Category: Gospel and Culture

Finances in a Financial Crisis

Posted on March 2, 2009

It’s an interesting providence that I had planned a message on money and the gospel for this Sunday. With the sharpest NYSE drop in history occuring today, and unemployment numbers coming out on Friday, people are going to have more questions about how to theologically and practically navigate these troubled financial times. Should we continue to give to the Lord? How much? How should I respond to lay offs and unemployment? I hope to address these questions this Sunday.

Until then, an excellent resource on developing biblical discernment on matters of faith and money is Randy Alcorn’s web page devoted to what he calls The Treasure Principle. He provides a general theology of wealth, spending, and giving. Check out the following:

While you are at it, you may want to consider John Piper’s reflections on Some of God’s Purposes in the recession:

  1. He intends for this recession to expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.
  2. He intends to wake us up to the constant and desperate condition of the developing world where there is always and only recession of the worst kind.
  3. He intends to relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods, in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.
  4. He intends to advance his saving mission in the world—the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church—precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it. This is how he guards his glory.
  5. He intends for the church to care for its hurting members and to grow in the gift of love.

Too Mature for Community?

Posted on February 27, 2009

My experience of church is extending well beyond anything I have previously experienced in 28 years as a disciple of Jesus. What’s amazing is that this is not just my experience; it is shared by our church, by my City Group, by our city. And, no doubt, by some of you.

Too Mature for Community?

The level of authentic confession of sin, persistent belief in the gospel, love for one another, and sharing of life and mission is remarkable. This is not naive community; it is redemptive community, a community of grace that holds in common brokenness and belief, failure and success, repentance and faith. As one of our people shared during our gathering on Sunday, “You are never too spiritually mature for community.”

Too Community-centered?

Indeed, community should be common fare in the church, and I’m not talking about “fellowship”, just hanging out or feeling like you have friends. If we are not careful, our longing for and experience of community can subtly displace the gospel. Biblical community is much, much more than this. Biblical community is significant, not because it makes you feel significant but because it recognizes that Jesus is our common source of significance. The gospel, not people, becomes the means to the end of our identity. Our sense of acceptance flows from our relationship with Christ, which in turn frees us to love and serve one another, not secretly judge, demand or ostracize. We become a one anothering community, freed by the gospel, to love and serve each other. We are equally never too spiritually mature for the gospel.

Making the Gospel Central, Really

As Graham Beynon puts it: “We are to be teaching each other the gospel, to be correcting each other about the gospel with all wisdom, to be singing about the gospel with gratitude and so letting it dwell richly among us. When we come to church on a Sunday, or to our small group meeting during the week, we should come saying to ourselves, ‘I hope I will be reminded of the gospel in this meeting. I hope I will be taught about it and corrected in my understanding of it. I hope we will sing about it.” ~ God’s New Community, 119.

Does your church, your community, your small group, your missional community gather in anticipation of being reminded of the gospel, corrected in the gospel, motivated by the gospel, to sing of the gospel? If not, what can you do to reshape community expectations around the gospel, not community? Have you become too mature for community or too community centered for the gospel? Consider how to make the gospel central and community will follow.

Book Recommendations: God's Will, Suffering, & Apologetics

Posted on February 26, 2009

I’ve found myself recommending a number of good books to people recently. The fact is that we can glean a lot of wisdom and encouragement from authors who have walked in our shoes and done so very thoughtfully. On these topics, the shoe fits!

Step by Step: Decision Making and the Will of God

Becoming A Dad: An Emotional, Spiritual, Practical Guide (on sale for $5.53!)

Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God (free online)