A Mere Breath

O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!  Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you.  Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! -Psalm 39:4-5 (ESV)

I forget sometimes (okay, I forget everyday) that this is the reality of my posture before God.  It’s so easy to act like I’m much more important than I really am, but that’s nothing more than idolatry.

As I ran across this prayer in my reading today, it struck me that I never pray anything like that.  I never ask God to show me how insignificant I am, or to give me a glimpse of my brevity.  I usually ask for things that I think will make me happy, and they certainly don’t focus on how “fleeting” I am.

But I think that this Psalm is here to correct just that misunderstanding of what will make me happy.  ”Good things” that we pray for aren’t always what is best for us; sometimes what’s best for me is to be knocked off of my pedestal, stop thinking about me, and start thinking about the greatness and majesty of God.  When God is great, I am insignificant.  When God is glorified, I am brought low.  When God is made much of, I am not made much of.

I pray that God does show me how fleeting I am, and in contrast, how eternally glorious He is.

He Will Act

Psalm 37:5 – Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

Our God is a doing God.  He is a working God.  He is an active God.  He does not stand back and hope for the best, but he enters this world, and our lives, and he acts.

This is why we can trust God.  A God who is not in active control of the universe would not be a God to trust.  A God who does not take an active role in history is a God who is in the same position as I am – out of control.

It’s a humbling thing to acknowledge just how little control we have of our lives.  At any moment, a car could hit me, a bullet could pierce my body, or a microscopic organism could attack my organs and I could be gone.  The stock market could crash, some criminal could take everything I have, or we could be struck with a devastating earthquake.  It’s staggering how little control I have.

But God promises that I can trust in him.  He is not out of control.  He is absolutely and completely in control.  Trust in him, and he promises, he will act.

SBC 2009, part 2 (and Christmas in August)

One of the more depressing reports of the convention came from the International Mission Board (IMB).  Most of us there were already aware of the budget shortfalls they were experiencing, but hearing it from Jerry Rankin (president of the IMB) made it a little more stark and real.

Here’s the situation: the IMB gets its funding through 1) the Cooperative Program (CP) and 2) the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.  Their budget is roughly split between these two sources.  This year, CP giving and the Lottie Moon offering were down.  In short, the IMB doesn’t have enough money to send out the qualified, prepared, and ready missionaries to the field. 

This is nothing short of a tragedy.  We have more people wanting to go, and qualified to go, than ever before, but we can’t send them because we don’t have the money. 

This is the dark cloud that hung low over the convention this year.  We can debate resolutions and political issues all day long, but if we cannot send out missionaries to combat the overwhelming spiritual darkness in our world, carrying the Gospel to the more than 6,000 people groups who are still classified as unreached, what’s the point?

Then, Dr. Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS), stood to give his seminary report.  He announced that at their fall convocation, on August 25, SEBTS would take up an offering that would go directly to the IMB to help with the shortfall they have experienced.  He then encouraged the churches of the SBC to do the same.

Since that time, the idea has been adopted wholeheartedly by many segments of the Convention.  Many local churches, big and small, will be taking a special offering in August to supplement the work of our international missionaries who are completely supported by us, the churches.  I am calling on Crosspoint to do the same. 

I will be bringing more information about this on Sunday, August 2.  Please be in prayer about this.  Consider what you can give up for the sake of Gospel and the glory of Christ among the nations.  Crosspoint exists to magnify, treasure, and spread the glory of God in Jesus Christ – let’s do that by giving to Christmas in August.

SBC 2009, part 1

Another anuual meeting of the SBC has come and gone.  We met in Louisville, KY from June 21-24.  Attendace was up from last year’s meeting in Indianapolis – we had more than 8,700 messengers at our 152nd meeting. 

Also of note, the messengers seemed to be younger than in previous years.  For the past few years, there has been much worry over the fact that younger pastors seemed to be ignoring the annual meeting.  My generation has been lacking representation when the churches of the SBC meet to conduct business.  This year, however, was different.  During the first night of the meeting, I thought I noticed a younger crowd than previous years.  Then, as the week went on, several speakers commented on the trend as well.  I find it encouraging that th next generation is stepping up to the plate and wants to see the work of the SBC continue.  (For the Baptist Press story on this, see http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=30776.)

There were many reports and motions and resolutions that were heard throughout the meeting, but the issue of most debate and, I think, greatest importance was a motion to appoint a Great Commission Task Force.  Stemming from a sermon preached by Dr. Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and then converted by him into a document called Toward a Great Commission Resurgence, the motion called for SBC President Johnny Hunt to appoint a task force to study how Southern Baptists can work “more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.”  Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, made the motion and spoke forcefully for it.  After several minutes of debate, the motion passed overwhelmingly.  (For more info on the GCR, see http://www.bpnews.net/BPCollectionNews.asp?ID=156 and http://greatcommissionresurgence.com/.)

Stating Our Mission

If you missed this past Sunday, we had a Members Meeting following the service.  One of the announcements was that there will be a new mission statement brought before the church in a few weeks.  In preparation for that, the next few Sunday morning sermons will be geared toward grounding this statement in Scripture.  I don’t want this statement to be just some idea, but I want it to proceed from biblical notions about who we are and what we are doing as a church. 

Here is the proposed mission statement:  Crosspoint Baptist Church is a family of believers that exists to make disciples by magnifying, treasuring, and spreading the glory of God in Jesus Christ among all peoples.

The words and phrases, including everything that was included and everything that was not, were very carefully and intentionally chosen.  I hope that over the coming weeks we can unite around a common mission and vision for our church, seeking to magnify, treasure, and spread God’s glory in the matchless name of Jesus Christ among all peoples.

WATC…And We Must Speak for Those Who Cannot

Paul, in his sermon on Mars Hill to the philosophical crowd in Athens, declared that God is the Author, Sustainer, and King of human life.  If I’m breathing, it’s only because He gives me breath.  When I die, I die under the sovereignty of God.  Life is not mine to give or take, but God’s alone. 

If this is the case, then we as the Church must find ways to speak up for those who cannot.  There are people and groups in our culture who have already stripped the “personhood” from unborn children, but there is also a movement that seeks to take it from healthy, thriving infants as well.  But this shouldn’t shock us.  It’s the next natural step in the quality-of-life over sanctity-of-life culture.  The quality of my life should be protected above the right to life of another who is deemed to have a life of lesser quality.  In fact, many will claim that animals should be equal to, or even have priority over, human babies.

This comes from people like Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University, Michael W. Fox, Vice President of the Humane Society, and Ingrid Newkirk, PETA’s President, among many others.  Here are some quotes:

If the fetus does not have the same claim to life as a person, it appears that the newborn baby does not either, and the life of a newborn baby is of less value to it than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee is to the nonhuman animal.  (Peter Singer)

There are some circumstances, for example, where the newborn baby is severely disabled and where the parents think that it’s better that child should not live, when killing the newborn baby is not at all wrong…not like killing the chimpanzee would be.  (Peter Singer)

The life of an ant and the life of my child should be accorded equal respect.  (Michael W. Fox)

There is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights.  A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.  There’re all mammals.  (Ingrid Newkirk)

Now, as far-fetched as these things may sound, they are simply the logical conclusions of a naturalistic worldview.  It’s a worldview that discounts the supernatural, and holds that only the natural, or physical, world exists or matters.  A large number of our scienific community would say they hold to some kind of naturalistic worldview, at least in their professional capacity.  And these radical views above are the only logical conclusion to reach as a result.

If we truly believe that everything here is here by chance (i.e. we are merely the result of life originating by chance and mutating and evolving by chance), then we really have no moral obligation to anyone.  If the laws of natural selection are true, then life is a war and I must kill or be killed.  I must do whatever I need to in order to, first, ensure my survival, and second, enhance my life.  This may come at the expense of any other person, animal, or thing, because they are only here by chance. 

Luckily, the majority of those who claim this worldview have not taken it to it’s logical ends.  But some are beginning to.  And this doesn’t only call into question the right of children, born and unborn, to personhood and life, but also any other human being who is deemed to use more resources than he or she produces.  The question should become, if we really believe this, “Does he or she actively contribute to the society?”  If not, we should rid ourselves of their draining influence. 

But thankfully, many in this camp are inconsistently naturalistic – for now.  I don’t think it will remain this way.  I believe that there will be a growing divide in the coming years between those who understand that all human life is worthy of protection and those who would place their quality of life above the lives of others.  But we are the Church…and we will speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.

WATC…And We Are a Kingdom Outpost

The Church of Jesus Christ is to be an outpost of the Kingdom of Christ on this earth. 

That was the main point of the message last Sunday.  I think what we see in the establishment of the Church is essentially the beginning of the redemption and recreation of all of creation.  We know that God will one day redeem and restore creation with the return and reign of the true King, Jesus.  But Paul speaks of Christians as a new creation.  We are people who have been redeemed out of the world, out of our sinful nature.  So, in the Church, we see a representation of the kingdom of Christ on earth.

Jesus told Pilate, in John 18, that His kingdom is not of this world.  He told him that his servants even act in a way that distinguishes them from the world, and illustrates the fact that they belong to another kingdom.  Jesus is King and we belong to Him.

Being a Kingdom Outpost should also sound militaristic.  An outpost is a part of an army that has set up camp in enemy territory.  That is the reality of life as the Church.  We must learn to live with a wartime mentality because we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers that are far more dangerous.  A Christian wartime mentality says that everything I do, everything I own, every gift or ability I have must be used for the main purpose of advancing the Kingdom of Christ. 

We are not in a holding pattern waiting for Jesus to return.  We are not to barricade the doors and hide until the war is over.  Rather, we must engage!  We must engage the world with the Gospel of Christ, using everything God has given us for that purpose. 

The Christian life is not part-time.  It’s all the time.  Think about your material possessions, your gifts and abilities, your regular schedule.  Are you using those things for the Kingdom or for yourself?  Are you doing things that will last or things that are temporary?  Are you actively pursuing Kingdom advancement or are you just hiding in the bunker?

WATC…Built Upon the Rock

We saw this past Sunday, from Matthew 16:13-19, that the church is 1) a gathering or assembly of people 2) that belong to Jesus and 3) are established upon the confession of Jesus as the Christ, or in other words, the Gospel.  I think there are some heavy implications arising from this truth. 

First, our identity in Christ is heavily invested in our identity as the church, who is the bride of Christ.  The church is not simply a collection of individuals who have been saved, but it is a whole made up of many parts.  The individualistic thinking that is common to Americans is probably not as consistent with a biblical understanding of the church.  If we see ourselves as united in one spirit, one baptism, by one Savior, and sharing one common salvation, then I think hearts and attitudes toward one another would be impacted. 

Second, acknowledging that I do not belong to myself, but to another, is a radical shift from the worldly culture.  And in the context of the church, understanding that she belongs to Jesus is understanding that it is not me who gets to make the decisions, but Christ.  What I want or what I think is best is not the issue – Scripture must determine how the church is structured, how it functions, and what it does and does not do.  Where Scripture speaks, we simply listen and follow.  Where Scripture does not speak, we can work within biblical bounds to be as effective as possible.

Third, if this is true, then everything that we do as the church must be centered on and supportive of the Gospel.  Being established upon the rock of the Gospel of Jesus Christ means that it is our lifeblood.  All of our ministries, programs, events, classes – in short, everything – must be grounded in and centered on the Gospel of Christ. 

When you hear these implications, what thoughts are sparked?  What applications come to mind?  What are some specific ways that we can be faithful and effective concerning the truths we find in Matthew 16:13-19?

We Are the Church (WATC)

In yesterday’s worship service I introduced a new sermon series that we will be in for the next few months.  We Are the Church is a look at what the church is and how we can fulfill the purpose and task that God has given the church here at Crosspoint.  I want to encourage you to take an active part in thinking through these issues with me so that we can be as faithful and effective as possible, both individually and corporately.

When I say faithful, I mean that we must seek to be as faithful to Scripture as we can be.  There are mandates that we find in God’s Word for the church.  These are non-negotiable, unchanging truths that we are commanded to follow in the local church regardless of time, culture, language, whatever.  It should be our goal to dig into the Bible, see what it says, and then do it. 

When I say effective, I mean that we must seek to be as effective in fulfilling the task of the church as we can be.  The church is not simply called to “be,” but also to “do.”  While we do find mandates in Scripture, we also find many areas of silence on particular issues or methodologies.  Where we find silence, we should not seek to make ourselves as comfortable as possible, but we should seek to be as effective as possible.  We are not called to be comfortable…we are called to impact the world. 

While we are in this series, I will be following up each sermon with a blog post that either digs a little deeper, sheds some additional light on a portion of the sermon that I get questions about, introduces a discussion on the subject of the sermon, or anything else that I think could be beneficial.  I invite everyone to take part in this, so offer any thoughts, reflections, or ideas that are sparked. 

I believe that God has great things in store for Crosspoint, and I want us to have a big faith in a big God to use jars of clay like us for His big purposes.  God’s plan for our world is the church.  We are the body of Christ.  Let’s take this seriously and seek to operate as faithfully and effectively as possible.

What is the Church Here For?

Many people around the world, Christians and non-Christians alike, have asked themselves, “What am I here for?  What is the purpose of my life?”  Answers come from many sources in diverse and varying forms.  Some will tell you that you are here to make the world a better place for the next generation.  Sounds pretty noble, right?  Others will tell you that your life should be focused on getting everything that you need and want to be happy.  A little less noble, perhaps, but it certainly appeals to my selfish nature.  The answers are many, but all fall far short of what Scripture demands from Believers.  

But even many of the answers you may get from Christian leaders are off base and not in complete accord with the Bible.  We hear many church leaders talking about what our purpose is and what the church should be doing.  Some of these purpose statements can get very long and complicated.  Others focus on things like social outreach and meeting physical needs without ever mentioning the gospel.  What I want to propose is very simple and very old.  This is nothing new.  It’s nothing that I came up with.  I am simply repeating what many Godly pastors, missionaries, theologians, and lay believers have said throughout the centuries.  Sadly, this biblical, God-exalting answer to the purpose question seems to have gone out of vogue in many branches of the church today.  I think the correct answer to the purpose question can be answered in one word:  worship.

Worship is what we have been created for, or maybe more accurately, re-created for.  Everything that God has done, is doing, and will do is for His own glory (Ps 19:1; 25:11; 79:9; 115:1; Is 42:21; 48:9-11), and everyone, believer or unbeliever, will glorify God, in the person of Jesus Christ, at the end (Phil 2:9-11).  The church, however, has been re-created (2 Cor 5:17; Col 2-3) for a unique purpose – delighting in the worship of God.  It is what we will be doing for eternity (John 4:23).  It is what we should be consumed by right now.

Though the answer is simple, allow me to explain how everything that we are to do as a church fits under this one purpose of worship.  I do not think worship is one of many purposes, standing alongside others, but worship is the chief purpose of believers with everything else falling under worship.  In other words, if you cannot do it in a way that worships and brings glory to God, it is not something that believers have been called to.

Our highest calling, the very reason that we were created, is to worship and exalt God.  There are two different ways that one can take that.  When I say exalt, I do not mean that we are to raise God up to a higher place than he is now.  What I mean is that we are to see God in his true position!  God is exalted – he is king over the universe.  So we must acknowledge him for what he truly is.  That is worship.  That is exaltation.  And that is what we are to be about on this earth. 

Under the chief purpose of worship, we have many subcategories, or ways that we accomplish this primary task of worship.  I’ll only mention a few here, so please note that this is not an exhaustive list but merely represents some of the main ways that we worship.

First, we can worship God by coming to a better understanding of who He is.  Worshipping a God who you do not know, or do not know well, is both irresponsible and dangerous.  How can we worship that which we do not know?  You may call this discipleship.  It consists of things like personal Bible study, hearing sound teaching and preaching, and sharpening one other, believer to believer. 

A second way that we can worship is by enlarging the circle of worshippers.  This is evangelism.  The primary reason that we evangelize should not be to have a bigger church (thus a bigger building and budget and program), but to make as many worshippers of our great and glorious God as possible because He is worthy of them all.  As a believer, I want to introduce as many people as possible to the reality that there is a God, and He is deserving of our worship. 

The third category of worship that I will mention is what Christians typically refer to when they say worship.  Singing songs to our God that reflect his glory, his character, and his redemptive plan in Christ serve both to teach us about God and to exalt Him in worship.  It is important that we sing songs that worship God rather than center on me. 

Service is another way that believers can worship God.  By emulating Jesus in his interactions with those in need and following His instructions concerning how to treat the “least of these” we can bring glory to God and give Him worship.  Service, however, can never be separated from the gospel, for when it is we have ceased to worship. 

The final way to worship God that I will mention (remember, this is not an exhaustive list) is fellowship with other believers.  God has created us to have a desire for and thrive in relationships.  By building close relationships with fellow believers, we bring glory to God’s creative action in humanity.  By loving each other and keeping each other accountable, we honor God. 

As I said before, this is not a complete list.  These five ways that we are called to worship God are, however, primary subcategories in the larger purpose of worship that all believers are called to.  In a culture where it is so easy to make a job or a hobby or myself the driving force of life, the church is called to something altogether different.  I pray that we would look radically different from the world in the way that we spend our time and focus our passions.  As strangers in a sinful world, may the prevailing culture look more and more foreign as we become more and more like Christ, worshipping our great God in spirit and in truth.