Category Archives: preaching

New Post about Rob Bell and Harold Camping

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If you haven’t updated your rss feed from this one to nathancreitz.net, I would encourage you to do so now. I have been writing blog posts for a couple of months now on my new blog and wanted to check in here at ChurchETHOS to remind you of the change.

My most recent post is about how to deal with “deviations from the truth”. In other words, nearly every day there is another false teaching from bloggers, authors, or preachers. From Rob Bell’s Protestant version of purgatory to Harold Camping’s teaching that Judgment Day is this Saturday, we are inundated with controversial teaching. So, do we call them out? Do we call them names? I think Paul had something else in mind in 2 Timothy 2:14-26. Here’s an excerpt from my latest post:

But there are some issues that come up that challenge the basis of the faith. When truth is contradicted or discarded it is important to actively defend it.

Rob Bell’s teachings fall into this category. He is “destroying the faith of some” and his careless words will lead to his and others ruin. Yet, our response to him must be done in love and gentleness. Rather than lash out in anger, we need to pray that Bell will come to his senses.

Consider some of the thoughts from this passage about false teachers:

And their word will spread like gangrene; (2:17)

They have deviated from the truth…and are overturning the faith of some. (2:18)

The post is entitled Rob Bell, Harold Camping, and Deviations from the Truth. Read it and make sure to update your feed reader from ChurchETHOS to nathancreitz.net!

Missiological Musings on "Missio Dei"

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hubble_imageThe Role of General Revelation in the missio dei

General revelation (G.R.) is the idea that God has made Himself known through the created order and through human conscience. Special revelation (S.R.) is the specific and necessary revelation found in the Bible and in the incarnation of Jesus. According to my professor, there are some who believe that G.R. has no role to play in drawing people to God. Their view is that it is only after one has heard about Jesus that they realize that God was at work all along.

We also talked about the preparatio evangelica that is found in religions and philosophies of the world. In other words, there is a debate whether or not God can use the (t)ruths of, say, Buddhism, to prepare them for THE (T)ruth. Dr. Tennent gave an example of new Christians in India who would either witness to the role Hinduism played in opening their eyes to the Truth or would say once they became a Christian they wanted to have nothing to do with their Hindu faith because it was so destructive.

Reaction

It seems difficult to me to suggest that G.R. has nothing to do with bringing people to salvific access to God. Simply to mention one example from Scripture, Paul says, “From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.” (Romans 2:20) Some argue that Paul is writing from the perspective of having S.R. so now He is able to see the G.R. that was there all along. The text flat out rejects that notion by saying people are without excuse precisely because they should’ve sought after God from what could be known from the created order. Paul is writing about people who haven’t had S.R. but could clearly see the G.R. of God and rejected it.

Since G.R. is accessible to every person, of every time, in every place, many people have developed philosophies and religions that incorporate some of the wisdom that arose from what can be understood about God. This is not a saving knowledge of God, but it certainly points to a God who saves. As a result, religions have arisen that contain a modicum of truth. God is often seen to be just. He is often recognized as creator and often, people obey many of God’s laws simply because of their conscience (but not always). Therefore, when someone comes to Christ, often they recognize how God was drawing them to Him all along.

Therefore, when it comes to the new Hindu Christians who had a personal experience and either accepted or rejected the role that their philosophy played in their salvation, there is no evidence to oppose G.R.’s role in the eventual salvation of those new Christians. One group actually bears witness to the valid role of G.R. but the other doesn’t explicitly refute it. It is simply their experience that G.R. didn’t play a role in their lives, but it can’t therefore be determined that G.R. never plays a role in people’s lives.

I was a bit surprised that people have a hard time believing that God can use creation and conscience to draw people to Himself. In my view, even the philosophies of this world, though fallen, still bear the marks of a loving Creator. On a very broad level, why would we even have so many religions if there wasn’t a God? So people’s beliefs that there is a God (or gods) has led them to create a man-made religion. Even barbaric practices like human sacrifice in ancient pagan religions reveals that people thought God required a “propitiation” for their sins. Their beliefs were tainted making God vindictive rather than just, but the sense was innate that they had done something wrong that angered God. Many other examples could be given, but the truth is that we live in a world created by a God who left His fingerprints everywhere.

What do you think? Are we overemphasizing the role the General Revelation plays in people coming to know God?

Notes from my Preaching Class

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bibprerob1I’ve been preaching for years but I am just now taking a seminary class on the subject and it has transformed the way I approach the preparation to preach. My professor is Haddon Robinson (one of the top ten most influential preachers according to Christianity Today. He wrote Biblical Preaching which is “Still the preaching primer of choice!” according to Preaching Magazine) so you can imagine the intimidation I felt yesterday when I preached in front of a class of my peers with Dr. Robinson and his little yellow notebook sitting directly to my right.

Does preaching have purpose? I’ve written elsewhere that I believe preaching is Biblical and necessary for the strengthening of the church but in this post I want to describe my personal experience with what happens when a pastor faithfully preaches the Word of God.

Praying the Text

What I want to describe here is something I have experienced many times, not just in preparing a sermon, but also in personal Bible study. However, as I prepared to preach Romans 3:21-26, I remember spending a lot of time in prayer and reflection. These times of prayer change me every time I preach. It helps me to move from thinking “I hope I do well” and “I want a good grade” and “Maybe I will win some kind of preaching class award” to praying “Lord, may I find your Truth from this text” and “Who cares if I get a good grade, if only you will change me through this process”.

Preaching is a Discipline

Prayer helps to reduce my own pride in preaching. Preaching is a discipline that encourages me to pray for humility, to pray for the people that will hear the message, to pray for transformation in my life and theirs. Preparing to preach is a process of thinking Christianly. This isn’t a time to search the internet for someone else’s sermons. It isn’t a last minute scrambling to throw something together because you “have to”. Preaching is a unique exercise in loving God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves. It is introspective and revealing. I experienced a transformation in my own heart as I wrestled with the main idea of the text.

Preaching is a Process

As I submitted my study to the rigorous discipline of Dr. Robinson’s “stages” of sermon preparation, I was amazed at how articulate I became. I couldn’t just throw something together. I had to wrestle with the text. I had to argue with it. I had to be frustrated by it. I had to ask my wife for help. I had to come up with a way to articulate. When I finally wrote down the words that became my “homiletical idea” it was a word from the Lord. It hit me hard. I literally fell to my knees and wept when God gave it to me. What struck me were the words in Romans 3:26 which says “He presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time so that He would BE righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.” After struggling for hours over how to articulate the main idea I wrote, God would not BE a good God, if He had not sent His Son to die. I didn’t get that sentence from John Piper or Mark Driscoll or from someone else’s blog. I received it as a reward from God as I wrestled with Him and His Word. Feel free to disagree with my homiletical idea…feel free to disregard it as common knowledge. But it was so clear to me that this was the word I was to preach for that particular time and place that I was overcome with emotions of gratitude and praise to God for His providence – not just of providing the words for a sermon but of providing us with His Son.

Where We Go Wrong

If I hadn’t waited for that word from the Lord I would’ve settle for something else. I would’ve preached a message that hadn’t gripped my heart. I think preachers often sell themselves short. Many preachers don’t preach a word from the Lord; they preach a plagiarized copy or a watered down version of what God has to say in His Word. If we don’t grapple with the main idea of a text and let it shape us and let it guide our prayer for the congregation and for the world and let it tackle us with its simplicity and its power then we will never be preachers, we will only be talkers. Preaching is discipline. Preaching is a selfless, pastoral act given to the church of God. Preaching is humility. Preaching is a process. If our preaching is anything less then it is disqualified.

What Happens After the Sermon?

What happens after the sermon leaves our mouths? That is not my concern. I don’t need to hear “Good job, pastor!” or get a pat on my back. I don’t need to hear someone talk about how it changed their life. I don’t need an email from someone on the mission field saying I preached a sermon that inspired them to move to Africa. If I prepare to preach with discipline and humility I will know that whatever happens after I preach has nothing to do with me. If I am diligent in my preparation then I will know that God’s Word changed me, that God’s Word presented me with the main idea, that God’s Word shaped how I crafted the sermon, that the Spirit presided over the process and the delivery, and that the Spirit of God was at work in the people’s hearts and minds. Charles Spurgeon entered his pulpit every time praying, “I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Spirit.” A preacher is a servant with a mouth, nothing more.

So these are reflections of my experience in preparing to preach yesterday. What are your thoughts on the purpose of preaching?

The Challenge of Preaching Today

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This is Part One of a book review of the still timely work by John Stott entitled, Between Two Worlds.

After months of discussing the relevancy of preaching I have decided to write a book review of one of my favorite books on preaching. This book was written in 1982 but still has importance for important questions we have about the validity of preaching. People are asking, “Does preaching still connect with people today?” “Have preachers overstated their own importance and role in the life of the church?” “Where in Scripture do we find preaching that is exhortational in the church as opposed to evangelistic preaching in the marketplace?” The book Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today goes a long way in making the case that preaching is a God-ordained vocation that is still essential to the building up of the body of Christ today.

A Historical Sketch of Preaching

John Stott is the Rector Emeritus of All Souls Church in London. He has been an Anglican and an evangelical almost his whole life. He has written over 50 books and has been a major leader in evangelical Christianity. [Source] 

In the first chapters of this book, Stott describes the glory of preaching. From the prophets of the Old Testament there has always been the man of God singled out to preach God’s Word. This sweeping sketch of the history of preaching invokes both a sense of humility and confidence in any would be preacher. The confidence comes first in that this is an historic calling that God himself calls men to preach and that we may stand with centuries of faithful men and women who have refuted error and stood for truth. This confidence is in the glory of those who have come before us. He quotes Charles Hodge who said, ”In every age, great reformers have been great preachers.” Today there is still such a need and God still chooses broken vessels like us. Stott also quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said, “The preacher should be assured that Christ enters the congregation through those words which he proclaims from the Scripture.” I’m not sure that there are too many people today that still believe such a controversial statement.

After a deep confidence that is in the majesty and glory of God that is displayed through preaching must come humility. Stott makes sure the preacher understands that ”The ‘message’ is God’s own Word. For the people have not gathered to hear a human being, but to meet with God.” A preacher doesn’t preach his own message but preaches the Word of God. He is a herald that proclaims not a lecturer that postulates. Richard Baxter is another one of the preachers Stott highlights. Baxter was successful in converting almost his entire town to become disciples. He was systematic in his catechizing of every family every year and also in his public preaching. Stott writes, ”This catechizing would occupy Baxter two whole days a week, and was one essential part of his work. But the other part, ‘and that the most excellent because it tendeth to work on many’, was ‘the public preaching of the Word’.” Baxter valued preaching because it was an opportunity every week to share the message with many hearers. That seems to be a value lost on today’s anti-establishment crowd.

Contemporary Objections to Preaching

The second chapter in Between Two Worlds is about the contemporary objections to preaching. He writes, ”The prophets of doom in today’s Church are confidently predicting that the day of preaching is over.” Written over 25 years ago, these words not only ring true, they have become an understatement. He lists three major arguments launched against preaching: “The anti-authority mood, the cybernetics revolution and the loss of confidence in the gospel.” I won’t go into each one of those things but will simply make some comments from the chapter as a whole.

Stott writes that ”Christians know from both Scripture and experience that human fulfillment is impossible outside some context of authority.” As I read through this section I thought of the church through the example of “the family of God”. It would be silly if a dad didn’t correct and teach and exhort and discipline his own children. What a silly family it would be if it resembled a complete democracy. Besides, a sermon is not just an authoritarian monologue…if crafted well, the preacher has already thought through the issues that would arise in the hearts and minds of his people. Stott writes, ”Preaching is rather like playing chess, in that the expert chess player keeps several moves ahead of his opponent, and is always ready to respond, whatever piece he decides to move next.”

Another topic Stott deals with in this chapter is how people learn. When disciples learn, they do so through listening, discussing, watching and discovering. Most would say that the preacher is limited to teaching the congregation through listening but that should not be the case. The preacher can and should provide opportunities for discussion but Stott goes even further with teaching people through observation. Not only has God ordained baptism and the Lord’s Supper as participatory visual aids, but the preacher himself is a visual aid. Titus was told, “Show yourself in all respects a model of good deeds.” Were it not for this example-setting, our words as preachers would fall on deaf ears. This gets to the heart of the purpose for my blog and the reason for the title ChurchETHOS. The way we live should be a visual aid to our congregation to help communicate Biblical ideas and the congregation itself is to be a visual aid to the world. 

Stott concludes that ”There is no other form of communication which resembles [the sermon] and therefore could replace it.” He writes, ”For here are God’s people assembled in God’s presence to hear God’s Word from God’s minister.” When we as listeners of a sermon have that sort of anticipation about what we will soon hear, how can we not hear from God. 

Theological Foundations for Preaching

There were several great thoughts from this chapter. The first that I thought was crucial to the success fo the pastor was that “Technique can only make us orators; if we want to be preachers, theology is what we need.” From here, Stott discusses various convictions that a preacher must have if he is to be successful. First, a preacher must have a conviction about God that he is light, that he has acted, and that he has spoken. Secondly, a preacher must have a conviction about Scripture that Scripture is God’s written word, that it still speaks to us today, and that Scripture is powerful. Next, a preacher must have  a conviction about the Church and a conviction about the pastorate.

Finally, a preacher should have a conviction about preaching. Specifically, Stott believes in expositional preaching that transcends subcategories of topical or textual or narrative, etc. He writes, “Exposition has a much broader meaning. It refers to the content of the sermon (biblical truth) rather than its style (a running commentary). To expound Scripture is to bring out of the text what is there and expose it to view.” He believes that ”The Word of God is the scepter by which Christ rules the Church and the food with which he nourishes it.” The preacher contributes to this process by faithfully proclaiming God’s Word to the congregation.

What’s Next?

In the next part of this book review, I will look at the more practical chapters in Stott’s book. If the above issues raise any questions or objections to the role of the preacher in today’s culture, please feel free to discuss. I would highly recommend this book for your reading.

Why Is A Sermon Still Important?

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Wesley-PreachingI’m concerned about a movement today to do away with the sermon. The argument is such that many believe sermons are irrelevant in a postmodern society where experience and stories are much more transforming in a person’s life. Many believe that sermons have slipped in their importance in the process of making disciples for the following reasons:

1. Fewer people are preaching.

2. Many that are preaching, aren’t preaching well.

3. Fewer preachers truly understand the changing culture today, therefore fewer preachers are connecting their sermons to people.

4. The Church has become consumeristic and so the sermon as part of the buffet isn’t as appealing as the music and the candles and the emotions.

5. Maybe most importantly, too many people have begun giving “talks” rather than sermons unintentionally undermining the value of the sermon.

But rather than allow sermons to be thrown out because the ones being preached are not relevant or they are preached by people who think little of the sermon itself, we need instead, to begin thinking about the role a sermon plays in the life of a local church.

A Case Against Preaching

I agree that we live in a new world and a new culture. We need to rethink church life from every angle. As we look to our future, we as Biblical preachers must always be looking to the Ancient Way as described in God’s Word. I recently heard someone condemn preaching and say that in order to make disciples we need to “Midrash” because that’s what Jesus did.

This is an incorrect interpretation of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus preached! The person who rejected preaching and elevated the Midrash (a discussion where the community interprets a passage together) gave two evidences that this was Jesus’ default position: 1. Jesus asked his disciples “Who do you say that I am?” (which has nothing to do with the way the Jews conducted a Midrash), and 2. people called Jesus “Rabbi”…. That’s it. I had to infer that his logic was thus: a) Rabbi’s in Jesus’ day taught Scripture through Midrash. b) People called Jesus a Rabbi. Therefore, c) Jesus taught Scripture through Midrash. This ignores all of the Biblical evidence of what Jesus did throughout His ministry.

A Case For Preaching

For one thing, chapters five through seven of Matthew (the first book in the New Testament) gives a detailed sermon of Jesus to His disciples. Luke 4 tells us that it was Jesus’ habit to teach in the synagogue. Mark 2 tells us that he was preaching the word to a packed house. Romans 10 asks “How will they hear without a preacher?” Throughout the gospels people were amazed at the teaching of Jesus because He taught as one who had authority.

This gets to the root of why I have a problem with people discarding the sermon: authority. Bible discussions are healthy and good and I enjoy doing them on a weekly basis with my small group (and even more often when possible). However, the sermon is just as important because it bears with it the authority of God to proclaim Truth into people’s lives. A sermon is meant to proclaim Truth whether it is to unbelievers or to the faithful. Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” was delivered specifically to the disciples. He also taught in the synagogues regularly to those who were not necessarily His followers.

Jesus didn’t Midrash the Sermon on the Mount by saying, “Here is a passage from the Old Testament that says not to commit adultery, what do you think this means Peter?” Instead, Jesus proclaimed Truth with authority. A sermon does the same thing. The phrase, “The Lord says,” appears hundreds of times in the Bible and that is what a preacher does when he preaches a sermon to the Body.

Conclusion

Regardless of what people think, the sermon is an important part of the overall formation of a Christ follower. It isn’t meant to be THE way a disciple learns Scripture, instead it’s like a meal. We eat meals three times a day and every once in a while we get together with others and share a meal with them. Just because we got a meal on Sunday that someone else cooked doesn’t mean we stop eating for the rest of the week.

We have to have a steady diet of God’s Word and it is beneficial to receive a word from someone else every once in a while. The sermon is not the WAY to make disciples, but it is something that God still calls people to even in our postmodern era. I’m convinced that the people who are against preaching are people who’ve never heard a Spirit filled sermon or they’ve never given one. That’s no reason to deny Jesus’ use of the sermon and God’s call for certain people to be set aside for the ministry of the Word. The Church needs the full spectrum of gifted men and women to be apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors and teachers. We need elders and deacons in the church to oversee and to serve the family of faith faithfully. May God continue to raise up qualified people to lead our local churches closer to being like Christ.

Love Crimes

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This is a revision of a previous post.

Well, it looks like the new bill that (HR 1592) that is before the house right now could make it more difficult for preachers to speak out about homosexuality. The bill’s wording would add “sexual orientation” (ie homosexuality, bisexuality) and “gender identity” (ie cross-dressing, transsexuality) as specially protected legal categories. Sadly, well respected groups that have been counseling homosexuals and bringing them out of a lifetime of bondage, such as Exodus International, could be shut down. Our efforts to love homosexuals to Christ would be reinterpreted as hate and discrimination and pastors such as myself could be prosecuted for messages such as the one I preached just this past Sunday if someone did commit a crime and then claimed that my message was the impetus for their attack.(click here to listen). I can’t imagine anyone misconstruing my sermon for a call to arms against certain groups, but it could happen. Meanwhile, the general thought would be that pastors and others shouldn’t “bash” homosexuality, when in reality all we are doing is showing that we have ALL sinned against God and that God has a better way. This is love, not hate. Our desire is to help homosexuals, alcoholics, or even someone going through depression to find God and to be known by Him.

I would encourage you to contact your congressmen and women and let them know we don’t approve of this new bill. What is this world coming to when we desire very much to share the good news about Jesus and eventually we could be thrown into prison as a result? That’s what this bill could do. It’s like the “thought crimes” from Orwell’s 1984 and soon the thought police will be at our door telling us that our love is hate. Talk about exchanging the truth of God for a lie.

Spiritual Warfare

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Well, over the next two weeks maybe all of my posts will be catch up posts like my last one. I will be doing a lot of traveling and may not get to update everyone very often. I will be in a wedding this weekend and my church is hosting a mission team at the same time so I am making sure everything is ready for that to happen while I am gone. I think me being gone so much is actually doing some great things for our church. There is so much that is happening without me having to be around. So many people are stepping up and getting things done. It’s been incredible to watch all of these college students take on more responsibility than most deacons I have known.

Over the next couple of days I will try to write down some thoughts about what I’m learning as I plant a church in Boston. Actually, I wanted to relay some of the stuff that happened tonight at church. TJ and I have felt incredibly burdened that about half of our church really needs to get to the next level in their faith. We have been preaching through 1 Thessalonians and tonight’s message was from chapter 2 verses 8-16. The title of my message was “Sacrificing Everything for the Message of Christ”. Paul said, “We were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives.” The text revealed that sharing the message of Christ demands sacrifice, requires integrity, needs accountability, motivates others to share, and invites rejection.

This was an incredibly difficult message, and I knew that spiritual forces were rallying against me as I spoke. There were about five distractions during the first 10 minutes and after the last distraction I told everyone how important I felt this message was and that I fully believed that Satan was trying his best to distract us from this message. And so we paused and I prayed that God would be victorious in that place. Even as I prayed, God gave me a peace and I believe He helped us to focus on the message. There wasn’t a single distraction after that. Praise God for circumventing the attacks of the devil.

This was a powerful message…for me! It brought a realization to my own life that I don’t have as much urgency in sharing my faith that I need to have. Yet, God was reconciling the world to Himself through Christ and He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Sure, I get opportunities to talk about my faith, but when was the last time I really sacrificed something to do it? How often do we keep a tight reign on our schedules, our rights, our agendas, our money, our resources, our time? We are so inflexible that we are missing opportunities everyday to reveal the goodness of God.

It also was a tangible awareness of God’s presence with us tonight. Phones were ringing, the water fountain had to be unplugged because it was distracting, and there were other minor distractions. After we requested God’s authority over the room there was perfect peace. Undeniably, He brought everything back in to focus so that we could learn from His Word. It was powerful!

Please pray for our church every chance you get this week. I told them that if they accepted the challenge to follow Christ and to be more intentional about sharing their faith, they were going to experience persecution, rejection, and even spiritual attack but that the Lord is with them. Please be praying for all of us that we will be bold, that we will rise to the challenge to share our faith, and that we will resist the temptation to give up when those attacks start happening.

Boston (42° 21′ , -71° 7′)