Thursday, May 12, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Cultural Holiness or Biblical Holiness?
Many Christians have what we might call a "cultural holiness". They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them.
As the Christian culture around them is more or less holy, so these Christians are more or less holy.
But God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.
-Jerry Bridges
Monday, May 9, 2011
Church Movements in North America
Consider this article by Dr. Gary McIntosh on what has been happening in the North American Church in the past decades...consider what it means for us today.
Church Movements in the Last 50 Years in North America
Where are we now, and what could God be about to do next to revive the churches of our nation? What do you think?
Church Movements in the Last 50 Years in North America
Where are we now, and what could God be about to do next to revive the churches of our nation? What do you think?
Thursday, May 5, 2011
The Deeps
Lord Jesus,
Give me a deeper repentance,
a horror of sin,
a dread of its approach;
Help me chastely to flee it,
and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Yours alone.
Give me a deeper trust,
that I may lose myself to find myself in You,
the ground of my rest,
the spring of my being.
Give me a deeper knowledge of You
as Savior, Master, Lord, and King.
Give me deeper power in private prayer,
more sweetness in Your Word,
more steadfast grip on its truth.
Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action,
and let me not seek moral virtue apart from You.
Plow deep in me, Great Lord, heavenly Gardener,
that my being may be a tilled field,
the roots of grace spreading far and wide,
until You alone are seen in me,
Your beauty golden like summer harvest,
Your fruitfulness as autumn plenty.
I have no master but You,
no law but Your will,
no delight but Yourself,
no wealth by that You give,
no good but that you bless,
no peace but that You provide.
I am nothing but what You make of me,
I have nothing but what I receive from You.
Quarry me deep, dear Lord,
and then fill me to overflowing with living water.
(adapted from "The Deeps" in Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, page 75)
Give me a deeper repentance,
a horror of sin,
a dread of its approach;
Help me chastely to flee it,
and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Yours alone.
Give me a deeper trust,
that I may lose myself to find myself in You,
the ground of my rest,
the spring of my being.
Give me a deeper knowledge of You
as Savior, Master, Lord, and King.
Give me deeper power in private prayer,
more sweetness in Your Word,
more steadfast grip on its truth.
Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action,
and let me not seek moral virtue apart from You.
Plow deep in me, Great Lord, heavenly Gardener,
that my being may be a tilled field,
the roots of grace spreading far and wide,
until You alone are seen in me,
Your beauty golden like summer harvest,
Your fruitfulness as autumn plenty.
I have no master but You,
no law but Your will,
no delight but Yourself,
no wealth by that You give,
no good but that you bless,
no peace but that You provide.
I am nothing but what You make of me,
I have nothing but what I receive from You.
Quarry me deep, dear Lord,
and then fill me to overflowing with living water.
(adapted from "The Deeps" in Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, page 75)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
What is Biblical Discipleship?
By Coty Pinckney
April 10, 2011
Consider the last few verses of Matthew’s Gospel – what we frequently label “the Great Commission”:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
The primary command in these verses is to “make disciples of all nations” or (perhaps better) to “disciple all nations.” Whatever Jesus means by this command, it includes preaching the Gospel so that unbelievers of all nations come to faith and are baptized, and it includes instruction in biblical life and doctrine.
Question: Where do we see such discipling taking place in the New Testament? In several places:
• There is a good reason why Jesus’ followers are called disciples! He teaches them how to understand their Scriptures; He brings them to the end of their own resources so they must acknowledge their need for a Savior; He shows them by example how to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and how to love their neighbor.
• Paul’s relationship with Timothy is similar. Consider these verses from 2 Timothy 3, written near the end of Paul’s life:
You, however, know all about my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--
which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Paul (as well as Timothy’s mother and grandmother) have taught him the Scriptures, and he has thus been reproved, corrected, and trained by them. Furthermore, he has seen the Scriptures lived out in Paul’s life through patient endurance, through persistent faith in the face of suffering – even being left for dead after being stoned in Timothy’s hometown. So Timothy now is thoroughly equipped – that is, he is discipled, equipped for every good work. So Paul continues in the epistle, solemnly charging his son in the faith to preach that same Word, “with great patience teaching all doctrine” (paraphrase of 2 Timothy 4:2b).
And the New Testament examples do not end with these two! Indeed, every epistle is an example of this discipling process, as Peter, Paul, James, John, Jude, and the author of Hebrews flesh out what the Old Testament Scriptures and Jesus Himself imply about God and man, about sin and forgiveness, about marriage and family, about work and possessions. Every New Testament author is engaged in the discipling process as he writes.
But look back again at Matthew 28:18-20. Does Jesus tell His followers to “teach them all that I have commanded you”? No. He tells His followers to “teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Jesus is concerned not only with passing on a body of teaching, but also with joyous, heartfelt obedience to that teaching. And He means hear not only, “Tell them that they must obey” but “Show them how to obey; display for them what obedience looks like.” This is what Jesus had done for them; this is what Paul does
for Timothy.
So: We have seen that fulfilling Matthew 28:18-20 requires at least three foci:
1) A strategy for reaching all nations, all people groups;
2) A strategy for teaching the “what”: Biblical doctrine;
3) A strategy for showing the “how”: Examples of biblical life well-lived.
4) A strategy for sharing ministry and life, so the person being discipled receives feedback and is thoroughly equipped for his or her role in reaching all nations.
This broad, biblical view helps to clarify several common misconceptions about discipleship, such as:
1) “Discipleship takes place when two people read a book together and discuss it.”
2) “Discipleship means meeting regularly with someone who will help me with my problems.”
3) “Discipleship means committing to meet together indefinitely with a group of people who will help each other battle sin.”
Biblical discipleship may – but need not – include meeting together one on one or in small groups. It will necessarily include instruction in doctrine and Christian living, but that can take multiple forms. It will certainly include dealing with sin in our lives.
But there is a key, underlying error that is common to all three of these misconceptions: Discipleship is not about YOU! Jesus commands us to disciple all nations not in order for each us to get our act together. Jesus commands us to disciple all nations so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. He commands us to make disciples so that those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation will sing, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
(Revelation 7:10).
What then does it mean to be discipled? Consider this definition:
Learning what the Scriptures command,
how to live them out,
and getting feedback as you live out these commands in community,
so that together we might build up the Church among all peoples to His glory.
With this understanding we are faced with key questions:
• How do we structure our local church so that biblical discipleship occurs?
• How do we ensure that each member of our local church is growing as disciple?
• How do we ensure that every member except the newest believer is helping others to grow as disciples?
• How do we ensure that the teaching ministries of the church accomplish the goals of biblical discipleship?
Different churches will answer these questions differently – there are several possible structures within which biblical discipleship can take place. But we must begin by aiming at right goal if we are to have any chance of achieving it.
Will you pray that your church might fulfill this biblical calling? Will you commit yourself to living out these mandates? Will you step out in faith – so that we might make disciples of all nations?
------------------
Coty Pinckney is Pastor of Desiring God Community Church, www.desiringGodchurch.org, part of Metrolina Baptist Association.
April 10, 2011
Consider the last few verses of Matthew’s Gospel – what we frequently label “the Great Commission”:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
The primary command in these verses is to “make disciples of all nations” or (perhaps better) to “disciple all nations.” Whatever Jesus means by this command, it includes preaching the Gospel so that unbelievers of all nations come to faith and are baptized, and it includes instruction in biblical life and doctrine.
Question: Where do we see such discipling taking place in the New Testament? In several places:
• There is a good reason why Jesus’ followers are called disciples! He teaches them how to understand their Scriptures; He brings them to the end of their own resources so they must acknowledge their need for a Savior; He shows them by example how to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and how to love their neighbor.
• Paul’s relationship with Timothy is similar. Consider these verses from 2 Timothy 3, written near the end of Paul’s life:
You, however, know all about my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--
which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Paul (as well as Timothy’s mother and grandmother) have taught him the Scriptures, and he has thus been reproved, corrected, and trained by them. Furthermore, he has seen the Scriptures lived out in Paul’s life through patient endurance, through persistent faith in the face of suffering – even being left for dead after being stoned in Timothy’s hometown. So Timothy now is thoroughly equipped – that is, he is discipled, equipped for every good work. So Paul continues in the epistle, solemnly charging his son in the faith to preach that same Word, “with great patience teaching all doctrine” (paraphrase of 2 Timothy 4:2b).
And the New Testament examples do not end with these two! Indeed, every epistle is an example of this discipling process, as Peter, Paul, James, John, Jude, and the author of Hebrews flesh out what the Old Testament Scriptures and Jesus Himself imply about God and man, about sin and forgiveness, about marriage and family, about work and possessions. Every New Testament author is engaged in the discipling process as he writes.
But look back again at Matthew 28:18-20. Does Jesus tell His followers to “teach them all that I have commanded you”? No. He tells His followers to “teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Jesus is concerned not only with passing on a body of teaching, but also with joyous, heartfelt obedience to that teaching. And He means hear not only, “Tell them that they must obey” but “Show them how to obey; display for them what obedience looks like.” This is what Jesus had done for them; this is what Paul does
for Timothy.
So: We have seen that fulfilling Matthew 28:18-20 requires at least three foci:
1) A strategy for reaching all nations, all people groups;
2) A strategy for teaching the “what”: Biblical doctrine;
3) A strategy for showing the “how”: Examples of biblical life well-lived.
4) A strategy for sharing ministry and life, so the person being discipled receives feedback and is thoroughly equipped for his or her role in reaching all nations.
This broad, biblical view helps to clarify several common misconceptions about discipleship, such as:
1) “Discipleship takes place when two people read a book together and discuss it.”
2) “Discipleship means meeting regularly with someone who will help me with my problems.”
3) “Discipleship means committing to meet together indefinitely with a group of people who will help each other battle sin.”
Biblical discipleship may – but need not – include meeting together one on one or in small groups. It will necessarily include instruction in doctrine and Christian living, but that can take multiple forms. It will certainly include dealing with sin in our lives.
But there is a key, underlying error that is common to all three of these misconceptions: Discipleship is not about YOU! Jesus commands us to disciple all nations not in order for each us to get our act together. Jesus commands us to disciple all nations so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. He commands us to make disciples so that those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation will sing, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
(Revelation 7:10).
What then does it mean to be discipled? Consider this definition:
Learning what the Scriptures command,
how to live them out,
and getting feedback as you live out these commands in community,
so that together we might build up the Church among all peoples to His glory.
With this understanding we are faced with key questions:
• How do we structure our local church so that biblical discipleship occurs?
• How do we ensure that each member of our local church is growing as disciple?
• How do we ensure that every member except the newest believer is helping others to grow as disciples?
• How do we ensure that the teaching ministries of the church accomplish the goals of biblical discipleship?
Different churches will answer these questions differently – there are several possible structures within which biblical discipleship can take place. But we must begin by aiming at right goal if we are to have any chance of achieving it.
Will you pray that your church might fulfill this biblical calling? Will you commit yourself to living out these mandates? Will you step out in faith – so that we might make disciples of all nations?
------------------
Coty Pinckney is Pastor of Desiring God Community Church, www.desiringGodchurch.org, part of Metrolina Baptist Association.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Solo Discipleship
People who claim to be followers of Jesus pack our churches. But they're not connected in community; they try to fly solo. The great John Donne's famous utterance "No man is an island" has been secularized as a noble sentiment for membership in the world community. But as dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Donne was speaking of the disciple's need for community.
Solo discipleship occurs in a program. If I try to fly solo, I'll engage only in activities or spiritual exercises that I have time for, or that seem attractive to me. In other words, I'll maintain control of Jesus' agenda for me and I'll keep my distance from anyone who might threaten my autonomy.
-Bill Hull in The Complete Book of Discipleship
Solo discipleship occurs in a program. If I try to fly solo, I'll engage only in activities or spiritual exercises that I have time for, or that seem attractive to me. In other words, I'll maintain control of Jesus' agenda for me and I'll keep my distance from anyone who might threaten my autonomy.
-Bill Hull in The Complete Book of Discipleship
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
A Radical Yet Realistic Summons
What will our churches and ministries be like if we live out the message that the expectations of discipleship found in the Gospels are expectations for all Christians, not just for a few committed ones?
Jesus wants a church full of disciples who dare to go out into the world to make a difference and to live life the way it was intended to be lived. Yet, as the old hymn goes, "God never gives a call without the enabling." As He calls us to discipleship He is right there to lead the way.
- Michael Wilkins, in Following the Master: A Biblical Call to Discipleship, pp. 46-47.
Jesus wants a church full of disciples who dare to go out into the world to make a difference and to live life the way it was intended to be lived. Yet, as the old hymn goes, "God never gives a call without the enabling." As He calls us to discipleship He is right there to lead the way.
- Michael Wilkins, in Following the Master: A Biblical Call to Discipleship, pp. 46-47.
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