I have been preaching through the book of Genesis on Sunday mornings. We have spent the last two weeks in chapter 19 which recounts the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Our first week in that chapter was spent examining Lot as a case of hardened conscience and we prayed that God would keep our consciences tender. This past Sunday we “zoomed out” to look at the larger picture of God’s wrath and the doctrine of judgment against sin.

To be honest, I was a bit nervous about preaching specifically on judgment and God’s wrath. I wasn’t nervous about doubting the truthfulness of such doctrines, but they are certainly not “comfortable” things to hear, much less to preach. I wondered how they would be received as part of a regular Sunday morning sermon rotation but I preached the sermon because I’m convinced that the Bible speaks about such things and as such, so must I.

Paul tells the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:27 that he declared to them “the whole counsel of God.” It is my goal, should I live and preach long enough, to preach through the entire Bible. I wonder what message so many of our churches really send by neglecting large portions of the inspired Word of God. What’s more, many modern Christians foster a healthy neglect of the entire Old Testament (with the exception of Psalms, Proverbs and perhaps Genesis 1-3 and some OT prophecies if you’re a Dispensationalist). I am convinced that it is my duty to preach “the whole counsel” of God no matter how “uncomfortable” it might initially seem.

What really struck me was the response. Several people thanked me for being willing to preach on such a topic. Many remarked about not hearing many sermons about judgment and/or God’s wrath which disappointed them. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about this since Sunday and I’m convinced that God’s people have a hunger for God’s Word.

It seems so fundamental. As a pastor I receive tons of mail about the newest workshops and the latest “programs” (read: “gimmicks”) to grow the church. While these churches may experience large numbers of people attending, I’m not convinced that many of these churches are not the “ear ticklers” that Paul warns Timothy about (2 Timothy 4:3). Whatever your personal opinions about John MacArthur and John Piper might be, each of their ministries serves as a reminder that God’s people have a hunger for God’s Word. Even if you think they might be wrong, you cannot question their commitment to the Word.

As a pastor, I cannot shrink away from God’s Word in order to please men. I will someday have to answer before the Eternal, Holy Creator and give an account. If I can help it, I don’t want one of the questions to be “Why did you not preach all of My Word?” I pray that God would convict my conscience to care more about what He thinks than what people think. I pray that I would indeed declare “the whole counsel of God,” including the uncomfortable doctrines.

• Read Thoughts on Preaching by J.W. Alexander
• Read Preaching With Passion by Alex Montoya
• Read The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson

My first semester at (the) Southern Baptist Theological Seminary presented me with a particular frustration. I came from a non-denominational Reformed Baptist perspective rather than a Southern Baptist perspective. But it quickly became apparent that when Southern Baptists used the term “Baptist,” they meant Southern Baptist rather than any sort of affirmation of a theological conviction to Credo-(believer’s) baptism.

In some sense, this is understandable. After all, the Southern Baptist Convention is (or at least claims to be) America’s largest denomination. Yet, it doesn’t take long at all to realize that the modern incarnation of the Southern Baptist Convention bears little similarity with the larger historical “Baptist” identity.

The most recent edition of the Southern Baptist Texan surprisingly attacks this very issue. At the “Baptist Distinctives” series held at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth September 28-29, 2006, John Hammett, professor of systematic theology at Southwestern said “The Baptist mark of the church” is the principle of a regenerate church membership. The article notes that “Hammett and others lament that Baptist churches in the last two centuries have largely lost their claim to being believer’s churches.”

Elsewhere, Jim Elliff has argued that Southern Baptists are in fact “An Unregenerate Denomination” (which I commented on here in 2005). As Elliff has noted, there are more missing Southern Baptists than there are present on any given Sunday morning. While the denomination claims over 16 million members, on any given Sunday, there are only 6 million in attendance. There are almost double the church members missing than worshipping. This doesn’t bode well for the doctrine of a “believer’s church,” does it?

I am theologically convicted that believer’s baptism by immersion is the biblical mandate. But I am, perhaps more importantly also convinced that Scripture presents the idea of a regenerate Church. No, we will not suceed this side of eternity, but that does not lower the theological significance. The Southern Baptists are not the only denomination in such trouble, but it ought to be the most public because their very claim to be “Baptist” means that they claim to hold to the doctrine of regenerate church membership.

Far too many look to the world rather than to the Scriptures for advice on how to “do church.” We’re told that mere numbers equal success while the Bible says that it’s not just those who are present but those who are living as disciples. The plight of the Southern Baptist Convention ought to remind us all of just how seriously Scripture takes the Gospel and just how lightly many of us take the same Gospel.

The Bible presents salvation as being rescued from slavery (Romans 6:15-23), being delivered from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13), beign born again (John 3) and being raised from the dead (Ephesians 2:1-10)! It is understood to be a clear turning from sin to righteousness, which the Bible calls repentance (Matthew 3:8, etc.) and that believers will then bear the fruit of repentance (Matthew 3:8, John 14:15). The Bible does not present the category of an unrepentant believer, yet that is exactly what we claim many of our churches are made of.

In contrast, we have come to present the Gospel merely as “believing” that Christ died for our sins. We have robbed the Gospel of its full claim on our lives and we have, perhaps unintentionally, taught people that if you believe, your life doesn’t absolutely have to change. To put it bluntly, many churches have gotten the Gospel wrong. Or, if they haven’t gotten it wrong, they have not presented it completely. While we cannot know for certain, it is reasonable to believe that many of those missing 10 million Southern Baptists were at some time given the assurance that because they claimed at one time to believe something, their souls were secure. Granted, many of the missing may be in other churches, but the problem does not disappear.

While it is true that we cannot be saved by works, it is also true that we will not be saved without them. Churches must do better at communicating the true force of the Gospel. It is about a supernaturally changed heart that will obey and struggle to put sin to death. John calls the faith of those who claim Christ without following Christ into question. Consider 1 John 1:5-10:

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Elsewhere, Jesus says that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15). In other words, Jesus’ disciples will live as His disciples and the 10 million “missing” Southern Baptists shows us that many of us have not only misapplied baptism but the Gospel itself.

• Read my post “SBC RIP?”
• Read Jim Elliff’s article “Southern Baptists An Unregenerate Denomination”
• Read A String of Pearls Unstrung: A Theological Journey Into Believer’s Baptism by Fred Malone
• Read Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace by Paul K. Jewett
• Visit the Southern Baptists of Texas website

You may have noticed, but a ridiculous number of my posts in one way or another reference NPR. For those of you who do not know, NPR is, in the words of Wikipedia, ” is an independent, private, non-profit membership organization of public radio stations.” The stations are non-commerical and therefore rely on listener donations to remain on the air, just like PBS where your kids likely watch Sesame Street. I listen to NPR just about everyday. When we’re on road trips and hit a large city, one of the first things I do is scan the dial for the local NPR affiliate.

Yet I am also a political conservative. Not necessarily in the classic “to be Christian is to be Republican” sence (see my series of posts interacting with Rod Dreher’s Crunchy Cons among others) and NPR admittedly leans toward the liberal side of the spectrum. Much has been made about NPR’s liberal tendencies and few outside of NPR itself debate this liberal slant.

This has been a topic I’ve considered many times over the years, particularly during the avalanche of “conservative talk radio” a few years ago. I have been questioned repeatedly by (I hope) well-intentioned friends as to how a professed political and religious conservative can listen to NPR. Over the years, my responses have varied from simply arguing that they cover the news thoroughly to an appreciation for the “human insterest” stories they intersperse throughout their mix of news and views.

Yet, the longer I listen to NPR and the more (I pray) that I come to understand the over-arching emphasis of the Gospel over my life, the more I’ve actually come to appreciate NPR. One of the reasons certainly is the “human interest” stories that they intersperse throughout their daily programming as well as highlight with programs like This American Life. NPR does a great job of “contextualizing” the news of the world.

Television evening news programs have struggled with this for years. For the most part, they consist of a series of disconnected “headlines” from across the world with no context making them relevant other than that we’re supposed to believe that because they’re on the “news,” they’re somehow important. Yet for the most part, these programs fail simply because of the disconnected format.

By incorporating a heavy emphasis of stories about real people in real life and real situations, NPR often applies the concepts of the stories they’re reporting. In other words, they do a good job of often showing how the “news” affects real people. Christian teachers ought to take notice because one of the regrettable truths is that we often fail to show how the Gospel applies to all of life. NPR connects the abstract to the concrete, bringing the news of the day to bear on real people and therefore, they immediately connect with their listeners in a way the “daily news” shows simply cannot do (nor were they meant to).

But not only does NPR “contextualize” the news, they do not shy away from challenging issues and differing viewpoints. Though NPR does admittedly lean to the left, I have heard Al Mohler and others given a platform to present “the other side.” This is something most “conservative” media outlets simply don’t do. Many of the conservative talk shows I’ve listened to either ignore the other side of the argument or, when they do include a different point of view, the guest is often there more as a punching bag than an actual person with a real viewpoint.

NPR challenges me to try and understand why people with other viewpoints hold those positions. None of us come to our conclusions in a vacuum, yet in our increasing “ghetto-ization” of Christianity, we are robbing our people of the ability to actively and accurately engage with the larger world. Listening to NPR forces me to apply the Gospel in scenarios I might never otherwise do while listening to radio that simply wants to remind me how “right” I am in my views.

There is something to be said about encouraging believers to widen their spectrums. This, of course must be done with restraint and caution because some people don’t understand the biblical worldview enough to hear criticisms of it. But, shouldn’t this be our goal, to encourage people to understand and apply the Bible well enough to take it to the rest of the world rather than keeping it to ourselves? In their own way, and without realizing it, I like to believe that NPR encourages me in this process.

• Visit NPR’s official website
• Read Wikipedia’s entry on NPR
• Read Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
• Read Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreher
• Read Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey
• Read Bias by Bernard Goldberg

As you may or may not know, I enjoy the pursuit of creativity. That is not the same thing as saying that I do it well, but I am convinced that Christians must regain an appreciation for the arts in light of and for the Gospel. To that end, I take some time to highlight the pursuit of creativity here on Fridays. I link to the photography of Joe Kennedy, Will Turner, Timmy Brister, Joe Thorn and Steve McCoy, along with the Friday Flickr Group in which they participate. I also highlight a poet who may or may not be Christian, but who above all, uses words well and I also highlight a musical artist (more often than not instrumental since that’s primarily what I listen to) who makes at least one track available for free and legal download.

This week’s featured poet is William Wordsworth (1770-1850). Wordsworth, along with Samuel Taylor Colegridge is often credited with being at the fore of the Romantic period of English literature. Today’s featured poem is called “The Sun Has Long Been Set”

THE sun has long been set,
The stars are out by twos and threes,
The little birds are piping yet
Among the bushes and trees;
There’s a cuckoo, and one or two thrushes,
And a far-off wind that rushes,
And a sound of water that gushes,
And the cuckoo’s sovereign cry
Fills all the hollow of the sky.
Who would “go parading”
In London, “and masquerading,”
On such a night of June
With that beautiful soft half-moon,
And all these innocent blisses?
On such a night as this is!

• Read William Wordsworth for yourself
• Read Wikipedia’s page on William Wordsworth

This week’s featured musical artist is a 10-piece Norwegian instrumental outfit known as Jaga jazzist. Along with bands like Triosk, Jaga Jazzist combine element of jazz with electronica for a consistent sound.

• Download “Airborne”
• Download “Going Down”
• Download “Day”
• Download “Kitty Wu”
• Download “Plym”
• Visit the Jaga Jazzist official website
• Purchase the music of Jaga Jazzist

The Weekly Town Crier is simply a collection of links to some of the items that caught my eye over the past week. May they catch yours and may you sleep well (though not at the same time).

Read Michael Medved’s piece claiming that the New York Times article I linked last week claiming that 51% of women are now living without spouses is “journalistic malpractice” (thanks Taylor).

Read this article which claims that some parts of the brain may in fact be devoted to daydreaming.

Read this piece which wonders about the appearance of misdeed by R.C. Sproul in financial matters (thanks Mike).

Look at this piece which wonders about John Piper’s involvement with the Muppets.

By now most of you have probably seen this “Ode to Free Will.”

Read about both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama entering what promises to be a quite interesting presidential race for 2008.

See the week’s most interesting photographs from Yahoo.

Read about the divorced couple whose fight over their home resulted in a wall right down the middle of it.

Read about the international music conference struggling to keep up with the fast-approaching digital age of music.

Read this report that claims that many inmates actually live longer than the rest of the population.

Read this report stating that British Airways is now allowing its Christian employees to wear crosses while on duty.

Read about Cambodia’s captured “jungle woman.” Read this report about the alleged “while man” who may have kidnapped her.

Read Scot McKnight’s “Five Streams of Emerging Church” article for Christianity Today.

Download this sample track “Where’s the Music?” from Medeski Martin and Wood’s upcoming “children’s” album.

Read as the Chicago Tribune proviles music social netowrking site Last.fm.

Read Al Mohler’s first commentary since his surgery difficulties “Lessons Learned From a Crisis in Life.”

Browse Barna’s latest study about who considers themselves and who actually qualifies as being an “evangelical.”

Read about actor Tom Cruise being declared the “Christ” of Scientology (thanks Jim).

Read part three of Christianity Today’s series about “Christian” radio.

Read as USA Today wonders: “Evangelical: Can the ‘E’ Word be Saved?”

Read as Al Mohler reminds us of the importancy of not only literacy but actually reading books.

Visit their Myspace page to hear the new song from a recently reunited Five O’Clock People.

Read Yahoo’s story about “Chinglish.”

Read Brady’s report of his recent trip to Tanzania.

Read this article which wonders about the seemingly overboard depravity surrounding this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Read as Rick Pearcey analyzes the possibility of Hillary Clinton as president.

Read about S.C. Republican Duncan Hunter throwing his hat in the proverbial presidential ring.

Browse this collection of amazing “hand paintings” (ht: Challies).

Read about NBC cutting back on the editing of Veggie Tales.

Read about the U.S. woman who, at age 114, has now become the world’s oldest.

Read about New Jersey residents being warned not to eat the squirrels.

Read about the British couple who were rejected for adoption because of their Christian views.

Read Ben Stein’s piece claiming that the media is staging a coup against President Bush”

Read about the python that swallowed 11 guard dogs before finally being captured.

Read this piece by John Mark Reynolds in which he calls for supporting our troops while arguing that: “The Senate non-binding resolution is the worst of all positions. . . the act of cowards.”

Read as Rod Dreher wonders aloud how his own positions on the war in Iraq affect the “Crunchy Con” position.

For the past couple of days, we’ve considered the biblical admonitions that we love one another. First we noted that, paradoxically, this begins by thinking of ourselves and asking how we’d like to be treated. This is one of the first steps in fostering kindness. But then we noted that this is not enough. We must, in fact, consider others as more significant than ourselves. Today we need to put it all into perspective and note that all of this is impossible to do on our own. When left merely to ourselves, we will want to look only to ourselves rather than to others.

To begin with, we are sinful, weak, frail and vindictive creatures. We often approach the “Golden Rule” (Matthew 7:12) as a “cause and effect” rather than a command. In other words, we begin to think “If I treat this person well, they will treat me well” when in fact the Bible presents the exact opposite perspective. The Bible reminds us that when we are Christ’s the world will in fact hate us (John 15:19, John 17:14, 1 John 3:13, etc.). It is not enough to fulfill the Golden Rule because we kind treatment will be returned. Believers are called upon not just to love those who love us but to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). We cannot do this on our own. This love comes only from God.

Second, we must be sure that we understand Matthew 7:12 in its full context. First, we must note that the verse begins (in the ESV) with “so” while the KJV begins “therefore.” The seemingly silly but helpful rule goes: “when you see therefore, always ask what the there is for.” It always means that what is about to be said directly builds on what has just been said. Expanding the context a bit, consider Matthew 7:7-20:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

In its entire context, we see that God gives good things to His children (which might not be the same as the things we think we need but that’s another topic). Therefore, fulfill the “Golden Rule.” As the chapter progresses, we see Jesus saying that the fruit of your life bears testimony to the kind of tree you are. In other words, we can only love others if we are God’s children, and our love, or lack thereof, is a “fruit” demonstrating what kind of tree we truly are. Taken in context then, Matthew 7:12 might be understood along with 1 John 4:19 which reminds us that “We love because he first loved us.”

The “so” or “therefore” in Matthew 7:12 assumes as John Piper puts it in this sermon, an “enablement.” It takes for granted that, if we are God’s children, we can treat others as we would like to be treated. Only after salvation are we able to look beyond ourselves in any meaningful sense.

But the “so” also carries a force assuming that if we can do it, we will do it. Regardless of how others treat us, if we are Christ’s, we will consider them better than ourselves, but the truth is that this can only be done if we are His and then serves as evidence that we are in fact His.

Love is a foundational tenant of the Christian faith. We are saved by and for God’s love and our love for others (which only comes from God’s love) serves as evidence that He has in fact loved us and that we love Him. John helps us to put this into proper perspective in 1 John 4:7:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Notice that he says “love is from God.” In the very next verse (1 John 4:8), he forces the issue home by saying not only is “love from God,” but that “God is love.” God is love. Not that God loves more than we do (though He does), not that God loves a lot, God is love. We cannot approach the issue of the biblical commands to love without acknowledging that these things are impossible on our own. If we approach these commands in our own strength, we will be left to disappointment, legalism and the empty shell of the “social gospel,” many works with little faith. But thanks be to God that He not only commands His peole to love, He equips us to do so (Ephesians 3:20-21):

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

• Read The Difficult Doctrine of God’s Love by D.A. Carson
• Read Love in Hard Places by D.A. Carson
• Read Nothing Greater, Nothing Better: Theological Essays on God’s Love, edited by Kevin Vanhoozer

As I noted yesterday, I’ve been meditating quite a bit lately on the idea of biblical love. On one hand, it seems that we, at least in part, make biblical love more difficult than it ought to be. If we want to begin loving others, we must first think of ourselves and how it is that we want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). This is how we should be treating others, with kindness and it seems to be one of the first steps towards implementing biblical love.

But Scripture pushes the concept, teaching us that it’s not as simple as we might initially think. While the basis might be as simple as considering how it is that we would like to be treated, ultimately this is not enough. That’s only the foundation upon which we must build. We must go beyond that, not just treating others as we would like to be treated but even better. Perhaps the clearest statement of this principle come in Philippians 2:3-5 in which Paul says:

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus

While we point to this pasage often, I know that I rarely consider its true significance. When is it that we are prone to rivalry and conceit? Well, as Paul points out, when we’re infected with pride? That’s why he contrasts rivalry and conceit with humility. Most often, it is when we are thinking of ourselves rather than others that we foster rivalry. But Paul goes beyond this and says that we are actually to consider others as “more significant” than ourselves. Don’t just think of yourself but others! Consider Paul’s famous description of love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

While we often focus on the positive qualities here, we forget that they most often manifest themselves in negative circumstances. We must treat others not just as we would like to be treated but better. Paul says that love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” We must think the best of people, we must hope the best of people and we must bear (endure) with them, even if they might not be treating us the way we would like to be treated.

We cannot consider these things without considering Christ. Throughout the New Testament, believers are called upon to look to Christ who died for His people while we were yet still His enemies (Romans 5:10) and taught us to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Christ is the epitome of laying down His life for the sake of others. Christ teaches us that it is we must not only consider others as more important than ourselves, we must love our enemies.

Looking to Christ necessarily fosters humility. We cannot think of ourselves with pride when we consider that “ours was the sin that drove those bitter nails,” that He cancelled “the record of debt that stood against” us, nailing it to the Cross (Colossians 2:13-15). If we stop at only considering how we might like to be treated, we are prone to pride. If we go the extra step treating them better, we are on our way, but only when we consider how Christ treats His people will we truly begin to make strides in loving others as we ought.

Considering how we would like to be treated is only the beginning. If we are to practice biblical love, if we are to love as Christ loved, we must go beyond this, truly considering others “as more significant than ourselves.”