Asbury Seedbed

Asbury Theological Seminary (my alma mater) has just introduced a new resource called Seedbed. Check out this initial post which are two videos, one from J.D. Walt and the other from President Timothy Tennent.

I'm really looking forward to the future of Seedbed.

The Preacher's Danger

C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism

I am thinking of unfortunate scholars in foreign universities who cannot 'hold down their jobs' unless they repeatedly publish articles each of which must say, or seem to say, something new about some literary work; or of overworked reviewers, getting through novel after novel as quickly as they can, like a schoolboy doing his 'prep'. For such people reading often becomes mere work. The text before them comes to exist not in its own right but simply as raw material; clay out of which they can complete their tale of bricks.

This is what Bible reading has become for many of us and it is a soul killer. What does it profit a preacher to mine a bunch of alliterated sermon ideas yet forfeit the Word of life waiting for us if we would only linger?

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, before our candlelight service, I’m listening to the BBC broadcast A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. It's stuff like this that really makes me want to be an Anglican.

From the Bidding Prayer:

And because this of all things would rejoice his heart, let us at this time remember in his name the poor and the helpless, the cold, the hungry and the oppressed; the sick in body and in mind and them that mourn; the lonely and the unloved; the aged and the little children; all who know not the Lord Jesus, or who love him not, or who by sin have grieved his heart of love.

Lastly let us remember before God all those who rejoice with us, but upon another shore and in a greater light, that multitude which no man can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and with whom, in this Lord Jesus, we for evermore are one.

Service Sheet here
Via

Merry Christmas!

How Efficient is Your Bible Reading?

Hopefully, it's inefficient. Alastair is one of the smartest people I've never met and has played an important role in my Bible reading in the last few years by turning me onto some pretty amazing Bible teachers (even if they're Calvinists).

His post reminds me of a line from Alan Jacobs' book The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction:

If most of us read too fast, most of us also read too many books and are unwisely reluctant to return to something we think we already know.

Sermon and Preaching Links

Here are some links I've gathered over the last few months about preaching and sermon preparation/development. If you have any others feel free to leave a comment so I can add them to my pinboard.

I'll Pray for You

The title of this post is probably one of the biggest lies told in the church. You're talking with someone who is in the middle of a rough season. She mentions that her grandson is having surgery on Wednesday. You say, "I'll pray for him." Wednesday comes and goes, you see this woman in the grocery store on Friday and think, "Oh no! I said I'd pray and I didn't! Jesus, please let this prayer for her grandson be retroactive. Amen!"

If you're wondering how I was able to take a peek into your past and see accurately it's because I've done it, too. I've had that sinking feeling of knowing I promised to pray but forgot to. I've even developed a habit of not even offering to pray in the future because I know I won't remember to pray even if I write it down.

Until now. Pastoral care, meet iOS 5.

I'm a shameless Apple shill. No doubt. I like things that have a low frustration factor and I can count my frustrating Apple moments on one hand.

But this isn't really about Apple. It's about how easy it is to set a reminder to pray for someone using iOS 5 with Reminders. There's probably always been some workaround to this, but I find Reminders incredibly easy. For instance, I promised to pray for some folks Saturday morning when I'll be out of town. In the past, I'd have a 98% chance of forgetting. This time, however, I set a Reminder for Saturday morning at 10AM.



Boom! Now I know I'll remember to pray.

It Is Finished

For real.

O Death, Death, He is come.
O grounds of Hell make room.
Who came from further than the stars
Now comes as low beneath.
Thy ribbèd ports, O Death
Make wide; and Thou, O Lord of Sin,
Lay open thine estates
Lift up your heads, O Gates;
Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors
The King of Glory will come in.

- Gerard Manley Hopkins

There's lots, lots more in his catalog. Lots.

It's 100 Degrees Outside

For a number of reasons I have neglected to write as often as I set out to when I restarted this blog. Mostly because, doggoneit, ministry has been hectic. Here’s three links while I try to polish up some things I’ve been writing and haven’t edited yet.

• The world lost a major voice in the proclamation of the Gospel yesterday. May we humbly and boldly pick up John Stott’s mantle.


• J.D. Walt on why spiritual disciplines often miss the point.


• My friend, Lenny Luchetti, has a book coming out next year on preaching. I can’t wait to read it and benefit from it’s wisdom.

For Future Reference

The Gospel Coalition is running a 5-part series on depression in the ministry. The first two are available and I'm going to link them here as well as the next three when they come out.

This is a very real issue and many times we pastors do not seek out the kind of confiding, accountable relationships that would be of great benefit to us for one reason or another. I'm convinced that many pastors slide into depression because we internalize so much and do not share it with anyone for one reason or another.

Part 1 by Paul Tripp (who looks like the older, Christian version of Ron Swanson)

Part 2 by Garrett Higbee

Part 3 by Steve Viars

An Intro to My Great Struggle in Nouwen's Prologue

Moving from teaching university students to living with mentally handicapped people was, for me at least, a step toward the platform where the father embraces his kneeling son. It is the place where I so much want to be, but am so fearful of being. It is the place where I will receive all I desire, all that I ever hoped for, all that I will ever need, but it is also the place where I have to let go of all I most want to hold on to. It is the place that confronts me with the fact that truly accepting love, forgiveness, and healing is often much harder than giving it. It is the place beyond earning, deserving, and rewarding. It is the place of surrender and complete trust.

Henri Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son (p. 13)

This guy knows. He knows the utter absurdity of trying - trying to control everything including how we approach God and what we receive from him.

It doesn't stop us from trying, though.