Every now and then we start a study at MCC that seems to be much more helpful than the average study.  This month, we started one of those studies.

N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope is one of those books that everyone kept recommending, and which I have sitting on my shelf, but which I haven’t quite got around to cracking open just yet.  I wish I had read it sooner.  The DVD study is wonderful, and I highly recommend it if you’re leading a small group or Bible study.  It’s available at a few places, but Amazon and CBD: Reformed seem to have the best prices on the resources.  (And I think only CBD carries the DVD.)

The study centers on the questions, (1) What is our hope? and (2) What are we doing about it in the meantime?  Wright has done a great job so far, and I’ll probably post a follow-up after we’re done with this study.  In any case, the study has already opened up some good discussion at our church about bringing hope (specifically, bringing the hope found only in Jesus Christ) to the children in our drug-riddled, abuse-filled area.

I’ll post in a video below in which N.T. Wright does a good job of laying some groundwork for the content of the rest of the study.

Looking forward to bringing hope to the world,
Dan J.

Church in Vladimir, Russia

I had a visit this evening from a pair of polite, well-intentioned young men.  They were members of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, and they were in the process of visiting homes in the area to share the Gospel.  I offered them a glass of water, and attempted to chat with them a little bit about the content of their tract.  I almost wish I hadn’t.
The conversation was brief, the topic was the King James Version, and the response was about as much as could be expected in an impromptu meeting.  I wasn’t looking for a conversation on the KJV, it just happened to be the core content in the “Gospel tract” they were passing out.  The thrust of the church’s claims, as you can guess, was that God preserved His Word, and that He did so in the King James Bible.  The church website says about as much, with the statement: “We believe that the King James Bible is the word of God without error.”  (Emphasis theirs.)

Since this was the topic on hand, I tried to quickly discuss through some risks inherent in the KJV (you should really read this article by Daniel Wallace for some helpful insights), and then I tried to encourage them to study it for themselves.  Anna started to offer a comment, but they quickly cut her off and said they had to leave.

Bolton Priory

I wish I could stop thinking about this visit and this church, but it sat on my mind for the rest of the evening, and I finally decided I needed to write the pastor.  I’m still waiting for his response, but in the meantime, I just want to throw out this comment:  When a church decides to preserve a culture rather than pursue the Kingdom of God, that church is going to die.

I don’t mean this only with regards to the churches that seek to preserve a KJV-only, men-in-pants-and-women-in-dresses culture.  I mean this just as much for a “contemporvant” church, or a church like Mayer Community Church.  If the members of the church I serve decide to put their cultural values before the Kingdom of God, then MCC will die as soon as the last members of the preserved culture pass away.

Even as I say this, I happily admit that I have been blessed by the flexibility and adaptability of the members of MCC.  They have been very willing to question and weigh every commitment in exploring ways to reach Mayer.  I think that as long as this is the practice, MCC will continue to be effective at making disciples and glorifying God.  How is this done?  By asking questions such as the following:

• Does this ministry practice exist because it satisfies the preferences of the church members, or because it is effective at transforming lives and transmitting the Gospel?
• Does this ministry practice create a communication barrier between generations?  Between the congregation and the community?  Between men and women?
• Has this (long-standing) ministry practice continued to play a part in changing lives, or is it simply familiar?  (You never want to dump a practice just because it’s old.)
• Does this (new) ministry practice enable the communication of the Gospel in a way that makes sense to the people in this community, or does it simply carry the “appeal of freshness.”  (You never want to introduce a practice just because it’s new.)
• Do we as a congregation care most about God’s glory or about our glory?  Are our ministry practices giving evidence of that?

This is nothing formal, but if a church wants to pursue God’s Kingdom, the above list is a rough approximation of a small part of that constant decision making process.  As I said a moment ago, I’ve been happily surprised and encouraged by MCC’s willingness to ask questions like these on a regular basis, and I suspect that it will result in increasingly effective ministry.

Feel free to suggest questions or comments that might help in this battle to put our commitment to the Kingdom of God before our commitment to a specific culture.

Grace & Peace,
Dan J.

“Bolton Priory” Image: Tom Curtis / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The study is led on DVD by Paul Carden, who has over 30 years of experience in researching cults and world religions, and who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Centers for Apologetics Research.  We’ve only just started, and I will be happy to provide a followup, but so far it has proven to be interesting and instructive.  The group at Bible Study has even asked if we can stretch the study an additional half-hour each week to cover some of the topics in greater depth!  Anyhow, if you’re interested in learning more about the study, check out the trailer below, then hit up the link for more more information and sample lessons.

CCR Church Promo from Eric Lau on Vimeo.

See Christianity, Cults & Religions for more info, and drop me a line if you use this resource to let me know how it works out for you.

Grace & Peace,
Dan J.

Reimagining Evangelism

Back in May, I mentioned that we were beginning a new study on evangelism at Mayer Community Church.  We have just completed that study, and I wanted to drop a brief comment here: If you have the chance, go through this study.  It’s not particularly earth-shattering, but it is often helpful in ways that are unexpected.  Anna and I have both found resources and comments in this study that have helped us to redefine our approach to sharing the Gospel.  The study focuses on a few key ideas, but three have seemed to resonate most with the body at MCC:

1. We need to drop the scripts and simply start doing things we love to do with folks who don’t yet know Jesus.
2. It’s important to re-establish trust before proclaiming truth.
3. Simply being present in people’s lives is a fantastic way to gain the opportunity to share the Gospel.

If you’d like more of an idea on Richardson’s approach and general style, feel free to read through his comments on developing a GIG (Group Investigating God), or even through the first chapter of Reimagining Evangelism.  Have fun!

Grace & Peace,
Dan J.

But, as with most jobs, there are a few questions to be asked and a few choices to be made.  How long is too long?  How short is too short?  How often should I step out the main exegetical series (we’re in the Gospel of Mark at MCC) to address particular passages or issues?  Should I even consider this question?  Is it important to develop services for the two main holy seasons (Easter & Christmas)?  Is it important to preach a Mother’s Day message, a Father’s Day message, and a Memorial Day message?

I think, though, that there is one question that many pastors fail to answer explicitly, and in failing to answer this question, they miss out on delivering content that could extend their work indefinitely.

Last Thanksgiving, Anna and I visited family and friends in northern Indiana, and we had the pleasure of sitting in on the church services at McCoy Memorial Baptist Church.  The pastor–Ray Laborde–was addressing 1 Corinthians 9-10, which is a minefield to say the least.  The sermon was excellent.  The applications were helpful.  The delivery was clear and to-the-point.  As a congregant, I found myself edified by Pastor Laborde’s message both that morning, and for some weeks after.  Even today, I feel more able to approach Paul’s letter–all of 1 Corinthians–with a clearer understanding of his goals, the primary themes, and the Corinthian context.  The reason, I think, is because Pastor Laborde chose to “show the seams.”

This is where I stitch things together

By “show the seams,” I mean that Pastor Laborde chose to let the congregation see his work.  He chose to show them the outline that he had developed as he studied the whole book and as he studied the passage in context.  He chose to show them the results of his study into the Corinthian culture and pagan temple practices.  He chose to show them the questions he had as he sought to draw out application for today, and he chose to show them how he moved from these various bits of information to his overarching conclusion.  I think he chose to do all of this intentionally.  He chose to “show the seams.”

So a question I think pastors would benefit from considering and deciding upon is this: Do I show them just the results, or do I show them my work as well?

After we returned from Indiana, I began to consider this question, and I decided to begin showing the work as well.  In practice, this is not that difficult.  It simply means doing little things like:

It’s okay to let them see your work!

• Providing at regular intervals a clear outline of the entire book and of the surrounding context
• Providing at regular intervals a clear outline of salvation history and where the passage in question fits into that history
• Listing the questions that arise from a careful reading of the passage
• Mentioning–at least briefly–the steps taken to answer those questions (What words were worth further study?  What cultural issues demanded attention?  What literature, maps, lexicons, or other resources were available?)
• Discussing the alternative answers and their implications (What do others think, and why did I reject or amend those answers?)
• Commenting on personal, internal battles with the implications of the passage (I don’t mean one should turn the pulpit into a confessional, but that one should identify ways in which they struggled–as all imperfect humans must–with accepting the truths of the passage.)

In ninth-grade math, Mr. S—— always sent my work back with a note at the top: “Show Your Work!!!”  I always said, “But I have the right answer!  What’s the point of writing down all the steps?  It’s a waste of time and paper, and isn’t it important to be efficient?”  (I’m not saying I was a good kid.)  He would reply, “I need to know that you actually know what you’re doing.”

In one sense, showing the seams–or showing our work–as pastors can be helpful to the congregation for much the same reason:

• They can gain confidence in the pastor’s commitment to Scriptural truth and to the work required to draw that truth out
• They can know that their pastor is committed to the truth of Scripture rather than to simply flouting his already-developed beliefs
• They can know that their pastor also remains in need of ongoing transformation
• They can learn to recognize the types of questions to ask as they read the Bible privately
• They can learn what resources are available to answer those questions
• They can gain a deeper understanding of how their devotional readings fit into the immediate context, into the whole book, and into salvation history
• They can begin to recognize why they struggle internally with accepting certain truths in the passage at hand, and once they accept that there is a battle, they can gain motivation to fight for growth

Again, I believe there are countless other benefits when a pastor chooses to show his work.  I have suffered through countless sermons where the pastor simply read the passage, summarized some of the main points of the passage or the narrative unit, followed each with a humorous or engaging illustration, said what he considered to be the overall idea of the passage, and then explained how he felt we should apply that point to our lives today.  This might be nice and it might warm my heart and encourage my soul, at least until I sit down for Sunday lunch.  What it fails to do is provide me with the tools and the insight to continue studying and learning from the passage for the following weeks or months.  So, I suppose that if I can encourage pastors to begin to do one thing, it would be this: Show The Seams.

If you decide to make use of this resource, drop me a line and let me know how it went.  I plan to bring an update in a few weeks as we continue through the study.

Grace & Peace,
Dan J.

"The Risen Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen" by Rembrandt (Wikipedia)

It’s late, and I’ve just finished putting the final touches on the fourth and last sermon in my Easter, 2010 series.  At Mayer, we’ve covered the following:

1. What Were We Created For? (Gen 1:26-31)
2. What Went Wrong? (Isaiah 59:1-8)
3. What Is The Solution? (Mark 15:33-37, John 19:28-30, Matthew 27:50-54; Luke 23:39-43)
4. What Is Our Hope? (Romans 8:18-30)

In all, I’d say that I have felt more comfortable with this series of sermons than any other.  It’s always exciting when you take a long, macroscopic look at the whole narrative of Scripture.  It’s amazing how cohesive it all is.

From beginning to end, we’re confronted with a holy God who created us to glorify Him, to live in a right relationship with Him, and to show forth His image in right relationships with each other and with the created universe.

We’re shown–and we know this to be true–that everything that we were created for has been shattered, twisted, and corrupted by the all-pervasive stench of sin.  Sin has separated us from God and turned us against each other.

And then Christ dies for us, and in his dying moments, he is suffering the full weight of our sin, the separation between us and God that our sin has created, and still this perfect Savior is reconciling relationships, creating a way back to God’s presence, and redeeming us from our sin.

And now, we join with Paul in affirming that because Christ rose again, we can look forward with expectant hope to the full restoration of creation, the glorious resurrection of our bodies, and the final reconciliation between the people of God and God Himself.

I love Easter.  It is nothing less than the Gospel.

Happy Easter,
Dan J.

1QIsa(b) - A Dead Sea Scroll Containing Isaiah 57:17 - 59:9 (Wikipedia)

I’m teaching on Isaiah 59:1-15 this Sunday as the second part of a four part series on the Gospel.  Last week, we looked at Genesis 1:26-31 to discuss what it was that God created us for–I argued that he created us to glorify Him as His image bearers, in harmonious relationships to creation, to each other, and to Him.  This week, we’re looking at what the problem is–why we aren’t enjoying harmony with each other and intimacy with God.  I think Isaiah 59:1-2 makes it pretty clear that it’s not God’s fault.

It seems that Isaiah’s audience was frustrated with God for His refusal to recognize their piety–”Why have we fasted, and you see it not?” (Isa 58:3a)  And God says (in a rough paraphrase), “Do you think I’m looking for a day of fasting, with ashes and sackcloth?  Try mercy and justice instead.  Try feeding the hungry and clothing the naked instead.” (Isa 58:5-7)

And then Isaiah 59:1 opens with this statement: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save…”  What’s the problem then?  Isaiah 59:2 says simply, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God.”

Sin absolutely cuts mankind off from God’s mercies, and no amount of religious activity will do.  Our only hope is that God followed through on His promise in Isaiah 59:20, that He sent a Redeemer for those who turn from transgression.

Please pray for the effectiveness of this series.  Mayer needs Christ.

Grace & Peace,
Dan J.