Book Review : The Gospel Call and True Conversion

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gospelcallWhen it comes to the gospel, not everyone is talking about the same thing every time. The gospel, or “good news”, is about the sinfulness of man and the love of God for a fallen world. It is about the sinless Savior Jesus Christ whose atoning death on the cross paid the price in order to buy back a lost humanity. It is about repentance and surrender. There are, however, distortions of that true gospel. Some will teach that Jesus was a good man or good teacher, not God’s Son. Some will teach that only a certain number of people will be saved and that God decides from the beginning who will and who won’t. Some will teach that everyone will be saved in the end. In his new book, which is the second installment of Recovering the Gospel Series, “The Gospel Call and True Conversion”, Paul Washer steps forward to offer a defense for the real gospel against what he sees as an epidemic called “gospel reductionism”. Washer believes that many churches today are settling for and propagating an anemic brand of the gospel. Speaking of many churches today, they “reduce the gospel message to a few creedal statements, teach that conversion is a mere human decision, and pronounce assurance of salvation over anyone who prays the sinner’s prayer”.

Washer, from the beginning, puts forth the results of gospel reductionism, which he also refers to as “easy believism”. These four results serve as the basic premise of the book. First, it “further hardens the heart of the unconverted”. Secondly, it “deforms the church from a spiritual body of regenerated believers into a gathering of carnal men who profess to know God, but by their deeds deny them”. Thirdly, it “reduces evangelism and missions to little more than a humanistic endeavor driven by clever marketing strategies based upon a careful study of the latest trends in culture:. Lastly, it “brings reproach to the name of God”.

Washer’s book breaks down into two parts, as the title suggests. In the first part, the Gospel Call, Washer deals with the elements of this call: repentance, faith, belief, confession, and receiving Christ. He takes the time to give each one an in-depth treatment supported by scripture. He brings the importance and beauty of the original languages to bear on these elements. In the second part, True Conversion, Washer again gives the elements of what marks a true converted heart. He believes a proper and biblical understanding of salvation’s author and motive, cleansing, a new heart, the Spirit’s calling, and God’s covenants with people are necessary to in order to properly understand enjoy the totality of God’s gift; His Son Jesus Christ. Again, an in-depth and thorough treatment of these elements is offered.

“The Gospel Call and True Conversion” is an engaging book. What comes through more than anything else is the author’s sincerity and passion for ensuring that the world hears the true gospel. I liked the biblical exposition and logical flow of the book. I did not like the condescending and arrogant tone the author takes toward churches today. In his attempt to build his case he unknowingly lessens the effectiveness of his writing. The author writes from the reformed point of view. In his tone I see the reverse straw-man argument that some reformed writers put forward. All in all a decent book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from CrossFocused Reviews as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Missional Monday : National Night Out

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nno2013Last August, Port Royal Baptist Church had the privilege to participate in a community event known as National Night Out. National Night Out is an initiative to develop and promote crime-prevention programs in neighborhoods involving watch groups, law enforcement agencies, churches, non-profit organizations, businesses, and individuals working toward one simple goal: safer and stronger communities. Our church had been seeking a way to gain entry into the multi-housing community that adjoins our property. We approached the property manager with this initiative and were welcomed with open arms.

This is how it works. A church, business, or non-profit organization identifies a neighborhood to “adopt”. Local law enforcement and fire departments are brought in to share the anti-crime and safety message. Through this initiative, foundational partnerships are formed that lead to future opportunities of ministry and involvement. Port Royal Baptist will host a block party (bounce house, popcorn, sno-cones, etc.) including a cookout. The property manager will provide the space, power, and internal promotion to more than 100 family units. Port Royal Police Department, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department, and Beaufort County Fire Department will provide staff and resources from their departments to communicate their anti-crime message, while showing a side of their work that most of the communities never get to see. On August 6th, 2013, we will all come together again to do our individual part in collectively making sure our community knows that we care about them.

Earlier I mentioned foundations for future involvement. From the church standpoint, we have had the privilege to minister in other ways. Because of a “non-church” event, we have been allowed to come back to host “church” events including those related to Easter and Vacation Bible School. I believe we were able to carry out the purpose of the church because we built trust and earned the right to minister. How did we do this? How can you do the same thing?

1. We took advantage of a secular event in order to lay the groundwork for ministry. Check your community calendars and involve your church in those events. I wrote about the importance of merging church and community calendars. You can read that post here.

2. We earnestly believe that our community is our responsibility, not someone else’s. Remember, missional is not about doing. It is all about being. Don’t allow someone else to be the missionary to your community.

3. We were not afraid to be told “no”. You should not be either. Pray, identify, and ask. We were told “no” in this particular multi-housing unit once before.

Book Review : Future Grace

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futuregraceChristians today understand the concept of grace. It is the basis of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Paul wrote, “for it is by grace you have been saved by faith and that not of yourselves” (Ephesians 2:8). It is sustenance and sufficiency for the believer. In an answer to Paul’s prayer, the Lord responds, “My grace is sufficient for you, My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Grace is defined, in religious circles, as God’s unmerited favor towards an individual. Grace is not something that we can earn, purchase, or deserve. It is truly, as Paul states, a gift. In a rework of his 1995 book, John Piper, in “Future Grace; The Purifying Power of the Promises of God”, explores a specific aspect of grace which he has termed “future grace”. In defining the term, Piper writes, “All that God promises to be for us in Jesus stands over against what sin promises for us without Him. This great prospect of the glory of God is what I call future grace”. Piper deals with some of the issues that surface in the believer’s daily walk with God. Because he has linked future grace to the sure promises of God, Piper shows how future grace allows the believer to trust and rest in the promises God has made. He writes about many links in this future grace chain. Included are the enemies and cost of grace, the relationship that works have to grace, and the battle to believe in light of past and present grace just to name a few.

The wheels come of the cart very early in this book. In chapters one and two, Piper discusses gratitude and introduces a term that he has coined as “debtor’s ethic”. There is a friction, Piper believes, between a believer’s desire to show gratitude for what Jesus has done for them and the felt need to pay God back. He writes, “If gratitude is twisted into a sense of debt, it gives birth to the debtor’s ethic – and the effect is to nullify grace.” I don’t believe this to be true. Piper’s writing is confusing and messy in these chapters. He seems, in my opinion, to simultaneously support and reject the relationship between gratitude and debt. He seems to suggest that a believer’s desire to show gratitude for the grace extended to them will in fact nullify that grace. What follows are chapters upon chapters of lessons and discussion related to grace that are independent of the given thesis. In an attempt to adequately define and defend, ‘future grace’, Piper drowns the reader in unnecessary wording that make it a laborious read. To me, it is simply not a clear presentation of the subject matter.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from WaterBrook Press as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

FIFS : 7.26.2013

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25. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.” 26.  So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they did their lame dance around the altar they had made. 27. At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away possibly to relieve himself or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” 28. They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed out on them. 29. All afternoon, they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound, no one answered, no one paid attention.” 1 Kings 18:25-29

This is perhaps one of the most familiar battles in the Old Testament. It is a battle between the pagan prophets of the evil King Ahab and God’s man Elijah. The activity and worship on both sides of this battle has everything to do with the condition of the heart on both sides of the battle. On one hand you have the prophets of Baal, the Canaanite god. They were very loud and boisterous in their worship: jumping around, loudly calling out to their god, and cutting themselves to entice a reaction. On the other hand, you have Elijah, prophet to the One True God. He uttered very few words, offered a brief prayer, and worshipped without drawing attention to himself. The fire fell on the side of the true worshipper. True worship has nothing to do with activity or what we may “do” to get God’s attention. True worship has everything to do with the condition and attitude of the individual’s heart toward God. In his book, “The Root of the Righteous”, A.W. Tozer makes this point clearly. He wrote:

“What a man is must be shown to be more important than what he does. While the moral quality of any act is imparted by the condition of the heart, there may be a world of religious activity which arises not from within, but from without and which would seem to have little or no moral content.”

Worth Repeating : Leonard Sweet

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“When Paul exhorted us to put on the ‘mind’ of Christ, the Greek word he used for ‘mind’ had nothing to do with cognitive skill or intellectual brainpower. To have the mind of Christ does not mean possessing the knowledge of Christ or the intellectual comprehension of Christ but the relational knowing of Christ.

Jesus cannot be separated from His teachings. Aristotle said to his disciples, ‘Follow my teachings.’ Socrates likewise said to his disciples, ‘Follow my teachings’. Buddha said to his disciples, ‘Follow my meditations.’ Confucius said to his disciples, ‘Follow my saying.’ And Muhammad said to his disciples, ‘Follow my noble pillars.’

But Jesus says to His disciples, ‘Follow Me.’

In all the religions and philosophies of the world, a follower can follow the teachings of its founder without having a relationship with its founder. But no so with Jesus Christ. The teachings of Jesus cannot be separated from Jesus Himself. Christ is still alive, and He embodies His teachings. This is what separates Him from every great teacher and moral philosopher in history.

This is not to say that other religious traditions don’t focus on a person. Buddhism can’t be imagined without Buddha. Islam can’t be imagined without Muhammad: ‘Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger.’ say the Muslim people. Judaism doesn’t so much focus on a person as on a nation – the Jewish people as a whole, and the religion they follow.

Yet in all these religions, a follower can abide by all the teachings of its founder without having a relationship with that founder. Not so with Jesus Christ.”

Leonard Sweet  from his book, Jesus Manifesto; Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ along with Frank Viola

Missional Monday : MissionsFEST Atlanta

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atlanta-skylineIn October of this year I, along with two other member of Port Royal Baptist Church (Joyce Bunton, Judy Greenlee), will take part in MissionsFEST Atlanta. This trip is the result of a partnership between South Carolina Baptist Convention Missions Mobilization, National WMU (Women’s Missionary Union), Georgia WMU, and the UACP (Urban Atlanta Church Planter’s) Network. The UACP is a cooperative effort to engage lostness through the planting of intentionally reproducing churches with the I-285 perimeter of Atlanta. Individuals and churches who participate in MissionsFEST work alongside church planters who active in reaching neighborhoods with the I-285 loop where over 100 different languages are spoken. Events and projects are designed to demonstrate the love of Christ in real and tangible ways that allow bridges to be built for future gospel conversations. Some of the week’s projects include block parties, service ministries, prayer walking, and light construction work.

We are looking at this trip as more than just an opportunity to help church planters with the enormous task of reaching their community. We are viewing this time in Atlanta as a vision trip for Port Royal Baptist Church. Every spring we sponsor a state-side mission trip for our congregation. As we seek the Lord’s guidance as to the coming year’s destination, we are praying He uses this week to open doors for future ministry. As in any trip, meeting, or conference I attend, certain hopes are always present. My hopes for this trip are as follows.

1. It is my hope that we will create partnerships for future service. As I mentioned above, we hope to be able to discern the needs of the church planters and determine if our congregation would be a fit in Atlanta.

2. It is my hope that I will be personally challenged. I believe that many of us minister within a bubble of safety. That is not always our fault, just a result of where we are. I hope to be stretched and challenged to do ministry that I never have and among people I never have.

3. It is my hope that we will learn new methods and practices for our own local ministry. Our church is very active and present in our community. I am hoping that some of what we experience in Atlanta will give us fresh ideas for reaching Port Royal.

Worth Repeating : Matt Chandler

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“First Corinthians 18 says that ‘the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing’. This is a dire warning to those who find the cross too silly of a doctrine or who seek to diminish its place in the Christian faith to make their calling sure. Those who see the message of the cross as foolishness are perishing.

If we don’t understand the bad news, we will never grasp the good news. The bad news is not just that we don’t measure up to the law but that by the works of the law none of us will be justified before God (Gal 2:16). What alternatives to the cross are there? Be a good man? Be a good woman? Be a good Boy Scout or Girl Scout for Jesus? This is what it boils down to for many in the church: replacing the centrality if the cross with something more appealing, something we think is weighty. In fact, all across the evangelical landscape, people want to get away from the shame and the blood and the guts and the horrific slaughter of Jesus Christ and focus on something else with the cross out on the margins.

But the reason we do this isn’t so much to rectify an imbalance but to idolatrously elevate ourselves. It’s like the charismatics who want to make the day of Pentecost central to the Christian faith. Or the Calvinists who want to make TULIP central. Liberals want to make social justice the center. Fundamentalists want to make moral behavior the center. (Their motto is ‘Do, do, do,’ but the cross screams ‘Done!’) All of those things are good things, biblical things. But to make any of them the center of the Christian faith, the grounds of our hope, is to disregard the only power of salvation – the message of the cross. We end up like Indiana Jones trying to replace the treasure with a bag of sand. We think it will work, but the whole structure comes crashing down around us. Nothing runs to the center of God’s kindness and severity, demonstrating his justice, his love, and his glory all at once, besides his incarnate Son’s sacrifice on the scandalous cross.”

Matt Chandler, from his book The Explicit Gospel

Book Review : Saving Eutychus

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savingI am a pastor. I am a preacher. I know what it is like to stand before a congregation every week and deliver a message that is timely, biblical, and interesting. I understand what it is like to struggle with a text all week wondering how it will all come together. I know what it is like to go through the post-sermon ritual of the preaching version of 20 Questions. “How did it sound?” “Was I faithful to the text?” “Was it too long?” “Did I talk too fast?” “Did I give an avenue for application?” I just finished a book entitled, “Saving Eutychus; How to Preach God’s Word and Keep People Awake” by pastors Gary Millar and Phil Campbell. This very clever title comes from the biblical account of Acts 20 as a young man names Eutychus fell asleep while Paul was preaching and fell out of a window. The premise of Millar and Campbell’s book is the prevention of such an episode in the modern church today.

Calling on their years of preaching experience, the authors set out to reveal the traps, pitfalls, and errors that lead to boring and dull preaching. Millar and Campbell write about the importance of prayer’s role in effective and stimulating preaching. The authors also do a great job of stressing the need to preach to the heart of people for real change instead of merely preaching a form of holy manipulation. Chapter three, four, and five are the best in the book. Here the authors deal with the importance of being clear in your presentation and taking into account the attention span of the listener. Millar and Campbell offer a very helpful top ten list of steps to becoming clearer in your presentation. They also stress the importance of allowing the sermon to be wrapped around a main “big” idea. They write, “It’s easier for your listener to catch a baseball than a handful of sand.” The chapter dealing with preaching the gospel from the Old Testament is well written and enlightening. The authors provide methods to better understand Old Testament contexts, audiences, and nuances so that a clear picture of Jesus Christ can be painted. Millar and Campbell wrap up with the importance of and real need for feedback and critique of the sermon. They provide sample critiques of each other’s sermons as a teaching point.

Saving Eutychus is a great work. It is simple, yet profound. It is deep without reading like a seminary textbook. It is honest, humorous, refreshing, and convicting all at the same time. I know as a pastor/preacher I am always searching for that which will help me fulfill my calling. I am taking away a great deal from this book. Their points dealing with preparation, tone, pitch, and length were what I needed. I would recommend this book to all of my pastor/preacher friends. Saving Eutychus brings a great awareness and insight to our calling.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Cross Focused Reviews as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Missional Monday–What is Missional?

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Today’s post is the first in a new Monday series entitled “Missional Monday”. I would like to begin by defining and giving some attention to the word “missional”. Missional is a word that has come of use over the past eight or ten years in evangelical churches and denominational research. The term missional has a somewhat fluid definition and is more of a descriptor than an event or activity. While missiology is the study about missions and its methodologies, missional is a mindset. Missional is a way of thinking. In its simplest terms, missional thinking focuses the believer and the church on doing missions everywhere. It is holistic rather than programmic.

By the very definition of the word, it is impossible for the church to do missional. Instead, it is critical for the church today to be missional. Missional thinking causes the church to take a hard and prayerful look at how missions is viewed. A church with a missions program usually sees missions as one activity alongside other activities in the church. A missional church focuses all of its activities around its participation in God’s vision in the world. Instead of viewing missions as crossing sea as something that we go and do, missional thinking leads us to see the cross and to live as sent people; right where we are. This leads to a question that will help us gauge where we are individually and as the body of Christ. Do you see yourself as a participant in a mission program or as a missionary living within your own mission field? In his book, Breaking the Missional Code, Ed Stetzer wrote, “If we are going to join God on his mission, we have to recognize that we are missionaries…wherever he places us – just like the first disciples”.