Pure Church

C. J. Mahaney - Recap from T4G 2008 from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Lig Duncan - Recap from T4G 2008 from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

John Piper - Recap from T4G 2008 from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Thabiti Anyabwile - Recap from T4G 2008 from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Jesus. Love. Joy. Gospel. Reward. Love. Did you hear that running through these videos? That's what I love about T4G! Can't wait for them to release the rest of these brief recaps and to gather in Louisville in April! Find out more and register here.

A Christianity Today video that's an interesting look at prosperity teaching in Africa. (HT: Z)

The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

John Piper abominates this teaching. I'm with John. Poverty--as disastrous as it is--doesn't warrant abandoning the only hope of the gospel with the false hope of 'prosperity.'

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?

The more I preach, the more I passionately agree with Piper in this short video. And I agree with him not because I'm a Greek scholar and can work in the original text. I can't.

But that's why I agree with him; that's why I need and want English translations that give me the words. I want to know the word of God and I don't want the translators and editors making the interpretive decisions for me. Give me all the words!

For all the men who don't have Greek and don't do their work in the original languages, for the integrity of the Scripture itself, for the average joe confounded by the different renderings offered by paraphrase v. word-for-word translations, preacher use a translation with all the awkward, difficult, inconvenient, puzzling, wonderful, transitional, connecting words of Scripture.

I appreciate the readability of the NIV. For now, that's what we use here. But that video captures one of my biggest pet peeves with the NIV--the constant practice of dropping necessary little word like gar (for, because, etc.). So much of the text turns on little two and three-letter words that we need them!

For various reasons, maybe you'll stay with the NIV. Maybe we will, too. But, oh, to have all the words spoken by a Holy God!

Two posts today really lifted my heart. They both were meditations on grace in their own way.

First, was Lee Irons' comments on the Law and legalism (HT: JT). Here are the couple of paragraphs that struck me as fresh insight:

The way to avoid legalism is to believe that, as the Law teaches, only the perfectly righteous may be admitted into heaven. This counterintuitive premise accomplishes two things in a single blow: it crushes legalism and clarifies the meaning of grace.

First, it crushes legalism because legalism cannot get off the ground unless the standard has first been lowered. But if the Law requires perfect righteousness, clearly the half-baked, imperfect obedience promoted by legalism will not do.

Second, it clarifies the meaning of grace. Grace is that God provides and accepts the imputed righteousness of Christ, in place of our own inherent righteousness demanded by the Law, as the righteousness by which the unrighteous can attain heaven. Now that’s grace! The true Gospel, then, presupposes the Law as its antithetical counterpart. Otherwise grace is no longer grace."

Second, was John Piper's meditation on why he has no merit of his own. This is the meditation in full:

This is my confession:

I was born into a believing family through no merit of my own at all.

I was given a mind to think and a heart to feel through no merit of my own at all.

I was brought into the hearing of the gospel through no merit of my own at all.

My rebellion was subdued, my hardness removed, my blindness overcome, and my deadness awakened through no merit of my own at all.

Thus I became a believer in Christ through no merit of my own at all.

And so I am an heir of God with Christ through no merit of my own at all.

Now when I put forward effort to please the Lord who bought me, this is to me no merit at all, because

...it is not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

...God is working in me that which is pleasing in his sight. (Hebrews 13:21)

...he fulfills every resolve for good by his power. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

And therefore there is no ground for boasting in myself, but only in God's mighty grace.

Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:31)

I read these today, and my heart said, "Yes! Glorious grace!"

Watch John Piper reflect on John 4:27 ("They marveled that he was talking with a woman") here.

The folks at Sovereign Grace put together the best conference I know of for folks involved in leading public praise. The conference blends both concentrated attention to the word of God and workshops addressing almost every imaginable topic involved in leading worship, songwriting, playing instruments (everything but the Oboe according to C.J.), and a host of other things. It's a wonderfully refreshing time.

They've made the audio from this year's general sessions available:
For all downloads, right-click and select "Save Target/Link As."

The God of Worship (John Piper)
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The Heart of Worship (John Piper)
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The Leaders of Worship (Jeff Purswell)
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The Church of Worship (Thabiti Anyabwile)
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Lessons Learned from Three Decades of Leading (C.J. Mahaney and Bob Kauflin)
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The Life of Worship (Bob Kauflin)
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What a joy it was to sit under the word and enjoy this fellowship!

Here, "A Conversation Between Prayerful and Prayerless" (HT: JT).

And here, "Winning Battles Through Prayer."

I'm excited about the opportunity to sit under God's word and fellowship with His people in three upcoming conferences.

Here.

What he told the Bethlehem staff about unity amid differences.

Yesterday we wrapped up out 6 week Sunday school class on singleness and courtship. Today, a helpful list of questions and answers on singleness from Piper:

1. How is singleness better than marriage?
2. How can singles help foster a relational culture at church?
3. How do I deal with the intense longing to be married?
4. What are the trials unique to singleness, and how do you recommend combating them?
5. What would you say to someone who thinks their sexual sin has disqualified them from ministry?
6. What do you think about masturbation?
7. Is it OK for a single woman to pursue a career?

I'm particularly interested in question 2. What does your church do on this one?

In a couple weeks time, Bethlehem Baptist Church will have its annual "Racial Harmony Weekend." It's a time in the life of the church where the believers at Bethlehem celebrate the supremacy of Christ over the long and ugly history and wounds of racial division and over the richly varied and wonderful contributions of every tribe, nation and tongue.

This year's celebration will occur against the backdrop of Dr. King's birthday celebration, the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington, and the inauguration of the country's first African-American president.

And this year, it will be a great privilege to be with the saints at Bethlehem and to share with them over the weekend. If you're in the Minneapolis area, consider joining us in praise of our glorious God and His Son Christ Jesus. Here's a poster with the details.

We'll begin the weekend with a consideration of "Bearing the Image: Identity, the Work of Christ, and the Church." Friday night and Saturday we'll participate in a workshop on What Is a Healthy Church Member? And then it will be a privilege to preach Romans 14:1-15:13 on Sunday morning.

I'm looking forward to the fellowship with the saints, and praying the Lord will be honored and exalted among us.

Carson, Keller, and Piper chat it up about:

Ministries of mercy...



Evangelistic fruit and loving intentionality in mercy ministries, and looking for prophet, priest, and king gospel character in pastors...



Prophet, priest and king gospel character in pastors (cont'd), mentoring upcoming pastors, and being "gospel-centered" with libertines...



Being "gospel-centered" with libertines (cont'd), Bonhoeffer on cheap grace, and how does the cross help us conquer sin...



Seeing the ugliness of sin in conversion and sanctification, and why God is "stuck with being beautiful"...



True confessions from Piper and Keller...

Abraham and Barnabas post one of the best tributes I've read to parents on their anniversary. John does a little reminiscing and thanksgiving here. Happy 40th anniversary John and Noel Piper!

Apparently, Mark Dever is leaving CHBC to work full-time as a model with Hanna Barbera. Details here.

This video has been making the rounds (HT: Pyromaniacs). I appreciated it for these questions: "How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?"




How many churches do you suppose have by-laws that explicitly state that it will not recognize the resignation of people attempting to leave the membership of the church while under discipline? DJP has a survey running.

CT asks, "What does Obama's election mean for the segregated church?" An interview with Michael O. Emerson, one of the authors of Divided by Faith. (HT: Reconciliation Blog)

The careful interpreters at Reformation Theology give the biblical case for God's love for cats and disdain for dogs.

Derek Thomas (okay... just spelling his first name the way he does makes him an honorary brutha and among the coolest--don't tell Piper--PCA cats around; keepin' company with Lig' doesn't hurt either)... yeah, Derek Thomas on his appreciation for John Calvin:

What is it about Calvin that so inspires me? This: his disciplined style, his determination never to speculate, his utter submission to Bible words as God's words, his submission to Christ's Lordship, his sense of the holy, his concern to be as practical as possible; the fact that godly living was his aim and not theology for the sake of it. In a forest of theologians, Calvin stands like a Californian Redwood, towering over everyone else.

I know that the word 'Calvinist' is a theological swear-word in some circles. I am convinced that folk who use the word that way have never read Calvin at all! They may have read about him; but they have not read the careful, reverential way in which he wrote. It is, of course, what Calvin said about predestination that goads certain people. But Calvin was extremely careful not to speculate here. He talked about predestination--in the same way that Paul does in Romans 8 and 9. Rather than introduce election at the very beginning of his treatment on theology (the logical place to put it), he placed it after spelling out what the gospel is and does. Calvin talked about the free offer of the gospel first: that the gospel is for 'whosoever-will'. Only after he has established this does he introduce predestination, and then in the context of re-assuring believers of their eventual glorification (in exactly the same way as Paul does at the end of Romans 8).

What a joy it will be to read the Institutes with my wife in 2009, and then blog with the Ref21 gang: Ian D. Campbell, Ligon Duncan, Sinclair Ferguson, Sean Lucas, Steve Nichols, Rick Phillips, Phil Ryken, Justin Taylor, Derek Thomas, and Carl Trueman. Needless to say, I plan on doing a lot more learning than teaching with this group of brothers! Join us at Blogging the Institutes.

Finally, some ways religion impacted the news in 2008. Not reported: all those who were being added to the number of the faithful each day. The biggest news is how the Good News makes old things new.

To be released in January 2009, John Piper's newest book, Finally Alive (Christian Focus Publications), is a must read. Nothing could be more important than understanding the new birth, and understanding it, being sure we've come into possession of it. And as a preacher of the gospel, few things could be more important than to preach in such a way as to make the necessity, urgency, and the reality of the new birth a vibrant reality for our people.

Oh, Lord, keep me from suffocating in comfort and coasting toward insignificance! Give me the zeal of Phineas and the radically cross-consumed vision of Paul! Don't let me coast and rust out! Please.





HT: Unashamed Workman

This looks like a wonderful conference, "Commending Christ: The Pastor, the Church, and the Perishing." It's a focus on evangelism, something I've been trying to think about this year and to do more faithfully.

Piper's invitation letter deserved copying in full:

Dear friends in ministry,

As I preached my way through a series on the new birth recently, I was gripped in a new way with the place of gospel-telling in the way people are born again. The key text was 1 Peter 1:23–25: “You have been born again . . . through the living and abiding word of God. . . . And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”

The implications of this are massive. People are born again through hearing the gospel. The God-wrought, sovereign miracle that no human can bring about does not happen where the gospel is not heard and known.

And what is the gospel? Basically this: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel. . . . that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:1–4).

Telling this old story is the means God has ordained for people to be born again. This strikes me as simply amazing. Words coming out of our mouths about events in history are the way God brings about the stupendous, supernatural miracle of the new birth.

So I have set my heart on thinking and praying and dreaming about the implications of these things with you at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors. What does this imply for our lives, our prayers, our priorities, our families, our church structures, our staffing, our worship services, our hearts?

We will gather this year under the theme Commending Christ: The Pastor, the Church, and the Perishing. The focus is on evangelism—telling the gospel.

I did not have to think long about who I wanted most to lead us in this thinking, namely, Mark Dever, Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, in Washington, D. C. Mark inspires me with his personal engagement with unbelievers.

His new book The Gospel and Personal Evangelism puts his vision in writing. Just this morning, this book jolted me again (pp. 72–73): Telling my story (“testimony”) is not the same as telling Christ’s story. My story is not the gospel. Telling it is not evangelism. I am deeply thankful Mark will give the three keynote messages.

Meanwhile, I was listening (online) to Matt Chandler preach about the challenges of evangelizing church members who think they are saved but aren’t. I was moved by the insight and courage of what he said. Matt is the Lead Pastor at The Village Church in Highland Village, Texas. He has agreed to come and help us think about that issue in our churches—saving those who think they are saved.

Michael Oh is the president of Christ Bible Seminary and Institute in Nagoya, Japan. He has agreed to be bring global breadth to our theme from his strategic perspective in Japan, with its fewer than .25% Christians. When Don Carson heard that Michael was coming he wrote to me and said, “I'm so glad to hear that you have invited Michael Oh. . . . He is a remarkable young man, being used by God in ways that are wisely breaking all kinds of molds in Japan.”

In keeping with the theme of evangelism, I plan to do my biography this time on one of the most fruitful evangelists of all time, George Whitefield. Whitefield is long overdue for this kind of attention, and I am eager to immerse myself in his life and mind for my own soul and ministry. I pray that the overflow will be useful for you.

This conference is not mainly about technique or method. It is about becoming a certain kind of God-besotted lover of lost people. So I am eager to be together with you and to worship and pray and think and discuss these great matters. I hope you will come. The Great Room at the Minneapolis Convention center sounds like a mighty waterfall when 1400 pastors sing with all their hearts to the Savior they love.

The bookstore will be amazing. Conversation and prayer will be rich. Connecting with lovers of Truth strengthens the heart. We all be reminded that we plant and water, but God gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:6). And nothing done in his name is in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).

With affection and joy,


I would commend the conference and Piper's new book on the new birth, Finally Alive, when it's released.

Like a lot of people, I was struck by a comment that bro. John Piper made during a video interview commenting on the then-upcoming election. He listed abortion as one of the complicating factors for him during the election, an issue we all know he cares passionately about and is defining in his voting choices.

But what struck me was the comment in response to the oft heard concern that if we don't end abortion in the U.S. then God will judge the country. Piper replied, "abortion is the judgment of God against the country."

Now, that changes everything, doesn't it?

Romans 1:18 reads, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and the wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness...." In verses 24, 26, and 28, Paul states that "God gave them over" to the sinful desires of their hearts, to shameful lusts, and "to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done." This wrath is being revealed against all godlessness and wickedness, and this wrath being revealed is the continuation in the wickedness and sin that suppresses the truth; it is God giving the unregenerate and unrepentant over to the very sins in which they delight (v. 32).

If the continuation of abortion in the U.S. and other places is God's righteous wrath being revealed from heaven, the question for me isn't which president or which judges are appointed. Not in the first place. Those things matter. But if I take seriously the truth that God's wrath is being revealed in the practice of abortion itself, the question becomes, "How do we turn back God's wrath?"

Presidential elections and the appointment of judges don't do that. Don't get me wrong. Those are necessary and important strategies in the fight. But they are secondary at best if what needs to be satisfied is the wrath of God.

If we take seriously the idea that God's wrath is being revealed in the continuance of abortion itself (and one might add, as Paul does: idolatry, homosexuality, envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice, people who are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful, disobedient to parents, the senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless), our primary strategy and activity and hopes must be expressed in a faithful ministry of intercession and gospel proclamation.

It seems to me that every time the nation Israel went off the rails, the holy men of old did two things: They prayed and they preached. They prayed and they preached.

Consider how often Moses interceded on behalf of the people when their sin rose up before the Lord (for example, Num. 11:1-2; 12; 14; 16; 21:4-9). Moses deserves to be known as "Moses the Intercessor," and we should make diligent study of his life of intercessory prayer. Or consider Ezra's prayer for the people because of their sinful intermarriage with pagan nations leading to unfaithfulness (Ezra 9). When the people faced God's hot displeasure and wrath, the godly gave themselves to intercession in recognition of the fact that only God can relent of His wrath, and only His satisfaction makes such relenting possible.

Which brings us to preaching. Of all the things we must do, preaching the gospel and sharing the gospel and writing about the gospel and praying the gospel on behalf of those perishing in God's wrath must be primary. The gospel is that message of how God himself satisfies His righteous demands and wrath by the atoning sacrifice of His Son for the sins of men. Christ Jesus propitiates the Father. He satisfies the Father's wrath. And the Father raised Christ from the dead as proof that His satisfaction was met and sacrifice accepted. Now those in Christ Jesus by repentance and faith "wait for His Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath" (1 Thes. 1:10).

Indeed, "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation"(Rom. 5:9-11).

Never again ought a Christian act as though the appointment of a human official will stay the wrath and judgment of God. Never again ought we to act as though another mediator may turn away the Father's righteous anger toward sin. I don't say that we should abandon the work of appointing officials who will protect life. But have we not in some measure been acting as though some appointments could delay or stay God's wrath against ungodliness and wickedness?

I think we have. And, forgive me for presuming, but I think we need to repent.

And we need to begin the work of broken-hearted intercession and the proclamation of the Lord Jesus Christ who on Calvary's cross bore the wrath of God for all who will turn to Him in faith, fleeing the coming destruction and running to Christ our Refuge and Strength and Strong Tower and Ark of safety. We haven't nearly begun the Church-wide work of prayer and preaching that is needed to see the worldwide repentance and faith necessary to stay the coming and present wrath of God "against all the godlessness and the wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness."

I've read in a couple places Christians vowing to oppose Obama during his entire presidency. Forgive me, but I think that's misplaced energy. We need the bulk of our energy invested in beseeching the Lord of Glory to relent of His destruction upon the nation and to extend the work of His Spirit in the conversion of wicked men, including all those up to the president who have a hand in supporting this slaughter.

Our work is primarily prayer and preaching, intercession and gospel proclamation. Those alone will turn back the wrath of God. Let's get started.