DiM | “At the Cross (Love Ran Red)” by Chris Tomlin

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Presentation1Today we’re doing another “Discernment in Music” (DiM) day here at Faithful Stewardship (2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV)).

July 30, 2015. Today we’ll be taking a look at “At the Cross (Love Ran Red)” by Chris Tomlin which currently sits at #6 on KLove Top 10 Christian Songs.

When Chris Tomlin writes, he’s usually writing with corporate worship in mind. He’s a prolific writer of songs that are extremely popular in modern contemporary praise and worship sets in churches around the globe. Most of his songs convey a romanticized version of the Gospel, and this song is no different. However, this song does have some strong points. It is a song that can be deeply encouraging for Christians, provided their doctrine is sound. Unfortunately, the language in the song is wide open for some dubious interpretations, so this song does not truly stand on its own. If it were played in your church, I would want the music leader to explicitly articulate Law & Gospel, Sin & Grace, Repentance and the forgiveness of sins. It would be awesome if the Radio DJs would do the same whenever this song was played. But, I digress… let’s take a look at today’s song.

VEVO Music Video

Lyrcs (via KLove)

At The Cross (Love Ran Red)

There’s a place where mercy reigns and never dies
There’s a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide

Where all the love I’ve ever found
Comes like a flood
Comes flowing down

At the cross
At the cross
I surrender my life
I’m in awe of You, I’m in awe of You
Where Your love ran red
And my sin washed white
I owe all to You, I owe all to You
Jesus

There’s a place where sin and shame are powerless
Where my heart has peace with God
And forgiveness

Where all the love I’ve ever found
Comes like a flood
Comes flowing down

At the cross
At the cross
I surrender my life
I’m in awe of You, I’m in awe of You
Where Your love ran red
And my sin washed white
I owe all to You, I owe all to You

Here my hope is found
Here on holy ground
Here I bow down
Here I bow down
Here arms open wide
Here You saved my life
Here I bow down
Here I bow

At the cross
At the cross
I surrender my life
I’m in awe of You, I’m in awe of You
Where Your love ran red
And my sin washed white
I owe all to You, I owe all to You
I owe all to You, I owe all to You
Jesus

Publishing: © 2014 Shout! Music Publishing (APRA) (admin. in the US and Canada at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) / Thankyou Music (PRS) (admin. worldwide at CapitolCMGPublishing.com excluding Europe which is admin. by Integritymusic.com) / Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Songs / sixsteps Songs / Worship Together Music / S.D.G. Publishing / McKittrick Music (BMI) / sixsteps Music / worshiptogether.com Songs / Said And Done Music (ASCAP) / Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Tunes / Countless Wonder Publishing / Fots Music (SESAC) (Admin. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com)
Writer(s): Matt Armstrong, Ed Cash, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin

Discussion

Verse 1. Right at the start of the song, there’s a hiccup. Not so much an error, but definitely a hiccup. There’s a place… the truth is that there is only one place where God’s mercy doesn’t reign, the place He created for eternal punishment for sin (Revelation 20). Why do I mention this? Yes, the Crucifixion took place in time and space. It actually happened. I don’t want to take anything away from that. But God’s mercy and grace isn’t limited to that time and space. That’s the hiccup… we don’t have to go to a specific place to kneel at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Chris Tomlin’s music usually caters to “altar call” type worship… where congregants are so moved by the spirit that they are compelled to come to the altar (foot of the stage) to fall on their faces as though they were physically at the foot of Jesus. We’ll see this play out in the bridge of the song where the declaration is Here on holy ground… I bow down… arms open wide... We’ll discuss the bridge later.

Pre-chorus. All the love I’ve ever found? Monergists will likely see where I’m going with this, whereas seeker-sensitive folks will probably consider this a bit of hair-splitting.

Romans 3:9-18 (ESV) | No One Is Righteous

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
     they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 10:20 (ESV)

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,
“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
 I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

No one seeks after God. Everyone has turned aside. So the idea that “we’ve found” God is only Biblically sound in the sense of what Isaiah was saying, which is really that God has revealed Himself to a people who did not seek Him and did not ask for Him. That is why many of us who practice discernment use seeker-sensitive in the pejorative sense. For some people, it’s a simple matter of unclear speech, they use phrases like “people looking for God” to indicate the drawing of the Holy Spirit who is working on the heart of an unbeliever who has at some point heard the Preaching of His Word (radio, street minister, counselor, coworker, stranger etc).

Chorus. In keeping with the desire to be as clear as possible in our language, we bring nothing to the Cross but sin. Our lives are not our own. We are either slaves to sin and darkness, or we are slaves of righteousness in Jesus’ Name.  As Christians, walking this Earth as sojourners/foreigners in exile… we each have a war raging within us between the flesh and the Spirit of God who indwells us. By faith we are to mortify the flesh daily, repent of our sin, and be forgiven. It is here that the song becomes romanticized. It is a wonderful thing to be in awe of God, it is where we need to be. But like zeal, it’s not something you can just stir up directly. The music and the lights can undoubtedly stir the emotions, but awe and zeal come from knowing more and more of who God is… by spending time in His Word. Presence theology really hijacks Christians by suggesting that “experiencing God” through emotional manipulation is the key. No. Going through the motions of “coming down to the front and surrendering to Jesus” may get the emotions going, the adrenaline and the tears, but its all superficial if we are not growing int he knowledge of Christ.

The line where your love ran red, is a very clean way of referring to the crucifixion of Jesus. Just remember that it wasn’t simply a blood-letting, He was punished for our sin:

Isaiah 53:4-6 (ESV)

4 Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

If this Tomlin song is the only romanticized song in the set, I wouldn’t be as concerned, but if the whole set is cleaned up and romanticized, I worry that we lose site of the cost of our sin. Furthermore, there is little cause for us to truly be in awe of His sacrifice if we are constantly sugar-coating what He has done for us, by His Grace and His Grace alone.

A minor point I’d like to bring up on the notion of owing all to Him, I worry about it taking on an “I’ll pay you back someday” rather than “I am yours”. This concern ties into the whole “there’s a place” in that if we make the foot of the stage the place where we surrender, and we view our condition as something we owe to God, then Sunday morning can easily become something apart from our Monday through Saturday living. This is a problem in popular evangelicalism and cannot be blamed on this song, but the wording is open to this sort of problem, which is why I felt it needed mention.

Verse 2. Aside from the whole “there’s a place” issue, this verse can be a helpful reminder that for those who are bearing the fruit of repentance, sin and shame are powerless because of the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Bridge. I’ve already addressed this to some degree. This Bridge is what I’d call the “experience hook”… this is the climax of the song for a seeker-sensitive worship song… right here, right now, in this sanctuary, you are on holy ground so let the presence of God the Holy Spirit wash over you. The music, the lights, the exhortations from the music leader… all build to this moment where hopefully “you can feel the presence of god in a real way”. This is all finely crafted emotional manipulation. Please understand that I’m not saying God the Holy Spirit cannot make Himself known to you… I often weep when reading the Bible. What I’m saying is that these “experiences” are masterfully orchestrated to move the unbeliever into an emotional state, and it works. Many an unbeliever is moved to tears, even joining the church, because their emotions have told them they are accepted in their unbelief. This is the error of the whole “churching the unchurched” thing.

Now, for the believer with sound doctrine, the “here” isn’t a place, but a moment in time of repentance. Wherever you find yourself being convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit… that’s your “here” where you should humble yourself in prayer, confess your sin, and be forgiven in Jesus’ Name.

Conclusion

If it were played in your church, I would want the music leader to explicitly articulate Law & Gospel, Sin & Grace, Repentance and the forgiveness of sins. It would be awesome if the Radio DJs would do the same whenever this song was played. This song can be an encouragement to those with sound doctrine. Sadly, this song will be most prominently played in seeker-sensitive, presence-theology driven churches, where sound doctrine is rarely preached.

Romans 15:1-13 (ESV) | The Example of Christ

15 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
    and sing to your name.”

10 And again it is said,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”

11 And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
    and let all the peoples extol him.”

12 And again Isaiah says,

“The root of Jesse will come,
    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

Gospel Wednesday | Matthew 14:13-36

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bibleIt has been far too long since we last shared our Wednesday Gospel Bible study. For that, I apologize. As we continue our walk through the Gospel According to Matthew, we pick up where we left off last time in Matthew 14.

Today, we will be looking at some of the miraculous works performed by our Lord Jesus Christ. John the Baptist has been executed at the command of Herod the tetrarch. His disciples buried the body and then told Jesus of what had taken place.

Matthew 14:13-21 (ESV) | Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Our Lord Jesus Christ withdrew to a desolate place of solitude. The crowds followed him on foot and He had compassion on them and healed their sick. What follows is a lesson for the disciples… feed My sheep (John 21:15-19). Jesus is demonstrating to them that God will provide for what He commands His people to do. This translates directly to our command to make disciples of all nations. We only have what we have been given, and as we give of that, He will provide the increase. This is central to what it means to be a good and faithful steward of God’s Word. This also extends into the very idea of Christian works… it is by God’s grace alone that we are able to do good works. Once they had been fed, Jesus sends the disciples across the water while He dismisses the crowds. What happens next is awesome.

Matthew 14:22-33 (ESV) | Jesus Walks on the Water

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land,beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

The ability to perform miraculous signs and wonders isn’t something Jesus “had”, it was grounded in Who He Is. The disciples needed to know this, understand it, and teach it. Notice that nowhere in this section nor in the remainder of the New Testament are we commanded to walk on water, or challenged to try it ourselves… no where. Don’t let anyone misrepresent the purpose of this passage in that way.

Matthew 14:34-36 (ESV) | Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick 36 and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

I wonder if the people of Gennesaret obtained faith in hearing of the woman who was healed by touching the fringe of Jesus’ garment.

Matthew 9:18-26 (ESV) | A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

18 While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23 And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went through all that district.

The request of the people of Gennesaret is interesting, but their faith was in Jesus Christ and His power to heal. Please don’t mistake the request as being formulaic (if we just do xyz then we can secure our healing); rather, I believe it to be one of humility. They were unclean, and wished to be healed.

 

Until Next Week

Please pray for our family as we do some more traveling. In our next Gospel Wednesday we will move into a key conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding the Law of God versus the doctrines of men. Very important for us to pay attention to what is being taught there. I hope you’ll join us.

Jude 1:24-25 (ESV) | Doxology

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Amen, indeed.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

DiM | “Exhale” by Plumb

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Today is “Discernment in Music” (DiM) day here at Faithful Stewardship (2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV)).

July 28, 2015. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Exhale” by Plumb which currently sits at #13 at 20theCountdownMagazine.

We’ll continue using this top 20 song list until I find a better list. Your feedback in this would be greatly appreciated.

I confess: I have a soft-spot for electronica/techno. As such, I generally enjoy Plumb’s music as it is often very easy to remix into multi-various grooves and progressions. However, that’s not why we are discussing these songs here. The first time I heard this song on the radio was in my car, and I came in at the Bridge. I had really hoped the rest of the song better explained what it was to “breathe in [God’s] Grace and exhale“. Let’s take a look at it.

Official Music Video

Lyrcs (via KLove)

Exhale

It’s okay
To not be okay
This is a safe place
This is a safe place
Don’t be afraid
Don’t be ashamed
There’s still hope here
There’s still hope here
No matter what you’ve done
Or who you are
Everyone is welcome
In His arms

[Chorus]
Just let go
Let His love wrap around you
And hold you close
Get lost in the surrender
Breathe it in, until your heart breaks
And exhale, exhale

[verse 2]
Spirit come
Tear down the walls
That only you can
That only you can
Reconcile, this heart to yours
Right now God, right now

[Bridge]
Oh God
We breathe in your grace
We breathe in your grace
And exhale
Oh God
We do not exist for us
But to share your grace and love
And exhale
(repeat)

Publishing: Tiffany Arbuckle Lee, Matt Armstrong, Josh Silverberg
PUBLISHER: © 2015 ShoeCrazy Publishing (adm. by Curb Congregation Songs) (SESAC)/ Meaux Hits, Red Red Soda Pop, Universal Music-Brentwood Benson Tunes, Countless Wonder Publishing, Fots Music All rights reserved. Used by permission. International Copyright Secured.
Writer(s): Tiffany Lee, Matt Armstrong, Josh Silverberg

Discussion

Okay, so let’s talk about some of the overtones in the lyrics of this song. What is the setting for this dialog? Is this intended to be a song sung by the Church to the unbeliever? If so, what is the message, that’s it’s okay to be an unbeliever in the House of God? The song is designed to progress from a call to come into the Church (verse 1 and chorus) to imploring the Holy Spirit to come and reconcile us to him (verse 2) and then experience His presence (chorus, bridge, chorus). It is designed to move the listener’s emotions through the mystical gauntlet so they can feel the presence of God. Sadly, this progression takes place without confession, repentance, nor the pronouncement of forgiveness. There is no Gospel preached here, yet the song progresses to breathing in God’s Grace and exhaling for those who are not okay.

Verse 1. What does it mean when you tell everyone, “it’s okay to not be okay”? Seriously, that statement doesn’t have any internal meaning… it is an oxymoron. Meaning has to be brought into the statement. Maybe the intent is to say to someone they don’t need to be perfect to come to Church. Maybe this is a vague attempt to invoke Jesus’ response to the Pharisees:

Matthew 9:9-13 (ESV) | Jesus Calls Matthew

9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

If that was the intent, “it’s okay to not be okay” is a huge miss. Jesus wasn’t saying “it’s okay to be sick”… nor was He saying “it’s okay to be a sinner”… He said He came to call the sinners out of their sin, like a physician brings the person out of his sickness. Jesus preached repentance. It’s not okay, to not be okay… but by the Grace of God, Jesus laid down His life as a substitute, bearing the full brunt of God’s Wrath against sin on His body, so that we might be forgiven by grace, through faith, as a Gift from God. The hard truth of Law is that not everyone is welcome in His arms.

John 3:16-18 (ESV) | For God So Loved the World

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Even in this wonderful passage of God’s wonderful Grace, there is a separation, a dividing line of faith. When Christ returns, He will come to pronounce Judgment on the children of faith and of unbelief (Matthew 25:31-46).

Chorus. So what are we telling the people to let go of? Their sin? Their unbelief? Is it up the unbeliever to simply let go of their unbelief? Is that within their power to do? No. Now, to a certain extent, we can ask the unbeliever to listen to the Word of God being preached… but only the Holy Spirit can open his/her ears to the Truth of the word of Christ. We must preach, they must listen, God must do the work of regeneration.

Romans 10:5-21 (ESV) | The Message of Salvation to All

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
    and their words to the ends of the world.”

19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;
    with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
    I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

Verse 2 (an oddly shortened verse). The verse comes in sideways and falls on its face, in my opinion. The tone is irreverent and screams Word of Faith and Presence theology (the Bethel variety). Is God the Holy Spirit one to respond to our commands to come in and tear down the walls that only he can? What walls might those be? Our unbelief? Only God can open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf… only God can raise the dead to life and grant Faith to the unbeliever. I’d like to think that is what is intended by these lines, but I don’t have any reasons to draw this understanding from the song. Reconcile this heart to yours… what does that mean? As if that weren’t brazen enough, Plumb then insists that God do this now… right now.

Okay, so let us extend grace here and expand on the idea of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:11-21 (ESV) | The Ministry of Reconciliation

11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

It is my sincere prayer, than whenever this part of the song plays on the radio, that your mind will rest in these Words, not wandering in the emotionally mystical goo that the song seems to stir.

Bridge. This is the climax of the song. In seekerville churches, the goal of this part is to move folks to throw themselves at the altar (foot of the stage) and soak in the presence of the spirit. It’s emotionalism, manipulated by powerful music. But there is at least, one redeeming message, we do not exist for us, but to share your grace and love. A pity this wasn’t explored better in this song. Our calling to share the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Love of God the Father is not one than can be fulfilled by emotion alone. In fact, the calling is difficult to embrace emotionally, since our emotions are so fickle and fleshly. We were called to preach the Gospel, to preach the Word of Christ, and empowered by God the Holy Spirit to do so. The Holy Spirit isn’t an emotion, or an experience, but a Person of the Godhead.

Conclusion

The song is empty, vague, and emotional. If I could rewrite this song, I’d take the theme of breathing in God’s grace and tie it to listening to the Word of Christ, being filled with faith that only He can give and exhaling confession and repentance. Then in the second verse I’d connect breathing in God’s grace with receiving forgiveness by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, being filled by Promise with God the Holy Spirit, and exhaling the love for our neighbor because He first Loved us. Finally, breathing in God’s grace would return to breathing in God’s Word, growing in the knowledge of Christ and the exhale would be sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the four corners of the earth, to all of creation. I pray that whenever you’re caught listening to this song as it plays on Christian radio, your mind might be filled with the Truth of God’s Word, whether it be what we’ve explored here or what you’ve read in your personal time. Please don’t marinade in mindless surrender to emotional manipulation… such mysticism has done great damage to the Body of Christ.

Romans 15:1-7 (ESV) | The Example of Christ

15 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

CTT | ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ should suffice

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CTTThis week we are hoping to get back to our weekly posting schedule. I’m particularly looking forward to our Gospel Wednesday reading through the Gospel According to Matthew. Today’s Complete the Thought (CTT) post will reflect back on a portion of the Lord’s sermon on the mount found in Matthew 5.

Matthew 5:33-37 (ESV) | Oaths

33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

The passage should be familiar to most of us. As a father of 2 beautiful, wonderful, sinful little children this passage comes to mind time and time again. You see, my kids have already adopted the dubious habit of hyper-emphasizing one of their claims or sweetening the deal for one of their negotiations with each other or with their mom and me. The phrase “I promise” is wildly abused in our culture… and my kids have picked it up. I regularly have to remind my children, “you don’t have the power to guarantee such promises, don’t make them. This is a good lesson for our children, but for them to truly learn these lessons, we adults need to stop abusing promises ourselves.

Notice the second half of verse 37 just after the semicolon, anything more than this comes from evil. This really jumped out at me this weekend. Now, we know that lying is evil for the devil is the father of lies.

John 8:43-45 (ESV)

43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

But there is more going on here than simply lying. Jesus is saying there is something inherently wrong with exceeding your ‘yes’ and ‘no’ by tacking on oaths (I promise, I swear, etc). Let’s look at some of the ways this holds true in our lives.

  • When we start accepting oaths where a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ should be sufficient, we start to accept lying in the everyday things. It doesn’t happen in an instant, but when we allow our children to make oaths for things they shouldn’t be swearing to, then we unintentionally give them a buffer to lie or reconsider commitments that were made without the oath. That’s a problem. It devalues our word, even when we make good on our promises.
  • When we offer oaths in trying to add weight to our verbal commitments, we are tacitly acknowledging that we’ve sinned before by bearing false witness and untruthful speech in the past. This is a problem on 2 levels, the first is that this tacit acknowledgement falls short of confession and repentance. The second is that we are now trying to buy trust and credibility on credit or on a loan. When our brother/sister asks us to do something, or refrain from something, they are asking us to help them in some way. By tacking on the oath, we are then asking them to place their trust in us, while on some level acknowledging that we haven’t earned such trust in the past though but we are not really confessing and repenting from those sins. Earlier in the sermon on the mount, when addressing murder of the heart, Jesus follows that up with a charge to be reconciled with our brothers even before offering our gifts to the Lord. Offering an oath to a brother to whom you’ve been unfaithful or untruthful before is not reconciliation, even if you manage to fulfill the oath. It’s an attempt to side-step confession and repentance, which often comes from a place of pride.

Matthew 5:21-26 (ESV) | Anger

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

  • The other side of this is that as sinful beings, we knowingly add oaths to our lies to ensure manipulation of the situation and secure the unwarranted trust of our neighbor. This is evil… even with the so-called greatest of intentions or extenuating circumstances. Incidentally, the so-called “law of attraction” nonsense with speaking lies over ourselves, even invoking scriptures that don’t apply, fit into this category… be careful. But let us look at how Scripture characterizes Peter’s oaths of “no”… in a time of intensely extenuating circumstances that in no-way exonerate him.

Mark 14:66-72 (ESV) | Peter Denies Jesus

66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Peter’s denial of Christ the first two times are grave, death-worthy sins on their own. Peter lied, and not only did he lie, his lie was a denial of the Messiah. Then he swore and invoked a curse upon himself (probably 2 different statements made, I don’t think this makes a blanket equation of oaths being equal to curses) to convince the crowd to accept his lie. Regardless of whatever emotional intelligence someone may try to bring into this equation, this is evil. It comes from a place of fear and unbelief. This is sin. Human emotion does not trump the Truth of God’s Word… ever. Peter broke down under the conviction of his sin… and he repented. He learned a hard lesson that night. Our Loving Savior, Jesus Christ extended grace and forgiveness and restored Peter later on (John 21:15-19).

James 5:7-12 (ESV) | Patience in Suffering

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Notice how James framed this, but above all… we need to dispense with verbal commitment buffers. As children of the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to treat our ‘yes’ or our ‘no’ as binding commitment. We need to put away all falsehood and coarse joking from our lips. And when we fail, and we will, we are to confess our sins to one another, repent, and ask for forgiveness from our brothers and sisters and from the Lord God. Don’t flirt with adding condemnation upon our sins… don’t add oaths where they do not belong.

And let us not be one-note about our communication. It is not our speech alone that makes the whole, but our speech in addition to our actions. In closing, let us look to a parable shared by Jesus shortly after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Matthew 21:28-32 (ESV) | The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

This is wonderful parable with a ton of Truth packed in here, but for today’s topic, notice the repentance was walked out, not merely spoken after-the-fact. And this son… did the will of his Father, though initially he dishonored the verbally Father. We are sinful creatures, indeed… but God’s Grace to convict to repentance is a beautiful thing… as is His mercy to forgive us of our sin.

Jude 24-25 (ESV) | Doxology

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

Friday Sermon | The Office of Pastor by Chris Rosebrough

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RefMT15Today’s sermon is more of a lecture that comes from this year’s Reformation Montana Conference in Billings, MT. Chris Rosebrough, host of Fighting for the Faith, presents a lecture on the Office of the Pastor. If you are unfamiliar with Chris Rosebrough, I encourage you to read this older review of Chris found at the Pulpit and Pen Blog.

Does Christianity Need a Chris Rosebrough?

No. Christianity does not need Chris Rosebrough. God is self-sufficient, Gospel is complete, and Jesus needs nothing and no one. So, please forgive the question. Perhaps a better question would be, “Is there a need in the Christian church for Chris Rosebrough and the work of discernment ministries?”

Chris is best known for his program, Fighting for the Faith, on the radio network he created,Pirate Christian Radio. Chris also is the curator for the hilarious (and equally sad) Museum of Idolatry. On top of that, Chris was a speaker at the 2013 Reformation Montana Conference along with myself, James White and Phil Johnson. At RefMT2013, Chris conducted his first ‘live’ sermon review of a message ‘preached’ at Narrate Church in Helena – which if you’ve been reading the Pulpit and Pen for several years, you know I’ve addressed numerous times in the past, beginning with my assessment of their rather sacrilegious Christmas video from 2011 that they then edited, removed, re-posted unedited, and then edited again (and now it seems to have been removed from the internet altogether). You see, that’s what Chris does. He reviews sermons.

Chris begins his program each weekday by telling us his goal to “help people think biblically, think critically and help you compare what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God.”…[Read More]

Lecture Audio

alternate link if audio won’t play: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=7115173521

Lecture Outline

Since the Church is an institution (not a movement) it has specific offices. So the question is are there folks calling themselves Pastors who are not qualified for the office of pastor?

  • Nadia Bolz-Weber. Is there any objective reason to believe she was called by God to be a pastor? She isn’t alone, there are many in the seeker-sensitive movement who have placed themselves forward as pastors, who aren’t called because they don’t meet the Biblical qualifications.
  • Articles IV and V of the Augsburg Confession (A Lutheran confession, Chris acknowledges that this isn’t a Baptist confession)
  • Ed Stetzer, Dodson, Rick Warren and Thom Rainer and the Church Growth Movement (the leader  or CEO-business model opposed to the Pastoral model)
  • Peter Drucker. He took 3 disciples, Rick Warren (Saddleback), Bill Hybels (Willow Creek), and Bob Buford (Leadership Network).
  • Plebiscite Model of church

There is a lot of historical information presented in this lecture. I suggest taking notes and/or pausing the audio and looking up what he is saying to see if it is true.

Jude 24-25 (ESV) | Doxology
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge