Here’s a short video I shot with my brand new iPhone 4.  It only took a few moments to shoot, compress, and upload to YouTube.  And I did it all from my shiny new phone.

The dog is our little dachshund named Cooper.  He’s not quite a year old and he’s the happiest dog you’ve ever seen.

(RSS viewers may need to click through for embedded clip.)

[HT: The Resurgence]

I finished up chapter four of 1st Timothy this past weekend with my church.  We’re doing a verse-by-verse study through this book and last Sunday I preached a sermon titled “Five Lessons on Pastoral Leadership” out of I Tim. 4:12-16.

Timothy was a young pastor serving in a church where many, even other leaders, were significantly older and possibly more experienced than him.  This undoubtedly proved difficult as Paul urged him to confront false teaching and wayward leaders.

I too am a young pastor.  I serve in a church where many, including all the deacons and lay-leaders, are older than me and have served in this particular church longer than I’ve been around.

How was Timothy to address these situations?  How am I to address the people God has called me to serve?  This sermon seeks to provide a biblical response to these and other related questions.

Here’s a brief outline and commentary of what I shared:

1. Lead by Example

(I Tim. 4:12)—Whatever the reasons people may have for not wanting to follow the leadership of a person younger than themselves, Paul here says to Timothy to live in such a way that those reasons cannot substantially be claimed.

2. Lead by the Word

(I Tim. 4:13)—The leadership of a pastor should be, first and foremost, directed from and manifested out of the authority of the Word of God.  Leaders lead per their devotion to the Scriptures and their delivery of the Scriptures.

3. Lead by Being Yourself

(I Tim. 4:14)—Timothy had been given a gift by God for leading God’s people.  The text doesn’t say, but maybe it was something like the gift of teaching, discernment, or prophecy.  Whatever it was, Paul urged Timothy to be the leader God had created, called, and gifted him to be.  No apologies necessary for being the person God made you to be!

4. Lead by Hard Work and Growth

(I Tim. 4:15)—Devote yourself completely to living out the Christian faith (i.e. ‘leading by example’), to preaching the Word (a la ‘leading by the Word’), and being comfortable in your own spiritual skin, so to speak (that is, ‘leading by being yourself’).  As you do this you will grow as a person and as a leader.  Let your followers see this progress!

5. Lead by Faithfulness

(I Tim. 4:16)—Paul sums up these instructions with the command to “persist in this”—that is, be faithful in carrying out and existing within all these things I’ve told you about.  People want a leader they can count on.  It’s very simple, though not very easy.

Here’s the sermon audio:

Part 1

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Part 2

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[HT: Post header image clipped from CreativeMYK]

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I’ve always liked this song.  I was reminded of that by a friend last week.

I’ve never been entirely sure what its about, though.  Here’s the lyrics.  Some say its about a man going through mid-lide crisis, but I’m not sure.  Any suggestions?

(Embedded video clip may not appear in email or RSS subscriptions. Click through here to the actual site in order to watch video footage.)

[HT: Boing Boing]

Related Posts:

• Super Slow-Motion Footage of a Drop of Water
• Slow Motion Sneezing: I Laughed…Hard
• A Completely Mindless and Yet Entertaining Video

This is the eighth  post in a series of discussions centered upon a devotional classic, The Bruised Reed, by puritan author, Richard Sibbes. I am participating in an online book club of sorts called “Reading Classics Together,” hosted by Christian blogger and author, Tim Challies. Here are my previous posts in this series: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII.

This week’s reading from chapters 14 & 15 was very encouraging.  Chapter 14 discusses ways to ensure victorious Christian living.  Chapter 15 speaks to the issue of Christ’s imminent return and reign upon the earth and the practical ramifications of living in the light of that expectation.

If a Tree Falls In the Woods…

One particularly helpful image from chapter 14 is employed underneath the heading, “Reasons for Seeming Lack of Progress.”  There Sibbes suggests two primary reasons why a Christian may not be experiencing growth in their spiritual life:

1. Because spiritual growth often requires much work with little immediate reward
2. Because there is sin in the camp (see Joshua 7:1ff)

The beneficial illustration Sibbes uses is that of a tree being chopped down.  This image is compared to the process of spiritual growth. Sibbes writes that,

“The tree falls upon the last stroke, yet ll the strokes help the work forward.”

If you’ve ever chopped down a tree you know exactly what Sibbes means.  The first few swings of the axe yield what appear to be great results.  The bark is broken through easily.  The girth of the tree appears to shrink more and more with every chop.

But just before reaching halfway the tree begins to seem more resistant to the idea of being cut down. It appears that the chops are loosing their effect. Maybe its because the axe is getting dull.  Maybe its because by now you’re getting somewhat winded from the constant swinging and your strength has began to weaken.  Each swing is starting to be more difficult than the one before.  There’s a period there of several cumbersome chops where it seems as though nothing is happening.

This is precisely what Sibbes is getting at with his illustration.  Some people are in a place where there spiritual lives feel like the axe-swinger who is tired and seems trapped swinging away in the middle of the tree.  Sibbes’ point is that every swing counts! So keep on swinging. The tree will soon fall and you’ll see that there was never a swing in vain.

Three Related & Helpful ‘Nothings’

In chapter 15 there is a string of paragraphs where Sibbes emphasizes the word “nothing”.  In a section referred to by the heading, “We Must Not Look To Ourselves,” Sibbes capitalizes on the word “nothing” in at least three different ways:

Nothing #1

“Nothing is stronger than humility, which goes out of itself, or weaker than pride, which rests on its own foundation.”

Nothing #2

“Christ says, ‘Without ye me’, the apostles, who were in a state of grace, ‘can do nothing‘ (John 15:5).  He does not say you can do a little, but nothing.”

Nothing #3

“Satan knows that nothing can prevail against Christ, or those that rely upon his power.  Therefore his study is how to keep us in ourselves…”

The point of these “nothings” is to get us to trust in Christ, not ourselves.  Is that ever a reminder that we need to hear!

What About You?

What images or anecdotes reached out and comforted or challenged you from this week’s reading?   Mine were the tree-chopping and the “nothings”.  You’ll notice that my post isn’t really a summary, as much as it is a list of personal highlights.  What were your favorite phrases or images from Sibbes this week?

Make Sure to Check Out My Friends!

Over the course of this series of posts I’ve had the privilege of meeting a few new online kindred spirits. They too are reading and blogging their way through this book.  Make sure to click through to their sites and check out what they have to say about this week’s reading.  They are Audrey, Becky, Kevin, Lisa, and Paul.

What’s sad about this comic strip is that its probably happened before.

For those uncertain as to what “CTRL + Z” means this Google search may help.

[HT: The Oatmeal]

How many times have I felt exactly the same way?  I suppose every time I’ve ever stepped into the pulpit.

[HT: Calvinistic Cartoons]

Charles Savelle over at BibleExposition.net shares three brilliant observations about the way role models teach:

1. Their Lips (what they say)
2. Their Life (what they do)
3. Their Love (what they value)

His original post was given with regard to the influence of role models or leaders, but there’s really a much wider application of these truths.  These three things—what we say, what we do, and what we value—reveal nearly everything about who we are.

So let me ask you:

What have you been saying lately?

Have you been speaking the truth of God’s Word into people’s lives?  Or have you only been small-talking about whatever happens to come up in conversation?  Have you been building others up?  Or have your words been destructive and constantly negative (Eph. 4:29)?

What have you been doing lately?

Does your life’s actions reveal or conceal God’s gospel?  Are you living out the Christian life as spelled out in the Scriptures?  Sure, no one’s perfect, but there should be some evidence of spiritual progress over the course of time (James 2:14ff).

What have you been valuing lately?

What do you give your money, time, and affections to?  Your answers tell on you (Luke 12:34). Is the telling good or bad?  Be honest with yourself.

[HT: Charles @ Bible X]

New Orleans

I’m in a seminary workshop this week in New Orleans.  I’m currently 2/3 through the M.Div. track as a student at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  Last week I participated in a class on Servant Leadership.  This week I’ve been taking a class on Worship Leadership.

Over the last two weeks my wife and I have had the opportunity to enjoy some wonderful New Orleans cuisine.  Here are a few of the places we’ve eaten:

• Jacques-Imo’s
• Superior Grill
• Drago’s Seafood
• Acme Oyster House

My favorite so far was Jacques-Imo’s.  I had the stuffed catfish with alligator cheesecake!

New Blog

As a part of a group project for my workshop this week I have been studying the charismatic style of worship.  Our group decided put together a blog to give access to our findings to the rest of our class. Below is a screenshot of the new blog.  Click the image to visit the blog.

(charismaticworship.wordpress.com)

No New Post on The Bruised Reed

I’m still reading along with Tim Challies’ online book club, “Reading Classics Together.” We’re currently reading Richard Sibbes’, The Bruised Reed.  I am keeping up with the reading, but I will not be posting a review this week.

—From C. H. Spurgeon’s, Lectures to My Students

Related Post(s):

• Spurgeon’s Defense of Systematic Theology
• Spurgeon on the Value of Training Ministers
• Charles Spurgeon’s Approach to Controversy

A small taste of what I’m listening to this morning…

Here’s John MacArthur preaching to what I think are a group of graduates from The Master’s Seminary.  He is speaking from I Tim. 4:6-16.  His address is titled, “12 Marks of Excellent Pastoral Ministry.”

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MacArthur describes this address as “a wonderful summary of what ministries should look like.”  At sermon’s end he asks the question, “So what does a pastor do?”  His answer?

“[A pastor] makes the following commitments:

1. I will warn my people of error.
2. I will devote myself to the study of Scripture.
3. I will avoid the influence of unholy teaching that sucks out my conviction.
4. I will discipline myself in godliness.
5. I will work hard.
6. I will teach with divine authority.
7. I will endeavor to be a model of spiritual virtue.
8. I will maintain a thoroughly Biblical ministry.
9. I will employ my spiritual gift and not neglect it.
10. I will be passionate about this privileged work.
11. I will let all see my growth in grace
12. [I will] persevere with endurance to complete the task that God gives me…”

Anyone else been listening to good sermons lately?  Do share in the comments below.

Cult?  What is that?  It is somewhat hard to define without pointing to particular examples.  The American Journal of Sociology defines it as a pejorative term which “refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are reasonably considered strange” (source).

But who’s doing the considering?  I suppose that in a similar way to how, as the saying goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” determining what is a cult and what’s not is in the eye of the determiner.

Of course you would be hard-pressed to find anyone or any group that would readily admit, “Yes, we are in fact a cult.  Would you like to join our cult?”

So how do we decide?  How can we be honest and truthful with ourselves and others in discerning what is cultish and what is orthodox?  Here’s something that may help.

Lisa Robinson shares five signs of a cult-like ministry over at the popular theology blog, Parchment and Pen.  Excellent and succinct list of factors to consider when distinguishing between what is the true Christian Church and what is not:

1. Time Factor—how long has it been around?
2. Doctrine Factor—does it deny essential Christian truths?
3. Leadership Factor—is the leader/founder elevated to an unbiblical level of authority?
4. Biblical Authority Factor—is there another source of writing outside of the Bible?
5. Organization Factor—does it consider itself to be the only true Church?

Robinson’s list includes several paragraphs of easy-to-read commentary and explanation.  Make sure to click through the following link and peruse the entire thing: “Five Signs You Might Be in a Cult-Like Ministry,” by Lisa Robinson.

If you’re church or organization falls underneath a positive response to any of the factors on this list then you may have some serious thinking to do.  Can you think of any organizations or ‘churches’ that are guilty of one, a few, or all of the points on this list?

This is the sixth  post in a series of discussions centered upon a devotional classic, The Bruised Reed, by puritan author, Richard Sibbes. I am participating in an online book club of sorts called “Reading Classics Together,” hosted by Christian blogger and author, Tim Challies. Here are my previous posts in this series: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V.

I’m posting my contribution to “Reading Classics Together” a little late today.  I’ve been in New Orleans for most of the week participating in a graduate workshop led by this guy.  The course was great. The New Orleans cuisine was also excellent (My wife and I were able to eat here and here. Mmmm. It was so good.)

I’m not going to attempt a summary of the two chapters that were supposed to be read this week.  I did read them, but you can find helpful summaries here, here, here, and here.

Instead what I will point out from this week’s reading are three dangers that lashed out at me as I plodded my way through chapters ten and eleven.  Its good when dangerous things do that—reveal themselves—much better than if they just crept along silently and struck when you least expected them.

Sibbes is an author who can soothe the soul of a Christian about as effectively and as winsomely as anyone I’ve ever read.  He’s also a writer with excellent skills of perception and description.

In the three dangers that follow I point out three ways in which Sibbes tells rather vividly of hazards that the souls of men should watch out for.

Danger #1—The Danger of Assumed Salvation

“There are those who take up a hope of their own, that Christ will suffer them to walk in the ways to hell, and yet bring them to heaven.”

Sibbes refers to this type of hope as a “lying comfort.”  It is the deceptive hope of a man who just assumes that he can live however he wants and that in the end he will be saved.

Danger #2—The Danger of Neglected Christian Duties

“If we are negligent in the exercise of grace received and the use of the means prescribed, suffering our spirits to be oppressed with many and various cares of this life, and take not heed of the discouragements of the times, for this kind of neglect God in his wise care suffers us often to fall into a worse condition in our feelings than those that were never so much enlightened.”

If I may be so bold, allow me to paraphrase.  Basically Sibbes says here that if you’re a Christian you had better behave like one or else the conflict between what’s inside you (the Holy Spirit) and what’s going on in your life (neglected Christian duties) will make your life miserable.

Danger #3—The Danger of Fightin’ Christians

“What a joyful spectacle is this to Satan and his faction, to see those that are separated from the world fall in pieces among themselves!  Our discord is our enemy’s melody.”

Is there any more disruptive of a work than that the people of God are fighting against themselves?  Here Sibbes describes the Church’s worst hour as Satan’s finest.  May we not fight amongst ourselves!

Have you ever seen or experienced any of these dangers? I hate to say, but I have.  All three.  I’ve observed #1 in the lives of lost family and friends.  I’ve fallen prey to #2 in my own personal life.  And I’ve been a part of churches that fight with each other and ruin their testimonies within a community.

Make Sure to Check Out My Friends!

Over the course of this series of posts I’ve had the privilege of meeting a few new online kindred spirits. They too are reading and blogging their way through this book.  Make sure to click through to their sites and check out what they have to say about this week’s reading.  They are Audrey, Becky, Kevin, Lisa, and Paul.

I preached out of 1 Tim. 4:1-3 this past weekend (sermon available here).  Its a passage where Paul warns Timothy about certain prevalent heresies which involved the forbidding of marriage and abstinence from certain types of foods.  Paul explains that these heresies had supernatural origins.  They were the deceptive and influential teachings of demons.

Among a few other things, this passage serves as an opportunity to address the ever-recurring problem of legalism within various religious sects.  A few examples:

• Hinduism—don’t eat meat
• Islam—don’t eat pork
• Jehovah’s Witnesses—don’t celebrate holidays
• Latter-Day Saints/Mormons—don’t consume caffeine

At this point everyone was nodding along in agreement.  Its easy to see the error of other people’s ways.  However, as Christians we certainly are not immune to this sort of extra-biblical ‘prohibitioning.’  We do the exact same thing, only in our own little Christian way.  So many Christian groups (including my own SBC) have this perfect picture of what a good Christian is supposed to look like:

• You can’t listen to rock, country, or rap music—only gospel music
• You can’t drink alcohol
• You can’t smoke cigarettes
• You can’t get any tattoos
• If you’re a man, you must have short hair
• If you’re a woman, you must have long hair
• Etc.

As you can see we certainly have our own brands of legalism.  And taken to extremes I believe, along with the Apostle Paul (see 1 Tim. 4:1), these legalistic doctrines are the “teachings of demons” as they influence and trickle their way through parishes and congregations all over the world.

If you’ve got a church where someone is a liar and everyone knows about it and just sort of accepts it, but a woman who is addicted to smoking cigarettes walks in to your church and is looked down upon….you’ve got a problem.

If you’ve got a church where its unspoken and understood that a certain group of persons love to gossip and everyone just quietly sweeps that issue under the rug, but a guy walks into your worship service with long hair, tattoos up and down his arms, and he’s sporting a t-shirt with a big, bold Budweiser logo across the front—if the first thing you think is, “Well, we’ve got to either get this guy cleaned up so that he looks more like us or else we’ve got to get him out of here”…..then you’ve got a problem.

And the problem is legalism.  Consider what legalism accomplishes:

1. It robs the Bible of its authority
   →Instead, it says “Here, let our way of doing things tell you what to do.”
2. It steals the conscience of its purpose
   →And replaces it with “Well, I’ll tell you what is right and wrong.”
3. It denies the Holy Spirit of his life-changing power
   →In its place is the line, “If you were serious about your walk, you would force yourself to do this or not do that”
4. It strips the gospel of its message of salvation by grace
   →And instead argues subconsciously that “You can save yourself if you’ll dress a certain way, if you’ll learn to talk a certain way, if you”’ only listen to a certain type of music, only pay attention to these particular preachers, and only read from one particular version of the Bible, etc.”

Legalism is bad stuff.  And I’m afraid that its everywhere.  What else would you say legalism accomplishes? I’m sure there’s more.  I’ve only listed four things.

Check out the newest member of the Caffeinated Calvinists Blog Network!  (Hint: its the fourth one down the list.)

Caffeinated Thoughts

Calvinistic Cartoons

Daily On My Way To Heaven

Deek Dubberly

Early Christian America

Fundamentally Reformed

Heavenly Springs

Orange County Calvinist

Justification by Grace

Random Thoughts From A Cluttered Mind

Reformed Women

Remissioned

Romans 11:36

Shane Waldrop

Taylormatthews

Theology for Girls

Theology Girl

Theology Girls

The Purple Sparrow

The Reformed Traveler

Thanks to Paul Dare for the invitation he extended in the comment thread of this post. Everyone else, make sure to click through to each of the above sites and check out what the Caffeinated Calvinists Network has to say.

To any of those in this network that I don’t know yet, feel free to say ‘hello.’  I look forward to reading and interacting with each of you.

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Beautiful song.  Lyrics here.

[HT: Truth Matters]

This is the fifth post in a series of discussions centered upon a devotional classic, The Bruised Reed, by puritan author, Richard Sibbes. I am participating in an online book club of sorts called “Reading Classics Together,” hosted by Christian blogger and author, Tim Challies. Here are my previous posts in this series: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV.

This week’s reading from chapter’s 8 and 9 is summarized by 3  D’s:

1. Duties (performance of the spiritual disciplines)
2. Discouragement (when we feel poor spiritually)
3. Deception (believing what is not true)

Sibbes deals with duties and discouragement in chapter 8 and deception in chapter 9.

Chapter 8

The question of whether one should perform Christian duties (i.e Bible study, prayer, evangelism, etc.) when they feel discouraged is addressed in this chapter.

Sibbes says a big “Yes, absolutely” to this question and does so with four responses.  I’ve paraphrased them to avoid excessive quotation.  He says to the discouraged Christian struggling with their duties:

1. Do what you need to do even when you don’t feel like it.
2. Often we find God there in the duty and are encouraged.
3. Doing the duty even when we don’t feel like it reveals truest devotion.
4. Discouragement may well be lifted after we have performed our duties.

Regarding these points let me add this: I have never in all my life regretted performing a Christian duty.  Whether it was spending time in prayer, reading the Scriptures, sharing the gospel, its no matter.  The result has always been the same.  God blesses these things.  They put us into contact with his grace.  And we’d all be the better for practicing them more.

On a related note this week in the blogosphere, pastor and author, Kevin DeYoung,wrote a wonderfully helpful post titled, “Are Christians Meant to Feel Guilty All the Time?” He asks and provides four powerful answers to why Christians are so often discouraged in their walk with the Lord:

1. We don’t fully embrace the good news of the gospel.
2. Christians tend to motivate each other by guilt rather than grace.
3. Most of our low-level guilt falls under the category of “not doing enough.”
4. When we are truly guilty of sin it is imperative we repent and receive God’s mercy.

I include this nod to DeYoung’s entry because it deals perfectly with what Sibbes covers in chapter 8.

Sibbes also briefly speaks of discouragement that is caused by suffering and trial.  I could not help but to think of James 1:2-4.  Please see these three little thoughts on Christians and trials that I wrote several months ago.  Its one of my favorites posts I’ve ever written.

Chapter 8 was so rich with wisdom and grace that I chose not to include it all in one post.  You’ll just have to read some of the blogs I link to down below and hope that they cover the rest.

Chapter 9

I honestly did not gain much from this chapter.  Perhaps my mind was struggling to stay on track as I read.  What I did glean came from the opening paragraph.  Sibbes points out that Satan doesn’t mind letting us have Christ so long as we have a distorted and inaccurate view of him.

In this way Satan is revealed as the deceiver he is.  He longs to trick us into perceiving the Lord as anything other than what he truly is—a loving, gracious, sovereign King.

Taking Stock

We’ve come just over halfway in reading through Sibbes’ book, The Bruised Reed.  I’d just like to say how beneficial and gracious of a read it has been for me thus far.  The thought that there is no person more gentle and merciful with sinners than Jesus has truly impacted my life and ministry.  It has shown up in various ways in my preaching.  It has fleshed itself out in visits that I make.  It has been referred to as I counsel.  Thank God for writers and works such as this.

Have any of you been helped in ways like this?  I would love to hear of how God has used this book in your life and ministry as you’ve read through it. Encourage us all and drop a comment below.

Check Out My Friends

Over the course of this series of posts I’ve had the privilege of meeting a few new online kindred spirits. They too are reading and blogging their way through this book.  Make sure to click through to their sites and check out what they have to say about this week’s reading.  They are Audrey, Becky, Kevin, and Lisa.

Anyone Else?

If there’s anyone else who has somehow clicked their way here to deekdubberly.com, please make sure to drop a little note in the comments field below letting the rest of us know that you’re out there, most especially if you’re taking part with us in Tim Challies’ “Reading Classics Together.” Thanks.

I love this song.  It’s Derek Webb paying homage to a great song by a great artist.

I know its been around for nearly four years.  But I still think its just fantastically done.

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Here’s a picture of my Mom with her two babies.  The year was 1984.  The little girl is my older sister, Kristina.  And yes, the little boy is me doing my best rendition of a one-and-a-half year old.

And here’s a picture that’s a bit more up to date.  It was taken just over a year ago on my wedding day, April 11, 2009.  (Sorry, sis.  You didn’t make the cut on this second pic! )

Last is a picture of me from this morning, Sunday May 9th, 2009.  It’s Mother’s Day and I’m getting suited up to head over to my church and preach my very first Mother’s Day sermon.

I preached the entire story of Ruth.  The sermon is dedicated to my Mom.

Here’s the sermon audio:

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God has blessed me with a wonderful, loving, and godly mother.  I love you, Mom.  And happy Mother’s Day.

This commercial accomplishes quite a bit in a minute and a half.  From birth to old age, this lady’s entire life plays out beautifully.  Sure makes you think about how quickly life goes by.

I’ve posted similar videos before, but this one takes the cake.

Time sure flies.  Make yours count.

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(This is the fourth post in a series of reflections that consider Richard Sibbes’ work, The Bruised Reed. I am participating in an online book club called “Reading Classics Together” hosted by Tim Challies. Here are my previous posts in this collection: Part I | Part II | Part III.)

This week’s reading came from chapters six and seven.  Both chapters focus upon the image of a smoking flax, a picture Sibbes employs to describe that believer who is discouraged in their faith. Their faith represents the fire which is small.  Their smoking represents the present despair of their souls. His constant reminder is very simple—where there is smoke there is fire.

Sibbes begins by listing a few qualifications for one who struggles with discouragement in their relationship with God.  At the heart of what he says is the advice to step outside of yourself and try to observe your current estate objectively.  He writes:

“We must have two eyes, one to see imperfections in ourselves…the other to see what is good …. We must not judge ourselves always according to present feeling.”

This is most excellent counsel especially for those who are very quick to judge themselves.  Sibbes analogizes this practice to one who has been “hired by Satan, the ‘accuser of the brethren’ (Rev. 12:10), to plead for him in accusing themselves.”  Sibbes hits close to home when he words things like that.  Graphic picture.  Duly noted.

He points out that such despair is owing to a lapse, however temporary, in one’s theology.  To despair incessantly of our own shortcomings is to forget grace.  Sibbes remedies this in a most beautiful fashion:

“God knows we have nothing of ourselves, therefore in the covenant of grace he requires no more than he gives, but gives what he requires, and accepts what he gives.”

Sibbes expends the remainder of chapter six spelling out the ‘marks of the smoking flax’—that is, what to look for in order to determine whether one has truly been set on fire by God (i.e. converted).

10 Marks of the Smoking Flax:

1. Light—spiritual understanding
2. Heat—spiritual desire
3. Direction—spiritual guidance
4. Purity—spiritual discernment
5. Delight—spiritual pleasure
6. Activity—spiritual works
7. Sensitivity—spiritual pliability
8. Infectious—spiritual contagiousness
9. Heavenly—spiritual aim
10. Growth—spiritual appetite

In chapter seven Sibbes reverts to restating his purpose in writing—”[that] much comfort may be brought to the souls of the weakest.”  He then spells out a case for human depravity, reminding his readers that even when Satan isn’t tempting us our own natural selves will chime in with awful thoughts and temptations.

He closes chapter seven by reminding us that,

“It should encourage us to duty that Christ will not quench the smoking flax, but blow on it till it flames…. Let us not be cruel to ourselves when Christ is thus gracious”

Sibbes is such an encouragement to read.  I’m grateful for the opportunity to read, write, and interact with his work as well as with others who are reading along.

A special note of thanks to my new friends—Audrey, Lisa, Kevin, and Becky—who are reading this book along with me and who have taken the time to stop by the blog and say a few words.  Make sure to click through to their sites and read what they have to say about this week’s reading.

If there’s anyone else reading Sibbes’ work as a part of Tim Challies Reading Classics Together and you’ve somehow found you way here to my site, drop me a comment below and let the rest of us know you’re out there.  Thanks.

This is ridiculous.

[HT: Z & JD]

Sensitive issue.  It must be addressed with a source of truth outside of our own opinions.  Here Pastor John Piper does just that.

(If you’re reading this post through an email subscription or RSS feedreader you may need to click through to my site in order to watch the video clip)

[HT: Desiring God]

Really ‘amening’ this brief video clip of Francis Chan talking about half-hearted devotion to Christ.  He refers to it as some sort of ‘middle road.’

[If you're viewing this post through an email subscription or an RSS feedreader you may need to click through to my site in order to watch the video.]

If you resonated with what Chan says here you’ll probably enjoy this clip too where he uses a balance beam as an object lesson to teach us to trust God.

[HT: TJ Dreyer]

I preached through Mark 4:1-32 this past weekend at my church.  This passage records several familiar parables taught by Jesus.  The most notable among them is the parable of the sower.

For any that may not be entirely confident as to what a parable is, Wikipedia defines it as “a brief, succinct story…that illustrates a moral or religious lesson.”

Jesus Taught in Parables:

After Jesus told the story of the sower he shared with his disciples why he taught in parables.  Mark 4:11-12 records this:

“And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.”

We learn from these verses that part of the reason Jesus used parables was in order to maintain a distinction between two groups of people: those who ‘had been given the secret of the kingdom of God’ and those who had not.

Judgment for Sin:

But why maintain this distinction?  Why not let everyone in on the secret?  The answer is as simple as it is sobering: judgment for sin.

God often judges the present hardness of our hearts by  disabling our ability to make them soft again in the future.  The callousness, blindness, and deafness of our spiritual organs is often the product of our own lack of response to the spiritual stimuli God’s grace has been pulsating our way for years.

Over and over again in the Scriptures people who are consistently rebellious, unfaithful, and unbelieving toward God, even despite their having been given ample instruction and evidence of His power and favor, are described in terms of having deficient spiritual senses (Scripture references). This lack of ability to sense and believe God’s revealed truth is God’s present judgment for sin in their lives.

Apart from God’s gracious and miraculous healing of spiritual senses in the lives of those He’s redeemed, no one would be able to see the kingdom revealed through Jesus’ parables.

Back to Mark 4:

The problem in this passage comes when we read into it a view that the people who were kept ‘outside’ of the secret of the kingdom were good, innocent people desirous of the truth of God and the revelation of his kingdom.  This is not the case.

In fact, we know from Mark’s previous chapter that these same people had begun to attribute Jesus’ ministry of miracles to the power of Satan.  That’s pretty bad—so bad, in fact, that its referred to there in Mark 3:28-30 as the unforgivable sin.

Two Final Maxims:

This passage of Scripture and the questions that surface from it center upon the realization that some people undeservedly experience God’s salvation while others deservedly do not.  This is not a pleasant or easy subject to consider.  Here are two parting words of wisdom.  These two truths will help to guide our thoughts within this sensitive realm of discussion:

1. God’s judgment of sin is always just.
2. God’s forgiveness of sin is always a miracle.

Now It’s Your Turn:

How would you respond to someone if they read Mark 4’s account of Jesus’ reason for speaking in parables and asked you why it is that God saves some people and doesn’t save others?

I’ve been preaching through 1st Timothy with my church for a few months now.  Recently I’ve been sensing a weariness with the series—both on my part as well as on the part of my parishioners.

Here’s what we’ve covered so far:

1. An Introduction to 1st Timothy (Various passages)
2. The Test of Sound Doctrine—Part 1 (I Tim. 1:1-11)
3. The Test of Sound Doctrine—Part 2 (I Tim. 1:3-11)
4. Paul’s Personal Testimony (I Tim. 1:12-17)
5. Holding Faith and a Good Conscience (I Tim. 1:18-20)
6. Evangelistic Prayer in the Church (I Tim. 2:1-7)
7. How to Behave in the House of God (I Tim. 2:8-15)
8. The Man and the Ministry—Part 1 (I Tim. 3:1-7)
9. The Man and the Ministry—Part 2 (I Tim. 3:1-7)
10. The Man and the Ministry—Part 3 (I Tim. 3:1-7)
11. The Ministry of Deacons—Part 1 (I Tim. 3:8-13)
12. The Ministry of Deacons—Part 2 (I Tim. 3:8-13)
13. Paul’s Reminder to Timothy (I Tim. 3:14-16)

You can see from the references that we’ve just finished chapter 3.  That’s exactly halfway through the letter.  Because we’re halfway (and b/c of the weariness I mentioned), we’re going to take a brief halftime.

This past Lord’s Day I began what should be a three week hiatus from our series.  I plan on resuming and diving head first into I Tim. 4 on May 16th, the Sunday after Mother’s Day.

In the meantime we’re going to do a few different things with our sermons.  Yesterday we preached through Jesus’ series of teachings that centered upon the parable of the sower in Mark 4:1-32.

Here’s the audio for those two messages:

• The Parable of the Sower—Part 1 (Mark 4:1-20)
  (download link)

  Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

• The Parable of the Sower—Part 2 (Mark 4:21-32)
  (download link)

  Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I shared a sort of impromptu message with a group of about 75 teenagers this morning.  I thought I was going to be speaking to little children.  A few scheduling wires got crossed and I spoke to the middle and high school students instead.  Even better.

Here’s the gist of what I shared.  Of course there were little stories, illustrations, and anecdotes along the way.  But here’s the main thoughts.

1) God is the greatest promise maker of all time.

• b/c He makes BIG promises
• b/c He always keeps them

2) God’s greatest promise is Jesus.

• b/c He promised that He would fix everything
• b/c that promise has been fulfilled in Jesus

My aim was to bring out God’s faithfulness.  I told the students that when God makes a promise you can take it to the bank.  Hopefully it sank in and, by God’s grace, will be as seed sown on good soil.