Busy or Unbelieving?
November 7, 2009 at 4:43 am | In Blogroll, Devotion | Leave a CommentTags: Prayer
What don’t we pray more? What is at the root of our prayerlessness? Kevin De Young answers:
Here is my favorite paragraph:
You don’t need to work and work at discipline nearly as much as you need faith. You don’t need an ordered life to enable prayer, you need a messy life to drive you to prayer. You don’t need to have everything in order before you can pray. You need to know you’re disordered so you will pray. You don’t need your life to be fixed up. You need a broken heart. You need to think to yourself: “Tomorrow is another day that I need God. I need to know him. I need forgiveness. I need help. I need protection. I need deliverance. I need patience. I need courage. Therefore, I need prayer.”
(HT: KD)
New 9 Marks E-Journal is Out!
November 3, 2009 at 2:37 am | In The Local Church, the gospel | Leave a CommentTags: 9 Marks
Here’s Jonathan Leeman’s introduction of this issue:
Church discipline is one place where everything in a church’s life collides. Theory and practice collide. The doctrines of God, sin, judgment, redemption, and eschatology collide. Sometimes personalities collide. And, hopefully, sin and grace collide.
This means that practicing discipline well requires good pastoral and theological sensibilities. So we’re devoting a second eJournal in a row to the topic, both to exercise our own sensibilities and yours. Mark Dever and Greg Gilbert provide counsel on what to do before you practice discipline. Matt Schmucker, both in his new article and in the one from the archives, offers advice on dealing with the non-attenders. Stephen Matteucci considers the importance of the one or two witnesses in Matthew 18. And I tackle the question of whether a member can resign his or her membership in order to avoid discipline altogether.
Finally, several pastors recall lessons they’ve learned the hard way in the forum, where Bob Johnson states the conclusion of the matter well: discipline in a church should be as normal and regular as preaching, teaching, and evangelism. That’s a tough idea to accept, and one more reason we think it’s worth coming back to this issue yet again. May Christ’s bride be made ready.
A Modern Day Eutychus
October 29, 2009 at 6:30 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Acts 20:7-12:
7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
Jim Hamilton Preaches in Chapel at Southern Seminary
October 27, 2009 at 10:23 pm | In Sermon Audio | Leave a CommentTags: Jim Hamilton
Jim’s text: 2 Samuel 11
Title: The Wife of Uriah
May God protect and strengthen us through His Word!
Early Bird Registration Ends on 10/31!
October 21, 2009 at 9:08 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentHave you registered yet?
What Can the Gospel Do?
October 21, 2009 at 8:40 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentThis is a great post from the folks over at Peacemaker Ministries. Don’t stop watching until it’s over! (HT: Justin Taylor)
Burk Interviews Dever
October 19, 2009 at 4:46 pm | In Interviews, The Local Church | Leave a CommentCheck out this interview by Denny Burk of Dr. Mark Dever. As Denny says, Mark is in a particularly “freewheeling mood” in this interview…It’s great!
Subjects: Multi-site churches, ecclesiology, church membership, millennial positions, etc…
(HT: Denny Burk)
C.J. Mahaney’s Study
October 13, 2009 at 3:22 pm | In Uncategorized | 1 Comment
An Evening of Eschatology
October 7, 2009 at 1:55 am | In Theology and Culture | Leave a CommentStorms, Hamilton, Piper and Wilson on Eschatology…
Need I say more? Check out the video here.
May the Lord give us understanding!!
What Is Discipleship?
October 5, 2009 at 5:18 pm | In The Local Church | 2 CommentsTags: disci
Today, I was asked by a seminary student to answer a few questions about discipleship. Below are the questions and my answers…What do you think?
1. Q: How you define “disciple” or “discipleship”? A: In the Great Commission, Jesus says, Go make disciples…baptizing them…and teaching them all that I have commanded…So, I would define discipleship as following Jesus, specifically in being baptized (implication here of repentance and faith of course) and all that He commanded (especially by participating regularly in the Lord’s Supper–implying being a part of the body of Christ and being under the authority and teaching of the local church).
2. Q: How do you “make disciples” (strategies, methods, materials used, etc.)? A: I think the main strategy for making disciples, according to Jesus would be proclaiming the gospel, calling converts to be baptized and to regularly participate in the Lord’s Supper (ie. the local church). Granted there should be a culture of discipleship at the local church (Bible studies, small groups, church discipline etc.). However, the main discipleship comes from the sermon on Sunday morning, as the Word of God is opened and explained. Ultimately, the church is God’s program for evangelism and discipleship.
3. Q: How do you know if you’ve been successful? A: Ultimately, we know when we stand before Jesus. But, I think the success comes from the process, not always tangible results. Jesus promised that the church would ultimately be successful (Matthew 16:18) when he told Peter that he would “build his church…” However, I do think that there should be both immediate and enduring fruit from a healthy, growing church. People should be growing in their understanding of the gospel, and as a result of that, their humility. That pastors should be growing in their abilities to proclaim the Word and shepherd the people of God. And the community should be increasingly aware of the impact of a corporate group of people who love each other, despite the color of their skin or financial status. They will know we are Christians by our love.
4. Q: What advice would you give to an emerging (just getting started) minister? A: I would give a new minister this advice: Preach and pray, Love and stay. Preach the word of God faithfully and passionately. Pray for the people and the ministry of the word. Love the people and shepherd them as one who must give an account (Hebrews 13:17). Stay for your whole life. Rome was not built in a day. The longer you stay, the stronger your relationships will become and the more you can learn about your people, yourself and your community.
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
