Favorites of 2011

As the year draws to a close, here are a few of my favorite postings from 2011:

February 1: The Certainty of Genesis.
February 27: Meeting Jesus: Friend or Foe?
April 26: Chapell on Hell, Part 1.
May 5: Comprehending God...in Part.
August 24: Engaging Our Neighbors...Normally!
September 8: Here's a Need!
October 11: Helping Everyone?

Blessings to you and your family. Thanks for your time!

Evangelism...Do It!

It's still there. On my office bookshelf. A brand new copy of Herman Melville's Moby Dick. This classic was one of my favorites in High School and college. I purchased this copy at my local Barnes & Noble bookstore, pledging to myself to reread it at leisure over the course of the next year. That was three years ago! I still haven't reread it. It serves as a constant reminder about good plans gone awry. Perhaps you can relate. But as we prepare for the coming year, 2012, let's determine to not let this be just another year of half-achievements, partial accomplishments, and tasks lost completely to procrastination. And may this be especially true concerning evangelism. Personal evangelism isn't easy. But it is necessary. And we are all called to do it. In his book The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Mark Dever addresses the issues at hand that often inhibit our obedience to the Great Commission. He writes:

"The way I've been careless can vary. Sometimes I don't see the opportunity because I'm busy. Evangelism, after all, can be time consuming and inconvenient. Or maybe I'm too tired...Maybe my neglect of opportunities is more habitual. Maybe I'm lazy, caring more that I not be hassled or hurried than that this person hears the Gospel. Maybe, when it comes right down to it, I'm simply selfish. I don't see the opportunities because I'm unwilling to be inconvenienced. I guess that means that I am, finally, apathetic. My blindness to God's provision is voluntary. I don't consider the reality and finality of death, judgment, and hell. So I don't notice the reality of the person and their plight before me. We must not only close our eyes in prayers for opportunities, but we must open our eyes to see them."

I'm not calling for resolutions and well-intentioned plans. I'm simply asking for Christians to be obedient to the Gospel. And that means sharing the Good News in the coming year. If 2012 closes and I haven't even cracked the pages of Moby Dick, who cares? As Linus questioned Lucy years ago in the Peanuts comic strip, "A hundred years from now, who'll know the difference?"
But if I don't tell others about Christ, a hundred years from now we will all know the difference. And that's worth caring about.


p.s. -Remember what Mark Twain observed about a classic. It's a book that no one's read but everyone recommends.

Singing Theology...Songs of Christmas

I often marvel at the depth of doctrine contained in our Christmas songs. It's really a shame that we don't sing many of these songs year round. Consider these verses from Charles Wesley, found in Hark! the Herald Angels Sing:

Hail the heav'n born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings, Ris'n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of Earth, Born to give them second birth.

Come, Desire of Nations, come! Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman's con-q'ring seed, Bruise in us the serpent's head.
Adam's likeness now efface, Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above, Reinstate us in Thy love.

Or this verse from another of Wesley's works, the oft-overlooked Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus:

Born Thy people to deliver, Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever-Now Thy gracious Kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit, Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

As you gather in your respective churches to celebrate Christmas this Sunday, don't put your mind on auto-pilot. Think about the words and phrases intentionally crafted to bring honor and glory to the King of Kings.

Considering the Virgin Birth

"But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.'"

Matthew 1:20,21 (HCSB)

Despite the protests and objections of many, the virgin birth is still a non-negotiable issue in Christianity. The virgin birth is of primary importance; this is not a teaching where we can simply agree to disagree. We must be of one mind and heart concerning the biblical narrative describing the birth of Jesus, a narrative steeped in the supernatural. As you consider the virgin birth, consider the following:

*Salvation is from Heaven to Earth, not from Earth to Heaven. In other words, it has its origin with God; salvation is initiated by Him. Apart from God's intervention through Jesus Christ, we would be hopeless and helpless. But because of Christ, we are neither.

*The unfolding story itself is a testament to the fact that God honors His word. What He declares will come to pass, just as He says. And that will never change!

*God, through the work of His Spirit, protects the person of Christ from inherited sin. Because of this, His righteousness may be imputed to me, and my sin to Him. If Jesus inherits the sin of Adam, then His death is meaningless, as insignificant as me dying for you or you dying for me. But because of the virgin birth, God ensures that Christ will be the sacrifice to atone for the sins of man. Truly, thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!

Being Salt!

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men."

Matthew 5:13


Everytime we visit our local Cracker Barrel restaurant, I order fried okra. Sometimes even with breakfast. It's good...I mean goooood! But fried okra needs salt. So when my server brings the meal, the first thing I do is reach for the salt shaker. I then proceed to provide my bowl of okra with a sufficient dusting of sodium. The salt shaker and the bowl of okra can share the same table, but until the salt leaves the shaker, the okra remains unsalted. I can push the glass salt shaker up against the ceramic bowl of okra, but that still doesn't salt the okra. I can even hold the shaker above the bowl, but until the salt makes contact with the okra, the okra isn't salted! For the salt to do what the salt is intended to do, it must come into contact with the okra. And the same thing is true for the Christian concerning the unbeliever. We must take the Gospel to those that have yet to believe in Christ. Until we make this contact, we are not doing what God has called us to do. It is not enough to live in the same towns or neighborhoods. It is not enough to share schools and workplaces. It is not enough to smile and wave, making acquaintances along our way. We must love them, befriend them, and serve them, all in the name of Jesus. Anything less and we're still in the shaker.

For Whose Purpose?

"The phrase crucifying the flesh is not exactly a friendly, appealing group of words. I think this is because God wants us to be clear on what we are getting into. He wants us to know that His gift of the Holy Spirit is really not for our own pleasures or purposes. The Spirit is meant to lead us toward holiness. The Spirit is here with us to accomplish God's purposes, not ours. When you decide to put to death-to crucify-your flesh, you are by default choosing the way of the Spirit. You are leaving one path and joining another. The new path will undoubtedly have its share of twists and turns. At the forks in the trail, you will, at times, choose to follow the desires of your flesh, even though you left that path long ago...But while the path is winding and difficult, you are constantly moving in a particular direction, and that direction is set by the leading of the Holy Spirit."

Francis Chan, Forgotten God