Author Archives: admin

Flannery O’Connor: Is She in Heaven?

Did you know that American short story writer had a peacock farm when she was still alive?

This I did not know. Until I learned about it in a most peculiar way.

I’ll get to that in a minute.

The Middle-of-the-Summer Outdoor Music Festival

My first exposure to O’Connor, like many of you, was when I had to read her “The Geranium” and “Everything That Rises Must Converge” in high school.

Unfortunately nothing came of that first exposure until I went to a Christian outdoor music festival somewhere in Central Illinois.

My wife and I were in our late twenties and peculiarly out of touch with the world. Every one was at least half our age–and a little older.

Just a little.

These children were comfortable in the extreme heat put off by the constantly beating sun. They were comfortable showering once (give or take a day) during the three-day festival. They were comfortable sleeping in tents on an old pig farm.

They were not bothered by the thick methane gas seeping from the ground. The loud music that never stopped. Nor swimming in an old, muddy pond (where they presumably showered and peed).

At twenty-nine I felt old. And needed a little comfort. Which I found under a tent where there was a Flannery O’Connor reading going on.

O’Connor in the English Lit Tent at Evening

The reading was in the evening, so it was cool, but that still does not explain why the Wheaton College professor behind the lecture was wearing some formidable dress and jacket made out of woolish material.

She, too, looked out-of-place.

I’m sad to say I do not remember much about the lecture. It centered around O’Connor’s faith, and obviously her stories. When she finished her talk, I threw my wife that look that says, “Can I buy something? Do we have the money?”

My wife said, “Yes, you may buy the book.”

So I jumped up and grabbed the .

Reading O’Connor

In the following week I read through the entire collection.

“The Geranium” and “Everything That Rises Must Converge” were not the stories I once thought they were. It seemed like I’d read someone’s dream version of those two.

I ended up bull rushing through “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” because I was like I know this story–I KNOW THIS STORY! How or why, I couldn’t tell you, but it was like I finally found what I was searching for.

If I was searching for it.

The last two stories, however, did me in. “Parker’s Back” and “Judgment Day.” I finally found a writer who managed to do something artful with Christian themes.

Now what?

O’Connor’s Peacock Heaven

The question faded as did my interest in Flannery O’Connor until a few weeks ago when I was exchanging emails with a good friend. He was sharing some pains he had with a previous employer and looking for advice on freelancing as a writer.

He ended the email with this sentence:

One day, we are going to be visiting Flannery O’Connor at her unspeakably beautiful peacock farm in Heaven, talking about Jesus and sharing our experiences…..there will be no sense of time and no trace of deception.

She had a peacock farm? Yes, she did. And it will be in heaven? Well, that’s debatable.

Then in struck me: what makes him so sure she would be in heaven to begin with? So I texted him:

Mature thing to say. Fair enough. So I responded:

My friend knew more than I did:

“Not writing watered down ‘Christian’ stories. That’s what struck me to on my first pass through her stories. And it is probably what has inspired countless other Christian writers and readers.

And what about her sincere love for Jesus? I guess I’ll have to go and look that up.

But is she in heaven? I don’t know (you can’t look that up). Does that minimize her work? I don’t think so. Do you? Do you like Flannery O’Connor? Or peacocks?

Let me know what you think. Brutal and all.

If you liked what you read . Then share on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

Call to the Unconverted (Winner of Most Questions Asked in a Single Gospel Book)

The Quick and Dirty

The book starts off with a bang. The subtitle reads:

To all unsanctified Persons that shall read this Book; especially of my Hearers in the Borough and Parish of Kiaderminster.

Did you catch that? Heathens.

Mr. Baxter is pulling no punches. He’s levelled his scope. And is ready to fire.

That pleased this curmudgeon to no end. I can’t tell–

What’s that? It doesn’t say heathens? It says hearers?

Boo hiss.

(This reviewer did think for a long time that is exactly what it said. Did I show my hand? Cooler heads need to prevail.)

A Call to the Unconverted is broken down into an introduction and three sermons.

In my opinion the introduction is crown jewel of the book (which I will explain below), while the sermons are robust. However, they read like transcripts.

Then there are the questions. Four hundred and eighty-three in ninety-one pages. That is only five questions a page, but they are not evenly distributed that way.

They come in packets. Like a jack hammer.

Let’s get started.

Introduction to A Call to the Unconverted

The firs thing that Baxter does is define “the call,” and it is this: warning sinners to repent from their sins and misery and to turn to Jesus who bought them with His blood and is offering them everlasting glory with God.

One reason this section is golden is Baxter’s compassion for the lost comes through in his intensity of language. He suggests that he speaks as someone who has come back from the dead–and knows the awful fate that awaits the wicked.

Note his language. He mentions the “everlasting plagues prepared for the final neglectors of salvation.” He sees the “dreadful day at hand, when your sorrows will begin, and you must lament all this with fruitless cries in torment and desperation; and then the remembrance of your folly will tear your hearts, if true conversion now prevent it not.”

This section is also golden because of Baxter’s relentless laying on of sinners.

At one point he makes a list of the troubles that wicked people cause and the wreckage they leave behind: family and friends, civil and religious .

This is not a seeker-sensitive sermon. It reminds me of Yochelson’s approach to reforming criminals: never yielding one inch to their self-pity or lame excuses.

All their misery and torment (past, present and future) is all on their head–and their head alone. And Baxter is going to let them know that.

He appeals to them “As a thief, that sits merrily spending the money in an alehouse which he hath stolen, when men are riding in post-haste to apprehend him, so it is with you.”

He continues:

And therefore he high commanded us to call after you, and tell you how you lose your labour, and are about to lose your souls, and to tell you what greater and better things you might certainly have, if you would hearken to his Call.

You will not find an appeal to Francis of Assisi or a suggestion that people don’t care what you know until they know you care.

Baxter cares. For what truly matters. And he speaks as one who cannot sleep until he warns the wicked.

Sermon One

Baxter’s first sermon tackles a tough question. One you know the unconverted are asking: Who sends the wicked to hell?

Baxter points out this is a natural question to ask:

If we saw a man killed and cut in pieces we would presently ask, “Oh! who did this cruel deed?” If the town was wilfully set on fire, you would ask, “what wicked wretch did this?” So when we read that most will be firebrands of hell for ever, we must needs think with ourselves, how comes this to pass? and who is it long of? who is it that is so cruel as to be the cause of such a thing as this?

Our instinct is to blame God. He is sovereign. All powerful. Provident and all-knowing. Should he not catch the blame for sending the wicked to hell?

And is he not merciful? Would he dare “damn men everlastingly for so small a thing as a sinful life?”

Baxter’s response is unequivocal: you will never know how evil sin is until you fully comprehend the excellencies of the God to whom you have sinned.

And does it not seem right to punish the child for foul language, excommunicate the parishioner for blasphemy or the criminal for theft? Thus it is right that the wicked are punished for their sin against God.

But who are the wicked?

The wicked man is someone who “places his chief content on earth, and loveth the creature more than God, his fleshly prosperity above the heavenly felicity.”

The wicked man believes his purpose on life is to maximize his present pleasure and to neglect the sweet gift of redemption.

Contrast this to the converted: “the drift and bent of his life is for God.” If he sins, he laments. He loves God more than the world.

Sermon Two

In this chapter Baxter attempts to reason with the unconverted, answering objections and bringing arguments. This section is loaded with questions. And he reasons from the Bible.

But, for a man to forsake the Lord that made Him, and to run into the fire of hell, when he is told of it, and intreated to turn that he may be saved; this is a thing that can have no reason in the world, that is reason indeed, to justify or excuse it. For heaven will pay for the loss of any thing that we can lose to get it; but nothing can pay for the loss of heaven.

In his reasoning with the wicked, Baxter realizes the madness in their rejection of redemption. Why do they run toward evil when they are warned of the consequences. The rapid-fire questions only intensify his concern:

Mark the Lord’s question, “Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?” Is eternal death a thing to be desired? Are you in love with hell? What reason have you wilfully to perish? If you think you have reason to sin, should you not remember that “death is the wages of sin,” Rom. vi. 23.

So, in the end, it is their refusal of redemption that send so many to hell:

But yet, for all that, it is most true which God here teacheth us, that the cause, why the wicked die and are damned, is, because, they will die and be damned. And this is true in several respects.

It is just as if you would say, “I will drink this poison, but you I will not die. I will cast myself headlong from the top of a steeple, but yet I will not kill myself.—100I will thrust this knife into my heart, but yet I will not take away my life. I will put this fire into the thatch of my house, but yet I will not burn it.”—Just so it is with wicked men; they will be wicked, and they will live after the flesh and the world, and yet they would not be damned.

The wicked, and their wicked acts, say, “We will be damned.” Yet the preacher still pleads with them.

Sermon Three

Sermon three can be summed up in this line:

O wilful miserable sinners! It is not God that is cruel to you; it is you that are cruel to yourselves.

Baxter attempts to persuade the wicked to turn and repent by indicating the ways in which repentance will bring happiness, namely the promise of living in a with Christ forever in an incorruptible body free of pain and sorrow.

And the clincher: in spite of your degree of wickedness, God has offered a free pardon of all your sins: “he hath written this in his word, and sealed it by his Spirit, and sent it by his ministers; they have made the offer to you, (many a time) and called you to accept it, and to turn to God.”

The preacher is simply fulfilling that role.

Conclusion

Baxter’s Introduction is written to be read. His sermons, to be heard. But that doesn’t explain why they lack the concrete and creative language seen in the Introduction.

I could re-read the Introduction every day. The sermons once a year (that’s still pretty good).

And Compared to Chandler’s Explicit Gospel, Baxter’s is not fully informed. It is focused upon the sinner repenting in the face of impending doom. Creation doesn’t come into play nor does consummation.

It is simply an unapologetic declaration of the consequences of sin. One that should not be ignored.

Have you read Call to the Unconverted? Am I on or off target? Do you want to read it now? Any other suggestions? I’m listening.

The Joy of Being a Slave to Christ

6 Replies

Mention the word submission and you’ll make some people’s hair stand on end.

For instance, in a recent conversation I was groping for a word to describe someone who is compliant and respectful.

The word I chose to use was “submissive.”

The gentleman interrupted and said, “No. No. No. No. No. No.” Wagging his finger as he spoke. The woman with us laughed and said, “Oh my, no. Not at all.”

Clearly submission is not a virtue to be embraced. Not one you want to see in people you respect.

Submission implies weakness. Surrender. It implies powerlessness and defeat. It implies a lack of freedom and dignity.

The vanquished submits to the conqueror. The slave to the master.

Friendship with God a Greek Idea

The Greeks embraced this truth.

When talking about their relationship to their gods, they used philos, friends. They were friends of God–not slaves of their gods.

To be submissive was a repugnant thought. Repulsive.

They loved freedom.

The New Testament tells a different story for Christian believers.

Slave vs. Servant Debate

In the original New Testament text, the word slave (doulos in Greek) appears one hundred and thirty times.

However, it is often obscured when referring to the relationship with Jesus Christ, so most English translations will render the word “bond-servant” ( being the only exception).

About this :

This word doulos in the Greek should never be translated anything but slave…never. Do you remember these words, Matthew 25:21? “Well done, good and faithful……,” that’s what you’ve read all your life. That is not the word for servant. That is not any of the six words for servant, that is doulos, well done, good and faithful slave. And the NAS is true to that translation. “Well done, good and faithful slave.” Why? Because it’s drawn out of a parable taught by our Lord about a man who had slaves.

The difference between a servant and slave is huge.

The New Testament teaches that our relationship with Christ is one of slave to master. Of absolute submission. No rights. No freedoms. Except for what He–and He alone–grants.

The New Testament does not teach that this our relationship with Christ is one of servant to boss. A servant has rights. He has freedoms. He can negotiate. He can quit.

Not the slave. The slave is the property of his master.

The 4 Absolutes of Being a Slave to Christ

New Testament readers would know what slave meant. Slaves belonged to their master. Thus, being a slave of Jesus Christ meant four things:

1. Absolute ownership. A slave is like a piece of property. He is bought for a price. In the same way, true converts are bought for a price: the blood of Christ.

2. Absolute obedience. A servant can negotiate his terms of work. A slave can not. Whatever the master asked, the slave is required to fulfill. Fortunately, beneath the slavehood of Christ we are never required to do something that compromises are being.

3. Absolute loyalty. A slave has one all-consuming reason to live–please that master. Jesus exemplified this loyalty in his unrelenting desire and discipline to please God. His loyalty extended all the way to the cross. And .

4. Absolute dependence. A slave is owned and owns nothing. The master must provide food, clothing and shelter. He must provide protection. And we know that being a slave to faithful, kind, generous and gracious God is a beautiful thing.

Jesus said, “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me’” ().

Salvation is the end of you. Your life.

Who Is to Be Called Slave to Christ?

Every single person who is in the body of Christian believers is called to be a slave. Their is no exception for rank or class. No exception for past or future titles.

The Apostle Paul. “Paul, a bond-servant (doulos) of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.”

Timothy. “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants (doulos) of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.”

The Lord’s brother. “James, a bond-servant (doulos) of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The spiritually elite. “Just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant (doulos), who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf.”

Future saints. “Saying, ‘Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants (doulos) of our God on their foreheads.’”

Speaking of James, he writes, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’” ().

That is slave talk.

New Testament doesn’t condemn slavery. Doesn’t condone slavery. Merely acknowledges that it exists–and seeks to regulate it.

The Joy of Being a Slave to Christ

As slaves of Christ God lavishes us with all of His possessions. He does it for our joy, and He does it for His glory.

Think about it: we are adopted into His family. We are made sons of God. We are called joint-heirs with Christ.

In heaven we will sit with Him and rule with Him. There is no greater joy than to be a slave of Christ. No greater reward. “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.”

Far beyond all comparison. In other words, joy that will blow our minds.

If you liked what you read . Then share on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

God Curses and Crushes Christ for Sinners

2 Replies

Last week I talked about how God hates sinners in the first 50 Psalms. How this tied into the statement “God hates the sin, but loves the sinner.”

And how that particular post was only half the story.

Let’s look at the other half today.

God Curses Christ for Our Sins

Christ did not deserve to die. But it was God’s will that Jesus die. And Jesus knew that he would die:

And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘ Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of [a]godless men and put Him to death.

That is a hard-to-follow obedience.

It is meant to be hard. To be worth more than anything on this earth.

As Matt Chandler said in the Explicit Gospel, Jesus Christ is where God’s severity and kindness meet.

An unusual kindness. A kindness demonstrated by God cursing His own son:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “ Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”

By bearing God’s wrath on the cross for believers’ sins, Christ took upon Himself the curse pronounced on us.

All of us.

We are all under a curse. Because God’s holiness demands it. Just one violation of the law and we are under that curse, and we become the sinners God hates, crushes and cuts off.

Fortunately, that is not where the story ends.

God Crushes Christ for Our Sins

Read those fourteen Psalms again.

Do you feel the magnitude of grief that overwhelms your soul? The sickness of sin that builds as you read?

Do you feel safe? Hopeless? Cursed?

Do you understand what is meant by the severity of the Lord? What’s at stake if we neglect that wrath? And do you comprehend how much sweeter, in comparison, is His kindness?

Keep in mind that God’s kindness towards us meant that he would have to crush Christ:

But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.

Jesus’ pain and death–to suffer the consequences of the wrath of God–was meant to redeem our sins. This is propitiation–the gift that satisfied God’s wrath for our sins.

6 Gifts Propitiation Gives Us

That gift bore other gifts in our favor:

We are freed from the slavery of our debt to sin to become a purified people. “Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

We are freed by one who perfectly kept the law–something we could never accomplish. “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

We are a people who appear sinless before God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”

We are a people who appear sinless only because Christ is in us. “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.”

We are citizens of a new country. “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

We are a people who avoided eternal punishment–and enjoy the promise of eternal redemption. “And not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”

Gift upon gift we receive. None do we deserve. None. This is the sweetness of God cursing and crushing Christ on our behalf.

It should produce in us a reckless but beautiful act of worship.

Why I Waited Until Today

Let me be frank with you. It was not easy dropping the “God Hates Sinners” post on Friday and waiting all weekend to publish the follow-up.

That post was a heavy-duty diagnosis left hanging over your head.

I’m sure it annoyed some. Upset a few. Frustrated others. Why would I misrepresent God? Give an incomplete story? (Or perhaps even a false one at that.)

I didn’t do that on purpose. I don’t blog on the weekend so I had to wait until today.

But I don’t apologize for the waiting.

Most of us know the ending. The good news. That we have peace with God through the death of Christ.

But I wanted to help you get a deeper glimpse of what Jesus’ death meant.

I wanted to help you see the epic nature of the cross of Christ.

The magnitude in which it reaches–touching the very essence of an infinite and omnipotent and holy and just God reaching across the unending darkness to rescue a finite and weak and corrupt and lawless being.

And hopefully the two-day delay let you meditate on that truth.

If you liked what you read . Then share on Facebook and Twitter.

God Hates, Curses, Crushes and Cuts Off Sinners (14 Times)

11 Replies

This is a good century to be a sinner.

You get all the perks of grace and none of the brutality of God’s severity.

All of this rides on an overworked phrase that goes a little something like this: “God hates the sin, but loves the sinner.”

Quaint. But is it biblical?

Sinners 3,000 Years Ago

Three thousand years ago–give or take a century or three–you didn’t want to be a sinner. If you were, consider yourself the nail beneath God’s hammer of judgment.

God hated your sin. And He hated you, too.

Want proof?

Just read the first fifty chapters of Psalms.

Fourteen times God says He hates the sinner, His wrath is on the liar, and so forth. Or at least that’s what D. A. Carson said in his book .

Carson on “God Hates Sinners”

Carson is a smart guy.

Got his B.S. in chemistry and mathematics. He followed that up with a Masters in Divinity and then a Ph.D. in the New Testament.

He taught at for decades. He’s a founding member of the Gospel Coalition. He’s a successful author.

In other words, he’s an authority.

You can trust him.

There’s just one problem: he never locates the fourteen examples of “God hates sinners.” I can’t live with that.

Go to Google, and here’s what I find:

Jared Wilson on
Mark Driscoll says
Justin Taylor

Their text? You guessed it: all of them quote D. A. Carson.

14 Times God [Blanks] the Sinner in Psalms 1-50

Unfortunately nobody offered to pin point these fourteen texts. So I read the first fifty Psalms to try to find them.

Here’s my effort:

Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!
For You [a]have smitten all my enemies on the [b]cheek;
You [c]have shattered the teeth of the wicked.

The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;
You hate all who do iniquity.
6 You destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

If [a]a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword;
He has bent His bow and [b]made it ready.

You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked;
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
And the one who loves violence His soul hates.

You save an afflicted people,
But haughty eyes You abase.

They cried for help, but there was none to save,
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

Your hand will find out all your enemies;
Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them as a fiery oven in the time [a]of your anger;
The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath,
And fire will devour them.

For You will make them turn their back;
You will [a]aim with Your bowstrings at their faces.

Because they do not regard the works of the Lord
Nor the deeds of His hands,
He will tear them down and not build them up.

For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord sustains the righteous.

But the wicked will perish;
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the [a]glory of the pastures,
They vanish— like smoke they vanish away.

For those blessed by Him will inherit the land,
But those cursed by Him will be cut off.

Your arrows are sharp;
The peoples fall under You;
Your arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies.

Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.

That’s fifteen.

Perhaps I’m naive, but I expected to find “God hates sinners” fourteen times in the first 50 Psalms. You know, precise wording. Or at least some variation.

That is not the case at all.

I found examples of God cutting off sinners. Crushing sinners. Cursing sinners. Shooting arrows into faces. What counts and doesn’t?

Is God Hates Sinners Biblical?

Now, I use a New American Standard Bible. Perhaps if I used a NIV or ESV I might have different results. And I have to confess: some of these examples sound futuristic. Meaning God will cut off sinners at Judgment. Not now.

I left all of the links so you can explore in context. Tell me if I’m wrong.

But the bottom line is this: “God hates the sin, but loves the sinner” seems to be in serious trouble.

Of course this isn’t the end of the story. There is another half we need to explore. We’ll do that next week.

Stay tuned.

What Do You Think?

Is “God hates the sin, loves the sinner” biblically justified?

How do you reconcile the above verses with : “God is love”? With ?

Are there any New Testament texts that God hates sinners? comes to mind: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not [a]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Share your thoughts. Brutal and all.

Explicit Gospel Review (Winner of Best Gospel Book by an Inflatable Dancing Man)

2 Replies

Introducing the 1/60 best books on the gospel. A 62-week long series.

The title. It is a joke.

See, there is something you need to know about Matt. He’s tall. Like six five. And lanky–long in arm, long in fingers and long in legs.

I knew this back when I first heard him preach via podcast in 2009. I think I saw a picture of him hunched over a lectren made for a normal person.

Poor guy.

But I never saw him preach live or on video. That is until this past May when a buddy sent me a link to the . I watched the video and it just shocked me.

Shocked me for two reasons.

One, he never looks at his notes. Ever. And two, the way he moves. He’s got his two feet planted, and then he weaves his arms and hands and body in the air when he speaks.

And I couldn’t help but think that he looked like one of these:

Be honest.

Watch the and tell me he doesn’t look like an inflatable dancing man when he speaks.

The other thing about Matt you have to realize is that he is an excellent communicator. He has an exceptional command of the Bible and shares compelling illustrations to drive home his points. Plus, he never looks at his notes, never loses his place and never misses a transition.

It’s truly a marvel to watch.

That he’s such a marvelous communicator, though, makes we wonder what role Jared Wilson played in the production of . Makes me wonder why they had to pull him in.

It surprises me that Chandler would have/need a co-author. I emailed Jared Wilson to find out, and this is what he said:

My role was mainly to take Matt’s sermon transcripts and shape them into book-quality chapters. This involved editing and a little bit of contribution in the way of some illustrations and quotes.

Jared then pointed me to an article: 6 Steps to Turning Sermon Transcripts into Books. You’ll learn that this is not Jared’s first time at being a co-author. It’s simply the first time a pastor chose to put his name on the book.

This jives with the word on the street about Matt Chandler: he is a very humble man. He will give credit where credit is due.

I’ve seen the sermons and I’ve read the book. The voice is true to Chandler, but the book is obviously an expansion on the sermons, and thus Wilson’s contribution to the project. So, it only seems natural to refer to the book as both Chandler’s and Wilson’s.

So, from here on out the author of the Explicit Gospel will be Chandlerson.

Gospel on the Ground

This book is divided into three parts: the gospel on the ground, the gospel in the air and applications/implications.

We start with a low-grade primer on God–his transcendence, omniscience, self-sufficiency and self-regard–that revolves around :

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Chandlerson then skims through man’s place in the cosmos (which is actually more about man snubbing God’s severity, justice and righteousness), which sets us up for Christ: “where God’s kindness and severity meet.”

God’s response to the belittlement of his name, from the beginning of time, has been the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on a Roman Cross.

They then spend the remainder (and bulk) of Part 1 explaining our response and responsibility to the gospel. This is entry-level gospel stuff. Nothing new here.

Gospel in the Air

Part 2 cracks open an often-neglected side of the gospel–what Chandlerson calls the gospel in the air.

In essence, the gospel in the air is that the gospel isn’t intended just for the reconciliation and rebirth of man. It doesn’t terminate on individual salvation. It’s also intended for the reconciliation and rebirth of all things–the universe as a whole.

Trees. Mountains. Oceans. Suns. It will all be restored to its proper state–Eden. And that creation is now corrupted and cruel is supposed to make us wonder, “What in the world has happened to this place?”

Enter the Fall.

I liked this chapter, but there is an unfortunate departure into scientific apologetics. Chandlerson wants to knock science off it’s exalted perch, skewer evolution and define what is meant when the writer of Genesis says, “In the beginning.”

It seems out-of-place for a gospel proclamation.

There are other pieces that feel out-of-place, too. Like when he quotes the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, philosopher of science Karl Popper or social gospel theologian Walter Rauschenbusch.

Even Augustine (or N. T. Wright for that matter) seems like a stretch. Of course I’m thoroughly underestimating Chandler. I guess he will always be a dyed-in-the-wool evangelist with a heavy bent towards Puritans to me.

But the digression into apologetics is short-lived.

Sublime Chapter on Shalom

The chapter on the Fall answers the question of why there is suffering in this world, and then demonstrates that sin is ultimately a cosmic treason.

And this is why a whole gospel must be explicitly about the restoration of God’s image bearers and also about the restoration of the entire theater of his glory, the entire cosmos.

Their text is an exposition on . That is, futility. Quite fitting.

The diamond in the rough for this chapter, however, and quite possibly the second half of the book, is their exposition on the term shalom–the state of creation in harmony with God’s holiness.

The idea of shalom worked into the teaching on Ecclesiastes and you’ve got an exciting bit of text. It would be a flawless chapter if not for the introduction of one of the most irritating metaphors of Christianity: the God-shaped hole in our hearts. The Chandlerson version is the shalom-shaped hole in our hearts.

I get it, but ick.

The second half of the book is strained, but winds down with some soul-stirring talk of reconciliation and, ultimately, consummation. In the end, the gospel of Jesus is epic. Death is defeated, we are reconciled to God and the entire universe is restored to its former glory.

This is the explicit gospel. The epic gospel. A gospel scaled to the enormous glory of God.

Neglect either portion and you get a skewed gospel. One that slides into isolationism and selfishness. One that slides into harmony with culture and even abandons evangelism.

Either are deadly.

The Unrelenting Metaphors

Any long-term student of Chandler is likely familiar with Chandler’s unapologetic tendency to get in your face. He is not afraid to speak the truth.

You get that in this book.

You are also probably familiar with Chandler’s clever use of metaphors (and hyperbole, but more on that later). Perhaps the cleverest metaphor has to be his recent comparison of the diagnostic purpose of an MRI with the diagnostic purpose of the Law in a .

An MRI will expose our cancer (if we have it). The Law will expose our sin (which we will have). These are diagnostic tools. They aren’t meant to provide a cure, yet many Christians treat the Law as the cure.

We sin, and instead of running to the cross we run to the Law, saying, “Okay, I will do this and this and this and not do that and that and that.” Chandler says that’s like having cancer and running back to the MRI for treatment.

Clever, eh?

You’ll get similar illustrations in The Explicit Gospel. However, these metaphors seem to pile up and the shtick gets old. Maybe it’s because I read the book in two-and-a-half days, but these illustrations began to wear on me.

Some are clever.

Now put on a cup, dude, because it’s about to be big boy time. (Matt’s rendering of Job 38:2-4: “Dress for action like a man.”)

Some are s0-so.

No man goes back to saltine crackers when he’s had a fillet mignon.

Some are hilarious.

Eventually, though, he (Solomon) got tired of waking up in the back of a chariot on his way to Mexico with a new tattoo.

Yet, his best one comes late in the book when he is mocking moralism. It is hyperbole at its best:

If you listen to Journey, you’re going to do meth and kill your parents. So don’t listen to journey.

Fans of Chandler will be pleased to know that one of his best illustrations––is in the book. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work nearly as well as on video. In fact, I had to go back and re-watch the video to make sure that Wilson got it right.

He did. It’s just the weakness of the book form.

Conclusion

Brad Lomenich, Executive Director of Catalyst, said The Explicit Gospel was “a roadmap and wake-up call to our generation to grasp the full, expansive, and true gospel story.”

I’ll give him that. It hardly has the teeth of a Owen or Baxter, but it is a book for our time, so worth a study.

Here’s the .

While you’re at it, check out these better reviews: (Jared Totten) and (by Aaron Armstrong).

Have you read The Explicit Gospel? What did you think? Share your thoughts. Brutal and all.

Fatness of Soil Explained–Finally!

3 Replies

What would you do if someone told you to starve your fatness of soil?

Corpulence. Obesity. Plumpness. The best or richest part of something.

Chew the fat. Fat pork. Fat year. Fat log of wood. Fat land.

Get this into your fat head.

Fat chance.

George Orwell said, “There never was, I suppose, in the history of the world a time when the sheer vulgar fatness of wealth, without any kind of aristocratic elegance to redeem it, was so obtrusive as in those years before 1914.”

“Sheer vulgar fatness.” I get that. And think it is cute.

So what does John Owen mean when he says “fatness of soil” in his Mortification of Sin in Believers? Let’s take a look at the context first:

This gives check unto the natural root of the distemper, and withers it by taking away its fatness of soil.

Forgive me, but I absolutely love the phrase “fatness of soil.”

In fact, it was only mentioned once in Mortification, but it was the single most important thing I wanted to find out (sort of–6 reasons why you should read Mortification).

It was like a puncture wound you wake up with in your side after a rough night. A spot of blood in the snow. Or a bullet hole you discover on the side of your house. And you need to find out where it came from.

Like now.

Fatness and Soil Deconstructed

To be honest, I did not know what to do with “fatness of soil.” Even my over-active imagination was stumped. And search as you may, you will not find anything online about the term.

This was alien territory.

My next step was to look it up at Dictionary.com, and it all started to come together: “fatness of soil” simply meant the rich, fertile part of the soil.

Uh, okay. But what is the “soil”? This is a metaphor, so we have to tease out the meaning.

Your mind should immediately go to Jesus’ parable of the . That means the soil is the what? The soul. The heart. The seat of emotions and the spirit.

Jesus explains you have four soil conditions: hard, rocky, weedy and fertile.

It is only proper to think that Owen is talking to someone with fertile soil. The soul that is in the fourth condition. But it is a soul under assault by sin.

But does that make much sense? Is Owen suggesting that one method to proper mortification is starving the soul of what makes it ripe?

Fatness and Fasting

If you step back from Owen’s sentence and study the context you’ll see that Owen is talking about Paul’s statement “I keep under my body, and bring it under subjection.”

He’s talking about fasting.

And if he’s talking about fasting, then he must be talking about something other than fertility.

Maybe he’s actually talking about obesity. More precisely, the means and methods that lead to obesity: an out-of-control appetite.

It would be a mistake to think that Owen is picking on gluttony, though. He doesn’t have one sin in mind. He has a whole host of sins in mind. He has Paul in mind: “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things” ().

Behold: they are fat on sin. And encouraged to fast.

This is a diet to rob indwelling sin of its strength in our bodies and soul.

It’s the one circumstance in which fasting is a beneficial means to an end. It is not the end itself. Nor, Owen declares, does it have the power to mortify sin alone.

You need the Holy Spirit.

What Should I Fast?

Great question. I’m thinking anything that is a crutch to you. That controls you. That dominates your time and energy. That exists as something you “can NOT live without.”

This includes pro football.

Take me, for example. I LOVE pro football. But I love God more (or at least try to), and when football is hogging my affections for God, I need to cut it out. Besides, I feel much better when I spend my Sundays talking and playing with family and friends than if I sat and watched nine hours of football.

Beer is another example. I love beer. The taste of it. Dark. Bitter. Sour. The better. But a 12 ounce bottle is way too big. That alone can bring me to a point of drunkenness that I do not enjoy. Or honors God for that matter.

Besides, I can hardly read (or retain what I read) when I’m tipsy.

Speaking of reading, books can become an idol, too. I’m talking particularly about . Mainstream books. The point is anything can steal our affections from God.

This is not to condemn you. This is to exhort you. You have to explore your own heart and figure out what it is God wants you to fast in order to starve your fatness of soil.

That at least seems to be the angle Owen is taking. What do you think? Am I off my rocker? Share your thoughts. Brutal and all.

If you liked what you read . Then share on Facebook and Twitter.

Introducing the 60 Best Books on the Gospel

4 Replies

Yes, the gospel is making a comeback.

We have the . Bands like writing songs heavy with gospel themes. And then there are the books.

Lots of them.

So many that when I searched Google for the best I landed on this GoodReads list: (49 at last count).

Geesh, I thought, it should take me a whole year to read that list.

But wait (running my finger down the screen), where is Vincent Morton’s Gospel Primer? And John MacArthur’s The Gospel According to Jesus Christ?

Those are truly “best books” on the gospel, aren’t they?

Yes.

The unwritten rules say that the books need to be about the gospel. As in this is how the Bible and the church define the gospel. The book should throb gospel, even when it strays into topics like discipleship, sin or where you vacation.

And the title should pounce on your eyes. Like Piper’s God Is the Gospel. There is no denying what that book is about.

If that’s the case, then why are books like Mark Driscoll’s Religion Saves and Tullian Tchividjian’s Unfashionable on the list? Or even Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, for that matter?

Sadly, I’ve read Unfashionable, but can’t remember what it is about. I have hunch it is on the same plane as David Platt’s Radical–the gospel turns a person inside out so that they look like a freak on the backdrop of popular culture.

I’m down with that.

A perfect example of a book that obeys the unwritten rule as to what a book about the gospel should be is What Is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert. No question you’ll walk away after reading that book with a solid answer to the question.

Or will you?

That’s to be determined in the next 62 weeks when I attempt to read all the books on the list below. A list I borrowed for the most part from GoodReads. Then I added my own choices.

Each week I’ll post one review and link back to this post. But I reserve the right to change this list at will. Like if I catch wind that one of these books definitely does not belong here.

I’ll start with Matt Chandler’s book since I just finished reading it and going through the study. After that, any book is fair game.

Are you ready? Here’s the list…

The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler

A Call to the Unconverted to Turn and Live by Richard Baxter

Finally Alive by John Piper (This is not a true review, but I ended up writing ten posts based off of Piper’s book. Live with it.)

Death by Love: Letters from the Cross by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears

Sure Guide to Heaven by Joseph Alleine

Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary by J.D. Greear

All of Grace by Charles H. Spurgeon

How to Give Away Your Faith by Paul Little

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Saved by Grace by Anthony Hoekema

The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by John MacArthur

Life-style Evangelism: Crossing Traditional Boundaries to Reach the Unbelieving World by Joseph Aldrich

The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman

Evangelism Explosion by James D. Kennedy

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by D. A. Carson

God the Evangelist: How the Holy Spirit Works to Bring Men and Women to Faith by David Wells

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller

What Is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert

The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith by Timothy Keller

The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

Living the Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing by C.J. Mahaney

Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt (Back in 2010 I devoted an entire week to this book so I am NOT going to read and review again. Start with the link above. Click through all of them. You’ll like them. Who wouldn’t with titles like David Platt Frightens Me or Your Personal Conflict with the Great Commission?)

Redemption: Freed by Jesus from the Idols We Worship and the Wounds We Carry by Mike Wilkerson

King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus by Timothy Keller

Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper

Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters by Timothy Keller

Knowing God by J.I. Packer

Scandalous: The Cross And Resurrection Of Jesus by D.A. Carson

Don’t Call it a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day by Kevin DeYoung (Editor)

Wesley’s 52 Standard Sermons by John Wesley

What The Bible Is All About by Henrietta C. Mears

Be Mature (James): Growing Up in Christ by Warren Wiersbe

The Cross-Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing by C.J. Mahaney

What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey

The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges

Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian

What Jesus Demands from the World by John Piper

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer

The Cross Of Christ by John R.W. Stott

The Bookends of the Christian Life by Jerry Bridges

Basics For Believers: Putting The Gospel First by D.A. Carson

Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by John Piper

Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions by Mark Driscoll

Dangerous Duty of Delight: The Glorified God and the Satisfied Soul by John Piper

Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions by Mark Driscoll

Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change by Paul David Tripp

Basic Christianity by John R.W. Stott

Surprised By Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit Of Rebels by Tullian Tchividjian

Promoting the Gospel: A practical guide to the biblical art of sharing your faith by John Dickson

The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out by Mark Driscoll

Entrusted with the Gospel: Pastoral Expositions of 2 Timothy by John Piper, Philip Ryken, Mark Driscoll, Edward Copeland, Bryan Chapell, J. Ligon Duncan
by D.A. Carson

God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself by John Piper

Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different by Tullian Tchividjian

Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges

Holiness by Grace: Delighting in the Joy That Is Our Strength by Bryan Chapell

In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel Centered Life by Sinclair B. Ferguson

The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World by Michael Horton

Broken-Down House: Living Productively in a World Gone Bad by Paul David Tripp

The Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent

So, see anything that’s not on the list but should be? Can you save me some time and tell me right now which books are not about the gospel and should be taken down? I’ll love you forever.

If you liked what you read . Then share on Facebook and Twitter.

5 Things You Can Learn from Jesus’ Dysfunctional Family

1. Fulfilment of prophecy

Matthew is demonstrating that Jesus is accomplishing what was foretold in the prophets–that .

Matthew and Luke are the only Gospels that present a genealogy. In fact, these are the only genealogies on world historical record that point to a Messiah.

Matthew is saying, “Here is the fingerprint of God. The ancestors of the Messiah.”

2. God is sovereign

No matter how corrupt the world becomes, God is in control.

He will use the child of a woman seduced by God’s beloved (and who murdered her husband) to advance His cause–even if that child indulges in the wickedness of the world.

He will use an eight-year old king who ruled for 31 years and instituted major reforms to bring back the rebellious people to their God (even if the reforms were not enough to turn the tide of unrestrained sin) to advance His cause.

In the end, God is the monarch of history.

3. God is humble

God chose to send His son to redeem a wicked people, and He chose to use that very line of human corruption and sin to bring about His son’s birth.

Furthermore, God, as Jesus Christ, “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” ().

This is a glorious illustration of the humility of our God.

And why did he do this? That he might be acquainted with our weaknesses. That he might be familiar with the dregs of society.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

4. God heals the broken-hearted

The first seventeen lines of Matthew is an exhibition of the fallen and flawed. And the very people who God has come to save. But what is important is not what they do. As we’ve seen they are prone to kill, lie and adulterate.

What is important is how they respond.

David fell at the feet of God and begged for mercy when confronted with his sin. Ruth, a Moabite (the clan that refused Israel permission to cross their land during the Exodus), proclaimed, “Your people shall be my people, and Your God, my God.”

God showed mercy on those with broken and contrite hearts. On the other hand, he was merciless to those who hardened their hearts.

The message to you and I: stop loving our sin and love our Saviour.

5. The gospel is for all people

God came to save a dysfunctional people. And if the list of Jesus’ ancestors should tell us anything, you and I are not beyond reconciliation. God has not given up on us. And He wishes that we will not give up on him.

He wishes that our pride will not choose sin over our Saviour. He invites us to humble ourselves, repent of our sins, trust in Him and delight in this Jesus.

Will you?

If you liked what you read . Then share on Facebook and Twitter.

Why Every Christian Should Read Mortification of Sin: 6 Reasons

2 Replies

Last week I published a monster cheat sheet to John Owen’s Mortification of Sin in Believers.

As promised here is a list of reasons why every Christian should read the original book.

1. Understand it is your duty to kill sin

Ask most Christians and they don’t have a clue what you mean when you say “mortification of sin.” When you explain that that means “to kill sin,” most Christians still won’t know what to do with that.

Aren’t we saved by grace? Don’t we ask forgiveness when we do sin? Isn’t that killing sin?

No. Owen will tell you that killing sin is the pre-emptive act of dealing with our sin–not coping with its fruit. It is laying the axe to the root of sin, before it blossoms.

This is mortification of sin, and, as Owen’s main text says, the duty of every believer: “If ye through the Holy Spirit mortify the flesh ye shall live” (Romans 8:13).

2. Escalate your sense of the danger of sin

In response to the USA Today article “,” Albert Mohler said, “We are reminded yet again that an understanding of sin is preliminary to understanding the Gospel. The magnitude of our sin explains the necessary magnitude of Christ’s atonement.”

If we have a low view of sin, then we will have a low view of God’s holiness and Christ’s work on the cross.

And that is a dangerous place to be in.

Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you,” for “it will bring forth great, cursed, scandalous, soul-destroying sins.”

3. Diminish your sense of self-worth

Jesus said, “For apart from me you can do nothing.”

Yet, do we not think that we are capable of doing everything? That something peculiar to us as an individual allows us to conquer anything we put our minds to? And are we not taught this precept in our schools, advertisements and even our churches?

Of course this not peculiar to Americans. We are all in love with ourselves and think we are special and superior–even to God. We may even go as far as to say that we are personally worth the sacrifice Jesus made.

Owen will break you of this. Again and again. Which is good because an elevated sense of self is a deception that can harden the heart and destroy the soul.

4. Expose your light attitude to the cost of the cross of Christ

We are put to death in Christ–a death that paid the penalty for our sins. Yet when we ignore sin, neglect its mortification or diminish its threat we not only damage His saint and wound Christ afresh, but we also gratify His enemy.

Owen wants us to shiver in shame at this thought.

The blood of Christ is used to cleanse us, the exaltation of Christ is meant for repentance and the doctrine of grace teaches us to deny ungodliness. The false believer, however, uses these principles to approve of sin.

5. Bone up on the ways of sin

Mortification of sin is warfare. And it is constant. So it makes sense that we would study sin and know our enemy. That enemy never rests. He never wearies. And wants nothing more than our death.

And we must know the policies and depth of our sins. To be ignorant of the ways of sin and Satan is to be vulnerable to sin and Satan. We must know where the strength of our sin lies–and then .

Owen knows sin, the enemy and the world. His psychological insights on the human condition are just as penetrating as are his theological ones.

6. Elevate our respect for the Holy Spirit

Sin cannot be mortified apart from the Holy Spirit. This is a relentless theme in Mortification. In fact, Owen demonstrates to do so will only lead to chronic misery and failure or elevation of self and hardening of heart to God and others.

Both conditions are deadly.

Instead, the Holy Spirit is “that excellent succour which God hath given us against our greatest enemy,” and he alone is our strength, shield and shelter in our combat with sin.

Your Turn

Throughout the coming months I will continue to write posts on particular points in Mortification. It is that rich and deserves expansion.

In the meantime, read Mortification (there are links at the top of the page to different formats of the book) if you haven’t already. It would be great to discuss this book with you.

And if you already have read it, what are some other reasons every Christian should read it? I would love to hear your thoughts.

If you liked what you read . Then share on Facebook and Twitter.