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To Transform Men, Women and Nations
We live in an age of easy-believing. Many of those professing the name of Christ offer a false gospel, trading in a parody of Jesus’ message that demands neither conviction for sin nor alignment with God’s will. Words like “love” are used to cover up and condone sin rather than shine a redemptive spotlight on it. God is reduced to a doting uncle, who loves us but is largely out of the picture, leaving man to rescue himself. He would never punish, and sin is something that can be forgiven without a concern for holiness or justice. The words of Jesus provide a strong contrast: “If anyone would come after…
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Permission to Love One Another
February’s residency read was The Pastor and Counseling by Jeremy Pierre and Deepak Reju. I think this book is a great introduction to the pastor’s call to really shepherd the flock. It is also a great place to begin thinking about how the call of the pastor has a trajectory of whole body involvement in discipleship, including biblical counseling. Chapter Seven, especially, points the reader to consider how the whole body works together for health of individuals and church alike: A culture of discipleship means that members don’t have to sign up for anything to get permission to love one another. It is a church culture where it is normal…
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Not a Bad Beginning
This afternoon, preparing to read and pray through Lamentations 2 in the morning, I jumped into John Goldingay’s NICOT offering, The Book of Lamentations. I will have to go back and read the introductory material soon. But for now, right into the meat of the poem! Lamentations 2 The following made me stop for a bit, both for its own merit, and for a failure on my part to grasp a word. There was a sense in which the temple belonged in the heavens. It linked the earth and the heavens. The earthly temple was a kind of portal. When people entered the temple, they entered Yahweh’s heavenly dwelling. But…
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First, Daily, and Last Word
I finished Ray Ortlund’s The Death of Porn the other day. The appendix is a short article titled “A Man’s Identity”, by David Powlison. The whole thing is great, as is the rest of Ortlund’s book, but this quote in particular grabbed my attention: Your true identity is who God says you are. You will never discover who you are by looking inside yourself or listening to what others say. The Lord gets the first word because he made you. He gets the daily word because you live before his face. He gets the last word because he will administer your “comprehensive life review.” David Powlison, “A Man’s Identity” (the…
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First to Wound, Then to Heal
I was gripped by today’s reading in Refreshment for the Soul. Temptation and sin waging war, Satan in all his boastful taunting, it is helpful to read of the savior’s mercy. Of his patience. Of his own temptations, of his victory. But mostly of his grace poured out on me in my sin and weakness: Let this support us when we feel ourselves bruised. Christ’s way is first to wound, then to heal. No sound, whole soul will ever enter into heaven. Think when in temptation, Christ was tempted for me; according to my trials will be my graces and comforts. If Christ be so merciful as not to break…
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More or Less
J.T. English’s “Deep Discipleship” is fixing to be an awesome book. The introduction alone was incisive and direct. I’ll share just a little bit of something that caught my attention. He’s talking about misdiagnosing the church’s ills in regards to discipleship. Everyone has an opinion in my experience. But English is right, most people seem to think the church requires too much of people. To this English has the following to say: Deep discipleship is about giving people more Bible, not less; more theology, not less; more spiritual disciplines, not less; more gospel, not less; more Christ, not less. Deep Discipleship, p8 I wholeheartedly agree. How can we give people…
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Though Surrounded with Outside Enjoyments
As we pass Christmas and march forward to the new year, this passage from my assigned reading this week stood out to me: We should not rest in the world and its enjoyments, but should desire heaven. We should above all things desire a heavenly happiness: to be with God and be well with Jesus Christ. Though surrounded with outward enjoyments, and settled in families with desirable friends and relationships; though we have companions whose company is delightful and children in whom we see many promising characteristics; though we live by good neighbors and are generally loved when we are known; yet, we should not take our rest in these…
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Where The Battle Rages
I am midway into Systematic Theology 3, the last of the three course cycle. During Systematic Theology 2, we read most of Stephen Wellum’s God the Son Incarnate, excepting the first two chapters on the need for a warranted Christology and the three related to recent kenotic alternatives to classical Christology. With a break for the Christmas holiday, I went back and finished the book, and the following stood out in the first couple of pages I read: If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment…
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Man As Created Person: God Must Take the Initiative
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of preaching John 13:1-20. It is a great passage, dwelling on humility, self-sacrifice, and God’s providential love and relational knowledge. One of the major topics I addressed was the way in which we need Jesus to initiate relationship with us. And the building tension with Judas, juxtaposed against Jesus’ own example, gave ample room to talk about moving from the position of rebel, into a re-prioritization of life centered on God’s own character and plan, “gospel lenses”. During the conclusion of the message, I took some time to draw attention to the way I regularly see God work in our body, drawing things together without…
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Worldview and Discipleship: The Excluded Middle
Since the second day of T4G 2022, I’ve been reading no shortcut to success, and I have been loving it. But chapter 8 took things to a whole other level as it addressed worldview and discipleship. There is just so much in it to commend to you, my reader. Getting There More than once I’ve heard it said that if you can only read a part of this book, read chapters 1-3. And those first few chapters, where Matt Rhodes lays out the issues he is seeing on the field, are great. They are clear, helpful, challenging. But more than anything, I reached the end with a feeling of, “A…
Theology, Linguistics, Brewing and More
