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Don't Call It a Comeback: Interviews, Part 4

This is the final installment of the contributors' interviews for Don't Call It a Comeback: The Same Evangelical Faith for a New Day.

Justin Taylor, Denny Burk, Thabiti Anyabwile, Tullian Tchividjian and David Mathis answer questions today.

Justin Taylor, Vice President of Editorial, Crossway (Wheaton, Illinois). Justin is married to Lea and they have three children. Justin's chapter is titled "Abortion: Why Silence and Inaction Are Not Options for Evangelicals."

How do we help a younger generation of Christians stay involved with the pro-life cause and avoid "fetus fatigue"?

The older I get the more I am convinced that ""we have not because we ask not"" (James 4:2). We want something (defenseless lives to be protected and saved), but we fail to present our desires before the throne of the only One who is wise enough, good enough, and sovereign enough to answer them. If we want to save lives and to motivate the next generation, we should be fasting and praying.This is not to ignore the necessity of means, nor is a call to passivity. To pray persistently and without ceasing is hard work that can only be done by grace.

Paul Tripp talks about four facets of helping people change: love, know, speak, and do. This could be a helpful rubric for thinking about motivating and equipping pro-life action.

(1) We must be people marked and motivated by love—love of God and his glory, love for the unborn, love for young moms, etc.

(2) We must know what abortion is, how it is performed, how often it is performed, and why it is wrong. The abortion industry thrives on ignorance.

(3) We must speak up. It's not enough to know that abortion is wrong; or even why abortion is wrong. We must be willing to articulate the truth in a winsome, compelling way.

(4) We must do something. Not everyone is called to do the same thing or the same amount of things, but if ""true religion"" involves visiting orphans and widows in distress (James 1:27), then surely it also involves doing at least something to protect defenseless human beings being intentionally killed within the womb.

None of this, we must hasten to add, is the gospel. But the good news is not merely new information we receive; it is the type of compelling news that changes who we are and how we respond. And gospel-centered people, living for God's glory, will find it impossible not to take some steps, in some way, to make a difference to save a human life.

Denny Burk is Dean of Boyce College and Associate Professor of New Testament at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, Kentucky). Denny is married to Susan, and they have three children. Denny writes the chapter titled "Gender Confusion and a Gospel-Shaped Counterculture."

What are a 2-3 practical steps a church or family can take to counter the gender confusion so rampant in our culture?

It has been rightly said that when there's a mist in the pulpit, there's a fog in the pew. That means that uncertainty in preaching leads to weakness and vulnerability among parishioners. That is why pastors must sound a clear note from the pulpit when it comes to biblical manhood and womanhood. In our day, there are few issues that are more countercultural than gender issues, and pastors must beware of the temptation to remain silent where the Bible speaks (1 Tim 4:16).

In your church, it will not be enough if you are simply against feminism and homosexuality. You need to be explicitly for biblical manhood and womanhood. There is a vision cast in scripture concerning what it means to be created in the image of God as male and female, and our people need to have this set before them in teaching from the pulpit and in exemplars from the flock (1 Thess 1:7; Titus 2:7). Make sure that you are nurturing these things in your church community.

Also, faithful Christian ministry requires us to be sensitive to those among us who struggle in various ways with gender confusion. We are all sinners saved by the grace of God. And on this side of the new heavens and the new earth, we will wrestle mightily with our own brokenness (Rom 8:23). Do not be surprised, therefore, when you learn that a brother or sister in your church struggles with homosexual desires. Instead, be ready with encouragement and resources to assist those who are fighting the good fight (Heb 13:13).

Thabiti Anyabwile is the full-time husband of Kristie, father of Afiya, Eden and Titus.  He serves as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman (Cayman Islands). Thabiti writes "The Local Church: Not Always Amazing, but Loved by Jesus."

What advice would you give to Christians who know they should love their local church but struggle to do so?

First, give thanks and praise to God for saving you and allowing you to know you should love your local church.  Spend time rejoicing in these realities. Much of our difficulty in loving the church stems from the habit of always evaluating the church's weaknesses and seldom meditating on her beauty.  You want to prayerfully reverse that tendency.

Second, try to locate the source of your struggle.  Precisely why do you find it hard to love your local church?  Is it a personal conflict (Matt. 18:15-17)?  A desire not being fulfilled (Jam. 4:1-3)?  A weakness in the church (Rom. 15:1-4)?  Or a personal sin issue you need to crucify (Gal. 5:16-25)?  Be sure to conduct this search with 2-3 friends who do not struggle to love your church.  As C.J. Mahaney often says, "Never limit your assessment of yourself to yourself."  The struggle to love suggests a dark cloud already hangs over your view of things.  Get godly help to see properly.

Once you locate the root of the problem, third, get help from the church itself (Gal. 6:1-2).  Follow the Bible's counsel on solving conflicts in the family of God.  Don't try to fix things alone.  The very community you struggle to love is the community through which God supplies His grace in our struggles (Eph. 4:7; 1 Pet. 4:10).  You'll find, by God's grace, that the church's patient endurance with you in your struggle to love becomes one more reason to love the church.

Tullian Tchividjian, Senior Pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (Fort Lauderdale, Florida). Tullian is married to Kim and they have 3 children. Tullian writes the chapter titled, "Worship: It's a Big Deal."

What does it mean to have a gospel-fueled worship service?

A gospel-fueled worship service is a service where God serves the gospel to sinners in need of rescue—which includes, of course, both Christians and non-Christians. It's a service where "the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus" (2 Corinthians 4:6) comes through prayer and preaching, sacrament and singing. As it does, we're given the faith, hope, and love we need to be good news people in a bad news world.

The result of a gospel-fueled worship service is the exposure of both the idols of our culture and the idols of our hearts. The faithful exposition of our true Savior in every element of worship will painfully, yet liberatingly, reveal all the pseudo-saviors we trust in culturally and personally. It will disclose the subtle ways in which we as individuals and as a culture depend on lesser things than Jesus to provide the security, acceptance, identity, protection, affection, meaning, and satisfaction that all of us long for but that only Christ can supply. The praising, praying, and preaching in such a service should constantly show just how relevant and necessary Jesus is.

A gospel-fueled worship service will continually remind us that while we're all great sinners, Christ is an all-in-all great Savior.

David Mathis is an elder at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and executive pastoral assistant to John Piper. David writes the final chapter, "Missions: The Worship of Jesus and the Joys of All Peoples."

Are evangelicals losing their nerve and energy for world evangelization? How can we help younger evangelicals capture a renewed interest in winning the lost peoples of the world to Christ?

Evangelicalism is so large and fragmented that it's hard to say from my limited vantage. From what I can see in the little pockets I'm a part of, I'm not deeply concerned. Some, no doubt, could stand to broaden/deepen their missional focus to see the worldwide implications of "living sent" not only in their local, but also global contexts. And others, of course, could be more aware of the local needs in our increasingly post-Christian context and not only think of "mission" as something done oversees by the odd folks that go out from among us and send back support letters.

How we can help younger evangelicals be "fully missional"—in other words, pursue mission both locally to our own people and globally to the unreached (and the increasing unreached in our own cities!)—is to make much of the global glory of God in the gospel of Jesus. Locking in on the will and trying to guilt our folks into going because "we have so much and those people don't" won't produce the healthiest and most fruitful missionaries. But if we continually draw attention to the most amazing person and reality in the universe—Jesus and that the good Creator and kind Sustainer of the whole globe has shown himself to be our Redeemer in him—with the Holy Spirit's help, Jesus may be pleased to keep coming through on his unflinching promise to build his church (Matt. 16:18) and summoning from the heart (in our joy!) "sent ones" to take that gospel to the unreached.

Brother Are You Boring?

Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

I put next something which is meant partly to correct, or perhaps not so much to correct, as to safeguard, what I have been saying, from misunderstanding. I refer to the element of 'liveliness.' This underlines the fact that seriousness does not mean solemnity, does not mean sadness, does not mean morbidity. These are all very important distinctions. The preacher must be lively; and you can be lively and serious at the same time.

Let me put this in other words. The preacher must never be dull, he must never be boring; he should never be what is called 'heavy.' I am emphasising these points because of something I am often told and which worries me a great deal. I belong to the Reformed tradition, and may have had perhaps a little to do in Britain with the restoration of this emphasis during the last forty years or so. I am disturbed therefore when I am often told by members of churches that many of the younger Reformed men are very good men, who have no doubt read a great deal, and are very learned men, but they are very dull and boring preachers; and I am told this by people who themselves hold the Reformed position.

This is to me a very serious matter; there is something radically wrong with dull and boring preachers. How can a man be dull when he is handling such themes? I would say that a 'dull preacher' is a contradiction in terms; if he is dull he is not a preacher. He may stand in a pulpit and talk, but he is certainly not a preacher. With the grand them and message of the Bible dullness is impossible. This is the most interesting, the most thrilling, the most absorbing subject in the universe; and the idea that this can be presented in a dull manner makes me seriously doubt whether the men who are guilty of this dullness have ever really understood the doctrine they claim to believe, and which they advocate. We often betray ourselves our manner. (Preaching and Preachers, 86-87 [emphasis added])

Gordon-Conwell's Pastors' Forum

Each spring and fall Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary offers three separate, one-day conference open not only to pastors, but to anyone interested in the topics being presented. Pastors' Forums provide pastors and others an opportunity to be enriched, encouraged, and challenged on a wide variety of topics relevant to ministry by various speakers.

This spring's theme, "God's Church in a Changing World", includes presentations from Chris Castaldo, D. A. Carson, and myself.

February 15: Relating to Roman Catholics: Challenges and Opportunities Facing Church Leaders

Chris Castaldo, Pastor of Outreach and Church Planting at College Church in Wheaton, IL

Equipping Former Catholics in Our Churches
Relating to the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church
Approaching Conversations with Catholic Friends and Loved Ones
Equipping the Church for Ministry Among Catholics

March 3: Leading in the Church Today: What We Must Learn, Unlearn, and Not Forget

Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, MI

· Reaching the Next Generation: It's Easier and Harder Than You Think
· Loving Your Church
· Paul's Model for Ministry
· Lessons Learned

March 15: Enriching Your Preaching Through Theological Reflection

D. A. Carson, research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL

· Preaching and Biblical Theology
· Preaching and Systematic Theology
· Preaching and Historical Theology
· Preaching and Pastoral Theology

Seminars run from 9:30am to 4:00pm, with registration opening at 9:00am. They are held in the Academic Center and Kaiser Chapel of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA.

If you are in the area and interested in attending, you can register online.

Cautions for Mere Christianity

C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity is a classic. It is a winsome, thoughtful, well-written defense of the Christian faith. Some of its better known sections–like the famous liar, lunatic, Lord, trilemma–have become part of the way evangelicals think and speak. No doubt God has used Lewis and Mere Christianity to awaken affections for Christ, engage the mind for Christ, and remove obstacles for the Spirit to draw people to Christ. I'm thankful for all this. More than that, I've benefited from every Lewis book I've read.

But C.S. Lewis was not an evangelical. Mere Christianity shows why.

Let me highlight two significant problems.

Atonement, But How?

The first caution to raise concerns Lewis' view of the atonement. Lewis believed Jesus died on the cross for sin, but he didn't think it was important to understand the particulars of what Christ accomplished on the cross.

Now before I became a Christian I was under the impression that the first thing Christians had to believe was one particular theory as to what the point of this dying was. According to that theory God wanted to punish men for having deserted and joined the Great Rebel, but Christ volunteered to be punished instead, and so God let us off. Now I admit that even this theory does not seem quite so immoral and silly as it used to; but that is not the point I want to make. What I came to see later on was that neither this theory nor an other is Christianity. The central belief is that Christ's death has somehow put us right with God and given us a fresh start. Theories as to how it did this are another matter: A good many different theories have been held as to how it works; what all Christians are agreed on is that it does work. (57-58 [pagination varies by edition)

Later Lewis says that "Christ was killed for us" and "His death has washed out our sins" but "any theories we build up as to how Christ's death did all this are, in my view, quite secondary" (59). This impatience of careful thinking about the atonement is bad enough, but then Lewis goes on to make clear that he rejects the understanding of the atonement evangelicals (and the Bible I would say) find most central and most glorious.

The one most people have heard is the one I mentioned before–the one about our being let off because Christ had volunteered to bear a punishment instead of us. Now on the face of it that is a very silly theory. If God was prepared to let us off, why on earth did He not do so? And what possible point could there be in punishing an innocent person? None at all that I can see, if you are thinking of punishment in the police-court sense. On the the other hand, if you think of a debt, there is plenty of point in a person who has some assets paying it on behalf of someone who has not. (59)

Pay careful attention to what Lewis says in that paragraph. He does believe in a substitutionary theory of the atonement, but he rejects penal substitution. He admits that penal substitution is not quite as silly as it once sounded, but he still does not accept it. Instead, he argues that Christ pays a debt (which is true), but not as a punishment for our sakes.

Lewis' theology of the atonement is confusing (see for example this helpful Touchstone article), but I would argue his view is more like Christus victor or ransom to Satan than penal substitution. Aslan's death, you may recall, was a sacrifice to the Witch and was explained rather ambiguously as "deeper magic." This is not the place to defend the critical importance of penal substitution. My point is simply that Lewis does not teach it in Mere Christianity, and in fact undermines it.

An Early Inclusivist

The second problem with Mere Christianity is Lewis' inclusivism. Evangelicals believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. Further, they believe that conscious faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation (assuming we are talking about sentient beings; all Christians allow that infants and the mentally disabled may be in a different category). Lewis, by contrast, believed in what we might roughly call "anonymous Christians." That is, people may be saved through Christ without putting explicit faith in Christ.

There are people who do not accept the full Christian doctrine about Christ but who are so strongly attracted by Him that they are His in a much deeper sense than they themselves understand. There are people in other religions who are being led by God's secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it. For example, a Buddhist of good will may be led to concentrate more and more on the Buddhist teaching about mercy and to leave in the background (though he might still say he believed) the Buddhist teaching on certain other points. (178)

No matter how much we may like Lewis, this is simply a profound misunderstanding of the Spirit's mission (and a rejection of John 14:6). The work of the Holy Spirit is to bring glory to Christ by taking what is his–his teaching, the truth about his death and resurrection–and making it known. The Spirit does not work indiscriminately without the revelation of Christ in view. Arguably, the Holy Spirit's most important work is to glorify Christ, and he does not do this apart from shining the spotlight on Christ for the elect to see and savor. Again, we see the inclusivist Lewis at the end on Narnia where Tash is accepted by Aslan for following him all along without knowing it.

All that to say, yes, I have some cautions when it comes to Mere Christianity. Good book. But some serious deficiencies.

Ready to Launch

I almost never do this, but I thought I'd post something that is really more of an internal University Reformed Church matter.

Our church is about to launch a capital campaign. We don't know exactly what we need to do, but we know we need to do something and that something will cost money. So we are launching this campaign at our congregational meeting tomorrow night.

At that meeting we'll be giving our congregation an 8 page document entitled, "Ready For More." I wrote the introductory letter. I thought it would be helpful for the people at URC to read this letter before tomorrow's meeting (hello friends!), and perhaps something in it might be useful for other churches as they think about the how and why of church growth.

And in case you followed the thread from Wednesday's post, tomorrow I'll talk about Mere Christianity.

*******

An Invitation to Strike the Ground and Be Surprised

It was an audacious project. When completed, the new church building would hold more than 5,000 worshipers in a single service. In addition to several balconies and several meeting rooms, the church had a full basement with a lecture hall large enough for 900 adults. Also in the basement was enough space for 1000 children to attend Sunday school. There were, of course, bathrooms, a kitchen, office space, many classrooms and designated areas for special groups and special events. It was a big building and building it was a giant undertaking.

Some complained the plans were too big and the project unnecessary. How could such a bricks and mortar project be launched in the name of "ministry"? A fair question, but the young pastor saw things differently. He had no intention of building the church to be "our nest, and then to be idle." Instead, he viewed all the money to be raised and the beams to be hoisted as a means for mission. "We must go from strength to strength," he remarked during the fundraising campaign, "and be a missionary church, and never rest until, not only this neighborhood, but our country, of which it is said that some parts are as dark as India, shall be enlightened with the gospel." He saw the bricks and mortar not as a distraction from real gospel ministry but as a catalyst for it.

Exceedingly Abundantly More

The building of the new church took several years of planning, fundraising, and construction to complete. The cost was significant, and as often happens, more than the congregation originally imagined. But almost five years after the original idea had been approved the growing church held its first services in the new building. In the church book from that first meeting the pastor penned a humble reminder of the Lord's faithfulness. At the bottom of the declaration he signed his name, as did the elders, the deacons, and many church members. "We the undersigned members of the church…" the paragraph began. It continued on with a request, repentance, and new resolve:

[We] desire with overflowing hearts to make known and record the loving-kindness of our faithful God. We asked in faith, but the Lord has exceeded our desires, for not only was the whole sum given us, but far sooner than we had looked for it. Truly the Lord is good and worthy to be praised. We are ashamed of ourselves that we ever doubted him; and we pray that as a Church, and as individuals, we may be enabled to trust in the Lord at all times with confidence, so that in quietness we may possess our souls. In the name of our God we set up our banner. (Drummond, Prince of Preachers, 348)

Given their acknowledged dependence on the Lord, it was fitting that the first service at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, held on Monday morning March 18, 1861, was a prayer service. On Wednesday afternoon Charles Haddon Spurgeon, their young pastor, preached his first sermon in London's newest church building. On the following Sunday, Spurgeon delivered the first Lord's Day sermon at the Tabernacle, preaching from 2 Chronicles 5:13-14. Again he emphasized the spiritual work that was to be done in and through their new physical space. He asked that God would send "the fire of his Spirit here, and the minister will be more and more lost in the Master. You will come to think less of the speaker and more of the truth spoken; the individual will be swamped, the words uttered will rise above everything."

Then Spurgeon dreamt of all that God could accomplish if He would visit "this place" in great power.

We shall have the lecture and we shall see in this place young men devoting themselves to God; we shall find ministers raised up and trained and sent forth to carry the sacred fire to other parts of the globe…Through us the whole earth shall received benedictions; if God shall bless us, He will make us a blessing to multitudes of others. Let God but send down the fire and the biggest sinners in the neighbourhood will be converted; those who live in dens of infamy will be changed…dry bones be raised and clothed afresh and hearts of stone be turned to flesh. (Prince of Preachers, 349)

The building was not about bigger and better but about blessings and dry bones.

What We Know and What We Want

Let me tell you some things we know. We know that our church is not the Metropolitan Tabernacle (and your pastor is no Charles Spurgeon!). But we know the same God. And we know the same gospel must be proclaimed. I have no illusions of being Spurgeon and no plans for our church to grow from 500 to 5000. But I believe God wants us to have the same desire for the same fire.

We want at URC what God's people have always wanted. We want God to bless us that we might be a blessing. We long to see sinners saved by God's free grace. We aim to raise up pastors and missionaries to serve near and far. We want to see dorms and apartments converted. We want the dry bones of students and internationals to live. We want the stony hears of teenagers and children, and of colleagues and neighbors, to be turned to flesh. We want a church where the good news of justification by faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone to the glory of God alone is preached boldly and gladly to as many as the Lord brings. We want children nurtured in the word of God. We want to make disciples and teach them to obey all that Christ has commanded. We want to shepherd wisely and faithfully the flock that God has entrusted to us. We want to cultivate a caring, loving communion of saints that use their gifts to build up the body and fan out into the city and on to the campus week after week to promote Christ in word and deed. We want to keep doing the things we do well, and grow in the things we can do better, all to the glory of God, by the power of the Spirit, for the joy of all peoples. We want to help one another know Christ, serve Christ, tell of Christ, and live for Christ.

And we want the space and the seats and the parking to do all this on whatever scale God chooses for us.

Keep Banging

When the prophet Elisha was about to die, King Joash went down to see him one last time. Elisha mustered up enough strength to give a final set of strange instructions. "Take a bow and arrows," the dying prophet said. "Draw the bow. Open the window eastward and shoot." So the king shot.

Then Elisha explained that the arrows represented the Lord's arrows of victory over the Syrians. He told Joash to take the arrows and strike the ground with them. Elisha knew, and Joash probably understood, that each blow to the ground would mean another victory for the Lord and for Israel. Joash only hit the ground three times. Elisha was furious. "You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times" (2 Kings 13:19). The king had asked for too little.

It is possible to ask the Lord for wrong things. It is possible we ask the Lord for the wrong reasons. But if we ask with the right heart and toward the right end, we cannot ask for too much.

These are exciting times at URC. The Lord has seen fit to bring new people and new opportunities. None of us knows what the next opportunity will be, but we want to be ready when it comes. That means each one of us must pray for God to do more with us, among us, and through us than we ask or imagine. Let's strike our arrows on the ground five or six times together. In other words, let's not be afraid of big numbers, either for the church's target or for your personal pledge. I'm fully convinced the Lord can enable us to raise more money than we think is possible—if we go after the goal in his way and for his glory. So let's not ask for too little.

And most importantly, let us move forward in faith so that when God surprises us with his grace we will not look back and be ashamed that we doubted. In the name of God we set up our banner.

The Most Influential Books for Reformed Evangelicals

Okay, so the title is misleading. What I actually have is a completely unscientific list of influential books as given to me by the readers of this blog.

On Monday I gave away some free books. In order to be entered in the drawing you had to leave a comment naming a book that has been influential in your Christian life. 326 responses later, here are the most important books for people like you.

1. John Piper, Desiring God

2. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

3. J.I. Packer, Knowing God

4. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

5. John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life

6. R.C. Sproul, Holiness of God

7. Jerry Bridges, Disciplines of Grace

8. C.J. Mahaney, Cross-Centered Life

9. Mark Driscoll and Gary Breshears, Doctrine

10 (tie). R.C. Sproul, Chosen by God; John Piper, God is the Gospel; Joshua Harris, Dug Down Deep; Francis Chan, Crazy Love; David Platt, Radical

I can't help but make a few, haphazard observations

These are all good books. With a couple I'd want to throw in a few cautions (especially Mere Christianity), but on the whole these are important books that deserve to be read. I'm glad they have been.
Thank God for John Piper. Nine of his books were mentioned as the most influential. Next in line, J.I. Packer and Jerry Bridges with four a piece. R.C. Sproul had three books.
By a wide margin the three most influential books were Desiring God, Grudem's Systematic Theology, and Knowing God. After that there's a drop to Mere Christianity, then another big drop to all the other books.
Except for Lewis, everyone on the list is still alive. You could take this as a bad thing (start reading the classics!). But I take this to be normal: God raises up men in every generation to speak and teach.
Some dead guys who made the list: John Owen, John Bunyan, Richard Baxter, A.W. Tozer, Augustine, Charles Spurgeon, Thomas Brooks, Louis Berkhof, Horatius Bonar, John Calvin, Martin Luther, J.C. Ryle, J. Gresham Machen, Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
Girls who made the list: Elyse Fitzpatrick (Idols of the Heart)

There's nothing left to say except tolle lege, take up and read.

Don't Call It A Comeback: Interviews, Part 3

Today is the third installment of the contributors' interviews for Don't Call It a Comeback: The Same Evangelical Faith for a New Day.

This week we'll hear from Strachan, Challies, Kluck, Patrick and Redmond.

Owen Strachan is Instructor of Christian Theology and Church History at Boyce College (Louisville, Kentucky).  The coauthor of The Essential Edwards Collection, Owen is married to Bethany and is the father of Ella.

It seems like younger evangelicals are not as passionate about sanctification as previous generations. What do we need to do get young Christians to see the importance of growth in godliness?

For many younger evangelicals today, cultural literacy matters more than biblical fluency.  Previous generations stepped away from the world; ours has plunged into it.  Some believers of the recent past knew too little about the world around them; too many today know too much about it.  We know a great deal about NBC's Office, and not enough about the Levitical office.  The first cause of this sorry situation is, ironically, the first cause of past evangelical woes: our God is too small.

We do not care much about sanctification because we do not care much about God.  That sounds a little tough, but I think it's true.  If our conception of God fit the Bible's, then we would find ourselves drawn to the Word and its way of life both from a sense of reverential necessity and devotional delight.  In a world in which we possess so much at our fingertips–instant athletic excitement, sizzling sexual temptation, limitless possibilities to Tweet, update, iChat, and blog about ourselves–we struggle to remember that "the Lord our God is holy" and thus worthy of our joyful devotion (Psalm 99:9).

If from biblical study we comprehend the glory and grandeur and holiness of God, then we will naturally understand the need to humble ourselves before this Lord and seek through the power of the Spirit to kill the flesh in the name of Christ our Savior.  The greatest need before us is not so much to isolate the various sins that we can spot, but to open our eyes to the "weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17) borne by God.  Doing so will steal our breath away, even as it will drive us to, as Jonathan Edwards said, "remanate" that same glory by the pursuit of holiness.

Tim Challies is a self-described author and blogger. Tim is married to Aileen and they have three children. His chapter is titled "Jesus Christ: The Only Way and Our Only Hope."

What is inclusivism? Why it is attractive to evangelicals and why is it so dangerous?

Inclusivism involves one important affirmation and one important denial. It affirms that Jesus Christ is the world's only Savior, but denies that a person necessarily needs to hear and believe in the gospel in order to be saved. It says that while putting one's faith in Christ is the best way to honor God, it is not the only way to do so.

This belief is attractive to evangelicals because it allows us to wiggle out of the discomfort of the always-popular question, ""What about the innocent person on a distant island who has never heard of Jesus?"" But it is dangerous because though it may succeed on an emotional level, it fails the test of Scripture.

Ted Kluck, Founder, Gut Check Press (Grand Ledge, MI). Ted is married to Kristin, and they have two sons, Tristan and Maxim. Ted writes the chapter, "It's Sometimes a Wonderful Life: Evangelicals and Vocation."

I imagine a lot of pastors will read this book. What do you think pastors might misunderstand or not fully appreciate about the workaday world of the regular folks in their congregation?

Three things come to mind here – how boring, competitive, and exhausting work-a-day life can be.

Pastoral ministry has its own unique challenges but tends to be filled with the kind of work that someone can go home at the end of the day feeling basically good about – you've interacted with scripture, perhaps you've counseled a congregant, written a sermon, or even solved a problem.  However, for workaday Joes there may be entire stretches of time – like days or weeks or even years – that feel boring and "unfulfilling."  For many, their careers don't feel like "callings," aside from the general call to work and provide for their families.  That said, there is still competition to produce and provide, and that competition can be exhausting, leaving little left in the "tank" for church activities.  So use your after-hours "currency" wisely – try to make meetings and workshops as efficient as possible, so that your congregants will feel refreshed and encouraged, rather than burned out and overcommitted.

Darrin Patrick, Lead Pastor, The Journey Church (St. Louis, Missouri).  Darrin is married to Amie and they have four children. Darrin's chapter is on "Social Justice: What's God Got To Do, Got To Do With It."

What's the connection between social justice and church planting?

A wonderful trend has emerged in the last 10 years or so.  The white flight out of cities is gradually reversing itself and more and more are we seeing professionals move back into neighborhoods within the city limits in both major and medium-sized cities.  In such neighborhoods there is incredible diversity.

I noticed this racial diversity when we moved to a small house in St Louis near a nice park. The owners of the two houses next to me were Filipino and Russian.  I saw great age diversity as my neighborhood was a mix of young and old and everything in between.  But perhaps the most striking diversity was socio-economic.  In our neighborhood were the uber wealthy who lived in mansions across from the park and homeless people who lived in the park.  I realized very quickly that to be a church in the city and for the city meant that we had to bring the gospel to bear on the people who were our neighbors no matter their ethnicity, age or level of income.  Enter Social Justice, which is really better expressed by the one word: Mercy.  Every church planter who finds themselves in the situation that I did will have to bring the implications of the gospel to bear for all those in the city to which they were called, including the poor.  It is simply not an option to ignore the needs of the people in your context simply because they don't fit your "target" – ie don't look like you, smell like you or consume culture like you do.

Eric Redmond is the Senior Pastor at Reformation Alive Baptist Church in Temple Hills, MD, and Assistant Professor of Bible and Theology at Washington Bible College in Lanham, MD. Eric is married to Pamela, and they have five children: Charis, Chloe, Candace, Calvin, and Codell. Eric's chapter is titled, "Homosexuality: Grace, Truth, and the Need for Gentle Courage."

Are we winning or losing the minds and hearts of young Christians when it comes to the issue of homosexuality? What can we do better?

My daughter attends a nearby university that recently became the first in the country to permit coed roommates. Apparently GLBT constituents associated with the school fueled this position. The campus body has welcomed the decision as the right thing to do for the sake of the campus GLBT community. Rather than an outcry from a younger generation, there is applause.

Seemingly there is a generation that widely embraces homosexual behavior as a normal part of contemporary society. When I talk with the Generation Digital believers, they give mental assent to what the Scriptures teach. Yet they also seem to think Jesus accepts the behavior of homosexuals as easily as they accept social networking friend requests from strangers.

In order to win the hearts and minds of young believers on the issue of homosexuality, we first must re-establish the authority of Scripture in the life of the church and its members. A younger generation must understand that Homosexual Joe might be nice, friendly, hardworking, and non-proselytizing when it comes to his sexual preferences, but his behavior is an abomination to the Lord because Scripture has the final say. Without establishing this in mind and heart, this generation simply will hit "Accept."

A Modest Proposal: Do Some Reading Before You Pop the Pill

[image error]The Pill is the popular term for a variety of oral contraceptives (OC's) or birth control pills (BCP's).  They are sometimes called combination pills because they contain both estrogen and progestin.  Every year, the pill is used by 14 million American women and around 60 million women worldwide.

The Pill is sometimes prescribed for reasons other than birth control, but most often women take the pill to avoid contraception.  The question debated among Christians is whether the pill sometimes act as an abortifacient.  That is, does the pill have the potential to terminate the life of a zygote (the single cell the results from a fertilized egg)? My modest proposal is that you look into the issue for yourself.

Respected Christian groups like Focus on the Family's Physicians Research Counsel and the Christian Medical and Dental Association have issued non-statement statements, arguing that as of yet no consensus exists on the issue.  Both of the aforementioned groups recognize differing opinions among Christians, and in light of what they consider inconclusive evidence one way or the other, urge more research and study.

Others have found the evidence more conclusive. Randy Alcorn has published a 197 page book explaining why he believes birth control pills do sometimes cause abortions.  For years, Alcorn's wife used the pill and as a pastor, Alcorn recommended it to newlyweds.  So changing his mind was not easy, but over time he did.

According to Alcorn and the physicians he cites, the pill works mainly by prohibiting ovulation, but it also works by thinning the line of the uterine wall (endometrium), making the implantation of a fertilized egg less likely.  The Physician's Desk Reference states with reference to the contraceptive pill, Ortho-Cept: "Although the primary mechanism of this action is inhibition of ovulation, other alterations include changes in the cervical mucus, which increase the difficulty of sperm entry into the uterus, and changes in the endometrium which reduce the likelihood of implantation."  The Pill works in three ways, Alcorn argues: preventing ovulation, preventing sperm penetration, and preventing zygote implantation.

Granted, in the vast majority of cases, an egg will not be fertilized.  But sometimes it will.  And using the pill makes successful implantation of the new life less likely.  Alcorn documents journal articles, MRI results, ultra sound technology, and reproductive endorcrinologists who confirm that (1) endometrial thickness is related to functional receptivity and (2) the Pill thins the endometrium.

A number of doctors support Alcorn's thesis, while others, like those who issued a pro-life Ob/Gyn's statement, have called the "hostile endometrium" notion a myth.  A long list of links and statements, both for and against Alcorn's position, can be found here.

For my wife and me, even the possibility of terminating a fertilized egg made us skittish about the Pill.  We've never used it, though many of our Christian friends have.  I encourage every Christian couple using or contemplating the Pill to research the issue for themselves.  Consult a physician and ask about the possible abortifacient effects of oral contraceptives.  The issue is obviously more complex than a brief summary from a non-medically trained pastor.

Many Christians have little awareness of any controversy surrounding the Pill.  This article is not meant to shame those who have used or are using the Pill.  But at the very least, we owe it to ourselves, our children, and the Lord to prayerfully consider the rights and wrongs of the pills we take and prescribe.

A Girl After My Own Heart