Posts by Josh
2011 Series promo & schedule…
We’re starting this weekend. Praying that God will give us eyes to see the world through His lens and hearts shaped by the gospel. See you Sunday, Bridge Fam…
Read MoreSERIES SCHEDULE
the killing of Osama Bin Laden
Tohoku, Japan earthquakes and tsunami
a divided nation: congress narrowly avoids govt shutdown
2 billion watch the royal wedding
a generation’s luminary dies: Steve Jobs
3 incredible links for parents…
I stopped posting links last year (for a reason I can’t remember right now), but came across a few things lately that were too good not to share. I read three posts lately on parenting that were so good I saved them to come back to in coming years. Here’s a little link-love for parents…
- Justin Taylor (one of my favorite bloggers) gives a quick and insightful rundown of Grace-based parenting vs. Fear-based parenting
- JD Greear masterfully answers the question “When do you try to get your kids to accept Christ?“
- Josh Harris (a homeschool parent) shares a humble and very wise rundown of some common Homeschool blindspots. (Written by a homeschooling parent and posted here by a guy who will probably homeschool his kids for some portion of their education)
sanctification diagrams: expectation vs. reality
Man, it’s past midnight and I’m STILL buzzing from what an incredible day today was. Not only did we set attendance records in our WG’s today… and not only did our Kids’ Ministry BLOW UP… and not only did we have an estimated 1500+ people at Trunk or Treat… but there were incredible stories of repentance and grace swirling around today before, during, and after WG’s.
Thank you, Holy Spirit!
During our WG’s I showed these “sanctification diagrams”, some of which show what people expect sanctification to look like and one of which shows what it ACTUALLY looks like. Sanctification is just a big word that refers to the process in which we cooperate with God for growth in holiness. These seemed to really strike a chord so I wanted to share them…
A lot of times when someone is saved, they think God is going to immediately take away all of their sin and that they’ll walk in righteousness from then on. This expectation completely ignores the fact that the Bible says that while we’re no longer slaves to sin, it’s still inside of us exerting influence on our lives and the only people who believe this are people who have been saved for less than 48 hrs.
Other people have an expectation that’s closer to reality, but still isn’t quite there. Some people expect that from the moment they’re saved, they’ll experience steady growth in godliness from then on as they learn more and are more connected to the church. This expectation doesn’t IGNORE the reality of sin being inside of us, but it does UNDERESTIMATE it.
Depending on your background, this might be your expectation. Some people expect that after conversion, they’ll have a season of slow and steady spiritual growth that will lead to a powerful second experience with God that will give them the ability to walk in virtual Christian perfection. This expectation – like the first – ignores the Bible’s teaching that even after we’re saved and filled with God’s Spirit, sin still lives inside of us and exerts force on our lives to cause us to fall.
Now this is how The Bible actually depicts sanctification…
When we take into account BOTH that when God saves us he sets us free from being slaves to sin AND that even after we’re saved sin is still present in us, we realize that this is what spiritual growth (sanctification) will look like. Having been set free from sin and filled with God’s Spirit, we’ll gradually grow in godliness but there will be falls along the way because sin is still present!
We’re going to have to attack sin violently (because it’s still there) and we’re going to need grace all along the way (because we’re going to fall). Expect this and let it fill you with hope!
Read MoreUpcoming sermon series: 2011
I know I say this all the time, but I’m REALLY excited about the next series coming up in November. A bunch of people saw the artwork and thought, “That seems really weird for a sermon series” so let me explain what the series is and why it’s so important.
2011 was a fascinating year for me. There were more events that seemed to capture the attention of our culture this year than almost any year I can remember in my lifetime – and most of them were EXTREMELY polarizing. Walk into any restaurant at a given time this year and people at the tables around you were passionately expressing polar opposite opinions on the morality of Osama Bin Laden’s killing, the acquittal of Casey Anthony, or VASTLY differing viewpoints on what was wrong with Congress when we narrowly avoided a shutdown of the entire government.
Here’s what I’ve seen this year through talking about these issues…
- The passionate reactions of our culture to these events reveal something about the human heart. Think about this: almost 1/3 of the ENTIRE WORLD watched the wedding of two people they know nothing about and who they’ll never meet. That reveals something about our hearts. When Osama Bin Laden was killed, some people passionately condemned any approval of what happened while others (Christians, even) seemed to rejoice, mockingly laugh at, and dance on his grave. Both reactions revealed something deep about who we are.
- Our culture has deep questions for which Scripture has the only coherent, satisfying answers. When the earthquakes and subsequent tsunami swept through Tohoku, Japan, every major news outlet was calling ethicists and philosophers to ask the age old question: “Where was God? Is he good and just not in control? Or is he in control but just not good?” When Steve Jobs – a man who made the world an undeniably better place to live and expanded the imaginations of an entire generation – died, deep assumptions about the nature of God and the afterlife swirled on Twitter.
- Christians are in deep need of developing a Biblical worldview through which to process events like these. Let’s be honest: we KNOW that when events like these drudge up deep, gnawing questions that we should be able to give a satisfying answer that cuts to the culture’s root need – the gospel. We just aren’t used to thinking Biblically about cultural events so we revert to either tossing around hateful and hopeless religious answers or fluffy and foundationless irreligious ones.
The Killing of Osama Bin LadenWhere was God? The Tohoku, Japan Earthquakes and TsunamiA nation divided: Congress narrowly avoids government shutdown2 Billion Watch the Royal WeddingThe passing of a generation’s luminary: Steve Jobs
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The role and value of musicians in the Kingdom of God
Yesterday, in the 2nd to last sermon in the Nehemiah series the passage led us to reflect on the unique role of music in The Bible. It’s interesting that…
- The most often-repeated command in The Bible is to make song (“sing”)
- The longest book of The Bible (Psalms) is a collection of songs written by songwriters and musicians
- Scripture prescribes music as a primary means of worship without giving an explanation as to why
- In the Old Testament, The Temple where God chose to make his presence dwell was a place of perpetual song
- The first time God chose a king to lead his kingdom, he chose an elite musician – David
- Anytime there’s a spiritual revival of God’s people in Scripture, there’s a corresponding revival of music. This has also been true in church history. The major revivals in history – the Protestant Reformation, the First Great Awakening, etc – have also seen the production of beautiful, theologically rich, God-glorifying music.
- Musicians are prone to producing beauty without substance. Because of their natural, God-given gift to produce beauty, musicians tend to value beauty over substance and CAN produce songs that are excellent in their artistic quality, but that lack Biblically-rich content that teaches and stirs the mind through the song. As a result, musicians can often become disillusioned with the church for constantly singing songs that… well, are lame. Thus, contention.
- Theologians are prone to producing substance without beauty. On the other hand, because of their natural, God-given love for truth, pastors and theologians tend to value substance over beauty and CAN have an affinity for selecting songs and using music in ways that downplay artistic value for the sake of Biblically-rich content. Or simply not caring about music at all and just valuing the word preached and taught. They CAN view musicianship and artistic value as a “distraction” to the content they so love. Thus, heightened contention.
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