In April I have a book coming out on the Lord’s Prayer. You can get a preview chapter here 👇🏽.
There’s a chapter on “Our Father” and each petition that follows. Drawing on the riches of biblical and historical theology, the book is an accessible walk through the Lord’s Prayer
Coming April 8, 2024: In Praying with Jesus, Adriel Sanchez explores the most famous prayer in history, the Lord’s Prayer, and gets to the heart of each thing Jesus told his disciples to pray for.
Sign-up for a preview at .
@Core_Christ
@AdrielTweets
It strikes me as inconsistent that some of the loudest voices on authority and submission in the home, also seem to have the hardest time submitting to civil government when inconvenienced by it.
Several years ago I confronted a pastor in my neighborhood who had just published a book arguing that the Bible doesn’t condemn homosexuality as a sin. I had read his book, and we ran into each other at a coffee shop. In God’s providence we were the only two people in the cafe,
70% of evangelicals are Arians, but almost all of them know premarital sex is a sin. The church is still making moralistic therapeutic deists, not disciples.
Bavinck on Postmillennialism: “Jesus nowhere predicts a glorious future on earth before the end of the world. On the contrary, the things he experienced are the things his church will experience. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above the master… 1/4
I am not a teary preacher. I don’t think I’ve shed tears in the pulpit in the last decade but for a few times. Back in March though, I preached a sermon on Psalm 23 while in a valley myself. I struggled to read the text, and trembled throughout the sermon. As people came forward
Roe overturned on the feast day of John the Baptist, who lept in the womb! May God raise up many children who like John point the world to Jesus, who takes away the sin of the world.
I’ve read about churches cancelling their Sunday services (often after a busy season, like Christmas) in order to give the faithful a kind of break from the work of worship. Perhaps even more common is the habit of individual Christians skipping church to focus on self-care,
In the 1960s and following, the Praise and Worship movement coming out of North American Pentecostal churches helped to give birth to the worship leader as an individual distinct from the minister. This movement taught that God’s presence was experienced primarily through song.
On pastors who’ve left blue States and call the sheep there to follow them to greener, more conservative pastures:
1) I minister in the kind of context these men encourage Christians to flee from (whether explicitly or implicitly). They weaken the resolve and confidence of
Please say a prayer for my mom. She's beginning to study the Bible on her own, and her faith has been growing! She was an amazing single mother, and a rock to everyone around her. May she find rest on the Solid Rock! Pray against Satan, and for continued growth in grace. 🙏
Churches that compromise on sexual ethics think their stance on homosexuality or transgenderism will endear them to the culture. Never works. I pastor in a progressive neighborhood of San Diego, and the two affirming churches that started around the same time ours did are dead.
I went back and forth on sharing this because
@gavinortlund
encourages moving on at the end of this video, but I hate seeing genuine concerns being unfairly dismissed. First, Gavin lays things out clearly here, and is an exemplar of how Christians should disagree in a
I became a Christian in High School, and when the Lord grabbed ahold of me I think my mother thought I was going through a strange religious phase. It was tense at times. She interpreted my baby Christian zeal as judgment on her, and thought I needed to lighten up. When I told
Please say a prayer for my mom. She's beginning to study the Bible on her own, and her faith has been growing! She was an amazing single mother, and a rock to everyone around her. May she find rest on the Solid Rock! Pray against Satan, and for continued growth in grace. 🙏
Luther and Calvin used strong language against wolves in the church who twisted the gospel. Toward staying sheep, they had an affectionate tone “like parents toward their children.” Today many get this backwards: they’re patient w/ abusive leaders, & cutting toward wounded sheep.
I don’t know, perhaps it’s because Christianity and Islam are two different religions, and they advance in two fundamentally different ways. Those who mock the LORD (and many of us once did) will bear their punishment, but remember the words of Paul,
“Bless those who persecute
If France had mocked Islam, there would have been a war in their streets. But they know the cost of mocking Christianity will draw no serious response whatsoever.
Ask yourself why that is…
Is our theology of submission biblical - or are we just using the concept in order to maintain control, and jettisoning it when we are called to submit, whether to ecclesiastical or civil authority?
If Gavin understood what time it is, he'd happily accept being misconstrued for the greater good of Big Eva's desolation! A necessary casualty in the civil war upon us to the glory of God!
Give me a break. Gavin is a godly and respectful brother, and deserves better treatment.
At best, Gavin doesn’t understand the war we are in. If he did, he would completely understand why
@megbasham
used him as the example she did. But his bambi-in-the-headlights refusal to understand, while warning against the danger of “fundamentalism,” suggests it’s far worse.
Pastoring in San Diego, it saddens me to see frustrated believers leave the city and flock to conservative “safe spaces.” This is fueled IMO by a missiology that confuses the Great Commission w/ the culture war. If they feel the latter was lost, they lose hope for the former.
If the city WAS worse I would hope Christians would flock to it. That is what we did in the past, and it's what we need to do again. More people are moving to cities worldwide than ever before, and the church is not keeping up.
This man used to be a pastor four blocks from where I am currently pastoring. The city of San Diego fined their church for breaking several city ordinances, and their church building was torn down a year or so ago. Last I saw it was an empty lot.
Let the reader understand.
There is a moral obligation to care for widows and orphans. That may not look like adopting, but it’s silly to denigrate other Christians for encouraging a heart for adoption in light of the fact that God has adopted us. Loving your own is natural, but even the tax collectors and
There is no moral obligation to adopt children. Not from the ghetto, Sudan, or Russia.
Contra the trendy movement led by Russ Moore & David Platt, the gospel does not require adoption.
In fact, it is often unwise & detrimental to do so. Loving your own is natural, not sin.
The pastor’s job isn’t to micromanage your life decisions by giving you 12 steps on how to X (educate your kids, be a man, set the table, etc.). While this model is attractive, it lacks the nuance of the biblical wisdom literature. (1)
I sing the benediction at the end of the liturgy each Lord's Day. There's a rich history of "singing the liturgy," and despite my lack of musical training I think our church has mostly appreciated the sung benediction.
One of the most heartbreaking symptoms of sin-sickness is distorted vision. The afflicted begin to see the people who love them most as enemies and potential threats to the idols they court while those who would lead them by the hand to the gates of hell are seen as friends.
I think classical education is great, just make sure the Latin doesn’t come with a side of pretension. If we can’t learn Plato and Plutarch without looking at public school kids like muggles, there’s a problem. Humility is a virtue we should instill in our children, too.
Merry Christmas! Wishing you all a very blessed celebration. Christ is born! “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Lk. 2:14)
The whole New Testament, which was written from the viewpoint of the “church under the cross,” speaks the same language… Nowhere in the New Testament is there a ray of hope that the church of Christ will again come to power and dominion on earth. The most it may look for is 2/4
bids them avoid all false asceticism, lists as fruits of the Spirit the virtues of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal 5.22-23). 4/4
Confronting problems of abuse in the church isn’t “Woke” and listening to and learning from godly women in the church isn’t feminism. Nabal could have learned much from Abigail, but he was a fool. Jesus has a millstone for those who prey on his lambs.
Weekly liturgical repetition (Decalogue, Gloria, Creed, Lord’s Prayer, Sanctus, Doxology, etc.) is a great way to involve the entire church family in worship. Children may not be able to read from a screen or hymnal, but they can say the ABCs of the faith through a good liturgy.
that, under kings and all who are in high positions, it may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity (Rom 13.1; 1 Tim 2.2). Therefore, the New Testament does not first of all recommend the virtues that enable believers to conquer the world but, while it 3/4
The explosive growth of the Protestant church in China is a wonderful reminder that God doesn’t need the help of the State to advance his gospel. Christ has the key of David, and he opens wide doors for the gospel that no earthly power can shut.
@timkellernyc
It’s really easy to justify why you don’t have to love your neighbor once you’ve dehumanized them. People can experience the love of Jesus, demons cannot. Loving your opponents must include keeping their inherent dignity and redeemability intact. Good word,
@timkellernyc
!
The problem with cute posts like this is that they lack clarity and theological distinction. This could be Tridentine Roman Catholicism, or qualified by scholastic Reformed distinctions (although I think Lusk is pushing the envelope, and not as clever as he thinks here). As
Every book in the New Testament teaches that our eternal destiny hinges on doing good works
There is no salvation without obedience
Good works are necessary if we are to be saved
You will not be forgiven without repentance
Do not be deceived: You will reap what you have
The first time I heard someone read a written prayer in the liturgy I was aghast. Coming from more of a charismatic background, it seemed unspiritual. L. Joseph Letendre has my favorite response to this now, "Praying from a script spares us the burden of originality. Originality
For a church to be healthy, the care of souls within the body must be seen as a corporate responsibility shared by every Christian. It doesn’t just fall on the pastor, elders, or a committee of the church. We must all speak the truth in love, and bear one another’s burdens.
Visited Calvin’s church in Geneva and was overwhelmed with gratitude for the Protestant Reformation. Lord God put a fire in our hearts for your word, and cast down every idol!
@carobini
@BonifaceOption
Dear brother, next month I'm performing a wedding for a couple in our church. The bride to be was baptized last easter, and ours is the first church she's ever been a member of. Tomorrow I'm meeting with a recent convert in his mid 20's about being baptized, and have a mtg the
If you read
@BonifaceOption
's "Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide for Taking Dominion and Discipling Nations" this kind of move makes perfect sense. The book argues that Christians should build parallel societies that will outlast the pagan culture around them. I don't fault
I appreciate Mike Winger's stuff, and think he's doing some really great work. Here are some thoughts responding to a few of his points regarding infant baptism:
1 The problem with the argument of the general pattern in the NT is that it doesn’t speak to whether or not the
Why I think infant baptism is not biblical.
I would NOT be divisive over this topic at all. But I do think the Scripture supports believer baptism and the classic "baptize the household" passages don't hold up under examination. Neither do I think it works to appeal to baptism
There’s a new attractional model of “mission” gaining steam in some circles that should be discussed. It looks like building walls, fighting the culture war, and drawing in already professing Christians by fueling their frustrations with the world (and even their churches).
Lots of people seem more excited about recovering the political theology of the Reformers than they do recovering the gospel that fueled the reformation. I’m not upset about their political theology (and let’s talk about it), but their views of the civil magistrate weren’t what
Some ministry red flags (many apply to all people generally, not just pastors) 🚩
Pastors who start fires then blame the wind for spreading the flame.
Pastors who are incapable of admitting they’ve failed, or take responsibility for wrongdoing.
Pastors who marginalize the
“Let those who would discharge aright the ministry of the gospel learn, not merely to speak and declaim, but to penetrate into the consciences of men, to make them see Christ crucified, and feel the shedding of his blood.” - Calvin on Gal. 3:1. The job of the Reformed pastor is
A "Reformed" ministry that is not regularly preaching against the bloated idolatry of the state, the self-deification of government programs, welfare, and redistribution of wealth -- the pagan shrine of our day -- that ministry is not Reformed in any meaningful sense of the word.
One consequence of the Praise Movement of the 20th C was that people began to seek God’s presence not in the church’s sacraments, but her music. Song became the primary avenue of experiencing God in church, which meant you needed a new priestly professional: the worship leader.
The question in Christian worship is never “Will God show up?” But will we, the worshippers, heed his summons to approach the throne of grace by faith. Will I come in faith to lay hold of the heavenly gifts he is showering upon the church?
Without minimizing the importance of singing, and the fact that God does inhabit the praises of his people, it’s important that the church recover a solid understanding of the preached word and sacraments. The Holy Spirit mediates the presence of Jesus through word, water, wine.
It’s almost a given that when evangelicals today talk about “experiencing God’s presence in worship” they’re referring to something they felt while singing. God’s presence has come to depend upon our praises rather than his promise in the objective means of grace.
The temptation and 40-day fast of our Lord wasn’t primarily an example for Christians to follow, but the last Adam and obedient Israelite’s triumph over the devil for all those who’ve succumbed to temptation.
Seminaries that value Bib. Studies & theology should also have classes on liturgics. The primary method for communicating doctrine has always been through worship. The sermon can do heavy lifting, yes, but the whole liturgy is a vehicle that carries and imparts our beliefs.
Unfortunately,
@megbasham
's Shepherds For Sale is not a truthful or helpful book for the church in our time. Here I show the problems and tactics involved in her critique of me in chapter 1.
If you’re accused of being an abusive leader, and your response to the accusations is to do everything textbook abusive leaders do: deny, dismiss, discredit, redirect focus away from yourself, threaten accusers or anyone who sympathized w/ them… you may just be an abusive leader
The wicked servant who buried his talent didn’t really know the master. He thought him cruel, reaping where he didn’t sow and gathering where he scattered no seed. In truth God gives gladly to those who ask, seek, and knock. A distorted view of God makes us fearful and stingy.
Thankful for the work that went into this piece by KDY. If you’re attracted to the “Moscow mood,” I recommend you read it. It’s pastorally wise, understands Wilson’s allure (and strengths), while highlighting inherent problems w/ his approach. KDY doesn’t even need to wade into
The account of Jesus meeting the woman at the well teaches us that Jesus doesn’t just receive sinners reluctantly. He goes out of his way to find them, and then joyfully makes them a part of his bride. Those we're tempted to view with disgust, Christ sees with redeeming eyes.
It’s no coincidence that the great dechurching of the last 25 years happened at the tail end of a transformation of worship throughout North American churches. Liturgical shifts that appeared first in Pentecostal churches and then spread across denominations deemphasized the
Some people want to make Trump into a messiah figure, others think he's the antichrist. A failed assassination attempt gives fuel to both. God bless former president Trump with speedy recovery, and God grant the U.S.A peace. Regardless of who has your vote, lets oppose this kind
Be honest with God. Praying, "Lord, are you there? I don't desire you. Help!" Is more pleasing to God than hiding behind pious sounding prayers that aren't true for you. Prayer is a point of intimacy with God, but genuine communion can never be experienced in dishonesty.
@Eric_Conn
There is a moral obligation to care for widows and orphans. That may not look like adopting, but it’s silly to denigrate other Christians for encouraging a heart for adoption in light of the fact that God has adopted us. Loving your own is natural, but even the tax collectors and
In Praying with Jesus, Adriel Sanchez explores the most famous prayer in history, the Lord’s Prayer, and gets to the heart of each thing Jesus told his disciples to pray for.
Available 4/8/24
Pre-order at
@AdrielTweets
Both justification and sanctification are benefits of our union with Christ. Justification deals with our imputed guilt, sanctification with our imparted corruption. In justification we receive forgiveness and the merits of Christ, in sanctification the infusion of his holy life
From a Reformed perspective, the problem with dispensationalism isn’t “dispensations” per se., we believe God has administered his covenant diversely throughout redemptive history. It’s hermeneutical. In a noble effort to combat theological liberalism, dispensationalism often
John Calvin answers “Who is my neighbor?”
1. The parable of the Good Samaritan indicates that it includes “even the most remote person.”
2. The more closely someone is linked to us, the more intimate obligation we have to assist them. This is in line with God’s Providence.
3…
Biblical mission, led by the Holy Spirit, doesn’t depend on throwing other Christians under the bus to help your church grow. It doesn’t compromise with sin, but it strategizes about how to pursue and welcome sinners. Even sacrificing comforts for their gain.
This was a good exhortation from a CREC minister on a growing issue in the online "Reformed" evangelical world. While I'm grateful to see it coming from within the CREC, I also think influential CREC pastors like
@douglaswils
helped to promote and equip some of the renegades who
Presumptive regeneration is credobaptism for infants. We don’t baptize our children because we assume they’re already born again, but because God’s covenant promises extend to them.
Our church is celebrating 9 years of God's faithfulness this Sunday. We started meeting in a small wedding venue called the Sunset Temple (run by the Odd Fellows in the 1930's), and transitioned after the first year to renting from a local Lutheran church. Please join me in
Some thoughts about the He Gets Us add campaign:
The Gospel isn’t “He gets us.” So, I sympathize with the concern of many. Are we calling people to repentance, or just saying “Jesus wants to give you a foot massage while you remain a rebel?”
God can speak truth through donkeys,
This video is like hot Cheetos, spicy but no protein. Regenerate church membership for Catholics and Orthodox is not the same thing as it is for Baptists. The real question is how God’s covenant is to be administered in this dispensation.
I'm beginning to think Satan does more damage by distracting us with amusements, or trivial pursuits, than by tempting us to some great sin. Both can render us ineffective.
I signed a publishing agreement with
@newgrowthpress
earlier this month for a book on the Lord’s Prayer. Pretty excited about this, and praying God uses it to encourage many. If you’d be so kind, please say a brief prayer for me as I work on it in the days ahead.
Whether this is a fair critique of the gospel centered movement or not, you can be the judge. Having been in those circles, my takeaway years ago was that preaching should be cross-centered regardless of the testament, that moralistic Christless sermons were unbiblical, and that
Reading LOTR to the kids at bedtime. Loved this exchange between Haldir and Merry:
‘Happy folk are Hobbits to dwell near the shores of the sea!’ said Haldir. ‘It is long indeed since any of my folk have looked on it, yet still we remember it in song. Tell me of these havens as
The Contemporary Worship Movement helped to reshape liturgy in the 20 C by viewing the service as the primary way of onboarding non-Christians. The driving force behind liturgical decisions became their appeal to the world. Worship became about pleasing man rather than God.
3 things you aren’t equipped to deal with alone as a pastor:
1. Your own sin (you need a confessor).
2. Cases of sexual abuse in the church (if it’s happened you’re probably too close to see clearly).
3. Issues related to mental/physical health (you went to sem., not med school)
Nothing is impossible or too difficult for the LORD. Cast your heavy burdens on him. He cares for you, and the things which overwhelm you are not beyond his strength.
When the fruit of a "Christian" movement is grown men acting like children; enmity, strife, quarrels, etc. you can rest assured that said movement is not a work of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the main problem with Isker's brand of Christian Nationalism is that there's so little
When you live under a Fake and Gay Regime and anything you say that ten minutes ago was what all of humanity universally believed now can be used to destroy your life, it’s great to know you have COURAGEOUS pastors like this out here who want you to be good little boys and poast
To dismiss the law gospel distinction as Lutheran, or worse, antinomian, is to fail to understand a core tenet of the Reformation as it related to the doctrine of justification. The antithesis between law and faith as two distinct ways of being made right in God's sight wasn't
Our church had the joy of welcoming three new believers into the fold through baptism this Easter Day. Rejoice with us and say a prayer for Allison, Nick, and Gabriel!
The murderous acts of a woman filled with hatred, and the response of some in the media to spin the story and redirect attention away from the true victims reminds us of Jesus’ words to his disciples:
As a result, you had the rise of a new priesthood of sorts. The sacrament of God’s presence was no longer the Supper, but song, and the priesthood that mediated that presence became the worship leaders. They “usher” the church into God’s presence.
This model gives birth to conservative affinity groups that are great at engaging the culture with the law, but not their neighbors with the gospel. It trains people in the art of suspicion, and justifies the schisms it creates by claiming that it alone is bold and faithful.
The 20th century shift in many churches where “worship” on a Sunday morning came to be associated primarily or solely with singing has been reinforced by the fact that so many sermons are “how to” lectures instead of placarding the crucified God. This wasn’t only the case in the
On cultural Christianity and mission: There are basic benefits to cultural Christianity that we can affirm, but we should never confuse cultural Christianity or the idea of "Christendom" with Christianity proper. While it can open doors to mission, don't assume that having a