GRACE & PEACE

Author: Dennis Griffith

  • 5 Gospel Perspectives That Shape Lives

    Tim Lane & Paul Tripp, in their helpful book How People Change, suggest that there are 5 Gospel Perspectives that shape lives.  In other words when we understand these principles, and regularly consider our own lives in relation to them, we see change.  These principles, considered collectively,  cultivate the best conditions to see fruitful sanctification.

    1. The need to recognize that God calls for ongoing and continual growth and change in all of us.
    2. The need to understand the extent and gravity of our sin.
    3. The need to understand that the heart is central; that behavior and attitude is a reflection of the heart.
    4. The need to understand the present benefits of Christ.
    5. The need to live a Lifestyle of Repentance & Faith

    If you are curious, you might want to check out an interview with Lane & Tripp, where they describe their motivation for writing the book, and explain how to apply the gospel to real life to bring about real change: Interview

  • Appropriating Grace

    Circle of Life (Celtic)

    Here is an important reminder and challenge from Richard Lovelace, from his monumental Dynamics of Spiritual Life:

    Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives… Many… have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for their justification… drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance… Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons… Their insecurity shows itself in pride, a fierce, defensive assertion of their own righteousness, and defensive criticism of others. They come naturally to hate other cultural styles and other races in order to bolster their own security and discharge their suppressed anger.

    This paragraph, surprisingly, caused somewhat of a stir when I posted it on my Facebook page yesterday.  Most appreciated it. Some who expressed appreciation, I wondered if they really understood what Lovelacve was saying.  I hope so.

    So, how do we respond if we find ourselves among the majority who are not functionally appropriating the justifying work of Christ?

    (more…)

  • Missional Church vs Consumer Church Mentality

    Consumer Church vs Missional Church

  • I Was a Stranger

  • Sad State of Evangelicalism

    Broken Cross

    An excellent, “must read”, article by Mark Galli for Christianity Today:  The Troubled State of Christian Preaching.  This is a great example of a “I Wish I’d Said That”.  All of Galli’s insight resonate …

    Here is the gist of Galli’s tought, set within the context of the Presidential Inauguration and Louie Giglio being put on the un-invite list:

    Even when we try to make Jesus first, we end up inadvertently making ourselves first.   …Unfortunately, in a desire to reach the world for Christ, some inadvertently …make much about our ultimate significance. Jesus becomes merely the means by which we feel better about our place in the universe. Need purpose and meaning? Follow Jesus, that will do the trick. In this subtle shift, we become the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega.

  • Why I Won’t Forgive Lance Armstrong

    Armstrong

    I have no inclination to forgive Lance Armstrong.  I feel no need to.  Armstrong, the infamous cyclist who has now been stripped of several Tour de France victories, an Olympic medal, and has had a host of other indignities hoisted upon his head, has finally confessed to doping in order to enhance his performance.  And his confession has seemed to turn multitudes to dismay.

    Many had considered him a hero.  His story was compelling. A cancer survivor, he came back stronger than ever after his treatment to dominate the world cycling circuit, most notably in his unprecedented – and unlikely to ever be repeated – 7 consecutive victories in the Tour de France.  He then translated his fame and his story into the tremendously successful cancer research foundation, LiveStrong, which has raised and given millions-upon-millions of dollars toward the treatment and eradication of cancer.   To find out that Armstrong’s success was synthetic has led many to feel betrayed.

    But not me.

    It is not that I have any admiration for Armstrong.  I have had little interest in him for some time.  Armstrong is a seriously flawed guy, whose most serious character flaws had little to do with his doping.  Behind the scenes he was a despicable person who destroyed dozens of lives through threats and lawsuits in order to preserve his persona – his lie.   This is far worse than cheating in a sporting event – especially in a sport where nearly all the other participants were cheating just as much.

    Why do I feel no need to forgive Lance Armstrong?  Simple. Because I never expected anything from him in the first place.  His failures and his fall have cost me nothing.

    In the Bible the concept of forgiveness is often likened to that of swallowing a debt.  Whenever someone wrongs us – or we wrong another – whether by actual stealing, or tarnishing a reputation, or some other offense, something is taken from the victim by the perpetrator.  And a debt incurs.  (See Parable of Unmerciful Servant, for instance.)  What is taken may be wealth, or it may simply be peace of mind.  But with any actual offense something, tangible or not, is actually taken.

    Jesus’ instruction to his followers who have been wronged is to extend forgiveness to the offender, just as forgiveness has been extended to us for our offenses.  Our offenses may be against other people, but they are also always against the Lord.  If nothing else, by our offense we belittle the Lord.  Or put another way, consistent with the above premise, we rob Jesus of the glory he is due.  We essentially say he is not enough; that we need something in addition to or instead of God and what he promises and provides.   Yet, in the face of such insult Jesus reminds us that we have been forgiven.  He has swallowed the debt we owe, paying for it with his own blood on the cross.  Further, by telling us that we ought to forgive as we have been forgiven, Jesus is not merely telling us to follow his model, he reminds us that we have been forgiven and we can rest in his promise to supply whatever we need.  In other words, whatever has been taken from us he has, and will, more than make up for.  Our loss now restored, we have no need to extract a penalty on those who have wronged us.

    So with this understanding, one may wonder why I say I have no inclination, no intention, to forgive Lance Armstrong.  The answer is simple. In this instance, Lance Armstrong took nothing from me.  I have had no vested interest in him. While I found his successes impressive, and his cancer research foundation commendable, not one aspect of my life has depended upon him. So now to find out that he is a deeply flawed man, just as I am, does me no damage whatsoever. So what is there for me to forgive?

    I wonder how many people, who are rightly appalled by Armstrong’s heinous behavior, have actually been effected by his fall-from-grace.  It seems to me that those who are seemingly chagrined should ask themselves what Armstrong has taken from them.  For some, the answer is a lot. But for most, if the answer is as simple as they lost their hero, then perhaps they ought to consider why they attached so much of  themselves in a mere man in the first place.

    The only man worthy of hero status is Jesus.  To offer such adulation to anyone else is to rob Jesus of  the glory he alone deserves.  Yet this offense of our toward him is an offense he willingly swallows, if we will only confess and repent.

  • Obama’s Pro-Life Marching Orders

    With Sanctity of Life Sunday approaching, I appreciate Justin Taylor posting the above video, and President Obama’s visionary words for protecting our children – ALL our children.    And I concur with John Piper, who Tweeted:

    “This use of the President’s words, with the most intense irony, is right and righteous.”

  • Uneasy ‘Calvinist’

    Branded

    I feel no little uneasiness when labeled a Calvinist.  It is not that the description is unfitting.  Nor is it because I have any disaffection for Calvin. Quite the contrary.  My reservation is that there is much baggage that accompanies that label – baggage assigned by those who reject the tenants of the Faith associated with this particular theological system; and baggage freely toted by some who proudly – and sometimes obnoxiously – wear the label.  So, while happy to be identified as belonging in the Calvinist camp, I tend to agree with theologian Douglas Wilson who says that whoever coined the phrase “Calvinist” is a “marketing chucklehead”.  Wilson says he prefers to simply be called “Christian”.  Me too.

    I am gladdened, though, that I do not need to carry my ill-ease alone; nor do I need to craft a defense or explanation of my (clearly Calvinistic) convictions.  It has already been marvelously expressed, by no less a stalwart of the Faith than Charles Haddon Spurgeon.  In his autobiography, The Early Years, Spurgeon wrote:

    I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what is nowadays called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel . . . unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the Cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called.’

    Well said.

  • Losing Our Gospel Grip

    Losing Grip

    Evidence abounds all around that the current Spiritual climate of the typical Evangelical church is rightly described by sociologist Christian Smith as “more akin to Moralistic-Therapeutic-Deism than anything resembling historic Christianity.”   I paraphrased Smith there, but it reflects the essence of Smith’s assessment.  (If you want a refresher on what Moralistic-Therapeutic-Deism is click here & here.)

    J.I. Packer, in his sagacious Introduction to John Owen‘s Death of Death in the Death of Christ, offers one of the best and most comprehensive explanations I have recently read about how we got this way.  In short, Packer suggests, we have embraced a counterfeit gospel.

    Read what Packer wrote, and think about how his critique compares with what you hear from the pulpit in your church:

    There is no doubt that evangelicalism today is in a state of perplexity and unsettlement. In such matters as the practice of evangelism, the teaching of holiness, the building up of local church life, the pastor’s dealing with souls and the exercise of discipline, there is evidence of widespread dissatisfaction with things as they are and or equally widespread uncertainty as to the road ahead. This is a complex phenomenon, to which many factors have contributed; but, if we go to the root of the matter, we shall find that these perplexities are all ultimately due to our having lost our grip on the biblical gospel. Without realizing it, we have during the past century bartered that gospel for a substitute product which, though it looks similar enough in points of detail, is as a whole a decidedly different thing. Hence our troubles; for the substitute product does not answer the ends for which the authentic gospel has in past days proved itself so mighty. Why?

    We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centered in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be ‘helpful’ to man – to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction – and too little concerned to glorify God. The old gospel was ‘helpful’, too – more so, indeed, than is the new – but (so to speak) incidentally, for its first concern was always to give glory to God. It was always and essentially a proclamation of divine sovereignty in mercy and judgment, a summons to bow down and worship the mighty Lord on whom man depends for all good, both in nature and in grace. Its center of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the center of reference is man. This is just to say that the old gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach people to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and his ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed.

    From this change of interest has sprung a change of content, for the new gospel has in effect reformulated the biblical message in the supposed interests of ‘helpfulness’. Accordingly, the themes of man’s natural inability to believe, of God’s free election being the ultimate cause of salvation, and of Christ dying specifically for his sheep are not preached. These doctrines, it would be said, are not ‘helpful’; they would drive sinners to despair, by suggesting to them that it is not in their own power to be saved through Christ. (The possibility that such despair might be salutary is not considered: it is taken for granted that it cannot be, because it is so shattering to our self-esteem.) However this may be, the result of these omissions is that part of the biblical gospel is now preached as if it were the whole of that gospel; and a half-truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth.

    NOTE: One thing amazing to me is that Packer wrote this in 1958!  …Two years before Christian Smith was even born.  Our plight has been long time coming.  Recovering a thoroughly Biblical gospel is the only recipe for our recovery.

  • Bible Reading Plan for Slackers

    Hebrew Scroll

    I am long overdue to draft a post. But new year equals new beginnings, right?  While I will again eschew making any New Years Resolutions, except to resolve not to make any resolutions – (hey, it worked last year!)  … I do plan to get back into the swing of writing and posting.

    Let me begin 2013 by suggesting a different kind of Bible reading plan, one that writer Margie Haack, of Ransom Fellowship, calls “The Bible Reading Plan for Slackers & Shirkers“.  She explains:

    The big difference between this plan and any other I had tried was that it was not tied to any particular date. On any day of the week, say it was Friday, I read the assigned portion and happily checked it off. Fridays were good days and it is true I finished all of them before I finished the Saturdays, but then I simply read wherever I was behind.

    I was not tempted to cheat, because there were no unsightly gaps. I knew it was going to take me longer than a year. And, after all, what is so inspired about doing it in a year? Nothing. I also liked not having to look up five different references in one day. You could just settle in and read an entire assignment which came from one book.

    In short, here is a synopsis of some of the advantages of this plan:

    1. It removes the pressure to ‘keep up’ with getting through the entire Bible in a year.
    2. It provides variety throughout the week by alternating genres.
    3. It provides continuity by reading the same genre on the same day of each week.

    Here’s how it works:

    • Sundays: Poetry
    • Mondays: Penteteuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
    • Tuesdays: Old Testament History
    • Wednesdays: Old Testament History
    • Thursdays: Old Testament Prophets
    • Fridays: New Testament History (Gospels & Acts)
    • Saturdays: New Testament Epistles (letters)

    The benefit of a plan like this is that it provides guidance but it does not put promote guilt if we miss a day.  Just pick up with the next reading for whatever day it happens to be.

    To download .pdf click: Bible Reading Plan for Slackers & Shirkers

  • 2 Mistakes Christians Make

    Redemption Acccomplished But Not Applied

    People tend to make two mistakes when they think about the redeemed life. The first is to underestimate the sin that remains in us; it’s still there and it can still hurt us. The second is to underestimate the strength of God’s grace; God is determined to make us new. As a result, all Christians need to say two things. We admit that we are redeemed sinners. But we also say boldly and joyously that we are redeemed sinners.

    ~ from Cornelius Plantings, in Beyond Doubt

  • 10 Questions to Ask at a Christmas Gathering

    We Wish You a Merry Christmas

    Do you have any Chrstmas gatherings to attend this holiday season?  My thanks to Don Whitney for suggesting the following questions to spruce up the conversation, especially at church:

    1. What’s the best thing that’s happened to you since last Christmas?
    2. What was your best Christmas ever? Why?
    3. What’s the most meaningful Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
    4. What was the most appreciated Christmas gift you’ve ever given?
    5. What was your favorite Christmas tradition as a child?
    6. What is your favorite Christmas tradition now?
    7. What do you do to try to keep Christ in Christmas?
    8. Why do you think people started celebrating the birth of Jesus?
    9. Do you think the birth of Jesus deserves such a nearly worldwide celebration?
    10. Why do you think Jesus came to earth?

  • Advancing Progressively Backwards

    T.S. Eliot penned a penetrating poetic analysis of our cultural plight:

    It seems that something has happened that  has never happened before:  though we know not when,  or why,  or how,  or where.

    Men have left God not for other gods, they say,  but for no gods; and this has never happened before

    that men both deny gods and worship gods,  professing first,  Reason, and then Money,  and Power, and what they call Life, or  Race, or  Dialectic.

    The Church disowned,  the tower overthrown,  the bells upturned, and what have we to do

    But stand with empty hands and palms turned upwards

    In an age which advances progressively backwards?

    ~ Taken from T. S. Eliot‘s  Choruses From the Rock.  You might enjoy reading the whole poem. It has the feel of a 20th Centrury Book of Ecclesiastes.

  • Justified: Profound & Practical

    …but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  ~ Romans 5.8-9

    Matt Chandler  passionately proclaims the profound practical benefits of God’s grace to us.

  • 10 Principles for Worship

    The highest calling and greatest privilege of all Christians is to love and worship God.  In worship we encounter God with increasing awareness of who he is.  In worship we together magnify God’s glory.

    The following are 10 principles, developed over a number of years, and influenced by a variety of sources, that not only express my philosophy of worship, but shape my practice of worship.  By no means is this exhaustive, nor is it unchangeable. But I do hope it might be helpful.

    1. God-centeredness:

    A high priority must be placed on the vertical focus in our Sunday morning service.  The ultimate aim is to so experience God that he is glorified in our affections.  (Deuteronomy 6.4-5, 13-15; Isaiah 42.8; Matthew 4.10)

    2. Bible Based:

    The content of God’s Word will be our ground of authority for all elements & appeal, and will be woven through all we do in worship. The content of our singing, our praying, our teaching, and our activity will always conform to the truth of Scripture.  (Isaiah 29.13; Deuteronomy 12.32; Matthew 15.9)

    3. Trinitarian:

    God has existed from all eternity in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, the same in substance, and equal in power and glory.  Our worship ought to reflect this truth, and recognize all three persons   (1 John 5.7; Matthew 28.9)

    4. Expecting the Powerful Presence of God:

    Worship is not a memorial service, nor merely our offering of ourselves toward God.  True worship earnestly seeks to experience the present reality of Christ, by the work of the Holy Spirit, particularly through the Word & Sacraments.  We believe that in worship God draws near to us in power, and makes himself known & felt for his glory, our good, and the salvation of unbelievers in our midst.  (Psalm 139.7-10; Genesis 28.16; Matthew 28.20; Acts 2; Psalm 89.15; Ezekiel 46.3; Acts 10.33)

    5. Aiming for Head & Heart:

    Worship should aim at kindling & carrying deep, strong, real emotions toward God, but should not manipulate people’s emotions by failing to appeal to clear thinking about spiritual things.     (Isaiah 29.13; Matthew 15.8)

    6. Participatory:

    Worship is an active expression of the corporate body.  It is not performance by a few to be viewed by spectators. Therefore our worship shall be ordered to give the greatest opportunity for all to participate in song, prayer, testimony & confession.  All choirs, singers, musicians, speakers & liturgists are to be used in such a way that they stimulate & facilitate participatory worship throughout the congregation.   (1 Peter 2.9)

    7. Freedom & Form:

    Knowing that God has given us differing personalities, heritage & experiences we desire to allow people to express themselves in worship as they are led by the Spirit.  Therefore we will not discourage the raising of hands in praise, bowing for prayer & repentance, or other such activities done decently & in order.  Yet, neither will we seek to artificially stimulate such demonstrative expression within the congregation.

    8. Undistracting Excellence:

    Worship is to be focused on God. Therefore we will strive to sing, pray, teach & act in such a way that people’s attention will not be diverted from the substance of worship by shoddy performance, nor excessive finesse, elegance or refinement. (1 Corinthians 10.31; 2 Samuel 24.24)

    9. Convergent:

    Many wonderful & beautiful traditions of the church have been passed down through the ages. They are varied from culture to culture, and from generation to generation.   Nevertheless, the best of these traditions convey the same love, reverence & adoration for God as we seek to experience & express. Therefore, in order to draw from the wealth of our forefathers, we will implement many of these songs, confessions & liturgies in ways & forms which are sensitive, meaningful & appropriate for the contemporary church.  To be convergent means to bring the best resources of the present together with the past.   (Proverbs 22.28; Hebrews 11.4c)

    10. Contempory Blend:

    It is a common mistake to assume that contemporary means “that which has been composed in this generation”, and traditional is a label for things composed in times past.  For timeless hymns such as Amazing Grace, Be Thou My Vision, and the Gloria Patri speak to us today as clearly as they did to the Church at the time of their composition.  Yet, our worship should always be contemporary in that it should speak to us clearly & faithfully of eternal truth, while being reflective of our current age & culture. Therefore, our worship should not reflect just our own age, for that would be to exclude those of the corporate body of Christ in the past. Nor should it reflect a limited scope from the past, for that would be to exclude the godly creative expressions of our own age. But in all things we seek the honor & glory of God, and we will transform traditions to to involve the truth of his Church from all ages.  (Proverbs 22.28; Psalm 149.1)