Child-Friendly Church

Beth Lewis Samuelson urges our churches to be more child-friendly in this article.

In a child-tolerant church, families with small, squirmy children are truly welcomed, not separated and exiled. An infant’s vocalizing, a dropped toy, the movement of a restless child in a pew—all are viewed with tolerance, if not sympathy. Parents whose small children start to scream get up and take them to the cry room or the church foyer. The few moments of noise as a child is carried out are endured by the congregation and politely ignored. No one enjoys the disruption, of course, but all are mindful of having been in the same position or, at least, that all are called to “suffer little children to come unto me.”

(HT: Kevin Golden)

John Piper on the New Birth

John Piper synthesizes 1 John 5:1 and 1 Peter 1:23, presenting a great treatment of the relationship between the new birth, faith, and the word of God.



(HT: Thabiti Anyabwile)

2009's Most Redeeming Movies

Christianity Today recently came out with their list of 2009's most redeeming movies. I love best/worst lists, I love movies, and I love things which are redemptive in nature, so it's right up my alley.

In looking at the list, you might be wondering what exactly CT means when they say that a movie was "redeeming." They explain:

We mean movies that include stories of redemption—sometimes blatantly, sometimes less so. Several of our films have characters who are redeemers themselves; all of them have characters who experience redemption to some degree—some quite clearly, some more subtly. Some are "feel-good" movies that leave a smile on your face; some are a bit more uncomfortable to watch. But the redemptive element is there in all of these films.

Valentine's Day Advice for Husbands

Kevin DeYoung's post today is a good reminder for husbands (including me) as Valentine's Day approaches. Men, may we put this advice to work not just in mid-February, but all year long!

Your Faith Has Made You Well

I recently finished going through Luke (which I’ve done many times before) and I noticed something that I’d never really seen before. In Luke, there is a certain phrase which Jesus says four times.

In chapter eight we read of the woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for 12 years. She touches Jesus’ garment and immediately the discharge ceased. In 8:48 we read the words of Jesus: “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

In chapter 17 we find the story of the ten lepers who Jesus cleansed, having sent them to the priests to be declared ceremonially clean. When only one returns to thank Jesus, he tells the former leper in 17:19, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

A chapter later we come across the story of the blind beggar who pleaded with Jesus to restore his sight. In 18:42 we read that Jesus healed him with the words, “Recover your sight, your faith has made you well.”

The one other place where we find the exact same words come out of Jesus’ mouth (other than three parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark) is in chapter seven of Luke. Jesus is a guest at the house of a pharisee named Simon. While he is there, “a woman of the city, who was a sinner,” came with a flask of expensive ointment. She wet the feet of Jesus with her tears, wiped his feet with her hair, and annointed them with the ointment.

Simon thought that Jesus should rebuke her, sinful woman as she was. But Jesus’ response was quite different. He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” When those at the table questioned “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman in 7:50, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

We miss it in the English, but in Luke’s original Greek, the wording is the exact same. In fact, “saved” is a more literal translation of the word that is translated elsewhere “made… well.” For all four of them, perhaps it would be better to understand Jesus’ words as meaning, “Your faith has saved you.”

This realization of the Greek behind the English helps us to see a wonderful truth. The miracles of Christ are not to be seen merely as benevolent demonstrations of His awesome power. They always point to a greater truth. In the case of the blind man, he was given physical sight, but more importantly, by faith, he had received spiritual sight as well.

Both the leper and the woman with the discharge had conditions that made them ceremonially unclean. Jesus’ healing of them meant that they indeed were no longer sick nor unclean. It also pointed to the greater truth though, that by faith, they were no longer stained by the filth of sin. Now they were clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

May we all know today the joy that they knew, the joy of being made well, truly well. And may the words of the Apostle Paul ever resound in our hearts: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith…” (Ephesians 2:8a).

Book Review: Corrective Church Discipline

I read Don Galardi's Corrective Church Discipline for a number of reasons. First of all, as a fellow pastor in my presbytery, Don is a colleague, mentor and friend. Beyond this though, I have been looking for the opportunity to go deeper in my biblical understanding of the topic of church discipline. This book, which was originally a doctoral thesis, provided me with the just that opportunity.

Galardi spends the first major section of the book looking at the various biblical texts that address the topic of church discipline. He then goes on to give an overview of how these texts have been applied throughout the reformed tradition, specifically by Calvin, Knox and the Westminster Divines. Finally he concludes with a call for greater emphasis on this much neglected pillar of the church.

The subtitle of the book is A Study in Scripture, the Reformed Heritage, and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Galardi covers these topics well. Some may be put off by the fact that the EPC is so much in view, both in its current practices as well as suggestions as to what it might do better, but I feel that mutatis mutandis, the lessons of this work are very applicable to other church traditions as well.

Book Review - The Shack

I read Tim Keller's review of William Young's The Shack today and found it to be balanced, fair and helpful. The review is well worth reading whether you've read the book or not, or even whether or not you intend to read the book.

Christian Community

I came across a great quote today. It was in a book that was citing another author's citation of this quote by yet another person. I know virtually nothing about R.H. Tawney, the person who originally said it. He might be the greatest theologian ever or he might have been a first rate heretic. Whatever he believed about anything else though, he got this one right:

"The man who seeks God in isolation from his fellows is likely to find, not God, but the devil, who will bear an embarrassing resemblance to himself. "

Two important points here:

1. What we won't find...If we seek to find God apart from others, we will most likely not find Him. This is because God has created us to live in community. The Church is not just a bunch of individuals who happen to be Christians. Rather the Church is the Body of Christ. Your pain should be my pain and likewise your joys. We are called to reflect for a watching world that God who has existed in the perfect communion of the Holy Trinity from time eternal.
2. What we will find...Most likely we will find something other than God, be it the devil or some idol that we have unduly elevated. Instead of us reflecting God, our god ends up looking a lot like us. I am reminded of Anne Lamott's observation, "You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."

It may not always be pleasant or easy. We might not like what we hear if people are truly honest with us. But may we all have people in our lives to whom we give the access and the freedom to be used by God to shape and mold us into who He wants us to be. After all, I as I read in a Good Book once, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."

Why We Love the Church

Josh Harris reminds us in this post that the affection and love we're to have for fellow-Christians is not to be based on how great we think others are or how much we enjoy them, but upon the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

Totally like whatever, you know?

I was reminded of how much I like this Taylor Mali poem when I saw it on Justin Taylor's blog today. It is a good reminder to not only believe what you say, but to say it like you believe it.

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Book Review: Counterfeit Gods

I recently finished reading Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller. It is not quite the book that Keller’s New York Times bestseller The Reason for God was, but that is no slap in the face. Though a shorter book, like The Reason for God it is (un)apologetically written for a popular audience, and a book certainly worthy of reading.

There were many things in the book which I found to be helpful. Among them, I would like to mention these in particular:

1. Keller functionally defines an idol as “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination mote than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.” In light of this, he reminds us that idols are often not bad things, but rather good things which we have turned into ultimate things.
2. Keller makes a helpful delineation between surface idols (such as money, our spouse, our children) and deep idols (power, approval, comfort, control). The surface idols tend to be more easily observed in our lives, but they are usually symptoms of deep idols that need to be dealt with at the heart level.
3. You can not simply remove your idols. It is necessary that they be replaced (with the love of Christ, of course) otherwise the idols will come back like weeds.

My only complaint (and perhaps it is more of a “critique” than a “complaint”) would be that Keller leans heavily on quotes from others (especially C.S. Lewis) throughout. I have no problem with any of the things said in these quotes, it is just that the book at times felt more like a clearing house for other people’s thoughts than a collection of Keller’s. This is probably just a matter of personal taste. Keller is a brilliant thinker in large part because he is so well read, and he is careful to attribute other people’s thoughts to them (which I do appreciate).

Patrick Henry Hughes

Here is an inspirational story about amazing talent, a father’s love, and fulfilling one’s God-given potential as opposed to being bound by others’ expectations.

An Epiphany of Worship

Happy Epiphany to those who are wont to celebrate such days! Epiphany is the day on which the Church has historically commemorated the visit of the magi or wise men. In my devotions this morning I was looking at Matthew 2 which tells us about this event.

The actions of the magi are often held up as an example of how we should rightly respond to the news of Christ’s coming. Namely, we should come and worship, bearing our gifts and bowing before the Lord! This is altogether right, but there are also examples in the text as to how we ought not to respond.

Herod is one such example. His reaction to the news is one e responds to the news is one of blatant self-interest. We read of how he looks to kill the Christ-child so that his own throne would not be threatened. He eventually goes to the most horrifying of ends in his futile efforts to accomplish this.

While it probably true that none of us will respond with the same actions as Herod, we do need to be careful not to respond out of similar self-interest. Our day is one in which the popular view of Jesus is increasingly one of a self-help guru. While Jesus does indeed give our life purpose and it is only through knowing him that we can have our best life, these are not the ultimate reasons Jesus came. He came to redeem and renew his good creation, and to prepare a bride for himself. His work is about God’s glory, not our comfort.

One less obvious, though perhaps even more applicable example for many of us would be that of the chief priests and the scribes. These religious leaders know their Bible. As such they are able to properly identify and recite the prophecy of Micah 5:2 that fortells the location of the birth of the Christ. But what do they do next? Unfortunately, nothing. What the chief priests and the scribes should have done is gone online and booked an immediate trip to Bethlehem to see the Christ-child themselves!

Too often, when I read the Bible, I am like these religious leaders, merely gleaning information from the biblical text. At times I read it as a history book, telling me about past events. Other times I read it as an instruction manual, telling me how to live my life.

I need to be careful though not to read the Bible simply in either of these fashions. It is indeed these things, but it is far more. It is a book that is meant not only to inform us, but to transform us. I should read it so as to be changed by God.

I need to not only read the Bible, but meditate on it, mulling it over in my heart and mind, as did Mary when she “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). I need to ask God to use it to make me more like him, not simply because it gives us step-by-step directions, but because it is a book that is living and active (Hebrews 4:12) and capable of effecting such change.

May God be at work in us all this new year, transforming us ever-increasingly into the likeness of his Son!

Books to Read

In 2 Timothy 4:13, Paul instructs Timothy, "When you come, bring the cloak I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments."

In commenting on this verse, Charles Spurgeon famously noted about Paul, "He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least for thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had been caught up into the third heaven, and had heard things which it was unlawful for a men to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books!"

I have a confession to make. Though I got decent grades, I was not a great student and certainly not a big reader back in my high school and college days. It drove me crazy in college that each semester I’d buy a bunch of books, hardly ever look at them, and at the end of the semester sell them back to the bookstore for about 20% of what I paid for them. I was a little slow, so it wasn’t until my final semester that I finally figured things out, skipped the whole process and didn’t actually buy any books.

I say this not because I am proud of it; exactly the opposite is true. I wish that I had been a more serious reader in my earlier years, because if I had, I’d be a better and more well-read reader today.

When I went to seminary after a decade-long hiatus from schooling, I found that reading was all of the sudden far more appealing than it had ever been. This was probably due in large part to the fact that I hungered to learn what was in these books, as opposed to the books I had to read in college. Perhaps it was due to my increased maturity (less likely). Maybe it was a combination of these and other reasons.

Whatever it was though, I do enjoy reading now, especially those books of a theological nature. That being said, I still do not read anywhere near as much as I’d like, and as I look forward to 2010, I hope to read more than I ever have.

I thought it might be helpful to both others and myself to have some suggestions as to what we should read. To that end, I’ve pulled together the following list from people who have blogged on their top books of 2009. While I might not agree with everything each of these people say, I do respect their opinions and plan on using them as a guide in my reading over the upcoming months.

Kevin DeYoung

Tim Challies

Zach Nielsen

Russell Moore

Trevin Wax

Keith Mathison

John Samson

Sam Storms

Bigger and Better

I'm not quite sure what this post has to do with things spiritual. Perhaps it's the fact that we used to play "Bigger and Better" in the youth group I was part of in high school. In all actuality, I just include it here because I thought it was cool.

The Gospel for Children

John Piper with a great word on preaching the Gospel to children: