Information Overload

Tim Challies has a thought provoking post today. He takes some time to discuss the amount of information currently created by people in our society and the easy access we have to almost all of that information. This increase in information production and availability has affected our culture, both positively and negatively.

One of the effects that he notes for Christians is that it can be very easy to be distracted and therefore neglect spending quiet time focusing on God. I know in my own life I have seen how so many devices and technology can easily draw my mind away from God and stop me from taking time to spend alone with Him. Even though I am grateful for all the benefits of technology and the blessing that it is, I need to be aware of these tendencies.

How are you working to spend time with God despite the distractions of our busy, information overloaded culture?

New Attitude 2008 Review - Mark Dever & Al Mohler

I'm combining Dever and Mohler together in an effort to actually get through my review of NA messages before NA rolls around again. Also, they both provide a lot of the framework for analyzing for some of the intellectual issues that define how we interact with Scripture. I don't actually have any notes to break down for Mohler's Q&A session but I would recommend you listen to it and think about some of the questions he covers. If nothing else, it challenged me to want to know the Bible better.

Mark Dever delivered the second message of the conference which dealt primarily with the authority of Scripture. He started by saying that faith in Christ can only occur where the truth about Him is known. So the question then became, how can we have confidence in the Bible?

Before he started, he suggested three books that might prove helpful in wrestling with this issue (The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable by F.F. Bruce, Fundamentalism and the Word of God by J.I. Packer, Christ and the Bible by John Wenham). His message was broken down into two main points, the reliability of the Bible and the authority of Scripture.

He began by addressing the reliablility of the Bible. There were four main questions/objections that he addressed. First, how can we know the Bible if there are so many translations available? He responded by saying that this is first an evidence that translation is possible. He then went on to emphasize that decades of work are put into a committee translation so they are reliable.

Second, is what we have what was written down originally? We can be very confident because there is a vast body of ancient manuscripts. Also, there is a stronger body of historical evidence for the Bible than any other ancient work.

Thirdly, is what was written down accurate? Dever first touched on the fact that some of what was written down was originally passed on orally, but memorization is a reliable way of transferring knowledge. Also, people did not have to write it down immediately for it to be accurate. Many writers, such as Paul and Luke were very concerned with historically accuracy. Also, facts are relayed in the Bible which would not be fabricated if someone was making it up. For example, a crucified savior or women being recorded as the first witnesses to the resurrection. Also, early attacks on Christianity did not challenge the resurrection, which lends credence because people would have still been alive who were there.

Lastly, is it true? For this Dever noted that the disciples reaction is a key factor in looking at this. Why would the disciples willingly die for something that they knew was a lie. Obviously, there is a lot more that could be said on the reliability of the Bible, but you could check out some of the resources Dever suggested for more information.

Next, he started to talk about the authority of Scripture in our lives. I don't have quite as good notes for this part as he was rattling off quite a lot of scripture references. I plan to listen to this message again and you might want to snag it off the NA website and do the same. However, Dever did mention that though we can't know God or the Bible fully, we can know them truly. Just because I don't know everything, doesn't mean that I don't know anything. God is the one who is revealing himself to us so it is possible to know him.

He mentioned that studying the Bible is one of the main ways we can be encouraged. Also, the Scriptures are presented as having the attributes of God (There are a ton of scripture references after this point, download the message for the full effect). Also, Jesus did not reject the jewish view of Scripture. Mark said something to the effect of "To follow Christ, we must treat Scripture as Jesus treated Scripture". That's certainly very challenging considering how well Christ knew Scripture and how often he quoted it.

He ended with a couple challenges. God's Word must be applied. We need to ask ourselves if we are building our lives on the Word of God? Also, do we treasure the privlege of reading and hearing God's Word? Finally, what part of the Word am I not putting into practice?

It's Not My Fault

A very convicting guest post over at the Desiring God blog today. It's dealing with our tendency to blame-shift when we are confronted with our sin. The author then runs down a list of 12 examples of sin where we tend to try and place the blame outside ourselves. Here's an example:

1) Anger
I wouldn’t lose my temper if my co-workers were easier to get along with, or if my kids behaved better, or if my spouse were more considerate.

I could identify with pretty much everything he had on the list. While circumstances do exert pressure, difficulty and temptation in our lives, ultimately we are responsible for our sin. Instead of blame-shifting, we need to accept responsiblity for our sin, run to the cross, repent and seek to fight that sin. If we never actually acknowledge that we have sinned, no growth will ever occur in our lives.

Affection for God and Worship

Tim Challies has an excellent post today about worshipping God and our affections. Growing in knowledge about God should cause us to grow in affection for God. Worship is an overflowing expression of that affection.

HT: Tim Challies

Clothed With Christ's Righteousness

I recently downloaded a bunch of George Whitefield sermons from Christian Classics Ethereal Library and started reading through them. The first one was called "The Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of the Serpent" and it was exploring Genesis 3:15. The sermon contained an interesting point I had never considered about how the sewing of the fig leaves in the garden was representative of how we try to make up for our sin with our own efforts instead of realizing our need and seeking God for mercy.

And how do they behave now they are naked? Do they flee to God for pardon? Do they seek to God for a robe to cove their nakedness? No, they were now dead to God, and became earthly, sensual, devilish: therefore, instead of applying to God for mercy, "they sewed or platted fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons, "or things to gird about them. This is a lively representation of all natural man: we see that we are naked: we, in some measure, confess it; but, instead of looking up to God for succor, we patch up a righteousness of our own (as our first parents platted fig-leaves together) hoping to cover our nakedness by that. But our righteousness will not stand the severity of God's judgment: it will do us no more service than the fig-leaves did Adam and Eve, that is, none at all.

Whitefield goes on to note that God's clothing of Adam and Eve after the fall was also looking forward to when believers would be clothed by God with the righteousness of Christ.

Adam believed also, and was saved: for unto Adam and his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them: which was a remarkable type of their being clothed with the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What a great reminder that we are not saved by works of our hands but by Christ's work for us on the cross. And that when God looks at us he does not see our sin but Christ's obedience and righteousness that was imputed to us. Let's rejoice in those truths.

Switching It Up

The past several years I have been using reading plans to read through the Bible in a year or less. I mainly operated in this way because a reading plan helped me to stay on track despite my lack of discipline and also because I wanted to increase my overall familiarity with the Bible by reading through several times. The first two times I went through I used the Discipleship Journal reading plan (PDF Version) which really helped me to see the connections between different parts of Scripture as I was reading in four places at one time. After that I tried to come up with my own plan, but I had trouble following through. Based on recommendations, I started using the first volume of "For the Love of God" by D.A. Carson, which is based upon the M'Cheyne reading plan. It was definitely helpful because it provided a daily devotional thought which applied to the reading for the day. I have been using it for the past year and am just finishing up this week.

At New Attitude I discovered something interesting about how I take notes and process. When we spent time in the morning meditating on Scripture, I took my notes on the printout they gave us rather than in a notebook or in a Bible. It reminded me of taking notes right next to the text on printouts of papers I had to read for my graduate class. I was kind of surprised at how much this helped me in interacting with the text. After establishing the discipline of daily reading, I found that it can still be easy for my eyes to move over the text for the day without actually learning or applying anything. Though I've taken notes before (written down interesting verses or a thought), this seemed to be especially helpful.

Based on that experience, I've decided to try something a little different for my reading during the next year. First, I've decided to use a printout of the text for taking notes on. This worked well at New Attitude and seems like a good solution to keeping the notes next to the passages they apply to. Also, a sheet of paper is easily portable and I can keep it in my bag to pull out at lunch for a second look. The readings will be stored in a 3-ring binder once I am finished so I can go back and look at them later. I'll be having the passages emailed to me thanks to the ESV Website. Secondly, I'm trying out a Chronological plan this time around and hoping that it will help me to gain a different viewpoint on the whole of Scripture than I have seen before. Finally, outside of this more focused reading, I hope to be taking some time (perhaps before bed) to read different sections of Scripture without the intense note taking, to continue to know God's Word better and to balance out my reading of other books about God with reading of the Bible.

What do you do for your devotional times? Have you found anything to be particularly helpful?

Reflecting on Fifty Posts

A couple months ago I kicked off this whole blogging thing and this marks the 50th post. Things have gone well so far, though post frequency shifts from time to time as things get busy.

Fifty posts is not anything to pat myself on the back for. However, it provides a good excuse for evaluation on whether this blog is serving the purpose I started it for and what should be changed.

So, is this blog serving the purposes I started it for?

Well, one of the main purposes was to help me think through what I was reading. It has definitely been helpful in this regard. Whether books, blogs or Scripture, when I write about something I've read its helpful in making me retain and think through ideas.

The focus for the reading I was blogging was the Puritan Challenge. I've realized that it was a bit daunting based upon other reading I was doing for myself and small group, so I've phased that out. I hope to tackle some of the books individually at a bit of a slower pace. My reading in general has slowed down due to a busy schedule in many areas of my life. I'm definitely working to try and address this and once I do I'll be blogging more about books again.

All in all, the blog has been very helpful for me, but I'd like to try and maintain a more regular schedule. Also, I'm eager to figure out how I can make it helpful for me and keep it useful for anyone who reads along or stumbles upon it.

Second, what can be improved?

I know I struggle with brevity at times, but I've been trying to get better and I spend time reducing my posts. It's certainly helping me to be a better writer by using less words to convey more meaning.

I also know that my posts might not always be directed to someone reading along. Sometimes its just a good place to write out some thoughts or a note (almost like a journal) that I might want to easily access later. Not that I'm afraid that people will read it, but occasionally I don't write with others in mind which may be apparent in how I write. As I mentioned earlier, I'd like to write more regularly which means reading things I can write about and taking advantage of writing and scheduling posts ahead of time if necessary.

Any thoughts on how I can improve? Has anything in particular served you? Anything you would like to see more of? Feel free to sound off in the comments. Thanks.

A Joy to Pastor

Over at CJ Mahaney's blog, they have been posting some snippets from the third episode of the Sovereign Grace Leadership podcast. Today they've got some great thoughts about what it means to help foster joy in the pastor of your local church. Here's a portion of CJ's response:

And it would be wise for everyone listening to ask another question: Am I a joy to pastor?

And don’t confine the evaluation of yourself to yourself. I would encourage everyone listening to approach your pastor and ask, “Am I a joy for you to pastor? And if not, why not? I want to be a joy to pastor. I want to bring you joy in pastoring.”

So I think Scripture is clear: By appreciating the character of their pastor and the labor of their pastor, by encouraging their pastor, by the member’s own participation in the local church, they can be a pure joy to pastor.

God wants happy pastors. Any other kind of pastor does not accurately represent God. Yet happy pastors are, to some degree, dependent on individuals who make it a joy to pastor.

Let's make it a point to pray for and encourage the men who labor in the pastoral ministry of our local church. Let's be a joy to pastor.

Scougal on Sanctification

I've been continuing to work my way through "The Life of God in the Soul of Man" by Henry Scougal. Today I came upon two quotes dealing with sanctification and the struggle against sin that I found helpful.

First, he provides insight into the relationship between God's work and our work in changing our hearts.

All the art and industry of man cannot form the smallest herb, or make a stalk of corn to grow in the field; it is the energy of nature, and the influences of Heaven, which produce this effect. It is God "who causeth the grass to grow, and herb for the service of man;" and yet nobody will say, that the labours of the husbandman are useless or unnecessary.

Then Scougal provides some perspective on the intensity of the struggle with sin:

But now, that I may detain you no longer, if we desire to have our souls moulded to this holy frame, to become partakers of the divine nature, and have Christ formed in our hearts, we must seriously resolve, and carefully endeavour, to avoid and abandon all vicious and sinful practices. There can be no treaty of peace, till once we lay down these weapons of rebellion wherewith we fight against heaven; nor can we expect to have our distempers cured, if we be daily feeding on poison. Every wilful sin gives a mortal wound to the soul, and puts it at a greater distance from God and goodness; and we can never hope to have our hearts purified from corrupt affections, unless we cleanse our hands from vicious actions.

I found these words a helpful reminder that God is the one that changes us but we are called to strive and fight hard against our sin.

Also, on a non-related note, check out my guest post on gratitude over on my community group's blog today.

Money Matters

The next Financial Peace course is starting at church tonight. This will be my third time through and once again I get to help lead a discussion group with Stephanie. It sounds like a lot of people are signed up this time, so the class should be bigger than before. I am excited to see how the class affects others as I have been blessed in applying these practical principles in my own life.

We've just recently compeleted a short "Money Crunch" series at church and Financial Peace is starting again, it's not a bad time to take a look at how we are doing with our money. I've found it boils down to two questions.

1. Where is my heart in relationship to how to use my money? Am I desiring to use my money in a way that honors God and recognizes that everything I have belongs to him?

2. I want to use my money in a way that glorifies God and be a wise steward. What does it look like practically in everyday life to use my money well?

Randy Alcorn's "The Treasure Principle" has been helpful in evaluating my own heart in regards to the first question. I know my heart can easily drift into believing that my money is mine to do whatever I want with and that I deserve it because I worked for it. I need to be reminded that all of it is a gift from God and I will be held accountable for how I use it. I'm glad that we are including this book into our Financial Peace course to examine not only our habits, but our hearts as well. I'm hoping to get to read Alcorn's "Money, Possessions and Eternity" sometime to dig deeper into this area.

The Financial Peace course really comes into play with the second question. The information provided by Dave Ramsey helps with budgeting, smart shopping and saving well. It helps me to make the most of what God has entrusted me with and protects me from spending more than I make. Also, having knowledge about where my money is helps to relieve financial stress and frees me to spend and give since I don't have to worry that I am accidently spending my rent money. I'm always refining what I'm doing, but I can see definite improvement since I started the course.

Take some time to evaluate how you use your money reflects your view of God. And take time to look into some practical financial advice, like Dave Ramsey's book "Financial Peace", to see if there are ways you can be using your money more wisely.

Odds and Ends - 6/16/2008

A few quick thoughts for now.

1. The day has finally come. Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology" is now available on the internet. Hit up this link to check it out. Now you don't have to lug the whole thing around in your backpack (and it might make searching through a section a bit easier as well).

Update: Apparently this posting of "Systematic Theology" was unauthorized. Apologies to the author and publisher. Please delete the bookmark if you have it.

HT: Tim Challies

2. I was taking some time today to read from "The Life of God in the Soul of Man" by Henry Scougal. I was feeling a bit tired and reading on a computer screen doesn't always work that well so I was just coasting along. Then I read this line about Jesus and his prayer life:

Another instance of his love to God was his delight in conversing with him by prayer, which made him frequently retire himself from the world, and, with the greatest devotion and pleasure, spend whole nights in that heavenly exercise, though he had not sins to confess, and but few secular interests to pray for; which, alas! are almost the only things that are wont to drive us to our devotions. Nay, we may say his whole life was a kind of prayer - Henry Scougal, "The Life of God in the Soul of Man"

The part that really stood out to me was considering how much time Christ spent in prayer despite no need to confess sin and "few secular interests". In my own life I see how much my prayer life can be motivated almost solely by my confession/fight with sin and my petitions for earthly things. Neither of these are bad by any means and they are things we should praying about, but Jesus' example reveals that there is much more to communion with God then asking forgiveness and asking for things. When we talk with our closest friends our conversation is more than asking their forgiveness or asking for their help. Part of that relationship is simply being with the other person, talking to them and enjoying who they are. I hope to focus more on knowing, enjoying and listening to God during my quiet times with him.

3. This weekend was a delightful whirlwind of activity that culminated in the wedding of my sister Natalie. I'm so grateful that her and I have been so close for so long and it was such a blessing to have her so close by as she studied at Temple for the last couple years. I'm glad we got to hang out and I'm so happy to see the way that God has worked in her life during that time. I'm going to miss her and Nick as they move out to Dayton, but I know that they will be happy together and that God will provide grace for them during their transition.

The weekend itself was a lot of fun and it was great to talk to so many friends and relatives that I hadn't seen in awhile. Despite those little details that always seem to be forgotten till the last minute, everything went wonderfully (even though I got a little grumpy at times partially due to tiredness). The ceremony went well and Andy Farmer did a great job. The pictures went smoothly and the rain held off until we were pretty much finished. The reception was a blast with all kinds of nice little touches and some excellent food. There was some great live music followed up by some awesome dancing.

Stephanie was along for the whole weekend, which was great. She got to meet the whole Prazenica family and helped by taking care of music at the ceremony. We had a lot of fun and managed to garner some compliments on our dancing (which is most likely more of a reflection on Stephanie's skill as a dancer and teacher than my innate abilities as a dancer). The weekend finished up with a nice slow Sunday hanging out with my family for the day before driving Nick and Natalie to their hotel at the airport so they could leave for their honeymoon this morning. It doesn't get much better than that.

Blazing Blogging Tips

If you are a Christian blogger, you might want to head over to The Blazing Center and check out Stephen's post on some common mistakes and issues that he has encountered after a year of blogging.

Here's a quick list:

• Writing Without Doing
• Writing Without Thinking
• Writing Arrogantly
• Writing Independently
• Writing for Glory

I know that I can struggle particularly with writing for my own glory and wanting to look good and it is easy for me to take an arrogant tone when trying to speak truth. I should be striving to point people to Christ instead of myself and seeking to humbly present the truth in a way that serves and cares for others.

I definitely agree with his points that we need to be accountable to others. I'm glad there are a few trusted friends who read this blog and will call me out on anything bizarre or inappropriate that I say. Also, I'm very grateful for the reminder that I must be a doer of what I am writing, not just someone who is declaring it on my blog acting like I have everything in order. Actually, most of the time I am writing in areas where I am not strong and I am trying to make my weakness clear and apply truth to my own life.

Any areas where you can see your blogging falling into one of these traps? Also, can you see how these principles apply to other areas of your life, like your conversations with others around you?

HT: The Blazing Center

New Attitude 2008 Review - Josh Harris

Ok, so I am finally taking a bit of time to review the messages from NA 2008. We'll be starting out by taking a look at Josh Harris' opening message for the conference on Friday night.

Josh started from Jeremiah 15:16, which was the theme verse for the conference.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.

Even without a message, meditating on this verse was challenging to my heart, but Josh helped to direct that and establish the direction for the rest of the conference. He reaffirmed the concept of "humble orthodoxy", that there is indeed truth but that we have received it by God's mercy, not because we are more deserving or smarter than others.

One of the questions he asked was, what is our attitude towards God's Word? Does it shape us? Do we love and obey it? It really struck me when he asked if our living matched our confession. I know I will say that I believe the Bible is the true Word of God, but does my behavior affirm that belief? My belief in the Bible should be testified to not just by my words but by the place it occupies in my life.

Josh then went on to use examples of three Old Testament figures and their reactions to God's Word. First he mentioned King Josiah, in 2 Kings 22, who was following God despite a family tree that disobeyed. When the scroll of the law was discovered, Josiah reacted by tearing his clothes and repenting. Even though he was being faithful, Josiah saw that God's Word applied to his own life and admitted his own personal guilt as well as admitting the guilt of the nation. Josh noted that while emotions are not always there, we should be concerned if are hearts are never affected by God's Word. We should examine what it is that moves our hearts if it isn't God.

Second, Josh directed us to the story of King Jehoiakim in Jeremiah 36. He is the son of Josiah, but does not follow in his father's way. The prophet Jeremiah's words predicting judgement on Israel are written on a scroll and read to Jehoiakim, who cuts columns off the scroll as they are read and tosses them into the fire. Josh cautioned that while we may never have burned God's Word, the way we treat and approach Scripture can be similar in regards to how we apply it to our lives. He asked if we obey God's Word and whether we take the Bible as a complete revelation or if we pick and choose the parts we like. Also, he challenged us to listen and be humbled by God's Word when it is preached rather than be more about the person preaching than the Word preached.

Lastly, Josh came back to the example of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 15:16. Jeremiah ate the words of God and if you eat something you trust, it becomes a part of you. Josh asked whether there was anticipation and excitement when opening God's Word. He also noted that this statement about delighting in God's Word came in the midst of Jeremiah's complaint. From this we can learn that God's Word meets us right where we are, delight in God's Word is something we have to fight for and we don't love God's Word so we can earn our standing before him but we love God's Word because Jesus established our standing before him.

I was definitely challenged by my own approach to God's Word. I want to be more aware of the gift that it is and I want to fight hard to delight in God's Word. I need to strive to give the Bible a place in my life that reflects my conviction that it is God's word. And I need to seek to apply it in my day to day life.

God's Faithfulness and My Unbelief

So, the weeks continue to fly by, busy as ever. School is winding down, but FPU starts up again very shortly. My sister is getting married this weekend, which makes me feel a little old. I'm happy for her and Nick but I'll miss them when they move to Ohio. Work is still pretty intense with a tight project schedule to meet. And I have been slightly sick on and off for a while now. All in all, things have been a bit tiring.

Yesterday was Super Sunday in West Chester. It's a sidewalk fair that they hold once a year, much like their Restaurant Fest. Organzing and executing the day would normally be done by Stefan, an evangelism pastor at our church, but he was going to be out of town and asked me to take over. Several months ago I had done a similar thing for the Restaurant Fest when he was unable to make it.

Due to all the other things going on recently, I was definitely feeling overwhelmed leading up to Sunday. I was putting my trust in my own abilities and my circumstances rather than in God. And I can see that I was frustrated in my heart at God because I had to take on another task rather than be able to rest after a long week. I'm so grateful for those around me, particularly Stephanie and Christopher, who patiently listened to my frustration but didn't allow me to wallow in self-pity or continue whining but rather pointed me back towards God and reminded me of his goodness and provision. Additionally, they backed up that support of encouragment and prayer with the tangible support of each taking time to help serve during Super Sunday itself.

Super Sunday fast arrived and despite being a very long, hot and tiring day, by God's grace things went well and we were able to hand out plenty of snowcones as well as invites to the upcoming chicken bbq at our church. We didn't have a ton of people show up to help, but I am so grateful to those who came out and God provided the right people at the times we needed them. I am always amazed at how faithfully and sacrificially people in our church serve and I am so thankful for everyone who helped.

Once again, God proved himself faithful. I pray that next time I can take him at his word and be reminded again and again of his faithfulness in my life, in the lives of those around me, in the church throughout history and as described in his word.

Moving Along

Still alive, just making my way through a busy period. God has definitely provided much grace and mercy to help me through. I made it through a crazy couple weeks of school and work, as well as New Attitude.

Things will continue to be busy. I'm still in the midst of a large project at work. However, school is winding down soon and I won't be taking another grad class next term. On the other hand, Financial Peace will be starting up again at church in a couple weeks.

The trip to New Attitude was great. I had a great time driving down with Stephanie. The conference itself was very helpful. We received fantastic teaching that helped me to gain a greater appreciation for the Bible. The family group I got to lead had great discussions. The trip back was a little exhausting, but we spent the next day at HersheyPark for Stephanie's birthday, which was a lot of fun.

I hope to get back to posting, specifically to get some thoughts out on each of the messages from New Attitude. Also, I hope to flesh out some of the ideas I'm toying around with in terms of adjusting my quiet times and other study to ensure that I am regularly not just reading but engaging with God's Word.

Counting Down The Days

Well, it's almost here. New Attitude 2008.

I'm certainly ready to go. The road trip will be fun (if somewhat long). Plenty of friends will be there to spend time with. The teaching and worship promises to be fantastic as always and I'm excited to learn more about studying God's Word. And it will be nice to have some time away from work.

I'm curious to see what God will do while we are there and how He will use what He shows us to help us to better serve in our local churches. God has been faithful even in the midst of my current busy season to provide grace (i.e. I only got paged once last week when I was on-call, amongst other displays of grace). Things are very busy again this week but I am hoping to get some time to read and pray in preparation for going to NA2008 this weekend. It definitely helps me to get the most out of my time at a conference like New Attitude when I am spending time with God in preparation.

So, hopefully I will get to spend some time preparing. Particularly, please pray that God would refresh me so that I might be able to serve well in helping to lead one of the small discussion groups that the larger community groups break out into. I know at the end of the week I am going to be tired and I'll need God's grace and strength to serve well.

If you are considering how to get the most out of your time at NA2008. The NA blog has some good tips to consider before, during and after the conference.

Idea 1

Ideas 2 & 3

Ideas 4 & 5

If you are going to the conference, hopefully we'll get to see each other. There will be time to hang out. Also, a thought that just came to me was that in the midst of these world class teachers that we will be hearing, let's take time to pray for and thank the pastors who so faithfully serve us by bringing the Word every week in our local churches.

HT: NA Blog

Busy, Busy

I haven't abandoned the blog, I'm just entering the perfect storm of business for the next month or so, particularly this week. School is getting closer to finishing up, but there is still plenty of work every week. We are in the midst of a big coding push at work that has me coming in early and leaving later. I'm on call this week. I've got community group tonight (which is very helpful). My friend Justin is coming to visit this weekend. Not to mention the week to week things I'm involved with at church and the normal day to day life responsibilities.

So, things could potentially be a little slow here for a week or so. But I hope to be back to posting regularly sometime soon. I'll certainly have some things to say about New Attitude.

For now, use the time you were reading my blog to catch up on some reading of your own. If you are anything like me, I'm sure there are plenty of books you have lying around that you've been meaning to read.

The Pilgrim and Condemnation

Last week I read through The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. I noted down a view passages that particularly struck me and I thought I would share one today. At this point Apollyon is trying to make Christian turn back on the basis that he has sinned against his Prince at several points, even after starting his journey to the Celestial City.

APOLLYON: Thou didst faint at first setting out, when thou wast almost choked in the gulf of Despond. Thou didst attempt wrong ways to be rid of thy burden, whereas thou shouldst have stayed till thy Prince had taken it off. Thou didst sinfully sleep, and lose thy choice things. Thou wast almost persuaded also to go back at the sight of the lions. And when thou talkest of thy journey, and of what thou hast seen and heard, thou art inwardly desirous of vainglory in all that thou sayest or doest.

CHRISTIAN: All this is true, and much more which thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honor is merciful, and ready to forgive. But besides, these infirmities possessed me in thy country, for there I sucked them in, and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and have obtained pardon of my Prince.

When I struggle with falling into an old pattern of sin yet again, my response to the condemnation brought by Satan and the flesh should be as Christian relates here. I acknowledge that I am a sinner and it is actually worse than it seems. But then I point to the cross and my Savior, my Lord who is rich in mercy and who has pardoned all my sins by taking them upon himself at the cross. I am forgiven. And I rejoice that by God's grace, though I still struggle with these things, now I can only find my ultimate joy in God himself. As time goes on, my attraction to the things of this world will grow duller while the desire for Christ shines ever more brightly in my heart.

God's Grace and the Consequences of Sin

Excellent quote over at Of First Importance today.

“We can think of forgiveness as something real only when we hold that sin has betrayed us into a situation where we deserve to have God inflict upon us the most serious consequences, and that it is upon such a situation that God’s grace supervenes.

When the logic of the situation demands that He should take action against the sinner, and He yet takes action for him, then and only then can we speak of grace. But there is no room for grace if there is no suggestion of dire consequences merited by sin.”

- Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (London, England: The Tyndale Press, 1955), 185.

Praise God that He took action for us, by sending Christ to die on the cross, when He could have taken action against us as the just punishment for our sins.

HT: First Importance

Books Are For Reading

Tim Challies has a great post today with a quote from Mortimer Adler, author of How to Read a Book. A great reminder that what matters is to come to grips with the knowledge in the book and to know it well. With my temptation to buy many books, it's important to remember that books are for reading and not for displaying on my shelf.

A great reminder that I need to go back and finish reading Adler's book and also that its ok to mark up and dogear a book in the pursuit of gaining knowledge from it.

HT: Tim Challies

Don't Let Your Denomination Become An Idol

I recently came across an old sermon preached by C.D. Mallary at the Georgia Baptist Convention in 1859. The title of the message was "Denominational Idolotry Reproved". Though I dearly love my church and the family of churches we have in Sovereign Grace Ministries, I am aware of the dangerous temptation to identify myself more with my church, ministry or denomination than with Christ himself. This message, though preached to Baptists almost 150 years ago, gives insight and thought to this problem no matter what church, denomination or ministry you associate yourself with. There are good reproofs on overconfidence in success, in letting the truths your group focuses on outweight the core truths of the gospel and of worshipping successful leaders. I've included a bunch of quotes that were convicting and brought this issue to light. It's a great reminder that all the glory belongs to God. While I may rightly rejoice at what God might be doing in my church and in Sovereign Grace, I pray that would not produce pride but rather humility, amazement and joy at the undeserved mercy of God.

Regarding the temptation to a few minor issues outshine the whole of God's truth...

Whenever our denominational peculiarities so absorb our affections and our zeal as to crowd from their due position other portions of the divine testimony, they are made to assume in our hearts, as it were, the character of idols; and in this perverted shape, by being forced to break the due proportion and boundaries of divine truth, they invade unwittingly the just rights of God, and are the occasion of dishonor to his cause. All this is wrong.

On the tendency to forget that the truth came from God and not ourselves...

There is another way in which our denominational sentiments may be made the occasion of nourishing the idolatrous tendency of our deceitful hearts. In contending for them, we may be, to a greater or less extent, sinfully forgetful that they are God's truth. We may somewhat lose sight of the precious, golden link, which binds them to the throne of Jehovah. We may fight for them as our truth, our dogmas, rather than as the teachings of the Saviour. We may contend for personal victory. We may become, through the deceitfulness of the heart, intensely sectarian.

Being aware of glorifying our leaders instead of God...

Opposite to narrow-minded complaining jealousy, is another evil which the gospel equally condemns; a glorying in men - a disposition to call men our masters - a blind partisan zeal for bold-spirited leaders - a cringing subserviency to the authority of great names - an idolatrous reverence for those who, from whatever cause, may have risen to some peculiar denominational distinction.

Not becoming prideful when we see success...

In these things it is our privilege, our duty, to rejoice. But, beloved brethren, let our rejoicing be in the Lord. When we listen to the rehearsal of our denominational successes, our carnal pride is perhaps sometimes awakened, and we think to ourselves, what a great people we Baptists are getting to be! All this is wrong; it is grieving to the Spirit of God; it is making an idol of our denominational prosperity. And it may be that God allows many humiliating things to befall us as a people, that our pride may be humbled, and we may learn more profoundly the great lesson of inspiration "Not by might, nor by power; but by my Spirit, saith the Lord."

Being overconfident in future success...

We may hope with strong assurance for the future triumphs of truth; and we may bless God that this bright and holy day shall assuredly come. But it will be God's work, and not ours. We should be humbled to the dust that God should condescend to use us as instruments for hasting on this glorious period. But for his sovereign, almighty grace, which will accomplish its purposes in spite of all our follies and sins, we might well despair.

HT: Nathan Finn

Do You Consider Your Pastors A Gift?

This past Sunday, C.J. Mahaney was at our church to speak, particularly in light of the recent announcement from our pastoral team that we would be transitioning to a new senior pastor. C.J. preached from 1 Cor. 3:18 - 4:5 and encouraged us to receive Christian leaders as gifts from God. However, he cautioned us not to identify primarily with one leader, for in doing so we can cut ourselves off from other leaders that God intends to use as means of grace in our lives. We should avoid sinful comparisons between our leaders and guard against a preference for one over the other.

I find this can be a difficult challenge, particularly in the information age. Even for those who sit under great preaching at their churches, it's easy to download messages from Piper, Dever, Sproul and a host of others and start to compare. Not to mention the fact that we have the writings and teachings of so many great Christian leaders throughout the history of the church available to us. It's easy to go from hearing these messages in an edifying way that supplements what you are receiving in church to critiquing your local pastor for not living up to these other teachers. Obviously, I am not suggesting that you shouldn't evaluate what your pastor is preaching, but I do think it's easy to desire another teacher over the pastor that God has ordained to faithfully preach the gospel to you week after week and care specifically for your soul.

We should not be cutting ourselves off from the ways that God intends to use our pastors in our lives by preferring one over another. Rather, we should rejoice at the way God is using the specific and unique gifts of our pastors to serve our local church in a meaningful way. And we should give God the glory for the way he uses them to build us up and encourage our faith.

Final Thoughts - The Great Divorce

I've been meaning to read this for awhile, but had not actually got around to purchasing it myself. However on Monday night, while over for dinner at Alex and Dana's house, I noted that they had a copy and asked to borrow it. I've got a ton of stuff I want to read, so I was not expecting to get through it anytime soon but I started flipping through it yesterday and ended up reading the whole thing last night. It helps that the book is relatively short, the font is fairly large and it is C.S. Lewis with his typically engaging fiction.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and it provides some interesting food for thought regarding heaven and hell. The basic plot follows the narrator as he and several others take a bus from a dreary town (hell) to a vibrant new landscape (heaven). The majority of the book is spent with the narrator observing the conversations between his fellow Ghosts and the Spirits who try to convince them to stay in this new land. Many of the Ghosts end up returning to the bus to go back to the town instead of continuing on.

I found the book to be convicting as I read the different reasons that the Ghosts gave up on pursuing the newfound beauty and embracing the joy that was set before them. There were those that turned back because the journey was hard and they did not believe even when the Spirits told them that help would be provided. One rejects heaven based upon his view that he merited being there and some of those who were already there did not. Another left because he would not submit ultimately to accepting one real truth. In another case, an obsessive mother is resistant because she demands that she see her son immediately and is unwilling to see that her ultimate treasure should not be her son, but God.

One thing that really stuck out from this reading of the book is the opportunity we have to prepare ourselves in this life for the next life. I understand that Lewis is using an allegory to provoke thought, so obviously, as he admits, heaven will not be exactly like he describes. However, we do know that in heaven, our ultimate joy will be in God himself. We can live our lives now in anticipation of that and seeking the joy in fellowship with God that Christ restored when he died on the cross for our sins. By God’s grace, we can seek to avoid the idols that trapped so many of these Ghosts.

Overall, I recommend this fairly quick and thought provoking read. There are definitely many more aspects that I didn’t take the time to dig into.

Caution and Encouragement for the "New Calvinists"

There is a very helpful article on Justin Taylor's blog today. It's a reaction to the growing movement of Reformed theology in the younger generation by Thomas McCall from an Arminian perspective.

This article embodies the interaction I think that both sides of the Calvinist/Arminian issue should display. I clearly fall into the Reformed camp and I was blessed by Dr. McCall's rejoicing at the way this movement displays an interest in theology and a pursuit of holiness in people my age.

Even more so, I was blessed by the challenges and cautions that he brings. Here are two that I drew out.

1. We need to know our theological tradition better as well as understand the broader traditions of the historical church. In other words, we should expand our reading and knowledge outside the Puritans and beware not to ultimately rely on and deify those famous contemporary teachers that are highly regarded in Reformed circles. Personally, I know I want to spend more time learning about the early church fathers and learning more about church history in general.

2. We need to guard against arrogance and cultivate humility. With the low accountability Internet as a main medium of communication added to the youthful tendency towards arrogance, I can appreciate his concern in this area. I know my own tendency towards pride. Even if we do believe that the tenets of Reformed theology are clearly taught in the Bible, we have to remember that we didn't come up with them, God did. And we didn't figure it out of our own accord without his help, so we can't take pride in that either. We need to receive the Scriptures with humility and we need to speak with humility.

Overall, I this post challenges me to interact with differing brothers and sisters with charity and love. It's not that we shouldn't value our doctrine strongly, but we need to evaluate our attitudes and our hearts. We should be marked by a desire to know and understand God more rather than a desire to be right. We need to realize that God still has a lot for us to learn. Abraham Piper had a blog post a while ago with a title that sums it up well, "When arguing, it's better to be convincible than invincible."

PCRT 2008 - Day Two & Wrapup

Better late than never, it's the quick wrapup from PCRT this year. The sheer volume of teaching was a little overwhelming. I'm definitely planning to review my notes and listen to the messages again to gain a greater understanding of everything that was said. However, even what little I did manage to take out of it initially, really helped to flesh out my understanding of the different aspects of Christ's work on the cross.

1. Robert Godfrey - Redeeming Blood: Preached a sermon on redemption from Psalm 49, which is a text I hadn't heard tied into the atonement. He talked about the certainty of death for the wise and the foolish, rich and poor alike and the helplessness before God which is articulated by the psalmist. He noted that the language of redemption is throughout the law that God gives to Israel. Also, provided an excellent reminder about the power of Christ's blood. Our sins are not so great that they outweigh Christ's sacrifice for us.

2. Philip Ryken - Atoning Blood: Used to self-examination questions from a puritan writer to remind us how we can often have a light view of sin. Discussed the atonement in terms of redemption, justification and propitiation. Redemption is a picture of the atonement that comes from the marketplace, the procurement of a release by the payment of a price. Justification is a picture from a legal standpoint. It's not a making righteous but a declaring righteous. Propitiation is a picture of the atonement that comes from the Old Testament temple. It refers to the turning away of God's anger towards us. The application was to call us to be willing to sacrifice in every of our Christian lives.

3. Richard Phillips - Cleansing Blood: Preached on Hebrews 9:11-14. The message focused on expiation, the cleansing or removal of our sin. He mentioned the Old Testament laws regarding cleaness and noted that the priests did not have the power to make someone clean. However, Christ does not merely declare us pure but actually makes us clean from the stains of sin. He then went on to say that since Christ has cleansed us, we must be sure to accept ourselves as cleansed. Finally, in light of those facts, he encouraged us to draw near to God with confidence and that we would remember the cleansing of Christ's blood when our guility conscience is hesitant to draw near to God.

4. Carl Trueman - Seminar: I guess I should have known from reading his book, "The Wages of Spin", but Carl Trueman is fairly brilliant and essentially gave a seminary level lecture on a section of church history regarding the challenges to the atonement after the Reformation. I took some notes, but had a hard time following. I mostly understood what he was saying but keeping up with notes and side references was another thing entirely. I fully intend to listen to the recording to get more out of it, but what I most took away from being there was a good sense of humility in how far my knowledge really extends. I don't know very much at all, others out there are much smarter and more knowledgable and I still have a lot to learn.

5. Saturday Evening and Sunday Morning - I left the conference after the seminar on Saturday so I did not get to hear either Robert Godfrey's message on Saturday night or R.C. Sproul's message on Sunday morning. I plan to listen to them as soon as Julian lets me borrow the recordings.

Other highlights...

1. Qdoba - Peter and I stopped in for lunch. The shredded beef nachos were as delicious as always.

2. Book Purchases - Despite major temptation (and thanks to the help of friends), I refrained from buying any new books over the weekend. I guess that four volume set of "The Christian's Reasonable Service" will have to wait till next time.

3. Unity - It was great to interact and worship with people who are not from the same church family as I am. It is a joy to worship together with brothers and sisters in mutual gratitude and praise of God for saving us by sending his Son to die on the cross for our sins. Also, I become more aware of how much we have to learn from each other, despite our differences on some things outside the core beliefs of the gospel.

4. Expelled - I left the conference to see this movie. We had a lot of fun and the movie was very interesting. Ben Stein makes some good points about intellectual freedom, particularly in academia. However, I was actually more affected by some of the parts of the movie that reminded me of our sinful nature as humans and also how hard we can try to surpress the truth. This stuck out at me more than the whole Intelligent Design aspect of the movie, but overall it does make you think and if you bring someone along to see it, you're sure to have plenty to talk about afterwards.

Blog Recommendation - Of First Importance

Like reading quotes? Too busy to read through treacherously long blog posts? Feel the need to add another feed to your RSS reader? Want to be reminded of the great truths of the gospel on a daily basis?

Check out Of First Importance.

I've been subscribing for a couple days now and have found it to be very encouraging. Every day one quotation dealing with the gospel is posted. It's a nice concise way to get you thinking about the cross every day.

HT: Desiring God blog

PCRT 2008 - Day One

So, the sun sets on the first day of PCRT 2008. Here are the highlights...

1. God blessed the day with excellent weather. It was a joy to spend the day in the city.

2. It was fun to hang around with Julian all day and to get to know him a bit more.

3. Got to say hi to Steve Burlew at the Banner of Truth table.

4. A delightfully refreshing lunch. :)

5. Plenty of friends are attending so I'll get to spend some more time with them for the rest of the conference.

6. (With help) refrained from buying any books (including a particular sweet set, The Christian's Reasonable Service).

As for the teaching, it was excellent.

Joel Beeke presented several great messages and certainly did not disappoint. In particular, I appreciated the message on persevering in joyful humility and prayer. He made several good points in noting that we pray far less than we should and that we should be seeking to grow in our prayer. Also, he made an excellent point regarding keeping ourselves humble. While noting that we need to labor under the conviction that we are servants, he noted that we need to remember Christ's love for the church. He said that we can be too open in our criticisms of the church and that it can come out of a prideful heart. Not that we should refrain from criticism of the church, but that we should not be unable to criticize the church with dry eyes. In other words, we should be crying out to God that our church would reflect the character of Christ. Not out of a hard heart but out of a heart that desires to see souls conformed to the image of the Son.

Also, I was convicted regarding the lack of seriousness and priority I give to prayer. I desire to see prayer as something that is ingrained in my life. My action item for now is to seek to carve out more specific time around my morning devotionals so I am not so apt to finish my reading, do a quick prayer and get ready from work. I want to draw something out of Scripture and bring that to God in prayer.

It was cool to see R.C. Sproul preach. He has a good way of explaining things and yet, due most likely to fatigue, I haven't really processed his message too well yet. Hopefully tomorrow I can read over my notes and discuss it will some others who were there to get a firmer grasp on some of the ideas he presented in explaining why the cross was necessary.

Better Blogging

Justin Taylor has a helpful guest post from Abraham Piper, who writes on the 22 Words and Desiring God blogs. Abraham goes through a list of points to help Christian bloggers improve their blogging.

I particularly appreciated his encouragement to strive to write well and make ideas clearly understood and well-thought out. Also, he gives an important reminder that the point of a blog should not be to constantly be contentious and that we should be confident in what we believe while still being willing to discuss and truly consider new information in the pursuit of a better understanding.

There are some great gems here for those who are interested in blogging.

HT: Justin Taylor

PCRT... Yeah, I'm Excited

Coming up on this weekend is the Philadelphia Conference of Reformed Theology. This is my first time attending and I'll also be attending the pre-conference on Friday during the day. Here are some of the reasons I am excited (in no particular order)...

1. R.C. Sproul - Yep.

2. The City - I love walking around downtown Philly and it will be good to spend time there again. Plus, it's fun to ride the train into town.

3. 10th Pres. - 10th is awesome. I'm looking forward to great music.

4. Friends - Seems like a lot of familiar faces will be there (if you are coming, let me know in the comments so I can try and find you to say hi at some point). Julian and I are having breakfast on Friday, which should be fun. I'm sure there will be plenty of great opportunities for that never fail combination of food and fellowship. Plus I'll get to see some of my friends from 10th that I don't get to see as often.

5. The Atonement - This is the theme of the conference. I'm always eager to understand and gain a greater appreciation of Christ's work on the cross.

6. Joel Beeke - He doing most of the speaking at the pre-conference. I'm interested to hear from him since I appreciated his book, "Meet the Puritans".

7. Carl Trueman - He's teaching one of the seminars and is a professor of church history at Westminster. I've heard an interview with him on 9Marks, read some posts he's made and read his book "The Wages of Spin". I'm intrigued to hear more from him.

8. Differences & Unity - I'm always excited to join together to learn about and worship God with other Christians. It particularly affects me to join with others who have differences in some areas of thinking but are united in the foundational truths of the gospel.

9. Philip Ryken - I've interacted with some of Ryken's work and heard him preach once or twice but I am not too familiar with him. I'm excited to hear from this man who is doing the bulk of the teaching for all my friends at 10th Pres.

10. Books - While both my budget and my knowing friends are eyeing this reason warily, I am excited at the opportunity to pick up a new book or two (or three...) If you see me at the conference with more than 5 new books, please take my wallet.

11. Steve Burlew - Ok, this one isn't certain because I didn't ask him specifically if he would be there. However, Steve is the guy when it comes to Banner of Truth books in the US. And since he is often travelling around and attending conferences (particularly since this one isn't too far away from home), I wouldn't be surprised to see him there. And lest you think I am merely excited about the books he'll be bringing, the truth of the matter is that Steve is a godly man and a joy to talk to. I would definitely be excited to chat with him even if he wasn't dragging volumes and volumes of Christ exalting literature in tow. (If you want to find out more about Steve or Banner of Truth, check out Steve's blog Trophies of His Grace.)

12. The Day Off - Friday is the first full day I've taken off work this year. I'm looking forward to it.

13. Blogging - Blogging a conference seems like some obscure rite of passage for a Christian blogger. I don't necessarily intend to be your source for all things PCRT, but I will probably be posting some thoughts on what God teaches me during the conference. I've often found it helpful and encouraging when others post about conferences they've attended that I have not. But don't expect any live blogging, I've got a funny feeling that 10th Pres. doesn't have WiFi. Maybe I can post over lunch.

14. God's Faithfulness - Last and most importantly, I'm excited because God is faithful and he will meet those attending this conference and use it to grow us in our faith and help us in following him.

My prayer is that God would prepare my heart to receive this teaching even in the midst of a busy week and bless the opportunities I'll have to engage in fellowship with other believers.

God's Faithfulness and My Fear

Last night my community group went out to share the gospel as part of the Proclaim course that we are currently going through. As the GO (Gospel Outreach) Facilitator for the group, my primary responsibility was to aid in the planning and execution of this night of outreach. As I was preparing for the meeting, there was a fear in my heart of going out to share the gospel. Even though I serve in several outreach oriented areas in the church, it does not mean that I am skilled at evangelism. I still get nervous and anxious every time.

By God's grace, the best part about being the GO Facilitator is that I can't easily squirm out of going out to share the gospel with my community group. But the amazing part is, no matter how I feel about everything, once we go out God is always faithful to meet us.

As we walked around the Media, PA last night, I was skeptical that we would even find anyone to talk to. However, as we approached a trolley stop, there was a woman waiting on a bench. I asked her if she would mind taking a spiritual survey that we had. She agreed and expressed that she had grown up in the Catholic church but wasn't attending currently. When asked why she thought God should let her into heaven, she said because she was a good person. I led in to the How Good Are You booklet and she expressed that she thought that God's laws listed in the booklet could lead people to fear. I asked if she meant fear of judgment if God was real. She said yes and I explained that God's acceptance of us is based upon what Christ has done and not our own good works. We talked for a little while more and things went in circles and off track a bit, but the gospel was proclaimed.

After talking to her, I walked away with a fresh realization of what it is to engage non-Christians with the gospel. My heart was affected by the confusion that was expressed as she was explaining what she believed. More than that, I realized that the only difference between her and I was that God had moved my heart and opened my eyes to the truth. I came away amazed at the grace of God which I do not deserve.

I Love My Church

On Sunday in lieu of a message, the pastors spent time discussing the upcoming transition to a new senior pastor at our church. I'm so very appreciative of the care they often take to explain everything and labor to inform the rest of the church how and why certain decisions are being made. It reveals a leadership that is truly concerned with the care of the people in the church and not just their own authority. I'm grateful for pastors whose primary aim is the preaching of the gospel and who have the humility to put God's work and God's people before their own advancement. When asked afterwards what I thought about the whole thing, I believe my words were, "I love this church".

Over the past couple of weeks, God has really put an increased joy in my heart on Sunday mornings, particularly as I look around during worship. I'm so encouraged as I see so many friends around me and I rejoice at the grace of God in their lives. I truly don't deserve to be in a church with so many awesome people and God has definitely used this to help me recognize how much a gift the local church is. There is no telling where I could end up in the future, but for now I am so delighted to be able to join together in the worship and the work of the gospel with these brothers and sisters in Christ. When I am sitting there on a Sunday morning, it truly feels like home.

Obviously things will never be perfect on this earth, but the church provides a unique context where we can be cared for and gain a picture of what it means to be part of the family of God. The church is also a place where we can be taught and hear the gospel preached every week. It's not easy sometimes and there is a lot of work to be done, but God provides grace for these opportunities to serve and often places us with brothers and sisters we are able to join with in this joyful labor.

I love my church. How about you?

Reading A Book For All It's Worth

There is a great post today over at The Blazing Center. After identifying himself as a fellow "book freak", Stephen Altrogge goes on to share some advice from CJ Mahaney regarding how we approach reading. CJ basically advocates getting to know a small list of great books extremely well over trying to read massive amounts of books and not getting as much out of it. Stephen's post has some good tips on what this might look like.

I know my tendency can be to get so excited about getting new books and reading the next book on my list that I may fail to get as much out of the book I am reading as is possible. Anyone who knows me can attest to the eagerness I have to talk about books and how I get excited when I hear about a cool new (or old) book coming out. I need to remember that the primary goal is not to read the most books or accumulate the most knowledge but to be conformed to the image of Christ and to grow in godliness.

Hopefully this blog will continue to be a help to me as I strive to more deeply understand what I am reading and to apply it. Also, when you see me, please ask me about what I am reading. I'd love to talk about it and to hear about what you are reading and how God is using that to create change in your own life.

HT: The Blazing Center

Weekly Review? More Like Weak-ly Review

Astute readers may recall that I had a post awhile ago about starting a weekly review. This would be a time each week to evaluate how the previous week went and prepare myself for the upcoming week, particularly from a spiritual perspective.

How is it going you say? Well... actually... now that you mention it... it's not going.

Yes, that's right. Despite deciding to pursue this idea almost two months ago, I have yet to actually do it yet in any kind of formal fashion. I do have a list of some questions I've brainstormed and have thought about different areas of my life that I want to examine. I also know that the best time for this review is probably either Sunday morning or Sunday night. In the morning I've usually got time before I go to church, but the evening is also typically somewhat free and has the advantage of allowing me to review the message from that day at church.

So if I have a picture of it in my mind, why haven't I done it? Well, being busy, lazy and having it slip my mind all seem like probable reasons. I'm not feeling condemned because I know it's not sin to not review your week, but I want to do it because I feel it could be very helpful in my life. I think I just have to start doing it and let habit be my friend. Also, I probably have to come to grips that I am not going to be able to distill the perfect methodology for a weekly review before actually starting to do one. That will come with time (and most likely change every so often).

I'm going to give it another go this week. If you see me this weekend, please call me out on it. This could include asking me about my plans to do a weekly review, giving suggestions on what kinds of questions might be helpful to ask myself, making fun of my inaction or threatening me with physical violence if I do not go through with it. Thanks!

Thankful and Willing to Listen

This morning during my quiet time, one of the passages I was reading was Ecclesiates 5. Two thoughts...

First, v.18 (Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.) I know that I can think of my work and my possessions as gifts of God, but I do not often consider that the "power to enjoy them" is also a gift of God. This is a healthy reminder to rejoice and thank God for not only what he has given me but also the joy and contentment I have in his those thing. Also, the fact that I can enjoy what he has given me in ways that honor and glorify him instead of valuing the gifts over the Giver, is a reason to praise God. Though contentment can be a struggle, I should be thankful for this gift and pray earnestly for it. What a relief is it that contentment and joy in our circumstances is not something we have to muster up in and of ourselves! It's another reminder, like Wolfgang's message last week, to be thankful in all things.

Second, v.1-2 (Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.) I'll be the first to admit that there are parts of this passage I don't quite get (and the next verse, v.3, is confusing). However, I am challenged about how I approach church and other times of teaching. It is very easy for Sundays to become a routine and normal thing, a time of great joy of course, but routine in some ways if I am not careful. I want to be mindful of preparing myself to receive teaching and not just showing up. I want to be humble and teachable before the preached word. I don't want to be so caught up in my note taking that I miss points but I don't want to fail to review the message later on and to apply it to my life. I want the gospel to always appear amazing and to effect my heart, no matter how many times I hear it. I don't want my pride, preferences and knowledge to cause me to nitpick preaching while neglecting to apply the truth of God to my soul. I want to have an open heart that is ready to "draw near to listen" to what God may teach me, even if it isn't what I expected or is tough for me to hear.

These things are temptations and struggles that can appear from time to time. So, with a singles meeting (THRIVE) tonight, great preaching at church and PCRT and New Attitude coming down the road, I pray that God would make me one who values his word more and one who is eager not just to speak or argue, but to listen to and seek to understand and apply what he is saying.

Blog Recommendation: The Blazing Center

I digest a handful of blogs daily thanks to my handy feedreader (Bloglines.com). Not too long ago, I added The Blazing Center to my subscriptions. This blog features posting by Stephen and Mark Altrogge from Sovereign Grace Church of Indiana, PA. The mainstay of their posting is made up of pointing out something about God and then drawing application and questions from those thoughts.

It seems like every day they have a great post that is immediately applicable and points me back to God in a most helpful way. Actually, I've recently felt that I should cut back on a few other blog subscriptions just so I can take the time to fully read and digest their posts.

For instance, today Stephen had a great post on the goodness of God. It encouraged me as I thought about the work I have for my grad class by reminding me of God's Word in Psalm 31:19 (Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!). Our God is truly one who has "stored up" goodness for us.

Check out The Blazing Center if you get a chance.

ESV Study Bible

A few days ago the new website launched for the upcoming ESV Study Bible. I've been following this project with interest for awhile, but this is the first real look at what Crossway has come up with. It definitely looks like a high quality product and they certainly have put together a great team to help produce the notes and other information. I have been using the ESV Reformation Study Bible in my quiet times (it was the only option as far as ESV study bibles go) and it has served me well. However, I've been looking forward to getting my hands on one of these new ESV Study Bibles since I heard last year that Justin Taylor and Crossway were working on it.

Crossway just can't let my book budget have a break. They keep printing too many awesome books and resources.

Update: On the ESV site they have links to a bunch of blog posts about the upcoming ESV study bible, if you are interested in getting more information and impressions. Plus, little ol' me got quoted in the roundup, which is very cool (though in the interest of full disclosure, I'm pretty sure they did a blanket search for ESV study bible. But the quote they pulled out is true and if it encourages someone to get excited and equipped to study the Bible, that's awesome).

A Heart Humbled By Reading

There is a struggle I've often dealt with in reading and studying. The sinful tendency in my heart is to become prideful because of books I've read or knowledge accumulated through reading (even though there are so many others who have read more and know more than I do). It becomes very easy in conversation to toss out a names of authors and books or to use some obscure theology term in a way that seems far more concerned with directing attention to myself instead of encouraging others in their faith. It's also easy not to correct how other people view my reading and knowledge. If I seem excited about reading and talking about books, buy good books and try to read a lot of books that still doesn't mean I am actually smarter, more motivated or more godly, but that tends to be something I rarely point out to people.

Thankfully, the Holy Spirit is merciful to bring conviction and encourage growth of humility because of my reading. As I read books by men who love and know God in far greater degrees than myself, my spirit is humbled. While I work through Grudem's Systematic Theology, I am humbled by a God whose vastness and greatness defies the power of my intellect and understanding. I can clearly recall a prideful reaction several years ago when I heard others describing the difficulty of reading The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs. In my head I thought that I would be able to easily understand it and it could not possibly be so hard. I have recently started reading it as part of the Puritan Challenge and have realized that I clearly overestimated my own abilities and underestimated the focus and concentration it would take to read the book. My struggle to understand and work through a tough book to gain a better view of God is another area where my pride is brought low as I realize that in and of myself these things are difficult or impossible to comprehend. Not to mention how I am often humbled by how easily I forget what I have read and how difficult it can be to apply these things to my daily life.

Whatever knowledge and understanding (and it's not as much as I sometimes want think it is) God has given me is a gift. I am called to be a steward of these things just as I am called to wisely use my finances. In both cases, the gifts of God should be used to glorify, enjoy and serve him and not to glorify myself. When God humbles me in my learning and my weakness is revealed, it helps me to depend on him more. Ultimately, he is the one who will reveal himself to me through his word. I pray that God would help me to be humble in my reading, guide me to use what he is showing me to edify others and help me to apply his word to my own life and know him more.

Final Thoughts - Realms of Gold

I recently finished the book Realms of Gold by Leland Ryken. My interest in the title came out of recent desires to expand my reading from being centered solely on theology and practical application to recreation in exploring some of the classics of literature. Not necessarily to diminish my current reading time and topics, but to replace some areas of recreation (like watching videos or playing video games) with what I deemed might be a more profitable and ultimately more enjoyable use of my time.

In each chapter of Realms of Gold, Leland Ryken examines some of the benefits of different aspects of literature from a Christian perspective. To add to the weight of his arguments and to incite a taste for the classics, he picks a specific literary work as his example in each chapter. In the chapter on literature as recreation, he chooses Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Other works used as examples include Macbeth, The Stranger, Paradise Lost and The Scarlet Letter.

Ryken does a brilliant job of both identifying the redemptive purposes of reading classic literature as well as inspiring a hunger to read the classics by his examples and his own passion that comes through in his writing. So far, I have yet to read another piece that does such a thorough job of addressing the Christian perspective towards literature. While pointing out what can be gained from the classics, he addresses common Christian concerns about literature and also provides guidance in areas where we should take caution.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in diving into some of the classics of literature with purpose and passion. I'm currently trying to fit in The Idiot by Dostoevsky, but my reading schedule is getting a bit tight because of my grad class getting into swing. Also, I'd love to dig into the complete works of Shakespeare that I acquired not too long ago. I started reading Hamlet again but haven't gotten very far yet. Another case of too many things at one time.

Taking Joy in the Most Important Thing

Some people in my community group have been going through "The Fruitful Life" by Jerry Bridges. The book goes through each of the fruits of the Spirit and examines how they look in our lives.

Tonight, I read the chapter on joy. Bridges goes through some of the things that hinder our joy, such as sin. One thing he mentions that I had not considered is an overemphasis on deriving joy from our works and ministry instead of God's work for us. Bridges says even though he has had the privilege of writing popular books that God has used, his joy is not rooted in this success but that his name is written in heaven. He challenges us to examine the source of our joy:

"Perhaps you don't feel you have much to show for your life. Maybe you haven't written a book, or seen scores come to Christ through your witness, or done anything else that seems significant. But is your name written in heaven? If it is, you have as much reason to rejoice as the most well-known and "successful" Christian. Nothing you or I will ever do can possibly compare with having our names written in heaven. The most humble Christian as well as the most famous Christian stand together on that common ground." (p. 78)

Let's strive to remember that our names are written in heaven and take great joy in that fact. We can't base our joy solely the success of our ministry but rather on Christ's finished work on the cross that allows us to become children of God.

The Bruised Reed - Chapter 7

A couple quick thoughts on Chapter 7 of "The Bruised Reed" (and yes I know I skipped Chapters 4 - 6). The chapter was about help for the weak and the temptations that can come upon us and disrupt the peace we have in Christ. Regarding the effects of sinful thoughts, Richard Sibbes says:

"And if there were no devil to suggest, yet sinful thoughts would arise from within us, though none were cast in from without. We have a mint of them within. These thoughts, if the soul dwell on them so long as to suck and draw from and by them any sinful delight, then they live a more heavy guilt upon the soul, hinder our sweet communion with God, interrupt our peace, and put a contrary relish into the soul, disposing it to greater sins." (p. 47)

There are many good things to pull out of that quote, but I'll just choose one for now. Sibbes brings up the importance of guarding our hearts and minds from sinful thoughts. As he goes on to say later, all sin arises originally from a sinful desire or thought. Dwelling on these temptations and sinful inclinations also effects our experience of communion with God and can disrupt the peace of God in our souls. As he says, these thoughts are brought forth from the sinfulness in our own hearts, not to mention the thoughts that are thrust upon us from the outside world. As such, we need to be guarding our hearts and minds against these thoughts and, more than that, to be filling them with the things of God.

How are you seeking to fill your heart and mind with the promises of God in your daily life?

What I Needed to Hear

Earlier today I saw this post on Tim Challies blog, Just Stop It!. There is a funny clip from MadTV along with a short discussion about fighting sin. In the clip, Bob Newhart is counseling a woman who has irrational fears and his advice to her is "Stop It!". Tim goes on to say that to him it is a reminder that sanctification is a joint work between us and God and that while sometimes we look for a step-by-step method or pray for deliverence, we must also strive to fight sin. Here is the part of Challies' post that affected me:

Some time ago I spoke to a friend about an ongoing sin in his life and tried to show him that the essence of his problem was this: he hates his sin just a little bit less than he loves it. Sure he wants to stop sinning, but even more he wants to keep sinning. And I think he came to agree. My advice was pretty well what Newhart offered the woman in this video: “Stop it!” Are you fighting sin? I’ll pray for you—really, I will. And I’ll recommend that you memorize some Scriptures, some fighter verses, that will help you battle that sin by bringing to mind the promises of God. But I’ll also challenge you to just stop it and to stop it now. You stop sinning by turning your back on it. You do not sit back and wait for God to change you while you remain in your sin. Rather, you join him in the fight, joining your will with His strength. And together you go to war.

Now, obviously sanctification is not based on our strength and our efforts alone (This video and post are not a systematic theology of sin. For some more thoughts on the video and counseling by David Powlison check out this post by Justin Taylor). We need Christ and the Holy Spirit working through us to create change in our lives. But for me at least, praying can come somewhat easier than being intentional and seeking to fight sin, instead of waiting for it to come around. As I was confronted this morning with seeing those stubborn patterns of sin in my life, I read this article and was reminded that I need to cry out to God more for his help and I need to make every effort to remove temptation and fight sin in my life.

One of the commenters on the post linked to this Martyn Lloyd-Jones quote posted on the Pyromaniacs blog. He also encourages us by saying that Scripture does not command us to be passive in our sanctification but rather to strive to fight sin in our lives along with God.

I pray that by God's grace my heart would continue to grow to hate sin more than I love it.

(HT: Tim Challies)

Puritan Challenge - Update

So, it's almost the end of March and how is the puritan challenge going? Well, if you were to base your impression solely on my blog posts, you would assume not very quickly. And you would be right.

I definitely fell off track in regards to my reading. This was for numerous reasons but mostly poor time management (i.e. video games) and laziness in taking notes or posting about what I was reading. So, it's the end of the third month of the challenge and I only have one book done. Now in fairness, I didn't start until the end of January, so I am really only a month behind. However, I haven't really posted on or fully digested even the first book I read, "The Bruised Reed". Things certainly are not going to get easier either as I start up grad class again next week at Drexel.

So, the current plan is to start the book for next month at the beginning of the month, and as time allows to finish processing the first book. I hope to make these puritan paperbacks the focus of my self-organized reading and not to get distracted with other unread books on my shelf. Also, I will probably be switching up my posting style as well. Trying to write a comprehensive summary on every chapter is daunting and time consuming. Instead, I will be aiming to grab an applicable point or thought from a chapter, a supporting quote and Scripture, a quick summary and a question or point of application for myself.

This should make the posts easier to digest and to write and should make them more attractive and helpful for me to review at a later date.

Edit: Update - To clarify, the next book in the Puritan Challenge is "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burroughs. This is a change in the reading schedule I posted a month ago which came about because the original book scheduled for April was widely out of stock for awhile.

Thoughts on Photography

Recently on the Desiring God blog, Bill Walsh has been posting his way through a list of reasons why he is a photographer. (9 Reasons I'm A Photographer). This is definitely great food for thought and I know that I am prone to overlook the glory and beauty of creation in my day-to-day life. I've recently become more aware of this as I have tried to be out more in the mornings to walk or go for a run.

One of my co-workers is really into photography and as I have talked with him about it and seen some of his shots, I'm definitely interested in seeking to take more pictures. I don't think it will ever be a serious hobby, mainly because I get too distracted and already have too many interests, but after reading these articles I can see a very cool redemptive aspect of photography.

I'm currently saving up for a small point-and-shoot camera to carry around in my backpack. Since it's relatively small, I've also thought it might be cool to take it along if I go on a run and snag some shots if I see anything cool. I'll definitely upload some pics when I get it to spice up the posting here a little bit (and break up the large blocks of text).

Blogging for the Glory of God

With so many friends starting blogs recently and the way the Internet has become a primary source of information for so many lives, I recently found these articles that are helpful in challenging both my blogging and my reading of blogs. I encourage you to read them, especially the Bob Kauflin article, if you blog or read blogs regularly.

• Blogging to Worship God - Bob Kauflin


• All About Blogging - Tim Challies


• Blog Responsibly - Suzanne Hadley

Are there any ways you see that your blogging could be changed glorify God more? Or perhaps areas where you are tempted to use your blog to draw attention to yourself rather than God?

Part of the Problem?

Last night I attended a benefit concert for the Democratic Republic of Congo at Church of the Savior. During one of the breaks between bands, they showed a short film illustrating the bloodshed and exploitation that is going on in that country. As I watched I was affected by the pictures of suffering and by the gravity of the tremendous amounts of lives lost. My heart was grieved by seeing so vividly the effects of sin. I began to consider the effects of my sin and the seriousness of sin. In one sense, we look at our own culture and are astounded by the corruption and worldliness that we see. And yet, a culture is made up of sinful people like you and me. Is it too hard to believe that our society will be shaped in part by our sinful desires and interactions? We too are part of the problems in this world.

This is a realization that helps me to fight and hate sin more. Sin is pervasive and it is never satisfied, but continues to justify greater evil in pursuit of satisfaction. It's astounding to consider the atrocities sinful human hearts have committed throughout history. And that all these things were born originally in the Fall, a sin of disobedience which can seem so small in comparison. But see how quickly it led to brother murdering brother.

All this made the problem of sin and suffering in the world weigh heavily on my heart. Thankfully, as the concert continued on, Reilly began to play. As I listened I was reminded that we serve a powerful and caring God who has shown his love by sending his Son to die for our sins. In his word, God has promised:

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." - Rev 21:4

Your Week In Review

Have you ever had the feeling that you are unprepared as you go through the week? Ever feel that it can be tough to be organized when it seems you have so much on your plate that you don't have time to think about the next thing until it happens? I've definitely felt this way and it doesn't help that my sinful laziness and procrastination can combine with a general lack of organization or the everyday onslaught of responsibilites and obligations. If I've made any progress in this area it's because God humbled me. I knew it was something I was weak in and awhile ago I read a book called "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. It's a popular productivity book among IT types and offers a practical system for organization.

Amongst other helpful advice, there is a part of the system that David Allen recommends called the weekly review. It consists of setting aside a set time every week to manage your organizational system and review what is coming up for the week ahead. I've heard CJ Mahaney state that he does something similar. Not just in terms of organizational systems, but also looking to the week ahead and seeing how he can serve his wife and his family and the church, as well as caring for his own soul. Every week he sets aside a certain time and goes to Starbucks to considers these things. Since he has an idea of the priorities and activities in the week coming up, he can effectively accept or decline other tasks or obligations which may arise. He notes that there will always be more things that we are asked ab out than we can do and if we know our responsibilities and limitations we can decline wisely and graciously without feeling guilty and without failing to meet existing obligations to those around us.

I definitely see the value in this, as God has shown me over the past several years there is a great advantage in being intentional and prepared instead of only letting things happen to me and reacting. So, I have been contemplating starting to do a weekly review. I typically have time before church on Sundays that I use for reading or other things that I feel might be a good time. I think a mix of evaluating the previous week and preparing for the upcoming week could serve me and allow me to be more effective.

So, I'm working on an agenda of sorts for the weekly review. Just some baseline questions to ask myself and areas that I should be considering. Obviously, I need to look at my calendar and consider the events that are upcoming. But more specific questions like "What opportunities do I have to serve others this week?", "How can I be looking to share the gospel with those around me?" or "How can I be seeking to pursue God more this week than last week?" are necessary as well.

What questions do you ask yourself on a regular basis to evaluate your walk with God? Can you think of any questions that would be good to add to my weekly review? What questions might help me to consider important areas of my life and Christian growth that I might otherwise ignore?

Let me know if you have any ideas in the comments and I'll try to post a more finalized list of questions and let you know how the weekly reviews go once I start.

Do You Know Your History?

When I was in high school, history was something of a neutral subject for me. Parts of my history classes were interesting but I never really found much of a purpose for that knowledge besides academic discussion. I was glad to be able to critically analyze past events and draw my own conclusions, but I never made a personal connection that took it further than just another subject at school.

During college as I began to grow as a Christian, I was directed towards the voices of theologians and writers of the past. As I started to interact with these great minds, the current cultural viewpoints of "newer is better" and "the past is irrelevant" began to be eroded.

Lately, I've become more interested in reading biographies and history. I'm more convinced of the value of learning from those who have come before us and the events of the past. As part of this growing interest, I've recently started reading a book called "The Wages of Spin" by Carl Trueman, a professor of church history at Westminster. It's a collection of articles and lectures written by Trueman, mostly dealing with post-modern views and the fact that Christianity is a historical religion.

One of the great points that Trueman makes throughout the book is the importance of history and how it speaks to our current situations. There is an article about the tendency to cast aside all tradition and creeds under the banner of relying on Scripture alone. Trueman goes on to point out that this is an error and even the Reformers didn't depose of tradition that quickly but only cast aside those things that weren't in agreement with God's Word. Scripture is the ultimate authority, but traditions and history from the church can be helpful when evaluated appropriately by Scripture. These traditions and creeds over the history of the church can help us to avoid errors that we might slip into if each generation decided to start from scratch when examining Scripture. By keeping this history in mind, we can help to avoid errors and see truths that we might otherwise miss in our cultural bias. This is summed up by a great quote on the back of the book:

"History repeats itself because nobody listens." - Laurence Peter

So, what does that mean for us?

Well, we need to have the humility to examine and learn from the past. It can be easy to buy into modern viewpoints that the past is unimportant or that we are so much more advanced than those who came before us. In reality, for everything we've gained, we seem to have made mistakes of our own (and sometimes even the same mistakes because of our ignorance). Also, as others have said, knowing the past helps us to be anchored and to see that so many things that claim to be new and fresh are old ideas that have already come and gone before. While the past and old ideas aren't by nature better, examining these things can help us understand and react better to our own time.

So, don't be afraid of history. Maybe you think it's boring, and I have certainly felt that way at times, but the thing that tends to make something interesting is when we see it fit into our own lives. If you come with a humble heart, you'll find there is much to learn from those who have come before.

The Bruised Reed - Chapter 3

A couple quick thoughts and quotes from the three pages of Chapter 3 of The Bruised Reed.

Chapter 3 - The Smoking Flax

When Sibbes speaks of the smoking flax, he speaks of the evidence of Christ's grace in our lives and the ongoing work of sanctification. Often our growth seems weak at first and the steps we take seem so small, but Sibbes encourages us:

"Let us not therefore be discouraged at the small beginnings of grace, but look on ourselves as elected to be 'holy and without blame' (Eph. 1:4). Let us look on our imperfect beginning only to enforce further striving to perfection, and to keep us in a low opinion of ourselves. Otherwise, in case of discouragement, we must consider ourselves as Christ does, who looks on us as those he intends to fit for himself. Christ values us by what we shall be, and by what we are elected unto. We call a little plant a tree, because it is growing up to be so. 'Who has despised the day of small things?' (Zec. 4:10). Christ would not have us despise little things." (p. 17)

Even when it seems that our growth is slow, we can ultimately rest in God's promise to bring his work in us to completion. And yet, despite this growing amount of grace, there is corruption still present in some sense. Sibbes describes the smoking flax as the spark and light that represent the hope and grace within us and the smoke from the fire that represents the sin which still remains.

"But grace is not only little, but mingled with corruption; therefore a Christian is said to be smoking flax. So we see that grace does not do away with corruption all at once, but some is left for believers to fight with." (p. 18)

Why is there this mixture of the smoke of corruption and the light of Christ?

"The end of it is especially to preserve us from those two dangerous rocks which our natures are prone to dash upon, security and pride, and force us to pitch our rest on justification, not sanctification, which, besides imperfection, has some stains." (p. 19)

A strong reminder to consider both of these "dangerous rocks".

First, security. Where am I deriving my assurance? Is it based upon my works and growth? The gradual process of sanctification and the corruption that remains show us that our ultimate assurance cannot come from how we have grown and what we have done, but in what Christ has already done on the cross in securing our justification.

Second, pride. The fact that sanctification continues at the pace that God determines helps us to keep our pride in check. Even when we are doing all the right things growth can be slow because God is the one who gives the increase and he does so his timing and wisdom. And sometimes, as I have seen in my life, that can be because I start to claim areas where I see growth as a result of me rather than God. Growth is often at a pace that causes us to depend fully on God and contemplating the remaining corruption in our lives helps to sever pride that begin to spring up.

Are you resting in confidence in God's promise to finish the good work he has started in you? Do you see areas of your life where you can be tempted to crash into the dangerous rocks of pride and security?