A Praying Church?

Sinclair Ferguson was interviewed about what concerns him about churches today. What concerned him most was the lack of prayer and corporate prayer in the church. He says this:

Again there is the lack of prayer and of the Church praying. This is to me the most alarming, for this reason: we have built apparently strong, large, successful, active churches. But many of our churches never meet as a congregation for prayer. I mean never! What does that indicate we are saying about the life of the Church as a fellowship? By contrast, the mark of a truly apostolic spirit in the church is that that we give ourselves to prayer and the Word together (Acts 6:4). No wonder “the Word of God continued to increase and the number of the disciples multiplied” (Acts 6:7). If this is so, it should not surprise us that while many churches see growth, it is often simply reconfiguration of numbers, not of conversion. I greatly wish that our churches would learn to keep the main things central, that we would learn to be true Churches, vibrant fellowships of prayer, Gospel ministry and teaching, genuine mutual love. At the end of the day, such a Church simply needs to “be” for visitors who come to sense that this is a new order of reality altogether and are drawn to Christ.

 You can read the whole article here.

 

 

Why the Church is So Important

Some helpful thoughts from Simon Austen on why the church is so important in God's purposes:

It is both humbling and exhilarating to think that the local fellowships of believers, of which we are all a part, are pictures of what God is going to do in eternity. Until that day when the new heavens and earth are created and the visible unity God purposes are seen in their fullness and glory, the only visual point of contact between the heavenly realms and the earthly realms is the church. That is why church is so important and why church is so difficult. Satan does not want the church to be what we are – for when we live rightly, then it becomes apparent to Satan that his days are numbered, and to the world that the power and purposes of God are in operation. As we love one another and live as the church, the world sees that we are disciples and the principalities and powers get a foretaste of their future destruction.

Declaring a ceasefire on the Worship Wars!

While seems like the Worship Wars have gone cold I would like to go a step further and propose a ‘conservative’ troop withdrawal. You see while the shots may have gone quiet, ‘checkpoint Charlie’ still exists in our minds but its time for the wall to come down. 

However, before I go any further... a confession. I have not always been a conscientious objector when it has come to the conflict. I have been known to enjoy a good grumble at those who abuse words like ‘worship’ with reckless abandon.

But when it comes to the worship wars I think the battle has moved on and those of us on the more conservative end of the spectrum need to lay down on arms, take a deep breath and count to ten. For the following reasons:

First 'Worship' is a better word than 'praise'.

Perhaps it's just me but 'time of praise' to me feels a little bit insipid, a watered down version of the passion and abandon which may be observed in other corners of the church family. Moreover, worship is a right response to God and it is what we are doing when we sing... so why not call it that? If worship is simply ascribing worth to someone or something then surely that is what the heavenly host are doing in Revelation 4 and 5 as they sing "Worthy!". Therefore, our singing here on earth joins with that eternal song and is to be rightly called worship!

Second I am convicted that there is something special about corporate worship which is not present when we are the scattered people of God. We meet in our churches as a foretaste of that heavenly gathering when we will perfectly worship our God eternally. Additionally our coming together has only been made possible by the new life given to us in Christ, therefore it is right to celebrate with our new family, to lift our hands in worship and adoration.

Third At this point the conservatives begin to twitch and say, "but worship is all of life!”

This is true and perhaps our more charismatic brothers and sisters have, by implication, defined 'worship' in unhelpfully narrow terms. But not all those in the charismatic camp believe exactly the same thing. For sure there are those who make sung worship the be all and end all. Yet at the same time there seems to be those who are perfectly aware that our whole life is to be a "spiritual act of worship" (Rom. 12:2).

So perhaps we conservatives should be quick to adopt an attitude of generosity, being prepared to give the benefit of the doubt that when they sing "Come, now is the time to worship" they don't mean that 47 seconds before, it wasn't!

Moreover, to jump off the deep end when we are not clear how an individual or a church contextualizes the word ‘worship’ theologically means that we are in danger alienating brothers and sisters who would otherwise be co-workers for the sake of the gospel. Appearing more interested in semantics than souls (I'm not saying that's the case, but perhaps perception can reflect reality).

Please, let us strive to be doctrinally orthodox, praise God for the theological bloodhounds who can smell a heretic a mile away... but let's just make sure we don't end up mauling friends just because they talk about the 'worship' and not a ‘hymn sandwich’.

Preach the Word!

An excellent rap here from Shai Linne on the first mark of a healthy church: expository preaching. He very helpfully brings out the importance of faithful expository preaching for the church. Well worth listening to, whether you're a fan of rap or not, and whether you're a preacher or not.

Do Christians Have to Join a Church?

Here's a very helpful short video from Mike McKinley, answering the question "Do Christians have to join a church?" Mike shows the importance of the church, and why it is that as Christians it is vital for us to be part of a local church.

A Dead Carcass or A Silent Trumpet

One of the greatest temptations we face as Christians both individually and corporately is to assume the gospel. This is a temptation to think that once we have 'understood' the gospel of Christ and Him crucified, we can now move on to other 'more mature' things.

Whilst, it is true that we are to move from milk to solid food as we mature as Christians (Hebrews 5:11-14), this does not mean that we move on from the gospel to other things. As we grow in Christ we are to hunger more and more for solid meaty food, we are to long more and more to understand deeper the truths of the Bible. However, in all of this we never outgrow the gospel of Christ and Him crucified. Instead, we are to desire to know it more deeply and more clearly. The more we mature and grow as Christians the more we should recognise our need for the gospel and the more tightly we ought to cling to Christ.

Christ and Him crucified ought, therefore, to have the central position in our life and in our teaching. If we move on from this we put ourselves in a very dangerous position. Recently I came across this warning from J. C. Ryle to churches tempted to assume the gospel and move Christ crucified from the central position He ought to have:

Whenever a Church keeps back Christ crucified, or puts anything whatsoever in that foremost place which Christ crucified should always have, from that moment a Church ceases to be useful. Without Christ crucified in her pulpits, a Church is little better than a dead carcass, a well without water, a barren fig-tree, a sleeping watchman, a silent trumpet, a dumb witness, an ambassador without terms of peace, a messenger without tidings, a lighthouse without fire, a stumbling-block to weak believers, a comfort to unbelievers, a hot-bed for formalism, a joy to the devil, and an offence to God.

One Great Lesson

When asked in an interview recently as to what was one of the greatest lessons that he has learned, Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said these words:

I think the one great lesson the Lord has taught me over these years is that the importance of the family and the local congregation supersedes every other [human] relationship to which the Christian is called. Christians demonstrate the glory of God and the power of the gospel by the way we marry and stay married, by the way we raise our children, by the way we love each other, and by the way we live faithfully in the congregation of believers. In the end, I fear that far too much energy is devoted to and far too many hopes are invested in institutions, programs, and projects that will not last. The centrality of Christ’s purpose to glorify himself in His church and the blessings of God that are directed to the precious gift of the family — these far exceed our other allegiances.

The Importance of Being Under the Ministry of the Word

Sinclair Ferguson shows the relationship between our tongues and our sitting under the ministry of the Word. May we allow the word of Christ to dwell in us so richly so that we cannot speak in any other accent.

Don't Assume the Gospel

What is it that excites you? What is it that excites you corporately as a church? What it is that we rejoice in and celebrate as a church shows where our priorities lie. Therefore, we must ensure that the gospel is what we are constantly rejoicing in, both individually and corporately. We never move on from the gospel. Therefore, we must never cease to let it be the centre of what we delight in. If we do not do so we begin to assume the gospel, which in turn leads to being not far from throwing out the gospel altogether. Don Carson has some helpful words of warning on this:

I have been teaching more decades now that I can count and if I have learned anything from all of this teaching, its this: my students . . . learn what I’m excited about. So within the church of the living God, we must become excited about the gospel. That’s how we pass on our heritage. If, instead, the gospel increasingly becomes for us that which we assume, then we will, of course, assent to the correct creedal statement. But, at this point, the gospel is not what really captures us. Rather, is a particular form of worship or a particular style of counseling, or a particular view on culture, or a particular technique in preaching, or—fill in the blank. Then, ultimately, our students make that their center and the generation after us loses the gospel. As soon as you get to the place where the gospel is that which is nearly assumed, you are only a generation and a half from death.

Why the Church should be more like a Gay Bar: Part 2

Following Friday's post...Below is a short interview with Alex Earley the pastor who planted a church in a "gay friendly rock and roll bar". Enjoy!

Why the Church should be more like a Gay Bar

In his book 'Church Planter', Darrin Patrick gives the example of a pastor who couldn't find a venue for his church to meet.

One day he saw that the local Gay Bar was advertising for bar staff, so he applied and got the job. Over a period of time the owner (an atheist lesbian) began to ask him about his faith and his plans to plant a church and by God's grace she offered him the use of the bar on Sundays to hold services, and they have been there ever since!

The reason why I think this story should resonate with us is because the church and the Gay community are (in some ways) quite similar.
For most homosexuals, the gay community is a refuge, a safe haven from the bitterness and rejection of society, parents and peers... it is a place where you don't need to pretend to be someone you're not. This means that being gay is not just about sexual preference, it's about being accepted for who you are in a community where love and affirmation are supposed to eclipse fear and rejection.

But does it work?
Reality tells us that the answer must be, 'No'.

Acceptance within the gay community is not unconditional, entrance is granted on the basis of 'coming out', which often means breaking any relationships that would hinder being 'out and proud'... including marriage. This is not only painful for the person but also for those who love them.

Hollywood portrays homosexual relationships as long lasting and monogamous, but reality is far different. Promiscuity, violence and suicide ravage the gay community with the result that people again feel the rejection and pain they once tried to flee from.
(If you think this is a caricature, Tom Schmidt in his book 'Straight and Narrow' offers some startling statistics from a range of non-Christian sociologists on the topic.)

Why should the Church be more like a Gay bar?

Homosexuals feel an acute sense of different-ness which means that who they are is not fully realised without reference to the gay community.
Similarly, 1 Peter 1 tells us that the Church is a gathering of aliens and strangers, people who feel a disconnection with the world around them. This is because they have been made members of a new community in Christ.

The church can offer a love and acceptance which transcends that of the gay community because it is not based on sexual preference but on Christ's finished work on the cross.
This is the radical message of the Gospel; that Christ comes and eats with tax collectors and sinners and then dies to give them a new life in him. Am I saying the church can cure homosexuals? No, God can, but even if he doesn't, the life we live by faith in Jesus is more free and flooded with more love than the gay lobby could ever dream of offering.

If this were fully realised in our churches, homosexual Christians would not sit in our pews scared of coming forward for support and counsel for fear of rejection. Instead we would comfort the sexually broken with the arms of the gospel and help homosexuals to grasp what it means to be godly men and women in Christ.

If this were true of our congregations non-Christian homosexuals who look at us and say "see how they love one another" because they would see that affirmation is not on the basis of sexuality but on being an image bearer of God, made alive in Christ, loved and accepted by their heavenly father.

Does this mean that the Church should sweep the Bible's teaching on homosexuality under the carpet? No of course not, God's design for sex and marriage is clear and homosexuality does not fit that paradigm.

However the Bible's teaching on sexuality is only one part of our identity as human beings and we must not succumb to the wisdom of the age which defines people primarily by their sexual preference. If we do we reduce ourselves to mere parts and functions.

Rather the identity of the Christian is 'in Christ', united to him and to other believers. This non-transient fact gives more security, affirmation, love and acceptance than any other relationship homosexual or heterosexual.

So why should the church be more like a gay bar?
Because the Church is a community of misfits who have been made alive by the death and resurrection of Jesus and as a result feel out of place in the world. Therefore we are able to empathise and reach out to others who also experience that acute sense of different-ness. However the Gay Bar can only dream of offering that which Christ offers. It’s cheap counterfeits of identity, love and community don't last and don't satisfy but in Christ they are a fully realised part of the transformed Christian life.