Navigating Pathways of the Heart: Shame

This past Sunday, in our second installment of the "Four Dark Riders of the Heart" series, we looked at how the Gospel of God's Grace deals with our shame.  Like the previous week, I referred to material from The Gospel App by Bill Senyard that I am happy to pass along as a resource.   Click Here for a link to the book.

What Is Shame?

Shame is a powerful negative self-assessment that something is innately wrong with you.  You are broken, a loser, a failure, dirty, unloveable, a joke and intrinsically not-right.  The core fear of a shamed Christian is that no matter what you do, you will never ever be worthy of God’s love and favor again.
The Gospel App – p. 39

Because you feel “wrong” you may .  .  .  .

Navigating Pathways of the Heart: Guilt

In response to the requests after Sunday’s sermon on The Gospel Deals With Guilt, I am happy to post a section that I referenced from Bill Senyard’s workbook The Gospel App.  Click Here for an Amazon link to that book.

Guilt is what you normally feel when you do something wrong.  You did not do right and so feel guilt.  Guilt is a power that ignites largely unconscious reactions to fix it.

To feel right again you might .  .  .  .

War Room: A Movie Worth Seeing

Full Disclosure: I am generally not favorably inclined to “Christian” movies like War Room for a number of reasons.  (Scroll down to the end of this blog if you want to know why.)  That said, I came away from this movie encouraged and impressed by three specific things:

Putting On The Brakes: Why Johns Hopkins Hospital No Longer Does Transgender Surgery

Like the voice of one crying in the wilderness, I would like to share some information.  I realize it is dangerous to step in front of a freight train and shout “Slow down!!” and that is what this feel like, but here goes.  With cover stories on Vanity Fair and the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star on transgender people, I want to say that there is more to the story that needs to be considered as well.

First of all, what a challenging situation to love and care for someone struggling with what is commonly called “gender identity issues,” especially when the person with the struggle is our child.  I certainly would not want to “pile on” any parents struggling with that, but especially for anyone in that situation right now, I want to offer some information for consideration that is getting lost.  I know I would want to know it if I were a parent in this situation.

Sorting Through the Duggar Rubble

The sexual abuse of children is a topic that most would prefer to not talk about, but one that we must be prepared to face.  There are victims among us, and we want to care for them in appropriate and helpful ways.  Avoidance cripples our ability to do that.

The recent revelation of the sexual abuse perpetrated years ago by Josh Duggar – part of the reality TV family at the center of “19 Kids and Counting – puts the issue in our faces, so let me suggest  some things to consider, as well as references that I found helpful for digging deeper.

Encouragement For Parents - And The Rest of Us As Well!

My wife and I began the parenting adventure in a different century.  That gives us some historical perspective on what parents face today.  

Now, as an overdue grandparent and pastor of young families, I find myself very, very aware of how dramatically the world that we parent in has changed.  Technology, entertainment and social pressures have altered the ocean of life that families will grow in.  No wise parent would face those waters alone.  Here are three GREAT resources for encouraging and equipping parents in this new setting.   

By the way, they are in alphabetical and not rank order.  You’ll want to read them all, even if you are raising only boys or only girls.  Odds are still good that your kids will eventually bring home your potential “child-in-law” and you’ll want to get started understanding that gender NOW!

Resources On MTD

This Sunday, I referred to "Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism" and would like to make a number of resources easily available.  As I said at that time, I am increasingly convinced that MTD is the "Spirit of the Age."  I encourage people to prayerfully and thoughtfully cultivate the discernment to identify MTD's impact in their own life and in their circle of relationships.  No church adertises themselves as an "MTD Church," but all of us face it, many are unaware of its influence on them and some have - whether knowlingly or not - let MTD replace the Gospel of Grace in their ministry.

The Gospel Advances In A World Of Terrorism

I have a good friend who spends most of his time outside the United States working with missionaries, many of whom are working in "closed Muslim countries."  This past week, with the TV news filled with stories about ISIS threatening Japanese nationals, Islamist rebels advancing in Yemen and backlash against the French handling of the Charlie Hebdo affair I got a secure email from him.  I can't pass it along as it contained information that could compromise missionaries that he works with, but I will pass on - with names and locations deleted - this much:

The latest from FOX NEWS, CNN and the BBC is really: (you pick your phrase...) "making me nervous", "rising fear up inside of me", "really scary"!  Islamic terrorist cell groups being activated in Europe, the news channels are roaring with more news... all of it grabbing our hearts... YET!

Did you know: that more Muslims have become followers of Jesus Christ since 2001 than all the years before.. combined? XXXXXXX,  with whom I am staying in XXXXXXX, shared a few statistics that he has been tracking... and brothers and sisters... the news is really GOOD NEWS...

Martin Luther King, Jr - Gospel Preacher

This past Sunday – January 18, the Sunday before the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday – I read a portion of a sermon by Dr. King as part of my own sermon.  I chose not to reveal whose sermon it was until just before the end, saying to start with that it was “an important sermon from the history of the United States.”  Dr. King’s sermon “Loving Your Enemies” from Matthew 5:43-44 was a good application of the sermon I was preaching from Matthew 4:1-4, and I hoped it would give highlight to Dr. King as a preacher of the Gospel as well.  And let me be honest.  It is a GREAT sermon on its own.  I read it myself four different times that week.

A few friends mentioned to me afterwards that they could have listened more intently and with greater interest if they had known who the preacher was from the very beginning.  I always (try to) appreciate the feedback I get because my target is communicating, not drawing compliments, so let me apologize.  My choice was my mistake.  Aiming for a dramatic high point, I missed the target.
 
Let me back track and fill in some gaps:

First, Click Here to go to Dr. King’s sermon in full.  

Marriage Inequality – A Problem Caused By Redefining Marriage

How do you ensure that an airplane and an elephant have equal rights?

Huh?!?!??

Answer: You don’t.  An airplane and an elephant are different in so many ways that talking about equality between them is pointless.  The two are simply different, not unequal.

It is absurd to talk about equality between an airplane and an elephant until you first get rid of the difference.

Which is why I say that “Marriage Inequality” is a problem that is caused by redefining marriage.  The romantic union of two men is as different from a marriage of a man and woman as an airplane is different from an elephant.  The two relationships are not unequal.  They are different.  At least until you redefine them in a way that erases or obscures the difference.

Jesus and the Two Mars Hills

 I was struck recently by sad news about the two Mars Hill churches, which reminded me once again of my own need for Jesus.

You know the two Mars Hill churches? 

The one in Seattle was founded by Mark Driscoll and experienced dramatic growth under his spiritually abusive leadership.  Pastor Driscoll resigned recently amidst the scandal of that abusiveness.

The other Mars Hill church is in Grand Rapids, MI.  It was founded and led by Rob Bell until he resigned to pursue his own take on a modern faith.  It was a take that left behind the historic foundations of Christian faith.  Rob and I are graduates of the same seminary.

So You Think God Has Multiple Personalities?

I didn’t set out to be a “Heresy Hunter.”  But once I saw THREE churches in our county that said they believed in “One God who has existed in three personalities: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” I knew I needed to look further.

While I do not and have never thought that these churches were staging a deliberate subterfuge to undermine 16 centuries of Christian belief, I do think that defining the Trinity as “One God with Three Personalities” rather than “One God in Three Persons” is a dangerous misunderstanding with real consequences.  I’m posting this because I have now seen such statements on the websites of other churches in cities that I have recently traveled to.

The Secret Capture of the Church: Why I Hope We Leave Behind the Movie Left Behind

For the record: I do believe that Jesus will return one day to planet Earth – publicly, gloriously, victoriously and savingly – just as He promised.  Those who are alive at His returning will meet Him in the air.  He will judge the world – both those who are alive and those who have died - and He will establish His Kingdom with justice, peace and life as it was created to be.  All of this has been believed by believers across cultures and across centuries and is part of the “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3)

Here is what I don’t believe:  I do not believe that Jesus will return half-way and silently in order to secretly remove the church and the Holy Spirit from the planet for the seven year Great Tribulation and then “come-again again,” this time to judge and reign for 1,000 years.  These ideas are the product of a particular perspective called Dispensationalism that was unknown among Christians until late in the 19th century.

Why bring it up at all?  Because the peculiar idea of a “pre-trib rapture” followed by a 7-year period of Great Tribulation will be served up for a fourth time by Hollywood on October 3 in the movie Left Behind starring Nicolas Cage (!?!)..  And like leftover food, microwaved and served for a fourth time, I recommend that you just throw it in the garbage once and for all.

What makes a Church “Safe”?

For many people, church has never been a “safe place.”  They have experienced or heard stories of emotional and spiritual manipulation and even abuse inside the church.  Whatever True Christianity might be, the reality of day-to-day, life-on-life living with real people in a church setting can be pretty brutal.  I know.  I’ve been a pastor for most of my adult life, and have the scars, bruises and limps to prove it.  And sad to say, I may have given as much or more than I have taken.

Over the course of these many years, I’ve observed three different strategies for making a church into a more safe place for real people.

Relief for ALL the People of Northern Iraq

Christ Covenant will be joining with the other congregations of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church to provide relief for all the people affected by the atrocities of ISIS in Northern Iraq.  Click Here to learn more or become involved.

By “all,” I mean “all:” the Christians, the Yazidi, the Kurds and even the Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims who suffer when standing up to ISIS.  Let me explain why.

Give Them Grace: Gospel-Centered Parenting

In a recent blog post, Pastor Tullian Tchivdjian recounts a conversation with his son after a crushing basketball defeat.  It's a great example of what gospel-centered parenting could look like and what it means to "pursue the heart" with our children in the lives that they live.

“Dad, I played terrible.”

I said, “I know you don’t think you played well but why does not playing well make you so sad.”

Continuing The Conversation: The Worship of God at Christ Covenant – Part II: Participatory Singing

We recently had dinner together as a church followed by open discussion in small groups  about new directions for our worship of God at Christ Covenant.  I’d like to continue that a bit in light of what I learned, and to share with those not there.

Participatory Singing

We work deliberately to encourage and enable congregational singing  at Christ Covenant.  That means all of us singing together.  Even – perhaps especially? - those like me, who don’t sing naturally, comfortably or well.

Continuing The Conversation: The Worship of God at Christ Covenant – Part I: Praying Together

We recently had dinner together as a church followed by open discussion in small groups  about new directions for our worship of God at Christ Covenant.  I’d like to continue that a bit in light of what I learned, and to share with those not there.

Praying Together

If prayer is like breathing in the life of a believer, then Praying Together – Corporate Prayer – would be like breathing for the Church assembled.  It should be a part of every gathering.  It should be God-focused, biblical in content, expressive of the life and needs of those gathered and intelligible to all.

Bible Reading Resources - Updated for 2014

As part of our Covenant Renewal focus for the first two weeks of January 2014, I'd like to post a variety of resources for people who are interested in developing the spiritual discipline of regular Bible reading.  I'll begin with a few overview comments and then move from beginning steps to more intense Bible reading programs.

Healthy Numbers For A Sunday of Ministry

When I go to the Doctor, they always take my pulse and blood pressure.  These are two quick measures that relate to my health.  So what are the measures of church health?  What are the “metrics of ministry?”

Most people look quickly to attendance and giving because they are pretty straightforward to measure and do say something about church health.  But everyone agrees that by themselves, “noses and nickels” are ineffective and incomplete measures of what real health is for the Body of Christ.

Southern Baptists were famous for counting Sunday School attendance rather than membership or worship attendance.  This gets closer to a measure of health, because Sunday School classes typically have a stronger relationship component than the worship service.

If I could get an accurate measure of two things, I would be most interested in each person’s depth of “Interactive Relationship with God” and “Living by Gospel Grace.”  I’m not sure I can aptly measure that in my own life – beware of self-deception – much less the life of anyone else, but you get my picture.  If those two roots are healthy, I’m thinking that a number of other “fruit” – prayer, Bible reading, giving, service, evangelism – would flow from them.

So, I’m not sure I’m closer to an adequate measure of church health for Christ Covenant, but I’ll tell you three numbers that I am celebrating from yesterday, August 18: 3, 29 and 115.