May 2014 – jtcochran.com

Monthly Archives: May 2014

10 Quotes from Taking God At His Word by Kevin DeYoung

I reviewed this book some time ago here , but now I’d like to share some of my favorite insights offered. So here are 10 quotes from this book:

1. “No one who truly delights in God’s word will be indifferent to the disregarding of it” (20).

2. “The goal of revelation is not information only, but affection, worship, and obedience. Christ in us will be realized only as we drink deeply of the Bible, which is God’s word outside of us” (36).

3. “The dual authorship of Scripture does not necessitate imperfection any more than the two natures of Christ mean our Savior must have sinned” (37).

4. “The finality of Christ’s redemption for us is intimately tied to the finality of his revelation to us” (46).

5. “The word of God is more than enough for the people of God to live their lives to the glory of God” (55).

6. “Just because God cannot be known exhaustively, that does not mean he cannot be known at all” (66).

7. “In the end there can be no conflict between what God reveals in Scripture and what he reveals in nature ” (79).

8. “The word of the world is not like the word of God” (88).

9. “Surely this means we are wise to believe about the Scripture whatever Jesus believed about the Scripture” (95).

10. “Sticking with the Scriptures may seem like a light thing now, but we will feel the weight of it someday. There will come a time when it will be shown whether our lives were founded upon trivialities or realities” (124).

Dave Zuleger. Partnering With People In Their Pain. (DG)

My sweet wife has struggled with chronic pain just about every day for almost three and a half years. As it became clear that this could be a long-term struggle for her, I was struggling myself with how to walk with her through it. There were lots of scary tests, new doctors, and frightening scenarios. And, of course, there was the pain! It was hard to adjust to this new normal. But God is good, and through the real pain he’s taught me a few real, glorious things about partnering with the hurting.

Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home by Richard Foster $2.99

James K A Smith. Who’s Afraid of Relativism. Reviewed by James Anderson.

Justin Taylor. 50 Strategies for Better Preaching. (TGC)

Roy Peter Clark’s book, Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer , is an outstanding compendium of writing advice. If you preach the Word, a book like this will not give you compelling sermons of sound doctrine, but it will help to make good sermons better.

Christina Fox. When Your Work Seems Fruitless. (CBMW)

Hearing my boys arguing in their room, I walked in to see what happened.

“I can hear you guys all the way in the kitchen. Are you using the skills you learned from our conflict resolution lessons?”

“No,” my oldest responded. “I forget what they are.”

My heart sighed and I reviewed with them, again, how they are to respond to each other in a way that glorifies God. Some days it seems like they have made progress in their conflicts and other days, not so much. I hear myself repeating the same instructions over and over. And I wonder… will they ever get it?

Tom Schmidt. The Sin Beneath Our Cynicism.

If you’re like me, you are often tempted to indulge in cynicism. It’s the urge to believe that things aren’t quite what they portray themselves to be; it’s the assumption that an ulterior motive is at work, an impure approach is practiced, or a better way is intentionally overlooked. These thoughts are destructive and can often tempt a Christian in church: ‘That worship song was so ______(fill in the blank of criticisms: ‘lame’ ‘old’ ‘trendy’ ‘wordy’ ‘emotional’); ‘That community only cares about ______ (‘Bible study’ ‘those of their own age’ ‘their own agenda’); ‘His preaching was too _______ (‘theological’ ‘focused on sin’ ‘full of stories’). The temptations for cynicism abound and can easily lead the heart to coldness toward God and others; it can even fill us with an eagerness to withdraw from Christian community altogether. I think this is especially so for my generation, the millenials.

Matthew 18:19 “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

“Those prayers that awaken God must awaken us.” Thomas Goodwin

Gospel-Centered Library / Guest Contributions

The Gospel by Ray Ortlund (A TGC Guest Post)

The gospel is rich truth that stirs deep love—or at least that’s how it’s supposed to be. Yet, as Ray Ortlund frames the conundrum, there is a deep disconnect in our churches between what we believe about the gospel and how we live out that gospel.

Ortlund’s recent contribution to the 9Marks Building Healthy Churches series is not a display of the doctrine of salvation. Greg Gilbert already did that well in What Is the Gospel? This book portrays how the beauty of Christ transforms the bride of Christ so that gospel doctrine creates a gospel culture.

The Gospel asks incisive questions that stimulate clear, well-constructed responses. Ortlund’s methodology is expositional. Each of the seven chapters illumines gospel implications of a key text ( John 3:16 , Eph. 5:25 , Rev. 21:5 , 1 Tim. 3:14-15 , Gal. 2:14 , 2 Cor. 2:15-16 , Rev. 14:4 ). With the unpacking of each passage, truth exhorts us toward practice.

In the first three chapters, Ortlund, pastor of Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee, addresses three levels of gospel transformation: individuals, churches, and all creation. The final four flesh out the gospel transformation process. Gospel transformation is a counter-cultural, challenging, sacrificial, powerful, and beautiful process.

READ THE REST OF THIS REVIEW AT THE GOSPEL COALITION.

Female and Made in My Father’s Image. Karen Swallow Prior. (CT)

I’m my dad’s spitting image. My fair skin, strawberry blond hair, analytical mind, and impatience with all things not just-so come straight from him. Anyone who knows me and knows him knows that I am my father’s daughter. The fact that I am made in his image does not get diminished at all because I am female.

Christian History Made Easy by Timothy Paul Jones $3.03

Ed. Stanley Porter. Those Who Can, Teach. Reviewed by Nate Claiborne.

Mark Altrogge. 7 Benefits of Going Through Hard Times.

Everything God does in our lives is for our benefit, including suffering. Though they never seem pleasant at the time, hard times produce wonderful benefits in our lives. On Monday I mentioned one benefit – affliction drives us to God’s word. Here are seven more benefits of suffering.

Gloria Furman. A Ridiculous-Sounding Affirmation for Those Fainting on the Inside and Out.

A woman sent me this question in an email the other day:

“I love God’s Word! I want to spend more time reading and studying, but it’s so hard because I feel like I need to stick toothpicks in my eyelids just to keep my eyes open because I’m so worn out raising my young kids. What do I do? HELP!”

I can certainly empathize with her – how about you?

There’s no doubt this woman is not alone in her feelings or experience. I’m pretty sure this question has been asked by our brothers and sisters all over the world – from all times – in all their various languages – and in all their diverse contexts. We’re exhausted and we’re hungry for God’s Word. Pass the toothpicks, please. (I’ll take a latte and a bag of M&Ms to go with my toothpicks.)

This blog post is not a list of top ten practical suggestions– just one ridiculous-sounding affirmation and a description of what our calling, pursuing, feeding, and preserving triune God does to help our weary, Word-hungry souls.

Dan Darling. Our Snarky Eye-Rolling Might Actually Be Sinful. (Servants of Grace)

But our sins may be an eye-rolling, snickering, elitism. I see it every day online and offline. There is a whole cottage industry within evangelicalism that exists to mock their fellow believers. Over the last year I’ve had numerous conversations with youngish Christian leaders who are so proud of their Christian liberty, they used it as a cudgel against someone who disagreed with them. This, Paul says, is a sin. To value our freedom so much so, to hang on to our right to indulge certain activities so much so that we offend and wound others who don’t see it our way–this is not the way of love. – See more at: http://servantsofgrace.org/snarky-eye-rolling-might-actually-sinful/#sthash.wwn89WEC.dpuf

Colossians 4:2 “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart.” John Bunyan

Five Books on Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage

Finding the best books to read on a subject of theology can be a challenge. This series provides suggested resources for topics of Theology. Each title is linked to Kindle. If you have another title to suggest for this area of study, please comment. I’m always happy to add another work to my library.

Here are 5 books that will launch you into studies on the difficult subject of marriage, divorce and remarriage.

1. Divorce by John Murray

2. Jesus and Divorce by Gordon Wenham and William Heth

3. Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible by David Instone Brewer

4. God, Marriage, and Family by Andreas Kostenberger with David Jones

5. Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the Bible Jay Adams

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra. Churches Leave as Denominations Break Their Own Rules. (TGC)

On the last Sunday in April, the roughly 450 members of University Reformed Church (URC) in East Lansing, Michigan, voted overwhelmingly to leave their denomination.

One of the reasons: the Reformed Church in America’s wavering approach to same-sex marriages.

Leland Ryken’s Christian Guides to the Classics are $0.99 each: Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter ; Milton’s Paradise Lost ; Shakespeare’s Macbeth ; Homer’s The Odyssey

John Piper. Seeing Beauty and Saying Beautifully. Reviewed by David Steele.

Jeff Medders. How To Handle Controversy.

Newton once wrote to another minister who was about to publish a very critical piece on another pastor. It was destined to spark controversy. And given what has gone on in the internet and the evangelical world—and what will come in the future—Newton’s counsel is wisdom crying aloud in the street for us all.

Alan Noble. The Unattainable Good Life of Elliot Rodger. (CaPC)

I‘m afraid that if I have to work retail for a career, my life is done.

This was one of the most important realizations of my adult life, because it forced me to recognize that I had a stupidly narrow conception of what a “Good Life” looked like. I had wrongly come to believe that the only way my life could be meaningful and significant was if I had a job as a college professor. And the fear of not achieving that status filled me with existential dread. A failure of imagination had led me to believe that my worth as a human was tied up in this single vision of the Good Life which I just had to attain. Could a similarly myopic vision of what it meant to be existentially justified have contributed to Elliot Rodger’s horrific mass killings?

Stephen Altrogge. Jesus Allows Us To Stop Keeping Up With The Joneses.

Few things steal the joy out of life like comparison. Comparing myself to someone else can ruin my day in five seconds flat.

Most Christians, myself included, are too poor to be constantly acquiring new, expensive, hoity-toity toys. Unlike Scrooge McDuck, I don’t have a large vault in my home, in which I regularly swim. I can’t keep up with the rich Joneses of the world, so I don’t bother trying.

Zechariah 4:7 “And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!'”

“The more grace thrives in the soul, the more sin dies in the soul.” Thomas Brooks

The Christian in Complete Armour

The Christian In Complete Armour: Reflection Three

Today we look at the first half of Direction Second in the Christian in Complete Armour by William Gurnall. This post will cover pages 112-148 of Banner of Truths one volume set of this book.

Each of these reflection are broadly sweeping in nature. I’m not trying to review this fine work, nor am I trying to elaborate on it. I am merely sharing how I am responding to this work. To do so, I will briefly summarize each section and share how it struck me.

You’re invited to read along in this work and share as well. You can find the Christian in Complete Armour by William Gurnall at Banner of Truth’s website .

Direction Two looks at Ephesians 6:12:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

The first general part looks at our wrestling. This tells us about the sharp combat that Satan will engage against us. It is close, universal, and ongoing. We wrestle agains God: either his Spirit or will. This happens because we don’t wrestle against Satan and sin, but lock arms with them. We should be ashamed of this and flee from our enemies and to God. Often we substitute one sin for another. At other times we give up our hate against sin. In our wrestle against Satan and sin, we must get the hand-hold and have advantage.

The second general part division one looks at the negative assertion, “not against flesh and blood.” This is not saying that we do not war against flesh and blood, but that we do not only war against them. Flesh and blood includes our own corruptions received from Adam and serves as a picture of humanity. We are charged to put flesh and blood to death and seek our strength through grace in Christ.

The second general part division two looks at the the positive assertion, “but against…” Today we’ll be able to think on the meaning of principalities and powers. Next week we’ll look at the rest. Principalities includes Satan and his whole cohort. This word implies that he is indeed a prince, empowered by conquest, through election, claiming a deed from God. Why? This is how God chooses to punish rebellion and in turn demonstrate the God glorifying recovery of his saints. His power is qualified by the name’s used by him, his status as an angel, the number he commands, the unity and organization of his schemes, and the mighty works he has accomplished.

Our Christian life is a continual struggle against our enemy. We must not ever let down our guard and in prayer. Gurnall says, “When the Christian is a praying, then Satan and the flesh are a prating.” In other words, our enemy wishes to outshout our prayers and drown them out with his chatter. And often we wrestle against the wrong assailant.

We mustn’t be confused. The Christian life is not triumph over our enemies, but it is our first introduction to them. Before we were traitors and conspirators with them. Now, the battle lines are drawn and we find ourselves opposite to them.

We should be humbled that we are but flesh and blood and alert to not trust but fear man. We should set our faith against our flesh, wrestling both good and wicked men.

So who is our prince, Satan or Christ? Gurnall gives us these questions to ask. Who is enthroned on our heart? Whose law do we obey? Who do we run for protection? Where does our sympathy lie? Christ has set us free. As his courtiers we should enjoy being in his presence alone. But we must be weary of Satan’s power. These questions we should constantly ask in order to sort out our allegiance and avoid drifting onto the wrong side.

Satan is a real powerful threat. We should be weary of his ploys. We underplay his strength and take him for granted. How Gurnall demonstrates Satan’s power should shock us into reality and cause us to tremble. Thus, we should flee to our prince, Christ, for all protection.

These posts are made possible by my friends at BannerofTruth.org . At this website you’ll find the Christian in Complete Armour and other classic Puritan works that have withstood the test of time.

Stephen Westerholm on Justification Reconsidered

Stephen Westerholm concludes his excellent book, Justification Reconsidered , with this statement about the traditional Pauline view of justification by faith.

In spite of recent challenges, I believe such an understanding of Paul’s doctrine of justification does better justice to the Pauline texts. It cannot be dismissed by the claim that the ancients were not concerned to find a gracious God (how could they not be, in the face of pending divine judgment?); or that it wrongly casts first-century Jews as legalists (its target is rather the sinfulness of all human beings); or that non-Christian Jews, too, depended on divine grace (of course they did, but without Paul’s need to distinguish grace from works); or that “righteousness” means “membership in the covenant” (never did, never will) and the expression “works of the law” refers to the boundary markers of the Jewish people (it refers to all the “righteous” deeds required by the law as its path to righteousness). Modern scholars are correct in noting that Paul first focused on language of justification in response to the question whether Gentile believers in Christ should be circumcised. They are right to emphasize the social implications of Paul’s doctrine of justification (what it meant “on the ground”) in his own day, and are free to draw out its social implication for our own. But the doctrine of justification means that God declares sinners righteous, apart from righteous deeds, when they believe in Jesus Christ. Those so made righteous represent the new humanity, the people of God’s new creation (Rom 5:17-19).

Trevin Wax. Making Friends, But Not Disciples.

In response to these images of evangelism, we promote the idea of “building relationships” before sharing the gospel. We call it friendship or relational evangelism.

I think this development is (overall) a healthy one. We don’t share the gospel apart from who we are as witnesses. The most effective evangelism takes place within the context of relationships where the life of the Christian is on display.

But sometimes, I wonder if our emphasis on relationships might cause us to turn all our focus to relationship-building and indefinitely postpone gospel proclamation.

Raised?: Finding Jesus by Doubting the Resurrection by Dodson and Watson $2.99

Justin and Lindsey Holcomb. Is It My Fault? Reviewed by Aaron Armstrong.

David Murray. 15 Ways to Exasperate Your Children.

Through the Apostle Paul, God gave fathers the primary responsibility for disciplining their children (Eph. 6:4), but in connection with this he also warned them about the danger of provoking their children to anger. If you want to exasperate your children in this area of life, here’s a quick list of how to do it.

Jen Thorn. The Jewel of Wisdom.

Today we consider wisdom, as we continue looking at the “ Ornaments of the Soul ” . I will be so bold as to say that this is the most precious of all the jewels. Kindness, patience, knowledge, and love are beautiful, but without wisdom these things lose their value and usefulness.

J D Greear. How To Engage the Demonic.

When it comes to the idea of the demonic, there are two errors that people fall into—not wanting to talk about it at all, or not wanting to talk about anything else. As C.S. Lewis said, “Humanity falls into two equal and opposite errors concerning the devil. Either they take him altogether too seriously or they do not take him seriously enough.” So we can’t just pretend that demons aren’t real. But we also shouldn’t attribute every inconvenient circumstance—a dead car battery, a traffic jam, a price increase at KFC—to spiritual warfare.

The questions is: how should we engage against the demonic? If Satan is real – prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour – what can Christians do about it?

Ephesians 1:17 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.”

“Our narrow thoughts can no more comprehend the Trinity in Unity than a nutshell will hold all the water in the sea.” Thomas Watson

YesAllWomen, Misogyny, Caring for the Abused

The #YesAllWomen trend is a shockingly stunning response to a saddening event that occurred when Elliot Rodger went on a killing spree near Santa Barbara California. Elliot Rodger is the son of filmmaker Peter Rodger, assistant director of the Hunger Games. He stabbed his three male roommates to death and then went on a shooting spree in Isla Vista killing 6 total and injuring 7 others. Rodger was found dead in his car after it crashed, a gunshot wound to the head.

Shortly before this spree, Rodger released a youtube video that has since been removed. In that video Rodger blames women for what he will do next saying:

I don’t know why you girls aren’t attracted to me, but I will punish you all for it. It’s an injustice, a crime, because…I don’t know what you don’t see in me. I’m the perfect guy and yet you throw yourselves at these obnoxious men instead of me, the supreme gentleman.

Twitter users began using #YesAllWomen to interact and respond to this event, campaigning specifically against misogyny. A Time Magazine web-blog article says this:

Rodger’s comments inspired an online conversation Saturday around the #YesAllWomen hashtag to criticize the way society teaches men to feel entitled to women at the expense of their health, safety and, in Rodger’s case, lives.

According to a Topsy search over 800K tweets have been #YesAllWomen. The response is overwhelming, with #YesAllWomen as the top trend right now on Twitter. If you spend anytime at all scrolling through these tweets, you will see graphic detail from victims of misogyny. You will also see a lot of anger and pain made public.

Events like this shooting spree often become watershed moments for a movement. Voices that seem to be crowded out have the full ear of the media. If you search #YesAllWomen on google, you will find that nearly every major news source has covered not just the shooting but the twitter conversation.

But after it all settles down in a day or two, where do we go from here? What happens next for these women who for a brief moment felt heard? How is the church going to listen and respond? What can Christ followers do to love and encourage those who have felt such hate?

Especially when we consider that some of these people will blame a Christian or the Church for their victimization. They may even blame God. How can those who have been abused by a father, a brother, a boyfriend, or a husband turn to a God who is portrayed as a father, a brother, and a lover in Scripture? These are tough questions to answer.

This week marks 9 years of marriage to Kendall. She is my bride, and I love her as dearly today as the first day I met her. Together we have three children, two of which are girls, all of which have never experienced abuse of any kind. I grew up in a loving, kind, and abuse free home.

But my wife did not. She endured years of abuse, whether it was before she was taken away from her drug abusing, prostituting, natural mother at the age of 4, or if it was during her years with an abusive adopted father, who eventually went to prison for his crimes. My wife’s life is riddled with pain from abuse of many kinds: neglect, disapproval, abandonment, verbal, physical, sexual…

As her husband, I’ve held my wife as she sobbed through nightmares in her sleep. I’ve encouraged her and supported her as she’s managed difficult days like Mother’s day and Father’s day. I’ve helped her navigate sensitive matters — matters where she asks herself what is appropriate and what is not — like appropriate affection to our children, how to properly bathe them, and how to change a dirty diaper with a clean conscience. All stuff normal moms and dads don’t think a thing about. But matters that bring back traumatizing memories for my wife. And I haven’t been alone.

When Kendall was in 7th grade she was rescued from an abusive home by her Uncle Rocky, whom we all now affectionately call Dad and Papa. This man Kendall lived with from 8th grade until she was sent off to college to live on her own. Our children call him Papa, and they are his grand kids. He and I are the two men with whom my wife has learned to rebuild her trust in man. We have become the marks of both a virtuous man and a godly man. Her image and understanding of God has been rebuilt, with greater confidence, by how Rocky and I reflect God’s image to Kendall. He and I have learned a thing or two together about how to care for a woman who has experienced previous abuse.

4 Ways to Comfort Those Who are Previously Abused

I haven’t got this all figured out. I’m still learning each day as Kendall and I journey through life together. But here are four things that I’ve learned as we’ve progressed forward through life together. They are four ways to comfort and rebuild confidence in a female abuse victim:

1. Be unending in patience.

Patience is probably the most critical characteristics that you will need to possess. Along with this comes the reality that you should never expect full healing. Livable healing is what you will aim for. Full healing God may give with time: But it may just be that a victim will not truly drink this cordial until they reach paradise.

Thus, you will need to possess unending patience. If you ever think, “Well, we’ve gotten past that issue.” Expect to see it come up again. Every time I’ve ever thought that we’ve moved on, I’ve discovered that wounds run far deeper than I imagined. Satan’s lies keep coming. And haunting memories are unlocked or rehearsed again.

Learn to be sensitive and considerate in all circumstances and to accept that certain emotions come with the territory. They may include such emotions or responses like a peaked level of jealousy, occasional suspicion, and questioning of self-worth. Regardless, your role is to be steadfastly present, reassuring, and patient.

2. Provide heaps of positive, healthy affection.

The level of the positive affection you give depends on the nature of your relationship with the abuse victim. I am a spouse, so I am charged with the responsibility to be the primary vehicle of affection. I am responsible for filling the deep well that my wife has for affection. This affection must come through various means.

Affection will include praise. Not just praise about appearance, though that is important. Many abuse victims will always feel ugly. They will require ongoing assurance that this is not the case. Abuse victims will also feel worthless and incapable of accomplishment. They need praise for their day to day accomplishments that went overlooked in their abuse situation. And they all need praise for their character. Abuse victims have been objectified and dehumanized already, so in their rehumanization they will require focused attention towards their character. Heap praises upon the character of that person.

Affection will include tokens: whether it is a card, flowers, or a gift. They should not just come on special occasions but they should be spontaneous. They do not have to be costly. In fact, thoughtfulness speaks louder than costliness. For in their abuse situation, they were not thought of as being of much worth at all.

Affection will also include quality time together. They will starve for your attention and your time. They will be replacing dark memories that they want to push deep down and forget with cherishing memories. They will want their children to have a fill of quality time, the time they may not have been given as a child.

Affection will be physical. Now obviously this depends on the level of appropriateness based on the relationship. A friend will need a hug or an arm around the shoulder. A spouse will need so much more. If you are married to a victim of previous abuse there will be certain things that you will not do as a result of trauma. Or it may just be that some time will pass before those things are bearable. Spouses need to listen carefully and ask questions frequently. That is the best way forward.

3. Be sensitive to any triggers.

Every abuse victim has their own triggers. It can be a particular odor, like a cologne. It can be certain music or shows. It can be particular environments or enclosed places that give that person a sense of danger. It can be a certain day or holiday. It can be a particular town or home. Learning the triggers that refresh hard memories is helpful.

You don’t necessarily want to run away from those trigger moments. But learning to walk through them together hand in hand is what is most necessary. Sometimes its better to feel the pain together than it is to run away from the pain. Often these times permit for conversation where one person is given the freedom to share and process painful events that they have never been able to process with another.

4. Ground and point their value and significance in God.

Don’t become the person that they rest their hope in. That place is only reserved for God. It is easy for abuse victims to put their trust in the person who is their knight in shining armor. Then it becomes really disappointing when that knight plays the part of an everyday sinner.

In my case, a husband makes a poor god, and so a husband should be intentional to constantly point his wife back to God for all hope, value, and significance. This is an unceasing practice for husbands.

Abuse victims grow much dependence upon others for hope and encouragement. They will have really down days. Depending on the normal disposition of that person, they may lead a melancholy life. They will search for optimistic, extroversive friends or spouses to bring them cheer. This is a great asset, but it becomes a dangerous, idolatrous substitute for God if not rightly grounded.

The Conviction to Lead by Albert Mohler

The review Conviction to Lead first appeared at Lifeway’s Pastors Today web blog .

Albert Mohler. The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters. Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 2012. 224 pp. $22.99.

A book on leadership requires a credible author, one who adeptly leads and weathers tumultuous times. Albert Mohler is one such leader. He entered the presidency at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in tumultuous times and navigated a course to calmer waters. Mohler possesses the character and credibility — two leadership principles you will discover — necessary to write on this subject.

Altogether readers will learn 25 essential leadership principles from his book, The Conviction to Lead . These principles cover topics such as narrative, thinking, teaching, character, communication, use of power, and many more.

But you will get more than 25 principles in The Conviction to Lead . You will hear the narrative of SBTS, an autobiography of a leader, and precious insights into how that leader thinks and operates. Benefits of this book are as anecdotal as the atmosphere and time Mohler writes or as penetrating as his views on what cripples leadership and the essential characteristics of leaders. These insights from Al Mohler are rich and sweeping.

Benefit for Pastoral Ministry

There are a lot of leadership books. So what sets this one apart? Well, if you’re a pastor, reading Drucker and Lencioni will be valuable for your sharpening, and you should read from them or at minimum listen to the audio. But gleaning leadership principles from a distinctly Christian worldview by a distinctly Christian leader has incalculable value, especially for us pastors. We want wisdom from one of our own, who understands our unique obstacles.

I’ve read Maxwell, Hybels, Stanley and other Christian leaders during the last dozen years of leadership aspiration. These leaders have done excellent exploration in Christian leadership. Yet, I think it is fair to say that these leaders wrote with organizational success in mind and so orient leaders in this cosmological (cause/effect) and teleological (completion/result/perfection) direction.

The Conviction to Lead obviously addresses these ends but its foundation is ontological. With purpose in mind, Mohler sagaciously builds his principles around two critical aspects of leadership, which serve as the rudder and bow: conviction and legacy. He then consecutively orders his principles from what flows out of conviction and what leads towards legacy.

Conviction is the rudder steering every decision. Your leadership journey shipwrecks apart from conviction. It appears to be a small component but has big implications. Leadership begins with conviction and is indelibly linked to it. Mohler makes this apparent.

He distinguishes his view of leadership as convictional; leadership that is gripped by beliefs of which we are convinced. This is the fundamental driver of leadership. Convictional leaders possess high levels of what Mohler describes as convictional intelligence. “Convictional intelligence is the product of learning the Christ faith, diving deeply into biblical truth, and discovering how to think like a Christian.” Thus, the convictions that steer your leadership are built on who God is and what God has revealed; they are built on your Christian worldview.

The bow of leadership is your legacy. It is that prominent first thing people remember about leaders. They see it develop, and they anticipate what it will look like based on convictional decisions the leader makes now. The wake it cuts will be left behind for others.

These to landmark components of leadership book-end all the principles found within The Conviction to Lead . This is what makes Mohler’s book so beneficial: the right purpose leading to the best end.

Essential Recommended Helpful Pass It By

Hopefully, your legacy will last longer than a wake. Pray it will blaze a trail for others to faithfully follow.Sopastor, take the first step toward developing a lasting legacy by reading The Conviction to Lead by Albert Mohler.

Daniel Burke. Atheists in the Bible Belt: A Survival Guide. (CNN)

This is a shocking expose that you’ll want to read.

Isaiah: God Saves Sinners (Preaching the Word) by Ray Ortlund $4.99

Drew Dyck. Yawning at Tigers. Reviewed by Tim Challies.

Ray Ortlund. “One Anothers” I can’t find in the New Testament.

Sanctify one another, humble one another, scrutinize one another, pressure one another, embarrass one another, corner one another, interrupt one another, defeat one another, sacrifice one another, shame one another, judge one another, run one another’s lives, confess one another’s sins, intensify one another’s sufferings, point out one another’s failings . . . .

The kind of God we really believe in is revealed in how we treat one another.

Douglas Wilson. Gresham and Emily.

C hristian weddings and marriages are a canvas upon which the Holy Spirit of God paints the gospel. Now we know that He loves to paint the gospel in many ways, and in many places—preeminently in the proclamation of the Word on the Lord’s Day, as well as in the two sacraments that He has bequeathed to the church. But the way God brings a Christian man and Christian woman together paints the gospel in colors that are particularly vivid.

Jonathan Leeman. Six Principles for Youth Ministry.

“What does your church do for middle and high school students?” A pastor friend recently asked this question.

I have no special expertise with youth, and I tend to think there is some measure of programmatic flexibility. Do you host a weekly event? Who is it for? What do you do? Special projects or trips? I will leave that for you to sort out.

But here are a few biblical principles that we should heed no matter what, and my sense is the many youth groups don’t heed them.

2 Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

“The doctrine of the Trinity is the differentiating doctrine of the Christian faith.” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Four Words I’d Like to Strike From Christian Conversation

There are four words that I’d like to strike from our Christian conversations. There’s probably more, but these four keep coming to my mind. They’re kind of buzz words these days. They are the following businessy terms: connect, tribe, sexy and brand. Here’s how they get used.

Connect : “Hey bro, it was so nice to connect with you today.”

Tribe : “Yeah man, I’m part of that reformed tribe, if you know what I mean.”

Sexy : “Well, having Sunday school isn’t really a sexy way to do church.”

Brand : “I really am having a hard time developing my brand.”

It’s true these terms are most frequently used by pastors, and they love using them at conferences. In fact, I practically drown in this trendy lingo any time I interact at a conference. Sadly, I am now seeing these terms trickle down into everyday Christian conversation about everyday Christianity with everyday Christian folk. Pastors have popularized this terminology to the populace through their Christian books, blogs, social media, and word of mouth usage.

And I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve found myself, at times, caught up in the game. Mostly I’ve done so through lack of discernment and over-exposure to this language. I didn’t first hear it in a church context anyway. And it’s so easy to borrow from other contexts and import them into our own. This is the nature of multiculturalism.

These are terms I first heard all the time in business contexts from professors, textbooks and popularized books by guys like Drucker, Porter, Lencioni, et al. as I studied marketing in the business college at UTA. I understand that there is nothing wrong with retrieving business principles for ministry purposes. I get that. I apply principles I learned from my undergraduate work all the time in my ministry context. But I don’t apply every principle or every term. I’m selective and for good reason.

I’m distancing myself from these terms. Here’s why. It’s not because I’m some codger and curmudgeon, though I imagine many perceive me so. Rather, I prefer precision, propriety, and purity. This means I want to stick to language that follows a biblical trajectory, is socially considerate, and demonstrates the kind of holiness that shows the business world that the church is still distinct from it.

I think my reaction against each of these words is stemmed from different reasons. Connect seems so superficial, demeaning, and self-serving than what we’re actually doing as we get to know one another. I’m excited about experiencing sweet fellowship with my Christian brothers. I’m not so excited about networking and connecting. Tribalism and branding likewise betray a self-focus, or, minimally, an us versus them mindset, which is just not the approach Christ wanted us to have. Christ didn’t create a tribe. He created a people of every tribe. And our over-sexed culture just does not need to look at the Church, the functions of the Church, or the characteristics of the Church in an erotic manner. Nothing about Church should be sexy.

Now, I’m not saying that people who use these terms are not holy in the sense that they are sinners for using these terms. And I don’t think this is a Romans 14-15 issue either. I wouldn’t call myself weak in faith for electing not to use these terms. Rather, I consider myself an exile and a stranger, echoing Hebrews 11:13 and 1 Peter 2:11. In this way I am set apart. I am salty (Matt. 5:13). I want to leave a distinctly flavorful taste in others’ mouths with what proceeds from my mouth (Col. 4:6).

Besides that, too much overlap sends the wrong message to the world about the church. John Piper said it very well. And brothers, we are still not professionals. The Church is a fundamentally different organism than any business. And it is pertinent to recognize that in spite of all the other business and economic language used throughout Jesus’s teaching or even Paul’s, the Church is never compared to a business. It’s compared to a household, the body, Israel, and other parallel concepts, but never a business.

I’m starting to convert these terms in my conversations with people. I do it gently. I switch connect to fellowship, tribe to theology, sexy to just about whatever else I can, and brand to identity. I know these are subtleties. But I think these subtleties reveal much about philosophy and approach to church.

I’m not going to despise or judge people who use those terms. Though this is not really a Romans 14-15 matter, I need to apply principles from this passage in how I look upon those who use these terms. I love my brothers that adopt this language just as I love anyone else. This post probably says more about my obsessive particularity than it does about my quest for precision, propriety, and purity.

Feel free to share with me your disagreement or some of the words you’d like to see scratched from our Christian conversations. Let’s pithily bemoan together!

Mark Dever. A Gospel for Everyone. (CT)

If we spotted a church located in a racially mixed neighborhood, and all its worshipers were white, we’d rightly be concerned. Or if we attended a church that focused so much on reaching young families that singles and seniors felt uncomfortable, that too would bother us. Most of us would suspect the first church to be racist and the second, exclusivist. Both suspicions might certainly be true. But there is more going on: Each church is failing to live out the gospel.

Reading the Gospels Wisely by Jonathan Pennington $4.99

Darrin Patrick. The Dude’s Guide to Manhood. Reviewed by Pat Aldridge.

Jon Bloom. The End of Books. (DG)

Why is reading so important to Christianity? How is the Internet changing the way we read? How can we become better readers?

These questions, and other critical topics about literacy, were addressed by Desiring God’s own Tony Reinke in an interview with Cees-Jan Smits published in Dutch today in the newspaper Reformatorisch Dagblad .

Tony is the author of Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books , or as it’s known in the Netherlands, Lees! . What follows is the original (English) version of today’s interview.

Ben Connelly. Pursuing Not-Yet-Believers. (GCD)

As you might imagine, seminaries are full of Jesus-y people, from suit-clad conservatives to library-dwelling linguists to edgy liberals who buck the system by (hold your breath) wearing flip flops to class. Our grad school was filled with religion majors, pastors and interns, and private school teachers. Everyone was religious; most were active in some form of church; many spent spring breaks and summers in overseas missions or student ministry camps. So imagine the bombshell when a student realized he’d never actually known Jesus. Students and professors alike were stunned, then celebratory. In this instance, the student was a son of a prominent pastor, a rising star in the student ministry world, and someone who knew—and could teach—the Bible better than most of his peers. Apparently it happens more than you might expect: God redeems people who are already in seminary. And praise Him that He does!

Dan Darling. 3 Things to Consider Before You Hit “Send”. (Servants of Grace)

Today communication has never been easier. Most of the time this is good, allowing us to communicate good news quicker, to socialize with family and friends, and, in emergencies, get in touch with people faster. It also allows us to publish our thoughts at lightening speed. Most of the time, this is good. But not always. The ease of pressing “send” has not always brought out the best in people–even God’s people.

Psalm 50:2 “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.”

“God’s attributes coincide with his being.” Herman Bavinck

La Shawn Barber. Should Christians Remove Their Children from Public Schools. (WORLD)

I’m a big advocate of homeschooling and believe parents who homeschool or enroll their children in private schools should be exempt from paying taxes to support public schools. But while I’d like to see a grassroots campaign for such an exemption, I don’t consider it sinful for Christians to send their children to government schools.

But E. Ray Moore, who’s running for lieutenant governor in South Carolina, certainly does. In a recent interview , he said when Christian parents send their kids to public schools they’re disobeying God by putting them “under false doctrine and in harm’s way.”

The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert E Coleman $4.99

David Wells. God in the Whirlwind. Reviewed by Carl Trueman. (Ref21)

Matthew Hoskinson. What A New Pastor Doesn’t Know. (9Marks)

If I’d heard the advice only once, I might have forgotten it. By the fourth hearing, though, I got it.

I was about to become pastor of a historic church that had fallen on hard times. I figured I should plot a course of change for working through as quickly as possible. But when I consulted with four pastors from quite different traditions, each independently told me the same thing:

“Don’t change anything for five years.”

If you’re getting ready to enter a pastorate, you might have your list of changes ready. Good changes, no doubt. Changes that would contribute to the health and mission of this beloved church of Christ.

Nick Batzig. Dangers of Theological Controversy.

Debate in theological matters is necessary in a fallen world. God commands believers to “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). We are to be zealous for the defense and propagation of the whole counsel of God for His own glory and the building up of His people. Ministers and local church members, in many Reformed churches, take vows to “study the peace and purity of the church.” This includes purity in doctrine. But, there are also wisdom principles that must accompany a desire to defend the truth. In every battle there is fallout. There are dangers that we need to seek to avoid when entering into theological debate.

Owen Strachan. Money is Nice.

I want to be frank: some Christians might have a problem with all this talk about huge amounts of money. They might fundamentally distrust all money-making and embrace what’s sometimes called “poverty theology.” … But let’s strive to be careful and nuanced in our thinking.

Proverbs 19:17 “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”

“The limits of giving is to be the limit of our ability to give.” C S Lewis

The Popcorn Church (Christ and Pop Culture Guest Post)

If you’re not reading articles at Christ and Pop Culture, you need to start. This past week I had the pleasure of sharing my first contribution with this excellent site. Here’s an excerpt:

It struck me last night as I curled up on our couch with my wife to watch Psych’s season seven finale: Psych , the Musical. In spite of our science, technology, math, and engineering society (STEM), creative arts has a gripping hold of us all. Deep in our guts we rebel against our analytical side. Though we are more convinced than ever that STEM industries are the sure fast anchor to a prosperous future, where capitalism rises or falls upon these integral industries, our appetites desire art.

Why did it take so long for this startling revelation regarding our technology driven society’s fascination with creative arts? Surely, I felt the inklings of this through American Ido l or Gerard Butler’s breakout performance as the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera ? If not then, surely it should have been the Grey’s Anatomy musical episode? What about all the other Broadway adaptations for the cinema: Rent , Fame , Hairspray , Mama Mia , Les Mis ? Or the other shows following American Idol : Glee , The Voice , America’s Got Talent , Dancing with the Stars ? What really seals the deal for any of us with children: Frozen ? My Blu-ray player is frozen playing “Let it Go” in repeat.

If we over-correct by trading sound biblical doctrine for the sake of an emotion-driven, artistic-oriented worship experience, the Church suffers a great loss. Why are we so hungry for these arts? Because our brains are famished. Our brains atrophy from the indulgence and emphasis on our left-brain. The right side of our brain wants feeding. Engineers stare deep into the abyss of Cad programs. Stock tickers hypnotize brokers. Business analysts lose themselves in excel spreadsheets filled with formulas, stats, and metrics indicating buying patterns, profit, and loss.

And the next generation of Millennial workers face dismal prospects. According to Barna Group’s research on teen’s life aspirations , half of high school graduates aspire to work in STEM industries, and only a fifth aspire to creative arts professions. So few of us were encouraged to pursue the arts. In high school a gifted writer would have been told that they’d be good at ad copy. Musicians, comedians, vocal performers, and other stage performers were all asked in high school, “How will you ever make a living?” These are all destined to work a day job while pursuing their dreams at night and on weekends. Yet, reality TV contests like American Idol stir hope in young minds every day to follow their gut in pursuit of creative arts.

Is this appetite for the arts, and in turn satisfaction through consumption, bad or wrong? Not necessarily, but we must consider the affects right-brain emaciation might have on church and spirituality. If we over-correct by trading sound biblical doctrine for the sake of an emotion-driven, artistic-oriented worship experience, the Church suffers a great loss.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE OF THE POPCORN CHURCH: HOW OBSESSION WITH TECH AND THE ARTS AFFECT OUR WORSHIP AT CHRISTANDPOPCULTURE.COM

Five Book for the New Christian

Finding the best books to read on a subject of theology can be a challenge. It’s even harder to find the right books to read as a new Christian. This series provides suggested resources for topics of Theology. Each title is linked to Kindle. If you have another title to suggest for this area of study, please comment. I’m always happy to add another work to my library.

Here are 5 books that will launch new Christian’s to know God.

1. Now That I’m a Christian by C Michael Patton

2. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know by Wayne Grudem

3. Mere Christianity by C S Lewis

4. What Is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert

5. The Dangerous Duty of Delight: Daring to Make God Your Greatest Desire by John Piper

Joe Carter. 9 Things You Should Know about TGC. (TGC)

Today, TGC is launching a redesign of the ministry’s website. Whether a regular reader or first time visitor to the site, here are nine things you should know about TGC.

Heretics by G K Chesterton .99

Matthew Vines. God and the Gay Christian. Reviewed by Sam Allberry.

Dave Bruskas. 3 Ways a Man Should Lead His Home.

A man who loves Jesus and leads his family well has at least three roles in common with the man who is called to lead the church.

Those who hold the highest human office of authority in the church—elders—are expected to meet the highest standards.

The biblical qualifications for elders are listed in 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9. Not surprisingly, some of these standards are measured by who a man is in his home, among his family. A man who loves Jesus and leads his family well has at least three roles in common with the man who is called to lead the church: he is a preacher, a pastor, and a provider.

Eric Geiger. 5 Things that Killing Sin is NOT.

Because only the Spirit can mature us and empower us to be killing sin, Owen devotes a chapter to defining what mortification of sin is not. I find his thoughts extremely challenging and helpful so that we do not equate temporary behavior tweaking with true Spirit-induced transformation.

Mortification of sin is not.

Thom Rainer. 9 Heartfelt Things Church Members Would Like to Say to Their Pastors.

I am among the most blessed men in the world. God has graciously saved me and sustained me. I have an incredible family. The place and ministry where I serve vocationally is a gift from God.

And then, as if I should be blessed even more, God has allowed me to serve and hear from church leaders across the world. In this article, I share some insights I heard from church members via social media, emails, blog comments, and personal conversations.

The following nine statements are heart matters for many church members.

Psalm 37:21 “The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.”

“Whatever we part with for God’s sake shall be made up to us in kind or kindness.” Matthew Henry

Evangelism by Mack Stiles

The review Evangelism first appeared at Lifeway’s Pastors Today web blog .

J Mack Stiles. Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus . Wheaton: Crossway, 2014. 128 pp. $14.99.

Many evangelism books devote the body of time on how to do evangelism. Few pull back the curtain and discuss what is evangelism. Likewise, many books aim at individuals, few think in terms of the corporate gathering. You will find this addition to the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series to be a different sort. It tackles the what, the how, the individual and the church.

Mack Stiles does not make assumptions on what we think is evangelism. In fact, in Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus, Stiles proceeds with caution distinguishing evangelism as program and evangelism as culture. He does this tactfully by sharing stories of individuals working as teams in churches fostering a culture of evangelism; Stiles in one such individual. You see Mack Stiles is not a pastor. He is a lay elder, the CEO of Gulf Digital Solutions, and an active proponent of fostering church cultures of evangelism. He says, “To be compelled by love to share the gospel individually is a beautiful thing, but when it happens in community, it’s joyfully glorious” (48).

Ask yourself this: Where does the burden of evangelism rest in my church? Is it a programmatic event, an evangelistic preacher, or in a ministry? If so, your church might be promoting a misdirected means for evangelism. It might indirectly give members excuse to abdicate their joyful role in God’s Great Commission. Building your evangelistic philosophy on the above components is not bad – they are all great blessings – unless they are ultimate means for evangelism. We need more than events, pastors and ministries. As Stiles says, “We need to develop cultures of evangelism in our local churches, too. We want whole churches that speak of Jesus” (42).

To help us have an illuminated version of evangelism, Stiles explains fundamental definitions that many take for granted. He defines evangelism (26), the gospel (33), and the Church (71) in fresh terms. He unpacks these definitions in view of an evangelistic culture (chapter 2). He demonstrates what healthy churches look like and what unhealthy churches lack (chapter 3). Stiles gives the nitty gritty of being intentional evangelists (chapter 4), and what must be done when sharing the faith (chapter 5).

Many churches light the evangelistic match through programs that fritter out. What our churches need is a long burning oil fueled lamp. We need a sustainable resource. This book is that resource. Evangelism fuels churches with what’s necessary to foster a culture of evangelism. Pages 83-98 are olives from which to squeeze oil. There you’ll prepare congregations to share the gospel, understand a gospel-shaped way of life, slay assumptions, view evangelism as a discipline, pray for opportunities and mindset, and give leadership to evangelism.

And throughout Evangelism Stiles shares stories of people at Redeemer Church in Dubai burdened to share the gospel and the resultant fruit. You’ll hear the stories of Samanti, Van, Kelly, Andrei and Craig: living fruits reaped in a culture of evangelism. These are stories to be leveraged so that your church might see similar fruit.

Evangelism by J Mack Stiles will fuel you and your church to envision a vibrant gospel sharing culture.

John Calvin on Justification and Merit

In book 3 chapter 17 section 8 of Institutes of Christian Religion John Calvin defines justification and how works after justification are given a different value than merit.

Our opponents, accordingly, as if the point were proved, set it down that though we are not justified without faith, it is not by faith only; that our justification is completed by works. Here I beseech believers, as they know that the true standard of righteousness must be derived from Scripture alone, to consider with me seriously and religiously, how Scripture can be fairly reconciled with that view. Paul, knowing that justification by faith was the refuge of those who wanted righteousness of their own, confidently infers, that all who are justified by faith are excluded from the righteousness of works. But as it is clear that this justification is common to all believers, he with equal confidence infers that no man is justified by works; nay, more that justification is without any help from works. But it is one thing to determine what power works have in themselves, and another to determine what place they are to hold after justification by faith has been established. If a price is to be put upon works according to their own worth, we hold that they are unfit to appear in the presences of God: that man , accordingly, has no works in which he can glory before God, and that hence, deprived of all aid from works, he is justified by faith alone. Justification, moreover, we thus define: The sinner being admitted into communion with Christ is, for his sake, reconciled to God; when purged by his blood he obtains the remission of sins, and clothed with righteousness, just as if it were his own, stands secure before the judgment-seat of heaven. Forgiveness of sins being previously given, the good works which follow have a value different from merit, because whatever is imperfect in them is covered by the perfection of Christ, and all their blemishes and pollutions are wiped away by his purity, so as never to come under the cognizance of the divine tribunal.

This post is sponsored by Accordance Bible Software. Learn more about Accordance here .

Barnabas Piper. Are Millennials Less Godly than Previous Generations.

Young people are leaving the church at an alarming rate. At least that’s the narrative you hear over and over again. As the narrative goes, these godless, self-centered, me-first, consumerist millennials are abandoning the church, the body of Christ, for individualistic spirituality. No more will organized religion suffice for them. They are forsaking the faith of their fathers. We should be concerned, very concerned!

Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung $3.99

Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Whitacre. True Beauty. Reviewed by Courtney Reissig.

Collin Hansen. Why Youth Ministers Should Be Theologians. (TGC)

We expect a certain level of theological sophistication from our preaching pastors. They must at least know church history, systematic theology, and hopefully some Greek and Hebrew so they can properly interpret and apply the biblical text. We’re confident that when we approach them with questions about the canonization of Scripture, the implications of the incarnation, and the doctrine of the body and sexuality, their learning will aid us in responding faithfully to such pressing questions in our culture.

David Murray. 10 Reasons Why We’re Sleeping So Badly.

If there are so many good reasons to sleep longer , why don’t we do it? Here are ten possible reasons.

Nick Rynerson. The Justification of Death in ‘Justified’. (CaPC)

One might expect the show to be desensitized to death—a typical western where undeveloped characters die with little to no consequence. While some think death has gotten pretty flip on Justified, death is no trivial matter to the narrative of the show. The regular occurrence of death allows the show to investigate the concept in depth. In the hills of Justified’s Eastern Kentucky, death is explored as both a unique phenomenon and a fact of life .

Titus 3:14 “And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.”

“If I were fruitless, it mattered no who commended me; but if I were fruitful, I cared not who did condemn.” John Bunyan

Here are 5 books that will launch you into studies on the subject of evangelism.

1. Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus (9Marks: Building Healthy Churches) by J Mack Stiles

2. Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J I Packer

3. Evangelism in the Early Church by Michael Green

4. Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns edited by D A Carson

5. The Soul Winner: Evangelism as a Way of Life by C H Spurgeon

Ed Stetzer. The State of Evangelism. (CT)

We are in a time when it appears evangelism is on the decline. In my most recent episode of The Exchange I hosted Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg . We discussed the decline in evangelism and how to address it.

Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns edited by D A Carson $5.98

David Helm. Expositional Preaching. Reviewed by David Steele.

Matt Smethurst. TGC Council Meeting.

Here are some great pics taken of the TGC council meeting taking place this week.

C Michael Patton. 7 Reasons Why Christians Doubt.

I want to briefly give you some of the more “mundane” causes of why we, as Christians , might experience doubt, whether it be doubt in the existence of God, doubt in his love for us, or doubt in our salvation.

Albert Mohler. Why So Many Churches Hear So Little of the Bible.

“It is well and good for the preacher to base his sermon on the Bible, but he better get to something relevant pretty quickly, or we start mentally to check out.” That stunningly clear sentence reflects one of the most amazing, tragic, and lamentable characteristics of contemporary Christianity: an impatience with the Word of God.

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

“There is not a better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit.” D L Moody

Better to Tell the Truth Than Stories (Guest Post by Aaron Armstrong)

Aaron Armstrong is the author of Contend: Defending the Faith in a Fallen World and Awaiting a Savior: The Gospel, the New Creation, and the End of Poverty . He is a writer for an international Christian ministry, serves as an itinerant preacher throughout southern Ontario, and blogs daily at Blogging Theologically .

“You used to be awesome and tell funny stories about dumb things you did. You don’t do that anymore.”One of the fifth graders at our church shared this little bit of encouragement with me as he headed out the door the other week.

He meant it as an insult. I see it, oddly, as a compliment.

A few months back, I started sharing a few stories of really foolish things I did when I was between 8 and 10 years old. Things like: jumping off a roof to see if a man (or, in this case, boy) could fly. Defying my mother and getting an ATM card for my bank account after she explicitly told me not to. Or finding all the Christmas presents during a sick day, opening and playing with them all, and then attempting to cover my tracks by “rewrapping”all the presents.

Y’know, the typical idiotic stuff you can expect an eight-year-old boy to do.

The kids all enjoyed these stories, which is great, but then I ran into a couple of problems:

• The stories I could think of were inappropriate for kids (most of my childhood stories are PG-13 and up).
• The stories I could think of were inappropriate for the lesson being taught.

The second is far more significant an issue than the first. Although some of the stories I could share make me wonder how I’m not regularly in therapy, there are some I can clean up a little to make slightly more appropriate for little ears. But when a story doesn’t connect with the meat of the lesson, I don’t feel right about using it.

Telling stories that way—telling a story just to get a laugh—puts the focus on the wrong thing: me. While I obviously want to do all I can to make what I’m saying relatable and interesting, I don’t want to put me at the center of the teaching time for the sake of a quick laugh.

I’d rather be accused of being boring because I’m not telling funny stories, if it means the kids get to hear the gospel.

But the kid who was upset that I’m not telling as many funny stories doesn’t understand that. At least, he doesn’t understand it yet. He doesn’t get that it’s more important for him to know what God’s Word says than hear about something dumb I did when I was a kid. Someday he might. And if it ever happens, I hope he’ll be thankful that I sometimes sacrificed telling stories for the sake of telling him the truth about Jesus.

Nick Batzig. A Tale of Two Trees. (Christward Collective)

When I was a new convert–having been brought from spiritual death to spiritual life–one of the things that I distinctly remember seeing with new eyes were trees. This was, in large part, because the Lord was enabling me to understand in all the Scriptures the redemptive-historical nature of trees from the Garden to the cross to the new creation. Little did I know then the depths of the theological significance of the two Adams ( i.e. Adam and Christ) and the two trees ( i.e. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Cross) in Scripture.

Date Your Wife by Justin Buzzard $0.99

Stephen Um and Justin Buzzard. Cities Matter. Reviewed by Trevin Wax.

Andy Naselli. How I Set Up My Desks: One for Sitting, One for Walking.

I spend most of my waking hours working on my computer. I do a lot of reading, research, writing, editing, and emailing. And I do most of that at a desk.

I’ve customized my desk setup for what I do. Of course, this isn’t how everyone else should set up their desks, but my setup may give you some ideas for how to customize your desk for what you do.

Ed Stetzer. Yawning at Tigers: An Interview with Drew Dyck.

This is a helpful interview about a recently released book that you might enjoy.

Trillia Newbell. The Significance of Being Mom. (Christianity.com)

The other morning I woke up while my children were still sleeping and began to pray. I started thinking about my identity. What am I? Who am I? As I settled into my prayer time I began to rejoice at the thought that I am a mother. It is part of who I am. To my children it is my name: “Mom.”

Colossians 3:3 “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

“The Son of God did not unite himself with a human person, but with a human nature.” Charles Hodge

All of Life Discipleship (Mathew Sims Guest Post)

Mathew Sims is the husband to LeAnn and father of three residing in Simpsonville, South Carolina. He is the managing editor of Gospel-Centered Discipleship, the author of Household Gospel , and contributes to CBMW and Servants of Grace . You can follow Mathew Sims on Twitter @Graceforsinners or visit his blog Grace For Sinners .

After Jesus rises from the dead, his first marching orders for the Church is to make disciples. He doesn’t break the mission of the church and Christians into neat categories like evangelism and discipleship. Where evangelism is something we do for the unbelievers and discipleship is something we do for the believers. Rather, all of life is discipleship.

When we rip these two apart, we miss the beauty of God in the mission. We miss the all-encompassing focus the mission requires. In some people’s mind, evangelism is the thirty minutes we spend going door to door Thursday nights. Or the hour we spend passing out tracts downtown on Friday. Or maybe the forty-five minute airplane trip next to an unsuspecting stranger. Evangelism as is defined today fits into this neat box.

This kind of evangelism works best when the hearer gives you his or her undivided attention, and you can walk that person down the Roman’s road or another pre-fab gospel presentation. It drives the hearer to the crisis moment. Decide now!

However, when we don’t segregate discipleship and evangelism, we see discipleship as an overflow of God’s love sending us on mission. We are free to live ordinary lives in ordinary places. We are free to share the gospel naturally. We are free to let the Spirit work as he wishes. We are free to build friendships that are just that. They are not evangelistic opportunities to be tossed aside when the pitch is rejected.

I recently unknowingly allowed a Kirby vacuum salesman in my home (big mistake). Two hours later I was rushing off to work. He was upset that he wasted so much time. We didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars on the vacuum, so the sale was a no-go. We will probably never see each other again. If we look at evangelism like a Kirby salesman looks at sales, we run the risk of feeling resentment. When we make conversion something we do, that’s how it plays out.

However, when discipleship is the focus, we share the gospel as life happens. When family members call you to share that their marriage is over, and they feel like their life is falling apart, you can pray for God’s love to pour over them. You can share how he has been faithful to you even when your marriage was on the ropes. You may speak confident promises that God will be faithful to them as well.

When a Christian friend comes to your home because their child was arrested, you can mourn and weep with them. Your faith can uphold them. You can boldly pray to the right now reigning Jesus Christ. When you’re grabbing a burger and a beer with your atheist friend, you can share how God is working in your family. You don’t have to feel awkward like you’re selling something.

Discipleship is teaching people to obey everything Jesus taught. That’s an all of life endeavor. This happens with Christians and non-Christians. That’s contextualized for the moment. Remember how Jesus discipled Mary and Martha when Lazarus died? He weeps with one and reminds the other, “I am the resurrection and the life.” He meets them where they are. For the woman at the well, he disciples her in the ordinary place where she retrieves her water for the day. He speaks the gospel into her life where she’s at. The gospel is extraordinary, but the means of sharing it are very ordinary.

We must faithfully stay on mission, but let’s not make the gospel programmatic. Let’s make it all of life discipleship. Let’s make discipleship something we organically share with family, friends, children, husbands, siblings; let’s do so in coffee shops, churches, homes, cars, restaurants, and unto the ends of the earth. Martin Luther is right when he said that all of life was repentance. If Luther would’ve been able to hear me out, he might also have submitted along with me that all of life is part of discipleship.

Tim Challies. The Disabilities Dilemma.

Beauty is good, but allegiance to it can be damaging because so often the disabled do not fit our perception of beauty. The greater our focus on beauty and the greater our desire to be known for it, the more jarring their presence may be. A heightened emphasis on aesthetics simply creates a greater contrast. Could that contrast become so pronounced that it causes us to walk away from booths at a conference, or away from an opportunity to serve the disabled, their families, their churches?

Taking God Seriously by J I Packer .99

Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones. Proof. Reviewed by Derek Rishmawy.

Ryan Huguley. The Drivers Destroying Church Planters.

Yet, much of the pain planters experience is self-inflicted and unnecessary. Church planting demands a unique wiring – you have to be one part called and one part crazy. I wish I could say that it was only the clear call of God that drove me and others like me, but I’d be lying. Often times there are drivers just below the surface impacting church planters.

Jen Thorn. Ornaments of the Soul.

I don’t think there’s a woman alive who doesn’t like beautiful clothes or jewelry. While my taste may differ from yours we all like beautiful things. And this goes beyond things made by man to the creation itself. Look at the flowers, the feathers of birds and the breathtaking mountains capped with snow. See exotic islands and amazing creatures on land and sea–all of it points to a God who delights in beautiful things (Mt. 6:28-30).

Richard Clark. Celebrities Are Not Commodities.

Between movies, television shows, pop music, websites, and podcasts, our lives are full of background noise created by and in service to celebrities. Even if you’re not obsessed with Hollywood and tabloid culture, you’ve no doubt been a little too excited about being in the same room with your favorite pastor, writer, or theologian.

“God’s goodness is equal to his greatness.” Richard Baxter

Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom Rainer

The article Autopsy of a Deceased Church first appeared at Lifeway’s Pastors Today web blog .

Thom Rainer. Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive . Nashville: B&H, 2014. 102 pp. $12.99.

Thousands of churches are dying or die every year. Is yours one of them? Would you know the signs?

The church dying process is nearly imperceptible. It involves slow erosion. When attune to the signs, you will recognize when your church is heading towards death.

This is precisely why you should read Autopsy of a Deceased Church . In this solemn little book, Thom Rainer, President and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, takes 14 dead church congregations and performs an autopsy on them. The result of his findings is this brief and direct resource. Autopsy of a Deceased Church discloses 10 contributing factors to churches in decline and 12 responses a church may make.

Admittedly, this is a gloomy subject. But death is inescapable and inevitable for many churches; this subject must be broached. But I would be remiss to not share what Rainer affirms about the Church; though a local congregation may die, “Certainly the universal church will never die. Jesus made that abundantly clear” (99). He then references Matthew 16:18, “On this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it.” This offers a glimpse of hope. But glimpses are only realized if churches invest energy towards prayer and honest audits resulting in obedience.

Rainer shares that only 10% of churches are healthy, 40% indicate symptoms of sickness, another 40% are very sick, and 10% are dying (86). Those are grave projections, especially considering that 40% constitutes 150,000 churches. These are grave enough projections to assert that 100% of churches will benefit from Autopsy of a Deceased Church .

This book awakens us to pursue a regular church health checkup. Leaders will consider critical subjects like: church nostalgia, community absence, inwardly focused budgets, pastoral tenure and many other contributing factors towards church death. As you read, consider your church’s conviction of obedience to the gospel mandate. I felt the weight of this bold statement: “So perhaps ‘Great Commission amnesia’ is really too kind…Perhaps it would be more truthful to say these dying churches had ‘Great Commission disobedience’” (43). May we never contribute to this tragedy!

Before you become too forlorn, rest assure, this examination of church corpses not only helps see causes of death, but it helps discover how to preserve life. You can count on this book encouraging a missional (28), Christ-minded (50), prayer-oriented (66), gospel-centered (75), and eternally focused mindset (84).

Finally, As Rainer explains, “[There] are no magical, easy fix solutions” (85). But prayer and evaluation are essential first steps churches must make to proceed from dying to thriving. Thus, each chapter closes with two noteworthy features: the Prayerful Commitment and Questions for Further Thought sections. These sections are tailored to the contents of the chapter. You’ll want to take advantage of these features.

Thom Rainer’s Autopsy of a Deceased Church will prompt preventative reconditioning before autopsy is necessary.

The Selfishness of Unselfishness (Guest Post from Nick Horton)

Nick Horton lives in Strasburg, VA with his wife and son. They are adopting from Ethiopia. They love Jesus and Nick serves as a deacon. Nick attends Boyce College and senses a call to pastor. Follow Nick at glorydistilled.com or @NickHorton .

One of the highest virtues today is unselfishness. Paying for someone’s coffee anonymously, volunteering at a shelter of some kind, or sacrificial giving are heralded as levels of unselfishness. We rightly exalt stories of sacrifice. The daycare worker who gave their life to save a child. The fireman who charges into a burning building to pull someone out. The soldier who enters battle and risks death to preserve freedom. We marvel at these acts because true sacrifice is foreign to us. We’d call these actions unselfish, and they are. Yet, is unselfishness the virtue to be held high? Christ said “ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:3). Christ didn’t say, “Greater unselfishness has no one than this,” though his sacrificial death is unselfish. No, Christ said it was about love.

C.S. Lewis said in The Weight of Glory: “If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point.” Can we be selfishly unselfish? What if our motivation for doing good is pharisaical and not loving? What I mean is, what if the aim of unselfish acts is applause or an inflation of self-righteousness? If someone buys a homeless person dinner out of care and provision of the hungry, we call that loving. If someone buys a homeless person food to receive accolades of praise, perhaps their motivation is not love but self-righteousness. Why does this matter as long as they do good? In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus showed that the spirit of the law is much deeper than surface actions. The law and God’s desire for us aim at the heart level. He desires motivations that please and glorify him. Hence, adultery is expanded beyond the physical act to include lust. Murder is expanded to the attitude of anger towards one another. So, when he commands us to love others as ourselves, shouldn’t we obey the spirit of the command? We don’t love ourselves begrudgingly. Love is much deeper than mere physical attraction or that which is beneficial. Christ modeled love completely in the cross. He lived perfectly and obediently to God. Still, men brutally beat him, shamed him, and crucified him. He served and lived and sacrificed himself willingly. He extended this mercy through love, satisfying the wrath of God in our place, for the glory of God. Jonathan Leeman says in his book, The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love, that God’s love is not unconditional, it’s contra-conditional. Contrary to what we deserve, he loves us. He goes on to say, “ God’s love is given to sinners on account of Christ, but this love is not shorn of its holiness. It is holy and it creates holiness. It creates the holy obedience of love.” God loves on the account of Christ. He loves contrary to what we deserve on the account of Christ’s finished work. Christ is the lens through which the love of God manifests. So then, love should manifest itself not in thoughts of unselfishness, but out of a heart full of love. Don’t hold that internal argument to determine if someone is worthy of love and sacrifice. There are many times we overthink obedience. If your heart is stirred to love, then act in love. Love is more than the fluffy cloud feelings portrayed in movies. Love is “affirmation of and affection for the beloved and the beloved’s good in the Holy” (Leeman). So affirm and love someone as an image bearer, not as a sinner. Don’t affirm sin of any kind. The truth of God and his Word must never be compromised. However, don’t withhold love until standards are met. God did not do so to you at the cross. He meets the standard and offers grace and mercy at the cross. Stop thinking in terms of what you will gain or who you can tell. Think, instead, of God’s glory and fame. Feel your heart moved by the Holy Spirt in love and compassion; act on that. This doesn’t mean feeling a warm glow, seeing your name in lights, or having assurance that everything will go alright. If you get that gut check or sense that you should help another, show them love. Extending grace and mercy will not bring condemnation. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:43-46)

Lisa Respers. Were TV Hosts’ Religious Beliefs a Problem? (CNN)

Old Paths by J C Ryle $0.99

Ray Ortlund. The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of God. Reviewed by Tim Challies.

Kevin DeYoung. When Learning to Pray, It’s Okay to Borrow and Steal.

Bucer’s prayer was only meant to be an example, a template to guide our prayers and to be expounded upon. But nonetheless it is impressively spiritual, in the truest sense of the word. My prayer life, both personally and corporately, has been immensely helped by reading old prayers like this one from Strasbourg. It’s not that our ancestors did everything right or that we should pray just like they did or just as long. But they almost surely thought more about prayer, especially in the corporate worship service. Read The Valley of Vision . Use Hughes Oliphant Old’s big book on prayer . Check out Liturgies of the Western Church . Glean the best bits from the Book of Common Prayer. Prayer is hard work. There’s no sense going at it all on your own.

Matt Perman. The Real Meaning of Networking.

However, the unfortunate existence of the networking jerk should not be allowed to give real networking a bad name. My friend is one of the most sincere people I know, and would by no stretch of the imagination be mistaken for the networking jerk. So I encouraged him to reach out to this person. I said to him “but it wouldn’t be networking, really, at least not in the sense you seem to be thinking. Understood rightly, networking is simply about making friends — and doing it sincerely, because people matter, and not because you are trying to get anything out of it other than encouraging someone and recognizing the value of reaching out.”

Josh Vincent. R-Rated Texts for an R-Rated World. (TCG)

I don’t know how you set the parental controls on your cable TV. I don’t even have cable, but if I did, I’d filter certain episodes to protect my three sons. Of course, we could similarly restrict some scriptural episodes due to explicit content not suitable for all audiences. Maybe that’s one reason many churches censor parts of the Bible for being too crass, violent, or sexual.

Mark 12:6 “He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying ‘They will respect my son.'”

“Christ’s blood is heaven’s key.” Thomas Brooks

4 Safeguards Against Preaching Dangerously (ChurchPastors.com Guest Post)

There is a danger for every man who regularly preaches the Word. That danger is to step outside the example of Paul, who said, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” ( 1 Cor. 2:1-2 ).

When we are out of step with this principle, we slip into the practice of self-sufficiency that says, “I need to leverage lofty speech; I need to use the wisdom of this world.” This means that we may have a passage of Scripture that we read to our congregation at the beginning of our sermon, but then we let that passage become a springboard to what we really want to say: the stuff that makes for lofty speech and worldly wisdom.

Pastors then buy into the pragmatism of this age and lean towards crutches. Crutches include: other pastor’s sermon podcasts, cleverly devised object lessons, hot topics, or anything else that might wow an audience. As the saying goes, “What you win them with is what you win them too.” Now, the above crutches, may be helps that compliment your sermon preparation, but all too often, they become the heart of the sermon. That’s the danger: allowing helps to become heart.

This kind of self-sufficiency is a great danger that ultimately fails to emphasize God’s pinnacle truth of the gospel. The gospel is substituted for a diluted message of “living life better.” Often, this does not happen because of ill motive but because of ill practice.

The best way to prevent wandering into diluted methods is to ground sermon preparation in expositional practices. Here are four such practices that safeguard against dangerous preaching:

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AT CHURCHPASTORS.COM…

Carl Trueman. More Questions Than Answers On Protestant’s Future?

A nyone who claims to want to end world poverty or child abuse has seized the rhetorical high ground in a manner which makes any response beyond ‘Amen, so may it be!’ seem somewhat curmudgeonly. Thus, when Peter Leithart opened last week’s discussion on the future of Protestantism by lamenting ecclesiastical disunity and expressing a desire for a visibly united church, there was an audible murmur of support and appreciation from the audience. I knew immediately I would emerge over the course of the evening as the nay-sayer.

The Final Days of Jesus by Andreas Kostenberger and Justin Taylor

Justin Holcomb. Know the Heretics. Reviewed by Aaron Armstrong.

N T Wright at Lanier Theological Library. HT Charles Savelle.

Lecture by N.T. Wright from Lanier Theological Library on Vimeo .

Joe Thorn. 4 Ways to Find God’s Grace in Our Failures. (Christianity.com)

If you haven’t figured it out yet let me encourage you to see something that will greatly help you. Not all of your ideas are good. Some of them are bad. And God will often let you flail and fail out there for very good purposes. And when you fail do not lose the opportunity to find grace in the midst of it.

I believe this is especially important for pastors to understand. It’s one of the most important lessons I have learned in 16 years of pastoral ministry: failure is to be expected and learned from. I have misspoke, misstepped, and missed the mark in more ways than I can explain here. And failing hurts. Most of us of are afraid of it. Leaders in particular are afraid of failure since it’s always a bit more of a public spectacle.

I’m not talking about moral failure that disqualifies someone from the ministry, but ministerial failure. It may sometimes involve sin, but more often it’s poor judgment or simply the bad execution of an idea. And while we must always take ownership for our failures, we don’t have to be defeated by them. In fact, I have found that there is much grace to be found in failure if I will seek the Lord through it.

Mike Leake. A Thirst for Knowledge, A Thirst for Porn. (Servants of Grace)

Many young men are introduced to pornography out of curiosity. They simply want to know what those forbidden parts look like. And then that curiosity gets more pointed. They want to know what certain celebrities look like naked. It never satisfies.

It’s not only young men that I have been caught in this snare. It’s trapped many good and seemingly faithful men. They don’t begin on a quest to view porn for sexual pleasure. It’s a quest to view forbidden images for the sake of knowledge.

Ephesians 1:5 “[He] predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”

“Adoption gives us the privilege of sons, regeneration the nature of sons.” Stephen Charnock

Five Books on Trinitarianism

Here are 5 books that will launch you into studies on the subject of trinitarianism.

1. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance by Bruce A Ware

2. The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything by Fred Sanders

3. The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship by Robert Letham

4. The Quest for the Trinity: The Doctrine of God in Scripture, History and Modernity by Stephen R Holmes

5. Our Triune God: Living in the Love of the Three-in-One by Philip Ryken and Michael LeFebvre

New White House Report: Climate Change is Here and Action Needed Now, New White House Report Says. (CNN)

Climate change is here and will only worsen. Get used to more flooding, wildfires and drought, depending on where you live. Cities and states across America already are spending lots of money to respond.

Those are the take-home messages of a new White House report released Tuesday that is part of President Barack Obama’s second-term effort to prepare the nation for the impacts of a changing climate such as rising sea levels and increasingly erratic weather.

Glimpses of Grace by Gloria Furman .99

Jared Wilson. Why Theological Study Is For Everyone. (Christianity.com)

Every Christian must be a theologian. In a variety of ways, this is something I tell my church often. And the looks I get from some surprised souls are the evidence that I have not yet adequately communicated that the purposeful theological study of God by lay people is important.

Thom Rainer. The Church that Dreams Again.

Here is where I ask for your help. Do you know of a church that has dreamed again? Can you share a brief story of how that took place?

Would you share with me how I can best help your church to dream again? I am moving in that direction, but I want to hear clearly from God and God’s people.

Ryan Hamm. The Twitter Disconnect: Why Christians are More Loving in Real Life. (CaPC)

You’ve no doubt experienced this disconnect. You’ve encountered someone on social media who at their best made you angry, and at their worst made you want to fight them in real life. If you’re a Christian, you’ve likely had at least one experience where you see someone tweet who has “Christ-follower” in their bio and you wonder: “If that’s a Christ-follower, then no thank you.”

It’s no secret social media has changed the way we communicate and have access to one another. But why has it loosed monsters among us? And where were those monsters before?

Psalm 119:135 “Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.”

“The Lord does not shine upon us, except when we take his Word as our light.” John Calvin

Trevin Wax. 5 Observations about Younger Southern Baptists. (TGC)

One of the aspects I enjoy most about my role at LifeWay is the opportunity to interact with Southern Baptist pastors and church members across the country. Whenever I speak at conferences or provide training, I come away with profound gratitude for the brothers and sisters in our Convention.

In previous decades, some might have seen the SBC as irrelevant to broader evangelicalism. But today the SBC includes some of the largest seminaries in the world, employs a stunning international mission force, and oversees the world’s largest Christian resource provider. More recently, broader evangelical institutions have tapped Southern Baptists to lead them (David Dockery at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Greg Thornbury at The King’s College, Thomas White at Cedarville, etc.).

What about younger Southern Baptists? What does the future of the SBC look like?

The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament $4.99

Alister McGrath. If I Had Lunch with C S Lewis. Reviewed by Louis Markos. (Ref21)

Tim Challies. Anti-Catholic or Pro-Gosepl.

couple of weeks ago I wrote an article explaining why I believe Pope Francis is a false teacher . This generated a fair bit of controversy and brought many responses (most of which were, thankfully, both measured and kind). One critique I heard several times was this: “You do not understand the Roman Catholic view of justification; if you understood Catholic theology you would see the pope as a defender of truth rather than an opponent of truth.” I do not wish to say that I know Catholic theology better than my Catholic friends, so I would like to try something different today.

I believe there is a vast gulf between justification as the Bible teaches it and justification as Rome teaches it. We agree on the problem: we are sinful people who have alienated ourselves from God and are thus in need of salvation. But we disagree in very significant ways as to how sinful people can receive that salvation. The thing is, Rome believes this too. The Catholic Church understands that there is a gulf between us and they deem it every bit as serious as I do.

Elizabeth Bristow. ERLC Reacts to Supreme Court’s Decision to Uphold Right to Allow Prayer at Government Meetings. (ERLC)

Russell D. Moore, president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the right to allow sectarian prayers before public meetings in the Town of Greece v. Galloway case on Monday.

“I am very thankful the Court did the right thing . . . [t]his is a victory for all of those who believe in the freedom of speech, including religious speech, as a prized part of our God-given religious liberty,” Moore said. “Prayer at the beginning of a meeting is a signal that we aren’t ultimately just Americans. We are citizens of the State, yes, but the State isn’t ultimate. There is some higher allegiance than simply political process.”

Eric McKiddie. Why Playing It Safe as a Pastor Is the Riskiest Move You’ll Make. (Pastors Today)

The irony is that while avoiding church conflict buys you time now, long-term—as I hope to show you—it guarantees failure. And anything that guarantees failure is the opposite of safe. It’s the ultimate risk, because you’re betting you will be the one-in-a-million pastor whose church problems go away all by themselves.

If playing it safe isn’t safe in church anymore, then what is? Risk is. In ministry, risky is the new safe.

Psalm 119:131 “I open my mouth and pant because I long for your commandments.”

“Our faith is fed by what is plain in Scripture and tried by what is obscure.” Augustine

Checking the Pulse of Spiritual Sibling Rivalry (Christward Collective Guest Post)

If we’re honest, there are times where we meet a brother or sister in Christ and don’t feel like being a brother or sister in Christ to them. Sometimes the feeling is subtle and subversive–so subtle that we almost deny the feeling; yet we’ve allowed ourselves to be rubbed the wrong way by that person. It might be that they are more successful, attractive, intelligent, or just flat out better than you at everything they do. It could be that they accomplished all of this while displaying sinful characteristics in the process. We see sin in them more than we see the same in our self (Matthew 7:3) . Maybe they took something that we believed should’ve been ours. Perhaps it was a promotion or award at work. You know that they follow Christ, but boy, you wish they didn’t so that you wouldn’t feel so bad about giving them an earful.

Before you respond to this introduction with, “Moi? No. It could never be!” Think about this. Sibling rivalry is an age-old issue. It began with Cain and Abel, continued with Jacob and Esau, presented itself with Joseph and his brothers, David and his brothers, and is notable in the parable of the two lost sons in Luke 15:11-32. God would not have given us all this narrative about sibling rivalry if we didn’t face the danger and reality of it in our own lives. I’m not just talking about rivalry between flesh and blood siblings. I’m talking about rivalry between spiritual siblings too. Like every other sin, this sin crouches at our door. Do you see it there?

There is no need to give you a solution in this article or instruct you on how to resolve the issue. That’s not my aim. You’ll see that soon enough. Rather, I want you to check your spiritual pulse and see where sibling rivalry might exist in your heart. You and I need to come to terms with and recognize sin that might be present.

In order to accomplish this, let’s consider four signs of sibling rivalry in Luke 15:25-32. These signs are signaled from the life of the older brother in this parable of two lost sons. I know that many refer to this as the parable of the prodigal son, but as you will discover, herein is the story of two sons who are lost.

READ THE REST OF THIS POST AT CHRISTWARDCOLLECTIVE.ORG.

Basil of Caesarea on Genesis 1:1

Basil writes this moving exposition on Genesis 1:1 in the Hexaemeron.

Deceived by their inherent atheism it appeared to them that nothing governed or ruled the universe, and that was all was given up to chance. To guard us against this error the writer on the creation, from the very first words, enlightens our understanding with the name of God; “In the beginning God created.” What a glorious order! He first establishes a beginning, so that it might not be supposed that the world never had a beginning. Then be adds “Created” to show that which was made was a very small part of the power of the Creator. In the same way that the potter, after having made with equal pains a great number of vessels, has not exhausted either his art or his talent; thus the Maker of the Universe, whose creative power, far from being bounded by one world, could extend to the infinite, needed only the impulse of His will to bring the immensities of the visible world into being. If then the world has a beginning, and if it has been created, enquire who gave it this beginning, and who was the Creator: or rather, in the fear that human reasonings may make you wander from the truth, Moses has anticipated enquiry by engraving in our hearts, as a seal and a safeguard, the awful name of God: “In the beginning God created” — It is He, beneficent Nature, Goodness without measure, a worthy object of love for all beings endowed with reason, the beauty the most to be desired, the origin of all that exists, the source of life, intellectual light, impenetrable wisdom, it is He who “in the beginning created heaven and earth.

Galatians (BECNT) by Douglas Moo

The Galatians (BECNT) post first appeared at Lifeway’s Pastors Today web blog .

Douglas J Moo. Galatians: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament . Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013. 496 pp. $44.99.

Dr. Douglas Moo, Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School, offers a stabilizing, weighty offering to the Church with his excellent commentary on Galatians.

Galatians is a book first and foremost about the gospel, so it only makes sense that the occasion for this letter becomes the central unifying theme of Moo’s commentary. As Moo comments, he divides the letter’s body into three sections: The Truth of the Gospel, 1:11-2:21; The Defense of the Gospel, 3:1-5:12; and The Life of the Gospel, 5:13-6:10.

In developing his argument, Moo navigates between matters of salvation history, the new perspective on Paul, and aspects of justification. For instance, he concludes that the issue of dispute is not discontinuity in salvation history — for there is great continuity here as he argues with the example of Abraham (3:1-4:7) — but a contrast between two ways of accessing God’s grace, one being “works of the law” and the other being “faith” (178). So salvation history is of importance but the matter of justification by faith takes precedence (155). This may seem like an aberrant comment, but it is important to grip what Moo emphasizes as central to the Galatian letter.

Though one would benefit from having a working knowledge of Koine Greek, the BECNT commentaries offer transliteration and expositional clarity so that such knowledge is not essential.

One of the challenges I have found in consulting commentaries is when an issue of validation goes non-validated. In other words, the commentator provides an excellent landscape of possible positions but never presents a concluding conviction. Not that this would persuade, but it’s helpful to know the commentator’s view.

An objective of the BECNT is not to leave pastors helplessly wondering, “So which view is it?” Dr. Moo faithfully delivers throughout this contribution on Galatians. This doesn’t mean he gives the definitive answer on every issue. For instance, he seems non-committal on whether forensic or participatory justification is the center of Paul’s theology (155), though elsewhere he calls participation “the theological bedrock” resulting in both justification and membership in God’s people (58).

Still, Moo provides a balanced, well-reasoned, and articulate argument for each exegetical move. Whether it’s his slight favoring of a South Galatian destination (8) or the AD 48 date (18), he does not arrive at these conclusions carelessly.

Likewise, he does not make the weight of this study burdensome on the reader. Many commentaries bog readers down with footnotes filled with democratically driven validation – whatever position gets the most votes wins – not so here. He arrives at his conclusion not according to the vote of those who agree on a viewpoint but based upon the veracity of the tenable position. Thus, Moo judiciously selected nine commentaries to regularly consult and compare (xii). This does not mean he only consulted nine commentaries. In truth, he cites over thirty pages of sources through the course of this study (407-438). But these commentaries provide the best representation of various views on matters such as destination, origin, structure of the letter, or the serious matter of justification by faith.

Moo’s commentary on Galatians is a ballast for pastors wishing to faithfully exegete the message of this letter. You will not be disappointed in this commentary. You’ll find yourself consulting Moo’s commentary on Galatians endlessly as you preach through Paul’s earliest and seminal letter.

Jake Meador. On Church Membership and Theological Disagreement.

The lesson from that quote (from Wendell Berry) is that fidelity to a place, a people, or a tradition is often its own reward. This is because learning to actually see something takes a great deal of time. It is only through the virtues of patience and affection that we can come to truly know a place and find our home in it. Seeing these things properly is something that takes a great deal of time to do, and the longer you take at it the more apt you are to realize how much more there is to see. This was the thought I continued to have as I watched the Future of Protestantism event earlier this week.

From Heaven He Came and Sought Her $3.99

Anthony Carter. Blood Work. Reviewed by David Steele.

Brian Croft. How Should a Pastor Process Criticism?

A helpful way to understand some of the pressures of pastoral ministry is the term “mudslinging.” This is referring to what can be a consistent flow of harsh words, corrections, and criticisms towards the pastor and his decisions. When there is mud slung, there is the one that slings the mud and there is the one who now has mud on his face as a result. How does a pastor deal with not just the mud that is now on his face, but the one who threw the mud? This could be the topic of many posts in the future.

Mike Cosper. A Tale of Two Bobs.

There once were two neighbors, both named Bob. One is an evangelical Christian, the other is gay and agnostic. They’ve lived next to one another in a duplex for several years, and have been good neighbors: getting one another’s mail when the other travels, hauling each other’s garbage cans to and from the curb, and have occasionally had a cookout together. They are friends, but they’ve never really had a discussion about their differences.

Ed Stetzer. Replant: Book and Case Study: Redeemer Fellowship Kansas City.

My friends Darrin Patrick and Mark DeVine recently authored a fascinating book, Replant: How a Dying Church Can Grow Again , which releases today.

I had the privilege of writing the foreword to the book, which I have pasted below my opening comments.

The book is worth of your time. It tells the story of a church being replanted within a dying church. We need a lot more churches like this.

A number of weeks ago, I happened to be in Kansas City and I dropped by Redeemer Fellowship for their Ash Wednesday services. I share a bit more about that before the pictures.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Matthew 3:2, 8.

“Repentance, if it be true, strikes at the root and washes the heart from wickedness.” Matthew Henry

That One Time I Had a Tumor…

On a seemingly normal morning, while showering, I discovered something — a conspicuous lump. The moment of discovery was a tempest of emotion. My thoughts included: “Is this for real?” “I’ve seen this happen to others, but how could it happen to me?” “What do I do?” “I’m afraid.”

I had an upcoming visit to the doctor’s office in THREE weeks. As a fear driven, anxious human being, I allowed myself to wait, keep it hidden, and keep on living — the normal life. I didn’t tell a soul what I discovered. I kept pastoring teens and families. I kept shepherding small group leaders. I kept planning programs. I kept dating my wife and playing with my children. I did all these activities for THREE weeks in utter dread of what might happen next.

When you walk through the fear of the unknown all alone, it is a dreadful experience. If I could have lived those three week over, I would have shared with my wife about my fears. I didn’t. I didn’t because I didn’t want to burden her. I wanted to carry the load myself, much like Frodo wished to do in the Lord of the Rings. Ultimately, this was selfish and inconsiderate. When I finally told her, she did not get upset or tell me this. I just know that was what it was.

Walking through Fear in Community

Then I visited my doctor.

“Doctor” I fumbled, “Uhhhh, I have something to ask you.” I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I found a lump, and I need you to look at it.”

My doctor performed a thorough examination. With a sympathetic look he told me that the best thing to do is to see a specialist. He gave me a referral that day. I went home. I told Kendall. I showed her the lump. I told her that I would be seeing a specialist in a few days. We immediately prayed that we would embrace God’s will, walk through this faithfully, and experience his favor.

When I visited the specialist, he told me upon his examination that I, indeed, required surgery. Because of the location, there was uncertainty to what was going on. It could be a hernia, or it could be a tumor. Either way, a low invasive surgery was necessary. If it was a hernia, he was prepared to repair it. If it was a tumor, he was prepared to remove it. Regardless, my surgeon was hopeful.

I had never had a surgery, and I was not thrilled about the one I would endure. Fear filled anticipation characterized the next two weeks of life. During this time, we shared with our church community. I passed the news to the rest of our pastoral staff at our Tuesday morning meeting. I then shared with the high school cell group that I visited on Wednesday night. Kendall shared with her friends at Chick-fil-a, where she worked at the time. Then on Sunday morning, afternoon, and night, I shared with the rest of the High School students and leaders. We happened to have an adult leader lunch that Sunday, so all the leaders from 6th-12th grade were able to cover us in a concert of prayer.

Having a community that loves you, cares about your family, and has many people who have walked through similar circumstance is deeply comforting. This is the beauty of the gospel at work. This is when the beauty of Jesus moves the people of Jesus to love the afflicted. On that day in my pre-op room, our middle school (5th-6th grade) and worship pastor read Scripture and prayed with Kendall and I. Then I rolled into the examination room. It was large and clean. There were about ten medical professionals in the room. This was comforting. I don’t remember much after that. I woke up almost immediately after they moved me into recovery. Kendall took me home, and I spent a few day in bed. When the surgeon visited me in recovery, he reported that it was not a hernia. He had removed a small tumor that was now going to the lab to be biopsied.

A week later we received the final report. I had a small lipid tumor. It was benign.

Hearing “benign” from the surgeon’s office was such a relief. My surgeon already suspected as much, and I imagine they would have brought me into their office to let me know if it was malignant. So being relegated to a phone call was a relief. I had a feeling everything would turn out okay.

Everyone in our community around us also felt relief. Why? Because it seems that these stories are rare. More often, we hear the other outcome. We hear the m-word, malignant.

Just today, I was shook by this tweet from Jared Wilson: “Yet another close friend and church member with malignant tumor. Lord, have mercy.”

That is our very cry. We cry out for mercy when we hear the m-word. But there is another cry that should echo from the heart of our community. It is the cry, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

In that day when Christ returns we will experience final relief from fear. Not only will we experience relief, but we may very well forget the suffering. Ray Ortlund writes in his recent book, The Gospel, “On that great and final day, as we step together into the new creation, you might turn to me and say: ‘Hey, Ray, I’m trying to remember: did we call it ‘cancer’? Was that it? Oh, no matter. Here we go!'” (53).

This is not to be dismissive. Right now, this pain and suffering that haunts the world and our very lives is real. But so is the reality of relief, whether it be in our transition to heaven or heaven’s transition to earth. Relief is coming.

Sympathizing with Those Who Tread through Fearful Times

My experience was life-changing. My sympathy for those who tread fearful times turned to empathy. When I see tweets like Jared’s or when I hear of a congregant in life altering circumstances, my mind immediately turns to prayer and thoughts of how to comfort those who need comfort.

When I consider how I would comfort others in similar experiences, I would be sure to do five things.

1. I would keep my interaction simple.

2. I would press in. In other words, I would speak seriously about the situation and assertively about God’s promises

3. I would tell them I love them.

4. I would offer to pray for them right there.

5. And I would ask if there is anything I could do now or in the near future.

When you discover that someone is walking through a time of fear or suffering, how do you care for them?

Marvin Olasky. Book Buyer Beware. (WORLD)

This is an important article that sheds light on a serious problem. Read it!

Finishing Our Course with Joy by J I Packer $0.99

Kevin DeYoung. Taking God at His Word. Reviewed by Erik Raymond.

Kevin DeYoung. The Importance of Simplicity in Preaching.

If the choice is preaching in such a way as to be thought intellectually and rhetorically impressive or preaching in a manner as to be understood, we must always choose the latter over the former. In preaching, clarity is king, and simplicity is his servant.

Jon Bloom. Don’t Idolize Your Leaders. (DG)

The writer of Hebrews says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” ( Hebrews 13:7 ).

Imitating the faith of godly leaders is a biblical command. We obey and submit to them because they are faithful ( Hebrews 13:17 ). They trust God, obey his word, and take great care to speak it to us accurately. We should want to be just like that.

C Michael Patton. Can Homosexuals Be Saved ? (Parchment&Pen)

Can a homosexual be saved? Yes. All sinners can be saved. Indeed, all Christians are sinners. Let us all view this important issue in light of a deep understanding of the plight of sinfulness and may God help us to overcome the resulting bents.

2 Tim. 2:1 “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

“A Christian’s life should be nothing but a visible representation of Christ.” Thomas Brooks

Gal. 3:15-29 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

This is a long passage, so we’ll hit it paragraph by paragraph.

The first paragraph, verses 15-18 emphasize the permanence of the Abrahamic covenant. When people argue with extra-biblical evidence that the Abrahamic covenant is a unilateral, unconditional, royal grant treaty according to Ancient Near Eastern practices, you can say, “Yeah, I know. Paul told me in Galatians 3.” This paragraph ties the seed to spiritual union with Christ rather than physical descent of Abraham. In other words, children of Christ are children of Abraham too. The Abrahamic covenant, antedating the Mosaic covenant, is not supplanted by the Mosaic covenant. Why is this? Because, according to God, a promise is a promise. He will make full on his promise to Abraham.

This paragraph says something important to us about the character of God. God is a promise-keeper. And the entire arch of God’s revelation of this attribute finds its apex in the coming, returning, and everything between regarding Jesus Christ. When you’re in trouble, affliction, suffering, steeped in sin, or any other situation that brings you to a point of helplessness, turn to the promise-keeping God for help. He will not fail to cover you, protect your, and uphold you.

When looking at verses 19-22, we pick up more than anything that God is consistent. There is continuity between what God promises and what law God enforces. The law of God serve a particular function. It points us to the need for the promise of God. Without the law, we would not recognize sin. Without recognizing sin, we would se no need for Christ. So the law stirs us to recognize our brokenness and need for reconciliation. Then when Jesus comes on the scene, we are primed to believe in God’s promise. In a word, the law is not contrary but consistent. It is consistent with who God is, how God works, and what God expects.

Verses 23-29 take us through that all important aspect that we transfer out of imprisonment to sin and into union with Christ. Our union with Christ clothes us in Christ. Our identity is wrapped up in him. We receive his righteousness. We don’t have a righteousness of our own; we have his righteousness. Prior to Christ we are under the laws guardianship. This means that in our imprisonment, the law served to protect us from self-harm, and it fed us with God-truth. It also kept us from escape until we might be transferred into the guardianship of Christ. But now instead of imprisonment, we have adoption. We are pardoned and set free, not by a governor but by a brother. We are co-heirs with Christ. We are given a fresh bath in the waters of baptism and a new garment in Christ. We are included into the family of God, where we all stand on the same ground, the grounds of Christ. This passage is rich with language that speaks to a better life, a life as a son contrasted to the life of a prisoner.

Richard Clark. Lord Willing: The Future of Christ And Pop Culture And Your Place In It. (Christ&PC)

If I were suggest one website to become a member of, I suggest membership with this one. Good stuff coming out of here all the time. These guys know how to read culture and write into it God’s truth.

The Danger of Prosperity by William Bates $2.99

Kostenberger, Bock, & Chatraw. Truth Matters: Confident Faith in a Confusing World. Reviewed by Coleman Ford. (TGC)

Leithart, Sanders, and Trueman. The Future of Protestantism. HT Todd Pruitt (Ref21)

David Mathis. Wash in the Waters Again. (DG)

In complement to the spoken words of gospel preaching, these twin rhythms of the gathered church are dramatizations of the grace of God. These “visible words” rehearse for us the center of our faith through images and actions in the God-given pictures of washing, touching, smelling, and tasting. Alongside preaching, they reveal to us again and again the very heart of the gospel we profess and aim to echo. They are enacted “signs,” pointing to realities beyond themselves.

But these ordinances are not just signs, but “seals.” They confirm to us not just that God has done something salvific for mankind, but that it applies to me in particular. The gospel is not only true in general, but specifically for me . And when a Bible-believing, gospel-cherishing church applies the seal to me, it can be a great grounds of assurance that I myself am included in the rescued people of Christ.

In this way, baptism and the Lord’s Supper serve to mark us out as the church, distinct from the world, and are part of what it means for the new covenant to be a covenant — with acts of both initiation and ongoing fellowship, both inauguration and renewal.

Eric McKiddie. How to Preach on Controversial Theological Subjects.

A short but powerful quote for preachers from John Broadus.

1 Cor. 11:1 “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.”

“The universal command of the gospel, that comprises all our duties, is to walk as Christ walked.” William Bates