Irritable Guests

“Christmas dinner, as described by a modern minor poet, would almost certainly be a study in acute agony: the unendurable dullness of Uncle George; the cacophonous voice of Aunt Adelaide. But Chaucer, who sat down at the table with the Miller and the Pardoner, could have sat down to a Christmas dinner with the heaviest uncle or the shrillest aunt. He might have been amused at them, but he would never have been an­gered at them, and certainly he would never have insulted them in irritable little poems. And the reason was partly spiritual and partly practical; spiritual because he had, whatever his faults, a scheme of spiritual values in their right order, and knew that Christmas was more important than Uncle George’s anecdotes; and practical because he had seen the great world of human be­ings, and knew that wherever a man wanders among men..., he will find that the world largely consists of Uncle Georges. This imaginative patience is the thing that men want [that is, “lack”] most in the modern Christmas.” ―G.K. Chesterton, “Chaucer and Christmas,” Illustrated London News, December 26, 1931

HT: Randy Booth

You Have Never Talked to a Mere Mortal

I wonder what our days would look like, and our conversations sound like if we really believed and took to heart what Lewis is saying in the following paragraphs. I believe Lewis is right when he says, "There are no ordinary people."

"It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor.

The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.

All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.

It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.

There are no ordinary people.

You have never talked to a mere mortal.

The Real Christmas

Here is a helpful Christmas meditation. Joyeux Noel!

The Innkeeper (by John Piper)

It's interesting to note that a good number of my favorite pastor/theologians are poets as well. And John Piper is a shining example of this cadre of godly men. Please do yourself and your loved ones a holiday favor and listen to Pastor Piper read his heart-warming "The Innkeeper." Enjoy.

The Innkeeper

John Piper, 1986

Jake's wife would have been fifty-eight
The day that Jesus passed the gate
Of Bethlehem, and slowly walked
Toward Jacob's Inn. The people talked
With friends, and children played along
The paths, and Jesus hummed a song,
And smiled at every child he saw.

He paused with one small lass to draw
A camel in the dirt, then said,
"What's this?" The girl bent down her head
To study what the Lord had made,
She smiled, "A camel, sir!" and laid
Her finger on the bulging back,

Where merchants bind their leather pack
"It's got a hump." "Indeed it does,
And who do you believe it was
Who made this camel with his hump?"
Without a thought that this would stump
The rabbi guild and be reviled,
She said, "God did." And Jesus smiled,
"Good eyes, my child. And would that all
Jerusalem within that wall
Of yonder stone could see the signs
Of peace!" He left the lass with lines
Of simple wonder in her face,
And slowly went to find the place
Where he was born.

Anti-Santy Ranty

Merry Christmas!

Nativity Paradoxes

“Maker of the sun, He is made under the sun. In the Father He remains, from His mother He goes forth. Creator of heaven and earth, He was born on earth under heaven. Unspeakably wise, He is wisely speechless. Filling the world, He lies in a manger. Ruler of the stars, He nurses at His mother’s bosom. He is both great in the nature of God, and small in the form of a servant.” (St. Augustine of Hippo)

Jill Phillips' "Labor of Love"

Putting the "X" in "Xmas"

"It’s been said that “Xmas” is a seasonal, subversive attempt by secularists to kick Christ out of Christmas. I don’t doubt that is the intent of some folks in our culture. In reality, the Greek spelling of the name Christ is Χριστός. In fact, the early Church often referred to Christ simply by his first Greek initial (X), or more commonly by overlapping his first two initials (XP). The simple cross (X) of course carried double meaning for the early Christians. So in that sense there’s not only a Christ in Xmas but also a Calvary. Far from a secularist attack, “Xmas” reminds us of Christ, his birth, and his cross, all at once. Merry Xmas!" (Tony Reinke)

We have what (who) they need...

The Grande Miracle

“The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own uni­verse, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left.” ―C.S. Lewis, “The Grand Miracle”

The Wexford Carol is one of the oldest Christmas carols in the European tradition. Do yourself a holiday favor and listen to Alison Krause and Yo-Yo Ma's versions of it here. Hauntingly beautiful. Enjoy.

The Reason for the Season

We all know how easily we are distracted from the true meaning of this season, and how easily thoughts of "God with us" dissolve into anxious busyness. This video is a pretty good inoculation against the virus of commercialism. Enjoy.

A Heart for the Lost

"In Psalm 85, God has brought back the captivity of Jacob. Confession of sin in the Bible is often expressed in the first person plural. Forgive us, Lord. Restore us, we pray. When we confess our sins, the first thing we do is confess on behalf of our sinful nation—and we don’t pray, “Forgive them, Lord.” We ask for a spirit of repentance to be granted, as a gift of grace, to our people at large, to our people as a whole. God can do this, and there are many times in history when He has done it. If we have a heart for the lost—as opposed to being reconciled with the way things are—we will consistently be asking Him to do it again." (Douglas Wilson)

You can read the whole post here.

Is the Truth of Jesus "Ice Cream" or "Insulin"?

Columbo Tactics

It would do us a lot of good to remember that God gave us two ears and one mouth. Truthfully, we need to do a lot more listening than we currently do. Listening is a powerful expression of love and respect, but can also be employed to direct our conversations in edifying directions. Greg Koukl has some very helpful teaching on this topic. Enjoy.

To the Utter Ends of the Earth

It is breathtaking to consider how widely the Gospel has been preached and received in the two millennia since Jesus commanded his followers to disciple the nations. However, there remains much work to be done. I am encouraged by the modern church's renewed emphasis on "home missions." But I pray that we retain our focus on "foreign missions" as we recover the importance of sharing the Gospel with our neighbors. As Bruce Ashford notes below, our neighbors have relatively easy access to the Gospel compared to the billions in the world who "could leave their homes and search for days and months, and never find a church, a Bible, or a Christian."

(Bruce Ashford, regarding his new book, Theology and Practice of Mission: God, the Church and the Nations.)  "Revelation 5 is perhaps the most breathtaking and powerful vision in all of Scripture, and it serves as the climax of a major thread that runs throughout the Scriptures–God’s determination to make himself known to the nations so that they may worship him. In this vision that God gives to John, all of heaven bursts forth into praise of the Lamb who was slain. Among those represented are worshipers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. This is the vision that drives us–that our Lord will be worshiped from all corners of the globe.

Sing a New Song to the Lord

Reflections on Worship Music

Kevin DeYoung

1. Love is indispensable to church singing that pleases God.

2. Our singing is for God’s glory and the edification of the body of Christ.

3. We ought to sing to the Lord new songs.

4. Church singing should swim in its own history of church singing.

5. Sing the Psalms.

6. We should strive for excellence in the musicality and the poetry of the songs we sing.

7. The main sound to be heard in the worship music is the sound of the congregation singing.

8. The congregation should also be stretched from time to time to learn new songs and broaden its musical horizons.

9. The texts of our songs should be matched with fitting musicality and instrumentation.

10. All of our songs should employ manifestly biblical lyrics.

Psalm Singing (Douglas Wilson)

One marked feature of worship in the CREC is the abundance of psalms. There have been some in the Reformed tradition who have insisted on singing only psalms, but that is not what we are doing. We do not hold to “exclusive psalmody,” but it would be fair to say that we seek to practice common psalmody. While we sing other hymns as well, we do want our dedication to psalms to be overt and evident. Psalms provide the backbone of our musical worship. Why is this?

Behold the Lamb of God

If you are looking for some fresh material to help you keep "the reason for the season" in view through the month of December, Russ Ramsey's, Behold the Lamb of God along with Andrew Peterson's CD by the same name look like excellent resources. I've only seen an excerpt from the book and listened to a couple of tracks of the CD. But I really liked what I read/heard, and they do come highly recommended by some people whose opinions I trust. You can order the book here.

But I Already Know How to Do This...

How To Become a Legalist (by Mark Driscoll)

1. Make rules outside of the Bible.
2. Push yourself to try to keep your rules.
3. Castigate yourself when you don't keep your rules.
4. Become proud when you do keep your rules.
5. Appoint yourself as judge over other people.
6. Get angry with people who break your rules or have different rules.
7. “Beat” the losers

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

Tullian Tchividjian is the grandson of Billy and Ruth Graham and the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Here are a few quotes from his excellent book, Jesus + Nothing = Everything, which Tchividjian wrote following a year of constant criticisms and bitter assaults from within his church. Enjoy.

"It's always the gospel of God's free grace that should motivate our right doing; otherwise we're nothing better than Pharisees, making sure we're keeping all the rules, mainly because when we do, we feel better about ourselves - especially when we compare ourselves to those who aren't doing right."

"The gospel is good news for losers, not winners. It's for those who long to be freed from the slavery of believing that all of their significance, meaning, purpose, and security depend on their ability to 'become a better you.'"

"Christianity isn't turning over a new leaf; it's receiving a new life...The Gospel liberates us to be okay with not being okay. We know we're not - though we try very hard to convince other people we are. But the gospel tells us, "Relax, it is finished."

Men's and Women's Fellowship

On the 30th of this month, at 7:00 pm, we will be meeting together at the Welch home to discuss the following:

Chapter 12: Idol Shattering (From Darrin Patrick's, Church Planter)

"Gospel Fluency I and II" which you can find here.

And then if you have the time, Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian which you can order here.

Hope to see you there!

The Church is Mission

"The task given to the Church by Jesus before He ascended into Heaven was the task of discipling the nations, and this was to consist of inaugurating them into that discipleship by means of baptism, and then to teach them obedience to everything that Jesus taught us (Matt. 28:18-20). This means that the assigned mission of the Church consists of two components—birth and growth. The Church is not supposed to take mission on as a side operation; the Church is mission." (Douglas Wilson)

You can read the whole article here.

Top Ten Reasons to Join [King's Cross Church]

Here is a top ten list from Justin Buzzard detailing good reasons to join a church plant. The only one I take exception to is the first one. I'm not eager to see Jesus do something new. I only want to see him do what he's been doing all along, namely, build his church. And I don't think that being "sick of the status quo" is a good prerequisite for anything, especially a change in churches. Grumpy ingratitude is a perilous foundation upon which to build. I would offer the following as a replacement for number 1:

1. If you love and respect the brethren at your present church and are grateful for the struggles that you've had there, but are interested in serving Christ in fresh new ways.

1. If you want to see Jesus do something new and are sick of the status quo.

2. If you dream of being part of something bigger than yourself.

3. If you want to get into a fight/enter a battle for the kingdom of Christ.

4. If you feel a constant itch to see people who don’t know Jesus come to know Jesus and you believe church planting is the best way for the gospel to advance.

5. If you want to give your time, money, energy, and talents to starting something new and you want to make sacrifices to see a mission to succeed.

6. If you fully support the vision, mission, doctrine, and leadership of a church plant.

7. If you want your faith to grow and you want God to fundamentally meddle with and change your life.

8. If you want to love your city.

9. If you want to watch God move in ways you never imagined and you want an adventure (with all it’s discomfort and risk).

10. If you’re not afraid to bank your life on Matthew 16:18 (“I [Jesus] will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”).

Top Ten Reasons Not to Join [King's Cross Church]

Top Ten Reasons Not to Join a Church Plant (Justin Buzzard)

1.  If you’re looking for the next cool thing in town (We want to grow by conversion growth, not church-goer transfer growth).

2.  If you’re a Christian and you don’t like your current church (You will find reasons to not like this church).

3.  If you have a bad track record at churches of being un-teachable and causing problems (You won’t change here, you’ll repeat the pattern).

4.  If you’re a consumer wanting to “go to church” 1x a week for a nice show (We are not a Sunday show, we are a community of disciples on a mission).

5.  If you want religion (This church will be built on the radical gospel of grace).

6.  If you have an agenda (We have our vision, our mission, and our values—your private agenda does not supersede them).

7.  If you’re a wolf (We will sniff you out).

8.  If you think this will be a nice little church that stays the same size, where everybody knows your name and you have my cell number on speed dial and we have a picnic lunch together every week (By God’s grace, we want to grow).

9.  If you think this will be easy and smooth (This will be hard and difficult; this will be a fight, a battle, and a challenging mission).

10. If you want to hold onto your comfortable life (You must lose your life).

I also shared a quote from Sir Ernest Shackleton, from the advertisement he used when recruiting men for his expedition to Antarctica in 1914: 

Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.

King's Cross Church Launches!

We are very excited to announce the launch of King's Cross Church here in Wenatchee, WA. We conducted our first Sunday worship service November 6th and are very thankful to be officially "up and running." Our in-house leaders are: Gene Helsel (pastor) and Tom Aumell, Ken Johnson and Scott Welch (deacons.) And in order to have a plurality of elders, we have temporarily added elder Marc Barger of Trinity Church, Wenatchee, and elders Brett Baker and David Hatcher of Trinity Church, Kirkland.

We have plans to add a full-blown website later on, but until then we will use this blog to post teaching articles and update you on events at King's Cross Church. So please stay in touch.