Free Books

You can sign up to win over $80 in free books this week at Passion for Preaching. Check out their Christmas in July book giveaway that includes two great books and a $50 gift certificate from WTSBOOKS.

Big Truths for Young Hearts

I've posted a book review for Big Truths for Young Hearts at Passion for Preaching. I hope that you will check it out, especially if you are a parent.

Infidelity, Grace, and A Christian Response

In light of Mark Sanford's recent confession of infidelity, I admit that my first reaction was very negative. I continue to be saddened by the situation and feel incredible sorrow for the entire Sanford family (as well as the woman involved), however, I am reminded that but for grace, there go I as well. Before we cast stones, let us remember that only God's grace protects us from making sinful blunders, and as soon as we grow confident in our own abilities to resist sin, we will become susceptible to that sin in our own lives.

I am reminded of the need also for accountability. I doubt that Mark Sanford shared with his wife and closest friends that he was tempted into this sin before it ever happened. Instead, this was a "secret" affair. The old adage goes, secrets don't make friends and friends don't make secrets. The only secret you should keep from your spouse should involve cake, candles, and gifts. Other secrets are harmful and potentially deadly to your marriage.

Lastly, I am humbled by the forgiving spirit of his wife. What an example to the world of what forgiveness looks like. I believe that Mark Sanford should honor his wife's commitment to forgiveness by resigning from his position and devoting his time to reconciling with his wife and family. He should also honor the integrity of his position and the people of his state by stepping down.

Be in prayer for the Sanford family and for all families that they could and would resist the temptation to sin and stray.

Sermon Videos

If you haven't checked out our new website at www.malvernhill.org, you should. It's still got some bugs to be worked out, but it is coming along. On our new site, you can see sermon videos. Below I've pasted the sermon from May 31st, and if all goes well, I'll get the video from this past Sunday up today.

May 31st, 2009 Sermon from Malvern Hill Baptist Church on Vimeo.

The Beauty of Silence

In a new article by Albert Mohler he examines the inherit value of silence to human culture, and especially to children.  Here is my favorite excerpt, which he quotes from Susan Hill:

If children do not learn to focus and concentrate in a pool of quietness, their minds become fragmented and their temperaments irritable, their ability to absorb knowledge and sift it, grade it and evaluate it do not develop fully. Reading a book quietly, watching a raindrop slide slowly down a windowpane or a ladybird crawl up a leaf, trying to hear the sound of a cat breathing when it is asleep, asking strange questions, such as, "Where do all the colors go at night?" and speculating about the possible answers — all of these are best done in silence where the imagination can flourish and the intricate minutiae of the world around us can be examined with the greatest concentration.

I encourage you to read "Where Do All The Colors Go At Night?"--Children and The Need for Silence.

Worshiping God Because of His Creation

Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love is one that I would heartily recommend to you.  Today, I'm going to type a selection from his book that inspired me to worship God.  I hope and trust that it will do the same for you.

Did you know that a caterpillar has 228 separate and distinct muscles in its head?  That's quite a few, for a bug.  The average elm tree has approximately 6 million leaves on it.  And your own heart generates enough pressure as it pumps blood throughout your body that it could squirt blood up to thirty feet.  (I've never tried this, and don't recommend it.)

Have you ever thought about how diverse and creative God is?  He didn't have to make hundreds of different kinds of bananas, but he did.  He didn't have to put 3,000 species of trees within one square mile in the Amazon jungle, but he did.  God didn't have to create so many kinds of laughter.  Think about the different sounds of your friends' laughs--wheezes, snorts, silent, loud, obnoxious.

How about the way plants defy gravity by drawing water upward from the ground into their stems and veins?  Or did you know that spiders produce three kinds of silk?  WHen they build their webs, they create sixty feet of silk in one hour, simultaneously producing special oil on their feet that prevents them from sticking to their own web.  (Most of us hate spiders, but sixty feet an hour deserves some respect!)  Coral plants are so sensitive that they can die if the water temperature varies by even one or two degrees.  

Did you know that when you get goose bumps, the hair in your follicles is actually helping you stay warmer by trapping body heat?  Or what about the simple fact that plants take in carbon dioxide (which is harmful to us) and produce oxygen (which we need to survive)?  Im' sure you knew that, but have you ever marveled at it?  And these same poison-swallowing, life-giving plants came from tiny seeds that were placed in the dirt.  Some were watered, some weren't; but after a few days they poked through the soil and out into the warm sunlight.

Whatever God's reasons for such diversity, creativity, and sophistication in the universe, on earth, and in our own bodies, the point of it all is His glory.  Gods art speaks of Himself, reflecting who He is and what He is like.

Bad Language in the Pulpit

I encourage you to click over to PassionforPreaching and check out my latest article there titled, Exposition and Explicatives that deals with the issue of bad language in the pulpit. Ephesians 5:4 says "Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving."

Needless to say, I believe that this imperative applies to pastors and preachers as well as those who sit in chairs and pews. After all, teachers will be judged more harshly than those who do not teach (James 3:1).

Intentional Potential

It has been said that "potential is what you ain't done yet."  Sure, this is not proper English, but it is absolutely true.  Many people love to talk about their potential, but this is simply because they have not yet accomplished anything to talk about.

We all have the potential to be mature Christians, but have you attained to that maturity yet?

Paul says in Colossians 1:28 that it should be our goal to present everyone mature in Christ.  That is my goal, and it is my responsibility as a pastor to equip the saints under my charge so that they may attain to that maturity.  I have to be intentional in my ministry.

However, unless you are intentional in your efforts to grow in Christ, you will remain a baby in the faith, never being weaned from the spiritual bottle.  You have the potential, but are you being intentional in your attempts to reach your potential?

Time and Time Again

As a follow up to yesterday's post on planning, I just ran across an article from my buddy Travis Agnew.  He apparently has some of the same kinds of things on his mind these days and has listed some very practical advice for planning your day.  See his blog here.

My favorite quote from Travis today:

Are you leading the day or is the day leading you?

 

God Is A Long-Range Planner

I am not an incredibly organized person. However, in my quiet time yesterday I encountered Psalm 139:16:

In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for
me, when as yet there were none of them.

This passage served two purposes for me.

1. I was encouraged as I was reminded that nothing will happen to me that God does not know about or that God did not plan. God has my every hour and moment in his total control and I can rest confident in the good plans of my God (Romans 8:28)
2. It occurred to me that if God plans my days and I am called to be like him, then I too should plan my days. Not only will I get more accomplished as I'm more organized, but I will be more like God as I'm planning my days.

Free Book

You can win a copy of Greg Mathis new book, God Is Able! But Am I Willing? by clicking here.

Albert Mohler on Mother's Day

Now that Mother's Day for 2009 is over, perhaps a bit of second-guessing is in order. Americans have celebrated Mother's Day for over a century, and the observance has grown to become one of the nation's most popular annual events. But is it good for motherhood?

Back in 1858, Anna Reeves Jarvis organized the precursor to Mother's Day as a way to protest a lack of sanitation in rural Appalachia. Later, Julia Ward Howe would organize what became "Mother's Days for Peace" in protest of all war. Howe, who wrote the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," pledged: "Our husbands shall not come to us reeking with carnage. . . . Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience."

Then, as Ruth Rosen reports at Slate.com:

When Anna Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, also named Anna, vowed to honor her mother's political activism by creating a national Mother's Day. The gift card and flower industries also lobbied hard. As an industry publication, the Florists' Review, put it, "This was a holiday that could be exploited." In 1914, Congress responded and proclaimed the second Sunday in May to be Mother's Day.

As Rosen explains, the women behind Mother's Day were convinced that the moral superiority of women was grounded in the experience of motherhood.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation setting Mother's Day as the second Sunday each May. The focus was not to be on honoring all American mothers in common, but each family's mother in each home, thus Mother's Day -- not Mothers' Day. Wilson's statements reflected both moralism and sentimentalism.

Before long, however, the observance became commercialized. It came early enough to outrage Anna Jarvis, but she fought a losing battle against the florists, marketers, and other commercial interests. She died regretting that she had conceived the idea of Mother's Day in the first place.
Now, Mother's Day ranks number one among all annual occasions in terms of eating out. As for total spending on gifts, some analysts believe that Mother's Day has now pushed Valentine's Day into third place. While not everyone has a valentine, almost everyone has someone to honor on Mother's Day. Counting grandmothers, mothers-in-law, and assorted other maternal figures, this adds up to a huge consumer event.

All this was enough to make Anna Jarvis regret her idea, but consumerism is not the worst thing to happen to Mother's Day. The worst part of Mother's Day is the flood of sentimentality that masquerades as affection and honor.

Sentiment drives Mother's Day as a gargantuan observance. We Americans feel better about ourselves when we honor motherhood -- or when we spend a few dollars on overpriced greeting cards, flowers, and food and convince ourselves that this is honoring our mothers.

There is nothing wrong about sentiment in itself, but there is something pornographic about the pathos of sentimentalism that this observance produces -- a sentimentalism so often devoid of content.

The Christian vision of motherhood is more about courage and faithfulness than about sentimentalism. The mothers of the Bible are a tough lot. Jochebed put her baby in a floating ark of bulrushes, defying the order of Pharaoh that all Hebrew male children be put to death. Rachel, mother to Joseph and Benjamin, died giving birth to Benjamin. Hannah promised her son to God, and presented Samuel as a young boy for service in the House of the Lord. Mary, the mother of Jesus, risked shame and disgrace to bear the Savior, and to provide all Christians with a model of brave and unflinching obedience. She was there when Jesus Christ was crucified. As Simeon had told her just after the birth of Christ, "Behold this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." [Luke 2:34-35]

A corsage hardly seems appropriate.

Christians must resist the reduction of motherhood to sentimentality, and particularly that sentimentalism that undermines what mothers are truly to represent -- nurture, fortitude, courage, dedication, faithfulness, discipline, and trust in God.

Mother's Day is a bad idea because it subverts the reality of faithful mothering and robs faithful mothers of their true glory. Mothers deserving of honor are handed cards and taken to lunch, when songs of praise should instead be offered to the glory of God. Undeserving mothers, who abdicate their true responsibility, are honored just because they are mothers. Children, young and old, who ignore and dishonor their mothers by word and by life throughout the year, assuage their guilt by making a big deal of Mother's Day.

So, Mother's Day is a bad idea.

Then again, Mother's Day is impossible to ignore. What quality of ingratitude marks the son or daughter (or husband) who does not honor mothers on Mother's Day? There was I yesterday, with son and daughter, honoring both their mother (my dear wife, Mary) and my mother-in-law. Yes, we had a celebratory meal out and we passed out greeting cards with our own personal inscriptions. Gifts were delivered, and all the right things were said. Calls were made to my mother, several states away.

In the end, we are all like little children who push crumpled hand-made greeting cards toward Mom, who then accepts our grubby offerings with love and gratitude.

So much for avoiding sentimentality. Let's just make certain that there is more to Mother's Day than sentiment. The mothers we should honor are those who raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, who honor their marriages and live faithfully, who teach and nurture and discipline by the Bible. These are mothers who defy the spirit of the age, protect their children from danger, maintain godly discipline and order in the home, and feed their children the pure milk of God's Word.

These mothers deserve honor upon honor, and their reward will be great in heaven. Yet, in the meantime, a card and a kiss on Mother's Day won't hurt. It's just not nearly enough.

New Book: Big Truths for Young Hearts

Bruce Ware has a new book coming out tomorrow that I have not yet read but that has received wonderful reviews so far. I will be reviewing this book in the next couple of weeks, but I feel pretty confident in recommending this book to parents now. The books is titled, Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God. You can find a review of the book here, and a Q&A with Bruce Ware here.

Parents and Children's workers should take a serious look at this book.

A different Kind of Sermon

A couple of years ago I was introduced to Sermon Jams. Essentially, Sermon Jams are portions of sermons set to a beat, usually a hip-hop beat. Since then, I have become a huge fan. The guys with this ministry now have five volumes of Sermon Jams available for free download at http://www.1031sermonjams.com/ (I would reccommend volume 5, Strength Remix by Piper). One of my favorites comes from Ravi Zacharias and can be seen and heard below. This is a great and unique ministry that you may find beneficial.

Matt Chandler Video on Irrevrent Silly Myths

Great Sundays Make Great Mondays

Mondays are tough, no doubt about that. But, I have come to realize that showing up at the office on Monday is not so bad when it is preceded by a great Sunday. I'm thankful for a church family that gives me so many wonderful Sundays.

Yesterday was a great Sunday for us. God blessed us with the presence of his Holy Spirit in an amazing way and for that reason, I am anxious and excited to work and study today. May God give us all many more great Mondays in the future because of great Sundays of worship.

Recessions and Religion

Revivals are often birthed out of recessions, out of tough times. Three things go up in recessions: church attendance, bar attendance, and movie attendance. Why those three things? They represent the three things people are looking for: meaning, connection, and relief.
- Pastor Rick Warren

More on this later

Emotional (Angry?) Preaching

I've built upon my short post on this site earlier this week and have written an article about Hard Hitting Preaching which you can find here.

Hard Hitting Sermons

Sometimes, my sermons are pretty harsh. It's just my nature to be blunt and loud, but it's the nature of God's word to divide and conquer your flesh. I once heard an old preacher say that if it seems as though the preaching of God's word is stroking the cat the wrong way, it's not the job of the pastor to change the word, it's the responsibility of the cat to turn around.

When my preaching is loud and abrasive, my concern and prayer is that my tone will not overshadow the message of God's word. I hope that my messages always convey the love of Christ to his people and the love of this pastor toward his church. My prayer is that my love, however, will always be true love that speaks the truth and never feigned love that lauds sin in the name of being nice or elevating self-esteem.

Marriage and Men

This is a sermon that every man and every married couple in America should watch. This makes a great follow up to my last post concerning men performing as Spiritual leaders in the home.

Mark Driscoll never minces words, and this is a great example of a hard hitting sermon challenging men to step up to the plate.