A follower of Jesus
By ray
Preacher: Pastor Ray
The question running through the book of Job is why — specifically, why is Job suffering? In anger, God finally speaks to Job and Job’s friends. In the aftermath, Job repents. Job’s friends repent. But the reason for Job’s suffering is not given. Instead, Job receives a different kind of wisdom from above.
By ray
This article was posted in Christianity Today. Pastors need to heed Paul’s warning in 1 Tim 6:9-10, esp. megachurch pastors and their churches. These and other recent stunts are bringing Pastor Mark’s integrity into question.
Recent reports telling how Mark Driscoll’s book reached the top of a bestseller list have left Mars Hill Church calling the campaign “unwise,” but not “uncommon or illegal.”
Driscoll has recently faced scrutiny for citation errors in a study guide. Now, his book Real Marriage, which Driscoll coauthored with his wife, Grace, is receiving intense attention concerning how it became a New York Times No. 1 bestseller.
In 2011 and 2012, Mars Hill reportedly paid a marketing company ResultSource Inc. (RSI) $210,000 in a contract designed to boost the book to the bestseller list. In a 2011 document, the deal’s main purpose was:
“to conduct a bestseller campaign for your book, Real Marriage on the week of January 2, 2012. The bestseller campaign is intended to place Real Marriage on The New York Times bestseller list for the Advice How-To list.”
Aggressive book-marketing campaigns raise ethical questions about the use of church resources and manipulation of bestseller lists.
The document asked Mars Hill to buy 6,000 individual orders and supply RSI with addresses to deliver the books through a third party. In addition, Mars Hill purchased 5,000 bulk copies and provided 90 different addresses for the shipment of the bulk copies, according to the document signed by Matt Miller of RSI and Mars Hill general manager (and current executive elder) John Sutton Turner.
Warren Cole Smith broke the story for World. In a statement on the church’s website, Mars Hill’s Board of Advisors and Accountability declared that it “stands unreservedly” behind Driscoll and the executive elders. Among other issues, the board also responded to the church’s marketing campaign for Real Marriage:
While not uncommon or illegal, this unwise strategy is not one we had used before or since, and not one we will use again. The true cost of this endeavor was much less than what has been reported, and to be clear, all of the books purchased through this campaign have been given away or sold through normal channels. All monies from the sale of Pastor Mark’s books at Mars Hill bookstores have always gone to the church and Pastor Mark did not profit from the Real Marriage books sold either at the church or through the Result Source marketing campaign.
Driscoll is not the first author to use RSI to get to the top of bestseller lists. According to its website, the marketing company’s campaigns are a “sequence of actions all designed to produce clearly defined objectives within limited timeframes and with limited resources.”
One of those objectives: attaining bestseller status.
“Publishing a book builds credibility, but having a Bestseller initiates incredible growth—exponentially increasing the demand for your thought leadership, skyrocketing your speaking itinerary and value,” the website explains.
The deal between Mars Hill and RSI did achieve its goal—at least for a week. Real Marriage landed a No. 1 spot on The New York Times bestseller list on January 22, 2012. The book was already absent in the top 10 the following week; then, two weeks later, it came back on the bestseller list at #12 for another two weeks. These short stints were enough for Driscoll’s official biography to call attention to it.
Mars Hill has received more than $200,000 from sales of Driscoll’s book, church spokesman Justin Dean told World. CT reached out to Thomas Nelson, the publisher of Real Marriage, about Mars Hill’s dealings with RSI.
“On occasion, authors will hire additional marketing assistance for book campaigns, apart from what the publisher provides. In this case, it was not our decision, nor were we a party to the agreement,” said spokesperson Casey Francis Harrell.
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with CT’s sister publication Leadership Journal, Driscoll explained why he has not left Mars Hill to write books full-time:
I’m probably at the point that I could write books and speak and hang out by my pool and coach Little League. But I don’t want to do that because I really love our church. I’m a local church guy. My belief is that Jesus gave his life for the church and he honors those who do the same.
By ray
Christianity is not a show, it’s not a performance lived out before men. If the way of the Pharisee is pompous, trumpet sounding ostentation, then what is the way of a Christian? It’s the way of secrecy.
This is the second litmus test. A Christian knows how to cultivate a secret faith before God.
3 times in this chapter, Jesus uses the word “secret.”
And he applies this principle of secrecy in 3 areas: in our giving to the poor, in prayer and in fasting.
v3 – instead of giving money with a trumpet blaring, we read–
3 …do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be IN SECRET. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
v6, instead of standing in the synagogue or the church or the street corner before men while in prayer, we read–
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done IN SECRET, will reward you.
Instead of looking all somber and disfiguring your face (do you know people like this? I think we all do), insteading of fasting like the Pharisees, we read in v17–
17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done IN SECRET, will reward you.
How do we reconcile acting in secret as we have read in this chapter and the previous chapter, Matt 5:16, where it reads–
Matt 5
16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may SEE YOUR GOOD DEEDS and praise your Father in heaven.
Let’s turn there. This is the third litmus test–a Christian is one who lives out his faith publicly in the world. Acting in secret vs. showing good deeds–how do you do that? You can reconcile these apparently contradictory statements by the context. In Matthew 5:16, where we are encouraged to show our good deeds before men, the context is evangelism. We are called to be salt and light to an unbelieving world and by our good deeds before men, people will notice, people will be impacted, people will turn from their sins and move toward the Savior and eventually give praise to our Father in heaven.
Matthew 6, where we are called to live out our faith in secret, before God and not before men, the context is the religious community, other believers, church. Show the world how much Christ means to you through your good deeds, and when it comes to the church, prove that you are living before God and not before men through your secrecy. And in both cases, the goal is the same. God receives the glory. When you are living before non-believers and showing off who God is through your good deeds, God receives praise from men. When you are giving in secret, or praying in secret, or fasting in secret, you are doing these things before the only Person who matters, our Heavenly Father. He sees what you are doing in secret. He notices your private devotion. His applause is all that counts in the end.
I want to let this sink in a bit. How do you measure up to this truth? Living publicly before a non-believing world and living in secret before other believers. How does your life hold up in light of this very, practical truth? This was a very sobering truth for me to swallow. I find myself often doing the complete reverse. Before the world, I’m silent. I’m not speaking. I’m not showing through my deeds that I know Jesus. To the world, I’m like saltless salt. I’m like a lamp under a bowl. But in the church, I put my Christian hat on. And I’m vocal. I share the Word. I try to serve and show through my deeds. Obviously, I pray in public. I talk about serving the poor in sermons. Are we, you and I, doing the complete opposite of what the Scripture commands us to do?
When we are to show through our good deeds, we hide. When we are supposed to hide, we show off. Our good works must be public so that our light shines. Our religious devotions must be done in secret, why? So that we don’t boast. The end of both instructions of Jesus is the same, namely the glory of God. Why are we to keep our piety secret? It is in order that glory may be given to God, rather than ourselves. Why are we to let our light shine and do good works in the open? It is that men may glorify our heavenly Father.
I invite you to go to a prayer closet this week and examine your life. Dip your life into this truth and see what color comes out. Are you passing the litmus test? Are you living consistently with how a born again believer ought to live? Or does your life contradict the truth of God’s word?
When is the last time you acted like salt or light? When is the last time you showed good deeds to the non-believers around you? When you don’t get applauded by people within the church for your service, do you get bitter? Do you lose motivation to serve? When you get snubbed, or criticized, do you fall apart? Does the opinion of other believers matter to you more than what God thinks of you? These are important question to help us to examine our lives before this important truth. A Christian is one who through his good deeds, shines before men. But a Christian is also one who is able to cultivate a secret life before God.
Like a jewel held up to the light, Jesus is saying–this is what a Christian looks like, this is how a Christian relates with others, this is how a Christian has impact in the world, this is how a Christian ought to relate with other believers–and he is allowing us to see the fruit of salvation from various angles.
A fourth litmus test for salvation–a Christian is consistent no matter the circumstance you place him in. A Christian–put him in any situation and there is a consistency, there is integrity, there is wholeness. A Christian is like a peeled banana, not lasagna. You slice into lasagna, you might get beef or tomato sauce or a sheet of pasta. But a peeled banana, however you slice it, you get banana. You skim the surface layer, you get banana. If you slice it in a cross section, you get banana, whether you slice at the tip or the middle or the end. That’s how a Christian is. However you slice a Christian, you get a Christian.
There is a consistency between private life and public life. There is a consistency between personal morality and public religion. When you are home alone, there is love for God when no one is watching. When you’re out in the world, there is a love for the stranger. When you’re at church, there is a genuine love for a neighbor, even if your neighbor is an enemy. There is a love for the fellow brother or sister, even the ones you don’t naturally get along with. There is a wholeness. However you slice a Christian, you get a Christian. Jesus is trying to smoke out the hypocrite, the one who acts like he knows God but doesn’t have a saving faith.
Now we get to the Lord’s prayer. Jesus models for us how a Christian ought to pray. In these short verses, Jesus offers yet another series of litmus tests. A true Christian will pray like this, not because it’s a duty but because this is what he genuinely believes in his heart.
By ray
Paul was powerful not only because he preached the same gospel wherever he went, but also because his way of life matched what he was preaching. When there is a close correlation between what a person says and how he lives, we refer to such a person as having integrity. If there is a large gap between what we preach and our way of life, we say, that guy is all talk. He’s a hypocrite. He says one thing, but he does the complete opposite. There’s a disconnect and when the gap between our words and life widens, the things we say lose its impact.
Paul was not physically able to be with the Corinthians so he does the next best thing. He sends Timothy, someone with whom Paul had been walking this faith journey together for a number of years. It was not just a teacher and a student relationship. They were like spiritual father and son. They enjoyed intimacy because they shared life together. [Read more…] about 1 Cor 4 – Church Leadership: Who Should I Imitate? (pt 4 of 4)
By ray
Okay, so that my long intro for what I really want to cover this morning.
Paul says in v16, imitate me because I am your father in Christ.
When it comes to discipleship, there are 2 extremes we should avoid. We should avoid–be just like me because I am your older and I am a spiritual authority in your life by virtue of my seniority in this church or my position. That’s one extreme to avoid because we have to first evaluate, is this person worthy to imitate or not? If the answer is yes, then by all means, imitate that person. But don’t imitate just because he has a position or title. [Read more…] about 1 Cor 4 – Church Leadership: Who Should I Imitate? (pt 3 of 4)
By ray
“Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.” And they said, “You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand.” (1 Samuel 12:3-4)
There is a freedom that comes in having nothing to hide. [Read more…] about Henry Blackaby Devotional: The Testimony of Others