It is no surpirse that the Puritans have been called Doctors of the Soul. Not only did they have mastery of knowledge of doctrine, but mastery of that piety which is informed by doctrine. The Puritans get a bad wrap these days, being painted as stodgy zealots who burned women at the stake for witcheries and wickedness untold. This, of course, is historical revisionism wherein a few people’s foolish actions are embellished beyond reality, then perpetuated with a vengeance by those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The last I checked, men are born totally depraved, so there’s bound to be a bad seed here and there.

Regardless, the Puritans can be read by us, and when we do so, it is not too long before we realize they are accurately reading us. Using that double-edged Sword, the Word of Truth, they will turn over all the rocks, look in every nook and cranny, and expose the heart of a man for all that he is. How were they able to do this? Because they examined themselves arduously. They knew the evil of the hearts of all men because they knew the evil of their own! And in godly, pastoral fashion they are able to tear down the man, and when he comes to the end of himself, point him to the Gospel of Grace.

One need only read great men like William Gurnall, or Richard Sibbes, to overcome that guilt of sin that goes beyond godly guilt. They are able to encourage, as it were, the sting of rebuke that David felt after being confronted by Nathan, while discourage those darts of accusations that come from Satan, wherein he tells you you’ve been dethroned from grace. And for the calloused man, one need only read Jeremiah Burroughs or John Owen, with their painstakingly penetrating words of wisdom to the wickedness of sin. But not only do they expose such wickedness, they give the practical and pastoral answers as to the method of the mortification thereof.

You see, the Puritans, the Reformers, and the Scottish Presbyterians of old though “being dead, yet speak.” They were able to distinguish between a healthy dose of doctrine, which always results in the practice of True and Godly Christian piety, and an overdose of doctrine that only results in seeming theological prowess. These men wrote with a heart for the shepherding of the Church of God. These men understood the essential need of personal holiness and piety in the Christian life, while realizing that said things don’t earn merit before God. These men wrote as pastors, shepherds, and overseers, not as mere teachers, lecturers, and opiners of theology extraordinaire.

So, for a good balance of Law & Gospel, Doctrine & Piety, Conviction & Comfort, read the Puritans. They will read you as well.

Sermon by Pastor Thomas Park

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(pictures by Drew Blom)

One thing that's really encouraged me in this series is to see that all of these great preachers manuscript their sermons (save Keller who has some completely foreign method). I know that manuscripting has helped me tremendously in not only my prep, but also keeping my cool on Sunday mornings, and not getting off topic with interjections.

What about all you young preachers out there? How do you prepare? How has seeing these notes convinced you to change what you do for your sermon prep?

When Elijah contested the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel, he was showing to the children of Israel the glory of the One True and Living God. In a sense, then, he was engaged in apologetics: not how we think of it typically, with prepared speeches and footnotes and all, but a defense of the faith, which is the essence of apologetics:

I Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear

To "give an answer" is the Greek word, apologia, meaning "toward a defense." This is what apologists do - defend the faith. Although scores of sermons and applications can be made of the contest at Mt. Carmel, Elijah was essentially doing apologetics that day, as he defended Jehovah against Baal.

For us today, apologetics is of the utmost importance, for which the contest at Mt. Carmel provides some valuable lessons:

1. Apologetics is a dire need of this hour

Apologetics is not the cure-all for the ills of Christianity. I'm not suggesting that we forsake worship services and outreach programs and condense all the church functions into apologetics classes. But with the growing number of groups that oppose Christianity, it is essential that we place an emphasis on the defense of the faith.

I Kings 18:2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

Samaria was the capital city of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In other words, it was the most important city of the people of God. And yet it is described as having a "sore famine." What a terrible tragedy! And why? Because King Ahab followed his wife Jezebel's instigation to incorporate Baal worship into Israel. As a result, God sent a drought. Conditions became so bad after about 3 years, that the King himself had to go out searching for food:

I Kings 18:5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts.
⁶ So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

The spiritual temperature in Israel was so bad that it affected the physical conditions. Again we see the parallel to our society today. Churches are closing down in record numbers while mosques are being built. The New Atheism continues to snowball. Skepticism is seeping into the churches. Liberalism is increasing. And none of this helps the growing rate of violence in schools, indecency, immorality, and other social ills. Certainly we live in a desperate hour.

2. The blame is usually misplaced

First, it is the staunch defender of the faith who is blamed for the problems:

I Kings 18:17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?

Elijah was accused of being the cause of the problems in Israel. He's in good company, though: Jesus was also blamed (Luke 23:5), as were Paul and Silas (Acts 16:20).

As we engage in apologetics, we will be accused of being the cause of evil in the world. It is happening today. That’s why books like God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, and The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason are being written and promoted. People believe that religion, and Christianity in particular, is the great cause of evil in the world. Just listen to the way the New Atheism’s representatives talk about Christianity.

Sometimes, we misplace the blame as well:

Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

What Adam said to God is exactly what Elijah, or Ahab, could have said of Jezebel. After all, she was the one from Phoenicia. She's the one who's father's name meant "Baal is alive." She instigated Baal worship when she came to Israel. Therefore it could be said that the spiritual and consequent physical conditions are all Jezebel's fault.

Apologetics isn't about casting the blame on atheists, skeptics, or followers of false religion. Our spiritual climate isn't altered by Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris, Osama bin Laden or Yusuf Estes, Mormon missionaries or Jehovah's Witness proselytizers. They're wrong for blaming us. We're wrong for blaming them. Who's to blame?

I Kings 18:18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.

Elijah cast the blame on Ahab. Why? Because he was an Israelite. He was a leader. And he was a compromiser. The spiritual condition of Israel wasn't the fault of the pagans. Not was it the fault of the defender of truth. It was the fault of the one who compromised.

Apologetics must have the goal of winning over Christians who would be prone to compromise. As we defend the faith, we must not be seeking to win an argument over an opponent of Christianity, but to dismantle their arguments in front of  weaker brethren, that they may see the power of God.

3. Apologetics, then, must be focused primarily on Christians

As we've noted here before, apologetics is for our benefit. It strengthens our faith. And it helps us to make firm decisions:

I Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

The purpose of the contest at Mt. Carmel was to prove to the Israelites that Jehoavh was the True God and Baal false. In doing so, the Israelites were called upon to make a decision that would impact their lives.

Just as back then, Christians today are lingering between two opinions. This is why it's not about the defender of the faith - we are strong in our convictions. Not is it about the opponent of the faith - they are strong in their convictions. It's about the weak Christian who, although may be attending church and calling himself a Christian, is mightily influenced by the philosophy of the other side. He needs to take a stand. Apologetics calls him to do just that.

4. Apologetics must have the goal of bringing God's people back to Himself

I Kings 18:37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
³⁸ Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
³⁹ And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

"That this people may know that thou art the LORD God" is the battle cry of apologetics. Notice it is "this" people. Elijah had told Ahab to summon all of Israel to behold this battle. The display of God's power wasn't for the Canaanites or any other people. It was for God's people, Israel.

The same is true for us. Apologetics, again, is for us. It turns our hearts back to God. We learn to trust Him, His message, His Book, and His will for our lives.

5. The results of apologetics is only through the power of God

I Kings 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
³⁹ And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

The prophets of Baal used their human strength to try to implore their god to come through for them (I Kings 18:25-28). Yet nothing happened. For Elijah, a simple prayer of faith (v37) was all he needed to see a breathtaking exhibit of God's power. Only God could send the fire to consume the sacrifice. Only He could turn the hearts of Israel back. Only He could send the rains in Israel again.

Apologetics isn't a matter of our logic or intellect. Although apologists must study, they must remember that the only good that can come out of their defense of the faith is from God Himself.

To apply these principles, it could be said that when James White debates Bart Ehrman in January over the text of scripture, it is not to win an argument against Ehrman, but to show the Christians who watch the amazing testimony of the Bible, so that they, through the power of God, would take a stand for the Lord and have their hearts turned back to Him.

Oftentimes we are not fully appreciative of information we receive because we are either unable to value its true significance or we are unaware as to the solution it proffers to a much debated problem. Numerous statements are indeed answers to questions that are being asked explicitly or implicitly, but if we have not shared in the interrogation of a particular matter we are unlikely to get the point if we overhear the response when it is disconnected from the context of discussion. For example, when believers firmly identify the Christ of faith with the Christ of history they are denying the distinction often made between the Jesus who (perhaps) lived and died, and about whom little is known, and the Jesus of Christian doctrine who is a (developed) construct or invention of the church. We believe the entire gospel record and its exposition in the epistles, and our saving trust is placed in the risen Christ who was born of the Virgin Mary. We are not subscribers to mere religious fiction, fantasy, or wishful thinking. When scholars go out of their way to substantiate the New Testament witness as factual and reliable we could mistakenly regard their statements as obvious and even fatuous, or their arguments unnecessary, because we are not aware of the academic issues at stake and the alternative propositions that have been made in specialist circles that influence the testimony of the people of God as they address the world. Statements only make complete sense when we are party to the full conversation. This leads to the observation that we rarely grasp a truth in a firm and personal way until we have first had to pose our own earnest and probing questions. Simple faith and unexamined faith are not identical. And all of us are afraid of gullibility. In various ways we all engage in the process of checking things out until we are satisfied. Acceptance of the gospel is fortified by apologetics (defence of the truths we hold), which enables us to commend our convictions cogently to others (1 Cor 15:1-7,1 Pet 3:15).

The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the proclamation of the cross, is an answer to a problem — the moral problem of our sin and consequent alienation from God — but if the problem is not well defined and understood any attempt at presenting the gospel will inevitably prove inept, inaccurate, and inadequate. The answer we propose as the church of God will be disconnected from the problem, distorted, and misleading. If we do not wholly admit the reality of the human predicament and peril as outlined in Holy Scripture then eventually the redemptive message we attempt to declare will become something else, much diluted, and radically different from the message of the apostles, and it will soon become that which Paul himself describes as another gospel and does his utmost to guard against. People seemingly tire of and grow impatient with doctrinal accuracy and the preservation of orthodoxy, but when the church grows lax in its oversight of teaching then dangerous misperceptions and interpretations of the Word of God are smuggled in and a false hope is promulgated that, left unchecked, could result in eternal disappointment and regret (Galatians). Surrender to sentiment and slick slogans in Christianity, with tolerance for any view that is prefaced with the glib profession, “I love Jesus” or “I believe in Jesus” — which many of the cults are able to (deceivingly) affirm — is an abdication of our responsibility to honour and obey the full disclosure of God’s mind in the Bible and deliver it faithfully and unedited. Nothing plain in Scripture is surplus to requirement or disadvantageous to us and it is not to be omitted from our preaching. We must declare his whole counsel, as the sacred text puts it (Acts 20:27), and no-one has the right to modify that requirement or adapt the word at the world’s beckoning. Confessionalism and completeness of its communication is a sacred duty assigned to the church and we are delinquent or craven if we fall short in this responsibility. The consequences, and the task of making repairs, are enormous, as present crises within the church attest.
The nature of the gospel we proclaim will depend on our diagnosis of the condition of human nature, and if that is not “spot on” according to the verdict of God’s Word, our word to our fellow men will be flawed in its content and false in its assurances.

The warning of John Duncan needs to be taken seriously: It is easy to invite rebels to return to God, if there be a keeping out of view of the cause of the quarrel between the rebels and God.

This is the offensive message that mankind does not want to hear. Our pride detests it, and our preferences dictate that the church should tone it down and make its pronouncements more palatable with a lack of emphasis on sin, guilt, and judgment, and an affirmation of our worth, our entitlement to enhanced self esteem, and the assurance of a benevolent God who exists to pamper our every desire for self- gratification. In our time, and in our churches, we scarcely invite folk to the Saviour in the terms suggested by Duncan. Instead, we employ the language of flattery and self- interest, and seek to entertain rather than inform. We fear the rebuff and rejection of the world and crave its popularity and approval, It is no wonder that the cross is a perplexity to modern Christians, an embarrassment, or something that has to be radically re-construed, or even set aside. Only rebels can discern its purpose and rely on its efficacy. Atonement is irrelevant to unconvinced sinners still concerned to maintain a sense of pride and self-righteousness.

If we do not identify the quarrel between ourselves and God how can sinners be expected to seek the refuge of the cross and truly prize the saving achievement of the Lord Jesus Christ, and entrust their souls to Him? The gospel becomes the solution to other concerns, and provision for other selfish “needs”, and not the only divinely ordained remedy for sin, deliverance from wrath, and restoration to peace with God. Instead of being true to Scripture the gospel is adapted and tailored to the demands of men. It conforms to the wisdom of the world and fails to display the wisdom of God, which is so contrary to our natural outlook (ICor 1: 18-3 1).

Sin is essentially outright rebellion against the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, and true repentance is the recognition and admission of our rebel status, attitude, and behaviour. We seek first forgiveness before favour. We do not demur at the biblical accusation as to our character and condition but accord it our full concurrence accompanied by sincere confession and contrition. Each person in his or her own heart has to own the fact that we are rebellious (not to do so perpetuates and masks the rebellious spirit even in the life of the church) and plead for pardon and a renewed spirit compliant with the nature and will of God. The way of return to God has to be both thoroughly honest and profoundly humble. “They have rebelled against me” is the divine indictment levelled against the whole human race, and also the church of God in time of declension and waywardness (Isaiah 1), and the measure and potency of divine mercy in Christ can never be appreciated and experienced until we start from that basic realization that each of us is truly a rebel, offered amnesty in the gospel, and reinstatement to divine acceptance through the substitutionary death of the Redeemer. We have no entitlement to salvation. Sin is no trivial thing to be casually swept aside, as in the gospel of cheap grace. The salvation of the soul is the miraculous deed of undeserved and incalculable mercy. A false gospel creates false Christians, and we must be wary of falling prey to the delusion, or of perpetrating it through a false message that wins human favour (widespread but wide of the mark) but denies its believers the favour of God. The glory of the cross is only seen against the backdrop of our utter wickedness and wretchedness. The love of Jesus shines brightly in contrast to our unloveliness. Divine brilliance (His holiness and mercy) is designed to banish human blackness. If we do not admit the latter how can we revel in the former and admire the grace that stoops to rescue us?

Our time-honoured formularies provide us with all the biblical categories (Scripture will be organized one way or the other i.e. corporate competence or personal subjectivism) for self-examination, confidence in Christ, acceptable worship, and obedient service. Dismissal of these, or a drift from historic faith, catholic and reformed, cultivated through the wisdom and sifting processes of previous generations, will result in a fashionable but feeble version of Christianity. We pray and wait for an Anglicanism that will not compromise its God given legacy — undeniably counter culture, and currently “counter-church”.

This is quite a powerful message, and that citation from John Duncan is something we have seen proven in our day, for certain.

"All wicked men's pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain, wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do.  Evey one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail.  They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofre are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done.  He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to oreder matters so for himself as not to fail.

But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow.  The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive; it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape.  If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, 'No, I never intended to come here:  I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself: I thought my scheme good.  I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief: Death outwitted me:  God's wrath was too quick for me.  Oh, my cursed foolishness!  I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me.'"

Taken from SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD, by Jonathan Edwards.

My prayer is that all who come here will be saved.  If you have not already called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, trusted His work upon the cross of calvary, and believed that God raised him bodily from the grave; then believe today and call upon that wonderful name.

Walk With God Today.

-Tim A. Blankenship

God has gifted all believers for His purpose. All believers using the gifts of God for His glory are serving the Church while simultaneously serving God. Our selfish attempts to attract the favor of the Sovereign Father is in effect harming our brothers and sisters in Christ. Remember what Jesus said to the disciples who asked to sit in the place of honor in His Kingdom. He said the first would be last and the last would be first. Our first goal should be that of serving. Humility is the beginning of being fitly framed together.

This is a introduction to hopefully get your mind thinking about the function of the church. We will try to add the outline to this introduction at a later date.

DSC_5517.JPG, originally uploaded by thegavino.

All right, time for a blog post. Things have been going GREAT. My movie Who is Clarice 3 that I filmed with the help of my friends back in April has been released and has gotten great reviews by my friends, not so much luck in the real world. But if my friends and family like it then that's good enough for me. Now everyone want's to film the LAST movie, the 3rd one was supposed to be the last one but things did not work out and we lost time for the filming of the 3rd so I had to do some tweaking. I left a cliff hanger and everyone hated me for that. (; But now I am writing the plot for the 4th and final movie. Who is Clarice will be solved. Most of you readers have no idea what I am talking about so click here and all will be shown. My friends zac and Tyler are working on getting money saved up to fly me from Pennsylvania to Utah, a heavy price for a movie, but I think the fact that we will get to hang out and goof off is worth it. I think they are working it out for night flights which should be cheeper. So I will just load up on some sermons on video and audio and maybe rent a movie and watch it on my iPod for the trip. But I am getting ahead of myself, it might not happen at all. I have learned not to get all hyped up on things, you are setting your self up for a huge disappointment if things don't work out.

My photography has been improving a lot and now I want to experiment with lighting and all with lamps and such. I never thought I would want to do that since I like getting pictures of landscapes and buildings. My fear of photographing people is starting to melt away and I feel a bit more confident about it. I want to buy some cheep lights, not the expert lights. Maybe some used shop lights would work. Then get a cheep tripod and experiment with my brothers and friends as models. It never hurts to get better in that area I suppose and I have seen on flickr some amazing shots with lights and stuff and I would love to try my hand at it.

Oh and my dad bought me the new ApologetiX album Future Tense. It helps when your mom and dad are huge fans of your favorite band. Let me just say, the CD ROCKS. So many different styles and I love it all. Music reminds me of places where I first lessoned to them. The ApologetiX CD Word Play I bought in Dugway and overtime I hear it reminds me of Dugway. I just enjoy music and I will probably lesson to this CD for 2 months and then get tired of it like I always do and I will go back to the shuffle list but for now, I will be lessoning to this CD day and night!

Note to all, I will be out of town for 2 days as I am going to the Corn Festival in Shippensburg. I will get lots of pictures that you will be able to say, "gosh you suck" to flickr when I get back. If time permits I will leave a small blog post from my iPod touch. Follow my Twitter on the day's events.

This is my seventh semester taking one class at the Dominican House of Studies, trying to make my way towards a degree that would qualify me to teach in a seminary.  This morning my class for this semester met for the first time, and I had the experience I always do:  The syllabus is overwhelming and intimidating.  I wish that I had the time and energy to do all the reading, but I know that I will only be able to eke out a fraction of it and try to do enough to get by in the class.

Today is also the day we remember at Holy Mass the greatest teacher in the history of the Church, St. Augustine.  If you are looking for a good book for spiritual reading, order The Essential Sermons of St. Augustine.  It is published by New City Press. They definitely have it on Barnes and Noble; I imagine they have it on all the book websites.  It was published just about a year ago.

I am not enough of a Latin scholar to comment knowledgeably about translations, but I know enough to say that this translation is something special.  It is not just readable; it offers a delightful insight into St. Augustine’s incredibly knowledgeable and loving mind.

It is a stirring and sobering reminder that gospel ministry is a dangerous enterprise that calls for dangerous people. Summing up Paul's hardships in 2 Corinthians 11, Dr. Mohler said, "The vindication of the true gospel ministry is not found in the recitation of constant safety, but rather in the catalogue of endless and continuing and deadly dangers."

I rarely listen to a sermon twice, but after hearing this one last night, I listened again this morning to take down some notes for reflection. But enough about that, go listen.

These parables we are studying speak of the growth of God’s Kingdom. This parable should be encouraging to us. The disciples were discouraged with the lack of progress in the Kingdom. They had to have been asking “WHY?” These parables we are studying now are meant to be an encouragement to us. The Mustard Seed deals with the outward growth of the Kingdom, and the yeast, the leaven, with the growth of the invisible church. The overall thrust of the passage is that from small beginnings the work of God in the world grows and extends until His eternal purpose is completed. Psalm 72. Acts 1:8. The Kingdom grows quietly in the hearts of people who come to saving faith. Spectacular growth is not our main goal. God is at work. He is on the move in the world.

For some reason there are some expositors who are convinced that leaven always represents evil in the Bible. I think one has to look at the context in which the word is used, and I think Dr. Bowman's understanding of this (that leaven represents the growth of the invisible church) is "spot on." Bishop Ryle says about this parable, in his comments on Luke 13:

The parable of the leaven is intended to show the progress of the Gospel in the heart of a BELIEVER.

The first beginnings of the work of grace in a sinner are generally exceedingly small. It is like the mixture of leaven with a lump of dough. A single sentence of a sermon, or a single verse of Holy Scripture--a word of rebuke from a friend, or a casual religious remark overheard--a tract given by a stranger, or a trifling act of kindness received from a Christian, some one of these things is often the starting-point in the life of a soul. The first actings of the spiritual life are often small in the extreme--so small, that for a long time they are not known except by him who is the subject of them, and even by him not fully understood. A few serious thoughts and prickings of conscience--a desire to pray really and not formally--a determination to begin reading the Bible in private--a gradual drawing towards means of grace--an increasing interest in the subject of religion--a growing distaste for evil habits and bad companions, these, or some of them, are often the first symptoms of grace beginning to move the heart of man. They are symptoms which worldly men may not perceive, and ignorant believers may despise, and even old Christians may mistake. Yet they are often the first steps in the mighty business of conversion. They are often the "leaven" of grace working in a heart.

The work of grace once begun in the soul will never stand still. It will gradually "leaven the whole lump." Like leaven once introduced, it can never be separated from that with which it is mingled. Little by little it will influence the conscience, the affections, the mind, and the will, until the whole man is affected by its power, and a thorough conversion to God takes place. In some cases no doubt the progress is far quicker than in others. In some cases the result is far more clearly marked and decided than in others. But wherever a real work of the Holy Spirit begins in the heart, the whole character is sooner or later leavened and changed. The tastes of the man are altered. The whole bias of his mind becomes different. "Old things pass away, and all things become new." (2 Cor. 5:17.) The Lord Jesus said that it would be so, and all experience shows that so it is.

Let us learn from this parable never to "despise the day of small things" in religion. (Zec. 4:10.) The soul must creep before it can walk, and walk before it can run. If we see any sign of grace beginning in a brother, however feeble, let us thank God and be hopeful. The leaven of grace once planted in his heart, shall yet leaven the whole lump. "He that begins the work, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1:6.)

Let us ask ourselves whether there is any work of grace in our own hearts. Are we resting satisfied with a few vague wishes and convictions? Or do we know anything of a gradual, growing, spreading, increasing, leavening process going on in our inward man? Let nothing short of this content us. The true work of the Holy Spirit will never stand still. It will leaven the whole lump.

May the Spirit of God come to permeate our whole lives!

In 2005, Bishop Davis was one of the featured speakers at the UM Southeastern Jurisdiction Ministers' Conference at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.

He spoke to the assembled pastors and leaders about the primary task of the church: "Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." (At the 2008 General Conference, this phrase was adopted as the official mission statement of the United Methodist Church.)

Following is an abridged transcript of Bishop Davis' remarks, delivered on the evening of July 8, 2005 at Junaluska's Stuart Auditorium. (Full audio is below.)

After the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost, what do we see? We witness an embryonic church constantly on the go.... They were mission driven — and their mission was to make disciples for Jesus Christ so that they world might be transformed....

[caption id="attachment_790" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Sunset at Lake Junaluska, N. Carolina (Stuart Auditorium is at right)"][/caption]

From the very beginning, the early disciples understood that the Christian faith is a movement, not an institution.

[John] Wesley and the early Methodists drew upon this kind of biblical understanding — and they used words like "spread Scriptural holiness" and "redeem the lost" and "renew the Church" and "reform the nation to serve the present age," so that they might also "flee the wrath to come." You can hear the message throughout our Wesleyan language.

But we struggle as a denomination, do we not? We've lost membership for 40 years, and that loss has significantly diminished our ability to transform the world....

The Lord will bless a church that has a passion for souls. And our problem is that we've remembered about spreading holiness and we've remembered about reforming the nation, but we've forgotten the "flee the wrath to come" part. That has robbed us our sense of urgency and our passion for souls....

I want to talk to you like family members for just a moment. Most of us are long-time members of the United Methodist Church, and I want us to be honest.... Are we not in many ways comfortable and content? More than willing to pay the price of membership — but the real question is this: Are we willing to pay the price of discipleship? It's a very different question. Are we willing to pay the price of discipleship — of following Jesus wherever Jesus might lead us, and at whatever it might cost us to go there? Are we willing to pay that kind of price?....

I yearn for all of our churches to be faithful, servant congregations — a church that is mission driven, passionate about sharing our faith with others, constantly discovering the needs of the world around us and then going to meet those needs....

I want us to make a difference for the sake of Christ. I want us to to be salt and light to the world. I want us to act like we really believe that the Great Commission just might [be fulfilled] in our lifetime.

Friends, we're living in the first century of Christianity all over again.... Many gods and idols are being worshiped. Spiritual hunger is rampant. The harvest is full. And I believe God is calling us out of our sanctuaries and even out of our denominational structures — and certainly out of our affluence and out of our safety — into those places where we can once again join Jesus on the mission field.

Click the arrow below for streaming audio (23 min.) — or you can download an mp3 (5.4MB).

[audio http://methodistthinker.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/davis_junaluska_sejministers_05_0708.mp3]

• Acknowledge that God can do it and act in obedience to his word.
• Note what God says in the bible and what has happened in the past.
• Say it in prayer.
• Wait and meditate (individual).
• Encourage one another (community).
• Remind yourself daily of God's promises (thru the Bible, answers to prayer, prophecies and community input).

Note: the readings at Evening Prayer were Matthew 5.1-11 and Acts 4.1-22

Tonight's Psalm invites us to give our entire heart to the spiritual exercise of prayer and praise: "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart." We don't do this. Our hearts are divided. We desire righteousness, but we are also captivated by sin. We intend to pray, but too often we enjoy other things more, and end up putting prayer and Scriptural meditation off, until it never happens. Our hearts are not pure, and so our whole heart is never entirely occupied with the giving of thanks and praise.

Because of the poverty of our own hearts, we must look to, focus upon, and trust in Another: "I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds." Peace will not be found in our hearts, in an inner experience; our peace is in retelling, narrating, recounting the mighty words and deeds of God: the wonderful deeds of Creation, the grace shown to the patriarchs - but most especially, the wonderful deeds of the incarnation, miracles, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His sending of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter on Pentecost.

It is on that account, the Holy Trinity's working of salvation for us, that we sing, "I will be glad and exult in You" - i.e., not exulting in this world, in sexual dalliance, fine foods, vanity and the praise of men; our joy is in the Father and the salvation He sent in His Son Jesus.

It is His name that we mean when we confess, "I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High." For "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved," the name of JESUS.

This psalm is fulfilled in Him; for which of us can say, "When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence"? Christ Jesus turned back the enemy when He resisted temptation said, "Get behind Me, Satan!"

It is Christ Jesus who makes the wicked perish, as it is written, "You have rebuked the nations; You have made the wicked perish." But how? Listen to the beautiful interpretation of St. Augustine: "We take this to be more suitable said to the Lord Jesus Christ, than said by Him. For who else hath rebuked the heathen, and the ungodly perished, save he, who after that He ascended up into heaven, sent the Holy Ghost, that, filled by Him, the Apostles should preach the word of God with boldness, and freely reprove men's sins? At which rebuke the ungodly perished; because the ungodly was justified and was made godly." How wonderful is it, but that the wicked in us, our sinful nature, should perish and be blotted out, and that a new man should stand before God in righteousness and purity forever?

To Jesus, then, do we say, "Those who know Your name put their trust in You," and trusting in Him, we no longer need to hope for wealth, or the enticements of this world. Many are putting their trust in a political messiah, and imagining that through the force of legislation and taxation the earth can be healed. But we who know the Name of JESUS find our every hope and trust in Him alone. The LORD has not forsaken those who seek Him; but see that you seek no more the things transient and perishable, for no man can serve two masters (Augustine).

When the world rejects you, when temptation assails you, when the devil throws your sins in your face, remember that "the LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed," a walled city on high ground, where no enemy can harm you. Prov. 18.10 says, "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe." And at the last day, you who have taken refuge in that stronghold will sing praise and say to Him, "You are the God who lift[s] me up from the gates of death."

So rejoice in the LORD, and give thanks to the Name of JESUS, for by no other name in heaven or on earth is there salvation. XinjX

Click Here to Listen to MP3

This sermon, which I will preach - Lord willing - in three weekends' time at St. James's (Poole), highlights for me the pastoral value of postmillennialism. Psalms are poetry and this Psalm illustrates itself pretty well; my task with regard to this is to make the simile and metaphor come to life.

Readings: Psalm 102, Hebrews 1
Hymns: O God our help in ages past, O for a thousand tongues to sing, Crown him with many crowns, Tell out my soul, Jesus shall reign where e'er the sun

"I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl of the waste places;
I lie awake." - Psalm 102.6-7a

Sleeplessness is something I'm sure everyone has experienced at some time: you lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, tossing and turning and as you look at the clock, half an hour passes, then an hour, two hours, and you still can't get off to sleep. Thoughts are churning through your mind, you worry about life, your circumstances, your future. God has given us this Psalm to address that experience: "A prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD". Athanasius wrote this about the purpose of the Psalter:

"It is like a picture, in which you see yourself portrayed, and seeing, may understand and consequently form yourself upon the pattern given. In the Psalter, you can learn about yourself. You find depicted in it all the movements of your soul, all its changes, its ups and downs, its failures and recoveries. Moreover, whatever your particular need or trouble, from this same book you can select a form of words to fit it, so that you do not merely hear and then pass on, but learn the way to remedy your ill. In fact, under all the circumstances of life, we shall find that these divine songs suit ourselves and meet our souls' need at every turn." 

The Psalmist gives voice to our troubles and shapes our thoughts and feelings and responses by showing us:
1. The Psalmist's cry,
2. What leads him to pray: the Psalmist's circumstances, and
3. Why he can pray: the Psalmist's confidence

This Psalm is a prayer for Christian believers, and if that isn't you, my hope is that this vision of God and the privileges of the believer you see in the Psalm will lead you to long to turn to God and seek refuge in him as your saviour and king.

1. The Psalmist's cry

We can pray to God boldly in the day of our trouble.

The Psalmist addresses God as the LORD. It's the covenant name; the Psalmist is part of the people God has chosen for himself to whom he has committed himself in love. This is the LORD who, according to Hebrews 1, has revealed himself in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ: this is a Christian prayer. Those who belong to Christ's church can with confidence draw near to the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace to help in time of need. That confidence looks like:
(i.) Persistence - five times the Psalmist requests God to hear and answer him (vv. 1-2)
(ii.) Urgency - the Psalmist asks God not to delay but answer speedily

This Psalm challenges us:
(i.) Is our response in our affliction and distress to pray, personally, individually to God?
(ii.) Are our prayer characterised by this boldness, this persistence, this urgency?
This is the privilege we have as God's people. The Psalmist moves on to describe in more detail his distress.

2. The Psalmist's circumstances

We can pray to God in all the troubles of life.

We see seven different kinds of trouble in this Psalm.

(i.) Mortality (vv. 3, 11) - life is like the wisp of smoke rising out of a chimney or an extinguished candle which is easily dissipated by the wind, or the lengthening shadows of evening which eventually fade into the night, or the grass cuttings when you mow the lawn, quickly turning brown and drying up: life lengthens, is seen to be insubstantial, its splendour quickly and easily fades and comes to an end. Through this, the Psalmist's experience is one of physical suffering - it's lie there's a burning fire in his body. This is the person who suffers a long, painful illness, who sees his body once full of strength looking increasingly weak and frail, the person consumed by cancer, the person who is confronted by his own death, even a premature death (vv. 23-24). So they cry out to God.

(ii.) Faint-heartedness (vv. 4-5) - the heart is the control centre of a person's being: this is someone whose circumstances have sapped his will of all strength, like mown grass, dried up and withered away, the person who has given up all hope and just groans, who doesn't even want to eat, so becomes nothing but skin and bones. So they cry out to God.

(iii.) Desolation (v. 6) - the Psalmist, like the owl, is kept awake at night, kept awake by thoughts of emptiness of his life, whose plans and projects and hope and dreams fail to come to fruition, who looks back on their life with despair because they have nothing to show for it, whose finances have dwindled to nothing, who has little in life that gives them pleasure. So they cry out to God.

(iv.) Loneliness (v. 7) - if you look along the rooftops, you may see a tiny, little bird perched on the edge all alone. Like that, this is the person who is kept awake at night with thoughts that they have no one to turn to , the person who has suffered bereavement, is struggling with singleness, who has been left by their husband or wife, who has moved to a new town and has left all their friends behind. So they cry out to God.

(v.) Opposition (v. 8 ) - this is the taunting and derision that comes because of all the other troubles of life that are being faced (v. 9) so here is the person whose failure to get promotion at work is a cause of joy and delight, who is the object of gossip at work or over the garden fence: "Have you heard what happened to her? Still, she had it coming to her." This is person who gets no sympathy from anyone. So they cry out to God.

(vi.) Sorrow (v. 9) - ashes were a symbol of sorrow and morning; the Psalmist's experience is that this grief is part of his staple diet, his everyday life. This is the person who is always down, who often breaks down into tears. So they cry out to God.

The final trouble is what the Psalmist thinks is the root cause for all that he is going through:

(vii.) Feeling God is angry (v. 10) - when a cat has caught a mouse, it plays with it, beating it with one paw and trapping it with the other; this is the person who feels that they're God's plaything, that God doesn't care, that God doesn't love them, the person who feels that God is distant, who feels no joy in reading the Bible or singing his praise or meeting with his people, who feels that their prayers are falling on silent ears. Yet though it feels like there's an iron heaven above them which their prayers cannot penetrate and which hides God face, they cry out to God.

I'm sure everyone can relate in some way to the Psalmist's experience, or realise that at some point this may well be them. This Psalm encourages you and me, when we are confronted by mortality, faint-heartedness, desolation, loneliness, opposition, sorrow, and even when it feels that God is angry, to pour out our hearts to him.

This would all be hollow and meaningless unless there is some truly solid reason for hope in God, which is precisely what we have in the rest of the Psalm. The writer turns his face upwards from his situation to consider God, and we see,

3. The Psalmist's confidence

(i.) God reigns forever and builds his church so that the whole earth will worship him.

God is this world's king and his rule lasts forever (v. 12) and the shape of God's kingship is always to lift his people up out of their affliction when they cry to him in their distress, so that he builds his church (vv. 13, 16-17, 19-20). This was most clearly seen in the ministry of Christ. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father" - John 1.14. When Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand, he healed the sick and raised the dead, welcoming those who came to him who were nothing in the eyes of society: lepers, blind beggars, children, prostitutes. Ultimately he died on the cross in the place of people like you and me, by nature objects of God's wrath and dead in our sins, so t