I preached a message on alcohol yesterday morning, addressing the issue as thoroughly as I could in a single message and dealing with numerous passages from both Testaments. I dealt with the issue more honestly than I have in the past, figuring that God said what He said on purpose and remembering that my job is to preach the whole counsel of God—not to serve as God’s filter.

The message can be found here. I hope it will be instructive and encouraging to you.

For some reason, from about 5:00 to 7:00 of the recording there are several “fades,” making it difficult to hear every word. Fortunately, it obscures only my testimony (my experience with alcohol as a child and teen, etc.). Thankfully, the portion where the Bible is explained (the rest of the message) is much clearer.

FWIW, I close the message by rejoicing in God’s use of wine as a symbol which points us both to the blessing of our salvation and to the suffering of our Savior. As you may know, I meditate often on the concept of His Robes for Mine, the biblical picture of Christ exchanging His righteous robes for my filthy ones (imputation/justification). I’ve recently been amazed to meditate also on the concept of His Cup for Mine, the biblical picture of Christ giving me the wine of salvation and drinking for me the wine of God’s wrath. What grace! That theme is considered in the new hymn I wrote with Molly Ijames, Salvation’s Cup. It focuses on a marvelous though neglected theme. I pray that it will magnify Christ and edify His church.

Greg Habegger and I finished a new hymn a few months back, but we’ve not been sure about it. Thus, we’ve not published it at www.churchworksmedia.com yet. As we’re thinking on it, I’ve asked the Huron ladies (friends of mine who did such a nice job on His Robes for Mine) to record it so we could hear it. They did a nice job, as expected. (Thanks for that!) We’re still wondering about the text and tune, however.

If you’re familiar with what we do at CWM, we’d love your input. Please give Prophet, Priest, and King a listen (mp3) and read (pdf) and chime in. Shall we publish it? Tweak it? Bury it? Please advise.

Either way, thanks to the Hurons for doing such a nice job once again!

So…thumbs up or down? :)

No, I’m not asking for your favorite wines. I’m preaching Sunday on a biblical perspective on alcohol, a topical message that is growing out of our exposition of John 2. It’s coming well. However, I’m still interested in helpful resources (preferably online). What messages or articles have you found to be especially helpful in addressing this issue in an exegetical manner?

Comic relief: I’m a teetotaler, but if anything could drive me to drink, it would be this. (HT: Filops, so blame him)

Sproul. Splendid.

Dan Forrest’s arrangement of His Robes for Mine is available for purchase from SoundForth. By God’s grace, the piece has been recognized as an “Editor’s Choice” by JW Pepper, which should mean that it will get a pretty wide hearing. I pray so, and that it will magnify Christ’s atoning work.

A demo of the arrangement can be heard here (or at the SoundFort link), and of course, the hymn version can be downloaded from ChurchWorksMedia.com.

SDG—Psalm 115:1.

There is a shocking lack of confidence in the Gospel of Jesus Christ today. To borrow a phrase from Romans 1:16, it seems that many are “ashamed” of it, or at least doubtful as to whether it is indeed the “power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” This Gospel doubting can be seen in at least two ways.

Some doubt the Gospel and therefore supplement or replace it.
There is no question that the church is embarrassingly pragmatic in our day. Pragmatism is essentially the idea that success justifies strategy—that the end justifies the means. “If it works, do it,” we are told. Thus, in the name of evangelism, we see all sorts of circus-like shenanigans: “preaching” that apes foul-mouthed stand-up comics, shockingly explicit “outreach” to the pornography industry, goldfish-swallowing youth pastors, bait-and-switch outreach efforts, felt-needs preaching, and the like. While the Gospel may be “snuck in” to such efforts, they actually reveal a sad lack of confidence in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. Such “evangelists” act as though the Gospel is an impotent thing—a hard sell that has to ride the coattails of more attractive products, not unlike the add-ons politicians tie to bills in order to pass unpopular measures using measures with broad support. But make no mistake—the tacky salesmanship that exists both inside and outside of fundamentalism betrays a lack of confidence in the unadulterated, unadorned Gospel.

Some doubt the Gospel and therefore expect no conversions.
Not all Gospel doubting is as crass as the used-car-salesman tactics listed above. Some have a more respectable shame of the Gospel, but it is a tragic doubt nonetheless. Some are convinced that God is finished, that the conversions we read of in the New Testament and throughout church history are relics of another time, evidences of more receptive hearers and more empowered churches. We shouldn’t expect solid churches to grow, we hear. In fact, our declining numbers are justified and almost celebrated as badges of our faithfulness—as though all growing churches must be doing something wrong.

I disagree with the second concept as vehemently as I disagree with the first. To quote a Christmas hymn, “God is not dead, nor does He sleep.” He’s still working. His Spirit is still convicting, illuminating, drawing, regenerating. The Gospel is still the power of God for salvation. The Word is still alive, and powerful, and heart-rending. And thus, I expect to see it work. I pray expectantly. I preach expectantly. And God is saving people—like the deacon who will preach in our prayer meeting in a few hours, like the drug addict whose life has been turned upside down in recent months, like the single mom who has turned from religion to Christ and been eternally changed; like the multitudes that have come to Christ in recent months at Grace Church of Mentor—not because the church is perfect, and not because the church is compromising, but because the Gospel is mighty and they’re unleashing it to one sinner at a time.

One of my favorite hymns about the power of the Gospel is Isaac Watts’ stirring “How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place.” After rejoicing in salvation blessings and marveling at God’s including us in them, the hymn ends with a prayer for the Lord to use His victorious Word to save souls, fill His churches, and glorify Himself.

Pity the nations, O our God!
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May with one voice and heart and soul
Sing Thy redeeming grace.

We mustn’t be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We mustn’t sell it, as though it’s on a discount rack. And we mustn’t shelve it, as though it’s no longer useful. The Gospel is as powerful as ever! God is as alive as ever! Let’s pray and preach like we believe it, by God’s grace.

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“Sound Words” is a monthly column in the OBF Visitor, the publication of The Ohio Bible Fellowship. This article was first printed in August 2009. It is cross-posted from the OBF Visitor blog, where many other articles are posted and may be searched by author, category and keyword. Information on subscribing to the Visitor is available here.

Saw this in a store last night. You can’t make this stuff up.

You can get your copy at Amazon. But don’t.

I spent a few minutes in the beginning of my November 22 morning message to express to the TCBC body the blessing that Joe Tyrpak has been to our church and to my life. Much of what the Lord has taught me over the last 5 years (including much of what I’ve posted here) has been the result of conversations with Joe, books Joe has recommended, and messages Joe has preached. He’s been a great assistant pastor for me, shoring up my weaknesses and helping me minister more effectively. More than that, he’s been a great pastor for me, teaching me the Word and pointing me to Christ. I thank the Lord for him and want MTC readers to know what a blessing he’s been.

Here’s a 2-minute clip from that message. Thanks, Joe!

Dave Doran again shows why the Manhattan Declaration is being viewed by both participating ecumenists and non-participating separatists as a significant compromise with false teaching. Noting the centrality of ECT mastermind Chuck Colson to the entire process, Doran makes the following comment:

Can there any doubt, based on his own words, that one of the primary architects of this document believes it is aimed at expressing genuine Christian unity? It would be wrong to conclude that what Colson believes about this can be attributed to everybody who signed it, or even that signing necessarily commits one to Colson’s pursuit of ecumenicism. But the clarity with which its chief architects express their ecumenical ambitions can’t be ignored and should have been a major cause for concern about this project. Frankly, I don’t see how anybody who signed it could really be surprised about negative reactions given the history of George and Colson with regard to ecumenical efforts. How could the Manhattan Declaration not be viewed as part of the Evangelicals and Catholics Together package?

The point of signing your name to such a document is to unite your voice with myriads of others for a worthwhile cause. I get that. But it seems that those who signed the Manhattan Declaration to cry out against moral issues also find themselves being asked to sing backup for Colson’s ecumenism—or even being portrayed by him to be doing just that!—despite their protestations. Almost inevitably, lending your voice to this sort of inter-faith activism means losing your voice, or at least part of it.

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There is a previous post on the Manhattan Declaration here.

William Barclay speaks sagely on the weakness of human argumentation to produce faith in his commentary on John 1:46:

“Not very many people have ever been argued into Christianity. Often our arguments do more harm than good. The only way to convince a man of the supremacy of Christ is to confront him with Christ. On the whole it is true to say that it is not argumentative and philosophical preaching and teaching which have won men for Christ; it is the presentation of the story of the cross…The best argument is to say to people: ‘Come and see!’”