Progressive Christianity: Another Round of Falsehood
It’s been interesting to me to read and watch church history, especially over the last 100 years or so. False teaching and bad theology just make their rounds. One round will blow through, then comes another and another. There’s never anything new; it’s just a reiteration of old, bad stuff.
Calm Hearts In a Chaotic World
Christian platitudes fall short in effectively dealing with anxiety: “Let go and let God,” “This too shall pass,” “God never gives you more than you can handle.” While we’d like to think a certain amount of self-determination will keep our hearts in a good place, what if the truth is, we need something outside ourselves to have true peace?
We are Saints!
“Saints”.
We’ve all heard of them. What do you think of when you think of a saint? Paintings of biblical figures with halos over their heads? Mother Teresa serving the needy in Kolkata, India? Usually you think of sainthood as something wonderful you did so therefore you are qualified to be canonized as a saint. Saints, or patron saints, are like superheroes.
Why We Are Thankful
Thanksgiving is certainly many people’s favorite holiday - and for good reason. The well-cooked turkey (this year I’m having deep-fried turkey for the first time), the delectable sides (including my favorite: sweet potato casserole), family seated around a common table, and football. But the reason we celebrate this holiday is rooted in a biblical concept: the giving of thanks.
Obviously with a name like “Pilgrim”, I grew up with mixed feelings about Thanksgiving. In kindergarten our coloring sheets were the prototypical male and female pilgrims dressed in Puritan attire - and when I wrote my name at the top of the page the teacher got a nice sarcastic chuckle out of my artistic masterpiece.
The Church and the Kingdom
The ecclesia (church) stands as the visible embassy of the basileia (kingdom). The church – the King’s renewed people – doesn’t need to adopt the methods, songs, strategies, or resources of the world, of Caesar. We have a true and better reality, a true and better song, a true and better doctrine, message, and methodology to promote! If Christianity is “just a religion”, this will cause the gospel message to be “substantially neutralized as a force in the world beyond the realm of private spirituality and an escapist heaven
The Kingdom and the "Already/Not Yet"
To review, the kingdom (basileia) of God is at the same time the ruler, the realm and the reign of Christ – as He fulfills His promise to Israel and subjugates His enemies. The ruler is Jesus Christ, the Eternal-Anointed-Servant-King who commences a “reinstatement of the originally intended divine order for the earth, with man properly situated as God’s vice-regent”[1]. The realm is Christ’s cosmic, visible new creation jurisdiction, whereas the reign is His personal, spiritual rule over individuals who have become born-again citizens through childlike repentance and faith. Jesus, the son of Abraham and son of David, Israel’s King, came as the Anointed One with the authority to restore creation as Isaiah predicted and initiate His loving jurisdiction.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
Acts chapter 2 took place after the resurrection of Jesus, after the multiple public sightings of Jesus for forty days, and after the ascension of Jesus. There were 120 or so believers who were told by Jesus Himself to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit, whom Jesus had said they would be baptized with not many days from now. He explained that the Holy Spirit would endue the church with power to be His witnesses in both the city of Jerusalem, the greater area of Judea, even to those outside of their racial or ethnic comfort zone (Samaria).
The Person of the Holy Spirit
Albert Mohler says, “In some evangelical circles the Holy Spirit has faded into the background of our theological interests, leaving us with an anemic view of the Spirit, and subsequently, a deficient relationship with the third member of the Trinity.”
The Bible is not silent regarding the person and work of the Holy Spirit! He appears on the opening page of Scripture (Genesis 1:2) and is seen throughout, most primarily in perfecting & sanctifying the believer.
22 things about ministry I wished I had known 22 years ago...
The following is a list of lessons that I have learned in ministry over the last 22 years. Although I wished I would have done some things differently, I know that some of these lessons had to be learned in a difficult way. The most important lessons cannot be taught; they must be experienced. Here are twenty-two lessons (in no particular order of importance) that I wished I would have known twenty-two years ago.
What Do Elders do?
The Scriptures explain to us that the chief leader - and very foundation - of the local church is uncontested: His name is Jesus Christ.
Under the authority and direction of Christ, the “undershepherds” include both the elders and deacons. The deacons - literally “servants” - are men who originated in Acts 6 as those who assist the elders in caring for the congregation in practical ways such as benevolent care or in facilitating ministries that serve the church and her needs (in the case of the Jerusalem church in Acts 6, it was caring for and feeding widows who had been overlooked or discriminated against). The assistance deacons provide allows the elders to prioritize their focus on preaching and prayer (Acts 6:4).
Surprised by Mercy
I recently wrote an article titled Trust Issues that gives the backdrop to what follows. If you haven’t yet read that one, it would help to make sense of what follows. You may find some benefit either way or you may not find any good at all! Nevertheless, there is more to the story and I do not believe it to be my own.
We often speak of how good God is and we love to sing “Amazing Grace.” I have been challenged recently, however, to ‘put my money where my mouth is’ on this and practice this kind of faith when dark clouds dim the light of his face.
Grace Upon Grace
Grace is not like the water in that bucket. The water in the bucket was only good for a short period. Once the water rose to room temperature it became ineffective. I think most people live as if this were true of grace. However, grace is not like that at all. Grace is not a temporary fix. Grace is for every moment of every day. Grace, then, is like the water from the faucet. It’s fresh and new every moment and sufficient for whatever we may encounter. It is never ineffective. We often live our lives as if we have our hand in the bucket. We love to get our grace fix and then move on to something bigger and better. Grace is much more than that. Grace is like oxygen. We can’t live without it, and there is an inexhaustible supply to breathe in all day long. Grace in its nature is inexhaustible.
What Greater Sign?
While we celebrate the resurrection particularly on one Sunday a year, Christians also celebrate the resurrection every Sunday. Indeed, we celebrate every Sunday. Often, however, it is easy for us to move back into our sermon series and extra curriculars, and move away from the beauty and power of the fact that this Jesus did rise from the grave.
The Two Gardens
After Jesus died, and it had been confirmed that He was dead, they removed His body from the cross. Joseph of Arimathea, a follower of Jesus, asked permission from Pilate to receive His body. Matthew tells us that Joseph was a rich man, which makes sense as to why he would have a tomb to give away for Jesus’ burial. This might seem like an insignificant detail, but it is, in fact, fulfilled prophecy. Isaiah prophesied that Messiah’s death and grave would be in association with the rich (Isaiah 53:9), but there was more to this tomb than its belonging to a rich man. Matthew, Luke, and John tell us that it was a new tomb (Matthew 27:60, Luke 23:53, and John 19:41). John even tells us detailed information about the location of the tomb. “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.” (John 19:41)
Christus Victor
The nature of the atonement is central to Christian life and theology. Questions concerning the person and work of Christ, the relationship between God and man, the resolution to the problem of sin and the overarching story of redemptive history are all bound up in this discussion. At the heart of this conversation, the nature of the atonement concerns what Christ came to accomplish, what he actually accomplished, and why the atonement is necessary. If we get the atonement wrong, we cannot get the gospel right because the cross is at the center of this good news. Misunderstanding the cross leads to a false doctrine of God, man, sin, salvation, and the overarching message of the Bible.
The Two Who Sang Psalm 22
David is known as the “great psalmist of Israel.” He wrote 75 out of the 150 Psalms which were sung as the ancient hymn book of Israel. These songs, which also serve as majestic poetry, are balms to the human soul. They are raw with great expressions of emotion and display the great heartache and praise of the King of Israel. David was a man who loved the Lord and music, and we are blessed that the Holy Spirit has preserved and inspired these words for us today. Some of the Psalms that David wrote were Messianic. That is, they looked forward to what this “Son of David” would do. Some of the Messianic Psalms are Psalms 2, 22, 69, 72, and 100.
The Beauty of Penal Substitution
“See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?” so writes the great hymn-writer, theologian, and philosopher Isaac Watts. But think about it for a moment, how strange is the phrase, “or thorns compose so rich a crown?” Thorns from a bush doesn’t really demonstrate an exuberant amount of wealth, nor does it display any sort of glory, but shame.