Today in Blogworld 07.07.15

Mike Leake

Baseball on Ice Skates

This was a thing. I think it should be again…of course I couldn’t play…but I’m always for more baseball.

How Should You Talk to Your Children About SSM

Russell Moore is helpful as always.

Can I Tell You About My Friend Jesus

I loved it when Jared Wilson tweeted all these. I’m happy now that he has compiled these into one post.

7 Warning Sings of Affairs for Pastors

Most of these can be avoided simply by not being prideful and assuming you can handle it.

This dude’s abilities with the tape measure far exceed my own:

Celebrating Oak Trees

Mike Leake 2 Comments


If I labeled someone as a mature Christian, what would come to your mind? What about something like this:

  • Warm affections. In other words he is bubbling over with emotion for the Lord.
  • Burdened with sin and doing anything he can to get rid of it.
  • His heart is often enlarged in prayer.
  • He is zealous with a love for souls and a concern for the glory of God.
  • His knowledge of the things of the Lord is small, but the little he does know never fails to stir him up.

The picture I have in my mind is of a sprinter. He’s going fast and he’s putting every ounce of his being into this thing. There is no pacing himself. For many this is the view of a mature Christian. Passion. Emotion. Liveliness. Activity.

John Newton describes such a one as a tree in blossom. “It is spring-time with [this one]: he is in bloom, and, by the grace and blessing of the heavenly Husandman, will bear fruit in old age.” But he’s not yet a tree that is “laden with ripe fruit”.

I was once a sprinter in my walk with Christ. When I first became a believer everything changed in my life. One particular area that I knew had to change was my choice of music. Being lively in my affections and very sensitive to sin I believed that my only recourse was to burn all of my CD’s. 2Pac, Rage Against the Machine, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy, Biggie, the whole lot of them went up in flames.

I acquired more than just a collection of charred CD’s with this burn fest. I grew in my stature as a mature Christian—at least in my own mind. I was now able to look down upon all those pagans who listened to secular music. Their affection for Jesus must not have been as deep as mine. The Lord was working so powerfully in my life I couldn’t understand all those dour people in our congregation that weren’t as passionate about the Lord as me.

And then the wilderness came.

I was rocked because my lively affections started to dwindle. I began to wonder if I was even a believer. I know now that my understanding was growing and my faith in the Lord was growing in leaps and bounds. But at the time I assumed that I was well on my way to becoming a passionless pew potato. I even felt as if the Lord had abandoned me by withdrawing such strong affections from my heart.

As I read through Newton’s grace in the blade, in the ear, and in the full corn, I was struck by how much of our Christianity strives to be like the beautiful tree in blossom. And this I believe thwarts actual growth. We wither in the wilderness and long again for the security of our days in Egypt. Yet, the Lord aims to bring us into the Promised Land. As Newton says,

The Lord is now about to suit his dispensations to humble and to prove him, and to show him what is in his heart, that he may do him good at the latter end, and that all the glory may redound to his own free grace.

For years I’ve attended various prayer meetings in which we are praying for revival. In reality I think we are often praying that God would make us immature believers again. We’ve exalted the emotion of our child-like walk with Christ to an unhealthy place. Yes, we ought to have our affections stirred. Yes, we ought to be passionate about the Lord. But a mature believer is more akin to a solid tree, filled with twists and turns and faithfully bears fruit in spite of how it has been weathered by all the changing seasons.

When the hearts of others shake like the leaves of a tree, he is fixed, trusting in the Lord, who he believes can and will make good every loss, sweeten every bitter, and appoint all things to work together for his advantage.

Wouldn’t it be better for us to celebrate oak trees as much as we celebrate spring blossoms?

Today in Blogworld 07.03.15

Mike Leake

How Often Should We Celebrate the Lord’s Supper?

I’m with Peyton on this one.

5 Pitfalls to Avoid in Sermon Illustrations

Oops.

1875 Invention That Could Help Baseball

Who needs replay when you’ve got this sweet invention.

The Number One Christian Conversation Killer

I’d rather be called many things than this…

What is it with the Cardinals and squirrels?

A Call To Action In A World On Fire – Part 3

Nick Horton

At the end of first letter to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul gives a five-pointed charge to the church. This series examines those charges and seeks their application to us today. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here.

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” (1 Cor. 16:13-14)

————

When I turned 18 my Mom said I should probably get a job. I didn’t want to get a job. I’d rather continue playing video games and hanging out with my friends. However, I also heard the message Mom sent loud and clear. I was no longer welcome as a child in her house, but would now have to start paying my way. I had transitioned over a threshold from childhood to adulthood in her eyes even if I didn’t necessarily feel it myself.

It would be many more years until I had matured into a man. In many ways the process is still going.

I’m not going to rant on video games and young men, plenty of others have beat that drum. I don’t mind video games actually. I still like to play them occasionally. The markers for manhood are more than choices in entertainment, though those DO matter.

Can you articulate what manhood is?

Our culture doesn’t know what manhood is. Boys are growing up increasingly confused, with no concept of what it means to be a man. Single parent households often mean Dad is gone. The one who should teach young boys how to grow into manhood is absent. This in itself is a failure of manhood. Early on then, boys are learning how to be poor examples of men. This was my experience as well.

Being a man is not physical strength. Being a man is not promiscuity. It is not power or influence. It is not chest hair, facial hair, or when you get older, no hair. Men don’t pick fights that don’t need picking. They don’t steal even if they will suffer. They don’t put themselves first. They don’t cause children to be brought into this world and then abandon them. They absolutely do not seek to have that child killed before birth. They don’t pursue their entertainment with greater vigor than their responsibilities.

However, if you look at what our culture celebrates, all of the above point to our society’s idea of manhood.

What is a man?

Paul in this call to action says to the Corinthian church “Act like men, be strong.” Some translations say “be men of courage.” Again we ask, what does manhood look like?

Biblical manhood is Christ-likeness. Do you want to know what it is to be a man? Study Jesus Christ.

He was obedient, respectful, and kind. He was unwavering before opponents. He was truthful and firm with them. There was no fear of man in him. He was not cruel.

He stood firm in the faith, never doubting his Father. He stood firm to the point of death, counting God worthy of everything, including his life.

He did not back down to the civil authorities and went willingly to the cross. He sacrificed. He put others before himself.

How do we do that?

Yeah, Nick, I got that. I can’t be Christ.

No. You can’t. I can’t. I am not calling you to be Christ, but Christ-like. We are to act like men, to be strong. Strength is far more how much weight you can lift. Daniel was never mentioned as being physically strong. His strength was his unwavering faith in God. He bowed before no idol even to the point of promised death. He sought to serve his God.

Much the same, if you would be a man, trust fully in God. Bow before no idol. Love with the unmatched love of Christ. Be patient and kind.

Manhood is forged in the soul, not the flesh. It is no less arduous a process, however. Read your Bibles, pray, and feel the hammer blows of the Spirit on your soul as you are forged. The refining of precious metal is a painful process. Impurities are burned out.

“I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” Revelation 3:18

Men, it is time to deny ourselves. Cultural manhood is all about indulgence, but biblical manhood is all about sacrifice. Could the two be more opposed? Your choice is the same in this as in life; will you serve yourself or will you submit to God?