I found this great quote about what the gospel is meant to do to our opinions of ourselves from Tim Keller on "theocentricview":

“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.”

— Timothy Keller, The Reason For God, New York, NY: Dutton, 2008, p. 181.

Here are notes from a sermon I preached on the 27^th April at Jubilee Church. The mp3 is available to download here or listen to using the following embedded player-

“You shall not murder.” (Ex 20:13)

Ok, right at the outset, do we have any murderers here? No? Anyone planning on committing a murder? No? Good, so then we can all go home, yes? We got it straight, since we live in a Christian country means its Chicken for dinner tonight rather than human. Lets go get some coffee.

Actually there is some more to this commandment than first meets the eye.

No careless killing ESV footnote "also causing human death through carelessness or negligence" so see for example Ex 21:28-29 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.”

Deuteronomy 22:8: “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring blood-guilt on your house if anyone falls from it.”

Risk assessment is biblical! “[The Jew] was to do everything humanly possible not to cause the death of another person” -The Master's Seminary, Master's Seminary Journal Volume 11, 11:206 (Master's Seminary, 2000; 2003).

- Therefore, human life is precious we should take good care of it. Every human is made in Gods image and therefore worth looking after. It is the Christian faith that teaches us we are not just the outcome of millions of years of chance reactions. We don't kill because life itself is a gift of God. We should also support initiatives that reduce the risk of death or serious injury.

eg car and road safety - 1 in 200 risk of dying on the roads! So driving at no more than 30 mph in built up areas is a good idea due to the dramatic risk of death if hit faster. 95% live if hit at 20mph, 90% die at 40mph. Also wear seat belts, pay for proper maintenance, and buy the safest car you can afford.

-also health measures, smoking in public bans is good as it will lead to less premature death. Form of Russian Roulette – 50% will die prematurely loosing ave of 16 years of precious God-given life. In country after country smoking bans have led to dramatic drops in the rates of heart attacks – 17% in Scotland for example in one year. Christians should support the provision of good health care and also simple social changes that can make massive impact by saving lives. Especially in developing world eg lack of clean water.

However, although this commandment applies to careless killing, there were clear distinctions made in the punishment depending on the intent “(1) the weapon used, (2) the enmity of the killer toward his victim, and (3) premeditation” (Numbers 35. 16–24) -The Master's Seminary, Master's Seminary Journal Volume 11, 11:205 (Master's Seminary, 2000; 2003).

Similar rules are still used today.

What other things that might be called murder?

-We have seen that negligence such as careless fighting or driving, is surely potential murder by the broader hebraic definition. But what of some areas that may be less clear to some. Lets be very clear here -

-Euthanasia or so-called “mercy killing”- so far even the unbelievers cannot bring themselves to legalize this in the UK. How could we know someone really understood what they were asking for and weren't coerced or depressed? Bible simply says "no killing". This surely even applies to some of the grey areas being discussed such as removing food and drink via tubes from brain damaged.

-Assisting Suicide remains illegal, but what about neglecting to prevent it?. Psychiatric services should be used appropriately... sadly the quality of our services vary. But people have a right to be treated against their will when they pose a danger to themselves and are not in their right minds.

-Abortion? We all agree that life exists after birth. We believe it is wrong to murder a newborn baby. So surely life exists just before. When then does it start? There is no logic to our current term limits for abortion- loosely based on when a child might survive "independently" outside the womb. But when technology improves will that mean the date changes? And, since a baby is not truly "independent" are they less fully human?

Our question should simply be is this a human? Does he or she have the image of God? If so we must protect, not kill. John the Baptist leapt for joy in his mothers womb whom when he met Jesus (Luke 1:44) and Psalm 139 makes plain God saw us and knew us there as he knit us together.

-Contraception? Pre conception fine, anything that definitely acts post conception is clearly not. Some methods are controversial as to their mode of action (eg oral contraceptive pill, coil etc). Christians should examine the evidence for themselves, pray, seek advice if needed then make the decision their conscience is happy with.

-IVF? Christians undergoing this procedure may wish to speak with their doctors about the fate of so-called "spare" embryos. Although they are routinely discarded, this need not be the case.

-War? The police? Romans 13.1-4 "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.”

In the end this boils down to a simple question. If you were holding an armed gun, and had a chance to kill someone who was definitely about to kill another, would you be wrong to pull that trigger? The balance of the bible strongly suggests that you would not be wrong to do that.

So far, though, for the vast majority of us, none of this will have touched us. Perhaps there are some in the room who have had an abortion, if so, please bear with me as there is forgiveness for you as we will explain later.

But for the rest of us there is a danger that we will feel morally superior and proud of ourselves. So we haven't murdered... Big deal! If we think that makes us worthy of praise by God we are deluded!

Jesus punctures that bubble by saying “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5.21-24

Words can kill!

“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” 1 Jn 3:15

“It is not only the act, but also the sentiment underlying the act, which is evil” - Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Map on lining papers., 2044 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1988).

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning” Jn 8:44

Actual murder is just the extension of anger and bitterness. Billy Grahams wife was once asked if she had ever considered divorce during their long marriage her answer- "divorce, NO! Murder, YES!"

If murder is sometimes the ultimate punishment for some imagined harm done by its victim, forgiveness is the opposite. Far from merely not murdering our enemies, God calls us to love them and forgive them.

We are told to forgive as we have been forgiven and warned that he will not forgive us if we do not forgive others.

Christians should be recognized as those who practice the reverse of murder. If murder is treating someone as sub-human and a less valuable object then the opposite is surely thinking of others as more important than you and selflessly loving them expecting nothing in return.

You can't murder someone you love. Jesus said love fulfills the law - love God covers the first few commandments, love your neighbor covers the rest.

God is the ultimate forgiver. We see this in the sad story of King David. We see the king who is described as the man after Gods own heart that the smallest sin can grow to become a major one. Most murders happen as a result of an argument between for example husband and wife. It is even possible that by causing us to stop and realize how dangerous anger is that this sermon might prevent a future murder.

Owen once said “be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

In Davids case, laziness led to a roaming eye. In our day he'd have visited certain websites or the top shelf at the news-agent. Then, he went on the roof to catch a glance at a woman bathing. That led to adultery. That led to deception and trickery. That led to murder.

Sin is sin. We stand before God bankrupt. When you are bankrupt it doesn't really matter if you owe a few thousands or a few million. You simply can never pay. An eternity in hell facing the wrath of God wont wipe away our sins.

The scandal of the cross is that on it, a man was murdered. Without removing the moral responsibility for that act, and the fact that we are all guilty of killing the son of God....ultimately there was something else going on.

The cross was a judicial killing. God the Almighty poured out his righteous wrath and punishment on his son. Jesus paid our debt. Not only did he cancel our debts, he credited our account with his righteousness. If you are a christian this morning he is as pleased with you not just as if you never sinned but just as if you were always righteous or put another way he is as thrilled with you as he is with Jesus!

Murderers are Invited to become Christians. Why? Because God can even forgive murderers, So he can forgive you.

This sermon was preached by me on the UK's Mother's Day, which was on March 2nd. The audio can be downloaded or played here.


It was based on a number of verses:

Isaiah 66:13
“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”

Isaiah 49:15-16 Good News Bible
“Can a woman forget her own baby, and not love the child she bore?
Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you.
Jerusalem, I can never forget you!
I have written your name on the palms of my hands.”

Luke 13:34
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!”

Isaiah 40:1-2
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned.”

Psalm 131:1-2
“O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-4
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”


1. GOD IS LIKE A MOTHER, BUT HE IS A FATHER

We are right to talk of God as a father, for the Bible speaks of him repeatedly as a father. The verses we have read liken God to sharing attributes of a mother. There are, however, no verses that say God actually IS a mother; however, God is compared to a mother, and he is even likened to a hen brooding over her chicks. But we should no more worship him as “Mother God” than we should pray to God the Holy Chicken!

Since men and women are both created in the image of God, it should really be no surprise to us that God reflects attributes of mothers as well as fathers in his dealings with us.

Matthew Henry, writing more than 300 years ago, reminds us that God comforts us and he does so “not only with the rational arguments which a prudent father uses, but with the tender affections and compassions of a loving mother.” (Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, Isaiah 66:5 (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1991).

Some things never change!


2. GOD IS COMPASSIONATE LIKE A MOTHER

Women tend to be compassionate, although one mum said when I spoke to her this week, “It depends on the time of day!”

When an accident happens in our home, my instinct is to ask what happened, how did the child get hurt, where is the bruise, was one of the other children somehow responsible? Andree often says, “Darling, please just pick them up and give them a cuddle.”

God created the world. Is it any wonder he should feel the same intense degree of warm love and care towards his children that a mother so clearly demonstrates to hers? In one of our verses God says in effect “no way would a woman reject her own baby,” before acknowledging that, then as now, sadly there are a few women who do indeed forget the child they bore. But God can NEVER forget! Why? Because of what happened on the cross when he “engraved our names on his hands.”


3. GOD IS SACRIFICIAL LIKE A MOTHER

Mother with a baby might say, “O-o-oh, do you need a nappy change, poor little boy?” But Dad might say , “O man, could you not have waited to do that? It was changed only a few minutes ago!”

Women put their careers on at least a temporary hold, and go through the pains of pregnancy and childbirth to have a child. Jesus once said when that “when a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.” (John 16:21)

God understands the pain that mothers go through, not just in labor but in the decades that follow. He has seen us his children go astray and reject him, but still he loves us. How amazing knowing that he was going to a city that had killed prophets before and would kill him, that he doesn't go in as a conquering manly warrior king. Rather, he says, “I am like a mother hen, cooing over you, wanting to gather you under my wings.” Surely God understands the thankless task of trying to win over kids when they are rebelling and think you hate them. The thousands of sacrifices the average mother makes for her children reflects upon the ultimate sacrifice of his life that Jesus would make.

Jesus died so he COULD gather his unwilling creation, like a mother hen would gather her chicks. He is hunting for them and searching for them right now to love them, forgive them, cleanse them from their guilt and shame, and make them into true children of God.

Jesus scorned the shame and pain of the cross because of the joy set before him— the joy of US as his children.

What a wonderful cry we heard from the prophet Isaiah—it was only made possible because of the cross. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned.” (Isaiah 40:1-2).


4. GOD IS COMFORTING LIKE A MOTHER

When it comes to hugs and kisses, especially if they are upset, my kids look to their mum for comfort. They say I am prickly and need a shave! Do you think of God as prickly?

Just as a skillful mother is able to pacify and soothe the woes of her child, so is God with us. Who here is distressed? God will soothe you. Who is sorrowful? God will calm your troubles. Who here is stressed? God will cause you to rest in him.

God is the God of ALL comfort. Jesus told us he was sending “another comforter” to replace himself, which tells us that his role and that of the Spirit was to comfort us.

Our response to being comforted?

We feel understood, We feel calmed. Stress lifts. Anxiety passes. Our problem now belongs to the one whose wings we shelter under.

This is surely the perfect description of the mature Christian:

“O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” (Psalm 131:1-2)

If you feel you are not there yet, you are probably right! Which of us is? But, that is our goal, arriving at a place where we trust God so much that we are not worrying about the events of our life, where we are calm and able to face the day.


5. GOD WANTS US TO OFFER COMFORT TO OTHERS

Perhaps you struggle with the question, “Why, God?” when you question something that has happened to you. There are a myriad of different circumstances life throws at us that make us ask that question. Bereavement, divorce, abuse by others, disappointments, sickness.

There are no easy or complete answers to the question “Why?” One answer is that God wants you to quiet yourself, stop examining things “too lofty for us to understand,” and instead be comforted by him so that you, too, can comfort others. But perhaps you need the comfort of others today . . . maybe you are far from the place that you can help someone else. Who here needs a touch from God? Maybe you need a touch from your neighbor.

Who here already knows from bittersweet, personal experience the truth that “God is the God of all comfort” — it is time you learned to pass that on! He comforts us SO THAT WE CAN COMFORT OTHERS. "But," you say, "I am not a pastor or a theologian." "I say," "God tells us to comfort each other with the comfort he has given us!" Church, are our conversations seasoned with the salt of comfort? Do we listen to the troubles of each other and show that we care? Do we help each other to find the strength that only God can give?

RESPONSE: Salvation, need of comfort, need to comfort others.

More than once I have been accused of appropriating Lloyd-Jones to my charismatic cause. Today I want to restart my MLJ Monday tradition by sharing a quote which comes from a context where the Doctor is strongly disagreeing with one of my positions. He is talking about the so-called Ephesians 4 ministries. The Doctor divides these into two groups, believing that all but pastors and teachers are temporary. I believe that they all continue, although I think of modern-day apostles as being, in some important ways, different to the original. Anyway, the Doctor then goes on to speak into what is perhaps a less interesting discussion, but one that is worth opening up nonetheless. Does Paul have in mind two distinct groups, the pastors and the teachers, or one group of people who are both pastors and teachers? Let's see what he has to say:

The permanent offices are described as those of ‘pastors and teachers.’ This group is much simpler to understand, although there has been much dispute as to whether pastors and teachers are two different offices. I agree with those who say that they are one. Were they two separate offices we would expect to read, ‘He gave some, apostles; some, prophets; some, evangelists; some, pastors; some, teachers’; but the apostle writes, ‘some, pastors and teachers,’ linking the two together; and generally speaking, these two offices are found in the same man. They apply to a more settled state of the Church, and have persisted throughout the centuries. The office of a pastor is generally concerned about government and instruction and rule and direction. It is borrowed, of course, from the picture of a shepherd. The shepherd shepherds his flock, keeps the sheep in order, directs them where to go and where to feed, brings them back to the fold, looks after their safety and guards them against enemies liable to attack them. It is a great office, but unfortunately it is a term which has become debased. A pastor is a man who is given charge of souls. He is not merely a nice, pleasant man who visits people and has an afternoon cup of tea with them, or passes the time of day with them. He is the guardian, the custodian, the protector, the organizer, the director, the ruler of the flock. The teacher gives instruction in doctrine, in truth. The Apostle proceeds to elaborate this, showing that we need to be built up, and that we must not remain ‘babes.’ We must be protected against ‘every wind of doctrine,’ and the way to do so is to give instruction and teaching.

Although I say that these two offices generally go together and have done so throughout the long history of the Church, sometimes one man has had more of a pastoral gift than a teaching or preaching gift; at other times a man has more of a teaching and preaching gift than a pastoral gift. This is a matter of individual variation according to the gift of the Spirit. But in the Church you have these offices, these men who teach and preach and care for the souls of the members of the church."

— David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Christian Unity, Studies in Ephesians (Chapter 4, verses 1 through 16), Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1972, p. 192.

For more information on Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, see this summary post or the MLJ Recording Trust.

UPDATE
I have had an e-mail from a correspondent who strongly believes that Lloyd-Jones was wrong about pastors and teachers being one office. My correspondent cited the grammatical work of Dan Wallace (see p. 284 of his Greek Grammar—Beyond the Basics) and an article on the evangelist, which discusses this point (p. 30ff).

I also have had another e-mail on the subject which said, "We actually had to study a full-length technical paper on this verse by Dan Wallace as part of our second-year Greek course. He does not argue that they must be two separate offices—he does not go that far. What he says is that the Greek language does not demand that they be one office. We should determine the answer from the context. Personally I go with theoretically separate giftings which are very commonly held by the same person. (Apostles can also be teachers, etc.)"

Regular readers of my blog will remember that, together with my pastor, Tope Koleoso, we had the joy of being able to chat with Mark Driscoll when we went to Edinburgh to hear him preach live. We were deeply impressed with his graciousness and kindness to us. In this, he reminded me of a man who is one of my other living Christian heroes—Terry Virgo.

I know that many people were disappointed not to be able to make it to Scotland to hear Mark. So I am delighted to relay an announcement from Terry Virgo's blog today. Mark Driscoll has agreed to speak next July at the Newfrontiers Leaders Conference in Brighton, UK. Here is how Terry begins his post:

"The last time I checked, the Pope was still a Catholic, the death rate was still hovering at around 100%, and the chances of getting Mark Driscoll to speak at a conference in the UK in 2008 were averaging at zero.

It is therefore with great delight that I can announce that we have, with the aid of certain friends (for an inspired guess see Adrian Warnock’s blog), arranged for him to be our main visiting speaker at Together on a Mission in Brighton next year, 8-11 July 2008.

In recent months I have found myself listening to downloads of Mark Driscoll’s preaching, probably more than anybody else’s. I find him completely arresting, relevant, Biblical, funny, aggressive, and packing a real punch. I believe he will do us a lot of good.

I love his value system and I am impressed by what has been accomplished by God through his ministry based in Seattle, where a church of several thousand has been built in a few years, starting from almost nothing and largely not through church swapping, but conversion.

He is theologically reformed, Biblically orthodox, and culturally relevant, and particularly addresses the post-modern world with remarkable insight. I have just read his chapter in the Crossway publication, The Supremacy of Christ in a Post-Modern World. I found myself underlining sentence after sentence, and simply wrote ‘Wow!’ in the margin at the conclusion of the chapter. I am deeply grateful to God that he will be with us." Read more . . .

This is a fantastic piece of news. Terry and Mark are both pastors of pastors. Church planting is a major need of our world today. Leaders themselves need to be trained.

As an example of Terry's gifting in operation, he has recently finished a series of posts on the vital role of the pastor in the life of a church. He re-examines the biblical teaching. I will finish this post by giving you a taste of each post in the series, but do go and read them all; they are worthy of careful study.

Church Leaders

As a movement, Newfrontiers has tended to emphasise the role of apostles and prophets. The church was originally built on the foundation of apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20) so they gave the people of God their fundamental identity. I have argued that we were not built on a pastoral foundation.

My argument has often been expressed by noting that pastors are called to care for and feed the flock and meet the flock’s needs. An over-emphasis, therefore, on the pastoral role can result in pre-occupation with needs. We could become need-centred instead of apostolic and prophetic, thereby missing God’s intention and forgetting the bigger picture, building churches that gradually become foreign to the atmosphere of the New Testament.

I have been alarmed at the possible danger of a church becoming introverted, developing a culture where personal preference dominates and shepherds major on discerning and serving people’s so-called ‘felt needs’. However, in taking this stance, we may have failed to bring adequate positive Biblical teaching about the vital role of pastors and teachers. They are, of course, the most visible ministers in the local church. They have the most ‘hands on’ role among the flock. Read more . . .

Shepherds of the Flock

Jesus didn’t say, ‘I am the good apostle,’ or ‘the good prophet,’ or even ‘the good evangelist,’ but happily claimed to be the Good Shepherd. . .

Although the Lord was their ultimate shepherd, it is clear that God actually enlisted men to fulfil the shepherding role on His behalf. . .

As the apostles go, their intuitive strategy in obeying the command was to plant churches, establish flocks and appoint shepherds to care for them. Read more . . .

Other Sheep I Must Bring

When Billy Graham came to the UK in the 1950's and ‘60s, the call to return to God would have been generally comprehended by that generation. Today we live in a different era and though people can be born again through encountering the simplest message, we must not assume that initial conversion will result in inevitable Christian maturity, or even basic understanding of Christian living.

Deconstructing people’s world view
The role of the modern shepherd includes a call to deconstruct people’s previous world view. Nothing can be taken for granted. Lives need to be re-formed. Coming from a fragmented and aimless society devoid of any trace of Christian values, people need to be re-socialised and taught how to relate in godly ways.

Raised on self-indulgence, consumerism and rampant individualism, the new convert won’t automatically be transformed into a mature Christian who knows how to conduct himself in the household of God (1 Timothy 3:15).

God has promised to give His people shepherds after His own heart who will feed them with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15). This feeding requires a radical approach. We are not called to build on a false foundation with teachings that imply merely personal fulfilment or the grasping of the individual’s full potential, or how to love oneself. The shelves of many a Christian bookshop are filled with titles which appeal to personal fulfilment as the goal of the Christian life. Coming from a culture where demanding your personal rights seems to be the bottom line, new Christians hardly need that diet. Read more . . .

Spirit-inspired Preaching

. . . Holy Spirit-inspired preaching brings about an encounter with God that demands a verdict and produces a changed life based on revelation, faith and love, not cold obedience to external rules.

God’s flock will intuitively hear His voice and respond as truth is fed to them by called and anointed pastor/teachers. Gradually a culture of God-centredness will emerge characterised by worship, faith, grace, mercy, respect, service and the awareness of being an alien people whose fundamental citizenship lies elsewhere (Philippians 3:20) . . .

The shepherd’s ability to feed and be a channel of God’s grace will result in the gathering of a flock. The sheep gather to the gifted anointing of shepherding and thus a flock forms.

The responsibility of the shepherds is not simply to expound truth but to develop relationships of love and trust, and in some cases to ‘parent’ a flock often made up of those who have never been parented before. Read more . . .

Today I am going to do something I don't believe I have ever done before. I am going to publish an edited and expanded version of an old post of mine. Unlike certain Christian bloggers who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty (you know who you are!) I am going to be up front about it, and even place a link to the original 2005 post entitled "DON'T LISTEN TO ME—WHAT DO I KNOW?"

I want to ask you today, "Are you too loyal?" I think being too loyal is a bigger problem than we sometimes realize. Generally loyalty is a good thing. For example, I am not surprised that many of my readers are the same people who keep coming back rather than total strangers just popping through. Indeed, I hope you are feeling quite loyal towards me as you read this, that in some odd Internet way you even consider me your friend. But that friendship with me or any other blogger—or for that matter preacher to whom you listen online—should NEVER become a replacement for your friendships with godly Christians. If it did, that would be one example of what I mean by being too loyal.

You can also be too loyal by being too trusting of someone, and by following them too closely. I strongly hope that I don't have any readers who read this blog uncritically; that would be foolish in the extreme. In real life I could be anyone. No matter how well you feel you know me from my blog writings, it's not possible to deduce the answers to all kinds of really important questions. Am I a Christian in good standing in a local church? Do I have the appropriate level of biblical understanding to support what I say? What is my character like? Do I treat my wife and children as well as I ought to? What theological degrees or qualifications do I have? I will give you the answer to that last question only—NONE!

It worries me a little that some readers of blogs look to those blogs for their teaching more than their own local church. Some might even feel that they do not need to go to a church, partly because of the biblical food they feel they are getting online. The challenge for some, no doubt, is that they attend a church whose teaching they believe is not biblically sound. There are definitely many Christians who continue, out of a misguided sense of loyalty, attending churches they believe teach blatant error. To listen to online teachers and get one's teaching there may seem wise when you feel that your local preacher is in some way deficient.

If you are in a situation where you don't feel you are able to agree with the vast majority of the preaching of your church, and instead you believe you are learning more online, I would strongly urge you to carefully consider your position. As I have said before, one of best things about of being in my church is the joy of being pastored by our elders, Tope Koleoso, Stuart Emsley, and as of last Sunday, Dave Pask. Those three men care for my soul. It is a delight to follow them. Bloggers, book authors, and TV or Internet preachers cannot pastor you.

It is often helpful to read a blog with discernment, even if you disagree with some of the author's ideas, if doing so helps you to examine the blogger and your own beliefs in the light of Scripture. I sincerely hope that you do not need to take that kind of critical approach to your pastor's sermons, or at least not to the same degree! We should be able to listen to our preachers without having to constantly mentally edit out the parts with which we disagree.

Incidentally, this is one reason why those of us who are preachers need to be careful that we do not go beyond simply explaining the Scriptures in our sermons. We should stick to preaching and explaining the Word of God, and we need to be very careful with our theological deductions. What we really must avoid when preaching is to take a deduction we have made from Scripture and build another deduction on top of that. It will not foster the correct attitude towards preaching in the hearts of our hearers if they are constantly having to decide whether what we are saying is mere speculation or the very Word of the living God!

If you cannot honorably submit to the leadership of your local church, either it is time to leave, or it is time for you to change your attitude towards them. While it is great to learn from blogging and other means, if it is pulling you in a different direction to your church leaders, you need to ask: "Am I reading too much content from the wrong kind of blogs, or am I in the wrong kind of church?"

There are, of course, two opposite errors that are both equally foolish. One is to leave a church for a minor and foolish reason and not have anywhere to go that is more suitable for your theological nitpicking. The second is to be too loyal to a church that has long since jettisoned the primary issues of the Gospel, or with whom you have strong disagreements on some of the key secondary issues; without such agreement we cannot honestly work together in a church.

What keeps you at your church or reading a blog or listening to an online preacher? Is it the kind of foolish loyalty that is little better than a bad habit or addiction? Or is it because serving in that church is good for your soul in a tangible way? Are you too loyal?

In this extract from the forthcoming Owen book, John Owen reveals just how distant he is from many modern-day Christians. How often do we talk about a conscious relationship with the living Christ? How much do we truly enjoy his presence? How much are we aware of how precious he is? Is our failure to truly pursue a conscious experience of Jesus part of the reason why we often struggle to fight against sin? Who would eat the moldy crumbs of pleasure that the world would offer us when we have feasted on the delights to be found in knowing Christ? Here are Owen’s words:

"When once the soul of a believer has obtained sweet and real communion with Christ, it looks about him, watches all temptations all ways whereby sin might approach, to disturb him in his enjoyment of his dear Lord and Savior, his rest and desire. How does it charge itself not to omit anything, nor to do anything that may interrupt the communion obtained! And because the common entrance of temptations which tend to the disturbance of that rest and complacency which Christ takes in the soul, is from delightful diversions from actual communion with him; therefore is desire strong and active that the companions of such a soul, those with whom it does converse, would not, by their proposals or allurements, divert it into any such frame as Christ cannot delight nor rest in. A believer that has gotten Christ in his arms is like one that has found great spoils, or a pearl of price. He looks about him every way, and fears everything that may deprive him of it. Riches make men watchful; and the actual sensible possession of him, in whom are all the riches and treasure of God will make men look about them for the keeping of him. The line of choicest communion is a line of the greatest spiritual solicitousness, carelessness in the enjoyment of Christ pretended is a manifest evidence of a false heart." (Communion with the Triune God, pages 238-239)

I'm back, but tired, and as usual, when I simply don't have anything to say myself and it's getting to the end of the week, I turn to one of the greatest living preachers—John Piper. Last Friday I quoted from his first talk in a series on suffering. Today I will quote from the second. It is striking how boldly he states that he believes in healing today, but in a context where this world in which we live is one in which we groan for heaven.

God’s Ordinary Way Today: Partially

Don’t misunderstand: I do believe in divine healing and miraculous rescues. God can today—and he does today—take away sicknesses and rescue miraculously. However, there is good reason to believe that his ordinary way of applying what he bought at the cross is to give it partially now. His normal path is that we arrive in the kingdom along the path of affliction.

A Groaning World—Even for Christians

Let me give you one passage on this: Romans 8:18-25. Paul says that now the whole creation groans. It is a groaning world. And then Paul adds: We ourselves, the ones with the Holy Spirit, groan, waiting for our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Even people filled with the Holy Spirit groan—waiting, waiting, waiting. How long, O Lord, in this wheelchair? With this Alzheimer’s? Sometimes he heals now. But sometimes healing comes at [the] end.

John Piper has a glorious richness in his preaching repertoire. Almost every time he is invited to preach anywhere it seems he produces a brand new message. He makes the Bible fresh. Today I want to return to the habit of posting a quote from Piper on Fridays by sharing an astonishing quote from an amazing talk he recently gave:

Let me underline one of the statements I’ve already made: Suffering is an essential part of your Christian existence. I choose the word essential very carefully. Paul said to new believers in Acts 14:22, “Through many tribulations we will enter the kingdom of heaven.” This is Christianity 101. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 3:2-3 that we Christians are destined for suffering. This is your destiny—suffering. Think it not strange when the fiery ordeal comes upon you. And 2 Timothy 3:12: All who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted. And Romans 8:16: We are fellow heirs if we suffer with him. There is one God-appointed path to glorification—suffering. If you are making it your life ambition to avoid suffering, you will perish and suffer forever . . ." (emphasis mine).

Few readers of Christian blogs will have failed to come across Tim Challies, the uberblogger who will shortly become a Crossway-published book author. In fact, I'm almost willing to bet that no one will first hear of Tim's blog through this post. If I'm wrong, do leave a comment to that effect and/or drop me an email! Anyway, Tim has a bit of a tradition over at his place. Unlike lesser mortals such as yours truly, Tim blogs EVERY day. I really do mean EVERY day. Christmas, Easter, summer holidays—in fact, Tim has now blogged for 1396 days without a single day off!

So, like around twenty others, when I saw a group on Facebook dedicated to a campaign to give Tim a short rest, I simply had to join. Then I saw that Tim's pastor and wife had joined, and for a while, to be honest, I was getting a bit concerned. If one's pastor and wife are telling you it's time for a rest, you ought to listen. So, I even offered to send Andrew Fountain round to steal Tim's PC for a day or two! I know from personal experience how addictive the Internet can be, even when we are doing good things.

Anyway, Aileen Challies, wife of Tim, is also a Facebook friend of mine, and I was therefore really pleased to be able to discover that she had joined the group out of a sense of fun, rather than any real concern about her husband's addiction to blogging. This is what she said (she's given me permission to share it):

"You need to understand Tim's personality. For a long time he was not a disciplined person . . . and his attention span has always been well, flighty? That is one reason blogging has been so good for him. It allows him to stay in web design because blogging, and everything else associated with it, gives him a variety of things happening, which stops him from being bored. It has also been a vital part of his spiritual growth over the last four years. Blogging truly has turned my husband into a much stronger man and husband. He thirsts now after God's will and Word in a way that he never has in the twelve years I have known him. I'm not sure most people could carry what Tim does with the reading, writing and research, and work, and, of course, family, but it is necessary with his personality! He does read fast, writes in the mornings, from about 8:30 to 10:00 (one benefit of being self-employed) and still has plenty of family time. While I can understand where the concern is coming from (outside looking in) you all really need to spend a day in the life of our family to see that it is not anywhere near what you are imagining!"

UPDATE
My blog editor has started another group on Facebook to campaign for Tim to keep going and not miss a single day! It's called "I need my daily dose of Challies!" How could she????

Or, rather do nothing in your own strength. This post appears to be one of those rare posts that I and Dave Warnock (no relation) can agree on! It comes from Mark Lauterbach and is a post everybody should read carefully and fully.

In the last year I have become increasingly convinced that the Gospel makes no sense to the natural man. Not only is it counter-intuitive to the unbeliever but it requires constant reminders to the Christian. I am so deeply self-help oriented that I quickly move on from the Gospel and God's work to save me -- to myself and my work to improve my life.

. . . the Gospel is fundamentally a message that God has undertaken to accomplish by himself alone what the combined sweat and labor of the entire race of mankind has been unable to do -- to rescue us from the evil within us and its consequences. The Gospel comes to moderns with a massive, loud word of "CEASE" -- and it tells us that our efforts are in vain, that the problem is much deeper than we can even imagine. We do not need a better set of how to's, or a better teacher, or a better therapist. All of that is the equivalent to giving swimming lessons to people shipwrecked and floating in water 1000 miles from shore. It may give them a brief sense of power, but it is delaying the inevitable.

God does in Jesus life and death what we could not do for ourselves. Paul says it this way in gal 2:21 -- if righteousness was by the law, then Christ died needlessly. In modern words, if I can attain any measure of freedom from sin/evil in my heart and life, then I don't need Jesus . . .

If people leave my preaching confident in the rules and principles I have given them, I have preached a false Gospel. If they leave the room confident in the faithful grace and power of the Savior to work in them as they seek to obey -- I have preached the Gospel.

Gospel Driven Life

I love it when a new blog is formed. My dear friend, Andrew Cottingham, started blogging just today. I told him it would help him as much as those who actually read it. Blogging is not for everyone, of course, but since in less than 24 hours he has already written two posts, I hold out great hopes for this one! Here are his two posts, and I will end with a couple of great quotes from them. Pop over and encourage him — early bloggers need it!

• Matthew 5 v 6 cont.



• Hunger and thirst for righteousness

The better understanding of 'Blessed' which seems to carry more meaning in our culture is the word 'Happy'.

Here in verse 6 Jesus is preaching and teaches that:

Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.

Immediately it becomes apparent that there is a double positive here. A verse with a blessing at both ends. Happiness and fullness are both being offered as the result of hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

The two verbs 'hunger' and 'thirst' are both the result of natural appetites. There could not be more familiar cravings. We all, on a daily basis, respond to our sense of hunger and thirst, we know where to go and what our bodies need in order to satisfy their demands...

The man who is beginning to walk in meekness (Matthew 5 v 5) is going to need something else to fuel his thinking. He is no longer fighting his own corner, he has deposed himself from the throne of 'self'.

The following set of sermon notes reflect a message that I preached today at Jubilee Church London In some ways this sermon was connected to the three-part series on Revival I recently preached if only because the last message God's Reviving Word was also based on Psalm 119. The earlier messages, "Revival" and "Reviving Prayer" are also available.

You can download the audio (you may need to right click and save the file onto your PC) or listen right here using the following embedded player:

INTRODUCTION

There is one word that is coming to us again and again at the moment, that it seems that God is wanting to drop into our hearts is the word “missional”

Often when I hear the word “Missional” I am afraid that I have to confess I think of a scene from one of my favorite films - “Blues Brothers”. In it the two rouges who are the stars go to church and “see the light” it is a little tongue in cheek to be sure but they conclude at the end of the sequence “We are on a mission from God!” Well we really ARE on a mission from God. Like so many great films, the rest of the film simply tracks the journey of its main characters - as they seek to complete the mission they felt God had gave them. You can watch the clip here on my blog below thanks to YouTube.

What is a mission? Well to me a mission feels a whole lot like a journey. I would like to take us together today to what we can think of as the map for the journey – our mission instructions if you were. We will learn today how to handle this Bible in such a way that it will help us on our journey – keep us going in the right way – so we can fulfill this glorious mission he is putting in front of us.

If you are not a Christian here this morning, we will give you a chance to join us on our great journey, but lets see what the writer of the longest chapter in the Bible had to say about making sure we don’t loose our way on this great missionary journey God has set before us…

Lets turn to Psalm 119

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it
according to your word.

It doesn’t say how can we keep pure – by sitting still and doing nothing…. We are meant to be “on a journey” doing something!


This book shows us the way – word is not just head knowledge we want to keep pure…by the word.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)


James 1:19-27 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”


There is a guarding, but a DOING in those verses…


How do we keep pure – guard hearts by the word – not just about keeping self away from certain people – At least part of how we learn to guard our ways is in the reading of the mistakes of others. If the man who wrote this wonderful psalm can become an adulterer and murderer we should be alert and careful!!!


Flee temptation….Like Joseph.


But not just do nothing – withdrawal from world is not the answer – the cry of the missionary should be to be “in the world but not of it” too many Christians are “of the world but not in it”
Religion is I obey so I can be accepted. The gospel is I am accepted so I can obey." Tim Keller
But the Christian life is not merely about obedience and trying to guard and stop doing certain things. We are supposed to be looking for something positive too – lets see the next verse.
How then can we get this life-giving word into us? We will see in psalm 119 several ways in which we should respond to and appropriate Gods word. The first thing to note is that we have to have an attitude that when we come to God’s word we are in fact coming to him, and expecting to meet the risen Jesus through its pages. The psalmist says

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!(Psalm 119:10)

We must come to God’s word expecting to find him. We do not come merely to grasp some intellectual truths – to get our doctrine right – although of course that has its place. We come expecting the God of the Bible to leap off the pages of the bible to us. It is God we seek, and Him that we need. It is Him that our hearts long for! We try and fill our lives with all kinds of things.

The child who feels lonely and does anything he can to please his classmates. When it fails he starts to long to grow up and leave the torment that school is for some people. Then, he longs for a girlfriend, then for a wife, then for a better job a better