Imagine the theologically orthodox, world-renown communicator, & respected leader in Christian circles - and a sexual predator- still going. Imagine being a leader aware of that situation and turning a blind eye to the abuse & malpractice.
Add in the inexcusable alliance of the Church with conspiracy theories & violence, racism, the abuse & exploitation of children, the misogynistic disregard of women, xenophobia, & the sheer materialism of the entertainment-celebrity wing of the Evangelical Industrial complex...
And it’s enough to make lukewarm Laodicea look like a red hot revival. Americanized Church isn’t in need of a reset or a revival - if revival just means bigger crowds for more of the same. No. It needs a Christian burial in sure & certain hope of the resurrection. I believe...
My main problem with defining good expository preaching as communicating what the Bible says “verse by verse” is that the Bible wasn’t written in verses. Or chapters, for that matter. Fidelity to the text can’t be measured by a standard foreign to the text itself & imposed on it.
Every word, every jot & tittle, matters. All is to be opened up & announced in a way that reveals the Person to whom it all points - Christ. Yet there are many approaches that can do this, and not all passages weigh the same as another. There are matters of “First Importance”
So I believe in expository preaching that is proclaiming Christ as he is revealed to us in the whole Bible, standing with John on the banks of the Jordan and crying, 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!'
Edward the Confessor. Julian of Norwich. NT Wright. Handel. Bach. Mozart. Bucer. Zwingli. Meno Simons. Bunyan. Edwards. Colson. Denhollender. Charles Martel. Cyril. Faulkner. Melville. Dorothy Sayers. US Abolitionists. Jane Austen. Dickenson. Justin Martyr...
"In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength..." - Isaiah 30:5
How counterintuitive! With our defensive, omnicompetent, boisterous busyness we expose ourselves as the 'experts' in DIY Salvation projects. How exhausting!
We come to the end of the week, and - graciously - to the end of ourselves. And then we remember another weekend, long ago, one that reaches through time and whispers a shout from that day, "It is finished" and "He has risen!"
Then our souls turn from the arrogance of our self-saving efforts, break our alliances with false deliverers, and return to the simplicity and peace of the Sabbath Creator who is our Rest. That's where the real strength lies:
Go to any street in any major population center in America and poll 100 people with the question, "What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word 'evangelical'?" Do you think that the response will be 'Oh! The people who love Jesus and their neighbors!'?
We all know that isn't what the response will be. It might concern politics, or scandal, or repression, or hate - and you might think they're wrong, that they were influenced by some bad gossip. I disagree. I think we've buried the lede.
It's time for the EV Church to get back on message and back on mission. Hijacked by political opportunists and celebrity hucksters, the Church has tried to nationalize its focus, politicize its mission, and demonize its opponents. That's not how the world is won to Christ.
No one but Jesus could both perfectly know us and perfectly love us. He does!
Arise, my soul, arise,
shake off your guilty fears:
the bleeding Sacrifice
in my behalf appears:
before the throne my Surety stands,
before the throne my Surety stands,
my name is written on his hands.
He ever lives above,
for me to intercede,
his all-redeeming love,
his precious blood to plead;
his blood atoned for ev'ry race,
his blood atoned for ev'ry race,
and sprinkles now the throne of grace.
Five bleeding wounds he bears,
received on Calvary;
they pour effectual prayers,
they strongly plead for me.
"Forgive him, O forgive," they cry,
"Forgive him, O forgive," they cry,
"nor let that ransomed sinner die!"