mean anything apart from the work of the Holy Spirit to regenerate the heart of a dead sinner. Walking aisles and repeating prayers don't change hearts, in fact, they may actually deceive hearts. Talking to a pastor doesn't save you. There is only one Mediator between God and man, it is the Lord Jesus Christ, not your pastor. We are to flee to Jesus, not Pastor X.

"But aren't people supposed to make a public declaration of faith?" Yes. That is what baptism is. Trusting and surrendering to Christ can be a private thing, in fact, it must be personal and individual. However, baptism is our public declaration and profession of our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. An alter call is not necessary for people to make public professions of faith. 

Pastor Ryan Kelly of Desert Springs Church shares a good summary of my thinking on this subject with 10 points against the alter call:
1. The altar call is simply and completely absent from the pages of the New Testament.
2. The altar call is historically absent until the 19th century, and its use at that time (via Charles Finney) was directly based upon bad theology and a man-centered, manipulative methodology (more about that here).
3. The altar call very easily confuses the physical act of “coming forward” with the spiritual act of “coming to Christ.” These two can happen simultaneously, but too often people believe that coming to Christ is going forward (and vice-versa).
4. The altar call can easily deceive people about the reality of their spiritual state and the biblical basis for assurance. The Bible never offers us assurance on the ground that we “went forward.”
5. The altar call partially replaces baptism as the means of public profession of faith.
6. The altar call can mislead us to think that salvation (or any official response to God’s Word) happens primarily on Sundays, only at the end of the service, and only “up front.”
7. The altar call can confuse people regarding “sacred” things and “sacred” places, as the name “altar call” suggests.
8. The altar call is not sensitive to our cautious and relational age where most people come to faith over a period of time and often with the interaction of a good friend.
9. The altar call is often seen as “the most important part of the service”, and this de-emphasizes the truly more important parts of corporate worship which God has prescribed (preaching, prayer, fellowship, singing).
10. God is glorified to powerfully bless the things He has prescribed (preaching, prayer, fellowship, singing), not the things we have invented. We should always be leery of adding to God’s prescriptions for His corporate worship.
Can God save somebody who "walks the aisle" or "prays the prayer?" Yes. Does God need these things to do so? No. The church for the first 1800+ years of its history never knew such a phenomena.

At The Journey Church, we invite people weekly to trust Christ. And something amazing has happened over the last 8+ years - they have. What does it look like? It looks like conversations after our worship gatherings conclude. It looks like emails or Facebook messages to meet up and discuss what God is doing in their hearts. It looks like conversations in Gospel Communities or a Membership Meeting. There are many conversations about the gospel and responding to it taking place throughout the week at The Journey Church. We happen to believe the 3 minutes segment of time often known as the "invitation" is unnecessary, and perhaps unhelpful, in leading people know and understand how to follow Jesus. 

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