The Gospel Coalition

As I’ve already mentioned, I was in Chicago last week for the Gospel Coalition conference. For those who are unfamiliar with the Gospel Coalition, a friend of mine summed it up well the other day. He said, “The Gospel Coalition exists to create a network of like-minded believers who are committed to the gospel and are committed to working with other believers to further the gospel.” This means that TGC is more than a conference; it’s a network–a movement. And it is, in my opinion, the most strategic intiative in Evangelicalism right now. You can become more familiar with it here.

My friend Justin Taylor has links to all of the Gospel Coalition messages here. Please pay careful attention to Tim Keller’s message, Brian Chapell’s message, and D.A. Carson’s message. All of the messages were good, but for some reason these three stood out for me–they hit me the hardest.

So please listen, watch, and enjoy. And ask God to use these messages to massage the Gospel deeper into your bones.

In bringing New City and Coral Ridge together as one new church, God has turned my life upside down over the last 5 months. And for those who know me well, that means I’m uncomfortable.

You see, I hate change. I’m a creature of habit. I love getting into a routine and staying there. That’s one reason I hate travelling–it takes me out of my daily routine. I eat the same thing for breakfast every morning. I drive the same roads every day. I basically eat the same thing for lunch every afternoon and I go to bed at the same time every night. I have my excercise routine down pat and I hate when it is interrupted. I like being around the same people and doing the same things. I like my “stuff” where it is and if it is moved around, it frustrates me (yes, even my worship times and Sunday School classes). Why? Because I hate change. In fact, you could say, I’m most comfortable when things remain the same for me–when things aren’t changing. And that’s why God had other plans for me–and for you.

As God has reminded me over the last few months, he never uses people who love safety over sacrifice. God has painfully reminded me that he sidelines people who hate change because they love comfort. So if I want to be used by God to do great things for his name, I better get used to change.

C.S. Lewis said, “Change is never complete, and change never ceases. Nothing is ever quite finished with; it may always begin over again. And nothing is quite new…it was always somehow anticipated or prepared for.”

My former preaching professor at Reformed Theological Semianry in Orlando, Steve Brown, recently wrote:

God never tells us where he is going to lead us. That is sometimes confusing and scary. I would never have followed Jesus this far if he had told me what was going to happen. Maybe that’s the reason he doesn’t tell us. When going into battle, Marshall Ney would look at his shaking knees and say, “Shake will you? You would shake even more if you knew where I was taking you today.”

But I’m learning that with every change, every turn in the road and every shaking of the foundations, he is sufficient, he was there first and it’s okay.

One other thing I’m learning is that change is God’s methodology for growth, hope, blessing and ultimate victory.

When Jesus prepared to do a “new thing” and create a “new people,” he talked about the danger of putting new wine into old wineskins (Mark 2:22). And the Bible is replete with “happy endings”…a new name, a new body, a new song. You can’t get there from here without some significant change.

This gives me great comfort because real Christian growth involves change. It involves sacrifice–laying my life down for others (my preferences, my routine, my stuff–my, my, my) because Christ laid his life down for me (1 John 3:16-18).

Here’s the bottom line: I want to be a big Christian, and I want you to be a big Christian. I want to be a God-drenched man. And I want Coral Ridge to be filled with God-drenched people. I want every part of our one new church to be devoted to God and his unfashionable ways. I don’t want us to be lovers of comfort, lovers of self, and haters of change. Because God doesn’t want us to be lovers of comfort, lovers of self, and haters of change. 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to play around with my life. I want to “leave it all out on the field” for Christ’s sake. I don’t want to be a mile wide and an inch deep, spiritually. I want to have a God-given, uncommon valor to follow God’s lead and do God’s will. I want to live my life, as the Puritans used to say, before “an audience of One.”

But you know what this means? You guessed it. It means I have to be willing to embrace change. I know that’s hard for me–and I know that’s probably hard for you. But, while following God’s lead is never safe, it is always good. And that’s good enough for me.

So, will you be willing to change with me? Please? After all, misery loves company!    

The Washington Post took an excerpt from my newly released book, Unfashionable, and put it online. You can read it here.

Since yesterday I’ve been in Chicago for The Gospel Coalition conference. It’s freezing up here!

Anyway, I’m here with some friends and am thoroughly enjoying all the people I’m meeting. Many people, in fact, that I’ve never met before have come up to me and told me that they have been praying for me and for our one new church. Isn’t the larger Body of Christ a great gift?

Today I heard two excellent messages. One from Tim Keller entitled “The Grand Demythologizer: The Gospel and Idolatry” from Acts 19:21-41 and one from John Piper entitled, “Feed the Flame of God’s Gift: Unashamed Courage in the Gospel” from 2 Timothy 1:1-12. 

You can find out more about both the conference and the larger initiative here and here.

Because my access to the internet is limited this week, the posting here will be slim. Please pray that I get home safely on Thursday.  

I’m preaching tomorrow but because I’ve been sick and in bed all day, it took me longer than usual to finish my sermon today. And even though I still feel nasty, it always feels good when my sermon is finished and ready to be preached. But the most important work is not done and, even more uncomfortably, it’s outside of my control.

You see, I’m a die-hard believer in unction. Unction is an old fashioned word which describes an effusion of power from the Holy Spirit as one preaches. It is the one thing preachers need above everything else. It is the accompanying power of the Spirit. This is what Charles Spurgeon dubbed “the sacred annointing.” It is power from on high.

In his book on the preaching of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Sacred Annointing, Tony Sargent describes unction well. He writes:

[Unction] is the preacher gliding on eagles’ wings, soaring high, swooping low, carrying and being carried along by a dynamic other than his own. His consciousness of what is happening is not obliterated. He is not in a trance. He is being worked on but is aware that he is still working. He is being spoken through but he knows he is still speaking. The words are his but the facility with which they come compels him to realise that the source is beyond himself. The man is overwhelmed. He is on fire.

This is what all the people who will gather tomorrow at Coral Ridge need more than anything else. They need me to be empowered from on high because they need to hear from God. It is preachers who are borne along by the Holy Spirit that are used to effect a deep and sobering awareness of God and his truth that transforms.

As I pointed out a couple months ago on this blog, Iain Murray, in his newest book Lloyd-Jones: Messenger of Grace, writes:

Preaching under the annointing of the Holy Spirit is preaching which brings with it a consciousness of God. It produces an impression upon the hearer that is altogether stronger than anything belonging to the circumstances of the occasion. Visible things fall into the background; the surroundings, the fellow worshippers, even the speaker himself, all become secondary to an awareness of God himself. Instead of witnessing a public gathering, the hearer receives the conviction that he is being addressed personally, and with an authority greater than that of a human messenger.

Given the fact that the ultimate factor in the church’s engagement with society is the church’s engagement with God, my earnest prayer is that more preachers would come to know and understand what Andrew Bonar meant when he wrote: “It is one thing to bring truth from the Bible, and another to bring it from God himself through the Bible.”

Please pray, dear friends, that God would annoint my mind and mouth tomorrow as I preach so that God’s people would hear from God. Please pray that God’s Spirit would so inhabit my words that everyone would leave worship tomorrow being able to say, “God was surely in that place.”

I can’t manufacture unction regardless of how well crafted my sermon is and how well prepared I may be. The biggest work must come from God.

So, come thou fount of every blessing and do for your people what I cannot. Amen.   

I typically don’t quote the same person in back to back posts, but just a few minutes ago my friend Kal Hendry forwarded me a letter from John Piper which outlined what he (Piper) said during a recent pastoral staff retreat where all the pastors of his church along with their wives got away for two-and-a-half days.

Given the practical challenges which are accompanying all of our efforts to “make” two churches one, Piper’s words resonated with me deeply. If we stick to these biblical guidelines, we can’t go wrong. He wrote:

The week after Easter the pastoral staff got away for our annual pastors and wives retreat for two-and-a-half days in southern Minnesota. The aim is to deepen and strengthen our marriages and our unified vision for ministry at Bethlehem.

My happy job is to serve that goal in ministering the word on our first afternoon together. What I chose to talk about was being “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

The reason for this focus was, negatively, that if this pastoral staff disintegrates in disunity, the damage to the church will be great; and, positively, if God would keep us unified around our mission, the Christ-exalting scope of the impact would be worth dying for.

Our focus was on . . .

Six Biblical Guidelines for Loving Each Other Amid Differences

1. Let’s avoid gossiping.

The New Testament warns against gossiping. The Greek word translated “gossip” means whisper or whisperer. In other words, the focus is not on the falsehood of the word but on the fact that it needs to be surreptitious. It is not open and candid and forthright. It has darkness about it. It does not operate in the light of love. It is not aiming at healing. It strokes the ego’s desire to be seen as right without playing by the rules of love.

For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find…that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. (2 Corinthians 12:20)

2. Let’s identify evidences of grace in each other and speak them to each other and about each other.

The church in Corinth was deeply flawed. But Paul found reason to thank God for them because of “the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:4). The most flawed pastor on this staff—and we are all flawed—is a work of grace. It honors Christ, and keeps criticism in perspective, to see it and say it often.

3. Let’s speak criticism directly to each other if we feel the need to speak to others about it.

The point is not that we will always agree on everything, especially the practical application of shared principles. Paul’s word in Romans 12:18 is, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” It may not be possible, but we should try.

4. Let’s look for, and assume, the best motive in the other’s viewpoint, especially when we disagree.

When Paul deals with disagreement in Romans 14, one of the things he appeals to is that those with opposite practical convictions have identical heart-motives. “The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God” (Romans 14:6). Christ-honoring passions, Paul says, can unite us in spite of differences of application.

5. Think often of the magnificent things we hold in common.

But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” (Psalm 40:16)

To mention a few things we hold in common: the Elder Affirmation of Faith, the sovereignty of God, the supremacy of his glory in all things, the majesty and meekness of Christ, the all-sufficiency of his saving work, the precious and very great promises summed up in Romans 8:28 and 8:32, the value and sweetness of the Bible, the power and patience of the Holy Spirit in transforming us, the hope of glory, a profound biblical vision of manhood and womanhood, a common global mission to see the nations know Christ…

6. Let’s be more amazed that we are forgiven than that we are right. And in that way, let’s shape our relationships by the gospel.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you…. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. (Ephesians 4:32-5:2)

“The one who is forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47). In other words, think more of your own sins and how amazing it is that God saved you than you do about the other person’s flaws.

Managing Our Differences, Moving Forward Together

Then I pondered with the staff some implications for managing our differences as leaders of Bethlehem. A team of leaders does not have the luxury of all going their own way. We must lead the people with a common vision, not different visions. “If the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?” (1 Corinthians 14:8).

Therefore, our job as a team of leaders is together to talk and write and argue and debate and refine our positions until we reach as large a consensus as we can on the major issues.

Then over time we revisit the implementation of these positions and continue the process of refining. And we recognize that the position that we reach may not perfectly satisfy anyone’s preferences. And so we resolve to support the consensus for the greater good without ongoing criticism, but with public support.

I closed by saying that God has given us a great work to do at Bethlehem. The impact that we all have through this church for the glory of Christ is beyond our estimation. It is worth all our efforts and all our lives to preserve the great things we stand for and move forward together.

Please pray for us.

For this and other great God-centered resources, please visit John Piper’s site Desiring God.
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Once again, I apologize for my infrequent posts as of late. Life has been a bit crazy this week. Good, but crazy.

Some have asked when this blog (and all of its archives) will be transferred over to the Coral Ridge website. My answer: soon. They’re working on it. Until then, however, you can find me right here. When it switches over, you’ll be redirected.

Anyway, a friend of mine sent me this quote from John Piper that reminded me of the deep joy and happiness which should always accompany the one who knows the sweet, sovereign grace of God. Piper writes:

The one who knows and rests in the sovereign grace of God should be the happiest saint. Don’t be a sour or glum or hostile false advertisement for the glory of God’s grace. Praise it. Rejoice in it. And don’t let that be a show. Do it in your closet until it is spilling over in the pulpit and the commons.

Amen!
 

On Saturday I asked you to pray for God to stun us all on Sunday morning. He did! Over 5,000 people gathered in worship between three services at our one new church. Together, we celebrated our risen Lord Jesus with passion and determination. Through the praying, praising, and preaching, God came near and reminded us that it’s all about him and his glory, his fame, his renown.  God’s presence was indeed thick and unmistakable. He was, “surely in that place.”

God reminded all of us that he will do great things through us if we embody his life giving Gospel for each other and the world. I believe this one new church will thrive beyond anything we could ever ask or imagine if it’s packed with Gospel intoxicated people: people who understand that since Christ laid his life down for us, we must lay our lives down for others; people who love sacrifice over safety–serving others rather than being served. A Gospel saturated church is a church filled with people who give everything they have because they understand that in Christ they already have everything they need. It’s a church filled with people who, like Jesus, love giving up their place for others, not guarding in their place from others.

If God can make us into that kind of a church, he will use us to do great things for his Kingdom. Watch out South Florida!

So, my prayer has been and continues to be that in uniting us together in his death and raising us together to newness of life (as one new church) God would stun the world by flaunting his strength through our weaknesses.

Please pray with us and for us, dear friends!

My friend Luann Yarrow wrote this article on Coral Ridge, New City, and me for the Good News. It highlights my longing to see a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit in the church.

Also, tomorrow is our first Sunday together worshipping as one new church. Please pray with me that God would overpower my mind and my mouth as I preach. We are pleading with God to peel the roof back and come in power and might. Please pray for his presence to be thick–for us to know that the living God is among us. What a great and undeserved thing it would be for God to come and provide all of us with a divine exclamation point on his work in bringing these two churches together.

Dear friends, please pray for God to stun us all!

The above plate from Georges Rouault’s Miserere series with its caption (Are we not all convicts?) graphically depicts, for me, the fact that understanding sin is a vital element in understanding the Gospel. We cannot understand grace if we do not understand sin. We cannot understand mercy if we do not understand sin. We cannot understand redemption, salvation, or forgiveness if we do not understand sin. A right understanding and application of the Gospel begins with a right understanding of sin. This is why J.C. Ryle said, “He must first dig down very low if he would build high.”

Good Friday is all about knowing Christ to be a great Savior. But we will never know Christ as a Great Savior if we do not first know ourselves to be great sinners. We will never feel conversion if we do not first feel conviction–desperation always precedes deliverance. In other words, we will only own God’s glorious salvation if we first own our grievous sin.

If we do not recognize our need for the Gospel we will never tune in to the Gospel. This is why the cross of Christ must be central to our understanding of the Gospel. Because the cross is like a thermometer reminding me of my great sickness, while at the same time it is like a barometer reminding me of God’s great salvation. It shows me my disease and points me to the cure.

My friend Kevin just sent this to me as he prepares to preach at his Good Friday service: 

Praise God that he sent his Son not just to share in our weaknesses, but to bear our iniquities.  Praise God that the Suffering Servant was not just wounded for our identification, but for our transgressions.  Praise God that the Son of man came not just be a restoration of our humanity, but a ransom for our sin.  Praise God that our Brother shared not just in our humanity, but shared in our humanity that he might become a high priest in the service of God, a high priest who offered himself once for all as our eternal redemption.  Because without the shedding of blood there can still be identification with humanity, but there cannot be the remission of sin.

So with these thoughts in mind, find a quiet place to meditate on these glorious words:

 O sacred Head, now wounded,
 with grief and shame weighed down,
 now scornfully surrounded
 with thorns, thine only crown:
 how pale thou art with anguish,
 with sore abuse and scorn!
 How does that visage languish
 which once was bright as morn!

 What thou, my Lord, has suffered
 was all for sinners’ gain;
 mine, mine was the transgression,
 but thine the deadly pain.
 Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
 ’Tis I deserve thy place;
 look on me with thy favor,
 vouchsafe to me thy grace.

 What language shall I borrow
 to thank thee, dearest friend,
 for this thy dying sorrow,
 thy pity without end?
 O make me thine forever;
 and should I fainting be,
 Lord, let me never, never
 outlive my love for thee.