The Difference that Jesus the Temple Makes (Ezra 6:13-15)

This is a sermon I recently preached at BBC chapel. Listen and enjoy Jesus with me.  http://vimeo.com/8270155
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Carson’s Counsel to a Young Church Planter on Marriage Situations

The following post was first an email to a young church planter seeking counsel. He is planting a church in a rough area. Not a few of those who are getting converted have been living together, sometimes with children, sometimes for years, without getting married. His question, then, is what should be said to these couples where one of the pair gets converted, and the other, so far, does not. Should the advice be to get married? Or is that encouraging people to be unequally yoked?

Read the entire article
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The "Goodness" of Demonic Accusations

“Neither let your own accusing conscience, nor Satan the accuser of the brethren, hinder you any longer from Christ. For what though they should accuse you of pride, infidelity, covetousness, lust, anger, envy, and hypocrisy? Yea, what though they should accuse you of whoredom, theft, drunkenness, and such like?

Yea, do what they can, they can make no worse a man of you than a sinner, or chief of sinners, or an ungodly person; and so, consequently, such a one Christ came to justify and save; so that in every deed, if you do rightly consider it, they do you more good than hurt by their accusations.”

—Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinity (Ross-shire, UK: Christian Focus, 2009), 150-51
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Fill Your Affections With the Cross of Christ

“When someone sets his affections upon the cross and the love of Christ, he crucifies the world as a dead and undesirable thing. The baits of sin lose their attraction and disappear. Fill your affections with the cross of Christ and you will find no room for sin”–– John Owen

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Is it Biblical to direct thanks to men?

One of the most common phrases I hear today is “thank you” directed toward people who have done some thing for another person. The question I am attempting to address is this, “Is there any Biblical basis for giving thanks to people for what they have done?” The Bible is replete with thanksgiving to God, but almost never is thanksgiving directed to man. It seems that the early church and the Old Testament saints recognized that every little act of goodness done towards another was ultimately God at work, so these saints learned to direct their gratitude to God and not to man. A few examples: 

In The Old Testament, it seems that thanksgiving is always directed to God

“And it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever”” (2  Chr 5:13).

“For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God” (Neh 12:46). (see also Lev 7:12–13, 15; 22:29; 1  Chr 16:7; 25:3; 2  Chr 5:13; 33:16; Neh 12:8, 46; Ps 26:7; 50:14, 23; 69:30; 95:2; 100:4; 107:22; 116:17; 147:7; Isa 51:3; Jer 30:19; Amos 4:5; Jonah 2:9; 1  Chr 16:8, 34–35, 41; 2  Chr 7:3, 6; 20:21; 30:22; 31:2; Ezra 3:11; Neh 11:17; 12:24, 31, 38, 40; Ps 7:17; 9:1; 28:7; 30:4, 12; 33:2; 44:8; 54:6; 57:9; 75:1; 79:13; 86:12; 92:1; 97:12; 100:0, 4; 105:1; 106:1, 47; 107:1; 108:3; 109:30; 111:1; 118:1, 19, 28–29; 122:4; 136:1–3, 26; 138:1–2, 4; 140:13; 142:7; 145:10; Isa 12:1, 4; 38:19; Jer 33:11; Dan 2:23; 6:10)

In the New Testament, it seems that thanksgiving is always directed to God

“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruitsto be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2  Thess 2:13).

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing” (2  Thess 1:3).

“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus” (1  Cor 1:4).

“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed” (Rom 6:17). (See also Matt 15:36; 26:27; Mark 8:6; 14:23; Luke 2:38; 17:16; 22:17, 19; John 6:11, 23; Acts 27:35; Rom 1:21; 6:17; 7:25; 14:6; 1  Cor 1:4; 10:30; 11:24; 14:16–17; 15:57; 2  Cor 1:11; 2:14; 8:16; 9:15; Eph 1:16; 5:20; Col 1:12; 3:17; 1  Thess 1:2; 5:18; 2  Thess 1:3; 2:13; Rev 4:9; 11:17; 1  Cor 14:16; 2  Cor 4:15; 9:11; Eph 5:4; Phil 4:6; Col 2:7; 4:2; 1  Thess 3:9; 1  Tim 4:3–4; Rev 7:12; Heb 12:28; Luke 18:11; John 11:41; Rom 1:8; 1  Cor 1:14; 14:18; Phil 1:3; Col 1:3; 1  Thess 2:13; 1  Tim 1:12; 2  Tim 1:3; Phlm 1:4)

Thanks to Men?

There are three texts in the New Testament where thanksgiving is seemingly directed towards men. The first is in Luke 17:1–10, and according to 17:10, the point Jesus is making is that masters do not thank their servants. Servants are unworthy of thanksgiving because they only do what is required of them, thus they don’t deserve thanksgiving for something that’s already expected of them. So it is with all Christians since every good work we do was prepared beforehand by God for us (Eph 2:10). 

The second instance is Acts 24:3 where Tertullus deceitful expresses gratitude (by flattery) to Felix in order to have Paul killed. However, Tertullus is a God–despiser who is seeking to kill God’s servant and should not be a model for us to follow. 

The most significant text to consider in this section is Romans 16:4. The ESV renders it as “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.” (Rom 16:3–4). Based on the ESV, it seems Paul and the churches are expressing thanks to Prisca and Aquila. But given the overwhelming evidence of Paul’s rendering of thanks only to God for people and never to people, it is possible that the thanks in Romans 16:4 is directed to God as well. I propose that the use of the dative relative pronoun oi[v is what Wallace calls “dative of reference” (Wallace 144). If it is a dative of reference then the verse should be rendered “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, about whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles as well.” With this reading, it means that Paul and the Gentile churches are giving thanks to God in reference to the work of Prisca and Aquila. James Dunn renders it as “for whom  not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles” (James D. G. Dunn, Romans 9–16, 892-893.) If Dunn and I are correct, then we can conclude that Paul always direct thanks to God for what He is doing in and through the churches and her members.  
Proposal 

If, as shown above, the Bible is replete with thanksgiving only to God and if my data is correct, how then should we express gratitude today? Here’s what I propose: since we know that whatever good we do is done with the power that God supplies (1 Pet 4:21), and all that we are and have is a gift of God (John 3:27; 1 Cor 7:4), we should rather thank God for each other instead of thanking ourselves. Maybe we should say like Paul, “I thank God for you.” If all things are from God, then thanksgiving should be directed to God. 

Therefore, we should not be peeved if people do not express thanksgiving to us because we are not worthy to be thanked. God intends for all praise and gratitude to culminate in him and not in us “for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever Amen” (Rom 11:36).

Thanking God for you all


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Chuck Swindoll: 10 Leadership Lessons Learned in 50 Years of Leadership

Chuck Swindoll, accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at Catalyst 09, offered the following lessons he has learned:

1. It’s lonely to lead. Leadership involves tough decisions. The tougher the decision, the lonelier it is.
2. It’s dangerous to succeed. I’m most concerned for those who aren’t even 30 and are very gifted and successful. Sometimes God uses someone right out of youth, but usually he uses leaders who have been crushed.
3. It’s hardest at home. No one ever told me this in Seminary.
4. It’s essential to be real. If there’s one realm where phoniness is common, it’s among leaders. Stay real.
5. It’s painful to obey. The Lord will direct you to do some things that won’t be your choice. Invariably you will give up what you want to do for the cross.
6. Brokenness and failure are necessary.
7. Attitude is more important than actions. Your family may not have told you: some of you are hard to be around. A bad attitude overshadows good actions.
8. Integrity eclipses image. Today we highlight image. But it’s what you’re doing behind the scenes.
9. God’s way is better than my way.
10. Christlikeness begins and ends with humility.

The Two ‘Courts’

“There are two ‘courts’ we must deal with: the court of God in Heaven and the court of conscience in our souls. When we first trust in Christ for salvation, God’s court is forever satisfied. Never again will a charge of guilt be brought against us in Heaven. Our consciences, however, are continually pronouncing us guilty. That is the function of conscience. Therefore, we must by faith bring the verdict of conscience into line with the verdict of Heaven. We do this by agreeing with our conscience about our guilt, but then reminding it that our guilt has already been borne by Christ.”

- Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace (Colorado Springs, Co: NavPress, 1994), 54.

Do not Starve Yourself Any Longer

"What has exceedingly hurt you in time past, nay, and I fear, to this day, is lack of reading. I scarce ever knew a preacher who read so little. And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the taste for it. Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian. Oh begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercise. You may acquire the taste which you have not; what is tedious at first will afterward be pleasant. Whether you like it or not, read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a pretty, superficial preacher. Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer. Take up your cross and be a Christian altogether. Then will all the children of God rejoice (not grieve) over you, and in particular yours."

John Wesley, writing to a younger minister, quoted in D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge, Letters Along The Way, page 169.

"In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself"

Wislawa Szymborska, "In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself"

The buzzard never says it is to blame.
The panther wouldn’t know what scruples mean.
When the piranha strikes, it feels no shame.
If snakes had hands, they’d claim their hands were clean.

A jackal doesn’t understand remorse.
Lions and lice don’t waver in their course.
Why should they, when they know they’re right?

Though hearts of killer whales may weigh a ton,
in every other way they’re light.

On this third planet from the sun
among the signs of bestiality
a clear conscience is Number One.

"Discipling God"

"We have the idea that God could not reign if he did not have wise and understanding people to help him. . . . [The wise and understanding] are always exerting themselves; they do things in the Christian church the way they want to themselves. Everything that God does they must improve, so that there is no poorer, more insignificant and despised disciple on earth than God; he must be everybody's pupil, everybody wants to be his teacher. . . . They are not satisfied with what God has done and instituted, they cannot let things be as they were ordained to be. . . . These are the real wiseacres, of whom Christ is speaking here, who always have to have and do something special in order that the people may say, 'Ah, our pastor or preacher is nothing; there's the real man, he'll get things done!' . . . Should God be so greatly pleased with these fellows who are all too smart and wise for him and are always wanting to send him back to school? . . . Things are in a fine state indeed when the egg wants to be wiser than the hen."

Martin Luther, preaching his last sermon, on Matthew 11:25-30, quoted in Luther's Works: Sermons I, pages 383-384.