EGG hunt everyday

In this enjoyable audio from Ken Sande (author of The Peacemaker) on humility in marriage he describes his family's EGG hunt, where EGG is short for Evidences of God's Grace. Every day each member of his family is actively looking out for evidences of God's grace in one another's life. This would fit well in a daily family worship routine, where Dad would take the lead with remarks such as, "How patient you all were today when I came home late from work", or "How kind my boys were today to the girls", etc.

A design for your happiness

I've known too many sincere Christians that have been less than convinced that God really loved them. They thought, well he tolerates me, or he is always frustrated with me, and they've never been able to rest in the Father’s abiding, deep love for them.

Yet redemption starts with God’s nature, his absolute and unquenchable love for his people. God made us for this very reason—so that in Christ we can be his beloved children.

The study we are going through in Sunday School has been helpful and thanks to Google documents I can at least share the slides with you.


Sources cited (besides Peterson's book): Heirs with Christ (Beeke), Communion with the Triune God (Owen), Communion with God (Kapic)

Pulpit Supply at the Navajo Bible Church (pt 2)

I preached on the power of the cross in putting sin to death to 18 souls among the Navajo nation today. We were warmly received and God gave me strength to set Christ before them with some affection and power. J and my son Eli were excellent company and represented our church well to these brothers, sisters, and new friends.
We had the great joy of meeting Harriet Butler, 25 years the missionary to the Navajos. Her love to see Christ formed in these people and her willingness to live in near-poverty in a lonesome place for much of her life combined to convict me of being an unwilling servant. Could I live this way, in this place, for so long? Would I choose to live this way, as she has since 1985?
I hope to return again, but this time with my whole family, and enjoy additional fellowship among the Navajos.

Love. It's what makes a Subaru, a means of grace

It is true: it is better to give than to receive. Our long-term missionary to the Navajos, an 86 year old widow, just proved that point. Our little church, under the leadership of the deacons, is buying this special mother of the faith a new-er car. Why is this remarkable? She writes,

Let me tell you something. Often we who trust the Lord for our decisions for the future may misinterpret or may be confused about events. Then we decide that God is trying to tell us a door is closing or is being opened.

Last Friday, my wonderful Mercury Topaz gave me such trouble that I pondered the Lord's intentions concerning my continued calling to work among the Navajo women. To get the car going, I had to open the hood which is too heavy for my arms and in particular, my weak right hand. With hood open, the "rigged" fan to cool the radiator had to be connected to the battery. Then drop the hood, by which process, the wire to the fan disconnected and said process had to be redone (three times and each time I had to get back in the car to pull the handle to open the hood again). I think I "lost my cool" and cried to the Lord, "I NEED A BETTER CAR SO I CAN DO MY JOB!"

Did my Heavenly Father hear that cry for help and let the PPC folks answer with your offer? He does work in mysterious ways.

A Subaru Forester? W H E E W !

The Lord always surprises me with His care. And you folks are often His servants to deliver those surprises. You do know with a car like that I could get to people I have not visited for more than a year. I must have misinterpreted His intentions by thinking He meant for me to resign. I am too young for that kind of life, right?

The offerings of one local church, and a small one at that, are being used all over the world in ways just like this. What a joy to see this truth so clearly for once.

The Friendliest Place On Earth

Alamogordo (in southeastern New Mexico) is my current location; it styles itself as "The Friendliest Place On Earth". I drove down this morning to attend Presbytery and in this post I will attempt to convince you that Presbytery is of interest.

Three times a year the leaders from the churches in our region (NM, AZ, and a part of TX) meet together as a court of the church (based on the connectionalism we find in Acts). We call this meeting Presbytery--i.e. a gathering of elders from different churches. Today was a good example of the work we do. We joyfully started two young men down the road to becoming pastors and solemnly disciplined and sadly removed one of our own number from the pastorate.

In a sense the nations gather at these meetings; we welcomed a pastor from Bethlehem (Palestine) to learn about the plight of the only Presbyterian church left there and the sermon today was from a Mexican pastor laboring across the border for the gospel.

There is much prayer as we labor to plant new churches and provide campus ministries across our region. Fellowship was enjoyed when we took a dinner break and heard an impressive lecture on postmodernism and the pulpit from one of the pastors who recently received a PhD.

While I was enjoying this conference-like atmosphere--eating well, fellowshipping, meeting new people--Kristin was sacrificing at home so that I could attend. She's awesome, and Deacon Mike at church gets big thanks for taking Isaiah out to the East Mountains today to frolic in the snow that surprisingly is still there in abundance!

Alamogordo may strive to be the friendliest place on Earth, but as Spurgeon has noticed, the Church is the dearest place on Earth.

Coming soon!

I'm excited about this conference which will bring two of today's finest reformed teachers to my town. I'm really hoping to attend, and I hope my local readers will try and make it, too.

Overheard

"How many sins do I commit a day, every day!?! And on one hand can I count the times someone has rebuked me."

I heard this remark today; it's an interesting statement. Now no one should read this and overcorrect. Don't be the person with the "gift of rebuke" that goes around looking for someone, somewhere, doing something wrong somehow. But the Proverbs do speak of the wounds of a friend being better than the kisses of an enemy. For my part, I think most correction should come from within the marriage relationship. For a good post on how to properly do this read this from pastor C.J. Mahaney and his wife.

Ministry Notes -- Those who don't trust the Bible

Here are just a few comments on ministry from this week. I haven't posted much on these activities before because I wasn't sure how to write things that didn't sound self-serving. But in the spirit of David Brainerd, here's a try.

I spent several hours this week with two different men talking about the trustworthiness of the Bible. One of these men is depressed and both suffer spiritually to different degrees from a weak faith.

The man I met with who is depressed knows that the darkness in his life stems from a measure of despair over not knowing what to believe about God. He's an intelligent man but has many objections to the canonicity of the New Testament. He is trying to derive what to believe about God from creation only since he can't trust special revelation. He is in a desperate condition and the plan is for us to continue to meet together with the objective of persuading him to trust God's revealed word. I am praying for him and I'd appreciate your prayers as well.

Resigning from the ministry

In my reading and listening over the last couple of months (ever since my pastor submitted his resignation--please don't forget to pray for tomorrow's Presbytery meeting) I've stumbled across a number of helpful things to put into perspective the great difficulty of the ministry. Beside the farewell sermon from Edwards, I learned of Charles Simeon (a Calvinistic Anglican) and how the deacons of his church locked the pews during worship services because they didn't like him. They did this for 10 years!

I also stumbled across this timeless letter from a middle-aged pastor to his mentor. It's piercing in its analysis of the difficulties of the pastor.

My Dear Jim:

I am through. Yesterday I handed in my resignation, to take effect at once, and this morning I began work for the Land Company. I shall not return to the pastorate. I think I can see into your heart as you read these words and behold not a little disappointment, if not disgust. I don't blame you at all, for I am somewhat disgusted with myself. Do you recall the days in the seminary when we talked of the future and painted pictures of what we were to do for the kingdom of God? We saw the boundless need for unselfish Christian service and longed to be out among men doing our part towards the world's redemption. I shall never forget that last talk on the night before our graduation. You were to go to the foreign field and I to the Church.

We had brave dreams of usefulness, and you have realized them. As I look back across twenty-five years I can see some lives that I have helped, and some things which I have been permitted to do that are worth while; but, sitting here tonight, I am more than half convinced that God never intended me to be a minister. If He did, I am not big enough and brave enough to pay the price. Even if it leads you to write me down a coward, I'm going to tell you why I've quit.

In these years I have found not a few earnest, unselfish, consecrated Christians. I do not believe that I am specially morbid or unfair in my estimate. So far as I know my own heart, I am not bitter. But through all these years a conviction has been growing within me that the average church-member cares precious little about the kingdom of God and its advancement, or the welfare of his fellow men. He is a Christian in order that he may save his soul from hell, and for no other reason. He does as little as he can, lives as indifferently as he dares. If he thought he could gain heaven without even lifting his finger for others, he would jump at the chance. Never have I known more than a small minority of any church which I have served to be really interested in and unselfishly devoted to God's work. It took my whole time to pull and push and urge and persuade the reluctant members of my church to undertake a little something for their fellow men. They took a covenant to be faithful in attendance upon the services of the church and not one out of ten ever thought of attending prayer-meeting. A large percentage seldom attended church in the morning, and a pitifully small number in the evening. It did not seem to mean anything to them that they had dedicated themselves to the service of Christ.

I am tired; tired of being the only one in the church from whom real sacrifice is expected; tired of straining and tugging to get Christian people to live like Christians; tired of planning work for my people and then being compelled to do it myself or see it left undone; tired of dodging my creditors when I would not need to if I had what is due me; tired of the affrighting vision of a penniless old age. I am not leaving Christ. I love Him. I shall still try to serve Him.

Judge me leniently, for I cannot bear to lose your friendship.

Yours of Old,
William

A Farewell Sermon (part 4)

This will be the longest of the excerpts I give from Jonathan Edwards' farewell sermon, but it is something that deserves the space and time.

How highly therefore does it now become us to consider of that time when we must meet one another before the chief Shepherd! When I must give an account of my stewardship, of the service I have done for, and the reception and treatment I have had among the people to whom he sent me. And you must give an account of your own conduct towards me.

For then both you and I must appear together, and we both must give an account, in order to an infallible, righteous and eternal sentence to be passed upon us, by him who will judge us with respect to all that we have said or done in our meeting here, and all our conduct one towards another in the house of God and elsewhere.

He will judge us with respect to all the controversies which have subsisted between us, with the strictest impartiality, and will examine our treatment of each other in those controversies. There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, nor hid which shall not be known. All will be examined in the searching, penetrating light of God’s omniscience and glory, and by him whose eyes are as a flame of fire. Truth and right shall be made plainly to appear, being stripped of every veil. And all error, falsehood, unrighteousness, and injury shall be laid open, stripped of every disguise. Every specious pretense, every cavil, and all false reasoning shall vanish in a moment, as not being able to bear the light of that day. And then our hearts will be turned inside out, and the secrets of them will be made more plainly to appear than our outward actions do now.

Then it shall appear what the ends are which we have aimed at, what have been the governing principles which we have acted from, and what have been the dispositions we have exercised in our ecclesiastical disputes and contests. Then it will appear whether I acted uprightly, and from a truly conscientious, careful regard to my duty to my great Lord and Master, in some former ecclesiastical controversies, which have been attended with exceeding unhappy circumstances and consequences. It will appear whether there was any just cause for the resentment which was manifested on those occasions.

And then our late grand controversy, concerning the qualifications necessary for admission to the privileges of members, in complete standing, in the visible church of Christ, will be examined and judged in all its parts and circumstances, and the whole set forth in a clear, certain, and perfect light. Then it will appear whether the doctrine which I have preached and published concerning this matter be Christ’s own doctrine, whether he will not own it as one of the precious truths which have proceeded from his own mouth, and vindicate and honor as such before the whole universe.

Then it will appear whether, in declaring this doctrine, and acting agreeable to it, and in my general conduct in the affair, I have been influenced from any regard to my own temporal interest, or honor, or desire to appear wiser than others, or have acted from any sinister, secular views whatsoever, and whether what I have done has not been from a careful, strict, and tender regard to the will of my Lord and Master, and because I dare not offend him, being satisfied what his will was, after a long, diligent, impartial, and prayerful inquiry.

Then it will appear whether my people have done their duty to their pastor with respect to this matter; whether they have shown a right temper and spirit on this occasion; whether they have done me justice in hearing, attending to and considering what I had to say in evidence of what I believed and taught as part of the counsel of God; whether I have been treated with that impartiality, candor, and regard which the just Judge esteemed due; and whether, in the many steps which have been taken, and the many things that have been said and done in the course of this controversy, righteousness, and charity, and Christian decorum have been maintained; or, if otherwise, to how great a degree these things have been violated.

Then every step of the conduct of each of us in this affair, from first to last, and the spirit we have exercised in all, shall be examined and manifested, and our own consciences shall speak plain and loud, and each of us shall be convinced, and the world shall know; and never shall there be any more mistake, misrepresentation, or misapprehension of the affair to eternity.

A Farewell Sermon (part 3)

I continue with a few excerpts of a personal nature from Jonathan Edwards' farewell sermon after being voted out of his congregation.

The improvement I would make of the subject is to lead the people here present, who have been under my pastoral care, to some reflections, and give them some advice suitable to our present circumstances, relating to what has been lately done in order to our being separated, but expecting to meet each other before the great tribunal at the day of judgment.

The deep and serious consideration of our future most solemn meeting, is certainly most suitable at such a time as this. There having so lately been that done, which, in all probability, will (as to the relation we have heretofore stood in) be followed with an everlasting separation.

How often have we met together in the house of God in this relation! How often have I spoke to you, instructed, counseled, warned, directed, and fed you, and administered ordinances among you, as the people which were committed to my care, and of whose precious souls I had the charge! But in all probability this never will be again.

I have spent the prime of my life and strength in labors for your eternal welfare. You are my witnesses that what strength I have had I have not neglected in idleness, nor laid out in prosecuting worldly schemes, and managing temporal affairs, for the advancement of my outward estate, and aggrandizing myself and family. But [I] have given myself to the work of the ministry, laboring in it night and day, rising early and applying myself to this great business to which Christ appointed me. I have found the work of the ministry among you to be a great work indeed, a work of exceeding care, labor and difficulty. Many have been the heavy burdens that I have borne in it, to which my strength has been very unequal. God called me to bear these burdens; and I bless his name that he has so supported me as to keep me from sinking under them, and that his power herein has been manifested in my weakness. So that although I have often been troubled on every side, yet I have not been distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; cast down, but not destroyed. — But now I have reason to think my work is finished which I had to do as your minister: you have publicly rejected me, and my opportunities cease.

A Farewell Sermon (part 2)

Excerpts from Jonathan Edward's farewell sermon continued from yesterday.

Ministers, and the people who have been under their care, shall meet together before Christ, that he may judge between them, as to any controversies which have subsisted between them in this world.

It often comes to pass in this evil world, that great differences and controversies arise between ministers and the people under their pastoral care. Though they are under the greatest obligations to live in peace, above persons in almost any relation whatever, and although contests and dissensions between persons so related are the most unhappy and terrible in their consequences on many accounts of any sort of contentions, yet how frequent have such contentions been! Sometimes a people contest with their ministers about their doctrine, sometimes about their administrations and conduct, and sometimes about their maintenance. Sometimes such contests continue a long time, and sometimes they are decided in this world, according to the prevailing interest of one party or the other, rather than by the Word of God, and the reason of things. And sometimes such controversies never have any proper determination in this world.

But at the day of judgment there will be a full, perfect, and everlasting decision of them. The infallible Judge, the infinite fountain of light, truth, and justice, will judge between the contending parties, and will declare what is the truth, who is in the right, and what is agreeable to his mind and will. And in order hereto, the parties must stand together before him at the last day, which will be the great day of finishing and determining all controversies, rectifying all mistakes, and abolishing all unrighteous judgments, errors, and confusions, which have before subsisted in the world of mankind.

A Farewell Sermon (part 1)

Over the last couple of months of reading I've stumbled across a couple very impressive farewell sermons. I was impressed because these pastors had been voted out by the congregation they had served faithfully for many years and yet their farewell sermon contained no malice but also boldly proclaimed the truth, "we will meet again. This will be set right." I plan to post some excerpts from the farewell sermon of Jonathan Edwards preached at the First Church in Northampton, MA after being voted out as the Pastor July 1, 1750.

Now ministers and their people may disagree in their judgments concerning some matters of religion, and may sometimes meet to confer together concerning those things wherein they differ, and to hear the reasons that may be offered on one side and the other; and all may be ineffectual as to any conviction of the truth. They may meet and part again, no more agreed than before, and that side which was in the wrong may remain so still. Sometimes the meetings of ministers with their people, in such a case of disagreeing sentiments, are attended with unhappy debate and controversy, managed with much prejudice and want of candor; not tending to light and conviction, but rather to confirm and increase darkness, and establish opposition to the truth, and alienation of affection one from another. But when they shall meet together at the day of judgment, before the tribunal of the great Judge, the mind and will of Christ will be made known, and there shall no longer be any debate or difference of opinions. The evidence of the truth shall appear beyond all dispute, and all controversies shall be finally and forever decided.

Now in this present state it often happens that when ministers and people meet together to debate and manage their ecclesiastical affairs, especially in a state of controversy, they are ready to judge and censure with regard to each other’s views, designs, and the principles and ends by which each is influenced, and are greatly mistaken in their judgment and wrong one another in their censures. But at that future meeting, things will be set in a true and perfect light, and the principles and aims that everyone has acted from, shall be certainly known. There will be an end to all errors of this kind, and all unrighteous censures.

One Woman at a Time

TIME has an overall favorable article on Crisis Pregnancy Centers, including a focus on Care Net and a PCA pastor. Kristin has been volunteering in one of the Care Net facilities here in Albuquerque for a few months and has brought home some startling stories.

Planned Parenthood is just down the hall from Care Net. Last week a young girl came into Care Net and showed Kristin her pregnancy test results, which was stamped with the Planned Parenthood logo. This young girl's visit to both places illustrates the battle for hearts and minds taking place--one woman at a time.

When the Darkness Will Not Lift

Blogs are supposed to be happy places. When people voluntarily display their lives to the world they want the best side to show (unless there's teenage angst involved). But no one's life is good all the time, and for some Christians, there are long stretches of time when there is no joy in God.

This short book (~80 pages in large font and plenty of white space) can help during those dry times. It's a shortened version of another John Piper book about fighting for joy. In this work, he crisply speaks to the place of the gospel in helping those for whom joy stays out of reach. He also addresses the role of medication in the fight for joy. Interspersed throughout are brief sketches of other well known Christians who have struggled with depression--some with happy endings and some without.

This is a helpful book for anyone waiting for God to bring them out of the darkness.

Called to the ministry

Many young men attempt to discern whether they have a calling to the ministry; this short read (~90 pages) can help.

Edmund Clowney approaches the whole subject by an entirely different route than those that think in terms of "feeling called". The best way to prove you are called is to be involved in ministering now. Your gifts become evident on the field; are you now ministering mercy to the world and the church with the Word? If not then there is no calling. The calling comes through God's blessings on your active service in the body of Christ.

To miss your calling, follow this three-point program: assume that it begins in the future, decide that you don't know what it is, and sit down and wait for the Lord's call. To learn how to serve Christ tomorrow, you must serve him now. Stir up your gifts and Christ's call will be made clear. God's call to service normally comes in service.

Clowney deals with the issue of vocation and avocation. We are to stick to the positions in which God called us and glorify Christ there. Leisure time ought to be kingdom time, and it is possible for a man's fullest vocation to be his avocation. On the other hand, the way of the cross requires the willing abandonment of any vocation for the sake of the Lord. I think the direction that Clowney is leading us towards is if you are unable to utilize your gifts for ministry in your vocation then it is time to abandon it for full-time gospel ministry.

I recommend this book, and for my local readers, it is available for check-out from the church library.