John 6:60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone egives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” 68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

Have you ever come to a place where you wanted to say, “Let me off. I’m done?”

Maybe you were in a car with an 88 year old driver who shouldn’t have been driving anywhere, much less down an interstate.

Maybe you were about to get on an amusement park ride that you really didn’t want to ride. [Continue reading]

I told my son-in-law (who teaches/preaches with me at the ministry where we serve) that I believe we are dealing with more atheistic students this year than ever before. What’s encouraging to me is that I am hearing from them, and some are asking questions.

Several Christian students have been part of these dialogues and it has led to one of the most basic and inevitable questions you will ever get when you do student ministry.

Today, after I finished preaching, a girl came to me with this question. I’ll try to preserve her diction:

“Mr. Spencer, you know there are atheists, people who believe in Mary and Muslims. Many different beliefs. And there are people who believe the world is going to come to an end. If the world were to end, would all of these people who are not Christians go to heaven or hell?” [Continue reading]

Fr. Ernesto pointed out that I had used the word “proscribe” wrongly throughout the original post. I appreciate that correction, and edited several sentences that might ease the stress of a few readers who may have taken my wrong use of the word to mean I was denouncing all fasting. Thanks Fr. E.

Yesterday’s post of “A New Covenant Lent” garnered considerable strong reaction, particularly criticizing my reading of the Bible regarding fasting. While I’m not very excited about the strange suggestion that I’m preaching a false message of American individualism, I welcome the critical interaction. It sends me back to the scriptures for further consideration and examination of my fundamental point: all old covenant practices (or all practices initiated in the old covenant era, if that’s helpful) should only be continued with a new covenant, Christ-exalting, Gospel centered meaning.

With the assistance of my Accordance program, I looked at every mention of the words fast, fasts, fasted, and fasting. I examined the major passages where the topic of fasting is expanded upon, especially Isaiah 58:1-14.

Here are some of my conclusions and observations.

1. Fasting in the old covenant is almost always conceived of and described as either a corporate act of repentance, with official proclamation within the authority structure of the nations of Israel and Judah, or as an individual action closely tied to prayer, repentance or demonstration of grief. [Continue reading]

Galatians 3:15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. [Continue reading]

Before I talk about preaching, a bit of context for new readers.

1) In the course of my job, I hear, at minimum, 6 sermons a week. (Monday – Thursday, then two on Sunday.)
2) At least two of them, sometimes 3, are preached by me.
3) These sermons are preached to an audience of approximately 350, mostly students, fairly evenly divided between unbelievers and marginally professing Christians on the one hand, and fairly serious, committed believers on the other.
4) These sermons come from a Southern Baptist context and culture in regard to preaching.
5) The intended topics of these sermons vary widely, from textual exposition to moral exhortation to evangelism and apologetics to contributions to the culture war.
6) Before long, I will have preached my 3,000th sermon, so this is something I actually care about.
7) At this point in my life, mentoring preachers is important work for me.

It seems to me that most of the preachers I hear face three major obstacles regarding preaching itself. [Continue reading]

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Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

I’ve taught an adult Bible study here on our campus for the last 15 years. Right now we’re in the middle of Galatians, chapter 3.

I can’t read this paragraph without thinking about the “seeker sensitive” decision to attempt to create interest in Jesus through various kinds of felt needs. [Continue reading]

Oh. We’re not talking about interpreting the Bible? Well….I am, so deal.

I usually just don’t say anything when I hear Biblical interpretation leave the road and head for the ditches. But doggone it, there’s some fairly basic stuff here that could be very helpful to those of you who genuinely love the Bible.

So in no particular order.

1) Get a decent book on Biblical interpretation and read it. I don’t mean a Bible handbook or introduction. I mean a book on Biblical interpretation. So, even though you don’t need more books, I command you to purchase the following two volumes. (Used & Cheap. Fear not.)

Graham Goldsworthy, Gospel Centered Hermenuetics . [Continue reading]

One of the most popular methods used in Christian preaching and teaching today is taking a topic or text and presenting it as a list of principles.

I would like to briefly examine some of the “good” and “not so good” aspects of the practice of turning texts or topics into principles as the primary methodology for preaching.

What’s “Good” about the preaching of principles? [Continue reading]

Job 10:1 “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
3 Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands
and favor the designs of the wicked?
4 Have you eyes of flesh?
Do you see as man sees?
5 Are your days as the days of man,
or your years as a man’s years, [Continue reading]

Two questions that are crucial to anyone studying and teaching scripture in a Jesus-shaped, Jesus centered way:

What would I have thought if I were there when Jesus taught, did miracles, engaged in conversations, meals, etc.?

What do the same events and words mean now that I have the entire Bible to bring all of scripture to bear on the same words and events? [Continue reading]

“Now – here is my secret:
I tell it to you with an openness of heart
that I doubt I shall ever achieve again,
so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words.
My secret is that I need God –
that I am sick and can no longer make it alone.
I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving;
to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness;
to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love”

- Life After God, Douglas Coupland, (p. 359) HT to Tim at Sacrosanct Gospel

Did you ever wonder why Jesus didn’t call anyone from the religious establishment or extant established religious movements to be one of his disciples? I think I’m starting to see it more clearly, both in the gospels and in my own experience. [Continue reading]

I’ve been in a verse-by-verse study of I and II Timothy this year with several other men on our staff. We had an interesting discussion on this passage and its application in various contexts.

II Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

You have to be careful what you say to an American Christian.

Paul is speaking in II Timothy 3 about the lessons Timothy has learned from watching Paul’s own ministry. One of those lessons was the certainty of persecution. [Continue reading]

In my preaching to students from all over the world and many different backgrounds, I am always looking for shorthand ways to communicate the Bible’s message.

For example, I’ve taught my students over the years to say “He (Jesus) lived a perfect life for us, and died a perfect death in our place.” I use this sentence over and over, hoping the Holy Spirit will use it to implant the essence of the Gospel into their memories and hearts.

I routinely talk about the Christian story as “Christmas, Good Friday, Easter and Pentecost,” using these four holidays as a way to talk about the major points of the New Testament message. We are invited into each one of these stories, often on several levels.

Recently, I’ve been using another shorthand reference that seems to be effective. In characterizing spiritual beliefs, I talk about “three stories.” [Continue reading]

The word “commandment” is one every first century Jew understood. God had made Adam in such a way that he was responsible to obey God’s commandments. The Ten Commandments were the law of God for his covenant people, expounded and expanded in the books of the law from Exodus through Deuteronomy.

It was the law of God that measured Israel’s covenant obedience. In the Psalms, the righteous man lives by, meditates on and obeys the commandments of God. The prophets convicted Israel and Judah of their failure to obey the law of God.

The Pharisees sought to center the life of an oppressed nation around the commandments of God, fencing the commandments with traditions of exacting, comprehensive obedience.

Jesus had taught that he did not come to do away with the commandments of God, but to fulfill them in himself. His teaching took the externals of covenant obedience and revealed their internal reality and authority. [Continue reading]

John 13:12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

The popular book UnChristian tells a story that most of us who work with young people already know: most young people in late high school and beyond have several highly negative views of Christianity. Growing up in a Christian home, attending church youth groups or campus ministries does a bit to temper this, but significant numbers of young people with these experiences in two have also concluded that Christians are shallow, narrow, over politicized, pushy, judgmental, specifically anti-homosexual and zealous for conversion.

These characteristics seem exaggerated, but unfortunately, they are often accurate. Many of those young people have experienced, painfully and personally, the truth that Christians take nothing quite so lightly as they do Jesus’ simple words “I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” [Continue reading]