Re-blogging

Today has been more than a month since I last blogged. Many has taken place between then and now, some of which I might share in this blog in the condensed form. But first here is a summary:

1. Our church service has moved from evening to morning service time. It's now Sunday 10:30am in the newly refurbished Werner Brodbeck Hall in 156 Collins Street, Melbourne.
2. I have recently finished the sermon series on the book of Revelation chapter 17-25. Great book. Great lessons.
3. Had two major speaking engagements recently: A leadership presentation at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta and a leadership seminar in GKY Mangga Besar organized by Perkantas.
4. The kids are on school holiday and I am on annual leave and on study leave (yay!). We are getting ready for our long-expected Christmas and New Year's break.

Approved by God

Ray Ortlund posted the following quote from Henri Nouwen a while ago, which reminds me about how we should establish our sense of self or self-identity and self-image securely on the basis of God's acceptance.

A voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17

“There are many other voices speaking — loudly:
“Prove you’re worth something.”
“Prove you have any contribution to make.”
“Do something relevant.” . . .
These are the voices Jesus heard right after he heard, “You are my beloved.”

Another voice said, “Prove you are the beloved. Do something. Change these stones into bread. Be sure you’re famous. Jump from the temple, and you will be known. Grab some power so you have real influence.” . . .

Jesus said, “No, I don’t have to prove anything. I am already the beloved.”

Henri Nouwen, Leadership Magazine, Spring 1995.

There is more than one way to be strong. We can be strong with the dark energy of anxiety, because we need approval, or we can be strong with the bright energy of assurance, because we are already approved.

God’s Greatest Adversaries Are His Gifts

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie.
It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for
heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not
the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we
drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God
describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is
a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The
greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts.
And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but
for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an
appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable,
and almost incurable.

~ John Piper, Hunger for God, p. 14

Interview with Keller on Counterfeit Gods

A recent interview with Tim Keller in Christianity Today about his highly anticipated book that has rocked the blogosphere, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters.

I have read the interview. It gives a very good preview of the book which centered on these questions:
How should Christians think of money, sex, and power?
What makes these three so enticing and difficult to control?
Do Christians have blind spots when it comes to false gods?
How does someone identify their idols?
How do we get rid of idols?
Is it necessary to suffer disappointment before seeing that idols don’t satisfy?

It might take a while for the book to reach Australia. It is currently in the top 200 of all books at Amazon.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, you can download the Introduction Chapter from the Westminster Bookstore here.

HT: Justin Taylor

The Positives, Negatives, and Neutrals

Mark Driscoll offers a leadership advice on installing a leadership team in the church that lasts. He puts people in three categories, then recommended the right action for each:

Positives are people who do gospel things in gospel ways for gospel reasons.

Negatives are people who do ungospel things in ungospel ways for ungospel reasons.

Neutrals are followers who are easily influenced.

Read the rest of his posting here.

What he wrote reminded me of management writer Jim Collins' oft-quoted mantra: Get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus before even starting the engine.

Serving A Different Order

We serve a different order, the Reign of Christ, which he sets up in contrast to the prevailing way of life in the social order as supported by the fallen powers. To the old order there must be enmity; according to James 4:4, to be a friend of the fallen order is to be an enemy of God. We are to follow the Lordship of Christ who judges the world and conquers it . . . By faith we live in Christ’s victory, yet we must continue to struggle

(Stephen C. Mott, Biblical Ethics and Social Change, p. 18).

Calling, Career, and God's Glory

Justin Taylor had a posting on Piper's pre-pastorate years and his calling to move from serving as a seminary professor to a church minister. Here is the highlight, which I think is key in helping all of us, clergy or otherwise, to make career-related decisions or even any major decision in our lives.

One of the ways God has said to me “Move Piper,” is this: when I read Philippians 1:19-26, there is in me a tremendous longing. Last October it became an irresistible longing to be an instrument in God’s hands to fulfill these goals in a local church.

At this point in my life I say, and I believe God is saying to me, “The potential, Piper, for magnifying me is greater now in the pastorate than in the professorship.” That’s why the move. When I become a pastor, I am going to have one all-encompassing goal, a very simple goal, that in nothing I might be ashamed but that in everything I might magnify Christ whether by life or by death.

If we believe that, as Wolterstorff wrote in his book Until Justice and Peace Embrace, "A career turned toward this world with God behind one’s back is not inferior to a career turned toward God", then it does not matter what career choice we take in this life as long as its major activities in that career are not evil. The key question for us then (as Piper showed above) is which career magnifies God in a greater way. If our career is a means to response to the larger-than-life call of God then we should prayerfully deliberate on the career that will make God's glory be manifested in its brightest spark through our temporary life.

World-Formative Christianity

The saints are responsible for the structure of the social world in which they find themselves. The structure is not simply part of the order of nature; to the contrary, it is the result of human decision, and be concerted effort it can be altered. Indeed, it should be altered, for it is a fallen structure (p. 3).

I have suggested that the emergence of original Calvinism represented a fundamental alteration in Christian sensibility, from the vision and practice of turning away from the social world in order to seek closer union with God to the vision and practice of working to reform the social world in obedience to God (p. 11).

Nicholas Wolterstorff, Until Justice and Peace Embrace (Eerdmans, 1983)

Seeing Glory, Experiencing Joy

Our family bible study group recently started the expository bible study on the epistle of 1 John. Here is my take on the first four verses.

Our Christian faith can only be genuine if we experience the joy that results from seeing God's glory in Christ
1 John 1:1-4

I was intrigue to read John used a different word (theaomai) in the phrase "we looked upon" (1 John 1:1), which is distinct from the word (horao) used in the phrase "we have seen", precisely in the same verse? Why didn't he use horao for the fourth time? What is so special about theaomai?

A simple search using KJV's Strong Number which is available online tells me that the word 'theaomai' (which for untrained ear sounds like Siomay) actually means: "to behold, look upon, view attentively, contemplate (often used of public shows)". The word 'theater' is derived from this word. When we go to theater to watch orchestra, opera, broadway show, we put extra energy to pay attention to the show (not only because we pay $65 to get B reserve seating but because we want to enjoy the special performance).

Interestingly, and certainly not coincidentally, John used the same word in his gospel (John 1:14): "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have SEEN his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth". Or we BEHELD his glory. Or we LOOKED UPON his glory.

There is something about beholding or viewing with intensity the glory of Christ that takes a profound effect in the viewer.

What is the effect of seeing or beholding the glory of God in Christ? JOY. "And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete" He wrote 'our' joy and I think that's more accurate than 'your' joy, meaning it's the joy experienced by John and other apostles from beholding Christ the word who became flesh.

Seeing the glory of Christ, beholding His glory gives John joy as he fellowships with Christ. Or to put it differently, his fellowship with Christ brings him joy because he beholds Christ, view attentively the manifestation of his glory.

John wrote his epistle that so that his joy may be complete, because he wants us to experience the same thing, that is for us to fellowship with Christ with joy by beholding His glory. The glory that is now preserved in the Scripture. Today we see the glory by hearing the Word of Life from the Scripture read, meditated upon, chewed on, preached, etc.

How easy it is for me to lose the joy of living in Christ or reading His word or serving God because I lose the awareness of His glory and instead become preoccupied with my own glory. Personal devotion, ministry, and relationships with others become monotonous routines because we lose sight of Christ's beauty, holiness, and majesty.

When John wrote 'we looked upon', the theater he referred to was probably the transfiguration of Christ that Peter, James, and John saw with lots of anticipation in Mark 9. That glimpse of Christ's glory must have changed his life, giving him a inside-out, life-transforming joy that sustained him to stay at the foot of the cross when others have abandoned Christ.

The life-transforming effects of beholding God's glory is a key theme in the NT:
- 1 John 1:1 and 1 John 1:4 suggests that it results in joy
- John 1:14 and 1:16 suggests it results in receiving 'grace upon grace'
- 2 Cor 3:18 suggests it results in our becoming transformed 'from glory to glory'

What are we to do then? APPLICATION? Here is a couple points that fits me personally:

1. We who profess we are Christians, have we really seen/beheld the glory of God? That is have we been met Christ personally, awe-struck by His holiness, captivated by His beauty, and overwhelmed by His majesty that sin loses its power within us and the world no longer appeals to us? Have you experienced the joy of salvation that does not give us fire insurance from hell, but re-orients the sources of joy in our hearts from anything but Christ to Christ alone?

2. Have do we grow in faith joyfully, from grace to grace and from glory to glory? How do we help others to grow in faith? How should I preach? How should church programs be developed? The answers to all these questions is: By focusing on God's glory in Christ.

I won't grow in faith by reading about God (theology). Atheists love it too.
And so is the Devil.

I won't grow in faith by obeying ten commandments or the sermon of the mount.
That makes me a religious snob, a Pharisee.

The church won't grow in faith through sophisticated programs, uplifting music, heartwarming fellowship, or inspirational sermons (e.g., health-and-wealth preaching or moralistic preaching that convicts people and sentenced them into guilt).

I will grow, you will grow, the church will grow if we focus on seeing the glory of God manifested in Jesus Christ, namely in the person and work of Christ, in the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Christ, or put simply in the GOSPEL.

Let us continue to drink from the Gospel which was maintained by the apostles through their writing (1 John 1:4) to experience the life-transforming joy of the Lord that strengthens us.

In Christ Alone

One of my favorite YouTube videos that never fails to preach to my soul:

No one! No one!

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning;
no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil,
for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning,
for God's seed abides in him,
and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

(1 John 3:6,8-9, ESV)

How Not to Preach Legalism

Often in their well meaning efforts to apply the biblical principles, preachers draw applications which lead people into legalism. Legalistic or moralistic preaching is rampant everywhere, people do things in obedience to God out of guilt (and not of Christ-centered conviction). How to avoid this trap? Here is a helpful tip from Haddon Robinson from Preaching Today magazine. The four little scenarios help illustrate what he meant:

Scenario 1:

Suppose, for example, that someone preaches on the principle of modesty. Should a Christian dress with modesty? The answer is yes. But how do you apply that? One preacher may say, "Well, any skirt that's above the knee is immodest." So, he ends up with a church full of knee-length people. In that church, one application of a principle has assumed all the force of the principle itself. That is the essence of legalism: giving to a specific application the force of the principle.

Scenario 2:

I have a friend who keeps a journal, and it works for him. But when he preaches about it, he makes it sound as though Christians who are not journaling can't be growing. Whenever you say, "If you're not doing this particular act, then you're not following this principle," that's legalism.

The Problem

How, then, can you preach for practical application if every time you say, "This is how to apply this truth," you run the risk of promoting legalism? Let me answer with a couple of examples.

Scenario 3:

When my father was in his eighties, he came to live with us. After a while he grew senile, and his behavior became such that we could no longer keep him in our home. Because his erratic behavior endangered himself and our children, we had to put him in a nursing home. It cost me half my salary each month to keep him there. For eight years, until he died, I visited my dad almost every day. In eight years I never left that rest home without feeling somewhat guilty about his being there. I would have preferred to have had him in our home, but we could not care for him properly.

A few years later, my mother-in-law, who was dying of cancer, came to live with us in our home in Denver. It was a tough period in our marriage. I was trying to get settled as president of Denver Seminary. My wife, Bonnie, was up with her mother day and night. She somehow changed her mother's soiled bed six or seven times a day. For eighteen months, Bonnie took care of her in our home. When Mrs. Vick died, we had no regrets. We knew Bonnie had done everything she could to make her last months comfortable.

How should Christians care for their aging parents? Do you keep them in your home or do you place them in a nursing facility? There is no single Christian answer. It depends on your situation, your children, your resources, and your parents.

There is, though, a single guiding principle: we must honor our parents and act in love toward them. To make a Christian decision, you can't start with a selfish premise; you start by asking what is best for everyone involved. How you apply that principle in a given situation depends on a complex set of variables.

The Solution:

The way to avoid the trap of legalism, then, is to distinguish clearly between the biblical principle and its specific applications. One way to do this in preaching is to illustrate a principle with two or three varying examples, not just one, so you don't equate the principle with one particular way of applying it.

Scenario 4:

When our children were young, I lived under the idea that if we didn't have daily devotions with our children—a family altar—somehow we were failing God. The problem was, family devotions worked for other people, but although we tried all kinds of approaches, they never worked for us. Our children sat still for them on the outside but ran away from them on the inside. Yet we kept at them because I felt that a family altar was at the heart of a Christian family.

Then I realized that family devotions wasn't the principle but the application of a principle. The principle was that I needed to bring up my children to know and love God. I had mistakenly been giving to our family devotions the same imperative that belonged to the principle behind it.

We then came up with a different approach, one that worked for us. Our two children left for school at different times. Each morning before Vicki left, I would pray with her about the day, about what was coming up. A little later, Torrey and one of his friends came into my study, and we'd sit and pray for five minutes about what their day held.

That may not sound as satisfying in a sermon as saying we had devotions as a family at the breakfast table every morning, but for us it was an effective way to honor the principle. A preacher must make a clear distinction between the principle and its applications.

Gospel Truth and Gospel Conduct

A sound and helpful advice from Mike Bulmore entitled "Shepherding Your People to Think and Live in Line with the Truth of the Gospel"

A local church is healthy to the degree that: (1) its pastor-teachers are able to accurately, effectively, and broadly bring the gospel to bear in the real lives of their people; and (2) its people have a deep personal understanding of and appreciation for the gospel, so as to be able to live in the good of the gospel daily. I call this the functional centrality of the gospel.

Critical to achieving this aim is making clear the connections between the gospel and its doctrinal and behavioral implications. We could call these connections “gospel truths” and “gospel conduct” respectively.

Imagine three concentric circles. In the center is the gospel itself, perhaps best represented by the words of 1Cor 15:3 – “Christ died for our sins.” This simple phrase speaks of the reality of our sin, the necessity of divine punishment, and the wonderful provision of salvation from divine wrath by God in Christ. Paul speaks of this “good news” as the matter of “first importance”, and we know well the priority he gives this message in his preaching and writing (cf. 1Cor 2:1-4). Hence, its centrality. But in order for it to have a functional centrality it must be connected to areas where people live their lives.

This brings us to our second circle, gospel truths. These are specific, concrete doctrinal implications of the gospel; or, as Paul puts it, “doctrine that conforms to (i.e., takes its shape from) the glorious gospel” (1Tim 1:10-11). These gospel truths bring the gospel to bear particularly on the mind; they are useful in renewing the mind so that our thinking is more and more shaped by the truth of the gospel.

As we might expect, the book of Romans is especially saturated with these gospel truths. Let me give three examples:

(1) In Romans 5:1 Paul states, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice the logic of the verse. Something follows from the essential truth of the gospel. Our having peace with God is not the gospel itself, but is a powerful implication of the gospel—a “gospel truth”. And understanding this gospel truth is part of conforming one’s thinking to the glorious Gospel.

(2) In Romans 8:1 we read, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Again, notice the argument. Paul is not here presenting the gospel itself but something that is true “now” because of the gospel. But the implication is stunning! When fully comprehended by a believer it will revolutionize their mental world and the gospel will function powerfully for them.

(3) Romans 8:32 is a favorite. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.” Notice those words “also” and “along with him.” They speak of something that grows out of the gospel. When people see the connection between the truth of the gospel itself (“He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all”) and this gospel truth concerning God’s gracious provision of all that we need for our sanctification (cf. vv. 28-29), the gospel will function for the strengthening of their daily trust in God’s provision.

But not only is the gospel to shape our thinking, there are massive behavioral implications of the gospel as well. The gospel is not only to renew our minds, but to inform our conduct too. The Scriptures provide many examples of this gospel informed living. In Gal 2:14 Paul rebukes Peter for conduct that was “not in line with the truth of the Gospel” and in Phil 1:27 he urges believers to “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel.” In other words, one of the ways the gospel must function is by informing specific behaviors. Thus, we should read our Bibles with an eye toward detecting these connections. So, for example, when Paul appeals to the Corinthians to “flee from sexual immorality” he explicitly bases his appeal on the gospel—“you are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1Cor 6:18-20). When he urges forgiveness he explicitly references the gospel as both motivation and model (Eph 4:32). When he tells husbands to love their wives he does so by linking his exhortation directly to the gospel (Eph 5:25). When he calls the Corinthians to an ongoing generosity he explicitly reminds them of God’s generosity in the gospel (2Cor 8:7,9; 9:12-13, 15). Many more examples could be given. Ultimately, all Christian behavior should flow out of the gospel; while working hard to avoid triteness, connections should be made to every area of life.

One of the greatest challenges and most important tasks of the pastor-teacher is to clearly show these connections so that people can specifically and intelligently bring the gospel to bear on both their thinking and conduct. Thus the gospel becomes functionally central to the individual Christian and to the local church.

Tim Keller's Counterfeit Gods

Tim Keller's latest book, Counterfeit Gods, is almost here. I can't wait to secure a copy and read it. The introduction chapter is very good. Vintage Keller. You can read it here.

Reaching out GenYers

Ministry to Gen-Yers is quite a challenge in big cities like Melbourne. If the article by Colin Hansen in a recent CT is of any help, it's the last section of the article that I found worth pondering. In it he reported an interview with Justin Buzzard, 30, who was hired by Central Peninsula Church in the Bay Area of California to preach the gospel to the Gen-Yers. It was reported that three years into his ministry, "the church's twenty-something ministry claims about 150 members in a church whose attendance tops 2,000." What is perhaps worth thinking is his Gospel-centered approach. Here it is:

Buzzard's approach is a departure from the "church-within-a-church" model pioneered in the '90s. Rather than building a next generation worship gathering Buzzard regularly reminds the young adults their ministry is no substitute for the local church. Sunday morning is more important than Thursday night, he says. The body of Christ needs them to serve children, mentor high schoolers, and glean wisdom from aging members.

Having learned from the example of other next generation ministries, leaders at Central Peninsula Church suppressed the tendency toward intergenerational dissension with one key decision made when hiring Buzzard—he regularly preaches before the entire congregation on Sunday mornings. The church doesn't see him as a youth pastor for young adults, but as another shepherd and teacher for the whole congregation. Just listening to a young preacher and seeing many young faces in the congregation has reminded the church that their God is mighty to save.

"The Baby Boomer's strategy was getting the people most likely to attend church," Buzzard said. "Our strategy is to find those least likely to come to church."

Beyond preaching the gospel and loving people, Buzzard doesn't claim any special strategy for reaching twenty-somethings. In fact, Buzzard said he approaches church elders twice a year to tell them to shut down the twenty-something ministry. But these leaders continue to recognize a need to set aside at least one teacher who will focus his efforts on young adults, injecting the larger church with life, vitality, and sound doctrine. It's the best job in the church, Buzzard said.

"My very strong opinion is that twenty-somethings want and desperately need someone to yell at them from the Bible," Buzzard said. "They need a pastor, an authoritative voice in their life who will stand up and proclaim God's Word, to proclaim the gospel.

--

Nevertheless, churches differ on exactly how to experiment with twenty-something ministry. Some younger leaders have favored independence, concluding that older models neglected discipleship and commodified the gospel in order to build bigger churches. Some have forsaken centralized teaching and large worship events in favor of small group discussions. Yet others advocate stronger preaching, heavy doses of doctrine, and passionate challenges to apply the gospel.

But across the spectrum, twenty-something ministry leaders say reaching the millennial generation will require more than playing mainstream music, dimming the lights, and talking about sex. All see deep, genuine community as a crying need and key avenue for communicating and displaying the gospel.

Chandler on Cannibalistic Reformed

Matt Chandler was recently interviewed by the Leadership Journal in which he quipped about being Reformed and the danger associated with it:

I'm unapologetically Reformed, but nine times out of ten I cannot stand the Reformed community. I don't want to be around them. I don't want to read their blogs. They can be cannibalistic, self-indulgent, non-missional, and angry. It's silly and sad at the same time. Reformed doctrine should lead to a deep sense of humility and patience with others. How it produces such arrogance baffles me.

New Calvinism is a young movement, and young people are often arrogant. Life hasn't had a chance to beat the trash out of them yet. I'll tell the young people in my sermons, "You can't get into theological battles while you still live with your mom." Or, "You can nail your 95 theses to the door once you own one." Before these 20 year olds begin passionately defending their view of Scripture, I want to see that they are being obedient to it.

A Minister's Preaching

This one is for those who preach the Word of God to His people, again from the Valley of Vision

---

My Master God,
I am desired to preach today,
but go weak and needy to my task;
Yet I long that people might be edified with divine truth,
that an honest testimony might be borne for thee;
Give me assistance in preaching and prayer,
with heart uplifted for grace and unction.
Present to my view things pertaining to my subject,
with fullness of matter and clarity of thought,
proper expressions, fluency, fervency,
a feeling sense of the things I preach,
and grace to apply them to men’s consciences.
Keep me conscious all the while of my defects,
and let me not gloat in pride over my performance.
Help me to offer a testimony for thyself,
and to leave sinners inexcusable in neglecting thy mercy.
Give me freedom to open the sorrows of thy people,
and set before them comforting considerations.
Attend with power the truth preached.
and awaken the attention of my slothful audience.
May thy people be refreshed, melted, convicted, comforted,
and help me to use the strongest arguments
drawn from Christ’s incarnation and sufferings,
that men might be made holy.
I myself need thy support, comfort, strength, holiness,
that I might be a pure channel of thy grace,
and be able to do something for thee;
Give me then refreshment among thy people,
and help me not to treat excellent matter in a defective way,
or bear a broken testimony to so worthy a redeemer,
or be harsh in treating of Christ’s death, its design and end,
from lack of warmth and fervency.
And keep me in tune with thee as I do this work.

A Disciple's Renewal

A heart-moving prayer from the Valley of Vision

A Disciple’s Renewal

O My Saviour, help me.
I am so slow to learn, so prone to forget, so weak to climb;
I am in the foothills when I should be in the heights;
I am pained by my graceless heart,
my prayerless days,
my poverty of love,
my sloth in the heavenly race,
my sullied conscience,
my wasted hours,
my unspent opportunities.
I am blind while light shines around me:
take the scales from my eyes,
grind to dust the evil heart of unbelief.
Make it my chiefest joy to study thee,
meditate on thee,
gaze on thee,
sit like Mary at thy feet,
lean like John on thy breast,
appeal like Peter to thy love,
count like Paul all things dung.
Give me increase and progress in grace so that there may be;
more decision in my character,
more vigor in my purposes,
more elevation in my life,
more fervor in my devotion,
more constancy in my zeal.
As I have a position in the world,
keep me from making the world my position;
May I never seek in the creature what can be found only in the creator;
Let not faith cease from seeking thee until it vanishes into sight.
Ride forth in me, thou King of kings and Lord of lords,
that I may live victoriously, and in victory attain my end.

Carson on the Shift of Tolerance

“Twenty five years ago ‘tolerance’ was understood to be a virtue that operated something like this: If I hold strong views on any particular subject I am nevertheless judged to be ‘tolerant’ if I think that your views are bad, immoral, improper, even disgusting, wicked or stupid, but still insist you have the right to defend them. In other words, a ‘tolerant’ person puts up with somebody else’s views and insists they have the right to hold them even while – in the vigorous arena of debate – we might disagree fundamentally on who is right or who is wrong. Such a person is a ‘tolerant’ person.

But nowadays, that is not what ‘tolerance’ means. Now ‘tolerance’ means that you don’t hold that anybody is right or wrong. Everybody is equally right or wrong. Nobody is more right than another person. If you don’t hold that then you are ‘intolerant.’ Now that is a huge shift … Under this new definition of ‘tolerance’ I don’t even know what ‘tolerance’ means because in the old view of ‘tolerance’ you had to disagree with someone before you could actually tolerate them. How do you say ‘Oh, yes, you are entirely right – I tolerate you?’ … This new ‘tolerance’ actually becomes extremely intolerant of anybody who does not buy into this view of ‘tolerance’ because if you actually come right out and say that some view is wrong or silly or foolish or indefensible or even questionable, then you are judged to be ‘intolerant.’ Thus, in the name of this newfangled tolerance it turns out, at profoundly deep levels, to be the most intolerant thing of all!”

D.A. Carson, Evangelism in the 21st Century (session 2), address delivered at Omaha Bible Church on Oct. 6, 2002.

HT: Tony Reinke

No Christ, No Holy Spirit!

Tony Reinke collected the following quotes by the prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon, on Christ-centered preaching:

The motto of all true servants of God must be, “We preach Christ; and him crucified.” A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it. No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching. [Exposition of Acts 13:13-49 published in 1904]

Leave Christ out? O my brethren, better leave the pulpit out altogether. If a man can preach one sermon without mentioning Christ’s name in it, it ought to be his last, certainly the last that any Christian ought to go to hear him preach. [sermon: “A Prayer for the Church” (1867)]

What was the subject? What was Peter preaching upon? He was preaching Christ and him crucified. No other subject ever does produce such effects as this. The Spirit of God bears no witness to Christless sermons. Leave Jesus out of your preaching, and the Holy Spirit will never come upon you. Why should he? Has he not come on purpose that he may testify of Christ? Did not Jesus say, “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you”? Yes, the subject was Christ, and nothing but Christ, and such is the teaching which the Spirit of God will own. Be it ours never to wander from this central point: may we determine to know nothing among men but Christ and his cross. [sermon: “The Mediator, Judge, and Savior” (5/30/1880)]

Lord, deliver me from doughnut

Parable of the Doughnuts
The story of a man whose weakness is eating doughnut
(adapted from Randy Alcorn, The Purity Principle)

“No more doughnuts”, his doctor says.
He vows to God, “No more doughnuts”.
He promises his family, “No more doughnuts”.
He calls the church - gets it on the prayer line.
He even goes to a doughnut deliverance ministry to have the demon of donut desire cast out of him
He means business!

But then, what does he do?
He goes right on reading about doughnuts,
listening to doughnut music,
watching TV about making doughnuts.
He spends time with other doughnut lovers,
talking about doughnuts,
joking about them at the office -
where he glances at doughnut calendars on the wall.
He looks through the newspaper for doughnut coupons
and subscribes to Doughnuts Desires, with its glossy, color photos.

Well, it’s not long before he’s driving to work and “just happens” to go by a doughnuts shop.
He rolls down his window and inhales.
Pretty soon, he’s buying his morning paper from the rack just outside the doughnuts shop.
He’s lingering just long enough to glance at the doughnuts through the window.
Then he remembers that he has to check some emails
And hey, this donut shop has an internet connection.
And while I’m there anyway, “Why not have a cup of coffee?”
Guess what, they have have a special on today, coffee and doughnut! for just $2.99

Now remember, this man has no intention of breaking his vow and eating doughnuts!.
But the totally predictable and inevitable result is ...
He’ll give in and eat doughnuts!.

And can't you just hear his sad lament?
"What went wrong? I prayed! I asked others to pray. I asked God for deliverance. But look what happens!"

"Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." James 1:13-15)

Praying over Proverbs 30:7-9

Light these idle sticks

"God, I pray Thee,
light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee.
Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine.
I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus."

Jim Elliot, quoted in Shadow of the Almighty, page 247.

HT: Ray Ortlund

Idol dethroned

The dearest idol I have known,
Whatever that idol be,
Help me to tear it from Thy throne,
and worship only Thee…

- William Cowper, “O For a Closer Walk with Thee”

Lamb Chop, Wrestling Match, and Jacob's Hip

That afternoon a mother was preparing a family meal in the kitchen when her son stepped out of his room. Little did he know that in the next few minutes he will encounter a profound truth that will forever change his life.

Mom: I am preparing a special meal. It's your favorite: Lamb chop.

Boy: Nice! But mother, why do you throw away the tendon part? Isn't that the yummy bits?

Mom: Son, there is a story behind it that we as Jewish people have passed on from generations to generations.

Boy: I've got 10 minutes before the game on TV is on, mother.

Mother: Since when do you put TV after your mother? Listen now. You remember the story of your great great ancestor Jacob who wrestled with God at Pniel?

Boy: O yeah, that poor guy. He wrestled with the the Lord, and went away limped for the rest of his life.

Mom: Yes, because the Lord touched the socket of his hip. Do you know that chapter in Genesis 32 ended with this: "Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon."

Boy: Aha, so that's why we are tendon-free families.

Mom: Every time I prepare a meal for us, I am reminded of the story. Do you know what the Lord teaches us?

Boy: To never pick up a fight with someone bigger than us?

Mom: There is nothing further from the truth than what you just said. Our Lord teaches us that self-reliant, self-confident people like Jacob can never please God no matter how hard he tried.

Boy: But doesn't the Lord help those who help themselves?

Mom: No, son. Listen, many people today are quite like Jacob. Going through motions in their lives wrestling with something they thought will give them the true happiness, build their identity, and secure their worth. Jacob deceived his dad, ran away for his life from Esau who swore to kill him, deceived his uncle, worked hard to get Rachel. He did all he can to satisfy his heart only to be disappointed over and over again.

Boy: Yea, what a restless creature!

Mom: He would have lived his entire life in quiet desperation and gone to his grave with that same song had the Lord not intervened. When Jacob wrestled with the Lord, he was confronted by his sin of self-reliant. The Lord asked him "What is your name?" When he answered, "Jacob", that's his way of saying "I am a deceiver from birth, I cut corners to get the wish of my hearts using my own twisted brains. I am a sinful man."

Boy: O so that's what it means.

Mom: That's why although he was limping, he didn't let go our Lord until the Lord blesses him. The Lord did not crush Jacob with His omnipotent weight for the sinful things that Jacob did, but spared his life, blessed him, and transformed him into a new person called Israel.

Boy: Does that mean God always loves us no matter what? What about God's justice that Dad always told me about?

Mom: Glad you asked that. God was not being unjust when He did not crush the sinful Jacob. Because many centuries later on a night darker than that night at Pniel, the Lord crushed His own Son at Calvary. The prophet Isaiah wrote "he was crushed for our iniquities". He spared Jacob but did not spare His own son. Why? So that you and I who are not worthy to receive God's, who did not seek God but busy chasing after the things of the world, who in fact hated Him in the past, could and did receive His mercy and grace.

Boy: That's cool, mother. So Christ Jesus was crushed by His father so we who once were self-reliant people can be a people of God who rely on God, and live for Him in obedient gratitude.

Mom: Indeed, son, indeed!

Heaven, Hell, and Ministry (in Bahasa)

Di hadapan Allah dan Kristus Yesus yang akan menghakimi orang yang hidup dan yang mati, aku berpesan dengan sungguh-sungguh kepadamu demi penyataan-Nya dan demi Kerajaan-Nya: Beritakanlah firman, siap sedialah baik atau tidak baik waktunya, nyatakanlah apa yang salah, tegorlah dan nasihatilah dengan segala kesabaran dan pengajaran. Karena akan datang waktunya, orang tidak dapat lagi menerima ajaran sehat, tetapi mereka akan mengumpulkan guru-guru menurut kehendaknya untuk memuaskan keinginan telinganya. Mereka akan memalingkan telinganya dari kebenaran dan membukanya bagi dongeng. Tetapi kuasailah dirimu dalam segala hal, sabarlah menderita, lakukanlah pekerjaan pemberita Injil dan tunaikanlah tugas pelayananmu! Mengenai diriku, darahku sudah mulai dicurahkan sebagai persembahan dan saat kematianku sudah dekat. Aku telah mengakhiri pertandingan yang baik, aku telah mencapai garis akhir dan aku telah memelihara iman. Sekarang telah tersedia bagiku mahkota kebenaran yang akan dikaruniakan kepadaku oleh Tuhan, Hakim yang adil, pada hari-Nya; tetapi bukan hanya kepadaku, melainkan juga kepada semua orang yang merindukan kedatangan-Nya (2 Tim 4:1-8).

Sesaat sebelum dia dijatuhi hukuman mati, Paulus menuliskan kalimat-kalimat terakhirnya dalam 2 Timotius 4 kepada Timotius dan jemaat Efesus tentang keseriusan menunaikan tugas pelayanan kita. Memulai sebuah pelayanan memang tidak mudah, namun setia dalam pelayanan tersebut sampai pada akhir hidup jauh lebih sulit. Selama 30 tahun melayani Kristus, Paulus mengalami banyak tantangan fisik dan mental. Namun di akhir hidupnya Paulus menjadikan dirinya sebagai teladan bagi Timotius yang masih muda dan pemalu, dan menulis: “Aku telah mengakhiri pertandingan yang baik” (note: yang baik bukan cara Paulus bertanding, tetapi pertandingan yang ia pilih).

Tantangan yang dihadapi Timotius akan sangat berat. Kalau dalam pelayanan Paulus saja, hamba Allah yang diberikan talenta dari Tuhan yang luar biasa, ia ditinggalkan oleh ‘Demas yang mencintai dunia ini’ (4:10) dan “semua mereka yang di daerah Asia Kecil…termasuk Figelus dan Hermogenes” (1:15), betapa mudah bagi Timotius untuk menjadi kecil hati, kecewa, dan putus asa dalam pelayanan? Jika orang-orang yang kita layani adalah orang-orang yg menurut Paulus adalah orang yang ‘mencintai dirinya sendiri …suka menjelekkan orang…berlagak tahu… menentang kebenaran’ (3:2-9), siapa yang akan tahan dalam pelayanan? Apalagi semua pelayan Kristus yang memilih pertandingan yang baik tahu bahwa semakin lama melayani, semakin sulit dan berat.

Tidak heran banyak orang Kristen yang tadinya aktif melayani sekarang (1) melayani ala kadarnya tanpa ada api cinta yang berkobar-kobar bagi Kristus, atau (2) samasekali tidak lagi melayani lalu memilih pertandingan yang lain (fokus di bisnis/keluarga, etc.)

Bagaimana memiliki api motivasi dan persistensi pelayanan yang terus berkobar bagi Kristus?

Pertama, dengan menyadari kengerian neraka. “Kristus Yesus yang akan menghakimi orang yang hidup dan yang mati (2 Tim 4:1)”. Orang-orang belum percaya yang kita layani hanya mempunyai dua pilihan di akhir hidup mereka: surga atau neraka. Apabila kita dapat membayangkan kengerian spiritual neraka di mana jiwa manusia terpisah dengan Allah secara kekal, kita akan menyadari bahwa kita memikul sebuah konsekuensi besar dalam pelayanan karena implikasinya adalah kekekalan. Pelayanan yang sembarangan (asal jadi) dan kesaksian hidup yang tidak dijaga dapat menjerumuskan orang ke dalam neraka. Atau minimal semakin dekat ke sana!

Kedua, dengan menyadari kemuliaan surga. Paulus berkata “tersedia bagiku mahkota kebenaran… juga kepada semua orang… (2 Tim 4:8)”. Salah satu tafsiran berkata bahwa akan ada tingkatan-tingkatan pahala atau upah di surga, berdasarkan pelayanan kita di dunia. Pahala ini bukan soal materi. Tetapi soal kapasitas kita menikmati Allah.

Semua orang di surga akan bahagia bersama Allah secara maksimal, namun kapasitas maksimal seorang akan berbeda dengan orang lain. Orang yang setia melayani memiliki kapasitas yang lebih besar dibanding orang yang melayani dengan asal-asalan. Yang paling kecil adalah orang yang tidak melayani. Kalau surga adalah adalah sebuah konser klasik, yang paling menikmati konser tersebut adalah orang yang memahami musik klasik. Semakin dalam ia paham, semakin ia menikmatinya. Setiap tetes keringat, air mata, dan darah yang kita cucurkan dalam pelayanan pada Kristus membuat kita semakin kenal Dia.

Why Ministry is a Better Investment than Blue Chip Stocks

Investment gurus always advise whoever wants to listen to invest in blue chip stocks because they are reliable stocks in a volatile market and will deliver solid returns year after year to investors. But there is an investment that has a far greater probability of higher return: Ministry.

Fulfilling our ministry in obedient gratitude to the Lord is a better investment than blue chip stocks because:

1. The return of ministry is eternal; it goes beyond this life.
Meanwhile, the return of blue chips is limited to this life. “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" (Matt 6:19-20)

2. The return of ministry in the afterlife knows no limit
Ministry does help us to enlarge our capacity to receive a never-ending joy that flows from God in heaven. The more we serve God, the bigger the joy we experience in heaven. Each drop of sweat, tear, and (even) blood counts. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matt 5:11)

3. Ministry has eternal consequences: heaven and hell.
Blue-chips only have temporal consequences while enslave us. "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.. fulfill your ministry" (2 Tim 4:1-4). Those we serve will either end up in heaven or hell. If we preach anything but Christ (and that includes philosophy, psychology, and everything that satisfies our itching ears), the hearers will end up in hell. For non-preachers, your ministry also has hellish consequences. Mahatma Gandhi remained a Hindu because he was denied entry by ushers at a church in London. To which he replied "If you have a caste system in Christianity, I might as well remain a Hindu"

4. Ministry is 'the good fight'
Christ Jesus who will judge the living and the dead will also give the crown of righteousness to those who, like Paul, have fought a good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith (2 Tim 4). Paul did not refer to the way he fought, but that he has chosen a good fight. The good fight. And that is serving Christ Jesus. Others like Demas chose a different fight, building up the kingdom of the world.

FI Time: Soap for the Heart

Our family group in the church recently started a new bible discussion series on parenting Instructing a Child's Heart written by Margy and Tedd Tripp. We discussed the first sub-topic on Saturday entitled "Life is a Classroom" in which the Tripps talked about the importance of giving formative instruction consistently in every single opportunity that we have with our children, not only in formal settings (Sunday School, family worship). The Tripps also highlighted the need to differentiate between "formative instruction" and "corrective discipline", something which I found immensely helpful. Here is the most relevant quote from their book (p. 20)

Don't confuse formation instruction with corrective discipline. Formative instruction should be happening all the time. Discipline should be applied only when behavior needs to be corrected. If the only time we instruct is when our children need discipline, our children will not listen to our instruction for fear of the discipline. They will also interpret discipline through the culture's view of discipline - as abusive, dictatorial, a violation of personal rights, archaic, and fanatic.

In the ensuing discussion among ten sets of parents, we found that indeed the instructions we give to our kids are often given when there is a need to correct a behavior. "Hey, stop doing that. Taking someone's toy is wrong. You'd better return it to him now or else you will be punished later at home." In that statement, the instruction is buried behind the warning, and can be easily ignored because the child's attention is focused on the avoidance or fear of punishment.

Hence, the main lesson we learned from the first session was the importance of finding or, better yet, creating teachable moments through daily life occurrences. That implies two things: (1) parents need to spend quality time with our kids during which those formative instructions can be imparted, and (2) parents need to be rooted in the word of God so they are capable of imparting those shaping instructions.

I went away from that meeting with a keener sense of such teachable moment. The next day (ie., today) I found myself washing our car with my seven-year old daughter at a nearby petrol station. I cleaned the outside and she helped me with the car interior. She proudly showed me that the parts she cleaned were sparkling afterwards. On the way home, I had a hunch that this could be an "FI time" (Formative Instruction) time. What happened next is the following exchange:

Me: You know, Tif, we clean our dirty car with soap and water.

Tif: Yeah, dad, and our car is shiny now, especially the inside.

Me: But if our hearts are dirty, we cannot clean it with soap and water.

Tif: Dirty hearts?

Me: You know when you envy, when you are greedy, when you do things that sadden God's hearts. We can't clean that dirty heart with soap, right?

TIf: (giggling...) Of course not, dad.

Me: We need a special soap to clean our dirty hearts. That special soap is God. When we come to God, he will forgive our sins and give us a new heart. That's why David prayed to God "Create in me a clean heart, O God"

Tif: So we can come to God to get our hearts cleaned?

Me: Yeah, anytime.

... then we arrived home (in my heart, I thanked the Lord for the opportunity He gave me and looked forward to the next FI time)

Beauty Lost

We thank you, O God, for revealing Your Son through the life of Leah
The ugly duckling who went through her life of endless disappointments
Thrown in by her deceitful dad to be a substitute-bride for a man
Whose heart is always attached not to her but her beautiful sister

Unlovely and unloved, she tried with all her might to be loved
Bearing children for her husband, hoping he would love her
Praying daily 'If only my husband would love me as he would my sister'
Only to be ignored over and over again by her husband

Until one day her self-hated soul is touched with the Gospel of grace
When she understands that what matters is God's love for her
When she is chosen to be the Messianic seed despite her performance
So she can stop chasing after others' love, approval, and attention

It no longer matters how other people see her, her weak eyes and all
Because You, O Lord, love her as a Bridegroom loves His beautiful bride
The God of heavens chose the despised, the ugly, the rejected
What a story, what a mystery!

Until we realize that we were Leahs.
Unlovely because of our sin-ridden souls
Unloved by the world no matter how hard we try
But Lord, You love us and You make us lovely

Because Christ Jesus, Your Son, who is beautiful beyond description
Came to us in human form with "no beauty that we should desire him"
So that we who who are unlovely are made beautiful in Your eyes.
Christ lost His majestic beauty so that our ugliness is covered by His beauty

As Your heavenly bride, remind us each day O Lord
You didn't die for us because we are worthy
But because you died for us, we are made worthy
Our worth and lives rest secured in You

As Your heavenly bride, teach us each day O Lord
To never seek our happiness from this world nor praises from people
For not only will we be chasing disappointment after disappointment
But because we now know You alone are our happiness and praise

The Crucible: Sunday 2 Aug 2009 @ ICC

The key to contentment is worship

Paul Tripp blogged these paragraphs on contentment that is worth reading and re-reading:

Why do we all seem to want more?
Why is it so hard for us to accept less?
Why do we get haunted by bigger and better?
Why is it so difficult to be satisfied?
Why it is so hard to be content?

Maybe it's a better job, maybe it's a more succulent steak, maybe it's a nicer boss, maybe it's a prettier girlfriend, maybe it's a nicer car, maybe it's a more luxurious condo, maybe it's a better vacation than last year, or maybe it is as little as a better cup of coffee than yesterday's, but the spiritual energies of your life can be consumed by working your way up. What do I mean by working your way up? I mean that, in reality, you are living in a state of constant discontent. Yes, you are thankful for the joy of the moment, but you do not have your head down in prayerful thanks. No, your head is up and you eyes are scanning for the next bigger, better, more satisfying thing. When you are discontent, you are always in someway working your way up the ladder of personally satisfiying delights. You're not really thankful for or committed to what you have because in your heart you think that there must be something better out there and so you are on the hunt.

What is the solution to the "working your way up the ladder" hunt all about? It is about IDENTITY and WORSHIP. When I begin to humbly accept who I am as a sinner, when I honestly face the fact the my deepest problem in life exists inside of me and not outside of me, and when I begin to grasp the reality that God sent his Son to free me from my biggest problem - me, then I will quit working my way up. Why? Because I will be so filled with gratitude that the one thing I desperately needed, God freely gave me in his Son, Christ Jesus. What is this one thing? It is the thing in life that I could not do for myself, yet I cannot live without. By an act of his grace, God has freed me from my bondage to me. He has freed me from my addiction to having me at the center of my universe. He has freed me from the ravenous and unsatisfiable appetite of sin, so that I may begin to experience true personal satifaction where it can only be found - in worship of him. He has broken the power of this addiction over me so that I can be increasingly free where I live everyday.

The key to getting off the ladder and experiencing true contentment is not having more or learning to live with less. The key to contentment is worship. It is only when my heart is satified because of what I have been given in Christ and so much more delighted with God's glory than in the possibilty of possessing the next glorious physical thing, that I will leave the hunt.

Why Submission to Christ is Hard

The following Christian folk story from South India about a boy who loved to play marble aptly captures the inclination of our hearts, which make it difficult to completely make it captive under Christ:

The boy regularly walked through his neighborhood with a pocketful of his best marbles, hoping to find opponents to play against. One marble in particular, his special blue marble, had won him many matches.

During one walk he encountered a young girl who was eating a bag of chocolate candy. Though the boy's first love was marbles, he had a weakness for chocolates. As he stood there interacting with the young girl, his salivary glands and the rumbling in his stomach became uncontrollable, and he thought to himself, I have got to get my hands on those chocolates.

Concocting a plan, he asked the girl, "How about I give you all these marbles for those chocolates?" She replied, "Sounds fair to me."

He put his hand in his pocket, searching for the distinguishing cracks on the surface of the blue marble. Once he identified the blue marble with his finger tip, he carefully pushed it to the bottom of his pocket and pulled out all the other marbles.

As he handed the marbles to the girl in exchange for the chocolate, the boy thought his plan was a success and turned to walk away. As he began to eat the candy, he suddenly turned to the girl and asked, "Hey, did you give me all the chocolates?"

Our fallen nature persuades us to posture ourselves in the same deceptive and defiant attitude as the boy in this story. We want everything the kingdom of God has to offer. We want to have a secure sense of God's presence, we want all our prayers to be answered, we want to "feel close" to Jesus, we want to flourish in the riches of God's glory—we want it all. But we are unwilling to give up everything for it. Many times there is a "blue marble" in our lives that we seem unwilling to offer to the control of Christ. Until we can fully subjugate ourselves to God's will, our participation in God's kingdom will be limited.

Source: Christopher L. Heuertz, Simple Spirituality (IVP, 2008), pp. 116-117; Samuel T. Kamaleson, "Mangoes and Marbles," Decision magazine (January 1978)

The girl nobody wanted

My upcoming sermon this Sunday. Title credit goes to 'Jesus Storybook Bible'

Why Tweeter is Uncool

I read the stats some time ago that adoption of Tweeter in the world is very slow in comparison to Facebook. And those 90% of those who tweet very rarely do so, at a rate of just once a month. But I didn't know the reason why until I read an article (or a research note, as stated) written by a 15-yr old intern at Morgan Stanley on teenagers' media habits (television, internet, gaming, music, etc.).

The note got traction from many clients of Morgan Stanley who obviously are hungry with any fresh insight into the market so they can achieve a breakthrough with their products or services. Here is a snapshot of the research note:

Facebook is popular as one can interact with friends on a wide scale. On the other hand, teenagers do not use twitter. Most have signed up to the service, but then just leave it as they release that they are not going to update it (mostly because texting twitter uses up credit, and they would rather text friends with that credit). In addition, they realise that no one is viewing their profile, so their ‘tweets’ are pointless.

You can read the whole report here.

The works of thy hands

A beautiful prayer by Augustine, cited by Calvin in Institutes (3.17.14)

I do not say to the Lord,
Despise not the works of my hands;
I have sought the Lord with my hands, and have not been deceived.
But I commend not the works of my hands,
for I fear that when thou examinest them thou wilt find more faults than merits.

This only I say, this asks this desire,
Despise not the works of thy hands.
See in me thy work, not mine.
If thou sees mine, thou condemnest;
if thou sees thine own, thou crownest.
Whatever good works I have are of thee.

HT: Justin Taylor

Leadership Seminar at GKY Pluit

If you happen to be in Jakarta 2-4 July, I will be giving a series of talk on leadership at GKY Pluit. The series is entitled "Servant Leaders for Christ". The multimedia team at GKY Pluit created this seminar promo clip that details the titles of each talk. For lack of better name, the clip is called Clip Test 3 :-)

But I do hope to see you there!

Strategic Inflection Points

I thought readers of this blog who are not familiar with this oft-quoted buzzword can benefit from the explanation given from the very person credited with the phrase, Andy Grove:

...a strategic inflection point is a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change. That change can mean an opportunity to rise to new heights. But it may just as likely signal the beginning of the end.

Strategic inflection points can be caused by technological change but they are more than technological change. They can be caused by competitors but they are more than just competition. They are full-scale changes in the way business is conducted, so that simply adopting new technology or fighting the competition as you used to may be insufficient. They build up force so insidiously that you may have a hard time even putting a finger on what has changed, yet you know that something has. Let's not mince words: A strategic inflection point can be deadly when unattended to. Companies that begin a decline as a result of its changes rarely recover their previous greatness.

But strategic inflection points do not always lead to disaster. When the way business is being conducted changes, it creates opportunities for players who are adept at operating in the new way. This can apply to newcomers or to incumbents, for whom a strategic inflection point may mean an opportunity for a new period of growth.

You can be the subject of a strategic inflection point but you can also be the cause of one.

As you may have guessed, this idea can be well applied to our personal lives and any organization we are associated with. For many of us, we are the subjects of our strategic inflection points (translation: we are forced to change ourselves because of some outside factors). A better strategy is to of course reengineer for ourselves a strategic inflection point from time to time, to ensure that we do not live our lives in a complacent manner.

Grove discussed in his book the fiasco at Intel in 1994 when CNN ran a story on the design error in the Pentium chip Intel made. He however turned the situation to his advantage by responding swiftly to restore public trust and making himself vulnerable to the external factors in order to anticipate them (a process he called "constructive confrontation). Again, this is a quality that is worth adopting perhaps.

I can think of a few people in the Bible who experienced strategic inflection points. Abraham is a main case in point. When the call of God came to him in the land of Ur, the old man who was about to just enjoy retirement had to drop everything he had and accomplished, and follow the faith-shattering call to an uncertain territory. The rest of course is history, without which there is no Messiah for people of all nations.

Have you had any strategic inflection point lately?

Couples Retreat [in Indonesian]

“HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH”
Liputan Couples Retreat
Indonesian Christian Church (ICC)
5-7 Juni 2009, Lyrebird Park, Yellingbo, VIC

“Hal nomer satu yang dibutuhkan oleh suami adalah pemenuhan kebutuhan seksual”, demikian jelas Pdt Nyoman Widiantara, pakar Marriage Enrichment, di tengah sesi “Seks itu Indah” dalam Couples Retreat yang diadakan oleh Indonesian Christian Church (ICC), 5-7 Juni 2009 di Yellingbo, VIC. Mendengar penjelasan tersebut, para suami terlihat tersipu malu namun secara perlahan mengangguk setuju.

Pak Nyoman lalu melanjutkan: “Tidak heran kalau salah satu faktor penyebab pertengkaran suami-istri bahkan keretakan rumah tangga bersumber dari suami yang sering ditolak oleh istri. Banyak pasangan yang lupa bahwa seks itu anugerah Tuhan yang baik yang kita perlu nikmati dalam konteks pernikahan. Istri jangan menjadikan itu alat untuk mengontrol suami.” Pembahasan tesrebut mengundang banyak pertanyaan seru, antara lain: “Kalau begitu, sebaiknya intensitas itu-nya berapa sering?”

Dengan sesi-sesi yang sangat relevan, praktis, dan biblikal seperti diatas, setiap pasangan yang ikut dalam retreat diperlengkapi dengan firman Tuhan dan aplikasi praktis untuk membangun rumah iman yang kokoh. Waktu retreat yang hanya 2 malam 3 hari itu terasa berjalan begitu cepat karena begitu seru topik-topik yang dibicarakan. Para peserta dapat menikmati setiap sesi dengan serius tapi santai, tanpa harus repot menjaga anak karena ada dua orang pemuda gereja ICC yang berbaik hati melayani selama retreat membawakan Kids Program yang sangat menarik.

Keunikan retreat ini adalah adanya sesi-sesi terpisah antara suami dan istri. Sesi untuk suami dipimpin Pdt Nyoman, dan sesi untuk istri dipimpin oleh Ev. Ade Widiantara, istri Pdt Nyoman. Yang lebih unik (atau malah wajar ya…), sesi untuk istri selalu berakhir molor. Alasannya? Saking banyaknya keluhan istri terhadap para suami. Hehehe… Para istri di ICC setuju bahwa pria adalah makhluk kompleks, jauh lebih kompleks dibanding wanita. Anda setuju?

Berikut beberapa contoh point yang dibahas dan didiskusikan bersama dalam sesi-sesi retreat:

1. Allah telah menetapkan struktur keluarga yang sehat demi kebahagiaan kita, yaitu Allah – Suami – Istri – Anak. Banyak keluarga bermasalah karena struktur ini dilanggar. Istri berperan sebagai kepala keluarga, menggantikan suami, karena macam-macam alasan: istri lebih kuat finansial, istri terbiasa menjadi pemimpin bagi adik-adiknya di keluarganya dulu sehingga suami pun sekarang dipimpin, dst. (Tidak heran banyak suami menjadi anggota ISTI, Ikatan Suami Takut Istri…hehehe). Kita lalu membahas mengapa pelanggaran struktur tersebut akan menyebabkan problema rumah tangga, dan bagaimana mengatasinya.

2. Kita perlu mengenali bahasa kasih pasangan kita karena Yesus Kristus memakai bahasa kasih yang berbeda-beda pula untuk berelasi dengan kita manusia ciptaan-Nya. Seringkali yang terjadi, misalnya, seorang suami berpikir ia menunjukkan cintanya dengan memberi sentuhan fisik dan hadiah barang, namun yang dibutuhkan istri bukan itu semua, karena bahasa kasihnya adalah kata-kata pujian dan afirmasi. Alhasil, cekcok yang tak perlu…

3. Resep pernikahan itu bukan soal masalah cinta tok, karena cinta itu mudah luntur. Hari ini survey menunjukkan bahwa perceraian banyak terjadi justru dikalangan pasangan muda yang menikah dibawah 5 tahun. Alasannya: “Abis, sudah tidak cinta lagi!” Pernikahan adalah soal memelihara perjanjian. Pernikahan Kristen itu adalah bagai papan reklame kasih Kristus terhadap gereja-Nya. Suami bersikap seperti Kristus yang terus mengasihi dan rela berkorban bagi gereja, mempelai wanita-Nya. Istri bersikap seperti gereja yang hormat dan tunduk kepada Kristus, kepala dari gereja.

Dan masih banyak point berharga yang lain. Sepulang dari retreat ini, seluruh pasangan yang semakin akrab itu meneguhkan komitmen mereka untuk terus bertumbuh melalui Family Fellowship ICC. Follow-up Camp diadakan dengan topik bahasan “Mezbah Keluarga” yang hari ini semakin jarang dilakukan oleh keluarga-keluarga Kristen.

Melalui Family Fellowship, pembinaan Keluarga ICC di tahun 2009 ini akan berfokus pada dua tema besar: Marriage dan Parenting. Materi kurikulum berupa buku, DVD, dan workbook yang berbobot telah disiapkan untuk menolong setiap pasangan. Demikian juga program Marriage Mentoring yang akan dijalankan untuk menolong setiap pasangan muda memiliki pernikahan dan keluarga yang kokoh di dalam Kristus.**

Preparing to Teach the Scripture

One of the scariest texts in the Bible, at least for me personally, is James 3:1. It says, "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." Many fail for various reasons, but of all those possible reasons, one which stands out has to do with our mere laziness. The flesh is unwilling to spend hours to study the word and plunge into the technical details of the text in question. This applies to preachers in particular, but also Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, and anyone involved in any Scripture teaching capacity within or outside the church.

This is why I am grateful for Tony Reinke who has provided a long list of 15things to help us do our exegetical homework properly and responsibly.

I reckon if we do this properly, it will take at least 7-10 hours minimum to prepare any given text in the Scripture. Click on the URL above to read the explanation, which includes links to the books and websites mentioned in the list. But here is the list:

1. Commentaries. What commentaries are available on my passage? I’ll begin with the most obvious. If you are a pastor you should have several biblical commentaries at hand. Technical exegetical commentaries are a great resource to better understand the original languages. Expositional and devotional commentaries will also help out. For example, on the epistle to the Ephesians I would consult Peter O’Brien (exegetical), Martyn Lloyd-Jones (expositional), and John Stott (devotional). BestCommentaries is an excellent website to find the best commentaries.

2. Grammar and syntax. What grammatical and syntactical particularities exist in my passage? I have just enough Greek to find my way around the more technical NT commentaries. But I have also discovered that Greek textbooks can provide a lot of help when studying a particular passage. Daniel Wallace’s Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics references thousands of NT passages, pointing to a host of grammatical anomalies that I might otherwise overlook.

3. Biblical theology. Where along the continuum of God’s unfolding plan of redemption does my passage sit? Very often in exegetical preparation I consult the scriptural indexes to the works of Geerhardus Vos, and especially his classic work Biblical Theology. Vos will help you see the development of Scripture. It’s rarely possible to understand a text of scripture without first understanding where it fits in the biblical storyline. This is the work of biblical theology.

4. Systematic theology. Does this passage play an important role in defining a particular doctrine? Consult the scriptural index in Calvin’s Institutes, Wayne Grudem, John Murray, Herman Bavinck, Concise Reformed Dogmatics, John Frame’s The Doctrine of God and The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. Every couple of months or so I watch this video by Dr Derek Thomas to be reminded that when systematic theology is done well, you can preach it. Keep one eye on systematic theology as you study scripture verse by verse, and you may be surprised at how much doctrinal ground you can cover from the pulpit.

5. Creeds. Does my passage supply the biblical support for a particular doctrine defined and defended in the classic reformed confessions? Here I will consult the scriptural index of Reformed Confessions Harmonized by Beeke and Ferguson. I am surprised at the tonnage of biblical references underpinning the reformed confessions. Identify how your text has been used in church history. This discovery may shed light on the historical importance of your text, or open up new topical avenues for further study.

6. Apologetics. Does my passage help defend the Christian faith or inform the Church’s engagement of a fallen world? In seeking to engage non-Christian thought with scripture, it is useful to know which passages are most helpful in the dialogues and discussions. When studying a passage take a look at the scriptural index in books by guys like Cornelius Van Til, Greg Bahnsen, and Scott Oliphint and check if your text has been used and how.

7. Biblical counseling. Does this passage play an important role in any of my biblical counseling resources? Consult the scriptural index in CCEF books along with an electronic search of the CD-Rom version of The Journal of Biblical Counseling 1977-2005. In my research I heavily weigh any references to my text in solid biblical counseling resources. Guys like Powlison, Paul and Tedd Tripp, and Jay Adams will hold your hand and help you understand certain texts in light of marriage, parenting, specific sin struggles, and idols of the heart.

8. Ethics. Does this passage play a role in the study of biblical ethics? Consult the index in Joachim Douma, John Frame’s Doctrine of the Christian Life, and John Murray’s Principles of Conduct. What contemporary ethical issues does this passage address? Euthanasia, abortion, stem cell research, divorce, capitol punishment, pornography, corporate greed, etc.

9. Spurgeon. What did Spurgeon say about this text? While Spurgeon is no model of careful exegesis, he is wise, applicable, cross-centered, and quotable. You can find a list of his sermons arranged by biblical text here. And you can buy the complete works of Spurgeon on CD-Rom for about $20. Apart from flowers for your wife, there is no better reason to slap down an Andrew Jackson.

10. The Puritans. Have any of the primary Puritan authors preached on this passage? Consult Robert P. Martin’s A Guide to the Puritans and the PCA website of Puritan resources. Because of their trusted exegetical integrity, and because their complete works include a detailed scriptural index, I will individually consult the Works of John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, and Thomas Manton. I consult about a dozen Puritans, a list of which can be found in my Puritan Study series I developed a while back.

11. Jonathan Edwards. Where has Edwards developed my text in his theology, books, and sermons? The new Works of Edwards Online website produced by Yale make a search of scriptural references a breeze (note the “Scripture Lookup” feature). And the resource is completely free. Try it for yourself.

12. Single-topic books. Is my text referenced in a topical book or monograph in my library? Here is where flipping through the scriptural index in any number of topical books will come in handy. Flip through the index in books by J.I. Packer, R.C. Sproul, D.A. Carson, John Piper, John MacArthur, Jerry Bridges, John Stott, etc. I think Knowing God by J.I. Packer could be quoted in half of all the sermons you could preach. Collect 10-30 topical books you really appreciate and use them in researching a particular text.

13. Audio messages. Are audio messages available from respected preachers on my text? A wonderful, but often-untapped resource for exegetical research, are the thousands of free MP3 audio files available online. The Gospel Coalition has a wonderful collection of sermons all organized by scripture reference. As you are likely aware men like John MacArthur and John Piper have produced a wealth of sermons that are easy to locate. Occasionally you will find some gems at SermonAudio or Monergism.

14. Christian classics. What did Augustine or Chrysostom say about my text? Check out the Christian Classics Ethereal Library website. You can run a nifty little scriptural passage search of all their resources here. Always worth a look.

15. Google. For fun, throw a “hail Mary” and run a search string on your particular passage. You will not always find exegetical gems—but sometimes you will. Google search your text, say, “John 1:1-18” and see what you find. Also try the same search string in Google Books. It’s impossible to know what you will find—or if what you find will be worthy of your time to read—but it’s worth a shot.

Church Ads

Our latest church ads which appear in the local Indo magazine in Melbourne:

Why Leaders Fail

Zenger and Folkman (2009) in the June edition of Harvard Business Review found from their study of top Fortune 500 leaders who were fired and hundreds of ineffective leaders that the two have similar flaws that cause them to fall from their throne. I guess these ten characteristics are nothing new, but they confirm previous findings which show these seemingly trivial and oft-overlooked characteristics do count:

1. Lack energy and enthusiasm
2. Accept their own mediocre performance
3. Lack clear vision and direction
4. Have poor judgment
5. Don’t collaborate
6. Don’t walk the talk
7. Resist new ideas
8. Don’t learn from mistakes
9. Lack interpersonal skills
10. Fail to develop others

Transformed in a Community

“Our transformation is worked out within
the family of God. This is not
necessarily the simpler way:
being involved with other people can be
inefficient, complicated, and time consuming.

So many things can go wrong in relationships. But this is why community is such a BIG part of God’s plan to
transform us into the image of Christ…

As isolated individuals, we cannot reach the level of
maturity that God has designed for us. This fullness happens
as we live in a loving, redemptive community with one another,
as we struggle together, and
as we grow together.”


Paul Tripp, How Christ Changes Us By His Grace, Journal of Biblical Counseling, Spring 2005

Go on, in the name of God

The following powerful letters were addresseed to William Wilberforce in the midst of his struggle over a decision to throw his life into a long fight against slavery. Truly a radical decision. These letters signified the importance of mentoring, and more importantly of a God-assigned means to confirm His call in the lives of His servants. I wish we have more people doing these to today's young Christians.

The first letter, written in a faltering hand, is one of John Wesleys last messages since the following day, February 25 1791, Wesley sank into a coma and never recovered, dying on March 2. Wilberforce marked the letter "Wesley's last words"

The second letter was written by John Newton, a converted slave trader who later wrote the famous hymn Amazing Grace. He was the person who influenced Wilberforce not to leave the parliament and become a full-time minister

February 24, 1791

Dear Sir,
Unless the divine power has raised you to be as Athanasius contra mundum [Athanasius against the world], I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable villainy, which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? 0 be not weary of well doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of his might, till even American slavery (the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall vanish away before it...

That he who has guided you from youth up may continue to strengthen you in this and all things is the prayer of, dear sir,

Your affectionate servant,
John Wesley

--

July 21, 1796

My very dear Sir,

It is true that you live in the midst of difficulties and snares, and you need a double guard of watchfulness and prayer. But since you know both your need of help, and where to look for it, I may say to you as Darius to Daniel, "Thy God whom thou servest continually is able to preserve and deliver you.'

Daniel, likewise, was a public man, and in critical circumstances: but he trusted in the Lord, was faithful in his department, and therefore, though he had enemies they could not prevail against him.

Indeed the great point for our comfort in life is to have a well grounded persuasion that we are, where, all things considered, we ought to be. Then it is no great matter whether we are in public or in private life, in a city or a village, in a palace or a cottage....

I am your very affectionate, and much obliged,
John Newton

---
The letters were reproduced in Os Guiness' Entrepreneurs of life: faith and the venture of purposeful living (2001, Colorado Springs: NavPress, p. 84)

Question to Ask Your Kids

It is amazing how much we can learn about ourselves and others, including our kids, by asking the right questions. Justin Taylor posted the following questions attributed to Rick Gamache of Sovereign Grace Fellowship. The ones I particularly like are in bold-faced, and I plan to use them on a regular basis as suggested.

How are your devotions?
What is God teaching you?
In your own words, what is the gospel?
Is there a specific sin you’re aware of that you need my help defeating?
Are you more aware of my encouragement or my criticism?
What’s daddy most passionate about?
Do I act the same at church as I do when I’m at home?
Are you aware of my love for you?
Is there any way I’ve sinned against you that I’ve not repented of?
Do you have any observations for me?
How am I doing as a dad?
How have Sunday’s sermons impacted you?
Does my relationship with mom make you excited to be married?

Meet Google Wave

Question: Which presentation at the Google I/O Conference 2009 in San Fransisco two weeks ago that was received with thunderous standing ovation?

Answer: Google Wave

The Age reports:

Dubbed Wave, it's the brainchild of Danish-born and now Sydney-based brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussen. It targets email, the internet's dominant communications platform.

As any user will tell you, email has its downsides. There's spam: 90 per cent of email traffic is now classified as unsolicited junk mail. There are emails which just disappear into the ether. There are long threads of replied to and forwarded emails where it is impossibly difficult to work out who said what when.

Wave, say the Rasmussen brothers, is what email would be if it was invented today. It brings multiple communication tools including instant messaging, blogs, wikis and even Twitter under one roof and also combines file and document sharing.

Watch the 1 hr 20 min presentation video below, and be waved!

This One for Movie-Lovers

I love watching movies, hollywood or otherwise. Before I had kids, I went to cinema quite often with my wife, but those moments have long gone. But I still watch movies in DVDs. To me the ones that stand out are those that depicts the various sides of human hearts. At times I wonder though how does a Christian should approach a film? John Frame gave a list of questions to that end. He wrote a piece in the past on this subject which you can read here.

I know this is a long list, but if we apply these before and during our movie-wathing sessions, I think we can get a max benefit out of the movie. Hence, we don't just wear a consumer hat, but also an analyser hat. I have started trying that.

1.Who wrote the film? Who produced it? Who directed it? Do we know through the writings and previous work of these people anything about their philosophy of life? The previous works of actors are also important. Actors contribute much to the quality of a film, little to its fundamental conception. But actors do tend to sign on to projects with which they have some ideological affinity (assuming financial rewards are not otherwise determinative). Mel Gibson almost never takes on films with a heavy sexual element; Mickey Rourke almost always does. The presence of certain actors, granting that they sometimes go "against type," can tell you something about the message of a film.

2.Is it well-made, aesthetically? Are the production and acting values of high quality? These factors may have little to do with the "message." But they do tend to determine the extent of the film's cultural impact, and that is important for our purposes. If a film is well-made, it can have a large impact upon the culture for good or ill. (Of course some bad films also have a major impact!)

3.Is it honest, true to its own position? This is another mark of "quality." Generally speaking, an honest film, regardless of its point of view, will have a larger cultural impact than one which blunts its points.

4.What kind of film is it? Fantasy? Biography? Realistic drama? Comedy? Obviously each film must be judged according to its purpose and genre. We don't demand of a fantasy the kind of historical accuracy we demand of a supposedly literal biography.

5.What is the world view of the film? Is it theistic or atheistic? Christian or non-Christian? If non-Christian, is its main thrust relativistic or dogmatic? How does it employ the theme of "equality?" Is there any role for providence, for God? Is the film pessimistic or optimistic? Does the action move in deterministic fashion, or is there a significant role for human choice?

6.What is the plot? What problems do the characters face? Can these problems be correlated in some way with the Fall of mankind in Adam? Does the film in effect deny the Fall, or does it affirm it in some way?

7.Are the problems soluble? If so, how? What methods are available to the characters so that they can find the answers they need?

8.What is the moral stance of the film? Is the film relativistic, dogmatic, or both in some combination? What are its attitudes toward sex, family, human life, property, truth, heart-attitudes? What is the source of moral norms, if any? Does justice prevail?

9.In comedy, what is it that is funny? What are the typical incongruities? Who is the butt of the jokes? (Christians? traditional values? the wicked? the righteous? God? Satan?) Is the humor anarchic? Is it rationality gone awry? Is it bitter or gentle? Does it rely on caricatures? If so, of whom?

10.Are there allusions to historical events, literary works, other films, famous people, Scripture, etc. that would give us some idea where the filmmakers are coming from? We should remember, of course, that allusions may be negative, positive, ironic, or merely decorative. A biblical allusion does not necessarily indicate acceptance of biblical values.

11.What are the chief images of the film? Is there anything interesting about the lighting, the camera angles, the sound, the timing which would reinforce a particular theme? Are there significant symbols?

12.Are there any explicit religious themes? Christ-figures? Does the film express significant attitudes toward Christ, the clergy, or the church? Does it distort Christianity or present it at its worst? Or does it present it with some insight and/or sympathy? Does it recognize the element of personal piety in people's lives? There are exceptions. If so, does it approve or disapprove of it? What about Satan, the demons, the occult? Does the film recognize their activity in some way? Is the devil taken seriously? If so, how is he dealt with?