The Web Site and Blog of Pastor Chris Brauns
Charles Bridges:
The sudden flash of light leaves no influence. There is no movement from the heart, till the truth is clearly exhibited to the mind, set strongly and constantly in view, deeply pondered and closely applied. The Christian Ministry, page 209.
With my sermon complete, I sat down in my study on Saturday evening to read the thoughts of others who have preached on Ephesians 4:1-16. My reading included Bryan Chapell’s commentary on Ephesians. Chappell is the president of Covenant Seminary and he wrote one of my favorite books on preaching (Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon
While reading Chapell’s exposition of the importance of each member of the Body of Christ, I was so blessed to read him tell about the role his third grade Sunday school teacher played in his life.
Gene Mintz was my third grade Sunday school teacher in a large church in Tennessee. Not many men volunteered to be third grade Sunday school teachers when I was growing up. And I confess that I remember very little of Mr. Mintz’s classroom teaching. What I remember is that when my parents were struggling in their marriage, making our lives awkward in the church, Mr. Mintz always greeted me—a little third grader from a troubled family—in the church hallways. Even when I went on to fourth grade, and fifth, and sixth, Mr. Mintz never forgot me. And when my family moved away when I was in seventh grade, Mr. Mintz sometimes still would write and ask how I was doing. I even got a letter or two when I was in college. And when I became president of Covenant Seminary, I got a letter from Gene Mintz that I will always cherish. “Bryan,” he wrote, “I have prayed for you all of these years.”
I believe that I am a living testimony of the truth of Paul’s words: “From him [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Because Gene Mintz did his part faithfully, I have been able to serve God and teach others to do the same. I believe that. I hope that others will, so that we will make every effort to keep the unity of Spirit in the bond of peace, and we will use whatever gifts God has given to us to further equip the people for the work of the ministry. Bryan Chappell, Commentary on Ephesians, 199-200.
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8
(CNN) — When Jennifer Nicholas sees television shows or movies where characters "hook up" or have sex with "friends with benefits," she cringes, because that’s how she got herpes.
"Getting an STD wasn’t even something that crossed my mind," said Nicholas, 39, who learned that she had herpes at age 22. "One day I’m at the doctor’s office and it was, ‘Surprise! You’ve got herpes.’ "
Experts in sexually transmitted diseases say they’ve become increasingly concerned about the trend toward having what they call "sexual involvement in nonromantic contexts" — the technical term for hookups or "friends with benefits" — because they’re especially likely to spread sexually transmitted diseases.
The concern is that that people who have nonromantic relationships tend to have several partners at one time — "concurrency," in sexual behavior lingo — in contrast to people engaged in romantic relationships, who tend to be monogamous for the duration of the romance.
"We’re concerned that concurrency is speeding up the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases," said Tony Paik, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Iowa who recently published a study on the subject.
"This is a direct route for spreading STDs. There are important implications here for public health," he added.
In seminary, I began wondering how I would shepherd people through deep valleys that come with the changing seasons of life. One of my seminary professors once told a story about a family that faced a terrible tragedy. I asked him, “How do you minister to someone in that situation?” He said, “If you never did anything in advance to prepare them, there is relatively little you can do at the time.”
So, as a pastor I want to prepare you for suffering. There is so much grace available in these thoughts from Matt Chandler and C.J. Mahaney:
T4G 2010 — Session 8 — C.J. Mahaney from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.
Shannon Popkin posts about Tom Hammond, a pastor who was a very significant influence in my life. I can vividly remember watching Tom share the Gospel when I thought, there is no way this will take root, yet it did.
It’s common for one eulogy to sort of stand apart from the others. Either the person is a gifted speaker or has a touching story. But Pastor Tom Hammond’s funeral, which I attended several months ago, seemed to have an endless supply of dynamic, talented speakers–pastors, evangelists, leaders–all testifying to the deep impact Tom had on their life. The stories, and the deliveries, were remarkable. And I learned later that there were many others in attendance who could’ve spoken just as eloquently, sharing stories of equal significance.
Tom was one of my parents’ close friends, and I have loved him since my childhood. He had a zest for life, and was passionate about people. But sitting in that funeral, testifying to the incredible crop of fruit that Tom’s ministry produced, I secretly wondered, “Was Tom a better preacher than I remember?” Then, one speaker came out and said it: Tom’s legacy wasn’t born out of impeccable homiletics and hermeneutics in the pulpit. In fact, he recalled Tom being quite willing to set aside sermon prep for the sake of a good conversation.
But I noticed a pattern: Tom was indiscriminate. He scattered seed absolutely everywhere. He didn’t waste time seeking out good soil. He just flung seed with all of his might! And Tom got to see huge oak trees sprout up out of cement.
Andre Sims, now a pastor and evangelist in Seattle, shared how Tom came to his dorm room late one Saturday night to ensure that Andre would finally keep his promise and come to church the next morning. "Tom didn’t care!" said Andre, recalling the embarrassment of having Tom show up while he and some friends were doing things they shouldn’t have. "Tom just said, ‘All y’all come on to church!’” Jeff Dodge, now a pastor in Iowa, said, ‘I still can’t believe that Tom Hammond was willing to love a punk like me.’
Our family may be able to visit both the Neuschwanstein castle and Flossenburg this summer. So, I was interested in this post from that angle. But, more than that, because I have a great appreciation for Bonhoeffer.
Gene Fant writes:
A few years ago, on my 40th birthday, I spent the day walking silently with my family through the gates of the Nazi work camp at Flossenburg, Germany, wandering among the monuments to the dead.
The camp is almost empty of structures, though a few chapels dot the grounds; its gravel quarry has been transformed into a lush garden spiraling into the earth. The oven building, where corpses were reduced to ash, stands in the lowest level of the pit, with a wooden ramp slanting from the oven to the huge mound of human cinders.
Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote “The Cost of Discipleship,” was the camp’s most famous casualty. I wondered if any of the molecules of his body still resided in the mound. Standing there, I swatted away large black flies that bit at my arms and legs.
As we walked past the oven, my wife Lisa whispered, “What a contrast from Neuschwanstein, eh?”
Two days previously, we had toured the fairy palace that inspired Walt Disney’s Cinderella castle. It was packed with tourists who paid dearly for the price of admission. Words cannot convey the beauty of the structure, so packed with artwork, nor its setting, so high in the Alps on a ridge of rock overlooking a gorgeous lake.
Visitors from around the world gasped with every turn of a corner on our tour, each of us having the same thought in our native languages: “What if I ruled this castle?”
Flossenburg, by contrast, sits on a dead-end road. It has no gift shop. It was not crowded. There were no thoughts of, “What if I were a prisoner in this camp?”
Collin Hansen raises an interesting question about the implications of health care legislation.
Following this blog, I figured the best way to rack up comments was to write about health care. So I thought I might explore one element of the recently enacted health-reform legislation that grabbed my attention as a prospective pastor. Though I worked for a short time on Capitol Hill, much of the far-reaching legislation eludes my understanding. We will be sorting out the implications of these reforms for years, if not decades. But one provision stands out as noteworthy, because it exposes a major social change with questionable merit. Until young adults turn 26, insurers are now required to let their parents retain them as dependents, no matter whether they have married or found gainful employment.
The move will benefit many of the 13.2 million Americans between the ages of 19 and 29 who currently do not have health insurance. According to the Commonwealth Fund, almost 30 percent of this age group foregoes health insurance for a variety of reasons. Students may continue from college to graduate school through at least their mid-20s. An unhealthy job market directs others into internships, residencies, or part-time positions that do not provide benefits. Youth (with its high risk-tolerance) convinces some to take their chances that no catastrophic illness will befall them.
This new insurance mandate matches the new social reality for 20-somethings who cannot or do not become independent adults when they turn 18, or even 21.
One of the distinctions I made in Unpacking Forgiveness: Biblical Answers for Complex Questions and Deep Wounds
If we tell others, "I forgive your sin" even though they refuse to acknowledge their sin, we remove the very incentive the gospel places upon them to confess their sins and to seek forgiveness. If we take preemptive action by granting forgiveness of sin to those who do not repent, on what basis could the church ever follow the procedures of Matthew 18:15-17?
There is a proper biblical or gospel order. We are to imitate God. God forgives the sins of those who repent (cf. 1 John 1:9). Likewise, we must always grant forgiveness to those who repent (cf. Luke 17:3).
In Mark 11:25 Jesus calls us to be forgiving. Scripture requires us to distinguish between being forgiving, which is the virtue of always being ready and eager to forgive, and the act of forgiving, which is the actual remission of the sin done against us. Thus, as God is always forgiving, which means that he is eager and desirous to forgive, and as God forgives those who repent, so godliness/Christlikeness is to be and to do the same.
You can read Caneday’s article, A Biblical Primer and Grammar on Forgiveness of Sin.
See also, others on conditional forgiveness and, Didn’t Jesus pray, “Father forgive them.”
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control (Proverbs 25:28).
Self control is a spiritual issue. When we lack discipline, we are open to every invader that can come our way, whether it is what we watch or what we eat. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I am working on my personal discipline where eating is concerned.
In my case, another part of the problem is that I need to better educate myself what kinds of foods I should eat. My friend, Dr. Steve, has been helping me in that regard. specifically, he has been teaching me about sugar/insulin/carbs etc. You can click over to his site to read more.
At the same time, an Atlantic Essay considers why America’s obesity is a very complex problem. It is written by a young man who had bariatric surgery because of his weight problem.
By 2015, four out of 10 Americans may be obese. Until last year, the author was one of them. The way he lost one-third of his weight isn’t for everyone. But unless America stops cheering The Biggest Loser and starts getting serious about preventing obesity, the country risks being overwhelmed by chronic disease and ballooning health costs. Will first lady Michelle Obama’s new plan to fight childhood obesity work, or is it just another false start in the country’s long and so far unsuccessful war against fat?
HT: Crunchy Con
Mark Noll, in his important book, The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith
For American churches to participate in the universal body of Christ in ways that reflect the deepest realities of that body, it will be necessary to discard two false notions – - both Western paternal benevolence in which the instinct is to think that unless Americans do it, it will not get done, and also Western hegemonic imperialism whereby all the evils of the world are laid at the feet of American dominated-multinationals or mission agencies. Once those delusions are set aside, practices of partnership drawing on genuine Christian realities may flourish.
Read endorsements for Unpacking Forgiveness here.
Click here to order Unpacking Forgiveness.
“. . . Chris Brauns has done a magnificent job in helping us understand the true nature of biblical forgiveness. Every Christian will profit from reading and applying this book.” Jerry Bridges.
“ . . . Unpacking Forgiveness is an engaging, convicting but emphatically encouraging treatment of this hugely important (and sometimes mindbogglingly challenging) part of life. Dr. Brauns writes from the standpoint of a faithful, wise, experienced and caring pastor . . .” Ligon Duncan, First Pres, Jackson, MS
A Brick in the Valley
