Learning how to respond to criticism

Apelles has an interesting post on taking criticism. He starts out by writing,

"I received word about some criticism of me recently. The news came secondhand and long after the criticism had been leveled. It still hurt. If you’re like me, criticism is not easy for you to deal with. Being criticized can reveal anger, the fear of man, and self-vindication. In short, it can expose raw pride.

One of my initial reactions to criticism tends to be anger. I want to know who said what and why, and then I want to unload on them. The anger gnaws away, overcoming even repeated attempts to push it back. I want to lash out and hurt the one who criticized me. I want to make them pay in some way. Regardless of the form, I seek vengeance.

Ironically, criticism also reveals the fear of man. I fixate on the opinions of the very people who stir my anger. Criticism stings so sharply because I value the opinion of others so greatly. My ability to please or impress is challenged by criticism, and because I wrongly value my worth in others’ eyes criticism cuts like a knife."

Read the rest.

Becoming Conversant with Emergent Church

The emerging church is another dangerous trend that is picking up steam in the evangelical church. Many younger Christians are fascinated with the latest and the greatest believing the newest is the truest. Don Carson has written a helpful, insightful, criticque of the Emergent Chuch called Becoming Conversant with Emergent. You can read a 6 part review of that book by Dr. Sam Storms of Enjoying God Ministries at these links

part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
part 6

New Perspective on Paul

Don Carson has some new lectures (April 2005) on what the New Perspective on Paul is all about.

Here is one link to them.

If you don't know what the NPP is, it is a dangerous teaching that many evangelicals are fascinated with that totally changes the meaning of justification by faith alone. It is a real danger to the church.

Children's Ministry: Give them the Bible

A great need in the church today is a recovering of the gospel in children's ministry. We are so prone to entertain or think that our children can't handle the weighter truths of God's Word (which results in giving them nothing but the simplest of truths over and over again. Russell Moore and Phil Johnson provide two must read articles for all Christian parents who are serious about raising "oaks of righteousness" for Christ as well as every children's worker in the church. Two curricula that will be helpful to consider in achieving the goals of these articles are Generations of Grace and Children Desiring God.

Defending Truth with a loving and tolerant spirit

Justin Taylor placed three excellent quotes for meditation on his weblog this from one older Christian and two dead ones who still speak. The citations deall with how to speak the truth in the heat of controversy:

"As to your opponent, I wish, that, before you set pen to paper against him, and during the whole time you are preparing your answer, you may commend him by earnest prayer to the Lord’s teaching and blessing. This practice will have a direct tendency to conciliate your heart to love and pity him; and such a disposition will have a good influence upon every page you write. . . . [If he is a believer,] in a little while you will meet in heaven; he will then be dearer to you than the nearest friend you have upon earth is to you now. Anticipate that period in your thoughts. . . . [If he is an unconverted person,] he is a more proper object of your compassion than your anger. Alas! 'He knows not what he does.' But you know who has made you to differ [1 Cor. 4:7]. "

—John Newton, “On Controversy” [Letter XIX], vol. 1 of The Works of the Rev. John Newton (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1985), 269.

"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle front besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point." (Luther's Works. Weimar Edition. Briefwechsel [Correspondence], vol. 3, pp. 81f.)

“We need to distinguish between the tolerant mind and the tolerant spirit. Tolerant in spirit a Christian should always be, loving, understanding, forgiving and forbearing others, making allowances for them, and giving them the benefit of the doubt, for true love ‘bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things’ [1 Cor. 13:7]. But how can we be tolerant in mind of what God has plainly revealed to be either evil or erroneous?”

—John R.W. Stott, Christ the Controversialist (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1970), 8.

Was Paul on to something?

I have been asked as a pastor many times, "Do you think that mothers should stay at home with their children, especially when they are young?" What about Titus 2:3-5 that talks about teaching young women to be "working at home"? Mary Eberstadt has written a book that I have started reading that shows the negative side of day care centers and of family-child separations that occur every day in America. Also the case against day-care receives some support from a rather surprising source. I recognize there may be some exceptions that necessitate a mother working outside the home, but I believe these are few and far between. Weigh the evidence and have a biblical reason for your position.

A Review of Girl Talk

My daughter Camille just finished Girl Talk and here is her review.

Century after century, Chinese mothers would teach their daughters a 'secret' language called Nushu. This language was never seen by masculine eyes. It was unique to the women alone. Three days after her daughter was married, the mother would give the young bride a book in which to write Nushu. This journal of her marriage would be used as a teaching tool when it came time to teach her daughter Nushu.

Girl Talk is an excellent book. Written by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughter Nicole Whitacre, this book offers helpful insight on communication, conflict, biblical womanhood, and modesty. With a myriad of scripture references, this book is a must have for all Christian teen aged girls and their mothers. I loved the easy-flowing conversational style! It has so many real life examples and for-instances.

Carolyn and Nicole compare the language of biblical womanhood to Nushu It is something very important to pass on to our daughters. Unfortunately, just like Nushu, biblical womanhood is becoming viewed as old fashioned. Let's not let biblical womanhood die, though. We must preserve this jewel. I am so grateful to Carolyn and Nicole for writing this book. They should be an example to us all regarding what girl talk is all about.

Praying Continually: What Does It Look Like Everyday.

As I preach through Thessalonians, God has been teaching me about praying continually. I am currently seeking to be intentional and disciplined in my seasons of prayer especially in my early morning season of prayer. I am just beginning and so my spiritual journey in this area is far from exemplary. As I prepared for my message on 1 Thessalonians 5:17 however, I consulted this resource on how to develop a daily plan for continual prayer. I commend it to you.

Are you a worrywart?

How often does anxiety grip you? How often would you say that your experience the peace of God in your life? I struggle with worry like other Christians do. So right now I am reading a book called Down but Not Out by Wayne Mack. Wayne has had extensive experience as a biblical counselor, is on the governing board of NANC and FIRE Fellowship. I had an opportunity recently to meet and spend some time with Dr. Mack at a recent fellowship conference.

We all tend to downplay certain sins at least in our minds. But worry is a serious problem that we should grapple with in our lives. It is a universal, common, and dailyis problem in most lives. Worry has serious consequences, just look at how worry gripped Saul's life as he worried about David and because of it much bloodshed and heartache ensued in Saul's administration. Several sins directly flow from worry such as depression, discouragment, and unbelief. Worry opens the door to the devil's influence in our lives and drives out the Word from our lives. Worry causes physical problems. One leading gastrointestinal doctor thought that worry contributed to at least 80% of his patient's problems. Worry hinders our performance and usefulness and destroys our happiness. Worry is a complete waste of time and energy.

There is never any situation or circumstance that requires or excuses worry.

When we do worry we really are questioning God's truthfulness, His sovereignty, His sincerity and His sufficiency. When we worry we are thinking, "I should be able to control this situation and handle it by myself."

We truly live in an age of anxiety but Philippians 4:6-7 is still true: "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7, ESV)

When David was fleeing from his son Absalom, he lay down and went to sleep. When Peter was in prison after Herod had arrested James and killed him, Peter was sleeping that night when two angels came to rescue him. When Paul and Silas were in prison, they were singing and praising God at midnight. So God's peace can work! We just have to believe it and act upon what we know is right and true.

I will share more about what Dr. Mack teaches me in some coming posts.

Applying Romans 3:10-18

James White points out a story that should convince people of total depravity.

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God

Tim Challies answers well the sincere question, "If you believe God has elected certain ones to salvation, that man is totally depraved, and that God's grace is irresistible (that is, that once a person has been elected and regenerated he can't not choose God), then why should you be worried about evangelism. I have had that question asked me several times. In his response he includes a brief quote from J. I. Packer's excellent book Evangelism in the Sovereignty of God.

"If we forget that it is God's prerogative to give results when the gospel is preached, we shall start to think that it is our responsibility to secure them. And if we forget that only God can give faith, we shall start to think that the making of converts depends, in the last analysis, not on God, but on us, and that the decisive factor is the way in which we evangelize. And this line of thought, consistently followed through, will lead us far astray.

Let us work this out. If we regarded it as our job, not simply to present Christ, but actually to produce converts—to evangelize, not only faithfully, but also successfully —our approach to evangelism would become pragmatic and calculating. We should conclude that our basic equipment, both for personal dealing and for public preaching, must be twofold. We must have, not merely a clear grasp of the meaning and application of the gospel, but also an irresistible technique for inducing a response. We should, therefore, make it our business to try and develop such a technique. And we should evaluate all evangelism, our own and other people's, by the criterion, not only of the message preached, but also the visible results. If our own efforts were not bearing fruit, we should conclude that our technique still needed improving. If they were bearing fruit, we should conclude that this justified the technique we had been using. We should regard evangelism as an activity involving a battle of wills between ourselves and those to whom we go, a battle in which victory depends on our firing off a heavy enough barrage of calculated effects. Thus our philosophy of evangelism would become terrifyingly similar to the philosophy of brainwashing. And we would not longer be able to argue, when such a similarity is asserted to be fact, that this is not a proper conception of evangelism...

...It is right to recognize our responsibility to engage in aggressive evangelism. It is our right to desire the conversion unbelievers. It is right to want one's presentation of the gospel to be as clear and forcible as possible. If we preferred that converts should be few and far between, and did not care whether our proclaiming of Christ went home or not, there would be something wrong with us. But it is not right when we take it on us to do more than God has given us to do. It is not right when we regard ourselves as responsible for securing converts, and look to our own enterprise and techniques to accomplish what only God can accomplish...only by letting our knowledge of God's sovereignty control the way in which we plan, and pray, and work in His service, can we avoid becoming guilty of this fault."

Read the rest of his article here.

Is Fundamentalism Dead or Not?

What is the future of fundamentalism? Phil Johnson has the links to some of the excellent discussion that is taking place about the history and future of the movement. The issue of biblical separation is thoroughly debated here as well as many other interesting points.

Read Phil Johnson's new blog

Phil Johnson, executive editor at Grace to You, has a new blog called pyromaniac that is just outstanding! Phil always makes me think hard about the issues he addresses. Make it a part of your bookmarks! It is on my must read list!

New resources for women of all ages

A few weeks ago I bought a copy of Girl Talk for my daughter. She and my wife are reading it right now. Sovereign Grace Ministries has announced that Girl Talk will start a new blog June 20th. Here is the announcement:

Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters are always talking to each other, and now they want to invite you to join their conversation. Their new weblog: ‘Girl Talk: Conversations on Biblical Womanhood and other Fun Stuff’ premieres this month on June 20.

Women of all ages and seasons of life—from preteen girls to single women, from the newly married to grandmothers, and everyone in between—can benefit from Carolyn’s wise counsel, read interviews with other authors, and of course share in the fun and laughter. Most of all, Carolyn, Nicole, Kristin, and Janelle hope you’ll find renewed joy in the gospel and the high calling of biblical womanhood.

Join in the conversation.

The Armor of God and the Godly Family

At a conference I attended recently I was really challenged by one message on putting on the armor of God. What struck me the most was the fact that the context of Ephesians 6:10-18 was really every day life. Derek Prime, a minister from Scotland noted that the context of this passage goes all the way back to Ephesians 5:21 and discusses such relationships as the family and your work situation. It seems as if Paul was saying, "The biggest spiritual battles you will face will be in your home and at work." And if my counseling situations reflect reality at all, the biggest area of spiritual conflict is in the home.

Even in the "best" of Christian homes, there is pain and disappointment over unreconciled relationships. The fruit of the Spirit is not intentionally practicedl. The most basic spiritual principles such as loving God and one's neighbor (beginning with those you live with it) are overlooked. The most basic questions are often not considered. How do you love your wife? How does the wife love and submit to her husband? How are we to raise our children? How are children to honor and obey their parents?

Perhaps my biggest discouragement comes from our inabilities as humans to reconcile. It is inevitable for problems and conflict to arise. Yet, we know very little and we work very little to resolve the issues at hand. How do you protect your children from a sinful world? How do you raise them to be prepared and responsible to do spiritual battle on their own and not just adopt an isolationist mentality? How do you train them to be in the world, but not of it?

The Scriptures give much hope and help. In Ephesians 5:22-6:4, the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reveals roles and responsibilities for family members. They are the following:

1. Wives must submit to their husbands.
2. Wives must submit to the Lord.
3. Husbands are the heads of the wives.
4. Wives must submit to their husbands in everything just as the church submits to Christ.
5. Husbands must love their wives just as Christ loved the church.
6. Husbands must love their wives as their own bodies.
7. Husbands must love their wives as they love themselves.
8. Wives must respect their husbands.
9. Children must obey their parents in the Lord.
10. Children must honor their fathers.
11. Children must honor their mothers.
12. Fathers must not exasperate their children.
13. Fathers must bring their children up in the training of the Lord.
14. Fathers must bring their children up in the instruction of the Lord.

Imagine if every family in the world did this! How amazing families would be!

This all can begin to happen if we first see and savor Jesus Christ for who He really is! Jesus Christ is the very Son of God who came into this world as a man to die for sinner--sinners who deserve nothing less than eternal punishment in hell. But God in His mercy sent Christ to bear the penalty for all sinners who would repent of their sin and believe in the Son's finished work. Only as we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ can we be reconciled to each other. Surrending to Christ brings reconciliation with God and empowers us to have reconciliation with others.

Do you follow Jesus? Does your family treasure Jesus? If not, consider Him. He wants to help your family. He wants to bring about better relationships. Yet, that can only happen when people start surrendering their lives to Him.

So, put on the Lord Jesus Christ today and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Put on the armor of God today as you live with your family. Surrender your life to Him. Delight in the Lord! Let's do this in the home, a key battlefield for real spiritual warfare.

Open Theism

Several years ago now I warned my flock about the dangers of open theism. I began a two part message with these words: “What does God know?” and “When does God know it?” These startling question lie at the heart of what may well become the hottest theological debate among evangelical Christians in the next few months. At stake is whether evangelical churches remain committed to what the church has always believed about God, or veer off in favor of a more user-friendly deity."

Since that time, the debate has intensified and more professing evangelicals are promoting the view. For a more detailed treatment you can read my sermons. (pt. 1 and pt. 2) Sean Doherty has a basic statement of what Open Theism teaches:

"Open Theism" basically claims that God does not know the entire future, and the future is not therefore utterly set and unalterable. This might be because God deliberately chooses to limit his knowledge (e.g. of which human beings will choose to know him and which will reject him) or because it is simply not in God's nature to know the future exhaustively. Because God doesn't know everything that will happen, God is not himself limited or definitively committed to any particular course of action (e.g. which human beings he will save). God is open and the future is open. This does not exclude the idea that God might know much about the future and might be completely decided in certain courses of action (e.g. to become incarnate and die to rescue us from sin and death, to return in glory and bring healing and deliverance from pain and misery and to conquer death, etc). But it leaves open certain (more minor) things, such as whether God will make it sunny today or whether he will reduce Sodom and Gomorrah to rubble.

This solves oodles of problems. Firstly, it explains why God created the world even though the world became a place of great suffering. Secondly, it explains how prayer works (God can really be affected by it). Thirdly, it prevents God from being seen as arbitrary and cruel in choosing to save some people but not others - because it's up to them. Fourthly it means human beings have genuine free will."

Edwards still speaks!

"[Christians] may rejoice that they have a strong city, unto which God has appointed salvation for walls and bulwarks. And whatever bitterness their enemies manifest against them, and however subtle and violent they may be in their attacks upon them, they may still stand on high, on their munitions of rocks on which God has set them, and laugh their foes to scorn, and glory in the Most High as their sure refuge and defence. The everlasting arms are underneath them. Jehovah, who rides upon the heavens, is their help. And all their foes he will subdue under his feet; so that they may well rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the rock of their salvation." (Jonathan Edwards, Charity and Its Fruits [Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1998], p. 302) (HT: Jason Engwer)

History does matter

I love history, both church history and otherwise. We need to be students of history I believe. Paleoevangelical writes,

". . . God ordains that events happen and that they get recorded as history so that we will learn them and become wiser and more insightful about the present for the sake of Christ and his church. Never stop learning history. Gain some knowledge every day. And let us give our children one of the best protections against the folly of the future, namely, a knowledge of the past."

John Piper writes on the value of history and concludes with these words: "Is it not clear, then, that God ordains that events happen and that they get recorded as history so that we will learn them and become wiser and more insightful about the present for the sake of Christ and his church. Never stop learning history. Gain some knowledge every day. And let us give our children one of the best protections against the folly of the future, namely, a knowledge of the past."

A good children's Bible

Many times parents ask me about a good Bible for their children. One that I am excited to check out is the new ESV Children's Bible that is coming in August. Check out a few of the illustrations and a pre-release ad.

How much do you know about the Bible?

Tim Challies has a recent post about how little people know about the Bible including a video link to a Jay Leno "man on the street" interview from 1997 where people could not give answers to questions like "Where was Eve made from? Who were Adam's and Eve's children? and Who got swallowed by a whale (big fish)?" We have ou job cut out for us as we minister in this post modern society.

Needed reminders for preachers

Al Mohler reminded me yesterday of the importance of the Spirit of God in preaching. O, Lord help me to always remember the necessity of being prayed up and full of your Spirit as I proclaim your Word! This is a needed word for all who handle God's Word regularly!

"Look you, sir, you may study your sermon; you may examine the original of your text; you may critically follow it out in all its bearings; you may go and preach it with great correctness of expression; but you cannot quicken a soul by that sermon. You may go up into your pulpit; you may illustrate, explain, and enforce the truth; with mighty rhetoric you may charm your hearers; you may hold them spellbound; but no eloquence of yours can raise the dead. . . . You may organize your societies, you may have excellent methods, you may diligently pursue this course and that; but when you have done all, nothing comes of it if the effort stands by itself. Only as the Spirit of God shall bless men by you, shall they receive a blessing through you. Whatever your ability or experience, it is the Spirit of God, who must bless your labour. Therefore, never go to this service with a boast upon your lip of what you can do, or with the slightest trace of self-confidence; else will you go in a spirit which will prevent the Holy Ghost from working with or through you.

O brethren, think nothing of us who preach to you! If ever you do, our power will be gone. If you begin to suppose that such and such a minister having been blessed of God to so many thousands will necessarily be the means of the conversion of your friend, you are imputing to a son of man what belongs only to the Son of God; and you will assuredly do that pastor or that minister a serious mischief by tolerating in your heart so idolatrous a thought. We are nothing; you are nothing. 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts,' is a message that should make us lie in the dust and utterly despair of doing anything in and of ourselves, seeing that all the power is of God alone. It will do us good to be very empty, to be very weak, to be very distrustful of self, and so to go about our Master's work."

See "Come From the Four Winds, O Breath!" by Charles H. Spurgeon, preached at Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, May 15, 1890.

For an excellent Web resource featuring the work of Charles H. Spurgeon, visit www.spurgeon.org, established and maintained by Phillip R. Johnson.