Month: July 2011

Interestingness

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Interestingness2 Comments

It is time for another dose of Interestingness. What follows are a few articles and videos from around the web I found interesting this week. Check them out.

Is Jesus the Only Way?

Jonathan Dodson from The Resurgence answers the question: Is Jesus the Only Way? You can read it by clicking here.

Reparative Therapy

Homosexuality and Reparative Therapy. Al Mohler weighs in. Here is a snippet from the article:

Known as reparative therapy or sexual orientation conversion therapy, these approaches seek to assist individuals in changing their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. The cultural and political debate over reparative therapy emerged when a clinic run by Marcus Bachmann, husband of Republican candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, was accused of offering treatment and counseling intended to change sexual orientation.

You can read the rest of what he has to say by clicking here.

Adoption

Russell Moore recently wrote: An Open Letter to an Unborn Baby, by doing so he is advocating adoption. It is a good read. You can check it out by clicking here.

Biblical Authority and Interpretation

John Piper, Don Carson, and Tim Keller had a round table discussion this last week, which the guys over at The Gospel Coalition filmed and made available on their website. The discussion centers on biblical authority and interpretation. It is a great video series. You can watch it by clicking here.

Impressionist Jim Meskimen

This is a must watch video. Very impressive!!!

Community: Why is it important?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, PracticalLeave a comment

Biblical Mandate for Community

Members of the church have a biblical mandate to assemble in community with one another. The writer of Hebrews says,

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. ” (Heb 10:24–25)

According to Hebrews, church members need to be consistently meeting together, in order to encourage one another, and to stir each other up to love and good works. If this is the case, why do people often not assimilate into communities?

Assimilation Problems

Several problems exist as to why members do not actively participate in the church’s community:

1) Individualism – A lot of church members are individualistic believing they can change by themselves.

2) Compartmentalism – Most people tend to compartmentalize their lives having a church life, work life, and family life. These are all kept separate and one compartment is not to interfere with the other.

3) Busyness – Almost all Americans are busy some families may want to participate, but they are too busy to do so. The “I am too busy” excuse means living in community with other Christians is not important.[1]

4) Consumerism – Most Americans are consumerists they come to church in order to get, but are not willing to give. They are content sitting in the pew week after week because they have been conditioned by society to consume and shop around instead of plugging in and getting involved.

All of these problems tell us many church members do not see the value of living in community with one another or being involved in the church. They do not understand why it is necessary for their Christian growth and their ability to reach the community for Christ.

The Value of Community

Even though many church members do not see the value of living in community with one another, I am convinced community is necessary for growth to occur in our spiritual lives. These communities are much more than fellowship clubs, even though fellowship is important and necessary for the spiritual growth of the community. These groups (read also ministries) are to be Authentic Gospel-Centered Missional Communities, which have a dual purpose of both speaking into the lives of its participants and reaching the community for Christ. As these communities study Scripture together and begin to increase in their affections for their Savior (upreach), they will want to serve others in the group, as well as seek to rid sin out of their own lives, while helping others in the group do the same (inreach). When upreach and inreach are taking place, the desire to take up God’s mission of reaching neighborhoods and the world with the gospel will begin to increase and take shape (outreach).

In order for these communities to grow in their affections for their Savior, the gospel needs to be proclaimed and studied in-depth, understanding its content and how it comes to bear on the individual’s life. When one understands what Christ has done for them and how they fit into God’s plan, their affections for their Savior will grow.

As their affections grow, they will desire to rid their lives of sin, because they realize that their desires do not match Christ’s desires. I focus on desires here because they stem from the heart, which is the real cause of man’s sin. Pumping different information into man’s mind does not necessarily cause change in one’s life. Rather, the desires of man need to be changed. The only way that will occur is through the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life. Before one can seek change, they need to first recognize their wrong desires, which happens through the teaching of the Word in their community. Second, false desires are rid from ones life through prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

As man seeks to align himself with Christ’s desires, he will then take up God’s mission, which is to reach the world with the gospel.

Here is where community comes in. In order for men to understand that their desires are different than their Saviors, they need a group of people who are allowed to probe their heart, dig deep, understand their sins, and surface the desires that lie behind those sins. This can only happen if members are committed to regularly attending a group where they allow its members to probe their hearts, challenge them, speak into their lives with the gospel, and pray for them.

Conclusion

I am convinced it is important that we live in community with one another. The Bible, in more than one place, talks about us as a family, and in Hebrews we are commanded to gather together with the purpose of stirring one another up in love and good works. If we do not come together, then we are living as an estranged brothers and sisters, as a dysfunctional family who only sees each other on major holidays. This type of living is one thing the church simply cannot afford. We cannot afford it because authentic community is necessary to reveal our own sinful desires and root those desires out, which happens through Bible study, prayer, and walking alongside one another. If we never get together, these things will not happen. As well as God’s mission will not be advanced through our church, which is to reach the world for Christ. So my challenge to you is to make time for your church family, get off the sidelines and get involved in one another’s lives and God’s mission.

[1]Brian Hedges, Christ Formed in You: The Power of the Gospel For Personal Change, 239-42.

How do you know you are a Christian?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical3 Comments

I want to ask you a question, an important question. One I would like you to give some thought. Here it is: How do you know you are a Christian? Do you say you are Christian because you walked the isle one day and prayed with the pastor at the front of the church? Maybe you say you are a Christian because you confessed Christ as your Savior at a youth retreat while you were “high” on the Christian life. Or just maybe you walked down to the front at a Crusade along with 7,000 other people. Before I go on, I am not saying that you are not a Christian because you were saved at the front of the church, on a youth retreat, or at a crusade. What I am trying to get across is that these experiences alone do not make you a Christian.

There are many people who claim to be something because they participate in an activity with those who are in reality genuine. For instance, if I told you I am a minor league baseball player, you might believe me, that is until you ask me when I am playing next. That is where my logic would break down because I would explain to you that I am a minor league baseball player because I trained with the local minor league team once at a kids baseball camp. As you heard me explain how I wore their uniforms and played in a game and how that made me a minor league baseball player, you would soon realize I was not what I claim to be, and you would begin thinking my logic was a little off.

Just as it is logically incoherent for me to think I am a minor league baseball player because I once hung out with the players and trained with them at a kids camp, it is equally as illogical that we think we are Christians because we once, or currently, hung around those who are Christians, attended church, or even walked the isle.

We learn in Matthew’s Gospel that one day Jesus will tell those who think they were His followers “Depart from me for I never knew you.”

He says, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” But Jesus will turn to those and say, “I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matt. 7:21-23).

If we can think we are a Christian, and not be a Christian, how do we know that we are a Christian?

First, we need to have confessed Christ as our Savior, which is what you could have been doing when you walked the isle, prayed the sinners prayer at youth camp, or went forward at a Crusade. But you see, to confess Christ once is not the mark of a Christian. Mike McKinley, in his book, Am I Really a Christian, says,

“It is true that we need to make a onetime decision to follow Jesus. But a true onetime decision is followed by the everyday decision to follow Jesus” (23).

With that in mind, I want to provide you with five additional ways McKinley gives that show we are true followers of Jesus (39).

(1) Belief in True Doctrine

You’re not a Christian just because you like Jesus. You must believe Jesus is your Savior (John 3:16-18, 36; Romans 3:21-25; Hebrews 11:6).

(2) Hatred for Sin in Your Life

You’re not a Christian if you enjoy sin (Romans 6:1-14; 1 Peter 1:13-21; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 John 3:4-10).

(3) Perseverance Over Time

You’re not a Christian if you don’t persist in the faith (Philippians 3:12-16; Hebrews 12:1; Romans 8:38-39).

(4) Love for Other People

You’re not a Christian if you don’t have care and concern for other people (John 13:34-35; 1 John 2:9-11).

(5) Freedom from Love of the World

You’re not a Christian if the things of the world are more valuable to you than God (Luke 18:18-25; 1 John 2:15-17).

Conclusion

This week I would like you to think through your answer for why you are a Christian. Considering these questions: Have you made Christ your Savior, not just your friend? Do you see a willingness to repent of the sins in your life or are you content in your sins, not wanting to repent and rid them out of your life? Have you persevered in the Christian faith for many years, or do you find yourself living for Christ only when it is the cool thing to do? Since you professed Christ as your Savior have you noticed a love for other people? Are you willing to sacrifice your time, energy, and money to help them? Do you love the world? Are you willing to sacrifice your stuff for God, or are you chasing after worldly possessions more than you are seeking God? Do you skip church on Sunday because you need to go into the office to do some work because time is money?

Your answers to these questions will either assure you of your Christian faith, or they will show you that your faith is not real. I pray God will reveal to you the answer because your eternal destiny hangs in the balance.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Interestingness

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn InterestingnessLeave a comment

Here are some articles and videos I found interesting this last week.

OSX Lion Review

OSX Lion was released this week, and the guys over at Engadget.com put out a review. You can read their thoughts on the new operating system by clicking here.

How the Internet is Changing News

If you are curious about the internets affects on the news, then you may want to read this article featured in the Economist. You can read it by clicking here.

Is Church Membership Biblical?

Matt Chandler answers this question in a recent article posted by The Resurgence. You can read it by clicking here.

Book Hoarding

In a recent article by Jim Elliff, he challenges us to think about why we are collecting books and if our fascination with them is worth the time, effort, and money. You can read his post by clicking here.

Civil War Reading List

If you are interested in reading about the American Civil War, then you are in luck. The Gospel Coalition put out a list of five essential books on the Civil War. You can check it out by clicking here.

Chic-Fil-A: I will See You Monday

If you have ever wanted your favorite chicken sandwich on Sunday, but just could not have it, then this video is for you.

Illustrations and Their Benefits

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Pastoral, PreachingLeave a comment

Last time, I wrote about the necessity of using illustrations in our sermons. You can read that post here. Today, I want to talk about the benefits of using illustrations. The first one will be obvious, but the others you may not have thought about.

Benefits

(1) Illustrations help the audience understand the theological point

Through stories, listeners are able to come to a deeper more full understanding of the theological point because we learn best when the abstract is made concrete.

(2) Illustrations connect the preacher to the audience in a way pure exposition cannot

The preacher connects and bonds with the audience because his personal perspectives are revealed through the stories he chooses to use as his illustrations.

(3) Illustrations reveal the character of the preacher

Behind every illustration, the personal story of the preacher lies. Bryan Chapell says, “Your own personal story always shimmers in the background of any story you tell, witnessing to your own character, principles, and priorities.[1] In essence you are saying, “This is what I think this means in my world.” [2]

(4) Illustrations reveal your personal trustworthiness

Depending on the illustration you select your congregation will determine if you are trustworthy. If you select an illustration that holds out ideals or expectations one cannot hope to attain, then your audience will lose trust in your judgment. On the other hand, when you select illustrations that apply directly to the context of your audience and which contain ideals and expectations that are attainable, the audiences’ trust in your judgments grow.

(5) Illustrations have the power to reveal your personal integrity

If you consistently give credit where credit is due, not using others stories as your own, and give proper facts, then your personal integrity will grow. A preacher who consistently and knowingly passes stories off as his own, when they are not, proves he has an integrity issue.

(6) Illustrations help the audience see “themselves in the contexts of Scripture’s realities” [3]

When the audience hears of someone facing the same struggles they are, they realize they are not living in isolation. They also realize there is an answer to their problem that exists in Scripture.

Resource

[1] Bryan Chapell, Using Illustrations to Preach with Power, 133.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.,136

Image: nuchylee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Illustrations and their Necessity

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Pastoral, Preaching1 Comment

For most preachers (including myself), providing more than one illustration in a sermon is difficult, if it is done at all. But no matter how difficult it is, it must be done because it helps the listener process the principles, providing more clarity to the meaning of the text.

The Difficulty

Illustrations are difficult because they require preachers to shift gears from excavating the text and laying it out systematically to discovering how the texts principles relate to life situations, whether it be theirs or someone else’s. This “shifting of gears” is often difficult for those who think in logical patterns and systems, which are taught and re-enforced through their reading patterns. By spending more time reading theological treatises, which present material systematically and logically, rather than works of literature, which reveal its truths through stories, preachers are training their minds to follow logical patterns and lay out systematic grids, which is not a bad thing, as long as you recognize the intellectual development that is occurring. As a result, preachers (myself included)  find it difficult to make the shift to thinking in terms of narratives and stories. This difficulty of shifting from one job to the next is often why preachers neglect the task of illustrating.

Going further, illustrations are also neglected because they require the preacher to “delve to that level of being where mind, soul, body, world, and psyche are real. Until he has done so – until he has plumbed the depths of his emotions, relationships, and experience and integrated what he discovers in those oceans with what he knows intellectually – his own understanding is not complete.” [1] To delve to this level takes work. It takes hours of thinking, working, and re-working an illustration until it is just right. It requires one to go the extra-mile intellectually. Neglecting this extra work may prove one to be intellectually lazy.

The Purpose of  Illustrations

The purpose of illustrations is to make the abstract, real, or to make the foreign, familiar. Truth is best understood when it is observed in the context of a human situation. This does not mean truth is only understood through experience, like many post-moderns would claim, but it does mean we best understand a truth when we are able to work with it, see ourselves in the situation, or relate it to an experience we have had. Illustrations allow us to do just that, they “provide the mechanism for this life-specific understanding and are thus indispensable to effective preaching.” [2]

As preachers, we must understand people do not make decisions simple because they have the intellectual knowledge. Rather people make decisions when they can see themselves in the situation.

If you have ever been hesitant to move to another town for a job, even though you knew it was a better position for your career and the town was better for your family, you know what I am talking about. You may have had all the facts in front of you, but until you actually met your colleagues, toured the facility, and walked the streets of your new neighborhood, you were not really convinced the new job and town were better. Why?

“Because we best learn and make decisions when the abstract is made concrete.”

Bringing what is abstract into the concrete is the purpose of illustrations. As preachers, we want our people to be able to see themselves in the situation, to experience the principle of the text at work, so they will understand how their lives need to change, or how the principle relates to their world. Bryan Chapell says, “Because life-situation illustrations provide this experiential data, allowing individuals to “live through” the implications of their spiritual choices, they well serve life-changing preaching.” [3]

Conclusion

Illustrations are difficult to incorporate into a sermon, but they are necessary. Without illustrations, our people in the pew will not fully comprehend the meaning of the text, nor will they understand how the text applies to their lives.

In other words, without illustrations we are not providing full-fledged communication. By linking the text to experience, illustrations “make the Gospel real, fleshly, and interpretable.” [4]. This means illustrations are not a side-show used to make the text simple for simple-minded folks; rather, illustrations are a necessity for communicating the whole idea of the text. They are what add depth to our ideas and motivate our people to change.

So the next time you think about skipping out on an illustration because it would require too much effort, think again. Your extra effort may just be what you and your people need to fully understand the text and be motivated to change.

Resources

[1] Bryan Chapell, Using Illustrations to Preach with Power, 59.
[2] Ibid., 49.
[3] Ibid., 62.
[4] Ibid., 59.

Image: scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net