Links & Quotes

link quoteSome cool reading I came across today.

“We simply can’t change ourselves. Only the Spirit of God can conform us to the glorious image of Christ.” —David Wilkerson

Oh, that today my clothes may be vestments, my meals sacraments, my house a temple, my table an alter, my speech incense, and myself a priest!” —Charles Spurgeon

I like this: 8 Things Healthy Couples Don’t Do.

“Sound biblical and theological learning is useful for building the church when it is delivered with patience and gentleness by a loving shepherd.” —T.M. Moore

Links & Quotes

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Some great reading from today.

“All of the advertising we can do will never equal the interest and participation in the things of God resulting from the gracious answers to the prayers of faith generated by the Holy Spirit.” —A.W. Tozer

“The state of the times extremely requires a fullness of the divine Spirit in ministers, and we ought to give ourselves no rest till we have obtained it. And in order to [do] this, I should think ministers, above all persons, ought to be much in secret prayer and fasting, and also much in praying and fasting one with another. It seems to me it would be becoming the circumstances of the present day, if ministers in a neighborhood would often meet together and spend days in fasting and fervent prayer among themselves, earnestly seeking for those extraordinary supplies of divine grace from heaven, that we need at this day.” —Jonathan Edwards

Why is the media not in an uproar over this?! Pakistani Girls Forced to Renounce Christianity And Marry Muslims

“There is a bond: He takes it and crosses it all out and hands it back to you, and says, ‘There is a full discharge, I have blotted it all out.’ So does the Lord deal with penitents. He has a book in which all your debts are written; but with the blood of Christ He crosses out the handwriting of ordinances which is there written against you. The bond is destroyed, and He will not demand payment for it again. The devil will sometimes insinuate to the contrary, as he did to Martin Luther. ‘Bring me the catalogue of my sins,’ said Luther; and he brought a scroll black and long. ‘Is that all?’ said Luther. ‘No,’ said the devil; and he brought yet another. ‘And now,’ said the heroic saint of God, ‘write at the foot of the scroll: “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin.”’ That is a full discharge.” —Charles Spurgeon

Funny, but instructional, from Ken Davis: Five Super Powers Of Effective Leaders!

Links & Quotes

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Some links to some interesting reading and quotes I found this weekend.

Eric Metaxas shares some interesting archeological finds: Make No Camel Bones About It.

“No man has any moral right to go before the people who has not first been long before the Lord. No man has any right to speak to men about God who has not first spoken to God about men. And the prophet of God should spend more time in the secret place praying than he spends in the public place preaching.” —A.W. Tozer

A couple of family men (not!): Sports radio hosts blast player for taking paternity leave. UPDATE: I was glad to see that one of these guys, Boomer Esiason, apologized for these remarks. Good job, Boomer!

Helpful post for parents: How To Notice Changes In Our Kids.

“How many have we in our churches of crab tree Christians, who have mixed such a vast amount of vinegar, and such a tremendous quantity of gall in their constitutions, that they can scarcely speak one good word to you; they imagine it impossible to defend religion except by passionate ebullitions; they cannot speak for their dishonored Master without being angry with their opponent; God if anything is away, whether it be in the house, the church, or anywhere else, they conceive it to be their duty to set their faces like a flint, and to defy everybody. They are like isolated icebergs; no one cares to go near them. They float about on the sea of forgetfulness, until at last they are melted and gone; and though, good souls, we shall be happy enough to meet them in heaven, we are heartily glad to get rid of them from the earth. They were always so unamiable in disposition, that we would rather live an eternity with them in heaven, than five minutes on earth. Be ye not thus, my brethren. Imitate Christ in your loving spirits; speak kindly, act kindly, and do kindly, that men may say of you, ‘He has been with Jesus.’” —Charles Spurgeon

Rush Limbaugh’s take on the resignation of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich.

“To be a Christian it is necessary that he serve his generation as well as his God.” —A.W. Tozer

“God’s presence is not the same as the feeling of God’s presence and He may be doing most for us when we think He is doing least.” —C.S. Lewis

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“Before the judgment seat of Christ my service will be judged not by how much I have done but by how much I could have done.” —A.W. Tozer

Medical science tells us what the nose knows.

Great advice on handling people who are mean: “But I mustn’t encourage you to go on thinking about her: that, after all, is almost the greatest evil nasty people can do us—to become an obsession, to haunt our minds. A brief prayer for them, and then away to other subjects, is the thing, if one can only stick to it.” —C.S. Lewis

“Some stumble because they do not see the stone in the way: divine grace enables us to perceive it and so to avoid it. … Oh, for grace to walk this day without a single stumble! It is not enough that we do not actually fall; our cry should be that we may not make the smallest slip with our feet but may at the last adore Him ‘Who is able to keep us from stumbling.’” —Charles Spurgeon

I like this: 4 Ways You Should Pray For Your Pastors.

The Ministry Of God’s Word (book review)

The Ministry Of God's Word

As a pastor I am frequently in awe that God would use me to share His Word with His people. At times it can feel almost overwhelming. Reading Watchman Nee’s teaching to pastors in The Ministry Of God’s Word I feel equal parts heaviness and encouragement.

The heaviness comes from the even deeper realization that Nee brings to pastors of their awesome responsibility before God to be the messengers of His Word. Nee makes it clear that if a pastor’s heart or mind is not as tuned in as possible, the message will be diminished in its delivery.

The encouragement comes from the realization of how much the Holy Spirit wants to help a preacher get his heart, mind, spirit, memory, and even vocabulary in a place that can be used greatly by God.

Pastors, this is not an easy-to-read book. Not because of the vocabulary, but because of the deepness of the subject matter. You will find yourself confronted at every page. But as you persevere through Nee’s challenging message, you will feel God’s Spirit moving to equip you for even great ministry of God’s Word.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t say thank you to my son Harrison for giving this book to me as a gift. Thank you, son!

Loving The Pastor’s Wife

A Pastor Can Love His WifeDave Bruskas has a wonderful post on the Resurgence website (please read the full article by clicking here) called 4 Ways A Pastor Can Love His Wife Well.

Here’s one of the best quotes—

“A pastor’s first flock is his home, and his favorite first flock member is his wife.”

Think of it this way: Marriage is a picture of the relationship Christ wants to have with the Church. So He is described as loving her unconditionally, giving everything up for her, making her His sole focus. So the way you can love your wife best is to love her like Jesus loves His bride.

So, my dear pastor:

  • Don’t expend all your energy on others so that you don’t have any energy left when you get home.
  • Don’t use your most creative forms of communication for your Sunday sermons, and give your wife your leftovers.
  • Don’t get all “talked out” with parishioners so that you’re too tired to talk when you get home.

Your ministry to your wife pleases God. Only when that relationship is working can God bless your other ministry efforts. 

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” —Abraham Lincoln

The “settled science” of the origin of the universe is far from settled: Einstein’s Lost Theory Uncovered

“Pastors must be students of God’s Word, continually reviewing and digging deeper into the Scriptures in order to discern what is right and true and essential for the equipping of the saints. The pastor’s study of the Word must be, first, for his own edification and enrichment. From there, he must consider the application of Scripture to the needs of his congregation and the temper of the times. The more we are furnished with the sure Word of God, the more we will grow to be like Jesus, and be equipped to help others in this same calling.” —T.M. Moore

“Jesus observed the law and fulfilled the law. He did not throw the law away, for the sake of love. For the sake of love, He threw Himself away. That’s another counterintuitive lesson He gave to us, as we all proceed together, slouching toward ‘tolerance’ and carrying our consciences along the way ” —Elizabeth Scalia. Read more of her post Jesus Might Bake The Cake, But Would He Perform The Nuptials?

Disgusting! Michigan’s ‘House Of Horrors’

“God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship.” —A.W. Tozer

The Work Of A Preacher

Rev. John Venn was a key member in the Clapham Sect, a group of devout Christian reformers in England, alongside William Wilberforce. These wise words should be well attended to by all pastors—

John Venn“Were the work of a preacher indeed confined to the delivery of a moral discourse, this would not be an arduous task. But a Minister of the Gospel has much more to do. He will endeavor, under Divine Grace, to bring every individual in his congregation to live no longer to himself, but unto Him who died for us. But here the passions, prejudices, and perhaps the temporal interests of men combine to oppose his success. It is not easy to obtain any influence over the mind of another; but to obtain such an influence as to direct it contrary to the natural current of its desires and passions, is a work of the highest difficulty. Yet such is the work of a Minister…. 

“We have to convey unpleasant tidings; to persuade to what is disagreeable; to effect not only a reformation in the conduct of men, and a regulation of their passions, but, what is of still higher difficulty, a change in their good opinion of themselves.  Nay, further we have not merely to ‘wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.’ ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ For this office the Christian Minister may in himself ‘have no resources above those of any of his congregation,’ their weaknesses are his weaknesses, he must therefore undertake his work in weakness, fear and much trembling, but knowing that it may yet be effectual, for it is in weakness that Christ’s strength is always made perfect.” —John Venn (1759-1813)

Amen!

A View To Pleasing God

I read an article this week 10 Bad Reasons To Be A Pastor. For the most part it was right on-target.

Even if we have the right reason (singular, not plural) for being a pastor—namely, that God called us—we can still battle discouragement over what is or isn’t happening in our ministry. I am convinced that much of this discouragement comes from listening to the wrong applause.

Chrysostom

John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom, a man very reluctant to answer God’s call on his life to enter the pastorate, wrote—

“Let, therefore, the man who undertakes the strain of teaching never give heed to the good opinion of the outside world, nor be dejected in soul on account of such persons; but laboring at his sermons so that he may please God, (For let this alone be his rule and determination, in discharging this best kind of workmanship, not acclamation, nor good opinions,) if, indeed, he be praised by men, let him not repudiate their applause, and when his hearers do not offer this, let him not seek it, let him not be grieved. For a sufficient consolation in his labors, and one greater than all, is when he is able to be conscious of arranging and ordering his teaching with a view to pleasing God. (emphasis added)

Our view must always be to pleasing God. It matters little whether humans hands applaud us or not. We must live, and preach, and discharge our pastoral duties solely for the applause of nail-scarred hands. If our Master says, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” what does it matter what anyone else says?

Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

Beat the flu: 10 Ways To Boost Your Immune System

[VIDEO] Better Google searches

For 20-somethings: 20 Things People Over 20 Should Stop Doing

“If Christians today want to find the right church, they must begin with prayer! No one is ever going to find God’s true Church by jumping on a bus, train or plane and racing around the world in search of it. We simply can’t get to His Church by any modern conveyance. The only reliable map is our secret closet of prayer!” —David Wilkerson

So President Obama, who has sworn to uphold the law of the land, won′t even uphold his own law?!? New Obamacare Delay

Truth: 10 Bad Reasons To Be A Pastor

“My greatest fear in life is standing before the Lord and hearing Him say, ‘I had so much more for you, but you held on too tightly.’” —Larry Burkett