Saturday, October 31, 2009
Clinton on Crisis and Leadership Development
A crisis is a time of increased pressure. Theses situations are often used by God to test a leader and to teach him dependence on God.eg. A leader faces a major crisis. The leader sees that his only hope is in God. He experiences God in a new way in the crisis. He sees God as the One who can and does meet him in this major experience of life. Not only does God meet the leader in the situation but He does so with a solution that is tailor-made for the leader. The overall effect is a more confident leader. It provides a landmark experience that will affect this person's ability to lead others. His followers in turn sense a new spiritual authoirty in him. Learning lessons in these experiences is the goal. Spiritual authority is a most important by-product.
Clinton's Three Challenges to Leaders
1. When Christ calls leaders to Christian ministry, He intends to develop them to their full potential. Each of us in leadership is responsible to continue developing in accordance with God's processing all our life.
2. A major function of all leadership is that of selection of rising leadership. Leaders must continually be aware of God's processing of younger leaders and work with that process.
3. Leaders must develop a ministry philosophy that simultaneously honour biblical leadership values, embraces the challenges of the times in which they live, and fits their unique gifts and personal development if they expect to be productive over a whole lifetime.
2. A major function of all leadership is that of selection of rising leadership. Leaders must continually be aware of God's processing of younger leaders and work with that process.
3. Leaders must develop a ministry philosophy that simultaneously honour biblical leadership values, embraces the challenges of the times in which they live, and fits their unique gifts and personal development if they expect to be productive over a whole lifetime.
Godwin's Expectation Principle
A potential leader tends to rise to the level of genuine expectancy of a leader they respect.
Clinton on Conflict and Leadership Development
God will use conflict to point out areas of character needing modification, to point out or confirm areas of strength, or to point out areas of character missing entirely. Personal conflict can deal with inner fears, lack of self image, fear of failure, guilt, etc. The emphasis is not just on the insights learned about conflict, but also on the intended development of character orchestrated by God in those conflict situations.
Clinton on Isolation and Leader Development
One way that God forces a leader into reflective evaluation and into a 'being' stage of the upward development pattern involves isolation. It is one of the most effective means for maturing a leader. Several times in a leader's lifetime, the leader may be set aside from his or her normal ministry... The thrust of the processing is on the recognition that the isolation is God's work and that it is a call to a deeper relationship and experience of God
Clinton on the Leadership Development Pattern
The upward development pattern occurs throughout a leader's life. It is a spiral of growth in being and doing. In each being cycle there is an increased depth of experiencing and knowing God; and in each doing cycle there is increased depth of effective service for God. The final result of the upward development pattern is a fusion of being and doing. ie. Conversion - being; doing - leadership committment; being - inner-life growth; doing - development and use of ministry skills; being - ministry philosophy becomes life based; union.
Clinton on Leadership Maturity
To develop a leader to maturity, God enlarges the leader's perspectives of the spiritual dynamics of ministry. The leader must learn to sense the spiritual reality (spiritual warfare) behind physical reality, as well as to depend upon God's power in minstry. Also, the leader must learn to know God's voice in the challenge process items - faith, prayer, and influence - and the affirmation process items - divine and ministry.
Watchman Nee on Spiritual Authority
From Nee's 'ten commandments' of spiritual authority:
1. One who learns spiritual authority as the power base for ministry must recognise the essential Source of all authority: God.
7. People who are under God's authority look for and recognise spiritual authority and willingly place themselves under it.
8. Spiritual authority is never exercised for one's own benefit, but for those under it.
1. One who learns spiritual authority as the power base for ministry must recognise the essential Source of all authority: God.
7. People who are under God's authority look for and recognise spiritual authority and willingly place themselves under it.
8. Spiritual authority is never exercised for one's own benefit, but for those under it.
Clinton on Leadership Development
As a leader, you should recognise that God is continually developing you over a lifetime. His top priority is to conform you to the image of Christ for ministry with spiritual authority. Enduring fruitfulness flows out of being.
Development phases are identified by three factors: process items (people, circumstances, lessons, etc that God uses to indicate and develop leadership potential), boundary events (significant experiences that happen during a boundary time and influence its outcome), and changes in sphere of influence (the totality of people being influenced and for whom a leader will give an account to God). There is usually an interplay of all three factors during a development transition.
Development phases are identified by three factors: process items (people, circumstances, lessons, etc that God uses to indicate and develop leadership potential), boundary events (significant experiences that happen during a boundary time and influence its outcome), and changes in sphere of influence (the totality of people being influenced and for whom a leader will give an account to God). There is usually an interplay of all three factors during a development transition.
Wiersbe on Leadership by Principles
Methods are many, principles are few. Methods always change, principles never do.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
John Hosier on Simplicity
If we reject materialism and asceticism it seems to me we are left with the biblical way of generosity, which in turn is linked with simplicity. Simplicity is not to be understood in 'nothing' but 'enough.' When we consider the needs of the poor, and indeed the needs of world mission, then there is a challenge to generosity - something that can always be increased as we simplify our lifestyle.
This is a sensitive area, for simplicity can easily become pharisaical when we begin to bring our opinion and judgement to bear on how others should simplify their lifestyle. (And particularly pharisaical if others should suggest how we might simplify our lifestyle!) The reality is that we are all extravagant in different ways. Voluntary simplicity of lifestyle is a way to increase our generosity.
This is a sensitive area, for simplicity can easily become pharisaical when we begin to bring our opinion and judgement to bear on how others should simplify their lifestyle. (And particularly pharisaical if others should suggest how we might simplify our lifestyle!) The reality is that we are all extravagant in different ways. Voluntary simplicity of lifestyle is a way to increase our generosity.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tim Chester on Fasting
When we in the western world have emotional needs many of us turn to food for refuge. We self-medicate with food. The result is ill-health and weight gain. The result is an over-consumption of the world?s resources that contributes to the hunger of other people. And every time we miss the opportunity to turn to God. We don?t live by bread alone. We need God in our lives so that life without God is an empty life. And we cannot fill that emptiness with food. Fasting helps re-oriente us away from self-medication through food towards finding refuge in God. We particularly we turn to foods high in sugar, salt and fat. These consitute our comfort foods. We find comfort in sugar, salt and fat. Sugar, salt and fat instead of the living God. We must be mad! Fasting helps restore our sanity.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
TGC on Worship
Gospel-centred ministry is characterised by empowered corporate worship. The gospel changes our relationship with God from one of hostility or slavish compliance to one of intimacy and joy. The core dynamic of gospel-centered ministry is therefore worship and fervent prayer. In corporate worship God?s people receive a special life-transforming sight of the worth and beauty of God, and then give back to God suitable expressions of his worth. At the heart of corporate worship is the ministry of the Word. Preaching should be expository (explaining the text of Scripture) and Christ-centered (expounding all biblical themes as climaxing in Christ and his work of salvation). Its ultimate goal, however, is not simply to teach but to lead the hearers to worship, individual and corporate, that strengthens their inner being to do the will of God.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tim Keller on Preaching
I pastor a church with a large staff and so I give 15+ hours a week to preparing the sermon. I would not advise younger ministers to spend so much time, however. When I was a pastor without a staff I put in 6-8 hours on a sermon. If you put in too much time in your study on your sermon you put in too little time being out with people as a shepherd and a leader. Ironically, this will make you a poorer preacher. It is only through doing people-work that you become the preacher you need to be?someone who knows sin, how the heart works, what people?s struggles are, and so on. Pastoral care and leadership (along with private prayer) are to a great degree sermon preparation. More accurately, it is preparing the preacher, not just the sermon. Through pastoral care and leadership you grow from being a Bible commentator into a flesh and blood preacher.
Lloyd-Jones on Self
How well the devil knows our human weakness! There is no method, therefore, that he more frequently uses . . . than just to play on this problem of self as it is present in every one of us. The ways in which he does so are almost endless. He works on self in order to encourage pride. He tries to make us proud of our gifts, our brains, our understanding, our knowledge . . .
Another form which this evil can take stems from the fact that various desires always tend to arise from self?the desire for importance, the desire for position . . . All this leads above everything else to a sprit of self-satisfaction . . .Furthermore this condition leads to selfishness and self-centredness. Self is always interested in itself. Everything revolves round this particular entity; and it becomes the centre of a constellation. That in turn leads to jealousy and envy . . .
To the extent that we are governed by self we are sensitive, and as such we can be easily hurt, easily depressed, and discouraged. Self is always watching for insults and slights. It is always hypersensitive. It is delicate, it is sensitized to everything; the slightest speck troubles it and alarms it. Self is totalitarian; it demands everything, and it is irritated and hurt if it does not get everything. As a consequence it becomes a most fruitful cause of quarrels and divisions and unhappiness . . .
If you have a great brain, it is no credit to you, you were born with it. If you have a wonderful singing voice, you have not produced it, it was given you. What are you boasting about? All that you have is not the result of your action and activity; it is something with which God has endowed you . . .
Paul always kept the grace of God in view; it kept him humble; it kept his spirit sweet; it kept him from the horrible sin of self and of pride and self-importance. Christians have nothing to boast of. We are what we are entirely as the result of the grace of God.
Another form which this evil can take stems from the fact that various desires always tend to arise from self?the desire for importance, the desire for position . . . All this leads above everything else to a sprit of self-satisfaction . . .Furthermore this condition leads to selfishness and self-centredness. Self is always interested in itself. Everything revolves round this particular entity; and it becomes the centre of a constellation. That in turn leads to jealousy and envy . . .
To the extent that we are governed by self we are sensitive, and as such we can be easily hurt, easily depressed, and discouraged. Self is always watching for insults and slights. It is always hypersensitive. It is delicate, it is sensitized to everything; the slightest speck troubles it and alarms it. Self is totalitarian; it demands everything, and it is irritated and hurt if it does not get everything. As a consequence it becomes a most fruitful cause of quarrels and divisions and unhappiness . . .
If you have a great brain, it is no credit to you, you were born with it. If you have a wonderful singing voice, you have not produced it, it was given you. What are you boasting about? All that you have is not the result of your action and activity; it is something with which God has endowed you . . .
Paul always kept the grace of God in view; it kept him humble; it kept his spirit sweet; it kept him from the horrible sin of self and of pride and self-importance. Christians have nothing to boast of. We are what we are entirely as the result of the grace of God.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Spurgeon on God's Shaping of Character
Is it not a curious thing that whenever God means to make a man great, He always first breaks him in pieces? There was a man whom the Lord meant to make into a prince. How did He do it? Why, He met him one night and wrestled with him! You always hear about Jacob?s wrestling. Well, I dare say he did, but it was not Jacob who was the principal wres- tler??There wrestled a man with Him until the breaking of the day.? God touched the hollow of Jacob?s thigh and put it out of joint before He called him ?Israel,? that is, ?a Prince of God.? The wrestling was to take all his strength out of him and when his strength was gone, then God called him a prince. Now, David was to be king over all Israel. What was the way to Jerusalem for David? What was the way to the throne? Well, it was round by the cave of Adullam. He must go there and be an outlaw and an outcast, for that was the way by which he would be made king. Have none of you ever no- ticed, in your own lives, that whenever God is going to give you an enlargement and bring you out to a larger sphere of service, or a higher platform of spiritual life, you always get thrown down? That is His usual way of working! He makes you hungry before He feeds you! He strips you before He robes you! He makes nothing of you before He makes something of you! This was the way with David. He is to be king in Jerusalem, but He must go to the throne by the way of the cave. Now, are any of you here going to Heaven, or going to a more heavenly state of sanctification, or going to a greater sphere of usefulness? Do not wonder if you go by the way of the cave. Why is that?
It is, first, because if God would make you greatly useful, He must teach you how to pray! The man who is a great preacher and yet cannot pray, will come to a bad end. A woman who cannot pray and yet is noted for the conducting of Bible classes, has already come to a bad end. If you can be great without prayer, your greatness will be your ruin! If God means to bless you greatly, He will make you pray greatly, as He does David who says in this part of his preparation for coming to his throne, ?I cried unto the Lord with my voice: with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication.?
Next, the man whom God would greatly honor must always believe in God when he is at his wits? end. ?When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path.? Are you never at your wits? end? God has not sent you to do business in great waters, for, if He has, you will reel to and fro and be at your wits? end, in a great storm, before long! Oh, it is easy to trust when you can trust yourself, but when you cannot trust yourself?when you are dead beat, when your spirit sinks below zero in the chill of utter despair?then is the time to trust in God. If that is your case, you have the marks of a man who can lead God?s people and be a comforter of others.
Next, in order to greater usefulness, many a man of God must be taught to stand alone. ?I looked on my right hand, and behold, but there was no man that would know me.? If you need men to help you, you may make a very decent fol- lower. But if you need no man and can stand alone, God being your Helper, you shall be helped to be a leader. Oh, it was a grand thing when Luther stepped out from the ranks of Rome! There were many good men round him who said, ?Be quiet, Martin. You will get burnt if you do not hold your tongue! Let us keep where we are, in the Church of Rome, even if we have to swallow down great lumps of dirt. We can believe the Gospel and still remain where we are.? But Luther knew that he must defy Antichrist and declare the pure Gospel of the blessed God! And he must stand alone for the Truth of God even if there were as many devils against him as there were tiles on the housetops at Worms! That is the kind of man whom God blesses! I would to God that many a young man here might have the courage to feel, in his particular position, ?I can stand alone, if need be. I am glad to have my master and my fellow workmen with me, but if nobody will go to Heaven with me, I will say farewell to them and go to Heaven alone through the Grace of God?s dear Son.?
Once more, the man whom God will bless must be the man who delights in God alone. David says, ?I cried unto You, O Lord: I said, You are my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.? Oh, to have God as our refuge and to make God our portion! ?You will lose your job! You will lose your income. You will lose the approbation of your fellow men.? ?Ah,? says the Believer, ?but I shall not lose my Portion, for God is my Portion! He is job, and income, and every- thing to me?and I will hold by Him, come what may.? If you have learned to ?delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart.? Now you are come into such a state that God can use you and make much of you?but until you make much of God, He never will make much of you! God deliver us from having our portion in this life, for, if we have, we are not among His people at all!
He whom God would use must be taught sympathy with God?s poor people. Hence we get these words of David, in the sixth verse, ?I am brought very low.? Mr. Greatheart, though he must be strong to kill Giant Grim and any others of the giants that infest the Pilgrim path, must be a man who has gone that road himself if he is to be a leader of others. If the Lord means to bless you, my Brother, and to make you very useful in His Church, depend upon it, He will try you. Half, perhaps nine-tenths of the trials of God?s ministers are not sent to them on their own account. They are sent for the good of other people. Many a child of God who goes very smoothly to Heaven, does very little for others. But another of the Lord?s children who has all the ins and outs and changes of an experienced Believer?s life, has them only that he may be better fitted to help others! That he may be able to sit down and weep with them that weep, or to stand up and rejoice with them that rejoice.
So then, dear Brothers who have got into the cave, and you, my Sisters, who have deep spiritual exercises, I want to comfort you by showing you that this is God?s way of making something of you. He is digging you out! You are like an old ditch?you cannot hold any more?and God is digging you out to make more room for more Grace. That spade will cut sharply and dig up sod after sod, and throw it to one side. The very thing you would like to keep shall be cast away and you shall be hollowed out, and dug out, that the word of Elisha may be fulfilled, ?Make this valley full of ditches. For thus says the Lord, You shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water.? You are to be tried, my Friend, that God may be glorified in you!
Lastly, if God means to use you, you must get to be full of praise. Listen to what David says, ?Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name: the righteous shall compass me about; for You shall deal bountifully with me.? May God give to my Brothers and Sisters here, who are being tried for their good and afflicted for their promotion, Grace to begin to praise Him! It is the singers that go before?they who can praise best shall be fit to lead others in the work. Do not set me to follow a gloomy leader. Oh, no, dear Sirs, we cannot work to the tune of ?The Dead March in Saul?! Our soldiers would never have won Waterloo if that had been the music for the day of battle! No, no! Give us a rejoicer??Sing unto the Lord who has triumphed gloriously; praise His great name again and again.? Draw the sword and strike home! If you are of a cheerful spirit, glad in the Lord and joyous after all your trials and afflictions, and if you can rejoice more because you have been brought so low, then God is making something of you and He will yet use you to lead His people to greater works of Grace!
It is, first, because if God would make you greatly useful, He must teach you how to pray! The man who is a great preacher and yet cannot pray, will come to a bad end. A woman who cannot pray and yet is noted for the conducting of Bible classes, has already come to a bad end. If you can be great without prayer, your greatness will be your ruin! If God means to bless you greatly, He will make you pray greatly, as He does David who says in this part of his preparation for coming to his throne, ?I cried unto the Lord with my voice: with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication.?
Next, the man whom God would greatly honor must always believe in God when he is at his wits? end. ?When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path.? Are you never at your wits? end? God has not sent you to do business in great waters, for, if He has, you will reel to and fro and be at your wits? end, in a great storm, before long! Oh, it is easy to trust when you can trust yourself, but when you cannot trust yourself?when you are dead beat, when your spirit sinks below zero in the chill of utter despair?then is the time to trust in God. If that is your case, you have the marks of a man who can lead God?s people and be a comforter of others.
Next, in order to greater usefulness, many a man of God must be taught to stand alone. ?I looked on my right hand, and behold, but there was no man that would know me.? If you need men to help you, you may make a very decent fol- lower. But if you need no man and can stand alone, God being your Helper, you shall be helped to be a leader. Oh, it was a grand thing when Luther stepped out from the ranks of Rome! There were many good men round him who said, ?Be quiet, Martin. You will get burnt if you do not hold your tongue! Let us keep where we are, in the Church of Rome, even if we have to swallow down great lumps of dirt. We can believe the Gospel and still remain where we are.? But Luther knew that he must defy Antichrist and declare the pure Gospel of the blessed God! And he must stand alone for the Truth of God even if there were as many devils against him as there were tiles on the housetops at Worms! That is the kind of man whom God blesses! I would to God that many a young man here might have the courage to feel, in his particular position, ?I can stand alone, if need be. I am glad to have my master and my fellow workmen with me, but if nobody will go to Heaven with me, I will say farewell to them and go to Heaven alone through the Grace of God?s dear Son.?
Once more, the man whom God will bless must be the man who delights in God alone. David says, ?I cried unto You, O Lord: I said, You are my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.? Oh, to have God as our refuge and to make God our portion! ?You will lose your job! You will lose your income. You will lose the approbation of your fellow men.? ?Ah,? says the Believer, ?but I shall not lose my Portion, for God is my Portion! He is job, and income, and every- thing to me?and I will hold by Him, come what may.? If you have learned to ?delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart.? Now you are come into such a state that God can use you and make much of you?but until you make much of God, He never will make much of you! God deliver us from having our portion in this life, for, if we have, we are not among His people at all!
He whom God would use must be taught sympathy with God?s poor people. Hence we get these words of David, in the sixth verse, ?I am brought very low.? Mr. Greatheart, though he must be strong to kill Giant Grim and any others of the giants that infest the Pilgrim path, must be a man who has gone that road himself if he is to be a leader of others. If the Lord means to bless you, my Brother, and to make you very useful in His Church, depend upon it, He will try you. Half, perhaps nine-tenths of the trials of God?s ministers are not sent to them on their own account. They are sent for the good of other people. Many a child of God who goes very smoothly to Heaven, does very little for others. But another of the Lord?s children who has all the ins and outs and changes of an experienced Believer?s life, has them only that he may be better fitted to help others! That he may be able to sit down and weep with them that weep, or to stand up and rejoice with them that rejoice.
So then, dear Brothers who have got into the cave, and you, my Sisters, who have deep spiritual exercises, I want to comfort you by showing you that this is God?s way of making something of you. He is digging you out! You are like an old ditch?you cannot hold any more?and God is digging you out to make more room for more Grace. That spade will cut sharply and dig up sod after sod, and throw it to one side. The very thing you would like to keep shall be cast away and you shall be hollowed out, and dug out, that the word of Elisha may be fulfilled, ?Make this valley full of ditches. For thus says the Lord, You shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water.? You are to be tried, my Friend, that God may be glorified in you!
Lastly, if God means to use you, you must get to be full of praise. Listen to what David says, ?Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name: the righteous shall compass me about; for You shall deal bountifully with me.? May God give to my Brothers and Sisters here, who are being tried for their good and afflicted for their promotion, Grace to begin to praise Him! It is the singers that go before?they who can praise best shall be fit to lead others in the work. Do not set me to follow a gloomy leader. Oh, no, dear Sirs, we cannot work to the tune of ?The Dead March in Saul?! Our soldiers would never have won Waterloo if that had been the music for the day of battle! No, no! Give us a rejoicer??Sing unto the Lord who has triumphed gloriously; praise His great name again and again.? Draw the sword and strike home! If you are of a cheerful spirit, glad in the Lord and joyous after all your trials and afflictions, and if you can rejoice more because you have been brought so low, then God is making something of you and He will yet use you to lead His people to greater works of Grace!
AW Tozer on Simplicity
If we would find God amid all the religious externals, we must first determine to find him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity. Now as always God discovers himself to ?babes? and hides himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent. We must simplify our approach to him. We must strip down to essentials, and they will be found to be blessedly few. We must put away all effort to impress and come with the guileless candor of childhood. If we do this, without doubt God will quickly respond.
Berni Dymet on Lord's Prayer
He taught us to life God up before ourselves. To ask for God's absolute, pwerful rule to come; for His will to be done. I wonder whether this total abandonment of our own agendas, this glad submission to God no matter what it may cost us, is the key to unlocking the power of prayer.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Kevin Vanhoozer on Theology
Kevin Vanhoozer's paper on "Systematic Theology: The State of the Evangelical (Dis)union" delivered at Gordon-Conwell. It includes these 10 theses on theological interpretation:
1. The nature and function of the Bible are insufficiently grasped unless and until we see the Bible as an element in the economy of triune discourse.
2. An appreciation of the theological nature of the Bible entails a rejection of a methodological atheism that treats the texts as having a ?natural history? only.
3. The message of the Bible is ?finally? about the loving power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16), the definitive or final gospel Word of God that comes to brightest light in the word?s final form.
4. Because God acts in space-time (of Israel, Jesus Christ, and the church), theological interpretation requires thick descriptions that plumb the height and depth of history, not only its length.
5. Theological interpreters view the historical events recounted in Scripture as ingredients in a unified story ordered by an economy of triune providence.
6. The Old Testament testifies to the same drama of redemption as the New, hence the church rightly reads both Testaments together, two parts of a single authoritative script.
7. The Spirit who speaks with magisterial authority in the Scripture speaks with ministerial authority in church tradition.
8. In an era marked by the conflict of interpretations, there is good reason provisionally to acknowledge the superiority of catholic interpretation.
9. The end of biblical interpretation is not simply communication - the sharing of information - but communion, a sharing in the light, life, and love of God.
10. The church is that community where good habits of theological interpretation are best formed and where the fruit of these habits are best exhibited.
I really liked this quote from Vanhoozer towards the end of the paper:
"Seminary faculties need the courage to be evangelically Protestant for the sake of forming theological interpreters of Scripture able to preach and minister the word. The preacher is a ?man on a wire,? whose sermons must walk the tightrope between Scripture and the contemporary situation. I believe that we should preparing our best students for this gospel ministry. The pastor-theologian, I submit, should be evangelicalism?s default public intellectual, with preaching the preferred public mode of theological interpretation of Scripture."
1. The nature and function of the Bible are insufficiently grasped unless and until we see the Bible as an element in the economy of triune discourse.
2. An appreciation of the theological nature of the Bible entails a rejection of a methodological atheism that treats the texts as having a ?natural history? only.
3. The message of the Bible is ?finally? about the loving power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16), the definitive or final gospel Word of God that comes to brightest light in the word?s final form.
4. Because God acts in space-time (of Israel, Jesus Christ, and the church), theological interpretation requires thick descriptions that plumb the height and depth of history, not only its length.
5. Theological interpreters view the historical events recounted in Scripture as ingredients in a unified story ordered by an economy of triune providence.
6. The Old Testament testifies to the same drama of redemption as the New, hence the church rightly reads both Testaments together, two parts of a single authoritative script.
7. The Spirit who speaks with magisterial authority in the Scripture speaks with ministerial authority in church tradition.
8. In an era marked by the conflict of interpretations, there is good reason provisionally to acknowledge the superiority of catholic interpretation.
9. The end of biblical interpretation is not simply communication - the sharing of information - but communion, a sharing in the light, life, and love of God.
10. The church is that community where good habits of theological interpretation are best formed and where the fruit of these habits are best exhibited.
I really liked this quote from Vanhoozer towards the end of the paper:
"Seminary faculties need the courage to be evangelically Protestant for the sake of forming theological interpreters of Scripture able to preach and minister the word. The preacher is a ?man on a wire,? whose sermons must walk the tightrope between Scripture and the contemporary situation. I believe that we should preparing our best students for this gospel ministry. The pastor-theologian, I submit, should be evangelicalism?s default public intellectual, with preaching the preferred public mode of theological interpretation of Scripture."
Jonathan Dodson on Holy Spirit
Here are some points from Jonathan on being sensitive to the Holy Spirit's work in our lives:
1. Repent for diminishing and ignoring the third Person of the Trinity. Repent for sinful self-reliance and fear-motivated neglect of the Holy Spirit. Mortify the sin that has been an obstacle to your knowing and walking with the Spirit. Receive God?s gracious forgiveness in Jesus and rejoice that the Spirit is in you!
2. Begin addressing the Holy Spirit in prayer every day. Talk to him as a Person; don?t ignore him as an energy force. Ask him for filling and direction for your entire day. Ask him to guide your decision-making, to direct your thoughts, and to fill your heart with affection for Jesus.
3. Read the Bible with a Holy Spirit lens. Look for him in the Bible and ask yourself: ?Who does this text tell me the Spirit is?? Then, refine the way you relate to him. It?s like getting to know your wife, the more you study her the better you can love her.
1. Repent for diminishing and ignoring the third Person of the Trinity. Repent for sinful self-reliance and fear-motivated neglect of the Holy Spirit. Mortify the sin that has been an obstacle to your knowing and walking with the Spirit. Receive God?s gracious forgiveness in Jesus and rejoice that the Spirit is in you!
2. Begin addressing the Holy Spirit in prayer every day. Talk to him as a Person; don?t ignore him as an energy force. Ask him for filling and direction for your entire day. Ask him to guide your decision-making, to direct your thoughts, and to fill your heart with affection for Jesus.
3. Read the Bible with a Holy Spirit lens. Look for him in the Bible and ask yourself: ?Who does this text tell me the Spirit is?? Then, refine the way you relate to him. It?s like getting to know your wife, the more you study her the better you can love her.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Rick Gamache on Kids
Justin Taylor|10:46 am CT
Questions for Kids
Last night during the conversation with John Piper, John MacArthur, and me, Piper mentioned how helped he was by the kinds of questions that Rick Gamache (senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship) regularly asks his kids. Rick gave me permission to post them here:
?How are your devotions?
?What is God teaching you?
?In your own words, what is the gospel?
?Is there a specific sin you?re aware of that you need my help defeating?
?Are you more aware of my encouragement or my criticism?
?What?s daddy most passionate about?
?Do I act the same at church as I do when I?m at home?
?Are you aware of my love for you?
?Is there any way I?ve sinned against you that I?ve not repented of?
?Do you have any observations for me?
?How am I doing as a dad?
?How have Sunday?s sermons impacted you?
?Does my relationship with mom make you excited to be married?
?(On top of these things, with my older kids, I?m always inquiring about their relationship with their friends and making sure God and his gospel are the center of those relationship. And I look for every opportunity to praise their mother and increase their appreciation and love for her.)
Questions for Kids
Last night during the conversation with John Piper, John MacArthur, and me, Piper mentioned how helped he was by the kinds of questions that Rick Gamache (senior pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship) regularly asks his kids. Rick gave me permission to post them here:
?How are your devotions?
?What is God teaching you?
?In your own words, what is the gospel?
?Is there a specific sin you?re aware of that you need my help defeating?
?Are you more aware of my encouragement or my criticism?
?What?s daddy most passionate about?
?Do I act the same at church as I do when I?m at home?
?Are you aware of my love for you?
?Is there any way I?ve sinned against you that I?ve not repented of?
?Do you have any observations for me?
?How am I doing as a dad?
?How have Sunday?s sermons impacted you?
?Does my relationship with mom make you excited to be married?
?(On top of these things, with my older kids, I?m always inquiring about their relationship with their friends and making sure God and his gospel are the center of those relationship. And I look for every opportunity to praise their mother and increase their appreciation and love for her.)
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Marcus Honeysett on Psalm 119
The assumption of Ps 119 is that we come to the Bible not merely to be educated but to be enriched. Not just to know, but to delight, to worship, to marvel, to wonder. People who have started to taste want to carry on tasting more and more because what we have tasted of God in the Word is marvels and wonders for our amazement, enjoyment and treasure. We are meant to cry out "I WANT SOME MORE" because this is so good. Or, as the Psalmist puts it, "to be consumed with longing."
CJ Mahaney on Worship
gotta love cj - 'my priority on a Sunday is my personal and passionate participation in the worship... if we appear complacent, distracted, looking around, unaffected by what we are singing we are not pleasing God... I want to please God... I've been humbled by the gospel and I want to express my affections to the Saviour for His death on the cross for me.'
Monday, October 12, 2009
CS Lewis on Christianity
I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only that I see it, but by it I see everything else.
Philip Jakob Spener on Pietism
As a response to the dry orthodoxy of 17th Century Lutheranism, Spener penned these six points:
1. The Word of God must be more widely stuidied by the people. To this end he proposed discussions under the pastor's guidance.
2. The universal priesthood of all believers needs new emphasis. All Christians should exercise this privilege by testifying, instructing and exhorting each other.
3. Mere head knowledge is not Christianity, but such knowledge must be translated into action.
4. More love and gentleness between the Christain denominations is needed in polemics.
5. The schooling of the clergy must include training for personal piety as well as intellectual knowledge.
6. Sermons should be preparaed with less emphasis on rhetorical art and more on the edification of the hearers.
1. The Word of God must be more widely stuidied by the people. To this end he proposed discussions under the pastor's guidance.
2. The universal priesthood of all believers needs new emphasis. All Christians should exercise this privilege by testifying, instructing and exhorting each other.
3. Mere head knowledge is not Christianity, but such knowledge must be translated into action.
4. More love and gentleness between the Christain denominations is needed in polemics.
5. The schooling of the clergy must include training for personal piety as well as intellectual knowledge.
6. Sermons should be preparaed with less emphasis on rhetorical art and more on the edification of the hearers.
Wendland on Orthodoxism
By this we mean the fact that many pastors and parishioners often mistook a mere intellectual knowledge of carefully systematized doctrine for faith. A personal conviction of sin was lacking, as also a faith which rested on the assurance of a forgiveness and had as a natural result a consecrated life of sanctification. A religious intellectualism began to control many Lutheran classrooms and pulpits, which consumed practically all of its energy... 'The humbler duties of preaching the Gospel and ministering to the spiritual needs of the people were often shunned in favor of the more glamorous field of theological debate.... the people had grown weary of the endless and useless theological disputes in which their pastors and prfoessors engaged.... leaders of Lutehranism found time, opportunity and funds for extensive theological debate and publication, but none for missions.
Wendland on Movements
Any movement, whether religious or polictical, with an 'ism' appended to its name, is usually the result of a reaction over against a state of affairs which has become intolerable, and therefore its inception is understandable. Because it is a reactionary moevement, however, it almost inevitably goes to extremes. Thus no matter how justified its causes may be, or how sincere the zeal of its proponents, we have come to regard any 'ism' with great suspicion.
Timothy George Quotes
?No creed but the Bible? is a pretext for ?neither creed, nor the Bible.?
God give us creeds, but deliver us from creedalism!
Dependence upon God is where the faith becomes my faith.
As long as the faith remains detached, a mere system of doctrine kept at arm?s length, we are like Nicodemus, who discovers he must be born again.
The faith without my faith leads to arid scholasticism, joyless, dead orthodoxy. My faith without the faith ends up in sloppy sentimentalism.
Some people who hear about a Baptist Catechism think you might as well be talking about a pregnant Pope or a married bachelor.
Ecclesiology is the new frontier of evangelical theology in the 21st century.
God give us creeds, but deliver us from creedalism!
Dependence upon God is where the faith becomes my faith.
As long as the faith remains detached, a mere system of doctrine kept at arm?s length, we are like Nicodemus, who discovers he must be born again.
The faith without my faith leads to arid scholasticism, joyless, dead orthodoxy. My faith without the faith ends up in sloppy sentimentalism.
Some people who hear about a Baptist Catechism think you might as well be talking about a pregnant Pope or a married bachelor.
Ecclesiology is the new frontier of evangelical theology in the 21st century.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Neil Bennetts on Worship
Great post! Great reminder....
The primary purpose of the church is to worship God. Not to make disciples. Not to run community projects. Not to run Alpha courses. Not to serve the poor. Not to heal the sick. Not to run conferences. Not to create leadership networks. Not to establish small groups. Not to engage with world mission. Not to evangelise the nations. It?s primary purpose is to worship.
Writing those words makes me feel uncomfortable.
You may even more so feel uncomfortable reading them.
But I recon they are true.
I feel uncomfortable with such words because they may make me look as though I am not missional, not servant hearted, not compassionate. And of course I want to be all those things. And, truth be known, I possibly even want to be recognised for being all those things. But I have to face up to it. My primary purpose as a follower of the King is to worship the King. Sing to Him. Adore Him. Lift my hands to Him.
You see, it is so easy to move very quickly on from saying
?our primary purpose is to worship God?
to
?and this also means serving the poor, healing the sick, evangelising the nations??.
In fact it almost needs to happen in the same sentence to avert accusations of poor theology. In fact almost all standard worship teaching will do that. Otherwise it wouldn?t be sound would it?
But maybe we should all pause a little longer in that place ? that place of adoration of God without any expressed intention to move on and out. That place where we stand before God and sing, and have no other purpose in that moment other than blessing His heart with the sound of our songs. Maybe we need to pause in that uncomfortable place, leaving ourselves open to accusations of extravagance, lavishness, inactivity, just a little bit longer than we are doing at the moment.
Because if the church looses sight of it?s primary function ? to worship God ? then it will start to die from the inside out. The disciples will start to disperse. The community projects will start to wind down. The Alpha course will close. The poor will increase. The sick will perish. The conference will fall into financial ruin. The leadership network will implode. The small group will cease to meet. And world mission will stop dead in it?s tracks.
Now that would be uncomfortable.
The primary purpose of the church is to worship God. Not to make disciples. Not to run community projects. Not to run Alpha courses. Not to serve the poor. Not to heal the sick. Not to run conferences. Not to create leadership networks. Not to establish small groups. Not to engage with world mission. Not to evangelise the nations. It?s primary purpose is to worship.
Writing those words makes me feel uncomfortable.
You may even more so feel uncomfortable reading them.
But I recon they are true.
I feel uncomfortable with such words because they may make me look as though I am not missional, not servant hearted, not compassionate. And of course I want to be all those things. And, truth be known, I possibly even want to be recognised for being all those things. But I have to face up to it. My primary purpose as a follower of the King is to worship the King. Sing to Him. Adore Him. Lift my hands to Him.
You see, it is so easy to move very quickly on from saying
?our primary purpose is to worship God?
to
?and this also means serving the poor, healing the sick, evangelising the nations??.
In fact it almost needs to happen in the same sentence to avert accusations of poor theology. In fact almost all standard worship teaching will do that. Otherwise it wouldn?t be sound would it?
But maybe we should all pause a little longer in that place ? that place of adoration of God without any expressed intention to move on and out. That place where we stand before God and sing, and have no other purpose in that moment other than blessing His heart with the sound of our songs. Maybe we need to pause in that uncomfortable place, leaving ourselves open to accusations of extravagance, lavishness, inactivity, just a little bit longer than we are doing at the moment.
Because if the church looses sight of it?s primary function ? to worship God ? then it will start to die from the inside out. The disciples will start to disperse. The community projects will start to wind down. The Alpha course will close. The poor will increase. The sick will perish. The conference will fall into financial ruin. The leadership network will implode. The small group will cease to meet. And world mission will stop dead in it?s tracks.
Now that would be uncomfortable.
James Valentine on Jesus All About Life
When did branding become the universal panacea to any problem? From the NRL to vanilla Coke, it's not that there's a problem with the thing itself, there's a problem with the branding.
In the past few weeks no less than Australia and Christianity has announced that they need to look at their branding. I'm not sure what to make of a faith that has branding issues. Of a Creator who's putting pressure on the marketing department. You want to bring the waverers in? I don't know ? lightning bolt? Big voice from the sky? Some water into wine? I'd say branding issues dealt with.
But instead of upwardly referring the problem, this coalition of 20 Christian churches found through their market research that almost everything about themselves was on the nose; God, church, religion, holy, faith ? all of them with less brand loyalty than Hyundai. The only one who was maintaining a strong market share was Jesus ? up there with iphone, apparently.
So the churches have responded with a series of billboards. The billboards show a picture of a child at the seaside. Slogan, Thank You For the Beaches, Jesus. As powerful as a puppy with a roll of toilet paper.
If only they'd come to me. You want an impactful billboard? There's only one model. Get big red and yellow signs up along major roads, reading DO YOU WANT A LONGER AFTER LIFE? In three months replace it with PRAY LONGER. AND HARDER.
With a bit of luck you'd get plenty of attendant controversy, lots of mileage in the news columns, plenty of outraged letters and before you know it, you're getting more coverage than a condom on the Pope.
And you haven't even offered to deliver Holy Water via a nasal spray.
Branding's a cult and a religion in itself. It's an article of faith now that if there's a problem then you have to fix the brand. As irresistible as it is to mix religion and branding ? that crucifix was pretty effective logo for a millennia or so wasn't it? Only surpassed today apparently by the Golden Arches ? it's ludicrous isn't it?
James Valentine is an ABC radio broadcaster, writer, and a former member of the 1980s rock band, The Models.
In the past few weeks no less than Australia and Christianity has announced that they need to look at their branding. I'm not sure what to make of a faith that has branding issues. Of a Creator who's putting pressure on the marketing department. You want to bring the waverers in? I don't know ? lightning bolt? Big voice from the sky? Some water into wine? I'd say branding issues dealt with.
But instead of upwardly referring the problem, this coalition of 20 Christian churches found through their market research that almost everything about themselves was on the nose; God, church, religion, holy, faith ? all of them with less brand loyalty than Hyundai. The only one who was maintaining a strong market share was Jesus ? up there with iphone, apparently.
So the churches have responded with a series of billboards. The billboards show a picture of a child at the seaside. Slogan, Thank You For the Beaches, Jesus. As powerful as a puppy with a roll of toilet paper.
If only they'd come to me. You want an impactful billboard? There's only one model. Get big red and yellow signs up along major roads, reading DO YOU WANT A LONGER AFTER LIFE? In three months replace it with PRAY LONGER. AND HARDER.
With a bit of luck you'd get plenty of attendant controversy, lots of mileage in the news columns, plenty of outraged letters and before you know it, you're getting more coverage than a condom on the Pope.
And you haven't even offered to deliver Holy Water via a nasal spray.
Branding's a cult and a religion in itself. It's an article of faith now that if there's a problem then you have to fix the brand. As irresistible as it is to mix religion and branding ? that crucifix was pretty effective logo for a millennia or so wasn't it? Only surpassed today apparently by the Golden Arches ? it's ludicrous isn't it?
James Valentine is an ABC radio broadcaster, writer, and a former member of the 1980s rock band, The Models.
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