COD: A Book Review and a donnybrook too

I don’t know if I’ve ever heard the word ‘donnybrook’ used outside the movie ‘Quiet Man’ but you’ll know if you’ve ever watched it. It’s sort of a long brambling brawl…kinda like some of the long rambling threads I’ve seen in blogs. Anyway, here’s a great book review by Tim Challies and as a bonus, a brawl in his meta about the proper way to reach people for Jesus. I shake out with the Baptists on a lot of issues but this probably isn’t one of them.

Hard Life

I read this a Steve McCoy’s blog which led to this article in the New York Times.

What does she mean ‘you can only garden for so long’?

I guess it’s just a matter of your frame of reference. I mean, our whole town was excited for months when they upgraded to a Super Wal-Mart that was open 24hrs. I think its still the only place in town thats open all night but thats beside the point.

Mark 2:13-17 Follow Me

“13He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14£And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16And the scribes of£ the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat£ with tax collectors and sinners?” 17And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”–Mark 2:13-17

Verse 14 used to really bother me. A lot. “Follow me.” Jesus says to Levi…and he does. Right then. He gets up, leaves his tax box, and follows Jesus. There’s no, “Well I’ll pray about it” or “Let me think about this” or “I don’t know if I’m going to have time.” Levi just follows. Why is it we cannot do that too in our own lives from day to day?

I think the reason is that we think God’s Word is like a blog he stops by periodically and updates. It’s as if we believe he drops additional comments into our laps from on high, little tidbits and personal directions falling from the sky on little parachutes. 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17—look it up. My oldest memorized it in about five minutes and has been reciting it all week. I think you can probably do better. It’s the Word of God that makes the man of God complete, not further revelation.

Now I know, we’re talking about Jesus here. When he calls, we go. But isn’t that what’s supposed to happen today? Isn’t the Great Commission a mandate to ‘go and make disciples’? Whatever that entails I think we should be about it.

We should also leave those folks alone who are actually doing it. Not only should we not mess with them, we should lift them up in prayer and with our support as well.

Quote of the Day

“I don’t want to bring the American church here,” a pastor from the United States said, expressing concern about bringing the Western version of Christianity to China. “The Jesus I experience here, I want to bring to America.”

Hear that American church? Wake up. Here’s the thing that gets me about this. These people don’t have to worry about being ‘missional’. They don’t have to worry about getting tossed out of their church because of their theology or because the deacons are ticked off. They live, they worship, people come to know Christ.

Mark 1:16 – 20 And Immediately

Note: This Post is part of the series “Studies in Mark” see the Series Index for other posts in this series.

16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.–Mark 1:16 – 20 (ESV)

There is a lot to be said for an immediate response to the Gospel. Many times we take too much time praying about something or mulling it over. Opportunities to serve God come and go and never come again. Once we miss them, we never get them back but the memory of them comes back again and again.

Just trust me on this one. If you’re called: Go. If you’re called, Go right now, right when you feel that call and do that which you have been called to do with all your might. Sure you might screw it up at the beginning. You’re a human, you ought to be used to it by now. But the reality is, as this passage illustrates, that the time to go is when you’re called. It’s a ‘here I am, send me’ mentality that you see in all the accounts of the calls of the prophets. Well, except Moses and Gideon and a few others. But what that tells me is that God is going to have his way no matter what we do. Remember Mark? His was an ‘and immediately’ kind of thinking.

And he was a very young man. I love it when I see young people in ministry because they don’t know about all the things they CAN’T do yet. So they just do them anyway. I know, there’s a lot to be said for wisdom and the benefits of age and maturity but young people bring such energy and vitality with them that we would be fools to turn them away or tell them they are too young. Chances are that if they’re convinced of a call that God has them where he wants them. Also, they may be fighting the thing so don’t punch their ticket to Tarshish. Lead them down to the road to Ninevah and see them on their way.

Other posts in this series.

Insert head shake here…

Founders Ministries Blog: Interview with Kevin Larson: an axed Missouri Baptist church planter

I don’t know what to think when I read things like this. I wonder why Southern Baptists continue to labor under the delusion that young ministers will put up with this type of treatment? This is the type of person we need to plant churches. Is the Southern Baptist ‘we ain’t never done it that way before’ so ingrained that we can’t get around it? How can we accept things like “Purpose Driven Church” as the gospel and then get upset about something trivial like this? I don’t get it.

The other question is, ‘How long is God going to put up with this?” Worship is a privilege the Jews lost two or three times? Something like that…. Go back and read about the Glory leaving the temple. It didn’t go all at once, it left in stages. I think its time for the SBC to realize that even its present state is a sort of a gracious pause, a calm before the storm…

Justice

I was watching a ballgame this week and after it was over, we just let the TV run for awhile. We don’t usually do that—TV’s mostly not worth watching these days—but we did tonight. I noticed something, though, that sort of got me thinking and I’m a little ticked off by it.

It seems we’ve forgotten where we come from, us Christians. We’ve forgotten our own heritage, not our adopted family the great ‘cadre of believers’ as a pastor of mine used to say. We don’t seem to remember that Christ had to die on a cross to deliver us from that heritage. The heritage of sin and death and hell is of course what I’m talking about. The fact that without the cross and without the Christ on it we would be destined for an eternity of incandescent agony which would still not alleviate the penalty we justly deserve for our disobedience to the Father.

“No I haven’t,” you’ve probably just said. “He’s gone off his rocker” you could have thought, adding an ‘again’ if you’ve known me at all. The fact is, though, that its what I perceive of the church in America. Here’s the thing: this is likely the only time she will be in a position where she can be ministered to by God’s people. Has anyone attempted this? Has anyone tried?

Oh probably. Surely that part of the world isn’t completely without a Christian witness of some sort but I haven’t seen it. All I hear is laughter when the little princess has run out of face cream. Surely this rant could be about anyone in the world other than Paris Hilton. But lets try to remember what real justice would give us and try to be grateful for the mercy and grace we have received.

Naked and Blind

”46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.” —Mark 10:46-52 (ESV)

Bartimaeus is sitting by the road, no doubt calling for alms, from those headed to Jerusalem for Passover. He is well experienced. So much so that he has probably learned to hit just the right pitch to get noticed. Today though, he uses that voice to ask for something else. Today he hears that its Jesus who is passing by and he cries out for mercy. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” he calls again and again. This man hearing that Jesus was near, didn’t ask for a sign like so many of his countrymen. He cried out for mercy in that voice of his begging and pleading for ‘The Son of David’ to take notice.

As I said, a picture of the Gospel.

It’s also a picture of how the church operates sometimes. Those who were ‘with Jesus’ those who were ‘in the group’ rebuked him. I can’t help but think of those who were bringing their children to be blessed by Jesus and were rebuked by his disciples. As I wrote in the Flats post sometimes we are just too busy to offer sincere help to those in need. I think a lot of time its not their sheer neediness that repels us but getting behind in our schedules—even if it is to help another human being. In spite of those who would have silenced him, he continued to cry out…

Let me pause here in the middle of this post to say that most folks are not that persistent. Eventually the ones you don’t want to associate with or help for whatever reason might just go their way without the aid of the church or you the Christian. I’ve seen it. No one might know either but you and God but I think that’s enough, don’t you?

… and in v. 49 Jesus stops and says ‘Call him.’

This is no more or less than an image of our mandate as Christians for service. We are to call the blind at our Masters command—whatever the result.

Now I’ve given up on being a revivalist—which is to say that I’ve rejected the idea of universalism—so I’m not going to write an impassioned plea here for evangelism and revival in the church. I will say this much though, v.49 goes a long way toward outlining most sermons I have ever heard that preach the gospel. In fact, v.49 pretty much holds the whole of the church and the Great Commission, our required response (obedience) and the preaching of the gospel. It stops short of showing this conversion but v.50 says that he ‘sprang up’ and came to Jesus in the same way that all of us have done…

For we all were naked and blind before Jesus called us.

The Gospel

It seems that all through chapter 10 the theme has been service. Particularly in v.45 Jesus brings it to a boil when he says “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Even Jesus came to serve and he was the one person who deserved to BE served…

Anyway, I’m not sure the ‘Flats’ post worked like I wanted it to with regard to service. It was more of a reverse good Samaritan deal, not really a post on serving. This one isn’t really either but I’ve found another jewel hidden away here in Mark that I’d like to write about…

”46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.” —Mark 10:46-52 (ESV)

Now in Mark Jericho is the last stop before Jerusalem. In the Old Testament, if you’ll recall from your Sunday School days, the city of Jericho was razed by the Israelites after the Lord knocked down its great walls. It was rebuilt later during the reign of Ahab and his infamous wife Jezebel and now, centuries later, Jesus is walking out the gates of the place on his way to Jerusalem and Calvary and the Cross. In spite of all this that had to be weighing on him, he stops to help a man who was in dire need of help. He stops on his way to serve and I think its something we all need to consider. Jesus was never to busy doing something to be interrupted with the business of his Father.

In this passage a request is made of Jesus and I want to try to contrast it to the requests of James and John in our study last week. This request is made by someone not in ‘the group’ or any group for that matter. Everyone in every group has placed this man firmly in the ‘other’ category for the simple fact that he is blind and it is their duty as good Jews to support him with alms: Blind Bartimaeus, the beggar of Jericho. So destitute in his affliction that his parents didn’t even name him, he was merely the ‘son of Timaeus’.

As a result we have this gift of a picture of the Gospel and how it works into the lives of people like you and me—sinners in other words in desperate need of grace.

Doulos

“41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”—Mark 10:41-45 (ESV)

Now Jesus has just dealt with John and James requests to sit at his left and right hand in glory and the others are indignant about it. Whether it was because they were appalled that they had the gall to ask or they were upset because they didn’t think of it first we are not told. But in v.42-45 Jesus calls them together and tells them something. Something radical that they had probably never seen before they met him, in fact, though he had told them several times. It was so important that he not only told them again and again but modeled it at the last supper when he rose to serve them.

If you want to be great among the brethren, serve.

To serve your brothers is to be great. The Gentiles ‘lord it’ over each other and ‘their great ones exercise authority over them’ he reminds them. The continual presence of Roman soldiers probably made it so this was something they were quite familiar with. “But” Jesus says in v.43 “it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” Slave. To be the first, you must be the slave of all, the doulos. This is the same name Paul gave himself in most of his letters: Paul ‘doulos’ of Christ or slave of Christ and he lived that title even unto his own death.

It couldn’t have been any more palatable to them than it is to us to think of being a slave. A slave in those days was property like a coffee table or a lawn mower. They were purpose driven back then too—or they got the whip. Slaves were dirty and owned nothing and were just barely a step up, in most cases, from the beggars on the street—who at least had their freedom.

But Jesus doesn’t leave it at that and say you are to be servants, though we should be happy if he did. He adds this in verse 45 and it cannot be overlooked “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Serve to be great. Lay down your life for the brethren, for the gospel.

I think I’m picking up on a theme here…