We are quick to play down Jesus’ words, especially when they seem unrealistic (which they often do). He often confronts us with the ideal of living in complete faith and dependence on God, something we fall quite short of attaining. Today’s statement deals with prayer, something many, if not most of us struggle deeply with. We feel disconnected, ineffective and distracted during prayer and thus we feel guilty rather than encouraged. The confidence of Jesus’ words leaves us wondering: “what if He really meant it?”
And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (Matthew 21:21-22).
We had quite a storm late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. Those of you who have experience Texas thunderstorms have an idea of what it was like. I have never heard thunder so loud. I am convinced that I saw lightning twice hit near our home. Flashes of eye-piercing brightness illuminated the roaring night. It was both beautiful and awe-inspiring; unless you’re a dog or a two-year old.
Our dog’s name is Baxter. He is a pure-bred Golden Retriever. Weighing in at close to 90 pounds, he’s no small dog. He’s quite loyal, gentle with our children and protective of family. All that to say, he’s a great dog. Except in storms. He is scared to death of thunderstorms. He shivers, he tries to get on the bed, he follows you around the house. In other words, he’s a big sissy when it comes to storms.
Baxter would whine and walk around in circles, occasionally trying to get onto the bed unless I reached down and firmly let him know that I was there. That calmed him down a bit and reminded him that he was safe. It doesn’t make trying to sleep through storms any easier or very comfortable because after a bit, my arm starts to fall asleep from being held out over the side of the dog to constantly remind him of my presence. As soon as I move or try to readjust my arm, the dog is up again trying to jump onto the bed in a near panic.
Carson, my two-year old son has essentially the same reaction to loud storms though its understandable for a two-year old little boy. He ended up in our bed some time during the storm and his method of coping was to scoot right up beside me so that at least his feet were touching me at all times. If I shifted or rolled over, he scooted closer, needing the reassurance of my presence. So I had the dog trying to get onto the bed on one side and my son scooting me ever closer to the edge of the bed on the other. It wasn’t the most comfortable night’s sleep.
Though it wasn’t a restful night, it was refreshing. It reminded me that “the name of the Lord is a strong tower” to which I can run to and be safe (Proverbs 18:10). It reminded me that when I am afraid, I should put my trust in God (Psalm 56:3). That storm helped me understand how James can say “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8). When the thunder shook the windows and my son or even the dog would press against me in fear, I didn’t recoil, I didn’t remove myself, I pressed closer, knowing that they were afraid, they were dependent, they were relying on my for security and a sense of safety, imperfect though it was.
As the storm raged, I marveled at how God often uses the turmoil in our lives to bring about peace. We all know Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God” but we don’t always remember the context. Psalm 46:1-3 sets the stage:
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling
God is not telling the Psalmist to engage in a “Christianized” transcendental meditation, trying to block out everything else, He is telling the Psalmist to rest in God, even as the earth itself seems to be giving way around Him. Notice that the comfort the Psalmist receives in perhaps the best-known of all the psalms happens “in the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23). Apparently, the still waters and green pastures were in the valley itself.
God often uses life’s storms to bring our theology to life. Do we trust Him? He will give us opportunity to demonstrate it. Do we find comfort, strength and security in Him? He will soon bring circumstances our way that reveal whether or not we do. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that God is near (Psalm 75:1) and He is our refuge (Ruth 2:12). Unless we understand this, we will never consider our trials with joy (James 1:2).
To see similar sentiments expressed better, watch this from Rob Bell:
Welcome to another installment of The Weekly Town Crier, where you’ll find this, that, the other and them some other things as well. This is where I collect for you the things that caught my eye over the past this week and made their way to my brain and made some nerves connect and some blood flow or something like that and they made me think. But remember, just because I link something, that doesn’t equal endorsing, just thinking. Enjoy.
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Read as Al Mohler considers the idea of a “church” for atheists.
Read about Dan Kimball saying that “it is right for the church to fight for social justice, Christians must never focus on conditions in this world so much that they fail to tell people about the eternal life available through Christ.”
Read about what one articles deems the media’s “gospel of godlessness.”
Read about Europe struggling with what to do with many church buildings that have fallen out of use and into disrepair.
Read this profile of the recent Together For the Gospel conference.
Read about 6 million pounds of trash being picked up on the world’s beaches in one day.
Read as John Wilson profiles this year’s Festival of Faith and Writing for Books & Culture.
Read as Christianity Today considers what the “new masculinity” movement gets right and wrong.
Listen/watch as American Public media considers “Evangelical Politics.”
Read about a church member in KY who “received a letter from her pastor stating she would lose her church membership if she did not pay her tithes within the next thirty days.”
Read about the UK art exhibit featuring pictures of Jesus laughing.
Read as The Washington Post profiles the “top ten” musical acts “going green.”
Read about “German artist Gregor Schneider” who “plans to exhibit a dying person as the focus of an upcoming show.”
Read about about the KS governor who recently vetoed “a bill aimed at strengthening late-term abortion laws.”
Read this piece which notes that “The sponsors of a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw same-sex marriage in California said Monday they have gathered enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.”
Read as Stephen Hawking says: “Alien life may well exist in a primitive form somewhere in our corner of the galaxy.”
Though this is now a couple of years old, seeMark Driscoll’s helpful chart for picking a church name.
Read as the Chicago Sun-Times examines the church names in their area, finding that Catholics like Paul while Protestants like being “first.”
Read as Christianity Today reviews the new EP from Derek and Sandra Webb.
Read as Newsweek considers “Doctors Who Kill Themselves,” noting that no other profession has such a high suicide rate. No, not even pastors.
Read as Wired discovers that the oldest Americans are also the happiest.
Read as the Christian Post examines a recent survey asking whether or not churches are doing enough to help the poor.
Read as Ed Stetzer considers the beginning of the decline of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Read Stetzer’s piece arguing that “Unchurched adults interested in finding a congregation aren’t nearly as likely to visit one in person as a church member who is shopping for a new congregation. That means effective evangelism must begin outside the sanctuary in relationships between Christians and unbelievers.”
Read about the “United Methodist Church to Consider Full Communion with ELCA.”
Read about the “treasure trove” of “New Testament manuscripts handwritten in the original Greek” found in Albania.
I know, I know, we did this yesterday too, but really, can you go wrong with the words of Jesus? I’m preaching this weekend on church discipline, so I’ve been meditating quite a bit on these ideas and these doctrines in particular. There seems to an unspoken decorum in our culture: “Don’t talk about politics and religion in mixed company and certainly, don’t talk about, much less practice church discipline.” After all, who are we to judge, right? But what if Jesus really meant it?
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them (Matthew 18:15 -20).
Think about how many Christians (and churches) live as though Jesus didn’t really mean these words. But what if He did?
For some time now I’ve had an ongoing but irregular series in which I simply present the statements of Jesus asking the question “What if He really meant it?” So often we approach Jesus’ words as though they were mere slogans, as if He didn’t really mean what He said, maybe He just said it for shock value? But what if He did mean it? What difference would it make in your life?
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
What if He really meant it? Does your life exude rest in God?
I’m a city-boy. I know that comes as no surprise to most of you. That means that I know very little about agriculture. My grandparents always had a garden and I remember helping as a little boy. I’m not sure you can call regular yardwork and gardening “agriculture” (probably not), but that’s about the extent of my dealing with the ground, the seasons and their bounty. But I do know that the process requires lots of sunlight, lots of water and rich soil. I remember that from watching my seeds grow in a clear plastic cup in grade school!
We’ve been making our way through Genesis on Sunday mornings and we’re coming through chapter 42 now, when Joseph’s brothers are sent by Jacob to purchase grain, unsuspectingly from their long-lost (or so they thought) brother, Joseph. Chapter 41 provides the narrative of Pharaoh’s dreams and verses 25-32 provide Joseph’s divinely inspired interpretation. More than just the narration of dreams and their interpretation, this section is a bold declaration of God’s sovereignty over the “gods” of Egypt.
Pharaoh himself was considered to be the incarnation of Ra, the sun god. He could neither interpret his own dreams or prevent what was coming. Pharaoh called upon his “wise men and magicians” who were most likely devotees of the god Thot, the Egyptian god of wisdom. He could neither interpret the dreams or prevent what was coming. The Egyptians attributed the flow of the Nile itself and the sustenance it provided to itself be the product of gods who could also not prevent what was coming. And notice, it is God who brings both the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine.
Chapter 42 picks up, having passed over the seven years of plenty, somewhere in the seven years of famine. I find that extremely interesting. Why pass over the seven years of plenty? Well, think for a moment about your own life. Particularly your spiritual life. More particularly, think upon the times of your greatest spiritual growth. Though we can’t say this as a rule, chances are, your times of deepest spiritual growth occurred in times of dark, famine, drought, suffering or something of the like. I know mine have.
I find it interesting that God often works in such ways in our lives that there is nothing else to do but attribute it to Him and praise Him, even for the “uncomfortable” blessings.
ReadA Path Through Suffering: Discovering the Relationship Between God’s Mercy and Our Pain by Elisabeth Elliot
ReadSuffering and the Sovereignty of God by Justin Taylor and John Piper
The recent interview with Todd and Angie of The Agents of Future provoked a lot of great discussion, particularly in regards to local church communities and the way they worship. Much of that discussion reminded me of a set of principles we use at our church (Grace Community Church, Glen Rose, TX). This list was formulated by Gary Brumley, now Minister of Worship at Redeemer Church, Fort Worth and originally appeared at his blog, God-Centered Worship.
In light of many of the opinions regarding worship, I wanted to present these helpful principles. What follows is the document as Gary originally presented it on his blog. The only changes that have been made consist of formatting. The content is unchanged and appears as Gary intended:
How We Worship: Ten Principles Which Guide us on Sunday Morning
By Gary Brumley
A few years ago I felt compelled to put on paper the values in worship that would both provide guidance to my church fellowship as well as serve as a teaching tool to help us grow and maintain harmony on the issue of corporate worship. Any worship leader knows, because worship is charged with so many cultural values that if wrongly understood (and man-centered in its orientation) it can be an explosive issue resulting in division among the church. God may that never again be so! The following ten principles are the result of my labor in the study of what the Bible says about God and our appropriate response to Him in worship. They have since become part of the ethos of Grace Community Church. I continue to hear people speaking of these principles on Sunday mornings around the coffee and donuts, in small group fellowships, and in various formal and informal settings. Here they are to share with you. I pray that they might serve you as well.
As a worshiping church we will seek to…
1. Be God-centered, understanding that God’s glory is His highest purpose in all things. We seek to make God central in our mind’s attention and our heart’s affections. We will seek to exalt Him by delighting in His glory (Isaiah 26:8; 48:9-11).
2. Worship in spirit and in truth. We understand worship to involve the Spirit-stirred affections of the heart, the devotion of the mind, and the submission of the will according to the truth of God (John 4:23-24).
In truth, we will seek to be Bible-saturated and doctrinally sound, giving Scripture prominence in worship as the basis of our response. We will read Scripture publicly and corporately and sing songs that reflect the truth of Scripture. All music will be examined for doctrinal correctness.
3. Hold worship as our highest calling, understanding the supremacy of worship in the believer’s life and in the mission of the church. Worship is the fuel and goal of all other ministries at GCC. Worship is the purpose for which we evangelize and do missions and the purpose for which we encourage and build each other up in the faith. Worship is the eternal purpose of the Church (Revelation 14:6-7; Psalm 96:3).
4. Incorporate both revelation and response, understanding that all response in worship is based upon God’s revelation of Himself. As God reveals His power, we respond in wonder. As God reveals His holiness, we respond in confession and contrition. As God reveals His grace, we respond in humility. As God reveals His purpose, we respond in surrender and commitment. As God reveals His plans for our lives, we respond in prayer. As God reveals His goodness, we respond in thankfulness (Isaiah 6:1-12; Psalm 100:4-5).
5. Be congregational. The Greek word, “leitourgia,” (used to describe worship in the New Testament for worship) is made up of ergon = “work”; and laos = “of the people.” The literal meaning then, would be, “work of the people.” The early Church understood worship to be a communal event in light of the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer. Every believer freely and enthusiastically participated in worship before the Lord (1 Peter 2:9). Therefore, we will seek to be congregational rather than leader/performer-driven in worship. We believe that any worship service whereby a worship leader, musical ensemble, soloist, etc. is given prominence over a congregation’s expression is not biblical leitourgia.
6. Worship God both in His transcendence and His imminence, understanding that God is worthy to be worshiped as the great King upon His throne in Heaven, as well as the Savior who meets with His children intimately (Revelation 7:9-12; 3:20).
7. Blend contemporary and historical songs of worship. We will seek to mine from history the very best of hymnody and couple these with the most passionate new God-centered songs of worship from our generation (Matthew 13:52).
8. Lead by the principle of undistracting excellence. “We will try to sing and play and pray and preach in such a way that people’s attention will not be diverted from the substance by shoddy ministry nor by excessive finesse, elegance, or refinement. Natural, undistracting excellence will let the truth and beauty of God shine through. Sound system, music playing… all undistracting from the aim of thinking about God. Avoid the flair of words and chords that draw attention mainly to the performance and style and not the substance” (John Piper, from Gravity and Gladness on Sunday Morning: the Pursuit of God in Corporate Worship). We will seek excellence in all we do for the purpose of drawing attention to the supreme excellencies of God (Psalm 33:3; John 3:30).
9. Maintain a balance of form and freedom in worship.
10. Be continually growing in our biblical understanding and our practice of worship (Psalm 40:3; 98:1; 149:1).
ReadEngaging With God: A Biblical Theology of Worship by David Peterson
ReadUnceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts by Harold Best
Gary Brumley graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1998, with a Bachelor of Vocal Music Education. He received his Master of Arts in Worship Studies degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in May of 2004. Gary also serves within the Redeemer Church Care Group ministry. He and his wife, Christi, married in December, 1995.
We are quick to play down Jesus’ words, especially when they seem unrealistic (which they often do). He often confronts us with the ideal of living in complete faith and dependence on God, something we fall quite short of attaining. Today’s statement deals with prayer, something many, if not most of us struggle deeply with. We feel disconnected, ineffective and distracted during prayer and thus we feel guilty rather than encouraged. The confidence of Jesus’ words leaves us wondering: “what if He really meant it?”
We had quite a storm late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. Those of you who have experience Texas thunderstorms have an idea of what it was like. I have never heard thunder so loud. I am convinced that I saw lightning twice hit near our home. Flashes of eye-piercing brightness illuminated the roaring night. It was both beautiful and awe-inspiring; unless you’re a dog or a two-year old.
Welcome to another installment of The Weekly Town Crier, where you’ll find this, that, the other and them some other things as well. This is where I collect for you the things that caught my eye over the past this week and made their way to my brain and made some nerves connect and some blood flow or something like that and they made me think. But remember, just because I link something, that doesn’t equal endorsing, just thinking. Enjoy.
I know, I know, we did this yesterday too, but really, can you go wrong with the words of Jesus? I’m preaching this weekend on church discipline, so I’ve been meditating quite a bit on these ideas and these doctrines in particular. There seems to an unspoken decorum in our culture: “Don’t talk about politics and religion in mixed company and certainly, don’t talk about, much less practice church discipline.” After all, who are we to judge, right? But what if Jesus really meant it?
For some time now I’ve had an ongoing but irregular series in which I simply present the statements of Jesus asking the question “What if He really meant it?” So often we approach Jesus’ words as though they were mere slogans, as if He didn’t really mean what He said, maybe He just said it for shock value? But what if He did mean it? What difference would it make in your life? 
I’m a city-boy. I know that comes as no surprise to most of you. That means that I know very little about agriculture. My grandparents always had a garden and I remember helping as a little boy. I’m not sure you can call regular yardwork and gardening “agriculture” (probably not), but that’s about the extent of my dealing with the ground, the seasons and their bounty. But I do know that the process requires lots of sunlight, lots of water and rich soil. I remember that from watching my seeds grow in a clear plastic cup in grade school!
The recent interview with Todd and Angie of The Agents of Future provoked a lot of great discussion, particularly in regards to local church communities and the way they worship. Much of that discussion reminded me of a set of principles we use at our church (
