Before I start this post I want to direct your attention to two other posts that led me to write this one:
Scott Thomas- “Honored and Awed—This is What Graciousness Looks Like” http://bit.ly/2hRR4k
Al Mohler- “Younger Pastors and the Hope of a Future” http://bit.ly/4rkFsA
I attend three churches: one in Jackson TN called City Fellowship Baptist Church which is a church plant of the Southern Baptist Convention, and two in Nashville; one called Immanuel Church and one called The Axis Church-both are Acts 29 churches. The Axis Church is a plant of Immanuel Church that is still getting off the ground. Normally I wouldn’t attend two churches in the same city, however, since The Axis Church is a brand new plant, I’ve been attending both Immanuel and The Axis.
A few weeks ago here at Union University, we had a conference titled “Southern Baptists, Evangelicals and the Future of Denominationalism” where some of the most brilliant scholars in the SBC converged on my school to talk about why we should stick with the SBC and what challenges lay ahead for the SBC. Some of my biggest heroes spoke at this conference and it had a large impact on my thinking.
During one of the panel sessions, I decided it was time for me to ask my question: should I plant a Southern Baptist church or should I go Acts 29; is it an either/or situation or a both/and situation? I got the answer I expected along with something I didn’t expect. The response was that I should stay within my denomination and plant SBC. That answer would work with a majority of church goers, but as I said above I attend Acts 29 churches and a SBC church. What I didn’t expect was a veiled attack on the NAMB’s church planting division from a high ranking official in the crowd.
My question stemmed from my experience at the Southern Baptist Convention this summer where I heard plenty of motions against the Acts 29 network. With so much hostility within the SBC, why would I want to plant a church that is both SBC and Acts 29? Would most SBC church goers even want me in their denomination if I was Acts 29? I know I am not the only young man facing these questions, this is a burning question for plenty of next generation church planters.
When I was reading Scott Thomas’ blog post, I literally got chills when he was speaking to the SBC. Here is what he said for those of you who did not follow the links I posted at first (shame on you), “Our posture has maintained that we love the SBC, even if disagreements exist. Of the eight main sessions at our recent boot camp at Sojourn, an SBC church, five were Southern Baptist pastors, We are in this together. As a Network, we want to pursue the extension of grace in humility and respectfully request grace from those in the Convention who might misunderstand our mission or motivation. I believe we can image the gospel through our mutual grace orientated collaboration for the glory of God and the expansion of His Kingdom through the planting of local churches.”
I greatly appreciate both the SBC and the Acts 29 network. If I’m being totally honest, I lean more towards the idea of planting an Acts 29 church apart from the Southern Baptist Convention, but I also know that God’s plans are greater than my own and I am perfectly willing to bow to His will. I praise God for all three of my churches which exemplify the Gospel and are looking for the best ways to fulfill the Great Commission within their respective communities and to glorify God through the advance of His kingdom.
Today happens to be one of my favorite holidays, and no I’m not talking about Halloween. On October 31, 1517 a priest named Martin Luther changed the course of Christianity by nailing his 95 theses to the door of the church of Wittenburg. This is incredibly important for anyone who is a Christian, and these theses should be continually re-examined and studied. I won’t go into all of the theses here, however I will briefly speak of the five solas of the Reformation.
Sola Scriptura
Scripture is the only inspired Word of God and the only source for Christian Doctrine. We do not look to man to create new Spiritual laws, nor do we look to new books to define what our Doctrine is. Our authority is Scripture.
Sola Fide
Justification is received by faith alone, not through our works. Luther struggled with this doctrine quite a bit, even going so far as considering removing James from Scripture since it seemed to preach a works based salvation. While works don’t justify us, the believers life will be marked by good works.
Sola Gratia
Our salvation comes only because of God’s unmerited grace. We are bound by our sin and are only capable of being saved through the grace that God gives.
Solus Christus
Christ is the only mediator between God and man. He is our great high priest who intercedes for us before the throne of God, there is no need to pray to saints or have priests intercede for us.
Soli Deo Gloria
God alone is worthy of glory. All that we do should bring glory to Him since He is perfect in every way. Man deserves no glory because we have infinitely offended God.
This is a very brief overview of each of the “solas” of the Reformation. Meditate on them today and ask yourself if our Christianity today reflects these. Also, keep in mind another cry of the Reformation, Semper Reformanda, or Always Reforming. The Christian life is one of continual repentance, and through our repentance we should continually reform our churches and our lives. I thank God for men like Martin Luther and the other Reformers who literally risked their lives for the sake of the Gospel.
I am terrified.
When unexpected things happen in my life, my first response is inevitably fear. This week, two things that were very unexpected happened in my life, one was very good, and the other was not so good and my response to each was the same: I let myself be overcome with worry and fear.
Ultimately, what it comes down to is that I do not trust God. My fear is my response to the situations in my life and my feeble attempt at controlling them. I can speak of the sovereignty of God all day, but I live as if God had no control in my life.
Proverbs 29:25 says “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” I lay a trap for myself, and I always fall into that trap. When I begin to let myself fall into fear I will always become self-absorbed and shut myself off from everyone around me. I will always go to the worst possible scenario and convince myself that’s what will happen. And worst of all, I shut myself off from God.
One of the most beautiful verses to me is 1 Peter 5:7 where Peter tells Christians to cast all their anxieties on God because He cares for us. Even when we are prideful and anxious and trying to run our lives instead of letting God direct us, He cares for us. He desires for us to trust Him fully and throw our worries to Him, not because He’s angry at us for worrying, but because He cares for us. How beautiful! The God of the universe cares about us enough to desire us to cast our fear to Him so that He can comfort and sustain us.
I want to trust God. I want to overcome my fear. God help me.
Every other Monday at City Fellowship we have a men’s Bible study where we delve into the Word and discuss what it is to be a Biblical man. This past Monday, Lee Wilson said something that really sparked my thinking.
“Every man needs a father.”
All men have fathers, for better or for worse. Some of those fathers misuse their authority as a father and cause brokeness in a young man’s life, be that by abuse or abandonment or what have you. So what about those boys?
My first thought was that not all men need fathers. I haven’t had a father in years. I feel like I’ve turned out okay. But the more he unpacked what he meant, the more I realized he was right. Lee went on to say that American men lack a definite age of adulthood, we don’t have a certain rite of passage we go through to become men so what tends to happen is we look to a “father” for validation of our manhood. We want to be told that we are on our way to becoming men, that we are doing manly things, that someone is proud of us. And the more I’ve thought about this, the more I’ve realized that Lee was dead on. Men need that validation from someone they see as a man.
One of the most meaningful things that has ever happened to me is when I got a text message from Lee that said someting along the lines of him being proud of me the way that a father is proud of his son. This was validation of my manhood, validation that I had come from the depths that I was in when he first met me and had become a man who was pursuing God.
One of the most beautiful things about the Gospel to me is that God is our Father. That He is the Father I didn’t have, that He loves me and treasures me as a son. I’ve never felt good enough for my dad, but God loves me despite my imperfections, and I never have to feel like I’m not good enough for Him.
I praise God for men like Lee, men who have seen a broken boy who seemed beyond redemption and have decided to pour into that boy and help him on his way to becoming a man. I praise God for men He has raised up to be “fathers” to those who are fatherless, and I pray that I can be that man for someone one day, and I pray that I can be the Godly father I am called to be to my children one day.
I’ve had this blog for awhile now but I wanted the first post to be something meaningful, something profound, something that would immediately hook all of my readers and have them constantly checking to see if I had updated. I’ve thought of quite a few things I wanted to write about but none of them really stuck out. Then I came to this realization: If I am writing a blog to bring myself glory, to get a lot of readers, or to impress people then I do not need to have a blog. In all things I do I need to work to glorify my maker and savior Jesus Christ. So my prayer for this blog is to not think of myself as a brilliant student of theology or as a popular blogger (with maybe 4 readers) but to be a humble servant of God.
So, with that being said, welcome to my blog. I titled it the Prodigal Roamer because that’s what I see myself as. Prodigal means having or giving something on a lavish scale and to roam is to move about or travel aimlessly or unsystematically. That’s what I feel like most of the time, a man who was gifted with an extravagant amount of grace who randomly wanders around in search of many things. Sometimes I wander in search of Truth, other times I wander in search of God (as if He ever leaves my side) and I usually find something along the way. I’ve found that my wanderings are not as random and aimless as they appear, but are being mapped out by God as He teaches me His ways and helps me see the word of the cross while I am being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18).
This blog is to share with you the things God is teaching me, to show the not-so-random paths God has me wandering, and to invite you to wander with me and discover the riches of the glory of Christ.
