The Ascension of Christ is probably the least talked about “phase” of His life (particularly when compared to the Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection). Read more – ‘Affirming the Ascension’.
This past Sunday, I taught on the story of David & Bathsheba with regards to responsibility, family, and priorities. My contention regarding David is that by absolving himself of his responsibilities (by not going to battle which was the usual behavior and duty of a king), he later found himself in a situation of temptation. [...] Read more – ‘The Sin of Uriah’.
It seems as if every four to six months, someone from Mars Hill (whether in Seattle or Grand Rapids) is all over the internet. In this case, it has been the allegations against Mars Hill Church, Seattle of being controlling and cultish. These allegations have come from various sources, including a former pastor at Mars [...] Read more – ‘Mars Hill, Church Discipline, and Authority in our Culture’.
Occasionally, I have the honor of speaking at various functions and ministries, including ECU’s FCA and, earlier today, the Brody School of Medicine chapter of CMDA. Today, I taught from Luke 24 on the subject of having hearts set on fire with passion for Jesus. Read more – ‘Hearts on Fire: Stirred Affections for Jesus’.
Today at Harmony Church, we discussed maturing as individual believers, that we may mature as a church. Part of that discussion was talking about moving from spiritual milk to spiritual meat. A question was asked during our weekly Q&A as to what qualified as milk, and what qualified as meat. Here are some very generalized [...] Read more – ‘Spiritual Milk, Broccoli, & Bacon’.
Over a piece of fantastic pork tenderloin and a Founders Porter, I had a lively, but civil, conversation about the Gospel with a great guy who is also a practicioner of Buddhism. In short, it came down to karma vs. grace. Read more – ‘Grace & Karma’.
Starting in February, we are starting a new series, entitled Rebels Like Us. The basic premise is this: there is only one hero of the Bible, Jesus, and everyone else is a cosmic traitor…just like we are. Read more – ‘There's Only One Hero’.
Over the past couple of weeks, I've become increasingly aware of the prevalence of Christianity that is not Christ-centered, particularly in my own city of Greenville. Read more – ‘A Concern for the Church in Greenville’.
There were two trees in the center of the Garden (Genesis 2:9). There is one tree in the center of Heaven (Revelation 22:2). Jesus pruned the tree of the knowledge of good and evil out of Heaven by dying on it, in the midst of a garden (John 19:41, 1 Peter 2:24). He is the [...] Read more – ‘Trees.’.
I've begun posting some Q&A found on my Formspring account, which has been quite interesting at times. For those who don't know, Formspring is a site where people can ask questions, even anonymously, and receive answers. Pretty handy when talking about touchy issues like spiritual beliefs and the like. Anyway, here you go. How do [...] Read more – ‘How Can We Trust the Bible?’.
When sitting down to write this post, I thought through titles like "The Trinity Explained" or "Understanding the Trinity", but I couldn't in good conscience title this post one of those titles. Of all the doctrines of Christianity, the Trinity is probably the hardest to understand. It is never outlined fully in Scripture, and indeed [...] Read more – ‘The Trinity’.
This past Sunday at Harmony Church, we continued a vision series entitled In Greenville As It Is In Heaven. Check out the first sermon's notes here, the previous week's notes here, and last week's notes here. Here are the notes from the sermon: Our mission: to lead people to be Gospel-centered, in Community, and on Mission. [...] Read more – ‘Worship: Seeing Christ Clearly’.
A few years ago, I came up with a new acronym for the central tenets of Calvin's theology as an attempt to address the shortcomings of TULIP. I realize that it may be somewhat arrogant to do this, but feel it necessary and hope that my feeble attempt is at least appreciated. One of my primary [...] Read more – ‘A New Calvinism: P.R.A.I.R.I.E’.
This past Sunday at Harmony Church, we continued a vision series entitled In Greenville As It Is In Heaven. Check out the first sermon's notes here, and last week's notes here. Here are the notes from the sermon, along with some extra thoughts (think of them like the special features on a DVD): Our mission: to lead [...] Read more – ‘Revival: Transforming the City’.
This past Sunday at Harmony Church, we continued a vision series entitled In Greenville As It Is In Heaven. Check out the first sermon's notes here. Here are the notes from the sermon, along with some extra thoughts (think of them like the special features on a DVD): Our mission: to lead people to be [...] Read more – ‘Transformation: The Emperor's New Clothes’.
This past Sunday at Harmony Church, we started a vision series entitled In Greenville As It Is In Heaven. Here are the notes from the sermon, along with some thoughts from yours truly: In order to bring the culture of Heaven to the culture of Greenville, we must first know what the culture of Heaven [...] Read more – ‘Resurrection: In Greenville As It Is In Heaven’.
Tonight at Harmony Church, we announced the formation of SEED, one of our efforts to equip the church for the work of ministry in our city (Eph 4:11-12). Here's the rundown of SEED, followed by some thoughts from tonight's message: SEED is a grant-based program that issues grants in increments of up to $50. Each [...] Read more – ‘SEED: Micro-financing for Missions’.
Here's a little something for the New Year's resolvers. Jonathan Edwards is probably one of my favorite pastors ever. Much of his stuff is deep, thick, and incredibly difficult to wade through...and that's aside from the 18th century language barrier. Below, I've translated his 70 resolutions into understandable and easy to read English for you [...] Read more – ‘Johnny Edwards' Resolutions’.
On occasion, I have more than one god that I worship. I'm not an atheist...I'm a polytheist. There Jesus...and a bunch of other things that I worship alongside (or even over) Him. In order to combat this as much as possible, I have a practice of regularly inspecting my heart for idols and things that [...] Read more – ‘Sometimes, I Am a Polytheist’.
Yesterday morning at Harmony Church, we discussed the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Here are some notes from the message, as well as thoughts that come from debriefing. Philip was a deacon, which means dude was a real dude: full of faith, full of grace, full of the Holy Spirit, and a man [...] Read more – ‘Philip and the Eunuch’.
This past Sunday, we continued our six-week series through the book of Genesis, where we’ll hit on six major themes: Creation, Fall, Flood, Tower, Family, and Legacy. This week was the week centered on the Fall, and we talked about how the world was broken during the simple interchange between Adam, Eve, and serpent. I’ve [...] Read more – ‘Notes from Genesis:Fall’.
Every week at Chick-Fil-A, the men of Harmony Church gather to go through 1 Timothy, verse by verse, to see what implications it has for our lives. This past week, we went through 1 Timothy 2:8-15. At first the conversation started with some joking about the role of women in corporate worship, along with some [...] Read more – ‘Men in Corporate Worship’.
This past Sunday, we started a six-week series through the book of Genesis, where we'll hit on six major themes: Creation, Fall, Flood, Tower, Family, and Legacy. Obviously, being the first of the series, we went through Genesis 1 and parts of 2, examining the Creation story as told to us by Scripture. I've embedded [...] Read more – ‘Notes from Genesis:Creation’.
I write daily devotionals for the church, posted on an internal network. This one hits home for me, and I thought I'd bring it out to the public. It's from Judges 3. I want to focus on the most epic story in the chapter, the story of Ehud and Eglon. The intro is pretty usual, [...] Read more – ‘You're Full of Crap’.
In the men's cohort that I lead (there's 4 of us that meet weekly for lunch), we are going through the book of Joshua, extracting principles of leadership from the life of Joshua, and ultimately seeing the Gospel through this man's biography. One thing I've noticed so far, and the other men have picked up [...] Read more – ‘Three Days & The Book of Joshua’.
A week ago I had the privilege of teaching a Pursuit Class (link) on the Scripture entitled "The Divine Autobiography". The class went great (lasting 3 hours), had a great attendance for our first weeknight study, and I think that people are really reading their Bible (and understanding it!) on a regular basis now. I [...] Read more – ‘How to Study the Bible’.
I tweeted this morning about pastors who have disqualified themselves, saying that they should not enter back into the eldership for the duration of their time on earth. It's absurd and disgusting to me how pastors who have disqualified themselves from the pastorate are already looking forward to the next time they are in leadership. [...] Read more – ‘The Extent of Restoration: When A Pastor Falls’.
This past Sunday, we had another gathering as we talked about the topic of Justification: what is it and why it matters. We dissected 2 Corinthians 5:21, talked about the exchange that happened on the Cross (we don't just become righteous, but righteousness itself, just as Christ was not made into a sinful person, but [...] Read more – ‘Three Ways to Live’.
The atonement is central to the Christian identity. It is what makes Christianity unique among all other worldviews. The idea of a loving God who sends Himself in the flesh to earth in order to ultimately satisfy His own wrath is the mind-blowing message of Christianity that saves people from their sin. It is the [...] Read more – ‘6 Ways to Apply the Atonement’.
This morning for devotion, I read through the story of the anointing of Jesus' feet in John 12:1-8 and noted something interesting about the first three verses. Look and see if you pick up something interesting. Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the [...] Read more – ‘Worship Arises Out of Resurrection’.
I've been pondering my next book for quite some time now, and I think I'm going to revisit a thought experiment I had a few years ago. I want to write a systematic theology. One that (hopefully) is Biblically accurate, not philosophically skewed, and one that takes into account the difficult questions raised by previous [...] Read more – ‘A Massive Undertaking’.
This characteristic has two distinct branches. Part One considered the fact that a godly man is a servant of God. Part Two considers the fact that a godly man does not serve men. "Be not you the servants of men" (1 Cor. 7:23). Is there no service we owe to men? There are 3 ways [...] Read more – ‘A Godly Man Serves God, Not Men {Part II}’.
At first glance, this title may be a little off-putting. You may think that it is putting ourselves into a place where only God Himself belongs. Instead, it's not an off-putting statement. It's a redundant one. To be godly inherently means to be like God. So it's not off-putting, in fact, it's recognizing the truth [...] Read more – ‘A Godly Man is Like God’.
"I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy." Psalm 116:1 Last post (on being a man of faith), we mentioned that it is faith that enlivens are duties. Without faith, our roles as Christians are difficult impossible to fulfill. But just as faith brings life to our daily [...] Read more – ‘A Godly Man is a Man of Love To Jesus’.
Just as gold is the most valuable metal, so faith is the most valuable thing given to us through grace. It is by faith that we are grafted into the body of Christ. It is through faith that initiates all the other gifts of God. It is faith that excites the soul to exercise. Faith [...] Read more – ‘A Godly Man is a Man of Faith’.
One of the characteristics of a Godly man is that he is a man of knowledge. Proverbs 14:18 states that the "prudent are crowned with knowledge." The most important knowledge within the Godly man's head is the saving knowledge of God. This is not knowledge of God or knowledge about God, but it is an [...] Read more – ‘A Godly Man is a Man of Knowledge’.
Before I recap the first message from Lamentations, here's a couple of housekeeping things: You can download the free 110-page guide here: Lamentations - Sermon Guide. The guide includes a devotional for every day during a 9-week period, along with readable commentary on each section of Lamentations. It uses Lamentations to point to Jesus, as [...] Read more – ‘Lamentations: The Enslaved Princess’.
I've saved the best for last. At the end of Joshua 6, we see a slightly odd paragraph: Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. “At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of [...] Read more – ‘Day Seven: The Gospel in Joshua 6’.
In Joshua 6, we see in verse 20 that God brings to pass just as He instructed Joshua in verse 5. But here's the thing: the people's work wasn't done once the walls came down...it had just begun. They had much work to do: destroying idols, dedicating the city to God, killing the livestock, and [...] Read more – ‘Day Six: The Crumble Isn't the End’.
Here in our series of posts on Joshua and Jericho, we are increasingly getting our toes stepped on. This week will be no exception. Check verse 18 out from Joshua 6: But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and [...] Read more – ‘Day Five: Destroying Idols’.
As we continue our series through Joshua's conquest of Jericho, we've pretty much established who's in charge here: Jesus, then Joshua. We have a leadership in place. But what about the people. There's something really interesting between the lines in Joshua 6: the people don't do anything extraordinary. The only people who are responsible for [...] Read more – ‘Day Three: Business as Usual’.
If you missed the first post in this series, check it out here (link). The way that Jesus works is through people. He is ultimately in charge, but then He selects men to lead His people according to His commands. We see this in the Exodus (Moses), the invasion of Canaan (Joshua), the expansion of [...] Read more – ‘Day Two: Someone Has to Lead’.
On Friday, Christians from around our city will gather to pray for our city, to unite with our brothers and sisters, and ultimately to celebrate Jesus. This year's vision Scripture for this gathering is Joel 2, but the origin of the gathering is from Joshua 6, which is of course the story of Joshua and [...] Read more – ‘Day One: Jesus, Commander’.
This weekend at Harmony, we are taking a break from John (again...we're in no rush), and addressing something that is vitally important in a church plant: the idea of missional living. We've yet to address it directly from stage, and I think it's past time to do so. I'm pretty excited about this series, to [...] Read more – ‘Missional Living and the Christ-Follower’.
Taproot is the upcoming men's development group at Harmony Church. We will be going through a couple of awesome writings: the Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC) and Jonathan Edwards’ 70 Resolutions. The WSC, of course, is a question and answer format of Reformed Theology, and should provide for some awesome discussion. I will require the men [...] Read more – ‘Taproot: Developing God-Centered Men’.
Here's the first part in this series (link). I had coaching this past Monday, and we talked about preaching, so I thought I’d write down, in list form, what I’ve learned after preaching regularly for a year in a full church setting. Now, grant you, I’ve been teaching regularly in some capacity for over 3 [...] Read more – ‘After Preaching for One Year...Part Two’.
I'm about to head to Raleigh, NC for my monthly coaching meeting, and figured that I would blog real quick before I head out. We're talking about preaching, so I thought I'd write down, in list form, what I've learned after preaching regularly for a year in a full church setting. Now, grant you, I've [...] Read more – ‘After Preaching for One Year...Part One’.
Here's some questions I got from my coach this week concerning preaching. Figured I'd pass it to the Kingdom. 1) Did I grow in my own walk with God through my preaching and preparation? Was I personally impacted by what I preached? Am I therefore a more godly man entering 2009 than 2008 because of [...] Read more – ‘As You Preach’.
Spurgeon this morning talked to me about foolish questions vs. wise questions. Questions not worth dwelling on would include those questions of religious ceremony, doctrine that is of lesser importance (ie: middle knowledge [guilty recently]), and other issues on which Scripture is silent. Instead, here are some questions worth thinking about:Do I believe in Jesus [...] Read more – ‘Questions Worth Answering’.
My memory verse this week is Jeremiah 2:13. Here it is:for My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the foundation of living waters; and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.(ESV)Here's a rough breakdown of the verse, in Twitter-like format:Regardless of what we have done, we are [...] Read more – ‘Memory Verse Hoe-Down’.
Here's a great article about the importance of campus ministries...but the overwhelming priority of being involved in a full-fledged covenantal local church body. (Link) Read more – ‘Campus Ministry or Church?’.
We've relaunched ServeGreenville.com with a new look, a new vibe, and more importantly a new purpose. Before, the purpose was very vague and not clearly stated, but it was basically helping people get connected to Greenville non-profits, and serving them that way. We've now rebranded ServeGreenville.com as a equipping tool for Christians to fulfill the [...] Read more – ‘ServeGreenville.Com Relaunch’.
Yesterday, I headed to Raleigh and Vintage 21 with Pablo for an Acts29 Network luncheon. It was wonderful and uplifting,as usual, and I really learned a lot. I'll probably total it up in a future post. But for now, I really want to key in on something that Tyler Jones from Vintage21 brought up: the [...] Read more – ‘The Gospel-Driven Church’.
a theology of worship what is worship? * before we get practical we must get theological * if we fail to define the nature and object of worship we create idolatrous false worship -nature: biblical context of worship -object: how does God desire our worship * there is no middle ground in worship: you either [...] Read more – ‘Notes from Acts 29 Luncheon: Tim Smith - A Theology of Worship’.
Here's the free swag Desiring God gave us:Rethinking Retirement (booklet by John Piper)History's Most Spectacular Sin (booklet by John Piper)Anger Management (Pocket Puritan by Richard Baxter)Broken Down House (Pre-publication Sample by Paul Tripp)Don't Waste Your Life Field Journals 3-packHow to Be Good and Angry (DVD by Paul Tripp)Always Singing One Note (DVD by John Piper)The [...] Read more – ‘Resources Included in Our Conference Bags’.
Miranda and I are flying out today at 5:45pm. We're headed to the Desiring God in Minneapolis. I'm stoked about this conference, for a number of reasons:It's not going to be flashy. The past few conferences I've been to have been mainly about entertainment instead of the Gospel. I couldn't stand it. Not naming any [...] Read more – ‘Headed to Minneapolis’.
This is the third part in the Shalom in the Home blog series. So what do children raised in the Gospel look like? Spiritually speaking, we are the Father's children, adopted by Him through the blood of His Firstborn, Jesus. As such, we should look at our children in the same way: deserving of our [...] Read more – ‘Shalom in the Home: Gospel-Centered Children’.
This morning, I gave an introduction to the Holy Spirit's working. I didn't have time to expound on what He does in the church body, and I think it's vitally important that I at least give a short run through of how He works in His people, if for no other reason than for Spurgeon's [...] Read more – ‘The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Expounded’.
This is the second part in the Shalom in the Home blog series (intro here). So what does a marriage that is centered on the Gospel look like? Since a marriage is comprised of a man and a woman, I think it would benefit us greatly to define what a Gospel-centered man and Gospel-centered woman [...] Read more – ‘Shalom in the Home: Gospel-Centered Marriages’.
This past Echo Group, we discussed Spiritual Disciplines, with regard to Christ. Here are a few resources for you:Check out this past post on Spiritual Discipline Resources. It includes resouces for study, fasting, etc.Here are some more resources and recommendations:Old Testament Verses for Extended MeditationGenesis 1:28Genesis 3:21Genesis 22:8Exodus 34:6-7Exodus 34:9Deuteronomy 6:4-51 Kings 8:231 Chronicles 29:11Job [...] Read more – ‘The Spiritual Disciplines’.
I'm going to start a 5-part blog series on Gospel-centered families, aptly titled Shalom in the Home. Forget the rabbi. Shalom in the New Testament (usually translated as 'peace') is the, ahem, harmony, that comes from being submissive to Jesus, His Gospel, and His Kingdom. It is holistic in nature, and all-encompassing in reach. This [...] Read more – ‘Shalom in the Home: An Introduction’.
Distance, with regards to the Gospel, is a vitally important concept. In fact, it's basic to the understanding of the Gospel. Jesus, by way of the Incarnation, shortened the distance between heaven and earth, and indeed, God and man. We are by default far from God, but through Jesus, we are reunited and reconciled to [...] Read more – ‘Distance’.
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are [...] Read more – ‘Go Lament: It's Biblical’.
I am concerned that modern day "Christian" culture, especially that culture geared towards the younger generations, are turning us away from the Gospel. I had a conversation today (and times prior) with a bright young lady in our church about what the Gospel is. It seems that because of the books that we read today [...] Read more – ‘I Am Concerned’.
Living in Bible Belt culture, I was always taught that you were saved once you said "The Prayer". And that was it. You were a Christian. But no one ever told me what Scripture teaches about salvation. Here's a couple of things: First of all, salvation is a process, not a prayer. God works in [...] Read more – ‘Snippets On Salvation’.
Though I didn't know it at the time, I was led to reformed thinking through a few artists by the name of the Cross Movement during my formative years. Later, through teaching by Mark Driscoll, John Piper, and Jonathan Edwards, I came to realize the fullness of Reformation theology, and it's sharp alignment with what [...] Read more – ‘How God Led Me to Reformed Theology’.
I was reading my leadership thought for today from John Maxwell, and noted this quote by A.W. Tozer: God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible-what a pity that we plan only the things we can do by ourselves. What things are in your plans that you can't accomplish? Read more – ‘Quote: A.W. Tozer’.
This Psalm, of TobyMac fame (blegh), is pretty awesome. Here's my thoughts on it: The Lord has brought us out of destruction! How long do we wait on God? How impatient are we with He who knows the future! This goes back to Pablo's thoughts on Psalm 51...that the Lord Himself puts a song of [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalm 40’.
Recently I've had to declare the truth to someone who wasn't willing/ready to accept it. It wasn't how I said it, it wasn't who was saying it, and it wasn't the timing of it: it was what was being said. Sometimes telling the Truth to someone is the hardest thing to do. But it must [...] Read more – ‘My Call is Hard’.
This week's topic is grace. The first psalm we're going through is Psalm 32. It's so satisfying to know that we can be brutally honest before the Lord, and that, though there is iniquity, He does not count it against us. Our strength is sapped by covering and hiding our sins. As long as we [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalm 32’.
So, I've been slack the last couple of days, I admit it. I've been reading it, but having been posting my notes ( been really busy 'round here...) So here you go, Harmonizers. Psalm 12, Psalm 13, and Psalm 14. Psalm 12 "The faithful have vanished" - this is God's sentiments from Noah's day until [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalms 12, 14, 13’.
This one is pretty sweet too. It's Psalm 139, and it speaks of our Creator knowing us and intricately forming us. Here's some random thoughts for you: The Lord has searched us and known us. He sees you when you're sleeping, and He knows when you're awake. For real this time.... He knows our thoughts. [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalm 139’.
Today's Psalm, Psalm 53, is terrifying. It reveals a lot about who we naturally are... A fool says that there is no God. We are all born doubting God. We commit sins, are oblivious to God, and no one does good 100% of the time. Also, see Romans 1 God looks down to see if [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalm 53’.
Wow. Check out Pablo's thoughts on the Psalm as it relates to worship (link). Great stuff. Here's my own quick thoughts on the psalm for today, Psalm 51. God alone blots out our sin for ever. He alone cleanses us from our sin! Do we know our transgressions? It is imperative that we are aware [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalm 51’.
Yeah, I suck at this daily blogging thing. I've got my notes on time...just not my computer (or the willpower/time) . Let the coastlands be glad! (That's us, Eastern NC). The Lord is mighty indeed: controlling raging wildfire and lightning to disintegrate the old world! The heavens of the universe proclaim the glory of God; [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalm 97’.
Here's today's Psalm. To be honest, Psalm 93 is my favorite so far.... . The world is established...and shall never be moved. Yesterday I learned that the world glorifies and shouts unto God. It will never be moved from that! Awesome. The Trinity has been King since eternity past...before there was anything to be King [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalm 93’.
Here's yesterday's thoughts, Psalm 65. Sorry I didn't post them yesterday, my computer died at the luncheon . Jesus is King (v1), Priest (v2), Prophet (v3), Sacrifice (v4), and Creator (the rest). The Gospel before Jesus is in verse 3: "you atone for our transgressions". That's awesome! The same God who by his strength established [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalm 65’.
I'm sitting here at the acts29network luncheon at Vintage21 in Raleigh, NC listening to David Fairchild of Kaleo Church in San Diego. He's talking about leadership via the offices of Jesus: prophet, priest, and king. I've heard it many times, but my mind can't help but think that it's incomplete. Not wrong, just incomplete. I [...] Read more – ‘Prophet, Priest, King...and? AND?’.
Here's my thoughts from today's Psalm, Psalm 47. "Shout to God with loud songs of joy". This is the very crux of our worship to Him: that it should be aimed to God...with joy. That treasuring Him is pleasure to us! What an awesome truth. The Lord is to be feared, respeced, and worshipped. Not [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalm 47’.
I thought it would be cool to publish my thoughts on the Psalms that we are going through during this month as part of our spiritual journey through the Psalms. Here's some quick thoughts from yesterday's Psalm (Psalm 24). Everything is God's! This is both extremely awesome...and terrifying. That everything I think I own is [...] Read more – ‘2:9 - Psalm 24’.
We're embarking on a spiritual journey through the Psalms during the month of June. I'm stoked about it. We're handing out booklets to all of the attendees, and in the booklets are 29 selected Psalms. We'll be teaching through the 5 themes during our Sunday services, and then on the 29th, we will wrap up [...] Read more – ‘2:9 Project’.
Here’s the second post in my series on my systematic, P.R.A.I.R.I.E. Check out the original post (here), the post on the Providence of God (here), and the post on the Radical Corruption of Man (here). The "A" in the acronym stands for the Attainable Life, which is another aspect of Scripture that traditional Calvinism (of [...] Read more – ‘PRAIRIE: The Attainable Life’.
Here's the second post in my series on my systematic, P.R.A.I.R.I.E. Check out the original post (here) and the post on the Providence of God (here). The "R" in PRAIRIE stands for Radical Corruption, for reasons other than acronymical (is that a word?) linguistics. Check it out from dictionary.com: rad-i-cal (adj.) of or going to [...] Read more – ‘PRAIRIE: The Radical Corruption of Man’.
This is the first in a series of seven blog posts (at least) to address this system of thinking about Scripture, and God's work of redemption. You can see the original post here (link). The first point of PRAIRIE, my proposed solution to the shortcomings of Calvinism, is the Providence of God. The reason for [...] Read more – ‘PRAIRIE: The Providence of God’.
Here is a post from November 2006, reprinted because of some recent questions at our last unplugged. I will be expounding upon these as requested by those who commented. I probably should have done this 2 years ago... A recent podcast from the Resurgence (link) got me to thinking. The topic is "Preaching and Teaching [...] Read more – ‘The New Calvinism: P.R.A.I.R.I.E.’.
This morning while I was having my devotion at St. Arbuck's, I glanced skyward and I saw an airplane faintly. It was a clear day, a beautiful blue sky, and I have really good eyesight. But it was still extremely hard for me to see the airplane. And then I realized: God is infinitely greater [...] Read more – ‘Our God is Big’.
I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty [...] Read more – ‘You Need to Get This.’.
You can buy my latest book, a commentary on the Gospel of Mark, on Amazon. Here's a link: Derek on Amazon It's the first in a series of commentaries written for today's generation. I'm wrapping up a commentary on Jonah in the next couple of days. Read more – ‘I'm On Amazon!’.
(Part I here, Part II here) 21. I resolve to never do anything that I would hate someone else for doing. 22. I resolve to work to my happiness and delight with all my might and power, as long as it does not conflict with the Gospel. 23. I resolve to analyze my deliberate actions, [...] Read more – ‘Resolutions Remixed: Part III (Resolutions 21-30)’.
(Part I here) 11. I resolve to attempt to solve any theological problems that comes across my mind, as long as the situation at the time allows me to attempt a solution. 12. I resolve to, whenever I think I am doing something great, to toss the thought immediately out of my mind. 13. I [...] Read more – ‘Remixed Resolutions: Part II (Resolutions 11-20)’.
Having enough sense to know that I can't do anything without God's help, I ask Him for His favor as I try to keep these resolutions, as long as they are OK with Him. I aim to keep these for Jesus' name alone. Read over these Resolutions once a week. 1. I resolve to live [...] Read more – ‘Remixed Resolutions: Part I (Resolutions 1-10)’.
I'm currently reading John Piper's commentary on Jonathan Edwards' The End for Which God Created the World, God's Passion for His Glory. In it, John Piper unfolds the all too familiar saying that he coined, which Jonathan Edwards stated in a different way, namely that God is most glorified in us when we are most [...] Read more – ‘Heaven’.
I've been really stuck on dissatisfaction lately as an instrumental role in spiritual growth. In fact, faith and hope are impossible without dissatisfaction. If you are completely satisfied with the way things are, then there is nothing to hope for. That is, hoping for something requires that you are not satisfied with the way things [...] Read more – ‘Dissatisfaction in the Life of the Christian’.
Disclaimer: This doesn't apply to everyone. If you agree, it doesn't apply to you. If you disagree or are offended, take notes. Upon discovering that I'm a Christian, I often find it that people will try to offend me, by saying one thing or another. Then I look around, and see why. Offended Christians are [...] Read more – ‘I Hope This Offends You’.
I found this on Digg, and it is actually pretty accurate: The 9 Most Badass Bible Verses | Cracked.com . Excuse the language, I want to keep the author's intent. Also, I'd like to mention that the story of Benaiah (see Mark Batterson's book) is neglected, where Benaiah kills a lion in a pit on [...] Read more – ‘Hardcore Bible Verses’.
I've always been a dead-guy fan. Jonathan Edwards is probably my favorite, simply because his range of writings covers so much academic ground that it mirrors my interests (all over the place). Really, who writes an account on spiders? What a weirdo. Lately, at the behest of an Acts29 pastor in Florida (Chan Kilgore of [...] Read more – ‘Dead Pastors' Society: Richard Baxter’.
Here's some random thoughts from last night's Echo Group: Had two new visitors: it was great to have them! Had a great turn out. I'm real excited for what Christ has in store for us in the coming weeks. This new format is really working: Sunday nights at 6pm, with a Bible Study. We should've [...] Read more – ‘Echo Group Thoughts - October 21st, 2007’.
Another week, another study in the women of Genesis. Here's the quick rundown, with some articles and resources. Notes Should/can women work outside of the home? Absolutely. Rachel does it here. The Proverbs 31 woman does it as well. But ladies should also have the option to stay at home if they wish. And homemaking/childrearing [...] Read more – ‘Women of Genesis: Rachel and Leah’.
Tonight, I have the pleasure of speaking to a campus ministry at East Carolina University, one that I helped plant some years ago. I'll be speaking on the third greatest miracle of the faith we call Christianity. The greatest miracle is that of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection (you can't split them apart). The second greatest [...] Read more – ‘Holy Ink: Intro’.
Today we discussed Rebekah and the lessons of her life that we can glean and learn from. Here’s some notes, and at the end, resources leading you into being a woman both like Rebekah, and not like her. Take what is good from her life, redeem what is bad. She makes mistakes, like all of [...] Read more – ‘Women of Genesis: Rebekah’.
I just realized something to day about 'attendance numbers': they matter to God. We always quote when the church grows to 3,000 or how Jesus constantly had people following him, he feeds 12-15K, etc. But what really hit home for me was this: the only time the people of God were small in number is [...] Read more – ‘Numbers Matter to God’.
Rough week? Listen to what Pastor Edwards has to say to us today, from his Images of Divine Things (1728): The way in which most things we use are serviceable to us and answer their end is in their being strained, or hard-pressed, or violently agitated. Thus the way in which the bow answers its [...] Read more – ‘An Encouragement From Jonathan Edwards’.
Today we discussed Sarah and her role in the foundation of God's people, through whom would come Christ. Here's some notes, and at the end, resources leading you into being a woman both like Sarah, and not like her. Take what is good from her life, redeem what is bad. She makes mistakes, like all [...] Read more – ‘Women of Genesis: Sarah’.
Don't take my word for the latest in the revisionist-reforming discussion. Listen for yourself at the Convergent sessions are up now at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Here's the link: SEBTS Media Read more – ‘Listen For Yourself’.
Here's some notes and resources on the series we're currently in on the Women of Genesis. Today's woman? Eve. Eve and Her Man Adam was extremely romantic, singing her songs and calling her by pet names. Men: practice this. It works. Eve and Marriage Because Adam was romantic to her, they got married. Literally, they [...] Read more – ‘Women of Genesis: Eve’.
I really think history was made last night at the Convergent Conference at SEBTS in Wake Forest. Miranda and I had an opportunity, by the graciousness of Acts 29 , to listen to Mark Driscoll teach (what we thought, anyway) about culture and theology. Turns out the Spirit had other plans. In true Lutheran fashion, [...] Read more – ‘Making History in the Triangle’.
For those who have no idea where this is coming from, I'm teaching on spiritual formation this morning, and figured online resources would be a benefit. Those listed in bold and italics are resources I personally use or recommend. Bible Devotion/Meditation BibleMemory.us Spurgeon's Morning/Evening Devotions Octavius Winslow's Morning/Evening Devotions StudyLight.org Prayer Resources Sacred Space Lutheran [...] Read more – ‘Spiritual Discipline Resources’.
It's amazing to think that the vision you have is the result of someone else's prayer being answered. I had a great lunch today with Matthew Lilley, leader of 6:22 Ministries here in Greenville. He said that since he graduated high school, he has been praying for the city of Greenville, and for people to [...] Read more – ‘The Sovereignty of God in Vision-Giving’.
I am studying for Amos 7 this coming Sunday, where God repeatedly tells the Israelites that before Him, they are very small. The universe, as Jonathan Edwards' eloquently explains, has been created to make us realize that we are small and powerless compared to the infinite and almighty God. The recent earthquake in Peru has [...] Read more – ‘We Are Small’.
So here we are, chapter five. I'm teaching on chapter six today, and realized I forgot to post my notes for five, so here you go. If you missed the previous four chapters, or simply want to review where we've been, here you go: (Overview, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four). And here's [...] Read more – ‘Blogging Amos: Chapter Five’.
A new/renewed "fad/fashion/trend/etc." in the church is reclaiming the arts and creativity in the name of Christ. And this is a wonderful trend, which I hope continues. But at the same time, we have to realize that we will never acheive the creativity of our God (should we repent of this? of never acheiving the [...] Read more – ‘Our Creative God’.
Here's my notes on the fourth chapter of Amos, see previous posts for all previous chapters (links: Intro, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three). The way I'm teaching this chapter is in comparison with Revelation 4-5. You'll see what I mean. Verses 1-3 are directly aimed at the women of Israel. They have gotten "plump" [...] Read more – ‘Blogging Amos: Chapter Four’.
It's been a while since I've written a 'technical' post, so here you go. A large part of my thinking on this subject has been shaped by a single message by Tim Keller, "Gospel and Ministry", presented at the 2007 Gospel Coalition conference. You can find the message here: Gospel Coalition Media. Where does one [...] Read more – ‘Christocentric Hermeneutics’.
In continuing my blogging/teaching series on Amos (links to: Intro, Chapter One, Chapter Two), I've found that chapter three is a rough one to both teach and study. It has some serious theological implications in it that Christians may find tough to swallow, but we must because it is Scripture-based. Here we go: The third [...] Read more – ‘Blogging Amos: Chapter Three’.
I've been reading in 1 Samuel lately, and today was a devotion in chapter 3. This verse came out in my reading: And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. This is spectacular. How often do our words and ideas hit brick walls, and [...] Read more – ‘Keeping Our Words Afloat’.
"If your life's work can be completed in your lifetime, you're thinking too small." -Wes Jackson, found on a Chipotle Mexican Grill cup Read more – ‘My New Motto’.
Here’s a continuation of my blogging series on Amos. Here’s the a link to the previous posts for the book: Blogging Amos: Overview, Blogging Amos: Chapter One. Here's chapter two: Chapter Two (starting in v4) begins with first an admission of the Judeans as evil as well, along with a dissection of the sins of [...] Read more – ‘Blogging Amos: Chapter Two’.
With the recent release of Evan Almighty (which I've yet to see), I keep thinking about how we (the Church) ignore one of the most important parts of the story of Noah: lots of people drown. Mark Driscoll preaches a great message on this facet of the account (email me for the mp3); in fact, [...] Read more – ‘What We Forget About Noah's Journey’.
This is a tough topic to write about, simply because I believe in the complete sovereignty of God (sidenote: you may say you do, but may not, be careful here ). I don't believe we have much of a choice (read: no choice whatsoever) in matters related to the plan of God, but it's still [...] Read more – ‘The Three Excuses For Delaying God's Will’.
Here's a continuation of my blogging series on Amos. Here's the a link to the overview for the book: Blogging Amos: Overview. Without further ado, chapter one. Chapter one starts with an intro of Amos and who he is. The most profound thing here is that he saw the Word. Amos had visions of the [...] Read more – ‘Blogging Amos: Chapter One’.
A common theme throughout Scripture is God's dealing with obstacles. In Exodus, we have the story of the parting of the Red Sea. In Joshua, a flooded Jordan is parted again. Throughout the story of the Kings we see both monarchs and prophets benefiting from the removal of obstacles (Goliath and the prophets of Baal [...] Read more – ‘Dealing With Obstacles’.
This coming Sunday, we begin a series on the book of Amos: one of the most forgotten books in the Bible, but so very applicable to our situation in America. I'm going to be blogging through the book, giving you insights into the way I study, how I study, but more than that, insights into [...] Read more – ‘Blogging Amos: Overview’.
Here's a few things I'm learning and things that are setting in as concrete as I go here in Greenville, NC: Put your faith in Christ, not in people. - I can't put my trust in people and their commitments. I have to ultimately put your faith in Christ and His commitment: after all, it's [...] Read more – ‘Leadership Principles On the Fly’.
I've always loved the subtitles/summaries in italics that occur in our Bibles that separate out the different sections. These little one-liners are sometimes accurate, sometimes they aren't, but they're usually helpful and can often teach just as well as any other exegetical deliberation. So I've decided it would be a little fun to do one [...] Read more – ‘One-Liners From Acts’.
Todd McKeever (link) requested more information on my previous post, Redeeming Technology For Everyday Gospel Teaching, so here the steps are: Prepare your Powerpoint slides as normal. When finished with the presentation, click on File>Save As, and save them as .JPG files. Be sure to export every slide as a JPG. This will save your [...] Read more – ‘Using the iPod to Teach’.
Here's an oft-discussed conversation topic: how do we redeem tech for the Gospel? We see sites popping up like BibleGateway, eBible, and various christian blogs. We see macs being used in worship, and we see HD cameras using for Nooma and the like. But what about us in the trenches? Those who aren't starting from [...] Read more – ‘Redeeming Technology for Everyday Gospel Teaching’.
Taking from Malcolm Gladwell's Blink the structuring for spontaneity guidelines as exemplified by Paul Van Riper during war games, this thought comes to mind: What can the church do to 'structure for spontaneity'? How do we set ourselves in a place and organize ourselves in a way that we can adapt to cultural forces in [...] Read more – ‘Malcolm Gladwell and Church Planting: Thought Experiment 2’.
Calling an audible this Sunday. We were supposed to start a series on Amos, the great prophet who spoke not only to Israel in 750 BC, but to America in 2007 as well. But instead, I'll be talking about cultural exegesis: what it is and how to do it. Really wrestled with God this week [...] Read more – ‘Blue 42 Zebra Cross’.
After hearing from Ben Arment on his organization at RCC (link) and listening to Andy Stanley for some time talk about organizational charts, I decided it was time to mark up one for Harmony. It's loosely based on Mark Driscoll's take on ecclesiology found in his book, Confessions of a Reformission Rev (link at Amazon). [...] Read more – ‘Harmony Church Organization Chart’.
I'm sitting here on the patio on a beautiful night writing curriculum for the upcoming semester of our Echo Groups, and I'm getting frustrated with the ESV on one point. I've always noticed it, and when I was teaching through Matthew, it didn't really bother me, but in Ephesians (our target book for the fall), [...] Read more – ‘Frustration With the ESV’.
I'm currently reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (incredible, by the way) and came across the great story of Paul Van Riper (I'll delve into this deeper when I finish the book). There's one quote that he uses that he took from Kevin Kelly: "...I told our staff that we would be in command and out [...] Read more – ‘Harmony Church Leadership: Van Riper Style’.
A couple of days ago I had a discussion with a friend on Luke 4:5-6, resulting from a sermon Greg Boyd delivered recently. If God is sovereign, how does the devil have control over all the kingdoms of the earth? My take is this: take heed to the wording of verse 6: they have been [...] Read more – ‘The Devil, The Kingdoms of Men, and the Sovereignty of God’.
This conference has started off with a bang! The worship band came out swinging along with a couple of artists who painted while the band played. It was wonderful to be led into a place with God like that. The host then pulled out some kind of gimmick with the gold sponsors (some kind of [...] Read more – ‘NNCC - Wayne Cordeiro - Plenary Session 1’.
I enjoyed the retreat thoroughly! I got a little sun, but hey, what's an Irishman to do? Anyway, I was fishing off of a jetty on the Pamlico Sound when God spoke to me very loudly (not audibly, but it may as well have been). He told me that I could stand out there all [...] Read more – ‘A Lesson in Fishing’.
I'm looking for a couple good resources. I need some good books on Biblical manhood (I've got Robert Lewis [thanks, JD] and Kent Hughes [thanks, Jason]). Are there any big ones I'm missing? Also, any good resources on assembling a specific church planting budget? Thanks in advance! Read more – ‘Any Resources Out There?’.
Man, was this a great luncheon! It started off with lunch, duh, and some great conversation. I was at a table with some of the most extraordinary leaders around: a group of elders (Jason, Tadd, and Travis) from Crosscurrent Church (link) in VA Beach, J.D. Greear (link) from the Summit in Durham, Mike and Kurt [...] Read more – ‘Acts 29 Luncheon’.
I was brushing my teeth this morning when I looked over at my reading table in the bathroom (too much, I know), and there was Driscoll's book Confessions of a Reformission Rev (great book, by the way), and the year old book was all beat up. Its cover was folded in half, the pages had [...] Read more – ‘How Beat Up Is Your Bible?’.
Here's some info for the NNCC in Orlando this year: Pray! Register for the pre-conference intensives from 11-1pm on Monday. I'll not be attending those, but it's still important What about food? Snacks are served during break, water is always available. Lunch on Wednesday is provided, but for the other meals, we're on our own. [...] Read more – ‘National New Church Conference Things To Know’.
I'm headed to Raleigh this am to attend the Acts29 Luncheon at Vintage21. I'm excited to be going, and learning about something very relevant to the church here in Greenville: eldership. Some questions I have: How do I begin a culture of team leadership without elders? How do I begin an eldership? How far into [...] Read more – ‘Headed to Raleigh’.
Come check out Chi Alpha, a college ministry that meets on East Carolina University's campus! We'll be in Mendenhall 244 at 7:00 for a time of worship and teaching. This week's topic? Read more – ‘In Greenville Monday Night?’.
Matthew 26:12-13 (Click the [+/-] to read above, or click the link to go to the ESV site. ) I find it fascinating that Jesus equates His death with the Good News. He knows (of course) what His death will accomplish. And now, thanks to the grace of the Almighty God, we do as well. [...] Read more – ‘The Good News of Death’.
Download these now. Matt Chandler's series on the cross, starting March 10th. What a great communicator. (podcast link) (link to download individual mp3s) Mark Driscoll's sermon on March 20th, entitled "Pain and Progress", from Nehemiah 4. It's the best sermon he's given since his exposition on the story of Noah. (audio podcast link) (video podcast [...] Read more – ‘Some Sermons You Need to Hear’.
If you can make it, show up at Vintage21 (link) in Raleigh on April 18th. The subject at hand will be elders and deacons within the local church. I'm excited about this topic, because here in Greenville we are on our way to establishing an ecclesiological framework within the church plant vision, so this will [...] Read more – ‘Acts29 Southeast Regional’.
There is a lot of discussion in the church planting world today on being relevant to culture, or redeeming culture (I prefer the latter terminology). But no one is really discussing what culture is. The major assumption when discussing culture is that you are referring to the arts: literature, theater, cinema, music, painting, etc. I [...] Read more – ‘What is Culture?’.
I've been talking a lot with a couple of close friends, one of whom is a worship leader at a local church, about the role of worship, specifically within a church plant. There've been a lot of questions, such as : What is it's purpose? Is it different than in an established church, does it [...] Read more – ‘Worship in Church Planting’.
I've always wondered why we've adopted the terms we have. Most of them come from contemporary thinkers, or the Latin terms of theologians long gone. I've always wondered...why are the terms missionary and missional instead of commissionary and commissional? Aside from spell check, anyway. We are on mission, yes, but we cannot do it without [...] Read more – ‘A Discussion of Missional Terms’.
It's amazing to me to come across a new blog, and then see this blog linked in the sidebar. It's truly mind-blowing how God is using something so simple as a database-driven webpage to set up connections, bring people together, and extend His glory. I'm thankful that He has given me a small footprint of [...] Read more – ‘Influence.’.
Simple, but forgotten: "When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself." -[bible]John 12:32[/bible] When we lift Him up, He draws the people. Now that's attractional ministry. Read more – ‘A Biblical Principle for Church Growth’.
I know it's not a church plant. But in the young adult class I've been teaching at Faith Assembly (link) since the first of this year, we've seen 400% growth in 5 weeks: from 6 to 23. And we've lost some people. God has really been bringing people to hear His word taught. This past [...] Read more – ‘Seeing Fruit’.
I've been reading Grace Abounding to Sinners by John Bunyan (link), which is a great book by the way, and in it he explains some misleading beliefs that the heretics of his time held. He realizes after the fact that these people have slowed him in accepting the Gospel by way of confusing him. My [...] Read more – ‘EMERGENTcy?’.
The title says it all. I don't "know" ministry like some. I do, however, know what the Bible says, and I do know political science. The Bible says that the church is like a city; in fact, heaven will be a city. The church at large is like a city, and our local churches should [...] Read more – ‘How to Be a Successful Church’.
Browsing around Seed Stories (link), which is already "out of the box" for me, I followed a link to a new ministry outside of Spokane (link). Lo and behold, I was confused. Why in the world would you have people unfamiliar with the Gospel and Story of Jesus Christ help you tell it? That's like [...] Read more – ‘The Decline of Authoritative Preaching’.
In case you missed it, you should read the conversation in the comments section of the "Isn't She Beautiful" post from January 25th (link). It stemmed from my dislike of Rob Bell's theology, specifically his expressed views on salvation and redemption. I see the individual's salvation in Scripture as part of the redemption of the [...] Read more – ‘What is Salvation?’.
Here's a great resource on Biblical eldership (with Biblical citation) from Pastor Mark Driscoll if you don't have it yet. You can download the PDF at the bottom of the page. (here) Read more – ‘Elders.’.
Here's an interesting look at the social network of the New Testament. It's assembled by the ESV blog (link) using some fancy new technology from IBM. Pretty cool. Read more – ‘MySpace: 2000 Years Ago’.
God, Thank you for choosing a time and place for me that includes running water. In Your Son's Name, Amen. Throughout your day today, thank Him for the little things. For some reason, I got out of bed this morning really appreciating them. Read more – ‘A Simple Prayer’.
In thinking about being missional, and how the church is to manifest itself in the culture, we first have to look back in order to move forward. In Exodus 25:40, God sums up the execution of the Law by saying this: See that you make them according to the pattern shown to you on the [...] Read more – ‘The Transfiguration: A New Model’.
I've been thinking about prayer lately fro my talk to college students on Monday night. I came to a conclusion, some of you probably know this already, but I've finally articulated it to myself in words, not just in action. A lot of people have always been taught that God answers prayer in three ways: [...] Read more – ‘God's Answers to Prayer’.
Saturday mornings, I have the privilege of teaching a group of awesome guys. This past Saturday, we started a semester long study in the book of Joshua. Opening up with Joshua 1 and 2, we really dived into what makes a man of God. Here's the major points: 1. Jesus Saves. This is the meaning [...] Read more – ‘A Lesson From Joshua’.
I'm sure that by now a lot of you have heard that NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC, led by Perry Noble (link), has recently hired Tony Morgan (link) of Granger Community Church. This has inspired me to address an area of church planting that I've yet to express my opinion ( Read more – ‘NewSpring, Tony Morgan, and In-House Hiring’.
I've taught Bible for quite a while. But on January 22nd, I think it's going to be a different thing than ever before. Why do I think that? I'm nervous. I never get nervous, regardless of how many or who I'm speaking to. But every (literally, even now writing this) time I think about speaking [...] Read more – ‘Pray, Please’.
You can check out Part I (here). Matt Stevens is the worship pastor of Vintage21 church in Raleigh, NC. He delivered a talk at the Acts29 Regional Luncheon on January 10th. It was on the topic of Creativity in the Local Church. These are my notes: Creativity is having the quality of being created, not [...] Read more – ‘Acts 29 Regional Notes - Part II’.
Following up on Tadd's post (here), I'd like to expound on what all went on at the Regional. First of all, if you're looking for a group that really loves people, and wants to equip leaders to love people, head over to your nearest a29 regional. You will not be disappointed, I promise. Ours was [...] Read more – ‘Acts 29 Regional Notes - Part I’.
Lately, I've been reading Philip Gura's biography of the old Puritan preacher, Jonathan Edwards: America's Evangelical (you can see this month's abbreviated reading list here). I came across a section that reviewed his preparation for teaching on Sunday. He would lock himself in his study for thirteen hours every day, studying books and writing in [...] Read more – ‘Where Are Your Priorities?’.
I recently just had a conversation with a guy who will begin ministry to youth at his local church. He was looking for some advice for getting into the ministry, and I obliged. I poured into him all that I could think of, and I tried to answer his questions. It feels great to know [...] Read more – ‘Pouring Out’.
Wow. Not even three days into the new year and my life has taken a turn already. First of all, a teacher at my home church has stepped down, so I'm stepping into a weekly teaching role there. I'm also speaking at the campus ministry a couple of times this semester. My teaching has been [...] Read more – ‘Whirlwind: Change is Good’.
In a brief follow up post to the last post on being a localized missional church, I'd like to talk about the pond, that is, your area of ministry. Have you really sat down and defined your pond? You and your staff need to discuss where it is you are to be reaching. Someone famous [...] Read more – ‘Define the Pond’.
Discussion being continued in the comments. I've been meaning to write this post for a while now. A couple of things lately have spurred me on to write it at this time: the first being Anthony Bradley's post on a similar topic (link here) and the second being a quote by Rick McKinley on the [...] Read more – ‘Making Waves in Your Pond’.
This week I'm teaching through Matthew 15. The chapter starts out with one of my favorite criticisms of Jesus and His disciples: they don't wash their hands enough. The great thing is that it's a serious accusation in their culture. The ritual of hand-washing was performed to cleanse one's self of any contamination caused by [...] Read more – ‘Stop Washing Your Hands’.
Something has really been on my chest lately, and it came to a head last night. My girlfriend, Miranda (whom I love), was so diligently doing her Bible study when she asked me a question about Revelation. Poor girl, I ranted. (Babe, if you're reading this, I'm sorry and hope you took the best of [...] Read more – ‘Reading Revelation’.
Walking this morning, I passed by the elevator and noticed a crowd gathered outside of the doors, waiting. The stairs are less than 15 yards away. Something else then occurred to me: there's three floors in the building. So, of course, I saw an illustration to be had. How many times do we, as Christians, [...] Read more – ‘Stair-Climbing Christianity’.
Every once in a while, I go through my old thoughts and jottings. Recently, I re-read my journal from the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta this past year. This is a quick post of one-liners (thereabouts) that I gathered from the speakers. I've posted these before, but then I deleted my website. D'oh. It's a quick [...] Read more – ‘Quick Blow by Blows from Catalyst '06’.
Lately there has been a lot of ruckus caused by the move from a systematic theology to a narrative theology. I'm saying right here, right now, that there is nothing wrong with narrative theology. As long as one thing is remembered: the theme/center/message of the narrative. Just as a book or movie centers around a [...] Read more – ‘There's Nothing Wrong With Narrative Theology’.
Tim Keller has a great article on The Movement's website (link). I want to explain and summarize the article for your convenience because I believe it to be extremely pertinent to church planting and preaching to non-believers in general. He explains that presenting the Gospel of Christ is a three-tiered process, much like a three-layered [...] Read more – ‘Presenting the Gospel "Sandwich"’.
There has been some recent controversy over Mark Driscoll's, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, comments about the Haggard scandal. Having listened to his comments recently, as well as knowing where he's coming from (I've listened to nearly all of his sermons from the last 5 years or so), I can honestly say he's [...] Read more – ‘Driscoll's Right. Check Your Wives. Check Yourselves.’.
The Coming Harmony's main text is done, for now. I've finally finished the text. Now there's just the process of doing the appendices, compiling sources, writing the acknowledgments, and then self-editing. Then it goes to all of you wonderful people who have volunteered to edit it. Thanks again, by the way. Whew, what a relief. [...] Read more – ‘Done.’.
Just some book ideas written on Post-It notes and various Moleskine entries: "Get Dirty": based on John 9:1-12, this book would expound on the idea that we as Christians are called to kneel down, and "play in the mud", that is, get dirty with people living in dirt. We can't be satisfied and lazy, we [...] Read more – ‘Upcoming Book Ideas’.
For those of you who haven't come across it yet, the TEDTalks lectures are inspiring, thought-provoking, and just plain incredible. They present ideas that are second to none, the best in the world. Even Richard Dawkins' talk is good. Very thought-provoking. Be a well-versed Christian, pay attention to the ideas of the world, redeeming them [...] Read more – ‘TEDTalks: Great Ideas for Culture Shapers’.
A couple of days ago, I posted about the people who have influenced my doctrine. I would like to mention another (honorable mention, I guess): John Piper. He's got some great stuff, and has influenced entire generation(s). Anyway, this post is dedicated to the people who have influenced the way I think about people. How [...] Read more – ‘Who Has Influenced How I Pastor’.
In reverse order, the top 5 people who have influenced my theology. This is theology only, that is, the way I think about God and everything related to Him: His People, His Word, His Son, and His Spirit. 5) My Grandfather, T.P. Phipps - From a very early age, my grandfather instilled in me both [...] Read more – ‘The Top 5 People Who Have Most Influenced My Theology’.
In teaching today, I've found that there are some mountains to climb in regards to explaining the Gospel to people in differing ages,backgrounds, and current cultures. The major mountains are: People are bitter towards "cultural Christianity". We have got to people past this hump and explain to them that Christians aren't perfect, and those that [...] Read more – ‘Mountains to Climb’.
Miranda and I had a discussion today about homeless people. What it amounted to was the difference between civil government and ecclesiastical government. The difference is this: in the world, government is equipped by the people to help the people. In Kingdom culture and in the Church, the government equips the people to help the [...] Read more – ‘Programs vs. People’.
Who is it? Well, some say Christianity, and they're half-right. But really, the greatest enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is the same Enemy it always has been: Satan. I know I risk sounding what I like to call 'super-Christian', but it is definitely true. Scripture is very clear that both the devil and [...] Read more – ‘Our Greatest Enemy’.
November is National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo for short). There's a whole site dedicated to writing your novel this month over at NaNoWriMo.Org. I'm taking this month to work on The Coming Harmony, even though it's not technically a novel. I'm already two chapters ahead, so I don't really qualify for the NaNoWriMo contest, [...] Read more – ‘NaNoWriMo and The Coming Harmony’.
Today, I taught partially about the Sabbath. We are going straight through the book of Matthew, and this week we were in chapters 11-12. Within our text there were three different facets of the Sabbath presented: Sabbath Today - (Matthew 11:25-30) - If we take up Jesus' yoke (His way of life), then we will [...] Read more – ‘About Sabbath’.
This past Sunday I taught on John 9. It is the story of the man blind from birth, and how Jesus spit in the mud to restore his eyesight. It's quite an incredible story. Here's how my outline went: John 9 v1: The man could not help his condition. v2-3: The disciples thought that when [...] Read more – ‘Get Dirty - Sunday's Lesson’.
