Jesus Said Hard Things!

In our adult Bible class last Sunday morning the subject of part of our lesson was Christian Leadership specifically the marketing of the world verses Jesus' model seen the four gospels.
The Scripture we looked at was John chapter 6. After He fed the multitude and sent His men in a boat across the lake He walked on the water to them and they finished the journey to the other side of the lake.

The next day a lot of the people He had fed found Jesus and He confronted them in 6:26 telling them they hadn't followed Him in order to see more signs (vv. 2, 14, 30), but because He had fed them. In other words they were in it for the physical food they could get. Our Lord then tells them not to work for the food that perishes, but instead for the food which endures to eternal life (meaning Himself).

And Christ seems to have had enough of their attitudes concerning wanting more physical food and He decides to thin the herd a little, if you will, by saying some hard things. He told the crowd (called disciples vv. 50, 66) that He was the Bread of Life and all that, that metaphor entails (vv. 48-51). He makes it sound like He wants them to become cannibals (vv. 51-58).

Hard stuff, right? Of course He was using hyperbole to make His point concerning taking all of Him (trust, faith and all of that).

So the people realized that He was saying hard stuff and said to each other, "This is a difficult statement, who can listen to it?" And Jesus knowing all of this further pushed the issue telling them that He was telling the truth and that the physical profits nothing, but the spiritual is where true reality and life is (v. 63). Then He tells them that no one can come to Him as a true follower unless it is granted to that one by God the Father (v. 65), and the consequence to all of this is that many abandoned following Him (v. 66).

Then an astonishing thing happened, and this blows my mind (as we used to say in the 60s and early 70s). Jesus turns to the twelve (Peter, Andrew, James, John and the rest) and asks them, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" Incredible!
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So, let this be an example to those in our day who use the world's marketing and promotion methods in and around the local church. Their worldly strategies go counter to Jesus methods.

Jesus said hard stuff to people and He didn't back down. He wanted them to count the cost of following Him and He wasn't all that concerned with the "numbers" but was instead more concerned with the quality of His followers, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father" (v. 65).
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Here is a link to see some of the other hard sayings of Jesus and others in the Bible.
http://www.intergate.com/~subi/hard.htm

The Greatest Letter Ever Written

I am in the middle of preaching through Paul's Letter to the Romans. This task is one of the most daunting things I have ever done. As I am taking the congregation God has given me to shepherd through what is called by the pastors and Bible scholars I read, "The Greatest Letter Ever Written," my head has been spinning as I try to communicate the deep truths that God had Paul pen under His inspiration.

In the past ten years I have preached verse-by-verse through the gospel of Mark, The Letter to the Hebrews, the life of Abraham from Genesis, and other Old Testament and New Testament books and passages, but Romans seems to be in a class of its own.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that every word in the Bible, Genesis through Revelation, is the very word of God without error in the original manuscripts. Period. Paul's Letter to the Romans is included. But Romans, with its tremendous truths of: depravity, justification by faith, sanctification, glorification, predestination, election, Israel, love and grace is truly special.
The last few weeks in chapter 7 my head seemed to be spinning as I studied Paul's writing concerning the two natures conflict within him. And chapter 8 is even more daunting. It might be the highlight of the letter, but as I talked to a colleague of mine today he told me to "wait 'till chapter 9 and my mind will be spinning again."

So, going verse-by-verse through Paul's Letter to the Romans is a sobering, scary yet exciting exercise. Pray for me as I continue studying and communicating God's great truth.

Your Pastor Has Style!

The first week of February my wife and I were blessed to be able to attend Moody Bible Institute’s (MBI) Founder’s Week Bible Conference in Chicago for the seventh time. Attending that conference always gives us a good spiritual shot-in-the-arm as we return to the work God has called us to.

Each time we plan to attend, I ask God to show me what He wants me to learn. This year I was surprised to have Him teach me that, ”I Have Style.” Stay with me now as you read on.

As I watched and listened to some incredible preachers such as James MacDonald, Erwin Lutzer, Chip Ingram, Haddon Robinson, Josh Moody, James Ford, and Gary Chapman I realized that each of these men have their own preaching style. Maybe you have read some of their books or heard them on Christian radio so you have a sense of what I mean. Over five days Karen and I heard twelve expository sermons preached by pastors and ministry leaders, again, each with their own style. We even watched a taped talk by Joni Earekson-Tada who couldn’t fly in to Chicago because of a snow storm.

Let me tell you what I learned from watching and listening to all of these biblical presentations. God uses all sorts of people with all sorts of styles.

James MacDonald was very dynamic and his sermons were highly interactive with the five-thousand numbered congregation. Josh Moody, who is from London, England read his manuscript as he preached in a very prim and proper English way and explained God’s word to us. James Ford is a black preacher from South Chicago, who, in being true to his culture, was very expressive as he brilliantly taught God’s word. Joni was as gracious as ever as she shared about her struggle with breast cancer last year as well as her ministry of Joni and Friends sending wheel-chairs around the word for the handicapped. Haddon Robinson, in his 80s, in his soft-spoken manner, masterfully told us the story of Hosea, and Chip Ingram’s sermon from Romans 12:1-8 was amazingly practical.

All this to say, again, God uses people with all sorts of personalities and speaking styles. You know what, after I attended MBI Founder’s Week 2011, I am much more comfortable with my own style as an expository preacher.

Christians, this is the reason I have written about this topic. If you are reading this, pray for your pastor and thank God that he exposits God’s word in his own style each Sunday and doesn’t try to be anyone else, because he has style too.