What’s in a name?: On a wife taking her husband’s name

22 November 2013Faith & PracticeMatt Privett

And the two shall become one.

This morning I was listening to the “Ask Pastor John” podcast. I listen to several podcasts, mostly sermons, but I usually listen to this one daily because it’s only five or six minutes long and at double or triple speed on the Downcast app it’s even less, and John Piper is usually answering a very practical question from a biblical perspective. I don’t always agree with him, but it’s a good listen and I encourage you to join me.

Anyway, on today’s episode he answered the question “Must a Wife Take Her Husband’s Last Name?” He gave a very solid answer using reasons from the Bible and the culture. In short, he thinks it’s right for the wife to take her husband’s name because it’s a cultural norm based on a biblical principle (one flesh). When women don’t do it it’s usually (not always, but usually) from a perspective opposed to biblical womanhood. And (and this is no small consideration) it prevents unnecessary and unhealthy confusion for children later on. Continue reading →

We should be gospel-centered and that referee is a moron

4 November 2013Faith & Practice, SportsMatt Privett

I want to start by acknowledging that I am one who has over the course of time (and by the grace of God) become increasingly aware of my own guilt regarding the sin about which I write. I’m a Christian and a sports fan, and it’s been that way for practically all of my life. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Sports has been an avenue for my enjoyment of the glory of God, just plain entertaining, and an agent of sanctification.

More agent of sanctification in the past couple of years than before, though, and for that I thank God. Perhaps part of it has to do with being the father of a ten-year-old son, himself a believer and sports fan, and wanting to train him up in the way he should go. In any event, I’ve enjoyed what has become (for the most part) a growing emotional detachment from the results of games. I’ve enjoyed not getting inappropriately excited over my team’s successes, and likewise, I’ve enjoyed not getting angry or sad at the opposite.

Do I still enjoy watching games? Very much. Do I still root hard for my teams? Absolutely. And do I still like it when my teams’ rivals fall flat on their face? Sure. That’s part of enjoying sports. But things are different now than they used to be. Continue reading →

Charlotte NBC TV affiliate on Steven Furtick and Elevation Church

24 October 2013Faith & Practicechurch, Elevation Church, Steven FurtickMatt Privett

My hometown NBC affiliate (WCNC) has been running an exposé on Steven Furtick and the church he pastors, Elevation, which in eight years has grown to a reported 14,000 attenders in several locations which view his sermon remotely.

Though I do not live in the Charlotte area anymore, I have great interest in this story and what is going on with this group because I personally know several who attend. Some used to go to my home church, but have left for various reasons.

This much is clear: Steven Furtick and Elevation are the flavor of the month and the last few years. What he is doing is working inasmuch as people are coming. But then again, that is not the determining factor of success in ministry. Joel Osteen draws his ten thousands as well. Continue reading →

Defiled sacrifices (Mal 1:6-14)

20 October 2013Expository Bloggingholiness, Malachi, sacrificesMatt Privett

Introductory note: These are edited notes from a sermon I preached on October 6. We took the Lord’s Supper that morning, so though Malachi obviously wasn’t writing with that in mind, you will find some notes about that here.

Malachi is an interesting book. Written a little over 400 years before Jesus’ birth, it points us to what would come in the New Testament. It points us to Jesus, and also His forerunner John the Baptist. But it also paints a picture of things going on in the nation of Israel which are so applicable to us today. Consider Malachi 1:6-14:

“‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ “You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is to be despised.’ “But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the LORD of hosts. “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?” says the LORD of hosts. “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you. “For from the arising of the sun even to its setting, bMy name will be great among the nations, and in every place dincense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of hosts. “But you are profaning it, in that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’ “You also say, ‘My, how tiresome it is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says the LORD of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand?” says the LORD. “But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,” says the LORD of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.”

Now from the outset, know that in the church – in biblical Christianity – we don’t have priests in the manner Israel did, no matter what some might think. Under God’s Law Israel’s priests came from the tribe of Levi, and they acted as mediators between God and the people of Israel. We’ve seen this in Luke 1 where Zacharias was fulfilling his priestly duties in the temple, administering the sacrifice of incense on behalf of the people. Not just anyone did that in Israel. Not everyone was called to that type of service. Only the priests. In fact, one of their former kings, Uzziah, in 2 Chronicles 26 was struck with leprosy because he, not a priest, entered the temple and burned incense. Only the priests were the mediators between God and the nation. Continue reading →

Takeaways from Strange Fire and the conversation it generated

19 October 2013Faith & Practicecessationism, continuationism, Grace to You, James MacDonald, John MacArthur, Mark Driscoll, Phil Johnson, spiritual gifts, Strange FireMatt Privett

1. Shai Linne is right. Today the only heresy is saying that there’s heresy.

2. For many, whether or not someone does something pridefully or with humility seems to be determined now by whether or not they are saying something you believe is wrong, and not whether or not what they’ve done is actually prideful.

3. For those who assert their neutrality in the question of cessationism vs. continuationism, but feel it’s a shame this conference took place when it’s dealing with an issue that they believe isn’t essential, how God has spoken is always essential. It seems no debate between those who profess the faith once for all handed down to the saints is worth having because it isn’t about the gospel. Get real. How God has spoken is a gospel issue.

4. My biggest beef with the gospel-centered crowd is their antipathy toward anyone who wants to assert any other non-gospel-specific doctrine is important. As if God hasn’t clearly revealed Himself in all manner of issues. The faux humble indignation should be directed toward your mirror, because if we can’t believe God has spoken clearly about things like creation, church polity, or revelation and gifts, then how can we be sure about what He has said regarding the gospel? (Hint: We can be sure.)

5. If you are a pastor and have a problem with what John MacArthur and Grace to You did, go read Titus 1:9. Then read it again. Then again. Then again. Whether you agree with MacArthur or not, that’s what he did. It was the pastoral thing to do. Someday you might need to address an issue in your church, or somewhere, that a lot of people aren’t going to agree with. Will you be faithful? Or will you cower from your convictions because some people might think you are unloving? It’s the easy thing in the world to do to make that accusation. The second easiest thing is to scream, “Misrepresentation! Misrepresentation!” The hard thing is to do what MacArthur and the rest did, and the mature thing is to actually listen and seriously consider what was said.

I grieve for my generation and the next if the consensus really is that what John MacArthur and the Strange Fire speakers did was wrong.

6. Speaking of maturity, I think I would have thought Mark Driscoll was cool twenty years ago, but then I left youth group. Seriously, this guy reminds me of the song “Cult of Personality.” Why does anyone take seriously a man who locked arms with T.D. Jakes and failed to seriously question him about the Trinity, and not ask a single question about his prosperity gospel? And why does anyone take him seriously after the publicity stunt he and buddy James MacDonald pulled on Friday? I’m telling you, these guys look more like Jannes and Jambres everyday.

Please go to the portion of this program that deals with a talk Driscoll gave to (I believe) some church planters last year. If you think he’s a good representative, please listen and defend that to me. His arrogance and condescension drip from the speakers. I am truly sad that people think this guy represents biblical Christianity and when the same tongue or keyboard accuse MacArthur of arrogance and condescension.

7. I really believe there is something to be said here, especially to people my age and younger, about respecting your elders. Have you noticed how it’s John MacArthur, who is in his 70s and has been a pastor-teacher at Grace Community Church for almost 45 years, who is getting the boatload of criticism? MacArthur and Phil Johnson, Executive Director of Grace to You, longtime friend and right-hand man of MacArthur, and fellow GCC elder? Steve Lawson hasn’t been castigated nearly as much, and surely not Conrad Mbewe (because that would just be politically incorrect). The so-called Young, Restless, and Reformed crowd and others need to check themselves. It seems to me the younger crowd is just looking for reasons to dismiss MacArthur’s influence in a day when it is needed most, for I dare you to name three other pastors still going who have been doing it for nearly as long and have been as faithful in expository preaching of the word of God.

I’ve already gone longer than I thought I would so I’m stopping. Comments are closed, not that I get a lot of comments, but the past few days it’s just been unfruitful. If you wish to dialog, old fashioned e-mail is welcome – m a t t p r i v e t t AT t h e m a t t r i x DOT c o m.

Update – 9:50pm EDT: I meant to add the following verses. I’ve been memorizing 2 Timothy and the Spirit has really illuminated them for me to show my own need for resolve in the ministry. I thought about them as I watched the Twitter vitriol against MacArthur and the Strange Fire conference:

“You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. . . . You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” – 2 Tim 1:15; 2:1

Satan’s favorite people

24 September 2013Faith & PracticeMatt Privett

Satan’s favorite people are unsaved church members, deceived just enough to think they’ve got their ticket to heaven, just “sanctified” enough in their conduct to deceive others, just worldly enough to make sure their local church stays bogged down in the mud.

The audacity of “HOW?” (Mal 1:1-5)

18 September 2013Expository BloggingElection, grace, love, MalachiMatt Privett

We know from 2 Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture is God’s word. It is all breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. So that means we need all of it, and there is none of it that doesn’t do us good. But that said, at least in the Old Testament, there may be no prophet who spoke to and wrote in times eerily similar to our own than the last of them — Malachi.

How

Malachi paints us a picture of what Israel was like at the very end of Old Testament history, and it wasn’t pretty. Yes, the temple had been rebuilt after the Jews returned to their land from exile, but conspicuous by its absence was faithfulness in religious practice (at least the way God has decreed it to be). It’s a great problem in the twenty-first century American church as well. For Malachi this problem manifested itself in mixed marriages, priestly defilement, and the neglect of tithes. Nehemiah, as civil governor, would address these problems, but it would be foolish to think God’s voice being heard through the voice and writing of Malachi was not also very important.

So with that said, and an introduction already done, let’s consider the first five verses of the book, Malachi 1:1-5: Continue reading →

Asked and Answered: The Christian and oppressive government

16 September 2013Faith & Practice1 Peter 2, Asked and Answered, gospel, government, patriotism, submissionMatt Privett

I was recently asked the following question:

Right now, the government is becoming increasingly oppressive, but God says to submit to government/authority. If we eventually become socialist/communist would it be wrong to overthrow the government?

To which I answered: Continue reading →

Vision casting is not part of a pastor’s job description

13 September 2013Faith & Practicechurch, gospel, Lifeway, Louie Giglio, Ministry Grid, pastors, vision castingMatt Privett

I opened up Facebook and saw this quote from Louie Giglio, posted by Ministry Grid, a new arm of Lifeway Christian Resources, an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention:

Post by Ministry Grid.

I think that comes out of a passage you’ll find in 3 Timothy. Continue reading →

Best picture of the week

Forty-four abortion mills have shut down this year. Reason to praise the LORD. I look forward to the day, under the kingship of Jesus Christ, that they are all destroyed forever.

THE MATTRIX

Matt Privett on the Bible, church, culture, and how it applies to us for the glory of God