Secret Church

If you missed Secret Church with David Platt you can catch the video teaching here.

http://www.disciplemakingintl.org/media/schurch/series_list/?id=293

Healing the Sick

We know that Jesus in his short ministry did many works of healing, John 21: 25 says "Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written".

Today we got word from our team in Honduras who are faithfully sharing the Gospel and running a clinic where hundreds are receiving medical and dental help along with the good news. Yesterday the clinic saw a young baby with a cleft lip and palate who is dyer need of surgery. The team desires to help this young baby receive the surgery and follow up necessary. There is an organization in Honduras that will do the surgery our part would be simply in helping the family with travel expenses.

We will give more details as they are available and more information on how you can help in the process of healing this child as we work as Jesus did in healing and preaching the good news.

"How beautiful upon mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,..." Isaiah 52:7

Marks of a Healthy Church

How do you know if a church is healthy or not? Is it the number of people who show up on Sunday morning, the size of the budget, is it by counting the number of outreach projects it is doing in the community, the number of mission trips, or how well you enjoyed the worship music and the sermon during the service?

The last post on this blog introduced two books, the first being Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever and the second The Master's Plan for the Church by John MacArthur. In this post we will look specifically at the first three marks in what Mark Dever sees in scripture as being nine marks of a healthy church. Which in turn will help us determine the measuring stick for a congregation of believers.

Mark One: Expositional Preaching

In Dever's words "Expositional Preaching is preaching in service to the Word. It presumes a belief in the authority of Scripture - that the Bible is actually God's Word; but it is something much more than that. A commitment to expositional preaching is a commitment to hear God's Word - not just to affirm that it is God's Word but to actually submit yourself to it." "A healthy church is a church that hears the Word of God and continues to hear the Word of God. And such a church is composed of individual Christians who hear the word of God and continue to hear the Word of God, always being refashioned and reshaped by it, constantly being washed in the Word and sanctified by God's truth."

• 2 Timothy 2:4
• Acts 6:4
• Romans 10:17
• Ezekiel 37:1-14 "life comes by the Word of God"
• The phrase "the word of the Lord came" occurs 3,800 times in the old testament
• John 17:17
• Ephesians 5:25-26
• 1 Corinthians 1:21

Dever says "What does all this mean for our churches? Simply that the preaching of the Word must be absolutely central. It shouldn't surprise you to hear that sound, expositional preaching is often the fountainhead of growth in a church. Let a good expositional ministry be established and watch what happens."

Mark Two: Biblical Theology

This mark deals specifically with where a church stands on who God is, not what a church might think God is, or who they think God should be, but where a church stands on what the Bible tells us about the nature of God. Dever tells us "One of the chief marks of a healthy church is a biblical understanding of God in His character and His way with us." and "If we are to learn the sound doctrine of the Bible, we must come to terms even with the doctrines that may be difficult or even potentially divisive but that are foundational for our understanding of God." He then breaks down this mark into five areas that the Bible teaches about God: He is creating; that He is holy; that He is faithful; that He is loving; and that He is sovereign. These foundational truths about God are vital to the heartbeat of the church in that we are able to truly worship and reflect God's glory when we know him through the revelation of who He is as seen in His word.

• Romans 11:33 "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!"
• John 1:32 "...for we shall see Him as He is"

Mark Three: The Gospel

In this third mark of a healthy church we see that it is paramount that a church stand on the fact that the "Good News" is: "Not Simply That We Are Okay"; "Not Simply That God Is Love"; "Not Simply That Jesus Wants to Be Our Friend" and lastly "Not Simply That We Should Live Right" but is about "Repentance" and "Belief". The "Good News" is communicated from Genesis to Revelation, it is the central theme of God sharing Himself with us, why would we not make it a mark of the church? Dever quotes J.C. Ryle "There is a common worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough - a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice - which cost nothing, and is worth nothing." Jesus Christ born of a virgin, being fully God and fully man, living a sinless life, dying a brutal death on the cross for our transgressions, buried, and risen on the third day, not because he had to but because he loved us first, and this is certainly a sacrifice worthy of our sacrificial worship.

• Isaiah 53:1-12"wounded for our transgressions"
• Ephesians 2 "by grace you have been saved"
• Romans 6:23 "the wages of sin is death"
• Mark 10:45 "the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve"

These are three of nine marks which measure a healthy church.

Discovering a Healthy Church

My desire for The Church at Grace Point is to be a church that seeks Biblical wisdom in order that we can be the body of believers that God has called us to be. So, in that vein I will be writing a series of post reviewing two outstanding books that take an in-depth look at what the Bible says a God loving, God fearing, God worshiping, God serving church looks like.

As part of the introduction to this series I have included a few comments from notable Christian leaders regarding the importance of these two works.

The first book is Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever and is described by a few heros of the faith as follows.

“Books that affirm the priority of the church are rare. Books that define the practice of a the local church from the pages of Scripture rather than from cultural trends are even more rare. Mark Dever has given us just such a book.Written by a pastor and theologian who has built a strong local church in Washington D.C. , this is the best book I have read on the topic of critical importance.”

-C.J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries

“In a day when a church is most likely evaluated on her cosmetics, it’s vital to know how to assess her true health. They put cosmetics on corpses! Mark Dever gives the biblical criteria for discerning the spiritual well-being of a church, not what it looks like on the outside before the world, but what is is on the inside before God. This is a foundational work which I highly recommend.”

-John MacArthur, Pastor-Teacher

“Postmodern Amercica is awash with spirituality-but not with authentic Christianity. Clear evidence of this fact is seen in the loss of a biblical ecclesiology in so many sectors. Reformation is always directed to the church-and we must pray to see the church reformed in our age. Mark Dever points toward a truly biblical recovery of the New Testament church in his manifesto, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Every page is loaded with thoughtful analysis and careful consideration. It belongs in the hands of every faithful pastor and all those who pray for reformation in this age.”

-R. Albert Mohler President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

It is astonishing that the apostle Paul describes the local gathering of Christians as ‘the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood’ (Acts 20:28,ESV). That raises the stakes of church life and health and mission about as high as it can be. We are dealing with a blood-bought body of people. I do not want human ideas. I want God’s word about the church. I turn with hope and confidence to Mark Dever’s radically biblical commitment. Few people have thought more or better about what makes a church biblical and healthy. I thank God for the book and Nine Marks Ministries.”

-John Piper, Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis

“Books on the church are a dime a dozen. This one is different. Only rarely does a book on the church come along that marries responsible biblical and theological reflection to godly, experienced, good judgment and practical applications. This book is one of them. If you are a Christian leader, be careful of the work you are now holding in your hand: it may change your life and ministry.”

-D.A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

The second Book is a work by John MacAthur, The Master’s Plan for the Church, and is best described as it is written on its back cover.

“It is absolutely essential for a church to perceive itself as an institution for the glory of God, and to do that, claims John MacArthur, the local church must adhere unfaltering to biblical leadership principles. Christ never intended church leadership to be earned by seniority, purchased with money, or inherited through family ties. He never compared church leaders to governing monarchs, but rather to humble shepherds; not to slick celebrities, but to laboring servants, this updated edition guides the church with crucial, effective lessons in leadership.”

“This book is pertinent not only for pastors and elders, but for anyone who wants the church to be what God intended it to be.”

My heart hurts for the church, as we are the bride of Christ living often not in obedience but in oblivion to his will . We have no excuse, we have the word of God which clearly shows us how to best imitate his glory for his renown. I look forward to learning with you as we take this in-depth look at God’s plan for his people.

-Matt

Free To Do As I Choose?

Doesn't freedom mean that I can choose to do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do to it? Which reminds me of time under the strict rule of my 8th grade math teacher, who happened to share the same last name(no relation), that I was was reprimanded for talking in class. The consequence for getting in trouble in this class was writing out the following sentence 100 times, "I will do what I am told to do when I am told to do it in Mr. Davies classroom from now on." The consequence for not completing the said punishment was to multiply the 100 sentences by 5 and if the 500 hundreds sentences where not completed you where to meet with the headmaster for a final judgement. So I received an in-school suspension where I was bored out of my mind and stared at the walls for the entire day. In this instance I was clearly in the wrong, I did not do what I should of done even though I felt like the punishment did not fit the crime. What gets a little more difficult in life as a follower of Christ is dealing with decisions in regard to Christian freedom.

Christian freedom can be described by looking at 1 Corinthians 10:23-31 where we learn "All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful", "let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor" and "whatever you do , do all to the glory of God". Within Christian Freedom we are no longer slaves to the law, it is not through what we do or don't do by which we are saved. It is through the Spirit and the work of Jesus Christ and his death, burial and resurrection in which we have been bought with a price and freed from our due consequence. Romans 6:4, 1 Corinthians 6:20 and 2 Corinthians 3:17

Now being bought with a price we no longer belong to ourselves, we are now sons and daughters of a Holy, Righteous, Just, Gracious and Loving God who is to be the foundation for every decision we make. Paul teaches the church in Corinth using the example of what believers should do in regard to eating food that had been offered to idols, most of us don't deal with that issue on a daily basis but we deal with choices in regard to other items we eat, what we drink, what we wear, what we pierce, what we tattoo, what part of our body we alter, how we spend our time, how we spend our money.....

As Paul guided the church in Corinth the Lord guides us to take the following into consideration as we make choices on what some may consider the more gray areas of Christian living. When faced with these choices it is best to reflect on Paul's teaching and ask yourself the following.

• Am I bringing glory to God in this? (1 Corinthians 10:31)
• Does this seek my own good or that of others? (1 Corinthians 10:24)
• Am I endangering myself to a harmful addiction? (1 Corinthians 6:12)
• What does my good conscience, inward integrity of the heart, say? (1 Timothy 1:5)

Freedom seeks not itself but the will of the Father who graciously gives it.

-Matt

"Visit Orphans and Widows in their Affliction"

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

Haiti is a beautiful country filled with strong Haitian men, women and children, estimated at 10 million. The country is also the poorest in the Americas battling political corruption, malaria, cholera, child trafficking, and the daunting task of rebuilding after the the January 2010 earthquake that still has over 500,000 people living in tent cities.

I had the privilege of joining a team of 11 other men traveling to Haiti with the mission of finding out how we can best "visit orphans". What was evident throughout the trip is that the Lord is gracious in leading us as we seek Him for direction. We saw many doors closed, at one point we were stopped by a band of rioters after a 3 hour bus ride to visit with a group of 25 orphans, we were used as road block for protest and then turned around to head back to the mission house, in addition supplies we needed to do the work we had initially planned on were not present and some that we initially trusted were now appearing questionable. But as we committed our path to the Lord it was clear to see that God had others in place that we were to visit. God used a young lady named Sarah, who has committed to working at God's Planet Mission House and serving the orphans and street kids of Haiti, He used a young Haitian gentleman, Eve, who guided us through Port Au Prince, and a Haitian Pastor and his wife who care for 35 children at Agape Children's Home.

Our visit with Agape Children's Home was pure evidence of God's plan for us being in Haiti. The children were delightful, well cared for, sang worship songs for us, were appreciative when we presented them with gifts but lived in conditions worse than what the incarcerated are treated to here in the states. Our project for the time there was to love on the orphans and the care givers and to provide running water to the two bathrooms in the home, as the current water situation included the kids running the water in buckets for bathing, washing clothes, cooking and filling toilets. Through a team effort we were able to devise a plan, bring together the monetary resources for a pump and materials, obtain the necessary parts, water line, 300 gallon basin and connectors and then see the project to completion-water flow and smiles stretched across happy faces.

The Lord works in amazing ways and it certainly is blessing to be a apart of what he has ordained. There is still much that is to be done in visiting with the orphans of Haiti and I know that our work is not done.

"For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:17-18

Matt

Our Town, Tornado!

When the devastation is seen in the news it is not quite as real as it is when experienced first hand. The watch, the warning, the urgent call from a family member or friend, the afternoon-evening-night in the basement, closet or hall, the hail, the winds, the power outage, the tears, the prayers the freight train... And now we see 100 year old trees ripped from the ground, trailers turned into shards, roofs pried open, houses picked up off there foundations and lives lost. All this the evidence of what we cannot completely understand.

What we do know about God, Tornadoes and Life is this:

God is Gracious no matter what the circumstance.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Tornadoes are a reminder that life here and now is short and we all need a Savior.

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one

Romans 3:10-12

God is Sovereign over the Earth, the Wind, You and I

When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

Jeremiah 10:13

We must repent and worship the one and only true God

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10:28

God has called all who have faith to be the Gospel voice

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:19

The Mark of a True Christian Steps Up in a Time of Need

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Romans 12:9-13

Grace Orphanage Haiti

This past weekend it was our pleasure to have Donna Davidson with us for a visit. Donna graciously shared with us what the Lord has been doing in Haiti, in particular to the orphanage she has worked hard to support and grow. The needs in Haiti cannot be forgotten and Donna has worked tirelessly to ensure the children of Grace Orphanage receive adequate food, shelter, health care and schooling.

Presently the children of Grace Orphanage live in a simple shelter with dirt floors, roll out mats to sleep on, no running water and an out house. Recently the orphanage has been able to secure a house in Port au Prince to call home. The house will provide sufficient space and facilities to care for the orphans. The house presently needs plumbing work, electrical work, painting and a few other fixes in order for it to be ready to move into.

Pray for seven men from Grace Point and three other from our local churches who will spend time in Haiti during the end of April helping Grace Orphanage get the house in Port au Prince ready for move in. Along with the house fixes we will be assisting Pastor Robenson, the man behind the mission, with any spiritual mentoring that we can offer.

Thank you for your prayers, Matt

Sufficient for all Efficient for Some

The Atonement is what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross, cancelling the debt of our sin, bearing the wrath that we deserve and ensuring for the believer all the benefits of salvation. We live in a wonderful country filled with great people with sincere hearts to help others. We are surrounded by great organizations like Habitat For Humanity, YMCA, United Way, LiveStrong, Feed The Children, Salvations Army.... which show a love and desire to help others in a way that extends care and mercy. The question that needs to be answered in today's context is how does the atonement fit into a society that sees itself as doing so much good in the world.

So, doing good for good sake is not good enough, loving other for the sake of loving others is not enough. What is enough is Christ and the Cross, that is where all that is good and loving starts and ends. We must go to the cross as sinners in need of a savior, we must put our faith not in our abilities to do good or to love, but in God who sent his son to be the substitution for our unrighteousness. The good news is that even in our depravity through God's grace we can enjoy all that is pure, holy, just and loving, forever. The bad news is that those who do not put their faith in God will suffer the wrath of God. He is a Holy God and in order for Justice to be served and in order for there to be everlasting peace He must deal with sin.

I urge you to seek first the one and only God who enables salvation through the sacrifice of His son. If you are not presently pursuing God as the Lord of your life, I plead with you to cry out to Christ, seek forgiveness for the faith that you have in yourself and your own works and ask Him to give you a new heart that puts complete faith in Him and through Christ alone.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinctions: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:21-26, ESV

May the Atonement be Effective in your life.

Matt

Heaven, Hell and Bell

There is quite a stir brewing regarding Rob Bell's new book "Love Win's" and I feel it appropriate to deal with the matter here in light of the fact many at Grace Point have seen or used "Nooma" material in a small group. "Nooma" is Rob Bell's trademark video study series consisting of titles such as Dust, Bullhorn, Noise, Flame, Rhythm, Rich... where Bell asks thought provoking questions, tells intriguing stories and leaves the audience to look to scripture for the answers. Inherently the study material itself may not be wrong as it very obscure in its teaching and at face value does not touch on the gospel, the participant is left to fill in that part. The issue with Rob Bells teaching heats up with "Love Wins", even before it's release it has communicated more about Rob Bell's stance on the gospel, Heaven, Hell and the God of the Bible. Through this book, previous books, interviews and his teaching at Mars Hill he has opened up a theology that is deep with questions but shallow at best in Biblical doctrine.

This leads me to the point where Rob Bell has been cleared from the shelves of Grace Point small group material, some may have even noticed the Nooma studies were not listed in our suggested material and this out of concern for his teaching over the past couple years . Not simply because of a three minute promotional video of his new books, but because his teachings do not line up with sound Biblical doctrine have I decided that I will not recommend Rob Bell as someone to look to for truth.

The following is taken from an interview with Christianity Today where Bell summarizes the gospel.

CT: You're essentially reframing the gospel—at least the gospel you inherited, the gospel we have known as the gospel in North America for the last couple hundred years.

Bell: I am leery of people who have very clear ideas of what they're doing from outside of themselves: "You have to understand that I'm doing this and doing this." I would say that for 10 years, I have tried to invite people to trust Jesus. You can trust this Jesus. You can trust him past, present, future; sins, mistakes, money, sexuality. I think this Jesus can be trusted.

I often put it this way: If there is a God, some sort of Divine Being, Mind, Spirit, and all of this is not just some random chance thing, and history has some sort of movement to it, and you have a connection with Whatever—that is awesome. Hard and awesome and creative and challenging and provoking.

And there is this group of people who say that whoever that being is came up among us and took on flesh and blood—Andrew Sullivan talks about this immense occasion the world could not bear. So a church would be this odd blend of swagger—an open tomb, come on—and humility and mystery. The Resurrection accounts are jumbled and don't really line up with each other—I really relate to that. Yet something momentous has burst forth in the middle of history. You just have to have faith, and you get caught up in something.

I like to say that I practice militant mysticism. I'm really absolutely sure of some things that I don't quite know.

CT: How would you present this gospel on Twitter?

Bell: I would say that history is headed somewhere. The thousands of little ways in which you are tempted to believe that hope might actually be a legitimate response to the insanity of the world actually can be trusted. And the Christian story is that a tomb is empty, and a movement has actually begun that has been present in a sense all along in creation. And all those times when your cynicism was at odds with an impulse within you that said that this little thing might be about something bigger—those tiny little slivers may in fact be connected to something really, really big.

And the following is taken from an advance copy of "Love Wins", read and written about by Tim Chailles and Aaron Armstrong.

A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell with no chance for anything better…. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus’ message of love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that our world desperately needs to hear. (ibid)

As soon as the door is opened to Muslims. Hindus, Buddhists, and Baptists from Cleveland, many Christians become very uneasy, saying that then Jesus doesn’t matter anymore, the cross is irrelevant, it doesn't matter what you believe, and so forth.

Not true.
Absolutely, unequivocally, unalterably not true.

What Jesus does is declare that he,
and he alone,
is saving everybody.

And then he leaves the door way, way open. Creating all sorts of possibilities. He is as narrow as himself and as wide as the universe.

…

People come to Jesus in all sorts of ways.

…

Sometimes people use his name;
other times they don’t.

…

Some people have so much baggage with regard to the name “Jesus” that when they encounter the mystery present in all of creation—grace, peace, love, acceptance, healing, forgiveness—the last thing they are inclined to name it is “Jesus.”

…

What we see Jesus doing again and again—in the midst of constant reminders about the seriousness of following him living like him, and trusting him—is widening the scope and expanse of his saving work.

These are simply samples of where Rob Bell is heading with his teaching, which is very dangerous to the gospel of the Bible. God is a just God, a righteous God, a Holy God and a perfect God and one who reveals himself through his word not through our own understanding. My prayer is that the body of Christ will reflect His glory and His gospel, as it is communicated by the one who created it all. (2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Timothy 4:3-5)

Grace, The Power To Change

I love watching the Lord change people from the inside out. It is such a great joy to humbly watch as the Lord works in the lives of those who love Him and respond to a work that can only be completed by a perfect, holy and sovereign God. Looking a little deeper we might wonder how do people change, how do we as believers in Jesus Christ become more like Him. Is it by doing good things, is it by giving a certain amount of money, is it by how involved I am at church? Well, I could be the king at each one the fore mentioned and not be more like Christ. (Galatians 3:3) What I see transforming the lives in those around me is the grace of God, it truly is his love, sacrifice and sovereignty that regenerates and continues changing the lives of those who believe.

"But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:20-21

May we look to the power of the cross to see His truly amazing grace and be humbled to the point where we commit ourselves to share in his everlasting love.