John Angell James on Parental Duty

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The conference went well last week and it was pleasure to meet the people who came to my session on Bible material for children. I will post my complete handout on my Union page soon (it is too long to post in it’s entirety here). In the meantime I will post portions from it in a series of posts.
Here is a great quote from John Angell James on the responsibility of parents to teach their children the Scriptures. It comes from his book, The Christian Father’s Present to His Children.

“It is a situation of tremendous responsibility to be a parent….  With every babe that God entrusts to your care, he in effect sends the solemn injunction- “Take this child, and bring it up for me;” and at the final audit, will inquire in what manner you have obeyed the command. It will not then be sufficient to plead the strength of your affection, nor the ceaseless efforts to which it gave rise; for if these efforts were not directed at the right end…  you will receive the rebuke of Him that sitteth upon the throne.”

Above Reproach

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I am sitting in a restaurant right now working on material for our upcoming conference. Other people here are talking openly about local scandals concerning pastors abusing their wives and their own stories of finding pastors in compromising situations and locations. These are not national stories, just their own local incidences. Eventually one woman said, “It is scary that these are pastors. Supposed to be men of God and up there preaching. I don’t trust them any more. I don’t trust anybody.” A man then said, “Yeah, I used to go to church all the time but I have not been at all in the last 8 months.” He went on to talk about his string of very young girlfriends.

Brothers, this is our setting. Our behavior directly affects the way people see God. We must bear this in mind and live accordingly. And, interestingly, in spite of the secularists, people still do expect pastors to be particularly connected to God. People are looking to us to show them the character of God. That is humbling and scary, but it is also a great opportunity. Let us then cry out to God for grace that we might praise and not slander Him with our lives (Titus 2:8, 10).

T4G Book

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Preaching the Cross
(Crossway, 2007), hb., 176 pp.

The book containing the addresses from the conference is now available! I have looked through the book and it looks excellent. After I have time to read it I will comment further, but I wanted to go ahead and draw attention to the book. It looks like a very good one for pastors.

Here is the table of contents:
Introduction 9
1. A Real Minister: 1 Corinthians 4- (available online)
Mark E. Dever 17

2. Preaching Christ from the Old Testament
J. Ligon Duncan III 39

3. Preaching with the Culture in View
R. Albert Mohler Jr. 65

4. The Center of Christian Preaching: Justification by Faith
R. C. Sproul 89

5. Preaching as Expository Exultation for the Glory of God
John Piper 103

6. The Pastor’s Priorities: Watch Your Life and Doctrine
C. J. Mahaney 117

7. Why I Still Preach the Bible after Forty Years of Ministry
John MacArthur 137

Appendix: Together for the Gospel Affirmations and Denials (2006) 161

Beeke on True Shepherding

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My posts have been infrequent this last week and will probably be so this week as well with the conference coming this weekend. I have a backlog of book reviews which I will hope to get rolling next week.

In the meantime, let me recommend Joel Beeke’s excellent brief article in the most recent Tabletalk. Justin Taylor recently noted that this month’s Tabletalk articles were available online, and I was caught by Beeke’s title, “True Shepherding.” Beeke speaks powerfully on the role of the pastor in shepherding the flock- a topic often discussed here.

Here are a few quotes:

“…don’t regard grieving people as an interruption… Grieving, hurting people are what ministry is all about. We must not think of our churches and our parishioners in terms of numbers or cases; rather, we should think of our churches as hospitals where the wounded and grieving come to us, seeking our biblical guidance and loving care”

“If we do not shepherd them in their sorrows, we are hirelings, not shepherds, and should repent of our indifference.”

This is a great two page piece. I encourage you to read (and print to keep for the future!) the whole thing.

Crow and Weasel

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Crow and Weasel, Barry Lopez
Illustrated by Tom Pohrt
pb., 64 pp.
Older Children, 12+

This is a really deep book. It is a Native American tale of two young men emerging into manhood. Crow and Weasel are sent on an exploring adventure for the sake of their community, going further north than any of their people had ever been. As they are sent out they are reminded of the values of their community and the importance of representing their community well. Along the way they ponder and experience many valuable lessons. One person they met along he way said to them:

“I can see that. But you are beginning to sense your responsibilities, too, and the journey you have chosen is a hard one. If you keep going, one day you will be men. You will have families.” (p. 60)

One friend made a powerful statement about the value and importance of stories, not simply referring to stories in general but to the stories of your own community.

“The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other’s memory. This is how people care for themselves. One day you will be good storytellers. Never forget these obligations.” (p. 60)

While this is couched in general terms, and the characters pray to “the Above Ones”, this story (even more so than Greek mythology) can easily be used to point to Biblical truths. The importance of community, real friendship, thankfulness, appreciating the variety of gifts, and the importance of cherishing and passing down our story are all truths we need to stress more often. For a Christian, the formative story of life is the grand narrative of the Bible (which is composed of many compelling stories). In our culture we often fail to appreciate the power of these stories to shape our imagination, to empower life, etc. Then, our families must also pass down our particular stories of what God has done in our own families. There is much here for profound contemplation.

This leads to one downside of the book. It is depth often requires more reflection and awareness than younger children will be prepared for. My boys (10, 9, 7 years old) enjoyed the adventure, but would say they did not always get it. I think this would be a really good book to read with highschool or even college young men to use it as a springboard to discuss moving to the role of manhood.

I close with another great quote, with which I resonate- the value and importance of the everyday, relationships, and the local:

In the silence that followed, Weasel said very softly, “It is good to be alive. To have friends, to have a family, to have children, to live in a particular place. These relationships are sacred.” (p. 79)

Conference Session on Children’s Books

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Over at my blog on pastoral ministry I recently mentioned an upcoming conference hosted by the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies at Union University. You can see the post there and the conference webpage for full details. My reason for mentioning it here is that I will be leading a breakout session on Bible material for children. The deadline for registering is April 19. The conference will be held April 27-28 and will be a good opportunity to learn more about studying the Bible well.

Blackthorn Winter

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Blackthorn Winter, Douglas Wilson
(Veritas Press, 2003), pb., 141 pp.
Older children, 12+

I was quite interested to see what Wilson would do in his children’s books. This is his first children’s novel. The story line is great, compelling plot, good adventure, nice twists and turns. The overall story line reminded me a lot of R. M Ballantyne– a boys’ writer I really like.

However, the manner of writing was difficult particularly because it was hard to understand and many points. One reason was the overuse of proverbial lines which if they are not common to the reader make reading difficult. I feel like I am aware of many common proverbial statements, but these by nature tend to be regional. This makes the book less accessible. Then the frequent use of nautical jargon (without any glossary) was a bit of a hindrance. We are in the midst of reading a number of books the deal with sailing and still I was stumped at places. Wilson makes many good moral points along the way in the story but they were often so subtle that they would be missed unless I stopped to explain. In general this book required more work on my end to help my boys follow the transitions at places, often to understand the wording and fairly often to catch the implied lesson.

With the explanatory work I did my boys liked the book. The book cover says it is for ages 9-12. I would suggest 12+.

The Good Shepherd

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I am really enjoying going through the gospel of John with my Johannine Literature class this semester.  This week we discussed John 10, where Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd.  The main point of the passage is Christological.  However, with the rich OT background and subsequent NT application of the title ‘shepherd’ to pastors, I think it is legitimate for us to look to the qualities of the Chief Shepherd as a model for us who serve as undershepherds (1 Peter 5:1-4).

Here are a few collected quotes from pastors of the past applying John 10 to pastoral ministry.  I hope the quotes benefit you as they have me.  Lastly, I have included a quote from a student paper which shares the same sentiment.

Alexander Maclaren: 
“Individualising care and tender knowledge of each are marks of the true shepherd. To call by name implies this and more. To a stranger all sheep are alike; the shepherd knows them apart. It is a beautiful picture of loving intimacy, lowliness, care, and confidence, and one which every teacher should ponder. Contrast this with the Pharisees’ treatment of the blind man.”  (106).

John Chrysostom:
“A great thing, beloved, a great thing is the role of leader in the Church. It is one that requires much wisdom, and as great courage as Christ’s words indicate: namely, sufficient to lay down one’s life for the sheep; sufficient never to leave them unprotected and exposed to danger; and sufficient to stand firm against the attack of the wolf.” – Homily 60, 133

John Calvin:
“No plague is more destructive to the Church, than when wolves ravage under the garb of shepherds.” (italics original) – 394

“The Name of “The Church” is highly honourable, and justly so; but the greater the reverence which it deserves, so much the more careful and attentive ought we to be in marking the distinction between true and false doctrine.  Christ here declares openly, that we ought not to reckon as shepherds all who boast of being such, and that we ought not to reckon as sheep all who boast of outward marks.  He speaks of the Jewish Church, but what he says applies equally well to our own.” (italics original) – 395

“…he alone is a faithful pastor or shepherd of the Church, who conducts and governs his sheep by the direction of Christ.” (italics original) – 396

“Nothing is more desirable than that the Church should be governed by good and diligent shepherds.  Christ declares that he is the good shepherd, who keeps his Church safe and sound, first, by himself, and, next, by his agents.  Whenever there is good order, and fit men hold the government, then Christ shows that he is actually the shepherd.” (Italics original) – 402-403

“…so it is the universal duty of all pastors or shepherds, to defend the doctrine which they proclaim, even at the expense of their life, and to seal the doctrine of the Gospel with their blood, and to show that it is not in vain that they teach that Christ has procured salvation for themselves and for others.” (italics original) – 404

“For he who looks to the hire, and not to the flock, though he may deceive others, when the Church is in a state of tranquility, yet when he comes into the contest, will give proof of his treachery.” (italics original) – 405

Student:
“This passage is an encouragement to me as one who feels called to preach the Word of God.  If I become a pastor, I must love the sheep like Jesus did.  I must be willing to die for my flock and guard my flock from wolves.  I must be willing to encourage and rebuke my flock and always do what is for their eternal good.  I must set an example for them in everything so that their faith may not be shaken by my poor leadership.  What an enormous responsibility awaits me.  May I never take it lightly.”

One Bible, One Gospel Conference

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The Ryan Center conference on this theme will be held April 27-28. This conference is intended for pastors, Sunday School teachers, Bible study leaders, and anyone who wants to improve their own study of the Bible. One of the most important things we as pastors must do is to train our people to interpret and apply the Bible well. This is the aim of the Ryan Center conference each time it is held.

This year the overall focus is on the importance of viewing the Bible as a whole and seeing how the Old Testament applies today. Dr. Paul House of Beeson Divinity School will be the plenary speaker. In a recent radio interview Dr. House talked about how important it is to see how the gospel unfolds from the overall story of the whole Bible. He stressed that this is not merely an academic issue, but it is crucial as we seek to speak the gospel to a culture which has less and less understanding of key concepts such as “Christ,” “covenant,” etc.

Breakout sessions will also be held on various topics some taking up specific issues on connections between the testaments and some providing guidance in basic steps of Bible study (e.g., word studies, application). The Breakout sessions will be led by UU faculty as well as special guests Grant Osborne of TEDS and Kenneth Mathews of Beeson. There will also be sessions on effective women’s Bible study and worldview introduction led by some ladies from Explorers Bible Study. Lastly, John Falahee of Logos Bible Software will lead a session on computer assisted Bible study.

You can see all the information at the conference webpage. The cost is $45 which includes all sessions, 3 meals, as well as freebies from some publishers including an ESV bible from Crossway and a bible study on James from Explorers. You will notice on the web page that the registration deadline is listed as April 6. However, there is still time to register. You can register online at the webpage or use the contact information listed there.