23 Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash. 1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, "Come, let's go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side." ...  4 On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez, and the other Seneh. 5 One cliff stood to the north toward Micmash, the other to the south toward Geba.  6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost...

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   Sunday morning I preached on church discipline from Titus 3, and I really wanted to share with the church the loving nature of church discipline from the most famous passage in the Bible on the subject, Matthew 18:15-17.  However, I just didn't have time, so I thought I'd post it here: The first way church discipline is initiated is when someone who is sinned against goes to the offending person.  This is the Matthew 18 way: 15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you [just one on one]. If...

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  I'm preaching on regeneration from Titus 3 this Sunday, and as I studied for it I was reminded of something I read several years ago by Brian Habig, who was the RUF minister at MSU back in the late nineties.  Enjoy. A couple of years ago, I led a group of students to Bucharest, Romania. It was my second trip there. Prior to the advent of communism, Bucharest was known as "the Paris of the East" and graced its portion of the globe with classical architecture and Old World charm. Now a visitor has to search for remnants of...

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   Few men stared as deeply into the glories of eternal life as Jonathan Edwards.  In a sermon on Romans 2:10 ("But glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile") he preached on why there will be different levels of reward in heaven, why those at the lower levels will never be envious of those above them, and how the saints in heaven can praise God continually throughout eternity without ever growing tired.    "As there are degrees among the angels, viz. thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers; so there are degrees among...

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This weekend I rented In the Heat of the Night, the 1967 classic starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Rod Steiger).  The plot: Poitier plays a Philadephia, Pennsylvania homicide detective named Virgil Tibbs who visits his mother in a small Mississippi town named Sparta.  He rises early one morning to catch an early train back to Pennsylvania, and waits at the depot.  That night a murder also takes place in Sparta, and the local police fan out to look for suspects.  They come upon Tibbs in the depot, search...

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I love that at Adaton we are taking one of the great hymns of the faith each month and memorizing them together.  February was A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, March is The Solid Rock.   Brian and I selected twelve hymns to cover twelve months, but one that didn’t make the cut (but easily could have) is a favorite of both of ours, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.  Robert Robinson wrote that hymn in 1752, and I’ve been trying to memorize this one on my own this month, and to meditate on the meaning of the verses. Verse two...

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Liberal Protestant Christianity is just about played out in America.  It began in the late 19th century when the leadership of mainline protestant denominations (meaning the old northern Baptists, Episcopalians, the United Churches of Christ, many Lutherans and Presbyterians and, more recently and very sadly, the historically magnificent Methodist churches) began, as a response to the challenge of modernity, to discard the supernatural elements of the faith.  They tried to argue that the "narrative" of Christianity was important as a symbol to encourage mankind's attempts at finding significance and purpose, but that the Bible was not in any way to be taken...

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One of the hurdles to belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ is to make up your mind about the Bible.  Namely, can the Bible be trusted?  Does it accurately report what Jesus of Nazareth said and did in history?  Christianity, unlike almost every other world religion, is based on events in world history, and if these events did not take place (like the virginal conception of Jesus, his perfect life, his death, burial, and resurrection) then Christianity is worthless.  Or, as the apostle Paul wrote, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still...

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As a pastor in a college town, I'm constantly getting questions about guidance – how can I know the Lord's will for my life?  One of the most relevant verses to the issue of God's leading is Proverbs 16:3 – "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."  I listened to a sermon the other day (by Tim Keller) and realized that I have been misreading this verse for years – maybe you have, too. I thought it meant that if you pray over your plans and in some spiritual way "commit" them to the Lord...

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Few subjects generate more debate among Christians (and, sometimes, outright rancor) that the age-old question: Calvinism or Arminianism?  In other words, how exactly do God's sovereignty and human responsibility interact in the salvation of sinners?  Who's ultimately in control?  Some Arminians (Christians who lean toward man having the final say) think Calvinists (Christians who focus more on the sovereignty of God in salvation) are anti-evangelistic, anti-missionary, cold hearted creatures, while some Calvinists think that biblical Arminians aren't really Christians.  Neither view is helpful. Charles Simeon, a wonderful Anglican minister and thorough Bible teacher from the early 19th century, and a Calvinist (though...

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Mark Rogers at the Gospel Coalition blog e-mailed several missionaries and asked them what are some of the best ways the folks back home can encourage you.  Read the top ten responses here, and take time this year to put them into practice with the missionaries we support at Adaton. HT: Justin Taylor.    

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C.S. Lewis, in his wonderful book Mere Christianity, takes on the topic of forgiveness, and notes that forgiveness in the Bible means loving your neighbor (which, in Christianity, also includes your enemy) as yourself.  So, he asks the question: how do I love myself? "Now that I come to think of it, I have not exactly got a feeling of fondness or affection for myself, and I do not even always enjoy my own society. So apparently 'Love your neighbor' does not mean 'feel fond of him' or 'find him attractive.' I ought to have seen that before, because of...

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The sermon text for Sunday morning is Luke 1:57-66, where we read that Zechariah and Elizabeth were faithful in following up on God's command to name their child John.  One of the marks of the Holy Spirit in our lives is that we will strive to be obedient to God's commands, both in the very clear commands such as the Ten Commandments and in the areas where what constitutes obedience is not so clear.  I pray God will use this Sunday to teach us all to look at our lives and learn how we can more faithfully and, just as important, joyfully...

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Sunday morning I preached from Luke 1:39-45, where Elizabeth, six months into her pregnancy with John the Baptist, meets Mary.  One of the most remarkable things about this passage (which I didn't have time to mention in the sermon), probably the thing that causes those of us to read it as often as we do, is not so much what happens to Elizabeth in this passage but what happens to the baby she's carrying.  In verse 41, we read that this child – three months yet to be born – leaps for joy inside the womb when Elizabeth hears the voice...

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This Sunday the sermon will come from Luke 1:39-45, where Elizabeth, we read, is filled with the Holy Spirit.  We'll take time to examine some of the marks of a Spirit-filled life, and how the incarnation of Jesus not only makes it possible but how by meditating on the incarnation we can more readily experience the filling of the Spirit. It's the Christmas season, so we're singing Christmas hymns, including O Come, All Ye Faithful, Good Christian Men, Rejoice, and Charles Wesley's wonderful Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, the second verse of which goes like this: "Born Thy people to deliver,...

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  Late on the night of March 13, 1964, after working a late shift, twenty-eight year old Kitty Genovese returned to her home in the Kew Gardens section of Queens, New York.  She parked her car and walked toward the front door of her apartment building when a man came out of the shadows attacked her, stabbing her twice in the back.  She screamed, "Oh, my God, he stabbed me!  Help me!"  In the apartments all around and above lights flared on and windows opened, and when the attacker saw them he retreated.  Ms. Genovese, severely wounded, began to crawl away. It was...

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This Sunday we'll begin a new series of sermons from the gospel of Luke, looking specifically at the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth from Luke 1, as we prepare for Christmas.  Zechariah and Elizabeth pray for a son, and in verses 5-25 we read where Zechariah is told by an angel that their prayer had been heard.  We can learn a lot about prayer from that particular prayer, and hopefully we will during the sermon Sunday morning.  Since it is the Christmas season, Brian (who has been sick all week - keep him in your prayers, though thankfully he feels...

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Virtually everyone loves Christmas: the songs, the decorations, the meals, the time with family.  It's a time of year most people look forward to. But let's be sure and not simply look forward to it as a time for more hunting, nor as a time to be stressed over preparing meals and getting ready for houseguests, and certainly not mainly as a time to do our part to help our economy out of a recession.  I want everyone associated with Adaton to resolve today to spend at least as much time this month meditating on "Him whose birth the angels...

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The sermon text for Sunday morning is Ezekiel 47:1-12, a wonderful text in which the gospel of Jesus Christ is compared to a river of living water which flows from underneath the threshold of the temple in Ezekiel's vision.  We'll learn four or five different things about the nature of the gospel from the metaphor of Ezekiel's river of life.  One thing about which I hope to be abundantly clear: the gospel is the only means to having a rich, full life.  We'll sing a couple of great hymns, including Just As I Am and one of my all-time favorites,...

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   I hope all the loyal blog readers (which I think includes my mom and maybe one other person – love you, Mom!) have a wonderful Thanksgiving.    As the two of you have no doubt noticed, the frequency of my blogging has decreased over the last six weeks or so.  I don't anticipate the frequency increasing much in the future.  My goal going forward is to blog twice each week: one entry on the upcoming Sunday morning and then one other entry on something I've read in the Bible, in some other book, or in the news. However, I have...

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Jesus' first sermon went like this: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  Matthew 4:17. Everything you must know about God is in that sermon.  "Repent" - turn, change your ways.  You are living a life that offends God and angers him.  Plus, there is no benefit in it for you.  You should want to change your ways because you will only run your life in the ditch by continuing down this path. "The kingdom of heaven is near."  The rule of God on your life is at hand.  This is good news for when God rules you, he...

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   William Wilberforce, the British MP who led the fight to abolish the slave trade, wrote in his book Real Christianity the following: "Measure your progress [as a Christian] by your experience of the love of God and its exercise before men... "In contrast, servile, base, and mercenary is the notion of Christian practice among the bulk of nominal Christians.  They give no more than they dare not withhold.  They abstain from nothing but what they dare not practice.  When you state to them the doubtful quality of any action, and the consequent obligation to refrain from it, they reply...

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C. S. Lewis has had a tremendous impact on millions of Christians.  Mere Christianity is, as far as I'm concerned, required reading for all believers.  The Screwtape Letters is a wonderful book to help Christians understand what spiritual warfare really is.  The Abolition of Man demonstrates clearly the flawed logic of modern thinking.  Lewis' "The Weight of Glory" is one of the best sermons ever preached.  I could go on and on.  His insight into the human condition in the light of Christ when combined with his ability to communicate clearly and powerfully makes for a gift set that is...

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   Few men have had the impact on me that Tim Keller has had.  Dr. Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, and it is through his preaching that I have, to a great degree, learned both what the gospel is and how to preach it.  I often refer people to his sermons to learn what the Christian faith is and how to live it out. Unfortunately, Redeemer charges $2.50 to download Dr. Keller's sermons, which has kept him relatively inaccessible to many who could otherwise benefit from his teaching.  However, Redeemer recently made available...

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From Justin Taylor's blog: "A few weeks ago John Piper spoke at a conference for the American Association of Christian Counselors. Piper decided to be as transparent as possible, given the audience, and to discuss some of the prevailing sins that he has struggled with his entire life. And the audience laughed uproariously. Piper was obviously perplexed and commented on how strange their reaction was." The post is an interesting take on the potential danger of preachers who have trained their people to laugh too much during sermons.  I don't know if I agree with the conclusions, but it is...

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My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.  1 John 2:1-2 (ESV). A well-known axiom in legal circles is that a litigant is only as good as his attorney.  When a party goes to court, his face to the judge and jury is his lawyer.  And no matter how strong his case may be, if...

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Yes, it was quite a show. 

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"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will."  Romans 12:2. Christianity has traditionally taught that human beings are made up of three parts: our minds, our affections, and our wills.  As Kris Lundgaard put it, "Each of the faculties of [our souls] has duties before God.  The mind is the sentinel, commanded to watch carefully over the soul by questioning, assessing, and making judgments: ‘Will this please God?' ...

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"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the Spirit."  Ephesians 5:18. Christians make the mistake of constantly trying to live the Christian life out of their own strength.  It is understandable why we try to to do this – when we first become Christians all we know is our own strength. We haven't learned how to live any other way. But the apostle Paul insists we must seek to be "filled with the Spirit" and live under his guiding influence.  What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?  Paul gives us...

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"The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her."  Mark 6:26. I've found we all tend to think (subconsciously, if not consciously) that once we attain a certain station in life, or degree of accomplishment, or amount of money, we will start feeling comfortable in our own skin.  We look particularly at famous, rich, or successful people (or people whom we deem to be successful), see that at least outwardly they appear to be calm and have it together, and really believe that they are at peace with...

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I am reading through the Gospel of Mark with the kids as a part of our devotionals, and today we got to the healing of the woman subject to bleeding in Mark 5 (as a side-note, the gospels may be the best biblical texts to read to children – plenty of action to keep their attention!). In this account, we read of a woman who suffered from uncontrollable menstrual bleeding for twelve years.  According to the Mosaic law, she would have been in a state of perpetual uncleanness and unable to worship at the temple.  Therefore, she was an outcast...

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I can't get enough of these conversion stories from Martyn Lloyd-Jones' biography.  Here's another: "William Thomas, or ‘Staffordshire Bill' as he was commonly known, was drinking in the Working Men's Club in Aberavon one Sunday afternoon.  As usual, he was by himself, for even men who had few moral standards had long since learned to avoid his ‘filthy language and general unpleasantness' whenever they could.  In the words of Mrs. Lloyd-Jones: "‘There he was, drinking himself into his usual sodden condition, and as he afterwards confessed, feeling low, hopeless, and depressed, trusting to the drink to drown those inward pangs...

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Dr. Lloyd-Jones was not a doctor of divinity, but a medical doctor.  He entered one of the great teaching hospitals in London at the age of sixteen, graduating at the top of his class at age twenty-one in 1921, and was chosen to be the chief assistant of the physician to King George V.  Dr. Lloyd-Jones counted among his patients those who were the wealthiest and most influential in all of Britian.  However, upon his call to the ministry, he chose to return to his home country, Wales, to serve among the poorest there so as to prove that the...

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Dr. David Martyn Lloyd-Jones was one of the greatest – if not the greatest – preachers of the twentieth centuries.  He served in the United Kingdom for more than forty years.  I'm reading a biography of him written by Iain Murray, and it contains many, many gems.  Below is a quote from a sermon Dr. Lloyd-Jones preached on John 5:44 ("How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?"), where we read that pride is one of the great reasons why men will never...

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This Sunday morning we will finish our fourteen week study in the book of Hebrews by looking at chapter 13, verses 7 through 16.  The title of the sermon is "Go Outside the Camp," and we'll look at how it is not safe from any worldly perspective to be a Christian.    Also on Sunday we'll begin two weeks of deacon testimonies.  Each September, we elect a new class of deacons to serve in our church.  Typically, deacons serve a term of three years.  The deacon election is scheduled for September 27, during the morning services.  Junior Grantham, Rhett Graves, Larry Herndon, and Danny...

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   "No servant can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money."  Luke 16:13. I love the blackness-and-whiteness of Jesus.  He goes out of the way to make our choices very clear.  There is no ambiguity with him; he loves us enough to tell us straight the way things are. But to the post-modern ear, verses like Luke 16:13 can sound intolerant and mean-spirited.  How can anyone who truly loves other people make such a demanding...

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  Have you ever read Mark 10:17-27 and noticed how desperate the rich young man was?  "As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up and fell on his knees before him" (Mark 10:17).  What was it that caused the rich young man to approach Jesus in such a terrified manner? Answer: he'd been around Jesus.  The story of the rich young man is connected to the first part of Mark 10, where Jesus first teaches on divorce and then receives the children to bless them.  When he taught on divorce, Jesus revealed to the crowd a moral standard...

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What is the purpose of suffering in life on earth?  Does God control suffering?  How do other religions/philosophies explain suffering?  Our sermon text for Sunday, Hebrews 12:1-11, offers some answers, and I hope we get to explore those together Sunday morning.  Following the sermon, we will come to the Lord's table to take the Supper, which is a vivid reminder of the suffering our Lord went through on our behalf and in itself provides one of the best answers for the pain we endure in this life. Brian and Heidi will be taking a well-deserved vacation Sunday, but we are thankful...

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“What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use – men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men – men of prayer.” E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer. Rev. Bounds wrote those lines when he served as a pastor in Tennessee and Missouri in the late 1800’s – they are even more desperately relevant today. Father, please...

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Bill and Kim Maner are missionaries that God called out of our church family and onto the mission field in El Salvador.  Bill is teaching and coaching at a university in San Salvador (the capital of El Salvador), while Kim runs the household and cares for their two children, Bella and Causey.  El Salvador, while nominally a Christian nation due to the historical presence of Roman Catholicism, does not have large population of evangelical Christians, though over the last few decades their number has grown dramatically.  Bill and Kim desire to get to know the students at the university, host...

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One of the magazines we've subscribed to for years at our house is The New Yorker.  The articles are very well-written, almost uniformly interesting, though they have a decidedly liberal bent.  But I've always found it most interesting to read people with whom you have profound disagreement. In their August 3 issue, they published an article on the so-called "Gospel of Judas."  The gospel of Judas is a third-century (at the earliest) Gnostic text discovered in 1978 in Egypt and first published in English in 2006.  The Gospel of Judas proports to shed a different light on Jesus, the disciples,...

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Rodney Stark is a professor of sociology and comparative religion at the University of Washington, and is probably not a professing evangelical Christian, yet he wrote a fascinating book a few years ago (The Rise of Christianity)explaining why Christianity grew from improbable beginnings to become, in three hundred years, the dominant religious faith in the Western world. In chapter four Dr. Stark writes that two deadly plagues swept the Roman Empire, one in the second century (probably smallpox) and another in the third century (probably measles).  The plagues devastated the population – in each instance a quarter to a third...

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We have a lot to look forward to this Sunday.  Brian has chosen some wonderful music for us to sing, we plan on witnessing two baptisms, and of course we will center our service on the preaching of God's Word. This week we will read from Hebrews 10:26-39.  In this text, the author of Hebrews (we aren't sure who that was) warns a church suffering from persecution not to fall away, and then reminds them of how they've stood firm in the faith in the past.  While by God's grace we live in one of the most affluent and religiously tolerant societies the world...

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We try to emphasize Scripture memorization at Adaton by encouraging church members to memorize one verse each week.  We call these verses "Fighter Verses," because we use the wisdom of God contained therein to fight our flesh, the devil, and the world.  Currently, we try to memorize long blocks of Scripture over time - we've found that to be more beneficial and the Scripture involved is more likely to be remembered than if we learned single verses each week taken from all over the Bible.  Full disclosure: we got the idea for Fighter Verses from Bethlehem Baptist Church (John Piper's church)...

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Sunday morning the sermon text is Hebrews 10:19-25, from which we'll learn how we can have true and strong confidence to "draw near" to God, and several practical that ways we can indeed draw near to him.  When we draw near to God, we will experience true peace, and one of the best hymns with lyrics describing that peace is It Is Well with My Soul, which Brian has chosen for us to sing Sunday. Verse two goes like this: "Tho' Satan should buffet, tho' trials should come, let this blest assurance control; That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,...

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At the Gospel Coalition conference in Chicago back in April, Brian and I heard Dr. Lig Duncan, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi, preach on 2 Timothy 4.  He focused at one point on verse 13: "When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments." "Bring ... my scrolls, especially the parchments."  Then Dr. Duncan said, "You've all read Spurgeon's sermon on this passage, right?"  The vast majority of us (including me) had not.  He charged us to read it.  Here is the relevant portion: "Even an apostle [like...

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I've been an admirer of Eugene Peterson, author of The Message Bible, for several years now, though not because of his Bible paraphrase (which I've hardly read).  Rather, I've most enjoyed reading Peterson's thoughts on pastoral ministry.  I read his book The Contemplative Pastor in seminary and for that I am thankful.  The insight I've gleaned from that book has helped to keep me focused on what pastors should be doing and, just as importantly, what we should not devote one minute of our days to.   I came across this quote from another of his books, Under the Unpredictable Plant, and,...

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"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  Hebrews 11:1.  Do you have faith?  This is where the rubber meets the road in Christianity. Do you refuse to lean on your own understanding of the world, but by faith insist on trusting God's revealed will for his children? Can you give your money away and live lean and mean so that you will have more to give away by faith that it will bring you treasure in heaven?Can you forgive those who hurt you by faith that your Father in...

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"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe."  Ephesians 1:17-19. Have you ever been in a dark room, like a theater, and then all of the sudden someone turns on a spotlight?  Before the light...

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D.G. Hart writes on why so many Christian leaders talk a big game about how important rural America is, yet so few want to stay and minister there and instead get caught up in the excitement of serving in a big city.  Quoting author Wendell Berry, Hart writes: In his essay, "God and Country," Berry complains rightly that American denominations treat rural congregations invariably as "a training ground for young ministers, and as a means of subsidizing their education." This stems from a two-fold disrespect for rural people. First is the assumption that persons not yet eligible for ministry are...

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The other day I read in my daily Bible reading Mark 12.  Verses 41-44 form the end of that chapter: "Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their...

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The most frustrating thing for me about preaching through the book of Hebrews over the course this summer is that I don't have time to go into all the rich detail of this letter.  Were I to truly preach verse by verse through Hebrews, it would take more than a year of Sundays, and for various reasons I don't want to do that.  So, I wind up leaving stuff (really good stuff) out of my sermons that are in my original outlines – there's just not enough time.  This past Sunday I didn't speak much on Hebrews 9:16-17.  "In the...

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This Sunday we will continue our study of the book of Hebrews, this time looking at chapters eight and nine. In this text, we read how Jesus entered the true, heavenly sanctuary (of which the tabernacle in the desert of Sinai and later temple in Jerusalem were copies) on our behalf and offered himself as a sacrifice once for all for all the sins of God's people. The teachings in these chapters have been very challenging but also rewarding for me personally as I've sought to write a sermon this week that is faithful to the text but also applies...

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“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:4-6. At first glance, these verses don’t seem to fit together. In verse 4, the author of Hebrews warns against sexually immorality, and then in...

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"We're making the devil angry," I heard Wilson call out the other morning.  At that moment, Wilson and Annie were sharing a toy.  Around our house, we teach them that when we give to one another it makes Jesus happy, but it makes the devil angry.  I think the kids get more excited about making the mean ole devil angry than pleasing Jesus at this point, but we'll take what we can get. The apostle Paul quoted Jesus as saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).  I fear we don't believe that as we should. ...

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"If you love me, you will obey what I command.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth."  John 14:15-17. With these words Jesus introduces to his disciples the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.  The word Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit to the disciples in John 14-16 is the Greek word paracletos, and it is a much debated word in biblical studies.  In Greek, paracletos was a technical term used in legal settings describing a defense attorney in the courtroom,...

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 “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2.  Pray that when I preach I will do so in such a way so as to be clear and earnest. Handing the Word of God is a weighty task that requires careful work during the week to make sure Scripture, more than J.D. Shaw,...

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When I first began to sense the call to the ministry, I met with several pastors to try and get advice.  One morsel of wisdom I received was that the church was a jealous mistress.  In other words, the church can be an all-consuming part of our lives, choking off any other commitments I might have if I'm not careful. I was also told at the outset of my legal career that the law was a jealous mistress, which I'm sure could be true but certainly wasn't for me in my short stay in that life.  I didn't like the...

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Pray for the purity of our staff at Adaton.  "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13).  No man is immune from the temptations of sin, and too many ministers have experienced public disgrace to think that pastors are any different.  Pray for the purity of our motives, attitudes, thoughts, words, and deeds.  Pray that we are wise in what we watch on television, on movies, and where we point our internet browsers.  In fact, you can pray that we as a rule spend less and less time on all three of those...

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The best thing you can do for me as your pastor is to pray for me.  I need the prayers more than I need anything else.  "At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery Christ... that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak" (Colossians 4:3-4) (ESV). To that end, I want to write a series of posts this week on how you can pray for me (and, incidentally, Tom and Brian as well).  Thanks in advance to Rev. Phillip Palmertree,...

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It will be so good to be back in the pulpit at Adaton on Sunday.  While I was thankful for the opportunity to preach at Longview this week, it's just not the same as Adaton.  You all have gotten accustomed to me and my preaching style (for better or worse for our church), while going before new faces always presents new challenges.  While the folks at Longview couldn't have been more accommodating or gracious, I am still very glad to be back. If God wills, this Sunday we'll look at one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament: Hebrews...

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"God is glorified in his people by the way we experience him, not merely by the way we think about him.  Indeed, the devil thinks more true thoughts about God in one day than a saint does in a lifetime, and God is not honored by it.  The problem with the devil is not his theology, but his desires."  When I Don't Desire God, John Piper, 30-31.

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 “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him” (2 Corinthians 11:2). This is my prayer for Adaton, or at least as much as the sinful J.D. Shaw can pray this prayer. I want you, the people of this body of believers, to be found pure, holy, and faithful in God’s sight. Friends, when I measure our success as a church I do so more by the leaders and teachers and godly examples we raise up and the people we...

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Pretty much anything Paul Tripp writes, I recommend.  Paul Tripp and the other leaders at the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation and Westminster Theological Seminary know how to do biblical counseling well.  They've mined the Scriptures for insight into the human heart and how to redeem in through the means of grace God gives us in Christ and his church. Tripp has a new book, A Quest for More, in which he has this to say about anger: It is true that most of our anger is dangerous and destructive. This is because it is idolatrous anger. I do not...

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“And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the...

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What do you hope in?  In other words, what is it your heart immediately turns to in order to find security and happiness?   Entertainment?  Sex?  Money?  Work?  Spouse (or the promise of one in the future)?  Children?  Grandchildren?  Retirement?  Graduation?  Self-sufficiency?   Health?  Status?  Reputation?  There are few questions more important: when you are worried, where does your heart go for hope that everything will be okay?  What is it about which you say, "As long as I have this, I'll be okay."  Whatever it is for you, identify it and watch it every moment of your life.  It probably is...

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Many of you know Bill and Kim Maner, members of Adaton who have been called to the mission field in El Salvador.  Bill will teach and coach at a university in San Salvador, El Salvador's capital, and through the acquaintances he develops there will begin small group Bible studies and discipling relationships with students. Bill arrived in El Salvador Sunday night and begins teaching this week.  Please keep him in your prayers.  Also, please remember Kim.  Kim and the children (Bella, age 4, and Causey, seven months) will stay here until August, so Kim will obviously have her hands full.  The...

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 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus can't help the self-sufficient and the proud.  His mercies don't reach the wise and strong.  His compassion is no comfort to the go-getters or to those who take-no-prisoners. But if the weary and burdened, the broken and contrite, the messes who know they are messes come to Jesus,...

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This Sunday we'll continue in our sermon series in Hebrews, and we'll look at Hebrews 5:11 through 6:3.  The title of the sermon is "Go On To Maturity," and my hope is that this is a very practical sermon that gives good counsel on how to grow and become more mature as a Christian.  I think ths passage (especially Hebrews 5:12) teaches that all Christians should grow into maturity in the faith to the point that they can, in some way, teach the basics of the faith to others.  And if you have to teach it, you will mature in it. ...

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Another question I received about the sermon preached on Father's Day was about the Holy Spirit.  Is it possible, someone asked, for the Holy Spirit to come upon someone in power, and for the Spirit do perform miraculous acts through that person, and yet that person not be born again by the Holy Spirit and thereby saved? Here's what I said in the sermon: Both Old Testament Israel and the New Testament recipients of the book of Hebrews had incredible religious experiences.  Israel witnessed the ten plagues on Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, they received the Law...

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I've received a few questions about my Father's Day sermon on Hebrews 3:7-14.  This is one of the passages of Scripture that deals most directly about a doctrinal subject known as "assurance of salvation" – how someone can know whether or not they are saved.  It is also a notoriously difficult doctrine to grasp conceptually, so questions are very understandable (and I'm always thankful for questions - then I know you're listening). In that sermon, I said the following (this is copied from my sermon manuscript):  So if in the future it's possible that our hearts can become hard and...

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My family and I got back on Friday from one of our summer getaways, and we had a lot of fun.  The sunburns weren't too bad and everyone got plenty of time in the water and on the beach.  But vacation is also a lot of work when you have small children in your family.  So, I was reminded on vacation what vacation really means for godly dads – an opportunity to serve our families on new, unfamiliar grounds.  And I was reminded of a series of three blog posts about vacations written by someone who is, by all accounts,...

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1 John 5:19: 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. I read that verse in my morning devotion time the other day and remembered that the New Testament repeatedly affirms that this world in which we live is not a neutral place.  It is decidedly hostile territory for Christians.  It is under the control of the devil, the one who delights in chaos and in our suffering.  This world is evil, and its evil is beyond the reforming power of any human being or human...

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Yesterday was Father's Day, and I pray it was a good one for you and your family. Last week I read a few paragraphs from an article on fatherhood from the First Things On the Square blog.  I haven't read the entire article (so I can't recommend it one way or the other), but what I read was as good of a description of what happens to a man when he becomes a father as anything I've ever read.  It certainly hit home with me and I will read the article in its entirety.  Enjoy. Most fathers-to-be suppose that their...

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This Sunday during the morning service we'll look at Hebrews 3:7-14.  Hebrews 3-4 is one of the most important passages in Scripture on the topic of assurance of salvation.  In other words, how can we know we are saved?  What can we rely on to give us assurance of our salvation?  The author of Hebrews looks back to Psalm 95 and the book of Exodus to warn us what not to rely on, then gives us practical help in this important area. Sunday is also Father's Day, so it's a joy that on this Sunday a family has decided to...

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So, if our energies are not to be devoted to discerning God's will of direction for our lives, where should we look for God's will?  What can we know of God's will?  The best statement comes in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says: 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store...

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Today is the third post in a series of blog entries on the issue of Christian guidance.  Kevin DeYoung writes this: "Why are so many Christians desperate to find out God's plan for their lives?" and then gives five reasons why we want to be sure of "God's will" in our decision-making.  I've found these reasons to be true in my own life and in the lives of others around me. First, we genuinely want to please God.  Of course, this is a good thing in general, but it can be unhelpful in the area of guidance if we think...

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In his book, Just Do Something, Kevin DeYoung writes that the phrase "God's will" trips up a lot of Christians.  We want to do God's will with our lives, but have a very hard time figuring out God's will in any specific instance.   DeYoung very helpfully sorts out some of the confusion around the phrase "God's will."  "God's will", as a theological idea, has two sides to it.  First, there is God's will of decree.  "This refers to what God has ordained.  Everything that comes to pass is according to God's sovereign decree.  And all that He decrees will ultimately...

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Something that constantly comes up in my discussion with Christians is the issue of guidance.  Namely, they want to know what "God's will" is with regard to specific decisions they face (e.g., college majors, boyfriends/girlfriends, job changes, churches to join, real estate to sell) and how they can discern this will.  Our Christian subculture seems to be paralyzed with fear at the thought of making a wrong decision – choosing that which is not "God's will" for them.  Many of us are waiting for some vague, subjective "peace" to envelope us before we can close the deal.  While waiting for...

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Each Friday I'll try to write a little bit to help you and your family get ready for what will take place during the corporate worship services on Sunday morning.  Here's the first of these posts. This Sunday the sermon is titled "A Merciful and Faithful High Preist," and is from Hebrews 2:14-18.  We will look at a couple of phrases from that passage in particular.  First, we will look at verse 15 where we read that all people are held in slavery to their fear of death.  What does that mean?  Does it mean that we can't take our minds off death...

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   In Hebrews 2:18 we read, "Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted."  Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man.  We tend to forget that.  In Baptist circles, it seems to me, we emphasize the deity of Christ and aren't careful to expound on his humanity.  Yet he was fully human.  All the trials and temptations we face (and many more we don't) he faced.  Therefore, he can help us when we are tempted. I am called upon to do pastoral counseling on a regular basis.  It is...

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   John Piper answers a very relevant question from one of his church members about the nature and dangers of entertainment.  "I believe I do love Jesus, but most of the time I'd rather spend time being entertained than spend time in God's word.  How do I break this hold that entertainment has on my heart?"    That's a very good question. And I think it's especially relevant because we live, I think, more now than ever, in a day when entertaining kinds of things are immediately accessible.   I was thinking the other day of the difference between our temptations and,...

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   Jesus Christ said, "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it" (Luke 9:24).  I'm hard-pressed to think of a better summary of what Christianity looks like in practice. Here is C.S. Lewis' take on this idea: "The terrible thing [about Christianity], the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self – all your wishes and precautions – to Christ.  But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead.  For what we are trying to do is to remain what we call...

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   In Numbers 28, we read the following: The Lord said to Moses, 2 "Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: ‘See that you present to me at the appointed time the food for my offerings made by fire, as an aroma pleasing to me.' 3 Say to them: ‘This is the offering made by fire that you are to present to the Lord: two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day."  Numbers 28:1-3.  The sacrificial system of the Old Testament is, generally speaking, a huge mystery to most Christians.  But...

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   Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon "The Pleasantness of Religion," wrote this: "Self-denial will also be reckoned amongst the troubles of the godly [in other words, unbelieving people will argue that Christianity brings those who practice it no pleasure because we are called as Christians to deny ourselves of sinful activities, thoughts, and attitudes]. . . . But whoever has tried self-denial can give in his testimony that they never experience greater pleasure and joys than after great acts of self-denial. Self-denial destroys the very root and foundation of sorrow, and is nothing else but the lancing of a grievous...

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   I've told my children many times: "The only way I can really love you is to be certain that God loves me."  And I mean it sincerely every time.  I don't say that because I'm a pastor and pastors are supposed to inject God-talk into every situation.  I don't say it because I'm "spiritual."  I say it because it's true and it's this wretch's only hope. I know how sinful I am.  I know how tempted I am to view the glories and privilege of raising children and teaching them the Lord's commands as a burden rather than a...

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  From time to time I'll post things I read on other blogs, and this was too good to pass up.  Justin Taylor writes about a 2006 sermon by John Piper on Romans 15:18-24, asking the kids in Bethlehem Baptist Church's congregation if they--like Paul--have a "holy ambition": Do you have one? Probably not yet. You're only a child. That's what you're supposed to be. But some day you won't be a child any more. And one of the differences between being a child and growing up is that growing up as a Christian means you get a holy ambition. Most little...

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   Some of you may have been following the story of the former Roman Catholic priest Alberto Cutie.  He was a phenomenally popular and telegenic priest in the Miami area, who even hosted his own television show.    Many of his female parishioners called him "Father Cutie" (as in "he's a ‘cutie pie'") although his name (he is of Cuban descent) is actually pronounced "KOO-tee-ay."  Another moniker among the ladies was "Father-What-A-Waste," because this good looking man was off limits to the women in the area.   Roman Catholic priests have, for centuries, taken a vow of celibacy and are, officially, married...

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   Why are Christians told not to judge (Matthew 7:1)?  C.S. Lewis wrote that it's because "[w]e see only the results which a man's choices make out of his raw material.  But God does not judge him on the raw material at all, but on what he has done with it.    "Most of the man's psychological makeup is probably due to his body: when his body dies all that will fall off him, and the real central man, the thing that chose, that made the best or the worst out of this material, will stand naked.  All sorts of nice...

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   On my way to the gym the other morning, I was listening to the news on the radio.  At the top of the newscast the announcer, with bated breath, said something like this: "OK, are you ready?  Today is the big day.  We will know what we've all wanted to know before this day is out."  The news?  The Federal Reserve was that day releasing the results of its "stress test" on the nation's nineteen largest banks.  I'm not saying that this news would prove unimportant to our nation.  I am saying that we are inundated in this world...

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I read this on Ray Ortlund's blog (a pastor in Nashville) after being directed there by Justin Taylor's blog.  Whenever I post something I read on another blog, it will almost always be because I read it first on Taylor's excellent blog.  It's a good word on gossip.      There are many biblical passages confronting gossip. The witness of God against this sin is overwhelming.     What is gossip? It is not necessarily false information. Slander is false. Gossip might include true information, and maybe that's why      gossip doesn't always feel sinful. What makes it sin is, first and foremost, that...

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Hebrews 10:13-14 is one of those passages that grabs me each time I read it: "Since that time [the cross] he [meaning Jesus] waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."What I love about this passage are the different verb tenses and what they teach.  "By one sacrifice [Jesus] has made perfect..."  Past perfect tense - Jesus has completed, he has finished, the sacrifice for sins.  If we have been united with Christ through our repentance and faith, then in God's eyes we have...

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I've chosen to blog.  A good question to ask at this point is: "why?" (or even more appropriately "who cares?").    I've asked myself those questions.  I'm pretty certain I don't have any unique insights into anything.  Everything I'll write on this blog has been written better by someone else somewhere else.   The world does not need another blog on religion in general, or Christianity in particular. There are already plenty of blogs which can keep you up to date on the news, whether it involves politics, the economy, and world affairs.  But Mimi sent me this link several months ago: ...

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