Christians and Politics

We live in exciting, yet challenging times. Our presidential election is 8 short days away. I trust that each of us will seriously consider the privilege we have in America to vote. The challenge of politics, I find, is in not placing too much hope in the outcome of any given election. I know personally who I want to win. Yet, I fear that his victory will be only a slight detour to the direction in which we are headed as a nation. One of the challenges we Christians face is balancing the present political landscape with our overall Kingdom responsibility. Could I commend to you two resources that have been especially clarifying and helpful to me?

The first is a sermon by Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist Church on the theology of Politics. This is, in my humble opinion, an excellent biblical approach to governments and political movements.
www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/10/22/the-best-sermon-on-christianity-and-politics-2/

The second is an editorial by Marvin Olasky in World magazine.
www.worldmag.com/2012/10/liberty_hill

My prayer is that these resources will aid us in looking to, and beyond, the next election. May we all learn what it means to be salt and light in our changing world, and to be passionate Kingdom citizens.

Pastor Eric

The Art of Neighboring (review from challies.com)

Take a look at this graphic. Image that the middle box in the chart is your house and the boxes that surround it are the eight houses closest to your own. I doubt your neighborhood is arranged like a tic-tac-toe board, so you may need to use your imagination just a little bit.

Here’s what I want you to do.

• First, write the names of the people who live in the house represented by each of the boxes. If you can give both first and last names, that’s great. If you’ve only got first names, that’s okay too.
• Second, write down some information or facts about each of the people in that house. I don’t mean facts that you could observe by standing on the road and looking at their house (“Drives a red car”) but facts that you’ve gathered from speaking to them (“Works for a bank,” “Grew up across town.”).
• Third, write down any in-depth information you know about each of the people. This could include details like their career plans or religious beliefs—the kind of information that comes from real conversation.

How did you do? Or how do you think you would do if you actually went through with this exercise? The degree to which you simply do not know your neighbors is the degree to which you will benefit from reading The Art of Neighboring by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon. They premise their book upon this simple question: When Jesus told us love our neighbors, what if he meant our actual neighbors, the people who live closest to us? They explain that Christians have long been making “neighbor” into a safe metaphor that allows us to believe we are carrying out the Lord’s command when we visit soup kitchens and do acts of kindness to complete strangers.

The problem, as they explain it, is that “when we aim for everything, we hit nothing. So when we insist we’re neighbors with everybody, often we end up being neighbors with nobody.” Ouch. Much like the Pharisees, we ask “Who is my neighbor?” in the hope of finding a loophole, not in the hope of loving those who live nearby. “Jesus assumed that his audience would be able to love those nearest to them, their literal neighbors, the people most like them, who shared the same heritage and geography. In telling the parable, Jesus was stretching their concept of neighbor to include even people from a group they didn’t like.” As we read the parable today we tend to go straight to the stranger on the side of the road and no longer include the person in the house next door.

This book is full of biblical counsel and simple wisdom about how to be a good neighbor. Perhaps the most freeing concept is that there is inherent value in being a good neighbor, even if your neighbor never becomes a Christian. The authors helpfully distinguish between ultimate motives and ulterior motives. The ultimate motive in engaging your neighbors is to share the gospel with them and to see them turn to the Lord, but we must never do this through ulterior motives. Too many Christians use engaging their neighbors as a thinly-veiled guise to try to “win them,” and give up when the neighbors do not respond positively. Pathak and Runyon say, “The ‘agenda’ we need to drop is the well-meaning tendency to be friends with people for the sole purpose of converting them to our faith. Many so desperately want to move people forward spiritually that they push them according to their timetable, not according to how God is working in them. It’s tempting to offer friendship with strings attached.”

They clarify: “Sharing the story of Jesus and his impact on our lives is the right motive, but it canot be an ulterior motive in developing relationships. We don’t love our neighbors to convert them; we love our neighbors because we are converted.” Christians have long been taught that we should do good things solely to have a spiritual conversation that can move people toward conversion; but Jesus never called us to use a bait-and-switch approach where we are friends only so we can share the gospel. “We are called to love our neighbors unconditionally, without expecting anything in return.”

The Art of Neighboring clearly comes from a little bit outside the theological “tribe” that I identify with, and that brings both benefits and drawbacks. The book is not without its weaknesses. I would have liked to see the authors wrestle a bit more with issues related to sharing the gospel and creative ways of doing that. I would have liked to see them focus more on the role of the local church in the life of the Christian. But those weaknesses are more than compensated for with their call to be good neighbors and the challenge they offer.

This is a book I learned from, a book that was of immediate benefit to me, and, I think, exactly the book I needed to read. We live in a closely-packed neighborhood where we know and are known (at last count at least four of our neighbors have a key to our house!) but I needed to be freed to simply love my neighbors, to be a good neighbor to them, without feeling guilt for not always offering gospel sneak-attacks where I work it into every conversation. There is value in being a good neighbor and as we neighbor well, we trust that very natural gospel opportunities will arise.

Reposted: http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/the-art-of-neighboring#more

Oh, Behave! Conduct Worthy of the Gospel in Corporate Worship

 Other Christians. Can't do corporate worship without them, and yet sometimes it feels like we can't really do corporate worship with them either.

How nice would it be if everyone would just mind their manners in weekend worship? So thinks our old self.

Let's admit it. We're tough on others, easy on ourselves. We assume others should give us the benefit of the doubt---which is the very thing we don't give to others.

She's the reason I'm distracted, the old self tells us.

If he weren't singing so loud---and so off key . . . 

If they would just get off their iPads and smart phones. I'm sure they're all doing emails, or social media, rather than looking at the Bible text or taking notes.

We love to blame our neighbor, or the worship leader, for our inability to engage in corporate worship. But the deeper problem usually belongs to the one who is distracted. Few things are more hypocritical than showing up to a worship gathering of the Friend of Sinners and bellyaching that other sinners showed up too.

Checking Our Own Souls

If there is gospel etiquette for the gathered church, it starts with evaluating my heart, not their actions. Frustration with others' distracting behavior---whether in the pew in front of me, or on the stage---is deeper and more dangerous than the nonchalance or negligence that sidetracks others.

Of course, there are rare exceptions when someone really is totally out of line. Such as the guy who brought his own tambourine one week. But even in the occasional instance where someone's worship conduct is seriously out of bounds, what if we started by asking ourselves some hard questions?

• If love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8), might God be calling me to look past this distraction I perceive?
• Am I really applying John 13:34-35 ("love one another") to fellow Christians in weekly corporate worship? If we can't apply John 13:34-35 when the church is gathered, are we really going to apply this elsewhere?

The principle of walking in line with the gospel (Galatians 2:14) in corporate worship looks like this: In grace consider others enough to refrain from distracting them, and extend grace to those who you find to be distracting. Here are a few suggestions for how to think well of and for others in corporate worship.

1. Arrive early.

Not only does early arrival keep you from distracting others by coming in late after the service has started, but it also enables you to greet others and extend to them a welcome as they arrive. Ain't no shame in coming early for some social time. God's happy when his children love each other.

Also, arriving early (rather than late) helps us remember that the whole service is worship, not just the sermon. Even though we'd never say it, sadly we sometimes function as if everything before the sermon is some added extra or just the warm up for the preaching.The worship really begins when the preacher ascends to his pulpit. It's fine if we miss the first few minutes of singing. No big loss.

2. Park far, sit close.

This is one practical way to count others more significant than yourselves, and look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4). Parking far leaves the better spots in the lot for those arriving after you, and sitting close leaves the seats near the doors easily accessible.

3. Participate heartily.

"Heartily" is an attempt to communicate a balanced kind of engaged participation---not being a mere spectator and not being that guy singing with the out-of-control volume. The problem of over-participating speaks for itself (quite literally), but in regard to under-participating, note that you are actually robbing others of the value of corporate worship when you don't engage. Your presence is a part, and your voice is a part as well. The experience of corporate worship is enriched when all the attendees participate.

4. Smile.

I'm not counseling you to fake it or put on airs. Corporate worship is a time for gladness and excitement, not dourness and mere duty. Try to make the most of your morningbefore attending corporate worship, and let your gladness be contagious. Like George Mueller, seek to get your soul happy in Jesus, and ask God for help to spill over some of your soul satisfaction on others.

5. Stay late and engage others.

Come on the look for people, transition Godward in the worship gathering, and leave on the look for others. Some of the most significant conversations in the life of the church happen immediately after worship gatherings. Relationally, this is one of the most strategic times during the week to be available and on the lookout for

• new faces you can make feel welcomed
• old faces you can connect with
• hurting people you can comfort
• happy people you can be encouraged by.

Sometimes you just gotta go after a service. We get it. That's okay. There are special events, or unusual demands, or seasons of life with small, antsy children. But if you're bouncing out the doors every week as soon as possible after the services ends (or even before it's over), you're at least not making the most of corporate worship.

6. Come to receive from God and give to others.

This is the banner over all the other charges. Come to corporate worship on the lookout for feeding on God and his grace, and on the lookout for giving grace to others. Come to be blessed by God, and to bless others. Receive from him, give to them.

We're prone to get this backwards. We come to worship thinking that we're somehow giving to God, and we subtly expect we'll be receiving from others. We desperately need to turn that pattern on its head.

The God we worship is one not "served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything" (Acts 17:25). And when he came in the flesh, he did so "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). Beware coming to corporate worship to serve God. But by all means, come on the lookout to serve others. Worshiping God and building up others aren't mutually exclusive but come to their fullness together.

We give to one another as we together come to receive from God our soul's satisfaction. We kill both the vertical and horizontal of corporate worship when we come looking to give to God and receive from others.

David Mathis (@davidcmathis) is an elder at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Twin Cities, and executive editor at Desiring God. He writes regularly at www.desiringGod.org.

This is reposted from The Gospel Coalition blog by David Mathis - see the original post here.

Soul Idolatry- What are your idols?

-David Clarkson ~ 1621-1686

1. ESTEEM. That which we most highly value, we make our God.
2. MINDFULNESS. That which we are most mindful of—we make our God.
3. INTENTION. That which we most
aim at, we make our God.
4. RESOLUTION. What we are most resolved for, we worship as God.
5. LOVE. That which we most love—we worship as our God.
6. TRUST. That which we most trust we make our God.
7. FEAR. That which we most fear, we worship as our God.
8. HOPE. That which we make our hope we worship as God.
9. DESIRE. That which we most desire—we worship as our God.
10. DELIGHT. That which we most delight and rejoice in—that we worship as God.
11. ZEAL. That for which we are most zealous, we worship as God.
12. GRATITUDE. That to which we are most grateful, that we worship as God.
13.WORK HARD FOR? When our care and industry is more for other things, than for God—this is idolatrous.


Find the entire sermon here: http://www.gracegems.org/SERMONS/Clarkson_soul_idolatry.htm

"Ask, Seek, Knock" - Sermon Review Questions: from the Sermon on the Mount– 8/12/12

1.    What’s the progression in asking, seeking knocking? How does this affect our prayer life?

2.    How do we respond when our prayers are not answered the way we asked them to be answered? What does that reveal about our hearts?

3.    In our asking, seeking, and knocking - how can we see God working his best, even when the result is not what we originally desired or planned?

4.    How does asking, seeking, and knocking lead us back to God’s grace?

5.    We know how to give good gifts, as Jesus pointed out. Reflect on the fact that “How much more” God has given us the best gifts! Be prepared to share some aspects of God’s goodness in your life with the group.

6.    John Stott says that prayer presupposes three things
     a.    Knowledge of God’s revealed will
     b.    Faith in God’s revealed will
     c.    Desire to see God’s revealed will fulfilled
 What can we do to cultivate these three aspects in our lives this next week?

7.    For personal application: What specific spiritual request can you earnestly ask, seek, and knock for this coming semester? (this could be a friend’s salvation, a certain area of growth, etc)

Cross Impact Summer Update

It’s been a full summer so far here at Clemson! Jon and I have been working long hours on the campus and have been greatly encouraged at the work that God has wrought in hearts. The most concentrated effort we’ve put forth has been the Wednesday investigative Bible study “Truth or Myth” which has met during the lunch hour. We’ve gone through questions about Christianity such as “Can I know God,” “What is the Bible,” “Creation and Evolution,” and many others. We’ve had many guests from various backgrounds attend: some of our faithful regulars have supported the Bible study, we’ve had some other Christian students come, as well as some non-Christians. One guy was saved after the third week of the study! Be praying for him as Jon disciples him in his newfound faith.
              We’ve also been a part of the orientation for incoming freshmen, meeting them and their parents and encouraging them to get involved with our ministry in the fall. It’s so exciting to see these students intentionally planning for a continued relationship with Christ. We emphasize to them that their freshmen year is where they really get to own their faith, and make that crucial choice whether to follow Christ for themselves. When they come, all their external supports are taken away and they’re thrust out into a predominately secular environment. Our campus ministry as a way to help these students, not by sheltering them from secularism, but by giving them a place to continue in the reality of Christ on this campus! We’re a diverse community of believers who all believe firmly in the gospel, we’ve been transformed by it and are seeking to transform our campus by it!
            We’ve got a couple weeks before everyone starts rolling back into campus, and we’re gearing up now for that. Please be praying for those who will be coming to our Bible study in the fall, for our student officers and POWER group leaders who will be heading up events and discipling one another, and be praying that God would be preparing hearts to hear, receive, and be transformed by the gospel!

Do You Use a Fishing Pole to Fish for Men?

As a child in Sunday School, I learned to sing, “I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men…if you follow me.” My favorite part was pretending I was “reeling in the big one” as I sang! Good song. Great truth. Misleading motions.
I associated “fishing for men” with the image of a fishing pole, line, hook, and bait. One problem…this is not the image that Jesus used to talk about fishing for men. In Matthew 4, when Jesus called Simon and Andrew, he found them casting a net into the sea. When he told them that he would make them fishers of men, they left their nets and followed. When he called James and John, they were mending their nets. In fact, the only time Jesus talked about line fishing was when he instructed Peter to catch a fish and find in its mouth the money to pay his taxes.


So why a net and instead of a fishing pole? One could argue that a fish comes into a net gently instead of being jerked by a hook lodged in its lip. Thus, the net more closely parallels bringing people into the kingdom of God. But more significant is the emphasis of the net analogy. Luke 5:4-6 says,


“And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.’ And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.” (ESV)


The image of the net emphasizes God’s work of leading men into the “net,” not our ability to make the bait as enticing as possible. A fisherman casts out a worm with a hidden hook ready to ensnare an oblivious fish. Is this how God draws men to the Savior (John 6:44)? Absolutely not. God does not trick an ignorant soul with bait-like gimmicks. Instead, he lovingly draws them into a restored relationship with Himself. Another application from the net analogy is found in Simon Peter’s inability to bring fish into the net by his own effort alone. He had toiled all night, yet had caught nothing. But when Jesus decided that Peter was going to catch fish, the young fisherman’s responsibility was to simply cast the net. When a soul comes to faith in Christ, we as the church cannot hold up our prize as if we won a bass tournament. Instead, we fall at the feet of Jesus (Luke 5:8) and thank Him for the privilege of casting the net. The last application of the net analogy is that a net fisherman cannot pick which kind of fish he wants to catch (see Matthew 13:47-50). Similarly, an evangelist should share the gospel without partiality.


If we properly understand Christ’s analogy, we will not compare evangelistic methods to bait, we will not be proud of our techniques of sharing the gospel, and we will not mask the gospel by coating it with dishonest gimmicks. We will not hide Biblical truths like the need for repentance and the cost of discipleship even though they aren’t the most attractive baits to the average fish. 


Instead, we will cast the net in humility and faith. We will share the hope of the gospel to everyone without partiality. Instead of boasting in our “bait,” we will boast that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. And when a soul enters the net, we will fall at the feet of the One who led him there.


One more admonition…do not try confronting five-year-olds on their inaccurate song motions. Remember the weird memory devices most of us have used to remember things, and we won’t have room to judge.




Jon Ledbetter, Cross Impact Intern, clemsonci.org

Sermon Review Questions: from the Sermon on the Mount "Discernment - Judge Not" – 7/22/12

1.    Discuss what it means: “Do not judge.” Also, what does it not mean?

2.    What types of things do we wrongly judge others about?

3.    When we judge, how do we get judged?  Discuss how we are judged in return and how that judgment is determined (especially talk about Divine judgment)

4.    Why does Jesus characterize our personal sin as a beam and other’s sin as a speck?

5.    Does everyone have beams? How do we deal with our own beams?

6.    How can preaching the cross to ourselves help us to not judge, but rather extract our beams and then help others?


Two examples:
a.    You’re attending a small church in an unnamed city, and in your section of town there’s also a huge church with flashy lights, entertaining speakers, multi-million dollar facilities, and much much more… how can we put Matt. 7:1-5 into practice?

b.    You’re home for a brief period of time, and your mother or father is easily frustrated at various situations, which in turn frustrates and irritates you- how can you apply Matt 7:1-5 in this situation?


Personal Application:
1.    Who do you most quickly judge?
2.    Examine your own life – what are you ignoring or are oblivious to in your own life?

Sermon Review Questions: from the Sermon on the Mount "Where We Pursue" – 7/15/12

 Questions taken from Matthew 6:31-34:

1. Why do we worry about what we eat, drink, and wear? Why should this not characterize believers? 

2. What does the Father know, and how does that give us comfort? (from vs. 32)

3. What is the kingdom of God? How do you seek it?

4. Discuss the "kingdom of God" and "his righteousness" - why was it important to include a pursuit of "his righteousness"? (see Romans 1:16-17, 3:21-26)

5.What is your response to this passage of scripture that will allow you to be more like Christ in this next week?

 

You can find the audio file for the sermon here: http://ubcclemson.org/#/media

Sermon Review Questions: from the Sermon on the Mount "Where We Rest" – 7/8/12

Questions taken from Matthew 6:25-30:

1.    How does having our one treasure, one vision, and one Master (Matthew 6:19-24) motivate us not to be anxious? (Remember from the sermon: “Anxiety comes from duplicity”)




2.    What kinds of things are worried about today (even in an affluent society like ours)?  What kinds
of things do you personally worry about day to day?  What does worry accomplish?




3.    Vs. 26 shows us that our Heavenly Father values us – What has God done to show us that he values us?  (see also Romans 8:32)



4.    Consider the birds and the flowers, what does this show you about God’s care for you?



5.    How is “not worrying” different from a lazy or indifferent attitude?



6.    What does our anxiety indicate about our belief in God?




7.    What should we preach to ourselves when we’re tempted to worry?



8.    What is your response to this passage of scripture that will allow you to be more like Christ in this next week?

Sermon Followup Matthew 6:19-21 - June 17th, 2012

1.    Discuss the word treasure:
            a.    What temporal treasures do the world pursue?
            b.    Temporal treasures do Christians sometimes pursue?




2.    How do these temporal treasures decay, are destroyed, and are stolen? (Matt. 6:19)
            a.    See also Prov. 23:5, Job 1:21, I Tim. 6:9-10, 17




3.    Discuss this statement – “As humans, it’s a part of our nature to ‘treasure up’ treasure”




4.    What is heavenly treasure? (Psalm 16:11, I Timothy 6:17-19, I Peter 1:4-5)



5.    What should our attitude be towards heavenly treasure? (II Cor 4:7, Psalm 73:25, Phil 3:8)



6.    How can our view on treasure be a great witness to the unsaved world?




Personal Application:

7.    Where is your treasure? If it is on the temporal things of earth, how can you start desiring and “treasuring up” treasure in heaven?

8.    What one thing can you do this next week to start this shift towards heavenly treasure?

Sermon Review - May 27, 2012

“Deliver us from evil”

1.     What does it mean that God is our deliverer?

(Colossians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Timothy 4:18)

 

2.     Why do we need to pray for deliverance?

 

3.     Do you tend to view the Evil One as a school of goldfish or as a 7-foot reef shark? What do your actions reveal about your view of the Evil One?

 

Personal Application:

4.     How must the truth preached today change my prayer life this week?

The Lord's Prayer - "Lead us not into temptation"

Follow up questions:

1. Where does temptation come from? (Mathew 4:1, James 1:13-14

2. "We can't keep a bird from landing in our heads, but we can keep it from building a nest" - What does this quote mean concerning temptation? How do we practically keep sin from "building a nest"?

3. Can one circumstance be considered both a trial and a temptation? Why or why not?

4. The positive side of resisting temptation is pursuing righteousness (2 Timothy 2:22). What does it mean to pursue righteousness?


Personal Application:
5. What are the most difficult temptations for you to resist? In what ways can you give God glory through those temptations?

6. How must the truth preached today change your prayer life this week?

Sermon Review - Discussion questions on "Give us this day our daily bread" ~ Matthew 6:11 (Sermon from May 6th, 2012)

1. What hinders us from realizing that God gives us our daily needs?

2. How does praying "Give us this day our daily bread" remind us of the curse of sin in our own lives? (See Genesis 3:19).

3. How does praying "Give us this day our daily bread" remind us that we need to trust God for everything? (Deuteronomy 8:17-18)

4. Why does praying "Give us this day our daily bread" teach us to be content? (1 Timothy 6:8)

5. What does "Give us this day our daily bread" mean to you now after the message? Give one personal application of this teaching.

Questions prepared for the college class by Dr. Ted Whitwell

Sermon Preparation: April 29th, 2012

Tomorrow we'll be studying Matthew 6:10  "Let... your will be done".


When we pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” we are essentially asking two things 1) For active obedience; that we may do God’s will actively in what he commands. 2) For passive obedience; that we may submit to God’s will patiently in what he inflicts. This prayer is not for the faint of heart. Are you ready to ask for God’s will alone to be done in your life. This prayer led nearly all the disciples to a martyr’s death. It led Jesus to the Cross. But make no mistake. You will find no greater joy in this life or in the next than in praying this prayer, “Your will be done”