Christ and Common Sense

Thoughts from a Central Valley Pastor

Page 8 of 13

Investing in the Future

January 3, 2022 /

The New Year marks the perfect time to think about investing in the future. As the calendar flips back to January 1st, we can reflect on the past and consider our steps for the year to come. 

As Christians we need to be interested in both short-term and long-term investments. Jesus often taught about the importance of using money wisely. In Luke 14:28 he taught his disciples, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” This is common sense wisdom that is applied to financial investment. The fool builds before considering the cost. The wise man carefully considers what he has and builds accordingly. 

Most of Jesus’ financial teaching was focused on investing in the future. He said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt. 6:19-21) The last line is the most important. We each show where our interests lie by where we spend our money. 

This is a great principle to consider as we look to the new year. Where are you going to spend the money God has given you stewardship over? How are you going to use the skills you have been given to bring back a plentiful return on your investment? Are you going to use the time he grants you this year for gain that is focused on this lifetime, or are you going to invest it in eternity? 

The Parable of the Sower is sobering because only one of the four types of soil yields a fruitful harvest. The first three types of soil are either too hard, too shallow, or too harsh to support the seed taking root and producing a healthy return. It is only the last soil, the good soil that bears fruit and yields a harvest “in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” (Mt. 13:23) 

The meaning of the parable is that the first three soils are those who hear God’s word and do not obey it. The last soil is the good soil that “hears the word and understands it.” In John 14:15 Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” 

The Holy Spirit indwells every believer and makes it possible for him to yield a bountiful harvest. The Holy Spirit guides the believer through God’s word. This is the secret to investing in the short term and the long term. By obeying God’s word you will be able to live focused on others. You will be able to consider how God wants you to invest your time and money, and it will bring fruitful return today, tomorrow, and for eternity. Jesus said, “ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” 

Merry Christmas and Maranatha!

January 3, 2022 /

What a joy to celebrate Christmas with friends and family! There are so many fun traditions that are wrapped up with the holiday. Advent calendars, Christmas trees, holiday lights, and nativity scenes. The list goes on and on. Every year my wife and I try to make a concerted effort to choose activities that help focus our family on the birth of Jesus Christ. He is the reason for the season! 

This year we are reading Ace Collins’ book Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas. The history behind each of the traditions is fascinating. Did you know Martin Luther, the German pastor, is said to be the first person to put lights on a Christmas tree? He thought of the idea after seeing how beautiful the stars looked as he walked through a forest of evergreen trees. He attached candle holders to the branches of a Christmas tree and filled his home with light. Later when electricity was invented the tradition become even more popular and much safer! 

The merit of certain Christmas traditions can be seen by whether they emphasize the biblical story of the birth of Christ. The advent calendar is one of my favorites because it builds anticipation for the incarnation, when God came to earth and lived on the earth as one of us. 

Even if a Christmas tradition focuses our thoughts on Christ, I still try to teach our family that Christmas is not the end of the story. I have to remind them that Christmas points us towards Easter and Resurrection Sunday! If Jesus did not live a perfect life and die on the cross and rise from the dead, then there would be no reason to celebrate Christmas at all! We don’t usually talk about the Resurrection of Christ during Christmas, but I would recommend you to emphasize it because then you can keep the first advent of Christ in context. 

Biblically speaking, the first advent should also remind us of the second advent of our Savior. In Matthew 24 Jesus predicted that his second coming would be glorious, “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Jesus taught that no one knows when he will return, but all of us need anticipate his return and seek to be ready for him to come (24:44). 

The early church had a way of reminding themselves of Christ’s return. They would say, “Maranatha,” which means “Our Lord, come!” The apostle Paul used this phrase at the end of his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:22), and the apostle John also used the same phrase at the end of Revelation (Revelation 22:20). It is an important phrase because it immediately reminds the believer that we are waiting for Christ’s return. 

I think this is especially important to remember during the Christmas season because it is so easy to get wrapped up in the first advent of Christ. We need to remind ourselves that this isn’t the end of the story. The birth of Christ is just the beginning! Merry Christmas leads to Maranatha! I have found it helpful to combine these two phrases together, “Merry Christmas, Maranatha!” It is a great greeting to give to each other as believers. One person can say Merry Christmas and the other responds with, “Maranatha!” Together they help us celebrate the first advent and anticipate the second coming of Christ! “Merry Christmas and Maranatha!” 

The Truth Will Set You Free

December 23, 2021 /

One of my favorite quotes from the life of Christ is when he said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) This message resonates deeply with humanity because we all have a desire to be free. No one wants to live in captivity. No one wants to live in bondage. No one wants to be imprisoned to humans who we think are worse than ourselves. 

When Jesus spoke about being set free, he was referring to a bondage that all humans experience. He was talking about the spiritual bondage to sin. In John 8:34 he wrote, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin… If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” The bondage of sin is a spiritual reality that all humans are not able to live up to God’s standards by their own power. Humans were created to live in relationship with a holy God, but sin has separated people from God. Without a Savior, there is no hope of restoring this relationship with Him because of people’s bondage to sin.

The sense of being in bondage to sin is a universal reality because regardless of wealth or education or power, no human is able to break free from their human frailty and limitations. Bill Gates knows he can not buy perfection. Mother Theresa knew she could never attain it because God’s standards go beyond outward action to inward thoughts and motives. 

Today we see a novel strategy to dealing with the problem of sin. Instead of acknowledging the problem of sin, many people in positions of power are trying to change the definition of morality so that it lines up with their own definition of right and wrong. They want abortion to be thought from one perspective so that there is no moral dilemma. They want questions of social justice, human sexuality, and environmental equity to be framed in such a way that ignores God’s standards. The irony is that the desire to set people free from God’s morality is actually moving them deeper into the bondage to sin. 

The only hope humanity has of being set free from the human condition is to look for a supernatural solution that only God provides. The only perfect solution for sin comes from the Savior. God the Father sent the Son, Jesus Christ, who by the power of the Holy Spirit was able to live a perfect, sinless life on the earth and then die on the cross for our sins. His resurrection from the dead proved what he taught was true. When he said, “the truth will set you free” he backed it up by breaking free from the power of death! Death is the ultimate sign of human sin because it proves that humans are imperfect and finite. Jesus Christ conquered death and thus made it possible for us to be truly set free. 

Take Heart in the Justice of the Lord!

December 10, 2021 /

(Published as “A Solution for Injustice in the World” in the Hanford Sentinel)

Earlier this week my wife read a Psalm that struck a chord with me. As I listened I thought, “Where has this little gem been hiding away?” As I listened I became convinced that Psalm 37 was written as medicine for souls that have become sickened by injustice in the world. The author promises an ultimate end to injustice that depends solely on God, not on man-made solutions of power or politics. 

Psalm 37 says, “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.” When David wrote this, he had already experienced his fair share of injustice in life. His nemesis, King Saul, was out to get him. David literally had to go into hiding to stay alive. How did David do it? How did he survive such great persecution and turmoil? God’s word gives us a simple answer. David made his perspective line up with God’s.

Psalm 37 continues, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” A remarkable reality takes shape when we line our thoughts up with God’s thoughts. Our desires become his desires. This is how David could promise that the Lord would give his people the desires of their heart. It was not a promise for revenge or riches. It was a promise for a certain type of desires to be met, the kind that line up with what God desires. 

Isn’t it interesting that David’s command to “dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness” comes in the context of him writing about the evil and and imperfections of this world? He didn’t give that command when everything was great and things were running smoothly. He commanded the people of God to stand firm in godliness because that is what God’s perspective requires. He was looking past the turmoil of the times to the days of peace that God will ultimately establish on the earth. 

Late in Psalm 37 David wrote, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” 

We know God can set all injustice right whenever he wants. We also know his timing is not our timing so he does not have to expedite justice on the earth. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

If God were quick to bring about justice, there would be no hope for any of us. God is patient, and so he gives time for justice to ultimately be accomplished at the end of time. We know from the book of Revelation that there will be a great white throne of judgment where everything will be set straight. No crime will go unpunished. Every wrong will be made right. That will be a frightful and formidable day for those who have not had their sin paid for. But for those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior, it is not a day to fear because every sin they have committed has been paid for by Christ’s death on the cross. 

Having God’s perspective is how the author of Psalm 37 was able to end his poem with so much confidence. He wrote, “The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.” 

Those who take refuge in God will be able to thrive through the seasons of life. As Psalm 1 says, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.” The key question we must ask is this, “Do I have God’s perspective on this situation or not?” One perspective will lead to root rot that will dry out the soul and end in despair, the other will lead to a soul that is content, healthy, and fully dependent on God.

Competitive Stewardship

December 3, 2021 /

Have you ever thought about stewardship as competitive? By competitive, I mean striving to be as generous as possible with your time, talents, and money. Competitive stewardship is applying the discipline of an athlete to excel in the God-given responsibility for humanity to “work and keep” the land as Adam was commanded in Genesis 2:15. 

Competitive stewardship starts with asking probing questions. How does God desire me to live? What limits should my lifestyle have in order to prepare people for eternity? What does it mean to “use the world” but not make “full use” of it or to “own” but not “possess”, as Paul commanded believers in 1 Corinthians 7:30-31? What does it mean to not claim anything as “one’s own,” as the early church modeled for us in Acts 4:34? Further, how are we to live as pilgrims just passing through in a culture aggressively insistent on indulgence, record-high consumer debt, and competitive consumption?

After spending time contemplating these questions, I want to offer seven convictions of a competitive steward. 

1. A competitive steward understands that he is headed to a lasting city and a far nicer home than any home in any city in this world (Jn 14:1-3; 1 Jn 2:15-17; Heb 11:10, 13:14). This helps the Christian to invest in eternal rewards more than earthly rewards. 

 2. A competitive steward owns his theology, not his things. A competitive steward knows he is owned by God (1 Cor 6:19-20) and that what he “owns” is not actually his own (Acts 4:34). What he does own temporarily he will gladly give to another, if in giving he is successfully meeting a physical or spiritual need, thus bringing delight to the Lord (Acts 4:34, 20:35; 2 Cor 8:5).

 3. A competitive steward understands that stewardship is not optional, it’s essential. Following Jesus’ mission is radical and repentance from competitive consumption must take place in order to follow Him (Col 3:5, Lk 14:23). Competitive stewardship must replace competitive consumption.

 4. A competitive steward is a strategic investor. He seeks to do the greatest amount of work, for the greatest number of people, in order to bring them the greatest good both now and for eternity! This goal maintains a clear view towards heaven and reminds us that Jesus’ eternally-incentivized plan is for each of us to make His heaven our bank (Mt 6:21). C.S. Lewis said, “If you aim at heaven you will get earth thrown in, if you aim at earth you will lose both.” 

5. A competitive steward hates waste. He sees the thief of excess. The more I have, the more I have to be responsible for. The more I have, the more time out of my already-focused life I will need to take care of it. Ten shirts are better than twenty. If something does not serve me well in my roles in family and in church—to care for those entrusted to me (first locally then globally)–it is in the way. Mass requires orbit; the more I have, the more I have to maintain.

6. A competitive steward lives not for amassing more things for self, but for honoring God through caring well for people. As a competitive steward, I make it my aim to have more friends waiting to welcome me into eternal dwellings. So, I invest to get the gospel to the nations. As a competitive steward, I want more poor people to have clean drinking water in order to simply live, so I help the poor and needy. I want more people to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want more healthy churches planted and more Great Commission, gospel-forwarding works of missions funded. So, I serve my local church, equipping others for works of ministry and toward growth in maturity.

 7. A competitive steward sees the thief of death coming. As sure as night follows day, death will eventually separate me from my earthly things forever (1 Tim 6:6-7). What earthly things do I want to leave behind? Only those things that have served me well in my service to the King and will serve my heirs well in the same mission. This rules out a whole lot of things people belonging to this world clamor for.

In summation, how does God desire us to live? What limit should my lifestyle have in order to prepare people for eternity? Should I not, as one already delivered out of this passing world by King Jesus (Gal 1:4), be ruled by a godlier ambition in quite the opposite direction as this world is trending?

How about you? Are you being wise with your resources? Do you aim at eternity? Is your stuff serving you in your service to God or are you serving your stuff? Are you preparing others for eternity and helping them get there? Are your material assets serving you in your mission for God or are some of them in the way?

Healthy Churches and Church Discipline

November 26, 2021 /

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! This is the last article in a series on the Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (as described in Mark Dever’s book of the same name). We have already looked at the need for expositional preaching, Biblical theology, the gospel, conversion, evangelism, and church membership. This article is going to round out the series by looking at church discipline, discipleship, and leadership. 

  1. Church Discipline 

Dever describes church discipline as “simple obedience to God and a simple confession that we need help.” Church discipline is the practice of maintaining purity in the church as described most clearly in Matthew 18:15-17. Jesus told the disciples “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” 

Every step of church discipline is to be done in love with the goal of restoring relationships in the church family. The first step is unique because the offended individual initiates the restoration by going to the other person and lovingly telling him he has been offended. This is an important detail because sometimes we say or do things without knowing the pain it has caused others (i.e. a poorly worded comment or a joke that went too far).

The second step only comes into play if the first step does not go well. The second step is for the offended party to take one or two others along to lovingly share their concern for restoring the relationship. If the person does not respond to this then the issue begins to affect more people in the church family so the next step is for the whole church to be told what is happening so that the person who is unrepentant recognizes the seriousness of the issue and apologizes for what took place. The last step is difficult for any church to experience, but it has a purifying effect on the church family because the unrepentant individual is lovingly told they cannot take part in the full benefits of the church family until they repent and seek reconciliation. 

Dever does a good job of explaining the history and importance of church discipline. This is one of most neglected parts of healthy church life because of the perceived awkwardness holding church members accountable. Jesus made it clear that it needs to be a part of church life so that the purity of the church will be maintained. 

2. Discipleship 

Dever describes this mark of a healthy church as “A Concern for Discipleship and Growth.” All believers are expected to grow spiritually. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) The healthy Christian life is marked by the believer continually being transformed into the image of Christ. This is not to be done alone. The Christian life is to be lived in community with other believers (Hebrews 10:24-25). The unity that believers have with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is reflected in the unity believers have with other brothers and sisters in Christ. When a church is functioning in a healthy way there will be countless opportunities for spiritual growth by the many interactions each believer has with others. 

Discipleship is the term used to describe the way Christians grow spiritually in the church. It is modeled after the way Jesus trained disciples to become the leaders of the church. Those men learned what it meant to be a follower of Christ by interacting with him, face-to-face for a prolonged period of time. That is how discipleship is to happen in healthy churches today. 

There are many different ways Christians can be discipled. There are informal methods that encourage people to interact together. There are more formal classes that help believers understand the full counsel of God as revealed in his word. The leadership of local churches need to have a plan for how to equip believers to grow in their knowledge of God’s word and in their commitment to obey God’s word. The church as a whole needs to recognize that they are responsible to love one another and that includes helping each other grow in godliness. 

3. Church Leadership

Mark Dever makes the argument that church leadership needs to have five aspects. He starts by writing that biblical church leadership is done in a congregational context. He cites several different passages to support his view that the congregation of each local church has the final authority on decisions in the church. There are several different views on the issue of authority in the church. Dever doesn’t spend much time explaining other views of church polity. He cautions against modeling church leadership from what the apostles did in the early church because “we present-day church leaders might ascribe too much authority to ourselves, without deserving such authority.” I would recommend that readers of this article do their own study on this important issue before coming to a conclusion. 

The other aspects of biblical church leaders are that they are biblically qualified, that they are charismatic leaders, that they are Christlike, and that their leadership is modeled after God’s authority. The biblical qualifications for elders leading a church are listed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 2. The qualifications describe different aspects of having a character that is “above reproach” along with the skill of being able to teach God’s word. Dever’s description of churches needed “charismatic” leaders does not refer to a leader’s engaging personality or his ability to teach. It is a reference to the original Greek idea of “charisma,” which refers to the gifts of grace that God has given the church. A charismatic leader is one who seeks to lead by the power of the Holy Spirit in order to equip the saints for the work of the church. 

The Christlike model of church leadership is necessary in healthy churches because Jesus Christ is the Shepherd of the church and all the other leaders are his undershepherds. Healthy churches need to focus their energy on pursuing Christ and helping others to do the same. The last aspect of healthy church leadership is connected to the authority of God. Many people have a corrupt view of human authority. This can create a skepticism towards all human authority. Dever makes the argument that healthy churches will teach a biblical view of authority that creates a sense of safety and security for those in the church because they understand the leadership is seeking the growth of the people instead of seeking to control them. 

Weekender Review

November 19, 2021 /

The 9Marks Weekender started on a Friday afternoon with a warm greeting, laughter, and a loaded question. The pastor asked each of the thirty leaders to answer the question, “When were you saved?” Some people struggled to give a detailed answer, while one man gave us the place, date and time of his conversion. He had been listening to a program when God showed him his sin, brought him to repentance and belief in Jesus Christ as his Savior! What a dramatic way to start out the conference. 

After passing the initial Q&A session we were welcomed upstairs to a great meal and the warm hospitality of the church family at Bethany Baptist in Bellflower, CA. At around 7 pm we made our way to a large room for the Elder’s meeting. We had been warned that the meeting might go past midnight, so I got some extra snacks and caffeine and found my seat. 

We started the meeting by singing accapella for all five stanzas of a favorite hymn. As soon as we finished singing, the pastors started praying and they didn’t stop until all the members in the church had been prayed for. One of the pastors got on his knees while the other two stayed seated. Each of them had a copy of the church directory. It was evident that these leaders had been praying for their people. They went person by person and prayed deep, informed prayers for each of them. It was impressive to see how detailed and recent their prayer requests and praises were. As I listened to them praying I couldn’t help thinking about the parable of the Good Shepherd who left the ninety-nine to go look for the one lost sheep. The shepherds at Bethany Baptist know their sheep by name. They know how to pray for them and it was clear to see that their love and concern for their people. 

After praying, we took a quick break and then jumped back in for the Member Care portion of the meeting. This was when one of the pastors surprised us by sharing a recent personal struggle in his life. He asked the others to pray for him. They did so and also gave him some accountability questions to consider. The pastors told us there are 117 active members at the church. They use the Member Care time to talk about people in the church who are troubled, hurting, or in need of accountability. They did a great job of assigning each need to either a pastor or someone who was close to the person. By doing this they were able to make action items to help care for the church family. 

After discussing Member Care and New Members the pastors delved into finalizing the budget for next year. Having worked through church budgets before I found the process to be efficient and pastoral. They had been reading a book on church budgeting together as a pastoral team and I could tell it had an impact on how they tackled the church finances. 

At around 11:30 pm, the pastors told us the meeting was done, at least for us. They told us they were going to have a private meeting to finalize some things in preparation for the next day. I was glad our part of the meeting was over, but I couldn’t help to think about all the work those pastors put in to help shepherd the people of God. I had already been with these men for seven hours and I could tell they modeled the theme verse of their church, 1 Thessalonians 2:8, “We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” 

The conference continued with this same atmosphere of pastoral care and intentional church life from Saturday through Monday morning. The conference covered many topics including church government, church history, pastoral strategies, membership, and church discipline. These Weekender conferences are put on periodically in different churches around the country. If you are interested in more information you can find it at https://www.9marks.org/events/. 

Marks of a Healthy Church pt. 2

November 19, 2021 /

The topic of healthy churches is one that concerns all believers in Jesus Christ. The Christian does not exist independently of other believers. At a minimum, every Christian is to gather with others to hear the preaching of God’s word, to pray and share the love of Christ, and to take part in communion and baptism. As a result, all churches need to provide the opportunity for these things to take place. We would applaud churches doing these things, but if the church family is to be a healthy church, they will need to foster other areas of service to God as well. 

This week I am continuing a series on 9 Marks of a Healthy Church. They are taken from Pastor Mark Dever’s book of the same name. Last week we looked at the need for: 1) Expositional Preaching, 2) Biblical Theology, and 3) the Gospel. This week we are going to look at the next three marks of a healthy church: 1) Conversion, 2) Evangelism, and 3) Church Membership. 

1. CONVERSION: Healthy churches need to provide clear teaching on conversion because if they don’t, the church will be full of those who have not understood what it means to be a committed follower of Christ. Mark Dever explains biblical teaching on conversion in terms of God making a dramatic change in someone’s life. Conversion is a work of God bringing someone to a place where they see the holiness of God and the reality of their sin. Every Christian needs to accept that God needs to change them by cleansing them of their sin and bringing them out of spiritual darkness into spiritual light. Dever emphasizes Paul’s description of conversion in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

2. EVANGELISM: Evangelism is the mark of a healthy church because it is one of the main ways Jesus expects the church to pursue his final command to “Make disciples of all the nations.” (Matt. 28:19-20). Mark Dever defines evangelism as a call to “proclaim… the good news of salvation in Christ, to call them to repentance, and to give God the glory for regeneration and conversion.” All believers should seek to share the good news with others, and they should do so with conviction, with a sense of urgency, with joy, with the Bible, and with prayer. A healthy church family will encourage its members to share the truth of Scripture with others, and the church will provide training on how to do so. 

3. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP: Church Membership is a mark of a healthy church because it demonstrates that people are committed to the local body of Christ and also helps the leadership of the church provide oversight for a specific group of people. Dever emphasizes that the church is not a building. It is “a local collection of people committed Christ, to regularly assemble and have his Word preached and obeyed, including Christ’s commands to baptize and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.” If people make the commitment to become members to a church, it contributes to the health of the church because it means the church is carefully considering who is being admitted to its membership. This helps to maintain the purity of the church and makes it possible for the church to remove anyone who is persistently opposed to living the way God commands. Dever describes church membership in a positive way as “the opportunity to grasp a hold of each other in responsibility and love.” 

Marks of a Healthy Church

November 7, 2021 /

Later this month I’ll be going to a local church event called a “Weekender.” The 9Marks church network is hosting the event for pastors and church leaders who want to see the inner workings of how a healthy church is run. I had no idea “weekender” was even a word until a pastor friend told me about it a couple years ago. He said the training he received was one of the most helpful and practical events he had ever attended. So when I saw there was one within driving distance, I jumped at the opportunity. 

I’m looking forward to going to this weekend church event because it is a hands on, full-immersion experience of a behind-the-scenes look at a healthy, biblically-sound church. The 9Marks website says, “We encourage pastors and church leaders to attend because, just as every Timothy needs a Paul, so every church needs a model.” The apostle Paul certainly believed in modeling healthy Christian living. He wrote, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil. 3:19; 4:7 ESV) 

The 9Marks Weekender starts on a Friday night and runs all the way to Monday morning. Some pastors and church leaders come from out of state to have their questions answered about how to run a healthy church. The weekend includes attending elder meetings, which would normally be closed to outside eyes and ears, and teaching sessions that include practical, biblically-based insight into how to run meetings, prepare sermons, and lead the local church. 

You may be wondering why is it called a 9Marks Weekender? The reason is because it is hosted by a network of churches called 9Marks. Back in 1991, a pastor named Mark Dever wrote a letter to a church in Massachusetts encouraging them to pursue “nine marks of a healthy church.” It was so well received that it was developed into a book and then into a network of churches that all make a commitment to these nine marks. 

Now, you must be curious about what they are. You may be asking, “What makes a healthy church?” The book Pastor Mark Dever wrote doesn’t claim that the list is comprehensive in any way. It doesn’t say that these nine marks are the most important part of the church. It does say the book “focuses on certain crucial aspects of healthy church life that have grown rare among churches today.” As I list them for you today, I thought it would be helpful to expand on each of them with a series of articles focused on modeling a healthy church. The nine marks are Expositional Preaching, Biblical Theology, The Gospel, Conversion, Evangelism, Membership, Church Discipline, Discipleship, Church Leadership. 

I don’t have the space or time to write about each of them now, but over the coming weeks I will address two or three at a time with the aim of helping us all become more discerning in knowing what a healthy church looks like. We all know there is no such thing as a perfect church, but we can all appreciate churches that are trying to search Scripture and understand how God wants them to function. After all, Jesus Christ is the one who said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:8). There is no better way to learn how to be the church than to follow the guidelines he has given us in His word. 

A Christian Celebration on October 31

October 30, 2021 /

More and more Christians are celebrating Reformation Day on October 31st. Reformation Day is a holiday celebrated around the world that commemorates the day in the year 1517, when Martin Luther, a German priest, reportedly nailed a list of religious concerns to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. One reason we believe he posted the list on October 31st was because he knew many people would be coming to the church the next day, which was All-Saints Day. Martin Luther knew the list, called the 95 Theses, would cause a stir, but he had no idea it would lead to a wide-spread religious movement referred to as the Protestant Reformation. 

The Protestant Reformation started from a desire for Christians to see the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) reformed. At the time, the church allowed funds to be raised by selling something called an indulgence. In his book A Modern Guide to Indulgences, Edward Peters describes an indulgence as “a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins.” The RCC taught that an individual could reduce the punishment for a specific sin by doing certain things, such as reciting a prayer, visiting a holy place, or performing an action the church declared could pay for sin. These indulgences were official documents that attested to the punishment for sins being reduced. 

By the time Martin Luther served as a priest, there was wide-spread abuse of indulgences. They were being sold to the ignorant masses who were taught salvation came by works, not by faith. The indulges raised funds that helped build massive cathedrals. Martin Luther was keenly aware of these abuses and so in 1517 he decided to voice his concerns. While reading the 95 Theses, it becomes clear that Luther’s main concern was to show that the Bible did not teach salvation through buying indulgences. He wrote, “Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.” 

Martin Luther’s actions on October 31, 1517, are remembered today largely because of the printing press. Someone took Luther’s 95 Theses and began printing it on a press that was likely modeled after the Guttenberg press. Luther’s writing was circulated far and wide, and the Roman Catholic Church was compelled to address his complaints. The situation became more and more concerned with Martin Luther’s belief’s about salvation being by faith alone. This all culminated in a dramatic court case, called the Diet of Worms (a gathering that took place in the German city called Worms), where Luther was ordered to renounce all his writings. He refused, and as a result he was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church. 

The story goes on to have a happy ending for Martin Luther. He realized the Bible does not forbid clergy to marry, and so in 1523 he married Katharina von Bora, a former nun, and had six children with her. He went on to do groundbreaking work in translating the New Testament from Greek into German, and with the help of the printing press distributed God’s word to the masses.

His life was filled with controversy because of his beliefs. Many today do not agree with everything he wrote and said, but if you study his life and work you will come to understand what he believed because he was a man of conviction and faith. His convictions regarding salvation and theology were at the heart of the Reformation. 

He did not invent the Five Solas of the Reformation, but he would wholeheartedly agree with them: Sola Gratia – Christians are saved by Grace Alone; Sola Fide – Through Faith Alone; Solus Christus – In Christ Alone; Sola Scripture – According to Scripture Alone; Soli Deo Gloria – For the Glory of God Alone. 

I hope you will join us in celebrating God’s work in human history this year by celebrating Reformation Day on October 31st. 

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