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Really Good Books (and CD)

It looks like there are some really good books on special right now at WTS. The new Keith and Kristyn Getty is also there. Go check it out

Here's the list of books (and CD):

Risking the Truth: Handling Error in the Church - This has a fantastic line up of contributors.

Awaken the Dawn: Keith and Kristyn Getty - They are fantastic writers/musicians

Galatians - The new commentary in the Mentor Series (I'm purchasing this today!)

You are the Treasure that I Seek...But There's a lot of Cool Stuff out There, Lord

Glory Road: The Journeys of 10 African-Americans into Reformed Christianity

The Westminster Confession into the 21st Century: Volume 3

Let Not your Heart be Troubled

Why Pray for Prosperity?

I can only think of one reason that we would ever desire to have plenty of money.

Psalm 67
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
2 that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!

6 The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him!

We should only pray and hope for prosperity for the purpose to taking the gospel to all nations. May we never lean so heavily upon our money that we think it's just for us!

First Baptist Outreach

On October 31, 2008 I had the privilege of becoming the pastor of First Baptist Church in Pulaski, VA. It's a small church comprised of mostly senior adults. However, it's also a loving church. I was told from the start that we really needed to work on outreach because the church had not done so too successfully over the recent years. That is something that I was really eager to do. After several months of talking about the importance of reaching people for the glory of Christ I've been very blessed to see some great things happen over the past month.

The first outreach we were able to partake in was to feed the local baseball team breakfast and share the gospel with them. The team is called the Pulaski Mariners (part of the Seattle Mariners organization). About 30 of them showed up on Saturday morning, June 20. Since this was our first outreach scheduled, and we didn't have a budget for it, all this was accomplished through donations from the church members and a desire to serve. We brought in close to 4 times the amount of money needed for the breakfast and had about 15 volunteers show up that morning. We were clear with the management that we wanted to serve, but that we would also only do this with the chance for me to share the gospel with the players, coaching staff, and management. Praise be to God things went very well. We are now praying for the team and are able to go to the games knowing some of them by name. Please pray with us that the gospel would take fruit in their lives and they would be transformed. Pray with us that when the season ends and they head back to their homes (some in other countries!) that God would use them to spread the gospel to others.

A second outreach that has greatly encouraged me was raising can goods for a local ministry aimed at feeding around 225 people lunch five days a week. As you can imagine it takes a lot of food to feed that many people. Unfortunately this area of the country has a high unemployment rate and many who are living in poverty. We were not sure how well it would go trying to raise food during the same month as asking for donations for the baseball breakfast. By God's grace our church delivered 30 gallons or more yesterday to the local Daily Bread Ministry.

This bring joy to a pastor's heart. Not because we want credit for what we've done. In fact, I almost didn't even post this on here. But it brings joy to my heart to see our people learning to serve and having a desire to meet needs (physical and spiritual). As a small church with limited resources and a congregation of mostly senior adults, we are seeking ways to spread the glory of Christ in Pulaski, VA. We have a long way to go, but it is becoming more and more clear to me that when the church learns to live out the gospel that people will genuinely be interested in hearing what you have to say.

With all that being said, I'm looking for more ways to reach the community with the gospel. Do you have any suggestions? What has your church tried in order to take the gospel to the people within your community?

Excited for the Future

After spending the last few days in Louisville, KY for the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention I can say I am actually excited about our future. As a student of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary I've been very excited about the example that our president, Dr. Danny Akin, has set for us and the leadership he has in both the school and the SBC. This was my first annual meeting that I went to, and I started by going to the the Monday evening sessions of the pastor's conference. The three messages I heard that night were fantastic and inspiring. Drs. Reid, Platt, and Hunt all delivered in such a way that I came away very optimistic that this was not simply a hunger by the younger generation to move forward for the sake of the gospel. It truly seemed to be a desire of the SBC.

However, after that came the first day of the convention (Tuesday) and my heart began to sink throughout the afternoon. The focus seemed different by some of those on the floor making motions. I want to be careful here because I really believe what was happening was a sincere fear that our convention could be compromising in areas that they felt would hinder the Great Commission and our identity in Christ. For that I am quite thankful. A lot of what I heard being complained about when it came to these motions was the attacks on Mark Driscoll and Acts29 (which was also an attack on those who affiliate with them in any way). Since that is the case I want to be clear about something - I love the theology of and passion of Mark Driscoll, but I am certainly not Driscoll. I am uncomfortable with some of the things he does/says. But I have no intentions of throwing out Driscoll because of these things. The fact is he has a good understanding of the gospel of grace and he's reaching people for the Kingdom.

So heading into Tuesday night I was not sure what direction we were going to head in. You could feel the tension building as many people (younger and older) came into the business time for the convention. The silly motions were dealt with before they ever made it to the floor, but there was still one that I felt was the key to our moving forward as a convention. That motions was to allow the president of our convention, Dr. Johnny Hunt, the duty of appointing a task force that would look into our structure and see how we could better reach the nations with the gospel. Dr. Albert Mohler presented the motion that morning and spoke to it first that evening. It was great, but it was also rejected by some as being a Calvinist movement or a waste of time and resources. When it came time to vote I was overjoyed to see that around 95% of our convention voted in favor of this motion. I think this is a great step for our convention and the time is now here to pray for the task force as they look over this and bring back their findings to the SBC next year.

Therefore I am excited about our future in the SBC. But I do also want to give a warning. One of the things I am concerned about is the lack of remembrance of those around my age. The love of theological depth and passion for taking the gospel to the ends of the earth is rooted in a trust in the fact that the Bible is God's Word without error. This battle was fought by those who came before us. While I agree that some of the motions made and some of the battles still being fought are crazy at best, let us not forget that those who have gone before us have wisdom and experience that we do not yet have. We must not forget that we are in the line of history that includes the generations that came before us. In fact, I am thankful that those who led the way for the Great Commission Resurgence are not in their 30's and 40's. Some to be sure are 50 and above. I am quite thankful for the generations that have gone before us. Our convention would not be where it is today if it were not for those who were genuinely concerned about the identity of our convention in Christ. Yes we have work to do, but I am excited about our future and do not want to forget our past.

Where do you Turn?

We all sin. There is no one who is without sin. However, I've been thinking a lot lately about those sins that continually creep up in your life. You know the one's I'm talking about. They are different for different people, but they're there. It seems like I've gotten wrong this whole time and I think others probably have as well. Let me explain. When I sense the temptation coming on to sin I begin to dwell on that sin and try my hardest to think of ways to avoid that sin. You may think that sounds like a good plan, but I'm not convinced it's a terrible plan. The more we think of that particular sin the more the temptation grows until we satisfy our longing for that sin by giving in. That is not helpful. Indeed this will happen from time to time. This is why we never get past the gospel. In those times when we do give in to sin where do you turn? If it were not for the gospel of Christ I wouldn't know where to turn. It's in those moments that I remember that Christ purchased me and paid for even that sin on the cross. So when we sin we need, no, we must, turn to the gospel of Christ.

But my question was how do we fight the temptations of sin before we give in? There are many helpful strategies, but I think the answer is the same as the last answer: the gospel. In those moments of temptation we do not need to think about that particular sin. Rather, we need to preach the gospel to ourselves. We need to think of Christ. We need to set our minds on things above, not on things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2). The answer to fighting the temptations of sin are not found in strategies (though they may help to some degree). The answer is found in drawing close to God through Christ. So when you feel the temptations coming on stronger and stronger get on your knees and plead with God to help you and open up His Word and see His unbelievable grace in the gospel of Christ. Pray that God would deliver you from the evil one. Don't turn to your sin! Turn to Christ!

Another Video Worth Watching

I have recently been pointed to a blog that I think is worth marking for further reference. Here is a video posted on it yesterday.

I Cried when I watched This

Tears of the Saints from Acts1v8 on Vimeo.

9 Years Ago Today....

I married the best woman in the world. I'm thankful for her in more ways than I can express. She has been there in numerous ways throughout the years and truly we have become one flesh. Thank you Shannon for your love for me and our family.

Preacher, How do you Pray?

I recently read Lectures to my Students by Charles Spurgeon and was challenged at many points throughout the book. However, these particular sentences have come back over and over again to me:

The preacher who neglects to pray much must be very careless about his ministry. He cannot have comprehended his calling. He cannot have computed the value of a soul, or estimated the meaning of eternity.