Tim Hawkins: Things You Don't Say to Your Wife

Last night a friend told me about a Christian comedian who is actually funny. I thought that impossible, but you tube has proved my friend shockingly right! My wife and I got a kick out of this one especially. We're heading away on vacation tomorrow night, so enjoy this funny for the next few weeks!

Lecrae - The Personal Testimony of a Christian Rapper

Blame it on the 80's. And the early 90's. I'm a really white guy who likes rap music as a genre. I grew up on the Beastie boys and (I hate to admit this), MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice and Ton Loc and Young MC and House of Pain and Run DMC. One year before I became a Christian I was at a Beastie Boys concert at Maple Leaf Gardens. The 1995 Ill Communication Tour was a lot of fun, even from the top row in the old Gardens. But when I became a Christian I turned my back on rap. The lyrics were (and still are) generally repulsive. Admittedly I still know many of those old songs by heart, but if I get one in my head I find myself amazed at the sinful content of most of those songs. Sure, there were 'Christian rap artists' around in '96 but I didn't find any that sounded authentic. It was kind of a 'Gaithers meets the Beastie Boys' sound, and in my head it simply didn't work (even as a white boy from Oshawa). Recently a few friends pointed me to Lecrae Moore and I was immediately suspicious. How could a Christian sound good and be faithful to the Lord. But I was amazed at what I heard. Lecrae is a new favourite for both my wife and I. His lyrics have a depth of theology and he is very talented musically. When I saw this short video of his personal testimony I grew to appreciate him even more. Take a look and be edified!

When the Gospel Came to Angola Penitentiary

Here is a copy/paste of a blog post from Desiring God:
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On August 20 at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, we're hosting the premiere of a brand new Desiring God film titled Don't Waste Your Life Sentence (now available for pre-order).

The Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, LA, is the largest and historically one of the bloodiest maximum-security prisons in the USA. In 2009, Desiring God and John Piper were invited to Angola to learn about prison life, hear from men who have been radically changed by the gospel, and minister to many of the 5,000 inmates.

Don't Waste Your Life Sentence confronts you with the realities of inmates who, though their lives appear to have been wasted, often have a greater grasp on eternity than those on the outside.

Here's the trailer:

Malcom Gladwell - What We Can Learn From Spaghetti Sauce

This is in the 'just for fun' category. I really enjoy reading Malcom Gladwell. He has written four books, and I'm half-way through my fourth! I guess you could call him a cultural observer. Often, his observations border on the frivolous, but still, they are entertaining, and more importantly, he helps me to see the world in a different light. Below is an 18 minute video that is vintage Gladwell, bordering on frivolity, his main point is a bit off, but it's just plain fun!

Wowzers

This conference looks amazing!

Book Review: Rescuing Ambition

I am a man who lives in deep inner-conflict. On the one hand I struggle with a horrible sin. Mike Bullmore described it vividly at the Toronto Pastor's Conference last month: "If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, the chief temptation of man is to glorify himself". It is sad, but true. I love applause and this is deeply sinful. It is a sin I battle every day, and by God's grace, it is a sin that I battle and progress out of every day. But it is also a sin that still needs more slaying. On the other hand, though, I have ambitions that I don't believe are all sinful. In fact, part of the effect of me becoming a Christian in 1996 was the birth of ambition in my life. Prior to becoming a Christian, I was a floater, whose highest goals were to get home from work in time to watch yet another re-run of the Dukes of Hazard. I was goin' nowhere fast. With my new birth also came the birth of a great work ethic, a work ethic that was focused on God-glorifying work. This is a work ethic that has only grown over the past decade and a half.

So I've been left with a problem as the lines between these two conflicting desires have been fuzzy in my mind. Certainly it is possible (even common) for ambitions for God to turn into personal idols. How sick is that: something that began with the pure motive of seeing God glorified ended up simply serving my own God-debunking agenda. But certainly all ambition is not all bad. Over the past five years or so, since I've identified these sins more concretely, the line between glory seeking and ambition for God's glory have been blurry. That is, until I read 'Rescuing Ambition' by Dave Harvey. In this very helpful book Harvey asks the essential question: "is it possible to be both ambitious and humble?", to which he answers a resounding 'yes'. The book is his attempt to bring some clarity to this issue, to assist the reader to battle the sin of pride, while stoking the fires of ambition to the glory of God. Harvey explains: "the good news of the gospel is that we aren't trapped by the tragedy of misplaced glory. While our ambitious impulses led us to vain pursuits, the Lord of glory has come to rescue our ambitions" (32).

The greatest strength of the book is that it always brings the reader back to the gospel. It is not as though the gospel is a springboard for an otherwise unrelated topic. The gospel is replete throughout the book. For example, Harvey leads the reader to revel in the finished work of Christ for them. In the face of great sin, a Christian can come boldly to the throne of grace. Harvey continues: "Sin is real, and we can sin away a lot of good stuff. Sin robs our joy in God. It's a delight-smasher. But sin never alters or reverses what Christ did upon the cross. It never causes God to withdraw his name or his acceptance from us" (57). In fact, the first three chapters of the book are called:: "Ambiton Conceived: we are wired for glory; Ambition Corrupted: Growing smaller in our attempt to be great; Ambition Converted: Where to go when your best aint' good enough". As the book continues Harvey explores heart-issues of the focus of ambition: God's glory or our glory? He shows the radically distinctive, radically counter-cultural path of distinctively Christian ambition as the low road of humility (cf. Jesus in Philippians 2). He deals with issues of patience and contentment when great ambitions are put on hold by God, and with failure and the search for answers amid the brokenness. He focuses our attention on the church as the ultimate place that deserves our ambitions, and he challenges the reader to ambitious risk in the quest to produce reward. Finally, he ends with a very personal chapter on paying ambition forward; of pouring ourselves into the next generation and even beginning a ministry with a view to finding our replacement decades down the road.

Another strength of the book is it's clarifying teaching on humility. For example: "Ambition must also be rescued from a wrong understanding of humility. . .When we become too humble to act, we've ceased being biblically humble. True humility doesn't kill our dreams; it provides a guardrail for them, ensuring that they remain on God's road and move in the direction of his glory" (14).

I know this is the point in a short review like this one, that I'm supposed to tell you the few flaws the otherwise good book has. I'm supposed to heroically point out the few wooden nickels you should watch out for, or the few ways the book could have been that much better. But I'm left grasping at straws in this category. I am deeply thankful for this book. I was so helped by it, and I was so drawn to Dave Harvey, that I put his book on marriage at the top of my 'to read' pile, simply because I want to learn more from him (It's called: When Sinners Say I do: Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage). So go ahead an buy a copy for yourself and then buy one for a friend. Study it together and sharpen each other as you read it!

Canadians can buy it here.
Americans can buy it here.

Pastor Paul Martin, on Getting Ready for Church Death

This post was so encouraging/challenging to me that I copy/paste it in full. In it Pastor Paul Martin (a dear friend and mentor of mine) tells the story of sending out his closest co-worker to plant another church. I'll let Paul tell the rest, but his story resonates with my heart. The question every pastor needs to ask himself is simply: am I an empire builder who wants first and foremost to see my church grow no matter what the cost is to the rest of the body of Christ, or, am I a kingdom builder who wants first and foremost to see the gospel of Jesus Christ advance, no matter what the cost is to my church (and, might I add, my pride)? In my heart I often lean towards the former, but as God sanctifies me, the latter is my heartbeat, more and more. Here it is:
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We are preparing to send Julian out to start a new church in the 401/DVP area of Toronto. It is an interesting time in our church.

We have asked all our members to consider going with him, which means I might need to go back to running photocopies at the steel plant! I am praying the Lord leaves us enough people to keep things moving here and I suspect that He will. But seasons like this force you to look at everything with an open hand. That can be hard.

I was happy to read this yesterday in The Trellis and the Vine:

Gospel growth… “means we must be willing to lose people from our own congregation if that it better for the growth of the gospel. We must be happy to send members off to other places so that the gospel may grow there as well. And be warned: this will happen if you take gospel growth and training seriously. If you pour your time into people, and mentor and train them, the consequence will often be that some of your best people – in whom you have invested countless hours – will leave you. They will go the mission field. They will join a church-planting team in another part of your city. They will take a job in a different part of the country because the gospel need is so great there. They will undertake further training, perhaps at theological college or seminary. A commitment to the growth of the gospel will mean that we train people towards maturity not for the benefit of our own churches or fellowships but for the benefit of Christ’s kingdom.”

In the last few months, we have

• sent one man hundreds of miles away for further training
• sent one couple to the opposite side of our city to help plant a new church
• sent one newly converted student back to her home country to evangelize friends and family there
• one man and his family to the other side of our province to work in an existing church
• one man and another family to our downtown church plant
• one family to Romania to work with orphans
• and as of this Sunday another young man to pastor a small church two hours north of the city.

And now we prepare to send off the man who has been my Caleb/Jonathan/ Timothy for the last ten years.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Gospel growth always requires death. Bring it to us, Lord… but stay close by our side!