The role of apologetics

"I have heard so often from people across the country, "You can't argue anyone into the Christian faith." I really hate to be horrible here, but I was argued into the Christian faith. I really was. I had intellectual objections and they were answered, and ... I had no way of saying why I didn't want to become a Christian other than I refused. And ... really ... the role of apologetics ... is to level every objection so that truly the offense of the cross is what's left." (Craig Parton author of "Religion on Trial" and "The Defense Never Rests: A Lawyer's Quest for the Gospel" on the June 6, 2010 edition of the White Horse Inn)

The essence of the Christian religion

“The essence of the Christian religion consists in the reality that the creation of the Father, ruined by sin, is restored in the death of the Son of God, and re-created by the grace of the Holy Spirit into a kingdom of God.”

Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 1:61.

(HT: Tony Reinke)

Why your church doesn't feel like a family

Mark Driscoll in the sermon excerpt below states that church is a family not a restaurant, and that we should be more concerned with serving others than being served.



In the world, men and women, if they have any sort of relationship, it’s usually going to some sinful place. But in the Bible, you can love your sister. You can love your brother. You can care for one another. You can enjoy one another. You can have fun together. You can serve God together ‘cause you’re family, and it’s a category of relationship that the world knows nothing about, knows nothing about.

And see, everybody, Facebook, Twitter, “I’ve got friends. I’ve got friends. I’ve got friends.” You know what’s better than friends? Family. And God, through Christ, gives family, and God’s the Father of our church family. And Jesus is the big brother in our church family, and we’re brothers and sisters in the church family.

Some of you would say, “Yeah, but you know, Mars Hill’s hard. “I don’t feel like I’m connected. I don’t feel like I’m close. You know, some people here annoyed me, bothered me. We don’t get along.” Welcome to family! Welcome to that’s what a family is! It’s a huge, painful annoying mess! That’s the definition of a family! Actually, everything was awesome until you came and then it all just got very difficult. We’ve all been talking about that. And you know what? Family’s awkward, and family’s hard, and family’s complicated, and family’s trying, but you love the family, you serve the family. You don’t give up on the family, and if you have family, you love them, but church is family, and church is first family, ‘cause this is a family you’re gonna be with forever.

Now, I hope that your whole biological family meets Jesus and is also a part of our spiritual family, but how many of you, truthfully, if you have or were to have children and you’re having to write out your last will and testament, and decide, “Should something happen to me or us, who will get our children?” your first choice is church family. Say, “You know, my biological family, they don’t love Jesus. They’re not gonna read the Bible with them. They don’t understand what they’re doing. Somebody in the church is gonna go on the last will and testament ‘cause you know what matters to me? My kids meeting Jesus.” See, some of you have two families, and some of you, because your biological family loves Jesus, you just got one big extended family in church family.

True Family Members Listen and Obey
But church family’s incredibly important, and here’s what Jesus is saying. Those who are really members of the family, they do two things: listen and obey. They do what they’re supposed to do after hearing what they’re supposed to hear. That’s their activity. So here’s the big idea. If Mars Hill doesn’t feel like home, serve.

You know the difference between a restaurant and a family dinner? You go to a restaurant, you sit down, somebody takes care of everything. And you can even complain about it. “I did not like the mashed potatoes. The gravy was too salty. I would like a comment card.” If you do that to your mother, your father will do something to you. If you go to your mom’s house, your dad’s house, and you just sit down, they’d say, “Hey, what are you doing sitting down? You need to set the table. Hey, get up, set the table. You’re part of the family.” “I would like dessert.” “Oh, really? No.” This is family—you want something out of the fridge, go get it out of the fridge. You need to set the table, hey, when dinner’s done, don’t just leave your plate and walk away. You gotta bring it to the sink, you gotta scrape it out, you gotta clean it. Why? ‘Cause this is a family and in the family you do something.

The difference between a restaurant and a family is whether or not you do something. That’s the difference, and some of you treat Mars Hill as family. You’re like, “You know what? I’m coming early to serve. I’m gonna pick up my trash. I’m gonna tithe. I’m gonna be in a serving group. I’m gonna be in a community group. I’m gonna help some people. This is family. I know it’s a mess. It’s a big, crazy family, but it’s my family, so give me a chore. Give me something to do. Help me be part of the family.” Some of you are like, “I did not like the band. The sermon was very long. It was very hot.” Tell you why it’s hot, right, ‘cause most of our campuses, nobody gives enough money to get air-conditioning, so—

And see what’s different is in a family, if you see a need, you meet it, but in a business, you don’t. You don’t walk into a business and say, “Are there any non-met needs that can I give above and beyond the cost of the meal and sacrifice so that you can get new signage or chairs or maybe, I don’t know, new linens. Because, you know, I want to go above and beyond the cost of the meal because I’m personally invested deeply in this restaurant.” They’d be like, “Call 911, we got a crazy.” But in the church that’s what it is. You walk in, it’s, “Where can I serve? Where am I needed? Where I can give? This is my family. I’m part of the family. Plug me in. Give me something to do. Give me a chore.”

And the truth is this, if you’re not plugged in, if you’re not in a group, if you’re not serving, if you’re not connected, it’s not gonna feel like family, and you’ll be gone in less than a year, because you’ll just stop going to church, or go to another church, or just complain about other churches, or long for the ideal church, rather than just saying, “You know what? It’s family, I’m gonna love it, serve it, make it better, beginning where it’s at.” I want that for you, ‘cause that’s what this guy named Jesus said: “My mother and brothers are those who hear the Word of God and do it.” Those who are really the family of God, they’re doing things. They’re picking up chores. They’re owning the mission. He says it elsewhere, where your treasure is, your heart is, so wherever you give your money, that’s ultimately where your passion is going to reside.

So I’ll close with a story of a guy. It’s at the point now, it’s in a grocery store, coffee shop, wherever I go, somebody comes up, “Oh Pastor Mark, let me tell you about my whole life, and I need counseling.” So I was at the— Man, it’s interesting. I don’t even go out anymore. So, you know, I’m at the store and this guy comes, he goes, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to talk to you, and, you know, Mars Hill doesn’t feel like home, and I just don’t feel like I’m connected. I don’t feel like I’m close. I don’t feel like anybody loves me.” I’m like, it could have something to do with this radiating, inviting personality. I said, “Okay, so what do you want?” He said, “Well, I just need somebody to talk to.” I said, “Well, have you been in a community group?” “I don’t really have a community group, and I’m not really plugged in.” Okay, okay, okay. I said, “Look here, rather than being nice, can I be fast? ‘Cause I’m looking for cereal. I’m gonna ask you two questions, number one, what did you give last year? Number two, where have you ever served at Mars Hill?” He said, “Well, you know, that’s kind of between me and the Lord,” which means jack squat. That’s what that means. That’s what that means. “Well, it’s none of your business.” “Well, guess what? I’m taking my cereal and I’m gonna eat it by myself, ‘cause you’re not helping, right?”

And here’s the big idea: where you serve feels like family. In your history, in your life, look back. The people you felt closest to, that you knew the best, that you knew the best, that you were connected to, those relationships that were helpful, and enduring, and endearing. You weren’t a consumer. You weren’t a consumer. You were a servant. You did something with people, and you know what? Here’s what’s amazing, there are some amazingly faithful people that have made this into a vibrant, growing, explosive family. New campuses, new people meeting Jesus, new churches getting planted, new couples getting married, new babies being born, new community groups getting launched, new technology being innovated. Absolutely, unbelievable, how many people are getting how much done.

And here’s what I’d invite you to do: get involved. Get plugged in. See what God’s doing. Don’t waste your life, invest it in God and his people.

(HT: Joshua Harris)

Good days, bad days, and God's grace

A reposting of grace-centered quotes from Jerry Bridges' book "The Discipline of Grace":

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace. (p. 19)

Pharisee-type believers unconsciously think they have earned God’s blessing through their behavior.Guilt-laden believers are quite sure they have forfeited God’s blessing through their lack of discipline or their disobedience.Both have forgotten the meaning of grace because they have moved away from the gospel and have slipped into a performance relationship with God. (pp. 22-23)

(Thanks to a reminder by Tullian Tchividjian)

Pride and knowing God

“In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that — and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison — you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” (italics added)

From C.S. Lewis, quoted in Keith Mathison’s review of C.J. Mahaney’s book, Humility: True Greatness.

(HT: Thabiti Anyabwile)

Different degrees of happiness and glory in heaven

Are there varying degrees of reward and happiness and holiness in heaven?

Consider what Jonathan Edwards said in a sermon on Romans 2:10 (but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good):

[Note: The portion of the sermon below is found on page 902 in "The Works of Jonathan Edwards Volume 2" and is available as an audio file recorded by John Piper here.]

There are different degrees of happiness and glory in heaven. As there are degrees among the angels, viz. thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers; so there are degrees among the saints. In heaven are many mansions, and of different degrees of dignity. The glory of the saints above will be in some proportion to their eminency in holiness and good works here. Christ will reward all according to their works. He that gained ten pounds was made ruler over ten cities, and he that gained five pounds over five cities. Luke 19:17. 2 Cor. 9:6. “He that soweth sparingly, shall reap sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” And the apostle Paul tells us that, as one star differs from another star in glory, so also it shall be in the resurrection of the dead. 1 Cor. 15:41. Christ tells us that he who gives a cup of cold water unto a disciple in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose his reward. But this could not be true, if a person should have no greater reward for doing many good works than if he did but few. It will be no damp to the happiness of those who have lower degrees of happiness and glory, that there are others advanced in glory above them: for all shall be perfectly happy, every one shall be perfectly satisfied. Every vessel that is cast into this ocean of happiness is full, though there are some vessels far larger than others; and there shall be no such thing as envy in heaven, but perfect love shall reign through the whole society. Those who are not so high in glory as others, will not envy those that are higher, but they will have so great, and strong, and pure love to them, that they will rejoice in their superior happiness; their love to them will be such that they will rejoice that they are happier than themselves; so that instead of having a damp to their own happiness, it will add to it. They will see it to be fit that they that have been most eminent in works of righteousness should be most highly exalted in glory; and they will rejoice in having that done, that is fittest to be done. There will be a perfect harmony in that society; those that are most happy will also be most holy, and all will be both perfectly holy and perfectly happy. But yet there will be different degrees of both holiness and happiness according to the measure of each one’s capacity, and therefore those that are lowest in glory will have the greatest love to those that are highest in happiness, because they will see most of the image of God in them; and having the greatest love to them, they will rejoice to see them the most happy and the highest in glory. And so, on the other hand, those that are highest in glory, as they will be the most lovely, so they will be fullest of love: as they will excel in happiness, they will proportionally excel in divine benevolence and love to others, and will have more love to God and to the saints than those that are lower in holiness and happiness. And besides, those that will excel in glory will also excel in humility. Here in this world, those that are above others are the objects of envy, because that others conceive of them as being lifted up with it; but in heaven it will not be so, but those saints in heaven who excel in happiness will also in holiness, and consequently in humility. The saints in heaven are more humble than the saints on earth, and still the higher we go among them the greater humility there is; the highest orders of saints, who know most of God, see most of the distinction between God and them, and consequently are comparatively least in their own eyes, and so are most humble. The exaltation of some in heaven above the rest will be so far from diminishing the perfect happiness and joy of the rest who are inferior, that they will be the happier for it; such will be the union in their society that they will be partakers of each other’s happiness. “Then will be fulfilled in its perfection that which is declared in 1 Cor. 12:22. “If one of the members be honoured all the members rejoice with it.”

(Edwards, Jonathan: The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 2. Bellingham, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2008, S. 902)

Our best friend

“Christ is our best friend, and ere long will be our only friend. I pray God with all my heart that I may be weary of everything else but converse and communion with him.”

- John Owen, quoted by Adrian Warnock in Raised With Christ: How The Resurrection Changes Everything (Wheaton, Ill.; Crossway, 2010), 201-2.

(HT: Of First Importance)

What 'lovers' are you surrounded by?

Paul Tripp: Tell yourself today that you are surrounded by other lovers seeking to woo you away from the one central love that should shape your life.

It is sentences that change my life

John Piper: What I have learned from about twenty-years of serious reading is this: It is sentences that change my life, not books. What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two. I do not remember 99% of what I read, but if the 1% of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don’t begrudge the 99%.

(The Quote is from a sermon preached by John Piper on July 12, 1981, titled "Quantitative Hopelessness and the Immeasurable Moment: For the Encouragement of Sunday School Teachers)

(HT: C.J. Mahaney)

Remember ... you've got thumbs!

"The next time life’s got you down, just remember (you’ve got thumbs!)"

Below are lyrics to a humorous song about evolution posted on Douglas Wilson's blog (Blog and Mablog) title "Science Fiction."

Lyrics:

Out of the primeval mudpits happened one-celled life (amoebic life!)
And suddenly, for no reason at all, this life began to multiply (multiply!)
And the evening and the morning were the first 3 zillion years.

Pretty soon the ocean was filled with little beasties (it was filled!)
And then these hardy pioneers got more complicated (by accident!)
And the Society for the Prevention of God said amen (ah-ah-a-men!)

But among these children of chance were some malcontents (dissatisfied!)
Said they were tired of the water (waterlogged!)
So they crawled up on the beach and grew nostrils.

Looking back, we see the dry guys made the right choice (their choice was good!)
Because they evolved all the way up to man (and man is good!)
While those who held back only made it up to dolphin.

But does this mean that man is nothing but a mere protoplasmic accident? (no indeed!)
On the contrary, we hold that man is special (man’s unique!).
You see, man has an opposable thumb.

So the next time life’s got you down, just remember (you’ve got thumbs!)
And you don’t know why you exist or where you’re going (but you’ve got thumbs!)
Enough to make you weep for joy.