Mission Work Is Not Missional If We Change the Message

Eckhard Schnabel:

"If we avoid speaking of God’s wrath, of God’s justice, of the coming day of divine judgment, of Jesus’ death as an atoning sacrifice for us, we are not changing the form of the missionary presentation of the gospel but its content. The foundational centrality of “Christ crucified” is of critical importance for the existence of the local church. In mission and evangelism the search for a presentation of the gospel that will convince listeners is misguided if the fact of Jesus’ death on the cross and the significance of this death are not central to that message.

"The cross has been and always will be regarded as a religious scandal and as intellectual nonsense. The search for a message that is more easily comprehensible must never attempt to eliminate the provocative nature of the news of Jesus the messianic Son of God who came to die so that sinners can be forgiven by God who hates sin and judges sinners on the Day of Judgment. Paul knows that it is only the power of God, the “proof” of God’s Spirit working in people, that convinces unbelievers of the truth of the news of Jesus and that leads them to faith in Jesus the Messiah and Savior."  (Paul the Missionary, 399-400)

HT: Kevin DeYoung

Wave upon wave of grace

from the book "Rid of my Disgrace" by Justin Holcomb:

"O God of grace, teach me to know that grace precedes, accompanies, and follows my salvation; that it sustains the redeemed soul, that not one link of its chain can ever break.

"From Calvary's cross, wave upon wave of grace reaches me, deals with my sin, washes me clean, renews my heart, strengthens my will, draws out my affection, kindles a flame in my soul, rules throughout my inner man, consecrates my every thought, word, work, teaches me Your immeasurable love.

"How great are my privileges in Christ Jesus. Without him I stand far off, a stranger, an outcast; in him I draw near and touch His kingly scepter. Without him I dare not lift up my guilty eyes; in him I gaze upon my Father-God and friend. Without him I hide my lips in trembling shame; in him I open my mouth in petition and praise.

"Without him all is wrath and consuming fire; in him is all love, and the repose of my soul. Without him is gaping hell blow me, and eternal anguish; in him its gates are barred to me by His precious blood!

"Without him darkness spreads its horrors before me; in him an eternity of glory is my boundless horizon. Without him all within me is terror and dismay, in him every accusation is charmed into joy and peace. Without him all things external call for my condemnation; in him they minister to my comfort and are to be enjoyed with thanksgiving.

"Praise be to you for grace and for the uspeakable gift of Jesus."

Do you think faithfulness to God will mean you'll live a good and comfortable life?

Here's a summary from Matt Chandler (see my previous post; here is the link to his entire essay):

Here are a few men who loved our great God and King and were obedient beyond the norm:

-- Moses spends his whole life with grumbling whiners and dies without getting to walk into the promised land.
-- Samson suicide bombs the Philistines, and when the dust settles, he is dead and the Philistines still rule over Israel.
-- One of David's sons rapes his sister and another leads a rebellion against him, dethroning him for a season.
-- Jeremiah ends up in exile with the rest of the country after repeatedly getting beaten for preaching what God commanded him to preach.
-- John the Baptizer is beheaded by a pervert who gives his head to a 15-year-old stripper.
-- Peter is killed, reportedly crucified upside down.
-- Paul is killed in Rome but only after he spends his life (with thorn intact) being beaten, rejected, lost at sea, and consistently dealing with people coming in behind him and destroying what he built.

"Success is a hollow goal"

Matt Chandler writes a powerful essay about what ought to motivate Christians for life and ministry.  Here is a brief excerpt:

"...If your hope is set on anything other than Jesus, how do you survive when it goes bad? How do you remain passionate and vibrant when no one comes or the baptismal waters are still for long stretches? How do you maintain doctrinal integrity or teach hard things if he isn't the treasure? How do you worship when your wife gets sick or your son goes for a ride in an ambulance?

"If Jesus is the goal, the treasure, the pursuit, then those things are fuel that presses you into his goodness and grace all that much more. I am not saying they are pleasant or enjoyable but only that if he is your goal then you will find your faith sustained."

-- Matt Chandler

You can read the entire essay here.

For those with tired souls...

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28

...from Ray Ortlund, Jr.:

"The sacred center of Christianity is Christ himself.  Coming personally to the Person.  Coming directly to the Mediator.  No one but Jesus can call us with such authority, and no one but Jesus can encourage us with such a promise.  No one else can give us rest.

"If our primary purpose in church is to connect with one another, that’s what we’ll get — one another.  And we’ll end up angry.  Only Jesus gives us rest.  If we will put him first and come to him first, then we’ll have something to give to one another.

If our primary purpose in church is outreach and mercy and justice, we’ll end up exhausted.  Only Jesus gives us rest.  If we will put him first and come to him first, we’ll be renewed for endless mission.

"There are as many false and disappointing centers as there are impulses in our hearts.  Everything else will let us down.  Everything.

"Only One has ever said and can ever say, 'Come to me, and I will give you rest.'

"His offer stands.  And we don’t have to deserve it.  He gives it.  But he does come first."

"Our tears are being undone"

A hopeful meditation on the Celebration that is sure to come, now that Christ is risen....

Deeper Revelation?

"There is no deeper revelation of the Spirit beyond the revelation of the Bible. The authentic work of the Spirit is seen, not when people get excited by some new message or miracle, but rather when their eyes are opened and their hearts are filled with an ever-deepening appreciation of the Bible's teaching about what God has done for them in Christ and a growing longing to live in light of all they have received from him."

-- Vaughan Roberts. Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2011

True Christianity is Supernaturally Spirit-ual

"The Christian life in all its aspects -- intellectual and ethical; devotional and relational, upsurging in worship and outgoing in witness -- is supernatural; only the Spirit can initiate and sustain it.

"So apart from him, not only will there be no lively believers and no lively congregations, there will be no believers and no congregations at all."

-- J.I. Packer

The hand of God's providence...

A great quote from a great Bible scholar--Alfred Edersheim a rabbi who became a Christian teacher, summarizing the lesson of Genesis 27: 

"...a higher hand guides the threads of history, so that neither sin nor error can ultimately entangle them. Each one weaves the threads which are committed to him according to his own views and desires; but at last, when the texture is complete, we behold in it the pattern which the Master had long devised, and towards which each labourer had only contributed one or another feature.”


Edersheim, A. (1997). Bible History: Old Testament (Gen 27:1-28:9). From Logos Bible Software
HT: Craig Miller

The Benefits of Delighting in God

via Ray Ortlund, Jr.:  

Richard Baxter, in A Christian Directory (Ligonier, 1990), page 140, lists seven benefits of delighting ourselves in God.  Updating the language a little:

1.  Delight in God will prove that you know him and love him and that you are prepared for his kingdom, for all who truly delight in him shall enjoy him.

2.  Prosperity, which is merely the small addition of earthly things, will not easily corrupt you or transport you.

3.  Adversity, that is, the withholding of earthly delights, will not much grieve you or easily deject you.

4.  You will receive more profit from a sermon or good book or conversation you delight in, than other people, who don’t delight in them, will receive from many such opportunities.

5.  All your service will be sweet to yourself and acceptable to God; if you delight in him, he certainly delights in you (Psalm 149:4; 147:11; 1 Chronicles 29:17).

6.  You will have a continual feast with you, to sweeten all the crosses of your life and provide you with joy greater than your sorrow in your saddest condition.

7.  When you delight in God, your created pleasures will be sanctified to you and warranted in their proper place, which in other people are idolatrous or corrupt.

Lord, “you are good and you do good” (Psalm 119:68).

"Evangelicals Collapsing Cultural Influence"

Cultural analysis worth considering even if you don't agree with every aspect of the article.

"Christ came chiefly for this reason..."

"Christ came chiefly for this reason: that we might learn how much God loves us, and might learn this to the end that we begin to glow with love of him by whom we were first loved, and so might love our neighbor at the bidding and after the example of him who made himself our neighbor by loving us."

— Augustine, quoted by Gary A. Parrett and S. Steve Kang in
Teaching the Faith, Forming the Faithful
(Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2009), 61

For those who are suffering...

More pastoral, practical wisdom from Ray Ortlund, Jr.:

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.  To him be the dominion forever and ever.  Amen.”  1 Peter 5:10-11

And after you have suffered a little while.  Your suffering is real.  “A little while” does not trivialize it.  But suffering is not the rest of your story.  It will end, and soon – as measured by the real grandeur of your life, as grand as “eternal glory in Christ.”

the God of all grace.  He has remedies, comforts and powers for every need, every occasion, every moment.  “All grace” cannot be exhausted and need not be deserved.

who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ.  As C. S. Lewis said, someday you will get in.  God has so removed every barrier that nothing exists now to forbid your immediate entrance.

will himself.  Not mediated, not through angels, not through other people, but God himself directly and personally.  Not bare luck but his own loving involvement.

restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.  Terms upon terms, because God has thought of everything.  Whatever you have lost he will restore.  However you are weak he will confirm, strengthen and establish you, so that you emerge whole, formidable, happy forever.

To him be the dominion forever and ever.  No one, however malicious or just stupid, can overrule his purpose of grace for you in Christ, but only serve his purpose.

Amen.  Very few things in life deserve absolute affirmation.  But here is one.

-- Ray Ortlund, Jr.

"When I am God...."

...versus when God is God.   An insightful post from Tim Challies.

Is this what you believe?

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
    the Maker of heaven and earth,
    and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
    born of the virgin Mary,
    suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
    and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
    from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
    the holy catholic [universal] church;
    the communion of saints;
    the forgiveness of sins;
    the resurrection of the body;
    and the life everlasting.

Amen.