Fulfilling those One Another Passages in Community
This latest post is the result of a conversation I had with a sister in Christ, a few days ago.
She wants to avoid community. She wants to live like a hermit, because she has been hurt and doesn’t want to be hurt again by fellow believers.
But we simply cannot avoid community. God is community. He has given the church as a gift of community to the world (although we’re horrible at it). We have been called to community.
And the only way for us to truly fulfill all the one another passages in the New Testament is to live in community and allow us to grow—to grow through the stages fetal development, as it were (cf. Gal. 5:19).
On the way, we will be hurt. We will be misunderstood. Likewise, we will hurt others. We will misunderstand others.
But we were created for meaningful community.
New Church Lingo
Here we go—
Like “testify“? // RT @unfallenart: New church lingo: “textify” = to praise God / tell of His works through text message. about 18 hours ago via UberTwitter
I hope it catches on, so I can ask someone, How is your textifying?
By the way, I’m supremely convinced that if these social networks of ours were back in the time of both Jesus and Paul, that they both would have had active—Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging—accounts.
And of course they would have taken the occasional breaks (cf. Mark 6:30-31).
So, We have created the Mess?
I’m all for a new reformation—the church returning to its roots.
No millions upon millions on buildings that we only used three times a week (what a waste!). No performance orientated song services. No clerical robes and the like. No crosses hanging on walls to mark sacred places. No special marking for pastor (let the man find his own parking like everyone else, even if it is on the street!)
A few examples:
1. ”Going to church” vs “Being the church”—for example, if you need to sit with a dying man, while the church is meeting, no one needs to make you feel guilty for “missing church.”
2. “Praise & Worship” vs “All is worship”—we’ve been duped to believe that we need to “prime the pump” before anything else. And we have church hoppers based on “Praise & Worship.
Shouldn’t all aspects of us coming together be deemed “praise & worship”?
3. “Pastor & Staff” vs “Rest of the Church”—this has got to be the worst of them! Because of this mess up, we have more immobilized believers, sitting on their spiritual gifts, believing that “pastor & staff” are the gifted ones, to do “the work of the ministry.”
Yep. We need a new reformation. Why? Because we have created a serious mess and simply want to keep it going.
Perhaps we need a new wave of persecutions and the confiscation of our church properties, to wake up the church?
—from a concern member of the church.
I may not Endorse the HCSB
If what I’ve read over at Inquiring Minds about some of what remains in the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), I don’t think I’ll be comfortable endorsing it:
- There are no footnotes for “brothers” in the New Testament.
- There are no footnotes for the use of the phrase “[another] language” (Tongues) in Paul’s usage of the word in his letters.
I simply will not endorse a translation that continues to render the Greek vocative adelphoi as “brothers,” when it is clear from context that the NT writer is addressing a mixed gathering.
Again, something is wrong when an English translation—which wants to enjoy a large readership across denominations lines—continues to object to “tongues” as a legitimate rendering of Paul’s use of the Greek glōssai .
At any rate, at times, even with these idiosyncrasies, the HCSB has been enjoying better sales than the ESV (English Standard Version)—of late.
So you never really can tell.
Mr. Glenn Beck: Stick to what you do best!
Last week, Mr. Glenn Beck, of Fox News, urged Christians to leave churches that preach social and economic justice, and comparing such churches to Communists and Nazis.
Well, I’m encouraged that Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a network of progressive Christians, wasn’t afraid to stick it to Glenn Beck:
“[Beck] wants us to leave our churches, but we should leave him,” Wallis says of Beck. “When your political philosophy is to consistently favor the rich over the poor, you don’t want to hear about economic justice.” (emphasis added)
And I particularly like this quote from Marty Duren, a Southern Baptist pastor:
“If I had any authority at Fox News right now, Glenn Beck would be seeking economic justice.”
But it’s this piece from Jim Wallis that is most applicable to the Glenn Becks of News Networks:
“Beck is confusing his personal philosophy with the Bible.” (read entire article…)
Mr. Glenn Beck: Stick to what you do best!
Whatever that is.
Our Praise & Worship can be Lackluster: So What?
This is according to blogger Nick Norelli:
Before I teach I open up with prayer and then praise and worship. Usually it’s awesome and whenever we get finished then I teach. Tonight only me and one other brother were there on time. The pastors were late because they were engaged in ministry elsewhere and I don’t know what everyone else’s excuse was, but me and the other brother opened up with prayer and then we began to praise God as per usual. When people started coming in we kept praising but for some reason no one else was! After about 40 minutes I finally grabbed the mic and tried to get started but I ended up saying that I didn’t feel comfortable teaching in that atmosphere. I understand that people get tired–in fact I’m feeling a bit under the weather at the moment—but God is still worthy of praise in spite of all that. So I told everyone that for me to teach would be like throwing seed on hard soil knowing that the ground wasn’t ready to receive it. I asked if we could please just give God about 5 minutes of our most heartfelt praise and then I’d begin. About 25 minutes later we started and the class ended up being the best yet. (full post…, emphasis added)
But I don’t think the solution is to become more professional. Something is terribly wrong when we invest in such things as Praise & Worship Seminars and Conferences and Workshops, and so forth.
Our fellowships don’t need professionals who’ve been to seminars and the like. They just need to release their Spirit-anointing (Eph. 5:18-21).
By the way, professionalism is ruining our fellowships.
So what if we’re a bit messy?
This is Heartbreaking
HT: Peter Kirk
Benny Hinn on his wife filing for divorce:
I come to you with a broken heart.
You may have heard by now that my wife, Suzanne, whom I love very much and always will, filed for divorce on February 1. Even though Suzanne has been under great stress, the children and I never expected this to happen.
Divorce was the last thing on my mind and theirs.
It was a total shock when her lawyer called me the morning of February 17 to inform me that she had filed 16 days before. Suzanne never gave the family even a hint that this was on her mind. Even to this moment, the children and I don’t know why she did it.
…
I also want you, my very dear partner, to know that there was absolutely no immorality involved in my life or in Suzanne’s, ever. We both kept our lives clean and were totally committed to each other for 30 years of marriage.
My wife has no biblical grounds for what she has done.
We both have kept our covenant with God and stayed pure before Him, and I am praying with all my heart that our precious Lord Jesus will heal my family and protect His work for His glory.
At this point, I don’t even care about theological differences. This is absolutely heartbreaking. I actually have a pastor friend of mine, going through the same (but he wrecked his marriage by becoming unfaithful).
We need to keep our marriages together. Not because we need to keep our ministries together and save face, but because it is the God-glorifying-thing to do.
When Politicians Invoke God…
You think God has any regrets now?
Rethinking John 15:16: It’s Not about Unconditional Election!
I’ve come to realize that a lot of texts fellow Calvinists rely on to support certain positions do not actually say what some Calvinists want them to say.
Calvinists do make horrible exegetes!
Consider John 15:16:
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. (TNIV, emphasis added)
Without actually considering the cultural context of this verse, one would think that this is a slam dunk verse for Calvinists and the doctrine of unconditional election.
But a reexamination of this verse would deny Calvinists of yet another proof text, this time around—for the doctrine of unconditional election.
So what is John 15:16 really about?
It’s simply the world of an ancient rabbi and his disciples—not the world of Calvinists and unconditional election.
If you’re into Study Bibles: ESV meets MacArthur
In August 2010, the classic MacArthur Study Bible will be available in the ESV! The MacArthur Study Bible contains MacArthur’s wisdom and insight from nearly forty years of scriptural exposition, personal study, and pastoral experience. With almost 25,000 study notes and beautiful two-color maps, the ESV MacArthur Study Bible is a valuable resource for believers in all walks of life.
Visit ESVMacarthurStudyBible.com to download a free sampler of the book of Romans and for information on the study Bible’s features. You can also receive a pre-order discount on any of five editions.
John MacArthur is the pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and can be heard on his daily radio program, Grace to You.
At one point, I was really into my NASB hardcover MacArthur Study Bible.
Replanting Coral Ridge
Yesterday, in following the (in)famous pastor Mark Driscoll on twitter, I received the following:
acts29 RT @PastorTullian A hearty shout out to @PastorMark & @acts29 They continue to be a huge encouragement as we replant Coral Ridge. (emphasis added)
You see, before the 36-year old Tullian, Coral Ridge was once led by the late D. James Kennedy.
No culture warrior himself, Tchividjian seemed like an unnatural replacement for Kennedy. Yet in January 2009, Coral Ridge and New City proposed a dramatic plan: If the two churches could agree to merge, Tchividjian would become the senior pastor. If not, he would happily remain the pastor of New City. As the churches completed their merger March 15, Tchividjian inherited a high-profile opportunity to work out his vision for an unfashionable church. (read full article, emphasis added)
I’m so encouraged by this whole thing of replanting for two reasons: 1. Without changing the message, there comes a time when we need to change our methods to reach the world around us. Pastor Tullian knows this. 2. And partnering with the pioneering efforts of Acts29 Network is awesome in this respect to replant Coral Ridge. And of course Mr. Tullian knows that some are going to object.
Here’s the grind: it’s time to get beyond organized, institutionized church and simply become unfashionable as we seek to do church.
We need more replants!
Great Sale on O’Brien’s Letter to the Hebrews!
Westminster Bookstore has a 45% off on Peter O’Brien’s Letter to the Hebrews, the latest in the Pillar series, the must have in New Testament Commentary series.