The preaching of the gospel demands that we please God

(3) For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, (4) but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. (5) For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed--God is witness. (6) Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.
1Th 2:3-6

Christians have been entrusted with the gospel. Since the gospel is the gospel of God and not our own gospel, the preaching of the gospel demands that we please God, and not man.

The problem with many preachers is that they preach to fill seats and not to save souls. This leads to all kinds of preaching that is not gospel driven, but rather aimed at flattering people. What so many preachers have forgotten is that a filled seat does not translate automatically to a saved heart.

If our preaching of the gospel is not the preaching of the true gospel of God, we simply will not see the salvation of people but rather the alteration of people. This is accomplished by all kinds of programmes. People are altered, like suits are altered, all the time. Programmes like Alcoholics Anonymous, and even other religions do this all the time! We do not preach a self-help programme!

However, only the true preaching of the gospel can truly bring the message of salvation to people. People driven preaching brings more people, but it saves no one! It usually means that the natural offensiveness of the gospel is watered down to make the message palatable to the world, ending up with a gospel that does not save, but rather strokes the ego of men.

We do not preach the gospel to make people feel better, i.e. pleasing them, but we preach the gospel so that mankind can understand their "lostness" without Christ, and how they fall short of the holy standards of God. We tell people they deserve hell, however, in Christ there is a Saviour, One that has paid the penalty of sin, One that made propitiation by His blood before a holy God. We tell them that without Christ they are lost, and they will not see the face of God after death.

We do not pander to the philosophies of this life, nor the psychological drivel sold to us daily in magazines and newspapers. Neither do we follow the latest church-growth fad to fill our pews.

No, we preach the gospel to please God, and God alone!

Preaching and the Sermon Builder

Preaching is a hot topic among some, but come on! You either do it right or get out! That is how strong I feel about preaching.

Most of what goes for preaching these days are motivational speeches. Take this sermon motivational speech, for instance. If ever I heard an empty sermon, this is it! There is just no exposition of the text.

Remember, using texts from Scripture in a speech does not a sermon make. That isn't what qualifies the speech as Biblical preaching! Biblical preaching must be the exposition of the text at hand. For an example of my favourite Biblical preacher, John Piper, read, listen or watch his sermon, "This Is the Judgment: Light Has Come into the World."

If someone's preaching is shallow, with no exposition of the text, and full of platitudes, then that person is doing a disservice to the Lord he claims to serve. He obviously does not understand the gravity of Biblical preaching!

Remember, preaching is the proclamation of the very Word of God, the only message that carries the truth God wanted to share with us! It is the only message that carries the way to God, and that, dear reader, makes it the most important message in heaven and on earth! Are you willing to mess with that? I hope not!

The Shepherd's Fellowship has created a Sermon Builder. Here is a blurb concerning their sermon tool:

"Welcome to the Sermon Builder – a step-by-step guide for expository sermon preparation. While the Sermon Builder will not write someone's sermon for them, it is intended to lead pastors and Bible teachers through the basic steps of exegesis and exposition. It is our desire that even the experienced expositor, as he works his way through the Sermon Builder, will be refreshed and reminded of helpful principles and truths."

This is a tool that many pastors should be using to not only improve their sermons, but to guide them towards being Biblical in their preaching. Please start using this tool ASAP!

Here are also some other posts I wrote on preaching:

Reading on preaching
MUST Bible teachers be trained in the Biblical languages?
The "bumper sticker" gospel
Good sermon
Reading the 'non-existent' into the text

Who are your favourite living Bible teachers/preachers?

We all make lists of things, from our favourite sports teams, to food, to movies and more. Steve Camp posed this question, "Who are your favourite living Bible teachers/preachers?", and I would like to put down my top ten:

1. John Piper
2. John MacArthur
3. Al Mohler
4. James R. White
5. D.A. Carson
6. John Reisinger
7. R.C. Sproul
8. Phil Johnson (the original PyroManiac)
9. Alistair Begg
10. Martin Holdt

Who are your favourite living Bible teachers/preachers?

Hymns: Don't you sometimes feel like this?

Might Men Conference and change

I think that most people like a good conference every now and again. And, in the world of conferences there are conferences that suit almost everyone. Well, perhaps not in South Africa, but when I look at the North American conference scene, there really are conferences to suit almost anyone!

When it comes to Christian conferences, each conference has its own aim.

Looking at the Mighty Men Conference (MMC), run by Angus Buchan of Shalom Ministries, I couldn't find a clear statement of purpose for these conferences. It seems to be that the aim is to get men to take up their leadership and "priestly" roles in their families, and to be the spiritual leaders that God requires of them.

There is a real excitement about these conferences among Christians in South Africa. Last year, the first MMC attracted about 60,000 men to Angus Buchan's farm. This year, there were in excess of 170,000 men that attended this weekend conference.

Somehow this conference with so many men should result in a change in communities all across the country where all these men come from. Just as a comparison, there were more men at this conference than the amount of people that voted for the ACDP in the national elections of 22 April 2009.

Now, here is the challenge! The Biblical Christian Network, which was only recently formed, organizes anti-abortion demonstrations called LIFECHAINS. It further will be organizing anti-pornography demonstrations at strategic locations such as at the headquarters of e.TV. We will organize such Christian action events at various times.

So, what is the challenge? Those Mighty Men that attended the MMC, should show their willingness to change their communities and this country. Be involved in preaching the gospel, and attend demonstrations as mentioned above. Watch the BCN website or join the BCN group on Facebook to be notified of such events.

If the MMC conference does not result in changed families, communities and country, the question must be asked whether the MMC is worth it.

So, MMC conferees, show that you have been sufficiently challenged, not just to have attended the MMC, but to want to make a difference in this nation.

Don't remain undercover agents for Christ, but stand up in the face of adversity for the gospel of Jesus Christ and in the fight for justice for widows, orphans and the weak.

My Christian Blogs Site

A new site has been launched to include links to Christian blogs, an aggregator if you will. It is called My Christian Blogs. Here you will find links to major Christian bloggers such as the PyroManiacs, Justin Taylor and Dr. Al Mohler.

You can also have yourself added to this list in the Friends program.

Visit right now and see for yourself.

God's Sovereignty in Elections

The South African elections of 2009 are almost at its end. Citizens voted on 22 April, and the IEC has announced that the final results will be made available at 17:00 today.

What has so far transpired is surprising and at the same time not surprising. What is surprising is that the ANC almost got the ⅔ majority it was hoping for. By late yesterday, the ANC had around 66.8%. However, with more voting districts reporting in, the ANC has now slipped by a fraction down to 65.9%. This is according to the results from the Independent Electoral Commission at 15:32 today. These results most likely are the final results.

What has surprised many Christians, especially those involved with Christian political parties such as the ACDP and the CDA, is the absolute dismal performance of these parties in these elections. The ACDP, at this point, has only 0.81% of the national vote. That is half, percentage wise (1.6%), of what they had in 2004 at the last national elections. In physical votes, the ACDP is still 108,000 votes short of the 250,272 they made in 2004.

If we look at the 1.6% of 2004, and we extrapolate to the number of voters this year (so far counted) at more than 2,000,000 more, then the ACDP should have had 281,794 votes in these elections if they simply held their ground. Which of course means that the ACDP is 139,136 votes from breaking even. But, I suppose, this can be expected when party leaders make statements way before the elections to the effect that the ANC would not get 50% of the vote! How did he think he knew that? When Christian politicians make baseless statements like that, how can the electorate take their political parties seriously?

The ACDP and the CDA for that matter, must be very saddened by the results of these elections. The reasons for this result must be myriad, but I am more and more convinced that of the millions so-called Christians in this country, a majority are Christians in name only! The ballot papers don't lie! "They speak with forked tongue!" On the one hand they say that this and that and the next thing are morally wrong, and then promptly vote for parties that stand exactly for those moral sins. But, this must be left for another post.

One thing that is forgotten by Christians in times like these is that God is sovereign over this earth and his plans and decrees will stand. Not voters, nor the ANC, run this country! God remains on His throne, and He still is the ultimately sovereign ruler over all the earth!

Did these election results catch God off guard? Not in the least! God "made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. (Ac 17:26)" The ANC, and indeed the nation of South Africa will exist only as long as God determined. God "makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. (Job 12:23)"

"(10) The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. (11) The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psa 33:10-11)"

We must not forget, God used a donkey to speak to Balaam. He also used the evil king Cyrus to release the Israelites from their bondage. Surely, if the Lord used a donkey and the evil king Cyrus, He could still use Jacob Zuma to accomplish His purposes? Whether the ANC believes it will rule forever or not, at the appointed time, God will bring the ANC and its evil to a very abrupt end. Only God's counsel will stand!

All of this makes me think of when Moses went to speak to Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Who will dispute that God was sovereign during the saga of the exodus from Egypt? During the rounds of Moses' "negotiations" with Pharaoh, this Egyptian did not want the Israelites to go. Hey, that would cause economic collapse, and what do you know, the Egyptians would then have to do all their work themselves!

Now, why is it that Pharaoh did not want to let the Israelites go? God hardened Pharaoh's heart! Several times the Bible tells us that God hardened Pharaoh's or the Egyptians' hearts (Ex 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:20; 14:4, 17). It is quite startling that God accomplished His work by hardening the heart of the Egyptians.

God was sovereign then, and He is sovereign now. We must not think for one moment that God is no longer on His throne. Evil may not be ultimately destroyed today, or even tomorrow, but in the end there can only be one, and that is Jesus Christ!

We must not think for a moment that an election in which so many people, some professing to be Christians, would vote for evil, can derail God and that He no longer cares. In God's eternal decree, He is busy working out His plans that will lead to the end of time and this world as we know it!

We must NOT rely on politics and be amazed when politics fail! Only Jesus Christ stands true, and His rule has no end!

"(11) Then I saw heaven opened, and behold,
a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and
True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. (12) His
eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems,
and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. (13) He is
clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called
is The Word of God. (14) And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine
linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. (15)
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down
the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will
tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the
Almighty. (16) On his robe and on his thigh he has a
name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
(Rev 19:11-16)"

 

Wazzat? - 2009-04-20

Wazzat? will become a journey of the weird, amazing and sometimes unexplained. It will contain humour, serious bits, and well, all kinds of bits.

• Friends don't always do nice. Sometimes they can cause excruciating pain, like this guy!
• God made us male and female, and when one male and one female got married they were to become one. But I don't think God meant it this way!
• Apparently protesters are only allowed to be anti-Bush, pro-abortion demonstrators.
• Sheep in wolves clothing get a new meaning. Being like the Jones' will just lead you astray!
• Tax the stuff that causes the non-existent global warming! That way we can control the woooorrlldd! This new tax bill will allow anyone to sue the government if such complainant feels he is a global warming victim! Strange but true!
• When theology worships Elvis!
• Did you know God's will was lost? Many people are still trying to find it!
• Since when is exposing bad treatment of the elderly bad? Apparently, in Britain, evil is good and good evil!
• Sometimes the weird and odd looking can truly surprise us!
  

Rick Warren tells lie on Larry King Live

It happens so often that pastors and churches want to be so relevant in society that they completely disregard the teachings of the Bible. In the end, the gospel is thrown on the dung heap of relevancy, and as a result thousands are left to fend for themselves on a very slippery slope on the wide road leading to hell.

"(13) Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. (14) For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Mat 7:13-14)

The problem with that search for relevancy, as Rick Warren is so eagerly searching after, is that it actively attempts to widen the narrow gate that leads to life.

The problem with this scenario is that it is not the narrow gate that is really being widened (since that is an impossibility), but the way from the hard road that leads to the narrow gate of life is lost. Instead of finding this road again, the road that leads to the wide gate of destruction is found.

This seems to be the road that Rick Warren has chosen. Only time will tell!

On Larry King Live this past Monday, Rick Warren, on the issue of Prop. 8 (which changed the California constitution to say that marriage is between one man and one woman), said:

"During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never -- never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop. 8 was going."

However, just weeks before the 2008 U.S. elections, Rick Warren said the following:

"The election's coming just in a couple of weeks, and I hope you're praying about your vote. One of the propositions, of course, that I want to mention is Proposition 8, which is the proposition that had to be instituted because the courts threw out the will of the people. And a court of four guys actually voted to change a definition of marriage that has been going for 5,000 years.

"Now let me say this really clearly: we support Proposition 8 -- and if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8. I never support a candidate, but on moral issues I come out very clear."

This last quote stands in clear contrast to what he said on Larry King Live, which makes Rick Warren a liar. It is impossible for him to have forgotten what he had said on such an important issue just five months ago.

What is the meaning of this?

Does Warren so badly want to curry the favour of the ungodly that he would be willing to lie on national, no, international television?

You can read the whole story at Rick Warren disavows support for Prop. 8.

Update:

Is your church spineless? No!?

During Hitler's time, Christians rose up everywhere in disagreement with Hitler.

Will your pastor address the issues of the day and take a decisive stand against growing evil in society?

Or is he spineless? Like these:

"A group of Christians -- including one activist who tried to shut down some newspaper stands in the neighborhood that sold porn to minors -- wanted to warn a large church in central San Diego of the dangers of pornography in their neighborhood. Upon approaching the anti-porn activists one Sunday morning, church officials started to become hostile when they asked the activists to leave the public sidewalks outside the church. They didn't like the presence of anyone distributing literature to their congregants. Yet all that the anti-porn activists wanted to do was warn members about what was happening near their church."

Read James Lambert's "The silent, spineless clergy."

Brian McLaren Unmasked

The church is currently standing on the edge of a precipice, and in spite of the dangers it faces, it still listens to teachers of false doctrines and heretics, as if they are brothers of the gospel.

The church has indeed lost its core beliefs, and indeed does not believe that they are that important. If the church believed that its core doctrines were really important, it would have stood its ground against the heretics and false teachers of our day.

James McDonald tackles McLaren in a blog post:

"I do not view Brian as an ‘erring weaker brother,’ worthy of sympathy or olive branches, but rather as a dangerous false teacher who repackages mainline liberal theology. (Have the past 50 years not been adequate to see how liberal theology empties churches and damns souls?)

"More dangerous still is that McLaren packages his false teaching and denials of Scripture as  solutions to some of the excesses currently plaguing evangelicalism—the danger being his winning over of young people who have legitimate complaints about the current church, but who lack the discernment to see that his solutions are often unbiblical even when his critiques are fair."

Read McDonald's post, "The Public Rebuke of False Teachers."

Apostle's Creed series

Mark Johnston, the Senior Minister of Grove Chapel in Camberwell, London, has just completed a series of articles on the Apostle's Creed:

1. Who Needs A Creed?
2. The God of the Creed
3. That God Should Come As One of Us!
4. He Descended into Hell
5. Jesus Christ: Risen, Ascended, and Enthroned
6. When Jesus Comes Again
7. I Believe in the Holy Spirit
8. Glorious Body, Radiant Bride
9. Salvation in Shorthand
10. Resurrection and Restoration

Creeds are important to the church. Creeds solidifies in our hearts and minds what we believe, and it protects us from false teachings and heresy.

Indeed, creeds are needed in the church today more than ever before!

Are you contemplating retirement?

When we as humans contemplate retirement, especially those with money, we conjure up images of palm trees and long, white sandy beaches.

However, how does that fit in with 1 Cor 10:31?

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

The question is, How will your retirement bring glory to God? Remember, the world thinks that retirement means retirement from everything.

However, in God's kingdom, there is NO retirement.

So, to solidify your own ideas concerning how you can bring glory to God after your retirement from your normal job, here are some resources to help you along:

• A radio program (MP3) by Dr. Al Mohler addressing this issue.
• A booklet on "Rethinking Retirement" by Dr. John Piper.
• A conference message on "Getting Old for  the Glory of God." This includes watching the video and/or downloading the MP3 of the message.

Just as an aside, both of the men mentioned above are wonderful ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and their work is of immense value to the body of Christ!

Sound doctrine and words

This is the video of a sermon that Phil Johnson preached at the 2009 Shepherd's Conference.

You can see the notes of the sermon as Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. NOTE: this video is an hour long!

Take your time and watch and/or read this message. It is very important for all Christians, but especially for pastors.

In order to download many video formats from the web, especially YouTube, Google, etc, then install save2pc light. This way, you can download a YouTube video to MPEG, MP4, AVI or other formats on your hard-disk for later viewing.

Romans 13 and the Government

"It seems that every time someone such as myself attempts to encourage our Christian brothers and sisters to resist an unconstitutional or otherwise reprehensible government policy, we hear the retort, 'What about Romans Chapter 13? We Christians must submit to government. Any government. Read your Bible, and leave me alone,' or words to that effect.

"No doubt, some who use this argument are sincere. They are only repeating what they have heard their pastor and other religious leaders say. On the other hand, let's be honest enough to admit that some who use this argument are just plain lazy, apathetic, and indifferent. And Romans 13 is their escape from responsibility. I suspect this is the much larger group, by the way."

Read "Romans 13 Revisited" by Chuck Baldwin.