Social Gospel vs. Proclamation Gospel

Social Gospel vs. Proclamation Gospel from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

For those viewing by email, you will have to go to my website to view this video.

The Gospel and the Poor

I read this piece by Tim Keller a while back and it really impacted me. This should be required reading for everyone involved in ministry to the poor. It is also required reading for every Christian because we are all called to care for the poor. Elders at churches would profit greatly from it. Executive Directors of ministries should require their people to read this so that they have a sound biblical theology of the relationship between the gospel and the poor to undergird their practical day to day ministries.

If Homosexuality is Simply Another Sin, Why is it Treated Differently in Churches?

David Short responds below:



If viewing this by email, you will have to go to the website to view the video.

The Gospel, Social Action, and the Poor

There are some very helpful articles that I have come across.

Tony Payne from Australia has a helpful 3 part series here.

Timothy Keller also has an excellent article here.

Mark Dever's Talks from the Desiring God Pastor's Conference

Part 1: Three Reasons to Share the Gospel

• Audio
• Video
• Notes
  

Part 2: Five Things That Aren't Evangelism

• Audio
• Video
• Notes
  

Part 3: The Church and Evangelism

• Audio
• Video
• Notes

HT: JT

The Therapeutic Gospel

The Therapeutic Gospel: Part 1
by David Powlison

In this new gospel, the great evils to be redressed do not call for any fundamental change of direction in the human heart. Instead, my deepest problems are merely limited to what has happened to me.

The Therapeutic Gospel: Part 2
by David Powlison

God gives good gifts. But he also gives the best gift, the inexpressible Gift of gifts.

HT: JT

What is the Gospel?: John Piper

What is the Gospel?: Mark Dever

Should We Make the Gospel Larger?

You may be surprised by Mark Dever's response, but I think that he is right.

The Relationship Between the Gospel and Social Action

Tony Payne has an interesting article here.

Why Rob Bell Makes This Pastor Mad

[Below is a very helpful review of Velvet Elvis by Pat Abendroth, the Senior Pastor of Omaha Bible Church that I got from Erik Raymond's website].

Time magazine recently called Rob Bell “The Hipper-Than-Thou-Pastor” (Thursday, Dec. 06, 2007). This, along with the fact that his influence seems to only be growing, led me to read his book Velvet Elvis. Since it has been done, there seems to be little need for a comprehensive book review. But as I read Velvet Elvis I became personally motivated to do my part and duty as a pastor and expose some of the dangerous content lurking behind Bell’s hip veneer.

Pleasantries
Based upon what I read in Bell’s book, he is both funny and hip. I say this because he made me laugh and because he does cool things like play in a punk band and surf (even the infamous Trestles!).

Continuing on with the positives, Bell seems sincere and appropriately calls for Christians to love those in need (not just fellow Christians) as is called for in the second greatest commandment. This is a great point and something that needs to be said and re-said before being said once more.

Anger Management
So with a hip rock dude writing a book addressing the need for Christians to act more like Jesus, why the anger on my part? Here are some of the reasons:

Rob Bell makes me mad because he preaches an anti-gospel. He craftily does this by portraying the essence of Christianity as following Jesus and treating people the way Jesus did. While this is important, living the “Jesus life” is not the essence of Christianity and neither is obeying the commands of Jesus (as important as that is). The essence of Christianity centers upon the work of Christ on behalf of sinners (i.e. substitutionary atonement). This is the matter of first importance (1 Corinthians 15:3) that was the prioritized message of Jesus’ apostles (e.g. 1 Corinthians 2:2). Missing this is no small oversight by Bell. It is missing that which is of first importance! Over and over again he talks about living the way of Jesus and being like Jesus, but without the essence of the gospel, which is Jesus’ work! This is scandalous.

Rob Bell makes me mad because he writes off the virgin birth of Jesus as non-essential (pp. 26-27). You heard right, he writes off the virgin birth of Jesus as not essential! To state the obvious, this is entirely out of step with the Bible. Sure, one can redress and then mimic once-trendy quasi arguments by unbelievers about the word used for virgin in Isaiah 7:14 possibly meaning young woman. But the New Testament leaves no wiggle-room on the intent and therefore meaning of the word. We know this because the Isaiah text is quoted and essentially interpreted in the New Testament. In Matthew 1:23-25 the word virgin is used twice and shown by the context to mean virgin in the classic sense of the term. To ignore this is to show gross negligence which seems to depend upon an assumed biblical illiteracy by his readers. Far from being not essential, the biblical reality of Christ’s virgin birth is vital to His unique status as the sinless God-Man. As troubling as this unorthodox teaching by Bell is, he commits a more dangerous foul. Bell continues with arguments against the virgin birth of Jesus followed by an attempt to defuse would-be critics by slipping in a token affirmation. Bell professes to be a Christian. But given his disregard for Christian doctrine, the name “poser” comes to mind (borrowing an old title from the punk rock scene).

Rob Bell makes me mad because he downplays the vital role of conversion. In a horrible overreaction against professing Christians wrongly not being compassionate, Bell says “the most powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people…” (p. 167). He then proceeds to establish a supporting argument that would surely set well with most anyone who is either ignorant of or ignoring what Jesus says in John 3—unless someone is converted, they will not see the light of day in the kingdom! Bell’s tactic is entirely unacceptable and irresponsible, but dare I say, fits with his mimicking the likes of the quintessential theological liberal Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969). Certainly Christians must love those in need if they are going to truly follow Christ. But such love is to augment the need to proclaim a gospel of repentance which calls for conversion according to Jesus.

Rob Bell makes me mad because he does violence to the clear words of Jesus. On page 21 for example, when he talks about Jesus’ claims of exclusivity in John 14:6, he spins them to mean something other than what they clearly say and have been recognized as saying by Christians throughout the ages. At first I was surprised at how much Bell sounded like a radical theological liberal like Marcus Borg, but then I saw that the very first endnote in the book was an unqualified recommendation of a book by Borg! Bell’s recommended reading on his church’s web site promotes reading by John Dominic Crossan, the former co-director of the Jesus Seminar, so endorsing Borg is not a matter of isolation. Such men have a reputation for shamelessly doing violence to Jesus and His gospel.

Rob Bell makes me mad because he is the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church. I am not suggesting that churches with “Bible Church” in the name are anything special per se, but historically they have not been places where things like the virgin birth is considered non-essential. In my estimation this is downright deceptive.

A New Dress
Simply put, Rob Bell is a theological liberal resembling the mainline denominations of the early 1900s. The difference is that Bell is sporting a fashionable new dress or in his case, a new pair of geek-chic glasses.

If J. Gresham Machen were alive today, I suspect he would do what he did with Bell’s theological predecessors. Machen would remind him that while he has the freedom to start a new religion, he really should call it something other than Christian given that his religion does not resemble what Christ actually established as recorded in the Christian book, the Bible.

Causes
In my opinion, the reason this book is resonating with so many is because we have seen the evangelical church abandon the Evangel Himself. Yes, much of evangelicalism is empty because the Evangel of our evangelicalism is gone or as David Wells so aptly put it: He has been dislodged from its center. Couple this with a general ignorance of the Bible and church history and you have a book like Velvet Elvis actually seen as publishable by a “Christian” publisher and selling as if it were something novel and good.

Because I love the Evangel of the Bible and therefore historic Christianity, I guess it is off to anger management class for me.

Patrick Abendroth
www.OmahaBibleChurch.org

Some Interesting Stuff

Interesting Sermons:

• Mark Dever, "Propitiation--Romans 3:21-26" (Series: Pierced for Our Transgressions)
• John Piper, "No One Born of God Makes a Practice of Sinning" (Series: The New Birth)

Excellent questions from an excellent article for pastors who want to make the gospel central:

• When I correct someone are they primarily aware of the hope of forgiveness in the gospel?
• Do I encourage people around me to obey because of Christ’s work or because they simply have to?
• Are people more aware of my encouragement or my correction?

HT: Pure Church

Gospel Counterfeits

In their book How People Change, Tim Lane and Paul David Tripp lay out seven counterfeit gospels.

1. Formalism. “I participate in the regular meetings and ministries of the church, so I feel like my life is under control. I’m always in church, but it really has little impact on my heart or on how I live. I may become judgmental and impatient with those who do not have the same commitment as I do.”

2. Legalism. “I live by the rules—rules I create for myself and rules I create for others. I feel good if I can keep my own rules, and I become arrogant and full of contempt when others don’t meet the standards I set for them. There is no joy in my life because there is no grace to be celebrated.”

3. Mysticism. “I am engaged in the incessant pursuit of an emotional experience with God. I live for the moments when I feel close to him, and I often struggle with discouragement when I don’t feel that way. I may change churches often, too, looking for one that will give me what I’m looking for.”

4. Activism. “I recognize the missional nature of Christianity and am passionately involved in fixing this broken world. But at the end of the day, my life is more of a defense of what’s right than a joyful pursuit of Christ.”

5. Biblicism. “I know my Bible inside and out, but I do not let it master me. I have reduced the gospel to a mastery of biblical content and theology, so I am intolerant and critical of those with lesser knowledge.”

6. Therapism. “I talk a lot about the hurting people in our congregation, and how Christ is the only answer for their hurt. Yet even without realizing it, I have made Christ more Therapist than Savior. I view hurt as a greater problem than sin—and I subtly shift my greatest need from my moral failure to my unmet needs."

7. “Social-ism.” “The deep fellowship and friendships I find at church have become their own idol. The body of Christ has replaced Christ himself, and the gospel is reduced to a network of fulfilling Christian relationships.”

Jonathan Leeman writes: "How many of these do you recognize in your own heart? How can we help our congregations to recognize them in their hearts through preaching, discipling, and counseling?"

HT: The 9 Marks Blog

From Around the Web

• Choosing Commentaries for your Library
• Kim: The Atoning Death of Christ on the Cross
• Has God Called You? by Al Mohler
• Questions About Music and Church
• Grudem: Why Do Poor Nations Remain Poor?
• Newsweek on Keller
• Preview of Schriener's NT Theology
• The Biggest Swimming Pool on Earth
• Talks at the Upcoming Together for the Gospel Conference
• Going to Seminary or Want to Go to Seminary check out this site
• Interview with J.R.R. Tolkien
• Biblical Theology as a Way of Life
• Top 10 Worst Places to Live as a Christian
• Seven Great Living Influencers
• Relying on the Spirit in Preaching with APTAT
• Living the Gospel or Just Preaching It?
• The Preacher's Authority: Grudem
  

HT: Justin Taylor, Jim Hamilton, In Light of the Gospel, Tullian Tchividjian, Colin Adams

Smashing False Idols: Tim Keller Messages

Tim Keller, one of the most important ministry thinkers of our day, recently spoke at the Evangelists Conference on the topic: "Smashing False Idols." The messages are as follows:

Gospel Realisation
Gospel Communication
Gospel Incarnation

Also, there are many other great messages by different important thinkers related to the topic of evangelism that you may want to check out:

2003: The Big Problem of Sin
The Early Church and Evangelism. Acts 4. Wallace Benn
Creation and Sin. Genesis 2 & 3. Peter Woodcock
The Cross and Sin. 1 Peter 1. Roger Carswell

2004: Compelled by Love - training Gospel workers
Bible Reading 2 Timothy 4:5 Dick Lucas
The Training an Evangelist gives 2 Corinthians 4:1-6. John Chapman
The Training an Evangelist needs 2 Corinthians 4:5. John Chapman

2005: Turning the heart - preaching repentance today
Bible Reading Luke 19:1-10 Liam Goligher
Repentance in biblical perspective. Peter Woodcock
Preaching Repentance. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10. Rico Tice

2006: Eternity - Preaching the new creation
Searching for Eden Christopher Ash
The Eternity Appeal Christopher Ash
Preaching the New Creation Paul Williams

HT: Chris Shipley

Tim Keller's Definition of the Gospel

“The ‘gospel’ is the good news that through Christ the power of God’s kingdom has entered history to renew the whole world. When we believe and rely on Jesus’ work and record (rather than ours) for our relationship to God, that kingdom power comes upon us and begins to work through us.”

HT: Tullian Tchividjian