Michael Horton on the Manhattan Declaration

Today I read Michael Horton’s “A Review of the Manhattan Declaration”, and I found it enlightening. I don’t think his arguments are designed to convince the reader to sign or not sign the document. They did not sway me in either way. They seem to be designed to give the evangelical some clarification on why the document is not a truly evangelical document, which in and of itself is enlightening.

I encourage you to read the review and comment back here on your impressions. Should one be persuaded to sign or not sign by Mr. Horton’s arguments?

• Michael Horton’s “A Review of the Manhattan Declaration
• The Manhattan Declaration

“Crazy Love” and My Sorrowful Reaction

I just finished reading Francis Chan’s book entitled “Crazy Love”. Many people talk about this book and their love for it. Chan states in the last chapter that he hopes his readers walk away “encouraged”. I can’t say that I did, at least not like others.

Chan talks about how the Christian life is to be radical. His overpowering message is that as a Christian I should be radically in love with God such that I would do anything that He calls me to do. Now, I agree and have no problem with that concept. Where it gets tough is in the application.

I found myself angry at times reading this book. Is it right to put such a high standard of devotion on Christianity such that the assurance of many fails? Is true love for God really a love that is not only willing to sacrifice anything for Christ but actually does? It was impossible for me to escape it. After all he was simply repeating the preaching of Christ. The answer to both questions is yes.

My response, as I finished reading, was an overwhelming sorrow. I kept asking myself, “What will it cost me and my family to follow Christ? Am I willing to pay that price? Am I making excuses by waiting for God to call me or should I simply move out in faith?”

Such is the nature of a book like this. It creates questions, which only God can answer. Chan is right to acknowledge that God called no two people to express there love for Him in the exact same way save that they love and obey Him. So, I will seek to love and obey Him for I want nothing more than to serve Him with all my life.

What about you?

I Am A Nobody! What About You?

My pastor preached from the gospel of John yesterday, and last night, as he discussed the testimony of John the Baptist, he hit on a very powerful one liner from The Baptizer.

“A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.” John 3:27

That is a most humbling and comforting statement. Think about it. You and I have nothing that God did not give to us. That is humbling because it confirms the fact that we are completely dependent on another, namely God. This thought and the ability to construct it in sentence form is mine because God gave it to me. Literally, everything that I have comes to me from God.

This is a comforting statement, but only for those who follow Christ and confess Him as Lord and Savior. It is comforting because as a child of God I have a perfect and loving Father who is perfect in blessing me with good gifts and perfect in correcting me with righteous and loving discipline. Everything that I need He can and will give to me, because He loves and redeemed me with a great price.

I am nothing, and that is good, for in being nothing I put God in His rightful place as above everything. What do you think? Do you believe John’s statement and if so, what are the implications for your life? Please share your thoughts.

Blessings, Mark

Unity in the Church – A Sure Path

There is no question that our Lord desires the Church to be unified. However, achieving unity in the church is difficult. We are sinful creatures who are driven by our individual passions, and those passions conflict. As a result, we choose to avoid each other, or we openly fight with each other. In either case, we are not in unity.

The question is, “can we obtain unity”? James says, “yes, you can, but you have to understand why you lack unity and what it takes to achieve unity.” He begins by asking some questions to which he gives the answer.

”What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:1-3

It is all about personal pleasure. We are guided by our passions, and when our passions are fueled by the motive of personal pleasure, we come into conflict with each other.

It is interesting that James’ answer does not primarily involve changing our passions but changing our activity along with our passions. His instruction to us is to pray; ask God for the things that we want. “You fight with each other because you don’t have what you want, but did you ask for it?” So, one of the reasons we fail to achieve unity in the church is because we don’t ask God to give us what we want; we don’t pray.

However, it does not stop there. Some of us ask but still, we don’t receive. This is where our passions come into play. When our passions are driven by selfish motives (personal pleasure), then our prayers are not answered. Our motives too, must change (Spiritual pleasure must win out). Our motives must be driven by the will of God. “You quarrel with one another and commit murder in your heart, because you do not seek the will of God.”

To achieve unity in the church, the people of the church must pray, asking God for the things they desire in accordance with the will of God. We must be Spirit lead people and people of prayer. This is a sure path to unity.

To Sign or Not to Sign – The Manhattan Declaration

Recently a document was presented to the National Press Club entitled “The Manhattan Declaration”. It is a document written and signed by leaders of the Roman Catholic church, the Orthodox church and Evangelical churches. The aim of the document is to make a statement concerning the collective resolve of these leaders and the other signatories that we “reaffirm” and “defend” such “fundamental truths” as “the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife and the rights of conscience and religious liberty.”

At the time of this post 123,115 individuals have signed this document. However, it has not been without disagreement among evangelicals. If you are still not sure whether you should sign the document, please consider reading the document and the opposing evangelical reasons concerning signing the document. I provide you with the links below.

• The Manhattan Declaration
• Albert Mohler’s reason for signing
• John MacArthur’s reason for not signing

I hope you will consider this issue prayerfully.

Mandate to the Church, Part 3 – Live In Peace

The Church is a blessing. I love her and desire to see her abiding in Christ. Much of the difficulty we see in the Church stems from the fact that the members of the body don’t abide in Christ. It is as if my hand said to my brain, “No, I will touch the fire, regardless of how much it hurts me and the body.” I pray with my Lord that the Church would be one as Jesus and His Father are one.

This goal was Paul’s when he told the Thessalonians, “Live in peace with one another.” He echoed the words of Jesus who said, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” To be the salt of the earth we must live in peace with each other. Now, peace and unity are things often discussed in the church but not nearly as often achieved.

The first reason for this state is that we are not abiding in Christ in every area of our lives. We hold out things for the self, personal things that we want to protect from the encroachment of our faith, and thus, we put a condition on how we live with one another. We live in peace so long as peace does not interfere with our personal god. The simple answer to dealing with this problem is to kill the self, to mortify the flesh and the desires thereof.

The second reason is more about knowledge and understanding. Often we don’t live in peace with one another because we don’t know what living in peace looks like. In fact, we have created a picture of peace in our minds that is not true. Paul explains to us what peace looks like. I start with the first few pictures found in 1 Thessalonians 5:13-14. Peace can only exist in the Church when the following things are true:

• The unruly are admonished – Church discipline is practiced
• The fainthearted are encouraged – Pastoral care is done
• The weak are being helped – True religion is active
• The governing attitude is patience – We are longsuffering

If we can grasp these things, understand them rightly and practice them well, we will see our selfish motivation die. It would defeat my purpose here to let you walk away from this word looking at the “leaders” in your church saying, “Yeah, they really should be doing these things.” Paul was writing to the whole church, not just the “leaders”. Christ was speaking to all his disciples not just some. These things fall under the realm of responsibility for us all.

It is my hope in the days to come to talk about these things in more detail. I ask that you prayerfully consider them. Pick any one or more of them, and let me know how you would describe them and expect to see them being practiced in the Church. Pray that you would practice them yourself and then do it.

• Part One
• Part Two

Mandate to the Church, Part Two - Love Your Pastor

Previously I talked about appreciating your pastor. I mentioned that we should recognize the heavy burden upon him as he sits under the charge to care for our souls. This recognition leads to an unwillingness to slander or speak ill of our pastor. It leads to a deep appreciation for and a graciousness toward him.

As Paul continues his plea to the church, he takes our treatment of those who have charge over us to a higher level. It is not enough that we appreciate our pastor. Paul says, “We request of you brethren…that you esteem them highly in love because of their work.” Three things must be addressed here. One, what we are to do. Two, how we are to do it. Three, why we are to do it.

What we are to do is esteem our pastor. The word esteem communicates the idea that we are to view our pastor as one who is above us as our leader, governor, or prince. In other words, our actions toward our pastor must be akin to those of a follower to his leader, a citizen to his governor, or a subject to his prince. This is how you are to think of and treat your pastor.

Now, if we were to leave it there, we would miss something very important. Many people are fine with the concept that a follower can disrespect a leader, a citizen can criticize and ridicule a governor and a subject can subvert and even plot against a prince, but not if he loves him. That is how we are to esteem our pastor: with love. It is more than just appreciating him. It is loving him as one who has charge or authority over us. We are to look at our pastors as men whose rule over us is a joy to our hearts.

Some might say, they love their pastor by keeping him humble, but that is not your job. You esteem him with love. Submit to him, even in joy, desiring and praying for his success as God’s under-shepherd. God will humble the man, if humbling is necessary. You esteem with love.

Why must we esteem our pastor with love? Because of his work. Now this word ‘work’ may speak of the things that he does, the output of his life, or it may speak of employment, that with which he is occupied. I tend to think it refers here to the latter. The reason we esteem our pastor in love is because of where God has placed him. He is not your pastor because you choose him. He is not your pastor because he was the best candidate for the job. He is your pastor because God, in his care for you, gave him that office. In recognition of this fact, we should esteem him as one who has authority over us, because God has given him that authority. We should do so in love, because it was in love that God placed him over us.

This is the beginning of the path to unity for God’s people.

Part One