Re-Reading Institutes of the Christian Religion

I recently decided to re-read John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. It’s been years since I read and studied it the first time. Calvin’s writings, at least some of them, are timeless! Here are some quotes.

For until men recognize that they owe everything to God, that they are nourished by his fatherly care, that he is the Author of their every good, that they should seek nothing beyond him–they will never yield him willing service. Nay, unless they establish their complete happiness in him, they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him.

Nevertheless, it is one thing to feel that God as our Maker supports us by his power, governs us by his providence, nourishes us by his goodness, and attends us with all sorts of blessings–and another thing to embrace the grace of reconciliation offered to us in Christ.

All men have a vague general veneration of God.

God himself has implanted in all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty.

Wayne Grudem on Christians and Politics

Francis Chan: “Luke warm and lovin’ it”

Where is the church?

Preparing for this Sunday’s message, Getting Church Right: Part 3, I ran across a quote from George Barna’s The Second Coming of the Church that rocked me! (I first read this on January 23, 2005!)

Americans today are more devoted to seeking spiritual enlightenment than at any previous time during the twentieth century. Yet, at this moment of optimum opportunity, Christianity is having less impact on people’s perspectives and behaviors than ever. Why is that? Because a growing majority of people have dismissed the Christian faith as weak, outdated, and irrelevant.

Interestingly, the stumbling block for the Church is not its theology but its failure to apply what it believes in compelling ways. The downfall of the Church has not been the content of its message but its failure to practice those truths. Christians have been their own worst enemies when it comes to showing the world what authentic, biblical Christianity looks like–and why it represents a viable alternative to materialism, existentialism, mysticism, and the other doctrines of the popular culture. Those who have left empty-handed, confused by the apparent inability of Christians themselves to implement the principles they profess. Churches, for the most part, have failed to address the nagging anxieties and deep-seated fears of the people, focusing instead upon outdated or secondary issues and proposing tired or trite solutions. (p 5)

You may not agree with everything Barna writes…but it’s enough of a wake up call to encourage us to get church right!

The Purpose of Prayer

Over the past 3-4 months I been teaching on prayer on Sunday nights at Neel Road.

This is by far one of my favorite quotes about prayer!

“Very few people think that we are in a war that is greater than World War II, or than any imaginable nuclear war. Few reckon that Satan is a much worse enemy than any earthly foe, or realize that the conflict is not restricted to any one global theater, but is in every town and city in the world. Who considers that the casualties of this war do not merely lose an arm or an eye or an earthly life, but lose everything, even their own souls, and enter a hell of everlasting torment? Until we feel the force of this, we will not pray as we ought. We will not even know what prayer is…Prayer is the communication with headquarters by which the weapons of warfare are deployed according to the will of God…Prayer is the walkie-talkie of the church on the battlefield of the world in the service of the word. It is not a domestic intercom to increase the temporal comforts of the saints. It malfunctions in the hands of soldiers who have gone AWOL. It is for those on active duty.”

- John Piper

Desiring to be a New Testament church. . .

This week while I was preparing for Sunday’s message which is based on Acts 2:42-27 I ran into this great quote:

“A New Testament church is a church in which God is present through His Spirit, and in which He is powerfully at work to glorify Himself by manifestations of His power and grace. A New Testament church is a church where the fruits of the Spirit are as evident as the manifestations of His power. That is the kind of church we desire to be.” (Bible.org)

So many local churches simply don’t look or act like the churches we read about in the New Testament, and especially in Acts, because we just don’t seek and follow God’s Spirit. A New Testament church is a church where God’s Spirit is alive and active, moving in and through the lives of believers…and even non-believers!

When God’s Spirit moves, it is powerful! When the Holy Spirit is active, it is beautiful! And it only happens when we truly desire and seek God’s Spirit in our own lives. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.”

More than anything else I desire for Neel Road to be a New Testament church. For every person to know the God who gives each of us new life each day, to have a relationship with Jesus Christ that is life-changing, and to be powerfully and wonderfully filled with the Holy Spirit!

For the next five weeks or so I will be preaching a series of messages based on the passage mentioned above. The title of the series is called “Getting Church Right.” I hope you can join us.