Sabbatarianism?

I will soon be preaching a series on the Ten Commandments. In my preliminary preparations I have been considering the fourth commandment especially, the command to remember the Sabbath.

I got a hold of Al Mohler's book on the Ten Commandments, "Words from the Fire." In it he presents a seemingly strong case for the non-sabbatarian view, what he calls "Lord's Day observance."

Basically his arguments are

1) there is no universal recognition among peoples around the world of a Sabbath pattern like in Israel (ie. it is not written into the law of nature as are the other commandments),

2) the Sabbath as a day of rest emerges only in the Mosaic period,

3) the observance of the Sabbath is similar to that of circumcision, which was used to indicate the otherness of Israel,

4) worship is added to the Sabbath only in the NT times,

5) Jesus declared the he was the fulfillment and Lord of the Sabbath,

6) the practice of the NT Christians was not to observe the Sabbath, but to gather for worship on the Lord's Day (Sunday) in connection to the resurrection,

7) the NT church gathered for worship on the Lord's Day although they probably would have worked at other parts of the day (per Roman culture),

8) in Christ fulfilling the Sabbath, "whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his" (Heb. 4:9-10),

9) the practice of Christians for this new day, the Lord's Day, is primarily fulfilled in gathering together as a church to worship, devoting the day to its namesake.

What do you think? What's your view? What are some articles/books/publications that give strong evidence for sabbatarianism or non-sabbatarianism?

Multisite?

I'm sure you've all looked into the pros and cons of multisite churches. I have gone back and forth on the issue myself. As of today (and for the past year or so), I have not been in favor of multisite. My understanding of preaching in the life of the church has caused me to think it's not best. This morning I read Kevin DeYoung's thoughts here. Since I was already leaning this way, this seemed to cement my thoughts even more. I like that he is quick to say it's not sin to have multisite, and that there may be appropriate times for them, but certainly not his preference. What are your thoughts?

Interesting Article on Expository Preaching

Dr. Iain Murray argues that verse-by-verse preaching may not be best for many preachers.  He says that...

1.  Preachers have different gifts and some work better from selected texts (a la Spurgeon) rather than working slowly through chapters or books.

2.  The verse-by-verse approach too often becomes all about conveying as much information about the Bible as possible, but preaching should be as much about stirring up and awakening people as informing and instructing them.

3.  Historically (in Scotland), the verse-by-verse approach was used mainly in lecture settings and not in the main worship service of the church.

4.  Verse-by-verse preaching may not be the most helpful to our people, especially if we allow our preaching to become something of a dry, dull running commentary.

5.  Evangelistic preaching doesn't fit well with the verse-by-verse model.

Your thoughts?

Shepherding your Family

I posted some ways on my blog that I'm working on in my home to shepherd my family well. However, I know there are ways to improve. What have you found helpful for you and your family?

Regarding Method and Message

This post is more like a ramble with questions attached than a well thought-out article. Forgive me.

If you're not subscribed to Darryl Hart's blog, you probably should be. Good thoughtful stuff all around.

A couple of weeks ago he threw this out as the worst Christian video of the year and I would readily agree. Ugh!


What I wasn't expecting was for him to say that it was "even worse" than Christian hip hop. The video below is the example he gives.


Now I get the deal about the method and the message... the forms and content... they don't exist in vacuums. I'm not saying that I know exactly how they relate and affect each other, but I do believe they do. But I must say that these two videos, as far as I can tell, have very little in common.

Nonetheless, in the comments section Hart says that, "I would claim [rap] is not a fitting vehicle for sound doctrine on doctrinal, cultural, and aesthetic grounds." And later he says, "when it comes to the sorts of virtues for which Paul calls in Titus 2, modesty, self-control, submissiveness, does rap really come to mind as the first cultural expression you’re going to offer to Paul as “man, this sure is fitting sound doctrine, isn’t it?”"

So, what do you think? Does Hart have a point? Is there a point at which content overcomes form, or does the form always affect the content in some way?

And so you can get the full context of Hart's post, here it is in full: Worst Christian Video of the Year.

Prayer Life

I don't know about you, but I certainly could use some help in my prayer life. Over the years I've had times of strong prayer, and time of weak prayer. I want to be more consistent in my prayer life. What are some ways you guys foster prayer in your own life? How do you help model/teach it to your congregations?

Also, speaking of prayer, are any of you attending the Desiring God Conference for Pastors this year?

Getting the Ball Rolling...Again

Its time to get this blog going again.

Here's a question: Should we treat teenagers in our churches as adults and incorporate them into adult Sunday School classes, etc., or should we keep them separated? Which is wisest? Which serves them best?