January 2014 – jtcochran.com

Monthly Archives: January 2014

3 Methods for Centering Small Group Discussions on the Gospel

Small groups are not merely a social environment, though chips and dips, enjoyable conversation and funny antics will take place there. Small groups are not merely group therapy, though therapy does often occur when people gather. Small groups are not merely bible classes, though in-depth study of the Scripture should take place at one.

Small groups should center the Church on the gospel. Do your small group discussions accomplish this purpose? Have you considered how to shape your discussion so that your group is centered on the gospel? Is the gospel the anchor of your small group?

Here are three methods for centering your small group discussions on the gospel.

Establish a Need for the Gospel

Our earliest gospel preachers excelled at confronting their context with the Bible story. In other words they exhibited how the people in their context fell away from God, did not keep his law, required rescue and restoration. They established a need for rescue and restoration; they established a need for the gospel.

For instance, look at Stephen’s message that he preached at his trial before his martyrdom. He refreshes the whole Bible story as it applies to the people listening that day. Stephen presented that Israel now was just like Israel before. At both times Israel was unfaithful to Gods’ promises. This is not just an Israel problem. It is a people problem.

Stephen convicted those present with their guilt of murder. They murdered Christ. They broke God’s Law while under the curse of the fall. We did too. We murdered Christ too. Anyone Adam represents at the fall is guilty of murdering Christ.

You need to do the same thing as Stephen. You need to establish a need for rescue and restoration. Until your small group sees brokenness in themselves and their context they will not need rescue and restoration.

The Bible story conveys God’s faithfulness in spite of humanities unfaithfulness. Small group leaders must covey this to their small group. Shape your questions around the Bible story as it applies to your context. Show your context how they fell from God, disobeyed his law, and need rescue and restoration.

Apply the Gospel to Hearts

Every context has laws to protect people and uphold justice. There are also cultural and social laws that are kept.

We are better law keepers than gospel reclaimers. In other words, we would rather create new laws that overstep the bounds of God’s law rather than reclaim the freedom of the gospel given to us in Christ.

This is no new problem. Paul addresses this problem throughout his letter to the Galatians. He says that the Law is a curse (Gal 3.10). It holds us captive; it imprisons (Gal 3.21).

Paul’s solution to this problem is to apply the gospel to people’s hearts. He proclaims that the gospel frees us from the curse of sin (Gal 3.13). The gospel set us free from imprisonment (Gal 5.1). This is accomplished through justification by faith (Gal 2.16). Faith in Christ sets us free from the law and gives us the gift of the Spirit, which rests in our hearts. “God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts…” (Gal 4.6).

Help your small group think about the laws they keep. Do these laws match God’s law?

Distinguish which ones they should keep and which ones they shouldn’t belabor. Are they more restrictive than God’s law? Does keeping God’s Law conflict with the laws in your context? How are they keeping laws of men rather than the Law of God? God’s law is perfect. Is God’s law authoritative in your context?

We should walk in obedience to God’s law, while at the same time understanding that perfect obedience is impossible. We need the gospel applied to our hearts. How have people rebelled against God’s law? How are they trying to keep a law to earn God’s favor? How does the gospel offer forgiveness and reconciliation?

These and more questions should be asked as a pacemaker to keep our hearts beating in step with the gospel.

Apply the Gospel to the Mission

Establishing a need to apply the gospel to our hearts cannot be fruitless. It must bear fruit. Your small group must apply the gospel to the mission. Quite honestly, this is a simple process. Repeat steps one and two with others. That’s the mission. Go to others in your context or near your context. Establish their need for the gospel. Apply the gospel to their hearts. Watch the Holy Spirit bear spiritual fruit in these peoples’ lives.

Who else needs the gospel in your context? Where must your small group bring the gospel? How will your group extend love to your neighbor and so fulfill the law of the gospel of Christ? “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Gal 5.14).’” “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6.2).”

Jen Thorn. Happily Ever After. Thorn writes a guest post at Time-Warp Wife, the blog of Darlene Schacht.

What happens when reality does not mimic fantasy? What happens when “Prince Charming” turns out to have flaws? What becomes of our romantic dreams when we kiss our groom at the wedding, drive off into the sunset, and shortly after realize that our Prince is actually more like a toad? That he has warts and issues and baggage–just like me. And what happens when we realize that we can’t change him?

Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper $2.99

Kevin DeYoung. Crazy Busy. Reviewed by Andy Johnson.

Tripp Lee. Why I Married a White Girl. (TGC)

Whenever I post pictures of my family on social media, the responses are fun. Most common are “Your son is so handsome!” or “What a beautiful family!” But one of the other frequent responses is “Is your wife white?”

Tim Challies. Work that Makes a Difference.

Work has intrinsic significance because it gives me the opportunity to do something with joy—with joy in the Lord. I can do my work in such a way that it glorifies God, or I can do it in such a way that it dishonors him. Anything I can do to God’s glory has significance. It has great significance!

Ryan Huguley. 11 Issues Impacting Your Preaching.

The longer I preach, the more aware I am of just how many issues impact my preaching. I can study, pray, and prepare hard and still crash and burn on Sunday – I know because I’ve done it. Preparation is paramount, but there are other factors in play.

Here are 11 issues that impact the preacher in no particular order…

Romans 8.28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

“How we think is one of the great determining factors in how we live.” Sinclair Ferguson

“People need to see that the gospel belongs in their workplace, their kitchen, their school, their bedroom, their backyard, and their van.” Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp. How People Change.

3 Suggestions for Shaping Small Group Questions

Crafting small group questions can be a terrifying or terrific task.

Terrifying because you might be worried that your questions will bomb. You know what I mean. You sit in front of a group of friends all nestled up with Bibles in their laps and eager to discuss. Except you just asked a question. Everyone is looking at you blankly. Ten “deer” friends and you without a deer rifle or mobile deer slayer. You killed the discussion.You killed ’em with a question, a poorly shaped question.

On the other hand, a well shaped question can stir a terrific discussion. The question leaps from your lips, swirls around the room like a cool breeze, blowing hair, sending shivers, and chattering teeth. But wait, those chattering teeth are saying something. They’re responding to the question. Not just one person, but multiple people. A conversation ensues. Every once in a while you say something to steer the discussion, but it keeps moving forward. Terrific.

How do you turn the terrifying task of shaping small group questions into a terrific task? Here’s three suggestions.

Ask Questions that Elicit Discussion, Not Responses

Some questions elicit responses. How old are you? None of your business. Can I use the bathroom? I don’t know. Can you? What’s your favorite color? Blue. No. Yellow. Much like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, these kinds of questions send Galahad and your community group into the pit of despair. Avoid questions that elicit responses.

Shape your questions for discussion. What do you think…? How do people feel about…? When someone says such and such, how would you respond? These kind of questions do not invoke one word responses. They encourage people to discuss.

Give People Freedom to Be Wrong and Share Opinions

Small group discussions are not theological and biblical examinations. Yes. A solid lesson will impart knowledge. A group should learn facts about the faith. It is helpful to know about the difference in travel for Paul’s first missionary journey and second missionary journey. The date of the Jerusalem Council is valuable. Understanding why Paul and Peter disputed at this council is important. Knowing when Galatians may have been written and to whom it may have been written will be helpful for understanding the veracity at which Paul defends grace and the gospel.

But don’t let your small group meeting turn into a Scantron examination. Quite honestly your small group members study bible will likely answer many of these questions.

More than learning facts, your group needs to work out its salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2.12). Your small group members need to wrestle with the doctrines of grace. They need to meditate on the depth of the gospel. They need to throttle heresies. They need to burn false teachers and a witch or two if they find them.

To facilitate this, you the leader must foster an environment where people can give an opinion, share a view, and then have robust dialogue on the opinion or view. People will err. They will air wrong views, which is great.

Their views will be gently and lovingly corrected because it is now known. We cannot correct what is not known.

Giving people the freedom to be wrong gives you the freedom to erect guardrails. Your discussion warrants doctrinal guardrails for sure. Without them the discussion will careen off the edge of the autobahn. A small group leader cares about his or her small group discussion more than James Bond cares about his Aston Martin.

Create a Line of Questioning

“I’m not afraid of awkward silence.” Have you ever heard a small group leader say these disparaging words? I’ve sat in breakout sessions where “small group experts” say, “Let the silence settle for up to 2 minutes if no one responds.”

It’s like you’re demanding they make the first move. You’re like a terrorist negotiator waiting for your small groups’ demands. I don’t like this style of leadership personally. It seems condescending and patronizing.

If you agree with me and want to attempt a different approach, try crafting a line of questioning. I craft a bunch of questions about one observation. I essentially hammer the same topic or idea with a series of questions. I’ve found this immensely helpful.

When you drop that first question and no one bites, go right to the next one. Hopefully it clarifies the first question. Often people return to the earlier question because they now have an idea of where you’re going with the discussion.

I find it helpful to see someone else’s work. At least that’s what I told my high school algebra teacher. I kid. I thought I’d share my work from today. Our small group is going through Galatians. We’re starting our second lesson on Galatians 1.6-10.

Gal. 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Gal. 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Here is the series of discussion questions I developed for this lesson:

What are some of the “different gospels” people (“we”) believe today?
Why is it important that Paul emphasizes that believing in a false gospel is not just believing falsely but “abandoning” Christ? How can we emphasize this with others?
What are some ways that we guard against those who cause trouble and distort the gospel? What’s the difference between someone who is misguided and someone who is malicious?
Verses 8 and 9 are strong statements. Evaluate evangelicalism. Who or what groups are this aggressive? Who isn’t? Why?
What distinguishes verses 9 and 10? Is this significant? Why or why not?
Verse 10 initiates an important introspective question to always ask. What tempts us towards man’s approval? Ultimately, what are we giving up when we look for man’s approval?
Reflect back on verses 1-5. Discuss the gospel with another person in this community group. What is the gospel? How has the gospel changed you? How is the gospel changing you?

What other well shaped questions may I ask? Should I throw any of these out? After all, you never know how well a question will work until you pull the trigger and ask the question.

Comment before Thursday night. Otherwise, I’ve hit the point of no return.

Gloria Furman. Dear 6 a.m. Self. Gloria Furman has launched a new blog that will be replacing Domestic Kingdom. I recommend adding this blog to your reading list. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

Good morning! Yes, sleepyhead, it really is morning already. I know you feel like you just fell asleep and…Hey, wait! I know you’ve got things to do, but you need to hear this first. Hold onto your skateboard, McFly, because I’ve got a message for you from the future. Yes, the future. Here’s the message: Because of Jesus Christ you are going to be running headlong into God’s future grace all morning. All day. For the rest of your life. And six trillion years from now.

Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas $3.99

Alan P Stanley. Four Views on the Roles of Works at the Final Judgment. (TGC) Reviewed by David Schrock.

J D Greear, Andy Davis and David Helm. Young Pastor, Here’s What I Wish I’d Known. (HT TGC)

Young Pastor, Here’s What I Wish I’d Known from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo .

Joe Thorn. Why Do We Do That?.

In our worship program (bulletin, Order of Service, Missional Framework for Gospel Centered Communal Experience… or whatever you like to call it) we not only include the complete liturgy , but also a section titled, “Why Do We Do That?” This is a couple paragraphs explaining a different aspect of our worship each week. With people coming from different Christian traditions, or no Christian background at all, we believe it’s important to explain why we do what we do on the Lord’s Day. We are still writing them, but here are the ones we use so far.

Zach Neilsen. How to Avoid a Cult of Personality. (TGC)

Only our admiration of Jesus could never be misplaced or excessive. So perhaps the best way to avoid a cult of personality in your ministry is to actively pursue creating a cult of personality for someone else, namely Jesus.

Sam Storms. Remembering S Lewis Johnson Jr. This is a deeply personal tribute from Sam Storms to S Lewis Johnson on the 10th anniversary of when Johnson entered glory.

Lewis Johnson was the epitome of a southern gentleman. Raised in South Carolina, he didn’t tolerate well social improprieties or the vulgar behavior or rude and discourteous ways of young men he encountered. Every time I sat down in his presence I was prepared for a loving rebuke, a gentle correction, and to this day I cherish every word he spoke and every exhortation he gave me.

Psalm 9.9 “The Lord is the stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.”

“As the image on the seal is stamped upon the wax, so the thoughts of the heart are printed upon the actions.” Stephen Charnock

“Maybe you can only survive so long on a self-help diet. Eventually you get pretty sick of yourself. A biblical understanding of God-big beyond description, active, perfectly holy-tasts much better than junk-food pop psychology.” Collin Hansen. Young, Restless, Reformed.

Leading the Church Through Grief of Sin (9 Marks Guest Post)

Repentant Christians grieve sin. They remember times of iniquity. A place, person or conversation can trigger these memories.

Driving to visit my parents, I pass a house where, as a teenager, I gathered with other teens to engage in sin.

Or, my Facebook feed updates me about a guy that I bullied in high school.

Or, my daughter remarked when learning the fifth commandment, “Dad, you’ve always honored your mother and father, haven’t you?” Yeah, right.

All these things, when I stop to consider them, cause grief.

Surely, the Christian life is filled with the joy of forgiven sin. Yet that joy can only grow out of the soil of sadness, a sadness that results from reflecting on our betrayals of God and others, present and past.

If you are a pastor, one of your jobs is to teach and lead your congregation in grieving sin. Do you?

We grieve sin because God grieves sin. The Prophets are filled with the Father’s groans over his people’s sin. Isaiah tells us the Holy Spirit grieves sin ( Is 63.10 ; also, Eph. 4.30 ). The Son came to bear humanities grief: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrow” ( Is. 53:4 ). And we see him weeping over Lazarus’ death and grieving the sins of Jerusalem.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT 9 MARKS…

Aimee Byrd. Keeping It Real. (Reformation 21) “We often confuse the raw, here and now, recognizable situation as the true and authentic. But there is only one person who is authentic, Jesus Christ. And the truth is we need a preservative of sorts to reach holiness.”

One with Christ by Marcus Peter Johnson $4.99

James Anderson. What’s Your Worldview. Reviewed by Aaron Armstrong.

John Piper. Don’t Waste Your Theological Education. HT Denny Burk

Brett McCracken. Has ‘Authenticity’ Trumped Holiness?. (TGC) “Evangelicalism—both on the individual and institutional level—is trying hard to purge itself of a polished veneer that smacked of hypocrisy. But by focusing on brokenness as proof of our “realness” and “authenticity,” have evangelicals turned “being screwed up” into a badge of honor, its own sort of works righteousness? Has authenticity become a higher calling than, say, holiness?”

J D Greear. Can You Worship While You Work? . “When someone thinks about their work being “Christian,” all kinds of disturbing images come to mind.”

Mez McConnell. The Importance of Good Research for Church Planting Ministry. “Most planters are fine with getting facts and figures off the internet and spouting them to anybody who will listen in an effort to look like they know what they’re doing. But the hard work is done on the ground, among the community, by talking to people and, more importantly, listening to what they have to say.”

Psalm 41.3 “The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.”

“Pure thoughts cannot produce evil deeds.” Augustine

“A man listening for a call is never a man sitting still. A key sign of the summons is godly ambition that’s being channeled into action.” Dave Harvey. Am I Called?.

Thomas Watson on The Bible

Thomas Watson’s The Bible is a rich, rich read on keeping the Scripture close to our hearts, minds and upon our lips. This Puritan classic is bound with Samuel Bolton’s The Closet and printed by Sprinkle Publications.

The word is a jewel; it adorns the hidden man, and shall we not remember it? If the word stays not in the memory, it cannot profit…Meditation is the concoction of Scripture; reading brings a truth into our head, meditation brings it into our heart; reading and meditation, like Castor and Pollux, must appear together. Meditation without reading is erroneous; reading without meditation is barren. The bee sucks the flower, and then works it into the hive, and so turns it into honey; by reading we suck the flower of the word, by meditation we work it into the hive of our mind, and so it turns to profit…Come to the reading of Scripture with humble hearts; acknowledge how unworthy you are that God should reveal himself in his word to you.”

Get the book direct from Sprinkle Publications here .

Candice Watters. Can You Have Too Many Babies? (CBMW) This is a compelling interview that every couple should read.

Promises of Grace by Bryan Chapell $2.99

Kyle Tennant. Unfriend Yourself. Reviewed by Jason Brueckner (BraveReviews)

How to Handle Discouragement in Ministry. HT TGC

How to Handle Discouragement in Ministry from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo .

Jeremy Writebol. When People Can’t Listen. (GCD) “Often in Christian leadership and discipleship, I am stuck with the challenge of people who just don’t get it. I spend time counseling and encouraging them. I point them again and again to the Word of God and the good news of Jesus, but they just won’t respond.”

Jared Rankin. Why Gospel-Motivated Modesty Works. (Christianity.com) “A Christian view of modesty starts with the gospel…”

Albert Mohler. Intellectual Discipleship? Faithful Thinking for Faithful Living. “Christian faithfulness requires the conscious development of a worldview that begins and ends with God at its center. We are only able to think as Christians because we belong to Christ; and the Christian worldview is, in the end, nothing more than seeking to think as Christ would have us to think, in order to be who Christ would call us to be.”

Lam 3.33 “For He does not afflict from His heart or grieve the children of men.”

“My entire theology can be condensed into four words: ‘Jesus Died for Me.'” C H Spurgeon

“We have been shaped in the Shaper’s image.” N D Wilson. Death by Living.

Bobby Jamieson. Nobody Gets the Church They Want. (9Marks) “You may not bring a checklist and clipboard when you show up at church, but we all bring a want-list…Whatever might be on your list, I can guarantee this: not everything on your list is on God’s.”

One Church, Four Generations by Gary McIntosh $3.99

John Frame. An Introduction to Christian Belief. Reviewed by Nate Claiborne.

David Platt. Helping Someone through a Salvation Experience. “But how should we handle these moments on a practical level? What should we say and what should we do when God grants us the privilege of harvesting a new follower of Christ?”

Andy Naselli. 3 Tips for Better Bible Reading. (DG) Helpful tips and cool informative info graphic on how long it takes to read each book of the Bible.

Sam Storms. Why I Am a Continuationist. (TGC) Sam Storms provides his biblical and experiential position on spiritual gifts.

Thomas Schreiner. Why I Am a Cessationist. (TGC) “I am not writing on this topic because I have the final answer on spiritual gifts, for the matter is difficult and Christians who love God and the Bible disagree. Readers should know that Sam Storms and I are friends.”

Job 6.14 “He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”

“To be either true or useful, theology must be a passion.” A H Strong

“It reminds us that the formative theology of Christianity was forged not simply and not primarily under attack from without, but as a wrestling of Christian with Christian.” James D G Dunn. Theology of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians.

Being called to a leadership role can be intimidating, even daunting. When I was a younger man than I am now — I am still pretty young — Dallas Seminary called upon me to manage the dining department of the school. At first I was exhilarated. I got to balance a budget, design a cafe, lead a staff and stimulate table fellowship among our staff, faculty and student body.

Then I realized I had to do these things. I felt pressure weighing in on all sides. Budgets are tough to wrangle; cafes require a lot of detail; staff don’t always like to work; some people just don’t want table fellowship.

After two weeks of feeling the weight, I found myself dry heaving in the bathroom. I hunched down on the ground in that bathroom next to my little cubicle. I cried out to God and called my wife to cry to her too. It doesn’t matter if God is calling you to hospitality/food service or pastoral ministry. Regardless, being called by God to a leadership role is weighty.

But before we get too discouraged about leadership, let’s reflect on God’s design for leadership. Who are leaders? What do they do? Why do they do it?

We’re going to discover that a called leader receives his call from God to represent God and carry out responsibilities for God. So we must remember this before all else. If you’re called to lead, then God is going to equip you to withstand the weight and anxieties that accompany your leadership role.

Some form of the word “call” appears over 700 times in the Old and New Testament. There is a wide field of meaning to this term. It could be that someone calls upon God, or a place or person may be called by a name. However, our interest is when God commissions a person to serve Him and carry out His mission.

This term can be applied corporately, not just individually. The nation of Israel was called to be a “kingdom of priests (Ex. 19.6).” The Church in the New Testament is referred as a called collection of saints (Rom 1.6-7; 1 Cor 1.2).

God will also call on individuals to serve Him. Here are some of the more notable ones whom God called: Abraham (Gen 12), Moses (Ex 3-4), David (1 Sam 16), Isaiah (Isa 6.8), Jesus (Matt 2.15; Lk 6.13), Paul (Acts 13.2), you.

Yes you. If you are one of God’s children, you have been called by Him. In fact Hebrews 3.1 refers to your calling as a heavenly calling. You’ve been called by the grace of God (Gal 1.15). You’ve been called because God finds you desirable (Mk 3.13). You’ve been called because God knows you and decided to possess you for Himself (Jn 10.3, 14).

You are called by God. This initial call that you receive can be referred to as your gospel call. You are first and foremost called to God Himself as one of His adopted sons.

But what is the purpose of your calling? Primarily you are to represent God and serve God.

As God’s called we first and foremost say something to others about God; we represent Him. When God sent Abraham to a land that he would show him, God promised to make Abraham great. Why? Because the world would recognize the greatness of God through Abraham.

Moses went to Pharaoh and represented God by telling Pharaoh God’s will. Pharaoh must set God’s people free from captivity. When Pharaoh looked upon Moses, he viewed him like God, just as God intended (Ex 7.1).

David represented God as being the visible leader and rule of God on earth to the Israelites. David was God’s choice in a ruler. David’s role was to internalize God’s Word and live it before the people (Deut 17).

In reference to Deuteronomy 17 and Kings who hide themselves in the Word, Thomas Watson in The Bible and the Closet said, “He must not leave off reading, till he left on reigning.” (14) This Watson said because reading “is the best means to usher in the fear of the Lord.” (15) Kings and leaders not only represent God but they are an example of how to approach God. God’s ambassadors approach Him with humility, fear and awe.

Jesus is the full consummation of God’s representation. He is fully God and fully man. According to Hebrews 3.1 Jesus is an apostle. He is sent by God to represent God’s will and person. Hebrews 3.1 also indicates that Jesus is a priest. He mediate for humanity to God representing humanity as the perfect Adam and sufficient sacrifice. Jesus is the presentation of God’s representation on earth.

Then there is Paul, you and me. All three, as said above, are called as sons of God. Hebrews 3.1 refers to those of the heavenly calling as a holy brethren. They are a holy brethren because they await adoption into sonship alongside their big brother, Jesus, if they hold fast to their calling (Rom 8.23).

Obviously, I’m making an assumption here. If you’re reading this and you don’t know Jesus, get to know Him. Read His Word. I pray that God’s Word penetrates your heart and God’s Holy Spirit regenerates your heart.

We hear so much about servant-leadership these days that this kind of leadership overshadows another valuable kind of leadership, sonship-leadership. Hebrews 3.1-6 contrasts two characters: Moses and Jesus. Moses is a faithful servant. Jesus is the faithful Son.

Hebrews 3 in no way diminishes Moses or his role. Rather, it points out how faithful of a servant he was. There is much that we can learn from Moses. Yet, Jesus is elevated far above Moses as being God’s Son.

As leaders we need to recognize that we are not just servants of God. We bear a greater dignity than mere service. We are adopted Sons of God (Rom 8.15; Gal 4.5; Eph 1.5). Thus, we represent God to everyone we serve and lead. By out attitude and actions we tell people who we think God is.

Carry Out Responsibilities

Primarily a leader has three responsibilities as identified in Scripture: glorify God, preach Christ and serve Christ. These three responsibilities are fulfilled through ones relationship with their family and their vocation.

A leader must glorify God. Jonathan Edwards gave as his first of seventy resolutions this: “Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration; without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence.” May our hearts echo this resolution so that our lives might live “to the praise of His glory (Eph 1.12).”

A leader must preach Christ (1 Cor 1.23). By preach Christ I mean that we proclaim Him to others and rehearse the gospel to ourselves. We preach Christ to our family, co-workers, brother and sisters in Christ and every one of our neighbors. We are all evangelists and are called to do the work of making disciples.

A leader must serve Christ (Col 3.24). By his actions, a leader tells others a lot about his calling. Servanthood shines through well in the home and at one’s work. A leader who is living up to their calling will serve their spouse and their children well. They will be obedient workman.

Implications of a Leader’s Call

Leaders must lead without reluctance. They must be fervent about their call. Fervency is an important mark of a leader who is walking in obedience to his call. Moses was reluctant at first, if you recall. However, God equipped Moses for the task. He obeyed and led the people from captivity and through the wilderness.

Jonah is another example of reluctance. He was resistant to follow God’s call for him to proclaim God’s judgment over Nineveh. If you’re called by God to do a task and are reluctant, know that God will have His way with you. Just like he did with Moses and Jonah.

Leaders must lead respectfully. In other words, they must be obedient to their call from God. They must respect the caller who has called them. Likewise, leaders must lead respectably. They must be worthy of the call that they received from God.

Are you being faithful? Are you serving well? When people see you do they say that person represents God and carries out his responsibilities well. These are all indicators of whether that person is respectful and respectable to their calling.

I hope lingering over all these implications is that those who have a heavenly calling tell much about the one who has called them. Dave Harvey in Am I Called? says, “In an infinitely more profound way, our call to ministry, just like our call to salvation, ultimately says little about us and a great deal about the Caller.” (35)

Jon Bloom. Relentlessly Call Abortion What It Really Is. (DG) Pointed article. “Abortion is the intentional killing of unborn children.”

I Am a Church Member by Thom Rainer $3.99

Jason Meyer. Preaching: A Biblical Theology. Reviewed by Mitchell Chase. (TGC)

Kevin DeYoung, Richard Phillips and Bryan Chapell discuss Justification and Sanctification. (HT Matt Smethurst and TGC)

Justification and Sanctification: What’s the Problem? from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo .

David Murray. 7 Tips on Teaching and Preaching the Old Testament. (Christward Collective) You’re gonna want to clip this article for future reference. Preaching gold here.

Elisha Galloti. An Invisible Identity. (CBMW) “The unseen, invisible identity that we have in Christ will never change, even through death itself.”

Galatians 5.24 “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

“If your theology doesn’t change your behavior it will never change your destiny.” C H Spurgeon

“Therefore, every time we make a mess of things, we must go back to grace by going back to the Word of God.” Todd Wilson. Galatians (Preach the Word).

3 Reasons to Develop Small Group Study Questions First

I’ve been invited to lead small group discussions for a season in our community group at Church. Whenever I practice a discipline that I have not practiced for some time, I reflect on the process.

Facilitating a discussion is like riding a bike for me. I often do it without thinking about what I am doing. I’m grateful that this is the case. It took a dozen years of blunders, awkward silence, or perplexed looks from others to get to this place.

When I was a high school pastor, I did not lead a discussion for four years, except when a leader turned up sick or if a group was short-handed. This scenario happened four times in four years.

Though I rarely led a group, I visited a small group or two each week. I contributed to the discussion. If necessary, I steered the discussion to a helpful direction or line of inquiry. In the process, I observed over 30 different men and women facilitate discussions. I learned a lot from them, and I got to coach them as well.

One lesson that we all learned over the years of facilitating discussions is the importance of crafting excellent questions. Excellent questions lead to laudable discussions.

As I’ve equipped leaders to develop better questions, I’ve found a common blunder that teachers make. They study the passage before they draft questions for discussion.

They get out a Bible, reference books, commentaries and tear the passage apart. They make many observations. They see what everyone has to say about the passage. Then they tailor their discussion questions around answers that they want people to give.

Unfortunately this is a recipe for small group discussion misery.

The leader asks a question like, “When was this letter written?” Of course nobody is prepared for that question. And it’s unlikely that you have a community group of bible college studs. Though on occasion, you are blessed with someone who has vast knowledge in the biblical arena. The common person is not going to have memorized when each of Pauls’ letters was written.

The teacher is then confounded by stunned silence. He sure is glad that he spent two hours developing an infographic of all Pauls’ letters, specifically putting the letter of note in bolded distinctive font and elevated above the rest.

The study continues on in the same manner. Point blank question. Stunned silence. Groping for answer. “Jesus.” Yes. Finally. Community Group 1. Community Group Leader 7. Every community group gets a “Jesus” answer once in a while.

Develops a Level Playing Ground

The best way to prevent this scenario is to first develop the study questions without studying the answers. Then you’re playing on level ground with your community group.

At the point of your discussion, your community group has not studied the passage. You can’t make any assumptions about their knowledge of the passage.

However, if you study the passage first and then draft questions, you’ll make all sorts of assumptions about the knowledge that people will have of the passage. It’s now common knowledge to you. You’ll be tempted to assume it is common knowledge to everyone. Your questions will become more obscure than they otherwise would have been.

Develops Most Centered Questions

Developing study questions before studying the passage will help you develop the most centered questions to ask. They are the questions most pertinent for your own study, aren’t they? Isn’t that what you want your community group to take away from a study? I assume so.

When we don’t dive into a passage and tear it apart, but spend a little time asking questions of the text, we will find ourselves exploring what most resonates with our hearts, needs and concerns. We will ask the questions we want answered most. We will look for the central point of the passage. We will explore our most imperative takeaway.

Last, developing study questions before studying the passage will help you develop broad questions.

For instance, this week at community group I will ask, “What does it mean to be an apostle? Why is it significant that Paul was sent by God and not men in Galatians 1.1?” This is a note-worthy question. Properly understanding Paul’s theology of apostleship will form our philosophy of ministry. We will approach ministry not as a recruiter for our pastor or church but as a commissioned saint of God. Two very different approaches.

Had I studied the passage before drafting this question, it’s likely I would have come up with a question like, “Where were Paul and Barnabas set apart for missions?” There is a trivial sense in which that factoid is helpful. And I bet, if you studied a passage about Paul’s apostleship, you’d want to be able to feed that factoid to your group.

Acts 13.2 is important for embracing Paul’s theology of apostleship. This text evidences that the Holy Spirit set apart Barnabas and Saul. But, it’s not worthy of drilling your group with this question. It is a question that goes nowhere.

I’m sure there are more solid reasons for developing study questions before studying a passage, but those are the three most critical ones to me. Next time you prepare a small group study, try this method. Develop your study questions first, then develop your study. You might be surprised by how better prepared for your lesson you are and how responsive your group is to your discussion questions.

Kevin DeYoung. An Extended Debate about the Meaning and the Truth of Calvinism. Why do we love to debate Calvinism? DeYoung Discusses.

A Theology of Christian Counseling by Jay Adams $3.79

Myron B Penner. The End of Apologetics. Reviewed by Nate Claiborne.

James Dunn Interview with Eerdman’s about the Oral Gospel Tradition. HT Eerdman’s

David Murray. 21 Reasons Why You Don’t Want to be a Seminary Professor. Read it. It’ll change your glamorous perspective of seminary professors and invigorate your love for pastoral ministry. And Murray’s follow up, in case you got too disillusioned, 10 Benefits of Being a Seminary Professor.

Tim Brister. Evidences You Are Living in Gospel Community. Tweetable thoughts about gospel community.

Marc Cortez. Sometime You Just Have to Land the Plane. Cortez gives three reasons whey we need to take theological stands on issues. “They [students] enjoy reading, thinking, and debating about difficult theological issues, but when it comes to taking a clear stand on what they think, they hold back.”

Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

“Our errors in theology are rooted in our pride and our slothfulness.” R C Sproul

“Let us teach people that is exactly where God wants us to be through all eternity, going ever deeper in debt to grace.” John Piper. Brothers, We Are Not Professional.

Don’t Waste Your Blog Presence (On Expository Blogging)

I stay in touch with what is written within the Christian blogging community. This is a pleasure I enjoy. I love engaging in the conversation and bantering with others.

There is so much benefit for this practice. It sharpens my thinking and communication. It also helps me see the trends and movements.

Occasionally I reflect on what I perceive as glaring weaknesses of the blogosphere. One of which that I have recently pondered is the lack of extant expositional writing. If I were to isolate one aspect of the Christian blogging community that must be improved upon in the coming year it is the need for expositional writing.

In other word, I would love to see more posts or series that engage Scripture and teach the main point of a text. I would enjoy a series where a blogger expositionally tackles a book of the Bible and blogs through that book. I think the digital community would benefit from such study.

Yes. I am bringing two words together that I doubt many have put together in their brains let alone on paper or pixels. This is a post about expository blogging. Not expository preaching. Though many posts need to be written about that as well.

A post about expository blogging. Sounds novel. Doesn’t it? Or even absurd. But it’s not!

Expository blogging ought to be the most natural type of blogging for a Christian writer. I mean, if it is for a preacher, why would it not be the case for a writer? Yet, for whatever the case, expository blogging is not the hot thing to do on the web.

This kind of writing would be in contrast to the en vogue approaches like writing practical living tips, championing theological soap boxes, or responding to public issues. All of which, in my estimation, consists of the corpus of current blogosphere content.

I don’t know of any expositional blogging series. If you know of one, let me know. I want to read it.

If we prefix a post with an arabic numeral, we’re told that we will get readers. So, here is 5 tips to build small groups or 3 sure fire ways to communicate effectively. These posts, though helpful and often biblically insightful, follow a methodology borrowed from the world.

These are the proven and acceptable practices of blogging that leverages search engine optimization and reaches an array of readership, which by the way are all measured by current patterns. If those patterns were to change, so would the laws that govern what works.

What if a bunch of bloggers got the word “Galatians” or “grace” trending on google? That’d be grand!

We love to strike the nerve of a theological pet peeve. In most cases we are preaching to the choir. All of our readers heartily agree. They stroke their chins, purse their lips and nod in assent as they read the deconstruction of the New Perspective, the bankruptcy of prosperity preaching, or the semi-pelagianism of arminianism.

We respond to a public issue. We join the outcry against abortion. We are flummoxed by the healthcare system. We wax eloquently about what outrageous thing was said at a recent national conference.

No doubt we critique public issues in distinct biblical fashion. But are we making the most of what we can with the interweb? Are we doing a good thing with our blog presence or the best thing? Are me making much of God with our blog presence?

As Christians, if we believe that the best way to preach the gospel and teach the Scripture is to do so expositionally, then why don’t we do so very often on the world-wide-web? Why do we not feel compelled to communicate biblical content through this medium with this strategy? What about this medium changes the governances of communicating the gospel? This is a peculiar question worth pondering.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t respond to public issues, police theology, or produce practical posts. I am saying that we should supplement all of this writing with the staple of a spiritual diet — the gospel proclaimed through the Word exposited.

In other words, don’t waste your blog presence.

All that said…stay tuned for a dose of expository blogging coming your way.

Anthony Bradley. MLK, Jim Crow, and the Rule of Law. (Acton) A personal piece from Dr. Bradley that reflects on where we’ve come from and how far we’ve come, from the perspective of Bradley’s parents, as a society and how legislation has changed as a result of the dedication and voice of MLK.

What Is the Meaning of Sex? Denny Burk $4.99

T D Jakes. Let It Go: Forgive So You Can Be Forgiven. Reviewed by John Power.

T D Jakes. Reposition Yourself: Living Life without Limits. Reviewed by Steven Harris.

Andy Crouch. What I Wish My Pastor Knew About…The Life of a Scientist (3 Part Series). (BioLogos) I found this series insightful. Every pastor and church member should read this series as they consider how to serve and encourage the scientists in their biblical community.

Thabiti Anyabwile. Accepting My Alternative Lifestyle. “Truly, the Christian is the one living the ‘alternative lifestyle.’”

R C Sproul. What’s the Difference Between the Ontological and the Economic Trinity. A quick doctrinal lesson on the trinity.

Matthew 24.12 “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.”

“If we pursue theological knowledge for its own sake, it is bound to go bad on us. It will make us proud and conceited.” J I Packer

“All the power and status which the Son has is as a result of the Father’s determination.” Simon Gathercole. The Preexistent Son: Recovering the Christologies of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Timothy Keller on Well-Conceived Vision

In Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City Timothy Keller discloses the building blocks of a well-concevied vision.

Between one’s doctrinal beliefs and ministry practices should be a well-conceived vision for how to bring the gospel to bear on the particular cultural setting and historical moment. This is something more practical than just doctrinal beliefs but much more theological than “how-to steps” for carrying out a particular ministry. Once this vision is in place, with its emphases and values, it leads church leaders to make good decisions on how to worship, disciple, evangelize, serve and engage culture in their field of ministry — whether in a city, suburb, or small town.

Jared Wilson. In Praise of Fat Pastors. As always, Jared points us to what matters most when we think about self-image and self-perception.

Kingdom, Come! by Philip Graham Ryken $3.99

Trevin Wax. Gospel-Centered Teaching. Reviewed by Aaron Armstrong.

Barnabas Piper. Seven Standards for Good Writing. Barnabas discusses “good” writing. He says, “How can I call an opinion about a subjective form wrong? Well, because there are standards by which I can argue. Yes, each standard is open for debate, but combine them all and a sieve of sorts is formed to sift the poor works and let through the quality ones.” Then he goes on to give 7 standards of good writing.

Brandon Smith. Porn and Future Marriage. Smith talks to young unmarried men candidly about porn addition and how it will affect their future marriage.

Derek Rishmawy. The Beauty of the Impassible God. Rishmawy defends the historic and orthodox attribute of God’s impassibility against the influential and popularized views broadcasted today.

Luke 24.32 “They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures.'”

“The price of theological integrity, like that of liberty, is eternal vigilance.” Timothy George

“God is the most important person in a marriage. Marriage is for our good, but it is first for God’s glory.” Dave Harvey. When Sinner Say “I Do”.

Three Guys, God and a Cafe

After a twenty minute drive through wet roads and fluffy snowflakes Tom shifted his green, midwest weathered, compact sedan into park and said, “Let’s pray before we go in.”

God’s moving Tom to pray for, preach to and serve the city of Naperville, a West suburb of Chicago. He’s just getting started. Some days Tom has all the confidence in the world for what God is calling him to do. Sometimes he’s just flat out nervous, even terrified. Navigating the emotions of church planting is a war waged hourly.

It’s not easy starting something from nothing. But that’s what God is in the business of doing. Out of nothing he called creation into existence. And He calls some men to mimic His ex-nihilo creative work by establishing Churches out of nothing, except from a carbon-based vessel filled with the breath of God, His Spirit and His vision to make His name acclaimed.

Seemingly nothing significant was said. Our words were a meager offering to God. At times we groaned to find the words to utter. In other moments God stirred our conviction to articulate the fearful and noble task we would do next.

Closing in prayer we sighed almost in unison.

“Let’s see what God does next,” Tom furtively said.

We walked into a kitschy cafe. A woman’s touch clearly filled the walls with a chaotic yet intentional collection of picture, mirros, and Kirkland wall pieces. The mismatch collection of furnishing from area garage sales would be where are bottoms rest. College coffee shop, New England feel, suburb smarts. Hipster haven.

We got filtered brew. Black. I had a santa cup. No whipped cream to finish his hat. The jovial barista quizzed us. Not about what we were doing or how we found this local secret. He wanted to offer a 10% discount if we answered his 80’s Trivial Pursuit card. I guessed Eva Gabor, but Nikita Kruschev gave a dog to JFK. No discount for this guy.

We sat. We waited. We worked. Laptops, Bible and neurons firing. Then Bob walked up. God moved.

“Oh Joey, this is Bob,” Tom said. “He took me home from the airport a couple weeks ago. I invited him here to talk about the Lord.”

Bob sat down and work turned to relationship. We opened the Bible and studied a Psalm. We discussed the brokenness of man and steadfastness of God’s love. We bore one another’s burdens. Each of us came from brokenness. Each of us are presently experiencing God’s mercy and steadfast love.

Others around had their curiosity stirred. When we parted ways, the staff cheerfully wished us farewell and invited us to return.

Two guys entered a cafe with God. Three guys, perhaps more, God blessed in that cafe.

N D Wilson. The Dark-Tinted, Truth-Filled Reading List We Owe Our Kids. (CT) Stories can teach about real-life evil — and the God who overcomes it.

The Art of Prophesying by William Perkins $2.99

Francis Spufford. Unapologetic. Reviewed by Derek Rishmawy.

Jared Oliphint. Mortifying the Fear of Academic Books. (TGC) Simply put, don’t be intimidated by academic works. Read them says Oliphint. They are pertinent to life.

Jake Meador. Are Millennials Joining High Church Tradition. (MereOrthodoxy) Many say Millennials are exiting mainstream evangelicalism for high church. Is this true? How is it measurable? Meador provides perceptive comments.

Frank Turk. An Open Letter to T4G. (Pryromaniacs) I don’t think Turk has heartburn about T4G. We need to hear him out. Thanks for this valuable open letter.

Matthew 10.37 “Whoever loves father or mother greater than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter greater than me is not worthy of me.”

“Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my durations; without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence.” Jonathan Edwards

“If our leaders are not passionately driven by the right beliefs, we are headed for disaster.” Albert Mohler. Conviction to Lead .

A Praying Life by Paul Miller

Paul Miller. A Praying Life . Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2009. 280 pp. $14.99.

Books on prayer are plentiful.

Some have a theological bent. They focus on the function and outworking of prayer. They explore God’s will, Christ’s mediation, and the Holy Spirit’s work in prayer. They discuss models of revelation and what models function today.

Then other books attend to the history of prayer. They give biographical sketches of prayer warriors or movements undergird by faithful prayer.

Then there is the practitioner’s guide to prayer. A Praying Life by Paul Miller is best characterized within this category. If you are looking for a biblically solid resource that guides you to develop the practice of prayer, A Praying Life is that resource. Lay people, pastors or academics will value this book.

I’m not saying that this book lacks a robust practical theology. On the contrary, this book is fashioned from a framework of solid doctrine. Conveying a theology is simply not the focus of A Praying Life . The focus is to stir us to practice prayer.

Paul Miller directs seeJesus.net, a discipling mission that develops interactive Bible studies. He is the father of 6 children and is married to Jill. His life is sodden with prayer.

This book has five parts: Part 1 – Learning to Pray Like a Child, Part 2 – Learning to Trust Again, Part 3 – Learning to Ask Your Father, Part 4 – Living in Your Father’s Story, Part 5 – Praying In Real Life.

What I liked most about A Praying Life is that Paul Miller uses story to captivate our desire to pray. His ardent practice of prayer, illustrated through story, stirs us to pursue the discipline.

This book is riddled with praise stories from Miller’s life. In this sense, A Praying Life is a biographical sketch of a present day prayer warrior. We learn much about Miller’s marriage and role as a parent.

Part 4 – Living in Your Father’s Story illuminates why narrative is such a pivotal strength of A Praying Life . God uses prayer to unite His story with our story. “The act of prayer draws God into my life and changes me, the prayer, in subtle ways.” (2145)

The most moving element of this book is the narrative of Paul and Jill’s prayer life involving their daughter Kim. Kim was born with autism, yet it took years for the Miller’s to ascertain this. Unable to verbally communicate and difficult to comply, possibly related to slow communication development, Paul and Jill focused much attention on Kim. Following their prayer journey with and for Kim is deeply encouraging to any parent and especially speaks to families that have children with a similar condition.

Beyond this narrative and other narratives involving his 6 children, Miller imparts helpful truth to praying parents. The role of parent teaches us our helplessness. In parenting we surrender control to the providence of God. Prayer is how we demonstrate this.

Miller reminds us, “Mature Christians are keenly aware that they can’t raise their kids…Even if they are perfect parents, they still can’t get inside their kids’ hearts.” (828) Only God changes hearts and appealing to God through prayer to change a heart is a legitimate effort.

Fear not young people, singles or those married without children. You won’t feel out of place reading A Praying Life . Miller incorporates not just his stories but stories of other’s, including his childrens’ stories. This book speaks to anyone in any stage of life.

A Praying Life provides a respectable approach to prayer. Prayer is not a magic genie. Miller says, “Prayer is meant to be the conversation where your life and your God meet.” (240) He offers a number of re-orienting concepts for our prayer life.

Practicing prayer is a life-long endeavor; practicing prayer requires dependency; practicing prayer is approached through a child-like spirit; practicing prayer is best done when we approach God just as we are and not where we think he expects us to be. These principles and more re-orient the focus of prayer from getting a result from God to meeting in relationship with God.

Cultural Cynicism and Prayer

In Part 2 – Learning to Trust Again Miller’s cultural exegesis regarding cynicism is astute. The cynical undercurrent of society not just quenches prayer life but it is the enemy’s effort to quench spiritual life.

A hearty prayer life, according to Miller, provides wariness towards the enemy and our sinful disposition. He describes a praying life as one that maintains cautious optimism – “caution because of the Fall, optimism because of redemption.” (1128)

This book furnishes a method for prayer in Part 5 – Praying in Real Life. I do not refer to a model like adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication, though Miller discusses these. In fact he cautions against this and similar models because they can become rote.

I refer to something more base, a system for organizing and administrating your prayer life. Miller explains his simple system. He creates prayer cards for each person in his family. He also prepares cards for others. This creates a simple way for him to keep track of prayer requests and to retire requests when fitting. These cards create a “prayer snapshot” of a life, event, or ministry.

His model, if nothing else, stimulates thought on creating one’s own system or adopting a system for prayer. Miller’s point is not to give us “the” way to pray, but to provide a help and encouragement. His main aim is to stimulate people to practice prayer.

I have been weak at practicing private prayer. You could say that my prayer closet’s condition prior to reading A Praying Life is similar to the wardrobe in Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , at least as portrayed in the movie adaptation. A white cloth to protect from dust covered my prayer closet; my prayer closet door creaked.

This book refreshed my earnestness for prayer. It will refresh your earnestness for prayer too. Let’s be diligent to sustain this practice. Go get refreshed by A Praying Life by Paul Miller.

This is an honest review of A Praying Life published by NavPress. Read more book reviews from jtcochran.com here . This book can be found at Amazon.

Jared Wilson. The Preciousness of Jesus. “All gifts are wasted if they don’t adorn the Giver.”

Spectacular Sins by John Piper $2.99

Michael Bird. Evangelical Theology. (TGC) Reviewed by Matthew Barrett.

Brian Croft. Can my church have a pastoral internship, even if we have no money or resource? Croft shares how his church bring interns in for four months for a crash course on pastoral ministry. This requires giving the church and pastor some of his time to serve them.

Erik Raymond. How Will the Church Survive? (Christianity.com) “Question: How can a church survive amid the rapidly changing world around us? Answer: Do what surviving churches have always done.”

Larry Olmstead. Chick-fil-A’s signature sandwich trumps fast-food competition. (USA Today) HT Scot McKnight “Chick-fil-A is a Southern institution that has quietly become part of the dining fabric of the entire country.”

Colossians 3.1 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

“Loose theology leads to loose morality.” R A Torrey

“Sin blinds the heart to the glory of Christ, and when the glory of Christ is not seen, lives remain unchanged.” Tony Reinke. Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books.

Think Rightly and be Steadfast with New Year Resolutions

I’ve written three posts about New Year’s Resolutions.

1. 4 Tactics for Improved Writing

2. 4 Tactics for Less Screen Time and One caution about Fasting

3. 10 Tactics for Battling Obesity

These are resolutions that I have either had or do have for this year.

Yes. I believe in New Year Resolutions. They challenge me and stir me to set goals and meet them. They help me build discipline. They assist in holistic spiritual reformation.

But creating resolutions is vanity apart from the assistance and work of the Holy Spirit. Steadfastness is impossible apart from God’s help.

Those three posts provide all sorts of helpful tactics. You will notice that Scripture is absent from those posts. Here is where we ground our work in the work of God. This is where we take our resolutions and approach them biblically.

I will never become a better writer, limit screen time or battle obesity without God’s help. God is my help for every task I face. God is my help for every temptation I battle. God is my help!

Psalm 54.4 says, “Behold, God is my Helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.” I do not wish to diminish the weightiness of this Scripture by applying a verse about deliverance from enemies and trouble to the seemingly insignificant or superficial aspect of resolution. Because writing, screen-time and obesity appear to be seemingly insignificant matters in comparison to being hunted by ones’ enemies.

Here is reality. These things are not as insignificant as they seem. These are resolutions that thwart sin and make the best use of another enemy, time.

It would be sin for me to not write because God gifted me with the skill to craft words for His praise. It would be sin for me to not limit my screen time because it robs my family, my church and my God of precious time due them. It would be sin for me to become obese because I would not be functional for God’s work. These are my enemies.

Because of our greatest enemy, death, the wage of our sin, I have a limited time on earth to praise and bring praise to God. Time is an enemy. I lose my time on earth by living obese. I lose my time on earth by being sucked into the void of TV, social media and video games. I don’t use my time wisely when I don’t engage in a discipline that God designed me to do.

So why does God help me? He helps me to make himself famous. If I become convinced that God helps me because He likes me, desires my happiness or wants me to succeed, I am in error. I need to shift the focus of my resolution. My resolution is not for me. My resolution is for God’s glory.

Read Psalm 115.1 and 1 Corinthians 10.31:

Psalm 115.1 “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.”

1 Corinthians 10.31 “Do all to the Glory of God.”

God is foremost concerned with His glory. As John Piper writes in Brother, We Are Not Professionals , “God’s most fundamental allegiance is to His own glory. God is committed to being God before He is committed to being anything else.” (8)

His glory shines in my New Year resolution. His glory emanates from my writing, better use of time and physical health. I tell people more about Him through writing. I use my time to honor Him by loving my family, serving my church and making much of Him rather than look at a screen so much. I am able to serve Him longer by taking care of my body and eating healthy. I will have more energy. I will have greater strength to do His work.

If you are normal, you are likely wavering in your resolution. You’ve fudged here and there already. Time crowded out what you aimed to do with your resolution. Temptation was irresistible. You watched a couple more shows than you wanted. You snuck a Snickers. You fell behind on your reading through the Bible in a year.

Be steadfast. Don’t quit. Don’t throw in the towel. The fight is not over. It just begun. You’re halfway through round one of a twelve round fight. You’ve taken a couple good shots to the kidney. But you can be an Italian stallion. You can finish strong!

It’s time to rally. Here are 4 Tactics to being steadfast with your New Year resolution.

1. Take time to reflect on your resolution. Pick a half-hour and reflect on your goal. What will it take to get there? What midcourse correction must take place? Who can help you get there? Remind yourself of why you set this goal.

2. Make a midcourse correction. Does temptation take place under a specific circumstance? Be weary of the circumstance. Is there a place or time that you fail in your objection? Avoid that place. Fill that time in your schedule so that you cannot fail.

3. Enlist help. Most resolutions need accountability. You need someone asking how you are doing. Find someone who has a vested interest in you. Enlist their aid. Tell them what you want to accomplish. Meet with them to check in about your progress. As you pray about your resolution, ask for God’s help. He wants to help you. Primarily to make much of Himself. Secondarily because He cares much about His children.

4. Speak truth to yourself. Don’t listen to the lies you tell yourself. Speak truth about who God is, who you are and what you wish to accomplish. You can’t just have other’s coach you. You have to coach yourself and challenge your enemies.

Coach yourself by seeking Scripture that reminds you of your objective and how to approach it. Pray for yourself and your resolution. Write down a few truths about who you are and what you are doing. Rehearse those truths.

Tell your enemies what you will do. Challenge them. Stand in front of the mirror and tell it you can battle obesity. Stand in front of your TV, notebook, tablet or phone and tell them that they will not have your best time. Look at your calendar and tell it that you will make time for what you need or want to do to accomplish your goal.

This is where we close this short series. Don’t give up on your resolution. Stay strong. Battle hard. Finish the fight. You have 11 more rounds to go.

Orient your resolution towards the right end. Terminate your resolution not on yourself but upon God.

Sam Storms. Real Men Love the Church. “I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that perhaps never in human history has the notion of being male, of being a man, of being masculine, been as distorted and warped as it is today.”

Power Through Prayer by E M Bounds .95

Andrew Davis. An Infinite Journey. Reviewed by Tim Challies.

Mike Leake. Don’t Play it Safe. (Pastor’s Today) Playing it safe can be dangerous for the church. We need to not confuse safeness with goodness.

Ryan Kearns. 4 Ways Small Groups Work Together with Sermons. (Resurgence) “Sometimes we make it harder on ourselves by not having our core ministries working together.”

Jen Thorn. A Sin Called Worry. Jen explains that worry doubts God, calls God a liar, and is disobedience.

Romans 12.10 “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”

“Believe that all theology is rotten rubbish which is not the Word of the Lord” C H Spurgeon

“God has special promises for you, and He loves bringing triumphant resolutions to those who have tasted the deepest sorrows.” N D Wilson. Death By Living.

John Owens on Gospel Ministry Founded on the Promise of the Holy Spirit

From John Owens work The Holy Spirit :

The ministry of the gospel whereby we are begotten again, is from his promised presence with it, and work in it, called the ministry of the Spirit (2 Cor 3:6); in opposition to ‘the ministration of the law’, in which, however, there was a multitude of ordinances of worship and glorious ceremonies. And he who knows no more of the ministry of the gospel than what consists in an attention to the letter of institutions, and the manner of their performance, knows nothing of it. Not that there is any extraordinary inspiration now pretended to by us, as some slanderously report, but there is that presence of the Spirit of God with the ministry of the gospel, in his authority, assistance, communication of gifts and abilities, guidance and direction, without which it is useless and unprofitable.

The promise and the gift of the Spirit, under the gospel, is not made or granted to any peculiar sort of persons only, but to all believers, as their conditions and occasions require.

Albert Mohler. “Downton Abbey” and the Modern Age — What Are We Really Watching? Dr. Mohler places us in the real setting of Downton Abbey. A setting that is quite different from that which is portrayed on the television series.

Reformation:Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow by Carl Trueman $3.99

J. Merrick and Stephen Garrett. 5 Views on Biblical Inerrancy. Reviewed by Gavin Ortlund.

Michael Hendrix. Millennial Insecurity Runs Washington D C. “In DC there’s a hardly a sense of out-and-out entitlement by millennials, just a sense of bewilderment at what happened to their American Dream.”

Matthew Mason. Journey of the Magi. This article is a wonderful rhetorical analysis of T S Eliot’s “The Journey of the Magi.”

Timothy Paul Jones. Warfare in the Coffee Shop. (CBMW) This is a great picture of what fathers are doing as they disciple their children.

Intentional Parenting: The Beautiful Chaos of Family Worship

“Come on kids. Time for bedtime.” That’s when we do family worship. “Let’s get our teeth brushed. Come and sit down on the couch. Asher come here. Chloe what are you doing?”

“No. We’re doing family worship now. No dolls. No coloring books. No distractions. No nothing. Asher, come here. Chloe, where’s your Bible? Go get your Bible.” I say already slightly exasperated and mutter, “Where’s my Bible?”

Kendall calmly wraps her arm around me for comfort. “Babe. It’s going to be okay. But you need to be polite too. Tell her, ‘Please go get your Bible.”

“I know. I know.” I calm down. “Chloe. Will you please go get your Bible?”

Then I see Asher covered in toothpaste. “Asher! What are you doing?”

He looks at me dumbfounded, “Brushin’ my teeth.”

Of course, that’s what I asked him to do. We were just supposed to be supervising the process. We failed. Now he is a winter-blue mess. He looks like a frothing chid infected with rabies — the blue strain.

Now we have to clean him up, change his pajamas and get him settled for family worship. That’s another 15 minute process. By now it is 8:00, the time when we are supposed to finish family worship. We’re just getting started. The kids are finally sitting still. We sing two songs. Then Asher abruptly gets up and runs to the bedroom.

“Asher! What are you doing?”

“No, you’re not. Come back here. NOW!”

“I don’t want to. I want my cars!”

I remind myself that he’s two. I need to go help him obey. I walk into the bedroom, squat down and wrap my arms around him.

“Little buddy. You can have a car with you in bed after family worship. But now we need no distractions You need to come with me. We’re going to read the Bible and pray. Please listen and obey your father.”

“Okay Dad.” A miracle. God gives me a glimpse of hope.

Thirty minutes of quasi chaos continues. Chloe asks a perceptive question. Distraction. Sweet moment between brother and sister. Distraction. The children hold hands for prayer. Asher tells God he loves him. I pray. I close the prayer.

Asher is climbing up the pantry shelves in the kitchen. I’m not sure when he stopped holding hands with mommy and sister. He’s almost reached his goal. A top shelf package of fruit snacks. They have the most juiciness. Family worship concludes.

The chaos is beautiful. The chaos is rewarding. The chaos is sweet to my soul, mommy’s soul and my children’s souls.

When we gather for family worship, it will be chaotic. Accept this now. Brace yourself for polarized moments. There will be moments of complete chaos and moments of peaceful serenity, beauty and heart-warming exultation. Every moment is worth pursuing. Every moment is formative for children and parents.

The beautiful chaos of family worship is worthwhile. Over time what was once frustration becomes joy. What was once sheer chaos becomes beautiful. Don’t give up.

Families with young children will be tempted to say, “Let’s just wait until our children are older.”

Don’t wait. Start while they are young. Build in time for family worship now while they are young. Let the habit form before other habits form. The reward far outweighs the risk of delay. Embrace the beautiful chaos of family worship.

Justin Holcomb. Jesus and Violence Against Children. (Christianity.com) This article gives substantive statistics on how children are being treated in this world. Jesus portrays a very different picture.

The Holy Spirit by John Owen $3.99

Jefferson Bethke. Jesus > Religion. Reviewed by Aaron Armstrong.

Brian Croft. What Are Some Ways an Aspiring Pastor Can Serve His Wife Before Becoming a Pastor?

Eowyn Stoddard. When Women Lust. (TGC) Women struggle with lust too but it may come on subtly. This article provides 4 signs for women to watch for that indicate a struggle with lust.

Stephen Altrogge. The Internet Makes Us All Miserable. This is a piercing article that reminds us that the comparison trap haunts us in the digital world too.

A Neglected Grace by Jason Helopoulos

Jason Helopoulos. A Neglected Grace: Family Worship in the Christian Home . Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2013. 100 pp. $10.99.

What will it take to bring revival to a nation? We have seen reformations, awakenings and revivals spurred from many places and figures. In taverns, chapels or colleges, under haystacks or in tents — movements can be born anywhere. Could it be that the next revival will take place in the comfort of families’ homes?

There was a time when families met weekly or daily to sing, pray and study God’s Word. Family worship was common practice in the seventeenth and nineteenth century. However, this practice has fallen on hard times. Today’s Church frantically needs this practice revived.

Jason Helopoulos, Assistant Pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing Michigan, retrieves the forgotten practice of family worship in A Neglected Grace: Family Worship in the Christian Home .

This book provides an intelligent argument built on Scripture, tradition and practical reason for Family Worship. A Neglected Grace equips. It is not an ethereal, academic thesis. It is a guide geared to assist parents in bringing worship to the home.

Helopoulos engages in an intelligent retrieval process. He explains the three spheres of worship: secret, corporate, and family (Chapter 1). Since the focus of A Neglected Grace is family worship, he conveys that it is our joyful responsibility (Chapter 2). Then he provides nine coherent arguments for family worship (Chapter 3).

His argument is scripturally grounded. In this process, he points us to scriptures such as Genesis 18:19, Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Joshua 24.15, Psalm 78 and Ephesians 6:4. Helopoulos discusses each text with careful exposition.

He reminds us of our historic Christian legacy. He emphasizes the example of Richard Baxter who encouraged the people of Kidderminster to practice family worship. Helopoulos directs us to Edward’s aphorism, “Every Christian family ought to be as it were a little church.” He humbly places a letter of John Knox before our eyes. This letter emphasizes how fathers are shepherds of their home.

Helopoulos writes, “If a father is in the home, he must see himself as the pastor of this little congregation. He is to be the resident theologian of his home and is to serve as the pastor of the home, ministering to his wife and children.” (37)

If you are a father or mother, you by now feel the weightiness of this neglected practice. How many homes can honestly say they are a little church?

Is it tenable to argue that we should still practice family worship? Aren’t these different times? Cottage industries do not exist. Children are not all day apprenticed with their father. The industrial era changed everything.

Now we live in a digital era. Media and always-accessible work jockey for our time. Is it reasonable to press family worship upon our homes? Families don’t have time to eat dinner together let alone worship together.

I adamantly say yes. Our society must adjust its priorities and make room for families to be together. I wish Helopoulos responded to these considerations in A Neglected Grace . The pastor who propagates family worship will experience immediate push back.

Outsourcing spiritual formation to professionals in the Church may be one of the reasons for Millennial exodus. The solution is spiritual formation in the home.

Thus, family worship if practiced widespread, could very well usher in an awakening for this generation of the Church. As Helopoulos says, “Worship is our communing with the one true and living God. Or, better stated, His communing with us. In that communing, the primary thing that happens is our meeting with Him.” (52)

In our meeting with God, families open themselves for revival and awakening just like college students did in their prayer meetings under haystacks or others did in their tents in the wilderness.

Parents, I urge you to read this book. I urge you to practice family worship. Family worship matures you spiritually. It will turn your children to you for guidance, intimacy and accountability.

Exceedingly Practical Equipping

Even if you’re convinced as I am that family worship should hold an integral place in spiritual formation, how do you go about it? Helopoulos does not leave us high and dry.

He includes four helpful chapters that equip. He explains that worship includes singing songs, prayer, reading and studying scripture (Chapter 4). Then he broaches the posture at which we approach worship (Chapter 5) and what is not worship (Chapter 6). Then he provides helpful tips to consider in planning family worship (Chapter 7).

I appreciate his sensitivity to children’s age. He reminds parents to be reasonable in their expectations. Patience is required for small children. He interlaces tips on how to engage little ones in the family worship process.

Helopoulos’s experience growing up in a single parent home heightens his sensitivity to special conditions. This does him credit. What if the home is led by a single mother? What if only one parent follows Christ? These and other circumstances are considered in Chapter 8.

The bar is not set too high. Helopoulos does not want parents to go from 0-100 in 2.0 seconds. He encourages parents to take small steps in developing a family worship routine. He builds in space for grace. For example, when discussing failure in consistency, he remarks, “…remember that it is a means of grace, not a burden to bear, so just pick it back up and start again.” (71)

I got a lot out of his chapter on what not to do in family worship. I was surprised by how easily wrong methods or motives creep into family worship. I found myself repenting throughout this chapter.

A Neglected Grace closes with examples and testimonials from families and individuals who benefit from family worship. These closing depictions of the fruit reaped from family worship will urge you to adopt this practice.

The appendices offer multiple formats, structures and primers for adopting family worship. Taking advantage of these resources will make the process remarkably painless.

To sum up, A Neglected Grace urges adoption of an exceedingly practical and indispensable discipline into your home. Helopoulos reasonably puts forth a compelling argument for family worship that we ought to heed.

This is an honest review written in exchange of a review copy of A Neglected Grace from Christian Focus publications. Read more books reviews from jtcochran.com here . You may purchase this book from Amazon.

Thom Rainer. Seven Things We Learned from Pastors’ Kids. Pastor’s kids have a voice and it needs to be heard. Here are 7 things to consider if you are around a pastor’s kid.

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies $2.99

Timothy Paul Jones. Misquoting Truth: A Guide to the Fallacies of Bart Ehrman’s Misqouting Jesus. Reviewed by Jim De Young.

Trevin Wax. 3 Ways We Try to Mask Death. We mask death by ignoring, explaining or spiritualizing it. You should read to see how death ought to be handled.

Aaron Armstrong. Three Things I’d Like to See in the Christian Blogosphere in 2014. This is a sharpening post for all bloggers. I especially hope to own Aaron’s third hope.

Dustin Crowe. What Does It Mean to Remember Jesus in the Lord’s Supper? (TGC) “When the Lord’s Supper is served believers experience an affectionate remembrance because the gospel is recalled and reapplied. We remember the grace purchased at Christ’s death is the same grace we need when we come to the table.”

10 Tactics for Battling Obesity

“How long have you been obese?” the doctor asked.

I didn’t want to answer. I wanted to stay in denial. But the mirror does not lie. I was at my peak weight of 205 pounds. Weight gain is never sudden; it is gradual. It happens from making one bad decision after another for an extended period of time.

I made all sorts of excuses for the gradual weight gain. “Well doctor, I stopped working out my last year of seminary. I had my research paper to write. I took 9 graduate level hours my last semester while managing the Seminary’s dining department full-time. I had a newborn.”

He should have said, “But are those reasons for poor decisions about eating? I get that you didn’t have as much time to exercise. But weight gain is not curved by burning carbs. It’s curbed by not eating too many carbs.”

He didn’t. Instead, he gently told me that my BMI should have me at 170 pounds. I needed to lose 35 pounds.

How did I get to this point?

Lifetime of Poor Decisions

I grew up eating whatever I wanted. As a a teen I’d make myself two Red Barron Breakfast Scrambles with two Toaster Strudels ever day of summer. That was a 2000+ calorie breakfast. I put it away without thinking.

I kept right on eating. My metabolism was so fast that I ate two lunches, one at my house and the other at my neighbor’s. I played soccer during childhood and ran cross country in high school. Running 50 miles a week kept me lean.

However, the dieting habits I developed as a child produced a slow torture to my body for the next decade. I gained my freshman 15 and did not blink. I was finally a normal weight.

In my sophomore year of college I realized I should exercise again. That way I could keep eating what I wanted. I needed my 400 calorie mocha and 600 calorie muffin. How else would I get through four consecutive hours of business college monotony?

My first semester living in the seminary’s dormitory greeted me with salty, buttery, smothered cafeteria food. The 800 calorie Nestle Tollhouse Ice Cream Sandwich was my undoing.

This diet was curbed by loading two semis a night at UPS. Scanning 2000 packages put me in the leanest condition ever. If you’re engaged and starting your LGN plan, UPS is the way to go. You’ll be cut and have health benefits too.

My tenure at UPS was brief. A month after marriage I was hired to rescue the seminary dining department from a fiscal nightmare and usher in a golden era of table fellowship culture. Within a year, I opened a cafe/frozen custard shop and a deli shop serving pizza and subs. The seminary had comfort food galore — and so did I. I ballooned.

One day my friend Nic said, “Joey. We’re gonna start working out together.”

What I heard was, “Joey, if I’m gonna still hang out with you, you’re gonna have to do something about your weight. You’re fat bro.”

He probably wasn’t really thinking that. When we become sensitive about our weight, every comment becomes a jab. We did work out. I did lose weight. It was yet another short term solution.

Cross Country, UPS, and Tom Landry Baylor Fitness Center: They were all short-term solutions for a long-term problem. I was stuck in a cycle of obesity despair until I listened to my wife and what she learned from Weight Watchers.

Here are 10 tactics I learned for battling obesity:

Though exercise was my short-term diet solution, I’ve discovered that it is a lifestyle necessity. Exercise raises your heart-rate, making it good for your heart and circulation. It also increases metabolism. Going on two 15 minute walks a day will help. I hit the gym three times a week. I run a couple miles and do light lifting. My aim is not to be a meat-head but to work muscle groups my work routine does not work. Stretch well my friend. Not stretching will put you out of work-out commission.

2. Change your diet lifestyle.

You can go on a special diet to meet a goal. That will help short-term. But to maintain your weight you need to change your taste buds. What has always been tasty needs to become despised. What has been disgusting, must become a craving.

I am a donut and cookie guy. I can go for meat and potatoes too. I had never been a vegetable guy, until I changed my lifestyle. Now I crave carrots, broccoli, and green beans. This took months of refusing to snack on anything but vegetables. That’s the best start to recalibrate and detox. Go cold turkey on any snack but a vegetable or a whole fruit for a couple months.

Find places to eat that serve healthy options. I have a short list. I could eat at Panera and Chickfila every day and make the right decision about food.

Eat a light lunch every day. Just because you go into a sit-down establishment does not mean you have to order dinner. Gravitate to the salads, soups, or salads.

3. Don’t eat after dinner.

One of my problems was the nightly ice cream ritual. After dinner and during Netflix, I’d reach into the freezer, pull out the Blue Bell and make two huge bowls. Now you can’t find ice cream in our home. And good thing. Eat a hearty dinner and resist the pantry after dinner.

Some nights this is impossible. If you choose to have something, get a bowl of cereal. It is a 100 calorie snack with fiber. My go to cereals are Honey Nut Cheerios, Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds and Total bran flakes.

I thought this one was goofy. But then I started watching my wife doing this and I became conscious of how much more I was eating of each food than I should. You don’t have to necessarily use dry measuring cups or a handy digital scale to succeed.

I prefer the fist/scoop method. All my portions are by the fistful or scoop. If I am going to have a snack. I grab one fistful of carrots. Or I grab one fistful of almonds. Or I grab one fistful of pretzels. Then I won’t go back.

Thinking in these terms helped me revolutionize by dinner. I used to eat two fistfuls of protein, one fistful of vegetables, one fistful of potato, and two fistfuls of grains. I realized how unhealthy these portions are. Now I eat one fistful of protein, two fist-fulls of vegetables, one fistful of fruit and one fistful of grain. This is my new standard. I try not to fudge on this.

5. Eat more chicken and fish.

This is super hard for beef eaters. I’m more of a chicken guy, so I adapted to this well. Try to eat one steak a month, one burger a month, and no more than one meal where beef is the protein a week. The rest of the time eat chicken or fish. Become friends with grilled chicken and fish. View fried chicken and fish as the enemy.

I never ate vegetables growing up. The only exception is salads. Thus, when I changed my lifestyle, I played to this strength. As my lifestyle changed, I found myself eating as much green vegetables as possible. We started doubling the portion of vegetable we prepared for dinner, because I ate so much more. If you find yourself still hungry at the end of a meal, return to get a second helping of vegetables. That is the best solution.

Though he tries, man cannot live on soda alone. You don’t have to get a soda just because you go to lunch at a fast food place. Cut back on soda. Decide to drink only water for a month and then reintroduce soda. Try to skip a day on carbonated beverages. Even if you have soda, don’t refill. Switch to water.

Water is so much better for you. A lot of times we are hungry because we don’t drink enough water. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.

8. Eliminate trouble foods.

Donuts, cookies, cake, chips, french fries, ice cream, candy, cream and sugar are all foods I eliminated and then reintroduced in moderation. I didn’t drink coffee for three months. I learned to drink coffee black.

Don’t keep trouble food in your home. We eliminated ice cream and donuts. We used to pop open a carton of frosted donuts and empty them in two episodes of 24. Not anymore. Donuts are for Sundays, twice a month, maybe less. If we get ice cream, we all take a special trip to a shop. It costs a little more, but we get a family experience. If it is an area of weakness, make yourself do something special to enjoy it. Eliminate weaknesses from the home.

Pick something small and around 100 calories. Cherish it. It could be a cookie or a fun-size piece of chocolate. Just have one. Savor it.

10. Weigh yourself daily.

This keeps you conscious of your goal and progress. It inspires you to make better decisions. I don’t know how many times I’ve see the subliminal image of my weight on the scale as I looked at a muffin in a pastry case. It helped me say, “No!”

Victory is Attainable. Battle is Life-long.

I employed these tactics aggressively for six months after my doctor’s visit. I lost 50 pounds. When I compare the picture from then to now, I am astonished by the change. My wife still says that I never looked big. But then she looks at the pictures.

Just because you meet your goal, it doesn’t mean the battle ends. Every day you have to make healthy decisions. Keep battling. Victory is attainable.

Sean DeMars. A “Gospel” that Almost Killed Me. (9Marks) A real life testimony of how poor theology is dreadfully harmful.

Untamable God by Stephen Altrogge $0.99

Jason Meyer. Preaching Biblical Theology. Reviewed by Bobby Jamieson. (9Marks)

Ben Simpson. Is the Bible Clay in Our Hands?: The Importance of Authorial Intent. (SBC Voices) A good word about keeping in mind authorial intent in our writing and preaching.

Thom Rainer. Confessions of an Obese Christian. Rainer shares about his point of conviction about diet and healthy living.

Mez McConnel. How to Guard Your Heart When Discipling Drug Addicts. (20 Schemes) Mez gives 7 suggestions to protect your heart as you minister to those who suffer from drug addiction.

Bringing Young and Old Together (GCD Guest Post)

It appears to me that there is a growing chasm between generations in local churches. Churches are becoming more and more generationally homogenous. If you entered a church on Sunday, you might easily label the church as either a baby boomer, generation X, or millennial church.

Obviously, this is a broad observation. There are churches that do well at being generationally varied. But I don’t think enough attention has been drawn to how uniform many churches are and how dangerous this is to discipleship and spiritual growth. Let me first share my own experience.

KEEP READING AT GOSPEL CENTERED DISCIPLESHIP

Ed Stetzer. Dealing with Alcoholism: My Interview with an Anonymous Pastor and Recovering Alcoholic . This is a piercing post that needs to be read by anyone who imbibes or leads a church that promotes imbibing in alcohol.

Death by Living: Life Is Meant to Be Spent by N D Wilson $3.99

Owen Strachan. Risky Gospel. Reviewed by Aaron Armstong here and Jonathan Parnell (TGC) here .

Mark Oppenheimer. Evangelicals Find Themselves in the Midst of a Calvinist Revival. (NYTimes) Is Calvinism an Evangelical fad? Time will tell.

Tim Challies. I’m Better than You. Tim portrays our hearts so well here.

Joe Thorn. Your Hope for Perfection. (Christianity.com) “The desire and the demand to be perfect is in full-effect today. From photo-shopped models who reflect artificial and unattainable “beauty” in advertising, to the superficial but well-manicured lives of neighbors and friends, we are constantly presented with perfection as the ideal. As much as we, in our saner moments, speak against such superficiality we all feel the pressure.”

Mark Dever on God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Evil Intent

Mark Dever shares valuable insights in The Message of the Old Testament on God’s sovereignty. In Dever’s chapter on the message of Judges, he reconciles the tension of God’s justice and man’s evil intent.

Basic to the Bible is the idea that God is sovereign. For every real set of human actions, at least two sets of motives are involved: a human set (because we are responsible, freely choosing what we most desire) and a divine set (because God reigns over all things). Though the specifics are incomprehensible to us, God is so sovereign that the purposes of his will employ even the most malicious human actions. Is he not marvelous!

The Message of the Old Testament is a collection of sermons Dever preached on each book of the Old Testament. Each sermon is an overview of an Old Testament book. This is an invaluable and affordable resource for any Christ follower.

The Message of The Old Testament

Barnabas Piper. Your Systematic Theology is Showing. (Blazing Center) Piper compares Systematic Theology to math and supplies observations on why we should embrace Systematic Theology, while in a discreet manner.

ChristianAudio.com has the ESV Audio Bible as there free audio book for the month. Start your New Year with listening to the Bible in a year.

Jared Wilson. The Pastor’s Justification. Reviewed by Tim Challies.

Meaning and Purpose: Its Cruciform Shape from Chris Castaldo on Vimeo .

Kevin DeYoung. Ten Questions for the New Year. (TGC)

Mathew Simms. How Should the Gospel Change the Church’s Celebrity Culture. Simms helps us think through celebrity culture within Christianity.

Scot McKnight. The Church’s Biggest Problem. (Patheos) “People. We all know it. So the biggest challenge for church people and ministry is relationships and getting along with others.”

4 Tactics for Less Screen Time and One Caution about Fasting

Screens are everywhere. Right now I’m looking at one. I have another next to me, my tablet. And in my pocket, my phone. When I get home today there will be a really big one that will tempt me after my kid’s bedtime.

The allure of the screen is monstrous. If you’re anything like me, it is safe to say that you spend much time looking at a screen during the day and evening. Maybe, you’re even worried that you might be addicted. Yes, screen addiction is real, and there are real symptoms that accompany it.

However, screens are not evil. Some people come to the wrong conclusion that the best way to handle screens is to eliminate them. This article is not about that. This article is about limiting screen time. It’s also about enjoying screen time in moderation. Throughout this article, you’ll see nuggets interlaced that unveil the beauty and benefit of screens.

Before you take a break, before you do something radical and completely abandon screens altogether, here are 4 tactics to limit screen time and one caution about fasting.

1. Set a Do Not Disturb Time for Notifications

Notifications beckon us. When we receive them they elevate an euphoric sense of importance. SOMEBODY wants to be in touch with me. It could be an e-mail, tweet, text or friend request. Whatever it is, the comforting vibration or “ding” arouses curiosity. Unfortunately this pulls us away from people right in front of us who crave our attention more. People like a spouse, son or daughter.

You can protect yourself from notification temptation by turning notifications off. Most phones have a “do not disturb” function. Apple has developed this function. You can find it in the Systems application on your phone or tablet. Setting a window of time where notifications cannot reach you is a healthy boundary.

I am experimenting with setting my “do not disturb” function from 5pm-7am every day. So far this has worked well. I haven’t missed any critical notifications. I’ve found that if someone really needs to get ahold of me, they elevate their message medium to a phone call.

Fathers probably need to do this more than anyone in the home. But everyone would profit from this tactic. If your children have smart devices, then this would be a great way to keep their attention.

2. Set Dead Zones for Devices

This is an obvious statement. Your screen time will reduce if there are less screens in less places.

I remember watching one particular episode of Extreme Makeovers: Home Edition where a family got a home that was loaded with devices. TV’s were in every room. In the kitchen. In the Bathroom. Even in the walk-in closet. It made my heart sad. This family was set up for screen addiction.

Steve McCoy. 3 Reasons to Read Poetry. (GCD) McCoy encourages us to slow down by reading poetry. This post not just gives reasons, it equips, and points you to great resources for enjoying poetry.

Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence by Preston Sprinkle FREE – last day!

Denny Burk. What is the Meaning of Sex? Reviewed by Nate Claiborne.

Justin Taylor. Videos and Summaries from the Main Sessions of the Historic Cross Student Missions Conference. (TGC) Cross Conference is a new annual conference for college student meant to mobilize them for missions. Justin Taylor curates all the videos with brief summaries in one place for you. Enjoy!

John Piper. Don’t Waste Your Weakness in 2014. (DG) Piper transparently shares about exploiting your weaknesses for the glory of God.

Stephen Altrogge. Small Changes with Big Results Next Year. (Blazing Center) “…in the last couple of years I’ve started to notice something about myself: Small goals coupled with faithfulness produce the biggest results.”

Reading & Writing for God

4 Tactics for Improved Writing

Brilliant writers are not born. They are made. Granted, some people will have an innate skill with words, but most writers work very hard at the art form. Here are 4 tactics for improved writing. As a Christian writer, this post is written to help Christian writers.

One of the most formative conversations I have had about writing is with Charles Ryrie. I sent him an e-mail to ask about how to be a better writer. Rather than writing back he called me. Hah! He told me to write as much as I could. Literally he said, “If you wish to be a writer, write.”

7 years later I was at the Denver airport coming home from a youth pastor’s conference. There was a woman ahead of me for check in. She had a tattoo on her ankle with a Greek quote, “If you wish to be a writer, write.”

That startled me. It was the same thing that Ryrie told me. I asked her if she was a writer. She said she was and she asked how I knew. I told her that her ankle said so. She laughed and told me that it was a quote from a Classical Greek writer.

I didn’t know this at the time but Charles Ryrie was quoting Epictetus.

Writers rarely pick up a pen, sit at a typewriter, or open a notebook and proceed to write a classic. They slave over the task. They write and write. They throw away reams of paper. Some writers journal. Others blog. But a writer has to have a practice platform. He or she must train somewhere.

If you wish to be a writer, start writing — today!

I’ve loved to write all my life. I have an appetite to write like I have an appetite to read. Yet, when I sat down to engage in the practice, I found myself struggling with more than writer’s block. I had writer’s atrophy. So, I contacted a few writers that I respect and asked them how to become skilled at writing. One of them gave me a list of books to read. I’ve added a few more titles to the list. Here they are. Each book has a sentence or two about how this book will help your writing.

Collin Hansen. Editor’s Choice: The Best of 2013. (TGC) Hansen gives a run down of the meaningful contributions that the Gospel Coalition has made this past year. There are really good reads in this list. Check them out!

Running Scared by Edward Welch FREE

Andrew Byers. TheoMedia: The Media of God and the Digital Age. (CT) Reviewed by Jeff Haanen.

Marshall Segal. Are You Pastoring Your Pastor ? (DG) “Some of the least pastored people in the world are pastors.”

Erik Raymond. (Bible) Reading for Joy vs. Reading for Information. This post points out the value of reading for pleasure over reading for information.

Joe Holland. The Re-Humanizing of Humanity. (Christward Collective) “But God’s intention was never for fallen man to pull himself out [of] his own corruption. Dignity and frailty would find reconciliation in another–vastly more radical and costly–way.”

And We’re Back…The Top 10 Posts of 2013

In the words of Joey Mack, Jimmy Fallon’s legendary Z-105 DJ, “And we’re back!”

It was a pleasant two weeks of unplugging from writing and being with family over Christmas. Like with any writer, this writing fast has me gushing to flow content to you in 2014. Let’s kick 2014 with a 2013 reflection of the top ten posts at jtcochran.com. I filtered book reviews out of this list. If you’re interested in checking out my top 10 book reviews, here they are . This top ten is based on traffic according to WordPress statistics.

Here they are in countdown fashion:

9. Organizing Feedly for Efficiency

8. 5 Writing Elements for a Professional Book Review

7. Husbands Your Wife is a Bowtie

6. What do Dispensationalists Really Think about the Old Testament?

4. Ghosts are for Real People

3. Entering Seminary Admonishments: Part One

2. A Prayer for Christian Bloggers and Writers

1. 4 Reasons I Use Accordance Bible Software

Mike Leake. 31 Days of Prayer for Your Daughter. After two successful series of 31 Days of Prayer for Your Wife (August) and 31 Days of Prayer for your Son (October), Mike Leake will facilitate 31 Days of Prayer for Your Daughter during January. This link gives you instructions on how to participate in this wonderful project.

Everyday Prayers by Scotty Ward Smith FREE

David Murray. Jesus On Every Page. (TGC) Reviewed by Daniel Diffey.

Denny Burk. A Plan to Read the Greek New Testament in One Year. I thought this was helpful for those of you already acquainted with Greek and who have a resolution to read more Greek this year.

John Rinehart. We Need Gospel Patrons. (TGC) Do you know what patronage is? Have you been a patron for another? I bet you have and you didn’t even realize it. This article will re-introduce you to an ancient concept that the Christian community needs to continue to practice.

Jeff Medders. Reject the Entre-Pastor. I like what Jeff has to say here. Read it.

Aaron Armstrong. Five Blogs You Should be Reading in 2014. Aaron is a great blogger with a great heart. I like how he shares about other solid bloggers you should be reading. Check these bloggers out and add them to your reader or follow them on twitter.