Theology

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

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The final week leading up to Christ’s death and resurrection is known as His “Passion Week” because of the intense suffering our Lord experienced. It’s almost unthinkable how much our Lord packed into one week — from His symbolic anointing by Mary, to His triumphal entry, to His cleansing of the temple, to His controversial “woes,” to His Olivet Discourse on the second coming, to His Last Supper. Through it all, the Son of Man stayed focused on His mission and “loved us to the uttermost” (John 13:1).

We must not forget that Jesus’ death and resurrection were real events that took place in space and time. This is not the stuff of fairy tales. You can hop on a jet today, and in less than 24 hours, see the very place where Jesus died and rose again. The traditional site of Golgotha and the Empty tomb is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. To learn more about this famous church, I encourage you to watch this 3-D video.

All I remember from visiting the tomb years ago was the smell of incense; the dark, cold, maze-like stone interior; the somber Catholic and Orthodox priests; and the crowds of tourists. Hardly edifying.

But this video peels back the layers of the church and explains how it inherited its puzzle-like design. After watching the first couple minutes on the present day church, I encourage you to see the church at the height of the Byzantine Period (6:30 into the video). It must have been quite a spectacle.

Then travel back further in time and witness how Rome tried to erase all memory of Jesus by building a pagan shrine to Jupiter over the empty tomb (9:00 into the video). How ironic. Jupiter has now been relegated to books on Roman mythology and the name of a planet 400 million miles away. Meanwhile, the gospel of Jesus is spreading like wildfire and changing the lives of people around the world. We serve a risen Savior. He lives!

HT: Chris McKinney

Teaching

Resolved Conference 2012

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Did you know that one of the best Bible Conferences in the world happens right in our backyard?

This June, you can join over 3,000 college students and young adults for “Resolved” at the Palm Springs Convention Center to enjoy three days of incredible worship and great preaching. Speakers include John MacArthur, C.J. Mahaney, Al Mohler, Steve Lawson, Rick Holland, and more. Click here for full details: http://www.resolved.org/

The early bird discount is $150 and ends on Feb. 29. I know things are tight, but this is money well spent if there’s any way you can make it. And for those of us in the high or low desert, it’s close enough that you don’t have to pay any airfare or hotel costs. You’ll simply never find a better deal.

Here are a couple of my favorite videos from past years…

Shepherding

Pastor-teacher-administrator

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Since I’m preaching on spiritual gifts right now, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to take one of those spiritual gift tests. Here are the results:

Much to my relief, it says I’m gifted as a pastor. (Not sure what I would’ve done if I’d scored low in that area!) Not surprisingly, the areas of teaching and administration were also high.

Now, bear in mind, these tests are not fool-proof. And they’re certainly not biblically required. The Holy Spirit was doing just fine for almost two-thousand years before these tests came along. If you take one, you’ll notice that they are more a survey of what you enjoy doing and perceive about your own abilities. They can’t factor in the essential role of others in the Body of Christ to affirm your gifts.

Nevertheless, the questions are interesting, and the results can be surprisingly accurate. If you’ve never done a spiritual gifts analysis, it may be one helpful way to “think with sober judgment” (Rom. 12:3) about your gifts. The one I did was through ChurchGrowth.org.

Which 2-3 gift(s) do you think you’re strongest in? Did the survey confirm this, or reveal anything new? Any areas you need to grow in?

Shepherding, Teaching

Spiritual Gifts

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For the last month, our church has been studying Spiritual Gifts on Sunday mornings. Here’s a chart I shared today that helps harmonize the gifts between the various Scripture passages where they appear. In total, there seem to be around 18 spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament.

spiritual gifts chart

Last week, we studied the Speaking Gifts, and today we introduced the Serving Gifts. If you’ve missed any of our studies, you can catch them on our sermon podcast. For those who want to go deeper on the subject of spiritual gifts, I would commend these books to you:

  • Dynamics of Spiritual Gifts by William McRae. This classic work defines a biblical ‘gift,’ shows how they are distributed throughout the Body, and provides an insightful look at each individual gift. McRae then gives helpful advice on discovering your own gift and how to cultivate your gift and the gifts of others.
  • Understanding Spiritual Gifts by Robert L. Thomas. This is essentially an exegetical commentary on 1 Corinthians 12-14, followed by some very helpful appendices such as the meaning of “the perfect” in 1 Corinthians 13:10; a critique of Wayne Grudem’s The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today; and a detailed description of the Eighteen Spiritual Gifts listed in the NT. Makes a strong case for cessationism.

Thoughts on Life and Leadership