Category Archives: Theology

Avoiding the Trash

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Tuesdays. Trash day. The bane of cyclists.  Every Tuesday I have to navigate a barrage of city trashcans that line the sidewalks as I ride my bike to work.  I live just far enough away that riding to work saves me some money and gives me a bit of a workout (since I never find time for the gym).  So last week, I was riding to work, dodging those trashcans like a downhill skier, when I approached an obstacle.  Before me stood a large can (the kind with the wheels on it) with just enough room between it and the upcoming mailbox that I could slip through.  I weaved in… just then my front tire slipped off the curb preventing me from weaving back over to avoid the mailbox.  BAM.  I rolled the bike over so I didn’t smash the mailbox (that would be a federal offense you know) or it smashes me (more likely).  Stupid trashcans.  Luckily, I was not hurt, except for my pride as I could imagine the snickers of gawking drivers passing by.

Avoiding the temptations of life can sometimes be just as tricky as my Tuesday morning trek.  Thank the Lord that we have a map to follow. In the scriptures, we see plenty of things to help us as we face temptations everyday. As I read the Word, I continually see that the power against temptation is not in ourselves! Remember this! We cannot do it on our own!

The power against the temptations in this life is not in our strength, but in our submission.

 1.   Submit to God:  We have all heard “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”. That is a false statement when standing alone!  James 4:7 qualifies that statement with a power packed intro. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” In submitting our will to the will of the Father we find strength. Only then does the devil recognize he is outmatched and flee.  Trusting in our own strength, the devil sees easy prey.  First submit your life, dreams, hopes, desires, everything to God, and watch the devil flee in moments of temptation!

2.    Submit to the Word:  When Jesus entered into public ministry He began with the temptation in the wilderness. Matthew 4:1 says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” In response to all the temptations He faced, what did He do? He quoted scripture! “But He answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matt 4:4)  The Word of God is powerful for defeating the temptations in our lives. Jesus understood this and we need to follow His example.
 So take this practical step: Identify your areas of temptation and MEMORIZE several applicable verses to use in the moment of battle!  Jesus didn’t whip out a scroll! He quoted from memory!  Understand your limitations and submit to the power of scripture in your life.

3.    Submit through Prayer:  In an intense moment of Jesus life, the Garden of Gethsemane, He gave some advise to his closest friends who were there with him. “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38)  Unfortunately, these guys were weak.  Jesus knew that through prayer we focus our lives on God’s will.  In prayer, we connect to a strength not in ourselves.  When you know temptation is coming saturate the situation in prayer.  In the middle of temptation, prayer is a key to victory.  Prayer does not change God, but it does change us.  In your prayers, submit to His power in all situations.

4.    Submit to Accountability:  No one is perfect.  We all fail.  We fail more when we try to handle this life alone.  God created us for community and created the church to be fulfillment of that need.  James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”  Our culture is one of isolation and loneliness.  It tells us to hide our sin at all cost.  The Bible tells believers to confess.  In this confession we find brothers and sisters ready to support us in the healing process.  We find freedom to allow the Gospel to penetrate to the deepest parts of us with its message of forgiveness and hope.  With accountability we can tackle the struggles and temptations of this life and have a support system through it all.  Do you have people with whom you can be real and honest?  If not, find some.  Submit your private life to those who will push you closer to Jesus.

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Keep fighting the good fight!  Hang in there.  Let me leave you with one last verse that has sustained me on many occasions. 1 Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  It’s a promise. Take it to the bank.

Your fellow worker in the field,  Adam

Student Ministry needs to use REAL bullets!

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In a ministry culture revolving around fun and entertainment, sometimes student ministry forgets to talk seriously about serious matters.

Sin.

Youth workers, we need to be teaching the reality that sin will kill us. Romans 6:23 makes it plain enough.  “The wages of sin is DEATH”.  Does this generation really understand this? Or do they see us wink at sin and sweep it under the rug?

Teaching the truth of the Gospel means using real bullets in this fight!  Bring the heat.  We need to accurately convey the gravity of sin in our lives!  Don’t let teenagers make it through your ministry never deeply thinking about sin in their own lives!  And what should we be doing with this sin?  Paul answers it very succinctly in Romans 8.

Don’t just skip down to verse 31 and following, subtitled “the Believers Triumph” without teaching what we are to be triumphing over.  Verses 1-28 paint a graphic picture of killing sin before it kills you!

Never be scared to bring the heavy weights into a sermon with teenagers.  They can grasp it.  If they are doing calculus and microbiology at school we can get deeper in church too.  Bring in John Owen.  Talk about his book, “Mortification of Sin in Believers”.  (Here is a good summary.)  Teenagers will only glean from the depth of your own study.  So study well.

Read and listen to this series by John Piper, How to Kill Sin.  See how he exposits Romans 8 and gives a great understanding of John Owen.  Use this stuff to teach the next generation the reality of sin and the holiness of God.

Teenagers, young adults, and everyone for that matter, need to be constantly reminded of the depths of our sin and conversely the power of the Gospel.  Preach it to yourself daily; let that overflow in your ministry.

Your fellow worker in the field,   Adam

Big Words for a Big Problem

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MTD – Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.  I believe this article, the second of four about the current state of youth ministry today, is right on target.  (click here for the full article at Gospel Coalition) Brian Cosby recognizes that the Bible is not to be taught as a guide for being more moral in our society, but the redemptive hope for our souls found in the Gospel!

“That a youth ministry “teaches the Bible” does not necessarily mean it teaches the gospel. Many mistake the gospel with moralism—being a good person, reading your Bible, or opening the door for the elderly in order to earn God’s favor. But the gospel is altogether different.”

Most teenagers are skipping (sometimes fumbling) through life without deeply thinking about their worldview framework through which they make assumptions about reality.  With an ambiguous and often contradiction laden framework, many teens can still coast through Student Ministry without challenging these beliefs!

“According to sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, most American teenagers believe in something dubbed “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” (MTD).  Within this MTD “religion,” God is a cosmic therapist and divine butler, ready to help out when needed. He exists but really isn’t a part of our lives. We are supposed to be “good people,” but each person must find what’s right for him or her. Good people will go to heaven, and we shouldn’t be stifled by organized religion where somebody tells us what we should do or what we should believe.”

And this problem is not just in the realm of our student ministries, but it filters into the church at large!

“Moralistic Therapeutic Deism has little to do with God or a sense of divine mission in the world. It offers comfort, bolsters self-esteem, helps solve problems, and lubricates interpersonal relationships by encouraging people to do good, feel good, and keep God at arm’s length.  When this self-help theology is combined with a sola-boot-strapia sermon from TBN, we start having teens singing, “God Is Watching Us from a Distance” while—at the same time—wondering why Jesus isn’t fixing their parents’ marriage or their problems with cutting.  MTD isn’t just the problem of youth ministry; it’s the problem of the church. And American Christianity has become a “generous host” to this low-commitment, entertainment-driven model of youth ministry.”

I love this quote. It hammers home that our theology should drive our methodology!  Not the other way around!  Always keep this in mind student pastors.

“While our theology of the gospel should inform our method, the American church—to a large extent—has practiced just the reverse. The question on many youth leaders’ minds is, “How do we get bored teenagers into the church?” The question should be, “How are we to faithfully plant and water the gospel of Jesus Christ for his glory and our joy in him?”

This article ends with hope for the church.  That hope rests in Jesus Himself.  Jesus will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!  So we trust Him. We seek Him. We focus our ministries on Him!

I applaud Brian Cosby in this informative and challenging reminder of the dangers this generation and our churches are facing.  May we stand in the gap with a tenacious focus on the Gospel!

Your fellow worker in the field,  Adam

Seeking a Generation

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In Psalms 24 David asserts question.

Who?

“Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?” Or in other words, who can be in God’s presence. What qualifies us to see and know God? This moves beyond the surface level of just knowing about God, but to really KNOW God. To have a relationship with Him. To commune with Him.

David goes on to answer that question. “The one with clean hands and a pure heart”. Speaking of this one, John Calvin describes the connection between hands and heart in his commentary of Psalms 24.  He writes, “Under the purity of the hands and of the heart, and the reverence of God’s name, he comprehends all religion, and denotes a well ordered life. True purity, no doubt, has its seat in the heart, but it manifests its fruits in the works of the hands. The Psalmist, therefore, very properly joins to a pure heart the purity of the whole life.”

But the question still remains.  If this is what it takes to enter into the presence of God, how can a person really have clean hands and a pure heart!

Our hope rests solely in the shed blood of Jesus Christ!  Just as David and all of the Old Testament was looking forward to a coming Messiah, we look back on the finished work of that Messiah!

2 Cor. 5:21 says,  “He [God the Father] made the One who did not know sin [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Thank you Father for making a way for us to have clean hands and a pure heart, even when we were filthy dirty!  Thank you Father for substitutionary work of Jesus on my behalf.  Because of Him I have a righteousness not of my own, but of His.

“Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.”  Through the work of Jesus on the cross we can be part a generation that seeks Him.  Being part of this group is not through genetic heritage as the Israelites thought, but it is through spiritual heritage.

Rise up O generation!  You who have been purchased by the blood of Jesus, You who have been given clean hands and a pure heart, Rise Up!

I am seeking a generation who will be intentional with the hope we have been given.  That we would live it and share it.  That our churches and youth ministries would exemplify what it means to be a generation that seeks His face!

 

Your fellow worker in the field, Adam

The journey begins with one step.

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The Journey has begun!  May this exercise in discipline be as fruitful for the readers as I believe it will be for my own growth!  Jesus be glorified in this blog! May we become a generation that seeks Your face Oh God of Jacob!

Your fellow worker in the field,  Adam