Like you, I was deeply grieved when I awoke this morning and discovered the news of the brutal and violent killings at the Batman movie in Colorado last night. I am angry. We should be able to attend a movie without fear of mortal violence. We are rightly outraged by mass murder events which are happing with increasing frequency.

 

Lest we forget, there are brutal killings, sexual assaults, beatings and abuse in our city and in our own neighborhoods on a daily basis. It is easy to grow numb to the daily trickle of violence, and be awakened only when a “mass violent attack” has been committed. Please be in prayer today for the recovery of those injured, for the police, hospital and emergency personnel, for the families of the victims, for everyone involved. I am going to share Sunday in our gathered worship how we as followers of Christ are to respond to such events and more to the point what do these events indicate about God, our culture and our future? I will seek to address how we are to live out the gospel in a violent culture - a culture that it is shocked and horrified at mass violence, never the less is enticed by violence in media and entertainment.

 

I am spending much time in prayer today and tomorrow to prepare to share a relevant, gospel focused and Biblical center message on this most important issue. Please, as you are able be with your gathered church this Sunday at 10:45

Down by the River

In Isaiah 33:21 the prophet describes the Lord will be for us "a place of broad rivers and streams"

this sermon
from Oct 25, 2009 explores the beauty of this statement and discovers the rich blessing this truth reveals to all who are in Christ.

It is far too easy for us to forget the tremendous blessing that is our Lord and the faithful way He provides for His children. Far too often we allow Satan to distract our eyes and hearts from all the goodness that is ours in Christ and in doing so we rob God of His glory and deny ourselves the joy of living a life in Christ.

As you listen to this message remember all the times that He has provided for you, recall your lost condition and the amazing grace that sought you and saved you. Recall the rich treasure that is the scripture and the stories of old and promises for tomorrow. Rest assured in the eternal safety that is found in the arms of Jesus. Yes, Isaiah said it well, our Lord is for us "a place of broad rivers and streams"

This is one of my very favorite versions of the old gospel song "Down by the Riverside." This is Rosetta Tharpe...gotta love this, especially her guitar! This song has little to nothing to do with the sermon expect they both have "river" in the title, by hey its my blog and I dig this song.

temptations

This sermon from Oct. 18, 2009 has three points...but I only covered two of them, my time ran out. But hey, God is teaching me that it is better to get across one or two points that people can (hopefully recall) then to simply try to get three points in because I had three points when I went to the pulpit. The older I get the more I realize that sometimes less really is more, God can do so much more when I am so much less. So if you want the third point, give me a call and I will come to your house and share it with you...or maybe on the phone...or maybe in an upcoming sermon, as God wills.

The text, Matt. 4:1-11 deals with the very unique situation of Jesus being tempted by Satan. Wow...there is so much in this text that I could never finish it in one sermon, as I found out.

Take a few minutes and listen to this message"
And then examine how you deal with temptation. Our Lord provides an awesome model for us to follow as we combat the temptations that comes to us everyday. As a Christian we need to always remember the scripture makes it clear in I Corinthians 10:13 13 "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

In 1978 I was a senior in High school and the single most impacting musician in my life at the time was Keith Green. If you don't know anything about Keith, google him and you will learn a lot. His songs were passionate, Christ centered and mission focused. Keith was unlike the majority of Christian musicians of his day or any day. He died a sudden death in a plane crash, but his music and his passion continue to bless generations of Christians.

This video is from 1978, the song is called "Dear John Letter to the Devil" It is a little (OK a lot) different, but I recall as a teenager singing this song in my pickup as it played on my "under dash" cassette player. So, indulge me and let me post this song about defeating the Satan because that is exactly what Christ gives us the power to accomplish. And if you are inclined check out more of Keith Green's music, I hope it speaks to you as it has to me, for more than 30 years.

When Jesus Shows Up

This sermon "
from Sept. 20, 2009 explores John 5:1-15 where Jesus heals a lame man. While there are many interesting aspects to this text the heart of the message is simply that Jesus is aware of this man and only Jesus is able to do for him what he can not do for himself.

This guy was passionate about wanting to be made whole, but he could not make it happen simply by his own will. Jesus, the Son of God, the crucified and risen saviour is the source of our life, our hope and our joy!

Without Jesus we have no hope, with Him we have more than we need!

Check out this great gospel song by the best Gospel singer America has ever known, Mahalia Jackson. The song written by Thomas A. Dorsey is "Precious Lord, take my hand". Dorsey has shared the story many times that he wrote this song in the midst of overwhelming grief at the death of his wife, at a very young age.

Dorsey recalls he was devastated and the sudden and tragic loss of the love of his life. Crying, praying and crying some more he sat at the piano and these words and this melody came almost instantly to him. They have been a blessing to millions since.

Growing in Grace

As we read the Gospels we quickly see a pattern in the lives of the disciples. First they are simply followers, then they grow in their passion for and understanding of Christ they become disciples. Not long after this Christ gives them service to perform and they are servants and at the end of His earthly ministry he calls them friends.

The sermon from Oct.4 explores this progression in the lives of the disciples and calls me to examine my own commitment to my Lord. I am growing deeper and stronger in my love and commitment to Him? Or am I easily distracted by sin and Satan to seek my own inferior pleasure rather then the vastly superior pleasure of God.

Before you listen to the sermon, take a listen to this great hymn sung by one of America's greatest hymn singers, George Beverly Shea. It is simply called "I'd rather have Jesus" and it was recorded live in 1957.

When I was a child we had a simple record player and only a handful of records. (I was a preacher's kid - and grateful for that- and my parents were intentional about what we watched and listened to) Each night my dad would put on one of our gospel records as we went to bed and I would fall to sleep listening to Ethel Waters or George Beverly Shea. This song, by Bev Shea was one that I listened to over and and over night after night. The words are powerful and the older I get the more meaningful they have become.

Indeed, as we grow in grace we realize, we would rather have Jesus.

By the way, Bev Shea is now 100 years old and recently he sang in person for the inmates at Angola Prison, the LA state prison.




Luke 22:7 - Growing in Grace. Are you?
"click to listen

The Guest

The city was filled with people whose minds were focused on all things religious. Yet it appeared to the disciples that with everyone about to begin the passover in their homes or in a location with family and friends, there was no place, no room for them to celebrate passover with Jesus.

Just like today, when the vast majority of people have a "faith" of some sort, or claim that "faith" is a vital part of their lives, but few, very few have made room for the one who is the truth, and the life, " the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross," HEB 2:12.

The problem in our culture is not a lack of desire or interest or commitment to "spiritual things" but rather no room Jesus, no room for the truth. Yet, when there is no room, He makes room. Jesus Himself secured a room for the Passover, no one offered Him a room, no one invited him to their home, but still He found a room. He finds us!


Before you listen to the sermon, (a wonderfully short one this time) please take a listen to an awesome singer and an amazing and passionate presentation of the song, "In the Upper Room with Jesus". The singer is of course the one and only Mahalia Jackson.




The sermon - "the guest"

You can run on for a long time, but...

My recent sermon brought to light the truth that it God in His love for David would not allow him to live out his days without confronting the sin in his life.

Even though it appeared David had covered up his sin and long since moved on with his life, God brought David to repentance.

Which brings to my mind a song- sung by Elvis, Johnny Cash and I think best by the Blind Boys of Alabama.

I have always loved the Blind Boys of Alabama. When we were planting churches in Montreal we heard them perform live in the open air on a warm evening in Downtown Montreal. Check out this video of the Blind Boys of Alabama singing "Run On". I have included the words to the song as well.



Run On
First up, great God, let me tell you the news 

My head got wet with the midnight dew 

I've been down on bended knee,
Talkin' to the man from Galilee 

Then my God spoke and he sounded so sweet 

I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel's feet
Then he put one hand upon my head

Great God almighty let me tell you what he said:



Go tell that long tongue liar 

Go tell that midnight rider 

Tell the gambler, the rambler, the back biter
Tell them God Almighty gonna cut 'em down

You may run on for the long time 

Run along for the long time
Run along for the long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

You may run on for the long time
Run along for the long time
Run along for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down 



Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand 

Work in the dark against your fellow man 

But as sure as God made rich and poor

You gonna reap just what you sow 


Some people go to church just to signify
Tryin' to get a date with the neighbor's wife
But listen to me brother, sure as you're born,
You better leave that woman alone
Cause one of these days, you mark my word,
You think that brother is goin' to work
You're gonna come up and knock on the door
That's all brother, you'll knock no more

You may run on for the long time
Run along for the long time
Run along for the long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

First up, great God, let me tell you the news 

My head got wet with the midnight dew
I've been down on bended knee,
Talkin' to the man from Galilee
God he spoke, he spoke so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel's feet
Then he put one hand upon my head

Great God almighty let me tell you what he said:



Go tell that long tongue liar
Go tell that midnight rider
Tell the gambler, the rambler, the back biter
Tell them God Almighty gonna cut 'em down

You may run on for the long time
Run along for a long time
Run along for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

You may run on for the long time
Run along for a long time
Run along for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

You may run on for the long time
Run along for a long time
Run along for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

You may run on for the long time
Run along for a long time
Run along for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

You may run on for the long time

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go tell that midnight rider
Tell the gambler, the rambler, the back biter
Tell them God Almighty gonna cut 'em down

With that song in mind listen to the message from 2 Samuel 12:1-23. Remember God will NEVER let a true regenerate believer live in a prolong state of unrepentant sin. He will always penetrate the darkness of our sin and bring us to repentance.

Listen to the sermon here

eating well

As I child I remember vividly this picture, about 6 inches by 8 inches on a little easel on the end table by the sofa. As I would sit and watch my favorite TV shows, Whizzo, Torey and Old Gus (if you were a kid in the 60's in Kansas City you watched them too).

I would glance over at this picture and wonder why in the world my parents had that picture always on our end table. Who were these ladies and what were they doing picking up grass? When I ask my mom why we kept that picture there she said because someone in the church gave it to us (I was a preacher's kid) and we kept it out in case they dropped by. But she also told me it was Ruth, from the Bible and she was "gleaning the fields". I don't know if the person who gave us the picture ever stopped by, but if they did they would have seen it displayed on our end table. Funny how images get imprinted on our minds.

Years latter as an adult when I saw this print it was like seeing an old friend...it brought a great feeling of comfort. So now every time I read the book of Ruth, I think of this picture. Which brings me (finally) to the sermon from June 28, 2009. You can listen here:




I love the book of Ruth. Recently God has been speaking to me from this amazing little book. The book of Ruth displays the Glory of God at work in the lives of some very ordinary people involved in some very ordinary events. People just like us living lives much like ours, loving, losing, gaining, trusting and always God directing every step, every movement for His Glory.

As you listen to this message and as you read the text, ask God to give you a passion to feed from His fields, to glean every single truth from His land and to value greatly that which we have so wonderfully received from our great "Kinsman Redeemer"

travel light

Alistair Begg is the man. Recently God has been speaking to my life through Alistair Begg.

I agree with Rich, our worship pastor, every preacher should have a Scottish accent. One day last week I heard Alistair bring an amazing message from I Tim.6 and I felt led by God to share many of his insights in my sermon from this past week.

In his message Begg shared a quote from the British 19th century writer Jerome's story Three Men in a Boat.

I included this qoute in my message and I have also posted it below.

Click here to link my sermon called Pursuing Contentment http://www.wornallroad.org/audio.html


From "Three Men in a Boat" - by Jerome

"How they pile the poor little craft mast-high with fine clothes and big houses; with useless servants, and a host of swell friends that do not care twopence for them, and that they do not care three ha'pence for; with expensive entertainments that nobody enjoys, with formalities and fashions, with pretence and ostentation, and with - oh, heaviest, maddest lumber of all! - the dread of what will my neighbour think, with luxuries that only cloy, with pleasures that bore, with empty show that, like the criminal's iron crown of yore, makes to bleed and swoon the aching head that wears it!

It is lumber, man - all lumber! Throw it overboard. It makes the boat so heavy to pull, you nearly faint at the oars. It makes it so cumbersome and dangerous to manage, you never know a moment's freedom from anxiety and care, never gain a moment's rest for dreamy laziness - no time to watch the windy shadows skimming lightly o'er the shallows, or the glittering sunbeams flitting in and out among the ripples, or the great trees by the margin looking down at their own image, or the woods all green and golden, or the lilies white and yellow, or the sombre- waving rushes, or the sedges, or the orchis, or the blue forget-me-nots.

Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need - a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing.

You will find the boat easier to pull then, and it will not be so liable to upset, and it will not matter so much if it does upset; good, plain merchandise will stand water. You will have time to think as well as to work. Time to drink in life's sunshine."

battling misplaced shame

For the past several weeks I have been preaching on the subject of battling unbelief. John Piper's book by the same name has had a profound impact on my life. As God continues to lead I plan to preach on this topic for the next few weeks.

By the way, God gave us an amazing day today. So many people in worship and so many new people with us. Daily we need to express thanks to God for allowing us to Glorify Him as we replant this church.

This past Sunday we looked at battling misplaced shame. Clearly the victory over shame comes from belief in God and the victory He promises to every believer who without shame proclaims the Gospel.


With that in mind, please watch this entire video. Talk about not being ashamed of the gospel...wow..this kid gets it! I would rather you watch this short video than listen to my sermon.



listen to the sermon from March 15.




The following notes from the sermon this past week come directly from John Piper's sermons and writings on battling misplaced shame. I understand my role as your pastor to include pointing you to some of the best teaching available, and this is among the very best.

2 Timothy 1:6-12
Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7 for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control. 8 Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel in the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, 10 and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 and therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

What this text says is that if you feel shame for testifying about Jesus, you have a misplaced shame. We ought not to feel shame for this. Christ is honored when we speak well of him. And he is dishonored by fearful silence. So it is not a shameful thing to testify, but a shameful thing not to.

Secondly the text says that if you feel shame that a friend of yours is in trouble (in this case: prison) for Jesus' sake, then your shame is misplaced. The world may see this as a sign of weakness and defeat. But Christians know better. God is honored by the courage of his servants to go to prison for his name. We ought not to feel shame that we are associated with something that honors God in this way, no matter how much scorn the world heaps on.

Three Instances of Battling Misplaced Shame

1. When Well-Placed Shame Lingers Too Long

In the case of well-placed shame for sin the pain ought to be there but it ought not to stay there. If it does, it's owing to unbelief in the promises of God.


For example, a woman comes to Jesus in a Pharisee's house weeping and washing his feet. No doubt she felt shame as the eyes of Simon communicated to everyone present that this woman was a sinner and that Jesus had no business letting her touch him.

Indeed she was a sinner. There was a place for true shame. But not for too long. Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven" (Luke 7:48). And when the guests murmured about this, he helped her faith again by saying, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (v. 50).

How did Jesus help her battle the crippling effects of shame? He gave her a promise: "Your sins are forgiven! Your faith has saved you. Your future will be one of peace." So the issue for her was belief. Would she believe the glowering condemnation of the guests? Or would she believe the reassuring words of Jesus that her shame was enough? She's forgiven. She's saved. She may go in peace.

And that is the way every one of us must battle the effects of a well-placed shame that threatens to linger too long and cripple us. We must battle unbelief by taking hold of promises like,

There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. (Psalm 130:4)
Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6)


If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15)


Every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. (Acts 10:43; 13:39)

2.Feeling Shame for Something That Glorifies God

The second instance of battling shame is the instance of feeling shame for something that is not even bad but in fact glorifies God—like Jesus or the gospel.
Our text shows how Paul battled against this misplaced shame. In verse 12 he says, "Therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me."

Paul makes very clear here that the battle against misplaced shame is a battle against unbelief. "I am not ashamed FOR I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED AND I AM SURE OF HIS KEEPING POWER." We fight against feelings of shame in Christ and the gospel and the Christian ethic by battling unbelief in the promises of God. Do we believe that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation? Do we believe that Christ's power is made perfect in our weakness? The battle against misplaced shame is the battle against unbelief in the promises of God.

3 Feeling Shame for Something We Didn't Do

Finally, the last instance of battling shame is the instance where others try to load us with shame for evil circumstances when in fact we had no part in dishonoring God.

It happened to Jesus. They called him a winebibber and a glutton. They called him a temple destroyer. They called him a hypocrite: He healed others, but he can't heal himself. In all this the goal was to load Jesus with a shame that was not his to bear.


The same with Paul. They called him mad when he defended himself in court. They called him an enemy of the Jewish customs and a breaker of the Mosaic law. They said he taught that you should sin that grace may abound. All this to load him with a shame that it was not his to bear.


And it has happened to you. And will happen again. How do you battle this misplaced shame? By believing the promises of God that in the end all the efforts to put us to shame will fail.

We may struggle now to know what is our shame to bear and what is not. But God has a promise for us in either case:

Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity. (Isaiah 45:17; 49:23)

No one who believes in the Lord will be put to shame. (Romans 10:11; 9:33)

In other words, for all the evil and deceit judgment and criticism that others may use to heap on us a shame that is not ours to bear, and for all the distress and spiritual warfare it brings, the promise stands sure that they will not succeed in the end. All the children of God will be vindicated. The truth will be known. And no one who banks his hope on the promises of God will be put to shame.


The jagged mountain of shame becomes a highway for missionary joy when we blast it away with the bombshells of Bible promises. How many megatons of power are in these shame-blasting promises?

Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your Husband, the Lord of hosts is his name (Isaiah 54:4-5).

The Lord God helps me; therefore, I have not been confounded; therefore, I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together! (Isaiah 50: 7-8).

I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).

I suffer (as a missionary) but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me (2 Timothy 1:12).

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you… If one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God (1 Peter 4:14, 16).

God means to blast the mountain of shame out of the way and make it a highway for missionary zeal. “Every mountain and hill shall be brought low…and all flesh shall see the salvation of our God” (Luke 3:5).

Shame tries to cancel your missions commitment in two ways. You can feel that you’re not good enough for missions. Or we can feel that missions is not good enough for you. Shame for sin can keep you away, and shame for God can scare you away. You can feel crushed beneath the shame of sin, or you can feel comfortable above the shame of the cross. In either case shame wins and you lose.

But this is not the will of Christ for you. “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go (forth to mission!) in peace” (Luke 7:48, 50). And do not fear the world’s shame. God’s honor makes all the difference. “If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him” (John 12:26). So let us go on from misplaced shame to mission flame.

From John Piper, desiringgod.org

battling pride

In many ways 21st century American Christianity is often focused on feeding our ego. When in truth the greatest pleasure is not found (as Piper says) in God making much of us (our ego) but in our ability, thanks to redemption to make much of God.

It's All About Me...this video would be fun to watch if it were not so near reality for many in the church today.





In recent weeks I have been preaching on the topic of Battling Unbelief. This sermon series is taken directly from John Piper's book of the same title. Much of the following post comes directly from Piper's writings found on his website, desiringgod.org, his sermons and of course his recent book, Battling Unbelief. As I have often said, I understand one of my roles as your pastor is to lead you to the good stuff theologically and this material by John Piper is some really good stuff.

Check out the sermon:







Let me begin by defining belief and unbelief.

Jesus said in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst."
I take it, then, that unbelief in Jesus (NOT believing in Jesus) is a turning away from Jesus in order to seek satisfaction in other things. And BELIEF in Jesus is coming to Jesus for the satisfaction of our needs and our longings.

Belief is not mainly an agreement with facts in the head;
it is mainly an appetite in the heart which fastens on Jesus for satisfaction. "He who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst!"
Therefore eternal life is not given to people who merely think that Jesus is the Son of God. It is given to people who drink from Jesus as the Son of God.

"The water that I shall give him shall become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14). He is the bread of life for those who feed on him—who get their nourishment and satisfaction from him. That is what it means to believe on the only begotten Son of God and be saved.


The Deepest Form of Unbelief

One more form of unbelief that we need to talk about is the unbelief of a haughty spirit, or pride. There is a very close relationship between unbelief and pride.


Unbelief is a turning away from Jesus (or God) in order to seek satisfaction in other things.

PRIDE is a turning away from God specifically to take satisfaction in self.

Covetousness is a turning away from God to find satisfaction in things.

Impatience is turning away from God to find satisfaction in your own swift plan of action.

Lust is turning away from God to find satisfaction in sex.

Bitterness is turning away from God to find satisfaction in retaliation.

But deeper than all these forms of unbelief is the unbelief of pride, because self-determination and self-exaltation lie behind all these other sinful dispositions.

The battle against pride is the battle against unbelief; or to put it positively, the fight for humility is the fight of faith.


Several Biblical Passages About Pride

All these passages contrast pride with something. They show something that is the opposite of pride.

James 4:6-8
[God] gives more grace; therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

The opposite of pride here is submitting to God and drawing near to God. Pride wants to be independent, self-governing, autonomous. Therefore it inevitably comes into conflict with God. This is why people who do not love to submit to God's teachings stay as far from God as they can.

If they come to church and hear God confront their lifestyle, they will go away and not come back, because they enjoy calling the shots themselves and pulling their own strings.
But James says that such people should stop running and draw near. They should stop rebelling and submit. Because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (v. 6).


1 Peter 5:5-7

Likewise you who are younger be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.
Here Peter says that all of us should be clothed with humility. And then he says that one of the things we will do in that humility is cast our anxieties on the Lord.

Why is this casting of our anxieties on the Lord the opposite of pride? Because pride does not like to admit that it has any anxieties, and it especially does not like to admit that it needs help from someone else to cope with them.

So here we are right at the nub of what faith really is.

Faith admits the need for help. Pride won't.

Faith banks on God to give that help. Pride won't.

Faith casts anxieties on God. Pride won't.

Therefore one way to battle the unbelief of pride is to admit freely that you have anxieties, and to cherish the privilege of being invited to cast them on God.

One very practical way to cultivate the atmosphere of humility and faith in the family and the church is to express personal need for God when you pray.


Jeremiah 9:23-24

Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord."

What a battle we have on our hands.

The enemy of pride comes at us on every front.

We love to be made much of because of how we use our minds—what good grades, smart solutions, clever one-liners, victory in a game of Scrabble.


We love to be made much of because of our bodies—that we can work long and hard, or that we are muscular or shapely, or that we can run fast or lift a heavy weight or run far.


We love to be made much of because of our possessions—that we live in a certain neighborhood, or drive a certain car, or have a certain stereo, or hold a certain portfolio.


But Jeremiah says, Defeat the enemy of pride by making much of God. Glory in this, that you know God.

Do you want to boast in intellect? Boast in God's.

Do you want to glory in strength and beauty? Glory in God's.

Do you want to brag on an estate? Brag on God's.

How to Best Fight Against Pride ?

When all is said and done, what is the rock bottom biblical answer to the question how to best fight against pride? The most effective way of bridling my delight in being made much of, to focus on making much of God.

Self-denial and crucifixion of the flesh are essential, but O how easy it is to be made much of even for my self-denial!

How shall this insidious motive of pleasure in being made much of be broken except through bending all my faculties to delight in the pleasure of making much of God!

The greatest thing God ever did was to clean me up so that I could make much of Him forever! – Look to the cross and defeat pride.

Taken from John Piper. www.desiringgod.org

Battling the Unbelief of Anxiety

Ethel Waters from the 1952 movie "Member of the Wedding" with the song "His eye is on the Sparrow". One of my favorite old hymns and one of my favorite singers. It speaks to the topic of the message from March 1, 2008



I began a series this Sunday called "Battling Unbelief". This series comes directly from John Piper's book of the same title. As I read this book God spoke to my heart concerning my own unbelief and the sin in my life that flows from that unbelief.

Listen to the message from March 1.



Here are the notes, taken almost directly from Piper's sermon. I trust you will find them as helpful to you as they have been to me.

Matthew 6:25-34
25"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[ 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33Butseek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble

Unbelief as the Root and Essence of All Sin

Hebrews 3:12 it says, "Take care, brethren, lest their be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, leading you to fall away from the living God." And verse 14 says, "For we have shared in Christ, if we hold our first confidence firm to the end."

In other words the evidence that you have come to share in Christ—that you are united to him in saving faith—is that you hold that confidence firm to the end. Perseverance in faith is necessary for salvation. When a person is truly converted, the heart is changed so that now life is lived by faith (Galatians 2:20).

The new birth introduces a person into a life of warfare. That warfare is called the "fight of faith" in 2 Timothy 4:7; 1 Timothy 6:12. And here in Hebrews 3:12 it is called the battle against unbelief. "Take care [that's the vigilance of battle], brethren, lest there be in you and evil heart of unbelief [there's the enemy in the warfare], leading you to fall away from the living God [there's the warning against not taking the warfare seriously]."

In other words the most basic battle of our life is the battle to believe in the living God, and not to allow our heart to become an evil heart of unbelief

Because if unbelief in the living God gets the upper hand in our life, then the result can be a hardening that makes us unwilling to repent and thus cuts us off from the grace of God.

Now this will not happen to those who are truly in Christ. Those who are truly born of God take the battle seriously, and draw on the power of God to fight it, and win it with persevering faith.

That is what God promises. "He who calls you is faithful and he will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
All our sinning grows out of unbelief in the living God and what he has said to us in Scripture.

Unbelief as the Root of Anxiety

Now today's text illustrates this with a specific evil condition of heart, namely, anxiety.

Stop for a moment and think how many different sinful actions and attitudes come from anxiety.
Anxiety about finances can give rise to coveting and greed and hoarding and stealing.

Anxiety about succeeding at some task can make you irritable and abrupt and surly.

Anxiety about relationships can make you withdrawn and indifferent and uncaring about other people.

Anxiety about how someone will respond to you can make you cover over the truth and lie about things.

So if anxiety could be conquered, a lot of sins would be overcome.

But what is the root of anxiety? And how can it be severed?

To answer that we go to our text in Matthew 6. Four times in this text Jesus says that we should not be anxious.
1. Verse 25: "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life."
2. Verse 27: "And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?"
3. Verse 31: "Therefore do not be anxious."
4. Verse 34: "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow."

The verse that makes the root of anxiety explicit is verse 30: "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothes you, O men of little faith?" In other words Jesus says that the root of anxiety is lack of faith in our heavenly Father. As unbelief gets the upper hand in our hearts, one of the results is anxiety.



So when Hebrews says, "Take heed lest there be in you an evil heart of unbelief," it includes this meaning: "Take heed lest there be in you an ANXIOUS heart of unbelief." Anxiety is one of the evil conditions of the heart that comes from unbelief. Much anxiety, Jesus says, comes from little faith.

The root of a sinful condition of the heart is unbelief in the living God

One response would go like this: This is not good news! In fact it is very discouraging to learn that what I thought was a mere struggle with an anxious disposition is in fact a far deeper struggle with whether I believe God or not.



Now my response to this is to agree but then to disagree. Suppose you had been having pain in your stomach and had been struggling with medicines and diets of all kinds to no avail. And then suppose that your doctor tells you after a routine visit that you have cancer in your small intestine. Would that be good news? You say, emphatically not! And I agree.


But let me ask the question another way: Are you glad that the doctor discovered the cancer while it is still treatable, and that indeed it can be very successfully treated? You say, yes, I am very glad that the doctor found the real problem. Again I agree.
So the news that you have cancer is not good news because having cancer is good. It is good news because knowing what is really wrong is good news, especially when it can be treated successfully.



That's what it's like to learn that the real problem behind anxiety is unbelief in the promises of God. It's not good news because the cancer of unbelief is good. It's good because KNOWING WHAT IS REALLY WRONG is good, especially because unbelief can be treated so successfully by our great physician.

So I want to stress that finding out the connection between our anxiety and our unbelief is in fact very good news, because it is the only way to begin the battle with the real cause of our sin and get the victory that God can give us by the therapy of his Word and his Spirit.


"How Can I Have Any Assurance at All?"

There is another possible response to the truth that our anxiety is rooted in our unbelief in God's promises. It goes like this: I have to deal with feelings of anxiety almost every day; and so I feel like my belief in God must be totally inadequate. So I wonder if I can have any assurance of being saved at all.

Being Faithless Vs. Having Faith Attacked

My answer to this concern goes like this: Suppose you are in a car race and your enemy who doesn't want you to finish the race throws mud on your windshield.
The fact that you temporarily lose sight of your goal and start to swerve does not mean that you are going to quit the race. And it certainly doesn't mean that you are on the wrong racetrack. Otherwise the enemy wouldn't bother you at all. What it means is that you should turn on your windshield wipers and use your windshield washer.
What I mean is this: when anxiety strikes and blurs our vision of God's glory and the greatness of the future that he plans for us, this does not mean that we are faithless, or that we will not make it to heaven. It means our faith is being attacked. At first blow our belief in God's promises may sputter and swerve. But whether we stay on track and make it to the finish line depends on whether we set in motion a process of resistance.
.

Will we turn on the windshield wipers and will we use our windshield washer?

The Testimony of Scripture
Psalm 56:3 says, "When I am afraid, I put my trust in thee." Notice: it does not say, "I never struggle with fear." Fear strikes and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike.
For example, 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you." It does NOT say, you will never feel any anxieties to cast onto God. It says, when the mud splatters your windshield and you lose temporary sight of the road and start to swerve in anxiety, turn on your wipers and squirt your windshield washer.


So my response to the person who has to deal with feelings of anxiety every day is to say: that's more or less normal. The issue is how you deal with them.
And the answer to that is: you deal with anxieties by battling unbelief
And you battle unbelief by meditating on God's Word and asking for the help of his Spirit.
The windshield wipers are the promises of God that clear away the mud of unbelief.
And the windshield washer fluid is the help of the Holy Spirit.


Without the softening work of the Holy Spirit the wipers of the Word just scrape over the blinding clumps of unbelief. Both are necessary—the Spirit and the Word.
We read the promises of God and we pray for the help of his Spirit. And as the windshield clears so we can see the welfare that God plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11),
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
As our belief grows strong the swerving of anxiety smoothes out.
Overcoming Anxiety by Battling Unbelief

The Pattern of Jesus and Paul

For example at the end of verse 32 he says, "Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." That is a spectacular promise. In everything you do at home and at work, put God's purposes first, and he will provide all you need to live for his glory. Believe that promise, and financial anxiety will evaporate in the warmth of God's care.


Paul applied the promise to anxiety in Philippians like this. In 4:6 he says just like Jesus, "Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God." And then in 4:19 he gives the promise like Jesus, "My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

And so we follow today the pattern of Jesus and Paul. We battle the unbelief of anxiety with the promises of God.

When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I battle unbelief with the promise: "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand" (Isaiah 41:10).

When I am anxious about my ministry being useless and empty, I fight unbelief with the promise, "So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not come back to me empty but accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).

When I am anxious about being too weak to do my work, I battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9), and "As your days so shall your strength be" (Deuteronomy 33:25).

When I am anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, I battle unbelief with the promise, "I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).

When I am anxious about facing opponents, I battle unbelief with the promise, "If God is for us who can be against us!" (Romans 8:31).

When I am anxious about being sick, I battle unbelief with the promise that "tribulation works patience, and patience approvedness, and approvedness hope, and hope does not make us ashamed" (Romans 5:3-5).

When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise, "Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save" (Isaiah 46:4).

When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that "none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living" (Romans 14:9-11).

When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promise, "He who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:6). "He who calls you is faithful. He will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). "He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).

So I urge you in your warfare, take up the book of God, ask the Holy Spirit for help, lay the promises up in your heart, and battle on. And remember the promise of Proverbs 21:31, "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord."

John Piper - desiringgod.org

Nothing but the blood

This is Mahalia Jackson, one of my all time favorite gospel singers and a great old song about the blood of Jesus.


It is my passion that our church@brookside is based clearly on the foundation of the Gospel. I realize that may seem like a no brainer...but after 30 years in church planting and experiencing every imaginable kind of church plant (just within the orthodox evangelical community) I am convinced that there is far too little understanding of the Gospel and far too little preaching of the Cross. At this point in my life I am not at all concerned with doing something "big" or"creative" of coming up with the next reproducable model of church growth.

Just google "church growth" and you get a billion books (and those are just ones from my pal Ed

Stetzer...I am grinning Ed). -Not that there's anything wrong with that-

I just want to be certain that what we are planting here in Brookside is an authintic church founded on the truth and power of the cross.

As I was quoted in one of Stetzer's better books (Planting Missional Churches pp.278) thanks, Ed

"Here's the deal: The cross is enough. It is enough to save, to heal, to give hope, to give peace, to give joy, to overcome discouragement. I tell my guys (my church planters) that you don't have to teach your people everything, but they do need to know, to believe and to live as though the cross is enough. Get to the cross in every message. It is not only about salvation, it is about life, struggle, victory and sacrifice; and it is missing in most church planter preaching".

On Sunday, Feb. 21 I brought a message to our people from Hebrews (kind of the deep end of the pool theologically) that focused on the blood and death of Christ. Much of this message I gleaned from John MacArthur and of course directly from of the amazing writings of Spurgeon on this subject.

Here is the message:



Here are the notes:

Hebrews 12:24 - 25

and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ESV

What is this "blood of sprinkling?" In a few words, "the blood of sprinkling" represents the pains, the sufferings, the humiliation, and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, which he endured on the behalf of guilty man. When we speak of the blood, we wish not to be understood as referring solely or mainly to the literal material blood which flowed from the wounds of Jesus. We believe in the literal fact of his shedding his blood; but when we speak of his cross and blood we mean those sufferings and that death of our Lord Jesus Christ by which he magnified the law of God;

We mean what Isaiah intended when he said, "He shall make his soul an offering for sin;" we mean all the grief’s which Jesus vicariously endured on our behalf at Gethsemane, and Golgotha, and specially his yielding up his life upon the tree of scorn and doom. "The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." "Without shedding of blood there is no remission;" and the shedding of blood intended is the death of Jesus, the Son of God.

To redeem our souls cost our Lord an exceeding sorrowfulness "even unto death;" it cost him the bloody sweat, the heart broken with reproach, and specially the agony of being forsaken of his Father, till he cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Our Mediator endured death under the worst possible aspects, bereft of those supports which are in all other cases of godly men afforded by the goodness and faithfulness of God. His was not merely a natural death, but a death aggravated by supernatural circumstance, which infinitely intensified its woe. This is what we mean by the blood of Christ, his sufferings, and his death.

Our Lord is the representative of all who were in him; and so, when the time came, he took the place, bore the sin, and suffered the penalty of those whom the Father gave him from before the foundations of the world. He is as much the representative man as the first Adam was the representative man; and as in Adam the sin was committed which ruined us, so in the second Adam the atonement was made which saves us. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." - C.H. Spurgeon
But the text does not merely speak of the blood shed, but of "the blood of sprinkling." To understand the explanation of this sprinkling we look to the types of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament the blood of sprinkling meant several things;

The sprinkled blood signified the confirmation or ratification of a covenant.
Ex 12:12-13 “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”

The sprinkling of the blood meant purification.
As recorded In Numbers 19, if a person had been defiled, he could not come into the sanctuary of God without being sprinkled with blood. There were the ashes of a red heifer laid up, and these were mixed with blood and water; and by their being sprinkled on the unclean, his ceremonial defilement was removed

The sprinkling also was used for sanctification.
Lev 14:14 “The priest shall then take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.”

Before a man entered upon the priesthood the blood was put upon his right ear, and on the great toe of his right foot, and on the thumb of his right hand, signifying that all his powers were thus consecrated to God. The ordination ceremony included the sprinkling of blood upon the altar round about. Even thus hath the Lord Jesus redeemed us unto God by his death, and the sprinkling of his blood hath made us kings and priests unto God for ever.

The sprinkling was used for acceptation and access.
Lev: 16 11 “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14 And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness.”

When the high priest went into the most holy place once a year, it was not without blood, which he sprinkled upon the Ark of the Covenant, and upon the mercy-seat, which was on the top thereof. All approaches to God were made by blood. There was no hope of a man drawing near to God, even in symbol, apart from the sprinkling of the blood. And now to-day our only way to God is by the precious sacrifice of Christ; the only hope for the success of our prayers, the acceptance of our praises, or the reception of our holy works, is through the ever-abiding merit of the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost bids us enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus; there is no other way.

The death and blood of Jesus provides to the regenerate believer confirmation of covenant, purification, sanctification, assurance and access!

Why the blood? It is because of the brutally ugliness of sin -the sacrifice was brutal and bloody because the sin was brutal and horrific.

It is by his death we are free, not his blood in the sense that the fluid holds a power. It is his death, his absorption of God’s wrath that accomplishes the salvation to those who are to be redeemed. The Scripture will speak of the death of Christ and blood as in a sense interchangeable. By his death/blood are salvation is accomplished. He had to die to save us and he had to shed his blood in fulfillment of prophecy to vividly portray the horrific nature of sin and its penalty.

Is 53:4-6
4 Surely he has borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows;yet we esteemed him stricken,smitten by God, and afflicted.5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,and with his stripes we are healed.6 All we like sheep have gone astray;we have turned—every one—to his own way;and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Salvation comes as we realize the horrific nature of our sin as it offends a Holy, Holy, and Holy God and as we repent of that sin and place our trust in the sufficient sacrifice accomplished on the cross by our resurrected Lord.

This is the theology of Substitutionary Atonement. It is not popular in many places (even churches) today, but it is foundational to a correct doctrine of salvation. It is foundational to all that we teach at the church@brookside.

Singing through the battle

Listen to Feb. 15th message




As Jesus concluded His passover meal with the disciples the scripture says they sang a hymn as they went out to the garden. For 30 years I have more often than not concluded leading the saints in communion by asking us to sing a hymn as they did that first night. Only recently did I explore what the significance of our Lord's hymn that evening to my life today.

As with every aspect or Christ's life, He teaches me through this simple act of hymn singing as well.

The very night He was being betrayed, the very night His disciples would fail Him, the very night when the full weight of the coming wrath of God came upon our Lord, He sang a hymn.

What is my reaction to challenge, difficulty, adversity, persecution ? (As if I have ever really known persecution). My reaction is often to turn in on myself and focus on "why" this is happening to me, rather than to see it for what it is...an amazing chance to use this situation to display God's glory in the middle of pain, loss and hurt.

Our Lord, like a solider singing as he goes to battle, left that passover table headed for arrest, beating, death and the wrath of God, singing....

Celebrate the King Holiday by celebrating the gift of life

The above video is Dr. Alveda King, whose father Dr. A. D. King was killed in the civil rights struggle one year after her uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was gunned down in Memphis...Dr. Alveda knows much about costly struggles and causes that require all that we have to give.

The heroes of the civil rights movement own a rightfully deserved place of honor in the history of this nation.

My own brush with this movement was brief, but very meaningful.

I marched with Hosea Williams in Cumming, Georgia in 1986. I was serving as a Southern Baptist area church planting leader in the area north of Atlanta. We were trying to plant some new churches in Forsyth County and frankly we ran into opposition in part because we were planting integrated churches...this was 1986 not 1946.

About that time Hosea Williams led a small peaceful march through Cumming during which time his little group was attacked with words and flying objects. Several weeks later Rev. Williams called for a major march in Cumming. The organizers of that march invited the local clergy to join them...it was one of the greatest honors of my life to be a part of this event, it is a memory I will always cherish.

Thankfully things changed rapidly in Forsyth County, Georgia, we planted North Lanier Baptist Church and since that time scores of new churches have been planted...churches that embrace all races. I know its not much of a "civil rights" history, but it is mine and from that moment to this I have remained passionate for this issue.


Which brings me to the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday, I am thrilled to announce that the Light House is hosting an amazing weekend with Dr. Alveda King. Dr. Alveda King is the niece of the late Dr. MLK. Not long after she lost her uncle to an assassin's bullet, her own father too was killed in the struggle. I can think of no one more suited to help us focus on the life and ministry of the King family than Dr. Alveda King - you see Dr. Alevda has dedicated her life to the protection of the unborn. She is a passionate speaker who will along with sharing the great tragedy of abortion will offer real solutions for our generation.


It was in January when the Supreme Court opened the flood gates for abortion in Roe VS. Wade. It is tragically ironic that as we move from a month when we celebrate the birth of the most amazing baby in history we move into a month that can be connected to the loss of more than 48 million babies since that fateful day in January 1973.

Please take the time to come and hear Dr. King on January 9Th, 7pm at Wornall Road Baptist Church 400 West Meyer (corner of Meyer and Wornall in the Brookside area of Kansas City) and then join her for a very special breakfast 8:30am at United Believers Church 7546 Troost in Kansas City, there is no cost for either event. Learn more at http://www.lighthousekc.org/.

best day in 30 years

This month marks my 30th year in ministry, a dozen church plants and four denominational jobs later, today, October 12, 2008 was the greatest ministry day of my life.

30 months ago as only God could design I was invited bythe 18 remaining members of Wornall Road Church in Kansas City to bring the church back from the brink of closing their doors – forever. The faithful band of mostly older adults who remained at Wornall were asked to think and act far beyond the boundaries of their comfort zone.

With a total commitment to the fidelity of Scripture and passion to become incarnational in the community they set out with me on the “ride of their lives”.

In the past 30 months we have stayed focus on the purpose that God gave us from the outset of this task, that focus is communicated in our mission statement – “Loving God and embracing His Word. Loving people and engaging our world.

We experimented with lots of ideas with a variety of results; it was very difficult in the early months. Our worship center can seat 600, and with less than 30 in attendance on Sunday morning, will as I often said –“you could shoot a canon off in here on Sunday morning and not hit anyone”. Still that little band was faithful…and God seeing their faith began to move among us.

We celebrate worship with more than 100 each Sunday morning, and more importantly lives are being transformed and our community is beginning to penetrate with the Gospel. Our church is representative of the diversity of our community. Hispanic, Asian, Black, Anglo, highly educated, uneducated, professional, non professional, at the highest end of the economic scale and at the lowest – and that is just our choir!

One unexpected victory has been the development of nothing less than an “organic” church planting (mini) movement. Our little church has directly assisted with the planting of eight new churches in the past 30 months with more on the way.Today, October 12, 2008 we had a joint worship service with five our daughter churches, each church brought music and message, we all took communion, it wasthe most amazing worship service I have ever led. We saw more than 250people, black, white, Hispanic, Korean, Lao, Middle eastern, East Indian, young, old, new believers and mature Christians all together – one church!

Not that we have planted this churches, God has called out and gifted passionate planters and teams, we simply provide every single resource (including $) to empower these new plants.

Together, Wornall and the daughter churchs are one church with a passion for this city and a burning passion for the Gospel and for sound doctrine. In recent months more than 50 new converts have been baptized by our church and our daughter churches.

How did it happen? How do you move from one dead church of 18 to 6 churches of250 in 30 months? And how do you do it with no financial resources (did I mention that when we began to replant this grand old church, she was broke…no money, after having more than $250,000 in funds just a few years earlier). The monthly cost in insurance and utilities alone was (and remain) more than $3,000.There is one key to this turn around.

The key was the understanding and embracing the supremacy of Christ. From the very beginning we have preached the supremacy of Christ and God has opened the eyes of the people to understand that Christ has power over all. We don’t fear the election, the economy, the dangerous city, we don’t fear the lack of funds or resources, we don’t fear the future, because of the supremacy of Christ we don’t fear giving up are demand for the details in return for the risky journey of faith...wedon’t even fear failure.

After 30 years, a dozen church plants I now realize the teaching and embracing of the supremacy of Christ is often the missing key to it our church planting efforts.

Jesus said, "I will build my church" the key to that statement is tofully understand who the "I" is. It is Jesus Christ who is supreme…to know that and act on that makes all the difference in the world.

Church planting and the supremacy of Christ

The Whirlpool Galaxy is located 37 million light years from the earth. It is more than 100 thousand light years across. It is estimated that there are more than 160 billion stars in this galaxy. These pictures were taken by the Hubble Space telescope.

The top image is the entire Whirlpool Galaxy, the image below is the core of the Whirlpool Galaxy, taken with the Wide Field Planetary camera on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows a striking , dark "X" silhouetted across the galaxy's nucleus. The "X" is due to absorption by dust and marks the exact position of a black hole which may have a mass equivalent to one-million stars like the sun. The darkest bar may be an edge-on dust ring which is 100 light-years in diameter.

"The heavens announce that he'll set everything right, And everyone will see it happen - glorious!" Psalm 97:6 The Message

The above thoughts were from Louie Giglio.

-

As we go about the task of planting or re planting Churches (like Wornall Road) we too often fail to realize the power and might of the one who is doing the planting. The same Jesus who promised to "build my church" is the same Jesus with total power over everything in the universe, including every star, plant and particle of dust in the incredibly distance Whirlpool Galaxy.

Recently John Piper preached on the subject of church planting and my pal Ed Stetzer was there to hear it. Stetzer posted this short outline of Piper's message, and it was one that I shared with our Wornall family this past Sunday. After spending 25 years of my life planting churches and leading church planters...this speaks to my heart....big time.

Matthew 16: 12-18 Jesus proclaims " I will build my church"

" I" A Risen Christ, worthy of eternal worship, is the one who plants the church.

"Will build" Christ builds His church through “ripping the gates of hell off of the human heart… so they can see.”

"My " The church belongs to Jesus Christ and Jesus is already at work in the city where you are planting. “For I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:10)

"Church" Only one institution in the entire universe is given the promise that Jesus will build it.

The most moving part of the text for me revolves around Christ, the "I" in the text. In 25 years of church planting I have often felt weak, tired, broke, small, unseen, blah...blah...blah... It is easy for church planters to feel sorry for themselves, but is is not the least bit productive.
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When we feel sorry for ourselves and when we complain in the work of church planting we reveal a major flaw in our Christology that impacts every area of our lives.

In another sermon Piper provides a real picture of the power of the one who is planting His church.
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When I fully embrace the supremacy of Christ it changes my passion and my plans for church planting, it changes my priorities in life...it changes my life.

As you read Piper's words on the supremacy of Christ and ask yourself these questions:

How would my passionate belief in the supremacy of Christ change my life?

How would that belief change the way I spend my time?

How would that belief change the way I spend my money?

Examine your commitment to the church, your passion for the church should reflect your passion for Christ.

Dwell on the truth that as a regenerate follower of Jesus you were rescued from hell.

Think about the power of the Church of Jesus to break down the gates of hell, grab you from certain death and eternal punishment and set you free now and forever!


John Piper's words on the supremacy of Christ -

"—the supremacy of his deity, equal with God the Father in all his attributes—the radiance of his glory and the exact imprint of his nature, infinite, boundless in all his excellencies;

—the supremacy of his eternality that makes the mind of man explode with the unsearchable thought that Christ never had a beginning, but simply always was; sheer, absolute reality while all the universe is fragile, contingent, like a shadow by comparison to his all-defining, ever-existing substance;

—the supremacy of his never-changing constancy in all his virtues and all his character and all his commitments—the same yesterday, today, and forever;

—the supremacy of his authority over heaven and earth and hell, without whose permission no man and no demon can move one inch, who changes times and seasons, removes kings and sets up kings; does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; so none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

—the supremacy of his providence without which not a single bird falls to the ground in the furthest reaches of the Amazon forest, or a single hair of any head turns black or white;

—the supremacy of his word that moment by moment upholds the universe and holds in being all the molecules and atoms and subatomic world we have never yet dreamed of;

—the supremacy of his power to walk on water, cleanse lepers and heal the lame, open the eyes of the blind, cause the deaf to hear and storms to cease and the dead to rise, with a single word, or even a thought;

—the supremacy of his purity never to sin, or to have one millisecond of a bad attitude or an evil, lustful thought;

—the supremacy of his trustworthiness never to break his word or let one promise fall to the ground;

—the supremacy of his justice to render in due time all moral accounts in the universe settled either on the cross or in hell;
—the supremacy of his patience to endure our dullness for decade after decade; and to hold back his final judgment on this land and on the world, that many might repent;

—the supremacy of his sovereign, servant obedience to keep his Father’s commandments perfectly and then embrace the excruciating pain of the cross willingly;

—the supremacy of his meekness and lowliness and tenderness that will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick;

—the supremacy of his wrath that will one day explode against this world with such fierceness that people will call out for the rocks and the mountains to crush them rather than face the wrath of the Lamb;
—the supremacy of his grace that gives life to spiritually dead rebels and wakens faith in hell-bound haters of God, and justifies the ungodly with his own righteousness;

—the supremacy of his love that willingly dies for us even while we were sinners and frees us for the ever-increasing joy in making much of him forever;

—the supremacy of his own inexhaustible gladness in the fellowship of the Trinity, the infinite power and energy that gave rise to all the universe and will one day be the inheritance of every struggling saint;

And if he would grant us to know him like this, it would be but the outskirts of his supremacy. Time would fail to speak of the supremacy of his severity, and invincibility, and dignity, and simplicity, and complexity, and resoluteness, and calmness, and depth, and courage. If there is anything admirable, if there is anything worthy of praise anywhere in the universe, it is summed up supremely in Jesus Christ.

He is supreme in every admirable way over everything:
over galaxies and endless reaches of space;
over the earth from the top of Mount Everest 29,000 feet up, to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean 36,000 feet down into the Mariana Trench;

He is supreme over all plants and animals, from the peaceful Blue Whale to the microscopic killer viruses;
over all weather and movements of the earth: hurricanes, tornadoes, monsoons, earthquakes, avalanches, floods, snow, rain, sleet;
over all chemical processes that heal and destroy: cancer, AIDS, malaria, flu, and all the workings of antibiotics and a thousand healing medicines.

He is supreme over all countries and all governments and all armies;
over Al Qaeda and all terrorists and kidnappings and suicide bombings and beheadings;
over bin Ladin and al-Zarqawi;
over all nuclear threats from Iran or Russia or North Korea.
over all media and news and entertainment and sports and leisure;
and over all education and universities and scholarship and science and research;
and over all business and finance

He is supreme over all politics and elections;

As Abraham Kuyper used to say, “there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’” And rule with absolute supremacy.

And though it may not seem so now, it is only a matter of time until he is revealed from heaven in flaming fire to give relief to those who trust him and righteous vengeance on those who don’t."




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The power and glory of Christ emboldens us for the work of church planting. May we never cease to be amazed at our God...may we never fail to lift up Christ...may we bring to this work all of our energy, devotion and sacrifice...for the glory of Jesus Christ.

All Hail the power of Jesus Name!