"Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" (Carols and the Gospel 5 of 5)

This post is part of a five-part series on discovering the place of traditional carols in the Gospel in an effort to revitalize worship during the Christmas season. Click here for the first post. The winner of the favorite Christmas carol poll is... "O Holy Night" with almost half of the votes!

Hark! the herald angels sing

Glory to the newborn King

Peace on earth and mercy mild

God and sinners reconciled

Joyful all ye nations rise

Join the triumph of the skies

With angelic hosts proclaim

Christ is born in Bethlehem

Here we are, three days after Christmas. The consumer traditions are far from over. Malls are packed with people looking for after-Christmas sales. Plenty of presents are being exchanged or returned. Coworkers and friends are showing off their latest gadgets and sweaters. American consumerism barely takes a break.

Unfortunately, our worship of Christ does seem to take a break. This is most clearly evidenced by the unusually high attendance of Christmas Eve church services across America. On average, a church will see twice their normal attendance on a December 24th service. References to Jesus, Christianity, and Christian virtues will all but disappear from the radio, television, and conversation outside the month of December. We use Christ as the reason for the season, but then leave Him there.

If you ask my family who the hardest person to shop for is, they will surely say me. I have stopped giving them Christmas lists and responding to texts asking "What do you want for Christmas?" I told them this year that I don't want presents because people don't give Christmas presents out of love. They give Christmas presents because it's Christmas. If they gave presents out of love, why aren't they giving gifts on the other 364 days of the year?

This is how I feel it is with Jesus on Christmas. We give him our worship and our time around December 25th, but then we neglect Him the rest of the year. I know many families (including my own) that will read the Christmas story from Luke 2 together on Christmas day, but then the family Bible is put on the shelf until the following December 25th. So why is this the case?

It has been said that as long as we keep Jesus as a charming baby in a manger, He makes no demand on our lives. His righteous life will not show us God's standard of perfection. His teachings will not give us a description of Kingdom living. His death will not provide us with the ultimate and humbling example of mercy, grace, love and forgiveness. His resurrection will not place on us the new creation attitude that is necessary for sanctification. His ascension will not place Him as our interceding high priest and King. If we keep Jesus as a baby in a manger, we neglect the Gospel, we insult the Son of God, and we reject His gift of reconciling atonement. This is why it is so easy and comfortable for the world to celebrate Christmas, because Baby Jesus means nothing to it. May it not be so!

In Charles Wesley's Christmas carol, "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," we have an awesome description of why God would need a multitude of angel to announce the incredible news of Christ's birth. We must see infant Jesus as King! We must remember that the "peace" coming to earth was not holding a door for someone else; it is the amazing peace between the Creator and His creation!  "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). God and sinners are reconciled! This is the Gospel. This is the message we must remember during the Christmas season; this is the message we must remember throughout our lives.

It has been very enjoyable writing these posts in an effort to revitalize the worship of the church during this Christmas season. I hope they helped you be able to worship in Spirit and truth over the past few weeks. They surely helped me focus on the complete gift of God in sending Christ to earth. What an amazing picture of the Gospel Christmas gives to us. Because we could not make it to God, because we had no way of reconciling ourselves to God, by His sovereign grace, He came to us to reconcile us to Him. I hope that is the Gospel we focused on throughout this Christmas season, but more so, I pray that that is the Gospel around which we center our lives for the glory of God in Christ. Amen!

"O Holy Night" (Carols and the Gospel 4 of 5)

This post is part of a five-part series on discovering the place of traditional carols in the Gospel in an effort to revitalize worship during the Christmas season. Click here for the first post. And be sure to vote for your favorite Christmas carol to the right.

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new glorious morn!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angels' voices

O night divine, O night when Christ was born

O night divine, O night, O night divine

Leading the way in our Christmas poll on the right is "O Holy Night." At the time of this post, it holds about 44% of the votes for your favorite Christmas carol. Most likely every church in America will sing this song every December. It has been a favorite of the church for over a hundred years. In fact, it was the first song ever broadcast over the radio in 1906. But how much have we considered the lyrics of this traditional carol? Do they follow Scripture? Do they reinforce our knowledge of the Gospel so that we can use it to corporately worship Christ in spirit and truth? Let's check it out...

I believe there is good reason to be a little skeptical of the lyrics of "O Holy Night," and so did the churches of France. It was deemed "unfit for church services" because of its "lack of musical taste and total absence of the spirit of religion." It's interesting that we in the American church accept this song so readily and sing it without bothering to consider its lyrics. Here's why: It was written by a wine seller turned socialist radical who may have never been a Christian. It was put to music by a Jew who did not even celebrate that "O holy night." It was translated into English by a Unitarian (believed only God the Father was God; Christ was just a great prophet) Transcendentalist (believed man is naturally good) named John Sullivan Dwight. He was also an ardent abolitionist and very liberally translated the song from its original French so that he could put in it a message of abolitionism ("Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease"). The song most likely went from idea to tradition without being touched by a Christian hand along the way. This means a close examination of if and how this carol spurs on Gospel worship is even more necessary.

I love the description of the human condition in the first verse of this song. We "lay in sin and error pining." Pining paints a picture of how we as humans are longing after something. Blaise Pascal termed it the God-shaped hole of the human soul. Without Christ, we pine in error, we long after the temporary pleasures and destruction of the world. Til He appeared, the soul's Creator, the only satisfaction for the God-shaped hole, the only true purpose of our souls. When we look on Christ, "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature" (Hebrews 1:3), our souls finally realize their true purpose for which they were created: to reflect the image of God. At the same time, when we look on Christ, we realize how far we have veered off purpose. That is why this message of Christmas, of a "divine night when Christ was born," should send a thrill of hope through our churches! We should rejoice with the thought of a new and living way opened through Christ's human body.

With that beautiful message starting this song off, it's hard to go wrong. We see in the second verse that because Christ came to earth and took on human form, He is "no stranger to our weakness," and can sympathize with us through any trial or temptation (Hebrews 4:15). And for the third verse, instead of the abolitionist version, let me encourage our "sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus" with the direct translation of the original French: "The Redeemer has overcome every obstacle, the earth is free and Heaven is open. He sees a brother where there was only a slave, love unites those that iron had chained." We have gone from chained in irons, slaves of sin, subjects of God's wrath to heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. We are free!

So this Christmas, when "O Holy Night" is sung from the lips of the people of God, I pray that you are contemplating the message that God had ordained through the lyrics of this song despite its ungodly origins. I hope you remember that Christ has fulfilled the purpose of our souls, He has satisfied our longings, He has made us whole. I hope you remember that He has passed through earth and was tempted in every way humans are, yet was without sin so that we have Him as great high priest. I hope you remember that you are free and Heaven is open! You are no longer a slave but a coheir with Christ! Praise His name forever! Proclaim his power and glory forevermore! Amen.

"Silent Night" (Carols and the Gospel 3 of 5)

This post is part of a five-part series on discovering the place of traditional carols in the Gospel in an effort to revitalize worship during the Christmas season. Click here for the first post. And be sure to vote for your favorite Christmas carol to the right.

"Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace"

Me: "Hey Pastor Mark, what does 'round yon virgin' mean?"
Mark: "Well of course it means she is fat and round from pregnancy and yon is short for young. So Mary was a fat, young virgin."

Of course the above was meant in jest, but it makes an interesting point. That is, most likely a number of my readers believed that it was true. And when you found out it was not, you were left wondering what in the world does "round yon virgin" mean. Herein lies a perfect example of how little we worship Christ in spirit and truth during the Christmas season. The third line of one of the most widely sung Christmas carols rolls off of many tongues on December 24th, but is understood by very few. But this is beside the point of this post. If you must know, "yon" was short for "yonder" and it's a continuation of the line before it. "All is calm and all is bright around virgin mother and child over there."

This past Spring, the world witnessed the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Some estimates say it was watched by more than a billion people. In fact, about 25 million people watched the wedding in person. The government of the United Kingdom declared it a bank holiday so that everybody could take the day off to watch the royal wedding. The whole world seemed to stop to watch the wedding. It was certainly a worldwide event, followed by billions, the marriage of a future king. In fact, when Prince William was born to Princess Diana, thousands of people waited outside the hospital and Buckingham Palace to await the news of his birth. The world knew that a future king was born.

Step back 2,000 years. Another King is born. Thousands did not wait outside His palace. The world's top doctors did not assist with delivery. Instead of television cameras and newspapers announcing his birth, it was only witnessed by donkeys and lowly shepherds. To the world, everything remained the same; it was business as usual. However, little did they know that the Son of God had entered the world in human form, born to a virgin in a stable. It seems odd, it seems contradictory, it seems unroyal. However, this is the way God designed it. He planned to send Christ into the world on a "silent night;" a night set apart, a "holy night." The author of this popular Christmas hymn, Father Joseph Mohr, realized the paradox contained in the story of Christ's birth and penned the lyrics to "Silent Night" in 1818.

Mary was to name her child "Emmanuel," meaning "God with us." Wow! God is coming to dwell here on earth with us? God is sending His Son to take on human form and live amongst us? And yet there was no room in the inn. There was worldwide announcement, only a small announcement by angels to some shepherds nearby, "Alleluia, Christ the Savior is born!" Let us remember that even though this event was only significant to a select few at the time, it was the beginning of something new, it was "the dawn of redeeming grace." We must remember that Christ, even as an infant, was Lord, "but He made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7).  "Jesus, Lord at thy birth."

So, when we sing this song this Christmas Eve, which most Christians will, let us dwell on the incarnation of Christ. It was a silent and holy night when He entered this world, so let us also be silent and holy as we humble ourselves to know that our God became human, took on limits, and became obedient to death on a cross! It was necessary for Christ to be human as Hebrews 2:14-15, 17 points out:

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Because Christ was Lord at birth, he brought with Him the dawn of redeeming grace. Let us worship Him as our great high priest and king this Christmas.

"Joy to the World" (Carols and the Gospel 2 of 5)

This post is part of a five-part series on discovering the place of traditional carols in the Gospel in an effort to revitalize worship during the Christmas season. Click here for the first post. And be sure to vote for your favorite Christmas carol to the right.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come,
Let Earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and Heaven and nature sing.

This hymn is consistently ranked among the most popular Christian Christmas carols, but did you know that it was never meant to be a Christmas hymn?

The author of this hymn and about 700 others is known as the "Father of English Hymnody;" his name is Isaac Watts. The only other English hymnodist to come close to Watts' contribution to hymnals is Charles Wesley (author of "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing"). However, between the two, Watts is considered the more influential author. He changed the course of church music forever by writing extra-Biblical poetry for church worship. Until Watts stepped on the hymnody scene in the early 18th century, hymns sung in church were strict translations of Biblical poetry from the Psalms or other books of Scripture. Watts believed if verses were taken from the Psalms, they should "imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship." In fact this was the title of the hymnal which first contained Watts' poem entitled "Joy to the World" in 1719.

Isaac Watts used Psalm 98 as the inspiration for the lyrics of "Joy to the World."

Psalm 98:4-9

If you notice, this Psalm, nor the hymn that flowed from it, mention anything about the nativity or Christmas. Instead, a closer look at the verses of the Psalm and the hymn would more closely describe the second coming of Christ, not His first coming. Indeed, that is how Isaac Watts intended the hymn to be sung, praising in anticipation the coming day when Christ would judge the world as King. Certainly, Jesus was born King and lived His life on earth as King, died as King, rose as King and ascended as King, where He is reigning now as King. But it is clear in Scripture that this King will not reign from Heaven forever, but will return to earth to "judge the world with righteousness." It is that Day that should cause God's people to "make a joyful noise," and "break forth into joyous song!" We know on that day that "the dead in Christ will rise first" (1 Thess. 4:16), similar to Christ's first coming when He comes for the dead "that they may have life" (John 10:10).

So if we must continue to sing this song solely around Christmas, let us do it with our minds remembering the glory of the King's return. Let us "receive our King" and sing for joy that He is coming to judge and to rule, that awesome day when "the Savior reigns!" We should sing with joy only an individual who has been atoned for by Christ's blood can have. Because if we are to joyfully and eagerly await the Day of Christ's return, we know that on that Day, Christ will judge us not for our sins but for His righteousness. The saints, living and dead, even the earth itself, "heaven and nature," will sing for joy that the Lord has returned and no longer will "sin and sorrow grow," but "His blessings will flow." He will "rule the world with truth and grace." And by atoning for the sins of God's elect, He will prove the glorious "wonders of His love." Surely, this is news that should bring Joy to the World!

Carols and the Gospel (1 of 5)

After the previous post despising the American Christmas, I feel compelled to take action in the form of a five-part series of posts in the coming weeks. If we are to reinvent Christmas as a Christian holiday, it begins with throwing out tradition for tradition sake and emboldening Christ-centered tradition to take center stage. However, there are many Christ-centered traditions that are not as Christ glorifying as they can be, namely Christmas carols.

People with whom I have served in music ministry can describe the particular disdain I have for traditional carols. I would like to explain this in two brief ways. Firstly, songs sung too regularly and heard too often can numb the mind to the lyrics contained in the song. For example, if I asked you to sing the well-known carol, "O Come All Ye Faithful," it would most likely be no problem. But if I asked you what time of the day we sing that Jesus was born, it might be a little tougher for you. Surely singing "Angels We Have Heard on High" would be no problem for you. But if I asked you what "Gloria in excelsis Deo" meant, you might have a little trouble. Yet we sing them year after year, joyous in the tradition but oblivious to the meaning. Without meaning, you lose all Christ worship. Without Christ worship, why attend church? The answer: to worship the tradition. This leads me to my second reason. Christmas carols were not sung in churches and were not written to be sung in church until the mid-19th century. So almost ninety percent of the songs your church will be singing this December were not meant for Christian liturgy. That's a problem when churches continue to force them into their Sunday morning worship services.

So what can we do if we don't want to sit idly by while churches around the country will be singing songs with blatantly incorrect theology, archaic words whose understanding is missed by most of the congregation, and melody lines so familiar that our tongues can be on auto-pilot singing syllables and sounds instead of meaningful words and phrases? Let's begin with understanding the four most popular Christian Christmas carols within the Gospel with a Scriptural background. Maybe this will make you think before you sing this year. Maybe this will turn your next Christmas carol into a Christmas prayer. Hopefully, bringing the meaning out of these songs and sometimes putting meaning into the from Scripture can focus your heart and mind on Christ this Christmas season. Only this will bring glory to Christ and not waste our time gathered as a body to worship. Worshipping the Savior over the tradition starts here.

("Gloria in excelsis Deo = "Glory to God in the highest," from the angels song in Luke 2:14)

Coming soon...

"Joy to the World" (Carols and the Gospel 2 of 5)

"Silent Night" (Carols and the Gospel 3 of 5)

"O Holy Night" (Carols and the Gospel 4 of 5)

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing" (Carols and the Gospel 5 of 5)

American Christmas

As we say goodbye to November today and welcome December tomorrow, we put back the last turkey sandwich and throw away the leftover green bean casserole nobody ate. We start the annual unannounced competition against our neighbors by putting up more lights, more inflatable snowmen and prettier wreaths. Circulars get thicker and highlight the lastest gadget, the must-have toy of the year, or the sparkling diamond that in itself defines love.

I hate it.

Call me Scrooge, unAmerican, or just stupid, I have not enjoyed American Christmas for the past four or five years. Allow me to explain... Christmas began when the early church authorities made an effort to replace the popularity of pagan decadence with Christian celebrations. They chose a date that coincided with many pagan rituals in order to replace the celebrations of other gods with the celebration of the birth of Christ, December 25th. It spread through Europe that the reason for the jubilee in the beginning of winter was now the birth of the incarnate Son of God. Great job guys! Not really...

By the Middle Ages, Christianity had replaced the pagan religions of Europe and the reason for Christmas was well known. Accordingly, people would start the holiday with a service at church to remember the birth of the Savior of the world. But then what followed can best be compared to the modern Mardi Gras of New Orleans. Parties full of gluttony and drunkenness, licentiousness and debauchery, thievery and greed. This happened for centuries until some attempts at reform entered the scene. Puritans banned the usual Christmas celebrations in England in the 16th century, churches born of the Reformation preached against the sinful practices of a day that was supposed to celebrate the Savior. In fact, for twenty years in the 17th century, Boston fined anyone five schillings who was caught exhibiting any signs of the Christmas spirit (I like that). These reformers tried their best to get rid of the pagan celebrations still clinging to the Christmas holiday once and for all. However, their best efforts were not enough.

Enter the American Christmas. In the year 1870, Christmas was officially declared a federal holiday by Congress. In the past 140 years, it has evolved into what we will be celebrating in twenty-six short days. The stories, the sermons, the ads, the tv shows, and the parents will all be calling for a remembrance of the  "true meaning of Christmas," of the "reason for the season." What has happened in America is what happened in the origen of Christmas. We have simply put a religious reason to a pagan tradition. I would even go so far to say that the term "Christ-mas" in America is the most prevalent form of taking our Lord's name in vain, and yet most of the church not only allows it but takes part in it.

The incredibly high attendance of Christmas Eve services across America and the acceptance of songs and shows and cards depicting Jesus shows that we all remember the reason for Christmas. But is remembering the reason enough when we celebrate the traditions. We hold on to Christ as the reason, but we venerate and worship the pagan traditions by celebrating them with obsession and passion unmatched in any church tradition.

So what? What's the reason for this incredibly long and depressing post? How can I trash family traditions and come down so harshly on people that just long to spread the joy of the season? Firstly, I would like everybody to know where I'm coming from when I give the quick reply of "I hate Christmas."

Secondly, I would like to encourage Christians everywhere to rethink the Christmas holiday. Maybe for you that means less time shopping and more time studying the Word of God. Maybe for you it means less money spent on Christmas lights and more time helping your neighbor put up his. Maybe for you it means visiting family around the holidays is a time for prayer and Spiritual fellowship than a time for gluttony or drunkenness. Maybe it means throwing out old traditions that worship our new American pagan gods of Materialism and Pluralism and embracing new traditions that seek to understand and promote the meaning of Christ's birth within the Gospel. Maybe for you it means passing on traditions to your children that move Christ from simply the reason for the season to the worship of the season. Please consider how you can remember and enjoy the Gospel this month by reinventing Christmas in your home. Make this season an important part of your mission to glorify Christ, instead of another year of simply using Him as a reason for worldly living. I pray that Christ can be honored and glorified in the way we celebrate Christmas this year and that the world may have their "Happy Holidays" while we have our "Merry Christmas."

Jesus Christ: Handrail, Escalator, or Elevator?

"What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." -Acts 17:23-25

My wife-to-be is slightly dyslexic and has had trouble in the past going up and down stairs. She shows great coordination in the rest of her activities, but can't seem to master the stairs. It has become a point of humor between us when she simply misses a step or can't decide between landing on the next step or the one after it. It is also enjoyable watching her calculate when to step onto an escalator. Certainly, I don't want her to get hurt or embarrassed, so when I'm with her around stairs, I reach out my hand or hold onto her shoulders to help her make it up or down. Sometimes, especially when she's tired, she will grab my hand extra tight or lean on my shoulders to make sure she gets to the next floor safely. However, at other times her hand simply rests in my hand and I feel less than needed.

Let's imagine for a moment that salvation is the stairway from the depravity of mankind to the glory of Heaven. Sometimes in our lives, we treat Christ as the handrail. Surely we hold onto Him with a firm grip and when we can't make it on our own, we pull ourselves up with Christ. Jesus as the handrail provides that fire insurance in our lives and that security blanket. Times get tough or our sanctification is slow going, but we hold onto Jesus to keep from slipping back down until we can muster the strength to keep climbing the stairs. We say to the Son of God, "Look at me! I can almost make it on my own. With Your help and sacrifice on the cross, I'll be able to make it to the top." How insulting! Christ's work on the cross does not pick up where we leave off. Our sinful nature prohibits any attempt to make it to God on our own, even with a little bit of Jesus thrown in.

So maybe you've figured it out. Maybe you've already concluded that you must stop using Jesus and the Gospel simply as a handrail in your life. Maybe you've already finished my analogy, "I know, Jesus is more like an escalator. Only through His work on the cross can I find complete redemption. It is also my responsibility to climb the salvation escalator while it moves to add my part to my sanctification." Wrong! Jesus Christ is not our escalator. This is as insulting as putting Jesus as our handrail. Not only does Jesus not pick up where we leave off, we also do not pick up where Jesus leaves off. This would assume the mindset shared among the Areopagus of Athens in Acts 17. "Nor is He served by human hands, as though he needed anything." We cannot add to our salvation or impress God with our speed of sanctification. It is the Lord of heaven and earth that gives to us life and breath and everything. Our sinful nature prohibits any attempt to make it to God on our own, even while riding the grace of the Gospel.

Instead, Jesus Christ is our elevator. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the beginning, middle, and end. He is the Alpha and Omega. Nothing we do can add to our salvation or impress God with the hard work we put into our sanctification. Instead, once we are placed on the elevator of Christ's redeeming work on the cross, we are freed to respond with a life of obedience to our Creator and Savior. We no longer need to focus on gripping the handrail and pulling ourselves up the stairs. We no longer need to focus on not tripping on the escalator or running up the already moving stairs. We are completely and fully saved by God's grace in Christ. Then we can focus on responding with a life of worshipful obedience. The slavery to worry is gone, the joy in service grows, our love deepens. The people of God are freed to glorify our Savior Jesus Christ to the fullest when we realize this beautiful message of grace every day.

Reflect First, Produce Later

This is my fourth week working with BPSM. So far, my time here has not been uneventful. I've been on two weekend retreats, one service project, many dinners, a couple youth groups, a parachurch organization meeting, and experienced many important church issues arise. I like to think I'm working hard. Other people compliment me for working hard. I'm a hard worker, what can I say? But is working hard and being busy a compliment for a youth pastor? Let me point you to a quote from a pastoral icon among Presbyterians:


"The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers, and the shops they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns–how to keep the customers happy, how to lure customers away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money.
"Some of them are very good shopkeepers. While asleep they dream of the kind of success that will get the attention of journalists.
"The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered before God week after week in towns and villages all over the world. The Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them. In these communities of sinners, one of the sinners is called pastor and given a designated responsibility in the community. The pastor’s responsibility is to keep the community attentive to God. It is this responsibility that is being abandoned in spades." (Eugene Peterson, 1989)


It does not help my students, it does not help my church if I am respected for being busy. If I hold on to the mindset that the more I do, the better Youth Pastor I am, the destructive effects will be evidenced soon enough. Certainly the events that I plan and the people I meet with are very important to my ministry as a youth pastor. However, I must keep in mind that a pastor is to be reflective first, and productive second.

The result of that will be a pastor that is in the Word before he gives the Word. I cannot give if I have not received. I cannot teach if I have not learned. The result of that will be a pastor that can lead by example because He's following the great and prime example, Jesus Christ. The result will be a pastor humbled by his sin, drenched in God's saving grace, and eagerly awaiting glorification. Only with an ever-expanding and ever-deepening view of this beautiful and scandalous gospel can I clearly communicate through word and deed the riches of God's amazing love and mercy toward the students of BPSM.

So I pray that I can be a reflective pastor. I pray that I can keep my Sabbath (currently Mondays) holy, set apart for resting in God. I pray that I can reflect first and plan later, meditate then innovate, be still then be busy. The great reformer, Martin Luther, described this ideal in a quote, "I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer." I hope that I can be that type of pastor by God's grace and for His glory. Pray how you can help your pastor accomplish this as well. More importantly, pray that you can also be a Christian that reflects upon the greatness of our God and the preciousness of the Gospel before you busy yourself with being a Christian.

God's Ark

"The LORD said in his heart, 'I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.'"

-Genesis 8:21-22

This past weekend I enjoyed an awesome time on the Lawrence County Youth Ministry Fall Retreat. It was a good time of worshipping and learning and connecting and growing. BPSM was represented by nine students who enjoyed Splash Lagoon, food, and hanging out with friends. The theme of the weekend was H20, and the teachings revolved around passages in Scripture about water, such as "The Woman at the Well," "Jesus Walks on Water," and "Noah's Ark." It was this last one that got me thinking about a story all Christians are told from the time they're young children. We know this story inside and out. It's been turned into countless children's books and movies. It's been compared to the myths of other cultures and its been analyzed for its historical veracity. But are we missing the point? Have we remained too shallow in our study of this ancient story? Have we pulled this Scripture out of the context of the storyline of the Bible?

As I heard the lesson taught on Sunday, I recounted numerous occasions where I heard the story of how God was sorry He created mankind and commanded Noah to build a big boat to save him and his family from the total destruction God was about to deliver to the wicked people of the earth. God would wipe out every living creature from the earth except eight humans, seven of each clean animal and two of every unclean animal. The flood waters rose and destroyed every animal and man that roamed the earth. After a little over a year, the waters receded and Noah's family and all the animals on the ark were able to step back onto land and repopulate the earth.

Now that we remember what happened, we can ask "Why did it happen?" Most people would read the first nine chapters of Scripture and suggest that God was simply correcting a mistake He had made. Maybe God messed up in creating man and forgot to account for the entrance of sin into the world. Maybe Satan had won in the first millenium of creation and God had to start the battle over by using the flood to reboot. However, this does not sound like the sovereign God I have come to know and love throughout the rest of Scripture. So why?

Certainly God had allowed sin to enter and overtake the world He had created. He had planned for the flood to wipeout mankind before He even created mankind. Why? To point to and glorify Christ. Was Noah so good that God couldn't condemn him to death? Most definitely not. Not long after the flood, his sons find him drunk, passed out, and naked in his tent. Why Noah? Because he found favor with God; God chose him. It was by faith as Hebrews 11 tells us that Noah obeyed God. And this faith is a gift from God as Ephesians 2 tells us. So it was God's grace that covered the sins of Noah and his family with the blood of Christ so that they could be saved from the damnation the rest of the world faced. It is by God's grace that He covers us with the blood of Christ to be saved from the full extent of His wrath. In the first nine chapters of Scripture, God is already pointing to the beautiful picture of salvation found in Christ. Jesus Christ is the ark that saves us, pulls us out of God's wrath and into His kingdom. Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must die and be born again in order to see the kingdom of God. The flood is the earliest and most immense picture of this rebirth. And God declares rebirth to be the normal cycle in the world in Genesis 8:22 (above) in an effort to point to Christ and the resurrection he delivers to us by his death and resurrection. Amazing! Amen!

So as the winter draws near and the leaves fall from the trees and animals go into hibernation, as the harvest is complete and the ground dies in the cold weather, let us not forget the death of our Savior, Christ Jesus to atone for the penalty of our sins. And as we see Springtime rebirth in a few months, let us remember the resurrection Christ offers to our mortal bodies to free us from the power of sin. May the entirety of Scripture and the whole of creation constantly point us to beauty and glory of Christ, our Lord and Savior.

BPSM = Bethel Presbyterian Student Ministries

I am the new Youth Pastor of BPSM, the student ministry by Christ, through Christ, and for Christ at Bethel Presbyterian Church of Enon Valley, PA. This past weekend we enjoyed Disciple Now 2011. It was 48 hours of learning and living the simple and exciting vision of BPSM, pictured and explained below.

THE SCRIPTURE- "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:18-19).


THE POINT- Discipleship is what we're all about.


THE SHAPE- The logo is in the shape of a popular symbol in Christianity. Three distinct semicircles created by one line and sharing in one essence is the symbol of our Triune Godhead. We are disciples of the Trinity as described in Matthew 28, "the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."

THE VISION- BPSM exists to see students grow as disciples by ENCOUNTERING CHRIST, CONNECTING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, and SERVING TO GLORIFY THE FATHER.

• ENCOUNTER CHRIST- Hebrews 12:1-2. This is the foundation of everything and the starting point of BPSM. Individually and corporately, encountering Christ, by grace, through faith, in the Gospel, is essential to becoming and being a disciple. It means we are getting rid of weights and sins so we can run the race with our eyes fixed on Christ, the beginning, middle and end of our salvation. What does this look like? Individually, it means we get into Scripture, pray without ceasing, and obey God's Word in response to the Gospel. Corporately, it is the basis for our youth group on Sunday nights from 630p-8p, during which we'll worship Christ by singing, praying, and teaching from God's Word.
• CONNECTING IN THE SPIRIT- Ephesians 4:1-16. After we have realized our calling in Christ, evidence of that should be in our desire to connect with other disciples. Because we are all of "one Spirit," we connect in humility and patience, teaching and encouraging one another to grow in Christ. The Spirit is the example, the power, and the result of the body of Christ connecting in truth and love. What does this look like? Informally, it means students are closest to other disciples of Christ, encourage one another in their walk with Christ, and are committed to living life with the church. Formally, it means students can join flexible "Discipleship Groups" or "D-groups," only out of desire, expecting commitment and openness, in order to become more like Christ. 
• SERVING TO GLORIFY THE FATHER- Matthew 5:14-16. After we have encountered the beauty of the Gospel of Christ and unified together as a body with Christ at the head, it is only natural that a body be serving others. Good works are not a requirement of our salvation, but they are a logical outcome of the Gospel-changed heart. Serving the church (I Peter 4:10-11) and serving the community (James 1:27) are the good works that characterize the body of Christ and the light that "gives glory to your Father who is in Heaven" (Mat. 5:16). Hopefully our good works glorify the Father and give others the desire to encounter Christ for themselves. What does this look like? Students will have many opportunities to serve the church by getting involved in different ministries inside the youth group and outside the youth group. Students will have opportunities to serve the community through monthly service projects organized by BPSM, such as serving at a food bank, raking leaves, cleaning up public areas, etc.

THE CENTER- Christ Jesus. Romans 11:36. Philippians 1:20-26. Colossians 1:15-20. Hebrews 1:1-4. Revelation 1:4-8. And many more. It is the ultimate desire of BPSM and the center around which everything else revolves, that in everything we are Christo-centric. He is the center of God's purpose in creation and the point of our lives on earth. He is our Savior and our King. He is our joy and our only boast. He is the reason, the strength and the purpose in all we do. BPSM exists by, through and for Christ Jesus because He alone is worthy.

The Fashion of Christ

This is my second day living on my own, and while I sorely miss my fiance, I am getting used to being the only person in the house. Quite frankly, I'm enjoying decorating how I want (which means no decorations at all), stocking the house with the food I want, and a bathroom all to myself (which is nice coming from a house with three sisters). However, I eagerly await marriage and the arrival of my bride into the house, which would mean a much more pleasant house, cooked food, and a clean bathroom. As I've already been told, it will also mean a much more fashionable Greg. She plans on picking out my clothes each day to avoid my favorite matching schemes, such as stripes and plaid, white and off-white, sneakers with dress pants, and checkered pants with anything. I understand I'm not the most fashionable guy, so I will gladly accept her choosing my clothes. However, this does not completely take away my responsibility in clothing myself, I'm a guy, not a child. I will still be putting the clothes on.

Lately, I've been finding much pleasure in seeing Christ and the beauty of the Gospel in the minor prophets. Such has been the case today in the book of Zechariah. The book cries out for a Savior from the line of David, "On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness" (Zech. 13:1). Chapter 3 contains a beautiful picture of that cleansing fountain, which we now know as Christ's cleansing blood.

Zechariah 3:1-10 tells the story of Zechariah's vision of Joshua the High Priest being clothed by the angel of the LORD. I challenge you to place your name in the blanks in the story to see how wonderfully redeemed and saved you are from God's wrath...

There he was, ___________ standing before the angel of the LORD, who most believe to be Jesus Christ. _____________ looked terrified and confused as Satan, the accuser, the full manifestation of God's wrath, stood at his right accusing him of all the sins he's ever committed. But then the Most High God silenced Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen ___________ rebuke you!" It wasn't hard for Satan to accuse ___________, because he was wearing filthy clothes with his sins written all over them. Originally white, they now had every single inch covered in the sins and filth of his lifetime. After God silenced Satan, the angel of the LORD commanded angels to remove the filthy, sin-covered garments from _______'s body. Then the angel of the LORD declared, "I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments." The angels removed the filthy garments and clothed him in pure garments from head to toe. With this transformation, ___________ is encouraged to follow Christ with access to the courts of Heaven.

It is beautiful picture of the Gospel. May we never forget that we cannot even put on the righteous garments, but it is the work of Christ that saves us from the accusations and wrath. We echo the praise Isaiah sings to God, "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10). Amen!

Thank You and Farewell, GBC

The following is my address to the body of Christ at Grace Bible Church on my final Sunday fellowshipping with them:

"I would like to take a quick minute to say thank you and farewell to my church family. I started attending grace at 9 months old. I wasn't dedicated here, however my mom informed me that Mrs. Culbertson came over to welcome our family to Grace and I christened here by throwing up all over her.

"But in the baby dedication we do as a church family, we promise to allow God to work through this community, the body of Christ, to raise a child in the fullness of the Gospel. I praise God, I thank God that by God's grace I am a product of that. Drowned in the love and unity of Grace Bible and surrounded by the Gospel. So many of you have played a part in that and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. God through all of you has made me who I am today.

"Galatians 6:2 tells us to "bear one anothers burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." You have borne my burdens many times. Maybe more so, you have borne my parents burdens by watching me and teaching me and loving me throughout my life.

"I love this place, but I love this church even more. This building is awesome, this organization does some good stuff. But that is not the church. You are the church. And I am a product of God working through the church to further His gospel, make known Christ, and promote His kingdom throughout the earth. Thank you so much for everything. I envy your prayers as I move forward, and know that you all will be in mine. Thank you."

I will certainly miss Grace Bible Church after 22 years of sharing in their fellowship. I am only beginning to understand the full impact God has had on my life through the body at GBC. I will most likely see many of my brothers and sisters from GBC again. If not on Earth, then once again fellowshipping and worshipping our Savior in that wonderful eternity. And it may not be until then that they and I realize how God has used that community to impact my life and the world for the glory of Jesus Christ. 

Farewell, Grace Bible Church.

The Gospel in Micah

"But as for me, I will look to the LORD;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
the LORD will be a light to me.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD
because I have sinned against him,
until He pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication."
Micah 7:7-9

Over the past several days, I've been chewing my way through the wonderful and obscure book of Micah. The Holy Spirit has indeed been lighting my way. What a beautiful picture of the Gospel this minor prophet has presented in seven short chapters! Jesus Christ could not be any clearer in these pages of Scripture. Below, I would like to list some verses from Micah that demonstrate how the people of Israel were longing for a Savior, much greater than any man, in whom they would find the following things. We find all of these and more in Christ as well, as shown in the New Testament verses in parentheses.

-1:6 Jesus Christ is our foundation (I Cor. 3:11)
-2:10 Jesus Christ is our rest (Heb. 4)
-2:13 Jesus Christ is our conquering king (Rev. 19:11-16)
-3:6 Jesus Christ is our light (II Cor. 4:6)
-3:9-12 Jesus Christ is our head (Col. 1:18)
-4:2 Jesus Christ is the way (John 14:6)
-4:2 Jesus Christ is the word (John 1:1-4, 14)
-4:3-4 Jesus is our peace (John 14:27)
-4:9 Jesus Christ is our counselor (Heb. 4:15)
-4:10 Jesus Christ is our redeemer (Titus 2:13-14)
-5:4 Jesus Christ is our shepherd (John 10:11)
-6:8 Jesus Christ is our kindness (Titus 3:4)
-6:8 Jesus Christ is our justice (I John 2:2)
-6:8 Jesus Christ is our humility (Phil. 2:3-8)
-6:14 Jesus Christ is our satisfaction (John 6:35)
-7:7 (above) Jesus Christ is our salvation (Titus 2:11)
-7:9 (above) Jesus Christ is our advocate (I John 2:1)

How awesome is our Savior! Christ certainly is our everything. As the people of Israel heard and read the book Micah had presented to them, the longing in their hearts must have been overwhelming, "I will wait for the God of my salvation." As their foundations were laid bare, as their heads were chopped off, as immorality and injustice prevailed in a peaceless land, those that avoided despair did so by waiting on the Lord. How much more we find in Christ now that He has appeared and provided the way. That much more our hearts should be overwhelmed to respond to the great Gospel through worship, obedience, fellowship and sharing, all in eager expectation to live eternally with Him.

God, by Your grace, give us this patient overflowing, this anxious and abundant response.

Pandamonium!

This week is Vacation Bible School for Grace Bible Church. Many consider it to be the best week of the year. Indeed, it is a great time of fun and learning for 150 children and all of the volunteers involved. Games involving water, the banana song, screaming at the top of your lungs, food in cool shapes, hanging with friends and hanging on leaders... is there a morning that could be more exciting for 5-12 years olds?

My involvement for the past few years has consisted of teaching the Wild Bible Adventures and leading the opening and closing. Every year seems to be more and more of a drag. The lessons provided by the publisher are Biblical, but inadequate. Although parents would prefer that moralistic and Christian values lessons be taught to their children, the children need something greater--they need Christ.

So how is a panda, like myself, supposed to convey the message of the Gospel through a curriculum that includes lessons such as, "God made you," "God listens to you," "God watches over you," "God loves you no matter what," and "God gives good gifts?" Of course, some altering of the curriculum is necessary. But even after that, do these children understand the glories of Christ's substitutionary atonement? Can these children truly know the majesty of the Gospel when they can barely tie their velcro shoes? What is the purpose of the Gospel message at VBS in the context of Reformed theology? Plenty of questions requires plenty of answers, which I shall attempt below.

While the Gospel is wider and deeper than we can ever imagine, Jesus Himself proclaims that His kingdom belongs to individuals such as children (Matthew 19:14). Indeed, it is upon the precious and simple minds of children that the Gospel should find its most glorious home. However, the dangerous path many VBS and Children's Ministry leaders take is to hide some of the unappealing aspects of the Gospel. I would then argue that we are no longer teaching the Gospel. If we are to present the beautiful Gospel to children, we must bravely present the ugliness of sin and the reality of God's wrath, as well as the atonement of Christ and the submission to His will of the regenerated heart.

But when it comes down to it, we can only present the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot make them believe it. The arrogance in me gets frustrated daily at this fact. However, it is a wonderful and freeing concept that God's sovereignty is in control throughout the process. As my lovely wife-to-be puts it, "Present the whole Gospel, and let God take it from there." So while I sweat in a panda suit this week, I pray that I can present the entirety of the Gospel to these children. I also pray that the Holy Spirit would blow through Grace Bible Church as the Father pleases, allowing the seeds of the Gospel to take root in the young lives in attendance this week. In that way, Christ receives all the glory. Amen.

Welcome

Welcome to Gregarious, the blog by Gregory Aydt, for the glory of Christ. If you’ve found your way to this website, you most likely know me personally. It is my hope and prayer that my passion for Jesus Christ would be supremely manifest in my life as well as this web log. With my first post, I’d like to introduce myself, give purpose to the blog, and hand over the glory to the Most High for both.

At the time of this post, I am in my twenty-second year of life, grateful for the grace to make it thus far on this earth. Also by the grace of God, I believe wholeheartedly in the gospel as a result of the Holy Spirit’s regenerating work in my soul. I pray that Jesus would never be a part of my life, but the He would consume my entire life. As well, I pray that I would never be part of a church, but would be able to be the church as Christ commands. This glorious desire to be the church leads me to the nomenclature of this blog.

gre·gar·i·ous
adjective
1. fond of the company of others; sociable.
2. living in flocks or herds, as animals.

Indeed, I am by nature an extrovert and therefore “fond of the company of others.” However, I also recognize the need for the people of God to be living in a community. Described as sheep in Isaiah 53 and Luke 15, we should desire to “herd” together for the glory of Christ. As well, there is no doubt my choice of this word is humorously intended as a play on my name.

If I am to be gregarious as a disciple of Christ, if we are to congregate together as a herd of sheep with Christ as the saving and guiding Shepherd, the gospel must be central to our cause and Christ must be the recipient of all the glory. So with this blog, I pray that it will be a medium by which I can submit truths gleaned from the Word of God and experienced in my life to other followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is for His glory and His honor, it is for the fame of His name that I purpose this blog and handover the credit henceforth to my majestic and sovereign God above all.