Tuesday 8 May 2012

What to do when you identify a sin in your life (John Owen)

What to do when you identify a sin in your life (John Owen)


What to do when you identify a sin in your life (John Owen)

Posted: 08 May 2012 12:24 AM PDT



This extract is from a post in a series of posts on Tim Challies excellent blog on John Owen's Overcoming Sin & Temptation. You can read an updated version of the entire book for free here.

In this series of posts I am sharing some of what John Owen says about putting sin to death, or what he calls mortification. I have been going through his book Overcoming Sin and Temptation and trying to distill each chapter to its essence—to a few choice quotes that capture the flavor of what Owen is trying to communicate.
So far we've looked at The Foundation of Mortification, we've been encouraged to Daily Put Sin to Death, to understand that It Is the Holy Spirit Who Puts Sin to Death and to acknowledge that Your Spiritual Life Depends Upon Killing Sin. Then we saw What It Is Not to Put Sin to Death and What It Is to Put Sin to Death. He now moves on to the actual directions for how to put sin to death; first he deals with a couple of foundational issues and then with dangerous sin symptoms.

Today he moves to the first of his practical instructions on putting sin to death and the first action you need to take when you identify a sin in your life. It is this: 

(1) You need to ponder 
(a) the guilt, 
(b) the [future] dangers and 
(c) the [present] evil results of that sin 

(2) and let it rest in both your mind and heart. 

Or as he says it, "Get a clear and abiding sense upon your mind and conscience of the guilt, danger, and evil of your sin." He will discuss each of these three things in turn.

Top 5 Things Introverts Dread about Church

Posted: 07 May 2012 11:55 PM PDT

Interesting article on what introverts dread about church, from a blog by a guy who wrote a book on the subject. Looks interesting and I can relate to a few of these!

Saturday, May 5, 2012


Introvert Saturday: The Top 5 Things Introverts Dread About Church

This post comes to you from Chelsey Doring. Chelsey posted a version of this on her blog last week and I asked if I could re-post it. It nicely and humorously captures some of the first issues that introverts have with church culture, especially in an evangelical culture that emphasizes sharing and transparency.

The Top 5 Things Introverts Dread about Church
(written so extroverts may understand)

5. "Welcome! Shake a hand, give a hug, share a name!"

In every church I have attended, this has been a precursor to the beginning of the service. What I want to know is why. There is no way that anyone is going to remember anyone else's name in the 2.7 uncomfortable seconds it takes to say, "Good morning! My name is so-and-so. God's peace."

And has anyone considered what that is like for people who have never stepped foot in that church, or any church at all? I've been in church my entire life, and this entire process ties knots in my stomach. I understand the rationale behind it (we want to be a friendly, welcoming community), but isn't this accomplished in a less forced manner before and after the service, over donuts and coffee?

Awkward encounters are so much easier with caffeine and sugar.

It is for this reason that I really love running slides or doing some other manner of work for the church during the beginning of the service. Can't shake your sweaty hand if mine are busy doing something else.

4. "Chelsey, what do you think?"

Okay, look. I will tell you what I think once I want to say it. Trust me, I am very opinionated. Just because I am sitting quietly in this group of people, listening to all of them talk about their lives or this Bible passage or this idea, doesn't mean I have a rock for a brain or that I'm too scared to speak up. Or, even worse: that something is wrong with me.

The worst offenders for this one are small group leaders and youth directors. And I know that for a fact, because I am one. Take it from me: if an introvert isn't speaking, it isn't because nothing is going on upstairs. It's because they're thinking. And once they feel comfortable enough, they will share. And yeah, that might take a couple minutes. A couple weeks. Maybe even a couple months. Their silence isn't a reflection on your leadership! Leaders like me need to be secure enough in ourselves so that we can let the silence happen. It's not "awkward" until you make it awkward.

3. "Let's get into groups and pray aloud and/or tell each other our deepest, darkest struggles."

At this point, you may be wondering if I actually like people. I like people. I really do.

Introverts tend to have deep relationships and friendships. They are often very few in number. Case in point: when planning our wedding, I told my husband Ted that I wanted three bridesmaids: my sister, my best friend, and his sister. He gave me his best puppy dog face and told me that he wouldn't be able to go lower than 9 groomsmen. People just love Ted. I get it, obviously. (We ended up having 7 bridesmaids and 7 groomsmen, and I love and cherish every single one of them.)

At the church where I work, we meet weekly to pray over the prayer requests we receive as a staff. We separate into groups of 3 to 5, go to separate corners of the church, and begin to pray over the list. I have a mini-panic attack every single time. I hope I'm adept enough to cover it. I'm probably not.

2. Spontaneous Public Prayer

If you could see into my head while I pray aloud, it would look something like this:

"Dear Jesus: I am completely blanking right now. I know that when we usually talk, the conversation never ebbs, but all these people are looking at me and listening to me and I feel like I'm naked and I'm going to hyperventilate. If you love me – no, I know you love me – please give me something intelligent to say in front of all these people. That I work with every day. Who are expecting me to form a coherent sentence. If it's fancy and a little theological, too, that would be great. Thanks a million. Amen."

Recently, one of the pastors at my church gave a devotion about how people pray out loud. He said that if a person asks for things that God has already promised, like his presence or his faithfulness, then it's foolish and they probably have a pretty weak faith.

Right. As if I wasn't already self-conscious enough.

On Jon Acuff's post about introverts, one very well-meaning woman tried to give an introvert some advice about praying out loud:

"Sometimes I have an apprehension of going to the bathroom in public with someone who is the in the stall right next to me. Sometimes it is really hard to avoid. However, I know I have to go, so what I do is close my eyes and just go with the flow. I would say the same to you the next time you are asked to pray out loud in front of others: Just close your eyes and go with the flow. He promises that as we open our mouths he will fill it with his words. I have found this to be true not only in my life, but also in the lives of others I know."

I'm convinced that "go with the flow" is a distinctly extroverted phrase. Also, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to use the phrase "go with the flow" again.

1. "You should be more…"

Talkative. Friendly. Open. Or, my personal favorite: "You should be more like your sister."

I once had a very influential camp counselor tell me that. My sister and I are very close now, and I would love to be more like her, because she is clearly cooler than I am.

When we were in high school, my sister was a beautiful, blonde, popular, fashionable, outgoing cheerleader. I was a somber, dark-haired band nerd who wore jeans and t-shirts and hated high school. Of COURSE I wanted to be more like her! Who wouldn't?!

You would think that this sort of thing doesn't happen to me anymore, but it does, actually. Even at 23, an age in which I am actually secure in my personality, this conversation takes place:

Me: "Yeah, I'm an introvert."

The other person: "Oh, I'm so sorry."

-----
God has created us all so beautifully and uniquely. There is no reason to apologize for that.

I am very sure that other introverts out there have had similar experiences. Please feel free to share, because I know that I shouldn't be so presumptuous as to speak for all introverts everywhere.

But only if you feel comfortable enough.


If you want to read more about introverts and church, check out Adam's book Introverts in the Church. 

What is a Local Church (from the IX Marks Blog)

Posted: 07 May 2012 11:40 PM PDT

What Is a Local Church?

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A local church is a group of Christians who regularly gather in Christ's name to officially affirm and oversee one another's membership in Jesus Christ and his kingdom through gospel preaching and gospel ordinances. That's a bit clunky, I know, but notice the five parts of this definition: 
  • a group of Christians; 
  • a regular gathering;
  • a congregation-wide exercise of affirmation and oversight; 
  • the purpose of officially representing Christ and his rule on earth—they gather in his name;
  • the use of preaching and ordinances for these purposes.
Just as a pastor's pronouncement transforms a man and a woman into a married couple, so the latter four bullet points transform an ordinary group of Christians spending time together at the park—presto!—into a local church.

The gathering is important for a number of reasons. One is that it's where we Christians "go public" to declare our highest allegiance. It's the outpost or embassy, giving a public face to our future nation. And it's where we bow before our king, only we call it worship. The Pharaohs of the world may oppose us, but God draws his people out of the nations to worship him. He will form his mighty congregation.

The gathering is also where our king enacts his rule through preaching, the ordinances, and discipline. The gospel sermon explains the "law" of our nation. It declares the name of our king and explains the sacrifice he made to become our king. It teaches us of his ways and confronts us in our disobedience. And it assures us of his imminent return.

Through baptism and the Lord's Supper, the church waves the flag and dons the army uniform of our nation. It makes us visible. To be baptized is to identify ourselves with the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as well as to identify our union with Christ's death and resurrection (Matt. 28:19; Rom. 6:3-5). To receive the Lord's Supper is to proclaim his death and our membership in his body (1 Cor. 11:26-29; cf. Matt. 26:26-29). God wants his people to be known and marked off. He wants a line between the church and the world.

What is the local church? It's the institution which Jesus created and authorized to pronounce the gospel of the kingdom, to affirm gospel professors, to oversee their discipleship, and to expose impostors. All this means, we don't "join" churches like we join clubs. We submit to them.

This article is excerpted from Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus (Crossway).

Recommended Books for Church History and Historical Theology

Posted: 07 May 2012 11:43 PM PDT

From Justin Taylor's excellent blog. Historical Theology is a look at how theological doctrines have been understood throughout the ages.

Recommended Books for Church History and Historical Theology

Carl Trueman was once asked if he could recommend a couple of resources for students on church history and historical theology. He responded:
(1) The series being written by a guy named Nicholas Needham. It's called 2,000 Years of Christ's Power (Evangelical Press) and is proving to be a very good, comprehensive, but easy-to-read account of church history. It comes in several volumes.
(2) And the other book I recommend to students—the best single-volume on the history of theology —written by a Scandinavian Lutheran named Bengt Hägglund, titled simply, History of Theology (Concordia: 2007). It's a single volume that takes you from the early church almost down to the present day in terms of the history of theology.
So those would be the two books I would recommend.
Needham's 2000 Years of Christ's Power is a projected five-volume history of the church, of which three volumes have already appeared:
A few notes about these books:
(1) They are based on excellent scholarship, but they are quite accessible.
(2) There are virtually no footnotes, except as short explanatory material—including, helpfully, pronunciation guides on ancient places, names, and events that may be unfamiliar.
(3) This is not only a comprehensive overview of historical theology, but it also contains primary source reading at the end of each chapter, so that you are not only reading about, say, the church fathers, but also sampling their actual writings.
(4) These volumes originate in the UK, and as such, they have a different aesthetic feel in terms of cover design, font choice, typsetting, etc. than you would find in the United States.
For a better overview than this, see Tony Reinke's helpful post.
Reviewing volume 3 for Haddington House, Carl Trueman writes:
This book is the third volume in Dr Needham's projected comprehensive history of the church from the age of the church fathers to the present day. While Dr Needham is an accomplished scholar in the fields of church history and historical theology, in these volumes he brings his learning to bear in a manner which is easily accessible to the layperson.
In a time where neither history nor the reading of books seem to be a particularly strong part of church culture, we should welcome the fact that there are books such as these which compress so much valuable information into a such a relatively short compass is to be welcomed by all who have a concern for the church's historic heritage. . . .
In short, this book, indeed, this whole series, is well worth purchasing, reading, and inwardly digesting.

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