I recently sat down for coffee with a man who runs a wilderness camp that seeks to help girls who are hurting find some healing and structure for their lives. We were talking about the whole wilderness experience, and I asked him how most of the teenage girls responded to being there. He said, interestingly, that the “roughing it” wasn’t what made girls want to leave; instead it was the relationships. In other words, the girls could stand not showering, sleeping in undesirable locations, and eating a steady dose of campfire meals. What they couldn’t stand was having to think about others, having to serve others, having to be with others. This really hit home with me because I often think about my own sinful, selfish heart and how it wants all the benefits and pleasures that relationships afford without any of the emotional and physical sweat. Relationships are not easy. And self-denial is not easy. Lord help us.
The Sinclair Ferguson “Fireside Chats,” Reflections on the Ministry at Age 60
Published April 4, 2008 Pastoral Ministry , Resources 0 CommentsDr. Ferguson recently spoke with the professors, students, and friends of RTS-Charlotte, sharing his reflections on his life and ministry over the years. If you enjoy listening to Dr. Ferguson’s preaching and teaching, you definitely should listen to these talks. He originally called them “fireside chats” because they are wonderfully, pastorally, and personally reflective and conversational. Get them at iTunes, here.
“If it were the case that whatever we ask, God was pledged to give, then I would never pray again, because I would not have sufficient confidence in my own wisdom to ask God for anything.” ~ Alec Motyer ~
(ht: Kendall Harmon)
Garrison Keillor, “A pagan’s thoughts at Eastertide”
Published March 25, 2008 Articles , Quotable 0 CommentsHe writes, “Skepticism is a stimulant, not to be repressed. It is an antidote to smugness and the great glow of satisfaction one gains from being right. You know the self-righteous—I’ve been one myself—the little extra topspin they put on the truth, their ostentatious modesty, the pleasure they take in being beautifully modulated and cool and correct when others are falling apart. Jesus was rougher on those people than he was on the adulterers and prostitutes.”
Read it all here.
Lord God our Father,
maker of heaven and earth:
As the crucified body of your dear Son
was laid in the tomb
to await the glory that would be revealed,
so may we endure
the darkness of this present time
in the sure confidence
that we will rise with him.
We ask this through your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Kendall Harmon
Lord, Who createdst man in wealth and store,
Though foolishly he lost the same,
Decaying more and more,
Till he became
Most poore:
With Thee
O let me rise,
As larks, harmoniously,
And sing this day Thy victories:
Then shall the fall further the flight in me.
My tender age in sorrow did beginne;
And still with sicknesses and shame
Thou didst so punish sinne,
That I became
Most thinne.
With Thee
Let me combine,
And feel this day Thy victorie;
For, if I imp my wing on Thine,
Affliction shall advance the flight in me.
Have been reading this book by Jeffery L. Sheler, and must say it is oddly refreshing to get a skeptical view of Evangelicalism as we know it. Maybe it is refreshing to me because it harmonizes with my own view of American Evangelicalism: a little shallow and very emotionally driven. Maybe it is refreshing to me because there is something valuable in an unbeliever’s perspective on the beliefs and practices of believers.
The chapters on Saddleback, Wheaton, and Creation Music Festival were hugely entertaining. There is also a great chapter in which Sheler goes with a small Wesleyan group on a short term mission trip which is pretty insightful. Sheler is thoroughly fair, and masterfully threads his own insights, his subjects’ insights, and historical background together.
But perhaps the most compelling part of this book is the fact that Sheler once considered himself a believer. And you keep waiting, as he recalls that part of his past and relates it to his present experiences in the book, you keep waiting for him to tell you why it was he left the faith. Why is it that this man threw in the believing towel? What went wrong? Was it that he never had a genuine experience of Jesus Christ? Was it that he was poorly taught? Perhaps this is why it is so compelling to me, because it is about the struggle to believe. And it makes me want to pray for him, and for myself, “Lord I believe; help my unbelief.”
“I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”
“49:1 Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
10 For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever, [1]
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts. [2] Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.”
Psalm 49
This Christmas may you and I not trust and rejoice in the riches of this world that are fading, but in Christ the Lord, who gave Himself as a ransom for all who would receive Him.
“10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.” Zechariah 2:10-13
The Golden Compass: a thoughtful review
Published December 4, 2007 Culture , Movies , Resources 0 CommentsAl Mohler, the president of Southern seminary, has blogged a very helpful review that briefly explains the underlying agenda (for lack of a better word) of The Golden Compass. But he also cautions Christians from overreacting, thus missing a huge opportunity to interact with non believers about the gospel. He writes:
“A good first step would be to take a deep breath. The Christian faith is not about to be toppled by a film, nor by a series of fantasy books. Pullman has an agenda that is clear, and Christians need to inform themselves of what this agenda is and what it means. At the same time, nothing would serve his agenda better than to have Christians speaking recklessly or unintelligently about the film or the books.
This is about the battle of ideas and worldviews. While Christians will not celebrate the release of this film, we should recognize the mixture of challenge and opportunity that comes with millions of persons watching this film and talking about the issues it raises. When the movie is mentioned in the workplace, in school, on the playground, or in the college campus, this is a great opportunity to show that Christians are not afraid of the battle of ideas.”
Read it all here.
Pastoral Accountability via Bethlehem Baptist (Piper)
Published November 24, 2007 Pastoral Ministry , Resources , Uncategorized 0 CommentsRead the post and accountability form here.
Letter from Samuel Rutherford (Loving Christ)
Published November 23, 2007 History , Pastoral Ministry , Quotable 1 Comment“Letter 87
To Elizabeth Kennedy
Danger of Formality—Christ Wholly to be Loved—Other Objects of Love
Mistress,—
Grace, mercy, and peace he to you.—I have meant to write to you for a long time, but I have been hindered. I heartily desire that you would think about your country**, and consider to what quarter your soul sets its face; for not all come home at night who suppose that they have set their face heavenward. It is a woeful thing to die and miss heaven, and to give up lodging with Christ at night: it is an miserable journey where travellers are forced to sleep in the fields. I persuade myself that thousands will be deceived and ashamed of their hope. Because they cast their anchor in sinking sands, they must lose it. Till now I knew not the pain, labour, nor difficulty that there is to win at home: nor did I understand so well, before this, what this means, “The righteous shall scarcely be saved.”** Oh, how many a poor professor’s** candle is blown out, and never lighted again! I see that a mere profession, and to be ranked amongst the children of God, and to have a name among men, is now thought good enough to carry professors to heaven. But certainly a name is nothing but a name, and will never last through a blast of God’s storm. I counsel you not to give your soul or Christ rest, nor your eyes sleep, till you have gotten something that will endure the fire, and stand the storm. I am sure, that if I had one foot were in heaven, and then He should say, “Take care of yourself, I will keep my grip on you no longer,” I would go no farther, but presently fall down in broken pieces of dead nature.
They are happy forevermore who are over head and ears in the love of Christ, and know no sickness but love-sickness for Christ, and feel no pain but the pain of an absent and hidden Well-beloved.** We run our souls out of breath and tire them, in chasing and galloping after our night-dreams (such are the rovings of our miscarrying hearts), to get some created good thing in this life, and on this side of death. We would rather stay and spin out a heaven to ourselves, on this side of the water**; but sorrow, poverty, changes, crosses, and sin, are both woof and warp in that ill-spun web. Oh, how sweet and dear are those thoughts that are still upon the things which are above! And how happy are they who are longing to have little sand in their hour-glass, and to have time’s thread cut, and can cry to Christ, “Lord Jesus, have over; come and fetch the sorrowful passenger!” I wish that our thoughts were more frequently than they are upon our country. Oh, but heaven gives a sweet smell afar off to those who have spiritual smelling! God has made many fair flowers; but the fairest of them all is heaven, and the Flower of all flowers is Christ. Oh! why do we not fly up to that lovely One? Alas that there is such a scarcity of love, and of lovers, to Christ amongst us all! Fie, fie, upon us, who love fair things, as fair gold, fair houses, fair lands, fair pleasures, fair honours, and fair persons, and do not pine and melt away with love to Christ! Oh! would to God I had more love for His sake! O for as much as would lie betwixt me and heaven, for His sake! O for as much as would go round about the earth, and over the heaven, yea, the heaven of heavens, and ten thousand worlds, that I might let all out upon fair, fair, only fair Christ! But, alas! I have nothing for Him, yet He has much for me. It is no gain to Christ that He gets my little, inconstant span-length and hand-breadth of love.
If men would have something to do with their hearts and their thoughts, that are always rolling up and down (like men with oars in a boat), after sinful vanities, they might find great and sweet employment to their thoughts upon Christ. If those frothy, fluctuating, and restless hearts of ours would come all about Christ, and look into His love, to bottomless love, to the depth of mercy, to the unsearchable riches of His grace**, to inquire after and search into the beauty of God in Christ, they would be swallowed up in the depth and height, length and breadth ** of His goodness. Oh, if men would draw back the curtains, and look into the inner side of the ark, and behold how the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily!** Oh! who would not say, “Let me die, let me die ten times, to see a sight of Him?” Ten thousand deaths were no great price to give for Him. I am sure that sick, fainting love would heighten the market, and raise the price to the double for Him. But, alas! if men and angels were auctioned off, and sold at the dearest price, they would not all buy a night’s love, or a four-and-twenty-hours’ sight of Christ! Oh, how happy are they who get Christ for nothing!** God send me no more for my part of paradise, but Christ: and surely I will be rich enough, and have as much heaven as the best of them, if Christ will be my heaven.
I can write no better thing to you than to desire you, if ever you need to count up the worth of Christ**, than to take Him up and count over again: and weigh Him again and again: and after this have no other to court your love, and to woo your soul’s delight, but Christ. He will be found worthy of all your love, howbeit it should swell upon you from the earth to the uppermost circle of the heaven of heavens. To our Lord Jesus and His love I commend you.
Yours in his sweet Lord Jesus,
S. R.
Aberdeen, 1637.”
William Cowper, “Self-Acquaintance”
Published November 23, 2007 Hymns , Poetry , Quotable 0 Comments1. Dear Lord! accept a sinful heart,
Which of itself complains,
And mourns, with much and frequent smart,
The evil it contains.
2 There fiery seeds of anger lurk,
Which often hurt my frame;
And wait but for the tempter’s work,
To fan them to a flame.
3 Legality holds out a bribe
To purchase life from thee;
And discontent would fain prescribe
How thou shalt deal with me.
4 While unbelief withstands thy grace,
And puts the mercy by;
Presumption, with a brow of brass,
Says, “Give me, or I die.”
5 How eager are my thoughts to roam
In quest of what they love!
But, ah! when duty calls them home,
How heavily they move!
6 Oh, cleanse me in a Saviour’s blood,
Transform me by thy pow’r,
And make me thy belov’d abode,
And let me rove no more.
“O Lord, Whose power is infinite and wisdom infallible, order things that they may neither hinder, nor discourage me, nor prove obstacles to the progress of Thy cause. Stand between me and all strife, that no evil befall, no sin corrupt my gifts, zeal, attainments. May I follow duty and not any foolish device of my own. Permit me not to labour at work which Thou wilt not bless, that I may serve thee without disgrace or debt. Let me dwell in Thy most secret place under thy shadow, where is safe impenetrable protection from the arrow that flieth by day, the pestilence that walketh in darkness, the strife of tongues, the malice of ill-will, the hurt of unkind talk, the snares of company, the perils of youth, the temptations of middle life, the moumings of old age, the fear of death. I am entirely dependent upon Thee for support, counsel, consolation. Uphold me by Thy free Spirit, and may I not think it enough to be preserved from falling, but may I always go forward, always abounding in the work Thou givest me to do. Strengthen me by Thy Spirit in my inner self for every purpose of my Christian life. All my jewels I give to the shadow of the safety that is in Thee—my name anew in Christ, my body, soul, talents, character, my success, wife, children, friends, work, my present, my future, my end. Take them, they are Thine, and I am thine, now and for ever,” from “Refuge” in the Valley of Vision.
I know it has been a full month since I’ve blogged. Things have been a little crazy in ministry this past month. But I’m back on the blog, and trying to be a little more consistent.
Ralph Erskine on the Difference Between Justification and Sanctification
Published October 11, 2007 Hymns , Quotable , Resources , Theology 0 Comments“He as a Priest me justifies, His blood does roaring conscience still; But as a King he sanctifies, And subjugates my stubborn will.”
This is from his “Gospel Sonnets.” To read more of this particular sonnet, and other of his works explaining the difference between the Christian’s justification and sanctification, go here.
From his Expository Thoughts, on John 4:46-54, the Healing of the Official’s Son:
“There is no commentary that opens up the Bible so much as sickness and sorrow.”
Read Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels free online here
Sinclair Ferguson on The New Birth
Published October 6, 2007 Articles , Books , Jesus , NT Studies , Resources , Theology 0 CommentsGreat article taken from his book Children of the Living God. Here is a taste:
“We have a tendency to think of being ‘born again’ as an inexplicable, private, mystical ‘experience’. For the New Testament, however, being born again meant entering into fellowship and brotherhood with Jesus Christ. (This is why the teaching on new birth in John 3 is set in the context of instruction about trusting in and believing on Jesus as Saviour, Jn. 3:16).”
If you are looking for some short, helpful books dealing with different theological topics from a reformed and biblical perspective, definitely check out some of Ferguson’s books. They are easy to read and full of wonderful insight:
“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. God does nothing but in answer to prayer.” —John Wesley
