Need for Teachers

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Last week after one of the services where I was preaching, an older man came up to talk with me. One of the joys of these situations for me is the opportunity to hear from such saints who have walked with the Lord for many decades. This man was 89 and told me how he was converted at a meeting held over 70 years ago just a few yards from where we stood. His testimony was encouraging.

At one point he leaned in closer and said, “Preacher, you want me to tell you what’s wrong with our churches today?” I responded eagerly, “Yes, sir!” He said, “We don’t have enough Bible teachers anymore.” I really was amazed. I hear people point to many things, but this dear brother who had served the Lord in this same area for seven decades put his finger on a key issue. He talked about how he reads the Bible and learns on his own but how much we need more teachers in the church, how we need people who will give themselves (pastors and lay leaders as well) to know and teach the Bible.

Brothers, take this as a cry from the pews. Those who are aware enough are crying out to be taught the Bible. Let us faithfully feed the flock and train others to teach the Bible also. This sort of training is the mission also of the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies which I direct. I will be saying more in coming days about an upcoming conference which will be a great training opportunity for pastors and bible study leaders to help fill the void pointed out by this dear elder brother.

The Discipleship Study Bible

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With all the new study Bibles coming out this year and new editions of previous ones, a number of people have dubbed this the “Year of the Study Bible.” I have commented on these in my forthcoming annual survey of bibles and bible reference books for Preaching Magazine (you can see last year’s installment here). In this post, though, I want to give further comment on one of The Discipleship Study Bible, one of the new study Bibles this year.

This study Bible sets itself a good aim in the introduction stating that there is no need to choose between explaining the text in its original setting and applying to contemporary readers. I agree with this approach wholeheartedly. However, the execution is disturbing to me in various places. This is due primary to the critical stance taken toward the Scriptures.

One example will suffice. In Exodus the notes display little confidence on the historical accuracy of the account. Worse than this are the comments on 14:30 where mention is made of the Egyptians destroyed as they sought to follow the Israelites through the Red Sea. The notes state:

We need always to remember that there is more than one side to a story. For Egyptians this is a story of tragedy and defeat…. We need to hear the story of Egyptians and the slaves – Israelis and Palestinians. We must hear even the stories of our enemies. Perhaps as we consider not only our own inclinations to oppress but also the consequences, we’ll be inclined to heed the voices of those crying out to be let go.

What?! We hear in this text the divine interpretation of this event. Of course this was a tragedy for the Egyptians. They were being judged for their rebellion against God. We should take from this text, not “Oh my! There are two sides to the story!” but “It is a terrible thing to fall under God’s judgment!” Of course in our dealings with people we need to hear both sides of a story- Proverbs tells us that- but that is not the point of this text.

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident in the notes for this Bible. Skepticism of the text and political correctness obscure the Bible, so it is not suited to be a help in one’s spiritual growth.

Revival messages on the church

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Sunday I began preaching a series of meetings at a small church in the next county. I am attempting to do the same basic thing I mentioned here once before, preaching to the people about what the church should be on the ground that a true work of renewal begins with the people of God. I have so far preached on the same texts I mentioned before:

1 Tim 3:14-16– on the nature of the church
Eph 4– on the necessity of every
member supplying
Heb 3:12-4:16– on the responsibility of members to exhort
(encourage & rebuke) one another every day as a key to our perseverance.

My intention is to preach on 1 Cor 5 tonight on church discipline as the logical outcome of Eph 4 and Heb 3-4. This is how we show that we truly do love one another and that we love the glory of God. I have also stressed to the people that one of their primary fields of evangelism in this area will be people who profess faith but demonstrate by their life and lack of concern for the things of God that they do not know God (Titus 1:16).

I will hope to post in the next few days some other encouraging things I have seen during these meetings.

Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints

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Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints, ed. John Piper & Justin Taylor
(Crossway, 2008), pb., 157 pp.

I just received my copy of this book and thumbed through it reading various portions. I had not intended really to read anything just yet, but I found myself captivated. “Perseverance” is a word I talk about often with my boys. They call it “our word,” because I stress it so often. I do so because it is such a lacking theme in the culture around us (including the church) and it is so important. So, I was very interested in this book.

There is much wise reflection here from people who have endured. The exhortations from Jerry Bridges, John MacArthur and John Piper are solid and piercing as always. The personal story of Randy Alcorn particularly grabbed me. I knew Alcorn only by some of his books, but I had no idea of his own setting or experiences. His account of enduring persecution, particularly as his children watched, suffered and endured with him, was especially moving and challenging. This is material I will share with my family today.

May we glorify God with faithful perseverance.

Charles Brown posts

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This past Spring I read Charles Brown’s The Ministry and found it a wonderful little book packed with much wisdom for pastoral ministry. Since that time I have been meaning to comment on various portions of the book. I have been delayed for numerous reasons but Eric Smith over at Shepherd of the Sheep has provided a number of good posts from the book. He has also posted several thoughtful and helpful meditations from Titus. I commend them to you.

Be Faithful

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In a recent conversation a friend told me of the church experience of a mutual friend of ours. Our mutual friend is in his later 30’s like me and has been in church for about 16 years. During that time he has been in four or five churches and in everyone one of them the pastor has fallen in sexual immorality. How many today have this same experience that every pastor they have had has eventually had to step down due to immorality (sexual, financial, etc.)?!

Of course we are all sinful, but this cries out for us to be “above reproach” (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:6). Brothers, we need to be diligent and to have other men around us who are “in our business.” Do not allow yourself to be aloof and alone. That is a recipe for disaster, and it is not the biblical model for pastors. We need the Body as much as anyone else. Such accountability and openness will puncture our pride releasing the harmful gas which inflates our egos- which is to say it will encourage us to godliness and real joy.

Ella Broadus Robertson

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Since I commented on Broadus yesterday it is appropriate today to link to a recent Kairos Journal article on his daughter, Ella Broadus Robertson. Her husband was A. T. Robertson, prominent Greek scholar at Southern Seminary in the early 20th century.

This Kairos Journal article summarizes Mrs. Robertson’s work in speaking to women and encouraging a biblical world view with books like The Fine Art of Motherhood.

Broadus Book

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John A. Broadus: A Living Legacy
Ed., David Dockery & Roger Duke
(B&H Academic, 2008), pb., 272 pp.

It continues to be so encouraging to see the quality of material coming from B&H Academic these days. I recently received a copy of this book on John Broadus, and it looks great. Broadus was a giant in the land, and it is good to recover awareness of key leaders in or past. Charles Spurgeon said Broadus was the “greatest of living preachers,” and comparatively few people are truly aware of him today. This book contains essays on various facets of Broadus’s work and legacy by accomplished scholars including David Dockery, Jim Patterson, Timothy George, Tom Nettles, Rick Melick and Mark Overstreet.

I believe this book is also the first in a new series, Studies in Baptist Life and Thought, edited by Michael Haykin. This series looks promising as well.

The Book Tree

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The Book Tree: A Christian Reference for Children’s Literature, 2d edition
Elizabeth McCallum & Jane Scott
(Canon Press, 2008), pb., 275 pp.

This is a wonderful book that will be a great resource for every family. A mother-daughter team provides here an annotated, age-graded list of their picks of the best books. Their prefaces are very valuable in themselves as they comment on the shift in children’s books- how classics of the past are now often disparaged and how so much of contemporary children’s literature contains questionable material (reasons for finding good recommendations and not limiting yourself to what happens to be on offer and the standard bookstore).

It is a great help to have others recommendations and descriptions in your own book buying. I would have liked to have critique as well as summary in their listing of each book, but one can’t have everything!

This is a great book to have and give away. As the authors note, this is a great book also for those without young children so that they can choose good books as presents for children and families with children.

(This book is not yet listed on Amazon)