Jesus: The Sheep Door (An Interlude in the Posts About Money)

John 10:1 - "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber."

No, the man in the above picture is not Jesus...But, this morning I was thinking about this verse and all the other doors that people try and enter through, in order to become part of the sheepfold of God. I was thinking that there are those who try to blend in with the church by doing good deeds. Some try and rest in church attendance. And soon I thought to myself, some try and come through the door of "a relationship with Jesus". Now, many who read that may think..."Brandon, you are indeed blasphemous. Are you saying it is bad to have a relationship with Jesus?" Well, for those reading this...probably not. For those who are born again do indeed have a relationship with Jesus. But for many, this is a problem.

What I mean by this, is that the Bible NEVER teaches that a mere relationship with Jesus is what brings about salvation. In fact, I don't know that Jesus ever says to anyone, "To be saved, come...have a relationship with me." I think the dangerous part of this kind of talk is that many Christians say, "You must have A relationship with God." In other words, "there are many kinds of relationships...just choose one of them." This all may sound ridiculous, but I have talked to people who were raised in churches that taught "relationship instead of religion". They could talk to me till they were blue in the face about "knowing" Jesus and "having a relationship with him", yet they were not born again. Interesting how that happens, huh? But as I look at the gospel of "having a relationship" with Jesus, I notice that it is a gospel that the world can swallow quite easily. They think to themselves, "I have relationships with many people. In fact, I am quite good at relationships. I have a relationship with my wife, my kids, my parents, my boss, my secretary, my friends...I've got relationships coming out my ears!" And thus they construct a relationship with Jesus by their standards, not by God's.

If we are to talk about having a relationship with Jesus, we must also include the criteria of that relationship...you know, like Jesus did. He never told people to have a relationship with him, but he did say "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He did say, "Turn from your sin." He did command people to "believe in the Son of Man." He did tell others that if they did not believe, "the wrath of God remains upon him." He also told people that they must be "born again to see the kingdom of heaven", and to "love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength." But he never left anyone guessing with wishy-washy talk about having a relationship, which...if you think about it...is quite confusing and unclear.

Therefore, I think we need to be careful; because telling someone to just "have a relationship" with Jesus can often lead them through a door that is not The Door.

Mo' Money Mo' Prollems

In case you were thinking it...yes, I do know how to spell "problems", but correct pronunciation and spelling does not apply to the language of the street. Therefore, you must deal with the title.

However, on a more serious note, I have been stirred up recently to think about the issue of wealth and Christianity. By wealth, I do not mean merely an abundance of cash or other valuable "whatnots". I feel that in churches today, too much emphasis is placed upon amounts of money or quantity of possessions rather than on the deeper issue. I guess what I have been wondering is...What is exactly the function and place of money and material wealth for people who love Jesus? Or more importantly, what does Jesus teach about wealth? My desire to know about this has arisen due to a few different instances.

The first is, well...I'm married now, and I have to lead my wife and future family in godliness in all areas of life; including finances. So, it is imperative for me to know what Jesus commands.

Secondly, I despise the prosperity gospel or any hint of it in anyone's teaching. Over the years, too much damage has been done by the church in the name of God for the purpose of material gain. Too many pastors love money more than Jesus, and too many congregations are tainted with a subtle love for the things of this world that is almost impossible to encroach upon by another loving Christian or by a faithful shepherd.

Third, most of the teaching I hear on the topic of money seems to be rooted in human reasoning rather than upon what Jesus says. Or at the very least, Jesus' words are considered and then applied in faulty ways by well-meaning people. Most of the time, we hear this disguised as "wisdom" or "smart shopping" or some other responsible-sounding saying that is - sooner or later - accepted as warmly as any other biblical truth.

I hope to be learning about this and blogging about it. I think it is an important issue that contributes - either positively or negatively - to the witness of the church. And I also hope to get some great feedback from anyone who would graciously help me understand Jesus in this area.

New post on our married-people blog "Roger That?"...check it out.

The Deliberate Church...A Very Small Book

So, the book really is not that small. For some reason, I can't find a decent picture of most books to post on here. It's either CBD's picture which includes a "23% off" tag or Amazon.com's photo which has a "look inside" thingy with an arrow on the front. Not diggin' the small pics. However, that is not what I want to write about. I just finished this book this evening and thought I'd give me two cents on it...because at the end of the day I know these authors really do want to know what I think. Not really, but I still like to talk about books.

This book is Mark Dever's (Senior Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, D.C.) sincere effort to share what he has learned in growing a healthy, bible-loving church. He covers everything from expositional preaching, spiritual disciplines, worship, evangelism, membership, eldership, and church structure. The book is geared toward a pastoral audience, so much of the wisdom shared is for the express purpose of helping out new pastors, or even old pastors who are in a situation where reformation is needed in an old and dying church. Also, I think this book may have been a response to "The Purpose Driven Church" by Rick Warren. Warren's book caused a wave of implementation among churches all over the world, achieving almost a cult-like following and a formulaic church administration. Sort of a "plug in Warren's formula and abra-cadabra...your church will grow like a chia pet" mentality. Dever's concern is that the gospel should be our churches' focus in ministry, not a particular method. And when methods are needed (and they are) we should consult scripture; not what necessarily worked in some neighborhood for some pastor in some city 8,000 miles away. Methods can easily glorify man, whereas the Bible and the gospel will glorify Jesus; not to mention the fact that if the gospel is our focus, the church will be built by Christ - not by us. And that is what we want.

So, I liked it a lot. Pastor Dever seems like a man who is living out his faith, applying it to the church he pastors, and - in this book - bearing his heart for the edification of Jesus' people.

Our "married people blog"... open for viewing.

"The Estes Plan"

Jon would probably be upset that I named this post after him, especially since it's about a Bible reading plan and not a new fad diet or something. Anyway, my good friend Jon has designed a Bible reading plan that I am totally enjoying. This one is different from most in that you do not read pieces from four different books per day, but you stay in one particular book so you can actually pay attention and follow what is happening to the end of the book. When we skip around aimlessly from book to book, just trying to follow a reading plan, sometimes we miss development of a particular book's theological concepts and overtones. With Jon's plans, it seems as though we get the benefit of a disciplined reading schedule as well as consistency in reading. I also like the added bonus that in one year, you go through the O.T. once and the N.T. twice, because the O.T. is nearly two and a half times bigger than the N.T. So, click here and check it out.