Tunes for Tuesday

How To Deal With Death

From Tim Challies

On September 28, 2008, I was shocked to read these words on the blog of Terry Stauffer, a man I had met at a couple of conferences and who has long been a reader and commenter at my blog: “Last night at about 4:45 our precious 14 year-old daughter Emily was attacked and killed as she was out for a walk. We don’t know a lot of details, but we know that two young men came upon the scene right away, but it was too late for Emily. I will write more as more details come available. Please pray for us, for our church family who are meeting without us right now, and for family that is travelling. We are realizing from the inside the value of good, Gospel theology right now. ”

In an interview posted by Tim Challies, here is what Mr. Stauffer related:

*****

In a short note you posted on your blog the day after Emily’s death you wrote this: “We are realizing from the inside the value of good, Gospel theology right now.” Tell me about the value of that good, gospel theology as you began to grapple with the reality of what had happened.


In recent years, my wife and I have been learning that the gospel puts everything else into perspective. Reading good theology books, listening to gospel-centered messages and reading our Bibles with Christ at the center has become a real passion for us. God was preparing us in many ways for Emily’s death. In the past couple of years, we have been growing in our understanding of sin and grace. Submitting to what God says about our sin is essential to understanding the good news.

Perhaps the greatest power of a gospel perspective the understanding that death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person – not even the death of a child. The worst thing for anyone is to face the wrath of a holy God in his or her sinful condition. We are by nature children of wrath. Christ absorbed that wrath for us on the cross to bring us reconciliation with God. Of course, the hope of Emily’s resurrection (and ours) because of Christ’s bodily resurrection cannot be overstated – this is our sure hope and it keeps us going.


On a more personal level, on the first morning after Emily’s death, I was overwhelmed with thoughts about what her last minutes must have been like. In the middle of that desperation, I remembered, “Christ was forsaken so that Emily didn’t have to be.” In fact, I wrote that “good gospel theology” line only a few minutes after this realization. Emily’s Saviour brought her to Himself, and Emily is safe and secure, full of joy inexpressible and full of glory. That is a great comfort for us.

All is not lost. As I read this interview, tears welled up in my eyes for the explanation that this father gave. “The worst thing for anyone is to face the wrath of a holy God in his or her sinful condition” (emphasis mine). Death is not the end!  What can get us through but the hope of the Gospel of our Savior!

Please take a moment to read the interview found here and then I challenge you to not waste a moment of this day and share the Gospel message with someone you cross paths with!

A case against marriage

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Sad, twisted and wrong. Welcome to depravity.

It Happens To The Best of Us

Safety

Tunes for Tuesday

Signs of the Struggling Church

From Sam Rainer @ Church Forward

Over 90% of churches are declining or growing less than the community around them. The national trends are not good. Before church leaders surrender to frustration and church members yield to apathy, our composite research shows there are signs along the way that suggest a church is becoming unhealthy. The following list is not exhaustive, but let’s see some key signals that an individual congregation is beginning to struggle.

We don’t emphasize Bible study anymore. When God’s Word is not the driving force of a church, people are bound to travel down the wrong road. Churches that do not elevate the proclamation and study of God’s Word veer off course. A lack of deep biblical teaching is one of the most glaring signs of a struggling church.

We cut our outreach budget. When we consult with churches and examine their budgets, a key health indicator is how much the church allocates to outwardly focused ministries. Struggling churches give less toward their mission each year—less money, less prayer and fewer people.

 Our church doesn’t change with the community. Struggling churches are led by leaders with little to no understanding of their immediate context. As a result, their congregations either do not know about changes in the community’s demographics or they refuse to change with them. Every church leader must minister with the following question at the forefront: “What are the biggest needs in my community?

We don’t take risks. Unfortunately, many church leaders have been beat up or burned. As a result, they focus more on not getting in trouble with their congregation than turning the world upside down for Jesus. They lead churches to play it safe rather than taking risks to reach more people.

We don’t have a clear discipleship plan. A struggling church does not have an answer to the new believer or member who asks, “Now what?” These churches may have an abundance of programs and ministries, but they do not have an intentional plan to help believers become more like Christ. The absence of a discipleship plan leaves the back door wide open.

So true, so true. As a young man I have all the answers. I see the problems with the church and I, yes you hear me, I have the solution to the church’s problems. If you’ll kindly slide over I’ll take the reigns for a while and I can get your church back to where it ought to be.

The above paragraph has been my thought process for some time now. It’s arrogant, cocky, egotistical, and of the devil. Therefore I repent.There is no magic formula to revitalizing struggling churches and the church isn’t dead… yet. However there are some that are struggling and some that are dying. What is the solution? I don’t know. Maybe we should follow the leading of the Holy Spirit , take the Great Commission serious and train our people to reach other people. Should the church neglect to reach out to the community? Should the church stop offering programs to keep their people interested in a Christian lifestyle that they struggle to live? No, but we can do a better job of being the church.

If we move from being a social club to being an anchor for the community, we will do more in the area of reaching those who are unchurched, de-churched and churched. Our problem corporately is that we’re lazy. We live in a culture of instant gratification and at the first sign of having to do the hardcore groundwork that’s never seen by anybody, we disappear into the shadows and throw rocks at those who are doing the labor.

What we need as Christians is a good swift kick in the butt, to get us off of our posteriors and into the labor we’ve been called to do by Christ.

Church: Love it, Don’t leave it

Kevin Deyoung and Ted Kluck’s new book is on sale now! I haven’t gotten it yet but it look s like it will be great. Here is an article they had published in a major media outlet.

From Newsweek:

Here’s what Bono, Oprah, and the guru speakers on PBS won’t tell you: Jesus believed in organized religion and he founded an institution. Of course, Jesus had no patience for religious hacks and self-righteous wannabes, but he was still Jewish. And as Jew, he read the Holy Book, worshiped in the synagogue, and kept Torah. He did not start a movement of latte-drinking disciples who excelled in spiritual conversations. He founded the church (Matt. 16:18) and commissioned the apostles to proclaim the good news that Israel’s Messiah had come and the sins of the world could be forgiven through his death on the cross (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:14-36).

For almost two millennia, it was axiomatic that Christians, like, actually went to church (or at least told other Christians they did). From Cyprian to Calvin it was believed that for those to whom God “is Father the church may also be Mother.” But increasingly Christians are trying to get more spiritual by getting less church.

Take a spin through the religion section at your local bookstore. What you’ll find there is revealing – there are “revolutionary” books for stay at home moms, teenagers, and Christian businessmen. There are lots of manifestos. And most of the books about church are about people leaving the church to “find God.” There are lots of Kerouacian “journey” stories, and at least one book about the gospel according to Starbucks. It used to be you had to overthrow a country to be considered a revolutionary, and now, it seems, you just have to quit church and go pray in the woods.

We’ve been in the church our whole lives and are not blind to its failings. Churches can be boring, hypocritical, hurtful, and inept. The church is full of sinners. Which is kind of the point. Christians are worse than you think. Our Savior is better than you imagine.
But the church is not all about oppression and drudgery. Almost every church we know of visits old people, brings meals to new moms, supports disaster relief, and does something for the poor. We love the local church, in spite of its problems, because it’s where we go to meet God. It’s not a glorified social/country club you attend to be around people who talk and look just you do. It’s a place to hear God’s word spoken, taught and affirmed. It’s a place to sing praises to God, and a place to serve others. It’s a place to be challenged.

The church is more than plural for Christian. It is both organism and organization, a living thing comprised of a certain order, regular worship services, with doctrinal standards, institutional norms, and defined rituals. Without the institution of the church nurturing the flock and protecting the faith for two thousand years, there would be no Christianity. If Gen Xers (like us) and their friends want to be against something, start a revolution. If you want to conserve truth and grace for twenty centuries, plant a church.

We love the church because Christ loved the church. She is his bride–a harlot at times, but his bride nonetheless, being washed clean by the word of God (Eph. 5:25-26). If you are into Jesus, don’t rail on his bride. Jesus died for the church, so don’t be bothered by a little dying to self for the church’s sake. If you keep in mind that everyone there is a sinner (including yourself) and that Jesus Christ is the point and not you, your dreams, or your kids, your church experience might not be as lame as you fear.

Perhaps Christians are leaving the church because it isn’t tolerant and open-minded. But perhaps the church-leavers have their own intolerance too–intolerant of tradition, intolerant of authority, intolerant of imperfection except their own. Are you open-minded enough to give the church a chance–a chance for the church to be the church, not a coffee shop, not a mall, not a variety show, not Chuck E. Cheese, not a U2 concert, not a nature walk, but a wonderfully ordinary, blood-bought, Spirit-driven church with pastors, sermons, budgets, hymns, bad carpet and worse coffee?

The Church, because it is Christ’s church, will outlive American Idol, the NFL, and all of our grandkids. We won’t last, but the Church will. So when it comes to church, be like Jesus: love it, don’t leave it. As Saint Calloway once prophesied to the Brothers of Blues, “Jake, you get wise, you get to church.”

Why Plant Churches?

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Vanity of Vanities

From the Dwell Deep blog, a short post by Josh Patterson:

I have tried to “moonwalk” a thousand times. I used to think the “Thriller” video was the coolest thing ever…and a little scary. I might have owned a red leather jacket with a bunch of zippers. In the third grade, I performed a moving rendition of “Beat it” for the school talent show and brought the house down. “Billie Jean” still has the most memorable beat to start a song and the sure fast way to get a party started. I really did think Michael Jackson was “Bad” and a “Smooth Criminal.” You know you cried the first time you realized it really did start with the “Man in the Mirror” and “We are the World.” If ever we saw an icon fall from grace, it was Michael Jackson.

He was a man who was never comfortable in his skin. He always wanted to be something other than he was. Money afforded him the opportunity to chase a thousand fantasies from morphing his image (literally) to building Neverland. It the end, he was a sad commentary on the truths found in the book of Ecclesiastes. Vanity of vanity…life is all vanity. The pursuit of wisdom, riches, fame, fortune, safety, security, simplicity, chastity, fidelity, friendship or solitude is all a vain pursuit. Death is the great equalizer. Christ is the great hope.