Courageous

This trailer made me really want to see the movie. My wife and I really appreciated 'Fireproof', and the same group made 'Courageous'.



HT: JT

Chisso is a Friend of Mine

Here is a little snippet from our church's fellowship lunch this past Sunday. You may have seen the 'Jesus is a Friend of Mine' YouTube video. Well, in honour of our friend Chisso's birthday, our worship team did a little remix. Enjoy!

THABITI ANYABWILE: Multi-Site Churches are From Satan

I really appreciate Thabiti. Some adjectives that come to mind are: normal, authentic, humble, unassuming, gifted, homey, happy. He and his family have sat at my table and shared lunch. Our sons have played together, when they were both in diapers. As we sat and talked, he was as interested in my little ministry as I was of his broader influence. We talked evangelistic strategy and preaching, mentoring and being mentored. So when I saw the provocative title to his essay on multi-site churches, I laughed, then I wanted to read. And it didn't disappoint. As I struggle to come to convictions on this important ecclesiastical phenomenon, as I really wrestle with the desire to see lots and lots of souls saved, but also with the desire for Biblical ministries without pragmatism trumping faithfulness, his article was a great help to me. It begins this way:

Okay, that title is homage to James MacDonald, who says congregationalism is from Satan and whom I had the privilege of spending a couple days with at the recent 9marks @ Southeastern Conference. During the Baptist21 Panel, our moderator stirred up a bit of a hornet’s nest by asking me what I thought about multi-site churches. Why me? I thought. Mark Dever is sitting right there. He loves talking about this stuff. Aww… man. Ask me about basketball.

So, after I finished my pity party, I answered my brother’s question, stated something like: “Thabiti, what arguments for multi-site have you found persuasive?” My articulate response: “Uh, none.”

Okay, this should be the end of the post. But because I’m in the Miami airport and the people-watching has become a bit weird, I think I’d rather invite you all to my misery and discovery.

His points are as follows:

Idolatry

Competition and Pride

Removes “Local” from “Local Churches”

Idolatry… Again

Pragmatism

Cultural Captivity

I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing here.

Steve Lawson: Notes Used in the Pulpit

I once heard Steve Lawson refer to the notes he uses in the pulpit as a mix of photocopied/cut/pasted Scripture (with literal scissors and tape) and then handwriting for all of his comments. Thanks to Josh Harris, a copy of one of those sermon notes are available for us all to view (in PDF format) here. When I first heard of this method, I naturally thought him a dinosaur. I mean, who uses scissors and tape in the sermon writing process? But now that I've seen it in PDF (ironically), I'm intrigued. As a Luddite at heart, who is equally an expositor at heart, I can now see the benefits of this. Take a look and learn from one man's model.

Paul Tripp: God’s Will for Your Wait

I'm glad a good friend sent me the following article by Paul Tripp. It begins this way:

In ministry there are often moments when you are propelled by a biblical vision but called by God to wait. Waiting can be discouraging and hard. So what does it look like to wait in a way that makes you a participant in what God is doing rather than someone who struggles against the wait? Let me suggest several things.

His points are as follows:

Remind Yourself You Are Not Alone

Realize That Waiting Is Active

Celebrate How Little Control You Have

Celebrate God’s Commitment to His Work of Grace

Let Your Waiting Strengthen Your Faith

Count Your Blessings

Long for Eternity

Read the whole thing here.

HT: JT

Luther on Pastoral Pride

I had the following quote above my desk in my study for the first number of years of my pastorate in Binbrook. I saw Justin Taylor posted it today, so I thought I'd pass it on via a copy/paste. Take heed!

Martin Luther:

If, however, you feel and are inclined to think you have made it, flattering yourself with your own little books, teaching, or writing, because you have done it beautifully and preached excellently; if you are highly pleased when someone praises you in the presence of others; if you perhaps look for praise, and would sulk or quit what you are doing if you did not get it—if you are of that stripe, dear friend, then take yourself by the ears, and if you do this in the right way you will find a beautiful pair of big, long, shaggy donkey ears.

Then do not spare any expense! Decorate them with golden bells, so that people will be able to hear you wherever you go, point their fingers at you, and say, “See, see! There goes that clever beast, who can write such exquisite books and preach so remarkably well.” That very moment you will be blessed and blessed beyond measure in the kingdom of heaven. Yes, in that heaven where hellfire is ready for the devil and his angels.

—Martin Luther, LW 34:287-288.

MacArthur's Advice to Young Reformed Evangelicals

If I were to hand pick a few personal mentors from the crop of reformed influences today, it is likely that I'd begin with the Pipers and Kellers and Carsons of the world. John MacArthur has an awesome ministry, but I've never quite gelled with it for whatever reason. I have appreciated, though, sitting at his feet from time to time, and his article series to the Young, Reformed evangelicals of today was no different. What follows are the links the the articles, and then a few choice quotes:

1. Grow Up. Settle Down. Keep Reforming. Advice for the Young, Restless, Reformed

2. Grow Up

3. Beer, Bohemianism, and True Christian Liberty

4. Keep Reforming


Some favourite quotes:

I sometimes think no group is more fashion-conscious than the current crop of hipster church planters—except perhaps teenage girls.

Charles Spurgeon understood the principle. He became pastor of London's largest and most famous Baptist congregation at the age of 20, less than five years after his conversion. But he consciously and diligently sought to display maturity beyond his years—especially in his manners and his approach to ministry. At age 40, he reflected on the brevity of his own adolescence: "I might have been a young man at twelve, but at sixteen I was a sober, respectable Baptist parson, sitting in the chair and ruling and governing the church. At that period of my life, when I ought perhaps to have been in the playground . . . I spent my time at my books, studying and working hard, sticking to it."

If everything you know about Christian living came from blogs and websites in the young-and-restless district of the Reformed community, you might have the impression that beer is the principal symbol of Christian liberty.

God’s Word is the only true standard we have a divine mandate to conform to, and it is the ultimate standard by which we will be judged. Success or failure in ministry therefore cannot be evaluated by numerical statistics, financial figures, popularity polls, public opinion, or any of the other factors the world typically associates with “success.” The only real triumph in ministry is to hear Christ say, “Well done.”

Now let’s be completely candid: Many (perhaps most) evangelical celebrities from the past half-century or so will never be remembered like the Reformers, because they will pass away with their own self-styled faddishness.