by Joel V Webb | Sep 15, 2024 | Orthodoxy Matters
One of the biggest issues that evangelicalism has been facing the
last several years is that the “Jesus died for you so you can go to
heaven” message is not working anymore. Why? Frankly because it is
not the whole gospel message, and misdirects us to begin with.
What Anthony Delgado
provides in his work is an in-depth, but amazingly easy read of a
book. While seeming like a monumental task, he masterfully covers the
width and breadth of the Gospel message. By addressing the problem of
the American folk-religion that has turned the Gospel from an
all-encompassing truth that transforms every aspect of our lives into
a simple and myopic, seemingly powerless tale that misses much of
what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
Even when addressing
these “sacred cows” there is a feeling of gentleness and guidance
that Delgado brings when addressing how the Gospel actually responds
to the deep and trying questions of our day. The answers provided are
not just satisfying, but well grounded and established in the story
and truth of Scripture that can bring believers of all traditions
together, and ignite an interest in what the Gospel is to the
unbeliever.
For many Christians
the spiritual world is just a two-dimensional reality that has maybe
some interactions with our lives, but other than God, angels, demons
and Satan there isn’t much else. Scripture on the other hand is
replete with stories and examples of how the spiritual world
interacts with the physical, and it has real implications for the
story we are all apart of. This reality plays a central role in why
the Gospel was essential, and this book bring that back to the
forefront. With a world so interested in “being spiritual” the
answers are found right in the truth of Scripture, now more
accessible then ever.
Often times many
books have questions at the end of each chapter, and sometime they
are not always engaging or helpful, but I get why they are there. But
with this book I found the questions to be engaging and thought
provoking. As a pastor I look forward to implementing this book as
part of regular discipleship and group-study in my context
In our post-modern
moment of doubt and questioning, The Gospel is Bigger Than You
Think is a tool that will serve
the Church in displaying the beauty and hope of the Gospel, and the
mystery and majesty of Jesus in a world in desperate need of a
savior.
I
highly recommend this book for clergy, laity and otherwise. 10/10
by Joel V Webb | Aug 28, 2024 | Uncategorized
I recently saw a post from a person in the Christian camp, who is
also a pastor pointing to the reasons he will be voting for a
particular presidential candidate this November. He somewhat listed
off some of the fruit of the Spirit found in the book of Galatians,
claiming his candidate of choice represents joy, and other
attributes, while the other represented meanness and selfishness.
There are two things I want to address with this.
1. Politicians are
trying to sell to you. It doesn’t matter if it is Kamala Harris,
Donald Trump or any other politicians from the federal to the local
level, they want to get elected. To suggest that any political
candidate truly represents the fruit of the Spirit, and that is
reason enough to vote for them is frankly vapid. A politician wants
to get elected, that’s what they are out there campaigning for
votes. It doesn’t matter if you are Republican or Democrat, your
chosen leader does not embody the fruit of the Spirit. And whether
they “bring joy” or not, I just about guarantee it is
manufactured. If you are bought in, it is from gullibility, or more
nefarious desires to convince people to vote against their conscience
because the other person is mean.
2. To become a bit
more pointed and direct. No one is able to claim they are a
politician for the joy when there is an outright unapologetic support
for no limit, on demand intentional killing of children. In this
conversation I don’t care about economic or foreign policy
discussions (as important as they may be). While one side is slowly
moving away from the strong pro-life position it has held for a long
time, the other side has no legs to stand on. How can there be joy
when any perception of that emotion is built off of the backs of
destroyed humans for the sake of personal convenience?
This election season
remain light & salty. Don’t become unnecessarily persuaded by
the arguments of either side. Loving God and loving people in truth
is primary, so go and do that.
by Joel V Webb | Jul 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
This last weekend I went to Washington D.C with my wife to lead a bus for an organization called Passages Israel which provides trips to Israel for Chrisitan college students. these trips highlight the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, explore the history of Chrisitan-Jewish relations and provides an honest and in-depth look at the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The terrorist attack on Oct. 7th led to Passages launching a D.C trip to fill in the gap until tours in the country were open.
Part of the trip is visiting the Museum of the Bible (MOTB).If you have not visited this amazing museum yet, DO IT! It is worth the trip to DC alone.
In the entire museum one of my favorite rooms is the translation room. In it they have almost every language the Bible is translated on one shelf, with the rest of the room representing languages that have partial translations, portions translated, in process, or no translation in process at all (pictured above). The thing that struck me this time was the realization that with few exceptions, most languages in the world only have a single translation. That’s it! 1 translation of the Bible. While in English there is an insane plethora of translations spanning the spectrum of word-for-word and thought-for-thought. The thing in particular that struck me is the frank ridiculousness of the “translation wars” that is a constant back and forth within Western Christianity.
We have everything from the KJV as the only perfect translation for the English language, to some in the NAR hyper-Pentecostal camp producing the heretical translation known as the Passion Translation (TPT). With the exception of the latter mentioned Bible version (that is not a translation by any serious Biblical scholar) the best translation is the one you will read. I grew up reading the KJV, and now find myself often using the NLT and the NIV for personal devotion, study an preaching.
But in the big picture we have to realize that the majority of modern translations are excellent. And in comparison, those who speak English are amazingly blessed! In many nations and languages there is only one translation of the Scripture into their heart language, and in some cases that’s if they even can get a copy because the Bible is illegal as our brothers and sisters in Christ face persecution.
All of this to say, whichever English translation you utilize, consider it a blessing that you have it. Consider the ability you have to choose a specific translation a humble honor and that you are the part of a minuscule minority across the world and history that has the ability to bicker about what translation you get to use.
Ultimately the Bible is the means by which we come to know Christ. The Bible in and of itself is not God. Yes, it is His perfect revelation to mankind concerning who He is. It shows us, a broken humanity the way to the One who gives us new life and salvation in the perfect and loving God who created all things. Christ is the Word (the logos), but the words on the page before us is not God, and we need to be careful not to confuse to two.
Find a Bible that you will read. Read it often, read it deeply, read it for all its worth, study its challenging words and ask the Holy Spirit who lives in every believer to make you more like Jesus which it all points to. In this be humble, and pray for those who do the important work of translating the word of life for people who will ever only likely have one Bible to ever choose from…if they can get a copy.
by Joel V Webb | Jul 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
An image that is used in Scripture, and by extension preaching is the idea of being pruned. When a plant grows, sometimes the way that it is growing does not contribute, but actually takes away from the fruit production of the plant. Jesus talked a lot about the fruit we produce, and it’s importance for the Kingdom. We know for all of us that there may be things (even if they are good) that need to be pruned and removed so that we can actually be the most fruitful.
This principle is pretty accepted across the board as part of Christian growth, and can be applied not just to individuals, but to organizations like churches and denominations as well. The message of the Gospel never changes. And sometimes the structure, organization or method that we proclaim that message needs to be modified or adapted to be more effective. Cut off the excess to bear more fruit. This is normal and expected. As the world around us changes so do the methods and way things look.
But this is not always the case. We often ask the question (personally or corporately), “there’s not a lot of fruit, so there needs to be pruning”, or similarly ask, “things seem really small and cut back, maybe were preparing for fruit!” And these certainly could be legitimate. We could be in a season where things have been hacked back to prepare for new growth that will bear fruit. But sometimes things being small is not because of pruning…it can be because of rot.
Something my pastor has said before, “we often say if there is opposition that it must be the enemy. But we never ask the question, what if it is God?” WHAT? How could God be the one opposing us if we are His people? Very simply, He will if we are not bearing the message of the Gospel and representing His Kingdom.
If we (individually or corporately) acting as ambassadors of Christ’s Kingdom do so in a way that actually harms, abuses and hurts people, do we think that the Lord would support that? Yes, He is long suffering and great in His mercy. AND THANK HIM FOR THAT!! Because we all need His mercy. But even Israel was eventually judged for their injustice and evil committed.
There are sadly so many examples of churches that while bearing Christ’s name have used it to domineer, control and tell people what to do. These places are hiding holes for spiritual, emotional and sexual abuse. And while many of these organizations had their hayday (IBLP etc…) the abuse and fruit become evident very quickly. When people start leaving when they realize what is going on the response often inside these organizations is just like the false prophets of the Old Testament who opposed any message that was not positive.
I recently heard such a message from an organization I am very familiar with that has demonstrated many of these qualities. Their message will often be “God is pruning us so we can be ready to bear fruit!!!” The expectation of some kind of revival around the corner that will fill their seats because they are small.
Is this a possibility? It could be. But we also need to ask, could it be for the other reason that instead of being pruned we are actually rotting? Have we, or I for so long refused to look at the truth of what is going on around me and am sadly self-deceived into thinking whats actually happening is God preparing to move through us, rather than against us?
I ultimately believe that God is for us, and He loves us. Scripture makes that abundantly clear. And, He also opposes those who oppresses and hurt the helpless, and misrepresent His name. So it is a possibility that it could be God allowing the fruit of out tree to bloom to show other to steer clear. As Jesus said, “you shall know them by their fruit” (Matt. 7:15-20).
What can we or should we do? We should all pray and ask the Lord to open our eyes through His Holy Spirit to the blind spots in our lives. If pride or deception has blinded me it is impossible to see on my own. I need the help of the Holy Spirit, through my brothers and sisters in Christ to lovingly tell me where I have erred and where there is rot, so I can subject it to the loving work of Jesus to change and transform.
This can happen in a corporate setting as well. It is and will be painful if it ever happens at all, but it is worth the pain because of the gain in Jesus.
I humbly pray this for myself, and for all of us to know the one who took our place.
DV
by Joel V Webb | Jun 27, 2024 | Uncategorized
A major area of contention for the Church is answering the questions surrounding race tensions, and racial reconciliation. How are many in the Church to respond to the reality of histories where institutional organizations of denominations participated in the structural realities of racism that plagued much of western civilization until the last couple generations? How are we supposed to talk about these issues now, especially considering the political fervor on both sides seeking to cross the finish line, often just causing more problems due to caring more about rhetoric rather than results?
While we can, and at times need to look at these realities, if we are honest the solution is also found in Church history. Simply put; racism has a discipleship problem. Let’s see how.
At every point in the development of equality and human rights from the Roman Empire till now is spearheaded by followers of Jesus, who disciples into His way of seeing the world will not stand for any form of injustice against another image bearer of God. In the Early Church this took the form of Christians saving babies who were literally thrown out of the city gates, adopted and raise as their own. This being the ancient fore-bearers of Christians who advocate for the lives of the unborn, who continue on this tradition be fostering and adopting children at rates much higher than that of the general society.
Then we get to slavery and racism and it is the same. Most famously William Wilberforce led the charge to abolish slavery in the British Empire, being compelled by his Christian faith to abolish the most horrid trade of human beings. While this was the case, many in England (churchgoers at that) supported the continuation of slavery. This rung true for many in the United States as well.
How to we reconcile these two realities? At the same time of having outspoken Christians pushing for the freedom of other humans, there were those sitting in the same churches wanting to keep it. The answer simply was discipleship. Were the people in the pews growing in their relationship with God and those around Him? I would argue not. Especially considering the Church of England at the time of William Wilberforce for the most part had descended back into the philosophical moralism of the time of John Wesley which was the foundation and catalyst for the great awakening.
Anytime we look at history it is those in the Church, alive in the life and power of the Holy Spirit, being transformed to look like Christ are the ones pursuing true justice. And I think we all could learn a lesson from them. Racism has a discipleship problem. If our focal point in churches was on disciplining Christians to see whoever is at the table with them as another image bearer of God, with immeasurable value, and similarly broken by sin we would see the commonality that is shared by us all.
Then we would be able to put aside political dogma and rhetoric in our attempts to bring us all together and focus on the only one who reconciles. That is the one who died completing the perfect work of justice on the cross. As He is our focus, and truly is then I believe that things like racism will fall away.
Why?
Because racism like anything else not allowed in God’s Kingdom becomes washed away as we are transformed to look like Him. I may be a naive optimist with this view. But we believe that’s how it works for all the other pervasive elements of our broken human nature when coming in contact with the God who makes all things new.
