New Lumps

Church Website

2009-07-06T14:59:00.002-06:00

I am very happy to announce that our new website is up and running. We had it professionally done, and we're glad we did. It's still a little rough around the edges, but that is no fault of the developer (we don't have a logo and the copy on some of the pages needs some fine-tuning).

My sermons will be hosted at the new site, so I've added a link to the site on my link box at the top of this page.

Check it out at www.edsonbaptist.com. I'd welcome any feedback on how we might improve things over there (or here, for that matter).

Playground Dedication: Sunnybrae Bible Camp

2009-07-03T14:06:00.009-06:00

Our family has been in Edson for almost twelve years and we are thankful to be here. However, we left part of our hearts at Sunnybrae Bible Camp near Salmon Arm, B.C.

To launch the camp year, the Interior Association of churches that supports the camp holds a Sunnybrae Celebration to launch the new season. This year - June 21st - was a special Sunnybrae Celebration for our family, even though we were not able to make it. Juanita's Mom and Dad were able to be there - more on that in a bit.

When Emily was killed, we asked that donations be made to the camp, as it was a very special place for her. She was planning to follow her brother as a counselor in training this summer.

We were amazed at the response of people. More money than we could have imagined came into the camp as people were affected by Emily's death and gave generously. We are very thankful.

Talking to the director, we agreed that the money would well spent building a new playground. Below are some pictures of that new playground - ready for the summer season.

Several years ago, a pastoral family in the area lost their young son. They established a memorial fund. They agreed to put the money from that fund into this playground project as well.

My father-in-law prayed a prayer of dedication for this new playground. He gave me permission to post it here.

We're very thankful for such a godly heritage - a living legacy - for us and our children in our parents.

Heavenly Father,

As we gather together today, we thank you for [the boy] and Emily Stauffer in whose memory this playground has been provided. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for drawing both [boy] and Emily into vibrant faith and love to Yourself. We thank You that because Your Son Jesus covered their sins with His own blood and Your Spirit drew them to faith, we have the assurance that they are with You in glory, rejoicing in Your presence.

We thank you for their parents, for [the boy's family] and Terry & Juanita Stauffer, who raised their children to know You and love You and serve You. We thank you for using [them] and Terry & Juanita to touch lives for You, and we pray that many more will be drawn to faith in Christ through their lives and ministry in coming days.

We thank You for this playground to which so many have contributed in memory of [him] and Emily. We pray that many children will enjoy this playground and be drawn to Christ through this camp. We ask You to bless every contributor for their generosity.

We thank You for Sunnybrae Bible Camp and for Jim and Wendy Neustaeter, our Camp Director. We thank You for the lives which have been touched here at Sunnybrae and ask You to draw many more to Yourself this summer.

And now, Lord, we dedicate this playground to You to be used for Your honour and glory.

In the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Forever

2009-06-29T09:18:00.002-06:00

I haven't been paying too much attention to all the media coverage of Michael Jackson's death, but I can't avoid it entirely. What a worldwide spectacle. We have some friends who are missionaries in Pakistan who were over for a visit a couple of weeks ago. We were talking about perceptions of American culture over there. They said that most people in their area wouldn't know who Oprah is, but they know about Michael Jackson.

I looked at a tribute gallery via Tim Challies blog a few minutes ago and I noticed that in the worldwide tributes, the word "forever" featured prominently (in English, all over the world).

I preached a message yesterday on 2 Samuel 7 - a key covenant passage in the Old Testament. The world forever features prominently in that passage, too. God promised David an everlasting kingdom. The heart of this promise is picked up in many places in the rest of the Bible - this was a very significant promise.

One connection that I saw (thanks to the index in Carson and Beale's most useful Commentary on The New Testament Use of the Old Testament) was in John 12:32-34. The people were puzzled by Jesus' statement that he would be "lifted up." They knew that meant death, but Messiah was to "remain forever." How could these facts be reconciled?

Fast forward to Apostolic preaching: The resurrection explains everything! Without Christ's bodily resurrection on the third day, not only the Apostles' witness and the faith of all Christians disintegrates (1 Corinthians 15), the Old Testament expectations and promises evaporate as well.

It is sad to see people put their hopes in flawed heroes and their fleeting fame. The gospel is the sure hope of God's people in the solid rock of Jesus Christ - His eternal nature as God the Son, His sinless life as the Ultimate Promise Keeper, His death for sinners on the cross and His glorious, life-giving resurrection - the promise of a future resurrection and a forever body for all who believe.

P.S. Due to a technical problem, the message from yesterday was not recorded. I uploaded another message from last Fall - it was November 16th, I believe. It on Philippians 3 and it may be found under General Messages through the link at the top of this blog, or find it here.

New Sermons Posted

2009-06-22T12:04:00.004-06:00

I've posted two sermons since my last post, they're available through the box on the top-right of this blog under 1&2 Samuel. They don't show up in chronological order, but I have started leading the title of the message with the date.

I'm doing a flying survey through these books, which means lots of reading for me and lots of material left on the cutting room floor every week. There are so many unanswered questions in this series, but that's okay. I'm not a great big picture guy, so this is a good discipline. One day, when I learn more about this book and biblical theology, I'd like to go back and preach these books again.

Preaching on 1&2 Samuel is good for me. It is humbling to see my own heart in these sin-sick characters. I hope the people of our church are benefitting from this series - I know I am.

June 7th Sermon

2009-06-09T12:37:00.003-06:00

David and Goliath. So, who do you identify with in this story?

A Worthy Celebration of Mom

2009-06-06T23:09:00.003-06:00

It was my Mom's 85th birthday on Thursday. We celebrated today with a family gathering and a meal at the church. Mom's two surviving siblings (out of 8) made the trip as well. They came quite a distance, which wasn't easy for them, but Mom was very happy to see them.

I am thankful for my Mom. It is not easy to grow older. We can see that with her loneliness and limitations in mobility. I am most thankful that she is continuing to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please Pray for the Barnes Family

2009-05-28T09:44:00.002-06:00

Elizabeth Barnes, 18 year-old daughter of Pastor Ron and Susan Barnes, died on May 17th while she was on a trip to France. The funeral will be on Sunday.

Although I don't know this family, I think I can safely say that our family can identify with what they are going through right now. Their church, Grand River Community Church, is a Fellowship Baptist Church in Elora, Ontario. I hope and trust that their church is taking care of them as well as our church took care of us. I do know that our Saviour is able to sustain them.

Feeding Sheep

2009-05-27T21:48:00.007-06:00

I've been constantly amazed by the depth of God's Word. I'm preaching a series on 1 & 2 Samuel on Sunday mornings and our Wednesday Bible study is working through Philippians. I am so blessed that I get to study, teach and preach God's Word as a significant part of my vocation. The best part is that if I keep to the text, my appreciation of this Word will continue to grow as long as God gives me strength.

I try not to focus on the negatives "out there" in the Evangelical world, but I am very aware of many starving sheep in other churches. Why can't pastors see that they need to simply preach the Word and - as Christians - preach Christ from all of Scripture?

As I was feasting on Philippians yesterday, I thought of reports from a few people I know about the lack of food at their churches. An illustration came to mind:

Preachers that are doing everything but preaching Christ from the Bible are like shepherds who lead their flock out to the middle of the desert to show them pretty rocks. "OOOH! Look at those pink crystals!" Meanwhile, the sheep are starving and dying of thirst.

Pastors, get down into the valley. Lead those poor sheep to the still waters and green pastures of the Good Shepherd. Proclaim Him, exalt Him, reveal Him from the pages of His Word.

In the eight months since Emily's death, the urgency of knowing and proclaiming Christ has grown in my life. To be honest, I'm sometimes disgusted with myself that this urgency hasn't grown more, but it is growing.

I don't know how people - professing Christians or not - can survive regular life, let alone trials, without seeing and savoring Jesus Christ (to steal a line from John Piper).

If you're reading this and you're a hungry sheep - or if you're not sure you're a sheep at all - a good place to go to test your appetite is a conference that has just wrapped up. The audio is now up. I haven't listened to the messages yet, but I know the speakers by reputation. I know you'll be encouraged and fed by these men. So, go check out the NEXT 2009 messages.

However, internet audio is no substitute for a local church, so make sure that you're in a church this coming Sunday (if at all possible) that preaches Christ faithfully from His Word. If you don't know where to find a church like this, then pray about it and do some serious digging until you find one! So sheep, or sheep to be (by God's grace), go find some food!

If you are a pastor reading this, remember that you're #1 responsibility is to feed the sheep under your care. Don't neglect this - it is truly a life and death priority.

May Long Weekend Snow

2009-05-18T10:00:00.004-06:00

Unfortunately, this isn't too rare where we live.

From Last night, courtesy of Josh:

And one from this morning in front of our house:

Failure

2009-05-17T21:55:00.004-06:00

Failure is our friend.

That's how I concluded the message on 1 Samuel 2-7 yesterday.

Sure, failure is awful - particularly in these chapters - but look at how Israel responded under Samuel's leadership in chapter 7. There are a lot of lessons there.

The sermon is up. The audio seems rather faint, so I hope it works for you.

The Uniqueness of Christianity

2009-05-09T15:08:00.004-06:00

I was asked to speak to the high school class at our local Christian school. The topic was the uniqueness of Christianity in a relativistic age. I only had 40 minutes, but here's what we covered. I know this paper (which I wrote after the class for the students) is woefully inadequate, but I only had about 40 minutes. I purposely limited myself to two pages, but I hope it gives an outline of worthwhile lines of defense for the Gospel.

Is Christianity the Only True Religion? YKCS Sr. Bible Class

What is the right response to the charge that Christianity is arrogant because it claims to be the only way and truth? I am going to present three lines of argumentation – each of them builds on the prior point:

A. Scripture

The Bible claims to be the only true revelation of God – particularly the only true revelation of the only Saviour, Jesus Christ. Critics respond to this by charging Christians with a circular argument: “You claim authority from a book, but then only turn to that book to substantiate your authority! That’s not fair!”

I would put the question back to the skeptic: “Upon what authority do you claim that all religions are the same or that Christianity is false for making absolute truth claims?” The skeptic has no authority but his own reason. Reason is his book, and it is circular argumentation for him to appeal to that book for a foundation for reason, truth or morality.

The Bible does not leave us without evidences, however:
- The Bible has stood the test of time and influence – not only in the West, but around the world.

- It was written by 40 authors over about 1500 years by a wide cross-section of people. It was not created by an individual or a small group in a short period of time as something new, but was built upon what was revealed beforehand (unlike Islam or Mormonism, for example).
- No book has been more examined, more researched and more trusted in human history. The manuscript evidence for the reliability of the New Testament alone is overwhelming.

- The internal coherence of the Bible is astonishing. The message of human sin and inability and divine intervention, the promise of God’s Deliverer, and the New Testament dependence upon the Old Testament are just a few examples.
- The history of the apostles and the early church underline the authenticity of their message: Who would die as a martyr for a man-made religion? Jesus’ resurrection – which validated his teaching and crucifixion – is the only reasonable explanation for the tremendous explosion of Christianity in the early days of the New Testament church.

What is the track record of purely relativistic humanism? What can it present as an alternative authority?

So, what does the Bible say about itself? Here are a couple of examples:

- But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14 -17 (ESV)

- And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. – 2 Peter 1:19-21 (ESV)

There are many other passages that talk about the nature and power of God’s Word (Psalm 19 and Isaiah 55:10-11, for example), but the two examples above teach us some fundamental truths:
- The Bible is God’s Word – not man’s word. This is very significant. Because God, the Creator, has spoken, we can trust His Word. Who could know more than Him?
- The Bible is not just for information, it is for transformation – it is able to make us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

That leads us to the most important part of the Christian truth claim: Jesus Christ Himself.

B. Jesus Christ

The Bible is full of testimony to man’s need of a Saviour and God’s promise of a deliverer. The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that Jesus Christ is the one who has come to reconcile man to God. Here are a couple examples of passages that point to Jesus as the Only Saviour for all people:

- Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father…. John 14:5-9 (ESV)

- This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. – Acts 4:11-12 (ESV)

There is logic to the claim that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone:
- How many gods are there? There is only one God – this is the basic confession of not only Christianity, but Judaism and Islam as well.
- God is one in essence, but three in persons. This is an exclusively Christian claim, but it is consistent with the Old Testament (Jewish) Scriptures.
- If God is one, and if Jesus Christ is the revelation of God in flesh (as He claimed), then how many Saviours can there be? There can only be one.

Jesus, then, is the only Saviour. That raises the question: Why do we need saving, and how does this salvation work?

C. The Gospel

The fundamental confusion that many Christians experience when challenged with the narrowness of the Christian truth claims boils down to a misreading of the Gospel. This is due to a loss of the truth of God’s holiness (which is abundantly clear in the Bible) and the doctrine of mans’ sinfulness and utter spiritual separation from God. It is beyond the scope of this brief paper to address these issues, but I challenge you to read through the first three chapters of the book of Romans if these are foreign concepts to you.

Essential to biblical Christianity is a right understanding of the Gospel. If Christianity is about what we do through our good works, the pursuit of morality and sincere worship (or religious rituals), then the charge that all religions are the same will stand against us. Christianity is just another human religion.

If, however, if Christianity makes a radically different claim, a unique claim, then the “all religions are the same” objection vanishes. What is it about Christianity that makes it unique, different than all other religions?

The truth of Christianity is summed up in the declaration of the Gospel – which simply means good news. “Be nice to one another, take care of the poor and the weak, don’t hurt each other,” etc. etc. is not news, it is advice. All major religions share this kind of message.

The Gospel declares, “Christ died for our sins … Christ rose from the dead on the third day … there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus … behold, I make all things new” (1 Corinthians 15:1-3; Romans 8:1; Revelation 21:5). This all centers upon the person and work of Jesus Christ – God the Son, the Son of God. In fact, it is God that enables us to repent, believe and receive this news. We are transformed by the Gospel by the supernatural work of God the Holy Spirit (see John 16:8 and context).

In short, Christianity is unique because it majors on what God has done, not upon what we must do to achieve God’s favour, personal enlightenment or “global harmony” or whatever. This is true for new Christians and it is true for those who have been Christians for decades. We are saved through faith in this good news of what God has done. The Gospel declares that to find peace with God and see the future transformation of this broken world, we must be passive recipients – we must receive God’s salvation as a gift.

This unique message is the foundation of Christianity, and it is the centre of God’s revealed truth. If we try to blend it with other religions, or bend it to the will of modern skeptics, it will be lost. The consequence of losing the Gospel is not merely the loss of a religion, but the loss of the voice and the salvation of God. This catastrophe of unbelief is nothing short of the road to Hell.

May God give us grace to “…contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3b).

Emily's Birthday

2009-05-08T21:43:00.003-06:00

Emily Joy was born on May 8, 1994. Today was another milestone for our family since her death in September, but it was a good day nonetheless.

We took off for Jasper to get away from the routine (particularly the phone) and spend some time as a family. It was rainy, but we went for a hike anyway. We poked around some shops, had supper at Earls, and then had ice cream at the Marble Slab in Hinton on the way home.

We're doing well, by God's grace. We think of Emily all the time, but we are so thankful for God's promises and His presence with us.

I was going to post a picture from Emily's birthday last year with this post, but it just didn't seem right, somehow. I was glad to review the pictures, but I think I'll hold on to them.

We still have people encouraging us by letting us know that they're praying for us, occasional cards and even little gifts. A few people from the church have checked in on us this week to make sure that we were okay leading up to Emily's birthday. This is all very humbling, and we are grateful for God's people.

Toronto Envy?

2009-05-07T18:33:00.002-06:00

There's not much that this Alberta boy would envy about Toronto, of all places, but here is an exception: The Toronto Pastor's Conference.

Here's the scoop:

Speakers: Mark Dever and Matt Schmucker of 9Marks Ministries
Date: June 1,2,3 2009
Cost: $115 -- Includes conference registration, books, several meals, and more.

Register online at torontopastors.org if you live a little closer to TO than I do!

Busy, busy, busy

2009-05-05T11:57:00.002-06:00

It's a disease of modern times, but it is also evidence of life - of God's continuing mercy and grace. When I visit the nursing home at our local hospital, I don't complain to the people there that I'm too busy!

Some of the family has been busy with music. Juanita accompanied several singers and the girls sang and played piano last week at our regional music festival. The girls have been invited back to sing at the Grand Concert in Hinton on Wednesday evening. That's cool, but it means another trip down the highway.

Josh and Juanita were at the last Bible quizz meet of the year over the weekend. The last one is held at a camp that's about two hours away. Josh's team did well again, and he had a great time.

On Sunday afternoon, right after Juanita and Josh arrived back from quizzing, we went to visit some family that was up from the States. My mom met a couple of here great-grandchildren for the first time. That alone was worth the trip (about 900 km total), but we had a good visit with everyone.

Between the two vehicles, I think we're on pace for over 2000 km in two weeks.

It seems that everyone is busy, and we are not unique in this regard, but it is hard to balance family, church and community activities and obligations in a way that is responsible and God-honouring.

I've been thinking a lot about what to post here - particularly as it relates to what God is teaching us in our loss of Emily. It's hard to sort out what's too personal, what's irrelevant, and what may be helpful as posts on this blog.

I think things may be slowing down around here for our family in a little while, so I hope to get back to more thoughtful posts soon.

Thank you to my few faithful readers who have been putting up with pretty slim pickin's here lately!

P.S. I started a new sermon series on 1&2 Samuel on Sunday. The link is on the top right corner of the blog.

The Secret to Soul Satisfaction

2009-05-01T11:04:00.002-06:00

One way to fulfilment ...

Joy is not a luxury ...

Is that from a John Piper sermon?

Nope. It is from a brief BMW ad that I saw on TV at the gym today. Between the two statements, they flashed a picture of a 3-series cabriolet.

That's just sad.

It did make me glad that God is working on my heart so that I saw the foolishness of that commercial. The one way to fulfilment and joy is not stuff.

This is a work in progress --my heart is drawn in all sorts of sinful directions -- but thanks be to God that this work is at least in progress!

News

2009-04-27T14:54:00.004-06:00

Great messages have been made available online this week. I already linked to the SGM Pastors Conference, but the Gospel Coalition Conference took place in Chicago last week. I watched live streams of a couple of the messages, but plan to listen to them all soon.

Due to a gracious offer this weekend, our church is on the verge of getting a website up and running. We've had a host and a domain for a while, but now it looks like we have the budget for professional developing.

Last, and least, my latest message (Hebrews 1:1-4 part 2) is up as well.

** Update - Links for my message, both in this post and in the widget, have been fixed.

SGM Pastors and Wives Conference Messages 2009

2009-04-22T21:38:00.000-06:00

... are up. Find them here.

Hebrews 1:1-4 Part 1

2009-04-22T11:36:00.002-06:00

I posted a new sermon yesterday. If you're interested, it can be found under General Sermons at the link on the top right of the page. Or, you can click here.

Sovereign Grace Conference Trip

2009-04-21T10:28:00.006-06:00

On April 6-8, Juanita and I had the opportunity to attend the SGM Pastors and Wives conference at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland (near Washington, D.C.). We decided to take a family vacation at the same time - as a homeschool family we couldn't miss the educational opportunities in the area and, besides, we like being with our kids.

We left for D.C. on March 31 and arrived home in the wee hours of Good Friday. The trip overall was great, but the conference was the highlight. It was refreshing to hear the preaching, participate in the worship and meet several people who were very encouraging.

There is much more that could be said about the conference, but I'll just encourage you to get the MP3s when they are available (soon, I hope). I'll link to them when they show up.

We're thankful that we had this opportunity and for the new friends that we made along the way.

We took lots of pictures, but here's a brief representation of where we went before the conference:

Williamsburg, VA. Highly recommended!

Jamestown, VA - We only took a quick tour here, but this community was established in 1607. The recreations were neat, but the ships were the best!

The National Gallery, Washington, D.C. I took lots of pictures here, but I'll just post two.

There were a couple of copyists working at the gallery. We talked with this fellow for a while.

A view of the main gallery from the modern art gallery. Notice the cherry blossoms - we hit D.C. for the Cherry Blossom Festival.

There is so much to see in D.C. and area. I don't know if or when we'll make it that way again, but we made some good memories this trip.

Psalm 62

2009-04-15T17:42:00.003-06:00

I've been negligent with posting my messages. Truth be told, my last two messages didn't get recorded. We were away on April 5th and Resurrection Sunday was a baptism - the recording got lost in the shuffle.

I have posted a message on Psalm 62 from November 9, 2008, my first Sunday back in the pulpit after Emily's death. I didn't have the heart to jump back in to Ephesians, so I did some other stuff for a few weeks.

I understand that a couple of reporters were present for that service. I didn't meet them. In terms of news, I'm sure they were disappointed, but I hope the seeds of the Gospel bear fruit.

I will be posting some reflections on our 9 days back East very soon. We hit the ground running when we got home!

C.J. Mahaney

2009-03-27T11:30:00.003-06:00

A post by C.J. Mahaney on his blog reminded me of the first time I ever heard him. It was a Nine Marks interview by Mark Dever from February 2003. Three things stood out from that interview: First, the subject of his blog post -- the great stress relief and humility builder that only God always gets His to-do list done. Secondly, his comments on recognizing evidences of grace in the local church, using the example of Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:4-9. And last, but not least, the emotion and gratitude that C.J. displayed in giving his incredible testimony.

I'll let you read what he says about to-do lists, but I will give a few words on the second subject, which is one that I happen to be preaching on this coming Sunday (and I decided that before I saw the blog post). On Sunday, I'm preaching my last message on Ephesians from 6:21-24 and the title is "The Art of Benediction." That discussion in the interview about celebrating God's work in His people convicted me and continues to do so. I tend to be weak on recognizing evidences of grace and showing appreciation. There is a message by C.J. on 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 here. I encourage you to download it and give it a listen.

After that Nine Marks interview, I did some more research on this joyful basketball fan and found a real treasure-trove of material. Juanita and I and our church family have benefited greatly from Sovereign Grace Ministries. We are very thankful for the sermons, the conference messages, music, and even the Sunday School Curriculum that our church uses from this group of churches.

We've seen many people read and benefit from C.J.'s book Living the Cross-Centered Life. We have a book table in our church and I don't know how many copies of that book have gone out. A few others have read Humility by C.J. as well. I read it on the way back from Together for the Gospel in 2006.

I'm aware that showing appreciation and telling others about people can devolve into hero worship, but it's hard to worship a man who so faithfully points to his sin, the cross and the need for humility in the face of God's astonishing grace.

Just Keep Reading, Preacher

2009-03-23T11:16:00.003-06:00

Last week I shared my concern that I was missing something in my preaching. In my mini-series on spiritual warfare from Ephesians 6:10-20, I felt that I was being too "safe" and that I needed to inject a more topical message before I wrapped things up.

Well, as I prepared a message on prayer last week, I was blown away but what the Apostle Paul really says about prayer in three short verses (just note the cross-references at the Bible Gateway link). From these verses, I found seven points:

1. Pray in the Spirit
2. Pray at All Times
3. Pray About Everything
4. Pray With Your Eyes Open
5. Pray for All the Saints
6. Pray for Gospel Preachers
7. Pray for Gospel Opportunities

The message is up on box.net (just click the link at the top right corner of this blog), but if you don't want to listen, let me explain a couple of the more obscure points above (my obscurity, not the text's).

4. Pray With Your Eyes Open might seem odd, but what I'm getting at here is spiritual alertness and perseverence in the face of temptation and opposition to prayer that will come. I was picking up on Paul's "eyes of the heart" allusion from Ephesians 1.

7. Pray for Gospel Opportunities is an admittedly loose interpretation of Paul's description of himself as an "ambassador in chains." Paul's confidence in God's sovereign providence made him conscious of the fact that the Gospel was not hindered by his chains. See Philippians 1:12-14 for more proof of this assertion. The application of this is that we can't blame God for our lack of Gospel witness. None of our "chains" can keep God from working in us.

I was really convicted by this message. When you carefully consider what Paul says in context, serious prayer is an urgent component of spiritual warfare. It expresses our dependence upon God. That is a very practical application of the metaphor of the full armour of God in the previous verses.

So, all this to say that I was particularly schooled by the text last week.

Preacher, when you think something's missing, just keep reading.

Practical Spiritual Warfare

2009-03-17T16:33:00.002-06:00

I've been preaching through Ephesians and I am almost at the end. Being an impatient sort of fellow, I've been itching to get on with a new series and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel on this one. What a strange thing it is for me to want to be done with Ephesians!

This coming Sunday (the 22nd), I was going to preach on Prayer and Perseverence as a wrap-up to 6:10-20, but after Sunday's message, I had a nagging thought that I really haven't done this passage justice. It is safe to generalize, and that is just what I've done. Maybe I should do one more week and get more pointed in the application of these crucial concepts of spiritual warfare.

During my first message, I made the point that spiritual warfare is a topic as big as the Bible. I can't get to everything, so I might as well move on.

On Monday morning, I listened to a podcast from the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation by Dr. Ed Welch on Shame. This message tweaked my conscience. Talk about a practical aspect of spiritual warfare! Since then, I've been thinking about extending my Ephesians series by one week and revisiting the key issues of guilt, shame, forgiveness and justification. There is both illegitimate and legitimate shame in Scripture, and it is a key battlefront where we need to apply the Gospel.

I like to outline my sermons ahead of time, but I do need to be flexible from time-to-time.

So, what's the purpose of this post? Call it confession. I have been more conscious lately about my "safe" preaching - at least it's pretty safe within the walls of my own church. I need to think and pray and visit with people and find out where the battle is really raging in my own congregation and in my own life. I must listen to where God's Word - even in passages that I've "handled" - speaks to these issues and be brave enough to preach boldly.

Plans

2009-03-16T21:12:00.002-06:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about a conference that we're planning to attend in early April. For several years, we've appreciated the ministry of Sovereign Grace Ministries, and now, Lord willing, we will be at their Pastors and Wives Conference. If you're not familiar with Sovereign Grace, they have a ton of resources on their website, including downloadable music (for a fee) and free MP3 messages (sermons, conferences, seminars etc.). Take some time to look around - your efforts will be richly rewarded!

We have tickets booked and we've notified some family that live out that way. We're looking forward to seeing them, too. Being a homeschool family, we're also hoping to have some enjoyable educational experiences in D.C. and places like Jamestown, VA.

As is to be expected, I've had a few invitations to speak at various places. I've said no to a couple of them due to scheduling issues, but I've also said I'd speak at two of them so far, both of them in Alberta. In some ways, it is hard to accept these invitations because I know why I'm being asked. I do want to be available to point people to Christ through the Gospel, however, so I'll consider these opportunities as they come up.

I think that part of the reason that I'm looking forward to the SGM Pastors and Wives is that Juanita and I can just sit and soak - recharge our batteries with great teaching and worship.

We continue to hear from people that are still praying for us. We appreciate that very much and are humbled by the kindness of God's people - family, friends and even people we don't know.

Our plans and our lives are in God's hands, and He is good.

P.S. Yesterday's message is up - just click on the sermons box on the top-right side of the blog, if you're interested.

A Cold Day in March

2009-03-10T21:06:00.002-06:00

It was -38 in Edson this morning. Edmonton International Airport recorded -42. That's a new record low. Since they've been recording, -29.4 was the lowest temperature on this date.

If your a Fahrenheit person, remember that -40 C and -40 F are the same.

That's cold no matter how you slice it.

Things are looking up, though. Tomorrow morning is only supposed to be -27 C.