A Secular Worldview On Public Display

Our church is 1/3 of the way through The Truth Project. I hope you have been enjoying this great study as we gaze upon the face of God and consider what is truth. I have continually found myself learning something new each week as I watch the video and listen to the discussion taking place in my group.

I am about to bring up a politician, but please note that I am not making a political statement. I am taking the words of a politician and pointing out how her worldview can be seen in a policy statement she has made. Of course, our Christianity should influence our political views, but that is another discussion.

This past Sunday (1/25), we got to see a secular worldview on display. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about an upcoming bill that is, ostensibly, intended to stimulate the economy. The question she was asked concerned hundreds of millions of dollars that were intended for "family planning" services, which means anything from abortion to contraceptives. What made this remarkable was her response to the question of how this money can "stimulate" the economy.

Mrs Pelosi said that "contraception will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government". She went on to say, ""The family planning services reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs.

"One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government," she said in an interview on Sunday on ABC's This Week.

This is a very utilitarian view on human life. In this circumstance, Mrs. Pelosi assumes that the question of human life is determined, not by the worth of a person based upon man being created in the image of God, but upon how much money this person (or potential person) may cost the state. I hope this disturbs you as much as it does me.

The implications are staggering and the results of this type of worldview would be (and have always been) catastrophic. If a culture accepts this assumptive language in regard to abortion/contraception, it cheapens human life to a commodity. This worldview makes a human life's value to be determined on dimes and nickels. This leads to atrocities like euthanasia and infanticide within a culture.

The antidote to this utilitarian worldview? Simple. View the world from God's perspective. When you look at people the way God does, you will hold life to be precious and valuable. David's words in Psalm 139 reveal the truth about mankind.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I that full well. My frame is not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Names, Titles, and Descriptions of the Holy Spirit

This is the last of the postings containing the names, titles, and descriptions of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I hope you find this helpful and encouraging. For myself, I find my heart rate picking up and a little bit of excitement as I read from these lists. Our God is an amazing, awesome, and powerful God, and He has chosen to reveal Himself to us. Enjoy learning more about the Holy Spirit. Research of few of these titles or descriptions in the Bible and learn to experience Him in the way He is described.

Names, Titles, and Descriptions of the Holy Spirit

a deposit
Holy One
Holy Spirit of God
seal
Spirit of Christ
spirit of fire
spirit of grace and supplication
Spirit of holiness
Spirit of Jesus Christ
spirit of judgment
Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord
Spirit of life
Spirit of sonship (adoption)
Spirit of the Sovereign Lord
Spirit of truth
the gift
Voice of the Almighty

Names, Titles, and Descriptions of Jesus

My previous post mentioned a few of the names, titles, and descriptions of God. I thought I would expand that list to include Jesus. The next posting will look at the names, titles, and descriptions of the Holy Spirit. These lists just barely scratch the surface. As I mentioned in the previous post, these lists are from Henry Blackaby's book Experiencing God. His list covers two pages.

Names, Titles, and Descriptions of Jesus

Alpha and Omega
Ancient of Days
Anointed One
author and perfecter of our faith
bread of life
Chief Shepherd
Christ Jesus my Lord
Faithful and True
firstborn from among the dead
great high priest
head of the church
Holy and Righteous One
Immanuel
Jesus Christ our Savior
King of Kings
Lamb of God
light of the world
Lord
Lord of Lords
Lord of the harvest
man of sorrows
my friend
Physician
Prince of Peace
ransom for all men
resurrection and the life
Rock eternal
Savior of the world
Son of the living God
Teacher
the Amen
the First and the Last
the Living One
the One and Only
the true vine
the Word
Wonderful Counselor
Word of God
Word of life
your life

Names, Titles, and Descriptions of God

One of the things that Dr. Tackett mentions in tour #4 is his personal study of the names of God. This is a great way to learn more about God, His character, and His nature. This posting will be rather simple and short. I want to list for you just a small handful of names, titles, and descriptions for God. This is from a list Henry Blackby has in Experiencing God.

I would encourage you to look over the list and pray. If one of the names or titles captures your heart or attention, then study more about that aspect of God in Scripture.

Creator of heaven and earth
defender of widows
father to the fatherless
God Almighty
God my Maker
God my Rock
God my Savior
God of all comfort
God of grace
God of hope
God of truth
God who avenges me
Holy One
I am
Jealous
Lord (Adonai)
Lord my Banner
Lord who heals you
my advocate
my refuge in times of trouble
the consuming fire
the gardener
the Glory of Israel
the God who saves me
the one who sustains me
the potter
the true God

God of the Living

I must admit, it has been great to transition from lesson 3 to lesson 4 in The Truth Project. Lesson 3 is a little depressing as we considered man and the evil that is in the world. On the other hand, lesson 4 is so exciting as we consider who God is.

This last Sunday, I mentioned that God is the God of the living and not the dead.

"He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive." (NIV) Luke 20:38

Consider for a moment the significance of this statement. Wherever God rules and reigns, He brings life. This reminds me of a professor at seminary who said about Jesus that "every funeral that Jesus attended He busted up and turned it into a family reunion!" God brings life, even to death.

This is no small thing. Man's enemy is death. It is the one thing that man has no power with which to overcome this issue. Man can never be good enough or penitent enough to overcome death. So God, in His infinite grace and mercy, overcomes death through Jesus dying on the Cross. All that we need to do is to place our faith in Him to have life.

"'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (NIV) 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Even as we see terrible things going on in the world today, we should not be discouraged. God is bigger than any economy, government, or sin in this life. We know that those who call on Jesus as Lord and Savior have eternal life. The only true safety and security that we have is Him.

"The the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord god will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever." (NIV) Revelation 22:1-2, 5

Stopping The Lie

One of the central themes of tour #3 in The Truth Project is the lie that "man is inherently good and evil is a result of the culture." This is the best attempt of the secular humanist philosophy to describe human nature and the existence of evil. This lie has led to issues like abortion, euthanasia, moral relativism, environmentalism, and other abhorrent thoughts and behaviors in the world.

One of the most distressing aspects of the lie is that it is believed by so many Christians. Far too many Christians don't see the evil that is inherent in the above topics. Unfortunately, they believe those behaviors are acceptable in our society. As Christians, we must recognize that we are created in God's image and that each person is born with a sin nature. We must think, speak, and act to demonstrate that there is right and wrong in the world. We must oppose evil, even when that evil is "socially acceptable" like abortion.

There is so much more I would like to say, but I think I will end with a simple appeal to Christians. Stop spreading the lie. Before we start going out and telling others, we must stop working for the enemy in spreading the lie. Make sure the way you think, speak, and act line up with God's truth.

"I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments." (NIV) Galatians 2:4

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of the world rather than Christ." (NIV) Galatians 2:8

"The world is too dangerous to live in- not because of people who do evil, but because people sit and let it happen." Albert Einstein

"Let us not forget that violence does not and cannot flourish by itself; it is inevitably intertwined with lying. Between them there is the closest, the most profound and natural bond; nothing screens violence except lies. and the only way lies can hold out is violence. Whoever has announced violence as his method must inevitably choose lies as his principle... The simple act of an ordinary courageous man is not to take part, not to support the lies! Let the lie come into the world, even dominate the world, but not through me." Alexander Solzhenitsyn

A Vision For Growth

As a small group leader, it can be very easy to fall into the habit of looking only at your own group and to lose sight of how your group fits into the larger picture of the life of the church. I hope you noticed in my recent email how many groups we have started in the last two weeks. These new groups bring a new energy to our church and have made for an exciting two weeks. This "new life" makes it exciting as we realize that God is at work.

We should not resign ourselves to losing that momentum and excitement though. Often, we fall into the trap of thinking that this will only last for a moment, then everything will return to "normal." I want to call our small group leaders to accept a "new normal."

I believe we can perpetuate this sense of excitement and movement within our church, if we transform our thinking to envision our small groups birthing new groups on a regular basis. Each group should have the goal of seeing new leaders being raised up within the group, then those leaders starting a new Bible study group.

It is certainly harder to do in South Florida. Our core group of long-term South Florida residents is much smaller than in other areas, but that just means it should be easier for our groups to multiply because we are familiar with "releasing people" to go to other places. Instead of fixating on the sorrow of letting people leave, you should focus on the satisfaction in seeing God raise up new leaders within your group, knowing that God used you to help them mature.

Some of the most fun I experienced in small group ministry was as a small group leader at Wedgwood in Fort Worth, TX. In the four years I attended, our Young Married department birthed another department with three classes and another 3 classes within our department.

So what do you need to do to start this process?

1. Make sure your attitude is one of wanting to raise up and release new leaders, not hoard group members. Unfortunately, leaders sometimes feel threatened if people leave the group. Our God is big enough to send new people, so don't fret when a person or couples leave to start a new group.
2. Pray for God to raise up new leaders from your group. Matthew 9:28 tells us to ask God to raise up laborers, so this is where we start. As the discipleship pastor, I ask people to lead. I ask because I observe a level of maturity in their life, but you are in a better position than I am to do this. You get to see how God works through each person in your group each week. Pray for God to show you who He may want to call out to lead.
3. Give away some teaching responsibilities to group members. Give away a section of the study or have the person guide the group through a question from the study. This gives them a chance to put their teaching skills to work, while you can observe how they do in a teaching environment.
4. Ask people to substitute for you when you are out to give them a chance to lead. When you come back, quietly ask others how the person did. You may discover your new leader through this opportunity.
5. Suggest they step up and be a co-leader. Start sharing the burden of leadership. This will lighten your load and equip the new leader for the next step.
6. Finally, if you have navigated a person to this point, its time to consider starting a new group. There are several ways the new group can start, the point I want you to consider for now is that you can see a person you have been grooming to lead now being ready to lead.

A great blog about multiplying groups is found here.

I hope you will catch a vision for developing new leaders from your own group to start new groups. One of the greatest measures of success for a small group leader is how many new leaders you develop from your own teaching ministry. I personally cannot think of a greater joy than knowing God has used me to equip others to teach God's word.

Why we honor life

One of the unfortunate results of the abortion/pro-life debate is how Christians have been painted into a corner. Christians have allowed themselves to painted with the brushstrokes of what we are against, rather than being known what we are "for." I believe one of the great causes of this is that so many believers don't know why a Christian is to be "for" life.

Tour #3 of The Truth Project touches on the issue of anthropology or man. A couple of key verses in Scripture help us understand why life is so important.

Genesis 1:26-27: Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 9:6: "Whoever sheds man's blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man."

Both verses point to the reason why life matters. The worth and value of a person, ultimately, lies in the fact that each and every person bears the image of God. Because each person, born and un-born, bear this image, they have purpose and meaning and worth. This is no small matter. As Dr. Tackett points out this week, our meaning and morality must have an anchor "outside of the cosmic box" for it to serve all people. The same is true for valuing life.

Many people determine the "worthiness" of a person to live from a utilitarian perspective. A utilitarian point-of-view says, "This person is worthy of being saved because they can contribute to society" or "they will not be a burden on others, therefore they are OK." This is a direct result of the "might makes right" worldview.

Christians should be known for their defense of life. The only way we can avoid the label of being against something else is for us to have the ability to articulate what we are for. This requires us to know the truth and to be able to explain it in a compassionate, well-reasoned manner.

Please pay close attention to Tour 3 this week. Wrestle with the truths that are discussed and incorporate them into your life. Afterwards, begin articulating what you believe and why to others. It is through this process of knowing why you are for the preservation of life that you can begin to dialogue with those who hold a different worldview in a way that can perhaps bring transformation.

A great website that discusses pro-life issues on occasion, as well as other worldview related topics, is Al Mohler's blog. You can find a link under "My blog list."

Assumptive Language

Our church is now two weeks into The Truth Project. My prayer has been that God would open our eyes to His truth, and that we would be aware of how the culture attacks a biblical worldview. This week's lesson addresses that very topic.

The opening segment of this week's lesson helps us see the insidious way culture attacks our worldview, while foisting their own worldview upon others. The example of Carl Sagan's Cosmos is great because most schools probably allowed that to be shown in classrooms across the country. By doing it this way, millions of young minds were exposed to an anti-biblical worldview without ever directly addressing the issue.

I hope you see this as a wake-up call as a leader to be attentive to words. As a leader of a small group, you must be on the look-out for assumptive language of group members. When they use assumptive language that leads them from God's truth, your task is to help guide them back to the truth, as commanded in 1 Timothy 3:16. We don't do this in an "ugly" way, but with grace and compassion.

Beyond you catching people using assumptive language, you should try and help others learn how to discern when assumptive language is being used. If you can do this in your home, workplace, and small group, then you will have equipped people to be better equipped to interact with the world. In essence, you will have multiplied yourself to increase your influence with others for the cause of Christ.

Reading over the Christmas holidays

I wanted to share with you a couple of things I learned while reading over the Christmas holidays. The number one thing I learned is how much I missed reading "for pleasure." I spend a lot of time reading books for my role as pastor or books to "help me grow", but I rarely read fiction titles for the purpose of enjoying a book.

During my vacation, and between times with family, I read three books. I re-discovered the joy of letting my imagination being exercised and "seeing" far-way lands as I devoured some books. I guess I realized that like my physical body and intellect, I need to exercise my imagination. I feel like my thinking is broadened and my perspective is bigger because of what I read over the break.

The second thing I learned (or re-learned) is how good a writer J. R. R. Tolkien was. I read The Children of Húrin and was blown by his ability to create worlds, peoples, and stories. He is able to draw readers into a new world that feels real, and reveals the struggle between good and evil that rages within the world and ourselves.

Tolkien is one of my favorite authors, and I am biased to like anything he has written. If you have never read Tolkien, then I would suggest you begin with The Hobbit and go on to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. His objective was to create a "new mythology" for english speaking people. This new mythology would teach people universal (biblical) truths through the use of these stories.

So, pick-up a good book and enjoy.

Small Group Update

We are only eight days into the new year, and it is already a pleasant surprise. The first week of The Truth Project has been great. I hope you enjoyed leading your group (or participating) as much I have enjoyed my groups. I have watched the video of Tour one 5-6 times before leading a couple of groups this week. I still learned something new each time I watched the video this week. It is especially striking to me how closely truth and salvation are linked together. Although the terms "truth" and "salvation" are not interchangeable, it is apparent that salvation is not possible without truth.

God is doing some amazing things in our small group ministry. By next Sunday evening, our church will have started seven new small groups in one week! That is a blessing from God, and a testimony to people responding to God's call. I am "counting my chickens before they hatch" in saying this, but we will have right at 200 adults in a small group Bible study this week. With the new groups that are starting this Friday and Sunday, we may end up with 230-250 people in small groups next week.

As I have contemplated and prayed about what this means, I have had two very distinct thoughts. One, imagine what God could do with 200 adults who are thinking and acting from a biblical worldview. Many lives could be changed if we, God's people, started living that way. The second thought is that Satan will not be happy that this many people will be studying God's word, and he will try to disrupt what God is doing.

Therefore, we need to be praying. Pray that God will continue to raise up new leaders and add people to small groups. Pray that people will not only hear God speaking through The Truth Project and Rob's messages, but that we will act on what we hear. Finally, pray that God will protect us from the spiritual attack we will face because of people's obedience.

New posting/sorry for the absence

Well, from the appearances on my blog, it has been awhile since anything new showed up on the page. Sorry about that. A few of the postings that were to show up in December "disappeared!" I'm not quite sure what happened. I guess I will chalk it up to an "I D 10 T" error ("idiot": get it?)

Expect much more frequent postings over the next 13 weeks as we go through The Truth Project. The group that I led on Sunday was great, and I was blown away by the lesson. It was the sixth or seventh time of seeing Tour #1, and I still learned something new.

If you are reading this and don't know what The Truth Project is, go to www.thetruthproject.org to learn more. If you live in Broward County, Florida, go to www.fbcweston.org to find a group to participate in The Truth Project.

Just wanted to do a quick post tonight. A new posting will come later today (Wednesday).