The Gospel Coalition

Every couple of weeks, I meet with some guys here at LifeWay and we discuss the books we’ve been reading. Our seventh meeting took place a couple weeks ago with Micah Carter, Philip Nation, Devin Maddox, and myself. Here’s what we discussed:

Radical Together:
Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God
David Platt
Multnomah, 2011

Micah Carter had just finished David Platt’s follow-up to his bestselling Radical. We were all wondering if this book is different than its predecessor, or if it’s just a repackaging of the ideas in book one. According to Micah, the perspective in the sequel is broader. It’s all about the need for churches to buy into the vision of Radical. The book emphasizes the sufficiency of Scripture, the importance of God-centered worship, and the need to get our motivation right when it comes to radical obedience (gospel, not guilt).

Radical confronted the American Dream; Radical Together confronts the MegaChurch Dream. The irony, of course, is that David pastors a megachurch. That’s why the discussion of prioritizing funds, choosing the best things instead of just “good” things, and the need for global/local ministry is so pertinent. David isn’t destroying sacred cows; he’s knocking down bronze serpents – practices and methods that were once helpful that now are now supplanting the truth that Scripture is sufficient to enable the church in fulfilling her mission.

Tempted and Tried:
Temptation and the Triumph of Christ
Russell Moore
Crossway, 2011

Devin Maddox brought the new book by Russell Moore. Moore’s book on temptation helps soften (or un-sear) the conscience that is often unaware of sin’s subtleties. By analyzing the temptation of Christ, Moore demonstrates how common these temptations are to all of us. The goal is not for Christians to panic once they recognize the potential of their evil and sinfulness. Instead, Moore says that those who should really be worried are those who aren’t. All of Moore’s hard-hitting insights on temptation are imbued with the compassion of Jesus, friend of sinners. We look past our sin to the righteousness of Christ.

Summoned to Lead
Leonard Sweet
Zondervan, 2004

Philip Nation brought an older leadership book by Leonard Sweet. The book uses the example of Admiral Shackleton, who led an exploration to Antartica, never made it to the destination, and yet was able to lead his men to safely. Leadership is an acoustical art, not a text-driven theory. You don’t rise up to leadership; you bow to the opportunity when it comes your way. Leadership isn’t something you aspire to; it’s something that is thrust on you. Sweet emphasizes listening before speaking. He also values plurality and teamwork, recommending that we recapture the “lost chord” instead of relying on the “single note.” Sweet also talks about the value of humility, a quality that wins over the most powerful organizations in the world.

Parts of this book are contrived. Though Zondervan is the publisher and Sweet is a well-known Christian author, this is not a biblically based book. Still, the conventional principles of leadership found in this book are helpful as general knowledge.

Transformational Church:
Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations
Thom Rainer & Ed Stetzer
B&H, 2010

I brought Transformational Church, an important book that takes note of the common characteristics of churches that are particularly fruitful in making new disciples. This book can’t be classified as “church growth.” It’s not a list of principles telling church leaders what to do. Instead, it’s a picture of churches doing effective ministry in their communities. The book is easy to read, and its tone is encouraging. Though people constantly bemoan the current cultural setting of the North American church, this book is evidence that God continues to work through various people in various places.

The chapter on prayer was particularly challenging. It is interesting to note that research demonstrates that disciple-making churches are praying churches. I also liked the ongoing emphasis on relational intentionality, and how everything is geared toward mission. I was a bit disappointed in the chapter on worship. It had great insight into how and why the worship wars should end, but I wanted to learn more about the (non-stylistic) commonalities present in a transformational church’s worship service. Still, overall, this book was encouraging and helpful.

I’d like to introduce you to one of my favorite new blogs. “Roasted Peanuts” is one blogger’s attempt to journey through 50 years of Peanuts comic strips. He pulls out the best, puts them on his blog, and then writes down his observations. Check it out.

Skye Jethani redefines “radical”:

I’ve come to embrace the reality that my place as a church leader is not to get people to do more for God. Rather, I believe my responsibility is to give others a ravishing vision, rooted in Scripture and modeled by my own example, of a life lived it communion with God. And there, as they abide in him, calling will happen. The Lord of the harvest will call and send workers.

Here’s your 2010 Federal Taxpayer Receipt:

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama promised that this year, for the first time ever, American taxpayers would be able to go online and see exactly how their federal tax dollars are spent. Just enter a few pieces of information about your taxes, and the taxpayer receipt will give you a breakdown of how your tax dollars are spent on priorities like education, veterans benefits, or health care.

GetReligion picks apart the Time cover story on Rob Bell and hell:

The piece is pretty much what you’d expect a mainliner to write about an evangelical who sounds like he’s adopting mainline religious views. And Meacham really is an excellent writer and an enjoyable read. This isn’t really a battle of normal Christian traditionalism (there’s a reason why Catholics, Orthodox and Lutherans haven’t cared that much one way or the other about Bell’s book) but the piece rather artfully avoids those issues.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.
I am your servant.
Give me understanding that I may know your ordinances.
Incline my heart to your commands.
Let your speech distill as the dew.

The children of Israel once said to Moses:
“Speak to us and we will hear you. Don’t let the Lord speak to us, lest we die.”

Not so, Lord, not so do I pray.
Rather with Samuel the prophet I entreat humbly and earnestly:
“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Do not let Moses or any of the prophets speak to me;
but you speak, O Lord God, who inspired and enlightened all the prophets;
for you alone, without them, can instruct me perfectly,
whereas they, without you, can do nothing.
They, indeed, utter fine words,
but they cannot impart the spirit.
They do indeed speak beautifully,
but if you remain silent they cannot inflame the heart.
They deliver the message;
you lay bare the sense.
They place before us mysteries,
but you unlock their meaning.
They proclaim commandments;
you help us to keep them.
They point out the way;
you give strength for the journey.
They work only outwardly;
you instruct and enlighten our hearts.
They water on the outside;
you give the increase.
They cry out words;
You give understanding to the hearer.

- Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (adapted)

From The Apology of Aristides the Philosopher to Emperor Hadrian, 125 A.D.:

Further, if one or other of them have bondmen or bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without distinction.

They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all modesty and cheerfulness.

Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly.

And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him into their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God.

And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial.

And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free.

And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast.

- quoted in Orphanology: Awakening to GospelCentered Adoption and Orphan Care, by Tony Merida and Rick Morton

Having been at the Gospel Coalition all week, I have not had much time to sift through links to share today. But my friend Aaron Armstrong has done a good job of taking some brief notes from all the sermons this week. If you (like me) look forward to listening to all the sessions but want to get a sneak peek right away, I recommend Aaron’s notes.

Al Mohler: Studying the Scriptures and Finding Jesus

Tim Keller: Getting Out

Alistair Begg: From a Foreigner to King Jesus

James MacDonald: Not According to Our Sins

Conrad Mbewe: The Righteous Branch

Matt Chandler: Youth

Mike Bullmore: God’s Great Heart of Love Toward His Own

D.A. Carson: Getting Excited About Melchizedek

Whenever I first flip through a book, I look at the cover, the endorsements, and then the references. Footnotes or endnotes – it doesn’t matter: I want to know who the author is drawing wisdom from. References clue you in on what theological stream the author swims in, what literature he or she reads, and if the book will contain illustrative material that helps get the point across.

Counterfeit Gospels contains a wide variety of quotes and references. Here’s a sampling (in order of appearance) of some of the people I reference:

• Jefferson Davis (yes, the president of the confederacy)
• J.R.R. Tolkien
• C.S. Lewis
• Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Herman Bavinck
• John Piper
• Lucille Ball (yes, from I Love Lucy)
• Charles Spurgeon
• Alexandyr Solzhenitsyn
• Michael Horton
• Os Guinness
• Greg Gilbert
• N.T. Wright
• Dinesh D’Souza
• Miroslav Volf
• Graeme Goldsworthy
• Kate DiCamillo (author of The Tale of Despereaux)
• Martin Luther
• Roger Nicole
• John Stott
• Adrian Warnock
• G.K. Chesterton
• George Eldon Ladd
• Mark Galli
• Tim Keller
• Tullian Tchividjian
• Philip Yancey
• Victor Hugo
• Erwin Lutzer
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• D.A. Carson
• Lesslie Newbigin
• Gina Welch
• Joshua Harris
• Tim Chester
• J.I. Packer
• Mark Dever
• Scot McKnight
• Russell Moore
• James Emery White
• James K.A. Smith
• Kevin DeYoung
• C. FitzSimons Allison
• Jonathan Leeman
• Francis Chan
• Francis Schaeffer

Joe Carter on belief in an historical Noah – and why it matters for our Christology:

I refuse to believe that the Father would allow the Son to deceive mankind about anything. Because of this belief, I trust that whenever Jesus made a claim about history that he is making an assertion that is trustworthy and factually accurate. I believe that Noah existed because Jesus tells me so. Unless I’m presented with evidence that is more convincing than the words of the Creator of the Universe, I’ll continue to trust that this belief is warranted.

Joel Lindsey reflects on the words from the great hymn, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded:”

Today’s hymn is especially important to me because it was being sung during the Good Friday service at which I first understood that Jesus died not just to take away the sin of the world, but to take away my sin in particular. I was saved that night. Saved from God’s wrath, saved into a new family, saved for everlasting worship…saved, period.

Soul Surfer Breaks Out in Top 5 at the Box Office. (I’ve heard good things about this film.)

“Soul Surfer” tells the story of teen surfer Hamilton (played by AnnaSophia Robb), who lost her left arm in a shark attack at age 13. The film follows her brief struggle and reveals her strong Christian faith and optimism that gets her back on the board.

Are short-term mission trips effective in the long run?

Is the explosion of short-term mission teams a helpful development in the missiological strategy of taking the gospel to the nations?

How should we respond to people who desire to take part in assisting long-term missionaries?

These are important questions. That’s why I’m excited to introduce Kingdom People readers to George Robinson, assistant professor of missions and evangelism at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. George has extensive international missions experience and has written Striking the Match: How God is Using Ordinary People to Change the World through Short-Term Missions (e3 Resources, 2008). Today, we talk about short-term mission teams and how they can be used effectively in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Trevin Wax: George, it’s an exciting time to seek to fulfill the Great Commission and take the gospel to the nations. The availability of travel and the accessibility of communication has changed the way we think of missions and mission trips. There has been a decline of long-term missionaries and a steady rise of short-term mission teams. Not everyone sees this development as helpful. What are some of the reservations people have about short-term missions?

George Robinson: Fifteen years ago, famous missiologist Ralph Winter wrote an essay called “The Re-Amatuerization of Missions.”  The essay explored the potential negative impact of short-term missions. Other missiologists responded in a similar fashion. Winter’s point was that some tasks are best accomplished by those professionals with proper training.

I respond to that idea in Striking the Match by pointing out the definition of the word “amateur.” It simply means “someone who does something for the love of it.” What’s wrong people doing missions short-term for the love of it? The reality is – we have a lot of people doing short-term missions. Some estimates are that one million people in North America and Europe will go on a short-term trip this year. Most of them are ‘amateurs’ who may make mistakes – even crucial ones – often because they have not been prepared by those with more cross-cultural experience. Missiologists and long-term missionaries must be willing to think deeply about how to utilize this massive army of amateurs, and in so doing they will be advancing the very cause that they have dedicated their lives to.

Trevin Wax: Why do you think that’s the case? Why not think about ways to utilize the army?

George Robinson: Look at it this way. You’ve got a general out on the battlefield. He’s got an elite force out there. And all of a sudden, you’ve got a large number of infantrymen who show up and haven’t been through the general’s training. If you’re in the shoes of that general, you’re bothered by the influx of infantrymen. You don’t know how to lead those people well. You may have to get off the front lines in order to figure out how to use the newcomers.

Yes, Westerners make cultural blunders. We’re loud and obnoxious. We throw money at things, thinking money is the answer to everything. All the complaints are viable.

But my response is that you don’t send the infantry home. You pull back for a moment and take time to train them. Show them where they fit in the scope of the battle. Let them know what to do and they will play the role well. You’ll still have mistakes, but you’ll make a much greater impact on lostness. So, I want to see missionaries harnessing the power of the small group rather than complaining about their presence.

Trevin Wax: What do you say to the person who points out the financial cost? Let’s say you’ve got a team of 12 who go on an overseas trip. It’s going to cost them about $25,000. Sometimes the missionary thinks, We could do so much ministry with that money!

George Robinson: Behind that objection lies a hidden assumption: God has limited resources, and if these resources are used on short-term mission teams, they won’t be available for long-term missionaries. I don’t accept that assumption as valid. God’s resources are limitless. The question is about how we prioritize these resources. At the heart of it all, this debate is a faith issue.

Could you do more training of nationals if the short-term team stayed home and sent you $25,000? Absolutely. That kind of money would go a long way on the front end. But when short-term mission teams are on the field and the missionaries figure out a way to plug them into the ongoing strategy, then you’re not only making a financial investment, but also a broader investment. The short-term visitors may end up joining your team long-term. Or they may end up being long-term partners, financial and in other ways. The $25,000 looks like a bad investment on the front end, but that sum represents twelve people who – if over the course of their lifetime give just $100 – could wind up supplying the long-term missionary with hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Instead of seeing the big picture, too often we’re looking at things through a very narrow perspective. We think of resources as the limited piece of a pie instead of thinking how to use short-term teams to our advantage. And what happens when we fail to utilize short-term teams? We inoculate them to our mission. They go away thinking they’re not needed. They think their finances aren’t needed either.

Trevin Wax: Have you seen this scenario happen often?

George Robinson: Sadly, yes. Just yesterday, I was talking to a guy who had done some work in Latin American countries. His team was viewed as a burden rather than a blessing. Very little thought was given to how the team would be used on the field. They were dumped in a place where they couldn’t do any damage. At the end of the trip, the team hadn’t done any damage. But neither had they felt connected to the mission. None of the team members will be going back there. None of them have a heart for what’s going on.

Missionaries need to make a point of utilizing a team effectively. We need to ask strategic questions. How do we minimize the limitations and maximize the strategic nature of how to use short-term mission teams as a small part of a much bigger vision? Teams need to hear missionaries say, “We wouldn’t be taking this step in church planting if it weren’t for your team.” That’s what energizes them for the long haul.

Trevin Wax: Doesn’t success depend, in some measure, on how success is defined? What is the purpose of a short-term mission team? What are the objectives and goals?

George Robinson: Absolutely. It’s crucial to define what the mission is. Most of the complaints I hear about short-term teams relate to short-term work trips. They’re not mission. I define mission more narrowly. There has to be verbal proclamation of the gospel for a team to be considered “mission.” If gospel proclamation isn’t central to the purpose of the trip, then call it a work trip, not a mission trip. I’m fine with work trips taking place, but for a work trip to be truly a mission trip, it must be connected to a proclamation of the gospel. Otherwise, the church is doing something any non-governmental organization could do.

Trevin Wax: So work trips can create problems.

George Robinson: Yes, if they are evaluated as mission projects. For example, after Hurricane Mitch hit Central America, many short-term mission teams headed for Honduras. Their purpose was to rebuild the houses of believers and unbelievers. They did not go to connect with the nationals there; they went down there to lay brick and mortar. But afterwards, they were evaluated based on mission standards and were critiqued for making cultural blunders. That was the wrong way to evaluate the work teams. The Hondurans should have been asked, “How do you like your house?” and not “Did the team make cultural blunders?”

Trevin Wax: So the purpose of the trip needs to be crystal clear.

George Robinson: Yes. The problem is that a large percent of people going on short-term trips every year are involved in work trips, not evangelism. What happens is that the highly trained, mission-oriented teams get lumped in with the stereotype of those who make cultural mistakes, create dependency, etc.

If you take time on the front end to orient the team on cross-cultural communication, and if the long-term missionary will create missiological interdependency (which comes about by recognizing that everyone has something to give and receive in mission), then you prepare the groundwork for success. We need to operate according to the Great Commandment: Love God and love your neighbor. Everyone involved has something to give and gain.

• The nationals have something to give and something to gain.
• The missionary has something to give and something to gain.
• The short-term team has something to give and something to gain.
• The local church has something to give and something to gain.

Trevin Wax: What happens when we operate with this mindset?

George Robinson: For one thing, the nationals don’t come to you with their hands out, saying, “You’re just here to support me.” Instead, you’re helping the nationals think deeply about how they can bless this team. Likewise, the sending church stops looking at a mission trip as “a way to disciple our people,” as if discipleship of the team member is the main focus of a team. Instead, the sending church thinks about how they can, through their mission team, bless the work of others in another place. They begin looking to how they can sacrifice for, rather than benefit from, a short-term team.

Trevin Wax: Very helpful advice, George. Thank you for your book, your ministry, and for joining me for this conversation. May short-term mission teams be challenged to greater effectiveness because of your work!

In 1989, Carl Henry wrote Mark Dever a letter, in which he said this:

I may see Al Mohler at Southeastern. He has many gifts. Who knows how our Lord may bring together a core of young evangelical spirits for some dramatic breakthrough a half generation down the road. While we move under His banner who are, in any case, destined for victory.

Tony Reinke comments: “We are now about a half generation down the road. It was quite fitting that the 2011 TGC conference opened this afternoon with a message from Dr. Mohler.”

Michael Hyatt steps down as Thomas Nelson CEO.

Can a complete novice become a golf pro with 10,000 hours of practice?

Shelves and shelves of self-help books are stocked in America with the canon of the quick fix. The 10,000-hour concept, though, is based on academic research into the idea that success is a choice — made, not born. At first glance, it feels like a very American idea — you can be anything you want to be — but it is an unsentimental view of the world. It helps to be tall in basketball, and it helps to start violin lessons at a young age, but what separates the few truly great from the many merely good is not talent or magic or luck. It’s dedication and discipline.

The secret to success isn’t a secret. It’s work.

Many evangelicals view the fourth-century conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine as an unfortunate chapter in church history, one that sabotaged the purity of the early church and ushered in the corrupt Middle Ages. Peter J. Leithart believes this version of church history is a myth. In Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom (IVP Academic), Leithart shows that the early church was not as united as we think, nor was Constantine the villain many have made him out to be.

Along the way, Leithart teases out contemporary implications regarding the church’s role in the world, implications that distance him from scholars like John Howard Yoder. Defending Constantine could have been called Dismantling Yoder, for although Leithart’s primary purpose is to vindicate Constantine, he devotes significant effort to pointing out the cracks in Yoder’s Anabaptist perspective on Christendom.

Defending Constantine begins as a biography. Leithart argues that the emperor was a sincere believer who transformed the empire by proclaiming “the end of sacrifice.” Citizens of Rome once expressed their support for the empire’s civic religion by making offerings to the city’s deities. In contrast, Constantine’s newfound Christianity insisted upon the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Leithart does not portray Constantine as a power-hungry leader who adopted Christianity for political gain, as some have. Nor is he the saint (or apostle!) some ancient Christians thought him to be. Instead, we see a complex individual who gave preferential treatment to Christians without dominating church councils.

At times, Leithart’s sketch of Constantine is overly sympathetic, a portrayal challenged by the emperor’s hatred for the Jews and his murder of his wife and son. While Leithart notes these unflattering incidents, he is unable to find a place for them in his overall portrait that makes sense of the man.

The greatest strength of Leithart’s proposal comes later in the book, when he demonstrates how Anabaptist thinkers like Yoder oversimplify the issues surrounding Constantine’s reign. By showing, for example, that the early church was not universally pacifistic, Leithart casts doubt on Yoder’s insistence that the so-called uniform non-violence of the early church should be the norm today.

Interestingly enough, Leithart agrees with Yoder’s critique of Constantinianism: It is indeed a heresy that seeks efficiency instead of faithfulness to Christ. The difference is that Leithart does not believe we should name this heresy after Constantine. Instead, we should recognize the great debt we owe to Constantine for “desacrificing” Rome and thus allowing Christians to worship without fear of retribution.

Defending Constantine demonstrates the enduring relevance of the “Constantinian moment” of the fourth century. While recent scholarship has focused mainly on the negative results, Leithart swings the pendulum back, reminding us of all the good that God brought from this contested period of history.

(This review first appeared in the March 2011 issue of Christianity Today.)