Fighting Sin With Worship, by Tim Keller

Originally part of a sermon, and recently posted at the Desiring God blog.

If you are a Christian and you are dealing with enslaving habits, it’s not enough to say, “Bad Christian, stop it.” And it is not enough to beat yourself up or merely try harder and harder and harder.

The real reason that you’re having a problem with an enslaving habit is because you are nottasting God. I’m not talking about believing God or even obeying God, I’m saying tasting —tasting God.

The secret to freedom from enslaving patterns of sin is worship. You need worship. You need great worship. You need weeping worship. You need glorious worship. You need to sense God’s greatness and to be moved it — moved to tears and moved to laughter — moved by who God is and what he has done for you. And this needs to be happening all the time.

Go here for the whole, really, really, really good excerpt on the enslaving nature of sin and the power of worship to set us free.

11 Reasons Why Working With Kids Is Not Second Rate Ministry, by Brent Osterberg

Sadly, children’s ministry in the local church can often be seen as second rate ministry, not much more than crowd control and waiting out the clock. This can be seen on the occasions when members looking to move on to bigger and better things will see children’s church or AWANA as merely something to cut their teeth on. Or when the church leadership, in a desperate attempt just to fill the volunteer gaps, will try and make children’s ministry as burden-less and non-committal as possible. Then, of course, there are those who take a shift with the kiddos just because they feel like they have to do something to serve.

Truth be told, I’ve thought all these things at one time or another over the years. Only now that my wife and I have kids of our own have I realized the crucial role that children’s ministry plays in the lives of the kids it serves, their families, and the church.

So then, in the hopes that more Christians and churches will begin cherishing this ministry and investing in it more copiously, here are 11 reasons why children’s ministry is not second rate ministry:

Go here for his 11 insightful reasons.

Jesus’ Doctrine of Scripture, by Kevin DeYoung

After working through four main texts (John 10:35, Matthew 5:17-19; 12:38-42; 19:4-5) I provided a summary of Jesus’ doctrine of Scripture.

Jesus held Scripture in the highest possible esteem. He knew his Bible intimately and loved it deeply. He often spoke with language of Scripture. He easily alluded to Scripture. And in his moments of greatest trial and weakness—like being tempted by the devil or being killed on a cross—he quoted Scripture.

His mission was to fulfill Scripture, and his teaching always upheld Scripture.

He never disrespected, never disregarded, never disagreed with a single text of Scripture.

He affirmed every bit of law, prophecy, narrative, and poetry. He shuddered to think of anyone anywhere violating, ignoring, or rejecting Scripture.

Jesus believed in the inspiration of Scripture, down  to the sentences, to the phrases, to the words, to the smallest letter, to the tiniest mark.

He accepted the chronology, the miracles, and the authorial ascriptions as giving the straightforward facts of history.

He believed in keeping the spirit of the law without ever minimizing the letter of the law. He affirmed the human authorship of Scripture while at the same time bearing witness to the ultimate divine authorship of the Scriptures.

He treated the Bible as a necessary word, a sufficient word, a clear word, and the final word.

It was never acceptable in his mind to contradict Scripture or stand above Scripture.

He believed the Bible was all true, all edifying, all important, and all about him. He believed absolutely that the Bible was from God and was absolutely free from error. What Scripture says God says, and what God said was recorded infallibly in Scripture.

Jesus submitted his will to the Scriptures, committed his brain to study the Scriptures, and humbled his heart to obey the Scriptures.

In summary, it is impossible to revere the Scriptures more deeply or affirm them more completely than Jesus did. The Lord Jesus, God’s Son and our Savior, believed his Bible was the word of God down to the tiniest speck and that nothing in all those specks and in all those books in his Bible could ever be broken.

Go here for his exegetical, theological, and logical work that leads to these conclusions, and for all eight sermons recently preached on the doctrine of Scripture.

How the Gospel Changes Our Apologetics, Part 1, by Tim Keller

Apologetics is an answer to the “why” question after you’ve already given people an answer to the “what” question. The what question, of course, is “What is the gospel?” But when you call people to believe in the gospel and they ask, “Why should I believe that?” —then you need apologetics.

I’ve heard plenty of Christians try to answer the why question by going back to the what. “You have to believe because Jesus is the Son of God.” But that’s answering the why with more what. Increasingly we live in a time in which you can’t avoid the why question. Just giving the what (for example, a vivid gospel presentation) worked in the days when the cultural institutions created an environment in which Christianity just felt true or at least honorable. But in a post-Christendom society, in the marketplace of ideas, you have to explain why this is true, or people will just dismiss it.

Go here for the first part of this blog series by Keller at City to City.

The Absent Minded Husband, by Rebecca VanDoodewaard

When I was younger, I remember listening in amazed delight at the stories of my absent minded grandfather. My grandmother seemed to take it all in stride, and often laughed about the turn that life could take with an absent minded husband. Other pastor’s wives had similar stories, and as kids we called absent mindedness “minsters’ disease”. It seemed quaintly cute that gifted men who excelled in their calling could not remember that dinner was at 6:00. Then I married my own wonderful, absent minded husband.

This is really good, comical, and edifying, particularly if your wife has an absent-minded husband like me.

Where And How Do We Draw The Line, by Kevin DeYoung

1. Establish the essentials of the faith.
2. Listen to the communion of the saints.
3. Distinguish between landing theology and launching theology.
4. Distinguish between the explicit teaching of Scripture and the application of scriptural principles.
5. Distinguish between church existence and church health.
6. Avoid foolish controversies.
7. Allow for areas of disagreement, especially regarding “conversion baggage.”

Go here for his explanations of each.

What If I Had Stayed In The Workforce?, by Luma Simms

Ok, so I have posted many things recently on the value and goodness of motherhood.  Simms, in one sense, cuts against me in that she goes the next step, a balancing one, and refocuses our attention on ultimate value.  There is value in biblical motherhood, but biblical motherhood is not the place that the mother ought to be finding her value.  I get it!  So on the one hand, I do not rescind the articles that I have posted that have been written by others concerned with the devaluing of motherhood.  I think what they have said is good to read and apply.  But almost everything nowadays is written as a counter-response or balance or improvement upon what has been previously written or, in some cases, disregarded.  This is where I think Simms’ article is important.  She does not by any stretch of the imagination devalue what has been written, what has been a hot-topic in our evangelical culture, namely, the value of women, the role of mother, and the various beauties of that role in the Bible.  What she does is give balance, and help us to understand that if one’s value is located in the degree to which one mothers biblically, value is still located in the self and will rise and fall with the self.  She helpfully reminds us, and particularly women, that their value is not ultimately in how good they mother, but in the union with Jesus Christ.

Go here for her helpful article.

Sinners In A Fishbowl, by Barnabas Piper

Being a pastor’s kid (PK) is the only life I know. I was born one, and though I am no longer a child, I am still a PK. The greatest advantages and blessings in my life are products or bi-products of being aPK. Those blessings are not what I am setting out to describe, however. I am out to set forth the unique struggles PKs face.

Go here for the rest of this article on the trials, temptations, and remedies of being and having and knowing pastor’s kids.

Addressing Theology With Children

The following idea has been adapted and adopted from the article at WORLD by Russ Pulliam.  The idea is simply to give you a list of fictional writings designed to engage children and their imaginations with theological and ecclesial-historical truths.  Here are some (and if you want to add some others, feel free):

1. Irenaeus of Lyons, by Sinclair Ferguson
2. Polycarp of Smyrna, by Sinclair Ferguson
3. Ignatius of Antioch, by Sinclair Ferguson
4. Big Book of Bible Truths 1, by Sinclair Ferguson
5. Big Book of Questions and Answers About Jesus, by Sinclair Ferguson

6. The Lightlings, by R. C. Sproul
7. The Barber Who Wanted to Pray, by R. C. Sproul (teaching on Martin Luther)
8. The Donkey Who Carried a King, by R. C. Sproul (gives the gospel through the donkey’s perspective, teaching humility from carrying Christ into Jerusalem)
9. The Priest With Dirty Clothes, by R. C. Sproul (illustrates the imputation of Christ’s righteousness)
10. The Prince’s Poison Cup, by R. C. Sproul (explaining Christ’s suffering for us)
11. The King Without a Shadow, by R. C. Sproul (explaining holiness)

12. Children’s Stories, by J. C. Ryle
13. Thoughts for Young Men, by J. C. Ryle
14. Boys and Girls Playing and Other Addresses to Young Children, by J. C. Ryle
15. The Duties of Parents, by J. C. Ryle (ok, this is for parents, but undoubtedly involves children!)

WORLD’s Top 10 Books of the Year, by Marvin Olasky

1. The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion, by Rodney Stark

2. Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help — And How to Reverse It, by Robert Lupton

3. From Prophecy to Charity: How to Help the Poor, by Lawrence Mead

4. Coming Apart, by Charles Murray

5. The Intolerance of Tolerance, by D. A. Carson

6. We the People: A.D. 1600 to 1800, Christian History Project, Vol. 10

7. What is the Mission of the Church?, by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert

8. Gospel-Powered Humility, by William Farley

9. The Orphan Master’s Son, by Adam Johnson

10. A Life of Gospel Peace, by Phillip Simpson

Go here and here for his run-downs of the top three.  At the bottom of the second link, where the final 7 books are listed, there are links for WORLD’s reviews of all the books.