Why Our Family Makes Time For Church

My wife and I have to make regular decisions about how we’ll spend our limited time (I’m pretty sure you feel like this too, yes?), and we often have a tension to work through between time spent with our church family, and time spent doing other things. Now with three kids, this decision-making process gets even more complicated at times. And recently, quite a few conversations between us and others have centered on that tension, and has had us thinking about it a lot. What place should our church family really play in our lives, as we try to have the best marriage that we can, try to be the best parents possible, the most productive workers we can be, etc?

There’s also a trend today of involving oneself in programs and causes outside the church or that are nominally connected to churches (read: humanitarian causes); but if this isn’t the case across the board (and it isn’t by any means), there’s still a pretty common trend today of guarded and/or lacking involvement in a local church. Speaking for my own generation, many of us have seen this in the last decade and a half, partly as a reaction to an imbalance of too much church-centeredness in the Christian world. Folks realized church programs were taking up way too much of their time, and they didn’t have enough down time with their families during the week, let alone time to get to know their neighbors and bring the Gospel to bear in those relationships too. But for our family, we’ve discovered that some degree of healthy, mostly un-programmed church involvement is really necessary for our family, and we carve out time for it.

Here are just a few reasons why we make time for church.

1. It’s family time.

Dare I say it: the family of God trumps even biological family ties. We’ve been bought by the blood of God’s Son, to bring us into His family. We’ve been raised from the dead. And we’re told to spend time together for a lot of reasons. Among these, are the commands to love one another and bear one another’s burdens. And how do we genuinely do these things? By making time to be around people in our church family, getting to know each other, and then being able to encourage, admonish, and pray for one another as we share hardships and joys together. Members of a family need one another for a lot of reasons, and the family of God is the ultimate example of this.

2. The Church is us, not the building.

The “Church” in Scripture refers to believers – to the bride of Christ, the saints. We are the Church (though local church families are also a practical outworking we see in the New Testament, of the family of God doing what it just naturally needs to do in specific locations. Again, we are the Church. So the way we normally talk in our culture, about “going to church” on Sunday, or whatever, is really kind of silly language the way we often mean it. We are the church, and Scripture calls us to not forsake the meeting of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:23-25). The point is to be together, not to do a “church service” the way we often think of it. Think of all the people who show up to a “church service” on Saturday or Sunday, who really aren’t a part of that local church family. They’re really not “meeting together” in the sense that the book of Hebrews commands.

Though the “service” model of doing church misses the mark at times, we need to meet together, and there are things that need to be happening when we do meet as the Church – preaching and teaching, and public reading of Scripture; singing together; public prayer, etc.

3. We really, really need each other.

I need my local Church family to be there for me when my burdens get heavy. When I’m stuck in the Slough of Despond, or climb the Hill of Difficulty, as John Bunyan might say, I need the Brethren. I need the Church, and the members of God’s family that know me, and are known BY me. We really need each other, and if we’re going to persevere to the end as believers in Jesus Christ, the presence of other believers in our lives will be a huge way God enables us to do that. For prayer, admonishment, killing of sin, and for building up – always building up.

So my wife and I carve out time for us and our kids to spend time with the other families in our church. We go to church functions, but we try for a way in which we’re not overcommitting to involvement in “programs,” but where we’re just spending time around people. Thankfully, we’re a part of a church that doesn’t overload its people on programs and events, to free us up for the most important kind of time spent with one another.

We attend our midweek Shepherding Group (small group Bible study), and we love it. Even when it seems inconvenient in our week, we do our best to carve out the time and get there. Because we’ve found it keeps us from sin, makes our burdens light, and refuels our joy in the Gospel and in our Savior.

Keith Green On Being A Music Pastor

Good food for thought for us church musicians:

“The only music minister to whom the Lord will say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” is the one whose life proves what their lyrics are saying, and to whom music is the least important part of their life. Glorifying the only worthy One has to be a minister’s most important goal!”

Keith Green

Book Review: “Blood Work” by Anthony Carter

Blood Work by Anthony Carter, Reformation Trust Publishing, 2013. $12.79. *

Christ’s blood, lest we forget, washes, redeems, saves, and pleads for us who have been born again by faith in Jesus. Anthony Carter’s short book Blood Work, deals a death blow to our forgetfulness with twelve chapters devoted to twelve specific benefits our Savior’s blood accomplishes for us. But Carter doesn’t just explain, he exults in Christ’s sacrifice; this is a book to help fuel a worshiping response to the Gospel. The truths here will help you fight sin, and fight for the high joys in God that He means to give us through the sacrifice of His Son.

“Our Bloody Religion”

The first chapter, “Our Bloody Religion,” reminds us that our Christian faith is a bloody faith. Bloodshed permeates Scripture from the earliest chapters – from God killing animals to clothe Adam and Eve, to Cain’s murder of his brother, to the wars between Israel and the pagan nations, to the sacrificial system, to the spilled blood of God’s Son – we can’t ignore the bloodshed if we’re faithful to the redemptive story the Bible tells. And Carter draws out the significance of this – when blood is shed it speaks, and cries out against the murderers responsible, and cries out for redemption from the sinful, bloody mess of the Fall. Ultimately, the Christian faith deals with the bloodshed and answers the cries with hope. God crushed His Son to provide the blood that would speak the better word (Heb. 12:24), that would fulfill what man owed God because of sin and the Fall. There’s pain in the history of our “bloody religion,” but the redemption from it is great because God Himself spared not His own Son to save us.

A Worshipful Book

If ever there was a book to inspire a heart to worship Christ, this would be one. Carter writes as a well-studied theologian, but also as a caring pastor and as a Christian who has deeply felt his own sin and his great salvation in Christ. Chapters 2-13 deal with the specific accomplishments of Christ’s blood. So if you’ve ever wondered, or wonder now why Christ had to shed blood on the cross, get into these chapters.

Carter explains how Jesus’ blood is a propitiation of God’s wrath; how His blood purchases us as God’s chosen people; how His blood justified, redeemed, brought us near, and ransomed us. And probably my favorite chapter, the last one explains how Christ’s blood avails for us, and the depths of what that means.

Sections of each chapter include verses of hymns as a response to what Carter just said in that section. The inclusion of the hymns are opportunities to respond to these glorious truths by reading the stanzas of poetry; and as I read, these were often exactly what my heart needed to complete the enjoyment of the chapters, and gave me words to sing after reading about what Christ has, and does accomplish for me, and for us. Again, the book doesn’t just explain, it exults in the blood of Christ. The book is so helpful in that it’s more than an intellectual treatise – it’s a book that will fuel your joy in Your Savior, and in His atonement for Your sins by His blood.

Carter says in chapter 6, about how Christ’s blood has brought us near,

“The blood of Christ gives us a home. The blood of Christ becomes the flag and color under which we stand. The blood of Christ takes those who were once strangers and makes them family. As the Bible says, we are ‘no longer strangers and aliens, but…fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph. 2:19). Simply put, the blood of Christ brings us near to God” (57).

*Sincere thanks to Reformation Trust Publishing for the free copy of the book to read and review.

John Piper on C.S. Lewis

This is really a wonderful 7 minute discussion by John Piper, about how he was introduced to the writing of C.S. Lewis, and what he has gained from it. Piper really has something of a wealth of knowledge of Lewis’ works and worldview, and this short piece is very insightful and full of great stuff. This is stuff that will fuel your appreciation of reading Lewis. I recommend multiple listens.

Book Review: “Crucifying Morality” by R.W. Glenn

Crucifying Morality by R.W. Glenn, Shepherd Press, 2013, $10.39.

Every Christian has a tendency to revert to a pattern of moral religion, which isn’t the heart of the Gospel at all. Paul wrote to the Galations about this, and Christ called the Pharisees out for the same reason – if we think we’re pleasing God by any good work or merit on our part, we’re wrong. The Gospel calls us into the Kingdom of God on the basis of something far more glorious than our imperfect obedience.

Crucifying Morality is a study of the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:1-12, or what is basically the introduction to Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. Glenn’s thesis in the work is that  quite a lot of teaching on the Beatitudes, especially in Sunday school, has steered many Christians in the wrong direction about what Christ is really saying here. Glenn argues that the Beatitudes are not a series of commands on how one pleases God and gets into His kingdom. Instead, they’re the evidence of one who is already in it. Glenn demonstrates that “[i]t is no accident that the Beatitudes contain no imperatives whatsoever,” and that instead, “they are the qualities that begin to characterize sinners who encounter God’s grace in the gospel” (16). Christ isn’t commanding rigorous obedience in the Sermon on the Mount as the requirement for entering His kingdom. Instead, “[t]he Beatitudes are meant to jar you from your complacency and lead you to question whether you have entered the kingdom”  (16).

Glenn argues that the Beatitudes are the marks of a Christian, not the requirements for how you become one. His point is that “Jesus is the Beatitudes.” Glenn tells us,

“Do not seek the Beatitudes. Do not turn them into moralistic teaching. Seek Jesus Christ who alone embodies the Beatitudes, and the Beatitudes will then be true of you as well. Why? Because Jesus fulfills them [...] Seek him through the gospel and you will be a new person, enjoying all the benefits of a relationship with God, living in the kingdom. Christianity is about coming over and over again to rest in the life that Jesus lived and the death that he died for you as a gift of sheer grace” (18-19).

This is glorious, life-changing news. We’re born again by no power of our own. And when we have the New Birth, we’re in God’s kingdom and we can’t be snatched out of His hand. Christ’s Beatitudes are the marks of one who is Christ’s.

Practical and Introspective

Here’s a breakdown of the book’s structure: Glenn writes one chapter for each of the Beatitudes, where he exposits the meaning and application of that Beatitude, and how that’s a mark of how a true Christian will live – meekness, for instance. Each chapter also begins with two quotes: one from a worldly perspective on the chapter’s topic, and one from Matthew 5 that flips that worldly idea upside down.

Each chapter ends with study questions that are unique from any book I’ve read. The questions are broken into four categories: “For Your Head,” “For Your Heart,” For Your Church,” and “For Your City.” Each category has a different type of question, all meant to encourage developing personal theology and devotion to Christ, but taking that devotion to your local church family, and to your city and cultural context. Glenn’s chapters and study questions are all written with an edifying, pastoral purpose and love for the Church. These study questions are definitely a highlight of the book. Don’t skip them.

Rich With The Gospel

Really, the most wonderful thing about this book is how saturated it is with the Gospel. Glenn brings the text of Matthew 5 and the Beatitudes to bear in light of God’s grace to us through Christ, and the glory of being a part of God’s kingdom, through His grace. In our morality-idolizing Western culture, this book is a refreshing drink from the fountain of God’s grace and kindness in the Gospel. The church needs this kind of edification, and I, individually, need it to keep grasping for grace and for Christ, and not trying to pull myself up by my own bootstraps.

Glenn says that that the kind of teaching and preaching in the Church that makes a passage like the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 into mere rules or guidelines, is dangerous and tragic. And it misses the point completely. The point of it all is Jesus. Jesus fulfills the law on our behalf, as our Substitute and Advocate before God. Christ is the perfect fulfillment of the Beatitudes, and we can produce those qualities because Christ’s Spirit lives in us as Christians. Glenn states,

“[The Beatitudes] convey the essence of the gospel, but when reduced to flat moralistic teaching, they lose all their richness. In fact, that kind of teaching is just wrong [...] So take a few steps back and marvel. The Beatitudes reveal the profile of the Christian, the character of the one who has had a life-changing encounter with the grace of God [...] If your life bears any resemblance to the Beatitudes, it is because you are blessed in Jesus – you died with him so that you might live in him. The Beatitudes flesh out outrageous grace, which is yours as a gift through the gospel” (115-123).

This is wonderful news. This is the Gospel of Jesus. Get this book – I have nothing but good to say about it, and hearty recommendations to give. Take up and read, and I hope that it’s fuel for you to marvel at the Gospel. Thank you R.W. Glenn for writing it, and to Shepherd Press for the opportunity to read and review it.

“‘Tis Mystery All: Th’Immortal Dies”

“’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

“He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!”

Charles Wesley, from “And Can It Be That I Should Gain?”

Reading With The Church Calendar

The last several years, my wife and I have been trying to read books along with the church seasons. Granted, we don’t celebrate many of the traditional Church holidays; but for the couple significant holidays and seasons that our local church does observe, we’ve found it hugely significant to not just let those times go by, but treat them as sacred and really dig into framing our mindset into that particular Church season. One of the ways we’ve done this is to try to read purposefully through a book, as a supplement to studying Scripture, that corresponds to, and sheds light and fresh perspective on that particular Church season.

God created us with an orientation toward holidays and toward marking our calendars with days of celebration and observance of God’s great acts of grace toward His people, etc. We find this all over the Old Testament, beginning with the creation of the seven day week (and the institution of the Sabbath!). The two biggest seasons that most Christians will celebrate if nothing else, will be Christmas (or Advent) and Easter (or Holy Week). What a tragedy if we let every rhythm of culture direct our mindsets, our observances, and our habits, without ever following the rhythms of redemption found in the Gospel and in the Church. Or celebrating the rhythms of the Gospel in a token, half-hearted (or no-hearted) way. Doug Wilson is helpful on this point in his book on Advent: “[W]e now find ourselves marking time with dates like Labor Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, MLK Day, and so forth. But Christians must define the year in an explicitly Christian way, and face the objections, or they must acquiesce in the secularization of time” (80). If Christ’s lordship extends beyond our internal spiritual lives, to how we engage and live in the world, then we should consider wholeheartedly observing those Christian seasons that remember and reorient our lives around the grand events of God’s great story of redemption.

So for instance, during the week of Good Friday and Easter, it’s been super helpful to pick something extra, to read during that time. Even if we don’t finish it, it will help us really observe, and celebrate with deep joy, what took place during Holy Week in Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. And this kind of extra reading and purposeful celebration fuels our worship when we gather with our church family to sing and celebrate together on these holidays.

Here are some things that have been very helpful the past few years, for my wife and I, and now with our kids, in defining our year “in an explicitly Christian way:”

2009-present: As my wife was searching like crazy for some rich theological stuff for Christmastime, she found out about Nancy Guthrie’s Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, which is a collection of readings for Advent from pillars of the Christian faith. There are readings from Calvin, to Spurgeon, to MacArthur. It’s a super rich collection, very well done. Guthrie has since put out a similar collection for Easter, called Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross. We don’t have it, but it looks great.

2011: I read King’s Cross by Tim Keller, during Good Friday and Easter. This book is excellent. It’s basically a study through the Gospel of Mark, and it’s full of fresh, poignant perspective on Christ’s life, and his ultimate purpose of redeeming God’s people from their sin. Wonderful book, worth multiple reads.

2011-present: The Jesus Storybook Bible is perfect for our kids (and for us) as a creative re-telling of the whole story that Scripture tells, of God making a people for Himself and redeeming them through the blood of His Son. Our kids love this book – the writing and the artwork are so memorable. Really worth your time, whether you have kids or not.

2013: Currently reading The Man Jesus Christ by Bruce Ware. This is great so far, and the perfect read for me this year as I’m thinking about Good Friday and Easter, and planning out the final details for our church’s worship services for this Friday and Sunday. I’m not finished with the book yet, but I think I can heartily recommend it. It gets a little deep, so be forewarned, yet encouraged to take up and read! This one was also published just this year, so here’s a very recent review you might also find helpful.