Preachers, Know When to Quit!

There are few things more disheartening as a congregant than hearing a forty minute preacher preach for fifty minutes, a thirty minute preacher preach for forty minutes, or a twenty minute preacher preach for thirty minutes.  Somehow, that last ten minutes can weaken and even destroy the impact of all that has been said in the sermon to that point.  There is no virtue in length for the sake of it.  I think I’ve heard two preachers in my entire life who could preach for an hour; and most preachers I know would be much better if they shaved at least five or ten minutes off their typical length.  Get up there, say what you’ve got to say as clearly as you can, and then sit down again.  That’s all that’s necessary.   As Luther says elsewhere in Table Talk (2643a), `I hate a long sermon, because the desire on the part of the congregation to listen is destroyed by them, and the preachers hurt themselves.’   And, as usual, Luther got it right.

Carl Trueman, “Luther on the Marks of a Good Preacher, II”

Is Thanksgiving Just Another Day?

Is Thanksgiving “just another day” at your house?

If it’s not, it should be.

I know. That sounds backwards. Thanksgiving shouldn’t just be like every other day, you might be thinking. It should be a day of purposeful expressions of gratitude to God for all His blessings to us. Shouldn’t it?

Well, that’s my point. Our prayers should be filled with gratitude on Thanksgiving Day, of course – just like every other day of the year. That is, for God’s people every other day ought to be just like Thanksgiving Day! Do we need a reminder?

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”(1 Thess 5:18, ESV)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”(Phil 4:6, ESV)

“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” (Heb 13:15. NKJV)

I don’t know about you, but I need regular (almost daily) reminders that when I open my mouth – God is listening for gratitude, not griping. In fact, growth in the grace of gratitude is one of the clearest evidences that God is changing me to be more like His Son Jesus.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!! And by God’s grace, may your Thanksgiving Day be just like every other day this year – an opportunity to tell God, in the hearing of others, just how thankful you are.

One thing is for sure – I’ll make sure to mention to the Lord just how thankful I am for you. We appreciate your partnership in our ministry!

The Value of Systematic Theology for Defending the Faith

Many people believe that the basis and source of defending the faith is different than that of knowing the faith. That is, they believe that we do systematic theology by appealing to the Scriptures, and we defend our faith by appealing to reason or philosophy (since unbelievers don’t accept the Bible as the Word of God).

The distinctive of the presuppositional (or transcendental) approach to apologetics developed most extensively by Cornelius Van Til is its demand that Scripture be the starting point for all human knowledge, and that it be maintained as such in a believer’s defense of the faith against attacks by unbelievers.

The best apologetic defense will invariably be made by him who knows the system of truth of Scripture best. The fight between Christianity and non-Christianity is, in modern times, no piece-meal affair. It is the life-and-death struggle between two mutually opposed life-and-world views…He who has not been trained in systematic theology will often be at a loss as to how to meet these attacks. He may be quite proficient in warding off the attack as far as details are concerned, but he will forever have to be afraid of new attacks as long as he has never removed the foundation from the enemy’s position.

It should not be forgotten in this connection that the minister’s duty is increasingly that of an apologist for Christianity. The general level of education is higher than it has ever been…If the minister would be able to help his young people, he must be a good apologete, and he cannot be a good apologete unless he is a good systematic theologian.

In conclusion, we should observe that just as a thorough knowledge of the system of truth in the Scripture is the best defense against heresy, so it is also the best help for the propagation of the truth…

And then Van Til starts stepping on toes:

The church will have to return to its erstwhile emphasis upon its teaching function if it is to fulfill its God-given task of bringing the gospel to all men. Its present recourse to jerky evangelism as almost the only method of propaganda is itself an admission of paupery…Revivalists ought to make themselves unnecessary as quickly as possible.

On this last point, Van Til is contrasting the modern evangelical and fundamental church’s tendency to reduce its purpose simply to training for evangelism, and jerky evangelism at that. I believe what he meant by “jerky evangelism” is an approach to evangelism where the message is divorced entirely from the rest of Christian doctrine and is reduced to a “get saved” message, followed by a “here’s how to get people saved” view of the Christian life. He was pleading for a return to a comprehensive instruction in sound doctrine that would provide the foundation for both a deep and strong faith, and a solid foundation for a robust defense of the faith against attacks. As a result, he calls for the swift elimination of revivalists who preach a denuded gospel that is insufficient for apologetics.