Preaching God vs. Telling Jokes

I don't claim everything there is to know about preaching, but I am definitely strong in my convictions on how it should be done. My convictions are hopefully coming from the Bible. And hopefully the Bible is being preached. (I should note here: "hopefully the Bible is being preached accurately!) More often than not, the preaching in churches today is not based on the Bible. There are hints and mixtures of some spiritual truths, but many pastors today are preaching "feel good" sermons about how one can be a better co-worker or leader or lover or profiteer.

On Saturday I attended a little concert at a church followed by some teaching. The music part was right on and what followed with the preaching was "right off." The guy speaking was a well-known Christian preacher who I had heard was "incredible." The whole idea of church celebrities is wrong(and a current blog I am in the middle of writing), but I know that it exists to some degree. I had heard this guy's name before and everything I heard was how good of a preacher he was. As he began to maim John 8, I began to get really upset. Fortunately the people I were sitting with agreed with his decimation of the text and I was able to find some counsel with my peers.

As this guy taught he would read the text and then proceed with a series of jokes and funny voices. Outside of my little outcast pew, the entire church roared with laughter and hung on every word this man said. Somehow I ended up on the e-mail list for this church (you know how churches love that contact information!) and this is a portion of his e-mail in regards to the preacher's teaching which I received the following day: "If you missed hearing God speak through this guy.....wooooooo....blessing missed! It was an honor to do something like this and man I hope we can do this again real soon."

This preacher actually spent more time on his joke telling and comical voices than he did on the teaching of the Truth. Not to mention not one of us could figure out what he was trying to say. I know he is not the only guy doing this and that is why this is so troubling to me. Last year I heard a deacon at a church in Austin make this comment: "I have a friend who looks just like Arnold Schwarzenegger and who is so funny . . . he would be PERFECT as a Youth Pastor!" Huh? You see, we are so far away from Christ-centered, to God be the glory, biblical preaching that funny teachers who make cool sound effects are labeled as "great teachers."

When people walk away from a funny sermon how have we honored God? No conviction of sin arises. No humiliation before the Sovereign King takes place. No praise to God is given. The jokes are re-told and the "funny preacher" gets invited back next year.

In The Supremacy of God in Preaching by John Piper, he notes that the goal of all preaching is to glorify God. Got that? Glorify God. Not show off your oratory skills. Not pretend you are at Showtime at the Apollo. Not imitate silly voices. Glorify God. "Is this what people take away from worship nowadays-a sense of God? A note of sovereign grace, a theme of panoramic glory, the grand object of God's infinite Being? Do they enter for one hour in the week - not an excessive expectation - into an atmosphere of the holiness of God, which leaves its aroma upon their lives all week long?" (p. 25)

People need to know that our God reigns and that he is storing up terrible wrath and judgment for those who do not repent and call on the name of Jesus for mercy. Cottom Mather says that the goal of the preacher is to "restore the throne and dominion of God in the souls of men." God acts for His sake first. We need to gladly submit to His authority for this brings glory to our King. The gospel is glorious for God is glorified as sinners are set free.

Our preaching must reflect the glory of God, grounded by the cross of Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Let us stop laughing at the corny jokes and seek to make the preaching of the Word return to God being glorified.

"For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another."
-Isaiah 48:11

Blood: Water Mission

At the Derek Webb concert that my friends and I went to on Saturday evening, D.Webb spoke about a real need in Africa in regards to the HIV/AIDS crisis. Blood: Water Mission is trying to build 1,000 wells in 1,000 African communities to promote clean blood and clean water. Right now, some of the women have to walk over 10 miles to the nearest well and the water that they are bringing back is not clean water. Derek said that a lot of the people are "carrying back their own death certificates" due to the lack of good wells.

Around 6,500 people die daily. I know with the aftermath of Katrina a lot of people want to help with the efforts in Mississippi and Louisiana. I am not discouraging that, I just hope that we can open our eyes and have a worldview. We are not special, elite people because we live in America. If we had friends and family living in Africa we would be pumping our money to help out without thinking twice. I just want to alert those of you who don't know about this need. The bottom line is we need to love these people as ourselves. One dollar will provide water for one African for an entire year. We have no problem spending $5 on Starbuck's or $2 on a cherry limeaid. Water is plentiful hear. We often spend $1 on a bottled water at a restaurant. It's staggering to me to think that water will last one meal, while $1 to Blood:Water Mission will last one person water for a whole year. Do the math. Let us be good stewards to all that God has given us.

Here is the website: http://www.bloodwatermission.org

Blessings to all. Get involved. Participate in the Gospel.

Pictures

My profile picture has been changed do to the pleadings of a few people. (Sorry, I thought it was OK) The new one is up and hopefully this will appease the few disgruntled readers! Check out "the futility of sports" blog. I added a non-banker, away-from-school, just-broke-up-a-fight picture. This was my choice for the profile, but it too was shot down. It's just vintage Billy. Blessings to all this weekend!

God's Infinite Greatness

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!"
-Romans 11:33 (ESV)

Hopefully I am one of the few people who struggle with finding true and fresh expressions as I pray to God. I know that in our prayers we are to ascribe praise to God, but most of my expressions are ones that I have been saying for years. "God, I praise you for your grace." "You are the Victorious King!" and "You are sovereign" and "Glory to you for your love and justice." and "You are the Alpha and Omega." (to name a few) These are not false or unbiblical expressions, but they are limited. God is much more then the phrases that I ascribe to Him.

I just finished reading a chapter on "The Knowability of God" from Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology and was reminded that although we can know God truly we will never be at a point where God will be understood fully or exhaustively. At first that sort of disappointed me, but Grudem rightly described this doctrine of God's incomprehensibility and my disappointment turned to joy. "It means that we will never be able to know 'too much' about God, for we will never run out of things to learn about him, and we will thus never tire in delighting in the discovery of more and more of his excellence and of the greatness of his works."

If God could be figured out completely and fully then we might pursue other "gods" or objects of affection after we thought that we exhausted everything there is to know about God. Since we can never know too much about God we should joyfully examine the Bible and study often for the remainder of our lives. It is exciting to me that I can discover more truth about God and the greatness of all that He has done and will continue to do.

This relates to our songs that we sing, too. Earlier this week I wrote a "Reading Report" for a class I am currently taking in regards to a current issue on worship leadership. The article I picked was from Ross King's journal http://www.rosskingmusic.com and in it Ross urges worship leaders to stimulate their minds and write phrases and expressions that we really mean. He feels that through the repetition of always saying the same things we are losing the power of the words we are saying. "The real problem is that we are all-too-satisfied with the tiny little parts of God that we've been talking about for years, instead of constantly searching the Scriptures (and the mysterious Spirit inside of us!), looking for the attributes that we may have missed or misunderstood."

His journal, along with Grudem's book have encouraged me to search the Bible and seek to be fresh and biblical in my expressions to God. Let us never be misled into thinking we have figured God out completely. God's understanding is beyond measure and his greatness is unsearchable. Let us agree with Paul in Romans 11:33 who cannot contain his praise for God after writing some of the richest chapters in the Bible in regards to the history of God's great plan of redemption.

Glory to our great, immeasurable King!

What We Say Matters

This blog is inspired by a message I read from John Piper in Life as a Vapor sometime at the end of 2004. In chapter 4 of this little devotional book, Piper writes a meditation on James 4:13-16.

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (ESV)

Piper notes how James thought and spoke of God. The way that James viewed life was shaped by his views on God. How we think and how we speak should be good indicators about how we view life and God.

"It not only matters that you have a right view of life when you make your plans (because you are like a vapor), but it also matters that you have a right view of God as you make your plans. And it matters that you give expression of this true view of God. "You ought to say- say!-'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'" (Piper, 30-31)

I think the phrase "if the Lord wills" should be incorporated into our vocabulary more. When someone asks me when I'll be done with school, I try to reply with the words, "May 2006, Lord willing." All of us need to truly think about the words we say and aim to be biblical in the way we speak. We don't need to stop planning rather we need to set our minds and our conversations on the Lord as we plan.

Being concerned about what we say will also cut some common expressions that we say daily. There are a number of expressions I wish we would stop saying. "When God closes one door, He opens another." This is a comforting statement, but we have killed this one. Quote Romans 8:28 when someone is going through a tough time. Everyone (non-Christians included) knows the closed door comment. Bumper stickers such as "My boss is a Jewish carpenter" or "God is my co-pilot" bother me too. Isn't Jesus much more than a Jewish carpenter?

Those are all somewhat debatable so I would like to close this blog with a focus on the phrase "Good luck." This should be removed from all of our expressions. God is in complete control. He is sovereign. He knows everything about everyone all the time. Nothing catches Him off guard. His plan and purpose prevail. God has infinite wisdom and knowledge. There is no such thing as luck.

Everything happens according to God's plan. Luck does not exist or take place. Let us be biblical in the way we speak and include, "Lord willing" into our conversations and drop "Good luck."

The Aftermath of Sarcasm

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. "

-Ephesians 4:29 (ESV)

I have had an itch to write a book on sarcasm for the last five years, but if I am really honest with myself I know that I probably will never write a book. So thanks to this blogging craze I can sort of write a mini version of it here. Before I begin I must admit that I have been (and still am to some extent) a very sarcastic person. That is not said in a boasting manner, rather a disappointed, perplexed manner. I believe that sarcasm is killing our society and I want to leave Camp Sarcastic and begin loving people by speaking words of hope, edification, and encouragement. It is a struggle of mine, so as I type this I am typing in hope of becoming this person, so bear with me as you read.

The Ephesians 4:29 verse listed above was the first Bible verse I ever wrote on a yellow sticky note and placed next to my computer in college. I put in there with good intent, but after a few days it went from being a reminder to myself to just kind of blending in with the rest of my desk. It's novelty quickly wore off. The reason I was trying to get Ephesians 4:29 into my heart and applied in my life was that I was constantly getting myself in trouble through funny, sarcastic comments that I had become so good at. Instead of building someone up I found it easier to go for a laugh usually at that person's expense.

About four years later, I started volunteering with a youth ministry called Student Venture and I began to notice just how prevalent sarcasm was. I would sit in a student's home before we would get started with a Bible Study and just listen to the students talk to one another. The way the students spoke to each other shocked me. They were all friends, but they were so destructive and sarcastic in the way they spoke to each other. I used to think if a new High School student who was interested in checking Christianity out came to one of the Bible Studies that the individual would probably never come back. It reminded me of Gandhi when he said, "Jesus I like – it's his followers I can't stand." Gandhi saw the way that Christians treated one another and was turned off by their conduct. How many non-believers have we Christians discouraged in their journey of faith? Didn't Jesus say love should be the distinguishing mark of us being Christ-followers, not sarcasm? "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35)

I don't want to limit this model of Christian conduct to High School students. Adults are just as bad. I was an outsider looking in with the High School students, but as I began to listen closer to my conversations with friends I suddenly realized that we were doing the same thing. Often today when you began to make fun of a person and are full of sarcasm in your conversations, it more or less corresponds to you and that person being "really good friends." When you reach that level it means "you are one of us" or "I love you." This sarcastic, destructive version of love is hardly the love that Jesus commanded us to share with "our neighbors."

TV has probably done a good job of demonstrating to us how to be funny and sarcastic. Popular shows such as Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, and The Simpsons (just to name a few . . . I'm not picking on these shows and I don't watch a whole lot of TV, but these serve as examples) are built around certain main characters who are very sarcastic and funny in the way they speak to each other. We watch these shows and laugh with them, but that is not where it stops. You see, it is funny to see someone get picked on with witty, sarcastic comments. We talk and act just as they do. With our family and friends we have replaced genuine edification with insults and sarcasm.

The words that we say can either build someone up or tear someone down. We must begin speaking words of loving that strengthen people. It is OK to joke around at times and have a little fun, but that should always be done in love. If we seek to build others up I'm pretty positive that our words would be radically different. It is good to always pause before the words come out of our mouth and say, "Is this going to build them up or tear them down?"

Maybe you are saying, "Come on, Billy, you are being too harsh." If you think that listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:36, "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken." One day we will have to stand before King Jesus and give an account for every word we have spoken. I am not condemning anyone, Jesus paid our debt on the cross, but I do want to honor Him and seek to bring Him glory and those do not take place when we cut people down all the time.

My prayer for myself and all followers of Christ is that we would begin to encourage each other and stop being so sarcastic and destructive with the words we say. There are plenty of things in this world that bring us down - a bad day at work, a broken relationship, an illness, our own insecurities, unexpected problems, etc. - and the last thing we need is to hear sarcastic, cruel words from the few people who truly love us.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." -Galatians 6:9-10

Do we really trust in the power of the cross?

"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."
-1 Corinthians 1:17 (ESV)

As Paul begins his epistle to the church in Corinth he immediately sets Jesus Christ as the focus to whom the people are to look to. Jesus Christ is mentioned 15 times in the first 17 verses. Paul makes it evident that Christ is to be the example to follow. He is the One whom we place our trust in. He is the One whom we are to call on in our time of need.

As simple and straightforward as that sounds, in today's culture we often seek to make Jesus and the gospel more entertaining. We try to bring in a celebrity or eloquent speaker who will be able to make the gospel sound more interesting. When a professional athlete comes to speak at a church or a notable celebrity attends a Christian banquet, we use these icons as bait to add a little hot sauce to a gospel which is what we think "bland." Looking at what Paul said in 1 Corinthians would quickly show us that we have deviated from the gospel Paul proclaimed.

Paul set himself apart from the Greek orators of his day who were skilled with impressive rhetoric and style. Paul rightly states that his preaching did not rely on eloquence. His message was simply the cross of Christ. Later in chapter 2 Paul states his "speech and message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (v.4-5) Paul's boast was in the cross alone. Paul trusted in the power of the gospel, not his cleverness.

This tells me that if we seek to add some spice to the gospel through cleverness of speech or notoriety of the speaker, than we are not trusting in the power of the cross. What Jesus did on the cross must simply not be enough. A quick look around at most youth ministries would show that the cross is boring, so we must add some fun, trendy activities that will keep our kids coming. This to me is troubling. It really bothers me when we promote games, food, and special music over the Good News. Fliers taped on church doors and passed out to curious bystanders promote all the other goodies in big, bold text and somewhere near the bottom is a small line stating the gospel will be given. Why is the gospel not the center piece in all our events? Do hamburgers and washed up, retired athletes actually save anyone?

A few people may say, "God has given them a platform." I have bought into that one for a long time, but I'm really starting to become weary. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-27, Paul states that the Corinthian believers were not wise according to worldy standards, nor powerful, nor noble, but that God choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. Peter and John were described as uneducated and common men in Acts 4:13. All throughout the Bible you see God using "nobodies." Shouldn't that still be the case today? I am not knocking all famous people who truly love Christ, rather the notion of finding a speaker for your special event based on their celebrity status.

I challenge all of us (me included) to pull our stock from the additives we have placed alongside the cross. The cross is the center of the gospel which is the "power of God for salvation for everyone who believes." (Romans 1:16) Let us lift high the cross and stop emptying it of it's power.

Side note: I am hoping to do a few more blogs soon, one on sarcasm and one on God's sovereignty, so check back in the next few days for some other thoughts I've been contemplating. I decided to stick with the 1 Corinthians theme for this blog in honor of my good friend Jason Kates who actually reads these posts. Oh yeah, he won our semi-final coed softball game for us on Saturday. If you know him buy him a Dr. Pepper or something.

Identity in Christ

"For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless, when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all thing . . . I urge you, then, be imitators of me."
-1 Corinthians 4:8-13; 16 (ESV)

As I am reading 1 Corinthians, I am reminded that the apostle Paul found his sole identity in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 1:21, Gal. 6:14, Acts 20:24, 1 Cor. 2:2) Through placing his identity in Christ Jesus he was able to be content in any and every circumstance. (Phil. 4:11-13) Maybe that doesn't astonish you. Read 2 Corinthians 11. Paul received 39 lashes from the Jews five times, three times he was beaten with rods, stoned once, shipwrecked three times, faced constant danger, and he often went without sleep, food and drink to name a few.

It is just amazing to me to hear Paul boast in becoming the scum of the world and not to complain about being poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless or held in disrepute. A look at many of our churches today definitely reveals that our identity is not even in the same hemisphere as Paul's. We love our nice homes. We love our fashionable clothes. We certainly love to eat. Isn't eating out after church expected? We must live in a safe neighborhood and send our children to safe schools. To Paul, being a follower of Christ was definitely not safe.

I find it strange how Paul's identity in Christ caused him to be reviled and persecuted, while our "identity" in Christ often brings us pats on the back and invitations to hang out at Christian parties. I can't think of the last time that I was truly reviled for being a follower of Christ. When was the last time a group of Christians in America was referred to as the scum of the world? The difference between Paul's identity in Christ and our modern subculture's identity in Christ is that Paul really had his identity in Christ. Our identity is often found in our jobs, friends, accolades, prestige, and individual accomplishments. When our relationships grow weary or when we don't get the promotion is when our lives began to spin out of control. We need to embrace an eternal perspective and view all those things as they are. They are really insignificant in light of Christ. When He becomes our identity those hiccups will not throw our lives off course.

A lifelong struggle for me has been allowing Christ to be my one identity. Ross and Staci King wrote a song about Christ being our identity and security that we sang in church the other week. Ross talked about the struggle it is to truly make Christ our identity, but it is to be a pursuit that we embrace. Personally, I have allowed sports, success, and friends to be my identity. When I perform well I receive temporary praise that makes me feel good for a short period of time. When my cell phone is ringing and people are inviting me to hang out I really feel good. When I get a job promotion or hear nice things being said about me it really changes my mood. I'm not on a mission to stop us from encouraging one another or to put an end to some of the pleasures in life, but I just want those to be so small and insignificant as compared to who Christ is in my life.

Let us embrace Christ as our one identity. Let us be willing to give up safety and comfort for the sake of Christ. A life that finds it's identity in Christ will be radically different from the worlds. I think the reason that so many Christians live in a manner that is pretty similar to non-Christians should cause us to do some rethinking. We must live in a way that causes others to see Christ as our one identity and security. This is not a simple 7-step plan that will allow us to be good to go in six weeks, but a lifelong journey where we die to ourselves everyday. May God grant us the grace and power to live this way.

Love: I Corinth. 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.
-1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV)

When I was at church yesterday the teaching was directed to "unlearning" certain habits or methods we have embraced as we read, study, meditate on Scripture. Not everything needs to be "unlearned", but some of our dutiful, Bible check-lists, of reading the Bible daily because we feel guilty if we don't, needs to be discarded from the way we study God's Word. I needed to hear what was said and I often fall into the catagory of reading the Bible out of guilt rather than saying with the Psalmist "My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times." (Psalm 119:20)

Anyhow, the passage that was focused on was the Great Love Chapter: 1 Corinthians 13. Now, if anyone has been to a good amount of weddings, there is a great chance much of this may even be memorized. Heck, I remember going to a student's home one time and seeing this passage sewn into a little heart-shaped pillow next to the commode. This has definitely been a passage of Scripture that has been glanced over and stamped on every wedding invitation mailed out rather then being a passage which is meditated on, prayed over, and etched into the hearts and lives of followers of Christ.

My testimony: I mess up constantly on just about everything said in that passage. My version of love has always been very self-seeking and I expect absolute, impeccable, unfailing love in return. If you do me wrong, that gives me the opportunity to seek revenge. My level of tolerance has been short and I tend to enjoy keeping a record of right and wrong. That allows me to have some insurance when I sputter later on. Every girl I have dated has been expected to join my group of friends and embrace my world. I'll enter into her world every now and then, but it is much more comfortable and friendly in my world.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is I'm fed up with "loving" that way. If that is even love. The main thing that God has illuminated to me is that love does not insist on it's own way. I have always found more joy in giving and serving others and my fears and insecurities have probably kept me from radically loving and serving others daily. It is risky to give this sort of love away because you are not guaranteed that love in return. I want to meditate on this passage often and pray that every day I can suffer a violent death to the self-seeking love I have so often embraced. I also want to meditate on this passage so that I can allow this biblical definition of love to "re-shape" the worldly definition of love that I have wrongly believed over the years. I want to challenge everyone who reads this to open up to 1 Corinthians 13 and allow God to speak to you. We all need help in how we love. Marriages would be so much more intimate and joyful if both husband and wife loved this way. God would get more glory.

Venting session: I'm pretty much done with my blog, but I want to add that "love bears, hopes, and endures all things." Life is hard. As humans we continually mess up. We need to be conduits of grace daily. Love does not walk away without a fight. I feel as if I was hosed by someone who didn't want to embrace this aspect of love that I thought we shared. I'm OK with that and it really makes me think that a real "love" never exisited, because real love will put up a fight. We don't deserve God's grace and love. He commands us to forgive as he has forgiven us and I know this is not easy, but we must be gracious and forgiving in our love.