Don't Forget the Bad News

In his book Gospel-Powered Parenting, William Farley writes, "[God's] wrath introduces us to [His] grace." (p. 88) Think about that. Paul concurs in Romans 2:4 where he writes, "Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forebearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" It's not surprising that Paul's words are sandwiched between two sections in the letter (chs. 1 & 3) majoring on our sinfulness and desperate guilt before God. Paul's logic is clear: only when we first encounter the convicting nature of our sin, which warrants God's just wrath, are we moved to repent, thereby reaping the gracious benefits of forgiveness and salvation in Christ. God's wrath, which our sins deserve, surely is the front door leading us into His house of grace.

This reminds us just how important it is to share the 'bad news' of our unbelieving friends' sin with them before we share the good news of the gospel. Most of us are very willing to tell our unsaved friends that God loves them and Jesus died for them. Few of us, though, are as quick to tell them how needy they are for Christ because their sins are so great. Yet, without a clear, bibilcal declaration of the bad news, the good news will fall on deaf ears, for it will only confirm what they already believe: Of course God loves them since they aren't so bad after all.

Food for our souls

You may have noticed in recent weeks that our book table has moved into our new library on the west end of the fellowship hall. It is literally spilling over with a veritable feast for the soul. Let me highlight a few recent arrivals.

Big Thoughts For Little Thinkers

This is a series of four books which helps parents unveil for their children key doctrines of the Bible in a very engaging way. I have been struck by the profound God-centeredness of these little books. Thinking ahead, they would make perfect stocking stuffers for Christmas.

Doing Things Right In Matters of the Heart

Had this book been written when I was young, single and looking for my life-partner, it could have given me invaluable wisdom in the realm of love and courtship which I lacked. I don't know of a book on the topic of young love (or old love, for that matter) with a better grasp on how to relate to those of the opposite sex bibilcally, maturely, joyfully and God-glorifyingly.

Pleasing People

Do you care too much what others think of you? I do. Lou Priolo weilds biblical theology like a surgeon's scalpal to unmask our social idolatry and put us on a path to truly loving and blessing others with our highest affections set on Christ alone.

Sanctification by Grace

Last Sunday I mentioned that one of the most common errors Christians make is approaching justification (at the beginning of the Christian life) largely by faith in Jesus and His grace, while approaching sanctification largely focused on us - our effort, discipline and will-power. But, as we discovered together, unless our sanctification flows from a heart swept up by Christ's grace, our behavior modification will be for naught.

This may be a new concept for many of us 21st century, American Christians, but it was the perspective preached from Puritan pulpits Sunday after Sunday in 17th century England. And no Puritan preacher more clearly proclaimed the 'holiness by grace' nature of sanctification than Walter Marshall, expressed in his masterful book, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification. 300 year old books can be heavy slogging. Thankfully, Marshall's book has been put into modern English by Bruce McRae. When it comes to the doctrine of sanctification, there is no book I'd more strongly recommend. You can read the original text online for free here, or purchase McRae's update here. To whet your appetite, consider the following quote where Marshall shows that obedience must be, first and last, a matter of the heart that's been captured and changed by the grace of the gospel:

"You cannot possibly keep the commands of God if you hate them! You cannot be indifferent in your heart to what the law requires of you if you are going to keep these commandments. Remember, the greatest of all the commandments is to love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength. This means that you love everything that is in him, you love his will, you love his ways, and you see him as the best thing in the world! Everything you do has to be driven by this kind of love for God. You have to delight to do the will of God. It must be sweeter than honey to you (Ps. 19:8). And, you must continually love, like, delight in, long for, thirst for and relish God for your entire life. All of your sinful lusts must be taken over by love to God and neighbor. You must fight against your sin, and hate it (Gal. 5:17, Ps. 36:4).

"This is quite different than the way people normally think of obedience. Most people think of true obedience as just a matter of pure duty. They think that obedience is like a salesman who sells his unpleasant goods in the market for money, or like a sick man loves his unpleasant medicine, or like a captive slave who works simply because he is afraid he will get something worse if he does not work. These are things you can do even if you do not want to do them, or even if you hate them. However, this is not true obedience to God. True obedience means you love to obey God!"

But how do we gain hearts which love to obey God? Marshall answers,

"You have to be totally assured that you are reconciled to God and accepted by him. You have to be absolutely sure that the chasm sin has caused between you and God has been completely filled, and that you are now totally under his love and favor."

- The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Walter Marshall, pp. 27 & 29

P.S.

On certain occasions a pastor like myself will sit down after preaching and then be struck with a thought compelling him to say to himself, "I also wish I would have said that." For me, yesterday was one of those moments.

If you heard my sermon yesterday, you know I've begun a four week series on the biblical gospel. My purpose yesterday was two-fold: to define the nature of the gospel (Christ's choosing, saving, sanctifying and restoring grace given to us) and to argue that it and it alone is the primary theme of the Bible and must be our church's non-negotiable focus.

While preaching on the gospel-saturated nature of sanctification, I talked about how Christian parenting rises or falls based on whether we parent according to the Law (focused on behavior modification) or the gospel (focused on heart transformation). The thought which struck me after I finished preaching which I wish I would have said is this: If our true goal in parenting is gospel-saturated, grace-driven heart transformation (which will give rise to increasingly more holy choices in our children as a gracious by-product, but not as the primary goal), then the most fundamental question we as parents should be asking ourselves when our children are increasingly recalcitrant, rebellious and non-responsively sinful is this: "How can I make Christ and His grace more beautiful, glorious and compelling to my child?"

If Titus 2:11ff. is correct, that we are trained for sanctification primarily by God's grace in Christ, then the above question is the most important one any Christian parent can ask him/herself. Remember, a compliant child without a delight in Christ is a Pharisee in the making, but a child who, day by day, learns more and more to see and savor the beauty of the Savior and becomes increasingly desperate for His grace in light of his/her sin - despite the fact that they are not becoming the model child in behavior their proud parents secretly [or not so secretly] hope they'll become - is a monument to the gospel in the making. God did not entrust us with children in order to craft them into model Christian citizens whose behavior we would always be proud of. He entrusted us with children in order to help them become living testaments to His grace.

Gospel-Powered Parenting

Few Christian parents want anything more than to raise their children to become Christ-loving, honorable and holy, Christian adults. Every expert seems to have his/her formula to make that happen, but with the great diversity of Christian parenting perspectives and agendas out there, how are believing parents to know where to put their energy and focus?

Because that's such an important question, I'm so grateful its answered by, perhaps, the most biblical parenting book on the market since Tedd Tripp's Shepherding a Child's Heart. The book is Gospel-Powered Parenting by William Farley. I have found Farley's book both convicting and inspiring - and, most of all, hopeful in Jesus.

This week in my message I'm going to talk about the crucial role which our parenting plays in our childrens' grasp of the gospel. If you have children, I would encourage you to build on what I'm going to say with Farley's in-depth exploration of why the only parenting which pleases God and truly helps our children is centered on the Cross.

You can read a more detailed review of Gospel-Powered Parenting here.

Praying for the Blacks

Here's a note and request for prayer from Vince as they prepare to head out of Minot tomorrow:

Wow, moving day is here. It’s hard to believe. All the months of prayer and preparation are finally upon us and we officially close the North Dakota chapter of our lives and move onto the next. Today, and throughout the day, would you please pray for us?

1). Please pray that we would represent well the name of Christ with all our interactions today. Pray that as we interact with the movers, with our children, with one another, that we would be ambassadors for Christ and that others would see Him through the way we communicate, both verbally and non-verbally.

2). Pray for safe travels. The movers will pack up the truck today. We plan to clean the house, spend the night with some friends, and head out in the morning. Please pray for traveling mercies. Pray that as we shove 4 boys in car seats, 2 adults, toys, food, sleeping items, suitcases and an 80 pound dog into one minivan, that we would be overflowing with patience and kindness and that we would have safe travels, cherishing this time we have together as a family.

3). Praise God for bringing us to this point. It was a year ago that I traveled to St. Louis to go to a church planting conference with the Acts29 Network. It’s amazing how much has transpired in a year’s time. Praise God for His leading and for making His plan so evident. Praise God for the way He has provided. Praise God for His many mercies to us every day and throughout this process.

4). Pray for us as we are about to embark on a huge, and in many ways, unknown adventure. Up until today, just about everything we’ve worked on has looked forward to this transition. We are now officially starting down the path and are excited, nervous and overwhelmed all at once. Pray that we would keep Christ as our focus, grow in faith and love, learn more daily of what the grace of Christ means, extend to others the mercy God grants us, and allow our light to shine before men that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven. To God alone be all praise and glory!

Vince, preach the word

[An open letter to Pastor Vince Black]

Dear Vince,

As I sit at my computer this morning, just two days away from commissioning and sending you off to plant a church in Ft. Collins, Colorado, I think with thankful wonder at the grace God has given us all these past nearly five years. It was December 2004 that the Lord first brought you to our attention as a potential staff pastor here at Trinity. Since that time - with your help - we've become a church of small groups with robust, relational dicipleship, we've become a philosophically unified church without in-fighting and contentious factions, we've become a more globally minded church, eagerly sharing ourselves and our resources with some of the most impoverished and imperiled Christians in the world to help make them a missions movement to reach their own people, plant their own churches and reach beyond their borders with the gospel. Over the past five years you've grown into a very gifted preacher whose ministry we will miss sitting under.

I am grateful for these and many other ways in which God has used you to bless us as a church family. Far more, I am grateful for having been given the privilege of watching your commitment to your wife as you've nurtured her personally and spiritually. Truly, you are an example of a man who "washes [Kirsten] with the water of the Word (Eph. 5:26)." You are a man who ardently disciples his sons, showing and teaching them that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight (Pr. 9:10)." Your example of godliness - which has been a great gift -that I will miss most of all.

Vince, as you go, know that God has used you profoundly. But know that His use of you is only beginning. So, as you plant a church and begin a new life in Colorado, fix your attention on Paul's commission to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-2, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." Preach the Word, Vince. Live on it and live by it. Let God and His gospel be your joy and let heaven be your hope. The best is yet to come.

With love and friendship,

Andy

Thank You

This week I joyfully return to work as one of your pastors. Though there were moments in the last three months when I thought, "Hey, this sabbatical thing is nice. Maybe I should just retire early," over the past couple of weeks I've been itching to be back in the ministry saddle. As my sabbatical comes to close, let me tell you what we've been up to in September.

As I've expressed in previous posts, between classes in July and rebuilding my fence in August, the first two thirds of my sabbatical weren't very restful. I was committed to changing that during September. We spent the first week or so doing much of nothing (or, at least I don't remember accomplishing much). Then we loaded up our van and headed out to visit friends in Minneapolis and family in Wisconsin where we boated on the Mississippi (discovering that I can still slalom on one ski), our boys participated with my parents in a local parade, we spent time with my sister's family in Milwaukee and Terri and I got away for five wonderful days to Cedarly Pastors Retreat Center with four other pastoral couples (see picture) where we read, biked, swam, canoed, prayed and simply enjoyed being together. Last week, to cap off my time away, I escaped to Assumption Abbey in Richardton to begin planning our upcoming journey through Proverbs. It's quiet setting, as usual, was very conducive to much prayer, reading and reflection.

As my sabbatical comes to a close, I want to say 'thank you.' Thanks to Vince and the elders for a great sermon series on I Timothy and so capably shepherding everyone during my absence, reminding me that I'm not as indispensable around Trinity Church as my pride would like me to believe. Thanks to Tonya, Kathryn and Janet in the church office for continuing to do so much that so few see but which helps our ministry at TC thrive. Thanks, ladies, for sometimes responding to my questions when I'd stop by the office by saying, "I don't think you need to be thinking about that. Aren't you on sabbatical?" Thanks to all of you for being such a supportive congregation who's desire for more of God and more love of His Word makes you such a joy to lead and pastor (Hebrews 13:17). And thanks to the leaders of Trinity who wrote my predecessor's contract fourteen years ago and had the foresight to include a regular sabbatical for rest, study and family nurture. I am the beneficiary of such insight. Lord willing, you will be too as we resume ministry together and pursue an ever-increasing love of the gospel, transformation of our lives, mission passion and hope for heaven. Thanks.

Slavery

This Sunday we will be looking at 1 Timothy 6:1-2. This question came to my mind as I studied Paul's letter to Timothy - "Why didn't Paul speak openly against slavery?"

John Piper answers this question, in part, in a recent blog post - How Paul Worked to Overcome Slavery.

What Worry Reveals

"Fear and worry are not mere emotions; they are expressions of what we hold dear. They reveal the loyalties of our hearts. If we know Christ and have affirmed our allegiance to Him, worry is a sign that we are trying to have it both ways....Worry, therefore, is not simply an emotion that erodes our quality of life or a pain to be alleviated. It is a misdirected love that should be confessed. It is trying to manage our world apart from God. It is making life about our needs, desires and wants."

- Ed Welch, Running Scared, pp. 161 & 163