Unless you’ve been locked away somewhere, you know that a new pope was recently elected. Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s life is recounted in Francis: Man of Prayer by Mario Escobar.
I have always felt that history books (including biographies and autobiographies) shouldn’t be published until a later date. When we are “in the moment,” things are so fluid and their outcome so uncertain, that it’s best to wait for awhile to see how things turn out before they are committed to a book. So I was a bit surprised to see a biography of the new pope appear in print so quickly after his election.
Clearly this is not a book that looks at Francis’ papacy, but one that chronicles his ascendency to that position. For the most part I found this biography to be very factual, and dry. The events of Bergoglio’s life are presented dispassionately and disjointedly. This book could have been written in bullet-points, and it would have maintained all of the same coolness as it has in its current form.
Perhaps a book will be published later in Francis’ papacy which will have some more sizzle to it, but this biography is a real snoozer.
Is there right time to address politicized topics from the pulpit? I believe there is, but I believe we must make sure we’re not promoting our opinion but standing up for biblical principles.
Pastors were pivotal in swaying public opinion prior to the American Revolution and in the abolition of slavery in the United States. One pastor that spoke forcefully and biblically about the independence of the thirteen colonies was John Witherspoon—
“If your cause is just—you may look with confidence to the Lord and intreat [sic] Him to plead it as His own. You are all my witnesses, that this is the first time of my introducing any political subject into the pulpit. At this season however, it is not only lawful but necessary, and I willingly embrace the opportunity of declaring my opinion without hesitation, that the cause in which America is now in arms, is the cause of justice, of liberty, and of human nature.”
Commenting on the decision of Rev. Witherspoon to address this topic from the pulpit, theologian T.M. Moore wrote—
“Preachers tend to stay away from sticky moral and political issues, simply because they know it riles up certain folks for them to do so. Witherspoon spoke out in his day because the cause of the nation was just. But so many unjust causes are afoot in our nation at the moment, that for pastors not to speak up and equip their people to understand the times and know what we as communities should do, is not only a betrayal of our Founders, but a betrayal of their calling and of the Word of God (Ezekiel 33).”
That’s a strong statement: Pastors that don’t speak out on the immoral issues of our time are betraying their calling. I tend to agree with him. What do you think? Is there a time and place for politics in the pulpit?
I just finished reading a book of prayers compiled from the work of Thomas Aquinas. Here are a few that caught my attention—
Thy wounds, as Thomas saw, I do not see;
Yet Thee confess my Lord and God to be:
Make me believe Thee ever more and more;
In Thee my hope, in Thee my love to store.
Sion, lift thy voice and sing:
Praise thy Savior and thy King;
Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true:
Dare thy most to praise Him well;
For He doth all praise excel;
None can ever reach His due.
Almighty and everlasting God, behold I come to the Sacrament of Thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: I come as one infirm to the Physician of life, as one unclean to the Fountain of mercy, as one blind to the Light of everlasting brightness, as one poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Therefore I implore the abundance of Thy measureless bounty that Thou wouldst vouchsafe to heal my infirmity, wash my uncleanness, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty and clothe my nakedness.
Grant me a penetrating mind to understand, a retentive memory, method and ease in learning, the lucidity to comprehend, and abundant grace in expressing myself. Guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to successful completion.
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While I was reading From Azusa To Africa To The Nations, I came across a fascinating statement from William Seymour, the pastor who led his congregation into that early 20th-century revival that shook the world. Pastor Seymour was so hungry for God’s presence in his life that he set aside five hours each day to seek God’s deeper touch. He prayed liked this for over 3 years. At this point He read about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts, and something stirred in him to pray for this same outpouring on himself and on his congregation. He then increased his prayer time to seven hours a day, and continued to pray in this fashion for another two years before the answer came and the revival broke out.
I did the math. That means he prayed 11,500 hours!
How many of us get tired after praying just one hour?
Would it be easier for you to tenaciously pursue God in prayer if you knew He was also tenaciously pursuing you? Mark Batterson points out in The Circle Maker that the verb in Psalm 23:6 is poorly translated in English as shall follow me. He reminds us that it’s really a hunting term, used for a hunter in hot pursuit of his quarry. God’s love and mercy are in hot pursuit of you!
The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for Him! (Isaiah 30:18)
Want to see a great story about this in the life of Jesus? Matthew tells us about a get-away that Jesus and His disciples took. While they were relaxing, a woman barged in, imploring Jesus to heal her daughter. She would not be denied. She tenaciously implored Jesus to minister to her daughter. At last Jesus cried out, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”
It may sound like this woman was pursuing Jesus. But Jesus put Himself in a place for her to find Him. He pursued her first.
As a Canaanite (a non-Jew), it was unsafe for her to travel to southern Israel.
As a woman, it was unacceptable for her to go talk to a man.
As a mother with a sick child at home, it was unwise for her to leave home.
So Jesus traveled to a region He has never been to before, and would never go back to again. He pursued this mother-in-need so that she could find Him in prayer!
God is in hot pursuit of you, too. He hears every prayer, so keep on tenaciously praying. Don’t settle, don’t give up, don’t stop! Pray as long as it takes for God to say to you, “You have great faith! Your request is granted.”
To check out the others messages in this series on prayer called Praying Circles, please click here.
Most people are familiar with George Santayana’s powerful reminder: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This is why I love reading books of history. Denzil R. Miller has given us a powerful lesson of the history of the Pentecostal church in From Azusa To Africa To The Nations.
Denzil, a missionary in Africa, had a very specific motivation for writing this book: To remind African Christians how the full gospel message came to them, and how they should be responding to it. But I found that this book is a great reminder for all who call themselves Pentecostal.
From Azusa re-tells the story of the Pentecostal reawakening in the early days of the 1900s in a small church in Los Angeles pastored by William Seymour. From that small church, a worldwide revival to the fullness of the operation of the Holy Spirit began. It was a call to return to biblical roots; a call back to the message of Jesus, “You will receive power to be My witnesses after the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8).
Denzil Miller aims to call the African churches back to their Pentecostal roots, but this is a call for all Pentecostals, regardless of the continent on which they live. This is a short, but powerful book, that I encourage you to check out.
On October 31, 1517, a sea change in world history was begun. On that day Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of a church, challenging the traditions of organized religion which he believed had strayed far from the instructions in the Bible.
The Reformation had been launched.
I truly believe that we all must be students of history, partly because all of his story is His Story. When we study history, we can see how God is working out His Story.
Second, we also need to know our history because as George Santayana rightly said, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
A third reason to (re)learn the thoughts brought out during the Reformation is for doctrinal strength. It’s important to know not only what why believe but why we believe it. And there are some valuable doctrinal truths in the history of the Reformation.
Finally, I believe an important part of learning is unlearning. Sometimes we accept something just because it’s been handed down to us. That is in large part what Luther and other reformers were challenging, and calling us to unlearn tradition and relearn what the Bible has to say.
So beginning this Sunday we will be walking through the five Soladoctrinal statements the reformers taught. I am really looking forward to relearning and unlearning, and just outright learning the biblical truths of the five solas.
John Chrysostom was a reluctant pastor. It took him a while to surrender to the call of God on his life to serve as a priest. But once he stepped into that role, his God-given talents were used mightily. He was such an incredible speaker that his sermons often moved his audience to tears or applause. Thus, he was given the nickname “Golden Mouth.”
Here are some great pastoral insights from Golden Mouth which are just as applicable today…
“Thus then must the Priest behave towards those in his charge, as a father would behave to his very young children; and as such are not disturbed either by their insults or their blows, or their lamentations, nor even if they laugh and rejoice with us, do we take much account of it; so should we neither be puffed up by the promises of these persons nor cast down at their censure, when it comes from them unseasonably.”
“Let, therefore, the man who undertakes the strain of teaching never give heed to the good opinion of the outside world, nor be dejected in soul on account of such persons; but laboring at his sermons so that he may please God, (For let this alone be his rule and determination, in discharging this best kind of workmanship, not acclamation, nor good opinions,) if, indeed, he be praised by men, let him not repudiate their applause, and when his hearers do not offer this, let him not seek it, let him not be grieved. For a sufficient consolation in his labors, and one greater than all, is when he is able to be conscious of arranging and ordering his teaching with a view to pleasing God.”
“For the soul of the Priest ought to be purer than the very sunbeams, in order that the Holy Spirit may not leave him desolate, in order that he may be able to say, ‘Now I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me….’ For he has need of far greater purity than they; and whoever has need of greater purity, he too is subject to more pressing temptations than they, which are able to defile him, unless by using constant self-denial and much labor, he renders his soul inaccessible to them.”
Unless you’ve been locked away somewhere, you know that a new pope was recently elected. Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s life is recounted in Francis: Man of Prayer by Mario Escobar.
Craig T. Owens 