Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The economic pogo stick

So, today the Dow is up 300 points again, after suffering its worst single-day loss yesterday. What's going on??

I've been following the current economic crisis only from a distance - scanning headlines, reading an article here or there, and just trying to wrap my mind around this enormous and complicated subject. Like so many other Americans, I feel a personal sense of ownership and concern over the developments on Wall Street and Capitol Hill.

More than anything else, this is an important time for us to trust in our sovereign Lord. It's easy to trust in God and be content when the economy is healthy, home prices are rising, and our portfolios are expanding. But when stocks plummet, savings vanish, home values dry up, and the whole economy is in jeopardy, God finally has a way of getting our attention. Have we really been trusting in Him, or in our own financial security?

Jesus did, after all, tell us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Mt. 6:11). He did command us not to worry about food and drink and clothing, for "your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things" (Mt. 6:32).

What then, is our responsibility in this economic crisis? "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Mt. 6:33). Here are a few practical ways we should be "seeking first God's kingdom" in our present situation:
  • Ask God to grant wisdom to our political and economic leaders (1 Tim. 2:1-2)
  • Cast your own financial anxieties upon God, for He cares for you (1 Pet. 5:6)
  • Don't speculate about what might happen, and whether our nation is on the brink of an economic meltdown. Worry profits nothing (Mt. 6:27).
  • Don't resort to grumbling and complaining over political ineptitude (Phil. 2:14)
  • Even during affliction, continue to give to the Lord and His church as an expression of your trust in God and love for people (2 Cor. 8:2)
  • Stay informed and make wise financial decisions. Do not panic and act hastily. (Prov. 21:5)
  • Thank God that, if you know Jesus Christ, your eternity is completely secure with Him; you have "an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Pet. 1:4).
  • Pray for those who have foolishly put their trust in riches (Prov. 11:28), that God will use this trial to draw many to Himself. Be sensitive to those around you that might be very burdened or frightened right now, and seek to minister the gospel to them.
We're witnessing a modern-day example of Proverbs 13:11: "Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it" (ESV). Only the Lord knows what will be the outcome of this economic crisis. Our duty is to trust Him and seek first His kingdom as we watch this drama unfold.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Starry nights

Next weekend, we have something called the "Starry Nights Festival" here in Yucca Valley. The community center hosts lectures on astronomy, and the local astronomy club sets up their telescopes for free stargazing at night. Believe me, these aren't the kind of telescopes you find at Wal-mart or a garage sale. Some of these local hobbyists have really sophisticated equipment.

Starry Nights is a fun and unique event, made possible by our clear desert skies and strict "Night Sky" lighting ordinances. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law will be coming down to visit next weekend, and we're looking forward to checking out some of the stars together.

To get a sense of the enormous size of our universe, I would highly recommend the video posted here. Natalie and I first saw this several years ago on the Privileged Planet DVD, and still talk about it from time to time. It's truly amazing - the best depiction I've ever seen of our universe. And it's great to see this short video finally posted online. Blogger Jeff Gray draws an encouraging spiritual application from the video as well.

HT: Tim Challies
Photo credit: xamad

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Vacation

Things will be quiet around here this next week because our family is taking some vacation. We don't have much planned - just lots of rest and family time.

We will spend a few nights at a cabin in Big Bear, work on some projects around the house, play games, take walks, catch up on sleep, and do lots of extra reading. It's been a busy year, and we're looking forward to some unrushed time -- just the four of us!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Is the term 'Southern Baptist' a stumbling block?

The church that I pastor is Southern Baptist. But the funny thing is, we're not in the South. I remember being at a conference last April back in Kentucky and told someone I pastored a Southern Baptist Church in California. With a puzzled expression he replied, "You mean they have Southern Baptists out there?!" So, what's in a name? Ed Stetzer has just released some new polling data from pastors about the term 'Southern Baptist':
Among Southern Baptist pastors, 7 percent strongly agreed - and another 20 percent somewhat agreed - with the statement, "Having the name 'Southern' in the 'Southern Baptist Convention' is a hindrance to the work of SBC churches." Forty-one percent strongly disagreed with the statement while 27 percent somewhat disagreed and 5 percent "don't know."

To further clarify opinions on the denomination's name, Southern Baptist pastors were also asked their level of agreement with the statement, "Having the name 'Southern' in the 'Southern Baptist Convention' is a hindrance to the work of SBC churches outside of the South." As the focus shifted to Southern Baptist congregations outside the convention's historic strongholds, 16 percent of Southern Baptist pastors strongly agreed and 26 percent somewhat agreed, while 29 percent strongly disagreed and 21 percent somewhat disagreed. The remaining 9 percent "don't know."

In other words, 42% of pastors agree or strongly agree that the name 'Southern' is hindering the work of churches here in Southern California. Many churches in our area are trying to overcome this barrier by using names like "Pathway Church," "Sandals Church," and "Cloudbreak Church." But according to research by Thom Rainer, pastors might actually be more paranoid about this than unbelievers:

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises in our study was that the name of the church had very little influence on reaching the unchurched. For the most part, neither the presence nor the absence of a denominational name influenced the formerly unchurched's decision to join a church...Over 80% of the formerly unchurched told us that the church name had little or no influence upon their joining a particular church...Nearly 2/3 of those respondents indicated that the denominational name had a positive influence on their decision. (Surprising Insights from the Unchurched, pp. 38-39)

I don't see anything sacrosanct about including the name of the denomination in the name of the church. Nor do I see any hard evidence that proves churches should be swift to change or avoid it. This is a decision each church must make. The most important thing is that whenever we have contact with the world, that they recognize us as churches that belong to Jesus Christ.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Stand up, speak up, then shut up

My dad likes to use this expression to describe what a preacher is called to do. But seriously, what is the right length of a sermon? John MacArthur gives his perspective today in an article called "Preaching and the Clock":
I am convinced that biblical exposition requires at least forty minutes. Less than this just is not sufficient to probe the text deeply. If it takes fifteen to twenty minutes to give the setting, ten to fifteen minutes to draw out the principles, five to ten minutes to cross-reference them, and five to ten minutes for a conclusion, you already have about fifty minutes. Rarely does a man preaching twenty-five to thirty minutes do doctrinal exposition.
Having listened to in-depth expository preaching all my life, and having been trained at The Master's Seminary in the "MacArthur style" of preaching, 40-45 minutes is pretty standard fare for me. But in our postmodern, biblically-illiterate, visually-driven society, is this asking too much from many people in the pews? If most visitors and members are "tuning out" at 30 minutes, are we accomplishing anything by going on? And if we are willing to adapt and shorten our Bible teaching for little children because of their immaturity and attention span, should we not also consider the need to adapt our preaching for so many adults who also struggle with attention deficit?

Doug Wilson preaches 50 minutes on average, but he brings up an interesting point in his article called "Sermon Length":
[P]reaching shorter takes a lot of time. If the sermon is to remain edifying and decent, for every ten minutes you take off the sermon you are probably adding a couple hours in the study. And with the busy schedules that many pastors have in counseling, study, and leading Bible studies, this is not really feasible...

...The first consideration should be whether the congregation is growing and flourishing. If they are not, then of course changes are in order. Those changes may require shortening the message (and giving the minister the extra time during the week this would take), and the changes may require lengthening the messages.
There is no hard and fast answer to this question, but it is one we should think and pray through. And no matter how long the sermon is, pastors must always remain faithful to "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction" (2 Tim. 4:2).

Friday, September 12, 2008

Does male headship apply everywhere?

Last week, responding to my previous post on women holding public office, Michael asked, "do you think gender would play a role in your choice of a candidate, all other qualities being equal? Just curious."

Wow, that's a loaded question, and it's one I've been meaning to follow up on. I had to wrestle with a similar issue on a personal level before I was pastoring. When I was in seminary and employed at a secular company, my manager was a woman. I always did my best to treat her with submission and respect, but sometimes wondered if it was unbiblical for a woman to have authority over a man. I knew there wasn't much I could do about it, so I just did my best to be gracious and a good testimony in that environment. Now, with Sarah Palin on the GOP ticket, this whole issue of female headship has surfaced again.

Wayne Grudem, a board member on the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, deals with this very issue of women teaching and leading men. First, he quotes from Sarah Sumner, who accuses complementarians of being inconsistent:
"If it's wrong for a woman to teach a man on the basis of the order of creation, then it has to be wrong for a woman to teach a man piano lessons. If her teaching him per se upsets the order of creation, then her teaching him anything must also be regarded as wrong...If the order of creation is a general principle, then it ought to be applied across the board. Instead, it's applied inconsistently and selectively."
This argument by Sumner sounds convincing at first, and would seem to undermine the whole complementarian position. And by the same token, one would assume complementarians are obligated to oppose Sarah Palin's bid for VP, right? But Grudem reveals a critical weakness in this line of reasoning...
Sumner's argument is based on a classic mistake in biblical interpretation, a mistake that takes one principle found in the Bible and attempts to maximize it above other things the Bible teaches, with the result that those other things are ultimately denied. The problem is that the principle of male headship is not the only principle in the Bible. There is another principle, and that is the principle of male-female equality in the image of God...

[I]t is not up to us to decide in what ways these major principles in Scripture should be combined and applied in various situations. It is up to God, who has His own purposes and whose wisdom is infinitely greater than ours.

So how do we know which principles to apply? We are simply to obey the Bible in the specific application of these principles. What we find in the Bible is that God has given commands that establish male leadership in the home and in the church, but that other teachings in His Word give considerable freedom in other areas of life. We should not try to require either more or less than Scripture itself requires. (Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth, p. 392-93)
So, to finally answer Michael's question: All qualities being equal, I see no biblical reason to prefer a man over a woman in public office simply because of gender.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Where was God on September 11?

Here on the west coast, many of us woke up seven years ago with the news that our country was under attack. I remember hearing a knock at the door, jumping out of bed, and being told by our neighbors that two jets had just crashed into the World Trade Center towers. We immediately turned on the radio (didn't have cable TV) to hear the description of the first tower collapsing "like a melting candle."

Later that morning at work, I stood in shock as I watched the replay again and again of United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower. It's still sends shivers up my spine: Four hijackings. Thousands killed. All flights cancelled. The dawning of a new war.

Where was God on September 11? Did He fall asleep or "step away from His desk" for a few minutes? Was He surprised by what happened? Did He try to prevent it and fail?

While September 11, 2001 was one of the darker moments in history, it doesn't disprove the existence of a sovereign God. God was firmly seated upon His throne when those terrorists first heard the concept of jihad as little boys. He watched them as they obtained their visas to enter the United States. He was sovereign as they attended flight school, then boarded their flights, then hijacked the planes, and finally steered them into the trade center and the Pentagon. He sees them even now as a holy God who executes His eternal justice (Rom. 12:19).

At any stage, God could have instantly put a stop to this horrible plot, if He had chosen to do so. "The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all" (Ps. 103:19). But for reasons known only to Him, God permitted this evil scheme to be carried out.

The fact is, what happened on September 11 is just another example of what God observed several thousand years ago: "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5).

The terrorist attack seven years ago was a tragic example of human depravity, but it reveals a condition all of us share. It may have been more severe in degree, but it was identical in kind. You see, all of us sin and fall short of God's glory (Rom. 3:23). All of us have rebelled against God. Yet thankfully, God lovingly sent His Son Jesus to rescue us from this condition by paying for that sin once and for all upon the cross. This day and every day, that is very good news to remember.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Praying for the lost

I'm currently preaching on Sunday mornings on the Gospel, and how God has commissioned every believer to evangelize the lost. I think most of us would agree we need to evangelize more, yet often, when the opportunity arises, we break into a cold sweat and suddenly become like Moses -- "slow of speech and slow of tongue" (Ex. 4:10).

To help us grow in our understanding and ability to share the gospel, our church is learning a simple outline together: God, Man, Christ, and Response. At the same time, we are each praying for three unbelievers in our lives that we could be a witness to. I've chosen a neighbor, a local friend, and the person who cuts my hair.

Tonight, I came across this prayer, which would be a great one to use as we intercede for our unsaved friends. May God be pleased to answer the prayers of His people.
Father in heaven, I come to you humbly and yet boldly because of my salvation, which has united me with your Son. Your grace is reaching more and more people and calling them home. Therefore I pray for _____ . Hear my prayer even as you heard the pleading of your friend Abraham and spared his nephew Lot from terrible judgment. Your Son invited the spiritually tired, burdened and thirsty to take of the free water of eternal life. Lord, will you please open still another heart as you did mine? You alone can break addictions to self-righteousness, unbelief and sinful desires. Would it please you to provide repentance and faith leading to a new birth? Magnify your glory by delivering _____ from spiritual death. Lord, bring fame to your name by once again showing mercy. My plea is not based on my own goodness but on the sovereign love of Jesus Christ. Lord, I desire that you use me in telling the gospel of grace to others. Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. Make your name famous. Amen. (Will Metzger, Tell the Truth, p. 237)

Monday, September 8, 2008

Fresno trip

In August, our family spent a week in Fresno visiting "Grandpa and Grandma" Smith. Along the way, we stopped in Santa Clarita, where I preached at Placerita Baptist Church and we got to visit with some old friends, the Davis family. Here are some photo highlights from our trip...


Saturday, September 6, 2008

The love of God

"God is love" (1 Jn. 4:8)

I came across this quote by J. I. Packer in his classic work, Knowing God. It's absolutely stunning to consider the depth of God's love for us.
God was happy without humans before they were made; he would have continued happy had he simply destroyed them after they had sinned; but as it is he has set his love upon particular sinners, and this means that, by his own free voluntary choice, he will not know perfect and unmixed happiness again till he has brought every one of them to heaven. He has in effect resolved that henceforth for all eternity his happiness shall be conditional upon ours.
Thus God saves, not only for his glory, but also for his gladness. This goes far to explain why it is that there is joy (God’s own joy) in the presence of the angels when a sinner repents (Lk 15:10), and why there will be “exceeding joy” when God sets us faultless at the last day in his own holy presence (Jude 24 KJV). The thought passes understanding and almost beggars belief, but there is no doubt that, according to Scripture, such is the love of God.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Does the Bible forbid a woman from holding public office?

Gender Blog, a ministry of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, has finally weighed in on the nomination of Governor Sarah Palin as Vice-Presidential candidate. The bottom line:
Women should not be held back from an office that is not strictly forbidden in the Bible. Nevertheless, the question remains whether or not it is wise for a specific woman in a particular season of life to seek such an office — and the same would apply to any man.
While gender roles are clearly defined in the home and the church (1 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:12), God has given more liberty in the realm of government. You can read the whole Gender Blog article here.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Big discount for Microsoft Office

The Logos blog announced today:

Microsoft is again offering Office Ultimate 2007 for only $59.95 to all students! It retails at $679.95, so this is a savings of more than 91%.

Ultimate includes these 10 programs:

  • Word 2007
  • Excel 2007
  • PowerPoint 2007
  • Outlook 2007
  • OneNote 2007
  • Groove 2007
  • Publisher 2007
  • Access 2007
  • InfoPath 2007
  • Accounting Express 2008

That’s only $6 per program!

There are two stipulations for qualifying:

  1. You must have a .edu email address.
  2. “You must be a student at a U.S. educational institution and must be actively enrolled in at least 0.5 course credit and be able to provide proof of enrollment upon request.”

While there are a couple of good Office competitors out there, Office is still the standard and it integrates best with Logos (e.g., Bible reading schedules in Outlook, search results in Excel, and copying and pasting text with auto-citations into Word).

Looks like starting September 8 you can also grab the upgrade to Vista Ultimate SP1 for only $64.95 (retails at $239.99).

New Blog

Today I'm closing up shop and launching a new blog called Pinch of Clay. You can visit it by clicking here . Please stop by and...