October 2, 2014October 14, 2014 Peter Witkowski Apologetics, Pain & Suffering

Left Behind: The End Is Just The Beginning

With the bounce of a cheetah, I jumped out of bed and was out the door. Much to my despair, the rest of my family was not behind me. With my heart pounding, I banged on the hotel room door as the fire alarm seemingly blared louder and louder in the background. Knowing that safety was still six floors away, I wanted all of us to start our descent as quickly as possible. Nothing scared my little soul more than the possibility of dying in a fire. The very idea of feeling my skin being cooked by a red, hot flame and of my throat being stuffed with scratchy smoke chilled me to the bone. The only thing scarier to me than expiring in a burning hotel was the thought of spending an eternity in the flames of hell. Although it turned out to be a false alarm, experiences like this always caused me pray a little more fervently for salvation.

Starting on this Friday, the Left Behind movie starring Nicholas Cage will inspire kids all across America to pray a little harder. The fear of losing a parent, of crashing into car, or of being the victim of senseless violence will resonate with many a small heart. And our kids should be scared of God’s wrath and of separation from his love and mercy. But, one of the downsides of Hollywood dramatizing God’s judgment is that little minds tend to forget God’s mercy even when it is given screen time. Left Behind will undoubtedly be spawn more nightmares than peaceful dreams of heaven. As parents, we always need to ready to balance the stories of God’s anger with the comforting hope of salvation.

As a child, I was truly afraid of judgment and ran around with a good deal of childhood angst. At times, I would ask God to save me for weeks on end. But nothing changed. I was still the snotty, little kid who loved himself to the point of annoying his older brother and disobeying his parents. I did not want to spend eternity in hell. But, I also was not all that excited about the possibility of spending an eternity with bunch old people singing out of my church’s hymnals. Fear did not lead me to love Jesus. I just realized heaven was the better (no eternal fire) of the two rather sullen options and was trying to get there.

What eventually brought me to Christ was the beauty of our savior. At the age of 14, I realized that by dying to my selfish desires, I would finally live. I no longer wanted a “get out-of-jail-free card.” I was no longer scared that the things of the world were passing away. Let them pass. I wanted Christ (I John 2:15-15). I loved Jesus and happily submitted to him.

Yes, salvation starts with an awareness of our sin. As Matt Chandler says,

Bad news is the backdrop against which the good news really shines – (Chandler & Snetzer, p. 12).

To preach Christ effectively to our kids, we must help them understand that they are sinners in need of savior. To some degree, I’m sure Left Behind will help us hammer home the truth of judgment with pervading force of the big screen. But, we must remember that this picture is only the beginning of the story. We should help our kids shift their graze from movie screen violence to the glories of heaven. We need to remind them of God’s grace and goodness. By his stripes we can be healed (I Peter 2:24). By his work on the cross, we can escape hell. But salvation is so much more than escape from punishment. It’s happiness, joy, hope, and the ability to be good, kind, and loving. It’s being with the God of the universe! Regardless of whether or not you allow your children see Left Behind this weekend, decide today to consistently show your kids both the ugliness of their sin and beauty of God’s mercy!

Works Cited

Chandler, M., & Snetzer, M. (2014). Recovering Redemption . Nashville: B&H Publishing .

April 24, 2014April 18, 2016 Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Keep It Growing: Part A

What Comes After Baptism?

As soon as the child bounces out of the baptistery his parents, Sunday School teachers, and friends breathe a sigh of relief. They have diligently taught the little, wet soul about sin, Jesus, and salvation wrought by the cross. And as the little guy dries off, his spiritual mentors prepare to move onto the next soul, leaving their former charge secure in the arms of Christ.

While this thinking that emphasizes evangelism to the point of neglecting discipleship has a host of complex sources ranging from “easy believism” to parents seeking heaven insurance, we can be sure it’s wrong. As Matthew 28:19-20 makes clear, baptism and a confession is not the end goal of the Christian’s life. Jesus commands us show others how “to observe all that I have commanded you.” Our charge to declare the beauty of the gospel has not ended. It has just started! J.D. Greear reminds us, “

Salvation is not a prayer you pray in a one-time ceremony and then move on from; salvation is a posture of repentance and faith that you begin in a moment and maintain for the rest of your life” (p. 5).

Because the Christian life is a life time commitment, our commitment to declare truth to the next generation never ends. We are to disciple our children (Psalm 76). Let’s keep them growing in the faith!

What Is Discipleship

Like a New York Times best seller, the word “Discipleship” has been steadily clanking up the list of well used Christianese terms. But tossing around a word inside the church fellowship hall does not mean we understand what the term means. Let’s take a New York minute and see what discipleship is.

Unlike many Christian phrases adopted by the church to make it ridiculously confusing to outsiders, the terms “disciple,” “discipleship,” or “disciple-making” actually appear on the pages of scripture 281 times. Jesus defines the concept in Luke 6:40 stating, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Essentially, a disciple is a follower. In John 6:26, Jesus directly discusses the nature of Christian discipleship saying, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me.” In his book Growing Up, Robby Gallaty helpfully defines discipleship as:

intentionally equipping believers with the Word of God through accountable relationships empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to replicate faithful followers of Christ. (p. 19)

In short, discipleship or disciple-making is the process of intentionally helping others obediently follow after Christ so that they can lead others to follow Christ.

Family Discipleship 101

As the definitions show us, discipleship consists of biblical teaching within the context of relationship. Although families are relational by nature, we still must put forth effort to connect scripture to our family relationships in two ways. Many names exist to describe the two types of family discipleship, but for the sake of simplicity, I will call the first “Family Worship” and the second, “On the Job Training.”

Family Worship

First, we need to create family worship times to teach our children about, “the instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). This is a set time during which we bring the word of God to bear directly our children’s struggles and successes. As we talk about what the scriptures say about lying, we encourage little Johnny to be truthful; we apply the sermon on I Corinthians 13 to our son’s relationship with his sister; and we can use the Sunday school lesson on the rich young ruler to encourage our daughter forsake of love money. Although not every family worship time will be glorious (I can remember wrecking a few in my childhood), they will give a platform and opportunities to speak truth directly into your child’s heart.

On the Job Training

Second, we disciple through everyday life. As our children study, play, do chores, suffer heartache, and excel academically, we seek to redeem their life experiences by showing how the gospel helps us make sense of life. When they come home crying because their best friend has spread a lie about them, we can offer them hope, reminding them that Christ is going to return and free the world from suffering. And more immediately, we can remind our daughter that she will be able to forgive her friend through the power of Christ because we have already been forgiven (Col. 3:13). But to have this influence upon our children’s hearts, we have to be diligently creating a platform from which we can launch into these conversations. Our own faithful walk with Christ and family worship makes on the job training possible (Deut. 6:5-6). If we never initiate spiritual conversations with our children, we cannot expect them to invite us into their hearts or expect them to welcome sporadic spiritual correction. If anything, we will just frustrate their young hearts. We need to be intentionally showing our children how to obey Christ every day in every way.

You Can Do It!!!!

Now you might be thinking, “Of course the pastor is all about family worship as a means of discipleship; he did after all go to school for like four years to study the Bible.” But believe it or not being a disciple maker is not a seminary based skill. It’s a God given ability bestowed upon every believer. Think back to the great commission in Mathew 28. Does Jesus command only pastors and seminary students to make disciples? No, he commands every Christian to be a disciple-maker! If Jesus tells us to make disciples, we can have 100% confidence that Jesus will give us the ability to make disciples. And he has! He sent us the Holy Spirit to enlighten hearts. If we are faithful to pray and study the word, God will do the rest. I fully agree with Voddie Baucham’s comment:

If you can read, you can teach your children God’s Word. All you have to do is stay a step ahead of them.” (Baucham V. J., 2007)

You might agree that family discipleship should be occurring in your home, but you feel inadequate to teach. First check your heart. If you have sin in your life, repent of it. And if it’s public sin against your family ask God’s forgiveness and their forgiveness. For you to disciple others, you need to be obediently following Christ and repenting of your sins! With your life right before God, start proactively discipling! Remember,

Ministry is the pathway to maturity, not the other way around” (Gallaty, p. 29).

After you begin family worship, I suspect you will still sin. I’ve even sinned in the midst of our devotion time and had to ask my wife for forgiveness. Even if we or our children sin every time we have a family worship time, we don’t stop. Family discipleship is not designed to make us perfect or to solve all of our family’s problems. Rather, family worship is a time during which we encourage our hearts and the hearts of our children to pursue holiness.

We’ll have to teach the same lessons over and over, we’ll often make the same mistakes again and again, and we must continue to rely on the grace of God to see us through (Baucham V. J., 2011, p. 62)

We never outgrow our need for the gospel!

All About the Daddio’s

Now Dad-s if you are in the home, please understand that much of the above instructions are written primarily with us in mind! We are called by God to lead our family. We are called by God to love our wives as Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:25). We are called to loving care for our children primarily by equipping them with life skills and by teaching them the word (Eph. 6:4 and Col 3:21). The Psalmist says fathers are commanded, “To teach to their children” about the things of God (Ps 78:5). We are called to encourage our families to “Seek first the kingdom of God and righteousness,” making sports, work, and piano practice second to the gospel (Matt 4:4). If we are taking our family to church, that’s great. Let’s keep going. But the spiritual formation of our children rests upon our shoulders. We cannot offshore our calling to the youth pastor or leave all the spiritual stuff to our wives. We need to be spiritual leaders who disciple in the home.

Admittedly, your wife may be a stronger Christian than you. If that’s the case, learn from her! Ask her questions, seek her impute (even if you are a well establish Christian, seek her input)! And remember, the power of the gospel is not tied to her or to anybody else! It’s attached to the Word of God. Even though you might not be writing Systematic Theologies, you can still encourage your wife and children with the word of God! Even baby Christians can make disciples. Let’s get going!

Next week we will look specifically at how to make your family worship time a success.

Recommended Reading:

Baucham, V. J. (2007). Family Driven Faith: Doing What it Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk With God . Wheaton: Crossway .

Baucham, V. J. (2011). Family Sheperds. Wheaton: Crossway .

Gallaty, R. (2013). Growing Up: How To be a Disciple Who Make Disciples. Bloomington: Crossway .

Greear, J. (2013). Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How TO Know For Sure You Are Saved. Nashville: B&H Publishing .

April 17, 2014July 8, 2014 Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Playing With Water

A Shhh..splash flowed by a showering of water radically interrupted the pastor’s orderly explanation of baptism. As he tried to recover, ripples of laughter echoed through the congregation who just saw the latest baptism candidate show off his cannonball skills in the baptistery. Although I did not see the faces of the boy’s parents, I can imagine they probably had a few streaks of embracement on them. And quite frankly, most parents would be embarrassed to see their child turn baptism into a juvenile joke for quick amusement. As parents, we have a responsibility to both encourage our children to publicly display their faith and to help them understand the spiritual significance of baptism. How do we do guard against cannon balls? Well first and foremost, we must explain the gospel to our children. Our three foot tall man and our four foot tall woman cannot truly believe or rightly interact with the baptism pool without an understanding of salvation. With a right view of God in place, we then have to help them understand exactly what baptism is, means, and does. Put on your goggles and let’s dive into the: who, what when, where, and why of baptism!

Who

Admittedly, a host of opinions about baptism have circled around the church for ages. And I have been both sprinkled as an infant and submerged as an adult. Today, I do not intend to set the world aright with this short blog post. While infant baptism is practiced in many Bible believing churches in an effort to establish a child’s spiritual heritage, I believe baptism is more than a baby dedication tool.

I think believers’ baptism is a more faithful and accurate fulfilling of Christ’s command to baptize “them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:18-20). The word baptize always means immersion or “to dunk” when used in the Greek. Moreover whether it’s the believers at Pentecost, the Philippian jailer, the Ethiopian Eunuch, or anyone else, baptism as recorded in the Bible is always a direct expression of faith by those who have repented of their sins upon hearing the gospel. As the theologian J.L. Dagg wrote, “the apostles and their fellow-laborers required repentance and faith as qualifications for baptism” (p. 69).So who gets baptized? Those who have repented and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ should be baptized.

A Quick Caution

In our effort to faithfully practice baptism, we must be careful not to make the church ordinance, “the basis of division among Christians” (Grudem, p. 967). Rather we should seek, as Dr. Bruce Ware’s encourages us, to:

“be gracious with those of different practices…let’s work to understand and follow as best we can what the Bible teaches. Baptism matters, to be sure. But the truth that baptism points to matters even more” (p. 205).

Even though they sprinkle, we can and should still fellowship with Presbyterians, Lutherans and others who affirm the gospel. Let’s be careful not throw the church out with the baptism water.

What

Baptism is a physical sign established by Jesus to picture what happens in our hearts when we believe on the finished work of the cross (Romans 6:3-7). Christians go under water to symbolize that they have died with Christ from sins of this world. Then seconds later, they pop out from the water, revealing that they have been given new life “through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him [Christ] from the dead” (Col 2:12). The ordinance of baptism is a beautiful picture and public declaration of how God redeems the lost.

When

The easy answer is: “As soon as a person repents of sin and confesses Jesus as Savior, he/she should be baptized.” We see both Philip and Paul baptizing new believers shortly after they confess Christ (Acts 8:36; 16:33). And when adults who have counted the cost of following Christ embrace Jesus as their Savior, they should be baptized quickly.

But we also want to protect the waters of baptism from religious cannon ballers who pursue the sacrament either hoping to please parents or to appease the Christian culture. Before the onset of the middle ages, the church responded to this dilemma by requiring baptism candidates to attend a three year training class (catechizing) to ensure that they understood the faith. Today, the church expert, Mark Dever, recommends that children should not be baptized until they reach an age of maturity during the end of their high school years (Dever & Alexander, p. 106).

At FBCE, the staff follows a more Grudem-esk view of baptism believing:

“It is impossible to set a precise age that will apply to every child, but when parents see convincing evidence of genuine spiritual life and also some degree of understanding regarding the meaning and trusting in Christ, then baptism is appropriate” (p. 982).

In short, we will baptize children upon a credible profession of faith. We define a credible confession as the ability to clearly articulate the gospel, the nature of baptism and one’s personal testimony, citing the evidence of good works. We also want to know if the child’s parents have noticed their child displayiing the grace of God in her life. Once a child has met with a pastor, written out her testimony, and demonstrated her love for God in her daily life as observed by her family, the FBCE staff will baptize a child. Admittedly the process is rather elastic, taking weeks and even years to complete. But as Pastor Art Murphey noted, “Children need time to understand and show signs of maturity before they are baptized” (p. 127). Baptism is not a race to see who can get the wettest the fastest.

Where

Being the doorway into the blessings of church membership, baptism should always occur within the context of the local church (I Cor 12:13). The location of the baptism matters little. As long as your local church is present, an ordained church member (pastor, elder, or deacon) performs the baptism (signifying that church affirms the work of Christ within the heart of the person being baptized) and immersion occurs, a baptism is truly a baptism.

Why

We are to pursue baptism as a sign or act of faith. Going under water does not save; nor, is dunking necessary for salvation. As I Peter 3:21 makes clear, “the removal of dirt” does not produce salvation. Moreover, the thief on the cross repented and was never baptized. Yet, he was promised eternity by Jesus (Luke 23:43). Regardless of our or our children’s piety, their baptism will never save them.

Rather, baptism is act of obedience in faith. If you “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved,” then you will naturally want to follow all of Christ’s commands (Romans 10:9). What is Christ’s first command after repent and believe? It is to be baptized (Acts 2:38). In the New Testament, all who trust Christ eagerly identify with their Lord and Savior via the waters of baptism. Christians go into the waters of baptism proclaiming that God has already regenerated their hearts.