Johnny Cash would have turned 77 today.
Few musicians have had as diverse a range of music and effect as Johnny Cash. His style ranged from down home country to hymns to remakes of the likes of Trent Reznor. My impression is that much of his later music was moodier, more thoughtful, more reflective and it is his later music that I have come to really enjoy.
The Mars Hill folks have put together a video tribute to Johnny Cash and what he has to say to Christians.
HT: Justin
In his book In Christ Alone Sinclair Ferguson discusses four points about Christian liberty:
- Christian liberty must never be flaunted.
- Christian liberty does not mean that you welcome fellow Christians only when you have sorted out their views on X or Y.
- Christian liberty ought never to be used in such a way that you become a stumbling block to another Christian.
- Christian liberty requires grasping the principle that will produce this true biblical balance: “We… ought… not to please ourselves… For even Christ did not please himself” (Rom. 15:1-3)…
He closes the chapter with the following quote from Martin Luther:
A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.
May we use our liberty for the glory of God and the good of others and not as an excuse to serve every selfish desire.
If you want to be challenged to really clarify what makes life meaningful just go spend some time in a nursing home or with older people whose health generally prohibits them from doing much of anything. I pastor a mostly older congregation and I am constantly interacting with people burdened with a sense of the loss of value of life. They cannot do any of the things they once did, what should make them feel that their lives have any value? One person in an emotional moment put it this way, “Why does the Lord leave us here to suffer? We can’t do anything for him!”
Those who would define the value of life in terms of what we do are stuck when facing the issue of a failing body. Even many Christians fall into this trap. What is our purpose? Some would say spreading the gospel. What makes life meaningful? Fulfilling our purpose. So what are we left with when illness and infirmity and a failing body makes evangelism impossible?
Man’s purpose is not found in any of our outer actions, per se. The meaning of life is that we were created for the glory of God (Isa 43:7). We find true meaning only by glorifying God. We glorify him with our actions when action is possible. We glorify him by trusting in him, resting in him, praying to him whether or not we are capable of doing things for him. The meaning of life for an older person has not been lost by their inability to perform acts of service. They can glorify God even as their bodies fail. The main way to do this, I think, is by being content in him and trusting in him even if your circumstances are such that the world expects you to curse God and die. What a testimony that makes! In the world’s eyes many of these people have absolutely nothing to live for. They should sink into despair and kill themselves! And yet here is this bedridden saint praising God for his mercy! How great indeed must be his mercy if this saint would praise him even when she seems to the world to have nothing to praise him for.
This is love. That God has redeemed every aspect of the lives of his elect. Even our infirmity has purpose. Even that person lying in a nursing home bed barely able to move has a purpose. If your life is not focused on bringing glory to God then what is it focused on? And what other option would you see for man’s purpose? Only this one option gives hope to those who are unable to do active service for God. Glorify God in sickness and health and you have found life’s meaning.
It is risky business being a preacher. Sometimes you convict yourself.
I’ve just done a purging of movies, music, and tv shows that, frankly, I never should have purchased to begin with. iTunes and a digital age makes media too easy to obtain. Most of these shows and movies would be considered fairly mild by many but just how much worldliness should a Christian tolerate in his entertainment? Everything in moderation, one might respond. But how does one decide how much worldliness is acceptable? There is so much accepted sin in media these days, very few things passed my test.
A few things prompted my purging:
The end result is quite a bit more free space on my computer and some more empty space on my shelves. It also means more money since, God enabling, I will continue this conviction and will avoid those things that, in the name of entertainment, invite worldliness. Brothers, pray for me.
John Piper had better hurry up and get back from his writing break. Soon I’ll be talking about Driscoll more than Piper.
Apparently a new controversy has broken out around Mark Driscoll (mentioned by the Founder’s folks). I don’t know all the details but some of the criticism focuses on his explicit discussion of sexuality. A number of people strongly oppose the amount of explicit information Driscoll is willing to put in public.
Here is my take.
First, consider the medium. Critics are concerned with Driscoll making such explicit information easily available over the internet. I would share their concern except for the fact that a tremendous amount of pornographic material is even easier to obtain over the internet. It is very difficult to spend much time on the internet and avoid seeing things you do not want to see. Today’s young people spend a lot of time on the internet. I guarantee most of them have seen by accident more pornographic material than many adults have seen in their lifetime. I also guarantee that a large percentage of people on the internet – including Christian young people – are not just stumbling across pornographic material by accident, they are looking for it.
With that in mind, I am reluctant to disapprove of churches offering a counter response. Driscoll and others are saying that sexuality is a good thing if handled properly. Want to know how to handle it properly? Don’t go to a porn site, go to church. Young people are more open discussing sexuality than most older people. Biblically, I don’t know how anyone could make the case that Christians should not be explicit when talking about sex. One must be wise, yes, but I think in this case wisdom leans in Driscoll’s direction.
Second, consider the context. Driscoll is pastoring a church of young people in Seattle, Washington. If he were trying to present this material to my church it would be inappropriate. Most of my people are not immersed in culture and technology the way his are. Most of my people do not have the questions about sexuality that his people have. I don’t believe Driscoll has anywhere said all preachers should address sexuality in the way he does. He has his flock with their quirks and their needs, I have mine. There may be some in my church – and are certainly many in my city – who would benefit from his preaching on this subject, but the majority of my people do not need the material he is offering. The majority of the people in Driscoll’s church do.
This does not relativize preaching and practices. Rather it seeks to accomplish the same end through the same means carried out in different ways. The end is glorifying Christ and leading people to live God glorifying lives. The means is preaching and teaching that will help them know how to live those God glorifying lives. Such preaching will guide people to make decisions guided by the Bible and know how to handle issues not clearly spelled out in the Bible. If my people don’t have those issues it would serve no purpose to raise them. Driscoll’s people do have those issues and questions so he guides them to know how to glorify God in those areas.
This is pragmatism of the good sort. All preachers should ask this question: “What do my people need to hear in order to help them glorify God better in their lives?” This requires knowing your people, knowing their needs, and being bold enough to address those needs, whatever they may be. Are your people consumed with racism? Preach on it. Do they struggle with alcohol addiction? Preach on it. Do they cheat on their taxes? Preach on it. Do they want to know how to honor God with how they raise their kids? Preach on it. Do they struggle with how their sexual relationship with their spouse can be glorifying to God in the midst of a culture that sees sex as the ultimate selfish pursuit? Preach on it. That’s what Driscoll has done.
Along with my theme update I have (finally!) added back links to the blogs I like to read. See them in the sidebar under Good Reading. If you know of anything I should be reading feel free to let me know in the comments.
I’ve just uploaded a new theme for this blog. Let me know what you think! Do you see anything quirky that needs adjusting? Any suggestions?
On the drive to the church this morning (while listening to an online sermon) I was thinking about public vs private devotion and study in the family. By nature I am a very private person and my personal devotional activities are always done as privately as I can get them. This fits well with my strong introvert nature. But what example does this set for my family?
We do family devotions. Every morning after we wake up and every night before bed we round everyone up and read the Bible and pray together. That’s what we do as a family. But what example is set for how we should behave as individuals?
I am now feeling challenged to be with my kids where they can see me doing more Bible reading and prayer and even study and preparation for Sunday morning. It might cause my concentration to break more than a few times but it means my kids seeing one more example of what we do to grow in the Lord. This sort of practice might go against my nature, but God has changed my nature once, he can do it again.
Al Mohler blogs about the statement by Bristol Palin that ’sexual abstinence for teens is “not realistic at all.”‘ Here’s a short snippet:
The debate over whether abstinence is realistic or not misses the more important issue — abstinence must be made realistic.
Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, has been called many things. Only recently, though, has he started to be called one of my favorite preachers. In the past I have been pretty critical of Driscoll and his presence at this past Desiring God National Conference is part of the reason I decided at the last minute not to attend. But once the conference ended and the material was made available online I went back and watched all the conference talks, starting with Driscoll’s. I was very impressed with how he handled and delivered God’s Word. Since then I’ve listened to pieces of different sermons of his, some have been better than others but everything I’ve heard has been solid.
A few weeks ago he started a new sermon series called Trial: 8 Witnesses from 1 & 2 Peter. Thus far the sermons have been great. Normally I listen to Piper but he is on a writing break and rather than download sermons from his archives I decided to dive into Driscoll. The timing was good since this new series has just recently begun. If you’re looking for some good sermons to listen to Driscoll is worth your time.
One word of warning. If you are a pastor you might notice Driscoll causes you to become less popular with your people. Driscoll’s sermons usually run right around an hour. It will start to rub off on you. You might have to fight a little covetousness that Driscoll pastors a church that allows him to preach for an hour. My people are starting to get used to the fact that my sermons are longer than most they are used to. In return I’ve reigned in my sermon length to some degree. But I do from time to time turn green when I see how long Driscoll’s sermons are.
Driscoll’s sermons are available on the Mars Hill website and via iTunes Podcasts. Look for Mars Hill Church Audio or Video.
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