Last Friday a group of Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christian leaders released The Manhattan Declaration, a ringing statement regarding the dignity of human life, the importance of marriage as the conjugal union of one man and one woman, and the rights of conscience and human liberty in our increasingly diverse society. I used the word "ringing" advisedly, because the statement sounds a strong call for believers across the broad spectrum of Christian belief to join together in affirming our intention to safeguard the unborn, to fight for the traditional understanding of marriage, and our willingness to speak out against any coercive law forcing us to deny our deeply-held beliefs.

The original list of signers includes many well-known evangelical leaders, such as James Dobson, J. I. Packer, Randy Alcorn, Mark Bailey, Wayne Grudem, Harry Jackson, Duane Litfin, Al Mohler, Tom Oden, Marvin Olasky, Joe Stowell, Joni Erickson Tada, and Ravi Zacharias. You can also find the names of many prominent Orthodox and Catholic leaders. 

Over the weekend I added my name to the more than 30,000 people who have signed Manhattan Declaration. You can sign it also-and I encourage you to do so if you agree with the declaration. I signed it because it represents a united front of Christians from many different backgrounds. I think it's a positive thing when Catholic, Orthodox, and evangelical Christians can unite around issues of common concern. And I signed it because the declaration is well-written, thoughtful, carefully stated and yet bold in what it says. The entire document is over 4000 words so it will take a few minutes to read all of it. 

Let me reproduce the closing two paragraphs because they give a flavor of the entire declaration.

Going back to the earliest days of the church, Christians have refused to compromise their proclamation of the gospel. In Acts 4, Peter and John were ordered to stop preaching. Their answer was, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Through the centuries, Christianity has taught that civil disobedience is not only permitted, but sometimes required. There is no more eloquent defense of the rights and duties of religious conscience than the one offered by Martin Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Writing from an explicitly Christian perspective, and citing Christian writers such as Augustine and Aquinas, King taught that just laws elevate and ennoble human beings because they are rooted in the moral law whose ultimate source is God Himself. Unjust laws degrade human beings. Inasmuch as they can claim no authority beyond sheer human will, they lack any power to bind in conscience. King's willingness to go to jail, rather than comply with legal injustice, was exemplary and inspiring.

Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's.

That will put some steel into your soul. God bless those who had the courage to write the Manhattan Declaration. May the Lord use it to give us new resolve to do God's will in these days of growing moral confusion.

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A friend asked me to recommend a few preachers he should listen to for his own benefit. It's fascinating to think about how technology has changed the answer to that question. Thirty years ago it meant, "Where can I get cassette tapes of messages by Pastor so-and-so?" Fifty years ago it meant, "What conference should I attend to hear the best preachers?" But the digital revolution has changed everything. Today there are thousands, no, make it tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of preachers with online sermons.

Add to that the vast reservoir of past preachers whose sermons have been digitized and added to the mix. You can now listen to sermons preached by men who passed away fifty or even sixty years ago, sermons that were recorded on those massive reel-to-reel recorders, listened to once or twice, and then stored at the bottom of a box filled with the bric-a-brac of life, labeled "Misc," and then left to gather dust (and humidity) in the attic.

The upside of all this is that today we have a "veritable plethora" (to quote Howard Cosell) of digitized sermons. Because new sermons are added every day, no one knows (or even tries to keep track) of how many sermons are online. But it is vast number, and growing vaster, and the tide shows no signs of slowing down. 

So that's all good. 

As far as the preachers I listen to, I operate by one main principle. Listen to people who aren't necessarily like yourself. Stretch yourself by going outside your own denomination or your own preferred preachers. Find a few excellent preachers who challenge you by the way they approach the preaching task. With an iPod you can download a ton of sermons. And if you don't like one of the sermons you downloaded, delete it. The preacher will never know. 

That said, here are some preachers I like to listen to. Nothing should be assumed about names that aren't on this list because I often just randomly search through iTunes trying to find sermons by preachers unknown to me. I've hit on some really good ones that way. Here are a few preachers I have listened to in the last few months:

Tommy Nelson (Denton Bible Church, TX)
Joel Hunter (Northland Church, Orlando, FL)
S. Lewis Johnson (SLJInstitute)
Vic Pentz (Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta)
Erwin McManus (Mosaic Church, Los Angeles)
Ryan Whitley (Crosspoint Church, Trussville, AL)
Jamie Mitchell (NewSong Fellowship, Lancaster, PA)
Andy McQuitty (Irving Bible Church, TX)
Richard Kannwischer (St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, CA)
Mark Dever (Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC)
Erwin Lutzer (Moody Church, Chicago)
Ray Stedman (Peninsula Bible Church, Palo Alto, CA)
Robert Rayburn (Faith Presbyterian Church, Tacoma, WA)
Tim Keller (Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York)
Rob Bell (Mars Hill Church, Michigan)
David Platt (Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, AL)
Will Willimon (Methodist Bishop, North Alabama)
Haddon Robinson (Gordon Conwell Seminary)
Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Church, Seattle)
Howard Hendricks (Dallas Seminary)
Mark Bailey (Dallas Seminary)
Pete Briscoe (Bent Tree Bible Fellowship, Dallas)
Sinclair Ferguson (First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, SC)
Phil Ryken (Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA)

As I listen I like to ask myself, "How did he do that?" It's fun listening to an excellent preacher introduce a topic, raise a need, make a strong transition, work through a text, and "land the plane" on schedule. You can learn a lot that way, gaining some insights for your own preaching, and along the way your soul will be edified.

Well, this is my current list. Who are you listening to these days? Your suggestions are always welcome. 

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.

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Are you spooked out by the Holy Spirit?

Perhaps I should say, "Are you spooked out by the Holy Ghost?" Lots of Christians are, you know. They say things like, "I know about God the Father, and I know about Jesus, but the Holy Spirit is a mystery to me." You may remember the story about the little boy who liked to scare people by saying, "Boo! I'm the Holy Ghost."

That story is apt because the Holy Spirit ("Ghost" is the older term) scares many Christians. Maybe they're heard things or seen things on TV. Or perhaps the idea of a "Holy Spirit" seems hard to grasp. We understand the concept of God the Creator, and we certainly know about Jesus who walked among us 2000 years ago. But the Holy Spirit is another matter. Where does he fit in?

Many years ago I was asked to write a book on the names of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it was the first book I ever wrote. Moody Publishers gave me the topic and turned me loose. Not knowing what to do, I scoured a few theology books and didn't find much about the names of the Holy Spirit. And on my own I could come up with "Holy" and "Spirit" and "Comforter." Knowing that three names wouldn't make a very long book, I sat down at my desk with an open Bible on one side and a concordance in the other. And I just started in Genesis and went through the whole Bible, looking for names (or titles or symbols) of the Holy Spirit. I found my first one in the second verse of the Bible ("Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" Genesis 1:2). I found another one in Genesis 2 and another one in Genesis 6. With that, I was off and running. When I was finished I had found over 100 names of the Holy Spirit, the last one being in Revelation 19:10, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

By the time I finished the book (Names of the Holy Spirit), I was amazed and overwhelmed by how many times he appears in the pages of Holy Scripture. I realized that God wants us to know a lot about the Spirit because he tells us about him in so many different places.

One of the oldest prayers of the church contains only three words: "Come, Holy Spirit." Here is the ultimate irony of this message. Because the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see spiritual truth, we need the Holy Spirit to understand the Holy Spirit! So we pray "Come, Holy Spirit, and help us to know you better. Amen."

The Bible gives us many images, pictures and symbols of his work. In order to help us, I've chosen four of the best-known pictures of the Spirit. Each one reveals a different aspect of his ministry in our lives.

You can read the rest of the message online.

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.

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Several days ago I received an email asking about Hebrews 10:26, the last (and strongest) of the "warning passages" in Hebrews. It happens that the writer is a soldier serving in Afghanistan. Here is how he put his question:

One of the guys on my team and myself started a Bible study. We are actually talking about salvation. We also brought up Hebrews 10:26. We discussed this for awhile. I think it is nearly impossible to quit deliberately sinning. If we think about all sin, and that in God's eyes it's all the same, 3/4 of our churches would be going to Hell. Have any opinion on Hebrews 10:26? About the prodigal son, does it mean that maybe you can repent once, but after that...? Is that how some of the other preachers get around the moral of that story?  I know I was saved when I was younger and I backslid on purpose, I was tired of living the Christian life alone. I realized my mistake years later, but I know I was saved before.

Lots of issues here, and I begin by acknowledging the fierce debate surrounding the proper interpretation of the "warning passages" in Hebrews. For our purposes, let's focus on Hebrews 10:26, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left." Context here is all-important. The whole idea of "deliberate" sin doesn't involve things like saying a swear word or skipping church or being in a bad mood or missing an appointment. Hebrews 10:26 envisions something much more serious-a deliberate, premeditated rejection of Christ. Here's a relevant example. We know how hard it is for a Muslim to give up Islam and become a Christ-follower. Such a person faces ostracism, opposition, ridicule, and maybe even death. But suppose that a Muslim becomes a Christ-follower and not only follows Jesus but begins to grow, to learn, to deepen his faith. Suppose he joins a Christian church, endures the opposition, faces the ridicule, knows that his family despises him but continues to grow in grace. Let's further suppose that he becomes a pastor and preaches the Word of God. But one day he begins to have doubts. One day he begins to think, "Maybe I was wrong about Jesus." One day the price seems too high for him. So he starts to read and think and lets his mind wander. And the mosque starts looking good to him. Maybe he misses the daily calls to prayer. Maybe he misses his family. Maybe he is just tired of the pressure. So he gives in, gives up his pastorate, leaves the church, "de-converts" and returns to Islam and makes a big show of it. You might call such a person a Prodigal Son in reverse. That sort of thing does happen from time to time.

Hebrews 10 is not talking about normal Christian growth and the struggles we all face. In my judgment it's not talking about what we call "backsliding" into sin. It's about renouncing Christ after knowing him and following him and then decisively turning your back on him. When Hebrews 10:26 says "no sacrifice for sins is left," it means "If you reject Christ after claiming to know him, there is no place else for you to go." If you turn your back on Jesus, going back to the synagogue (the situation faced by the first-century readers of Hebrews) or the mosque (as in my example) will not help you. If Jesus isn't enough for you, then nothing your old life offers will satisfy and there is no other way your sins can be forgiven.

The heart is not like Play-Doh that you can continually shape any way you like. Play-Doh hardens eventually. If a person openly and decisively turns away from the Christian faith he once professed, the heart hardens and for that person in that situation, there really is no other hope. Now you and I may say, "But God can soften that clay again." Yes, but that's not on the writer's mind at this point. He doesn't bring that up because he wants the warning to stand by itself. He wants the wavering believer to know what it is at stake.

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.

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