Author: Brian

Follower of Jesus, Husband, Dad, Grandpa, and Pastor

Ministry Moments

On By BrianIn Ministry Moments

Here are some good posts on preaching:

Sermon Prep: A Week In One Life – Stephen Um (via The Gospel Coalition)
A glimpse of what my weekly approach looks like, followed by some suggestions for continual growth in our preaching.

Expressing Beautiful Truth In One’s Preaching – Trevin Wax
Too often we preachers spend all our time making sure we’ve understood the meaning of the text and can communicate it faithfully. Precious little time is spent thinking about how we can communicate that meaning beautifully.

A Word To Those Who Preach The Word – R. Kent Hughes (via Tim Challies)
There is nothing quite like it—the Holy Spirit filling one’s sails, the sense of his pleasure, and the awareness that something is happening among one’s hearers.

Do You Expect A Response To The Preaching of the Gospel? – Roland Allen (via Justin Taylor)
To preach the Gospel requires that the preacher should believe that he is sent to those whom he is addressing at the moment, because God has among them those whom He is at the moment calling: it requires that the speaker should expect a response.

Declaring the Glory

On By BrianIn Declaring the Glory1 Comment

Lake Superior – Grand Marais, 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

Passsion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points1 Comment

Here are some good posts on evangelism for your weekend reading:

Are You Missional: 10 Diagnostic Questions – Jason Dukes (adapted bt Trevin Wax)
10 questions to help Christians discern whether or not they are operating with a missional mindset.

Tim Keller’s Top 10 Evangelism Tips – Martin Salter
A while ago on our elder retreat we listened to a talk Tim Keller gave at Lausanne. As part of that talk he gave 10 tips to help our lay folk in their evangelism.

8 Simple Instructions For Sharing Christ – Nate Shurden
These practical instructions are just that: instructions. This is not a formula. It is a way of preparing your heart and organizing your life for gospel impact in the life of others.

The Great “Unawareness” and Sharing the Gospel
An encouraging example of using an opportunity to share about Jesus, with a few good points along the way.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day celebrating the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Monergism Books

On By BrianIn PASSION Resources

On Friday afternoons starting today, I am going to highlight some helpful resources  that you might be interested in.  Today, I am going to feature Monergism Books.  I found out about them from some other blogs.  They feature primarily Reformed books, including a lot of historical books from the Puritans.  They also have Bibles, commentaries, church ministry books, children’s books, e-books, and more.  A fun site to explore.  Plus they often have incredible specials on new books coming out – you can sign up to get their weekly newsletter.  Right now, they are offering the lectures from Wayne Grudem’s systematic theology class on MP3 CDs for free!  As an added bonus, they offer free shipping on orders over $35.  You can follow the link below, or the link I just added to the side bar.  Disclaimer: I do get a commission if you follow these links and buy something – think of it as supporting this blog.  If you have a blog, you can register to become an affilliate here.

Wedding Charge

On By BrianIn Family/Single Life

I was able to officiate at a wedding last weekend.  It was a beautiful ceremony on the beach of Lake Michigan.  The charge they asked me to use was from the Christian Wedding Planner by Ruth Muzzy and R. Kent Hughes – a book I highly recommend.  The charge contained many things we may seldom consider in our day.  For those of you who are married, I thought it might be helpful to reflect on these words which I slightly modified for last weekend’s wedding:

Today you are presenting yourselves before this congregation to declare your intention of uniting your lives voluntarily and honorably for the service of God and man.  You are making a double dedication:

  • To each other, in a lasting and indivisible union that shall endure for the remaining years of your lives;
  • And to God, that he may make you his dual instrument for the accomplishment of his purpose both in and by your personalities. 

The achievement of this purpose will require

  • Appreciation of each other’s abilities and virtues,
  • Forgiveness of each other’s faults, and
  • Unfailing devotion to each other’s welfare and development. 

There must be on your part a united consent to the purpose of God as he progressively reveals it to you by his Word and by his Spirit, and an unhesitant acceptance by faith of the challenges that he sets before you.

I charge you, therefore, first of all, to consider that your promises to each other are made in the presence of a God who remembers your pledges and who holds you responsible for performing them.  They must be kept inviolable before Him.

I admonish you to keep in mind that each of you is the object of Christ’s redemption and should be valued accordingly.  Neither should be neglected or belittled by the other.  Esteem each other as God’s gift for mutual aid, comfort, and joy, and as a repository of complete confidence and trust.

I encourage you to share willingly and sympathetically your joys and worries, your successes and your struggles, and to be neither conceited by the former nor depressed by the latter.  Whichever may prevail, cling closely to each other, that defeats may be met by a united strength and victories by a united joy.

I charge you to make your home a place where you will have a refuge from the storms of life not only for yourselves but also for all who enter your home.  Let it be a haven for the weary, a source of uplift for the discouraged, and a convincing testimony to a cynical world.

In short, recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as the head of your house, the ruler of your destinies, and the object of your deepest affection.  If you do, he will confirm your marriage by his guidance and will overshadow it with his peace.  I charge you to love each other, to support each other, and to serve him with sincere hearts and determined wills until your mutual service for him shall be completed.

May God help our marriages look more and more like this, that they might be authentic reflections of Christ and his church.

Lost In Wonder

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

When we look at life through God’s eyes, we become lost in wonder and convinced of God’s astounding generosity, his marvelous mercy, and his gigantic grace.  Sin causes us to look at life through the lens of entitlement – that we deserve salvation without repentance, wealth without work, accolades without self-denial, health without personal discipline, pleasure without sacrifice.  Biblical truth reminds us that, in reality, we deserve hell….  Every small laugh, each tiny expression of joy, a simple meal – any momentary reprieve from the ongoing agony of hell – truly is an underserved gift.  When we add the assurance that the completed work of Christ guards our eternity, our lives should radiate not merely joy (though there should be an abundance of that) but wonder and astonishment at how good God truly is.
– Gary Thomas in Holy Available

Acts Articles – Prayer 01C

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Church Life, Habit of Prayer1 Comment

Yesterday we saw from Acts 1:15-26, that the 120 disciples sought direction from Jesus in prayer.  Our churches need to pray together for direction from Jesus too.  Three specific applications from the passage:

We need to pray together for direction in our witness.  The 12 apostles had a special role in being witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, and so Judas’ replacement was important for their witness.  We too need to seek direction from Jesus as we seek to be witnesses in our communities, and beyond to the ends of the earth.

We need to pray for direction in our meetings.  As the disciples met together, they prayed.  It is entirely too easy for us to begin a church meeting with a quick perfunctory prayer and then rush into the business at hand.  But prayer is the most important business at hand as we seek to discern what Jesus wants us to do.  Every meeting should begin as a prayer meeting.  And when we come to an issue that we are unsure of or divided on, the meeting should return to a prayer meeting.  Because it is not what any of us want or think that is important.  It only matters what Jesus wants and thinks.  Our churches are not supposed to be country clubs with God tacked on.  They are churches of the Living God – and we must pray for his direction.

Finally, we need to pray for direction in leadership.  As an apostle, the man the 120 disciples chose would be a leader in the church.  And so they prayed to the Lord who knew the two men’s hearts for direction on which man should take this place of leadership.  The Word gives us certain requirements for leadership to guide us.  But we can’t see the hearts of men.  So we need to pray to the One who can see men’s hearts to guide us to whom he wants to serve as leaders in our churches.

May our churches grow in their commitment to praying together for Jesus’ direction in our witness, meetings, and leadership.

How To Encourage Your Pastor

On By BrianIn Church Life

R.C. Sproul, Jr. recently shared three simple ways to encourage your pastor.  As a pastor myself, I know how easy it is to become discouraged, and I thought his suggestions were right on:

First, pay attention to his labors. Though we do not have a duty to be at the church every time the doors are open, one thing that discourages pastors is our unwillingness to simply avail ourselves of his gifts. When the pastor labors in his study to prepare a Bible study lesson, or writes a blog post, and the sheep under his care pay no attention, it is discouraging….

Second, speak well of him to others. …if word comes back to him, and it will, that you have spoken well of him, to others in the church, or even to those in your community, he will have to take your good word to heart….

Third, pursue godliness. Because he loves you, what your pastor wants more than anything else is for you to grow in grace and wisdom, to become more like Jesus….

I encourage you to read the whole post here.

Acts Articles – Prayer 01B

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Church Life, Habit of Prayer

Jesus ascended into heaven where he still acts and still speaks through his followers, through his church.  But how do we know what he wants us to do?  How do we know what he wants us to say?  In the last post we said that part of the answer was the Word.  Another part of the answer is through prayer.

In Acts 1:15-26, the disciples are guided by the Word to replace Judas.  They find two men that fit the necessary requirements for an apostle – they had to be with Jesus during his ministry, and especially be eye-witnesses to his resurrection.  Having determined the possibilities, the disciples then pray for direction. 

They pray to the Lord.  In the context of Acts, Jesus is often referred to as Lord.  And so it is possible that we should understand the disciples as praying to Jesus.  As the Head of the church, it would make sense for them to seek his direction.  As the one who chose the original twelve disciples, it would make sense for them to speak to him about his chosen replacement of Judas.

And so we ought to seek direction from Jesus in prayer.  Our churches need to pray together seeking his direction in how he wants us to apply his Word in our specific situations.  We will look at three specific applications tomorrow.

How Is Our Listening?

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

The conversation after church, from a biblical perspective, should go like this:

“How was your hearing today?”

“Pretty good.  I was attentive, and I’ve taken the truth to heart.  I want to hold on to it, so I’ve taken some notes, and I’m going to be praying about it this weekend.  I don’t want to lose what God has given me.”

The sad truth is, most of us would worry more about losing our wallets in church than we would about losing the truth that God laid out for us.

– Gary Thomas in Holy Available