Ed Stetzer

On Monday I finished 'Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age' by Ed Stetzer. It was very good. Of course you wouldn't enjoy it unless planting a church was a viable option for your future (as he is VERY practical and hands-on & it is long). He has a doctorate from Southern, and used to teach there before he moved over to help with the North American Missions Board. He emphasizes theology, encourages biblical models and principles, and focuses on being relevant to your surrounding culture, or being missional (sorry Mark).

"The concept of missio Dei, the mission of God, is recognition that God is a sending God, and the church is sent. It is the most important mission in the Scriptures. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of that mission; the Holy Spirit is the power of that mission; the church is the instrument of that mission; and the culture is the context in which that mission occurs." (22)

"There is no basis, biblically or theologically, for the territorial distinction of missions and evangelism." (28)

"Postmoderns do not want to hear about Christianity; they want to see Christianity in action." (141)

"Postmodern preachers don't populate the pews; they connect people to the living Christ. Postmodern evangelism doesn't say to the world, 'Come to the church.' Rather it says to the church, 'Go to the world.'"

"When the church exists for feeding believers only, those believers become spiritual sponges that absorb more and more knowledge. If those sponges do nothing but soak in a pool of their own learning, they eventually sour. An unchurched person can hardly feel welcome in such a setting." (268)

"All biblical preaching is expositional preaching." (276) "The church planter must allow the text to set the agenda and to address the issues." (277)

Missional Church II

"This does not mean that the church or the gospel it preaches is somehow outside culture. There is no cultureless gospel. Jesus himself preached, taught, and healed within a specific cultural context. Nor is it the case that the gospel can be reduced to a set of cultureless principles. The message of the reign of God, the gospel, is always communicated with the thought constructs and practices prevalent within the cultural setting of the church in a specific time and place. But when truly shaped by the Holy Spirit, this message also points beyond its present culture's thought forms and customs to the distinctive culture of God's reign proclaimed by Jesus. For this reason, the church is always bicultural, conversant in the language and customs of the surrounding culture and living toward the language and ethics of the gospel. One of the tasks of the church is to translate the gospel so that the surrounding culture can understand it, yet help those believers who have been in that culture move toward living according to the behaviors and communal identity of God's missional people" (114)

"Believing is a matter of doing." (130)

[Quoting Newbigin] "the only hermeneutic of the gospel is the life of the congregation which believes it." (219)

Missional Church

This week I finished Darrell Guder's book 'Missional Church.' It is a book that I think every reformed pastor should read. Others should start elsewhere.

"..God's mission is calling and sending us, the church of Jesus Christ, to be a missionary church in our own societies, in the cultures in which we find ourselves." (5)

"..mission is the mother of theology." (7)

"The basic function of all theology is to equip the chur ch for its calling." (12)

"Mission is not something the church does, a part of its total program. No, the church's essence is missional, for the calling and sending action of God forms its identity. Mission is founded on the mission of God in the world, rather than the church's effort to extend itself." (82)

"There is no cultureless gospel. Jesus himself preached, taught, and healed within a specific cultural context. Nor is it the case that the gospel can be reduced to a set of cultureless principles. The message of the reign of God, the gospel, is always communicated with the thought constructs and practices prevalent within the cultural setting of the church in a specific time and place. But when truly shaped by the Holy Spirit, this message also points beyond its present culture's thought forms and customs to the distictive culture of God's reign proclaimed by Jesus. For this reason, the church is always bicultural, conversant in the language and customs of the surrounding culture and living toward the languae and ethics of the gospel. One of the tasks of the church is to translate the gospel so that the surrounding culture can understand it, yet help those believers who have been in that culture move toward living accrording to the behaviors and communal identity of God's missional people" (114)

not even a hint

Wednesday afternoon, I read Joshua Harris' book 'not even a hint' about defending your heart against lust. It was a very easy read with some good things in it. Here are some quotes:

"He really knew what He was doing didn't He? 'Be fruitful and... multiply,' he commanded mankind (Genesis 9:7). And then, just in case we'd be tempted to slack off in this task of populating and subduing the earth, He made us sexual creatures and wired us with this incredible thing we call a sex drive." (p. 33)
This quote reminds me of a talk Mohler gave on marriage and pornography. In it (I think in the Q & A in the audio) he said that if there were no sex drive, many males would never marry because we can be slothful, alone, and content. Our sex drive should lead us to find a wife.

"Lust is always based on the same lie - that satisfaction will be found apart from God." (84)

"Lust offers men the pleasure of sex devoid of the hard work of intimacy. Lust offers women the power to get what they want relationally if they use their sexuality to seduce." (87)

"And yet this is how we often practice discernment when it comes to our entertainment choices. We seem to think that because we don't approve, because we sigh and roll our eyes, because we complain about the ungodliness of Hollywood, because we fast-forward through the really bad parts, we can watch all the garbage in the world and our souls won't be affected. We call this 'discernment.' But that's as foolish as saying that if you don't enjoy a calorie, it won't make you fat." (122)

"Jesus Christ died to rescue me from darkness and sin. How can I willingly immerse myself in that darkness for the sake of entertainment? What a tragedy it is that I've sat idly by during movies and television shows and watched the very sin for which Christ had to die being laughed about, even celebrated." (125)

Speaking of Mega-churches...I'm In!!

Feel free to add a caption to what me or Joel is thinking, or add a title to this pic.

Build Your Own Mega-Church

I found this pretty funny. You can be just like Joel Osteen. I ordered mine today.

Driscoll and Emergent

For those interested in the emergent conversation, I read an interesting response to Brian McLaren from Mark Driscoll. McLaren was recently silent on the homosexuality issue. Here is some of what Driscoll sarcastically said:

"Well, it seems that Brian McLaren and the Emergent crowd are emerging into homo-evangelicals. "

"And on January 23rd McLaren wrote an article for Leadership that is posted on this blog. In it he argues that because the religious right is mean to gays we should not make any decision on the gay issue for 5-10 years. "

"Lastly, for the next 5-10 years you are hereby required to white out 1 Peter 3:15 which says "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" from your Bible until further notice from McLaren because the religious right forget the gentleness and respect part and the religious left forgot the answer the question part. Subsequently, a task force will be commissioned to have a conversation about all of this at a labyrinth to be named later. Once consensus is reached a finger painting will be commissioned on the Emergent web site as the official doctrinal position.
In conclusion, this is all just gay."

The Arrows of the Almighty

"Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. (Psalm 115:3) God is the all-powerful Ruler of the heavens and the earth; we stand at His mercy and bow under the weight of His divine glory. His unchanging wisdom providentially directs all existence in a spectacular show of His radiant glory. Nothing is hidden from His all-seeing eyes; nothing is out of the reach of His outstretched arms. God is never confused; He is never caught off guard. He doesn't make mistakes. There is no chance, no accidents, only God and His perfect plan that encompasses every minute detail of nature and human life. No aspect is left to speculation, not one sparrow will fall to the ground apart from Him. (Matthew 10:29) Without God's sustaining providence we inevitably would cease to exist. In Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28) We inhabit a world that is under direct control of a supernatural Being that is outside our natural, mechanical reality. God's existence is not dependent on this world. He is behind all of reality, continually unfolding His divine plan according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will. (Ephesians 1:11) God's Sovereign Will is fixed and unbreakable. It is never quenched, hindered, moved, or changed. Nothing happens apart from this plan, and everything that happens is planned. There are no wrong answers; only God's eternal Sovereign Will for all creation." (p. 14)

"The devil is a slave and he doesn't even realize it. Every satanic deed must first be approved by God himself. Satan has no authority of his own; he is an instrument in God's hand. Like a dog on a leash biting at our heels, he is powerless until God loosens the slack. Satan is God's employee, in all ways inferior in strength, knowledge and effect. There is no great power struggle between Christ and the devil as if they were on equal footing. The battle is over; victory is God's. Satan is a pawn, a puppet; a defeated slave. Fear not Satan and his demons; fear God and seek him first!" (p. 16)
-Taken from Adam Lancaster's article 'The Arrows of the Almighty' in "The Village Pub" Issue 3

John Owen

It seems that this blog has turned into 'quotes from what Blake is reading.' That is okay though, because the guys I read can say it much better than I can. I was recently meditating on 2 Corinthians 3:18 which reads:

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

This motivated me to read John Owen's book 'The Glory of Christ' in order to behold the glory of the Lord, and thereby be sanctified. Man, it was good! Here is some of it to chew on:

"If we regularly beheld the glory of Christ our Christian walk with God would become more sweet and pleasant, our spiritual light and strength would grow daily stronger and our lives would more gloriously represent the glory of Christ. Death would be most welcome to us." (21)

"The glory of Christ is the 'pearl of great price' which we should make every effort to find (Matt 13:45-46). And the Scripture is the ocean into which we dive to discover this pearl, or the mine in which we dig for its precious treasures (Prov 2:1-5). (33)

"Men may still hold a right doctrine of Christ; but beholding the glory of Christ does not lie in remembering doctrine. Men may have the outward form of godliness but no longer have the encouragement of Christ's presence and glory." (109)

"As for your pleasures, the truth is, you have never yet known real pleasure and will not until you come to Chris. For only in Christ are true pleasures to be found. A few moments with Christ are to be preferred to an eternity with the cursed pleasures of this world (Prov 3:13-18, Ps 16:11). (139)

"Spiritual life shows itself in a healthy appetite for the Word, grounded on an experience of God's grace in it. How healthy then is your spiritual appetite? If you have no appetite for God's Word then your spiritual life is in a bad state." (158)

"Not making Christ and his service the main business of our lives is another evidence of spiritual decay in the soul. Where grace is flourishing in the soul then all other things will be secondary to the duties of Christ's religion. Everything else must take second place." (159-159)

Mavs Win 12th Straight

Dallas beat the Lakers 102-87 tonight to make 12 wins in a row. Kobe only had 24, which isn't much compared to the 62 points he had in three quarters the last time they played. Anyway, that is about all that went on tonight in the basketball world, at least worth mentioning.

More Mohler on Reading

Mohler has written some more on reading. Here are some of my favorite excerpts:

[On reading bad theology] - "Pastors should certainly read enough to know what is going on at the level of popular theology (be brave and go into a Christian bookstore) and in the cultural conversation. My library has an entire collection of various heretical writings, ranging from the heresies of the ancients to the heresies of the present day. I read them in order to understand them, to confront them, and to correct their heresies with the truth.
How will you understand Augustine if you do not understand Pelagius (whose writings are mostly lost)? How can you understand Calvin without knowing about Servetus? Machen without Fosdick? Mahaney without Jakes? Oops, that last one was as yet a dream."

"C.J., here is my Super Bowl prediction: The winner will be either the Seattle Seahawks or the Pittsburg Steelers. I heard that inside scoop on TBN. Just call it a word of knowledge."

Texas rolls on.

Texas beat A & M today 83-70. I find it funny that most aggies talk trash about UT. Texas is the women's track, men's baseball, and men's football national champions this year. The men's basketball team is ranked #8. Let the record reflect.

Sweet & Self-Sufficient

"God does whatever He wants. His purposes are a sure thing. There's no stopping Him. No containing Him. No refuting Him. No cutting Him of at the pass. No short-circuiting His agenda. God is in control. He sends forth lightning from His storehouse, He breathes out the wind, waters the earth, raises up rulers, directs the course of nations, births life, ordains death, and, in the midst of it all, still has time to be intimately acquainted with the everyday affairs of everyone on the planet." (49)

"Everything God does, He does for His own glory. He approaches every decision with the question: "What will bring the most attention and honor to My name in this situation-what will most glorify Me and make Me look the very best?" And then He does whatever that is." (162)

--Taken from i am not but i know I AM by Louie Giglio

Packer on Owen

Today at work, I had the privilege of reading J.I. Packer's chapter on 'The Spirituality of John Owen.' It is taken from his book, 'A Quest for Godliness.' You can download this chapter from Justin Taylor's site on Owen. Owen is known as the Prince of the Puritans, and if you are not familiar with the Puritans then I highly recommend them to you. They had a right balance on things. Right theology was very important to them, but so was right affections for Christ. Here are a few noteworthy quotes from the chapter:

"I hold myself bound in conscience and in honour, not even to imagine that I have attained a proper knowledge of any one article of truth, much less to publish it, unless through the Holy Spirit I have had such a taste of it, in its spiritual sense, that I may be able, from the heart, to say with the psalmist, 'I have believed, and therefore have I spoken.'" [Owen]

"Thus, to the Puritans, communion between God and man is the end to which both creation and redemption are the means; it is the goal to which both theology and preaching must ever point; it is the essence of true religion; it is, indeed, the definition of Christianity." [Packer]

"The first Person, the Father, is revealed as the one who initiates, who chooses a people to save and his Son to save them, and who plans a way of salvation that is consistent with his holy character. The second Person is revealed as Son and Word in relation to the Father, imaging and embodying in himself the Father's nature and mind and coming forth from the Father to do his will by dying to redeem sinners. The third Person proceeds from the first two as their executive, conveying to God's chosen the salvation which the Son secured for them. All three are active in fulfilling a common purpose of love to unlovely men; all three give distinct gifts of their bounty to the chosen people, and all three, therefore, should be distinctly acknowledged in faith, with an appropriate response, by Christian believers." [Packer]

"Anyone who knows anything at all about Puritan Christianity knows that at its best it had a vigour, a manliness, and a depth which modern evangelical piety largely lacks. This is because Puritanism was essentially and experimental faith, a religion of 'heart-work', a sustained practice of seeking the face of God, in a way that our own Christianity too often is not." [Packer]

"Truly for sinners to have fellowship with God, the infinitely holy God, is an astonishing dipensation." [Owen]

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).

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.

Victoria Osteen

When I first heard about the latest Osteen incident, I was not going to post about it, but after seeing Steve McCoy's picture (to the left), I could not help myself. For those who haven't heard about Mrs. Osteen's plane mishap, you can read about it here. You would think she would be more careful.

Merry CHRISTmas

I just wanted to encourage some meditation on what it is we are celebrating. Just think about it. The all-sufficient God, was completely happy in the fellowship of the Trinity. It pleased him to create. But he had a purpose in creating. Before the foundation of the world, he had a purpose. He chose his people (Eph 1:4). He knew all, and decreed all that would ever take place, including the murder of his own Son (Acts 2:23, 4:27-28). He chose to send his Son into the world to redeem for himself a people, to the praise of His glorious grace. Jesus came to this world as a baby in a manger. He came to live a perfect life, to completely obey the law, all 613 commandments. God requires perfection, and none of us are there. Jesus lived perfectly so that all who trust in him, will be reckoned as righteous. The perfect righteousness of Jesus is reckoned to our account by faith in Him. He suffered, died, and rose from the grave. His life and death show us God's love for mankind, His holy character, and His hatred for sin. Christ came and died so that God would be just, and the justifier of the ungodly. The love of God, and the wrath of God meet in the cross. He didn't have to or need to do any of it. All we deserve is wrath, but look what we get instead - everything in Jesus! May we continually reflect on our good God, and what he has done for us through Jesus Christ.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:36

Santa Claus

Last night I read an article from World Magazine called "Slappy Holiday." It was quite humorous. It tells of the true St. Nicholas. He is "said to have saved a poor family's daughters from slavery by tossing into their window enough gold for a rich dowry, a present that landed in some shoes or, in some accounts, stockings that were hung up to dry. Thus arose the custom of hanging up stockings for St. Nicholas to fill. And somehow he transmogrified into Santa Claus, who has become for many people the secular Christmas alternative to Jesus Christ."

What was even more interesting to me was that he was one of the authors of the Nicene Creed, which came out of the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325 and affirms that Jesus is God and man. Arius was a heretic who denied the deity of Christ and good ole St. Nick got tired of his heresy, and walked his jolly self over and slapped Arius. Who would have thought that the "original Santa Claus" was committed to the glory of Christ. He would be disgusted if he saw the attention that Santa receives over against that which Christ receives.

Road Trip

Today I got back from a short stay with my boy Dustin. We searched for Providence Theological Institute in Belton (to no avail), hooped in Lampasas, ate at Freebirds (where I had the privilege of meeting Dustin's pastor, Phillip Way and hear him rap), and watched UT kill Texas State at the Superdrum in Austin. And of course there was lots of good discussion about theology, church, and culture. I always enjoy visiting with D, even though he is an open theist ;).

Engagement!

Last night, after much planning, prayer, and anxiety, I proposed to my girlfriend Alicia. She said yes! Since most of my readers are male (I think) I will not include how I proposed, since all that matters to you is that I did it. I was creative though, and she did not have a clue. She is a jewel. She will make the Proverbs 31 woman seem lukewarm. She graduates with a BSN (nursing) in May. We will get married in the summer, Lord-willing, and then move to KY for Southern Seminary. As the proverbial wisdom goes, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD." Amen.

Graduation

Saturday, I graduated from Angelo State University. Acts 17:26 says, "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place." I am very thankful that the sovereign Lord was pleased to place me in San Angelo, TX for a few years. He greatly used many people there to sanctify, teach, and mold me into a deeper level of Christ-likeness. Although it is a state university, the Christian body on that campus is much more spiritually and doctrinally mature than any private school I have been to. I was also blessed by many gifts. I received plenty of money and the following books:
The Missional Church by Darrell Guder
The Open Secret by Newbigin
The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Newbigin
Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
Planting Churches in a Postmodern Age by Ed Stetzer
Word Biblical Commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians by F.F. Bruce
I am excited about digging into these. As you can tell, I am focusing on missional ecclesiology in the spring before I head off to Southern Seminary.

Sex and the Supremacy of Christ

Today I watched two panel interviews from Desiring God's 2004 National Conference. You can find several messages to listen to and watch. I really enjoyed the speaker interviews. It was humorous at times, and tense at others. Mahaney is hilarious, and Piper is very serious. I was encouraged. You can check it out here.

New Blogs

I just got a phone call from Jonathan Makovicka, a friend of mine. He was calling to make me aware of his new blog. It is called "DELIVERED, DISPENSATIONAL, DEVOTED." I don't know if he will keep this name, but it sure made me laugh. Seems like we would both make some good southern baptist preachers though, with our 3 R's and 3 D's. The only thing missing is an altar call..j/k. I say he should keep it. He plans on attending DTS. I don't agree with is dispensational hermeneutic, but I do know he loves the Lord and will have some good things to say.
Eron Plevan, who plans on attending The Master's Seminary, has also joined the blogosphere. Both will be worth frequenting.

More Emergence

Scot McKnight has posted seven habits of successful emerging discussions. They are helpful for those interested in learning about and discussing the emerging movement.

Wikipedia also has some good info and links about it here.

Interestingly, Wikipedia includes Mark Driscoll as a pioneer in the emerging church movement. Speaking of Driscoll, today I listened to an excellent sermon by him called "The Genesis of False Gospels." He preached it at a conference called Reformission 2004, where John Piper was the keynote speaker. Be sure and listen to Piper's sermons as well. You can find it here under the audio section. If you have about an hour and twenty minutes of spare time, listen to it. He goes through pretty much all of Genesis and defines 11 false gospels. He speaks of the problem of sin, and our feeble attempts to fix it, the wrong type of community, feminism, morality, spirituality (where he seems to be knocking the emergent folks, especially when he talks about people walking around in "faggoty labyrinths)." He closes with the Seed (Jesus) being the only solution to the sin problem. I was encouraged.

Horns get smashed!

Today was #1 Duke v.s. #2 Texas. Duke is loaded so I was a little scared this might happen.
Duke won 97 - 66.

Redick hit them up for his career high 41 points. It was dirty.

Tim Ellsworth posted a blog on Nov. 11 about Redick wanting to be remembered as a man of God. I was pleasantly surprised. At least he will be giving God the glory for the spanking he have the Longhorns today.

The Chronicles of Narnia

It is 2:50 in the morning. We decided to go check out Narnia tonight, or this morning I guess. We hit up the 12:01 a.m. show. Most will probably watch this show anyway, so you don't need my recommendation, but for what its worth, I recommend it. I need to read some C.S. Lewis. More than anything I appreciate the fact that it caused me to think about the story of redemption. I need daily reminders. How sweet it is to be saved from sin and death by the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Inside-Out Living

Today I listened to a sermon by Tim Keller called Inside-Out Living. It was real good. It was from Luke 18:9-14 where Jesus gives us the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector. He spoke of the universal need for approval, religion versus irreligion, and external and internal righteousness. He spoke of the difference between doing good deeds to gain approval from God over against doing good deeds because we have already been approved by God through Jesus Christ. I downloaded the sermon and caricature from Monergism. Check it out.

Emergent Critique and Defense

For those who are interested, today I read a couple of papers about the emergent church. Maybe you are familiar with this movement or conversation or whatever it is called. I would define it, but I don't know a good definition. D.A Carson has written a book about it. I haven't read it, but have read some responses and reviews. I read one today called The Emergent Church - Another Perspective by David Mills. It was a response to Carson. It was good. It seemed like Carson should have just stuck to NT exegesis, which by the way he is a master exegete.
I also read on called An Ecclesiological Assessment of the Emerging Church Movement by John Hammett who is a professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
I recommend reading these if you are interested in what is going on with the emergent church. Both of them touch on the positives and negatives of the conversation/movement.
As I have read some of the guys in the conversation, I have been impressed with Mark Driscoll and Tim Keller. Speaking of Tim Keller's church, Mills quotes Carson saying it is an example of a church that "displays all the strengths of the emerging church movement while avoiding most of its weaknesses." I don't even thing these guys would associate themselves with the emergent church, but rather maybe emerging or missional. I like these guys. They both have a very high view of Scripture.
Purgatorio has posted some humorous pics that may be helpful in determining whether or not you are emergent.

Knocked Out

I once refereed an 8th grade girls B team basketball game. I love basketball, but decided then and there that that would be the last time I call a game. I caught myself watching the game instead of officiating. I also didn't appreciate the fans and coaches yelling at me. I mean, it was 8th grade girls B team for crying out loud! Anyway, today I saw this video and decided to post a link. One more reason I will stay away from officiating basketball.

Congrats to the 'Horns

This weekend, Texas smashed Colorado 70 to 3. Now they move on to the national championship against USC on Jan. 4. This should be a good game, with lots of points. Texas is still holding down the #2 spot in NCAA hoops as well. That's what I'm talkin' bout.

In the World

Recently I read through 1 Corinthians and noticed this verse, and this morning at church we read through the whole chapter and I was reminded of it.

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler--not even to eat with such a one.
(1Co 5:9-11)

The phrase that stuck out to me was where Paul makes a point to say "not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world......since then you would need to go out of the world." The passage is speaking of church discipline and the purity of the church. But, implicit in this statement is the fact that, as believers, we need to be associated with non-believers. We need to follow the example of Christ and be a friend of sinners.

Too often we get stuck in our Christian bubbles. I am by no means saying fellowship is not essential and even vital to this life of walking with Jesus. I am saying that we also need to be cultivating relationships and friendships with non-Christians. We need to live out the gospel with them. Evangelism should be more than spending 5 minutes with someone, throwing your gospel spill on their lap, and then leaving to never see them again. That can definitely be part of it though. I think many believers, including myself, need to be intentional about building relationships with non-believers in order to proclaim, and live out the gospel of grace. We should always be looking for opportunities to witness. We must always keep in mind that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, not nice friendships. I think we need both today though: friendships and gospel proclamation. People today are skeptical to say the least. Authentic Christian living is a great testimony of the power of Jesus.

Son of a ...

I am reading through First Samuel right now. This morning in my time in the Word I noticed something interesting. If you remember the context, David and Jonathan have become friends. David had slipped out, Jonathan knew about it, and Saul got angry. Remember that Jonathan was Saul's own son. This is what he said to his son in chapter 20, verse 30:

"You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? "

It had never occured to me that that phrase that is so popular today (son of a ..) could have ultimately evolved from a little tweaking of a biblical text. Anyway, I hope you weren't wanting anything deep or spiritual.

Pope John Paul II

Well, I just sat down to eat some frito pie and watch “Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II" on ABC. I didn't last long. Within about the first three minutes, he had already prayed to the 'Holy Mother' twice, once asking for forgiveness of sins. I don't want to be too critical because it is only by divine grace that I am not doing the same. I praise God for using clay pots like Huss and Luther and the rest of them. It makes me jealous for the glory of Christ. Instead of enduring, I finished my meal, although nauseated, and am about to go watch the Mavs play the Spurs instead.

Contemporary Reformers

Monergism.com is by far the most helpful theological resource available on the web, in my opinion. It is filled with God-centered articles and sermons. Monergism has established, or is in the process of establishing the Hall of Contemporary Reformers. Right now it consists of White, Piper, Sproul, Keller, Ferguson, MacArthur, Mohler, Mahaney, Horton, Carson, and Dever. That is a serious line up of Theocentric theologians! You would do well to get familiar with any or all of these men. I was going to mention my three favorite, but I just can't do it. They are all too good. They range from baptists to presbyterian, from cessationists to charismatic, and from professors to pastors, but the main thing they have in common is that they are all biblical (reformed) in their view of salvation. Enjoy!