Pure Church

I like these lines from Poem 561 (HT: Mockingbird)

The Grieved – are many – I am told –
There is the various Cause –
Death – is but one – and comes but once –
And only nails the eyes –
There's Grief of Want – and grief of Cold – A sort they call "Despair" –
There's Banishment from native Eyes –In Sight of Native Air –
And though I may not guess the kind –
Correctly – yet to me
A piercing Comfort it affords
In passing Calvary – To note the fashions – of the Cross –
And how they're mostly worn – Still fascinated to presume
That Some – are like My Own –

That's the title of a series of posts from Tom Ascol. They are stirring posts about a man lovingly disciplined by his church over 15 years ago. After 15 years of continuing in unrepentance, Ascol and the Grace Baptist Church family saw this man restored in repentance and love a few weeks back.

This is an excellent faith-building example of God's grace at work when a congregation acts in love, and how God works in His own timing and sometimes when we can't see His hands. This post reminds us that every form of discipline--formative discipline by the teaching of the word and corrective discipline up to removal from membership--every form of discipline--is an act of faith in an all-powerful God who knows how to shape His people.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three (includes a list of helpful resources on biblical church correction)

It's difficult to begin writing this post. Every word I've considered using to open this post is simply inadequate. Woefully inadequate. "Overwhelming" won't work. "Horrific" misses the mark. "Astounding" or "paralyzing" won't do.

What do you say when you visit an area where 85% of people there--men, women, and children--are HIV positive and dying of AIDS? 85 PERCENT! Imagine: a situation where 8 out of every ten people you see have a deadly virus coursing through their bodies, slowly killing them, and then moving on like a microscopic invading army to kill anyone who has the most intimate contact with them (sex). It's... (there are no words).

Meanwhile, only 25 percent of those infected receive treatment (ARV). Only a quarter may slow death and live "normal" lives for a season. The number of orphans from this pandemic is.... Well, there is no word for it. Apocalyptic maybe?

Oh, and by the way, unemployment is (unofficially) 80 percent.

And what you're imagining probably isn't the correct picture. This isn't even the poorest part of the country I've seen.

When I posted Grant Retief's comment that the gospel was the first tier solution for mercy ministry for the AIDS pandemic in Africa, I hadn't quite realized that it's the only solution for mercy ministry.

You can not recover from an 85% HIV/AIDS infection rate and 80% unemployment. There's no humanistic, social service, entrepreneurial philosophy or effort that can repair that. It's not a thing broken like a bike needing an inner-tube, or a car needing new fuel injectors. The thing simply isn't there to be fixed! An entire generation is dying quietly--nearly gone! Children are the knee-high reminders that there were once fertile, replicating men and women walking around. They're miniature recollections of once full-grown life that's evaporating. And they, too, the children, are HIV positive and dying of AIDS. This is starting over... almost completely.

Today, we visited a ministry called Lily of the Valley. It's a very comprehensive effort to try and address this pandemic: gospel preaching and Bible teaching, housing for AIDS orphans, medical clinic, cottage industry/business. They're doing a valiant work. Please pray for them.

As we toured the place and heard more about the ministry, I was left with a couple thoughts:

1. These people are trying to re-engineer an entire society. The problem and the work are massive. For example, just how do you re-introduce fatherhood to a culture when virtually none are known or exist?

2. The implications of the gospel are enormous for this re-engineering effort. Not only must these dear people in God's image come to believe in Christ and be saved, the outworkings of gospel life must be freshly imaged and lived as the only reconstructive force powerful enough to address this plague. If the succeeding generation isn't swept up in a revival, a supernatural enlargement of God's converting and sanctifying work through His Spirit, then the catastrophic effects of sin will destroy them. And this sin attacks at the very point where promiscuity meets reproductive hope.

3. This makes squabbles about the social gospel almost irrelevant. I say "almost" because anything that obscures or supplants the gospel that saves cannot be completely irrelevant and must be avoided. The social gospel dooms people to hell. But in the final analysis, so too does a so-called "biblical" gospel that gets penal substitution, justification, repentance and faith correct but never moves us to preach it, teach it, spread it, apply it, and risk it and ourselves in caring for the needs of people perishing in sin and disease and hunger and war and poverty and illiteracy.

My dearest friends and mentors are among the most cautious about evangelical social ministry degenerating into the social gospel. Michael Lawrence and I had good discussion about this following our visit. These friends see historical precedent for evangelical churches confusing mercy ministry with either the gospel itself or the church's reason for existing. They're concerned about the gospel and the church remaining focused on its primary mission--preaching the gospel. No other institution outside the church is given the mission to preach the gospel. If the church won't, no one else will. Pastors shouldn't abandon this charge. I share every one of those concerns. I learned these concerns and priorities from these brothers, to whom I owe more than can be calculated. This is not a critique of them. I mention them only because I know some of you will be familiar with their positions and you might think there is some disunity between us. There isn't; only the very deepest affection and unity in Christ.

But after I've said I have these same concerns, then what?

I can't be so concerned about what might be lost that I'm too paralyzed to venture anything on it. I'm looking at this scene in Africa--and it could be in most any place in the world--and I just can't justify the idea that my only task as a Christian and a preacher is to preach the gospel. I can't justify the idea that if I only preach the gospel--which I must preach and treasure and guard--then I've been faithful even if I've not served the needs around me. When you're standing this close to the naked, brazen effects of sin and depravity, you realize that Christ's work of redemption is our only hope and that we need to act in that same hope.

Today's visit to one town reveals to me the betrayal it is to claim to be gospel people and not be merciful people.

Africa is famed for its wildlife. While flying over, I had the privilege of talking with a man from Houston who has lost count of the number of times he's travelled to Africa for the game parks.

I don't quote Barth very much (okay... I don't think I've ever quoted Barth), but this was an interesting statement on baptism:

The real reason for the persistent adherence to infant baptism is quite simply the fact that without it the church would suddenly be in a remarkably embarrassing position. Every individual would then have to decide whether he wanted to be a Christian. But how many Christians would there be in that case? The whole concept of a national church (or national religion) would be shaken. That must not happen; and so one proposes argument upon argument for infant baptism and yet cannot speak convincingly because fundamentally he has a bad conscience. The introduction of adult baptism in itself would of course not reform the church which needs reforming. The adherence to infant baptism is only one — a very important one — of many symptoms that the church is not alive and bold, that it is afraid to walk on the water like Peter to meet the Lord, that it therefore does not seek a sure foundation but only deceptive props.

“Die christliche Lehre nach dem Heidelberger Katechismus,” Lectures given at the University of Bonn, Summer Semester, 1947.

HT: Inhabitatio Dei

I'm not sure what I expected when I arrived in South Africa, but I wasn't expecting the audiences I addressed to be as integrated as they have been. From the CESA synod meeting, to the Antioch Bible Church worldviews conference, to the gathering of Christ Church Uhmlanga, the audiences have pleasantly surprised me by their diversity.

This isn't to say South Africa is anywhere near the harmoniously diverse society that people here want it to be. But it strikes you that the country is farther along in post-Apartheid community than the unintelligent visitor like myself would have thought.

To appreciate how far along the country is, you'd have to compare the state of things to the United States--not the present U.S.--but the U.S. 15 years after Emancipation from slavery. South Africa has had the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, there have been denomination-level and church level discussions about "race" and reconciliation, and there is the sea change in governance.

The U.S. is just now getting to the point where meaningful discussions about "race" can be had. Rather than repent after slavery, there was the rise of the Klan, the repeal of Reconstruction gains, and the establishment of Jim Crow. The U.S. effectively introduced its own apartheid after slavery. Apologies for slavery have come 100 years after the fact and sometimes quite grudgingly. And in quite a number of places, Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour in America.

What strikes you is the forthright and bold way in which South Africans have taken up its discussion of "race" and reconciliation. To be sure, a lot of that forthrightness stems from the fact that black South Africans are the majority in the country, whereas African Americans were a minority in the U.S. following Emancipation. Majority/minority status matters when it comes to determining whether your history of oppression will be addressed with any haste. For example, it's unthinkable that the "with all deliberate speed" verdict of the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Education could have been passed in a black majority South Africa. Or, it's unimaginable that a majority black South African president would only be elected 140 years or so after Apartheid's end. Things happen faster here because black Africans are the majority. But that notwithstanding, they are happening and it's striking.

And I'm praying that more and more the peace of Christ which reconciles sinners to God and ethnic groups to each other would be present in this place. Ephesians 2:11-22.

All of the pastors I've met in South Africa thus far. But I especially appreciated this tid-bit from Grant Retief. Roughly quoted:

Gospel preaching is the first tier of AIDS ministry in South Africa--not orphan care or hospice. And that's because AIDS is the only epidemic known to man that can be controlled by behavior. If people have their sexual behavior brought under the Lordship of Christ, it could change the impact of AIDS radically.

South Africa has the highest AIDS rate in the world. In one area, the average age has been lowered due to AIDS-related deaths from 67 to 37 in just about 20 years! Nothing I can think of has been more devastating to a society. An entire generation of adults is vanishing from existence. And one presumes a great many of them are going to hell.

I'm sobered.

Wednesday, we landed in Dakar, Senegal before sunrise, and remained on the plane for about an hour to refuel before leaving again for Jo'burg. While we were on the runway, darkness covered the landscape with the exception of lights at the airport.

As we left the sun began to rise on the African continent. At takeoff, the pilot followed the Senegalese coastline, giving us a clear view of the ocean and the beach. The mighty gray waves appeared to leap out of the sea before crashing in white foam on the coast.

As we rose, the sun rose. The black of night gave way to gleaming yellow sun. And a rainbow appeared, through which we seemed to fly.

It was beautiful. And that's an understatement.

I wish I could have shared it with my wife.

HT: Reformation Theology

Sovereign Grace from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

I don't know why I've never thought about writing some comments on book covers since pretty much every author comes to that inescapable and sometimes trying stage of attempting to either dovetail or separate their personal artistic and communication preferences from those of the publisher. You feel torn between your own sense of things and trusting the marketing genius of the publisher (usually much better at these things than the author). But covers can feel quite personal because they make the book's first impression. And let's face it, we do judge books by their covers. And the judgment matters for whether or not someone actually picks up and leafs through your work.

While I've never thought about writing a post on book covers, this guy has. Before you click over, please know there is one objectionable title and book cover listed. If you decide to click over (even if you don't), let Him know (and me) what you think about book covers.

HT: Z



Damning people to hell with what they love as fallen people.

That's a pretty good summary of the 'prosperity gospel,' which is not the gospel at all. The appeal to the carnal desires of men (wealth, ownership, influence, etc.) as the basis, evidence, and goal of worship of God is, to put it mildly, soul destroying.

Now, a caveat. This is not to say there are not Christians involved in churches and sitting under preachers committed to the 'prosperity gospel.' There are. They trust Christ alone for their salvation. They love Him and they seek to serve Him.

Yet, they may not see how egregious an error the 'prosperity gospel' is. There is so much in the Scripture about blessings and about God's good gifts to His people. There is so much in the Bible about what is good and beautiful in life.

But the 'prosperity gospel' makes at least three critical mistakes that may not be easily discerned by a person regularly sitting under this teaching looking into a Bible that contains so much about God's blessings.

1. The 'prosperity gospel' makes wealth and possessions a part of the gospel. In other words, it teaches that Christ's work includes and purchases prosperity for His people, and defines that prosperity chiefly in terms of things in this life. That's a different 'gospel' (Gal. 1:1-9). It can not save. It says, "Come to Jesus to get your life in order" (the moralist prosperity gospel in so many 'evangelical' churches), or "Come to Jesus and you will have houses and lands and money in this life, now" (the materialist prosperity gospel variety taught by so many word-of-faith televangelists and their wanna-be followers). But the biblical gospel is "Turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, to be reconciled to the True God, to escape the wrath to come, and live eternally in His love." That's good news and precious treasure whether or not we ever find wealth, comfort, ease, or get our lives in some moralistic order. The 'prosperity gospel' displaces this good news with a lesser news, "free stuff."

2. The 'prosperity gospel' mistakenly assumes that because something is mentioned a lot in the Bible it must be the main point of the Bible. That's a serious mistake. My wife and I talk a lot about bills that need to be paid. We have our entire marriage, from the time were were broke college students each working two jobs to just last week when thinking about vacation and the kids' back-to-school needs. We communicate about money. But is our relationship about money? No, praise God! Our relationship is about a lot of other far more glorious things than money and decisions about money. So it is with the Scriptures. The frequent references about money or possessions or blessings are not the main point: God is the main point. The Bible is about God and His redemptive work. All of life is about God and worship of Him. It's not about us and our stuff. Prosperity preachers baptize their concern with worldly things with a lot of God-talk. But God becomes the Bible's backup singer to man's solo quest for stuff. It's a theological folly in missing the point.

3. The 'prosperity gospel' overlooks suffering. That's to be expected. Anywhere prosperity gets defined as material wealth, etc., emphasis on comfort goes up and attention to suffering goes out. And yet, the Lord and the apostles call us repeatedly to endure suffering for the glory of His name. In fact, the Christian life, in one sense, is synonymous with the sufferings of Christ. "For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows" (2 Cor. 1:5). Because we're united to Christ, we suffer. And we are blessed when we suffer for Him (Matt. 5:10-12; 1 Peter). One can't help but think that much of our weakness as Christians is owing to our un-Christian aversion to suffering, avoiding it at all cost and christening cowardice as wisdom. The 'prosperity gospel' lays a pretty deep foundation for that mistake.

Anyway... I didn't intend to say much at all about this, just to show the video. But I pray that the Lord's people, redeemed by His blood, would leave these churches and ministries in a mass exodus.


Related Posts
John Calvin on the 'Prosperity Gospel'
Mohler on the Prosperity Gospel
Husband-Wife Co-Pastors?

Reading God's Providences is notoriously difficult. Who can peer into the fathomless mysteries of God's wise rulings in creation?

But almost immediately after being told I couldn't board my flight yesterday, the Lord gave me a sense that something precious would be the reward of this providence. I hadn't realized it at the time, but I needed refreshing.

The Lord has used His people to abundantly answer this need. Today I read a couple of tributes given at the funeral of a dear saint back at FBC. the remembrances of this man's life continue to stir in me a desire to live a deeper life of joy in Christ. Five minutes of reading opened my heart.

This morning I sat in on a systematic theology Sunday school class, and as I listened to Paul Miller meditate on the character of God, my God appeared so large and great.

Then, Greg Gilbert preached what must be the most beautiful sermon in the Psalms I've ever heard. My Jesus rose so magnificently from the lines of Psalm 20! How wonderful to see our Lord with the eyes of faith and be left in awe of His love and life! Listen to this sermon attentively, without distraction, Bible open, heart praying and hoping.

Came back for the evening sermon and Chris Erwin preached 1 John 5:14 with such clarity, power, and encouraging care... I was left really desiring to pray and pray long.

I'm missing the saints back at FBC, but I'm rejoicing in how wide and lovely is the body of Christ. I think I needed this spiritual shot in the arm before boarding a flight to South Africa. I praise the Lord His comforts overflow in our lives (2 Cor. 1:5). Romans 1:12 has been so abundantly true in my brief, unexpected time with Christ's people in this small part of the vineyard.

So, Michael Lawrence and I walk up to the airline counter with luggage in two, expecting to get our 16 hour trip to S. Africa underway. The young woman at the counter kindly asks for our passports. We each comply.

Then with an Indian-African accent, she says, "Sir, do you have another passport?"

"Hmmm... no," I replied.

"To enter S. Africa, you need a passport with at least two blank pages back to back. We can't allow you onto the plane. If you were to reach South Africa, they would immediately deport you."



Michael and I look at each other in mild disbelief. I think I said something very intelligent and winsome like, "Huh?" She kindly repeated herself and pointed to a little sign on the desk explaining it all in black and white. I'm not sure why the South African Airlines website or the ticketing agent who sold us the tickets didn't make this clear, but it's apparently the law in S. Africa.

And guess what? It's Saturday afternoon--no chance of zipping in and out of your local Washington, D.C. passport office (never a chance of that anyway; just thought it sounded good). And oh, by the way, since today is Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday. No office opened then either. What about Monday? Labor Day--a holiday in the States--all government offices closed. Earliest appointment will be 8am on Tuesday morning. Earliest flight out, 5:40pm Tuesday afternoon, the same day I'm to have addressed the national conference of CESA on the gospel and 'race.'

Now at this point, I'm thinking, Looks like I'm headed back to Cayman. We call our good folks in S. Africa, seven hours ahead in deep sleep near midnight, to break the news. A productive conservation, some quick schedule changes so that Michael speaks on Tuesday and I on Wednesday, and maybe I'm still in business.

I say "maybe" because James tells us to make sure we say, "if the Lord wills." And that seems an appropriate lesson because if the Lord had willed, I'd be flying over the Atlantic right about now watching a movie and eating bad airline food for 50 bucks. If the Lord willed, there would not be some unpublished passport regulation for entering South Africa. But the Lord willed that I be here in D.C. for Labor Day weekend, celebrating the Lord's Day at CHBC, and enjoying a little more sleep in this time zone. The Lord's will is always good.

I'm praying everything goes without a hitch on Tuesday. I just feel like the enemy would conspire to hinder this important conversation in South Africa. I'm so thrilled he can't overthrow or even challenge the Lord's will and providential ruling in all things. God's best will be done. Please pray that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So, this is a public service announcement: If you're going to South Africa any time soon, check your passport for a couple blank pages. Okay... whether or not you're going to South Africa, it might be good to check your passport. Don't wait until you're at the ticket counter and you're reduced to eloquent statements like, "Huh?"

I'm on my way to meet Michael Lawrence in Washington, D.C. to leave tomorrow for two weeks of ministry in South Africa. We're traveling at the invitation of Entrust and 9Marks and we'll have opportunity to serve in a number of exciting ways.

While there, we've been asked to address the Church of England South Africa's National Conference. Michael will deliver two addresses on penal substitution; I'll have the privilege of delivering two addresses on "the gospel and 'race'" and one address on the sufficiency of Scripture. The "Gospel and race" addresses will essentially be the T4G talk broken into parts and expanded a little. Later in the visit I'll have opportunity to do this talk with students at University of KwaZulu-Natal. Please pray for these talks if the Lord gives you liberty. I can't think of a context with more opportunity and more challenges for a discussion on the gospel and 'race.' And I can't think of a more necessary discussion among the people of post-Apartheid South Africa. I praise God for moving CESA and others to search His word for divine wisdom and help from His Spirit.

I'll also have opportunity to join with Tim Cantrell and the saints at Antioch Bible Church (north of Jo'burg) for their worldviews conference. Looks like it'll be an excellent conference addressing a range of issues demonstrating the supremacy of Christ over all things. I'll have the honor of addressing "The Supremacy of Christ Over Islam" and "The Supremacy of Christ Over Ethnicity." Michael will address their men's discipleship group.

From Jo'Burg, Michael heads to Pietermarietzberg to preach at the Lord's Day service of Church on the Ridge. Meanwhile, I'll head to Durban to enjoy the company of Grant Retief and preach at Christ Church Umhlanga.

We'll also conduct a 9Marks conference with pastors and church leaders. I'm looking forward to the interaction with African church leaders from both independent and Church of England South Africa groups.

We'll have tons of lunches and meetings with pastors and ministry leaders throughout the stay. And we'll sneak some sightseeing things in here and there. It should prove to be a faith and heart-expanding time in the Lord.

Bob Kauflin reflects on passing worship to the next generation. He borrows a metaphor from track and field, the relay race, to offer four points:

The race is about the baton, not the runners.
The relay brings out the best in every runner.
Practice until the handover becomes instinctual.
The baton exchange should occur at very close to maximum speed.

Hear his sermon from Worship God '09 here.

"It is quite common for people to say they are looking for a church they are comfortable with. I think that is a scandalous statement. When were churches supposed to be comfortable places? There is too much need in the world for Christians to be comfortable."

--Ajith Fernando, The Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry (Crossway, 2007), 1994

Unashamed Workman has a round-up of messages on expositional preaching featuring Steve Lawson, Peter Grainger, Craig Dyer, Iain Murray, and Ian Shaw. All of the messages look wonderful, but I'm particularly interested to hear Murray on "the expository ministry of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones" and Shaw on "the expository ministry of John Bunyan."

When Muhammad Ali proves to be Irish, it really is time to end the notion of "race."

For several years at Westminster Chapel, Lloyd-Jones chaired a monthly Ministry Fraternal with pastors and seminarians from around London. Each meeting featured discussion, a presentation, and a lot of fellowship and counsel. On one occasion, the topic turned to depression in the ministry. Here is Lloyd-Jones' counsel to the group gathered that day (from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, quoted in The Fight of Faith, vol. 2 of Murray's biography, p. 705-6):

I can assure that depression in the ministry is not a problem of temperament. Men of every conceivable temperament get this trouble--the feeling that everything is on top of us. The one possible exception is the phlegmatic type who is not concerned about anything. He is so bucolic, ox-like, that he is not likely to feel a call to the ministry! Men in the ministry are sensitive men. I have met few others. The way to approach this problem is not along lines of temperament--that is incidental.

The big thing is not to start with the problem. Start with the question, what is your calling? Why are you in the ministry? What is the object of the ministry? Is the church mine? Why am I troubled? Am I concerned about my reputation? Why am I hurt? ... Our reactions are too often due to a wrong view of our calling. Remember Paul: "With me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self" (1 Cor. 4:3). I have found this to be the answer so many times. Paul had to go through it all. In Corinth men were praised more than Paul who were not worthy to shine his boots. Paul's concept of the ministry lay in his calling to be faithful. We should not make it a personal issue.

Isolate, then, your calling. Get that right. The antagonism we encounter is generally against the calling and most of our problems arise because we get immersed in day-to-day problems and forget what we are. "Should such a man as I flee?" (Neh. 6:11). Nehemiah was talking about his calling. That is the way to look at it. Certain things then become unthinkable and you will not hand in your resignation.

Let us remember who we are. We haven't entered a profession. We are servants of the living God!

MSNBC reports that the NIV and TNIV are to get a facelift. A major updating with "everything on the table" regarding gender revisions is planned. At this point, CBMW and others are remaining open to the full review process. Ligon Duncan, chairman of CBMW, responds here. Al Mohler weighs in here. Concluding paragraph from Mohler:

In the end, the update of the NIV to be released in 2011 will have to stand on its own. Those of us who have had significant concerns with the TNIV should communicate these concerns respectfully, candidly, and directly to the Committee on Bible Translation, to Zondervan, and to Biblica. When released, the updated NIV will deserve and require the attentive study and review of all committed evangelicals. We must hope and pray that this updated NIV will be found both faithful and useful. For now, the decisions that will determine the faithfulness and usefulness of this updated edition are in the hands of the Committee on Bible Translation. We must all pray that their work will produce an updated translation we can greet with appreciation and trust. We must take the members of the Committee on Bible Translation at their word that they will consider these concerns. To fail to pray and to act in this way will be to fail at a basic Christian commitment. The issue is not only the integrity of a Bible translation, but our integrity as Christians.