Leftovers & Reruns

Until August 9th I'm going to be fairly un-bloggy due to travel. In the meantime, here's a few decent posts from the past that might be worth reading:

The Context of the Cross

Ducks, Chickens and Soccer Balls . . .

Rekindle

Boys Need Dads Need Boys (As an aside if you read this post, son #3 and I will be heading to the mountains this fall...)

Finally, check His Whispers if you'd rather just look at some pictures. :)

Theology Matters

"I've come to learn that theology matters. And it matters not because we want a good grade on a test but because what we know about God shapes the way we think and live. What you believe about God's nature - what He is like, what He wants from you, and whether or not you will answer to Him - affects every part of your life. Theology matters, because if we get it wrong then our whole life will be wrong." Josh Harris, Dug Down Deep.

Looking back over my life with Christ, nothing has been more encouraging, liberating, strengthening or useful for correcting me than theology. And correct theology comes from a proper study of God's Word, a proper understanding of God's Word. Orthodox theology isn't a stuffy, eggheaded course of study only for denizens of universities, it is, can be, should be, the blessed pursuit of every child of God. Theology is gazing intently into the law that gives freedom and becoming transformed into the likeness of our loving Redeemer.

Memorizing Scripture

When I was 14, I read through the Bible in four months. I finished up on Christmas Eve, just before leaving for my grandparent's house to open presents. Over the next few years while I was in high school, I started memorizing Scripture. Every morning I would grab a verse from my reading, write it on my calendar and work on it throughout the day at school. In short order I had buckets full of Scripture memorized, all of Romans 6, a few Psalms, and I made sure I knew something by heart from every book of the Bible.

Why do I mention all of this? Because if I tried to do this kind of thing now, my brain would overheat and seize up.

I don't know if it's just something that comes with age, or the way my brain categorizes information now. Obviously I haven't stopped learning - I'm a whole lot wiser now than when I was 19 (and thought I ruled the universe). And the knowledge I now possess, whether theological, marital, culinary, mechanical or what have you would put a "Blaine" half my age to shame.

Whatever the case, attempts at deliberate Scripture memorization are difficult for me and, well, annoying. Now, instead of memorization, I become familiar with, conversant in and knowledgeable of Scripture through sheer use. I know where things are in the Bible, but I'd be hard pressed to give any specific references that I didn't learn before I was, say, 25.

So what's your experience? You may be a regular Hank Hanegraaff with a steel trap memory or just a regular Joe who struggles with memorization like me. How do you hide the Word?

What Youth Ministry Is

I've been a pastor to teenagers for 15 years now. I'm not sure how that happened, but it is apparently what the Lord had in mind.

There are many things that youth ministry isn't, and shouldn't be, however there are plenty of articles out there that will tell you what those are (I have my own list).

Therefore, I hesitatingly (because I'm not sure what relevance this has to anyone's life but my own) submit my own thoughts about what youth ministry is:

Youth ministry is preparing people to leave, not to stay. Teenagers are on a launch ramp. When they reach graduation, they take off into whatever trajectory they've chosen (or life chooses for them). My practice has been to continually remind our teens that there's a whole lot of life ahead of them. I urge them to imagine themselves as a 25 year old Christian, a 40 year old Christian, an 80 year old Christian. Biblical wisdom regarding a proper perspective of life is invaluable at this age.

Youth ministers deal with a constant and certain attrition. Both exhilarating and heartbreaking is watching a young person grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, become a student of the Word and even begin to fulfill a role in ministry as they mature through the high school years . . . and then leave our group when they graduate. Many teens that have moved on I would have loved to keep around in order to watch them grow and to become more established in ministry. But that task falls to the next shepherd.

Youth ministers have new "congregations" every year. With seniors leaving and new kids moving up, the chemistry of each passing year is different. Adult congregations change, to be sure, but not as rapidly as youth groups. In many ways, I think this helps keep my creativity and strategies fresh. Praise the Lord, my message will never change.

Youth ministry is an opportunity to share eternal truth with hearts and minds that, although often conflicted and confused, are still quite pliable and eager to learn. I love teenagers because they are so malleable. Where others see stubbornness and rebellion in teens, I see kids just trying to figure things out. It's an inevitable process. While others see teens as shifty and dishonest, I see some of the most honest people I know. That is, if they're depressed, angry, manic, sad, excited - it is written all over their faces. Adults become masters of disguise. As for me, I would rather work with a bunch of crazy teenagers than a crowd of adults who are well set in their ways. Not that I'm cynical ;).

Youth ministry is about building bedrock and motivating maturity. Over the years, my teaching has become less and less topical and more and more expository. Instead of chasing every teenage issue and trying to apply Scriptural band-aids, I've realized (mercifully) that it's more effective and God-honoring to simply preach the Word and bring it's Truth to bear on their young lives. My observation is that this is a far superior tack for teaching and preaching.

Youth ministry may seem more energetic and loud than adult ministry, and it usually is, but its core is the same. There is a time and place for milk and meat when preaching the Word. When dealing with teens, the meat should not be withheld. The fiery truth of God's Word invigorates young believers and convicts young sinners. Consider the young men of Scripture regenerated and called by God: Gideon, Samuel, David, Timothy . . . there is no easy-believism or soft-pedaling in these accounts.

So there you have it, some quick observations about pastoring the teenage crowd.

I'll wrap this up with a couple of quotes from Tim Kimmel:

"Do we measure spiritual conviction by focusing on the behavior of the Christian teen or the character of the Christian teen - which one should drive the other?"

"It's difficult to keep Jesus as a priority in our kids' lives when their relationship to Him is, among other things, based on answers to a test. There's a fine line between knowing God and knowing about God."

Fix Your Brain, Says Piper

I was going to go another direction with a post today, but found this video at Adrian Warnock's site and it resonated so clearly with me that I felt I had to share it. It is exactly the sort of thing the Holy Spirit has been whispering into my heart lately, to help steer me away from my weaknesses in these matters . . .

After you've listened, I'd be interested to hear which quotes from this vid struck you in particular? Some of my favorites are: "You fix your brain, not the Bible"..."Intellectualism is a species of pride."..."making theology god, instead of God, god."

Say What They Want

As a teenager I had the strange ability to actually memorize Scripture. I distinctly remember laying in my bed at night in the dark and running through Romans 6 in my mind. What a powerful portion of Scripture!

". . .anyone who has died has been freed from sin . . . count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

The solid fact that I, as a mercifully regenerated new creation in Christ, am free from sin and its eternal consequences is a handy weapon to have when temptation jumps out of a dark alley.

I don't have to sin.

I still do, but I don't have to, and this knowledge has been very effective in avoiding much sin.

I am free from sin. That's wonderful! I can sing and be glad! I am not bound and I do not walk in darkness! (I could get excited about this) Say what they want, I am FREE!

Calvin: Not A Calvinist!

Poor Frenchman Jean Cauvin was and is a misunderstood theologian. Seems to me folks in certain evangelical circles react to the word "Calvinism" the way they would to "chicken cult" or "hard drive crash".

The truth of the matter is that John Calvin (his better-sounding Latinized name) hated the word "Calvinism". He never intended to introduce a brand new school of thought . All he wanted to do was preach the Gospel and the truth about justification as the early church had done. Calvin was a quiet theologian, at war with the Holy Roman empire and its contorted "gospel" and its many abuses. Post tenebras, lux. After all that darkness, Calvin was bringing light.

His mindset was that salvation is a gift of God's grace alone, not found in a pope or a Mass, but in Christ alone and received simply by faith alone. Further, the only way to know these truths for certain is through Scripture alone. The sinner contributes nothing to his salvation; all the glory for our gracious salvation goes to God alone.

When Looking Back Is Good

Those who are wise will take all this to heart;
they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.

Psalm 107:43

In this song, Psalm 107, the Israelite could look back and recount the exiles brought home, the prisoners set free, the sins forgiven, the needs supplied by God and be reminded that God's love is nothing if it is not faithful.

Need encouragement? Need assurance? Need a reminder of God's grace? Just look back.

Because of the times of rebellion and sin that didn't ultimately consume me, I know God is gracious. Because my fifth son is alive, though diagnosed in utero with an almost certainly fatal disease, I know God is merciful. Because I have suffered from anxiety and found the greatest elixir in Christ, I know God is faithful. My history is full and running over with the faithful love of the Lord.

What do you see in your history? Remember and take courage.

Awkward Moments in Church History . . .

Dateline: Munster, Germany, 1534-35.

Spinning off wildly from Luther's Reformation, radical Anabaptists led by Jan Matthys tried to form a communal theocracy in Munster. Matthys was a fanatic (in the negative sense) and on Easter Sunday, 1535, stormed the besieging Catholic-Lutheran army (strange bedfellows!) with 30 followers believing himself to be a modern day Gideon - and was quickly dispatched.

In his place, Jan van Leiden took his place as "King David" of Munster, the "New Jerusalem" (yeah, it's a weird story) and continued where Matthys left off. Eventually, and quite soon, two citizens became fed up with the whole fiasco and they opened one of the city gates to the army outside, who entered and took the city.

In January of 1536, van Leiden and two of his henchmen were condemned, torn apart with hot pincers and their bodies were hung in iron cages suspended from the steeple of St. Lambert's church. The cages are still there to this day.

What's the point of all this? There are probably many, but for this post, the point shall be the importance of truth and sound doctrine. Martin Luther made a glorious discovery when the Holy Spirit revealed grace to him and redeemed his soul from its prison. His revolution was a turning point in church history. As that missile of truth rocketed brightly into the darkness of medieval Europe, there was some obviously errant debris. And since there is nothing new under the sun, we must realize that in our time everything slapped with the label "Christian" isn't necessarily so. There is no end to the heretical wackiness that many mistake for the true Gospel these days. We must be careful. We must know the Word, we must preach the Word.

If you want to read further on this odd little bit of history, I recommend The Unquenchable Flame, an extremely readable account of the Reformation period, and you can also read the Wikipedia article on the topic.

It's Not Much, But It's All I Have

Wow. The music Sunday morning was . . . terrible.

Several people on our worship team were late for practice; we started 20 minutes late.

When service time came, we started off fairly well with "On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand", which, as it turned out, was the only leg we had to stand on!

In the second song, I attempted to sing a part in a higher octave and barely screeched my way through it. At the end of that same song, as I turned to nod to the drummer signalling the finish, I grabbed an E-flat chord instead of a D. Wonky.

The piano player was having trouble with the transpose key on our digital grand and stumbled awkwardly through the first few songs in the wrong key.

The monitors were, ummm, confused. The vocalists had too much of certain folks and not enough of others, making harmony and even melody difficult.

As a team, we clunked our way through the song list, giving it everything we had, which wasn't much this past Sunday. Funnily enough, before service as we met for prayer I had finished with the words: "Father, we just want to give you our best this morning." We all chuckled after the amen, feeling the humor in that . . .

So, the music was terrible, but the worship was great.

Early on in the set I offered my meager self to my Savior and sang and played my heart out for Him. When it was all sang and done, I was a little ashamed of how we had played, but I knew we truly had given our all. And that's all the Lord requires, really. I discovered later that others in the Body that morning had been touched by the Lord's presence during that time of worship through music.

Reflecting later, the thought occurred to me that nothing we do for the Lord as an act of service is perfect.

When we give, there's often a bit of pride involved. When we help others, we secretly hope for something in return. When we serve at church we feel self-satisfied. I don't know if my motives are ever truly pure, but I do know that the Lord simply wants . . . all of me. So, even if I play my guitar like an orangutan sometimes and occasionally sing like a strangling goat, it can still be a fragrant offering.

At The Start, At The Finish

"Time" had a beginning - Christ was there. "Time" will have an end - Christ is there. Within the bounds of time, there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

To test any belief or belief system, you must uncover what that system believes and teaches about Jesus Christ. Was he just a prophet, a hippie, a great philosopher, an odd job man from the middle east living in a shack or just another human that earned his godhood? Then that's not a Jesus who saves, and not the Christ of the Bible. Counterfeits don't count, no matter how friendly they might be.

Let's strive for orthodoxy and sound doctrine when teaching and proclaiming the True Bread from heaven. He's the only One that has everything we need.