Original Thoughts

Today, I listened to a sermon by C.J. Mahaney while I ran at the Y. These sermons are from when he spoke at Lance Quinn's church. You can get them, and some by his wife (for you ladies) here. He said something I liked. He actually said several things I liked, but he said that he has never had an original thought. He said you could stop him at any moment in any of his messages and he could tell you whose shoulders he is standing on. That is encouraging to me. I used to be amazed at certain preachers and think, 'How do they come up with this stuff.' The more widely I read, I am finding that they didn't come up with it after all. As the old preacher said, "There is nothing new under the sun." C.J. confirmed that today. Anyway..

Desiring God 2006 National Conference

Man, this conference is going to be excellent. I am pleasantly surprised to see Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll (and Voddie for that matter). With the combo of Piper, Driscoll, and Keller, I am going to try hard to make it to this one. I may have to sleep outside, but it would be worth it. Here is the line up:

2006 National Conference
Theme: Above All Earthly Powers: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World
Date: September 29 to October 1, David Wells: "The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World"

D.A. Carson: "The Supremacy of Christ and Love in a Postmodern World"
Timothy Keller: "The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World"
Mark Driscoll: "The Supremacy of Christ and the Church in a Postmodern World"
Voddie Baucham: "The Supremacy of Christ and Truth in a Postmodern World"
John Piper: "The Supremacy of Christ and Joy in a Postmodern World"
(Thanks for the link D)

Reforming Marriage

Last night, Alicia and I finished Reforming Marriage. Here is part of the reason why I like Douglas Wilson:

"The castration of Christian men, and the consequent feminization of the family, church, and culture, began in earnest in the last century when the power of an efficacious gospel of grace was abandoned, and the substitute of religious sentiment was set up instead. In our doctrinal defiance, the feminine response of faith was confused with the masculine initiative of God in the gospel. Husbands, who are required by Scripture to imitate the love of Christ, were then taught the error that the love of Christ for His people was impotent. The efficacy of love was then abandoned, and the sentiment of loving was enthroned. And men became impotent in their imitation of an impotent Lord." (142-143)

Scott and Wilson Quotes

From Stuart Scott's book The Exemplary Husband:
"The overall purpose of this book is to assist husbands toward purposeful and lasting Christlikeness for the glory of God." (IX)

"Whether a marriage is disastrous or marvelous depends greatly on the couple's view of marriage. How a man thinks about marriage will certainly affect his perspective of his role, his wife's role, and the relationship itself." (60)

"Change must begin in the mind...This can happen only as God's Word dwells in us. We must have God's Word consistently before us and purposefully implanted in our minds (i.e. meditation and memorization)...The stark reality is, how we think greatly determines how we live. Thinking affects desires, feelings, and actions...God is saying that we will not live biblically unless we think biblically, therefore, the first act of repentance (change) is to examine the thinking that is behind our actions and renew our minds with God's truth." (312-313)

From Douglas Wilson's Federal Husband:
"...just as Christ as the head assumed all the responsibility for all the sins of all His people, so the husband is to assume covenant responsibility for the state of his marriage." (12)

"A man who is the head of his wife is preaching all day about Christ and the Church-his obedience or disobedience will determine whether his preaching is full of lies or not, but the very nature of his relation to his wife means that he is preaching , like it or not." (22)

"In a time when many women are more qualified to take a wife than many men are, it is not surprising that gender confusion is rampant." (32)

"We are Christians, so we love books." (96)

"A woman who rejects domesticity, who wants to live like a Barbie married to Ken, should be avoided along with all other sexual pests. A biblical man should want a woman who wants children and who wants to be home-oriented." (104)

Mohler on Reading

There is a conference in April called Together for the Gospel. It will include Dever, Mahaney, Mohler, Lig Duncan, Sproul, MacArthur, and Piper. I have already registered and am very excited. They have started a blog, and Mohler has posted some good thoughts on reading. Also, be sure and watch the videos, they are pretty funny.

Marriage Preparation

As my days as a single man wind down by the day, I am trying to be as diligent as I can be to learn more and more on how to be a Godly husband. It is sad how we will spend the majority of our lives studying to be a doctor, basketball coach, nurse, or whatever it may be. I mean, we spend at least four years in college preparing for whatever career we may be pursuing. As redeemed people, unless we are called to celibacy (which Paul would say is very good in 1 Cor. 7), then our primary calling is to be a husband or wife. I may end up having several ministries, but my primary ministry is to my wife. We are first husbands and wives, then pastor, teacher, nurse, or businessman. It is sad that so many Christians will not start studying to be a Godly spouse until they are already married. We should started learning to be Godly spouses from day one. Me and Alicia have already decided that if we have a girl some day, we are first and foremost teaching and training her to be a Godly wife. The same goes for a boy. So because of these things, I have been immersing myself in bible-saturated books on marriage. Here are some that I have read, and highly recommend that you read, specifically if you are male:

The Exemplary Husband by Stuart Scott (this one kicked me in the throat several times, very good and challenging)
Reforming Marriage by Douglas Wilson (excellent!)
The Mystery of Marriage by Mike Mason (painfully honest)
Federal Husband by Douglas Wilson (watch out for the covenant theology)
Her Hand in Marriage by Douglas Wilson (mainly about biblical courtship)
The Fulfilled Family by John MacArthur (Johnny-Mac, need I say more)
Boy Meets Girl by Josh Harris (more courtship)

Here are some future reads sitting on my shelf:
Fidelity by Douglas Wilson
Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
The Act of Marriage by Tim and Beverly LaHaye
Each for the Other by Bryan Chapell (actually on Alicia's shelf)

Alicia is reading/has read:
The Fruit of Her Hands by Nancy Wilson
Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney
The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace
Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper

The Blessed Hope

A couple of weeks ago, I read George Eldon Ladd's book The Blessed Hope. It is a biblical study of the second advent and the rapture. What is funny is that 'Left Behind' is on the TV in the living room right now. It was really a critique of pre-tribulational premillennialism. He is advocating historic premillennialism, which says the scripture teaches a post-tribulation rapture. This is the view that I find most consistent with the whole of Scripture. I wanted to share some quotes:

"The first three centuries were characterized by a futurist, premillennial interpretation, but not of the pretribulation type." (35)

"In more recent times, due to the influence of the Scofield Reference Bible, the Bible school movement, etc., pretribulationism has been more widely accepted than ever before with the result that many Christians have never heard any sound Bible teachers who held a different position and therefore have naturally concluded that pretribulationalism is essential to premillennialism. This is not true historically, and it is not true theologically or Biblically." (52)

"However, both the amillennialist and the premillenialist insist that the world is evil, that the business of the Church primarily is to preach the Gospel of salvation, and that the Christian must be living in constant expectation of the personal second coming of Christ. The fullness of the kingdom will come only with the coming of the King. This is Biblical doctrine, and on it premillennialists, whether they believe in a pre- or posttribulation rapture, and amillennialists stand together." (141)

End of the Spear

Well, me and my fiancee watched 'End of the Spear' today. This is the movie about the five missionaries that got speared in Ecuador. I previously posted about the documentary about these men. I admit I was a little biased after watching Chad Allen (the star of the show, who played Nate and Steve Saint) defend his homosexual lifestyle on CNN on Monday night. I was thourougly disappointed with the movie. Don't get me wrong, for a movie, it was great. But for a historical account, I was completely disappointed. I am also trying to put myself in the shoes of a non-believer. The movie did not show anything of the missionary's devotion to Christ, or why they even left the states. The names Jesus, or Christ were not mentioned in the entirety of the film. The gospel of Christ was the sole reason that these men laid down their lives, but you wouldn't get that from this movie. I have read about Elliot a little, and from what I have read and heard, he was on fire for the gospel of Christ. The movie portrayed him as an idiot.
I truly believe that if any one of these men were alive today to see the movie, they would not be pleased with it. This movie is on the secular market. What an opportunity to share the gospel! I think that those men would jump at the opportunity to share Christ with the amount of people who will go and see this film. If I were not a follower of Christ, I would walk away thinking, "That's cool. Some compassionate men died in order to teach a tribe about peace so they would not kill each other anymore, and Nate Saint was a great man." At the end of the movie, the credits said that half of the proceeds would be given to charity to help indigenous tribes. What about missions? Help is pointless without the gospel.
I would be curious about how the movie would have been if Elizabeth Elliot would have directed the movie. It probably would have been a lot more Christ-centered, and less 'Saint-centered.'
Sorry about sounding so negative, but I just see it as a huge missed opportunity to exalt Jesus Christ.

Being Perfectly Imperfect

A couple of posts ago I mentioned the magazine from Chandler's church called 'The Village Pub." I had jury duty this week and had the chance to read through it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wanted to post some of the parts that I particularly enjoyed. Here is an excerpt from Ryan Barnhart about lo9oking for the perfect spouse:

"My transition into being just fine with a sub-par physique and flabby abs wasn't easy because during that period I discovered several women that were looking for the perfect man. Of course, he doesn't exist. Romance novels, celebrity magazines and chick flicks are sources of entertainment that reveal fictitious, near-perfect, intimate relationships in which a couple miraculously discovers and continuously displays romantic love. It seems like society has created this demand for women to find and daydream of men like Fabio or wealthy businessmen like Richard Gere, who will climb a flight of stairs carrying roses proclaiming to all of Los Angeles that he has come to save the day. Becoming either of those imaginary male figures is impossible for men that weren't created by books or movies. I'm no Fabio, and if I saved money for a month, I still wouldn't be able to afford the roses Gere presented in Pretty Woman."

Open Letter to SBC Seminarians

Steve McCoy has written an open letter to all SBC seminary students. Check it out here.

Mohler on Larry King Tonight

Just so you know, Dr. Albert Mohler will be on Larry King Live tonight discussing the new movie 'Brokeback Mountain' and the issue of homosexuality. It should be good. From CNN.com:

Is it biology or choice? Are same sex unions a legitimate lifestyle? Homosexuals face off with religious conservatives. Tune in at 9 p.m. ET.

***UPDATE*** - The show was pretty good. I have read and listened to Mohler preach a lot on the sufficiency of scripture, so I figured he would quote more texts. I don't think he quoted any. I enjoyed the conservative radio host Janet Parshall. She was very straightforward and quick. I was also unsure why the makers of 'The End of the Spear' hired a homosexual (Chad Allen) to play Nate Saint. I wonder how Nate would feel about that. That doesn't make sense to me. I still don't think that the world understands where people like Mohler and Parshall are coming from, but I guess that is expected (1 Cor 2:14).

The Village

I have been in the metroplex and Houston for the last 5 days for a wedding. Yesterday, me and Alicia had the opportunity to go to The Village. The Village is Matt Chandler’s church. I like his church a lot. I think it has a balance that many churches lack. I think his is one of the healthy ‘emerging’ churches. His church is very attractive. They have a very good media guy. They have a very high view of Scripture, and understand the importance of right theology. Chandler isn’t so much a teaching pastor, but he never fails to stir my affections for Jesus Christ. They have a firm grip on both the bible, and culture. I read that it has grown to 2,700 in three years. He was preaching six times there for a while. They have a church magazine called “The Village Pub.” Yesterday, the latest edition came out. I was very encouraged at first, but then a little disappointed. The articles range from church life, the cross, missional living, David Brainerd, Calvinism, art, God’s exhaustive sovereignty, and the problem of evil. I was disappointed when I came to the back, where they review music and books. They gave Kanye West 4 and a half stars, and gave the lyrics a B plus. There is no mention of his explicit lyrics. What I don’t like about this rapper is that he claims the name of Christ. A song entitled “Jesus Walks” is what put him on the map. A friend told me I would like it. I looked him up and quickly found that he is far from a follower of Christ. I looked up some lyrics from his new CD and he used God's name in vain in the first song, along with other profanities. What bothers me is that the review is an endorsement, whether they wanted to do that or not. It encourages believers to entertain ungodly thoughts. We should be encouraging them to think on things that are good, and above (Phil 4:8, Col 3:2). I think we need to be culturally relevant, but you have to draw the line somewhere and I think they crossed it with this review. As we engage culture, we must remember the admonition of James:

Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

Blue Like Jazz

I was a little late for the 'Blue Like Jazz Train', but I finally read it a few weeks ago. It was okay at parts, and questionable in many places. I appreciated his honesty that so many Christians lack. I am not sure if I recommend it, but if you do get it, be sure that you have read Piper's "The Pleasures of God" and A.W. Pink's "The Sovereignty of God" for some good foundation. Here is a quote from the book:

"And that's the tricky thing about life, really, that the things we want most will kill us. Tony the Beat Poet read me this ancient scripture recently that talked about loving either darkness or loving light, and how hard it is to love light and how easy it is to love darkness. I think that is true. Ultimately, we do what we love to do. I like to think that I do things for the right reasons, but I don't, I do things because I do or don't love doing them. Because of sin, because I am self-addicted, living in the wreckage of the fall, my body, my heart, and my affections are prone to love things that kill me. Tony says Jesus gives us the ability to love the things we should love, the things of Heaven. Tony says that when people who follow Jesus love the right things, they help create God's kingdom on earth, and that is something beautiful."

***UPDATE*** 9 Marks had done a review of the book here.

Depravity

A few days ago I read a disturbing story in the paper. Here is an excerpt:

"Four teens face theft charges for stealing 27 baby Jesus statues from outdoor nativity scenes at churches and private homes, and planning to burn them, police said."

Can you believe this? The article said that the boys acted out of boredom! Yet another testimony of the total depravity of man. Oh, how patient is our sweet King, but it will eventually run out. May we be ready when it does, clinging to the cross of Christ which is the only means of escaping the wrath of God.

Pray for John Piper

I received an email today from the ministry of Sam Storms asking for prayer for John Piper. He has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Justin Taylor has posted the letter that Piper wrote to his church that I have pasted below:

Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dear Bethlehem Family,
I hope this letter will encourage your prayer, strengthen your hope, and minister peace. I am writing with the blessing of the other elders to help you receive the news about my prostate cancer.
At my annual urological exam on Wednesday, December 21, the doctor felt an abnormality in the prostate and suggested a biopsy. He called the next day with the following facts: 1) cancer cells were found in two of the ten samples and the estimate is that perhaps 5% of the gland is affected; 2) my PSA count was 1.6, which is good (below 4 is normal); 3) the Gleason score is 6 (signaling that the cancer is not aggressive). These three facts incline the doctor to think that it is unlikely that the cancer has spread beyond the prostate, and that it is possible with successful treatment to be cancer-free.
Before going with Noël to consult in person with the doctor on December 29 about treatment options, I shared this news with the Bethlehem staff on Tuesday morning, December 27, and with the elders that evening. Both groups prayed over me for healing and for wisdom in the treatment choices that lie before us. These were sweet times before the throne of grace with much-loved colleagues.
All things considered, Noël and I believe that I should pursue the treatment called radical prostatectomy, which means the surgical removal of the prostate. We would ask you to pray that the surgery be completely successful in the removal of all cancer and freedom from possible side effects.
With the approval of the executive staff and elder leadership, we are planning surgery in early February. The recovery time is about three weeks before returning to a slow work pace, and six weeks to be back to all normal activities.
This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet.
For example, is there anything greater to hear and believe in the bottom of your heart than this: “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)?
God has designed this trial for my good and for your good. You can see this in 2 Corinthians 1:9, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” And in 2 Corinthians 1:4-6, “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God . . . If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.”
So I am praying: “Lord, for your great glory, 1) don’t let me miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you have for me in this experience; 2) don’t let the church miss any of the sanctifying blessings that you have for us in this; 3) grant that the surgery be successful in removing cancer and sparing important nerves; 4) grant that this light and momentary trial would work to spread a passion for your supremacy for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ; 5) may Noël and all close to me be given great peace—and all of this through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.” I hope God will lead you to pray in a similar way.
With deep confidence that
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting.
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 15:54-57
Pastor John
With Sam Crabtree, Lead Pastor for Life Training
Kenny Stokes, Lead Pastor for Spreading
Tim Johnson, Chairman of the Council of Elders
Ross Anderson, MD, Bethlehem Elder

Texas hooks USC

I hope everyone had a chance to watch the Vince Young show last night. Texas stunned the defending national champions last night in the Rose Bowl. This win ended a 34 game win streak for USC. Vince Young showed the world who the real Heisman was. He calmly and collectively took the game over. I thank the Lord that before the University of Texas was even established, before the game of football had been invented, before the world had even been created, God predestined that the 'Horns would win the national championship last night. I can only hope that he also ordained that Vince would stay around for his senior year. We've got baseball and football. Now it is time for basketball.

Resolutions Continued

38. Resolved, never to speak anything that is sportive or a matter of laughter on the Lord's Day.

40. Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking.

44. Resolved, that no other end but religion shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any other-wise that the religious end will carry it.

48. Resolved, constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence and with the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of.

55. Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do if I had already seen the happiness of heaven and the torments of hell.

56. Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

60. Resolved, whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination.

63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world at any one time who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true luster, and appearing excellent and lovely from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, to act just as I would if I strove with all my might to be that one who should live in my time.

67. Resolved, after afflictions to inquire what I am the better for them, what good I have got by them, and what I might have got by them.
(For those who would like to read all 70, you can find them here)

I hope that these resolutions have been as challenging for you and they have been for me. My first thought is that Edwards needs to chill out, but I think that it is really we who need to wake up. May God give us the grace to be as theocentric as Edwards was.

Resolutions

Last night, to bring in the new year, me and Alicia read Jonathan Edward's Resolutions. They are 70 resolutions that he wrote when he was 19 years old. They were written between 1722 and 1723. He prefaces them with an exhortation to read them once a week. Edwards was as God-enthralled as a human can be. We can learn a lot from his life and writing, both theologically and practically. I wanted to post several of the ones that really convicted the trash out of me:

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can possibly avoid it.

5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

6. Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom and hell.

17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

20. Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.

22. Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemenence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.

24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back till I come to the original cause; and then both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.

28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of them.

30. Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.