25 years of Discipleship Journal

Rejoice Christian Software is offering the Discipleship Journal Anthology CD at a deep discount. Here are the details:

Product Features:

• 150 Issues of Discipleship Journal
• Covers the Years 1981-2005
• Includes Original Articles, Artwork, Graphics, and More
• $550 in Comparable Print Value

with Articles by:

• Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• Martin Luther
• A.W. Tozer
• J.I. Packer
• R. Kent Hughes
• Andrew Murray
• Gordon MacDonald
• Jerry Bridges
• Randy Alcorn
• Donald Whitney
• Norman Geisler
• Tremper Longman
• H. Wayne House
• John Calvin
• J. Oswald Sanders
• John Piper
• Abraham Kuyper
• And Folks You've Never Heard of, too

Sample Articles:

• How to teach others to practice spiritual disciplines without falling into legalism
• The Bible and divorce: three views
• Why should Christians fast?
• Is your anger righteous?
• Our expectations about the power of God to transform lives
• The revolutionary leadership of Jesus
• Why there has to be a place of eternal punishment
• Tongues: two views on a controversial topic
• Qualities for spiritual leadership
• How to read the Psalms
• How to listen to a sermon (by George Whitefield)
• The Godhood of God (A.W. Pink)
• What is baptism in the Holy Spirit?

Logos sells this CD for $89, but Rejoice Software is selling it for only $19.95. You can order either the Libronix or the WORDsearch version.

A call to love others

Over the past several months, I've been blogging my way through our church mission statement: "to make disciples of Jesus Christ who love God and love people, by reaching and teaching everyone."

Today, we come to the next phrase, "love people." Followers of Jesus Christ are called not only to love God, but also to love people. The principal text for loving others is Matthew 22:39. Jesus, after identifying love for God as the greatest commandment, says in His next breath, "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " Then Jesus makes this stunning statement: "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 22:40). In other words, if we truly love God and love others, we are perfectly obeying God.

Some people have noted that the first commandment (love for God) covers the first four of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:3-11), and the second commandment (love for others) covers the last six of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:12-17). None of us, except Christ, are able to keep these commandments perfectly, but love becomes the supreme goal of every believer.

There's another key passage on loving others, a passage that must be deeply embedded in our hearts. John 13:34-35 says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

There verses teach us five important lessons about love:

1. The mandate of love. Love is not merely a suggestion, an abstract ideal. It is a commandment from the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. John 15:12, 17; 1 John 3:23). And it is not merely a one-time act at the moment of conversion, but a continuous action, to "keep on loving" one another. Love is something that must describe our behavior every day, to all people, in all situations. According to Jerome, this command was so impressed upon the heart of the Apostle John that in his extreme old age, John would often be heard repeating over and over "Love one another...Love one another." When asked why he so often repeated this command, he responded, "Because it is the Lord's commandment; and if it be fulfilled, it is enough."
2. The model of love. What makes Jesus' commandment "new" is that He has raised the standard of love much higher. A glance earlier in the chapter reveals Jesus on his knees, girded with a towel, humbly washing the feet of His disciples. A few chapters later, Jesus will empty Himself to the ultimate level by dying on the cross for our sin. This humble, costly, unselfish love becomes the model for how we should now love one another.
3. The meaning of love. The Greek word Jesus uses in these verses is agape. It is an unconditional love, the deliberate setting of your affection upon someone else. True love is choosing to love someone, even when it's not easy, and even when they're not worthy. How grateful we can be God first demonstrated this love toward us! (Rom. 5:8) And now we are called to love others in the same way (1 John 4:11).
   
4. The magnitude of love. Jesus says we are not only to love our small circle of friends, but every single person in the church. "One another" speaks of the community of God, the entire body of believers. It's all-inclusive, and includes loving our enemies (Lk. 6:32, 35), loving those who are unattractive, loving strangers (Rom. 12:13), loving our family members, loving the needy (James 1:27), loving the wayward (Gal. 6:1), and loving those who are different than us. None are excluded from this kind of love.
   
5. The mission of love. Our love for one another has serious evangelistic implications. We are all ambassadors of Christ, and the world's perception of the church will determine their perception of Christ. Does the world view Christianity as angry, cynical, factional, self-righteous, and hypocritical? Or do they see our kindness, our forgiveness, our faith, our compassion, our sacrifice, and yes, even our tough love? Show me a church that is loving, and I will show you a church that is winning souls for Christ. But show me a church with outreach programs every night of the week, yet lacking love, and I'll show you a church that is actually doing damage to the gospel. Because of our sin, the church will never be perfect until Christ comes and glorifies us, but by God's grace, our love for one another should constantly be growing (1 Thess. 4:9-10). Love is the greatest apologetic for the truth of Christianity.

Jesus commands His disciples to love, but He never said love would be easy. C.S. Lewis writes,

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless— [your heart] will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable; impenetrable, irredeemable...The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is Hell.

Love is a frightening prospect, but it's also a thrilling opportunity. Let's learn to be vulnerable with one another, so that every church might become a refuge of love, where Christ will be honored and where the world will see the gospel not only through our words, but through our actions.

The preacher's character

With Ted Haggard back in the media spotlight, we should all pause to take heed of ourselves lest we too stumble (1 Cor. 10:12).

Mark well these words from 19th century pastor and professor Robert L. Dabney about the preacher and his character...

Without a sacred weight of character, the most splendid rhetoric will win only a short-lived applause; with it, the plainest scriptural instructions are eloquent to win souls. Eloquence may dazzle and please; holiness of life convinces...No counterfeit will avail [in the pulpit], but the living faith and spirituality which are cultivated at the throne of grace, in the chambers of the afflicted and dying, and by the study of God's word. (Evangelical Eloquence, pp. 263-68)

Free Shepherd's Conference audio

The Shepherd's Fellowship has opened up their Shepherd's Conference and Resolved Conference media vault. Hundreds of past sessions and seminars are now all available for FREE DOWNLOAD. All you have to do is sign up for a free member account. Way to go, Shepherd's Fellowship!

It's also not too late to register for the 2009 Shepherd's Conference. I'm really looking forward to going back this year.

HT: Tim Challies

A Bible for every age and reading level

As a follow-up to yesterday's post on daily Bible reading, I think it would be good to say something about Bible translations.

Personally, I prefer reading from my New American Standard Bible, but I would not recommend everyone to jump right into this version. For some readers, its heavy, literal style would feel too wooden and cumbersome, and might actually discourage daily Bible reading.

If someone is younger, or relatively new to reading the Bible, I would encourage them to start with a more readable translation, then gradually work toward a more literal, advanced-level translation.

Here's a recommended list of English Bible translations for every age level:

Young children:
The Jesus Storybook Bible
The Big Picture Story Bible
(We started using these Bibles even before our children were a year old. We love using them for family devotions!)

Beginning readers:
The International Children's Bible, aka the New Century Version
(4th grade reading level)

Intermediate readers:
New International Version
The New King James Version
(both 7th grade reading level)

Advanced readers:
English Standard Version (8th grade reading level)
New American Standard Bible (10th grade reading level)

It's not that there's anything "super-spiritual" about reading a Bible that is more advanced. After all, God always intended the Bible to be read by the common people! In fact, He chose for the New Testament to be written in the koine, i.e. common, Greek instead of the more sophisticated classical style Greek.

Nevertheless, I believe the ESV, and particularly the NASB, best reflect the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languges of the Old and New Testament, and thus are most accurate for in-depth Bible Study.

When I read my NASB, I feel confident that I am hearing God speak with the very words and grammatical emphases He intended. It's the next-best thing to reading from the original languages.

December 2010 Update: I'm becoming more and more impressed with the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), and have been giving it a "test drive" from the pulpit this month. With the Apologetics Study Bible, HCSB Study Bible, and a 2009 revision, I believe this translation has really matured and gone more mainstream. Here's a paper by Dr. Bill Barrick showing the exegetical accuracy of the HCSB. 

October 2011 Update: After sixteen years with the NASB and another year trying out the Holman Bible, I've made a permanent change to the ESV for personal Bible reading and our ministry at First Southern Baptist Church. This was not an easy decision, but the ESV is a great translation and has tons of study resources available. Click here to read more reasons I made the switch.

Photo credit: univrsltransl8r

Daily devotions

I highly recommend for everyone to read through the Bible in a daily, systematic way so they will be exposed to the "whole council of God" (Ac. 20:27).

One of the greatest ways to do this is to follow one of the many "Bible in a year" reading plans. I personally like this one produced by Discipleship Journal.

Someone recently asked me how to balance between daily Bible reading and more in-depth, personal study of God's Word. Here's their question:

"How do you balance between the yearly reading plan that the church is doing and your own personal studies? I'm trying to do a daily devotional, which is only a couple of minutes, and read through the Bible in chronological order this year. They both are only a few minutes a piece, but they seem to be conflicting."

Here was my response:

Great question. I don’t have a simple answer for this. It’s something that I struggle with also. But here are a few suggestions:

1. Try to integrate your personal study into your yearly reading plan. I’m trying to do this in 2009. I want to learn more about the theology of suffering. So, each day, I’m reading the Bible with particular interest in anything the Bible has to say about suffering and how believers should pray and respond. I am recording short prayers in my journal that reflect what I’m learning.

2. Have separate times for chronological reading and devotional reading. Maybe read your devotional book in the morning, and your yearly reading plan on lunch break, or in the evening at home.

3. If you follow the Discipleship Journal reading schedule, you have one day per week you could use for personal study, along with a couple extra days at the end of the month. I must admit I usually need that extra day of the week just to catch up on any reading that I am behind, so this system would not work very well for me personally.

4. Alternate your yearly reading plan with in-depth study. Try reading the whole Bible in two years instead of one, and then alternate each month between in-depth study and your chronological reading of Scripture.

I believe reading the whole Bible is important, since “Scripture interprets Scripture” and context is the #1 rule of Biblical interpretation. However, it is good to pause regularly to look at the individual “trees” and not just the big “forest.”

Hope this helps a little. I praise God for your passion for His Word!

Photo credit: House of Sims

25 reasons the sign gifts have ceased

Are "sign gifts" like tongues, prophecy, miracles, and healing still available for Christians today? If not, then how do we explain when miracles still seem to occur?

Here are 25 reasons my theology professor, Dr. Craigen, gives that the sign gifts have ceased. There is some overlap here, and some arguments are stronger than other, but there's a tremendous amount of weight when seeing all these reasons together:

1. The apostles and prophets were at the 'foundation stage' of the church (Eph. 2:20).
2. Signs and wonders were clustered around the apostolic ministry (2 Cor. 12:12).
3. The sign gifts confirmed new revelation (Jn. 14:11).
   
4. The closed canon of Scripture (Rev. 22:18-19) calls into question if supernatural confirmation is still needed.
5. Even the Apostle Paul and others seemed to experience a 'fade-out' of miracles (e.g., Phil. 2:27).
6. The church is never exhorted to copy the signs and wonders of Christ and the apostles.
7. A new healing paradigm is given in James 5:14-20 for the local church.
   
8. Working miracles "at will" passed off the scene.
9. A focus on God's providence in church and individual lives.
10. History shows only three periods of significant miracles: Moses, Elijah/Enoch, and Jesus/Apostles.
11. The Word of God is fully sufficient without further confirmation.
12. The preaching of the Word draws forth reaction/response (John 6).
13. Rejoicing at salvation was considered better than casting out demons (Lk. 10:17-20).
14. The preaching of the truth is cognitively/rationally grasped.
15. The New Testament miraculous gifts were conferred upon the disciples of Jesus.
16. Pentecost was unique (an abundance of miracles would minimize this watershed event).
17. No apostles today means there was no conferral of miracles beyond the original twelve.
18. False messiahs and false signs and wonders can and will arise (Mt. 24:24).
19. The use of Jesus' name falsely can and will occur (Mt. 7:15-23).
20. The idea of being 'slain in the Spirit' is a type of activity never attested in Scripture.
21. If miracles become the norm, then they are no longer miracles.
22. Prophecy and tongues went out when the 'mature church' came online (1 Cor. 13:8-13).
23. Joel 2 and Acts 2 relate the Day of the Lord and the Millennial Kingdom, so it was partially fulfilled at Day of Pentecost.
24. The Word of God does what raising the dead cannot do (Lk. 16:19-31).
25. The Gospel has power in itself to save without signs and wonders (Rom. 1:16-17).

Photo credit: hickory hardscrabble

Sanctity of Life Sunday

This Sunday is "Sanctity of Human Life Sunday," when many Americans pause to celebrate the dignity of all human life made in God's image (Gen. 1:27).

Did you know that since 1973, nearly 50 million legal abortions have occurred in the U.S.? On average, women give at least three reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities. About 3/4 also say they cannot afford a child. And 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent, or are having problems with their husband or partner.

Learning of an unplanned pregnancy can be a frightening and confusing experience, especially for a young teen, a single mom, or a couple who are struggling financially. Life and death decisions are often made when emotions are running high. It's important for local churches and pro-life pregnancy clinics to provide these people with compassionate care and advice when they need it most.

Here are some other heartbreaking statistics about abortion:

• 22% of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion.

• More than 23% of legally-induced abortions in the U.S. are performed in California. (About 15% of the nation's population live in the state.)

• Black women are more than 4.8 times more likely than non-Hispanic white women to have an abortion.

• 88% of all abortions in the U.S. happen during the first trimester, prior to the at 13th week. 52% of all abortions occur before the 9th week of pregnancy.

• The total number of abortions across the whole world in one year is estimated to be 42 million.

Source: The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform and Abort73.com
Photo credit: Bill Davenport

**If you, or someone you know, is considering an abortion, please visit this link, or call 1-800-395-HELP for confidential counseling**

The high priest's rope

You've probably heard about the rope the high priest would wear each year when he would enter the Holy of Holies. Well, the whole thing is probably a myth that originated in the Middle Ages and was perpetuated by commentators like John Gill.

Todd Bolen writes,

The notion that the high priest would tie a rope around his ankle before entering the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) so that his body could be pulled out should he be struck down is not found in any ancient source, including the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, the Apocrypha, the Mishnah, the Babylonian Talmud, or the Jerusalem Talmud.

Still not convinced? You can read the whole thing here.

Oh well, it was a good story, anyway.

True success in ministry

Back in 2007, I took some of our men at church through a one-year discipleship program called "SaLT" (Servant Leadership Training). We read a book a month, memorized several key Scriptures, and came together once a month for some lively discussion and mentoring.

In 2008, we tried something a little different. Instead of all the men meeting at one time, I encouraged them to break up into small mentor groups, finding one or two "Timothys" they could each disciple. All the groups went through a common book, Living the Cross Centered Life, and I made up a set of discussion questions in advance for each group to use. This mentor-group program was open to both men and women in the church, and it saw mixed success. Some groups met regularly and reported some wonderful times of prayer and encouragement. Other groups never seemed to get off the ground, meeting only once or twice at best.

In 2009, I'm excited to re-introduce our SaLT program, but with a few tweaks to the program. Instead of asking participants to read a whole book each month, we're listening to one audio sermon or lecture (there's a wealth of great mp3 material available online for free!). And instead of memorizing a whole passage of Scripture, we've scaled it down to one verse per month. You can visit our podcast here.

Last Saturday morning was our first SaLT meeting for 2009. We were very blessed to have 8 men attend the group, including several who have some real leadership potential.

For our January meeting, I asked the men in advance to listen to the message "Pastoral Success and the Cross of Christ," preached by R. Kent Hughes at the 1989 Desiring God Conference for Pastors. It's a scaled down version of his excellent book Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome. (If you're in any level of pastoral ministry and have not read this book before, it is a must-read.) Although delivered twenty years ago, Hughes' message could not be more relevant than today, as he addresses many of the pragmatic forms of success that have infiltrated the church.

Hughes recalls a dark time early in his ministry when attendance began to dwindle and he came very close to resigning as pastor and abandoning his call to ministry. But the Lord gave him and his wife Barbara new hope as they began to open the Scriptures and see that true success is not measured by marketing techniques and worldly standards, but by six basic principles:

1. Faithfulness. Hughes' principal text for overcoming the "Success Syndrome" was 1 Cor. 4:1-2. God is not looking for impressive numbers. He's looking for faithful obedience to His Word.

2. Serving. Success is not about having preeminence. The symbol of Christianity is the cross.

3. Loving God. This is the #1 priority in all our life and ministry. If we don't have love, everything else we accomplish will be meaningless (1 Cor. 13:1).

4. Believing. Much of ministry is walking by faith, and not by sight. Our doctrine must affect our living. In the trials of life, we must learn to "believe what we believe."

5. Prayer. Church leaders must learn to be men of prayer. This is an area I want to continue to grow in.

6. Holiness. We are called to be holy, even as God is holy. This includes areas such as sexual purity, where many pastors are particularly vulnerable.

These six principles define true success in ministry. It's not that we should hope our churches (or convention) will shrink in size, but we can rest assured that if we're faithful to God's Word and let Him take care of the results, we will find true success in His eyes.

Side note: This is my 200th post on this blog. With SaLT starting back up, and church ministry growing busier every day, I may be a little less active on this blog in 2009. But I still see it as a valuable tool in my discipleship toolbox.

The best way to stay informed of new articles I'm writing is to sign up for my weekly email or subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks to my faithful readers out there!

Unfinished business

David Nelson has written a thought-provoking article called "Going Home at the End of the Day: A Theology of Leaving."

There's nothing quite like the satisfaction of seeing a project come to completion. Whether it's turning in a major term paper, adding the last bit of finish to a hand-crafted piece of furniture, making the final stitches to a massive embroidery project, or watching your child graduate from high school, it's so rewarding to step back from your work and say, "By God's grace, I've done my best. And the results look good."

As a master craftsman, God Himself took great pleasure in the completed work of creation: "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31).

Nevertheless, most of our days amount to just making small dents in incomplete projects. Rarely do we get that profound sense of accomplishment. But David Nelson reminds us to enjoy the work God has given us, and to find rest in spite of the "unfinishedness" of our lives...

[H]uman labor is by its nature mostly unfinished business. It is one of the exigencies of temporality that many of the tasks we pursue are, for the largest part of their duration, unfinished. It is true that certain work is done over the short term while other work is a long term project. If, for example I set out to grill a cheese sandwich, I have good reason to believe I will complete that labor in the short term, lest I end up with a grilled cheese blackened beyond description or usefulness. Yet other tasks are longer term propositions. Building a new house is not a task quickly completed, and it requires a series of starts and stops, day by day, in which workers determine to finish certain things and leave other things to be completed in due order. Part of the process of work, therefore, is the messy “unfinishedness” of our labors that tend to keep us in the office “after hours.” Some of us will do well to learn to leave what is unfinished for another day, and to rest well in spite of our dissatisfaction with what is undone.

...[L]eaving the office at the end of the day, and the rest that we pursue subsequent to that departure, is a sign of trust in God. It is so in that we are willing to labor hard during the day, and then leave what is unfinished for the day following, trusting that God will sustain us to do so, or indicate that there is other work to be done or, ultimately, that our labors in this age have come to an end.

Liberalism and the JEDP theory

Pastor David Sqyres over in Twentynine Palms has written a good article on the Documentary Hypothesis (aka JEDP theory) of the Torah, and the harm such liberalism brings to the Body of Christ. Go have a look.

The message behind children's clothes

Gender blog is doing a good series on children's clothing. The main point:

The clothes that our children wear do not merely cover the nakedness of their flesh; they shape and reflect the contours of our children's souls. What I encourage my child to wear is a statement not merely of fashion but of theology and axiology-and this link between our theology and our wardrobes is not a recent phenomenon.

Right now, my kids are only 1 and 3 years old. They're quite content wearing dinosaurs and flowers on their apparel. But as they grow older, I know it will become harder and harder to buy clothes for them that are stylish, yet more importantly, modest and containing appropriate messages.

Clothing is like a personal billboard of your worldview. Parents cannot afford to be passive on the issue.

Photo credit: Robyn Gallagher

A year of mixed success for Southern Baptists

Tony Kummer has just released what he believes are the top ten SBC stories from last year:

1. Decline In SBC Giving

2. Economic Woes Hit Seminaries Endowments

3. John 3:16 Conference Adds Fuel To The Fire

4. Johnny Hunt Is Elected President Over A Field Of Six

5. Resolution On Church Membership Is Adopted

6. Decline In Church Membership Is Confirmed

7. SBC Fails To Move Presidential Election

8. Dissenting Blogs Close

9. Klouda Controversy Is Resolved

10. Kummer's last item is "You Pick."I would say top story #10 is the reorganization of the IMB and the appointment of hundreds of new missions personnel. We should always celebrate the laborers God is raising up to enter the harvest field.

I believe it was a year of mixed success for Southern Baptists. On one hand, the 2008 reports on attendance, baptism, and giving were all disheartening. But I believe our denominational decline may actually be a blessing in disguise. It has forced us to get down on our knees in prayer and to redouble our efforts toward the Great Commission.

The election of new leadership, the resolution on regenerate membership, the return of doctrinal discussion, and the humiliation of our past failures may actually pave the way for a new era of gospel work among Southern Baptists.

God has humbled the proud. Now may He give grace to the humble.