Blog https://la.thegospelcoalition.org Tue, 19 Mar 2024 03:45:01 -0700 http://churchplantmedia.com/ On My Shelf with Pastor Ron Boomsma https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/on-my-shelf-with-pastor-ron-boomsma https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/on-my-shelf-with-pastor-ron-boomsma#comments Thu, 03 Jan 2019 11:00:00 -0800 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/on-my-shelf-with-pastor-ron-boomsma

On My Shelf helps you get to know various faithful Los Angeles Pastor-Theologians through a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their lives as readers.

 

I asked Ron Boomsma—senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Pasadena, in the Verdugos of Los Angeles,—about what’s on his nightstand, his favorite fiction books, and teachers that have shaped his thinking. You can hear his sermons here.

 

What’s on your nightstand right now? 

Plantinga’s "Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be” This is a reread for me. It not only helps me keep sharp in my thinking and dealing with sin, but keeps giving me fresh vocabulary about sin so that my thinking and my speaking doesn’t grow redundant and stale and fall on deaf ears. 

 

What are you learning about life and following Jesus?

That there is much about following Jesus that is right that doesn’t always result in good circumstances in the near future. The real comfort is knowing who you are following. 

 

What are some books you regularly re-read and why?

Charity and its Fruits by Edwards because I have so much to learn and much further to go when it comes to truly loving others.

Spurgeon’s Lectures because pastors need pastoring too.

Packer’s Knowing God because there is so much more to know about God. 

Reinke’s Newton on the Christian Life because Reinke is a very good writer and I want to be like Newton

 

What biographies or autobiographies have most influenced you and why? 

Marsden’s work on Edwards. Time for a reread, maybe his short version. 

 

Who's thinking and teaching/writing has profoundly shaped your own?

Tim Keller. So grateful for a prominent voice that links the unchangeable truths from the past with the current culture we live in. 

 

What are your favorite fiction books? 

Dostoyevski’s Brothers Karamazov

Shelly’s Frankenstein

 

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On My Shelf helps you get to know various faithful Los Angeles Pastor-Theologians through a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their lives as readers.

 

I asked Ron Boomsma—senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Pasadena, in the Verdugos of Los Angeles,—about what’s on his nightstand, his favorite fiction books, and teachers that have shaped his thinking. You can hear his sermons here.

 

What’s on your nightstand right now? 

Plantinga’s "Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be” This is a reread for me. It not only helps me keep sharp in my thinking and dealing with sin, but keeps giving me fresh vocabulary about sin so that my thinking and my speaking doesn’t grow redundant and stale and fall on deaf ears. 

 

What are you learning about life and following Jesus?

That there is much about following Jesus that is right that doesn’t always result in good circumstances in the near future. The real comfort is knowing who you are following. 

 

What are some books you regularly re-read and why?

Charity and its Fruits by Edwards because I have so much to learn and much further to go when it comes to truly loving others.

Spurgeon’s Lectures because pastors need pastoring too.

Packer’s Knowing God because there is so much more to know about God. 

Reinke’s Newton on the Christian Life because Reinke is a very good writer and I want to be like Newton

 

What biographies or autobiographies have most influenced you and why? 

Marsden’s work on Edwards. Time for a reread, maybe his short version. 

 

Who's thinking and teaching/writing has profoundly shaped your own?

Tim Keller. So grateful for a prominent voice that links the unchangeable truths from the past with the current culture we live in. 

 

What are your favorite fiction books? 

Dostoyevski’s Brothers Karamazov

Shelly’s Frankenstein

 

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On My Shelf: With Pastor David Hegg https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/on-my-shelf-with-david-hegg https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/on-my-shelf-with-david-hegg#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2019 12:00:00 -0800 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/on-my-shelf-with-david-hegg On My Shelf helps you get to know various faithful Los Angeles Pastors through a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their lives as readers.

I asked David Hegg—senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita, North LA County and author of When My Heart is Faint: Gospel Help When Life Goes Awry (2017), The Obedience Option (2010), Appointed to Preach (2010)—about what’s on his nightstand, his favorite fiction books, and teachers that have shaped his thinking. You can hear his sermons here.

 

What’s on your nightstand right now? 

The Preachers Catechism: Lewis Allen

Christ from Beginning to End: Stephen Wellum

Speaking the Truth in Love: David Powlison

The Heidelberg Catechism

 

What are you learning about life and following Jesus? 

Just because you are good at one thing doesn’t mean you’re good at everything.

At the foundation of your life there must be sincerely love for Christ, and abundant joy that nothing can disturb.

If you live for the approval of others, or if you live by the stories you tell yourself, you’ll live the roller-coaster life. Live for what Christ knows about you, and has declared about you.

 

What are some books you regularly re-read and why?

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness: Keller

When My Heart Is Faint: Hegg

 

Who's thinking and teaching/writing has profoundly shaped your own?

Calvin; John Murray; Wellum; Gardiner Spring

 

What are your favorite fiction books? 

The Mitford Series: Jan Karon (one of the best ways to reflect on real pastoral care, life, and ministry through fiction)

Grisham; J.A. Jance

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On My Shelf helps you get to know various faithful Los Angeles Pastors through a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their lives as readers.

I asked David Hegg—senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita, North LA County and author of When My Heart is Faint: Gospel Help When Life Goes Awry (2017), The Obedience Option (2010), Appointed to Preach (2010)—about what’s on his nightstand, his favorite fiction books, and teachers that have shaped his thinking. You can hear his sermons here.

 

What’s on your nightstand right now? 

The Preachers Catechism: Lewis Allen

Christ from Beginning to End: Stephen Wellum

Speaking the Truth in Love: David Powlison

The Heidelberg Catechism

 

What are you learning about life and following Jesus? 

Just because you are good at one thing doesn’t mean you’re good at everything.

At the foundation of your life there must be sincerely love for Christ, and abundant joy that nothing can disturb.

If you live for the approval of others, or if you live by the stories you tell yourself, you’ll live the roller-coaster life. Live for what Christ knows about you, and has declared about you.

 

What are some books you regularly re-read and why?

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness: Keller

When My Heart Is Faint: Hegg

 

Who's thinking and teaching/writing has profoundly shaped your own?

Calvin; John Murray; Wellum; Gardiner Spring

 

What are your favorite fiction books? 

The Mitford Series: Jan Karon (one of the best ways to reflect on real pastoral care, life, and ministry through fiction)

Grisham; J.A. Jance

]]>
LESSONS LEARNED FROM RUSS MOORE’S JOURNAL ARTICLE: “THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE SOCIAL ETHICS OF CARL https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/lessons-learned-from-russ-moore-s-journal-article--the-kingdom-of-god-in-the-social-ethics-of-carl-f https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/lessons-learned-from-russ-moore-s-journal-article--the-kingdom-of-god-in-the-social-ethics-of-carl-f#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2019 09:00:00 -0800 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/lessons-learned-from-russ-moore-s-journal-article--the-kingdom-of-god-in-the-social-ethics-of-carl-f How shall we follow the Lord Jesus as Christians in our tumultuous socio-political context today? Every generation of Christians in every geographical context answers this question with their churches and lives. Various Christian teachers and self-centered tendencies within complexify, confuse, and discourage me from clarifying my stance and moving forward confidently. Am I too political? Am I losing the gospel? Is it ok for me to be indifferent to some of the pain and injustice brought to my attention?

Thankfully Dr. Russ Moore, president of The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, feels and understands the tension. Russ clarifies the issues so that I can confidently, clearly, and courageously follow Jesus in my church and in our society.

Russell Moore published an article entitled: “THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE SOCIAL ETHICS OF CARL F. H. HENRY: A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY EVANGELICAL REAPPRAISAL” in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 55/2, (2012), 377-97.

I won’t attempt to summarize and review the article here. The whole article is worth your time. For my edification and for those who read this blog, here are the key lessons I took away and hope to internalize for gospelizing and discipling my church and neighbors for the sake of the nations.

The main idea is that a proper understanding of the kingdom of God eschatalogically (doctrinally dealing with end times), soteriologically (doctrinally dealing with salvation), and ecclessiologically (doctrinally dealing with the church) effectively guides a Christian social ethic.

The Kingdom, Social Ethics, and Eschatology.

When you apply the kingdom of God eschatalogically to social ethics you will avoid isolationism on the one hand and triumphalism on the other. If you remember that the kingdom has already brought the end times in some sense then you will not disengage or isolate yourself or your church from social involvement (Mark 12.31, Luke 10.25-37). On the other hand, if you remember the kingdom has not yet consummated the end times then you will avoid triumphalism, overconfidence, and a short-sightedness that ignores the eternal condemnation of the unbelieving (John 3.36).

The Kingdom, Social Ethics, and Soteriology.

Salvation necessarily includes initial, progressive, and final salvation (my categories). Initial salvation includes conversion, justification by faith alone (Rom 3.21-31, 5.12-21, Gal 1.8-9, 2.15-16), and personal regeneration (Eph 2.1-5). Progressive salvation includes “sanctification,” better called “transformation” (Phil 2.12-13). The first error here is embracing a socio-political gospel (The “social gospel“) because it erases initial salvation by confusing it with progressive and final salvation. The opposite error is “evangelism only Christianity” that excludes the necessary implications and applications of progressive salvation. Therefore, reject the socio-political gospel and embrace the sola fide gospel (the gospel of justification by faith alone). At the same time, reject the notion that evangelism alone is our mission, our mission is discipling which is holistic in pressing through initial salvation to progressive salvation (Matt 28.19-20).

The Kingdom, Social Ethics, and Ecclesiology.

The doctrine of the local church is crucial for discipleship and ethics, both personally and socially. Most Christians today cannot even define the local church. When one understands the church as an embassy and expression of the kingdom of God, but not its fullness, the church can avoid two corresponding errors. The first error is being consumed by a burden for the world and its socio-political brokenness that you neglect the primary importance of building up your local church. The opposite error is to be consumed exclusively by spiritual and (truncated) ecclessiological concerns that you neglect gospelizing your particular socio-political (historical-cultural) context of sin and brokenness (e.g. Islamic societies may understand the immorality of LGBT issues but not the rights of women that the Western societies understand, and vice versa). Churches and their members, therefore, ought to reveal truth and a true politic in their churches (John 13.34-35, 17.21, Eph 3.10). Simultaneously, churches and Christians must speak and engage their socio-political situation prophetically and confidently (Matt 14.4, Acts 17.16-31; 24.24-25).

Conclusion

To summarize, local churches and their members should engage, preach, and focus. (1) Engage your society while realizing this world will be inevitably broken in some ways until Jesus returns. (2) Preach the gospel of justification by faith alone centrally while applying the gospel and the common grace it enables to every area of the Christian’s and society’s life. (3) Focus on truth-filled, confessional, disciplined, grace-filled, holy, and healthy churches that speak and engage their socio-political context. If we don’t we will confuse the gospel with good works on the one hand or cut off common and saving grace to our neighbors on the other. Worst of all, we will not follow Jesus faithfully. But if we engage, preach, and focus we will clarify the gospel, adorn it with the necessary good works, and channel common and saving grace through our engagement.

Russell Moore concludes, “What matters is that evangelical Christianity embrace a Kingdom vision that leads to the mystery of Christ and love for his church” (397). I would only add, from this matrix of love for Christ and his church, let us love our neighbors to the very same gospel-driven degree that we love ourselves.

This was originally posted on gospelize.me.

]]>
How shall we follow the Lord Jesus as Christians in our tumultuous socio-political context today? Every generation of Christians in every geographical context answers this question with their churches and lives. Various Christian teachers and self-centered tendencies within complexify, confuse, and discourage me from clarifying my stance and moving forward confidently. Am I too political? Am I losing the gospel? Is it ok for me to be indifferent to some of the pain and injustice brought to my attention?

Thankfully Dr. Russ Moore, president of The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, feels and understands the tension. Russ clarifies the issues so that I can confidently, clearly, and courageously follow Jesus in my church and in our society.

Russell Moore published an article entitled: “THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE SOCIAL ETHICS OF CARL F. H. HENRY: A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY EVANGELICAL REAPPRAISAL” in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 55/2, (2012), 377-97.

I won’t attempt to summarize and review the article here. The whole article is worth your time. For my edification and for those who read this blog, here are the key lessons I took away and hope to internalize for gospelizing and discipling my church and neighbors for the sake of the nations.

The main idea is that a proper understanding of the kingdom of God eschatalogically (doctrinally dealing with end times), soteriologically (doctrinally dealing with salvation), and ecclessiologically (doctrinally dealing with the church) effectively guides a Christian social ethic.

The Kingdom, Social Ethics, and Eschatology.

When you apply the kingdom of God eschatalogically to social ethics you will avoid isolationism on the one hand and triumphalism on the other. If you remember that the kingdom has already brought the end times in some sense then you will not disengage or isolate yourself or your church from social involvement (Mark 12.31, Luke 10.25-37). On the other hand, if you remember the kingdom has not yet consummated the end times then you will avoid triumphalism, overconfidence, and a short-sightedness that ignores the eternal condemnation of the unbelieving (John 3.36).

The Kingdom, Social Ethics, and Soteriology.

Salvation necessarily includes initial, progressive, and final salvation (my categories). Initial salvation includes conversion, justification by faith alone (Rom 3.21-31, 5.12-21, Gal 1.8-9, 2.15-16), and personal regeneration (Eph 2.1-5). Progressive salvation includes “sanctification,” better called “transformation” (Phil 2.12-13). The first error here is embracing a socio-political gospel (The “social gospel“) because it erases initial salvation by confusing it with progressive and final salvation. The opposite error is “evangelism only Christianity” that excludes the necessary implications and applications of progressive salvation. Therefore, reject the socio-political gospel and embrace the sola fide gospel (the gospel of justification by faith alone). At the same time, reject the notion that evangelism alone is our mission, our mission is discipling which is holistic in pressing through initial salvation to progressive salvation (Matt 28.19-20).

The Kingdom, Social Ethics, and Ecclesiology.

The doctrine of the local church is crucial for discipleship and ethics, both personally and socially. Most Christians today cannot even define the local church. When one understands the church as an embassy and expression of the kingdom of God, but not its fullness, the church can avoid two corresponding errors. The first error is being consumed by a burden for the world and its socio-political brokenness that you neglect the primary importance of building up your local church. The opposite error is to be consumed exclusively by spiritual and (truncated) ecclessiological concerns that you neglect gospelizing your particular socio-political (historical-cultural) context of sin and brokenness (e.g. Islamic societies may understand the immorality of LGBT issues but not the rights of women that the Western societies understand, and vice versa). Churches and their members, therefore, ought to reveal truth and a true politic in their churches (John 13.34-35, 17.21, Eph 3.10). Simultaneously, churches and Christians must speak and engage their socio-political situation prophetically and confidently (Matt 14.4, Acts 17.16-31; 24.24-25).

Conclusion

To summarize, local churches and their members should engage, preach, and focus. (1) Engage your society while realizing this world will be inevitably broken in some ways until Jesus returns. (2) Preach the gospel of justification by faith alone centrally while applying the gospel and the common grace it enables to every area of the Christian’s and society’s life. (3) Focus on truth-filled, confessional, disciplined, grace-filled, holy, and healthy churches that speak and engage their socio-political context. If we don’t we will confuse the gospel with good works on the one hand or cut off common and saving grace to our neighbors on the other. Worst of all, we will not follow Jesus faithfully. But if we engage, preach, and focus we will clarify the gospel, adorn it with the necessary good works, and channel common and saving grace through our engagement.

Russell Moore concludes, “What matters is that evangelical Christianity embrace a Kingdom vision that leads to the mystery of Christ and love for his church” (397). I would only add, from this matrix of love for Christ and his church, let us love our neighbors to the very same gospel-driven degree that we love ourselves.

This was originally posted on gospelize.me.

]]>
Notes on a Biblical-Theological Framework in thinking about Race and Ethnicity https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/race https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/race#comments Tue, 01 Jan 2019 12:00:00 -0800 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/race Update: Here is a sermon-lecture presented to The Master's University based on the notes below from our TGCLA Equip Meeting.

Baptist Faith and Message Article XV. The Christian and the Social Order

All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.

“In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism.”

What is a race? (Dictionary.com)

1. an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, especially formerly, based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups.

2. a socially constructed category of identification based on physical characteristics, ancestry, historical affiliation, or shared culture: “Her parents wanted her to marry within her race.”

3. the human race or family; humankind: Nuclear weapons pose a threat to the race.

What is racism?

PCA: "an explicit or implicit belief or practice that qualitatively distinguishes or values one race over other races"

Carson: “racism occurs wherever anyone is dismissed or disowned or demeaned or stereotyped for no other reason than his or her race or ethnicity.”

There is only one race, many ethnicities – according the Bible. I will tell the story in a bit, but notice the 3rd definition in the dictionary is distinctly contradicting the previous definitions.

 

13 statements for a biblical-theological framework to think about race and ethnicity.

  1. All humans are made in God's image - Gen 1.26
  2. All humans descended from Adam and Noah - Gen 5.1, 10.1
  3. All humans have the cultural mandate - Gen 1.26-28, cf. 9.1-7 - Image bearing via marriage, babies, travel, settling, and building societies; OR reflect God by reproducing, ruling, and resting
  4. All people groups were originally broken up by language (not skin color) because of corporate rebellion - Gen 11.4-7
  5. Babel did not eradicate the sin of self-centeredness and corporate rebellion - Gen 11.9ff to the rest of the Bible (sin continues)
  6. Ethnocentrism (what some call racism) was born at Babel - Genesis 11.9 - rebelling against God and building ones own name continued, but now the name was centered on an ethnicity to be built over against and in godless competition with other EPGs.
  7. Israel is royal priesthood for the nations (cultural mandate continues in a different covenantal context) (Exod 19.5-6, Deut 4.5-8, Solomon and the nations)
  8. God promises to gather all nations - Isaiah 66:18–21 --18 “Knowing their works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages; they will come and see my glory. 19 I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, Lud (who are archers), Tubal, Javan, and the coasts and islands far away—who have not heard about me or seen my glory. And they will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 They will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the Lord on horses and chariots, in litters, and on mules and camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
  9. God the Son becomes a human and then dies for the sins of all nations - Revelation 5:9–10 --9 And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.
  10. Jesus commissions his people to gospelize and disciple all nations - Matt 28.19-20
  11. Jesus creates the church to be made up of the nations - Ephesians 2:14–16 --14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.
  12. Jesus creates the church, made up of nations, as a new and holy nation (EPG) - Philippians 3:20 --20 but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:9 --9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
  13. People redeemed from every EPG will worship the Father and the Lamb - Revelation 7:9–10 --9 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

Additional theses on addressing the issue today:

  1. Corporate sin exists - Rev 2-3; Daniel 9; Israel
  2. Unintentional sin exists - Lev 4.2
  3. Corporate unintentional sin exists - (logical extension of 1 and 2)
  4. Inheriting sin nature exists - (Being born during divided kingdom)
  5. Being born into sinful cultures with sinful systems of which each person and generation is accountable exists
  6. Forgiveness is available to every individual and church who repents from sin and believes in Jesus. (The church is the only corporate entity that can truly repent as a group.)
  7. ]Love for neighbor demands (caring for their individual need and) caring about evil structures that perpetuate brokenness - i.e. loving a person enslaved to prostitution.
  8. The church is the place where unity and diversity of opinion can exist in the midst of diversity of ethnicity. We have the resources for sustained unity in the midst of robust conversation, disagreement, and processing. (Christ, Bible, Spirit, Gospel, Doctrine, Commitment to one another)
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Update: Here is a sermon-lecture presented to The Master's University based on the notes below from our TGCLA Equip Meeting.

Baptist Faith and Message Article XV. The Christian and the Social Order

All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.

“In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism.”

What is a race? (Dictionary.com)

1. an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, especially formerly, based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups.

2. a socially constructed category of identification based on physical characteristics, ancestry, historical affiliation, or shared culture: “Her parents wanted her to marry within her race.”

3. the human race or family; humankind: Nuclear weapons pose a threat to the race.

What is racism?

PCA: "an explicit or implicit belief or practice that qualitatively distinguishes or values one race over other races"

Carson: “racism occurs wherever anyone is dismissed or disowned or demeaned or stereotyped for no other reason than his or her race or ethnicity.”

There is only one race, many ethnicities – according the Bible. I will tell the story in a bit, but notice the 3rd definition in the dictionary is distinctly contradicting the previous definitions.

 

13 statements for a biblical-theological framework to think about race and ethnicity.

  1. All humans are made in God's image - Gen 1.26
  2. All humans descended from Adam and Noah - Gen 5.1, 10.1
  3. All humans have the cultural mandate - Gen 1.26-28, cf. 9.1-7 - Image bearing via marriage, babies, travel, settling, and building societies; OR reflect God by reproducing, ruling, and resting
  4. All people groups were originally broken up by language (not skin color) because of corporate rebellion - Gen 11.4-7
  5. Babel did not eradicate the sin of self-centeredness and corporate rebellion - Gen 11.9ff to the rest of the Bible (sin continues)
  6. Ethnocentrism (what some call racism) was born at Babel - Genesis 11.9 - rebelling against God and building ones own name continued, but now the name was centered on an ethnicity to be built over against and in godless competition with other EPGs.
  7. Israel is royal priesthood for the nations (cultural mandate continues in a different covenantal context) (Exod 19.5-6, Deut 4.5-8, Solomon and the nations)
  8. God promises to gather all nations - Isaiah 66:18–21 --18 “Knowing their works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages; they will come and see my glory. 19 I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, Lud (who are archers), Tubal, Javan, and the coasts and islands far away—who have not heard about me or seen my glory. And they will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 They will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the Lord on horses and chariots, in litters, and on mules and camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
  9. God the Son becomes a human and then dies for the sins of all nations - Revelation 5:9–10 --9 And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered, and you purchased people for God by your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.
  10. Jesus commissions his people to gospelize and disciple all nations - Matt 28.19-20
  11. Jesus creates the church to be made up of the nations - Ephesians 2:14–16 --14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.
  12. Jesus creates the church, made up of nations, as a new and holy nation (EPG) - Philippians 3:20 --20 but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:9 --9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
  13. People redeemed from every EPG will worship the Father and the Lamb - Revelation 7:9–10 --9 After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

Additional theses on addressing the issue today:

  1. Corporate sin exists - Rev 2-3; Daniel 9; Israel
  2. Unintentional sin exists - Lev 4.2
  3. Corporate unintentional sin exists - (logical extension of 1 and 2)
  4. Inheriting sin nature exists - (Being born during divided kingdom)
  5. Being born into sinful cultures with sinful systems of which each person and generation is accountable exists
  6. Forgiveness is available to every individual and church who repents from sin and believes in Jesus. (The church is the only corporate entity that can truly repent as a group.)
  7. ]Love for neighbor demands (caring for their individual need and) caring about evil structures that perpetuate brokenness - i.e. loving a person enslaved to prostitution.
  8. The church is the place where unity and diversity of opinion can exist in the midst of diversity of ethnicity. We have the resources for sustained unity in the midst of robust conversation, disagreement, and processing. (Christ, Bible, Spirit, Gospel, Doctrine, Commitment to one another)
]]>
Cultivating a Culture of Evangelism in Your Church (with resources linked) https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/cultivating-a-culture-of-evangelism-in-your-church-with-resources-linked https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/cultivating-a-culture-of-evangelism-in-your-church-with-resources-linked#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2015 17:00:00 -0700 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/cultivating-a-culture-of-evangelism-in-your-church-with-resources-linked Here is a general outline of my notes from my "Cultivating a Culture of Evangelism in Your Church" Discussion on 10/13/15:

Assumptions:

- The gospel defined: God, Man, Christ, Response
- Exclusivity of Christ
- Reality of eternal joy and eternal judgment
- God sovereignly chose all those who would be saved
- God wants all men to be saved
- God uses means to save his people

Defining a Culture of Evangelism

- Evangelism: telling the gospel to someone with the aim of persuading them to believe in Christ Jesus and repent from sin.

Characteristics of a Culture of Evangelism

What’s a culture of evangelism you ask? Well, if evangelism is “teaching people the gospel with an aim to persuade”, then a culture of evangelism is the kind of environment where this activity is the air the congregation breathes. To give us a picture of what that looks like, Stiles gives us 11 marks of a culture of evangelism (pp. 48-61):

1. A Culture Motivated by Love for Jesus and His Gospel –

2. A Culture That is Confident in the Gospel –

3. A Culture That Understands the Danger of Entertainment –

4. A Culture That Sees People Clearly –

5. A Culture That Pulls Together as One –

6. A Culture in Which People Teach One Another –

7. A Culture That Models Evangelism –

8. A Culture in Which People Who Are Sharing Their Faith Are Celebrated –

9. A Culture That Knows How to Affirm And Celebrate New Life –

10. A Culture Doing Ministry That Feels Risky and Is Dangerous –

11. A Culture That Understands That the Church Is the Chosen and Best Method of Evangelism 

What it looks like (2 stories)

- pp. 76-78 - story in one church
- pp. 80-81 - story that works across churches

The picture of cultivation (as opposed to engineering, programming, executing, or building)

Some (19) Habits/Seeds to sow, water, and clear out weeds for in cultivating a culture of evangelism

(my experience has been in sowing and watering a culture of evangelism and seeing it start to become the culture of the church but then God sent us to FSBC Bellflower to start over but 10 steps back)

BEFORE I GIVE MY LIST TAKE THIS INDEX CARD AND WRITE 3-5 OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PRACTICES THAT WOULD CULTIVATE A CULTURE OF EVANGELISM IN THE CHURCH.

Here are different seeds that need to be sown and watered habitually in a church as you pray for God to bring the growth/increase. I broke it up int theological-oriented seeds, instituional-oriented seeds, and organic-oriented seeds:

3 Theologically-oriented seeds:

1. Define success accurately and believe the biblical definition

- Success in evangelism is not the amount of conversions or building a crowd. We want conversions! That’s our aim. And we’ll celebrate it like crazy (we ought to). But we understand our role and God’s role are not the same. He is ultimate, we are instrumental.
- Evangelistic success is you and your people sharing the gospel with love and boldness and not necessarily the response to the gospel (repentance/faith or rejection/indifference)
- Another key to understanding success: What happens to us

- We tend to focus on the effect on others so we lose heart.
- Philemon 6 (sharing of your faith) makes us effective of knowing the good things in us for Christ -

- “Paul is saying something I rarely hear: that sharing our faith if for our benefit, too, so that we might gain a full understanding of the good things we have in Christ. The Bible says that among all the good reasons to share our faith, on of them is what happens to us.
- it makes us appreciate our salvation
- It reminds of the privilege of being able to share it with others.
- Evangelizing is a spiritual discipline that leads to spiritual growth just like prayer, bible reading/meditation, confession of sin, fasting, hearing the preaching of God’s Word, etc.
- Believe the power of the gospel to bear fruit in people’s lives long after the awkward conversation and seeming indifference or rejection. This is an issue of faith

- If God guaranteed the conversion of your hearers would you gospelize more? He promises to accomplish his purposes through his Word going out (Isaiah).
- It’s the power of God (Rom 1.16)
- It bears fruit in his time in his way and you must trust you are a small part of the orchestra and not the whole orchestra (you might be the set up guy and not the finisher).

2. Destroy the dichotomy between evangelism and edification - gospelize. Why?

- It’s a biblical word (Romans 1)
- Christians who gospelize more naturally gospelize non-Christians - Trains members to gospelize regularly by gospelizing Christians which comes more easily
- Christians who are gospelized are more likely to gospelize
- It forces members to learn how to rely on the Word and Spirit in interaction with other Christians (and eventually non-Christians)
- They begin to love and treasure the gospel more

3. Plant seeds of truth stating hard facts:

- Exclusivity of Christ
- Reality of hell
- lack of evangelism in the church
- The need for the church and community
- The priority of evangelism as the most necessary good deed to a non-Christian neighbor
- God uses the means of evangelism and messengers (Rom. 10.14-17)

 

11 (Pastoral Leadership) Institutional Oriented seeds:

1. Don’t rely primarily on programs:

2. Use what your church already does: Songs, Prayers, Communion, Baptism, Offering, Calling each other brother/sister, Preaching

3. Preach expositionally. As your people hear God’s word every week they will increasingly reflect his glory to the world. Week by week their lives will become a more focused picture of their savior, Jesus Christ.

4. Regularly apply your sermons to members/Christians as gospelizers

5. Preach the gospel every week. As your people hear the gospel every week they will grow in their appreciation for it, their understanding of it, and their ability to share it with others. Preach for the conversion of the lost at some point in every sermon. Every sermon.

6. Address non-Christians in your sermons. This will encourage your church members to bring non-Christian friends to church. It will also teach/train them how to effectively address non-Christians by your example. The cumulative effect of doing this week after week begins to stamp a hearers life.

7. Teach individual church members to evangelize. Teach Sunday school classes on the gospel and evangelism. Give out books on evangelism. Encourage church members to share evangelistic opportunities with the church so that others can participate in and pray for them.

8. Teach a biblical understanding of the gospel and conversion. Make sure that your people understand the gospel and how someone becomes a Christian.

9. Be careful to admit only Christians into membership. If the church is filled with genuine, growing Christians, it will broadcast the truth that God is a holy and gracious Savior. If the church is filled with non-Christians, it will broadcast lies about God and the gospel.

10. Promote holiness. Preach God’s law. Call your people to live lives that reflect God’s holy character. Doing this in your public preaching and teaching will help craft a culture of holiness, a collective expectation and standard of holiness. The goal is to have a church that shows the world what God’s grace, holiness, and love actually look like.

11. Practice church discipline for restoration. Unrepentant sinners are to be expelled from the church so that their influence doesn’t corrupt the whole church. A church that doesn’t practice church discipline will eventually succumb to hypocrisy and develop a corporate testimony that flatly contradicts the gospel. Consistent church discipline will preserve the church’s holiness and ensure that it practices what it preaches, giving unbelievers a consistent portrait of God’s own character and love.

 

5 (Christian Lifestyle) Organic oriented seeds:

1. The pastors modeling evangelism by example and by personally training others to observe their life in this area. Pray with those you disciple for evangelistic boldness and conversion fruit.

- This lead to integrity in preaching on it
- Which leads to power in preaching on it
- Talking about your evangelistic experiences stimulates ideas for members that the Spirit uses to lead them forward
- Your church largely becomes a reflection of its leadership (I’ve heard)

2. Train members to practice 3-strand evangelism

- Share the gospel
- Deepen friendship
- Introduce to Christian community

3. Create environments where non-Christians and Christians regularly interact

4. Eat meals with non-Christians

5. Identify the rhythms of life in the culture and engage those rhythms with gospel intentionality.

 

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

Books:

  1. Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus by J. Mack Stiles
  2. Saturate: Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life by Jeff Vanderstelt
  3. Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around the Gospel and Community by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis

Online Resources:

  1. 11 Marks of a Culture of Evangelism (Derek Rishmawy) 
  2. How Can a Pastor Develop a Church's Corporate Evangelistic Witness? (9Marks)
  3. How to Create a Culture of Evangelism (The Gospel Coalition)
  4. Gospel Fluency (GCM Collective)
  5. Three-Strand Evangelism (Tim Chester)

Video:

  1. Jeff Vanderstelt teaches 5 sessions on Gospel Fluency (Justin Taylor)
  2. Jeff Vanderstelt's one session on Gospel Fluency (Living Stones Church)
  3. Being Ambassadors for Christ (Mack Stiles)
  4. Christian, You are Crazy (Mack Stiles interviewed by TGC)

(9marks stuff)

  1. 9Marks Journal: Evangelism Part 1
  2. 9Marks Journal: Evangelism Part 2

(Soma Stuff)

  1. Soma School
  2. Missional Community Training

Audio:

  1. Yearning for a Culture of Evangelism (Mack Stiles)
]]>
Here is a general outline of my notes from my "Cultivating a Culture of Evangelism in Your Church" Discussion on 10/13/15:

Assumptions:

- The gospel defined: God, Man, Christ, Response
- Exclusivity of Christ
- Reality of eternal joy and eternal judgment
- God sovereignly chose all those who would be saved
- God wants all men to be saved
- God uses means to save his people

Defining a Culture of Evangelism

- Evangelism: telling the gospel to someone with the aim of persuading them to believe in Christ Jesus and repent from sin.

Characteristics of a Culture of Evangelism

What’s a culture of evangelism you ask? Well, if evangelism is “teaching people the gospel with an aim to persuade”, then a culture of evangelism is the kind of environment where this activity is the air the congregation breathes. To give us a picture of what that looks like, Stiles gives us 11 marks of a culture of evangelism (pp. 48-61):

1. A Culture Motivated by Love for Jesus and His Gospel –

2. A Culture That is Confident in the Gospel –

3. A Culture That Understands the Danger of Entertainment –

4. A Culture That Sees People Clearly –

5. A Culture That Pulls Together as One –

6. A Culture in Which People Teach One Another –

7. A Culture That Models Evangelism –

8. A Culture in Which People Who Are Sharing Their Faith Are Celebrated –

9. A Culture That Knows How to Affirm And Celebrate New Life –

10. A Culture Doing Ministry That Feels Risky and Is Dangerous –

11. A Culture That Understands That the Church Is the Chosen and Best Method of Evangelism 

What it looks like (2 stories)

- pp. 76-78 - story in one church
- pp. 80-81 - story that works across churches

The picture of cultivation (as opposed to engineering, programming, executing, or building)

Some (19) Habits/Seeds to sow, water, and clear out weeds for in cultivating a culture of evangelism

(my experience has been in sowing and watering a culture of evangelism and seeing it start to become the culture of the church but then God sent us to FSBC Bellflower to start over but 10 steps back)

BEFORE I GIVE MY LIST TAKE THIS INDEX CARD AND WRITE 3-5 OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PRACTICES THAT WOULD CULTIVATE A CULTURE OF EVANGELISM IN THE CHURCH.

Here are different seeds that need to be sown and watered habitually in a church as you pray for God to bring the growth/increase. I broke it up int theological-oriented seeds, instituional-oriented seeds, and organic-oriented seeds:

3 Theologically-oriented seeds:

1. Define success accurately and believe the biblical definition

- Success in evangelism is not the amount of conversions or building a crowd. We want conversions! That’s our aim. And we’ll celebrate it like crazy (we ought to). But we understand our role and God’s role are not the same. He is ultimate, we are instrumental.
- Evangelistic success is you and your people sharing the gospel with love and boldness and not necessarily the response to the gospel (repentance/faith or rejection/indifference)
- Another key to understanding success: What happens to us

- We tend to focus on the effect on others so we lose heart.
- Philemon 6 (sharing of your faith) makes us effective of knowing the good things in us for Christ -

- “Paul is saying something I rarely hear: that sharing our faith if for our benefit, too, so that we might gain a full understanding of the good things we have in Christ. The Bible says that among all the good reasons to share our faith, on of them is what happens to us.
- it makes us appreciate our salvation
- It reminds of the privilege of being able to share it with others.
- Evangelizing is a spiritual discipline that leads to spiritual growth just like prayer, bible reading/meditation, confession of sin, fasting, hearing the preaching of God’s Word, etc.
- Believe the power of the gospel to bear fruit in people’s lives long after the awkward conversation and seeming indifference or rejection. This is an issue of faith

- If God guaranteed the conversion of your hearers would you gospelize more? He promises to accomplish his purposes through his Word going out (Isaiah).
- It’s the power of God (Rom 1.16)
- It bears fruit in his time in his way and you must trust you are a small part of the orchestra and not the whole orchestra (you might be the set up guy and not the finisher).

2. Destroy the dichotomy between evangelism and edification - gospelize. Why?

- It’s a biblical word (Romans 1)
- Christians who gospelize more naturally gospelize non-Christians - Trains members to gospelize regularly by gospelizing Christians which comes more easily
- Christians who are gospelized are more likely to gospelize
- It forces members to learn how to rely on the Word and Spirit in interaction with other Christians (and eventually non-Christians)
- They begin to love and treasure the gospel more

3. Plant seeds of truth stating hard facts:

- Exclusivity of Christ
- Reality of hell
- lack of evangelism in the church
- The need for the church and community
- The priority of evangelism as the most necessary good deed to a non-Christian neighbor
- God uses the means of evangelism and messengers (Rom. 10.14-17)

 

11 (Pastoral Leadership) Institutional Oriented seeds:

1. Don’t rely primarily on programs:

2. Use what your church already does: Songs, Prayers, Communion, Baptism, Offering, Calling each other brother/sister, Preaching

3. Preach expositionally. As your people hear God’s word every week they will increasingly reflect his glory to the world. Week by week their lives will become a more focused picture of their savior, Jesus Christ.

4. Regularly apply your sermons to members/Christians as gospelizers

5. Preach the gospel every week. As your people hear the gospel every week they will grow in their appreciation for it, their understanding of it, and their ability to share it with others. Preach for the conversion of the lost at some point in every sermon. Every sermon.

6. Address non-Christians in your sermons. This will encourage your church members to bring non-Christian friends to church. It will also teach/train them how to effectively address non-Christians by your example. The cumulative effect of doing this week after week begins to stamp a hearers life.

7. Teach individual church members to evangelize. Teach Sunday school classes on the gospel and evangelism. Give out books on evangelism. Encourage church members to share evangelistic opportunities with the church so that others can participate in and pray for them.

8. Teach a biblical understanding of the gospel and conversion. Make sure that your people understand the gospel and how someone becomes a Christian.

9. Be careful to admit only Christians into membership. If the church is filled with genuine, growing Christians, it will broadcast the truth that God is a holy and gracious Savior. If the church is filled with non-Christians, it will broadcast lies about God and the gospel.

10. Promote holiness. Preach God’s law. Call your people to live lives that reflect God’s holy character. Doing this in your public preaching and teaching will help craft a culture of holiness, a collective expectation and standard of holiness. The goal is to have a church that shows the world what God’s grace, holiness, and love actually look like.

11. Practice church discipline for restoration. Unrepentant sinners are to be expelled from the church so that their influence doesn’t corrupt the whole church. A church that doesn’t practice church discipline will eventually succumb to hypocrisy and develop a corporate testimony that flatly contradicts the gospel. Consistent church discipline will preserve the church’s holiness and ensure that it practices what it preaches, giving unbelievers a consistent portrait of God’s own character and love.

 

5 (Christian Lifestyle) Organic oriented seeds:

1. The pastors modeling evangelism by example and by personally training others to observe their life in this area. Pray with those you disciple for evangelistic boldness and conversion fruit.

- This lead to integrity in preaching on it
- Which leads to power in preaching on it
- Talking about your evangelistic experiences stimulates ideas for members that the Spirit uses to lead them forward
- Your church largely becomes a reflection of its leadership (I’ve heard)

2. Train members to practice 3-strand evangelism

- Share the gospel
- Deepen friendship
- Introduce to Christian community

3. Create environments where non-Christians and Christians regularly interact

4. Eat meals with non-Christians

5. Identify the rhythms of life in the culture and engage those rhythms with gospel intentionality.

 

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

Books:

  1. Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus by J. Mack Stiles
  2. Saturate: Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life by Jeff Vanderstelt
  3. Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around the Gospel and Community by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis

Online Resources:

  1. 11 Marks of a Culture of Evangelism (Derek Rishmawy) 
  2. How Can a Pastor Develop a Church's Corporate Evangelistic Witness? (9Marks)
  3. How to Create a Culture of Evangelism (The Gospel Coalition)
  4. Gospel Fluency (GCM Collective)
  5. Three-Strand Evangelism (Tim Chester)

Video:

  1. Jeff Vanderstelt teaches 5 sessions on Gospel Fluency (Justin Taylor)
  2. Jeff Vanderstelt's one session on Gospel Fluency (Living Stones Church)
  3. Being Ambassadors for Christ (Mack Stiles)
  4. Christian, You are Crazy (Mack Stiles interviewed by TGC)

(9marks stuff)

  1. 9Marks Journal: Evangelism Part 1
  2. 9Marks Journal: Evangelism Part 2

(Soma Stuff)

  1. Soma School
  2. Missional Community Training

Audio:

  1. Yearning for a Culture of Evangelism (Mack Stiles)
]]>
The Gospel And Work https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-gospel-and-work https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-gospel-and-work#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2015 16:00:00 -0800 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-gospel-and-work Brian Colmery blessed us at our TGCLA EQUIP Meeting yesterday in Pasadena teaching us about the Gospel and Work. I wish we had an audio recording. Well, here are some resources we recommended to think through the topic to help you equip your church members for the glory of God in the work place.

Christians in the Workplace - Capitol Hill Baptist Church's free Adult Sunday School material on the topic.

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life by Os Guiness

Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work by Tim Keller

The Gospel at Work: How Working for King Jesus Gives Purpose and Meaning to Our Jobs by Sebastian Traeger and Greg Gilbert

Gospel-Centered Work by Tim Chester

Pastoring Christians For the Workplace - 9Marks Journal Mar-Apr 2013 on the topic with articles and book reviews (pdf version).

 (This is a cross post with SlavePJ.com)

]]>
Brian Colmery blessed us at our TGCLA EQUIP Meeting yesterday in Pasadena teaching us about the Gospel and Work. I wish we had an audio recording. Well, here are some resources we recommended to think through the topic to help you equip your church members for the glory of God in the work place.

Christians in the Workplace - Capitol Hill Baptist Church's free Adult Sunday School material on the topic.

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life by Os Guiness

Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work by Tim Keller

The Gospel at Work: How Working for King Jesus Gives Purpose and Meaning to Our Jobs by Sebastian Traeger and Greg Gilbert

Gospel-Centered Work by Tim Chester

Pastoring Christians For the Workplace - 9Marks Journal Mar-Apr 2013 on the topic with articles and book reviews (pdf version).

 (This is a cross post with SlavePJ.com)

]]>
TGCLA 3rd Quarter EQUIP Meeting scheduled for 7/29 is Canceled https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/tgcla-3rd-quarter-equip-meeting-scheduled-for-7-29-is-canceled https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/tgcla-3rd-quarter-equip-meeting-scheduled-for-7-29-is-canceled#comments Fri, 25 Jul 2014 10:00:00 -0700 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/tgcla-3rd-quarter-equip-meeting-scheduled-for-7-29-is-canceled TGCLA 3rd Quarter EQUIP Meeting scheduled for 7/29 is Canceled.

TGCLA July 29th Quarterly Equip meeting is canceled. But please try to get together with some other pastors in your area to encourage and deepen friendships with one another. Here's a list of our current TGCLA Pastors that have publicly agreed with the TGC foundation documents and are intentional at networking for the gospel together. If you're a pastor and want to publicly agree to the foundation documents and want to work together to help INSPIRE. EQUIP. SUPPORT. each other for gospel growth in our city and region then please let me know.

We will pick up our quarterly EQUIP meeting on October 28th Lord-willing. Until then, please support each other by encouraging each other. If you need help connecting with brothers closer to your area, shoot me an email and I'll email you some brothers email information that are nearest to you.

In Christ,
PJ
Preaching Pastor, CrossView Church LA

]]>
TGCLA 3rd Quarter EQUIP Meeting scheduled for 7/29 is Canceled.

TGCLA July 29th Quarterly Equip meeting is canceled. But please try to get together with some other pastors in your area to encourage and deepen friendships with one another. Here's a list of our current TGCLA Pastors that have publicly agreed with the TGC foundation documents and are intentional at networking for the gospel together. If you're a pastor and want to publicly agree to the foundation documents and want to work together to help INSPIRE. EQUIP. SUPPORT. each other for gospel growth in our city and region then please let me know.

We will pick up our quarterly EQUIP meeting on October 28th Lord-willing. Until then, please support each other by encouraging each other. If you need help connecting with brothers closer to your area, shoot me an email and I'll email you some brothers email information that are nearest to you.

In Christ,
PJ
Preaching Pastor, CrossView Church LA

]]>
Development of Local Church (non-vocational) Elders https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/development-of-local-church--non-vocational--elders https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/development-of-local-church--non-vocational--elders#comments Fri, 30 May 2014 07:00:00 -0700 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/development-of-local-church--non-vocational--elders 10 Principles for Eldership
  1. An elder is a pastor is an elder.
  2. An elder is different than a "Super Deacon"
  3. An elder desires to be an elder.
  4. An elder is biblically qualified.
  5. An elder is recognized not chosen (manufactured).
  6. An elder knows what biblical eldership is. (in terms of duties, it's not sitting on a organization's "board")
  7. An elder identifies with the local church's distinctives.
  8. An elder should be developed slowly... but not too slow.
  9. An elder is recognized by the church.
  10. An elder is a co-equal under-shepherd.

Scriptural Qualifications for Eldership:

Above Reproach (1 Timothy 3.2; Titus 1.6)

Spiritual Maturity

  • Not a Recent Convert (1 Timothy 3.6)

Personal Holiness 

  • Holy (Titus 1:8) - set apart for God in life and actions
  • Upright (Titus 1:8) - righteous, just
  • Self-Controlled (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1.8)
  • Disciplined (Titus 1:8)
  • Lover of Good (Titus 1:8)
  • Not a Drunkard (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1.7)
  • Living as an Example (1 Peter 5.2-3)

Family and Finances:

  • The Husband of One Wife (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6)
  • Not a Lover of Money (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1.7; 1 Peter 5.2)
  • Manage his household well (1 Timothy 3:4) - (Submissive Children [1 Timothy 3:4]; Faithful Children [Titus 1:7])

Possession of a Positive Relational Character

  • Shepherding willingly, eagerly, and gently (1 Peter 5.2-3)
  • Respectable (1 Timothy 3:2)
  • Hospitable (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:8)
  • Well thought of by Outsiders (1 Timothy 3:7)

Avoidance of a Negative Relational Character

  • Not violent but gentle (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7)
  • Not quarelsome (1 Timothy 3:3)
  • Not quick tempered (Titus 1:7)
  • Not arrogant (Titus 1:7)

Knowledge of and Ability to Handle God's Word

  • Holding Firm to the Word (Titus 1:9)
  • Able to Teach (1 Timothy 3:2)
  • Sober-minded (1 Timothy 3:2)

Cornerstone West LA Eldership Process

The process of recognizing those men in the chrch who are functioning as elders, and ought to be recognized as such.

1. Identify men who are serving well as Servant Ministers

  • Men who are faithful servant ministers
  • Men who are consistently serving others

2. Observe the pastoral nature of the man's ministry

  • Is his ministry primarily service or pastoral?
  • Is he currently shepherding anyone?

3. Evaluate the man's calling

  • Does he aspire to pastoral ministry?
  • Do those around him affirm this aspiration?

4. Evaluate the man's qualification

  • Is he above reproach in the biblical qualifications?

5. Invite the man to observe eldership

  • Invite him to pursue relationships with current elders to observe their life
  • Invite him to elder meetings to observe their inner workings

6. Evaluate the man's identification with Cornerstone's distinctives

  • Can he articulate the truth contained in the statement of faith?
  • Does he understand and affirm the philosophy of ministry?

7. Affirm the man's eldership

  • The man's wife affirms his calling and qualifications
  • The man's Christian community affirms his calling and qualifications
  • The current council of elders affirms the man's calling and qualifications
  • The current church membership affirms the man's calling and qualifications

 

]]>
10 Principles for Eldership
  1. An elder is a pastor is an elder.
  2. An elder is different than a "Super Deacon"
  3. An elder desires to be an elder.
  4. An elder is biblically qualified.
  5. An elder is recognized not chosen (manufactured).
  6. An elder knows what biblical eldership is. (in terms of duties, it's not sitting on a organization's "board")
  7. An elder identifies with the local church's distinctives.
  8. An elder should be developed slowly... but not too slow.
  9. An elder is recognized by the church.
  10. An elder is a co-equal under-shepherd.

Scriptural Qualifications for Eldership:

Above Reproach (1 Timothy 3.2; Titus 1.6)

Spiritual Maturity

  • Not a Recent Convert (1 Timothy 3.6)

Personal Holiness 

  • Holy (Titus 1:8) - set apart for God in life and actions
  • Upright (Titus 1:8) - righteous, just
  • Self-Controlled (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1.8)
  • Disciplined (Titus 1:8)
  • Lover of Good (Titus 1:8)
  • Not a Drunkard (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1.7)
  • Living as an Example (1 Peter 5.2-3)

Family and Finances:

  • The Husband of One Wife (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6)
  • Not a Lover of Money (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1.7; 1 Peter 5.2)
  • Manage his household well (1 Timothy 3:4) - (Submissive Children [1 Timothy 3:4]; Faithful Children [Titus 1:7])

Possession of a Positive Relational Character

  • Shepherding willingly, eagerly, and gently (1 Peter 5.2-3)
  • Respectable (1 Timothy 3:2)
  • Hospitable (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:8)
  • Well thought of by Outsiders (1 Timothy 3:7)

Avoidance of a Negative Relational Character

  • Not violent but gentle (1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7)
  • Not quarelsome (1 Timothy 3:3)
  • Not quick tempered (Titus 1:7)
  • Not arrogant (Titus 1:7)

Knowledge of and Ability to Handle God's Word

  • Holding Firm to the Word (Titus 1:9)
  • Able to Teach (1 Timothy 3:2)
  • Sober-minded (1 Timothy 3:2)

Cornerstone West LA Eldership Process

The process of recognizing those men in the chrch who are functioning as elders, and ought to be recognized as such.

1. Identify men who are serving well as Servant Ministers

  • Men who are faithful servant ministers
  • Men who are consistently serving others

2. Observe the pastoral nature of the man's ministry

  • Is his ministry primarily service or pastoral?
  • Is he currently shepherding anyone?

3. Evaluate the man's calling

  • Does he aspire to pastoral ministry?
  • Do those around him affirm this aspiration?

4. Evaluate the man's qualification

  • Is he above reproach in the biblical qualifications?

5. Invite the man to observe eldership

  • Invite him to pursue relationships with current elders to observe their life
  • Invite him to elder meetings to observe their inner workings

6. Evaluate the man's identification with Cornerstone's distinctives

  • Can he articulate the truth contained in the statement of faith?
  • Does he understand and affirm the philosophy of ministry?

7. Affirm the man's eldership

  • The man's wife affirms his calling and qualifications
  • The man's Christian community affirms his calling and qualifications
  • The current council of elders affirms the man's calling and qualifications
  • The current church membership affirms the man's calling and qualifications

 

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Resources on Lay Pastor-Elders in the Church https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/resources-on-lay-pastor-elders-in-the-church https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/resources-on-lay-pastor-elders-in-the-church#comments Tue, 27 May 2014 22:00:00 -0700 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/resources-on-lay-pastor-elders-in-the-church As we gear up for our upcoming EQUIP Quarterly Meeting on 5/27/14 on Raising Up Lay Elders in Your Church I thought I'd post some free resources online that I've found helpful. I plan on publishing another blog post on some recommended book resources on the topic.

Some free online resources on thinking about elders (what I'd call pastor-elders to avoid biblical confusion) in the local church:

9Marks Journals on the topic (click the links to download the pdf, mobi, or epub versions or read it online)

  1. Elders Part 1 (2007)
  2. Elders Part 2 (2007)
  3. Lay Elders: A User's Guide Part 1
  4. Lay Elders: A User's Guide Part 2

9Marks Discussion/Interview (audio mp3) with Mark Dever and his Elders on the topic of Eldership at Capitol Hill Baptist Church.

Mark Dever has written on Elders in two booklets A Display of God's Glory and By Whose Authority? Elders in Baptist Life (free PDFs).

John MacArthur Answering the Key Questions about Elders (Free booklet in html form)

D. A. Carson gave a lecture, "The Role of the Elder." The transcript entitled, "Defining Elders" can be found here. The mp3 can be found here.

Desiring God has John Piper's Biblical Eldership Seminar with all the notes and audio. They have also posted a video of Kevin DeYoung discussing Eldership.

This is a cross-post with SlavePJ.com.

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As we gear up for our upcoming EQUIP Quarterly Meeting on 5/27/14 on Raising Up Lay Elders in Your Church I thought I'd post some free resources online that I've found helpful. I plan on publishing another blog post on some recommended book resources on the topic.

Some free online resources on thinking about elders (what I'd call pastor-elders to avoid biblical confusion) in the local church:

9Marks Journals on the topic (click the links to download the pdf, mobi, or epub versions or read it online)

  1. Elders Part 1 (2007)
  2. Elders Part 2 (2007)
  3. Lay Elders: A User's Guide Part 1
  4. Lay Elders: A User's Guide Part 2

9Marks Discussion/Interview (audio mp3) with Mark Dever and his Elders on the topic of Eldership at Capitol Hill Baptist Church.

Mark Dever has written on Elders in two booklets A Display of God's Glory and By Whose Authority? Elders in Baptist Life (free PDFs).

John MacArthur Answering the Key Questions about Elders (Free booklet in html form)

D. A. Carson gave a lecture, "The Role of the Elder." The transcript entitled, "Defining Elders" can be found here. The mp3 can be found here.

Desiring God has John Piper's Biblical Eldership Seminar with all the notes and audio. They have also posted a video of Kevin DeYoung discussing Eldership.

This is a cross-post with SlavePJ.com.

]]>
Themelios 38.2 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/themelios-38-2 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/themelios-38-2#comments Tue, 13 Aug 2013 09:00:00 -0700 https://la.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/themelios-38-2 From the TGC Blog:

themelios38.2-228x300

The Gospel Coalition just released the latest issue of Themelios. It is available as a 158-page PDF and in HTML. We've also partnered with Logos Bible Software to make it available as a free mobile-friendly Logos digital edition for use on all major platforms with one of their free apps.

  1. D. A. Carson | Kingdom, Ethics, and Individual Salvation
  2. Michael J. Ovey | From Moral Majority to Evil Disbelievers: Coming Clean about Christian Atheism
  3. Peter Orr | Abounding in the Work of the Lord (1 Cor 15:58): Everything We Do as Christians or Specific Gospel Work?
  4. Owen Strachan | Carl F. H. Henry's Doctrine of the Atonement: A Synthesis and Brief Analysis
  5. Gerald R. McDermott | Will All Be Saved?
  6. Book Reviews
  • Old Testament | 3 reviews
  • New Testament | 20 reviews
  • History and Historical Theology | 12 reviews
  • Systematic Theology and Bioethics | 4 reviews
  • Ethics and Pastoralia | 10 reviews
  • Missions and Culture | 8 reviews
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From the TGC Blog:

themelios38.2-228x300

The Gospel Coalition just released the latest issue of Themelios. It is available as a 158-page PDF and in HTML. We've also partnered with Logos Bible Software to make it available as a free mobile-friendly Logos digital edition for use on all major platforms with one of their free apps.

  1. D. A. Carson | Kingdom, Ethics, and Individual Salvation
  2. Michael J. Ovey | From Moral Majority to Evil Disbelievers: Coming Clean about Christian Atheism
  3. Peter Orr | Abounding in the Work of the Lord (1 Cor 15:58): Everything We Do as Christians or Specific Gospel Work?
  4. Owen Strachan | Carl F. H. Henry's Doctrine of the Atonement: A Synthesis and Brief Analysis
  5. Gerald R. McDermott | Will All Be Saved?
  6. Book Reviews
  • Old Testament | 3 reviews
  • New Testament | 20 reviews
  • History and Historical Theology | 12 reviews
  • Systematic Theology and Bioethics | 4 reviews
  • Ethics and Pastoralia | 10 reviews
  • Missions and Culture | 8 reviews
]]>