Celebrity Pastors for the Glory of Christ

“With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel.”  2 Corinthians 8:18

When I was at the 2012 Together For The Gospel meeting, there was a panel discussion on celebrity pastors.  Dr. Carl Trueman was on the panel, cautioning against the perils and dangers of the celebrity pastor.  While I certainly agreed with the majority of his concerns and cautions, I wanted to ask him if he taught a “celebrity” church history class. In other words, did he focus on the pastors/theologians that no one had ever heard of, or did he cover Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and the many other “famous” figures in church history? After all, he did mention that Luther was the first celebrity pastor in Protestantism. Surely he teaches about the lives and ministries of celebrities in his church history class.

The Biblical and historical fact of the matter on celebrity pastors is this:  The LORD sovereignly chooses to make people great in the eyes of the world for the purpose of making His own name great and to be a blessing to the world through the Gospel.   Continue at Joseph Randall

 

Mohler Warns of Same Sex Marriage Impact on Churches

Two prominent Southern Baptists discussed the consequences of same-sex "marriage" at a biennial conference, warning that Christians will face increasing difficulties as the culture changes. 

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., was interviewed by Washington, D.C. pastor Mark Dever about the cultural impact of same-sex "marriage." They were at the “Together for the Gospel” Conference in Louisville on April 11.  The event attracted 8,000 people.  Mohler’s seminary is one of the largest in the world.  Dever’s Capitol Hill Baptist Church is a prominent congregation in the nation’s capital. The 16 million member Southern Baptist convention is America’s largest Protestant communion.

Six states currently recognize gay "marriage," and two more have passed laws that are being challenged by citizens and could be overturned. The laws in those two other states, Maryland and Washington, have yet to go into effect.

The definition of marriage, Mohler said, is simple: “Marriage is the union of a man and a woman before the Creator in an exclusive and permanent relationship that models his own character and covenantal love.”

Historically, Western civilization was built on the understanding of marriage as both a biblical and legal institution, Mohler said. The trend in recent times, however, has been to sever marriage away from its biblical understanding and more towards a legal understanding. This poses a problem for Christians as their views conflict with the state’s definition.

“Christians have essentially agreed with the civil aspects of marriage, but have believed beyond the legal understanding -- that marriage fits into a Gospel structure," Mohler said. "We now find ourselves in a position of saying that we believe in contrast as to the state’s definition of marriage.”

With shifting attitudes toward homosexuality, Mohler noted the consequences for Christians who insist on holding to biblical marriage: “What we now have in an increasingly short period of time is the condemnation of anyone who will not approve of homosexuality.”

Apart from a supernatural act, Mohler said he does not expect the culture to reverse its opinion on homosexuality.  The implications for pastors are many, Mohler said. “You can count on this being an enduring, permanent challenge set to impact every single local church.”   Continue at Andrew Walker

2012 The Underestimated Gospel - T4G

Together for the Gospel 2012 Video and Audio now available at Together for the Gospel

Church Size: The Fault Line in the Movement

It can be good to have a "tribe" (e.g., Acts 29, 9Marks, SGM, the PCA)  where you resonate with the philosophy of ministry and get good resources for your work.  I'm also glad for what God is doing to bring people together across Reformed "tribes" through movements like T4G and The Gospel Coalition. Part of what God seems to be doing is forging trust and partnerships between groups that do things differently.

 

But from my observation (at conferences and in personal conversations), there seems to be still be a fault line running through us: church size.  I've sat in conferences where the speakers talk as if you aren't a good pastor until your church hits 2,000 people in attendance.  I've also heard small church pastors who seem to assume that large crowds always indicate that the message is being watered down.

A few suggestions on the matter:

• Drop the "better than" language.
  

Large churches aren't better than small.  And vice versa.  I don't care what your surveys say, you can easily find examples and statistics to show the superiority of whatever it is that you happen to be doing.  The fact is, some churches grow big because the ministry is faithful and the Lord is blessing.  Others grow big because the itching ears of the masses are being appeased.  Some small churches are doing great work in difficult places.  Others are small because they are lame and ineffective.  Most churches (big and small) do some things well and other things less well.     Keep Reading >>>

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Five Concerns about the Merging of Charismatic and Calvinistic Doctrine

There has been an attempt in recent days by some to merge Calvinism and the charismatic movement. Several factors have influenced this trend. Here are three:

First, movements and ministries like “Together for the Gospel” and “the Gospel Coalition” have commended charismatic ministers, churches, and their practices to young Calvinistic ministers and their churches.

Second, the merging of charismatic and Calvinistic theology has been promoted among young ministers by the widespread use and influence of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology in various evangelical schools and seminaries. Although there is much to commend in the devotional quality of Grudem’s work and in his generally Calvinistic Baptist perspective, reformed readers will not be able to affirm his advocacy of charismatic practices in the church.

Third, and perhaps most significantly, charismatic influenced “third wave” contemporary Christian music has largely replaced “traditional” worship liturgies in most evangelical and conservative Protestant churches, and now many of the lyrics for the newest songs are being influenced by the doctrinal resurgence of Calvinism.
Why should one be wary of this merging of charismatic and Calvinistic theology? Here are five specific concerns: Read them HERE

Don't Mess With The Gospel

T4G 2010 -- Session 2 -- R.C. Sproul from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

HT: Reformation Theology

Tom Wright, T4G, and "Unity": "Can We All Get Along?"

Christianity Today has posted an opinion piece by Brett McCracken comparing this year's Together for the Gospel (T4G) sessions unfavorably with Wheaton College's recent Theology Conference: "Jesus, Paul and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with N. T. Wright."

The speakers at T4G, of course, firmly believe that "The Gospel" is what binds us "Together." All of them agree that the heart of gospel truth is summed up in the doctrine of justification by faith, and getting that doctrine correct is vital to sound, biblical Christianity. All of them also believe the atonement Christ rendered on the cross was a penal substitution—a propitiatory sacrifice offered to God by His Son on behalf of sinners. There is much more to the atoning work of Christ than that, of course, but the T4G speakers all are convinced that part is essential to a right and full-orbed understanding (and proclamation) of the gospel. In short, all of the T4G speakers hold the historic position on these matters that is spelled out in all the Protestant confessions of faith. Read the rest HERE