Pragmatism

Something to think about....

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/2013/01/23/the-precarious-promise-of-pragmatism

God's Sovereignty and Evangelism

"Somehow, Paul found the doctrine of God's sovereignty an encouragement in his evangelism. Do we need to recover this confidence in a day of increasing opposition to the public preaching of the Gospel? I think that we do. I fear that much of today's evangelism will soon end. As evangelism becomes more and more unpopular, I fear that some Christians will simply dilute it, water it down, alter it, or stop sharing the good news altogether. I think a better understanding of the Bible's teaching on God's election would help them. I think it would give them confidence and joy in their evangelism." Mark Dever, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, pg. 104-105. 

The Parable of the Sower

Mark 4: 1-20 The Parable of the Sower

What is a Parable?

What is a parable? A Parable is a story to explain spiritual truth. (Mark 4:10-12)

To unbelievers it is a warning or judgment and to believers it is instruction. Those who have ears hear and those who have eyes see. Therefore, His parables produce different results in different people.

Breaking Down the Parable

Palestine was an agricultural community. The seed is taken and scattered on different types of soil. Some like 

the path had no intention to be plowed.  

Who is the sower? Jesus and us

What is seed? The Gospel

The soil?  The human heart.

1.      

Who are the first group of people, the seed that fell on the path? (v.4)

These people don’t believe, Satan comes and takes it away – they do not believe and are hard to the Gospel. Jesus was talking about the Scribes, Pharisee, and most of Israel. Jesus walked in their presence and they killed Him. Today, this can be people we share with and they flat out say “no” I do not want anything to do with Jesus.

2.      Who are the second group of people, the seed that fell on Rocky Soil? (v.5-7)

They make a profession of faith. But when it is shaken out it is a false profession. Here the seed or Gospel seems to be accepted but eventually their hearts are hardened and don’t believe. These people saw the miracles Jesus was doing. They go excited and followed Him. Yet, when the cost discipleship came up, they bailed.

What would these people look like in our church or culture today? How does this play out? Some view coming to Christ as just getting a ticket to Heaven. They may come or believe for a season .Christianity is a heart thing. At first, these people seem so on fire for Jesus, but it blows out.

Manipulation and emotionalism is dangerous. And remember the purpose of trails. Part of trails is to see who the real believes are (1 Peter 1:6-7).

3.      Who are the third group of people, the seed that fell on thorns? (v. 7)

These people profess to believe in Jesus. They are involved in church for a while. They may even be moral people. Then the idols of the world which is typically sex, money or success, choke it out. And the heart shows that they don’t believe the Gospel. They are false professions.

This is at the heart of our country. Our country is built around the American dream. Greed, the love of money, the love of fame, the love success all proves to be fatal idols.

These people fall more in love with money or material success than Jesus. In the end, they are not true believers.

4.      Who are the fourth group of people, the seed that felon good soil? (v.8)

These are the true believers! The typical crop in Palestine yielded a crop of fivefold to fifteen fold in Palestine. In the history of Israel, a hundredfold was seen as a blessing from God. (Genesis 26:12)

 Jesus is supreme for these people. He is all loving for these people. His laws are not burdensome (1 John 5:3). They want to and love to obey Him (1 John 3:4-10). When they sin, they hate it. They love Jesus more than there sin. Jesus is all satisfying. They live their lives, loving people, loving the church, loving unbelievers, and loving Jesus.

Mark 4:10-13 is a quote from Isaiah 6:9-10 and Jeremiah 5:21. The disciples knew this passage. They knew he was talking about the religious leaders and the Nation of Israel. The One they were waiting on (the Messiah) was right in front of them and they missed it. They killed Him instead. 

Is the Bible hate speech?

The lines have been drawn in the sand, which side do you stand on?

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/pastor-withdraws-from-obamas-inauguration-after-furor-following-past-comments-about-homosexuality/

and

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2013/01/10/louie-giglios-ouster-from-the-presidential-inauguration-for-a-sermon-on-homosexuality-from-the-90s/

The Trillion Dollar Coin

Is America the next Zimbabwe? Will America suffer from hyperinflation? Is the trillion dollar coin the beginning of hyperinflation? 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100367281

"He who love money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity." Ecclesiastes 5:10 ESV 

The answer is No!!

My Sunday School class is working through a great book on evangelism by Mark Dever tilted The Gospel and Personal Evangelism. Chapter 6 of the book  is quite interesting. The title of the chapter is "What should we do After we evangelize?" Personally,I have been sharing my faith since I became a believer back in the fall of 1996. I began working in full time ministry since 2000 on a college campus. Over the years I have heard various reposes to the Gospel as I shared my faith broadly. Some came to Christ, most did not.

Dever's book does a good job at explaining the responses people may give when we share the Gospel. Today, I want to focus on the negative reposes someone may give. The negative reposes to the Gospel could be - "I'm undecided, I want to wait, not now maybe latter, or flat out NO!"

All of those responses indicate the spiritual condition of the human heart. Paul states in Ephesians 2:1 that everyone was at one point "dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked." Everyone is born into sin (original sin) and everyone is guilty of sin by their actions (breaking God's law). No one is born innocent because we have the stain of original sin. Also, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 that, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. It their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." No one wants to come to God on their own. Our hearts are dead. This can be masked by the moralist or the "good ole' boy who will give you the shirt off his back" person but we were all dead.

People will give us different answers when we share the Gospel with them. Unless they repent and believe the answer is no. Remember unbelievers can not come to Christ unless the Holy Spirit is drawing them (John 6:44, 65). I have been around individuals who I would have bet a $1,000 were being drawn by the Holy Spirit. They seemed so close. They starting to my Bible Study, ended a bad relationship and wanted to change. But in the end, they never believed. Nice people, but never believed.

There is no neutrality with God. Either you are in love with Jesus or you are not. There is no middle ground. You are either on His team or you are not (1 John 3:10). Those who do not believe is evident by their lives. They love the lifestyle or the pleasure of sin over loving Jesus. So they politely say, "I will wait or not now or I am not as religious as you." We must be bold and explain to our unbelieving friends that the "I will wait, or I am not as series as you" answer is no. They are saying no, to the King of the universe. Jesus is not ultimate to them. Jesus is not beautiful to them. The reality of having their sins forgiven does not stir them. Therefore, they remain under the wrath of God, forever.

 It is our job, as Christians, to pray for our lost friends and share the Gospel with them. At the same time answering their questions honestly and at the same time trusting in the all wise, sovereign God of the universe - we plant (or share the Gospel) and God does the salvation work (1 Corinthians 3:6). Just because someone may say "no" TODAY does not mean they will never repent and believe TOMORROW. So, be bold fellow Christians. Share the Gospel boldly!

Princeton - College of Missionaries

After reading chapter two of Revival and Revivalism by Iain Murray, I wondered to myself, "Could I do that?" Three things stick out as I read this chapter: 

1. Revival is directly given by the Sovereignty of God. For example, in 1746 Pastor Timothy Johnes saw revival in his church. He wrote about it in his journal:

"The lives of men and women who were formally unconcerned were now marked by deep feelings and much anxiety as they awoke to a knowledge of the nature of sin and of the justice of God. Ninety-four were added to the Morristown Church in that one year." page 47 

It is my experience in ministry that when the Gospel is preached (forgiveness of sins and a new heart) authentic faith often flows. At the same time is my experience that when easy believism is preached, many may respond but most show no fruit of authentic faith.

2. The early missionaries are some of my heroes. After the great revival at Princeton seminary, John McMillan gave his life to missions. He and his wife moved west of the Application mountains, to reach Native Americans with the Gospel. Iain Murray does a great job describing the conditions they chose to live in for the sake of reaching others with the Gospel. McMillan could not take his worldly possessions with him across the mountain range. He had nothing but a few cloths for him and his wife. Later he wrote, "We did not doubt but that God would provide for us every thing necessary." And He did.

3. I pray my generation and younger generations will grasp a heart for missions that was evident in the early church fathers. It should be noted that, those mentioned by Murray in chapter two have Calvinistic roots. From Jonathan Edwards to George Whitefield. Nearly every early missionary in Church history were Calvinistic in their view of salvation. This may come as a shock to some who say, "Missions and Calvinism can not go hand in hand." That statement is just not true. As sill exist today, Calvinism fueled their view of missions. God is sovereign!

Precious

"At all times to all true believers Christ is precious." - Iain Murray, Revival and Revivalism, page 24.