Always Ready

One of the favorite topics on the evangelical agenda these days is how the church should “engage the culture.” Do Christians need to imitate the boorish aspects of a quickly-decaying civilization in order to remain “relevant”? Some evidently think so. Continue reading this excellent article by John MacArthur here. I’m glad someone’s not afraid to say these things.

“I literally hate church signs that call Jesus a key to heaven. He’s not a key! He’s the Son of God!”
-Paul Washer

I would like to inform you of a fantastic resource, PuritanLibrary.com. This website has archived hundreds of Puritan works online, all available to download for free. Authors include Richard Sibbes, John Owen, Thomas Watson, Thomas Boston, John Bunyan, John Flavel, Jonathan Edwards, Richard Baxter, John Colquhoun, Matthew Henry, and many more. Be challenged and inspired by the writings of these godly men, and be sure to spread the word.

And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

I love the poetry of John Donne as it reflects so many of the sentiments that I have felt and do feel. Not only is his poetry beautiful, I would say on the level of Shakespeare, it is born out of a heart of true devotion to the Lord. This poem is the fifth in a series of sonnet-meditations, and it is one of my favorite Donne poems.

HOLY SONNETS.

V.

I am a little world made cunningly
Of elements, and an angelic sprite ;
But black sin hath betray’d to endless night
My world’s both parts, and, O, both parts must die.
You which beyond that heaven which was most high
Have found new spheres, and of new land can write,
Pour new seas in mine eyes, that so I might
Drown my world with my weeping earnestly,
Or wash it if it must be drown’d no more.
But O, it must be burnt ; alas ! the fire
Of lust and envy burnt it heretofore,
And made it fouler ; let their flames retire,
And burn me, O Lord, with a fiery zeal
Of Thee and Thy house, which doth in eating heal.

-John Donne 1572-1631

In recent days, there has been a resurgence of reformed theology; especially among younger generations who are turned off by the error of the emerging church and the excesses of the mega churches. This has puzzled some and excited others. In an attempt to answer why this is occuring, Nathan Pitchford of the Reformation Theology blog wrote a short piece entitled, “Why Reformed?“, describing what he believes are the major factors contributing to this resurgence.

I found this article insightful, particularly his first reason. Nathan hits it on the head when he describes the dissatisfaction that drives many young people re-discovering the truths of the Reformation. In this brief paragraph, he describes almost exactly what I experienced as a young teen. What he says, mind you, does not necessarily apply only to megachurches or emerging churches, but rather many churches that place an unhealthy emphasis on decisional theology. Read on:

The milieu in which we grew up was characterized on the one hand by a high-stress, high-guilt, man-powered striving after sanctification, evangelism, etc., that left a great deal of burned-out and disillusioned Christians all around us. On the other hand, the services and worship were often characterized by a frivolity and superficiality that left us unsatisfied and longing for more substance. The combination was virtually unsustainable for the long term. We were constantly striving to obey a long list of rules and standards, by our own efforts, feeling the crushing weight of guilt for our many failures, for all the unevangelized people around us whom we passed on the streets without sharing the gospel, and whose blood was therefore on our hands, and so on. And then, on Sunday, to be recharged and equipped for another week of will-motivated strivings, we sang a handful of trite and trivial choruses. It just didn’t cut it. When Reformed doctrine came into the picture, it was the most liberating and captivating thing that could be imagined. All of a sudden, my salvation, sanctification, acceptance with God, and so on, wasn’t dependent on me. God was responsible for my salvation, from beginning to end. I didn’t produce faith from my own dead and hardened nature in the first place, even that was a gift of God; and what God had begun, God would finish. And then, in proportion as my view of myself diminished, my view of my Savior increased, to such an extent that gazing on his manifold perfections truly was an unending source of delight and nourishment for the Christian race. My rest became my strength, my despair in myself became my confidence in Another, my confidence apart from my works became the motivation by which my works abounded as a labor of love and not a torture of guilt.

That is virtually identical to the scenario that I experienced. As a highschooler, my family and I attended a relatively large fundamentalist church. Sunday after Sunday, I would be told to follow five steps to this, or 3 steps to that, and I was exhorted that, if I could only keep this set of rules, I would be a victorious Christian. Needless to say, I was frustrated week after week, just as Nathan described. I soon began to despair of every being a “good” Christian.

In addition to this, there was a lack of reverence and seriousness that was disconcerting to me as a young Christian. Before the services began each week, there was a roar of socializing that had, all too often, nothing to do with spiritual things. As soon as the pastor dismissed the service, this din would break forth again, melting any sense of conviction or gravity that may have been produced by the actual worship service.

While it may be surprising to some, it was this kind of service that led to my eventual backsliding and rebellion. It was weak and formulaic preaching, irreverance, and overall shallowness that led to my disillusionment and my weariness in striving to conquer my sin. God had been reduced to a glass of water when he was really a deep and unfathomable ocean of truth. Eventually, I told myself, “if this is all there is to Christianity, I want no part of it.”

Fortunately, what I had experienced was not all that there was to Christianity. After moving to South Carolina, I found myself, in the Providence of God, in the church of Dr. Alan Cairns. Here, I heard from the pulpit truth that was thrilling, humbling, and convicting all at once. It was the whole counsel of God, which I had never heard from a pulpit before. Here I was introduced to the doctrines of grace and God’s sovereignty. I was presented with Christ the king, as well as Christ the friend of sinners– Christ in all his fullness. I was shown the richness and depth of God’s word, and it gave me a new desire to study it for myself. I did not have to be chided into doing so; it was a natural reaction. I did not care one wit what the doctrinal label was of the truth that I heard. I was set free and I had a new desire for God.

I say all this to say that I am glad that I am not alone in my journey, though I often felt I was. If you are experiencing the same discouragements and disillusionments, I will simply say that Christ’s yoke is easy and his burden is light. Don’t despair, he conquered your sin on the cross. If you are a believer, you are righteous in the sight of God. Now live like it.