A Sober Warning to Churches

"The moment the Church of God shall despise the pulpit, God will despise her."

--Charles Spurgeon

A Living Parable of an Identity Crisis

I don't know about you, but Taco Bell is not the first fast-food restaurant that comes to my mind when I crave a chicken sandwich. In fact, it never comes to mind unless I want - oh, I don't know - tacos! But the Taco Bell that I pass every morning on the way to church is advertising their new 99-cent chicken sandwich. I thought it must have been a joke at first, but it has been on the sign now for several days (I included the picture just to prove it).

I know, I know, so many things can be said about this image. There is the obvious irony of Taco Bell advertising a chicken sandwich (can you imagine Chick-fil-A advertising a taco?). There is the seemingly difficult time Taco Bell must be having that has caused them to resort to neglecting their "bread and butter" (or shell and sauce, I guess I should say). And there is the apparent loss of their identity as a restaurant that specializes and focuses on tacos.

But as I laughed to myself about Taco Bell's loss of identity, I was reminded of how many churches resort to this same strategy. They forget what they are ultimately about, and so they begin to trust in gimmicks rather than in the gospel. They lose sight of who they are and what they're called to be. They neglect the very things that God has commanded in His Word in favor of whatever they assume the world must be craving. And how often must a watching world be laughing (like I did at Taco Bell) when they see churches trying to do things that churches have no business doing or that God has not called us to do. When we do that, we reveal our own crisis of identity. We're like a Taco Bell trying to sell chicken sandwiches!

A Thought on the Sea Shore

A Thought on the Sea Shore
John Newton, 1725-1807

In ev'ry object here I see
Something, O Lord, that leads to Thee.
Firm as the rocks Thy promise stands,
Thy mercies countless as the sands,
Thy love a sea immensely wide,
Thy grace an ever-flowing tide.

In ev'ry object here I see
Something, my heart, that points at thee.
Hard as the rocks that bound the strand,
Unfruitful as the barren sand,
Deep and deceitful as the ocean,
And, like the tides, in constant motion.

Don't Think Lightly of Sin

These remarks by Spurgeon in 1897 are just as true today:

Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore think lightly of the Savior. He who has stood before his God, convicted and condemned, with the rope about his neck, is the man to weep for joy when he is pardoned, to hate the evil which has been forgiven him, and to live to the honor of the Redeemer by whose blood he has been cleansed.

--Charles Spurgeon, C.H. Spurgeon Autobiography, Volume 1

Praise for Conversion

Come, Ye That Fear the Lord
Samuel Stennett, 1727-1795

Come, ye that fear the Lord,
And listen, while I tell
How narrowly my feet escaped
The snares of death and hell.

The flattering joys of sense
Assailed my foolish heart,
While Satan with malicious skill
Guided the poisonous dart.

I fell beneath the stroke,
But fell to rise again;
My anguish roused me into life,
And pleasure sprung from pain.

Darkness and shame and grief,
Oppressed my gloomy mind;
I looked around me for relief,
But no relief could find.

At length to God I cried;
He heard my plaintive sigh;
He heard, and instantly He sent
Salvation from on high.

My drooping head He raised;
My bleeding wounds He healed;
Pardoned my sins, and, with a smile,
The gracious pardon sealed.

Oh, may I never forget
The mercy of my God;
Nor ever want a tongue to spread
His loudest praise abroad.

The Given Life

Something to reflect on from the last line of a poem by Wendell Berry:

We live the given life, and not the planned.

--Wendell Berry, A Timbered Choir

Newton on Proofs of Our Depravity

"It is a proof of our depravity that good habits are much more easily lost than acquired, whereas bad habits are acquired with ease but laid aside with difficulty."

"One of the greatest contradictions in human nature, and the very strongest proof of our depravity is, that the communication of extraordinary measures of divine comforts, which in their own nature have a direct tendency to humble, has, through our corruptions, sometimes a contrary effect...."

--John Newton, Letters of John Newton

Let Me Rove No More

Jesus, Friend of Sinners, Hear
Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

Jesus, Friend of Sinners, hear
A feeble creature pray;
From my debt of sin set clear,
For I have nought to pay.
Speak, O speak my kind release,
A poor backsliding soul restore;
Love me freely, seal my peace,
And let me rove no more.

Though my sins as mountains rise,
And swell, and reach to heaven,
Mercy is above the skies,
And I shall stand forgiven.
Mighty is my guilt's increase,
But greater is Thy mercy's store!
Love me freely, seal my peace,
And let me rove no more.

From the oppresive weight of sin,
My struggling spirit free;
Blood and righteousness divine
Can rescue even me.
Holy Spirit, shed Thy grace,
And let me feel the softening shower;
Love me freely, seal my peace,
And let me rove no more.

Comforts and Crosses Work Together

"[B]e not discouraged: usefulness and trials, comforts and crosses, strength and exercise go together. But remember He has said, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.' When you get to heaven, you will not complain of the way by which the Lord brought you."

--John Newton, Letters of John Newton

Crying from the Depths

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! (Psalm 130:1)

"It little matters where we are if we can pray; but prayer is never more real and acceptable than when it rises out of the worst places. Deep places beget deep devotion. Depths of earnestness are stirred by depths of tribulation. Diamonds sparkle most amid the darkness. Prayer de profundis gives to God gloria in excelsis."

--Charles Spureon, The Treasury of David

How To Improve Your Theology

This may not be the answer you expected to read when you saw the title of this post, but it is oh-so true, oh-so needed, and oh-so doable:

The source of all our theology must be the word of God, and so the most obvious but often overlooked way to develop our theology is to read broadly and thoughtfully in the Bible. If you want to improve your systematic theology, ensure that you are regularly reading through the Bible and being constantly exposed to God's thinking about subjects that you would otherwise avoid.

--Phillip Jensen and Paul Grimmond, The Archer and the Arrow

Sweetly Pursuing the Theme of God's Salvation

Sometimes a Light Surprises
William Cowper, 1731-1800

Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord, who rises with healing in His wings:
When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining, to cheer it after rain.

In holy contemplation we sweetly then pursue
The theme of God’s salvation, and find it ever new.
Set free from present sorrow, we cheerfully can say,
Let the unknown tomorrow bring with it what it may.

It can bring with it nothing but He will bear us through;
Who gives the lilies clothing will clothe His people, too;
Beneath the spreading heavens, no creature but is fed;
And He Who feeds the ravens will give His children bread.

Though vine nor fig tree neither their wonted fruit should bear,
Though all the field should wither, nor flocks nor herds be there;
Yet God the same abiding, His praise shall tune my voice,
For while in Him confiding, I cannot but rejoice.

Hell: Remembering the Awful Reality (New 9Marks eJournal)

The September/October edition of the 9Marks eJournal is available - Hell:Remembering the Awful Reality.

The articles fall under two major categories: (1) pastoral perspectives on hell and (2) hell in biblical and theological perspective. Contributors include Mark Dever, Kevin DeYoung, Sinclair Ferguson, Greg Gilbert, Andrew Naselli, Jim Hamilton, and Gavin Ortlund.

Death by the Ear, Salvation by the Ear

"It was by the ear, by our first parents listening to the serpent that we lost paradise; and it is by the ear, by hearing of the Word, that we get to heaven."

--Thomas Watson

Interview with Phillip Jensen (on preaching)

Below is a video interview with Phillip Jensen in which he discusses preaching, preachers, and listening to preaching (see Monday's post for his new book on preaching). It is just under 30 minutes, but it is worthwhile for preachers and hearers alike. So whether you spend your Lord's Days doing the preaching or listening to the preaching, you will benefit from Jensen's wisdom on this subject.

Phillip Jensen and Kel Richards - Preaching from Audio Advice on Vimeo.