40 Days for Life Kickoff Rally

Yellowstone Valley Christians for Life sponsors the local 40 Days for Life pro-life campaign and prayer vigil for Billings, MT. Tonight was the Kickoff Rally, hosted at St. Bernard Catholic Church; I provided an opening prayer below. 

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7 PM
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
40 Days for Life Kickoff Rally
St. Bernard Catholic Church
Billings, MT

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Blessed Triune Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: You have called us to be a people of prayer, therefore, with ready obedience we now lift our hearts to you.

We come before you this evening as faithful Christians, as brothers and sisters in the household of faith, as citizens in the Kingdom of God. We are people of our Lord Jesus, we are people of our Lord's Prayer, therefore, we pray the prayer-of-all-prayers, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 

O Lord, in your Perfect Law you condemn murder; to Moses you gave the Holy Words, “Thou shalt not kill.” But our Nation scoffs at your Law; we've legalized and funded the heinous sin of abortion. Thus, tonight with urgency we join together in prayer; we now come before you in humility, interceding on the behalf of our nation--that you would continue to be long-suffering and merciful, and that we would be judged unto repentance and not unto destruction. We pray again, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

O Lord, we confess and acknowledge that we live in a society that has built prosperity and a culture, economies and our cities, upon the blood of the Aborted. Blood flows from the operation tables in the abortion facilities, out doors, over sidewalks, and into the streets. This blood is mixed with the mortar used by our Nation for the bricks of progress and growth, and thus, Lord, we come before you and confess that we live in a Nation of bloody-city-builders. Therefore, we pray for conversion and revival in our nation, that the unborn and innocent might have life. We pray again, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 

O Lord, we thank you that we can be witnesses against this culture of death. O Lord, we ask that you would do a mighty work through the 40 Days for Life campaign in our Valley. Protect the many who in the days to come will offer up the sacrifice of prayer to you on the behalf of the unborn; and we rejoice knowing that you have promised in your Word, which never returns void, that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  We pray again, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

O Lord, we ask that the hearts of fathers and mothers would be turned to their children through our witness. We ask that you would save babies here in the city of Billings! We ask that you would prevent mothers from committing the sin of aborting their children here in the city of Billings! We ask that you would close the Abortion Facility in our midst, in our city, just up the road. We ask that you would convert the employees of Planned Parenthood, that they would forsake their sins, as well as their wicked employment. And we ask that you would do all this in order that you might be Glorified! We pray again, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

O Lord, teach us to humble ourselves; teach us to seek your face. We pray these things in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Reaching the Millennials: An Interview with Thom Rainer, Again

 Reaching the Millennials: An Interview with Thom Rainer from Preaching Magazine, Vol. 27 No. 4

Preaching: You mentioned church starts. It seems that a lot of the best and brightest young ministers coming along are saying, "I'm not going to inherit the problems of a previous generation of churches. We're starting fresh with new churches."

Rainer: You're absolutely right. I have one son of my three who is involved in a church plant. These millennials, these young adults, many of them are frustrated with church as usual, with local church actions, business and what they perceive as irrelevancy. So they're starting churches.

Yet I would have a challenge for some millennials as well. Keep planting churches, have that attitude; but we've got about 400,000 established churches in the United States that we cannot give up on. I would say not only start churches, but prayerfully go into these churches to try to revolutionize them even if it takes a lifetime of ministry, because we're not planting enough churches to sustain the fall off of the established churches. I hope we'll see both groups rise up, more church planters and more church people as millennial leaders going to established churches to turn them around [CCS, underline added].

Reaching the Millennials: An Interview with Thom Rainer

 Reaching the Millennials: An Interview with Thom Rainer from Preaching Magazine, Vol. 27 No. 4

Preaching: You mentioned that probably as many as 85 percent of this generation are not Christian. You've taught evangelism; you are an evangelist yourself in terms of sharing the gospel. How do churches go about seeking to evangelize the millennial generation?

Rainer: Here's the irony: This is the smallest generation of Christians, we think, in America's history. We could begin to lament that reality and say there's absolutely no hope. The irony is that this is the greatest opportunity to evangelize [CCS, underline added].

The Millenial Shape of the Modern Church

Thom Rainer recently ran this article on his blog.

Ten Ways Millenials Are Shaping Local Congregations Today 

They are the largest generation in history. In the United States alone, they number more than 78 million, even larger than the seemingly ubiquitous Boomers. They are the Millennials. They are changing our nation, our world, and our churches. 

For the purpose of today’s post, I want to focus on changes they are already bringing to our local churches. I have the benefit of a large research project on the Millennials, plus the ongoing conversations I have with members of this generation. And I have spoken with countless leaders in churches about their experiences with Millennials. 

Keep in mind that the birth years of the Millennials: 1980 to 2000. So the oldest member of this generation is 34, while the youngest is only 14. But their impact is already noticeable, and it will be for years to come. Here are ten ways they are shaping local congregations today:

• More of them are attracted to smaller venues. They are thus one of the reasons for the incredible growth in the multi-venue model of churches and the growth of new churches. Leaders of smaller churches should be encouraged by this trend as well.

• They see culture as something to influence, rather than an enemy to denounce. Many Millennials truly have a missionary mindset. They are turned off by those who constantly rail against people.

• They like to cooperate with others. They do not view other churches and Christian organizations as competitors. They are attracted to congregations that are working with other congregations.

• They abhor worship wars. I have a previous post on this topic called “What Worship Style Attracts the Millennials?”

• They love churches that love their communities. One of the first questions a Millennial will ask a church leader is, “What is the church doing to influence, impact, and minister to the community?”

• They are attracted to churches that emphasize groups. The Millennials want to be a part of a congregation that has healthy small groups, Sunday school classes, home groups, or other groups.

• They want to be trained on their schedule. The Millennials truly desire training. But they are accustomed to having that training available when they are able to hear it or view it. Such is the reason that many churches are going to video training while having “live” worship services and small groups.

• They will question almost everything. This generation will want to know why a church does what it does. The most unacceptable answer is, “We have always done it this way.”

• They are slow to join, and slow to leave. Church leaders are often frustrated that a Millennial takes so long to commit to a local congregation. But they are intentional and thorough. Once they commit to a church, they are less likely to leave, especially over petty issues.

• They want to be involved. If a church does not have an intentional plan to get Millennials involved in ministry quickly, they will not reach Millennials.

I love this generation. I love their enthusiasm, their commitment, and even their questions. They are one of the reasons I remain an obnoxious optimist about the revitalization of local congregations.
I would love to hear from some of you Millennials. And I would love to hear from some of the older folks like me who are interacting with this generation. Your comments are always more valuable than my posts.

U.S.A.

Wise words from R.C. Sproul, Jr. regarding America and Independence Day.

There are a host of shameful episodes in the history of these United States — people were bought and sold like cattle. Others were locked into government camps simply because of their racial background. Eugenics was embraced and practised. And today perverts parade in the streets. All of these, as dark as they are, however, pale in comparison to our great national ignominy — the wholesale slaughter of the unborn. For forty-one years now we have been a nation whose highest government protects over a million murders each year, and worse, whose citizens will commit over a three thousand murders of the unborn just today. Whether we consider our government, or our people, we are wicked. How then can we wave our flag, sing odes to our national patrimony, pledge our allegiance? . . . Independence Day should be for the Christian a day of mourning and repentance, a day of confessing our dependence on the finished work of Christ. It should be a day to remember that we, like our true founding father, seek a city whose builder and maker is God. It should be that day when we fly the white flag of surrender, and pray that the King of Glory would come in. A day when the blood of the babies on our hands drives us into the bloodstained hands of the Innocent One.

I Will Prepare for Worship by Thom S. Rainer

 "I Will Prepare for Worship" from Thom S. Rainer's blog.

This weekend I will attend my church’s worship service.
I will prepare for that corporate worship event;
I will not take the moments lightly.
I will see it as a precious time to gather with brothers and sisters in Christ. 

I will prepare for worship.
I will ask God to prepare my own heart.
I will ask Him to help me hear God’s Word clearly.
I will ask Him to speak to me that I might be changed. 

I will prepare for worship.
I pray that I will not be distracted by my own preferences:
By the style of music; the length of the sermon; the place where I sit;
Or anything that would cause me to focus on me instead of God. 

I will prepare for worship.
I will pray for my pastor that the sermon will be anointed.
I will pray for strength for my pastor,
And for encouragement in a world that often offers little. 

I will prepare for worship.
I will pray for other leaders in the church,
Leaders often unnoticed and unappreciated,
And specifically for those who sacrificially care for our children in the services. 

I will prepare for worship.
I will pray that I will hear God’s voice in the music, in the prayers,
And in every moment we gather as a body of believers,
United in heart, focus, and purpose. 

I will prepare for worship.
I will pray with my family before we leave to go the church service.
I will also pray alone for the services before we leave,
Even if it’s only for a few minutes. 

I will prepare for worship,
As I see fellow believers enter to worship together,
I will pray for them and their families,
And I will pray for their own hearts of worship. 

I will prepare for worship.
I understand I am blessed to be able to gather,
Because I know that many Christians around the world
Are being persecuted and banned from such times. 

I will prepare for worship.
I pray I will understand that it is a foretaste of heaven,
And that I will never take such times for granted,
I pray I will truly rejoice in the house of the Lord. 

I will prepare for worship.
Thank you, God, for your grace.
Thank you, God, for you goodness.
And for allowing me these precious moments to gather to worship You. 

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."
—Psalm 122:1

Word-Derived Self-Image

To echo the sentiment from prior post, somewhere in The Baptized Body Peter Leithart says, "Christians are to have a self-image not based on our own perceptions or feelings but based on the Word and promise of God."

Matthew 4:4 - Self-Reliance is Self-Destruction

"From the beginning, man has always relied upon God's verbal revelation for his ethical behavior. Immediately upon creating Adam, God spoke to him concerning His ethical requirements (Genesis 2:16-19)" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 41).

Even Adam in his original righteousness relied upon the Word of God. Arguing by contrasting the greater to the lesser: in light of the sinful effects of the fall and the imputation of Adam's sin (cf. Romans 5:12-19), how much more are the sons of Adam behooved to rely upon the Word of God?

Pride. Human autonomy. Self reliance. Idolatry. These four are one in the same. Thus, self-reliance is self-destruction. We are creatures, so we need to have creaturely-reliance, i.e., man was created to be Word-reliant. Christ the God-man said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

Western Church: Salt has Lost Its Savor

"It is fuel for the fire to point out that western culture is in radical decline. I do not deny it. I recognize that things are getting ugly in the world--precisely because they are already ugly in the church. When another teenage gunman treating his school like a video game is greeted with a yawn, when sodomites become a protected class, when a million and a half babies are killed every year, we can safely conclude that the salt has lost its savor" (R. C. Sproul, Jr., Eternity in Our Hearts: Essays on the Good Life, 59).

Difficulties and Obstacles and Fears - Overcome by Believing in Promises of God

"Difficulties which seem like mountains shall melt away like snow in spring. Obstacles which seemed like giants in the distance, will dwindle into nothing when you actually face them. The lion that blocks the way that you are traveling and causes you great fear, will prove to be chained and unable to harm you. If men believed the promises more, they would never be afraid of their assigned duties [underline added, CCS]" (J. C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 55).

Andrew Sandlin on "Aborticide"

Lengthy excerpt from Andrew Sandlin's website. If you have the time, follow the hyperlink and read the full article.

Every January many churches in the United States highlight God’s truth as it relates to preborn children, notably in memory of Roe v. Wade, the January 22, 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

Actually the term abortion includes the definition of “the expulsion of a fetus from the uterus by natural causes before it is able to survive independently,” denoting what is today termed miscarriage. This is not what most people mean when they use the word abortion, however. They mean the intentional termination of human pregnancy, abortion’s primary — but not exclusive — definition.

A more suitable term for that intentional act is aborticide, which is a perfectly legitimate English word and enjoys the rhetorical benefit of similarity to homicide, infanticide, suicide, regicide, and other words that denote the willful deprivation of human life. It’s a word that supporters of the act likely deplore for precisely the same reason that opponents would prefer it. Supporters want attention deflected from the (im)moral implications of the act and redirected to the benefits to the pregnant woman (“a woman’s right to her own body,” etc.).

The Christian verdict on aborticide derives from the Bible, which clearly, if not explicitly, condemns it.  All intentional deprivation of judicially innocent human life is murder (Gen. 9:6). Human life begins at conception (Jud. 16:17; Ps. 139:13–18; Jer. 1:5; Lk. 1:15). Therefore, aborticide is murder.

More specifically, biblical law requires compensation for a miscarriage unintentionally precipitated by violent human action (Ex. 21:22). Even if the child is miscarried as a result of violent actions that did not intend that fatal loss, the violent are guilty of what we term these days manslaughter (not fetus-slaughter).

A human fetus is a human, created in God’s image, entitled to full legal protection.

Legalized aborticide, therefore, is nothing short of legalized murder, not materially different from Nazi leglislation legalizing the extermination of Jews or Marxist laws allowing the liquidation of capitalists.

Closing Prayer: March for Life, Billings, MT

Yellowstone Valley Christians for Life sponsored the local March for Life here in Billings on Sunday, January 19th. We gathered at Soup and Such and marched to the Court House, where Mike Rapkoch, member of YVCfL, provided a brief talk before keynote speaker Dr. R. C. Sproul, Jr. (RC Jr. also provided the opening prayer at the Court House.) I had the privilege of leading the crowd in a closing prayer.

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1:30 PM
Sunday, January 19, 2014
March for Life
Billings, MT

Our Father in Heaven, sanctify us through thy word; thy word is truth (John 17:17). We praise you for Jesus Christ, for having ransomed sinners like us from sin’s curse. We praise you for Jesus Christ, who prays for us and intercedes on our behalf right now at your right hand in Heaven. And we thank you for the gift of the Holy Ghost, who regenerated us—giving us new natures, making you our Heavenly Father.

O Lord, we are reminded of what Christ told his disciples: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Lord, we know that tribulations occur according to your all good and wise providence, and that they are the means by which you cultivate our faith and craft our souls to desire you, our Triune Lord, more and more and more. And Lord, we do not fear tribulations; for You are our strength and defense (Psalm 59:9).

And Lord, because you are our strength and defense, we pray and ask and beseech that you would teach us how to be both a strength and defense for the innocents—teach us how to be penitent defenders of the unborn and of the downtrodden. We also pray for our prayers: fill us with your Holy Ghost, and in filling us make us powerful and diligent, make us humble and submissive before you in prayers-of-repentance and prayers-of-intercession on the behalf of children in the womb. And we pray for the salvation of men: we pray that you would give the gift of saving faith to the fathers and mothers whose hearts have turned away from their children; we pray that you would give the gift of saving faith to the butchers who perform abortions, that they might confess their sin, repent, and find salvation in the Redeemer-Jesus.
 
And Father, we pray to you corporately:

 

Prayer to End Abortion

 

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift

 

of my life,

 

and for the lives of all

 

my brothers and sisters.

 

I know there is nothing that destroys more life

 

than abortion,

 

yet I rejoice that you have conquered death

 

by the Resurrection of Your Son.

 

I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.

 

Today I commit myself

 

Never to be silent,

 

Never to be passive,

 

Never to be forgetful of the unborn.

 

I commit myself to be active

 

in the pro-life movement,

 

and never to stop defending life

 

until all my brothers and sisters are protected,

 

and our nation once again becomes

 

a nation with liberty and justice,

 

not just for some, but for all.

 

Through Christ our Lord, Amen!



Thom Rainer on American Churches in 2014

Thom Rainer recently posted "Fourteen Predictions for American Churches for 2014" at his blog in a two-part post: Part-One (Predictions 1-7) and Part-Two (Predictions 8-14). Below I've listed the "predictions" that caught my attention.

Prediction #2: Downsizing of denominational structures. Many denominational structures are becoming smaller because their churches are declining. Others are feeling economic pinches. This trend of smaller and more efficient denominational structures at all levels will only become more pervasive in 2014. 

Prediction #3: Decline in conversion growth. American churches that grow are more likely to get their growth at the expense of other churches. Evangelism is waning in many churches, and fewer non-believers are becoming Christians. The negative reaction to programmatic evangelistic methods has evolved into an overreaction. Too few churches emphasize personal and church-based evangelism. 

Prediction #7: Increased challenges for congregations to build and acquire land due to restrictive governmental policies. American churches will experience more frustration with governmental authorities as they seek to expand, build, and acquire land. Part of the reason will be due to the authorities’ concern about traffic and congestions. Another part is the underlying concern of losing a property tax base to a nonprofit organization. In a few cases there will be outright animosity and prejudice against Christians and churches. 

Prediction #11: Longer pastoral tenure. There will be incremental but steady growth in the length of tenure of pastors at a given church. Part of the reason is the influence of the Millennials who do not view larger churches as their next step in ministry. Part of the reason is economic; moving in today’s economy is not nearly as easy in pre-recession days. Hopefully, the main reason is a sense of God’s call to stay rather than move. 

Prediction #12: Local churches increasing their roles as ministry training leaders. The role of ministry training in the past decades fell largely upon Bible colleges and seminaries. More churches in 2014 will partner with those colleges and seminaries to provide contextual training at a local church. 

Prediction #14: More multiple teaching/preaching pastors. In larger churches, there has been a decided trend toward having more than one teaching and preaching pastor. Now the trend is taking place in smaller churches. We will see more churches with attendance under 200, even some under 100, with more than one teaching/preaching pastor. Of course, not all of them will be full-time vocationally at the church, so there will be more bi-vocational pastors whose role is to be a second or even third pastor in these smaller churches. 

To-Build or Not-to-Build (And What to Build) - That is the Question

Thom S. Rainer reflects on current trending for how Christians are thinking about church-buildings.

Friday "How To Video" at Tree & The Seed: "How To" Create Demand for and Fund Death/Abortion Quotas

From the Alliance Defending Freedom website:

Abortion generates up to half of all of the income from the services at Planned Parenthood. In 2011 They committed 333,964 abortions which generated a minimum of $150 million. To continue to drive this revenue, they enforce abortion quotas which require all affiliates to conduct abortions. This is why 92% of pregnant women who go to Planned Parenthood get an abortion.

Alliance Defending Freedom is litigating lawsuits to protect the unborn, and restrict Planned Parenthood’s ability to do abortions until we drive them out of the abortion business.

40 Days for Life Kickoff Rally

Yellowstone Valley Christians for Life sponsors the local 40 Days for Life here in Billings. Last night was the Kickoff Rally, hosted at St. Bernard Catholic Church. I provided the opening prayer (see below), and Father John, Orthodox Priest at St. Nicholas, and Mike Rapkoch, member of YVCfL, provided a couple wonderful talks, and Dr. Bill Phillips, President Emeritus at Yellowstone Christian College, provided the closing prayer.

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7 PM
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
40 Days for Life Kickoff Rally
St. Bernard Catholic Church
Billings, MT

2 Chronicles 7:14  “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Our Father in Heaven: You are the Master and Blessed Creator of the Universe and Jesus Christ, your only Begotten Son, is the Savior and Redeemer of man. We are your covenant people, called by your name because You, the Father and the Son, have sent us your Holy Spirit, to fill and empower and communicate to us the righteousness and victory that Jesus Christ secured for us through his life, death, burial, and resurrection.

O Lord, because we have your Holy Spirit we have an unction and understanding, because now your Law has been written in our hearts, so that we might do all that Christ commands. And since we know that which Christ commands, we come before you this evening as faithful Christians; as brothers and sisters in the household of faith; as citizens in the Kingdom of God. We come before you this evening at this Kickoff Rally, O Triune Lord, as a members of the Culture-of-Life, and as a Witness against our Nation’s and the World’s Culture-of-Death.

In your Perfect Law you condemn murder: to Moses you said , “Thou shalt not kill.”

Our society, O Lord, has scoffed at your Law. Truly, our Nation is a country of sinners and scoffers. And because of this, we, your people - those who are called by your name - we come now before you in humility and prayer, interceding on the behalf of our nation.

Lord, we confess and acknowledge that we live in a society that has built prosperity and a culture, economies and our cities upon the blood of the Aborted. Blood flows from the operation tables in the abortion facilities, out doors, over sidewalks, and into the streets. This blood is mixed with the mortar that is our Nation’s progress and growth, and thus, Lord, we come before you and confess that we live in a Nation of bloody-city-builders.

Lord, we thank you that we can be witnesses against the culture of death and against the vain raging of a Nation that builds cities with the blood of the unborn: their voices have been silenced, but we will not be silenced by the power of your Spirit. So, O Lord, we ask that you would do a mighty work through the 40 Days for Life in our Valley. Protect the many who in the days to come will offer up the sacrifice of prayer to you on the behalf of the unborn; and we rejoice knowing that you have promised through your Word, which never returns void, that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.“

We ask that the hearts of fathers and mothers would be turned to their children through our witness. We ask that you would save babies here in Billings! We ask that you would prevent mother’s from committing the sin of aborting their children here in Billings! We ask that you would close the Abortion Facility that is here in Billings -- in our midst, in our city, just up the road -- and we ask that you would do all this in order that you might be Glorified!  We pray these things in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Efficacious Preaching

On the efficacy of preaching, Michael Horton insists "It is effective because God has promised to dispense his saving grace then and there by the Spirit, and it grows organically out of the logic of the message itself because it is an announcement of something that has been accomplished by God, rather than an incentive to get sinners to save themselves by sheer force of will or effort. It is good news, not good advice, good production value, or good ideas."

Horton elaborates on this good news: ". . . we can always count on God being where he has promised to meet us . . . . The power of the Spirit is linked to a promise; namely, a promise that faith comes by hearing the gospel preached (Rom. 10:8, 17)" (A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of God-Centered Worship, 64-65).

Word of God: Creates Faith

"The Word [God's word of salvation], all-powerful in its effect and salvific in its benefit, creates the faith that receives it" (Thomas J. Davis, This Is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought, 58).

God Revealing Godself: The Heart of All Theology

"[A]t the heart of all theology for Luther is God and how one knows God; or perhaps better said, one must start all theology with understanding how it is that God reveals Godself" (Thomas J. Davis, This Is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought, 58).

The Community of Love

"Luther did not do away with the notion of good works, works of love; he repositioned good works so that they follow necessarily from the working of the Word. Good works do not effect salvation; they are its flowering. The communio sanctorum, the community of love, is thus a necessary result of the Word" (Thomas J. Davis, This Is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought, 58).