Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

This book comes out well before Easter to make sure that you are able to buy it, study it and then teach its truths to others as Easter comes about. The book is laid out to have 25 short teachings and thoughts on the cross of Christ. It has most theologians that you can think of in the Reformed and Calvinistic circles and then also includes at least one I know that wasn't a Calvinist (Adrian Rogers). Most of the chapters are about 3 to 4 pages which include many different angles to look at the cross. The topics range from Christ's humility in Gethsemane, silence among his accusers, our sin putting him on the cross, propitiation, forsaken by God, etc. I am not going to list every theologian and every topic, but I will say that this book is a very good one to help someone as they study further on the cross of Christ. This book is a book of quotable thoughts for any pastor.

Some of my favorites were Martin Luther, C.J. Mahaney, Tim Keller, Adrian Rogers and Augustine. Martin Luther is first up in the book, and in my opinion, it didn't get any better than Luther. I really enjoyed his chapter and found myself continually reading because of his start of the understanding of the "True Contemplation of the Cross." Here is an excerpt from Luther's chapter:

Take this to heart and doubt not that you are the one who killed Christ. Your sins certainly did, and when you see the nails driven through his hands, be sure that you are pounding, and when the thorns pierce his brow, know that they are your evil thoughts. Consider that if one thorn pierced Christ you deserve one hundred thousand.

The whole value of the meditation of the suffering of Christ lies in this, that man should come to the knowledge of himself and sink and tremble. If you are so hardened that you do not tremble, then you have reason to tremble. Pray to God that he may soften your heart and make fruitful your meditation upon the suffering of Christ, for we ourselves are incapable of proper reflection unless God instills it.

But if one does meditate rightly on the suffering of Christ for a day, an hour, or even a quarter of an hour, this we may confidently say is better than a whole year of fasting, days of psalm singing, yes, than even one hundred masses, because this reflection changes the whole man and makes him new…

Martin Luther, p. 12 (taken from Martin Luther's Easter Book)

Although there were some that stood out, there were also some where I couldn't wait to read and they seemed to fall a little flat. Not only tha, there were some that were just plain bizarre where I will either need to study further or just glaze over for the sake of the other chapters. The odd ones were John MacArthur's take on Christ's forgiveness on the cross. He believes that Christ was only asking for the forgiveness of those who would end up believing in Him and not everyone that was at the cross crucifying him. I believe he ends up making his theology read into this part of Scripture a little too much. The other two that I will have to study a little further were J.I. Packer's on Christ descending to hell and also Joseph "Skip" Ryan's chapter on Christ being thirsty. He takes this to mean that Christ was spiritually thirsty and not physically. My first take is that he is trying to stretch this text further than it allows.

Even with these three, the other 22 chapters far outweigh them to keep me from recommending this book. I would recommend this to any who would like a good understanding of the cross from a wide set of generations, convictions and theologians. Just know, that it doesn't get better than Luther's chapter, but that doesn't mean the rest of the book gets "worse." Highly Recommended
Buy the book:

Crossway

Westminster Books

Read More......

Resurgence 2008 Video is Up!

The Resurgence 2008 Video content is up. I would highly recommend you checking it out and especially Matt Chandler's two sermons and CJ Mahaney's sermon on Pastoral Character and Loving People. I really enjoyed every single one of the sermons brought forth, so you can't go wrong with watching all of them. Just to let all know that the ones that were part of the main conference were, Driscoll, Mahaney, Chandler, Gilmore and of course Piper. The others were either pre-conference or post-conference. I was hoping that they would have the Q and A with Piper, Driscoll and Chandler as that was classic. Also, the famous "jackass" comment by Chandler is during his sermon, "Vision of a Church Planter." Enjoy.

Here is the link: Resurgence 2008 Video

Read More......

The Resurgence Conference: Final Thoughts

So. The conference is over and back to the real world. Everything was good about the conference. The music, the speakers, the volunteers, the venue, the coffee, and especially the messages preached.

We found out that 46 states and 11 countries were represented and only 24% of the attendees were from Washington. I found this to be very encouraging to see that people are listening to men like Driscoll and Chandler, but let's not kid ourselves, they also came to hear Piper and Mahaney.

The one thing that I really appreciate about these two men (Piper and Mahaney) is that they wouldn't agree with everything that Driscoll and Mars Hill are doing, even Piper took a poke at the music at Mars Hill, but they completely support them, knowing that they are of Christ and doing the work of evangelists. I won't name others, but there are other well known pastors around the country that can grow up and learn something from Piper and Mahaney in this regard.

The hard part of going to these kinds of conferences is seeing and hearing men and churches where it looks just like you want things to look at your own church, but then you have to remember the resources and budgets they deal with, and the resources and budgets that are a reality at your own church.

My pastor has given me some good insights on this, and that is: take what you learn and apply it at the level that our church is currently at. I like that. And I will do that.

If I could take some things from all of these guys and what they spoke about, it would be this:

Driscoll: The Emergents are idiots, the Scriptures are timeless, the methodology is timely

Chandler: The Scriptures are authoritative, don't try and be a Driscoll, but be who God has called you to be

Mahaney: Look for the grace in those around you, love them, have faith in them, and then, exhort and admonish...but only if you have those first things down

Piper: Trust the Scriptures. Make sure they are guiding and directing your ministry.

Gilmore: uhhh...what? Still not sure.

I will honestly make this point. I believe these four guys are doing ministry the exact way that I would. There are a few things I wouldn't do, but very very few.

I absolutely loved the conference and it will have one of those lasting impacts on me and my ministry that God has placed me in.

I can't wait to go back next year.

Also, just as an update, all the conference material should be up on the Resurgence Conference website within the next couple of weeks, so look for it. I would especially draw your attention to the Q & A with Chandler, Piper and Driscoll on Tuesday night. Probably one of the best Q & A's ever...funny and informative:

Just some insights:

Piper doesn't have a TV and wouldn't plug it in even if Mark bought him one
Mark was thankful that Piper gives him and Chandler some slack on the rope, and Piper just doesn't want them to hang themselves
Piper makes fun of the music at Mars Hill
Chandler has a photo of Piper on his fridge
Piper thinks that Doug Wilson has a bunch of dumb guys around him (cue the Driscoll and Chandler fist pump)
We are still in the dark how much Piper can bench press

If you didn't get a chance to go to the conference, look for the free audio online in the upcoming weeks. If you can, be ready for next year, as I will.

Read More......

And it begins...Resurgence Conference 2008

The conference started off with a bang. Seriously. It was started off with an urban hip hop mission organization with some live performances of some of their songs that they have written and performed for the sake of witnessing for the cross of Christ. It was funny to watch a bunch of white dudes clap awkwardly at first and almost looking around to see if it was okay for them to enjoy young black guys worshiping the Lord in a way they might have called heresy in the past. But, then, it just clicked. The words were coming forth, the Spirit led, and the awkwardness went away as everyone saw that these men of God were bringing a message of repentance for the glory of Christ. It was seriously...amazing.

After that, Pastor Mark got up to bring the message laid on his heart. It was supposed to be a message on Incarnational Ministry, but he admitted that he changed it this weekend as he was studying. The topic was right on and hit with power. This message was entitled, "Putting Pastors in Their Place." The idea of the message was making sure that the pastors understand that preaching is for today and relevant, even though others, specifically in the emergent postmodern movement, would deny this fact.

Mark went on to show this fact from Genesis to Revelation. His main resting spot was in Acts where he went through all the circumstances that faced the church and its people and the one congruent thought was that the message must be preached. After convincing everyone from the Word of God that preaching must take place he made sure everyone understood the calling of what it is to be a church. Driscoll laid out some distinctives of a church:

1. Christ is high and exalted
2. Qualified male elders
3. Preaching of the word, rightly divided (word is heard)
4. Sacraments rightly given (word is seen)
5. Church discipline rightly enacted (word is protected and guarded)

One of the things that really stuck out with me is this statement:

We live in a day when authority is really the issue, and there are two things that are consistantly taken out of the postmodern "churches":
Preaching and its authority
Discipline and its authority

All in all...Mark brought it and it was seen throughout the faces of the audience.

Now C.J. Mahaney's turn



C.J. came to bring a message entitled, "Pastoral Character & Loving People", focusing on 1 Corinthians 1:1-9. This message was very much needed by yours truly.

It was a three part message broken down into:

1. Seeing the Call of God in Yourself and Others
2. Paul's Recognition of God's Grace
3. Confidence in God's Faithfulness

I am not going to rehash the entirety of this message but its intent was to first understand the calling of God in your life and to continually remind yourself of it. After you have done so, make sure that you understand that those around you were also called, with just as much sin in their lives, by the grace of God. C.J. said:

Think of the doctrine of Sin as job security

CJ simply asked, "Do you see people as being called by divine initiative or their dificiency/immaturities?" This caused quite the deep breaths by the audience as the statement was felt throughout.

CJ also reminded us that,

Progressive sanctification is gradual and not a moment, it is not sudden, it is gradual." and "Don’t correct anyone you don’t have faith for or affection toward. Remind yourself that they are the object of divine initiative and that God has started in them a good work. You will find fresh faith in them and for them. For the Corinthians, correction is coming but first divine understanding of their call is the start for Paul towards the Corinthians.

CJ continued to show that Paul looked for the grace FIRST in those around him so that he could then come to them with a humble attitude of correction.

CJ remarked, "Only the humble can notice the presence of Grace in others."

As he moved to the pastors of the group he made sure that we were in an understanding of what we must do to keep a right perspective.

When you think of the pastors, the church, your children, your wife…what do you feel coming on? Evidences of grace, or areas in need of adjustment and growth? Your evaluation of your church must start with the evidences of grace in your church. Do you perceive where and how God is at work? This understanding will protect you from being discouraged.

He then added,

"Sadly, We are more aware of sin instead of grace, we are more aware of sorrow instead of joy. Draw attention to the evidences of Grace because, GOD IS AT WORK!"

This, so far as been very good and we haven't even heard from Piper yet. I hope that the God honoring word continues to be the focus, which I can't imagine it wouldn't be, for the groundwork has been laid.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Read More......