Romans Study

This evening I begin a weekend study of Romans at Poplar Heights Baptist Church here in Jackson. We will meet three hours tonight (6pm-9pm), three hours Saturday morning (9am-noon) and then I will preach from Romans in the morning and evening services Sunday. I previously posted some thoughts on the historical impact of Romans.

In looking back over things today I have read a good bit of Stephen Westerholm’s, Understanding Paul,: The Early Christian Worldview of the Letter to the Romans. This little book is a really good overview of Pauline theology following Romans. In 168 pages he can’t turn over every stone but this is a great resource for capturing the big picture of the letter.

Owen on Heb 13:17

I am once more teaching my class on pastoral ministry. Early on we examine Hebrews 13:17 because I am convinced that the oversight of souls, as mentioned in this verse, is the heart of pastoral ministry. I also have the students read John Owen’s commentary on this verse and I commend it to you. All seven pages are worthwhile. Here is one key quote from Owen’s commentary:

“And the apostle compriseth herein the whole duty of the pastoral office … ‘The work and design of these rulers [pastors] is solely to take care of your souls,- by all means to preserve them from evil, sin, backsliding; to instruct them and feed them; to promote their faith and obedience; that they may be led safely to eternal rest. For this end is their office appointed and herein do they labour continually.”

Whirlwind of a Week

It has now been a week since the tornado came by our house and went on to hit Union University so severely. Most readers of this blog have probably already seen the coverage. If you are looking for information or are wanting to keep up the three key sites are:
Union’s homepage- http://www.uu.edu/
The Official Recovery site- http://www.uurecovery.com/
Tim Ellsworth’s Blog- http://www.timellsworth.com/

Also Brian Denker recently took some great photos of the damage and he has a link to more photos. Here is one from Brian of the dorm room where my wife lived when we first met until we married 16 years ago this last week.

I personally have received many, many emails, calls from friends from many places expressing concern and prayers. The outpouring of support has been amazing and I have been very proud of the response of our students as they have been interviewed by various media outlets. I have already heard from various people about how the care of the community and the testimony of students has impacted lost family members, opening conversations with some who were previously closed to any discussion of the gospel. God is most certainly at work. He is advancing His kingdom and working things together for the God of His people.

The doctrine of providence is especially important and helpful in times like this. It does not answer all our questions, but it gives us a basis for perseverance. We are not governed by chance. We are not at the mercy of the whims of uncontrolled events. All things are in God’s hands, and, therefore, there is hope and meaning.

Disasters in life are more common than people typically want to admit- really only we in the developed West have the convenience of being susceptible to thinking otherwise. In this tornado we did not meet an anomaly. Rather we saw a stark reminder of the reality of a fallen world. We must not say, “This was unusual. The rest of life will roll along just fine.” That is sometimes the answer of pop psychology, and it is hollow. Rather the scriptures would teach us to say, “This is the sort of thing that happens in a fallen world.” It is a reminder that all things are not yet as they should be. It is a reminder that we are fallen and in need of redemption. It should cause us to long for the day when all things will be made right, when the curse is removed. It should cause us to read with more empathetic appreciation Paul’s words in Romans 16:20- “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Christian hope is not the flimsy idea that suffering will not usually come, but is the sturdy recognition of the inevitability of suffering in this life (2 Tim 3:12) coupled with the knowledge that God will eventually destroy evil and make all things right. It is this truth which has always inspired the saints (1 Cor 15:58; 1 Thess 4:13-18; 2 Tim 1;12).

Our God Reigns!

Memoirs of An Ordinary Pastor by D. A. Carson

Memoirs of An Ordinary Pastor by D. A. Carson


This is probably the forthcoming book about which I am most excited. I deeply appreciate the ministry of Dr. Carson as I have studied in his classes, read his books and listened to his sermons. Some who have not heard him in person may not realize his heart for the ordinary pastor. This was a common theme I heard from him, particularly in his Advanced Greek Exegesis class. This may seem to have been an odd setting, but I think he was seeking to keep our feet on the ground lest we get too caught up in what we thought we knew.

Along the way I remember him referring to the labors of his father, his faithfulness in obscurity and suffering. Not too long ago, Dr. Carson gave a moving tribute to his father as an example of faithful, unknown pastors everywhere in the Forum section of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. (I have been unable to find this on the website. If someone has the link please send it along)

So, I am excited about now having a book length treatment of this subject from Dr. Carson. I have been able to read some of the book and have really appreciated it. This is sorely needed in our day of Christian celebrity worship. I encourage you to pick up a copy of this book when it comes out. May it inspire us (as Carson suggests in his preface) not to seek to be the next well known hero of the faith, but simply to be faithful. If God be pleased nothing else will matter.

Back from Nepal

I am back from Nepal and right into the flurry of the beginning of term with a backlog of things to post about.

Special thanks to those who prayed for me and this trip. It was a great trip and so much could be said about it. Various things cannot be commented on for security reasons and a basic overview was provided on the trip ‘plog’ at the website of Eagle Projects International, who organized the trip.

I had the opportunity to teach verse-by-verse through 2 Timothy, Titus, and Romans (which was interrupted by our need to leave early the last day) as well as a few other topics. I hope it was beneficial to the pastors, students and other leaders. After commenting on false teachers in Titus, one of the leaders told me this was an increasing problem in their area as more Jehovah’s Witness and Mormons come in from other countries. In the next session I took some more time to discuss dealing with false teachers pointing especially to Paul’s comments in 2 Timothy that Timothy knew from whom he had learned his doctrine (3:14). It is always important for people to receive teaching from trusted sources and when something ‘new’ comes along to search the scriptures themselves and look to their pastors (whose life and ministry they have seen and verified) for discerning help.

I was impacted in numerous ways by my time with these brothers and sisters. It is always encouraging to me to see the body of Christ in other cultures- a visible reminder that God is indeed at work in every tribe and language. These people have little, suffer much, but have real power- power persevering in trials, being joyful with little, evidences of lives radically transformed, and evangelistic passion pushing back the kingdom of darkness. It was a privilege to ask them their stories and hear them- with no melodrama whatsoever- tell of how the gospel came to their family or village, how they were persecuted for believing and how grateful they are to have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Christ. I was humbled by watching these brothers and sisters.

There is much more to tell. In the coming days I will hope to do so.

(The two photos at the top are from one morning watching the sun rise over the Himalayas. It was spectacular)

Mission Trip to Nepal

I leave in the morning for a mission trip to Nepal. I’ll be gone for about 10 days, and since I am not likely to have internet access I don’t expect to be posting.
I along with some others will be providing biblical and theological instruction for about 60 local pastors. These men will be travelling to our city from outlying areas. I am told that a number of them will travel for two weeks by foot and bus to get there. Many of these men have been imprisoned for their faith. They do not have much access to training, so they are eager. I expect, however, that I will learn even more from them- men who have labored in overseeing the flock and preaching the gospel in spite of persecution. Hopefully I can benefit them as I glean from their faithfulness.
You can read more about the trip here. This site will also provide updated information on the trip as often as possible. Click on “plogs” on the left side and then choose “2008 Nepal.”

Romans, January Bible study

My brief article on studying Romans which I previously mentioned was published in this week’s edition of the TN Baptist state paper.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year.

I have been away for some time, but have several things waiting to post.
Let me start this year with a quote about the heart of ministry. My good friend Ron Sloan, who runs Refiner’s Fire bookshop in Louisville, gave me an old book on pastoral ministry over Christmas. The book is titled Ad Clerum: Advices to Young Preachers, and it is by Joseph Parker. The book does not contain any introductory matter, but it appears to be a collection of advice from different sources. The first chapter is excellent. This quote is one to keep before us:

“…I deeply feel that without a spirit of reverent and contrite humiliation before God, and a constancy of loving and trustful desire towards the Saviour, no man is fit to have part or lot in the Christian ministry; when, therefore, I avail myself of satire or raillery, it will relate to the weakness or eccentricity of human usages, and never to the vital and solemn realities of the Divine vocation. Our place, as aspirants to the highest ministry, is at the Cross, where alone the oppression of our unworthiness is relieved by the completeness of Jesus Christ’s grace and truth. All this must be assumed; if we are wrong here, we shall be wrong everywhere; - the gift of prophecy and tongues, and the understanding of all mysteries, will be only temptations and snares, and our ministry will be as a plague in the church.” (1-2)

The book has been reprinted and is available at Amazon.com (an excerpt of chapter one can also be viewed from this Amazon listing).

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Oxford Press Holiday Sale

Each year I look forward to the annual holiday sale from Oxford University Press. They regularly have exceptional deals on prominent books. This year the sale is even better because they teamed up with Amazon. See the sale homepage here.
There are not many things in their bible/theology section that I like. They are good for broader reading, which brings back a point I have mentioned before: Pastors need to read broadly.
Some of the categories I particularly like from Oxford are: American history, world history and reference works. Happy reading.

Work, Worldview and Maturity

I am quite behind in items I intend to write about here, but the rush of finals and a cracked screen on my laptop are conspiring against me. :)

I am almost half way through listening to the audio version of How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life , by Peter Robinson, and it is surprisingly good. Whatever you think about Reagan (I like him), this book is compelling and worthwhile for several reasons. First, the author is honest enough to state that as he came to the White House (getting his first real job by fluke as he says) in his early 20’s he was looking for an older man to serve as a role model. We all need such role models, though sometimes people do not want to admit it. The account of this young man trying to define his life, looking for an embodied example of a ‘good life’ reminds me that there are people all around asking this same question. The author did not tell Reagan he had begun watching him as an example. He just watched, thought and discussed with others. Who is watching us without our knowing? What sort of example are we providing? As pastors we should expect to serve as examples to the church (1 Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:7; my previous post mentioned the sore lack of good examples).

The life lessons mentioned in the book so far are really good ones, typically rooted in a Christian worldview. The discussion about working hard and persevering were particularly good. It made me think this would be a good book to give to young men in keeping with the “Month of Man” address I mentioned previously. Robinson discusses the value of work and how we were made for meaningful work (drawing from his conversations with a theologian friend). This idea is so important and contrasts clearly with the spirit of the age which was illustrated in an email I recently received. The email encouraged me to sign up for a certain service which would make me money. It promised to “help you make the income you want without the stress of a job.” Get all you want without the bother of a job! Work is not only a means to an economic end. It is a worthwhile end in itself.
We need to teach once more the biblical idea of work, and it is encouraging to find this concept in a book like this one.

Importance of Example

Here is a sad comment from a student. He was discussing his call to ministry and wrote:

“when I felt God calling me to ministry I was truly ignorant about how to live the life, because I can’t say that anybody truly set a good example for me growing up.”

This is far too common. We need for the church to be the church and for pastors to lead well with teaching and example (1 Tim 4:16). This is also a reminder of why we need not just good examples out there somewhere but faithful churches and faithful pastors in every place. May God give us grace to provide examples to the young men coming behind us.

Studying Romans

Each year in the SBC a certain book of the Bible is chosen to be the focus of the “January Bible Study.” Churches are not required to do this, but it does provide a good way to encourage careful study of various books. This year the study focuses on Romans, and this Saturday I will meet with a group of pastors to study through the book in preparation for them teaching their churches.

I have written a brief article on “The Opportunity of Studying Romans” to encourage pastors and others undertaking this study. Romans has had such a significant impact on the church historically and this brief article traces some of this in the stories of Augustine, Luther and Wesley. Gordon Fee has written, “This letter is arguably the most influential book in Christian history, perhaps in the history of Western civilization.”

May the Lord be pleased to bless these studies going on around the country to the good of His church.

Sermon on Rom 8:18-30

I meant to post this last week but failed to in the midst of other things. Last Sunday Lee Tankersley, one of our pastors currently on sabbatical, was back with us and preached on Romans 8:18-30 in our ongoing series through Romans. Here you can read the text and find a link to the audio. It was an excellent sermon on a variety of levels. It is a good example or preaching pastorally. Sermons ought to expound a biblical text and be rooted in sound exegesis. However, exegesis is the engine and not the destination of the sermon. Some times in reaction against shallow preaching, people tend to think bare exegesis is the goal. Bare exegesis is better than nothing of course, but the goal is to explain what a text means so that people can follow and then to apply that well to a specific congregation. This sermon is a good example of this.