So Take and Read

In a world of created changeable things, Christ and his Word alone remain unshaken.

O to forsake all creatures, to rest as a stone on him the foundation, to abide in him, be borne up by him!

For all my mercies come through Christ, who has designed, purchased, promised, effected them.

How sweet it is to be near him, the Lamb, filed with holy affections!

When I sin against thee I cross thy will, love, life, and have no comforter, no creature, to go to.

My sin is not so much this or that particular evil, but my continual separation, disunion, distance from thee, and having a loose spirit towards thee.

But thou hast given me a present, Jesus thy Son, as Mediator between thyself and my soul, as middle-man who in a pit holds both him below and him above, for only he can span the chasm breached by sin, and satisfy divine justice.

May I always lay hold upon this Mediator, as a realized object of faith, and alone worthy by his love to bridge the gulf.

Let me know that he is dear to me by his Word; I am one with him by the Word on his part, and by faith on mine;

If I oppose the Word I oppose my Lord when he is most near;

If I receive the Word I recieve my Lord wherein he is nigh.

O thou who hast the herats of all men in thine hand, form my heart according to the Word, according to the image of thy Son,

So shall Christ the Word, and his Word be my strength and comfort.”

Christ The Word, from Valley of Vision, Pp30-31

The Thrill of Ministry

I think, again, that it is essential to the preacher's success that he thoroughly enjoy his work. I mean that in the actual doing of it, not only in it's idea. No man to whom the details of his task are repulsive can constantly do his task well, however full he may be of it's spirit. He may make one bold dash at it and carry it out over all his disgusts, but he can not work on at it year after year, day after day. Therefore, count it not merely a perfectly legitimate pleasure, count it an essential element of your power if you can feel a simple delight in what you have to do as a minister, in the fervour of writing, the glow of speaking, in standing before men and moving them, in contact with the young. The more thoroughly you enjoy it, the better you will do it all.

This is all true of preaching. It's highest joy is in the great ambition that is set before it, the glorifying of the Lord, and the saving of the souls of men. No other joy on earth compares with that. The ministry that does not feel joy is dead. But in behind that highest joy, beating in humble union with it, as the healthy body thrills in sympathy with the deep thoughts and pure desires of mind and soul, the best ministers have always been aware of another pleasure which belonged to the very doing of the work itself. As we read the lives of the most effective preachers of the past, or as we meet the men who are powerful preachers of the Word today, we feel how certainly and how deeply the very exercise of their ministry delights them.

Phillip Brooks, Lectures on Preaching, Pp 53-54, 82-83

Quoted in John Piper, Desiring God, Pp 109-110

Isn't that a freeing thought? The thrill i get as i pick my sermon notes off the printer, walk to teen church and preach, or sit down and open the Bible with a student, or pull a commentary off the shelf, or see a kid baptised isn't the icing on the cake! It's the meal itself. It's not a nice extra, but a necessary part of ministry. 

So a minsters aim is to be as happy as he can, as his pursuit of joy in God issues in love and service of his church. 

Don't Waste Your Summer

Summer's here. I'm writing this on the Saturday morning after TCS graduation ceremony, which means, if you go to Trinity at least, summer is officially here.

I can't tell you that i'm not excited. I love summers in North Carolina. Growing up in a country that often skipped that season makes you all the more glad for a summer that starts in mid-May and runs through mid-September. Marrying a teacher makes you even more glad. I'll be a while before i set my alarm for 5.15 am again. So of course i'm excited about that.

I love summer because i get quantity time with my wife, because i get to travel, this year to Chicago and Provo. I love summer because it's an opportunity to breathe, and relax, and enjoy.

But summer has it's dangers too. Summer can shrivel your soul. Don't let it.

The routine of the school year, though tiring, is a great help. You're used to getting up five days a week, so getting up on Sunday is less of a chore. You're used to working and reading, so time in the Bible seems less of an issue. But what can happen in the summer? Nights get later, and temptations get greater.

Summer will shrivel your soul if you let it. And i'm not talking about gross sin, or even consistent bad decisions about how to spend your time, or with whom to spend your time, i'm talking about the passion of your heart in the summer.

How hard to be stirred by the Word of God on a Sunday morning if you went to be at 3am. How hard to make it back to church on a Sunday night when it's sunny, in the mid 80s and the grill is firing. These aren't things we need to deal with in December.

Summer exists to give us a taste of Heaven. Summer is a Facebook message from your long distance girlfriend. When i visited the States before i moved here, i didn't Facebook Rachel anymore, we held hands and went to Bojangles. I didn't let the message distract me from the messenger.

Don't let summer distract you from Jesus. Use the time summer gives you to pray, to read, to think and to share. use the beauty of a slow summer sunset to think on the beauty of the Gospel. use the freedom to serve. Go on a mission trip, be faithful to church, call your youth pastor and take him out to lunch. Make sure your affections are higher for your Saviour than for the beach. Make sure you priorities are knowing God better, rather than working on your jump shot. Love the messenger, not the message.

Make sure summer sustains your soul, don't let it shrivel your soul.

Genesis Chapters 1-11 (video)

Thinking Out Loud

Sanctification is the fancy word for Christian growth.

Growing as a Christian is simply loving Jesus more, quite apart from effort.

Loving Jesus more and more necessarily issues in serving Him, because our desires are changing.

Of course, this looks like 'justification by effort', and 'law keeping', but from the inside, we know it's not.

Serving Jesus looks like serving people, His people and other people, because we are loved, not to earn that love.

Loving Jesus looks like wanting to spend tome with Him, reading the Bible and praying.

Loving Jesus looks like wanting to be like Him, because we want to be near the Ones we love.

These desires are given by the Holy Spirit, not human effort, we can't work our way up to Heaven.

The Holy Spirit, whose influence grows as we love Jesus more, and who shows us more of Jesus to love, therefore gives us the power, and the inclination to obey and love the Word of God.

'In the beginning was the Word...and the Word was God.'

So sanctification, obedience, is all of God, from beginning to end.

God's Revealing Word

As a whole the Scriptures are God's revealing Word. Only in the infiniteness of inner relationships, in the connection of Old and New Testaments, of promise and fulfillment, sacrifice and law, law and Gospel, cross and resurrection, faith and obedience, having and hoping, will the full witness to Jesus Christ the Lord be perceived. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, P51

The Dangers and Delights of Leadership and Life (1 Timothy 4)

Ordinary life has dangers and delights, and the Christian life is no different. Remember, 1st Timothy, a letter written to a young church leader by his mentor, shows us what a Christian life looks like. It shows us what church life, church leadership and the church order look like. Last week we were reminded of the churches message that it’s all about Jesus. Today, Paul gives timothy some more specific instructions, and we see what a Gospel shaped life looks like. We see what a difference trusting in God and believing the Gospel makes.

First of all Paul warns Timothy about some of the dangers of a Gospel shaped life. We might now think that being a Christian and danger should go hand in hand. If we read our Bibles, go to church and keep out of trouble we’ll be OK right? Wrong! Almost the first thing that happened to Jesus, even before he started His ministry was being tempted by a tireless, arrogant Satan. If it can happen to Jesus, it can happen to you as well. Verse one tells us what the danger is, ‘the Spirit expressly says that in the later times, some will depart from the faith.’ Wow! God the Holy Spirit has made it clear that some people who came to church, read their Bibles and sung in the choir will depart the faith, in the later times, which is now. When we see or hear of a family member or friend leaving the faith, we should say, ‘there but for the grace of God go i.’ The way is narrow that leads to salvation, and some people will depart from it. This is not something to be relaxed or causal about. Some people will leave the faith.

Paul shows us how these people depart from the faith in the next couple of verses. Look at the second half of verse 1 through verse 2. The teaching that leads people away from the faith comes straight from hell. It’s not interesting or fun, or progressive, it’s deadly. It’s the deception, and deceit and doctrine of demons. It comes through human mouths, through seared consciences. The devil isn’t literally preaching the prosperity Gospel, or the self esteem Gospel, or teaching what’s contrary to the Bible, but it’s his doctrine. Be careful that you don’t depart from the faith, because this is the only place you’ll go.

People also depart from the faith by rejecting revelation that comes from God. We see that in verses 3 and 4. People in Ephesus at the time were forbidding marriage and requiring abstinence from certain foods. These two false teachings were a problem thought the first couple of centuries of the church. How does Paul deal with these objections to food and sex? He tells Timothy that everything created by God is good, just like Genesis tells us, and that it is made holy if it’s received with thanksgiving and prayer.

The Gospel shaped life is dangerous, because many things will try and lead you astray, luckily Paul doesn’t leave it there, but goes onto tell Timothy how to protect himself from these dangers. These are some specific instructions for Timothy, but they set a great example for us as well. Let’s read all of verses 5-16 together, and see the delights of the Gospel shaped life.  What do we see? As Gospel shaped life must live, as well as believe. Our lives must match our lips.
First Paul focuses on what Timothy needs to say. He says ‘put these things before the brothers and sisters.’ Keep reminding the people in your church about Jesus. Keep preaching the Gospel. Don’t get distracted by social issues, or by what’s popular, or by what draws a crowd. Preach the Gospel Timothy! It’s only the Gospel that produces a Gospel shaped life. So, Timothy, everything I’ve just shared, put before people. This is a pastor’s job, to make sure people have opportunity to respond to the Gospel.

He says command and teach these things in verse 11. This is the essence of a pulpit ministry, commanding people where the scripture commands, and teaching where the Scripture teaches. In the Christian life there are things to do, and things to learn. Timothy is to keep on pointing those things out to his church. And his church is to do and to listen.

These two commands are simply summed up, preach the Gospel! Keep people on the narrow way, don’t let them be deceived.

Paul gives Timothy two things he must do as well. We needs to be an example. In verse 12 Paul calls Timothy young, he was probably in his mid thirties, and we often use this verse to stop older people looking down on us. But the responsibility is in the opposite direction. Paul tells Timothy, just because you’re young is no excuse. Set an example in speech, in conduct, in love and in faith. Verse 7 tells Timothy to train for godliness. In this culture physical training was a part of everyone’s daily life. Paul says this is fine. There’s nothing wrong with going to the gym and working out, as long as you’re training harder for godliness.

Verse 15 and 16 is the root of all this sort of life. Quite simply as a fish is in water and a bird is in the air, Timothy and you and I must be in these things. We must be in the Bible, we must be in the delights and aware of the dangers of a Gospel life. we must be making progress in this life, so that it will be obvious the Gospel is true. In verse 16 Paul tells Timothy doing these things will save himself, and his hearers. The preaching ministry is no joke. His faith will save himself, and his words and example will save his hearers.