Monthly Archives: July 2021

The Church Still Matters

Posted on July 29, 2021 | 2 comments

I’ve never seen the idea of the church so marginalized in all my lifetime. The secular world mocks the church and the Christian world devalues the church. The local church is seen, even by believers, as unnecessary and antiquated and optional.

You can kind of understand the issues perhaps. After all, churches are filled with imperfect people. Churches often have a well earned reputation for being argumentative. They frequently get side tracked by secondary issues. They sometimes lose sight of their purpose. Critics can accurately point out all the problems, failures and imperfections of the church.

But, with all of that said, the church still matters. There is great inherent value in the work of the local church. There is value and purpose and potential in this institution. Here are three reasons why the church still matters.

1. God made the church. If the church was man’s idea, we might rightfully ignore it. But it isn’t. God formed the church and he did it for his own reasons. He knew that the church would be made up of imperfect people. He knew every pastor and every small group leader would be “frail as dust and feeble as frail”. But he formed it anyway. We ought not easily turn our backs on something God created.

And, I note that God’s word admonishes us that we ought not be in the habit of “neglecting to gather together”. (See Hebrews 10:24-25) This isn’t the word of your pastor or your grandmother. God is the one who calls us to gather. God’s command is reason enough to connect with an imperfect church filled with imperfect people.

We might not understand why God formed the church, but we can’t escape the fact that he did. We may not see the value of the local church, but God apparently can. We need to remember this important truth: the church is a God idea.

2. We need each other. I don’t think every Christian believes that. I think many believe they can be just fine on their own- no need for fellowship or accountability or encouragement from other believers. But the longer I live, the more I see the importance of other believers in my life.

Don’t underestimate the enemy. He loves to divide and conquer. He wants you to be spiritually isolated. He knows the Bible says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another”. (Prov. 27:17) He tells you that you don’t need anyone else because he wants you to be vulnerable and ineffective.

But, the Spirit of the Living God reminds you of the value of other believers. We disciple others and are discipled by others. We benefit from the wisdom and zeal and encouragement that comes from worshiping and learning with others. Never have believers needed each other as we do now!

3. We are stronger together. I had a friend who lost his little finger in an accident. He told me how amazed he was at how much grip strength he lost just from that tiny digit.

The church is described as the body of Christ. We all have different gifts and backgrounds and personalities and perspectives. But, we function best when we work together. We are stronger in missions, evangelism, discipleship and worship when we are connected.

The church separated is weak and ineffective. The church connected is powerful beyond the sum of her parts. The church can prevail against the very gates of hell. You will benefit from others and others will benefit from you. You need the church and the church needs you.

Don’t underestimate the importance of a healthy connection to a local church. God will use this institution made up of imperfect sinners who have found the perfect Savior to impact you and your world. Find a church, plug in fully and participate actively.

The church still matters.

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Revival Still Matters

Posted on July 28, 2021 | Leave a comment

Perhaps the greatest need of our day is revival. I’m not talking about a series of revival meetings, though that might be needed as well. I’m talking about a genuine revival in the lives of Christians that brings spiritual renewal, vibrancy and power. What a difference it would make in our day if revival was stirring in individuals and churches and beyond!

I’ve experienced touches of revival in my own life and church and it whets my appetite for more. Christian, wouldn’t you like a fresh touch from God in your own life, your own church and your own ministry? Wouldn’t you like to see a move of God that changes the hearts of believers and impacts beyond to our culture?

Here are three reasons why revival still matters.

1. We tend to drift from God. I’m not much of a sailor, but I do know that drifting doesn’t take any special effort at all. It is easy to drift from the shore. And, it is easy to drift from God. We get busy, distracted or preoccupied and drift away. We get rebellious, sinful or selfish and move away from God. It is easy to do and can happen with us hardly noticing.

Note that we drift from God, not towards God. Getting closer to the Lord involves intentionality. Drifting away from God can happen without any recognition or premeditation at all.

In revival, believers come back into right relationship with the Lord. In revival, there is a recognition of our sloth or sin or self-centeredness. We need revival because we tend to forget about what matters most. We tend to lose sight of God’s perspective. We tend to grow stale in our religious activities. Revival draws us back to a close, intimate relationship with the Lord.

2. Revival brings new life, joy and effectiveness. Getting right with God is not to our detriment. Though there is sorrow in recognizing our sin, repentance doesn’t result in our loss. Revival involves the recognition of judgment but it leads us to restoration. Revival is in our best interest and leads us to the fruit of the Spirit and the joy and peace that comes with walking with the Lord. Though revival can start with pain, it leads to healing and purpose.

Many Christians have come to see the Christian life as drudgery. They see faith as good, but boring. They think of obedience as right, but tedious. Revival corrects that wrong thinking. It reminds us of the joy of our salvation. It gives us new meaning and purpose as we see God’s glory and goodness. Revival leads us to new effectiveness and enthusiasm. Revival is what our soul is longing for!

3. Revival impacts our churches, communities and culture. One of the reasons we need revival so much is because of the impact revived Christians have on those around them. When churches are revived, they are more effective and focused. The revived church is more committed to evangelism and discipleship and fellowship. But, revival has an impact beyond that.

We often decry the state of our culture, and rightly so. Our culture is increasingly coarse and crude and rebellious to the truth of God. But revival has an impact on the surrounding culture. Revived Christians and churches can be used by God to bring a spiritual awakening to the culture at large. It can open the eyes of the lost to the realities of sin and the priorities of faith. It can cause the lost world to see their need for the Lord. Often, revival has even resulted in large scale recognition of the need for biblical morality in the culture at large.

Perhaps you have recognized your own need for revival. Will you join me and others in praying for revival in our lives and churches in this generation? Ask the Lord to send revival to your own life and to change you where you need changing. Be willing to repent of any wrong activity, attitude or motive. Join with others in praying for a sweeping revival in our generation.

Revival still matters!

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Holiness Still Matters

Posted on July 27, 2021 | 1 comment

Every generation tends to fall off the horse on the opposite side. If the previous generation emphasized God’s holiness to the exclusion of God’s love, the next generation emphasizes God’s love to the exclusion of God’s holiness. Sitting straight in the saddle requires us to recognize both aspects of God’s nature.

Grace is an amazing gift from God. But it doesn’t negate God’s call to holiness. Freedom is a beautiful truth. But it doesn’t exempt us from the teaching of God’s word to live holy lives. Many Christians have acted as though holiness and obedience are out of date concepts and unnecessary encumbrances to the life of the believer. Holiness is mislabeled as legalism. Obedience is ignored as an unneeded vestige of the law. What a tragic misunderstanding of God’s word and way!

Holiness is spoken of often in scripture and not only in the Old Testament. Obedience is a common theme of God’s word for those who would follow Jesus. We ought not ignore this in a misguided attempt to improve God’s plan of grace or provision of freedom.

Let’s note three reasons why holiness still matters.

1. Holiness matters because sin harms us. Sin’s result is never to our benefit. It won’t give us more peace or joy or life. The goal of the enemy isn’t for our good or our gain. Ultimately, sin kills, steals and destroys. It is important for Christians to be aware of this truth.

While sin is packaged well, its substance is poison. God’s call to holiness is, therefore, to our benefit. It is in our best interest to obey the Lord and to our great detriment to disobey. The better you see God’s perspective instead of the world’s, the more you will see this truth that holiness keeps us from harm and blesses our lives. God calls you to obedience because it is in your best interest.

2. Holiness matters because discipleship demands it. Discipleship is all about following and obeying Jesus. It means we go where Jesus leads and do what Jesus wants. If we do what we want, we aren’t following Jesus. If we go the world’s way, we aren’t obeying Jesus. A way to think about the importance of holiness it to note this simple truth, “You can’t obey Jesus by disobeying Jesus”.

Jesus asked the question, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say?” (Luke 6:46) If we call him “Lord” we must obey him. If we don’t obey him, how can we call him “Lord”? At the heart of discipleship is our obedience to the Lord and there is no way around this simple truth. Obedience is the pathway to our spiritual growth and dynamic walk with God.

3. Holiness matters because love leads to it. There is a common view in our culture that says it is unloving to say anything is wrong or sinful. But is it unloving for a parent to keep their child from playing in the street? Is is unloving for someone to warn others of a defective bridge? Instead, aren’t these things a result of love itself?

The Bible tells us, “This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands.” (1 John 5:2-3) Love and obedience are deeply connected in scripture. God’s holiness and love cannot be separated. Love leads us to obedience and holiness, not to licentiousness and immorality. Living a holy life is the natural result of loving God.

Holiness should matter deeply to God’s followers because it matters deeply to God. Don’t miss this important truth and the blessings that come with it.

Holiness still matters.

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Inerrancy Still Matters

Posted on July 26, 2021 | 6 comments

“Is the Bible inerrant?”, my professor wrote on the board, and a spirited discussion in my first Ph.D. seminar began. Some classmates said the Bible has errors, some said it doesn’t matter and I, and a few others, argued that the Bible is inerrant and it matters very much indeed. I am more convinced of the inerrancy of the Bible than ever and it has affected my personal life and ministry tasks greatly.

Every generation of theologians, pastors and Christians has to deal with this doctrine. Inerrancy, at it core, says “The Bible is without error or fault in all its teaching”. (Geisler) Is the Bible true or not? Is all of it true, or are only parts true? These questions must be grappled with in every age and by every serious Bible teacher.

Does inerrancy still matter and, if so, why does it matter? Here are three simple reasons why the doctrine of inerrancy still matters for this generation.

1. It describes the nature of the Bible. When we say the Bible is inerrant, we are recognizing that it comes from God and not just from man. While God used human authors, God himself is the ultimate author. Scripture is “God breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16) and not just man conceived.

Inerrancy notes that the Bible is perfect and perfectly reliable and only perfect God can do that. God is able to use imperfect men to give us exactly what we need and to do this perfectly. God is by nature sovereign and perfect. He is able, therefore, to use imperfect people like Moses and Paul to accomplish his purposes and to give us his perfect word.

If the Bible is just the ideas of people, well the world is full of ideas from people. And social media often suggests that the ideas of people can be less than edifying- some of the things I see on social media seem downright crazy! But if the Bible is truly God’s word, then we can trust God to give us exactly what we need and to give us his perfect word. We have, in the Bible, the perfect thoughts of God and not the imperfect ideas of people.

2. It defines the importance of the Bible. If the Bible is just another imperfect book, we might be inspired from it, but we are unlikely to transformed by it. If it is just another imperfect book, we take the parts we like and leave the parts that we don’t much care for, like those old beets in the buffet line.

If, however, the Bible is inerrant, we see that it is the source of truth. It teaches us the truth that we need even if that truth may be unpopular or difficult.

Truth transcends culture. Popularity and public opinion is not what should guide or instruct us. Truth is what we need and God teaches us the truth by giving us the Bible so that we know how we ought to live and what we ought to do. The Bible becomes the arbiter or right and wrong, not elections, polls or pragmatism. We are reminded of how much we need to know God’s word and how valuable it is for us for life and eternity.

3. It delineates the arguments about the Bible. Arguing about the Bible, and pretty much everything else in life, seems to be a pastime for Christians these days. But what determines if our arguments are right or wrong? Is it determined by who talks the fastest or the loudest? Is is based on feelings or personal sensibilities? Is it determined by what is currently popular or acceptable?

Inerrancy suggests the argument is defined by what the Bible teaches, not what man says. We know whether the arguments made are accurate by how well they match the scripture and not by how winsome or influential the arguer may be. The world’s way of arguing is to shout louder. The Christian way should be to study scripture more deeply.

Inerrancy does not end the argument, but it does delineate how that argument should be made. Imperfect people can still disagree about what the perfect word of God says. But at least we begin to formulate the parameters for how we should seek to know the truth and to help others know the truth.

I’m glad I argued for the inerrancy of scripture all of those years ago. This doctrine has helped me to be more obedient to God’s word in my personal life and more faithful to God’s word in my ministry life. But every generation needs to reaffirm the importance of inerrancy because every generation has to grapple with what is good, right and true.

Inerrancy still matters.

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