For the faith of God's elect

Titus 1:1-3 (HCSB)

Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, and has in His own time revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior:

As Christians we are slaves just like Paul, existing to serve Jesus Christ. This however does not mean living in a hut, alone in the middle of the Australian desert, but instead living in communities of believers. How we serve Jesus is said in two ways.

1. For the faith of God's elect.

2. For the knowledge of the truth that leads of Godliness.

Everything that we do as slaves of Jesus Christ should be done in reflection of these two points placed as two questions:

1. How is this (what we do) for the faith of God's elect?

2. How does this promote the knowledge of the truth?

When reflecting on the first of these two questions, our practice of our faith should not lead of pragmatic Christianity, but instead should lead to deep devotion and obedience to God. Sometimes we fall into the pit of thinking that results in us believing that we can accomplish God's work better by skipping around the path he has placed for us, and telling Him that we'll meet him at the end. The Pharisee's are a prime example of this pragmatism, believing that they could do what was right without being regenerate (Matthew 23:23). We often pragmatic in our churches, thinking sometimes that giving someone a job to do in church (in order to get them to attend more regularly) will benefit the growth of the church overall, even when God says that it is believers that should serve within the church (1 Corinthians 14:26, 2 Corinthians 6:14). If we are acting for the faith of God's elect, we should realise that Christian pragmatism is following the path that God has laid before us, you can't serve Christ by not serving him. The quickest path is the one God has placed before you, the path of faithful service to him, obedience (John 14:15), unless of course you are heading somewhere else.

Prayer then is a major part of obedience if we are acting for the faith of God's elect. We need to pray for our leaders, our people, and as Jesus did, for the elect. It should should be deep, expectant prayer. If we pray and do not expect action from God, then we are not trusting God's promises that he hears us. If we do not pray then we are also not acting in accordance with how the Apostles saw the priority of prayer (Acts 3:42, 6:4). Do you spend more time blogging than praying? There is a place for blogging, but it should in no way have priority over prayer.

The truth that leads to godliness is the second of the two, to a certain extent there is a separation which is almost artificial, for we do not act for the faith of God's elect without the knowledge of the truth which leads to Godliness (this is talking about the gospel). We act for the gospel, for the faith of the elect. We cannot act for the faith of the elect without proclamation of the knowledge that leads to godliness. Someone is unable to do righteous acts apart from relationship with God, there needs to be faith present first (Romans 14:23).

How does this passage change how we do church?

We should do the Lord's supper weekly, in the manner which the bible stipulates. This is because in doing this we proclaim Christ's death and resurrection. This is an act which is for the faith of the elect, and is a proclamation of the truth.

There is a movement within contemporary churches to have a loose/random style service. This is a response to how our culture understands what being 'real' is. Our culture equates spontaneity with 'realness' (genuineness). So we have a group of churches responding to this call with unplanned, ill thought through services. This passage demands that our ministers, and our services leaders think very carefully each week about how every aspect of what we do contributes to the faith of the elect or the proclaiming the knowledge of the truth.

Where we aim our services and church groups is also affected by this passage, the aim here is for the faith of the elect, not all non-Christians. Each service should be aimed at building up the body of Christ, and increasing the members. This means not diluting the content of the Gospel, but presenting it in a manner that God's people might be able to hear and respond to it. This means eliminating and practices within our church gatherings and services that are church culture, rather than Christianity.

"The motivation for service springs from the Holy Spirit's presence and reflects the compassion of God: " We love because he first loved us".... Jesus was compassionate. His chief service was to preach the gospel and lay down his life for us. " - D. Broughton Knox

Dear Church Planter.

A stormy night, lots of rain and out of the woodwork came those capitalizing on the providence of God. I caught a shot of this man selling the hottest item on a cold rainy night - the umbrella. Entrepreneurialism has recently been stressed by many church planting groups as a strongly desirable trait. I found myself asking questions of whether or not I was that sort of person, the start up man, the get goer. Strangely I found that many of my thoughts had completely abandoned the starting place for eldership qualification, that of character.

I agree in general with entrepreneurialism and the need for it within Christian circles - we need men (and women) motivated by the gospel of grace, empowered by the Spirit, sent by God for the great commission of Christ to rise up and serve. Unfortunately many of us men believe that God has sent us for his work, when he has not qualified us by his word (Titus 1). Being able to work in this world and take advantage of opportunities is not the same as being called and refined by our eternal God.

I have spoken in this last year, to more people than ever before, who have said they are strongly considering of doing a church plant. Most of these men however are not qualified to be church leaders, have not begun any sort of training in theology, and have no intent on doing so. Many of these men would be of great help to a qualified elder looking at beginning a new church, or even with helping an existing congregation grow.

There are many men not qualified to be church leaders, even though they might be competent and gifted in other areas. If you are thinking of church planting, begin by submitting yourself to the searing light of God's word in humility, and ask yourself the hard questions regarding your character.

Seracher of Hearts,
It is a good day to me when thou givest me a glimpse of myself;
Sin is my greatest evil,
But thou art my greatest good;
I have cause to loath myself,
and not to seek self-honor,
for no one desires to commend his own dunghill.

Self-knowledge (taken from page 123, the Valley of Vision)

Too much pepper...

I was recently watching an episode of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, quite frequently in-between swearing he comments about the level of seasoning on a dish. Sometimes the dish has so much seasoning that he can't taste the ingredients-the salt or sauce overriding the fine taste of the Atlantic salmon. Other times there is so little seasoning on a soup that it is bland.

If we took the state of our Christian affairs and converted it into a dish I wonder what comments would be made as to the flavor of our dish. Perhaps our ingredients aren't the best... maybe instead of Atlantic salmon we are using a cheap substitute dyed pink and lit just right as to give the appearance of freshness. Maybe it is that we have over seasoned and now the salt bush lamb can no longer identified with the Coles sauce poured all over it.

Each Christian is given a quality base ingredient to work with; whether your want it to be a red, white or pink meat the decision has already been made by Jesus, and it is clearly that of a red meat (sorry vegetarians - 1 Peter 1:19). That Christ has been offered up as the lamb for us is indisputable, but sometimes when we serve up Christianity to non-believers we add unnecessary seasoning to a dish which is already succulent and tender (I'm writing this entry just before lunch - Hebrews 10:10).

So what are these seasonings that are unhelpful for the Gospel?

In the next couple of posts I'll include some of these problems from a biblical perspective.

If you have any suggestions as well please feel free to post them in the comments and we'll flesh them out a little more in the following posts.

Respect.

I attended the Moore College Graduation evening.. this eve... It was an excellent event, a privilege to attend and overall an enjoyable night. The message of the evening was that of the ongoing work of the gospel. Some saints graduating with just a year or two at the college, others with degrees being awarded for their tenacity.

I'm sure after tonight we'll have a number of bloggers running home to type up their pithy comments, possibly ranging from rave reviews (check the faculty pages) to obviously less favorable comments from the community critics.

So what can I add to this buzz or commentary on such a special occasion; well probably nothing new but perhaps a reflection on an old verse:

Although a sinner commits crime a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before Him. However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God. - Ecclesiastes 8:12-13

In the last two Moore College graduations I have attended, there seems to be responses from the audience that can begin with joy, but seem to end in a form of irreverence. Now the above verse might seem to be a strong rebuke to the faithful who actually turned up, but I put it forth as something serious to consider.

Are we approaching an event like the Moore College Graduation with the reverent respect of God's work as is fitting for such an occasion?

This might sound funny- If anyone spotted me tonight they would have noticed I arrived wearing jeans and a casual shirt (a marked improvement on my previous attire), but as the night began I was struck by the importance of this event. This event was the commissioning and prayer sending event of the year, where the army of the risen Lord's men and women assembled to give grief to the prince of this world. The things that need careful thought are whether or not a person should call out, or whistle, whether or not someone should dress down, whether or not it is right not to attend or to place a low priority on attendance.

Where is the reverent and prayerful respect that such a commissioning should be filled with?

Yours in ranting - V.

Iron Scepter - !?!

and He will shepherd them with an iron scepter; He will shatter them like pottery-- just as I have received this from My Father. - Revelation 2:27 27


I was pretty chuffed after writing my first couple of blog posts and the cool name that I thought I'd chosen for this blog. However shortly after telling a few of my friends that I was now officially a 'blogger' (and therefore was with the 'in' crowd at my prestigious college) a close friend of mine thinking of the above verse said, "So have you called it Iron Scepter because you are going to smash other peoples arguments like pottery?". The answer would most definitely have to be.. No!

The thought of it does amuse me though... maybe one day when I can actually form a coherent argument (I think that comes in 4th of Moore College).

Blog?!

There are few reasons why I've decided to blog, so I'll list them here. This is basically the purpose of this blog as far as I'm concerned.

1. To bring glory to God - This should be the motivation of everything that we do as Christians, and as humans. This is also what lies behind these other reasons.

Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. - 1 Chronicles 29:11 11

2. Bring the Gospel to the unconverted - I believe strongly that God exists and that it is only by his death on the cross and belief in that in which people can be saved from the coming wrath. Believing this means that I want to share the good news of salvation through Jesus, and this blog is a perfect opportunity to do that.

3. Improve my writing - I'm not a good writer, in fact I once asked a lecturer at my college to comment on my writing (as I know it's a weak point with essays), the response was humbling to say the least.

4. I love sharing ideas - It's great to share thoughts with other people and as I mentioned in my first post, I want to learn from others and share what God has given me.

A New Beginning...

Well, this is my first blog post ever, I haven't even commented on blogs before. I wonder if most first blog posts begin with a similar comment... I hope to learn a lot from the community of bloggers here, and by no means view my opinions as the last word on any matter. I do however strongly believe that there is such a thing as absolute truth and to that end this blog will seek to proclaim that (quite an endeavor I know). So I officially proclaim this blog OPEN!

But first a prayer to the Lord:

Approaching your throne O Lord only through your Son I ask that you would bless this blog to your glory, that many would be encouraged in their walk with you, and that you would redeem many through your words here from the darkness. Let not foolish talk be what takes root here, but instead let it be ridden with your truth and flourish under your guidance.

Let the blogging begin!