Praying for Your Pastor

I came across this list of prayer items that congregations need to remember when they pray for their pastor.  I got this from R. W. Glenn who blogs at Red Meat for the Soul.

 

 

1. That the gospel would be the focal point of my life and identity – not manhood, not being a husband, not being a father, not being a pastor, but who I am in Christ.

2. That I would not fear man by desiring the admiration of people; that the Lord’s “Well done” would be ever before my eyes.

3. That the Lord would not allow me to go long between repentances; that I would keep short accounts with Him and be sensitive to and ruthless with my sin.

4. That I would continue to grow in the character qualities of a man of God (1 Tim. 3:1-7; 2 Tim. 2:22-26; Titus 1:5-9).

5. That I would have a consistent, powerful, diligent life of private prayer; that I would grow in my dependence on the Holy Spirit.

6. That the Lord would give me great diligence in study and sermon preparation, making the most of my time.

7. That my preaching and teaching ministry would be empowered by the Holy Spirit; that the Lord would effect real change in our lives through it; and that by it we would be more endeared to Christ.

8. That I would boldly and faithfully and humbly and joyfully and intentionally share the gospel with the non-Christians in my social orbit.

9. That I would see Jesus as supremely valuable, my greatest treasure, and as my dear friend.

Sunday Sermon

Here is a rough version of my sermon notes from this past Sunday.

THE CHRISTIAN CALLING: Be A Christian Where You Are

 May 20, 2012

Text - 1 Cor. 7:17-24

Theme - Be a Christian where you are

Have you ever felt a sense restless in your life?  Maybe you were restless in your job...time of life - young student ad thinking what should I do with my life ...maybe you are pushing 50...and you are thinking, "What have I done with my life?

Often times when we get like this we think that it is time for a change...some restlessness is good...and some isn't so good...

Sometimes God puts a sense of restlessness in your life when he is calling you to something...

 But some restlessness isn't so good...we live in a culture that is transient in so many ways...people are abandoning ship all over the place...loyalty to you employer or spouse is not characteristic of our culture...the only loyalty is to self...produces restlessness...

 The Christians in Corinthians were restless...and mostly the wrong reasons...

 Some were restless with sex...the culture that they were saved from was full of sexual immorality...they were perhaps tempted with sexual immorality...their solution, get rid of sex altogether, even in marriage...some wanted to remain single, perhaps do away with marriage...some wanted to divorce their spouse, perhaps wanting a fresh start to go a long with their new found faith in Christ...others found themselves married to non-Christians and thought that it would perhaps be better for them to not be married to them...it might hinder them...

They probably thought that they needed to start all over...to make a fresh start in life with this gospel...go back to square one...

Before we judge these Christians in Corinth too harshly, I want you to ponder with me the context of these Christians in Corinth...what these Christians were experiencing.  We must realize that no pagan nation had ever experienced what they were experiencing, even the nation of Israel did not experience this.

These people where the first generation of New Testament Christians...they had no history of Christianity...they had no model church to follow...they had no expectations...

 All they had was apostle Paul who came to them with a message of hope...a message of freedom that liberated them from the guilt and power of sin and was in the process of liberating them from the practice of sin...

                                                                                                                                                                                             

But it also brought upheaval and a great deal of instability...all this was coupled with the fact that there was probably some persecution...

 And the question was, "how does this new found faith effect my circumstances?"  What do my circumstances in life have to be like in order for me to grow?"

And they thought that along with the change that was taking in their heart, change was needed also in their circumstances...

One commentator points out that "A Christian does not have to seek 'the right situation' in order to enjoy Christian freedom or to serve God's call effectively."

But they did not know that...and this morning we pick up our study through 1 Cor. in chapter 7 verse 17 which address this restlessness or this confusion that they had. Paul is seeking to stabilize these Christians. In doing so hhe calls them to contentment in their circumstances.

In essense, Paul's message to them was "be a Christian where you are" or as Alistair Begg puts it, "Bloom Where You are Planted" - we see this in verses 17, 20, 24...

John Calvin - "Paul is not categorically denying the possibility of changing our circumstances, but is seeking rather to check those impulses uncontrolled by reason, which drive many here or there, so that they are confused by their constant restlessness."

He is challenging the idea that if only we could change the external circumstances then everything would be great...then life would be so much easier...it would be so much easier to be a Christian...things would not be so complicated and difficult...

 And things were difficult...they were still being tempted with sexual immorality...some relationships they have before they were Christians were being strained...

 Non-Christian spouse was getting upset at the fact that their spouse came to Christ...things were not all rosy and perfect...as some like to make the Christian life to be...

 Things were hard...living for Christ is difficult...it is the best life you can imagine, but it is not the easiest life.  This was what they were experiencing.  It would be so much easier if my circumstances  could change...

 Do you ever think that way?  It is very natural for us, isn't it?  It is very easy for us to blame our circumstances for our lack of faith...and so we get restless about our circumstances...when we are kids, we long to be older...

When we are in school we long to be out of it...when we are single, we think "just if I could get married, life would be so easier"...we long to be married...when married long to have kids...

As Alistair Begg askes, "Contentment is a rare commodity, isn't it?"

To live radically as a Christian is not always about changing your circumstances, but being changed inside...

 T. S. Elliot once said - "Everybody wants to change the world, very few men want to change themselves."  

So Paul is calling these Christians in Corinth and us here this morning to be content with the circumstances of their life...to bloom where they are planted...but how do we do that?

I. Recognize that God's sovereignty extends over all circumstances of life (17)

There are 3 words that I want to focus on:

1) Assign - notice what Paul says in verse 17...this word is used elsewhere in the NT...Mark 6:41; Rom. 12:3; 2 Cor. 10:13

 So what Paul is saying here that God has assigned a life for you where you are...where you are right now with regards to your jobs, your spouse, your kids, your address, your church, your personality, your gifts and abilities, have been assigned to you by our sovereign God...

 One commentator - "The circumstances of daily life are no less a matter what the Lord in his purposes, not ours, assigns to each."

So what this means is that God wants you to serve him where you are right now. We are often so discontented with our present circumstances that we fail to fully live for Christ where we are...

He is telling them and us to live for Christ where you are.  Trust Christ as you live for him...trust that if your circumstances need to change, he will guide you along...

2) Call - notice the second word "call"...this word is an important word in this section...it is used specifically 8 times in these 8 verses...

Now as you stuff each time this word is used in these verses, you get the sense that it can have two different meanings...

i) Primary - we see this meaning in verses 18, 21, 24...Paul is talking about a                               time when these people were called and the state that they found                                       themselves in when they were called...

I believe that Paul is referring to when they were first called to Christ...and the                state that they were in at the time, whether married, unmarried, married to a non-                  Christian...they were to remain...

 Paul has already described this call in chapter 1:9...

 Romans 1:6; 8:30...calling is the outworking of predestination...where predestination of God passes over into time and starts the process by which the individual is drawn from sin and to faith in Jesus Christ... 

 Effective call - "Effective calling is an act of God the Father, speaking through the human proclamation of the gospel, in which he summons people to himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith." - Wayne Grudem

You might ask, are not all people called?  I guess there are two aspects of this primary use of the word call..

 a) General Call - it is an invitation to all persons to repent of sin, turn to Jesus Christ, and be saved...we see this in Matthew 11:28; John 7:37; Luke 14:15-24

But in John 3:19 they ignore the call...

 b) Specific Call (effective call) - As Boice points out, this "...call is internal, specific and effectual.  It not only issues the invitation but also provides the willingness or ability to respond."

 -Greatest Bibliical illustration is John 11:38ff

 -This is what the Holy Spirit does today...Boice points out "the Holy Spirit operates through the preaching and teaching of the Word to call to faith those whom God previously has elected to salvation and for whom Jesus specifically died."

I read about an older Christian who was asked to give his testimony...He told of how God had sought him, how God had loved him, called him, saved him, delivered him, cleansed him, and healed him - a great witness to the grace and, power, and glory of God.

But after the meeting a rather legalistic Christian took him aside and criticized his testimony, as some Christians life to do...

He said, "I appreciated all you said about what God did for you.  But you didn't mention anything about your part in it.  Salvation is really part us and part God.  You should have mentioned something about your part."

"Oh yes," the older Christian said.  "I apologize for that I really should have said something about my part.  My part was running away, and his part was running after me until he caught me."

This describes you as a Christian...if you are a Christian here this morning, this is how it generally played out in your life...this is how you were called...you were called                       specifically and effectively...

Dear fellow Christians, isn't this the root of our contentment?  That we do not                  have to earn favor with God, but that Christ as earned it for us?

That God sovereignly by his grace called you to belong to him...this is the                        primary sense of calling...

 ii) Secondary - notice verse 17...calling in the sense of place in life...the place where God has called you to live...the place where is has called you to work...the spouse you married...the kids you have...all of this is also from the sovereign and providential hand of God...

One commentator points out that "God assigns everybody a place in life and calls each one to his particular function.  The fact that a new believer is in a particular position, at the time of his conversion, is not therefore an accident.  God's sovereignty does not come into play when an individual's spiritual life begins; it has governed everything from the beginning of creation. "

He is commanding them to remain there...unless of course they involved in something that was illegal or immoral when they became a Christians...

This calling does not just apply to pastors or missionaries...what you are doing                now God has called you to do...

3) Walk - here we see our responsibility...do you see the tension here between the sovereignty of God and our responsibility? 

God has assigned, God has called...now we are to walk, or as the ESV puts it "lead the life..."  Just because God is sovereign over all your circumstances, does not mean that we are not responsible...

God sovereignty fuels our Christian life...it fuels our contentment...

Someone once said, "Wherever you are be all there.  Live to the hilt where you know the will of God is."

We always think that we have to go somewhere else in order to be able to serve God more fully...but that is not true...God has providentially and sovereignly called you where you are right now in life...where you are right now, you are to serve Christ...

 We are to obey Christ where we are...that is God's will for you...and we must be content with that...

 Be content with the fact that God has sovereignly placed you where you are to live for his glory...recognizing this and letting this sink deep within our souls works contentment in our lives...

We must learn to be content because we know that God is sovereign over all things...Paul learn this in his life...Phil. 4:10-20

II. Recognize that the needed change is inward (18-20)

 Paul begins unpack his principle by applying it to two hot potatoes in the first century...these were not marginal issues...

As one interpreter put it, "they were two of the most divisive phenomena in the society of the early church...circumcision represented the greatest religious barrier in the culture of the day...slavery represented the biggest social barrier of the culture of the day...

 We have seen before in Scripture of the fact that circumcision was a big issue...if you were sitting in the church at Corinth and you heard this letter read and you heard what Paul said in verse 19, that...you would be blown away...

Scholars point out that in the Jewish mind circumcision was in a sense everything...it was an external mark of the covenant, signified their place among the people of God, it accompanied with it the blessing of the covenant...

That is why we see that in the first century Jewish Christians tried really hard to get Gentiles to become circumcised...they thought they were outside the covenant blessings of God...

 But if you were a Gentile in the first century, the mark of circumcision was seen as the mark of a despised people...

 But what Paul is saying here is that external circumstances are not important, but what is important is the change that the Holy Spirit is making in your heart...

 You know what, this was prophesied in the OT which it foretold of a New Covenant that God was going to make...Jeremiah 31:31-34

It is this inward change that enables us to obey where we are...the way that these huge barriers are to be broken is not by any external change or by the lowest common denominator, but by a change of heart so that the Jewish Christian can love the Gentile Christian as they are and the Gentile Christian can love the Jewish Christian as they are...

 Outward appearances...ethnicity...personality...is not what unites us...it is the change in the heart that enables us to obey Christ where we are...

And the church is the only place where this can happen...this is what is to unite us...not our backgrounds...not our preferred methods of educating our children...not our race...not our vocations...not the amount of kids we have...

It is the divine change in our hearts that enables us to accept each other as we are...our focus is not trying to change people to be like us, but change that is needed in our own hearts...

We do not need to change our external circumstances...but God is wanting to work in your own heart...

 We are not to be worried too much about our external circumstances and always wonder if God wants me to have a different job or live in a different place...our focus must be on what God is doing in our own heart...  

III.  Recognize that we are slaves of Christ, not man (21-24)

Here Paul highlights the second application which represents the biggest social barrier in the first century...SLAVERY

Scholars point out that in the Roman culture at that time up to 50% of the population were regarded as slaves...

 So there would have been slaves in Paul's congregation...just imagine how radical that must have sounded to their ears...doesn't sound that way to us...because we are not slaves...

Now scholars point out that people became slaves by either being born into a family of slaves, or people who sold themselves into slavery, or through the sale and theft of children, or by being a captured prisoner of war...

 You have to understand there was a huge variation as to the treatment of slaves...some  where brutalized and tortured or used as sex objects...

 But at the other end of the spectrum, some slaves were even more educated than the free person...

Most often they would gain their freedom by having an owner who felt that it was a matter of public honor to be know to treat their slaves fairly by either allowing them to go free for they loyal service or by allowing them to pay for their freedom...

 Or others gained their freedom from their owners because the owners found it to expensive to provide shelter, clothes and food for their slaves...

 It is noted that the manumission of salves reached a level in the first quarter of the first century that led Augustus to impose legislation restricting the number and ages of those freed...

 So, what is Paul saying here?  Irrespective of your circumstances, it is still possible to live for Christ...in all circumstances of life, you belong to Christ first, not man...

 As Begg points out, "The issue is not that you change your external circumstances, but that God changes the attitude of your heart...only sin can keep us from obeying and serving the Lord, our circumstances cannot."

 Don't become slaves of the prevailing culture...your priority, wherever you find yourself is your relationship to Jesus Christ a Lord...

 This applies to the mother who is busy raising her kids...to the father who is busy providing for the family...we need to stop blaming our circumstances for not being able to serve the Lord more fully...

 This is the needed change that the gospel brings...I believe that if you call yourself a Christian and are a very discontented person, you probably so not understand the gospel properly...

 Because in the gospel, life becomes all about Christ and not about you...it is about treasuring Christ and all that God is for us in Christ...

 Paul is calling us to be content with the circumstances of our lives...to bloom where we are planted...

Christian Freedom

Members in my congregation asked me to start posting my sermon manuscripts on my blog so they can go through them during the week.  So, here my attempt to post my sermon.  I have included my outline and the important quotes.  Enjoy!

CHRISTIAN FREEDOM

1 Cor. 6:12-20

-This morning I want to talk to you about Christian Freedom...this is a very important theme in the Church today...the reason it is important is because it has been so clearly abused...

-I think that John Calvin is right when he mentions that when Christian liberty is mentioned, there is usually two responses, both of which fail to understand the freedom given to us in Christ:

“Some, on the great pretext of Christian this freedom, shake off all obedience toward God and break into unbridled license...Others distain it, thinking that it takes away all moderation, order, and the like...”

-And Calvin asks the question, "What should we do here, hedged about by such perplexities? Shall we say good-by to Christian freedom, thus cutting off occasion for such dangers?"

-Calvin - "But, as we have said, unless this freedom be comprehended, neither Christ nor gospel truth, nor inner peace of soul, can be rightly known." 

-Christian liberty is a glorious thing...if it is rightly known and applied...but it is a very dangerous thing when it is wrongly understood and applied....

-And it is no surprise the church here at Corinth wrongly understood and applied the doctrine of Christian freedom, which had some devastatingly sinful consequences in their church and in their gospel witness to the world...

-They took their Christian freedom and used it as an excuse for sexual immorality...

-By now you can understand how much this church gave the apostle Paul a lot of head-aches and a lot of heart-aches...

-Here at the end of chapter 6, the church at Corinth compromised their faith and their witness with adopting the cultures idea of freedom and liberty, especially in the area of sex which resulted in wide spread sexual immorality...

-And, as Calvin pointed out, it would have robbed them of the true knowledge if Christ, the gospel and inner peace of the soul...

-So, it stands to reason then that if you want to know Christ more, know the glories of the gospel, and the joy of inner peace, you need to listen carefully to how Paul corrects their thinking about Christian freedom...

-This morning I believes that there are 3 aspects of Christian freedom that Paul highlights for us...

I.  PARAMETERS OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM

- Paul sets  out some parameters with regards to Christian freedom...he begins here in verse 12 by outlining a slogan that they were living by...

-The slogan was "All things are lawful for me"...is what they when around saying and using to justify their sin...

-Where did this come from?  It is most likely came from the belief that believers have been granted freedom from the law....

-That in Christ, they were no longer bound by the Mosaic law because they are part of the New Covenant in Christ...

-Paul points out that the law is good...but because of our sin, the law enslaved us to sin and condemned us in our sin because we could not live according to the law...

-That is why Paul says in Gal. 5:1 - "For freedom Christ has set us free..." or in 5:13 - "For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters..."

-There is a great freedom that we have in Christ...a freedom from the enslavement of sin...from the condemnation of the law...

-Paul says in Romans 6 that we are to "...consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." 

-Before were were saved, we were dead to God alive to sin...but now we are dead to sin, but alive to God...

-There is a great freedom that we have...and Paul would have taught them this freedom as there were probably a mix of Jews and Gentiles in the congregation...

-Those with a Jewish background, who would have been generally moral people,  needed to be taught the freedom they have in Christ...

-The Gentile Christians, who would have been generally immoral people needed to be taught Christian moral and ethics...

-So when each of these groups heard the word freedom, different ideas would come into their minds...

-Remember what Calvin said....that there is usually two responses to Christian freedom? Gentiles - license to sin? Jews - judgementalism?

-So when people in the congregation heard Paul teaching, they thought different things...and interpreted Paul differently and then acted accordingly....

-That is probably the background to their slogan...they were using and misconstruing what they were taught and used to condone sexual sin...they were hearing Paul all wrong...

-But what Paul is trying to do here is correct their erroneous thinking about Christian freedom...the slogan itself might not be so wrong...but they misunderstood it...

- So what is Paul saying here?  David Jackman points out three things:

A.    Christian freedom does not give us license to do whatever we want (12)

-They thought that their freedom gave them license to engage in what was once in their mind unlawful sexual practice...

Jackman - "In claiming that their spirituality set them free to do anything, they were in fact redefining morality...but it makes nonsense of that freedom if it is used to claim that sin does not exist any more and that everything has become permissible...freedom that comes through the gospel is a freedom that exists only under Christ's lordship."

-This is true today as well...this is not something that was a problem only in the first century...and it reveals a complete misunderstanding of the gospel...

John MacArthur laments the fact that "the gospel in vogue today holds forth a false hope to  sinners.  It promises them they can have eternal life yet continue to live in rebellion against God.  Indeed, it encourages people to claim Jesus as Savior yet defer until later the commitment to obey him as Lord...thus the good news of  Christ has given way to the bad news of an insidious easy-believism that makes no moral demands on the lives of sinners...the gospel that Jesus proclaimed was a call to discipleship, a call to follow him in submissive obedience, not just a plea to make a decision or pray a prayer."

-In essence he is asking them two questions that will control and define their freedom:

1)  It is helpful? Helpful for what?  Does this help you to develop a Christian life that is more like Jesus Christ?  Does this help you to give glory to God?

 2) Is it mastering me?  There might even be things that are free for a Christian to do, but if Christ being squeezed from being the center of your life...

Jackman points out that this can be very subtle in the Christian life...because the controlling principle can be something that is good: business activities, professional commitment, hobbies, family life, Christian ministry can take over so that we serve the activity rather than the Lord...

-Another commentator points out that...

"Instead of living as forgiven, holy, and righteous believers, they indulged in sexual and social sins.  Instead of submitting to the rule of Jesus Christ, they condoned sin in the name of freedom granted them in Christ.  Instead of serving the Lord and their neighbor in genuine Christian love, the served themselves."

-If you use Christian freedom to serve yourself, you have misunderstood that freedom...

Martin Luther - "A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.  A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all."

B. Christian Liberty Knows that Human Actions have Eternal Significance (13-14)

-These verses give us insight to the fact that the Corinthians were being infected by Greek philosophy...

-Greek philosophy held to a dualistic view of life...that there was a dualism between the spirit and the material world...what this means is that they saw the spirit and the body of a person as two distinct entities...

-How this translated into life was that it led to extreme asceticism...where the body was despised and so rigorously treated that it became regarded as the enemy of true spirituality...

-As one writer points out, "Everything to do with the body was insignificant for the life of the spirit or the fate of the soul."

-But on the other hand, this dualistic thinking also went to the other extreme...it encourage libertine lifestyle...that is does not matter what one does with the body...what one does in the body did not have any eternal consequence...

-So Paul picks up another slogan what would have been prevalent..."Food is meant for the stomach and stomach for food"

-What the Corinthians were trying to argue was that just like food is meant for the stomach and the stomach is meant for food, so because the body has sexual organs and desires, that it is only natural and fitting to satisfy ones sexual appetite with casual sex...

-Do you see how dominate sexual desire was in this culture?  It doesn't matter what you do with your body...don't hinder it's natural desire...sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Jackman - "If God regards our physical bodies with such importance, then they must be dedicated to him and life lived in them must reflect his character and priorities."

-We do not belong to our desires...but we belong to the Lord...we were created in the image of God...he is our creator...we belong to him to glorify him...we were not created for sexual immorality...

-Sex was created good by God only if it is used as God had designed it...as a result, if we go beyond what God has written,

-This is a controversial message in our culture today...our culture has given people the right to do what they want sexually...but the Christian is not dominated by those rights...we are to be held captive

C. Christian Liberty is not a Divided Life (15-17)

-Notice the contradiction that is presented here...centra to Paul argument is the quotation from Genesis 2:24...

-What Paul is saying is that sexual union was meant exclusively for marriage...

Jackman - sexual union "represents the union of two persons who are transformed into a new unit in society.  Sex is not like a limb of the body.  It represents an activity in which the whole person is involved, and in many ways determines character, outlook and lifestyle. That is why where is no such thing as free love.  Love demands loyalty.  If it is free, then it is not love, but if it is love then the couple should publicly commit themselves to one another...To use what God has designed as a life-changing union in order to gratify lust, or to gain temporary pleasure is to invite deep personal disintegration.  It is certainly clear that multiple liaisons lead to an inability to make a deep and lasting relationship.  Christians, who are in such a relationship with the living God, cannot possibly live in that way. You cannot be truly united to Christ and leave your sex life outside his authority."

II.  PURSUIT OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM

A. To Purse Christian Liberty is to Flee Sexual Immorality

-This is not some self-help advice...this is a divine command through the apostle...this is a strong word...it is not simple to avoid or steer away from...it means to run...to flee...

 -This is clearly illustrated in the life of Joseph in Genesis 39:11-12

 -The word that Paul uses here is alse used elsewhere...

           -Matthew 2:13 ; 1 Cor. 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:22

-Why does Paul use such strong language?  Because he knows w sexual sin so deeply affects us...and because our sex drives can be so powerful...

Jackman-"In practice that means putting a distance between ourselves and temptation"  

B.  To Pursue Christian Freedom is to be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led

            -Galatians 5:16-24

C.  To Purse Christian Freedom is Glorify God with our Bodies

            -1 Cor. 10:31

III.  PRICE OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM

-Notice verse 20...the word was used often in the market-place...it describes the buying of Christians....the main point of emphasis is not the freedom of the redeemed, but their new status as slaves of God, bought with a price to do his will...

John Stott - "Our body has not only been created by God and will one day be resurrected by him, but it has been bought by Christ's blood and is indwelled by his Spirit.  Thus is belongs to God three times over, by creation, redemption ad indwelling.  How then, since it does not belong to us, can we misuse it?  Instead, we are to honor God with it, by obedience and self-control.  Bought by Christ, we have no business to become the slaves of anybody or anything else.  Once we were slaves of sin; now we are the slaves of Christ, and his service is the true freedom."

Jackman - "Paul teaches us that  sexual immorality is a sin against our redemption.  It is all to easy for forget the slavery in which we lived in when we were sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.  Nor should we forget the immense cost which God was prepared t pay in order to bring us to freedom.

The lifeblood of his own Son was the only means by which we have been redeemed, and when we consider the costliness of that price it is not difficult for us to see its application in the last sentence of the chapter."

Feburary Books...

My goal for this blog is to highlight the books that I have read and it give you a brief summary of those books. Here are three books that I have read during the month of February. 

The first book is "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp. 
This book I have been meaning to read for a long time. I should have read it a lot eariler as it gives some excellent instructions in the area of raising children. The author's main focus of the book is that, as parents we need to aim at heart of our children and not just focus on altering the behaviour. In part one of the book, the author deals with the foundations for biblical childrearing. He talks about things like the shaping influences upon our children, the authority of the parent, examining our goals in parenting, communication with our children, questions about the rod, and appealing to the conscience of our children in parenting. Part two of the book takes you through the different stages of childhood and gives some practical advice on raising your kids at the different stages of their life. This is a great book for all parents.

I have one caveat with this book and all books on parenting. These kind books can give the impression that if you follow their advice carefully, your children will turn out perfect or that they will automatically become Christians. Yes, we are called to parent biblically and constantly live and talk about the gospel to our children and I do believe that God has placed parents to be the primary evanglists to our children, but it is up to God to save them. Scripture clearly teaches that God is sovereign in salvation. What this means is that I cannot make my kids believe no matter how hard I try.  We are called to teach and live the gospel constantly to our children and trust that God will be gracious to them.

The second book is "New Testament Exposition" by Walter L. Liefeld.
This book is a must read especially for all of those who are called to the ministry of teaching and preaching.  The material in the book is divided into three main parts. Part I  deals with introductory matters such as what is the definition, importance, advantages, goals difficulties and the characteristics of expository preaching.  Part II deals with preparing the text for expository preaching.  Such things as understanding the theme of the text and preparing an outline of the passage.  Part II talks about applying the text, which looks at application, sermon form, preaching from difficult texts.  This book is invaluable to the preacher.

The third book that read in February was "Keeping Your Greek" by Constantine R. Campbell.

I am currently auditing a Greek course to brush up on the Greek I learned in seminary and this was one of the books that was recommended reading for the class.  This short book provided invaluable strategies that busy people can use to keep their Greek fresh.  The tips include making sure that you read it every day to keep it fresh, burning your interlinear bible, using software tools wisely, making vocabulary your friend and many more simple tips to keep ones Greek.  This book is useful for those who have busy lives and do not want to lose their Greek.

Exciting News...

It has been a while since I last posted a note on my blog. Church life after Christmas has been really busy. The main reason why it has been so busy is that our church is in the process of buying an existing church building. A church in Grimsby closed it's doors last fall and in the new year came up for sale. After much prayer and consideration, our church put in an offer for this church which was soon accepted. The Lord has blessed us so much over the last few weeks that we met last night and made the final decision to go ahead with the purchase of this building. The deal is firm as of this morning.  If all goes as planned, we could be in the building the first Sunday of April, just in time for Easter. It has been awesome to see the sovereignty and grace of God throughout the whole process. God surely is continuing to reveal himself to be great in our eyes. I am reminded of the verse in Epheseians 3 which says, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work in us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."  God has done and is doing abundantly more than we asked or imagined.  And we prasie him for that and give him all the glory.

Christian Atheism...

I know it has been a while since I posted anything on my blog.  Things in my life have been pretty crazy with the fmaily and with the church.  We did have a fantastic time in Saskachewan over Christmas.  Our kids have a lot of fond memories. 

One of my objectives for this blog is to attempt to review all the books I read.  Unfortunately, I have had a slow start to this year and only now want to talk about a book that I am reading.   The was given to me by my parents and is called "The Christian Atheist" and it is written by Craig Groeschel.  This book is an easy read and is highly testimonial as it addresses a problem that is pervasive in Christendom, especially in North America.  This book address those people who believe that there is a God, but live in such a way that he dosen't exist.  He challenges Christians to thinks more deeply and honestly about their commitment to Christ by making sure that our lives do not contradict what we believe.  The book presents a number of ways in which our lives do not match up with our message.  He mentions the fact that many Christians may know a lot about God, but do not know him personally.  He also mentions things like being ashamed of your past, not being sure God loves you, not believeing in prayer, not forgiving others, not believing that you can change, trusting in money more than God, not sharing your faith and not believing in the Church, as signs that you might be a Christian atheist.  I recommend reading this book becasue it is something that all Christians need to think deeply about. 

Greatest Christmas Ever...

This year my family and I have the wonderful privilege of flying home to my family in Saskatchewan.  It has been about 13 years since we have been to my home for Christmas.  Everybody in my family is really excited and anticipating one of the best Christmas'.  I hope and pray that it will be a memorable one and that our family can look back one with many fond memories.  The question that has struck me is, "what makes a Christmas truly great?"  I think there are a number of things that will make this one of the best Christmas' for our family: First, the anticipation of our trip from our kids has made this Christmas season a special one.  There has been a lot of excitement in the air in our home. 
Secondly, we will be spending it with family that we have not seen in a long time.  Spending time with family is a very important aspect of Christmas.  I have been looking forward to this for quite some time and to see the joy on my mom and dad's face will be priceless.  I also look forward to all the time spent at the homes of my brothers and sisters making a lot of great memories.
Third, any Christmas that is spent reflecting on the Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel is a great Christmas.  This is is what is supposed to separate our Christmas celebration from the word around us.  This is what I challenged my church with at our annual Christmas pot-blessing this past Sunday.  The question we must always wrestle with is, "What makes our celebration different than that of our neighbors who do not know Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord?"  I think it has to do with our worship.  In our materialistic culture, everybody is worshipping the latest toy, gadget or technology.  That is what drives much of our Christmas celebration.  Having these things is not sinful.  But if we are being tempted to spend more than we have in an effort to purse the ultimate goal of happiness, then these things become idols.  And what often happens after Christmas is that all the things we have put our hope in to find happiness have a shelf life.  They do not bring any lasting joy or happiness.  True joy is only found in the one who humbled himself and took on flesh, lived a perfect life, died a sinners death, arose in great victory and is coming back one day in great splendor and power to take His people home.  So, what is driving your Christmas celebration?  Who or what is the object of your worship this Christmas?  Who are you reflecting this Christmas: the sacrificial giving, love, and grace of our heavenly Father in giving is only Son or the idolatry of our culture?  Think about these questions as you approach Christmas.