Wesley Sermon #18

THE GREAT PRIVILEGE OF THE BORN-AGAIN

“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin”

(1 John 3:9)

It is the great privilege of the children of God that they are freed from the power of sin. The new birth changes us so fundamentally that ‘whosoever is born of God… doesn’t sin.’ This Scriptural statement, however, has resulted in much confusion. I shall clarify both parts.

To be born of God is to experience drastic change (that is why ‘birth’ is an apt analogy). Previous to birth, the child has little to no awareness of his/her dependence on the world around them, but once born they begin to experience life in that world. So, too, with us. The new birth allows us to experience life in God.

What better privilege than power over sin? Those who are born of God do not sin! By sin, I mean a voluntary transgression of a known law of God. By do not, I mean that while they remain in step with God, they never sin. It is possible to fall out of step with God, but it is impossible to stay in step and sin.

David and Peter are good examples of godly men who fell out of step with God. David was a man after God’s own heart, but when temptation came he fell out of step with God and sinned. Peter was a Spirit-filled Apostle of Christ, but he, too, gave way to temptation. When we fail to stay in step with God, our faith fails. And when our faith fails, all sin is possible. So… stay in step with the Lord!

Wesley Sermon #17

THE MARKS OF THE NEW BIRTH

So is everyone that is born of the Spirit (John 3:8)

I propose to lay down the marks of the new birth in the plainest manner, just as I find them laid down in Scripture. The marks of the new birth are faith, hope, and love.

Faith is the foundational mark of the new birth. By faith we do not mean mere assent to the proposition ‘Jesus is the Christ,’ but also a disposition of the heart. It is a rejection of the flesh and an active trust in Christ. It yields power over sin, so that whoever is born of God does not commit sin. It also yields peace which passes understanding.

There is such a thing as false hope, but true hope is a mark of having been born again. This is the assurance of salvation. The Spirit bears witness that we are, indeed, children of God. Present sufferings cannot destroy such hope.

The greatest of these marks is love. Primarily, this is a love for God, but this produces a love for all people (neighbors and supposed enemies). We are willing to die for them. This love exists, first and foremost, in the heart. But if plays out in actions towards God and people.

Each of us knows if we are presently experiencing this faith, this hope, and this love. Is this your present experience? If so, you bear the marks of new birth.

Anabaptizing The Wesleyan Church

I'm an ordained Wesleyan minister. But let's be honest... a lot of that is happenstance. Soon after their conversions, my parents started attending the local Wesleyan church. That was almost 30 years ago. I'm still there. I love my home church. And I love The Wesleyan Church (TWC). Almost a decade ago I read through this handbook of denominations and determined that TWC was my 2nd favorite denomination behind only the Church of God (Anderson, IN). 2nd place out of so many is pretty great. In other words, nobody should interpret this blog-post as an anti-Wesleyan Church rant. I love my branch of Christianity and have every intention of spending the remainder of my earthly life there.

That being said, I do think The Wesleyan Church needs a bit more Anabaptism in its blood. Over the last decade I've become a lot more Anabaptist in my theology/doctrine. But I don't think TWC should become more Anabaptist because I did. I think TWC should become more Anabaptist for its own sake (surviving post-Christendom) and for Jesus' sake.

One of the go-to places to discover the basic elements of Anabaptism is the Schleitheim Confession. It lists 7 core convictions of Anabaptists:

1. Believer's Baptism
For the most part, Anabaptism has already won the day on this front in TWC. It is my impression that MOST (not all) Wesleyan pastors either highly prefer or exclusively practice only believer's baptism (as opposed to infant baptism). That being said, I definitely do sense a movement within TWC arguing FOR infant baptism. And, of course, that argument goes right back to John Wesley himself. Recently I've been leading a group through 60 of Mr. Wesley's sermons. One thing I've found is that Wesley seems to have had an intense internal debate about the practice. He was beholden to his (infant baptizing) tradition while hating some of its results. I'm not suggesting that we end the debate, but I do feel strongly about believer's baptism.

2. The Ban (Church Discipline)
Church discipline is in The Discipline, but it is generally not in the churches. Of course, it's super difficult to do church discipline in a culture where people can (and do) just change churches upon their first grievance. But I wholly believe that we need to find some way to discipline (in love) members who are falling away from the faith.

3. The Lord's Supper
Now, here's proof that I'm not just following Anabaptism step for step. In my readings of Wesley sermons, I really enjoyed his take on communion. He seemed open to anyone who was taking a step toward Christ participating in the sacrament. It was truly a means of grace (maybe even saving grace) for Wesley. Anabaptists seem more adamant that participants must be saved & baptized believers. I'll side with my understanding of Wesley here.

4. Separation
This is the area that stands behind my motivation for posting this today. It seems that lately (maybe its because I just attended a conference with Bruxy Cavey, Greg Boyd, and Brian Zahnd) I can't help but seeing as ugly the blending of church & state in America. Often, our local church are more passionate about patriotism than the Kingdom of God. Anabaptists, rightfully in my opinion, see themselves as a counter-cultural movement. I get the impression, however, that TWC sees itself much more as a para-culture ministry. I'll give one example. Today I was on the Wesleyan Pastor's page (Facebook) and found out that a number of pastors would be unwilling to marry a couple that didn't want a state license, but would have no problem recognizing a couple as married that did the whole deal before a secular judge. Something is backwards here! I'm not sure if we've nationalized our faith... or faithified our patriotism. I think all Wesleyan pastors should read this post from the Dean of Wesley Seminary.

5. Pastors
The Schleitheim Confession speaks of the importance of pastors. I don't think there's too much difference, here, between Anabaptists and TWC. I'm probably different from both of them. I feel like the ideal situation for any pastor would be to work their way out of a job! But that's another blog post.

6. The Sword
I don't anticipate the peace-making position to become a majority view within TWC. Personally, I don't believe Christians should participate in violence. I believe we are called to play a different role in conflict (prayerful peace-makers). But I try to be a realist. TWC isn't an Anabaptist denomination. It is enough, for me, that it allows those with Anabaptist convictions in its ranks (and promises to support them in their convictions). But I long for the day when we, as TWC, actually have confidence in the power of sacrifice. I long for the day when I stop hearing Wesleyans say things like 'Just nuke em.' I long for the day that when we talk about 'our' response... it's not the response of the nation that we have in mind... but the response Jesus wants to make through the church.

7. The Oath
Anabaptists are against taking oaths. TWC is against secret oaths. Close enough. This post is getting pretty long and I don't feel passionately enough about this issue to make a big deal out of this point.

To summarize, I feel that the Anabaptist tradition raises important issues for Wesleyans to consider. They make strong arguments for believer's baptism, the practice of church discipline, viewing the church as a radical counter-culture, and the peace-making position. These are all areas that I think TWC needs to seriously consider in order to survive in post-Christendom and, even more importantly, in order to be faithful to Jesus Christ.

I have no desire to leave The Wesleyan Church for an Anabaptist denomination, but I have every intention to bring these beautiful and powerful elements of the Anabaptist tradition more and more into The Wesleyan Church.

Modern Sitcom Top Ten

It's time to update my modern sitcom top 10 list. The criteria here is that the show has to be a half-hour situational comedy no older than Cheers. This was a hard list to make and many quality shows had to be left out. I originally made this list in 2012, so this is just an update.


Changes:
1. Arrested Development passes Coupling into 4th place
2. How I Met Your Mother jumps from 10th to 7th
3. Parks & Rec jumps Friends, but stays in 8th

10. 30Rock
I liked this show quite a bit, but I don't think it'll last forever on this list. It's barely on the list now as I debate shows like Scrubs and NewsRadio. Even still, Tracy Morgan's character is really funny in this, to me, for some reason.

9. Friends
Friends drops 2 spots in this most recent update. I know a lot of people love it and it was certainly one of my favorite shows for a couple of years. It had a good run and plenty of funny lines, a decent storyline, and a good cast. It is possible, I suppose, that a fresh viewing could secure its spot in the top 10 forever.

8. Parks and Rec. still has the potential to move up a little bit on this list. I think the Andy character is hilarious. Of course, if the show gets lame it could lose a couple spots and be left off the list. Along with Arrested Development, it is the only current show currently on my list.

7. How I Met Your Mother
On my previous list, I had this show at #10. I was only in the midst of watching the 2nd season. After finishing the show, I have moved it to #7 overall. I really enjoyed the characters and the running jokes. Somehow they were able to make the storyline last for a decade.

6. Cheers
Like Friends, Cheers makes number 6 largely out of respect. Yes, it's a great show, but I also value the role that it played in changing television. I think Cheers really prompted a new era of sitcom. The cast on this show was great. Few shows can change leading ladies and survive. They also switched bartenders pretty successfully. I liked the squabbles with Gary's Old Town Tavern a lot.

5. Coupling
This is a BBC show. It's like Friends in a lot of ways, but more obsessed with sexual humor. I just found it so well written and cast. It'll be hard for any current shows to reach this level in my book, so Coupling's spot in my top 10 is pretty safe for a while I think.

4. Arrested Development
This is a very different kind of show, but in a good way. I don't think nearly as many people have seen this show than the others on the list. It has a lot of re-watch-ability in my opinion b/c of the fast paced humor. Netflix brought this show back in an interesting and impressive way, pushing it to the 4th spot... but it'll be next to impossible to climb higher.

3. Frasier
Frasier is not so much laugh out loud funny as it is just downright clever. Well crafted, I cared about the characters in Frasier more than those of any other show on this list. It wasn't just a comedy; it actually said something about life sometimes. But that's not to take away from how funny it was.

2. The Office
The Office (US version) was well on its way to claiming the top spot, but then it faded pretty fast and has only sometimes recovered with a good episode here or there. The first 3 or 4 seasons were pure comedy gold. Almost every episode was classic and quotable. Later episodes were hit or miss. The final season, in my opinion, saw the show regain its footing to secure 2nd place.

1. Seinfeld
Seinfeld wins the top spot. Jerry, George, Elaine, Kramer and friends took a little while to develop great chemistry, but then kept it for season after season. It really was a show about nothing, but at the same time it was about people interacting with all their idiosyncrasies. The last season wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either. This show contained too many great quotes and moments not to be first.

Wesley Sermon #16

THE NEW BIRTH

Ye must be born again (John 3:7)

The ‘new birth’ is a fundamental doctrine. It is of great importance that we understand why we must be born again, how we are born again, and to what end we are born again.

Why must we be born again? Though people were made in the image of God, they were not made immutable. Humanity fell and died (spiritually). From this dead state each individual must be re-born (again, spiritually).

How does this happen? Certainly we can’t fully grasp how this new birth occurs, but we at least accept what Scripture says. At the new birth, God changes the person inwardly. The person is now equipped with the mind of Christ and the presence of the Spirit.

To what end? The new birth begins a process, a hike toward holiness… a path to perfection. Without heading in this direction, one has no hope of salvation. The ‘end’ toward which the new birth points is readiness for heaven, holiness of heart, happiness of life.

In case there is confusion on this point, the sacrament of baptism is not synonymous with the new birth. The former is an outward symbol, the latter the inward reality. It is possible to have the former and not the latter. Be you baptized or unbaptized, you MUST be born again.