For the Church

Minutes and Seconds Compose Holiness

For nearly ten years now I have kept a prayer journal. My prayers are not organized like some people’s. Rather, my prayers are very disorganized. Only the dates at the top right corner of each page give me any context to previous prayers. It is in large part due to my general disorganization that I tend to write out my prayers. Writing forces thoughts into shapes.

Toward the beginning of each year, I often flip through my prayers from the past and reflect on the Spirit’s ever sanctifying work on my soul. This year, as I was doing so, I noticed a troubling trend. I found repeated phrases such as, “God, keep me from ever,” “God, grant me grace again for,” or “God, I am still struggling to…”. I would repeatedly pray in these generalized terms. I would ask God to resolve an issue and then move on only to find the issue was still an issue in the next prayer. As I read these prayers, my mind would fill in the blank journal lines that separated each prayer. In those undated, wordless spaces between entries, I knew my various struggles with sin and self still grew and thrived.

I remember from a young age my father constantly telling me, “Be diligent in the little things.” This was often from me neglecting to do my homework. I already had learned the information; I could ace the paper and the exams, and end up with a decent grade. Why should I bother with the busy work? That’s how I lived, and it was also reflected in my prayer life.

I believe in grace. I believe that right now and forever I am clothed in the righteousness of Christ. I believe that when God looks at me, he sees Jesus. I also know that, despite my belief, I still sin. I get weary. I get weighed down. Far too often, I feel the Spirit convicting me of sin and self-centeredness followed by his gentle goading towards holiness.

A major problem with my prayers, as I have said, was that I often prayed in generalizations. I prayed that God would forever free me from depression or a particular sin. I would then continue to go about my life expecting God do His work. I was expecting, but not depending. Hence the blank spaces in my journal, and hence the same heart-broken prayer to follow a few days later when sin and depression returned. While I know the big picture (being that I am eternally in Christ), I forget that right now I exist in time which is made up of moments. It is in these moments that I am called to reflect the character of Christ.

It is minutes and seconds that compose holiness.

I think it is important that Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). I believe this sets the tone for the rest of the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). At the start of the prayer, Jesus prays in general for God’s eternal glorification, the advancement of God’s Kingdom, and the execution of God’s will on earth (Matthew 6:9-10). However, I believe when Jesus asks for daily bread, he is calling for his people to a daily dependence on God for their daily needs. God’s people are to daily ask for provision; daily ask forgiveness of sin; daily ask protection from temptation and the evil one. Jesus is teaching his people to daily depend on God for their needs which primarily include their holiness. Jesus is calling his people to do their daily homework of grace, not just pass the exam of conversion.

I no longer only pray in generalizations; that God would deliver me from this or that forever, or that God would forever meet whatever present need is on my mind. I do still hope in many instances that God’s sanctifying work would be permanent. And, I do think that there are many general things Christians should still pray for. However, when it comes to my personal holiness, I no longer pray that God would make me forever holy. I already know that I will fail, and that is why I need Christ. Now, I just pray that God would make me holy for today, and that is enough because forever includes today.

This is the Year We Were Supposed to Leave Midwestern Seminary

By Jared Wilson / Sep 13

“We plan; God laughs.” — old Yiddish proverb

But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. — James 4:16

In 2009, we moved from Tennessee to Vermont where I planned to pastor a church and stay until I died. I told everybody that who would listen. I have never felt “at home” anywhere I’ve lived more than I did in New England, and that certainly helped. My plan was to pastor that little church through decades of seasons, and I really did mean it. I wasn’t just telling people what I thought they wanted to hear. (In a way, I was telling people what I wanted to hear.)

When it became clear to us that our time there was drawing to a close, it was very disorienting for me. I was embarrassed and afraid. I announced my resignation through tears, shaking in the pulpit. I knew it was right to trust the Lord’s leading, but I didn’t really understand it. And I can’t say I really liked it.

In 2015, I moved my family from Vermont to Kansas City, Missouri, where I planned to work at the resurgent Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. We had no background or family in the Midwest. I didn’t have a seminary degree. Other than my undergraduate degree, which I earned totally as a commuter, I had no experience in institutional or academic environments. We came to Kansas City really beat up, honestly, and licking our wounds. I said to my wife, “We’ll just be here long enough to get our girls out of school and see them off. Then, we can regroup and decide what we want to do.”

My plan was to just get through the next season, get to the empty nest, and then weigh our options about the next ministry assignment. But something weird happened. I found that I enjoyed my work here more than I thought I would. Discovering a vision for teaching that I didn’t anticipate, I finally got my seminary degree and eventually transitioned from my role in the communications department to faculty. My wife and I began to mentor and disciple young men and women at our church. And our church especially became a place of great healing and nourishment for us.

As we just delivered our youngest daughter to college in Pennsylvania, this is the year we were supposed to be making our “next season” plans. But each year we’ve been here, we’ve seen ourselves staying put longer. And all our thoughts about the future at this moment entail ministering from here. This place is home.

What I had envisioned once as “forever,” the Lord declared a season. And what I once envisioned as just a season, the Lord has appeared to declare . . . well, longer than that.

I don’t know why I have to keep relearning this lesson. Old Yiddish proverbs notwithstanding, I know what the Holy Bible says about saying what you’re going to do tomorrow. In short, don’t. We don’t know what the Lord is going to do tomorrow. I think it’s okay to make plans — wisdom would demand it, in fact. But making predictions, having a certainty about what’s uncertain, resolving beyond one’s knowledge — these are the ways of foolishness. When you get right down to it, we are all just little corks bobbing around in the unpredictable waves of God’s sovereignty.

I won’t pretend his way is always comprehensible, much less comfortable. But he’s never done me wrong.

So, for anybody who got nervous reading the title of this post — relax. We’re planning to be in Kansas City a long time. If the Lord wills.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” — James 4:13-15

God Has Destined Us for Sonship Not Employment

By / Sep 13

“In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 1:4-5)

The Not-So-Whole Story

We’re all familiar with the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). It’s the one Jesus told about the fellow who couldn’t wait to get out on his own. So he decides to ask his father for an advance on his inheritance, which is basically another way of saying, “Listen, Dad, I can’t sit around forever and wait for you to die so I can get what’s coming to me. I want it now.” Despite the unthinkably dishonoring nature of this request, the father grants it. And the son takes off, putting as much distance between himself and his father as he possibly can.

With moneybags in tow, the son wanders to a faraway city to live out his own version of the good life. He arrives ready to spend his inheritance on any and every decadent activity he can think of. But the thing is, such a lifestyle can only last for so long. Eventually, the money runs out.

With nothing in the bank and nowhere left to turn, the son gets the only job he can find: taking care of pigs. In the minds of the first-century Jewish audience to which this story was being told, the very idea of a Hebrew taking care of pigs would have been offensive. After all, swine were unclean according to the law (Lev. 11:7). But remember, the offensiveness of this detail had a very specific purpose. Jesus was wanting to convey just how far this son had fallen. In fact, He includes one more detail to make matters even worse: the son is so poor and so hungry that he seriously begins to consider eating pig slop. Pig slop! This would have been more than enough to get any self-respecting Israelite thinking, “Okay, now this guy is officially scum.”

But here’s where the parable takes a turn. As the son entertains the thought of taking a bite of the slop, a lightbulb suddenly comes on. He gets to thinking, “Hey, I’ll go back home and see if Dad will hire me. I mean, his servants eat pretty well and have a decent place to live. Surely, he won’t want me for his son anymore, but maybe he’ll give me a job.” So the son heads home, practicing what he’s going to say to his father: “I’m not worthy to be your son, so make me your employee instead.”

The End.

Wait, the end?!

Getting Past The Middle

Even though we know the rest of the story, we too often live as if it ends right there. If our lives were any indication of how things turn out for the prodigal son, the credits would roll as he heads home with fingers crossed, hoping his dad will treat him as a hireling. We tend to approach our relationship with our heavenly Father like that as if we’re His employees trying to compensate for our moral and spiritual deficits. Functionally, we get stuck in the middle of the parable. Theologian Sinclair Ferguson puts it this way,

“Despite assumptions to the contrary, the reality of the love of God for us is often the last thing in the world to dawn upon us. As we fix our eyes upon ourselves, our past failures, our present guilt, it seems impossible to us that the Father could love us. Many Christians go through much of their life with [this] suspicion. Their concentration is upon their sin and failure; all their thoughts are introspective” (27).

That version of the Christian life sounds familiar, doesn’t it? We can be so discouraged by our sin and failure that we end up not being able to move past the son-seeking-employment part of the story. However, as God would have it, that is precisely what we’re being invited to do—to get past that part of the story so that we can run into the Father’s loving embrace.

But for that to happen, we need a good dose of Gospel sanity. We need to revisit the stunning reality that in eternity past, our Father chose us to be His sons and daughters. Long before we ever did anything right or wrong, He claimed us to belong in His family. Why? Because He loves us. It’s as simple as that. The Bible couldn’t be clearer: “In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:4-5).

Yes, our God and Father has destined us for sonship and nothing can change that. It was done “in love,” which means, though we’ve sinned in more ways than we can count, He won’t banish us to eke out the Christian life in the servant’s quarters until we can get our act together. No, we always have a place at the family dinner table. Ours is the seat in between our doting Father (Ps. 18:19) and Jesus our loving elder Brother (Heb. 2:11-12). God’s predestining love has guaranteed that seat for us now and forever.

So let’s get beyond the middle of the parable, shall we? God has arranged everything so that we can experience the best part for ourselves—the father running wildly down the road toward his son, the son being enfolded in Dad’s loving embrace, the feast on the table, and the rambunctious celebration filling the corridors of the father’s household. That’s God’s heart for us. It’s time we allow His astonishing grace to interrupt our lame speeches about making up for our sins. Quit all your self-focused introspection long enough for this life-changing reality to land upon your heart: our Father doesn’t need us to be His employees; He wants us as His own dear children, and for no other reason than because it brings His heart the greatest pleasure to see prodigals come home. He really loves us that much.

Preaching is Indispensable

By / Sep 10

Preaching is not optional to the life and health of the church. A church that does not emphasize and value preaching is not simply a different style church, it is an unfaithful church. J.I. Packer warns,

History tells of no significant church growth and expansion that has taken place without preaching (significant, implying virility and staying power, is the key word there). What history points to, rather, is that all movements of revival, reformation, and missionary outreach seem to have had preaching (vigorous, though on occasion very informal) at their center, instructing, energizing, sometimes purging and redirecting, and often spearheading the whole movement. It would seem, then, that preaching is always necessary for a proper sense of mission to be evoked and sustained anywhere in the church. ¹

Preaching is uniquely the God-ordained means for the proclamation of His gospel message and the nourishment of His people. Edmund Clowney critiqued the contemporary fascination with drama over preaching. He wrote, “Preaching the Lord as present in the Gospel narratives has more power than do the best films that seek to portray the ministry of the Lord. . . . The effort to give reality beyond the preached word fails as fiction. The actor is not Jesus.” ² Haddon Robinson noted that “To the New Testament writers preaching stands as the event through which God works”³ There have always been those who have considered straightforward preaching to be outdated, irrelevant, and foolish, but God calls it His wisdom and declares that He “was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor 1:21).

According to Paul, preaching is an expression of the sovereign purposes of God. As Leon Morris notes regarding Paul’s statement about preaching in 1 Cor 1:21, “Pleased fixes attention on God’s free and sovereign choice.”⁴ In Speaking God’s Words: A Practical Theology of Expository Preaching, Peter Adam describes the great theological foundations for preaching with the following simple phrases; God has spoken, it is written, preach the Word.⁵ The Scripture begins with a sermon, Adam carefully explains,

God’s revelation begins with a sermon; God preaches and the world is made. ‘God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.’ Six sermons are preached in a wonderful sequence; the Word of God is proclaimed in heaven’s pulpit and all comes to pass; the preaching forms the universe . . . the Word preached is no empty word; it accomplishes what it pleases and never returns void to him who speaks.

God’s proclamation of His own Word and the creative, effective power of His Word is immediately evident in the created order.⁶ Carl F.H. Henry points out the awe-inspiring wonder of God’s decision to speak when he writes, “Revelation is a divinely initiated activity, God’s free communication by which he alone turns his personal privacy into a deliberate disclosure of his reality.”⁷. According to His design God’s spoken Word soon became God’s written Word. Adam reminds that “What we have in Scripture is the revealed and preserved words of God.”⁸ Jay Adams avers,

These written and preserved words of God possess no less authority than the spoken words of God. Commenting on 2 Timothy 3:16, Jay Adams contends, “What Paul is affirming about the Bible is that it is as much the very word of God as if it had been spoken audibly by God by means of breath. It is His Word. If God were to speak audibly what He wants us to know, He would say nothing more, nothing less and nothing different that what He has written in it. It is identical with anything He might have spoken by breath.⁹

The reality of God’s revelation, preservation and inscripturation of His words led J.I. Packer to assert that Scripture itself “may truly be described as God preaching.”¹⁰ Everything God has revealed about Himself is to be proclaimed and the preacher who is faithful to the written Word of God is functioning as God’s mouthpiece to deliver God’s message to the people.¹¹ According to Roger Wagner,

Many preachers are tempted to identify themselves with the congregation in preaching, rather than with God. This may be the most significant reason for their feeling ill at ease in speaking to their congregation in the second person. Such preachers do not want their people to get the impression that the preacher is holier than them—for preachers know that they are not. Conscious as they are of their sin, it is natural for them to identify themselves with their people as being in need of the grace of God, ready and willing to hear what God has to say from His Word. The genuine piety behind such an attitude is indeed commendable. Nevertheless, this point of view can come to expression in the wrong way, and create problems for the preacher. If a man, even for the most noble of motives, identifies himself primarily with the congregation in preaching, rather than with God, the best he will be able to do is speak from God to them. He will not function as God’s mouthpiece, bringing God’s life-giving message to the people—correcting, rebuking, and encouraging them in God’s name (i.e., on His behalf).

Thus, the God who has spoken and caused His Word to be written commands those who lead His churches to “Preach the Word” (2 Tim 4:2). Preaching is dangerous—an indispensable act of spiritual war. Martin Luther explained the cosmic combat of preaching in this way: “Indeed, to preach the word of God is nothing less than to bring upon oneself all the furies of hell and of Satan, and therefore also of . . . every power of the world. It is the most dangerous kind of life to throw oneself in the way of Satan’s many teeth.”¹² I fear Luther’s words sound melodramatic to many contemporary evangelicals. It is hollow to defend the authority of the Bible while domesticating it by our lack of confidence in the indispensable power of preaching.

James I. Packer, “Why Preach?,” in The Preacher and Preaching, ed. Samuel T. Logan (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1986), 21.
Edmund Clowney, Preaching Christ in All of Scripture (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2003), 49.
Haddon W. Robinson, Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980), 17.
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985), 44.
Peter Adam, Speaking God’s Words: A Practical Theology of Expository Preaching (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1996), 15-56.
Ibid., 15.
Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority: God Who Speaks and Shows, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1999), 17.
Adam, Speaking God’s Words, 27.
Jay Adams, The Christian Counselor’s Commentary: 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus (Hackettstown, NJ: Timeless Texts, 1994), 77.
James I. Packer, Truth and Power: The Place of Scripture in the Christian Life (Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1996), 163.
Roger Wagner, Tongues Aflame: Learning to Preach from the Apostles (Geanies House, UK: Christian Focus, 2004), 74.
Martin Luther, “On the Councils and the Church,” in Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, Weimarer Ausgabe, 25: 253.

Editor’s Note: This originally published at Prince on Preaching.

Steve Bezner on Maintaining Community in a Growing Church

By / Sep 10

We asked Steve Bezner, “How do you maintain a culture of community in a growing church?”

The Resurrection as a Landmark in Acts

By Mike Brooks / Sep 9

The book of Acts is one of the longest and most wide-ranging books in the New Testament. It covers a span of about 30 years, from Jesus’s ascension to Paul’s imprisonment in Rome. Readers are taken on a journey from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, all the way to the center of the Roman empire. We meet an Ethiopian eunuch, a council at Mars Hill in Athens, Roman governors, two king Herods, Paul of Tarsus (and his teacher), Jewish factions, and a Roman centurion. There are councils, stonings, healings, resuscitations, a shipwreck, a snakebite, and a girl possessed by a python spirit (16:16).

It can be tough to know how all the events in this wonderfully wide-ranging book fit together.

Thankfully Luke, the author of Acts, provides some helpful landmarks to help us identify some of the most important points, while also helping us to keep our eyes on Jesus himself.

The Resurrection and the Unity of Acts

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the key emphases of Acts, and this helps us appreciate the theological unity of the entire book. Click To Tweet One of the key landmarks Luke provides is the persistent emphasis on the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection plays a crucial role in the longest speech of Peter (at Pentecost), the two longest speeches of Paul (at Pisidian Antioch and before Herod Agrippa II), and the speech of James at the Jerusalem Council. It’s also key to understanding Paul’s conversion, for it is the risen Christ Paul meets on the road to Damascus—and Paul retells this story twice after it is narrated in Acts 9. It pops up in many shorter speeches besides.

In sum, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the key emphases of Acts, and this helps us appreciate the theological unity of the entire book.

A few examples will illustrate this. In Peter’s Pentecost sermon the resurrection of Christ fulfills Psalm 16. Because Christ has risen, he is the ultimate Davidic king, and because he lives, the proper response is faith and repentance. Similarly, in Acts 13 Paul points out that Christ by his resurrection is the true Son of God who reigns over all the nations. Later, when Paul states that he is on trial because of the resurrection of the dead (23:6), this is not merely a rhetorical ploy. This is a faithful summary of his message: for Jesus is the living Lord of all (see Acts 10:36).

Once we start looking, we’ll find the resurrection is highlighted throughout Acts. The apostles’ preaching in Jerusalem is summarized as resurrection preaching (4:33), Stephen saw the glorified Jesus (7:56), James spoke of the rebuilt Davidic dynasty realized through the resurrection (15:16), and Paul proclaims even to the Areopagus council that Jesus is the risen judge of all people (17:30–31).

What is the point of the resurrection? The resurrection demonstrates the righteousness of Christ—it was wrong to put him to death, for he is the fully righteous Son of God (Luke 23:47). By means of the resurrection he has been installed as both Lord and Christ, and he reigns over an everlasting kingdom (Acts 2:36). The resurrection is not alien to the Scriptures, but fulfills them. In this way, the resurrection legitimates the early Christian movement, and demonstrates the veracity of Scripture. God had not abandoned his promises, but the resurrection is the hope of Israel (28:20).

The Resurrection and the Unity of the New Testament

Speaking of Scripture–Acts also provides a glimpse into the unity of the New Testament. If the resurrection helps show the coherence of the book of Acts, the book of Acts itself is an important facet of the overall unity of the New Testament.

The resurrection is not alien to the Scriptures, but fulfills them. In this way, the resurrection legitimates the early Christian movement, and demonstrates the veracity of Scripture. Click To Tweet Put simply, the resurrection is not an ancillary doctrine, but is central to all the books of the New Testament. The resurrection is necessary to understand the Gospels, Paul’s letters (and Hebrews), the Catholic Epistles (James through Jude), and Revelation.

It’s interesting that in the ordering of early Christian manuscripts, Acts proved to be quite flexible: it was sometimes grouped with the Gospels, sometimes with Paul’s letters, and quite frequently, with the Catholic Epistles. There are surely a number of reasons for this, but one of the key takeaways is how Acts serves as a lens for interpreting various portions of the New Testament. In fact, it may be that the resurrection emphasis of Acts, read alongside other New Testament books, helps us see the resurrection emphasis elsewhere in the New Testament as well.

For example, while the Gospels mention the resurrection in a more limited way, Acts supplements these accounts by filling in more details—including specific Old Testament texts that Jesus’s suffering, death, and resurrection fulfill (see Luke 24:44–47). Similarly, the New Testament epistles say relatively little about Jesus’s resurrection. Instead, they assume it. It may be that Acts was often grouped with the letters to provide the proper narrative framework for understanding the teaching of the letters, including how to contextualize their authors: especially Peter, James, John, and Paul. Reading Acts alongside New Testament letters helps provide the christological context for the calls to Christian living, and the importance of the resurrection for understanding this Christology.

Conclusion

There is much more to Acts than only the resurrection of Christ. But the resurrection is indeed one of Luke’s key emphases, and we do well to reflect on its wide-ranging significance. By tracing this theme throughout this wide-ranging book, we’re able profitably to keep our eyes on Jesus and what he has done for us—including how he reigns even now.

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Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared at the blog for Credo Magazine. Brandon covers these themes in more detail in The Hope of Israel: The Resurrection of Christ in the Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2020).

The Servanthood of the Believer

By / Sep 8

Love gives without expecting in return. This can be challenging because it does not come naturally to us. We are not naturally selfless. We are, by nature: selfish, self-driven, self-obsessed, self-promoting, and self-prioritized human beings that could stand a good and hearty lesson on love and selflessness. Followers of Christ are to be imitators of Him, who is the most servant-hearted of all. God, in His authoritative Word, has much to say to the Christian about being servant-hearted.

While walking the road going up to Jerusalem, Jesus tells the twelve disciples about the sufferings to come. As they spoke with him, Jesus tells them what a servant is not. He uses the rulers of the Gentiles as an example, saying that they lord their power over the Gentiles. Jesus continues,

“But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45 NASB)

Being a servant is being proactive in loving others well. It is not merely speaking of the desire to love and serve but to live out what Jesus commands of us. Jesus says,

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13 NASB)

To love without expecting in return applies to every aspect of our lives: work, school, marriage, family, friends, church, etc. The joy in loving and serving is blessing the receiver. Loving others becomes tainted when our intention is rooted in self-motivation, manipulation, pridefulness or expected reciprocation. In other words, if Jesus Christ is not our example and motivation for why we love and serve others, then our intentions are rooted in self. We cannot simultaneously live for ourselves and live for Jesus. Living for Jesus means that our lives declare His lordship. One of the ways this is expressed is how we love and serve those around us. Jesus tells his disciples,

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25 NASB)

Here are four characteristics of a servant-hearted Christian:

They are unwavered in their dependence on the Lord.

Do you pray diligently for the Holy Spirit to make you more servant-hearted?

Do you believe God can help you be more like Jesus in His selflessness?

In what areas of your life is the Lord prompting you to be more servant-hearted?

We must first be a servant of Christ Jesus. How can we biblically serve others if we aren’t serving the One who teaches us how to?

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”(Romans 8:11-14 NASB)

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” (Galatians 5:16-17 NASB)

They selflessly serve.

Are you serving with joy and willingness?

Do you feel your needs are more important than the needs of others?

Are you disappointed when something you’ve done for someone isn’t reciprocated?

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:3-7 NASB)

They generously serve.

Do you allow ill feelings to drive your willingness to serve another person?

Do you find yourself feeling inconvenienced by the needs of others?

In what ways has God provided opportunities for you to serve another person?

“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” (Colossians 3:12-14 NASB)

They authentically serve.

Are you genuine in the ways you serve those around you?

Do you find yourself serving others to make a good impression?

In what ways do you show others that you love and care for them?

Are you reliable in your commitments?

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:15-17 NASB)

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” (Colossians 3:23-24 NASB)

The Love of God…More Than A Second-Hand Emotion

By / Sep 8

One of the most remarkable things that has ever been said is that the God who made the universe loves us.

To better understand the weightiness of this, we have to understand the meaning of love. Love as we understand it is typically associated with feelings that come and go. One pop song tells us that love is a sweet, old-fashioned notion and a second-hand emotion. But the biblical picture of love is much more breathtaking than this.

When Jesus says that God so loved us, what does he mean?

Love Means Covenant

The anchor of covenant travels through the pages of Scripture. God makes a covenant with Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, and ultimately with all who have faith in Jesus. The essence of his covenant is, “I will be your God, and also the God of your children, and you will be my people.” Here, we are promised his steady presence, his enduring kindness, his relentless commitment never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). In the same way that a bride and groom covenant to be faithful to one another in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, for better or for worse, so God covenants himself to us.

Being in covenant with God means that once we become his children, we cannot un-become his children. In other words, we are safe with him. He will not reject us. On our best days and our worst days, he will remain loyal to us. This is a unique truth about Christianity. God will continue to accept us, even when we fail him repeatedly. He will not push the eject button on us when we fall short of the mark. We are never on eggshells with him because the God who forgives is the God who stays. This cannot be said of our work. If we fail at our work it won’t forgive us…we’ll be fired. It cannot be said of our investments. If we predict the market wrong, they will not forgive us…we’ll be in the poorhouse. Ultimately, it cannot be said about people either. While some are more prone to forgive than others, if we fail people badly enough, there’s no guarantee they’ll give us a new start…trust may be permanently broken. But Jesus! Jesus is the God who stays with us, seventy times seven and then some.

Love Means Intent to Restore

Though God invites us to come to him as we are, this is not an invitation to stay as we are. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we are his “workmanship” (literally his “poem”), created in Christ Jesus for good works. When God created human beings, he created us in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. In the beginning, male and female together reflected his likeness as his “very good” crown of creation (Genesis 1:26-27). But when we sought independence from him, our very-goodness was marred like the defacing of a magnificent piece of art. Ever since, we have not been what God intends for us to be. But God, being the Redeemer of all that is broken, intends to restore the whole universe back to its original glory and beauty (Romans 8:18-25). This especially includes people, who are his joy and his crown. Scripture promises that when God is finished restoring us, we will be like Jesus, with a character that is perfect, completely free from all transgression and corruption.

J.I. Packer says that to truly love someone is to make them great. It is to look at the caterpillar and envision the butterfly, and be committed to come alongside the caterpillar to help it along toward becoming the butterfly. This is God’s intention toward us.

As God’s image-bearers, we are carriers of this restoration impulse. We are motivated to mend that which is broken, enhance that which is dull, beautify that which is unsightly. Mechanics restore cars, contractors restore houses, physicians restore bodies, ministers restore souls, and so on. We love the feel and look of a nice haircut, a newly-hemmed pair of pants, or a restored piece of wood. We enjoy making new things out of what has decayed through time and the aging process. This is nothing less than a reflection of the image of God in us.

Love Means Enjoyment

Did you know that God doesn’t merely love you through Jesus, but that he also likes you? He is very fond of you. If you are his child, he takes great delight in you and rejoices over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). He calls you his beloved, and wants you to think of him in the same way. Does this blow your mind? If not, don’t you think that it should?

We all want to be enjoyed, don’t we? Students light up when they get a paper back and the teacher’s comments say, “Great job! A+!” Athletes come alive when the crowd cheers in appreciation for their performance. Employees feel larger than life when the boss rewards their hard work with a promotion or a bonus. Children are always crying out to their parents, “Watch me!” because they want to be praised, adored, approved of, and enjoyed. A bride blushes when she walks down the aisle with all eyes gazing at her in all of her loveliness. We want to be cherished, and guess what? God cherishes us! This is part of what he means when he says that he loves us.

My dear friend and long time “big brother” Scotty Smith tells the story of a wedding he once officiated, in which the groom, upon seeing his lovely bride at the back of the sanctuary, left Scotty’s side and ran to her! The groom was so taken by his bride’s beauty, that he could not bear to be separated from her for even another second. He happily made a “fool” of himself in front of a full room of family, friends, and other guests. The Father in heaven, who wants us to call him “Abba” (an Aramaic word meaning “Papa”), the Son who calls us his bride, and the Spirit who pours out the love of God in our hearts, loves us in a similar way. If you don’t believe it, just read Luke 15 and remind yourself that you are the lost sheep and he is the Shepherd rejoicing at the sight of you. You are the lost coin that is found and he is the woman who celebrates after recovering her wealth. You are the lost son and he is the father who throws a “welcome home!” party in your honor. You are the resentful son and he is the father who reminds you that all he has is yours and invites you into the party.

So, will you go in to the party? His love awaits.

Editor’s Note: This originally published at ScottSauls.com

Episode 134: Raleigh Sadler on Human Trafficking

By / Sep 8

On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson talks with Raleigh Sadler, founder and president of Let My People Go and author of the book Vulnerable: Rethinking Human Trafficking, about the misconceptions we often have about the problem of trafficking and how we can help.

Pastors, Fight Against Fear of Man by Fighting for the Fear of the Lord

By Mike Brooks / Sep 7

When I began pastoral ministry, I didn’t realize it would be my job to disappoint people. I had to tell a young man he wasn’t ready for ministry. I had to counsel a couple that they shouldn’t get married. I had to inform the church that Sunday’s text means exactly what they don’t want it to mean. Pastoral ministry is full of no-win decisions. Because of this, ministry is a miserable place for a pastor who needs everyone’s approval.

If we knew that before 2020, we know it even more now.

Fear of Man & Pastoral Ministry

This sinful desire for the approval of others is often called “the fear of man.” We were made to desire loving relationships, acceptance into a community, and the favor of those in authority over us. But the fear of man multiplies and warps these desires into an insatiable hunger for applause, honor, and status.

In pastoral leadership, this wrongly placed fear surfaces in many ways. It makes a pastor perform in the pulpit, but never quite preach from it. It makes him hide in his study with the light off, afraid the bully member might swing by. It fixates him on what would make his favorite professor proud, so much that he forgets to ask what his people need. It addicts him to fame or internet attention. It makes him easily manipulated by those who know how to hand out honor, shame, and pressure.

Every pastor struggles against this in different ways, but their hearts all say the same thing: “I need approval to be happy.” Young pastor, learn to overcome the fear of man now.

That’s easy to say. But how?

Fighting Fear of Man

There’s a temptation to fight fear of man with self-confidence or a foolhardy “who cares what anyone thinks” attitude. But that won’t work. After all, humans were made to revere something. The question isn’t whether we will tremble, but what will make us tremble. The only pastor who won’t tremble before the honor and shame of others is a pastor who has learned to tremble before God. This must be part of why, again and again, the Bible urges leaders to fear the Lord (Exo. 18:21; Deut. 17:18–20; 1 Sam. 12:14; 2 Sam. 23:3–4; 2 Chron. 19:7; Neh. 5:9, 15; Ps. 2:10–11, Lk. 18:2).

The fear of the Lord is a glad trembling before God that leads to humility and obedience. Like the word “thrill,” the word “fear” can be either positive or negative. It’s possible to be afraid of God, but the man who rightly fears God enjoys the thrill, the breathlessness, the awe of glimpsing God’s glory. This man knows his own smallness—and doesn’t mind it.

Over the years, this trembling disposition will form a man into a courageous and gentle pastor. He’ll learn to sit patiently while a church member scolds him or hurls false accusations at him. When that conversation is over, he can love that member even more than he did before. He can do this because he does not need others to tell him he is great. He is so consumed with God’s greatness that he is free from the fear of man.

Trembling before God does more than help a pastor overcome the fear of man. It actually becomes a source of strength for his leadership, giving him integrity (Deut. 6:2; Job 1:1, 8, 2:3, 4:6; Prov. 6:6) and wisdom (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7) while also blessing his wife and children (Ps. 128:3–4: Prov. 31:30). These qualities make him a more credible and effective leader. Some church members may not like the direction he takes Wednesday night Bible study, but they will recognize a gentle father whose children obey him. They will notice when he sorts out a sticky staff situation with God-fearing wisdom. A member whose husband left after two years will notice when her pastor leads for twenty years without a moral failing. In the fear of God he earns their trust while he also becomes a better steward of that trust.

What Your Church Needs

Future pastor, local churches need unwavering leaders who fear the Lord. They don’t need you to meet their expectations, but they do need to see your hand tremble when you hold up your Bible. They need to know that you would rather have the whole room turn on you than utter one word that displeases the Spirit. That means they need you to close the door to your study, read your Bible, and marvel at the God who forgives sinners. They need you to learn the fear of the Lord.

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared at the 9Marks blog and is used with permission.