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Seeking Unity

Church unity is so important yet so illusive. In this article I attempt to describe some of the parameters for unity, its continuum and its locus, before coming to the tentative conclusion that networking seems to provide us with the only viable working model available. Having come to this point in my search I then sketch some simple building blocks . In the final analysis, only the Holy Spirit can forge a functionally united global church. Our responsibility is to seek the Lord’s will and to be sensitive to His voice. We also need to place ourselves into interlinking relationship networks thereby making all of the church potentially available to all of its parts

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Debt Free

Leave a Comment / Articles, Blog, My Blog, Published Articles / Christopher Peppler

I heard a report the other day that there are about 50,000 dogs roaming the streets of Detroit. Why is this happening in poor bankrupt Detroit city? Well, a major contributor to both the city’s and the dogs’ demise is… debt. Many of the automotive workers in Detroit had been living beyond their means for years. As their house values went up so they borrowed more to live better on what they had not yet earned. Then came the world economic meltdown. Car sales slumped and tens of thousands of factory workers lost their jobs. House prices plummeted and many people found that the bonds on their homes were now higher than the actual market value of the property. So, in their scores, people closed up their homes, left the keys in the letterbox and their dogs on the street, and drove off! There is a correlation it seems between debt and stray dogs in Detroit.

It is unlikely that your dog is roaming the street as you read this article, but it could well be that debt is dogging your life. If so, this article is for you. Proverbs 22:7 reads ‘Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is slave to the lender.’ Now there are at least three ways in which a borrower is slave to a lender – legally, emotionally, and spiritually. As I am not an attorney I will address only the last two.

High debt levels cause stress and worry and these in turn can cause ill health, marital problems, and unethical behaviour. Financial problems constitute one of the major causes of marital breakdown and divorce, and debt usually underlies financial problems.

Debt levels can also lead to the reprioritisation of family roles and functions. Dad wants to spend time with his children; he wants to be home at five to bath the baby and read stories to his six year old, but he can’t because he works until eight every night to earn enough to service the family debt. The wife often would like to be a stay-at-home mum but she can’t; she has to take an office job to pay for the house and the cars.

Debt also leads to limited giving and an inward, self-preserving outlook on financial life. It limits scope, dreams and vision and, perhaps worst of all, it affects ones Christian witness.

Slavery to debt is not just a matter of the mind and emotion, it also has profound spiritual implications. Jesus said “No one can serve two masters… you cannot serve both God and Mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Mammon is a personification of worldly wealth; it is a false god whose castle and seat of power is… debt. Jesus calls on us to live in daily dependence on Him, trusting Him for what we need (Matthew 6:3-34). Mammon says; “Don’t listen to him, depend on me and I will allow you to live well today on what you have not earned and do not deserve.” Many of the residents of Detroit listened to Mammon rather than Jesus, as did half the western world’s population, and we are all still suffering from the collapse that resulted. A major underlying cause of the economic melt-down was that people and corporations lived greedily on what they had not yet earned – they lived on debt.

Just in case you think that all this doesn’t apply to us in South Africa, here is a sobering statistic. In 2012 the average level of household debt to disposable income was 76%! How do you shape up against that disturbing average? What is your level of credit card debt? Overdraft? Hire purchase agreements? House mortgage bonds? To measure your degree of financial slavery from another angle ask the question; ‘How much do I give to my church, family and society every month, and just how much money do I save and invest?” The smaller the figure, the more mammon has you in bondage.

Of course the key question that should follow is; “What can I do about my condition of slavery to debt?” Well, it took David only five stones to defeat the giant Goliath and it only takes five simple principles to bring Mammon to his knees. This is not rocket-science, it is simple rock-science. Here are the five ‘stones’:

Stop complaining about how the bank made you do it, own up to the fact that you got yourself into debt, and decide right now to change. Make a solemn covenant before God and your family that you will not incur any further debt ever again. Cap your debt here and now.
Declare to your family and to all who will listen that your new financial priority is to become debt free. Proclaim that you are going to take Romans 13:8 seriously and literally; ‘Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another.’
So far it’s been easy – now comes the hard part. Eliminate assets that are surplus to your real needs. Downscale to a smaller house; sell your holiday home; downsize your car. Now use the funds released to pay off your debt, starting with credit cards and overdrafts, then HPs, and finally home bonds. Don’t prevaricate and justify – just do it.
Next, budget to live a more simple life and use the surplus each month to increase your debt repayments. Cut entertainment, holidays, restaurant meals, clothing, and gadgets.
Lastly, agree with your family that all windfall income will be used exclusively to pay off debt. Tax refunds, inheritances, and bonuses… everything that isn’t normal salary income.

This rock-science really works. Nearly three decades ago I left an executive position in a bank to pastor my local church. I had debt at that time and my move into full-time ministry cost me 50% of my monthly income. My wife and I immediately placed our trust in the Lord Jesus and put the five principles outlined here into practice. Within just a few years we were debt free… and we still are!

The borrower is slave to the lender but with God’s help and some common sense you can get out of financial slavery. It is not that hard, and actually its quite fun and very satisfying. Take up the five ‘stones’, load them into your financial slingshot, and watch mammon fall prostrate before you in Jesus name!

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Jesus Deficit Disorder

Leave a Comment / Articles, Published Articles / Christopher Peppler

I am currently re-reading the book ‘Jesus Manifesto’ by Len Sweet and Frank Viola subtitled ‘Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ‘. (http://www.thejesusmanifesto.com) In this book Len coins the phrase ‘Jesus Deficit Disorder’ (JDD), a play on the familiar mental condition labelled Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

His contention is that the focus of today’s church flickers from one thing to another but seldom settles on Jesus. Like a child with ADD the body of Christ focuses first on social upliftment, then on politics, then on getting rich, then on biblical knowledge acquisition, and so on … but seldom on Jesus.

Yet Jesus Christ is the creator, sustainer, head, and lord of the church. Without Him the church just isn’t the church. It may be a religious institution, or a philanthropic society, or a bless-me club; but without Jesus at its very centre it cannot be the church.

When a person is diagnosed with ADD they are most frequently prescribed a psychostimulant drug like Ritalin, but I was interested to discover that the same drug is often given in cases of lethargy, depression, and obesity. Perhaps if I were a medical doctor instead of a Ph.D I might be tempted to prescribe a spiritual Ritalin to treat the church’s JDD, lethargy, depression, and obesity. However, before attempting to prescribe I have to ask two questions: Is the church in general suffering from JDD? And if it is, then what is the spiritual equivalent of Ritalin that it can take?

A colleague of mine wrote to Len to enquire what sort of research he had conducted in order to diagnose the church as suffering from JDD. He replied that his observations had come out of ‘a lifetime of learning and living in the Spirit’. Len Sweet travels extensively as a speaker and theology professor and has been exposed to countless churches and Christian leaders over many years and in several nations, and so he is well able to diagnose the church’s current condition. I think his diagnosis is correct, but on what do I base my opinion?

I conducted a little rough and ready ‘research’ of my own. I looked at the list of the top ten articles for pastors published on SermonCentral.com over the past five years. (http://www.sermoncentral.com/articlec.asp?article=top-10-articles-past-10-years&ac=true) I reasoned that what pastors valued most as input must reflect in some way on what they believed was most important to them. The first article listed was ’21 irrefutable laws of communication’, the second was ‘5 things God never said’ and the third was ’20 non-preaching websites for better preaching’. The list continued with not a single mention of Jesus or anything to do with Him.

I read the list to my wife and she responded, with a gentle smile, that pastors like me were focused on leadership and preaching related matters and that the list didn’t represent the real focus areas of Christians in general. So, I Googled ‘bestselling Christian books in 2010’ and found that the name of Jesus features in only one book title, and that was 365 day devotional! (http://michaelhyatt.com/the-100-bestselling-christian-books-of-2010.html). After reading through the list I can understand why Sweet and Viola write of ‘ best-seller Christianity, which has become self-centeredness wrapped up as “spirituality,”’

So, from the evidence of my rough-and-ready research it looks like the church may well be suffering from JDD. But what can the body of Christ take to treat this malady? Perhaps the Bible is the Ritalin the church needs for recovery. No I don’t think it is. In general, the church still honours the Bible and often makes it the focus of attention.

However, it is all too easy to read the scriptures without seeing that they consistently point to Jesus.

The Pharisees of New Testament times had this problem because Jesus had to say to them, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39-40). Not much has changed since then. Sweet and Viola write; ‘The written Word is a map that leads us to the living Word. Or as Jesus Himself put it, “The Scriptures point to Me! ”Every part of the sacred text breathes the same oxygen—Christ. So the Bible is not the destination; it’s a compass that points to Jesus— heaven’s Lodestar’.

No, there is no spiritual Ritalin for the JDD of today’s church. More Bible study isn’t it and nor is a revamped social upliftment program ‘it’, or a larger worship band, or a power-preacher in a white suite!

The only remedy for JDD is for the church to reform itself around the centrality of Jesus.

Sweet and Viola put it this way; ‘Only a recovery of the greatness, supremacy, sovereignty, brilliance, and “allness” of Christ will lead us to restoration and even revival. The wonder of Jesus as “all in all” is the only hope for igniting the flame of a new reformation and resuscitating a church that’s presently on life support.’

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Sound Doctrine

Leave a Comment / Articles, Published Articles / Christopher Peppler

Paul warned that the time would come when people would no longer welcome sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:3) and most Bible-believing Christians suspect that time has indeed come. The problem though is ‘what constitutes sound doctrine?’

To the Fundamentalist, sound doctrine must include such things as the inerrancy of scripture, a literal six day creation, and so on. A Liberal Christian might argue that sound doctrine is whatever conforms to the law of love. A Calvinist would build a five-point definition around God’s sovereign predeterminism. So what then constitutes sound doctrine?

In First Timothy Paul warned about false teachers of the law and contrasted their legalistic injunctions with, ‘sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me’ (1 Timothy 1:10-11). This statement comes at the end of a passage condemning teachers who promote ‘false doctrine’. We can therefore get some idea of what sound doctrine is by comparing it to what it isn’t. Paul criticises false teachers for devoting themselves to myths and meaningless talk and in verse 7 he describes them as wanting to be ‘teachers of the law’. So, sound doctrine is neither man-made myths nor religious Law, but is something else entirely.

In his statement in verse 11 Paul gives us a rough definition of what he meant by the term ‘sound doctrine’;

it is that which conforms to the glorious gospel that God entrusted to him.

So, in order to determine further what constitutes sound doctrine, we need to explore what Paul understood by this ‘glorious gospel of the blessed God’.

In Romans 1:1-4 Paul writes that he has been ‘set apart for the gospel of God…the Gospel regarding his Son… Jesus Christ our Lord’, and in verse 9 he writes about ‘preaching the gospel of his Son’. So the glorious gospel is centred on Jesus. In Colossians 1:21-23 Paul makes it even more explicit by writing; ‘Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation — if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant’.

So, sound doctrine is that which has its basis in Christ Jesus – in His reconciling act of redemption and in obedience to what He taught.

In the 5^th verse of Romans Chapter 1 Paul writes of his commission ‘to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith’. So, sound doctrine includes a call to obedience to Jesus Christ. It is neither myth nor law, but rather the good news of salvation in Christ Jesus and obedience to His instruction.

It strikes me that much of what various groups promote as sound doctrine is more like the false doctrine Paul had in mind. Teaching the dogma of a particular theological persuasion does not in itself constitute sound doctrine. Calling the loyal to obedience to a church hierarchy or to a system of legalistic behavioural patterns does not constitute sound doctrine.

I think that we are living in times where many people no longer teach or receive sound doctrine. It is all too easy to see this in non-Christian religions, cult systems and so on. However, the lack of sound doctrine in the church itself is a bigger, if less obvious, problem. Sections of the church teach easy-believerism masquerading as Grace, others teach name-it-and-claim-it prosperity, and yet others teach complex theological systems and philosophies. Some sections of the church major on moralistic modes of behaviour while others teach that anything goes so long as it is ‘loving’. I think Paul had this sort of thing in mind when he wrote; ‘For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

To restore sound doctrine to the church is to return to a focus on the Lord Jesus Christ; who He is, what He achieved for us, what He taught and practiced, and what He expects of us.

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Eschatology 101

Leave a Comment / Articles, Published Articles / Christopher Peppler

It is strange that we tend to remember embarrassing moments with such clarity. I have preached over a thousand different sermons, but the ones that I remember most vividly are those that embarrassed me.

In one of my very earliest sermons I covered the book of Jude in twenty minutes. After I had said “Amen” and sat down, my mentor stood up and asked the congregation to summarize the message in three points. There was total silence for a full minute, so he turned to me and asked me to repeat my three main points. What three points?! I had about thirty-three points. That was embarrassing, but it was a good lesson.

Years later, with a couple of hundred sermons now under my belt, I decided to preach on the end times. I called the sermon ‘Eschatological Options’ and for forty minutes I took the congregation through the various views on the end times.

I put up detailed charts and carefully explained Amillennialism, Postmillenialism, and Premillenialism. I covered the pre-tribulation, post-tribulation, and mid-tribulation views of the Rapture. For good measure I threw in some material on the Resurrection, Judgement, and Millennium.

I felt well pleased with myself and hung around after the sermon so people could engage with me. But everybody avoided me and my welcoming smile got tighter and tighter. It disappeared completely when I overheard a lady saying to her husband, “What was he saying? I didn’t understand any of it? Escha-what?” This was another embarrassing lesson.

Many people are interested in eschatology in these troubled times. We were recently exposed to the misguided predictions of one Harold Camping and there is quite a bit of current speculation on what will happen in December 2012 (don’t expect me to comment on that). So, once again, I feel the need to give some input into this area. However, I have learned something from those early lessons and so I am not going to attempt to explain end time theories in less than eight hundred words. Instead, I want to make just one point. Irrespective of what your doctrine of the end times is, or what interpretive scheme you have been taught, one thing is clear; in the end we will all stand before Jesus. He is both the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13), He is the first and the last, and the focal point of eschatology.

There are many scriptures concerning Christ’s judgement of the saved and the unsaved but our focus is so often on the texts that have to do with what will happen to those who don’t know Jesus. I want to shift the focus for a moment to the judgement of believers, for Romans 14:10-12 states that ‘We will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,’ every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'” So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.’

The question is, ‘what will the judgment of believers be for?’ There is ample evidence in scripture that if we have been born again of the Spirit into a relationship with Jesus then we have the assurance of eternal life with Him (Here are just three – Romans 8:16, Hebrews 6:18, and 2Timothy 1:12). So, if the final judgment of believers is not to decide who may enter heaven, then what is it for?

Paul writes, ‘ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.’ (2 Timothy 4:7-8) What a wonderful thought! When we have finished our lives on earth we can enter eternity with the knowledge that it has all been worth it. Between this world and the next there is a judgement but, for the believer, it is the judicial determination of reward, not of penalty.

The one who will judge us is the same one who said,

“for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned…” (John 3:17-18)

Those who have believed in Jesus for salvation will stand before Him at the end of our lives on earth. He who shed His blood for us will evaluate our lives and reward us accordingly (2 Corinthians 5:10). This gives me great comfort and hope.

Yes, the world is getting more and more chaotic by the month. Yes, there is a sense of an approaching apocalypse. And yes, we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. But the good news is that it is Jesus who judges.

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Published Articles

Seeking Unity

Debt Free

Debt also leads to limited giving and an inward, self-preserving outlook on financial life. It limits scope, dreams and vision and, perhaps worst of all, it affects ones Christian witness.

Jesus Deficit Disorder

Sound Doctrine

Paul warned that the time would come when people would no longer welcome sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:3) and most Bible-believing Christians suspect that time has indeed come. The problem though is ‘what constitutes sound doctrine?’

Eschatology 101

It is strange that we tend to remember embarrassing moments with such clarity. I have preached over a thousand different sermons, but the ones that I remember most vividly are those that embarrassed me.

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