Having a Devotional Plan in 2010

Here is a very useful post from JR Vassar, Pastor of The Apostle's Church NYC (who JFBC helped support during their launch as a new church plant a few years ago) to assist us in having an intentional personal devotional plan in 2010. Here is a summary of his points:

(italics mine)

1. Have a no exemption time and place to meet with God
2. Have a plan (here's where our ESV Study Bible Reading Plan comes in, which he recommends)
3. Begin your time with prayer and confession
4. Read out loud
5. Look for Gospel patterns
6. Journal your thoughts and prayers
7. Realize that this is a community project (like we are doing together as a class)
8. Don't give up

Read the whole post here. I'm including below the section under point 5 above as it is very good and illustrates why we spent so much time on the storyline of the Bible this Fall. Here it is:

"As you read, realize that Jesus and the Gospel is The One Story of the Bible. Look for Gospel patterns, grace on display, as you read. Especially in the OT. Every story has Christ as the ultimate hero. For example, don't read the story of David and Goliath and leave your devotional time "ready to face your giants." Realize that you are Israel in the story, not David. You are weak, powerless, cowering before your enemies of sin, Satan, and death, and you need an anointed King to defeat your enemies and cause you to rise up in hope and courage. Jesus is the true and better David, and he is the point of the story of David and Goliath. Look for these patterns in everything you read and rejoice in what God has accomplished for you in Jesus. We don't have devotions and pray in order to avoid the guilt of not having devotions and not praying. We have devotions and pray to know Jesus and his Gospel, and revel in all that he is for us and all that he has won for us."

I'll be posting soon specifically on our daily Bible reading plan so we can get re-acquainted with it and all of the ways we can follow along (via email, printed bookmarks, twitter, audio podcast, etc.) More to come...

Book Recommendations...Favorite Reads from 2009

I love to read and pass on recommendations when I think a book would be edifying for others. Here are a few of my personal favorites from 2009...

Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck

I recent years some have challenged the need for and continued viability of the organized church. This book is an entertaining, sometimes even funny, read, with theological depth that provides a biblical defense of the church. Very enjoyable read by two engaging writers.

Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung

One of the most refreshing books I've read on discerning the will of God. This one can be given to teens and up (its a short read). Another enjoyable book with depth by DeYoung, who's becoming one of my favorite Christian writers.

Finally Alive by John Piper

An in-depth biblical study on the new birth, being "born again". One of Piper's best books in my opinion.

Adopted for Life by Russell Moore

A call to the church to look at adoption as a missionary enterprise. This book shows that you cannot look at the biblical doctrine of adoption without thinking of the adoption of children, and vice versa. An emotional and theologically rich book that was a wake up call to me re: our responsibility as individuals and the church towards orphan care.

Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller

I would rank this my favorite overall book from 2009. This book challenges us to discover and deal with the idols in our hearts that compete with God for allegiance. This book shook me up, dug deep and helped me discover things about myself that I had been blind to previously. Big "aha' truth from this book...our idols are probably good things that we have turned into ultimate things.

A Praying Life by Paul Miller

One of the best books I've ever read on prayer. Just read it. And then read it again. I will most likely revisit frequently as I have continually struggled to have a vibrant prayer life.

Jesus Christ, the God-Man

On Christmas Eve, some thoughts to ponder from J.I. Packer's Knowing God, on the wonder of the incarnation:

"The crucial significance of the cradle at Bethlehem lies in its place in the sequence of steps down that led the Son of God to the cross of Calvary. The key text in the New Testament for interpreting the Incarnation is not, therefore, the bare statement in John 1:14. ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,’ but rather the more comprehensive statement of 2 Corinthians 8:9, ‘You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.’ Here is stated not the fact of the Incarnation only, but also its meaning; the taking of manhood by the Son is set before us in a way which shows how we should ever view it — not simply as a marvel of nature, but as a wonder of grace.” (pp.58-59)

We now see what it meant for the Son of God to empty himself and become poor. It meant a laying aside of glory; a voluntary restraint of power; an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment, malice and misunderstanding; finally a death that involved such agony – spiritual even more than physical – that his mind nearly broke under the prospect of it. (See Luke 12:50 and the Gethsemane story.) It meant love to the uttermost for unlovely human beings, that they through his poverty might become rich.

The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity — hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory — because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.” (p.63)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas: God on the Move

Here are some encouraging words from Tullian Tchividjian (Billy Graham's grandson and pastor) on how to think about God's plan for mankind and all of creation as Christmas:

"In C.S. Lewis’s masterful children’s story The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, he tells of a country, Narnia, which is under the curse of the White Witch. This evil queen places a spell on the land so that it’s “always winter and never Christmas.” Under her control, the future of Narnia looks bleak until word gets out that “Aslan is on the move.” In the story, Aslan is a noble lion who represents Christ. He’s coming to set things straight. He’s coming to destroy the White Witch and thus reverse the curse on Narnia. The first sign of Aslan’s movement toward this cursed land is that the snow begins to melt–“spring is in the air.” The cold begins to fade as the sun rays peer through the dark clouds, promising the dawn of a new day. Everything in Narnia begins to change.

You’ll have to read the book to see how the story ends, but when I’m asked to describe the true meaning of Christmas, I like to say that the birth of Christ is the sure and certain sign that “God is on the move.” The arrival of Jesus two-thousand years ago ensured that God had begun the process of reversing the curse of sin and recreating all things. In Jesus, God was moving in a new way and, in the words of C.S. Lewis, “winter began stirring backwards.”

Read the rest of the post here.

Christmas and Sharing Christ with Family

Read this helpful post on sharing the Gospel this Christmas, in particular with family members as we gather with our loved ones over the next couple of weeks. Here's the intro:

"Many of us approach Christmas dinner brimming with fear. Such anxiety doesn’t come from Aunt Mary’s liver sausage pate or her sour-apple fruitcake so much as our sense of the challenge of trying to direct conversation toward the gospel. After all, last year’s attempt was a proverbial train wreck. How can this year be any different?

If I were to give one piece of advice, it would be to understand what evangelism is, and what it is not. The following definition and subsequent explication are intended to provide this sort of perspective, to help us approach Christmas dinner with a greater measure of optimism and hope."

Tiger's travails and the Gospel

Al Mohler on what we can learn from the Tiger Woods story:

Lesson One: Acts done in private can and will have public consequences
Lesson Two: The public still believes that adultery is a big deal.
Lesson Three: A fall from public favor can happen in an instant.

Mohler closes the post with these words, a prayer for Woods and a reminder for all Christians:

"For Christians, there is an even deeper concern. The current travail of Tiger Woods points far beyond his need for marital recovery, career consultation, or brand management. Tiger Woods needs a Savior. I am praying that this devastating experience, caused so classically by his own sin, will lead Tiger Woods to understand that he is not so self-sufficient as he thinks. Tiger Woods now faces a problem that he cannot solve. Though he can do much to repair his marriage, his family, and his public image, he cannot atone for his own sins. My prayer is that there is someone who can reach Tiger Woods with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the end, all this must remind Christians of the universal need for the Gospel. We must remember our own sin and our utter dependence upon the grace and mercy of God made ours in Jesus Christ. Without question, this is the most important lesson drawn from the travail of Tiger Woods.

On his deathbed, Martin Luther offered these last words: "We are sinners, it is true." Tiger Woods is one of us, after all."

Read the whole commentary here.

An Uncluttered Advent

Ed Stetzer on the Advent season:

"From all of the research compiled and our collective anecdotal experiences, those outside of the church will show an interest in the life of Jesus during the advent season.

But we must show them the real Jesus. The tidy Anglo version will never connect. The perpetually smiling Jesus is not realistic nor biblical. They deserve to see the gritty moment of the advent. Though we are enamored with what is pretty, they need to hear that Jesus' entrance into the world was done through a working-class Jewish family in the backwaters of the Roman Empire. It was a moment of struggle—like most of life seems to be.

There is no need to hide our message. We should feel free to be obvious."

Read this challenging article in is entirety here.

The Jesus Storybook Bible

Here's the website for the The Jesus Storybook Bible which I read from this morning in class. You will be blessed by this book.

Behold the Lamb of God

Here is the link where you can listen to Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God, and also read the lyrics. As I mentioned in class today, this is a great Christmas album that also fits in with our recent "God's Big Picture" series, as it tells how the Bible points to the coming of Christ, even in the OT. One of my favorites....check it out.

Advent

The Desiring God blog has this useful post on Advent:

(Author: Noel Piper)

We are a people of promise. For centuries, God prepared people for the coming of his Son, our only hope for life. At Christmas we celebrate the fulfillment of the promises God made—that he would give a way to draw near to him.

Advent is what we call the season leading up to Christmas. It begins four Sundays before December 25, sometimes in the last weekend of November, sometimes on the first Sunday in December. This year it was November 29.

1 Peter 1:10-12 is a clear description of what we look back to during Advent.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10-12 )

For four weeks, it's as if we're re-enacting, remembering the thousands of years God's people were anticipating and longing for the coming of God's salvation, for Jesus. That's what advent means—coming. Even God's men who foretold the grace that was to come didn't know "what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating." They were waiting, but they didn't know what God's salvation would look like.

In fact, God revealed to them that they were not the ones who would see the sufferings and glory of God's Christ:

They were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.

They were serving us. We Christians on this side of Jesus' birth are a God-blessed, happy people because we know God's plan. The ancient waiting is over. We have the greatest reason to celebrate.

(Adapted from Treasuring God in Our Traditions)

Thanksgiving

Verses compiled by Ken Boa:

I will give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, and make known to others what He has done. I will sing to Him, sing praises to Him, and tell of all His wonderful acts. (1 Chronicles 16:8-9)

Glory in the holy name of the Lord; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. Remember the wonderful works He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced. (1 Chronicles 16:10-12)

I will praise You, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. (Psalm 9:1-2)

I trust in Your loyal love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for He has dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13:5-6)

I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your love toward me, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of the grave. (Psalm 86:12-13)

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion; who satisfies your desires with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:2-5)

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. May my meditation be pleasing to Him; I will be glad in the Lord. (Psalm 104:33-34)

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless His holy name for ever and ever. (Psalm 145:21)

I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. (Psalm 146:2)

I will exult in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and enables me to go on the heights. (Habakkuk 3:18-19)

We should not get drunk on wine, for that is dissipation. Instead, we should be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making music in our hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20)

I will rejoice in the Lord always. (Philippians 4:4)

I will rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for me in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Since I am receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, I will be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for my God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29)

Through Jesus, I will continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. (Hebrews 13:15)

I will fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. I will worship Him who made the heavens and the earth, the sea and the springs of water. (Revelation 14:7)

Thankfulness

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. . . [Romans 1:20-22].


Here's a good post by Al Mohler on thankfulness.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Dating of Christmas

Several years ago I came across this interesting article in Touchstone Magazine which details a different perspective from what many of us have been taught about the origins of December 25 as Christmas.

Below is an excerpt. You can read the Touchstone article in its entirety here.

"Many Christians think that Christians celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25th because the church fathers appropriated the date of a pagan festival. Almost no one minds, except for a few groups on the fringes of American Evangelicalism, who seem to think that this makes Christmas itself a pagan festival. But it is perhaps interesting to know that the choice of December 25th is the result of attempts among the earliest Christians to figure out the date of Jesus’ birth based on calendrical calculations that had nothing to do with pagan festivals.

Rather, the pagan festival of the “Birth of the Unconquered Son” instituted by the Roman Emperor Aurelian on 25 December 274, was almost certainly an attempt to create a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians. Thus the “pagan origins of Christmas” is a myth without historical substance."

Christ-Centered Christmas Music

For those like me who are always on the search for new and interesting Christmas music, especially music that centers us on the coming of King Jesus, here is some good stuff for the season you may not be familiar with:

Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson
This tells the story of the coming of Christ through mostly original songs with an acoustic flavor. You will hear the storyline of the Bible , from the OT to Christ's arrival -given our recent class series this would be a good one. One of the most thoughtful and creative Christmas albums I own.

Advent Songs by Sojourn
This one takes original hymns and puts them to modern arrangements -my favorite is a beautiful, refreshing arrangement of "Joy to the World"

Songs for Christmas by Sufjan Stevens
For those who like simple acoustic arrangements (guitar and banjo) and indie-music (the artsy stuff). A little quirky but it works - very different from anything else I own. Although not marketed as a Christian record, it is surprisingly Christ-centered in the song selection, even including versions of "Amazing Grace" and "Come Thou Fount".

On the Incarnation by Daniel Renstrom
I don't have yet but I keep seeing this new one recommended on the Christian blog sites. See the Amazon reviews.

Class Sunday November 22

Hope to see everyone in class Sunday. We're on our second to last lesson in the series we are working through, God's Big Picture. It is titled "The Proclaimed Kingdom", and focuses on the Last Days, which we are living in now, the time while we await Christ's return. It should be an interesting discussion in light of the recent sermon series. Ask yourself this question in preparation, "To what should I devote my life pursuing in the Last Days?"

In Christ,
Brad

The Gospel Explained #6

Tim Keller explains how one of our culture's (especially in our zip code) great idols can only be conquered by the Gospel:

"The idol of success cannot be just expelled, it must be replaced. The human heart's desire for a particular valuable object may be conquered, but its need to have some such object is unconquerable. How can we beat our heart's fixation on doing 'some great thing' in order to heal ourselves of our sense of inadequacy, in order to give our lives meaning? Only when we see what Jesus, our great Suffering Servant, has done for us will we finally understand why God's salvation does not require us to do 'some great thing.' We don't have to do it, because Jesus has."
- Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods

btw, I am reading this book now and I cannot recommend it highly enough, or anything else by Keller for that matter. You will be challenged, blessed and will hear the Gospel articulated in a fresh way. Buy it!

The Gospel Explained #5

“There is no greater message to be heard than that which we call the Gospel. But as important as that is, it is often given to massive distortions or over simplifications. People think they’re preaching the Gospel to you when they tell you, ‘you can have a purpose to your life’, or that ‘you can have meaning to your life’, or that ‘you can have a personal relationship with Jesus.’ All of those things are true, and they’re all important, but they don’t get to the heart of the Gospel.

The Gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness – or lack of it – or the righteousness of another.

The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.

The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead – so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So the Gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did.

And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith – and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him – and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity.”

-R.C. Sproul

The Impact of "Hypersocialization"

We would all do well to read and reflect on Al Mohler's recent commentary here on a recently published Wall Street Journal essay on the "networking" lifestyles of our young people (and ourselves?). Here is a sampling:

"One thing is clear -- Zaslow is not exaggerating. Almost every parent of a teenager or twenty-something will recognize the truth of his diagnosis of "hypersocializing" among the young. If anything, the issues range beyond the concerns he identifies. Business executives are concerned about the financial costs and economic impact. Educators are rightly concerned about distractions from the learning process. But what does this hypersocializing do to the souls of young people?

As prophets of technological pessimism from Jacques Ellul to Neil Postman have reminded us, every technology comes with an effect on the soul. How does this digital revolution effect the souls of young people who quite literally sleep with cellphones on the pillow, lest they miss a text message in the night? What space is left for the development of flesh-and-blood friendships? How are they related to people who do not have access to text messages? Is their communicative ability now limited to 140 characters in a burst?

Among young Christians, what space is left for the development of a devotional life? Do their lives contain any space for extended quiet and reflection, for prayer, or for reading anything longer than a text message?

This is precisely where evangelical Christians need to invest serious thought and reflection. We should all be concerned when Steve Gallagher laments that these young people think they need constant access to social media the way they need oxygen for breathing."

HT: Justin Taylor

Marks of Manhood

One of the responsibilities we have as parents in raising our boys is to give them a vision of what a mature Christian man should look like. Those raising sons (and also those with daughters who want to teach them what makes a mature Christian husband) will want to read this article from Al Mohler on the different aspects of maturity that mark the transition from boy to man. Below is the summary. Read the whole thing here.


1. Spiritual maturity sufficient to lead a wife and children.

2. Personal maturity sufficient to be a responsible husband and father.

3. Economic maturity sufficient to hold an adult job and handle money.

4. Physical maturity sufficient to work and protect a family.

5. Sexual maturity sufficient to marry and fulfill God’s purposes.

6. Moral maturity sufficient to lead as example of righteousness.

7. Ethical maturity sufficient to make responsible decisions.

8. Worldview maturity sufficient to understand what is really important.

9. Relational maturity sufficient to understand and respect others.

10. Social maturity sufficient to make a contribution to society.

11. Verbal maturity sufficient to communicate and articulate as a man.

12. Character maturity sufficient to demonstrate courage under fire.

13. Biblical maturity sufficient to lead at some level in the church.


(HT: Vitamin Z)




Sponsor:

The Gospel Explained #4

"The gospel of justifying faith means that while Christians are, in themselves still sinful and sinning, yet in Christ, in God’s sight, they are accepted and righteous. So we can say that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope — at the very same time. This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. It means that the more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God’s grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God’s grace and acceptance in Christ, the more able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions and character of your sin."
— Tim Keller

The Gospel Explained #3

"Here’s the gospel in a phrase. Because Christ died for us, those who trust in him may know that their guilt has been pardoned once and for all. What will we have to say before the bar of God’s judgment? Only one thing. Christ died in my place. That’s the gospel.

Alistair Begg
- from Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter

Godliness and the Next Generation

Kevin DeYoung is fast becoming one of my favorite bloggers to read regularly. I urge everyone to read his latest series of blog posts on "Reaching the Next Generation" (i.e. our youth). Here's a sampling from the post entitled Reaching the Next Generation: Hold Them With Holiness :

"One of our problems is that we have no done a good job of modeling Christian faith in the home and connecting our youth with other mature Christian adults in the church. One youth leader has commented that how often our young people “attended youth events (including Sunday school and discipleship groups) was not a good predictor of which teens would and which would not grow toward Christian adulthood.” Instead, “almost without exception, those young people who are growing in their faith as adults were teenagers who fit into one of two categories: either (1) they came from families where Christian growth was modeled in at least one of their parents, or (2) they had developed such significant connections with adults within the church that it had become an extended family for them.” Likewise, sociologist Christian Smith argues that though most teenagers and parents don’t realize it, “a lot of research in the sociology of religion suggests that the most important social influence in shaping young people’s religious lives is the religious life modeled and taught to them by their parents.”

The take home from all this is pretty straight forward. The one indispensable requirement for producing godly, mature Christians is godly, mature Christians. Granted, good parents still have wayward children and faithful mentors don’t always get through to their pupils. But in the church as a whole, the promise of 2 Peter 1 is as true as ever. If we are holy, we will be fruitful. Personal connections with growing Christians is what the next generation needs more than ever."

I am thankful for posts like this that remind me of the call God has for my life as a father, and that call me to repent for living forgetful of this truth so often.

Lewis on Suffering and Heaven

As we were discussing the new heaven and new earth as described by the prophets in our small group breakout in class today, CS Lewis and his perspective on how we will see our suffering once the future heavenly state is attained came up. Below is the quote referred to from The Great Divorce. I like the idea of our agonies being turned into glories!

C.S Lewis:
"That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, "No future bliss can make up for it," not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory."

from The Great Divorce, HarperSanFrancisco, (c)1946, 1973, 2001, p. 69

The Gospel Explained #2

The Gospel is the good news of our final and full enjoyment of the glory of God in the face of Christ. That this enjoyment had to be purchased for sinners at the cost of Christ’s life makes his glory shine all the more brightly. And that this enjoyment is a free and unmerited gift makes it shine more brightly still. But the price Jesus paid for the gift and the unmerited freedom of the gift are not the gift. The gift is Christ
himself as the glorious image of God – seen and savored with everlasting joy.

- John Piper, God is the Gospel

End times spectrum of beliefs

I found this summary of the differing positions that have been held by Christians throughout history on the end times to be very useful given the confusion that sometimes surrounds this topic. As you can see, there are a variety of viable positions held in this area by orthodox, Bible-believing Christians that we do not need to divide over. Yes,lets glorify the Lord with our minds and seek to understand and profit from exploring the Bible to the best of our ability, but let us not be dogmatic where Scripture is not completely clear, but rejoice together in the areas of agreement.

The Gospel Explained #1

From D.A. Carson, who writes that understanding the Bible's storyline is essential to rightly understanding the Gospel:

"The gospel is integrally tied to the Bible’s story-line. Indeed, it is incomprehensible without understanding that story-line.

God is the sovereign, transcendent and personal God who has made the universe, including us, his image bearers.

Our misery lies in our rebellion, our alienation from God, which, despite his forbearance, attracts his implacable wrath.

But God, precisely because love is of the very essence of his character, takes the initiative and prepared for the coming of his own Son by raising up a people who, by covenantal stipulations, temple worship, systems of sacrifice and of priesthood, by kings and by prophets, are taught something of what God is planning and what he expects.

In the fullness of time his Son comes and takes on human nature. He comes not, in the first instance, to judge but to save: he dies the death of his people, rises from the grave and, in returning to his heavenly Father, bequeaths the Holy Spirit as the down payment and guarantee of the ultimate gift he has secured for them—an eternity of bliss in the presence of God himself, in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

The only alternative is to be shut out from the presence of this God forever, in the torments of hell. What men and women must do, before it is too late, is repent and trust Christ; the alternative is to disobey the gospel."

HT: Trevin Wax

Talking vs Listening to Yourself

I have found the quote below by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the most influential preachers of the 20th century, most helpful, and I have recently been reminded how we need to continually preach the good news of the Gospel to ourselves. The Gospel is not a decision we made at some point in our life to allow us entry into the Christian life, thus we can now move on to other things. The Gospel is the Good News we need to preach to ourselves each and every day and continually, actively believe -"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek"(Romans 1:16). Starting this week, I'll be posting frequently significant quotes explaining the Gospel to help us in this regard. I pray it will bear much fruit in our lives. Here's Lloyd-Jones:

"The main trouble in this whole matter of spiritual depression in a sense is this, that we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self. Am I just trying to be deliberately paradoxical? Far from it. This is the very essence of wisdom in this matter. Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problem of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself, ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been repressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you’. Do you know what I mean? If you do not, you have but little experience.

The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’–what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’–instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet priase Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God’.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures, pp. 20-21; emphasis added.

HT: Justin Taylor

For Fathers

Thanks to Sam for the heads up to a helpful series of devotionals by Rick Warren on encouraging fathers to take the lead in the spiritual growth of our children. Here are the devotional topics with the links:

Fathers: Help Your Children Know God
Fathers: Teach Your Children God's Word
Fathers: Pray Fervently for Your Children
Fathers: Protect Your Children's Minds
Fathers: Guard Your Children's Spiritual Growth
Fathers: Show Your Children the Meaning of Commitment

Helpful Interview/Book on Parenting

Prolific blogger Tim Challies hosted here a very interesting interview with author/pastor Bill Farley on the power of the gospel in parenting our children. Farley's book Gospel-Powered Parenting looks like one I will be sure to try to read as it hits on topics I have been burdened with of late having two kids now in high school. Here's a sample from the somewhat provocative interview which can be found here:

1. Why the gospel? Why is the gospel the key to empowering parenting? What is the connection between the words "gospel" and "powered?"
Paul tells us that "the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16). We hear this verse and think the pulpit or witnessing, but parents should hear this and think family devotions. Parents convinced that God's power is latent in the gospel center their families around the gospel. They are convinced that it provokes new birth, that it will knit their children's hearts to God, and motivate godly behavior. Our children receive the "imperishable seed" of new birth through the message of the gospel (1 Pet. 1:23). Often parents don't center their parenting in the gospel because either they don't really understand the gospel, or they don't believe that God's power is latent in the gospel.

The gospel also protects parents from "moralism," the idea that well-behaved children are the main thing. New Birth is the main thing. The morality of Christ imputed to your children is the main thing. It is not what our children do for Christ but what Christ has done for our children that is the main thing. Ironically, without aiming at it, gospel centered parents get godly behavior from their children.

In addition, the fear of God is the key to attracting God's favor upon our parenting. Many think that the fear of God is an Old Testament concept. But the main place we get the fear of God is at the cross of Christ--the heart of the gospel.

Keller on Idolatry

Tim Keller has been one of the most significant influences on my walk with the Lord over the past several years. Dr. Keller has a unique, fresh way of talking about the Gospel as it contrasts not only to life lived apart from God but also with legalistic religious practice. Dr. Keller is also most compelling when he discusses the idea of the idolatry that is at the root of the sin in our lives. Tim has put these ideas into what looks like a fantastic new book, Counterfeit Gods, due out in October. I came across these excerpts from the book's introduction online. Already in reading them I am being challenged to identify idols in my heart. I hope this is helpful to you as well. This might be a great topic to explore in our class!

"Each one has its shrines—whether office towers, spas and gyms, studios, or stadiums—where sacrifices must be made in order to procure the blessings of the good life and ward off disaster. What are the gods of beauty, power, money, and achievement but these same things that have assumed mythic proportions in our individual lives and in our society? We may not physically kneel before the statue of Aphrodite, but many young women today are driven into depression and eating disorders by an obsessive concern over their body image. We may not actually burn incense to Artemis, but when money and career are raised to cosmic proportions, we perform a kind of child sacrifice, neglecting family and community to achieve a higher place in business and gain more wealth and prestige."

"In ancient times, the deities were bloodthirsty and hard to appease. They still are."

"In Ezekiel 14:3, God says about elders of Israel, “These men have set up their idols in their hearts.” Like us, the elders must have responded to this charge, “Idols? What idols? I don’t see any idols.” God was saying that the human heart takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. Our hearts deify them as the center of our lives, because, we think, they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment, if we attain them."

"An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, “If I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.” There are many ways to describe that kind of relationship to something, but perhaps the best one is worship."

"The Bible uses three basic metaphors to describe how people relate to the idols of their hearts. They love idols, trust idols, and obey idols."

"The way forward, out of despair, is to discern the idols of our hearts and our culture. But that will not be enough. The only way to free ourselves from the destructive influence of counterfeit gods is to turn back to the true one. The living God, who revealed himself both at Mount Sinai and on the Cross, is the only Lord who, if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and, if you fail him, can truly forgive you."

HT: Alex Chediak

The Edwards Story Through a Biblical Lens

Russ Moore gives us a "pure gold" illustration of how to think Christianly in response to a sad spectacle in the news, and not simply pile on in line with the cable TV political talk show hosts. Read the whole thing here.

Mistakes and the Gospel

I make mistakes. I realize we all do, but I am one of those with perfectionist tendencies where too much of how I view myself and my worth is tied up in trying to be perfect in everything. When I fail I feel as if I am somehow less worthy. This perhaps also reveals an unhealthy fear of man so when I make a mistake I sense a burden of letting others down - too much of my sense of being approved by myself and others (and God?) is dependent on my having to perform without error. So I found this post by Michael Kelly very encouraging as he helps us connect the truth of the gospel to our everyday mistakes. He writes:

I made a mistake at work this week. And by mistake, I don’t mean “Oops. I accidentally embezzled thousands of dollars.” Nothing sinful, just a mistake. But whenever you make a mistake, there are consequences.
Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody fails. But I spent alot of time thinking today about how you respond to mistakes from a perspective of faith. Here are a few reflections on how the gospel can influence your perspective the next time you find yourself trying to recover from a mistake.
1. When you make a mistake, you make an error in judgment or a moment of forgetfulness. The gospel reminds you that your self-worth is not tied to your ability to perform perfectly.
2. When you make a mistake, you are tempted to hide, blame, or ignore. The gospel gives you the confidence you need to own up to it and accept responsibility.
3. When you make a mistake, you start to focus on yourself, thinking that the whole world is looking at you. The gospel reminds you that you are not the center of the universe – Jesus Christ is.
4. When you make a mistake, you find yourself wanting to do anything you can to avoid the potential of failure. The gospel encourages you to take risks instead of burying your talents in the dirt.
5. When you are around someone who has made a mistake, you can easily slip into judgment in order to make yourself feel better. The gospel reminds you that you have the responsibility to fulfill the law of Christ by bearing another’s burden.
6. When you make a mistake, you look for ways to redeem yourself in the eyes of your bosses and peers. The gospel reminds you that you have nothing to prove to anyone since Christ has proven Himself on your behalf.
7. When you make a mistake, you become afraid. Afraid of what people think, afraid of doing something wrong, afraid of the consequences. The gospel drives out fear with perfect love.

Just Paul's Opinion?

A good question was raised in our 9/13 class regarding a common objection to the teaching on the inspired authority of Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 7:12 Paul makes a distinction between his words and the words of the Lord:

"To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her."

In the notes to the ESV Study Bible there is this explanation:
"Paul knows the oral tradition of Jesus' sayings on divorce that were later written down in the Gospels (see note on vv. 10–11), but he is not aware that Jesus ever spoke specifically to a situation in which one spouse becomes a Christian and the other remains unconverted. He carefully distinguishes, therefore, between the written words of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels and Paul's own understanding of how Jesus' teaching would apply to this new situation. Paul views his admonition here as authoritative and inspired, not merely as human wisdom (v. 40; cf. 14:37–38). "

So though it seems that Paul did not know of any earthly record that Jesus specifically spoke on this subject, Paul still views his judgements as having the same authority as the actual words of Jesus, as also noted clearly in verse 25 of 1 Corinthians 7: "but I give my judgement as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy". So Paul is not saying here “I really have no idea what Jesus thinks about this issue, but I'll take a shot at it for what its worth.”

Refer also to John 14:26 and 16:13, where Jesus makes the promise of the Holy Spirit's future work in bringing all of his sayings to the disciples remembrance and in continuing to guide them into all of the truth.

PG New Class Blog

Welcome to the class blog for Pursuing Godliness. This will be a Work-in Progress and I would like suggestions on how to make it more useful.

I have taken the liberty thus far to provide a few useful tools/links down the left hand side of the site: Bible study resources I have personally benefitted from, guides to prayer, a great gospel presentation tool, sites which interact with culture and help us to intelligently defend the faith and engage with others, solid periodicals from a Christian perspective, and links to other blogs that I have found consistently interesting, informative, edgy, provocative, or just entertaining. Some of these blogs are among the most heavily visited sites in the Christian blogosphere and are very respected. Note - for these recommended sites I don't necessarily agree with everything written there, but have found that the writers take engagement with their topics seriously and reading them can promote good Christian thinking about our world and growing in Christ. I hope you enjoy some of them and can profit from them.

I would also like for the site to be a place for the class to interact. For example we plan to post some of the issues and questions that are raised in and by the class and then interact with them. I think this will be beneficial and fun. So please, feel free to respond in the comments sections of the blog posts.