DA Carson on John 3:16

I have been preaching through the Gospel of John for the last couple months. In God’s providence we’ve made it all the way to John 3:16 in time for our Christmas musical and dramatic presentation. As I was preparing for this week’s Christmas sermon, I stumbled upon this quote from DA Carson’s commentary on John.

Even so, God’s love is to be admired not because the world is so big and includes so many people, but because the world is so bad: that is the customary connotation of kosmos. The world is so wicked that John elsewhere forbids Christians to love it or anything in it (1 John 2:15-17). There is no contradiction between this prohibition and the fact that God does love it. Christians are not to love the world with the selfish love of participation; God loves the world with the self-less, costly love of redemption (pg. 205).

Certainly God’s live is both expansive and deep, but may we never forget that it was directed towards us who were wicked, hostile, and alienated.

My Life with Jack

Things change very quickly…

Baptist History in Wisconsin

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My grandfather, David Cummins, had several great passions during his life — my grandmother Mary, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the local church. Just below his relationships with his wife and his Savior was his love for Baptist history. His books, each entitled This Day in Baptist History, can be purchased here, here, and here (3 volumes). He had completed much research for his final volume before the Lord called him home this summer. I loved my Papa dearly, but regret that my interest in his research, i.e. Baptist history, is a recent phenomenon.

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Since I’m from Tennessee originally and then from Michigan until I went off to college, I have little knowledge regarding the history of Wisconsin, where I now reside. My wife Emiley, a native of our incredible state, is presently teaching her 4th grade class a unit on Wisconsin history. That being said, I have a learned a great deal about Wisconsin in the past few weeks as a result of her preparations and teaching.

As I understand it, our first city, Green Bay, was established in 1764. Almost three quarters of a century later (72 years), a missionary named Richard Griffing was used of God to establish the first Baptist church in Milwaukee in 1836. To put this in perspective, the first Baptist church on American soil was founded in 1639 in Rhode Island, of course. That puts the development of Baptist churches in Wisconsin roughly 200 years behind the development of such churches in at least one other state, and roughly 150 years behind the development in many others. Each of these states: RI, MA, ME, SC, PA, NJ, DE, CT, VA, NY, NC, MD, NH, GA, VT, WV, TN, MS, OH, IL, IN, AK, MO, AL, LA, MI, and IA had Baptist congregations before WI did!

That aside, Baptist churches were started in WI and eventually began to thrive. The following is a copy of the obituary of Julia Griffing, Richard’s wife (found here), which indicates that Griffing did not just plant in Milwaukee, but was used of God to reach many in this state:

Pewaukee, April 21.—The death of Mrs. Grifflng occurred on Wednesday morning April 15. In better health than usual through the winter, a short time ago she took a severe cold, which was followed by pneumonia. After a short illness, she peacefully left us.  Her daughter, Mrs. Edward B. Smith, of Howard Lake, Minn., was with her through her illness and has the satisfaction that she was with her through the winter.

Mrs. Griffing was a woman of remarkable strength of mind and character and in a marked degree retained her mental powers until the end of her earthly life. She came to Wisconsin when the Indian trails were the only highways and has lived in our village in the same house for fifty-five years. In these days of change, this fact is worthy of note.

Julia Bacon was born in Granville, Mass., Jan. 8, 1816. She became a Christian at twenty and was baptized by Rev. Richard Griffing, to whom she was married in August 1836, 67 years ago.  They came directly to Milwaukee, when it was only a hamlet. Mr. Griffing was sent as a missionary by the Baptist Mission society, his field extending to Green Bay on the north and as far west as he could reach. He organized the first Baptist church in the state, once the first Baptist church of Milwaukee, now the North Greenfield church, of which Mrs. Griffing was the only surviving original member.

After one year there and four in Prairieville, now Waukesha, they returned east for one year, came again to Wisconsin, lived nearly three years in Washington Co., and about two years in Lisbon, before settling in Pewaukee.

Twenty-seven years ago April 10, Elder Griffing died.  Mrs. Griffing was the mother of six children.  Only two survive her, her daughter and one son, Sherman B., of Dakota; also twelve grandchildren and one great grand child.

A history of early life in the wilds of Wisconsin would make an interesting tale.  Sometimes Mr. Grifflng was necessarily absent on his preaching tours for three months at a time. Meanwhile his wife bravely did her part, whether encountering the frequent visits of roving Indians or listening to the howling wolves by nights. To relieve her loneliness she taught her nearer neighbor’s children, thus earning the distinction of being the first school teacher in Waukesha.

Despite the late start of the Baptists in our state, this thanksgiving season, I want to thank God for using Richard Griffing to establish a Baptist work in Milwaukee!

Reasons for Relaxing Baptism

Our Anabaptist and Baptist forefathers were mistreated, imprisoned, tortured, and murdered by Catholic and Protestant alike over their commitment to a New Testament ecclesiology centered on believer’s baptism by immersion. I wonder if we modern-day Southern Baptists will follow our forefathers to so radical a conclusion. It does not seem likely that we will have the stomach for it. Indeed, today some Baptist pastors, contrary to the New Testament, are willing to lead their churches to relax the necessity of baptism by immersion for membership in the local church. Such a move is based on misguided reasons, such as appeasing pedobaptist friends, fostering church growth by making it easier for some people to join Baptist churches, or allowing Reformed soteriology to blur Baptist ecclesiology.

From Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches, chapter by David Allen, pg. 105.

3 Reasons I Hate Religion: Forthcoming Tract

Hopefully, by January 1 the new gospel booklet entitled “3 Reasons I Hate Religion” will be available. I am still working through proof-reading for clarity, especially. This particular tract is being written for use in my community, a very religious and churched place, and consequently will operate under the assumption that the reader has some biblical background.

Here’s a sneak preview of the three reasons:

1. Religion presents a “little Jesus.”
2. Religion is affected by the “obelisk factor,” getting the gospel backwards.
3. Religion provides a false sense of security.

Perhaps before January, I will be able to post the actual text from the tract.

15 Reasons I Don’t Often Call Myself “Evangelical” in My Community

While I technically am evangelical in the truest sense, here are my top reasons for not calling myself an evangelical in my community (off the top of my head):

1. Evangelicalism is not what it used to be.
2. Sadly, the gospel is often assumed because of simple church attendance, instead of continually clarified and passionately emphasized for the lost and for the believer.
3. I believe that a church service should be primarily crafted for believers, not for unbelievers (although I address unbelievers every week). We are sensitive to the ultimate Seeker (the Holy Spirit), and consequently try to realize that we minister in the “sight of God” first and foremost.
4. In my community, evangelical often = entertainment. One church in my area has enough flashing lights during its worship to put an epileptic in the grave. I tell people if they want to be entertained, there is a theater on the hill that has Sunday matinees.
5. Egalitarianism seems to rule the churches in my community. If they don’t have a woman as pastor, they certainly have them leading in every other aspect of a worship service, lest they appear old fashioned. Such a perception would certainly be fatal.
6. Sadly missions often = “better beer for serbians,” “dentures for swiss senior citizens,” etc. I exaggerate, but you know what I mean. Sadly, mission no longer includes the gospel in far too many churches. The concept has been hijacked and replaced with pseudo-kingdom language that imports good deeds in the place of gospel preaching and church-planting.
7. My views of inspiration and inerrancy extend to Genesis 1 as well as to all the historical details of the OT, a position that is not cool anymore.
8. I don’t have time for apostates, nor do I think they are misunderstood.
9. I don’t like Rick Warren, his books, his associations, his talks, or the way he chooses translations that suit his purposes. Plus, I think Hawaiian shirts look silly. Jeans and a blazer is way cooler.
10. Many “evangelical” churches in my area are mesmerized by Nooma and Elvis, I mean Rob Bell.
11. When I see other Christian youth in the area, I am so excited they are passionate about God, but so troubled for them when I hear that they have never really been given a doctrinal foundation. Sadly, for many, the first atheistic secular humanist professor who shoots a dart at their balloon of God-passion will successfully turn them into a recovering evangelical, instead of one who believes every word of Scripture.
12. I struggle to find any redeemable value in the Catholic church.
13. I still think Billy Graham compromised even though my Dad was saved through his ministry.
14. I have no time for infant baptism and think that this is often a gospel-issue. In other words, when churches teach that their people are “in” or “okay” because of their infant baptism, they are in error at the highest level. I cannot cooperate with this.
15. Evangelical churches in my area get together for a youth conference in which they baptize the teenagers at the conference. Am I the only one who sees a huge problem with this?

Now for the caveats:

1. While there are a lot of evangelicals like John MacArthur and Mark Dever, sadly these guys are not the norm.
2. I’m sure I have many blind-spots. I am being sanctified too, still working out my salvation. I need more humility too. However, humility doesn’t mean that we should stop calling spades spades.

Piper on Pleasures

From John Piper’s most recent sermon on John 6:

Every honorable pleasure that we have in this world was designed to give a faint taste of heaven and make us hunger for Christ. Every partial satisfaction in this life is designed by God to point to the perfect satisfaction in Jesus, who made the world for Himself. The pleasures of warm bread should send our senses and our spirits to Christ, the bread of life. The pleasures of cold water on a hot day when we are really thirsty should send our sense and our spirits to Christ, the living water. The pleasures of light which makes all beauty visible should send all of our senses and spirits to the light of the world, Jesus Christ, which is why light exists. That’s why water exists. That’s why bread exists, and everything exists for Him. If you don’t know that, you are probably drowning in idolatry.

From the Front-lines: Tire Guy

Don’t we all love waiting rooms? Yesterday I sat in a grungy, smoke-filled waiting room, surrounded by old editions of Sports Illustrated and National Geographic. Although it was almost 2 Pm, the morning coffee still sat in an almost full carafe, but frankly it did not interest me in the least. Perhaps I am becoming one of those detestable coffee snobs — I digress. 

An older man in a Brewers club jacket and Green Bay Packers ball cap entered the room and sat down right across from me. I picked up a conversation with him and moved quickly to spiritual things. It all went something like this: 

Do you consider yourself a Christian? I asked. 

He replied, Well, after 40 years of Catholic church, I’d sure hope so! 

That really is a long time, sir. Let me ask you this — have you ever read the Bible cover to cover?

From the front-lines: Medical Professor

For the past two months, I’ve had the opportunity to meet the same medical professor on the same day of the week for the same purpose — talking about the Bible, Jesus Christ, and His gospel. For the purpose of anonymity, we will simply call him Robert. Shortly after completing his undergraduate degree, Robert was “called” (his word, not mine) into the field of medicine after standing by a dying woman in an ICU, wondering if he could develop equipment that could be used to prolong her life. Robert is a very intelligent Roman Catholic, morally upstanding in his own eyes.  

We hit it off instantly one day in the coffee shop. I honestly can’t remember exactly how it happened

From the Front-lines: New Muslim Friend

09/30/2009, Journal Entry

This morning as I drove down to my perch at the local coffee shop, I was struggling internally:

Lord, is tonight’s Bible study even practical for our people? This is a Lutheran-Catholic Wisconsin community, is there even a single Muslim who lives here? I’m sure the people will find the topic of Evangelizing Muslims interesting and educational, but will they ever use it?

About 10 minutes later, I was filling my mug with Ethiopian Java and turned around, finding myself face to face with __________, my new Muslim friend from Iran who is an international businessman, a resident of our fine community. I asked in a very straightforward fashion, “Are you a Muslim?” He responded in the affirmative and we spent the next hour in conversation regarding his faith and mine. I was able to briefly share the gospel with him, and pray that God will give me another opportunity to lovingly confront him regarding his need for Christ. 

Colossians 4:2-4: 

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. (ESV)

Boldness, Not Fear

In the midst of this pluralistic, post-modern world, what is needed is Spirit-empowered-boldness and loving confrontation, not apologies, endless conversations, and fear. 

2 Timothy 1:7-8:

For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God…

Book recommendation: Tactics

Gregory Koukl, of Stand to Reason, has written an excellent book entitled Tactics: a Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions. It is written in a captivating and compelling fashion, so much so that I read it in just a few hours (real-life stories were great!). The result in my life has been an increased confidence in conversation with unbelievers, even those who are a bit hostile to Christianity. If you are serious about reaching your friends, family, classmates, and co-workers, you’ll want to purchase this little book and digest it for yourself. 

He divides the book into parts: (1) The game plan and (2) Finding the flaws. Today, we will look at the Game Plan, then a later blog post will go through some of the flaws.  

The Game Plan

Koukl maintains that having the truth is not enough to successfully maneuver your way through difficult conversations. I personally often find myself struggling to find a good balance between what Koukl calls “D-day” and “diplomacy.” So here is the major tactic identified in this section: 

• Columbo: Playing off the detective from old-school television, Koukl suggests that we begin by asking questions, instead of making assertions. He gives three main ways to employ the Columbo tactic: 
  • Gather Information: A simple question like, “What do you mean by that?” will do here. This gives you an opportunity to find out from where the individual is coming. Koukl says, “People don’t know what they mean much of the time. Often they’re merely repeating slogans.” 
  • Reverse the Burden of Proof: “The burden of proof is the responsibility someone has to defend or give evidence for his view.” Koukl presents another simple question, “Now, how did you come to that conclusion?” 
  • Lead the Conversation: this is the most aggressive form of Columbo. Ask questions like, “Have you considered…” or “Can you clear this up for me…” where their assertions are clearly contradictory or inaccurate. 

I have found one major benefit from using Columbo over the past couple weeks. I am simply not quick on the draw, so asking questions in this manner gives me time to think and formulate. It buys me the time that I need.

From the Front-lines: Nazi-pagan

My new-found friend Liam identifies himself as a National Socialist. In other words, he’s a Nazi, perhaps a more moderated version in his thinking than what you would see portrayed in a Hitler’s Germany movie. He doesn’t believe that the weak should be exterminated per se, but he would be fine with allowing the poor and weak to die off, so that their sort are not perpetuated in society. “Hate” would be a strong word for how he feels about the Jewish people, but he certainly has a strong inward bent against them and can only interact with them skeptically. Postmodernism does strange things to people; here’s what it does to today’s Nazi’s. After telling me that the pope should be publicly beheaded and that the weak should be left to die, he said, “But that’s just my way, I wouldn’t force it upon others!” 

Ironically, his French mother gave him a Hebrew name, Daniel, meaning “judgment of God” (how sovereign is God?). He now goes by Liam, short for William, a seemingly stronger Norman name, reflecting his worship of Odin, a pagan god.

From the Front-lines: Unitarian Universalist

If you don’t know what a Unitarian Universalist is, join the club. I’m not even sure they know what they are, which, ironically, is probably the only criterion for becoming one. That aside. The following is my encounter with an embittered UU. 

I sat in one of my three regular coffee houses the other day, glanced to the table next to me, and immediately identified my “way in” (the lady was scribbling on a pad while pouring over a newspaper). I said, “Are you a writer?” “Not exactly. Are you?” she responded. I explained that I was indeed writing and that for my line of work, I tend to write about 20 pages per week. 

I can’t remember her name, and even if I could, I wouldn’t share it here. So we’ll call her Sally, an ironically dignified and modern name for such a hippy, anti-establishment, liberated woman. She wore severely faded and somewhat tattered clothing — a jean top and one of those puffy ski-style vests. Sally responded with obvious disgust when she found out that I wrote so much in order to keep up with my weekly sermons.

Beyond Apology

Welcome to Beyond Apology  

The purpose of this blog is simple: to encourage believers in Jesus Christ to stand upon the truth that Jesus is King over kings and Lord over lords and to equip them to defend this claim rather than to apologize for it. 

The format will be simple. 

• Reports from the front-lines (true stories of evangelism and apologetics in the marketplace). 
• Video and audio from the front-lines. 
• Book reviews, quotes, and recommendations.