Here are some helpful posts for a pastor’s relationship with his family. The last two are actually short video discussions featuring Kent Hughes, Voddie Baucham, and Joshua Harris.
Pastoring Your Family – Jason Helopoulos
Good Pastor? Bad Parent? – Gospel Coalition
What’s the Best Thing You Did for Your Kids? – Gospel Coalition
Old Mission Peninsula, north of Traverse City, Michigan
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20
Here are some helpful posts on getting into the Word for your weekend reading:
7 Arrows for Bible Reading – Matt Rogers (via Trevin Wax)
A helpful approach for digging into the Word on your own or in a group.
How To Be Better Bereans (Part One, Part Two, and Part Three) – Kevin DeYoung
The Jews in Berea, it is said, were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for “they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). How telling–for them and for us–that nobility is measured not by titles, land, parentage, wealth, or degrees, but by how we handle the word of God. Our approach to the Scriptures sets us apart as riff-raff or royalty. So how do we become better Bereans?
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day digging into the Word!
Who am I? In Christ, I am a new creation. The old sinful distorted way of life is past. I have been made new with news desires and a new ability to be like God and reflect God. And yet while I am new, I am also being renewed. I have entered a process of becoming more and more like God, of reflecting God more and more. I am like a prisoner who has been set free. I am free, but I must learn to live out my new freedom. I must learn to live as a new creation. And Colossians 3 gives me very specific instructions on what this looks like:
• God made me to think, and as a new creation I am being renewed in knowledge (v10). No longer conformed to the thinking of this fallen world, I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:2). And this takes places as I immerse myself in God’s Word – as it dwells in me richly (v16).
• God made me to love, and as a new creation I must put on love in all its fullness. I must begin to practice compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with others, and forgiving others (v12-14).
• God made me to work, and as a new creation I begin to work heartily as unto the Lord (v22-24). No longer simply trying to keep the boss happy, or thinking only of what I can get out of it, or being as lazy as I can get away with, now I am to work heartily in service to God. My work becomes an opportunity to serve God all week long.
• God made me to rest, and as a new creation I begin to learn what it means to rest. Colossians doesn’t address this, but Jesus does in Luke 10:38-42. While Martha is busy serving, Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet. There is a time to work and a time to rest. And one reason we rest is to simply sit at the feet of Jesus to learn and grow in him.
• God made me to live uprightly, and as a new creation I begin to put off sin and put on what is right. I clothe myself with love (v12-14), which Jesus said is the sum of righteousness (Matthew 22:37-40). And I put off sexual immorality and all that goes with it, anger and all its sisters, and wrong ways of speaking: slander, obscenity, and lying (v5-9).
• Finally, God made me to reflect him, and as a new creation I seek to do just that. In whatever I do, I am to do it in the name of Jesus (v17) – as his ambassador, as his representative. Every word and every deed to reflect him.
In Christ, I am a new creation. May we grow in living out this wonderful new identity.
Also in this series:
Who am I? God made me in his image – to be like him, to reflect him. But I have become a distorted image-bearer. I am not like God as he made me to be. I don’t reflect him, but rather seek to be my own god. And if this was the end, a miserable end it would be. But God didn’t leave us this way. He made a way for us to become a new creation in Christ.
The promise is given in Ezekiel 36:25-27. God would give us a new heart and spirit – giving us new desires to once again be like him and reflect him. God would give us his own Spirit – giving us a new ability to once again be like him and reflect him.
In the fullness of time, Jesus came – fully God and fully man, God and perfect image-bearer of God. And he died that we might die to sin – our old distorted way of life. And he rose that we might rise to a new way of life, that we might live for righteousness, that we might again live as image-bearers of God (I Peter 2:24, Romans 6:3-4).
So now, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (II Corinthians 5:17). In Christ, I have a new identity. No longer am I a distorted image-bearer, but now I am a new creation in Christ. The old distorted way of life is past. Now I have been made new. I have new desires to love again. I have a new mind to think again. I have a new ability through the Spirit to live uprightly again. In Christ, I am a new creation.
Colossians 3:9-10 puts it this way. I have put off the old self with its practices – the old distorted way of living. And I have put on the new self. I am a new creation. But the verse goes on to say that I have put on the new self “which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” I am new, but I am also being renewed. I am a new creation, but I am not yet perfect. Becoming a new creation means I have entered into a process in which I become more and more like God, in which I begin to reflect God more and more.
I was a prisoner caught in a distorted way of life, but now I have been set free, and must learn to live as a free person. I must learn to live as a new creation. And Colossians 3 tells us how. We are to put to death that which belongs to the old distorted way of life (v5-10), and put on that which agrees with our new identity as a new creation in Christ (v12-17). Tomorrow we will look at some specific ways that we are to do this.
Here are some important and really helpful posts for parents:
18 Things I Will Not Regret Doing With My Children – Tim Challies
Parents, Require Obedience of Your Children – John Piper (DG)
Is Your Child a Christian? – Brian Croft (GC)
How to Guard Sabbath for Your Children – Jen Wilkin (GC)
Who am I? God made us in his image. God made us to reflect him. Like the moon reflects the light of the sun, so we are to reflect the glory of God. But then came the Fall. Adam and Eve sinned. And we all became distorted image-bearers.
We seek to reflect not God, but ourselves. We try to cover up the reflection of God as we seek to be our own gods. We live for ourselves. Learning, relationships, work, and rest become all about me. And I will determine right and wrong for myself apart from God – just like the devil tempted Eve so many years ago. We all do what is right in our own eyes. We were made to reflect God’s glory, but we all fall short as we seek to be our own gods. The reflection of God within us has become distorted, twisted, covered.
Not only do we seek to be our own gods, but we follow after other gods – idols. This is inevitable, because if I don’t find my identity in God as his image-bearer, I will have to look elsewhere for meaning, purpose, significance. Since I can’t find it in myself (I make a lousy god), I’ll chase after created things to give me meaning, an identity. And so people seek their identity in all kinds of places. Some look for their identity in their career, their job, their business. Others find their identity in their busyness (I must be significant if I am this busy!). Some seek their identity in their successes. Others identify themselves with their failures, or their suffering. For some, their identity is found in what others think, or in a relationship – a spouse, a child, a friend. Many look for their identity in things – all the stuff they own. Others seek their identity in their looks, their health, their sexuality, or their good behavior. Yet none of these idols can give us the significance we crave, the identity we seek.
So here are some important questions for us:
Also in this series:
Who am I? God made us in his image, after his likeness. God made us like him to think, to love, to work, to rest, to live morally upright. But then came the Fall. Adam and Eve sinned. And we all became distorted image-bearers. The likeness became distorted.
We are not like God as he made us to be. We have become distorted image-bearers. Tomorrow, we will explore this further before considering God’s incredible plan of rescue.
Also in this series:
Here are some great thoughts on ministry:
3 Lessons I Learned from a Pastoral Mentor – Chris Castaldo (GC)
Everything I Know about Pastoral Ministry I Learned Riding with Pastors – Thabiti Anyabwile
Ministry Means War: 10 Lessons Seminary Never Taught Me – Jeff Robinson (GC)
Brian J. Mikul 