";
echo "Esse arquivo contm $groups grupos e um total de $total marcaes.";
}
?>
Think About These Things...Phil 4:8 - Jacob Hantla's Attempt to "Think about these things"
Think About These Things...Phil 4:8
Archives
Stuff
The Value of Hanging Out
Jim Elliff speaking on "The Value of Hanging Out" writes that the value lies in building relationships. And he's not talking of just hanging out with friends, but of doing what you might rather do at home, where you won't be bothered (i.e. reading, blogging, writing, etc) in a location where you want to be bothered. I recommend you read the essay and then go buy Mark Dever's book The Gospel and Personal Evangelism which speaks of many of the same things. Then let's do it.
Then let me challenge myself and others to go the next step...With those who we hang out with in the neutral location of a coffee shop or restaurant or commons at a University, let's demonstrate radical hospitality (follow the link to see what I'm talking about). Christian, at cost to ourselves, let us emulate the love of Christ by meeting real physical needs AND bringing them the good news that Christ has met their ultimate needs.
This truly is an area where I need to grow. If you know me, consider this an invitation to accountability in this area.
Huge Christian Audiobook Sale?
ChristianAudio has recently posted a warning that they are expecting, due to the simultaneous release of the free audiobook of the month and some ridiculous sale, to crash their servers. So my advice is to plan on budgetting some money for November for audiobooks.
While it's still October, make sure you go get the free audiobook this month: Life of David Brainerd. Use the code OCT2007 to get it for free.
Keywords: audiobook,brainerd,free,sale
Ultrasound #2
We had ultrasound #2...and got to hear a heartbeat! Praise God, again. If you don't know what we're talking about, read the announcement.
Keywords: baby,ultrasound
Putting Marriage in Perspective: Temporary and Secondary to the Church
My smallgroup, primarily made up of singles, has finally reached Song of Songs in our study through the Bible. So for the next two weeks we get to read God's divine stamp of approval on and illustration of the joys of sex within marriage. We just finihsed Ecclesiastes, however, forcing us to consider in our view of everything in life, its eternal significance. This is why I love John Piper.
A few days ago, on YouTube, I stumbled upon this video. It is an excerpt from the sermon Single in Christ: A Name Better Than Sons and Daughters: Meshing the message of Song of Songs (and even more importantly Ephesians 5) and the message of Ecclesiastes. While recognizing both the blessing and significance of marriage, sex, and the family, we must not idolize them. Here's some tantalizing quotes to get you to watch.
"I am declaring the temporary and secondary nature of marriage and family over and against the primary and eternal nature of the church, the family of God."
"Do not elevate natural process - like procreation, childbearing, and marriage - to anything bigger than what they are: temporal, physical means of keeping the world going and illustrations of Christ and the Church, that when comes...fade away!"
I wonder if Scott Adams, the auther of the Dilbert comic strip has been reading Mark Driscoll. His article "cell sin" is definitely food for thought for me and I think revealing of how I often turn the computer, a tool for growth in godliness (even Bible Study) and ministry, into a distraction. So again, Dilbert has become a catalyst for sanctification.
My heart aches this morning. Waking up, unable to sleep, at 2:30 in the morning on this first anniversary of the death of my father-in-law, my dad, Kirt Mellberg, I praise God for this pain that I have. I praise God for the pain of the loss. In less than five short years of knowing him (less than four as his son-in-law), the number of memories that I have of him are great and in my memory of him I can remember nothing but great love. Here on earth he was so in love with Jesus and God the Father that I have no doubt that if he were here right now he would direct my heart not toward the hope that I would someday see him again and we could mutually enjoy presence and be reunited as a family in heaven. That is what was so sweet about him. He loved Jesus and because he loved Jesus he loved others especially his family. He would direct me to the hope of God my Savior and His love for me. In the last recording we have of him, he sang a song to his church and the city of Tepic, that he loved and to whom he spent 30 years bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that basically translates from Spanish: "When there's profound pain in my soul...I feel peace...your word enters into my being...Lord my God, my peace in the storm." And the hope of that song is not that we feel some abstract peace, but a peace knowing God's love that will ultimately "deliver us to him." So I will take his advice and rejoice and find refuge in my God and Savior as his Word fills my being.
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Keywords: kirt_dad_mellberg
Legalism: Pushing the Battleship
For the Christian, legalism is like a soldier aboard an aircraft carrier jumping overboard in order to help push in its cruise toward victory...
So the stress last week was on prayer and our desperate need for God's supernatural illumination to see spiritual things - to see God's glory and beauty and excellence. You can see many things when you come to the Word without God's opening the eyes of your heart. You can see words and grammatical constructions. You can see logical connections. You can see historical facts. You can see an author's rational intention. You can see some human emotions. None of that requires that God open your eyes in a special spiritual way.
But what you cannot see is the spiritual beauty of God and his Son and their work in the world. You cannot see that God is infinitely desirable above all things. A blind person cannot see the sun, though he can know many facts about the sun and pass a test in astronomy with a score higher than a person who can see the sun. Knowing about and knowing by sight are not the same. Knowing that honey is sweet and tasting honey are not the same...
So we have seen over and over: Prayer is indispensable if we would see the glory of God in the Word of God. But we have also seen that reading and study and ransacking and thinking and speaking the Word is also necessary. God has ordained that the eye-opening work of his Spirit always be combined with the mind-informing work of his Word. His aim is that we see the glory of God and that we reflect the glory of God. And so he opens our eyes when we are looking at the glory of God in the Word.
Read, study, ransack, think, speak, listen - and pray, "Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things out of your Word."
To get 5 free songs on iTunes, if you are a Facebook member tied to a school (.edu) account, you can head on over to Ticketmaster's Facebook page. Join their group and you will get 5 free iTunes songs to redeem.
Dilbert begins to learn the truth of Ecclesiastes:
(read more...)
Subscribe
I just wanted to point out the new feature that my blog has had or a while: subscription. On the frontpage of the blog on the upper left, enter your email and you will be emailed periodic updates of my blog. Or you can always use the rss feeds with a feedreader. My favorite is google reader.
Legalism: More Foolish Than Adding Gravel to the Freeway
What would you think of me if I walked over to Interstate-10, tossed a handful of gravel on the asphalt and confidently proclaimed that without my hard work the Interstate Highway System would never be completed. And what if I walked over to you and claimed that you had no right to drive on the road since you didn't make it, demanding that you at least throw a few pieces of gravel onto the road. And now, taking it a step further, what would be thought of me if I spent my entire life pressing pieces of gravel into the roadway, proudly proclaiming to all the glories of the freeway that I built and encouraging you to build your own in keeping with the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 and similar laws.
The freeways system is complete (at least let's say it is for the sake of this example). So the job of the beneficiaries of this gift is to enjoy it not to try to build that which is built. Furthermore, the task is so monstrous as to appear almost infinite in comparison to the work that we could accomplish on it with our bare hands. A word to describe me: Fool!
Paul uses the same term for the Galatians when they were trying something even more foolish, even more futile (Gal 3:1-3). The work that Christ accomplished when He in the our place was infinite. If we spent a million years trying to exhaust the wrath of God (as those who do not trust in Christ will do), we would still have eternity left. Now multiply that debt by all of the redeemed. Now consider the gap of holiness or righteousness between us and God. A million years of all the good works we could imagine would still leave the gap infinite. But Christ bridged both those infinite divides in His life, death, and resurrection on the cross: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor 5:21).
So the futility of trying to build the already completed national highway system pales in comparison to the futility of trying to reconcile us to the already reconciled irreconcilable God (1 Peter 3:18). God has made the gospel such that boasting in excluded (Romans 3:27). He made it entirely apart from our works, stating the it is a free gift, precisely so that we cannot boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
And what if we decide that we want to trust in Jesus AND our works at the same time?: The precise claim of legalism, the claim of any teaching that says that your salvation is dependent on something you DO, and you will not be saved or as saved if you do not DO this thing (circumcision, baptism, mass, not dance, read the Bible, pray a certain way, dress a certain way, etc.) If we are to say that our works are necessary or even contribute to our salvation, this is the same thing as saying that the infinite gap wasn't infinite. It is diminishing the necessity and magnitude of Christ's completed work on the cross, declaring it "incomplete", awaiting our completion of it. What's left to complete in the gospel? Nothing! What do we say through our actions if we say we must add our works, no matter how small or large they are? Here's how Paul interpreted it in Galatians 2:21:
The one who wishes to add to Christ's completed work is declaring that "Christ died for no purpose."
This is the same declaration that unbelievers make when the reject the gospel. This is the declaration of those who wish to try to bridge the infinite gap of holiness and bear the infinite wrath of God on their own. This is not the declaration of God's children but the declaration of God's enemies. Therefore, Paul states that to them, although they hope in Christ a little, "Christ will be of no benefit to [them]."
Examine yourself and what you hope in. Is your only hope Christ? Don't press pebbles into the asphalt; enjoy the completed open roads. Don't add works to your salvation, but rejoice in the Lord as you, living obediently through faith, are transformed by the power of His Spirit into Christ's image. If you find that you are indeed a legalist, repent and forsake your works and enjoy the freedom and joy of trusting in a job completed...not one that you need to complete. Praise God for this good news. Praise God for his grace.
The Pastor and Evangelism
With all that you can do, your desires will not be fulfilled, for soul-winning is a pursuit which grows upon a man; the more he is rewarded with conversions the more eager he becomes to see greater numbers born unto God. Hence you will soon discover that you need help if many are to be brought in. The net soon becomes too heavy for one pair of hands to drag to shore when it is filled with fishes; and you fellow-helpers must be beckoned to your assistance. Great things are done by the Holy Spirit when a whole church is aroused to sacred energy...
Contemplate at the outset the possibility of having a church of soul-winners. Do not succumb to the usual idea that we can only gather a few useful workers, and that the rest of the community must inevitably be dead weight: It may possibly so happen, but do not set out with that notion or it will be verified. The usual need not be the universal; better things are possible than anything yet attained; set your aim high and spare no effort to reach it. Labor to gather a church alive for Jesus, every member energetic to the full, and the whole in incessant activity for the salvation of men. To this end there must be the best of preaching to feed the host into strength, continual prayer to bring down the power from on high, and the most heroic example on your own part to fire their zeal.
I do not know of a single scripture, —and I speak advisedly, —which tells me to take my sin, the particular thing that gets me down, to God in prayer and ask him to deliver me from it and then trust in faith that he will.
Now that teaching is also often put like this: you must say to a man who is constantly defeated by a particular sin, "I think your only hope is to take it to Christ and Christ will take it from you." But what does Scripture say in Ephesians 4:28 to the man who finds himself constantly guilty of stealing, to a man who sees something he likes and takes it? What am I to tell such a man? Am I to say, "Take that sin to Christ and ask him to deliver you?" No, what the apostle Paul tells him is this: "Let him that stole, steal no more." Just that. Stop doing it. And if it is fornication or adultery or lustful thoughts, again: Stop doing it, says Paul. He does not say, "Go and pray to Christ to deliver you." No. You stop doing that, he says, as becomes children of God.
I may add that Christ has already accomplished that which He must accomplish. He died to put to death sin and he has changed the believer from the heart. So put to death sin, which isn't who you are at your core...you are no longer a slave to sin but to righteousness. Read Romans 7-8 to put this quote in context of what the Bible does say about the believer and Christ's work in him regarding sin.
Resources on Singleness
Based on a request from a friend, here is a quick collection of the best resources on singleness that I am aware of. I pray this list and the resources to which it directs you are a blessing. In no way do I claim that this list could be exhaustive as I certainly have not read everything out there or am even aware of everything out there. But this is the best that I know of. Feel free to suggest that which I may have missed in the comments.
Books on Marriage (Recommended for Singles who Desire Marriage)
From Feminine Appeal...the same could apply to men, flipping the roles: “If you are single, I would encourage you to study these truths now. They will serve you as you interact with single men, encourage your married friends, and prepare for our future—should God call you to marriage. Humility born of the awareness of our sinful tendencies is an essential character quality in mature Christians. As single women you should cultivate this humility and look for it in any man who might pursue you for marriage.”
The good news is that the one and only God, who is holy, made us in his image to know him. But we sinned and cut ourselves off from him. In his great love, God became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law himself and taking on himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn and trust in him. He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted Christ's sacrifice and that God's wrath against us had been exhausted. He now calls us to repent of our sins and trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness. If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God.
We completed the 2-day Huichol conference on Biblical Interpretation today (12 total hours of teaching/workshop time). After focusing on what type of man the pastor needs to be, walking through 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Acts 20:17-21,27-35, I went on to teach how to study the Bible with the following steps:
Leer la Palabra (Read the Word)
Entender la Palabra (Understand the Word)
Vivir la Palabra (Live the Word)
Predicar la Palabra (Preach the Word)
Despite the language difficulties (Spanish is my second language and their as well) and despite the education level difficulties (only one of them is formally educated, having finished Junior High), it seemed to go well. I was even invited back for another one next time I am in Mexico in January. Please be praying as they take this conference back up to the mountains and teach it to others. As new believers face the challenge of pastoring churches of new believers and as others come in proclaiming other religions and bad doctrine (especially legalism), these pastors need to be men who can ably handle the Word. It is amazing what God has accomplished through them...and what a privilege to sit among them. I have more to learn from them - especially in areas of diligence, evangelism, and perseverance - than they have to learn from me; nevertheless, what a privilege for us to be able to mutually encourage each other.
Below are some pictures (Whole set on Flickr) of the conference as well as some videos.
Videos:
How Not To Communicate With Your Wife (Dilbert)
This is a good example of how not to communicate with your wife. I think this hits so close to home because it does reveal pride that manifests itself in my inability to communicate effectively with my wife at times, especially when we disagree. So Dilbert does it again...Dilbert has often been a catalyst for my repentance.
Keywords: Dilbert
Sproul's Truth of the Cross
Until January 31, 2008, Sproul's Truth of the Cross (normally $15) is available in bulk discount for as low as $5.25. I am about to order one to read and review it. Sounds like a great book to give to friends or give away to visitors at church.
For even more great deals, I recommend you swing on over to the newly redesigned Monergism Books store with $3.99 flatrate shipping for all-you-can-buy. There are some good deals to be found there, and you can know that you are supporting a very good ministry.
Huichol NT Recording Complete; Distribution Started
Praise God, by His grace, we finished the New Testament recording project for the Huichol project. It's taken almost two years and over a thousand hours of work to complete. Now the entire New Testament is available on solar-power hand-held audio Bibles (Megavoice Ambassadors). We hope to begin distribution of the 1,000 units later this week. We are getting final counts of the number of believers in the closest villages and are working out how to transport hundreds of players to the more remote villages.
Thank you to so many of you who read this blog for your kind donations to the project. Don't stop praying; now that the Bibles are in peoples' hands, those who never had access to their own personal copy of God's Word will be able to hear. Pray for God to work among the believers and those who aren't yet believers. Here is a video of Jose Lopez, one of the pastors, saying thank you to those who donated for their kind gift that has brought God's Word to his people:
Below are a number of quick videos that I took as some Huichol Christians were learning to use the player. Over 9 out of every 10 Huichols is unable to effectively read, so now what was only available to the 1 is available to all. Praise God.
Broadus on Reading
I think that young men should be specially exhorted to read old books. If you have a friend in the ministry who is growing old, urge him to read mainly new books, that he may freshen his mind and keep in sympathy with his surroundings. "But must not young men keep abreast of the age?" Certainly, only the first thing is to get abreast of the age, and in order to this, they must go back to where the age came from, and join there the great procession of its moving thought.
John Broadus Lectures on the History of Preaching (amazon / logos digital) 230-231
Google just launched Google non-profit through Google checkout. If I'm reading correctly, it looks like your church or other 501(c)(3) non-profit organization can accept credit cars for 0% + $0.00 until 2009. Then in 2009 the rate is still pretty cheap at 2% + $0.20. Not sure how many places could make use of this, but it seems like churches and nonprofits in general could make good use of this. I don't know of anything better.
Spurgeon on Reading: "Much, Not Many"
Master those books you have. Read them thoroughly. Bathe in them until they saturate you. Read and reread them, masticate and digest them. Let them go into your very self. Peruse a good book several times and make notes and analyses of it. A student will find that his mental constitution is more affected by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books he has merely skimmed. Little learning and much pride comes of hasty reading. Some men are disabled from thinking by their putting meditation away for the sake of much reading. In reading let your motto be "much, not many.
Don Piper makes the list, John Piper doesn't. A look over the top 50 Christian authors gives a good indication of what Christians are reading. I can't help but to call to mind the Spanish dicho (saying): Por eso estamos como estamos (That's why we are how we are).
Reflecting on this list also reminds me of a Richard Baxter quote I recently read on Challies.com:
“Make careful choice of the books which you read: let the holy scriptures ever have the pre-eminence, and, next to them, those solid, lively, heavenly treatises which best expound and apply the scriptures, and next, credible histories, especially of the Church … but take heed of false teachers who would corrupt your understandings.”
Challies comments with discernment:
For every good book, there are five or ten (or, more likely, far more) that are fit only for the trash. Much of what is published under the banner of “Christian” is anything but. Be careful what you read, for a book can lead you astray as easily as it can lead you closer to the Lord. Find mature believers who can guide you to books and authors that will edify you.
Life of David Brainerd Audiobook Free This Month
Christianaudio's free audiobook this month is The Life of David Brainerd by Jonathan Edwards. When you checkout in the month of October 2007, use the code OCT2007 when it asks for a coupon code.
Each month Christianaudio has a new free audiobook. Make sure to browse their site to see all of the excellent audiobook resources they have available and support them in their monthly gracious contribution to our digital audio libraries.
Together for the Gospel 2008 Earlybird Registration Almost Closed
