W. A. Criswell defined teaching (from the pulpit) as “instructing a man in the will and ways of the Lord,” and preaching as “seeking to drive a man’s will God-ward.” There is a raging debate today over how much freedom people really have. A renewed fascination with Calvinism has brought this debate to the forefront. I’m not opening the whole can of worms here - just this one point. Preaching should be directed to the will of a person. Decisions count.

If you carry Calvinism as far as many, you’ll begin to say that there is no free will or free agency with man. This morning I read from Spurgeon’s evening sermon from December 27th, 1874 called Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth. Spurgeon never started a sermon softly. The second sentence declares “This every Christian minister must do if he would make full proof of his ministry, and if he would be clear of the blood of his hearers at the last great day.”

What Spurgeon said just moments later, however, issues a clarion call for addressing the will of our human hearers…

Remember, dear hearers, if the preacher does not push you to this–that you shall be converted, or he will know the reason why; if he does not drive you to this–that you shall either willfully reject, or cheerfully accept Christ, he has not yet known how rightly to handle the great ’sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’

We all do what we want every moment of the day. We make choices and decisions that impact eternity and preaching that does not appeal to the will of man fails to satisfy the expectations of the Great Commission. In case you wonder where I stand on the issue of God’s grace and His role in our salvation, I agree just as strongly with what Spurgeon said later in the same message:

The Lord alone must save you as a work of gratis mercy, not because you deserve it, but because he wills to do it to magnify his abundant love.

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The sovereignty of God is an ever-mysterious issue that we must struggle with and come to terms with as we seek to have an understanding of God’s role. Salvation is all of Him and not of us at all. But there is a receiving, an accepting of Him that must be decided in the human heart upon the call of one sent with the gospel.

Preach to change the mind. Preach to move the emotions. And preach to drive the will of man God-ward.

Find Spurgeon’s Expository Encyclopedia at Amazon.com

If you can’t tell from reading my blog, I have a HUGE interest in the area of media and its usage in ministry for spreading the gospel. However, I also recognize that we cannot simply imitate the world around us - we can learn from the world, but we ought to do better.

I visited a church last week that has an entire graphic design and printing workshop built in. It’s a room full of Mac’s and they put out some of the best promotional materials I’ve ever seen, but the materials are worthless unless they convey the right message.

Chris Forbes, over in Oklahoma, has a great mind for marketing the gospel in a powerful and biblical way. He’s written a great post about the subject and we’ve exchanged comments back and forth. I wanted to pass it along…

Using Media for Contextualizing and Contending with the Gospel in Your Community | Ministry Marketing Coach

The second day of Engage is over and I’m perusing the notes I scribbled during the day. Here are some extremely valuable insights I gained…

From Jonathan Falwell…

• America (and especially Christianity) needs bold leaders right now.
• Drawing from Ezekiel 2:5 and Judges 6, people need to know that “a prophet has been among them,” rather than our watering down of the truth.
• 57% of Christians in America believe there could be another way to heaven other than Jesus.
• We spend too much time arguing over which bait is better and not enough time fishing. (And Jonathan Falwell doesn’t know how to fish… at all, but you’d have to hear the story yourself - my side was hurting!)

Let me say, I may not have written as much down from Jonathan, but I was extremely inspired by him. He is dominated by a spirit of sincerity and I appreciated his down-to-earth approach to ministry. His challenge will stick with me!

From Kerry Shook…

• What would you do if you had one month to live? (other than ride a bull named Fu Man Chu)
• What would your church do if it was destined to die in 30 days?
• We often have good intentions, but aren’t very intentional.
• Don’t fall into the “someday syndrome.” Someday, we’ll… whatever.
• Life change is worth celebrating.

From David Jeremiah…

I didn’t take notes on David’s message - it wasn’t really a note-taking kind of message. But I can tell you that I feel more than ever that Jesus is coming soon! Israel has re-gathered, oil is crucial, a European Union is real, conditions are ideal for the return of Christ! So? So tell the gospel like never before!

Tomorrow I’m attending a workshop on the open media revolution, which is one of my greatest areas of passion. Probably 1% of American Christians understand it, yet most interact with it every day - it’s the cloud that connects us, but it’s a cloud that didn’t exist a decade and a half ago. More on that tomorrow…

Ha, thought that headline might grab attention - I’m joyfully married, but I’m also being blessed this week at engage08. It’s being hosted by Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. We’re hearing from some amazing speakers, including:

• Kerry Shook, Pastor of Fellowship of the Woodlands outside Houston, Texas.
• David Jeremiah, Pastor of Shadow Mountain Church in San Diego.
• Jack Graham, Pastor of Prestonwood.
• Jonathan Falwell, Pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.
• Greg Laurie, Pastor of Harvest Fellowship.

WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

Last night, I had an epiphany. Well, several actually. We intended to kick off our new outreach program at Bethel using the GROW strategy. Justin worked excessively hard making copies, arranging the room, preparing a video, and of course praying about this new opportunity. Aside from he and I, two others showed up. We have twelve Sunday school classes, eight active deacons, and about 220 people attending worship. Two?

Times are hard, people are busy, some are under the weather, old methods don’t work, evangelism is scary… we talked about it all. We few brainstormed and prayed. And I had some significant thoughts about the situation…

The evangelistic temperature of a church begins to rise with its Pastor. That’s right, if there’s a weak link in the chain, it’s the leader. And it’s the other leaders alongside him. My own passion needs stirring. Like John Wesley, I need God to set me on fire and set me before the people so they can watch me burn with evangelistic fervor.

We need an evangelistic culture. I’m quite weary of hearing complaints about stuff. I hear people getting emotional about trivial matters, but few hearts seem to be breaking over the lost culture in which we live. Did you realize millions are speeding toward hell today? We can stop them with the good news of Christ, but we’re too busy arguing over silly issues and personal preferences.

We need some confidence boosting. Okay I admit, witnessing is hard. It’s hard for you, it’s hard for me, it’s hard for Billy Graham. Do you expect any different? I don’t think Jesus commissioned us to tell the whole world about Him… if it’s easy to do so. Nonetheless, the leadership of our church needs to help folks understand how to witness with confidence, which means…

• Providing resources such as videos, CD’s, tracts, books, etc.
• Providing training, but apparently not on Tuesday nights.
• Telling stories - sharpening each other by mutually inspiring experiences.
• Prayer, prayer, and more prayer for a brokenness about the lost.

We’re growing a bit. We’re adding a second service. We’re seeing visitors come, and return. Great. But these are things that are happening without much effort. We can’t get to the throne some day and say, “Well Lord, I didn’t do much, but growth happened anyway… where’s my crown?” No, I need to evangelize. It’s a need in my life. I can’t grow if I don’t share, and if I try to grow without sharing, I’ll become a grumpy, self-centered believer.

We must turn up the heat, increase our passion, and get involved. I, as a Pastor and Leader, promise to prayerfully find ways to encourage and equip. I won’t resort to guilt trips (except in the beginning of this article), but will instead challenge you to search your own heart. Are you sharing the faith? You’re His child, His ambassador, saved and covered by the gracious provision of the blood of Christ. You remain alive today for the primary purpose of bringing the nations into the white hot enjoyment of God’s glory by telling them about Jesus. Do you have a fever?

I love Rick Warren. I attended a conference on preaching at Saddleback in 2000 that changed the way I approach my pulpit ministry. I’ve ReadThe Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life. I’ve led one church through 40 Days of Purpose. So I’m not anti-Rick Warren. I think people who have barely heard what he has to say are far to harsh toward him. Nonetheless, I’m dissappointed.

Here’s a link: http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Aug16/0,4670,CandidatesReligion,00.html

Angie and I were flipping through the channels and stumbled up on the airing of Pastor Rick’s interviewing of both Obama and McCain on the stage of Saddleback at a “Forum on the Presidency.” Rick was pretty neutral and allowed both candidates to speak equally and fairly without much argument. Therein lies the problem for me. We can’t be neutral in this current culture war. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

I know this is a sensitive subject, which is exactly why I’m addressing it. It seems there is, in the minds of many Christians, a correlation between “marketing” and compromise. The thought is that if you market the church or its message in any way similar to the secular world, you’ve somehow stripped the gospel of its dignity. I would contend that marketing is what the Great Commission is all about, especially when you include personal, one-to-one (word-of-mouth) marketing as the most important marketing of all.

I would certainly argue that it can be tempting for leaders to water down the message of the gospel to make it more palatable for the public - and this is certainly not an option. But can biblically grounded leaders utilize marketing tools to “get the word out” about their ministry and message? Just read this interesting article by Chris Forbes:

http://ministrymarketingcoach.com/blog/2008/08/02/what-about-the-critics-of-church-marketing/

It’s an interesting point about how great the anti-marketing message gets marketed. It’s something to think about. In my opinion, there’s a great advantage to having a logo, website, advertising, sending postcards, doing direct mail, and even television commercials. It engages people in the context of their current cultural setting. But yes, I’d agree that the greatest marketing of all is still a believer relating to a non-believer compassionately to share the good news of Jesus.

This past weekend, our church held a DiscipleNow weekend with our teens. Chris Selby, whom God is using in amazing ways as Youth Minister at Maysville Baptist Church, led our kids through The Gospel Journey, a video series about evangelism. I was made aware of the power of this up and coming generation. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

Last night I picked up a copy of the new book by David Kinnaman, Unchristian. It’s being added to my large stack of books I’ve just got to read. I did read two chapters and the introduction last night and I can definitely say, I’m already intrigued. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »

I just opened my mail and received a postcard in an envelope. There is no return address and no organization or individual named anywhere. Just a postcard. And it reads…. “Friends, Neighbors, Americans, Be hastily preparing all for the fall of ‘That Great City’ as described in Revelations Ch. 18. Repent and be baptized and join Jesus on a white horse as described in Revelations Ch. 19. God bless.” WAIT! There is more to read… read on »