Today we will introduce a new feature to our blog. Friday, I posted what my mornings typically look like. Now I will give you the fruit of my labor. I will be posting links and a short summary to articles that I found interesting. Note: I may not agree with every article I link to. These will be linked to in the hopes to spawn thoughtful interaction. So, without further ado here are today's blogworld posts:

Remember a few months back when Christendom was in an uproar of the Gospel of Judas? Just as in the past this too has been shown to be a fraud. Dr. Mohler points us to a new book by April D. Deconick which accurately points us to National Geographic's misrepresentation of the text in the Gospel of Judas. Turns out Judas still is not a hero and is actually portrayed as a demon. The full blog post can be found here: Revising the Revisionists

Also in the news today is yet another controversial booking by Saddleback Church (Rick Warren's church). The Christian Post covers the 'gutsy appearance' of Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. This, frankly, sickens me for a number of reasons. 1) It is awesome that the church is involved in trying to alleviate suffering and such tragedies as AIDS. Might we continue. However, to link up with those who are strongly pro-death (er, I mean pro-choice) is ludicrous. I am fairly certain that 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 addresses such unholy unions. 2) The continual sell-out of the church into the political arena. There are numerous other reasons for my disdain, but these two will suffice for now.

I am encouraged that as we are beginning a study on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood that material is becoming readily available. Last week the Shepherd's Scrapbook posted an excellent interview with C.J. Mahaney on biblical masculinity. Also of note, Between Two Worlds: Man Up where Justin Taylor points us to an article by Ray Van Neste on young guys growing up to be men. Voddie Baucham's address to Charleston Southern University about biblical manhood is also now available. I encourage all of our parents and young men to check these out. It may even be beneficial to our young ladies who want to know what a godly man looks like.

The Blazing Center gives us 8 Tips to Get More Out of Bible Study. It's actually more of a "how to do an effective quiet time", but it is very helpful. I especially appreciate pointing us to journaling and responding to what we have read. Insights like this keep us from legalistically doing quiet times and redeeming them in the hopes of seeing Jesus.

Founders has some helpful links for the Building Bridges Conference that was held at Southeastern. I am so excited to hear that a group of Southern Baptist are together discussing theology. I am especially encouraged that what was debated was not Hyper-Calvinism vs. Arminianism. It has been my experience that many people who come from an Arminian persuasion disagree with hyper-Calvinist and very seldom engage the belief of Calvinist. This conference will help. It will especially help to dispel some of the main myths concerning Calvinism. 1) It is not counter-evangelism. In fact some of the statistics at the conference show that Calvinist and Arminians are about equal on evangelism--neither are doing it like we are called to. 2) It is not, nor does it inevitably lead to, the heretical Hyper-Calvinism. I am excited to see the fruit from this Conference. Tom Ascol provides summary thoughts as well as links to other posts about the event.

That's it for today...join us tomorrow for more from Blogworld

Many people wonder what I do with my work day. Some people, I think, imagine that a full-time minister sits in his office and stares out into space all day. Perhaps, some give me more "spiritual points" than I am due--thinking I pray for about 4 hours and read my Bible for the next 4-5. Actually my 9-5 includes less prayer time than it should and less Bible reading than it should. However, much of my day is saturated in constant conversation with the Lord and in reading/studying. One of my most productive times is actually in the morning. Usually before I make blog posts myself I engage my mind with a little reading. I point my browser to www.google.com/reader and check out all of the various blogs I read daily.

I thought that it might be beneficial for you to know which blogs I frequent. One that I visit numerous times a day is Between Two Worlds. It is Justin Taylor's Blog. Some of my readers are probably not familiar with Justin. You should go to his blog and check out some of his stuff. One of his accomplishments, that is a huge benefit to the church, is his update of John Owen's Overcoming Sin and Temptation. A free copy is available in pdf. format here. It is especially beneficial to me because another blog I frequent, www.challies.com is currently doing a Reading the Classics Together. The book we are going through now is Owen's book. We are only on the third chapter; so you could get caught up quickly and join us.

Those, and Piper's Desiring God, are my most frequent visits. I also check out Southern Seminary President Dr. Albert Mohler's blog. Others that I frequent include: Thabiti Anyabwile's Pure Church blog, The Resurgence, The blog that is maintained by Founders, The Shepherd's Scrapbook, and the Pyromaniacs.
I also have a few friends (surprising I know) that are in the blog world. My friend Garrett often blogs at Thoughts on the Way, Josh has his own blog at Everything to Enjoy. A couple of other friends have blogs for their ministries: David at FBC Monroe City and Jonathan at Elm Grove.

So, I spend a little bit of time in the morning reading some of the latest articles that these guys either link to or write themselves. After that I spend time either preparing for sermons, reading one of the books I am currently reading, working on a book I am attempting to write, or making blog posts like this one. Oh, and just so you do not get the wrong idea, I also spend some time checking up on my fantasy football teams and the playoff-bound Cleveland Browns!!

My reason for sharing all of this is to get you to follow some of these links and check them out. They are great resources and every Christian would benefit from signing up for google reader and checking out the blog updates daily. To God be the glory!

Last time we saw that contentment is a free work of the spirit. This time we will see that it is taking pleasure in God's disposal. (p9-10). At this point Burroughs is going to take us further into this matter of Christian contentment. It is not only seeing that we should be content, but it is actually seeing good in, and taking pleasure in, the affliction. Burroughs notes that it is not merely looking back on the affliction and saying with David, "it was good that I was afflicted". Rather, it is being in the midst of the trial and saying, "it is good that I am afflicted". "Not just good when you see the good fruit it has wrought, but to say when you are afflicted, 'It is good that I am afflicted'."

We see this type of contentment evidenced in Proverbs 15:6, "In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble". Regardless of the state of the righteous man's house in it he has much treasure. "There is more treasure in the poorest body's house, if he is godly, than in the house of the greatest man in the world, who has his fine hangings and finely-wrought beds and chairs and couches and cupboards of plate and the like. Whatever he has, he has not so much treasure in it as there is in the house of the poorest righteous soul." This should consistently remind us that no matter what lot in life the Lord gives us we still have the greatest treasure; namely Jesus Christ. What a great gift the Father has lavished upon us. We also see evidence of this in the Apostle Paul's life. Who spent many nights naked and hungry, yet was able to say, "possessing all things" (2 Cor. 6:10).

I am again reminded of the quote by Samuel Rutherford that continues to ring in my mind. It is an excellent work. If you do not own it I would suggest clicking on its picture on the sidebar and buying it for $7. It will be worth every penny. The quote is thus: “I would not want the sweet experience of the consolations of God for all the bitterness of affliction; nay, whether God come to his children with a rod or a crown, if he come himself with it, it is well". He then continues by saying, “It is better to be sick, providing Christ come to the bed-side…than to enjoy health, being lusty and strong, and never visited of God.”

I am always a little reluctant to share stories like this. It could have a great effect or it could have adverse ones. The truth is, I would be saying "our great God!" whether this blessing happened or not (or at least I'd hope I would). But as it stands the Lord has shown us His mercy, grace, and power this morning.

As many of you know Nikki and I are having our first child in January. The Lord has blessed us with not only the baby but we have also been able to save up a little, so as to provide for him. As we have had a few expenditure's, our savings and checking both have been dwindling. We found out a couple of weeks ago that a scholarship was not coming through and by today we would have to pay the college $710--wiping out our savings. To add to this, Nikki was almost a felon (she was speeding late for work one morning) her fine is due Monday. I say all of this to say that this morning I was walking over to our secretary to see if I could get an advance on my paycheck because we were a short a few dollars. We were still trusting that God was going to provide, although beginning to get a little scared.

As I began walking to the office our pastor greeted me half way (out in the blistering cold) and gave me a card. I opened it and to my surprise inside the card were 5 Benny Frank's--that's nerd for $500. Wow! Needless to say I did not need to go ask for an advance. This blessing is wonderful and amazing and a great reminder that our Father is very gracious and merciful. Another reminder that he covers over our sin (Nikki's ticket) and lavishes upon us much much more than we deserve. What is even more astonishing is that this is but a glimpse of a glimpse of what awaits us in glory. When the Lord gives us the greatest treasure--Full enjoyment of Himself! I await that day...but until then I'm enjoying His previews before seeing the full feature.

Last night we finished our next to last book on the Minor Prophets--Malachi. We will be doing two messages on Zechariah and then sum it all up with a Christmas message on the Promised King. Then we will kick the New Year off by starting a series on "Being Godly Men and Women". But until then lets take a look back at Malachi.

We listed six different marks of indifference and then gave suggestions on how to battle them.

1. When you are questioning God’s love for you focus on His electing love in redemption.
2. When you are engaging in half-hearted worship focus on God’s awesome character.
3. When you are struggling with infidelity guard yourselves and do not be faithless
4. When you are questioning God’s justice focus on His past fulfillments and future promises
5. When you are selfishly giving half-hearted devotion focus on the storehouse of God’s pleasures.
6. When you lose hope and feel like giving up look to your future redemption or judgment

For all of the details you can find the sermon here: Battling Indifference While We Wait

I am indebted to a dear pastor friend for pointing me to this sermon. I finally today had the time to listen to it (undistracted) for its longevity. I would urge you to do the same. It was preached at the Desiring God 2003 National Conference. The Conference was in honor of Jonathan Edwards and the sermon to which I am referring is by Sam Storms. Dr. Storms has written an excellent book called Pleasures Evermore among others. You can read lots of material for free at http://www.enjoyinggodministries.com

Here is the sermon to which I was referring: Joy's Eternal Increase


P.S. I am trying to put a music playlist on the sidebar--If I get that figured out I will post audio sermons on the sidebar as well

The fifth characteristic (which is the second half of Burroughs original definition) is that Christian contentment is "freely submitting to and taking pleasure in God's disposal". Today (p.8) we will see that there are three things (Burroughs says there are four, but only lists three) to be explained about this "freedom of spirit".

1. The heart is readily brought over. Burroughs simply means that if you really are content and "freely submitting" then it will not take a cattle prod to get you into contentment. Burroughs says that if we really are content then, "as soon as you come to see that it is the hand of God your heart acts readily and closes and once".
2. It is freely, that is, not by constraint. It is not that we "must" be content. We do it with joy. It is also not because of ignorance that we freely submit. If our contentment stems from not knowing any better then it cannot truly be called "free". True freedom comes whenever we "know the condition [we] are in as an afflicted and sad condition, and still [have] a sanctified judgment [to bring our hearts to contentment]."
3. It is in opposition to mere stupidity. This appears to be much the same point as number 2. Burroughs likens this to pinching a man with paralysis and then praising him for his patience and tolerance of bearing such a terrible affliction. He could not feel it, how can you praise him? True contentment is likened to when you can feel the pinch and do not pop the guy in the teeth (my words not Burroughs).

Burroughs then continues with his sixth point and because it is short we will too. He hopes to expound upon what it means to "submit to God's disposal". "The word submit," says Burroughs, "signifies nothing else but 'to send under'". What he means by that is that submitting means to bow yourself before the feet of God. It is when our soul, "can send itself under [bow before] the power and authority and sovereignty and dominion that God has over it." That causes me to ask myself today, am I freely submitting to God's rule? Do I live in proper authority, bowing before God's dominion over me? Does my heart readily submit to His and say, "Have thine own way Lord, Have thine own way"?

Next time we will look take this another step and look at having pleasure in God's disposal.