Small Group Leaders Need to Repent

Matt Chandler's sermon from this past weekend was good. That boy can preach. I know it is a good sermon if I am making excuses for myself by the end of it. Here is a quote from the end of this sermon (probably not exact):

"You good husbands, you good fathers, you small group leading, church going, morally righteous men and women, you need to repent . . . . We say I am a better man than my father was, I am a good man to my wife and children, I am a good mother, I am a hard worker, I am involved at church, and Jesus says "REPENT!", that does not save you, that does not justify, and it is just as God mocking as anything out there."

His point is that religion doesn't save anybody, being a good person doesn't save, even obeying the Bible and loving others doesn't save. The work of Christ, his death and resurrection, saves all whom God chooses to regenerate. There is no other way, and no amount of human effort will help our situation (Rom 9:16). We are completely dependant upon God.

After all, the best we can offer God is filthy rags(Isa 64:6). So, if we continue to do good, or even if we do great things and help millions of people in the name of Christ, we are just making a mountain of dirty dish towels to lay before the feet of God. Also, we run the risk of being just like the group of good deed doers who are told that their deeds do not equal salvation (Matt 7:22-23).

If we want to make an effort, then we don't need to look to any rules or good deeds. Obedience and good deeds are only godly whenever the flow from the Spirit's work in our life as we reflect upon the cross of Christ. We have to continually look to the cross and the person of Jesus. He is our only hope.

As Calvin, in his Institutes and Romans Commentary, stated:

"Christ has been given to us for righteousness; whosoever obtrudes on God the righteousness of works, attempts to rob him of his office. And hence it appears that whenever men, under the empty pretence of being zealous for righteousness, put confidence in their works, they do in their famous madness carry on war with God himself."

"But if we are chosen in him, we shall find no assurance of our election in ourselves, nor even in God the Father, considered alone, abstractly from the Son. Christ, therefore, is the mirror in which we must contemplate our election."

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Highlights from Advance 09

Piper, enough said:

"Don't let your theology get in the way of the Bible . . . . God has ordained that nails get into board by hammers—and that people get saved by prayer and gospel-telling . . . . Jesus LOVED Lazarus, so he let him die—that he might let him see his glory. It is more loving to see Jesus' glory than to live . . . . Prayer is not the work of missions; preaching is. The preached gospel is the frontline spear into unreached hearts."

Chandler's Introduction was worth the entire price of admission. He could have stopped after the first 10-15 minutes, and nobody would have felt shorted. Then, the rest of his session was vintage Chandler, great exegesis and application:

"We've heard this all before. If anything you have heard at this conference is new to you, then you shouldn't be a pastor (He wasn't disrespecting the other speakers, he was making the point that the evangelical elites continue to gather at conferences and discuss theology or church practice, but nothing ever seems to change) . . . . I'm not anti-pragmatics, but where today are the men whose heart is aflame for God with a holy angst? . . . . Repent of your cold, pragmatic heart that loves ministry and barely loves the King of Glory . . . . How to you cultivate repentance In a church? Preach the cross . . . . If you contextualize the gospel so much that everyone likes it, you're not preaching the gospel."

Driscoll's Conclusion to his second session was unapologetically blunt.  I think we all needed to hear it:

"You will become like Jesus as you worship Jesus . . . . You're an idolater--that's the problem (and then he just turned and walked off the stage)"

J.D. Greear had some good things to say, although I would like to hear what he originally had prepared:

"People's hearts have always been hard; it's always taken a miracle; 'There's no such thing as nearly dead.' . . . . Over time religion seeks to choke out the gospel among God's people . . . . The religious emphasize secondary things. 'Error is often truth out of proportion' (DA Carson) . . . . We need bold, courageous leadership; and if they fire you, plant a church."

Driscoll's first session offered some very practical clarifications and advice for pastors:

"(Driscoll reading Acts 2) 'See, Calvinism is very old.' . . . . We preach Jesus. We are a band with one song--Jesus--and we sing it until we see him . . . . "Evangelistic sermons" are a mistake; if a sermon is about Jesus, it's good for everyone . . . . if you don't have unbelievers coming to your church, it may be because 1) you don't talk about Jesus or 2) you have Sunday school . . . . Don't be so creative you become a heretic; I would rather be faithful than cool."

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Advance Audio Available

The audio for the Advance Conference is being uploaded to DesiringGod.org. You need to go download these messages. The first two days have been excellent, very convicting. I would recommend Matt Chandler from Thursday night and Driscoll's second session on Friday afternoon.

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A Theology of Struggling

As a part of his series on Repentance, Matt Chandler's most recent sermon was entitled "A Theology of Struggle."  Everyone should download this sermon, and probably this entire series. Some of the highlights of this sermon include his summary of what the Bible says is the "right way" and "wrong way" to struggle with sin; he calls this later category "the cycle of doom."

He basically defines "the cycle of doom" as giving in to the temptation that constantly attacks us, experiencing ungodly grief over our sin in this area of struggle, trying to fix ourselves, working hard to avoid this sin, eventually falling back into the same sin again, and then repeating this pattern for thirty years. He says that this is the wrong response to the wrong motive. Unfortunately, this pattern defines the majority of evangelicalism. It is a repeating of two unbiblical practices: feeling ungodly guilt over our sin and attempting to overcome the temptation by our own willpower. This "cycle of doom" can only lead to depression and angst whenever we fail, and even if we are successful for a season, it will only lead to pharisaism. This pattern cannot lead to godliness.

The alternative option that he offers to his listeners is to essentially trash this mindset of being able to fix ourselves. Instead we need to embrace the biblical teaching that we don't stand a chance at sanctifying ourselves without God's grace.  Justification and Sanctification are equally reliant upon God's grace. We should spend more time pleading with the Father to change us into a more Christlike version of ourselves by the working of the Spiritm and then repeat that for thirty years. One important clarification: this "right way" of struggling with temptation does not negate our responsibility for sin; rather, it puts our ability to fix ourselves into proper perspective.

Another important point that he makes is that we often convince ourselves that we are doing everything we can to combat the recurring sin in our lives. However, if no one else knows about this sin, then you haven't done everything.  In reality, you haven't even begun to fight because we are supposed to be fighting together as an army against sin, temptation, and evil. Christians are meant to do life together in community. We need prayer, accountability, and counsel. Overcoming sin requires community.

Godly guilt and repentance can only be birthed out of a proper understanding of our depravity and God's holiness.  Whenever we sin, we offend God. However, Christ atoned for all of our offenses on the cross.  Therefore, we should live obediently out of gratitude, not guilt. We trust in God to provide the grace for both our right standing and right conduct. The wrong mode is not white-knuckled discipline, but reliance upon God. Because, no matter how aggressively or sincerely we try to avoid temptation, we cannot stop sinning unless God trains us in righteousness. This training, our sanctification, is a process that relies completely upon God's grace. Also, don't become impatient; part of sanctification involves waiting on the Lord.

What do we do while we wait on the Lord? We try to "position ourselves under the waterfall of God's grace." This includes putting ourselves under biblical teaching, positioning ourselves in accountable community, seeking opportunities for training in righteousness, and trying to walk in obedience while we wait. We all struggle, the goal is to struggle well while we are moving forward towards godliness.

The best quote of the sermon: "I am constantly perplexed at the belief that you're going to stumble into godliness."

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Advance Conference 2009

This should be a great conference. The speakers include John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, and Ed Stetzer. If you live within a few hours of Durham and you don't have unalterable plans for June 4-6, then you should definitely consider attending.

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Sanctification Through Podcasts

I don't know a lot about God's means of sanctification. I do know that he uses whomever and whatever he chooses to accomplish his purposes in all of creation, and this includes my personal sanctification. A couple of guaranteed means of sanctification are wives and children. My wife and children challenge, encourage, and inspire me on a daily basis. They are also the best method of accountability, because they see the places in your life that are less than perfect (or less than average). Anyway, moving on to the point of this post.

I can't be sure of exactly of how or when my sanctification will be furthered. What I do know is that prayer and reading Scripture are two activities that the Bible indicates as being part of the Christian life. These also seem to be to definite methods of doing your part to attempt to become more Christlike. However, if you are like me, then these two activities are easier described than accomplished. I truly have a desire to pray and study the Bible daily, but sometimes life gets in the way. Most of the time, my life is far more hectic than I would prefer, and this makes is easy for my flesh to make excuses for my lake of diligence.

One method I have found for giving myself time in prayer and the Scriptures is to take advantage of my commute each morning and evening. It takes me about 35-40 minutes each way, so this is a great time to spend praying. However, I find it distracting to read the Bible while driving (I hope you do to). Nonetheless, I did find a way to feed myself a steady diet of Scripture while driving. I started downloading sermons and podcasts. This is a great way to fill your mind with Scripture and exegesis of that Scripture. This is also a great way to redeem your commute, which most of us do not enjoy.

Here is a list of the podcasts (some are sermoncasts) that I subscribe to

John Piper's Weekly Sermon (Bethlehem Baptist)

Mark Driscoll's Weekly Sermon (Mars Hill)


Matt Chandler's Weekly Sermon (Village Church)

The White Horse Inn (Michael Horton and friends)

Christ the Center (some PCA guys from Westminster)

Ask Pastor John (bitesize Piper)

Renewing Your Mind - R C Sproul


Let My People Think - Ravi Zacharias

The Albert Mohler Program

The first four are my favorites, but the rest are definitely worth your time. If you have any other podcasts to recommend, then please leave a comment. I am always on the lookout for something new.

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