Parbar Westward

Civil Discourse For Others

2012-01-16T15:29:00.000-08:00

The usefulness of the Golden Rated is vastly underrated. You don't believe me? Just watch for yourself.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Civil Disservice

www.thedailyshow.com

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MTB'n in Austria on "The Knife's Edge"

2011-12-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

Mountain Biking in Austria. I believe the trail is called "The Knife's Edge." BTW, no thanks.

Mortgaging Our Children's Future

2011-12-23T16:08:00.000-08:00

Debt limit for dummies...

A Guitar Mystery Solved

2011-12-15T18:14:00.000-08:00

As I tell my guitar students, the world is neatly divided into two classes of people, "guitar-players" and "cattle." If the video clip (below) makes your pulse race, then you are the former. If you've never, ever, ever wondered (consciously or subconsciously) how the Beatles managed in one chord to make you ache for what followed in "Hard Day's Night" then you are the latter. Note: Randy Bachman was one half of "The Bachman Turner Overdrive" who gave us the iconic "Takin' Care of Business" and "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", etc. This is really cool. Enjoy.

Apologetics Columbo Style

2011-11-11T06:35:00.000-08:00

I've been a fan of Greg Koukl's for some time, mostly for his ability to equip "Joe Average" to naturally and faithfully engage unbelievers in spiritually edifying conversation. This video is an excellent example of Koukl's gift. You can view the video here.

Why I Wear a Helmet When Biking

2011-10-11T05:09:00.000-07:00

HT: Brian Visser

Perseverance

2011-10-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit it, I'm a sucker for sentimental sports parables. But I doubt I'm the only one who can viscerally relate to the "agony of defeat" and the aching desire to run a race like the athletes who persevere when simply persevering (not winning the prize) becomes the goal. The video below is a triple threat (hanky-wise) for my ilk, because it combines the drama of sport, the love of a father and a moving sound-track. Enjoy.

Priority of Home in Missions

2011-09-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

"The first step in foreign missions is domestic mission. The first step toward Africa is right across the street." - From the blog-post here.

Religious People Boogeyman

2011-09-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

I have for a long time been uneasy with the well-meaning attempts to pit "religion" against "relationship", and/or "religion" against "true faith" etc. The Bible condemns "false religion" and commends "true religion" (e.g. James 1:26-27.) But it never speaks of religion as malum in se (intrinsically evil.) As we reprove the insipid apathy and hypocrisy within the church, wouldn't it be best to use the categories that scripture gives us rather than inventing our own?

Jared Wilson has some very helpful insights on this topic here. Enjoy.

A quick way to walk a mile in another's shoes...

2011-09-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

Remember: You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

HT: Toby Sumpter

Table 7

2011-09-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

Budget Cut Misdirection (Unbelievable!)

2011-09-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Mercy Has a Backbone

2011-09-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

As Paul wrote, "Forgive one another even as God has forgive you in Christ Jesus."

HT: Danielle De Jong

King Jesus

2011-09-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

"I wonder, do you know him?"

That's My King! from Albert Martin on Vimeo.

Strength in Weakness

2011-08-26T05:46:00.000-07:00

"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)

There is a constant temptation to believe that we are the most effective in ministry when our families and our churches are the strongest. We are indeed called to an obedient ordering of our families and churches. But we need to remember that God is never hindered by our sinful failings in community, and in fact delights to use our stumblings as so many opportunities to display His ever-readiness to forgive sins for Jesus' sake. It is the proclamation of God's grace that saves the world, not our perfectionistic pursuit of holiness. God's strength is not manifested in our strength, it is revealed in our weakness. As a pastor friend of mine recently observed:

"My postmillennialism is of a particularly robust variety. I believe the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea, in spite of all our labors. I believe in a kind of consubstantiation for our mercy ministries -- the grace of God is apparent in, with, and under all our incompetencies. How so? It's a mystery, my son."

The War of 1812 (or was it....?)

2011-08-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

Okay history students, pop quiz: Who fought in the War of 1812? Why was this war fought and who won it? If you're not really sure then here is a very short video for you. WARNING: This will not help you answer the above questions, but it will help you with your self-esteem issues. After all, ignorance loves company, right?

HT: Mitch Milner

Giving Thanks Always for Everything

2011-08-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

One of my favorites parts of our weekly worship service is something we call "The Prayer of Thanksgiving." It's a prayer that is composed and prayed by one of our men to lead the congregation in expressing our thanks to God for His gracious provision and kind mercies.

During this prayer I am invariably prompted to thank God for things which I have either forgotten or neglected to thank Him for; including and perhaps even especially hard providences. Here is a wonderful example of the well-written prayers that our men offer up in the Lord's Service:

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for adopting us into your kingdom and putting us to work in the business of the impossible, the business where you call us to believe like Job when our lives seem to crumble. We know your power but forget our place. You speak to the void and it takes shape, you speak to dirt and it takes on your image, you speak to tiny crawling ants and they lift twenty times their body weight, you speak to the lost who hate you and they take up their crosses and follow you. Lord, we do not understand your ways, your readiness to forgive, your endless grace, your mercy, and your promises to bless us, but we are grateful. We thank you for making us your sons and daughters and for promising to sanctify us, to change us, to mold us. We are so thankful that you choose to use the broken, the weak and the unlovely to further your gospel in ways that seem impossible to us.

Thank you, Father, for not always giving us what we want, but always what we need. We confess that even though you give us our daily bread, our manna from heaven that satisfies our needs, we still grumble in discontent and catalog our wants. Please teach us to love our manna especially as you bring us through the wilderness. Thank you that when we bow down to our golden calf's you knock them down and make us taste the bitterness of sin, and then forgive us, knowing full well we will sin against you again.

Lord, thank you for margaritas and cold beer to gladden our sun-bathed hearts, with each sip we taste the joy that runs rampant in your kingdom. Thank you for gardens that give us tomatoes and beets and carrots and basil. Thank you for summer heat and for houses and cars with air-conditioning so we hardly break a sweat as we run from one to the other. Thank you for swimming pools, and lakes and rivers to cool and refresh our bodies.

As stock prices rise and fall we remember that we come empty handed into your kingdom, and that you give us all that we have. Please take back our tithes and offerings here, they have always been yours.

Lastly, Father, thank you for hearing the prayers of your stiff necked people, and thank you for hearing your son as he mediates for us.

All these things we pray in Jesus’ name, amen. (Jason Helsel)

Let Grace be Your Teacher

2011-08-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age" (Titus 2:11-12)

We tend to think that God's law is the best "teacher" and the most effective way to get people (including ourselves) to "renounce ungodliness...and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives." But according to Paul, the grace of God is much better suited for this task. And Victor Hugo seems to agree. Viz.

Coffee!

2011-08-23T05:49:00.000-07:00

Recipients or Stewards?

2011-08-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

(Romans 1:4-5) and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

(Ephesians 3:1-2) For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,

Paul understood himself to be a recipient of God’s grace, but note in both the passages above, he understood himself to be more than a recipient of God’s grace. In the first passage Paul notes that he received God’s grace in order to lead the Gentiles to the “obedience of faith.” And in the second passage Paul declares that he is a steward of God’s grace, given God’s saving mercies in order to pass them on to the Gentiles.

And this reminds us that God’s gifts only truly become ours as we purpose to give them away. We, like Paul, are not merely recipients of God’s grace, but stewards responsible to pass on the riches that God has entrusted to our oversight/administration. We are conduits, not repositories of Gospel riches.

Our Highest Priority

2011-08-15T06:02:00.000-07:00

"The thing that makes us a community, the thing that binds us together, is the fact that we worship together. Make worship your highest priority. When you do the vertical work of worship, you will discover that much of the horizontal work is already done. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another." (Douglas Wilson to the students returning to New Saint Andrews College)

Guitar Bird House

2011-08-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

How cool is this? (Thanks Richard and Coqui!)

The Blessings of Strife

2011-08-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

"He who wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper." (Edmund Burke)

In the Heat of Discord

2011-08-06T05:32:00.000-07:00

Wise counsel for pastors and congregants in the heat of discord. (Lord, please make me "quick to listen and slow to speak.")

Church Leaders and the Fellowship of the Grievance from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

One Thing

2011-08-04T08:56:00.000-07:00

“One thing have I asked of the LORD . . .” (Psalm 27:4)

“. . . but one thing is necessary.” (Luke 10:42)

“But one thing I do . . .” (Phil. 3:13)

"A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing.

It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He sees only one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God.

Whether he lives, or whether he dies – whether he has health, or whether he has sickness – whether he is rich, or whether he is poor–whether he pleases man, or whether he gives offense–whether he is thought wise, or whether he is thought foolish – whether he gets blame, or whether he gets praise – whether he gets honor, or whether he gets shame – for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing; and that one thing is to please God, and to advance God’s glory.

If he is consumed in the very burning, he cares not for it – he is content. He feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn; and if he is consumed in burning, he has but done the work for which God appointed him." (J. C. Ryle, Home Truths)

HT: Justin Taylor

Attack of the Killer Cliches!

2011-07-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

Funny and painful. Check it out here.

All the Families of the Earth

2011-06-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

God promised Abraham saying, "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Isaiah foretold a day when, "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). John foresaw a day when there would be "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb" (Rev. 7:9).

It seldom gets reported in the news (secular or Christian) that God is actually doing what He promised to do. But He is. Really. Consider the following:

Today there are approximately 6.7 billion people on the earth, comprised of approximately 24,000 people groups (ethnicities.) Of these 24,000 people groups, about 16,000 have embraced the Gospel of Jesus and now have solid, thriving churches committed to evangelizing their own people. This leaves about 8,000 people groups who lack churches, evangelists and scripture (in their own language.) Not bad considering where the church began 2000 years ago.

At Pentecost the disciples of Jesus were an infinitesimal portion of the human population (approximately 120 out of 170 million souls). But look how the church has grown in proportion to the general population!

By A.D. 100, one in every 360 people was an active believer

By A.D. 1000, one in every 270 people was an active believer

By A.D. 1500, one in every 85 was an active believer

By A.D. 1900, one in every 21 was an active believer

By A.D. 1970, one in every 13 was an active believer

By A.D. 2010, one in every 7.3 was an active believer

Now, as noted above, there are still about 8,000 ethnic people groups to be reached. But the good news is that the number of churches per unreached people group has gown dramaticaly over the last hundred years. Viz.:

In 1900 there were 20 churches/unreached people group

In 1970 there were 150 churches/unreached people group

In 2010 there were 1000 churches/unreached people group

This is not an excuse to “let go and let God.” Rather, this is a call for us to find our place in this incredible story of redemption that God is writing; to pray, give, send and go until the number of those who love and worship Jesus is, as John foresaw in his heavenly vision, beyond human reckoning.

*Statistics from the U.S. Center for World Missions

Great Commission Both/And

2011-06-13T05:58:00.000-07:00

As Spurgeon and others have noted, the doctrines of human respsonsibility and divine sovereignty have no need to be "reconciled" simply because (at least in God's mind) they are already "friends." A good example of this is the two ways in which the the New Testament speaks of the Great Commission and its fulfillment.

At the end of Matthews's Gospel Jesus gives the Great Commission as an imperative when he commands his followers, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19)

But in Luke's account of the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus speaks of the Great Commission as something that will certainly be fulfilled when he informs his disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

So which is it? Is the command to disciple the nations a directive for us to fulfill, or a certainty which God will sovereignly accomplish? Yes, and amen. And neither to the exclusion of the other.

Gospel Priorities

2011-06-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

My dear wife Ellen, my "minister to the minister", is constantly on the hunt for quotes and resources to stoke the fires of my teaching and preaching ministry. She is also an ardent fan of Alistair Begg from whom the following George Smeaton quotes were gleaned:

"When we lose sight of the grandeur of the Gospel, the passion for the lost will cease."

"To convert one sinner from his way is an event of greater importance than the deliverance of a whole kingdom from temporal evil."

Following the above quotes, Pastor Begg paraphrased Smeaton by saying, "To convert one sinner from his way is an event of greater importance than the deliverance of Sub-Saharan Africa from the problem of AIDS."

This might, at first glance, seem like an overstatement. But when you "do the math" it really is not. The suffering experienced by untold millions from the horrors of AIDS is, for all its pain and grief, finite suffering. The suffering of one sinner in hell, because of its severity and duration, is infinite suffering.

Smeaton is right, when we lose sight of the greatness of the Good News, we cease to care for those who are perishing in their sin. We cease to be distressed at the prospect of our neighbors spending an eternity in hell. But the opposite is just as true: When we are daily reveling in the gracious extent of God's saving mercies, enjoying sweet communion with God, in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and walking consciously in what David termed "the joy of our salvation", then we are filled care and concern for the lost and are moved, not merely by duty, but rather by joy to invite them to love, worship and enjoy Jesus as we do.

May God restore to us a vision of "the grandeur of the Gospel."

According to Plan

2011-05-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

As Spurgeon once noted, we should never try to reconcile the doctrines of divine sovereignty and human responsibility simply because they were never at odds to begin with. They are, at least in holy writ, "friends" if you will.

But this does not prevent many from trying to twist and wrack the doctrine of divine election into something a bit less offensive, and a bit more logical. But Graeme Goldsworthy, in his most excellent introduction to biblical theology, warns those who would attempt to revise God's revelation:

"Election is a principle that is developed throughout the biblical history, and we should be careful not to misunderstand it or try to reshape it by human logic into a more acceptable doctrine. We cannot solve this mystery by resorting to easy solutions such as suggesting that God foresees the faith of those whom he subsequently, and on that basis, elects. Nor may we erect false, if apparently logical, objections to the doctrine such as saying that election based on God's free grace reduces us to robots or puppets on a string with no wills or power to make choices." (Graeme Goldsworthy, According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible.)

Saved to Save

2011-05-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? (Proverbs 24:11-12)

The Christian life is all about rescue. God has rescued us from His just and holy wrath, and doing so, has turned us into the instruments that He will use to rescue others from the same. As Solomon notes in Proverbs 24, rescuing others is not optional. It is an activity for which the LORD will call us to account. And note that the LORD will not accept ignorance as a valid excuse for not attempting to "hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter."

Life Together IV

2011-05-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…” (Colossians 3:16a)

Although it is right and good to hold in high esteem the importance and efficacy of the Word preached, we ought nonetheless to remember the importance of ministering God’s Word to one another daily simply by speaking it to one another. To do this aright, we need to understand and apply the three things commanded by Paul in his letter to the Christians in Colosse.

Firstly, we need to be personally taking in the Word of God until it can be truly said that it “dwells in us richly.” In other words, to the extent that scripture colors the way that we look at everything, directing the way that we interact with others and even giving shape to our affections and desires. And this is only accomplished by means of a steady diet of hearing the Word read, sung and preached in the great assembly, and personal Bible reading, meditation and memorization.

Secondly, Paul reminds us the Word of God treasured up in our souls in not for our benefit alone. It is to be shared with the brethren in ways ranging from encouragement to reproof and everything in between.

And lastly Paul insists that we minister the Word of God to one another “in all wisdom.” To be sure “all of Scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, reproof, etc.” But to minister the Word wisely we must know, not only the content of the Bible, but the present needs of our brother or sister; particularly the unique way they need to hear the Gospel applied to their present circumstances. And the only way to do this is to live in the sort of tight-knit, knowing-and-being-known, serving-and-being-served, loving-and-being-loved community to which God calls every disciple of Jesus Christ.

As Bonhoeffer noted:

“…God has put this Word into the mouth of men in order that it may be communicated to other men. When one person is struck by the Word, he speaks it to others. God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of a man. Therefore the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s sure.” (Life Together, p. 22-23)

Life Together III

2011-05-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

One of the surest proofs of our desperate need for ongoing sanctification is our ability to turn the great blessings of God into burdensome duties. God enjoins His people take a day off once a week and we immediately begin to fret, moan and argue about all the things we can’t do and can’t get done. God assures us that children are a very great blessing and we immediately run the cost/benefit analysis in order to calculate how raising offspring will negatively affect our future, freedom and finances. Similarly and sadly, many Christians have twisted the inestimable blessing of Christian fellowship into an irksome duty to be performed and endured. But Bonhoeffer reminds us:

“The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer…It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of the Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the Kingdom of God that any day may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed. Therefore, let him who until now had had the privilege of living a common Christian life with other Christians praise God’s grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.” (Life Together, pages 19,20)

Life Together II

2011-05-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

As Bonhoeffer correctly notes, we modern Christians take so very much for granted:

“So between the death of Christ and the Last Day it is only by a gracious anticipation of the last things that Christians are privileged to live the life of fellowship with other Christians. It is by the grace of God that a congregation is permitted to gather visibly in this world to share God’s Word and sacrament. Not all Christians receive this blessing. The imprisoned, the sick, the scattered lonely, the proclaimers of the Gospel in heathen lands stand alone. They know that visible fellowship is a blessing.” (Life Together, p. 18)

Life Together I

2011-05-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading the new biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxes and very much enjoying it. And reading this excellent offering has sent me back to one of my all-time favorites books by Bonhoeffer: Life Together (a discussion of Christian fellowship). I have read and reread Life Together several times. But having a new/deeper understanding of the historical and theological context in which it was written is making this reread particularly sweet and edifying. Here’s a little slice from the chapter entitled Community (pages 17-18):

“It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians. Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of the cloistered life but in the thick of the foes. There is his commission, his work.”

And then commenting and querying with a quote from Martin Luther he writes:

“'The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever had been spared?'”

Stay tuned for more…

Ode to the KJV

2011-05-16T05:32:00.000-07:00

I grew up Christian. I came down the birth canal and landed in church. I cannot remember a time when I was not being prayed with and prayed for. Growing up, I very often went to sleep to the sounds of saints downstairs in our living room praying and singing choruses lifted directly from the King James Version (e.g. "Therefore the redeemed of the LORD...") My first Bible was a KJV, read to me before I could read it for myself, and read by me for decades after that. Most of the scripture that I have committed to memory is from the KJV and most of the Bible study tools that I have acquired over the years are keyed to this wonderful translation of the origninal text. The name of this blog is a tribute to the portions of the KJV that I don't understand, but whose lyric poetry I love nonetheless.

Just like the culture that I live in, I have been profoundly shaped by the words and cadences of the KJV. The difference being that I recognize and give thanks for such, while my culture does not. Enjoy the video.

For Ellen

2011-05-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

Depth? Accountability? Outreach? Pshaw!

2011-05-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

Haha, ouch. Haha, ouch (repeat.)

Meals, Community and Mission

2011-05-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

I very much enjoyed Tim Chester's "Total Church" and now he has a new book describing the communal and missional potency of shared meals. Here is Justin Taylor's interview with Chester about his new book. It looks like a good read.

"An elder must be...hospitable" (Paul)

2011-05-02T07:41:00.000-07:00

(Hebrews 13:2) Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

In 1 Timothy 3, Paul outlines the qualifications requisite for a man who would serve the church of Jesus Christ as an elder. One of the character traits listed is “hospitable” which in Koine Greek is a compound of two words, philo (brotherly love) and xenos (alien, stranger, one who is without.) We tend to think of hosting a fellowship meal for our Christian brothers and sisters as practicing “hospitality”, but as Darrin Patrick observes:

“Contrary to popular belief, this qualification doesn’t mean that the pastor and his wife should have potlucks at their house for all the people in the church. Nor does it mean that pastors’ home should be a revolving door for people in the church to come and hang out, watch network television, and “do community.” The word “hospitable” refers to the way the pastor and his family welcome those outside the faith. In other words, to be hospitable is to be a friend of sinners and thus to be like Jesus.”

Neither Boy Nor Man, Ban

2011-05-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

“We live in a world full of males who have prolonged their adolescence. They are neither boys nor men. They live, suspended as it were, between childhood and adulthood, between growing up and being grown-ups. Let’s call this male Ban, a hybrid of both boy and man. Ban is juvenile because there has been an entire niche created for him to live in the lusts of his youth. The accompanying culture not only tolerates this behavior but encourages and endorses it. (Consider magazines like Maxim or movies like Wedding Crashers.) This kind of male is everywhere, including the church and even, frighteningly, vocational ministry.

Ban may be a frightening reality in the church, but he is the best thing that ever happened to the video game industry. Almost half (about 48 percent) of American males between the ages of eighteen to thirty-four play video games every day – for almost four hours. The average video game buyer is thirty-seven years old.” (from the Preface of Darrin Patrick’s, Church Planter)

O, let the nations be glad...

2011-04-29T05:24:00.000-07:00

Peter Leithart once quipped that his ideal Sunday morning liturgy would be "Nigerian Anglican." In other words a worship service that blended the timeless truths and forms of historical Christendom with the full-bodied gladness of culture not yet calloused to the freeness of God's free-grace and eager to worship the LORD with hands as well as heart. Enjoy.

HT: Allie Bradley

"Next time someone asks me..."

2011-04-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

Ouch. Sadly, those of us who regard ourselves as the guardians of "the doctrines of free grace" are not generally regarded as either the preachers or practitioners of the same. Trevin Wax has some helpful thoughts on this regrettable situation here.

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives

2011-04-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

Ordinary people, living extraordinary lives, because of Jesus...

Soma Communities - Tacoma, WA from Verge Network on Vimeo.

HT: Scott Welch

The Most Urgent Duty

2011-04-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

From the Introduction of Evangelism, edited by John MacArthur

“…the cares of this world and the distractions of daily life vie for our time and attention. Eventually, as the disciple becomes more and more familiar with the gospel, that profound initial sense of wonder and amazement fades somewhat. The gospel is still good news, of course, but we begin to think of it as old news, and that sense of urgency is lost.

It is therefore necessary to remind ourselves constantly how utterly vital the task of evangelism is, and how desperately in need of the gospel this fallen world is. Evangelism is not merely one incidental activity in the life of the church; it is the most urgent duty we as Christians have been given to do. Virtually every other spiritual exercise we do together as members of Christ’s body we will still be able to do in heaven-praising God, enjoying fellowship with one another, savoring the richness of God’s Word, and celebrating the truth together. But now is the only time we have for proclaiming the gospel to the lost and winning people to Christ. We seriously need to be redeeming the time (Eph. 5:16).

A Christian does not need to be individually called or specially gifted to be a herald of the good news; we are commanded to be witnesses of Christ, commissioned to train others to be disciples. This is an individual obligation, not merely the collective responsibility of the church. No duty is more significant, and none bears more eternally rewarding fruit.

Furthermore, the field are white for harvest (John 4:35). The current generation is as ripe for the gospel message as any other generation in history. No matter what aspect of contemporary culture you examine, what you will discover are crying spiritual needs-and people whose souls are parched and famished for truth. The answer to such a spiritual famine in our land is not the artificial arousal of religious sentiment, not more political activism, not a better public relations campaign, and certainly not for Christians to adapt their message to the prevailing secular worldview.” (page 8)

A Special Thanks to the Folk at GCC

2011-04-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

"For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you." (Paul to Philemon)

A very special thanks to the elders of Grace Covenant Church for "refreshing" my heart and the heart of my dear wife, Ellen.

At every gathering of The Spurgeon Fellowship the good folk at GCC treat two pastors (and their wives!) to a one night stay at the beautiful Bavarian Lodge in Leavenworth, WA. And at our last TSF, Ellen and I were blessed to receive one of the certificates.

We went up to Leavenworth late Sunday afternoon for our stay. We'd never been inside the Bavarian Lodge before. Wow, and double wow. The old country charm and beauty of the lobby lowered our blood pressure a few points even before we had reached our room on the fourth floor overlooking downtown Leavenworth.

Upon entering the room we were blessed to discover that a CBF (Christian Book Fairy) had visited our room and deposited ten treasures by authors Piper, Mahaney, Alcorn, Goldsworthy, etc. There was also dinner money tucked into an thankyou card (isn't that a bit backwards? Uhmmm...You're welcome for giving us this gracious gift????) Don't you just love the ridiculousness of grace?

We had appetizers, salads, and a really nice bottle of Italian wine at Visconti's Restaurant, strolled back to the hotel and snuggled in to our Bavarian refuge. The next morning we slept in, read together, went for a walk along the river and ended our retreat with brunch at Sandy's Waffle Haus.

Dear folk at Grace Covenant Church, I can't say it any better than the apostle Paul. So, from Ellen and me, we have derived much joy and comfort from your love, our brothers and sisters, because our hearts have been refreshed through you. Thank you!

With Gospel Affection,

Gene and Ellen

National Debt as MPH

2011-04-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

Very scary, but very helpful.

Without the Gospel...

2011-04-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

John Calvin’s preface to Pierre-Robert Olivétan’s 1535 translation of the Bible. “To all those who love Christ and his gospel,” Calvin writes:

Without the gospel

---everything is useless and vain;

without the gospel

---we are not Christians;

without the gospel

---all riches is poverty,

---all wisdom, folly before God;

---strength is weakness, and

---all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God.

But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made

---children of God,

---brothers of Jesus Christ,

---fellow townsmen with the saints,

---citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven,

---heirs of God with Jesus Christ,

by whom

---the poor are made rich,

---the weak strong,

---the fools wise,

---the sinners justified,

---the desolate comforted,

---the doubting sure, and

---slaves free.

The gospel is the Word of life.

HT: Justin Taylor

Doxology

2011-04-10T05:37:00.000-07:00

Niiice.

Belief and Insecurity

2011-04-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

Way to go red shirt guy!

Rob Bell: "Peter lost faith in himself (not Jesus)"

2011-04-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

Yikes.

Robbed Hell Video (Bravo!)

2011-04-04T05:54:00.000-07:00

Robbed Hell - C.A.S.T. Pearls Presents from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

Functional Universalism

2011-03-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

Do We Really Believe What We're Saying? from The Church at Brook Hills on Vimeo.

HT: Justin Taylor

Spurgeon on Loving the Lost

2011-03-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Charles Haddon Spurgeon on love for the lost:

To be laughed at is no great hardship for me. I can delight in scoffs and jeers. . . .

But that you should turn from your own mercy, this is my sorrow.

Spit on me, but oh repent!

Laugh at me, but, oh, believe in my Master!

Make my body as the dirt in the streets, but do not damn your own souls.

He also passionately exhorts the church:

If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies.

And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay.

If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one person go there unwarned and unprayed for.

Further, he instructs:

The Holy Spirit will move them by first moving you.

If you can rest without their being saved, they will rest, too.

But if you are filled with an agony for them, if you cannot bear that they are lost, you will soon find that they are uneasy, too.

HT: Justin Taylor

I'd like you to meet my former pastor...

2011-03-07T06:28:00.000-08:00

Ellen and I were blessed to have Jim Wilson as our pastor when we were first married. Jim discipled me before we were married, gave the exhortation from God's Word at our wedding ceremony and he and his wife, Bessie, continued to pastor/disciple us for six months after we were married. The story that Pastor Wilson tells in this short video is one drawn from a barrel of several million that he could tell, a barrel of evangelistic encounters that is still being added to, even to this day. Enjoy.

Stories with Jim Wison: Korean War from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation...

2011-03-05T07:38:00.000-08:00

"Take ten minutes and let your heart break and burn, weeping with joy along with brothers and sisters you will only meet in heaven:" (Justin Taylor)

Prescription for the Day: A Sheet of Paper

2011-03-01T04:59:00.000-08:00

As the second wisest man who ever lived noted, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine..." So stop taking yourself and your problems so seriously and go find a piece of paper. I think maybe we can learn a thing or two from little Micah.

Eight Tips for Talking to Your Kids About the Sermon

2011-02-25T08:08:00.000-08:00

By Joe Holland

They sit there next to you and their feet don’t even hit the floor. You’re thinking, “What, if anything of this guy’s sermon is sinking into my kid’s head?” And with that little thought you’ve already decided not to engage your child about the sermon. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Let me introduce you to the most important rule when talking to your kids about the sermon: They retain more than you think they do. The second most important rule is like it: They understand more than you think they do.

In the interest of these two truths I’m writing this brief guide on how to talk to your kids about a sermon. I’m writing it both as a preacher and as a parent of four boys under the age of 8. I’ve failed, succeeded, and failed some more at talking to my kids about Jesus. Hopefully the tips you find below will help you as they’ve helped me.

At the heart of the gospel is Jesus introducing us to his loving Father. In worship we get to make a similar introduction—we get to introduce our kids to Jesus. Don’t miss that opportunity.

8 Tips for Talking to your Kids about the Sermon

1. Remember the outline. It doesn’t matter if you keep written notes or not. Remember the gist of what is being taught. If your pastor preaches for 40 minutes, then try to make a mental note of what you’ve covered at the 20 minute point. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t get every point. Get as many of the big ones as you can.

2. Know the one, main point. Every passage and every sermon—no matter what your pastor says—has a main point. Grab it when you see it go by and don’t let go. And as a word of caution, every preacher has a bad day. Sometimes the structure of the sermon looks like a piece of abstract art. If so, do the best you can. But don’t let the guy close in prayer without having a main point in your head.

3. How is Jesus the hero? Now that you have an outline and main point, make sure you have Jesus too. How was Jesus the hero of the sermon? Kids are incorrigibly self-centered—and so are a few adults. Make sure you have a ton to say about Jesus, no matter what the passage or where the preacher went with it. Without an emphasis on Jesus your little saints will grow up thinking that the Bible is all about them.

4. Engage your kids with open ended questions. You know the outline and you can keep to the main point. You know you’re going to talk a ton about Jesus. Now engage your kids with any kind of question you can think of… except ones that can be answered, “yes” or “no”. Here are some examples:
o In the story questions: “What would have thought if you were an Israelite soldier and saw big ol’ Goliath walking up to little David?”
o Emotions questions: “If you were blind, how would you feel if Jesus put his hands on your eyes and fixed them so they could see?”
o Leading questions: “The rich young ruler was wrong because he thought he could earn God’s favor. Why is it silly to think we can earn God’s favor by doing enough good things?”
o Action questions: “What would you have done if Jesus had made a hurricane turn into a cool breeze right in front of you?”
o Application questions: “If Jesus has forgiven you, do you think you can forgive Tommy when he wings a Tonka truck at your head?”
o Use your imagination questions: You know your kids best. Make up some questions.

5. Make sure the gospel is clear. Jesus died for sinners. It’s very simple and can get very complex. But no matter the passage, don’t you dare teach your kids moralism. Tell them that Jesus has done everything necessary for them to know that God is overjoyed with them. When you tell them to do something, feel something, or think something, show them how those things are motivated by God’s love and not by fear, guilt, or pride.

6. Be the first to pray and confess. Talking to your kids about the sermon is as much letting them watch you learn from the sermon as it is teaching them about the sermon. If the preacher is helping your congregation diagnose sin, show your kids how it affected you. You could say, “You know, sometimes, daddy struggles with being angry. And it’s then that I realize I really need Jesus.” And when it comes time to pray, let them pray after you. Model for them what it looks like for a Christian to talk to God.

7. Chase rabbit trails. Your kids will lead you down them. Go with them. You’ll find out a ton about how they think. And you may just enjoy the unexpected stroll off the beaten path.

8. Remember the first two rules. After all this, it may be you feel like it was a complete waste of time. It’s at that point you must remember the first two rules:
o They retain more than you think they do.
o They understand more than you think they do.

And I promise you this, they will remember these times with you. They will forget a ton. But they won’t forget Sunday afternoons with daddy and mommy talking about Jesus.

Planned Parenthood

2011-02-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

This will simultaneously take your breath away, break your heart and fill you with rage.

Love Is....

2011-02-14T06:26:00.000-08:00

Here is Justin Taylor's distillation of Paul Tripp's thoughts on the nature of love taken from Tripp's excellent book on marriage, What Did You Expect?

“Love is willing self-sacrifice for the good of another that does not require reciprocation or that the person being loved is deserving”

Love is willing. Jesus said, “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18). The decisions, words, and actions of love always grow in the soil of a willing heart. You cannot force a person to love. If you are forcing someone to love, by the very nature of the act you are demonstrating that this person doesn’t in fact love.

Love is willing self-sacrifice.

There is no such thing as love without sacrifice.

Love calls you beyond the borders of your own wants, needs, and feelings.

Love calls you to be willing to invest time, energy, money, resources, personal ability, and gifts for the good of another.

Love calls you to lay down your life in ways that are concrete and specific.

Love calls you to serve, to wait, to give, to suffer, to forgive, and to do all these things again and again.

Love calls you to be silent when you want to speak, and to speak when you would like to be silent.

Love calls you to act when you would really like to wait, and to wait when you would really like to act.

Love calls you to stop when you really want to continue, and it calls you to continue when you feel like stopping.

Love again and again calls you away from your instincts and your comfort.

Love always requires personal sacrifice.

Love calls you to give up your life.

Love is willing self-sacrifice for the good of another.

Love always has the good of another in view.

Love is motivated by the interests and needs of others.

Love is excited at the prospect of alleviating burdens and meeting needs.

Love feels poor when the loved one is poor.

Love suffers when the loved one suffers.

Love wants the best for the loved one and works to deliver it.

Love is willing self-sacrifice for the good of another that does not require reciprocation.

The Bible says that Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. If he had waited until we were able to reciprocate, there would be no hope for us.

Love isn’t a “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” bargain.

Love isn’t about placing people in our debt and waiting for them to pay off their debts.

Love isn’t a negotiation for mutual good.

Real love does not demand reciprocation, because real love isn’t motivated by the return on the investment. No, real love is motivated by the good that will result in the life of the person being loved.

Love is willing self-sacrifice for the good of another that does not require reciprocation or that the person being loved is deserving.
Christ was willing to go to the cross and carry our sin precisely because there was nothing that we could ever do to earn, achieve, or deserve the love of God. If you are interested only in loving people who are deserving, the reality is that you are not motivated by love for them but by love for yourself. Love does its best work when the other person is undeserving. It is in these moments that love is most needed. It is in these moments that love is protective and preventative. It stays the course while refusing to quit or to get down and get dirty and give way to things that are anything but love.

There is never a day in your marriage when you aren’t called to be willing.

There is never a day in your marriage when some personal sacrifice is not needed.

There is never a day when you are free from the need to consider the good of your husband or wife.

There is never a day when you aren’t called to do what is not reciprocated and to offer what has not been deserved.

There is never a day when your marriage can coast along without being infused by this kind of love.

HT: Justin Taylor

God is Always at Work

2011-02-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

“One of the things we don’t preach well is that ministry that looks fruitless is constantly happening in the Scriptures. We don’t do conferences on that.” (Matt Chandler)

Logos Benefit Concert

2011-02-10T05:08:00.000-08:00

Check it out.

Logos 30 Year Birthday Benefit Concert Trailer from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

Don't Interrupt Me When I'm Reading a Book

2011-01-28T05:35:00.000-08:00

I get this.

HT: Jacque Black

Satan's Battle Plan

2011-01-26T04:26:00.000-08:00

"As the King of Syria commanded his captains to fight neither with small nor great, but only with the King of Israel, so the prince of the power of the air seems to bend all the force of his attack against the spirit of prayer. If he should prove victorious there, he has won the day." (Dr. Andrew Bonar)

The Message of the Bible in One Sentance

2011-01-16T05:23:00.000-08:00

Dane Ortland over at Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology recently asked a gaggle of wise men the following: "What's the Message of the Bible in One Sentence?" Below are their answers:

Greg Beale:
The OT storyline appears best to be summarized as: the historical story of God who progressively reestablishes his new creational kingdom out of chaos over a sinful people by his word and Spirit through promise, covenant, and redemption, resulting in worldwide commission to the faithful to extend that new creation rule and resulting in judgment for the unfaithful (defeat and exile), all of which issues into his glory; the NT storyline can be summarized as: Jesus’ life of covenantal obedience, trials, judgmental death for sinners, and especially resurrection by the Spirit has launched the fulfillment of the eschatological already-and-not-yet promised new creation reign, bestowed by grace through faith and resulting in worldwide commission to the faithful to extend this new creation rule and resulting in judgment for the unfaithful, unto God’s glory.

Dan Block:
God was so covenantally committed to the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him may have eternal life!

Craig Blomberg:
God is in the process of recreating the universe which has been corrupted by sin and has made it possible for all those and only those who follow Jesus to be a part of the magnificent, eternal community that will result.

Darrell Bock:
The Bible tells how the loving Creator God restored a lost humanity and cosmos through reestablishing his rule through Jesus Christ and the provision of life to His honor.

Mark Dever:
God has made promises to bring His people to Himself and He is fulfilling them all through Christ.

Kevin DeYoung:
A holy God sends his righteous Son to die for unrighteous sinners so we can be holy and live happily with God forever.

Zack Eswine:
Apprenticing with Jesus to become human again.

John Frame:
God glorifies himself in the redemption of sinners.

Scott Hafemann:
The Triune God is the beginning, middle, and end of everything, 'for from him (as Creator) and through him (as Sustainer and Redeemer) and to him (as Judge) are all things' (Rom 11:36).

David Helm:
Jesus is the promised Savior-King.

Paul House:
The movement in history from creation to new creation through the redemptive work of Father, Son, and Spirit who saves and changes corrupted people and places for his glory and their good.

Gordon Hugenberger:
The message of the Bible in one sentence is that genuine truth, unlike every human philosophy, is far too luxuriant, too enthralling, too personal, too all-encompassing, too sovereign, and too life-changing to be reducible to one sentence (or, as Einstein once put it, the challenge is to 'make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler').

Kent Hughes:
God is redeeming his creation by bringing it under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Andreas Kostenberger:
'God so loved the world that the gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life' (John 3:16).

Phil Long:
God, who made us and everything else, loves us and gave himself for us that we might live forever with him as new creatures in a new creation—the news is good!

Sean Lucas:
The message of the Bible is the transforming grace of God displayed preeminently in Jesus Christ.

Ray Ortlund:
The Lover of our souls won't let the romance die, but is rekindling it forever.

Grant Osborne:
God created mankind in order to love them, but we all rejected his love, so God sent His Son to bear our sins on the cross in order that by believing in His sacrificial atonement, we might have life.

George Robertson:
The Bible is the record of God's promise of and deliverance through Jesus Christ.

Leland Ryken:
The message of the Bible is twofold: to show how people can be saved from their sins through faith in Christ's atonement AND how to live all of life as a follower of God.

Tom Schreiner:
God reigns over all things for his glory, but we will only enjoy his saving reign in the new heavens and the new earth if we repent and believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the crucified and risen Lord and who gave himself on the cross for our salvation.

Mark Seifrid:
Verbum caro factum est.

Jay Sklar:
The first sentence that comes to mind is that of my colleague Michael D. Williams, who describes the Bible's story about the world as follows: God made it, we broke it, Jesus fixes it!

Erik Thoennes:
The main message of the Bible is that the one true God is displaying his glory primarily in redeeming and restoring his fallen creation by fulfilling his covenant promises and commands through the glorious person and atoning work of Christ.

Doug Wilson:
Scripture tells us the story of how a Garden is transformed into a Garden City, but only after a dragon had turned that Garden into a howling wilderness, a haunt of owls and jackals, which lasted until an appointed warrior came to slay the dragon, giving up his life in the process, but with his blood effecting the transformation of the wilderness into the Garden City.

Bob Yarbrough:
He—God in Christ—shall reign forever and ever; so today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart but believing the good news take up your cross and follow Jesus.

Very helpful, brothers! Thanks very much for this. And may I say how particularly tickled I am with the brevity of Seifrid, Frame, and Helm, the strategic literary deployment of chiasm and alliteration by DeYoung, and the answer that is more substantive than some whole dissertations I have read, despite having less than .0001% the words, by Beale.

My response would be something like: Despite ongoing rebellion on our part, the holy God of the universe refuses to leave us to wallow in our sin, eventually and climactically becoming one of us, in the moral mud, to restore us to glory, if we will receive his love in trusting contrition. (Dane Ortland)

Not So Little Drummer Boys

2011-01-15T07:26:00.000-08:00

Ya gotta love these guys!

A Little Help for My Friends

2011-01-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

"In the morning we should look forward to the duties of the day, anticipating those situations in which temptation may lurk, and preparing ourselves to embrace such opportunities of usefulness as may be presented to us. In the evening we ought to remark upon the providences which have befallen us, consider our attainment in holiness, and endeavor to profit by the lessons which God would have us learn. And, always, we must acknowledge and forsake sin. Then there are the the numberless themes of prayer which our desires for the good estate of the Church of God, for the conversion and sanctification of our friends and acquaintances, for the furtherance of missionary effort, and for the coming of the kingdom of Christ may suggest. All this cannot be pressed into a few crowded moments. We must be at leisure when we enter the secret place." (David McIntyre, The Hidden Life of Prayer)

This book is, as John Piper, Wayne Grudem and others have noted, a rare gem and probably worth reading at least once a year.

In an effort to simplify McIntyre's above exhortation I have begun praying DOT morning and evening. In the morning seeking God's grace for the duties, opportunites and tempatations that lie before me and rehearsing God's promises for the same. And then in the evening praying DOT again, this time looking for lessons learned, seeking forgiveness for neglects and transgressions of God's law and rehearsing God's delight to pardon, cleanse and receive me for Jesus' sake. For one who is so easily discouraged in prayer, this simple exercise has been a great help already, to me and a handful of saints who began praying thusly after hearing about it in sermon a few weeks ago.

If you purchase and read the book for yourself I would love to hear your comments here at Parbar Westward. Blessings!

Helping You Realize Your Untapped Love for Classical Music

2011-01-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

I laughed as Benjamin Zander explained the glory of "one buttock" piano playing. And I'm not embarrassed to say that I wept when he played the final chord of the Chopin prelude. This presentation is a twofer. It is at the same time a lovely apologetic for classical music and a prime example of true communication. If you watch the lecture you'll most likely laugh and you might even shed a tear, but you won't think the same about classical music again. This guy is a-mazing. You can enjoy the video for yourself here. Let me know what you think.

HT: Rachelle ("Good-morning Rochelle") Johnson

Desire. Choice. Consequence.

2011-01-03T06:28:00.000-08:00

I love stories and enjoy musing about their structure and what makes them work (or not work.) If we are to understand the grand story of redemption that God is currently writing, and our own stories within the grand story, then we simply must understand the nature and flow of story.

I recently read this article by Jonathan Rogers that appeared on website that I frequent and found some helpful insights into both the structure of story and how to use it to form godly character in our children (and grandchildren.) You can read the full article here, and here (below) is an excerpt to pique your interest. Enjoy.

Desire. Choice. Consequence. It’s what character is made of too.

It is that parallel between story development and character development that makes story such a valuable tool in shaping your child’s character. In the midst of life’s battles, it can be hard for a child—for any of us—to step back far enough to see the connection between desire, choice, and consequence. In a well-told story, on the other hand, it is easier to see the big picture, even as we inhabit it in a small way.

If you are going to use stories as a means of shaping your child’s character, it is important, of course, to find stories that teach the right things. But that is not the only important thing; it is at least as important that you get in the habit of talking to your child about the stories he or she experiences. Help your child see the connection between desire, choice, and consequence by asking questions like these about the stories you read together:

- Why do you think the character made that choice? What was he trying to get?
- Did that choice get him what he wanted?
- What else did it get him?
- What was the cost of that choice?
- Do you think the choice was worth the cost?

Ten Questions With Which to Begin the New Year

2011-01-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.

1.What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2.What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3.What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4.In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5.What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6.What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7.For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8.What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?
9.What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10.What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

The value of many of these questions is not in their profundity, but in the simple fact that they bring an issue or commitment into focus. For example, just by articulating which person you most want to encourage this year is more likely to help you remember to encourage that person than if you hadn’t considered the question. (Don Whitney, author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life)

HT: Justin Taylor

Swagger Wagon

2010-12-30T07:17:00.000-08:00

For over a decade we drove our little family everywhere in a 1997 Dodge Caravan that we nick-named "Moby" (guess what color it was.) This is for you Moby, long may you run, long may you run...

Why We Worship the Way We Do

2010-12-29T08:11:00.000-08:00

Several years ago our session of elders read and was profoundly challenged and encouraged by a book called "The Lord's Service" by Jeffrey Myers. The book is a biblical rationale for a form of worship that Myers' calls "covenant renewal." In the five minute video (below) Pastor Doug Wilson briefly explains the essence of the covenant renewal pattern. And then farther below is an excerpt from our weekly bulletin explaining the same.

Covenant Renewal Worship from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

The essence of true worship is covenant renewal. Lord’s Day worship is a time when God reaffirms His covenant relation to His people, communing with, informing and transforming them, and then re-sending them into the world in order to remake the world after the heavenly priorities, patterns and protocols revealed to them in God’s presence.

The rhythm of worship is antiphonal: Throughout the service, God speaks to us and we respond.

The mode of worship is spiritual and incarnational: We worship God with our spirits, our hands, and our voices, employing various appropriate bodily postures.

Call to worship: God comes near and calls His people out of the world to gather in His presence. He graciously takes hold of us and brings us near to Himself

Confession and Forgiveness: God reminds us what He has done for us in Christ and declares His interest in restoring us again to His favor in Christ. We confess our sins and God absolves us of guilt. God graciously reminds us that we bear the name Christian and are members of His family in Christ. He tears us from our old sinful ways and renews His love for us in Christ.

Consecration: God speaks to us through his Word read, sung and preached. We, His people, respond by giving ourselves and our gifts as fitting offerings.

Communion: God invites us to commune with Him at His Table, and we respond by memorializing His covenant and enjoying His faithful provisions at the family feast.

Commission and Benediction: God blesses us and charges us to extend His kingdom into the future and into the world, making disciples of all nations. We are dismissed from God's special presence, transformed, renewed and equipped for this task.

I Heard the Bells

2010-12-25T13:58:00.000-08:00

Peace to you!

I'll Be Home For Christmas (in beautiful 3-part harmony)

2010-12-23T18:49:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Praise Begins in the Back of the Cave

2010-12-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

Praise begins in the cave from Canon Wired on Vimeo.

Extravagant Mercy

2010-12-02T05:12:00.000-08:00

Although it is right and good for us to note and be thankful for God's special kindness to His people over the millennia, we should also be careful to note and marvel at God's common kindness to those who hate Him and His ways. As Jesus reminded us in the Sermon on the Mount, our heavenly Father "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

Christians afflicted by the "Last Days Madness" hype of our day tend to ignore or downplay the data presented in the video below because it doesn't support their "countdown to Armageddon" scenarios. Liberals likewise ignore or downplay the same data because it decreases the perceived need for more and more government intervention.

The gifts of longevity and wealth are not to be confused with the blessings of divine forgiveness and eternal life. However, that said, we should gratefully acknowledge both the gifts and the giver just the same. Enjoy.

"Pretty neat, huh?"

Mr. Etiquette-Person

2010-11-24T06:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr. Etiquette-Person, When someone informs you that they are "courting", what is the proper response?

Wondering in Wenatchee

Dear Wondering, Before I suggest what you should say, let me begin by indicating what you should not say: "Congratulations!" Given that the commencement of courtship is merely the beginning of a process, it's a bit premature to congratulate someone for doing so. It's kind of like congratulating a race-car driver for starting his engine before the big race ("Hey Jimmie Johnson, good job!!!") Better to say something like, "Thanks for letting us know, we'll be praying for you" and save the congratulations for the the announcement of the engagement.

MEP

Dear Mr. Etiquette-Person, Then why did you "congratulate" a couple last evening when you heard that they were courting?

Still Wondering in Wenatchee

Dear SWiW, Because I am, as the Monty Python troupers were fond of saying, "a silly person."

MEP

Especially Eternal Suffering

2010-11-22T06:43:00.000-08:00

From John Piper’s address to the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization:

"One truth is that when the gospel takes root in our souls it impels us out toward the alleviation of all unjust suffering in this age. That’s what love does!

The other truth is that when the gospel takes root in our souls it awakens us to the horrible reality of eternal suffering in hell, under the wrath of a just and omnipotent God. And it impels us to rescue the perishing, and to warn people to flee from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:10).

I plead with you. Don’t choose between those two truths. Embrace them both. It doesn’t mean we all spend our time in the same way. God forbid. But it means we let the Bible define reality and define love.

Could Lausanne say—could the evangelical church say—we Christians care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering? I hope we can say that. But if we feel resistant to saying “especially eternal suffering,” or if we feel resistant to saying “we care about all suffering in this age,” then either we have a defective view of hell or a defective heart.

I pray that Lausanne would have neither."

(HT: Justin Taylor)

International Security Threat Levels

2010-11-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

•The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats, and have therefore raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved”. Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross”. The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940, when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance”. The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

•The Scots have raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let’s get the Bastards”. They don’t have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

•The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide”. The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender”. The rise as precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France’s white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country’s military capability.

•Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing”. Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides”.

•The Germans have increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs”. They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbor” and “Lose”.

•Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

•The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

•Canada doesn’t have any alert levels.

•New Zealand has raised its security levels – from “baaa” to “BAAAA”. Because of continuing defense cutbacks, New Zealand has only one more level of escalation, which is “I hope Australia will come and rescue us”.

•Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from “No worries” to “She’ll be alright, mate”. Three more escalation levels remain: “Crikey!”, “I think we’ll need to cancel the barbie this weekend” and “The barbie is cancelled”. So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.
(From the website The Whole Garden Will Bow)

HT: Samuel Stephen Thomas

Way Back Home

2010-11-20T06:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a new short film featuring the skills of the amazing Danny MacAskill. Sit back an enjoy the beautiful Scottish vistas, stirring Celtic music and plenty of "How the heck does he do that?"-street-biking-meets-scenic-Scotland. Amazing. Really.

(HT: Ken Johnson)

What God is Up to When Life is Hard

2010-11-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

In Knowing God (p. 97, my emphases) J. I. Packer writes about how to understand the “unexpected and upsetting and discouraging things” that happen to us. What do they mean?

"Simply that God in his wisdom means to make something of us which we have not attained yet, and he is dealing with us accordingly."

Then Packer ponders the possible purposes God might have in mind for you:

"Perhaps he means to strengthen us in patience, good humor, compassion, humility, or meekness, by giving us some extra practice in exercising these graces under especially difficult conditions.

Perhaps he has new lessons in self-denial and self-distrust to teach us.

Perhaps he wishes to break us of complacency, or unreality, or undetected forms of pride and conceit.

Perhaps his purpose is simply to draw us closer to himself in conscious communion with him; for it is often the case, as all the saints know, that fellowship with the Father and the Son is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy is greatest, when the cross is heaviest. . . .

Or perhaps God is preparing us for forms of service of which at present we have no inkling."

He goes on:

"We may be frankly bewildered at things that happen to us, but God knows exactly what he is doing, and what he is after, in his handling of our affairs.

Always, and in everything, he is wise: we shall see that hereafter, even where we never saw it here. . . .

Meanwhile, we ought not to hesitate to trust his wisdom, even when he leaves us in the dark."

But how should we respond to baffling and trying situations when cannot now see God’s purpose in them?

"First, by taking them as from God, and asking ourselves what reactions to them, and in them, the gospel of God requires of us;

second, by seeking God’s face specifically about them."

“If we do these two things,” Packer writes, “we shall never find ourselves wholly in the dark as to God’s purpose in our troubles.”

(Justin Taylor)

The Mark of Unction

2010-11-16T22:16:00.001-08:00

"When the unction of God is upon the preacher of Word, people will go away saying, not "What a great preacher!" but rather, "Truly God is in this place! How great and glorious He is!" (Eric Alexander in What is Biblical Preaching?)

Grace is Wild

2010-11-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

"In this congregation, you have heard much about the grace of God. But when you hear much of anything, it is easy for that word to become a theological buzz word—the grace of God is just one of those Bible phrases, right? And since we all think we know what the Bible is about, we just drop into our moralistic groove and go.

But grace is wild. Grace unsettles everything. Grace overflows the banks. Grace messes up your hair. Grace is not tame. Grace makes the pious begin to fear the evils of antinomianism. And this is an ungrounded fear, but unless we are making the devout nervous, we are not preaching grace as we ought.

Grace liberates us from guilt, and enables us to live before God as we ought to, in accordance with His law, simply because we want to. The law is inscribed on our hearts, and not on the tablets of stone, over there. More than that, grace liberates us from false guilt, from the lying standards of the devil, concocted to provide you with perpetual torment. Let me give just one example.

An American woman who is happy about her weight is as rare as a comet. If she lives guilt-free concerning what she eats, she is a rare specimen. If that one woman is here this morning, she can ignore the rest of this . . . but for the rest of you, listen to the grace of God. Hear these words from God. God the Father doesn’t care that you weigh that extra 15 pounds. Neither does the Holy Spirit. Jesus doesn’t care about that ten pounds either. Not even a little bit. If God cared about this, He would have put something about it in the Bible. Well, if He doesn’t care, who does? Well, the devil does. He loves to accuse. All those boney women in the clothes catalogs care—they wouldn’t be sneering that way at you if they didn’t care. All those women’s magazine at the supermarket care—why can’t you be made out of bones and silicon? What could be more natural?

If we fear the Lord, we will listen to His Word. And when we listen, we hear words of grace." (Douglas Wilson)

Maia the Mountain Dog II

2010-11-15T17:23:00.000-08:00

I took Maia the Mountain Dog out to explore a new trail today. The trail is a part of the Sage Hills trail system and is a wonderful addition to an already great place to ride. Here are some pics if you are interested.

Snomobikin'

2010-11-15T17:10:00.000-08:00

We just had to give it one more try, but instead of mountain-biking, we wound up snomobiking. Have a nice winter Horselake Mountain Road. So-long Stairway to Heaven. Bye-bye Bermuda Triangle. See-ya Suspendend in Paradise. It's been real, Road Rage. See y'all next spring!

Pansy Pastors

2010-11-09T22:06:00.001-08:00

If we persist in feminizing the qualifications for ministers (empathetic, emotion-driven, sweet, caring, nurturing, etc.) we will very soon find ourselves in the awkward situation where women (according to our unbiblical definition of the office) are more qualified than men to serve as ministers. The ranks of the weepy, cardigan-wearing empaths do seem to be waxing even as the "Sons of Thunder" are waning. Too bad. So how do we get out of this mess? Douglas Wilson opines:

"If we recognize that the Word of God not only excludes women from becoming women ministers, but also excludes men from becoming women ministers as well, we will be on the road to recovery." (Why Ministers Must Be Men, p. 43)

Must Ministers Be Men?

2010-11-09T21:44:00.000-08:00

Athanasius Press has an excellent little series of books called "Answers in an Hour." In their latest offering in the series, Douglas Wilson tackles the thorny issue of women in ordained ministry in his book entitled, Why Ministers Must Be Men.

Wilson notes that Paul, following the tradition of the Old Testament, fully sanctioned women "prophesying" while firmly denying them the prerogative to sit in judgment (diakrino) of the prophesies spoken in the first century worship services. And from this concludes:

"The issue is prophecy, not women. The thing that Scripture so plainly describes women doing (declaring inspired words of God) is something that we don't find men doing today either. Women are not excluded from this while men keep right on going. The Scriptures are now complete, and what only men could do in the first century is what only men can do now." (WMMBM, p. 32)

Maia the Mountain Dog

2010-11-08T15:04:00.000-08:00

Taking Mondays off works well for my weekly routine, but it usually means that I'm riding alone in the foothills of Wenatchee. But, it looks like I might have a new mountain-bike-buddy: Maia the Mountain Dog.

The first time I took her with me, she waited for me as I chugged uphill and I waited for her as we zoomed downhill. Maia's FTFPD (Full-Time-Four-Paw-Drive) is much more efficient than my OMOWD (Old-Man-One-Wheel-Drive.)

But today, Maia led both uphill and downhill. Even at the very end of the three-hour ride she still had enough energy to chase "squirrels" off trail, bounding through the brush like an antelope . Here are a few pics if you're interested.

Kevin Bacon at New St. Andrews

2010-11-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, admittedly I'm some sort of NSA "insider-geek." I knew personally the first four graduates of NSA, I have 2 1/4 children who graduated from this college, and I sat on the NSA board of trustees for 3 years. So I cannot gage whether or not anyone else will enjoy this short film. But I chortled and laughed my way through the whole enchilada. More, more, more!.........

True Gospel Preaching

2010-11-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

"The Reformation was a revival of true gospel preaching, and such gospel preaching always comes down to the point of decision. Good preaching is aimed at the will; all good preaching aims at conversion. If the people are not converted, they need to be. If they are, then a message aiming at true conversion will encourage them, not beat them up. As Luther put it, we are called to a lifetime of repentance.

Good preaching reminds every Christian soul that we live before the God who sees and knows the heart, and who will sift those hearts in the great day of judgment. The problem arises when the need for true conversion is moved from the declaration of the gospel to the membership interview. The former declares the truth with the understanding that only God can see the heart. The latter, in the name of God seeing the heart, pretends that the minister and elders can see the heart." (Douglas Wilson)

The Center of True Preaching

2010-11-03T05:58:00.000-07:00

"If we are truly to understand Christian preaching, we must see Jesus Christ as its center. First we must see Jesus as the fulfillment of generations of preaching and teaching that went before him, and second we must see Jesus as the type, or perhaps prototype, of generations of preaching that have followed him. He is both the pattern of preaching and the gospel to be preached" (Hughes Oliphant Old, The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures, Vol. 1, p. 8)

HT: Doug Wilson

Our Crafty Adversary

2010-11-03T05:45:00.001-07:00

"Of course Satan can attack but never ultimately destroy true Christian faith, because we are preserved by grace. Therefore he seeks to destroy our enjoyment of the grace of God. In this, sadly, he frequently succeeds." (Sinclair Ferguson, By Grace Alone)

Doing Badly

2010-10-27T04:58:00.000-07:00

"Anything worth doing, is worth doing badly." (G.K. Chesterton)

The really worthwhile endeavors in life are not mastered immediately. Painting (see above), lovemaking, singing, beer-making, writing, conversation, witnessing, bible-reading, etc. are all acquired skills that require persistent effort (and many failures along the way) to do them well.

Chesterton is not arguing for mediocrity in anything, but rather wants us to have permission to fail repeatedly on our way to proficiency, excellence and joy in all things "worth doing."

P.S. There is actually a website called "The Museum of Bad Art" subtitled "Art too bad to be ignored." The site is true to its name, but, to misquote Janet Jackson, "What have you done for [art] lately?"

The Sad Little Charade

2010-10-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a four-minute video, without words, presenting a romantic view of life without God and with nothing beyond the grave, which, to me begs the question: "How do unbelievers get out of bed in the morning?"

Fallen from Sascha Geddert on Vimeo.

Similarly, around the turn of the 20th century the famous atheist Bertrand Russel wrote:

"Such, in outline, but even more purposeless, more void of meaning, is the world which Science presents for our belief. Amid such a world, if anywhere, our ideals henceforward must find a home.

That Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins — all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand.

Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built."

Praise be to God, we are saved, not only from sin and death, but also from purposelessness and the sad little self-deceiving charade of importing (read: "fabricating") meaning into our otherwise meaningless lives. Soli deo gloria!

HT: Justin Taylor

When Writing About Those With Whom You Disagree

2010-10-15T07:28:00.001-07:00

Here is a link to a post whose leaven I pray, by the grace of God, works its way through the entire loaf of Christendom.

HT: Jim Saemens

The Beast of Revelation Identified

2010-10-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

The first few segments of this extended series of Youtube videos are a little cheesy, but interesting nonetheless. But when the series finally gets to Dr. Kenneth Gentry's address at the 1999 Ligonier Conference in Orlando, FL, the content and presentation turn rock solid. I attended this very conference with Josh Appel in 1999 and had a fun time watching the Christians around me unfamiliar with the "Post-mill" paradigm listen to and process Dr. Gentry's arguments. Enjoy.(To listen to the rest of the segments go to YouTube.com and type in "The Beast of Revelation Identified.")

Alas and Did My Savior Die

2010-10-09T08:13:00.001-07:00

After Jason and Aileen's wedding down in Enterprise, OR, some of us Trinity saints stayed around long enough on Sunday to worship with our CREC brethren at Christ Covenant Church. For the communion music we were introduced to the music ministry of Nathan Clark George. Below is a sample. Enjoy.

HT: Justin Taylor

Three Things You Probably Didn't Know About Islam

2010-09-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

Keller Ferry Kampin'

2010-09-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

When our kids were growing up, we camped at Keller Ferry for eight-or-ten years running with the Aumell family. After a hiatus of five-or-six years we decided to do a "reunion campout" this fall. As always, we had a wonderful time. If you are interested, here are a few pics.

Fruitful Labor

2010-09-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

"For to me mto live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell." (Philippians 1:21-22)

Although Paul was desirous to be "absent from the body and present with the Lord" he in no way despised his time on earth and fully understood his duty to make good use of it. Echoing Paul's thoughts, Richard Baxter (1615-1691), wrote this:

"We are members of the world of of the Church, and must labor to do good to many; and therefore we have greater work to do on earth than merely securing our own salvation. We are entrusted with our Master's talents for His service, to do our best in our places, to propagate His truth and grace, to edify His Church, honor His cause, and promote the salvation of as many souls as we can. All this is to be done on earth, if we would secure the end of all in heaven." (Richard Baxter, Dying Thoughts, pg. 5)

Amen, brother Baxter.