Multiply Ministry Beyond the Pulpit

June 13, 2014June 13, 2014 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

I was just pondering the extensive opportunities for ministry beyond the pulpit. This may not seem relevant to a preaching blog, but I think it is. As a preacher, you have many opportunities to serve God and others beyond the ministry that you give in preaching. Let’s chase some ideas together and maybe one or two will spark something for you.

First, what about ministry directly linked to your preaching:

1. Written – The days of simply transcribing and publishing sermons are probably long gone for most, and yet there could be some scope for producing written materials that flow out of our preaching ministry. Getting published is not the easiest challenge, but perhaps there is a venue for carefully written synopses. (And I would imagine that if you have a good editing PA you might be able to churn out as many books as your favourite preacher/writer . . . but you need to think about what your theological message is.)

2. Online – Full sermon manuscripts will get very little traffic, since sermons are not written to be read. Perhaps blog length summaries could serve a purpose? Perhaps tweet length big ideas would be of benefit to others?

3. Recorded – It is easier than ever to record, lightly edit and upload your messages to the internet. Don’t do it just because you can, but if there are people that want to hear them, why not let the same sermon do its work again?

4. Taught – Why not gather one or two interested parties to talk through your message and make it into a training exercise? Could be potential preachers. Could be people learning to handle the Bible for themselves? In fact, get some feedback and you will benefit too.

5. Further Preached – Sometimes we leave a set of exegetical notes too soon. Maybe a further sermon building on the message and developing the application, or maybe a discussion, a Q&A, or a small group Bible study? There are no medals to be won for multiplying work unnecessarily. If you put hours into a message, it may well have further work to do before you lay it to rest.

Next time, I want to ponder five ministry multiplication options that complement a preaching ministry . . .

Book Notice for Twitter-ers

June 7, 2014 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

There will be more information coming soon, but I want to announce that my first book, Pleased To Dwell, is scheduled for release in the next few months. It is an engaging introduction to the biblical teaching on the Incarnation. For those of you on Twitter, be sure to follow @PleasedToDwell for tweeted snippets!

Satan Hates the Holy Spirit

June 5, 2014July 25, 2014 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

I think this might just be a blind spot in contemporary theology. We know that Satan hates God and marriage and evangelism and even church planting. But I have never heard anyone reference his hatred for the Holy Spirit.

As I ponder this idea I see more and more evidence to support the statement used as a title for this post. Sure, there is the obvious logical agreement: Satan hates God, the Holy Spirit is God, thus Satan must hate the Holy Spirit. However, affirming the logic of a statement is not the same as pondering the implications. So why does Satan hate the Holy Spirit and how is this seen in everyday life?

You can see the work of the enemy as you consider both the cults and secular society. In the cults there is always an undermining of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity – God is twisted from a gloriously loving tri-unity into a monadic power-broker (often seen as a devilish antagonist). In secular society the idea of God is also twisted into a perversion and caricature of reality and the convicting work of the Spirit is undermined by persistent indoctrination in the lie of autonomy and guiltless existence.

Now, what about in the church? Surely once people become believers the enemy’s attack on the Spirit becomes fruitless, doesn’t it? I don’t think that is the case. Does the enemy stop attacking marriage once we are saved, or does the antagonism increase? Are we not tempted to sin once we are believers? Of course not, so I suspect there is a consistency here.

So how does the role of the Holy Spirit suffer in respect to spiritual warfare? What is the enemy’s strategy to undermine the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives?

It seems to me that Christians tend to feel a pull in one of two directions, both of which are away from the reality of the Spirit’s work. Both pulls negate the fact that the Holy Spirit is a person rather than a force, and both distract believers from a wonderful and central element of the Christian life.

The first pull is to turn the Holy Spirit into a power-focused force. The Spirit becomes the fuel for Christian living and sometimes the fuel for spectacular displays of personal anointing. Undoubtedly there is truth in the mix here, but the corruption seems to come in respect to the emphasis and direction of focus. The power, or lack of it, tends to become the emphasis in Christian life and ministry. People caught up with a power-caricature of the Spirit tend to focus either on the Spirit, or on themselves.

The second pull is to turn the Holy Spirit into a silent and benign figure. The Spirit is assumed to be at work in the normal things of church life by means of, well, various means. Undoubtedly there is truth in the mix here as He is surely at work as we read the Bible, hear preaching, etc., but the corruption seems to come in respect to the emphasis and direction of focus. The emphasis in Christian life and ministry seems to shift to habits and personal commitments. People buying into a means-caricature of the Spirit might tend to be focused on themselves and their diligence.

The pre-eminent role of the Spirit is that of a communicator, specifically, relational communication between the Father and the Son, between God and us, and between us in the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is primarily concerned with the power of love, not some sort of love of power. He pours out God’s love into our hearts and baptises us into Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is profoundly Christlike. He gifts us to build up the body of Christ that we might point each other to the head, who is Christ.

That’s the key issue with the Spirit – he wants to lift the eyes of our hearts to Christ. And that is why Satan so despises the role of the Spirit. By forcing the focus onto ourselves, or even onto the Spirit himself, the enemy seeks to undermine the Christ-ward gaze of true Holy Spirituality.

Perhaps this a factor in the strange phenomena of otherwise great Christian writers offering solid and helpful books, yet somehow many of them seem to remain blind to the importance of the Spirit in their discussions of living the Christian life, pursuing sanctification, living out Christian marriage, parenting or church ministry.

The Spirit seems to be a blind spot for many. And where the Spirit is relegated or twisted in some way, then the bottom line will always be a drift towards an autonomous and self-driven “spirituality” (which was The Lie back in Genesis 3, of course).

Perhaps we would do well to ponder the spiritual attack against the Holy Spirit. I suspect that if we were to ponder this, then we would find our hearts drawn to Christ. This is the goal of the Spirit, as well as the great fear of the enemy!

Gospel Preaching – Link

May 31, 2014 / Peter Mead / 3 Comments

I have really enjoyed the interactions sparked by this last series on the gospel and our view of sanctification. To wrap up the series, here is a great article by Dane Ortlund on Jonathan Edwards’ doctrine of sanctification. I commend it to you, as well as the site it is hosted on. UnionTheology.org is a newly launched site that you will want to browse around and bookmark. You will find some items from me on there, along with some great articles, audio and video from others that will be well worth your attention.

Here is the article by Dane Ortlund on sanctification, and here is the link to the front page of the site.

Gospel Preaching – 5

May 26, 2014May 21, 2014 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

In the debates over the nature of the gospel and life transformation, it seems that there is a missing third option. There is a Car C that actually has a motor, but nobody seems to be mentioning it. There is a Married Approach C that actually has an ongoing dynamic power, but it seems absent.

Let me ask the question in reference to your preaching of the gospel:

Where is the union?

Do you preach a pressure message that constantly urges people to do the work of growth? Do you preach a momentum message that simply looks back to the wonder of their identity change at conversion – a message proclaiming what God has done in Christ that does stir gratitude and does stir life change and doesn’t promote sinfulness, but, maybe, does still lack something?

If the gospel doesn’t transform a life, do you balance grace with effort? Do you preach grace more boldly? Or do you make sure your preaching of the gospel of grace goes beyond gratitude to the dynamic relational and spiritual union of being one with Christ?

The gospel is not that God forgives guilt and then expects us to stir ourselves to obey with newfound ability to behave well. He does forgive guilt, but it goes further than that. Does God simply expect our gratitude to be the engine of transformation over the course of many years and many challenges? Surely that momentum alone will not take us up the hills and mountains that sometimes stand before us in this life.

The gospel is wonderful news. Not only are our sins forgiven so that we can be justified before God, we are also reconciled and made one with Christ by the Spirit (*are we allowed to mention the role of the Spirit in sanctification?) We are united to Christ so that we don’t need to look at a list of expected marital behaviours, and while we certainly do remember and celebrate what he did to win our hearts and pay the price for us, we don’t live purely by remembrance . . . we live in a present relational union with him, we look to him, and we travel with him through all the challenges of life, growing closer and growing to be like him as we keep our eyes on him.

Too much of the sanctification debate seems to be about looking to self versus looking back to conversion. Given the choice between the two I know which way I’d lean, but I know the critiques ring true if that is all we have.

God’s grace does truly transform. God’s grace truly is enough. But God’s grace is not just gratitude for a status change. God’s grace is about the Spirit of the Father and the Son, purchased for us by the Son, so that we can be truly united with him and join him in his present, dynamic, delighted relationship with his/our Father. We don’t just have the status of being married. We are married to someone so wonderful that if you want to encourage me in my Christian life, then don’t bother pressuring me to perform, just do your best to preach Christ to me and you’ll probably be amazed by the “performance” that results, but I won’t even be aware of that, because my eyes will be on him.

Gospel Preaching – 4

May 24, 2014May 21, 2014 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Let’s shift from an analogy about different cars and think about marriage – what is the motor for progress in a marriage?

Marriage Approach A – This approach is to focus on the responsibilities for those who have married. Now you are married you need to look at this list of top tips for successful marriages. You need to be sure to put out the household waste, and mow the lawn, and do your share of the clean-up after meals, and help with tidying the house, and the list goes on. Any critique of this approach draws immediate fire because it is self-evident that the great list of married behaviours are true of great marriages and these chores don’t happen on their own and everyone knows you have to decide to wash the dishes or they won’t get washed. It is obvious.

Marriage Approach B – This has a different motor. Instead of responsibility, the driver is recollection. You are no longer a slovenly single living in a perpetual mess, you now have a new status. You are married! Now you just need to learn to live married. The key? It is not to look at lists of behaviours expected of married people. Those behaviours will come naturally as long as you remember that you are married. So don’t look at the lists, look back to your wedding day. Remember how stunning your spouse looked and how amazed you were that they married you. That stirring of gratitude within will bring about change in behaviours.

Isn’t there a third option here? Something more than looking at the list of household duties and/or looking back to the wedding day? To listen to some debate the issue of the Christian life you might think not. One side will emphasize the expectations of married people and declare the self-evident truth that if you don’t pressure married people to follow the list, then they will obviously slip back into slovenly single behaviours from their past. The other side will claim that the solution to old habits is not new pressure, but better awareness of the privilege of their marriage, combined with gratitude for what happened on their wedding day. Someone gripped by the wonder of who married them will naturally do the things on the list of expectations for married people.

Look at the list, or look at the wedding photos? Isn’t there a really obvious alternative that is missing here?

How about looking at your spouse? I’ve been married for fifteen years. I don’t have a list of instructions for being a good husband, but I do seem to have an engine driving me in my marriage – it isn’t simply an ongoing slog of self-discipline. I still remember the wonder of seeing my bride walk down the aisle toward me. But I don’t live with a permanent image of my wife in a white veil before my eyes. Instead I have a living and dynamic relationship with her. The cumulative effect of years of memories, shared experiences, dynamic interaction and our hearts being united by the Spirit of God at work in our marriage has, and continues, to transform us.

Gospel Preaching – 3

May 23, 2014May 21, 2014 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

In the tension over preaching for sanctification, there seems to be a menu of two options today. One is to call for believers to add obedience to trust in order to engage fully with the privilege of Christian living. The other is to keep the focus on grace and trust the gospel to re-shape lives as people learn to live in their new identity.

Both sides can make a biblical case for their position. The Bible does include a lot of instruction. The Bible does argue strongly that God’s grace is sufficient for life transformation (*and the Bible says more about this issue, but this third element seems to be missing from current debate).

At times it feels like we are on the forecourt deciding between two vehicles. Car A makes a lot of sense. It resonates with life as we know it. It is sleek, polished, attractive and sophisticated. It is weighty and backed by a lot of big names. The other one, car B, is in some ways more attractive. Somehow it seems lighter and sleeker, and it resonates with life as we want it. It has some great names associated with it, albeit less of them in total. It seems to use a new technology that makes for a different driving experience.

If we go with car A, we will get a lot of affirmation. Most people drive car A or respect those that do. But car B seems to promise a more successful journey to our destination. The sales force for car A decry car B. It may sound great and look sleek, but it won’t get you very far. Just down the road you’ll be stuck and reverting to having no car at all. It is a false promise and an incomplete car.

If we go with car B, will we really get very far? Initially we will fly down the road, but will we lose momentum? The sales force for car B are convinced that it will do the job for us. They point to how much heavier car A is, and how technology has moved on. Car A is a bit like not having a car at all, they say.

Tough decision. But what if there is a car C and nobody is offering it to you? What if car C has a motor that cars A & B lack? What if car C doesn’t require a Flintstone-like effort to move forward (car A), or enough initial momentum like the sleek-slider (car B)? What if car C has an engine?

What if the world we lived in were not full of motor-driven vehicles? We might well debate the relative strengths of technologies that resonate with our experience or our dreams, but still lack the essential ingredient for ongoing progress.

Gospel Preaching – 2

May 22, 2014May 21, 2014 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

So how do we preach the gospel to believers? Or even, do we? I grew up in a church setting where there was a great chasm between the Sunday evening gospel service (an ABC’s presentation of the gospel and how to become a Christian) and the midweek believers Bible study (often a gospel-less teaching of some biblical section). We naturally divide gospel from teaching and consequently end up with a view that the gospel is for newcomers, while a different message is needed for spiritual maturity.

With the different message often comes an apparent contradiction. Now you are saved by grace, here’s the work list for you to do. Your growth is up to you. Work hard now. Get your pen and paper because I have a to do list for you this week. It is different than the gospel, but that is okay because you have now graduated from needing the gospel service to needing training in the believer’s service.

The glorious indicatives of Paul’s letters now give way to the pressure of the imperatives as believers need to buck their ideas up and press on to maturity.

Hence we come to the great debate. Do we grow by obedience to instruction? Or do we grow by learning our new identity? (*And is there a third option that nobody seems to mention?)

The tension over sanctification is not one that started brewing three years ago. It was a debate a generation ago under different labels than it is today. It has been a debate between preachers for generations. It was an issue during key moments in previous centuries, a point of division after the Reformation, a disagreement at the start of the second millennium and a source of disagreement right back in Augustine’s day. Actually, it was an issue as the New Testament was being written.

So which way should we lean in the debate over the nature of our ministry? Do we have to decide between obedience and identity? Is the motor for Christian living self-effort or gratitude (*or is there a third motor that is going unmentioned today?)

Gospel Preaching

May 21, 2014 / Peter Mead / 4 Comments

It might seem obvious, but evangelical ministry is about preaching the gospel. Life transforming good news. Surely everyone agrees at that basic level? Apparently not. There is significant debate swirling about what it means to preach the gospel, not only to unbelievers, but especially to believers.

There is generally a greater degree of consensus about preaching the gospel to unbelievers. The gospel is the good news of God’s grace in Christ. It is focused on Christ’s death and resurrection, and it calls for people not to work for salvation, but to trust. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

But there is debate, of course. Is the gospel a proclamation of what God has done in Christ, or is the gospel a call to repent and believe? Is it just semantics to argue over whether the call to repent and believe is the gospel, or whether it is the appropriate response to the gospel? I don’t think so. This is important, because it demonstrates the preacher’s underlying assumption about how humans function and how salvation functions.

At Pentecost Peter stood and preached a proclamation of what God had done in Christ and the culpability of those present in their rejection of Christ (*and another ingredient that apparently has now been removed from gospel discussions – more on that later). The repent and believe element came in answer to their question of what they should do.

As you read on through Acts, the preaching of the gospel is repeatedly seen to be a declaration of who God is, what he has done in Christ, that Christ is raised and so on. Repeatedly we read of sinners who turn, or repent, toward God. It is a personal and relational turn from self or from rebellion against God or from idolatrous ignorance. The repentance theme in Acts is not one associated with sinful behaviour and a turn to good behaviour.

Paul makes it clear in his epistles that his preaching ministry was one of heralding Christ and him crucified. As he speaks of his preaching ministry he says a lot about his motives, his methods and his content. He proclaimed Christ and him crucified. He didn’t let his focus shift onto pressuring and controlling responses from his hearers, allowing God to generate the response rather than playing the role of ultimate persuader. As he applied the gospel to the situations in the churches to which he wrote, Paul’s focus was explicitly on Christ (*and another ingredient that seems to have been removed from gospel discussions – more on that later). The imperatives that flow out of the indicatives of gospel proclamation tend to describe what is expected of those “in Christ,” rather than an action list that loses sight of Christ as the focus shifts to self-determined effort and the hard graft of sanctification.

Underlying the way we preach the gospel is our view of how humans work, the nature of sin and the nature of salvation. More tomorrow.

The Missing Dimension – Part 2

May 6, 2014 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Yesterday we looked at John 5. What a chapter. Jesus was accused of encouraging Sabbath breaking. He turned that charge into one of apparent blasphemy, then proceeded to defend himself against the accusation. For ten verses he laid out truths about life-giving and judgment in respect to his relationship with his Father. Then from verses 30-47 the defendant turned prosecutor as he went after his accusers with a sequence of witnesses that not only defended his position, but highlighted the culpability of his accusers. It is wonderful legal drama.

At the climactic moment in that sequence, Jesus poked his accusers in the chest in respect to their handling of the Bible. They searched for top tips in order to receive glory for each other, but they were blind to the revelation of God through his Son in the Old Testament. They cared for horizontal glory rather than vertical glory.

This raises an issue we should ponder. When we study a Bible passage, not least when we are preparing to preach. We need to be alert to a couple of realities:

1. Look for God’s self-revelation, not just for life advice (or even for a sermon). Wonderfully, our God wants to be known much more than we naturally want to know him. And we need to recognize that our natural tendency will always be to not see him, but to default back to seeing the Bible content as material for our sake. Some naturally default to intellectual curiosity, others to intellectual skepticism, others to life coaching tips, etc. Whatever the default nuance may be, the default orientation will be toward self rather than toward God. Only as he stirs our hearts and gives us a taste for knowing him will we discover the delight of pursuing the God who first pursued us.

2. As you look at Jesus, he looks at you. Jesus does not remain simply the object of our curiosity. As we study him, he turns that around to study us. As we accuse him, we find ourselves convicted. As we probe his character, we find our own character probed. The shift from defendant to accused found in John 5 is a shift we experience all the time if our eyes are him. This turns Bible study into a glorious conversation, if we are willing to engage in such.