Musings of a Former Fundamentalist (IFB) Renewed by Reformed Theology
Read the fascinating story of the son of a Hamas leader who converted to Christianity. FoxNews interviews him on his conversion, his thoughts about Islam and Christianity. (HT: Free From the Box)
May many more Muslims come to the truth of Jesus Christ, and the freedom provided by the Cross.
My pastor, John Piper, made some interesting comments on the concept of a “new song” in this week’s sermon. He made an important observation of how Ps. 96, which is a missions psalm, is also very much concerned with singing. I was encouraged as he shared how the global church is having a revival of singing to the Lord, in our day.
My fundamentalist ears noticed he used “new song” in its most natural way of referring to a new-in-time song commemorating a new work the Lord has done on our behalf. But that’s beside the point. I’d encourage you to listen to the last 5-10 minutes or so of the sermon here (if not the whole thing). And I’m going to copy the relevant portion of the condensed print version of the sermon below.
…you can’t summon the nations to sing if you are not singing. So let me suggest why in this global missionary context the psalm would stress singing new songs. Notice that these new songs are “to the Lord.” Not just about the Lord. Verse 1: “Sing to the Lord a new song.” It’s not wrong to sing about the Lord. The Psalms do it all the time. But when new songs are being written and composed and sung “to the Lord,” something is happening in the church. It’s a sign of unusual life and vibrancy. People are not just living off the spiritual capital of previous generations, but they are dealing vibrantly with the living God and their songs are being sung to him. He is real. He is personal. He is known. He is precious. He is present. Worship is more intense and more personal and more engaging.
A New Song in Our Day
That is what the psalm calls for, and that is what has been happening during my entire adult life. Around the world there is a new song and a new vibrancy and a new personal engagement in singing to the Lord. And the really astonishing thing in our time is the way this awakening of singing to the Lord with new songs has such a strong global and missionary flavor. To my knowledge singing has never been more at the forefront of missions as it is today.
God is doing something wonderful in the fulfillment of Psalm 96. It is far bigger than any one church, or any one ethnic group, or any one region of the world. The global church is singing””singing to the Lord, singing new songs, and singing about God’s Lordship over the nations.
And I would simply say: Don’t miss what God is doing. Be a part of it. Get the nations on your heart. Think rightly about God’s global purposes. Feel deeply about his marvelous works. Sing with all your heart to the Lord. And be a part of summoning the nations to join you.
The Center of Our Singing
And may the center of our singing be the same as the center of the new song we will sing in the age to come, namely, the song of the Lamb who was slain.
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9–10)
Amen! May the Lord grant a renewed growth to His world-wide church. May more and more nations and people groups be added to the number of those singing praise to the Lamb!
Part 13 in a series of Sunday posts celebrating the glorious Truth we believe as Christians. The readings are quoted from the Elder Affirmation of Faith, of my church, Bethlehem Baptist (Pastor John Piper). I’m doing this because every few weeks our congregational reading is an excerpt from this document, and every time we all read aloud the truths we confess, my soul rejoices. I pray these posts will aid you in worshiping our Lord on His day.
We believe that the commission given by the Lord Jesus to make disciples of all nations is binding on His Church to the end of the age. This task is to proclaim the Gospel to every tribe and tongue and people and nation, baptizing them, teaching them the words and ways of the Lord, and gathering them into churches able to fulfill their Christian calling among their own people. The ultimate aim of world missions is that God would create, by His Word, worshippers who glorify His name through glad-hearted faith and obedience. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. When the time of ingathering is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever. Worship, therefore, is the fuel and the goal of missions.
*Taken from the Bethlehem Baptist Church Elder Affirmation of Faith, paragraphs 13. You are free to download the entire affirmation [pdf] complete with Scriptural proofs for the above statements.
I posted the following post on Kingdom Surge, and thought it would work well to post it here as well.
In her book Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God
Helen Roseveare’s Suffering
On the heels of Zioneer’s post The Blood of the Martyrs, it is perhaps fitting that we pause and reflect on one of the many modern day missionaries who faced severe suffering for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom. Helen upon graduating from medical school, took her promising future and went to serve in one of the poorest and most remote places in Africa. She stayed there for 20 plus years.
Her time in Africa was one of constant work, treating 200 or more patient’s a day, struggling to build a hospital practically by herself, training numerous medical students, and suffering from constant tropical sicknesses. I would encourage you to read Noel’s account of Helen’s life, it is available to read online here, and is only 20 or so pages long. It reveals how sensitive Helen was to the things of the Lord, and how she grew through so many and varied trials.
The most trying time of her life, and the great suffering that she endured for Christ came during the Simba rebellion of 1964. Her house was ransacked and she was brutally beaten, and even raped. Then she was in captivity for several months, during which time she again suffered rape and brutal treatment. Through this dark time in her life, Christ Jesus was faithful to meet her with special peace and grace. You can read the account of her suffering starting on this page‘
After that time of suffering, Helen still stayed on for several more years of service in the Congo. Oh for more missionaries like Helen Roseveare who embrace suffering for the sake of the Kingdom.
Helen Roseveare’s Challenge
As I read the section on Helen’s life, I couldn’t help but notice her current passion. She has a strong desire for the youth of today’s Church to join the cause of missions, specifically for the sake of the thousands of unreached people groups in the world today. Listen to Helen’s challenge in her own words:
Since 1973, I have been living in the United Kingdom, and seeking to present the desperate need of the three thousand million people, alive today, who have never yet heard of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the redemption He wrought for them at Calvary. These are the “hidden peoples” in more than ten thousand ethnic groups around our world. As I try to present their needs, I pray earnestly that the Holy Spirit will stir hearts to make a response. It seems so obvious to me that Christian young people…should rise up and go….
Why is the response so poor?…
Is it that we Christians today have an inadequate understanding of God’s holiness and therefore of his wrath against sin and of the awfulness of a Christless eternity? If we were gripped by the two facts–of the necessity for judgment of sin because God is holy; and of the necessity of holiness in the Christian that he may represent such a God to others–would we not “hunger and thirst after righteousness” whatever the cost, and would not others then see Christ in us, and be drawn to Him?
In other words, if we [understood] the Scriptural teaching on the need of Holiness in the life of every believer, we should not need to plead for missionaries. (From Helen Roseveare’s book Living Holiness, pg. 32; cited by Noel Piper, Faithful Women And Their Extraordinary God pg. 168)
It’s official! Today marks the launch of Kingdom Surge, a new team blog devoted to missions.
This project will aim to harness some of the excitement and energy spent in the Christian blogosphere and direct it into thinking about and aiding the cause of missions, particularly to the unreached people groups. The team (with the exception of myself) are all involved with missions. I consider some of them to be experts in missiology, and I know they all have much to say which can help motivate and equip others for missions to the unreached.
So, head on over and check out our first post. Consider linking to this blogging enterprise, and then continue to stop by as the missions discussion unfolds. See you there!
NOTE: Now is your chance to leave the first comment on Kingdom Surge. Years from now, you will look back and count that an honor! 😛