Author Archive
Parents, instruct your children.
The Scriptures call us as parents to not provoke our children to anger, but to raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). We should know that this is both formal and informal. We are to do this as those who sit and read the Scriptures and discuss them, praying together and singing together. We are to also live in such a way that what we instruct is also how we live (Deut 6:4-9). This is our calling!
This does not replace the church. We must be a part of a local assembly, showing humility by submitting ourselves to godly leadership and serving the body (Eph 4:1-16; Heb 13:17).
For the formal aspects of discipleship I would recommend you use something like Bruce Ware’s book Big Truths for Young Hearts. In it Dr. Ware does a great job of explaining the truths of Scripture in a down to earth and bite sized way. For you as parents, wanting to learn what it means to formally and informally instruct your children I recommend Shepherding Your Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp. Tripp also has other volumes that are helpful in this area. Here is his Amazon page.
More than instruction to any of you who read this, this is a reminder to me of my responsibility as I seek to honor God through the rearing of my children. Parenting is a joyful, heart wrenching, complex, wonderful and exciting venture. I have enjoyed my 12+ years of it and it really does become more of a joy as the days go by. I know that there are always times when I wish I had done better and those time will still come. I know there were times when I was disappointed and that those times are still to come. If parenting has taught me one lesson over and over again, it is that if I can be disappointed in sin and be grieved over it when my kids continue in it, yet I love them still, and at that imperfectly; how much more does my Heavenly Father, who has loved me infinitely, though I know I can grieve him, continue to love me perfectly.
What do I do when I unintentionally let someone down?
Whenever I have the occasion to do membership interviews, one of the points I bring up is the reality that I and my fellow elders will eventually, though hopefully unintentionally, let that person down. I learned the importance of stating this from my teaching pastor, from observing him saying those exact words in membership interviews. He generally states it like this, “We want you to know, we as elders are just mere men. We will eventually, with all of our best intentions, unfortunately, we will eventually let you down.”
As a pastor this is a hard thing to admit. I’m thankful for the candid way my pastor has dealt with this reality and that I have learned to not only say this, but how God has allowed me to experience it as well. Yes, I know it comes as a shock, but I have let people down. In fact I hate to say it happens all the time. The reason we let people know this is because people tend to put pastors/elders on pedestals and to some degree there is cause for this to a certain degree. Elders are held to a higher accountability (1 Tim 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, 1 Peter 5:1-4) and the congregation is held to a standard of conduct in regard to their leaders (Heb 13:17). So it’s understandable that when a pastor/elder disappoints a member of the flock that it can be a huge let down.
The question then is, “What do I do, as a pastor, when I unintentionally let someone down?” We must do what the Scriptures tell us. We must humble ourselves (1 Pet. 3:8) and seek forgiveness and reconciliation with those whom we serve (Matt. 5:23-24).
This does several things. First, it puts actions to the words spoken about sometimes disappointing people unintentionally. If I am unwilling to admit that I am wrong or have done wrong, then I am a proud leader, who is not willing to serve the body rightly. Secondly, it allows me to be a “real person” to that other person and should hopefully take away the possible “pedestal” they have placed me on. Thirdly, it allows me to exhibit the kind of humility that Paul calls us to in Phil 2:3-11. Fourthly, it engenders trust between me and that person. Fifthly, it makes the next unintentional disappointment a little bit of a softer blow. Lastly, and most importantly, hopefully it points to our need of ultimate dependence on Christ and not men.
Understand, by these things I am not stating that pastors/elders should not do their best at fulfilling promises and everything that is included in shepherding the flock. This is a non-negotiable in the mind of Paul in Acts 20:28, as we see that it is the precious blood of Jesus that has purchased the flock we oversee. But their are times, even with the best of intentions and the hardest striving, that we will disappoint our flock.
The One I Forgot
In writing on blogs I will follow in 2012, I would be remiss to not include my friend and fellow champion of the gospel, Dr. Thad Bergmeier. Thad is the pastor of Cornerstone Bible Church in Middlefield, OH and the author of Helping Johnny Listen, which you must read. It is a book that is written from the perspective of the hearer of the sermon. We must not forget that we as the listener play a vital role in the preaching event. This is a part of worship! Buy Thad’s book, read it and apply it. It’s a great read for pastors as well! Read his blog as well and be blessed!
Blogs I will follow in 2012
My wife isn’t convinced that lots of people are following or producing blogs any more. Most of our friends in our family blogroll seemed to have given up. I wonder if this is the result of most people keeping up with each other via facebook (something my wife does vicariously through my account). I, for one, think that in the realm of reading and writing and, at least for me, in the realm of biblical and theological studies, this is still a helpful exercise. I don’t know how many people subscribe to my blog or actually read it (I think most of the hits in my hit counter are spam hits, since I spend time going in and emptying my blog spam box), but I would like to suggest some sites that I will frequent a lot in 2012 and explain why.
Between Two Worlds by Justin Taylor – Justin just brings it all together. By this I mean Between Two Worlds is where a lot of the world of Evangelicalism is brought to the attention of the blogosphere. Justin is constantly updating and sharing bit and pieces from all over Evangelicalism. Very helpful for keeping up on what’s going on out there.
Dr. Ibex – Ideas by Dr. William Varner – Dr. V (as many affectionately call him) is professor of Bible and Greek at the Master’s College in Santa Clarita, CA. He is in my opinion one of the best unknown scholar’s in the U.S. It’s not that no one knows who he is, it is that not enough people know that he is there and that he is a tremendous scholar, theologian and pastor. Stop reading right now and get over to his blog and start reading. He has basically put his entire devotional commentary on the Psalms on his blog for free. He has led trips to Israel more than 42 times. Get his books and read them. Read what he reads and learn from what he learns from.
joethorn.net by (you guessed it) Joe Thorn – Joe and I went to Moody together and though we were only acquaintances there, I appreciate Joe’s humility and his love for Scripture and the Church. His book Note to Self needs to be on your shelf and the practice of it in your heart and life. His blog is a must for practical theological application in your life. He does add some personal stuff in there as well, which gives you insight into his love for his wife and children.
NT Resources by Dr. Rodney Decker – Rod Decker is professor of Greek and New Testament at Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, PA. Because I am a wannabe Greek geek, I follow Dr. Decker’s blog. He has great insight into translations and their philosophies, as well as throwing out the occasional Greek controversy doozy.
Thoughts on Theology by Andy Naselli – Andy is the Research Manager for D.A. Carson and is a Adjunct Professor for several seminaries across the U.S. He often posts like Justin Taylor, bringing the best from around the evangelical web, with video interviews and book reviews, etc. Another great way of keeping up with all things Evangelical.
Counseling One Another by Dr. Paul Tautges – I first met Paul when he was teaching a different course than I was taking at my seminary this last year. Paul is a friend and a wonderfully humble pastor. He pastors Immanuel Bible Church in Sheboygan, WI. His insights into the world of Biblical Counseling, his thoughts on pastoral ministry and how to make application to one’s life as well as others is fantastic. Paul’s humble approach and helpful insights make this a must for any pastor’s reading. Paul is also the author of several book published by Day One. You can see these listed on his blog as well.
Practical Shepherding by Brian Croft – I met Brian briefly at Aubrundale Baptist Church (where he pastors), at the ordination of one of my former students, Josh Hayward. Brian provides rich insights into the life of the pastor as well as how the pastor can effectively shepherd his flock and his own family. Brian also has several books published through Day One that you can access through his blog.
Though this is not the exhaustive list of all I have in either my blogroll or my resources, these are the ones I will be monitoring closely in 2012.
One practical/ technical piece I would suggest on reading and keeping up with blogs, is to use either your browser’s or some other feed reader and Readability‘s browser plugin, which allows you to clean up a blog for easier reading as well as send articles to your Kindle.
What blogs will you keep up with in 2012?
The Great Exchange
One of my favorite verses to reflect or teach on this time of year is 2 Cor. 5:21, “He (God the Father) made Him (God the Son) who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
This is how I recall the passage. It is probably a mix of translations from over the years, but I love to think about this. I love to reflect on it this time of year, because it is about an exchange. We love to exchange gifts at this time of year and we who are believers say it is to celebrate the coming of Christ. Indeed our worship should be directed in such ways. In this verse we see the humility of Christ, taking from us a “gift” that non one wants, while He gives us the “gift” that everyman desires, whether he recognizes it or not.
What is it that every man strives for? It is, at the end of the day, some form of righteousness. Some may not want to admit it, but all in all men want to be right with whatever is out there. Some have chosen to suppress this truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18–19), but all men know and will know fully the truth of God’s existence and His right to judge. Therefore men are trying to appease God (or a god) through means that will ultimately render them frustrated and certainly unrighteous before the eyes of God (though some will find self-righteousness good enough in their own minds)(Rom 1:32).
This striving, as has been intimated, is foolishness (Rom 3:10–18). We must recognize that all we can bring to God is our sin. Our feeble attempts at righteousness are worthless and our right standing with God must be founded on that which God can accept. This is none other than Jesus Christ, his blood and righteousness (Rom. 3:21–26).
Here we come to the place that we must recognize that it is Jesus who bore the sins of all who would believe and as our substitute He not only paid for our sins, but has also become our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). So at this time of year recognize the full weight of Phil. 2:5–8, the humility of Christ and what He did to pursue our justification and the glory of God. Let us honor Him rightly for the great exchange!
