Mark 15:12-14
12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.”
To readers of the gospels, the scene of Pilate and the crowd arguing over Jesus is quite familiar. Pilate knows that there is no good reason to put Jesus to death. The crowd has adopted a mob mentality, stirred up by their religious leaders. And it appears that nothing goes right—though we know that God is accomplishing his ultimate plan through this event.
It is tempting to be harsh with the crowd, and indeed they deserve a harsh judgment for what they did. However, I also have to notice a little similarity between myself and the people. I certainly see a similarity between our culture and the mob.
Notice, when it gets to the main point of the matter, Pilate asks the crowd why they want Jesus put to death. Why would they want him to die even though the governor has seen that Jesus does not deserve death? Why would they want to kill a man they hailed earlier as a king?
What does the crowd do? What reasons do they give? IN this passage, they give nothing. No rational reason comes out of the mouths of the crowd. They just shout more and shout louder. Once reason is gone, there is only shrillness and force.
Is this like our culture? You bet it is. We are not so far removed. Watch TV news shows if you can. Notice the form most arguments take. It is no longer a debate, but rather a shouting match. There are seldom actual arguments made. Instead, sound bites and zingers are the order of the day. Noise, sarcasm, straw men, and character assassination are the victors, often above substantive discussion and dialog.
But then, as I get myself to the point of self-righteous indignation, I realize that my heart is not so far above the culture. When I hurt, when I am sad, when I fear, am I not similar? Do I not, at least on the inside, shout, stomp, and demand my way? Were I honest, would I not see that sometimes my best argument for wanting my way is simply that I want it?
Perhaps a look at the ugly scene of the crowd before Pilate could serve as a correction for me, maybe even for you. Let us learn to watch ourselves when our hearts demand. Let us learn to check ourselves when, rather than expressing valid reason, our hearts simply shout louder and louder. And, may we also learn to be more gracious to a world that is not all that different than us when we are not careful to guard our hearts with the word and ways of God.
What about you? Do you see yourself in the crowd? Do you catch yourself reasoning more with noise than Scripture? How do you check this all-too-human tendency?
Mark Dever on 5 Books for Discipling Someone
The following was from the 9 Marks Twitter feed today and could be a helpful little list:
@MarkDever: Coming up: a series of 5 modern, brief books to read through with someone else in order to disciple them.
@MarkDever: 1. Greg Gilbert, What is the Gospel? Begin with the Gospel!
@MarkDever: 2. Orlando Saer, Big God. This books is good for what ales you in a number of differing ways. Helpful & enjoyable.
@MarkDever: 3. C. J. Mahaney, The Cross-Centered Life. Wonderful to see what grace looks like in real life. Well written.
@MarkDever: 4. EITHER my book What is a Healthy Church? OR (a little more advanced) Jonathan Leeman, Church Membership. Church is important!
@MarkDever: 5. Sebastian Traeger & Greg Gilbert, The Gospel at Work. Wonderfully practical at carrying the Gospel into everyday.
The Pastor’s Kid – A Review
Barnabas Piper. The Pastor’s Kid: Finding Your Own Faith and Identity. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2014. 160 pp. $9.53.
“What’s it like to be John Piper’s kid?” That question is one that Barnabas Piper lets us know is better not asked. Pastor’s kids like Barnabas would far rather you get to know them personally than ask them about their dads. In fact, he lets us know a lot about growing up as the child of a pastor in his new book, The Pastor’s Kid. Open, honest, challenging, and sometimes painful, this new work from the son of popular pastor John Piper is a very helpful tool for pastors and their families to work through.
Barnabas has a knack for helping us to see things from the point of view of the pastor’s kid (PK). He shares with us some valuable insights about things that might seem innocent and helpful but which are in fact discouraging and awkward for a PK. The author shares joys and pains from his own life as well as from the lives of many other PKs in order to help preacher dads understand ways to better communicate with and set expectations for their children.
As a pastor myself, one with children I might add, I found this book thought provoking and helpful. One thought that particularly got my attention is that of a PK being known of, but not actually known as a person, by many in the church. Barnabas tells of a time when his dad shared an illustration from Barnabas’ own childhood. This was not one of those embarrassing illustrations for which a pastor would think he needed to get special permission. But what John Piper did not understand at the time was that his telling of Barnabas’ story actually made people in the church, and subsequently on the Internet, more acquainted with the details of Barnabas’ life than he would eventually be comfortable with. Thus, Barnabas would have people he did not know come up to him and comment to him or ask about personal details of his life. These people assumed a familiarity with him and rights that they had not earned through personal investment or friendship.
Much of the book is devoted to challenging pastors to help their kids to be seen and thought of as “normal.” It is unfair for a pastor’s kid to have extra expectations placed upon him or her for advanced Bible knowledge, super-spiritual behavior, or a calling to ministry. Pastor’s kids are normal, human, flawed, and growing young men and women. They will fail and succeed, behave well and act out, just like any other kids in the church. While a pastor is called to raise and shepherd his own family well, the pastor’s kids are still going to be cut from the same cloth as all other human kids, complete with a sin nature, puberty, and a need to figure life out for themselves.
The biggest weakness in this book to me is the fact that we do not get to see enough of the positive aspects of being a pastor’s kid. Though Barnabas talks about some of his joys in his relationship with his dad, much of the book focuses us on the failures of pastors and churches to allow PKs to be kids. Obviously, the intent of this work is to swing hard and to get the attention of pastors who may be oblivious to their kids’ needs, and so I am certainly willing to say that this is not a major flaw. However, I would have liked more, perhaps even a whole chapter or two, on the good side of the ledger.
All in all, I would highly recommend The Pastor’s Kid to any ministry family. It would also make a great book for other church leaders to read. Deacons, lay elders, and Sunday School teachers could learn much of what their own church’s PKs are going through if they gave this book a quick read.
I received a free audio copy of this work from ChristianAudio.com as part of their reviewers program. This book was read by Barnabas Piper. While I typically do not enjoy a book read by its own author, Barnabas has a good reading voice and pace. And, because the stories are his own, I find it actually quite helpful to hear his stories with his own emotion attached.
Proper Context for the Cattle on a Thousand Hills (Psalm 50:9-12)
Psalm 50:9-12
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
How often have you heard the statement, “God owns the cattle on a thousand hills?” I would guess that you have heard this portion of Psalm 50:10 several times if you have been in the church much over your life. But in what context is it often used as compared to its biblical context?
It seems that, when I hear this verse used, it is invariably being offered to remind us that God is rich and can support us. A missionary might use this verse to say that he knows that God will provide for his mission. A pastor in a building program might use this verse to remind a church whose faith is wavering that God can provide the finances they need. Even a poor person might simply quote the verse as a way to say that at least our heavenly Father is not poor.
However, a look at the passage in greater detail offers us a different contextual view. God is speaking to the people of Israel and reminding them that he does not need them. He does not need their offerings. Though he is glad for those who offer sacrifices with sincere hearts, he wants to be sure that none of those who offer sacrifice think they are doing him a favor.
At the time that this psalm was written, many of the false religions around Israel offered sacrifices of meat to idols. The people actually believed that they were “feeding” the god they worshipped. They believed that the food that they were burning was somehow offering sustenance to their deity. The people thought they were helping out.
God wants his people to understand that under no circumstances are they responsible for his sustenance. He does not need them. They are not doing him a favor by worshipping him. He has all he needs. He would not ask them for food if he were hungry—not that he could ever be hungry. God already owns the cattle on a thousand hills; he does not need theirs too.
What would a right context for using “the cattle on a thousand hills” then be? How about as a call to humility? Our worship does not prop God up. Our giving does not make possible a mission or ministry that God could not do without us. God is infinitely strong and infinitely resourceful. He does not need us. That is what this phrase is about.
But, does this interpretation of the verse, even if correct in context, not prevent people from giving and going? I would argue that it does not. It does, however, change our motivation.
One illustration that I often have used is that of a child helping his father paint a wall. Could the dad paint the wall without the little one? Of course he could. In fact, the dad could paint the wall faster, better, and with less mess if he did not choose to involve the child. However, out of love for the child and out of a desire for relationship, the dad lets his little one fling paint, mess up brushes, and leave bare spots. He will fix it later. The child, if thinking at all, knows that dad did not need help. But the child is also thrilled, knowing that working with dad is a great joy.
The fact that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills reminds us that God does not need us. Thus, if he chooses to allow us to pray, to give, to go, and to share the gospel, he is loving us. If he allows us to give to support the building of a new building, to put on a VBS, or to pay the salary of a pastor, he is being kind to us. Of course God could do all this without us. But the fact that he lets us be involved is a sweetness. It is our heavenly Father letting us stand beside him on a project. And, we, rather than being indignant that he does not need us, can grin like little kids knowing that we have gotten to spend time with Dad, and we got to have a part in the work that he is doing. This is a motivation to participate in mission, ,but with confidence and joy and not with guilt.
The Gospel in a Dark Passage (1 Samuel 2:25a)
1 Samuel 2:25a
“If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?”
Here is a hint of the gospel in a really dark passage. Eli is confronting his wicked sons about their sin. These young men were stealing offerings from people at the temple and sleeping with women who served at the temple gates. They were behaving in a vile way, and they were destined for judgment.
But look at Eli’s words. He makes a simple argument. Perhaps a person can have God mediate for him if he should sin against another person. But who will mediate between a person and God? Who is big enough to stand in the gap and talk to God on your behalf if you sin?
Do you see the gospel? We have offended God. Who is able to mediate for us? Who can stand on our behalf? It would have to be someone as holy as God. But, only God is that holy. So, only God can mediate on our behalf between us and himself. Could he, would he ever do so?
And the gospel comes clear. Jesus is God. Jesus came to earth to bear our sin and disgrace. Jesus took our sin upon himself. Jesus fully paid the penalty that we owe. Without Jesus’ sacrifice, we spend forever in hell for our sins. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we may enter into the presence of God fully justified, fully forgiven. This is a glorious rescue. This is the gospel, even in a very dark passage.
Autopsy of a Deceased Church – A Review
Thom Rainer. Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive. Nashville: B&H Books, 2014. 112 pp. $9.61.
Even before he led Lifeway Christian Resources, Thom Rainer spent years as a pastor, seminary professor, and church consultant. In those roles, Dr. Rainer gained a great deal of experience in balancing statistical analysis with real-life, anecdotal evidence to form solid conclusions about what is happening in the church and why. In Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Dr. Rainer puts these skills to good use, helping pastors and church leaders to think about the kinds of symptoms that they need to look out for in order to help their churches avoid dangerous decline or even death.
For his latest book, Dr. Rainer looked at multiple churches that died. He analyzes their stories and shares with us a set of twelve common traits that he found in nearly every one of those churches. Those 12 traits are the things that church leaders want to learn to recognize and defend against as they work to serve their churches well.
I won’t spoil the book by listing the 12 traits here, but I will give a bit of simple praise. The things that Dr. Rainer has seen in the deceased churches he studied are very real, very dangerous tendencies that can crop up in the local church. One example would be an over-fascination with nostalgia. Many now dead churches went through a period of time where the people in the body pined for some period of strength in the church’s past rather than working to improve the present or press toward the future. Longing for the “good old days” is very easy, but it can be blinding, calcifying, and deadly.
I’ll give just one more example. In many of the deceased churches that Dr. Rainer studied, members obsessed over the facilities. If you have been in ministry, it is probably not hard to imagine how a church might grow to be more concerned about keeping a building or even a special room in the building perfectly preserved than it is about honoring God through worship, discipleship, and evangelism. It is also not hard to see how a church that goes down that path will find itself declining as it loves its property more than its Savior.
In the final chapters of the book, the author offers some suggestions for churches that find themselves in decline or near death. The advice is different depending on whether a church is a little sick, a lot sick, or about to die. However, in each, Dr. Rainer has some God-honoring and sometimes hard truth for the churches to consider.
I would happily recommend this work to any pastor or church leader. Autopsy of a Deceased Church has some solid challenges and very practical advice that pastors and other leaders can and should consider. I found myself especially challenged by the chapter on prayer (it seems that dying churches stop praying together too—no surprise). This book is short, easy-to-read, and helpful.
Exponential 2014 – Finishing Well Together
** The following are my notes from a workshop session at Exponential 2014 **
Finishing Well Together
Brian and Amy Bloye
Wrote a book called It’s Personal which might be useful.
Out of all the leaders in the Bible, only one third finish well.
We want to finish well.
9 things we have learned along the way to finish well together.
1. This journey must involve 3people: you, your spouse, and God.
The devil attacks this.
They have to pray together.
Need to share our spiritual journey together.
She needs to know what I am learning.
They read books together.
He includes her in the books they read together with their team.
We need to continue to encourage each other along the way.
We need to be each other’s cheerleader.
I cannot find my significance in her.
2. Learn to create margin.
God often shows up in the margins of our lives.
We cannot leave things totally full.
We need time to relax and breathe.
Plan on your calendar to leave margin.
We have to put rest into our calendar.
3. Cheat in the right places.
Provocative statement: Never cheat your family, cheat the ministry.
The point is not that you try to cheat the ministry, but that you are going to cheat something, not giving it 100% of yourself, and it is better that this be the ministry than your family.
God never promises to make up for misplaced priorities.
Focus on your family, and God will fill in the gaps in ministry.
Much of the work I did after 45 hours a week was done out of guilt, and it was not actually productive.
4. Learn to say no.
Do what is important, not what is urgent.
Nobody can do it all.
The word no can be your best friend.
You cannot please everyone.
You can’t be great at everything.
Focus on what you are good at.
Turn off the voices that don’t matter.
If you can’t say no to people, hire someone who can.
Who are the voices that matter?
The voice of my wife matters.
The voices of my kids matter.
The voices of my elders matter.
Voices on Facebook do not matter in the same way.
Some seasons of ministry, you just have to take it on the chin.
God will straighten things out.
5. Put some solid boundaries around your marriage.
He does not travel alone.
He does not meet alone with the opposite sex.
They must have a clear window or an open door in a meeting with the opposite sex.
He does not counsel the opposite sex.
He says he is not a great counselor anyway.
Let’s get people to the people they need to help them.
He does not go places alone with other women.
No riding in a car alone with another woman.
No lunches with a woman.
6. Set healthy expectations for you and for your children.
It seems that we are always disappointing people.
Do we paint a picture that God is impossible to please.
They read One Way Love by Tullian Tchividjian.
Kids will catch expectations that we do not try to put on them.
Kids can feel the weight and pressure of ministry.
7. Learn what fills your emotional tanks, and keep them full.
From the book Leading on Empty
What fills you up?
What drains you?
How can I help my wife fill her tank?
Do not be afraid of engaging a counselor.
8. Focus on a few good friendships.
Naturally occurring friendships seem to work the best.
Forced friendships are strained.
Ask God for good friends.
9. Create a healthy rhythm for doing life together.
Is Sunday night movie night?
Be strategic with your weekly schedule.
Do you take a walk with your wife on Monday mornings?
They shut their building down on Friday to help staff have a day off.
That saved thousands of dollars.
Divert daily.
Withdraw weekly
Escape quarterly
Abandon annually
He takes a month off every year.
That has been great for the family.
Make health a part of your lifestyle.
Stay in shape together.
What will it look like to finish well?
I want to be old, love God, love my spouse, love my kids, love people, and love ministry.
Exponential 2014 – Matt Chandler
** The Following is a section of my notes from Exponential 2014 **
Matt chandler
Luke 15
This was a grimy crowd.
Tax collector’s collected the money to pay for the army that kept the people under the thumb of Rome.
Tax collector’s sponsored murder in the minds of the people.
It is not a surprise that the religious leaders cannot understand how Jesus could hang out with tax collector’s.
Sinners was a big category.
Sinners were dirty.
These were considered unacceptable people.
Jesus, in one moment, will deconstruct the world views of both groups, both religious leaders on the one hand and tax collector’s and sinners on the other.
Parable of the lost sheep.
The sinner sees hope.
The religious is convicted by not caring like God.
Jesus is not after moral aptitude.
Jesus is after sinners.
Same thing with the lost coin.
Parable of the prodigal son
God was and is not just after the prodigal, he was after the religious.
Do not hate and put down the older brother’s among you. God offers them repentance.
The father invites the older brother in too.
The tearing apart of the world views and rebuilding happened
This is what preaching is about.
Do not live vicariously through other preachers.
Do not tell other people’s hanging out with lost people stories.
Trust the Bible.
What we are doing is unbelievably mysterious.
I cannot transform people.
Do not waiver from two thousand years of God’s plan.
Trust the Holy Spirit.
Be desperate for God’s help.
Preaching is logic on fire.
Martin Lloyd Jones said that.
Exponential 2014 – Michael Frost 5 Habits
** The following are my notes from a breakout session from Exponential 2014. **
Workshop 3
Michael Frost
5 habits of a missional Christian
Bless 3people every week
One must be a non Christian, one from the church, and one from either.
It can be any sort of kindness, gift giving, or even well placed word.
Eat with 3people every week.
Illustration of the art show.
Story is too fascinating for me to try to write down.
You become a spiritual introduction agency.
Third, learn to listen to the Holy Spirit.
Go to a silent space.
Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
You really need discernment about where to go, what to laugh at, where the line is.
It is easy to be in church with other Christians.
It is easy to just become worldly.
Aiming for proper balance is hard.
(This is the point that I would find most difficult to learn to apply from my theological direction. However, being filled with the Spirit or led by the Spirit is certainly biblical, and thus is a topic I need to respond to.)
Fourth, learn Jesus.
Spend at least one meaningful length of time focusing specifically on Jesus.
Read the gospels over and over.
Do not give a weak picture of Jesus.
Become an expert on Jesus.
People are not asking about the gospel, they are asking about Jesus.
Can you tell about Jesus in an easy and common way?
Illustration of talking to surfers.
They all could tell facts about their favorites.
We need to be able to talk about Jesus like these folks can talk about their favorite athlete’s.
Most people cannot tell you much of anything about Jesus.
As the businessman said to Frost, “You’ve got a bloody good product, but your delivery system is screwed.”
Can you tell about Jesus in 2 minutes?
Fifth, how are you sent?
Journal about all the ways that you can see that God has sent you to do his work this week.
B.E.L.L.S.
Bless
Eat
Listen
learn
Sent
Abolish the laity in your church.
(I know what he means here, but I’m not sure I like that terminology. Every member is a minister, and that is the point to emphasize.)
As you do the 5 things, you change.
If you bless, you become generous.
If you eat, you become hospitable.
You become spirit led.
You conform to Christ.
You see yourself as a missionary.
Habits can unleash values.
We need to form an alternate set of habits that unleash the values of the reign of God.
Exponential 2014 – Michael Frost Main Session
** The following are my notes from Michael Frost’s presentation during a main session of Exponential 2014 **
Michael Frost
Missional
It is not missional to do only unexplained acts.
Colossians 4:2-6
Paul seems to believe that we should take a two pronged approach.
Paul talks about the gifted evangelist.
some of those travel.
Some are in a town.
We should pray for those guys.
Paul does not say that he will pray the same thing for all the regular folks.
Paul then says to them to be wise in the way that they deal with outsiders.
Paul does not think we are all evangelists.
Paul knows some people are gifted in this.
But the primary way we will speak about Jesus is in response to people’s questions.
So, what do we do?
Live a questionable life.
If your life looks just like theirs, why would they ask you any questions?
Live a life that arouses curiosity.
We are not all called to be the gifted evangelists.
We are called to live differently and to answer questions.
We did not subvert and conquer the Roman empire by door knocking and literature distribution.
Told stories of Roman emperors who saw the different lifestyles of Christians.
Quote from Julian the Apostate.
He feared the empire was losing control because of the love of the Christians.
Being a decent, middle class American is not living a questionable life.
“If you live this way, you will make attractive the gospel.” (That came from Titus 2:10.)
Verse ten follows a list of rules to make us live differently.
Evangelists have peculiar rules.
But for the rest of us, if nobody is asking you any questions, something is wrong.
Illustration of the shoe salesman in San Francisco.
Salesman listens to people’s life stories.
Is this what you are looking for?
They ask who are you?
Since I became a shoe store guy who listens, I am invited to more parties, etc, than ever before.
I share the gospel with far more people than I ever could as a Southern Baptist minister.
Story of the Southern Baptist minister who went to the margarita and poker party.
Listen
Make people ask.
If nobody is asking, all you have left is fake surveys.
If you are an evangelist, be bold.
If not, live a questionable life.
Pastor Travis Peterson 