Pure Church

I'm excited about the opportunity to sit under God's word and fellowship with His people in three upcoming conferences.

One joy and privilege the Lord has given me as a Christian and pastor is the opportunity to lead small groups. Right now, my wife and I have the honor of hosting a young marrieds small group of about seven couples from the church. It's been a rich blessing to gather with them twice a month, read good Christian books together, and encourage one another in our marriages.

Currently we're reading Paul Tripp's excellent book War of Words. I can't commend this searching and helpful book enough. Every meeting is a time of confession, repentance and gospel hope as we think about what it means to be ambassadors of Christ and to have our Lord determine our speech agenda.

Last night we consider a chapter on confrontation. It was good chapter from start to finish, as Tripp unpacked the challenge of our indwelling sin, an unbelieving heart, and the challenge of lovingly confronting others with the goal of helping people see and accept God's view of themselves. In the chapter, Tripp provided an a model of biblical confrontation using the word "Encourage" as an acrostic. It's long, but it's a helpful way to think through the sometimes unpleasant task of talking with others about difficult issues.

Examine your heart. Confrontation always begins with you. Because we all struggle with indwelling sin, we must begin with ourselves. We must be sure that we have dealt with our anger, impatience, self-righteousness, and bitterness. When we start with our own confession, we are in a much better place to lead another to confess.

Note your calling. Remember that confrontation is not based on your opinion of the person. You are there as an ambassador and your job is to faithfully represent the message of the King. In other words, your goal is to help people see and accept God's view of them.

Check your attitude. When you speak, are your words spoken in kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, forbearance, compassion, and love? Failure to do this will hinder God-honoring, change-producing confrontation. We need to examine both our message and our attitude as we speak.

Own your own faults. It is vital to enter moments of confrontation with a humble recognition of who we really are. As we admit our own need for the Lord's forgiveness, we are able to be patient and forgiving with the one to whom God has called us to minister.

Use words wisely. Effective communication demands preparation, particularly of our words. We need to ask God to help us use words that carry his message, not get in the way of it.

Reflect on Scripture. The content of confrontation is always the Bible. It guides what we say and how we say it. We should enter moments of confrontation with a specific understanding of what Scripture says about the issues at hand. This means more than citing proof texts; it means understanding how the themes, principles, perspectives, and commands of Scripture shape the way we think about the issues before us.

Always be prepared to listen. The best, most effective confrontation is interactive. We need to give the person an opportunity to talk, since we cannot look into his heart or read his mind. We need to welcome his questions and look for signs that he is seeing the things he needs to see. We need to listen for true confession and the commitment to specific acts of repentance. As we listen, we will learn where we are in the confrontation process.

Grant time for a response. We must give the Holy Spirit time to work. There is nothing in Scripture that promises that if we do our confrontation work well, the person will confess and repent in one sitting. Rather, the Bible teaches us that change is usually a process. We need to model the same patience God has granted us. This patience does not compromise God's work of change, but flows out of a commitment to it.

Encourage the person with the gospel. It is the awesome grace of God, his boundless love, and his ever-present help that give us a reason to turn from our sin. Scripture says that it is the kindness of God that leads people to repentance (Rom. 2:4). The truths of the gospel--both its challenge and its comfort--must color our confrontation.

This year's theme was "Spreading the Gospel," expositions from the Book of Acts. Audio is here. As is the case every year, the fellowship was rich and refreshing.

The conference talks included:

A Kingdom Mandate (Acts 1)
Thabiti Anyabwile

The...Holy Spirit (Acts 2)
Anthony Carter

Exclusivity of Jesus(Acts 4)
Hensworth Jonas

Purity in the Church (Acts 5)
Thabiti Anyabwile

...Church Planting (Acts 13)
Anthony Carter

The Blessings of Opposition (Acts 16:19-40)
Hensworth Jonas

This year, Sis. Evelina Thomas joined us and blessed us in song. Here's a sample, "There Is A Fountain Filled with Blood," a song that stunningly enough she had never sang before. Enjoy!



Next year's theme is "None Better Than Christ: The Supremacy of Christ in the Book of Hebrews". Carter, Jonas and myself will be returning, Lord willing, along with our dear brother Redditt Andrews, Pastor of Soaring Oaks Prebyterian Church in Elk Grove, California.

Don't miss next year! Make this one of the spiritual investments you make in your life and church!

And I feel just like he looks when she's gone.

Last Friday, the family and I set off for a two week vacation. We'll be spending the bulk of our time with my mom and family in N.C. We'll head up to the Chicago area for the New Life conference, which should be a fabulous time in the Book of Acts, but otherwise we're enjoying the hometown pace and people we love.

A friend sent this to me. It's written by a fellow named Skip Moen:

I believe that God is the sovereign ruler of all creation.

I believe that God is a God of order, not confusion or chaos.

I believe that God is compassionate beyond measure, faithful to a fault, merciful and forgiving.

I believe that I am lost and hopelessly ruined without His daily intervention and interaction in my life.

I believe that the systems of this world lie within the power of the evil one who unfailingly pursues the destruction of all of God’s creation, including me.

I believe that reliance on human effort, human thinking and human willpower aligns me with the systems of this world and places me within the power of the evil one.

I believe that my own experience confirms my total inability to rescue myself from destructive choices.

I believe that I am addicted to my own agendas, mood-altering behaviors and self-sufficiency.

I believe that Yeshua died on the cross to redeem me from the power of sin that would otherwise dominate and control my life.

I believe that Yeshua alone can set me free from this slavery to self and systems.

I believe that Yeshua calls me to a baptism of death in order to destroy self-sufficiency and system-addict thinking.

I believe that until I surrender completely to His will and lordship, I will falter in every attempt to live a life pleasing to God.

I believe that discipleship is the invitation to become a voluntary slave to the will of Yeshua and the plan of the Father.

I believe that God desires my devotion to Him above all else and He will tax the farthest star and the last grain of sand in order to help me express that devotion.

I believe that obedience is more valuable than knowledge.

I believe that the will of the Father is manifest in the midst of suffering, affliction and hardship because these are the principles of kingdom redemptive work.

I believe that God provides for His children, lifts them from affliction, grants them peace and joy and prepares them for purposes beyond this life.

I believe that God’s path of righteousness is clear to those who are led by the Spirit and trust in His Word found in Holy Scripture.

I believe that I must live by every word from the mouth of God, eschewing all temptations to rely on my own understanding, efforts and abilities.

I believe that I am called to emulate Yeshua, accept his path, identify with his suffering and experience the power of his resurrection.

I believe that God is trustworthy regardless of all my circumstances and that He will not fail to bring about what is best for me.

I believe that others should see Yeshua in the conduct of my life.

To this end, I declare today a commitment to act only under the direction of my Lord and God, leaving behind any consideration of the world’s measures of success and any attempts to determine my own agendas for life. I realize and acknowledge that this commitment will require my total dependence on moment-to-moment interaction with my Lord. Today and henceforth, I am a slave of Yeshua the Messiah.

Signed _____________________ Date ____________________

In pastoral ministry, you get exposed to a little bit of everything.

We learned yesterday that one of the students in our elementary school has been diagnosed with a case of H1N1 virus, otherwise known as swine flu. It's the first reported case in the Cayman Islands. We're taking all the precautions necessary, quarantine for some, closing the school, extensive disinfection of the classrooms and building, etc.

Things appear to be under control. The young man, who apparently contracted the virus while on a family trip to New York , is doing well and recovering at home with family.

It's been great to see how the health officials have responded with promptness and effectively. Now we pray, and ask you to join us in praying, that the flu does not spread but is contained.

I want to give thanks and praise to God for the many, many things He has allowed me to do in life and ministry. Giving thanks and praise should be a life-time long post unto itself, but here I just want to thank Him for the privilege of working with Reformation Heritage Books on their Profiles in Reformed Spirituality series. It was a joy to contribute a volume on the piety of Lemuel Haynes. The book is called May We Meet in the Heavenly World, and today only RHB is offering a 50% pre-publication discount on the volume.



John Saillant, author of what I think is the most significant Haynes biography to date, Black Puritan, Black Republican, offered a kind endorsement:

“This well chosen selection from Lemuel Haynes’s writings represents a significant part of the earliest African-American engagements with the Reformed theological tradition. In that tradition Haynes and his black contemporaries, both American and British, found a language of justice and inspiration that allowed them to criticize slavery and racial prejudice, and to offer a Christian vision of a free society. “May We Meet in the Heavenly World” can be recommended to students of Christian theology and of American history.”

My brother Tony Carter wrote the forward. Many thanks, bro, for your faithful labors and encouragement.

Apart from a short biography considering some shaping influences on Haynes' piety and thought, the remainder is Haynes himself. Every since I read that first sampling of Haynes' ordination and funeral sermons, which are included in The Faithful Preacher, I've been impacted by his consistent heavenly-mindedness and view of meeting Christ in the world to come. The promise of eternity seemed to inform everything he wrote. I want to live like that. And I pray May We Meet in the Heavenly World helps me and you live that way as well.

Many thanks to the entire RHB family, especially Jay Collier for his tireless editing and project managing labors, for the joy and privilege of working on this volume.

I love no one on earth more than my wife of nearly 20 years, Kristie, whose constant example and exhortation is "serve the Lord with gladness." Thank you, babe. I see you in my eyes.

And most of all, thanks be to God who saved us by the blood of His Son and prepares a place for us in the heavenly world. Psalm 73:25-26.

Kristie and continued our study of The Peacemaking Church Women's Study: Living the Gospel in Relationships with session 2 last night. This is the second in eight lessons, and it picks up where the first left off--with the gospel.

Specifically, Tara examines "The Gap between What I Believe and How I Live." I appreciated this study on many levels.

First, I love women's material that doesn't shy away from sound theological categories. I'm not a woman (surprise!), but I can identify with women like my wife who wearied to no end with the significant number of "women's books" and studies that aim to be "devotional" with no theological heart. The amount of sentimental, pietistic, touchy-feely stories masquerading as Bible teaching is just plain staggering. So, I'm thankful for material I can recommend to women, material that does not shy away from good biblical truth.

Second, I appreciated the particular theological categories introduced in this session. Session one began with the entire plan of redemptive history, from eternity past to eternity future. Session two introduced the categories of confessional theology and practical theology as a way of describing what we claim to believe (confessional) and what we actually practice (practical).

The main application Tara drew from these category distinctions is that our main sin is fundamentally unbelief. That's our continuing besetting sin: unbelief. So the Christian life is a life of constantly confessing, repenting, and trusting.

Third, I appreciated the meditation on Eph. 1:5, pointing out that God saves us because He is happy to do so. He does it for the pleasure of His own will. He is pleased to save, happy to save. How often do we--in our practical theology--think of the gospel and God's rescue as a 'plan B' or as something God grudgingly does to help folks who can't seem to get it right? Or, we think of God's gift of salvation as something He is forced to do because He is good, but we're left with the nagging suspicion that if He had his druthers, He'd leave us out. Tara's exploration of this wrong thinking which hinders so much of our living was really very helpful.

As was "The Cross Chart." I can't replicate it here (graphic design skills are too limited--non-existent actually). But, trust me, it was helpful. The longer we live the more aware of God's holiness and our sinfulness we become, the bigger does the cross loom in our view of life. Taking our eyes off sin and depravity and grace leads to legalism. Taking our eyes off of God's holiness and the cross leads to licentiousness.

Finally, Tara introduces the "already/not yet" of the Christian life and the truths of justification and sanctification. Really helpful practical application.

Perhaps the best measure of this session was the continuing discussion Kristie and I enjoyed. It's one thing to answer the study questions following the video, which we did. It's an entirely different thing to take up half our morning walk with more reflection on our hearts and lives following the video's teaching. Which we also did.

We've watched two sessions thus far, and thus far they've gone from strength to strength.

I'll close this post with a quote Tara included in the workbook and Hebrews 10:14 which figured prominently in the session.

"Are you too bad to receive grace? Grace woos and comforts us when we think we are too far gone to be rescued. How could you be too bad to receive what is for the bad?" --David Powlison

"By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." --Heb. 10:14

Last night, my wonderful bride of 18 years and I began watching and discussing Tara Barthel's study, The Peacemaking Church Women's Study: Living the Gospel in Relationships. I first mentioned this study here. And I've been looking forward to extending the number of gospel-centered resource materials available to the church.

The study includes eight sessions and draws upon the book Peacemaking Women: Biblical Hope for Resolving Conflict, co-authored by Tara Barthel and Judy Dabler.

Session 1: What It Means to Live the Gospel
Session 2: The Gap between What I Believe and How I Live
Session 3: My Real Problem Is...
Session 4: Real Hope for Lasting Change
Session 5: A Biblical Response to Conflict
Session 6: Repenting and Confronting
Session 7: Forgiveness and Mercy
Session 8: Relationships that Show the World Jesus

The hope for the study is expressed well on the back cover of one of the study booklets for the study. It's a resource aimed at all Christian women, but especially those who "are tired of women's studies that are either so shallow that they never dig deep into Scripture... or studies that give you so many rules and to-do's that you leave feeling weighed down...." The study aims to help women "see how the Gospel is your hope in all of life, particularly in your relationships."

True to the aim of the study, the first three sessions are all looks at the Gospel from various perspectives. Session 1 begins by thinking of the gospel as "the entire redemptive finished work of God" from eternity past to eternity future.

Barthel helpfully avoids diving into "practical applications" in order to focus on God's work in Christ. I loved this line: "Any false religion could give you a list of ten things to do." Instead, she calls us to "let our minds rest on the gospel." The first session includes rather transparent personal testimony from Tara which helpfully illustrates how wrong thinking about God's character and work leads to imprisoning legalistic attitudes. Understanding the doctrines of sin and grace in Christ set us free to enjoy meaningful relationships. "In general, we give grace to others to the extent we are daily experiencing grace ourselves."

The workbook for the study is a helpful combination of main teaching points from the video session, a paragraph summary of the session, three questions for group discussion, several questions for personal study and reflection, and a list of recommended resources for in-depth study.

My wife and I enjoyed the group discussion questions. It was a fruitful time of recalling God's work of grace in our lives and of thinking about the assumptions at work in our relationship with the Lord. All in all, a great start to what we trust will be a great study.

A new look at GirlTalk, but the same solid fellowship and reflections.

The past few weeks have been filled with the Lord's goodness. I feel like the Lord has indulged us in rich and surprising ways.

Each of the last two Sundays we've celebrated baptism with two new Christians. There is the young lady from a Hindu background who grew up trying to blend Christianity and Hinduism. Fencing the table at a communion service awakened her and she saw her need to follow Christ alone. There are the two persons from Cayman who grew up in a house church movement, and both, in their own ways, sought solace and refuge in themselves. The Lord has brought them to Himself through the reading and preaching of the word. And there is the young woman from Honduras, terrified during a turbulent fright and made to admit that if the plane should crash she would not be ready to meet her Maker. She began to listen to the word preached with eternal interest, and the Lord has given her eternal life. Sweet times of testimony. These have overcome the Accuser "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" and I pray "the [would] not love their lives so much as to shrink from death" (Rev. 12:11).

There is the congregation-wide elation that comes from having paid off the church's remaining debt. It's been over a decade and over $6 million C.I. (about $7.2 million U.S.), about 3-4 campaigns and drives to eliminate the debt, a lot of prayer, a lot of pennies and bills, a lot of God's providential blessings, and now we're a debt free church! Praise the Lord! And I trust we're only just beginning to realize the many freedoms that come with being debt-free.

The public praises of the people has been rich beyond compare. We're rejoicing before the Lord in music and song with such sweetness and zeal. Could hardly preach a couple weeks back after a wonderful medley arranged by our pastor of worship.

This past weekend a dear sister had her membership removed from this church and joined the perfect church in glory. She was known for her joy and her exuberant praise for the Lord. it was a surprise to us all, a sober and yet sweet reminder of how fleeting this life is and how preciously is the life to come with our Christ and King. Yesterday was almost a memorial service as we sang so many songs that would have had our sister Debbi singing with arms outstretched and face beaming. Now her face beams in the glow of her Master who loves her best. "I long to be where the praise is never ending" was her theme and our song yesterday. We were reminded of such sweet hope amidst the suffering and surprising losses of this life. And, I think, many of us longed more for glory yesterday.

And how sweet it is when brothers dwell together in unity. We've experienced now a long season of unity in the congregation. Relationships are good and deepening. Communication and trust are flowing well in so many directions. Membership is meaningful, warm, friendly, and joyful. In our new members' class last weekend, several of the folks mentioned that the witness of the congregation in its friendly, eager hospitality overwhelmed them when they came. Amen! Our hearts and our bodies are increasingly in the same place, and our hearts increasingly open to others.

We've seen the Lord's healing mercies and power in the lives of several saints. There is the ready reception of the word as we focus on parenting in Proverbs 1-9. There are the constant emails of encouragement shared between so many. Better attendance at our Sunday evening service and members' meetings of late. Really great times hanging out with couples from the church and hospitality at home.

The Lord has been incredibly kind to us, indulging us in His love, and leading us by His Spirit and word. What an indescribable joy it is to pastor these sweet saints called First Baptist Church.

Praying you know the joys of being with God's people in your local assembly.
Grace and peace in Him whose blood has made us new and holy.

A brother in the church just sent me this one from A.W. Tozer:

They keep writing lymricks. Like these (which together tell the story of my life):

A pastor, a dad is Thabiti
Each Tuesday he goes to a meeti
Preaching two times a week
May sound rather bleak
But with God there is no defeati


He goes by the name Pastor T
He winds down at night with the wii
He loses in boxing
But for a little detoxing
Eats ice cream and plays with Small T


Daddy loves Afiya and Eden
Next year he may take them to Sweden
It ain’t for sure yet
But you better bet
The girls keep askin’ each evenin’


A preacher, a pastor, a dad
The best jobs he’s ever had
Takes a lot of work
So he eats lots of jerk
And that makes him even more glad


Afiya and Daddy for fun
Like reading and writing and gum
They play some Civ IV
Then read even more
But they don’t like to sit in the sun


Dad and Eden like to compete
So each night on the wii they shall meet
Eden knocks him out twice
That ain’t even nice
‘Cause you know after that Dad’s dead meat!

Depth of mercy! Can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God His wrath forbear,
Me, the chief of sinners, spare?

I have long withstood His grace,
Long provoked Him to His face,
Would not hearken to His calls,
Grieved Him by a thousand falls.

I have spilt His precious blood,
Trampled on the Son of God,
Filled with pangs unspeakable,
I, who yet am not in hell!

I my Master have denied,
I afresh have crucified,
And profaned His hallowed Name,
Put Him to an open shame.

Whence to me this waste of love?
Ask my Advocate above!
See the cause in Jesus' face,
Now before the throne of grace.

Jesus, answer from above,
Is not all Thy nature love?
Wilt Thou not the wrong forget,
Permit me to kiss Thy feet?

If I rightly read Thy heart,
If Thou all compassion art,
Bow Thine ear, in mercy bow,
Pardon and accept me now.

Jesus speaks, and pleads His blood!
He disarms the wrath of God;
Now my Father's mercies move,
Justice lingers into love.

Kindled His relentings are,
Me He now delights to spare,
Cries, 'How shall I give thee up?'
Lets the lifted thunder drop.

Lo! I still walk on the ground:
Lo! an Advocate is found:
'Hasten not to cut Him down,
Let this barren soul alone.'

There for me the Savior stands,
Shows His wounds and spreads His hands.
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps and loves me still.

Pity from Thine eye let fall,
By a look my soul recall;
Now the stone to flesh convert,
Cast a look, and break my heart.

Now incline me to repent,
Let me now my sins lament,
Now my foul revolt deplore,
Weep, believe, and sin no more.


By Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

I just stepped out of my office to take a short break from sermon prep. One of the joys for me is to walk by my mail box and find large shipping envelopes that usually include books!

When I'm around him my face and heart do this A LOT!



In a couple weeks' time, it'll be a joy to be with bro's Carter, Louis Love, Hensworth Jonas, our wives, and all the saints at the New Life Fellowship Bible Conference. This year's focus is on evangelism in the book of Acts. Six expositions combined with a lot of fellowship and iron-sharpening-iron dessert conversations at fancy restaurants like Denny's.

If you're in the Vernon Hills, IL or greater Chicago area, come check us out. For my wife and I, it's a highlight to our year. You'll find your soul lifted.

My man, Curtis "Voice" Allen has a new album out called "A Theist." It's available at iTunes. Here's the list of songs:

Uni-verse
A Chair Is Not a Throne
Best Kept Secret
Identity Crisis
Cultural Jesus
Worldview
So Far to Go
Still Pardoned
What Do I Get
When It's All Said and Done
More Secrets
Still I Stand
I'm a Theist
Pensees

Curtis is a very gifted and humble brother. Thus far, my favorite album from him is Process of the Pardon. His music is a smooth blend of sound theology and life. Listen and enjoy!

The closing lines from Ross Douthat's NY Times opinion column on Dan Brown and the fascination with his novels turned films (HT: JT):

The “secret” history of Christendom that unspools in “The Da Vinci Code” is false from start to finish. The lost gospels are real enough, but they neither confirm the portrait of Christ that Brown is peddling — they’re far, far weirder than that — nor provide a persuasive alternative to the New Testament account. The Jesus of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — jealous, demanding, apocalyptic — may not be congenial to contemporary sensibilities, but he’s the only historically-plausible Jesus there is.

For millions of readers, Brown’s novels have helped smooth over the tension between ancient Christianity and modern American faith. But the tension endures. You can have Jesus or Dan Brown. But you can’t have both.

That about sums it up. In the case of Brown, fiction is stranger than truth. Just give me Jesus.

This movie will give rise to a new generation of Trekies! Thoroughly enjoyed it! I thought it kept the integrity of the original characters while adding some depth. And there is one relationship that makes you want to go back and watch all the originals.

Eric Redmond interviews Bryan Chappel about his forthcoming book, Christ-Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice.

Colin posts a list pdf's and audio of Bryan Chappel's preaching classes here. [Link Fixed] Colin comments: "Much of what I’ve learned about the theory behind sermon-preparation is a series of lectures I listened to from Bryan Chapell. These introductory lectures give you an excellent starting point from which you can adapt your own approach. One thing I really like about Chapell’s homiletics course, is that it is a course on preaching taught by someone who can really preach! Amen?" Amen!

Matt Schmucker takes about six minutes to explain biblical church discipline on Moody Radio. Worth the listen.

Piper wrestles with the question: Should a pastor continue in ministry if he has an unbelieving child? (HT: JT) Feeling like he wants to take a crack at all the tough questions today, Piper also answers, "What should I do if my wife says she doesn't love me?"

"Free and democratic elections" is a phrase typically volleyed about when some country is under military occupation or a "regime change" is in order. Significant numbers of countries around the world do not know either free or democratic political processes. And many others who attempt it seem only to vent violent opposition.

Here.

Challies is blogging the Basics conference this week. I appreciated this nugget from the first plenary talk given by Oxford mathematician John Lennox:

Paul used reason and intellectual abilities, but he didn’t trust them. It is too easy to trust intellect and use God. Paul used every ability God gave him to the full but he trusted God. We must not find a theological reason to be intellectually lazy. God has no more patience for intellectual slackers than he does for any other slacker.

Check out the summaries from session one and two.

I would attend this conference:


With this guy speaking...
... and this guy, too.



There will be a lot of edifying study of the Scriptures and practical wisdom for pastoral ministry. If you're in leadership, hoping to be in leadership, or serving in your local church, or wanting to better understand your pastor and support them, this will be well worth your investment. Find more details here.

Here's the q&a exchange between Bassam and myself. The longer audience Q&A are available at YouTube as well. And a question for you: After watching the opening comments (here and here), what would you have asked either Bassam or myself?

Part 9


Part 10



Part 11



Part 12

A dear friend and fellow North Caronlinian sent this to my family. As a North Carolinian, these are things I miss about my home state.

THINGS I LEARNED IN NORTH CAROLINA

1) A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

2) There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in NC.

3) There are 10,000 types of spiders, and all 10,000 of them live in NC.

4) If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.

5) "Onced" and "Twiced" are words.

6) It is not a shopping cart, it's a buggy.

7) "Jaw-P?" means, "Did y'all go to the bathroom?"

8) People actually grow and eat okra. (Although, the best fried okra I've ever had was in Birmingham, AL with Harry Reeder and some of the saints at Briarwood Presbyterian!)


9) "Fixinto" is one word. (Now, there is a regional variant of this word. If you're from my neck of the woods, it's "finto." No need to bother with the 'x'. It means I'm about to do something.)

10) There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there is supper... (Actually, there is lunch. Extra credit: which word is used for lunch, dinner or supper?)

11) Iced tea is appropriate for all meals, and you start drinking it when you're two. (Now my mama's iced tea is the best in the world! People come from all over the city to get a glass. For real)

12) Backwards and forwards means, "I know everythin' about you."

13) The word "jeet" is actually a phrase meaning, "Did you eat?"

14) You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

15) You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

16) You measure distance in minutes.

17) You switch from heat to A/C in the same day. (We've been known to ride around time with the heat on and the windows down to get the temperature in the car just right)

18) You know what a "Dawg" is. (There are two varieties--four-legged and two-legged)

19) You only own five spices: salt, pepper, Texas Pete, Tabasco and ketchup.

20) You find 100 degrees only "a bit warm." (That's because North Carolinians are born with gills. You need them to breathe in the humidity during the summer!)

21) Going "off to Wally World" is a favorite past time.

22) We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive, dag-nabbit.

23) You understand these jokes and forward them to your NC friends and those who just wish they were from North Carolina !!!!!


When I was a boy, there was actually a public ad campaign called "I like calling N.C. home." And we learned to dag-nabbit. I guess it's the southern, polite equivalent to "Don't mess with Texas," without all the cowboy macho stuff. Or it could just be a little insecurity about being "from the country" or the south. I didn't feel insecure about that, though. I identify with that commercial where the cowboys cry out incredulously, "New York City!" Can anything good come out of Gotham?

But I do like calling N.C. home, after heaven and Grand Cayman. We're sojourning, and picking up a few cultural laughs along the way. But hasten the day Lord!

A new blog from Mary Kassian. HT: Radical Womanhood.

A clear, compelling, and life-giving sermon on John 3:14-17.

Allistair Begg on gospel ministry. Typical, clear Begg. And laugh out loud funny at about 18 minutes.

Together for the Gospel
Registration is open for T4G '10--The (Unadjusted) Gospel. See here.

The (Unadjusted) Gospel. That’s a topic worth thinking about for several days together with several thousand other pastors and church leaders. Don’t you think?

The good news does not adjust. It’s always the same and it’s always good. Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, proclaims a message that’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. So should we.

We hope you will join us in Louisville April 2010 to think about that message and why it’s the heart of ministry.

1. Turn their sacred Scripture into coloring books for children, or bedtime stories with full color sketches.

2. Reduce the central message or teachings of their religion to a T-shirt slogan.

3. Tweet that central message or those key teachings.

4. Wear sandwich boards with their messages placarded on them.

5. Record sacred music that sounds like cheesy love songs.

Titus (2.5): "I'm hungry."
Afiya (11): "Let's look in the refrigerator to see if there's something to eat."
Titus: "Ooh, there's a cupcake."
Afiya: "Cupcakes sound yummy, but we have to ask Mommy first."
Titus: "There's no sugar! There's just flowers and eggs."

Four more sections (parts 5-8) from the Christian--Muslim Dialogue this past march.

The video from the recent Muslim-Christian dialogue in Dubai is now being posted. Looks they'll be uploaded to YouTube in 22 parts. Below is the opening introduction along with Bassam Zawadi's opening remarks. Lord willing, I'll post my opening remarks in a day or so. I'd welcome your feedback, comments, suggestions for improvement, etc.

Part 1: Welcoming Comments



Parts 2-4: Zawadi's Opening Remarks

If you haven't found the already, you can find the conference talks from The Gospel Coalition here.

So, now that I'm down from the conference mountain top, I'm trying to prayerfully sift through some of the things the Lord showed me and hopefully taught me while there. Here are a few random reflections. I'd be interested to hear some of your own in the comments section.

1. The Lord has given me the outstanding privilege of pastoring a church full of "positives." I like Driscoll's description of positives, negatives, and neutrals. The framework was helpful and easily recognizable. And I had one of those moments that sometimes happens, where something is said in the sermon and the Lord draws your attention away from the sermon to a particular thought needing your attention and prayer. I was drawn to listing the people in the church who were "positives." In a couple minutes, I had a sheet of paper full of people and the definite sense that I could go on if I had my membership directory with me. [Note to self: keep the directory with you all the time]

2. Do not fear and do not shy away from suffering. Boy, do I need to hear that again and again, and I'm grateful to those who will preach the difficult things of the ministry. Speaker after speaker called us to do the hard things in the ministry with joy, to endure suffering like a good soldier, and to count the suffering nothing compared to the riches of Christ.

3. The Keller, Fernando, Carson talks form an outstanding primer on preaching the gospel in a way that makes contact with modern pagans and religious folks who have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. If you only listen to three talks, listen to these three. I don't know that there were any set of talks at any conference that have so quickly and deeply impacted my view of preaching or quickened as much desire to preach than these three together. Keller addresses idolatry so clearly. Fernando helped so much with thinking about communicating to folks who don't share your assumptions, language, etc. And Carson's discussion about the "third position" from which we flex to win people was simply outstanding. I'm going back to these more slowly and carefully.

4. One talk for preachers: Bryan Chappel's sermon. Must listen! "We not only preach about God and for God, but also as God." Preacher, you need that unpacked for you if you've never thought about it or heard it. Must listening for preachers and for those who listen to preaching. The Scriptures are the voice, hand and heart of God. Chappel's use of Lewis' liar, lunatic and Lord applied to the word of God was brilliant! Listen to this sermon.

5. The fellowship of 3,000+ saints. I can't say enough about this. Old friends; new friends. Re-acquainting and rejoicing together in our Lord.

6. The fellowship with the three brothers who attended with me. This, by far, was the most precious part of the time there, growing together with brothers who love the Lord and His gospel. And this was only possible because of the generosity of the church. Our partnership in the gospel enriches me beyond description. Again, the "positives" are too numerous to count.

7. I was deeply impressed with how The Gospel Coalition and T4G and the Sovereign Grace Pastors' Conference and Worship God and The Shepherd's Conference are being used of the Lord to prepare the coming generation of pastors. These meetings are young! Overwhelmingly, twenty- and thirty-somethings come to these meetings, and one can see the torch being passed as they sit under the ministries of those who've been at it 30, 40 and sometimes 50 years. I love the humility on display when a man in his 30s sits under the teaching of someone who has been serving the Lord's church longer than they've been alive. That's good and healthy. All over the place there was the exchange of head and heart between young and old. It was sweet.

8. World Christianity. That's what you get a glimpse of when you have the privilege of attending something like The Gospel Coalition. When you're at something like this, you see that the church is bigger than your own local congregation. You see that neither your successes or struggles are unique to you. You see thousands of people representing thousands of churches where the Lord is very actively at work! It reminds you that you're not alone, grows your prayer life, and strengthens you for the work ahead.

"To the degree that you have based your life on something other than the Lord, to that degree God's love and the hope of the gospel will not comfort you."

Paul David Tripp, War of Words, p. 98.

My wife: "Titus I love you."

Titus: "I love you toooo!"

My wife: "Titus, I love Daddy too. He's my best friend."

Titus: "NNNNNNNO!"

My wife: "Why can't I love Daddy too?"

Titus: "Because he can get bugs on him...and mosquitos."

President Danny Akin of Southeastern Baptist Theological recently addressed Southeastern Seminary students in the school's chapel. In the address, Pres. Akin called for a "Great Commission Resurgence." (Baptist Press coverage) The resurgence would be built on twelve axioms. Here's one that caught my attention:

Axiom 6: A passionate pursuit of the Great Commission's command to go to the United States and all nations, to disciple, baptize and teach. Starting at home, this means racial reconciliation in every Southern Baptist church and a commitment to reach those of every race and social class in their own communities and elsewhere.

"We must pursue a vision for our churches that looks like heaven," Akin said. "Yes, we must go around the world to reach Asians and Europeans, the Africans and the South Americans. But we must also go across the street, down the road and into every corner of our local mission field where God, in grace, has brought the nations to us.

"This means planting authentically Bible/Baptist churches and filling them with authentic followers of Jesus, irrespective of nationality, race, economic or social status. Genuine discipleship is not negotiable."

You don't hear this from Southern Baptists everyday--and I am one! Go 'head Danny!

HT: Reconciliation Blog

LeCrae's "Don't Waste Your Life," a video for the upcoming tour. HT: JT.

It'll be a privilege and a joy to join Chris Arnsen on his radio show, Iron Sharpens Iron, today and tomorrow at 3pm Eastern. We'll be discussing The Decline of African American Theology. If you're in the NY area, please tune in and join the discussion. Or join us online as well.

If you're a pastor that believes the Bible teaches both (1) the responsibility of man to repent and believe and (2) the sovereignty of God in choosing people unto salvation, you probably spend a lot of time explaining at least one-half of that belief to a number of your congregants. It is a joyful privilege to explain the whole counsel of God, to encourage people in new areas of biblical truth that they might not have seen or understood before.

It's also sometimes disconcerting for people as they learn things they hadn't understood before, things that really alter their understanding of the Scriptures and of God in a major way. The fancy-smancy psychological term for this is cognitive dissonance. Well, in a number of such conversations, it's not cognitive but emotional dissonance. People sometimes see the truth, have an emotional reaction to the truth (not necessarily denying the truth), and decide they don't like it. Patience is required in such cases, as well as helping people understand that an emotional impulse to deny the truth does not come from the Lord. The truth should shape our emotional responses, rather than our emotional responses shaping our acceptance of the truth.

All that to say: it's really helpful to underscore reasons why a particular truth should be cause for rejoicing. Truth is for our joy. And that's true of every truth in Scripture, including God's sovereign choosing of His people.

A few biblical reasons to rejoice in election:

Election ensures that God's purposes stand:
"Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls--she was told, 'The older will serve the younger'." (Rom. 9:11-12)

Election ensures that our salvation depends on mercy, not ourselves:
"It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy" (Rom. 9:16).

Election maintains the Creator-creature distinction, producing humility:
"One of you will say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? 'Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"' Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" (Rom. 9:19-21)

Election guarantees our good in life and our glorification with Christ:
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he justified; those he justified, he also glorified" (Rom. 8:28-30).

"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thes. 2:13-14).

Election ensures blameless justification:
"Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies" (Rom. 8:33).

Election guarantees that God will be worshipped:
"God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel: 'Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me'? And what was God's answer? 'I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace" (Rom. 11:2-5).

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:11-12).

Election establishes grace:
"So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace" (Rom. 11:6).

Election obtains the salvation we seek:
"What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written: 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day'." (Rom. 11:7-8).

"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth" (2 Thes. 2:13).

Election makes the gifts and calling of God irrevocable:
"As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable" (Rom. 11:28-29).

Election accords with God's plan to make us holy and blameless:
"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Eph. 1:4)

Election expresses itself with the Father's love toward us in adoption:
"In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will..." (Eph. 1:4-5).

Election coincides with the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit:
"To God's elect, strangers in the world... who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood" (1 Pet. 1:1-2).

"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth" (2 Thes. 2:13).

Election provides the ground for our perseverance in gospel ministry:
"One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: 'Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.' So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God" (Acts 18:9-11).

"Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory" (2 Tim. 2:10).

Election limits the deception and the destruction of the last days:
"those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them" (Mark 13:19-20).

"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible" (Matthew 24:24).


Rejoice! And again I will say, Rejoice! The truth will make you free!

What he told the Bethlehem staff about unity amid differences.

God talk is an incredibly delusional activity.

The number of people who say they "believe in God" but who do not believe in Jesus is alarmingly high, especially in regions of the world that are culturally/nominally Christian. The sentiment is nearly everywhere.

"I believe in God. I say my prayers each morning and each night."

Or, "I believe in God. I know He has seen me through a lot of struggles."

Or, "I believe in God. And I don't play with Him."

I'm glad for all of these statements, and they contain some important truths. For example, God is not to be toyed with. He isn't a teddy bear. He is to be reverenced and loved and worshipped in awe. And God does make His rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike. His common grace toward creation means that a whole bunch of people who do not know Him experience His goodness in myriad ways, including deliverance in struggle. These things can be affirmed, and should be.

But we dare not stop there! This kind of belief in God is hardly any different from James' famous assessment: "You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder" (James 2:19).

The reality: it is impossible to believe in God in any saving way and not come to Him through faith in Jesus. The unavoidable Person in all creation is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

We do not have God the Father apart from God the Son. "No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him" (Matt. 11:27). Or Jesus' extraordinary words in John 14:6-7a: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well."

Appeals to 'believing in God' without believing in the Son are empty idolatries, demon-like faith often without the shuddering. So much God talk allows the veneer of religiosity and faith, but denies the power by denying the Son. And that self-deception is eternally dangerous.

Of course, the opposite problem exists as well. There are those who love Jesus meek and mild but who deny the Father, at least any biblical understanding of the Father. But Matthew 11:27 speaks to them as well: "No one knows the Son except the Father...." Or, John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." And John 14:9, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."

The Father and the Son come together. You can not have one and not the other. Either you have the Father with and through the Son, or you have nothing. Vague God talk obscures this critical reality.

Ronald Alexander, son of the Rev. Eric Alexander, has built a website in honor of his father's preaching and teaching ministry. (HT: Challies) The site includes over 20 years of exposition from Alexander the elder's ministry at St. George's Tron in Glasgow, Scotland. You'll also find a brief biography of Alexander.

From the site's welcome page:

Eric Alexander has spent his adult life serving Jesus Christ, in His Church, as a minister of His Word. He has preached Christ exclusively from Holy Scripture, convinced that the Bible is the only reliable and sufficient revelation God has given us of His Son.

The conviction behind all Eric Alexander's preaching is that Scripture is fundamental to the Church's life and continuance, and therefore it is the exposition of Scripture which is fundamental to the Church's pattern of activity.

As the years have passed and the world has changed, he has grown ever more convinced of the urgent priority of summoning the church to the Apostolic priority expressed by the Apostles themselves in Acts 6v4; "We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word."

How often does our trust in the Lord look like this?

Virtually, that is. Today marks the beginning of Tullian Tchividjian's blog tour for his new book Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different (Multnomah, 2009).

Many of you will be aware of Tullian's work as a pastor and writer. Tullian is the former church planting pastor of New City Church in Miami, FL, and now the new senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, a merger of New City and Coral Ridge. You can get to know Tullian a bit through this interview with Justin Taylor.

In this age of video, we have the wonderful opportunity to hear the authors themselves summarize their books and why they wrote them. Here's a youtube video from Tullian discussing Unfashionable.



I had the privilege of reading a pre-publication draft of Unfashionable and offering an endorsement. Here's my take:

"The most wonderful thing happened to me as I read Unfashionable: I was helped."

In a nutshell, the book is helpful. It's helpful to anyone trying to think through what does it mean to be a counter-cultural Christian. Tullian's repeated refrain--"To be for the world by being against the world"--helps clarify how as Christians our stance can be both oppositional in a fallen culture and redemptive. Many Christians have found this tension too elusive, falling off on either the side of retreat or of worldliness. Tullian helps us through that precarious balance with Unfashionable.

Contents

Tullian organizes the book into four parts with 17 chapters.

Part 1: The Call
1. A Cry for Difference
2. A World Without Windows
3. Seduced by Cool

Part 2: The Commission
4. An Unfashionable Standard
5. The Purpose-Driven Death
6. Redeemed to Renew
7. Presence of the Future
8. Where in the World Are Christians?
9. Unfashionable United
10. Making the Difference Together

Part 3: The Community
11. A Truthful Community
12. An Angry Community
13. Putting Off Stealing
14. Redemptive Words
15. No Longer Clammed Up
16. Love, Not Lust

Part 4: The Charge
17. Last Call

The book also includes a reading list and study guide for personal and group use. Tim Keller's foreword offers a very succinct lay of the land regarding the different approaches Christians have generally adopted to engaging the culture.

Some Appreciations

I appreciate several things about Tullian's vision in this book. First, it's biblical. I love pastors and preachers who limit what they "see" to what has been shown in the text of God's word. It would be fashionable to offer a "sure-fire" way of being and doing this or that as a Christian. But this book is all about being unfashionable, which, in a wonderful sort of way, is all about being biblical.

Second, I appreciate Tullian's wrestling with the nature of the church and her calling in the world. It would be easy to offer another call to Christians as individuals to engage in this or that way. And as individuals we must be in this warfare. But we're more than the sum of our parts if we're Christians. We're a family, a household, a nation, a flock. Including our corporate identity and resources makes wonderful sense in a time where it's fashionable to lament and neglect the church. And he goes so far as to call us out of our "tribal mindedness" and segregated churches to reflect the reconciled reality of life in Christ as His church. This book doesn't skip over issues but addresses them head on. That makes it worth reading.

Third, I appreciate that Tullian tries to work out what it means to be unfashionable in light of his eschatology. Not everyone will agree with his eschatology (does anyone ever agree on eschatology?!), but the attempt to understand the cosmic implications of the cross and resurrection and their bearing on the church's mission is refreshing. Tullian believes in "the presence of the future" and, believing it, tries to understand our marching orders in light of it. A pursuit well worth making.

Fourth, and finally, I appreciate the book as a pastor. Pastors are given a front-row view of the effects of culture on the lives of people and the church. We're often at pains to describe this effect, analyze it, give some prescriptions, and bind the wounds of our people and our churches. That's not easy; at least I don't find slaying the hydra-headed monster of the world an easy task. So, I'm always on the lookout for works that will be readable, engaging, and helpful. I want things I can recommend to my people that would benefit their souls, challenge their thinking, insist upon transformation and faith and dependence and risk-taking, that would call us out of ourselves and into the world, but not leave us like the world. For me, that's a helpful book.

Tullian Tchividjian's Unfashionable is a helpful book. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Eighteen others have offered endorsements of the book, from Tim Keller to Chuck Colson to J.I. Packer to R. Kent Hughes to D.A. Carson to Ed Stetzer to Collin Hansen and Kevin DeYoung.

Available at:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Christian Audio
Westminster

I was surprised when I read at JT's that this riff was first written by Dr. S.M. Lockridge. I first heard E.V. Hill run this down. See the two videos below. The first has Hill's voice, the second also has Hill's voice (I think) but is set to contemporary music. Does anyone know when Hill first preached this?

From the recently deceased Richard John Neuhas' Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross:

Forgive them, for they know not what they do." But now, like the prodigal son, we have come to our senses. Our lives are measured not by the lives of others, not by our own ideals, not by what we think might reasonably be expected of us, although by each of those measures we acknowledge failings enough. Our lives are measured by who we are created and called to be, and the measuring is done by the One who creates and calls. Finally, the judgment that matters is not ours. The judgment that matters is the judgment of God, who alone judges justly. In the cross we see the rendering of the verdict on the gravity of our sin.

We have come to our senses. None of our sins are small or of little count. To belittle our sins is to belittle ourselves, to belittle who it is that God creates and calls us to be. To belittle our sins is to belittle their forgiveness, to belittle the love of the Father who welcomes us home.

From the same Latin root come "complicity" and "complexity." Only the dulling of moral imagination prevents us from seeing how we are implicated in the complex web of human evil. The late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was fond of saying, "Some are guilty, all are responsible." We rightly condemn the great moral monsters of history--the Hitlers and Stalins and Maos and lesser mass murderers. Justice requires the gradation of guilt. Distinctions are in order. In important ways, we are not like them, and they are not like us. Yet complicity and complexity alert us to the ways in which their crimes find corrupting correlates in our own hearts. "He who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Such words of Jesus encourage not scrupulosity, but candor. Contemplating the unspeakable crimes of Stalin's gulag archipelago, Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote, "The line between good and evil runs through every human heart."

We would draw the line between ourselves and the really big-time sinners. For them the cross may be necessary. For us a forgiving wink from an understanding Deity will set things to right. But the "big time" of sinning is in every human heart. We make small our selves when we make small our sins. Fearing the judgment of great evil, we shrink from the call to great good. Like Adam, we slink away to hide in a corner. Like the prodigal son, we hunker down behind the swine's trough of our shrunken lives. But then he came to his senses. He remembered who he was in his former life, in his real life. There is no way to have that dignity restored except through the confession of that dignity betrayed.

Still we hold back from confession, holding on to the tattered remnants of our former dignity. The more Adam hides from his shame, the more he proclaims his shame. What ludicrous figures we sinners cut. It is all so unnecessary; it only increases the complicity that we deny. We act as though there is not forgiveness enough. There is more than forgiveness enough.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Yes, we were there when we crucified our Lord. Recognizing the line that runs through every human heart, no longer do we try to draw the line between "them" and "us." Who can look long and honestly at the victims and the perpetrators of history's horrors and say that this has nothing to do with me? To take the most obvious instance, where would we have taken our stand that Friday afternoon? With Mary and the Beloved Disciple or with the mocking crowds? "Know thyself," the philosophers said, for this is the beginning of wisdom. "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom," wrote the Psalmist. Knowing myself and fearing God, knowing a thousand big and little things that I have done and failed to do, I cannot deny that I was there. In ways I do not fully understand, I know that I, too, did the deed, wielded the whip, drove the nails, thrust the spear.

About chief of sinners I don't know, but what I know about sinners I chiefly know about me. We did not mean to do the deed, of course. The things we have done wrong seemed, or mostly seemed, small at the time. The word of encouragement withheld, the touch of kindness not given, the visit not made, the trust betrayed, the cutting remark so clever and so cruel, the illicit sexual desire so generously entertained, the angry answer, the surge of resentment at being slighted, the lie we though would do no harm. It is such a long and tedious list of little things. Surely not too much should be made of it, we thought to ourselves. But now it has come to this. It has come to the cross. all the trespasses of all the people of all time have gravitated here, to the killing grounds of Calvary.

What if Philippians were our only Bible?

the potential "resurrection" of Henry Lyons inside the National Baptist Convention, the largest African-American denomination in the U.S., is ridiculous.

From the story:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The ousted former president of a national organization of black Baptist churches is running for the position again, a decade after he was sent to prison for stealing millions of dollars from the group. The Rev. Henry J. Lyons was forced out as leader of the National Baptist Convention USA in 1999 after an investigation revealed he abused his power in the convention to steal about $4 million. He used the money to buy luxury homes and jewelry, and to support his mistresses.

You must advance the gospel to see society reformed. Only born-again people can live born-again lives.

When Christians speak of “preserving a Christian heritage,” that’s the last gasping breath of a dying faith. The Christian influence of that society is about to expire.

You can only talk about "preserving a Christian heritage" when you’re living with the privilege of being the majority in a society. Christians don’t talk about "winning the culture" or "preserving a Christian heritage" in places like Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or Egypt. They pray and strategize and talk about advancing the good news of Jesus Christ.

You cannot preserve a Christian heritage. It's not like jelly that's jarred. You can only live it and advance it through the gospel. It's more like butter that's spread.

Some things I trust have benefitted my soul recently:

Mark Dever on "The Pastor and the Church":
The Pastor
The Church

Don Carson:
The Flow of Thought in 1 Timothy 2
Is the Culture Shaping Us or Are We Shaping the Culture?
HT: Titus2Talk
A Holy Nation: The Church's High Calling

Bob Kauflin:
The Fight for Joy (Psalm 42-43)

J. M. Stiles:
Getting the Big Picture (1 Cor. 9:18-27)