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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.
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Sugar and Spice and Cloth Diapers
We found out yesterday via ultrasound that Maggie and Calvin are having a little sister in October. Of course we’re excited about having another girl in the house, though I can’t claim to share Mo’s enthusiasm regarding its effect on cloth diaper coloring.
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Another Shot at Life
The Everett Herald featured a great article today about Grant Weinberg as a walking miracle. (The write-up ran on the front page of the printed version). We started following this story the day it happened and praise God again for His goodness.
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Pay Close Attention
While pounding out seven miles on my treadmill yesterday I listened to C.J. Mahaney’s message from the recent T4G conference, Sustaining a Pastor’s Soul. It was the least dramatic message I’ve listened to by Mahaney (albeit out of only a dozen or so from Resolved, Shepherds’ Conference, and various mp3 downloads) but it had/is having appreciable effect on me.
The central point of his message was that God is best served by glad pastors.
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Like Being Thirsty
I’m tweaking some three year old Ecclesiastes sermons. What follows is an illustration that needs cut from it’s current position, but seems worthy of a home somewhere. So where to put it? The void is perfect.
Searching for satisfaction under the sun is like being thirsty and:
picking up an empty glass and trying to drink from it. picking up a glass full of water and then realizing it was only a dream.
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Chuck Norris Looks Down on Summa Cum Laude
In case my last post left you feeling a little down, let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Now is perhaps the best time ever to be a Christian college student, especially if you’re in Lynchburg, VA because Chuck Norris is your graduation speaker.
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I Don't Believe It
I love Dr. John MacArthur. Much of my spiritual and pastoral growth can be attributed directly to him as the human instrument. When I packed my Ford Probe and moved to Los Angeles in 1997 for seminary it was because I wanted to be a student fully trained with him as the teacher. There is no one else I would rather listen to preach. And thanks to Phil Johnson and other editors his body of published material is without modern day equal.
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From Disciple to Discipler
Series | Making Disciples
The Practical Discipleship Plan of Attack aims to take in a disciple and produce a discipler. The following chart gives an overview of the whole process.
To recap: the discipler instructs his disciple in doctrine, illustrates truth in daily practice, involves the disciple in the work of the ministry, helps the disciple improve his effectiveness, and inspires the disciple when he’s discouraged. These five stages of development span the Biblical Discipleship Bulls-eye from evangelism to edification to equipping.
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Stage Five - Inspire
Series | Making Disciples
This is the final stage in the practical discipleship plan of attack. In Stage Five the disciple exits the process as a discipler.
The disciple has been taught. He’s watched how it’s done. He’s rolled up his sleeves in the work of the ministry alongside his discipler. He’s received constructive criticism to help him get better. By now the bulk of his training is complete and he’s ready to be on his own.
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Stage Four - Improve
Series | Making Disciples
There are always more ways for a disciple to grow no matter how well instructed they are or how many examples they’ve observed or even if they’re heavily involved the process. That’s what Stage Four is for.
By this point in the process the disciple should be busy reaching out to others. He’s been pushed out of the comfort of the nest and is learning to fly on his own.
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Stage Three - Involve
Series | Making Disciples
The practical plan of discipleship starts with instruction and includes living illustration. In Stage Three the disciple develops even further toward becoming a discipler.
Teaching biblical doctrine and demonstrating how to follow Christ is fundamental to making disciples. But that’s not all we can do. Since we also want our disciple to make disciples of his or her own we must bring them in to the process.