Monthly Archives: June 2014

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A Series Worth Serious Investment: Vol. 3

Pastors and Reading

Among the many words one can use to describe D.A. Carson “prolific” is quite a good one.

This servant of God has published standard commentaries on Matthew and John, a perennial bestseller in the seminaries, a slim volume every pastor should own, and as good a book on prayer as you will find.

A MAGISTERIAL SERIES IN THE MAKING

What some people don’t know however is that Carson is in the midst of editing a marvelous series published by IVP titled New Studies in Biblical Theology. The series’ aim is to

. . . address key issues in the discipline of biblical theology. Contributions to the series focus on one or more of three areas: (1) the nature and status of biblical theology, including its relations with other disciplines (e.g. historical theology, exegesis, systematic theology, historical criticism, narrative theology); (2) the articulation and exposition of the structure of thought of a particular biblical writer or corpus; and (3) the delineation of a biblical theme across all or part of the biblical corpora.

Above all, these monographs are creative attempts to help thinking Christians understand their Bibles better. The series aims simultaneously to instruct and to edify, to interact with the current literature, and to point the way ahead.

If you’ve got the ability to do so, buy the whole set of 26 (more are on the way) over at WTS Books and get reading. If not, here are few individual titles well worth your money and study.1

A PLACE TO START

0830826157Dominion and Dynasty: A Study in Old Testament Theology by Stephen Dempster. Christian theologians rarely study the Old Testament in its final Hebrew canonical form, even though this was very likely the Bible used by Jesus and the early church. However, once read as a whole, the larger structure of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) provides a “wide-angle lens” through which its contents can be viewed.

In this stimulating exposition, Stephen G. Dempster argues that, despite its undoubted literary diversity, the Hebrew Bible possesses a remarkable structural and conceptual unity. The various genres and books are placed within a comprehensive narrative framework which provides an overarching literary and historical context. The many texts contribute to this larger text, and find their meaning and significance within its story of “dominion and dynasty,” which ranges from Adam to the Son of Man to David, and to a coming Davidic king.

0830826114mSalvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical Theology of Mission by Andreas Kostenberger and Peter O’Brien. Few biblical topics are as important as mission. Mission is linked inextricably to humanity’s sinfulness and need for redemption, and to God’s provision of salvation in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This “good news” of salvation must be made known! The saving mission of Jesus constitutes the foundation for Christian mission, and the Christian gospel is its message. According to Andreas Köstenberger and Peter O’Brien, this significant theme has rarely been given its due attention in biblical theology.

Motivated by their passion to see God’s mission carried out in today’s world, they offer a comprehensive study of the theme of mission. In Salvation to the Ends of the Earth they explore the entire sweep of biblical history, including the Old Testament, the second-temple period, each New Testament Gospel, Paul and his writings, and the General Epistles and Revelation.

9780830826018mPossessed by God: A New Testament Theology of Sanctification and Holiness by David Peterson. David Peterson challenges the common assumption that the New Testament views sanctification as primarily a process. He argues that its emphasis falls upon sanctification as a definitive event, “God’s way of taking possession of us in Christ, setting us apart to belong to him and to fulfill his purpose for us.” Simply to identify sanctification with growth and holiness, he contends, obscures the emphasis and balance of New Testament teaching and creates unrealistic expectations.  Throughout this study Peterson builds his case on the careful exegesis of relevant passages, with a keen eye for the pastoral implications of his findings.

0830826181mTemple and the Church’s Mission: Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God by G.K. Beale. In this comprehensive study, G. K. Beale argues that the Old Testament tabernacle and temples were symbolically designed to point to the end-time reality that God’s presence, formerly limited to the Holy of Holies, would be extended throughout the cosmos. Hence, John’s vision in Revelation 21 is best understood as picturing the new heavens and earth as the eschatological temple.

Beale’s stimulating exposition traces the theme of the tabernacle and temple across the Bible’s story-line, illuminating many texts and closely-related themes along the way. He shows how the significance and symbolism of the temple can be better understood in the context of ancient Near Eastern assumptions, and offers new insights into the meaning of the temple in both Old and New Testaments.

0830826211mShepherds After My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions and Leadership in the Bible by Timothy Laniak. Most of Israel’s pastoral imagery is grounded in two traditions: Moses as God’s under-shepherd and David as shepherd-king. These traditions, explains author Timothy S. Laniak, provided prototypes for leaders that followed, and formed the background for the ministry of Jesus, the good shepherd. The pastoral role was central to the ongoing life of local churches in the Christian movement, and today’s pastors are still called to be shepherds after God’s own heart, to lead his people, living on the margins of settled society, to their eternal home.

In this excellent study, Laniak draws on a wide range of Old and New Testament texts to develop the biblical theology of “shepherd” imagery, and concludes with some principles and implications for contemporary pastoral ministry. A wonderful resource for pastors, teachers and seminary students, as well as readers interested in the study of biblical imagery.

Click here to see previous entries in the “A Series Worth Serious Investment” series.

  1. All following descriptions are taken from the publisher. ↩
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Sermon Preparation as Thanksgiving

Sermon Preparation as Thanksgiving

Pastor, have you ever thought of sermon preparation as a weekly Thanksgiving holiday? Let’s just briefly consider how the work of sermon prep is high octane fuel for gratitude.

OCCASIONS FOR THANKSGIVING

If you get illumination into the text’s truth – give thanks.

If you receive heart-searching application to give to your congregation – give thanks.

If you understand how your text organically points to Christ – give thanks.

If you gain a deeper understanding of God’s character – give thanks.

If you have a sermonic structure that’s memorable and persuasive – give thanks.

If you see how your text uniquely heralds the gospel to an unbeliever – give thanks.

If your affections for God’s glory in Christ increase through the preparation – give thanks.

If your heart is moved to confess sin in light of your text – give thanks.

If you gain helpful illustrations or metaphors to adorn the passage – give thanks.

We could go on and on. If we see sermon preparation as a powerful means of grace, what type of people ought we pastors to be but those “always abounding in thanksgiving?”

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The Beautiful Game

Precious few things will cause me to deviate in this space from things related to ordinary ministry through the ordinary means. But today I venture out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary.

For this afternoon the 2014 World Cup begins.

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow . . .”

For the next month I will be glued to the drama soon to unfold down in Brazil and you should be too. Remember, our God reigns over the nations, and those nations are transfixed with “the beautiful game.”

To whet your appetite I give you the greatest American moment from the 2010 World Cup.

My man Landon1 shook up the country with his 92nd minute strike against Algeria to secure the team’s place into the Round of 16.

And I celebrated with seminary students in, of all places, Charlotte, North Carolina. I had traveled out to RTS for a summer module and actually thought hard about dropping the class when I noticed it would cause me to miss the USA’s final group game against Algeria. World Cup Soccer does things to me few people understand. But I went, and in God’s providence the scheduled class ended early on that fateful day of June 23, 2010.

The classmate on my left, one brother named Joel, pulled up the game on espn.com and we were able to watch the nail-biting final twenty minutes. I wish someone would have taken a video of us that day for we would surely have made the YouTube offering above. Fifteen seminary students – many of whom cared little about soccer – were huddled in close to a fifteen inch screen yelling, pounding tables, and crying out in exasperation. When LD smashed home the game winner we made such a ruckus that all the administrative staff ran upstairs to see what the emergency was.

What a day.

What a moment.

What a game.

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  1. I had the occasion to play with him on the Olympic team during our failed bid to make the 2004 Summer games in Athens. Not to mention the other times I had to chase him around the field during my few years in the MLS. ↩

We are often for preaching to awaken others; but we should be more concerned with prayer. Prayer is more powerful than preaching. It is prayer that gives preaching all its power. . . . Prayer must be added to preaching, else preaching is in vain. . . . O believing brethren, what an instrument is this which God hath put into your hands! Prayer moves him that moves the universe. – Robert Murray M’Cheyne

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Have a Plan

The Pastor and His Bible

Faithful preachers are Bible men. When they answer questions about spiritual things Scripture begins to flow in the most natural manner. When they prepare sermons a repository of truth is available at a second’s notice. Like Bunyan, you merely need to poke ’em to see their Bibline blood.

Because assumptions are dangerous and I have no empirical data to render the brief encouragement moot, let me say this: every pastor must read his entire Bible at least once every year.

“New law!” you cry. No, that’s probably just the Worm talking. Psalm 119-esque delight in God’s word is at the heart my exhortation. The longevity of your ministry, in a very real sense, depends on your faithfulness to daily saturate your soul in the whole counsel. Sure, you can minister for a long time and disregard my exhortation, but I’d have no reason to expect those decades to be healthy.

Very early in pastoral ministry I read an old copy of the Doctor’s Preaching and Preachers and my ministry has never been the same. He said,

Read your bible systematically. The danger is to read at random, and that means that one tends to be reading only one’s favorite passages. In other words one fails to read the whole bible. I cannot emphasize too strongly the vital importance of reading the whole Bible. . . . One of the most fatal habits a preacher can ever fall into is to read his Bible simply in order to find texts for sermons. This is the real danger; it must be recognized and fought and resisted with all your might. Do not read the bible to find texts for sermons, read it because it is the food that God has provided for your soul, because it is the Word of God, because it is the means whereby you can get to know God. Read it because it is the bread of life, the manna provided for your soul’s nourishment and well-being. (183-184)

I found great wisdom in that advice, printed off M’Cheyne’s reading plan, and read the whole Bible systematically. The practice has become life and light for my soul. I bet it would do the same for you. Tolle lege!

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See the Sermon’s Authority

Preaching with Authority

In his inaugural sermon at Bethlehem Baptist Church John Piper said he longed for a particular sound to mark the congregation.

If I could choose a symbolic sound that Bethlehem Baptist Church would come to be known for, you know what it would be? The swish of the pages of 500 Bibles turning simultaneously to the morning and evening texts.

When was the last time you heard such swishing of pages in a church service? I bet it’s been a  l o n g  time. The ubiquitous use of smart phones and tablets has relegated the printed Bible to a minority in corporate worship. And that’s ok. Piper would even agree.

We would do well, however, to remember why he wanted to hear the sound in the first place:

The reason [why I want the sound of swishing pages is this]: the source of my authority in this pulpit is not—as we shall soon see—my wisdom; nor is it a private revelation granted to me beyond the revelation of Scripture. My words have authority only insofar as they are the repetition, unfolding and proper application of the words of Scripture. I have authority only when I stand under authority. And our corporate symbol of that truth is the sound of your Bibles opening to the text.

Yes and amen. It’s all about authority.

But if symphonic rustling of pages belongs to an era gone by is there any contemporary replacement? Is there anything we ought to long for as a sign of where our authority in preaching lies?

HOLY BOBBLE HEADS

I would argue the best congregational sign of preacher rooted in biblical authority is in the sighting of what I like to call “holy bobble heads.” I want to see a congregation look up at the preacher and then look down at the text, look up at the preacher and then look down at the text.

It is a terrible experience to sit in the congregation and listen to the preacher’s rhetoric for twenty minutes before he summons you to look at the particular passage he is supposed to exposit. What he doesn’t realize is that, in all likelihood, he has just implicitly stated his authority lies in his rhetoric more than the theopneustos Scripture.

No, dear preacher, read your text at the beginning and never let long go by before you tell your people, “Look at verse . . .,” “Notice what happens next in . . .,” or, “See how he concludes the argument in verse . . .” Your authority is in that Holy Book, so tell them – frequently – to look down at The Book.

In his recent book Taking God At His Word Kevin DeYoung notes how the sanctified bouncing of heads is Berean movement:

When I speak at different conferences and churches, I’m often surprised how few people bother to look at their Bibles when I’m speaking. Be it laziness, forgetfulness, or something else, it’s not a good habit. I have no authority in myself. I don’t want people to just take my word for it. God’s people should be testing everything against God’s word. Whether we are the ones teaching or listening, we need to have our Bibles open like the Bereans. (75)

Preacher, you can help them be like the Bereans with consistently pointing their eyes back to your passage.

PREACHING IN AND NOT ABOUT

I’ve said before that in the delivery of preaching there is a great difference between preaching at the sheep and preaching among the sheep. Don’t you love distinctions? When done wisely they are like flint for our sermon swords. There is another distinction which lays at the heart of this issue of rooting your preaching in the authority of God’s word: we must preach in the text, not merely about the text.

You likely have experienced the distinction before. One sermon proposes to expound a passage of Scripture and says many true things about the text, but one leaves feeling the preacher invited the congregation on a holy float across the sea of Scripture. There are things surely worse than floating. Many contemporary preachers are content to sit on the sands far removed from the biblical waters. But we can and must do better than a leisurely float. We must summon our congregation through the sermon to a high-pressure, deep dive in the waters of God’s truth.

We herald the matters of life and death; so it is indeed a high-pressure endeavor. And it must also be deep. Jesus washes His church in His word by having His preachers soak their sermons in His word. Descend down to the depths of truth each week. So tell them to look down there with you!

Preach in the text, not merely about the text.

Help your people become holy bobble heads.

Give them the rich portions of His word.

And summon them to see it.

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Recent Reads

I love to read. By God’s grace I am a pretty fast reader; I usually read a couple books each week. I find it helpful to summarize my thoughts on each book and I offer those thoughts in the hope that you will be encouraged to either read or pass over the given title.

BeatyAn-All Surpassing Fellowship: Learning from Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s Communion with God by David Beaty. Of all the figures I’ve learned from in church history none has been more pivotal than the young Scotsman named M’Cheyne. So I’ll grant that I’m unusually predisposed to love this book. But, oh what a book it is! I can’t remember the last time I read a new publication and was this affected; tears of gratitude and repentance came from almost every chapter. Beaty is to be commended for simultaneously giving us a masterful biography of M’Cheyne and an unbelievably accessible portrait of his communion with God. Choice selections from original works, letters, sermon, and poems occupy almost every page and Beaty manages to offer it up with cohesive eloquence; a difficult feat from what I suspect is originally his D. Min. dissertation. This book now occupies an exclusive shelf in my study, the “Read at Least Once a Year” shelf.

TurleyHeart to Heart: Octavius Winslow’s Experimental Preaching by Tanner Turley. Do you know who Spurgeon invited to preach the inaugural sermon at The Metropolitan Tabernacle? Octavius Winslow. He was a giant of 19th century England, but is largely forgotten today. Turley – and Reformation Heritage Books – has done the church a favor in publishing his Ph.D. on the experimental preaching of Winslow. Not only is this work a useful introduction to a spiritual giant of centuries gone by, but a fabulous introduction to a philosophy of preaching neglected today: experimental preaching. Joel Beeke, one of the foremost experimental, or “experiential”, preachers of our time defines this philosophy as preaching that “addresses the vital manner of how a Christian experiences the truth of Christian doctrine in his life.” Turley argues for the following eight characteristics of Winslow’s preaching: doctrine, Christ-centeredness, discrimination, interrogation, illustration, persuasion, and exhortation. Although I found the treatment to be somewhat anachronistic in places,1 I believe any preacher today would profit from its salient points.

HastingsAll Hell Let Loose: The World at War 1939-1945 by Max Hastings. Sir Max is, for me at least, somewhat of a maddeningly brilliant historian. Every work of his I’ve read possesses pointed reflection and countless individual stories that give the events of old a movingly personal dimension. Hence, the brilliance. Yet, those same works also seem strikingly slim on cohesion of narrative. And All Hell Let Loose is no different. The whole book seems to operate in the following fashion: historical statement, summary, or insight followed by a personal vignette of said history. Rinse and repeat the process for hundreds of pages. Hence, the maddening part of his brilliance. I have Hasting’s Winston’s War on my shelf and it’s crying for attention. It remains to be seen if the first prong of his “maddening brilliance” will keep me away for a while, of if the latter facet will lead me to open it up next week.

Natchez BurningNatchez Burning by Greg Iles. Before picking up this book I had only read one Greg Iles book and it didn’t go so well. But when Stephen King proclaims a book to be “extraordinarily entertaining and fiendishly suspenseful; I defy you to start it and find a way to put it down,” I feel my literary senses challenged to a duel I cannot refuse. So I bought the book. And Mr. King’s superlative defiance is well founded, this book is marvelous. Natchez Burning is set against the dark racial tensions of Mississippi in the 1960s, tensions that span all the way into 2005 when the protagonist’s father is accused of murder. The murder sets in motion a series of events that the last four decades have managed to suppress; a series of events Iles plans to cover in a projected trilogy (with Natchez Burning being the first volume). I’m still astounded how Iles leaves most of the plot lines open, but resolves just enough of the storyline to not offend the reader’s need for some finality. It took Iles five years to write this book and I can only hope the trilogy’s second offering arrives much, much sooner.

Click here to find other entries in the Recent Reads series.

  1. For example, the employment and citation of Paul Tripp’s language of behavior modification versus heart transformation is out of place. Would Winslow agree with this rubric of sanctification? Most definitely. But such imposition of modern categories on older divines is, in a word, anachronistic. ↩
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May It Be So of Us

mccheyneRobert Murray M’Cheyne’s holy life was legendary in his century. Spurgeon counted him among the “best and holiest men,” and good Bishop Ryle listed him as one of the “holiest men of modern times.”

His holiness had a direct effect on the power of his preaching. John Shearer points this out in his work Old Time Revivals by saying,

M’Cheyne was himself his greatest sermon, and here is the secret of his success. He walked with God in the beauty of holiness. Our Lord’s presence seemed to envelop him, diffusing a holy aroma. His very manner, his bearing as if a man standing in God’s presence, was often the means of awakening indifferent sinners, so that men who could not remember a word he said found themselves with an unforgettable impression that God had drawn very near to them. – Quoted in Beaty, An All-Surpassing Fellowship, 27-28.

Pastor, pray and labor for this kind of holiness. May you shine and burn in the adornment of godliness when you ascend to the sacred desk this weekend.

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And So We Roar

VERSE 1
His be the Victor’s Name
Who fought the fight alone;
Triumphant saints no honor claim;
Their conquest was His own.

VERSE 2
By weakness and defeat
He won the glorious crown;
Trod all His foes beneath His feet
By being trodden down.

CHORUS
What though the vile accuser roar
Of sins that I have done;
I know them well, and thousands more;
My God, He knoweth none

VERSE 3
He hell in hell laid low;
Made sin, He sin o’erthrew;
Bowed to the grave, destroyed it so,
And death, by dying, slew.

VERSE 4
Bless, bless the Conqueror slain,
Slain by divine decree!
Who lived, who died, who lives again,
For thee, my soul, for thee.

Bridge
My sin is cast into the sea
Of God’s forgotten memory
No more to haunt accusingly
For Christ has lived and died for me

Words: Samuel Gandy, 1838 (verses & chorus), alt.; Zac Hicks, 2013 (bridge)
Music: Zac Hicks, 2013 ©2013 Unbudding Fig Music (ASCAP)

HT: D&T

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A Short Sabbatical

In Quest of Rest

Later on today I will leave for a 19th-century era cabin with one goal in mind: rest.

One of my many ministerial flaws is an almost complete inability rest for an extended period of time. But I am trying to grow in this area with the help of a loving wife and caring congregation.

OUT OF THE HARNESS

I have long cherished Spurgeon’s passionate labor and self-conscious desire to exhaust himself in the gospel ministry. He said,

‘If by excessive labour, we die before reaching the average age of man, worn out in the Master’s service, then glory be to God, we shall have so much less of earth and so much more of Heaven!’ 1 ‘It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed.’ 2

Such Christ-fueled energy (cf. Col. 1:28) is a great challenge to much of our contemporary evangelical culture that bristles at the thought sweaty ministry. Yet, like any author, we can read the Prince in a vacuum or in isolation. For he was just as keen to seize sabbath opportunities when it was wise to do so,

It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less. On, on, on for ever, without recreation may suit spirits emancipated from this ‘heavy clay’, but while we are in this tabernacle, we must every now and then cry halt, and serve the Lord by holy inaction and consecrated leisure. Let no tender conscience doubt the lawfulness of going out of harness for a while.3

I count it no small act of God’s providence that the very week I reread the Prince’s passages above4 my wife gave me an anniversary getaway. She saw knows me better than anyone and said, “You need a break.” That 36 hour “out of the harness” endeavor begins this afternoon.

RESTING THROUGH READING

My aim is simple: rest through reading. Few things calm my soul as extended and uninterrupted times of reading. Here are the four books I hope to complete by Friday morning:

It may sound like a lot, but I am already at the finish line of the last two. Thus, I should be able to close out Turley, Hastings, and Iles tonight. Which leaves tomorrow dedicated to Beaty’s promising study of M’Cheyne, further memorization of 1 Timothy,5  and much time on bended knee.

I am excited and eager. Bring on the “holy inaction.”

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  1. Spurgeon, An All Around Ministry, 127. ↩
  2. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 157. ↩
  3. Ibid, 161. ↩
  4. In preparation to preach this sermon. ↩
  5. I’ve memorized the first four chapters and would love two write the last two on my heart this week. ↩