The Plodding Preacher

Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.   G.K. Chesterton

Yesterday I was sad.  Today I am mad.  I have been reading several of the postmodern "Christian" blogs on the internet about the World Vision situation.  The line of argument has been remarkably similar from blog to blog.  It goes like this. . . The Bible is not really clear on the subject of homosexuality. Good people interpret it differently so we shouldn't let such a trivial issue stop us from doing the really important work of feeding children.  In fact, how can you mean conservative Christians take food out of the mouths of starving babies for your silly principles? It all sounds so simple and compelling.  And besides, which one of us wants to be the big ugly meanie who doesn't want to feed starving kids?  Unfortunately, it is all an emotional argument without a shred of logical reasoning.  I am sick and tired of good Christian people being publically tarred and feathered by liberals.  It makes me angry when self-righteous ...

The Christian world has been abuzz all week about World Vision's position on hiring homosexuals.  First they announced that they would hire them and then, after much negative reaction from the Christian community, they retracted the decision.  The blogosphere has been on fire with the debate raging back and forth on the issue of homosexuality.  It seems to me that lost in the whole debate is a rather sad fact.  World Vision has not been a Christian organization for a very long time - and that is sad. When World Vision began, it unashamedly claimed to feed children physically and spiritually.  Somewhere around fifteen to twenty years ago, the organization quietly decided to jettison the Gospel in favour of just feeding children.  Please don't get me wrong.  I am glad that they feed children.  I am glad that secular groups such as CARE and Save the Children's Fund feed children.  However, I am profoundly saddened by the fact that World Vision...

I missed one of the most significant aspects of self-righteousness and hypocrisy in yesterday's blog. 4.  Self-righteous hypocrites believe themselves to be spiritually superior to others.   "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' (Luk 18:10-12 ESV) By contrast, the true child of God approaches the Law humbly knowing that we all fall short of GOd's standard. Naught have I gotten but what I received; Grace hath bestowed it since I have believed; Boasting excluded, pride I abase; I’m only a sinner, saved by grace! Tears unavailing, no merit had I; Mercy had saved me, or else I must die; Sin had alarmed me fearing God’s face; But now I’m a sinner saved by grace!

What is a hypocrite?  What does a self-righteous person look like?  Am I automatically a hypocrite if I hold to a standard that I occasionally break?  For example, if I believe lying is a sin, and I have been known to tell a lie - am I a hypocrite?  Can someone on the left be a hypocrite?  Can a radical be just as self-righteous as a conservative? The way that the terms are thrown around these days, everyone in the church is tarred with the same brush.  We are all self-righteous hypocrites.  This is a lie.  In order to get the truth let's go back to the ultimate truth-teller and understand how he defines hypocrites. Jesus was never afraid of labelling the Pharisees and religious authorities of his day as hypocrites.  Again and again he called them out for their hypocrisy.  So what made them hypocrites?  1.  They were concerned more with the outward appearance of righteousness rather than actual internal righteousness....

A couple of John Bunyan (author of Pilgrim's Progress) quotes this week. “Fear, lest, by forgetting what you are by nature, you also forget the need that you have of continual pardon, support, and supplies from the Spirit of grace, and so grow proud of your own abilities, or of what you have received from God.” “It is profitable for Christians to be often calling to mind the very beginnings of grace with their souls.”

Yesterday I went off on a rant about the elevation of feelings in our society.  Feelings have become the be all and end all for many people.  In contrast, I argued that we as Christians need to be people of fact not feeling.  We are people of truth rather than emotion.  But now the rubber must meet the road in the most controversial of all spheres - worship music. Music in churches for the past one hundred and fifty years has been trending in a direction that caters to emotion.  I can almost hear some of you saying "Wait a minute pastor.  Don't you mean in the last thirty years?"  No.  For longer than most of us have been willing to admit, the producing of certain feelings has been the goal of our worship music.  We sing in our churches in order to get people in the mood for the service or the message.  People have an expectation that a service ought to leave them feeling good and we have catered to that by the style of our music for o...

I woke up tired this morning.  A late deacons meeting last night, did not encourage a restful night's sleep.  I went out to my vehicle, which other family members had been using this week, and the low gas warning light was on.  I drove for an hour on the busy highway to a seminar for Christian workers on the subject of abortion.  The good news shared was that after 40 years of the church fighting abortion in Canada we are in worse shape than ever.  On the way home (in busier traffic on the same highway) myself and three of our church staff discussed how often people fail to listen to what we are saying from Scripture.  Can I admit something?  I am not feeling so great.  I feel lousy.  I feel down.  I feel sad.  I am having a multitude of feelings and none of them are particularly positive right at the moment. I might even admit that I don't feel particularly Christian right at the moment. I see a multitude of people in my minist...

March the 17th is supposedly the anniversary of Patrick's death.  Where he died is an altogether different issue with several places in Ireland claiming to be the place. Despite being the patron saint of Irish Catholics, the one document Patrick left behind, his confession, does not make any mention to the church in Rome or its practices.  In fact, the confession would be an acceptable document in most Evangelical churches.  It is likely that Patrick was much closer in doctrine to the New Testament Church than to Rome. Patrick was not Irish but Roman-British.  He was stolen away as a slave by Irish bandits when he was sixteen years old.  Later after his escape, he felt compelled by God to return to Ireland with the Gospel.  The old myth of him driving the snakes out of Ireland probably has more to do with the conquest of paganism than any ficticious reptiles.  There is no evidence that there ever were any snakes in Ireland.  If you were a cold...

“What is to be gained if we are so intent in reaching out to the unchurched that we then unchurch the reached?”   David Wells

"We are not baptized in the Spirit, but into Christ by the Spirit.  We do not participate in the life of the Spirit, but in the life of Christ by the life-giving power of the Spirit.  All of the Spirit's activity has Christ as the reference point, and where the Spirit himself is given center-stage, we can be certain that it is not the Holy Spirit who is active in such settings (John 15:26).  We bear 'the fruit of the Spirit' only as we are in union with the Vine." Michael Horton, In the Face of God , Word Publishing, 1996, pg. 130.

Yesterday it was spring.  Today winter came back with a vengeance.  As I was driving in to the office, the snow was coming down and the roads were slick with the accumulation.  As I approached another vehicle stopped at the corner, I applied the brakes in plenty of time.  The ABS pumped the brakes frantically, but there was no discernible decrease in speed.  Sliding.  Slipping.  The gap between me and the SUV stopped at the corner kept decreasing at an alarming rate.  Becoming alarmed, I virtually stood on the brake.  Everything seemed to slow down.  I can distinctly remember having the time to think "I'm going to hit it and there's nothing more I can do."  It was a helpless feeling.  And then there was the bump - the embarrassment of having to admit to another driver that the fault was mine.  Is it an understatement to say that I didn't like the feeling? When all was said and done, the two vehicles kissed bumpers. ...

Two things have crossed my desk in the last few hours.  The first was an invitation to participate in the "Act Like Men" conference.  The second was the news that one of the headliners at that conference had purchased his way onto the New York Times bestseller list.  For a cool $200,000, his ministry purchased copies of the book he wrote so that the numbers of copies sold could be artificially inflated to the point that the author would receive recognition as a best selling author. What is wrong with this picture?  How authentically can such a man teach other men to live up to their God-given responsibilities?  My gut feeling is that it will not make one bit of difference to those who sign up to attend the event.  He's a celebrity.  All the other speakers are celebrities.  So who cares what moral failings they might have personally - they're celebrities.  It will be a terrific event because they are celebrities.  My intention is not ...

George Mueller, nothing. The Lord Jesus, everything. In himself worse than nothing. By grace, in Christ, the son of the King. George Mueller

A very popular quotation that regularly makes the rounds in Evangelical circles is "Preach the Gospel at all times, use words if necessary."  It is usually attributed to Francis of Assisi although no historical document related to Francis ever records the quotation.  Aside from the historical inaccuracy, it is one of those statements that at first glance sounds utterly profound, but upon deeper examination is totally foolish.  It is impossible to communicate the Gospel without words.  I can show the results of the Gospel in my life by action, but I can never explain the saving work of the Gospel without words.  Some writers around the internet have been trying to show the ridiculous nature of this statement by making similar statements in other more familiar situations.  Here are a few of the best: Wash regularly, if necessary use water. Help the hungry, if necessary use food. Help the sick, if necessary use medicine. 1 Peter 3:15 15 but in your h...

Those who are most relevant to the modern world are those most irrelevant to the moral purpose of God, but those who are irrelevant to the world by virtue of their relevance to God actually have the most to say to the world.  They are, in fact, the only ones who have anything to say to it.  That is what Jesus declared, what the Church in its best moments has known, and what we, by the grace of God, can yet discover. David Wells, No Place for Truth , Eerdmans 1993, pg. 301.

There is one common denominator in all religions made by human beings - works.  All of them preach that we must do something in order to earn eternal reward.  True Christianity is different from all religions in this striking point.  It teaches that it is not what you do, but whom you trust that determines your eternal destiny.  It is not what you do, but what Jesus did that earns salvation.  As we come to the Easter Season, we ought not to focus on what we bring.  Instead, our attention and adoration must be upon Jesus the author and finisher of our faith!  Nothing in my hand I bring Simply to Thy cross I cling. Rock of Ages

Ash Wednesday arrives in the middle of this week.  For many this marks the beginning of the Lenten season that culminates next month with Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  During this forty day period of time many mainline denominations will commemorate the forty days of Jesus temptation in the wilderness with fasts, penance and abstention from various worldly practices.  Some individuals will even go to extreme measures to share in the sufferings of Jesus.  In general, a somber and penitent mood is supposed to rule those who are observant.  There is a growing attraction to the practice of Lent among Evangelical Christians.  This bothers me for two particular reasons. 1.  For most of those who practice Lent, that practice is performed for the atonement of sins.  Roman Catholic doctrine in particular teaches that we must add our works to the works of Christ in order to receive full atonement of sins.  We must suffer as Christ suffe...

Tell me what the world is saying today, and I'll tell you what the church will be saying in seven years. Francis Schaeffer How incredibly sad but true.