The care group that I am currently involved with at my local church is focusing in on the subject of prayer. Many of us are reading Paul Miller's "A Praying Life". We are meeting together to learn about prayer and pray. I read something from Miller this week that I would like to share with you.

"Let's imagine that you see a prayer therapist to get your prayer life straightened out. The therapist says, "Let's begin by looking at your relationship with your heavenly Father. God said, "I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me' (2 Corinthians 6:18). What does it mean that you are a son or daughter of God?"

You reply that it means you have complete access to your heavenly Father through Jesus. You have true intimacy, based not on how good you are but on the goodness of Jesus. Not only that, Jesus is your brother. You are a fellow heir with him.

The therapist smiles and says, "That is right. You've done a wonderful job of describing the doctrine of Sonship. Now tell me what it is like for you to be with your Father? What is it like to talk with him?"

You cautiously tell the therapist how difficult it is to be in your Father's presence, even for a couple of minutes. Your mind wanders. You aren't sure what to say. You wonder, Does prayer make any difference? Is God even there? Then you feel guilty for your doubts and just give up.

You therapist tells you what you already suspect. "Your relationship with your heavenly Father is dysfunctional. You talk as if you have an intimate relationship, but you don't. Theoretically, it is close. Practically, it is distant. You need help."

From: A Praying Life

May God help us to bridge the gap between the theoretical and the practical.

Labels: Paul Miller, Prayer

Posted by Jonathan at Thursday, July 02, 2009 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

The panel is up from the Advance 09 conference. John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Ed Stetzer and others discuss Piper's decision to not have a TV, church planting, what missonal churches are, multi-site campuses etc.

Labels: Advance09, Panel Discussion

Posted by Jonathan at Thursday, July 02, 2009 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

The Gospel Coalition has done us a great service by uploading literally thousands of theological courses from both Reformed Theological Seminary and Covenant Theological Seminary. You can view all of the courses by title, subject, teacher or school. This is a phenomenal resource. You can check it all out below.

Currently, I am listening to John Frame's classes on the Doctrine of the Knowledge of God.

The Gospel Coalition Seminary Course Inventory

Labels: Seminary, The Gospel Coalition

Posted by Jonathan at Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I was blessed by this prayer today and wanted to share it with you.

O LORD,

May I never fail to come to the knowledge of the truth,
never rest in a system of doctrine, however scriptural, that does not bring or further salvation,
or teach me to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts,
or help me to live soberly, righteously, godly;
never rely on my own convictions and resolutions,
but be strong in thee and in thy might;
never cease to find thy grace sufficient
in all my duties, trials, and conflicts;
never forget to repair to thee
in all my spiritual distresses and outward troubles,
in all the dissatisfactions experienced in creature comforts;
never fail to retreat to him who is full of grace and truth,
the friend that loveth at all times,
who is touched with feelings of my infirmities,
and can do exceeding abundantly for me;
never confine my religion to extraordinary occasions,
but acknowledge thee in all my ways;
never limit my devotions to particular seasons
but be in thy fear all the day long;
never be godly on on the sabbath
or in thy house, but on every day abroad
and at home;
never make piety a dress but a habit,
not only a habit but a nature,
not only a nature but a life.
Do god to me by all thy dispensations,
by all means of grace,
by worship, prayers, praises,
And at last let me enter that world where is no temple,
but only thy glory
and the Lamb’s.

From: The Valley of Vision, p.64

Labels: The Valley of Vision

Posted by Jonathan at Friday, June 26, 2009 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

This week I came across a piece The Washington Post did last year on the Resurrection. Not the first place I would turn to study the resurrection, but in this case the discussion is quite useful and revealing. The WP asked several scholars to respond to this question:

Do you have to believe the resurrection is literally true -- that Jesus came back to life in his body -- to be a Christian?

The scholarly panel, among others, included: NT Wright, Chuck Colson, Cal Thomas, Albert Mohler, Deepak Chopra, and Kathleen Flake who is the Associate Professor of Religious History at Vanderbilt University. You can read all of their responses HERE.

As a follow-up, Albert Mohler aptly handles the same question on his radio show.

“Must One Believe in the Resurrection to be a Christian?” – The Albert Mohler Program

Labels: Albert Mohler, Cal Thomas, Cuck Colson, Deepak Chopra, Kathleen Flake, NT Wright, Resurrection, Vanderbilt University

Posted by Jonathan at Friday, June 19, 2009 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Tim Keller has developed a sermon evaluation form that is used by Mars Hill Church and Acts 29. I found it to be very helpful. If you are a pastor mentoring younger guys, you may want to use this as a resource. If you are a young preacher, you may want to prepare your messages in light of this. There is an online version of this form available on the internet. It can be filled out and sent over e-mail. The link is provided below.

The sermon evaluation form has been prepared to assess faithfulness to Scripture and God. The questions are related to the preacher’s theological accuracy.

Sermon Evaluation Form

1. The preaching assertions (points) were clearly rooted in the text and squared with the whole teaching of scripture. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

2. The central theme was an illustration of Christ – the message was clearly all about Jesus. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

3. The speaker seemed in awe of God, not merely focused upon his sermon and the audience. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

4. The speaker avoided moralizing or psychologizing, and distinguished these from the gospel. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

5. The goal was to get people face-to-face with God, rather than merely instruct. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

6. Christ and His finished work were applied as the practical solution to any problem. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

Message Delivery and Communication. These questions are related to the preacher’s communication abilities and connection with the intended audience.

7. It was clear where the preacher was driving – and the progression of points was traceable. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

8. The points were presented in a fresh, wise, and striking way as opposed to boring & cliché. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

9. At the end of the preaching, the main point was both clear and persuasive. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

10. It was clear the speaker understood the hearers’ hopes, fears, problems, concerns, etc. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

11. The central metaphor or “hook” was gripping. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

12. Jesus was made visible, not just taught about. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

13. There was a balance of warmth, love and humility on the one hand and force, power and authority on the other. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree)

14. The notes followed the message and enhanced comprehension. (1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Not Sure 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree or N/A)

ONLINE FORM HERE

(HT: DashHouse)

Labels: Acts29, Mars Hill Church, Sermon, Sermon Evaluation, Sermon Review, Tim Keller

Posted by Jonathan at Wednesday, June 17, 2009 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Labels: John Bunyan, Prayer, Prayer in the Holy Spirit

Posted by Jonathan at Monday, June 15, 2009 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

What should you do when you experience radical fluctuation of emotions? Answer? Keep going. Keep doing what you know is right. One minute you're quite sanguine, the next, melancholy. One minute you're hungry for God, the next, cold and seemingly lifeless.

Have you ever been driving and the road in front of you suddenly changes? For example, the paved road is fraught with a large pot hole. You grab the wheel and try to pull it together. The result can be quite alarming.

No doubt you have experienced times when you felt like the ground you were walking on had been cut from under you. You know, that early morning quiet time that was so enjoyable and consistent, now filled with every distraction imaginable. In fact, not only distraction, but just a lack of desire altogether. Where did this come from? It seemed so sudden. You went to bed in good spirits, hungry for God, only to wake up with no thirst or desire for God.

Thankfully, not all ups and downs are that drastic. Sometimes the road is more accurately likened to running into a little congestion on the highway, or maybe one lane is closed for construction. Regardless, the analogy fits - the spiritual life isn’t always ’smooth sailing’. If you are not careful, however, you may be prone to more discouragement when this happens.

It was helpful, quite encouraging I would add, for me to read the telling selection from David Brainerd's "Life and Diary" this week. Good men and women go through this. Observe the following words, especially the transition highlighted with a change of color:

"Tuesday, April 27. I retired pretty early for secret devotions; and in prayer God was pleased to pour such ineffable comforts into my soul that I could do nothing for some time but say over and over, "O my sweet Saviour! O my sweet Saviour! who have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon the earth I desire besides Thee." If I had had a thousand lives my soul would gladly have laid them all down at once to have been with Christ. My soul never enjoyed so much of heaven before. It was the most refined and most spiritual season of communion with God I ever yet felt. I never felt so great a degree of resignation in my life.

In the afternoon I withdrew to meet with my God; but found myself much declined, and God made it a humbling season to my soul. I mourned over the body of death that is in me. It grieved me exceedingly that I could not pray to and praise God with my heart full of divine heavenly love as in the morning; but had a sweet season of fervent intercession."

Note: Brainerd did have a "sweet season of fervent intercession" nonetheless. I guess that should tell us, among other things, that there is some sweet in the midst of bitter. Nevertheless, persevere! Do the right thing.

We must always remember Hebrews 11:6,

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."

Labels: David Brainerd, Spiritual Depression, The Life and Diary of David Brainerd

Posted by Jonathan at Friday, June 12, 2009 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

The last remaining survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, died in a care home in England on Sunday, May 31. She was 97.

Elizabeth Gladys Dean, known to friends as Millvina, was only nine weeks old when the liner hit an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean on the night of April 14, 1912, and sank killing 1,500 people.

She survived after being bundled up in a sack and carried to safety. Her mother Georgette Eva and brother Bertram also made it, but her father, Bertram Frank, was among those who died.

The best of things don't last. The Titanic was one of them. Hailed as an engineering feat. What was prized and embodied by the rich and famous, sunk. What was considered to be the last great remnant and sole survivor, dead. It's over. Life is fragile. Life is short. Live well.

Labels: Millvina Dean, Titanic

Posted by Jonathan at Thursday, June 11, 2009 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Video Camera: The iPhone now has a video camera, 30fps VGA with audio. With this new video feature, you can create and edit videos in your hand and upload them to blogs or websitrs or send them over email or text to friends. In addition to this, you can push it right to YouTube instantly.

Voice Control: By holding down the home button, you can now give voice commands to your phone. You can tell your phone to play specific songs or playlists, or open applications to dial phone numbers by name or number.

Digital Compass: The compass application is a new app that shows you your magnetic location. By double tapping the compass the application will integrate with Google maps to show you which direction you are facing.

Maps: The Google maps service is now able to be embedded into any of your applications. All Google map features are now available to your iPhone.

TomTom: TomTom is pleased to bring the best navigation and maps to the iPhone. The apploication will be released to the iPhone App store later this summer. As an optional extra you can purchase dock connecting device so that the GPS can be used safely in the car. The GPS comes with loud and clear turn by turn directions.

Cut, Copy and Paste: Finally, the iPhone has a cut, copy and paste feature. In addition, there is a new undo feature that will allow you to undo your last action by shaking the device.

Landscape: The original landscape feature has now been programmed to work with all applications.

Push Notifications: This allows developers and users to custom many of their features, like texting alerts and work related integration. Now, doctors are able to use push notification with "Airstrip" to track patients vitals even if they are out of the hospital altogether. They can read and receive the latest reports and even monitor a patients waveform data.

Messaging: New with the iPhone 3GS is MMS. You can now send and receive photos, contacts, videos and really any multimedia message with one simple text.

Search: Search your calendar, notes, texts and emails. In addition to this, the apple iPhone now has "spotlight" integrated into the 3GS.

iTunes: rent and purchase movies straight from your phone. If you are at an airport and you want a movie for the flight, get it right there in the airport.

Parental Controls: controlling access to safari, YouTube, etc. Now there is control for movies, tv shows and applications from the app store. Now your child can be limited to age appropriate material.

Tethering: Don't feel like paying for an internet card from your wireless provider? Tired of trying to find wireless hot spots that are free? With the 3GS you can now share your iPhone internet connection with your computer. It works via usb connection or wireless with bluetooth.

Safari: Some great improvements have been made to safari. Web pages now load and render twice as fast. In addition, http streaming audio and video is rendered according to connection speed so that media plays continually without break.

Languages: With the push of a single button users can switch languages. Hebrew and Greek are supported along with Thai and Arabic.

Find my iPhone: This is a service available to MobileMe customers on the new iPhone. If you lose or misplace your phone, you can login to MobileMe on any web browser and it will show you on the map where your phone is. You can send a message to the phone with your contact information and immediately work to retrieve it. If your phone is really stolen, you can send a remote wipe command and erase all your sensitive information. If you should get it back, sync it with you iTunes and restore all your information later.

Improved Battery Life: The battery now can sustain up to 9 hours of internet WiFi, 10 hours of video playback, 30 hours of audio, 12 hours of 2G talk and 5 hours of 3G talk.

Summary: The new 3GS is a major advancement to the iPhone.

Price: $199, 16GB, $299 32GB editions respectively. They come in either black or white.

Note: The previous iPhone 3G is now only $99 for the 8GB edition.

The phone is available worldwide, June 17th.

Labels: iPhone, iPhone3GS, Technology

Posted by Jonathan at Wednesday, June 10, 2009 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post