Evangelism

Each year someone asks me whether Church of the Good Shepherd has a policy (or I have an opinion) on Halloween.

I answer that this is an area reserved to the judgements of individual conscience in our church. Some families choose not to give out candy nor to allow their children to trick-or-treat while others choose to participate. But also, we've usually had some sort of Reformation Day party and other alternative (or additional) celebrations for our children and families, as well as observing Reformation Sunday during which our worship focuses on the Protestant Reformation.

This year again, I've been asked this question and I'm sending out this link forwarded by a former member of our congregation, Elizabeth Bortka, for your information. It's a well-done article on Halloween, seeking to put this holiday in accurate perspective for Christians. There are two pages to the article--make sure you don't stop at the bottom of the first page but click the link and continue to the second--and I believe there is real wisdom in this pastor's counsel.

Meanwhile, though, please do not judge one another on this matter...

The Christian Reformed Church (CRC) celebrates its 100th anniversary in Canada, this year, and they are inviting bicyclists to join them in their celebration by riding "Sea to Sea with the CRC." Church leaders have already signed up 150 cyclists for the ride from Vancouver to Halifax. The largest cross-Canada ride ever, it will start on June 23rd and end on September 4th.

Riders are asked to get sponsors at $1,000 per week with the money being used to plant new churches.

This is the denomination that mandates the ordination of women to the pastoral office and eldership, intentionally placing them in positions where they must exercise authority over men--in direct contradiction to the explicit command of the Holy Spirit:

But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (1Timothy 2:12-14)

Here's an idea: some CRC rider with his biblical commitments still intact should get sponsors and promise to use the money to send copies of Doug Wilson's excellent book on patriarchy, Reforming Marriage, to every pastor and elder in Canada.

But seriously, will those brave souls who complete the ride be guaranteed a place in Hebrews 11's great hall of faith, or an exhibit in Wheaton's Billy Graham Museum?

The CRC has been known for her efforts in world missions, but this mission journey lacks gravitas. If the bikers preached in biker bars across Canada, training leaders and planting churches for druggies and drunks, their ministry would be faithful to the foundation laid by Christ and the Apostles. But somehow, that doesn't appear to be the direction they're heading. Instead, their "Sea to Sea with the CRC" has the gravitas of a male cheerleaders' car wash.

Well, I guess the CRC's "riding bikes" is better than the NIVI's "catching people."

About twelve years ago, my wife and I were privileged to have Phil and Helen Jensen as guests in our home while Phil preached in the church I served. Since then, we have kept somewhat current with the vital ministry that surrounds St. Matthias within the Anglican communion in Sydney, Australia. For evangelistic materials that demonstrate boldness along with a deep understanding of our culture, but also many other fine publications with evangelical and reformed commitments, I'd direct our good readers to the Sydney Anglicans. Their ministries, institutions, and publications are well worth our attention and I've wished their publications, at least, would be more directly imported into the States.

For more information on these Sydney Anglicans, here's an excellent summary of their history, along with dozens of links.

It's not accidental that, appointed Dean of St. Andrews Cathedral by his brother Peter (Archbishop of Sydney), Phil Jensen has about as many enemies as Doug Wilson. Since making his acquaintance, I've often described Phil as "a fire-breathing iconoclast." Phil's wife, Helen, is an epistolary whirlwind devoted to the church and to her husband--a perfect helpmate.

Here, here, and here are a few other samples of Jensen's prophetic gift. (In the last link, note the similarity with Wilson concerning Scripture's teaching on slavery.) For a fine summary of the vision driving the Brothers Jensen as they lead Sydney Anglicanism, see Peter Jensen's Archbishop's Address given to Sydney Synod 2003.

Like Wilson, not everything Phil Jensen writes and argues is in line with my understanding of Scripture, but how I love his boldness for the Lord and His Word. There's good reason Dick Lucas brought him to London to oppose the movement to ordain women there. As Dick told me, he needed the blood and guts approach of his beloved Aussies.

It's natural, I suppose, for Aussies to have a soft spot in their heart for Canadians, so Don Carson has always been one of the Sydney Anglicans' luminaries. So it came as a pitcher of cold water thrown in their faces to have Carson take aim at them for their expression of concern over the new Bible versions that have been neutered (my word), and their endorsement of those versions' main competitor, the English Standard Version.

My dear friend, Kevin Offner, turned me on to this gem and I pass it along to our good readers for the strengthening of our faith. I've taken the liberty of putting the text here on our blog because I'm confident Mr. Riner would want his speech to have the broadest circulation possible. And I don't trust Dartmouth to keep it available for too long.

The Apostle Paul was in the habit of asking his fellow believers to pray that he would be given the gift of boldness as he preached. Well, dear brother Riner received a double portion when he gave this sermon. Praise God for a man who, within the stultifying world of the Academy, is not afraid to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Here's the context: Noah Riner is the student body president at Dartmouth and he was asked to speak to the incoming freshman at a convocation at the beginning of the school year. This, then, is the speech he gave September 20, 2005. Since giving the speech, there has been a great hue and cry at Darmouth, including the resignation in protest of the student body vice president and raging debates across campus. Here though is one essay defending Mr. Riner that appeared in The Dartmouth, "the nation's oldest campus newspaper."

One pastor comments concerning my post, What Do Ted Haggard and N. T. Wright Have in Common:

Tim, do you think Paul advocated anti-sodomy or anti-fornication legislation for the Roman Empire? Probably not, since it was a pagan empire (consider 1 Corinthians 5:9-13). I think ours is also a pagan society. It's not the abstract question of whether laws can be used for such purposes. I believe you are right in saying that they can and even that they should. If we can persuade our society on grounds it will accept to enact such laws, well and good. But to make this the cutting edge of our encounter with an unbelieving society conveys the notion that we are legalists and undercuts the preaching of grace--and all without achieving the enactment of the laws we seek.

This question is often brought up by men (other than the author of this comment) who have anabaptist leanings and think the lack of involvement of Christians in the politics of the ancient world is a slam-dunk condemnation of political involvement by Christians today. But I'm not convinced. The entire civil realm was so radically different than what we live in here in the U.S., for instance. Ours is a constitutional and representative democracy. This is hardly the position the Apostle Paul was in as a citizen of the Roman Empire. So my reader asks whether Paul advocated anti-sodomy legislation and I respond, due to the difference in the form of government we live under Paul had different duties as a citizen than Christians have in the U.S. today.

The question is not whether we live in a pagan (or Christian?) society, but what our duties are as Christians in any society? And that question must be answered looking at the form of government those Christians live under. In other words, if we today live under the same Constitution that John Adams lived under, despite (arguably) our culture growing more pagan, our duties today are no different than Adams' several centuries back. The only thing that changes as paganism grows is the difficulty of those duties, and therefore our temptation to withdraw into a comfortable subculture.

But there's something else going on here that it appears my reader is missing: notice that Ted Haggard (and David Jones) are actively seeking to do the very thing my reader is accusing me of doing--they are public advocates of a particular moral position being carried out by our national laws. They are seeking to change our national laws so that sodomy is legal...

But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. (1 Corinthians 14:24, 25)

Driving west out of Nashville, recently, I saw a billboard that read, "A non-religious path to God." At first, it's hard to see any other text so we're left in doubt what path they're selling. Maybe a new diet or exercise regimen?

Then you notice a church name down in the bottom corner. Apparently, the billboard's an ad for a church that holds to some form of Christian faith. But what form? I'm guessing it's not the Christian faith of the church described in the book of Acts.

The Acts church wouldn't have needed a billboard to advertise herself. She had supernatural advertising consisting of miracles of faith and judgment that were known far and wide, attracting men by the thousands. Some were healed and could see and walk again. Others were killed. Ananias and Saphira played their part when the Holy Spirit struck them dead for coming into the church with their lies, thinking they could pull one over on the Holy Spirit. Then, after their bodies were carried out of the church, droves of people poured in. That's one sort of publicity.

It seems unlikely the Nashville church advertising "a non-religious path to God" is a place people are attracted to because the Holy Spirit has demonstrated His authority there. Would anyone think "non-religious" gets at the nub of the issue describing a church where people who lie in public worship are struck dead?

Holiness doesn't seem to figure too prominently in our church growth methods. Try to imagine a Willow Creek seminar on lessons for multiplication from Ananias and Saphira and you'll get the point...

(Tim; on the occasion of the death of an evangelist) On a flight some years back, I had a seat mate who was the leader of a well-known jazz band tracing its origins back to the big band era. It happened I knew of this man through a bari sax player who was a member of Church of the Good Shepherd. My friend played with this band and served as this man's right hand man in organizational matters. So after telling him of our mutual acquaintance, we got into a discussion of Christian faith.

Not far into the discussion, he told me someone else had talked to him about spiritual matters and called him to put his faith in Jesus--some pastor in Florida. He'd had a gig at this guy's church and the man had taken him aside to speak to him about his soul. He'd been a real gentleman about it, but persistent and sincere. Let's see, what was his name?

"Kennedy, Jim Kennedy" I asked?

"Yeah! That's the guy," he exclaimed. "He was a real gentleman. And he said he wanted to hear back from me what I did with Jesus."

Praise God for Jim Kennedy. May God make me such a lover of lost souls, a shepherd who is bold in speaking of sin and righteousness and judgment.

(Tim) This from Jack's Pipe in tribute to his late sister-in-law:

My sister-in-law prayed with many people: People at her church, people she met at the park, etc. When you tell someone you’ll pray for them, or that you have been praying for them, you’ll almost invariably see gratitude in their eyes. Offer to pray for them then and there, and does this not open up opportunities? A life of prayer, shared with others, is powerful evangelism.

In my lifetime, only once or twice have I had anyone refuse when I asked if I could pray for them. In fact, my experience is usually that people are visibly moved with gratitude when I ask if I can pray for them and to it right then and there. It all goes back to when I first entered the pastorate and my Dad advised me to always pray a blessing on whatever home I was visiting. He added that, often, I would be the first pastor who'd ever been in their home and likely no one had ever asked for God's blessing on them before. He's been proven right, again and again. And hospital rooms the same; at times on my way out, I stop at the bed of the person sharing the room with the person I'm visiting and ask if they'd like me to pray for them. It's always a quick and grateful "Yes!"

(Tim, with thanks to David T.) If you've missed it, urban church planting is cool again, particularly in the PCA. Hearing the self-congratulatory hype that emanates from urban church plants reminds me of the couples who moved from Wheaton to the inner city of Chicago to be a part of David Main's Circle Church and Bill Leslie's LaSalle Street Church forty plus years ago, now. Looking back and allowing for a few notable exceptions like Chuck Hogren's Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic (now called Chicago Center for Law & Justice), the fruit of these inner city ministries hasn't been stellar, biblically.

One young woman who's a part of one of these plants in Manhattan has some humility and writes wise words on being faithful to the Lord in the city and in the suburbs. Here's a teaser from her post:

(Tim: I first met Paul Cote walking down the hall of our dorm at Northern Illinois University. Wearing a tall leather Lincoln hat, Paul mentioned he liked Dylan. We became friends. Since then, we've roomed together, gotten our M.Divs. together, and we continue to visit and correspond. Through the years, I've occasionally asked Paul to retell the story of his friend, Gary Gygax, and the beginnings of Dungeons and Dragons. What did he think about all the Christians who were convinced that D&D was something close to necromancy or child-murder?

Here on the occasion of the death of Gary Gygax is Paul's personal account of the origins of D&D in the Gygax's merry home, a home large and generous enough to take Paul and many other teenage boys in and to give them fun. As you read this eulogy, stop and think: What if our Christian homes were as stable, joyful, and generous to the waifs all around us?)

When I was a 13 year old boy living in Chicago, a friend's father introduced his son, my friend, and me to military board games published by the Avalon Hill Company of Baltimore: Gettysburg and The Battle of the Bulge. As boys we had enjoyed listening to our fathers telling stories about World War II, and watching old war movies with John Wayne, and especially Errol Flynn. And on rainy days when you couldn’t play outside, these games were more fun than abstract games like cards and chess. Historian John Keegan states in the introduction to The Face of Battle, “for a young man training to be a professional soldier, the central question is: what is it like to be in a battle?” Knowing that our fathers had gone to war, and that it was a formative moment in their lives, in becoming men, our imaginations were fired by the same question, and war games, like reading military history, were a way of thinking about these things.

Here's a picture of Gary Gygax at the podium, addressing the opening of the first wargaming convention, the Geneva Convention (Gen Con.) held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Standing next to Gygax is Bill Hoyer, president of the International Federation of Wargaming (IFW). This and the other photo below may be the only pictures taken at this first wargaming convention in 1968.

Avalon Hill published a magazine for its customers called The General, and through an ad in the back I began corresponding with a “war gaming club” in the Chicago land area, with the grandiose name, "The International Federation of War Gaming" (IFW). The IFW consisted of a couple of dozen gamers, most of whom had never met one another, but who played games by mail, wrote articles about games etc. That’s when I began corresponding with Gary Gygax, who worked in downtown Chicago but commuted by rail to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Gary lived in a small, comfortably run down house on a main street in the Town. He had 5 children, all close in age, and all having bright red hair just like his wife, Mary...

(Tim, w/thanks to Jake) Last week, a young man training for pastoral ministry passed on a link to this article from USA Today. And next to the link, he wrote: "quoted: pope benedict, mohler, keller, driscoll, osteen, etc."

Not to destroy "peace ...in the world," or to "tear... the net of [PCA] interwovenness, the fabric of humanity," but really, men. Can anyone fail to see the stark contrast presented in the final paragraphs of this article between Pastors Keller and Driscoll? Sin is man-centered with Pastor Keller, but very God-centered with Pastor Driscoll.

Note the article's author says, "Driscoll is sharply clear."

Precisely.

(Tim) Within the church today, why are we so reticent to recognize sexual distinctions that go beyond God's command or certain "roles" the result of His command? Pastors and elders can bring ourselves to swallow the very specific biblical prohibitions against women serving as elders, and the equally specific commands for wives to submit to their husbands--even going so far as to defend those prohibitions with some small talk of the nature of sexuality (although we always call it "gender" rather than "sex" because gender is a social construct while sex is a hard biological reality); but still, despite this supposed submission to the biblical command, we show a complete absence of any biblical theology of sexuality.

Why? Why are we so chip-on-the-shoulderish when it comes to a discussion of the nature of man and woman beyond the obvious body parts (which are undeniable and very useful for advertising), and certain small aspects of authority in the church and home? Why do we read sexuality in such a mind-bogglingly narrow way? We claim to love diversity, right? So why such a penurious, such a tight-waddish reading of this one so basic to our lives?

A central part of understanding our culture is seeing the hatred for distinctions at its core, and few distinctions are more despised than this one present in the womb from our earliest days--male and female.

Typical believers in Jesus Christ will think we've seen the goodness of sex when we've decided to marry a woman rather than a man...

(David) This is Shelly, a nineteen-year-old University of Toledo student from Asia. She's been attending Christ the Word since Christmas. Sunday we rejoiced to welcome her into our midst as a new sister in Christ.

For many weeks now Shelly has prayed that God would give her the courage to accept His Son. In her country, she says, being a Christian can cost your life. So she prayed for strength to accept Jesus. Last week, however, Shelly realized it was wrong to pray for strength to accept God. Instead she prayed that God would accept her.

This is the second young woman we have seen come to Christ as a result of international student Bible studies in the last four months. What joy. It seemed like half the church was crying for happiness last Sunday morning.

(Tim) It's long been dangerous for followers of Jesus Christ to speak publicly of Scripture's teaching on fornication, child-murder, divorce, adultery, father-rule, sodomy, and a whole host of other subjects our culture opposes God in. And although we don't like bad news, here's a case we should all be following and exerting our influence in.

Editor in Chief of the Toledo Free Press, Michael Miller, wrote an editorial advocating sodomy and smearing those who oppose sodomy as resembling racists. This prompted University of Toledo Associate Vice President for Human Resources Crystal Dixon to submit an op-ed opposing Miller's editorial. Dixon wrote: "As a Black woman who happens to be an alumnus of the University of Toledo's Graduate School, an employee and business owner, I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are 'civil rights victims.' Here's why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. I am genetically and biologically a Black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended. Daily, thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle...

(Tim) From the Pulpit of Church of the Good Shepherd
Wedding of Lucas Weeks and Hannah Bayly
May 17, 2008

That He Might Sanctify Her

Ephesians 5: 21-33

Lucas and Hannah, it’s a curious thing that the God Who made us, the One who is our Creator and therefore knows us best, has not left us free to develop according to our own inclinations. He does not abandon us to our own sentiments and passions...

(Tim, w/thanks to Carol) The international Synod of (Roman) Catholic Bishops will meet this coming October around the theme, "The Word of God." In preparation, an international survey on biblical literacy was taken in the United States, the United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Poland and Russia. (Soon, other countries in the Southern Hemisphere will be added, including Argentina, South Africa, the Philippines, and Australia.)

Italian sociologist Luca Diotallevi says the study is “the most systematic scientific undertaking yet attempted to compare, on an international scale, levels and forms of familiarity with the Scriptures.”

The survey's findings indicate even secularized nations and people are quite interested in the Bible, but find it very hard to understand. This is a wonderful opening for the people of God--evangelistic Bible studies continue to be one of the most effective tools we have for bringing men and women to the preaching of the Word and faith.

Other survey results show the decline of Bible knowledge among American Protestants as it grows among Roman Catholics...

(Tim, w/thanks to David) The International Foundation (aka The Family, The Fellowship, The Fellowship Foundation, and Jesus Plus Nothing), is the sponsor of the National Prayer Breakfast, long seen as ground zero of evangelical influence in Washington D.C. More recently, though, The International Foundation has become better known for promoting syncretism with its rabbis and imams at the podium. In keeping with its promotion of Muslim-Christian rapprochement, The International Foundation has become much-enamored with Mark Siljander and his approach to Islam.

Mr. Siljander, a former high-profile evangelical congressman from Michigan recently indicted for money laundering, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice, just published a book opposing the historic Christian position on Islam (that it's simply another Christian heresy). Mr. Siljander is touring the country with his revisionist gospel of misunderstood Islam and its Quran, and in this he's typical of a host of former-evangelical (my label) missionaries who say 'God' and 'Allah' are both names for the True God, that there's no reason for Muslim converts to Christianity to stop going to the mosque for daily prayers, and that baptism of these converts and membership in a Christian church is unnecessary given the dire consequences of conversion in an Islamic nation...

(Tim, w/thanks to Valerie) You've all been waiting for a copy of Dad's classic, The Gospel Blimp, in comic book form, right? Well, dream no more.

"...even from the relative safety of an in-house discussion among fellow believers and men ordained to the ministry of the Word and Sacrament, his language seems to deny our sister's moral agency and the utter depravity of what she did to her own little ones."

(Tim, w/thanks to Joel) For quite a while, now, conservative reformed pulpits have been quiet about subjects that are controversial in our political context--particularly abortion. Here is a short article written by the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian (PCA) in New York City giving Pastor Tim Keller's explanation of this silence. The subject goes much deeper than the politics of abortion, to the very heart of our understanding of the Gospel and the place of the Law in Gospel proclamation and Lord's Day worship. First, this excerpt from Pastor Keller's article, followed by a response.

“Religion-less Spirituality” by Tim Keller

We will be careful with the order in which we communicate the parts of the faith. Pushing moral behaviors before we lift up Christ is religion. The church today is calling people to God with a tone of voice that seems to confirm their worst fears. Religion has always been outside-in-"if I behave out here in all these ways, then I will have God's blessing and love inside." But the gospel is inside-out-"if I know the blessing and grace of God inside, then I can behave out here in all these ways." A woman who had been attending our church for several months came to see me. "Do you think abortion is wrong?" she asked...

(Tim) Here's a report from a missionary couple I've had the pleasure of getting to know recently. I was so encouraged by their report that I thought I'd pass it on to our readers. The names of the couple and their cities have been removed to protect them, their brothers and sisters in Christ, and their Gospel work.

* * *

Although we're learning Hebrew, (my husband and I) are able to minister in Russian here, too. There are an estimated one million Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel. They're coming to Christ in unprecedented numbers...

(Tim) "iChristian" is an app offered to iPod Touch and iPhone users in Apple's iTunes store. Here's its description:

Now your iPhone / iPod Touch is a missionary, preacher and the evangelist!!! The iPhone / iPod Touch application "iChristian" ("Become a Christian") contains the minimum of required information to become a Christian. Alter the prayer of salvation. you may register as a Christian. If you would like, you may request a certificate of a Christian.

If Jesus warned those wanting to become His disciples that they must count the cost of following Him, then for us to offer salvation to unbelievers through such a come-on line as "contains the minimum of required information to become a Christian" is to mislead them. It's spiritual bait-and-switch...

(Tim) Our spam filter has been acting up again causing legitimate comments to be thrown into a spam bin where, in thirty days, they die if David or I don't go in and browse the smut to see if there's some treasure. You can imagine that browsing the smut is, for us, not something we want to do. So that, combined with time constraints, means we are late to find those treasures. And that means when we do find the treasures and post them, often they're so late to the queue that they don't show up on the "Recent Comments" column of the blog's main page. So, you'd have to be reading old comments for the fun of it to find them.

Sad state of affairs, isn't it?

All this to point your attention to a couple comments you don't want to miss, both toward the bottom of the page. One is by Eric Rasmusen who, grieving the loss of his parents and nine-year-old daughter, Lizzie, last month, wrestles with the question of Scripture's teaching on the eternal destiny of children of believers...

(Tim) Searching for information about the women who teach and exercise authority over men at the church Tim Keller serves, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, I found this video clip selling people on getting involved in Redeemer's Fellowship Groups. Two comments:

First, note Redeemer's target audience--the demographic their appeal is aimed at. The married? Nope. Dweebs? Nope. Husbands? Nope. Families? Nope. Mothers? Nope. Children? Nope. Babies? Heavens no.

The clip's come-on is "family." Listen to it again.

The closest we come to family is the man on the park bench surrounded by his dogs.

Second, note carefully the cool hip Rob Bell factor.

Think about what this clip says about church growth, today... The way we attract people to the Body of Christ, the Household of Faith, the "family" that membership in constitutes being a Christian, is to sell that family as hipsters.

(Tim, w/thanks to Mike, Jake, Jody, and Phil) If you want to see one fulfillment in our own time of Jesus' promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church, listen to this proclamation of the Gospel. Makes my heart sing for joy.