Not Enough Time to Preach Forgiveness

I stumbled upon this quote while flipping through the channels on TV. It was the closing comment of a sermon given by John Hagee.

"Now, I could preach for an hour and a half about forgiveness, but I won't because my time is up."
-John Hagee


...................................sigh. There are no words.....

Thank You, Dr. Freude

A Freudian slip occurred at a memorialist version of the Lord's Supper. As the chaplain fumbled through the words of institution, he accidentally said:

"And our Lord took the juice after supper..."

You could tell by the look on his face that he was deeply embarrassed when he caught the error.

He tried to recover by making some vague reference to the fruit of the vine, but my grin of vindication was already too pronounced to hide. His slip had illustrated just how far from those words of institution his heterodox practice had taken him. There he stood with a plastic shot glass filled with grape juice that was nothing more than a shot glass full of grape juice. Was this really what Christ had instituted when he said "This is my body... this is my blood..."?

No. Because Christ did not take "the juice after supper..." That's just something that some people are doing in recent years as a novel bad practice. It stands against scripture's clear language and teaching. It isn't juice. It is "the cup of blessing" which truly is a "participation (koinonia) in the blood of Christ." [1 Cor 10:6].

Going Back... to the Future?

In reading some church history, I was struck by how current this historical record sounds. This is an account by a church historian about the events that lead up to the Great Persecution under Emperor Diocletian. It is an interesting commentary on the church of the early 4th century. As one who witnessed and endured the persecution, it is profound to hear who the author blames for the arrival of this dark time in the church history. In his estimation, the church brought the persecution upon itself.

Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. Read this excerpt and marvel at the modern parallels. I sure did.

---------------------------------------------

How great, how unique were the honor, and liberty too, which before the persecution of my time were granted by all men, Greeks and non-Greeks alike, to the message given through Christ to the world, of the reverence for the God of the universe! It is beyond my ability to describe it as it deserves. Witness the goodwill so often shown by potentates to our people; they even put into their hands the government of the provinces, releasing them from the agonizing question of sacrificing, in view of the friendliness with which they regarded their teaching. What need I say about those in the imperial palaces and about the supreme rulers? Did they not permit the members of their households - consorts, children, and servants - to embrace boldly before their eyes the divine message and way of life, hardly minding even if they boasted of the liberty granted to the Faith? Did they not hold them in special esteem, and favor them more than their fellow servants? I might instance the famous Dorotheus, the most devoted and loyal of their servants, and on the account much more honored than the holders of offices and governorships. With him I couple the celebrated Gorgonius, and all who because of God's word were held in the same honor as these two.

And what approbation the rulers in every church unmistakably won from all procurators and governors! How could one describe those mass meetings, the enormous gatherings in every city, and the remarkable congregations in places of worship? No longer satisfied with the old buildings, they raised from the foundations in all the cities churches spacious in plan. These things went forward with the times and expanded at a daily increasing rate, so that no envy stopped them nor could any evil spirit bewitch them or check them by means of human schemes, as long as the divine and heavenly hand sheltered and protected its own people, as being worthy.

But increasing freedom transformed our character to arrogance and sloth; we began envying and abusing each other, cutting other own throats, as occasion offered, with weapons of sharp-edged words; rulers hurled themselves at rulers and laymen waged party fights against laymen, and unspeakable hypocrisy and dissimulation were carried to the limit of wickedness. At last, while the gatherings were still crowded, divine judgement, with its wonted mercy, gently and gradually began to order things its own way, and with the Christians in the army the persecution began.

But alas! realizing nothing, we made not the slightest effort to render the Deity kindly and propitious; and as if we had been a lot of atheists, we imagined that our doings went unnoticed and unregarded, and went from wickedness to wickedness. Those of us who were supposed to be pastors cast off the restraining influence of the fear of God and quarrelled heatedly with each other, engaged solely in frantically demanding the despotic power they coveted.

Then, then it was that in accordance with the words of Jeremiah, the Lord in His anger covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud, and cast down from Heaven the glory of Israel; He remembered not the footstool of His feet in the day of His anger, but the Lord also drowned in the sea all beauty of Israel, and broke down all his fences. So also, as foretold in the Psalms, He overthrew the covenant of His bondservant and profaned the ground (through the destruction of the churches) his sanctuary and broke down all his fences; He made his strongholds cowardice. All that passed by the way despoiled the multitudes of the people; moreover, he became a reproach to his neighbors. For He exalted the right hand of his enemies, and turned back the aid of his sword and did not assist him in the war. But He also cut him off from cleansing and threw down his throne to the ground, and shortened the days of his time, and finally covered him with shame.

-Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, c. 236 - c. 339
from "The History of the Church" Book VIII

Have You Seen This Man?

I am having so much trouble finding Jesus in the programs of the local chaplaincy that I am seriously considering posting WANTED posters with Christ's face on them. I wonder if such a tactic would give me any leads on where I can find this man.

A Contemporary Song that Exposes the Ancient, Gospel-less Horror in the Seeker Movement.

The doctrine in this song is so bad and misleading that I cannot bring myself to comment on it at this time. I will dissect it after I have recovered. When you read it, I am sure you will understand....


"If We Are The Body" By Casting Crowns

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the Body?
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?

BRIDGE
Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ

CHORUS (2x)
If we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
Jesus is the way

The Slap in the Face

How often do we, as Christians, gather for worship... and then do nothing less but reenact the Fall of Man in the name of God?

Tricky Devil, you come into the garden that is Lord's House and you convince us to lay aside the clear Word of God. You tempt us to do that which God has forbidden, upset the order that He has established for the church, and seek the worldly self-gratification that comes with trying to make ourselves wise.

Movie Quote

"A law can go too far. It can go too far; I ask myself, 'Would Jesus do it thusly?' There is so much done in Christendom of which Christ would be incapable."

-A Bishop, Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut

Get Thee Behind Me Satan!

ATTENTION LCMS PASTORS!

In case you don't know already, William Young's book "The Shack" contains false doctrine and rank heresy. Not just a false doctrine or a rank heresy, but a veritable Baskin Robins with 31 Flavors of Error!

Let's put aside the blasphemous portrayal of God the Father as a cheap rip-off of the black woman from the Matrix for a second...

It denies the penal substitution of Christ's atonement as does its author. I would also point out that the author of this book is on record as denying the existance of a physical hell (but rather a "spiritual reality" that is "not seperation".) In the same interview, he said that the fire in reference to the "Lake of Fire" seems more like a "process of working out the stuff in our lives that actually damages us and damages relationships and damages people."

There is also alot of the Pelegian-family of errors in the book. In the book, God says: "In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me, but only some choose relationship." -The Shack, pg 225

There is also the error of Universalism in the book. I quote The Shack again: "Jesus said, 'Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptist or Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and many who don't vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions. I have followers who were murderers and many who were self-righteous. Some are bankers and bookies, Americans and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my beloved.'" -The Shack, pg 182

In addition to that, it puts post-modern political jargon in Christ's mouth and presents neo-liberalism as something that Jesus promotes. This comes as no surprise since this fictional work comes from the pen of one of the gurus of the emerging church movement.

For a good review of the problems with this book, go here.

I only bring this up because there is at least one LCMS church that says it has "The Shack" out in the their fellowship hall for people to read. I am sure there are others. Yes... you guessed it, it's in my home district of Texas. Thanks guys... again. :(

I am not going to drop names and embarrass anyone at this point, but I think that I should point out how foolish it is to make heretical texts available to Christians without explaining the problems with it. It's even worse when you leave it out for your visitors to pick up. We share the good news about Jesus and not the doctrine of demons or the propoganda of political ideologues.

Kyrie Eleison!

The [Low, Low] Cost of Discipleship

Lord have mercy!

If there was ever a passage of Scripture that more preachers have done violence to through poor exegesis it has got to be Mark 8:31-38. (Okay... maybe aside from Matt 28:16-20... and, come to think of it also Matt 26:26-28... ...You know what? I'm just going to stop and move on with my original point.)

Mark 8:31-38. Never have I been subjected to more lukewarm, soft-peddled legalism in all my life! ARGH!

It is beyond me how anyone can hold a straight face as they preach this passage to support a purpose-driven theology of glory. God has a great plan for you, alright. You are called to die to self. You are called carry your cross to the place where you are made dead to the flesh and alive to Christ. Doesn't that sound like a ton of fun? Isn't that as cuddly as a bag full of kittens and rainbows? Doesn't that sound like the quick road to happiness and purpose? *smacks forehead*

So what's the answer? Well, certainly don't tell the people the truth about their calling. Don't nail them to the cross with the full weight of this passage and then bring them to life with total sufficiency of Christ's atonement for all sinners... heavens no! That's not pro-individual. That's not post-modern. That's not anthropocentric enough for us. We don't like the idea of us being total failures and Christ being a total savior. We don't want to be helpless like infants. We don't want a savior. We want an enabler... a divine life coach.

I have an idea: let's just invent our own exegetical damage control and soften the blow of Christ's words for the modern ear. Let's deprive our people of the benifit of the rebuke that Peter was given and tell them it will be okay if they just keep trying really really hard. Let's encourage them to keep deceiving themselves into thinking that every minor deviation from their original life plan is actually the hidden hand of God. Better yet, let's point them to those moments rather than to their baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the confession of sins. Let's put a veil on over Moses' face and pretend that we've got this "Christian" thing nailed down solid. *smacks forehead again*

Lord, when will You free us of this mediocre spirituality that is masquerading as deep, Biblical truth? When will You reject the message of these false teachers and return the wayward church to the sound doctrine of Christ crucified for the souls of men? How long must we languish, O Lord? How long?

...and Disappointment is Transformed into Joy

I spoke about my struggle on this deployment in finding proper religious support previously.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I visited the chapel this morning for the "not Lutheran but will be familiar" liturgical service. He was right. It was not really Lutheran. There was a great deal that I missed:

- The attendance was small... only three or four.

- We read liturgical responses and read the lectionary, but did not sing any hymns.

- There is no organist available for the service.

- The Lord's Supper is open communion and it is obvious that the "Armed Forces" liturgical book has carefully phrased the rite to not step on anyone's toes about what the Supper actually is. You can drive a truck through the holes that the language leaves open for interpretation.

- The service was very informal and casual. One could say that it was only liturgical in format and not really in practical execution. The only rubrics that were explicitly given were standing for the Gospel, approaching the table for communion, and the chaplain made the Sign of the Cross during the benediction (which, sad to say, is an amazingly rare thing to see in the protestant chaplaincy!)

There are other liturgical services in the area that have much more of the nice things in the liturgy. If I want hymns and organs and kneeling, I can go to the Presbyterian chaplain's service... but I am going to stick with this one. Me... the "Liturgical Nut". Why?

Because deep down, it is always - always - about substance over style.

The humble chaplain, in military uniform and not liturgical garb, stood at a music stand, put down the yellow papers with his notes, put one hand in his pocket...

...and proceeded to preach Christ crucified as the redemptive answer for we who are nothing more than wicked, sinful men! He was quiet and unassuming, but the clarity of Law and Gospel thundered in my thirsty soul. With the exception of when I was home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, this was the first time I had heard good preaching from a pulpit since the middle of October. How I missed it!

I would love to have those great outward things (and hopefully we will gently start to add them as we are able), but I will go without every single one of them if that is the only way that I can hear God's Word preached rightly. His insights were things that I’d never even considered.

Here is a quick review of his sermon. I hope I do it justice:

His source was the Gospel for the day: Mark 1:21-28 (imagine that! Preach the lectionary?!?)

He started out by talking about evil in the world… but he pointed not just to the things that we see as personified evil (Hitler, Stalin, etc), but also those things that we ourselves do (murder, adultery) and those things that we all do daily (lies, hate, greed). He even mentioned those external things that are evil because of the fallen condition of this created world as a result of Adam’s sin (illness, death, birth defects).

He then jumped back to the text. It was a little jarring because the segue was not clean at all. It seemed as though he was preaching two separated messages because he then dropped the thought about evil and jumped straight into this encounter with Christ in the temple with the demon possessed man.

The chaplain observed that it was interesting that Christ told the demon to be quiet and cast it out right away. The demon was professing that Christ was the Son of God after all. Isn’t that good for Christ’s publicity? Isn't that getting the message out? Isn’t this an amazing testimony of His divinity? Why silence this demon when He is speaking the truth? Wasn’t this an effective (read relevant) way to present the truth about Christ?

The chaplain then went to Peter’s profession of faith in Mark 8. He quoted the whole passage and remarked that it was interesting that Christ told the apostles to not tell anyone that He was “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Isn’t that good for Christ’s publicity? Isn’t this an amazing testimony of His divinity? Why silence all these witnesses that are convinced by what they have seen that Christ is the Son of God?

The chaplain then spoke about the crucifixion in Mark 15. He quoted the verses that spoke about Christ’s final moments on the cross. He then talked about the centurion who saw Christ’s moment of death and said, “Truly this man was the son of God!” The chaplain pointed out that, unlike the previous testimonies, this man was not told to be quiet.

He then tied his two desperate points about evil and the Gospel of Mark together with a simple, artful explanation. He said, “Mark really doesn’t care that Christ is a miracle worker. Even false prophets can do miracles. Mark's gospel is not concerned that we get that Christ is a great healer or an exorcist. Mark is not writing so that you will know that Christ is a good teacher. All of these things are true, but hear what Mark is saying: Mark is pointing us to the redemption that is found nowhere else but with Christ on the cross… this is God’s definitive answer to all the evil and sin that we face every day.” He then spoke in greater detail about the forgiveness and hope of our salvation. Praise God!

Crux sola est nostra theologia! Lutheran preaching, Oh how I have missed you!

Elation Gives Way to Disappointment

So, imagine that you are in a place that is seperated from your synod for months and months. Imagine that you may have to face the fact that you will be lucky if you are able to receive the Lord's Supper a half dozen times this year... and that it is a long way off from now.

Imagine that you are in a place where the mormon church is classified as a "protestant service" and the wiccans seem to have more religious support than you do.

Now... in that regretable situation, you finally locate a Lutheran chaplain nearby. Sure, he's not in your synod so the Lord's Supper is out, but at least there is a minister that shares your confession of faith. What good news! Imagine the hope that you have when you find out he conducts a weekly church service and that your schedule will enable you to attend.

And then the chaplain tells you, "It is not technically a Lutheran service but it will look very familiar to Lutherans."

.........great.

My Prayer

I beseech You, Merciful God, to come quickly and defend Your church. We have become like Israel of old as we dance around idols of our own making.

Though they lack tangible form, our new gods are nevertheless the work of human hands. We call them beautiful and ascribe power to them that does not exist. We rob You of Your due honor and grant great deeds to our idols that they have not achieved. We bow and celebrate beneath them every day. We love and serve them more than we love and serve You. We look to them for comfort. We hope in them for the promise of a bright future rather than looking to Our Lord Jesus Christ alone. In our extreme foolishness, we have abandoned Your law and are no longer frightened by it.

Reprove us in our wicked iniquity, O Lord, and send us men who are enlightened by your Holy Spirit. Stamp out this virulent evil that infects us. Call forth men and place Your Word in their hands so that they may come down from the holy mountain and declare Your righteous judgments to a rebellious people. Grant them the authority to utterly demolish our false worship. Lift them up and instruct them to melt down our idols and so that we may eat the ashes of our sinful handiwork. Without Your loving hand, we will continue to flounder in error and futility. Without the declaration of Your Word among us, we will continue to commit adultery against You as we search for other gods and other christs to please our selfish lusts. We cannot save ourselves from this situation. We need your grace.

How long must the modern church be caged in this prison of false doctrine that we have made for ourselves? How long will we be allowed to look on the true doctrine that was given to us by Your chosen apostles with irreverence and contempt? How long will You, in Your perfect and providential will, permit us to wallow in our idolatry? Almighty and Everlasting God, do not hand us over to the darkness of our own desires as You did during the darkest days of the middle ages. Bring us to repentance so that we may avoid being handed over to captivity and desolation. Replace our growing Scriptural ignorance with a love for nothing short of pure knowledge and perfect truth.

When You consider the disposition of Your church, do not look upon the hated false teachers with Your justifiable wrath, but look upon the weak and poor victims of these heresies through Your boundless mercy. Do not allow us to be crushed under the weight of our sin, but bring us out from under these lies on account of Your abundant grace. Give our mouths voice so that we might cry out to You for deliverance. Return us to Your word and holy sacraments.

Use the balancing of worldly financial matters to create in us a true poverty of spirit. Teach us to look to You alone for deliverance and every blessing. Cause us to see the futility of this dying world and give us the ability to forsake its seduction. Make this upcoming season of lent a true call to repentance and faith for all Christians. So often we must suffer and be brought low so that we can see our place as Your redeemed and reconciled enemy. Bring us back under Your just and perfect rule as Your servile creation. Overturn the tables and cast our money-changers out Your temple. Beat back the influence peddlers, vanquish the legalists, chastise the empowerment seekers, and cause the false prophets to be mute in Your temple.

Look upon us with favor, O God, and spare us from this wicked generation. Pour out your Spirit and stop this tide of maddening self-love. Bless all of Your undeserving servants with wisdom, humility, and discernment so that we may have the strength and knowledge to do Your will. Grant Your servants ears to hear Your Word so that it might vivify and renew us now and forever.

Above all, O Lord, hear the groaning of Your militant church. Come quickly and complete our deliverance through Your Son’s long-awaited second coming.

I humbly ask for all these things on behalf of my brothers and sisters in the true faith through the name of My Savior and Lord Jesus Christ who with You and the Holy Spirit shall reign forever and ever. Amen.

I Declare Homiletical Malpractice!

Here were the readings in chapel today (which I hope you all know is the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ):

Old Testament: Genesis 1:1-5 (ESV)

The Creation of the World

1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.


Epistle: Acts 19:1-7 (ESV)


Paul in Ephesus

1And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John’s baptism." 4And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." 5On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7There were about twelve men in all.


Holy Gospel: Mark 1:4-11 (ESV)


4John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

The Baptism of Jesus

9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."


WOW! Just looking at these texts… the sermon practically writes itself!

The OT Reading creates a perfect image of the old man before baptism: dark, formless and void. There we see the Holy Spirit hovering over the water. And what follows? God’s declaration of light! This is how it is with us God creates Light and Form from our formless darkness through baptism by His Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Epistle highlights how this baptism is not our work, but God’s work. Here we see that a baptism that is centered in man’s work of repentance is nothing compared to the baptism that gives the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. This upsets the popular, erroneous belief that baptism is our work of obedience. No, it is the work of the Holy Spirit that creates the indwelling of faith...through baptism!

Then we come to this titan gospel text! Look, here we see Christ’s baptism. Just as He would in His Holy Supper at the end of His earthly life, Christ actually participates in the sacrament that He institutes for His church. Christ's ministry is literally book-ended by the two Sacraments: Baptism and Eucharist. Then we see the explicit depiction of the trinity: The perfect Son Jesus Christ standing in the waters of baptism, the Holy Spirit descending from heaven to the Son in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father speaking His pleasure over His son. What truth and depth! What meat!

As if the readings were not direct enough, the name of the Sunday is “The Baptism of Our Lord”. Every song, collect, petition, and bulletin clip art points to this event. How could you miss this? It’s so plain that even this two-year Lutheran neophyte can see it.

But this is NOT the message that was preached in the Lutheran chapel service today! Baptism wasn’t even mentioned! I sat in the pew absolutely stupefied. It filled me with frustration and physical grief. My fellow Soldiers became concerned about my health because I could not hold back my visceral distaste for what was going on. How could a sermon today not talk about Baptism? How could the children's message be about taking care of the planet and not littering? How could a Lutheran chaplain get this one so wrong?!?

If you received a proper sermon from your pastor on this Sunday of Sundays, call or email him and thank him for his dedication to you. You are truly blessed.

God Bless a Man in Black!

My new laptop has video software. Enjoy!

Dr. Christian Smith and the Smoking Gun

If you care about outreach, this is an important report. If you care about reaching people with the love of Christ, you have to listen to what Dr. Smith has discovered.

This is the smoking gun. The way that we currently handle witnessing, training, and worship is all wrong. It is failing to do what it is supposed to. Supposedly, we are all about reaching people, but no one is getting the message.

We who are American Christians are failing our own children.

Deuling Church Signs

...this is funny and sad at the same time. As a person who has suffered through the tortures of sign duty I can tell you that someone has waaaay too much time on their hands.

Mike's Dedication Challenge

Here is a common model for churches that have both traditional and contemporary services:

8:00 AM - Traditional Service
9:15 AM - Bible Class
10:30 AM - Contemporary Service

There is a common argument that the reason for Contemporary Services is that they are so popular. Here is my challenge. I am calling for one church to flip the schedule for a while and see how the attendance works out. I have never seen this attempted and I would like to see what happens when this is the schedule:

8:00 AM - Contemporary Service
9:15 AM - Bible Class
10:30 AM - Traditional Service

In the majority of churches that I have attended, I have observed that the late service is always bigger even when they have the exact same format. My hypothesis here is that time is an important variable to attendance. I think that time is so important that most people will not get up early to go to the contemporary service. I think that attendance has more to do with personal schedules than worship style. I am willing to bet that the attendance numbers will not flip with the schedule change. I am certain that the demographics will not perfectly flip and that some are at least attending their service out of habit or convenience rather than voting with their feet.

Try it. I'd love to hear your findings. I would be fascinated if you could prove me wrong.

Ethics, Practical Preaching, and Mission Creep

In the military, there is a term called mission creep. Mission creep happens after you succeed at your real mission. Usually mission creep happens when others place new tasks on your plate and so your mission creeps further and further away from its initial intent. There is also self-inflicted mission creep, where our own success makes us arrogant and we start to take on additional tasks that detract from our original mission. Sometimes, you are forced to engage in mission creep because someone else is not doing their job. In this case, you cross over into someone else's job description to cover for them.

In most cases, if you are not constantly fighting against engaging in mission creep, you travel down the road to catastrophic failure. The more mission creep you dabble in, the further you lose sight of your real mission. You have to shut out the distractions and eleminate the unneccessary efforts. You have to prioritize.

Know your mission. Accomplish your mission.

Mission creep is the process of adding another chainsaw to the juggler over and over again until somebody loses something important.

I have noticed that the motivation behind relevant preaching sounds like the pastoral version of mission creep. I am sure that all the different causes of mission creep effect churches and cause them to stray from the mission: preach Christ crucified.

Maybe there are ethical, behavioral, and relationship problems that the families and the culture are no longer able or willing to deal with... stay on the mission.

Maybe there is pressure to engage in mission creep. Maybe people want things to be different in the church. Maybe people want the church to start picking up the slack left by people who have abdicated their vocational responsibilities... stay on the mission.

Maybe there is a temptation to make things more relevant and practical. Maybe people in the church feel like they have this Gospel thing down pat and can move on to other things... stay on the mission.

Fixing people's complex family problems is someone else's mission. Teaching parents how to parent their children is someone else's mission. Training people in the particulars of ethics is someone else's mission [*cough* head of household *cough*]. Does the church have an important role in supporting these things? Of course. Is this the mission that Christ gave His church? No.

Ultimately, mission creep distracts you from your primary task. When that primary task is proclaiming the Gospel without error and administering the means of grace to sinners, mission creep cannot be tolerated. The primary mission is critical. No one other than the church can do what we are called to do. There is no place for distraction or multi-tasking.

Medical Crisis Solved!

Rising medical costs and long doctor wait times have been done away with through a new program inspired by the customer service advances found in the modern American church.

Program 1: Lay-surgeons. Are there not enough trained, licenced doctors in your area? No problem, we have tons of staff who have attended a 90 day neurosurgery course waiting to slice into your skull. After all, anyone can do brain surgery. All of that schooling and learning is pretty much unnecessary when you figure that lots of former auto mechanics and toaster repair men have pretty steady hands and seem to be really good with a scalpel.

Program 2: Small Group medical evaluations. Are you tired of waiting at the doctor's office forever? No problem. We have groups of totally untrained people who happen to have been in doctor's offices before for several years now. When you are sick, just go to your small group and let them guess what is wrong with you and tell you how they feel they should fix it. We have even given these guys medical text books so that each person can read the text book, do a crossword related to your illness, and tell you what they feel the medical board is trying to say to you. When they decide that they are in over their head, they can call the real doctor who is supervising them along with a dozen other small medical groups.

Program 3: Self diagnosis. Do you hate your doctor and all of his staff? No problem. Are you on the losing end of your doctor's triage? Does he just not have the time or inclination to treat you? Become a self-treater! Just stay at home with Web-MD and treat yourself. If things get really bad, talk to your next door neighbor about it and have him assist you if you have to remove an appendix.

You think this is quackery? You think that only trained medical professionals should be making life or death decisions for you and your children? You think that not all vocations are things that can just be done by anybody?

Question: Isn't your spiritual health much more important than your physical health?

Call a Spade a Spade

Have you noticed that the first thing that a controversial movement does is redefine terms?

"Pro-Abortion" people are not "Pro-Abortion". They are "Pro-Choice".
"Socialists" are not "Socialists". They are "Progressives".
"Partisans" are not "Partisans". They are "Statesmen".
"Pro-War" people are not "Pro-War". They are "Pro-Defense".
"Anti-War" people are not "Anti-War". They are "Peace Activists".

Purpose-Driven, Community Churches are not different. They create all kinds of jargon, buzz-words, and double-speak to minimize controversy. It is all linguistic damage control. When you read what someone writes, read what words they choose because words carry power.

"Worldly" churches are not "Worldly". They are "Relevant".
"Novel" churches are not "Novel". They are "Contemporary".
"Legalistic" churches are not "Legalistic". They are "Purpose-Driven".
"Unionistic" churches are not "Unionistic". They are "Inclusive" or "Non-denominational".
"Shallow" churches are not "Shallow". They are "Accessible".
"Tepid" churches are not "Tepid". They are "Missional".
"Antinomianist" churches are not "Antinomainist". They are "Loving", "Free", and "Grace-filled".

Listen carefully. Pay attention. Watch with discernment. Call a spade a spade.