Archives for 2007

I have mentioned my method several times on the blog, most recently in the last post. I know that some don’t like this approach, but it is the way that I have found to be most satisfying and I have found it to be productive with our people.

What I mean by the term “glacial” is that we progress through the Scriptures S-L-O-W-L-Y. The Word of God is rich, full of meaning and profitable in all. I don’t do this all the time, but in my major book studies, this is the method I have adopted.

Lloyd-Jones, the subject of our last post, was the king of glacial exposition. I meant to mention this in the last post, but sent it out too quick. As I read his sermons on Romans, I see him working an idea over, producing the fruit of his meditation on the word or phrase he is dealing with. To me, good exposition does that. One of my men asked me some years ago how much time goes into preparing a sermon. Of course, the answer is ‘that depends’, but I really am most satisfied with my messages when I have spent a good many hours on them. That would involve research: re-translation [in the NT], word studies, many commentaries carefully picked through, then several hours ‘writing’.

The writing process begins with a selection of the portion I want to preach, then an attempt to develop a central proposition for the sermon. The proposition is critical for the message, but sometimes it eludes me until after I have developed the outline a bit. Sometimes the proposition comes quickly, sometimes it is an agony of re-reading my material, thinking over the point, muttering to myself about what I am trying to say, scratching out a ‘preliminary’ outline on the back of an envelope (or other piece of paper at hand), scratching out the outline and trying again. Sometimes I find that I have to start developing the points in order to get a clear idea of what I am trying to say.

I like to write out a good deal of what I intend to say, though it is in outline format, rather than manuscript. I write fairly detailed notes in case I want to come back to the passage at some point and preach the message again (or use the message to create a new message).

I see the fruit of this in Lloyd-Jones work. He has mulled the text over and has a lot to say about it. He has read a good deal of the literature. His sermons are full of expositional comments that reveal he has an excellent working knowledge of the text. Then having mulled it all over, he delivers it to his people with incisive application calling men to respond to the meaning of the Word he is giving them.

As a result of this kind of work, books like Lloyd-Jones sermons are well worth reading for devotional purposes, whether or not you are a preacher preparing sermons. [And whether or not you agree with his theology! (I do not, at least, not all of it.)]

In any case, if you take time with the Word and let it burn into your soul as a preacher, you should have a lot to say about whatever passage the Lord lays on your heart.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

I am working away on Romans in preparation for a new expository series starting next Sunday and ending ??? when? who knows? I have been serious about studying Romans the last few weeks, after a summer of sort of ‘casual’ study [i.e., not much]. I am getting fired up. I plan to preach on the first word of the book next Sunday: “Paul”. You’ll have to wait for me to post a summary to see where I am going with this.

Well, one of the things I am doing in preparation is reading Lloyd-Jones. I have always liked his books but it wasn’t until recently that I really understood that they are sermons. I mean, I guess I knew that, but I just realized that I was reading his books as books when I should have been reading them as sermons. They are much more alive when you read them that way.

A few months ago, Dr. Minnick wrote a column in Frontline on recommended books for Romans. For me, this was timely [and expensive!] One of his recommendations is the collection of Lloyd-Jones sermons on Romans. This set is fourteen volumes of sermons, one per chapter up to chapter 14. L-J’s pastoral career at Westminster Chapel ended in the middle of Rm 14.17. [For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.] He preached on ‘the kingdom is … peace’, but didn’t preach on ‘joy in the Holy Ghost’. The next Monday, I think it was, he was diagnosed with cancer which led to lengthy treatment and his retirement from the pastoral ministry. He said later that the reason the Lord hadn’t let him finish the verse was that he wasn’t spiritually ready to preach it yet. The whole series begain Oct 7, 1955 with the last message in the spring of 1968.

I haven’t purchased the whole set of fourteen. It’s a little much to buy them all at one whack. But given that I prefer the glacial method of exposition, I think I can afford to purchase the set piecemeal. So far I have chapter 1 and chapter 2.

All of that leads me to this, and this one is for you, Chris Anderson! I am in L-J’s sermon #3 (still in verse 1), where the Doctor is expounding on the phrase “a servant of Jesus Christ”. Among other things, he has this to say:

It does not matter what Paul is writing about; sometimes he has to write a letter because people have sent him questions, or because there have been difficulties. It does not matter at all what the occasion is; he cannot begin writing without at once introducing us to Jesus Christ. To Paul, He was the beginning and the end, the all-in-all. He had nothing apart from Him. I would maintain, therefore, that a very good way in which we can test our own profession of the Christian faith is just to apply this test to ourselves. Is Jesus Christ in the forefront? Is He in the centre? You will find that in this introduction the Apostle mentions Him at least five times. I had occasion to note recently that in the first fourteen verses of the Epistle to the Ephesians he mentions Him fifteen times. He cannot get away from Him, as it were; he must keep on mentioning the Name. He uses the terms ‘Jesus Christ’, ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’, ‘Christ Jesus our Lord’, and so on. Watch him in his epistles, he is always using the Name, and it evidently gives him great pleasure to do so. And the question, I repeat, is, ‘Is this true of us? Is Jesus Christ in the forefront of our minds, and our hearts, and our conversation?’ I mean — and here I am talking to Christian people, to believers — when we talk to one another, are we always talking about some experience or some blessing we have had, or are we talking about the Lord Jesus Christ? I have no hesitation in asserting that as we grow in grace, we talk much less about ourselves and our experiences, and much more about Him.

Now that is good. I expect it is a little convicting as well. I realize that we must talk ‘small talk’ in our conversations, it’s just a part of life. But I wonder how much we talk of Christ? And I wonder what that says about our level of spiritual maturity?

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

An article explains some of the reality of Christian publishing:

What’s Not Coming to a Bookstore Near You | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction: “Taylor explains the process. An agent approaches the publisher with a can’t-miss book proposal by a big-name Christian author. The publisher likes the idea. The agent lets the publisher know that other houses want the book. This project demands a serious advance. Perhaps against better judgment, the publisher bites.

‘So we get the deal,’ Taylor writes. ‘We pay the advance. The manuscript comes in. We begin to wonder why we paid so much for this average manuscript. We edit it and market it and sell it and process the returns. And at the end of the day we take a huge write-off. If we’re lucky, the book earns a net contribution to overheads. But in most of these scenarios, the book generates a loss even apart from overheads. Competition (and perhaps some greed) has nearly killed us.'”

Articles like this remind me that most of those spouting off about ‘why don’t fundamentalists write more books’ are totally clueless about how business works. The publishing business is affected by economics like any other business: risk and reward, supply and demand.

It is foolish to imagine that serious books by fundamentalists will gain much headway in the publishing world. A few excellent ones may emerge from time to time (like Jim Berg’s Changed into His Image) but by and large, the Christian publishing world is dominated by market demands and is run by evangelicals who have no time for the fundamentalist agenda.

Those who spout off as if fundamentalism has failed because we don’t produce enough books are simply ignorant of reality.

In order for fundamentalism to have a wider voice, fundamentalism needs to be wider. That means faithful preaching and teaching in local churches, evangelism and discipleship, building a larger and more faithful constituency. It means hard work. It means to get our eyes off worldly success as enjoyed by evangelicals and a willingness to serve in obscurity until the King comes, if necessary.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

I want to highlight an article that appeared on the Religion News Blog sidebar I run on my blog:

Seekers are heading to the Amazon in search of esoteric highs. Are shamans the new shrinks?: “Deep immersion in a faraway jungle is the latest fix for those stuck in the cultural, spiritual or personal malaise that besets many in the 21st century.”

The article is originally from The Times in England, describing the trends of some who are desperately seeking some kind of spiritual experience without God. It shows the deep need of man and the desperate hard-heartedness of men who will not submit themselves to God. I am not sure if anyone with whom I may have a chance to minister here in Victoria will ever go to these lengths for some kind of relief for their spiritual darkness, but the story does illustrate the deep depths of the darkness we fight in our secular city.

Here is a quote from one woman who has delved into this experience (which includes hallucinogens). You can see what I mean by the darkness and the need:

“I went to the Amazon because I felt my whole life needed shaking up, and I just didn’t know how to do that in England. I had everything I wanted, in terms of a stable marriage, lovely kids and a nice home, and although I knew I shouldn’t feel dissatisfied, I did. I wanted to reconnect with myself and the way I live before I got much older.”

May God stir us up to reach men and women who are falling into hell.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

A summary of last Sunday’s messages is due…

Competent to Correct, again on the subject of Discipleship and Child Training, drew its theme from the second word for instruction in Eph 6.4, nouthesia – ‘admonishment, warning’. The theme of the first message in this series centered around the notion that successful disciple making first of all requires that the disciple-maker be a disciple himself. This message builds on that by focusing on the challenge the disciple-maker faces in this world, leading another person from a mind that is dominated by the flesh (initially) and the world (eventually) to a mind that is fixed on Christ. The extent to which a mind is dominated by the world depends on the amount the natural mind is immersed in the world system, a combination of family environment and how old the person is when they become a Christian.

Regardless of extent, the challenge remains the same. A newly born babe in Christ still has a mind largely influenced by anti-God thinking. That thinking needs correction. Correction is the central meaning of the word ‘nouthesia’ – it is derived from the idea of ‘putting or placing something on the mind’, with a notion that the mind has got something wrong and needs to be disabused of its natural notions. God’s Word is intended for that purpose, to give us WORDS that correct our thinking, either by narrative example, precept, proclamation, command, doctrine, or what have you. The Lord’s church should be the incubator of this kind of correction as the members of the body in love and concern for one another correct blind spots and lead into deeper understanding of God’s mind in his Word. This is the object of every Bible-believing pastor.

The application of correction must come by carefully chosen words, at the appropriate time [sometimes ‘right now’ is good], with a ministering spirit and considering the kind of ministry relationship one has with someone else. Every believer ought to be so concerned about other believers that he is willing to risk offering words of correction when needed, especially in a discipleship relationship, for the sake of building up the body of Christ.

~~~

The afternoon message was It’s a Building, emphasizing the need for the people of God in this age to be the dwelling place of God and as such be organized according to His precepts for His glory in this world. I was not overly satisfied with this message. I felt like I had something I wanted to say, but didn’t really get it across very well. I am trying to communicate in my series a Biblical philosophy of the church (as I understand it!) but I am afraid that this message was not as well thought through as I wanted it to be.

I don’t think I said anything in it that was unbiblical (I certainly hope not!) but I don’t think I said anything particularly profound either. I was glad when it was over, if only that it was over. Next week I plan to preach on It’s a Body. May the Lord give grace, I hope that message is better.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

At last, a weapon Greenpeace et al can sanction…

globeandmail.com: Russia unveils its ‘vacuum bomb’: “‘At the same time, I want to stress that the action of this weapon does not contaminate the environment, in contrast to a nuclear one,’ Mr. Rukshin said.”

Ok, Ok, enough of this. I’ll get serious in the next post.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

I think…

Check out these posters. Perhaps more realistic than most of those ‘success’ posters you see around…

more: here, here, and here

There are more, but you will have to while away the time yourself.

The web-site is a satirical look at the self-assured corporate culture of today’s world. This is from a page where you can design your own poster:

For over two decades, the multi-billion dollar motivation industry has unleashed untold suffering upon the workplaces, schools and civil institutions of the world- in the insidious form of the motivational poster. By the millions they have been sold and displayed- these dark instruments of corporate propaganda. While promising to stimulate “Hope”, “Success” and “Teamwork”, instead these tools of coercion and intimidation have inspired only grief, anger and nausea.

In 1998, one company dared to fight back, as Despair, Inc. introduced Demotivators®, satirical products reverse-engineered from the most powerful motivational posters ever inflicted upon mankind. And now, with the Parody Motivator Generator, we place those very same tools in YOUR less-capable hands.

And here is an article from an on-line magazine that explains what it is all about.

I am sure there is an Ecclesiastes sort of lesson in all of this somewhere.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

The Daily Express

The Belfast Telegraph

wow!!

Northern Ireland leader Paisley to step down from helm of his Protestant church after 56 years – International Herald Tribune: “The Rev. Ian Paisley, who has angered many of his Protestant faithful by forming a Northern Ireland government with a former IRA commander, is stepping down as leader of the hard-line church he founded 56 years ago.”

I wondered a bit on how things would fall out with Paisley after seeing a comment on Ivan Foster’s web-page earlier this summer.

The position of the General Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian church on power-sharing with murderers is clear and unequivocal. It is not the present position adopted by its Moderator, Dr. Ian R K Paisley MP.

His agreeing to lead his Democratic Unionist Party into a power-sharing coalition with Sinn Fein/IRA is quite contrary to the political position he espoused just a very short time ago. However, given the propensity of politicians to change their minds and their manifestos, what is far more important is the fact that it is quite contrary to the position he and the Free Presbyterian Church have proclaimed as the teaching of the Word of God.

From a pragmatic standpoint, I can understand both points of view. Paisley is doing politically what he thinks he has to do for his purposes in Ireland. At 81, he is giving up his leadership of his denomination to pursue his course in Northern Ireland. I can also understand the opposition of his men, even loyal, long standing friends like Foster.

It is a sad state of affairs that leads to this breach, but I think I understand the motivations behind either point of view.

I have heard Paisley preach many times. There is no finer preacher on the person of Christ, in my opinion. I have heard Ivan Foster preach a couple of times. The first time I heard either of them was when I visited BJU as a 12th grader at their Bible Conference in 1975. I remember being impressed with both men, but especially with a sermon by Foster on the pierced ear of a Hebrew slave from either Ex 21.6 or Dt 15.17. I thought I had a tape of that message, but perhaps not… In any case, both Foster and Paisley made a big impression on me in those days. Both of them are godly men, in my opinion. (I am sure they have flaws!)

In spite of these differences, may God’s word continue to be preached and souls saved through both men’s ministries.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3