Jason K. Allen's Blog, page 31

MBTS Fall Commencement: Romans 1:8-17

In Romans 1:8-17, the Apostle Paul writes:

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

The gospel is what we believe, and it is what we have in common. It is what we preach, and it is what we sing. It is what we reflect upon this time of year. It is what happened in our life-some of us as boys and girls, others of us as men and women—when Christ called us to himself and through repentance and faith we gave our life to him. The gospel ministry is what called Midwestern’s faculty to teach, serve, and lead. The gospel is what called graduating students, and Midwestern’s students more broadly, to minister the gospel. For some, it is very clear and direct, and it becomes obvious through weekly pulpit ministries. It is a call to go to the mission field, a desire to plant a church, an interest in student ministry or collegiate ministry or any other host of ministries in the local church. For some, it will be fleshed out in the counseling room or in some other ministry venue where the Word is opened, and the message of Jesus is taught. Woe be to us, though, if we ever take it for granted.

In Romans chapter one, we read of a man who did not take it for granted. We see the Apostle Paul conveying a burning ambition to go to the city, the hub of the empire, the imperial city of Rome, to preach the gospel.  He was a man who had already given much for the cause of Christ and who would ultimately give much more. He was a man who was dead set to see more souls come to faith in Jesus. It does not take much imagination in the year 2017 to think back 2,000 years and see similarities between our world, our nation, and the world of the apostle Paul and the world of the Roman Empire. Rome, perhaps the greatest empire the world has ever known, dominated the world and was known for its great military, political, cultural, and economic might. In America, we like not to think of ourselves as an empire or an imperial force. If one looks at our influence, economy, and military might, an honest assessment notices imperial distinctives. Rome, as we know from history, crumbled within. Moral corruption, spiritual decay, and decadence came in and after decades it fell to ruin. Many of us watch our evening news and see similarities and feel a wince in our heart and stomach as we see morality flaunted, sexual norms reinvented, the breakdown of the family, the tearing asunder of marriage, and all these other signs that trouble us so greatly. Our remedy, indeed our only tool, as ministers of the gospel is a gospel tool. We are on good standing because Paul knew his world and Paul knew what was most needed. So, this man the apostle Paul, gave his life to preach, to teach, and to defend the gospel. His ambition was to go to Rome to see the gospel established, churches founded, and to create a gospel flow out to the rest of the known world. It is a strategy that is strikingly familiar to our own strategy of church planting in the North American Mission Board in the 21st century. Paul had an ambition to go to Rome, to preach the gospel, to see some gospel fruit develop. Our ambition should be no different today. We should long for God to use our ministries to bear gospel fruit. Is there a people group, a family member, a list of friends, a city, a town, a place that is on your heart?  Do you desire them to come to faith in Christ?

I want to bring three brief words of exhortation from Romans 1:16-17. First, speak the gospel boldly. Paul says in verse 16, “for I am not ashamed of the gospel.” To be ashamed of something means to experience a sense of loss or regret in your association with a person or institution or movement. Paul says, “I feel no shame through my public affiliation with the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Now you might think, “Of course he doesn’t. This is the apostle Paul. The great missionary theologian who wrote 13 New Testament books and changed the world. He is the greatest Christian who ever lived.” But if you remember his pedigree and accomplishments, and if you look at his life before his conversion in Acts 9, what do you see? A man who had much by way of religious standing, social standing, and educational accomplishment. He was a young man, as they say, who was “on the make.” But then Jesus entered Paul’s life. He sees Christ; he sees his own sin; and he is converted and called as an apostle. He walks away from it all and considers all his previous accomplishments loss as he preaches Christ. What does he get as a reward for abandoning all for the sake of Christ? He gets stoned. He gets beaten. He gets imprisoned. He gets chased out of town. He gets laughed at. He gets mocked. He gets any and every hardship we can fathom to the ultimate extreme. Then, finally, he is executed. Yet, through this, Paul writes the incredible letter to the Romans, which in many ways, is a 16-chapter explication of the gospel. Paul begins it with the bold declaration that, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Verse 16 was framed by and linked to verse 14 where he confesses, “I am under obligation. I am a debtor, both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. That is why I am eager to preach the gospel in Rome.” Being a debtor is not typically a good position to be in. If you are a financial debtor, you must pay your bills or face repossession. You do not want to be in debt to the mafia; they have a way of extracting those debts. But the sense in which Paul is a debtor here to Greeks and to barbarians is not in the sense that he owes them something based upon something he borrowed. The sense here is that he owes them or desires to give them something based upon what he has gained. He is the recipient of the abundant grace of God, and it has changed his life. He has experienced forgiveness and liberation from the bondage of sin. Thus, he is eager to go about preaching and speaking the gospel. In fact, he is more than eager, he is indebted to his lost neighbors to do just that. The sense of a debtor animates him and his call in the gospel. There is a direct correlation that is transferable to the extent that if we fail to remember all that we have gained through Christ – our own ministerial passion and our own gospel passion will soon wither. The extent to which we get over what we have gained in Christ is the extent to which our passion for ministry fades.

So much of the Christian life goes back to the basics of opening our mouths and speaking. You say, “How do you do this?” It is not really that hard. All you must do is talk to someone by you in a coffee shop or in a store or in your house. Ask them, “What do you do for a living?” And they will say, “I am a doctor, or a teacher or a mechanic.” And they will say, “What do you do for a living?” And you say, “I am a religious fanatic.” Trust me, it works. I do it all the time, and they consistently look at me with bug-eyes. Then I smile and say, “Well, let me explain to you what I mean by that. I serve the gospel of Christ because a man named Jesus has changed my life.” Then take the opportunity to unpack what that means, and as you do, you will see the gospel take root in the lives of people. Priority number one is to remember our call to be bold, that is, bold in our speaking and preaching the gospel of Christ.

Second, Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel…” Why? “For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The second exhortation is that we must expect the gospel to work powerfully. Paul says that he is not ashamed because this message is the power of God for salvation. What is this message? It is that from eternity past, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit covenanted together to love and redeem a people. In time, they created the first couple and placed them in the Garden of Eden. Everything was perfect; it was idyllic; and it could not be improved. There was one simple injunction, “Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” But Eve, then Adam, took of the fruit and ate. As a result, they fell into sin; and as they fell into sin, they plunged humanity into sin with them. In Genesis 3, we see the first foreshadowing of the coming Messiah who would crush the head of the serpent ultimately. Throughout the Old Testament we see the prophets speak about, and point to, the one who would come and bring forgiveness. The long-awaited Messiah who would come and deliver his people. We typically sing of it this time of year. Then, bursting on the scene 2,000 years ago, he came, born as a baby and then placed in a manger. He was the son of Mary, the Son of God. He lived a sinless life, and as he did, he taught like no other had taught. He healed like no other could heal. He performed signs like no other could perform. He even raised the dead! But then he was nailed to a tree. He was not the victim of a mob. Yes, human agency and culpability is clearly seen, but it was a part of the divine plan of God to bring redemption to people like us. He was then raised again on the third day, ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, and is coming back one day to judge the living and the dead. That is why we preach the message that this man is not just is to be believed, but he is to be followed. He is our Savior. He is our Lord. Do you realize the power of this message, regardless of one’s background, vocation, geography and any other way of human categorization? Whether you grew up in the buckle of the Bible Belt or whether we are speaking about places on the globe that have no access to the gospel, these people need the message of Christ for salvation. Paul says here, “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” because as the good news of Christ is preached, salvation is there for everyone who believes – the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

How does the gospel work? Why is this such good news? What do we gain? What do we receive? What do we see take place? What is meant when we say one has been saved? It means three things. First, when a person comes to know Christ they are saved from the penalty of their sin. What does that mean? It means that apart from Christ the wrath of God is abiding over us. Paul says in v. 18 that, “The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and all unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” When a person comes to faith in Christ, we celebrate it because we know that apart from faith in Christ they will experience the wrath of God. People ask, “Do you really believe that people apart from Christ experience the wrath of God for all eternity?” Absolutely, I believe it. Any honest reading of the Bible leads one to that conclusion. They often respond, “But I once knew a guy who was really moral and who was nicer than my friends who were Christians, and he was always nice to me, but he never went to church. What about that guy?” My reply is typically, “Well, whose standards are we talking about? God’s or man’s? According to human standards, he may have been a great guy. But what about compared to a Holy God? Ultimately, when we stand in judgement, we won’t get to compare ourselves to people who were less “moral” than we were. Instead, we will be held accountable for all our sins against a Holy God. In that case, no one is moral enough. No one outside of Christ will be able to fast-talk their way out of the wrath of God.

When we moved to Kansas City five years ago, we were living on campus in the Vivion Home. Outside of the Vivion Home is a traffic light. When we first moved in, it had this devilish device on it. The device was a camera that detected if a person went through the light when it was turning red. I did not know it was on there. I am one of the people who has always thought yellow meant you are supposed to speed up. Innocent mistake. I am also one of these people who, on occasion, has been known to turn right on red even if I have to go left just to keep moving. It is kind of how I am wired. Just a few weeks after moving in, I received a letter in the mail saying I went through the light that was turning red, and as a result, I received a fine. I was indignant and said, “I have never done that. I do not do that.” Yet, I didn’t realize that they also attached a picture of me going through the light. I was floored because I didn’t even know they had these devices close by my house. There I was, captured on camera going through the light. As indignant as I wanted to be over this, when I looked at the picture, I was defenseless– it was my car; it was my license plate; and you could clearly see the light as well. Case closed. Two or three days later, I received another one of these little treats showing me doing the same thing. Two or three days later, I received another. Two or three days later, I received another.

With each one of these moments I was prone to think, “There is no way I did that.” But each time I looked down there I was. It was undeniable. It was irrefutable. It was crystal clear. It was a shock to my system to think I was innocent, but then the evidence was right there. This is what eternity will be like for some people. The world is populated with people that think, “I have never done anything wrong. I have never killed anybody. I have never stolen.” But with God’s all-seeing eye and all-knowing mind, every idle work is cataloged, every perverse thought is cataloged, every elicit deed is cataloged, and as a result none will stand righteous before Him. This is what we are saved from in Christ, and that is why we preach this message.

We also celebrate being saved from the power of sin. What is meant by that? It means that when Christ comes into a man’s life, he changes that man’s life. Perfection? No. But a redirection? Yes. The sin that once was celebrated is now grievous. The sin that was once pursued, is now being deliberately fought. Jesus changes us. In Christ, we are also saved from the pain of sin and the guilt of sin. There are some who have an extreme weight of guilt over walking out on your family 20 years ago, or having an abortion when you were in college, or taking something from your employer, or many other possible things. The good news is that if you are in Christ, you have been made free and you are free, indeed. If you are not in Christ, it is not too late. Jesus is so good that he will come to you and free you, not only from the penalty of sin, but from the pain of that sin as well.

Third, notice verse 17. Paul says, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed, from faith to faith, as it is written, ‘the righteous man shall live by faith.’” The third exhortation is that we must embrace the gospel personally. For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.  What is the righteousness of God? It is the holy standard that we can never hit, but it is also the great gift we receive. It is the imputed righteousness of Christ that is credited to our account by faith in Christ.

True or false: to get into heaven, you must have a perfectly righteous life? Most think false, but the answer is true. No one gets into heaven without a perfectly righteous life, but the good news is that it does not have to be your righteousness. It is Christ’s righteousness. We preach that message, and when we do, we preach good news.

I am reminded of a story told by a man named Fred Craddock, who was a leading homiletic Ian and teacher of homiletics in the second half of the 20th century. He was not a Southern Baptist, and, in fact, he was distant from Southern Baptists in many ways. But he was quite an instructor of preaching, and he received national acclaim for once telling the story of the farm he grew up on. As a boy, he and his sister grew up on a farm, and one of their favorite games to play, like many boys and girls, was Hide-and-Seek. On one occasion, he found what he knew to be the perfect hiding place. Underneath the big porch steps going up to the house there was a little crevice where he could wedge himself so that his sister would never find him. The next time they played, he hid and tried to keep himself from giggling because he was hidden so well. His sister did not see him, and he watched her through a crack in the wood. He was bubbling over and he was thinking, “She’s never going to find me; she’s never going to find me; she’s never going to find me.” And finally, he realized, “She is never going to find me.” He then stuck his foot out so that his sister would find him.

There are many people who have done their best to try and wedge themselves in a place hoping that the gospel would never find them. Perhaps they are comfortable playing a religious game and going to church on occasion, but, they are thinking, “I am going to hide from the influence, hide from the witness, and hide from the gospel itself.” Maybe this is you? Perhaps, today is the day that God has found you. If that is you, then confess your sins and pledge your life to Christ. If you do, all that I have said in this post can be yours, yours indeed.

 

Lord’s Day Meditation: “Partakers of the Divine Nature” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “Partakers of the Divine Nature” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 16, Morning)

“Partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4)

To be a partaker of the divine nature is not, of course, to become God. That cannot be. The essence of Deity is not to be participated in by the creature. Between the creature and the Creator there must ever be a gulf fixed in respect of essence; but as the first man Adam was made in the image of God, so we, by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, are in a yet diviner sense made in the image of the Most High, and are partakers of the divine nature. We are, by grace, made like God. “God is love”; we become love–“He that loveth is born of God.” God is truth; we become true, and we love that which is true: God is good, and he makes us good by his grace, so that we become the pure in heart who shall see God. Moreover, we become partakers of the divine nature in even a higher sense than this–in fact, in as lofty a sense as can be conceived, short of our being absolutely divine. Do we not become members of the body of the divine person of Christ? Yes, the same blood which flows in the head flows in the hand: and the same life which quickens Christ quickens his people, for “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Nay, as if this were not enough, we are married unto Christ. He hath betrothed us unto himself in righteousness and in faithfulness, and he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Oh! marvellous mystery! we look into it, but who shall understand it? One with Jesus–so one with him that the branch is not more one with the vine than we are a part of the Lord, our Saviour, and our Redeemer! While we rejoice in this, let us remember that those who are made partakers of the divine nature will manifest their high and holy relationship in their intercourse with others, and make it evident by their daily walk and conversation that they have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. O for more divine holiness of life!

 

For the Church: A Five-Year Appraisal (III)

October of 2017 marked my fifth year of service as president of Midwestern Seminary. In concert with that milestone, we began a new tradition here: the faculty lecture. I presented the inaugural address, entitled “For the Church: A Five-Year Appraisal.” This article, adapted from my faculty lecture, is the third and final installment. You can access the first article here, and the second here.

“Wars are not won by evacuations,” so declared the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, in the aftermath of the miracle at Dunkirk. Similarly, great institutions are not built by living in the past. They can’t go forward by making U-turns. Yes, we forget the past to our own peril, but we live in the past to our own regret.

God has given Midwestern Seminary a good five years, but what would it look like for God to give us a good five decades? What does For the Church mean going forward? As an institution, how do we rightly steward our gains? How do we project forward and outward our mission and ministry? How does our commitment to be For the Church direct us into the future? Consider with me these 14 points:

First, our vision necessitates a stubborn insistence to be For the Church. It is easy to be For the Church now. It is cool, everyone likes it. It’s great, students are coming. But what does it look like as it relates to our commitment in five, eight, or ten years when our enrollment is not going from 3,000 to 6,000, but is rather going from 3,000 to 3,500? To be For the Church means to rejoice in that. Any conviction worth holding is worth holding regardless of seasonality. For the Church, we believe, is God’s vision for this institution. We believe it is a biblically-based vision, and it must be a perennial one. We must make sure we are perennially committed to it.

So much so, second, For the Church is an a priori commitment. We must relentlessly ask, in light of that, how do we most faithfully serve Southern Baptist churches? Each one of those words matter. How do we— not just me – most faithfully serve Southern Baptist churches? Midwestern Seminary is a Southern Baptist institution, proudly and happily so. We are not committed to Southern Baptists just in some generic way, but rather specifically to the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention. A continual question must be, “What does faithfulness to Southern Baptist churches look like in our generation?” That question will not be answered merely by our convictions, but also by us having a healthy ear to the ground based on the needs of our churches. That changes year-to-year, decade-to-decade, and a responsible institution is mindful of the needs and the status of the churches that it serves.

This is a grand calling, and Southern Baptists are a grand people. Southern Baptists historically have been common folk who love the Lord, love the Bible, and love the gospel. There is a reason that we are the only Protestant denomination, save the Lutheran Missouri-Synod, that has actually made a self-correction. It is not because we are smarter than everyone else or that we are more gifted than everyone else or that we are more politically strategic than everyone else. It is because the people in the pew love the Bible and love the gospel. We must maintain an affinity for our people. We are a denomination historically that has been comprised largely of “butchers and bakers and candle-stick-makers” and that is great. It is a privilege to serve common folk who love the Lord Jesus.

Third, going forward we must evaluate our curriculum and our course offerings in light of the question, “How do we best serve Southern Baptist churches?” Answering this question may prompt adding initiatives. It may require pruning initiatives. It may prompt reshaping offerings, expanding offerings, or recalibrating offerings. We understand and are fine with other seminaries doing other things. If they want to offer everything under the sun, they can do that. They can play checkers; we will play chess. As for us, we will focus on the specific needs and expectations of Southern Baptist churches.

Fourth, For the Church must continue to mean, “For the Nations.” If I could put one asterisk beside For the Church, it would be that everyone seems to always forget it is For the Church—domestic and international. For the Church is a global vision. God is a global God doing a global work across the nations. We are a Great Commission people, and we should be intentional to talk about, strive for, teach for, and pray for the international church as well as the domestic church.

Fifth, going forward we must guard our hearts. I know God can do more in 10 seconds than we can do laboring for 10,000 years. At the same time, Satan, through a few ill-advised moments, can bring great harm to all that we’ve striven for. I want to press this further. I do not merely mean through great moral failures or great scandalous sins, I also mean through pride that can creep in as we celebrate God’s faithfulness.

Sixth, we must assume nothing. We must assume nothing, first and foremost, confessionally. We must continue to articulate, to advocate, to speak and to hold ourselves accountable to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the Danvers Statement, and the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. These are what the churches expect for us by way of our doctrinal beliefs, and we have to continue to state them again and again and again.

It is an appropriate thing to challenge people to make sure they are still holding steadfast to their first commitments. It is not a routine thing or a perfunctory thing to ask faculty anew, “Do you believe the Bible?” It is not a perfunctory, routine, or clinical question to ask faculty when they are renewing their contract, “Do you still hold to, without mental reservation or equivocation, The Baptist Faith and Message 2000? We do not take these things for granted confessionally.

Seventh, we must never lose sight of a keyword – stewardship. Everything I have previously addressed is a stewardship. The analogy I use is, “Leading a seminary in the 21st century is like sitting down to a game of chess where you are playing someone who has already been playing it for many hours before you.” Certain pieces are on the board and certain pieces are not on the board. Certain pieces are arranged as such that, if you had it do to over, you would put them elsewhere. We are a part of a divine chess game. In our generation, we have taken our place at the table, and we are playing the board to the best of our ability. One day we will get up from that chair and a new generation will sit down to lead and serve. Where are the pieces going to be located on the board when we leave it to them? What position are we going to leave this ministry and institution in?

Eighth, we must continue to pursue excellence. We cannot fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to who we were or where we were five years ago. It is appropriate to do that in order to celebrate God’s goodness, but it is not appropriate to do that if it leads to comfort or complacency. The issue is not the institution we once were. The issue is the seminary that we can become. We must continue to prize excellence and pursue it. Institutions do not drift into greatness. Inertia has never taken anyone to the top of the mountain. It has to be fought for, worked for, and sacrificed for daily. You keep pushing and one day you wake up and realize, “My goodness, by God’s grace we are sitting atop the greatest seminary in the world.”

What is more, there is no final victory. We do not get to cross the finish line one day and say, “Well, we are kind of done and we can quit hustling now.” There is no final victory in this great work. It is a pursuit we must continue to give our energies toward.

Ninth, going forward, our greatest challenges will be external.  I say this not to be a prophet but, in one sense, to speak prophetically. I believe over the past five years our greatest challenges will have proven to be internal. Much of the past five years has been about fixing things internally. As I look to the future, I think our greatest challenges are going to be external. We live in a world that is increasingly secular. We live in a world with accreditation agencies that cannot figure out what seminaries do. We live in a world marked by governmental intrusion, from administration to administration. We live in a world where there is so much in front of and around us that could disrupt our work. If I did not believe in the kind providence of God, I would not sleep nearly as well.

Tenth, we must continue to be rabidly denominational. Again, I praise God for our brothers and sisters in other evangelical denominations. Other agencies, other denominations, and other ministries have a role and a purpose, and I rejoice in what God has done over the past decade or so through many of those ministries. But Midwestern Seminary is a Southern Baptist institution and must be devoted to the churches of the SBC. I intend to be buried in Kansas City, but my casket likely will face Nashville.

Therefore, we are called to serve the convention, not to prod it, scold it, push it, or patronize it. We are called to serve it and only in the appropriate sense are we even called to lead it.

Eleventh, I believe Midwestern Seminary must increasingly take on a prophetic mantle for the church. I have been amused and deeply gratified as I see other institutions begin to speak more and more intentionally about the local church. Imitation, it is said, is the highest form of flattery.  At the same time, I believe God has given us such a distilled vision, and such a perch from which to speak, that we must continue to challenge other institutions about what they are doing for the local church. For the Church is such an obvious calling that every seminary should have, but unfortunately few seminaries have it as clearly and as prominently prioritized as they should.

Twelfth, we must be a strengthening institution that continues to strengthen. Fundamentally, Midwestern Seminary went from a school of roughly 1,000 to a school of 3,000 and that is an extremely different makeup. A school of 2,000 is different than a school of 1,000. A school of 3,000 is different than a school of 2,000. By God’s grace, if we see 4,000 or 5,000 that is dramatically different than a school of 2,000 or 3,000.

Therefore, we have absorbed a great deal of administrative and structural change over the past several years and we will likely be absorbing more. We must have the fortitude personally, the wherewithal institutionally, and the focus of mission collectively, to be willing to ask hard questions about who is doing what and how we are doing it. To relentlessly, in the spirit of businessman and consultant Jim Collins, be mindful of who is on the bus, as well as ensuring they are in the right seats on the bus, and to have a kingdom mentality about our own turf, roles, and responsibilities are essential. We must understand that all of us hold this stewardship with an open hand.

Thirteenth, we desire to build and maintain a seminary community where each member flourishes. My desire is that every member of our community – student, faculty, and staff – flourishes. My goal is that every person finds on this campus a community in which they flourish personally, as well as, vocationally. As a whole, we want them to look back over their family lives and their personal lives and say, “Some of the best years of our lives were at Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City.”

Finally, fourteenth, we must be intentional to keep the business model that we have. Having eggs does not mean you know how to make an omelet, but if you do not have eggs it does not matter whether you know how to make an omelet. In general, in higher education, the typical business model of the typical college appears to have been put together by a chimpanzee (A spend-thrift chimpanzee at that).

Our financial gains have been hard-won, and they can be easily lost. The prodigal son did not run out of money his first day out of the house. The higher education industrial complex is awash in waste, fraud, and abuse. I am grateful we are not a part of that at Midwestern Seminary, but I am mindful of the world that we live in and the air we breathe. If we keep our financial intentionality in this generation, we can build a sustainable seminary for all generations.

For the Church. It is the vision that called me to this place and, increasingly, it is the vision that has called us to this place. It is the vision that has radiated through this campus and reverberated across our great denomination. It is the vision that we, with appropriate institutional self-confidence, are projecting to all who have ears to hear. May we never cease to be thankful to God for the victories he has given us these past five years. May we never cease to serve in such a way that he is pleased to give us such victories going forward.

*This article was adapted from my faculty address delivered at Midwestern on 10/17/17*

Lord’s Day Meditation: “A People Near Unto Him” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “A People Near Unto Him” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 15, Evening)

“A people near unto him.” (Psalm 148:14)

The dispensation of the old covenant was that of distance. When God appeared even to his servant Moses, he said, “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet”; and when he manifested himself upon Mount Sinai, to his own chosen and separated people, one of the first commands was, “Thou shalt set bounds about the mount.” Both in the sacred worship of the tabernacle and the temple, the thought of distance was always prominent. The mass of the people did not even enter the outer court. Into the inner court none but the priests might dare to intrude; while into the innermost place, or the holy of holies, the high priest entered but once in the year. It was as if the Lord in those early ages would teach man that sin was so utterly loathsome to him, that he must treat men as lepers put without the camp; and when he came nearest to them, he yet made them feel the width of the separation between a holy God and an impure sinner. When the gospel came, we were placed on quite another footing. The word “Go” was exchanged for “Come”; distance was made to give place to nearness, and we who aforetime were afar off, were made nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. Incarnate Deity has no wall of fire about it. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” is the joyful proclamation of God as he appears in human flesh. Not now does he teach the leper his leprosy by setting him at a distance, but by himself suffering the penalty of his defilement. What a state of safety and privilege is this nearness to God through Jesus! Do you know it by experience? If you know it, are you living in the power of it? Marvellous is this nearness, yet it is to be followed by a dispensation of greater nearness still, when it shall be said, “The tabernacle of God is with men, and he doth dwell among them.” Hasten it, O Lord.

For the Church: A Five-Year Appraisal (II)

October of 2017 marked my five-year anniversary as president of Midwestern Seminary and, thus, five years of leading Midwestern Seminary For the Church. In concert with this milestone, we at Midwestern Seminary launched a new tradition, the faculty lecture. I had the privilege of presenting the inaugural address, entitled “For the Church: A Five-Year Appraisal.” This article, adapted from my faculty address, is the second installment in a three-part series. You can access the first installment here.

What Does it Mean to be For the Church?

What does it mean to be For the Church? It means so much, but from 30,000 feet it simple means for the church is our mission. It is why we exist, what we exist for; how we orient ourselves and our institutional goals; how we think of ourselves and project ourselves; and how we make institutional decisions.

Most especially, For the Church is seen through the faculty and the curriculum – who teaches, how we teach, and what we teach. How we teach is incredibly important. A seminary, in its final analysis, is not defined by the buildings it does or does not have, or the president it does or does not have. It is defined by the students it does or does not have, and the men and women it does or does not have teaching them. It makes all the difference to have professors who teach with that vision on the forefront of their minds.

Thus, church history is not just about memorizing names and dates, it is about seeing, knowing, and reveling in God’s faithfulness to his church for 2,000 years. Theology is not about deciphering how many angels can dance on the head of a needle, it is about equipping the people of God for faithful doctrine in the church. Missions is not merely about deploying missionaries, it is about understanding that missionaries are sent to reach the lost for Christ and to see them brought into healthy churches so that the church domestic is indeed the church global. Apologetics is not about merely crafting arguments, it is about equipping our people to be able to answer the questions so that the church might rightly defend the faith.

Moreover, biblical studies – Old Testament and New Testament – is not merely about seeing who can memorize the most vocabulary. It is about equipping our students in the Scriptures so that the people of God may be similarly equipped. Therefore, in every class, the professors must be able to draw a line from their subject matter to the local church.

Most especially, For the Church is seen in the hires we make. We ask ourselves, colloquially, when we consider hiring someone, are they “For the Churchy”? Do they want to serve the church? Do they see their primary calling as training pastors and ministers for the local church? If their first commitment is to the broader academy, then they are not going to be a good fit at Midwestern Seminary.

Finally, For the Church touches on the campus culture we seek to foster. From the events we hold to the guests we host, everything we do we want to filter through the question: does it enable us to better serve the church? For Midwestern seminary, this is the ultimate question.

Therefore, we reflect, under this vision, what has God accomplished these past five years?

First, For the Church has taken root. Over the past five years, God has chosen to bless our work in material and immaterial ways. For the Church has taken root and that is no small achievement. It has gone from being my vision to being our vision to being the vision.

This is no small achievement because many seminaries have no idea why they exist. I do not mean that as a statement of condescension, I mean that as a statement of fact. Many seminaries cobble together as many classes as they can, kind of like a shopping mall, and try to get enough people coming through the doors so that they can pay their bills. When that happens, the mission is diluted. So much so that the ministry and the emphases of the seminary quickly transitions to be focused on nothing.

At Midwestern Seminary, we sought to work backward and say, “We are going to build an institution devoted to the local church and then we will figure out who will come around that vision.” God has blessed us by sending us more students than we ever imagined. In fact, over the past several years we’ve been recognized by the Association of Theological Schools as one of the fastest growing seminaries in North America.

When ATS was putting the story together, they called me to inquire of our growth. My interviewer had no idea what we were doing and not much of an idea about theological education proper. She asked me about our growth and said, “What have you done? Have you expanded your advertising? Have you expanded your admissions office?” All her questions were programmatic. I said, “Ma’am, we have sought to bring excellence to every area of the campus, but to understand our growth you have to understand that it is not about new programs or new hires, but rather our vision. We exist for the local church and the vision is resonating broadly within our constituency, the Southern Baptist Convention.” So, God has blessed, and For the Church has taken root.

Second, God has given us a collection of faculty and staff who share our vision. God is calling extremely gifted and faithful people to come here. It is often underestimated how massive it is when a person who has four or five young kids uproots and moves 400 miles, 800 miles, or across the ocean to come to a new place of service. That is a considerable upheaval and no one, in his or her right mind, would do that casually. God has given us such men and women, servants of extreme gifting who serve with a pronounced sense of calling. I am extremely grateful for all of my colleagues at Midwestern Seminary, both those who preceded me and those who have come in more recent years, who are cheerfully laboring For the Church.

Third, God has given us a student body who is choosing Midwestern because of the vision. When enrollment is talked about, it primarily has to do with numbers. But if mere numbers are the focus, the bigger issue is overlooked. The issue in seminary is not how many students you have, it is the quality of students you have. What are they coming to do? How clear is God’s calling on their life? Why are they coming to be trained?

What is more encouraging than going from a seminary of a little over 1,000 to now more than 3,000 students is the quality of our students seems to be getting better and better and better. In fact, one simple metric I have in the back of my mind informally as I walk around and meet students is the thought, “Okay, in five years will this guy be pastoring a church?” I love to be able to think, “Yeah, I can see it. I can see him planting a church, or I can see him going to the mission field, or I can see him doing consequential things for the church.”

Fourth, as already referenced, God has given us a surging enrollment. When I came to Midwestern in 2012, I dreamt of an enrollment of 2,000 students. If I’m honest, I did not think we could necessarily get there. There was nothing empirical that suggested we could, given where higher education and seminaries were trending. The 2,000 number was, frankly, in my mind a goal that if we hit I thought we could have a sustainable business model. This was the ideal student population I hoped to have to be able to support the staff and faculty. God has done so much more than that. He’s done more than any of us could have thought or asked.

Fifth, God has given Midwestern a robust and sustainable business model. This should not be taken lightly. If an administration spends all its time doing crisis fundraising, which is a losing proposition, they are unable to do the things that matter most – investing in the team and, thus, investing in the students. Additionally, it matters because we want to keep tuition low for students, to care for faculty and staff, and to be able to recruit and retain the best faculty and staff. All of these things take financial resources.

Sixth, over the past five years, God has given us a convention of churches who look to us with growing confidence. In a recent video, I was proud to see multiple men talking about how churches are looking to our seminary with confidence. They are proud of who we are, and they are proud of what we are producing. The day that the denomination loses confidence in its seminary, is the day that seminary begins to go out of business.

Finally, God has given us a renewed spirit on our campus. It is one of unity, purpose, cheerfulness, comradery, and mission. This, indeed, is a joy-filled place to serve. Like our other blessings, we do not take this for granted.

I am reminded of the great line from Winston Churchill in the aftermath of the miracle at Dunkirk where he famously declared, “Wars are not won by evacuations.” Similarly, great institutions are not built by living in the past. We forget the past to our own peril, but we live in the past to our own regret.

God has given Midwestern a good five years. What is it like for God to give Midwestern a good five decades? What does it mean going forward? How do we rightly steward our gains? How do we project forward and outward our mission and ministry?

Next week, in the third and final installment of this series, we will explore the future of For the Church.

*This article was adapted from my faculty address delivered at Midwestern on 10/17/17*

 

Lord’s Day Meditation: “He Shall Not Be Afraid Of Evil Tidings” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “He Shall Not Be afraid Of Evil Tidings” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 15, Morning)

“He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.” (Psalm 112:7)

Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?

Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?

Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, “Stand still and see the salvation of God.” For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God’s high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, “let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

For the Church: A Five-Year Appraisal (I)

At Midwestern Seminary, we are beginning a new tradition: the faculty lecture. Formal academic presentations have a rich history in theological education and a rich history within the Southern Baptist Convention. After all, it was a faculty lecture that birthed Southern Baptist theological education in the first place.

The newly minted professor, James P. Boyce, delivered his inaugural faculty address entitled, “Three Changes in Theological Institutions” at Furman University in 1856. Many Southern Baptist leaders, including Basil Manly Sr., Basil Manly Jr., Jesse Mercer, W.B. Johnson, and R.B.C. Howell had advocated for a theological institution in the South. It was Boyce whom God raised up as the ultimate catalyst, founding Southern Baptists’ first seminary in 1859.

During his two-hour address, Boyce argued for three changes in theological education in order to produce an abundant ministry, a learned ministry, and an orthodox ministry. To achieve these ends, he argued a new seminary should make available programs of study to every student regardless of their previous level of education or even if they had no education at all. He also contended that the seminary should facilitate and promote the highest level of academic achievement. Then, to attain orthodoxy, every professor must subscribe to a confessional statement.

In short order, Boyce’s dream would be realized through the founding of the SBC’s mother seminary in 1859. But, he not only founded our mother seminary, he set the course for theological education within the SBC. So much of what is right about our six seminaries, over 150 years later, can go back to that founding address—“Three Changes in Theological Institutions.”

More than a century later, and closer to home, Ralph Elliott stood before his Midwestern Seminary colleagues on September 8, 1960, and delivered his inaugural academic address. In a matter of months, he would publish The Message of Genesis and in so doing plunge both the institution and the denomination into a season of great upheaval and controversy.

Yet, one did not have to wait until The Message of Genesis was published to sense what was to come. All you had to do was hear his address. You could clearly sense his appreciation for Julius Wellhausen, Karl Barth, Reinhold Neiber and others, as well as his desire to build an Old Testament department free from doctrinal fundamentalism and biblical literalism. The storm which would come to be known as the Elliott Controversy appeared in seed form that day for all who had ears to hear.

Now at Midwestern Seminary, we celebrate an important occasion, not as auspicious as Boyce’s proved to be, and not as catastrophic (I trust) as Elliott’s, but significant none-the-less. In concert with my fifth anniversary as president of Midwestern Seminary, we are initiating a new tradition, the faculty address. In so doing, we are restating, reviewing, and reasserting our vision For the Church.

On this campus five years ago, we set out on a new institutional course. Our stated goal was simple—to be the premier institution in North America training pastors, missionaries, and ministers to serve the local church. For the Church was born. Over the next few weeks, I want to reflect briefly on that vision, restate our commitment to it, review what gains God has given us, and look forward to the future.

First, why be For the Church? We believe For the Church is a biblical mandate. We find our charter in the church’s charter in Matthew 16, where Jesus promised to build his church. We see that theme picked up and reiterated throughout the New Testament in places like Ephesians 4, where Christ promises to gift his church with pastors,  ministers, and evangelists. We witness the theme in the book of Acts where we see the church birthed, growing, and metastasizing throughout the Mediterranean region and beyond.

We move to the Epistles, and what do we see? We see letters to churches about how the church is to be governed, how the church is to function, what the church is to teach, and what Christians are to believe. Then, we come to the end of the Book, and what do we see? We see the book of Revelation—seven letters written to seven real churches—and we take in this great picture of Christ coming back ultimately and triumphantly for his church to rule and reign throughout the cosmos.

We argue and believe that Midwestern Seminary’s right to exist, therefore, is directly tethered to our faithfulness to the local church. Moreover, I believe that any parachurch organization or ministry should be evaluated primarily based upon its faithfulness to serve, support, and strengthen the local church. Christ has promised to build his church, not his seminary. But as we are faithful to his church, doubtlessly He will build this seminary.

Second, For the Church is a denominational expectation. In 1957, the SBC founded Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City, its sixth and youngest seminary. Some were arguing for Chicago, others Jacksonville, still others Denver. Kansas City won out for three reasons. First, in Kansas City the seminary was positioned to penetrate the West and the North, which remains to this day needy for the gospel. Second, burgeoning enrollments at both Southern Seminary and Southwestern Seminary compelled the convention to say, “We need a seminary in Kansas City to alleviate the enrollment burden on those two schools.” Third, we were founded to serve the underserved churches in this region so they might have a sufficiently equipped clergy. In other words, there is a denominational expectation, explicitly set forth both in our founding documents and in our formal ministry assignment from the SBC, to serve the churches of the convention, especially the churches in our region.

Third, For the Church has a historical imperative. Every time a seminary or divinity school has drifted from the church, disaster has always followed. One must simply read books like Glenn Miller’s Piety Profession or James Burtchaell’s The Dying of the Light to see the drift and what follows. Whether it is correlation or causation someone else can determine, but the facts are clear: When colleges, seminaries, or divinity schools wake up one day and are no longer under the oversight of a local church, disaster follows.

There is a symbiotic relationship between the church and the seminary; they are to serve, strengthen, and support one another. It is the great, tragic irony that so many seminaries and Christian colleges, founded by churches to serve and support them, end up being the poisonous well that undermines those very churches.

Fourth, we realize there is a present urgency for our vision. Our denomination, and the broader Evangelical world, is in the middle of a massive generational transition. A generation of ministers is retiring. The churches are asking, “From whence will a new generation come?” Midwestern Seminary must be ready to respond to that question every year going forward by supplying a new generation of pastors, missionaries, and ministers to serve our churches. Failure to do so will stymy the churches in our region.

Thus, our mandate is clear: we exist For the Church. Next week, in Part II of this series, we will explore Midwestern Seminary’s commitment to this vision.

*This article was adapted from my faculty address delivered at Midwestern on 10/17/17*

Lord’s Day Meditation: “I Acknowledged My Sin Unto Thee” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “I Acknowledged My Sin Unto Thee” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 14, Evening)

“I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” (Psalm 32:5)

David’s grief for sin was bitter. Its effects were visible upon his outward frame: “his bones waxed old”; “his moisture was turned into the drought of summer.” No remedy could he find, until he made a full confession before the throne of the heavenly grace. He tells us that for a time he kept silence, and his heart became more and more filled with grief: like a mountain tarn whose outlet is blocked up, his soul was swollen with torrents of sorrow. He fashioned excuses; he endeavoured to divert his thoughts, but it was all to no purpose; like a festering sore his anguish gathered, and as he would not use the lancet of confession, his spirit was full of torment, and knew no rest. At last it came to this, that he must return unto his God in humble penitence, or die outright; so he hastened to the mercy-seat, and there unrolled the volume of his iniquities before the all-seeing One, acknowledging all the evil of his ways in language such as you read in the fifty-first and other penitential Psalms. Having done this, a work so simple and yet so difficult to pride, he received at once the token of divine forgiveness; the bones which had been broken were made to rejoice, and he came forth from his closet to sing the blessedness of the man whose transgression is forgiven. See the value of a grace-wrought confession of sin! It is to be prized above all price, for in every case where there is a genuine, gracious confession, mercy is freely given, not because the repentance and confession deserve mercy, but for Christ’s sake. Blessed be God, there is always healing for the broken heart; the fountain is ever flowing to cleanse us from our sins. Truly, O Lord, thou art a God “ready to pardon!” Therefore will we acknowledge our iniquities.

 

Lord’s Day Meditation: “There Were Also With Him Other Little Ships” by C. H. Spurgeon

Lord’s Day Meditation: “There Were Also With Him Other Little Ships” by C. H. Spurgeon (Morning and Evening, September 14, Morning)

“There were also with him other little ships.” (Mark 4:36)

Jesus was the Lord High Admiral of the sea that night, and his presence preserved the whole convoy. It is well to sail with Jesus, even though it be in a little ship. When we sail in Christ’s company, we may not make sure of fair weather, for great storms may toss the vessel which carries the Lord himself, and we must not expect to find the sea less boisterous around our little boat. If we go with Jesus we must be content to fare as he fares; and when the waves are rough to him, they will be rough to us. It is by tempest and tossing that we shall come to land, as he did before us.

When the storm swept over Galilee’s dark lake all faces gathered blackness, and all hearts dreaded shipwreck. When all creature help was useless, the slumbering Saviour arose, and with a word, transformed the riot of the tempest into the deep quiet of a calm; then were the little vessels at rest as well as that which carried the Lord. Jesus is the star of the sea; and though there be sorrow upon the sea, when Jesus is on it there is joy too. May our hearts make Jesus their anchor, their rudder, their lighthouse, their life-boat, and their harbour. His Church is the Admiral’s flagship, let us attend her movements, and cheer her officers with our presence. He himself is the great attraction; let us follow ever in his wake, mark his signals, steer by his chart, and never fear while he is within hail. Not one ship in the convoy shall suffer wreck; the great Commodore will steer every barque in safety to the desired haven. By faith we will slip our cable for another day’s cruise, and sail forth with Jesus into a sea of tribulation. Winds and waves will not spare us, but they all obey him; and, therefore, whatever squalls may occur without, faith shall feel a blessed calm within. He is ever in the centre of the weather-beaten company: let us rejoice in him. His vessel has reached the haven, and so shall ours.

Six Simple Steps to Revolutionize your Spiritual Life

As Christians, we are absolutely responsible for our growth in Christ, yet entirely dependent upon the Holy Spirit to foster such growth. This duality, one of the great paradoxes of the Christian life, is captured in Paul’s exhortation to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose” (Phil. 2:12–13).

Thankfully, God has made plain how we are to pursue Godliness and how he works in us to this end. In fact, the secret to the Christian life is there is no secret. God has given his children spiritual disciplines like prayer, worship, and especially, Bible intake to nurture our sanctification.

Why Bible Intake?

While all the spiritual disciplines are commended, Bible intake is the most foundational and most urgent. It is the indispensable discipline because it informs, fosters, and enables the other disciplines. For example, the Bible teaches one how to intercede, thus informing the discipline of prayer. The Bible presents the person and work of Christ, thus informing evangelism. The Bible is the Word of God, thus enabling worship through the reading and preaching of it. Likewise, the Bible similarly informs, fosters, and enables each of the spiritual disciplines, giving it a singular status.

The preeminence of Bible intake is rooted in the nature and status of Scripture itself. God chose to reveal himself to his people through his Word. The Bible is self-described as being “like a hammer that pulverizes rock” (Jer. 23:29), and as a word that “will not return to Me empty” (Isa. 55:11). Moreover, it makes binding, theological claims of itself, declaring, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).

Evangelical Christians embrace the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture. “Plenary” emphasizes the totality of Scripture, and “verbal” underscores that the words themselves—not merely the authors’ or their thoughts—are inspired. Since all of Scripture is inspired by God, it is true, trustworthy, and authoritative.

Bible intake, though singular in importance, is practiced through six primary steps. Practice these six simple steps and see your Christian life revolutionized.

Hearing the Bible is the most basic and common form of Scripture intake. It occurs when one sits under the ministry of the Word, whether preached or taught, received in person, or through other mediums. Jesus pronounced blessing upon those who hear the Word of God and obey it (Luke 11:28), and Paul assigned the “public reading” of Scripture as an indispensable part of public worship to ensure God’s people heard God’s Word (1 Tim. 4:13).

Reading the Bible, at the personal level, is perhaps the most essential form of Bible intake. For the Christian, nothing should displace daily Bible reading. This includes both the macro-level of reading through books of the Bible, and the micro-level of reading passages and verses repeatedly for greater familiarization and specific application.

Studying the Bible gives the Christian depth and strengthens his knowledge of God, thus enabling him to more ably teach and defend the faith. Every believer is called to be a Berean, searching the Scriptures and weighing teachers and doctrines by them (Acts 17:10–12). Such is expected of a disciple—or learner—of Christ, and the most faithful disciple will “be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).

Memorizing the Bible is another proven method of Scripture intake. In so doing, one hides God’s Word in his heart, so as not to sin against Him (Ps 119:11). Moreover, it follows the pattern of the Bible itself. Whether it is Jesus quoting the Scriptures to Satan or Paul reasoning from the Old Testament to his Jewish interlocutors, the Bible prioritizes “treasur[ing] Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11).

Meditating on the Bible sounds like a mystic practice to some, but it is a biblical concept and a distinctly Christian activity. In fact, God links meditating on his Word with obedience and blessing (Josh. 1:8, Ps. 1:1–3). Meditating on God’s Word is as simple as intentionally reflecting on a passage of Scripture, directly applying its truth to your life, and letting it marinate in your heart. Time devoted to lingering over Scripture is time well spent, as it surfaces implications for one’s life and enables the living and active Word of God to convict of sin and inform the conscience (Heb. 4:12).

Praying through the Bible flows naturally from Scripture meditation. Giants of the faith, such as Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, and especially George Mueller made a habit of praying through Scripture. The Psalms especially lend themselves to prayer. In the Psalter, one finds the full range of human emotion, gains a panoramic view of God’s Work, and encounters the full pallet of biblical truth. Additionally, praying the Scriptures helps assure one’s prayers are biblically sound and most pleasing to God.

Conclusion

Though the Western world is largely Bible-saturated, many professing Christians in the West ironically live Bible-depleted lives. This is a tragic occurrence, but not perplexing. The answer to the problem is not hidden, neither is it complex. Christians are called to be people of the book—the Bible—and therefore must prioritize the spiritual discipline of Bible intake.

Not everyone can preach a sermon, lead a Bible study, or persuasively advocate for biblical truth, but every believer can and must engage in Bible intake. In as much as the Christian life has a silver bullet, it is Bible intake. Therefore, practice these six simple methods of Bible Intake and see your Christian life revolutionized.

*This article was originally published on 12/9/13*