tohuvabohu

Agree or disagree with Piper, it is interesting. Good timing, too, stirring the pot before taking a sabbatical. Update - April 6 at 3:07PM: Here’s a reasonable video response by Doug Wilson. Update - April 10 at 11:16AM: Here’s another reasonable, yet more settled than Wilson’s, written response by Phil Johnson.

“Cynicism is the air we breath, and it is suffocating our hearts.” That’s true on cable news shows, that’s true even in many church leadership meetings, and sadly, that’s often been true of my own heart. Paul Miller wrote it on page 82 of his book, A Praying Life, which I said I would read, so I am. I started a month or so ago and, even though I haven’t loved every turn, there are occasional, exceptional views that keep me from jumping out of the car.

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When ridicule is substituted for argument, the result is thorns crackling under a pot. –Doug Wilson, The Laugh Track of Unbelief

Indeed, the criterion of successful churches in the future is not how much Bible knowledge their people have, [or] how strong their pastor is in the pulpit….While content and pulpit expertise aren’t to be minimized, the biblical measure of success is whether they’re making disciples. -Aubrey Malphurs, Planting Growing Churches For The 21st Century (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004), 30 (via mijah)

Sharkey for President ➔ Doug Wilson observes that a majority observation makes things more difficult. All the tawdry dishonesty on exhibit in Congress right now has been there for a long time. Those who understand biblical principles of governance have understood that, and have been writing about it for decades. And (I am convinced) they were right, at least as far as the argument goes. But there is an immense practical difference between a naked emperor that just one boy sees and a naked emperor that the whole populace sees.

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Ten Commandments for Preaching ➔ Thou shalt not put words in God’s mouth. Thou shalt prepare and preach every message as though it were thy last. Thou shalt not present the Word of God in a boring and non-compelling manner. Thou always shalt point to Christ in thy message. Thou shalt edify thy hearers to faith and obedience. Thou shalt not be one kind of person and another kind of preacher.

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Religio munda et inmaculata apud Deum et Patrem haec est visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum inmaculatum se custodire ab hoc saeculo. -James 1:27, Vulgate

Standard Time ➔ Gives new meaning to going by the board. -tweet

The more control you seek, the less influence you will have. And the more influence you have, the less control you need. -Dick Gregory (via Mijah)

Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must be first overcome. -Samuel Johnson, sound bites with caution

Theological Reasons for Wordiness ➔ Regarding (tedious) repetition in Scripture, specifically in Numbers 7. Efficiency is not always the highest value. Slow, long, repetitions are sometimes the best way to make an impact.

Could I posses the tinker’s ability for preaching, please your majesty, I would gladly relinquish all my learning. —Peter Toon, God’s Statesman: Life and Work of John Owen, 162

Obedience and disobedience on the part of a husband does not make him a head or not a head. He is a head regardless, but he can be an obedient head or disobedient head. He can be a head who tells the truth about Christ in his sacrificial love, or he can be a head who lies about Him through selfishness, but silence is not an option. ~Doug Wilson, For a Glory and a Covering, 58

Hypocrisy is the oxygen of church politics. —Rick Holland, 2010 Shepherds’ Conference message

Continue with double earnestness to serve your Lord when no visible result is before you. Any simpleton can follow the narrow path in the light; faith’s rare wisdom enables a man to march on in the dark with infallible accuracy. —Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 155

It is of need that we are sometimes in heaviness. Good men are promised tribulation in this world, and ministers may expect a larger share than others, that they may learn sympathy with the Lord’s suffering people, and so may be fitting shepherds of an ailing flock. —Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 155

A friend of mine in the retail business shared an acronym used among his fellow-employees. Having regular interaction with confused computer customers, geniuses often identify PEBCAK Errors: Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard. I’ve sat in the middle of a few of those myself. That same friend and I, along with a couple other youth staff leaders, were conversing about small groups. One leader remarked that we regularly run into a certain sort of sheep, and another acronym was born.

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It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed. —Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 157

It is not possible to sit this one out. —Doug Wilson, The Critical Spirit. Brief but fantastic article on the differences between a critical spirit and a discerning spirit, with a reminder that we will have one or the other.