There’s a whole line of etiquette related to borrowing from other blogs. It then gets even more complicated when it’s from a guest post on another blog. This came from Justin Taylor’s blog where a guy name Dane Ortlund posted it who got it from another person, credited as Z. Here’s the link, then there’s the embedded video. It’s worth the 5 minutes to watch.
I realize that my posting is a little sporadic these days, which is partially driven by a lack of internet connection at the office and adapting to new responsibilities. Then there's the Bart Barber hypothesis, which will be linked to in this post, that perhaps blogging isn't the most important thing in ministry.
However, I do want to throw a few links out there for you, because if you need good blog content daily, there are people that can provide it:
(These are in no particular order)
1. Michael Hyatt's blog: He's the top dog at Thomas Nelson Publishers, and I get free books from his company, but he doesn't have any idea that I (or my blog) exist. So, this is a legitimate endorsement. He's got a lot of good posts on leadership and reading, with a good habit of linking to great resources. He does, occasionally, give away books he likes. Try not to enter those if I'm after the same book ;) (just kidding.)
2. Joel Miller's blog: Miller works at Thomas Nelson, but I've mainly become interested in him through a couple of books he wrote, and that I reviewed on this blog, The Portable Patriot and The Revolutionary Paul Revere. Both were quite good read, and Portable Patriot should be in every homeschool family. I've noticed in his blogging that he references early church and Eastern Orthodox stories, which are lesser known and well worth knowing. I occasionally click from his blog to his wife's, but I'm not super familiar with her writing and style, so I won't give a separate link. Besides, you'd think I was getting paid by the Thomas Nelson family.
3. Emil Turner's blog. This one's not daily, it's every Friday, but well worth it, whether you're in ministry or not, although it's generally more applicable to Christians than non-Christians. Dr. Turner is a friend, and has raised some good points on his blog. Plus, I have it on good authority he wears bunny slippers when he's writing.
4. Ann Hibbard's blog: someday, I will be half as good a writer as my wife. She's more diligent, more disciplined, and more insightful than I am. Plus, she hardly needs a spell-checker or a grammar checker. I, on the other hand, graduated in the PCSSD. Seriously, if you want some good, mostly daily, short and long thoughts and blog posts, tie into her feed.
5. Occasional reads: Because they don't post often: Bart Barber is a Baptist Preacher. Read his post on "Why he doesn't blog often anymore." Larry Romack and Larry Linson are also Baptist Preachers. Romack was one of my influences as a youth, and Linson is my parents' pastor. Gene Clyatt goes by the unlikely name of "Squirrel" and his posts reflect something important: pastors have normal lives too, and he's worth the read when he posts. Joe McKeever doesn't have an RSS feed, so he's not a subscription, but I check his blog when he puts a link on Facebook, and then read what I've missed.
There's 5, and that should hold us for another few months. If you want my whole Google Reader/RSS Feed list, I'll send it to you.
Doug
I meant to have this up earlier today, but I broke a lawnmower that I borrowed, and Ann and I spent about an hour fixing it. So, this is a little late.
I don't have an original thought to share. I've got a book review to do of Will the World End in 2012, but I'm not done with it. I'll try and get it next week.
What I do want to do is share a few blog links with you from this week. Most of these blogs are worth reading all the time, although you can miss a day or two. Here you go:
First of all: Emil Turner's blog at ABSC about Cooperative Agreements in SBC North American Missions. I want to share a few blog posts to explain why it's an issue, but that'll be next week.
Second: Kevin DeYoung: Oddly enough, Pastor Kevin hits the nail on the head about nearly everything except when to baptize folks, but we won't hold that against him. He did a series this week about being upset with your church. Here it is: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3.
Third: Thom Rainer: posted a short piece summarizing a research project from Lifeway about how pastors spend their time.
There's been some other interesting news this week, like Mid-America Baptist Seminary's decision to release men from daily necktie wear! This would have been added to the book I'm reviewing, Will the World End in 2012? had it been known in time.
 | Will the World End in 2012? |
I meant to have this up earlier today, but I broke a lawnmower that I borrowed, and Ann and I spent about an hour fixing it. So, this is a little late.
I don't have an original thought to share. I've got a book review to do of Will the World End in 2012, but I'm not done with it. I'll try and get it next week.
What I do want to do is share a few blog links with you from this week. Most of these blogs are worth reading all the time, although you can miss a day or two. Here you go:
First of all: Emil Turner's blog at ABSC about Cooperative Agreements in SBC North American Missions. I want to share a few blog posts to explain why it's an issue, but that'll be next week.
Second: Kevin DeYoung: Oddly enough, Pastor Kevin hits the nail on the head about nearly everything except when to baptize folks, but we won't hold that against him. He did a series this week about being upset with your church. Here it is: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3.
Third: Thom Rainer: posted a short piece summarizing a research project from Lifeway about how pastors spend their time.
There's been some other interesting news this week, like Mid-America Baptist Seminary's decision to release men from daily necktie wear! This would have been added to the book I'm reviewing, Will the World End in 2012? had it been known in time.
| | Will the World End in 2012? |
For those of you that don't navigate much through the blog world, I'll repost this from Emil Turner's blog on the ABSC website. It's worth the read:
Upward Basketball is a tremendous ministry in many of our churches. An Upward Basketball coach commits more than 3 hours a week to this program. An AWANA worker gives a minimum of 2.5 hours a week, and an AWANA group leader gives about 5 hours a week, while an AWANA commander gives around 12 hours a week. In addition, most of these people attend two or more services a week.
Do members have time to volunteer at church? AWANA and Upward volunteers have the time and give it gladly. From these two examples we can learn that it is not a shortage of time that keeps most people from volunteering or serving in their churches.
How do you get people to volunteer? To attend training classes? To work in the Sunday School or to attend on Sunday evening or Wednesday evening?
First, recognize the inverse relationship of time and commitment. The greater the demand on time, the fewer people you will involve. This has always been true. If you are to staff programs, populate training classes, you must first intentionally raise the commitment level of church members.
Second, in a healthy church if it is important to the pastor, it will be important to the church members. So the activity you are trying to staff or promote must be seen as a priority to the pastor. He should talk about it in announcements, mention it in sermons, and help recruit the volunteers and participants. If the pastor takes the time to promote and participate, he will rally the congregation to do the same.
Third, volunteers, trainees, and church workers need to eat. AWANA usually includes a meal doesn’t it? Would there be as many workers if no one could eat at church? This is a convenience that helps workers with busy schedules. If I were serving as a pastor, every evening meeting at church would involve a meal.
Activities, classes, and projects that involve church volunteers should be well planned. Members should not wonder why they are present, what happens next, or why the leaders aren’t better prepared. And every meeting should begin on time, and unless the Holy Spirit intervenes, should end on time.
Relevance should be communicated in eternal terms, rather than temporal ones. If one pupil in an adult class draws closer to God, an entire family’s spiritual future could be change. If one of the little girls in GA’s becomes a missionary, a nation could be saved. If a deacon visits prospects on Thursday nights, a family can be reached for Christ.
They WILL attend prayer meeting, become Outreach Leaders in Sunday School, attend teachers’ meeting, or work with RA’s if it is important enough to do so. Pastor, church staff member, you are the one who makes it important.
From Doug: What is stopping us from implementing some of this? How can I communicate better how important some of these things are?
Doug
I haven't been reposting Dr. Turner's posts from the ABSC, but I thought this one needed to be seen. Check out Dr. Turner's blog on Fridays at www.absc.org
An old joke: she turned the wrong way on a one way street, and then increased her speed. “We’re going to be late,” she said, “Everyone is coming back.” Wrong. It’s funny from a distance, but up close it is dangerous and wrong.
Some things I have observed in churches that are just wrong:
Arkansas Baptist churches are good churches. But every church has blind spots. Are yours on this list?
Emil Turner's weekly blog from ABSC
“I Don’t Like My Pastor”
Posted on Thursday, April 23, 2009
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How could anyone not like a pastor? But, we do hear this from time to time. We hear it from church staff, church members, and occasionally from pastor’s wives—not really, just a little humor to lighten things up. In hopes that some of the folks that struggle with their pastors read this blog, here are some suggestions about what to do if you don’t like your pastor.
God wants you to be part of a local church. Not liking a pastor, staff member, deacon, or church member is no excuse for dropping out, withholding tithes, or refusing to serve in a church. The church is more important than the pastor. Pastors serve the church, just as you do.
God sent your pastor to your church. God is more grieved than you with your pastor’s faults. He is the one to whom you should appeal, not your fellow church members, or others in the community.
Pray for your pastor’s spiritual and physical health, his family, his ability to exercise his call to ministry. Don’t spend time asking God to change your pastor, instead ask God to either change you or confirm your opinions about your pastor.
Talk to your pastor honestly, but with Christian kindness. Do not talk in a way that will require you to explain what you said. “I was speaking the truth in love” does not erase words like “you are a tyrant and you are destroying this church”. Now, I am embarrassed to type these words, but here goes…: before you have this talk, ask your pastor not to mention the conversation from the pulpit. The pulpit is a place for ministry, not retribution.
Not all your differences with your pastor require action. Disagreement with your pastor does not necessarily mean you should seek another church. Even some theological differences can be “weathered”. A prayerful, humble spirit will enable you to stay engaged in a church you love, even when you struggle with the pastor’s leadership.
When the problem is so severe that action is required, there are two paths available. The extreme path is opposition to the pastor’s continued leadership in a church business meeting. Take this path only if heresy or the death of the church is at stake. The other path is to ask God to lead you to a church whose pastor and ministry you can endorse and by which you can be blessed. (By the way, voting against something your pastor desires is not opposition; it is simply expressing the Holy Spirit’s leading in your life.)
Finally, remember that you are part of the church, not a sports team, or a community service organization. God rules the church, and we serve in humble submission to Him. In all such struggles, the way you conduct yourself is more important than the struggle itself. Godliness, kindness, and prayerfulness should guide your actions. Peace should be your goal.
I had been driving two years before I took the test for a license. I failed the test because I could not see. I had no idea my vision was poor. I assumed everyone saw like I did.
The day I got eye glasses was amazing. It was autumn and Dad took me quail hunting that afternoon. I could not believe the things I saw. Every tree stood out in sharp relief, I could see leaves flutter in the breeze, bugs on the ground, animals; everything was suddenly clearly defined, and brightly colored.
…the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ… 2 Cor. 4:4
The lost world does not see like we see. The things that are obviously of Christ, His creation, the way He changes lives, the blessings that accompany faithfulness, all these are blurred and indistinct to those who have not been saved. They see foolishness where we see faith. They think we are irrational, when we believe we are faithful. The lost world sees the blurred, distorted image of holiness and calls it self righteousness or pious ignorance.
But when Christ comes, the world comes into focus. The miraculous creation looks less miraculous than new creation. The new believer sees that sacrifice as more beautiful than self indulgence, that Jesus is always looking in his direction, and that darkness is as transparent as noonday. When the spiritually blind begin to see, they revel in the Deity the world reveals. They can appreciate, can distinguish, for the first time the difference between that which is good and that which is merely not harmful. Clarity rushes in and overwhelms the senses.
Now, we live among the blind. Physical sight is no substitute for spiritual sight. We must be their guides, patiently, steadily bringing them into the light. Pray for their healing so they may see. Don’t react against the blundering bluster of the blind. Even though they do not believe they will ever see what we see, we must guide them, pray for them, and tell them there is a Light.
From Dr. Turner at the ABSC.
Resurrection Sunday
Posted on Friday, April 3, 2009
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It is almost here! Every year for the past 2000 years, the collective pulse of the Bride has quickened. Resurrection Sunday is almost upon us. Uncounted millions will honor Him who died and rose on our behalf. We will read the Scripture that promised that death would not hold Him, we will rise early and greet the sun and proclaim that as sure as there is sunrise there was Son Rise. We will sing, pray and rejoice. Our voices will blend with the voices of those who have gone before us in praise of Him who demonstrated the ultimate power over the universe He had created.
Those who do not know Him will be forced to recognize that we believe the unbelievable. They will deride us as deluded, and laugh at our 2000 year old celebration. A few of us who are intimidated by them will try to explain it to them. Most of us will simply proclaim it. He is alive, He is alive, and we will live with Him!
Even the casual among us will recognize on Friday before Resurrection Sunday that they need to go back to the Church for which He gave Himself. So on the anniversary of the death of death, they will, like us, stream to hear the Reality proclaimed again. Strangers to the Kingdom will wonder at the sudden concern of its citizens, and draw near to see that the Resurrection holds us in a grip not even death can break.
Mothers, beg your wayward sons to come back and worship the Son who came back from the farthest reaches of the grave. Fathers, call your children to gather before Him who is the Son of the Everlasting Father, present them to Him, and call on Him to keep them close to you, and closer to Himself. Old men, lead the young men to worship the Ancient of Days; old women, do not let the approaching sunset diminish the glory of the Son Rise. And children, draw close and listen to the Story of how the worst horror become the brightest hope of all.
O, Preacher, give them a reason to come back. When they come to hear again the Miracle that proves all the miracles, let the Light that flashed from the tomb flash from your heart, with the authority of the angels declare that He is alive, flushed with victory over the common Enemy of all mankind, proclaim a Victory that reduces all other struggles to skirmishes, the outcome of which has been predetermined. Preacher, let them feel the ground before the tomb tremble at the coming forth of the Son. Let them hear the eternal song in the angel’s words. Press upon them the promise that because Christ died and rose again, He is coming back for us.
And when they leave the house of worship, may they look to the eastern sky to see if it flashes with His return, and may they spend the rest of their lives listening for His trumpet.
He came back, He is coming back.
Emil Turner serves as executive director of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. He and his wife, Mary, have two sons and two grandsons. Turner enjoys fishing and hunting in his spare time.
$5.20
Posted on Thursday, March 26, 2009
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The bill for the lunches came to $4.80. Charlie could not change the ten dollar bill, so he promised to bring the customer’s change as soon as he could. He forgot. The customer also forgot, and left the cafeteria. Charlie placed the $5.20 beneath the cash drawer to give to the customer when he saw him again. He never did. Months passed and a death in Charlie’s family required a trip home. There was no money for the fare, so Charlie borrowed the $5.20 fully intending to pay it back. But time passed and Charlie forgot.
Charlie Culpepper became a missionary in China. After several years Charlie sought God in a special way, and God reminded him of $5.20. “Lord”, he prayed, “I will give ten times that amount to missions, but I can not confess that to anyone.” Finally, Charlie, in an effort to have peace with God, wrote the president of Baylor, confessing the theft of $5.20 and submitting himself to whatever punishment was required.
Then God sent revival. The great Shantung Revival in northern China began when a missionary named Charlie Culpepper confessed all his sin. Missionaries were revived, people were healed, and thousands were swept into the Kingdom. The revival lasted for years, and God used it to save many before war with Japan and Communism devastated China.
Now, what is in my heart, what is in your heart that hinders God’s work? Have you sinned against someone and tried to cover it with excuses? Is there bitterness? Envy? Resentment? Do you have something you have not paid for? When we are clean, God can use us.
This blog posts every Friday.
turnere.JPGEmil Turner serves as executive director of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. He and his wife, Mary, have two sons and two grandsons. Turner enjoys fishing and hunting in his spare time.
Historia ecclesiastica
The Weblog of Dr. Michael A. G. Haykin
The Ancient Church Fathers: senior partners in a conversation
February 27th, 2009 Posted in Ancient Church: 4th & 5th Centuries, Baptist Life & Thought
I vividly remember a conversation in the early 1990s I had with a person transitioning from Fundamentalism to something further to the left theologically. It was, for me, a defining moment. The topic of the Nicene Creed had been raised and this individual stated that such a document was of no authority in his life since it was written by men and had no divine input.
Such a statement then and now strikes me as both arrogant and false. It fails to understand the profound biblical import of the document concerned. Also at one fell swoop, the entire cast of characters in the history of the Church is disposed of and all that matters is the individual’s own mind and his or her Bible. Of course, I know where this person was coming from: nuda Scriptura, which is essentially an exaltation of autonomy at the expense of all tradition that ultimately leads to a radical individualism well-nigh indistinguishable from a Paine or Emerson—well, the individual would have given this caveat, a commitment to biblical authority. Essentially, though, his view was crafted in the same crucible that saw the rise of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons and the entire nineteenth-century reaction against a learned ministry.
The inimitable Victorian Baptist Charles H. Spurgeon, though, well answered this errant position: “It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others.” [Commenting and Commentaries (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1876), 1].
And, if I were to have that discussion today, I would ask the person to ponder these wise words of J.I. Packer: “Tradition–is the fruit of the Spirit’s teaching activity from the ages as God’s people have sought understanding of Scripture. It is not infallible, but neither is it negligible, and we impoverish ourselves if we disregard it. I am bold to say that evangelicals, even those of Anabaptist polity, should be turned by their own belief in the Spirit as the Church’s teacher into men of tradition, and that if we all dialogued with Christian tradition more we should all end up wiser than we are. [“Upholding the Unity of Scripture Today”, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 25 (1982), 414].
How then to read the Ancient Church Fathers in whose era the Nicene Creed was framed? As Evangelicals who adhere to the Reformation principle of sola Scriptura (something quite different from nuda Scriptura), we cannot read them as authorities alongside Holy Scripture. But we cannot utterly discard them either. Rather, just as the Bible admonishes us to honour the aged among us, so we need to consider the Fathers as senior conversation partners in our theological task—as Packer says, “not infallible, but neither…negligible, and we impoverish ourselves if we disregard” them.
We need to get back to learning from those who have gone before. History is crucial, learning from those who have seen and done helps us calm ourselves in the face of fear. It also helps us prepare and see the real threats.
Just like Monday rolled around again today, Sunday rolled through yesterday like the University of South Florida moving through Gainesville....
