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Beware of Dogs
During the night Nathan Busenitz posted his points about why Mark Driscoll is not justified in his particular use of provocative and offensive speech. By mid-morning Doug Wison responded with counterpoints.
Not that either one of them asked, or cared, but I really was tempted to add my two cents. Then I remembered: beware of dogs.
Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
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Wilson Thinks Out Loud about Palin
I have told numerous people in the past couple weeks that they should read Doug Wilson’s posts on Sarah Palin. Whether you agree with his answers or not, the questions he’s raised are good ones. I tried to summarize the links with the idea that it might help you prioritize your click-tab reading.
Prior to Palin’s Speech at the RNC: Kinda Spooky When You Think About It. “[R]emember that in the Bible Deborah was the dame who upstaged a fellow named Barak.
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Ethics for a Can of Worms
As I said last week, failing to understand God’s created order makes for all kinds of futility. Then we received our hard copy of Credenda/Agenda (Summer 2008, Vol. 20 Issue 2) and were greeted by the following news briefs.
A report in April prepared by an ethics committee for the Swiss government has determined that plants have “inherent worth” and that human beings have no right to wield “absolute ownership” over aforementioned plants.
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My Middle Name Is Fun
Dave Cleland continues his torrid posting with today’s, Our Youth Ministry is no Fun! Here’s a taste:
Students who love Jesus expect more than fun when they come to church….They come to church to be encouraged, admonished and taught the word of God. They are looking for a place where they can pray together, sing together and fellowship together. Those who seek to make their youth ministry fun often do so at the expense of Christian teens.
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Framing a Generation
There may be no better book in the Bible to confront our culture’s current issues than the book of Genesis. Our generation’s confusion about the roles of men and women is precarious, as is our understanding of marriage and family. We are a people thirsty for identity and purpose, yet our generation may be the emptiest ever. We are distressed about the condition of our planet, afraid we’ll wreck it or nuke it and deplete all our natural resources, so we campaign to save the whales and save the planet by thinking green.
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Catching Genesis
This Sunday I start my teaching trek through Genesis in one28. I already sense the thrill of paddling to catch the wave, but likewise sense the fear that at any moment the wave may upend me and pound me into the rocks.
Photo thanks to Roy’s World
I am excited about Genesis because it is (obviously) the explanation of the beginning of almost everything. Genesis casts God’s light of revelation on why we exist and what He made us to do.
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You think English is easy?
The bandage was wound around the wound. The farm was used to produce produce. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse. We must polish the Polish furniture. He could lead if he would get the lead out. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
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The Savanna Project
My friend, David W. Cleland, is now writing at and about The Savannah Project. He has moved a time zone, switched blogging platforms, and even converted blog genres (the third day of my week feels empty without Cat Tuesdays). More than that, he’s committed to planting a church in his hometown, a church he hopes will be rooted in the rich soil of God’s Word.
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Discerning Repentance
One’s attitude does not produce discernment, like sadness can’t diagnose disease. On the other hand, the right attitude should be one of the results of discernment, like an accurate diagnosis may cause sorrow. As always, discernment flourishes only when energized by the light of doctrine.
Discernment is not created in God’s people by brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance. It is created by biblical truth and the application of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit to our hearts and minds.
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How Do You Respond
One week ago I was minding my own business, working on something in my office when I received a text message on my iPhone. I suspected it was a one28 staff person letting me know they were unable to make it to our meeting later that evening, but when I looked at the snippet I didn’t recognize the number. I was even more surprised upon opening the entire message, and though they said they didn’t want a response, I sent one anyway.
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Making Disciples - The Booklet
A few months ago I blogged through a series of posts on Making Disciples. My ulterior motive was to prepare a booklet from those notes to share with parents of new students coming into our ministry. I wanted parents to get a glimpse of our passion and plan to help them help their students become complete in Christ.
That booklet is now complete. I want to say thank you to Jonathan Sarr and my mom for lending their editing pens and pencils, and thank you to Jesse Martin for transforming the text and diagrams into a fabulous printed page format.
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You Can't Pay for This Kind of Promotion
Ryan Hall is eager for the upcoming seminar on Bible study. We should all have this attitude and perspective toward our copies of God’s Word:
I want to become a kid in the candy store when it comes to reading through the pages of Scripture. You can never out-study the truths of the Bible.
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Pastoral Wisdom
According to 50 former pastors, faithful pastoral ministry requires initiative and discipline, with a vivid sense of divine calling, from a constantly refurbished theological commitment, and personal, growing affection for the sheep.
HT: B2W
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Rightly Dividing Your Copy of God's Word
Today we announced a new seminar at church:
Rightly | Dividing aims to move believers beyond personal Bible reading to Bible study. There are many useful Bible reading plans, and for that matter, much excellent material is available from good Bible teachers. But this seminar hopes to train people how to understand and depend on the Book, not only on teachers of the Book.
I’ll be teaching this seminar on Saturday, October 11.
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Fools Play with Fire
Series | Whispers and Flames
Avoiding drama doesn’t mean we never say tough things, it means we don’t add theatrics. It also means that we say tough things to the person, not about the person. Being kind to someone’s face doesn’t always equal love, and saying difficult things to someone’s face doesn’t always equal not love.
On the other hand, whisperers are invariably haters. They talk a love game in certain settings but, as Proverbs 26:23-28 describes, they are hiding an evil heart and harboring deceit.
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Dear the Void
Dear the Void,
You have been so empty. I’m beginning to wonder if you even care about me any more. Please remind me why I subscribe, and tempt me with imminent and glorious posts.
Sincerely,
And Then You Die
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I Didn't Pick My Eyes Out
Mo and I returned Monday afternoon from the Olympic Swim Trials. We spent a week together in Omaha, NE, in celebration of our 10th Anniversary and Mo’s forthcoming 30th birthday in November.
See all our Omaha trip pictures here.
I know, Omaha doesn’t make anyone’s top 10 list of romantic destinations, but Mo has dreamt about attending the Olympic trials meet since she was 10. In fact, she told me that had I taken her back to Hawaii instead, she would have been a little bit disappointed.
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Happy 10th Anniversary, Mo!
Mo married me 10 years ago today, June 19, 1998. Wow.
Back then I was looking for someone who wouldn’t be satisfied with the status quo. I prayed for a person that would encourage and push for our marriage to be full and intimate and fun and show off the relationship between Christ and His Bride, for our parenting to be consistent and kind and diligent and nurturing in the Lord, and our ministry to be vigorous and faithful and biblical and a fragrant aroma to God.
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Enjoying the Travel
In a few minutes Maggie and I are leaving for a two week trip to Ohio. Mo and Calvin are staying home this year, but I’m off to preach five messages at a church conference on the Five Points of Calvinism and then nine messages from Ecclesiastes for the same church’s youth camp.
Somehow it happened that we’re flying United again, but we’re avoiding Chicago with a layover in Philadelphia and jump to Pittsburgh.
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Whisperers Eat Fires
Series | Whispers and Flames
There’s a reason we don’t put out fires: we love the action.
The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. Proverbs 26:22
We don’t extinguish drama because we enjoy it. We’re not built to let fires die out. We are fire eaters, not fire fighters. Though that may sound silly, it correlates the image of fire in verses 20 and 21 with the picture of eating in verse 22.
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Quarrelers Inflame Fires
Series | Whispers and Flames
Not only do whisperers fuel drama as we saw in verse 20, quarrelers also play a large roll in drama.
As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. Proverbs 26:21
The first half of the proverb in verse 21 provides the comparison, As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire. The fire was already started and now fuel is added.
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Whisperers Feed Fires
Series | Whispers and Flames
Starting a fire requires fuel and something to ignite the fuel.1 In particular, fires need heat, fuel and oxygen. Remove any of those three ingredients and no fire will burn. When it comes to the fire of drama, whisperers are the fuel.
For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. Proverbs 26:20
The word whisperer in Proverbs 26:20 is the Hebrew word nirgan, referring to a person who speaks softly and typically maliciously.
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Whispers and Flames
Series | Whispers and Flames
Fire scares me; it has for as long as I can remember. For most of my life I refused to light a match unless it was one of those 10” fireplace matches. Only during the last five years or so have I learned how to strike a match from a matchbook by folding over the cover for protection between my fingers and the flame.1 I hate lighting propane grills because I’m convinced one day a mushroom cloud blast will blow up in my face.
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Closed for Business
The Graduate makes an excellent case that the church is a body, not a business. My favorite paragraph:
It seems that if someone sees a weakness in the body, he treats it like a messed-up fast food order. He is displeased and complains to those around him. He may just deal with it for a while, but if it happens week after week, then he decides to leave and never come back.
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The End of the Matter
In the category of shameless plugs, I finished a three year project today with my sixty-first and final message from Ecclesiastes. Of preaching many sermons there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh, but my life has been changed as I’ve learned about, and tried to practice, enjoying the process. As I told our youth staff, part of me is sad that it’s finished, like moving away from your best friend.