Eric Simmons, What is the Missional Life?

Eric Simmons, a fellow pastor and friend, has written a great article, “What is the Missional Life?” In this article Eric, equips us to live a missional life in our own neighborhoods, coffee shops, and grocery stores. To motivate you to read the whole article on the 9marks website, here’s the introduction:

Welcome to my neighborhood. Here’s what it looks like:

-the lady ringing up my order at Panera Bread who is a lesbian;
-the neighbor with everything that life seems to offer—the big house, the Lexus, the beautiful wife, the straight-A kids;
-the guy next to me in the gym who is committing adultery and destroying the lives of himself and his family;
-the guy who works in the bike shop with whom I am pursuing a friendship;
-Phyllis, the 78-year-old woman who just lost her husband of 54 years.

Keep looking and you’ll find just about everyone. The atheist. The mocker. The scoffer. The intellectual. The ignorant. These are people that need Jesus. These are the people that I have been called to reach. They are my mission field.

What does your mission field look like? I’m sure the faces are different, but the state of their soul before God is not.

Anthony Bradley, Masculinity

Covenant Seminary professor Anthony Bradley has written a helpful post about masculinity. Bradley exposes false masculinity, highlights true masculinity, and explains the critical role fathers play in leading their sons through healthy, masculine, Christian development.

Here’s an excerpt from Bradley’s post:

America’s emasculated and feminized evangelical churches are complicit with their pink and purple interior walls, grooming boys to be nice, sweet little boys who never bleed, and presenting a Jesus who is not a warrior fighting for a kingdom but a holy “Oprah.”

I think Bradley’s masculine lament is on target. Click here to read the full post.

George “Missional” Whitfield

Long before it became popular to talk about being a “missional” church or a “missional” pastor, George Whitfield was practicing “missional” ministry.

In reading A. Dallimore’s, George Whitfield, I’ve been struck again and again by how radically “missional” Whitfield’s 18th century ministry was. Whitfield was about the business of consistently, creatively, and courageously seeking to bring the gospel to new contexts, cultures, and peoples.

He preached to blue collar crowds of 30,000, gave Bible talks to small groups of the wealthy and elite, and labored to provide housing and gospel-centered education for the poor. Central to Whitfield’s ministry was the task of preaching. Dallimore has this to say about Whitfield’s missional philosophy of preaching:

He likewise urged all ministers not to be satisfied with preaching on Sundays only, but to do so seven days a week; to preach in the open air and not to be limited to their own parishes, but to go forth wherever lost souls were found and proclaim the grace of God to them.

We do well to learn from Whitfield. You might not amass his crowds of thousands upon thousands, but you surely can pray for and seek new ways to articulate the gospel to a stranger in the coffee shop, a friend at the water cooler, or a next door neighbor.

Barna Group, Twentysomethings, and Church Attendance

The Barna Group recently published new research that indicates what was already obvious: a very low percentage of twentysomethings are connected to a local church.

I’m thankful that right now at CPC we have an average of 35-40 twentysomethings showing up at 20s every Thursday night, and the group is growing. It’s my prayer that CPC and 20s an play a significant role in helping twentysomethings here on the Peninsula grow in:

1) better understanding, enjoying, and applying the gospel

2) grasping the joyous gospel imperative of committing to a local church (not just a young adults group).

We’re off to a good start, but we do have a long way to go with 20s. As the research indicates, the twenties decade can be a pretty low commitment, flaky decade. In my 2 and 1/2 months here I’ve certainly seen that. I’ve felt it too. As a twenties pastor it’s certainly frustrating, painful even, when you witness members of your flock date the church and date a young adults group, rather than commit to it and serve it. It hurts to see people you love miss out on loving, serving, and committing to the body of believers that Jesus went to such great lengths to purchase and draw together.

So, I keep praying, I keep loving, I keep proclaiming the gospel. If you think of it, please pray for me as I seek to lead 20s towards a more mature, sacrifical, gospel-centered commitment to the body of Christ.

What are your thoughts? What do you make of Barna’s research? Why do you think most twenties aren’t committed to the church? What can be done to fix the problem?

Jack Bauer & the Gospel (Season 2)

I’m now deep into season 2 of 24. I don’t know why I wasn’t watching this show before. It’s good.

Earlier I posted about how Jack Bauer articulated a doctrine of sin in season 1. In that post I explained the good news that Jesus went beyond Jack’s doctrine of sin and, on the cross, took responsibility for what was not his fault (our sin).

Here in season 2 of 24 it’s great to see the doctrine of substitution getting some air-time. Faced with a nuclear threat, Jack Bauer decides that there’s a way for one man to die in the place of, instead of, millions. Thus one man (George Mason) dies as a substitute for millions of men and women. But, what’s different from George of 24 and Jesus of the Bible is this: George was an unrighteous substitute (he lived a sinful life), but Jesus was a righteous substitute (he lived a sinless life). As the sinless son of God, Jesus our substitute suffered the full fury that we deserve for our sins. And that wrath and death that Jesus endured on the cross makes the nuclear bomb of 24 look like a girl scout campfire. What a Savior we have!

I’m so thankful for 2 Corinthians 5:21:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

48 Minute Work Increments

Lifehacker writes a helpful piece about the value of working in 48 minute increments. Check it out here. For pastors, this method could be helpful for study, sermon writing, and counseling appointments.

Brenda Ueland, If You Want to Write

Brenda Ueland’s, If You Want to Write, is one of my favorite books on writing. I first read this book as part of my Rhetoric course at Westmont College. If you like to write, or if you’re someone who would like to like to write, I highly recommend this book. I don’t know of a better book for stimulating an excitement for writing, cultivating enjoyment in the process of writing, and teaching the importance of writing with exacting truthfulness.

Here are a few of my favorite Ueland quotes:

For when you write, if it is to be any good at all, you must feel free–free and not anxious.

The only way to become a better writer is to become a better person.

My little brother wrote a composition when he was twelve and almost every third sentence was: “But alas, to no avail!” That is the sort of thing that everybody does for many years. That is because they have been taught that writing is something special and not just talking on paper.

The secret of being interesting is to move along as fast as the mind of the reader (or listener) can take in. Both must march along in the same tempo. That is why it is good to read your writing aloud to yourself. As soon as your voice drags, cross that part out.

And my favorite chapter title is the title of chapter 7:

Be careless, reckless! Be a lion, be a pirate, when you write.

Jesus Had Facial Hair, Not Fancy Hair

I’m excited that in a few days John Piper’s new book, What Jesus Demands from the World, will be released. I like Mark Driscoll’s endorsement of the book:

This is a peculiar book. It assumes that the four Gospels are true and unified. It assumes that Jesus not only does things for us but also makes demands of us. And it assumes that Jesus has authority over everyone regardless of their religion, gender, race, income, sexuality, nationality, or culture. You will likely not agree with every point. But you will hear from a Jesus who is more than a soft-spoken, effeminate, marginalized, Galilean hippie-peasant in a dress and has the peculiar notion that He alone is Lord.

During my seminary years I became frustrated over how some of my professors and classmates depicted Jesus of Nazareth–making him out to be effeminate rather than masculine, soft rather than sovereign.

Recently, for our study of the parable of the Diligent Woman in Luke 15, I wrote the following intentionally overstated (though serious) set of paragraphs for our 20s study guide in order to address this false, effeminate, mealy-mouth image of Jesus. Here’s a cut & paste of what I wrote in that study guide:

Now, before we discuss how the diligent woman is symbolic of Jesus’ tireless search for lost sinners, let’s get a few things straight: though Jesus most certainly loved women, though the Gospels teach that Jesus treated women with an unrivaled level of respect, dignity, and equality–Jesus was (and still is) a man, not a woman. Some have said this parable exposes Jesus’ suppressed feminine side. Well, yes we serve a triune God whose nature is beyond mere maleness and femaleness. Yes, both the male and female sex equally display God’s image. But, the God-man Jesus of Nazareth had (and has) a human nature that is male and masculine.

One of the reasons why most American churches are full of women, but missing men, is because most men have a faulty, effeminate view of Jesus. It seems that many men envision Jesus to have been more like Boy George or Richard Simmons than like Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King Jr.–men who were prepared to lay down their lives for others. Ladies, especially single ladies, if you’d like to see more men coming to our church, it’s only going to happen as men gain a correct image of Jesus.

Jesus was not effeminate. He was masculine. Jesus grew up working as a carpenter with his dad. He used his hands. He worked hard, carried wood and stone, nailed things, built things, sweat without the aid of deodorant, got calluses on his hands, and probably shaved with a knife.

Though all of our paintings and pictures tell us otherwise, Jesus probably didn’t have long flowing wavy hair. He didn’t wake up each morning and style his locks with a purple hair dryer and pink curling iron after having nourished his silky mane in the latest double-herbal-mint-aroma Pantene Pro-V conditioner product line. Nor did Jesus sleep on a therapeutic pillow-top mattress with a paisley-patterned fitted sheet, eight heart-shaped pillows, and a white lace duvet cover. No, the Bible tells us that Jesus didn’t even have a stone to lay his head on (Matt. 8:20).

See, Jesus was a man who often slept outside. He definitely knew how to build a campfire when he turned in for the evening. Jesus regularly worked out as he hiked miles and miles between villages and cities. Jesus was no mild-mannered, “look-at-me-I’m-a really-nice-person,” “check-out-my-baby-blue-W.W.J.D.-bracelet” school boy. When the going got rough, Jesus knew how to get rough. When people were doing what they shouldn’t have been doing in the temple, Jesus grabbed a whip, threw tables around, and began to yell (John 2:13-17). Jesus was more like Indiana Jones than Mr. Rogers.

Mr. Rogers never sweat blood.

Mr. Rogers never laid down his life for other men and women.

Ladies, if you want to see a guy become more godly and manly, don’t give him a magenta colored book mark with a picture of an effeminate Jesus having his hair braided while he sips a nonfat, sugar-free mocha and stares at the clouds. Return that bookmark that you bought from a Christian bookstore that doesn’t sell books, but instead sells sparkly pastel Bible highlighter pens and posters of Jesus hugging lambs, picking freshly blossomed flowers, and having cute little picnics with other guys who wear sea-shell strapped sandals and play with their hair. Ladies, ditch the bookmark and instead give the dude a Bible and have him read Revelation 1:12-18 & 19:11-17, where we read that Jesus has eyes of blazing fire, a shirt that’s been dipped in blood, a big tattoo running down the side of his leg, the set of keys that opens up the door to Hades, and a huge sword coming out of his mouth. Guys will want to follow a Jesus like that.

Did Jesus treat women with a revolutionary level of respect and dignity? Yes. Did Jesus, through his sacrificial life and death, hold up THE model for how men are to love  and treat women? Yes. In telling this parable about the diligent woman, was Jesus exposing his suppressed feminine side? No.

Okay, so all of that was probably entirely unnecessary, but I had fun writing it. Back to the parable. The point Jesus is driving at in this parable is that his persistent seeking of sinners is akin to a village woman’s diligent search for a precious lost coin. Jesus’ audience would have surely been familiar with such a scenario. Jesus is saying: “If a lost coin is that valuable, worth that intense of a search by a housewife, how much more important is the Son of God’s search for lost people!”…

The Running Father (Part 2)

You can listen to my sermon, The Running Father & His Two Lost Sons (Part 2), here or you can click on the podcast subscription link right here.

The Epicenter, The Gospel, & Our Mission

The first study that I’m doing with the 20s here at CPC is a two-month study I’ve written called, the Epicenter, the Gospel, & Our Mission. We’re spending time soaking in a chapter of the Bible that I refer to as “The Epicenter” of the Bible: Luke 15. Here in the parables of the Searching Shepherd, the Diligent Woman, and the Running Father, we’ve been encountering what it means to believe and apply the gospel.

This last week’s study was on the content of gospel. Many Christians simply do not understand the gospel and so I’ve found it massively important to, in my first set of teachings with this great group, go to great lengths in clearly articulating, explaining, and fleshing out the implications of the gospel of Jesus Christ.