Preaching the Cross, Part 1
Once again, I apologize for my absence from blogging. It's been rather busy in life right now..newly married (check my wife's blog for pictures), working more and so on. I've also been reading and thinking a good bit as well.
First of all, I have been reading "Preaching the Cross" by Mark Dever, J. Ligon Duncan, R. Albert Mohler Jr., C.J. Mahaney, John MacArthur, John Piper, and R.C. Sproul. The message of this book seeks to encourage us to preach the cross and the message of the gospel every time we open the Word of God. The writers challenge readers to pursue gospel-saturated, preaching-centered ministries. I'll post more on specifically what I am learning through reading this book soon.
Secondly, this book has opened my eyes further to the fact that there is a lack of clearly presented and proclaimed gospel while in the pulpit. Be reminded that a simple altar call at the end of the service is NOT a presentation of the gospel of Christ. Why should a lost person respond to an altar call in which they talk to someone further about what it means to follow Christ when they do not even understand why they are responding to an altar call in the first place? Preach the cross!
Every time the Word of God is opened, the FULL gospel must be presented. A clear gospel presentation does not include water: so do not water down the gospel! Preach the cross!
Friends, it is imperative that we explain and present the gospel in a clear manner. We must not merely "share" the gospel but we must detail the gospel even in the pulpit. I hope this serves as a reminder to preach the gospel in all areas of life and ministry. Let's be a body of believers that are known for preaching the cross. Now, go and preach the cross!
There will be more to come...
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3 comments:
Hey Kyle, you should blog more...life gets in the way for me too though...so i get it.
Congrats on getting married btw, it's quite the adventure.
One point of contention coming from my former Christian mindset---i think this is a good opportunity to express something that always frustrated me about the church.
The book you refer to has an impressive list of authors but I see that you say it encourages preaching centered ministries...and I always thought preaching was important, but really the only visible ministry that is ever seen by most people inside and outside of the church.
In my beliefs there were always many types of ministry, and as a non preaching minister it was always extremely difficult to get any respect from anyone if you aren't over a congregation or preaching in front of a crowd. My ministry was very behind the scenes, no payment (pastoring can be very lucrative), not a whole lot of appreciation. But it provided services for people that were often forgotten by the rest of the church, and even the rest of the secular world. My concern now is that if pastoring and preaching are focused on too much that the few things that I see the church doing that are actually worthwhile (from the atheist perspective) will go away....food pantries, housing help, etc etc (Charity = love right?)
other than that I do have to agree with you with the idea that the fullness of the gospel is not being taught to people...these alter calls, often including young children are leading people down a path that is far more complex than they understand when they make this decision. So many people enter into the faith with little or no understanding of what it entails...instead they often rely on their emotional instability at the time of the alter call (i've been guilty of this) rather than educating them on what the cross means and what the Christian walk may entail.
thats all
Oxley you make some good points. The visible preaching ministry can turn into a celebrity thing, a public-image-driven thing, for the preacher. But if it's truly cross-centered preaching, then it will come from a man whose life is truly cross-centered, which means he will be humble and broken and desire to be used by God to spur his congregation on to love & good deeds. Which is exactly the point of cross-centered preaching: it should lead the congregation to do the serving kinds of things that you talk about.
Keep the blogs comin', Kyle. I've got this book and I might just read through it with you.
Good point Andrew, I neglected to see the pastor/preacher as a catalyst for a congregation's actions but it certainly makes sense.
I wasn't accusing all pastors of of being out for that, I certainly don't think they are(certainly some are...and for money, or power). I've been humbled and broken before,and I know quite a few folks that need it.
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