Old Words, Contemporary Significance

His words sound all to contemporary. Speaking against one who advocated the new methods so rapidly catching on in the 19th century R.L. Dabney wrote,

Since the question is raised why the church does not grow faster, we are persuaded that the real answer that needs looking to is the one our author dismisses most hastily. The cause is not ecclesiastical. It is spiritual. The real need is not new methods, but fidelity to the old [ones]. [The real need is] a true revival in the hearts of ministers and Christians themselves, a fear of the power of the world to come and deep love for souls. What we most need is repentance, not innovation.

Opposites Attract

Jack's Pipe rips a great quote from Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the purity of church and its effectiveness in reaching the lost. LL-J vividly tags the old understanding that becoming like the world never attracts the world. Only a true, burning fire will attract those who are cold.

Not Purpose Driven, Nor Seeker Friendly

If you're into Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Church or the Willow Creek model--or if you want some solid ammunition against it--you need to listen to this (you'll need about an hour).

Remember also that this guy is from a Grace Brethren Church! Praise the Lord, the Lord is moving beyond the Reformed sphere.

The Word Moves On

I should also mention another amazing thing that has to do with my brother behind bars.

I mentioned that I send him my sermons each week. It is always good to hear how he drinks in the messages and interacts with them. But it is even better to hear what he does with the sermons.

In his zeal for God, he seeks to advance the kingdom with the messages he recieves. After he reads them, he shares them with his Christian buddies on the inside. After that he passes them out to other inmates, using them much like tracts.

In his last letter he said that his group is growing because of the word's distribution (and he even signed the letter "Your extended congregation." That was a humbling thing!).

Perhaps, through my brother in the Lord, the prison system will indeed become a correctional facility.

Gospel Propagation

I think that this is my new favorite verse. At least this is my favorite verse for prayer.

"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you."

2 Thessalonians 3:1 (KJV)

The ESV translates it that the word may "speed ahead." Literally it means "to run." Paul wants us to pray that the ministry of the gospel would shift into high gear and spread with a rage that would compete with a forest-fire.

You see why Paul prays this in the first chapter of the book Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching. Albert Mohler writes of the primacy of preaching in the church and says,

When you hear people speak about how to grow a church, how to build a church, and how to build a great congregation, few and far between are those who say it comes essentially by the preaching of the Word. And we know why, because it comes by the preaching of the Word slowly; slowly immeasurably, sometimes even invisibly, and hence we are back to our problem. If you want to see quick results, the preaching of the Word just might not be the way to go.

Gospel ministry is slow. That's why it needs our prayers.

This last Lord's Day I asked the congregation to be praying for the Lord to give us some ideas for gospel ministry this summer. We want the gospel to "run" here in Ashland. Building a church based on the Word of God is not easy, but it is the way to make a church. Mohler continues,

If you are going to find results in terms of statistics, numbers, and visible response, it just might be that there are other mechanisms, other programs, and other means that will produce that faster. The question is whether it produces Christians.

10 Men

Today it is thought that you must have a congregation numbering somewhere in the thousands to begin a church. The American business mindset and the "unfaithful friendly" movement has dictated this of course.

But remember that you could establish a synagogue in Jesus' day with simply 10 men (if there weren't that many men, you would have what was called "a place of prayer" instead (Acts 16:13).

Remember also that the first Christians met in houses. While I could not find anything in my research as of yet how big these houses were, I would assume they would not be much more sizable than our average American dwelling places (especially considering the fact that "not many of you were of noble birth").

I recall also the words of Wesley that I posted earlier too, "Give me 30 men and I will take the citadels of Satan." 10 Will do for me.