The Cross Driven Blog

My thoughts exactly...

2009-12-18T10:37:00.003-06:00

Al Mohler gives the best summation of Oral Roberts' life and ministry:

I am thankful for every sinner who came to know the Gospel of Christ through the preaching of Oral Roberts, and I heard him preach about salvation in ways that were true and powerful. But I can only lament the prosperity theology that he leaves in his long shadow.

Tim Keller and John Malcovich - Separated at birth?

2009-12-18T09:00:00.002-06:00

Surely they are on opposite sides of the table on almost every issue, but I think there's definitely some weird similarity going on here.

Twelve Months of Being Reminded of God's Mercy and Love

2009-12-11T07:24:00.004-06:00

12

Happy Birthday Amelie!

A Little Honesty

2009-12-10T14:09:00.002-06:00

From one of the most honest pro-choice articles I have read:

And then there was Harris, who wrote about performing an abortion on a woman who was 23 weeks along and then immediately running to deliver a premature baby of 23 to 24 weeks. "I thought to myself how bizarre it was that I could have legally dismembered this fetus-now-newborn if it were inside its mother’s uterus," she writes, "but that the same kind of violence against it now would be illegal, and unspeakable."

When life does not begin at conception, the question of when it does begin becomes a big gray blur. I once took a class with a guy that said abortion should be legal up to age 26. After all, that is when the brain is fully formed. Only then, he claimed, are you completely human.

The Arrogance of Being Antihistorical

2009-12-02T08:24:00.003-06:00

When I was a younger, thinner, adolescent, bleach blonde (awful I know) teenager, I would have conversations with my pastor during which I would rail about the silliness, injustice, and unbiblical nature of the church's practices. And I would go on and on about how I wanted to do church like it was done in the New Testament --like the early church did it. You see, at some point church got off track (probably around the time that Rome adopted Christianity). It's how we got the crusades and the protestant-Catholic wars of the reformation and the coldness of hyper-calvinism and the arrogance of Manifest Destiny and the closed-mindedness of fundamentalism and the scattershot of denominationalism and ...Baptist deacons! I thought I was humble and revolutionary (Pop Evangelical culture told me to be that way after all), but little did I know, my view was quite arrogant for several reasons.

1. I falsely assumed that church had been done wrongly for almost 2000 years. You can look at history one of two ways. Either it's chaotic, and God has said how things should be done, and we are stuck until we can get it right, or God has been doing something in the earth for 2000 (much more than that actually) years. In my youth I looked at history and the events that have happened and assumed that since God hates sin, then he has hated everything that has gone on for the last 2000 years. I don't think that any more. God is telling a story, and He's been working for 2000 years through sinful men who trusted in Him for righteousness. God has been working, and it's not always pretty, because we're sinful, but he has absolutely been weaving history for His glory and our good.

2. I falsely assumed that there is only one way of doing church. Acts 2:42-47 is definitely the biblical in method for doing church in my mind. I took that description of the authentic expression of church to be very narrow rather than thinking that its proper application is actually very broad. A church in China is going to look very different culturally than a church in Georgia, and that's great as long as both are doing Acts 2:42-47. My mistake was assuming that a church in 1998 had to look culturally like a church in 60 AD. There is more than one way to accomplish what was going on in Acts. God has made it that way so that all peoples can worship and glorify him in the culture and time that they live in --in the culture and time that He has placed them in.

3. I falsely assumed that I was special. Let me throw down some Tyler Durden right here. "Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else." Now I'm not trying to get into a discussion about the Imago Dei here. I understand the value of the image of God, but the same image of God that I possess is the same one that all men possess. I am not special. It's arrogant to assume that I am the one individual in 2000 years that has figured out how to do church rightly. Other guys have come before God countless times with broken hearts and read the Bible. God has told them to do things, and they have obeyed. We're all sinners an we've all gotten it wrong, but in obedience to Christ, we've all gotten it right. I'm not special. If God wants to make me a Billy Graham or a nameless faceless guy who is forgotten immediately by everyone after he dies, that's God's business not mine. My job is to be faithful. He gives the ideas. He gives the strategies. He gives the words. He gives the grace.

I say all these things, because there are guys out there who are like I was. Don't assume that there's just one way of doing things. Just because you do "simple church" or have a $200 million building doesn't mean you've got the market cornered. Don't assume that you're the only one who has it right. Don't assume that church history has nothing to teach you. God is telling a really big story. Let's play our part and look at the whole story. Maybe he put Nicaea and Calvin and Luther and Fundamentalism in history for a reason. Let's rely upon Him and his Word.

How comfortable are you with paradox, mystery, and tension?

2009-10-28T07:41:00.001-05:00

Charles Spurgeon:

"My love of consistency with my own doctrinal views is not great enough to allow me knowingly to alter a single text of Scripture. I have great respect for orthodoxy, but my reverence for inspiration is far greater. I would sooner a hundred times over appear to be inconsistent with myself than be inconsistent with the word of God."

Life in the Quarter: My First Month in Pictures

2009-10-23T08:38:00.005-05:00

My last post was October 5 and it was a contest entry. It has been a while. So, what's new? Charlee and I are getting settled into the new place. Anyone who has moved knows that moving is a bit like salvation. It's a one time event and an ongoing process that never really ends until you move out. (I'm sure I'll get an email for that one.) We've been enjoying the Quarter and have met lots of wonderful people. It's an exciting place to live.

We've met Heidi and Dana, the super nice owners of Gallery 713. It's a gallery on Royal St. (Can you guess the address?) The have lots of interesting paintings and art from talented artists. You can check them out on their site and on Facebook or just walk by and buy some awesome art.

This is Tanya and Dorise. They perform in front of Cafe Du Monde on Sundays. I'm planning on grabbing up their albums as soon as I can get a chance. They are awesome!

We've seen lots of other interesting things on the river side. Here's a wedding in Jackson Square.

And a performance after the Saint's big win over the Giants.

We've eaten at lots of different places and look forward to getting to know the waiters, managers, and owners of our favorite spots. Here's a gyro from Ali Baba. Even though chicken shawarma is generally my favorite, I recommend the lamb. It really shines.

Now when it comes to burgers, there's a tough choice to be made. Clover Grill, Port of Call, and Yo-Momma's all excel in their own way. This is my favorite burger at Clover Grill, the bleu cheese jalapeno burger.

We get caught by the rain and have to take shelter all the time, but I think it only makes our adventures more fun. And the rain cools everything off. There's nothing more pleasant than a walk through the Quarter with a really light drizzle.

Logos Premium Bible Giveaway

2009-10-05T07:25:00.000-05:00

Logos Bible Software is celebrating the launch of their new online Bible by giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles at a rate of 12 per month for six months. The Bible giveaway is being held at Bible.Logos.com and you can get up to five different entries each month! After you enter, be sure to check out Logos and see how it can revolutionize your Bible study.

For sale: Everything! ...well...a lot (Part 2) Musical Edition!

2009-09-18T15:36:00.002-05:00

Here's some guitar stuff *tear* I'm trying to get rid of. Once again, if you're on Facebook/Unifyer click out to the original post to see everything in its right place.

Ibanez Soundgear 200 Bass Guitar -$125
Click here for all the specs. Great condition. Sells for $200 new. I'm selling it with the gig bag for $125.

Crate BX100 Bass Amp -$200
Click here for reviews. You'll see that most people bought it used for $300. I was $400 when it came out. I only want $200. Works great. A few cosmetic flaws. 15 inch speaker; 100 watts. It's a real work horse. Click here for a big picture of the control panel.

Schecter C-1 Classic Electric Guitar -$550
Click here for specs. Guitar new costs $800. Case was $100. I put strap locks on it and speed knobs, so that's another $25. It has a blemish where the paint chipped. That's why I'm getting rid of it for only $550. It's tough for me to sell this guitar at any price, but the truth is I haven't picked it up since February of 08. I'm hanging on to my acoustic though. Amelie loves it when I play.

Line6 Vetta II 2x12 300W Guitar Amp w/ Foot controller- $1500
Amp is here for $1700 new. Foot Board is here for $400 new. You can check out all of the specs at Musician's Friend. Line6 released this amp a number of years ago, and they have kept upgrading it with new features. It's an awesome amp, and I think it will fool you into believing you are playing on some great classic amps.

Big Pedal Board with SignalFlex Power Supply -$25
Pretty self-explanatory. This thing is big. I would guess 18x36. You can velcro your pedals to it. I know some people screw them down. I am sure that would work too.

For sale: Everything! ...well...a lot (Part 1)

2009-09-14T21:03:00.009-05:00

*If you're on Facebook or Unifyer and you want to see this post in its proper context with correct formatting and pictures, hit the link to read the original post.

With our move to a smaller place in the French Quarter comes the need/desire to get rid of a lot of our stuff. I decided I would put up a list of everything that has to go. A lot of stuff is heading for the donation box, but some things we're trying to sell. Let me know if you're interested. With most things I really just want a fair offer. I'm going to be making multiple posts, because I have pictures and descriptions for some things, but other things won't come out until later.

30 in. Panasonic Widescreen HD TV- SOLD-One of the first to come out. Had HDMI and component connections. It's quirky in that it doesn't want to work right all the time. Sometimes the picture goes out though you can hear the sounds and see the channel number/menu. What happened is that when I brought it up to the apartment, I made it up two flights of stairs by myself. I set it on our carpeted floor and it tipped over. It made a loose connection inside the TV and so the picture goes out if it's not sitting just the right way. If someone knows anything about electronics, this is an easy fix. I don't have the back to the remote.

Glass TV stand $40 -Two large pieces of tempered glass on a metal frame. Looks nice. Holds your TV, stereo, etc. See pic above.

Philps 5.1 Surround Sound System & DVD Player SOLD-Paid a pretty penny for this one back in college. 3 front speakers, 2 surround sound speakers, sub woofer, and head unit with built in DVD player. Works Great. Once again missing the remote back. If I find it while moving, it's yours.

Nintendo Wii $450 OBO -Here's the rundown of what's included:
Nintendo Wii System
Wii Stand
Power supply
Sensor bar
Sensor bar stand
Video cable
2 Wiimotes
2 nunchucks
2 grips
Wii Guitar Hero 3 controller
Wii racing wheel
Wii Sports
Wii Play
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Warioland Shake
Guitar Hero III
Mario Kart Wii
Animal Crossing: City Folk
Lego Batman

26 in. Sylvania Standard Def. Stereo TV $50 -Regular old TV. No problems. RF input, RCA inputs, remote control.

Small Black TV Stand $15 -Pressed wood, magnetic doors, $15, and it's all yours.

2 Matching End Tables $50 for the pair -Self explanatory. Look at the pic. That's what you get.

Black Table with 4 Matching Chairs $50 -I'll throw in the place mats if you buy it.

There's more coming. I just have to stop being lazy and take the pictures.

Some people just don't get it...

2009-09-01T09:46:00.001-05:00

Children are a blessing.

What's wrong with them Jesus songs?

2009-09-01T09:13:00.002-05:00

Patrol hits it on the head with their review of Derek Webb's Stockholm Syndrome:

Perhaps this aversion to message-driven popular music developed because it is difficult to find a mainstream Christian artist with a serious theological idea in their head, and even more so to find one in the business of jostling listeners into the electric fence of their comfort zones.

I don't really feel the need to elaborate. It's hard to venture outside of the "worship genre" and find much that is aesthetically AND theologically appealing. And often times the "worship genre" music gains my ear purely because its theological appeal greatly outweighs its lack of artistic value (with notable exceptions like David Crowder...Playing worship with a guitar hero controller...Sweet!).

How Not to Waste Your Life: Try Gambling

2009-08-25T12:43:00.005-05:00

Paul said if Christ ain't resurrect then we wasted our lives.
Well that implies that our life's built around Jesus being alive.
-Lecrae

I thought this morning after hearing these lyrics from Lecrae, "What a gamble my life is!" My whole world --my universe-- hangs around one idea --that God could resurrect Jesus from the dead. In the church when I was a child and even into my teens, a lot of people were quick to tell me all about how Jesus died to take my place and forgive my sins. What a wonderfully blessed truth! But, although I heard the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead (especially around Easter), I was never really told why this was important. It seemed as though Jesus going up to heaven to be with God spiritually after his death would be just as good as if he went in bodily form. Thankfully scripture is not ambiguous about this. The apostle Paul writes:

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

For the Christian all of life is a gamble. We are called to give up our affections, possessions, heritage, relationships, allegiances, money, and time as representatives and heralds of the Kingdom of God while we are on the Earth in the hope that God can raise us from the dead just as he raised Christ. Truly, if Christ is not resurrected, then we have wasted our lives. It is a massive gamble. However, I do not feel as though it is a gamble. I have assurance in Christ from the Bible that I will dwell with him bodily forever --that my death and whatever circumstances I will face in proclaiming the name of Jesus are not my end. Do you have that assurance? Are you willing to take the gamble?

FAQ: Moving to the Quarter

2009-08-17T20:09:00.006-05:00

Q: Wait...what?

A: Yes. We're moving to the French Quarter

Q: With a baby?

A: Absolutely.

Q: Why?

A: Well there are several reasons why. The first is that I believe that Jesus wants me (and my wife and my daughter) there. We came to this decision through much prayer, scripture, counseling, and the reading of a few good books. We want to do ministry in New Orleans for as long as God has us here. If that is for our entire lives, we are more than happy. This brings me to the second reason. It's hard to identify with people when you aren't a part of their lives. There's nothing wrong with living on seminary campus. It's great if God is equipping you to go into missions or another part of the country, but if God has placed you in the city to love the city for the long term, then you have to look at whether on-campus living does you any good. Maybe you will decide that it does. That's great! Third, I'm not getting out of seminary any time soon. I'm working full time to support my family and go to school. I've got 4+ years of classes left until I get my M. Div. All that living on campus is going to do is make us (us in particular not necessarily anyone else who lives on campus) more scared of anything outside of the gates. We don't want to be those people.

Q: But it's dangerous...
A: Well that's not a question, but ok. I live in New Orleans. It's a major city, and major cities have crime. That's why major cities need Jesus. Jesus transforms men's hearts and with them their culture. And if you're talking about the French Quarter in particular, I would have to say that there are plenty of places outside the Quarter that are much more dangerous than the Quarter itself. The safest place for us to be is in the center of God's will --even if it costs us our stuff or our lives to be there.

Q: But isn't it expensive?
A: Yes. Yes it is. Even the tiniest efficiency cannot be had for less than $650 a month. We cannot afford 2 bedrooms in the quarter, so we're looking to move into an efficiency or a very cheap 1 bedroom. Our housing at the seminary is secure, so we can afford to sit and wait until God brings us the right thing We've been checking out a lot of apartments over the last month. We trust God to get us there in his timing.

Q: How will all of your stuff fit into a small space like that?
A: It won't! So we're going to get rid of it. We're taking what we need to the French Quarter and getting rid of the rest. We've got so much to get rid of! I'll be posting a big list soon with everything that is up for grabs. Maybe you can find something you're looking for on the cheap. We're definitely getting rid of our TVs and the vast majority of our DVDs --along with a lot of furniture.

Q: What about parking?
A: Yes. Parking is crazy in the quarter. Some people pay for spots. The cheap spots are more than $150 a month! Getting rid of my car is going to help us tremendously. This is why I want to find a place closer to Canal than Esplanade so that I can grab the Jefferson bus to go to work on the days that Charlee needs the car.

Q: What do you need?
A: First of all, we need prayer. We're facing a little housing discrimination from those building owners, building managers, and realtors whose opinion it is that children shouldn't be raised in the French quarter. We consider this a spiritual battle, so we would ask you to boldly approach the throne of grace on our behalf. We desperately need your prayer for us on this and many other things that go along with ministry in the French Quarter. We need endurance and humility. We want to serve Jesus. We want to give our lives. We want to be made low that he might be lifted up in the French Quarter as the shining jewel of the universe that he is. Second, if you have any connections or know any property owners in the Quarter that would cut us a break, let us know. God has given people connections and relationships to be a blessing to others. We trust him to move hearts.

Check out Centre for the Arts

2009-08-06T12:42:00.002-05:00

Centre for the Arts is an arts school in New Roads Louisiana run by Mike and Tiffany Phelps. It started in the church and has gone para-church. Their slogan is "Creative arts from a creative God". Their interest is in glorifying God by bringing excellence in the arts to New Roads and the world.Check them out at www.centreforthearts.org

Vintage NOLA sermon on Psalm 128

2009-07-24T07:22:00.002-05:00

I preached a sermon on happiness from Psalm 128 last Sunday at Vintage. Though I have preached before, this is the first time I've ever been recorded and the first time I have preached at Vintage NOLA. I pray that God uses this to glorify his name and bring joy in him to all peoples.

There are two sermons in the file. The first is mine on Psalm 128 and the second is Pastor Rob Wilton's on Psalm 129. We're doing a series called Rise and for this series sometimes two sermons get preached in one service. I encourage you to check out the Rise series. It has been a blessing to me.

Click here for the my sermon audio.

I'll remember next time I look at my Moleskine

2009-07-21T07:59:00.002-05:00

Amelie Month 6

2009-07-16T22:30:00.001-05:00

Follow @Logos on Twitter!

2009-07-02T13:20:00.001-05:00

Check out the Bible search bar on the side and the Logos giveaway!

Logos Bible Software is celebrating the launch of their new online Bible by giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles at a rate of 12 per month for six months. The Bible giveaway is being held at Bible.Logos.com and you can get up to five different entries each month! After you enter, be sure to check out Logos and see how it can revolutionize your Bible study.

That's About Right

2009-07-01T08:15:00.002-05:00

Using a Sony W580i to the Glory of God

2009-06-29T12:14:00.003-05:00

Seminary is often a tight squeeze for the wallet. It is an especially tight squeeze for those of us who are married and have children. When Charlee and I came to seminary, we thought we would be paying $370 a month for a one bedroom apartment with the utility bill of a one bedroom apartment. When God blessed us with Amelie, we found out we would be paying $520 a month for a two bedroom apartment with the utility bill of a two bedroom apartment.

My wife and I have literally sat down with other couples and asked, "We are not trying to pry, but you have more kids than we do, you work part time, and you're both taking classes. How do you do it?" We looked at each other and laughed the first time someone asked us how in the world we made ends meet with a child while attending seminary. The truth is that I have no idea. I have thrown up my hands in frustration so many times and have often wondered allowed, "When they say you need only Jesus to be in ministry, do they mean you need only Jesus, or do they mean you need Jesus and a bank roll?" Times have definitely been tight for us. We've missed out on a lot to be here in New Orleans. We have watched family and friends take vacation after vacation. Everyone I know has an iPhone, and I'm stuck with this thing (nevermind that I've been an Apple fan boy since highschool).

I'm not complaining here. In fact it's quite the opposite. All the vacations and shiny Apple products in the world are trash compared to the greatness of being here in New Orleans with my wife and daughter on this grand adventure knowing God deeply as he moves us one step closer to the kingdom every day. I don't need shiny stuff. I need Jesus. I seek first the Kingdom of God (often stumbling along the way), and he has been there with us all along the way providing for us at just the right moment. I'm not going to come along and say that if you follow God he'll bless you with stuff. He might not. In fact, it will probably cost you some stuff to follow him. But I contend that I am more content to worship God living in a cardboard box than to be without him in a mansion made of iPhones. Every blessing we have had in seminary has come straight from his hand at just the right moment. Go to seminary for more than five seconds and you will discover that very little of your training and honing for ministry comes while sitting in a desk.

If you are called to be trained for ministry, hang in there. And when you wonder how in the world you will make it when others have stores of cash and you come from nothing, remember that God is the provider of us all. If he has called you, then he will call upon people to bless you. He has called upon ministry minded people to create seminary scholarships for people in just your situation. You seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and let him worry about paying the light bill or the tuition invoice.

Nth word = N letters

2009-06-26T15:07:00.000-05:00

Read the sentence below carefully…

“I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality counterbalancing indecipherability, transcendentalizes intercommunication's incomprehensibleness”.

This is a sentence where the Nth word is N letters long.

e.g. 3rd word is 3 letters long, 8th word is 8 letters long and so on.

The Purpose of Money: A Christ-Exalting Open Hand

2009-06-25T15:43:00.005-05:00

Last night in our Bible study, we were confronted with a question:

Which is more impressive:
A) To get rich and thank God
or
B) to be so satisfied in God that you give away riches and call it gain?

We bantered back and forth for a while about responsible stewardship and giving when your kids have to go hungry because of it or when your light bill doesn't get paid. The real answer for us lies in what the Bible says, so I want to put forth the story rich ruler and Jesus to help us understand the purpose of money.

¹⁸ And a ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" ¹⁹And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ²⁰You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'" ²¹And he said, "All these I have kept from my youth." ²²When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." ²³ But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. ²⁴Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." ²⁶Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" ²⁷But he said, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."

The ruler wants to know what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus gives him a list. What is interesting about this list is what it does not contain -more on that in a moment. But let me take this opportunity to say that I believe that this guy kept those commandments. He was surely a standup guy! You or I would love to be around him. He's moral, he pursues holiness, and he's responsible with his cash (he is rich after all). He would probably make a great deacon in many churches. To drive this home -the guy was not lying about his commandment keeping. That's not the problem here.

Back to what the list leaves out. Jesus then makes a second request of him, "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Is Jesus giving him yet another rule to follow? No! Jesus is pointing out to the ruler that he has made money into an idol. The rulers affections are so bound up in his money that he is morally unable to part with it to follow after another love, namely God. His riches on Earth are so appealing to him -so enjoyable and satisfying- that they have robbed him of a right affection for God. He took his money and put it in the place of God -the place of adoration, affection, and worship. Luke writes that "when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich." The idol of money is not easily usurped. The ruler knew that his relationship with his money was keeping him from being in right relationship with God, but still he would not forsake his worship of money for affection, love, and worship of God.

So what is the solution then? Let me first address a few ways in which we deal wrongly with money. The first way is money-phobia. Jesus says, "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor...and come, follow me." Well then, that means that every single person should sell everything and go live in the woods (the only place you'll find food without money). Don't get me wrong. This approach is not always wrong. It was right for the rich ruler, and it is right for many today. But Christ did not intend for all to do this in order to follow him (although everyone must give up the idol of money to follow). Jesus dealt with money. The disciples dealt with money. Paul make tents to make money to support his ministry. The solution is not to be rid of all money, period.

The second solution is to twist the text to allow us to stay rich. Face it. We here in America, although we all desire to claim middle class status, are filthy rich compared to the rest of the world. If we want to stay rich and keep a clean conscience with have to come up with a way to deal with the text that lets us stay that way. Jesus says, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." What do we do with that? "Well you see, there was a gate in Jerusalem that was called the Eye of the Needle. And camels would have to get on their bellies and shimmy through to get in. It was a tight fit." Bologna. That explanation never appeared in any commentary until the 15th century, and it is completely historically unfounded. There is no historical evidence that any such gate ever existed, but it makes us feel better to think that Jesus was just saying that it's a tight squeeze for the rich to get into heaven. The plain meaning of the text is that just as impossible as it is for the biggest animal that we have seen (the camel for people in Jerusalem) to go through the smallest opening that we can think of (the eye of a needle for people in Jerusalem) so it is for the rich entering heaven. It's impossible and not just tough.

What do we do then with our money to keep from being rich? We give it away! We count it as useless for anything other than giving glory to Jesus and showing that he is valuable. God gives us money to show that money is worthless in comparison to him. The answer to finding our treasure in money is to find our treasure in Jesus! Let's look at this in scripture. In Matthew 6 Jesus says,

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on...But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Jesus flat out says that our first pursuit is to be God's kingdom. Every dime we have then has the end of advancing the good news of forgiveness from God and the return of King Jesus to Earth. The accumulation of wealth ceases to be the end in itself when the pursuit of the kingdom of God takes its place. Money then becomes merely another opportunity to make Jesus look really really valuable. As stewards of the money that belongs to God, we give it away, we buy food with it, we move to a city and buy a house with it, we buy clothes with it, but all with ONE goal -the advancement of the kingdom of God, the honor and fame of his great name among all the nations. How would your life change if this is what your bills looked like?

If every time you looked at your money you had that question before you? If every time you handed it to a cashier that question was placed before her -to look at your money, look at your purchase, look at you, and consider your God. Let me encourage you to have that question before your eyes every time you spend a dollar, and open up your mouth by the Spirit and pose it to the cashier. Does what you do with your money make Jesus look valuable? When you give it away, do you call it gain?

For the uninitiated...

2009-06-25T13:48:00.002-05:00

Pluses and Minuses

2009-06-24T07:07:00.003-05:00

From Morris Chapman's address to the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention yesterday:

The Southern Baptist Convention is experiencing a resurgence in the belief that divine sovereignty alone is at work in salvation without a faith response on the part of man.

Some are given to explain away the “whosoever will” of John 3:16. How can a Christian come to such a place when Ephesians says, “For by grace are you saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8)? I do not rise to become argumentative, or to change minds already convinced of one perspective or the other. But I do rise to state the obvious. Man is often tempted to design a theological theory in light of a biblical antinomy in order to clarify what God is trying to say.

I do not know a single Southern Baptist who believes that divine sovereignty alone is at work in salvation without a faith response. I do not know a single Calvinist that believes this either! I could be wrong. There may be a Calvinist or Southern Baptist preacher out there that believes in Hyper-Calvinism, but I assure you that he preaches to a congregation of 20 people out in the middle of the woods. You can find plastered all over the Bible that NO ONE is saved apart from a faith response to the gospel. But you know what you can't find in the Bible? The phrase "whosoever will" in the verse John 3:16.

Here's a shot at Acts 29 from Chapman in the same speech:

Some of the church-growth methodologies that masquerade under the guise of Bible exposition are increasingly known for the crude themes and the vulgar language of their strongest advocates. The sacred desk is no place for the carnal, the sensual, and the sensational. Ministers of the Gospel must exercise great caution when rushing in where angels dare not tread, and churches and pastors of the Southern Baptist Convention must avoid even the appearance of evil in this regard.

I love how he calls missional living and church planting a "church growth strategy". Living with a Christ-exalting sense of purpose and planting Christ-centered Bible believing Spirit led churches is not a church growth strategy. It's the church growth strategy -you know, the one found in the New Testament and the one that has produced authentic Christianity throughout church history. The guys at Baptist 21 actually apologized because of Morris' address. I am tempted to be much more sarcastic and move into some of the ridiculous motions, but in the spirit of charity, I'll move on to the positives.

The Great Commission Resurgence passed! Praise God that Southern Baptists are drawing together on this point. Johnny Hunt, Al Mohler, Danny Akin, and Chuck Kelly all gave wonderful addresses. I was encouraged greatly by their words and spirit. NOBTS is extraordinarily blessed by God to have Chuck Kelly, a man who wears joy in God on his sleeve, as its president. If there is anything positive about NOBTS, it is that we are under Dr. Kelly's leadership.

There's another positive that I want to talk about, but iMonk said it better than I ever could, so I will leave it for him to say:

The younger leaders of the SBC are taking on power in a denomination that has been, for the most part, attempting to lock the doors and hope they would go away. Well, they didn’t. They came to the convention and voted in a mechanism to take an urgent look at what we are doing for the one thing that holds us together: a commitment to carry out the Great Commission. What you saw today was a serious changing of the power grid in the SBC. The vast numbers of obedient old-guard messengers are never again going to show up and make the SBC into a wholly owned subsidiary of the culture war or the Jerry Vines version of the SBC. This is now a denomination that has given itself clear and simple instructions: Get to the task of world missions, not the task of building a denominational culture.