Free to Serve

Looking for the cool church?

The question on the minds of many (especially pastors) is where are all the young people in the church today?

I have to admit that in the past twenty years, I have been a part of churches that have seen significant growth from the young generation. Nothing about these churches have been "hip." By and large the sermons have been long, the songs old, and the doctrine deep. And yet, by God's grace, these churches have stumped popular opinion and they have grown. 

When I was in my twenties, I was attracted to the first church I joined for two simple reasons: First, I found life's hardest questions being tackled boldly and clearly from Scripture. Second, I found God's people loving one another sincerely. The church at the time was a sea of grey hair, but I didn't care. I wasn't looking for people who looked like me, talked like me, watched the television shows I watched, or wore cool clothes (though, I have to confess, I have never worn cool clothers). I couldn't have expressed it then, but I realize now that I was looking for truth and love. 

Not much has changed. Let's kick "cool" to the curb and try being the church of the living God. For similar thoughts: "Young Evangelicals Are Getting High." 

 

 

Sola Scriptura

The latest Perspective is out, and you can download it here. It includes a review of John MacAthur's book, The Gospel According to Jesus as well as the talk I gave on the sufficiency of Scripture at the Feed My Sheep conference. 

"Feed My Sheep" - March 18 in Atlanta

On Monday, March 18, pastors and other church leaders in the Atlanta area are going to be gathering for a one-day conference called Feed My Sheep. Michael Haykin, a church historian at Southern Seminary, and Wallace Francis, national director of Ambassadors for Christ, will be the special guest speakers. There will also be two breakout sessions, one devoted to the topic of church planting, the other to church revitalization.

The cost for the conference is $15. To see a rough schedule and register click here.

Feed My Shape is being organized to connect pastors and church leaders who minister in the same region but may rarely gather together for biblical encouragement and camradarie. My prayer is that long-lasting and edifying relationships will be built as we meet, learn, and talk together.

If you are a pastor, elder, deacon, or lay leader/teacher in a congregation please join us on March 18.

 

Where do you turn for counseling?

I think the default for many Christians today is to turn to "professional" counselors. I think that there is certainly a role for this. Being able to sit down with someone who has a great deal of experience discussing trauma can be a huge help.

But there must be a role for believers in the church counseling one another. After all, isn't the goal that we, as a church body, know the Word of God well enough and know one another well enough that we can carefully apply the truth of Scripture to each other's lives in such a way that true comfort and healing are found?

Our default should not be to seek counsel outside the congregation, but inside. That's why I appreciated David Powlison's blog post yesterday, "The Local Church is THE place for Biblical Counseling." 

Jesus Opened My Eyes

This Sunday morning, I'm beginning a sermon series through the Gospel of John, chapters 9-11. The title of the series is, "The Jesus You Need." Chapter eight ends with his audience picking up stones to murder him. We will be looking at Jesus' response to this rejection. He presents himself as everything we need. He is the One we are to go to, not simply for the things he has to offer us, but because he is glorious.

Join me on Sunday morning. Prayerfully read John 9:1-12. Ask God to give you insight so that you might better understand and apply this passage to your own life. As I prepare the sermon -- which I'm doing right now -- I'm thankful for the simple fact that Jesus opened my eyes to see that he is the light of the world.

A Church Legacy

"I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant." -- Joshua 24:13

God spoke these words to Joshua and the people of Israel as they gathered to marvel at their ownership of the Promised Land. On that day the people were able to look in the rearview mirror and remember all that God had done for them. Not only had he redeemed their forefathers from the hand of Pharaoh in Egypt, not only had he kept the nation alive for a generation wandering in a hostile wilderness, but God gave them just what he had promised Abraham centuries earlier: the land of Canaan. The land was move-in ready, too. They had homes already built to shelter their kids, and farms already planted to feed their families. The main point is clear: God takes good care of his children.

Israel's occupation of the Promised Land is, for us, ancient history. But God has not changed. He still takes good care of his children. Consider, for example, his gift of the local church. Most of you who are part of a local church are dwelling in a home that you did not build and you are eating of fruit that you did not plant. The congregation with which you gather each and every week was probably planted years, decades, maybe over a century ago by believers convinced that your area would be helped by a gospel-centered church.

Looking back at the history of MVBC, I can see the faces of founding members who shared pies and the gospel with their neighbors and invited them to church. I know how they devoted their time to setting up chairs every Lord's Day and bringing food to church-wide potlucks. I have heard how they sacrificed so the church would have a place to meet, and so that overseas missionaries would be able to go. And as the years went on, more people came, and they faithfully gave and faithfully served so that we might meet on Mount Vernon Highway today.

I am very thankful for the new work taking place at Mount Vernon. I'm grateful to God for new classes, for new faces, for new evidences of God's grace to me and to the church I serve. But I am also thankful to those who went before me--the pastors and deacons and church members that the Lord used to build this church. I'm reminded every week that the Lord has truly given me, in this local church, a land on which I had not labored, and a city that I did not build, and he has given me orchards that I did not plant. Yes, God still takes good care of his children.

9 Marks Workshop is Past . . .

. . . at least here in Atlanta.

It was a tremendous encouragement to see so many pastors and staff gathering together to think carefully about the work of the local church. As we listened to talks on preaching, theology, the gospel, conversion, evangelism, membership, discipline, leadership, and discipleship we were reminded that God's Word really is sufficient to build his church. The church of the living God does not belong to us, it belongs to God.

How did the workshop affect me? In four ways:

    1) I was personally encouraged to see old friends. I had the privilege of serving as an elder with Mark Dever and Matt Schmucker, the founders of 9 Marks who spoke at the conference. Seeing them always reminds me of the season in my life when the Lord led me into pastoral ministry. I'm very thankful for them.

    2) I have renewed hope for God's work in metro-Atlanta. The vast majority of pastors who came are from metro-Atlanta. We are like-minded brothers, and I expect that in the years ahead we will get to know one another better, serve one another more, and be used for the evangelization of this city.

    3) I was reminded that pastors need encouragement. Pastoral ministry is one of the greatest and most difficult vocations. Pastors are privileged to deal with God's Word and teach God's people. But the challenges are real and often discouraging. What a joy to meet together, talk about church life, and encourage one another.

    4) I grew in thankfulness for Mount Vernon Baptist. So many volunteers served for a day and a half to make all of our guests feel welcome. These volunteers, MVBC members, have a sincere love for the Lord and for the bride of Christ and it showed throughout the workshop. I am glad to be at a church full of men and women who want the Word preached, who want the church to care about theology, who want to hear the gospel faithfully and carefully explained, and who are eager to see the church growing in holiness.

Do pray that the church I serve, and the churches in the Atlanta area represented at this workshop would hunger and thirst for righteousness and live with the confidence that God's Word will build his church.

The 9 Marks Workshop is Almost Here

Next Monday and Tuesday my friends from 9 Marks will be here in Atlanta teaching a 9 Marks workshop at Mount Vernon. 

9 Marks is a ministry that focuses on providing resources about the church mainly for pastors and church leaders. It started in DC, but I've run into so many people in Atlanta who know about the ministry and who appreciate it. 

The 9 Marks are pretty straightforward. Healthy churches are marked by 1) expositional preaching; 2) biblical theology; 3) a biblical understanding of the gospel; 4) a biblical understanding of conversion; 5) a biblical understanding of evangelism; 6) biblical church membership; 7) biblical church discipline; 8) biblical discipleship; and 9) biblical church leadership.

There are, of course, other things that must matter to a local church: missions, celebrating baptism and communion, prayer, etc. But these marks got singled out because they tend to be marks missing in so many churches today. 

I'm looking forward to seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and thinking together about the church of the living God! Please pray for our time together.

Formality and Informality in the Public Service

It was simple question, "How should I dress when I visit?" Some friends and I were sitting down at a restaurant, enjoying a meal and discussing an edifying Christian book. Our waitress noticed the title of the book, and she was curious enough to ask about it. After a short conversation, we discovered she was new to the area. So I invited her to church. She seemed eager to come.

That's when she asked, "How should I dress?" She wanted to know if we were formal or informal, uptight or casual. She didn't want to show up in a suit-kind-of-church wearing cutoffs and flip-flops. And she didn't want to show up in a jeans-kind-of-church decked out in an Easter dress. It's a good question.

So I fumbled out an answer, "Come how you'd like." I wanted her to know that we weren't the kind of church that cared about what people wear.

But we do. Every church does. Whether we are formal or informal, you can look around and get a sense of what expectations we have, collectively, when it comes to attire. But we must be careful not to confuse how we dress with how we worship. 

This is why I appreciate David Peterson's book, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship. For the most part, this book is one long Bible study looking at the idea of worship through the Old and New Testaments. Just here and there does he pop up to reflect upon how his study might influence our thoughts on public services today. Notice what he says about whether a church should be formal or informal:

Formality and informality are not theological categories. Yet sometimes people imply that formality in church services is somehow more conducive to acceptable worship than informality. Others argue that informality is preferable because it allows for greater expression of biblical teaching about the congregation as the body of Christ. Formality may be the expression of a very narrow and inadequate view of worship and informality may be an excuse for lack of preparation or any serious attempt to engage collectively with God. Apart from the size of the gathering, the question of formality and informality will often be decided in practical terms by the personalities of those in charge and by the particular traditions of the group in question.

At MVBC, our Sunday morning services are fairly formal. Though there will be just a handful of men in jackets and ties, much of the service will lead you to conclude we are on the formal end of the spectrum--everything from the decor, to the carefully ordered services, to my preaching (almost always in a jacket and sometimes with a tie), to the willingness to sing older hymns that are often reflective in tone.

At the end of the day, the most important question is not how formal the service is but how Christ-centered it is. Are we honoring the Savior in what we sing, in how we sing, in how we pray and preach and respond to the Word? Let our attention be focused on the Savior first and foremost, with sincere hearts, and the Lord will be glorified.

Christianity is Different

In his introduction to the New Testament, the late J. Gresham Machen noted that the early church was distinct. It was marked by simplicity and holiness.

It was unique, for example, in the extreme simplicity of its rites. Instead of the gorgeous ceremonial of the religions of the east--then spreading over the whole civilized world--the Christians practised merely two simple sacraments. Their new converts were baptized with water, as a sign of cleansing; their fellowship with one another and with their Founder was symbolized by a meal of bread and wine. There seemed to be but little that could hold the sect together, but little that could make it attractive to the world.

Yet, strangely enough, the new sect continued to grow; it made converts in all of the great cities. The converts, moreover, were affected in a most remarkable way. Practices formerly regarded as indifferent or even praiseworthy suddenly came to be loathed . . . 

A comparison of the early Gentile churches with the surrounding civilization is a comparison of light with darkness, of pure and healthy life with loathsome disease.

Simple services. Holy people. This marked the early Christians then and, Lord willing, it will mark believers today. We gather together simply to hear the Word, sing the Word, pray the Word and see the Word in baptism and the Lord's Supper. We seek to live lives distinct from the world in which we live. We carry a simply message of a crucified and risen Savior. And as this message--backed up by the simplicity and holiness of our lives--is heard, people are changed.

Christianity is different.