Why you should join Facebook

February 10, 2009 Stephen Jones Leave a comment

Yesterday, Natalie and I enjoyed listening to Al Mohler’s recent radio program “Five Years of Facebook: The Moral and Cultural Impact of Social Networking.”

Like all technology, Facebook and other “social media” (blogs, MySpace, Twitter, Skype, Flickr, etc.) have both opportunities and pitfalls.

I’ve really enjoyed connecting with friends on Facebook, sending notes of encouragement, and browsing new pictures. Facebook also keeps me informed of new prayer needs and reminds me of upcoming birthdays.

But social networking can easily become self-centered. It can be a tremendous time-waster. It can serve as a cheap imitation for genuine, life-on-life relationships. It can open a door for internet predators. It can expose us to images and ideas that are spiritually lethal. In fact, avoiding raunchy content on the internet sometimes feels like navigating a minefield. (Though the free Firefox download Adblock Plus does help cut down on unwanted ads.)

Yet in spite of its dangers, social networking applications like Facebook can offer a lot of clean fun and can even be a tool to advance the gospel. Mohler gives eight practical suggestions to set up safeguards and redeem this technology for the glory of God:

1. Never allow social networking to replace or rival personal contact and communication.

2. Set clear parameters for the time devoted to social networking.

3. Never write or post anything on a social networking site that you would not want the world to see, or anything that would compromise your Christian witness.

4. Never allow children and teenagers to have independent social networking access (or Internet access, for that matter).

5. Do not allow children and teens to accept any “friend” unknown to you.

6. Encourage older friends and relatives to sign up and use the technology.

7. Use the social networking technology to bear witness to the Gospel, but never think that this can replace the centrality of face-to-face evangelism, witness, and discipleship.

8. Do all things to the glory of God, and do not allow social networking to become an idol or a display of narcissism.

Now five years old, Facebook and other social networking sites are here to stay. We must remain vigilant in using this new technology, but it would be a tragedy to miss this chance to encourage one another and to reach the next generation. So if you’re not already on Facebook, why not sign up?

Illustration by: Matt Hamm

Books

Book review: If I Were God, I’d End all the Pain

February 5, 2009 Stephen Jones Leave a comment

Why would a loving God allow so much suffering? All of us have wrestled with this question at some point. Almost every day as a pastor, I encounter people who are dealing with serious trials – people who may be asking this very question.

In the short book, If I Were God, I’d End All the Pain, John Dickson is not afraid to ask the question “Why?” In fact, he believes it’s a healthy question that God Himself invites. The author shows that while there is still much mystery woven into our suffering, we can also be confident that Christianity provides the very best explanation for evil and suffering.

After showing why suffering does not disprove God philosophically (ch. 1), the author explains how four alternative faiths attempt to explain suffering.

Hinduism views suffering as karma, i.e. bringing balance for past wrongs.
Buddhism, which actually developed from Buddha’s quest to explain suffering, believes all suffering is just an illusion. It stems from a desire or affection for things of the world (e.g. comfort, health, money, love, etc.). If we can simply strip away these desires and enter a state of nirvana (non-existence), then suffering will cease.
Islam believes all things are pre-determined by God, and that suffering is a direct result of Allah, the great “Unmoved Mover.”
Atheism endures suffering as the natural, unhappy by-product of our random, godless universe.

In contrast to these four views, the Bible has a satisfactory explanation for suffering. Human violence and injustice, which causes so much of the suffering in this world, is really a perversion of the independence God originally gave the human spirit. People now live as “a law unto themselves, without reference to the Creator,” and we are reaping what we sow. But what about the profound suffering caused by natural disasters, disease, death, starvation, etc.? These are a result of God’s curse upon the world for our sin (Gen. 3:17-19). “The earth bears the scars, as it were, of the traumatic rift that has occurred between us and God; it contains an ever-present reminder that the Creator is displeased with our defiance of him.”

The author does not merely explain suffering, but provides three comforting truths that give hope and peace even in times of suffering:

God will eventually judge and repay all the injustice in the world.
God will eventually restore and re-create His world in perfection.
By sending His Son to the cross, God Himself has suffered to the greatest degree, and through His suffering provides a substitute for us, so that we do not have to spend eternity apart from Him.

If I Were God, I’d End All the Pain is a brief but helpful Christian apologetic on suffering. While the Bible does not claim to give us all the answers, it gives us enough to keep clinging to God and persevering through life’s darkest moments.

SBC

SBC headed for extinction?

February 4, 2009 Stephen Jones Leave a comment

Nathan Finn from Southeastern Seminary writes on one of the major challenges Southern Baptists face: a lack of young leaders who are interested in getting involved. His conclusion:

This much I do know: we have to address our generation gap if the SBC is to enjoy a viable future as a denomination. Some already think the Convention is a dinosaur that just needs to go extinct, especially a number of folks in the under-40 crowd. Maybe they are right, but I am not ready to give up on the denomination just yet. I still think God has something for us to do as a Convention of autonomous churches. I continue to hold out hope that our best days lie ahead and that (Lord willing) my children and grandchildren can be a part of a great heritage of Baptist Christians who have been mightily used of God.

You can read the whole article here. I can attest that what Nathan observed at the National Convention was noticeable at our California State Convention last November also. There simply aren’t many young pastors coming out to these events.

I found it helpful to read some of Nathan’s reasons why the under-40 crowd is not involved. I also appreciated his reference to internship-minded pastors like Mark Dever and Johnny Hunt. This indeed is one of the keys to raising up a new generation of young, involved leaders: a focus on internship and leadership development.

Shepherding

A call to love others

January 29, 2009 Stephen Jones 2 Comments

Over the past several months, I’ve been blogging my way through our church mission statement: “to make disciples of Jesus Christ who love God and love people, by reaching and teaching everyone.“

Today, we come to the next phrase, “love people.” Followers of Jesus Christ are called not only to love God, but also to love people. The principal text for loving others is Matthew 22:39. Jesus, after identifying love for God as the greatest commandment, says in His next breath, “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” Then Jesus makes this stunning statement: “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:40). In other words, if we truly love God and love others, we are perfectly obeying God.

Some people have noted that the first commandment (love for God) covers the first four of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:3-11), and the second commandment (love for others) covers the last six of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:12-17). None of us, except Christ, are able to keep these commandments perfectly, but love becomes the supreme goal of every believer.

There’s another key passage on loving others, a passage that must be deeply embedded in our hearts. John 13:34-35 says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

There verses teach us five important lessons about love:

The mandate of love. Love is not merely a suggestion, an abstract ideal. It is a commandment from the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. John 15:12, 17; 1 John 3:23). And it is not merely a one-time act at the moment of conversion, but a continuous action, to “keep on loving” one another. Love is something that must describe our behavior every day, to all people, in all situations. According to Jerome, this command was so impressed upon the heart of the Apostle John that in his extreme old age, John would often be heard repeating over and over “Love one another…Love one another.” When asked why he so often repeated this command, he responded, “Because it is the Lord’s commandment; and if it be fulfilled, it is enough.”
The model of love. What makes Jesus’ commandment “new” is that He has raised the standard of love much higher. A glance earlier in the chapter reveals Jesus on his knees, girded with a towel, humbly washing the feet of His disciples. A few chapters later, Jesus will empty Himself to the ultimate level by dying on the cross for our sin. This humble, costly, unselfish love becomes the model for how we should now love one another.
The meaning of love. The Greek word Jesus uses in these verses is agape. It is an unconditional love, the deliberate setting of your affection upon someone else. True love is choosing to love someone, even when it’s not easy, and even when they’re not worthy. How grateful we can be God first demonstrated this love toward us! (Rom. 5:8) And now we are called to love others in the same way (1 John 4:11).
The magnitude of love. Jesus says we are not only to love our small circle of friends, but every single person in the church. “One another” speaks of the community of God, the entire body of believers. It’s all-inclusive, and includes loving our enemies (Lk. 6:32, 35), loving those who are unattractive, loving strangers (Rom. 12:13), loving our family members, loving the needy (James 1:27), loving the wayward (Gal. 6:1), and loving those who are different than us. None are excluded from this kind of love.
The mission of love. Our love for one another has serious evangelistic implications. We are all ambassadors of Christ, and the world’s perception of the church will determine their perception of Christ. Does the world view Christianity as angry, cynical, factional, self-righteous, and hypocritical? Or do they see our kindness, our forgiveness, our faith, our compassion, our sacrifice, and yes, even our tough love? Show me a church that is loving, and I will show you a church that is winning souls for Christ. But show me a church with outreach programs every night of the week, yet lacking love, and I’ll show you a church that is actually doing damage to the gospel. Because of our sin, the church will never be perfect until Christ comes and glorifies us, but by God’s grace, our love for one another should constantly be growing (1 Thess. 4:9-10). Love is the greatest apologetic for the truth of Christianity.

Jesus commands His disciples to love, but He never said love would be easy. C.S. Lewis writes,

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless— [your heart] will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable; impenetrable, irredeemable…The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is Hell.

Love is a frightening prospect, but it’s also a thrilling opportunity. Let’s learn to be vulnerable with one another, so that every church might become a refuge of love, where Christ will be honored and where the world will see the gospel not only through our words, but through our actions.

Preaching

The preacher’s character

January 27, 2009 Stephen Jones Leave a comment

With Ted Haggard back in the media spotlight, we should all pause to take heed of ourselves lest we too stumble (1 Cor. 10:12).

Mark well these words from 19th century pastor and professor Robert L. Dabney about the preacher and his character…

Without a sacred weight of character, the most splendid rhetoric will win only a short-lived applause; with it, the plainest scriptural instructions are eloquent to win souls. Eloquence may dazzle and please; holiness of life convinces…No counterfeit will avail [in the pulpit], but the living faith and spirituality which are cultivated at the throne of grace, in the chambers of the afflicted and dying, and by the study of God’s word. (Evangelical Eloquence, pp. 263-68)

Pinch Of Clay