Intentional Faith

Who thought this was remotely a good idea?

Which is still not as bad, or as funny, as this church mishap.

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We have all heard evangelists quote from Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). Usually the evangelist applies this text as an appeal to the unconverted, saying: “Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. If you open the door, then He will come in.” In the original saying, however, Jesus directed His remarks to the church. It was not an evangelistic appeal.

So what? The point is that seeking is something that unbelievers do not do on their own. The unbeliever will not seek. The unbeliever will not knock. Seeking is the business of believers. Jonathan Edwards said, “The seeking of the Kingdom of God is the chief business of the Christian life.” Seeking is the result of faith, not the cause of it.

When we are converted to Christ, we use language of discovery to express our conversion. We speak of finding Christ. We may have bumper stickers that read, “I Found It.” These statements are indeed true. The irony is this: Once we have found Christ it is not the end of our seeking but the beginning. Usually, when we find what we are looking for, it signals the end of our searching. But when we “find” Christ, it is the beginning of our search.

The Christian life begins at conversion; it does not end where it begins. It grows; it moves from faith to faith, from grace to grace, from life to life. This movement of growth is prodded by continual seeking after God.

In your spiritual walk, are you moving from faith to faith, from grace to grace, from life to life? Are you continually seeking after God?

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Orlando Saer. Big God: How to Approach Suffering, Spread the Gospel, Make Decisions, and Pray in the Light of a God Who Really Is in the Driving Seat of the World. Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2014. 141 pp. $10.50.

How big is your God? Is he big enough to handle epidemics of disease in Africa and cries of injustice in Missouri at the same time? Is he in full control of trials and tragedies, or does he merely permit them? If God governs every molecule in the universe, then why aren’t your prayers always answered?

Orlando Saer, pastor of Christ Church Southampton in England, fears that such questions cause God to “shrink” in our minds. The shift is often subconscious. Confronted with the painful realities of life in a fallen world and the mysteries of how free will intersects with divine power, we subtly adjust our understanding of God himself. Maybe God only intervenes in unusual situations, we think. Perhaps he’s renounced his control of the world and leaves most things up to human decision.

In Big God: How to Approach Suffering, Spread the Gospel, Make Decisions, and Pray in the Light of a God Who Really Is in the Driving Seat of the World, Saer tears off this “shrunken God” thinking and showcases the God of the Bible as the God who truly is in control—of everything. Saer aims in this brief volume not just to prove that God’s full authority over the universe is scriptural; he takes it one step further and demonstrates that God’s powerful leadership is good. When challenged by life’s thorniest questions, we shouldn’t reduce God but rather run to him for the comfort and hope we need.

I’ll highlight a couple of Big God’s strengths as a primer exploring how God’s foreknowledge and power interact with human decisions. In case you’re short on time, though, I’ll frontload my conclusion so you can know what I think: Get this book and read it! Pastors, order it by the case and hand it out to those who have questions about the role of God’s control in suffering, evangelism, prayer, and decisionmaking. In a way, Saer’s effort is a modern take on J. I. Packer’s 1961 classic Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God.I pray it’ll have as wide a reception as that book so that a new generation of believers may cling to the God who wisely rules and reigns over all.

Guide for the Perplexed

The doctrine of providence—God’s control over and interaction with the affairs of his world, including human decisions—can feel bewildering especially to those studying it for the first time. The most eager Christian student may find her head spinning as she shuffles through a crowded room of intimidating “-isms,” baffled by jargon with six syllables. What’s worse, the questions raised by this doctrine can be unsettling: Is cancer really God’s will for my life? Why does God command us to evangelize if he will certainly save his elect?

The first strength of Big God is that Saer manages to address these hard questions with fresh, accessible language without sacrificing depth of content. Take the topic of God’s will, for instance. Scripture often speaks about God’s will in terms of what he desires from his people: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thess. 4:3), and so on. Saer terms this God’s “ideal-will.” It reflects his standards for us. Yet the Bible also indicates that the Lord has a more ultimate “will” for the way things will turn out, which Saer calls God’s “plan-will.” This will can’t be thwarted. It includes how God accomplishes ultimate good through evil human actions (Gen. 50:20) and wields wicked powers to accomplish his purposes, as in the exile of Israel (Isa. 10:5ff) and, most supremely, in the death of Christ (Acts 4:27–28). Any faithful doctrine of God must integrate these two biblical streams of understanding God’s will—and Saer does so masterfully, with engaging case studies and a plethora of scriptural examples.

Of course, Saer’s discussion of these matters is entry-level. He doesn’t put on his boxing gloves and engage in scholarly debate. This approach may be disappointing to some readers, but it’s precisely what makes Big God so helpful: he articulates the classic Reformed position on God’s sovereignty without using in-the-know terms like “Reformed.” His fresh language and insistence on letting Scripture do the talking render his contribution to discussions of God’s will and human freedom all the more valuable.¹

Theology and Real Life

The second aspect that should commend this book to readers is the way Saer relates the doctrine of providence to life on the ground as a follower of Jesus. C. S. Lewis once observed that he found doctrinal books more devotionally rich than so-called devotional ones. Big God, though introductory-level, confirms this insight. Wrestling with the intersection of God’s will and human freedom may stretch the muscles, but it stretches them so they can lift the weights of real life in a fallen world while joyfully trusting a sovereign God.

Much of the second half of the book unpacks its central claim: “God works out his good and wise plans in and through normal human thought processes and behavior. The fact that God plans and works doesn’t mean we don’t have to. It means quite the opposite” (54–55). Saer applies this assertion to evangelism, prayer, and decision-making, with fruitful results. Our choices and actions are real, and they matter—so much so that God ordains to use them for his eternal purposes.

Perhaps the most useful—and challenging—application Saer identifies comes in the third chapter, “Unshrinking God in Suffering.” While it can seem convenient to think the existence of pain and sin must mean that God has in some way surrendered his control over the universe, Scripture does not let us do so. The sovereign Lord is ultimately responsible for both “well-being” and “calamity” (Isa. 45:7), though he “neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.”

How does this discussion comfort the hurting child of God? Saer wisely reminds us that Scripture tutors us not only in God’s power and control, but also in his revealed purposes for suffering. We may not know, this side of eternity, why the Lord ordains each particular trial. But we can rest assured that he uses suffering to purify his children, to wake up a world in danger of judgment, and ultimately to win honor for Christ. In suffering, we turn not to a feeble deity hiding behind the curtains, embarrassed of how his image-bearers have let him down. We turn to the Author of history, infinitely wise, who says: “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isa. 46:10). This God is powerful enough to console us in the valley of the shadow of death.

Saer is right. It may be challenging to fit the “big” God of Scripture into our preconceived human boxes. But he is the God who is there. He is the God whose Son tasted unfathomable pain in our place, so that our suffering will have a certain end.

This Big God is our only hope.

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“Who are the well-known voices for the Reformed movement in Latin America?” I often get this question from my English-speaking brothers and sisters. In fact, some time ago Ben Peays, executive director of The Gospel Coalition, asked me just that question. He was genuinely eager to know more about our context. I’ll never forget the look on his face when I answered, “Apart from the ‘apostles,’ you won’t find a well-known voice that’s known throughout Latin America. And of course, by ‘apostles’ I mean preachers of the prosperity gospel.”

In spite of the incredible growth of Protestantism in the last decade, and the supposed high number of adherents to the Christian religion, the church in Latin America is, generally speaking, far from healthy. Our culture is so closely identified with Christianity, yet the truths of the gospel are, generally speaking, unknown. That is why some say Latin America needs to be re-evangelized.

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1. Prosperity Gospel Is King

While prosperity teachers are highly influential in the United States and other places, they’re particularly popular in Latin America. In fact, the charismatic, Word-of-Faith, prosperity form of Christianity is, by and large, the only form of Protestantism that people know. In our region, a non-Catholic churchgoer is almost guaranteed to belong to a church that falls somewhere on the spectrum of this movement.

In Latin America, prosperity theology is not just a system of belief, but the culture in which we live. Well-known Spanish-speaking Christian artists have backgrounds in prosperity theology. TV shows and movies promote a culture of consumerism, and so do the “Christian” television channels. Books written and sold advocate this theology. And of course, the teachings of many false teachers from the United States have been translated into Spanish.

Formerly you had to do evangelism mainly among Catholics, showing them how the true gospel is so much better than works-based attempts at salvation. But more and more evangelism has turned into an effort to preach the gospel to those who ascribe to some kind of prosperity gospel, showing them how Jesus is so much better than the riches of this world.

2. Sound Doctrine Is Scarce

At Coalición por el Evangelio we have contributors from all over Latin America, and they regularly ask if we know of other healthy churches in their area. Since our launch in 2013, we’ve received hundreds and hundreds of requests from our readers asking for a recommended church close to them. I know many people who have moved to a different city just to be near a Bible-believing church. Sadly, more often than not, there are no churches within 100 miles that we can endorse.

To be perfectly clear, people are not being overly picky. They’re not looking for a large, booming church with a great kids program, awesome music, and a team that’s reaching their community and changing their nation. Rather, people are looking for churches that stand for expository preaching, sound doctrine, and have authentic leaders doing their best to steward what the Lord has given them. And while these churches do exist, they are extremely hard to find.

Something similar happens with theological resources. While you can easily find no less than two dozen blogs in English with biblically solid, daily material, you may find two in Spanish. The same is true with books, and while there’s more and more content being translated into Spanish (for which we’re thankful), we need more content produced by Spanish-speakers for Spanish-speakers. The same is true of music and even theological training, which is perhaps one of the greatest needs for pastors in Latin America.

3. The Reformed Movement Is Immature

The resurgence of Reformed theology in the United States is a recent event, but its contemporary roots can be traced back to popular writers and preachers in the 1960s and earlier. Though much of this growth is new, the theological discussions and even the character of this movement’s leaders are mature or reaching maturity. Many thousands of Americans, young and old, proudly espouse complementarianism, expository preaching, gospel-centereded theology, and a God-centered view of life and work. This is not the case in Latin America.

Consider: at Coalición por el Evangelio, our most-read article for the month of June was a response to whether or not it is permissible for women to wear pants. Thousands of people—even those who stand by the doctrines of grace—still think that Deuteronomy 22:5 prohibits women from wearing pants. Likewise, drums in contemporary worship are widely considered to be wordly and thus inappropriate. Gospel-centeredness is a foreign concept to many, so it’s common to hear a perfectly articulated sermon or a scripturally based song that does not even reference Jesus’ death and resurrection. Remember, these people do not follow false teachers; they are “in our camp” and trying to be faithful to Scripture.

There’s also a troubling yet somewhat predictable trend among the young men and women in the Reformed movement. Once exposed to sound doctrine, our equivalent of the “young, restless, Reformed” tend to become arrogant because of their newfound knowledge (1 Cor. 8:1-2). Who knew the “cage stage” was a cross-cultural phenomenon? So there are hundreds of websites dedicated to mocking prosperity gospel teachers and its adherents. This number may not seem like a lot if you think about all the blogs in the United States, but as I’ve said before, we’re a much smaller crowd. When there are hundreds of blogs dedicated to exposing and mocking false doctrine, and barely a dozen promoting sound doctrine, things are not as they should be. There’s a marked trend of shouting what we’re against instead of declaring what we are for, and many lines are drawn for things that are not central to the gospel.

4. God Is Very Much at Work

Those who have been doing ministry in Latin America, in one way or another, generally agree that we’re in the beginning of a revival. In the last five years, things have been changing. More and more Christians are being awakened to the true gospel. Many unbelievers are being saved all over the region. Churches are developing meaningful relationships with one another. Conferences are being organized, calling believers to return to Scriptures. Even our brothers and sisters from the United States and elsewhere have offered their time, resources, and people to serve our region. And you can see the change in an unbelievable way.

Because of dissatisfaction with superficial Christianity, there is an amazing hunger for the Word of God throughout Latin America. True believers are devouring anything that will help them handle the Word of Truth. More and more we hear of churches turning to sound doctrine for the first time. In a recent conference, I saw more than a hundred pastors from different countries step forward and repent of ministries that did not honor God.

Surely there’s still much work to be done, but the Lord is already at work in this moment. I too believe we’re experiencing the beginning of a revival. It is my prayer that believers in the Spanish-speaking world would be faithful to the Lord, diligent in the Scriptures, and prepared to give an answer to any and all who question the reason for our hope. If you believe you are being called, consider going, training, planting, or serving. In any case, will you join us in prayer?

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Editors’ note: The Gospel Coalition National Conference returns this year to Orlando, Florida, at Rosen Shingle Creek, from April 12 to 15. This year we’re delighted to partner with the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for a special preconference for Spanish speakers on April 12 and 13. TGC Council members Sugel Michelén, Don Carson, and Albert Mohler will deliver keynote addresses, while Miguel Nunez, Tim Keller, Juan Sanchez, Felix Cabrera will join them on panels about gospel partnerships, church planting, and evangelism methods in the 21st century. Spanish speakers who stay for the full National Conference receive a 30 percent discount on the subsequent event, which features workshops and simultaneous Spanish translation.

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Editors’ note: This is the first installment in a new series that analyzes perplexing passages of the Bible.

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If a group of Christians sat down to list perplexing passages, it wouldn’t take long for someone to mention Matthew 24:15-16: “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

The reasons for uncertainty are easy to list. What is an abomination? What abomination does Jesus have in mind? One that belongs to his generation, or one from the last days? What is the connection between the prophecies of Daniel and Jesus? Who is “the reader,” and what should he or she understand? In what sense should readers “flee to the mountains”? Should they obey literally or metaphorically?

As always, the first step is to read the text in literary, cultural, historical, and canonical contexts. Then we analyze the structure of the passage and do the necessary lexical and grammatical work. We begin with the key phrase, “abomination of desolation.” 

The term “abomination” (Hebrew toevah and siqqus)appears more than 100 times in the Old Testament and just a few times in the New Testament. An abomination is normally a great sin, commonly worthy of death. Readers immersed in current debates about sexual ethics may first think an abomination is a sexual sin. Indeed, Scripture calls sexual sins like adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality abominations (e.g., Leviticus 18:22, 29-30). But more often throughout the Bible “abomination” refers to major covenant violations, especially idolatry (in Deuteronomy alone, see 7:25, 13:6-16, 17:2-5, 18:9-12, 27:15, 32:16). In the historical books, “abomination” always describes idolatry, often with child sacrifice (1 Kings 11:7, 2 Kings 23:13). Abomination also refers to idolatry in the prophets, including Daniel 9 and 11. (Daniel uses siqqus, a term that always appears in connection with idolatry.)

The interpretation of Daniel 9-11 is difficult and disputed, but it does have some fixed points, and the nature of the abomination that causes desolation is one of them. Daniel 9:26-27 refers to a prince who will destroy the city (Jerusalem) along with its temple and sacrifices, “and on the wings of abominations shall come one who makes desolate.” Two chapters later there is another reference to an “abomination” in connection to the temple: “forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate” (11:31).

Scholars generally agree that the first reference of these prophecies is the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes IV, who ruled Palestine from 175-64 B.C. Antiochus treated Israel with such violence and contempt that they rebelled against him. When he came to suppress the rebellion, his forces entered the temple, stopped the regular sacrifices, set up an idol of or altar for Zeus, and apparently offered swine there as a sacrifice. This is an abomination because it is idolatry, and it brings desolation because it defiles the holy place at the heart of Israel. This act was the abomination “of” desolation, the abomination “causing” desolation.

Larger Structure

Having surveyed the original meaning of “abomination of desolation” in Daniel, we now to turn Matthew 24:15-16, first looking at the larger structure of Matthew 24. These verses come in the context of the Olivet Discourse, which begins with Jesus telling his disciples that the temple will be destroyed (24:1-2). The disciples then asked Jesus to explain: “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” (24:3).

The disciples probably thought they were asking one question. The fall of Jerusalem, Jesus’ return, and the end of the age were one complex event in their minds. It may seem to us that they asked three questions:

1. When will the temple fall?
2. What is the sign of Jesus’ return?
3. What is the sign of the close of this age?

But a close reading shows that Jesus heard and answered two questions. Evangelical scholars will disagree about how much of this passage is devoted to each question, but they generally agree that 24:3-35 mostly refers to events leading up to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. The segment ends with Jesus promising “this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place” (24:35). A generation normally lasts 40 years in Scripture, and Jerusalem and its temple did fall within 40 years, as Jesus said. So his core prediction was fulfilled by AD 70. (Space forbids that I address double and partial fulfillments of elements of 24:3-35. The interested reader may consult orthodox commentaries.) Then, in 24:36, Jesus starts to speak exclusively about “that day”—that is, the last day.

In 24:4-14, the, Jesus is preparing his disciples for events—most of them extremely difficult—that will take place in their lifetime. These troubles are notsigns of the end; the disciples must be ready to “stand firm” through them (24:4-8, 13). Then he says, “When you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation … ‘—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

This prophecy makes sense only with reference to the fall of Jerusalem. It cannot possibly apply to Jesus’ return. When he comes it will be pointless for an unbeliever to try to flee. And a believer will not want to flee. For the same reason, the following command not to go back to get a cloak and the woe for nursing mothers who must flee cannot refer to Jesus’ return. But they make perfect sense if Jesus predicts that another abomination of desolation, like Antiochus Epiphanes of Daniel, is coming. Indeed that abomination did come in Roman form in AD 70. The Roman armies were always an abomination because they carried with them idolatrous images of the emperor, whom they worshiped. And those armies brought desolation because their commander leveled the city and entered the holy of holies, defiling it.

The line “let the reader understand” (24:15) means that those who read Matthew—which would have been written before AD 70—must be ready to flee when they see Roman armies besieging Jerusalem. Indeed, the parallel account in Luke 21 makes this point explicit: “when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies … flee to the mountains” (Luke 21:10-24). In fact, many Christians did flee, sparing their lives, when they saw Rome’s armies coming. Eusebius, the first great historian of the church, says that when the Romans fell upon Jerusalem, “the church at Jerusalem … left the city, and moved to a town called Pella.”[1] So Jesus, ever the Good Shepherd, told the first Christians how to survive those most harrowing years of the church’s infancy.

A wise preacher dealing with this passage may find particular value in focusing on this point. When Jesus gives instruction concerning future events, his purpose is not to satiate our curiosity or answer all or our speculative questions. Instead, his purpose is to protect and guide and instruct his people. Jesus gave relatively little attention to the question “When?” and much toward the question “How shall we live faithfully?” Preaching on such texts today should be shaped by Jesus’ concern for the welfare and endurance of his church.

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Today, Christian Associates International (CA), a global church planting network, and Forge Mission Training Network, a global network committed to nurturing and coaching missional pioneers, announced that they have formed a strategic partnership to advance efforts to mobilize catalytic church planters around the world.  While a healthy informal relationship has long existed between Forge and CA, this new level of involvement […]

The post Christian Associates & Forge Mission Training Network Form Strategic Partnership appeared first on Missional Church Network.

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There is something wonderfully Christian about September, especially, baseball in September.

It starts as something in the air. The heat dies down, the wind picks up, the leaves start to fall. One season is giving way to another, and in some stories, this would be pure gloom.

The Drama Otherwise

In some stories, it would mean that summer is done, and thus flourishing—signified in all the green—is coming to an end. It would mean that the pleasure of warm sunshine is vanity, that Winter is right around the corner, eager to remind us of the tragedy known as life in this world. That story is the age-old pessimism — a staple of pagan thought — that considers all things positive to be degenerating. As Peter Leithart explains in Deep Comedy, motion, according to classical viewpoints on reality, trended from good to worse. It saw all movement as intrinsically sad in the long run, including the changing seasons.

We’re tempted to see things this way, too — like the sentiment expressed so pointedly in The Head and the Heart’s “Winter Song” —

Summer gone, now Winter’s on its way.
I will miss the days we had… .
Has time driven our season away?
‘Cause that’s the way it seems.

Or we’d might just put it like Green Day:

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends.

We’d easily see things this bleak if it wasn’t so contrary to the gospel. And we’d might even drift toward this kind of pessimism if God hadn’t given us things like baseball in September to dramatize otherwise.

Why Are You Crying?

Baseball in September does mark the end of something, but it is far from tragic.

In fact, the end of baseball’s regular season, which comes in September, is when things actually ramp up for the play-offs. Then the play-offs, taking place in October, concludes with a World Series Champion — the likes of which the United States has seen every year since 1884.

Yes, one team wins, the others lose — but the focus is always on the victor. The whole season wraps up in a celebration — a eulogy of the game in totality. Every fan, even of the losing team, tips their cap in a kind farewell as the game humbly yields to the cold and finds, as it were, its resting place.

That is what September is saying for baseball. It reminds us that the season is drawing to a close, and though there are some exciting days ahead, the end is nearer. And I suppose, if we were unaware of the biblical storyline, if we didn’t see its connectedness to the things around us, if we didn’t realize there’s no crying in baseball, this would all make us sad (especially if you’re a Brewers fan).

For Dust Like Us

But the thing we must remember — the melody of these last September games — is that even when the season is all over, it will start again. There will be a Spring. Easter baseball will be back.

Baseball, unique from other sports, follows this natural calendar — starting in Spring, ending before Winter, only to be resurrected again the next Spring. It has been that way for over a hundred years. This game — this little, creaturely game — is saying more than it knows.

That’s how I teach baseball to my son. I toss him a ball. He swings, he misses, he gets frustrated. “But son,” I come back, “You get three strikes! You get three outs! You have nine innings! Getting a hit three out of ten times is great!”

The game is almost a scandal. It is almost unbelievable, I explain — incredibly hard, but amazingly gracious. Jesus is the only perfect man to ever live, I tell him, and baseball is a game for dust like us.

No, Not Here

Baseball is, if I might say, a game that resonates with the human soul. It is infused with grace, and it moves along with the seasons, reminding us how time works — reminding us that in God’s economy there is never a final end, that every night has a morning, that every Winter has a Spring. There is no such thing as tragedy. Not here. Not in this world. Not when Death has been defeated, not when the tomb is empty, not when the Champion reigns.

That is what baseball in September says.

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Related resources:

• The Antidepressant of Wonder

• The Cross and the St. Louis Cardinals

• Ten Big, Daily Reminders

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A brief look at tools and strategies for effective evangelism.

Evangelism is the responsibility of every believer. All Christians have the obligation and privilege to share the gospel. But this glorious task is often fraught with difficulty and at times can be random and aimless. In this series, I want to focus on what you and your church can do to be strategic in your evangelism.

We should always be prepared to “give an answer for the hope” that we have. To some, this means simply waiting for lost people to trip in front of us, or get stuck in our elevator. But the Lord honors strategic thinking, and has given us, in this generation tremendous tools to use for a gospel advantage. So we will in this post look at three blogs which address outreach opportunities, outreach tools, and finally the personal invitation.

3 Effective Outreach Opportunities

What are some of the best times to share the gospel? In my post Strategic Evangelism: 3 Effective Outreach Opportunities, I discuss three valuable times when evangelism can and should occur within your church.

1. Evangelistically Intended Sermon Series: Established churches can use special times to reinforce evangelism and outreach. At Grace Church, we preach about two-thirds of the time at our church through books of the Bible. We are strategic about the other third. For example, every year between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, we do a family series to draw attention to an overwhelming need in our community—the need for strong families. It’s a time when people bring their friends and is often a time when their friends hear the gospel for the first time.

2. Special days and Holidays: Churches can use Easter, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, and Super Bowl Sunday, among others as …

Continue reading…

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