After a week of church camp and all the planning prior to it I am exhausted.  My wife, son, and I will be going to the St. Louis Zoo today.  Regular blogging will continue tomorrow.  Thanks for being patient.  Be sure to subscribe via Google Reader.

In the midst of a changing culture in Baptist life, Todd Benkert offers Things to Avoid in Baptist Disagreements. 

I’ve linked to these before, but now the entire list is compiled:  Ligonier Ministries has done us a great service by giving the Top 5 Commentaries for each book of the Bible.  Check out the list.

Michael Spencer steals all of my ideas about youth ministry.  Not really, but it’s nice to know that I’m not alone.  The iMonk gives his “model” of youth ministry.

It has been interesting to follow this “debate” between iMonk and Frank Turk concerning Mark Driscoll’s need to publicly repent.  See Turk’s Part 1, iMonk Part 1, Turk Part 2, and iMonk Part 2.  Be sure to read the comments on each of these. 

Bill Mounce answers a really good question: “How Rude Was Jesus?”

This is a very insightful point by David Fitch on Christendom evangelism.  (HT: Milton)

Not sure if I’ve linked to this before or not.  Pretty cool testimony from Korn’s Brian Welch:

As always If you are just joining the discussion then please check out the foreword, intro, and chapter one. You can catch up pretty easily. If you have yet to buy the book I would suggest buying it for a paltry 9 bucks, here.  

Quick summary:

If you want a healthy church then it is quite obvious that before anything else the church’s members need to be regenerate.  But, how do you ensure that every person accepted into membership is truly converted?  That begs a question though.  Is “church membership” even a biblical concept?  Dever will be the first to admit that “evidence is not abundant”, but there are examples in Scripture and thereby he also says, “it is clear, and it is consistent”.  I believe with Dever that church membership is biblical—perhaps not in its current form—but if defined as“a means by which we demarcate the boundaries of the church”, then I have to agree that it is indeed biblical.

The question is now asked, how do we make certain that those we consider “members” are indeed regenerate?  Dever’s first suggestion is to hold a new members class.  He also suggests having members sign a church covenant.  Sometimes it may even be beneficial to have members use the church covenant before partaking in the Lord’s Supper, or perhaps read corporately before business meetings. 

Another suggestion, and perhaps the most important, is a membership interview.  During this interview the “primary purpose is to gather” spiritual information.  A few things to look for are: 1) an explanation of the Gospel 2) previous church experience and why they left 3) are they biblically baptized 4) have they ever been disciplined by a church? 5) their personal testimony.  Dever also provides a helpful sample church membership interview form in the Appendix. 

This chapter closes with a couple words of caution.  First, caution is to not encourage the new members to “jump right in”.  For one we do not know their previous church experience.  There could still be serious misunderstandings of the Gospel.  Consider 1 Timothy 5:22.  Secondly, we have to realize that at the end of the day wheat will grow with the tares.  Even still we must be careful to not use this as an excuse.  “Don’t leave the front door unlatched”. 

Quotables:

“…it is surprising how careless many Christians and even pastors have become about the spiritual security of the local church.”  (59)

In regards to being intimidated when asked to explain the gospel in 60 seconds, “it is better for them to stutter in front of you now than to stand speechless before the Lord on the last day.”  (64)

“…if membership is a local church’s external affirmation of a person’s spiritual conversion, then the most unloving things we can do is mislead condemned people into thinking they are saved by conferring membership upon them too hastily”.  (65)

Questions:

• Dever’s church does a new members class before membership.  When does your church do such an interview?  Why might it be beneficial to do it before?  Why after?
• Do you know your church covenant?  How does your church use it?  Do you even have one?
• What do you think about the issue of church membership? 
• What are we communicating as a church when we have ~650 members but only 150 actively attending?

I am following a discussion at SBC Voices.  Todd Burus asks “why are so many in the SBC afraid of Calvinism”?  Perhaps, he chose a poor title; Calvinism: The New Racism?, nonetheless, I am convinced that the discussion has went a direction Todd did not intend.  Truthfully, there has been very little helpful interaction on this particular thread.

However, in following this discussion I think the Lord revealed to me something of my own heart.   When someone disagrees with, argues against, or even attacks something that I hold dear I tend to respond by nit-picking.  You actually see this quite a bit in the blogosphere, and I probably do not help the problem—I’ve been guilty of adding to it.

You see this quite often in comments about Mark Driscoll (whether for or against).  Person A leaves a comment that is not 100% accurate.  Rather than dealing with the 97% that is accurate Person B address the 3% that he/she can deal with.  Then the thread spirals out of control because Person B was also not 100% accurate with his comment about Person A’s 3%.  So, Person C comments and picks out how Person B was inaccurate.  By this time Person A rejoins the thread, defends himself and deals with Person B’s inaccuracies.   The whole time there is probably only 1% of the discussion that is actually helpful or useful. 

I will not pretend to judge your own heart.  But, allow me to be honest about my own.  The reason I deal with the 3% instead of the 97% is because it’s much easier to stay in my own comfort zone than to actually engage in a meaningful discussion.  At the same time I can look knowledgeable and not deal with the issues raised, what a perfect plan. 

Furthermore, this is a reflection of my heart that wants to be perceived as right (regardless of whether it really is true).  I am convinced that when I pick at the 3% (or even 43%) I am not truly loving the person I am talking with.  “Love rejoices in the truth”.  Doesn’t that at least mean that I am so happy for the 97% that is true that I am able to cover over the 3% with love? 

I understand there is another side to this.  If we let 3% of heresy slide then a little leaven will work its way through and that 3% will turn into 30% and then that 30% will turn into 90%, etc.  I’m just not convinced that such a slippery slope is true. 

The disciples and people surrounding Jesus often said some pretty dim witted things.  Sometimes, Jesus rebuked them.  Sometimes, he just let it slide and proclaimed truth without picking at the error.  So, I understand this is a difficult task to discover if something should be covered with love or dealt with.  But we ought to a least mull it over before ripping on someone’s error.  Most error is not intended to be malicious but only a result of being fallen.  I am convinced that actually engaging with gentleness, love, and respect looks quite different than what you see from us “truth warriors”.

Lord, change my prideful heart. 

“I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you always in my prayers.” (Eph. 1:16)
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Rom. 12:12)
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” (Col. 4:2)

Of all the spiritual exercises God has given his people, it seems that nothing is quite so challenging as the discipline of prayer. Prayer is at once a wonderful gift given by God and a huge responsibility commanded by God. Through prayer we have an intimate communion with our Lord. Through prayer we lift one another up to heaven’s throne.

One big challenge we face in prayer is the challenge of time. There never seems to be enough time, which is a universal issue we all face in spite of our widely varying circumstances. Whether it’s a mother with small children at home, a businessman on the road, the family going 15 different directions in a normal day, or the quiet, empty nest there is never enough time. How many people do you and I know who say they have plenty of time to pray?

Part of the reason for this is the simple fact that prayer is work.....hard work. For years I kept thinking that sooner or later the Holy Spirit would somehow transform my personality in such a way that prayer would be easy and my calendar would magically open up time to pray everyday. (Good grief, I’m a preacher. Surely God would do that for me, right? WRONG!) My thought process in this was more than little bit faulty. After all there is no evidence of this magical transformation occurring with anyone, anytime, anywhere. It does not happen in the Bible. I have yet to read the biography of any great prayer warrior in whom this occurred. I have certainly never heard of this from anyone I personally know.

Bottom line. Prayer is work. Hard work. Always has been. Always will be. If I would pray as God commands, I will have to fight for the time, fight to keep the time, and work hard to learn how to pray and pray well.

One of the great moments in a parent’s life is when his/her child shows signs of maturity. You know what I mean. It is when your children start to grow up. He sees what needs to be done and rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. She stops expecting someone else to do it for her. He stops complaining about how hard it is to get a job and work everyday. It's wonderful when our children begin to take responsibility for the every day stuff that has to be done and works to make it what it should be.

Can you imagine how pleased our Heavenly Father is when his children face the reality of life, roll up our sleeves, acknowledge that prayer is work, and gets after it. After all, time with God is worth it. Time spent laboring in prayer for our loved ones, our friends, and his kingdom growth is time well spent. Let’s get to work and see what God can do through his people when they do the hard work of prayer.

Yeah, I know it’s Tuesday.  I am super busy with camp and trying to prepare the “perfect” sermons to proclaim that Jesus is Enough. 

I have four sermons to preach (as well as write short devotions, team-time devotions, and put a little together for the morning worship services).  I have spent a good deal of time on sermon number one.  It keeps going through revision.  I get it all together and then decide to cut something.  Then I add something else.  Then I cut something else.  The process keeps continuing.  I have even considered scrapping the whole thing and starting over. 

My problem is that I am trying to come up with the perfect  sermon.  I want to be biblically faithful, doctrinally pure, and Christ-exalting.  All of those are noble.  The problem is you cannot preach a good sermon about the sufficiency of Christ while denying it in your sermon prep.  I can put together a sermon that is biblically faithful, doctrinally pure, and Christ-exalting but if it is not accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit then my “perfect sermon” is a “perfect” speech and not a sermon. 

I must remember what Spurgeon said:

“The gospel is preached in the ears of all; it only comes with power to some.  The power that is in the gospel does not lie in the eloquence of the preacher; otherwise men would be converters of souls.  Nor does it lie in the preacher’s learning; otherwise it would consist in the wisdom of men.  We might preach till our tongues rotted, till we should exhaust our lungs and die, but never a soul would be converted unless there were mysterious power going with it—the Holy Ghost changing the will of man.  O Sirs!  we might well preach to stone walls as to preach to humanity unless the Holy Ghost be with the word, to give it power to convert the soul.”  (Quoted from Arturo Azurdia, Spirit Empowered Preaching, p128)

The power of the Spirit and the work of Christ is sufficient to take this jar of clay and house glory therein.  Jesus preached the perfect sermon with every breath he took.  What can I learn from the life of Christ in my preaching.

1. He was radically God-centered
2. He poured into others
3. He spilled his blood for others
4. He was disturbingly real
5. He touched broken people in their brokenness
6. He comforted the broken and broke the comfortable
7. He passionately preached against “religion”
8. He relied upon the Spirit
9. He was Christ-centered
10. He was biblically-saturated
11. He was engaging
12. He was never afraid to stoop
13. He preached among the people
14. He live with those he taught
15. He preached with authority
16. He was Jesus and I’m not

Author: D.A. Carson

Pages: 160 pages

Publisher: Crossway

Price: $11.19

Genre: Christian Biography

Quick Summary:

You have probably heard of Don (D.A.) Carson. Most Americans have probably never heard of Tom Carson (Don’s dad). Tom was an “ordinary” pastor to French speaking Canada. His son has taken his letters, journals, and other manuscripts and has turned them into a mighty gift to the church.

Throughout this book we learn of Tom’s life and struggles as a common pastor. We are allowed to enter into the world of a pastor struggling with discouragement, depression, and feelings of worthlessness. We see the joys of laboring for Christ mixed with the brokenness of a fallen perfectionist. We see a loving father and husband that are always striving to be better. We witness the pain of Alzheimer’s and death of a cherished spouse and life-long partner in the gospel. From the highs through the lows this book is shockingly real.

What I Liked:

I had to hold back tears when D.A. Carson’s “mum” died. Perhaps, it through me back to witnessing my own grandfather by the bedside of my grandmother. Nevertheless, such emotion for someone that I had never met or even heard of is a testimony to Carson’s vivid writing style and compilation of his father’s journals. It is easy for a rural youth pastor like me (even though only 27) to identify with some of the feelings of Tom Carson. It is also wonderful that Carson interjects biblical wisdom throughout these journals.

Carson also, wisely, provides us American readers with some Canadian church history to help tell the story. That is helpful otherwise I would have been totally lost.

What I Disliked:

There is really nothing that I can honestly say I disliked. There are two things that make it somewhat difficult to read, but those are common in a book of this sort. One, it is sometimes difficult to place yourself in a situation when you have little knowledge of the environment. Carson makes a wonderful attempt at making us Americans at least moderately adept at understanding the French Canadian environment. Two, many biographies do this and it’s a good thing, but it makes it difficult to read letters when people are referred to by initials. It just gets confusing. Almost all memoirs are this way, I just wish they weren’t. I’d prefer a “names were changed to protect the innocent” type of thing.

Should You Buy It?

If you absolutely have to have a hard copy then yes. You need to read this book. You can read it online for free by going here. Or you can buy it for 11.19. There are some things in the book that are worthy of underlining or keeping on file for further reflection. You may want to go ahead and purchase it, but if money is tight you need to at least read the free copy (I read it in about 6 hours).

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars