What Do You See?

Hear the CLINK! of the nails as they pierce His hands
And the...lash as they slash this man
Crash this man, hit and harass this man
Bash, stick and inflict mad gashes and
Mentally put yourself at the place and time
Use your faith as a way to trace the crime
Let your mind take you back, laps and laps
Back track till your mind sees back to back

All the things that happened to a silent Lamb
All in chains, trapped like a violent man
Like He forwarded a violent plan, but it was prophecy
That said God would be treated like unwanted property

You've got to see, the ill way that they flogged Him
Blood leaked, it was deep how they mobbed Him
Think thorns worn as a crown
Here the Jews say, "Crucify Him pass it down"

Hear the squeals as the steel comes crashin' down
Can't get pass the sound, teeth are gnashing' now
Veins snap, feel that, hot flashin' now
Draped in blood, covered in a cap and gown

So many cracks from the straps, it numbs the back
Crucifixion makes your lungs collapse
Watch His chest---see Him gasp for breath
Hear Him...and...till there's no gasp left

What do you see when you close your eyes?
What will you see when your life goes by?
Think hard, visualize the ill mob
Either you'll feel God, or your hearts real hard

Concentrate, your mind should stay in study mode
Tell your buddies, "roll" as you contemplate the bloody robe
Which was worn by the One beaten and torn
Killed by the same dust people He'd formed
But He emptied Himself---paused the wealth
Put independent use of His attributes on the shelf

Loving men who weren't loving Him, but were loving sin
Loving gin, lovin' a night at the club again
I'm rubbin' men wrong but souls will die
If my rhyme doesn't come in and blow your high
I'm right in the site of Jehovah's eye
So the gospel I'll tell till I'm old and dry
The world's cold like a frozen pie
With little sense like missing your ears, tongue, nose, and eyes

But back to the ugliest things you've ever heard of
The murder of the One who took more flack than Roberta
They came in droves, "cats" had His veins exposed
Played a game where they claimed His robe
Eyes swollen, even rearranged His nose
Only Providence helped Him sustain the blows

Are y'all seeing the One who owns it all
The King getting beaten in the Roman halls
Headed for a Roman cross, heaven was His home and all
But He wouldn't give His home a call
Soon to dislocate His bones and all
Still wouldn't wish for His opponents fall

Ahhh!---tired, and thirsty too
Blood lost on a cross in His birthday suit
As He droops, pooped from attempts to breathe
I grieve...tears stop my attempts to read
The sign hanging over Him limp and weak
It's (Memphis) bleak---How could this have been meant to be.

What do you see when you close your eyes?
What will you see when your life goes by?
Think hard, visualize the ill mob
Either you'll feel God, or your hearts real hard

No time to blink, but just continue to think of Scripture
Let it convict ya, focus get in to picture
Watch it blow you square off the rector
As it teaches you of Christ the real Victor
Who prevails, you hear the crucifixion details
Now ask yourself why's your life still derailed
And why we fail to live for the One that we nailed
This same Jesus, you know the One we Hail

With our lips but not with our lives
Time to see with the heart and not with our eyes
See the Son, the One, who was hung like a poster
Was buried, and popped up like a toaster
Got all the host of heaven makin' a toast to
The King of kings who brings God and men closer
Sin's roped ya, guns out the holster
Can't stay alive even with John Travolta
Now I hope to pull y'all off the sofa
Cut the TVs pause the CD's, the culture
Is in the midst of a raging storm
The rage is on, obituary page is long
Life is short, but casket sales are high
No surprise that the numbers in the jails are high
On the streets anything you want they'll supply
That's why beer, crack and weed sales are high

Love songs, making you wail and cry
Number of pregnant single females is high
Youth get high---deal just to get by
Doing street corner business with no suit & tie
It's "do or die", truth or lie, you and I
Refuse to try, trust the Crucified

Yo what do you see when you close your eyes?
What will you see when your life goes by?

- William Branch "The Ambassador"

Acts for the 21st Century

So much could be said about the church. So much. I could write a book about it, but it would get lost in the shuffle, literally, with the thousands of other books written on the subject. I could write about the problems in the church, some of which give people (even now, as you're reading this) a bad taste in their mouth, and a bad (inaccurate) view of Christianity and maybe even Jesus. I could write about possible solutions to these problems in the church, some of which are really bad ideas, but are extremely hip right now. I could do and say a lot of things.

Instead, I'm going to give you bible study notes from the Book of Acts. Boring, right? Actually, you might be surprised. These outlines represent the skeleton of deep, penetrating, and transforming conversations that are going on right now among a community of people who are committed to trust and wait on a God who saves. These are the beginnings of a life-long dialogue about the Bible, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel that is as relevant today, to all people, as it was in the days of the early church and the beginnings of Christianity. These are observations and convictions that confirm the Gospel and the function of the church. These are cries and praises of a community of people who are desperately and passionately working out their salvation with fear and trembling. These are the evidences that the Bible is not just about the grace of God, but it is grace, delivered on the spot, to its hearers. Much is not included in these "notes", as conversations of this depth cannot be easily summarized, and are more powerful in community. But they lay and describe the foundation of a real gospel community that is about the Bible, Jesus, the Cross, and the implications of these absolute truths to our time and our culture. You can fill in the blanks. The impact of this foundation is limitless.

I pray as you glance through it, and mediate on the themes, that the Spirit of the Living God would convict, empower, encourage, and transform you in a way in which you experience saving faith in Jesus Christ, be assured of it daily, and become equipped to be vessel of it to everyone you encounter. This post will be updated as we work through the book.

ACTS 1

I. General

a. Gospel balance – word and community; sermon and togetherness in Ch 2

b. Application
i. What’s the point? Personal holiness, passion or means to serve, give life meaning
ii. Eternal value
iii. Should happen naturally, shouldn’t have to force it
iv. Don’t stray too far from text

c. Scripture
i. God-breathed; grace to you on the spot

II. First book – v. 1

a. Luke
i. Luke 4:18-19
ii. Upside down kingdom, day of reversals

III. Began to do and teach – v. 1

a. It is finished, but still more to do
b. Balance of doing and teaching

IV. What disciples needed and what we need - v. 2-3

a. Commission from Holy Spirit
b. Verification of Resurrection
c. Further instruction about the Kingdom of God
d. Eventually presence of Holy Spirit

V. Acts 1:8 – outline of book

a. BUT
i. Romans 3:21, Romans 5:8 – Gospel is but
ii. God knows best, power is better than kingdom now

b. POWER
i. 4th thing disciples and we need – Lloyd Jones story of child and father

c. WITNESSES
i. Not about figuring out timing and details but about being witness; not about us
ii. Need empowerment from Spirit
iii. Plural

VI. Ascension – v. 9-11

a. What does it mean for us that Jesus is alive in heaven?
i. Working through us from heaven
ii. Power of God – exaltation of Christ, not just incarnation
iii. Continuity between ministry of Jesus, disciples, and then church
iv. Sending of Spirit – “better that I go”
v. Pledge of return – he’s coming back
vi. Missionary activity of church rests on presence in heaven, hope of return
vii. Christianity Today article in context of depression

VII. Prayer – v. 14

a. Why would it be hard to “devote yourself to prayer” for them?
i. Waiting on God (on Spirit), not ready to receive answer

VIII. Invincible power of Holy Spirit – v. 16

a. Why did Scripture HAVE to be fulfilled?
i. Psalm 69 and 109
ii. Lloyd Jones analogy of child and father’s face in time of crisis and danger

IX. Judas – v. 16-20

a. Why use Judas to demonstrate this?
i. Not out of control like canon – God is in control

b. Why talk about his replacement?
i. Not just about power but also teaching and work of historical Jesus

X. Matthias – v. 23

a. Why Matthias?
i. Spiritual calling in church – Assessments
ii. Think of yourself as Matthias

XI. Barsabbas (Joseph, Justus) – v. 23

a. Why not Barsabbas?

i. Spiritual calling outside of church
1. Hope International
2. Good Samaritan Network
3. Prison Ministry

ii. Casting lots was before Holy Spirit
iii. Think of yourself as Barsabbas

ACTS 2

I. Acts 2: 1-13

a. “Day of Pentecost”
i. God’s timing
1. Feast of harvest
2. Lots of pilgrims from across known world in town

b. “Suddenly”
i. We cannot make the Spirit come

c. “Wind”
i. Violent / mighty rushing
ii. Like a tornado – freight train sound
iii. They were inside – “house where they were sitting”

d. “Tongues of fire”
i. Presence of God in holiness and purity
ii. Experience of John White – vision at Bible study during prayer

e. “Rested on each of them”
i. Not a free for all release of Holy Spirit, but individual distribution
ii. Knowledge – passion – zeal
“Every remnant of timidity, hesitancy, weakness was swallowed up in experience of God’s greatness.”

f. Verse 4

i. Spirit-filling (various times) vs. Spirit baptism (one-time)
1. Pentecost, various times in Acts, conversion
2. 1 Corinthians 12:13

ii. Main points of filling with the Holy Spirit
1. Permanent indwelling
2. Formation of new body
3. Power

iii. Tongues vs. Languages
1. Not about tongues as much as harvest
2. Promise to speak in foreign language – Isaiah 28:11
3. Audience was different than in Corinth – people understood!

g. “Multitude”
i. At least 3000 – Verse 41
ii. Based on capacity of temple area, could have been 200,000

iii. Diversity
1. Racial reconciliation not possible without Spirit of Jesus Christ
2. Pentecost is reversal of Tower of Babel; human unity in God’s unhindered work
3. New social identity

h. “Mighty works of God”
i. They heard the Gospel in their own language
ii. Spirit-filled connection with Gospel proclamation and service, outreach

i. “Amazed and perplexed”
i. Division in Christian community: People who say “what does this mean?” vs. people who say “they are just drunk.”

j. Application
i. Openness to rejection
ii. Courage in relationships
iii. Live on God’s relational agenda

II. Acts 2: 14-41

a. “What does this mean?”
i. Embrace questions
ii. But there is explanation

b. Sermon
i. Should be exciting and leave you asking questions and talking about it after church

c. Are we in the last days?
i. Heb 1:1-2, 1 Peter 1:20, 1 Cor 10;11, 1 John 2:18, Matt 24:9-19
ii. God’s purpose is to empower people in last days

d. Was Joel’s prophecy fulfilled?

i. Why does it matter?
1. Because we are in the “Chapter of the Spirit”
a. Chapter of the Father – Old Testament
b. Chapter of the Son – Life, death, resurrection of Jesus
c. Chapter of the Spirit – empowerment, conviction of sin, Great Commission

e. What do you dream?
i. Not just at night
ii. Scripture said all would be prophets – old, young, men, women, servants, masters
1. Spirit-prompted, yet fallible – 1 Thess 5:19-22

f. Was Jesus the Messiah?

i. Miracles

ii. Resurrection
1. Verse 23 – God’s sovereignty and human responsibility

iii. Ascension

g. Did you crucify Jesus?

i. Do you reject God’s endorsement of Jesus?

ii. If so, either you or Jesus is a blasphemer
1. Worked signs and wonders through him
2. Planned his death for sins of the world
3. Raised him from the dead
4. Exalted him and subjected enemies to him
5. Declared worthy to receive and deliver power of Spirit

h. How often are you cut to the heart?
i. Daily repentance – thinking and action – 2 Chronicles 6:38
ii. When you see your rejection of God, you understand grace
iii. Cross-centered service – only kind that is uniquely Christian

III. Acts 2: 42-47

a. Fellowship
i. What maintains it?
1. All things in common – Christ, not personalities, traits, or backgrounds

b. Sharing – Acts 4:32
i. What motivates it?
1. Awe, fear in God and his promises
2. Materialism in our culture vs. hope in Jesus

c. Sincere heart – Hebrews 10:19
i. What assures it?
1. Faith in God’s promises
2. Encouragement – from each other, and from God
3. God’s Word – grace on the spot

d. Continuing to be devoted
i. Apostles’ teaching
ii. Fellowship – sharing not just possessions, but time, property
iii. Breaking bread – sharing meals
iv. Prayer

ACTS 3

I. Wonder and Word

a. From Acts
i. Wonder = healing of crippled man
ii. Word = name of Jesus Christ

b. From our lives and culture
i. Wonder - ?
ii. Word - ?

II. Attitudes towards disciples go from favorable to antagonistic

III. Wonder is not from our own power or godliness

IV. Perfect health / complete healing

V. Healing leads to proclamation of a saving power that goes beyond physical healing

VI. Questions

a. In what ways are we, or our culture, lame and crippled?

b. What do we / they really need? (What word?)

c. What is the name of Jesus to you?
i. Eternal life, love, salvation, grace, path

d. What is saving power? What does salvation mean? What does it have to do with fellowship?

e. What is the love of God?

f. Is it possible to understand this love without understanding sin, wrath, and the cross?

g. If not, how are we to love others?

h. What does fellowship look like when we understand this love?

i. What about when we don’t?

1 John

“Fellowship with God is essence of eternal life”

LIFE OF FELLOWSHIP

I. Resources of this life

a. Objective: External pattern to imitate – Jesus Christ
i. Light – walking in holiness
ii. Love – words and deeds, selflessness

b. Subjective: Internal power to experience – Jesus Christ
i. Light – sensitive to sin
ii. Love – see needs of other people

II. Values of realization of this life

a. Value for us
i. Realize life that God intended for us
ii. Intimacy with God perfects our personalities

b. Value for God
i. God enjoys fellowship with us
ii. Sees in us a way to manifest His glory, be instrument of His grace

III. Responsibilities in this life

a. Light
i. Obey – responding positively to knowledge of God’s will
ii. Seek – forsake darkness of obedience and keep walking in the light

b. Love
i. Yield to its impulse – don’t quench the Spirit
ii. Guard love’s purity – love never justifies sin

IV. Application

a. Individual – test whether we are living in fellowship with God
i. Is light of holiness shining brightly?
ii. Is love burning brightly or is life just about learning?

b. Church – keep priorities in line with God’s
i. Intimacy is His goal for us
ii. Rather have few committed disciples than multitude of compromising disciples
iii. Pure church is more important than large church

ACTS 4

SALVATION IN NO ONE ELSE

I. What is salvation?

a. Forgiveness of sin
b. New life
c. Comes from the name of Jesus

II. Why is this good news?

a. Healing – For people

b. Power – For prayer
i. “place was shaken”

c. Boldness – For Proclamation
i. Sovereign God

III. How is the warning that the Sanhedrin gave Peter and John similar to the warning that society gives us today?

a. Name of Jesus

IV. What is so bad about speaking or loving without using the name of Jesus?

a. Bad news, because it doesn’t lead to any of these things (healing, power, boldness)

V. What does boldness in life and fellowship look like for you?

VI. What have you seen and heard in your Christian life?

ACTS 5

I. 12 – 16

a. What is the significance of signs and wonders? Isn’t the Word of God alone enough?

i. The Spirit bears witness with signs and wonders to the saving power of Word of God

ii. Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones: “We can produce a number of converts, thank God for that, and that goes on regularly in evangelical churches every Sunday. But the need today is much too great for that. The need today is for an authentication of God, of the supernatural, of the eternal, and this can only be answered by God graciously hearing our cry and shedding forth again his Spirit upon us and filling us as he kept filling the early church.”

II. 17 – 21

a. What is “this Life”?

b. What characterizes your life?

i. Work, social, family, friends?
ii. Forgiveness of sins, eternal life, personal relationship with Jesus, gospel community

c. Sharing from beginning of Ch. 5 – what motivates it?

i. Awe, fear of God, trust in his promises

III. 21 – 32

a. What teaching?

i. Rose from dead
ii. Exalted at right hand of God
iii. Repentance and forgiveness

b. How did they fill that place with teaching?

i. Radical obedience to God

c. What created this radical obedience?

i. Power of God
1. Delivering vs. Dying power
2. Price and preciousness of power

d. What would it look like to fill Indianapolis with this teaching?

i. Boldness, telling about what we have seen and heard

IV. 33 – 42

a. Do we realize that God’s purposes won’t be overthrown?

i. Individually – facebook posts
ii. Church

b. Can we endure the price?

i. Flogging
ii. Ridicule, loneliness, public humiliation

c. Will we continue to proclaim?

i. Name of Jesus

ACTS 6

I. 1 – 7

a. Who, in our culture, like the Hellenist widows in this passage, do we neglect in ministry?
b. How can we not neglect them, but also not neglect the preaching of the word?

II. 8 – 15

a. One possible group of people we neglect in those who think their lives are fine without Jesus (wealthy, successful, happy, smart, blessed)

b. How do we convince them that they need Christ and should care about the Bible?

c. In verse 7, why does it say that the word of God spread, instead of that more widows were fed?

i. God’s word is real food
ii. J.C. Ryle from Future Grace
iii. Walter Maier from The Lutheran Hour

d. In verse 10, what does it mean that they were “unable to cope” with the wisdom and Spirit in Stephen?

i. Matthew 10
ii. Acts 5: 38-39 --- God’s will can’t be overthrown, even though Stephen eventually dies

e. Were the false witnesses actually revealing true things about what Stephen was proclaiming? How is this similar to false witnesses in our life?

i. People say that Christianity is rules and doesn’t let you enjoy food, drink, sex, money – Partly true because God knows you won’t be ultimately satisfied in these things

f. Why does Stephen give such a long speech in Ch 7 about people and events that the Jews already knew and agreed with (until the end)?
i. Took the things that they valued most and deconstructed it
ii. No neutral – were either going to repent or get really angry

III. Lessons

a. Real food

b. Worth dying for

c. Idols will let you down

d. Only Jesus can die for your sins

e. Only Jesus fulfills longings from past

ACTS 7:1-53

I. What is God doing in your life?

a. Continuing to confront idolatry in my life and helping me confront it in others through the Gospel

b. Decompartmentalizing my life through God’s consistent and sufficient grace

c. Serving others so as not to make my life about myself

II. Main points of Stephen’s speech:

a. God is not confined to a place or building

i. What does this mean for our compartmentalized lives?
ii. How do we really bring God to every “compartment” of our life?
iii. Pray for people as you walking around bar, street, mall, etc.
iv. Maintain same priorities Sunday morning, at night with your family, and Monday at work
v. Gifts at Christmas
vi. Ask “how are you” and care about answer

b. We continue to reject God’s will and his servants, namely Jesus

i. In what ways do we do this with our idolatry every day?

1. Work of our hands
2. Family, community
3. Money, prestige, place
4. Self

ii. Can you relate to selfishness being a direct rejection of God?

iii. How can a lifestyle of service free us from this? What does that kind of a life look like?

1. Don’t want life to be about myself
2. Struggles look different, easier to cope
3. Decisions / Discernment different

ACTS 7:54-60

Stoning of Stephen and the Coming of Jesus

I. Power and Grace from the Bible

a. Wish you could know and see difference btwn when I’m reading the Bible and nothing is happening, or I’m bored – and when I’m inspired to the point of having a lot to say. It happens every week.

b. Evidence that Bible is grace, living, and active.

II. A Christmas Story?

a. Advent Conspiracy
b. Creator of Universe
c. Center of history
d. How do you make Christmas about these things in context of stoning of Stephen

III. Stoning of Stephen

a. Someone who had context of history, and understood significance of Jesus in context of past prophets, workings of God
b. Gave up everything for Jesus
c. How can we give up everything for Jesus in the context of Christmas?
d. Will it be the same witness as Stephen?

IV. “Ground their teeth”

a. Who grinds their teeth at us today?

V. “Scattered”

a. Judea and Samaria – Philip

b. New believers – Saul to Paul

c. How are we scattered?
i. Pub Theology

d. What are we taking with us?

e. How do we enter the world?

f. How do we struggle with this?

VI. Luke 1: 26 – 38

a. How did Jesus enter?
i. Same and different as us
ii. Are we called to be Jesus, or show Jesus?

b. Characteristics

i. Virgin
1. Why? So he could be fully man and fully God
a. Divine (God’s son)
b. Human (Mary’s son)

ii. Jew
1. To fulfill prophecy

iii. Spirit
1. Impossible that creator of universe entered creation

iv. King --- What king of King?
1. Holy – rules in universal peace and perfect justice (CS Lewis)
2. Savior – 1 Timothy 1:15
3. Forever

c. How does this help us?

i. Less pressure to be Jesus, more confidence in showing Jesus

ACTS 8:1-8

I. “That day”

a. Day Stephen was stoned

b. Martyrdom led to building of church
i. Persecution --- Mission - Matthew 5:10
ii. The Cross – Matthew 16:18

c. Stephen not blamed for persecution

II. “Scattered”

a. Pub Theology
b. Work
c. Different local churches

III. “Except the apostles”

a. We are sent out, leaders of church follow behind us and confirm our ministry
b. Do we fell alone?

IV. “Devout men”

a. God-fearing Jews

V. “Ravaging”

a. Psalm 80:13 – wild boars destroying a vineyard

VI. “Preaching the word”

a. The Lutheran Hour reading
b. Power of God’s word

VII. Lessons

a. Danger of ease, comfort, and prosperity – Third soil in Mark 4:19
b. Word of God, Christ, Gospel --- Joy – Acts 8:4-8

ACTS 8:9-24

I. What is the difference between belief and faith?

a. Faith is risk

b. Belief is head only, faith is head and heart

c. Faith is active
i. James 2:14-26

d. Faith is saving
i. Matthew 7:21-23 -- I never knew you
ii. Luke 8:13 -- second soil
iii. John 2:23-25 – knew what was in man
iv. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 – there is a believing in vain

II. What is going on with Simon?

a. Child and bird in the window analogy – we focus on the pointing finger, instead of the object being pointed to

b. Confusing whether God exists to glorify man vs. man exists to glorify God

III. What things in our life distract us from the bird in the window (Jesus)?

a. Signs and wonders
b. Human talent; artistic or athletic
c. Sermons and worship
d. Gifts of God
e. Community
f. Service

IV. How do these distractions stifle our faith?

a. Man-centeredness
b. Harder to cope with failures of men
c. Unhealthy response to suffering
d. Not complete joy; contrary to how we were created
e. Not active, because you’re not seeking after someone; harder to follow Jesus

V. How is God calling us to follow him in faith, and put aside these distractions?

a. Individually:
i. desire to encounter Jesus in the Bible, nothing else

b. As community:
i. God centeredness
ii. We’ll become selfless the more we focus on God, and helping others will be natural outflow of this

ACTS 8:26-40

I. Isaiah 53

a. Read as if you have no idea what it could be about

II. “Rise and go toward the south”; “Go up and join this chariot”

a. Leading of the Spirit in personal life

b. Personal examples of spontaneous leading?
i. Story of punching stranger in the face

c. What happened to sufficiency of Scripture?
i. Scripture and supernatural guidance work together
ii. More focus on and better understanding of Scripture helps you discern and act on supernatural guidance

d. Leading of the Spirit in evangelism

III. “He was reading the prophet Isaiah”

a. Significance of reading the Bible at all
i. People are incurably spiritual --- examples?

b. Significance of reading Isaiah
i. Eunuch reference in Isaiah 56:3-5
ii. Isaiah 53:7-8 is center of Gospel

c. What is modern equivalent of someone reading Isaiah in chariot?
i. Wearing a cross
ii. Expressing awe at nature
iii. Laminin
iv. Practicing Lent
v. Books, songs, movies about Jesus

d. How can we help facilitate heart yearnings to head knowledge, so that it can then become authentic head and heart faith?

IV. “Philip ran to him”

a. Do we respond this way to the Spirit?

V. “Philip opened his mouth”

a. Different than description of Jesus in Isaiah
b. What does it look like for us to open our mouth?

VI. Who is this prophet talking about?

a. The Gospel according to Isaiah

b. If not fulfilled in Jesus, then who?

c. If Jesus not fulfillment of prophecy, then who was he?
i. Was the Cross a coincidence?
ii. Did it never happen?

d. What does Isaiah passage mean for us personally? What did it mean for the eunuch personally?
i. Personal salvation, forgiveness of sins

e. What does Isaiah passage mean for our community? What did it mean for community in Acts?
i. Power to save
ii. Power to keep on saving

Snowball in Hell

Enough snow already. Seriously. I've heard from one person that there's $1000 in it for whoever can produce an autographed picture of Al Gore scrapping off his car. Read that sentence again if the humor was lost on you. But this is not a political blog. Actually, I have enjoyed the snow and the winter more this year than ever. Even have a snowman in my yard. I could explain that more, but this is not a personal blog either (sorry!).

John Piper said, "I don’t think you have a chance of a snowball in hell to be holy if you don’t meditate on the Word of God." True. Dat. I've found that you don't have a chance of much of anything without a centrality and consistent focus on the Bible for daily bread. Literally. Bread. Every day. A shame that even churches are shying away from this reality. What follows is a excerpt from a very old publication (1931), The Lutheran Hour, by Walter Maier, that hopefully drives this point home in a helpful way. In my opinion, life is too short to wonder whether the Bible is authoritative; the historical record of believing otherwise speaks for itself, and I personally would like to avoid the madhouse that could result.

"Men like to call Christianity and the Bible a failure. The fact of the matter is that, while everything else has failed, while all the processes which human ingenuity has advanced for the improvement of the world have turned out to be only pitiful and disappointing subterfuges, while educationalism, intellectualism, fraternalism, the study and application of the sciences, legislation, and theories of political economy as well as other similar methods and agencies have left the human heart unchanged and have done little or nothing to raise the moral tone of humanity, the invincible, everlasting victorious force of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the one transforming power in the history of the world that has tamed the wild passions of men, subdued their self-centered greed, and given them an outlook on life which has perpetuated the ideals of the Master in the practical forms of institutions of charity, enterprises for the alleviation of suffering, work for the restitution of the downtrodden multitudes that have fallen by the wayside and lie hopeless and helpless in the slimy gutter of life.

Babylonia, Greece, Rome, each in turn built up a civilization stupendous in proportions and lavish in wealth; but the fundamental conceptions of merciful charity and a sympathetic regard for the needs of one's fellow men - all this was quite foreign to their culture and quite unknown in their grandeur. And if you want to visualize the pervading power of the Gospel, picture to yourself the madhouse into which this country would degenerate if every trace of the influence of the Bible would be removed.

What was it that transformed some of the South Sea Islands and changed them from cesspools of cannibalism and heathen hideousness into garden spots of the world? What was it that wrought such a fundamental change on the life and habits of the people of Tierra del Fuego, who, when Charles Darwin visited them on his scientific journey around the world, were found to be so depraved and degenerate that they could hardly be classed as human beings, but who through the efforts of Christian missionaries became so utterly transformed that the so-called Father of Evolution gave the most eloquent possible tribute in the form of a subsidy to the Patagonian Mission? What is it that shook the stolid Eskimos of the frozen North, dwarfed in body and in soul, as they tried to kill their intrepid missionary, Hans Egede, poison his dogs, and destroy his food caches, but who learned to substitute truth and love and justice for falsehood and hatred and murder? How can these things be, we inquire? And once again plain common sense, without making any higher appeal, tells us that these twice-born men have not found this newness of life because of any delusion or fairy-tale, but because of the miracle-working truth of God. That is the power that our own America needs.

No truer word has ever been uttered by human lips than this warning of Daniel Webster, 'If we continue in the teachings of the Bible, our country will continue to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglects its teachings, then no one can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all of our profound glory in obscurity.'

But the greatest demonstration of the power of the Gospel, overshadowing all this, and the clearest proof of its divine nature is shown to us in its influence upon the souls of men. I challenge any system of human invention, any modern and enlightened conception of religion that sets the Bible aside, to give to mankind a definite and satisfying answer to the supreme issue of life, 'What must I do to be saved?' When the destiny of our immortal soul hangs in the balance; when a ruined life totters on and on, goaded ceaselessly by the ruthless demands of an aroused conscience; when a sin-born mortal stands before the yawning abyss which ultimately confronts every one of us, where is the truth, the light, and the hope that definitely gives him the power to face these veiled uncertainties confidently and unflinchingly? Death-bed confessions of unbelief and the moanings and cries of despair of infidels and skeptics in their dying hours reveal to us that this power cannot be found in any branch of human attainment, even in its highest form. It can not be found in the modernistic creed that is being proclaimed in Christ-denying churches, where the great questions of sin and salvation are answered with a suave question mark or with a polite denial of the Bible. But it can be found and will be found as long as men trustingly raise up their eyes to the hills of divine truth in God's word.

The power of this Word is operative whenever and wherever it is read and heard and believed. Let the host of modern infidels reject the Bible by rehashing the threadbare arguments advanced by unbelief since the Savior's day, we have evidence of its truth. If this Word has come down through the centuries, triumphing over organized opposition and mobilized wealth, then we can gain renewed assurance through the conviction that, if the treasuries of heathen expires, the tortures of royal friends, and the efforts of giants of human intellect have utterly failed in halting the march of progress of this deathless truth, so that today the Holy Scriptures are annually distributed in more than 36,000,000 copies, then the puny efforts of modern minds to revive this old opposition will be doomed to even more dismal failure. Let us not worry about the Bible. Its divine truth is amply able to safeguard its continued existence; for here is God's promise, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall not pass away.'

So I ask you tonight to take this truth, to read it, to study it now, and you find between the covers of your Bible the divine cure-all for the ills and woes, the problems and anxieties, that may crowd themselves into your life. If you are out of work; if you have faced disappointment upon disappointment; if you have trouble and misunderstanding in your family; if you are weakened by sickness and disease; if you have not a friend in the world nor a penny in your pocket, find help and cheer by reading what this Book tells to those who believe it, 'All things work together for good to them that love God.' Hear the word of comfort Christ has given those who believe in Him for times of distress and tribulation: 'I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh away from you.' 'And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the ending of the world.'

If you look down deeper into the recesses of your heart and find enthroned there the idols of money and pleasure and impurity and selfishness and greed, and you hear the warning of the Judge of eternity, 'He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption,' and the terror of judgement strikes your heart, then, by the grace of God's Holy Spirit, come with a contrite heart to the truth of this priceless volume and learn to know that there is one - and only one - 'Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,' 'who gave Himself a ransom for all.' Hear His pledge, given through the mouth of His prophet, 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' Here, in this ageless, priceless, deathless volume, you have the answer to every question, to the solution to every problem that may arise in your life; for the Gospel of Jesus Christ is still the 'power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.' Amen."

Changeless Christ in a Changing World

Happy New Year! I'm about a month late, and I promise, there is reason for that. But, here I am, and here you are (hopefully), so let's get back at it. A year ago, I wrote the following in a blog post titled, A New Year with New Eyes:

2008 is over. By many accounts, it was not a great year. There were definite highlights, as with any year, but the feeling seemed pretty universal that it was time to send the year into the history books. Personally, it was a year of loss and some confusion. Economically, it was chaotic and not profitable. Politically, it was divisive, exhausting and historic. Theologically, it was exceedingly unbiblical and culturally violent. And now we look with optimism and hope into 2009, and are confident it will be better. And it will be. But in many of these ways I just mentioned it will be much of the same, and even worse, and that is wonderfully and gloriously OK. Because the Gospel is all that matters, and the Gospel will continue to be true, and the person and work of Jesus Christ will continue to be our only hope, and come what may; loss, depression, persecution, chaos, war, compromise; that will never change. In fact, my great hope and prayer is that the Gospel will continue to become more relevant and compelling and glorious as our culture battles, our economy collapses, and our world manages the inevitable chaos of a race plagued with overwhelming sin. The Bible is true and Jesus is everything. Let me say that again: the Bible is true and Jesus is everything. Do you really believe that? If you do 2009 will be amazing no matter what.

I could write the exact same paragraph for 2010. Praise Jesus! Specifically, though, I wanted to flush out how I think this reality applies to a couple devastating, but ultimately God-glorifying, happenings.

DON'T WASTE YOUR CANCER






Watch these clips, and you will get a small introduction into the person of Matt Chandler, pastor of Village Church in Dallas, Texas. He is special. God started using him in big ways in the contemporary evangelical church only a few short years ago. Now, He has seen him worthy to endure a heart-wrenching trial. Please; read this article in its entirety:

Brain Cancer Tests a Young Pastor's Faith

What do we do with that? We don't know him. We don't know his family. We can pray for them, but the tragic nature of such a thing is almost unbearable to us, and therefore easy to ignore. But if we do not ignore, we have the chance to be a part of something incredible. God can heal Matt Chandler. Do you believe that? He can take the cancer in his brain and make it disappear. But He might not. The way that Matt Chandler is responding, and can continue to respond, to the lack of certainty on which way God will answer his prayers, is the kind of thing that can transform lives and change the world. Because no one has as much credibility to speak into the sin and hurt in our lives with the unchanging message of the Gospel as someone who is experiencing suffering in a real way.

John Piper says it best: "God promises that his ultimate design in the degree of futility is hope for his children. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, IN HOPE... So whenever you feel overwhelmed by your own suffering, or the sufferings of the world as you look at it on television, always say there is design in this, this is not the final point of the universe. In this hope, you have been saved. But who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with perseverance, and groaning, and invincible JOY."

Matt Chandler, talking and living this way (which he is, right now) communicates this hope in a life transforming way. What a miracle.

LIVE WITH HAITI IN YOUR HEART

I have been at such a loss for words, and thoughts, for that matter, about the devastation in Haiti. This article, Live With Haiti in Your Heart, better than any, has helped me. Here is an excerpt:

But perhaps most of all, live with Haiti in your heart. In a week, when the blogs and news cycles die down a bit, or in a month, when our lives consume us once more with other things, or in a year, when most of us will have long forgotten the day the earth broke under Haiti, another disaster will strike, and we will be awakened once more to the realization that we care far too much about the trivial and far too little about the eternal. We’ll be reminded that the bones of dead men testify that our lives are but a vapor. In that day, we will remember that living with Haiti in our hearts means living with a longing for the One who will bring renewal and restoration to a planet and a people who desperately need both.

GRACE

Somehow, I think God is calling the Church through these tragic stories to stand up, and not get Him off the hook for the suffering experienced, but stand up and declare more than ever His sovereignty, His goodness, and His grace. And do so by loving and praying for and weeping with those who may always have a much more difficult time than us envisioning the hope that God subjected the world to futility because of, and the hope that saves. The question I am left with after these things is, how I do I, individually, and as community with others, process and experience the grace that God not only lavished on me in the death and resurrection of His son, but also that He continues to pour out day by day, and hour by hour, in such a way that communicates and transfers that same grace to others, specifically those who are suffering. I don't have an answer yet, but my asking the question alone encourages me that God has begun to show me.

"The great mystery tonight is not that the wicked would be condemned to an eternity that they have chosen for themselves by determining to deny God; the great mystery is that such a God would come, and seek out men and women to inhabit His heaven."

Praying for Tiger

This whole thing breaks my heart. If it doesn't yours, something is wrong with you. But, I am resisting the reaction of surprise, because it continues to be clear that no matter how exceptional someone appears, or how firmly someone appears to be standing, they (we) can fall. Kanye West and David Letterman, and Mark Sanford and Bernie Madoff, among others, have already reminded us this year. I never would have imagined that I should have included Tiger in those posts. The fall of Tiger seems different. But it isn't. His recovery seems difficult. But it isn't, as long as you define recovery correctly.

I'm not sure how you've responded to all this. One of my friends, who I don't think would consider himself a Christian, right after the accident and before any of the infidelity was public said, "Show me a human being, and I'll show you skeletons in their closet." A frighteningly true statement. Others have been working on the stand-up bits. The Santa and Tiger joke is funny, I admit. But what I'm going to do is pray for him. Because, as Dr. Albert Mohler says, "Something of far greater consequence than an illustrious career in sport is at stake here. Tiger Woods the human being is of infinitely greater value than Tiger Woods the brand." Mohler continues:

"Tiger Woods now finds himself in a disastrous crisis of his own making. There is no one else he can blame for his trouble and there is no public account that can undo the past. In a truly breathtaking reversal, Tiger Woods has gone from being one of the most universally respected figures in sport to one of the most widely discussed subjects of scandal. Clearly, it does not take long to fall from a pedestal.

"In one of his advertisements for Accenture, the image of Tiger Woods appears along with the words: "It's what you do next that counts." Much now depends on what Tiger Woods does next. If the American people are truly scandalized by his adultery, they must now hope and pray that this marriage and family can be rebuilt and sustained. Something of far greater consequence than an illustrious career in sport is at stake here. Tiger Woods the human being is of infinitely greater value than Tiger Woods the brand.

"For Christians, there is an even deeper concern. The current travail of Tiger Woods points far beyond his need for marital recovery, career consultation, or brand management. Tiger Woods needs a Savior. I am praying that this devastating experience, caused so classically by his own sin, will lead Tiger Woods to understand that he is not so self-sufficient as he thinks. Tiger Woods now faces a problem that he cannot solve. Though he can do much to repair his marriage, his family, and his public image, he cannot atone for his own sins. My prayer is that there is someone who can reach Tiger Woods with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"In the end, all this must remind Christians of the universal need for the Gospel. We must remember our own sin and our utter dependence upon the grace and mercy of God made ours in Jesus Christ. Without question, this is the most important lesson drawn from the travail of Tiger Woods. On his deathbed, Martin Luther offered these last words: "We are sinners, it is true." Tiger Woods is one of us, after all."

Jesus is not corny, people. We need him. The Gospel is not irrelevant. It is power for salvation. It is what we don't have for something we need. We will try a lot of things in its place to our own destruction. Perhaps the heroic rise, and rapid fall, of Tiger Woods from a place of public fascination and adoration, is setting the stage for an incredible testimony. Even if not, I'm thankful for the reminder that I am the recipient of as dramatic a display of saving grace as what Tiger needs right now. And you are (or can be) also.