Tuesday Hodge-Podge (5-29-12)

• Jim Hamilton compacts 600 pages in 500 words on Biblical Theology.
• If you are a preacher, learn five ways to improve your preaching (or share it with a preacher).
• Justin Taylor argues for the covenant of works between God and Adam.
• Tim Challies counsels on addressing offenses by fellow believers.
• As a guy who recently entered the bow tie world (not of the clip-on variety) I found the video below to be THE BEST tutorial on how to tie a bow... enjoy!

New House!

One of my favorite things these days is to hear my son putting sentences together. He's 2 1/2 so you have to do a bit of translating but one of his most oft used phrases recently, whenever we are out and about it, "I want to go to the new house." We moved to Beaumont 18 days ago. The whole finding a house, moving, and closing on our house in Groves was frantic and sudden. Don't get me wrong- I'm very thankful the Lord provided a buyer and a home for us to live in the city where we're planting a church but it was a big change real quick. It took us a few days to feel like we weren't just staying at someone else's house but one of the things that has made the transition so smooth and joyful is how my son has fallen in love with the "new house". He loves his room, the big backyard, and the fireplace hearth that he can climb on. It really is a great place for us to live but let's face it, change is difficult. So I'm thankful to the Lord for using my son to cast off anxiety and other attitudes that might otherwise rob us of the joy from such tremendous blessings. God is so good like that. He helps us see what great things He's provided and overcomes obstacles to joy. We're thrilled about getting to know neighbors and being so close to our church family. We're really glad we've got a good place for our kids to enjoy but mostly we're thankful to belong to God and know that He provides for all our needs as He has provided for our greatest need in Christ.

Tuesday Hodge-Podge (4-24-12)

• How often should the Lord's Supper be observed? I'm planning on preaching about this subject after concluding my series on Mark's Gospel. Here are three views and here is more insight.
• After attending T4G in '06 and in '10 I had to sit out this year's round of Together for the Gospel. Thankful the audio of the main sessions and the breakout sessions are available.
• Not sure how I missed this last year but I came across Jim Hamilton's take on the order of the Old Testament books. I remember hearing this from him in seminary so it was a great refresher. Enjoy!
• John Cleese reading The Screwtape Letters. Very Cool.
• Great wisdom and counsel from Brian Croft (as usual) on younger pastors discipling older members. Wish I'd read this four years ago.

Functional Roles within the Trinity

This is the first in a series of posts I’m planning on my version of “DVD Extras”. I’m trying to find a place to put some of the thoughts and notes I edited from my sermon series through the Gospel of Mark. With that series I have a specific purpose in each sermon (covering a larger section of text to get the big idea or theme) so some stuff I have to edit out for fear it would take me off point. Still, these are insights that were a blessing to me and I hope are a blessing to the 2-3 of you that might read them here. :)

Days before Jesus would be arrested and crucified He foretells of these events to His disciples. James and John (possibly two of the younger disciples) are unmoved and instead make a very audacious request of Jesus- “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” (Mark 10:37). In my third of three sermons on Mark 10 I talked at length about Jesus’ response to James and John particularly regarding suffering as part and parcel with being His disciple. He humbled them. However there was one comment Jesus made that I didn’t have time to flesh out but is a beautiful insight into the doctrine of the Triune God. In verse 40 Jesus says, “To sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” The parallel to this verse in Matthew 20:23 is more descriptive, “To sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

Jesus made it clear to them that God has prepared whatever is received eternally and God determines what we receive according to His sovereign prerogative. This is an excellent example of the functional distinction between the three persons of the Trinity. God is one being, one essence who manifests Himself in three distinct and simultaneously present persons- Father, Son, and Spirit. Each person of the Godhead carries out distinct functions. The Father did not die on the cross, the Son did. Likewise the Son does not determine kingdom rewards, the Father does. This information is given that the disciples would have a higher view of God and in contrast a lower view of man (in keeping with the context of discipleship as humble servanthood). When we open God’s Word we are to see how He reveals Himself and not for how our self-seeking nature wants to see God and how we can get things from God.

Jeff and Caesar on Missional Communities

I know, I've been a sluggish blogger of late, but between planting a church and selling a house my creative energies have been occupied. I'm planning to post more sermon-related stuff soon (material I just don't have time to cover on Sunday morning) and answer questions that come in through my church or by email. For now, here is an excellent video discussing missional communities. You might not agree with everything said or how it is said but there is much that is helpful here. Our church's Community Groups will aim for much of the concepts discussed here.

Plumblines for Cross Point Church

We are in the process of selling our home and relocating to Beaumont where we have planted a church (the 30 minute commute on Sunday is no big deal but it hinders relationship-building in the community during the week). So we're cleaning stuff out, packing stuff up, and throwing stuff away. Last week I came across a treasure... the notebook that I scribbled six life-altering statements in. I remember seeking the Lord for direction in my leadership at my former church. I sought to put in a few simple statements the convictions the Lord had put on my heart about how Biblically healthy church life and mission.  Initially I called these statements "plumblines for healthy church life". Ultimately these became the seeds of the vision for planting Cross Point Church. They grew out of my prayer life and conversations with my wife...

1. We envision a church whose members are always on mission in their lives as fully devoted followers of King Jesus and as faithful givers of the gospel by word and hospitality.

2. We envision a church among whom Christ is magnified and people's needs are met as we worship and hear God's Word together in weekly assembly and as we share life together in home-based small groups.

3. We envision a church who finds its life and vitality in hearing and obeying God's Word as Biblical expository preaching and teaching is presented weekly and as Biblical truth is taken seriously for life application.

4. We envision a church who is a display of God's glory in an ordered creation as we live out the roles of Biblical manhood and womanhood and as we honor and support those set apart as leaders.

5. We envision a church who has a simple program with central focus on Sunday worship and missional home groups so as to avoid feeding a consumer mindset (inside the walls) and so as to avoid taking us off mission (outside the walls).

6. We envision a church who is always reproducing for kingdom expansion as we train leaders and lifestyle missionaries and as we plant churches and start more missional home groups.

The Lord knew I needed to find that notebook just to have my eyes run across those statements again. Some form of them are printed on information brochures about our church and I've articulated these ideas numerous times but it is so easy to lose sight of the convictions that first set us on this course. It is easy to get anxious about attendance and finances and various sorts of issues but we must continues to come back to these measuring sticks. I am so thankful the Lord has set me on this course and thankful for those on this journey with me-- we must keep aiming to be shaped by God's Word and to be motivated by God's glory!

Reenacting Maundy Thursday

One of my fondest memories of my time serving as pastor at Memorial Baptist Church was when we held a special worship service to commemorate what is known as Maundy Thursday. We sang, prayed, and took communion. It was a very simple and very reflective time of worship. The word "maundy" comes from the latin word for "commandment" and takes its significance from John 13:34 when Jesus said to His disciples, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." Jesus gave this command on the night before His crucifixion. He had gathered with His disciples to celebrate Passover. He breathed new meaning into the elements of the cup and the bread- instituting the Lord's Supper and demonstrated through washing His disciples' feet His purpose for the Son of God taking on flesh and dwelling among them. He came to serve... a very specific need. In Mark 10:45 Jesus said, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Maundy Thursday is a reminder then that the eternal Son of God humbled Himself by taking on flesh and dwelling among sinners (though not sinning Himself as He had no sinful nature) so that He might give His life to satisfy the wrath of God against sinful people. This is the greatest expression of humble servanthood and love there has ever been and will ever be!

As His disciples we are to imitated this kind of servanthood and this kind of love to one another as a testimony of Christ's work to redeem and transform us. We are knit together as family with other disciples. Neither Maundy Thursday or Easter Sunday are instructed to be celebrated in Scripture as special days. We are to reenact the servanthood and love of Christ and rejoice in the power of His resurrection every day-- especially every Lord's Day when we gather together as local covenantal congregations. However, it never hurts to give special attention to these things on special days. So consider today how you might serve and share the love of Christ with fellow disciples as a witness to those who need to hear and see the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus adds another critical statement in John 13:35 that gives motivation for verse 34, "Be this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Life is Messy

Last weekend we had a parade of our friends come through our house to help us paint and do other odd jobs to prep for sale. We really appreciated the help and the fellowship. Of course the house looked like chaos has blown through and it took a few days to make it look like we hadn't been robbed. It is just impossible to not make a mess while you are trying to fix up a house. Such is life. We are about three months into planting Cross Point and it has been really exciting to see God bring our core group together and to bring others in and out of our fellowship. It is messy though.

Things don't always go as planned. I'm sure we get on each other's nerves or disagree at times (though no one has really shown it). The pastor's kid falls out of his chair in worship and gets up crying during that "quiet, spiritual moment" in a song. Food spills. Sound equipment doesn't work. People show up late (or not at all). It is life. The idea that sharing life together and investing in one another is some sort of utopia is a myth (at least on this side of heaven). Being a church family is about rolling with the punches and sticking. I'm thankful though that when life gets messy the Lord has knit me together with a church family like Cross Point. We aren't meant to live the gospel out in isolation but in community... and it is a community of sinners who are each at different points in sanctification. That we can grow together, encourage one another, and even through life's messes display the unifying power of the gospel is a testimony to the person and work of Jesus in our lives and to the glory of God.

Be Missional... really, its ok.

Be careful of the lure to comfort and complacency. If you pursue the path of least resistance you shouldn’t be following Christ. As history unfolds so is God’s redemptive mission. Those who’ve been called to faith by the grace of God are united with this mission as they are united with God. This requires speaking and living out the gospel before men (Matthew 6:16). This takes time and personal investment. How do you get started?

Here are a few tips:

1. Have an open house. Don’t pull a bait-and-switch by luring unsuspecting neighbors into a mild meet and greet only to trap them into an intensive study of the doctrines of grace. Just be good neighbors and build bridges. Send or pass out invitations saying you want to get to know your neighbors better. Have good snacks and a come-and-go atmosphere (let them leave wanting more). Be a gospel light by leading in prayer, by setting out good books (let them take what is of interest). Put a church yard sign out so they can make the connection.

2. Invite people to your church’s worship and fellowship time. No brainer right? Not saying anything cutting edge here. Except that most people don’t do this. About 7 of 10 people who visit churches do so because someone invited them. Pretty efficient so why don’t we do it? Some will say fear keeps us but I think it’s just laziness.

3. Ask co-workers or neighbors questions. Like… reading any good books? Or… what did you do over the weekend? Maybe they’ll be polite and ask you back, then voila… open opportunity.

Be missional. Be on mission with Jesus Christ in every space you occupt. Trust the Lord to bring the harvest but be faithful to work the harvest!

When "Sad" is reason for "Glad"

This week my son was briefly sick (he ran fever but didn't seem to lose a bit of energy!) so my wife and I agreed it would be best to keep him and our daughter home from our weekly church prayer meeting. Our core planting group meets every Wednesday night rotated around in each others' homes. This has become a sweet time of prayer, accountability, and fellowship. We try to keep it to an hour or so but always fail miserably. It is just such a joy to be together. So as I'm headed out the door to prayer meeting with my family staying behind my wife shares how sad she is not to be able to go. This made me glad.

What? Did I really say I was glad that my wife was sad? Yep. Her sadness reflected that what was being cultivated in our church was true community. It is not superficial. It is not one more event or program. It is not one more spoke on the wheel of a busy life. Our church family is the hub Christ uses to shape, encourage, and equip us for all the spokes He's appointed us to. For a variety of reasons we're also taking two Wednesdays off from meeting-- and I'm already grieved not to see my friends during the week. Oh we'll still gather informally here and there, and naturally we'll gather on the Lord's Day. My grief is just a reflection of how invested we are becoming into each other.

Our prayer is that it would also be a contagious kind of community. We can't get cozy but must bridge out and bring in. I long to see unbelievers gather with us so that the gospel can be heard AND SEEN. What a blessing true fellowship is-- a fellowship that can only be found in Christ and wrought by God's grace. Such fellowship causes sadness to produce gladness!