Archive for the 'five15 blog' category
Reminder:
We have a five15 BIG MEETING on Saturday. Seita is going to speak from James 2:1-13, helping us learn how to not show partiality. Not sure what that means? Come find out!
As usual, Pizza and Ping-Pong starts at 5:15pm; the meeting begins at 6:30pm. See you there!
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I’m always curious about what other people are reading. What’s on your bedside table? Or if there isn’t much you’re reading right now, what are your plans for summer reading?
The following books aren’t all literary on my bedside table, but here’s what I’m reading. I’m the kind of person who reads several different books at the same time. Each has a different purpose, and is for a different time and place.
DEVOTIONAL:
- The Bible, by God. Reading Isaiah. Just finished John. About to go back to Psalms. I prefer the ESV, and I’m using The Literary Study Bible this year. Love it.
- A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent. I need to be reminded of the gospel everyday!
- Praying the Lord’s Prayer by J.I. Packer. Because I want to pray better.
- The Death of Christ by James Denney. An old, classic explanation of substitutionary atonement.
TO GROW:
- Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. For the Book Club! Fun stuff.
- Christian Mission in the Modern World by John Stott. A topic I want to understand better.
- The Reason for God by Tim Keller. Heard a lot about it, want to see for myself.
- The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Volume 1, by John Calvin. A (perhaps overly-) ambitious summer reading project with my friend Jed. We’re going to try to read the entire unabridged Ford Lewis Battles translation this summer. Yahoo. Anyone want to join us? 1550 pages in 90 days-how hard can it be?
FOR FUN:
- Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe. I like reading classic literature, and this is a keeper. I was inspired to read this after talking about the real-life Robinson Crusoe, Alexander Selkirk.
- The Perfect Mile, by Neal Bascomb. My sister loaned me this book since we are both runners and I was a miler in high school. Of course, I never came anywhere near a four-minute mile, so this book is fascinating to me.
How about you? Tell us about it!
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In case you missed the family meeting a week and a half ago, Mark showed us a picture of what you can expect your newly ordained pastors to look like in the next few years:
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For those who went to New Attitude, welcome home! How was it? What did you enjoy most? How did God meet you?
For those who did not go to New Attitude, the messages are available as free downloads. Check out the New Attitude Flickr page if you want to see what it was like.
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Looked Upon (Lu for short) is the latest music offering by Sovereign Grace. Performed by the New Attitude band, led by Devon Kauflin (son of Bob), and produced by Jeremy White (Asleep in the Storm), this is a contemporary take on old hymns, with a couple original songs for good measure.
Here you’ll find new great arrangements of songs we already know and love (God Over All; Ransomed) as well as songs you may have never heard before. The theology these songs convey is powerful, the music original and rich. My favorites so far are the contemplative “My Lord I Did Not Choose You” and “All I Have Is Christ”. Where else do we get to sing of God’s electing grace and regenerating power in such lyrically compelling and musically rich ways?
The CD is available for download, and I’m sure we’ll have it in our bookstore soon.
If you’re interested, the New Attitude website features an interview in two parts with Devon and Jeremy. Read Part 1 and Part 2.
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At Manskool last Saturday, we spent some time talking about how to make the best use of the time this summer (remember, fellas: we are memorizing Ephesians 5:15-16 together!). I’m giving you these now so that you can start planning for the summer before it actually gets here; the guys came up with such a good list that I thought everyone might benefit from these:
- Pray. We need God’s help. He wants us to pray to him. Come on Saturday or Sunday mornings to pray for the church. Pray attention as you read Scripture, and write out Biblical prayers as models for you own. Keep a list in your Moleskine of those who need prayer. Pray for them!
- Read good books. Come to the Do Hard Things Book Club. But read more than just Do Hard Things. Funny thing about it is that Do Hard Things isn’t a hard book. So push yourself this summer to read something hard. Recommendations coming shortly.
- Memorize Scripture. It’s not as hard as you might think, especially if you decide to memorize a chapter of the Bible or even one of the shorter books. A pastor in Durham has put together a very helpful guide for the extended memorization of Scripture.
- No video games. Maybe no video games is a bit much, but how about less video games? What else could you do with that time? What could you do that will make a difference in 50, 500, or 5000 years?
- Work/serve. Get a job. If you’re too young, serve around the house. If you’re not sure what to do, ask.
- Watch John Piper on YouTube. Not just John Piper, of course. But listen to preaching. Review the Sunday message each week. Or listen to important sermons by other pastors, too.
- Fellowship. Do these things together with other Christians. When you’re talking, don’t talk about nothing (there is always more nothing to talk about). Instead, make a point of having God-centered conversations. Find out how God has been meeting your friends through his word.
- Care for/mentor your younger siblings. Make a difference. Don’t just tell them what to do. Show them.
- Work out. Go for a walk. Or a run. Or a ride.
- Prepare for next year. Vacation is just around the corner, but the next school year is just around the corner after that. Wise Christians don’t just slide into things, they prepare. How can you create a schedule for yourself this summer that will prepare you for the school year, positioning you to continue meeting with God, serving, spending time with family, etc.
- Create a schedule/plan. What do you want to do this summer? Write it down. Have your parents look at it and give you feedback. Good intentions alone will only get you a wasted summer. Write out a plan for the books you are going to read this summer; who you are going to pray for; what time you are going to go to bed and when you’ll get up; when, where, and how often you are going to meet with God; what times and in what ways you are going to ask for Dad and Mom’s help to grow in the Christian life; and so on.
To motivate you, a share this William Wilberforce quote, recently posted on the Desiring God blog:
Yet thus life rolls away with too many of us in a course of shapeless idleness. Its recreations constitute its chief business…amusements are multiplied, and combined, and varied, to fill up the void of a listless and languid life; and by the judicious use of these different resources, there is often a kind of sober settled plan of domestic dissipation, in which with all imaginable decency year after year wears away in unprofitable vacancy. Even old age often finds us pacing in the same round of amusements which our early youth had tracked out.
What do you plan to do this summer to avoid shapeless idleness, the void of a listless and languid life, and unprofitable vacancy?
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New Attitude begins tomorrow. Please be praying for the 100 or so members of our church who will be joining hundreds more in Louisville, Kentucky for the next few days.
Eric Simmons, who leads Na, recently asked people to pray for the following:
- safe travel for attendees
- conference speakers
- conference admin team
- community group and family group leaders
- pastors attending the conference
If you would like to follow along with what is happening at the conference, read the LiveBlog by pastor Justin Buzzard.
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I am always on the lookout for simple, concise, one-sentence definitions of the gospel. I think it is important to be able to explain the gospel in a clear, simple way. Of course, the best are in Scripture:
“…Christ died for our sins…” (1 Corinthians 15:3)
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-26)
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this faith in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
I think my favorite definition outside Scripture is this one:
The Gospel is “the good news of salvation for hell-deserving sinners through the person and work of Jesus Christ.” Milton Vincent, The Gospel Primer.
Closer to home:
“God pardons & accepts me, a believing sinner, because Christ took my place.” Mark Mullery
Here’s a new one for my collection, that I got from pastor-blogger Thabiti Anyabwile:
“Jesus Christ, the Son of God crucified, is the Wisdom of God, by which the love of God can save sinners from the wrath of God, and all the while uphold and demonstrate the righteousness of God.” John Piper, “Conversion to Christ: The Making of a Christian Hedonist,” Matthew 13:44-46.
What about you? Got a favorite I should add to my collection?
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