George Tiller, Murdered

Kansans abortionist, George Tiller, was murdered this morning at his church in Wichita.

Romans 12:19 - 21 - Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

If vengeance needs to be dealt out to anyone it will come from God directly (in his timing) or through his appointed governmental means (Romans 13). To disobey Romans 12 in this way, is a wicked deed to say the least.

We actually just got done talking about this text in our home group tonight. Believing God, that He will one day make all things right is a faith issue that has to take root in our hearts lest we be overcome by a desire for revenge. Ponder the immense difference between human revenge and God's (Revelation 14). God will take care of things. We are called to press on through loving and righteous speech and deed.

Consider as well how deeply we desire for mercy from God for our own sin, but long to see immediate justice given to others.

When People Are Big And God Is Small - Wrap Up

Tonight in our home group, we are finishing up our study of When People Are Big And God Is Small. Studying this book has been a great experience. I would highly recommend it for personal study or for groups. This is a book that will crawl up into your lap and force you to ask some hard questions, but questions that certainly need to be asked if we are going to grow in our Christ-likeness.

I think the biggest thing I am taking away from our study is the phrase "We need to need people less and love people more". Too often we view people as a means of meeting our perceived needs (self-worth, etc), instead of viewing people as the recipients of the love that God calls us to pour out on others. When people are there to meet our needs they become idols and we are prone to serve them as slaves. But when we see people not through the lense of "how can this person meet my needs", but rather, "how can I love this person" we are freed from this idolatrous slavery and freed up to glorify God and truly satisfy our deepest needs.

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Did Abortions Go Up Under George W.?

Michael New:

The data do not bear this out. In fact the most recent data from both the Centers for Disease Control and the Alan Guttmacher Institute (research arm of Planned Parenthood) indicate that abortions fell during George W. Bush's presidency. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute between 2000 and 2005 the number of abortions declined from 1,312,990 to 1,206,200 (a decline of 8.1%, data obtained from all 50 states). According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute the abortion rate (abortions per thousand women between 15 and 44) between 2000 and 2005 declined from 21.3 to 19.4. According to the Centers for Disease Control between 2000 and 2005 the number of abortions declined from 842,553 to 818,196 (a decline of 2.9% for the 46 states reporting data both years). According to the Centers for Disease Control the abortion rate (abortions per thousand women between 15 and 44) between 2000 and 2005 declined from 16 to 15. Note: CA and a few other states do not report data to the CDC which is why their numbers are lower. Under no metric does the incidence of abortion increase during the Presidency of George W. Bush.

(HT: Jill Stanek)

What To Make of the Bible Study Shut Down in San Diego

iMonk has a good reflection on all the hype surrounding the Christians in San Diego who were having a home Bible study and told to shut it down. (Haven't heard about this yet? Click here)

Read the whole thing, but these are his conclusions:

1) I think the county official who visited this pastor was likely the sort of jerk zoning gestapo that delights in power and self-importance. If he asked “Do you say amen?” then he’s clearly being provocative. I’ll wager he (or she) is going to be in trouble.

2) A home Bible study ought to be protected by every law on the books. It’s inexcusable that anyone having a Bible study should worry about government harassment in America. If that’s the issue, then I hope Pastor Jones wins $10 million in damages.

3) Parking is another issue. Like it or not. It’s an issue no matter what the meeting is in the home. Regular use of large amounts of neighborhood parking- especially without prior arrangement and permission from neighbors- will create resentment and complaint.

4) Police and fire access are issues. Remember when they used to give tickets for parking in front of a fire hydrant? It didn’t matter if you were a pastor on call.

5) This is quite likely about how Christians are perceived and how Christians have treated their neighbors. In many areas in America, people don’t want churches or gatherings of Christians in their neighborhoods. Yes, they have the right to gather, but where a community has recourse through zoning or other laws, there are people who will use those. More and more churches are finding out they are not welcome in the suburbs.

6) Christians: ask yourself if you are capable of complaining to the zoning commission if a large group of atheists or Muslims are parking in front of your house because of a regular neighborhood meeting. Be honest.

7) Somewhere between the stories and versions of stories told by the lawyers and the offended is the truth. It’s not the propaganda Christian and conservative media are pumping out. And it’s not the insanity of the zoning officer wanting $10,000 in fees. It’s something more complex; something about how Christians are perceived and how we relate to unbelievers.

8] Stop the whining. Stop the insisting on rights. Stop going to legal foundations. GO TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBORS. Work this out. Show something practical and constructive. Would Jesus be shouting about Obama is shutting down Bible studies? Get a grip.

Robert George vs. Doug Kmiec

Denny Burk:

Pepperdine professor Doug Kmiec is a “pro-life” Roman Catholic who vigorously supported President Barack Obama’s candidacy for President. Princeton professor Robert George is also a pro-life Roman Catholic, and he decidedly did not support Obama’s candidacy. In short, George believes that President Obama’s policies will result in an increase of the number of abortions in America. Yesterday, George and Kmiec squared-off in a discussion at the National Press Club that was carried on C-Span. You can watch it here or read the Washington Times report on it here.

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Creating a Crisis of Mission in Communities

Christians in Context has a great post worthy of your reflection. It's called, Creating a Crisis of Mission in Communities. It begins with this:

I was thinking about a video Andrew linked to a while back. The video presents - in parabolic form - the sort of atrophy which often occurs in churches. Somebody plants a church with the burden to reach the lost, the least and the last. They succeed, and the church becomes popular. As the community grows, however, more and more energy is transferred from without to within. Soon the preponderance of resources and time are invested in the community. No longer is the church a 'who', a group of called-out ones who exist that the nations might be blessed. Instead, it's a 'what'; an entity wholly extrinsic from its members which must be sustained at great cost.

Read the rest, especially if you are a church leader.

John Owen on Beholding Christ

Ryan Kelly:

Last night, at our Lord’s Supper service, I preached from Heb. 12:1-4 and emphasized our need to “fix our eyes on Jesus” and “consider him.” I quoted from John Owen’s excellent book, The Glory of Christ (1684):

How, then, can we behold the glory of Christ? We need, firstly, a spiritual understanding of his glory as revealed in Scripture. Secondly, we need to think much about him if we wish to enjoy him fully (1 Peter 1:8). If we are satisfied with vague ideas about him we shall find no transforming power communicated to us. But when we cling wholeheartedly to him and our minds are filled with thoughts of him and we constantly delight ourselves in him, then spiritual power will flow from him to purify our hearts, increase our holiness, strengthen our graces, and sometimes fill us ‘with joy inexpressible and full of glory.’

This quote is taken from the Puritan Paperback version – modernized, abridged and made easy to read. You can see the other volumes in the Puritan Paperbacks series here. If you’re feeling courageous or are have some comfortability with reading Puritan prose, the unabridged edition of Glory of Christ is available online for free or in the hard cover Volume 1 of Owen’s Works.

I’d recommend eventually getting to and working through (even if it is work) the older, unabridged edition, but no matter what version you start with, I cannot recommend this book enough. It might be in my top three of all time favorites.

One Of The Reasons We Sing In Church

John Piper:

In the Religious Affections Jonathan Edwards ventures this explanation of why there is song and poetry.

And the duty of singing praises to God, seems to be appointed wholly to excite and express religious affections. No other reason can be assigned, why we should express ourselves to God in verse, rather than in prose, and do it with music, but only, that such is our nature and frame, that these things have a tendency to move our affections.

For this to have the weight it does for Edwards we need to remember that 1) "true religion consists very much in the affections," and 2) there is no true Christian faith without the affections being awakened, and 3) God is most glorified when he is affecting us and not just known by us.

My comment:

Some would say, "How do I know that I am not just worshiping an emotional feeling that I get when the band is rockin' and I "feel" moved? How do know I really love God and not just the music?"

1) Just the fact that you are asking the question probably points to the fact that you do love God.

2) It's not wrong to enjoy the music, God has given it as a gift to be enjoyed (1 Tim 4:4), but certainly not at God's expense, but rather as a means to respond to him.

3) Can you ponder other times in your life when you felt right and powerful affections for God, when great music was not present? If you are a Christian, my guess would be that this certainly has been the case.

4) Music is a gift from God that enhances our experience of his greatness. Can you imagine how different it would be to simply speak the the text of a song like, Our Great God, as opposed actually singing it? I am certainly not against reciting creeds and such in our corporate gatherings, but is it not significantly more powerful when we can respond to God's revelation with song? Some assume that God is opposed to our emotions/feelings. "We have to be careful that we don't get carried away!", they would say. I would respond that the question is, what are we getting carried away with and for what reason? I agree we have to be careful, but does not the Bible command us to respond to what he has done with right feelings? It would be quite the task to try and not see this in the Psalms, let alone the whole of scripture.

Denver Post Columnist Questions His Own Pro-Choice Views

David Harsanyi is an atheist columnist for the Denver Post. He says he practices "moral relativism regularly", but recently has struggled with the logic of holding to the pro-abortion choice position.

He writes in his column:

After a life of being pro-choice, I began to seriously ponder the question. I oppose the death penalty because there is a slim chance that an innocent person might be executed and I don't believe the state should have the authority to take a citizen's life. So don't I owe an nascent human life at least the same deference? Just in case?

You may not consider a fetus a "human life" in early pregnancy, though it has its own DNA and medical science continues to find ways to keep the fetus viable outside the womb earlier and earlier.

But it's difficult to understand how those who harp about the importance of "science" in public policy can draw an arbitrary timeline in the pregnancy, defining when human life is worth saving and when it can be terminated.

The more I thought about it, the creepier the issue got.

Newsweek, for instance, recently reported that 90 percent of women whose fetuses test positive for Down syndrome choose an abortion. Another survey showed only a small percentage of mothers even used the test. So what happens when 90 percent of parents test their fetuses? Does it mean the end of the disease or are we stepping perilously close to eugenics?

What about future DNA tests that can detect any "defects" in a fetus? What happens when we can use abortion to weed out the blind, mentally ill, the ugly, or any other any "undesirable" human being?

Recently, Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare ruled that women are permitted to abort their children based on the sex of the fetus. In the United States, a woman can have an abortion for nearly any reason she chooses. In fact, a health exemption for the mother allows abortions to be performed virtually on demand.

If you oppose selective abortions, but not abortion overall, I wonder why? How is terminating the fetus because it's the wrong sex any worse than terminating the fetus for convenience's sake? The fate of the fetus does not change, only the reasoning for its extinction does.

Now, I happen to believe (as the civil libertarian and pro-life activist Nat Hentoff once noted) that the right to life and liberty is the foundation of a moral society. Then again, I also believe a government ban on abortion would only criminalize the procedure and do little to mitigate the amount of abortions.

Obviously, these are a few of the complex and uncomfortable issues to ponder. So maybe this poll tells us that the dynamics of the abortion debate are about to change, that Americans are getting past the politics and into the morality of the issue.

Then again, it's entirely possible that I'm just projecting.

Read the whole thing.

In reference to his second to last paragraph where he says that banning abortion would do "little to mitigate the amount of abortion", this is just blatantly false. Does anyone really believe this? Does anyone really think that having laws against stealing doesn't make someone think twice before they shatter my car window to try and get my stereo? Would you really want to say that laws against stealing to little to mitigate the amount of stealing in our country?

But even if we grant that it is true, do we throw off all legal restraint against domestic abuse because we know that it will certainly occur even though there are laws against it? Of course not. We don't make laws based on how we think people will behave. Our laws should reflect what is right and wrong and should seek to be a deterrent for those whose will leads them to want to do wrong.

(HT: Jill Stanek)

What Is At The Core of Sin?

Also from The Shepherd's Scrapbook... I found this very helpful:

What is the core sin of the human heart? Is it pride? Is it the sin of unbelief? Theologians have debated this topic for centuries. But According to Dr. David Powlison, the sins of pride and unbelief are really “two doors into the same room.” And he adds a third door—the fear of man.

These three core sins are interrelated, and it’s not difficult to see how. Pride is the act of installing myself as the king of my own autonomous kingdom. Unbelief is the act of erasing God from my kingdom (functionally, if not deliberately). Fear of man is the act of installing other sinners as big players in my kingdom (When People are Big and God is Small).

And it’s no surprise that all of the lies and lusts of our hearts are to be found rooted in these three core sins. These lies and lusts are expressions of the three core sins.

How To Spark Substantive Conversation With Your Spouse

The Shepherd's Scrapbook reports on listening to a talk from David Powlison at the recent NEXT conference. He writes:

Here is one topic Powlison addressed–how to spark substantive conversation with your spouse?

Powlison suggested three categories of questions to ask your husband or wife. Each of these categories can be asked on a daily basis. And each of these categories are simple and broad, but certainly provide helpful reminders. Here are the three:

1. What are your present burdens? The Bible tells us that we are born for trouble (Job 5:7). So what is the trouble? A sin? A responsibility? An issue at work? A particular conflict? What weighs you down? What was your lowlight of this day? These burdens are the “heat of life.”

2. What are your present joys? What were your highlights from the day? These joys are the “dew of blessing.”

3. What is your calling? This could include the mundane tasks, or broader life-purpose questions. What are your duties for this day? What do you need to do? What are your goals for this day? For example, a parent could say, “Today, I don’t want to lose my temper with the kids.” It could be as simple as this.

These three categories are helpful in getting to substantive conversation with your spouse. And Dr. Powlison alluded to, this list can be useful in talking with your children as well. The answers to these three categories of questions will help us better know how to serve and care for those in our lives.

Marital Hypocrisy

"It is possible (but not right) for baptized believers to act in their lives as though the gospel were not true. How many conservative husbands are outraged if some liberal preacher says that Jesus did not rise from the dead, when their daily treatment of their wives makes the same statement? At least the liberal only states his heresy occasionally."

- Douglas Wilson, Reformed Is Not Enough, p. 168

(HT: Desiring God Blog)

Willy Porter - Free MP3

If you have read this blog for sometime, you will know that I am a huge fan of Willy Porter. For the next seven days, he is giving away the title track to his new record, How To Rob a Bank.

It's a pretty funny (or not funny) little song. You can get it here for free.

ABQ People, Come Out This Friday Night

Imbibe Cigar Bar
Friday, May 29th
7:30pm - 10:00pm
505.255.4200 - www.imbibenobhill.com

Zach Nielsen - Keys
Colin Deuble - Bass
Doug Cardwell - Drums

with

** Special Guest ** - Dimi Disante - Guitar

Something In My Hands I Bring

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51: 17).

God doesn’t want you to come to Him empty-handed.

No, you can’t come to Him full of yourself,

And you can’t come to Him based on your track record

And you can’t use your performance as a recommendation.

No, you can’t come to Him based on your family,

Your personality,

Your education,

Your position in life,

The successes you’ve had,

The possessions you’ve accumulated,

Or the human acceptance you’ve gained.

But God requires you to come with your hands full.

He requires you to bring to Him the sweetest of sacrifices,

The sacrifice of words,

He calls you to bring Hosea’s offering.

“Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.

Your sins have been your downfall!

Take words with you

And return to the Lord.

Say to Him

‘Forgive all our sins

And receive us graciously,

That we may offer our lips as the sacrifice of bulls.’”

God doesn’t want you to come to him empty-handed.

He asks of you a sacrifice.

Not a grain offering,

Not a lamb or a bull.

No, that requirement has been satisfied

By the blood of the Lamb.

Yet God asks of you a sacrifice

It is the offering of words,

Words of humility,

Words of honesty,

Words of moral courage,

Words of moral candor,

Words that could only be spoken,

By one who rests in grace.

Words of confession are what you must bring.

Place words,

Free of negotiation or excuse,

On His altar of grace,

And receive forgiveness and cleansing.

Uncover your heart,

Exposed by words, and say:

“We will never again say, ‘Our gods’

To what our own hands have made,

For in You the fatherless find compassion.”

What David willingly did He requires of you,

Come with words,

It is the way of grace,

It is the way of freedom,

It is the way to God.

-Paul Tripp, Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy, pp. 25-26.

(HT: Ryan Kelly)

AmazonMP3 Daily Deal - Matt Jones

My buddy Matt Jones just released a single of the 70's classic from General Johnson and the Chairmen of the Board, Give Me Just A Little More Time. It's a really cool arrangement.

For more of Matt Jones go here.

Job 38-41 As Prescription For Just About Anything

In his book, When People Are Big And God Is Small, Ed Welch says that spending some time reading God's response to Job's questions about his suffering in Job 38-41 is a great treatment for just about any problem. Why is this? Because catching a vision for God's sovereignty, grandeur, power, and control leaves us feeling very small. When we are small, and God is really really big, our problems tend to follow and be small as well. In fact, this was Job's experience and he testifies to it when he says in Job 40:4:

"Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?"

A couple weeks ago in our home group we simple took 15 minutes and read aloud Job 38-41. I think this is a great discipline for us to make a habit of. It's a great way of actualizing the desire of John the Baptist in reference to Jesus in John 3:30:

"He must increase, but I must decrease.”

What would you do if both presidential candidates were pro-choice on abortion?

Brian Regan Comments on Dora

If you are a parent of small kids like me, you probably are somewhat familiar with Dora. I found this quick take on Dora from Brian Regan to be quite funny.

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A Dose of Financial Perspective

Walt Mueller reflects on his recent trip to Rwanda:

Part of my problem is that I'm not Bill Gates or Donald Trump. That fact has allowed me to somehow believe that I identify more with the poor than with the rich. Line me up with all Americans from richest to poorest and I'm not anywhere near the front of the line. There are millions and millions of people between me and the aforementioned big boys. But line me up with the world's population and I'm in the top two or three percent. . . . far, far ahead of the poorest of the poor whose mud, dung, and corrugated metal shacks I was soon to visit for the first time in my life. I pay more over the course of a year for the cup of coffee I drink every morning than they make during the same 365 days.

Read his whole post.

Is Spanking Abusive?

Doug Wilson shares a brief article about the discipline of children and especially the method of spanking. As usual, he is articulate, funny and very instructive. I thought this paragraph was very helpful:

People who do not know how to look beyond surface appearances will say that when you spank a child you are teaching them violence. They say spanking a child is hitting a child, and they are impatient with those who seek to make fundamental distinctions. Lovemaking is not rape, even though the same biological act is involved in both. Executing Ted Bundy is not imitating Ted Bundy, even though someone loses his life in both instances. The difference between child abuse and child discipline is as vast as the difference between unrighteousness and righteousness.

Godly discipline, spanking included, is an act of love. Children who are disciplined appropriately know that they are being loved, and they know that the world is a secure place. Boundaries exist, and those boundaries are defended by parents who love the boundaries, just as they love their children. Children who are not corrected and spanked when they need it know that their parents are actually exhibiting a hatred of them (Prov. 13:24). This is what Scripture teaches, and so we may safely assert it. But having done so, we are also invited to taste the godly fruit of obedience in this. The Scriptures are not true in a vacuum; they speak the truth to us, about us, and concerning us. Whenever we obey, trusting God for the blessing, the results are what the Bible promises to glad obedience.

Especially if you are a parent of young children, (like me), I would encourage you to read his post.

The Double Reach Of Self-Righteousness

Wise words here from Tullian Tchividjian:

Now, it’s very interesting that in the Bible it’s always the immoral person that gets the Gospel before the moral person. It’s the prostitute who understands grace; it’s the Pharisee who doesn’t. It’s the unrighteous younger brother who gets it before the self-righteous older brother. Tim’s book points this out well.

There is, however, another (perhaps more subtle) side to self-righteousness that younger brother types need to be careful of. There’s an equally dangerous form of self-righteousness that plagues the unconventional, the liberal, and the non-religious types. We anti-legalists can become just as guilty of legalism in the opposite direction. What do I mean?

It’s simple: we can become self-righteous against those who are self-righteous. Many younger evangelicals today are reacting to their parents’ conservative, buttoned-down, rule-keeping flavor of “older brother religion” with a type of liberal, untucked, rule-breaking flavor of “younger brother irreligion” which screams, ”That’s right, I know I don’t have it all together and you think you do; I know I’m not good and you think you are. That makes me better than you.” See the irony?

In other words, they’re proud that they’re not self-righteous!

Listen: self-righteousness is no respecter of persons. It reaches to the religious and the irreligious; the “buttoned down” and the “untucked.” The entire Bible reveals how shortsighted all of us are when it comes to our own sin. For example, it was easy for Jonah to see the idolatry of the sailors. It was easy for him to see the perverse ways of the Ninevites. What he couldn’t see was his own idolatry, his own perversion. So the question is, in which direction does your self-righteousness lean?

Read the rest.

The Heart of the Matter on Adoption

“Here’s where, I think the nub of the whole issue lies. Adoption would become a priority if our churches themselves saw our brotherhood and sisterhood in our church itself rather than in our fleshly identities. For some Christians - - maybe for you - - it’s hard to imagine how an African-American could love a white Ukrainian baby, how a Haitian teenager could call Swedish parents ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad.’ Of course, that’s hard to imagine, when so many of our churches can’t even get over differences as trivial as musical style.”

- Russell D. Moore, Adopted for Life, page 39.

(HT: Chris Brauns)

Giveaway Winners for "Just Do Something"

Here are the winners of Kevin DeYoung's, Just Do Something: How to Make a Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing in the Sky, etc.

Josh Reighley

Dan Sudfeld

Dan Eloe

Eddy Barnes

Please email me (zachnielsen7ATgmailDOTcom) your contact info and I'll place them in the mail tomorrow!

Scripted Witnessing From The Old Days

Tim Challies highlights an interesting approach to evangelism.

Breaking Free from Entertainment Addiction

Justin Taylor reports:

John Piper answers this question, writing that "Recognizing [the problem] is a huge step in the right direction" and that " ultimately it's a gift of grace to feel the glory of God." Here are some suggestions of what you should do:

1. Seek the Lord earnestly about it. Pray like crazy that God would open your eyes to see wondrous things out of his law.

2. Immerse yourself in the Bible, even when you don't feel like it, pleading with God to open your eyes to see what's really there.

3. Get in a group where you talk about serious things.

4. Begin to share your faith. One of the reasons we are not as moved by our own faith as we are is because we almost never talk about it to any unbeliever. It starts to feel like a kind of hothouse thing, and then it starts to have a feeling of unreality about it. And then the powers of entertainment have more sway in our life.

5. . . . [T]hink about your death. Think about your death a lot. Ask what you'd like to be doing in the season of life, or hours or days, leading up to meeting Christ. I do that a lot these days. I think about the impact of death, and what I would like to be found doing, and how I would prepare to meet him and give an account to him.

Read the whole thing.

God's Love is a Costly Love

God's love is a costly love. It never takes the easy path away from relationships. Instead, it plots how to move toward other people. It thinks creatively of ways to surprise them with love.

The path of God's love is not without suffering. In fact, those who love more will suffer more. Yet the path of God's love is a path that leaves us overflowing. Our cup cannot contain what God bestows on us. It is only natural, then, that the comfort we received from Christ will overflow into the lives of other people (2 Cor. 1:3-7). Our goal is to love people more than need them. We are overflowing pitchers, not leaky cups.

- Ed Welch, When People Are Big And God Is Small, p. 179

Who do you need to love right now in a way that probably will be costly to you?

What Do We Really Need?

So, other than forgiveness of sins, do we have any needs? Do we need relationships or not? The answer depends on what you mean by need. If we are talking about psychological needs, then no, we do not need relationships - with God or people - to fill our longings for significance and love. That would be like saying that I need God to meet my need to feel great and important. Self-serving needs are not meant to be satisfied; they are meant to be put to death.

But what about the fact that Scripture commands us to love each other? Doesn't that mean we need love? Not necessarily. More accurately, it means that we need to love rather than that we have a psychological deficit that must be filled with love (and meaning, significance, and so on). Keep in mind thatt we have been created in the image of God. This means that we have been given gifts that enable us to represent and imitate him. Since we are were created in love and are now sustained by God's patient love, we bring glory to God by imitating his persistent love. We love not because people have psychological deficits; we love because God first loved us.

- Ed Welch, When People Are Big And God Is Small, p. 162, 163

This quote is really challenging me. If taken to heart this could be a revolution for most of us, but how gloriously freeing! As Welch says in other parts of the book, "I need to fear people less and love people more."

The only thing I would qualify in the quote is the phrase above that says, "Self-serving needs are not meant to be satisfied; they are meant to be put to death." I would rather have it say something different. God wants us to be self-serving. Sounds crazy right? But if we were truly self-serving, we would run to God (not away from Him), knowing that "at his right hand are pleasures forever more" (Psalm 16:11).

"It is more blessed to give than receive" (Acts 20:35). Does God want us to pursue this blessing? I think he does, or else he would not have told us this truth. If I really wanted to serve myself, I would believe God and seek the infinite blessing of being a radical giver.

Choosing to deny self is the path to the greatest joy. God wants me to pursue this joy knowing that he will be glorified and I will be satisfied. I should pursue this satisfaction. God's glory and my joy/satisfaction/pleasure/blessing are not at odds as if I had to take a pick. They are the same pursuit.

ABQ People, Come Hear Some Jazz Tonight!

Click here for all the details.

Why I Am Thankful for Mark Driscoll

Mark Driscoll is in Albuquerque this weekend. Last night there was a Q and A time for some local church pastors. It was a great. Mark always gives insightful responses to a wide variety of questions. One of the first questions had to do with training up men. Most people know that Mark is known for his strong push for men to act like Biblical men. Sometimes I feel that this crosses the line and could give people the impression that he believes a real man has to be a fist pounding, beer drinking, UFC loving, likes to fight kind of guy. I know this is not Mark's intention, (which he explicitly stated last night) but I fear that it could be heard that way by some.

But... I know why Mark stresses these things with such intensity and I completely agree that it is a huge need in our Christian culture. As he says, "You get the men, you win the war". I know this is true and I am thankful for Mark leading so many broken men in Seattle and beyond into loving their wives well, loving and teaching their kids well, and stepping up to lead in the church well.

About half the time when Mark is talking I sort of feel like he wants to kick my butt, but what I found to be really encouraging was that when I got home I genuinely felt a renewed sense of deep desire to love my family, to protect them and care for them and to teach them with humility and grace.

Mark is having a positive impact on this guy. I know it's happening in many other men's lives as well. I am thankful for Mark Driscoll.

Top 10 Ugliest Sports Uniforms

Speaking of the NBA, I found this post pretty funny. The Top 10 Ugliest Sports Uniforms of All-Time.

In Case You Missed This Craziness Last Night...

Creative Missions - A Powerful Video

(HT: Owen)

Seriously?

Read a review. Troubling...

Get Rid of the Clutter

Quote from the book, Simple Church (p 26):

To have a simple church, you must design a simple discipleship process. This process must be clear. It must move people toward maturity. It must be integrated fully into your church, and you must get rid of the clutter around it.

How is your church doing at this?

(HT: Scooter)

Preach the Gospel at All Times; It is Necessary to Use Words

Jared Wilson shares this link and comments wisely:

Mark Galli debunks a treasured evangelical urban legend:

I've heard the quote once too often. It's time to set the record straight—about the quote, and about the gospel.

Francis of Assisi is said to have said, "Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words."

This saying is carted out whenever someone wants to suggest that Christians talk about the gospel too much, and live the gospel too little. Fair enough—that can be a problem. Much of the rhetorical power of the quotation comes from the assumption that Francis not only said it but lived it.

The problem is that he did not say it. Nor did he live it. And those two contra-facts tell us something about the spirit of our age . . .

Go read the whole thing.

It is true that too many churchfolk are all talk, no action.
It is also true that the Bible never ceases to command us to speak boldly, to preach the gospel, by which it means with our mouths.

It's a two-fisted gospel, folks.

Ralph D. Winter - 1925-2009

"I coined the phrase, 'You do not evaluate a risk by the probability of success but by the worthiness of the goal.' We were willing to fail because the goal we sensed was so urgent and strategic."

- Ralph Winter, 1925 - 2009


(HT: Ray Ortlund)

The Award For The Weirdest Story Of The Day Goes To...

this one.

The Greatest Hindrance To Cultivating Real Community?

From the Desiring God Blog interview with Paul Tripp:

What is the greatest hindrance to cultivating community in the American church?

The first thing that comes to mind is frenetic western-culture busyness.

I read a book on stress a few years back, and the author made a side comment that I thought was so insightful. He said that the highest value of materialistic western culture is not possessing. It's actually acquiring.

If you're a go-getter you never stop. And so the guy who is lavishly successful doesn't quit, because there are greater levels of success. "My house could be bigger, I could drive better cars, I could have more power, I could have more money."

And so we've bought an unbiblical definition of the good life of success. Our kids have to be skilled at three sports and play four musical instruments, and our house has to be lavish by whatever standard. And all of that stuff is eating time, eating energy, eating money. And it doesn't promote community.

I think often that even the programs of a local church are too sectored and too busy. As if we're trying to program godliness. And so the family is actually never together because they're all in demographic groupings. Where do we have time where we are pursuing relationships with one another, living with one another, praying with one another, talking with one another?

I've talked to a lot of families who literally think it's a victory to have 3 or 4 meals all together with one another in a week, because they're so busy. Well, if in that family unit they're not experiencing community, there's no hope of them experiencing it outside of that family unit.

We have families that will show up at our church on Sunday morning with the boys dressed in their little league outfits, and I know what's going to happen. They're going to leave the service early. Now what a value message to that little boy! Do I think little league is bad? I don't think it's bad at all. I think it's great. But they're telling him what's important as they do that.

You can't fit God's dream (if I can use that language) for his church inside of the American dream and have it work. It's a radically different lifestyle. It just won't squeeze into the available spaces of the time and energy that's left over.

And I'm as much seduced by that as anybody. We have sold our four-bedroom house because our kids are gone, and we've bought a loft in Chinatown, Philadelphia. And we're amazed at how simple our life has become. We're grieving over how we let our life get so complicated.

Last year, for example, I put almost $2,500 worth of gas in my car. This year, I've put $159 in the first quarter. It's because we're walking places, and that slows our life down, and we're near the people in our church because we're within walking distance of the church. And we've had so many natural encounters with people because of that.

We're living in a much smaller place. We got rid of most of our stuff. As we went through it, we laughed about how we just collected stuff. All that stuff has to be maintained. It grabs your heart, it grabs your schedule, it grabs your time. It becomes a source of worry and concern and need to pay.

So we've just been confronted with how all of those things that aren't evil in themselves become the complications of life that keep us away from the kind of community that we need in order to hold on to our identity.

If The Music Business Dies

Shaun Groves has an interesting piece called, If The Music Business Dies, that some of you want to take note of. He writes:

The management company that represented icons Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant for ages just folded.

Chuck Finney, the guy who almost single-handedly revolutionized the way Christian radio stations operate a few years back, is “no longer with” powerhouse Salem Communications.

CCM Magazine is only a website now, with a shadow of their 1990’s audience and zero pull with today’s publicists.

The Gospel Music Association is letting people go.

Their Gospel Music Week was a ghost town this April, with major artists no longer taking a break from touring to participate in it.

Speaking of tours - they’re losing money - big money - which means production companies are going down too.

Some say technology will save the day. Lots of artists are going on-line to blogs, twitter, facebook, etc because of this optimism. But this new technology is not the magic bullet some claim it to be. The bullet that works best hasn’t changed - it’s just changed hands.

The music business is about relationship. And now it’s the artist’s turn to have one.

Read the rest.

Book Giveaway! Kevin DeYoung's "Just Do Something"

I just recently finished Kevin DeYoung's new book, Just Do Something. I think it's a book you'll want to check out. Just based on the title alone, you know it looks intriguing: Just Do Something: How to Make a Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing in the Sky, etc.

Yesterday I ran an interview with him and today we are going to have a contest to give away four free copies to four different winners. Here is how the contest will work:

1. Subscribe by email or RSS to my blog AND Kevin's blog (http://www.revkevindeyoung.com/ - click here for his RSS feed). (What is RSS?)

2. Email me to say that you’re a subscriber—new or old to mine and Kevin's.

3. I’ll draw four winners for Just Do Something on Monday and post the results on my blog.

As We Forgive - A Review

Trevin Wax reviews, As We Forgive. His conclusion:

One might think As We Forgive would be a depressing book. It is not. It is deeply inspiring. The accounts of forgiveness help us move past the petty grievances we hold towards others.

There is also an inspiring account of a group of students who refused to divide into Hutus and Tutsis. “All of us are Rwandans here,” they declared, and paid for their boldness with their lives.

My only quibble with this book is its quick dismissal of the idea of retributive justice in favor of a type of restorative justice. I am not sure that these two types of justice are incompatible. Of course, there is not enough room in this kind of book to develop some of these concepts, which makes me wonder why they were alluded to in the first place.

As We Forgive succeeds in telling a powerful story. We read of pastors and church leaders returning to Rwanda to encourage forgiveness, even as they suffer great personal cost for their decisions. We read of people sacrificing their own desires for the good of others. We read of people so engulfed in their own guilt and despair for the past sins that the offer of forgiveness becomes a liberating act of sheer grace.

These stories are Christianity-in-action. Highly recommended.

Read the whole thing.

More on Shepherding To Truth from Matt Chandler

He writes:

• Give people texts to read and then give them plenty of space to wrestle. I love strong, convincing theologically driven books. The Bible’s better.
• Listen. Don’t listen to respond. Listen. You’ll find that people usually have an aversion to truth because it is affecting something or someone very close to them. If you’ll listen and see past a specific theological agenda, you can minister to their hearts. Let me give you an example. The Village is reformed in theology. A few weeks ago after an especially clear presentation of God’s sovereignty over salvation a young man came up to me after service frustrated with what I taught. It didn’t take long to figure out someone very close to him wasn’t a believer. We prayed for his family member for 10-15 minutes and asked the merciful God of the universe to save. After we prayed together, he told me he needed to “learn more of what the Bible says about all this.” After feeling loved, cared for and then prayed with, he was much more open to hear the scriptures unpacked. I have found this to be the case more often than not.
• Be patient. Progressive sanctification is just that…progressive. Deep spiritual growth is far from a super highway; it’s more like a dirt path through a thick jungle. Encourage, pray, and be patient.
• Work diligently and passionately concerning your own spiritual life. It’s easier to say “hard” things if your life is marked by humility, grace, hospitality and steadfastness.

Learning Evangelism From Jesus

One of my favorite profs from Covenant Seminary has recently released a new book called, Learning Evangelism from Jesus. Check it out here. I took a class on evangelism from Barrs and it had a great impact on me. I commend him to you highly.

Here is a description of the book:

Studying Jesus’ conversations with diverse people in his day, Jerram Barrs draws lessons and principles for attractively communicating the gospel to unbelievers in our day.

Living in a culture that is opposed to Christianity tempts God’s people to conform, to retreat, to be silent. But Jesus showed the way to live faithfully before an unbelieving world.

As the greatest evangelist, Jesus exemplified how to attract people to the gospel. He modeled how to initiate spiritual conversations full of grace and truth. Christian evangelism, then, both in theory and practice, must be shaped by his pattern.

Seeking to articulate the passions and principles present in Christ’s life and words, longtime L’Abri staff member Jerram Barrs has studied Jesus’ diverse encounters with people throughout the Gospels. Each chapter of Learning Evangelism from Jesus recounts one of those stories, draws useful lessons for readers’ lives and communication of the gospel, and concludes with questions for further reflection and application. This highly practical book will guide Christians in how to live before unbelievers and how to love them into the kingdom, just as Jesus did.

On Loving And Hating Your Culture

I found this insightful from Joe Thorn:

I was talking with an old friend on the phone yesterday. He’s a pastor in a context that he finds himself at odds with. We went over this for a while, and my encouragement was that as sojourners who have been sent by God to be his gospel witness we will have a love/hate relationship with whatever culture we find ourselves in. Or, at least we should. If we don’t, then we are either missing the brokenness in creation, or the imago dei in the people to whom we have been sent.

I have said all this before, but it bears repeating: I both love and hate the suburbs - and I think this is healthy and necessary. Finding stuff to love and embrace in one’s culture can be difficult, at least for some. Some are so focused on the present evil and corruption that any good has been pushed beyond their peripheral vision. On the other hand some are so in love with (idolize) their culture they ignore all that is wrong with it.

Right now it’s cool to love the city and loathe the suburbs, but I do not believe this reflects the heart of God. I believe God has a love/hate relationship with this culture. My culture. And I’m working hard to maintain that balance in my own heart.

An Interview with Kevin DeYoung on "Just Do Something"

- Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.

I was born in South Holland, Illinois, outside of Chicago and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan when I was in the third grade. Both of my parents are strong Christians. I can't remember a time when I didn't think of myself as a Christian. But obviously I've had lots of growing up to do over the years. I went to Hope College in Holland, Michigan and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary out in the Boston area. In 2002 I married Trisha Bebee. Later that summer I got ordained in the Reformed Church in America and moved to the little Dutch hamlet of Orange City, Iowa where I served as an associate pastor at a large church there for two years. In 2004, I took the call to be the Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, right across the street from Michigan State University (Sparty on!). I love my church and am glad to be serving here. Trisha and I have three kids with another one due June 18.

- For those who are not familiar with your book yet, can you summarize in a few words the main point(s) of your new book?

This is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3).

- How did you come to your convictions about decision making and God’s will? Were you taught these things at a young age?

I don't remember being taught anything explicitly, but somewhere along the line I picked up the conventional view of God's will. I thought of it like a bullseye I needed to hit or a choose your own adventure novel. Christians were supposed to discern God's will for their lives or risk missing God's best. In seminary I heard a sermon on how God didn't expect us to wait for our impressions to tell us what to do. I found this new approach to God's will very freeing, and it made a lot of biblical sense.

- In your book, you outline many misunderstandings/abuses for finding God’s will. Where do you think these misunderstandings come from? They seem to be a sort of the default setting for most Christians. I know this was certainly true of me in my past. Why do you think this is?

I think you are correct that it is the default position for most Christians, at least younger ones. My hunch is that it starts when we are in high school or college and start facing a myriad of choices. Because we have so many opportunities in the West, we feel overwhelmed with having to choose just one. Naturally, we pray about it. Or we ask another Christian for help. I think we get pointed in the direction of guidance instead of looking at our lives through the lens of wisdom. Wisdom implies God will refine me, change me, teach me, and help me make good decisions according to his word. Guidance implies God has a right turn and a wrong turn for me. If I don't hear God's directions carefully, I'll end up in the wrong place for my life. The problem with this approach is that it makes God a sneaky God, it gets us preoccupied our plans rather than our character, and it binds us in chains of subjectivism, indecisions, and passivity.

- Have you received much resistance to the things you teach here? If so, what do that look like?

For the most part people find the newer (I would say more biblical) approach freeing. But people don't always like it. Once in awhile a Calvinist (which I am proudly) will fret that this approach undermines God's sovereignty. But I'm not saying that God isn't in control of our lives. In fact, I'm arguing that because of a firm trust in providence, we can live our lives with less anxiety. Others have not liked my de-emphasis on "the one" theory of marriage. Some Christians like to think of marriage as the perfect fitting of two unique puzzle pieces, the only ones in the universe that could fit together. But this view of marriage is sub-biblical and unhelpful. Finally, some Christians of a more charistmatic bent have wondered what room I leave for the Holy Spirit in our lives. I try to deal with the issue of the Spirit's supernatural work in our lives in chapter 6 of the book. I'm a big fan of the Holy Spirit. We just need to understand how he intends to work in our lives.

- What new book(s) are you currently working on?

I'm trying to finish up a book on the Heidelberg Catechism which will hopefully be out the beginning part of next year. I'm also trying to pull together a compilation book on the essentials of evangelicalism. I'm just finishing a sermon series on Leviticus. Maybe I can turn that into a book (assuming someone would want to read it!). I'd like to call it "Diseases, Discharges, and Dead Animals: The Gospel According to Leviticus."

Stay tuned, because tomorrow I'll be running a giveaway contest where you can win a free copy of Kevin's new book. I would highly recommend it, especially for young people.

Biblical, Missional Small Groups

Take the time to watch this. I think what he is talking about here is really important.

On Adoption and Orphan Care: A Proposed Resolution

Dan Cruver:

Let me encourage you to read the resolution that Russell Moore recently submitted to the Resolutions Committee of the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention: “On Adoption and Orphan Care.”

Advances in Continuing Ed. From Covenant Seminary

Covenant Seminary:

Millions of users around the world have discovered how easy it is to study the Bible for themselves through the more than 20 master’s-level courses available for free download through Covenant Seminary’s Worldwide Classroom. On May 22, be sure to visit Worldwide Classroom to experience My Classroom , an exciting new feature that tracks your progress and provides recommended study plans. This resource is invaluable for pastors seeking to provide learning and study opportunities for themselves, congregants, lay leadership, and more. Registration for My Classroom is absolutely free. Two new classes are also avaialble--Dr. Jay Sklar teaches Leviticus and Judges. Learn more.

Don't Be Afraid To Say, "I Don't Know"

Good word here from Mark Driscoll:

Sproul on Corporate Prayer

Dr. R.C. Sproul has a short article on corporate prayer that is worth considering. His conclusion:

Prayer is not just a tangential or peripheral part of corporate worship. In ancient Israel, the primary function of worship was the offering of praise, the offering of prayer. And so it should be in our churches today. Our sanctuaries should be houses of prayer.

A Great Parenting Reminder

Mark Driscoll writes a letter to a legalistic friend and applies what he sees to his parenting:

"...this truth needs to be immediately incorporated into your parenting. Because you, Dave, are a religious person who has wrongly seen God as someone who is supremely concerned with the rules, you have unmercifully punished your children for breaking rules. You have withdrawn your relationship and love from them, condemning them to make them pay for their wrongdoing. Your children are confused about the gospel because you teach them that Jesus was condemned on the cross for their sins, and then you also condemn them when they sin.

It is imperative that you explain to them that Jesus forgives their sins because he suffered punishment in their place for their sins, and that you are commissioned by God to discipline them when they sin because you love them and want to train them in righteousness. However, this corrective discipline should never be confused as condemnation or severed relationship or withdrawn love because that is a false religious gospel you are demonstrating. I know that you learned this from your religious father, and for that I am deeply sorry. But you must not let the sin of your father rest upon your children. Instead, you must begin parenting out of the gospel."

- Mark Driscoll, Death By Love, p. 96-97

Love The Critic

James McDonald has a helpful post called, "Learn To Love The Critic: God is Speaking!". If we all learned to apply what he is talking about here, we would benefit greatly. Check it out.

Good Point

Ramesh Ponnuru comments in the Washington Post:

Pro-lifers often get annoyed when they see politicians with hard-line records in favor of legal and subsidized abortion talk, as Obama did, about how much he wants to reduce abortion. But that type of rhetoric, however little follow-through it generates, is itself a concession to the moral and political force of the pro-life case.

Exactly. Why reduce something if it is not wrong?

Sistine Chapel Up Close

Here is a really cool website. You can take a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel right on your computer. Zoom in, zoom out, spin around. It's pretty amazing. Having a faster internet connection will be a plus for this site as the images will take a little time to load on slower computers and connections.

AmazonMP3 Daily Deal

This band sounds interesting.

AmazonMP3:

Today's special: Passion Pit's brand-new debut full-length, Manners, suggested if you like MGMT or Cut Copy.
Everyday low price: $8.99
Today's price: $2.99

Talking About Talking About Abortion

Al Mohler adds his voice to those who have responded to the Obama speech at Notre Dame. His piece is entitled, "Talking About Talking About Abortion". He writes:

Mr. Obama went on to call for "Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words." In the end, the President's comments were entirely about how Americans should discuss or debate abortion. There was no serious consideration of abortion itself. President Obama merely talked about talking about abortion.

This was a moral evasion and an insult to the importance of the issue. If the President had actually addressed the issue of abortion -- if he had actually even offered a defense or rationale for his own position -- he would have dignified the issue. Instead, Mr. Obama issued what amounted to a call for civility.

When the President called for Americans to agree that, while differing on abortion, "we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually," he failed to make clear why this is so. If the unborn baby is not a person who possesses an intrinsic right to life, why is the decision to abort so "heart-wrenching?" If the fetus is just a collection of cells, why the angst? Furthermore, does the fact that a decision is "heart-wrenching" make it right or rational?

When the President acknowledged that, in the end, the two positions on abortion are irreconcilable, he was on more solid ground. Both sides frame the issue as a question of rights -- specifically a woman's "right" to control her reproductive destiny by any means, including abortion vs. the unborn child's right to live. The weakness of the pro-abortion (or "pro-choice") position becomes evident at this point. The claimed right of control over reproduction is not commensurate with another person's right to live, and not to be killed in the womb.

If President Obama had actually spoken of abortion itself, rather than addressing abortion only as an issue of controversy, he would have found himself defending the indefensible, which explains why he avoids this discussion at all costs. Yet, now that he is President, he cannot get by with claiming that this question is "above my pay grade."

His conclusion:

At the University of Notre Dame President Barack Obama talked about talking about abortion. One day, he will have to talk about abortion itself. He will put that day off as long as possible.

Read the whole thing.