Not Our Own

Big Changes

2010-07-11T22:49:00.003-04:00

It's official...

My blog has moved. For a whole host of reasons, it made sense to change the address of the blog. If you would like to continue reading this blog, you'll want to mosey on over to http://notourown2.blogspot.com/

You'll see a lot of the same things, some new things, and some different things. The layout is not finalized yet, so please excuse the mess until the renovations are complete. I hope you like it.

Oh yeah, and if you subscribe to this blog or have some sort of RSS feed set up, you can easily set that up again at the new location.

Cheers.

He is with us

2010-06-11T06:01:00.000-04:00

"God’s people have no assurances that the dark experiences of life will be held at bay, much less that God will provide some sort of running commentary on the meaning of each day’s allotment of confusion, boredom, pain, or achievement. It is no great matter where we are, provided we see that the Lord has placed us there, and that He is with us." - John Newton

Great Cost

2010-06-10T15:34:00.002-04:00

"The kingdom of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it."

D.A. Carson, Matthew, EBC, pg. 328

The World Cup

2010-06-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

Kevin DeYoung posted this video to his blog on Monday. It's classic!

Have I mentioned on here recently that I'm looking forward to the World Cup starting in a few days?

Joy!

2010-06-08T20:58:00.002-04:00

Packing to move to another country is busy... something had to give. I decided it would be the blog. I stumbled across this extended quote from John Piper on joy, and I think you might find it helpful!

What the Bible Says About Joy:

1. Jesus’ aim in all He taught was the joy of His people (Jn. 15:11).
2. Joy is what God fills us with when we trust in Christ (Rom. 15:13).
3. The kingdom of God is joy (Rom. 14:17).
4. Joy is the fruit of God’s Spirit within us (Gal. 5:22).
5. Joy is the aim of everything the apostles did and wrote (2 Cor. 1:24).
6. Becoming a Christian is finding a joy that makes you willing to forsake everything (Mat. 13:44).
7. Joy is nourished and sustained by the word of God in the Bible (Ps. 19:8).
8. Joy will overtake all sorrow for those who trust Christ (Ps. 126:5; 30:5)
9. God Himself is our joy (Ps. 43:4; 16:11).
10. Joy in God outstrips all earthly joy (Ps. 4:7)
11. If your joy is in God, no one can take your joy from you (Jn. 16:22).
12. God calls all nations and peoples to join in the joy He offers to all who believe. No racism. No ethnocentrism (Ps. 67:4; Ps. 66:1).
13. The whole Christian message from beginning to end is good news of great joy (Lk. 2:10; Isa. 51:11).
14. When we meet Christ at His second coming we will enter into his indestructible joy (Mt. 25:23).

Desiring God - Sermon Title: "Quest: Joy! Found: Christ!"

Drinking Tea

2010-06-02T05:01:00.000-04:00

Since we're moving to England in a few weeks, I figured I had better brush up on the types of tea cups/mugs that are out there. Thankfully, Nathan W. Bingham did the leg work for me on his blog and pointed out this amusing breakdown of available mug options...

Click here to see the mugs that are out there.

I think all my Star Wars friends out there would like this mug from the "Dark Side."

Sons of Korah

2010-06-01T10:00:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, I was introduced to the band Sons of Korah. Their idea is old and yet new (this is generally a great combination!). They take the Psalms and set them to modern music. I haven't heard much, but I like what I've heard so far. You can check out Sons of Korah with me by clicking here and here.

HT: Nicholas T. Batzig

Radical

2010-06-01T06:15:00.000-04:00

It's June 1st, and in a few days I hope to be a seminary graduate. Please be praying for our family's transition to the UK. I've mentioned it on this blog before, but in a few short weeks time I will begin serving as the assistant minister at Eythorne Baptist Church.

In other news I've been reading Radical by David Platt, and finding it a mixed bag. In some ways it is convicting, challenging, and edifying. In other ways it not quite as helpful. I appreciate very much Kevin DeYoung's review of the book. As usual, Kevin is balanced, loving, and well-articulated. You can find Kevin's review here.

Here is one of the challenging quotes from the book.

"In this book I want to show you that, with the best of intentions, we have actually turned away from Jesus. We have in many areas blindly and unknowingly embraced values and ideas that are common in our culture but are antithetical to the gospel he taught. Here we stand amid an American dream dominated by self-advancement, self-esteem, and self-sufficiency, by individualism, materialism, and universalism. Yet I want to show you our desperate need to revisit the words of Jesus, to listen to them, to believe them, and to obey them. We need to return with urgency to a biblical gospel, because the cost of not doing so is great for our lives, our families, our churches, and the world around us" (pg. 19).

By the way, I got this copy of Radical as a free gift from Multnomah Books because I attended Band of Bloggers. Thanks Multnomah!

Think.

2010-05-31T20:15:00.002-04:00

Lord willing, I don't plan to be in the US in October, but this does sound like a VERY helpful conference.

As a side note, if it seems like the blog has been a lot of short punches and videos the last few weeks, you would be right. I just today turned in my last MDiv assignment. Praise the Lord! I aim to get back to regular blogging quite soon...

Monday Video

2010-05-31T05:01:00.001-04:00

This is hilarious and educational. Be careful, you may lose a million dollars!

Happy Memorial Day!

HT: Z

Whatever it Takes

2010-05-27T05:01:00.000-04:00

As I am finishing up my last seminary assignment, I think this video is quite appropriate on multiple levels...

Can you believe I posted two hip hop songs in one week? Honestly, I can't believe it myself!

HT: Thabiti

Raising Purity Review

2010-05-26T02:11:00.001-04:00

Awhile back I was mailed a complementary copy of Gerald Hiestand's new book Raising Purity: Helping Parents Understand the Bible's Perspective on Sex, Dating, and Relationships. I was asked to write a brief review and post it to my blog. Below is my brief (probably too brief!) review of the book. I'd love to respond to this important book in greater detail, but for now this review will have to suffice. I hope it's helpful for you!

---------------------------

As parents of 3 young children, the issue of training our children is ever before my wife and I, and our hope is that we are training them to love Christ, love His church, and love others. As our children have gotten older, we’ve found that the training “curriculum” has diversified. One issue that has come increasingly before us is how to train our children to glorify God in the area of sexual purity. To this end, Gerald Hiestand’s book Raising Purity is a welcome edition. This book is theologically meaty and practically helpful. I am better equipped to help my children honor God with their bodies after reading this book. As a case in point, chapters 3-6 are veritable gold mine of Biblical theology, pastoral wisdom, and practical help. The Biblical distinctions Hiestand draws between categories of relationships (our family, our neighbors, and our spouse) were helpful towards thinking about the place of sexual expression in a “dating” relationship. Sexual expression is Biblically forbidden with one's family and with one's neighbors, but it is commanded with our spouses. Why would be assume there is any place for sexual expression with our “neighbor?” We must be careful not to let “dating” become a relational category. Hiestand describes it this way: “Herein lies a potential for great danger, for when we invent our own categories of male/female relationships, we are focused to invent our own purity guidelines within those categories” (pg. 46). He’s right. To rightly understand the Biblical categories for relationships clarifies “pretty dramatically and gives an objective answer to the question ‘How far is too far?’” (pg. 48). This kind of helpful teaching runs rampant in this book, and it worth the time to read it. I do, though, have a few concerns over Hiestand’s theological underpinnings. He continually describes sex as a “picture of the gospel,” and I understand what he is getting at. Sexual intercourse between a husband and a wife is a picture of the intimate relationship Christ has with His church. Sex pictures our union with Christ that is absolutely essential to our justification. But our union with Christ is not the gospel; it is an implication of the gospel – an effect of the gospel. This may seem like theological semantics, but it is an important distinction. We want to proclaim the gospel (what Christ has accomplished - 1 Cor 15:3ff) to ourselves, our children, and to our neighbors. We want to then glory in the union we have with Christ as a result of the Spirit bringing us to repentance and faith in Christ upon hearing the gospel. It is this union that sex so gloriously pictures. The point is: sex doesn't picture the gospel because it doesn't cover the bases of God, man, sin, and Christ. BUT this does not change the teaching point Hiestand is making. We must elevate our view of sex as something sacred and gloriously significant.

The reader ought to be aware of these subtleties, and glean from this book the wealth of valuable teaching it puts forth. On the whole though (the above differences aside), I highly recommend this book, and we plan to use the Biblical principles Hiestand so clearly teaches as we seek to train our children to honor God with their bodies.

Kinda Big

2010-05-25T06:01:00.001-04:00

There's kind of a big football (soccer) tournament beginning in a little under three weeks... are you ready?

It should be a lot of fun. Especially England v. US on June 12th. Who am I going to support?

Update: As as side note, I agree with Tim Challies' assessment of this advertisement. You can find it here.

Golimar! Monday!

2010-05-24T06:15:00.000-04:00

This Monday morning video must include a shout out to my seminary brother... Jeremy Oliver. For better or worse, he sent this to me. Enjoy or get sick! You choose!

It's like Thriller but ALOT worse!

Shai Linne

2010-05-21T09:22:00.004-04:00

Hip hop isn't usually my first choice musical style, but I REALLY like Shai Linne. I definitely like this kind of hip hop. Listen how he explains (rightly I believe) this thorny theological issue...

If you like Shai's music, you can hear more of it here.

HT: Nathan W. Bingham

Backwards and Forwards Living

2010-05-21T06:01:00.001-04:00

"Thus, we are people who constantly look backward and forward as we live our stories in the present. The Bible shows us that we cannot live as mere "present tense" Christians. Our present moments are framed by God's past acts of redemption and by the glorious future he has planned" (1 Cor 2:9-10).

Michael Emlet, CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet, pg. 60.

3 days

2010-05-20T06:01:00.000-04:00

Together for the Gospel was a powerful 3 days. I praise the Lord for the opportunity to go, and the gracious wife who lovingly sent me!

T4G2010 - O Great God from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

What is the Bible about?

2010-05-19T10:02:00.003-04:00

"Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done. Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but (as you'll soon find out) most of the people in the Bible aren't heroes at all. They make some big mistakes (sometimes on purpose). They get afraid and run away. At times they are downright mean."

Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible, pg. 14-15

Two More Weeks of Seminary

2010-05-17T05:01:00.000-04:00

Every Monday morning deserves a good video...

This video is dedicated to my fellow intern here at Faith - Sacha Mendes.

He has encouraged all of us (more times than we can count) to "Don't Stop Believing." I don't think I'll be able to hear this song ever again without thinking of Sacha. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Radical

2010-05-16T13:40:00.002-04:00

I received a copy of this book at Band of Bloggers. I was already challenged by the video about the book. I look forward to reading the book!

RADICAL from David Platt on Vimeo.

Greatness

2010-05-15T10:22:00.001-04:00

"Consequently, if we try to make ourselves great, then we are actually reflecting our own egos in a greater and greater way. Wanting to reflect an idol of ourselves and to make ourselves appear greater leads to being made small because of judgment. But desiring to expand the glory of the true God and acknowledging his greatness by mirroring that glory and reflecting it back upon him leads to sharing in God's greatness and glory. Thus he is seen as the unique, massive, great One who inhabits the center of the entire created order."

G.K. Beale, We Become What We Worship, pg. 297.

What is Doctrine?

2010-05-14T09:51:00.000-04:00

"Doctrine can never take the place of Jesus himself, but we can't know him and relate to him in the right way without doctrine. This is because doctrine tells us not only what God has done but also what his actions mean to us... 'These two elements are always combined in the Christian message,' [J. Gresham] Machen continues. 'The narration of the facts is history; the narration of the facts with the meaning of the facts is doctrine. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried - that is history. He loved me and gave himself for me - this is doctrine.' Doctrine is the meaning of the story God is writing in the world. It's the explanation of what he's done and why he's done it and why it matters to you and me."

Joshua Harris, Dug Down Deep, pg. 31.

The Will of God

2010-05-13T09:28:00.004-04:00

"Most movements that spring up from the fertile soils of Christendom appeal, in one way or another, to the will of God. Few probe the will of God very deeply. God is for evangelism; therefore he is for the way we are proposing to do evangelism, and we invoke his will to sanction our methods. God is love; therefore he is against church discipline except in the most egregious cases (which either never arise, or, if they do, by the time they do they too are covered by the love of God), and we invoke God's will to sanction our determined niceness. God wants his people to be separate and holy; therefore we must withdraw into huddled isolationism and lob hateful barbs against all who disagree with us, and we invoke God's will to authorize our tearless harshness and ruthless condescension. These wretched pits are terribly easy to fall into. All it takes is resolution, and no more real interest in the will of God than what we need to sanction our preferences."

D.A. Carson, For the Love of God, Vol. 2, August 14.

Plumb its depths

2010-05-12T20:00:00.000-04:00

“To speak of Christ’s love as ‘surpassing knowledge’ means that it is so great that one can never know it fully. We can never plumb its depths or comprehend its magnitude. No matter how much we know of the love of Christ, how fully we enter into His love for us, there is always more to know and experience.

And the implication, in the light of the following words, is that we cannot be as spiritually mature as we should be unless we are empowered by God to grasp the limitless dimensions of the love of Christ.”

–Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 264.

HT: Tolle Lege

Quotes, quotes and more quotes

2010-05-11T08:31:00.003-04:00

Over the next three weeks, I am going to be working like crazy to finish my MDiv and finish out our support raising in preparations for our family's transition to England. During this time, be on the lookout for quotes on this blog of things I've been reading or have read recently. My hope is that these quotes will be an encouragement and a help to you. I plan to get back to regular posting in a few weeks.

Our quote today comes from Joshua Harris' helpful new book entitled Dug Down Deep.

"All the imagery God uses about salvation is designed to assure us how real his love for us is, how comprehensive his restoration of us is. So when we feel overwhelmed by guilt, God uses the legal language of the court and tells us that through Christ we're justified, declared completely righteous before Him (Romans 5:8-9). When we feel enslaved and unworthy, he uses the language of the marketplace and tells us that he has bought us, ransomed us from sin (1 Peter 1:18-19).

And God uses the language of adoption to encourage us in the hard, ongoing work of learning to obey and follow Jesus as we wait for his return. God doesn't just point back to his love in forgiving us and redeeming us in the past. He uses the language of the family to say, 'I love you right now. You have a relationship with me that isn't changed by your performance. I am your dad. You are my son. You are my daughter. Nothing can change that. I love you. I am always your Father.'"

2 for the Price of 1

2010-05-10T10:00:00.003-04:00

Here's two Monday videos to get your week off to a good start...

Do you speak English?

Where's Rob? (This video is absolutely hilarious! - click the link below)

Find the video here.

I apologize in advance for brief bit of profanity in the second video.

Historic Biblical Counseling Coalition Summit

2010-05-07T10:31:00.003-04:00

Reading the post below was tremendously encouraging! These are exciting days in the Biblical counseling world...

A Report on the Historic Biblical Counseling Coalition Summit

A Personal Note

2010-05-07T06:01:00.000-04:00

I realize I don't put a lot of personal info on this blog, but I can't help but pass this along. As many of you know, my family will be transitioning to England this summer as I have been invited to serve as the assistant minister at Eythorne Baptist Church in Kent. It seems like there are a million interlocking pieces to the puzzle that God in His sovereign providence is bringing about. It is fun to see God show Himself to be our faithful provider - for our good and His glory.

It was especially fun yesterday afternoon to get an E-mail in my inbox that opened with the following line...

"Your application has been approved and the visa has been issued."

Praise the Lord.

Champions League

2010-05-06T21:49:00.002-04:00

This is a beautiful highlight of last night's Spurs/Man City Match.

Come on you Spurs!

Faithful Plodders

2010-05-06T14:09:00.002-04:00

I stumbled across this great quote on the Reformation 21 blog today.

It's originally from a Tabletalk article by Kevin DeYoung.

"My generation in particular is prone to radicalism without followthrough. We have dreams of changing the world, and the world should take notice accordingly. But we've not proved faithful in much of anything yet. We haven't held a steady job or raised godly kids or done our time in VBS or, in some cases, even moved off the parental dole. We want global change and expect a few more dollars to the ONE campaign or Habitat for Humanity chapter to just about wrap things up. What the church and the world needs, we imagine, is for us to be another Bono -- Christian, but more spiritual than religious and more into social justice than the church. As great as it is that Bono is using his fame for some noble purpose, I just don't believe that the happy future of the church, or the world for that matter, rests on our ability to raise up a million more Bonos (as at least one author suggests). With all due respect, what's harder: to be an idolized rock star who travels around the world touting good causes and chiding governments for their lack of foreign aid, or to be a line worker at GM with four kids and a mortgage, who tithes to his church, sings in the choir every week, serves on the school board, and supports a Christian relief agency and a few missionaries from his disposable income?"

HT: Justin Taylor

The Heidelberg & the 10 Commandments

2010-05-06T06:01:00.000-04:00

Many Christians wonder how the 10 commandments apply to them. That's a big question, and we aren't really going to address it right here right now. We do though want to think (with the Heidelberg) about a related question. The question we're pondering is: "Why would God give Israel the 10 commandments, if He knew they couldn't (and wouldn't) obey them?" Is God just a ogre, giving His creatures more heavy loads than they can carry?

The Heidelberg Catechism wrestles with these questions in Question # 115.

Q115: Why [assuming no one can keep the ten commandments], then does God so strictly enjoin upon us the ten commandments, since in this life no one can keep them?

A. First, that throughout our life we may more and more become aware of our sinful nature, and therefore seek more eagerly the forgiveness of sins and righteousness in Christ. Second, that we may be zealous for good deeds and constantly pray to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit, that He may more and more renew us after God's image, until after this life we reach the goal of perfection.

Why does God require His children to obey the 10 commandments... that we may know of our sinfulness. It wouldn't be a bad habit to everyday read the 10 commandments and meditate on how far we fall short of God's perfect standard. We were created display His glory in our lives, and the 10 commandments show us how we "fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). We need the 10 commandments (and all of God's law) to show us our rebellion. Why does God require His children to obey the 10 commandments... that they may run to Him for forgiveness in Christ AND righteousness in Christ. The 10 commandments remind us that we can never match up to God's standard. We are never going to be righteous enough. We need an "alien" righteousness. We need a righteous substitute to take the wrath of God we deserve and in whom/through whom we too can be righteous (1 Cor 5:21). The 10 commandments point us to Jesus Christ - the perfect substitute. Lastly the 10 commandments drive us to beg God for the grace needed to pursue holiness. Christians ought to seek daily to be more conformed to the image of Christ. The 10 commandments give us a good summary of what Christlikeness looks like. Jesus always worshiped God alone. Jesus never worshiped idols. Jesus never took God's name in vain, etc. The commandments should cause the Christian to fervently pray for more grace, and then encourage the Christian to work hard to put off old habits of thinking and acting and put on new. The commandments remind us that we are to be "zealous for good works" (Titus 3:14).

Come on you Spurs

2010-05-05T14:47:00.004-04:00

In 15 minutes the match of the season begins between Spurs and Manchester City. This match will like decide who will play in the Champions League next season. I don't think I need tell you which side I support. Come on you Spurs!

In case you're wondering, I don't actually get to watch the game. Homework beckons!

Evangelism Linebacker

2010-05-05T09:04:00.002-04:00

One word: Wow.

Quote of the video: "When I see selfishness, it's my job to blow them up!"

HT: Sacha

Favorite Hymns vol. 1

2010-05-05T06:01:00.000-04:00

Every once and awhile, I'm going to try to put up here some of our family's favorite hymns. If you've ever talked with me about music for corporate worship, you know of my love for hymns (don't worry, I like modern songs too... some of them.). BUT I really like hymns! And I like to sing the Psalms, but that is an issue for another post. Hymns just seem to have a depth of theological truth to them that is missing from many of our more modern songs for corporate worship. I hope these hymns encourage and challenge you. Track down the music, sing them in your church, sing them at home with your family, sing them as you drive to work, read them as a help to your devotions, sing them in the shower! Whatever! I trust they will be helpful for you.

One of our family's favorite hymns is "God Moves in a Mysterious Way" written by William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"). You can see his picture above. This song is a wonderful testimony to God's sovereign care of His children. He is sovereign over all things in our lives, even when we don't see it or feel like it. Cowper expresses this well.

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

If you have a few minutes, read up on Cowper's personal history. The challenging circumstances he faced add another layer of personal interest to this hymn. Cowper battled much of his life with depressive tendencies, doubt, and fear. God used a close friendship with pastor John Newton (the writer of "Amazing Grace") as a real encouragement to Cowper.

The Church is "Otherworldly"

2010-05-04T06:01:00.002-04:00

We continue again this week with some reflections on God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams by David Wells. If you missed our first post (somewhat of an introduction last week), click here.

In chapter 3, Wells goes to great lengths to think through and describe worldliness. He offers a definition that is both Biblical and practical. Amidst this discussion of worldliness and its impact on the church, Wells said the following...

"There is a clear line, then, between those who belong to Christ and those who do not, a line separating two very different ways of viewing self and world. If we stay with John, we can easily see how sharply he differentiates these two spiritual realms. Those who belong to the church have been born of God (1 John 3:1-3); those who belong to the world have not (1 John 4:4-6). The church belongs to Christ (1 John 3:7-10); the world belongs to Satan (1 John 5:19), its 'prince' (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). All that is of Christ endures forever; all that is of the world is transient, fading (1 John 2:17), and under God's judgment (1 John 4:17). Love for God, therefore, is utterly incompatible with the love of the world (1 John 2:15). Thus there is a profound sense in which the church as to be 'otherworldly.' It carries within itself a discernibly different view of life from what passes as normal and normative in society." (pg. 40-41).

This quote got be thinking a few things...
1) This sounds a lot like a talk I heard given at Together for the Gospel by Thabiti Anyabwile a few weeks back. I can't recommend this talk fervently enough. Watch the video below or track down the audio.

T4G 2010 -- Session 4 -- Thabiti Anyabwile from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

2) I agree with Wells. The church (individually and collectively) should look different than the world - not in an uppity ("better than you") kind of way, but in a humble ("we want to be imitators of God" - Eph 5:1) kind of way. This gets me asking myself questions. Let's think about our lives and our churches for a minute... do our lives look different than our unsaved neighbors? Does our church body look different than the knitting or sky-diving club in our town. If so, how? Are they different in: our love for one another in the church, our desires, our use of our money, our use of our free time, our parenting, our sex, our work ethic, our aims in life, our (fill in the blank)? The answer is yes on all fronts. We must be careful to guard our hearts against worldliness. Wells is arguing that our churches can very easily become worldly in practice and in priorities. We must guard our churches against the poison of worldliness, and this starts by guarding our own lives.

100 posts

2010-05-03T06:15:00.001-04:00

[By the way, this is my 100th post since beginning this blog. I've had a lot of fun, and it's been quite helpful for me. I hope it has been for you. Melbourne!]

Monday Video

2010-05-03T06:01:00.003-04:00

Apparently, Melbourne (properly pronounced mell-behrn) is the place to be! I'll let you watch the video below and make the determination for yourself.

... it's where you feel aliiiiive!

Holding 4th

2010-05-02T22:45:00.002-04:00

Spurs pulled out the win yesterday against Bolton. This holds them in 4th place in the league. If you're just joining us, being in the top 4 in the league is a BIG deal. The top 4 play in the Champions League (the competition for the best club team in Europe) next year. Spurs are 1 point up on Manchester City (the 5th place team), and the teams play at Man City on Wednesday night.

Watch Spurs beat Bolton below.

You won't see many goals as pretty as Tom Huddlestone's against Bolton.

The Heidelberg and an Important Question

2010-04-30T11:21:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite questions from the Heidelberg Catechism is Question 60. Here's how it goes...

Q60: How are you righteous before God?

A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Although my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all God's commandments, have never kept any of them, and am still inclined to all evil, yet God, without any merit of my own, out of mere grace, imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ. He grants these to me as if I had never had nor committed any sin, and as if I myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me, if only I accept this gift with a believing heart.

I believe question 60 of the Heidelberg to be one of the most important questions we can ever ask. Let's make it more personal, "How can I be righteous before God?" In order to have a right relationship with a perfectly righteous God you HAVE to be perfectly righteous. Anything but perfect righteousness justly results in hell. Therefore, since "no one is righteous, not even one" (Rom 3:10-12), we are all doomed to eternal torment. Point being, the stakes are pretty high regarding this question of righteousness.

I ask the question again: "How can I be righteous before God?"

Have you ever thought about the fact that the forgiveness of sins on its own is incomplete? We must have our sins forgiven, and we also must be righteous before God. Praise God, our gracious God has made a way for us to have our sins forgiven and for us to be righteous... in Jesus Christ.

Read the answer to Question 60 (above) one more time. Very tenderly and Biblically the writers of the catechism explain how we can stand righteous before God. All of His righteousness can be ours in so far as we are united to Him by faith. We are justified because of a righteousness that is not our own.

I like the pastoral way Kevin DeYoung discusses the answer to this question in his book The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism. He says, "There is nothing we contribute to our salvation except sin, no merit we bring but Christ's and nothing necessary for justification except for faith alone" (pg. 117). He is right on target, and he goes on to warn us a bit more. DeYoung says, "Finally, with all this talk about the necessity of faith, the Catechism explains that faith is only an instrumental cause of our salvation. In other words, faith is not what God finds acceptable in us. In fact, strictly speaking, faith itself does not justify... It is the object of our faith that matters... Believe in Christ with all your heart, but don't put your faith in faith. Your experience of trusting Christ will ebb and flow. So be sure to rest in Jesus Christ and not your faith in Him. He alone is the one who died for our sakes and was raised for our justification. Believe this, and you too will be saved." (pg. 117)

Amen and amen.

Together for the Gospel Finale

2010-04-28T21:27:00.005-04:00

Two weeks ago today, I was at the second day of the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY. It was a fantastic two and a half days of discussing the gospel, listening to the gospel, preaching the gospel, singing the gospel, and meditating on the gospel. And I feel like we just scratched the surface... The Apostle John seems to have felt the same way, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25). Such is the good news about the Savior!

Last week, I posted some of my favorite quotes from the conference, if you missed that, you can find it here. Instead of talking about which session was my favorite, I just want to mention a few take-aways from the conference. I want to answer the question: "What themes/concepts most helped me?" Here are just a few:

1) Were it not for the imputed righteousness of Christ to my account, I'd have no hope. I'd be doomed to hell. This is my justification - as I am in Jesus, Jesus' righteousness by the grace of God is mine. I praise God for the glorious truth of 2 Corinthians 5:21 - “God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” John Piper at T4G put it this way, "By trusting Christ alone, we are united to him. And because we are “in him,” what he is counts for us, his righteousness, his morality, his devoutness. (See Philippians 3:9; Romans 3:28; 4:4-6; 5:18-19; 10:3-4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Galatians 2:16)." Praise God for the imputed righteousness of Christ! T4G helped me to think upon this glorious truth, revel in it, and think about its hopeful implications for my life.
2) We ought to love our local churches. I left T4G thankful for T4G and thankful for conferences in general, but I left T4G excited to get back to my local church. I am so thankful for the body of believers that God has placed me in. We're imperfect (I'm a part of the church!), but God is being glorified in our imperfect church because His people are gathering to worship His name, to live their lives caring for and encouraging one another, and to share the good news of Christ with our friends and neighbors together. We are living lives "that don't make sense" in order to display the character of God.
3) Jesus is building His church around the world. I saw Matthew 16:18 ("I will build my church") in part at T4G. I saw a glimpse, in the brothers gathered, of the global church. A couple times during the singing portions of the conference, I would stop and just look around. I probably seemed weird to the brothers sitting around me, but, for me, it was a moment of praising the Savior by reflecting on heaven and the endless "worship service" that will go on there. 7,000 redeemed voices raised was a glorious thing, but I can't even begin to imagine the glory and honor that will be directed towards the Savior on that day. I can't wait! Until then, Jesus is building His church, drawing men and women unto Himself as a display of His glory in this sin-cursed world. It's a treat to, by God's grace, be a small part of this work.

Now, I would not be giving the whole T4G story if I failed to mention the books I was given. Praise God for these guys' desire to serve pastors (and seminarians like me!). I left with 33 free books between T4G and the Band of Bloggers pre-conference. On his blog, Justin Taylor lists out all the books given away at T4G. You can find that here.

Here's a pic of all the books given away at T4G...

And the books given away at Band of Bloggers (they are listed here)...

I'm looking forward to working my way through these books in the coming months.

All in all, I praise God for T4G. It was a tremendously encouraging and profitable 2.5 days!

God in the Wasteland

2010-04-27T06:01:00.001-04:00

A few weeks back I started reading through David Wells' God in the Wasteland. God in the Wasteland is the 2nd book in a series of 4 books that thoughtfully and carefully think through the relationship between the church and the larger culture. Back around Christmastime I finished the masterful first book in the series - No Place for Truth: Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? If I get a chance, I'll go back and summarize some of Wells' arguments from the first book. But over the next few weeks I'll be passing along helpful snippets from God in the Wasteland.

Wells speaks much about the detrimental shift in the wider Evangelical church in the last few decades away from theology - he argues as the church has gotten way too comfortable with modernistic philosophy both in theory and in practice. Some of these ideas will be clarified as we work through some helpful quotes in the next few weeks, but for now think through the quote below with me...

"One of many fresh studies [referring to a study conducted a few years back in the one of the larger Presbyterian denominations], it suggests that the best predictor of whether baby boomers will stay in the church or leave is the relative presence of orthodox belief. Among the subjects of the study, those who believed in the uniqueness of Christ's salvation were almost invariably in the church, and those who did not had dropped out. Furthermore, the study found that the presence of Christian orthodoxy alone was sufficient 'to impell people to commit their time and other resources to a distinctively Christian regime of witness and obedience in the company of other believers'" (pg. 22-23).

Think about this for a minute with me. One of the best predictors of whether someone will stay in church or not is whether that church collectively knows, teaches, and lives in light of historic, Biblical beliefs. Let's phrase this another way, churches that make the gospel clear and call their people to live lives obedient to God's Word don't have to stress about church growth. Wells goes on to point out that where the gospel (by which I mean the entirety of the historic Christian faith) is clear, people are willing to radically commit their time and resources to sharing the gospel and seeking to become more like Christ. Now, you may be saying, what in the world does this have to do with me? I'm glad you asked. Here are some practical tips:

1) Make sure you are reading God's Word daily. You need to discipline yourself (even when you don't feel like it) to grow in your knowledge of God and His gospel by reading His Word. God is building His church in and through your life as you participate actively in your local church. Spending regular time in God's Word is a must.
2) You need to talk about the gospel and its implications with others in your church family. When you are at church do you talk about theology and how it should impact how you live? Do you have people in your church who ask you tough questions about your growth in holiness? Do you ask others about their growth in holiness? Do you encourage the practice of corrective church discipline in your church? We must be intentional about Gospel-centered relationships in our churches. It is loving to tenderly confront sin in one anothers' lives. We can be so blind to our sin. We need help from one another as we seek to grow in godliness.
3) Do you spend time in your homes talking with your spouse, your children, your roommates, etc. talking about the gospel? If you don't know where to start, pick up a copy of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology, and let it guide your discussion. Or go to the Two Ways to Live website, and let each section guide your discussion. Talk about these truths, sing about these truths, and then pray together about these truths... together.

You could add a hundred more things to this list...

The point is that at the center of the historic Christian faith are beliefs about who God is, who we are, and what God has done and will do. We need to think/discuss these things, and then offer our lives up to our gracious God as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1). We don't need to fret over church growth strategies. We need to keep Biblical doctrine and Biblical living at the center.

Monday Morning Video

2010-04-26T06:00:00.000-04:00

This is a movie chase scene at its very best. Jason Bourne has nothing on this guy. Watch and be... mesmerized. It's almost too unbelievable to be true.

I couldn't help myself

2010-04-23T21:53:00.003-04:00

Kevin DeYoung postd this to his blog a few weeks back, and I couldn't help but post it here as well. Just for the record: I love Apple. In fact, I'm writing this post from a Mac (just in case you might question my loyalties).

7 miles

2010-04-23T21:47:00.002-04:00

I've been away from the blog for a few days, as I have been taking care of matters a bit more important than a blog. I plan to ramp it back up soon, but in the meantime, here is a sermon jam by Matt Chandler.

HT: Tim Challies

My, how times have changed...

2010-04-19T08:41:00.002-04:00

Here's your Monday morning video for this week:

Apparently, doctors used to be pretty particular about their cigarettes!

HT: Ray Ortlund

Spurs beat Chelsea

2010-04-18T22:48:00.002-04:00

Let's just say, it is a great WEEK to be a Spurs supporter. This is only the third time Spurs beat Chelsea in 40 or so previous games. Incredible. Come on you Spurs!

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea
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T4G wrap up

2010-04-16T15:02:00.005-04:00

It was a real privilege to attend Together for the Gospel the last 3 days. There is much I could say about the conference - it was a tremendous encouragement to hear great teaching, sing our Savior's praise with 7,000 other brothers, spend extended time with a group of guys from our church, and get 32 free books (between the conference and Band of Bloggers pre-conference). Praise the Lord for the opportunity and a wife gracious enough to carry the load at home and send me to Louisville.

I'll probably be offering a few more thoughts on the conference in the coming days, but for now, here are a few quotes that stood out from the various teaching segments. Enjoy!

Mark Dever
"The Christian life is personal but it is certainly not private!"
"The church is a group of people who leverage our lives to 'not make sense.' In order to display the character of God... the church is called to display evangelism."

R.C. Sproul
"We go to great lengths to improve the gospel... to say, 'God can give you purpose for you life' is not the gospel!"
"The Gospel has definite content: Who Jesus is and what He has done."
"Don't improve the Gospel, it's not your Gospel, it's God's! A synthetic gospel is no Gospel."

Al Mohler
"We believe that God spoke words through rotten-toothed desert tribesman... and we're going to preach it! Hear now the Word of the Lord!"
"Eventually our postmodern critics will run out of doctrines to deny."

Thabiti Anyabwile
"There's not one square inch of all of creation where Christ doesn't say, 'Mine!'"
"There's an antithesis between the Gospel and the world. We try to manipulate/change the world, but it manipulates back. Secular does not equal safe."
"The church is multi-ethnic but not multi-cultural. We have one culture, and it is none of our native cultures."

John MacArthur
"We often think we have to overcome the sinner's resistance, but the wonder of the Gospel is that you sow the seed, you go to bed, and it grows!"
"When I preach, I never preach to the will or the emotions. I preach to the mind - I want them to understand the truth."

John Piper
"No matter how righteous you are, or how moral you are, or how religious you are, or whether God has produced all that in you or you have produced that in yourself, do not trust in anything that is in you, or that you do, as the basis of your justification before God... Trust in Christ—his blood and righteousness—as the sole basis of your justification."
"Never forget that all your good attitudes, all your good intentions, and all your good works will serve at the judgment not as the ground of your acceptance, but only as the public fruit and evidence and confirmation that you were indeed born again, and that you did have faith, and that you were united to Christ, who is your sole justifying righteousness."
"Give Christ all his glory in the work of salvation, not just half of it. Half is the work of pardoning sin by becoming our wrath-absorbing punishment. But the other half is the work of providing our perfection by fulfilling everything that God required of us, and then imputing it to us. Don’t rob the Lord of half his glory in bringing you to God. Christ is our pardon. Christ is our perfection."

Ligon Duncan
"The fathers help us to understand how to read the Bible... they help us to read the Bible better. But they aren't our infallible guides - scripture is."
"Heresies caused the fathers to get it right. When they have to fight, they get it right."

C.J. Mahaney
"Never assume those in your church has exhausted their need for the gospel, their obedience to the gospel, and their growth in understanding the story."
"The pastor doesn't get his message from his people, but he does get his message with his people."
"When faith for your people is replaced with frustration with your people, you are in trouble."
"When one godly older pastor was asked what his goals were for the next year, he replied by saying, 'I'm going to keep on doing the same thing I've been doing for the last 15 years.'"

North London Derby

2010-04-15T23:00:00.003-04:00

The implications of last night's North London Derby are fantastic...
Arsenal is out of contention for the Premier League title.

AND

Spurs are still in the hunt for the 4th Champions League spot.

Have I mentioned that it's a great day to be a Spurs supporter?

Spurs beat Arsenal

2010-04-15T22:40:00.002-04:00

If Sunday was a tough day to be a Spurs supporter, today couldn't get any better! It'd be hard to find a better or more meaningful goal than Danny Rose's goal in the 10th minute. Enjoy!

Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal
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Spurs defeated arch-rival Arsenal for the first time in the Premier League since 1999. It's a good day to be a Spurs supporter.

Together for the Gospel

2010-04-15T05:58:00.000-04:00

If all has gone as planned, I am attending the last day of the Together for the Gospel conference today. Here's a great video slideshow from T4G back in 2008.

And here's the promo video for this year's T4G. Enjoy!

I hope to give updates on this year's T4G ASAP.

DeYoung (& the Heidelberg) on Particular Redemption

2010-04-14T05:59:00.000-04:00

A few weeks back, Kevin DeYoung had this great post on a portion of the Heidelberg Catechism. It's actually a snippet from his newly released book - The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism. This post fits nicely in our on-going discussion of the Heidelberg Catechism.

The topic of particular redemption can be a sticky (and divisive!) one for many. DeYoung's thoughts are balanced and helpful. I, for one, agree with him. The post is below.

-------------------------------------

The doctrine of particular redemption is worth talking about because it gets to the heart of the gospel. Should we say “Christ died so that sinners might come to him”? Or, “Christ died for sinners”? There’s a big difference. Did Christ’s work on the cross make it possible for sinners to come to God? Or did Christ’s work on the cross actually reconcile sinners to God? In other words, does the death of Jesus Christ make us save-able or does it make us saved? If the atonement is not particularly and only for the sheep, then either we have universalism–Christ died in everyone’s place and therefore everyone is saved–or we have something less than full substitution. If Jesus died for every person on the planet then we no longer mean that he died in place of sinners, taking upon himself our shame, our sins, and our rebellion so that we have the death of death in the death of Christ. Rather, we mean that when Jesus died he made it possible to come to him if we will do our part and come to him. But this is only half a gospel. Certainly, we need to come to Christ in faith. But faith is not the last work that finally makes us saved. Faith is trusting that Jesus has in fact died in our place and bore the curse for us—effectually, particularly, and perfectly.

Reformed people talk of “limited” atonement not because they have an interest in limiting power of the cross, but in order to safeguard the central affirmation of the gospel that Christ is a Redeemer who really redeems. “We are often told that we limit the atonement of Christ,” Spurgeon observed, “because we say that Christ has not made a satisfaction for all men, or all men would be saved.” But, Spurgeon argues, it is the view of the atonement which says no one in particular was saved at the cross that actually limits Christ’s death. “We say Christ so died that he infallibly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ’s death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved.”

I belabor this point not to belittle Arminian brothers and sisters, but to give Jesus Christ his full glory. Christ does not come to us merely saying, “I’ve done my part. I laid down my life for everyone because I have saving love for everyone in the whole world. Now, if you would only believe and come to me I can save you.” Instead he says to us, “I was pierced for your transgressions. I was crushed for your iniquities (Isa. 53:5). I have purchased with my blood men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev. 5:9). I myself bore your sins in my body on the tree, so that you might infallibly die to sins and assuredly live for righteousness. For my wounds did not merely make healing available. They healed you (1 Peter 2:24).”

“Amazing love!” a great Arminian once wrote. “How can it be that you, my Lord, should die for me?!” Praise be to our Good Shepherd who didn’t just make our salvation possible, but sustained the anger of God in body and soul, shouldered the curse, and laid down his life for the sheep.

[By the way, if all has gone according to plan, I'm at T4G right now, and I got DeYoung's book for free at Band of Bloggers. Status report to follow.]

Owen on the Holy Spirit

2010-04-13T06:03:00.002-04:00

I just finished reading John Owen's Communion with God. For a couple my previous posts on Communion with God, click here, here, here, and here. Oh yeah, here and here too! For a whole host of reasons it was a tremendously helpful book, but one reason sticks out particularly. In this work, Owen walks through what it looks like to commune with each of the three persons of the Godhead. What does it look like to have fellowship with the Father, fellowship with the Son, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit? Owen has a great discussion on this very topic, and I profited from it greatly.

Here's a snippet of his discussion on the Saints' fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

"'Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you' (John 16:7). So the Lord Christ would have us know this great truth, that the presence of the Holy Spirit with believers as Comforter and helper, sent by him as promised, is better and more profitable to believers than his bodily presence can ever be, now that he has made the one sacrifice for sin which he came into the world to offer." (pg. 168-169).

Have you ever thought about this? At the present moment, having the Holy Spirit dwell in believers is better and more profitable for believers than having the resurrected Lord Jesus here in person. Meditate on that for a minute. Sometimes we struggle to believe this, and we think (wrongly), if Jesus were just here in person, "things" would be better. Certainly, "things" would be better if Jesus were here in person! (And I eagerly anticipate His bodily return in glory!) BUT at the present time, having the indwelling Holy Spirit to bring to mind the words and promises of Christ (John 14:26), to glorify Christ (John 16:4), to pour the love of God in our hearts (Rom 5:5), to bear witness with our spirits that we are children of God (Rom 8:16), and to seal us (Eph 1:13, 4:30) is exactly what we need. Amen.

[By the way, right now I'm on my way to T4G.]

Practice Take 2

2010-04-12T06:03:00.000-04:00

Monday mornings are always a good time for a funny video. A couple of Mondays ago, I posted Allen Iverson's infamous "practice" press conference. If you've not seen that one yet, you need to click here. After you've done that, you are ready to enjoy the video below!

Name that Church Building

2010-04-11T21:37:00.003-04:00

I forgot to mention, whoever can name that church building below *may* win a prize. I'll narrow it down for you... it's somewhere in the British Isles, and the name of it rhymes with "Myles." Happy Googling!

Divine Mercies

2010-04-09T09:32:00.002-04:00

If you've never read, Valley of Vision: a Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, you may want to give it a look. I know I've recommended it on here before.

Here's a sampling of one of my favorite portions called "Divine Mercies." Do your soul a favor and read it slowly...

"I thank thee for personal mercies,
measure of health, preservation of body,
comforts of house and home, sufficiency of food and clothing,
continuance of mental powers,
my family, their mutual help and support,
the delights of domestic harmony and peace,
the seats now filled that might have been vacant,
my country, church, Bible, faith.
But, O, how I mourn my sin, ingratitude, vileness,
the days that add to my guilt,
the scenes that witness my offending tongue;
All things in heaven, earth, around, within, without, condemn me -
the sun which sees my misdeeds,
the darkness which is light to thee,
the cruel accuser who justly charges me,
the good angels who have been provoked to leave me,
the countenance which scans my secret sins,
thy righteous law, thy holy Word,
my sin-soiled conscience, my private and public life, my neighbors, myself-
all write dark things against me.

I deny them not, frame no excuses, but confess, 'Father, I have sinned.'
Yet still I live, and fly repenting to thy outstretched arms;
thou wilt not cast me off, for Jesus brings me near,
thou wilt not condemn me, for he died in my stead,
thou wilt not mark my mountains of sin, for he levelled all,
and his beauty covers my deformities.
O my God, I bid farewell to sin by clinging to his cross,
hiding in his wounds, and sheltering in his side."

Yes, it is ALL just that good! I find these prayers help me to pray better. I trust they will be a help to you as well.

It is not Death to Die

2010-04-08T06:01:00.000-04:00

This may sound like a strange question, but do you think regularly about your death? I'd argue it's a good thing to regularly think about your death, and as you do so it's helpful to think about why Christ died. Christ's death puts the death of a Christian into right perspective. Let's think, together with John Owen, about why Christ died...

"Why did Christ die? He died because the law demanded the death of a sinner, and Christ was the surety for sinners. How, then, are we delivered from death? We are delivered from death as punishment. We must still die, but now death is the last battle with the effects of sin, and it is the way to the Father's personal presence." Communion with God, pg. 122

Death for a Christian isn't punishment. Christ already took about that punishment on the cross - he died the death of a sinner that the law demanded. Death for a Christian is life (Phil 1:21-22). We still must die, but our death is nothing more than an ushering into the presence of Almighty God. It is not death to die. It's life.

Together for Worship

2010-04-07T06:01:00.000-04:00

One week from today I'll be at the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, KY. I echo the thoughts of other bloggers looking ahead to the conference. I'm looking forward to the fellowship, the preaching, the books, and the fun. BUT more than anything, I'm looking forward the sweet times of corporately worshipping of our savior with 7,000 other brothers.

Heidelberg Catechism Part 3

2010-04-06T06:01:00.000-04:00

This is our third look at the the Heidelberg Catechism as we work our way through the great creeds and catechisms of the faith. To read posts 1 and 2 click here and here.

Questions 26 and 27 of the Heidelberg Catechism are splendid meditations on the sovereignty of God. I'll post them in full, then we'll think about them briefly.

Q 26 What do you believe when you say: I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?

A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them, and who still upholds and governs them by His eternal counsel and providence, is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God and my Father. In Him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul, and will also turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this life of sorrow. He is able to do so as almighty God,and willing also as a faithful Father.

Q 27 What do you understand by the providence of God?

A. God's providence is His almighty and ever present power, whereby, as with His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things, come not by chance but by His fatherly hand.

The first portion of the Heidelberg Catechism is essentially a discussion of the Apostle's Creed, but it's not just a theological discussion for the sake of theological discussion. It's goal is right theological thinking for the purpose of comfort for the reader. What comforting thoughts question 26 articulates! The creator God of the universe not only made all things but holds all things together. Everything is governed by His good hand. The assumption is that God will send adversity our way, and He is able and willing to turn all adversity to our good. He will faithfully provide for all of our needs. We can trust Him.

Question 27 clarifies question 26. When we speak of providence, what do we mean? When we speak of God's providence we speak of the fact that nothing happens by chance. Everything comes from the loving hand of our heavenly father.

Do you ever struggle to believe this? I do. We must train our thinking - As D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say, "We must talk to ourselves and not listen to ourselves." We can rely on the fact that God is good, and everything he brings our way will work together for our good - even the "bad." Psalm 46 has helped me to train my thinking in the last week amidst the craziness of finishing seminary and preparing to take our next ministry steps.

Solving the World's Problems...

2010-04-05T08:26:00.002-04:00

... one hand at a time.

For more information on how to purchase a pair of handerpants, click here.

HT: Mike McKinley

Hell's Gloomiest Day

2010-04-04T05:01:00.001-04:00

"Imagine, for a moment, the reaction of Hell to the death of Christ. Jesus was bound with the bands of death. What celebration and joy! God was defeated! Vengeance was the Devil’s. But they reckoned without the wisdom of God. For Christ could not be held down by the bands of death. In fact through death He was paralyzing the one who had the power of death, and He was setting His people free (Heb. 2:14-15). What seemed to be defeat was actually victory. The Resurrection morning was Hell’s gloomiest day. Satan saw the wisdom of God and tasted defeat."

- Sinclair Ferguson, Heart for God, pg. 75

Christ's Portfolio is Sufficiently Complete

2010-04-03T18:12:00.000-04:00

"Christ is our attorney and His portfolio is His propitiation. He stands before His Father in heaven, and every time we sin, He doesn't make a new propitiation. He doesn't die again and again. Instead He opens his portfolio and lays the exhibits of Good Friday on the bench before the Judge. Photographs of the crown of thorns, the lashing, the mocking soldiers, the agonies of the cross, and the final cry of victory: It is finished."

- John Piper

Love Lustres at Calvary

2010-04-03T06:01:00.000-04:00

Jesus expired that we might live for ever...

"Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy, cast off that I might be brought in, trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend, surrendered to hell's worst that I might attain heaven's best, stripped that I might be clothed, wounded that I might be healed, athirst that I might drink, tormented that I might be comforted, made a shame that I might inherit glory, entered darkness that I might have eternal light. My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes, groaned that I might have endless song, endured all pain that I might have unfading health, bore a thorned crown that I might have a glory-diadem, bowed his head that I might uplift mine, experienced reproach that I might receive welcome, closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness, expired that I might for ever live."

The Valley of Vision, "Love Lustres at Calvary," pg. 42

The Curse

2010-04-02T15:55:00.000-04:00

HT: Z

Jesus Our Substitute

2010-04-02T10:11:00.002-04:00

Good Friday is a day where God's infinite wrath and God's infinite mercy are on full dispay. Praise God we have a sufficient substitute!

"In Gods case, if He had said in the infinite sovereignty of His absolute will, 'I will have no substitute, but each man shall suffer for himself, he who sinneth shall die,' none could have murmured. It was grace, and only grace which led the divine mind to say, 'I will accept of a substitute. There shall be a vicarious suffering; and My vengeance shall be content, and My mercy shall be gratified.'” - C.H. Spurgeon

Public Confession of Sin

2010-04-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

I recently finished the Westminster Directory of Public Worship. Essentially, it's "how to" book for worship services in the Puritan era. It was a tremendously helpful little book for a pastor-in-training. As you can probably guess from this blog, I think history (although not the final authority) should have an impact on how we, as a church, do what we do. The Bible is the final rule of faith and practice, and history can help us understand "historically" where there have been weaknesses and strengths. In short, we can learn from the past.

A part of the directory that really stood out in my mind was the Westminster divines' admonition to put great attention to the specifics of our corporate prayers in the worship service. Particularly, they advocate for a robust public confession of sin in the weekly corporate worship service. Here's how they say it,

"After reading of the word, (and singing of the psalm,) the minister who is to preach, is to endeavour to get his own and his hearers hearts to be rightly affected with their sins, that they may all mourn in sense thereof before the Lord, and hunger and thirst after the grace of God in Jesus Christ, by proceeding to a more full confession of sin, with shame and holy confusion of face, and to call upon the Lord to this effect..."

They then offer a pattern public confession that is both deep and wide. This portion of the directory really got me thinking. Do I daily confess sin as I should? Not to mention, do I lead the people I shepherd into corporate confession of sin? Especially today, on Good Friday, we would be served well to think long and hard about the sin in our own hearts that drove Christ to the cross.

Puritan William Bridge describes our sin this way, "For if the guilt of sin be so great that nothing can satisfy it but the blood of Jesus; and the filth of sin be so great that nothing can fetch out the stain thereof but the blood of Jesus, how great, how heinous, how sinful must the evil of sin be!"

Band of Bloggers

2010-04-01T16:15:00.002-04:00

I'm excited to be attending the Band of Bloggers pre-conference at Together for the Gospel. Read more about Band of Bloggers here.

Suffering Well...

2010-04-01T06:00:00.001-04:00

I really appreciated this MSNBC article from a few weeks ago on Pastor Matt Chandler.

Do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to read it.

I pray that I suffer well in this life, and train others in my life (my family and our church) to do the same. Matt Chandler appears to be suffering well.

Here's a snippet of the article below...

--------------------------

Chandler never thought such a trial would shake his faith. But until now, that was just hope in the abstract.

"This has not surprised God," Chandler says on the drive home. "He is not in a panic right now trying to figure out what to do with me or this disease. Those things have been warm blankets, man."

Chandler has, however, wrestled with the tension between belief in an all-powerful God and what he, as a mere mortal, can do about his situation. He believes he has responsibilities: to use his brain, to take advantage of technology, to walk in faith and hope, to pray for healing and then "see what God wants to do."

"Knowing that if God is outside time and I am inside time, that puts some severe limitations on my ability to crack all the codes," he says. "The more I've studied, the more I go, 'Yes, God is sovereign, and he does ask us to pray ... and he does change his mind.' How all that will work is in some aspects a mystery."

When I am Afraid

2010-04-01T05:00:00.000-04:00

"When I am afraid of evils to come, comfort me by showing me that in myself I am a dying, condemned wretch, but in Christ I am reconciled and live; that in myself I find insufficiency and no rest, but in Christ there is satisfaction and peace; that in myself I am feeble and unable to do good, but in Christ I have ability to do all things."

Valley of Vision, "Contentment," pg. 163

There are no "Accidents"

2010-03-31T20:00:00.000-04:00

You can look at providence through the lens of human autonomy and our idolatrous notions of freedom and see a mean God moving tsunamis and kings like chess pieces in some kind of perverse divine playtime.

Or you can look at providence through the lens of Scripture and see a loving God counting the hairs on our heads and directing the sparrows in the sky so that we might live life unafraid. “What else can we wish for ourselves,” Calvin wrote, ” if not even one hair can fall from our head without his will?”

There are no accidents in your life. Every economic downturn, every phone call in the middle of the night, every oncology report has been sent to us from the God who sees all things, plans all things, and loves us more than we know.

Whether it means the end of suffering or the extension of suffering, God in his providence is for us and not against us.

- Kevin DeYoung, The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism

HT: Trevin Wax

Heidelberg Catechism Part 2

2010-03-31T09:05:00.003-04:00

So far we've taken a few short looks at the Heidelberg Catechism. You can find those previous posts here and here. Our first post was an introduction to the catechism; while the second post was a look at the very first question. If you've never read or seen the catechism before, you can find a complete copy of it here.

If you're wondering where exactly Heidelberg is, here's a handy dandy Google map of Germany with Heidelberg marked appropriately.

View Larger Map

Today, we take brief look at the last question of the catechism and meditate on it just a bit.

Q129: What is the meaning of the word Amen?

A: Amen means: So shall it truly and surely be. For my prayer is much more certainly heard of God than I feel in my heart that I desire these things of him.

As the catechism wraps up, the writers walk through the various petitions of the model prayer from Matthew 6 explaining each petition as they go. And at the end they explain the meaning of "amen." "So shall it truly and surely be." This part sounds familiar to us, but the explanation may not be quite as familiar. To say "amen" is to acknowledge that God certainly has heard our prayers. His hearing of our prayers is certain, more certain than even our desires expressed in prayer. God hears our prayers, and He will accomplish His good ends, regardless of our fickleness of heart.

So often, I leave my time in prayer not "feeling" any different. I didn't get an emotional experience or the passion just wasn't there during my time in prayer. Did I really want what I asked for? I wonder: does God's response to my prayers change if my prayers are "lame?" The Heidelberg helps me think this through... no, thankfully, God hears our prayers, and His hearing is more certain than whether we really desire what we asked for. Notice where the emphasis is in this explanation. Prayer is about our sovereign and good God. In prayer we acknowledge our utter dependence upon God (because we aren't sure if we really want what we ask for), and we ask for more resources in the advancement of the kingdom (Mt. 6). Certainly, even when our prayers feel "flat" and we're not sure we really want what we're asking for, God hears them and will accomplish His ends.

Is this what we mean when we say "amen?"

Parting

2010-03-30T14:41:00.004-04:00

Great thoughts from Owen as we approach Easter this Sunday.

"For a man to part with his glory, his riches, his life, his sense of the love of God in order to suffer loss, shame, wrath, being cursed and even death for another is clear evidence that he greatly values that person for whom he is willing to undergo such suffering. But that is exactly what Christ did for his saints... All that Christ parted with, all that he did, all that he suffered were all done because he loved and valued his saints. Christ so values his saints that he will never even lose one of them (John 17:11; 10:28-29).

Saints, on the other hand, rejoice to part with all things for Christ and his sake, that they might enjoy him for ever. But one thing saints will never do and that is part with Christ."

John Owen, Communion with God, pg. 109-111.

Mundee Morning

2010-03-28T21:51:00.002-04:00

Well, I've been a little busy and a bit under the weather, so the blog has taken a back seat. But we're back on this week, and we'll start this week off with both the funny and the exciting.

Our first video is a classic sports press conference. Can you count the "practice's?"

Secondly, we take a look at Tottenham Hotspur's victory over Portsmouth on Saturday. Spurs appear to be the favorite to finish 4th in the premiership.

Tottenham Hotspur v Portsmouth
Uploaded by brandacier. - More professional, college and classic sports videos.

Pray for hard times?

2010-03-24T21:20:00.003-04:00

Should we pray that God would make our lives hard? Should we ask Him to bring afflictions our way? Is it a good thing to have cancer, to have people mistreat you, and your plans for life not work out like you want them to? I'm beginning to think so, as hard as it is to say that. Robert Murray McCheyne has helped my thinking here.

"Your afflictions may only prove that you are more immediately under the Father's hand. There is no time that the patient is such an object of tender interest to the surgeon, as when he is bleeding beneath his knife. So you may be sure if you are suffering from the hand of a reconciled God, that His eye is all the more bent on you."

Then he says in another place...

"[Affliction is sometimes] sent for the conversion of the soul. Sometimes in health the Word does not touch the heart. The world is all. Its gaieties, its pleasures, its admiration, captivate your mind. God sometimes draws you aside into a sickbed, and shows you the sin of your heart, the vanity of worldly pleasures and drives the soul to seek a sure resting-place for eternity in Christ. O happy sickness that draws the soul to Jesus (Job 33, Psalm 107)!"

Sell out (not that kind)

2010-03-24T21:07:00.003-04:00

Well, Together for the Gospel has officially sold out. It looks to be a wonderful couple of days spent reading about, thinking about, and talking about the Gospel. I'm looking forward to the fun and fellowship the 6 guys from our church will have together while we are there! If you haven't heard of T4G before, this video serves as a great intro to the conference.

Have I mentioned yet that I really like the bookstore at T4G as well?

The Saints' Delight in Christ

2010-03-23T23:58:00.002-04:00

A Puritan meditation on Christ at its best. Do yourself a favor, read this slowly...

"Christ is their delight, their crown, their rejoicing, their life, food, health, strength, desire, righteousness, salvation and blessedness. Without Christ they have nothing. In Christ they shall find all things. Christ has, from the foundation of the world, been the hope, expectation, desire and delight of all believers."

- John Owen, Communion with God, pg. 104.

Boiler Up

2010-03-21T22:09:00.001-04:00

It was a good sports weekend all around in the Franklin household. Boiler Up!

Big Win for Spurs

2010-03-21T21:49:00.002-04:00

There's no doubt this was a big win for Spurs. They have cleared a 4 point gap between themselves and the next closest teams. The fight for the last Champions League spot is growing fierce.

Watch the highlight below -

Stoke City v Tottenham Hotspur
Uploaded by ishmail10. - Discover the latest sports and extreme videos.

2 Beautiful Goals.

A Day Off

2010-03-20T21:42:00.004-04:00

Taking a day off with your family is always a good thing. I did that yesterday. Taking a day off with your family to visit the Childrens' Museum of Indianapolis is a very good thing. I think my kids could go there everyday. We did that yesterday. Spending 3 hours with 3 young boys in the Bob the Builder "Project: Build It" section of the museum was absolutely priceless.

What's not priceless is the parenting advice the Childrens' Museum passes along to its patrons. I thought my boys liked sand because it's fun (and dirty!).

The Pew Prayer

2010-03-20T21:33:00.002-04:00

This may be a little late to be helpful for you as you head to church tomorrow, but I'd recommend you read it this week, meditate on it a bit, and prepare yourself for corporate worship next week. It's a helpful article called "The Prayer of the Pew."

Find the article here.

Here's one testimonial from the article to whet your whistle...
"The ‘Pew Prayer’ was a significant turning point in my understanding of what church is all about. It changed my reasons for going to church. The shift was made from being the ‘helpee’ to the helper, the served to the servant. Church is where we seek spiritual food and encouragement in order to become more godly; but church is also where we go in order to feed other people and encourage them. In God's mercy, we become more Christ-like in the process, as like him we deny ourselves for the sake of others. But our purpose in gathering with God's people is to strengthen them and build the body of Christ. We look for opportunities to assist the growth of the church in practical ways... There are numerous ways in which we can carry out the ministry of the pew."

Heidelberg?

2010-03-18T10:35:00.000-04:00

If you've never read the Heidelberg Catechism, you should. It is a delightful record of the historic Christian faith. You can read it here. As a bonus, below is a sweet picture of Ursinus, one of the church fathers who helped write the catechism. I don't care what you say, that's a sweet beard.

As we discussed a few weeks back, we're going to be taking regular looks at the great creeds and catechisms of the church. These documents have stood through history as great teachers of theology. They do not stand authoritatively over the Bible (just as the Systematic Theologies of today don't!), but the historic creeds and catechisms have served the church by teaching sound doctrine for a long time. Also, in an age of short-lived emphases and "new-fangled" ministry ideas, these creeds and catechisms help us remember what has been important to the church historically. History isn't everything (and certainly it isn't always right!), but it does help us keep perspective in our ever-changing world.

What is a catechism you might well ask? Well, a catechism is nothing more than a teaching document. It's a way of teaching truth by way of question. So, catechisms all kind of look the same. They have questions, and then they have answers.

Today we'll just take a quick look at the first question of the catechism...

Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.

Meditate on this question & answer for just a minute... There is so much truth packed into such a short statement. What really is our only comfort? Think about all the other things we could take comfort in? When it comes down to it, those things are really no comfort at all. Our only comfort is that we truly are "not our own." We've been purchased by another, and we belong to Him. Jesus preserves Christians, and brings about their salvation. My assurance is not in anything I have done or will do, but it's in what Jesus has done. Amen. Praise be to God.

Rest... one more time.

2010-03-18T09:36:00.002-04:00

A few weeks back, we concluded a series on rest. Check out that series here: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8.

Today, I stumbled upon this great quote about rest from our friends over at J.C. Ryle Quotes.

"The rest that Christ gives is an inward and spiritual thing. It is rest of heart, rest of conscience, rest of mind, rest of affection, rest of will. It is rest, from a comfortable sense of sins being all forgiven and guilt all put away. It is rest, from a solid hope of good things to come, laid up beyond the reach of disease, death and the grave. It is rest, from the well-grounded feeling, that the great business of life is settled, its great end provided for, that in time all is well done, and in eternity heaven will be our home." - J.C. Ryle

Old Paths, “Christ’s Invitation”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1999], 368.

T4G

2010-03-17T11:41:00.002-04:00

In a little under 1 month, I plan to be joining 6,000 of my closest friends at the Together for the Gospel conference. To say that this conference 2 years ago was life and ministry changing would be an understatement. God has used these men and this conference to have a profound effect of my understanding of the gospel and my life in ministry. This video gives you a taste of what the conference is like.

If you want to listen to the full messages for yourself, click here.

Suffering is good?

2010-03-16T21:32:00.002-04:00

John Newton seems to think so, and I agree with Him.

"Faith upholds a Christian under all trials, by assuring him that every painful dispensation is under the direction of his Lord; that chastisements are a token of His love; that the season, measure, and continuance of his sufferings, are appointed by Infinite Wisdom, and designed to work for his everlasting good; and that grace and strength shall be afforded him, according to his need." - John Newton

Assurance

2010-03-16T09:03:00.002-04:00

John Owen summarizes well our assurance as Christians. Christians can say this confidently...
"So the soul can say, 'He has taken away the guilt of my sin by which I come short of the glory of God. The Word of God assures me that there is now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). So being in Christ Jesus by faith, none can lay anything to my charge or condemn me (Rom 8:33, 34). And as one who is in Christ by faith, conscience no longer condemns me for sin (Heb 10:2).' This wisdom is hidden in Christ alone. But it is not enough to say that we are not guilty. We must also be perfectly righteous. The law must be fulfilled by perfect obedience if we would enter into eternal life. And this is found only in Jesus (Rom 5:10)... This must be my righteousness if I would be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but the righteousness which is of God by faith (Phil 3:9)."

Amen.

John Owen, Communion with God, pg. 95-96

Monday, Monday

2010-03-15T15:29:00.002-04:00

Other ministry opportunities have kept me out of the blog world the last few days, but Monday is always a great day to get back at it. This is such a great video!

Discipleship Triage

2010-03-11T22:18:00.001-05:00

These are great thoughts from Deepak Reju at 9Marks...

Picking Fruit Off of a Tree by Deepak Reju
from 9Marks by Deepak Reju

One of the ideas I've learned on our staff is to be strategic about the men I disciple and invest in. One of our staff pastors has often talked about being deliberate in investing in low-hanging fruit---men who show a lot of potential, who demonstrate a teachable heart and desire to grow, and with a little investment will themselves be able to invest in others. These low-hanging fruit quickly become disciple-making disciples!

The nature of pastoral ministry is that you get all types of requests for help---bad marriages needing attention, wives struggling with depression, young men and women sorting through who to marry and what to do with their life, physical sickness and hospitalizations, etc. Pastors tend to spend most of their time investing in high-hanging fruit--those situations which take a lot of time, energy, prayer, love, and investment, and often reap very little fruit. Without trying, you'll get plenty of these situations come across your door.

Don't get me wrong---to be a pastor is to be a shepherd. A fundamental part of your job is to care for the sheep, both through their good and bad days. Yet, what often happens is that a pastor's schedule can get over-run with high-hanging fruit, and we rarely take the time to deliberately invest in the low-hanging fruit. We spend our days investing in that which reaps very little harvest, without spending any time picking the low-hanging fruit.

So, here's my question for pastors: How deliberate are you at investing in the low-hanging fruit?

Are there men in your congregation who are FAT (faithful, available, teachable) and with a little investment might also be reaping greater fruit for the kingdom? Are you strategically investing in men who might one day become elders and one day come alongside you to shepherd the flock? Look at your schedule and consider if you are always reacting defensively to the problems that arise in your church, or are you deliberately scheduling time with the members who seem to be low-hanging fruit?

Both parts of necessary for pastor ministry, and yet one (high-hanging fruit) tends to get much more attention in our schedule compared to the other (low-hanging fruit).

HT: 9Marks

Dever's Study

2010-03-10T10:20:00.003-05:00

Last week I put up the video of Al Mohler's study from T4G. This video of Mark Dever's study is equally entertaining and equally inciting of my book lust. Enjoy!

Mark Dever - Study Tour from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

If you've never listened to a sermon by Mark Dever before, here's a helpful one that I listened to a few weeks back.

In Christ we learn of God's justice

2010-03-09T12:29:00.002-05:00

"In the penalty inflicted on Christ for sin, God's justice is far more gloriously revealed than in any other way. To see a world made good and beautiful, wrapped up in wrath and curses, clothed with thorns and briers, made subject to vanity and in bondage to corruption; to hear it groan in pain under that burden; to consider legions of angels, the most glorious and immortal creatures, cast down into hell, bound with chains of darkness and kept for a more dreadful judgment, and that for one sin; to see the oceans of blood spilt on account of sin will give some insight into God's justice and righteousness. But what is all this to that which we see with the spiritual eye in the Lord Christ? All these examples of God's justice are but worms and of no value compared to God's justice in Christ.

To see Christ, the wisdom and power of God, always beloved of the Father, fear and tremble, bow and sweat, pray and die; to see him lifted up on the cross, the earth trembling beneath him as if unable to bear his weight; to see the heavens darkened over him as if shut against his cry and himself hanging between both as if refused by each; and to see that all this is because of our sins is to see clearly the holy justice and wrath of God against sin. Supremely in Christ do we learn this great truth that God hates sin and judges it with a dreadful and fearful judgment."

John Owen, Communion with God, pg. 82-82

What a thought! Only in Christ do we really understand the righteous and just judgment of God against sin. Scripture is filled with examples of God's justice against rebellious sinners, but those examples are just glimpses. In Jesus on the cross, we get a complete picture of God's just wrath against sin. Praise God! He bore the fullness of God's wrath in place of all those who would ever trust in Him. It reminds me of the words of one of our family's favorite hymns.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Amazing Love indeed!

"Meet the Puritans" Book Giveaway

2010-03-08T10:25:00.003-05:00

You could win a copy of the helpful book Meet the Puritans by Beeke & Pederson by entering the contest at Eric Kowalker's blog.

Muppet Monday

2010-03-08T08:13:00.002-05:00

There's no better way to start a Monday morning than with the Muppets.

Check them out here.

Heaven

2010-03-07T15:44:00.003-05:00

Tonight I get to preach briefly on Heaven from Revelation 21:1-4.

Here'a few quotes about heaven that I really like:

"If heaven were by merit, it would never be heaven to me, for if I were in it I should say, 'I am sure I am here by mistake; I am sure this is not my place; I have no claim to it.' But if it be of grace and not of works, then we may walk into heaven with boldness." - C.H. Spurgeon

"Every soul there [in heaven], is as a note in some concert of delightful music, that sweetly harmonises with every other note, and all together blend in the most rapturous strains in praising God and the Lamb forever." - Jonathan Edwards

"Oh, to think of heaven without Christ! It is the same thing as thinking of hell. Heaven without Christ! It is day without the sun, existing without life, feasting without food, seeing without light. It involves a contradiction in terms. Heaven without Christ! Absurd. It is the sea without water, the earth without its fields, the heavens without their stars. There cannot be a heaven without Christ. He is the sum total of bliss, the fountain from which heaven flows, the element of which heaven is composed. Christ is heaven and heaven is Christ." - C.H. Spurgeon

Rest for the Weary

2010-03-06T22:37:00.001-05:00

In light of the conclusion of our recently concluded series on rest, I really appreciate this brief video by David Powlison.

As a bonus, if you can recognize the tune that opens the video, you win today's prize. Any guesses?

HT: Deepak Reju at 9Marks

Love the deliverance, hate the deliverer?

2010-03-05T16:50:00.003-05:00

I came across this gem in Jonathan Edwards' sermon "The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners" awhile back:

"There is a great deal of difference between a willingness not to be damned, and a being willing to receive Christ for your Saviour. You have the former; there is no doubt of that: nobody supposes that you love misery so as to choose an eternity of it; and so doubtless you are willing to be saved from eternal misery. But that is a very different thing from being willing to come to Christ: persons very commonly mistake the one for the other, but they are two quite different things. You may love the deliverance, but hate the deliverer. You tell of a willingness; but consider what is the object of that willingness. It does not respect Christ; the way of salvation by him is not the object of it; but it is wholly terminated on your escape from misery. The inclination of your will goes no further than self, it never reaches Christ. You are willing not to be miserable; that is, you love yourself, and there your will and choice terminate. And it is but a vain pretence and delusion to say or think, that you are willing to accept Christ."

His point: We must love Christ, worship Christ, rely on Christ, and submit to Christ. We can talk of a desire to be saved all we want, but unless we are willing to truly repent - stopping living as king and submit to king Jesus, then we don't really want to be saved. To be saved means to treasure Jesus above all else. Challenging huh?

Every page of Edwards' two volumes has zingers just like this one.

When you come to your deathbed...

2010-03-04T14:18:00.001-05:00

“I charge you never to give up the old doctrine of the blood of Christ, the complete satisfaction which that atoning blood made for sin, and the impossibility of being saved except by that blood. Let nothing tempt you to believe that it is enough to look only at the example of Christ, or only to receive the sacrament which Christ commanded to be received, for which many nowadays worship like an idol.

When you come to your deathbed, you will want something more than an example and a sacrament. Take heed that you are found resting all your weight on Christ’s substitution for you on the cross, and His atoning blood, or it will be better if you had never been born.”

- J.C. Ryle, The Upper Room (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1970), 108.

HT: First Importance

Seminarian Heaven

2010-03-04T13:46:00.000-05:00

I like Al Mohler. I like books. Therefore, I like this video.

Al Mohler - Study Video from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

Uncool People Need Jesus Too

2010-03-04T13:28:00.005-05:00

This was a challenging and helpful post from Bill Streger via Justin Taylor. Check it out.

Uncool People Need Jesus Too

Through my work with the Acts 29 Network, I get the privilege of assessing a number of potential church planters each year. I also get to hear about dozens more from fellow pastors as well. When I guy comes in to get assessed, by the time he gets to the interview stage he’s already submitted a lot of paperwork. Resumes. Plans. Budgets. Demographic Analysis. Dental history. (Ok, just kidding on the last one).

And as I’ve looked at some amazing plans from church planters, I’ve started to notice a trend. They all sound the same.

It seems as the unique vision that God’s given so many church planters is almost identical. Phrases like “gospel-centered”, “missional”, and “cultural renewal” are littered throughout their proposals. It seems that the phrase “In the City. For the City.” or some variation of such has become church planting boilerplate.

Not only is the language the same, but so is the target group. It’s amazing how many young pastors feel that they are distinctly called to reach the upwardly-mobile, young, culture-shaping professionals and artists. Can we just be honest? Young, upper-middle-class urban professionals have become the new “Saddleback Sam”.

Seriously, this is literally the only group I see proposals for. I have yet to assess a church planter who wants to move to a declining, smaller city and reach out to blue collar factory workers, mechanics, or construction crews. Not one with an evangelsitic strategy to go after the 50-something administrative assistant who’s been working at the same low-paying insurance firm for three decades now.

Why is that? I can’t offer a definitive answer. It could be that God is legitimately calling an entire generation of young pastors to turn their focus to a small segment of the population that happens to look very much like they do.

Or it could be that we’re simply following in the footsteps of the church growth movement that we’ve loved to publically criticize while privately trying to emulate – we’ve just replaced Bill Hybels and Rick Warren with Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll.

Just thinking out loud…

Creeds & Catechisms

2010-03-03T16:00:00.005-05:00

For awhile now I have been growing in my love for the historic creeds and catechisms of the church. While they are not perfect (let alone inspired or inerrant), I think there is tremendous value in being aware of and wrestling with the creeds and catechisms written by the church fathers who have gone before us. At a bare minimum, many of the creeds and catechisms serve as wonderful and insightful teaching of the God's Word. Not to mention, the creeds and catechisms provide us with a wonderful historical tradition of theological faithfulness (e.g. it's cool to think that men 500 years ago held to same theological truths that we do today!). It's just one more evidence that Jesus is building His church, and in spite of cultural, technological, intellectual, philosophical, and scientific changes in the wider world, the church still stands as "the pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Tim 3:15).

So how have the creeds and catechisms impacted I and my family? I'm glad you asked! Personally, I've been reading through the catechisms (such as the Heidelberg) as seminary and ministry responsibilities allow. If you are keen to catechisms, you may have seen the influence the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism had on my blog bio. Then as a family we've been working through the Introduction to the Westminster Shorter Catechism with our 4 and 2 year old at mealtimes as time allows. There is something sweet about your children knowing and being able to recite back to you theological truth! It's especially fun when your answers the question: "Are there more Gods than one?" with "NO! There's only one God!" (exclamation marks and all caps are original).

So, what's the point? Here it is. Over the next few weeks, I am going to try to introduce you to some of the historic creeds and catechisms of the church. These introductions may come through a brief meditation on a snippet of a catechism or a longer section of a confession... We'll see! I don't agree theologically with everything in every one of them, but I believe it will profit you to be familiar with these creeds and catechisms. More than that, I think they can be a tremendous encouragement to your (and my) spiritual growth.

Today, we'll start off with a brief introduction to the Heidelberg Catechism from Kevin DeYoung. Kevin has a book coming out soon that discusses the helpfulness of the catechism. Below is a portion of a post from Kevin's blog. I believe Kevin to be spot on. Enjoy!

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The Good News We Almost Forgot
I’ve written before about how awkward it can feel to plug your own books. But I press on nonetheless, because you all are kind and I believe this book is important. My newest book, The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism will be available at the end of March. If the topic itself doesn’t thrill you, just look at the sweet picture of Ursinus. He’s part professor, part Santa Claus, part back-from-Davy-Jones’-Locker Pirate of the Caribbean.

Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of the Reformed confessional tradition in general and of the Heidelberg Catechism in particular. But even if you are not Reformed or have a “no creed but the Bible” aversion to catechisms and confessions I encourage you give the Heidelberg a try. It is better than you think.

And for those of you who grew up with the Catechism and would like to forget the experience, I assure you: the Heidelberg is better than you remember.

Here’s a few paragraphs from the opening couple pages.

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The only thing more difficult than finding the truth is not losing it. What starts out as new and precious becomes plain and old. What begins a thrilling discovery becomes a rote exercise. What provokes one generation to sacrifice and passion becomes in the next generation a cause for rebellion and apathy. Why is it that denominations and church movements almost always drift from their theological moorings? Why is it that people who grow up in the church are often less articulate about their faith than the new Christian who converted at forty-five? Why is it that those who grow up with creeds and confessions are usually the ones who hate them most?

Perhaps it’s because truth is like the tip of your nose—it’s hardest to see when it’s right in front of you.

No doubt, the church in the West has many new things to learn. But for the most part, everything we need to learn is what we’ve already forgotten. The chief theological task now facing the Western church is not to reinvent or to be relevant, but to remember. We must remember the old, old story. We must remember the faith once delivered to the saints. We must remember the truths that spark reformation, revival, and regeneration.

And because we want to remember all this, we must also remember—if we are fortunate enough to have ever heard of them in the first place—our creeds, confessions, and catechisms.

Your reaction to that last sentence probably falls in one of three categories. Some people, especially the young, believe it or not, will think, “Cool. Ancient faith. I’m into creeds and confessions.” Others will think, “Wait a minute, don’t Catholics have catechisms? Why do we need some manmade document to tell us what to think? I have no creed but the Bible, thank you very much. I thought catechisms were for Catholics.” And yet others—the hardest soil of all—want nothing more than to be done with all this catechism business. “Been there, done that. Bor-ing. I’ve seen people who knew their creeds backward and forward and didn’t make them missional, passionate, or even very nice.”

To all three groups I simply say, “Come and see.” Come and see what vintage faith is really all about. Come and see if the cool breeze from centuries gone by can awaken your lumbering faith. Come and see if your church was lame because of its confessions and catechisms or if your lame church made the confessions and catechisms lame all on its own. Whether you’ve grown up with confessions and catechisms or they sound like something from another spiritual planet, I say, “Come and see.”Come and see Christ in the unlikeliest of places—in a manger, in Nazareth, or even in Heidelberg.

HT: Kevin DeYoung

Comparing Jesus to other Beloveds

2010-03-02T13:34:00.003-05:00

So I've been working my way slowly through John Owen's Communion with God. In case you're really interested, I'm reading the abridged version put out by Banner of Truth. The full scale version can be found as a part of a collection of Owen's Works. In the Banner of Truth edition of Owen's works, Communion with God is found in Volume 2. If you have an extra $400.00 sitting around, I would go all out and buy the full 16 volume set (but that is just me!). If you're looking for another more accessible (digestible?) version of this book, I'd also recommend the abridgment that Justin Taylor and others put together. You can find that here.

This book is a goldmine. Owen clearly wrestles with God's Word in order to understand it, but he also has such keen sensitivity and Biblically-informed awareness of the human heart. I find myself being challenged, encouraged, and convicted on just about every page. I just finished the chapter discussing how believers hold communion with Jesus through grace, and the chapter closes like this:

"Let us then, receive Christ in all his excellencies and glories as he gives himself to us. Frequently think of him by faith, comparing him with other beloveds, such as sin, the world and legal righteousness. Then you will more and more prefer him above them all, and you will count them all as rubbish in comparison to him" (pg. 60).

Think about this with me. When was the last time you stopped and compared Jesus to everything else that clamors for your affections? If it's been awhile, stop and do it now. Compare Jesus to everything else you love, desire, enjoy, etc. Maybe you'll compare him to your favorite pastime, your spouse, your job, that thing that you want but just don't have. The more you make these kind of comparisons the more you will prefer him above everything else. The more we engage in comparing him to others, the more excellent he will appear to us, and the more like rubbish the rest of our "beloveds" will appear. It seems from Philippians 3:7-11, that this was the apostle Paul's regular practice.

Paul says, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

29 years

2010-03-01T15:40:00.001-05:00

29 years ago one of my heroes of the faith went home to be with the Lord.

Watch a great biographical sketch of D. Martyn Lloyd Jones below:

HT: Justin Taylor

Spurs 2 Everton 1 (barely).

2010-03-01T00:15:00.002-05:00

Spurs: sensational in the first half, hang on in the second.