The Greatest Need in the Church Today
Justin Taylor recently highlighted this excerpt from an interview with Jerry Bridges in TableTalk. Bridges, who has authored several books and served with the Navigators for over 50 years (and has been particularly influential on my own theology and vision of ministry) reflects on the greatest need in the church today. Worth a slow read and careful reflection.
There are so many needs in the church today that it is difficult to single out one as the greatest. However, if I had to pick one, I would say the most fundamental need is an ever-growing awareness of the holiness of God. Read more…
Read through the Bible in 2012 (…or 2012-13)
Confession time. When it comes to read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plans I pretty much stink. I’ve never completed one of these. For a pastor, that’s pretty embarrassing.
It’s not that I don’t read the Bible often. Part of my problem is that the pace necessary to complete the Bible in a year is simply too fast for my reading and reflection habits. I’ve finally come to embrace this. That’s not to say that other factors don’t sometimes get in the way (read: sin, laziness, selfishness, watching Psych reruns), but it does help to remember that there is nothing intrinsically spiritual about finishing the Bible in an arbitrary time period.
Confessions and caveats aside, I still think there is value in this discipline, and commend it to you in some form for the year ahead. Read more…
Finding Hope in Unexpected Places this Christmas
Each Christmas season we are bombarded with exhortations to be happy, merry, and holly jolly. And for so many it is a time of joy, generosity, and love. But while the radio stations bark at us to be joyful, Christmas can also be a painful reminder that something’s wrong with this world. For those who have lost a loved one this past year, it’s at best a bitter sweet time, and sometimes it’s just bitter. Spending the first Christmas in the tiny living room of your crowded apartment after losing your house to foreclosure can stir up all sorts of emotions, and joy isn’t always one of them.
But if you’ve ever been frustrated, upset, and let down by life, then you’re actually in the right position to understand what Christmas is all about. Read more…
With all the family gatherings, the Christmas holiday often provides a wonderful opportunity to discuss Christ with unbelieving family and friends. Yet this can also be a stressful and tense time, especially for former Catholics. The deeper appreciation for grace, the fresh beauty of the Bible, and the urgency of personal faith that are not always shared with Catholic friends and family can fuel a zeal that regularly clashes with unsuspecting (and sometimes resistant) guests or hosts, turning Christmas dinners into annual trainwrecks.
My friend and former colleague, Chris Castaldo, highlights seven helpful principles for former Catholics to keep in mind as you discuss the gospel with Catholic loved ones this Christmas season: Read more…
Can We Sing ‘Joy to the World’ When We’re Grieving?
Nancy Guthrie speaks some hopeful words into what is often a sorrowful season for those grieving the death of a loved one (from The Gospel Coalition Blog):
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“Happy Thanksgiving!”
“Merry Christmas!”
“Happy New Year!”
- As the end of the year approaches, everywhere we turn someone is telling us we should be happy. But for families who’ve lost someone they love, the holidays can seem more like something to survive than to enjoy. The traditions and events that can add so much joy and meaning to the season are punctuated with painful, repeated reminders of loss. Many grieving people wish they could find a quiet place to hide until January 2.
- So is there any joy to be found in the midst of the holidays when you are grieving the loss of someone you love? Read more…
Philippians 2:19-30: When the Gospel Gets a Hold of a Life
Tolkien’s epic, The Lord of the Rings, demonstrates how tenuous our commitment to a mission can be when the opportunity for selfish gain presents itself. Nine individuals are bound together with one mission: destroy the Ring of Power. But one by one the evil in the ring begins to expose the evil in their hearts. Lured by the power of the ring and the glory that could come from wielding it, members are tempted to usurp the Fellowship’s mission for their own, and thus to use their fellow partners for selfish gain.
The gospel of Jesus is no magic ring. It does expose the evil in our hearts—not by fueling darkness with darkness, but rather by flooding it with light. Still the same evil lies in our hearts, and tempts us to take something as beautiful as the gospel and as sacred as our mission to advance it, and to hijack it for personal gain. It tempts us to prioritize self instead of Jesus, and so to use people instead of love them. Nothing could be more tragic, or more antithetical to the gospel. In Philippians 2:19-30, Paul provides a different scenario by highlighting two of his fellow servants and showing us what happens to our affections and our relationships when the gospel truly gets a hold of a life. Read more…
Philippians 2:12-18: The Fruit of Obedience
Thanksgiving is here. When the dust settles from the shopping madness that ensues tomorrow, Christmas will be here before we know it. With little ones in our house, we will no doubt go through the ritual of watching our baby tear open a present only to be more interested in the wrapping paper than the gift inside. Not unlike the way we sometimes treat the gift of salvation.
Salvation in Christ is an incomparably marvelous gift that changes everything about us. But so often we’re tempted to leave it in the box, not realizing that the gift is ours and is meant to be played with (or rather, put into practice). We misunderstand the gravity of what God has done for us by sending Christ to live, die, and rise in our place. And we overlook the power of the Holy Spirit who resides in us. As a result, we risk squandering the gift and neglecting its purpose, not realizing that Spirit-empowered obedience is a necessary fruit of the gospel. How desperately we need to hear Paul’s words in Philippians 2:12-18.
A Song of Gospel-Shaped Gratitude
A song of gospel-shaped gratitude for the Thanksgiving season:
“My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness” by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
Lyrics: Read more…
The Devil, Doubt, and the Power of the Cross
Some wise and comforting words from D.A. Carson:
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Revelation 12 is one of the most important chapters in the New Testament for understanding the devil’s perspective on the cross. There Satan is portrayed as full of rage because he has been banished from heaven and knows that his time is short. He has not been able to crush Jesus, so he vents his rage on the church. He is the “accuser of the brothers” who wants simultaneously to roil their consciences and to accuse God of ungodliness because God accepts such miserable sinners as these. But believers, we are told, defeat Satan on the ground of “the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11)—an unambiguous reference to the cross. What does this mean?
Philippians 2:5-11: The Surprising Pattern of the Cross
“I’m kind of a big deal.”
We might chuckle when someone lifts that phrase from pop culture to not-so-subtly draw attention to their importance. Truth be told, this could be the motto for humanity (don’t believe me? You can buy the T-shirt). Everyone has a bit of a celebrity complex; none of us would mind a little fanfare when we enter the room. Even worse, we can bring this celebrity complex into the life of the church, becoming fixated on securing our preferences or being recognized for our accomplishments (even if that means not-so-subtly pointing it out to others). After all, this is how power, authority, significance, and success work in the world. We have a right to be recognized for who we are in all our glory. And yet when we look at the one to whom God ascribes “the name that is above every name” in Philippians 2:5-11, we find a surprisingly stark contrast.
in the meantime 