Pure Church

Today, I'm settling back into the routine at FBC Grand Cayman after a simply glorious time of fellowship over the weekend with the saints at CHBC and dear friends from NC. As I do, I'm benefitting from much of what has gone on around the blog this past week. So, I thought I'd post a few links:

Many people often look at me with a grin and nod when they learn I'm a pastor in the beautiful Cayman Islands. They imagine it's all sun and surf. They have no idea that the underwater beauties of Cayman (and there are many, I'm told) are all lost on me. And, they have no idea that the thing that induces them to that knowing nod and grin is a tacit admission that life in an earthly paradise dangerously dulls the senses and lulls an unwatchful man to a complacent, often slothful sleep. That's why my soul rejoiced this morning in this sermon, Boiling for Christ, from John Piper.

I also appreciated this call from Michael Haykin for churches in Ontario to rise up for Christ! It's a call that needs heeding everywhere Christ's people gathers. Here's his concluding paragraph:

Soldiers of Christ in truth arrayed, rise up and have done with lesser things and labour for the Master in this province. We must be assured that if we do not do it, God’s kingdom will come but He will use others to bring it in and pass us by. He is no man’s debtor, and simply because we are the heirs of a great past, does not mean he is obliged to use us. There are churches in this province with rich heritages but today they are living in those pasts, stuck in the ruts of their traditionalism. Look to Christ and break free from such bondages! Be again his free people–the glory of what it means to be Baptist (oh the vast diference between tradition and traditionalism). Be assured that if we do not, God can and will raise up others and other causes and they shall know his presence and have the joy of seeing sinners saved and the saints edified.

My brother Lance Lewis over at Blaque Tulip has been announcing the end of blackness for a couple weeks now. In his most recent post, he's loading the body of the Black Church into the hearse. You can also read parts one, two, and three.

Spurgeon says know what you're preaching about or sit down (HT: Debtor to Mercy via Justin Buzzard).