Jared Johnson and his wife Reagan have been a part of our Young Pros ministry at Richland Creek for over a year. I have mentored Jared and taught him in a couple of classes. He and Reagan are very precious to us.

Jared recently received the Owens Evangelism Award at SEBTS. I have watched his faithful, missional, intentional witness at his work. We have partnered together in sharing with common friends. God has His good hand on this young man. He is thoughtful, passionate, teachable, and he loves his bride.

Jared wrote a blog that came out of a class he took I co-taught with Mike Dodson, our church planting prof. I believe in door-to-door evangelism. Is it the best method in our time? Nope. But does it still reach people, and can it still help to equip believers? Yep. Enjoy Jared’s thoughtful, helpful guest blog:

I’ve never liked door to door evangelism. To me it always seemed that it was more like selling a vacuum cleaner than sharing the love of Jesus. And I don’t think I’m completely wrong, but now I think I’m mostly wrong.

I took an incredible class this semester about reaching the Unchurched in America and the thing we focused on the most was being missional. This just means that everything we do revolves around bringing glory to God by sharing Jesus with those around me. For instance, my workplace isn’t a place to make money while I learn to do ministry, it is my ministry.

So the last day of this class I found out that we were going to be helping out a new church plant in North Raleigh. I thought that maybe we would work at the school where they’re meeting. Nope. We went door to door to tell people about the church and to share the gospel with them if we got a chance.

I’ve been thinking about this hour spent going door to door for the last two weeks. My thinking came to a tipping point yesterday while I was watching a show featuring Gordon Ramsey. He’s a famous chef that yells and cusses at bad restaurant owners but he fixes problems. I love it.

This place he was fixing was a bar in England that had no real direction and a terrible reputation. Chef Ramsey showed up and fixed everything. Still, no one came. So he sent out the staff to go door to door to bring people in.

Boom. Sometimes we’ve got to go door to door. Jesus’ message gets hijacked from time to time and people hear the wrong message. They hear that Jesus wants them to do more so He’ll love them. They hear that if they love Him just right and prayer the right prayers they’ll prosper. They hear that if they walk an aisle and say a prayer they’ll go to heaven and sing with fat angels playing harps. How will they know if they have not heard that Jesus actually sets us free from all of that work and hoping in nothing?

I still think being missional is the best way to evangelize but I realize more and more that I don’t know everything. I’ve got a lot to learn.

But I’m still right about church league softball. It’s got to go.

Jared and Reagan blog at If you don’t mind, Caroline.

From my earliest days in ministry to now, traveling and speaking have been a prominent part of my calling. I tremble at the thought of some of the pathetic sermons I preached while a student at Samford University back in the late 1970s. That horror can only be surpassed by the thought that in some churches I actually sang solos as well. I actually served a couple of churches as minister of music, leaving them for health reasons: they got sick and tired of my singing.

From then until now, traveling and speaking to encourage believers and to evangelize unbelievers has provided great joy. There have been times I cut back on traveling because of where our children were at a given point in their lives. I have also been blessed with an amazing wife who despite more than her share of health issues over the years has been supportive and encouraging in my itinerant ministry. I understand full well the value of a wife who values ministry, and who yet will step in and tell me when I have things out of sorts in scheduling. I am excited that this spring Michelle will be traveling with me on some of the longer trips during my sabbatical.

When you travel a lot, even for something as vital as a gospel ministry, you yet have to say no, and say it often. I missed very few of our children’s ball games ever, but I have missed plenty of Christmas parties, fellowships, and get-togethers at the seminary or my church. That is the cost of itinerant ministry.

I confess: whenever I decide to stop traveling and just take it easy for a stretch, there is a fire in my bones that pushes me. I am so grateful for a sabbatic leave every 3.5 years for a semester at Southeastern, because I keep a hectic schedule and need to get off the ferris wheel and reflect, study, and grow intensively in those seasons. As we have seen in prominent ministers recently from John Piper to Johnny Hunt, sometimes we need to step back and feed the spring. But I believe God is stirring just now, and I want to be used of God as He chooses to advance a gospel movement. I sense a growing movement focused more on the message of God and the mission of God and less on the Christian subculture. I see a new generation hungry for more than church activity and how to’s; I believe God is stirring His church, and I want to be a sailor on deck as His wind blows in our time.

I am grateful for so many who pray for me regularly. I need it! The following is my schedule for 2012 so far. If a date is not covered that does NOT mean I am free, but likely means I have it set apart for family and, in the case of this spring, to finish a book for Navpress I am writing. If you are interested in having me at your church, ministry, campus, event, etc, please note my priority is to focus on:
– the missional change needed today to take the amazing and unchanging gospel to this culture in this time, and to help leaders in this (I love to talk movement first, method second).
–the next generation, so I still do youth and college events.
–teaching on the gospel, in particular The Story, teaching how the gospel is for believers and unbelievers, and how the gospel changes everything, not just our church attendance;
–teaching on spiritual movements, revival, awakening, etc.
I am particularly interested in scheduling events fall 2012 and forward with the Matt Papa band when possible, as I know no one leading worship who gets the gospel better (and my son Josh is Matt’s drummer!).

Schedule 2012

Most Sundays all year: Young Pros Ministry at Richland Creek Community Church

Spring Semester SABBATICAL

January
1 Begin P90X2

3 Richland Creek Community Church Staff Retreat, Outer Banks, NC

6-7 DNow, Brock Baptist Church, Texas, with Wes Butler, Chris McIlravy host.

8 The Mount Church, Keller, Texas, host Ryan Fontenot

9 BCS #youngpros Party, Mi Casa

13-14 FBC Covington, LA, Student Leadership Retreat

16-20 DMin Seminar Historical and Contemporary Models

20-22 DNow, FBC Cary, NC, host Todd Cole

25 Staff Training, Christ Fellowship, Miami, FL, host Jeff Borton

26-27 Videotaping with Jeff Borton on Missional Student Ministry

27-28 Leadership Training, Christ Fellowship, Miami, hot Jeff Borton

February

3-5 The Story Training, Lifepoint Church, Ozark, MO, host Lane Harrison

9 Founders Day Lecture on Luther Rice and the Founding of George Washington University, GWU, Washington, DC, host Siafa Johnson

10-11 Young Pros Overnighter, RCCC

19 New Antioch Baptist Church, Baltimore, MD

22 Global Missions Conference, Idlewild Baptist Church, Tampa, FL

23 Student Pastor Luncheon, Idlewild Baptist Church, Tampa, FL

27-28 NC Baptist Convention State Evangelism Conference, host Marty Dupree

29 Student Global Missions Conference, Idlewild Baptist Church, Tampa, FL, host Kelly Knouse

March
2-3 New England Baptist Convention Evangelism Conference, Boston, host Bruce James

5-6 Youth Pastor Summit, Orlando, Florida, host Brent Crowe

8-10 Montana State Baptist Convention Evangelism Conference, host Dave Howeth

14 Hibernia Baptist Church, Fleming Island, FL, host Jeff Stockdale

16-17 The Story Training, FBC Arnold, Missouri, host Bob Caldwell

24 Officiate Eaton-Harrison Wedding

25-April 7 Kiev, Ukraine Mission Trip, Guest Professor Kiev Theological Seminary, host Joel Ragains

April
1-7 Kiev, Ukraine

13-14 DNow, FBC Pickens, SC, with Chad Lister, host Patrick Stalnaker

20-22 DNow, FBC Milan, Tennessee, with Chad Lister, host Brandon Spain

23-24 Youth Metro, Destin, FL

27-28 DNow, Georgia, with Chad Lister, host Caleb Akins

May
6-12 Guest Professor, Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary, host Steve Booth

23-24 Engage Evangelist Retreat, Texas, host Garrett Wagoner

June
2 Officiating Dyal Campbell Wedding

11-15 Missouri Super Summer Camp, host Matt Kearns

18-22 Missouri Super Summer Camp, host Matt Kearns

July
13-14 Global Missions Focus, St Louis, MO, host Bob Caldwell

16-20 Guest Professor, Anderson University

23-27 Live. Love. Serve local missions RCCC

August
4 JOSHUA REID AND JACQUELINE YANDLE WEDDING!!!

13-14 Faculty Workshop

24-25 Young Pros Getaway, RCCC

September
7-9 Singles Retreat, FBC, Atlanta, GA, host Bryan Gilmore

17 Banquet, FBC Roanoke, VA

21-23 Momentum Worship, Hickory, NC

Who said the following famous last words? “Give me liberty or give me death.”

Wait, try one more: “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”

Students of American history remember these to be the words of Patrick Henry and Nathan Hale respectively. Jesus Christ also left famous last words. While we understandably focus a lot on the Incarnation this time of year, the last thing Jesus said before His Ascension into heaven matters as well. His words contained a promise and a command to His followers: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Evangelical believers throughout history have understood the vital role of fulfilling the Great Commission. The question is, how do we go about that? This issue is summed up in the question, How does the church speak to culture? I am indebted to my friend Steve Sjogren for a threefold look at how the church typically relates to culture.

First, some churches EVADE the culture. The Bible teaches that believers are to be separate from the world (1 Peter 2:9-10). Some churches illustrate what happens when biblical separation is ignored, leading to an underemphasis on biblical doctrine, often in the name of relevance. Whether it be homosexuality or other issues, their desire to engage culture leads to an attempt to remove “outdated” biblical customs, but this almost inevitably moves beyond customs to theology and doctrine. The result is a church who looks just like the world and has thus lost any power to change it. However, conservative churches should look in the mirror as well, for we can be guilty of buying into the world’s system of materialism and self-gratification. If we are not careful, we will get to the point that we want to enjoy the pleasures of culture and the fulfillment that culture offers while trying to maintain a Christian identity: thus, ignoring biblical ideals of sacrifice and the cost of discipleship.

While separation from worldliness is taught, such teaching does not contradict our Lord’s command to impact culture with the Gospel as churches or His example to be friends of sinners as individuals. Some churches just don’t want to have anything to do with the world, including people for whom Jesus died. Churches that seek to evade the culture basically do it out of one or two reasons; some evade the culture out of fear–fear that worldliness will creep into the church, fear of the danger in the world, and so on. Such a desire to disengage from the world leads to an approach like the monasteries of the Middle Ages which became refuges to escape from barbarians and barbaric views. Interestingly, over a period of hundreds of years, the monastic movement could not remain introverted. Monastic movements began to reach out, because the nature of the church is not to escape from the world but to reach the world with the gospel. Earnest, genuine believers who sometimes found themselves in these movements organized to escape the world found themselves compelled to go into society to change it. Genuine believers cannot continue over time to ignore the Great Commission!

The other group who seek to evade the world quite honestly just doesn’t care about the world. They are not interested in reaching the world, because they are involved in such “important” issues such as whether people should clap or not in church, or whether guitars violate Scripture, or whether the carpet should be green or brown. Such believers have confused preferences with biblical convictions, and become derailed on the way to obeying God. They are so sidetracked discussing preferences they fail to see the biblical conviction of penetrating the culture with the gospel. We should remain unstained from the world; however, we must not be removed from the people for whom Christ died.

Other churches seek to PERVADE the world. These are the battlers, the culture warriors, among others. These are folks who seek to overpower the culture by might, be it political, social, or economic. They draw the line between the good guys and the bad guys, i.e. the churched and the unchurched. The problem is the fundamental battle we have according to Ephesians 6 is not between the unchurched and the churched; it is between the forces of God and the forces of the evil one. Churches that overemphasize the “pervade the world” mentality look more like political rallies than the body of Christ. Incidentally, such churches can be on the far left, typically being liberal democrats, or to the right, typically republican.

This group overemphasizes the role of political involvement over the gospel. This is not to criticize those who are involved in politics; for we have a biblical responsibility to be involved in civil affairs; it is a plea that churches and groups maintain a focus on the gospel and the need to give priority to the power of the gospel over political persuasion. It is not either-or, it is both-and. But it is also a matter of priority. We have no answer for the world except Christ.

Another example of this mindset is seen in churches that become polarized, in some cases to the point that they don’t really care what the Bible says about the gospel being for everyone. They don’t want a black person coming into their church, for instance. Such churches are completely ineffective in reaching the unchurched. They refuse to saturate their community with the Gospel became they may actually reach people unlike them. These are not neutral churches–these churches hinder the work of God.

The biblical church INVADES the world. We should separate ourselves from sin; and we should use our influence in the political realm. But Jesus invaded the world through His Incarnation! God could have pervaded the world; in fact, He did with the flood. But He did not give up on humanity. God certainly could have evaded the world. But praise be His name that the Word became Flesh! As a result, we are the incarnational witness for Him until He returns. The Incarnation shapes our disposition toward the world. Such a church will be in the culture among the people making an impact for the gospel. It is the church that emulates the life of Jesus who left his home in glory to come and live among us to give us the opportunity to be a part of His Kingdom. We invade the world not to become like it, but so that it would become like our Lord.

Let us remember the penetrating words of George McLeod:
“I simply argue that the cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles; but on a cross between two thieves- on the towns garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek… at the kind of place where cynics talk smut and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died and that is what He died about. That is where the churchmen ought to be and what churchmen ought to be about.”

Adapted from my book Radically Unchurched: Who They Are and How to Reach Them (Kregel, 2002).

Take a moment and think about the best gift you ever gave someone at Christmas. It may not have been that expensive, but most certainly would be meaningful. I remember saving up and getting my then-girlfriend and now-wife Michelle the very popular (at least in 1979) add-a-bead necklace—remember them? I was so proud of that present!

Christmas reminds us of the greatest gift. Yes, we have commercialized the season and turned it into an advertisement for the American dream of counsumerism. But at its heart, Christmas is about God’s gift to us.

When we think of biblical passages that remind us of the season we of course go to the early parts of Luke or Matthew, or perhaps to Isaiah. But Romans 1 also serves to remind us of the reason for the season.

The latter part of Romans 1 comprises part of a larger section from 1:18-3:20 where Paul makes the case for the guilt of man in the face of the righteousness of God. He makes it clear that we simply cannot save ourselves. We cannot earn or merit a right standard with God, as our sin is too wicked. We are either saved by works or by faith—we cannot have it both ways.

Paul transitions from the theme in verses 16-17 to his point:

“For the wrath of God…” God’s wrath is not some capricious, erratic hostility, but God’s measured response to the wickedness of sin.

He hates sin, let us be clear about that.

We needed a Christ-child because of our sin. We can avoid driving through some dangerous neighborhoods, but that does not cease them from being real. We can ignore the effects of abortion or abuse, but our avoidance does not mean they are innocent practices. We can attempt to downplay our rebellion, but that does not change reality.

The purpose of this passage is not to give us a club to be homophobic or to assault lost people. It is to demonstrate how we, and all humanity, are guilty before God. This passage deals with Gentiles. In Chapter 2 Paul will get to the Jews.

The Gentiles are without excuse before the righteous God and guilty because they

1) Suppress the truth about God (1:18-20) Note that Creation shows us God as the Creator (v. 20). But our hearts take us away from God and cause us not to seek Him but to suppress Him. Most people do not reject the gospel intellectually, but volitionally. They do not want to humble themselves before a holy God. Humanism says man is basically good, and can do wrong. Biblicism says man is inherently wrong, but can do some good. Your starting point will determine your understanding of the need for grace. The Bible unambiguously states that it is our nature to suppress truth rather than to embrace it.

We need the Incarnation to radically alter our situation.

2) They exchanged God’s glory for idols (1:21-23) This reveals the stupidity of sin, that the created would fashion substitutes to the Creator to worship for themselves. Idolatry is all around us; we do not need a statue to be idolators. As one interpreter observed: “Man the worshiper became man the philosopher, with the result an empty head and a darkened heart.” We were created to worship, and if we do not worship God we will manufacture idols, and our hearts are a remarkable idol-manufacturing facility. The man who is bored in church will scream at a ball game. A woman who is not stirred by reading Scripture is mesmerized by a sale. If we do not seek the glory of God we will seek glory in something.

Therefore, three times the passage says “God gave them over” to their own sin, with tragic result:

1) To sexual impurity (1:24) The response to sin is to follow it based on our passions. The step from idolatry to immorality is a short one, because immorality is a form of the idolatry of self.

2) To idolatry (1:25) We created idols to worship to justify our sin. We may even manipulate the Scriptures to justify our lifestyle. The LIE is that we can be our own Gods. Matthew Henry said, “It was the greatest honour God did to man that he made man in the image of God; but it is the greatest dishonour man has done to God that he has made God in the image of man.”

3) To unnatural sin like homosexuality (1:26-27) This sin was rampant in Paul’s day and has become part of our mainstream culture today (just watch an episode of virtually any TV show today). By any normal observation there is something completely unnatural about homosexual sin. It does not make sense, except in the context of depravity. This is not a license to hate homosexuals, for a homosexual needs Jesus as I did as a young, lost Baptist. But this passage is a recognition that depravity left unchecked takes a person places they would never have imagined at the start.

4) To a depraved mind (1:28-31) Paul names many sins, though the list is not exhaustive. Ultimately we convince ourselves that what is evil is actually good, turning everything upside down. Note here that Paul lists sins beyond homosexuality. It is a mistake to see this passage as simply a diatribe against homosexuality; you and I have committed at least some of the sins he names here. And the greatest issue lies not in the list of sins, but in the depraved nature of our hearts. Our Christian subculture likes to categorize sins we do not commit openly as evil sins, and sins we commit as, to quote Jerry Bridges, “respectable sins.” This passage should make us humbly realize how desperately we all need a savior.

The result of this idolatry and depravity is the judgment of God, and a blindness to consequences (1:32) Not only do we live in our depravity, but we take others with us on the road to hell. Paul describes people who are evangelists for evil. We are all evangelists: we all promote something: our watered down Christianity, our idolatry of self, or Christ.

What does this have to do with Christmas? In a sea of various Christmas stories that tell generalized moral tales of kindness and gift giving, or perhaps even forgiveness, we are reminded that Jesus Christ did not come as a baby in the manger to help us forgive more or to be more compassionate. He is not a glorified Santa Claus. No, he left glory to live and serve and die brutally for our sins because we are more wicked than we can imagine, and left to ourselves will destroy ourselves and take others with us.

The wonder of the Incarnation can only truly be enjoyed only as we understand the horror of our depravity. This Christmas season, thank God that he has provided a rescue from our sin through the baby in the manger.