Tom Nettles on the Future of the Southern Baptist Convention

Tom Nettles is one of the foremost Baptist historians in the world. His published work has helped shape Southern Baptists for more than three decades in the areas of biblical authority, Baptist identity, gospel recovery and church health and polity. There is no one that I would rather hear talk about the SBC's prospects than Dr. Nettles.

At the upcoming Founders Breakfast in New Orleans, Louisiana, we will have an opportunity listen as he does just that. Once again this year the breakfast will be held just prior to the opening session of the convention's annual meeting. The theme for his talk is

Retrospect and Prospect: A Historian's Perspective on the Future of the Southern Baptist Convention

Cost for the breakfast is $25.00. Register before May 30 and get a 20% discount. For more information and to register online click here.

The need for discriminating preaching and the danger of its absence

I was struck again today by the simple, devastating indictment that 2 Kings 17:33 makes against generic religion

So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods.

This brief summary describes the mixed multitude of Assyrians who were settled in the fallen nation of Israel. Because of God's judgment on them and their pagan worship, the king of Assyria sent a priest from Israel to "teach them the law of the god of the land" (v. 27). So that priest settled in Bethel and "taught them how they should fear the LORD" (v. 28).

The indictment of verse 33 sheds light on the kind of teaching that the priest did. He certainly introduced them to the ways of the LORD and no doubt taught them the forms, patterns and language of worship. But the result was that they settled into a comfortable lifestyle of "fearing the LORD" while also serving "their own gods."

The priest failed to be discriminating in his preaching. No doubt he taught them many true things, but he failed to show them the incompatibility of revealed truth with commonly held errors. He taught them what to accept, but not what to reject. And the result was, as Matthew Henry calls it, a "mongrel religion." It had the trappings of the true while being at heart false.

The priest's preaching and teaching lacked discrimination. For preaching to be true and faithful, it must be discriminating. It must not only show what is true but show how that is distinguished from what is false. And it must do this on the key issues of the faith. So discriminating preaching will not only show what true faith is, it will also point out how it differs from various expressions of false faith. It will distinguish true repentance from false repentance; true worship from false worship; true piety from false piety; a true church from a false church; etc.

It is very tempting for a preacher to avoid being discriminating in his sermons. After all, the priest in Bethel probably had an easy and perhaps even an acclaimed ministry teaching all those Assyrians the law of God and how to fear the LORD. Yet, because they did not turn from their false gods, his preaching led them to hell. Discriminating preaching would not allow such pluralistic idolatry go unaddressed. But there would have been a cost involved. People don't mind adding God to their personal pantheons, but when you start shining the light of the exclusivity of Christ on their idols, people tend to take it personally.

This is why discriminating preaching often gets preachers into trouble (and it probably also explains why there is so little of it being practiced today). It is one thing to teach people what a horse is. You can draw it out for them in exquisite detail with eloquent accuracy and garner great appreciation for the care and accuracy with which you teach. But when you next go on to describe a cow and carefully show how, despite their similarities, the cow is not a horse, your teaching becomes discriminating. Then, many of those who came to church riding their cherished (sacred?) cows, thinking them to be horses might become highly offended at you for pointing out the difference. After all, such animals have been ridden for years, maybe for generations. Who are you to suggest that they aren't really horses!

Discriminating, expositional preaching is a great need in our day. We must be willing to show from the text what God says is right and true and then distinguish that from all of the counterfeits that plague the world and church today. Failure to preach and teach like this leads to a mongrel religion that may fly under the banner of Christianity but has missed Christ altogether. It is a frightening prospect. Where there is no discriminating preaching, it has been and remains a tragic reality.

Georgia Index's Gerald Harris on "The Calvinists are here"

Editor Gerald Harris has written an editorial entitled, "The Calvinists are here" and published in the Georgia Baptist's Christian Index. It's truly sad. I don't think it is available online, yet, but if it becomes available, I will link to it. For now, you can read a retyped copy of the article below. As I read it I felt like I was caught in a time-warp and taken back a decade or so. Anyone who has been around the SBC for very long knows that Calvinism has been a whipping boy for certain SBC leaders and agitators for much longer than that. But, fortunately (and, I would add, by God's grace) the broadsides began to be toned down over the last few years. That's not to say that the criticism has stopped and the straw men arguments have disappeared, but the attacks have been more like sniper fire than the previous scud missile-like salvos against Calvinists in the SBC.

I and others have long contended that there are anti-Calvinists in the SBC who would love to demonize their fellow Southern Baptists who hold to the doctrines of grace. Though their rhetoric has been more restrained the last few years due in part to gracious and bold leadership on the part of some "non-Calvinists" (not to be confused with the anti-Calvinists) in the SBC, they obviously have not changed their agenda, despite their refined tactics.

It is sad. And frustrating. It's also a reminder that if calmer, more biblically informed heads do not prevail in leading the debates over doctrinal differences within the SBC, then that on which we do not agree will be leveraged to divide us despite all that we have in common (authority of Scripture, salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, Baptist distinctives, etc.). I would hate to see that happen. If the kind of article that Harris has written becomes the norm again in the SBC, then such a division will become increasingly likely.

Here is where I think we--Calvinists and non-Calvinists alike--must fight hard to walk a straight course. We must determine to speak the truth in love. That does not mean covering up or even ignoring erroneous and fallacious arguments that are made by doctrinal proponents. But neither does it mean returning caricature for caricature. Ed Stetzer's blog post today, "The Baptist Boogeyman," points the way forward in a Christ-honoring manner.

Here is Harris' article:

The Calvinists are here
By J. Gerald Harris, Editor
Published February 9, 2012

John Calvin (1509-1564) was an influential French pastor and theologian during the Protestant Reformation. He is best known for his “doctrine of predestination,” which became the foundation of his theology – suggesting that God predestined certain individuals to be saved.

Calvinism is known for its five basic tenets summarized by the acronym TULIP. Those five points ofCalvinism are (1) Total depravity of man, (2) Unconditional election, (3) Limited atonement, (4)Irresistible grace and (5) Perseverance of the saints.

There are some Calvinists who suggest that unconditional election means that God chooses, or “elects,” His children from before the foundations of the earth – that God does not just “know” what decision people will make, but that God causes them to make the decision to seek Him.

There are also those who hold to Reformed theology who believe limited atonement means that the death and resurrection of Christ is the substitutionary payment for the sins of only those who are God’s elect children, but not the entire world.

Many who embrace Reformed theology are motivated to allow it to influence their church polity by substituting congregational church government with an elder system of church government. While that works well for some churches, James MacDonald, a self-proclaimed Calvinist and member of the advisory board for LifeWay’s new Sunday School curriculum, writes, “Congregational government is an invention and tool of the enemy of our souls to destroy the church of Jesus Christ.”

Calvinism also influences other areas of theology and ecclesiology, but newspaper real estate prohibits a further exploration of all the facets of Reformed theology.

In 2007 Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., who has served as chairman of the Trustees at Southern Seminary and is one of the most notable Calvinists in SBC life, wrote a series of blog posts titled, “Where’d All These Calvinists Come From?” In his blogs Dever listed ten reasons for the blossoming of Reformed theology’s TULIP within evangelicalism.

Frank Page, chief executive officer of the SBC Executive Committee, was quoted in SBC Today, saying, “I think the challenges confronting the SBC today are different than they have been in decades past. I think one of the issues, which is a tremendous challenge for us, is the theological divide of Calvinism and non-Calvinism.

“I think the challenges confronting the SBC today are different than they have been in decades past. I think one of the issues, which is a tremendous challenge for us, is the theological divide of Calvinism and non-Calvinism.”

“Everyone is aware of this but few want to talk about this in public. The reason is obvious. It is deeply divisive in many situations and is disconcerting in others. At some point we are going to see the challenges ensuing from this divide become even more problematic for us. I regularly receive communications from churches who are struggling over this issue.”

Former SBC President Jerry Vines was also quoted in SBC Life, proclaiming, “Theologically, will the issue of Calvinism create further division in the SBC? I have been an SBC preacher over 50 years. I have worked quite well with my Calvinist friends, many of whom I invited to preach for me. “I have no desire to run all Calvinists out of the SBC; I think it would be divisive and wrong. But, current attempts to move the SBC to aCalvinistic soteriology (doctrine of salvation) are divisive and wrong. As long as groups and individuals seek to force Calvinism upon others in the Convention, there will be problems. There is a form of Calvinism that is militant, hostile and aggressive that I strongly oppose.

“I have stated before, so it’s not new news, that should the SBC move towards five-point Calvinism it will be a move away from, not toward, the Gospel.”

So, apparently the Conservative Resurgence and the Great Commission Resurgence has been joined by a Reformed Resurgence. The Calvinists are here. Their presence is evident in many phases and places in Southern Baptist life.

Many great preachers and theologians have embraced Calvinism through the years, but today some greet the rising tide ofCalvinism with delight, others with disdain.

The Economist reports, “Since 1990 the [SBC] has been losing ground, relative to America’s population, to other evangelical churches. So cadres of Young Turks are looking back to the 16th century for fresh inspiration.

According to LifeWay Research, the SBC’s, statistical arm, 10 percent of all SBC pastors now identify themselves as Calvinistsand a third of recent graduates from SBC seminaries espouse Reformed doctrines, with Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY, a particular source.

It would be surprising if The Gospel Project, a Sunday School curriculum for all ages that LifeWay will soon be rolling out, were not marked by an unmistakable Reformed theology.

Trevin Wax, who works at LifeWay Christian Resources as managing editor of The Gospel Project, admits that he has been influenced by Reformed pastors and authors like John Piper, Mark Dever, J. I. Packer, C. J. Mahaney, Jerry Bridges, Sinclair Ferguson, Tim Keller and others.

The advisory council and writers for The Gospel Project (including D.A. Carson, Matt Chandler, James MacDonald, Eric Mason, Joe Thorn, Juan Sanchez, Collin Hansen, former North American Mission Board missionary to the Internet Afshin Ziafat and Geoff Ashley – for the most part looks like a Who’s Who of Reformed theologians.

The average Baptist who sits in a Sunday School class or a small Bible study group has depended on LifeWay to provide Bible study materials that are true to the Word of God and representative of historic Baptist theology. However, for bane or blessing LifeWay President Thom Rainer seems to have led the SBC literature-producing agency to become more and more Reformed in its theological content.

North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell has a goal to plant thousands of churches over the next ten years, but there seems to be a shortage of church planters. According to a LifeWay study in 2006 nearly 30 percent of SBC seminary graduates between 1998 and 2004 now serving as pastors describe themselves as Calvinists. Since the LifeWay study is now over five years old the number of Reformed pastors has doubtlessly increased by now. The most recent NAMB On Mission magazine highlights several church planters, two of whom could be seen as Reformed in their theology.

Won Kwak has planted Maranatha Grace Church in Fort Lee, NJ. North Shores Baptist Church in Bayside, NY, Kwak’s mother church, has developed a ministry called Doctrines of Grace Church Planters. On their website they proclaim, “Sovereign Grace Church Planters exists solely for the purpose of planting sovereign grace churches in and around the New York City area.”Reformed leaders James White and D.A. Carson endorse this church-planting ministry.

The second church mentioned in On Mission magazine is City on a Hill in Brookline, MA, in metro Boston where Bland Mason is pastor. I had the privilege of meeting Bland in December and really like him. He is also the chaplain of the Boston Red Sox, which makes him particularly special to me.

Some have been critical of City on a Hill being featured in On Mission because it is also included on the Acts 29 Network website as one of its churches.

NAMB President Kevin Ezell recently explained that Mason’s church was recommended for inclusion in the magazine by the leadership of the Baptist Convention of New England, that Mason is a soul winner, and that the church is an ardent supporter of the Cooperative Program.

Some contend that churches associated with the Acts 29 Network are anathema because of their identification with the Network’s founder and lead visionary, controversial Seattle pastor Mark Driscoll. The Network is also admittedly evangelical, missional and Reformed in its approach to church planting.

Others will find it interesting that St Louis is targeted as one of the focus cities in Send North America. In St. Louis NAMB will encounter a Baptist association that has already launched 15 church plants, seven of which are listed as Acts 29 Network churches.

In an exclusive interview with Ezell in our June 2, 2011 issue titled “Filling the Blanks,” The Index reported, “Missionary participation (with the Acts 29 Network) does not concern Ezell one way or the other; he neither endorses nor criticizes such involvement. And since NAMB trustees have not set policy on the issue, he does not involve himself with the discussion.

Ezell emphasized, “We plant Southern Baptist churches that adhere to the Baptist Faith and Message and support the Cooperative Program.”

Although Acts 29 only has 288 churches in its network in the U.S., Driscoll seems to have a significant influence in the lives of some Southern Baptists. It should be noted that Mark and Grace Driscoll have written a book entitled “Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship and Life Together.” The book has shocked conservatives with its graphic sexual descriptions and alarmed liberals because of its degradation of women.

Writer and blogger Rachel Held Evans stated in the Nashville Tennessean that the Driscolls give too many intimate and specific details about sex. She added, “I don’t need my pastor to tell me whether or not I should use sex toys. I don’t feel like I needed all of those details.”

The Tennessean also reported, “In short, the Driscolls say sex is only for married couples, and that those couples should be best friends, have lots of sex and skip the birth control pill, using alternate sex acts that don’t cause pregnancy when necessary.”

Denny Burk, associate professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College, the undergraduate arm of Southern Seminary, has reviewed the Driscolls’ book. Burk indicates that the book is sexually explicit in some ways, but the Driscolls’ offer a disclaimer by stating that anyone uncomfortable with the book’s content must be either a rube or uninterested in reaching the culture for Christ.

Call me a rube or a hick.

Burk adds, “To those with legitimate concerns, these remarks come across as dismissive at best and patronizing at worst.”

The book would hardly be worth mentioning except for the fact that Southeastern Seminary President Danny Akin and his wife Charlotte endorsed it. In recent years Driscoll has been a chapel speaker at SEBTS and his influence at the seminary cannot be ignored.

There is a growing perception that Southern Seminary has become a seedbed for a brand of Calvinism that is quite different from theReformed theology of its founder, James Petigru Boyce, and also a training ground for Reformed church planters. Therefore, it appears that some of our institutions and agencies are giving, at the least, tacit approval to Reformed theology or are, at the most, actively on a path to honor, if not implement Reformed theology and methodology in their institutions.

While most of the Reformed pastors and churchmen I know are gracious and godly people with a profound devotion to the Word of God, Southern Baptists must decide if they are satisfied with what I would call the presumable encroachment of Calvinism in SBC life.

By the way, Southern Baptists must also soon decide if they want to fulfill their ministry under another name. There are at least four possibilities: Evangelical Baptist Convention, Continental Baptist Convention, International Baptist Convention and Great Commission Baptist Convention. At least, those four domains were purchased through GoDaddy.com in September 2011.

I personally think the Great Commission Baptist Convention is more likely to be the recommendation of the SBC name change committee. Leaders may reason that Southern Baptists could no more reject the recommendation of the Great Commission Baptist Convention than they could reject the Great Commission Resurgence recommendations. The subliminal implication is “to reject the new name is to reject The Great Commission and Southern Baptists would never do that.”

If that is the suggested name and if we dare vote for it to be our new appellation we dare not defame it with half-hearted evangelism and church plants that wither away in five years.

The Christian Index

Resurgence of Calvinism noted by Louisville Courier-journal

The Louisville Courier-Journal and writer Peter Smith are to be commended for an even-handed treatment of "new Calvinism" and the way it is exemplified within the Southern Baptist Convention by Pleasant Valley Community Church (PVCC). This is the church whose application for membership the Davies-McLean Baptist Association rejected last year (you can read my thoughts about that fiasco here).

Here is a video that accompanies the story in the Courier-Journal. It is encouraging to see and read honest reporting about the resurgence of the doctrines of grace from a secular source. Some Christian bloggers, reporters and pastors would do well not only to read and watch the report, but to take notes on how Peter Smith did it. Read the article here.

What is the greatest threat facing the Southern Baptist Convention

Jared Moore recently asked me to address this big question. I'm sure my answer will surprise some and anger others. But I'm also hopeful that my thoughts will resonate with many. Here is part of what I said.

I think the SBC is facing an identity crisis that, if not resolved with a humble, biblical understanding of and clarified commitment to the gospel and the church (and the relationship between the two), will cause it's relevance to diminish with an increasing number of churches.

We can no longer assume that just because a church is Southern Baptist it therefore genuinely understands the gospel and knows how it works to save sinners. Commensurate with this is the preaching of Christ. There is a difference between preaching about Christ and preaching Christ, just as there is a difference in preaching from the Word and preaching the Word. In some respects preaching about Christ from the Word is a more serious error than preaching rank heresy in the same way that being almost right can be worse than being completely wrong. A slight miscalculation is harder to detect but can prevent a space shuttle from reaching the moon just as surely as a blatant mathematical mistake.

You can read the whole interview here.

Pleasant Valley Community Church on mission

Pleasant Valley Community Church of Owensboro, Kentucky has not let a local Baptist Association's and Director of Mission's rejection of them to knock them off course. They have been and remain on mission in planning and working to get the gospel of Jesus Christ to an unreached people group in Asia. The International Mission Board recently highlighted their efforts in an informative and challenging story that is worth reading.

May the Lord raise up more and more churches to accept the challenge of going to hard places with the gospel.

Tom Nettles: Ministry By His Grace and For His Glory

Scripture says to give honor to whom honor is due (Romans 13:7). Today I have one the greatest privileges of my life in recognizing and paying honor to one of the Lord's most useful servants in our generation, Dr. Tom Nettles. If all goes as planned then during today's chapel service on the campus of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, I will present Dr. Nettles with a festschrift that has been written and compiled by a number of his friends, students and colleagues who have been influenced by him over the thirty-five years of his teaching ministry.

Ministry By His Grace And For His Glory: Essays in Honor of Thomas J. Nettles, edited by Thomas Ascol and Nathan Finn, has been a labor of love. Of all the men whom the Lord has used in my life to help me understand the grace of God in the gospel, none has been more influential than Tom Nettles. When I was a college student who was contemplating walking away from a call to gospel ministry, Tom cared enough to give me time (though I was a stranger to him) and to challenge me lovingly to reexamine both the Scriptures and my own heart. As his student I continued to benefit from his patient yet uncompromising counsel, both inside and outside the classroom. From the earliest years of my marriage he and Margaret have modeled for Donna and me the love and humility that should characterize a Christ-honoring marriage. As a friend, he has never failed to offer me the benefits of his wisdom and experience, even when doing so crossed my thinking and exposed my own folly.

Tom does not need me to highlight his usefulness in the kingdom of his Savior. His record is on high and many of his works are readily available on earth. But, the Scripture does command us to give honor to whom honor is owed. This is an admittedly difficult command to obey because all honor, praise and glory belong ultimately to God and God alone. I know of no one who understands this more clearly nor defends our Lord’s honor more passionately than Tom Nettles.

Consequently, I know he would have been extremely uncomfortable with this project and most likely would have contended against it--had he known about it. That is precisely why we did not ask his permission and have kept this whole project as a secret, hoping to surprise him today. I can think of few positions less desirable than standing against Tom Nettles when he is convinced God’s honor is at stake! I am banking on his humble submission to divine providence to prevent such a debate now that the book is published.

Nathan Finn has been an outstanding co-laborer in this project and there is no doubt in my mind that it would not have been completed without his yeoman's work. I am blessed to call him friend. We are delighted to offer this book of essays in honor of our professor, mentor and friend, and pray that it will in some way help advance the cause of the gospel that Tom Nettles loves and has proclaimed throughout his ministry.

More information about the book, including a special introductory offer, is available through Founders Press.

More Anti-Calvinism in the SBC

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.... That must be the way that Pastor Jamus Edwards and the members of the Pleasant Valley Community Church (SBC) felt when the Davies-McLean Baptist Association (DMBA) in Kentucky refused to allow them to join last week. This recommendation to reject was made by the credentials committee and overwhelmingly accepted by the messengers at their recent annual meeting according to a report in the Western Recorder (see p. 3).

Why the rejection? Ostensibly, the credentials committee reported to the association that the reasons for rejection stem from concerns Pleasant Valley Community Church would not be "sympathetic with the purpose and work of the body of the DMBA" due to a perceived "overall lack of the key elements of cooperation found in patience, humility, kindness, compassion and gentleness."

Because I know Pastor Edwards and some of the other leaders in that church, I find the committee's judgment hard to believe. Because I have a copy of the official report of the credentials committee--the one requested by and sent to Pleasant Valley Community Church--I find that language duplicitous and disingenuous. There are 14 numbered "findings" in the official report.

• Number 9 states, "We believe the teaching of Pleasant Valley Community Church to be sound in their doctrine."
• Number 10 states, "We believe the practice and constitution of Pleasant Valley Community Church to be orderly."

What is blatantly missing in the official report is any suggestion that the church is lacking in basic Christian attitudes such as "patience, humility, kindness, compassion and gentleness."

Pleasant Valley is a faithful member of the Southern Baptist Convention and Kentucky Baptist Convention. I wonder if the those two bodies know that they have a church in their midst that has been judged to be so devoid of Christian character ("patience, humility, kindness, compassion and gentleness") that a local association denied it membership? I think it would be appropriate for those bodies of churches to respond to slanderous accusations of the DMBA and make their own public judgments about Pleasant Valley.

In reality, as the Western Recorder rightly surmises, the real issue is about Calvinism or, more accurately, anti-Calvinism. According to Pastor Edwards, the Director of Missions (DOM) for the DMBA made it clear from the outset that Pleasant Valley was not welcome in the DMBA because of their theological convictions. The credential committee's report admits concern over the fact that Pleasant Valley's "confessional statement is one that (is) Calvinistic in nature. It affirms the doctrine of election and grace." This is not only anti-Calvinism, it's anti-Baptist Faith and Message. Article 5 of that confession, adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925, 1963 & 2000, is entitled "God's Purpose of Grace" and states,

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.

Sounds like the "doctrine of election and grace" to me.

I don't want to be misunderstood. The DMBA is an autonomous body and can accept and reject whomever it chooses. They are perfectly free to hire and retain an anti-Calvinist DOM to lead them. That is simply the Baptist way. It's also the Baptist way to tell the truth and trust the people. The truth is that Pleasant Valley is a wonderful Southern Baptist church that has been rejected by the DMBA because of that body's fear and rejection and misunderstanding of doctrinal beliefs that are embedded in the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message.

That is tragic. Furthermore, it is not the way forward for the body of churches known as the Southern Baptist Convention. I hope that the kind of attitude displayed in this action by the DMBA will be increasingly deplored by all Southern Baptists (including those who are less Calvinistic as well as those who are more so) who are fully committed to the Word of God and willing to fellowship and cooperate around the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Remembering 9/11

Ten years ago, on September 11, I was in my study, like most Tuesday mornings, working on my sermon for the next Sunday morning. The first notice I received of the attack on our nation was from a phone call from my brother. He asked if I was near a TV. I wasn't, but I turned on a radio and began listening to the reports. When the second plane hit the World Trade Center the commentators began using the terminology of "terrorist attack" and "war."

I remember speaking to my secretary, then interrupting a ladies' Bible study to inform them. After that, I went home to be with my family. With the exception of the youngest ones, we were riveted to the television screen for most of the rest of the day. We called for a special church prayer meeting that night. Strangers mingled with our people in solemn silence. Some struggled as we prayed not only for the injured and the families of those killed but also for the murderers who commandeered the planes, planned and financed the attack. We also prayed for six Muslim young men from Central Asia to whom we had been ministering for months.

That Sunday evening we once again spent much time in prayer for the great needs of our nation. At the close of the service, after I had dismissed the congregation, one of our young Muslim friends, JB, bounded up to the pulpit and asked to speak. I stood with him as he apologized, in behalf of Muslims, for the attack on our nation. He explained that not all Muslims shared the views of those radicals behind the attacks and with great emotion, expressed his deep sorrow. I took the opportunity to explain to him, once again, the gospel of Jesus Christ. For fifteen minutes, with my arm around his shoulder, I reasoned with him from Scripture and pleaded with him to trust Christ. Most of our folks were standing, having begun their exit before JB asked to speak. It was a touching scene, and a reminder to all of us that both the attackers and the attacked need the grace of God in the gospel.

The next Sunday I encouraged our church to consider nine realities as we were still processing what had happened to our nation. When reviewing them this week, I found them still relevant ten years later, as we remember the events on that horrific day.

1. The worst of human nature is on display

• The depravity of humanity has been highlighted by the terrorists

• Romans 3:10-20

2. The best of human nature is on display

• God created us imago Dei; the rescue workers; heroes on United flight 93; responses across the land; Red Cross turning people away, etc.

• Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 8

3. This is a time to mourn

• Some of you are bothered by the fact that you find yourself weeping over the course of a day, and you can’t stop. I haves something to say to you: WEEP! It is right to "weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). Eccles. 3:4, "A time to weep, [as well as] a time to laugh; A time to mourn, [as well as] a time to dance."

4. This is a time to pray

• You may not always know what to say or do, or IF you should say or do anything, but you can always be sure that it is right to pray! Pray for those families who have lost moms & dads and sons & daughters. Pray for justice; for President Bush and our other leaders. Pray, as Jesus taught us, for our enemies.

• Philippians 4:6-7

5. This is a time to acknowledge the reality and power of evil

• Satan is real and powerful and he conspires with our own sin and the world to destroy people.

• Job 1:2; 1 Peter 5:8-9

6. This is a time to remember the Supremacy of God

• The Bible teaches us that God is sovereign over every creation. There is not a random atom anywhere in His universe. It also teaches us that He is infinitely wise and eternally good. Though we don’t have pat answers to all the questions which this attack raises in our minds, we can and we must rest in the greatness and goodness of God. He reigns supreme even over this cruel evil.

• Daniel 4:35; Job 42:2; Acts 2:22-24

7. This is a time to be humbled

• Our billion dollar monuments to power and wealth have been reduced to rubble. Feelings of superiority and invincibility have been shattered. We are forced to see how small we are before God.

• Job 38-41

8. This is a time to be hopeful

• Seriousness across our land, and indeed the world; cancellations of sports, etc.

• Interest in prayer—among God’s people and others (No ACLU complaints)

• Longing for justice; the evident hope that there is a God

• Psalm 42 (esp. v. 5)

9. This is a time to listen

• By that I mean a time to think. To reflect. To ask, "God, what are you saying to our world? Our nation? To me?" God speaks in providence. There are countless examples of this throughout the Old Testament in the way that God dealt with Judah and Israel. In Amos 4, for instance, God criticizes Israel for failing to listen to His voice when He spoke to them in circumstances:

• Famine and draught (Amos 4:6-8)

• Crop failure (9)

• Disease (10a)

• Military invasion from enemies (10b-11)

All this, "Yet," God says, "You still have not returned to Me."

The Preacher's Difficult Work

John Venn (1759-1813) became rector of Clapham Church in South London in 1792 and served there until his death. He was the son of the better known, Henry Venn, also a minister in the Church of England, and a friend of William Wilberforce and Charles Simeon. He also served as chaplain to the Clapham Sect. After his death, a collection of his sermons was published by his son. The first message in the first volume is "The Importance and Difficulties of the Christian Ministry" based on 1 Corinthians 2:3. The whole message is worth reading. The following excerpt is taken from that sermon.

 It is a difficult service in its own nature. Were the work of a preacher indeed confined to the delivery of a moral discourse, this would not be an arduous task. But a Minister of the Gospel has much more to do. He will endeavour, under Divine Grace, to bring every individual in his congregation to live no longer to himself, but unto Him who died for us. But here the passions, prejudices, and perhaps the temporal interests of men combine to oppose his success. It is not easy to obtain any influence over the mind of another; but to obtain such an influence as to direct it contrary to the natural current of its desires and passions, is a work of the highest difficulty. Yet such is the work of a Minister. He has to arrest the sinner in his course of sin; to shake his strong hold of  security; to make the stout-hearted tremble under the denunciation of God's judgment; to lead him to deny himself, as to sacrifice the inclinations most dear to him--to repent, and become a new creature. Neither is the work of the Ministry less arduous in respect to those whoa re not open and profligate sinners. Self-love, the most powerful passion of the human breast, will render it equally difficult to convince the formalist of the unsoundness of his religion, the pharisee of the pride of his heart, and the mere moralist of his deficiency in the sight of God. In all these cases, we have to convey unpleasant tidings; to persuade to what is disagreeable; to effect not only a reformation in the conduct of men, and a regulation of their passions, but, what is of still higher difficulty, a change in their good opinion of themselves.  Nay, further we have not merely to “wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” “Who is sufficient for these things?” For this office the Christian Minister may in himself “have no resources above those of any of his congregation,” their weaknesses are his weaknesses, he must therefore undertake his work in weakness, fear and much trembling, but knowing that it may yet be effectual, for it is in weakness that Christ’s strength is always made perfect.