New Library Arrivals
February 27, 2009
Because He Loves Me, Elyse Fitzpatrick
Christless Christianity, Michael Horton
Crossway Comprehesive Concordance of the Holy Bible: ESV
John Calvin, Simonetta Carr (Ages 8-12)
Reformation Heroes, Diana Kleyn and Joel Beeke
Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges
Sacred Parenting, Gary Thomas
“A sleepy preacher will hardly awaken drowsy sinners…”
February 23, 2009
As we’ve been seeing in chapters 12-13 of Luke, Jesus continually emphasizes the immanent reality of God’s judgment and the urgent necessity of repentance. This morning, from Richard Baxter, I was reminded of the need for that same sense of urgency among preachers:
If we were heartily devoted to our work, it would be done more vigorously, and more seriously, than it is by the most of us. How few ministers do preach with all their might, or speak about everlasting joys and everlasting torments in such a manner as may make men believe that they are in good earnest! It would make a man’s heart ache, to see a company of dead, drowsy sinners sitting under a minister, and not hear a word that is likely to quicken or awaken them. Alas! we speak so drowsily and so softly, that sleepy sinners cannot hear. The blow falls so light that hard-hearted sinners cannot feel. The most of ministers will not so much as exert their voice, and stir up themselves to an earnest utterance. But if they do speak loud and earnestly, how few do answer it with weight and earnestness in matter! And yet without this, the voice doth little good; the people will esteem it but mere bawling, when the matter doth not correspond. It would grieve one to the heart to hear what excellent doctrine some ministers have in hand, while yet they let it die in their hands for want of close and lively application; what fit matter they have for convincing sinners, and how little they make of it; what good they might do if they would set it home, and yet they cannot or will not do it.
O sirs, how plainly, how closely, how earnestly, should we deliver a message of such moment as ours, when the everlasting life or everlasting death of our fellow-men is involved in it! Methinks we are in nothing so wanting as in this seriousness; yet is there nothing more unsuitable to such a business, than to be slight and dull. What! speak coldly for God, and for men’s salvation? Can we believe that our people must be converted or condemned, and yet speak in a drowsy tone? In the name of God, brethren, labor to awaken your own hearts, before you go to the pulpit, that you may be fit to awaken the hearts of sinners. Remember they must be awakened or damned, and that a sleepy preacher will hardly awaken drowsy sinners. Though you give the holy things of God the highest praises in words, yet, if you do it coldly, you will seem by your manner to unsay what you said in the matter. It is a kind of contempt of great things, to speak of them without much affection and fervency.
Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (1656, rprt; Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1974), 147-148.
Check them out!
February 12, 2009
Really, literally – check out some of the new additions to our church library.
From R.C. Sproul – The Lightlings; The Prince’s Poison Cup; Stronger Than Steel: The Wayne Alderson Story.
From James Boice – Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?
From David Wells – The Courage to Be Protestant.
And, Modern Reformation magazine.
Thoughts on a Christian World View
February 11, 2009
I came across the following posts at the Heidelblog; a blog run by Dr. R. Scott Clark, professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Westminster Seminary California. Often Christians talk of a distinctly Christian World and Life View (CWLV) as attempting to discover or propagate a distinctly Christian view or method of something. For example, farming. Is there a distinctly Christian way to farm? Dr. Clark answers with a resounding ‘No.’ Before dismissing him, read his posts and reasoning through the following links. I’m sure you will find this challenging as well as thought-provoking. I did. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.
Challenging Words from Starr Meade
February 11, 2009
As a parent, one of the things I am profoundly aware of is that the salvation of my children is entirely in the hands of God. For this reason I pray daily, asking God that they would grow up knowing and embracing the truths of the gospel.
Another thing I am profoundly aware of is that the grounding of my children in biblical truth is in my hands. It is up to me, as their father, to teach them great truths about God. It is up to me to bring them to church where they will hear the gospel proclaimed. It is up to me to teach the Bible to them. Indeed, all of this is done within the context of the church, the covenant community of God, but as their father I ultimately either help or hinder their grounding in the truths of our faith.
Their salvation is in God’s hands. Their grounding in biblical truth is in my hands. Therefore, I must pray hard and teach hard.
The calling to pray hard and teach hard is applicable not just to parents, but to the church as well. I was reminded of this this morning as I read these words from Starr Meade:
In the first manual of pastoral practice ever written, the apostle Paul defined the church as the “pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). For many of today’s churchgoers, a pillar and support of truth is not necessarily what they seek when they look for a church. The first concern may be the warmth of the welcome, the style of a church’s music, or the number of weekly activities from which to choose. Faithfulness to biblical doctrine is becoming increasingly rare as the first thing people seek in a church.
The supreme test of a church, however, at least from the perspective of the New Testament writers, is this: Is the church the pillar and support of the truth? Is it thoroughly acquainted with the truth of the gospel as given in the Scriptures? Does it exalt God’s Word, giving it the place of preeminence in all its worship and in all its activities? Does it defend the truth at whatever cost, proclaiming it without compromise in a world of confusion and falsehood? Does it call its people to know God’s Word for the purpose of faithfully living by God’s Word?
In each generation, the church’s most critical task is to uphold and proclaim the truth as it was delivered to her by her Lord. One important aspect of this task is the diligent preparation of the church’s children to continue to be the support and pillar of the truth in the generation to come. God calls the church of each generation to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). When our children replace us as contenders for the faith, will they have a clear grasp of the faith they must defend? When they replace us as supporters of the truth, will they know the truth well enough to articulate it clearly and to recognize counterfeits?
Starr Meade, Training Hearts, Teaching Minds: Family Devotions Based on the Shorter Catechism (Philipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2000), 1.
