While You Were Sipping Your Latte: Worshipping with the Persecuted Church

“the noble army of martyrs praise thee.”  Te Deum Laudamas, an Early Christian hymn of praise, AD 387

We in the West are casual worshippers.  So it has been up to this point.  We get up on Sunday and have a range of churches we may attend.   On the way to church, we may stop for our favorite latte at Starbucks, unless we already have a coffee shop which serves our favorite brew on the church campus. We attend our worship in air conditioned sanctuaries, in buildings that are going wireless.  We have high tech sound boards, and digital images on the screens.  We sit in padded chairs or pews. We worry about parking spaces.  We gripe if the sermon goes long, or the services lasts beyond 12 noon.  Then afterwards, we might stop at a great restaurant for a Sunday brunch, or go for healthier fare at Panera.  In a word, we have it easy.

Not so with many parts of the Christian family around the world.  While you were sipping your latte, many were suffering for their faith.   How many?   A recent study done by Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary concluded that on average about 171,000 Christians worldwide are martyred for their faith each year now.   That comes to about 465 a day, or 20 while you were relaxing in your padded pew. 

One of the mind clearing exercises I do before going to church on Sunday is to get the latest reports on the persecuted church for this week.  My favorite site for information is International Christian Concern’s.   Here are a few of the headlines from a recent week:

• Muslim extremists decapitate seven Christians in Somalia
• Egyptian Muslim convert to Christianity face death threats
• Anti-Christian violence in Orissa, India
• Church run school attacked in Gauarat:  chapel desecrated, principal beaten
• Two Christian converts imprisoned in Iraq
• Christians targeted by country’s military in Burma. 

And these are just the reports we know about.   Many go unreported.   According to International Christian Concern, the ten countries which persecute Christians most are:  North Korea, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, India, China, Pakistan, Iran, Eritrea, and Vietnam.   Open Doors ministries says there are 74 nations where Christians face the reality of persecution or martyrdom.

It is a fact that the great age of persecution is not long past in the days of the Roman Empire, but is our own age.

We should not be surprised at this.  There has always been a cost of discipleship.   Jesus predicted it in John 15 and 16.  He said, “if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (15.18).  

Why does it happen?  Sometimes it comes because of our doctrine—the gospel of Christ crucified is folly to the intellectually proud and a stumbling block to the self-righteous.  Sometimes it comes because of our ethics—we believe in timeless truth and morals that come from God.  A self-indulgent culture finds this unacceptable.    John Stott once wrote that “persecution is simply the clash between irreconcilable value systems. (Sermon on the Mount, p. 53).

When I enter a Sunday with the suffering church in my mind and heart, it changes the way I worship and preach.  It clarifies my mind.  It tells me that we have family who are suffering that

we can’t forget to pray for.   It reminds me that there is a cost to following Jesus.  It warns me that the peace we enjoy today is not to be taken for granted.   It sobers me that this is no time for casual worship.  And just perhaps, it is preparing us with examples of Christian courage for the days ahead in the West.

This Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.    Before you sip your latte, take some time to remember and to pray for those who suffer for the name of Christ.  It will change the way you worship.

To learn more about the persecuted church visit the web sites of Voice of the Martyrs (www.vom.org), International Christian Concern (www.persecutedchurch.org),  or Open Doors International (www.,gospelcome.net/od).

Why Celebrate Reformation Sunday?

Reformation Sunday is the Sunday in October closest to October 31^st.    On October 31, 1517, in Wittenberg, Germany, a brilliant and brave German monk posted 95 serious grievances he had with the existing church. He did so out of a love for Christ and the gospel.  It is from this event that we usually date the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

The monk’s name was Martin Luther. He and many others called the church back to the distinctives of Biblical Christianity:   such as Scripture alone—as our supreme authority under Christ (verses the supremacy of church, experience, reason, or  tradition), Christ alone (as mediator between God and man), grace alone (God alone is ultimately responsible for our salvation), justification by faith alone (we cannot earn our way to God’s favor—we must trust in Christ), and to God alone be the glory (all that we do must be for the glory of God).

Luther was not alone in this mission.  This year especially, we remember not just Luther, but also John Calvin.  If Luther was the father of the Reformation, Calvin was its greatest theologian and pastor.   Some have called him the most important Protestant theologian of all time.   This year is the 500^th anniversary of Calvin’s birth. 

But on Reformation Sunday, we don’t celebrate these individuals, for they were flawed saints who would not want all this attention.   Rather, we celebrate their passion to see the church reformed by the Word of God.  

Of course, in celebrating our Reformation heritage, we don’t forget the faithful Christian witness that extended in the early and medieval church.    We need to remember the witness of other great Christians like Augustine, Ambrose, Anselm , Bernard, Chrysostom, Patrick, Pascal, Wycliffe and many others.  We give thanks for the achievements of those centuries—the gathering of the Scriptures, early Bible translation, bold Christian witness, early apologetics, the discoveries of faith seeking understanding, pioneering missionary work in pagan Europe, the formation of great creeds, the challenge of how to live in persecution, in chaos and in victory.   

But in the late 15th^th century the Western Church was in trouble.   God used men like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox and Cranmer to bring great reform to the Western Church.

The Reformation has sometimes been called one of the greatest revivals since Pentecost.   While nothing compares with Pentecost, pause and think about what was recovered in the 16^th century by the Reformers.   They recovered the gospel, they attempted to make the Word of God central again, the sought to bring simplicity back to worship and church life, they sped up the work of Bible translation, and they rediscovered the notion of common calling.  

One of the watch words of the reformation was Ad fonts.  It is a Latin expression which means “to the sources” (lit. “to the fountain”).  In the mouths of the Reformers it meant—back to the gospel, back to the Scriptures, and ultimately back to Christ.

Listen to two passages from Calvin’s early writings: To his preface to the translation of the Bible by Pierre-Robert Olivétan (1535) Calvin gives the characteristic title: To all those who love Christ and his gospel, and then continues: “Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom, folly before God; strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God. But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, fellow townsmen with the saints, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom the poor are made rich, the weak strong, the fools wise, the sinners justified, the desolate comforted, the doubting sure, and slaves free. The gospel is the Word of life.“  And in his reply to Cardinal Jacobus Sadoletus (1539) he emphasizes our total dependence on Jesus Christ: “As all humankind are, in the sight of God, lost sinners, we hold that Christ is their only righteousness, since by his obedience he has wiped off our transgressions, by his sacrifice appeased the divine anger, by his blood washed away our stains, by his cross borne our curse, and by his death made satisfaction for us. We maintain that in this way humans are reconciled in Christ to God the Father, by no merit of their own, by no value of works, but by gratuitous mercy.”

The reason many of us pause to look back on Reformation Sunday, is because the church in our day desperately needs revival and reformation.  There is much straying from the Scriptures.    On the one hand, many in the old main line Protestant churches have for some time denied sola Scriptura (the supreme authority of the Bible under Christ).   Evidence of this shift is becoming abundantly clear.   The Episcopal Church in America and now the Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have allowed openly homosexual clergy and agreed to bless gay unions.

On the other hand, all is not well with Evangelicals Protestants.  For many of our so called “Bible believing churches” simple do not take the Bible seriously.  Consider the Biblical content of standard fare preaching in our churches.   And what has happened to reading the Bible in our worship services?    I suspect that there is more Scripture read in local Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches than in 90% of evangelical churches.

Reformation Day is a reminder each year to come back to the Word.  Why?  Because churches, like people, live and thrive by the Word of God.   Jesus said, “man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”  (Matthew 4.4).  

This is a great occasion to call our churches……..back to the sources.

The Grace of Sports

My dad’s father was a tough Scottish builder.  The story I’ve heard is that when he began to follow Christ, there was a radical change in his life.   He gave up drinking, he gave up gambling and he gave up soccer.   In his mind, they were all associated together with his previous life.  He needed a clean break from all of it.   Consequently, when my dad was growing up and wanted to go out for high school football, he was not allowed to.   His dad still held all those associations together.

However, when I grew up, it was very different.   My dad encouraged me to sign up for sports.  So I played baseball and swam competitively.  I wasn’t the greatest athlete.  But when I played, my dad was often there.  When I hit the ball, he cheered.  When I struck out, he sighed and gave me a pat on the back, encouraging me to do better next time.   All through my growing up years he made sure I knew how to swim.  We played catch in the back yard, tossed the football, played volleyball, croquet, horse shoes.  He took me and my brothers to professional baseball, football, hockey and basketball games.   He was not a sports fanatic, but he understood the grace of sports.

Last week in Colorado we had a great ride.   The Broncos are on a roll—so far.   The Rockies, even though they have now been eliminated, won the Wild Card spot in the post season playoffs.    We have college football in full swing.   The World Series is just around the corner.   So we are all talking about sports.

Of course, it is easy to go overboard on sports, especially in a sports town like Denver.  More than one sermon has been preached about how our culture is so obsessed with games that some practically burn incense to the sports god.   Sports can become an idol when it becomes the ultimate thing in our lives taking God’s rightful place, and not, as it was created to be, a second thing.   

On the other hand, I don’t believe we say enough about what I call “the grace of sport.”  I am not talking about graceful athletes like Michael Jordan (basketball), Joe DiMaggio (baseball), Walter Payton (football), etc..  I am talking about the gift of play.  I think we forget God’s tender mercy in giving us games like baseball (I say this as a baseball nut).

God created us so we can play.   Sport or play is a grace.  It is not a saving grace (which redeems us and is found in Christ alone).  It is a minor grace—a common grace.    Every good and perfect gift comes from above, James 1.17  tells us, from our heavenly Father.  Do we believe that?   An old hymn put it this way: “This is my Father’s world, he shines in all that’s fair.”

What common grace comes to us through sports?   For one, games like baseball and football relieve the weight of life.  They help take our minds off of things like terrorism, turbulent markets, and politics we don’t like.  

Sport also satisfies our competitive urges.  As my friend Jim Ryan, who played with the championship Broncos says, “sports create contrived dramas or battles.  It sets up artificial crises which in turn help us deal with the real crises and the real battles of life.”   How true.   

Along with all that, sports teaches us lessons that are crucial for life. In the NT, Paul seems to commend the discipline, achievement and rewards of the Greek games as a way of understanding the ultimate crown which Christ gives.

In 1 Corinthians 9.25, he commends the discipline and self control learned in sports when he compares the Christian life to a race.   “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”   Sports teach the lesson of delayed gratification for the greater reward.

In 2 Timothy 2.5, Paul highlights the importance of learning to play by the rules.    “If anyone competes as an athlete,” he writes, “he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.”   Learning to care about the referee’s verdict and playing by the rules is extremely important in every aspect of life.

In 1 Corinthians 9.24, Paul compares the Christian life to a race aiming at our reward.  He writes,  “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”  Not only are we to live for the ultimate reward, we are to live it like a runner doing all that we can to get towards finishing well.  In Philippians  3:13,14, he writes, “one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

And in Hebrews 12.1-3, the writer of that letter imagines us all in a race surrounded by the a stadium full of people, only this crowd is all those saints who have gone before us.  He wants us to learn endurance.  With their example in mind he says,   “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”

As it turns out, the New Testament is full of passages which demonstrate good things which come through sports.   As good things, they are a manifestation of God’s common grace.  There are good things for the coach who is trying to teach life lessons to kids.  There are good things for followers of Jesus who want to know how to finish well.   And there are good things for the person who wants to play for the glory of God.   

I don’t know if my grandfather, whom I deeply admire, ever understood that.   But I am so grateful my father did.

Sober John and Smiling Joel: Two Visions of the Christian Life

Before you accuse me of a John and Joel fixation, hear me out. It’s John Calvin’s 500th birthday this year. So, naturally, I have been reading more Calvin. And, the smiling preacher’s face, (Joel Osteen’s), is everywhere. It was sheer curiosity that drove me to compare their two visions of the Christian life. Sober John Calvin’s vision is described in the small classic, GOLDEN BOOKLET OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN LIFE, and smiling Joel Osteen’s vision is described in YOUR BEST LIFE NOW. How do they differ? Who is the more authentic voice of Evangelicalism? How would the suffering church today assess their validity? I think you’ll find this interesting.

Both men were pastors. Both had large congregations. Both revered the Bible. Both were leading spokespersons for Evangelical Christianity. But both men lived in very different settings and had very different messages. Smiling Joel lived and ministered in prosperous times in early 21st century America. Sober John lived and ministered in difficult times when Evangelicals were savagely persecuted in 16th century France.

Victory Now?
Pastor Joel says we can experience victory, joy and satisfaction every single day. He writes “God has destined you to live in victory.”(YBLN 194) That victory will come when we start believing good things will happen to us. We can have happiness and fulfillment today. We should start expecting supernatural promotion in every area of our life. Pastor John was not so optimistic about this life. He sought to embrace the common cause of all believers. In describing the church of his day, he said that it has “either been wasted with cruel slaughter or banished into exile, or so overwhelmed by threats and fears that it dare not even open its mouth.” (CI, 30)

Ease
According to Pastor Joel, “God wants to make your life easier. He wants to assist you, to promote you, to give you advantages. He wants you to have preferential treatment” and to prosper today (YBLN, 38). He has “more in store” for you. But to have this we must release our faith, dream and start trusting him for bigger things. Pastor John had a very different view. He said that as followers of Christ, we have to go through much strife on earth. This life is “full of unrest, trouble, and misery,” and not really happy from many points of view. (GB 69) While this world should not be despised, he said, “we are inclined to overestimate this present life.” (GB 70, 72) By our fellowship with Christ, however, adversities can become blessings to promote our happiness and salvation and prepare us for heaven.

Interestingly, for Pastor Joel, God is “always trying” to do something in our lives—to do something new, to promote us, to increase what we have. But He is frustrated—by us! Unless we make the first move, He can’t do anything. For Pastor John, God is sovereign over both prosperity and adversity. While faith and human responsibility have a real place, God is ruling rather than trying.

Self and Self Denial
Pastor Joel says a lot about the self, and nothing about sin or self denial. We must view ourselves, he says, as priceless treasures, as champions, as winners and as over-comers. We must know our great value. His emphasis is how much God makes of us. Pastor John, on the other hand, while affirming that we are God’s unique creation, said that “to live happily the evils of false ambition and self love must be plucked from our hearts.” (GB 29). He said, “there is a world of vices hidden in the soul of man, but Christian self denial is the remedy of them all.” (GB 24) Because of the freedom given by the gospel, Pastor John’s emphasis is how much we should make of God.

Cross Bearing
Pastor Joel decided that the cross would be out of place in his worship center. He says of his services, “it’s not a churchy feel. We don’t have crosses up there.” According to Pastor Joel, the cross is a barrier that keeps people from coming. Sin is never mentioned. Neither is the cross or atonement. Instead, he wants to focus on positive thinking and give people a boost for the week. Rather than have a cross on the platform, his central symbol is the world. Pastor John, would have a hard time understanding this. His view of the Christian life is rooted in redemption. The cross and the resurrection are the foundation for everything. He says, Christ calls every disciple to take up his cross and live under the cross. From this flow many benefits. Cross bearing makes us humble, teaches us obedience, brings repentance, and makes us hopeful for heaven. Pastor John says “there is no crown without a cross.” (GB 67)

Wealth
When it comes to wealth and prosperity, Pastor Joel is very clear. “I believe God wants us to prosper,” he repeatedly says. He therefore exhorts readers to “shun negativity and develop “a prosperous mindset” as a way of drawing on God’s favor. His gospel is very much a prosperity gospel. Shockingly, Pastor John warns of the dangers of prosperity. It “can stupefy and numb our senses so that we disregard the grace of God.” We are not to despise his blessings, but “we should not be anxious to obtain riches and honor.” Rather, we should live with moderation. (GB 90)

Your Best Life Now Or Later
For Pastor Joel, the emphasis is clearly on “your best life now,” that is—this life. Hope is this- worldly. He is silent about heaven. For Pastor John, while he emphasizes taking this life seriously, he points to our best life later. “We are inclined to overestimate this present life,” he says (GB 70). All its blessings are unstable and passing. “What is earth compared with heaven?” (GB 74). Heaven is our father land. Earth is a place of exile. We are on a pilgrimage, traveling towards the heavenly kingdom. With such words, Pastor John gave hope to the persecuted church of his day, saying, “If we are massacred, we shall be received into eternal glory.” (GB 57)

Smiling
Pastor Joel certainly walks his talk. He says, “one of the healthiest things you can do is smile more often.”(YBLN 277) And he does. Pastor John was a little more, well………sober. He said, “true saints have been disturbed by sorrow and harassed with grief.” “We are not required to be cheerful while we shake off all sense of bitterness and sorrow.”(GB 58) But we may have joy and cheerfulness when, though wounded by sadness and sorrow, we are thrown back on God. (GB 59)

While there is much more that could be said about these two very different visions of the Christian life, you will have to admit, that these two pastors, smiling Joel and sober John, certainly seem to be pointing in two very different directions.

NOTE: For more on this subject, see my earlier August 29, 2009 blog. Also, I encourage you to read John Calvin’s short, GOLDEN BOOKLET OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN LIFE, published by Baker. Footnote identifications mean: CI—Calvin’s Institutes, GB—Calvin’s Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life, YBLN—Your Best Life Now.

What is the hope for cultural renewal in the US and the West?

First, let me be clear. My ultimate hope is not in cultural renewal. It is in Jesus Christ and his kingdom. My ultimate allegiance is not to the “city of man” but to that eternal city—the city of God. However, that does not mean I don’t care deeply about my country or my culture and its renewal.

Last night I had the unique opportunity of spending some time with two former United States Senators from Colorado: Hank Brown and Bill Armstrong. Both men have led, or are currently leading universities. Bill Armstrong, of course, is the current president of Colorado Christian University—a local university experiencing its own renaissance. Hank Brown was recently the president of the University of Colorado. He is the one who recommended the firing of a tenured professor of ethnic studies—Ward Churchill (the one who touched off a firestorm with an essay likening some victims of the World Trade Center to Nazi Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out the Holocaust).

Sitting next to Hank Brown, and several CCU history professors, I could not resist asking the former senator some questions. The conversation quickly moved to the troubles of our own culture.

Let’s see, we covered the current fiscal irresponsibility of our government (and the insane rate of spending money that we don’t have) , the educational insanity of many of our universities (and their unwillingness to teach about our rich Western and Judeo-Christian heritage), the moral declension of the US (particularly the corruption of great wealth—what some call “the Punic curse”). Then came talk of the parallels between our own slide and factors that led to the fall of Rome. An historian at the table made the comment that after 200 years, all civilizations wear down. Is our own slide then inevitable?

That’s when I popped the question that I came to the dinner with. What then is the hope for cultural renewal in the US and the West?

It was noted that the renewal will not come from our government. It will not come from our state universities. It will not come from the media. Nor will it come from the business world.
At this point, I didn’t even feel like eating my dessert!

I honestly awaited the senator’s next words. He has seen it all. He had been in positions of the highest influence in government and academia. What would he say?

He started talking about Jesus. He said, the renewal we desperately need is a renewal of the spirit—a spiritual renewal—and it has something to do with Christ. Though in the end, he added, our ultimate hope may not be found in this present world at all.

Let me remind you that this sense that we need a religious awakening has been echoed more broadly by many other social commentators. Looking at the depth of our troubles, many believe that only some kind of revival or great awakening can turn things around. While he was not a Christian, that was the belief of the late Irving Kristol who died last week. I have heard economists Michael Novak and Charles Murray say the same thing.

No doubt, the crisis we face is deep. But the reason why I do not give up hope is because of what the Holy Spirit has done and can do in bringing awakening to the church and its spill over effects on our culture. Revival is the “joker in the pack” of American history. In dark times, God has set revival fires burning that have brought people into his kingdom, changed the moral tone of cities, provided new impulse for world missions, given birth to universities, and changed the course of history.

Let me remind you that the church plays a pivotal role in all that is going on. I love the saying by Bill Hybels, that under Christ, “the local church (when it is healthy) is the hope of the world.” I also love the saying by Eugene Peterson that “the church is the institution God has set at the center of the world to keep the world centered.” Churches that are acting as stewards of God’s redemptive gospel in Jesus Christ and living it out are immensely constructive. Did not Jesus himself say that

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?……..You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5.13-16)

A word to Christians and Christian leaders: For all these reasons and more, we must not grow sleepy and be carried away by the spirit of the age. We must not get lost mentally with regard to the cultural crisis of our time and the important place of the church in holding forth the gospel of life and speaking the truth in love!

Whether it is the work of children’s ministries, adult spiritual formation, pastoral ministry, para- church ministries or the work of Christian colleges and seminaries, we must be at the top of our game. What we do in our churches and institutions as leaders is not just important for ourselves, but for the kingdom and for the culture God has placed us in. The stakes are high—for now and eternity. Let’s be awake to God’s life and love in Christ so that we are ready to make our short lives count in this generation.

The Uniqueness of Music Ministry At Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church

This past week, a FOX NEWS crew (FOX 31 in Denver) spent much of the afternoon and evening at our church. They were here for our Ascent Service—which is a quarterly evening concert of modern worship. It was timed with the release of the new CD The Glad Sound done by Zac Hicks and the CCPC Worship II Band. The interview crew was gracious, gave us about a two minute report on the evening news, which generated over 3000 hits on our web site. We are grateful for the free advertising. (If you missed it, you can catch the report at ).

Of course, you never have control of things when the media comes in. What came out in the news was their story line. The one that we gave them was somewhat different. Their story line was the not very sensational: “older church seeks to attract young people with new all-contemporary service/this is not your grandmother’s worship service.” Our story line was different. It was—“the unique thing about Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church is that we have two services, one classical, the other convergent, and both are growing.”

The FOX NEWS story line pitted old against new. Our story line said, we have an interesting blend of old and new. We have young people coming to the classical service, we have older people coming to the more modern service. Besides that, the under-35 generation feels rootless and does not desire pure contemporary. They are after a mix of ancient and modern.

I have often said that one of my dreams was to pastor a church that could do classical music well (like St. Matthew Passion, the Messiah, Elijah), and yet had vibrant contemporary worship as well. In most churches, you either get one or the other, and these days it’s more–the other! Not at Cherry Creek! We do have our classical service which is strong and growing. It is more formal and traditional, with choir and pipe organ. But it is a passionate outpouring of an historic style. The service itself combines vibrant traditional worship with a Bible-based, Christ-centered message.

Our second service, called Worship II, is convergent—that is, a mix, a convergence of different currents. It is unlike most other “contemporary” services in that it seeks to meld ancient song texts, liturgy and practices of the church, with modern instrumentation and expression (typically a guitar-led band). It combines a more modern style of music with a Bible-based, Christ-centered message.

Both services strive to be a gospel driven celebration of our hope in Christ. Both speak of creation, fall and redemption through Christ. More important than worship music style for us at Cherry Creek is worship in spirit and in truth. More than music, we believe it is the gospel which ultimately attracts.

But you could sum up the music and worship approach of Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church by describing it as an expression of rooted relevance to the glory of God.

It is interesting that both our choir and our band have now put out CDs!

It is even more interesting that our classical music participation has grown in the last two years. We had around 60 in adult choir on Sunday. Our children’s choirs have grown—we have three choirs made up of 60 kids. Our classical instrumental groups have grown. We have a hand-bell choir of 12, a flute choir of 9, a brass group, a student youth orchestra of 40, and now we have about 30 more musicians involved in Worship II band and production.

It is interesting that our music leaders are cross-trained and work well together, sometimes mixing elements in our services. Douglas Macomber, who directs our choir, is also a master organist. But he has interests in drama, film and multi-media. Zac Hicks, who directs our Worship II band, is a classically trained musician, ordained pastor, who also sings in our choir.

The new The Glad Sound CD, is a reflection of Worship II. But it is inspired by what is sometimes known as the “new hymns movement” (Indelible Grace, etc.) It aims to take old, rich hymn texts and put new music to these words. It is quite amazing to hear more hymns at CCPC than ever before, and to hear the Worship II crowd singing more Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, and William Cowper!

All this in the same church. And I get to be blessed by worshipping in both services, seeing that there are many ways to make a joyful noise to the Lord.

At the end of the interview, the reporter looked at me and asked, “Okay, so what kind of music do you really enjoy?” I told her that “musically, I am an eclectic mess, like so many people in our culture.” I like lots of different musical expressions, but more important than style is that we do what we do with excellence for the purpose of exalting Jesus Christ. Interested? Come visit us.

To hear or purchase The Glad Sound CD, click to http://www.zachicks.com/

What To Look For In A Church? Refining Your Checklist

Church shopping. I hate the phrase. It sounds so….consumeristic! But at one point in our lives, most of us do it. Even pastors do it before they are pastors. If they have a break from pastoral ministry and move, or retire, they do it again.

So what do we look for in a church? What I hear most people include on their lists these days includes the following. Prime consideration number one: they are looking for a certain style of music—traditional service with a strong choir…..or hot band with great worship (meaning music). After that comes the theological preference they are looking for. They also want a pastor who is a “good communicator.” They scope out churches that have strength in a favorite ministry area, i.e. “I’m looking for a strong ________ministry,” (fill in the blank—“youth,” “children’s,” “men’s,” “women’s,”, “singles,” “young married’s.” Sometimes it is the building that matters—does it have enough parking, a gym, coffee stations, tweet screens, etc.? Sometimes they want a small church where they can know everyone. Other times they are looking for a Walmart like “full service church.”

What should we look for in a church? We are all familiar with lists like the one above. What we may not be familiar with are the ancient lists, used for centuries, to help Christians identify a good church. It may help us reshape our own lists, by those of previous generations.

The first lists comes from Scripture in Acts 2.42. It describes the early church and says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” That’s a great starting point. You could even look at verses 42-47 to round out the list.

A second list comes from the Nicene Creed of the early church (AD 325/381). The creed concluded by identifying four marks of the church—“one, holy, catholic and apostolic.” These four marks are found in the writings of the early church fathers. “One” describes the unity of the body of Christ—its belief in one God, one Lord, one faith and one baptism. The focus here was more the spiritual unity than organizational unity. “Holy” was a reminder of the Bible’s words “be holy as I am holy” (1 Peter 1.15,16). This does not mean a church is free from sin, but that it is set apart for God’s redemptive and sanctifying work. Next comes the word “catholic.” This did not mean Roman Catholic, but catholic as in “universal.” The idea was not so much inclusiveness as it was “mainstream Christian.” Catholic Christians were those who believed what all Christians everywhere believed—as opposed to what Marcionites, Arians, believed. “Apostolic” focused on the origins and beliefs of the church. The church’s teachers were apostolic; that is, it was rooted in and in continuity with what the early apostles (the authorized representatives of Jesus) taught.

A third list comes from the Reformed churches of the Protestant Reformation. The marks of the visible church include—the Word is rightly proclaimed, the sacraments are properly observed, loving fellowship is maintained, and scriptural discipline is practiced. Reformed churches began their list with the faithful preaching of the Word—was it true to Scripture and centered on the gospel. They highlighted the right use of the sacraments—that is were they correctly understood and practiced according to the Scriptures. Maintaining loving fellowship was important—because the mark of the Christian is love. Spiritual discipline was also practiced. Disciples need discipline. The discipline conceived here involved both pastoral care and correction in order to keep the church on track.

Chances are, you will find yourself church shopping at some point in your life. Maybe you are church shopping now. Before you jot down your own list, learn from some of the believers who have gone before you. Let their lists refine your own.

Books I Need To Read, But Really Don’t Want To: Thoughts on Joel Osteen’s YOUR BEST LIFE NOW

There are books that, as a pastor, I need to read, but don’t really want to. It may be because they are light weight and trite, heretical or just a plain waste of time. Yet despite that, some of these books have had or are having an impact on culture and the church—THE SECRET, THE DA VINCI CODE, come to mind. YOUR BEST LIFE NOW also falls into that category. Joel Osteen is the pastor of the largest church in America (Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas). Besides that, his book was sent to pastors all across America. For that reason alone, I have to take it seriously. You can’t go to the supermarket in our town, without seeing his books lining the shelves. Well, all this intrigued me, so I took the plunge and read his most famous book.

You should know that I have nothing against Joel Osteen as a person. He has a winsome personality. Nice hair. The fact that he is always smiling bugs me a bit. But he seems like a nice guy. And, as you read the book, you’ve gotta admit, the guy has faith. He is very positive. I imagine he is a very encouraging person, which is why people like him. On top of that, there IS good advice in this book, which is probably why it has sold so many copies.

He speaks about enlarging your vision for life—that’s something we all need more of. He writes about how our thoughts have a huge influence on how we live. This is true. We should not let bitterness take root in our life. We should learn to be givers and not takers. We should show God’s kindness and mercy to others. We should be people of excellence and integrity, and live with enthusiasm, and on and on. The book is filled with “we should, we should we should.” If you will only do these seven things, then the good life will finally come. In fact, you can summarize this book by quoting the last paragraph. “If you will: enlarge your vision, develop a healthy self image, discover the power of your thoughts and words, let go of the past, stand strong against opposition and adversity, learn to give, and choose to be happy, God will take you places you’ve never dreamed of, and you will be living your best life now.” (p. 306).

There is nothing wrong with any of these “seven steps.” It’s just that Osteen presents a totally inadequate vision of the Christian message. Here is some of what is missing (more will come in a later blog).

1 The gospel is missing. The gospel is good news about what God has done to save us through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Osteen, on the other hand, puts the focus on what we do. His message is, that if you will just do this, this and this, you will have the best life now. Set aside for a moment that he is preoccupied only with the here and now. Set aside the prosperity gospel and psychologizing. His message is essentially moralism, not gospel. Moralism puts the emphasis solely on what we must do. It overloads us with moral advice, forgetting the fact that we can’t do this good stuff (that is our deeper problem). Essentially, it is a works based, performance Christianity, not a God-centered “growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3.18).

2 There is no significant place for the reality of sin, death, evil and judgment. There is no place for anything negative like this. After reading his book, you do not come away with the sense that we need to be rescued, for we are essentially okay. He flat out tells us that God is not dwelling on our faults. He always accepts us. There is no place for guilt and condemnation (p. 68-71). Strangely, in this book God appears as a well meaning, but weak and indulgent dad, not the sovereign, holy and strong God of the Scriptures. Osteen also takes the covenant promises that God gives to his people, and consistently applies them to everybody.

3 Christ’s work is missing. It is interesting how Jesus is presented in YOUR BEST LIFE NOW. Osteen uses lots of Bible illustrations. He often quotes Scripture too (even though he regularly resorts to proof texting). But Jesus shows up in his book as moral example. One is hard pressed to finds statements about his redemptive work on the cross. After finishing the book, I asked myself, “do I truly need Jesus to live my best life now.” My conclusion? Evidently not. God yes, but not Jesus, not his cross or resurrection. Jesus’ main role is to inspire me to do these seven things for this life.

4 Grace is absent. The decisive issue for “the best life” is what WE do. In the end, it all depends on us. This is essentially the ancient heresy of Pelagianism. Pelagius was a British monk (c. 354-415) who not only denied original sin, but held that humans are capable of realizing the potential of their created powers without grace. Salvation ultimately depends on our choices and works. Pelagianism was actually condemned at the Council of Carthage in 418 AD because its teachings could not be squared with Scripture. Osteen’s Pelagianism takes the subtle form of “if you just do these seven things, which depends on YOU, God will show up and bless.” Again, it all depends on you. He will often use the phrase “God is trying.” God is trying to help you, to promote you, to give you more, etc., but the phrase is regularly followed up by, “but YOU must….” do these seven things. It makes our work decisive, not God’s.

So here is one of the great spokesmen for pop evangelical Christianity, pastoring America’s largest church, with a message that is basically moralistic and Pelagian. See why I didn’t want to read his book?

Sadly, what Osteen presents is actually not far from H. Richard Niebuhr’s famous description of American 19th c liberalism where we have “a God without wrath who brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”

In Praise of Home Schooling

I still get strange looks from people when I tell them that we are home schooling. They stare at me with a kind of “oh, I am so sorry for your children” look. But these people are for the most part clueless about home schooling, and apparently satisfied with their cluelessness. Of all the things we have ever done as parents, the decision to home school was the best one we ever made. I have zero regrets we did it. So let me back up and fill you in, qualifying my remarks, describing our situation, and briefly explaining why and how we did it.

We have four children. Our oldest just graduated with a music degree from Belmont University in Nashville. Our second oldest is a sophomore at Wheaton College in Illinois. Our third is a senior in high school. Our fourth is in 5th grade. She is the last one being home schooled. We’ve had our kids in home school, public school and Christian school, so we have done it all.

Let me hasten to make some quick, up front qualifications. Home school is not for everyone. Christina and I both have teaching gifts. She has an interest in and is able to carry the weight of our school—which we’ve called Evergreen Wood Academy. There is no one way to go about schooling your kids. We know that there are some home school families that are not diligent, but believe this is the exception rather than the rule. We’ve tried to practice conscientious, home schooling. Furthermore, there are many different approaches to home schooling.

Our approach began with concern about the quality of our local schools in Illinois and a sadness that, all of a sudden, we were not able to see our kids much when they entered the first grade. At the beginning, we approached home schooling with suspicion and fear. But we soon discovered a vast support and resource network to help us. We began our first year as “an experiment.” In fact, every year since has been “an experiment.” Rather than adopt a grand plan, we took one year at a time, knowing the kids are resilient, and that our life situation could change at any time.

Our philosophy was to home school early, and give the kids a choice when they got to high school. We were influenced by the words of theologian Thomas Aquinas who once said, “give me a child till he’s seven, and I’ll have him for life.” Meaning—he could shape a person’s mind and heart most by guiding a child in his earliest years. So, we home schooled our kids through Middle School. After that, one went to a Christian school and hated it. He then transferred to a public high school. The next two attended a different Christian high school and loved it. We have no clue what our last child will do.

So why did we home school? Lots of reasons—we believe that….
• it gives opportunities for a Christ centered education
• the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom & knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9.10)
• parents are primarily responsible for their child’s education and should guide it
• home schooling makes quality time available to train and influence children
• it will give us a greater opportunity to capture their hearts as well as their minds
• children develop at different paces, and homeschooling allows for individual flexibility
• more education happens faster in one-on-one settings than in a large class
• when it is well done, children often gain a new respect for their parents as teachers
• the family will experience more unity and closeness as we spend time together
• children will develop more confidence and independent thinking away from peer pressure
• children will have time to explore new interests
• communication between different age groups is enhanced
• its flexible scheduling can accommodate my work schedule
• if done right it will develop a lifelong love of learning, reading and service
• public education philosophy is theologically and morally confused
• public education standards have been slipping steadily since the 1960s
• standardized test scores for homeschoolers are well above that of private and public school students

The standard objections people give us for home schooling simply have not stood up either.
• Objection One: shouldn’t your kids be missionaries in the public schools?
Response: not until they have the training to be missionaries and have an adequate foundation
• Objection Two: aren’t you sheltering kids from reality?
Response: we didn’t, we exposed them to more reality through travel, serving and reading
• Objection Three: what about socialization?
Response: they were better socialized than a lot of public school kids we knew because they not only could relate to
their peers (through sports involvement, music groups, home school associations, etc.), but they could also relate and
converse with adults.

Let me be honest, home schooling is not always easy. It takes hard work and dedication. There were days when we felt like we failed miserably. But I’d always come back and say, “Christina, if our kids love to read and learn, can do average math, can write decently and know basic science, they will be ahead of most public school kids. That is NOT failure.”

While we were sitting at the Belmont University graduation exercises this Spring, I turned to Christina and whispered “Look! That’s your first home school student graduating college. You were his first teacher. Congratulations. It was worth it.”

True, we are not done yet. We have one to go. But we are thankful for the privilege and blessings of home schooling. And, truth be told, we don’t feel so odd anymore. We are not alone. As of 2007, 2.9% of all school-aged children in the U.S. were home schooled. Besides that, we take heart from the fact that all four of those guys on Mt. Rushmore were home schooled. They didn’t turn out too badly either.

More Majestic Than Mountains

You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game…Psalm 76.4

Today my body aches. It is a good ache. An ache of achievement. We climbed our annual 14er (14,000 ft mountains) in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. We are not serious mountain climbers. We stay away from the technical stuff. But we love the mountains.

This year it was Mt. Belford in the Collegiate Peaks—14,197 ft, about 9 miles round trip. Give it to our kids; they “bagged” both Belford and Mt. Oxford (2 miles away). By the time I reached the summit of Belford, there was a bolt of lightening that struck so close that I fell to the ground and laid low for fifteen minutes. I did not want to hang around the top too long. Still, the climb to the top, the beauty, the silence, the panoramic views, even the thunder, make every 14er an incredibly rewarding experience.

We climbed with members of our small group from church. At the end of the day, after putting our feet in a cold mountain river, and relaxing, we talked about what we saw. We spoke of the majesty of the mountains.

The word majesty comes from a Latin word meaning greatness. When you describe the majesty of something, you describe its greatness. We observe the heavens, or gaze at mountains and call them majestic because they are so great. But why are they so majestic? I asked.

One person said, the mountains are majestic because the are so old and weighty. Looking at and climbing the massive rock above tree line, you can’t miss this. Like the ocean and the heavens, they confront us with something that dwarfs us. Next to them you feel small. We climbed a 14er. Mt Everest, on the Nepal-Tibet border is 29,028 ft., the tallest mountain on earth from sea level. If you measure from under the sea then the prize goes to Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, which rises 33,476 ft. from the Pacific Ocean floor. Outside the earth, but in our solar system, there is Olympus Mons on Mars, at 88.580 feet, the largest mountain known anywhere.

Another person noted that the mountains are majestic because they are filled with life. From the herd of big horn sheep we saw, to the marmot and humming birds, animal life abounds. Below tree line there are areas of lush vegetation. Higher up you can observe groves of aspen trees that emerged out of avalanche fields. There is the perpetual water flow from mountain streams. The mountains have their own mini weather systems. One minute it will be sunny, the next hailing and snowing. Thunder echoes through the valley. Still higher up, the wild flowers of the Alpine zone are ablaze with glory in July and August.

Someone said they are majestic because from the top, you have an extraordinary 360 panoramic view that is stunning. We were on top of the world.

Another person said that the mountains are majestic because you both love and fear them. You love those pastoral, peaceful vistas. But you have to respect the mountains. They are untamable and fearsome. If you do not approach them reverently, you will die.

With all of this in mind it struck me the other day that the Bible describes God as “more majestic than mountains.” Though our Rocky Mountains are massive, Isaiah 40.12 says that he has weighted the mountains on scales. He is the one who created the life that teems in the forests. His glory eclipses anything we might see on the best day above or below tree line. The mountains that we love and call majestic, are only majestic because they reflect the creator’s majesty. They point to him.

A long time ago, the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner wrote to a friend in the year 1541 about his own love of the Swiss Alps. He wrote “I am resolved henceforth, most learned Avienus, that as long as it may please God to grant me life, I will ascend several mountains, or at least one, every year, at the season when the flowers are in their glory, partly for the sake of examining them, and partly for the sake of good bodily exercise and of mental delight.” Then he adds, “For how great a pleasure, think you, is it, how great delight for a man touched as he ought to be, to wonder at the mass of the mountains as one gazes on the vastness, and to lift up one’s head as it were amongst the clouds?” Gesner concludes, that when he hikes in the Alps, he is driven “to think of the Great Architect who made them.”

Theologian J.I. Packer asks in his classic book Knowing God, how we may form the right idea of God’s greatness. One way to do this, he says, is to compare him with powers and forces we regard as great. (p. 85). When we do this we will discover that God is the incomparable one. He is more majestic than mountains. His majesty and greatness are displayed in his power, his wisdom, his righteousness and ultimately in Jesus Christ.

In a sermon sometime ago, John Piper said, “God means for us to be stunned and awed by his work of creation. But not for its own sake. He means for us always to look at his creation and say: If the work of his hands is so full of wisdom and power and grandeur and majesty and beauty, what must this God be like in himself!!” These are but, he says, “the backside of his glory.” (Morning Sermon Feb 8, 1987, Bethlehem Baptist Church)

So whether you walk the beaches, or gaze in the heavens, or climb mountains and then ache like I do today, let your exposure to majesty lead you to think of the great architect who made them. Let them serve in your life as an invitation to worship—to say with the psalmist, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.!” (Psalm 8.1)