Monthly Archives: January 2017

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How to Defend Your Pro-Life Position in 3 Minutes or Less

A few months ago I was in a Chipotle in New York City with my wife. We were doing our best to keep to ourselves and not make eye contact so as to fit in with the natives of New York City. As we were successfully avoiding eye contact there was a group of college students that were sitting next to me they started talking about abortion. What brought me into the conversation something I don’t typically do was the fact two of the three were self-professing Christians the third was Jewish.  They were discussing abortion and if it was ok, one of the Christians said that he could prove that abortion is ok from a biblical perspective.  I could hold back no further I joined the conversation uninvited because I had to speak for those who literally can’t speak for themselves. I found myself unintentionally using my friend Dr. Scott Klusendorf’s SLED defense. It is a powerful defense against those who argue that a baby is not a baby and just a collection of tissue.

Here is Dr. Klusendorf explaining his SLED method in less than three minutes. I beg you to carve a few minutes to inform yourself for the next conversation you may have with those contemplating having an abortion or those advocating that abortion is a viable option.

Today let’s stand with the Evangelical community as they are marching on Washington to pray, and bring awareness to life. It won’t get the coverage that the Pro-Abortion “Woman’s March” got but what matters is that we continue to fight for the life of babies that are taken daily in this country due to the gods of ignorance, convenience, and pleasure.

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A Gentle Word to the Church on Politics

Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own glory; the other says to its God, “Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.” In the one, the princes and the nations it subdues are ruled by the love of ruling; in the other, the princes and the subjects serve one another in love, the latter obeying, while the former take thought for all. The one delights in its own strength, represented in the persons of its rulers; the other says to its God, “I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.” And therefore the wise men of the one city, living according to man, have sought for profit to their own bodies or souls, or both, and those who have known God “glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; professing themselves to be wise”— that is, glorying in their own wisdom, and being possessed by pride—“ they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” For they were either leaders or followers of the people in adoring images, “and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.”  But in the other city there is no human wisdom, but only godliness, which offers due worship to the true God, and looks for its reward in the society of the saints, of holy angels as well as holy men, “that God may be all in all.”

St. Augustine, The City of God

If you own a television or have access to the internet, you understand that the last year or so in politics has been brutal. Both sides of the ideological aisle have acted savagely to each other and themselves. It is very easy for us as Christians who live in the city of man to get caught up in the savageness of our day. We value self-expression at the expense of self-reflection. Don’t believe me go on Facebook for five seconds. My argument today is not in support of a cause, party or politician.

[Tweet “We value self-expression at the expense of self-reflection.”]

Augustine writing his brilliant work city of God in the ruins of the mighty Roman Empire had the perfect political and eschatological perspective. Augustine was getting at some things that as followers of Christ we must not ignore. He was arguing against an over-identification with the temporal aspects of even the greatest city of man. The political problem in the church is not an Obama or Trump issue. It isn’t a red state blue state issue. The problem with the church and politics is those in the church are too quick to identify as Republican or Democrats. It was from the ruins of perhaps the greatest city ever that Augustine pleads with us to find our identity in the city of God rather than the city of man.

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Pastor as Disciple

One of the dangers that can come from being a Pastor who is a leader is you forget or neglect the fact that you are first and foremost a disciple. Leadership is fun it can be very challenging but is many times rewarding because we look behind us and can count those following us and be encouraged by our weekly mini census. The problem with being a disciple is that it is not glamorous it is not visible. It is difficult and often times painful.

Under-shepherds, pastors, always remember that you are more fundamentally a sheep than a shepherd. – Mark Dever

We as pastors can be so busy getting others to live the Christian life that we forget that the Christian life is a daily dying. It is walking in a moment by moment obedience to the call of Christ and to the cross of Christ.

Youth pastor your job is to preach the gospel to the next generation, absolutely but if you fail to follow Christ primarily, your messages will be shallow, and your ministry will be short. I have pastored at the same church for nearly 20 years and what I have learned is that I want to duck and I want to hide. I have now known most people longer than I have lived my life not knowing them. What that affords me is people speaking truth to me when I need it most, even if I don’t want to hear it.

[Tweet “You will never lead well if you have not first learned to follow well”]

I have led in times when I wasn’t following well and the ground was as hard and as inflexible as my heart. I find the more I live my life yielded to Christ the more I am concerned with how well I am following. Healthy leadership is most often the byproduct. There are many unhealthy churches in America because there are many unhealthy leaders in America. Pastor, you must preach the cross of Christ not just principles for better living, you must model what it means to deny yourself and carry the cross you preach.

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Pastor as Leader

Pastor Your Leadership Matters More Than You Think.

Much has been written on this subject and for good reason, because the church needs not just good men it needs good men who will lead people to Christ. Leading people to Christ inherently requires leadership. The Christian life is not one of separation and study alone. It is one of interaction and guidance. A pastor is not a monk he is a follower who leads other followers. He is flawed for sure but he must not let his flaws disqualify him from leading but must lead in such a way that he points beyond himself to Christ.

How many people follow you doesn’t make you a leader THAT someone is following you does. If you are a pastor you are a leader. You have a responsibility to lead well and to lead people to a closer walk with Christ.

[Tweet “Leadership gives you a platform your life gives you a message.”]

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Radical Truth for Kids and Parents.

An Interview with Champ Thornton

Below is an interview with Champ Thornton the author of ‘The Radical Book for Kids.’ If you would like to buy the book or get more information about it you can do so by clicking this link. http://stores.newgrowthpress.com/the-radical-book-for-kids/

This book is amazing it is part history, part theology, part practical guidance and part random fun stuff. What made you put all those parts together in one book?

A quick search on amazon.com will yield various books promoting: “everything a boy/girl should know or do.” Yet all of them are secular in content and approach. The Radical Book for Kids is different; it’s what I wanted my own children to know about God our Savior, the Word He has written, and the world He has created.

So this book is an attempt to point my kids and others toward that goal. And in the background of this desire is that in 2003 I was diagnosed with a blood clot and a genetic blood disorder. When you’re 29 years old, you think you’re fairly invincible, but God brought into my life a daily reminder of my mortality. I’ve not had another scare like that since, but God has used this diagnosis to raise my awareness of the importance of passing along to the next generation the good news of Christ and the truths of His Word.

How do you envision this book used in a perfect scenario? Parent read, student read, or devotionally read?

This is a book that kids, ages 8 and up, can read on their own. For curious readers, a table of contents and index make topics easy to find. So kids can explore their book however they like: hopscotching around via topic or just reading straight through. For kids of younger ages, parents can also read this book aloud in family devotions. Bible teachers can use it to supplement their main curriculum. For parents or teachers, there are plenty of places to stop reading and to discuss issues posed, consider questions asked or just laugh at something funny. (Also, as the book has been previewed, I’ve learned adults have found this book useful for themselves or to give to others who are growing in their faith.)

The chapters are random yet ordered. How did you decide what topics to cover and which ones to leave out?

When I started compiling potential chapter topics, I knew the finalized list wouldn’t be exhaustive. Instead, it’d be more of a starter-kit. So I started by making a list of all the things (about God, the Bible, theology, life, etc.) that I’d want my kids to know about or know how to do. Then I emailed over a dozen friends in ministry, asking them what they’d include on their short list of things for kids to know or do. Initially, over 100 topics made the list, but we eventually landed on the 67 mini-chapters that make up The Radical Book for Kids.

From the beginning, chapters began to fit into one of three categories: “radical depth” (going deep into the Bible, theology, apologetics); “radical strength” (how to live as Christians—drawn from Scripture and from examples in church history); and “radical fun” (miscellaneous topics that might be interesting to kids and are also loosely related to the Bible).