DG's 2012 Conference for Pastors

I'm heading out of town with some men from the church for Desiring God's 2012 Conference for Pastors, so the blog will be on hold till the end of the week.

The Greatest Service to Education Today

C. S. Lewis: "The greatest service we can do to education today is to teach fewer subjects" (Surprised by Joy, 113).

Luther Gives Prayer Advice to His Barber

Luther's barber, Peter, inquired of him how he, an ordinary guy, might pray without being distracted by worldly thoughts and occupations. In part, here is Luther's reply:

Dear Master Peter: I will tell you as best I can what I do personally when I pray. May our dear Lord grant to you and to everybody to do it better than I! Amen. 

First, when I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my little psalter, hurry to my room, or, if it be the day and hour for it, to the church where a congregation is assembled and, as time permits, I say quietly to myself and word-for-word the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and, if I have time, some words of Christ or of Paul, or some psalms, just as a child might do. 

It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business of the morning and the last of the night. Guard yourself carefully against those false, deluding ideas which tell you, 'Wait a little while. I will pray in an hour; first I must attend to this or that.' Such thoughts get you away from prayer into other affairs which so hold your attention and involve you that nothing comes of prayer for that day. 

It may well be that you may have some tasks which are as good or better than prayer, especially in an emergency. . . . Yet we must be careful not to break the habit of true prayer and imagine other works to be necessary which, after all, are nothing of the kind. Thus at the end we become lax and lazy, cool and listless toward prayer. The devil who besets us is not lazy or careless, and our flesh is too ready and eager to sin and is disinclined to the spirit of prayer.

Luther then goes on to provide examples of how to pray the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles' Creed. His examples may be found in the book below, from which the above was taken.

 —Martin Luther, Luther's Prayers (ed. Herbert F. Brokering; Augsberg: Minneapolis, 1994), 41-42.

The Centrality of Christ's Resurrection

It is not uncommon in Protestantism to hear preachers and teachers say that the cross of Christ is the center of the faith and the Gospel. If all that is meant by this is that the cross is essential and supremely important, fine. No quibbles here. But often the cross is spoken of as so central that the resurrection of Christ and other elements of the Gospel are made peripheral. At least this is functionally, if not confessionally, all too often the case. And it is an error.

Michael Bird says this good word about this error:

One of the benefits of the NPP has been to demonstrate that Jesus Christ's resurrection is far more integral to God's saving righteousness than is often supposed. N.T. Wright in particular sees Paul's theology constructed in such a way so as to emphasize that the resurrection of Christ is the apex of God's plan to redeem Israel from exile and to renew creation from the bondage of sin and death. This is a helpful corrective since Protestant theology has traditionally emphasized the cross as the immediate basis of justification and unfortunately marginalized the significance of the resurrection in Paul's gospel and soteriology. Accordingly, theologians have located justification as occuring primarily through the atoning and redemptive death of Christ. . . . The problem is that Paul's gospel knows no divorce between the cross and the resurrection and their ensuing effect. The resurrection figures equally prominently in Paul's most concise summaries of the gospel (The Saving Righteousness of God, 40-41). 

The resurrection is every bit as fundamental as the cross. Bird is right. Wright is right. And here is one of those places where the Church should thank God for Wright and embrace his teaching. And I'm convinced that the first Christians thought about these things far more organically than we tend to do in the West, we who divide things into bits and separate things God intends us to hold together.

Getting Acquainted with Paul's Gospel

"Anyone who wants to become acquainted with Paul's gospel must above all study Romans" (Peter Stuhlmacher, The Roman's Debate, 231).

Curved in on Ourselves

Martin Luther (citing Augustine, I believe) once said somewhere that the primal and primary problem with humanity is that we are curved in on ourselves. Staying with this figure of speech (which is marvelous), what might be a memorable way to think of the remedy?

Here's a suggestion: look away, look up, look out. You're curved in. So, first, look away (from your self); in the same motion, then, look up (heavenward toward God and his crucified and exalted Christ); and, immediately following and flowing from that, look out (toward your neighbors). The first—looking away—corresponds with repentance. The second—looking up—corresponds with faith. The third—looking out—corresponds with love. The prescription for this remedy is p.r.n. (namely, daily, hourly, even moment by moment).

There you have it, the gospel remedy for our being curved inward upon ourselves: looking away (repentance), looking up (faith), and looking out (love). Now straighten up!

Principles of Interpretation: The Basics

Professor Greg Beale's course Principles of Interpretation taught at Wheaton College (before he left for Westminster East) has been one of the most enjoyable and helpful I've taken. I say this, among other reasons, because I've found his general approach to Scripture to be reverent, prudent, salutary, and devotional. Here's the basic approach urged by Professor Beale in three summary points:

1. The context is always king.
2. Let your concordance run away with your Bible.
3. Let Scripture interpret Scripture.

Bunyan's Bibline Blood

Reading through the Pilgrim's Progress, I'm reminded again and again of how Charles Spurgeon said of Buynan that if you pricked him, he'd bleed bibline. At many points in the narrative, biblical references come in virtually every other line for pages (e.g., pp. 90-91). Buynan lived, ate, drank, breathed Bible. He must have taken long walks through it's pages every day.

May we be enabled to follow in those Bible-saturated steps! May the educated among us especially learn from that tinker! Let's be men and women of one book!

Tried and Proved by Trials

How do you do when tried and tempted? Can you sing with Faithful in Pilgrim’s Progress these wonderful words?

The trials that those men do meet withal,

that are obedient to the heavenly call,

Are manifold and suited to the flesh.

And come, and come, and come again afresh;

That now or sometime else, we by them may

Be taken, overcome, and cast away.

O let the Pilgrims, let the Pilgrims then,

Be vigilant, and quit themselves like men (p. 78).

Faithful, Christian’s traveling companion for a good stretch of the journey, sang this after, among other temptations, he had been enabled to shake of “bold-faced shame” in “The Valley of Humiliation,” otherwise known as “The Valley of the Shadow of Death.” Shame had come at him despising his religion. But Faithful, he tells Christian, had spoken this truth to him (p. 77):

 I began to consider, “That that which is highly esteemed among Men, is had in an abomination with God” (Lk. 16:15). And I thought moreover, that at the day of doom we shall not be doomed to Death or Life, according to the hectoring spirits of the world: but according to the wisdom and law of the highest. Therefore thought I, what God says is best indeed, is best, though all men in the world are against it. Seeing then that God prefers his religion, seeing God prefers a tender conscience, seeing they that make themselves fools for the kingdom of heaven are wisest: and that the poor man that lovest Christ, is richer than the greatest man in the world that hates him: Shame depart, thou art any enemy to my salvation: shall I entertain thee against my Sovereign Lord? How then shall I look him in the face at his coming? 

What is Faith?

Calvin answers (Institutes 3.11.7): Faith is "a kind of vessel" with which "we come empty and with the mouth of our soul open to seek Christ's grace. . . ."

Twelve Lessons Learned on Vacation: Part 3

Next I want to expand a little on this lesson among the twelve:

1. Don't try to get out of a vacation more than it can give.

Expectations. They're huge, aren't they? Without them, we couldn't get on in the world. But oftentimes by them we set ourselves up for disappointment or a fall. I suppose many approach a vacation with certain expectations that are not often gratified, and they then suppose that the next one will go better and be more fulfilling.

To point out one expectation that we had in our recent trip to Mexico, we assumed it'd be in the 80s, being so far south. Wrong. That's what it is, apparently, inland. On the ocean, it's usually cooler this time of year. It was mid-70s for about four to five of the days we were there, sunny and warm enough to swim. But two days were chilly, maybe in the low 60s at the warmest part of the day, accompanied by gusty winds. I didn't even bring any long sleeve shirts. That was disappointing. Em also got a UTI. I got a cold. These thwarted some of our expectations.

But we did not go into the vacation looking for some sort of ultimate fulfillment or satisfaction. Vacations can't give that. We knew we'd enjoy many pleasant creation goods, but what struck me repeatedly was how ultimately unsatisfying all those pleasant things were. The food was great. Drinks were unlimited. Leisure and entertainment abounded. The place was beautiful. We were comfortable and care-free. People waited on us. That's the life, right?

Wrong. Not for us anyway, for we've tasted eternal life. All of these things

Twelve Lessons Learned on Vacation: Part 2

A few days ago I posted the "Twelve Lessons Learned on Vacation," and I said I'd likely be expanding on the points I only outlined there. Since my brother-in-law told me he appreciated #8, I'll start and focus there:

8. I’m still a great sinner; and Jesus is still a great Savior.

Who goes on vacation expecting to see more sin in his or her heart? Well, I know it's there, and wasn't surprised that it cropped up. No, no, it's not just the presence of remaining indwelling sin in me that surprised me. It's being made deeply sensible of this when there was no daily press, and therefore I did not have my usual excuses. That was devastating (and, ultimately, liberating!). You know, under daily pressures it's easy to make allowances for low-grade irritation or grumbling or . . . . But I was on vacation. And not even close to having to leave to return to the pressures of my life.

So, for example, I found myself defaulting to American (and sinful) ways of thinking and reacting again and again. One illustration shall suffice for my purpose here (I'm not claiming to have only sinned once!).

Em and I went to dinner one evening wanting to take a dip in the pool right after we had eaten. So we set our two towels on two chairs by the pool, which was well within view. By the time we finished eating, however, our towels had disappeared. So naturally we went to the front desk and told the staff, assured we'd be enjoying a nice cool dip after getting prompt service. At the front desk we could even see our towels on the floor behind the desk. But after telling the pleasant young woman at the front desk and requesting fresh towels, we were told of their policy: "Lost towels are the patrons responsibility, and so you'll have to pay for them."

She didn't understand. Obviously. So I had my wife speak to her in Spanish.

The Agony

            Philosophers have measur’d mountains,

Fathom’d the depths of seas, of states, and kings,

Walk’d with a staff to heav’n, and traced fountains:

            But there are two vast, spacious things,

The which to measure it doth more behove:

Yet few there are that sound them; Sin and Love.

            Who would know Sin, let him repair

Unto mount Olivet; there shall he see

A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,

            His skin, his garments bloody be.

Sin is that press and vice, which forceth pain

To hunt his cruel food through ev’ry vein.

            Who knows not Love, let him assay

And taste that juice, which on the cross a pike

Did set again abroach, then let him say

            If every he did taste the like.

Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,

Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine.

—George  Herbert (1594-1633)

Christian Conversation in Pilgrim’s Progress

How important is Christian conversation? And in asking this question, I’m not asking with the emphasis on conversation. That is, I’m not asking how important conversation is that happens to occur between two people who happen to be Christians. No, that's unavoidable (unless you're a Lone Ranger Christian, which is to say, no Christian at all). I mean something far more significant and, unfortunately, far more rare among Christians. So I’m asking the question with the emphasis on the Christian element. How important is Christian conversation?

Indeed one might even put the question into biblical perspective by asking if such is essential? Which puts the first question on the plane of whether or not Christian conversation is of supreme importance? And by supreme I’m taking about the perspective of forever and ever—eternity’s perspective.  Moving in this direction in my questioning, some will perhaps wonder what in the world I’m on about?

Well, consider the place of Christian conversation in Christian’s pilgrimage as the main character journeys onward—with the wind in his face—alongside a good temporary traveling companion, Charity. To understand aright the answer that Buynan gives in his allegory to my question, consider also that, biblically considered, the whole of the Christian’s life plays itself out in terms of an exceedingly hazardous journey. If your travels through this world do not seem at all like an exceedingly hazardous journey, you may not be on the journey toward the celestial city, for hard and narrow is the way that leads to life (Matt. 7:14). And so Buynan assumes (and makes this clear in the narrative) that the one who heads heavenward does so only through many afflictions and difficulties—the wind, as Buynan puts it somewhere, is always in his face. We might say, the struggle is an uphill struggle, the sacred city sitting atop the hill of life.

Still at the house of Discretion, as noted in my last post on the Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian now sits down to meat with Charity (p. 56f):

Now the table was furnished with fat things, and with wine that was

Twelve Lessons Learned on Vacation

Emily and I spent a week in Cozumel, Mexico moving into 2012, and had a wonderful time. Our goals of seeking the Lord and finding refreshment (mind, soul, and body) away from the hurly-burly of suburban life and press were achieved. For that we are deeply grateful. But something unexpected happened. The Lord taught me (I think; time will tell) more than I ever dreamed or hoped he might. And so this post will outline the "twelve lessons learned on vacation." In subsequent posts I hope to expand on the outline and speak to some particulars. These are not in order of importance. However, if I were to state which lessons learned were the weightiest, it’d be lessons 1 to 5. This should come out in later posts. 

1. Don't try to get out of a vacation more than it can give.

2. Don't leave your Christianity behind when you leave home. 

3. The joy of the Lord alone satisfies fully; everything else serves as a mere pointer.

4. The glory of God is the supreme value on vacation, not the self, not modern concerns.

5. This little vapor’s breath of a life is utter vanity and futility apart from the fear of God and the hope of glory. 

6. God intends to carry on his sanctifying, transforming work even when you think you are taking a bit of a break from that hard road ahead.

7. If you do not actively seek to walk by the Spirit, you will fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

8. I’m still a great sinner; and Jesus is still a great Savior.

9. Heads of homes ought to lead with a God-honoring agenda for vacations.

10. Vacations provide ample scope for seeking and seeing the Lord. 

11. Vacations are for pursuing passionately and jealously a deepening of your relationships, not self-centered overindulgence.

12. Vacations provide ample opportunity to improve your understanding of anthropology.

The Word Working on the Wencels in 2012

Well, Emily and I are eager to move through God's Word again together in 2012. Freshly resolved to lay up more of that sacred Word above all earthly powers and beyond all worldly wealth, our reading this year will again be our own tailor-made plan. Based in part on my schooling, our work schedules, and how we've sensed the Lord would have us read, we've come up with the following reading plan:

Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr. (individually): Paul's epistles, Acts (2xs), Job, and the Pentateuch.
Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr. (together): Psalms and Proverbs (2xs, continuing throughout the whole year until both have been read twice).

May, June, July, Aug. (individually): The Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings); and the rest of the Writings besides Psalms and Proverbs (Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles).
May, June, July, Aug. (together): John (3xs), Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, and Hebrews; Psalms and Proverbs continued.

Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. (individually): The Latter Prophets minus Isaiah (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve); and Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, and Jude.
Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. (together): Isaiah, John, Revelation, and 1-3 John; Psalms and Proverbs continued.

That's the reading plan. You'll notice there is some intentional repetition. We're doing Psalms, Proverbs, Acts, and Hebrews twice; the Gospel of John we're doing four times. We'll also probably go through Romans again and again. We've also roughly divided up our reading of the OT as the Jews divided the Hebrew Bible into the Law, the Writings, and the Former and Latter Prophets. The NT we've roughly divided up according to corpus or genre (e.g., the Pauline letters in the first third of the year; the Gospels in the second third; and John's writings in the third).

Now here's our memorization plan:

Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr. (together): Rom. 1:1-7, 16-17; 3:19-5:21; 11:33-12:21; 13:8-10; and one proverb per week (to be determined during our reading). I am taking a Romans exegesis class and will be doing a paper on justification, so we're focusing on 3:19-5:21.


May, June, July, Aug.(together): A psalm per month (to be determined during our reading); and one proverb per week (to be determined during our reading).

Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. (together): To be determined. We may start Hebrews or do John 14-17 or the Sermon on the Mount. Or perhaps we'll do more psalms. We'll also continue with one proverb per week (to be determined during our reading).

We began the new year this year as we always do—with Ps. 1. We confess without shame that we are seeking with full purpose of heart the blessing and fruitfulness described there. May the God of all grace help us according to his promise—and do so hearing this zealous cry and the sincere longing of our souls: "Not unto us, O YHWH, not unto us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love, and for the sake of your  truth" (Ps. 115:1).