Moving

I’m now hosting my personal blog at tumblr.com.  Mininggrace.com will still get you the right place.  You can also subscribe to the RSS feed.

Taking the Gospel to Exurbia

Part of church planting is studying the community to which you are going. As I’ve gotten to know Culpeper by talking to it’s people, strolling it’s sidewalks, and pouring over its demographics one word keeps coming up: exurban. What is exurban?  Wikipedia has it’s own decent definition (half way down the article).  My working definition is that an exurb is an embryonic suburb.  Suburbs have an uncanny way of metastasizing all over the American landscape. They simply sprawl.  Exurban is a town that is caught between rural-quaint and suburban-sprawled.

A good friend recommended a book to help me understand the Exurb better.  It is On Paradise Drive, by David Brooks.  I’m just getting into it on my Kindle (and wishing I owned a Kindle 2).  Here are some early quotes from Brooks.

We are living in the age of the great dispersal. As Witold Rybczynski has observed, the American population continues to decentralize faster than any other society in history.  In 1950 only 23 percent of Americans lived in suburbia, but now most do, and today’s suburbs are sprawling out faster and faster and farther and farther, so in the past few years, many exurban places have broken free from the gravitational pull of the cities and now float in a new space far beyond them.

For an example of this, just think of the suburbs around Atlanta that have now grown to have identities all their own quite separate from urban Atlanta.

Brooks goes on to explain the unique lack of a societal center as compared to every other community in America.

This suburban supernova subtly affects every place in America.  The cities and inner-ring suburbs are affected because only certain kinds of people get left behind.  Quiete often the people who stay are either the very poor, because they can’t afford to move ; or the very rich, because they can afford to stay and live well in upscale enclaves.  In the exploding exurbs, there are no centers, no recognizable borders and boundaries, and few of the conventional geographic forms — such as towns, villages, and squares — that people in older places take for granted.  Up till now in human history, people have lived around some definable place — a tribal ring, an oasis, a river junction, a port, a town square.  You could identify a certain personality type with a certain place.  There was a New York personality, an L.A. personality.  But in exurbia, each individual has his or her own polycentric nodes — the school, the church, the subdevelopments, the office park — and the relationship between those institutions is altered.

Not only is suburbia become the location of decentralized America it is also where office parks are housing the businesses that are making the advancements which are changing the face of our society.  This produces tremendous power housed in seemingly disconnected societies.  Brooks asks,

How do these bland-seeming places produce so much change, and how will they manage it?  What happens when people acculturated in these sprawling suburban zones are given the power — through the biotech firms they are now starting amid the Fuddruckers — to remake human nature?   What values will guide them?

Even from these few quotes you start to see the absolute necessity for church planting in suburban and especially exurban areas.  People are moving to the exurbs.  Businesses are moving to the exurbs.  The pieces of our decentralizing societal core are moving to the exurbs.  And so it is the privilege of the church to take the gospel to the exurbs.

This is one of the many reasons that I’m excited about the new work I’m a part of in Culpeper, VA.  I get to be a missionary to this new America.  I want to see Jesus glorified in the Exurbs.  What a privilege.

Angels, Calvin, Taylor, and Kelly

I’m trying to read through John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion this year.  Calvin is arguably the best Bible teacher since the times of the Apostles.  The Institutes are not only a treasure of profound, devotional theology but are also classics of Western literature.

Today’s scheduled reading is on the topic of angels.  Few biblical themes have been misconstrued more by common cultural notions than the study of angels.  What struck me most about Calvin’s treatment of angels was the restrained manner in which he handled the topic.  Never wanting to go beyond what the Bible says, Calvin is clear where the Bible is clear and intentionally vague where the Bible is vague.  What a refreshing treatment of such a misunderstood topic.

If you want to read along, you should pick up the Ford Lewis Battles edition of The Institutes.

You can also check out Justin Taylor’s blog post on today’s selection on angels.

While I was reading Calvin I couldn’t help but think back to Dr. Kelly’s opening sermon at the Twin Lakes Fellowship last year on how angels are aids to us.  Surprise, surprise, Dr. Kelly’s sermon was a preached version of this section of Calvin’s Institutes.  You can find that sermon here.

The Need for Church Planting: Some Stats

One of the misconceptions I had about church planting before I became a church planter was that North America was already evangelized.  The truth is that the American church has never kept up with population growth and is very much a mission field.  To prove the point here are two different statistics from Ed Stetzer’s excellent book, Planting Missional Churches.

The church-to-population ratio based on statistics form the U.S. Census:

• In 1900, there were 28 churches for every 10,000 Americans.
• In 1950, there were 17 churches for every 10,000 Americans.
• In 2000, there were 12 churches for every 10,000 Americans.
• In 2004, there were 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans.

George Hunter’s research concludes that,

• There are 120 million secular undiscipled people in the United States.
• The U.S. is the largest mission field in the Western hemisphere.
• The U.S. is the fifth largest mission field on earth.

These startling statistics point only in one direction.  If we want people to hear the gospel then we must plant churches in the United States.

Which Gospel?

I’ve been studying Luke 7:36-50 all week.  I taught it at a high school FCA meeting on Wednesday morning.  I taught it at a youth group meeting on Wednesday night.  Tomorrow morning I’ll teach it at a men’s breakfast.  It is the story of two gospels — Simon the Pharisee’s gospel and the gospel of Jesus.

It is a story of contrast.  Jesus has a meal at Simon’s house.  This makes Simon one of the more friendly of Pharisees who interacted with Jesus.  But it is apparent as the story proceeds that Simon, though intrigued by Jesus, isn’t convinced that he should be paid any special honor.  An uninvited guest confirms his suspicion.

During the meal a woman walks in.  She is known recognized publicly as a sinner.  I don’t think times have changed much.  If a woman is known publicly as a sinner only a few specific sins come to mind.  But her sin is not the end of her “impropriety”.  She bows at Jesus’s feet and washes them with her tears and hair.  Now cleaned, she applies a costly ointment to the feet of this itinerant preacher.

It is at this point that the Luke interjects what Simon was thinking, “If Jesus only knew who and what sort of woman this was he certainly wouldn’t let her do this to him.”

Jesus goes on to challenge Simon’s view of God’s love with a parable.  Two men owe different amounts of money — one a little and one a great sum.  Both are forgiven their debts by their creditor.  Jesus’s pointedly asks Simon, “Who will love the creditor more?”  Simon answers correctly, “The one who was forgiven much.”

Here are two gospels in poignant contrast.

The gospel of Simon argues that God likes to be around religious people and shuns sinners.  It’s motto is, “I’m moving closer to God by working hard at religion.”  The gospel of Jesus is completely the opposite.  Jesus shows Simon through his parable that God loves sinners and is offended by religious people.  It’s motto is, “God is moving closer to me by his grace.”

In the end it is a question of how big of a sinner are you?  The cross of Christ — where the redemption of Christians was accomplished — is the only basis on which a sinner can passionately love God with a tear-soaked-hair, empty-alabaster-flask kind of devotion.

I see a good deal of Simon-ish thinking in me.  God has been challenging me this week to ask myself the question, “Just how much have you been forgiven?”  It is only in answering that question that I clearly see God’s love for me in the gospel of Jesus.

Back from Orlando

I’m back from the GCA conference on church planting.  I had a great time in Orlando but am glad to be back.  All this traveling is beginning to wear on me.  Here are a few updates since my last post that you might find interesting.

• The website for the church plant in Culpeper is now live.  Go and check it out.
• I designed the Culpeper website with wordpress.com.  While I was designing the site I thought I had shutdown access to it.  I discovered however that I had shutdown mininggrace.com rather than culpepermission.org  So if you haven’t been able to view Mining Grace for two weeks, now you know why.  Oops.
• I just received this book and this book in the mail.  Can’t wait to dive into them both.
• I saw some old friends and met some new ones while in Orlando.  You should check out their work.
  • Tony Giles discipled me while I was in college.  I had no idea that he was going to be at GCA.  Imagine my surprise and elation to catch up with such a dear friend.  He is laboring in Nashville with Ian Sears.
  • I got to catch up with some old friends from church planter assessment this past November.  One of whom is McKay Caston who is planting a church north of Atlanta.  Check out his work on the Dahlonega Church Plant. (facebook group)
  • James Park is another one of my assessment alumni.  We shared a room at GCA.  He is planting a church north of Los Angeles.  Check out his work on GracePoint Mission.
  • One of the great things about going to conferences is meeting new friends.  I got to spend some time with Tim Brister at GCA.  Tim is one of the guys who I know from online social networks: twitter, facebook, and blogging.  Virtual became tangible as we got together over chicken wings to discuss church planting, Puritans, and triathlons.  Check out his blog, church planting work, and church.

Those are all of my updates for now.

On the Road

We’re on the road this week.  We worshiped at Redeemer, Lynchburg this morning.  Hallie’s family attends there.  It’s a great church.  They’re about three months into their first foray as a mulit-site church.  It was really exciting to worship with them this morning.  My plan is to pattern our work in Culpeper after the Lynchburg model.

Tomorrow night we’ll be in Charlottesville for a fund raising dessert.  It will be held at Grace Community Church and will comprise people from both Grace Community and Trinity.  What makes it so profound is that Grace Community was a plant of Trinity.  So tomorrow night will be a meeting with three generations of church plants: Trinity, Grace Community, and now Culpeper Mission.  How amazing to be a part of God’s Kingdom extension throughout this portion of VA.

I keep telling people that we are claiming Jesus’ promise that when he is lifted up, all men will be drawn to him.  Our goal is to lift Jesus up, to exalt him and his work.  He accomplishes the rest.

Lift him up!

Books I’m Looking Forward to Reading in 2009

With a fresh year begun, I’m already looking forward to setting my reading plan out for the year.  There are two particular books I’m anxious to read.

• Prodigal God, by Tim Keller
• Systematic Theology – Vol 1, by Doug Kelly

I also continue to plod through Thomas Boston’s 12 volume works.  In addition to those I plan on embarking on a study of CS Lewis’ works in 2009.

What are you excited about reading this year?  Any suggestions about any other books I should be excited about?

Spiders in Worship

This is from the funny files.

Yesterday morning I assisted in worship.  I was leading the congregation as we read out loud together the Apostles’ Creed.  As I was reading, something landed right in the middle of my bulletin in the exact portion of the Apostles’ Creed that we were reciting.  A jumping spider had hurled himself from the end of the pulpit mic onto my closely perched bulletin.  As nondescript as possible — while still reading — I flicked the spider off my bulletin.

“That was weird,” I thought to myself.  “I bet that will never happen again.”

The next time I was in the pulpit was later that night.  I was up to preach in our evening worship service.  I got up to read from John 4.  As I began reading it happened again!  A spider jumped from the pulpit mic onto the exact portion of the Bible I was reading.  Again, I quickly sent him flying into the front row — while trying not to lose my place as I read.  I almost broke out into laughter.  Though I’m glad I didn’t because I’m not sure how I would have explained that to the congregation.  “Uh, you see….there was this spider…. and, well…. this morning…..”

My assumption is that the spider(s) came from the poinsettias that were positioned near the pulpit.

That goes down in the books as one of those odd public speaking moments.  A once in a lifetime occurence…that is until next Sunday.

A Few Wise Guys

I’m preaching my first “Christmas” sermon tonight at our Christmas Eve sermon.  I decided to focus on the wise men.

You would be surprised at how little we know about these guys.  For example,

1. There weren’t necessarily three. They offered three gifts but there could have been 20 of them as much as there could have been two.
2. They weren’t kings. Apparently the song, “We three kings of Orient are” assumed they were kings because of their portrayed dress in early Christian paintings.  They were definitely religio-philosophers of the star gazing sort.
3. We really don’t know what country they were from. They may have been Medes, Persians, or Chaldeans.  All we know is that they came from the East.
4. We don’t know how they heard the Jewish messianic prophecy that brought them to Jerusalem.
5. We don’t know what the “star” exactly was. It could have been a star, a planet, a comet, or something else.
6. From all apparent Biblical accounts they probably weren’t at the manger the night Jesus was born. Context leads us to believe they showed up a few weeks later before Jesus’s family left Bethlehem.  Sorry to spoil your manger scene.

But what we do know about them — little that it is — points us to the fundamentals of the gospel.

1. They were Gentiles. It is amazing that these non-Jews were the chosen delegation to great the arrival of king Jesus.  The gospel is for  people of every tribe, tongue, and nation.
2. They weren’t offended. They walked into Jesus’s humility and poverty.  They didn’t think they had the wrong house.  The humble servant of the Lord didn’t offend them in the least. The gospel is about a Savior who though he was rich became poor that we in his poverty might become rich.
3. They worshiped. You find in the Magi of Matthew 2 arguably the most intense worship of Jesus that side of his resurrection.  They saw him, fell prostrate before him, and worshiped.
4. They showed Christ exalting generosity. They gave him gifts.  Gold for a king.  Frankincense — commonly used in temple worship — for someone in close relationship with God.  Myrrh — used for preparing dead bodies — or a man who would one day face the grave.

The little we know about these wise men points directly to the truth of the gospel.  Christmas  myth tends to cloud the gospel clearly presented in the birth of our incarnate Lord.

May you this Christmas take the advice of the song “O  Holy Night”, and “fall on your knees and here the Savior calling, for Christ is born.”

Blogging Encouragement

I admit it, I’m no Tim Challies.  You won’t find a meter on my site of consecutive days blogged.  I lose my blogging inertia easily.  Sometimes I really enjoy it and others I wonder whether or not it is a waste of time.

Recently I’ve been feeling more of the latter — the blogging doldrums.

But some recent conversations have been well timed to contradict my blogging depression.  It seems that folks do read what I write and do like interacting through comments.  So in addition to opening up comments again, I am reminded that blogging is a good thing and can be used by God for at least some benefit in the advancement of his kingdom.

What are the reasons I started blogging and continue to blog?  Here are a few:

1. Blogging shows me the state of my heart. I can look back on past posts and ask the question, “How well am I understanding and articulating the gospel right now?”  Sometimes I like the answer I give and other times I don’t.  There are few things that help me discern Christ-centeredness of my soul than frequent writing.
2. Blogging gives me a venue to participate in my generation’s communication of the classic truths of Christianity. Every generation needs to declare and apply the classic truths of Christianity.  Blogging gives me a place to do just that.  A secret around here at Mining Grace is that when I’m stuck on something to write about I just pick some segment of a creed or confession and make devotional comments on it.  In that way I expose my readers to classic Christ honoring documents that they will probably never read on their own.
3. Blogging reaches people with the gospel. I’ve been shocked at what a diverse group of people will read what you write just because you post it on a blog.  What a responsibility to write well!  I am infatuated with the gospel of Jesus Christ and want other people to be equally infatuated.  Blogging gives me a chance to communicate the gospel to people that I will never have the opportunity to talk to in person.
4. Blogging helps me in my ministry. I blog about what I am studying.  Writing it down helps me to understand the argument I’m trying to make.  It hones my preaching and teaching.  Many times, working through a blog post will help me see a different angle on some topic I’ve been thinking through.  The discipline of writing helps me as a communicator.
5. Blogging helps me interact with my congregation in ways no other medium can. I can follow up on a point in a sermon.  I can express encouragement or rebuke.  I can let people in on different facets of my personal life that make me more approachable.  Blogging makes me a better pastor.

These are just a few of many.  Who knows how long I will continue to call myself a blogger?  For now, I’ve made it through another blogging slump thanks to the encouragement of some good friends.

I hope to always blog in such a way that exalts Christ.  If I cease doing that, the sooner I hang up the ol’ keyboard the better.

Blogging the Institutes

The guys over at Ref21 are going to begin blogging through Calvin’s Institutes in 2009.

You should check out some of the preliminary posts in the series.

Ligon provides ten reasons to follow along with them:

Why should you read through Calvin’s Institutes with the lads here at ref21 as we blog through this work every weekday of 2009? Ten reasons:

1. Because it the most important book written in the last 500 years.

2. Because it is foundational for every Reformed systematic theology ever since.

3. Because Calvin was the best exegete in the history of Christianity.

4. Because Calvin is one of the five greatest theologians in Christian history.

5. Because he wrote it as a “sum of piety” not as an arid, speculative dogmatic treatise.

6. Because it gave J.I. Packer the idea for “Knowing God.”

7. Because Calvin thought and wrote succintly and clearly. “Brevitas et claritas” was his motto – brief and clear!

8. Because you will know God better, if you read it prayerfully and believingly.

9. Because it’s the 500th anniversary year of Calvin’s birthday. Don’t be a party pooper.

10. Because I agree with what Derek and Iain say in their posts.

Tweaks

Blogging is going to look a little different over here at Mining Grace from here on out.

As you know from my announcement, my attention has turned toward church planting.  You’ll probably see a good bit more about that in terms of content.  I’ll also continue to provide my thoughts on parts of the Bible or on old creeds that interest me.  In addition to that you’ll probably also notice some more personal posts updating you on what is going on with me, my family, my ministry in Mississippi, and my preparation for church planting in Culpeper.

Another big change is that I’ve done away with comments.  Its not because I don’t love you or don’t think you have anything profound to say, its just that I don’t have time to moderate all those gems you lob in my direction.  For every helpful comment there are three that are down right goofy unhelpful.  So if you want to talk about something I’ve written please feel free to email me, friend me on facebook, or interact with me on twitter.

What has consumed my time most recently is trying to come up with a three year budget for my church plant.  That will enable me to approximate how much I need to raise from donors–churches and individuals–before we can go to the field.

People keep telling me, “It is a horrible time to ask people for money.”  My response is, “Yeah, but its never a horrible time to plant a church.”  I truly believe that God has taken the money for the Culpeper work and scattered among people who need to be involved in it.  My privilege is to find those people and invite them to invest in a work God has already planned for them.

In the end, I want to see people who don’t know Jesus come into relationship with him.  I want to see the people in Culpeper without a church find a church home where they can be encouraged and built up in grace.

For now it is the difficult work of excel sheets, donor charts, and lots of phone calls.

I’m also working on an official prospectus for the Culpeper work which I’ll link to once its done.

Keep praying for what Jesus is doing in Culpeper!

No Blame – Dort 3.9

The fact that many who are called through the ministry of the gospel do not come and are not brought to conversion must not be blamed on the gospel, nor on Christ, who is offered through the gospel, nor on God, who calls them through the gospel and even bestows various gifts on them, but on the people themselves who are called. Some in self-assurance do not even entertain the Word of life; others do entertain it but do not take it to heart, and for that reason, after the fleeting joy of a temporary faith, they relapse; others choke the seed of the Word with the thorns of life’s cares and with the pleasures of the world and bring forth no fruits. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13).

-Synod of Dor, 3/4.9

__________

If you will not come to Christ it is no fault of the gospel, Christ, or God.  It will be your own.  Either you will reject the gospel outright — assured of your own ability to please God with the wreckage of your life.  Or you will play with the gospel like watching a movie — allowing it to entertain you and move you only so far before you return it for next week’s new release.  Or you will receive the gospel only so far as it requires nothing back from you — eventually leaving it for some other product that promises better results.  In all these instances you will have left the gospel and refusted to come.  The fault and guilt of your unbelief will be your own.

Sobering thoughts.

Books for Gifts – Marriage and Parenting

This category of books is huge.  So instead of recommending every book out there I’m going to recommend my all-time favorite marriage book and my all-time favorite parenting book.  I consider these to be must reads and have personally benefited greatly from them.  They are,

• When Sinners Say I Do, Dave Harvey
• Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Tedd Tripp