Archive for February, 2012
Feb 27th
My Guest Blogger this week is Dr David Murray who blogs at headhearthand. David, a Scot, is Professor of Old Testament & Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (PRTS) and his blog really is a ‘must read’, full of helpful insights into pastoral ministry and leadership issues. Many thanks, David, fo answering my questions.
1. How did you get into blogging?
A PRTS student, Michael Dewalt, persuaded me to start about three years ago. Prior to that, I hardly ever looked at blogs. I had no Facebook or Twitter account. I could see no value in adding another layer of activity to my life. But Michael got me set up with Google Reader, added some well-known Christian blogs to my feed, and then signed me up with a Twitter and Facebook account.
I started blogging by linking to articles on leadership, but as I gained confidence I began to write a paragraph or two of comment, and it just grew from there.
2. Why do you blog? What is, if you like your ‘Mission Statement’ as a blogger?
In some ways I don’t know why I started blogging. But now I am motivated to blog for four reasons. First, I blog to help me teach and preach. I find it an excellent way of forcing me to articulate my thoughts. I was never very keen on writing, but this has taught me how to write clearly, simply, and briefly. Second, I blog to extend the mission and message of Puritan Reformed Seminary beyond our traditional constituency of support. It’s a great way of reaching out and showing how the Reformed worldview engages both with the Bible and with the world. Third, I blog to encourage pastors in their spiritual leadership, by providing links and writing articles that will help them in their work of feeding Christ’s sheep and seeking the lost. Fourth, I blog to interact with others. I’ve found blogging to be a helpful iron-sharpening exercise, with readers providing helpful balance, correction, and sometimes re-direction.
3. What do you see as the strategic benefits of Christian blogging?
The greatest strategic benefit is the accessibility to many minds and hearts on a regular basis. Blogging allows you to drip-drip-drip the truth out over many days, weeks, and months. It is a great privilege to have regular readers and the opportunity to influence and shape lives over a long period of time. It’s a responsibility I take very seriously and prayerfully.
It also allows me to address issues that I would not normally be able to engage. For me, preaching has primacy and the pulpit should be kept for exposition of the Word, whereas blogging opens the way to address secondary matters in a more topical way, and also to interact with other views, both Christian and non-Christian.
4. What are some of the problems and weaknesses you see as you survey the Christian blogging scene?
I’m very positive about the Christian blogging scene. Although many start blogs, only the good eventually survive. When people are not attracting readers, they usually stop blogging. So, there is a fairly effective filtering system in place over the long term.
There are, however, some blogs that could do with a good dose of Christian charity and optimism. There’s definitely a place for expose and condemnation of error, but when there’s an almost constant diet of that, it usually attracts the same kind of readers and they feed off one another, not to their benefit.
I’m also not sure about the long-term wisdom of the group-blogging that is becoming more popular, especially if the group represents a broad spectrum of opinion. There’s the possibility of being influenced in what you write (even sub-consciously), and there’s also the reality that almost all Christian organizations go belly-up theologically speaking.
5. Is there a gap in the scene; an area of Christian life or ministry that is not being adequately addressed?
Yes, I’d like to see much more constructive engagement with the world in areas of leadership and mental illness. There’s far too much sweeping condemnation of the thoughtful and careful work that has been done by unbelievers in these areas. I know that there are dangers here, but when I see the amount of time and thought that goes into analyzing art, politics, movies, books, and even sports from a Christian perspective, I’m amazed at the often thoughtless refusal to even look at what God has allowed unbelievers to discover in these areas of leadership and psychology.
6. What advice would you give to someone considering starting blogging?
- Read lots of other blogs over a period of time
- Start with short posts
- Link to other people’s content
- Be regular and don’t leave big time gaps between posts
- Learn to write as briefly as possible
- Reveal a bit of yourself without making it all about you
- Let your primary motivation be the service of others
- Respond constructively to any comments you get
7. What are your favorite 5 Christian blogs?
Tim Challies, Kevin DeYoung, Ligonier, Between Two Worlds, Gentle Reformation
(Previous guest bloggers: Trevin Wax, Peter Mead, Mike Riccardi, Jeremy Walker, Joe Thorn, Guy Davies, Eric McKiddie, Glen Scrivener)
Weekly Web Watch
Feb 24th
- Trevin Wax has some advice for those looking for a church to join
- Kevin DeYoung lists 10 reasons to believe in a historical Adam while Richard Belcher has a concerned but very helpful review of John Collins book ‘Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?‘ and N T Wright addresses the question of whether we should interpret Genesis 1 literally
- Eric McKiddie offers a template to help with sermon preparation
- John Peters has an insightful piece on some of the lessons we can still learn from the preaching ministry of Lloyd-Jones while Evangelical Times has an excerpt from Eryl Davies’ Bitesize Biography of the Doctor
- David Murray explains the therapeutic value of the Psalms: “in a day of so many disordered emotions, worshippers are discovering how the Psalms minister so powerfully to their emotional lives.”
- Benjamin Shaw at Ligonier demonstrates the importance of proper punctuation in exegeting the Scriptures
- Gospel Obsessed agrees with the statement that “spiritually mature people are easily edified” and says, “you will like my sermons, and all sermons, a lot better if you consider some suggestions about being an easily edified person”
- Clint Archer at The Cripplegate has four reasons to preach the ‘Old(er) Testament’
- Justin Taylor expounds Romans 1:18-21, demonstrating what unbelieving pagans know about God and why they are responsible for it
- Chad Hall at Transformed has had some great posts on Understanding Change, beginning here
Feb 20th
My thanks to this week’s guest blogger, Glen Scrivener. Glen blogs at Christ the Truth and The King’s English, the latter of which is, without doubt, in my mind, one of the best and most creative Christian blogs on the www.
Glen is a minister in the Church of England and an evangelist in Eastbourne, UK and says that he writes “as someone gripped by the Jesus of the Bible”, which is all too clear from his writings. Thanks again Glen.
1. How did you get into blogging?
I got into blogging the way Aaron got into idolatry. I just clicked some buttons at WordPress and “out came this blog.” I wasn’t thinking about a long-term ministry at all. At the time I’d been pestering Bobby Grow with lengthy comments and he suggested that I rant on my own site rather than everyone else’s. Of course he didn’t say it like that, but I got the message 
This was four years ago when my wife was quite ill. I think the Lord was kind in giving me an outlet and a ministry beyond the home when I wasn’t always able to get out. The examples of Charles Wesley and BB Warfield have inspired me in this. Both their wives struggled with illness and yet actually, as they cared for their wives, the Lord opened up incredible ministries for them where they were. On a vastly smaller scale I’ve seen the Lord do something similar through blogging.
My first and main blog has been Christ the Truth. But last year I also blogged at The King’s English which was my attempt at a daily devotional based on King James phrases.
2. Why do you blog? What is, if you like your ‘Mission Statement’ as a blogger?
Some people have an irenic tone and serpentine wisdom. I have a nasal tone and bark like a dog. Blogging suits me like that. I’ve had the same strap-line since the beginning and it really has been the conviction that’s driven me: “Jesus is the Word of God.” My mission is to keep that thought uppermost in all our minds – my own included. It’s so easy to drift into a deistic view of God, a mechanical view of salvation, a moralistic view of the Christian life – even within evangelical circles. I’m always trying to think about what it would mean if Jesus Himself defined God and salvation and daily living. It should be unthinkable to even imagine Christ-less conceptions of these truths… and yet I encounter them all the time. In myself and in others. My blogging is a faltering and feeble attempt to shout “JESUS” on a website.
3. What do you see as the strategic benefits of Christian blogging?
Maybe it’s just me, but some of my deepest theological convictions have been shaped by a single conversation – even a single phrase. Perhaps that exposes me as shallow! But I think it’s easy to poo-poo blogs as a poor substitute for books and journals. And in many ways they are. But we’re not always shaped by digesting lengthy treatises. We can be changed profoundly by deep truths, simply put. I hope that my blogging is a drip-drip of gospel thinking that – cumulatively, or even as a one-off – can open eyes to the glory of Christ.
4. What are some of the problems and weaknesses you see as you survey the Christian blogging scene?
I wish there was more theological wrestling on Christian blogs. Too many sites strike me as theology-lite pastoral epistles – full of ministry philosophy and best practice. But where’s the meaty discussions of doctrine of God and christology, etc? I guess it’s a reflection of a broader evangelical anaemia. But I often find more substantial Jesus-shaped theology on non-evangelical blogs. Maybe I’m missing all the great evangelical sites though, I don’t really keep up with ‘the scene’
5. Is there a gap in the scene; an area of Christian life or ministry that is not being adequately addressed?
I’m going to sound petty or ranty or both but… I think the way that question is framed is part of the problem! If you ask me, “Christian life and ministry” is not where the “gap in the scene” lies. There’s all too much about Christian life and ministry. All the while, radical Christ-centred reflections on God and the gospel are thin on the ground. More of those please.
6. What advice would you give to someone considering starting blogging?
There’s loads of good advice out there but one thing I’d highlight is to love and serve your commenters. It’s fantastic to interact with people from all over the world and to get to know them in a bloggy kind of way. So answer questions, take their points seriously and try to write in a way that opens up discussion rather than shuts it down. I’m not very good at any of that. And with time pressures I’m becoming even worse. But interact with your commenters – that’s my big tip. It’s the most fun aspect of blogging and if you’re not going to do it – don’t open comments!
7. What are your favourite 5 Christian blogs?
My wife’s blog is gob-smackingly good. Not just saying that: A New Name
Theology Network is the very best antidote to the evangelical anaemia mentioned above.
The 48 Files by Dave Kirkman is a proper blog – doctrinal, pastoral, deeply gospel-ly
Peter Leithart will always provoke thought and take you deeper into Scripture and trinitarian reflection.
Dan Hames is blogging rich, trinitarian, Christ-centred fare at High Over All.
(Previous guest bloggers: Trevin Wax, Peter Mead, Mike Riccardi, Jeremy Walker, Joe Thorn, Guy Davies, Eric McKiddie)
Holy, Holy, Holy – Proclaiming the Perfections of God
Feb 19th
This is undoubtedly the best book I have read for some time, and believe me I’ve read some great ones!
I have often seen publicity for a conference with a great line-up of speakers and been disappointed that there was no way I could attend. Well, now I can at least read the addresses that were given, as this is a compilation of those given at the 2009 Ligonier Conference, with contributions by Thabiti Anyabwile, Alistair Begg, Don Carson, Sinclair Ferguson, Robert Godfrey, Steven Lawson,
R. C. Sproul, R. C. Sproul Jr., and Derek Thomas; some of the finest preacher theologians the church is currently blessed with.
This excellent book does what all good, expository preaching should do – it teaches the mind, touches the heart and targets the will – and all in very good measure. I guarantee that you will not fail to be enriched, humbled, edified and blessed by any one of the chapters in this book, never mind the totality.
Read my full review here
A Holy Love
Feb 19th
Yesterday evening I began reading ‘Holy, Holy, Holy – Proclaiming the Perfections of God’. It is a collection of addresses by such luminaries as Sincair Ferguson, R C Sproul and Steven Lawson, given at the 2009 Ligonier Conference.
You know what it’s like; you’re enjoying some good meaty, heart-warming truths and then suddenly a concept grabs you with an intensity that is all too rare and leaves you almost reeling. That was what happened as I read the second chapter, by Ferguson, on the holiness of the Father. He bases his study on the unique recorded occurrence of Jesus’ addressing his Father as “Holy Father” (John 17:11). Ferguson’s treatment is masterly, insightful and truly awe-inspiring. He writes, “It would be challenging enough to ask, “What would we mean if we addressed God in prayer as ‘holy Father’?” But to ask, “What did Jesus mean?” is to enter what is, for most of us, uncharted territory and to feel that we have a privilege hitherto reserved for seraphim. John 17 is holy ground, and, at least metaphorically, we need to take off our shoes if we are to walk on it.”
You really need to buy this book and read this chapter for yourself, but let me give you some short excerpts.
“The holiness of love that flows between the Father and Son in the Spirit is infinitely greater than the most intense human devotion and holy passion. The blessed Son is able to gaze into the eyes of the holy heavenly Father and bear in His being, in the mystery of His eternal being, the intensity of the Father’s holy love for Him and desire for fellowship with Him so that “the deep things” of God with respect to each person are fully unveiled and enjoyed. That is the intensity of the Father’s desire to have fellowship with Him.” (p22)
“We cannot look into the eyes of the Father and hold our gaze, as though we had access to His eternal being. Rather, we must, as it were, stand on the circumference and watch the eyes of the God-man Jesus Christ as He gazes on His heavenly Father. In this we are like those who take the greatest delight and pleasure in seeing two lovers “made for each other” engaging in a human perichoresis of mutual affection, admiration, and devotion that is marked by open self-giving to one another and total satisfaction in one another. When we see the face of the Father reflected in the eager eyes of His Son incarnate, then we find ourselves worshiping and ever crying with the seraphim, and with all the choristers of heaven, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts,” as though we were witnessing the display of a trillion laser beams of light, pure and intense. Sometimes we mistakenly think that what most causes awe and reverence before God is the threat of His holiness, the fear of His law, and the terror of judgment and condemnation. But it is not so. Pure and intense love has more power to effect awe, even gracious fear, than all terror.” (p23)
“All of this, you see, is to bring us lost, broken sinners into fellowship with God so that we can say, as John says, in essence, in his first letter, “Here is the mystery of the blessing of the gospel, that our fellowship is in the power of the Spirit, through the Son, with the holy Father” (see 1 John 1:1–3). As our Lord Jesus leads us and gives us access to the presence of God, we want to hide behind Jesus. But He says, “Now, My child, come from behind Me, and watch My eyes as I gaze into the eternal heart of My Father and say, ‘Holy Father, here am I, and the children You have given Me’” (see Heb. 2:13).” (p26)
“Why did He become flesh? Let the answer bring a sense of awe to our hearts: He became flesh to bring us into the same relationship to the holy Father that He experienced and enjoyed in the finitude and weakness of the flesh in which He was incarnated.” (p25)
Humpty Dumpty on ‘Christian’ Britain
Feb 15th
It was that much neglected sage, Humpty Dumpty, who is famous for saying, according to Lewis Carroll, that “When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.”
That was the quote I thought of when I read the findings of a survey carried out by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. The research was into ‘Religious and Social Attitudes of UK Christians in 2011′ and was conducted by asking questions of people who identified themselves as ‘Christians’ in the 2011 census. For me, the outstanding observation was just how devalued the word Christian has become.
Here are some of the findings:
Q3. You have said that you defined your religion in the Census as Christian or that you would have done so if you had answered the Census question yourself. Why do you think of yourself as being of this religion? Please select as many as apply.
- 72% : “I was christened/baptised into this religion”
- 38% : “One or both of my parents are/were members of this religion”
- 37% : “As a child I went to a Sunday School run by this religion”
Q6. Apart from special occasions such as weddings, funerals and baptisms or christenings, how often IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS have you attended services or meetings connected with Christianity?
- 49% : “Not at all during the last 12 months”
- 17% : “Once a week or more”
Q8. Apart from special occasions such as weddings, funerals and baptisms or christenings, when did you LAST attend a service or meeting connected with Christianity? (Base: All who did not attend a church service in the last 12 months)
- 32% : “More than ten years ago”
- 24% : “Never”
Q10. How often, if at all, do you pray independently and from choice? I mean when NOT in a church service or other religious meeting.
- 37% : “Less often than once a year”
- 35% : “Once a week or more”
Q. Different people believe in different things. To what extent do YOU PERSONALLY believe in the following?
- Heaven: 36% completely; 11% not at all; 9% not really
- Hell: 18% completely; 25% not at all; 15% not really
Q19. Which of the following statements best describes YOUR personal view of God?
- 37% : “I believe in God and I believe that Christianity is just one way of knowing him”
- 17% : “I believe in God and I believe that Christianity is the only true way of knowing him”
- 10% : “I don’t believe in God but think there may be some kind of supernatural intellignece out there”
Q20. When, if at all, did you last read any part of the Bible? I mean independently and from choice, and not as part of a church service or other religious meeting.
- 36% : “More than three years ago”
- 15% : “I have never read any part of the Bible independently”
- 15% : “In the last week”
Q22. Which of the following statements BEST describes your personal view of the Bible as a guide to morality?
- 42% : “The Bible is not a perfect guide to morality as some of its teachings are not appropriate today, but it is still the best guide we have”
- 24% : “The Bible is not the best guide to morality today, there are better ways of knowing right from wrong”
- 23% : “The Bible is a perfect guide to morality and its teachings hold true today”
Q24. Which of the following BEST describes your belief about the resurrection?
- 39% : “Jesus came back to life spiritually but not physically after being dead”
- 32% : “Jesus came back to life physically after being dead”
- 18% : “I do not believe in the resurrection”
Q25. Which of the following BEST describes your view about Jesus?
- 44% : “Jesus is the Son of God, the Saviour of mankind”
- 32% : “Jesus was a man who gave us a role model for how to live”
- 13% : “Jesus was just a man”
- 4% : “I do not believe Jesus really existed”
Q.To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
- “Sexual relations between two adults of the same sex are wrong”
46% : “Tend to/Strongly disagree”
28% : “Tend to/Strongly agree”
- “Sex between a man and a woman is only acceptable within marriage”
57% : “Tend to/Strongly disagree”
23% : “Tend to?strongly agree”
Q51. Which is the ONE statement that BEST describes what being a Christian means to you personally?
- 40% : “I try to be a good person”
- 24% : “It’s how I was brought up”
- 15% : “I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour”
Remember: all those who answered these questions were those who described themselves as ‘Christian’. It shows why some people still believe UK to be a ‘Christian’ country and shows how far removed from the biblical understanding of the word, the word ‘Christian has become.
“Lord, have mercy on us!”
Feb 13th
I am very grateful to this week’s guest blogger, Eric McKiddie who blogs at Pastoralized. Eric describes himself as “husband, father of two, and one of the pastors at College Church in Wheaton, IL.” and his blog as “about doing the work of pastoral ministry.” Thanks for sharing Eric
1. How did you get into blogging?
I started blogging because I wanted a way to keep track of what I was learning regarding how to do the work of ministry. I remember thinking to myself on the first day on the job, “So what do I do?” I had an abstract idea of what ministry was, but I had little clue what that looked like in terms of concrete pastoral work. A couple years later, I felt like I was finally starting to understand a few things about doing ministry. My blog became my outlet for honing those lessons, and turning them into regular work habits.
2. Why do you blog? What is, if you like your ‘Mission Statement’ as a blogger?
My goal as a blogger is to help pastors fulfill their ministry with theological rigor and practical efficiency. On the one hand, I want to show the scholarly pastor how to be an effective leader and an efficient worker. But I want to show the pragmatic pastor that church programs must be driven by the gospel and a biblical theology, if they are to glorify God and build his church.
3. What do you see as the strategic benefits of Christian blogging?
The main benefit of Christian blogging is that it provides a platform for faithful brothers and sisters to edify the church body at large. Many Christian books, unfortunately, are cheesy at worst and biblically weak at best. Yet, ironically, many clear and biblically strong writers will never get a book contract with a Christian publisher. Blogging gives these writers an avenue to communicate their thoughts to others.
4. What are some of the problems and weaknesses you see as you survey the Christian blogging scene?
The strength of the blog world is speed. Conversations spark fast, and authorities will quickly offer their opinion. This happened with Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins. For bloggers, the conversation was over a few months after the book came out. And that’s the weakness: because the online conversation has come to an end, the blogger can feel like an issue has been adequately addressed, when, in reality, it needs to be addressed more among our people in the offline world.
5. Is there a gap in the scene; an area of Christian life or ministry that is not being adequately addressed?
That’s hard for me to answer, because I focus my blog reading on a few dozen blogs that I find helpful. So it’s hard for me to speak regarding the Christian blogging world as a whole. But I will say that I haven’t come across much on politics. Also, I see a lot on the the philosophy and theology of pastoral ministry, but not as much on how to work those things out practically. I’m trying to fill that gap.
6. What advice would you give to someone considering starting blogging?
First, pick a topic that you can’t stop thinking about. That is most likely to be a topic you will be able to write a lot about. Second, recognize blogging for the genre it is: social media and marketing. This is important because it will help you shape and format your content in ways people want to read and share blog posts. Third, before you start, read a lot about the practice of blogging from sites like Copyblogger and writers like Michael Hyatt.
7. What are your favourite 5 Christian blogs?
In no particular order: Douglas Wilson (Blog and Mablog), Justin Taylor (Between Two Worlds), Zach Nielsen (Take Your Vitamin Z), Michael Hyatt, and Matt Perman (What’s Best Next).
(Previous guest bloggers: Trevin Wax, Peter Mead, Mike Riccardi, Jeremy Walker, Joe Thorn, Guy Davies)
Have the courage of your biblical convictions
Feb 12th
“Instead of using their minds to come to strong convictions and let the chips fall where they will and suffer for what’s true, they are repeatedly angling to get out of traps.
Don’t be like this,…if your mind, in studying the truth, leads you to a conviction that will get you into trouble, believe it! Speak it!
There are so many pastors who conceal their convictions from their people because they are afraid of conflict.”
John Piper The Pastor as Scholar and The Scholar as Pastor Nottingham: IVP, 2011 p58
