Should I write a book?

Posted on August 21, 2023 by RC

That depends on any number of factors. As with so many other means of communication, technology and the internet have broken down barriers and busted through gatekeepers. You can write a book, publish it yourself, sell it online and reach thousands and make tens of thousands. That’s the good news. The bad news is you can also invest hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars only to have your best friend tell you they thought it was good, but they were too busy to finish it.

The goal is communication, which takes two. You as the writer are the sender of the message. The reader is the receiver of the message. To answer the question of whether you should write a book you have to ask these questions:

Is my potential book the best way to communicate my message? On average fewer than 50% of Americans have read even one book all the way through in the last year. We are increasingly a nation that can only consume images or the briefest of written formats. Try to estimate the relative amount of work, reach and impact writing you book might have.

Will my book communicate this message better than other books? I’d love to write a book contrasting the Christian faith and theological liberalism. But J. Gresham Machen pretty well covered that in his classic Christianity and Liberalism. It is perfectly understandable to love a book so much you want to write one just like it. But why? Unless of course there is some reason you can reach an audience the earlier book hasn’t.

Do I have the skills to a. communicate accurately and b. communicate well enough to hold the attention of my potential audience? Many aspiring writers think the hard thing about writing a book is coming up with 50,000 words on a particular theme. They think once they’ve done so they’ve created some sort of obligation on others to read those words. Sadly, sometimes those words are wrong. Other times those words are painful to read. Sometimes they are both.

Will I or my publisher be able to persuade people to buy/read my book? Writing the book is the easiest part. Getting it into publishing shape is a little harder. Finding a publisher (if you go that route) is a bit harder still. Getting people to buy the book is even more difficult. Most difficult of all is getting people to actually read my book.

Of course there is no way to know the answer to all of these questions in advance. Publishing history is riddled with great writers who had rejection letters sufficient to paper their own walls. You can, however, do your best to give an honest assessment and seek the counsel of others on these questions. What you shouldn’t expect is to be catapulted to fame and fortune. It could happen, but so could winning the lottery. That doesn’t make it likely.

I have served as a coach, editor, co-writer, ghost-writer for others over the years and so have some expertise. That’s why I operate The Purpose Driven Write, offering those very services to both aspiring and working writers. If you’d like to discuss your project, feel free to email me at hellorcjr@gmail.com.

Posted in Ask RC, Big Eva, Books, Call Me Barabbas, Economics in This Lesson, on writing well, RC Sproul JR | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Son Rising in the East

Posted on August 18, 2023 by RC

The early church faced at least two distinct and competing enemies. While Jesus walked the earth and after, the great challenge to the kingdom of God was found both in the Roman Empire and in Judaism. An armed force that was, though given to emperor worship, essentially secular and a false religion put their differences aside to eradicate a faith built around a King who had been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

I was reminded of this odd juxtaposition several years ago when I had the opportunity to travel to Burma to teach and train a group of godly pastors and elders who ended up teaching me. Burma is a country that is also in the grip of two great enemies of the reign of Jesus Christ, two fearsome institutions that will not kiss the Son (Ps. 2). Most people know that Burma is a military dictatorship. A military junta has ruled there for decades. That concept, of course, we’re used to. Though Burma is far less famous, we are familiar with North Korea, with Cuba, with China. What is odd is that Burma not only suffers from a military dictatorship, it suffers from a prevalent, widespread false religion. Burma is ninety percent Buddhist.

Now it is one thing for a brutal secular state to coexist with a dominant religion. It is another thing altogether for a brutal secular state to coexist with a religion that is purported to embrace all the broadmindedness and gentleness of spirit that we associate with Buddhism. We are, of course, accustomed to being fearful of militant Islam. We are aware of the ugly brutality associated with the animist religions in the darker corners of Africa. We are, if we are educated in the least, cognizant of the bloodthirsty gods associated with Hinduism. But Buddhists? Aren’t they a rather passive and gentle lot?

Some, indeed, might be tempted to think that the coexistence of a brutal police state and a “peaceful” religion makes perfect sense. The military suppresses the people, and the people turn to Buddhism as a way to cope with the hardship. They bear the brunt of brutality by longing to be absorbed into the One.

Such a perspective misses the point on at least two counts. First, it is a common but fundamental mistake to put the exercise of authority on the evil side of a spectrum and quietness on the good side of the same spectrum. Passiveness is not next to godliness, however, precisely because brutality does exist. When someone is beating my child, I do not calm my soul by closing my eyes, adopting the lotus position, and chanting my mantra. Love means protecting my children, actively defending them. It means not turning my back on authority but exercising my God-given authority to defend what He has placed under my care. The state is as brutal as it is in Burma in part because the false Eastern religion practiced there allows it to be. It is not, of course, just Burma. The same passiveness of Buddhism contributes to the great shame of neighboring Thailand. There, prostitution is a way of life, Thailand itself having become a destination spot for sexual adventurers.

The second mistake is to misunderstand the nature of the state and religion. When Henry Van Til described culture as religion externalized, he wasn’t just talking about Christian cultures. A close look at any culture will reveal the underlying religion. The dictatorship of Burma isn’t something in contrast to the Buddhism of that nation, but it is the result of that Buddhism. A people whose goal is to be absorbed will tend toward a state that is happy to comply with their wishes. They will be absorbed into the collective. The Buddhists of Burma are not some poor, misunderstood victim group of the junta. They are the parents of the junta.

As sorrowful a nation as Burma is, however, Jesus is at work there. I met faithful, godly saints there who are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. My friend Naing Thang leads a group of three hundred pastors all across the country who bring the gospel to the lost. He runs an orphanage out of his home, a mishmash of corrugated metal and dirt floors.

Naing, in proclaiming Christ and Him crucified, is speaking to both of the great evils in His land. He reminds the Buddhists that the goal is not that we would all be absorbed, but that we would be remade. The world is no illusion, but it is instead groaning under our sin, as it, too, is being redeemed by our Lord. He reminds the military rulers that Jesus Christ is Lord, that He reigns, and that all those who refuse to kiss Him will be dashed to pieces like a potter’s vessel (Ps. 2).

Naing does this in his land even as we are called to do it in our own. He speaks the Word into the world, and He feeds the sheep with the same Word. He lives a life of service and example, a life of joy grounded in the risen and reigning Lord Jesus. I went there to teach him. Instead, he taught me.

Posted in 10 Commandments, church, creation, evangelism, Heroes, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, persecution, politics, preaching, RC Sproul JR | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Power Preaching

Posted on August 17, 2023 by RC

All those who preach want their preaching to have impact. I suspect that in all those who preach, this desire is born of a mixture of two other desires, the desire to have congregants and the kingdom blessed, and the less spiritual desire to have the congregation see the preacher as a blessing. Those preachers who are a bit stronger in the more healthy desire better recognize that the power is in the text look down their noses at any sort of sermon delivery that veers from the Puritan model, where sermons were read to the congregation in a dull, dry monotone. The motives are good. The execution, not so much.

On the other side of the spectrum are those who struggle a bit more with the need to be the star of the show. These preachers study the techniques of the best showmen, turning preaching into performance. They may have their flock weeping, or more likely, laughing in the aisles. They may draw large crowds and bountiful accolades. The true impact, however, will tend to remain minimal.

The truth is the power is in the Word. Theatrics have a power, but not the power. Theatrics elicits a response, but not growth in grace. The truth is also, however, that the power of the Word comes when its power is brought with it. To preach God’s Word as if one were reading a telephone book (ask your parents if you don’t know what that is) is tantamount to lying. This method sends the message that the message is unimportant, impotent, boring. It may be on the opposite side of the spectrum of preaching in an Elmer Fudd voice, but both reveal the obvious truth that how we communicate impacts what we communicate.

To under-shepherd well begins with knowing one is a sheep first. And a sheep that is prone to wander. To preach the gospel well one must not just understand the gospel well, but experience it in power. That’s not bells and whistles but brokenness and tears. To preach well the pastor must know he is preaching not for himself but to himself. Every week at Sovereign Grace Fellowship I preach five things. I preach the text. I preach how the text demonstrates that we are in ourselves wretched and blind sinners. I preach how the text demonstrates that we are not in ourselves, but in Him who has redeemed us to the uttermost. I preach how the text demonstrates that our heavenly Father loves us infinitely, immutably and by name. Finally, I preach the table, that “sermon” Jesus gave us to teach us the same truths.

I preach this way because I want my preaching to have impact. I preach this way because this is the kind of preaching that has impacted me. I preach this way because I want to communicate not, “Be like me” but “Come with me.” As the saying goes, I’m just a beggar telling other beggars where to find bread.

Posted in assurance, beauty, Biblical Doctrines, Big Eva, church, communion, grace, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, preaching, RC Sproul JR, repentance, resurrection, theology, wonder, worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sacred Marriage, Garden II; Is Revolution Justified? & More

Posted on August 16, 2023 by RC

This week’s Jesus Changes Everything Podcast

Posted in abortion, Biblical Doctrines, creation, ethics, Jesus Changes Everything, Lisa Sproul, Month of Sundays, politics, RC Sproul JR, Sacred Marriage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sacred Marriage, Garden II; Is Revolution Justified? & More

Conscientious Objecting- Choosing Your Twitter War Wisely

Posted on August 15, 2023 by RC

Either/or either works, or it doesn’t. Sometimes we really do have to pick our poison. Other times we find ourselves being roped into a false dilemma, and escape through a tertium quid, a third option. Joshua asked the Captain of the Lord’s hosts if He was for the children of Israel or for the children of Jericho. He wisely answered, “No.”

Viet Nam is no argument for pacifism. Chamberlain is no argument for waging aggressive war. We can be against this war, but not against all wars. We can be for that other war, but not for all wars. And so it is with Twitter Wars.

It is not my contention that we all have a duty, if we can’t say something nice, to say nothing at all. It is my contention, however, that not every time some member of the Axis rattles his cyber saber that it is the duty of every member of the Allies to rattle back and amass toy soldiers on the border. In fact, it may be that the best course of action is for all of us to keep our swords in their scabbards.

My gratitude for the courage, Biblical insight and humility of Martin Luther knows no bounds. As we remember his nailing his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg, we would do well to remember that he wasn’t starting a revolution. He simply sought to start a conversation. The fruit of those conversations eventually led to that watershed moment when all the power of Rome was aligned against him, demanding at the Imperial Diet of Worms, they dressed in their gaudy array, and he in his monk’s cowl, that he recant. And he boldly responded, “May I have 24 hours to think about it?”

It was only after a long night of intense prayer that he gave his “Here I stand- I can do no other” speech. We, on the other hand, can’t be bothered to take time to even proof-read before hurling our rhetorical grenades in the latest twitter war. And the issues we fight over are mole hills compared to Luther’s mountain. Maybe he was cautious, slow to speak where we are not because he was facing the very real possibility of being put to death, whereas the worst that can happen to us is we might lose a few followers.

That, however, is just the problem. Because it is “safe” to be over the top in our assaults against others over the interwebs we forget our calling- that we not be contentious, that our speech be marked by grace, that a soft answer turns away wrath, that we will be known to be His by our love one for another. We forget love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We forget that the very ones we are fighting against over secondary issues are those Jesus fights for, the ones He died for. We forget that He came and was crucified for His bride, the Second Eve, not for her ugly caricature, Big Eva.

Lord, teach my hands to make peace and teach me to pray, “Here I kneel; I can do no other.”

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Where do theological liberals get grace wrong?

Posted on August 14, 2023 by RC

Let me count the ways. I recently came across a tweet (forgive an old man for being slow to change) wherein a gentlemen left of center theologically opined that what people need from the church is not guilt, but grace. In a sense I can agree with a sentiment that could fit inside those words. The message the church has for its members is less “You are a horrible and awful person and God hates you” and more “God loves all those who come to Him in repentance and faith.” Wondering if the tweet meant what I hoped it meant I asked, “Grace for what, if not our guilt?”

Grace, according to the theological liberal, is that which erases the law, making us not guilty. To the biblical believer, on the other hand, grace is that which covers our genuine guilt. The gospel isn’t the good news that God did away with His law. Rather it is the good news that the law’s just judgment for our failure to obey the law has already been paid by Christ on the cross. With the former one is right with God with no repentance, no acknowledgment of His law, nor any need to change at all. With the latter one is right with God despite our obvious failure, only through repenting of our sin, acknowledging His authority and striving to obey. Which one seems more appealing to sinners like us?

When a man acknowledges a god that has no law, no wrath, no justice, no authority, no judgment, the man is not only still stuck in his sins but has added the sin of idolatry. It matters not if the man calls this god Jesus or Adonai. It matters not if this man is a woman, ordained by the United Episcopal Presbyterian Church of Christ.

Of course that tweet itself, like every other variation of “Stop judging, you horrible judging people,’ falls under its own weight. If grace is better than guilt, then those who say we need grace rather than guilt are spreading guilt rather than grace. They are saying that those who preach guilt are guilty. They are right, of course, because we all are. But those who say it’s wrong to preach guilt are herein preaching guilt. Grace for me and mine, guilt for thee and thine.

The truth is we need more grace preached, presented, proffered, practiced, proclaimed. The truth is that there are, in some obscure pockets of the world, preachers who preach only guilt, without preaching the balm of Gilead, the blood of Christ shed for sinners like us. There are far more, however, preachers who preach only “grace,” an anemic, Christ-less denial of our guilt. Sound and biblical preaching (see Peter’s sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2) proclaims with equal vigor the horrible truth that we are all by nature vile sinners, due the just wrath of the Father. But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (James 1:9). And despite our guilt, because of His grace, all who repent and turn to Him are not only forgiven, but are made the very children of God (I John 1:3). Guilt. Grace. Adoption. Amen.

Posted in 10 Commandments, apologetics, Ask RC, Biblical Doctrines, church, communion, Doctrines of Grace, ethics, grace, post-modernism, RC Sproul JR, repentance, theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Castles in the Sand

Posted on August 11, 2023 by RC

There are, when we disagree, almost always two disagreements. Most of the time the smaller disagreement is the bigger one. Consider election. There are some in the church who believe that God chooses who will believe His gospel. There are others who believe God sees beforehand who will believe. This, on the surface, seems to be the root of the loss of peace between these two groups.

The second disagreement, however, is over this question: just how important an issue is this?
Though there are surely exceptions, by and large those who don’t believe in election are not known for zealously, aggressively not believing in election. Most don’t meet a new Christian and seek to steer the conversation to election. Those of us who do believe in election, on the other hand, believe it to be an issue of great importance. Did we not so believe, were we able to believe in it silently, in the quiet of our own minds, the way non-election believers don’t believe in election silently and in the quiet of their own minds, we might be able to get along better with others.

When, therefore, we seek to rightly draw lines, the issue is almost never the issue. The challenge is in knowing not just what’s right and what’s wrong, but how important something is. Each of us thinks we’ve mastered this art, and we can’t understand why others don’t just get in line.

Intellectually speaking, we are driving down the highway frustrated with those poky drivers who slow us down and irritated by those crazy drivers who whiz by us. We consider those who are more forgiving of the first error to be latitudinarian, slippery, while those who are less forgiving of the second error, we consider to be judgmental and lacking in grace. We end up thinking that the real problem with the church is that everyone isn’t like me.

That we disagree on where to draw lines, however, doesn’t mean there are no correct answers. It simply means that we have a hard time agreeing on the answers. We disagree about when Jesus is coming back, which says nothing at all about the glorious truth that He is coming back. He knows when He is coming back, and that is the most important thing.

Our calling is to get our priorities in line with the one Man who always had them right: Jesus. Let Him who is without sin cast our vision. When we begin to look at things through His eyes, honestly, without recasting Him in our own image, we find not just the right answers but the right priorities. We find that instead of arguing over tithing, we ought actually to be tithing our mint and our cummin while never losing sight of the weightier matters of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness (Matt. 23:23).

We learn here also this important truth: that this truth is more important than that truth doesn’t mean that truth is unimportant. Jesus didn’t say, “Why are you tithing your mint instead of pursuing justice? Why are you carefully weighing out your cummin instead of showing mercy?” Instead He said, “These things you ought to have done.” Being right about the more important things no more excuses being wrong about the less important things than not being guilty of murder proves that you are not a tax-cheat. Majoring on the minors, shouting where God has whispered, those are bad things. Neglecting the minors or being silent where God has whispered, those are bad things, too.

Our priorities on what the truly important issues are tend to be determined by what is important to us rather than what is important to Jesus. That is why Jesus warned us. In the Sermon on the Mount, He rightly exposed our selfish ways, noting that we fret and worry about what we will eat and what we will drink. He pointed out that such worries ought to describe only those outside the kingdom. We have a different set of priorities. We are to be about the business of pursuing His kingdom. That means, of course, that we need to be about the King’s business. We have no business of our own. We have been purchased by the King. His agenda is to be ours, His goals ours. How often, I wonder, do we draw lines not because we are called to but because we are setting up the boundaries of our own little fiefdoms? Having drawn our lines in the sand, we next build our sand castles, forgetting that the wind and the waves obey only Him.

Our folly in not pursuing the kingdom, then, drives us to pursue the one solution, His righteousness. We stand firm when we ought to bend, we roll over when we ought to stand. Not Jesus. He alone stands, righteous before His Father. And He bends down to lift us up, that we might stand in His arms. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you: gratitude, peace, courage, grace, and the wisdom to know and to love as He knows and loves. Who could ask for anything more?

Posted in Big Eva, church, cyberspace, Devil's Arsenal, ethics, kingdom, Kingdom Notes, RC Sproul JR, sovereignty, theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Castles in the Sand

Taking Our Losses

Posted on August 10, 2023 by RC

I’m not as much of a twitter warrior, or I suppose X-man might now be the term, than I once was. The medium I love, with its character limitations driving us more toward the poetic than the precise and careful. But, like many, over the years I’ve learned that the thrill of the battle comes at a high cost. And that real victory is as elusive as Narnia’s White Stag.

Real victory is what happens when a person believes x, engages in a twitter conversation, however long it might be, and through my careful arguments comes to believe non-x. It has happened, about as often as an unassisted triple play. Far more frequently, however, what happens is this. I interact with person believing x. I demonstrate clearly and inescapably, that x is false. Said person leaves the conversation still believing x.

That said, one of the most frequent arguments you’ll find me making these days is that we are all sinners, all blind to our own sins and weaknesses, that our complaints about other humans tend to land on us as well and that our umbrage is more comical than compelling. Years ago, in the days of AOL chatrooms I was visiting a Christian chatroom when who should enter in but a fellow with the handle, “GayforGod.” I determined to sit back and watch. The conversation slowed, discomfort scrambling our modems. Finally, some earnest young believer asked the obvious question, “How can you be gay for God?”

Gay didn’t really have much time to answer because all the other believers in the room first clutched their pearls, then turned on their brother like Antifa after Andy Ngo. “How can you possibly say such a thing?” “Who are you to judge another?” “Jesus welcomed everyone. Why are you being such an un-Christlike jerk?” I let the bile spill all over the information superhighway before finally coming to the young man’s aid. I did so by asking the room, “Don’t you think you all are being just a little judgmental?” “No, no” they insisted, “it’s that cruel un-Christlike jerk that’s being judgmental.” “Don’t you think you all are judging him a little harshly?” Only one person even understood a little bit. “I’m sorry,” he wrote, “I don’t want to be judgmental. I wouldn’t be, except that this young man, well, he was just so judgmental and mean and ugly and awful.”

The lesson here isn’t about homosexuals and their allies. The lesson is that we are all profoundly weak at recognizing when we’ve been beaten. We seem to think that if we refuse to leave the table we’re not really In checkmate. Thinking you are winning when you’ve lost is just losing one more time.

The good news is, however, that losing can be winning. When we see where our own logic failed us, when someone rightly brings God’s Word to bear on our mistakes, we get closer to the truth, if we’re willing to concede. When we confess to a wrong attitude and ask for God’s grace to help us, we find forgiveness and strength to do better. There is no shame in being wrong. The only shame is failing to admit when we are wrong. God gives grace to the humble. Let us be bold about His truth, and humble about ourselves.

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This Week’s JCE- Life & Death and, See How Her Garden Grows

Posted on August 9, 2023 by RC

This week’s Jesus Changes Everything Podcast

Posted in abortion, Apostles' Creed, Biblical Doctrines, eschatology, ethics, Jesus Changes Everything, Lisa Sproul, Month of Sundays, RC Sproul JR, resurrection, Sacred Marriage, That 70s Kid | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Five Common Expressions I’ve Never Understood

Posted on August 8, 2023 by RC

Common sense may be more common than sense. There are any number of shorthand aphorisms in the world and in the church that shape our thinking, but don’t stand up to scrutiny, at least right away. Below are five common expressions that might fit under the banner of common sense, that I just can’t make sense out of. There may be good arguments behind all or some of them, but that is rather a far thing from being a self-evident truth.

1. We shouldn’t judge people. This one we hear from both the world and the church. With the church it even comes complete with a proof-text, Matthew 7:1. While Jesus warns us to not be too quick to judge, to judge with charity, to judge in a manner we would like to be judged, even He is in this very text calling us to judge, but to judge well. A blanket condemnation of all judging is, well, condemning, and therefore judging. It is hoisted on its own petard.

2. Jesus loved the most vile sinners, but hated the Pharisees, the religious conservatives. Really? Did Jesus hate Nicodemus? How about Joseph of Arimathea? They were both Pharisees He was likely rather close to. Did Jesus love the adulterous, incestuous, murderous Herod? How about that spineless and corrupt Pilate? Even a cursory reading of the New Testament reveals that the calculus Jesus used for His grace was rather simple. The question wasn’t how spectacular of a sinner you were, but how repentant you were. When Jesus compared the proud Pharisee who prayed “I thank you God that I am not like other men” to the tax collector who prayed, “Lord be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18) He wasn’t saying the former was bad because he was a Pharisee, and the latter good because he was a tax collector. The difference was in the repentance. What an irony then that in our day we proudly present ourselves as the sinners, praying, “I thank you Lord that I am not like other men. I sin openly and unrepentantly. I mock those who affirm Your law, and do not judge like those vile judgers.”

3. Sending good thoughts your way. What? Have you ever been sitting around, when suddenly a “good thought” popped into your head, followed by this thought, “Hey, how nice of, hmm, let’s see here. What’s the return address on this good thought, so I can thank the sender?” Thoughts a. do not travel across space magically, and b. even if they did they have no magic power to change anything. Weird that people who think praying to the Living God is fruitless and powerless nevertheless think that their sent thoughts can change the future.

4. You always think you’re right. The Creator is always right. Fallen creatures, however, aren’t so fallen as to actually believe that they are always right. We do, those beings that never fell, those that are fallen, those redeemed, even those perfected, however, always believe we’re right. To think I’m always right is to claim to be infallible. To always think I’m right, however, is nothing more than to think. It is to believe what we believe. In addition, that I believe something has no bearing on whether it is true or not. That I always agree with me, just like you always agree with you, doesn’t make me arrogant. It merely means I don’t have a split personality. No one ever said, “I believe X, but I think I’m wrong.”

5. Christians shouldn’t divide over doctrine. The first question I have is, “Well, what should we divide over?” But the more foundational question is, “Who are the Christians?” There are issues that divide Christians and often those divisions are driven by our flesh more than His Spirit. But there are also issues that divide Christians from non-Christians, some of whom actually claim to be Christians. Is claiming to be Christian sufficient to preclude division? Not according to the Bible. The New Testament tells us to have nothing to do with those who preach a different gospel (Galatians 1:8) That’s a doctrinal matter. It tells us we should have nothing to do with professing believers who are sexually immoral (I Corinthians 5). That’s a doctrinal matter. But worst of all, are not those who make this claim dividing themselves from Christians who believe we should divide over doctrine? The statement itself is doctrine, and is divisive.

Common? Yes. Wisdom? Not so much.

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