A La Carte (8/26)

Parenting by Prayer - On parenting and prayer: “My kids are 15, 13, 11 and 3, and one of the main lessons that the Lord has been teaching me especially with the older three is the need to parent them first by prayer, and then by persuasion. As they have gotten older, I’ve come to believe that I spent too much time talking to them about them and too little time talking to God about them.”

Motherhood Is Application - On parenting and transformation: “If I had to pick one word to describe motherhood, I think that word would be ‘transforming.’ The days of a busy mother are made up of millions of transformations. Dirty children become clean, the hungry child fed, the tired child sleeping.”

Teaching the Trinity to Kids - One parenting and teaching: “Years of teaching 4 to 6 year old kids in SS has convinced my wife and me that music is a great means of helping children memorize Bible verses and doctrines.   I know nothing about the psychology of this, I have simply observed that words put to music stick in young minds more easily than words on their own.”

The Old Guys - This blog s a good one. Just about every day it shares a single great quote from an old, dead pastor or theologian. I guarantee you’ll benefit if you make it a regular visit.

Is Steve Jobs Dying for Us All? - Michael Horton asks the question. “Steve Jobs can’t really die for us. In fact, he is, like us all, a prisoner of sin and death. We may have better machines, but we will never emancipate ourselves from sin—and its penalty of death. By affirming death, Jobs proves himself not to be a very orthodox Buddhist. Now, we hope and pray, he will embrace the only solution. This gospel not only saves us from our sins; it saves us from the feverish and ineffectual striving to make something of ourselves, to be something, to become immortal at least in our legacy.”

Christ’s Omnipresence - Phil Johnson takes on a tough doctrine here. “So what about Jesus’ omnipresence? Did He not have to divest Himself of that attribute in order to be incarnated in a real human body? Didn’t he need to cease being everywhere present so that He could enter this world as a Man? Wasn’t His omnipresence necessarily suspended when He was placed in a manger?”

God is a sure paymaster, though he does not always pay at the end of every week. —C.H. Spurgeon

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Pastoral Pressure and Apostolic Anxiety

2 Corinthians 11:28 always seemed like a strange verse to me–until I became a pastor.

Here’s Paul rattling off all the ways he’s been beat up for Jesus—imprisonments, lashes, rods, stoned, shipwrecked, adrift at sea, sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, cold and exposure, danger from everyone everywhere (v. 23-27)—and then as the cherry on top Paul mentions one more trial: “apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches” (v. 28). This is the mighty Apostle Paul, the one counted it a joy to “spend and be spent” for his people (12:15), the one who was sorrowful yet always rejoicing (6:10). This is the Paul who faced every imaginable opposition and yet learned to be content (Phil. 4:11) and anxious about nothing (4:6). And here he is admitting that even with everything else he’s endured he still feels daily pressure and anxiety for all the churches.

Ever since becoming a pastor I have found unusual comfort in this verse.  It’s not that I have accomplished what Paul accomplished, or suffered what he suffered, but every earnest minister will feel this burden for the church.  And Paul had several churches to burden him!  The churches were full of infighting and backbiting.  They put up with false teaching.  They were prone to legalism on one end and complete chaos on the other.  Some of the church members were making insignificant matters too important, while others were too willing to compromise on Christian essentials.  Paul loved these churches and their struggles burdened him more than shipwreck or imprisonment.

Before I go any further, let me be clear: I don’t think pastors are the only ones with burdens. We are not the only ones with anxiety. In many ways we have the best job in the whole world. I certainly feel exceedingly thankful to do what I do on most days. I have no interest in comparing the difficulty of pastoral ministry with the difficulties of other vocations. All I want to do is encourage pastors to keep fighting the good fight, and encourage congregations to keep encouraging their pastors.

I’m not surprised Paul felt daily pressure for the churches. His work never seemed to let up.  He had letters to write, visits to make, a collection to gather for the saints in Jerusalem. He had to send people here and there and manage the affairs of his churches from a distance. He had to respond to a myriad of criticisms, often conflicting criticisms.  Some people thought he was too harsh.  Others said he was too weak.  Some people in his churches were ascetics and thought Paul was worldly.  Others were licentious and thought Paul was too ethically demanding.  They complained about his teaching.  They questioned his credentials.  They compared him negatively to the original apostles. They thought him lame compared to the false apostles. They didn’t like the way he handled money.  They didn’t like his preaching style.  They didn’t like the way he arranged his travel plans.  They didn’t like his discipline. On some days they just didn’t like Paul. All this for the man who led them to Christ, loved them like a Father, planted  (many of) their churches, refused their money, and risked his neck for their spiritual good. No wonder there was no weight for Paul like the weight of caring for God’s people.

Ask any pastor who really takes his work seriously and he will tell you of the pressures he feels in ministry—people in crisis, people leaving, people coming, people falling through the cracks, people disappointed by the pastor, people disappointing to the pastor. In the midst of this work the pastor is trying to find time for study, prayer, preparation, and family. He’s trying to improve himself, train up new leaders, meet the budget, get to know a few missionaries, champion important program, manage staff, take care of administrative details, provide for deep, accessible worship and preaching, be responsive to new ideas, listen to new concerns, be ready to help when people are in trouble.

And most pastors feel a burden for all the other things they could be doing: more evangelism, more involvement in the neighborhood, more for the poor, more for missions, more for the denomination, more for the city, more to address global concerns, more to address social concerns. There will be pastors reading this who wonder if the church is still responsive to their preaching, if the leadership will ever be responsive to his leading, if the congregation will ever grow like the churches he hears so much about. On top of all this every pastor has his own personal hurts, personal mistakes, and his own spiritual health to attend to. Who is weak and are not pastors weak?

But be encouraged. God uses weak things to shame the strong (1 Cor. 1:27). His grace is sufficient for you; his power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). For the sake of Christ, then, be content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when you are weak, then you are strong (v. 10).

Paul had pressure. You have pressure too. But God can handle the pressure. And he looks good when you can’t.

This article originally appeared in the August edition of Tabletalk magazine.

 

How Can I Know I'm Not a Christian?

How can I know that I’m a Christian? This is a question most of us have faced at one time or another, and even if we have not asked it ourselves, it’s likely that someone has asked for our help in wrestling through it. I recently came across an article from Michael McKinley that provides an interesting counter-question: How Can I know that I’m not a Christian?

In II Corinthians 13:5, the apostle Paul commands his readers: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

OK, that seems straightforward enough.  But what does it mean to examine yourself?  What should you be looking for?  How do you know whether or not you are “in the faith”?  What is the “test” that we might fail?  I wrote Am I Really a Christian? in order to try to help answer these questions.

Well, we should all hope that we pass “the test” (again, Paul’s words, not mine!).  And Scripture gives us a few things to look for that would indicate that in fact we are not “in the faith”.  A few examples:

You’re not a Christian if you don’t believe true doctrine: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” (I John 4:2-3)

You’re not a Christian if you enjoy sin: “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (I John 2:4-6)

You’re not a Christian if you don’t persevere: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (I John 2:19)

You’re not a Christian if you don’t love others: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (I John 4:7-8)

You’re not a Christian if you love your stuff more than you love Jesus: “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24)

View the original article here

Weekend A La Carte (8/27)

How Did the Animals Know? - “Shortly before the earthquake hit Washington, D.C., the animals in the National Zoo started freaking out. So did lots of people’s housepets, with sleepy cats suddenly jumping up and heading for the hills just prior to the quake. Scientists can’t figure out how they knew…”

Welcome Home - Here’s a blog that exists just to document surprise military homecomings. It will probably make you cry.

Free Sproul Series - Ligonier is offering 3 of R.C. Sproul’s most popular teaching series free online: Chosen by God, The Holiness of God and What Is Reformed Theology?

Sign of the Times - I noticed yesterday that the New York Times list of bestsellers now features combined print and e-book fiction and non-fiction rather than listing only hardcover and softcover. It’s about time. I wish Heaven Is For Real wasn’t at the top of the new list…

The Twitter Effect - I was wondering the other day how many people first learned of the D.C. earthquake via social media. “Just as CNN created the 24-hours news cycle for television, Twitter has accelerated that news cycle to the point where news breaks every minute of every hour, and a tweet is almost as good as a page-one scoop. Not only that, but anyone can do it.”

Recommended Books on Leadership - From Gospel Coalition: “The Bible isn’t exhaustive when it comes leadership, but good leadership principles will resonate with it. We asked Matt Perman to suggest books to help us think through theological and practical issues that every leader faces.”

Toronto’s Storm - Yesterday I wrote about the storm that came through Toronto. Here’s a video.

Grace comes not to take away a man’s affections, but to take them up. —William Fenner

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A Form of Insanity

INTRODUCTION:
Goliath was a very great giant, but envy is a greater giant still. Just as giants devour, so envy devours. Envy grows on unnatural food, and when a person gives way to temptation and eats this food, the results are perverse.

THE TEXT:
“And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul . . .” (1 Sam. 18:1-30).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT:
Jonathan heard David’s report to Saul, and Jonathan loved him (v. 1). As a result of David’s exploit, Saul did not let him return to his father’s house (v. 2). Jonathan makes a formal covenant with David because of his love for him (v. 3). He even went so far as to give David his robe and his weapons (v. 4). And David performed the missions given him by Saul, and he behaved wisely, accepted by all (v. 5). One day when they (Saul and David) were coming back from a battle with Philistines, they were met by singing women (v. 6). And they sang about Saul’s exploits and David’s, and David’s were greater (v. 7). Saul noticed this and was angry, and projected the end result being David on the throne (v. 8). Envy took completely over (v. 9). The next day, when Saul was afflicted by an evil spirit from the Lord, David was playing the harp for him, as before (v. 10). Saul tried to kill him with a spear, but David got away twice (v. 11).

Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him, and not with Saul (v. 12). So Saul appointed him to a place in the army (v. 13). David continued to behave wisely, and the Lord was with him (v. 14). When Saul saw his wisdom, he continued to be afraid (v. 15). In the meantime, David was a point of agreement between Israel and Judah (v. 16). Saul offered Merab, his elder daughter, hoping that the Philistines would take David out (v. 17). David protests, based on his station in life (v. 18). But when the time came, Saul gave his daughter to another (v. 19). Saul is a Laban, changing the terms or, as we would say, the kind of man who moves the goalposts. Michal, another daughter of Saul, loved David, and Saul thought he could work with that (v. 20). He would use his daughter to bait a Philistine trap (v. 21). He told his servants to flatter David (v. 22). They did so, but David protested that he was a poor man, not being able to afford the dowry of a king’s daughter (v. 23). Court politics are in full swing. The servants brought this response back to Saul (v. 24). So Saul said he would accept one hundred Philistine foreskins as a dowry, hoping that David would be slain getting them (v. 25). David was pleased with this, and there was still time (v. 26). And so David went and got double the bloody dowry (v. 27). And so Saul now saw two things—the Lord was with David, and Michal was with David (v. 28).

A FEW DETAILS:
We considered before that Jonathan was pushing fifty by the time he met David. This meant that Saul was probably pushing seventy, which may account for why he might not have thought fighting Goliath himself was a good idea. So perhaps we shouldn't be too hard on him for that. But at the same time, he was still going out to battle, both now and afterward. A more pressing question is why Jonathan didn't fight the giant. We are not told, but the most likely explanation is that his father wouldn't let him. Remember that David needed to get permission from the king to fight the giant on behalf of Israel, and that in order to perform his previous exploit, Jonathan had had to sneak off without telling his father.

David was far more of a threat to Jonathan's royal interests than he was to Saul's. And yet Jonathan loved him dearly, and Saul was possessed with envy.

AN EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD:
The demon that afflicted Saul was evil, as can be seen from the fruit. The spirit that afflicted Saul was from the Lord in the sense that all things are from Him. You have often heard me say that God draws straight with crooked lines. Another way of putting this is that God tells a good story with wicked characters. God sends a lying spirit in the days of Micaiah (1 Kings 22:22). God sends Satan to test Job (Job 1:12). And lest someone wave this off as “Old Testament stuff,” God gives unbelievers over to a powerful delusion (2 Thess. 2:11). God is not just in the story; He writes the story. And don’t try to tell Tolkien that his story would have been greatly improved if he had left Gollum out of it.

Recall that at the beginning of this book, we saw that it was about rising and falling—the house of Eli, the house of Samuel, the house of Saul, and, in a sense redeemed by grace, the house of David. In order to tell this kind of story, this kind of envy, this kind of spiritual oppression, must play a necessary role. Envy is one of Satan’s principal weapons—and is therefore one of God’s principal tools.

WHO CAN STAND AGAINST ENVY?
Consider Proverbs 27:4. Envy feeds off of every true refutation of it. Saul plainly sees that David is wise, and he clearly sees that the Lord is with David. This is the refutation of every form of envy. What should kill envy dead? The answer would be the realization that God Almighty is with that other person, and is blessing him. But what does envy actually do? Saul sees that the Lord is with David (vv. 12, 14-15, 28-29), and he eyes him suspiciously. He interprets the story as though he has the right to appoint who the protagonist is.

Not only so, but the more the envy grows, the more the envier shrinks. Watching Saul here is like watching a slow-motion helicopter crash. Envy is a form of insanity, a way of disconnecting yourself from an ability to read the story you are in. Envy is unable to read the feedback loop. If the Lord is with David, what must a man do to be with the Lord? He must do what Jonathan gloriously did, and love David as he loved his own soul.

And of course, the only thing that can kill the giant Envy is the smooth stone thrown by the son of David. That smooth stone is the cross of Jesus Christ.

View the original article here

Facebook Friend Missions

Just about all of us have been affected (and in good ways) by the communications revolution. But there are downsides, advanced in part by our ability to move our ignorance around the world at spectacular rates of speed. But there is another danger besides high-speed gossip and slander, which is the danger of mistaking a superficial good for a real one.

Just like old-fashioned letters, on-line communication can solidify and buttress genuine friendships and family connections. But they can also be a cheap substitute for them. Let me illustrate the principle, and then move on to apply it to missions and networks of missions support.

If you have a number of Facebook friends, and your kid breaks his leg and you are in the ER with him, it is a true comfort to be able to send out a prayer request. The ones receiving the prayer request, even if they are not especially close, can offer up a prayer for what is a pretty clear situation. But many of the tangles and trials we go through in this life are not of the straight-forward broken leg variety. They usually have to do with complications of personal relationship, along with the ins and outs thereof, which relationship problems can many times be like trying to solve a melting jelly ball equivalent of a Rubik's Cube, with some unhelpful person jabbing at your elbows. When someone puts up a prayer request about something like that online, every yellow warning light on the console along the inside of your forehead ought to start blinking. You can pray, sure, but just don't think you know what's going on.

Scripture says this: "The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him" (Prov. 18:17, ESV).

I can't tell you how many times I have seen a well-meaning crowd of sympathetic cyber-counselors trying to help somebody fix or address "their situation," when I know full well that there was much more to that situation than the prayer request would or could let on. This kind of thing is almost never just a broken bone in the ER. Sometimes I know this because I know the whole circumstance through other means, and other times I know it from how the whole thing is being represented -- and by how the whole thing is surrounded by pseudo-closeness from cyber-friends.

So apply this to missions. One of the great needs of the hour in missions is true accountability, connection, friendship, and dedicated support. This need is obviously not met through complete detachment or abandonment. But neither is it met through a showy media blitz -- whether an old school slide show and newsletter, or the new school web site with Facebook updates.

If someone is on the other side of the world, we should never forget that they are on the other side of the world. The cyber-revolution has made it possible for us to deceive ourselves about how close we are and, we think, if we are that close, there must be true accountability. No, true accountability is a three dimensional incarnation, and involves mastery of languages, a biblical form of governance, competence in bookkeeping, and true face-to-face relationship. Distance communication, whether done with papyrus or ones and zeros, is a true blessing. But it is built on the foundation of true face-to-face relationships -- which should not be be confused with facebook-to-facebook relationships.

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Jesus is the Contagious One

In the Old Covenant, we learn that sin is contagious (Hag. 2:13-14). We see that if a clean object comes into contact with an unclean one, it is the clean object that becomes unclean. We recognize that this principle continues to apply in certain ways in the New Covenant as well, which is why we are supposed to avoid evil companions and why we are supposed to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. But nevertheless, something is different now.

The ministry of the Lord Jesus shows us a form of powerful, and contagious, holiness. When the woman with the flow of blood (making her unclean) touched the hem of Christ’s garment, she was made whole (Luke 8:44). The contagion did not go the other way. When Jesus took the little dead girl by the hand and told her to rise, the dead body did not make Jesus unclean (Mk. 5:41). Rather, He made her come alive.

Now we are coming to a holy Table, but not to a holy defenseless Table. You have confessed your sins. You are not coming here with hypocritical high-handedness.

Jesus was sent into the world to be the life of the world, but we must remember He was sent to be the life of a dead world. His life spreads to our death. His righteousness spreads to our wickedness. His holiness spreads to our contagion. Here, in this setting, with this gospel set before you, remember that Jesus is the contagious one, not you.

Come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

View the original article here