Session VIII: Service Planning Lecture

[Mark Dever 5:00pm Friday evening 9/14/07]

All of us gathered together over another great meal provided by the humble service of members of CHBC and the generosity of 9Marks ministries. We had ribs, pulled pork with great home-made potato salad, green been casserole etc. It was great...and the fellowship was great as well!

I had to go upstairs to set-up the hospitality center for the rest of the evening so I wasn't present for the entire discussion of service planning. I wanted to put a post out for this though because it is a great talk...discussing planning sermons months in advance, including a theological and anthropological theme, planning a corresponding sermon from the opposite testament of the morning service, a discussion of the sermon planning grid etc. It is an excellent model of how to preach the entire counsel of God through deliberate planning and how to determine what texts to preach on, how to pick hymns, etc.

Session VII: Internship Program & Selecting Elders Part 2

[Michael Lawrence 3:45pm Friday late afternoon 9/14/07]

Part II: How We Go About Choosing Elders

1 Timothy 3:1:

“The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.”

How they determine elders of CHBC: Wisdom and prudence is what they must follow in this process. This is their process to bring people into this position. There needs to be an internal sense of calling. They have to have the desire to be there. They serve there because they must, because they sense they have to do it. A sense is not necessarily correct though...that’s where the biblical qualifications come into play...also the local church’s external call.

An elder is a man who is living out the Christian life in a way that is exemplary and who is also able to teach others how to live that way. They look for these qualities in men who are not waiting around to be recognized. These men are already busy eldering the congregation. They are not waiting for the title of elder in order to do the work. They recognize that this is the best way forward because this is something that the church has to recognize. If a congregation can’t see a man’s giftedness in this way he probably isn’t an elder because the congregation has to be able to recognize him.

This is the process…namely, to look for men who are already eldering. The elders raise the potential elders’ names in elder meetings when guests are no longer around (the guests are usually potential pastors, visiting pastors, and non-elder staff members). This process can go on for a long time. The name of a potential elder may appear in an elder discussion and then be voted into the office of elder anywhere from 6 months to years later.

They look for complete unanimity on this point. Elders can disagree on points, but not on whether or not someone is eligible to be an elder. In order to maintain mutual respect on the elder board each person needs to be able to affirm their meeting the qualifications of an elder. Some elders test the candidates on doctrinal points, others on matters of the family. Then they come together to see if they agree on giftedness. They will then deliberate and determine whether or not to meet with the candidate again, or they will move forward with him to sit in on a meeting…given a voice, but no vote. This helps the elders see if the candidate can put his shoulder to the wheel with them, yet submit to other brothers around the table. Does the brother handle disagreement, or rebuke with defensiveness? This might show immaturity and that he may not be equipped to be an elder yet. They will then stop and work with him on that particular fruit of the Spirit (patience, slow to anger). There are many steps and at every step CHBC elders require unanimity.

When the elders are unanimous they put the candidate before the congregation for 2 months prior to a congregational vote. This gives the congregation the opportunity to think about the candidate and bring up concerns so that they can deal with the reasons why people would vote no against them prior to the congregational vote. Also, the congregation might know something the elders don’t know.

The term of elders at CHBC is for 3 yrs, then if they are voted again to a second consecutive term they can serve another 3 years. After that time they are then forced onto at least a 1 year sabbatical. Then they may start the process all over again.

There are a few grounds that they make sure a candidate is clear on.

(1) The authority and sufficiency of Scripture. They don’t just want their elders to be an inerrantist, but also that they believe the Bible is sufficient to order the life of the church from polity to relationships.

(2) God’s sovereignty, exclusivity of Christ, and penal substitutionary atonement.

(3) An agreement on baptism, congregationalism, and polity.

(4) They also look to see that the candidate displays certain cultural distinctives (this may be different in different churches); however, CHBC is in middle of liberal larger culture (of Washington DC). They look for men who are very clear on complimentarianism in home and church, and know how to think talk and minister to people struggling with homosexuality. Capitol Hill is home to the largest community of middle to upper class homosexual couples in the United States. There can be a few things in the wider culture in which a church exists that could require a church to look at different ways a potential elder thinks about a bunch of issues.

Mainly they are looking for men who love this congregation. Men who are here more than they have to be. Serving in obvious and not so obvious ways.

Session VII: Internship Program & Selecting Elders Part 1

[Michael Lawrence 3:45pm Friday late afternoon 9/14/07]

Part I: Training Younger pastors
2 Timothy 2:2:

“What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Seminaries don’t train pastors. Churches train pastors.

The church shouldn’t be about feeding ourselves and taking care of ourselves. We’re about raising pastors up and sending them out.

The intern program is a major way that CHBC does this. Essentially they want to train younger pastors by starting a conversation about the church, about what the Bible says about the church, about what the Bible says a pastor is. Their goal in the internship is to expose interns to what it’s like to be a pastor.

How do they do that? The intern program is divided into two halves conceptually.

(1) Bring them in and do a lot of reading and writing and talk to the interns about what they’re reading and writing. The conversation is grounded in where most of American churches find their roots in the Protestant English speaking Reformation. Interns write 5, 6, or 7 papers a week…Mark Dever reads them all, and then they talk about it for three hours every Thursday (Lord willing of course).

There is formal instruction every week on Sunday evenings as they all (pastoral staff, staff, and interns) sit down and talk about everything we did in the Sunday morning service.

This models giving and receiving both encouragement and godly criticism. Many churches have a good dose of ungodly criticism and a false encouragement. They seek to develop a culture and environment of godly criticism for the benefit of both the individual and the church. Also, they seek to model receiving the encouragement and criticism in a godly way.

(2) Exposure…you disciple people how to be pastors, not teach. Interns live on the block with the pastors of the church. Often the interns are in the pastors’ studies and in their homes. They encourage them to just walk in and hang out, observe, go on walks, ask questions, etc.. They try to model how to live out the calling of a pastor day in and day out throughout life. If Mark and Michael are there the interns are there (weddings, hospitals visits, etc.). They expose interns to as much as possible as long as possible in the short 5 months that they have them.

They also encourage them to stay after the internship by taking a job on the Hill and take classes through the SBTS extension campus few years. “Consider the learning experience by being members of the church for a little longer,” they said. This is not only useful for this church, but a way that this church can be blessing to other churches in the world and generations. They devote $75,000 a year plus the loss of income of housing to do the internship and pastoral assistant program.

The internship means sacrifice of the staff’s time in order to invest in these men knowing that they will never minister here…only to leave and then minister to others. They exhorted us to invest the time so that we may do the same for others.

They handle pastoral matters in front of the interns, and the interns have an understanding that we cannot talk about it outside of the meeting. (As an intern I can’t explain how much this program has meant to me just one month in!)

Session VI: Personal Discipleship & Small Groups

[Andy Johnson 3:10pm Friday late afternoon 9/14/07]

6 Things about Discipling and Small Groups:

(1) What do we mean by discipling? Everything we do as the church is discipling. Relationships, and regular preaching of the Word is what CHBC means by discipling. Everything is aimed toward making disciples. It is a normative biblical concept for encouraging others to grow in Christ, namely this takes place in the local church.

(2) A culture of discipleship is encouraged in the entire congregation as opposed to a discipleship program. Members aren’t signing up for a program; therefore, this is not optional. According to Scripture like John 15 we must set out to intentionally help others to grow spiritually.

(3) How do we encourage one on one discipleship? Leaders are picked according to how their lives are characterized. The purpose of meeting up is to encourage spiritually.

(4) Roles of small groups overlap with one-on-one discipling. Don’t expect that the staff of the church is a matchmaker. Small group leaders aren’t necessarily discipling everyone in the small group, but they are networking relationships and giving feedback about the relationships to the elders and church members. They help connect discipling relationships for spiritual encouragement.

(5) Role of staff in discipling. Discipling everyone is not the job of the staff…but the staff particularly works with the more difficult cases of discipling (not always though). The congregation fosters the environment of discipleship and the staff is certainly part of that. But the sole responsibility does not lie on the shoulders of the staff. Rather, the responsibility relies on the entire congregation.

(6) What’s the role of CHBC members in small group discipling? When signing the covenant of the church you take the responsibility to look out for the spiritual welfare of others within the church. Through this they have permission to disciple each other. They are credentialed, they don’t need a certificate, or to pass a program…this is the work of everyone who is a Christian as a part of a congregation. CHBC is constantly teaching initiative, you need to take initiative toward others. You don’t even need to be more spiritually mature than others (however we should strive to grow in grace). So read through a book with someone that is more spiritually mature than you.

Model, encourage, and empower membership to disciple…this is not a program.

What it looks like….get together weekly to talk through the sermon, outline books of Bible together, talk about struggles in light of Scripture systematically, read a book from the church library. There is no required text. It’s very flexible. 50% of members in church are in small groups. There are a few different kinds types of small groups at CHBC: (1) Community groups based on residence in a community once a week or every other week...everything is approved by elders, but not prescribed, (2) Men’s groups mostly single men topics fluid but approved by the elders…just encouraging small groups to gather, (3) Women’s groups mostly composed single women…they don’t put people in these that are not members of the local church (4) there are no non-members so they do not put non-members in community and small groups.

Official CHBC small groups and materials are approved by the elders.

Session V: Core Seminar Overview

[Mike Gilbart-Smith 2:35pm Friday afternoon 9/14/07]

1 Corinthians 9:24:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”

The normal model for a Sunday school curriculum is an age-graded system. This is how CHBC was set up when Mark Dever arrived. The advantage to this system was that the age group had the opportunity to know each other and relate because they were similar to each other. However, the disadvantage was that it divided the congregation. This age-graded system put the teaching ministry in the hands of people that the church didn’t necessarily know, which the church was responsible for in regard to teaching (Hebrews 13:17).

This ministry has changed a few times and has definitely evolved over the last ten years. Currently, they have the Sunday school classes set up in what are called core seminar tracks. It takes one year to complete each track.

(1) The membership matters track. This is the track that people should attend before they’re a member in order to become a member of CHBC.

(2) The basics track is geared philosophically to folks who are one of several categories: (a) pre-Christian (fosters a familiarity to and with the gospel), (b) new Christian (this is a model and explanation of Christian discipleship), (c) how we work out God’s will for our life (how to understand God’s guidance), and (d) how to share the gospel (this is a course on evangelism with a modified presentation of 2-ways to live material and Mattias media’s "Christianity Explained").

(3) The overview of the Bible track. This class is broken into two 26 week segments on that covers every book of the Old Testament and New Testament. This track provides a basic overview of every book in the Bible. Generally they spend a week on each book of the Bible focusing on main themes and then applying them to our personal lives.

(4) The Church History and Systematic Theology track consists of two 13 week divisions.

(5) Then there is the Christian life track going into more detail on how we live our lives in pursuit of Jesus for 12 months. This track consists of Living as a Church (based on Donald Whitney’s book Spiritual Disciplines in the Church), Personal Spiritual disciplines), a Marriage and Courtship course, and how to be Godly parents. The goal of the Christian growth track is to teach how we are to encourage others. How to engage in evangelism, apologetics and worldviews, and missions [I'm not sure that I categorized these correctly].

When people have gone through every possible course the Mike said that the church encourages folks to, “do the whole lot again.” This is a tool for discipling and the members of the church are encouraged strongly to use it. Not everyone is and elder, but all Christians disciple others. This is a basic part of the Christian life. Mike said that there are approximately 150 to 200 members currently attending core seminars.

He said that they exhort members to find someone else, bring them along to the different tracks, and talk about the class with them. This is how we are to disciple people as a church. Teaching is also a good training ground for current elders’ gifts and future elders. Current elders, potential elders, and staff teach the classes. To get curriculum…go to the CHBC website, we equip, then adults, then core seminars, scroll to bottom of page there’s a link that says view and download core seminar material.

Anything taught in the church must have a strategy for use. Don’t just do what has traditionally been done. There isn’t a specific track for college students either. They encourage college students to love people that aren’t college students, so they get them into the regular core seminar classes as well.

Session IV: CHBC Children’s Ministry

[Joylane Bartron 2:00pm Friday afternoon 9/14/07]

Joylane spoke about the who, what, and how of children’s ministry at CHBC.

Who: The Parents of the congregation. The children’s ministry exists to support and encourage parents who have the biblical responsibility to disciple their children. Ephesians 5 discusses that parents, especially fathers, are to bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. This kind of responsibility also resides on the shoulders of the congregation and it is also in CHBC's church covenant to come together as a body to, "help bring children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." The preaching ministry is the foundation of the curriculum for the children’s ministry of the church. They have two deacons and a curriculum team of three women.

What: 2 sections.

(1) Childcare ministry. This is a ministry to parents to provide Christ centered care to children from birth to two years old.

(2) Children’s classes are for ages 2yrs – 18yrs . Praise Factory Junior is aimed at teaching the basic concepts of the curriculum (pre-school aged children). Praise Factory is for kindergarten through 4th grade. This curriculum consists of 100 concepts of theology to be taught in a 5 year span of time. This is not a program! If the support for it from the congregation and the parents would disappear the children’s ministry, as it exists, would disappear. They do it to encourage parents with the volunteer and joyful serving of the congregation, but also because the congregation loves their children and they want to see the kids come to faith in Jesus Christ.

How: This is the philosophy of the ministry. The 9 Marks of a healthy church also apply to the children’s ministry. This is a topical curriculum of systematic theology for Children! Expositional teaching (preaching), theology is for Praise Factory and Praise Factory Jr. on Sunday mornings. Sunday evenings are more of an application of the concepts from the morning lesson. Biblical theology is more than reciting verses with children. It is giving biblical literacy and helping children learn how it fits into the history of redemption (the good news of the gospel). This is how they teach the concept...that it is God who changes hearts. This helps the children to avoid a misunderstanding of what the gospel is. Further, a biblical understanding of conversion helps children know that conversion is when a heart is changed by God in an understanding of the gospel through faith and repentance, not by human intuition . We shouldn’t look at how we can get them to pray a prayer; rather, we should engage them in the long teaching of helping them see what sin is in their life, and how God has changed those who believe. At 9:00am the children’s ministry staff come together for prayer every Sunday morning. The main goal of the Children’s ministry is to aid parents in raising little ones up to be worshipers of God. Also, to seek and pursue their hearts through prayer, understanding them, and communicating in ways they can understand. We must cultivate satisfaction in the Lord alone. We must model worship and ask the children to join us in worship of God so they may worship God long after we are gone. CHBC’s hope in children ministry is that the kids might be faithful stewards of the gospel after we are gone.

Session III: Church Timeline ’93 Through Present

[Matt Schmucker and Mark Dever 10:00am Friday morning 9/14/07]

This was a great time to hear about many aspects of CHBC. It helped the weekenders understand how CHBC grew into the biblical description of how a healthy church functions. CHBC is by no means perfect, but it is is biblically healthy in many ways. I’m sorry I can’t share a lot more, but if you want to know more register for a future Weekender. There was a lot of confidential information that I can’t share…so get here sometime…if you don’t you’re missing out! :^)

After this 9Marks treated us all to a great lunch of subs sandwiches. During this lunch we went around the entire room and every weekender was able to share their name, where they are from, and a little bit about their ministry background. It was great!

Session II: Elder Meeting Q & A

[Matt Schmucker & Andy Johnson 9:30am Friday morning 9/14/07]

There were many things discussed. I’m just going to share generally some points of what was discussed in order to protect confidential matters. The main point was that we as the church should be working to make a clear line between the church and the world. One way they try to draw this line at CHBC is to practice membership very deliberately. You cannot be involved in the ministry of the church without first being a member. This practice swims upstream against what many churches practice in getting people involved…then they come to believe. They practice the order of involvement in the local church: first, for people to believe in Christ; second, to submit; third, to repent; and then to belong.

This is their attempt to practice and model that there are 2 ways to live in a biblical manner (alive to Christ, or dead in sin). Matt said, “You can’t even serve cookies if you’re not a member.” This process of involvement in the ministry of the local church is a way that individuals can know the church and that the individuals can be known by the church as a part of the body of Christ in a local community.

This practice sets the expectation of being known (or more specifically accountability). Matt said, “If you have secret sin, you probably won’t be comfortable in this church.” The way the body works here is such that the members and elders probe into lives with Christian love and care. It’s very refreshing! Also, the elders seek to pastor each other before they pastor the flock. This model emanates throughout the rest of the congregation.

Session I: Weekender Orientation

[Matt Schmucker 6:00pm Thursday evening 9/13/07]

This was a time where Matt Schmucker and Josh Coover oriented the 50 guests from around the world what to expect at the Weekender. Matt said that a Methodist minister came to a Weekender and said, “before I was here I never prayed.” He said that other ministers, lay leaders, and seminarians have said after the Weekender that they have never sang until they came here. Needless to say it was a great orientation. Giving testimony to how God has used the Weekender conference in the lives of former attendees.

Introduction
Matt’s forty-five minute lecture started with the example of three types of churches: (1) Biblical/faithful approach First Baptist Dallas, TX; (2) Seeker-sensitive approach Saddleback Community Church in California; and (3) Missional/Emerging model at Sojourn in Louisville, KY. He read a little of each church’s statement of faith and used them as a platform to start laying out why Capitol Hill Baptist Church does what it does. He said that they are not necessarily against pragmatism. Rather, they are against pragmatism that doesn’t find its foundation in what Scripture teaches about how the church should be structured, and function in the world.

6 Epochs in Biblical History
Matt then started to give examples in biblical history that form a foundation of how churches should function and what churches should model to the world.

(1) Creation

(2) Fall

(3) Israel

(4) Church

(5) Christ

(6) Glory

Out of this context of understanding the church Matt drew four lessons that we learn from them.

(1) The local church is meant to reflect God’s glory.

(2) The local church is marked off and distinct from the world, “You’ve got to be different,” he said.

(3) Evangelism is bound up in the churches' distinctiveness.

(4) The local church is to proclaim the gospel by living it out together.

Matt closed out this session with a great quote before we prayed:

“The church is not the absence of conflict; rather, the church is a picture of forgiveness.”

This post doesn’t give near the substance of what Matt covered, but it’s just a taste.

I can’t really share much about the elder’s meeting, but we started by praying for probably forty minutes to an hour for the elders and the congregation, it started with all of us standing and singing Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise. [To the right is a picture of how they set up for the elder's meetings]

9Marks Weekender!

In case you did not know, the church where I'm doing my internship (Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC) has many ways that they are trying to disciple young men, help pastors of all ages, and breath a biblical approach to church structure and practice into broader Evangelicalism.

The organization that they do much of this through is called 9Marks Ministries. This is a parachurch ministry; however, it shares the same offices of Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC). Also, CHBC gives financially very generously to this ministry. They write a bi-monthly e-journal, put on conferences in different locations, preach and lecture at numerous conferences, record conversations with pastors and theologians about the church, write and publish books, etc. What I do as part of the internship is a part of this vision of discipleship. The other thing they do three times a year is called a Weekender.

The weekender is a time when they invite 50-60 complete strangers (pastors, elders, lay-elders, leaders, and seminarians of churches) to come in and observe every aspect of their local church. CHBC has built their church on what the Bible teaches about what a church is and they hope to model this to many churches in the world. Most of the pastors are from the U.S.A. but in this Weekender there is one from Australia, another from Scotland, two from Quebec Canada, and two from Serbia.

The Weekender will run for 5 days. Thursday 9/13/07 evening through Monday morning 9/17/07. Most of the days are packed with lectures, great food, fellowship, and other activities (lunches with the pastors and staff). The highlight is certainly corporate worship on Sunday morning and evening!

The pastors and staff treat this as a business trip and basically kiss their wife and children goodbye for the weekend in order to stay up late, talk, serve, and give themselves fully to the Weekenders. This is a great conference. You really should try and register for one in the future if you are a pastor or leader in a local church (or a seminarian).

I am working much of the Weekender since I’m an intern, but I hope to post on some of the other sessions, Lord willing. So this could end up being a "semi-liveblogging" of the Weekender. Either way stay tuned;)

National Archives and Art Gallery

Last Saturday we were able to go to the National Archives and the National Art Gallery. Our feet and backs could only handle a small part of the art gallery so Lord willing we'll be headed back in the near future to finish her off! Here are some pics!

Alfredo Pina's bronze model of Richard Wagner 1916

Auguste Rodin's bronze model of Gustav Mahler 1909

Lindsey in front of Gilbert Stuart's oil on wood painting of George Washington c. 1821

Me in front of the Declaration of Independence

Lindsey in front of the Constitution of the United States of America

Me in front of the Bill of Rights

Lastly, here's Lindsey in front of one of only four originals of the 1297 Magna Carta.

[Sorry that some of the pics are dark...or over exposed...we couldn't use flashes in some of these places.]

The Affects of Polity

Here's picture of me reading before polity...

And here are the after effects of Polity...you should try it sometime;) It's really quite the experience!

Ordination & Theology Breakfast

Yesterday morning at theology breakfast Mark read a sermon and a few letters that C. H. Spurgeon wrote from his autobiography. It was really a great conversation, but I was struck by how engaging it can be to listen to someone read. I really need to start practice reading like this, but it was really helpful how he read the passage.

It was interesting to discuss the legitimacy of practicing an ordination of elders. Particularly, the misperceptions many have regarding what an "ordination ceremony" imparts from the agent(s) to the recipient(s), and the from where modern practices of ordination have derived. The implications that ordination in a denomination has for legal practice of licensing was interesting as well. I think it is wise to have "installation" services recognizing the congregations approval to install an elder to office. The congregational aspect of all of this was really helpful. The effect of this for accountability of an elder to a local congregation, shared responsibility of the members in appointing leaders, and traditions' role informing practice was helpful. It is important for elders to not necessarily have "tenure." If you are familiar with how some college professors have abused tenure in the university then you would understand why a "tenure" of elders is not wise and why some kind of structure of "meaningful" biblical accountability is in place.

I'm looking forward to theology breakfast next week on B. B. Warfield!

"Cultural Contextualization"

This video is definitely something I never imagined that I would see in in Mark Dever's house. His son was helping me work on my cultural contextualization. Particularly in Germany. In case you didn't know David Hasselhoff is huge in Germany and believe it or not this is legit music video he did there. Thanks for the tip Nathan!

First Thing I've Learned @ CHBC

HOSPITALITY!

"Relate – have conversations after church; take people out to lunch during the week; exercise hospitality by inviting people to your home for a meal; take an interest in people, and be open to answering their questions about you; offer to read a book with a younger Christian man; offer to have someone accompany you for conversation as you run errands. Give people a relational context in which they can develop love and trust for you as a fellow Christian (pg. 46 of The Deliberate Church).”

If you're anything like me you have read this kind of thing in a book and thought, "Well, of course. This is what a group of believers should do as they live in community with one another." Well, guess what...CHBC actually does this. Actually Waukee Baptist Church (in Waukee, IA) does this too. But CHBC is a little different. It is difficult to figure out etiquette because folks are so hospitable around here. People just bring you right into their homes. I'm not saying that if you are ever here that you should just "walk in" to their homes, but this is really the kind of feel that exists out here as an intern.

We are seriously in the pastors houses all the time. Not to mention that we are constantly invited to homes, lunches, etc. with the members in the congregation. In Iowa I thought that we'd be annoying if we were just sitting around in people's homes uninvited...but these guys make you feel like it's cool to just invite yourself in. Certainly there are limits; however, Michael Lawrence put it like this to the interns, "We are running a race...You are more than welcome to come and run along side us, but don't just sit at home and expect us to pull you along...but you are invited to run with us." That basically means that they totally meant the quote above. Crazy! It's actually really humbling. There are rules of etiquette, but the etiquette is basically: "invite yourself over...and if we say no, that means no...but most of the time you'll be welcomed to come in and be around them and the others that are there." I don't think I've been encouraged to just invite myself over to someone's place in my life.

It's really amazing! Something that is as simple as the quote above is actually practiced out here. From an intern's perspective how most folks view a cell phone is how the Mark views his home study (he doesn't have one). Kind of a cool twist against the culture.

Get rid of your cell phones, and open up your homes... Let people into your lives... There's a profound thought!

Anyhow, that's the first apparent observation I've learned from at CHBC so far. Basically, it is a great model of how people in a church are to love one another...founded on a commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Smithsonians...

Yesterday Linds and I had an excellent time visiting the Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum. Also, the American History Museum is closed for renovations until the fall of 2008 so there was a nice little exhibit of some of that stuff at the Air and Space Museum. Anyhow, here are some pics. Enjoy;^)

Here's Linds in front of Amelia Earhart's plane...

Here we are in front of the Wright brother's plane...

Here I'm in front of a C-3PO and an R2-D2 used in one of the original Star Wars movies...

Linds under a T-Rex...

Me in front of some kind of dinosaur...

Lastly, here's Linds in front of the hope diamond worth around a jillion dollars!

Best Opening Paragraph

This is the best opening paragraph to a book that have ever read!

"The Church is the mirror, that reflects the whole effulgence of the Divine character. It is the grand scene, in which the perfections of Jehovah are displayed to the universe. The revelations made to the Church - the successive grand events in her history - and, above all - the manifestation of "the glory of God in the Person of Jesus Christ" - furnish even to the heavenly intelligences fresh subjects of adoring contemplation."

[Bridges, Charles The Christian Ministry (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2006 reprint), 1.]

That's enough to keep me reading;)

Mount Vernon

Here are a pics from our trip last Sunday to Mount Vernon. It's really a beautiful place!

GO BIG!

If you write a book, particularly a Christian book, you probably don't want your first paragraph to end with this sentence...

"So, we tell our story up front so it can be the foundation for your BIG dream." [Go Big (Nashville: Abingdon, 2006), vii.]

There's only one person's story that I will use as a foundation for my life...and I'm sorry to say it's not Bil Cornelius and Bill Easum's:^)

Fall 2007 CHBC Intern Class

Here's a picture of our intern class...

DC Date Idea #1

Lindsey and I went out tonight and had a great time. It wasn't really a date, but a fun night that we were able to enjoy together.

God is gracious. I have been reading a lot and was tired late today. Well, the elders meeting we were supposed to have until 11:00 or midnight was cancelled. Then I was supposed to pick up pastor Mark from the airport but the flight was delayed...then cancelled. So Lindsey and I were able to get the 'ol bikes out and go on a ride.

We rode west about five blocks and around the north side of the Capitol building and down the hill. Up the north side of the mall. There were tons of people out on the mall playing baseball and kickball. We rode on the north side of the Washington Monument...crossed onto the south side, took a glance at the White house to the north, then went by the WWII memorial...then we crossed back to the north side close to the Vietnam memorial. Then we crossed right in front of the Lincoln memorial and came back on the south side of the pool kind of by the Korean war monument, took a look accross the river at the Jefferson memorial, then rode past the WWI monument. On our way back halfway between the Washington monument and the Capitol building it started to pour rain. It was great! It's been very hot here lately, so it was great to be rained on. It was really fun, but we were soaked.

That's it. Now just read and hang out at home. What a night!

DC Lunchtime Evangelistic Talks

I'm headed to the US Capitol building today with Mike Gilbart-Smith for the lunchtime evangelistic talks they do around Wash DC. He is going to be going over Genesis 3 on sin and judgement.

Pray that God would be glorified and that the Lord would change and turn hearts toward Him.

Greetings from Capitol Hill Baptist Church!

Greetings from Washington D. C.!

My apologies for zero news in the last couple weeks. It has been a busy time for us. We are having a great time in DC. It's really pretty amazing to run down the mall in the morning and have the backdrop be the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building.

To the internship!

This is going to be a lot of work, but it's going to be a great ride! I was excited to see the stack of books waiting for us interns:

- Give Praise to God (P & R publishing)
- Polity (By Mark Dever and IX Marks)
- Evangelicalism Divided (By Iain Murray, Banner of Truth publishing)
- Engaging God (IVP)
- Worship by the Book (By DA Carson, Zondervan publishing)
- The Deliberate Church (By Dever and Alexander, Crossway publishing)
- Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (By Mark Dever, Crossway publishing)
- Becoming Conversant with the Emergent Church (By DA Carson, Zondervan publishing)
- The Christian Ministry (By Charles Bridges, Banner of Truth publishing)
- The Reformation of the Church (By Iain H. Murray, Banner of Truth publishing)
- They Like Jesus but Not the Church (By Dan Kimball, Zondervan publishing)
- Go Big! (By Bill Easum and Bil Cornelius, Abingdon publishing)

Also, we have more to read, but we haven't received the books yet. Also, two of the books we have to read are books that aren't particularly helpful in the church. Can you guess which ones??? ;)

I have to get going, but I hope to write more in the near future. May God bless you and keep you!

In Christ
Noah

Time Moves Quickly

It has been a while. Lord willing, Lindsey and I will be moving to Washington D.C. this Thursday. I'm excited that tomorrow will be my last day at my current work (I've struggled with contentment in the past). Also, I'm planning on making some changes on how I blog in the near future. Keep coming back...as I hope to be posting some updates.

In Christ,
Noah

Almost All Iowa Baby!

You have 94% Iowa in you!

 

Wow! You're almost all Iowa. No wonder you're such a likeable person. Isn't it great being so close to the greatest state in the country!

Do you have Iowa in you?

[HT: Ryan and Lisa]

Examining Questions from D. A. Carson

FYI: I'm editing them out of the original paragraph format into a list.

Perhaps some practical examples will help clarify Paul's prayer [in Philippians 1:9-11]

1) What do you do with your time?
2) How many hours a week do you spend with your children?
3) Have you spent any time in the past two months witnessing to someone about the gospel?
4) How much time have you spent watching television or in other forms of personal relaxation?
5) Are you committed, in your use of time, to what is best?
6) What have you read in the past six months?
7) If you have found time for newspapers or news magazines, a couple of whodunits, a novel or two or perhaps a trade journal, have you also found time for reading a commentary or some other Christian literature that will help you better understand the Bible or improve your spiritual discipline or broaden your horizons?
8) Are you committed, in you reading habits, to what is best?
9) How are your relationships doing within your family?
10) Do you pause now and then and reflectively think through what you can do to strengthen ties with your spouse and with your children?
11) Do you make time for personal prayer?
12) For prayer meetings?
13) Have you taken steps to improve in this regard?
14) How do you decide what to do with your money?
15) Do you give a set percentage, say, 10 percent, of your income to the Lord's work, however begrudgingly, and then regard the rest of your income as your own?
16) Or do you regard yourself as the Lord's steward, so that all the money you earn is ultimately his?
17) Are you delighted when you find yourself able to put much more of your money into strategic ministry, simply because you love to invest in eternity?
18) Has your compassion deepend over the years, so that, far from becoming more cynical, you try to take concrete steps to serve those who have less than you do?
19) Is your reading and study of the Bible so improving your knowledge of God that your wholehearted worship of the Almighty grows in spontaneity, devotion, and joy?
20) At what points in your life do you cheerfully decide, for no other reason than that you are a Christian, to step outside your "comfort zone," living and serving in painful or difficult self-denial?

From D. A. Carson's book A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992), 128-9.

How humbling. Lord have mercy on us.

Whitefield's Self-Examination

"The ocean-hopping evangelist of the Great Awakening, George Whitefield, is best remembered for his inimitable, passionate preaching. Like his contemporary Edwards, Whitefield’s Diary reveals that his spirituality was at least as deep as his influence was wide. The book begins with a list of criteria that he used each night as a basis of self-examination.

Have I,

1. Been fervent in prayer?
2. Used stated hours of prayer?
3. Used ejaculatory prayer each hour?
4. After or before every deliberate conversation or action considered how it might tend to God’s glory?
5. After any pleasure, immediately given thanks?
6. Planned business for the day?
7. Been simple and recollected in everything?
8. Been zealous in undertaking and active in doing what good I could?
9. Been meek, cheerful, affable in everything I said or did?
10. Been proud, vain, unchaste, or enviable of others?
11. Recollected in eating and drinking? Thankful? Temperate in sleep?
12. Taken time for giving thanks according to (William) Law’s rules?
13. Been diligent in studies?
14. Thought or spoken unkindly of anyone?
15. Confessed all sins?

Each day’s entry in Whitefield’s Diary is in two parts, one page per part. On the first page he would list the specific activities of his day, then evaluate each on the basis of his fifteen questions. On the second page, according to his biographer, Arnold Dallimore, “He records any unusual activity throughout the day, but above all, gives expression to his inner self. The longings of his soul, a searching of his motives, severe self-reproach for the slightest wrong and bursts of praise to God, are all recorded without inhibition.”

How did men like Edwards and Whitefield become so unusually conformed to the image of Christ? Part of their secret was their use of the Spiritual Discipline of journaling to maintain self-accountability for their spiritual goals and priorities. Before we give all the reasons why we cannot be the kind of disciples they were, let us try doing what they did."

From Don Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Colorado Springs: Navpress,1991), Pp. 214-215.

Class At Southern Seminary This Week

In case you're interested I'm not posting anything this week, because I'm taking a class in Louisville, KY this week. If you have the opportunity to pray for me I would appreciate it...three specific things...

1) God's glory
2) Sharp mind to learn things that will be useful for God's Kingdom
3) Safe travel

Thank you!

In Christ
Noah

Noise

This quote is from Don Whitney in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life:

"Many of us need to realize the addiction we have to noise. It's one thing to listen to the television, tape player, or radio while ironing or doing other chores, but it's another thing habitually to turn one of these on immediately upon entering a room just to have sound. Even worse is to feel that it's necessary to have background noise during Bible intake or prayer. I believe the convenience of sound has contributed to the spiritual shallowness of contemporary western Christianity. The advent of affordable, portable sound systems, for instance, has been a mixed blessing. The negative side is that now we don't have to go anywhere without human voices. As a result we are less frequently alone with our own thoughts and God's voice. Because of this, and because we are the most urban, noise-polluted generation ever, we have an unprecedented need to learn the Disciplines of silence and solitude. [pp. 186-7]"

Have you ever sat in a communion service or a baptism service and thought...turn off the music?

Music "And Can It Be"

Of course we'll sing all the verses that I posted last week!

Family Worship

I just finished a book by Don Whitney on family worship...and we're starting tonight! Here's the hymn we are doing this week! Woo hoo!

International Philosophy

I haven't laughed this hard since I watched the Marx Bros. A Night at the Opera last night! ;)

Prayer Becomes Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

Here are a few good quotes from David Powlison on "Praying Beyond the Sick List".

"Sickness, like any weakness or trouble, is itself a temptation. Whether you face life-threatening disease or just feel lousy for a couple days, it is amazing what that experience can bring out of your heart. Some people complain and grumble, getting grouchiest with the people who care most. Others get angry—at God, at themselves, at others, at the inconvenience. Others pretend nothing is wrong, denying reality. Others pretend they’re sicker than they are, seeking an excuse to avoid the responsibilities of job, school, or family. Some invest vast hopes, time, and money in pursuing doctor after doctor, book after book, drug after drug, diet after diet, quack after quack. Still others keep pressing on with life, doing, doing, doing—when God really intends that they stop and learn the lessons of weakness. Others become deeply fearful—“perhaps this is the big one”—imagining the worst, And others get depressed."

"When any of these three strands of prayer [circumstantial prayers, wisdom prayers, and kingdom prayers] gets detached from the other two, prayer tends to go sour. If you just pray for better circumstances, then God becomes the errand boy (usually somewhat disappointing) who exists to give you your shopping list of desires and pleasures—no sanctifying purposes, no higher glory. Prayer becomes gimme, gimme, gimme. If you only pray for personal change, then it tends to reveal an obsession with moral self improvement, a self-absorbed spirituality detached from engaging with other people and the tasks of life. Where is the longing for Christ’s kingdom to right all wrongs, not just to alleviate my sins so I don’t feel bad about myself? Prayer pursues self-centered, morally-strenuous asceticism, with little evidence of real love, trust, or joy. If we only pray for the sweeping invasion of the kingdom, then prayers tend towards irrelevance and overgeneralization, failing to work out how the actual kingdom rights real wrongs, wipes away real tears, and removes real sins. Such prayers pursue a God who never touches ground until the last day."

Religious Expression

Imagine a school not allowing a student to wear a ring that expresses a religious belief. More specifically a Christian religious belief. Even more specifically the Christian religious belief that one will be chaste and sexually pure prior to marriage. And then imagine that the principal for the school argues as a defense that ,"It is not a Christian symbol, and is not required to be worn by any branch within Christianity."

Well, yeah...you got me...it actually happened. Let me get this correct. There has to be a "mandate" by some ecclesiastical power in order for a person to do something that expresses their religion? It's a good thing it wasn't a tattoo. With this logic our schools better CRACK DOWN!! There's so much "religious" attire out there...the religion of "self worship" and "culture worship". Check out this article, "British Girl Sues for Right to Wear Chastity Ring".

This just isn't very good logic from a principal, Leon Nettley, at a school in Horsham, south of London. Any thoughts??

Approval Rating

Bush isn't doing so hot according to theGallup Poll approval rating from May 15, 2007. He's at 33%.

But here's something I wasn't aware of. A Gallup Poll regarding congress...

Well check this article out, "Americans' Confidence in Congress at All-Time Low" from June 21, 2007. What is their approval rating?? 14% Wow!

We're not doing so hot.

[HT: Josh Dyvig]

Mac or PC

Okay folks...what's better. A Mac or a PC, and why? particularly regarding laptops.

NEW 9Marks blog!

Check this blog out sometime! Very cool!

Here are the 9marks to whet your appetite!!!

• Expositional Preaching
• Biblical Theology
• Biblical Understanding of the Good News
• Biblical Understanding of Conversion
• Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
• Biblical Understanding of Membership
• Biblical Church Discipline
• Promotion of Christian Discipleship and Growth
• Biblical Understanding of Leadership

Prayer Request: John & Thelma

Please pray for our brother and sister in Christ. They are going through a very difficult time and give all glory to God. Pray that God would give peace, patience, and joy in the midst of suffering.

Pray that their sole dependence would be in God alone. That God would calm John’s heart that he wouldn’t fight the nurses that are trying to help him. He has Alzheimer’s and sometimes he can fight quite a bit.

Our pastor is being called to be a missionary with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) in Northeastern Iowa. For Thelma this reality causes fear because pastor Mike comes and visits her and John often. The next pastor that our church is praying for will be a bi-vocational pastor (Lord willing). There is fear that the next pastor won't be able to visit them. John doesn’t remember or know pastor Mike often times because of his disease, but Mike was reading Isaiah 55 with John recently and John picked up and started quoting the verse word for word as Mike was reading. What a sweet and gracious providence of God that he has truly written His word on John’s heart even when his mind is leaving him.

Pray that the church would surround them and support them in their need. Pray that they might be a witness to the glory of God to their neighbors, doctors, friends, and family.

We were at Thelma’s house the other night just talking and praying. We were looking at pictures of when they were young. It was great, amazing, and humbling. We are just as they were: young, smiling, vibrant, etc. How quickly time flies…and now she is 87 years old. When I was baptized a few months ago Thelma’s the one that was rejoicing with me and telling me that she was baptized at age 69.

Please pray for John & Thelma. They are beloved saints in the Lord.

In Christ,
Noah

In honor of John here is Isaiah 55:

The Compassion of the Lord
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

12 “For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” [ESV]

Sin & Hell Part 2

(you'll want to read my last post before you read this one)

Okay, then there is preparatory direction number 2 in chapter 10 in Owen's Mortification of Sin:

Get a clear and abiding sense upon your mind and conscience of the guilt, danger, and evil of the sin with which you are troubled. (pp. 65)

Crazy! In the last chapter he said to not fight sin with the law and alluded to the fact that if a man, “cannot fight against it with gospel weapons, it is very evident that sin has control over his will and affections, and has prevailed and conquered. (pp. 60)” It’s important for us to get a grasp on what this means. In the last post, consideration number 4, a dangerous symptom that accompanies a lust is fighting, “against a sin only because of the consequences or penalty of that sin. (pp. 59)” Notice the “only because”. Fighting sin because of its consequences ONLY because of the consequences is not a right and healthy way to fight sin. There are many factors at work. Once Owen lays out some of the complexities he comes back to considering how to fight sin in light of the judgment to come for sin. With that preface in view consider what he wrote in the following:

Danger 4 – The danger of eternal destruction.

To rightly understand this, consider two things:

First, there is a connection between continuing in sin and eternal destruction. God does graciously deliver some from continuing in sin so that they may not be destroyed. However, He will not deliver any from destruction that do indeed continue in sin! For any that lie under the abiding power of sin, the threats of destruction and everlasting separation from God should be held out (Heb. 3:12; 10:38). This is the rule of God’s proceeding – if any man ‘departs’ from Him, ‘shrinks back’ through unbelief, God’s ‘soul has no pleasure in him’; that is, God’s indignation shall pursue him to destruction (Gal. 6:8).

Secondly, he that is so entangled, as described above, is under the power of corruption, and has no clear evidence of participating in the grace of God. Such a one cannot claim any assurance that he is delivered from destruction. Destruction from the Lord should be an appropriate fear for him. Such a one should seriously consider this to be (pp. 72) the end of his course and ways. ‘There is…no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom. 8:1). True, but who shall have the comfort of this promise? Who can claim it for themselves? Those who ‘walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit’ (Rom. 8:4).

But you will say, ‘Does this not lead people away from faith? I answer, No. Whatever evidence we may have of our own salvation, we must acknowledge that an evil path leads to destruction. To believe otherwise is atheism. We are not throwing away the good evidence of a personal interest in Christ, but an evil path throws doubt upon the reality of it. We should surely fly from a path that leads to death! The realization that the end of such a path is destruction should move us to free ourselves from the entanglement of our lusts. (pp. 73)

This is difficult stuff. We all have sin. Even when we think we have conquered sin in our lives we still carry it with us. And yet he says, "He will not deliver any from destruction that do indeed continue in sin!" and, "Such a one cannot claim any assurance that he is delivered from destruction," and "Destruction from the Lord should be an appropriate fear for him." That is hard hitting stuff. We may be saved, but, "Whatever evidence we may have of our own salvation, we must acknowledge that an evil path leads to destruction." May we fight with the weapons of the gospel, not law...yet we have to realize that, "the realization that the end of such a path is destruction should move us to free ourselves from the entanglement of our lusts." So it's not a weapon of law per se. Considered in the context of the complexity of sin and all the weapons to fight sin we must consider the consequences or penalty of that sin. Doing this draws us to fight sin with blood wrought freedom in grace.

This is true! Don't you think? It seems that Christians constantly downplay the effects and destination that sin leads to. Some people that think they are Christians aren't. We can see that from Scripture passages like Matthew 7:21-23 that some will meet an end that they had no clue they were destined for. Yet, we know that if one is truly a Christian they cannot lose their salvation John 10:28-29.

I'm not being exhaustive by any means, but I'll cover more in a few more posts. Feel free to correct or just interact.

In Christ
Noah

And Can It Be

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

[Words by Charles Wesley, music by Thomas Campbell]

Sin & Hell Part 1

I was hanging out with a younger brother and we were talking about sin and the destination it leads to. We are reading Mortification of Sin by John Owen. The following stuff stood out. In chapter 9 and 10 are two preparatory directions followed by a lot of considerations…

In Chapter 9 there is preparatory direction number 1:

Consider the symptoms that accompany a lust. If they are deadly and serious, then extraordinary remedies must be used. The ordinary course of mortification will not work. (pp. 54)

Further, number 4 in the considerations of the first direction stood out that, “A fourth dangerous symptom is when a man fights against a sin only because of the consequences or penalty of that sin. (pp. 59)” Later Owen also says the following:

“If a man is under the power of his lust to the extent that the only opposition to it is the law, and the arms of the law, hell and judgment, and cannot fight against it with gospel weapons, it is very evident that sin has control over his will and affections, and has prevailed and conquered.

Such a person has cast off, in this respect, renewing grace, and is kept from ruin only because of restraining grace. He has fallen a great way from grace and returned under the power of the law. Must this not be a great provocation to Christ, that men should cast off His gentle yoke and rule, to cast themselves back under the iron yoke of the law, merely because of their lusts?

Examine yourself also by this: When you are tempted, and must decide whether you will serve sin and rush into folly, like a horse into battle, or fight against it and suppress it, what do you say to your soul? Is it only, ‘Hell will be the end of this course; vengeance will meet with me and find me out!’ It is time for you to look about you; evil lies at the door. Paul’s main argument that sin should not have dominion over believers is that they are ‘not under law, but under grace’ (Rom. 6:14). If your battle against sin is only on legal principles and motives, what assurance do you have that this sin will not have dominion over you, leading to your ruin? (pp. 60)”

I've read this before, but this time I really thought this piece was particularly interesting. Sometimes we start to try and fight sin with the law, when really we should be fighting sin with grace. If we cannot fight sin effectively with grace they we must look into our heart to consider if we are in the faith. If Romans 10:9-10 is still our confession of faith then we must continue to repent and walk in belief trusting that the Lord will bring to completion the work He has begun in us.

[There's more so I'll save it for another post!]

Unofficial Start to CHBC Internship!

Wow! When Linds and I arrived home this evening there was a box of stuff from CHBC. Inside were two letters and six books, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (booklet by Mark Dever), A Display of God's Glory (booklet by Mark Dever), By Who's Authority? Elders in Baptist Life (booklet by Mark Dever), Humility True Greatness (C.J. Mahaney), When People are Big and God is Small (Ed Welch), and Theology of the Reformers (Timothy George).

Here's a run down of the assignments...

• Two 5 page papers one on each book When People are Big and God is Small, and Humility due 7/13/07.

• Three 2 page papers on the booklets by Mark Dever due 8/3/07.

• One 5 page paper discussing the significance of the reformation for Protestants' understanding of the church, the pastor and his role, and the sacraments (based off of Theology of the Reformers) due 8/9/07.

• Lastly, write a broad timeline of the English Reformation, including major monarchs, reformers, and critical events and publications due 8/9/07.

Good news is that I've already read 5 of the 6 books. Of course I'll be doing some rereading...I'm just glad I don't have to start from scratch.

Have You Ever Felt Like an Idiot?

Man I do. I know we all make mistakes...but when I was preaching on Sunday I was explaining how the name of God in the Old Testament was spelled and I spelled "Y-W-H-W"...

Ahhh...I know how to spell Yahweh..."Y-H-W-H" When I first heard it on the recording I felt like such an idiot. Just goes to show me that even though I know something I need to read my sermon notes much closer.

;)

In Christ
Noah

Sam Brownback @ Work Today

Well, today I saw Senator Brownback @ work. I like him... In case you're curious here are the the handouts with some information on him. (just click on the images to enlarge)

Moving...

Fyi...

I'm not posting as much these days. Linds and I are completely moved out of our house. We moved in with my parents, and I've been preparing for the sermon Sunday. I'll try to post a bit more in the coming week. I'm working on some new posts on the church...

BTW, Ryan;) I saw your comment;) I haven't read Revolution...and right now I'm reading other stuff so I'm afraid I wouldn't get around to it for a long while. I'm not trying to take on Barna...and his views. I'm sorry that I may have painted him into a group of people that he doesn't belong... It seems from the parts of the book that I have read and the reviews I have read that he comes close to supporting a "lone ranger" Christianity.

Anyhow, I still stand by my points about the church in my post even if I pegged Barna unfairly too far in a direction that I was reading into his words.

More to come...sometime:)

Preaching This Sunday

This Sunday I'm preaching on Psalm 1 at Waukee Baptist Church. If you would pray for me that God would be glorified, that He would speak through me, that He would bless the preparation, and that He would prepare the congregation it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

In Christ
Noah

What is Iowa State University’s Beef??

ISU’s new football coach wants to hire a chaplain as full time staff. And according to WHO TV’s article, Petition Opposes ISU Football Chaplain, “More than 100 faculty members have signed a petition, opposing the idea.”

What is up with ISU’s “faculty”? Also, notice that, “Private donations have fund [sic.] the position, which Coach Gene Chizik would like to make permanent.” So why do the ISU faculty care? Notice PRIVATE DONATIONS. Besides the football program basically runs off of private donations called "ticket sales" anyhow.

With all the robberies, muggings, assaults, etc. that the football players have committed in the last few years I’d think most would welcome a chaplain. “ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard supports the idea, saying student-athletes under a lot of stress should have access to spiritual guidance if they want it.”

And once again our antagonist is…guess who…just guess…yup, professor of religious studies Hector Avalos. He said, “Are you going to have counseling for Jewish students? Muslim students? There's no such thing as one religion or one version of Christianity." Really?

Also, the ACLU is getting in on the action check this article out if you're interested, ACLU Asks ISU To Reject Chaplain Plan.

I loved what one football player had to say, "I think we need to get Christ back in sports. Chizik was hired to do a job... and that's one thing they're passionate about, as am I."

Any thoughts??