Monthly Archives: January 2015

Posted on

Naturally Awful

LutherHave you ever heard the story of Martin Luther’s famous, yet apocryphal, devotion to prayer amidst the business of life?

The story usually has someone asking Brother Martin what he would be doing the next day. Luther answer this question by saying something like, “Work, work from early till late. In fact I have so much to do that I shall need to spend the first three hours in prayer in order to be able to get it all done.”

In his little book Enjoy Your Prayer Life Michael Reeves says, “Tales like this turn our bones to jelly because we know we’re not like that. So to prove we are all sinners, and therefore naturally awful at prayer, here’s a real quote from Luther that will comfort you.” At perhaps the busiest time of his life he wrote to his good friend Philipp Melanchthon:

You extol me so much . . . Your high opinion of me shames and tortures me, since – unfortunately – I sit here like a fool and hardened in leisure, pray little, do not sigh for the church of God . . . In short I should be ardent in spirit, but I am ardent in the flesh, in lust laziness, leisure, and sleepiness . . . Already eight days have passed in which I have written nothing, in which I have not prayed or studied; this is partly because of temptations of the flesh, partly because I am tortured by other burdens. – Luther’s Works, Vol. 48

Reeves concludes, “Even Luther, a man who valued prayer very highly, was a real person, a real sinner.”

And real sinners will always struggle at prayer.

So let us take heart. Our struggles are not unique; they need not cripple us. May you rise today with the Spirit’s power and storm the throne of grace. The Father delights to hear from His children, even those that haven’t spoken with Him in quite some time.

Posted on

4 Corporate Prayers

A Praying Church Podcast

30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. – Romans 15:30-33

WRESTLING TOGETHER IN 2015

My adjustment of 15:30 says, “I urge you, Imago Dei, by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayer to God for me—and not just for me, but for the entire mission and ministry of this church.”

What Paul has in mind, in our text, for Christians is a soul-aching, heart-burning wrestling in prayer. It’s devoted. It’s persistent. Faith fills it; dependence motivates it; love controls it. But in many ways, I won’t be able to get you to join in the struggle unless you see and agree with the needs I’m about to line out.

Think about it this way: consider the last time in your life when you were zealous in prayer. What as driving that unusual zeal? I bet it was unusual need. One such instance in my life that came to mind this week was earlier this year when an old childhood friend died in a car accident. He left behind a young wife and a son who was just a few months old. The notion of a child growing up and never knowing his dad was gripping – maybe even crippling – and that need compelled unusually earnest prayer.

Urgent need drives urgent prayer. Here then are four urgent needs we, the elders at IDC, are wrestling for in prayer this year and we are urging our church, by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with us in prayer.

Devotion to gathered worship. As best as we can tell it seems that a large subset of our members will miss, for one reason or another, at least 20 out of the annual 52 Saturday gatherings. This is something we must pray about. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” In light of this verse, one of the things we covenant to as a church is, “We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.”

We are encouraging our congregation to examine its orientation toward Saturday night. We are not expecting every member to get a “Perfect Attendance” ribbon at the end of each year, instead – because of Hebrews 10:25 and our church covenant – I want to encourage them to an ordinary prioritization of gathered worship. The corporate gathering is the ordinary means by which Christian discipleship occurs, it is the power center of a local church’s mission, and it is the hub around which our church unity revolves. So to be gone from gathered worship with great frequency means not only missing out on this “atomic power” of discipleship, but it also means putting one’s soul in a dangerous place. As Hebrews 10 says, it’s commitment to corporate worship keep us close to Christ as we await His return.

Zeal in evangelism. The Risen Christ gave us clear marching orders for our corporate mission, “Go into all the world and make disciples by proclaiming the gospel of Christ in the power of the Spirit.” We are praying this year for God to awaken our hearts to the glory of Christ and the plight of men. In the next five years 50,000 people are projected to move into McKinney, with almost another 50,000 coming in the five years following. We stand on the precipice of an unusual opportunity for gospel proclamation. But even if such statistics weren’t true, evangelistic opportunities abound in our area for so many of us. Here then is the primary prayer: that every church member at IDC would share the gospel more in 2015 than any other year to date. Some in our church may just we wading into the evangelism waters, while others might be swimming in the deeps for the first time. The coresponding prayer is for God to awaken our eyes not only to the local need, but to the global need and some would be compelled to go to the nations.

Delight in discipling relationships. Jesus didn’t merely tell us to proclaim His gospel by His spirit, we do that disciples would be gathered into churches so they might worship the Lord and obey His commands; that they might grow as disciples. We long to be a disciple-making church and evangelism is the door that opens unto the house of discipleship. The weekly gathering is like the furnace room, but it’s not all. So we are praying for broad relationships among church members to build one another in Christ. Be it through a small group, regular hospitality, The Upper Room, Women Discipling Women, or just casual, yet regular meetings to discuss spiritual things. We are praying for great delight this year in discipling relationships.

Supernatural provision of a permanent home. The first three are spiritual realities and the final one is a physical reality. And here’s why I add the adjective of “supernatural” to God’s provision of a permanent meeting space. Clearly any provision of a space will be a work of God, but supernatural helps – I hope – us understand how much we need His mighty hand to move in this area. One of the top developers in the metroplex recently told me McKinney is probably the hottest market in the entire country. We are indeed small fish in an ocean of whales right now. But our God rules over even the whales of real estate. Just as a young family inevitably longs for their first home after renting a space, so too do we long for a place where we can call home. With patience and wisdom we look to him to direct our steps. So we are asking the church to pray for the elders and the Future Building Team as we labor and lead in this area.

— This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “A Praying Church.” —

Posted on

A Wedding Exhortation

Two Become One

For Jacob and Haley.

We gather today as observers of a wedding because God loves to make new things. We are witnessing before our very eyes the formation of a new household through a new marriage. It’s wise for us, especially in the shifting shadows and institutions of the world we live in, to understand what we are watching tonight and why we are watching it. What I first want to do, then, is briefly outline what the Bible understands marriage to be – I want to help us all meditate on that. After, I want to encourage Jacob and Haley individually in the God-given design of husband and wife.

To the Witnesses

It is a wondrous thing to know a God who providentially rules and governs everything in the universe. Ephesians 1 tells us he works all things to the counsel of his will, to the praise of His glory. So then it is no accident we are here tonight; God has been on the move in the lives of Jacob and Haley.

Marriage is not something we create, but it is something God purposes to sing and shout His grace. It began all the way back in the Garden of Eden. Right after the Lord created Eve, the Bible says something surprising. Adam had found no helper suitable to him among all the beasts that he had named, it was not good for him to be alone, and so God caused a deep sleep to come upon him, removed a rib from his side, and fashioned a woman out of it. God then presented the woman to the man, and his first words—the first human words uttered in the Bible—were words of poetry in praise of the gift he had been given. And what does the next verse say? It says that every marriage after that point should in some fashion be an imitation of this one. It uses the word therefore. Here it is: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). God gives us four vital elements of marriage in this one verse. It is an exclusive relationship. It says that a man shall cleave to his wife. The baseline pattern is one man, one woman, one time. Second, marriage is a public relationship. Notice that it says that a man shall leave his father and mother. This is something that people notice. It is public. Third, it is a permanent relationship. The text says that the man is united to his wife. He cleaves to her. Jesus, later in quoting Genesis 2 says, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” And fourth, marriage is a united relationship; the two become one flesh. Thomas Adams said, “God by creation made two of one, so again by marriage He made one of two.”

So these are the normative parts of marriage: it’s an exclusive, public, and permanent union. But we must add a fifth. It is a gospel-declaring relationship. Paul too quotes Genesis 2 (in Ephesians 5) and says the marriage relationship reveals to the world the relationship between Christ and his church. The Bible tells us every person is born in sin and are thus under the wrath of God. They can do absolutely nothing to remedy the Black Plague of Sin that mars their soul. But God, in His great love for sinners like you and me, sent His Son Jesus Christ to live the perfect life we were supposed to live and die the death we were supposed to die. Three days later He rose again and now reigns at the Father’s right hand. He reaches down and gives eternal life to all who turn from their sin and trust in Him. This is the gospel, the good news. By His blood He ransomed His church, which the Bible also calls His bride.

And marriage, under the gracious sovereignty of God, is meant to declare and display this good news through the relationship between a husband and wife. Now we give our attention to the about-to-be husband.

To the Groom

Jacob, your role as a husband is clear as crystal: in your love and leadership of Haley you are to reflect the love and leadership of Jesus over His church. This means foundationally that you are to love Haley with a love that knows no height, breadth, length, or depth. It is a love ordinarily typified by sacrifice. You must give yourself every day to see your Haley grow and increase in the grace and knowledge of God. This assumes therefore that you are growing as well. Do not let your affections for the Lord run dry, for the minute your affectional-river drains is the minute your leadership of Haley runs on the fumes of small smoke, rather than the full flame of God. Be diligent to cultivate a deeper sense of the unsearchable riches of Christ. And keep everything in proper proportion. Haley, as wonderful as she is not meant to satisfy you, she is meant to come alongside you and help you glorify God, help you together find nothing more satisfying than our great God.

To the Bride

Haley, the kindness of God means we also don’t have to guess at what He wants you to be as a wife. Just as the church serves, submits, and dedicates herself to the Lord Jesus, so too are you to give of yourself to follow Jacob – wherever our good God leads. You are both created in the image of God and thus stand before Him as equals in Christ, yet your roles are different. To submit to Jacob as the church submits to Christ means you have a growing inclination to follow Jacob’s leadership and a delighted disposition to yield to his decisions. Doing this, you will glorify God by relating to your husband the way that the church is to relate to Christ. If you are walking with God—constantly thanking Him for His moment-by-moment grace and continually calling on Him for help—you will find your God-appointed role to be like rich, fertile, pleasant soil, and like a beautiful flower of a wife you will flourish.

To You Both

William Carey once said, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” God is giving you a great thing in this marriage. You must now use this marriage to do great things for God. You must remember, great things are never easy things. When you step down from this stage as husband and wife you enter a spiritual battlefield unlike any other you’ve ever faced. Marriage is meant reveal the gospel and the Snake hates the gospel. He will launch a frontal assault to destroy your joy in marriage so that God will not get the glory He must receive. But do not fear the bared teeth and destructive pursuit of this roaring lion named Satan; Jesus, the Lion of Judah, has conquered. Your marriage is one to be lived as a visible announcement to the world of Jesus’ victory.

So then, let me end by encouraging you to pray for and pursue four things at you attempt great things through this great union of marriage.

Pray for and pursue holiness. Marriage is meant to make you holy, and holiness is the ultimate happiness. Jacob, what Haley needs from you more than anything else is your personal holiness. Haley, what Jacob needs from you more than anything else is your personal holiness. Strive with the Spirit’s power, through the word, for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord and no marriage can find its intended delight.

Pray for and pursue wisdom. When God set Solomon as king over Israel He appeared one night and said, “Ask what I shall give you.” Solomon said, “Give me now wisdom . . . for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” We can something similar about this covenant relationship. Who can glorify God in marriage, which is so great? Those who are wise in Christ. The treasures of wisdom are hidden in Christ and they come from the fear of God; get those treasures through that fear.

Pray for and pursue humility. Pride is Satan’s favorite tactic of assault; slay it with humility. Each of you, have the mind of Christ, and count the other as better than yourself.

Pray for and pursue joy. Joy in God is the fountainhead from which joy in each other flows. Sin and Satan will rapidly want you to be bored with each other and grow cold towards each other. If you let joy in God be your constant song you will then find your home to a symphony of love for each other and glory for God.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.

Posted on

2015 Endeavors

2015 Endeavors

A few weeks ago I was at my local haunt – Rudy’s BBQ – having breakfast with a church member. Yes sir, only in Texas are BBQ breakfast tacos possible. I frequent the store so much one of the managers will start making my order the minute I walk in the door. When we arrived at the register and my tacos were ready for feasting my friend asked, “Do you ever change your order?” I answered tongue-in-cheekly, “I don’t believe in change.”

I love routines and habitual living. It’s rare for me to whimsically change a life pattern unless pressing external circumstances demand me to do so.

The beginning of a new year is one such regular occasion for changing the routine.1 At the beginning of each year I put down a short list of what I call “Endeavors.”2 The system of Endeavors was originally inspired by Jonathan Edwards’ Resolutions and gives me foxhole friends for The Good Fight each year.

Here then are my three Endeavors for 2015 . . .

ENDEAVORS FOR 2015

I endeavor to memorize the books of 1 John and 2 Timothy. Next weekend at IDC, Lord willing, we will begin a four-month sermon series through the book of 1 John. I’ve thought in recent weeks, “I might as well memorize it.” I know preaching through the book will make memorizing it easier than it might be otherwise. Since I hope to have 1 John cemented by the end of May, my goal for the rest of the year is to write 2 Timothy on my heart. I’ve long desired to memorize all the pastoral epistles and last year I did 1 Timothy, so Paul’s second letter to his “true child in the faith” is the next logical step.

I endeavor to read Herman Bavinck’s four-volume Reformed Dogmatics. I’ve always advocated the patient, systematic reading of classic works of theology. A few years ago I tackled Calvin’s Institutes and a Brakel’s The Christian’s Reasonable Service, last year I took on the collected works of George Swinnock. Throughout 2014 I considered which set in my study needed slow reading in 2014 and the answer was unmistakable: Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics. By my calculations, seven pages per day will get me through Bavinck’s work with several weeks to spare.

I endeavor to integrate regular fasting into my life and ministry. For a variety of different reasons I’ve never been consistent in the discipline of fasting. Most centrally is the fact I usually only eat one meal a day (a pattern I probably should address in and of itself). Thus, fasting has always seemed to lose some of its weight because I float through most of each day without hunger pains. Nevertheless, I’m endeavoring to rectify this glaring gap in my spiritual life. To begin, I plan to read Piper’s A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer, which I trust will set my course for faithful fasting in 2015.

I can’t wait to see what God will do through these practices. Anyone interested in joining me on the journey?

—————————————————————————————————

  1. I just realized, in writing that sentence, how even changes to my routine are  . . . well, rather routine. ↩
  2. Click here to see the Endeavors from 2014. ↩