This is a sobering quote by D.A. Carson on ways that the church of Jesus Christ can be destroyed.

"The ways of destroying the church are many and colorful. Raw factionalism will do it. Rank heresy will do it. Taking your eyes off the cross and letting other, more peripheral matters dominate the agenda will do it–admittedly more slowly than frank heresy, but just as effectively over the long haul. Building the church with superficial 'conversions' and wonderful programs that rarely bring people into a deepening knowledge of the living God will do it. Entertaining people to death but never fostering the beauty of holiness or the centrality of self-crucifying love will build an assembling of religious people, but it will destroy the church of the living God. Gossip, prayerlessness, bitterness, sustained biblical illiteracy, self-promotion, materialism–all of these things, and many more, can destroy a church. And to do so is dangerous: 'If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple (1 Cor. 3:17). It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

- D.A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993), 83-84.

Via The Many Ways of Destroying the Church at timmybrister.com.

John Piper breakdancing

Monday Morning Humor

Since Kevin DeYoung did not seem to want to continue his Monday Morning Humor posts since he's moved his blog to The Gospel Coalition, maybe I'll do it.

Here's for tomorrow:

Thank you, Jon, for suggesting this video.

Lying is like murder

1. Proverbs 26:28 A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.
2. 1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer...

See also Matthew 5:21-22 and Ephesians 4:25.

Reading Pilgrim's Progress backwards

This paragraph is from Kevin DeYoung's recent blog post, entitled On Mission, Changing the World, and Not Being Able to Do It All. It is a good description of how I often forget the gospel in seeking to advance the gospel. I've added the emphasis in the quote.

The danger–and it's a danger I've fallen foul of in my own preaching–is that in all our efforts to be prophetic, radical, and missional, we end up getting the story of Pilgrim's Progress exactly backwards. "Come to the cross, Pilgrim, see the sacrifice for your sins. Isn't that wonderful? Now bend over and let me load this burden on your back. There's a lot of work we have to do, me and you." A cross, yes. Jesus said we would have to carry one of those. But a cross that kills our sins, smashes our idols, and teaches us the folly of self-reliance. Not a burden to do the impossible. Not a burden to always do more for Jesus. Not a burden of bad news that never lets up and obedience that is always out reach.

Let us never forget the gospel! Resolve to build on no other foundation than the gospel! (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

Praying for the holiness of others

In A Call to Spiritual Reformation (p. 94), D.A. Carson sums up chapter five ("A Passion for People") by concluding that 1 Thessalonians 3:13 is the most fundamental way to pray for people:

When we pray for people, we must do so knowing that these people, and we ourselves, are inevitably moving toward the last day. When we pray with eternity's values in view, we are driven to pray for people, because people like you and me are the ones who must give account to God on the last day.

From that perspective, there is no prayer we can pray for others more fundamental than this: that God might strengthen their hearts so that they will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father on the last day.

Conversion as discovering treasure

Hear what John Piper has to say in When I Don't Desire God (p. 25) about what conversion means:

In the New Testament, conversion meant discovering that Jesus was a treasure of such surpassing worth that joy would enable a new disciple to leave everything and follow him: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Matthew 13:44).

That is classic Piper, but worth remembering. It's what motivated me to describe my Religious Views on Facebook as "Jesus is my treasure."