Category Archives: Pastoral Ministry

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The Pastor’s Time

Redeeming Time

“This thing all things devours;
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats mountain down.”

So was the riddle Gollum put forth to little Bible Baggins in that famous scene under the mountain in The Hobbit. Bilbo accidentally stumbled on to the answer when, begging for reprieve, said, “Time!”

MAKING THE MOST OF IT

For many of us, time is usually a foe. We never seem to have enough of it; always rushing to and fro to complete tasks time fights against. Time silently steals strength from our bodies and memories from our minds.

But time is also a friend.

The apostle Paul knew this well. He told the Ephesians, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time.” Each day consists of seconds, minutes, and hours waiting to be used. How will you redeem them? The Snake will tempt us to fritter them away, while the Spirit compels us to seize them for Christ. That battle rages in areas unseen as you walk through ordinary life.

Like so many things in Scripture, Paul’s exhortation to wielding time as a weapon is one that a pastor must model for his church. He needs to exemplify a holy detachment from worldly, lazy uses of time and take every second captive and make it obedient to Christ.

Yet, one of the deepest pitfalls for pastors on this issue is how easy it is for us to run amuck with our moments. This is uniquely true for those of us in smaller churches. I serve in a church with no office and two other staff members I see a couple times a week. I leave my house in the morning to labor throughout the day largely on my own. It is entirely possible for me to waste the entire day and no one would be the wiser for it. But this temptation is not peculiar to those of us on the tiny end of the ecclesiological pool. I’ve served in larger churches and know that, while more visible accountability is in place, wasting time is easy anywhere.

TRUTH ON TIME

What are we to do?

First, and foremost, we must arm our souls with Scripture. Truths like:

  • “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” – Psalm 39:4-5
  • “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12
  • “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” – James 4:14
  • “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” – Ephesians 5:15-16
  • “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.” – Colossians 4:5

Loaded with truth and fueled by His Spirit we must walk through each day with an aim to assault the gates of hell with our time. In so doing we not only honor God, but put forth a model for our people worth emulation.

USING TIME FOR GOD’S GLORY

The next time you are tempted to idleness and frivolity with your time, consider the following five simple strategies.

Pray. I’ve often thought to myself, “I wish I had more time for prayer!” Yet, when I really look around at an ordinary day, moments for prayer abound. I’m just more likely to use the time on something else.

Read. Have a healthy dose of good books always on hand, so that wherever and whenever free minutes come your are ready to feed your mind and heart. Personally, I like to always have at least one Christian book, one non-fiction book, and one fiction book nearby. This is probably why I rarely go anywhere without a backpack.

Listen. Load your phone, mp3 player, or whatever else you use with a good mix of quality audio. Subscribe to a few good podcasts, download seminary lectures from iTunes U, or queue up a good audiobook. I’m a bit of a technological dinosaur, so it was only two weeks ago I discovered I could listen to the Bible on my iPhone through esvbible.org. What a joy and privilege to listen to God’s word anywhere I go!

Speak. By this I mean evangelism. If you find yourself at any point in the day with an hour of time and pastoral duties for the day complete, why not go somewhere to speak with non-Christians?

Sleep. I’m particularly thinking about late night hours. RC Sproul captured this point well in an old Tabletalk article where he said,

Several years ago I had an epiphany about time management. Though my life-long pattern had been to stay up late at night I realized that for me, the hours between 9–12 p.m. were not very productive. I reasoned that if I used those hours to sleep I might secure more time for more productive things. Since then my habit has been to retire between 8–9 p.m. when possible and rise at 4 a.m. This has effected a wonderful revolution for my schedule. The early hours of the day are a time free from distractions and interruptions, a marvelous time for study, writing, and prayer….

I know exactly hwat he means. I’ve often told people I’m useless after about 8:30pm, so I can do one of two things after the clock’s hands move past my tipping point: 1) mentally tune out and veg out on a TV show or movie, or 2) go to bed. Sleeping is, at least for me, the best us of that time. Going to bed early allows me to wake up earlier and maximize the morning for the glory of God.

SET THE PACE

We need pastors who are diligent and disciplined with their time. Pastors who slay the Serpent with how they use their time. Praise God for His grace to forgive our propensity to meander aimlessly with His moments. Lay hold of that grace for forgiveness and for power to use His time with new focus and joy.

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A Mountain Retreat

1387215674000-Colorado-s-Front-Range

Lord willing, tonight after our church’s corporate gathering, my wife and I will head out to Breckenridge, Colorado. It will be our first vacation in over three years.

Our three little boys will remain in Texas with gracious family and friends and so a week of quiet, unhurried time in the Rockies awaits. We couldn’t be more excited.

BOOKS FOR THE MOUNTAINS

The blog will thus be silent until September 22nd. I’m taking a cadre of books, but here are the three I hope to read from cover to cover:1

GFFGod’s Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America by Larry Eskridge. The Jesus People movement was a unique combination of the hippie counterculture and evangelical Christianity. It first appeared in the famed “Summer of Love” of 1967, in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, and spread like wildfire in Southern California and beyond, to cities like Seattle, Atlanta, and Milwaukee. In 1971 the growing movement found its way into the national media spotlight and gained momentum, attracting a huge new following among evangelical church youth, who enthusiastically adopted the Jesus People persona as their own. Within a few years, however, the movement disappeared and was largely forgotten by everyone but those who had filled its ranks.

God’s Forever Family argues that the Jesus People movement was one of the most important American religious movements of the second half of the 20th-century. Not only do such new and burgeoning evangelical groups as Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard trace back to the Jesus People, but the movement paved the way for the huge Contemporary Christian Music industry and the rise of “Praise Music” in the nation’s churches. More significantly, it revolutionized evangelicals’ relationship with youth and popular culture. Larry Eskridge makes the case that the Jesus People movement not only helped create a resurgent evangelicalism but must be considered one of the formative powers that shaped American youth in the late 1960s and 1970s.

BHBurning Hearts: Preaching to the Affections by Josh Moody and Robin Weekes. Affection is often a neglected theme in our generation of Bible believing Christians. It has not always been so. Previous generations thought a great deal about the centrality of the heart in the Christian life and the need to preach to it. This book will prove a valuable resource as we learn about the place of the affections in our walk with Christ and in preaching Him to ourselves and others. D.A. Carson says, “For some, this little book will be a healthy reminder; for others, it will revolutionize their preaching.”

YTYawning at Tigers: You Can’t Tame God, So Stop Trying by Drew Dyck. When was the last time you were overawed by God’s majesty? Have you ever stood in stunned silence at his holiness and power? In our shallow, self-centered age, things like truth and reverence might seem outdated, lost. Yet we’re restless. And our failed attempts to ease our unrest point to an ancient ache for an experience of the holy. Drew Dyck makes a compelling case that what we seek awaits us in the untamed God of Scripture—a God who is dangerous yet accessible, mysterious yet powerfully present. He is a God who beckons us to see him with a fresh, unfiltered gaze.

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  1. Book descriptions are taken from the respective publisher. ↩
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Holy Club

Sermon Prep in Community

I think it was sometime in late 2011 that, while I was an Associate Pastor at Providence Church, we created a regular gathering time to discuss the coming Sunday’s sermon text. The meeting consisted of pastors and interns and functioned as something like “Sermon Prep in Community.”

And we called it “The Holy Club.”

A SERMON PREP SMALL GROUP

The name might sound rather pretentious, but it actually has historical precedent. We took our cue from the original 18th century Holy Club that included the Wesley brothers and George Whitefield.1 Their pursuit was largely one of external righteousness, but ours was one of understanding and applying the soon-to-be-preached-on passage of Scripture. Afshin Ziafat, the lead pastor at Providence, would tell us what text he was planning to preach from and his initial thoughts on the sermon. Then he would let other guys in the room give their observations about the text, consider potential objections within the text, and offer vital applications from the text.

For a variety of different reasons – and none of them very good – we have yet to institute our own weekly version of “The Holy Club” at IDC, but in the last few weeks I’ve felt a renewed sense of such a group’s importance. Let me give you three reasons, from my past experience, to consider instituting your own sermon prep small group at your church. These are in fact the very reasons I’m working on putting together our own IDC Holy Club.

3 BENEFITS OF COMMUNAL SERMON PREP

#1: Reception of diverse insights. If you prepare each week’s sermon in your own ivory tower you’ll run the risk of letting personal presuppositions or experience drive your sermonic construction. It’s wonderfully helpful to have other Christians give their initial observations and insights. Who knows, they may spot a particular phrase that seems plain to your mind, but is actually hard to unravel for most church members. What I’ve found to be most useful in these types of settings is the variety of applications other people bring out of the text. There can be a tendency in sermon preparation to universalize experience and thus your sermon gets pointed power through hearing and seeing how other people experience the text’s truth.

#2: Promotion of pastoral humility. You won’t seek out other thoughts on the text if you pridefully think yours needs no improvement. Doing sermon prep in community will give you multiple opportunities to humble yourself through recognizing another person’s insights as clearer, bolder, or wiser.

#3: Training of future preachers. Young and aspiring preachers learn the art of sermon delivery in the weekly worship gathering, but they also need to learn the art of sermon preparation. A sermon prep small group will go a long way in helping them discern how best to construct their own practice of sermona preparation.

AN EASY PLACE TO START

Don’t know where to start building your own Holy Club? Here’s a simple suggestion: start with your elders. Spend time at your regularly scheduled elders’ meeting(s) talking about the coming weekend’s text. Get their insights, wisdom, and experience from the text. Tell them what your main point is and how you intend to divide the text for clarity and comprehension. Or, if your elders meet early in the sermon process, use their remarks as something like a catalyst for the week’s preparation.

Or maybe you currently don’t have elders. Well, if you are being faithful to Paul’s injunction to Titus to appoint elders you should at least have couple men on your radar. Invite them into your preparation process. Who knows, it may end even up being something like informal elder training.

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  1. Click here for a summary of the original Oxford Holy Club’s activities. ↩
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Book Recommendation: For Pastoral Piety

0852346298mDr. Joel Beeke is the gentle giant of Reformed publishing. He is the edi­tor of Ban­ner of Sov­er­eign Grace Truth, edi­to­r­ial direc­tor of Ref­or­ma­tion Her­itage Books, pres­i­dent of Inher­i­tance Pub­lish­ers, and vice-president of the Dutch Reformed Trans­la­tion Soci­ety. He has writ­ten, co-authored, or edited sev­enty books, and over 2,000 to Reformed books, jour­nals, peri­od­i­cals, and ency­clo­pe­dias.

On top of all this Beeke is President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and a pastor at Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids. I often wonder how the man sleeps!

Today I want to point you to an oft-neglected treasure in The Trove of Beeke: Puritan Reformed Spirituality.

A PERPETUAL NEED

The older I get the more I am convinced, alongside Bonar and M’Cheyne, it’s not great talents God blesses as much as great likeness to Jesus Christ. If local churches are to see revival in our time what we need is ordinary pastors who are passionate about the means of grace and personal holiness. More than visionaries, pioneers, and innovators, the church needs pastors who walk in deep humility, love, and reverence before God.

We thus need, alongside the word and prayer, weapons for our pursuit of godliness. And it’s here that Puritan Reformed Spirituality steps up to the stage.

BIBLICAL SPIRITUALITY DONE RIGHT

In the foreword Beeke says,

The problem with most spirituality today is that it is not closely moored in Scripture and too often degenerates into unbiblical mysticism. In contrast, Reformed Christianity has followed a path of its own, largely determined by its concern to test all things by Scripture and to develop a spiritual life shaped by Scripture’s teachings and directives. Reformed spirituality is the outworking of the conviction that ‘all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness’ (2 Tim. 3:16). In dependence upon the Holy Spirit, it aims to achieve what John Murray called ‘intelligent piety,’ wedding scriptural knowledge and heartfelt piety.

Amen. Intelligent piety is our target and Puritan Reformed Spirituality will help you see how spiritual giants of days gone by have aimed for and hit that target’s bull’s-eye.

This book something of a “Best of Beeke” as most of the chapters were previously published in various edited volumes or journals. Therefore, you can read at random and will not lose anything by way of flow or argument. Read all of it, but I’ve found the following chapters unusually challenging:

  • “Calvin on Piety”
  • “The Puritan Practice of Meditation”
  • “The Life and Writings of John Brown of Haddington”
  • “Willem Teellinck and The Path of True Godliness“
  • “Cultivating Holiness”
  • “The Lasting Power of Reformed Experiential Preaching”

In these pages you will also learn at the feet of William Ames, Thomas Boston, the Erskine brothers, Witsius, and Frelinghuysen. Beeke’s book is a model of how to wed historical theology to practical ministry. Tolle lege!

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A Place to Pray

Pray Persistently

The real estate agent’s mantra of, “Location, location, location,” has an unexpected correlation to the pastor’s life of prayer. For when it comes to extended times in private prayer, location is everything.

And we know this because of our Lord’s practice.

JESUS AT PRAYER

The gospels bear witness not only to Christ’s commitment in prayer, but also how Jesus went about devoting himself to pray. And one common theme is His departure to a quiet place for the purpose of prayer:

  • “And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place.” – Luke 4:42
  • “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.” – Luke 6:12
  • “And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives [to pray].” Luke 22:39
  • “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” – Mark 1:35
  • “Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” – John 6:15

As under-shepherds who are to model their ministry after the True Shepherd, we pastors need to make extended prayer an increasingly normal part of our work. But if we are ever to persevere in this labor we need to each find a regular place for what the old divines called “closet prayer.”

FIND A CLOSET

Thomas Brooks, in his gem entitled The Secret Key to Heaven: The Vital Importance of Private Prayer, says, “Christ choosing solitude for private prayer, doth not only hint to us the danger of distraction and deviation of thoughts in prayer, but how necessary it is for us to choose the most convenient places we can for private prayer. Our own fickleness and Satan’s restlessness call upon us to get into such places where we may freely pour out our soul into the bosom of God [Mark 1.35].”

When I first read Brooks’ book a few years ago one of the first changes I made was to find a dark and quiet place to pray each day. The church I was serving at back then was replete with classrooms that fit the criteria for solitude in prayer. Unfortunately, about nine months later we left to plant a church, a church with no building or office space. My greatest fear, seriously, about planting our church was, “Where I am going to pray in solitude now?” Well, I took the old Nonconformists literally and decided to go into the closet. And I now have a new found love for walk-in closets. Once the door is closed and my ear buds are playing sound deafening white noise I know I have arrived to my desolate place.

And then I am able to get down to the business of extended closet prayer without worldly distractions and interruptions. I very much feel the health of my ministry depends on such time. When I find discouragement and lethargy reigns in my pastoring I can be sure I haven’t darkened the closet door as I ought.

Do you have a place of solitude for extended prayer? If not, consider a closet. Opportunities for persistent prayer awaits.

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A Series Worth Serious Investment: Vol. 4

Pastors and Reading

A few years ago Joel Beeke and Michael Haykin quietly began editing a series from Reformation Heritage entitled, “Profiles in Reformed Spirituality.” Oh how I wish more people know about this series. Each book is like a stick of dynamite for pastoral piety.

AD FONTES!

In their introduction to the series the editors write,

Charles Dickens’s famous line in A Tale of Two Cities—“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”— seems well suited to western evangelicalism since the 1960s. On the one hand, these decades have seen much for which to praise God and to rejoice. In His goodness and grace, for instance, Reformed truth is no longer a house under siege. Growing numbers identify themselves theologically with what we hold to be biblical truth, namely, Reformed theology and piety. And yet, as an increasing number of Reformed authors have noted, there are many sectors of the surrounding western evangelicalism that are characterized by great shallowness and a trivialization of the weighty things of God. So much of evangelical worship seems barren. And when it comes to spirituality, there is little evidence of the riches of our heritage as Reformed evangelicals.

As it was at the time of the Reformation, when the watchword was ad fontes—“back to the sources”—so it is now: The way forward is backward. We need to go back to the spiritual heritage of Reformed evangelicalism to find the pathway forward. We cannot live in the past; to attempt to do so would be antiquarianism. But our Reformed forebearers in the faith can teach us much about Christianity, its doctrines, its passions, and its fruit.

SOME WELL-KNOWNS AND LESSER-KNOWNS

One of the series’ greatest assets is how each volume masterfully distills one man’s teaching on and practice of holiness into a bit-size book. In many ways, these titles would be great supplements for morning devotions. There are currently twelve volumes in the series, with more on the way. Here are four titles I’d recommend checking out first; two towering giants of theology and two lesser known, but profoundly gifted pastors.1

asweetflame_front__61096__73835.1294352920.1280.1280A Sweet Flame: Piety in the Letters of Jonathan Edwards. A Sweet Flame introduces readers to the piety of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). Dr. Haykin’s biographical sketch of Edwards captures the importance the New England minister placed on Scripture, family piety, and the church’s reliance upon God. The remainder of the book presents 26 selections from various letters written by Edwards, two written by family members at his death, and an appendix drawing upon Edwards’s last will and the inventor of his estate.

habitual_front__18033__88878.1294354106.1280.1280A Habitual Sight of Him: The Christ-Centered Piety of Thomas Goodwin. Thomas Goodwin (1600–1680) was a faithful pastor, Westminster divine, advisor to Oliver Cromwell, and president of Magdalen College, Oxford. In this book, Joel R. Beeke and Mark Jones acquaint the reader with Goodwin through an informative biographical introduction. The remainder of the book, 35 selections from across the works of Goodwin, displays Goodwin’s constant attention to Christ in his various theological engagements. You will learn much about the life and works of this influential Puritan, and perhaps, be strengthened with a habitual sight of Christ.

yuille_trading_and_thriving__46266__96212.1294352921.1280.1280Trading and Thriving in Godliness: The Piety of George Swinnock. George Swinnock (1627–1673) was a gifted English Puritan, known for his vivid illustrations of biblical truth. In “Trading and Thriving in Godliness”, J. Stephen Yuille highlights Swinnock’s conviction that godliness is the primary employment of every Christian. Yuille’s introductory essay analyzes the influences on, groundwork for, and expressions of piety in Swinnock’s life and thought. The book also contains fifty selections from Swinnock’s writings, exemplify his teaching on the foundation, door, value, pursuit, nature, means, and motives to godliness.

devoted__59751__88595.1294352920.1280.1280Devoted to the Service of the Temple: Piety, Persecution, and Ministry in the Writings of Hercules Collins. While largely forgotten in modern times, Hercules Collins (1646/1702) was highly influential among the late 17th and early 18th century Calvinistic Baptists of London. Through a biographical sketch and 35 sample selections collected from Collin’s writings, Michael A.G. Haykin and Stee Weaver introduce us to the vibrant spirituality of this colossal figure.

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

  1. Book descriptions taken from the publisher. ↩
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Polity is Awesome

Polity

In 1846 J.L. Reynolds declared, “Church polity has become the absorbing topic of the Christian world.”

If you ever need a quote to highlight the difference between mid-19th century and current 21st century evangelicalism Reynold’s proclamation of polity’s popularity is one to stash away. Yet, I feel as though we are on the precipice of renewed interest and focus on polity. Do you? Maybe it’s just the circles I move in, but whether or not the word is used, discussions of “polity” are increasingly on the rise. If we pay attention to patterns in church history we ought not be too surprised. Whenever there has been a recovery of the church’s “center” it’s never been long before matters of polity start to take a more prominent place on the stage.

And there’s a reason why this has been so.

A COMING RESURGENCE?

God’s glory in Christ as revealed in the gospel is indeed the church’s foundation, but gospel focus in and of itself is not enough to, as Carl Trueman rightly said, “ensure the continuation of the gospel.” Yes, Luther recovered the biblical gospel in the Reformation, but if you read his later material you find that the church’s health did not depend merely on letting loose the Word and watch everything be ok. Notice what happens next,

By 1525, of course, the picture starts to look bleaker: Protestantism is beginning to fracture; the protagonists in the Peasants’ War appropriate the democratizing language of Luther’s theological revolution and turn it into the battle cry of violent social upheaval; and the simple declaration of the gospel is becoming mired in the quicksands of human affairs.   From 1525 onwards, one must search hard for the language of universal priesthood in the writings of Luther (or many other reformers for that matter). The gospel on its own without careful attention to the kind of structural context advocated by Paul, could quickly be appropriated by the chaotic and sinful ambitions of fallen human beings. Thus, from 1525 onwards, Luther drops the ambiguously democratic rhetoric and start to talk more of church order and offices.

This insufficiency of he gospel is surely why Paul, when writing to Timothy, does not simply tell him to preach the gospel.   Yes, he certainly does tell him that; but as the aging apostle looks at the world around him and wonders how the gospel is to be preserved after the first generation of leaders directly commissioned by Christ dies out, he also tells Timothy to find ordinary men to appoint as elders.   In other words, Paul sees that a church structure, as well as a church message, is vital to the safeguarding and propagation of the gospel.1

Since the turn of the century we have seen an undisputed resurgence of concentration on getting the biblical gospel right. It now seems, and praise God for this, we are taking those historically subsequent steps of understanding the central role in which polity plays in protecting gospel-centrality. Maybe it’s the circles I move in, but I find matters of polity increasingly occupying our thoughts and discussion. Or maybe the one doesn’t feel the resurgence as strongly as I do because polity often walks quietly onto the scene of biblical faithfulness.

Paul, when writing to Timothy, does not simply tell him to preach the gospel.   Yes, he certainly does tell him  that; but as the aging apostle looks at the world around him and wonders how the gospel is to be preserved after the first generation of leaders directly commissioned by Christ dies out, he also tells Timothy to find ordinary men to appoint as elders.   In other words, Paul sees that a church structure, as well as a church message, is vital to the safeguarding and propagation of the gospel. – See more at: http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/04/the-gospel-is-insufficient.php#sthash.OBGZX6Pt.dpuf
Paul, when writing to Timothy, does not simply tell him to preach the gospel.   Yes, he certainly does tell him  that; but as the aging apostle looks at the world around him and wonders how the gospel is to be preserved after the first generation of leaders directly commissioned by Christ dies out, he also tells Timothy to find ordinary men to appoint as elders.   In other words, Paul sees that a church structure, as well as a church message, is vital to the safeguarding and propagation of the gospel. – See more at: http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/04/the-gospel-is-insufficient.php#sthash.M7hhtiMc.dpuf
Paul, when writing to Timothy, does not simply tell him to preach the gospel.   Yes, he certainly does tell him  that; but as the aging apostle looks at the world around him and wonders how the gospel is to be preserved after the first generation of leaders directly commissioned by Christ dies out, he also tells Timothy to find ordinary men to appoint as elders.   In other words, Paul sees that a church structure, as well as a church message, is vital to the safeguarding and propagation of the gospel. – See more at: http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/04/the-gospel-is-insufficient.php#sthash.M7hhtiMc.dpuf
Paul, when writing to Timothy, does not simply tell him to preach the gospel.   Yes, he certainly does tell him  that; but as the aging apostle looks at the world around him and wonders how the gospel is to be preserved after the first generation of leaders directly commissioned by Christ dies out, he also tells Timothy to find ordinary men to appoint as elders.   In other words, Paul sees that a church structure, as well as a church message, is vital to the safeguarding and propagation of the gospel. – See more at: http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/04/the-gospel-is-insufficient.php#sthash.M7hhtiMc.dpuf

A QUIET COG

Take any major sport, analyze the ordinary champions in its league, and what you will find is a team made up of superstars and forgotten players. In the sport after my own heart – soccer – strikers, attacking midfielders, marauding outside backs, and immovable center backs generally get all the attention. But any soccer fan knows that the “No. 6”, the holding midfielder, is the anchor and cog on which the team moves. When he plays his part well, he will go relatively unnoticed. His work isn’t flashy or unusually creative, it steady and calming. But when the “No. 6” is off his game, just watch the entire structure of the team’s center fall apart.

Polity is like the “No. 6” of a healthy church’s theology and practice. Other areas – the gospel, God’s sovereignty, Scripture’s infallibity, missions – get more attention, but if a biblical polity isn’t the church’s quiet, steadfast, and strong cog things will eventually begin to fall apart. Just look at Paul Tripp’s recent statement on all the hullabaloo at Mars Hill Church to see how dangerous short-shrifting biblical polity can be. Further, while it wasn’t as broadly discussed, when the difficulties with Sovereign Grace and CJ Mahaney came to the fore several years ago, you know what one of the first major orders of business became? Restructuring the entire polity for the “family of churches”, complete with a Book of Church Order!

WHERE WE CAN BEGIN

Polity is a quiet force in the church, and is thus one that we pastors must give specific attention. We need to think hard and biblically about church structure and governance. We must consider things like:

  • Who are elders and what must they do?
  • Who are deacons and what must they do?
  • Who has the final authority in a local church: the presbytery, bishop, elders, or congregation?
  • Does the Bible give instruction for two kinds of elders: teaching elders and ruling elders? Or, as in the case of many multi-site churches, what does the Bible have to say about a central group of elders overseeing the individual campus elders?
  • What bearing ought biblical polity have to play on the prudence of multi-site models?
  • What role of leadership and service can women occupy in the church?
  • What is the local church’s relationship/obligation to other churches in the city?
  • What about church membership? Is it something the Bible commands as obedience or commends as wise?
  • What about church discipline? What role does the gathered church play in the discipline of wayward members and pastors?

These things aren’t merely tangential topics, but they cut to the core of the safe-guarding of the gospel. So let’s wrestle with them. Far from pushing the gospel to the periphery, polity is a vital cog for perpetuating the purity of the church’s gospel witness.

  1. Trueman, http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/04/the-gospel-is-insufficient.php ↩
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It All Began in the 19th Century

History & Ministry

Yesterday, I mentioned how the reading of biographies is an underestimated weapon for our pastoral armor. I do wonder, however, if reading a large historical tome might sound daunting to some of you. If so, let me help you consider another vehicle for increasing historical awareness.

Actually, Michael Haykin is here to help. Do you know him?

PIETY THROUGH HISTORY

michael-haykin1Dr. Haykin currently serves as the Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality and Director of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In the foreword to The Pure Flame: The History of Christian Spirituality, the recent festschrift for Dr. Haykin, Russell Moore says:

I often wonder if Haykin is one scholar or a conspiracy of brilliant minds masquerading as one man. After all, he is a pacesetter in the fields of spiritual formation, Baptist studies, patristic history and beyond. All of these are very different fields, demanding a high level of expertise. He is one of the most recognized scholars in the world in each of those fields, having written and lectured extensively in each area, even while serving as a seminary administrator, popular conference speaker and leader within the Canadian Baptist and Southern Baptist churches.

Ian Clary, a former student and editor of The Pure Flame, says, “I am amazed at how profoundly I have been shaped by Michael Haykin . . . I have seen firsthand what a Christian scholar looks like, and learned the importance not only of how to read church history, but how to do so with a commitment to piety and godliness.”

Although I’ve never personally interacted with Haykin I affirm the man’s commitment to godliness. It’s palpable. I’ve observed it in Haykin’s works, but it’s largely through his messages and lectures that I’ve seen how history can catalyze piety.

Which brings me back to the original point of this post: using lectures understand the value of history for pastoral ministry. And I know a great place to start.

19th CENTURY EVANGELICALISM

A while back I came across an old Sunday School class Haykin taught at Trinity Baptist Church in Toronto on 19th century evangelicalism. I found the material to be immensely helpful. Haykin elucidates just how the incredible figures and events of evangelicalism in the 1800s laid the foundation for so much of modern evangelicalism. Throughout the class the listener is treated to figures well-known (Finney, M’Cheyne, Spurgeon) and not-so-well-known (Asahel Nettleton, Phoebe Palmer), while seamlessly weaving in the pertinent geographical and sociological nuances necessary to understand the times. And true to his passion, Haykin never lets the conversation go far before reminding us of the material’s implication(s) for godliness.

So listen to ’em all to see just how valuable history is for pastoral ministry. Then consider going on to a biography on one of the many figures Haykin covers in the class.

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History for the Ministry

History & Ministry

Earlier this year, when preparing to preach on the life and ministry of Spurgeon, I listened to John Piper’s biography on the Prince from way back in 1995.

About eight minutes into the talk he said something that so resonated with my heart for the place of history in pastoral ministry,

Oh how fortunate we are, brothers of the pulpit, that we are not the first to face these things. We are so fortunate. I thank God for the healing of history. Do you read history? Are you slipping into the abyss of the present? It is an abyss brothers! You cannot know yourself, or your times, or your God if you only know the present. I bless God for history and books.

Amen! Pastors need historical sensibilities if they are to engage the contemporary landscape with wisdom and truth. For history is an oh so powerful discipline.

History reminds us modern novelties aren’t really all that novel. History establishes precedent. History enshrines heroes. History discerns the ordinary consequences of decisions. History examines conclusions with hindsight. History exposes present-day blind spots. In other words, history brings awareness.

ARE YOU AWARE?

One of the great verbs of the New Testament is ἀγρυπνέω (agrupneó). It means to be sleepless, watchful, or alert. It paints the picture of a shepherd who stays awake at night to guard his sheep from the creeping presence of wolves and predators. Jesus uses the verb when talking about how His disciples are to live in light of His immanent return. In Gethsemane He used it when warning the Inner Circle against falling into the temptation to sleep. The great apostle used it when exhorting the Ephesians to constant prayer.

Pastor, are you awake today? Or are you, like good Dr. Piper said, falling asleep in the abyss of the present.

Faithful pastors are those who are ever alert and aware. They keep one eye out for any who would harm the body. One ear is always turned to discern danger in the common chatter. Leading includes protecting and history functions as something like armor of awareness for the ministry.

WHERE TO BEGIN

While I believe that every pastor needs history I don’t presume to believe the every pastor loves history. If that presupposition is true I know that many of you might need some unique encouragement in pursuing history as a pastoral discipline. Here then is my one piece of advice: read biographies.

I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t like a good story, and a good story is exactly what good biography is. So be a profligate reader of biography. Read the standard Christian biographies on giants like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Edward, and Spurgeon. Read the Pulitzer prize winners on presidents, politicians, and people of power. Not only do I think you will be fascinated by the respected individual’s life, I think you will also be rather surprised at how much history one learns in such an endeavor.

For example, I remember reading Dallimore’s work on Whitefield and was utterly amazed at two things: 1) the sheer Spirit-wrought stamina of the great soul winner, and 2) how Whitefield’s methods were something of a seedbed for 19th century evangelicalism. And if you know anything about 19th century evangelicalism you know that much of our modern evangelical world is direct fruit of those happenings from two hundred years ago.

But more on that tomorrow.

SUIT UP!

History has power. When the weapon of days gone by is used rightly is not only keeps the pastor alert, but it produces wisdom, caution, modesty, and humility. Will you wield it in your ministry?

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Don’t Forget These Things

Pastoral Emphases

I love the pastoral epistles. As a young pastor myself, I resonate deeply with the great apostle’s instruction to Timothy and Titus.

All throughout my first decade of ministry I’ve found myself regularly returning to these letters for guidance and comfort. So at the beginning of this year I set out to memorize the book of 1 Timothy. Eight months later, by God’s grace, I have committed that great first letter to memorize. Now I am in the beautiful, yet agonizing, phase of retention.

7 THINGS STAND OUT

Around the age of 10 a few friends and I located a place in the nearby woods where we would build a tree house. On my first few journeys into the forest everything looked the same. To my young mind it was just trees, trees, and more trees. Yet, as days upon days spent in those woods went by I began to notice the uniqueness of certain trees. Some were “squatty” and small, others stately and magnificent in size.

The more I became familiar with the whole, the more prominent the individual parts became.

The same thing happens in memorizing whole books of the Bible; greater familiarity with the entire book causes certain words and truths to more clearly stand out. My time in 1 Timothy has shown that Paul had consistent concern for these things: faith, love, godliness, a good conscience, dignity, self-control, and purity. You might think of these as seven spiritual fruits a healthy pastor emphasizes in his life and teaching. Thus, some of the following verses speak not merely to Timothy, but to what Timothy must exhort into the lives of his brothers and sisters in Christ.

Let’s see how these emphases play out . . .

FAITH

  • “[Promote] the stewardship from God that is by faith.” (1:4)
  • “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1:5)
  • “The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1:14)
  • “Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.” (1:18-19)
  • “I was appointed . . . a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” (2:7)
  • “She will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith.” (2:15)
  • “[Deacons] must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” (3:9)
  • “Their wives likewise must be . . . faithful in all things.” (3:11)
  • “Those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.” (3:13)
  • “A good servant of Christ Jesus [is] trained in the words of the faith.” (4:6)
  • “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in . . . faith.” (4:12)
  • “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue . . . faith.” (6:11)
  • “Fight the good fight of the faith.” (6:12)

LOVE

  • “The aim of our charge is love.” (1:5)
  • “The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1:14)
  • “She will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in . . . love.” (2:15)
  • “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in . . . love.” (4:12)
  • “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue . . . love.” (6:11)

GODLINESS

  • “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made . . . that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way”. (2:1-2)
  • “[Put on] but with what is proper for women who profess godliness.” (2:9-10)
  • “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness.” (3:16)
  • “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness.” (4:7)
  • “Godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (4:8)
  • “If a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.” (5:4)
  • There is a “teaching that accords with godliness.” (6:3)
  • “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (6:11)
  • “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue . . . godliness.” (6:11)

A GOOD CONSCIENCE

  • “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1:5)
  • “Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.” (1:18-19)
  • “By rejecting [a good conscience], some have made shipwreck of their faith. (1:19)
  • “[Deacons] must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” (3:9)
  • “[False teaching comes] through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.” (4:2)

PURITY

  • “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart.” (1:5)
  • “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in . . . purity.” (4:12)
  • “Encourage [everyone] in all purity.” (5:1-2)
  • “Keep yourself pure.” (5:22)

DIGNITY

  • “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made . . . that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way”. (2:1-2)
  • “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive.” (3:4)
  • “Deacons likewise must be dignified.” (3:8)
  • “Their wives likewise must be dignified.” (3:11)

SELF-CONTROL

  • “Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control.” (2:9)
  • “She will be saved through childbearing—if they continue . . . with self-control.” (2:15)
  • “Therefore an overseer must be . . . self-controlled.” (3:2)
  • “She who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.” (5:6)

WHAT ABOUT YOUR MINISTRY?

Now, it seems like – at least in my experience – that some of those seven fruits are emphasized in popular discussions on godly ministry. Which ones? Faith, love, godliness, and purity seem to be common enough. But what about a good conscience, dignity, and self-control? I don’t hear much about those, do you? Clearly God believes them to be important for His pastors and people. How prevalent are these fruits in your life and ministry?

Oh! may the Spirit work within the hearts of His gospel ministers and grow us all unto a full flowering of:

Faith
Love
Godliness
A Good Conscience
Purity
Dignity
and Self-Control