Quote from Mark Dever

Am sitting here at the Science Fair reading Mark Dever's "The Gospel & Personal Evangelism." In the second chapter, he discusses the issue of repentance and belief.

"It's not like you can go for the basic model (belief) and add repentance at a later point when you want to get really holy."


Great point.

Choir music suggestions, anyone?

I am looking for a few suggestions of those #10 choir pieces, if anyone has any. I've found a lot of good ones, but am looking for GREAT ones! (Or as Mom would say, goooood ones!)

Has anyone done any of the following (being considered for this year):

Christ in Us, The Hope of Glory
Cindy Berry; Monarch Music

Living Lord
Ken Bible, Tom Fettke; Alfred

Jesus, At Your Name
John Parker, Mark Hayes; Lorenz

The Gifts He Gives to Me
Cindy Berry; Glory Sound

I Choose You
Deborah Govenor; Beckenhorst

Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens, Adore Him
Benjamin Harlan; Brookfield

My Wordless Prayer
Pamela Martin, Craig Courtney; Beckenhorst

A thought on music in worship

(The latest Banner of Truth magazine is devoted entirely to John Newton.)

Iain Murray on the hymns of John Newton (1725-1807):

A consideration of this penitential note in Newton’s hymnody must lead one to reflect on what is too commonly absent from numbers of the songs substituted for hymns in worship today. It is not simply that certain words are omitted; the whole ethos is different. Too often the emphasis is on the worshipper’s devotion: ‘I will praise’; ‘I will exalt’; ‘I will love’, etc. While the language is good, the old saying needs to be remembered, ‘He loves little who tells how much he loves.’ And when the language is used in the absence of expressions of poverty of spirit, mourning, hungering and thirsting for what is not yet attained, it may be akin to the ignorance that led Simon Peter to assert, ‘I will lay down my life for thy sake.’ Professing Christian worship that omits humility and self-abasement would have been incomprehensible to Newton. His best hymns are always striking a note that is the opposite of self-confidence or self-satisfaction; rather it is: 'Weak is the effort of my heart, And cold my warmest thought.' Newton points us to the need for a reversal of features that have entered into Christian worship today.

Iain Murray, Banner of Truth, August/September 2007, pp. 23-24

Culture and Communication

Yesterday I read chapter 6 from Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally, titled “The Role of Culture in Communication” by David Hesselgrave. It is an explanation of how important it is to have an understanding of culture (and cultures--your own and the respondent's) in order to communicate more effectively. “Culture” takes into account linguistic, political, economic, social, psychological, religious, national, racial, and still other differences (p. 99). All these interact and play a role in the communication process.

There are different layers to culture. Going from surface to deep they are:

• Material artifacts, observable behavior
• Institutions (marriage, education, law, etc.)
• Values
• Ideology, cosmology, worldview

The surface level is the simplest to change and share. However, the deepest levels of culture constitutes the most important aspect for missionary purposes. It is on this level that the missionary seeks biblical change in those to whom he is ministering. “But they [the deepest levels] are also the most difficult to discover, analyze, and modify. Precisely for that reason, missionaries are often tempted to concentrate on surface-level change and let it go at that. Biblical Christianity, however, requires change at the deeper levels of values, beliefs, and worldview” (p. 102).

True biblical discipleship comes with the introduction of that which is supracultural into the respondent culture. The term “supracultural” refers to anything that has its source outside of culture (103). “However ... it is often difficult for even the most spiritual missionary to maintain a proper distinction between that which is supracultural and that which is cultural at the practical level. Nevertheless that is part of the missionary task. In fact, solutions to some of the most perplexing of all cross-cultural problems ... depend on our ability to analyze and resolve tensions between the supracultural and the cultural” (104).

Hesselgrave suggests that the missionary should work to develop cultural self-awareness. "That is, he should attempt to understand his own culture” (105). Though this may sound easy, it is actually quite difficult to analyze why we speak the way we do, use forks instead of chopsticks, place so much importance on individual rights, emphasize competition and winning, etc.

This cultural awareness will help us avoid “cultural overhang.” Cultural overhang is “the tendency to take the ways of our own culture into the new culture and deal with the new culture on that basis” (105). Granted, there is a wrong kind of cultural relativity that denies all absolutes and insists that “morality” is a culturally relative term. But, says Hesselgrave, “there is also a right kind of ‘cultural relativity’ that says that although there are divinely dictated absolutes of right and wrong, one’s own culturally prescribed assumptions of right and wrong will reflect them imperfectly at best and may not reflect them at all. Moreover, many cultural prescriptions are not matters of right and wrong at all but simply matters of utility or tastes” (105).

In communicating truth, the missionary is actually dealing with three cultures (all which must be consciously engaged): the biblical culture in which the message was originally given, his own in which he has learned the text and sought to apply it, and the respondent’s. An able communicator is more aware, not less aware, of the different cultures in which he revolves.

Don't lose your tools!

“Dost thou not mark and consider how the smith, mason, or carpenter or any other handy-craftsman, what need soever he be in, ... he will not sell nor lay to pledge the tools of his occupation, ... for then how should he get a living thereby? Of like mind and affection ought we to be towards holy scripture. For as mallets, hammers, saws, chisels, axes and hatchets be the tools of their occupation, so be the books of the prophets and apostles, and all holy writ inspired by the Holy Ghost the instrument of our salvation”

Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556)

The role of persuasion in evangelism

I read recently chapter 6 in Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally, titled "Why Do Missionaries Communicate?" His main point is that we communicate to persuade. We do more than simply communicate truth. "Whatever else the missionary is, he is a persuaded man persuading others" (87).

Now it is obvious that this doesn't settle well with modern man. It’s OK to hang out your shingle and disinterestedly inform those willing to step into your cubicle of your particular view of things. But to "persuade" is to "propagandize" and what could be more evil?

In a brochure prepared for the French press by the FEF, Alain Stamp writes,

"Le mot « prosélytisme » est devenu aujourd’hui franchement péjoratif et même abusivement synonyme de « racolage ». Ce terme évoque une propagandereligieuse massive comportant des éléments de pression, de harcèlement, de conditionnement psychologique et s’apparente à l’intégrisme."

He then defines evangelism:

"L’évangélisation est la proclamation publique de l’Évangile. Elle est destinée à informer nos contemporains afin de leur donner l’occasion d’établir un contact personnel avec Dieu. L’évangélisation est une offre spirituelle ouverte. Elle fait appel à la liberté de conscience de chacun. L’invitation qu’elle adresse vise la conviction intérieure, la foi de chacun."

This seems to be the first of two options that Hesselgrave (hereafter DH) mentions, the first option being that "he can retreat from biblical and existential reality and hang up the shingle of a ‘teacher only’ (or some other more acceptable professional)."

However, the second (and better) option is for him to "humbly but determinedly accept his commission and bend every effort to be an effective Christian persuader. Strangely enough, modern communication theory will assist him if he chooses the latter course!" (88).

DH points out that modern communication theorists insist that it is "the very nature of communication to be persuasive"; that "language is never neutral" that "if there is meaning there is persuasion"; that "no statements can be said to be nonpersuasive"; and that "in short, we communicate to influence--to affect with intent."

DH summarizes: "We are all ‘missionaries"! It is only a matter of degree and direction! And the more one is persuaded himself, the more intent he becomes, and the greater the barriers he is willing to cross in order [to] influence others. Its’ as simple as that!"

The conclusion DH draws is that missionaries cannot be content to think they have accomplished their mission when they have delivered a faithful message--that nothing more is required than that God’s Word be declared. We must have a purpose. "One reason why Paul was an effective missionary was that his purpose coincided with that of the Holy Spirit" (90). The missionary should not only know his specific purpose(s) but also have "some method of measuring audience response" (90).

DH acknowledges that there is a danger in thinking that only measurable responses are meaningful. "But all the reasons he may adduce in support of the uniqueness of his task do not excuse him from setting goals and measuring results insofar as this is possible" (91). DH further acknowledges that the Holy Spirit is the "secret persuader" and the determining factor.

I believe that DH offers a necessary emphasis that helps balance our understanding of our role in evangelism. Donald Whitney, in his book on spiritual disciplines, relates evangelism more to the deliverer than to the respondent. He compares evangelism with mail delivery and says that successful evangelism is like a successfully delivered letter. What the respondent does with the "letter" is up to him (or more importantly the Holy Spirit) but "successful evangelism" has taken place regardless.

Perhaps a synthesis of these two ideas would be best. I'm not saying that the two authors are necessarily in disagreement. However, there are two ways to approach "true evangelism." One focuses on the delivery/deliverer the other on the response/responder. On the one hand, we must acknowledge that evangelism involves more than mere "modeling" or simple "proclamation."
DH has some helpful categories:

• Presence evangelism (modeling the gospel)
• Proclamation evangelism (speaking forth the gospel)
• Persuasion evangelism (pressing for a verdict) (81)

It is not enough that we publicly portray Christ as crucified (Galatians 3:1). We must go the step further and press for a verdict (as Paul does in that same chapter). Second Corinthians 5 makes clear that our role as ambassadors involves much more than being signboards of truth. It includes "persuading" people.

On the other hand, we must not confuse the act of persuading (source focused) with the act of persuasion (respondent focused). Paul "persuaded" (2 Corinthians 5:11), but all were not necessarily "persuaded" (Acts 17:32, 34).

A missionary is "a persuaded man persuading others." However, there is the possibility that he can persuade without man being persuaded. The missionary needs to keep his focus.

Feminine Appeal

Feminine Appeal

Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother

Author: Carolyn Mahaney

Publisher: Crossway Books

Number of pages: 157

This very readable book is an appeal to women to "recover the nearly lost treasure of God's way of thinking and living." It is a series of lessons that was taken from the author's lectures on "Transformed by Titus 2." The Bible admonishes older women to teach what is good (2:3) and there is a chapter for each quality that follows in verses 4-5--loving our husband, loving our children, self-control, purity, working at home, kindness, and submission in marriage. The book is written in a way that young and old benefit from it.

There were quite a few things that really impressed me. One was her emphasis on the grand purpose of Titus 2. It is not merely so that we have happy homes and see a return to "traditional values". It is much more than that and as she says it "transcends time and culture"(important truth for us in another land!). 'The reason is the gospel of Jesus Christ." We live the way we do so that others can see that there is a difference in our lives because of Christ.

The book is so full of interesting life illustrations and quotable quotes like:

"Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself." (Martin Lloyd -Jones)

"The man needs the help; the woman needs to help." (Douglas Wilson)

"As many people were brought to the Lord through Mrs. Schaeffer's cinnamon buns as through Dr. Schaeffer's sermons!" (Mary Pride, The Way Home)

"If only self-control were as as easy as dialing an 800 number." (A favorite!)

The book was a challenge to me as an "older woman" as to my obligation to be teaching all the young mothers, young ladies and girls in our church these seven virtues. I see them being played out in my daughters and daughters-in-law and that is a thrill but for the gospel's sake I need to make it a priority to pass on the truth to those around me. I hope to teach them in my ladies' Bible Study next year.

The book was worth reading for me, if only to find this poem which I wrote in a book to Dad. It is so true:

If ever two were one, then surely we;
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
--Anne Bradstreet, 1678