So ist das leben

I just recently listened to three sermons that were absolutely excellent and that I would like to enthusiastically recommend.

The first was from my former pastor Mark Minnick, who is (in my opinion) the finest expositional preacher alive today. The title was “Preaching that Glorifies God,” and was a sermon delivered for an ordination service. Something that I heard Pastor Minnick say all my life finally jumped out and grabbed hold of me. In speaking of expositional preaching, he said that it was important not only to be preoccupied with the text and say what the text is saying, but also to say it in the way that the text says it. In other words, to lay it out in the same way that God chose to lay out the theme of that passage. This is a very important distinction. I have heard lots of expositional preaching that gets the theme of the passage down very well. And most of the main points naturally arise from the passage. But the element that is missing is the idea of also dealing with the passage in the same way the author did. Asking the same questions, raising the same objections, exhorting the same direction, etc. After hearing this sermon it was clear in my mind that this is what sets Pastor Minnick apart from the majority of expositional preachers today. He not only says what the text says, but in the way it says it.

The second was a sermon from John Piper, pastor of Bethelehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The sermon was his address at the 2006 Together for the Gospel Conference entitled, “Why Expositional Preaching is Particularily Glorifying God.” This is certainly one of the top ten best sermons I’ve heard in my life. The closing prayer alone is worth the whole sermon. Typical Piper-passionate and inspirational. He advocated an “expository-exultation” approach to preaching. He said that it was not enough to simply exegete the passage-anyone who is trained to do so can exegete the passage–but he said that you must exult over the passage and let it inflame your heart. He called preachers to be passionate about the Word and to let that passion be evident in their preaching. This clearly is what sets John Piper apart from most expositional preachers. He has a passion for the Word of God that has few rivals.

The last sermon was from Ligon Duncun and was from the Together for the Gospel Conference as well. It was entitled “Preaching from the Old Testament.” Since I have a kind of intimidation of preaching from the Old Testament (stemming mainly from my lack of knowledge of how to  preach expositionally from the OT), I decided that this would be a practical sermon for me. Duncan’s goal was to motivate and inspire pastors to preach from the Old Testament. I would call it a sort of “Old Testament Pump Up Speech.” Considering that was his goal, he was highly successful. If you want to hear some fine examples of exposition from the OT, then I would highly recommend the sermon. It alos really made me want to read the OT more.

All three sermons were a great challenge to my heart. I highly recommend them. On a related note, the 2008 Together for the Gospel Conference is going on this week. The sermons thus far, I have heard, have been excellent. I’m sure they would also be worthy of your time.

I have often thought that one of the greatest hindrances in the current debates over music and worship in the church is a lack of understanding of culture. Before the topic is ever debated, some very foundational questions must be answered or the two parties will just be speaking over each other (which is what is happening so many times in Evangelical/Fundamental circles). Questions such as: “What is culture (definition)?” Are all cultures equal or are some superior/inferior? And now (and perhaps more importantly), on what basis do you make that claim? And then a little more tangentially…Does music derive its morality from within itself or from culture around us (culturally determined morality)? Or both? A failure to answer these all-important questions about culture will often result in confusion and frustration. The debate must be framed in useful terminology.

Terry Johnson, a Presbyterian pastor in Georgia and former student of both J.I. Packer and David Wells, attempts to frame the debate in a short article entitled “Worship in Spirit and Truth.” But he does so in a rather unique way. I am quite a novice on this topic, but in what reading I have done I don’t believe I have ever heard this kind of reasoning. Here’s what Johnson says: (emphasis is mine)

Be church-centered in your worship. The church consists of the whole people of God, young and old, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile. The truth church transcends all of the world’s division based on culture, race, ethnicity, and age (Galatians 3:28). So should its worship. I know that the whole trend and direction of things is contrary to this. The theory today is that each sub-culture needs its own worship expressed in its own style of format, music, and speech. Think through with me where this will leave us. Inevitably the church will divide into thousands of affinity groups, each one demanding its own worship in its own preferred cultural style-services presumably for black, white, brown, yellow, and red; for teens, singles, gen-xers, boomers, and of course, the “greatest generations”; for those who prefer jazz, rock, swing, classical, country, rap, etc, etc, etc. That which ought to be the time when we all become one in Christ will become that moment in the week when we are the most divided. This is a dead end. Don’t go there.

Instead consider that the church has its own culture. It has its own treasury of music which includes contributions from Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and Mendelssohn. It has a treasury of lyrics that includes contributions by Watts, Wesley, Newton, Havergal, Luther, Calvin, St. Bernard, St. Francis, and so on. Gradually additions are made to the treasury over time. A bare handful of the hundreds of songs that have appealed to any single generation are still around a hundred years later. Those that endure are added to the treasury. Essentially the treasury consists of the songs and words that have appealed across class, race, culture and generation. They have appeared for Welsh, French, German, Spanish, Greek, Latin and Hebrew sources. Yet they have transcended local taste and instead appealed universally. They have stood the test of time. Who doesn’t love “Amazing Grace”? Who doesn’t delight to sing “Joy to the World”? What I am saying is, do not select a format, a style of language or style of music that appeals to one group’s peculiar tastes and thereby excludes all the others. Rather, stick to the church’s own transcendent culture, which no one group can claim as it’s own, which boasts a universal aesthetic appeal, and so is owned by all. Don’t be deflected by the claim that the issue is communication, as though the gospel can’t be understood unless it’s wrapped up in each individual’s cultural preferences. It’s not.”

I am formulating an opinion, but would be interested in your feedback. What do you think of this idea that the church has its own unique, transcendent culture made up primarily by the contributors he listed?

I read something last night on alliteration that I thought was excellent. I have long been somewhat wary about the use of alliteration in sermons (or any serious address), and as far as I can remember, have never used it myself. Now, I’m not antagonistic towards alliteration. On the contrary, some of my fondest childhood memories are of my dad’s challenges during family devotions where he employed alliteration quite liberally. Even today I remember that God’s plan in Joseph’s life brought him from the pit, to the prison, to the palace. I always enjoyed my dad’s alliteration.

But nostalgia aside, I think there is a problem for a pastor/preacher/speaker to regularly use alliteration, and Roger Ellsworth cuts very well to the heart of that problem:

“I would caution you about the common practice of alliteration. It is possible to so fall in love with this that we become more focused on it that we are on dealing honestly with the text. If we are not careful, we can distort what the text actually says in order to get from it another point that fits our alternative scheme. I am not opposed to the use of alliteration if it is natural and not contrived, but our primary concern must be what the text says. Truth carries its own appeal.

I think the two criterion are useful: (1) natural and (2) not contrived.

And of course the last sentence is so very well put. “Truth carries its own appeal.”

Last night I finished reading ”William Grimshaw of Haworth” by Faith Cook. Grimshaw is little known, but was an extremely influential Methodist Leader in the 18th century in Britain. He was close friends and ministry partners with John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and John Newton. His name has been lost in relative obscurity since his death however. It is actually a remarkable insight into the “history of history” to trace the reasons why Grimshaw was so little known.

The first reason has to do with the fact that in the years immediately following his death there was almost no biographical material available. John Newton was the first to attempt to give something of the details of his life in his short biographical sketch of Grimshaw in 1799 (nearly 40 years after Grimshaw’s death). This sketch was based largely on personal recollections however.

The second reason probably has to do with the relatively obscure location where he ministered. Haworth is far north in England and Grimshaw never preached or ministered in London.

The story gets interesting when five manuscripts and over fifty personal letters that opened up the story of Grimshaw’s life were discovered. In the 1820’s, James Everett used these manuscripts to write a full, rather lengthy biography of Grimshaw. But with one chapter left to write, he set the manuscript aside, and never published it. His biography and the manuscripts and letters on which it was based were stored in an obscure, unclassified Methodist archive, undiscovered for over 100 years.

So in 1963 when Frank Baker finally brought these materials to light and wrote a dissertation on Grimshaw, the enormous significance of Grimshaw’s influence on early Methodism was finally realized.

This biography was deeply moving. Not only were the results of Grimshaw’s itinerant preaching astounding, but his personal zeal for the Lord and for the souls of others was inspiring. Grimshaw was indeed a significant influence on the Evangelical Revival of the 18th century. Tens of thousands of people heard his preaching. John and Charles Wesley thought so highly of him, they put in writing that Grimshaw was to be their successor in the event of their death. George Whitefield visited Grimshaw at every opportunity he had (some historians believe up to 17 different times in his church). When Grimshaw came to his church there were 12 regular attenders. At the height of his ministry there were 1,200.

But the most impacting part of the book was Grimshaw’s earnest love for Jesus Christ. I have read of very few other men who so tirelessly, moment by moment sought after Christ. What was very clear after reading the story of his life was that his tremendous influence was empowered by his walk with the Lord.

I hope to post a few quotes and statements from the book that were particularily impacting here in the next day or two.

Those were my wife’s exact words when I told her over dinner last night that I was thinking of starting a blog. She said she has anticipated my starting one for awhile now, because it just seems like “my kinda thing.” My blogging history however (e.g. “So ist das leben 1″) leaves much to be desired. I hope that this will be an improvement upon my former failures.

My goal for this blog is not to gain a large readership or host heated debates on controversial issues. Rather, I would like for the blog to act as a kind of journal during my years of graduate study (and there’s still plenty of years left). I’d like this to be a place I can sort through my thoughts from reading/classes and then present them in a helpful, readable fashion.

So to that end…another blog enters the blogosphere.