Concerns with House Church

Aaron Menikoff has voiced some of my concerns with the house church movement. 

My desire is that these house churches be, in fact, churches. Whether the pastor is seminary-educated is not the point. Is the "church" led by a man or men who meet the biblical qualifications of an elder? Is the Word of God clearly taught week in and week out? Are the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper regularly celebrated? Is there a careful accounting of who is "in" the church by virtue of repentance and faith and who is "outside" the church by virtue of unbelief.

If you do comment, I encourage you not to necessarily comment on the “led by a man” section.  If this is a discussion I would prefer this to be about the ecclessiology itself and not the gender debates.

Review of The Trellis and the Vine by Marshall and Payne

Author: Colin Marshall and Tony Payne

Pages: 206pgs

Publisher: Matthias Media

Price:  11.99

Genre: Ministry/Church Resources

Quick Summary:

“According to this book, Christians are to be disciple-making disciples and pastors are to be trainers. Superb! This book sets out a crucial shift that is needed in the mindset of many pastors. The authors have carefully listened to the Bible. And they've worked on this book. The result is a book that is well-written and well- illustrated, but even more, a book that is full of biblical wisdom and practical advice. This is the best book I've read on the nature of church ministry."

That is how Mark Dever described this book. The authors of this book want to see a ministry mindset shift. Instead of simply engaging in trellis work Payne and Marshall encourage church leaders to spend their time on vine work. Trellis work is working on the structures, programs, that supports the vine and its growth. Vine work is the actual doing of ministry. In this book church leaders are encouraged to turn the way they think of doing ministry upside-down (or perhaps right side up).

What I Liked?

Mark Dever is right, this really is one of the best books on the nature of church ministry that I have read. Some of these things I have known and believed for some time—but was unsure how to articulate them. Marshall and Payne articulate these principles in ways that I would have only dreamed of. But this is not just some pie-in-the-sky approach to ministry, this stuff is practical. The problem is this type of ministry (though very biblical) calls for a patient plodding approach, so it probably will not be flying of the shelves. Many will probably “try it” and then when immediate results do not happen will pick up the “next great thing”. If you like 9Marks type stuff you will like this book.

What I Disliked?

I am completely sold on what is being proposed in this book. I cannot think of any specific thing that I would disagree with or greatly dislike. I was greatly challenged by some chapters, encouraged by others, and helped by all of them.

The only “problem” that I have is wondering how to implement some of these things. I would love to see a sequel; sort of like Dever did with The Deliberate Church. There is just one question that I have how do you do Vine work when your people are expecting Trellis work? I know it’s through patient teaching of the Word—but do you do both until the Word really sinks in and the congregation catches the vision?

Chapter 12 and a couple of the questions in the end really do attempt to answer this question. I may just desire being spoon fed. In the end this is probably not a “hole” in the book as much as it is a “hole” in my intellect and experience.

Should You Buy It?

Absolutely. If you are involved in leadership at church you should read this. It would be helpful I think for any believer to pick this up. You can get it from Monergism now for a little over 10 bucks and it is well worth every penny.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Watch Mark Dever plug this book:

Review of Church Planting is For: Wimps by Mike McKinley

Author: Mike McKinley

Pages: 128pgs

Publisher: Crossway

Price: 7.91

Genre: Church Planting/Ministry

Quick Summary:

The subtitle of the book tells the story: How God Uses Messed-up People to Plant Ordinary Churches That Do Extraordinary Things. The idea behind this book is that you do not have to be extraordinarily gifted to plant churches. Often people think that it takes one type of personality to plant churches. This book hopes to break that mold.

It is, however, not about church planting (from scratch) but church “revitalizing” or “replanting”. Through connections with Capitol Hill Baptist, McKinley was hired as the pastor of a very small church. After spending time on staff at Capitol Hill, McKinley and a few members from there set out to revitalize Guilford Baptist about 45 minutes away. This book is their story, but it is filled with practical cross-situational advice.

What I Liked:

This was one of the most fun and thought provoking books that I have read in awhile. As an example of McKinley’s writing skill consider his description of the church building he inherited, "like a worm-eaten old cat sucking in its last few beleaguered breaths".

But it is not simply good writing that makes this book phenomenal. McKinley is unashamedly biblical; he exalts the sufficiency of Christ and His Word in building His church. This is a refreshing book on church planting/church growth. In the midst of so many pragmatic—“do this and be awesome”—books, comes a humble pastor encouraging us to patiently and passionately proclaim God’s Word.

Another added bonus is that McKinley does not just stop with how to do ministry in the church. In such a short book it is refreshing to see that an entire chapter is devoted to loving your family in the midst of such a difficult task.

Furthermore you could easily read this 128 pages book in one sitting. And it will keep your attention well enough to do so. I found myself unable to put this book down—although I had to at times to think about what is being presented.

What I Disliked:

I have never been involved in church planting so I am certain that there may be a few things that others would disagree with. Perhaps McKinley could be charged with over-simplification at times. But at the end of the day he is not really trying to say “do this and be awesome”. His plea in this book is the biblical plea of Paul—God uses ordinary broken vessels to spread His glory to the nations. I honestly cannot think of anything I disliked in this book.

Should You Buy It?

Even if you are not a church planter you should buy this book. Churches should be involved in planting churches (or revitalizing and replanting). If you are involved in church planting then you most certainly need to buy this book . You can read it in a couple hours and it’s under 10 bucks.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

30 Hours To Solve Biblical Famine

Yesterday I asked “should a pastor spend 20-25 hours in sermon preparation?”  Today I want to consider how a pastor could easily spend 20-25 hours in sermon preparation.  I even want to make the argument that these steps to sermon prep should not be circumvented.  Perhaps you could give some of these less time but I believe that these steps need to be present. 

I will state the obvious (but often overlooked) upfront.  Each of these steps should be bathed in prayer.  Sermon preparation should fundamentally be done on the knees.  With that being said here is how one could easily spend 20-25 hours in prep time.

I am assuming that the preacher is preaching through an already established series, so there is no time spent figuring out what to preach. 

Stage #1

The essential element to sermon preparation is to really get what the text means.  Sometimes this will be easier and sometimes it will be really quite difficult.  I typically begin by using something like Bible Arc to get a feel for how the passage fits together. 

After I feel as if I have a grasp on the flow of the text I will begin reading commentaries and engaging in linguistic and background studies.  This is where I really try to get a grasp on what the author in this text is saying.  All throughout this process I am asking myself questions about where it fits in the overall story of Scripture and how this particular text relates to Jesus. 

Then after doing all of this background work I try to write the text in my own words (I know, heresy, right?).  This helps me to know that I have a good understanding of what the original author intended.  The goal of the first stage is to be able to know what the author intended and how it relates to Jesus. 

Stage #2

All throughout stage #1 ideas will come into my mind about how this particular text might preach.  But what I try to do before considering how it may benefit others is to consider how this text needs to shape my own life.  As John Owen has said, “If the Word does not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us.” 

At the end of the day the most important thing is that I am mastered by the Word and not simply have a mastery of the Word.  What good is it for me to know that Christ saying “I wish you were hot or cold” has to do with the water supply of Laodicea, if my own heart is not rescued from lukewarm pursuits? 

In the first stage I want to know the text.  In the second stage I want to know my own heart and how it relates to this text.  I want to consider how Jesus provides rescue in this passage.  I want to know how this passage preaches the gospel to my own heart. 

Stage #3

Now I am ready to consider how to preach this text.  This is often a really difficult task.  You have won half the battle if you consider your own heart.  But there are unique needs to each congregation and individual. 

In this stage I am trying to figure out how to bridge the gap between my 21st century hearers and the original audience.  What do we have in common with the church in Colossae?  What might we be going through that can relate to David’s time in the cave?  At the end of the day I can have confidence that the human heart in the 21st century struggled with the same thing that people in the first century (or even OT) struggle with today.  And I can also have confidence that the same Jesus recorded in Scripture is the same Jesus that heals today.  I just have to labor to bridge that gap. 

The good folks at 9Marks have provided an application grid that is very helpful for this step.  They offer it in blank and also give a completed sample. 

At the end of this stage I hope to have a decent outline of what the text is saying and how it applies to us.  I hope to put it in a concise statement that connects what the original author is saying with our response today. 

Stage #4

I start writing out the sermon.  I fill out the skeleton.  This can take some time but is actually the easiest step.  After doing all of this preparation work it is quite easy to fill out six pages worth of manuscript. 

Stage #5

After writing the manuscript I try to put it back in an outline form.  At this stage I am simply getting ready to preach.  I want to know that if my notes burn up in front of me I could still preach this text.  I may take the whole manuscript into the pulpit with me and I may take an outline form (typically I take both). 

These stages are all inter-connected and I often find myself bouncing back and forth.  But you can see how a preacher could easily spend 20-25 hours per week doing sermon prep.  And each step is necessary.

If you skip step one then you will just be giving advice.  If you skip step two then your preaching will lack passion and  your soul will eventually wither.  If you skip step three you will just have a verse by verse commentary that your people cannot fully connect with.  If you skip step four it may not be the worst thing—but you will run the risk of not being as deliberate and intentional with the words you choose to communicate such a precious truth.  If you skip step five you may miss obvious holes in your sermon. 

Preaching and teaching the word is a high calling, lets not shirk our responsibility.

Early I mentioned something obvious.  Here is the second obvious thing: I am by no means and experiment in preaching and homiletics—not even close.  Feel free to offer suggestions or how you spend your time preparing sermons or Sunday school lessons. 

Thinking Through the Deliberate Church Chapter 6

As always, if you are just joining the discussion then please check out the foreword, intro, and chapter one. You can catch up pretty easily. If you have yet to buy the book I would suggest buying it for a paltry 9 bucks, here.

Quick Summary:

Chapter 6 is a very short and simple chapter.  The goal of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the difference between the Regulative Principle and the Normative Principle.  The regulative principle “states that everything we do in a corporate worship gathering must be clearly warranted by Scripture.  Clear warrant can either take the form of an explicit biblical command or a good and necessary implication of a biblical text.” (77)  The Normative Principle on the other hand states that, “as long as a practice is not biblically forbidden a church is free to use it to order its corporate life and worship.” (77)

Dever suggests that we ought to adhere to the Regulative Principle rather than the Normative Principle.  Again, it is worth noting that there is usually very little difference in content between the two in practice.  And as D.A. Carson has said, “there is no single passage in the NT that establishes a paradigm for corporate worship.”  Nonetheless, the only thing worthy of binding the conscience is Scripture.  Therefore, the regulative principle, Dever argues, is the most viable option. 

The rest of the chapter Dever makes note that “worship is the purpose of redemption” and as such God cares about worship and specifically how He is to be worshiped.  The chapter closes with considering four passages of Scripture and what they say about worship.  Exodus 20:4 shows us that God cares how he is worshipped not simply that He alone is worshipped.  Exodus 32:1-10 helps us to see that we cannot choose how we worship Him, “we are to worship in His way on His terms.”  John 4:19-24 helps us to see that you can only properly worship God when you worship Him as He has revealed Himself to be.  Finally 1 Corinthians 14 helps us to see that worship is regulated by revelation. 

Quotables:

“If corporate worship is the goal of redemption, then it only makes sense that God would reveal to His redeemed people how He wants us to worship Him when we gather.”  (78)

“Corporate worship—even charismatic worship—is regulated by revelation.”  (79)

Questions:

• Which do you think is the correct paradigm: The Regulative or Normative Principle?
• Does your church seem to follow the regulative or normative principle?
• The following two are from Dever.  Read 1 Corinthians 14.  What do you observe here about the dynamics of corporate worship?
• Read Leviticus 10:1-3.  What was it that made God angry, according to the text? 

Thinking Through the Deliberate Church Chapter 5

As always, if you are just joining the discussion then please check out the foreword, intro, and chapter one. You can catch up pretty easily. If you have yet to buy the book I would suggest buying it for a paltry 9 bucks, here.

Quick Summary:

Chapter 5 covers the issue of church discipline.  Few things are more neglected, abused, and misunderstood as the issue of church discipline.  This chapter (along with a few books) needs to be circulated throughout all churches.  I had read this chapter previously but after reading it again I was blown away by something I had missed the first time: building a foundation. 

Dever begins this chapter by showing the difference between formative and corrective discipline.  Formative discipline is like exercise; it is what you do to keep healthy.  Such things as Bible study, prayer, small groups, worship, are in place to help followers of Jesus to grow.  Corrective discipline is like surgery; it is what you do to regain health.  This can be as “simple” as a loving rebuke or admonishment or as trying as public church discipline.  Both forms of discipline are necessary for a healthy church.

“…before discipline can be productive, there must be a context of both meaningful spiritual relationships and structurally sound leadership.”  This is the part that I missed reading this chapter the first time.  I think my view of discipline was so transformed that I desired us to return to a biblical view of church discipline.  But as Dever says, “loving engagement in each other’s spiritual lives must be normalized in a positive and formative way before corrective discipline can be sustained.”  Furthermore, there should be a solid structure of leadership in place; otherwise it looks like only the pastor is pushing for discipline.  Such a thing prevents an “us v. him” mentality.

We are also given a couple tips to assist us in the process of corrective church discipline.  Dever suggests forming a “care list”.  He suggests presenting such a list verbally at a congregational meeting.  The “care list” does not necessarily mean that you are involved in sin, it only means you need prayer.  Making a person’s name available to the congregation helps in the process.  In such instances we ought to make it open for members to “privately air questions”. 

Another helpful thing is to teach beforehand what excommunication means.  Remind the congregation what it means to remove someone from the membership rolls.  What does it mean to treat someone like an unbeliever?  It does not mean that they are not allowed to come to church.  It just means that we cannot have biblical fellowship with them.  And certainly we would not allow known unbelievers to serve in church positions. 

Dever then closes up not only this chapter but the entire section by again reminding us to patiently teach and preach the Word of God.  Be patient!  And trust in the fact that Jesus is building His church.

Quotables:

“Neglecting corrective discipline can be deadly for a church.  No one likes the prospects of going under the knife.  But sometimes it is the knife that saves your life.”  (68)

“Sin needs darkness to grow—it needs isolation disguised as ‘privacy,’ and prideful self-sufficiency disguised as ‘strength.’  Once these conditions prevail, sin is watered with the acid of shame, which then makes darkness appear more attractive to the sinner than light.  But when we walk in the light by confessing our sins, we realize that we are not alone in our struggles, and we open ourselves to the protective rebukes and loving corrections that function as pesticides to curb the destructive and enslaving potential of habitual sin.”  (68-69)

“Healthy member relationships must be recovered before corrective discipline can be carried out realistically.”  (69)

“Without [a] context of deeply interpenetrating spiritual relationships, corrective discipline will be like walking up to a child whom you see only once a month and spanking him in the street.”  (69)

Questions:

• What does your church do to create an atmosphere of discipline?  What types of things do you do for formative discipline?  What does your church do for corrective discipline?
• Dever suggests reading Matthew 18:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; and Titus 3:9-11, then answering this question: How should we treat disciplined members?
• What do you think of Dever’s suggestion of a “care list”?
• Do you have any appropriate stories that you would like to share about church discipline? 
• What are your thoughts on this chapter?

Thinking through the Deliberate Church Chapter 3

After a brief hiatus we will return to our discussion on The Deliberate Church. As always If you are just joining the discussion (that as of yet has not been much of a discussion) then please check out the foreword, intro, and chapter one. You can catch up pretty easily. If you have yet to buy the book I would suggest buying it for a paltry 9 bucks, here.

Quick Summary

This chapter is one that holds a very passionate place in my heart. I have had to counsel a decent amount of teenagers that are confused because of irresponsible evangelism. I have been to conferences, children’s ministry events, motorcycle evangelism shows, etc. where a good number of students “accepted Christ” but had absolutely no clue what that meant nor had a passion to follow the biblical Christ. I have seen from experience the importance of heeding what Dever is saying in this chapter.

On the positive side of things, Dever encourages two over-arching principles: Be God-centered and be certain to include the essentials. What are the essentials? Dever makes it easy for us God—man—Christ—response. For a very great extended discussion on this check out Dever’s book, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism.

In this chapter Dever also talks a couple examples of irresponsible evangelism: extending invitations (at least in an irresponsible way), entertainment-centered evangelism, manipulation. This first one is probably the most controversial in Southern Baptist circles. It is important to understand that Dever is not saying that it is irresponsible to, “invite people to repent and believe the Gospel” (52).

What Dever is cautioning against is the “no evidence required” assurance. Allow me to give you an example of this from my own personal ministry. A few years back our church had previously committed to be a part of this motorcycle (X-games type) evangelism event. They had drama, music, and a cool motorcycle guy that did tricks that shared his testimony. At the very end of the event the speaker did one of those bow your head and close your eyes moments. He had people come forward, he prayed for them, assured them, and invited them to speak to a counselor.

After the event I found out that our youth group had somewhere around 20 “decisions for Christ”. I began the process of counseling these youngsters that were, keep in mind, assured of their salvation by this speaker and probably a fair amount of counselors that had prayed with them. As I began talking to these teens it was apparent that the only thing that really had happened was emotional manipulation and shoddy evangelism. Only one of these students actually had a helpful experience with Jesus. The others were assured of salvation and yet wanted little to nothing to do with Jesus or other believers.

This is what Dever is talking about: Draw a crowd with entertainment--sneak the gospel in the back door, have some heart tugging music, the preacher using his voice in a mellow way, etc. to manipulate people into decisions and then assuring them after those decisions are made that they are absolutely saved. That is not responsible evangelism, and our 16 million with only around 40% in attendance SBC is sadly a testimony to the effects of such evangelism.

The evangelism that we are to be engaged in is the whole church presenting the whole gospel to the whole person. Another great resource for this is Will Metzger’s excellent book Tell the Truth.

Quotables:

“If we’re not getting the evangel (gospel) right according to the Word, then whatever we are doing, it can’t be called evangelism.” (51)

“The only external evidence that the Bible tells us to use in discerning whether or not a person is converted is the fruit of obedience.” (53)

“The Gospel is inherently and irreducibly confrontational. It cuts against our perceived righteousness and self-sufficiency, demanding that we forsake cherished sin and trust in someone else to justify us.” (55)

“Churches are most healthy when the gospel is most clear; and the gospel is most clear when our evangelistic methods are most plain.” (55)

Questions:

• Dever mentions things that we confuse as saving responses with the only thing that is a saving response (repentance and faith). What are some of these things that we confuse with a saving response?
• When speaking of a “public profession of faith” Dever seems to be saying that baptism and not altar calls are to serve as that. What do you think?
• Have you been guilty of or had any experiences with irresponsible evangelism?
• These are Dever’s questions: Are there elements in your churches evangelism that are more entertainment than informative? Are there ways in which your churches evangelism strategy is more like a marketing strategy? Could your churches evangelism method be perceived as emotionally manipulative? If yes to any of these, how might you pursue change?

Thinking Through ‘The Deliberate Church’: Chapter Two

If you are just joining the discussion (that as of yet has not been much of a discussion) then please check out the foreword, intro, and chapter one.  You can catch up pretty easily.  If you have yet to buy the book I would suggest buying it for a paltry 9 bucks, here. 

Quick Summary:

This chapter gives us instructions for beginning the work.  The most important thing to do early on is to clarify the gospel.  In the previous chapter we were urged to be patient.  In this chapter that statement is qualified: “…the one thing you don’t want to be slow about is preaching the Gospel.” (44)  The Gospel is the most important aspect of our ministry.  Perhaps one of the most important principles in this book is contained in this sentence: “What you win them with is what you win them to.” 

So, how do you go about clarifying the gospel?  Dever gives a few tips.  1) Put yourself in the background, and preach Christ crucified.  2) Let the content of the gospel do the work.  Rather than working on attracting people to you work on attracting them to the Gospel.  3) Let Jesus do the talking as much as possible.  It would be wise to begin preaching through one of the Gospel accounts.  Dever closes this section with this: “The more your congregation is clear on the Gospel, the less likely it is either tepid nominalism or carnal divisiveness will find air to breathe…”  (45)

Alongside clarifying the Gospel another important beginning work is to cultivate trust; because “people have to trust you if they’re going to follow you”.  We are then given three ways to cultivate trust.  1) Expositional preaching.  This will show people that you stand upon the Word of God and not your own ideas.  2) Personal relationships.  This is simple, people will trust you if they know you.  Dever did not mention it but the old adage is fitting here: people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.  3) Humility.  If you pursue accountability and correction it will go a long way in bringing trust.  Not only that the accountability and correction will serve for your own personal growth.

Another beginning work is to clean the rolls.  (This may be the most difficult and controversial).  Rotary clubs clear members so why doesn’t the church?  Church membership should mean more than membership to a Rotary club.  There are biblical, pastoral, and evangelistic reasons for cleaning the rolls.  Dever will discuss this in more detail in a later chapter.  A good way to begin this work is to “contact negligent members in order to instruct them and notify them of your intentions, and remove them.”  (48)

The last thing suggested as a beginning work is to conduct reverse membership interviews.  Dever suggests going through the church membership, start with the most recent members, and begin interviewing them.  This helps to clarify the Gospel, to look for genuine conversion, and to build relationships. 

Quotables:

“…when we assume the Gospel instead of clarifying it, people who profess Christianity but don’t understand or obey the Gospel are cordially allowed to presume their own conversion without examining themselves for evidence of it—which may amount to nothing more than a blissful damnation.”  (43)

“The Gospel of Christ has never needed the gimmicks of man to effect conversion in the soul.”  (44)

“…leaders usually have more opportunities to do things wrongly!”  (46)

“If membership is the church’s public affirmation of a person’s conversion, then to leave a nonattender on the rolls could very well be damningly deceptive.”  (48)

Questions:

• What do you think of a pastor that insist on keeping a “professional distance” between he and his congregation? 
• What are you preliminary thoughts on “cleaning the membership rolls”?
• What is your opinion of reverse membership interviews?
• Are there other ways to cultivate trust than those mentioned?

Thinking Through ‘The Deliberate Church’: Chapter One

If you are just now joining us you can catch up by reading our discussion on the foreword and the introduction.  Again I want to encourage you to comment so that we can discuss some of the very important issues raised by this book.  If you still need a copy of the book you can buy one here for only $8.99. 

Quick Summary:

Dever begins this chapter reminiscing about his call to be pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church.  When someone asked him if he had a plan for a program to implement, Dever responded with a no and an explanation of the Four P’s that govern his ministry.  Those 4 P’s frame this chapter. 

The first P is the preaching of the Word.  It is the authors conviction that this is the vital aspect to a ministry.  Dever even goes so far as to say that every other aspect of his public ministry could fail so long as he was faithful in preaching the Word.  His reason?  Dever is firmly convinced that God is always in the business of using His Word to “create, convict, convert, and conform His people”.  (34)  His reason for such a conviction is well grounded, and that truth is displayed in the fact of everything the Bible says about the Word of God.  The Word of God: sustains us, grows and fights, builds us up, preserves us, is the effective power for salvation, creates faith, performs God’s work in believers, convicts, brings about the new birth, saves us, and furthermore the Word is made flesh in Jesus incarnate.  “There is creating, conforming, life-giving power in God’s Word…that’s why we need to be teaching our congregations to value God’s Word over programs” (35). 

The second P is prayer.  Prayer is a wonderful display of our dependence upon God.  But what should we be praying?  Dever gives 5 suggestions: 1) the prayers recorded in the biblical record 2) pray for the preaching of the Gospel 3) pray for increased maturity and faithful testimony of your body of believers 4) pray for sinners to be converted 5) pray for opportunities for evangelism.  Dever also suggests one practical way of praying; assemble a church membership directory and pray for your fellow believers. 

The third P is personal discipling relationships.  This is an especially fitting “P” for pastors, but I think it can extend beyond that.  The concern here is to build intentional relationships with people in your congregation.  Discipling is simply another channel through which God’s Word can flow into another persons life.  Furthermore, as a pastor you ought to be encouraging these type of relationships with others.  Also, such relationships with people will break down some of the “defensive resistance to your pastoral leadership”.  This one is simple and needs to be heeded by pastor and congregation alike: build meaningful relationships.

The fourth P is patience.  When Dever first came to Capitol Hill he waited three months before preaching his first sermon.  He wanted to get to know the people and what they were accustomed to.  This also communicated patience.  In this section Dever reminds us that God is very patient; “[He] is working for eternity, and He has been working from eternity.  He’s not in a hurry and we shouldn’t be either.” (39)  How do you cultivate such a perspective?  We are given three areas to have a right perspective on: time, eternity, success. 

Patience in the pastoral “requires thinking in terms of twenty, thirty, forty, or even fifty years of ministry”.  This is a call to commit to the church that you are called to pastor.  And I suppose this same thing should be said to non-pastors and members of any church.  Furthermore, we must have a proper view of eternity.  This is a call to “shepherd the flock in a way that you won’t be ashamed of on the Day of Accounting”.  Finally, we must define success in terms of faithfulness.  Otherwise, we will become frustrated and burn out.  This is a call to "stake your ministry on the power of the Gospel.” 

Quotables:

“Prayer shows our dependence on God.”  (35)

“Your prayers for people don’t have to be long—just biblical.”  (36)

“The best way to lose your place of influence as a pastor is to be in a hurry, forcing radical (even if biblical) change before people are ready to follow you and own it.  It would be wise for many of us to lower our expectations and extend our time horizons”.  (38-39)

“As you work for change, work also to extend genuine, Christian goodwill toward people.”  (39)

“If you define success in terms of size, your desire for numerical growth will probably outrun your patience with the congregation, and perhaps even your fidelity to biblical methods…But if you define success in terms of faithfulness, then you are in a position to persevere, because you are released from the demand of immediately observable results, freeing you for faithfulness to the Gospel’s message and methods, leaving numbers to the Lord.”  (40)

“Stake your ministry on the power of the Gospel.”  (41)

Questions:

Do you agree that “there is only one thing biblically necessary for building the church, and that’s the preached Word of God”? 

In this chapter Dever calls for patience in change.  Should we be patient with sin and with sinful structures?  If the church in unbiblical why should we go slow in change?  (I’m not saying I agree with the assertion behind my question—just wanting to think through this). 

These are Dever’s questions: 

What three Bible passages will you memorize for the purpose of praying for your church?

Could your ideas of time, eternity, and success be cultivating a spirit of impatience with the congregation you serve?  If so, how?  How might those ideas need to be re-formed? 

We are also given an assignment.  Pick one person in your church to get together with for spiritual good, and pick a book or booklet to read and discuss with him/her. 

Any questions you have?  Don’t forget to discuss.

Thinking Through ‘The Deliberate Church’: Introduction

If you missed our discussion on the Foreword it is here. Also, I might mention that the entire point of having an online discussion is to…wait for it…DISCUSS!!! That means that it could be a good idea to write some comments on the blog. I know its scary; but God is powerful. You can do it. If you have yet to buy the book you can do so for only $8.99 here.

Quick Summary:

Before you start building something it is vital that you know exactly what you are building. Because the church is not a Fortune 500 club or just another social gathering it is important that we know what a healthy church is supposed to look like; there is no secular model from which we can take our cues.

What is a local church? Dever gives a few pointers. 1) It is a corporate display of His glory and wisdom, both to unbelievers and to unseen spiritual powers. 2) we are a corporate dwelling place for God’s Spirit, the organic body of Christ in which He magnifies His glory. Summary definition: The church is God’s vehicle for displaying His glory to His creation. (26)

Furthermore, the church is unique because of her message; namely, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And therefore, the distinguishing marks of a church are the “right preaching of the Gospel and the right administration of the biblical ordinances that dramatize it. (26)” The church then is God-centered and outward-looking. It is a ministry of magnification where “we are building a corporate, organic structure that will accurately magnify God’s glory and faithfully communicate His Gospel.” Jesus is the One who is ultimately building His church.

Now that we know what a healthy church is we have to ask, “how do you build it?” There are numerous options and diverse answers to that question throughout evangelicalism. Dever gives a four quick points to help govern the relationship between the Gospel and the method of its ministers:

1. Theology drives method
2. God’s methods determine ours
3. The Gospel both enables and informs our participation in God’s purposes
4. Faithfulness to the Gospel must be our measure of success, not results

Quotables:

“No matter how beautiful the facade, the structure will crumble if we build on a sandy foundation or with shoddy materials.” (25)

“Ignoring God’s plan for the church and replacing it with your own will ensure the eternal futility of your work.” (25)

“Our power is in our unique message—The Gospel—not in our innovations.” (27)

Questions:

How would you answer the question, “What is a local church”? Do you like Dever’s summary definition?

These are Dever’s:

What’s driving your church—the content of the message, or the uniqueness of the presentation?

Is your ministry method driven by biblical theology, or by what works?

Do you measure success by results, or by faithfulness to God’s Word?

Thinking Through ‘The Deliberate Church’: Foreword

A couple of years ago I read Mark Dever and Paul Alexander’s excellent book The Deliberate Church.  Recently a friend of mine as well as a couple other people have made mention of this book.  I thought it would be helpful to journey through this book with a few other believers.   It has been awhile since I read it and could certainly use other believers to think through some of these issues—especially others from different churches.  I will attempt to summarize each chapter (so maybe those that are not reading the book can still follow along) and then ask a few questions that we can discuss in the comments. 

If you have not bought this book yet, you really should.  It is only $8.99.

Quick Summary:

Dever wonders ‘why did you buy this book’?  Accident, discouraged, wanting to make an impact, disillusioned, or looking for new life in your church (the next great thing)?  Regardless of the reason for your purchase (or following along with us as we read through it) it is important to know from the beginning what this book is not.  It is not new, it is not a program, and it is not a quick fix.  This book is not about innovation it is about biblical faithfulness.

Dever defines the purpose simply as this: “To be deliberate about treating the biblical Gospel as that which feeds the church’s growth, drives its progress, and governs every aspect of the church’s corporate life and leadership.” (21) 

The foreword is closed out by asking a very important question:  Is it replicable?  Thankfully, it is absolutely replicable.  It is important as well to catch what Dever says on page 23, “[these] are not intended to be taken as either exhaustive or exclusive, but simply as an attempt to revive a warm conversation about how we feed, lead, and protect the flock of God.”  It will take patience and it depends on the sovereignty of God.  The goal is faithfulness. 

Quotables:

“Healthy growth takes time, prayer, hard work, patience and perseverance.”  (20)

“Our goal isn’t to see how innovative we can be.  Our goal is to see how faithful we can be.”  (21)

“…human method has to remain plain, or else it will naturally supplant the Gospel’s rightful role…the Gospel is cast in bold relief against the backdrop of our own admitted weakness.”  (22)

Questions:

• So why did you buy this book?  Or why do you want to discuss it? 
• What do you think of this statement: “When the Gospel enjoys functional centrality, the church gains traction in the culture…”?
• This one is from the book:  “Does the Gospel enjoy functional centrality in your church?  Why or why not?  Are there ways in which your current model of ministry might siphon off the glory of the Gospel for itself?  How so? 
• What other thoughts and questions do you have?

Borrowed Light: Today in Blogworld 02/12

Ever heard of Rob Bell? What about NOOMA? Greg Gilbert reviews Bell's NOOMA videos. On the heels of Gilbert's review C.J. Mahaney gives us sound advice (based on Gilbert's excellent job) on reviewing things as well as protecting the gospel with humility. Man, I love C.J. Mahaney; but more than that I love his Jesus. You really need to read anything written by C.J., including his recent appeal.

Brian Thornton is continuing his discussion on the calling of God. Today he clearly and concisely shows that only the elect receive three callings of God. Disagree? Agree? Check it out.

Stephen Altrogge gives 7 Questions to Ask Your Friends. One of my favorite questions, of the 7, is this one: "Have you diligently pursued your wife/husband this week?"

John MacArthur attempts to teach us on the "unfathomable and yet unmistakable doctrine" of the Trinity, read it here.

Trevin Wax has a really good consideration on Evangelicalism's Blast from the Past.

Randy Alcorn considers the Longing for God and Joy of Augustine.

You've got to check this out (HT: Micah)

Review of Mark Dever--The Gospel and Personal Evangelism

Author: Mark Dever

Pages: 124 pages

Publisher: Crossway

Price: 7.49 USD

Genre: Evangelism/Missions


Quick Summary:

On the back cover J.I. Packer sums up this book the best when he says, “For most of us, personal evangelism is the reverse of easy, and so it becomes a task we evade. Mark Dever writes to shake us up about this, clearing our heads as to just what evangelizing involves and motivating our hearts to go to it realistically and responsibly. This is a word in season that will surely do a great deal of good”.

Dever’s aim in this book is to “connect some of the dots in our thinking”. He does this by asking 7 basic questions: Why Don’t We Evangelize? What is the Gospel? Who Should Evangelize? How Should We Evangelize? What Isn’t Evangelism? What Should We Do After We Evangelize? Why Should We Evangelize? All of these questions serve as the frame for the book. Dever then closes by considering the sovereignty of God in evangelism. Each chapter is concise yet packs a punch.

The greatest book that I have read on evangelism is, by far, Will Metzger’s Tell the Truth. Dever adds little to that work. However it also does not detract from the central message of Metzger’s work. Both exalt the supremacy of God and the ultimate God-centeredness that must mark biblical evangelism. Dever’s book will be appreciated because it is more concise and a little easier read (though Metzger’s is not difficult). One of the easiest ways to sell a book, especially in the Reformed community, is to put the name Mark Dever on it. Because of his growing popularity this important message will find itself in churches than Metzger’s would. Therefore, it is a helpful addition to the corpus of books on evangelism.

What I Liked:

If Dever adds anything to Metzger’s work it would be in the first chapter. He goes much more in depth in his considerations of why we do not evangelize. The reader will be motivated and at the same time unable to hide behind any of our typical paltry excuses. Dever also shines in telling us what evangelism is not. It is a much needed, and hopefully welcome, rebuke to consider the fact that results are not to be confused with evangelism. The concluding chapter might be an offense to some (those not of the “Calvinistic” persuasion), but Dever does a wonderful job, as did J.I. Packer before him, of showing that the sovereignty of God should motivate rather than hinder the cause of evangelism. That is a much appreciated truth. Another positive throughout the book is Dever’s storytelling ability. It keeps the book light-hearted and yet pointed at the same time.

What I Disliked:

My biggest criticism of Dever’s work is that it adds little to the discussion. However, this is a very unfair comment. Dever’s intent is not to be a pioneer. He does not intend to write a landmark work like Metzger’s Tell the Truth. Dever’s aim, as it appears, is to make simple what men like Metzger labored to communicate. Therefore, he succeeds. I personally would rather read Metzger, so I must honestly say in that regard that I got very little out of this work personally. However, I am able to see it’s great value as a launching pad within the church.

Should You Buy It:

I suppose I should ask, what is your intent? If you want an excellent quick read that is going to still pack a weighty theological punch, then buy this. If you want a more detailed exposition and a deep explanation of what the gospel is, along with a compare and contrast of a God-centered and man-centered gospel, then by all means get Metzger’s work. If you desire to start a small group study with your church—buy Metzger for the leader and work through Dever as a church. All in all, I would heartily recommend this book; but especially for new believers.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Today in Blogworld 1/30 & 31

Jonathan Leeman continues blogging through Willow Creek's REVEAL. Today he gives us Part 9.

Denny Burk responds to Rick Warren on The Colbert Report. So do I.

There is also a very good disussion on praise songs at Old Truth. There is some very good information on the history of praise songs. It would be interesting to contrast this with the history of hymns. I find it quite funny that sometimes our arguments over praise songs are the same as they were 250 years ago with hymns. Nonetheless, the point is really good that our music should be heady and hearty.

Steve Camp has a great article on the Sinfulness of Original Sin, along with a song [poem] in the post.

Mark Driscoll offers help to preachers setting a preaching schedule. (HT: Micah)

I think you are going to be seeing quite a bit of discussion coming out of Bethlehem in the coming days concerning interacting with Muslims. Piper offers answers to "How shall we love our Muslim neighbors". As always Christ is at the center.

Something that is pretty cool is the 9Marks report card. Very interesting stuff. Much can be learned in the first couple of pages as well. (HT: JT)

In other 9Marks news I can't help but wonder how Dever's statement, here,will fly in the SBC. Apparently Dever will continue cooperating with Acts29. His statement is excellent.

Dr. Mohler discusses an often ignored voice in the abortion debate, it is the voice they do not want to hear, the dad's.

Today in Blogworld 12/13

One of my first stops is usually Challies. Yesterday he posted a very interesting article on The Death of Shame. "Aileen and I have continually returned to the question of why so many young people these days seem unwilling or unable to grow up. It is a question that has confused us, especially as we look to many of the young people we know. There was a time when young people seemed eager to grow up, to mature, and to head out into the world to make their mark on it. Or that is how we remember it (we were, after all, married at 21 and parents by 23). But those people now seem to be the exception more than the rule. More and more, it seems, young people (and increasingly older young people) are choosing to stay home, to stay in colleges, to earn a second or third or fourth degree. They are, it seems, refusing to grow up." To find out his conclusion continue reading.

A few days ago I mentioned my confusion about a recent post by Mark Dever. Perhaps Jonathan Leeman has provided an answer. See it here.

Jim at Old Truth has found himself in the midst of a discussion ("argument") over whether or not we should question professions of faith. This morning he pulled the Mark Dever card. "Sometimes I get the feeling that people think there's something wrong with questioning the reality of a profession of faith. It's legalistic, or judging, or holier than thou. Or something. But if evangelists want to see lost sinners saved, and if evangelists know that we sinners can deceive ourselves, then it's not surprising that we want to try to make sure (with all appropriate qualifications about our limitedness) that conversions professed are conversions possessed. Or is it just sour-faced theologians who think about such things? Are preachers who think about such things unevangelistic?" Continue reading for the answer.

Today in Blogworld 12/06

The first thing to point your attention to this morning is Mark Dever's post on The 5 Points of Criticism. His 5 points are as follows:

1. Directly, not indirectly
2. Seriously, not humorously
3. As if its important, not casually
4. Privately, not publicly
5. Out of love for them, not to express your feelings or frustration

In my experience we usually fail to "restore our brothers" in two ways. Either we do not attempt it at all, or when we attempt to do so we do it incorrectly. Hopefully, Dever's tips will help to curb our faults on the latter. HT: Between Two Worlds
You are also encouraged to join us in Reading the Classics Together over at Challies. Today we are looking at Chapter Four of John Owen's Classic work Overcoming Sin and Temptation. As noted earlier you can easily read this work online. It's not too late to join us. Here are the links to each chapter: one, two, three, four.

Is 9 Marks the next fad?

The title of this post sickens me. I love 9Marks. I love Mark Dever. I am in awe of everything the Lord is doing through 9Marks and those like it to restore the church to a more biblical position. I love their love for the Bride of Christ. I love their love for the Bridegroom. 9Marks is a GREAT gift to the church. Fads stink. Fads are counter-productive. Fads are often marked by unbiblical practice. Fads carry with them a trail of those with false hope. Fads break hearts. Fads cause the church to dwindle. Fads I despise. Therefore, to ask "Is 9Marks the next fad" is appalling to me.

Before we begin to ask this question it would be wise to summarize what I mean by 9Marks. I am not specifically talking about 9Marks Ministries. What I am talking about is the mindset that 9Marks is promoting throughout the body of Christ: the notion that we need to return to biblically based ministries and methods. It aims to restore for us expositional preaching; biblical theology; a biblical view of the gospel, conversion, and evangelism; it aims to put back into practice biblical church discipline, a concern for discipleship and growth, and biblical church leadership. The ones in particular that are being embraced (especially throughout the SBC) are expositional preaching and church discipline. Many are hoping to see all 9 Marks flourish in the SBC and all throughout Christianity; I am one of them. I whole-heartedly believe that we need to see these 9 Marks throughout our churches; simply because these 9 Marks are what the Bible calls the church to bear.

Well then, can we put the nail in the coffin and say that 9 Marks is not a fad? Unfortunately, no. My position is that 9 Marks in and of itself is not a fad. The leaders of 9 Marks are not passionate about promoting another concept, another idea for successful growth, etc. This is not a church growth strategy. It is different than all of the other church growth books. In fact on the back of the 9 Marks book it clearly states, "this is not an instruction manual for church growth". Contrast this with the Purpose Driven Church. While Rick Warren says, "The issue is church health, not church growth" only a few paragraphs down we are encouraged to "learn the secret behind the fastest-growing Baptist Church in American history." We see the "5-part strategy that will enable our church to grow." 9 Marks is not about church growth! It's about being biblical.

How then could we possibly say that 9Marks is a fad? It becomes a fad when it gets in the hands of those who come from the consumerist fad-mentality that evangelicalism of the last 100 years has fostered. When we forget that 9 Marks is NOT ABOUT CHURCH GROWTH and hope to apply the principles so as to get our churches to grow then it becomes a fad. If we think that shuffling through our rolls will bring down God's blessing, then we miss it. If we think that redefining church membership will help our churches grow, then we miss it. When we think that expositional preaching will bring about a massive revival, we miss it. Will clearing the rolls please God? Probably. Will redefining church membership bring about growth in the future? Probably. Is it possible that expositional preaching will lead to revival? Quite possibly. Are any of these the goal?

Why do we do expositional preaching? Because it is biblical. Why do we clear our church rolls? Because it is biblical. Why are we careful to preserve the unashamedly God-centeredness of the gospel? Because it is biblical. Why do we exercise church discipline? Because it is biblical. My "fear" is that we will make 9 Marks into another fad and whenever it doesn't "work" for growing massive churches and getting all kinds of people saved we will then move on to the next great thing. My "fear" is that if revival does not come through "us doing our part" we will move on to something else and forget the reason we do everything--to glorify God!

So, if you want your church to get on board with 9 Marks then I urge you do not do it for the sake of church growth. Do not do it because you think expositional preaching might bring that revival you so long for. Do not start exercising church discipline because you think God will smile on you and that because you have purged your church of sin He will bring His revival. Do not lead your church through church membership classes in the hope that it will grow your church and that they will become more faithful members. Do all of these things because it is biblical. Remember, dear friends, our goal is not revival for the sake of revival. Our goal is Jesus for the sake of Jesus!