March 30, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories:
C.J.'s most recent messages have been posted online. One is a sermon, the other a conference message to church planters. Both can be found here:
When Someone Doubts (Jude 22)
March 20, 2011
Covenant Fellowship Church (Glen Mills, PA)
Listen here.
Download here.
Profile of a Church Planter (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12)
March 25, 2011
Plant Conference (Glen Mills, PA)
Listen here.
Download here.
In his message to church planters, C.J. quoted two lengthy excerpts that are reproduced here.
Charles Spurgeon (source: sermon no. 2447):
I have always felt, in my own mind, that it was one of the clearest proofs that I had God’s forgiveness of my many sins, when I was trusted to preach the gospel.
I should think that, if a prodigal came back to his father, the old gentleman would kiss him, and receive him, and rejoice greatly over him; but the next Saturday, the market-day, the old gentleman would say, 'I cannot send young William to market; that would be putting temptation in his way. Here, John, you have always been with me; go to market, and buy and sell for me, for all that I have is thine. William, you stay at home with me.' He might not let him see all that he meant, but he would say to himself, 'Dear boy, he is hardly fit for that great trust; I love him, but still I hardly dare trust him as much as that.'
But see what my Lord did with me; when I came home to him as a poor prodigal, he said, 'Here is my gospel, I will entrust you with it; go and preach it.' I bless his name that I have not preached anything else, and I do not mean to begin to do so.
Then the Lord said to me, 'I will trust you with those people at Waterbeach, at New Park Street, at the Surrey Gardens, and at the Tabernacle. Go and see what you can do to bring them to heaven.' I do long to see souls saved as one great result of my ministry. But what an instance of my Lord’s love it is that he thus trusts me!
That was one of the things that made Paul hold up his hands in astonishment; he said that he had been put in trust with the gospel, and he could not make it out. He was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, yet he was put in trust with the gospel.
D.A. Carson (source: message, "Is the Culture Shaping Us or Are We Shaping the Culture?"):
If I have learned anything in 35 or 40 years of teaching, it is that students don’t learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I am excited about, the kinds of things I emphasize again and again and again and again. That had better be the gospel.
If the gospel—even when you are orthodox—becomes something which you primarily assume, but what you are excited about is what you are doing in some sort of social reconstruction, you will be teaching the people that you influence that the gospel really isn’t all that important. You won’t be saying that—you won’t even mean that—but that’s what you will be teaching. And then you are only half a generation away from losing the gospel.
Make sure that in your own practice and excitement, what you talk about, what you think about, what you pray over, what you exude confidence over, joy over, what you are enthusiastic about is Jesus, the gospel, the cross. And out of that framework, by all means, let the transformed life flow.
March 25, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Newton | Pastoral ministry
March was an important month in the life of John Newton but not because of basketball. It was on March 21, 1748, that Newton and his ship encountered a massive storm on the open sea. It was the day he nearly drowned.
His survival was a miracle and Newton knew it. That terrifying experience awakened Newton to the wretchedness of his sin and began a process that would result in his eventual conversion.
God had saved a wretch, saved him first from the raging seas and then from God’s own righteous wrath. Each year on March 21 Newton celebrated God’s kindness, a practice he maintained for the remaining 59 years of his life.
For the six years following his near drowning at sea, Newton was an eagerly growing Christian but he was also, according to one biographer, a “solitary Christian,” trying to figure out the Christian life on his own. [1] That solitary experience ended during his final voyage in a most unlikely place: a four-week stop in the Caribbean islands. There he met another ship captain, Captain Alexander Clunie, an older man and a mature Christian. Clunie discipled Newton and later introduced him to a pastor and a church family in London.
Clunie and Newton, with a shared life at sea and a shared interest in the Savior, remained “inseparable soul mates” for the remainder of their lives. [2] It was to Captain Clunie that Newton turned to express the challenges and pressures of pastoral ministry, which brings me to the point of today’s blog post.
In a letter dated July 26, 1776, Newton writes the following in a letter to him:
How fast the weeks return! We are again upon the eve of a sabbath. May the Lord give us much of his own Spirit on his own day. I trust I have a remembrance in your prayers. I need them much: my service is great.
It is, indeed, no small thing to stand between God and the people, to divide the word of truth aright, to give every one portion, to withstand the counter tides of opposition and popularity, and to press those truths upon others, the power of which, I, at times, feel so little of in my own soul. A cold, corrupt heart is uncomfortable company in the pulpit.
Yet in the midst of all my fears and unworthiness, I am enabled to cleave to the promise, and to rely on the power of the great Redeemer. I know I am engaged in the cause against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. If He died and rose again, if He ever lives to make intercession, there must be safety under the shadow of his wings: there would I lie.
In his name I would lift up my banner; in his strength I would go forth, do what He enables me, then take shame to myself that I can do no better, and put my hand upon my mouth, confessing that I am dust and ashes—less than the least of all his mercies.
Those honest words from Newton offer a glimpse into the struggle of a pastor’s soul.
Pastors…
- face a relentless repetition of pastoral responsibilities that come each week and culminate on Sunday
- struggle to rightly divide Scripture with every sermon
- strive to withstand the temptations that accompany opposition
- struggle against the temptations that accompany popularity and success
- earnestly long to see the truth of the gospel affect cold hearts
- themselves face the reality that they often carry a cold heart of their own into the pulpit with them
In this brief letter we see a glimpse of the pastoral task. It’s a glimpse that should humble us, make us thankful to God for the pastors who serve our souls each week, and remind us to pray for them.
Tony Reinke serves as the editorial and research assistant to C.J. Mahaney. Reading Newton’s Mail is a series of blog posts reflecting on various published letters written by John Newton (1725–1807), the onetime captain of a slave trading ship—a self-described apostate, blasphemer, and infidel, who was eventually converted by grace. Newton is most famous for authoring the hymn “Amazing Grace,” or maybe for helping William Wilberforce put an end to the African slave trade in Britain. Less legendarily, Newton faithfully pastored two churches for 43 years, a fruitful period of his life when a majority of his letters were written. Reading Newton’s Mail is published on Fridays here on the Cheap Seats blog.
Primary source letter: Letters of John Newton (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth: 1869, 2007), 60–61. Secondary sources: [1] Jonathan Aitken, John Newton (Crossway, 2008), 123. [2] Ibid, 124.
March 23, 2011 by C.J. Mahaney
Categories: Music | Resurrection
In time for our upcoming celebration of Easter, the newest Sovereign Grace Music album was released yesterday: Risen.
What I love about this album—what I love about all the albums produced by Sovereign Grace Music—is the gospel-centered sound doctrine that informs the lyrics. Here in these 13 songs our hearts and affections are focused on the resurrection of our Savior, where God the Father publicly demonstrated his satisfaction with the Son’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins and where our hope of future resurrection finds its guarantee.
So a huge congratulations and thanks to my friend Bob Kauflin and to his team of songwriters, vocalists, musicians, and technicians that make an album like this possible!
Until April 4 you can download Risen for just $5. CDs are available for $12.
Update at 11:13am: The download has been temporarily disabled on our store for technical reasons. If you want to download the album the best place to do so right now is Amazon, which has Risen for $7.
Rob Bell, 40, is an author and the pastor of a church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, reported to have 10,000 attendees each week. Over the years Bell’s writings and teachings have attracted a number of theological inquiries, too. But no previous controversy compares to the recent firestorm over his new book Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. The book has sparked a new discussion about universalism, exclusivism, the love of God, the gospel, and the nature of heaven and hell.
Love Wins was released on Tuesday as the fourth most popular book on Amazon.com. But although the book is new, the controversy around the book has been developing for a while.
This is not another review of the book. In this post I’ll briefly explain the history of the debate, explain why it matters, and point you to an important panel discussion scheduled for this afrternoon.
The Debate So Far
The most recent controversy around Bell began on February 23rd when Bell and his publisher released this promotional video for Love Wins, which prompted Justin Taylor to ask whether Rob Bell was a universalist. (According to theologian J.I. Packer, a universalist “believes that every human being whom God has created or will create will finally come to enjoy the everlasting salvation into which Christians enter here and now,” a belief that is motivated by “revolt against mainstream belief in endless punishment in hell for some people.”) Taylor’s post generated over 1,500 comments in response, many of them heated.
Denny Burk, the dean of Boyce College, followed with a more detailed analysis of the message of the short video and arrived at the same disturbing conclusion. But was the criticism premature, given the book was still unpublished? Kevin DeYoung said no, and added a number of other discerning thoughts to the whole debate.
Albert Mohler jumped into the discussion to write that Bell’s promo video “can only be described as universalism." At this point the debate gained national news coverage from CNN, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Good Morning America, and others.
On March 8, CNN reported that Zondervan, the publisher of four of Bell’s previous books, had refused to publish Love Wins because, in their words, “This proposal doesn’t fit in with our mission." Love Wins was published by HarperCollins.
So what about the book itself? Is Bell really a universalist?
Reviews and direct quotes from Love Wins began surfacing online last week. On Wednesday the first quotes from an advance copy of the book verified the theological suspicions. Bell's theological commitment to universalism was apparent even from the opening pages.
Other reviews soon followed.
On Monday DeYoung published an excellent, thorough, and devastating review of the book. He writes, “There was a lot of discussion about whether Bell is or is not a Christian universalist. After reading the book, I see no reason why the label does not fit.” DeYoung’s review raised a number of other concerns and made clear that Bell’s book was actually worse than expected.
So what’s at stake? DeYoung writes, “If Bell is right, then historic orthodoxy is toxic and terrible. But if the traditional view of heaven and hell are right, Bell is blaspheming.” The stakes are high because the gospel is at stake, DeYoung says. Later in his review he writes:
Bell categorically rejects any notion of penal substitution. It simply does not work in his system or with his view of God. “Let’s be very clear, then,” Bell states, “we do not need to be rescued from God. God is the one who rescues us from death, sin, and destruction. God is the rescuer” (182). I see no place in Bell’s theology for Christ the curse-bearer (Gal. 3:13), or Christ wounded for our transgressions and crushed by God for our iniquities (Isa. 53:5, 10), no place for the Son of Man who gave his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), no place for the Savior who was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21), no place for the sorrowful suffering Servant who drank the bitter cup of God’s wrath for our sake (Mark 14:36).
“The theology is heterodox,” DeYoung concludes. “The history is inaccurate. The impact on souls is devastating. And the use of Scripture is indefensible. Worst of all, Love Wins demeans the cross and misrepresents God’s character.”
Download DeYoung’s 21-page review as a PDF here: “God Is Still Holy and What You Learned in Sunday School Is Still True: A Review of “Love Wins.” (Two days later he contributed a few additional thoughts on the debate.)
Also on Monday, Burk contributed an eleven-page chapter-by-chapter book review.
On Tuesday, Russell Moore responded with a pointed and provocatively titled blog post: “The Blood-Drained Gospel of Rob Bell.”
On Wednesday morning Albert Mohler published his own review titled “We Have Seen All This Before: Rob Bell and the (Re)Emergence of Liberal Theology.” He writes,
H. Richard Niebuhr famously once distilled liberal theology into this sentence: “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”
Yes, we have read this book before. With Love Wins, Rob Bell moves solidly within the world of Protestant Liberalism. His message is a liberalism arriving late on the scene.
Mark Galli, senior managing editor of Christianity Today, agrees.
Meanwhile on Monday night, Bell’s book tour landed in New York City, where he answered questions before a live audience. It’s no stretch to say that his answers were quite evasive. Bell insisted that he is not a universalist and that he is an evangelical. “Do I think that I am Evangelical orthodox to the bone? Yes,” he said without hesitation.
On Tuesday morning Bell was interviewed by Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos and the book publicity tour steamed ahead, even bumping into MSNBC’s Martin Bashir who straightaway told Bell, “You’re creating a Christian message that’s warm, kind, and popular for contemporary culture.” (Incidentally, Bashir voiced more criticism of Bell's book two days later.)
The tour and the debate continue on.
Future Responses
In addition to the written responses, two important panels have been planned.
Early in the debate, The Gospel Coalition promptly added a panel discussion at their national conference in Chicago that will begin at 7:30 a.m. CST on Thursday, April 14. The event will open with teaching from Don Carson, followed by a panel with Carson, DeYoung, Tim Keller, Crawford Loritts, and Stephen Um.
Today (March 17), from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. EST, Southern Seminary is hosting a panel discussion featuring Albert Mohler, Justin Taylor, Russell Moore, and Denny Burk. Video will be live streamed at sbts.edu, or if you’re in the area, you can attend the event in Heritage Hall. [Update: Recordings of the panel are now avaliable here: video, audio.]
Who Cares?
So why should we care about this debate in the first place?
“There are a number of reasons this is important,” C.J. Mahaney says. “First, removing the doctrine of God's eternal punishment undermines multiple texts of Scripture. It also undermines the holiness and justice of God. Ultimately it undermines the Savior’s redemptive work on our behalf! So this couldn't be a more serious matter. These severe theological errors are not new with Rob Bell, and they are not uncommon throughout church history. But now these theological errors have been adopted by a man of influence and published publicly and broadly. Sadly, given the scope of his platform, these errors are sure to influence many people. This is a moment for pastors to take note, and to humbly and courageously contend for the faith (Jude 3–4).”
This is not the first time Bell’s theology has raised concerns. Three years ago a previous debate led C.J. to write and post some reflections on biblical discernment, why pastors should be concerned with Bell, and how to pray for him. That post remains remarkably relevant three years later.
For Further Study
In conclusion, here are a few other resources that surfaced (or re-surfaced) in the recent debate.
The first is a book published by Zondervan in 2004: Hell under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents Eternal Punishment. It includes valuable contributions by Mohler, Greg Beale, Sinclair Ferguson, Douglas Moo, J.I. Packer, Robert Yarbrough, and others. Most helpful is how this book addresses important questions about eternal judgment with clear exegesis of Scripture.
Also, it’s worth noting a trio of messages by Sinclair Ferguson titled "Universalism and the Reality of Eternal Punishment."
Ligon Duncan’s new article “Speaking Seriously and Sensitively about Hell” is valuable tool for preachers.
And don’t miss DeYoung’s recent blog post “To Hell with Hell” on why we need the doctrine of eternal punishment.
At the beginning of this series I wrote that personal criticism is part of our sanctification process, a tool that God uses to reveal idols and accelerate the pastor’s growth in humility. This has been my emphasis for most of the series. However, this emphasis runs the risk of being misunderstood, and I would not want a pastor reading this series to conclude that every criticism he receives is accurate or warrants his time and attention. In fact, sometimes it is wise and appropriate for a pastor to simply ignore criticism.
Because a pastor’s role is a public one, it is inevitable that he will more frequently be the object of criticism (an assumption underlying 1 Timothy 5:19). Some of the criticism will be constructive and some of it will be, well, less constructive. In fact, occasionally criticism will come from someone with a hidden personal agenda, someone who is simply blind to his own sinful motives. The critic may even feel he has a divine mandate to bring correction to a pastor or his church. And he might express these unfounded accusations, not personally to the pastor, but instead to others in the church through gossip and slander. Or just as likely, he may express them online. As we have already discovered in this series, criticism of this nature long predates the Internet, but the anonymity of the Internet makes it easy for someone to make a baseless accusation or spread hearsay without personal accountability.
So how does a pastor respond to this type of criticism? It may surprise you, but Michael Hyatt, the chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, says to simply ignore it. That is his conclusion in his article “Friends, Critics, and Trolls.” In the article Hyatt provides counsel on how to distinguish among three types of criticism.
First, some criticism will come from true friends:
Not all criticism is bad. God forbid that we should turn a deaf ear to everyone who disagrees with us. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:6). Some people are in our lives to save us from ourselves. As a leader, the trick is to create an environment that is safe for dissension, so these people can speak up.
Second, some criticism will come from honest critics:
Some people decide that they disagree with you and go public. They aren’t malicious. They aren’t out to destroy you. They simply disagree with you. That’s okay. We need to allow for a diversity of opinion. Besides, we might learn something from it. It enriches the conversation. We need to engage these people and refrain from making it personal. Not everyone has to agree with us.
Third, some criticism will come from people he calls “unhealthy trolls”:
These people have an agenda. They are out to hurt you—or at least use you for their own ends. They want to lure you into a fight. I have had three this week. They taunt and mock you. They are unreasonable. If you engage them, they will only distract you and deplete your resources. The best thing you can do is ignore them.…You will never satisfy them. Just keep doing what you know you are called to do.
Most constructive criticism will come from true friends or honest critics. But sadly, “unhealthy trolls” exist. These are critics who are unreasonable, and in my experience these are critics that, unless you completely agree with them, will not be satisfied. In these rare cases I have found Mr. Hyatt’s counsel to be wise.*
I believe a more biblical term for the troll is the quarrelsome person. The book of Proverbs frequently mentions quarrels and quarrelsome people (see for example Proverbs 17:14, 20:3, 22:10, 26:20–21). In his study on the topic Kevin DeYoung defines the quarrelsome person as one who stirs up unnecessary arguments, arguments that are not the product of loving rebuke or principled convictions. The quarrelsome person, he writes, “loves to pour gasoline on every tiny spark of conflict.” And sadly, too often the quarrelsome person is a professing Christian within the church.
I’m grateful there are—relatively speaking—few quarrelsome people. But they are out there. In reality, most people will be true friends or honest critics. Don’t ignore the criticism from your true friends. Don’t ignore the criticism from your honest critics. But do ignore unreasonable criticism from those who are quarrelsome trolls.
Don’t Ignore Your Heart
You may ignore unhealthy trolls—but never ignore your own heart.
Especially when you are the object of false criticism or accusation, pay particular attention to what’s going on in your heart. Here’s why. Often there is a temptation involved, a temptation explained well by Tim Keller, a pastor who is familiar with trolls.
He addresses the pastor’s heart when he writes,
If the criticism comes from someone who doesn't know you at all (and often this is the case on the internet) it is possible that the criticism is completely unwarranted and profoundly mistaken. I am often pilloried not only for views I do have, but also even more often for views (and motives) that I do not hold at all. When that happens it is even easier to fall into a smugness and perhaps be tempted to laugh at how mistaken your critics are. "Pathetic..." you may be tempted to say.
Don't do it.
Even if there is not the slightest kernel of truth in what the critic says, you should not mock them in your thoughts. First, remind yourself of examples of your own mistakes, foolishness, and cluelessness in the past, times in which you really got something wrong. Second, pray for the critic, that he or she grows in grace.
Yes, ignore those who merely accuse, taunt, and mock. Pray for them. Check your own heart. And then keep doing what you know you are called to do.
* Here I need to make one qualification. There might be an occasion when it is wise and appropriate for a pastor to address a false accusation publicly, especially in cases when it is unsubstantiated, is sowing suspicion through the church, or is adversely influencing a large percentage of the congregation. In this case it would be very appropriate for a pastor to address the accusation publicly. But in my experience this situation is quite rare.
March 11, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Newton
Those who lived in the eighteenth century were familiar with sickness and death. For Newton this was especially the case. On his various journeys across the Atlantic Ocean he often witnessed sickness and death along the way. Some sailors washed out to sea during storms, and others died from the sicknesses carried in filthy ships. So many sailors died at sea, in fact, that port cities were often depleted of their men who were required to compensate for the losses at sea. Looking back on his sailing days, Newton estimated that 1,500 British sailors died each year on the seas. The deaths among the slaves who were hauled as cargo were even higher. It really was a miracle that Newton himself survived life on the sea.
But tragedy did strike close to home for Newton. His mother died when he was 7 years old, and his father tragically drowned when he was 25. He later watched his adopted daughter die during a prolonged two-year struggle against tuberculosis. Eventually Newton’s wife—his best friend—passed away, leaving him 17 years of widowed life. He was no stranger to tragedy and sickness.
For Newton, the world was a hospital. “What is the world at large,” he asked, “but a more extensive and diversified scene of wretchedness, where phrenzy and despair, anxiety, pain, want, and death, have their respective wards filled with patients.”* His preaching was intended to prepare people for the harsh realities of sickness, suffering, and death.
But this preemptive care didn’t stop Newton from ministering in the hospitals. As a faithful pastor Newton visited the sick and dying in his community. The hospital became something of a school for him where he could learn the true weightiness of his theology.
In a letter dated March 10, 1774, to his esteemed friend William Legge, the second Earl of Dartmouth, Newton explained that he had recently spent a six-week stretch investing several hours of each day in the hospital caring for souls. In the letter Newton recounted one meeting with a sick young woman. The memory of the hospital encounter was etched so deep into Newton's memory that he recalled it years later.
Permit me, my Lord, to relate, upon this occasion, some things which exceedingly struck me in the conversation I had with a young woman whom I visited in her last illness about two years ago.
She was a sober, prudent person, of plain sense, could read her Bible, but had read little besides. Her knowledge of the world was nearly confined to the parish; for I suppose she was seldom, if ever, twelve miles from home in her life. She had known the gospel about seven years before the Lord visited her with a lingering consumption [tuberculosis], which at length removed her to a better world.
A few days before her death, I had been praying by her bedside, and in my prayer I thanked the Lord that he gave her now to see that she had not followed cunningly-devised fables [Ephesians 4:14]. When I had finished, she repeated that word, “No,” she said “not cunningly-devised fables; these are realities indeed. I feel their truth, I feel their comfort. Oh! tell my friends, tell my acquaintances, tell enquiring souls, tell poor sinners, tell all the daughters of Jerusalem (alluding to Song of Solomon 5:16 from which she had just before desired me to preach at her funeral), what Jesus has done for my soul. Tell them, that now in the time of need I find him my beloved and my friend, and as such I commend him to them.”
She then fixed her eyes steadfastly upon me, and proceeded, as well as I can recollect, as follows. “Sir, you are highly favored in being called to preach the gospel. I have often heard you with pleasure; but [only when] you come into my situation, and have death and eternity full in your view, will it be possible for you to conceive the vast weight and importance of the truths you declare.”
Until we are faced with eternity it is too easy to take preaching for granted, to treat sermons lightly, to so quickly forget them like yesterday’s newspaper.
Yet it was here, beside the bed of a dying young woman in a hospital room and in other situations just like it, that Newton learned the true worth and weight of biblical preaching.
Tony Reinke serves as the editorial and research assistant to C.J. Mahaney. Reading Newton’s Mail is a series of blog posts reflecting on various published letters written by John Newton (1725–1807), the onetime captain of a slave trading ship—a self-described apostate, blasphemer, and infidel, who was eventually converted by grace. Newton is most famous for authoring the hymn “Amazing Grace,” or maybe for helping William Wilberforce put an end to the African slave trade in Britain. Less legendarily, Newton faithfully pastored two churches for 43 years, a fruitful period of his life when a majority of his letters were written. Reading Newton’s Mail is published on Fridays here on the Cheap Seats blog.
Primary sources: The Works of John Newton (London: 1820), 1:479–480. Letters of John Newton (Edinburgh; Banner of Truth: 1869, 2007), 100–101. Secondary source: * Works, 6:164.
March 10, 2011 by Tony Reinke
Categories: Encouragement | Speech
“Who needs a book about affirming others? For starters, I do—and I suspect you do too. Too many of us use most of our words each day for criticizing and complaining. My friend Sam Crabtree, on the other hand, is a practitioner of affirmation. To meet him is to be encouraged. His words, both in person and in these pages, are thoughtful, intentional, and full of gratefulness. If you find that your communication lacks encouragement, if you want to grow in affirming others, if you plan to say any words at all today—please read this book!”
-C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries
March 3, 2011 by C.J. Mahaney
Categories: Music
Curtis Allen is a friend and one fine and much loved pastor who serves at Solid Rock Church in Riverdale, Maryland. And as many of you know by now, Curtis is also a gifted songwriter and rapper. Last October he delivered what is to my knowledge the first-ever rap about the Heidelberg Catechism. Today he releases his latest recording, a rap about the Westminster Catechism featuring Dr. Don Carson, the author or editor of over 60 books and the research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.
Trust me, it’s Dr. Carson like you’ve never heard him before.
Download the “Westminster Catechism” track here or listen here:
(If you are reading this in rss, click here to listen or here to download.)
You can connect with Curtis Allen (a.k.a. “Voice”) and his work through his main music site, ihearvoice, and you will also find his MP3s at Amazon.com here. You can also read his blog or follow him on Twitter.
Westminster Catechism (lyrics)
Verse 1
We non-stop hey we non-stop hey we in the Lord and we going to the top hey. We got the catechism and we won't flop hey, we nonstop hey we nonstop hey we on top. Of our history, reformation chivalry, Westminster Catechism teaching on divinity. Dealing with the trinity, the Westminster longer is a monster so today we dealing with its mini me. 1647 let's go back and visit the, year it was completed to edify the community. Believers live in unity was part of the purpose, to train lay persons in matters of what was worth it. Doctrine and belief, believe in the doctrine we own our sin we not looking for Johnny Cochran's. Now we don't idolize with idol eyes we know that Scripture is where the Lord has epitomized the Father so why bother with the catechisms? Because they simplify for you and I'm glad they did them. We get a vision of this comprehensive document, one of the most important in the church and it’s opulent. They didn't know I know that word, we gonna get into the Q & A next verse. 107 questions we won't do all of them, you probably think it's wild I'm rocking with Dr. Carson.
Hook
Do you know what the chief end of man is?
And how the Father, Son and Spirit do manage?
Do you know if you want you could know this?
The catechism hey the catechism hey
Verse 2
Let's get into some questions 107 of ’em broken down into sections. The first 12 of ’em deal with God as creator, the manner of his decrees, and trinitarian nature. 13–20 is dealing with humanity our sin and it's cause we should all be God's enemy. 21–38 is getting real meaty, the nature of Christ, his office, and how he redeemed we. All of these are solid but personal homage is paid I been affected by 27 and 28. Christ’s humiliation, his exaltation, 4:4 of Galatians, Psalm 110 are stating. 39–84 filling out commandments, 85–97’s dealing with the sacraments. 98–107, what you will find there, is some good instruction on the Lord’s prayer. Yeah, now I ain’t saying it’s the best right I know it ain’t the Scriptures but we riding with the “Westside.” Question 3 what do the Scriptures principally teach, concerning God and his duties for those who believe. Sweet, 92 what is a sacrament, a holy ordinance by Christ was instituted as a means of grace man get that catechism out, while you bobbin’ your head go read what I am talking bout.
How I perceive myself makes all the difference in how I receive and respond to personal criticism.
When a pastor is on the receiving end of criticism and correction, temptations are never far off. In my experience, the higher my estimation of myself, the closer those temptations are. Criticism contradicts my high view of myself—so I am tempted to respond sinfully.
How differently the Apostle Paul responded to criticism!
We read of Paul’s response in 2 Corinthians, a very personal epistle. In chapters 10–13 Paul responds to the criticism leveled against him. He could have defended himself with an account of his incredible personal experiences or with his years of service to the church. Yet he chose to respond to the personal criticism with words like these:
Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. (2 Corinthians 12:6)
This passage deserves a re-read. In case you didn’t get Paul’s point the first time (and I certainly didn’t), perhaps the following comment on the passage by Dr. Don Carson will help you comprehend its full weight:
What is remarkable is the way Paul’s stance differs from our own. Many Christians today, even Christian leaders, go through life fearful that people will think too little of them. They quickly become irritable if someone, especially a junior, is praised more than they. But Paul goes through life fearful that people will think too much of him.*
Paul was fearful that people will think too much of him!? That’s not a fear that I am familiar with. Too often my concern is that people think too little of me—that they don’t share my high estimation of myself.
Yet the question every pastor must eventually answer in his own heart is this: Am I concerned that others have too low an estimation of me, or that they will have too high an estimation of me? How I respond to personal correction often reveals which concern rules my heart.
The first concern can ultimately be traced back to the presence of pride in the heart.
The second concern can only be explained by the active grace of God in the heart.
* D. A. Carson, Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1996), 80.