Here is a poem which contains much wisdom for Christian living in general and is very helpful for pastoral ministry as well. I found it in Elisabeth Elliot’s The Shaping of a Christian Family (pg.178-179). Elisabeth Elliot’s writings have meant a lot to me along the way, and I have often heard her discuss her “do the next thing” philosophy. I did not realize until recently that her language came from this poem which her mother had. There is much simple wisdom here. Do you find yourself on Monday feeling your soul is scorched, terribly aware of your inadequacies, fearful of what is to come? Since God is still in heaven and His steadfast Word declares His love for you, just carry on and do the next thing. Take the next step of obedience. Do you worry how your children will turn out, what the future will hold for your church, how the finances will look at the end of the month? Resist the allure of self pity, and just take the next step of obedience. We are typically given enough grace just for the next step. Fret not about what lies around the bend. Perform faithfully the next step, and we will make it home safely in the end.

This poem is a balm to my soul.

From an old English parsonage down by the sea
There came in the twilight a message to me;
Its quaint Saxon legend, deeply engraven,
Hath, it seems to me, teaching from Heaven.
And on through the doors the quiet words ring
Like a low inspiration: “DOE THE NEXTE THYNGE.”

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity, and guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Thrust them with Jesus, doe the nexte thynge.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand
Who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,
Leave all results, doe the nexte thynge

Looking for Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering, be thy demeanor;
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing.
Then, as He beckons thee, doe the nexte thynge.

–Anonymous

One of the Wednesday night classes at our church this semester is studying D. A. Carson’s book, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His prayers. I bought this book 10 years ago, and it has been a significant help, challenge, and encouragement to me in many ways. I recommend it heartily. It has been helpful to take biblical prayers as models for my praying. It really is a simple idea but one I had not seriously considered before reading this book. Here are some quotes from his introduction on the need of the church to be serious about prayer.

“The one thing we most urgently need in Western Christendom is a deeper knowledge of God. We need to know God better.” (15)

“One of the foundational steps in knowing God, and one of the basic demonstrations that we do know God, is prayer – spiritual, persistent, biblically minded prayer. . . . Robert Murray M’Cheyne declared, “What a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is, and no more…: (16)

“Where is our delight in praying? . . . How much of our praying is largely formulaic, liberally larded with cliches that remind us, uncomfortably, of the hypocrites Jesus excoriated?” (16)

“…is it not nevertheless true that by and large we are better at organizing than agonizing? Better at administering than interceding? Better at fellowship than fasting? Better at entertainment than worship? Better at theological articulation than spiritual adoration? Better – God help us! – at preaching than at praying?” (16)

[quoting J.I. Packer] “I believe that prayer is the measure of the man, spiritually, in a way that nothing else is, so that how we pray is as important a question as we can ever face.” (16)

Last week I posted about preaching on the church during a series of “Revival” meetings, arguing that if we truly want to see revival we must begin with the church. I also commented on preaching on church discipline in one of the services. While in my experience it seems church discipline would be the least likely topic considered for such a setting, it seemed to me to be one of the most obvious topics once I thought about it. I remembered hearing that a return to discipline in churches in the past had at times been a precursor to revival. So I went back to Greg Wills’s excellent book Democratic Religion: Freedom, Authority, and Church Discipline in the Baptist South, 1785-1900and found the quotes below. Before going to the quotes, however, let me earnestly recommend this book. It is very readable and provides many useful insights to our current church situation.

This first quote makes the point in and of itself:

“Pastor T.H. Stout took the occasion of a revival to inculcate the doctrine [of church discipline]. The members of Bethel Baptist Church became zealous for discipline and excluded two offenders. Stout recounted the result:
Very soon, a perceptible improvement was seen in the church. Brethren began to take up their crosses. They met and conversed on the condition of Zion, confessing and bewailing their coldness. Brethren, discipline is the life of our churches. We have no right to look for the blessing of our precious Savior unless we ‘come out from the world.’ Be ‘ye separate,’ says God. . . . May not many of our churches be incurring the displeasure of the ‘Great Head of the Church’ by laxity of discipline? During July… the church was greatly revived. . . . Quite a number of brethren prayed [publicly] who had never done so before. . . . Twenty-four were added to the church; 12 by experience and baptism, and 12 by letter…
Discipline brought revival.” (p. 36)

Then, these other quotes I also found helpful:

“Through discipline, they would, moreover, sweep the nation, for they believed that God rewarded faithful pruning by raining down revival.” (p. 8)

“After the Civil War, Baptist observers began to lament that church discipline was foundering, and it was. It declined partly because it became more burdensome in larger churches…. Urban churches, pressed by the need for large buildings and the desire for refined music and preaching, subordinated church discipline to the task of keeping the church solvent. Many Baptists shared a new vision of the church, replacing the pursuit of purity with the quest for efficiency. They lost the resolve to purge their churches of straying members.” (p. 9)

“Baptists saw discipline as a source of spiritual revival. A church with no discipline was no church. ‘When discipline leaves a church,’ Baptist theologian John L. Dagg contended, ‘Christ goes with it.'” (p. 33)

“Mississippi Baptist Elias Hibbard, who worried about excessive discipline, conceded its benefits: ‘I am aware that discipline when exercised in a proper manner is the life of our churches, and often precedes the blessings of the Almighty.'” (p. 34)

“Even with ‘the elegant preaching and eloquent prayers and the splendid appearances,’ Baptists reasoned, ‘no church can prosper spiritually if there is no discipline. . . nothing is more essential to church prosperity than the maintenance of faithful discipline.'” (p. 35)

“one of the churches that [Jesse] Mercer planted continued to intone that ‘correct discipline is the life of the Church, without it the Church is despised by the world, shorn of its power & will soon fall to pieces.'” (p. 35)

“Mercer believed that ‘most of our church difficulties grow out of neglected church discipline’ or discipline improperly administered.” (p. 35)

These are useful words for our day. Let us affirm the great desire to see renewal in the church in our day. We do indeed long to see God move mightily among His people renewing the church and converting the lost. However, all the talk about this is surely futile (to the point of being silly) if we are not willing to conform ourselves to His word, to take one of the clear steps he has provided us for the pursuit of holiness. The call for a return to church discipline does not (or ought not) arise merely from historic nostalgia, legalism, exclusivism or rash youth but for a desire for the salvation of souls and a renewal of the church- those things which will bring glory to God.

365 Bible Stories for Young Hearts
(Crossway Books, 2006), hb., 440 pp.

This is a nicely illustrated story Bible designed to cover the Bible in one year. Breaking it up into 365 stories is a helpful device for families. My wife has been using this book for our 4 year old when she has Bile reading time with the older boys. Our 4 year old can follow along to some extent.

The illustrations are nicely done. Many of them also appear in the ESV Children’s Bible. Alan Parry is one of our favorite illustrators.

As with most story Bible’s most attention is given to the narrative portions of the Bible. It is just more difficult to handle the letters in a story Bible. Still 4 stories are given to Paul’s letters, one to Hebrews and one to Revelation.

This is a good story Bile for use with younger children and the set up can be helpful for families in establishing a regular Bible time with younger children.

Third Base Is My Home, Brooks Robinson, as told to Jack Tobin
(Word Books, 1974), hb, 202 pp.

This is an out of print book I stumbled upon and read over one weekend. I did not read it to my boys. I read it myself, but thought along the way that this will be a good book to give them to read on their own. It is probably best suited for a boy around 10 years old.

I was really taken off guard by the “niceness” of the book. I did not expect anything bad, but the tenor of the book certainly took me back to a different day in professional athletics. Robinson was presented to me as a model by my dad when I came up playing third base. His defensive skill was held in high esteem and he was known baseball’s “Mr. Nice Guy.” So I was thrilled to find this book so interesting and so wholesome.

It reads like a fireside chat with Robinson, I assume as a result that it arises from Robinson recounting his story to Tobin. Robinson often pauses to encourage young players in mechanics as well as life lessons. There are many points of encouragement for hard work, discipline, perseverance, humility and the value of family. I have already recounted a story from the book to my boys to encourage them to more diligence in their school work.

Robinson also discusses his Christian faith in the book, which was an aspect I did not know about. This is good, though he also discusses his decision to become a Catholic in order to join his wife in her church. On the one hand this is a bit disappointing since significant theological issues are shrugged off. On the other hand, one ought not expect to get theology in a sport bio.

In reading this book I did find myself longing for a different day in professional sports. I am glad though to have a nice book I can give to my son who is particularly interested in baseball. Now some would not favor this book because it is not high literature. However, my wife and I see the value of a wide range of literature. My son’s reading of this book will not endanger his appreciation of The Chronicles of Narnia, for example. We do not mind giving them good reading as well as excellent reading.

The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliffe
(Oxford University Press, 1954; reprint Sunburst edition, 1993), pb., 291 pp.

Along the way I want to go back and post about books we have read in the past but did not comment on (typically because we read them before the blog began). This is one such book. In the fall of 2005 we were studying the era of the Roman Empire and we read this book.

The story concerns a Roman Centurion who has grown up hearing about his father’s Legion and how they disappeared in the mist of what is now Scotland. They had marched out to deal with an uprising and were never heard from again. This was almost considered impossible given the size and might of a legion, so the question remained as to what had happened to this legion. What had happened? Had they been entirely decimated? Had some deserted?

The son eventually embarks on the very dangerous mission to seek to discover what had happened and to recover the lost “eagle” of the Legion. The recovery of the Eagle could rehabilitate the status of the lost legion as well as deprive the enemy of a powerful symbol of their capability to overcome Roman might.

As might be expected this is a tale full of adventure, suspense and action. However, it was a bit slow at several points and often not as readily understandable for my boys (ages 9, 7 and 5 at the time). I did a fair bit of editing on the fly and explaining. It does give a good bit of information on Roman life and customs along the way. This book is probably best suited to a slightly older audience. If you can edit as you go and your kids are willing to stick with a book, it can be quite an enjoyable read. My boys, unaware of the editing job, thought it was great.

A Piece of the Mountain: The Story of Blaise Pascal
By Joyce McPherson (GreenLeaf Press, 1995), pb., 124 pp.

Blaise Pascal is another key figure in history that we would all want to introduce to our children. He was one of the most important scientists and mathematicians of the 17th century and after his conversion became ardent proponent of the faith. The author of this book has also written a biography of Calvin which has been reviewed previously.

As important as Pascal is, this book was not very compelling to my boys- ages 10, 8, and 6. Mrs. McPherson begins with his childhood and seeks to describe his youth as well as adulthood. The inclusion of children often helps with making a book interesting, but this one never really grabbed them. Describing for a young audience Pascal’s work with math and science is no doubt difficult. My boys would much rather hear about a battle or mystery. Some of the science work could, it seems, have been described in a way that would be more accessible to children though. Concepts- theological as well as scientific- were introduced with little explanation or clarification. For example Pascal’s involvement with the Jansenists figures significantly in the latter part of the book, but there is little explanation of what this movement was about.

Pascal is an important enough figure that the book is worth reading if you can help your children to stick with it. Pascal provides a good example of one who worked hard at his school work for example. This application is not made in the book, but you can make it. Also, the end of the book is the best part. After doing secret writing on behalf of the Jansenists (some intrigue which peaked interest), Pascal and his friends must face the wrath of Rome. Pascal’s stand is worthwhile reading for one’s children. Still, your children may pick up (as at least one of mine did) that Pascal is still with Rome even after the Reformers have broken away. Children need explanation as to why one we are reading of as a hero continues with the group who so persecuted others we have held up as right. The book offers no such explanation.

I continue to benefit from reading Kairos Journal, the online resource for pastors. You must register, but it is free.

The following is from KJ. The first paragraph is an editorial introduction to the quote (second paragraph) from Kierkegaard. This is a much needed exhortations to pastors, lest we play at our task, willing to rebuke the sins of the world, but unwilling to address the sin in our own congregation, flying the banner of inerrancy while conveniently avoiding difficult texts concerning issues like church discipline or ministerial pride.

Kierkegaard has received well-deserved criticism from modern evangelical theologians. Nevertheless, the following passage taken from his Journal powerfully exposes the terrible problems that develop when the Church fails to understand the seriousness of her task in the world. To the Church of his day, Kierkegaard exhorted: your battle is spiritual, and war is grim business: get on with it. To the preacher, he underscored the need for risky sermons, which could cost him his comfort, his position, and even his life.

We all know what it is to play warfare in mock battle, that it means to imitate everything just as it is in war. The troops are drawn up, they march into the field, seriousness is evident in every eye, but also courage and enthusiasm, the orderlies rush back and forth intrepidly, the commander’s voice is heard, the signals, the battle cry, the volley of musketry, the thunder of cannon – everything exactly as in war, lacking only one thing . . . the danger.
So also it is with playing Christianity, that is, imitating Christian preaching in such a way that everything, absolutely everything is included in as deceptive a form as possible – only one thing is lacking . . . the danger.

From Sunday until this Wed (9/17-20) I am preaching in a “series of meetings” at a church here in town. I have explained to the people that I will approach these services in a way perhaps not typical of Revival meetings. I have argued that if we truly want revival, we must start with the church being the church- the people of God must get right first. Therefore, I am preaching on the church. Sunday morning I preached on the identity of the church from 1 Tim 3:14-16. In the evening I took up Ephesians 4 :1-16 pointing out that Paul describes gospel living in terms tied up with living in community (contra our typically over individualistic views of holiness, Christian growth) and that Paul in this passage stresses the importance of each member, that no one can grow as they ought unless their church around them functions properly. Thus, your own growth will be hindered if your church is not being healthy. Also, your fellow members cannot flourish as they ought if you are not supplying to the body. This is a crucial point in light of the fact that in most churches about 50% of the people on the membership roll have not attended in years.

This evening then I preached from Heb 3:12-4:16 pointing out that the author presents three antidotes to apostasy, answers to how God supplies for His people to persevere. The first one, that receives most attention in this text, is the community itself. There is strong language here about watching over one another, exhorting one another daily which presumes significant interaction between church members between Sundays. The other two then are exposure to the Word of God and drawing near to our High Priest.

I think tomorrow I will then preach from 1 Cor 5 on church discipline. Historically the renewal of discipline has often sparked revival, so it would seem to be a very appropriate (though atypical) topic.

I am convinced that if we really want to be effective in evangelism we must get serious about the purity and integrity of the church. For too long we have ignored this and sought to just “get ’em in.” Surely we can see the lack of effectiveness of this approach. Scripture would call us to another way.

Lastly, this church is a great group of people with a real hunger for the Word. I am encouraged by them and their faithful pastor.