The Gospel Coalition

Caedmon’s Call is back… and while they might not be “better than ever,” they’re definitely better than they have been in a long time. Overdressed (to be released next Tuesday) returns Caedmon’s Call to their acoustic/folk roots, giving us an engaging collection of songs that hearken back to 40 Acres and their self-titled debut.

Derek Webb returns to the Caedmon’s fold for Overdressed, and not a moment too soon. I’ve never thought Caedmon’s Call was as good without Derek, and neither have I liked Derek as much without Caedmon’s. The album begins with Derek in full force on a folksy gospel-twinged song called “Trouble,” a song that sets the theme for the rest of the CD. We’re depraved. We’re sinful. We’re overdressed. But God is good.

From there, we jump back into standard Caedmon’s fare: “Need Your Love” features Cliff Young’s recognizable vocals, a catchy chorus, and the characteristic pop sound, creating a song that could fit comfortably on any Caedmon’s Call album since their debut.

Continue

It is an exciting time to be a student at Southern Seminary. We are privileged to sit at the feet of some of the most gifted, world-renowned scholars on the planet. The seminary is growing by leaps and bounds. Our president hosts a daily radio program and is respected by Christians and non-Christians alike. We are treated to some of the greatest preachers inside and outside Southern Baptist life. The resurgence of Reformed theology has revitalized our missionary and evangelistic endeavors, as we follow in the footsteps of the Baptist forerunners of the modern missions movement.

God has blessed us through Southern Seminary, and we pray he is preparing us to be a blessing to our Convention in return. But it is during times of greatest blessing and success that we are often most vulnerable to temptation.

Consider Joseph, tempted after he began managing Pharoah’s affairs.
David, tempted after he had become a military hero.
Elijah, tempted to despair after he called down fire from heaven on Mt. Carmel.
Jesus, tempted in the wilderness after his baptism and God’s heavenly affirmation of his identity. 

Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. in Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin writes:

“The parasitic nature of sin accounts for certain facts that otherwise puzzle us. It accounts for the fact that in various complicated and ironic ways, good and evil keep showing up, and even growing up together… How peculiar, then, that sin multiplies right along with goodness… Sin is fruitful just because, like a virus, it attaches the life force and dynamics of its host.”

If we are not careful, brothers, our passion for God’s glory, enthusiasm for evangelism and our love for his Church could be overshadowed by pride. Satan would love nothing more than to transform our joy of attending one of the best seminaries in the world into an intellectual snobbery that renders us ineffective in ministry. We must guard our hearts against this paralyzing pride. Weeds grow next to the flowers. The flowers are blooming among Southern’s best. The question is: will we choke out the weeds of pride in our hearts or will the weeds choke out a lifetime of fruitfulness?

Where might this pride surface?

We might be tempted, as we react against the pragmatic “whatever works to get them in the door” mentality of other ministers, to reject any pragmatic application-focused teaching whatsoever. We might buy into the idea that right theology automatically leads to right practice. We might take our place in a long line of churches with good, orthodox theology failing to be salt and light in the world. Can we not nullify the intention of God’s Word while upholding its inerrancy? 

We might be tempted, as we react against some of the legalistic excesses of previous generations, to believe that proponents of alcohol abstinence are just a throwback to an outdated temperance movement, and that the drinkers are the truly enlightened ones who have discovered “moderation.” But is abstinence from alcohol (I like calling it a “boycott,” as my position on the issue resembles John Piper’s and Charles Spurgeon’s) a new “Law” that threatens our freedom in Christ? And is this a hill on which to die? 

We might be tempted, as we grapple with the implications of our freedom in Christ, to simply replace some “laws” with others. In an overreaction against entertainment-based preaching, you might be tempted to outlaw all humor in the pulpit. In an overreaction against manipulative evangelists, you might be tempted to do away with all altar calls. We might be tempted to stop reading or engaging in serious dialogue with other writers outside of the Reformed stream, except to prove them wrong. And then legalism rears its ugly head when the presence of different authors on your bookshelf makes you theologically “suspect.”

We might be tempted to enforce a reform of our churches, rather than lead churches into reformation gracefully. So, we must maintain humility in everything, for…

• Reform will not come about if pride causes us to look down on well-intentioned believers who have a vibrant faith in Jesus but not as much theological education as we do.
• Reform will not come about by seeking to institute church discipline and other major changes within the first year.
• Reform will not come from students and ministers that are too proud to submit to the leadership of other believers, yes even believers from different theological streams.
• Reform will not come by embracing good theology at the expense of loving our neighbors.
• Reform will not come to our churches if we wind up replacing the intellectual snobbery of “Old Southern’s” liberalism with the intellectual snobbery “New Southern’s” Calvinism.

Brothers, temptation to pride will come. And pride, if given free reign in our lives, will abort any attempt to reform our churches.

Before we can reform the Church, we must serve the Church.

Before we serve the Church, we must love the Church.

Before we can love the Church, we must abandon any and all pockets of pride that would keep us from leaving the lofty pedestal of our theology and getting dirty by serving with and for the “uneducated,” “uncultured,” but Jesus-loving people in our denomination.

Let us be on guard, brothers. The Enemy would love nothing more than to see the renewal of conservative theology at Southern transform our seminary into an enclave of arrogant snobbery.

May we pray like the Puritans:

“Defend me from assailing foes, from evil circumstances, from myself. My adversaries are part and parcel of my nature; my enemy is within the citadel. Come with almighty power and cast him out, pierce him to death, and abolish in me every particle of carnal life this day.”

My brothers in Christ, let us show others the grace we most fervently espouse.

Crossposted at SaidatSouthern

written by Trevin Wax  © 2007 Kingdom People blog

“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
- Jesus to the Pharisees (Matthew 12:34)

Taming the tongue may be one of the most difficult tasks for the follower of Christ, but thankfully, Jesus reminds us clearly that changing the heart is the key to controlling the tongue. A person can refrain only for a short time from using bad language, from gossiping about his neighbor, from wounding a friend in an angry torrent of words, if these things remain in his heart.

The tongue is the “overflow of the heart,” and that is why, we are often embarrassed at the “slip” of our tongue when we say something “we didn’t mean.” Truthfully, we must admit that we certainly did mean what we said at the time. We apologize of course and try to cover it up because we’re embarrassed at the evil overflow of our heart that slipped from our lips. If you want to clean up your mouth and put an end to the gossip, the lying, and the hate that your lips sometimes spew forth, you must first receive a change of heart so that the overflow of your new heart will be sweet rather than bitter. The condition of one’s tongue is a window to the condition of one’s heart.
Continue

Grant me, O Lord, to trust you with all my heart;
for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength,
so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
  The Book of Common Prayer

“Temptations and afflictions prove how much we have progressed, and by going through them our rewards are greater and God’s graces are more prominently shown. It is no great thing if we are devout and fervent when we are not being afflicted, but if during adversity we bear ourselves patiently, there is hope then of great progress in grace. Some who are kept from great temptations are often overcome by small ones that occur daily. This happens so that having failed in small matters they will never presume that they are able to withstand the greater temptations in their own strength.”

- Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

Why Jesus would never support universal health care (government sponsored, that is).

Jensen to Spong: No Heretics Allowed

Ed Stetzer on “Missional.” Just what does it mean?

Woah! Michael Spencer takes on the “Jesus knocking at your heart” illustration. Be ready to be challenged.

Christianity Today reviews the new Keith and Kristyn Getty album In Christ Alone.

Top Post this week at Kingdom People: Derek Webb and the Gospel of the Kingdom

Rick Iglesias is the Senior Pastor of Pleasant Valley Church in Winona, Minnesota. He received his Masters of Divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has been participating in short-term mission/teaching trips to Romania for more than a decade. Rick served as a spiritual mentor to me during my time in Romania, and he has continued to encourage and support me in the ministry.

I began by asking Rick about his spiritual background and his call to ministry. Rick grew up in a family environment that took seriously the commands of God. Though his family was Roman Catholic, Rick believes his early family life equipped him for future service in the way that “God was honored, prayer was valued, the church was central and service to others was modeled.” Rick’s religious upbringing shaped his values and experiences.

Rick came to saving faith in Christ during his freshman year in college through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. During those years in college, Rick was discipled by other Christians and through his experiences he received a “greater vision for God’s purpose in the world and my part in that.”

As he began participating in local church ministry and foreign mission trips, Rick began to sense the Lord speaking to him about a calling to full-time ministry. To clarify this call, Rick spent extended times in the Word seeking to discern God’s call on his life. “I recall spending a weekend away during my senior year in college with a pastor friend, and as he prayed over me, he prayed a simple prayer, but one that the Lord used at that point in my life: ‘Rick, be like Jesus! Have compassion on the troubled, helpless crowds that have no Shepherd! Be ashamed to die until you have won a major victory for the unreached of the world.’” God used the encouragement and support of godly men around Rick to clarify his calling. “I’ve always believed that you need a specific call not to be in ministry. God calls us to change the world. I believe He called me through circumstances, the Word, people in my life, and an inner peace that continues to this day,” he says boldly.
Continue

The podcast that Tony Kummer and I did with Derek Webb over at SaidatSouthern is making some waves in the blogosphere. Shortly after it was released, several people took issue with Derek’s off-the-cuff definition of “the gospel.”

“What a great question. I guess I’d probably…my instinct is to say that it’s Jesus coming, living, dying, and being resurrected and his inaugurating the already and the not yet of all things being restored to himself…and that happening by way of himself…the being made right of all things…that process both beginning and being a reality in the lives and hearts of believers and yet a day coming when it will be more fully realized. But the good news, the gospel, the speaking of the good news, I would say is the news of his kingdom coming the inaugurating of his kingdom coming…that’s my instinct.”

Granted, I would define the “gospel” somewhat differently than Derek. Sitting next to him in the interview room, I knew immediately that some people were not going to find his answer satisfactory. Not enough “penal substitution.” Not enough “wrath of God.” Not enough “grace versus good works.” In short, not Reformed enough.

After reading some of the comments on blogs about Derek’s definition, I am now concerned that Peter, Paul, and even Jesus himself might not answer the question well enough for some of these guys.

Mark tells us very clearly that the “gospel of God” that Jesus proclaimed was, in summary: “The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in this good news!”

Of course, some could rightly say that Jesus’ message was and should be different, now that we are living post-resurrection. And I would agree with that assessment, except that the apostles’ gospel proclamation still remains kingdom-focused and resurrection-centered.

Let’s leave aside our own gospel formulations and go back to the text.

Peter, at Pentecost, preaches a gospel that tells of Jesus’ life, spends one verse on Jesus’ crucifixion and then takes 13 verses expounding Christ’s resurrection and subsequent exaltation as Lord of the world. Three chapters later, in Acts 5, Peter again centers on the resurrection.
Continue

By Faith Alone: Answering the Challenges to the Doctrine of Justification (Crossway, 2006) is a collection of essays that challenges the New Perspective on Paul, as well as the Federal Vision controversy that is currently raging in Reformed circles. Gary Johnson and Guy Waters do an admirable job of bringing together the diverse contributions from the authors into one readable book.

Most of the chapters deal directly with N.T. Wright’s theological outlook, critiquing his exegesis and subsequent theological conclusions. A couple chapters focus more on the Federal Vision, and several chapters serve more as “filler,” with general information on the covenants and typology.

There is much in the critique of Wright that is to be commended. Wright notoriously brings background theology to the forefront and shifts forefront theology to the background, and he is taken to task for some of his weak exegesis. At other points, the authors argue more from Reformed tradition instead of Scripture alone, which buttresses somewhat Wright’s contention that many in the Reformed camp are more tied to their traditions and doctrinal statements than to the truly Reformed principle of sola Scriptura. The book gets bogged down in minute details of theological precision at times, making even the conditioned theological reader scratch his head and wonder, “Is that really that big a deal?” But sometimes, the stark differences between the two views come clearly to the surface, reminding us all what the debate is about.

A good essay/book to read alongside By Faith Alone is John Frame’s “Within the Bounds of Orthodoxy” – for another revered Reformed theologian’s take on the issues at stake and whether or not the differing views are necessarily mutually exclusive.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2007 Kingdom People blog

One of the amazing things about the Ten Commandments and the entire Law of Moses is just how detailed these commands are. God’s Law covers every area of life. You can’t pick and choose which parts of life should come under God’s reign. God is involved in every part.Some people think that Christianity is all about suppressing sex. That’s one of the misconceptions about the Christian faith. In response to this, some Christians have said, “God isn’t really all that interested in what people are doing with their bodies. Sex isn’t a big deal. The Bible has some rules, but they’re a little too prudish for today, so if you don’t follow them, it’s not a big deal.”

As a result, our culture is spinning down a black hole of sexual anarchy. Adultery is commonplace in society. Remember The Bridges of Madison County, a movie that was nothing more than a glorification of adultery? The greeting card industry now includes adultery with its “secret lover” section. No joke!

Ten years ago, when Clinton’s sex scandals were going on, many people were saying, “What does it matter? What he does in private shouldn’t be a factor!” What does that mentality say about us as a country? It doesn’t matter if a man breaks his wife’s heart and breaks his vow of marriage… as long as he does his job? If you don’t keep the vow you made to your wife and to God, then what makes you think I can trust you to govern the country?

Adultery undermines the family, marriage, parenthood. It undermines trust. How can we trust each other as a society if we can’t trust each other in our marriages?

What does Scripture say about sex? 
Continue