Words on Wednesday: Lloyd-Jones on Expectancy

Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a pastor in the mid-20th century, known for his passion in the pulpit and powerful ministry through some tough days at Westminster Chapel in London.  He speaks, below, about preaching, but what if we applied to our anticipation of Sunday?  How would that shape our readying ourselves to meet God?

Seek Him!  What can we do without Him?  Seek Him!  Seek Him always.  But go beyond seeking Him; expect Him.
~ MLJ, Preachers and Preaching, italics added

I wonder what our church gatherings would be like if we let that quote shape our preparation for the gatherings...

Words on Wednesday: Willard on Grace

If you know me at all, you know that Dallas Willard was a literary mentor of mine.  I met him a few times too, but I've devoured what he's written.  Here's a helpful quote from him on grace:

To "grow in grace" means to utilize more and more grace to live by, until everything we do is assisted by grace.  Then, whatever we do in word or deed will all be done in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3.17).  The greatest saints are not those who need less grace, but those who consume the most grace, who indeed are most in need of grace - those who are saturated by grace in every dimension of their being.  Grace to them is like breath.
~ Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart

Did you catch that?  Grace isn't for the immature but the mature.  It's not for the baby but for the seasoned.  It's the immature that thinks they can do stuff that matters on their own, in their own power.  The seasoned saint knows the folly of that approach.

Yield to Him.  Depend on Him.  Rely on His grace.

Words on Wednesday: Emotions Tell Us about God

Our emotional struggles reflect far more than our battle with people and events; they reveal our deepest questions about God.  Anger asks:  Is God just or will He let the wicked win?  Fear asks: Can I trust God to protect me from harm?  Jealousy asks:  Is God good or will He leave me empty and bless others?  Despair asks:  Will God leave me isolated and alone?  Contempt asks:  Does God love me or will He turn away in disgust?  Shame asks:  Does God love me or will He hate me if He sees me as I really am?

James Wilhoit, Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered, p. 65

Adapted from The Cry of the Soul by Dan B. Allender and Tremper Longman III

Words on Wednesday - Readying to Preach on Sunday

Thinking a lot about the cross in light of my sermon this coming Sunday.  It's always good to think about the cross, but in particular on Palm Sunday I talk about the penal substitution of Jesus, His propitiation for us.  Consider this quote:

"His fine, sensitive membrane of the soul had in nowise been scorched by the fire of iniquity.  No sin. He was perfectly pure and healthy.  No power had been blasted by the lightning of passion.  No nerve had been atrophied by the wasting blight of criminal neglect.  The entire surface of His life was as finely sensitive as the fair, healthy skin of a little child." ~J. H. Jowett as quoted in Dan DeHaan, The God You can Know

My tribute to Dallas Willard

The saying goes that bad stuff happens in threes.  I have mourned the passing of three people this month.  George Jones.  Brennan Manning.  And now Dallas Willard.

Dallas Willard, for those who do not know, was a professor of philosophy at USC and a writer of important things in both the academic world and the realm of spiritual formation.  I have heard him a dozen or more times in person, the first time in the late 1990's as a seminary student.  I have heard dozens upon dozens of speeches/sermons/presentations that he has given thanks to the internet and CDs.  I have consumed every word that he has written that is available for consumption.  His book The Divine Conspiracy has stained me.

I owe him a lot.

He taught me about life in the Kingdom of God as a present reality when all others had pointed me to a Kingdom that was yet to come.  No doubt the fullness of the Kingdom isn't here yet, but the honest student of the Bible can't dismiss the present reality of the Kingdom Jesus declared and made available to those made right with God through confidence in Him.

He taught me about saying things in a way that make people think.  My favorite by far:  "Oh, I think God will let anyone into heaven who can stand it."  That sounds like damnable heresy at first blush and the most glorious truth of God's renovative conspiracy when you think about it longer.  In case you need help, think of it like this:  those who will want to be in heaven when it's available are those that God is in the process of transforming; and those who continually spurn Him won't want to be with Him until it's too late for them to join Him.  But saying the Truth in a way to make it stick is crucial.

I have certainly caught some grief from friends about my near-idolization of Dallas Willard.  But I don't mind their critique.  Even when I might quibble with something in writing or speech, I always knew I needed to think longer about it before picking too big a fight over it.

But my favorite thing about Dallas Willard was his generosity.  I have no idea how generous he was financially but I do know how generous he was relationally.

I spent an entire evening with him around a dinner table at a Shoney's restaurant.  There were about 4 college and seminary students right in the palm of his hand.  But we never felt that way, because he was always asking questions of us.  He genuinely cared and wanted to know about our lives.  When I shared about some of the college ministry we were doing, he specifically asked more questions about it and then gave me his email address to send the answers.  Although we tried to get him out to our church a couple of times and the schedule wouldn't allow it, I cannot help think about that three hours at Shoney's.  It shaped me.

Rest in the Kingdom, dear Dr. Willard.  You were a friend and mentor from afar.  And I'm the better man for it.

Brennan Manning died too...

A couple of weeks ago, Brennan Manning stepped off the planet and into the capable and loving hands of his Abba.  If you have no idea who Brennan Manning is or think he's in the hands of a celestial disco band from Sweden, then let me take just a moment to explain.

First, Abba.  Not ABBA.  Abba was the name that Brennan most called God.  It's a Semitic expression that renders into English as something like, "Daddy," "Papa," (think Poppa, not Pawpaw) or Popeye's "Pappy." It's colloquial and ever-so-slightly informal, still carrying a sense of reverence but with familiarity.  It's relational to the core but not titular in the least.

And it's perfectly biblical.

The Spirit of Jesus is in us crying, "Abba!" (Gal. 4).  The Spirit of adoption, knowing we are in the family, prompts us to cry, "Abba!" (Rom. 8).  Jesus Himself faced the Garden of Gethsemane with Abba on His lips (Mark 14).  Familiar.  Relational.  Reverent.

Second, Brennan Manning.  I've written about him and his memoir before here.  I'll tell you I'm grateful for him and his ministry, particularly his authorship.  I know more of grace because of that guy.  May that be said of me one day too.

Perfect?  Hardly.  Broken?  Certainly.  Irresponsible?  Probably.  Used?  Definitely.

May that be true of all of us.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

C.S. Lewis: the prophet(?)

In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.

From the Abolition of Man, 1943

That should immediately affect my parenting and pastoring.  How about you?

Book Review: Rachel Held Evans' A Year of Biblical Womanhood

Actually, this is not MY review.  It's Kathy Keller's, who has an M.A. from Gordon-Conwell Seminary and is married to a highly influential pastor in evangelical life, Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City.  She's also, if I may point out the obvious, an accomplished woman, renown in ministry, theologically degreed, and in blistering disagreement with what seems to be a biblically unsound book.

The most devastating paragraph of the devastating review is this conclusion:

Rachel, I can and do agree with much of what you say in your book regarding the ways in which either poor biblical interpretation or patriarchal customs have sinfully oppressed women. I would join you in exposing churches, books, teachers, and leaders who have imposed a human agenda on the Bible. However, you have become what you claim to despise; you have imposed your own agenda on Scripture in order to advance your own goals. In doing so, you have further muddied the waters of biblical interpretation instead of bringing any clarity to the task.

As a woman also engaged in trying to understand the Bible as it relates to gender, I had hoped for better.

The full review is here:  LINK.

RHE is one of the people who has seemingly made it a profession of taking up other people's hurts as her own and parlaying that victimization into books, blogs, and bucks.  I can respect someone I disagree with, but it's tough for me to respect someone like her.  And now, based on this review, there is significant twisting of basic biblical interpretive principles to, once again, move books from shelves to nightstands.

Buyer beware.

In honor of All Saints Day: Trueman on Luther

Carl Trueman has posted a powerful piece playing on Martin Luther's 95 Theses that set off the Reformation, shaking and shaping the world.  Trueman writes of 9.5 Theses for the modern church that Luther would probably post.  Worth thinking about...

1.  Luther saw leadership as primarily marked by servanthood - "The minister, like his Saviour, was to serve the poor and despised and the things that are not."

2.  Luther understood worship as rooted in repentance - "[Luther] did not consider that the primary problem of sinners was that they were hurting...[but] that they were in deliberate rebellion against God and actually enjoying it."  Ouch.

3.  Luther did not care for they myth of cultural influence nor for the prerequisite cultural swagger necessary to catch the attention of the great and good - "He knew that the world really cares nothing for nuance nor for the friendship of the church and attempts by the church to befriend the world are always disastrous to the former."

4.  Luther saw suffering as a mark of the church - "Suffering and being regarded as scum by the world were to go with the territory."

5.  Luther was pastorally sensitive to the cherished practices of older Christians - "The contemporary cult of youth and innovation would have struck him as utterly wrong-headed and insensitive, a capitulation to the tastes and demands of the very category of people least likely to have anything useful or wise to contribute to how the church should go about her business."

6.  Luther did not agree to disagree on matters of importance and thus to make them into practical trivia - "Luther did not allow the tastes of his own day nor the urgent need of a broad confederation to lead him to set aside what he was convinced was the teaching of Scripture."

7.  Luther saw the existence of the ordained ministry as a mark of the church - "Luther quickly came to see that ordained ministers, those chosen by the church as exhibiting the moral and pedagogical abilities described by Paul, were the ones to whom the church was entrusted.  There is a lesson here for a world like ours, where the Beautiful Young Things with computer savvy can aspire to set the churches' agenda by sheer strength of technological ability."

8.  Luther saw the problem of leadership accountable only to itself - "The problem of unaccountable and influential leadership in evangelicalism is alive and well."

9.  Luther thought very little of his own literary contribution to Christianity - "If here were alive today, it is very doubtful that he would be running a website devoted primarily to promoting his own books and pamphlets."

Read the whole thing here.  It's worth your time.

Book Recommendation: Sacred Marriage

Well, folks, if you haven't picked up Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas you absolutely should do so and do so right now.  In fact, here's a link to it.  Order it immediately.  Then read it.  And encourage your spouse to read it.  Then read it again.

I've read it before and have recently reread it.  It's so rich and wise and full of perspective when it comes to marriage.  His point is in the subtitle:  what if God intended marriage to make you holy rather than to make you happy?

I won't spoil the book, but let me just say that he interacts well with current culture as well as historical thought and does both in a way that's accessible.  And it's really well written.

But the big thing is it is challenging.  It will push you.  And that's a good thing.  Because marriage matters.  And Jesus matters even more.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

You'll need 34 minutes...

But it's worth every moment.  Eric Metaxas wrote the Bonhoeffer biography that I posted about a few months ago.  This is a gem.

And it covers exactly what we talked about this past Sunday regarding dead and empty religion.  You want to know what some of those prophets sounded like?  It might have been just like this...

Great practical advice on time with God

The church staff is reading Desiring God by John Piper.  It's one of the five books that have deeply shaped my life and understanding of who God is and what He wants from us.  We discussed this yesterday in staff meeting and I cannot believe I haven't posted this practical advice here before.  It's a little lengthy but oh-so-worth-it.  This from George Muller, who cared for orphans in England...

While I was staying at Nailsworth, it pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, irrespective of human instrumentality, as far as I know, the benefit of which I have not lost, though now. . .more than forty years have since passed away. 

The point is this:  I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord.  The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord;  but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished.  For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world;  and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit. 

Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer, after having dressed in the morning.  Now I saw, that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed;  and that thus, whilst meditating, my heart might be brought into experimental communion with the Lord.  I began therefore, to meditate on the New Testament, from the beginning, early in the morning. 

The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God;  searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it;  not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word;  not for the sake or preaching on what I had meditated upon;  but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul.  The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication;  so that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer. 

When thus I have been for awhile making confession, or intercession, or supplication, or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the Word may lead to it;  but still continually keeping before me, that food for my own soul is the object of my meditation.  The result of this is, that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication, or intercession mingled with my meditation, and that my inner man almost invariably is even sensibly nourished and strengthened and that by breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not happy state of heart.  Thus also the Lord is pleased to communicate unto me that which, very soon after, I have found to become food for other believers, though it was not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word that I gave myself to meditation, but for the profit of my own inner man. 

The difference between my former practice and my present one is this.  Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible, and generally spent all my time till breakfast in prayer, or almost all the time.  At all events I almost invariably began with prayer. . . . But what was the result?  I often spent a quarter of an hour, or half an hour, or even an hour on my knees, before being conscious to myself of having derived comfort, encouragement, humbling of soul, etc.;  and often after having suffered much from wandering of mind for the first ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, or even half an hour, I only then began really to pray. 

I scarcely ever suffer now in this way.  For my heart being nourished by the truth, being brought into experimental fellowship with God, I speak to my Father, and to my Friend (vile though I am, and unworthy of it!) about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word. 

It often now astonished me that I did not sooner see this.  In no book did I ever read about it. No public ministry ever brought the matter before me.  No private intercourse with a brother stirred me up to this matter.  And yet now, since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for his inner man. 

As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man.  We should take food for that, as every one must allow.  Now what is the food for the inner man:  notprayer, but the Word of God and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts. . .  

I dwell so particularly on this point because of the immense spiritual profit and refreshment I am conscious of having derived from it myself and I affectionately and solemnly beseech all my fellow-believers to ponder this matter.  By the blessing of God I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I have had from God to pass in peace through deeper trials in various ways than I had ever had before; and after having now above forty years tried this way, I can most fully, in the fear of God, commend it.  How different when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials and the temptations of the day come upon one!

(Autobiography of George Mueller, compiled by Fred Bergen, [London: J. Nisbet Co., 1906], pp. 152-154].

Book Review: Bohoeffer by Metaxas

Okay, another few words on a biography I read lately.

Eric Metaxas wrote a biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer called Bonhoeffer:  Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy.  Weighing in at a substantial number of pages, it's a long read but a good one.

The short:  Bonhoeffer was a brilliant theologian and professor and pastor in the late 1920's and 1930's.  As the son of a well-to-do family, he had access and the ability to stand against the rise of the Fuhrer and the Nazis.  He did so, even to the point of participating in an assassination plot.  He was eventually caught and executed in 1945 a few days before the camp where he was held was liberated by the Allied Forces.  In the midst of that, he had underground seminaries running and wrote two Christian classics, The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together.

Metaxas caught a lot of grief for this book from those who want Bonhoeffer to remain a more liberally leaning, neo-orthodox pacifist.  I don't know everything about the man, pastor, martyr, prophet, and spy, so you need to read what I'm about to write with that in mind...

I have no idea how the author caught so much grief.

Metaxas used multiple quotations from personal letters and other writings, including journals.  He had quotations from sources that knew Bonhoeffer.  It seemed every page had some sort of block quote from someone about something that was happening, and most of them were quite extensive.  Either he jerked absolutely everything out of context or others had Bonhoeffer painted in Impressionism instead of Realism.  If someone can prove something different, please contact me.  I'd love to hear it.

I don't think you can (or should) go to the ends that some would want, making Bonhoeffer a white southern Republican Evangelical.  He was a German.  He was more or less neo-orthodox.  But he sure didn't seem like a liberally leaning pacifist.

He was involved in a plot to assassinate a head of state, after all.  I don't see Gandhi getting in on that action.  And he didn't get swept up into it - he thought about it, prayed about it, calculated it, and participated in it.

The narrative did seem to get a little effusive at times.  I'll give the critics that.  But the rest of it was just plain good.  It was well-told.  It seemed to be well-researched.

I have a friend who is a Grade A history professor at Baylor.  I asked him about the book before I dropped my money on it.  He said, "Well, Trent, I'm sure you won't be the worse for reading it."

He was right.  I wasn't.  You won't be either.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

All is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir by Brennan Manning

A long time ago in a blogosphere far, far away, I announced I was trying to read more biographies this year and I'd post some thoughts along the way.  This has not happened.  Well, at least the last part.  I have read some tremendous biographies this year.  But I have not commented on them.

Today, that changes (at least in part).

I read in a single night Brennan Manning's All is Grace:  A Ragamuffin Memoir.  I have no idea if you have interacted with Manning or not or have an opinion on him or not.  Most people who have interacted with him also carry a pretty strong opinion.

Typically, the doctrinally tight-fisted (and that's not derogatory in my mind) don't like him because he's not a systematic theology kind of guy and he's messy and all over the map and quotes people who you may not want to be known for quoting.  The rest of the folks love him because he's messy and all over the map and quotes from people who you may not want to be known for quoting - a little more like their own lives.  And in case you're wondering if you've ever quoted someone you may not have wanted to quote, can you name any songs you know and sing along to that you wouldn't sing in front of your kids?

I consider myself a pretty doctrinally tight-fisted kind of guy.  I know what I believe and I'm a fan of certainty.  I also know I'm messy, all over the map, and played Toby Keith's I Love This Bar one time as a sermon illustration.  No kidding.  The reaction, shall we say, was mixed.

The short:  Manning was ordained a Franciscan priest, left the priesthood to marry, got divorced, travelled the country speaking on behalf of Christ and His love, wrote some incredible books, and did all this while an alcoholic.  Messy.  All over the map.  Etc.

When I was reading the book, I found myself so grateful.  Profoundly grateful.  Shed-a-few-tears grateful.  Put-the-book-down-and-give-thanks-grateful.  I had moments like that when walking through this man's life in words.

I was grateful for his authenticity.  Rare is the writer who doesn't give a @#$% about what people think of him and shares from a place of humility.  Plenty of people do that from the place of pride.  Manning's not one of them.  And if you're offended that I typed @#$%, this book is probably not for you.

I was also grateful for the picture of God represented.  A God of immense grace and immeasurable mercy ravished Manning with His love and it messed him up in the best of ways.  Beautiful.  Living authentically in this river (Ez. 47) is Manning's testament to the world.

And lastly, I was grateful that if God could use Brennan Manning, He might could use me too.  I'm no better.  I'm different.  But I do want to be used.

So pick it up and enjoy.  Grab a friend for a great conversation afterward.  And celebrate the God who takes ragamuffin's like us and does something incredible with them.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

Spending forever with God?

I'd like to follow up on the post from Friday about Rob Bell's forthcoming book.  No matter what he actually says in the book, what he questions, what conclusions he draws or refuses to draw, or how many books actually sell, there is a serious point to be made here.

I brought this up briefly in my earlier post.  Underneath every question about heaven, hell, eternal life, eternal damnation and all of that is another question.  It's a huge question - even bigger than what happens to you when you die.  Underneath the question about where a man or woman spends eternity (and how long he or she is in that place) is the question about how that man or woman becomes rightly related to the Creator God.

I propose this:  you do need saving from God's judgment.  He is holy and righteous.  We are neither.  He is morally and incorruptibly perfect.  We think perfect is a 10 or 27-0 or a 300 game or a hole-in-one.  He is sinless.  We are by nature and choice sinners.

Any and all judgment that we incur is rightly and justly deserved.  It's not that Jesus has to save us from God.  He has to save us from the judgment we deserve.  And He does so by giving His life in our place as a substitute, absorbing the blow of judgment, taking away our sin, and imputing to us His right-standing with God.

That last paragraph - that's the part we can't forget.  Heaven, hell, and a lot of other things take care of themselves when we get the Gospel right.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...

The Year of the Biography

So I'm trying to do a lot more biographical reading this year.  In addition to the books we, as a church staff, read and any others I might pick up along the way, I hope to get through some major pieces of literature about people in days of yore.

Because I'm sticking this out there, I'll also try to post a couple of reflections from the biographies I finish.  I'll start with George W. Bush's Decision Points.  Yes, I know that it's not a biography (technically) and certainly not from days of yore.  But it was a Christmas gift and I wanted to read it.

Bush structured the book around his major decisions while in his presidency.  I found it incredibly fascinating to get into his brain a little bit and hear it from his perspective.  Helpfully, he also provided some background information if it informed his decision making.  He covered the biggies:  9/11, Katrina, Iraq, Afghanistan, and TARP.  There were others too but those are the ones I remember.

As is true with most presidential memoirs, he told it in a way that made him look good.  I don't blame him.  Leadership is hard and you do the best you can.  Not everything can be proactive and sometimes the best thing to do is react.  I will say that I voted for him twice, so I'm disposed toward him generally.  He came across as genuine and thoughtful and wise in seeking counsel.  He was principled throughout, even when I disagreed with his principles (like on the handling of TARP).

I also note that, much like every other leader you can think of, he got more blame than he deserved.  I was flabbergasted at some of the discussion around Katrina and how much a bureaucratic mess it was between the governor and mayor, and how they didn't ask for federal help until it was way too late.

He has funny moments like when he asked then Chief of Staff Josh Bolton if Bono was the guy who was married to Cher.  I laughed.  Out loud.  Pick up the book and you'll enjoy it.  I'm off to read George Marsden's tome on Jonathan Edwards.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...