I had the great privilege to preach here at the Summit Church this past weekend. We are walking through the letter to the hebrews. The series title “Christ is Better” is the basic message of the letter and the message we are trying to get through in each sermon.

My sermon was on Hebrews 3.12-14. I want to say thank you to J.D. Greear, our lead pastor, for asking me to preach this & thank you to my Summit family for receiving it so well. I’ve been encouraged this week by you!

As I promised a few who asked, I am posting the transcript here: 3.12-13

You can view and/or download the sermon here

Issue the group had: Lame prayer request time. You know this one. when all of your group members ask for prayer for their uncle’s sister’s cat cataracts?

Solution the leaders came up with: Each group member, each week, had to give ONE (no more or less) BOLD PRAYER REQUEST. One thing risky & specific enough that if God answers it, something significant will change in your life. Maybe it’s praying for God to heal you from X. maybe it’s for God to give you a clear conviction on which way to go in a big decision you have to make.

Results they saw: The women in the group began to believe God could answer them in the big things of life. He didn’t answer every request the way they wanted. But, they began believing and looking for God to do significant things in their life. In their words, this subtle change became a catalyst for a huge increase the prayer & evangelistic energy in the group.

In my reflection, it sounds like superficial faith became real faith. And real faith is beginning to unlock the power of God in their group.

Q for you: If you had one bold prayer, what would it be this week?

Today it’s back into my exploration of music. I’m going current again this week and introducing you, if you haven’t already heard them, to City Harmonic.

Artist: City Harmonic
Album: I Have a Dream
Track you gotta hear: Tracks 2 & 3 together (Spark & Mountaintop), then Manifesto. Oh, and “The Story.”

Story:
A group of guys from Ontario, Canada have struck a deep chord with their first full album. There is a rich theology of hope and promise grounded in scriptures that are referenced and woven seamlessly into their lyrics. Paying tribute to Martin Luther King’s dream, these guys have a message and it will captivate you. We live in a broken world, but there is something Bigger, and Better than what we see now.

Why it is significant:
The rising generation is more cause oriented than any since the men & women who led the civil rights movement. They want a vision to buy into and they are completely open to it not being about themselves. I think this album taps into that cause-oriented value. It casts a vision for something greater than what we see around us. These guys call us to believe the Christian message in a way that is not pushy, or manipulative. It is truly a call UP to belief. as if they are standing on MLK’s mountaintop saying “come check this out. if you can just see what we see, you will be forever changed.” Maybe why it connects so much is because that is exactly how I want to preach. I want people to be swept up in hope of the glory of the Lord. For the rising generation, I feel like this album is a series of sermons that go after that. As I said in previous album reviews, I believe music should be more than just words to a tune. It should say something. I believe these guys get the gospel and declare it in an incredibly fresh way.

What I like:
RICH theology – In a similar demeanor to C.S. Lewis, these guys make deep theological truths very accessible to their listeners. I love it. Just listen to manifesto.

Current Sound – Somewhere between Cold Play & One Republic, these guys rock out a great sound that is really easy to listen to.

Life as We – They tap into a critical vibe I’m trying to tap into on this site. That life is not just about me. It’s lived in community. I believe “Manifesto” best captures that feel.

P.S. – This band has become my #1 must see in concert. Or at least meet & hang with. So, If somehow you are connected to The City Harmonic and you can get this post to them, I’d be grateful. And if any of the guys in the group are reading this somehow: It’s time for you guys to come to Raleigh-Durham. I’ll make it happen. Lecrae was here last week, it’s your turn.

To the Church:

I want to remind us on the day after the vote on Amendment 1 in NC to pursue unity together. Remember the words of Christ in John 13: “by this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” He goes on to pray for the unity of the saints in John 17.21 “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”  Here is how that applies to us today: We are not two factions. We are one body. Satan would use this day to rip the church & wound it deeply. Brothers & sisters please hear Christ’s words, for the world’s eye is tightly focused on the church right now.

1. If you were FOR amendment 1:

• some of your brothers & sisters in your faith family feel a deep tragedy has struck in NC. You cannot take that lightly. Regardless of whether or not you agree with them, you must acknowledge their loss. That means flippant tweeting & passing comments, virtual or physical fist pounding, are all entirely unwise.
• It means though this was not a religious vote, you can be assured it cost the evangelical church something with the non-christian population. Why? because the church was positioned (rightly or not) as the driving force behind this amendment. As a body, we should grieve people are associating the church with a political position something of being “for” Christ.
• You have the opportunity to set the tone for non-christians who agree with you here. Do not waste the chance to explain how Christ, not law, is the only ultimate hope for marriage.
• So I ask you to pray for unity among those in your church. Seek reconciliation where necessary & be ready & willing to repent where you may have gone to far in expressing your view on this thing. Remember, you may be wrong in your political views, but you are not wrong in the gospel.

2. If you were AGAINST Amendment 1:

• You have a significant task. You must likewise grieve over any division this has caused in your local body of believers. Not only that, you must pursue unity with those you personally disagreed with over this issue. Unity will cost you because instead of lashing out in anger, you must unite with your faith family around the gospel. So by absorbing that anger, you will pay for it instead of those you feel deserve it. And I do believe this is where believing the gospel will sharpen you. I do not say that lightly at all.
• You must remember the church is full of sinners. Do not give up on her. As Augustine said “The Church is a whore, but she’s my mother.” This is not worth breaking fellowship over. Instead, leverage this as an opportunity to show how the gospel brings unity in diversity. And remember, you may be wrong in your political views, but you are not wrong on the gospel.
• You have an opportunity to relay the gospel to those non-christians whom you may agree with on this issue. Do not miss the chance to explain how Christ, not law, is the only ultimate hope for marriage.

To all: the gospel unifies. so dive deeply into it this week!

So the basic ethical framework would look like this: Worldview –> beliefs –> action.

(please forgive my oversimplification of the meta-ethics)

Now in some cases, one can plug in a set of facts and get an answer. Abortion would be one of those situations. So let me start with how a christian engages it:

1. The Christian Worldview: says God is sovereign over all. He is the creator, and sustainer, of the world. He has given us his son as an act of redemptive love, restoring us to himself. He’s given us his word to live by (The bible), his Holy Spirit to guide us in that effort, and fellow christians to be the mouthpiece of that Spirit to one another.
2. Issue & Belief:
   1. Issue: Is it morally acceptable to kill an unborn child, since assuming this child is morally innocent, this would constitute murder or more technically, infanticide?
   2. Beliefs:
      1. The scriptures say he made man in his image, male & female (Gen 1.26- 27). As an image bearer, all men & woman are owed respect & love from fellow man. This love and respect fleshes out as the “inalienable rights” our founding fathers wrote about.
      2. The scriptures go on to condemn the unjust killing, or murder, of another human (Exodus 20:13).
3. Application: Christians would be against abortion because abortion, by killing pre-born children, violates the worldview informed belief of a Christian. Therefore, much like william Wilberforce (helped end slave trade in England) & dietrich bonhoeffer (defied Nazi regime in WWII Germany) our beliefs, informed by our worldview, would lead us to take stands against the harm of the innocent & defenseless.

1. The Christian Worldview: the same as above. Worldview never changes based on circumstances….well, it shouldn’t. That’s the whole point. So we come to this issue with the same worldview we come to abortion, or slavery, or anything else.

2. Issue & Beliefs:

1. Issue: Should the government define marriage as between one man & one woman?
   1. *Not the issue: Is homosexuality morally acceptable in a christian worldview? That answer would be no, based on a simpler walk through this ethical model. Scripture has one word for anything that dishonors God: sin. There is no special category for homosexuality. It is deemed sin (1 Cor 6.9; 1 Tim 1.10) just like all other sin. I must add there is only one hope for all sinners: Jesus. I battle pride, anxiety, and lust. Some battle same sex attraction. For us all, Jesus is our only rescue. Please pause to hear me there. I have gay friends, and I have alcoholic friends. And they have me: manipulative prideful friend. Hope for all 3: Jesus. period.
2. Beliefs:
   1. The Scriptures clearly indicate marriage as to be between one man and one woman. All evidence to the contrary is contrived from poor, dishonest bible work. This relationship is given great weight in scripture. It is literally the means of procreation. It is the means of passing down God’s words to the next generation (Deut 6). It is God’s earthly metaphor for our relationship to God himself (Eph 5). Clearly God puts great emphasis on this institution.
   2. Secondly, man has been placed under the authority of the government & should honor that authority (Rom 13). The role of the government is to protect the good & punish the bad (paraphrasing Romans 13) in accordance with God’s created & stated order.
3. Where our Problem arises: UNLIKE ABORTION, we cannot jump straight to APPLICATION because we run into a grey area that must be navigated first.  Nowhere does the bible talk explicitly about democracy. So in most matters concerning the reach & power of government, we are forced to use biblical principles instead of direct biblical teaching.

• In gray areas, you must give more grace & credence to opinions that differ from your own than you have to in more black & white areas. (The reality is, most ethical dilemmas fall into some shade of gray. which is why my wife gets frustrated by my endless conjecturing about seemingly small dilemmas in our life!) Think of it as a spectrum. The further into an issue you get from definitive biblical teaching on it, the more cautious & humble (well, you should always be humble) you need to be in applying the beliefs you come to hold.
• So while I would not hesitate on applying my beliefs on abortion or even what God says marriage is, I will be more cautious in applying my convictions on the reach of government in defining marriage. I will still act, for idleness in such moments is even more irresponsible, but I will act with caution & humility.
• Application: Because I as a christian should be a loving active participant in the public square, I am obligated to come to a decision and have the courage to vote accordingly. At the same time, Because I as a christian am not able to show God’s unquestionable position on the governing process, I must remain humble and open as to what God may teach the government’s role to be. Therefore, as you heard J.D. say in this post, out church will not break fellowship over this issue.

My Recommendation & One Concern:

• Recommendation: Pray long & hard, seek the scriptures as they do inform the governing process, then vote your conscience. If you seek the counsel of others, listen closely. Scare tactics are being put to work in this discussion which would lead you to believe things in an emotional frenzy you never would in a rational state. Personally I tend to lean in my view of government that the populous, not the judicial system, should be allowed to decide a state’s position on this matter. As I said, I hold that humbly.
• Concern: It appears the objectors to this movement are becoming increasingly antagonistic towards evangelical christians. As much as possible, we must fight to be known for what we are FOR, not what we are against. So I encourage you, if you are a christian, to approach this issue with much love and humility regardless of what side you come down on. The sacrificial love of Christ, not political opinions, is what Christians are to be known for. So be a good citizen of both kingdoms as you vote and interact on this issue this week.

We’ve got a big week here in my state (NC) where we are voting on whether or not to amend our constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Needless to say, it is significant. I’m working on a post I will put out monday with some thoughts from the ethical side of things, but thought I’d share this video by our lead pastor here at the Summit Church. We showed this in our weekend services this weekend in an attempt to help pastor people through what is a difficult, personal issue. You can read this transcript & get links to more research he references here on J.D.’s blog.

Today I am excited to be back in the Music Monday saddle. Especially since I get to review for you an Album I got to see performed live just LAST NIGHT! So trust me the brain is fresh with thoughts on it. Here we go:

• Original Songs: The team of worship pastors & leaders on the album wrote most of the songs. Led by the experience of Matt Papa, they put together some great new additions to the worship music community.
• Surprisingly Blended Tone: I was expecting a rock tone to this music that might reflect some of Matt Papa’s recent work as he was in on a lot of the writing. but Welch instead put together an album that stays on the easier edge of rock while still capturing an anthemic feel, giving us something even my kids are already memorizing. It truly is an album for the church. Now, its a full band deal with a very current sound. Its also one you can go ahead and press the “repeat” button on!
• Multiple Voices, one sound: Truthfully its a little absurd how talented some of the people are on this album. They “have pipes.” I’m grateful we get to hear so many of them in a way that still keeps one overall “sound” to the album. You don’t feel like you are listening to 10 albums, but 1 with 10 voices. Very cool.

3 Tracks to pay attention to:

Coming next week: The City Harmonic: I have a dream.

So here we go. The 3 questions we are incorporating into our resources that I think are fundamental for healthy, constructive discipleship conversations:

1. Where are you?

While we give 5 areas to ask this question into (nothing original) in our materials, this question applies to any discipleship conversation. Unless you are painfully honest with where you are with God (for example have you prayed privately at all in the last 10 days? what about?) you will never be able to set up a realistic, healthy spiritual growth plan. You’ll just dabble in false religiosity. So, whether its in your marriage or in your tithing, honesty here is king.

2. Why Are you There?

This is the most important question. This question is intended to connect actions with beliefs. The goal is to remove the “dream” you have about your- self and deal with the reality of what you believe at a practical level. For example, a person may say that she/he believes in the Great Commission, but over the last year they have not told the Gospel message to anyone. The goal is to reveal that something else (maybe comfort, security, pride) is dictating their daily life more than the Gospel. At this stage, you must understand that your actions flow from your true beliefs.  “Why” is the most important question to lead you towards Gospel-centered life change. Skipping this question and going directly to #3, will only promote religiosity. Please, do not play that game. it kills.

3. What is your next step?

This question is to help you with action steps towards growing in belief and action according to the Gospel. Question 1 observes one’s actual life in Christ. Question 2 reveals what one’s true motivation is.  This question helps create a workable game plan for the near future. It also helps fight against our tendencies to ONLY set far-looking goals of grandeur. While we should long for the mountaintop, we get there by getting on the path and walking it.

Hope these help. They are making our discipleship conversations more intentional and effective here at the Summit.

*Key: I never want to confine myself to listening to one genre of music. God gifts men & women in all genres with the ability to communicate truth in a way that will both challenge and encourage me. For me, my first exposure to Shai’s work was another of those moments where I found myself worshipping God for giving such talent to a guy so bent on using it for God’s glory.

I’m continuing a ”music monday” theme where I am exploring theology expressed in the songs of the church, past & present. I’m telling you, songs can be memorable sermons. I’m loving this journey so far. Today might be a little familiar to you.

Charles Wesley is probably best known in tandem with his brother John Wesley. Church history generally attributes the founding of the methodist movement to these Wesley brothers, who were ironically anglican. Charles in particular must have had a love for music as he penned over 6,000 hymns in his life. Yes, that many. I am blown away by this because you have to be in such a constant overwhelmed by God state to write so much. So challenging to me.

Below is one he wrote in 1739 while reflecting on Acts 16.26 where Paul & Silas were in prison singing hymns, then all of the sudden an earthquake happens & the chains fall off of the prisoners. It also happens to be one we sang in part when I was going through college. I spent some time meditating on these words today and am overwhelmed with how little I probably grasped what I was singing then. I hope you will consider them.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood!
Died he for me, who caused his pain!
For me? who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

‘Tis mystery all: th’ Immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
‘Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.
‘Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left his Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite his grace!
Emptied himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race.
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in him, is mine;
Alive in him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’ eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’ eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.