A Purpose-Driven Piper

John Piper's announcement that he has invited Rick Warren to speak at his conference has generated a lot of discussion. I've been thinking through it since I heard about it (ironically, the day before April Fool's...so I was skeptical at first). I've considered writing my thoughts out--for I've had several people ask, "What do you think?"--but have hesitated for the following reasons:

Who cares what I think? (That's been my default answer when asked.) It's Desiring God's Conference, and I do not sit on their board, and they do not use me as an advisor. If we ever hold a conference at Grace I will then be able to choose the speakers along with the other elders. How I would feel about the people Piper invites should never cross Piper's mind.

Who knows why Piper invited him? Watching the comments from some blogs, there is a form of Fundamentalism (using the word to refer to actions more than doctrine) that I don't think Piper would mind distancing himself from. I believe Piper wants to resist a loveless orthodoxy that can be proclaimed by some. His teaching ministry has resisted it, but I also believe he wants to avoid being associated with it, if possible. One comment I read said something like, "Can we now as fundamentalists admit that Piper is not one of us?" Reading from other comments the man made, I thought, "Yeah, Piper may be ok with not being "one of you." Perhaps there is some strategy here not only to state what Piper supports, but also passively eliminate that which he does not.

Who knows what Piper will do? It appears from the schedule that Piper will still speak at this event, despite his break from public ministry. For this reason, it seems to me that final judgement is best reserved until after the conference. You never know what Piper may do. I was at a conference once where Piper publicly asked the music leader not to sing a song again due to erroneous thinking communicated in the bridge of the song. He pointed out the error, and was gracious to the leader, even suggesting maybe changing the words or eliminating the bridge, but even stated publicly that he hates the words. Another time, Piper was sharing the pulpit ministry at a conference with another nationally known speaker. The other speaker was setting the crowd up for his next session by saying some rather controversial things. He finished and sat down. There were a couple of songs in between and then Piper took the pulpit. Piper's first actions were to publicly point out the concern he had, stated the concern he had for where the speaker was headed and told him he'd be listening very closely. He did all of this in the pulpit with the other man (who's neck turned very red) sitting on the front row. I don't see John Piper shying away from pointing out error, even if he invited the speaker to his conference.

Yet, I have to admit, I am a little baffled by Piper's decision. However, until I write a full blog post (and am probably leaning toward I won't), this is the best article I have seen. The concluding paragraphs of the article state:

I am glad that through his conferences John Piper is not trying to build the young, restless, Reformed as much as he's seeking to just preach truth. That is a good and noble goal. It is a goal that allows him to look outside of a safe little group of approved speakers. At the same time, Rick Warren is way outside that group and for good reason. Warren's critics have not always been fair to him and yet neither have they been without justifiable and significant concerns. His ministry is in so many ways antithetical to Piper's. It surprises me and maybe disappoints me a little bit that he has been invited to share that platform.

At yet let's heed Piper's warning not to fall into an error of secondary separation. There is no need for us to separate from Piper over such a decision. We have plenty of latitude to disagree with him; let's do so with respect for him and for his long and faithful history of ministry to the church. The sky is not falling, the world will go on.

Seriously, you should read the whole article.

Also related, here's some video from Piper himself, regarding the issue:

Kicking Cancer in the Teeth

A dear friend and former elder at our church is in his third bout with cancer. For the last two days, this passage has been working through my head:

¹O LORD, how my adversaries have increased ! Many are rising up against me. ²Many are saying of my soul, "There is no deliverance for him in God." Selah. ³But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. ⁴I was crying to the LORD with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah. ⁵I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustains me. ⁶I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me round about. ⁷Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God! For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. ⁸Salvation belongs to the LORD; Your blessing be upon Your people! Selah.--Psalm 3

In the midst of increasing adversaries, David does not by the lies of his enemy. God has not abandoned him. God will be a shield to David and God will destroy all of His enemies:

²⁰But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. ²¹For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, ²⁴then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶The last enemy that will be abolished is death.--1 Corinthians 15:20-26

While we should always pray to God that His will be done and not ours, we can know that it is His will to destroy cancer. Cancer suffered its defeat at Calvary. Cancer will suffer ultimate defeat at the Judgement.

Praying that between those two moments, God will kick the teeth of cancer in again.

Preaching [and living] Like This Is Dangerous

May God grant me the same commitments and convictions not just now, but 30 years from now!

Anticipating T4G!

Two weeks ago, Mark Dever gave some video announcements regarding the messages for Together for the Gospel. At this point, the schedule is:

The Church is the Gospel Made Visible--Mark Dever: Dever jokingly says all his thought has simply gone into the title, and if you simply meditate on the title, you don't even need to hear his message.

The Defense and Confirmation of the Gospel: What I Have Learned in 50 Years--RC Sproul: More of an autobiographical talk, Sproul will trace us through his observations these last 50 years. (MacArthur gave a similar message at the first T4G which was great. It really gives those of us with less experience an opportunity to grow from his!)

How Does It Happen? Trajectories Toward an Adjusted Gospel--Al Mohler: Speaking of learning from the past, Mohler plans to show how the gospel often gets adjusted, bit by bit over time.

'Fine Sounding Arguments' How Wrongly Engaging the Culture Adjusts the Gospel--Thabiti Anyabwile: Thabiti plans to show how our good intentions can sometimes cause us to make bad decisions which could compromise the truth of the gospel.

The Theology of Sleep--John MacArthur: Dever says this message will be based from Mark 4. Hmmm.

Did Jesus Preach the Gospel of Evangelicalism?--John Piper: I'm guessing that we will hear one talk packed full of John's growth through preaching the gospels as well as researching for books he's written like What Jesus Demands and Finally Alive.

Did the Fathers Know the Gospel?--Ligon Duncan: Actually, this message may be the one I am looking forward to the most. I read the Patristics about 3 years ago and really struggled that grace does not appear easily visible in their writings. Duncan got his PhD in Patristics, so I'm looking forward to hearing him explain if that is simply writing style, arguments of the day or an issue of doctrine.

Expository Faithfulness--CJ Mahaney: Although the website says that CJ will be preaching from 2 Timothy 4:1-5, CJ also has an uncanny ability to mesh everything from the conference together so that you are sure to take away the big ideas.

If you are not from Grace, you still have time to sign up. If you are from Grace, it may be too late to get a room with us and get in on our transportation, but we'd still want to work with you. Let us know you are going, and we'll make sure you're in on all the opportunities to fellowship with us during the week.

[We're also in the process of arranging some time with a pastor of a very active church planting church. He's a warm, gracious, passionate guy who loves church planting and has seen God honor that in many ways. I believe it will be a real inspiration for us!]

The Big Red Tractor

File under "Chan is the man"

The Big Red Tractor from Jacob Lewis on Vimeo.

(And in Darke County, I feel it is my responsibility to point out that Chan has probably never heard of Massey Ferguson, so this is not a slam on Deere. You can pretend the tractor is green and yellow if you want to.)

Introducing Acts 29

Last night, at Greenville Grace's Vision Night our elders announced that we are pursuing a relationship with Acts29.

If you're not familiar with Acts29, we invite you to cruise around their website. I especially encourage you to check out this page, which explains what Acts29 believes. Acts29 summarizes their statement in four words: Christian, Evangelical, Missional & Reformed. (You'll find their beliefs fit right into what we already have listed as our Statement of Faith from the FGBC.)

We're excited that Acts29 seems to offer the experience and resources to help us fulfill our long-time passion...to plant many churches that will plant churches.

After a lengthly and detailed process, we are now in the Candidate Phase. This means that we have been received into the Network and would receive a "full membership" status provided we meet the following three conditions:

1. Enter into a coaching relationship with an existing Acts 29 pastor who can help guide you through the process of planting a new work out of Grace. (This is one reason we pursued Acts 29. We look forward to the development at Grace that will come through a coaching relationship.)
2. Develop a written strategy and timeline that details how you plan to become a church-planting church. We would like to see you launch a church plant from Grace within the next two years with a well thought out strategy for the location and a plan for missional engagement. (It's exciting to think our intentions could become reality within 2 years! Of course, to help see this happen, we need some coaching and help!)
3. Financially support church planting with 10% of your overall budget per the Acts 29 Covenant (a voluntary 1% to Acts 29 Foundation Fund and 9% to church planting as your church deems fit, but we would like to see that be an Acts 29 church plant). (We're excited to begin supporting active work more intentionally, while continuing in our support of other church plants, both domestic and abroad.)

We're praying that this relationship will foster massive gospel-growth...in Darke County and around the world!

Join Me!

Sojourn is hosting a Church Planting for the Rest of Us event. It's FREE and looks to be real good. Dustin's latest post states:

Though we already have some content established for our forum next week, we would like to know what YOU would want to know about church planting to allow us be as helpful as possible to church planters.

Hopefully you will be attending this FREE event in person, but even if you aren’t, if you are a church planter, or are working toward planting a church, and have a “burning question,” we would love to know what it is to help us “answer the questions people are asking” about church planting.

Feel free to begin posting your questions here now and tell your friends to do the same through your blog and Twitter.

Some of the best ones will doubtlessly influence our direction.

It’s not to late to sign up either!

Sojourn/Church Planting for the Rest of Us FREE Lunch Forum

Featuring Acts 29 Church Planters Dustin Neeley, Rick Long, Nick Nye, and Kevin Jamison.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

11 AM – 1 PM

930 Art Center

930 Mary Street
Louisville, KY

The event is FREE, but we need you to register to get a head count for lunch.

Register here and if you live in my area and would like to carpool, let me know!