Except By Prayer and Fasting

Just One Story: Introduction

I occasionally ask myself, “If God spoke directly to my congregation, what would he say and how would he say it?” In other words, I am asking myself what should be different about us. I think about this rather often, and it usually results in a sermon series or a series of lessons for Wednesday night Bible study. Of course, God has already spoken directly to our church, Iglesia Betania in Denton, Texas, just as he has already spoken to all churches through the Scripture and the illumination of the Scripture by the Holy Spirit. So, what has he said that we have missed? What do we need to know more than anything else, especially in these turbulent days.

How God would convey his message is easy. He would tell a story. God did not give us a systematic theology or an academic text, but a redemptive history. That is the way God primarily reveals¹ himself to us. Nearly all of the Old Testament is historical narrative. Even the gospels are a history rather than a systematic Christology. Certainly, parts of the Scripture are instructional. The Ten Commandments and much of the epistles are more instructional in nature, but even they are within the context of the redemptive history of God. This poses a bit of a problem for us. Because so much of God’s message to the church is related through Bible stories we learned as children in Sunday School, we often fail to take them seriously and to study them as mature believers looking for the deep spiritual truths embedded in them.² Sister Maria Montemayor, a great saint who was a member of our church for many years and is now with the Lord, said that the Old Testament stories were God’s kindergarten. Of course, all we really need to know we learned in kindergarten, right? Well, maybe not everything, but those kindergarten lessons are valuable and life-long.

The story God would probably tell to my congregation,  and I am sure to many others, is the story of David and Goliath. Most of us already know that story as related in 1 Samuel 17. Briefly, it is the story of young David. He was visiting his brothers in Saul’s army when Goliath, the giant Philistine, mocked and challenged the Israelites to a one-on-one duel. David volunteered to take on Goliath and in spite of his youth killed him with a small stone launched from his sling. It is a simple story, but it is both profound and foundational to our understanding of God and his work. It is also commonly misunderstood as we shall see down the road a bit.

There are at least six important spiritual truths in this story that I wish to explore. Those six truths are:

    The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
    Uncircumcision
    The Bigger They Are . . .
    Don’t Bring a Knife to a Gunfight
    Can You Hear Me Now?
    It’s Not About David

What does this great story say to us? Well, keep and eye on this blog and we will see what he has to say. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Revelation 2:11)”

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Notes
1. I am using the present tense ‘reveals’ rather than the past tense here because I firmly believe that God’s work of revelation to his people is active and vital. Not in the sense that he is giving us new biblical revelations, but that he actively works in us through the illumination of the Spirit to deepen our understanding of him, his character, his will, and his purpose.

2. For more information about how we perceive truth in modern society see Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. It is very insightful.

It’s Going To Be a Long Night

I don’t get to read nearly as much as I would like. As a bi-vocational pastor time is always short and discretionary spending is slim. In spite of that, last week I spent about $20 over on Amazon.com, and UPS brought my books today. Among them was John Piper’s A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer. I haven’t been this excited about a book in a long time. I am sure I will be up late tonight. Piper is one of my favorite contemporary authors/teachers/preachers, and the book is about a subject very close to my heart. In a few days, I will post a review.

Do We Care Enough to Pray

How the church responds to difficult times is an indicator of the depths of its relationship to the Lord and its understanding of God, his will, his purpose, and his glory. Recently, much of the church has gotten this issue wrong by falling into the error of the extremes. On one hand, part of the church has responded to the current circumstances of the world with a compassionate gospel that focuses primarily on the social responsibilities of the church with insufficient regard to the spiritual responsibilities of the gospel. They are very outspoken and active about issues such as poverty, world hunger, AIDS prevention, and other social issues. The goal is to transform society by showing the compassion and love of the Lord, which is certainly a noble goal. This stance is usually associated with the more "liberal" (and I use that term very broadly) side of the church. On the other hand, the more "conservative" (and I use that term very broadly as well) side of the church has tended to focus on the spiritual issues with insufficient regard to the social responsibilities. They are very outspoken on moral issues, such as same-gender marriage, abortion, and other social and political issues. The goal is to transform society through moral integrity, also a noble goal. In their own way, both groups are right. Sadly, both groups are also wrong. They are both wrong for the same reason, the error of the extreme. My seminary ethics professor, Dr. Guy Greenfield, said that we must avoid the error of the extreme and seek the orthodoxy of balance. He was correct. 

I need to be very careful here. I do not want to be misunderstood. The church has a responsibility before the Lord for both of these ways of ministry. It certainly has a responsibility to show God’s love through social action, especially in the area of justice. Jesus himself was our example. He demonstrated a capacity for compassion and forgiveness that was truly divine. The church also has a responsibility to stand up for God’s moral law. Again, Jesus was our example. He clearly taught that God’s moral law continues to be binding upon us. During these difficult times, it is important that the church remember a basic truth: those who do not share our faith cannot share our values. Notice I said ‘cannot’ rather than ‘do not’. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:14, "But a natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14 LITV) Unregenerate man cannot be anything except what he is unless and until God does a mighty work of regeneration in his heart.

This should have been one of the great lessons we learned from from the Prohibition Era. Unfortunately, the church did not learn that if man wants to to something, sinful or otherwise, that he will do it with or without the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Volstead Act, and Elliott Ness. The population of the U. S. wanted to consume alcohol at the time and they found a way in spite of the laws of the land. The same is true for any other moral issue, abortion, same-gender relationships, alcohol and drug use, and a host of others. Our responsibility as a church, therefore, is to be worried less about the laws of our land and more concerned with the spiritual condition of the citizens of our land. Our laws will always reflect the beliefs of our citizens rather than our citizens reflect our laws. It is simply human nature.

Similarly, unregenerate man is perfectly willing to take what the church offers in the way of social action and never repent. There is a great example in the New Testament. In John 6 Jesus fed more than 5,000 people from five loaves and two fish. Those present listen to Jesus and hailed him as a great teacher. The next day they came back for more, but when Jesus gave them teachings about complete commitment to him but did not give them lunch, they left him. Suddenly, he was not such a great teacher. 

So, what does this mean for us, especially in light of the purpose of this blog. It means that our first step in any ministry is a great deal of intercessory prayer that those to whom we minister be regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, Christ commands us to share the gospel and to stand up for the holiness of God, but unless men are regenerated they cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God and our ministry is in vain. Let us come together in prayer and fasting for the spiritual condition of our people.