Last week Dr. Gene Veith over on the Cranach blog put up a brilliant post contrasting preachers who preach to build us up in the faith and those who see it as their job to sow doubt in your relationship to God and undercut our assurance.

He writes,

“I have noticed that there are two kinds of preachers, especially when addressing young people: One kind tries to assure the listeners of their salvation in Christ, underscoring His grace and mercy and His atoning work on the Cross. The other kind tries to make the listeners question whether they are “really” Christians. (“Did you REALLY give your life to the Lord? Do you show the fruit of true faith? Does your life show evidence of true conversion? Maybe you need to commit your life to him again, just to be sure.”)

Granted the problem of nominal Christianity. And granted the need to make people realize how sinful they are so as to help them grasp their need of the Gospel. But I would argue that the latter approach can do great harm. The one thing that DOES make a Christian is faith in Christ. Doubt is the opposite of faith. To make a person doubt his or her salvation is, ironically, to destroy faith, rather than to build it up. Furthermore, these “are you really a Christian” messages have the effect of making the hearers look within, at their good works or their feelings or their piety or whatever.”

(Read the rest of the post here.)

We have seen much of this. In some circles it is the mark of a successful preacher if he can ‘pack the altars’ of a church on a weekly basis, or in the case of a guest preacher, on the occasion of his visit. In contrast, a good preacher of the law and the Gospel will be used by the Holy Spirit to ‘afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted,’ and do so in right measure.

Undercutting the believer’s assurance is, I suspect, the mechanism that drives the big evangelistic crusades like Harvest. In reality, how many unbelievers really go to evangelistic crusades? Surely some do, but when I was a rank unbeliever, I would not purposefully go to a venue for which the sole purpose was converting people like me. (It is like inviting a bass to a bass fishing tournament. There is a serious disconnect.) I would like to see some figures on how many people going forward to pray in these things are ‘re-dedicating’ their lives.

I was driven from the church by a constant diet of sermons that always called into question my faith, commitment, sincerity, etc. Those kind of sermons are also the easiest ones to preach, because it is easy to manipulate people with a wrong use of the law. Anyone can tear down, but few are able to build up. I know many people who have left the faith after years of this crushed any hope they had.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, flee before it does irreparable harm to your faith. Find a church that preaches and teaches the grace of God in Christ and makes it a central theme, not just pays lip service to it. Listen to the sermons. Is the pastor building up the congregation in their faith, or is he undermining their faith week after week?

If you are unclear about how this sounds, any of the sermons off of these sites will give outstanding examples of solid Law/Gospel preaching that will build up your faith.

http://www.htlcms.org/sermons/P10/

http://www.faithcapo.org/connect/sermons.htm

http://www.firstluth.com/?page_id=35l

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We would like to offer for your consideration an event which we consider worthy of attending. If you are able and have the time, we highly recommend it. The Wittenberg Institute and the North American Lutheran Church are presenting a conference on Evangelism and World Mission. It is taking place at Red Hill Lutheran Church in Tustin, California on October 7-9, 2011. For more information and registration, please visit Wittenberg Institute’s website.

Conference Overview
“What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.”

The apostle John begins his epistle with these words to bring you confidence and joy. The reason the church exists is to make much of Christ, to tell others about the wonders and gifts the resurrection provides. Evangelism and World Missions are the words we use to describe what it is to speak of our confidence and joy in Christ’s resurrection.

Lutherans, as a whole, have a particularly rich theology that is too often squandered in regard to Evangelism. Since Lutherans in America have been largely ethnic in makeup, yet now are more diverse (especially in suburban centers) we strive to find new and inclusive ways to engage non-Christians. A popular way is to look at what others are doing, so we look to programs that have numbers and short-term success, projects that have catchy titles and a finite duration promising “results”. Looking outside may have kept our Evangelism and Missions committees working, but has it prepared us for the task of proclamation? Or, to put it a biblical way, has discarding the plain presentation of Christ Crucified brought with it fruit that we recognize? These are some of the questions we will answer this weekend.

Join us for a weekend of dialog devoted to sharing the freedom from sin that Christ secured. John Bradosky, Dr. James Nestingen, Dr. Yohannes Mengsteab, and Dr. Adam Francisco will lead us through these joys and gifts provided to every Christian. This will be a weekend of confidence-building stories and engagement with fellow believers centered around the greatest story ever told.

Keynote Lectures

John Bradosky | Evangelism as a Matter of Identity
Evangelism is not formulaic, rather it is the clear proclamation of the Good News found only in Christ Jesus that has not only made a profound difference in our life but is the essence of our life and our identity.

James Nestingen | Secondary Confirmation (Two lectures)
Secondary Confirmation is the historical way Lutherans have passed on the faith to our children and grandchildren. Bringing up God-fearing children falls to parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, godparents and teachers; all helping to re-prioritize life so that the Christian narrative is passed down to our children at all ages.

Yohannes Mengsteab | Crossing Cultures & Languages
World Evangelism is meant to cross both cultural and linguistic barriers. When Christ set loose the gospel in Matthew 28, the vision was for peoples of all tribes and tongues to hear the good news of salvation. Dr. Mengsteab provides a picture of and encouragement for becoming global fishers-of-men.

Adam Francisco | Contending for the Faith with Confidence
The culture that surrounds us regards the gospel as legend or myth. This assumption is continually affirmed when Christians fail to contend with confidence for its truthfulness. This lecture assesses our current cultural milieu and offers a basic yet essential apologetic response grounded in the core claim of Christianity: that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself (2 Cor. 5:19).

Yohannes Mengsteab | The Content of World Missions
The language and content provided us in the small catechism: comfort and provision, assurance and gift is the same that we are sent with to the world. If the framework of World Missions is culture and language, Christ crucified is the true content as Yohannes illustrates with stories from the mission field.

Adam Francisco | The Challenge of Islam
Islam seeks, as the Qur’an 9:33 puts it, to prevail over every religion. This includes Christianity. What this all means—and there is already plenty of evidence for it—is that theological encounters with Islam will become more commonplace as Muslim populations increase in number and confidence. This lecture will hone in on the theological challenges and evangelical opportunities some might already be experiencing and others can expect in the near future.

James Nestingen | Confession and Absolution: The gospel flows from forgiveness
Are confession and absolution outdated practices from an outdated church? What does it mean when we hear, “your sins are forgiven on account of Christ”? What happens in the declaration of these words that is worth continuing the practice? Jim will discuss these questions with refreshing clarity and constant focus on Christ as he brings the wisdom of Scripture to bear on this important Christian doctrine.

All these great lectures plus four Breakout Group series offering unique presentations about Evangelism, World Missions and Education!

We have had a steady and constantly growing stream of new followers on Twitter and and new Facebook friends. We appreciate the time and attention given to us by those of you who have linked to us through various social media in the last several months, and would also like to thank our faithful supporters who have been with us for awhile.

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Below, I’m linking a number of our more popular or controversial posts from the archives for your perusal and to share with your friends.

The Commemoration Of The Faithful Departed

Planting Litugical Churches – An Outline

The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church

Christianity In Five Verses (Sequel to “The Gospel For Those Broken…”)

What Was The Purpose Of The Church In The Old Testament?

How The Confession Of My Sins Kept Me In The Church – Part 1

How The Confession Of My Sins Kept Me In The Church – Part 2

Why I Baptized Our Babies

Calling It A Church Doesn’t Make It Christian

Is The Primary Purpose Of Worship Evangelism?

Working And Waiting In The Hope And Expectation Of A Second Reformation

Thanks again for your faithful support and helping us to spread the Gospel. Please feel free to contact us with your questions or comments.

“Christianity In Five Verses” – The Sequel to “The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church”

Update: This was first released earlier this spring, and is now available in our Freebies section.

Dr. Rod Rosenbladt** LISTEN TO THE FIRST PART:
The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church

This lecture by Dr. Rod Rosenbladt given in the Concordia University Chapel on February 14 of 2011 is what we are considering the long awaited sequel to the “The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church.” Once again it is some of his finest work. Though he didn’t set out to create such a sequel, you will notice Dr. Rosenbladt borrows from his former presentation throughout this new one.

What we are affinitively calling “Christianity In Five Verses” could rightfully be titled “The Gospel” or “What is Christianity?” This powerful lecture goes right to the center of what the Christian faith is, cutting through all the claptrap and fluff that so often diverts us from the core message of the Scriptures. Dr. Rosenbladt clearly and concisely lays down Gospel right from the text of the Scriptures and contrasts this message with what often masquerades as the Gospel. This is a must-listen for every Christian, but especially for pastors and teachers charged with teaching and preaching God’s Word, and for those actively involved in sharing their faith with others.

We recommend this lecture at least as much as we do The Gospel For Those Broken By The Church. It is similarly being made available for free. Download it, share it with others without restriction, post it on your blog or Facebook wall. All we ask is that if you do, please include a link back to our website here at NRP.

But whatever you do, don’t miss this one. It is only a little over 22 minutes long.

Free MP3 Download

Gerhard Forde seems to be an endless well of comforting and crystal clear Lutheran doctrine. Today I saw someone post a comment about sanctification on Facebook and decided it was time to drop another gem from Forde. Enjoy. And, of course, feel free to argue any disagreements. We know a great many of our readers are not Lutheran.

Talk about sanctification is dangerous. It is too seductive for the old being. What seems to have happened in the tradition is that sanctification has been sharply distinguished from justification, and thus separated out as the part of the “salvationing” we are to do. God alone does the justifying simply by declaring the ungodly to be so, for Jesus’ sake. Most everyone is willing to concede that, at least in some fashion. But, of course, then comes the question: what happens next? Must not the justified live properly? Must not justification be safeguarded so it will not be abused? So sanctification enters the picture supposedly to rescue the good ship Salvation from shipwreck on the rocks of Grace Alone. Sanctification, it seems, is our part of the bargain. But, of course, once it is looked on that way, we must be careful not to undo God’s justifying act in Christ. So sanctification must be absolutely separated from justification. God, it seems, does his part, and then we do ours.

The result of this kind of thinking is generally disastrous. We are driven to make an entirely false distinction between justification and sanctification in order to save the investment the old being has in the moral system. Justification is a kind of obligatory religious preliminary which is rendered largely ineffective while we talk about getting on with the truly “serious” business of becoming “sanctified” according to some moral scheme or other. We become the actors in sanctification. This is entirely false. According to Scripture, God is always the acting subject, even in sanctification.

Taken from Christian Spirituality: Five Views Of Sanctification

I recently came across a couple of posts on Matt Redmond’s blog concerning the place of evangelism in the Christian life entitled “The Silence of Paul on Evangelism”.

He writes:

A few weeks ago I heard someone say something to the effect of, “You cannot/shouldn’t consider yourself a Christian if you are not sharing your faith/practicing evangelism.” And it really got me to thinking. Something felt wrong about it. But I couldn’t put my finger on it.

On one level this sounded right. It accorded with almost all I had ever heard growing up in the midst of evangelicalism. So it sounded right. Or at least familiar. But something about the statement just ‘felt’ really wrong. It felt wrong as a fact. (Like saying the capital of Alabama is Birmingham.) And it felt wrong morally. (You should look down on everyone who does not live in Birmingham.)

So I quickly went through Paul’s letters to the churches in my mind as much as I could. Could I think of a place where he commands the members of these churches to share the gospel – to tell unbelievers about the gospel? I was pretty shocked to not be able to think of any place where he does anything like this.

Nothing was said, of course. But I filed it away in the front of my mental filing cabinet. My mental filing cabinet is grey, if you must know. Nixon administration grey.

Over the next few days I looked into the Epistles. Really, I thought I would find something. I mean, all the importance we place on evangelism and the urgency we show in preaching and teaching and writing on it, should show up in Paul, right? RIGHT?

I found nothing. Zilch. Nada. Zip.

Paul never commands the ordinary believers who belong to the churches to evangelize. There is no call for sharing your faith. There is no call for witnessing. He never even encourages it. And he never rebukes them for not doing it. He tells them to stay away from orgies and to practice kindness and to live quiet lives but there are no commands to evangelize. Implications? Maybe. But never outright commands.

He follows this post with another one here in which he summarizes his thoughts about the emphasis on evangelism in many quarters of the church and what the Scriptures say and don’t say about the subject.

A couple of great posts that have caused me to meditate deeply on the subject, and well worth your time. Read both of Matt’s posts.  I will have a follow up post later in the week working through some of the implications he brings up.