Ordination, Prayer of Dedication

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It was my privilege yesterday to preach at the ordination of Corey Cummings, a former student of mine. As part of the service, a prayer of dedication was given which Corey had written. Because I thought this prayer expressed well the sort of things a pastor ought to desire to have prayed for him, I obtained Corey’s permission to post the prayer here. A church leader prayed the prayer with the ordinand responding with the words in parentheses.

Almighty Father, we have gathered to dedicate one of your own to your service.  We ask that you grant to your servant those gifts which will aid and sustain him in your ministry.

(I am the Lord’s servant)

Grant to this servant the gift of faith that you gave to your servant Abraham.  Give him a faith which holds nothing in reserve.  Give him the courage to pursue your calling on his life, even if that means leaving behind security, comfort, familiar surroundings and personal dreams.

(I am the Lord’s servant)

Grant to your servant the gift of abundant wisdom.  Guide him by right paths to right ends.  Let him offer personal counsel, spiritual guidance, and ecclesiastical leadership with the deep wisdom that comes only from you.

(I am the Lord’s servant)

Grant to this servant the blessing on his work that you gave your servant Joseph.  Grant that whatever he puts his hand to will be blessed, that his work will bear fruit to your glory, and that even those moments which appear to him and us to be setbacks will in fact be your preparations for greater service.

(I am the Lord’s servant)

Grant to your servant the gift of humility.  Let the gaze of his heart rest always on you, and never on himself.  In this way, shield him from the evils of pride and vanity in times of success, and from despair in times of adversity.  Let him say with your servant Job, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

(I am the Lord’s servant)

Finally, grant to your servant the gift of self-sacrifice that you gave to your servant Stephen, and to all your martyrs.  Give this servant the deep desire to honor and glorify you with his life, and if necessary, his death.  Let his heart say, “If by my life or my death I may give you glory, I am yours.”

(I am the Lord’s servant.  May it be to me as you have said.)

To the Men Who Lose

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I recently came across this poem and appreciated it. It can apply to various situations, and the field of pastoral ministry is certainly one of them. Many faithful brothers never win the world or the church’s applause or even appreciation. Sometimes a faithful work fails. And every faithful work has it share of failures- and too often the failures loom larger in our minds than the successes. Here, then, is a fitting poem reminding us to pursue faithfulness, walking by faith and not by sight, “knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58).

To the Men Who Lose

Here’s to the men who lose!
What though their work be e’er so nobly planned,
And watched with zealous care,
No glorious halo crowns their efforts grand,
Contempt is failure’s share.

Here’s to the men who lose!
If triumph’s easy smile our struggles greet,
Courage is easy then;
The king is he who, after fierce defeat,
Can up and fight again.

Here’s to the men who lose!
The ready plaudits of a fawning world
Ring sweet in victor’s ears;
The vanquished’s banners never are unfurled-
For them there sound no cheers.

Here’s to the men who lose!
The touchstone of true worth is not success;
There is a higher test-
Though fate may darkly frown, onward to press,
And bravely do one’s best.

Here’s to the men who lose!
It is the vanquished’s praises that I sing,
And this is the toast I choose:
“A hard-fought failure is a noble thing;
Here’s to the men who lose!”

–Anonymous

Scott T. Brown, editor.  It Can Be Done: Poems for Hardship, Sacrifice and Dominion (Wake Forest, NC: Merchant Adventurers, 2009), p. 85.

Nathan Finn’s New Edition of Help to Zion’s Travellers

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I have had the privielge of reading through the draft of Nathan Finn’s new edition of Robert Hall’s Help to Zion’s Travellers soon to be published by Borderstone Press. This book was orignially published in 1781, and had significant influence on William Carey and others involved in the renewed mission efforts of that day. Finn has edited the book with some additional notes, and most significantly provides an introductory essay which does a great job explaining the setting in which this book emerged and its influence.

Here is the blurb I have written for the book:

Nathan Finn has done pastors as well as historians a great service in providing thsi new edition of Robert Hall’s Help to Zion’s Travellers. Finn’s historical introduction itself is insightful and edifying. It is a joy to discover a lesser known, faithful servant, to see his impact and to learn from him. Help’s to Zion’s Travellers is a helpful volume, particularly the “Experimental Difficulties” section which contains much helpful, sound pastoral direction on matters of the soul. Hall was no mere theoretician, but a pastor experienced in the dealings of the soul pasing on what he has learned to those willing to listen. May the Lord use this new edition to encourage a multitude of pastors who may not garner fame but will be faithful in the care of souls.

Pastoral Epistles & Pauline Theology at ETS

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Latest from PastoralEpistles.com:

I previously announced the creation of a new consultation of the Pastorals at the Evangelical Theological Society to begin meeting this Fall. As stated before, the overall goal of this consultation is to explore the ways that the exclusion of the Pastoral Epistles has impacted the work of Pauline theology and how the inclusion of the Pastorals would inform the same work.

Now, I am pleased to announce the presenters and paper titles for this inaugural session. Here are the details of the session:

Session Title: “The Place of the Pastoral Epistles in Pauline Theology”
Moderator: Ray Van Neste

Robert Yarbrough: “The Pastoral Epistles in New Testament Theologies from Tubingen to Thielman”
Timothy Swinson: “The Pastoral Epistles and Perspectives, Old and New”
Greg Couser: “‘Life on Life’: Explorations in Paul’s Understanding of Eschatological Life”
Frank Thielman: The Pedagogy of Grace: Soteriology, Ethics, and Mission in Titus 2:11-14

We are pleased to have each of these scholars participating.  Bob Yarbrough’s paper will open the discussion by surveying how the Pastorals have been treated or ignored. Tim Swinson’s paper will examine what the Pastorals might contribute to one of the major discussions in Pauline theology, the New Perspective. Greg Couser will examine “life” terminology in 1 Timothy in comparison with the wider Pauline usage seeking to discern how 1 Timothy would contribute to Pauline theology in this area.  Frank Thielman will investigate soteriological themes in Titus 2-3 in comparison with those themes elsewhere in Paul.

This promises to be a very beneficial discussion. I hope to see you there.

Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals

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This week my fellow pastors & I discussed the pastor’s role at funerals with our pastoral apprentices, and I was glad to be able to commend this new book by Brian Croft and Phil Newton– Conduct Gospel-centered Funerals: Applying the gospel at the unique challenges of death.  Newton and Croft are both experienced pastors who are themselves rooted in the gospel.

This book is an excellent resource for pastors. It gets to the “nitty-gritty” of funeral planning, pastoral care, and other areas associated with shepherding people through death. Years of experience provide so much helpful information down to walking carefully around the graveside!  Also, I have heard some younger pastors, over-reacting to man-centered funerals, swing to the other extreme resulting in a situation where nothing at all is said about the person who has died. Since we believe people are made in the image of God, a proper funeral ought to honor the dignity of human life and the gravity of death, and in that context hold forth the gospel. This book demonstrates this holistic approach well.

If you are a pastor, you would do well to get a copy of this small, readable, practical, immensely helpful book.

Pastor as Shepherd in a Children’s Book

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I am currently reading to my children Douglas Jones’ little book, Huguenot Garden, which is a fictional story of the experiences of one Huguenot family as they seek to be faithful to God under persecution. There are many good points in the book, but one section we read last night stood out as brought home what persecution was like for a family and gave a strong picture of a pastor caring for his people.

The churches had been banned from meeting so the church attended by the main characters had met in the woods on a Sunday. In the middle of the service a boy, who had been positioned as a watchman, came running in to say the dragoons were coming. The pastor encouraged the people to flee into the woods.

“But Pastor De Laune, his wife, and two children stood firm.

Father and Uncle Philippe paused to listen and offer help, and the two elders spoke hurriedly to the Pastor.

‘But you must go. You will be imprisoned if you stay,’ stressed Elder Pasquier.

With a quick, authoritative whisper, Pastor De Laune declared to both elders, ‘But a hireling who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.’  I am not a hireling.  Please brethren, take my wife and children and go now.’

Elder Pasquier, in exasperation, turned to the Pastor’s wife, ‘Dear Hannah, please plead for your husband’s life.  Persuade him to leave.  He may be separated from you and your children forever.’

Hannah gently touched the elder’s cheek and smiled. ‘He is a faithful watchman, called and under duty to Christ to protect these sheep.  I would expect nothing less from him.’

‘You see,’ added the Pastor, ‘I may fail like Adam, but my wife is no Eve.  Go now, I will keep the dragoons’ attention here.  Care for my wife and children, if need be.’  After a quick embrace of her husband, Hannah and all the others ran into the forest.

No one looked back at the Pastor, but if they had, they would have seen him calling the dragoons over to himself.

‘Over here, over here.  I am the one you want,’ he called out.”  (pp. 103-104)

Though this account is fictional there are many historical accounts which are quite similar. In the story, the pastor is never seen or heard from again after being drug back into town by horse.

“The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

KJV Coverage

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Hopefully you have seen a number of the essays that have been written this year on the 400th anniversary of the King James Version. Since May is the actual anniversary of the publication of the KJV there has been a flurry of stories in the last week or so. Here is an overview of some of the main stories. Many of the stories cover common ground so I try here to highlight the particular contribution of each item.

Baptist Press has a nice story on the KJV drawing largely from Michael Haykin, professor at Southern Seminary. The story covers the history and literary influence briefly but well. It also deals with the abiding value of the KJV.

Christianity Today’s cover story in the current issue is “A World Without the King James Version, by Mark Noll. Noll treats some negative results of the predominance of the KJV.

Barton Swaim’s, “God’s English:The Making & Endurance of the King James Bible, 1611-2011″ in Touchstone Magazine summarizes the history of the making of the KJV but also (his main contribution in my opinion) discuss the power of the language and the value and propriety of having a “religious language.” He also, as others have done, notes the effort of the KJV translators to adhere to a fairly literal approach to interpretation. He states:

“It is the chief virtue of the King James Bible that its translators adhered to the original texts even at the expense of allowing ambiguities and enigmas to pass into the English translation. Their priority lay in allowing the Bible to speak for itself, in all its strangeness and mystery.”

I think Swaim is right here, and this is one of the key lessons the KJV can pass on to us today.

“Why the King James Bible Endures,” by Charles McGrath in the New York Times deals with the power of the language arguing that the elevated, antiquated language (the language was already a bit archaic in 1611) is a secret to the translation’s power. McGrath identifies himself as a “nonbeliever” stating:

“Not everyone prefers a God who talks like a pal or a guidance counselor. Even some of us who are nonbelievers want a God who speaketh like … well, God. The great achievement of the King James translators is to have arrived at a language that is both ordinary and heightened, that rings in the ear and lingers in the mind.”

These essays provide good food for thought as we look back in order to look ahead. These and other issues will be addressed at the upcoming festival, KJV400: Legacy and Impact at Union University. Registration opened this week, and it promises to be an enlightening and entertaining event.

Psalm 31 and Praying Scripture

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Tom Fox preached a wonderful sermon on Psalm 31 yesterday. He made a number of good points, but one that particularly struck me had to do with praying Scripture. This topic has been on my mind and Psalm 31 is an interesting example of this as Tom pointed out. Not only do we have examples of later biblical authors using Psalm 31, in this Psalm David prays a portion of the Aaronic blessing from Numbers 6:26.

So in the prayerbook of the Bible, we have a prayer which itself draws on previous Scripture for language to pray. Then portions of this Psalm are prayed at least three times later in Scripture. Jonah, in the belly of the fish, draws on 31:6 as he prays (Jonah 2:8). Jeremiah, as he wrestles with God and the suffering his calling requires, uses the language of 31:13 (Jer. 20:10; this language shows up several times in Jeremiah. Was this Psalm particularly significant to Jeremiah? One could see why it would be). Then, Jesus on the cross prays 31:5 (Luke 23:46; and it seems Stephen may be alluding to this verse as well, imitating Jesus in Acts 7:59).

This is a powerful example of the praying of Scripture. This is a biblical model which can be a great help to us. It has been to me.

Bonhoeffer was right: “If we wish to pray with confidence and gladness, then the words of Holy Scripture will have to be the solid basis of our prayer.” (Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible, 11-12)

Christian Union and 2 Timothy

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Last August I was privileged to teach through 2 Timothy for the leadership of the Christian Union, a wonderful ministry to Ivy League schools. 2 Timothy was the focus of their Bible studies this academic year, and two young men from the Harvard group decided to memorize 2 Timothy.  The video below is of them reciting 2 Timothy together at the Harvard College Faith and Action Christmas party.

Describing Greatness, Robert Hall

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You can tell a lot about a person or a people by how they define greatness, what qualities they praise. I saw this again as I have been reading a pre-publication copy of the new edition of Robert Hall’s Help to Zion’s Travellers, updated and edited by Nathan Finn, to be published by Borderstone Press.

The book was originally published in 1781 and had significant influence on William Carey and others involved in the renewed mission efforts of that day. Finn’s introductory essay does a great job explaining the setting in which this book emerged and its influence.

My focus here, though, is the descriptions given in the two prefaces of Robert Hall:

“Strong natural powers, ardent piety, deep exercises of mind, a series of singular and sanctified trials, with a special unction from the Holy One, rendered him a man of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord” (John Ryland, of Robert Hall)

“I shall ever esteem it one of the greatest favors an indulgent Providence has conferred upon me, to have possessed such a father, whom in all the essential features of character it will be my humble ambition to imitate” (Robert Hall Jr., of his father)

It is so easy to be seduced by the world’s standards of greatness or significance, and the celebrity culture which invades the church is no help in this area. These descriptions of Hall are instructive. First, he lived a life which his son (an influential pastor as well) aspired to imitate. That is significant in itself. Then note the description of Ryland. In context, Ryland is saying Hall was a great man. How does he state it? He was “a man of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.” That is indeed quite a man. No reference to his crowds or other resume builders. He was a man quick to fear the Lord. And what prepared him to live such a way? Natural gifting, piety, hard mental work and suffering. Hard work and suffering- we tend to shrink from these but this is the way in which God tends to train His people.