Worth repeating from the Twitterverse

Here are some tweets from the last week by people I am following:

"The gospel can't just b evident in a doctrinal statement. It must b visible in the day 2 day life of the church." -- Matt Chandler

“Grace activates the love for God and neighbor that the law calls for but cannot produce.” – Tullian Tchividjian

“Jesus is never late. Don’t mock His clock.” – John Piper

“Corporate worship is designed to instill a hope deep within you that cannot be shaken by chaos in your circumstances or relationships.” – Paul David Tripp

“Walking with God doesn’t lead to God’s favor; God’s favor leads to walking with God.” – Tullian Tchividjian

“A religion that needs state power to enforce obedience to it is a religion without confidence in the power of its god.” – Russell Moore

“Our tendency to focus on our daily battle with sin instead of Jesus’ victory over sin is the reason we fail in our daily battle with sin.” – Tullian Tchividjian

“The radical sacrifice of the cross was necessary because we have no capacity whatsoever to be righteous on our own.” – Paul David Tripp

“Since forgiveness has been granted it makes no sense to ease your conscience by minimizing your wrongs or shifting the blame.” – Paul David Tripp

“Over-protecting your children teaches them preservation is primary. Over-expecting from your children teaches them performance is primary.” – Tullian Tchividjian

“Freedom happens when the affirmation you look for from others is replaced by the affirmation you already possess in Christ.” – Tullian Tchividjian

“Prayer is a rebellion against my efforts at autonomy.” – Byron Yawn

“A life of worry is the fruit of failing to believe that ‘it is finished.’” – Tullian Tchividjian

Mondays are for music: 'Come to Me'

Michael Bleecker is worship pastor of The Village Church, Flower Mound campus, in the Dallas Metroplex. Matt Chandler is The Village's lead pastor for teaching. Bleecker writes some of the music the worship team and he lead the congregation in each week. He co-wrote "Come to Me," which he plays in the video below.

Preparing for corporate worship: 'We' and 'Him'

“[Y]et for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him” (I Cor. 8:6). These powerful words provide much truth-based fuel for our worship. We worship a triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This verse focuses on the first two persons of the Trinity. Paul says all things come from the Father, and “we exist for Him.” We live for His glory and purpose. Paul says while the Father is the source of creation, the Son is the agent in creation, and “we exist through Him.” We live by His creative power, and we also live as Christians “through Him” – through His life, death and resurrection. Our church will gather to worship Sunday with these truths informing that worship: One God. One Lord. Their work. Our purpose. It is about the Father and the Son. May they receive the glory.

When, oh when, will the day come?

I think the question may have first come to mind after I finally watched the 2011 movie "The Help" about three weeks ago.

It was put into words as Linda and I visited with a godly young friend on Labor Day.

President Obama's decision to make abortion a centerpiece of his re-election campaign lurks in its background.

The question? It is this:

When will we as Americans look back on legalized abortion as we now do slavery and the Jim Crow laws of the South?

And that leads to other questions:

-- Would God -- in His gracious sovereignty -- grant it in my lifetime? At least in the lifetimes of those who are now living?

On January 22 of next year, we will reach the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton -- the Supreme Court's companion decisions that wiped out all state bans on abortion and legalized the practice nationwide throughout all stages of pregnancy. That is four decades and -- even more horribly -- 50 million, closer to 55 million, destroyed unborn children ago. That also is tens of millions of devastated mothers -- and fathers and grandparents -- who chose abortion or pressured for abortion and lived to regret doing so ago.

-- What will we do that those who follow decades from now will not look back on us as we now look back on those professing Christians who supported a form of apartheid in this country and treated fellow image-bearers of God as less than fully human?

There are many steps we can take. I will mention a few that seem appropriate at this time:

(1) We can let the sheer weight of legalized abortion press deeply into our being with a longing that God would break up calloused hearts that have become used to our acceptance of child-killing.

(2) We can intercede for women and unborn babies in desperate straits and for those who influence them. In communities with abortion clinics, we can exercise a prayerful, servant-hearted presence in front of those centers. We can pray for those who promote abortion from spiritual blindness. We can ask God to intervene in our government that justice and mercy would be exalted at every level.

(3) We can live in the light of the gospel of Jesus -- reminding ourselves of it; sharing it with those who push abortion, use it or are tempted to use it; proclaiming it in our churches and homes, making disciples in the process, and supporting ministries that deliver help and the gospel to mothers in need.

Oh that there would never be a 100th anniversary for legal abortion in 2073! Oh that there would never be an 80th anniversary! Oh, even, that there would never be a 50th anniversary!

May it be so, Lord!

What complementarianism is and isn't

It seems to me to be an appropriate time for some further explanation about complementarianism -- what it is and what it isn't. The adults and youth watched, and discussed, a few weeks ago a panel discussion on the subject. The video was from this year's Together for the Gospel conference. Last Sunday, I preached on I Peter 3:1-7, where God gives some commands through the apostle Peter regarding wives and husbands.

Mary Kassian -- a wife, mother of adult sons, author and teacher of women's studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. -- posted yesterday at The Gospel Coalition blog what she titled "Complementarianism for Dummies." You may read it here. A video interview titled "Boundaries Are for Your Freedom" also is included in the post.

Her post is a helpful start in understanding complementarianism, although it should not be considered in any way an attempt to deal with all the issues involved with this subject. A couple of her comments in the post worth quoting are:

Essentially, a complementarian is a person who believes that God created male and female to reflect complementary truths about Jesus. . . .

Who we are as male and female is ultimately not about us. It's about testifying to the story of Jesus. We do not get to dictate what manhood and womanhood are all about. Our Creator does. That's the basis of complementarianism.

Also, if you did not read the post by Don Carson on this topic I linked to Aug. 21, you made do so here. He explains why The Gospel Coalition's leaders use complementarianism instead of patriarchy to describe the biblical view.

Worth repeating from the Twitterverse

I am only a recent convert to Twitter, but my brief time in the Twitterverse has been profitable. I don't tweet much, but I am being challenged and encouraged by many of the tweets from those I follow. I find the pithy comments often to be full of grace and truth.

Below are some tweets by people I am following from the last four days. All these folks are worth following.

"Preachers and Parents: External life change may happen if you give law, but internal life change only happens when you give grace." -- Tullian Tchividjian

"Jesus not only bore your punishment, but he also became your righteousness; both establishing your acceptance with the Father." -- Paul David Tripp

"Believer your standing rests securely not on the consistency of your performance, but on the perfection of Christ's righteousness." -- Paul David Tripp

"Grace never comes as a consequence of our righteousness; it comes as a contradiction to our sin." -- Tullian Tchividjian

"So many Christians protect themselves from inconvenience as though inconvenience is deadly. Fight back!" -- Tim Challies

"Our pursuit of holiness is too often motivated by how we want to see ourselves; driven by a longing to improve our self-image." -- Tullian Tchividjian

"A robust ecclesiology would encourage moms that going to church isn't 'pointless' even if they miss hearing most of the sermon b/c of baby." -- Gloria Furman (And, I would add, the same is true for those who serve in the nursery. -- Tom Strode)

"Corporate worship is designed to make you thankful, not just for possessions and accomplishments, but for what you've been given in Christ." -- Paul David Tripp

"We need to give up trying to live the Christian life on our own." -- Mark Dever

"God is seen to be supreme by the depth and passion of our esteem." -- John Piper

"God's demand: 'be righteous.' God's diagnosis: 'no one is righteous.' God's deliverance: 'Jesus is our righteousness.'" -- Tullian Tchividjian

Mondays are for music: 'Let Your Blood Plead for Me'

Sojourn is a collection of musicians from Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Ky. Sojourn's musicians write original songs and do rearrangements of old hymns. They have recorded two albums of Isaac Watts' hymns that they reworked. The one in the video below is "Let Your Blood Plead for Me," a text by Watts rearranged by Sojourn. You may read the lyrics here.