Countercultural Relevance

HT: The Gospel Coalition @TGC

Generous and Content

How the Gospel Makes Us Generous and Content with Our Money - A good article by Zach Nielsen based on 1 Timothy 6:6-10: and 1 Timothy 6:17-19:

"...Rather than debating between “radical” living for God and the dangers of “poverty theology,” we learn from 1 Timothy 6 that contentment and generosity should be our emphasis in light of the gospel.

God has already provided all that we will ever need (Rom. 8:32). He cares for grass (Matt. 6:28-30) and birds (Matt. 10:29), so we can be content with or without stuff. God has been infinitely generous with us in Christ so, rich or poor, we can be joyfully generous in a way that makes our neighbors scratch their heads and say, “Who are these people?”

Generosity is not a poverty theology. Contentment with thankfulness is not a prosperity theology. The gospel motivates us to be generous and gives us ultimate contentment."

From The Gospel Coalition Blog

Should Churches Spend Money on Nice Big Buildings?

At the Gospel Coalition Web site there is an interesting conversation taking place on the question whether churches should spend money on building nice big buildings.

We Want to Stay Light and Mobile,  Flexible and Ready - J. D. Greear
Reforming Church Architecture - David Gobel
Buildings Matter Because Bodies Matter - Matthew Lee Anderson
Should Churches Spend Money on Nice Buildings? - John Starke

What do you think?

Getting Out

Getting Out - Tim Keller - TGC 2011 from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

This video shows Tim Keller demonstrating how to preach Christ from an Old Testament text, by preaching Exodus 14, i.e. the Crossing of the Red Sea.  He teaches that the Christian life is about "Getting Out":  (1) What we are getting out of, (2) How to get out of it, and (3) why we can get out of it.

An Isrealite living in the days of the exodus would say that he was a slave under sentence of death who sheltered his life under the blood of the passover lamb, was led through the water by his mediator and redeemer, on his way to a promised land guided through a desert by the Spirit of his God, fed by the bread of life and guaranteed that God would be with him until he reached his promised land at the end.  Don't Christians say the same thing?

Well worth the time to listen!

Hat Tip:  The Resurgence:

Revival: Lord Do It Again!

Lord, Do It Again! from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

Why isn't there as much interest in revival among Christians today compared to former years? In the video above from the Gospel Coalition, Collin Hansen poses that question to Tim Keller and Nancy Leigh DeMoss, each of whom has been inspired by reading about past revivals to aspire for such an awakening today.

Hat Tip: Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology

Passing The Torch

Three well-known pastors in their 60's recently sat together to discuss the issue of pastoral transition. Video and text below is from Piper Talks with Carson, Keller About Succession Plans at Bethlehem – The Gospel Coalition Blog:

"Last Sunday, John Piper updated the congregation of Bethlehem Baptist Church on his plans to transition in three years—June 30, 2014—from pastor for preaching and vision to focus on writing, speaking, mentoring, and teaching at Bethlehem College and Seminary. Back in April, Piper, 65, called for six weeks of prayer and fasting at Bethlehem to seek the leading of the Holy Spirit about what to do after he relinquishes day-to-day leadership and preaching at the church.

Two days after making this original call, Piper sat down with two other 60-somethings, Don Carson and Tim Keller, to talk about growing old and passing on responsibility for the churches and ministries they lead. The Bible prizes age, Piper says, but “getting old is a series of losses.” Wise, aging leaders don’t multitask as they did in their youth, because if they try to do everything, they’ll do it all badly, even if they maintain a “ridiculous amount of energy,” as Carson does. But Keller cautions that driven leaders often take on too much responsibility out of bad motivations and should have made these changes sooner.

While Piper admits Bethlehem is still seeking for the best way to transition, Keller explains Redeemer Presbyterian’s plans to divide into four congregations over the next decade with the hope that the church’s appeal will broaden with a new crop of lead pastors.

“It’s something that makes me not feel like I’m in my 60s playing out the string,” Keller says of the transition. “I feel like I’m doing something with my leaders which is every bit as big, in a way, and creative as starting a church.”"

Delighting in Leviticus?

For all of you who have ever started to read through the entire Bible and had your heartfelt plans and intentions die in the wilderness of the Book of Leviticus, please check out Daring to Delight in Leviticus at The Gospel Coalition Blog

I just read it last month - it's not that hard!

The Gospel in Every Message

Video from the Gospel Coalition:

Not every Christian is equally gifted as an evangelist. But all of us have the obligation and opportunity to prepare ourselves “to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15). Pastors in particular might seem as though they have many chances to share the gospel with unbelievers. In reality, they spend so much time with Christians that they must be proactive to build relationships with non-Christians. If you don’t pray for opportunities to evangelize and don’t actively look for them, you won’t likely have the privilege of welcoming many new believers into the kingdom of God.

The sermon, however, is one regular occasion when pastors can model gospel proclamation for the congregation and trust God to move unbelievers visiting the church to repent and believe the good news that Jesus Christ died for sinners and triumphed over death in resurrection. So why don’t more pastors make sure they preach the gospel in every sermon? TGC council members Mark Dever, Mark Driscoll, and James MacDonald address this question from their varied experience as they discuss the pastor’s ministry of evangelism in this video roundtable.

Hat Tip:  Pure Church by Thabiti Anyabwile