James MacDonald's Blog, page 4

Is Kim Davis right about her rights? Are we right about Kim Davis?

I think it great sin to fire public shots at members of Christ’s family and pray for increased faithfulness among us to “love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again” (1 Peter 1:22b-23a).

With that said, I want to ‘think out loud’ about the situation with Kim Davis. She is a follower of Christ who apparently experienced the gospel of grace in her own marital history and is seeking to live out that grace by taking a stand in her job for the biblical teaching on marriage. Sadly, Kim remains in prison for contempt of court following her decision not to issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples in Grayson, Kentucky. As a Christ follower, she has refused to obey the ‘law of the land’ and issue (or allow her staff to issue) marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Is Kim Davis doing the right thing, in doing what she thinks is right and asserting her constitutional right to protest in a way she believes is right in the eyes of God?

That’s the point, isn’t it? What “rights” are we talking about? Biblically-minded people who object to June’s Supreme Court Obergefell v. Hodges ruling may find comfort in the stand she is taking and the resistance she is giving, but still not be convinced they would/should do the same thing. Again, just thinking out loud here . . .

Without question, Kim Davis is within her rights as a citizen. She has the right to peacefully resist what she believes is wrong. She has the right to object to a Supreme Court law that she believes (and I agree) contradicts God’s law.
She is also right not to violate her conscience (Romans 14:23). As my friend Al Mohler writes: “The Bible is clear—a Christian cannot act in violation of conscience without committing sin. Kim Davis has been clear, even as her own marital background has been discussed, that her conversion and Christian beliefs do not allow her to sanction what the Bible declares to be sin.”
She is probably not within her rights as an employee. Government employees cannot make their own rules any more than church employees can. We would defend a church’s right to dismiss an employee for any form of persistent immorality or lawlessness. Can Kim Davis, in refusing to obey the U.S. law under which her employer is organized, be terminated? If she loses her job for her stand, she has my admiration, even though I would not counsel someone to do what she has done.
It might have been better, maybe, if she simply resigned in writing, stating her convictions and rationale for refusing to do her job. What if she had gathered her employees in a meeting, shared her faith in Christ and her convictions about the Bible, then quit?
As she asserts her citizen rights, is she portraying Jesus accurately? Do the two people seeking a same-sex marriage license have a clearer picture of the gospel of God’s grace to us in Christ, because of Kim’s chosen course of action?
Does God want His children asserting their citizen rights? Is opposing the moral decline of our nation by marching, picketing, calling your elected official’s office, and protesting by all means available wrong if done in a way that reflects the behavior ethic of Christ?
As a Christ follower, I must ask sincerely, would Jesus block the door to an abortion clinic? Would Jesus hold signs calling for repentance and shout exhortations as the gay pride parade passes by? (While that may be your right as a citizen, as a Christian you must also be convinced it pleases and exemplifies the Lord.)
Did the feeding of the 5,000 include an inquiry into the moral standing of each hungry listener before the bread and fish were offered? Would Jesus refuse to make a picnic table in the carpenter shop for two gay men who wanted to enjoy a meal on their patio? Would He give them the table with the exhortation to ‘sin no more’?
2 Corinthians 10:3—“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.” Even as the movie War Room is #1 in the country, are we exemplifying that kind of prayerful fervency for God to move upon this land and the encroaching darkness?
2 Corinthians 10:2,5—Yes, we are to fight ‘lofty opinions raised against the knowledge of God.’ Yes, we are to destroy arguments, etc. But are those exhortations about fighting the culture or about fighting to make sure we are doing ministry like the Apostle Paul’s, which was being waged with the true spiritual weapons and not ‘according to the flesh’?

Without question, we are living in very complex times. I appreciate, pray for, and do not judge Kim Davis for her choices. I pray for us all to be free from divisive snap judgements of one another as we wrestle with how to contend for the faith without compromise, while expressing to those around us the central tenet of our faith, which is love. Love for God first, as He has revealed Himself in the Bible. Love for our brothers and sisters, who are in the family of God through faith in Jesus. Love for lost people, who are blinded (2 Corinthians 4:4) by the god of this world and are only able to see the gospel as foolishness (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Take a moment and read Matthew 5:3-14. Poor in spirit, meek and merciful, peacemakers who will be persecuted, salt and light that must have an impact on the world around us. Wow, so very complex, requiring a moment by moment dependance upon the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

Let’s remember to love our enemies, turn the other cheek and go the second mile (Matthew 5:38-44). Most of all, let’s pray for each other as we struggle to obey our Lord and live the gospel in the way we love one another—especially those who choose to handle a very tough situation a bit differently than you or I would. It took me way too long to see that if you are wrong in the way you are right, you are wrong even if you are right.

Let’s give each other a ton of grace, as we seek to be right about our rights in a way that rightly reflects Jesus Christ.

Matt Redman and the Privilege of Serving Jesus

Take a few minutes and work through this post. I am praying it will stir fresh affection for Jesus and for serving Him with your whole heart.

“Do not withhold good, from whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.” Proverbs 3:27

Failing to honor those who serve well among us is a great failure indeed. It fails to show gratitude, fails to highlight the value of faithfulness, and fails to inspire others to serve with the same dedication. I’m gonna try to avoid that error right now . . .

1998

I was an exhausted 37-year-old servant of Jesus on a sabbatical with my family in England, in the summer of 1998. Ten years of church planting had left me uncertain if we would have the strength to return. I had been reading The Saving Life of Christ, by Major Ian Thomas, and because we were in the UK, we made our way to the original home of his ministry at Capernwray Castle, a Bible college and ministry training center in England.

I sat in the back of the small Sunday worship service with Kathy—and Luke, Landon, and Abby, none of whom had any idea how much I needed the Lord to visit and renew me. A simple devotion was given from the Scriptures, and as the elements of the Lord’s table were passed, the people began to sing, “Jesus Christ, I think upon Your sacrifice. You became nothing, poured out to death. Many times, I’ve wondered at your gift of life. I’m in that place once again. And once again I look upon the cross where You died. I’m humbled by Your mercy and I’m broken inside . . .” I felt so self-conscious sitting with my kids as the tears streamed down my cheeks, so I leaned forward on my elbows making a pool between my feet on the floor. Yes simple, but so profound—and Jesus Christ touched my life, stirring fresh affection for Himself. The song’s author was Matt Redman. I had never heard of him, but it was not the last time the Lord would meet with me through one of Matt’s songs.

Once Again

Download audio file (OnceAgain.mp3)

1999

I was still not following Matt Redman closely, but I resonated with everyone else, it seemed, that “The Heart of Worship” expressed well the passion of every worshiper to “bring something that’s of worth, that will bless Your heart,” and the awareness that Jesus is “looking into my heart.”  Yes, “It’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus”—as fresh and needed today it was 16 years ago. I especially love that song’s line: “King of endless worth.”

The Heart of Worship

Download audio file (HeartOfWorship.mp3)

2002

Early in the new millennium, we experienced a mutiny of sorts from a gifted man in our church whom we had given much opportunity for ministry. Looking back, I know we handled him poorly and fearfully, and I pray for him a similar realization of contributing fault. Bottom line, it was very hard on me and my family. And though I found great instruction from God’s Word in enduring that trial, it was songs by Matt Redman that renewed and healed my soul. “Blessed be Your name, on the road marked with suffering; though there’s pain in the offering, blessed be Your name.”  And for a season it seemed we ended every Walk in the Word rally and most weekend services with the beautiful words, “Befriended, befriended by the King above all Kings.”

Blessed Be Your Name

Befriended

Download audio file (Befriended.mp3)

2004

By now, I was a HUGE Matt Redman fan and counting the days until I could download the new release Facedown. Our church has sung many of these songs through the years, but it was the simple duet with Chris Tomlin, “Worthy, You are worthy, much more worthy than I know. I cannot imagine just how glorious You are, and I cannot begin to tell how deep a love You bring.” I had been learning that the word worthy is the idea of ‘balance on a scale,’ where Jesus Christ is on one side and our worship on the other. No matter how much adoration we heap on this side of the scale, He always brings it to balance. It’s never too much—HE IS WORTHY. The other line that I love revealed Matt’s deep love for the Word of God, as he quoted Job 42:5, “O Lord, my ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen.”

Worthy, You are Worthy

Download audio file (WorthyYouAreWorthy.mp3)

2006

Beautiful News was timely in the life of our church.  We entered an extend season of trials related to a construction project that ran aground and almost sunk the ship.  I had no idea God was preparing me for an additional season of personal trials, but I can say one of the peaks of worship in our church came through the song, “You Never Let Go.” “Oh no you never let go through the calm and through the storm, Oh no you never let go every high and every low, Lord you never let go of me.”  The bridge still takes me apart, “and I can see a light that is coming, for the heart that holds, there will be an end to these troubles but until that day comes, still I will praise You, still I will praise You.”

You Never Let Go

Download audio file (YouNeverLetGo.mp3)

2010

I am very blessed to have always had a loving father, and for that reason I had never really struggled with God’s love for me. At least not until I came into a season of great disappointment with men to whom I had looked as an example. I am sure they had more reason for disappointment with me, and yet I felt the pain of their rejection very deeply. After a season of immense struggle and wrestling to truly forgive, I retreated to my basement and loaded an old CD from, you guessed it,  Matt Redman, as I wandered around my wood shop in hopes of something fresh for my soul. Though 10 years after the release of “The Father’s Song,” it was the first song to come on when I hit play. “Heaven’s perfect melody, the Creator’s symphony, You are singing over me, the Father’s Song. Heaven’s perfect mystery, the king of love has sent for me, and now You’re singing over me.”

The Father’s Song

Download audio file (TheFathersSong.mp3)

That last line remains the most beautiful description of the doctrine of election I have ever heard: “The king of love has sent for me.” Wow . . . I mean God met me so powerfully through that lyric with assurance of His abiding presence—just wow. It was so life-impacting that this past spring I taught a whole series called The Father’s Song, using Matt’s song as our theme. He even graciously recorded a little intro for our church family.

2013

I am not sure what I was doing when “10,000 Reasons” came out in 2011, but I first heard that song when my friend Paul Baloche sang it in our church. Matt tells the story online of how it flowed from his soul pretty quickly, based upon his reflecting on Psalm 103. The part that resonated most deeply with me during a season of perseverance was that we would not allow the trials of the day to silence the priority of worship in our lives. “Whatever may pass and what ever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes: Bless the Lord, oh my soul.” Wow, no matter what, Lord, no matter what—we will “sing like never before.”

10,000 Reasons

Download audio file (10000Reasons.mp3)

I won’t give any more examples, except to say whole pages could be written about “You Alone Can Rescue”, “Thank You for Healing Me”, “Making Melody”, “Seeing You”, “I Will Offer Up My Life.” Our church even sings a portion of “Breathing the Breath”: “We have nothing to give, that didn’t first come from your hand . . . and all we do is give back to you what always has been yours.” I wonder if anyone knows we are singing a prayer the Lord gave us through Matt Redman.

Breathing the Breath [Harvest Bible Chapel]

Download audio file (OfferingSong.mp3)

When you visit a city far from your own, and someone waits in line to tell you how much your preaching has meant to them over the years, often through tears and with great fervency, the feeling is surreal. When I have occasionally experienced that, I have felt dismayed as I really have no one like that in my life. I actually don’t listen to very much preaching, as preparing and giving my own messages takes up so much time. However I do listen to a lot of worship music . . .

Tonight Matt Redman is coming to our church. (thanks to our Senior worship leader Andi Rozier sadly on the road today with Vertical Church Band, I know they hate to miss this.) Matt Redman is touring with his new release, Unbroken Praise. I have to confess, I will be the guy in the line with emotion welling up in my throat; I will be the guy waiting for my chance to tell Matt how much his worship ministry has meant to me for over 20 years. Don’t freak, but I will even ask if I can have a picture with him. (Updated: see below ) And yes my heart will be pounding—with gratitude to the Lord when I get to introduce him.

With this post I honor Matt Redman and thank God for his ministry. To quote a friend, “Matt has often constructed an altar upon which I can lay my sacrifice of praise.” As is often the case, I have no idea what suffering has birthed these songs, what solitude, and faithful seeking has brought the insights expressed through his lyrics—I only know it’s cost him a lot. Thanks for paying the price Matt, and remaining on course, and staying in the Scriptures. We are more for Jesus because of your ministry to us, and are thankful for the privilege of serving the Lord with you tonight.

All words and music from song excerpts by Matt Redman.

Here We Stand on Marriage

With the recent Supreme Court decision regarding marriage, various people have been asking where we stand in response. Our position is expressed in the following statement from Dr. Russell Moore of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, which I was honored to be asked to sign.

HERE WE STAND: An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage

As evangelical Christians, we dissent from the court’s ruling that redefines marriage. The state did not create the family, and should not try to recreate the family in its own image. We will not capitulate on marriage because biblical authority requires that we cannot. The outcome of the Supreme Court’s ruling to redefine marriage represents what seems like the result of a half-century of witnessing marriage’s decline through divorce, cohabitation, and a worldview of almost limitless sexual freedom. The Supreme Court’s actions pose incalculable risks to an already volatile social fabric by alienating those whose beliefs about marriage are motivated by deep biblical convictions and concern for the common good.

The Bible clearly teaches the enduring truth that marriage consists of one man and one woman. From Genesis to Revelation, the authority of Scripture witnesses to the nature of biblical marriage as uniquely bound to the complementarity of man and woman. This truth is not negotiable. The Lord Jesus himself said that marriage is from the beginning (Matt. 19:4-6), so no human institution has the authority to redefine marriage any more than a human institution has the authority to redefine the gospel, which marriage mysteriously reflects (Eph. 5:32). The Supreme Court’s ruling to redefine marriage demonstrates mistaken judgment by disregarding what history and countless civilizations have passed on to us, but it also represents an aftermath that evangelicals themselves, sadly, are not guiltless in contributing to. Too often, professing evangelicals have failed to model the ideals we so dearly cherish and believe are central to gospel proclamation.

Evangelical churches must be faithful to the biblical witness on marriage regardless of the cultural shift. Evangelical churches in America now find themselves in a new moral landscape that calls us to minister in a context growing more hostile to a biblical sexual ethic. This is not new in the history of the church. From its earliest beginnings, whether on the margins of society or in a place of influence, the church is defined by the gospel. We insist that the gospel brings good news to all people, regardless of whether the culture considers the news good or not.

The gospel must inform our approach to public witness. As evangelicals animated by the good news that God offers reconciliation through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, we commit to:

• Respect and pray for our governing authorities even as we work through the democratic process to rebuild a culture of marriage (Rom. 13:1-7);

• the truth about biblical marriage in a way that brings healing to a sexually broken culture;

• affirm the biblical mandate that all persons, including LGBT persons, are created in the image of God and deserve dignity and respect;

• love our neighbors regardless of whatever disagreements arise as a result of conflicting beliefs about marriage;

• live respectfully and civilly alongside those who may disagree with us for the sake of the common good;

• cultivate a common culture of religious liberty that allows the freedom to live and believe differently to prosper.

The redefinition of marriage should not entail the erosion of religious liberty. In the coming years, evangelical institutions could be pressed to sacrifice their sacred beliefs about marriage and sexuality in order to accommodate whatever demands the culture and law require. We do not have the option to meet those demands without violating our consciences and surrendering the gospel. We will not allow the government to coerce or infringe upon the rights of institutions to live by the sacred belief that only men and women can enter into marriage.

The gospel of Jesus Christ determines the shape and tone of our ministry. Christian theology considers its teachings about marriage both timeless and unchanging, and therefore we must stand firm in this belief. Outrage and panic are not the responses of those confident in the promises of a reigning Christ Jesus. While we believe the Supreme Court has erred in its ruling, we pledge to stand steadfastly, faithfully witnessing to the biblical teaching that marriage is the chief cornerstone of society, designed to unite men, women, and children. We promise to proclaim and live this truth at all costs, with convictions that are communicated with kindness and love.

[Original post with signatories: Here We Stand]

…

For an additional great response, read this post from John MacArthur: An Open Letter to TMS Alumni.

The Gospel Changes Everything

Love, love, love the stories of how God continues to be glorified through people who build on the foundation of unconditional forgiveness in Christ and let the Lord truly transform them…

If you need a lift, watch this.

5 Bruce Jenner Facts

“With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” 1 Peter 4:4-5

Near the Muskoka cottage where we spent our childhood summers, there was a spot along the river known simply as “the rapids.” Wide eyed and terrified, we were seldom allowed even a dip of our toes into the raging current. Stories of young adults swept into the whirlpools and never seen again were more than adequate to keep our little feet high on the rocks and out of the whitewater. If you got too close, if you somehow slipped, you could easily be washed away, never to be seen again.

This is not a post to reprove the reprobate masses, which at this point would clearly be “pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6). My goal here is a breath of biblical oxygen for people still fighting the deluge of dissipation and debauchery trending constantly in our culture. Let me prayerfully attempt 5 Bruce Jenner Facts—for pastors preparing to preach and ministry leaders forced to converse on what the media pressures us all to think about.

1) Bruce Jenner is a man.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27

A man has physical characteristics. Back in 1976 many of us saw him run, jump, and throw at a world-class level, winning Olympic gold in the decathlon. He may be a hurting, frustrated, confused man, but he is still a man. He can amputate his genitals and amplify his estrogen, put on a dress, paint his face, and wear hair extensions. But just as kids going door to door on halloween are not actually witches and warlocks, Bruce Jenner is not a woman simply because he has worked hard to look like one. If I had a surgeon attach a long gray hose to the center of my face and hang wide gray, leafy lobes from the sides of my head, I would not be an elephant. Ask a healthy heterosexual man if he could ever be sexually intimate with Bruce Jenner—not one will say yes, not one. He is a man, not a woman.

2) Bruce Jenner is a fallen man.

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours…” James 5:17

Bruce Jenner has a fallen, sinful nature like the rest of us. He is tempted by lust, doubt, selfishness, and pride. He is inclined away from God and toward stubborn independence that seeks to resolve his personal pain and guilt apart from the One who made him. Just as the accolades of the adoring crowds drove his disciplined pursuit of Olympic glory, so now the applause of reprobate culture appears to fuel his effort to mask his fallen condition. Deep inside, Bruce knows that yielding to his personal proclivities does not procure him peace. Experience has taught him that more sin produces more shame. Incredibly, though, the hardened heart seldom slows, and actually accelerates, as the cliff approaches. That is why this fallen man did a radical thing in search of some relief from his personal misery, but does anyone really believe he has found it?

3) Bruce Jenner is a frustrated man.

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Being a man is not easy. Biblical masculinity is hard work. It is authority questioned, responsibility laden, frequently unpopular, always burdensome work. Manhood, expressed in a Christlike manner, crushes your flesh, exhausts your capacity, and induces total dependance upon our heavenly Father. As heads of our households and servants in our churches, we are always under scrutiny, never without temptation to laxity, and continuously offered leisure as a substitute for needed leadership. In a day when weakness is applauded and certainty is derided, it is tough to take a stand and declare ‘thus says the Lord,’ yet this is what God’s men are commanded to model.

It is not masculine to verbally assault or insult Bruce Jenner, nor is it loving to condone what his own heart condemns. Where are the real men, speaking to him in love? Courageous enough to tell him that the cavity in his soul will not be filled by retreating from the weight of manhood? His much-publicized family of worldly women appears to have widened the wound he claims to have carried for a very long time. It is not the unresolved wound that is wrong, but the solution he has wandered into. As with all temptation, the answer to Bruce’s longing to be a woman is not to yield and run as far as he can in that direction. Relief of temptation is in refusing the lie of what is promised and finding by faith the refuge of Christ (Matthew 11:28-30). In a world where darkness grows by the day, it won’t be long till men want to be wolves and walruses, too. “LORD, teach us to number our days, that we might gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

4) Bruce Jenner is man at risk.

“Ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established.” Proverbs 4:26

I cannot begin to know the forces that have fueled Bruce Jenner’s retreat from manhood, but faux femininity will not give the freedom he has fantasized about. Even a tiny bit of research on Bruce Jenner reveals the heartache of a man cross-dressing beneath his sweatsuit during Olympic gold interviews. A victory Porsche given to the ‘world’s greatest athlete’ ended up taking  his brother’s life in a tragic accident, even as Bruce Jenner appeared on boxes of Wheaties in grocery stores everywhere . . . failing at marriage and failing at fatherhood . . . a man who had given all for victory, longing for an escape from defeat, but he peaked early and never seemed able to reach those heights again. Instead Bruce Jenner became a man increasingly preoccupied, then addicted to, and finally consumed with his own narrative—true narcissism, had encroached and ultimately engulfed his life.

Immediately following sex-change surgery, accelerated to appease the producers of his upcoming reality show, Bruce Jenner reported immense doubt about such a radical, irreversible procedure. Study the stats on suicide (attempted by 41%) following such butchery. Listen to his regret in his interview with Diane Sawyer, even as he muses about the “roller coaster ahead” and where this journey will end. Is anyone listening to this poor man? Is no one in the media able to predict the crash coming to center stage of this circus? I feel great compassion for such a heartsick man, who is still a man though marred more than ever by his own self-absorption.

5) Bruce Jenner is man in need of the gospel.

“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Luke 7:47

It was Augustine of Hippo who said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Bruce Jenner is an unhappy man in search of a soul satisfaction that can only be found in Jesus Christ. He needs what we all need—the love of God, the forgiveness of Christ, and the comforting peace of the Holy Spirit. And now more than ever, Bruce Jenner needs it so very desperately. Let us pray for Bruce and the countless masses currently wandering the same broad road in search of something they cannot find. Let us redouble our efforts to reach for Christ those less known but equally lost. Sins can be forgiven, souls can be satisfied, salvation can be secured through repentance and faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

The whitewater is racing around Bruce Jenner and rising so fast it will soon sweep him away to perdition. That reality should grieve us. For though his depravity is on display for the world to see, this man needs what we all have needed so badly—he needs the Lord.

Changed Forever

Hey Friends:

We’re in the last week of our Risen for the Nations tour . . . and your prayers have meant so much to us. We are changed forever by what we have experienced and seen.

We’ve spent our final leg in Haiti, with a tremendously encouraging visit to our Harvest Bible Chapel in Jacmel, and their life-impacting ministries.

With an orphanage, children’s homes, a school with some 1600 beautiful students, a worshiping body of 1000, and hundreds of people who have come to know Christ through their church, God is doing an awesome work there.

This weekend, I’ll be giving an update to our church family in-person, and I can hardly wait. Thank you for praying so faithfully on our behalf.

Truly Christ is risen for the nations!

—James

Tea, Laborers, and Fields That Are Ripe

Hey friends:

Did you know that some of the highest quality tea in the world is grown in Kenya? To make such quality tea, they harvest only the bud and top leaf from each tea plant. For that reason the leaves must be harvested by hand, one at a time. Thousands of people can be seen across the seemingly endless hillside fields, carefully picking the leaves one by one by one. Many of the people at our new Harvest Bible Chapel in Limuru, Kenya (20 miles outside of Nairobi), work in these tea fields.

That reminds me of the way we are commanded to work the field of souls. Jesus said, “The Harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the Harvest that He would send out laborers into the fields” (Matthew 9:37-38). In John 4:35, Jesus also said that those ‘fields’ are ripe for harvest! It was that exact passage which led to the establishment of our church in 1988. Now, by God’s grace in answer to our prayers, those verses are coming literally true before our eyes. 

Please continue in prayer for our team, who were so blessed to learn of record numbers of people participating in our Risen for the Nations prayer times on all campuses this past Wednesday night. Keep bringing your burdens to the Lord and believing that He will attend to what’s on your heart as you give attention to what is on His heart. How encouraged our team was to hear of the more than 40 salvation decisions in our own services this past weekend, as well as more than 100 other public decisions for Christ and many other testimonies of God at work through our Risen for the Nations series. Your prayers are being answered, and we are so blessed by the strong connection we feel with you, though separated by so many miles.

Two especially encouraging stores were of a Harvest member who invited a Nepali neighbor, who raised their hand to indicate new faith in Jesus. Another report came in of a neighbor brought to church who professed faith in reincarnation as the service began, but faith in the saving Christ as the service ended. God is truly awesome!

The services in Kenya were the most energetic of the trip so far, and we have much to learn about passion in worship from our African brothers and sisters. Highlights include a spontaneous baptism; overhead shots from our team’s drone; highlights of the first-ever service for Harvest Bible Chapel in Limuru, Kenya; and Pastor Jeff as caboose in a dance line. You won’t want to miss the service this weekend, as once again our eyes are lifted to the matters on God’s heart among the nations. Jesus Christ truly is Risen for the Nations, and this series is changing us and our church forever. We miss you and covet your prayers until these final steps on our journey bring us back to you.

In the affection of our Savior,

James

Face to Face with False Religions

Hey friends:

It’s starting to become a very long trip. We are missing family and deeply grateful for your prayers. My health recovered quickly as well as my voice, and I am back to preaching, for which I am thankful. (Please continue in prayer for Colin and Trent for their recovery from sickness.) By God’s grace the team remains in good spirits. We have a remarkable sense of unity and joy in the privilege of traveling on behalf of our church family and sending back these firsthand accounts of what God is doing through our church to impact the world for Christ.

Today was by far the hardest day of the Risen for the Nations tour. Our trip from Malaysia to Nepal went smoothly and the welcome from Pastor Timothy and the Harvest churches here was incredibly encouraging. Upon arrival we had another night of intermittent sleep, in yet another time zone (from 13 hours difference in Malaysia, to 10 hours and 45 minutes in the city of Kathmandu, Nepal). However, we rose with excitement to see the city . . . only to have our hopes dashed by the enormity of the need, the squalor of the people, and worst of all, the deep darkness of Hinduism and Buddhism.

The five major world religions are: Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. From Jerusalem, to Malaysia, to Nepal, we have had a front row seat to the other four so-called ‘religions’—and to say they are less than compelling would be an understatement.

In Jerusalem, we were taught that Orthodox Jews, who pride themselves on their knowledge of the Torah, see nothing wrong with frequenting prostitutes, provided they do so outside their own communities. This seemed unbelievable to me, but I tested it when we were approached by an Orthodox Jew on the streets of Jerusalem who was begging for money. I simply asked, “Is it true that you have no problem going to a prostitute if she is outside your own community?” He quickly replied with a creepy, deep voice “Yezzzz, itz good, no?” Of course I immediately declined his request for money, stating, “I could never support such behavior.” I walked away, grieved by the overt hypocrisy of claiming to love the Word of God but showing such little regard for its moral teaching.

The minarets dotting the skyline in Muslim nations blare the oppressive wailing of a priest who, five times daily, calls everyone to prayer through loud speakers. All opposition is crushed, so objection is never voiced. This is coerced belief at its worst, and the very opposite of the gospel of Christ. Anyone who says, “all roads lead to God” would have a hard time explaining how these roads lead anywhere, let alone to the same place Christ is taking His true followers.

Leaving Malaysia, I felt fairly confident that the worst of false religion was behind us. Actually, the sights we saw in our tour of Kathmandu, Nepal, made the Malaysian Islam and Israeli Judaism look like a Sunday School picnic. I confess to being in tears many times throughout the day as we saw children cremated in public, their ashes swept into the river as the families waded into the floating filth to bathe in their child’s cremated remains . . . even drinking the water from this nasty creek which they call ‘holy,’ known as the Bagmati River.

The streets were lined with little phone booth-sized temples, as painted men lounged self-righteously in the doors, believing they are next in line to become gods themselves. Such is the darkness of Hinduism. It reminded me of Jesus’ words to the false religion of His day, ‘the blind leading the blind’ (Matthew 15:14).

Next, we visited the “Monkey Temple,” one of the most sacred shrines in Buddhism. The climb up 365 steps, which promised ‘enlightenment’ to anyone reaching the top, was less than enlightening as I stood on the highest step.

The ritual prayers and weeping of the people as they touched the countless idols, made sacrifices of spice and rice, and generally moped about in despair and confusion were the furthest thing from enlightened. NO singing or celebrating, no grace or forgiveness, no joy of any kind. Only someone who had never visited these places or known the light of Christ could claim this salvation slavery, which demands everything and gives nothing, as an equal to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

I will say a lot more about what we have seen when you come to Harvest this weekend, including the AWESOME CONTRAST OF OUR HARVEST CHURCHES IN NEPAL. Let me just say that when Jeff, Kirk, and I baptized 20 converts in a little creek as they verbalized their faith in Jesus, it was amazing—and we will tell you all about it at church.

Next came a meeting with ten Harvest Pastors for an afternoon and seeing their sacrificial passion to proclaim the gospel. Then, best of all was praying, worshiping and getting to preach to a combined worship event for all ten Nepali Harvest Bible Chapels—maybe the biggest swing of darkness to light I have felt since coming to Christ myself. From tears of grief over the desperate needs of lost people all around us, to the incredible joy and excitement of our weekend worship, suffice it to say I can’t wait for you to get to church this weekend and take it all in personally.

As I close, I cannot overemphasize the impact of your prayers. From speedy health recovery, to moments where we remark to one another of a nearly tangible sense of being prayed for, your faith petitions are heard by our Lord and being answered. This is one of the hardest and best and toughest things I have ever done, and I think the team feels the same. We are doing this out of love for you and for the work God is doing through us around the world. My prayer for you (even as you continue in prayer for us) is that God would use all that you are seeing and hearing to lift your eyes to the fields He has ripened for His own name’s sake.

“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” John 4:35

Can’t wait to share it all with you in much more detail this weekend. We love you deeply and miss you greatly.

For the Risen for the Nations team,

James

Elder Rule Church Government is From Satan, Too

Back in the spring of 2011, I made the regrettable decision to publish a blog post entitled, “Congregational Government is From Satan.” Initially the post was inflammatory to get attention, but in the end it was judged as unbalanced and therefore unfair. In that sense, the danger of hyperbole was realized. That post was removed long ago, but its negative impact continues to linger. This post is for the purpose of apologizing and explaining how I have come to regret it. For the sake of our local Harvest and church plants around the world, and my many friends who follow a congregational model of local church governance, I offer this update.

“God is able to humble those who walk in pride.” Daniel 4:37

Daniel 4:37 reminds us that “God is able to humble those who walk in pride,” and I must say that He has made good on that promise in regard to my convictions about church government. I do not believe congregational government or any form of church government is, in itself, from Satan. I sincerely apologize for making such an inflammatory statement about a truly secondary issue and also apologize for all the offense I gave to my Baptist and other congregational brothers and sisters in Christ.

I grew up in the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, and I have my home church to thank for my conversion to Christ, my baptism (my wife’s baptism too), my discipleship, and my vocational training at this same church. It was then called Central Baptist Church of London, Ontario (later named Stoney Creek Baptist Church), and they helped found London Baptist Bible College, where I received my undergraduate ministry training. My first pastoral position was at Riverside Baptist Church in Windsor, Ontario, where in 1985 almost sixty Baptist pastors heard my doctrinal statement, questioned me about my biblical convictions, and prayerfully ordained me into gospel ministry. When my wife, Kathy, and I moved to Chicago in 1986, I was hired by a church then known as Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church, also a champion for the distinctive of congregational government. All that is to say I now view my flip to the ‘other side’ as less a study of Scripture and more a reaction to the negative impact of congregational meetings I observed in my formative years.

My conviction about biblical teaching on local church Eldership has not changed. What has changed is my confidence that Elder rule is a better protection against satanic attacks on a local church than congregational governance that attempts to be biblical in distributing authority among mature church members.

Many years ago Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel movement and now with the Lord, graciously offered to meet with a young seminarian—and my most burning questions were about church government. In response to my inquiries, Pastor Chuck said something I did not understand at the time: “James, God can do a lot more through a bad system of church government with good men, than He can do through a good system of church government with bad men.” In other words, it’s not the system; it’s the people.

The greatest danger our churches face in regard to the enemy of our souls is our individual pride.

How true that has proven to be in my experience and observation. The highest points of victory in our church through the years, and in the churches we have been privileged to plant, have come when men submitted themselves to one another in love and refused to act out of haste or hurt. Sadly, I must also confess that the most difficult days of local church ministry have flowed from times where too much authority was vested in too few leaders, whose collective deficiencies (self included) gave the enemy an opportunity to cause division. These divisions have been equal to any I have seen in congregationally governed churches. Just as congregationally governed churches can languish in division when minor issues get inflamed during open forum meetings, so Elder boards, especially smaller or ingrown boards, can lose the objectivity that a broader congregational consensus could bring.

The potential for damage to a church seems likely in both models if a lack of humility is resident in those participating in the governance. In such cases, it is the condition of people’s hearts and not the model of governance that gives Satan an advantage in his efforts to damage the work of Christ in that body. My best thinking these days is that the Elders are wise to include congregational participation as a regular part of their church governance. When matters facing the church are difficult or must remain private to protect an individual, the congregation does well to trust the Elders they helped nominate and to pray for God’s wisdom among the Elders. When the decisions have far-reaching implications for the entire church family or when the Elders struggle to reach consensus, a review by the church membership for greater wisdom in seeking the mind of the Lord may lead to better decisions and greater unity among the entire church family.

Over the past few years, we have made significant changes to our own church governance in an effort to increase transparency and accountability to our church membership. Monthly written updates that summarize Elder meetings, frequently scheduled public forums for church members to ask questions and get answers, and posting our budget and annual audit online are just some of the improvements we have been making. These steps have been well received by the congregation and have created a forum for dealing with any future attacks of Satan upon our Elder form of church governance.

I am not a Congregationalist at this point, but I have come to learn that the greatest danger our churches face in regard to the enemy of our souls is our own individual pride. It seems like the Baptist kid has migrated a few steps back toward his congregational roots and, by God’s grace, away from the error of making a secondary issue a cause of division between brothers—something we ‘Baptists’ must work at constantly. I hope and pray this resolves any uncertainty about where my heart is regarding my regrettable post, and that it also clarifies the respect I have for the benefits of congregational participation in local church governance. 

From Agony to Glory

Blown away and very, very grateful for the team of tireless artists and technicians who dreamed and planned and delivered our most impactful Good Friday/Easter services combo, ever. Their breadth of styles and creativity of presentation were a bountiful bouquet—a panoramic palette of hues and shades that illumined Jesus Christ, from agony to glory, in unprecedented beauty.

Here are some of the highlights, from our Good Friday open to Easter’s close at the empty tomb. May we never, ever tire of remembering the cross and rejoicing in our risen Lord . . .