Praying for your Leaders

October 23, 2008

Every day at 10 AM, we here in the SGA office pray. We put out a Prayer and Praise item that gives things to pray for each day of the month. Today’s was to pray for our leaders in both North America and in the Commonwealth of Independent States. With the recent election here in Canada and the upcoming election in the United States, I am reminded often of the need for prayer for our leaders. It strikes me as funny, not ha-ha funny, but sad funny, why Christians who have a direct command from God to pray for their leaders, fail to do so. What does Scripture say?

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Let’s unpack what Paul is saying here. First, he urges all believers to regularly pray for everyone. We know, although we do not practice this, that we as Christians must be in a constant state of prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to “pray continually” (NIV) or “pray without ceasing” as other translations use. Now, this obviously does not mean that all we do is pray 24 hours a day. We are called to work and to serve God where He has placed us. But we are called to have an attitude of prayer, a desire for prayer, and regular times of prayer.

My wife and I have recently been burdened more for prayer. We have taken the opportunity now after dinner to spend time in the Word (of course as newlyweds we are studiyng the Song of Songs), to sing a hymn, and to pray. We pray for each other. We pray for our families. We pray for our ministry. In the morning I pray before I start my day. At night, we pray before bed. Prayer should be continual and constant. At the drop of a hat and throughout our day prayer should drip from our lips as we commune with the Triune God.

So, Paul says, knowing that we are to pray continually, calls us to pray for everyone. That is a tall order! How do we pray for everyone? Do we pray “God, be with everyone?” No. God wants us to be more specific than that. In other places He breaks that down further and gives us specific things and people we should be praying for. Paul does that here where he then tells us to pray for our leaders.

Why does Paul tell us to pray for our leaders? So we can lead peaceable and godly lives. The main purpose of praying for your leaders, for kings, and all those in authority in the secular world, is so that we are free to worship God as the Scriptures have called us. We should pray for God to work in the hearts of our leaders so that they continue to allow the freedom we enjoy (or to allow freedom in countries where that is not possible) to worship God. We pray that our leaders would come to know Christ so they can better lead our countries in a moral and God-honouring way. We pray for them, for their families, that God would use them to further His kingdom in this age. This of course does not just mean our federal leaders but our provincial (or state) leaders and our municipal leaders. Those who make laws and those who enforce them. God uses the governmental leaders for his purposes. We know the Scripture says that ultimately it is God who even chooses our governmental leaders. Daniel 2:21 says,

He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

God, even in Scripture, shows how He uses governmental leaders to accomplish His will. In Isaiah 45:1-6, Cyrus is prophesied to come and bless God’s people. The fulfillment of that was in Ezra 1 where God moved the heart of Cyrus the King of Persia to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem. God uses governmental leaders, even those who are not believers, to accomplish His will. Thus, we should pray for our leaders!

We do this because Paul says it pleases God our saviour who desires all to come to faith. God is pleased when we pray for our leaders because prayer is the ordained means to the end of things. God uses our prayers to accomplish His will. While God has ordained those who will be saved and how they will be used, He has also ordained the means to accomplish those ends; namely prayer. Prayer is that amazing vehicle that not only allows us to commune with the true and living God but allows us the privilege to actually participate in the sovereign work of God in the universe! God uses our prayers to accomplish His will! So, God is pleased when we pray for our leaders!

So, today, take time to pray for your leaders. It pleases God when you do so. Pray for their conversion and that through them your lives may be peacable so you can live and worship as the scriptures have called you to do. Pray that God would use our leaders to accomplish God’s will. What a privilege to pray and what a privilege to pray for our leaders!

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to pray! We thank you that through the death of Christ; through His atoning sacrifice, we have access to the very throne room of God to bring our thanksgiivng and petition to you! You have called us to pray and it is through prayer that we are nourished and refreshed. You are the true and living God and you seek to commune with your people. Thank you for the access we have to boldly come to you and speak with you as Moses did; face to face.

We pray today for our leaders. We pray that you would regenerate their hearts and that they would come to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray they would be baptized and be added to your church. We pray that they would seek to be used by you to accomplish your will. We pray they make and enforce laws for the good of the people; that honour you and give us the freedom to proclaim the life changing message of Jesus Christ.

We pray for Stephen Harper, our federal leader, Dalton McGinty, our provincial leader, Phil McColeman, my federal MP in Brant, Dave Levac, my provincial MPP in Brant, Ron Eddy, Mayor of Brant, and our other council members. We pray that you would turn their hearts to Christ and that they would lead and govern with an eye to honouring Christ and serving the people.

We pray for the upcoming election in the USA. We pray that people would vote intelligently and pick the best person that would serve that country and honour and glorify you. We pray that you would use them to lead and direct the people and that they would create and enforce laws that would do so and yet honour you and what you have revealed to us in your Word.

Lord, you are the great God of the universe. Not one square inch of this universe is outside of the lordship of Jesus Christ. We pray that you would work mightily in our world and accomplish your will through our leaders that you have selected. We pray that you would further the work of your kingdom through them and that you would use us, our prayers, and our service, to draw men and women in Canada and around the world to faith in Jesus Christ. We pray for revival; for a fresh outpouring of your Spirit this day and that we might have the privilege of being a part of that revival both here and abroad. Help us to yield to the Spirit and pursue holiness and to do all things to honour you, the Son, and the Spirit.

We pray all these things in the name of the great Lord of the universe, Jesus Christ. Amen.

2 Comments | Prayer | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by allenmickle

Pastor: Remember the Spiritual Disciplines

October 23, 2008

I was privileged to attend the monthly meeting of the Toronto Pastors Fellowship this past Monday (held at Richview Baptist Church). My good friend Michael Haykin, Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, presented an excellent paper titled, “Pastor: Remeber the Spiritual Disciplines.” There he dealt with the tradition of our Calvinistic Baptist forefathers in the area of the Word and preaching, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer. I was deeply challenged and encouraged by it. The paper and the audio of the session are available here. I would encourage you to attend next month (November 17) when Pastor Stephen Kring of Bethesda Baptist Church, Delhi, ON will be presenting “Pastor: Give Guidance in Finding God’s Will.”  Also, check out September’s excellent meeting with Pastor Paul Martin of Grace Fellowship Church, Toronto giving his paper on “Pastor: Mentor the Young Men.”

If you are interested in attending, please register here. There is no charge!

2 Comments | Michael Haykin, Pastors, Spiritual Disciplines | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by allenmickle

Darby Day Lectures – Trinity College, Dublin

October 23, 2008

The Darby Day Lectures are now available online courtesy of the Trinity Millennium Project. If you have an interest in the history of dispensationalism or J. N. Darby, you will enjoy these lectures. You can find them in MP3 format here. They are the following:

Dr Thomas Ice – “J. N. Darby and the Irvingites.” Sadly Dr Ice was unable to be with us, so this paper is delivered in Crawford Gribben’s dulcet Glasgow tones, rather than Tommy’s Texas drawl.

Dr Paul Wilkinson – “Can these bones live? – J. N. Darby and the Return of Israel’s King.”

Dr Mark Sweetnam – “Two Peoples, Two Destinies, Two Bibles? – J. N. Darby’s Differential Hermeneutic.”

5 Comments | Conference, Dispensationalism | Tagged: , | Permalink
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Book Review: “In My Place Condemned He Stood”

October 22, 2008

 

In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement. J. I Packer and Mark Dever. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007, 188 pp., $16.99, paperback.

 

The doctrine of the penal substitutionary atonement is falling on hard times. Modern day theologians, pastors, and people in the pew view the idea of penal substitution as something completely horrific and foreign to the teachings of Scripture. To think that God had to punish Christ in our place is something that seems strangely outside the teaching that God is love. Yet, at the heart of the Scriptures is the teaching that man has spurned God and now is not able to pay the penalty for his sin and therefore needs someone to pay the penalty for him. Only God can pay the penalty of sin that was committed against God. Therefore Christ must come and take our place. He is our substitute. This is the very heart of redemption.

 

J. I. Packer and Mark Dever have done the church a favour with this helpful collection of pieces on the topic of the atonement. Packer is the Board of Governors’ professor of Theology at Regent College, Vancouver and Dever is senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington. Both men have contributed much for the cause of Christ in their years. Now, some of Packer’s best teaching on the atonement, and Dever’s highly acclaimed piece on the topic, appear together in one attractive and well priced book. Crossway should be commended for this release.

 

The genesis of this book comes out of that evangelical powerhouse foursome of Ligon Duncan, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, and C. J. Mahaney. These men are well known individually and as those at the heart of Together for the Gospel. Commenting on how important Packer’s writing on the topic of the atonement had been in their lives, it was thought that these works needed to be released again for a new generation. Dever approached Packer on this and Packer agreed as long as Dever’s article on the topic from Christianity Today was also included. He agreed, and In My Place Condemned He Stood was born.

 

Packer introduces the book with a brief look at atonement, penal substitution, and redemption and sets the stage for the other treatises in the book. In “The Heart of the Gospel” (originally a chapter from Packer’s Knowing God) looks at the issue of propitiation (“averting God’s anger by an offering”) sets the stage for the need for penal substitution with the reality that God is angered at man and that anger needs to be appeased. It needs to be atoned for.

 

Packer goes on in “What Did the Cross Achieve? The Logic of Penal Substitution” (originally the Tyndale Biblical Theology Lecture in 1973) to survey approaches to viewing the death of Christ in the church. He concludes, that penal substitution is necessary and logical, because God’s wrath needs to be appeased. Therefore the cross is directed at propitiating God first, and then second turns humankind toward Him. Penal substitution is completely logical when you look at the reality of sin and the sinner’s relationship to God.

 

Next Dever looks at criticisms of penal substitution in “Nothing But the Blood.” Dever’s chapter is quite important to the book as a whole because it deals with the current issues and debates surrounding the atonement. It is good to interact with opposing views and identify where the current trends are going on a theological issue so one can better present the Scriptural teaching.

 

Finally, Packer’s “Saved by His Precious Blood: An Introduction to John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ,” is probably worth the price of the book. This was originally written as an introduction to Owen’s book on the topic of limited atonement. Owen, and Packer, defends vigorously the teaching that Christ died for the elect. This article by Packer has been used in many a questioning mind to bring them fully over to the Calvinistic understanding of the atonement. It is a fitting look at how that penal substitutionary atonement is applied.

 

Dever and Packer conclude by expressing the reality that to be Christ-centered one must be cross-centered. Ligon Duncan rounds out the book with annotated reading lists on the topic of the atonement.

 

At the heart of the ministry is the atoning work of Christ. As Paul said, we preach Christ and Him crucified. No pastor, ministry leader, or Christian for that matter, can afford to not think through the scriptural teaching on the atonement. Particularly we need to see the reality of the death the unbeliever is in. Our synergistic approach to salvation, so prevalent in today’s society, needs to be eradicated from our thoughts. Dead means dead. The unbeliever has no power to save himself or even to participate with God in saving him. He is dead in trespasses and sins. He has angered God and that anger needs to be appeased. The ultimate sacrifice necessary to appease the anger of an infinite God is in the matchless death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He stood in our place condemned so we could be redeemed. He paid the penalty in our stead. This is the very foundation of salvation.

 

These issues are not abstract and scholarly. They are at the very heart of the Gospel message. As the Bliss wrote in his hymn, “Guilty, vile, and helpless we; Spotless Lamb of God was He; ‘Full atonement! Can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior!” Hallelujah for the great lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world through his death on the cross. Praise the Lord that He stood in my place condemned so I might have salvation.

 

Packer and Dever have done an incredible service to the church. All believers no matter the theological persuasion need to read this book and meditate on the reality of the penal substitutionary atoning work of Christ. Cannot be more highly recommended!

 

 

 

4 Comments | Atonement, Books, J. I. Packer | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by allenmickle

To Russia with Love – October Issue

October 22, 2008

Greetings faithful blog readers! Please find attached the PDF of my most recent issue of To Russia with Love. This newsletter is my monthly report of what God is doing in my life in relationship to my ministry with Slavic Gospel Association. I hope you are encouraged and challenged by what I was able to witness on my recent trip to Russia and Ukraine.

To Russia with Love – October Newsletter of Allen Mickle and SGA

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Russ Moore on the Primacy of the Local Church

October 17, 2008

Readers of this blog (see here), and hearers of my preaching (see here), will know how the primacy of the local church is extremely important to me. There is nothing that comes above, or even along side of, the local chuch in importance to the life of the believer. Russ Moore, Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has recently wrote a brief article titled, “Jesus Didn’t Die for a Campus Ministry: The Spiritual Danger of Unchurched Spirituality” for the Carl F. H. Henry Institute For Evangelical Engagement of which he is Executive Director. While brief, it is extremely helpful. Dr. Moore is sharp and astute and everything he says and writes is worth reading. I had the privilege of picking him up and dropping him off at the Toronto airport when he came to speak at the 2007 TBS graduation. He is a good man!

On that note, check out his recent chapel message at SBTS on which Justin Taylor calls, “one of the most prophetic pro-life messages I have ever heard.” Listen to “Joseph of Nazareth is a Single-Issue Evangelical: The Father of Jesus, the Cries of the Helpless, and Change You Can Believe in” (Matt 2:13:23).

Leave a Comment » | Abortion, Local Church | Tagged: , | Permalink
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Trip to Russia and Ukraine

October 16, 2008

Greetings friends! I just wanted to thank you all for your prayers and support during my recent trip to Russia and Ukraine! I had a tremendous time and was very blessed and challenged by the people I met! I now have actual first hand stories to be able to tell people about our brothers and sisters in the former Soviet Union. And just for your interest sake, here are a couple of touristy photos of me! The first is me in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. The other is me in front of the Black Sea in Odessa!

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Posted by allenmickle

Decision 2008 Results

October 15, 2008

In typical fashion I stayed up too late to watch the “talking heads” and the election results from last night’s 40th general election in Canada. I am very excited to say the least! As a devout Conservative supporter (and member!) I was encouraged by the final count of 143 seats for Harper and the Conservatives. While this is not the 155 needed to form a majority government, this is a strong mandate from Canadians that they approve of the Conservative approach to leadership and policy. The Conservatives at dissolution held 127 seats. The increase of 16 seats and the fact that the Conservatives won 37.6% of the popular vote shows that Canadians were not willing to embrace Dion and the Liberal platform at this time. The Liberals actually lost 19 seats in the 2008 election and actually sunk to the lowest level of popular support since 1867! What facinates me is that in the United States they are bracing to elect one of the most liberal governments ever, while here in Canada we have elected a Conservative “muscular minority” (Bruce Cheadle, “Tories with Muscular Minority,” The Canadian Press [October 14, 2008]).

I continue to think that Harper is the man to lead. Strong experience and education with a track record of consistent level-headed governing. But, what I am most encouraged about is in two particular Ontario ridings.

First, my old electoral riding of Essex, where I grew up, had been a Liberal and NDP stronghold since at least the 1960’s. But in the 2004 election, Conservative candidate Jeff Watson had ousted long-standing Liberal Susan Whelan, daughter of former MP and Senator Eugen Whelan by only 829 votes. Whelan had thought it too close and ran again in the 2006 election figuring the people would rally back to the Liberals. Instead, Watson won again by an even greater margin of 3617 votes! And yet again, Whelan ran in the 2008 election and lost to Watson for a third time with Watson receiving a hefty 5634 votes over Whelan. Encouraging times for my old home area as they consistently move more and more Conservative even though it so closely borders Windsor which is traditionally NDP.

But, even more encouraging were the results in my new home electoral district of Brant. It too had been a Liberal and NDP stronghold since the 1960’s. But in the last election of 2006, the Liberal candidate, Lloyd St. Amand, only won over Conservative canadidate, Phil McColeman by 582 votes. In the 2008 election, voters, dissatisfied with the Liberals, voted in Conservative McColeman by 4789 votes! This is an incredible leap over the last election. People connected with McColeman and the Conservatives in our area especially over issues of jobs, agriculture, and Native issues.

I am greatly encouraged by the progress we are seeing in Canada to a more and more Conservative government. Lord willing, in the next election, we will see a Conservative majority! For now, please support your MP, and as Christians pray for them and the Harper government that the Lord would use them to further His Kingdom here in Canada and all over the world.

For more on Phil Coleman click on the picture below of Phil and his family.

 

 

3 Comments | Canada, Conservative Party of Canada, Election | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by allenmickle

“In My Place Condemned He Stood”: Justification, The Cross, and God

October 14, 2008

Please be aware of an excellent conference being sponsored by Sola Scriptura. The event is a conference on the theme of Justification and features Dr. Michael Haykin, Dr. Joseph Pipa, and Dr. Guy Waters. This is being held November 7-8 at Free Reformed Church of St. Thomas, ON (145 St. George Street). Attached is a PDF version of the conference brochure. May I recommend you all to attend this event as the doctrine of justification is one which is still discussed and debated in the life of the church. It has great bearing on our standing in Christ Jesus. Be there and be blessed, encouraged, and challenged!

Sola Scriptura Conference

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Book Review: Francis Shaeffer

October 8, 2008

Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life. By Colin Duriez. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008. 240 pp., $24.99, hard cover.

 

One of the most important figures in the areas of theology, apologetics, and culture of the last century is Francis Schaeffer. Until now there had not been a solid biographical work dealing with the life of this important figure. Colin Duriez, someone who knew the man personally, has helped to fill this great need by providing a look at the life of this great man. With an analysis of his books, interviews with Schaffer before he died, his family, friends, colleagues, and people who studied at L’Abri, Duriez offers a volume on the man that essentially comes from the very heart of Schaeffer himself.

 

Francis Schaeffer was born in 1912 and lived quite a tumultuous life until the Lord took him prematurely from Cancer in 1984. Growing up poor in Pennsylvania, he studied hard in school and sensed the call to pastoral ministry. He studied at Hampden-Sydney College and after studied for his seminary studies at Westminster Theological Seminary and then finished at the new Faith Theological Seminary which was formed out of controversy at Westminster. Much of Schaeffer’s apologetical thinking was developed under the Father of Presuppositional Apologetics, Cornelius van Til (although he departed in some key areas). Schaeffer saw how Christianity affected all of life. This thinking is what began his great cultural studies and how he developed the thinking that one could see where one was at and where one was going by studying the development of cultural expression in previous years (areas of art, music, philosophy, etc.). Serving as a Presbyterian pastor for a number of years he convinced the denominational body that a survey trip of Europe was necessary following World War II to see how the New Theology there had affected the churches. Schaffer’s trip was something that changed his thinking and developed a new approach to ministry as he sought to intellectually address issues in the growing modernist and soon-to-be postmodernist society. This resulted in the founding of L’Abri (The Shelter) in Switzerland where Schaffer could meet with those who were searching and talk openly about how Christianity was relevant and addressed issues of culture, the arts, and everything. Through Schaeffer’s speaking and writing, vast amounts of believers became in-tune with what was going on around them and were becoming more and more willing to present Christianity as culturally relevant and intellectually responsible.

 

There was much controversy and pain in the life of Francis and his wife Edith. People did not understand their new approach to ministry by interacting with people on this kind of casual level at L’Abri. The schedule was intense and with people living with the family it often took tolls on the family relationships and on health in general. Schaeffer though saw himself as being a defender of Christianity by presenting the Christ of the Scriptures and how all men everywhere need to be transformed by Him. Schaeffer’s unique approach allowed him to reach people who were not being reached by the church. The intellectuals of the world turned to Schaeffer as the one who presented a culturally relevant Christianity. To this end he was greatly used of the Lord.

 

Duriez traces all the events of the life of Schaffer from birth to death in a very readable way. He presents the life of this man and his family as a choice servant of God. This is a solid contribution to the history of evangelicalism in the last decade, to the history of apologetics, and ultimately, to the life of this man, so often misunderstood in his own life and today. The only real weakness is that Duriez does not interact with his theology as much as would be helpful. He admits in the beginning that this is not a theological biography, but one is necessary. Duriez offers a helpful look at the life of this man. Now, someone must look at the theology of this man to continue to better help the church. But, this book is highly recommended as a well-written account (from the very mouths of Schaeffer and those who knew him best) of the life of pastor turned denominational leader turned missionary turned prophet and apologist. May all of us have the dedication that Schaffer did for the cause of Christ today in our ministries. Read and be challenged and encouraged by the work of God in the life of His servant.

Leave a Comment » | Apologetics, Biography, Books, Francis Schaeffer | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by allenmickle

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