My Little Elf

Kristen thinks he looks like an elf in this picture. Merry Christmas to all.

The Gospel in our Churches

One of my uncles recently asked me how my studies were going at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a former Baptist who now is part of an independent Bible church in Arkansas. I told him things were going well and that I really liked where the seminary was at. He asked what I meant, and I told him that the institution as a whole had become more conservative. He further asked what I meant by that and I don't feel like I gave him a good answer. I said something along the lines of it being more committed to the testimony of the Scriptures, meaning it was more theologically conservative on some important issues.

This week I heard of a friend of mine who has been in church for years and just became a Christian late in life. She is a wonderful, fun, loving, caring wife, mother, grandmother, and even great-grandmother. The times I have been around her she has truly been a joy. He concern has been that she has simply not been good enough. One of my other friends has been teaching Paul's book of Galatians to her. Through his teaching and their wrestling through the good news of the Gospel of Grace she was converted. It has been a great source of joy for me and her evangelist seeing God work in her life.

I have also recently read of the story of John Wesley. This summer Kristen and I got to see where Rev. Wesley is buried and where he studied at Oxford. Wesley was a true Christian hero and had a great impact on not only American Christianity, but on America itself. I read how Wesley had started "Holy Societies" in Oxford and around England, was an ordained Anglican minister, was raised in a church going household where his father was a minister, and had been a missionary to the colony of Georgia AND YET WAS NOT TRULY CONVERTED! It was not until Wesley came in contact with the German Moravians that he was truly converted!

How could Wesley go through all that church and not have a correct understanding of the Gospel? How can my friend have been in a Presbyterian church her whole life and then at the end be worried that she has not been good enough? What was wrong in the church in Wesley's day and still in our day?

The most glaring problem of the American church continues to be that it is not clear enough and doctrinally sound enough with the Gospel.

This problem is directly connected to the battle of conservative evangelical Christianity with moderate and liberal Christianity. At its core it is a Gospel issue.

Churches that are more conservative in their Bibliogy and Theology will have a better understanding of the Gospel. The battle over the authority of the Bible and for conservative evangelical theology is essentially a fight for the Gospel of Grace through Faith in Christ. It is the battle for the historical Reformed calls for Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, and Christ Alone.

If you are in a church were people have sat there for years and think they have to be good enough to enter into heaven, then run your pastor off. If you are in a denomination that is filled with people who are trying to be good enough and the grace of Galatians is not taught then reform it. If you are a minister and do not understand the importance of what I am talking about or are not weekly preaching a gospel of grace then quit and go sell cars.

Last night I was holding Mason and thinking about this reality. I promised him that as his father and his pastor he would grow up in churches that clearly teach the gospel. The churches I pastor will be churches where the gospel of grace is clearly and constantly taught.

P.S. Since I reference Mason at the end I thought it gave me license to post another picture of him. This is a proud Poppa with his son watching his first Dallas Cowboy game.

Magnify

Mary’s Song
Luke 1:46-55

"And Mary said:
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
For the Mighty One has done great things for me;

And holy is His name.

'And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him.'

He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.
'He has filled the hungry with good things';
And sent away the rich empty-handed.
He has given help to Israel His servant,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and his descendants forever."


Intro

I love the symbol of Desiring God Ministries. Desiring God Ministries and Dr. John Piper have had an enormous impact on me. The book Desiring God is what God used to really change my life while I was in college. Their symbol or logo is four simple red arrows. If you simply see the four red arrows then you probably don’t get what they are trying to say, but if you purchase a DVD and see the arrows in motion then you get it. The meaning is found in bringing these four arrows from the four corners of the screen into the center and thus forming a cross in between the arrows. They are attempting to be Cross and Christ centered in all that they do.

That has been my heart this Christmas season. I have wanted to point believers to the person and work of Christ. I have felt called to focus not only on your blessings this year, but to focus more on the Blesser.

There is a portion of the Christmas story that you seldom see. I have never heard Linus from Charlie Brown quote this potion of the Luke Christmas story. It is Mary's Song found in Luke 1.

In it we see WHAT Mary did at the major crossroads of her life, during a significant season of her life. We then see WHY she did what she did. Basically we see Mary’s heart and where her joy and priorities rest. We see how we are to react to the Significant Season of Christmas.

Following Mary’s example we see that During Significant Seasons, we are to Magnify God.

Body

Luke is written by a Gentile believer to Gentile believers. It is a gospel not necessarily written to a Jewish audience like Matthew was, but more towards a Gentile audience. It announces that Christ has come to take away the sins of the world and reign on His throne forever.

In Luke 1 we see a very common and relatively poor Jewish girl (around the age of 13 or 14) who is chosen by God to bear the Christ child even though she is a virgin. God does this in is sovereign grace, but he chooses a pious young lady in Mary. Mel Gibson wonderfully captures the character of Mary in his movie The Passion of the Christ. She was probably my favorite part of the movie. She added such a powerful dimension to the film, a real emotional angle that I now understand better as a new father.

In Luke 1, she goes to see her pregnant cousin in the Judean countryside. This young woman travels to the countryside by her self, by all accounts! She is a strong, obedient, pious woman. She does what the Lord desires with such a positive, obedient, faithful spirit even though she does not fully understand what is going on.

Mary is at a major cross roads in her life. She is pregnant for the first time even though she has never been with a man. She is in a significant season of her life. In Luke 1:46-55, Mary writes a song of declarative praise to God in this significant season of her life. We never see Mary complain, doubt, or become self-centered in any way. We see exactly the opposite, we see Mary praise God in her significant season.

What do you do at your cross roads? We are in the Christmas season, a significant season, what do you do and why do you do it during Christmas? Let’s see what Mary did.

I. WHAT Mary does in her Significant Season (1:46-47)

Mary writes God a song of praise in her significant season. She is so filled with emotion that this illiterate Jewish peasant girl sings a song the source of her powerful emotion.

Her Soul --> Magnifies the Lord
Her Spirit --> Rejoices in God her Savior

Mary is filled with joy and happiness. Her soul and spirit are filled with powerful emotions and the source of this joy is God Himself. As a result Mary does the natural and appropriate thing, she praised him. The ancient Latin Christians simply called this psalm “Magnificant” because Mary was magnifying the Lord.

Magnification is trying to view something larger, not smaller. It is taking an image and making it as large as possible in order to see it better. Mary is declaring how great God is. She is trying to magnify God. She is declaring to the world the glory of God.

This is a very natural and appropriate thing for Mary to do. It is natural because her soul and spirit are filled with these rejoicing emotions. It is appropriate because it is true. God is to be magnified and we are to rejoice in God because He is our Savior. There is nothing greater than God, and thus there is nothing that we should magnify more, and rejoice in more than God Himself.

Like Mary, our ultimate joy is to be in God Himself, the Blesser not simply the blessings. Mary was very God centered in her crossroads of life, her significant season. Are you focused upon magnifying God in this Christmas season? Does you soul and spirit well up with joy and rejoicing for God this Christmas? How can you rejoice in the Blesser this Christmas?

II. WHY Mary does what she does in her Significant Season (1:48-55)

In the following verses (1:48-55) we see not what Mary does (she magnifies and rejoices God in 1:46-47), but now we see WHY she magnifies and rejoices God. We see the “because” of her singing.

1. Because

In verses 1:48-50 we see three reasons why she rejoices God, three “becauses”.

a. God has blessed me (1:48-49a)

First, she magnifies Him and rejoices in Him because he has blessed her. Mary could not have understood everything about this child, but she knew that he was the Savior the ultimate Savior; not a Savior but THE Savior. He was not simply a picture of what was to come (like Abraham, Moses, or David), He was THE promised one. This was it and she knew it.

Because of who Christ was and what He was going to do she knew she was blessed. Her happiness and joy were all wrapped up in the person and work of Christ. Because of Christ she knew that all generations would call her blessed. The Mighty One had done a great thing for her.

b. God is HOLY (1:49b)

Second, she praises him simply because he is holy. The simple statement in 1:49b is so theologically accurate and so simple yet so wonderfully great. Yeah, “wonderfully great”, that is the best a simply guy from Texas can do. God is holy. He is perfect in all that he does. He is perfectly righteous. Everything he says and does can be trusted because he is holy. Nothing else is holy.

c. God has Mercy on all generations that fear Him (1:50)

Third, she praises him because through Christ the covenant has been fulfilled and all generations from that day forward will be shown mercy. Like the Old Testament covenant, it was for those who feared the Lord, who keep their end of the covenant. Psalm 103:17-18 says that God will show loving kindness for eternity to those who keep His covenant. For us in the dispensation of grace, our end of the deal is to simply place our faith in the person and work of Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we are saved by the Savior by His grace through faith in Him not ourselves or our own works. God will show mercy upon those who fear him and place their faith in him.

If you were to write a song or poem to God, why would you magnify him? What “becauses” would you include? I want to challenge you this Christmas season to sit down and write a poem or song to God this year. Even if you have never done something like that I want to challenge you to get out of your box and attempt to magnify God as Mary did.

2. And He Has

Mary concludes her song with a list of things he has done that are mighty and great. Before she is very personal in her praises, now she gets out of the box of her own life and praises him for all the mighty things he has done throughout the ages.

a. Done Mighty Deeds (1:51a)

From verses 1:51, Mary compiles a list of praise for her mighty Savior God. He has:

- Scattered the proud (1:51b)
- Brought down rulers (1:52a)
- Exalted the humble (1:52b)
- Filled the hungry (1:53a)
- Sent away the rich (1:53b)
- Shown Mercy to Israel (1:54a-55)

Conclusion

As you work on your poem or song this week, I want you to not only praise Him for what He has done for you personally. I want you to also praise Him for what He has done throughout the ages for all peoples. I want you to think through your knowledge of the Bible and praise Him for His works. I also want you to think through History and praise Him for his mighty deeds. I want you to think through your understanding of Science and the Natural Order and then praise Him for His marvelous plan and creations.

What are some things that we can praise Him for this morning? What are some things in the Bible that are worthy of praise? What are some things from history that are worthy of praise? What are some things from the natural world that are worthy of His praise?

This Christmas season do as Mary and During Significant Seasons, Magnify God.

Courageously Preach Against Injustice

Courageously Preach Against Injustice

Proverbs 22:22-23
“Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Or crush the afflicted at the gate;
For the Lord will plead their case
And take the life of those who rob them.”
(NASB)


Introduction:

In the Spring of 1963 a Baptist minister sat in a jail because he courageously preached against the injustice of his day. He received a lot of criticism from many different people. He learned that he didn’t have to answer all the criticism, because most was unfounded and it wouldn’t do any good to respond. He learned to simply stay the course in his efforts. As he sat in jail this day he was moved to respond to a loud criticism leveled at him. The man was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the criticism was from eight ministers who called him out for coming to Birmingham to march against segregation. Eight ministers criticized Dr. King’s courageous efforts to preach against injustice!

We still have injustices today. Every generation has injustices that are common to all generations and then some that are unique to them. Are you going to be like Dr. King and courageously preach against injustice? Or are you going to be like the eight critical ministers?

Proverbs 23:22-23 gives us an important teaching on justice. This proverb deals with the problem of injustice, then gives us God’s solution for injustice, and I will then apply this teaching to a specific unique injustice that we face today.

Body

I. Through the Israelite Sage, God Preached Against Injustice

A. God gave us a command concerning injustice (22:22)

These verses show us that “Through the Israelite Sage, God Preached Against Injustice”. In this first verse we see a command concerning injustice. God spoke through the writer of this proverb about his view of injustice. This passage sits within a group of scriptures that some commentaries call the “Thirty Sayings” which are thirty sayings concerning different moral issues. This saying deals with how to treat the poor or oppressed in society.

1. Justice was denied by the powerful, simply because they can (22:22a)

The first of four statements in this proverb deals with the powerful who oppress or rob the weak or poor simply because they can. They have no compassion for the less fortunate, but simply seek their own greedy and sinful desires.

After pondering on why he got into a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, President Clinton said that he did simply because he could. For some reason I really liked his authenticity about his sin. He didn’t lie and say that he was in love with her or something like that, but simply took advantage of the situation because he could.

The first line of this verse is a command to not take advantage of the weak simply because you can. There will always be poor and we are not take advantage of them simply because they are poor.

2. Justice was denied by a wicked godless government (22:22b)

The first part of the verse told us to not take advantage of the poor, weak, or afflicted in a general sense. This part of verse gets more specific. It tells us not to take advantage of the poor, weak, or afflicted through the legal system. It commands the reader to not crush or bruise, or apply pressure that kills those who are less fortunate that you. In ancient Israel, the city elders sitting at the city gates heard trials. This was the common means of justice and is seen in numerous passages like Proverbs 31 and the story of Ruth and Boaz.

I want to address an important point at this stage. We live in a democratic country. If you live in a democratic republic then you are a ruler. You and your morality establish the foundations for your legal system. You have a responsibility to make decisions for your country. You are responsible for who is the President and the Senators from your states. They reflect you and your morality. If there is a corrupt law in your country then you are responsible for it. Because we live under the blessing of democracy we all, in a sense, sit as rulers at the city gate of our society.

With that said, those in your government should affirm justice as found in your ultimate authority, the Bible. This means that your government should affirm a Christian God. This does not mean we have to be a theocracy, which will come in the end times, but it does mean that you cannot separate your faith in Jesus from your politics. Your God dictates your morality, and your morality dictates your politics.

In the legal system, we should have laws that do not crush, kill, or take advantage of the poor, weak, or afflicted. Your Christianity is connected to your morality, your morality to your politics, and we all establish the laws of the land through our politics. Vote your values and don’t let justice be denied at the city gate.

B. God gave us a threat concerning injustice (22:23)

The Sage has given us a command concerning justice, now he tags unto this command a threat to those who don’t heed his warning.

1. God promised to plead the case of the innocent (22:23a)

Sticking with this theme of justice we see that God promises to serve as a defense attorney for the innocent who were oppressed by you.

Picture this scene. You are charged with a crime that you know that you are guilty of and you look over to see who the prosecutor is going to be, knowing that he will shred you on the stand. You look over and it is God Himself! This is the same God that says that he knows every hair on your head. Then you look over and see who the judge is going to be, the judge who will hand down your sentence and it is also God, the perfectly righteous judge! If you think Johnny Cochran was tough, try to go up against God in the courtroom.

Those who are denied justice because they are weak, poor, or afflicted will have their case plead by God himself. That brings me great hope.

2. God promised justice for the innocent (22:23b)

We next see a little poetic justice in that those who took the lives of the weak will have their lives taken by God Himself. You rob their lives; He will rob your life. This verse sends chills up my spine, but it also gives me a great feeling of hope. God will and has thrown into hell those Nazi and Communist leaders and murders who slaughtered millions in the last century. Hitler, Pol Pot, and Stalin have faced justice in the form of God Himself. Those who enabled the wicked Jim Crow laws of the American South will answer to the Judge.

Like Bob Dylan sang:

You may be an ambassador to England or France,
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls,

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

The Israelite Sage was saying that ultimately God will judge those who abuse the weak.


II. Through His People, God has Always Preached Against Injustice

Biblical religion has always had a great tradition of preaching against injustice. “Through His People, God has Always Preached Against Injustice”. The Israelite sage did it in his day. The Minor Prophets like Amos and Micah cried for justice in their day. History has forgotten that Roman baby girls were saved from death by the early Christians who established the first orphanages, the opium trade was combated by the Christians, drunkenness was battled by the Christians, slavery was abolished in the British Empire by the Christians, and the American abolitionist movement was a distinctively Christian movement.

The Bible is filled with verses like Micah 6:8:
“He has told you, O man, what is good:
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?”

“Through His People, God has Always Preached Against Injustice”.


III. Today, Will YOU Courageously Preach Against Injustice

As I have studied, prayed, and thought through these verses I have tried to narrow down the most important thing that we need to apply from this. Concerning application we are to Courageously Preach for Justice.

But the question I had through this whole study is what injustice does our generation face? In the 1940’s it was clearly Nazi Fascism and Japanese Imperialism that cruelly murdered millions. In the 1950’s it was clearly Soviet Communism, which before it was done had killed over 100 million in the previous century. In the 1960’s I think America was rightly dealing with racial injustice and the Civil Right’s Movement. But sadly I think that many don’t realize that we are now in the first decade of the 21st century. Many are still focused upon battles of the past. There are skirmishes to be fought on these issues but the war is won on all of these injustices.

We are in the 21st Century, but we either live in the past or have not learned from the past. We refuse to preach justice on an issue that is staring us in the face. An issue of injustice by the powerful over the weak. An issue of the wicked laws established by the people that you and I elect. An injustice that is killing people by the millions like the Nazis and Communists did. An injustice that is killing more and is enacted upon a more innocent and weaker victim than the African-Americans in the Civil Rights movement.

The injustice that I am talking about is the injustice of abortion upon the unborn. Since the 1973 verdict by OUR United States Supreme Court in the Roe v.s. Wade case more than 40 million abortions have been performed. Our elders at the gate have established a legal law that is both unjust and forced upon us without a vote of the people. Our courts decided this in one instance without my vote or your vote. They said that the right of a pregnant woman to murder her child was in the constitution and since then we have seen a case of genocide in this country that is worse than the Jewish Holocaust. The victims of this genocide are truly innocent and cannot fight back.

I was born in 1978 and a quarter of my generation was has been murdered due to abortion and many of us arrogantly sit in our ivory tower and place racism and feminist issues on the same plane as abortion!

Even at Dallas Theological Seminary I have heard two Systematic Theology professors raise racism and feminist issues to the same level of imporatance as abortion! I have also heard one of them act like it was not wrong to support an American political party that is mainly responsible for this injustice! DTS needs to do more about this injustice and needs a better message to their students.

Many in our own generation have not done enough because we down play the reality of this injustice or buy the lie that Francis Schaeffer destroyed which said that “Jesus would not part of the political process.”

I recently heard the lawyer who is now representing “Roe” in her fight to over turn the law. She is an evangelical Christian now and understands that abortion is murder. He said that the Roe v.s. Wade is built upon two false pillars. One, that the unborn child is not alive and second, that abortion does not harm the mother. I could hear my son’s heart beat around 22 days after conception, before most even know that they are pregnant. We also saw him moving around throughout the pregnancy. Even before Mason was born, he was clearly alive. Second, the psychological trauma is so severe upon women how have abortions that they have their own syndrome, Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS) which is marked by “drug and alcohol abuse, personal relationship disorders, sexual dysfunction, repeated abortions, communications difficulties, damaged self-esteem, and even attempt suicide” (National Right to Life website). Abortion is clearly the greatest injustice of our day performed against the most innocent, the poorest, the weakest, and the most defenseless victims.

The second half of the last century found some new voices that helped frame the evangelical movement. Carl F. Henry and Francis Schaffer both were strong on this issue because they understood it in a larger theological context. The Henry Institute at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is headed by Russell Moore. Moore has written a book dealing with the new evangelical perspective of the Kingdom of God. I attend DTS so I understand the issues of Dispensationalism versus Covenant Theology. Moore basically affirms a sort of Progressive Dispensationalism that does not see our immediate future in completely negative terms. The traditional Dispensational movement typically gives up and quits trying to change our society for the good. The traditional Covenant camp sees the future in probably a too positive light. Look, the end times will be horrible but that does not mean that we are to not continue being salt and light, changing our culture for the glory of God.

Sadly the most dangerous place for a child in America is in his or her mother’s womb and we can help change that injustice. If we see injustice we must Courageously Preach against it. Courageously Preach for Justice

Conclusion

In conclusion I want to share an excerpt of a letter written to eight Alabama ministers (Bishop C. C. J. Carpenter, Bishop Joseph A. Durick, Rabbi Hilton L. Grafman, Bishop Paul Hardin, Bishop Holan B. Harmon, the Reverend George M. Murray, the Reverend Edward V. Ramage, and the Reverend Earl Stallings) on April 16, 1963.

Here is an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”:

“Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dart of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you no forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness" then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.”

The unborn can’t write letters, they can’t march in protests, they can’t vote, they can’t Courageously Preach for Justice. The unborn are more poor and weak than the African-Americans in the South. The most dangerous place for an American child to be is in the womb.

Are you too cool or too spiritual to get involved with this injustice? What are you going to do with your voice as a Christian and a Christian leader? Are you going to tickle ears or are you going to change society?

Give to the Pro-Life movement, vote for people who will help change the injustice of abortion in America, and lend your voice and support to this injustice. Courageously Preach for Justice.

Christ Church and the Awe of God

My wife and I had a wonderful experience this summer. We traveled England with a seminary group and experienced the wonderful churches of old England. When you walk into these ancient structures the architect/artist draws your eyes to the beautiful stained glass windows which pulls your eyes up to the heavens, as your head is pulled up gravity drops your jaw, and you stand there with a look of "awe". This is one of the most important reactions to God, AWE.

These buildings were all so beautiful and many of the little villages were very proud of their church structures. If the architect was pious he would not want us to be in awe of the building, but the God that the building is trying to worship.

As I have held my new son and watched my wife be a great mother to Mason I have taken great joy in God's blessing of a wonderful healthy son and beautiful loving wife. I am blessed beyond words. It has been important for me to remember my first love however. My first and greatest love, joy, and happiness are not my wonderful wife nor my perfect little boy but the giver of these blessings.

Matthew 13:44 says, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field."

Do you love God's blessings over God Himself? Do you find so much joy in God and you would sell everything to be in His presence?

Christmas provides many blessings and joys for us. This Christmas season, worship the creator over the created. Find you joy and happiness more in the Blesser than the blessings.

In His Grace

Advertising Note

Crew, sorry about the seedy advertisements at the top of the blog. I felt weird putting them up and did it mostly out of blog curiosity. After making a note about Mason's blood sugar being low and then reading a bunch of blood sugar advertisements I am officially in the process of figuring out how to take the advertisements down. I promise we are not hurting for money that bad, I am however working on a pyramid marketing scheme that will cause all your friends to hate you, give me a call.

I am not sorry about randomly throwing another pic of Mason. For the record I am proudly and very contently sitting in a dark office, listening to lullaby music, wearing the dorkiest hat that says "good dads: Presbyterian Hospital of Denton", and listening to Mason sleep and toot at the same time. If I had a "#1 Dad" shirt I would wear it. Life is good. Does anyone out there know how to put in a car seat correctly?

Mason Pics

Mason Lawrence

I want to announce that Mason Lawrence Caswell was born on Monday evening at 9:23pm after my wife courageously worked through 13 and a half hours of labor. I was very proud of her on Monday. Mason was born weighing in a 10 pounds and 1 ounce, not bad for a first child. He was also 20 and a half inches long. His chest measured in at over 14 inches which leads me to believe he is going to be a powerhouse. Mason has a think head of dark hair, blue eyes like his parents, and some bear claw mitts for hands. So far he is a pretty chilled out baby. We are very proud of the dude think he is pretty cute. I know that we all think new borns can sort of look like lizards but he came out looking pretty good.

Mason and Kristen are going to probably be released tomorrow. He has had low blood sugar due to his large weight so he has been on a IV for most of the time. It was hard to see to little man all hooked up, but it has given us so breathing room on breast feeding. As of this morning they are weaning him off the IV due to his continued strong blood sugar readings since yesterday afternoon.

Thanksgiving Tribute

Happy Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for this year. We have a baby on the way, we are also birthing a new church, the Cowboys have a shot at the playoffs (and are currently tied with Denver), and the Longhorns could win the National Championship. God is good, we are thankful.

Seriously, I am thankful for so much right now. I am at a wonderful fun place in life. I have wanted to do a tribute to a certain man and ministry and Thanksgiving give me this opportunity.

The first Thanksgiving was modeled after the Old Testaments days of Thanksgiving. The point is giving thanks to God for His blessings. God has given me personally and my generation a special blessing in the person of Dr. John Piper and his ministry, Desiring God Ministries.

I received their holiday calender this week and quickly ordered some Christmas presents to myself. His ministry more than any other has changed my life. I still remember coming out of a hedonistic college fraternity lifestyle and reading "Desiring God". Before I knew it I was no longer starting new little businesses to make a quick buck but was starting Men's Bible Studies, I was not longer seeking happiness in wine and women but in God Himself, I was no longer a casual Christian who thought I was against Calvinism but embraced the soveriegnty and grace of God. Much of this is owed to the life and ministry of John Piper.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Piper twice is he is truly a man of humility and grace. Desiring God Ministries has also allowed me to pay what I can for their resources. Dr. Piper and Desiring God are truly Christ centered and grace filled.

Dr. Piper is the greatest preacher of our day and his message of Christian hedonism is what my generation needs. If you haven't yet, drink deeply from this ministry. You will walk away changed and finding that you desire God deeper than you ever thought. Piper upholds the richness of Christianity and our God.

Lukewarm Church Membership

As we have worked at laying a solid foundation for Grace Community Church we have been forced to deal with different problems within churches and deal with the Biblical vision for God’s Church. At GCC we identify one of the purposes of God’s Church to be “Membership”. We believe that the Great Commission teaches that new converts should be baptized which is a step of membership into the universal body of Christ and into the local congregation they are joining. We believe that baptism is a symbol that identifies one with not only Jesus Christ Himself, but also the local body of believers the individual is joining.

This is simply the traditional Baptist view of baptism that began with the early British Baptists. These British Baptists sought a church that was more pure than the Church of England. They felt that membership within a church should mean something. They rejected the reality of many in the Church of England that were baptized as babies and thus were members of the Church, but were clearly not believers. They sought a more authentic version of Christianity.

For years I have been frustrated with the idea of membership in our churches. I have rolled my eyes at official membership roles of a church that might have over 2,000 members but only around 1,500 attend on a Sunday morning. If a church is in this situation then there is a major problem. If this is the case it is clear that the church does not value membership, membership does not mean anything, and that the congregation does not know what membership is all about.

While in England this summer I made an interesting discovery. We toured the over 200-year-old Baptist church in Moulton that William Carey pastored before becoming the father of the modern mission movement in India. Moulton is and was a small community and when Carey arrived it was a church in disarray. People rarely attended and the members were discouraged. The first thing that Carey did was to draw up a document that outlined what it meant to be a member at the church and had those who sought membership in the church to sign the document. This was a very Baptist thing to do and it made a ton of sense then and now.

Many of our churches lower requirements for membership based upon an erroneous view of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. There are numerous scriptures that teach that individual believers are to submit to the church in doctrine and practice, that Christianity is a call to a holy life, that Christians should have accountability in their lives which rebukes their personal sins, and that being part of the body of Christ means more than a financial discount on using the church facilities for your daughter’s wedding. Churches that do not value membership enough to set clear standards and clear church discipline for its members will produce mediocre lukewarm Christians.

We are still working on our Membership Covenant for GCC, but feel this is an important part of the life and DNA of our church. New churches as well as more established churches must be purposeful in outlining the expectations for membership. To side step this issue will lead to a culture of mediocre Christianity within your church.

P.S. The attached picture is of a stained glass window in the Moulton church that is of the Baptist General Conference’s symbol, which is inscribed with Carey’s famous quote, “Expect Great Things From God and Attempt Great Things For God”.

P.S.S. For more information about the original Moulton covenant leave a comment or go to www.thecareyexperience.org.uk

The "So, What Does It Mean To You?" Interpretation

Have you ever sat in a Sunday School class or a small group Bible Study and the teacher opened the Bible, read the text, then said to everyone, “So, what does this mean to you?” I have had this happen a number of times over the years. This is a problem of interpretation method and Martin Luther argued against a similar problem in his day.

In his theological classic “The Bondage of the Will” Luther says that he is fighting a “pretty fierce campaign against those fanatics who subject the Scriptures to the interpretation of their own spirit” (pg124). Luther was fighting against people who derived meaning or interpretations from the Scriptures outside of their intended meaning.

You might say, “How can you confidently interpret the Scriptures?” Well, you must first understand the passage you are teaching in its historical context. This requires you to understand the purpose of the Biblical book that the passage is found, the context surrounding the passage, and the plain normal meaning of the text. In preaching we call this moving from an exegetical proposition to a theological principle then to the form and application of the sermon.

Even after the Conservative Resurgence we still have this problem in moderate and liberal Baptist churches. This is a disease that must be diagnosed and healed otherwise we will produce childish Christians who only interpret the Scriptures based in their own little problems of the day. Our people are sick from the disease of forcing meanings of certain texts that God never meant to be derived.

The better you understand what the passage meant to the original readers, the better you will be able to apply it to the lives of the people you teach. Interpret based on sound historical, grammatical, theological, and normal methods of interpretations. Remember, the story of Jericho does not mean that a disgruntled employee needs to walk around their office seven times blowing a horn.

Teachers, work hard and be accurate in your studies because you will be judged by the content of what you teach. Christians, grow up and seek what God is communicating through the passage not what you want to get out of the passage.

In His Grace

Economic Injustice

I am not a Democrat (nor a Republican but have consistently voted Republican because I am a Conservative, I will continually vote Republican as long as they remain faithful to the Conservative movement), but there is something that I really like about the Democratic party. Democrats have a genuine interest in helping the poor. I identify with this as I seek to embrace the Biblical teachings on justice to the poor. The problem with the Democrats is that even though their heart might be in the right place their strategies for economic justice are littered with historical failures.

The Communists sought economic justice for the poor by implementing class warfare which resulted in millions dieing in the previous century and countries getting left behind in human progress. The Soviet Union ended in failure. Cuba is a disaster. Socialism is also bankrupt. Noone who desires to advance themselves economically rushes to Western Europe.

What is the point of this interpretation of history? The best way for provide economic justice for the poor is to create a free society with laws that promote entrepreneurial advancement, and enforces the law.

Ironically the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton did nothing to enforce the illegal activities of internet pornography and looked the other way as big business abused the system. It has been the Bush administration and an evangelical Christian Attorney General that brought down the crooks of Enron.

How do we apply Proverbs 22:22-23? Compassionate Conservatism, Just Capitalism should be the rally cry of the evangelical Christian.

I love Rage Against the Machine, but their economic philosophy has never worked and has only brought death and destruction.

In His Grace

PS The pic is from a T-Shirt found at www.ThoseShirts.com

Correction to "Primary Injustice"

I am still a blogger novice. For some reason some of the lines of text that I intended to put in the "Primary Injustice" post did not get in there. I think I ran into problems by posting quotes.

With that said I wanted to be clear that my intention was not to run down Span or Harris, but to voice my disagreement with the view that poverty and racism are the primary injustices in our society today. This point is to counter the view of Span's that nothing is more urgent for the church to battle than poverty.

Poverty and Racism are problems that we can improve upon, but I don't believe that we have structures or systems that are inherently racist or force people to remain in poverty. It is actually the opposite. In the United States we have structures and systems that punish racism and help people out of poverty.

We do have laws in this country that not only do not protect the unborn but actually put their lives and health at risk. This is why it is a greater injustice.

Primary Injustice

I am currently preparing a sermon on Proverbs 22:22-23 which reads, "Do not rob the poor man because he is poor, and don't crush the oppressed at the gate, for the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them." This proverb is about justice. Justice is a major Biblical theme and I have been think much on this topic. I strongly believe that this proverb is not simply about the poor but a broader idea of those that are oppressed and afflicted. These three terms are used interchangeably in different translations of this proverb.

I believe that the evangelical church does not address this clear Biblical theme of justice enough and when we do we address the wrong issues.

I have been thinking much about injustice in our society when I came across an article yesterday at http://www.baptistpress.com/bpnews.asp?ID=22064. The article was about a panel on poverty in America and a quote from the article really got my attention.

The quote from the article is:
"Nothing is more urgent in this hour than the church's involvement in the eradication of poverty," said Derrick Span, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Community Action Partnership, who appeared on a panel with Land. "Poverty is sinful, and poverty is anti-God. Those who believe in God have no alternative but to be involved in this struggle to eradicate poverty."

I want to be clear, I applaud Mr. Span's work with CAP and I like their misison statement of, "It is the mission of the Community Action Partnership to be a national forum for policy on poverty and to strengthen, promote, represent and serve its network of member agencies to assure that the issues of the poor are effectively heard and addressed. " (www.communityactionpartnership.com). I believe that there is poverty in the world today and the church should play a key role in being part of the solution of helping those in poverty.

My problem with the quote is that Span believes that the primary social injustice of our day in America is poverty. Some on panelannel make the connection between poverty and racism. Another panelistelist says, "Forrest Harris, president of American Baptist College in Nashville, said, "Racism is not only a sin" but is part of "the very system and structures of American society," and "it creates poverty." (www.abcnash.edu)

In wrestling through my sermon on injustice I asked that simply question, "What is the greatest injustice in our society?" It seems that Span would say poverty and Harris would say racism connected to poverty. I take issue with either poverty or racism being the greatest or primary injustice of our day because America provides numerous ways out of poverty and generaly speaking poverty in America is living like a king compared to the average person in a county like Haiti. There are INSTANCES of injustice dealing with poverty and racism but I don't believe that our government or society has structures that force people into poverty or force them to remain at that level, nor do I believe that there are laws or structures that are racist (comparatively speaking). We rightly did away with the Jim Crow laws of the south and there are numerous stories of people coming out of poverty in this United States of America and our powerful economy.

I say all of this not to belittle the fight against poverty or racism but to put it in its context of social injustice. The greatest social injustice of our day is federal law that allows for the killing of the most poor, oppressed, and afflicted (Proverbs 22:22-23) of our society, the unborn. My unborn son Mason has no rights in this country.

I was born in 1978 and a quarter of my generation has been lost to abortion and the liberal church still wants to fight the 1960's battles against racism and poverty. Fight those fights where they need to be fought but have some integrity in placing those issues in their proper place otherwise you will only isolate yourself instead of convincing others of your cause. These types of over-the-top accusations by Span and Harris cause me to want to distance myself from any of their issues. Fight the fight, but do so with that boundaries of orthdox Christianity and do so as reasonable people who keep their issues in context.

If you desire to fight injustice in our society like the Bible commands us as Chrisians to do, then take up the fight of the Pro-Life movement and give to your local Crisis Pregnancy Center.

In His Grace

PS the pic is of the president of the American Baptist College in Nashville

The Purpose of the Blog

Well the time has come for the conclusion of the introduction stage of this blog. I have told you a little about myself so that you know where I am coming from. I have also had fun talking about myself and the things that are important to me. For some reason I love attaching pictures to each of these articles. The reason for this pic is simply because it is the Micah and Kristen love affair classic, this is our 7th grade homecoming picture. Don't we all miss the tight rolls, Bugle Boy sweaters, and taller women?

I am attempting to make comments on the day's issues from an evangelical conservative Christian viewpoint. I will make comments on different political, Biblical, theological, and church issues. I will throw in some book reviews of books that I suggest taking time with and I hope to throw in some devotional works.

My prayer is that this blog ministers to your spiritual life and walk with the Lord. I hope to spark some discussion, get you to think, but ultimately to glorify God. I hope you find this blog informative and insightful. I pray that it also changes your thinking for the better.

I don't have all the answers and certain positions of mine might change, but I honestly am seeking truth and to know God better.

Feel free to post comments, but please extend grace to an imperfect thinker as I will attempt to do the same. I am always open to any questions that you wish to ask.

In His Grace
Micah Caswell

The Great Seminary Debate

I have two more posts to do before I am done with the introduction stage of this blog. At the completion of this post when I am asked, "Why do you go to two seminaries?!" or "You are doing two degrees?!" I will simply tell them to go to the blog. I am about to write the least interesting entry and will be surprised if I get any comments. Most will nicely start into this post, get swirly eyes out of boredom, fall asleep with their forehead on the screen, and then never actually finish this article. Most don't really know what a seminary is, or how a denomination works, nor do they care. For those of you who really want to know why I attend two seminaries and why I am working on two degrees at the same time, here we go.

Seminaries are like all academic institutions, some are better and some are worse. In reality they are simply better at different things. For instance, overall my experience as an undergraduate student at the University of North Texas was very average. Growing up in Denton I swore I would never go to school there and always thought that it was a very subpar school. I found that in many ways and in many of the colleges UNT is very mediocre but if you ever met a 20 year old in Denton who is from Maine then you know that he is in the UNT College of Music. The UNT football team might remain in the Sun Belt conference, but the College of Music is nationally and even internationally known. It is a bit of a power-move to say that I have a buddy in the One O'Clock Lab Band. There is no place better to study Jazz than at UNT. Seminaries are like universities, they are better at different things.

I started at Dallas Theological Seminary during the fall of 2001 because I wanted to study the Bible. One might think that is all they do at seminary, but it really isn't. DTS was built on the value that they wanted all of there students to study each book of the Bible and that the Bible would be the primary textbook. DTS was started in the mid 1920's during the middle of the classic fundamentalist v.s. old liberal debates. Lewis Chaffer was tired of seeing seminaries like Princeton focus more on other books and disciplines and less on the Bible and the traditional Christian doctrines of faith. If you want to understand, teach, and preach the Bible I really do believe that there is no place better to attend than DTS.

I began at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary during the fall of 2002. I had moved from the Baptist tradition into the independent Bible church tradition like many other people. I had my life changed and was fed by the expository preaching in the Bible church and liked to proudly drop to people that my church was "non-denominational" (you see, most believe that denominations are something to be embarrassed by). I felt called to plant a church and when I started to understand how independent churches worked and did missions, I started remembering what I had learned as a child in RA's (Baptist Boyscouts). I realized that there was a better way to do missions. I started studying what a denomination was, what the Southern Baptist Convention really is about, and the history of the SBC. I had always thought of Baptist churches as being more "liberal" or less Biblical than Bible churches, which is true to a large degree, but saw something special in the recent history of the SBC. I learned that denominations are largely a thing of the past because the old mainline denominations are declining at a remarkable rate, but this is not the trend with the SBC. There are a few reasons for this, but the main reason is that even though the SBC started down the liberal and neo-orthodox paths of the Episcopalians, Methodists, and Presbytarians; the SBC changed their course.

The "Thirty Years War" over the SBC has left blood on both sides and many wounded souls. There are people I love and admire on both sides of the aisle, but the reality of it is that the war needed to happen and the SBC is better of because the "conservatives" won out. Sadly, here in Texas most of the people who claim to be "moderate" Southern Baptists are actually "conservatives" if you get past the politics with them and discuss the issues. With those people I want to lovingly (in a Christian sort of way) place my hands on their shoulders, look them deep into their eyes, and say IF YOU ARE A CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN THEN BE A CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN! I would follow that with a Christian "holy kiss" on the cheek to let them know that I love them, but we don't do that in Texas.

So there I was in the Spring of 2002 feeling used and abused by Greek verbs, whipped by the idea of doing a ThM (120 masters degree) at the independant DTS (DTS is the only seminary I know of that does not offer the normal 90 hour MDiv program); and at the same time knew I wanted to plant a church, and was becoming proud of the Conservative Resurgance of the SBC.

What should I do? I was wary of walking across the street to SWBTS because I felt it was not conservative enough nor did it focus on Biblical and Theological studies enough. I had known many to attend SWBTS but none of them had a great experience there. They might not of had a bad experience, but I had never heard of SWBTS radically changing someone's life for the better. I had heard of these experiences from almost everyone at DTS.

I visited the campus and sat in on a Systematic Theology class (wasn't that impressed) then had a life-changing meeting with Dr. Dan Morgan in the School of Missions. Dr. Morgan is the main church planting professor at SWBTS. I got extremely excited about what the SBC was doing in the area of church planting, especially at the seminary level. I found that I could get a degree in church planting. Dr. Morgan is why I am at SWBTS.

Well what are the differences between the two schools. In my humble opinion I believe that DTS is better in the areas of Biblical and Theological studies, I believe that SWBTS better equips you in the area of Pastoral Ministries. From where I am sitting, all three of these areas are vital to successful ministry, thus I am at both schools. Unexpectantly, I have found Historical Theology to be my favorite part of seminary. I have begun to think seriously about doing a PhD in Historical Theology. Both schools are great in this area. Dr. Hannah is legendary at DTS, but Dr. Bingham at DTS and Dr. Yarnell at SWBTS are the type of scholars and men that I would love to study under. Both seminaries are great in this area.

I know that this article is going onto the internet for the world to read so I am a bit scared about this next part. What do I not like about the schools?

First, DTS does not offer a MDiv which they take a lot of pride in. The reality is that the ThM is to be an additional degree focused completly on a particular area of study. What ends up happening at DTS is that your ThM is not as strong as other ThM's but is better than the average MDiv. It is sort of inbetween. My focus at DTS is Historical Theology and Pastoral Ministries. I would be less equipped to do a PhD in Historical Theology with a ThM from DTS than if I did a normal MDiv and then a normal ThM.

Second, DTS teaches every book of the Bible in their program. This looks great on an advertising flyer, but in reality we have to rush through so many of them in order to fulfill the battle cry of "studying every book of the Bible" that we don't study them well enough. I wish they would cut out certain books in order to focus more on a certain genre in order to understand it better.

Third, the feel of DTS (to me) borders on too academic. I have heard the saying that DTS grads are either the worst or the best pastors. I can totally see this as being the case based on the unhealthy balance between academic menuia with actual spiritual life and ministry training. Please understand that I am painting a broad stroke. There are so many exceptions and I have so grown in the Lord at DTS and love so many people there. I am also very proud of DTS. I have grown to apprieciate DTS by accepting it for what it is. DTS is not the city on the hill that some make it out to be, but it is a fine institution that I am very proud of.

Concerning SWBTS, I feel that there is too much of an "unacademic" attitude on campus. Many don't see the imporatance of study, they just want to wing it. The wrong attitude of many in Fort Worth is that ministry is putting on a cool youth event and study is not important. In the long run this makes for shallow ministry that prevades many of our SBC churches. Again, like my criticisms of DTS this is a very broad stroke.

Second, SWBTS does not emphasize the importance of Biblical or Theological studies enough. Honestly it kind of scares me to think that most of our SBC pastors only had two semesters in Systematic Theology during their MDiv program. Two semesters is simply not enough and is leaving our pastors with a very scary and unhealthy understanding and appreciation of Theology. Remember brothers, without Biblical Theology we are nothing.

I would also like to add that seminary is not for someone who just wants to learn more about the Bible. In my eyes that is a selfishly motivated reason for attending seminary. The seminaries primary purpose should be to produce pastors. Don't come and just hang out at seminary for a few years, only come it you feel a call by God to serve Him through His church. If you come for any other reason than to serve God in His Church then you run the danger of becoming too focused on the majoring in the minors.

If you are in seminary and not LEADING in a church someone where then I honestly believe that you are in sin. With a seminary degree you are better equipped than 90% of pastors in the world. Don't go to seminary and then choose to be webdesigner over a minister. If you want to be webdesigner, Great; then be a godly webdesigner who does kingdom ministry in a local church and reads good books.

Well it is easy to throw stones, so what do I think should happen at semianry. If you are looking for a seminary to attend and you feel called to be a pastor then find a conservative evangelical seminary, enroll in the MDiv program, make sure you get at least 18 hours of Bible, at least three semesters of Greek, at least two semesters of Hebrew, at lest nine hours of Systematic (preferably 12), and two semesters of Church History that is taught by people who are not just throwing dates at you but is interpreting history and applying it to today.

SWBTS has made some great changes over the last two years. These have been brought about by our new president Paige Patterson. I feel SWBTS has a better hope of becoming the vision of what I think a seminary should be than DTS. I don't think that either are quite there yet and I feel that it would not be a mistake to attend either. If you feel called to be a pastor I am recommending people to SWBTS, but I have also had a great experience at DTS.

I am very thankful for my seminary years and love both DTS and SWBTS. I would also like to mention the best professors that I have studied under in seminary. Dr. Howard Hendricks, Dr. Scott Horrell, Dr. Stan Toussaint, Dr. Buist Fanning, Dr. Jeff Bingham, and Dr. Lanier Burns at DTS; and Dr. Dan Morgan, Dr. Richard Land, Dr. Scott Swain, and Dr. Malcolm Yarnell at SWBTS. Bingham and Yarnell are particularly greatness in my book. Other greats that I have not taken are Dr. Wallace and Bock at DTS and Dr. Blount and Patterson at SWBTS.

Well if you are not asleep than I am pretty impressed. These are my reasonings for attending both seminaries.

In His Grace

P.S. The pic is my DTS id photo, it is funny to me because I was wearing the same shirt over a year later in my SWBTS id photo

P.S.S. I know that my wife is going to kill me, but I am choosing not to proof read or spell check this, this topic has taken the wind out of my sails and I must move on with my life

BOOK REVIEW: Exodus

I have enjoyed the blog so far, but I am ready to get into the actual function of the site. I felt rushed through the last two entries to get to the actual work of the site that I would like to be doing, therefore I am taking a break from the introduction stage to tell you about a book that I have just finished.

The book is titled "Exodus: Why Americans Are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity" by Dave Sheflett (www.daveshiflett.com) and published by Sentinel. This is not a book written by an evangelical who is tooting his own horn, but rather a journalist who describes himself as a "itinerant Presbyterian" (pg182). Dave Shiflett interviews different leaders from many different denominations and Christian traditions. He clearly shows the differences between the "progressive" and "traditional" branches of Christianity and the negative results of embracing the "progressive" views.

This is a very insightful book, written by an outsider, especially regarding the state of the American Episcopalian church. Shiflett gets to the heart of the issue of why the old mainline denominations are such a train wreck. I wish he would have taken as close a look at the liberal Presbyterians and Baptists as he did with the liberal Episcopalians which he calls a "religious freak show" (pgxix).

Shiflett interviews Dr. Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Dr. Land of the SBC's Ethic and Religious Liberty Commission. I have studied under Land at SWBTS and am a strong supporter of his work. Shiflett does a good job of presenting their views as well as showing the importance of their work.

The decline of the great American denominations are a testament to embracing the proper AUTHORITY. What is going to be your authority in life? Evangelical Conservative Christianity says that the Bible is going to be our ultimate authority. It is our primary source of truth and truth cannot contradict its teachings.

The Christian doctrines found in the Bible are what changes lives. The church must embrace orthodoxy or it will be decline into a country club of old men who teach cute poems and witty cliches that only affirm the shallow "be nice" teachings of our day.

In His Grace

The Vision of Grace Community Church

What is a Cowboy fan to do on a Sunday afternoon with no Cowboy game? How about write more on the blog?

The previous post outlined the reasons for starting the church in Austin, but now I would like to discuss the vision of Grace Community Church. We have refused to just identify a problem, but also have worked hard on a solution to the problem. We have worked hard and God has guided us to form a gameplan that we are confident about.

GCC is an evangelical church within the conservative Baptist tradition. In forming the vision we felt strongly about certain philosophies and doctrines. We saw the value of having more than one teaching pastor from the ministry of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. We also felt strongly about expository preaching from the influences of Tommy Nelson at Denton Bible Church as well as Dallas Theological Seminary. We also embraced the strong missions emphasis of the Southern Baptist Convention. Finally, we also had a vision for an authentic loving body like something we have only experienced in glimpses.

At the conclusion of our discussions and prayers we feel God led us to the mission statement of "Encouraging Others to Experience and Embrace the Grace of God". As time goes by I grow more and more in love with this statement. It completely grabs how we view the Christian spiritual life. This idea is so important to us that I will spend a separate post unpacking it.

There are five purposes of GCC. These are found through the Great Commission and the Great Commandment and are in line with the Purpose Driven Church movement. The five purposes of GCC are Worship, Service, Evangelism, Membership, Discipleship. These five purposes guide what we do. If something does not fit within one of these five purposes then we will not do it. We don't want to be great and something that God has not called us to do while being mediocre at the things that He calls His church to do.

All churches need to be doing those five purposes. If a church is not accomplishing those five things then they are unhealthy. Through our prayers and discussions we identified five values that will be unique to GCC, but will help determine how we carry out the five purposes. At GCC we will value the two "G's" (The Great Commandment and Great Commission), Relevance, Authenticity, Community, and Excellence. These values mean that we want to DO things according to these values. These values will help us evaluate the success of our ministries as a church.

This is just a brief window into our vision for Grace Community Church. To find out more visit our website at www.SouthAustinGrace.com.

Stylistically we will be a church the mainly preaches expository sermons, has contemporary worship that is simple yet excellent, we will embrace our Christian heritage of creeds and ordinances as well as classic worship, we will meet in home small groups, and we will have a team approach to the pulpit preaching.

This is just a brief teaser as to what we want to be about at GCC. God continues to move us forward, and your prayers are coveted. We need 300 people giving $50 a month to make this church happen. We are about 20% - 25% of the way there. If you have a passion for reaching the lost and investing into into eternal things we would like to invite you to be one of our partners. For more information check out our website.

In His Grace

Why Grace Community Church!

My wife tells me that I am getting obsessive with the blog, but I reminded her that in her "nesting" pregnancy stage she cleaned the baseboards yesterday. I would say we are even but she is nine months pregnant and I am simply obsessing over the blog.

For over a year and a half we have been working on laying a strong foundation of Grace Community Church. All of the studies show that the best way to expand the Kingdom of God on earth is not through more seminaries or Bible colleges, nor through more evangelistic crusades, nor through more Christian radio stations, nor through bigger and bigger mega churches; but through new churches. All of those things are great and I would argue important, but the most important thing that churches need to be doing to reach the lost in our society is by starting new churches. I am proud to say that my denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, is leading the way in this effort. Churches, especially older established churches, need to embrace this reality. I pray that pastors of churches will lead the way in understanding this and seek ways to start new Bible preaching, evangelistic, disciple-making, authentic churches that change communities.

I live in Denton County where about 40% of the people attend church regularly. That is a pretty churched community comparatively speaking. We are going to start a new church in the southern part of Austin, Texas where only 15% to 20% of the people attend church regularly. The church planting strategist at Hill Country Bible Church told me that when they planted a church in the area we are focusing on they ran across a grim reality. He told me that in this area of over 100,000 people that if every church was filled on a Sunday morning that there would only be seats for about 4,000 people! This is the south, this is Texas! There is a clear need in Austin, Texas for new churches!

The main way to reach the lost in a community is through new churches. New churches are not the enemy of other churches, the devil is the enemy. New churches provide another soldier in the trenches with the older more established churches. Austin, Texas is the second fastest growing city in America and is only 15% to 20% churched. Austin needs new churches.

We have found that around 90% of church starts fail in Austin. The group we are working with (Bluebonnet Baptist Association) has about a 75% success rate! We have found that one of the main reasons for church start failure is lack of needed funds and they are not evangelistic enough. We have extremely evangelistic people on our team and Bluebonnet will provide great accountability if we are not evangelistic enough.

We fill like we are a strong and flexible gameplan, we have great evangelists on our team, and God is clearly leading us to Austin. We have raised or have committed about 20% to 25% of our needs. We are off to a good start, but still need support. If you would like to be a part of what we are doing, comment to this post or visit our website at www.SouthAustinGrace.com. We now have a way to give financially through the website www.GracePartners.net.

In His Grace
Micah

P.S. The pic is of Ross and myself who are the lead pastors of the church plant. Nice ties huh? My tie is the college tie of Regent's Park College of Oxford University. Ross' tie is borrowed from his dad and tied by me.

The Singles

Yeah, yeah, yeah only one post a day. I am watching the Longhorns destroy Kansas and emotionally can't do seminary work so here comes the third post of the day.

I am wanting to give you a picture of the different areas of my life. Does anyone really care?

I have been serving at First Baptist Church of Denton in the Singles Ministry for almost three years. I grew up at FBCD, walked away from it, then came back to it and have had three great years there. I am truly blessed to have a great church home. I am going to to do a post on "Why I am Baptist" soon to address the Baptist issue that many have.

Denton, Texas is a great community and FBCD is a wonderful church. It is made up of imperfect people just like me, yet people who really love each other. I have a critical mind when it comes to church therefore I can thrown stones at ole FBCD, but in reality it is a wonderful place. I have kind of knee jerked against the immature criticisms that some people throw at churches.

The Singles Ministry has truly been a blessing to me. I never thought I would be serving in a singles ministry but God clearly led me here and it has been great. This group has lovingly let me develop as a young man and a minister. The ministry has experienced growth since we arrived and we have seen some lives changed.

I love getting to have friendships with ladies in their 80's, baptizing the children of our single parents, and getting to hang out with people my age. It has also been a special blessing to Kristen and me to get to marry so many of our singles. We have a number of couples who met and married in our group. Kristen has a true gift in counseling and we really enjoy doing marriage counseling with them together.

I have also been blessed by the relationship that I have with our Singles Pastor Mike Green. Mike has protected my relationship with Kristen and my seminary education. He has also mentored me through many different ministry situations as well as life situations. We really have a great working relationship that has truly blessed me.

I received a comment from a fellow pastor in the area. If there are other young pastors reading, consider ministering in the area of single adults if you feel called to pastor. It is truly a great experience and I think better prepares a young man for pastoring a church than youth or college ministries.

I know that some of the singles will read this; to them I want to publicly say that I love each of you and am forever grateful for my years with you. Thank you for your love and support of Kristen and me. Thank you for sharing your lives with us.

In His Grace
Micah

P.S. If you would like to know more about FBCD or our Singles Ministry you can visit www.fbcd.net

P.S.S. Posted is a picture of Kristen and I at one of our Singles events

La Hottie

I made the commitment to myself to only post one post per day. I don't want this to consume me because I will then get bored with it and quit. I want to pace myself. With all that said, here is my second post of the day.

I want to talk a little further about "The Resume" section and then I will get into the gameplan of this blog.

I will tackle the resume in order of importance. I will begin by telling you about my wife. There is a great proverb in the Bible that concludes the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 31:30 says, "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised". I recently heard a sermon on this and the preacher challenged us to go compliment the women in our lives on characteristics that are consistent with fearing the Lord. Where to begin with my wife on this issue?

Simply put, I have a great wife. If you know us then you know that she is out of my league and that I married up. My wife is physically beautiful, funny, fun to visit with, and smart; but most of all she is a mature Christian who loves and fears the Lord. This is evidenced by the fact that she patiently puts up with a lot of my junk.

Kristen has joyously embraced being a minister's wife and has jumped in with loving our group. Starting a church is a stressful ordeal because the money is not guarantied and there has been about a year and half of work that we have not been paid for. She has only been a positive and encouraging player in our efforts.

Kristen genuinely loves people. She accepts people for who they are and faithfully loves them. She is a great friend. I knew before I married her that she would make the best mom in the world. There is no one else in the world that I would rather be the mother of my children than Kristen.

I love my wife very much and pray that I have many wonderful years with her.

My wife is a middle school reading teacher and this picture of us together is in Bill Shakespeare's flower garden in England. See I told you she was beautiful.

Oh yeah, what's with "La Hottie"? Well we have a seminary friend named Dahati and my sister-in-law thought we were saying "La Hottie". There is also a Greek word "oti" that has a rough breathing mark and thus is pronounced "hoti" which we have laughed about. Sorry, I promise no more seminary humor.

In His Grace

The Resume

As I shared on the previous post, I make a distinction between "who I am" and "what I do". Of course these lines are not distinct but it is important to me to make that distinction. Well who am I outside of being a child of God saved by grace?

I am married to Kristen who has been one of my closest friends since middle school. We even went to our 7th grade homecoming together. The mum from that night is proudly displayed in my office. We have been married two and a half years and are expecting our first child, Mason, any day now. We have had some great times in the period of first being married and before "the dude" arrives. We have traveled alot and enjoyed our time together. Honestly we are somewhat sad to leave this stage, but are also very excited about the stage of life to come. Mason is due on Tuesday, but it is up to him.

I am a pastor and a seminary student.

I serve at the First Baptist Church of Denton, Texas where I grew up attending. I serve in the Singles Ministry under our Sinlges Pastor, Mike Green. I am Mike's intern/associate. The Singles Ministry has been a great experience. My primary ministry is what we call the "young singles". These are people who are either graduate students at the University of North Texas or Texas Woman's University or they are people who have taken their first "rea" job in the area. As of January I will have served in the Singles Ministry for three great years. I have loved getting to work with people of all ages. It has been great for what God has now called me to.

This summer I will be part of a team of people who will start a new church in Austin, Texas. The church will be called Grace Community Church and will be located in the southern part of the city. Feel free to check out our website at www.southaustingrace.com. God has blessed our efforts and we are excited about getting down there. We are busy fundraising and beginning to build a core group of people to serve alongside of us down there. If you are interested in being a part, then leave a comment to the post.

Most don't know what a seminary is. I have had people call it "preacher school" or "semitary". A seminary is a graduate level school (although some are now offering undergraduate level degrees) that has the ultimate goal of training people for ministry. I attend both Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Dallas Theological Seminary. Like all schools they are better at different things, thus why I attend both. I am pursuring a degree called a Master's of Divinity from SWBTS which is a 90 hour degree. I should be done with that this summer. I am pursuring what is called a Master's in Theology at DTS. This is a 120 hour degree. Most master's degrees are about 60 hours so these degrees are a little over the top, but it has been a great experience. I am in my fourth year of training and I am honestly ready to move on.

Well I will address these issues in more detail later as well as share with you the overall thrust or gameplan of this blog.

In His Grace
Micah

Who Am I?

Today is Friday, November 11, 2005. It is Veteran's Day and four days before my first child, a son we will name Mason Lawerence, is due. My name is Micah Lawerence Caswell and I have been contemplating creating a blog for a couple of months. My car broke down this afternoon so I ended up with more time that I thought today so I thought, "go ahead set it up." I feel like I am stepping into a whole new world.

How should one begin a blog? I thought I would begin with telling the blogging world who I am. I have thought a lot about the question of who I am. Who is a person? Most give their resume, and I guess I will get to that also, but I should address the very core of my being as I see it. Theologians and philosophers talk of people's essence or personhood, so what is my essence of being? At my very core I am a product of grace. I am an adopted son of God that does not deserve that title. I was given that status by no work of my own but by the wonderful gift of God. At my very core I am a Christian. In theological terms this means I am one who is a redeemed child of God by the power of God's grace through the avenue of faith in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Well that is who I am.

Who are you?