Theology Program FREE on iTunes

Thanks to Justin Taylor for posting this:

Michael Patton now has the entire curriculum of The Theology Program for free on iTunes as well as all the electives.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Introduction to Theology with C. Michael Patton and Rhome Dyck
Bibliology and Hermeneutics with C. Michael Patton and Rhome Dyck
Trinitarianism with C. Michael Patton and Rhome Dyck
Humanity and Sin with C. Michael Patton and Rhome Dyck
Soteriology with C. Michael Patton and Rhome Dyck
Ecclesiology and Eschatology with C. Michael Patton and Rhome Dyck

Here is a list of the electives:

Introduction to Apologetics with Robert Bowman
Apologetic Methods with Robert Bowman
Christian Philosophy with Paul Copan

Be sure to subscribe to these on iTunes as we will be updating them with new courses soon. Also, here are the COMING ELECTIVES:

Church History through the Reformation with Sam Storms
The General Epistles and Revelation with Mark Hitchcock
Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons with Robert Bowman

I can hardly believe that resources of this kind of value would be available for your mp3/4 player - and free no less! Thanks to Michael Patton and all those wholabored to make this resource available.

Introduction to My New Book

This book is the result of several thoughts coming together. I had been thinking about the shallowness of many American Christians, as well as the impetus for Christian living and the call to Christianity. I had the feeling that these things were related, and it all came together as I walked through the Christian bookstore. There it was, a whole shelf full of “Christian” best-sellers. Bleached white grins and expensive haircuts offered me the chance to let Jesus improve my life drastically. Perhaps by accident someone had left Foxe’s Book of Martyrs right in the middle of the display. It was certainly a drastic contrast, the irony of which caused me laugh out loud. A few people glanced over, then looked down again, oblivious to the spiritual lesson that was staring them in the face. How would it look if I changed the name of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs to Your Best Life Now Book of Martyrs? Consider this: the only apostle not murdered for his faith was John, and even he was harshly imprisoned on Patmos. What might these men think of the faith peddled in our bookstores?

In business courses, future CEOs and executives are taught valuable lessons about cost versus value. The cost of a product or service is how much a company pays to produce it. The value is how much the customer thinks that product or service is worth. Think for a moment how much value the apostles must have placed upon their faith! They were willing to suffer and die for it. Paul explains some of his hardships in his second letter to the Corinthians. “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” But the hardships and martyrdom were not reserved for the apostles alone. Paul expects the Romans to rejoice in suffering , commends the Thessalonians for enduring in suffering, tells Timothy to share in suffering and expects him to endure it. James exhorts his readers to be joyful through their trials and encourages them to copy the prophets in enduring suffering. Peter expects his readers to suffer, and calls their trials “necessary”. He expects sorrow, suffering, and endurance for his readers, and tells them that this is the common experience for all believers throughout the world. Prior to his conversion, Paul himself persecuted, imprisoned, and killed believers. This was the normal Christian experience in the first century A.D. Imagine, then, just how much a person would have to value Christianity to convert in those circumstances. Clearly, the value of Christianity was inestimable to the early church.

But value is a perception, not a cost. The truth is, however, that the apostles actually saw the cost. They saw the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These men had walked with Jesus, listened to Him teach, and worshipped Him. And they had watched beaten, mocked, and hung on a tree. They had seen him gasping for breath, tattered ribbons of yellow fat dangling from the lacerations in his side and back. They had seen the crown of thorns and the piercing nails, and the bloody water that gushed from Christ’s abdomen. And they had seen Him alive again, and caught up into heaven. To the apostles, they were not over-valuing Christianity. They were not even able to grasp the depth of cost. So when it came time to pay their own cost – as their possessions were stolen, their children were taken, and their lives went up in the smoke of burning stakes – these believers suffered it with all joy. Their cost was only a shadow of Christ’s cost, and the reward was inestimable. The truth is, the gospel demanded something very great from the early church. It demanded a life of service and dedication to The Way; a life where death was imminent and suffering unavoidable. This Way demanded one’s whole life.

But today we offer a faith that costs nothing. We offer a faith that rarely talks about the gruesome spectacle of redemption or the suffering that Christ endured. We never talk about Christ demanding anything of believers, and we only mention suffering if it is part of a (usually melodramatically glamorous) missions presentation. There is no cost. And for most people casually donning this leisure-suit Christianity, there are no demands. We are told to say a prayer and then we’ll go to heaven. There is no cost. Should it surprise us, then if we do not value our faith? We try the Christianity thing like the latest summer fashion. But when it starts to storm, we quickly change into something else, or cover ourselves with a trench coat of self-help psychology. Is our easy faith normal? Or is it a recent and short-lived aberration from the historical norm? It is even real?

These are the questions that drive this book. These are the questions that will shape our faith and practice. We will look at this life, and what God has to say about our faith and future. We will look at regeneration, and what a new life means for living out Christianity. We will look at the true cost of following Christ, and the demands that the gospel places on us. We will examine the rewards God has promised us, as we glimpse something of the future glory that awaits us. And as we answer these questions we will begin to see with awe the glory of the richness of God’s grace.

Copyright, © 2008 by John R. Thacker Jr.
Houston, TX
All Rights Reserved

Profile: Harvie Conn

Every Christian needs to hear the basic truths of our Reformed faith - especially the gospel - frequently. But if true gospel obedience is to occur, we will need at some point to apply our understanding of Scripture to our lives. In the study of theology this is expressed through synthetic thinking and theologizing. It is just such theology that seperates the great theologians from the mediocre. Men like Bavink, Van Til, Frame, and Poythress have continued to grow Christianity through excellent theology. A less well known theologian, perhaps, that deserves mention with the above crowd is Harvie Conn. Harvie Conn was born in Canada in 1933, and obtained his American citizenship in 1957. Conn earned his Th.M. from Westminster in 1958, and was awarded a D.Litt.from Geneva College in 1976. The most interesting thing about Conn, however, is his mission: he began by starting a church-planting mission in New Jersey, before packing off to Korea, where he started what might be known today as an "inner-city" mission. There, working with prostitutes and pimps, Conn not only served the Kingdom, but also began to think seriously about missions and missiology. Conn returned to the states and taught at Westminster from 1972-1998. In 1999, cancer took Harvie Conn home to the Lord.

Harvie Conn was a truly deep thinker, whose impact on missions and missiology is almost incalculable. He first brought the city as a target for evangelism into the forefront of evangelicalism. He forged the disciplines of inner-city outreach and missiology. Harvey Conn was no arm-chair theologian: he worked his theology out regularly.

His publications are vast and should be read by every pastor, missionary, or evangelist. His most influential work is probably Eternal Word In A Changing World: Theology, Anthropology, and Missions in Trialogue (New Jersey: P&R; 1984). Read it!

Other works include the following:

Evangelism: Doing Justice and Preaching Grace (New Jersey: P&R; 1982)

Urban Ministry: The Kingdom, the City, & the People of God (co-authored by Manny Ortiz) (Illinois: IVP; 2001)

Contemporary World Theology: A Layman’s Guide (New Jersey: P&R; 1974)

Studies In The Theology Of The Korean Presbyterian Church (Westminster Seminary Bookstore)

The American City And The Evangelical Church: A Historical Overview (Michigan: Baker Books; 1994)

Articles:

“Luke’s Theology of Prayer.” Christianity Today, December 22, 1972: pp. 6-8.

“God’s Urban Surprises.” Urban Mission 14:4, June 1997: pp. 3-6.

“Refugees, the City, and Missions.” Urban Mission 15:2, December 1997: pp. 3-6.

“Blaming the Victim?” Urban Mission 15:4, June 1998: pp. 3-6.

“Looking at Some of Africa’s Urban Challenges.” Urban Mission 16:2, December 1998: pp. 3-6.

“Training the Layman for Witness,” Training for Missions, edited by Paul G. Schrotenboer. (Grand Rapids: Reformed Ecumenical Synod, 1977), 74-103.

“Contextualization: Where Do We Begin?” Evangelicals and Liberation, edited by Carl E. Amerding. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1977) 90-119.

“Contextualization: A New Dimension for Cross-Cultural Hermeneutic,” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 14 (January 1978): 39-46.

“Theologies of Liberation,” Tensions in Contemporary Theology. 3rd Rev. Ed., Stanley Gundry and Alan Johnson, eds. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), 327-434.

“Review of ‘Black Theology: A Documentary History, 1966-1979′,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 25 (June 1982): 238-40.

“The Gospel and Culture,” Gospel in Context 1 (January 1978): 19-21.

Ethics and Worldview

In preperation for my sermon on Nov. 23, I have been meditating on ethics and worldview. My sermon text is Psalm 24, and it is an awesome pronouncement of worldview. I think these kinds of passages informed Paul when he penned his ethics, such as 1 Thessalonians 2:12. The fascinating thing is that the worldview statements of Psalm 24 and other OT passages are not primarily concerned with ethics. They are primarily concerned with God's glory. I think this is interesting because many Christians spend significant energy and time explicating a man-centered (anthropocentric) ethical system, when it seems in fact that the primary purpose of Scripture is to instill in us a proper valuation of God's worth and glory. The ethics seem to be a natural response to really "getting" this worldview. Patterson, Geisler, and even Mohler to an extent seem to expend all their energy on how we should live, when the Bible seems to put the disproportionate emphasis on who God is and what He is worth. This perspective also demonstrates why co-opting secular "common ground" on ethical issues is a fallacy. The ethics are not an end in themsleves. They are an expression of submission to an all-powerful God-as-Judge. What are your thoughts?

Issues, Etc.

How do we walk out our theology? This is the driving question behind my pursuit of God's will for my life. The truth is, our understanding of different issues reveals what we truly believe about them. I like the analogy of an Alaskan guide who tells his hiking group that there is a very real threat of being eaten by bears on their trip. What would we think if this guide did not carry a firearm? He either does not really believe in the possibility of death by bear or he does not believe death by bear to be an experience to avoid. The fact that he chooses not to carry a gun shows us that bear maulings are not really an issue to him.

I suppose the first Tuesday in November every fourth year is one of the greatest revealers of our personal theology. What is important to you? What do you worship? How will you vote? The truth is, for evangelical Christians, God will hold us accountable for how we exercise stewardship of our voting perogative. What issues will guide how your ballot is cast? The media in America has already cast thier ballot: not for any candidate per se, but for issues. The media is consumed with issues like the economy, war, and the environment. But what of issues like homosexuality, abortion, and criminal justice? Paul wrote that the governing authorities do not "bear the sword in vain", but are given by God to hinder evil and prosper righteousness. Ironically, even the most hardcore atheist views government as creating and enforcing ethics - rules for what is right and wrong.

The question for believers becomes the following: do the ethics proposed by any given candidate line up with the ethics of the Bible? Consider the following two issues: abortion and homosexual marriage.

There are many people and political candidates who believe that abortion is morally acceptable. Abortion is not morally acceptable. It is murder. "Thou shalt not kill" does not exclude tearing a helpless child limb from limb or sucking its brains out with a catheter. After using forceps to pull a first-trimester infant to pieces, the abortion doctor routinely reassemble the pieces to make sure all of the child was removed. We wouldn't want a stray arm to rot inside the mother. This is worse than gross murder. It is a rebellion against God. Has this issue taken a back seat to the gods of economy or safety? In Isaiah 1 God tells Judah, "When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood."

Consider homosexuality. It was for homosexuality that God rained fire on Sodom and Gamorrah. Later, in the New Testament, Paul would remind us that "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor. 6:9-10)
God has clearly condemned this practice as sin. And yet, for some, homosexual marriage is non-discrimination and ultimately good! These people, however, are in the vast minority. Notice the following quote from Dr. Mohler's blog:

Same-sex marriage is, for now, legal in three of fifty states in the United States. Beyond our borders, it is legal in the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, South Africa, Canada and Norway. This represents a very small percentage of the world's population. Same-sex marriage is, by any measure, the exception rather than the rule. Even when legalized civil unions and domestic partnerships are thrown into the mix, the countries that consider same-sex unions and heterosexual marriages to be equal before the law represent a small percentage of the world's nations.

While this demonstrates how unnatural homosexuality is, it does not determine our perception of the issues. God has damned homosexuality. As Christians, will we agree with the Bible, or make up our own religion?

I am afraid that many professing Christians have ignored the clear commands and ethics in the Bible, and have re-created God in their own image. In our lustful, selfish idolatry we have chosen to put issues like finacial stability ahead of issues like murder by abortion or perverted sexuality. I urge us all to have our minds renewed by the power of the Word of God. Jesus asked God to make us holy through the truth - "Your word is truth". Have a right perspective this November.

Worship Matters Notes and Thoughts Ch 1-5

Here are my notes from chapters 1-5. Note on my notes: I didn't really get into the book until later chapters, so these are kind of random notes that may not be that important to the the real purpose of the book.

Chapter 2.
P. 22 on idols. Thought: Wanting life to be something other than what it is can also be a form of idolatry. This is certainly a subtle one because God has built us to desire more, more of him, more in our relationships, and in many other ways. But, what we have now is from God. We don't deserve better; we deserve worse. The good we receive is by the grace and mercy of God. Especially when we don't know by comparison what we deserve, we can make a different desired life an idol.

P. 25. I agree that we cannot earn God's approval and that it is offered as a gift through the gospel. Yet, in Christ, we have the opportunity to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. There are many verses that exhort us to live our lives in a manner pleasing to the Lord, such as in Paul's prayer for the Collosians (1:10) that he prays "that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

P. 26. My notes say: "Death and the cross are all around me: family, work, myself." I don't konw I had this thought from his list of questions about what are God is. I wrote this on vacation; maybe I was having a hard time that day :).

Chapter 3.
My favorite part from this chapter was the quote from Spurgeon: "He woul will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own." Two other thoughts about this.
1. Mark Dever said at the weekender that he makes it a point when he has a issue or question come up in pastoring or in sermon preparation that he answers the question first himself before he goes to to read the commentaries so that he can engage in the conversation. In other words, if he doesn't come up with his own answer first, when he reads others or talks to others, he has nothing upon which to engage it with.
2. This quote strongly rebukes me from where I have been for much of my Christian life. I was worried about being tainted with the thoughts of others, and I would read only the bible so that I wouldn't be prejudiced with the thoughts of other men. I now see this as proud. How much better it would have been for me to take the Mark Dever approach and Spurgeon approach and learning from others.

Chapter 4.
This is my favorite meat for the first five chapters. I like his analogy of the picture frame and the summary phrase from Piper, "undistracting excellence." Skill that aids people in being able to focus more on God and receive from Him is a goal worthy of discipline and hard work. I am especially needy in this area as I have been on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, believing preparation to be a hindrance to being spiritual. I repent.

And yet, we need to beware of making our preparation an idol as well. We are first to obey God, and if he wants to use us in a weak and pitiful, or unprepared spontaneous way, then let us do it cheerfully with no or few thoughts of how we look or that we are being a bad frame.

Chapter 5.
I thought this was an especially weak chapter, like maybe he needed more material and just threw this in. For example, he doesn't really give us any meat in the love section. How do we grow in love? He asks the question and then just answers it with two verses.

Thankfully, it gets better. Good book! I'm glad were reading it.

Roy Huddle

Next Meeting and Book Discussion

Brothers,

I hope that you've had a chance to look at Worship Matters, by Kauflin. I've enjoyed reading so far and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts as well. Here's the info for our next meeting and the time in between:

Reading: Our first reading assignment will be Chapters 1-5 in Worship Matters. I know that some of you have already read past that, but that will be our focus for discussion. I will try to post thoughts on these chapters this week and I'd love for you to do the same. At our next meeting (see below) we can discuss these chapters in person.

Next Meeting: In keeping with our every other week plan, we will try to meet on Monday, October 20th at the same time (6:30am) and place (Chick-fil-a on Westheimer and Kirkwood). If this meeting time does not work out for most everyone, let me know and we'll find something more convenient.

Interview: Don't forget about our interview with Tommy Dahn, pastor of Providence Baptist Church, on Sunday, October 26th at 7:00pm. As the date grows closer, we can discuss logistics. Incidentally, I will be testing out our interview equipment this Sunday with Erin V. and Clay C. as I try to get in on their perspectives from the recent Desiring God and Ligonier Conferences. You are welcome to join us!

Let me know if you have any questions.


Blessings!



Travis

Internship News: First Interview and Sermon/Service Review

I'm sorry that Hurricane Ike has postponed our getting moving on the internship program. I trust that you all are getting back to normal. I want to mention two important things to you regarding the internship.

First, Tommy Dahn, who pastors Providence Baptist Church in Pasadena has agreed to sit down with us for an interview sometime in the month of October. I need to get a confirmation from you guys as to when the best day would be. I know that not everyone will be able to attend, and so we will be recording this, Lord willing! Tommy is unavailable from Oct.16th through the 26th. And he is only open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. This will have to take place in the evening as everyone will be working during the day.

So, I'd like to put out a date and get your feedback. How does Friday October 11th sound? I'm not sure on the time yet, but I'm guessing around 7:00pm. The interview should be about an hour.

Second, I'd also like to schedule a time for us to get together for a sermon/service review as well as to hear a report on our brother's trip to Washington DC (Joe and Roy). So, if you are available, let's try to meet together on Monday morning, October 6th (next Monday) at this Chick-fil-A on Westheimer and Kirkwood (2606 S Kirkwood Rd, Houston, TX 77077)...at 6:45 am. Also, I hope to pass our Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin to you as well.

So, I need two things from you: first a yay or nay on our interview date and second, a head count for our first sermon service review.

Thanks!

Total Church

A valuable addition to any ecclesiological library, this book articulates a view of "doing church" that flies in the face of the Mega McChurch movement. From the front matter:

Two pastors outline and apply a pair of overarching biblical principles that call the current body of Christ to a deep restructuring of its life and mission.

“Church is not a meeting you attend or a place you enter,” write pastors Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. “It’s an identity that is ours in Christ. An identity that shapes the whole of life so that life and mission become ‘total church.’” With that as their premise, they emphasize two overarching principles to govern the practice of church and mission: being gospel-centered and being community-centered. When these principles take precedence, say the authors, the truth of the Word is upheld, the mission of the gospel is carried out, and the priority of relationships is practiced in radical ways. The church becomes not just another commitment to juggle but a 24/7 lifestyle where programs, big events, and teaching from one person take a backseat to sharing lives, reaching out, and learning about God together.

In Total Church, Chester and Timmis first outline the biblical case for making gospel and community central and then apply this dual focus to evangelism, social involvement, church planting, world missions, discipleship, pastoral care, spirituality, theology, apologetics, youth and children’s work. As this insightful book calls the body of Christ to rethink its perspective and practice of church, it charts a middle path between the emerging church movement and conservative evangelicalism that all believers will find helpful.

About the Authors

TIM CHESTER and STEVE TIMMIS are cofounders of the Crowded House, a church-planting initiative in Sheffield, UK, and codirectors of the Porterbrook Network, which trains and mentors church planters. Chester has 15 years’ experience in church planting, and Timmis previously directed Radstock Ministries, a mission agency facilitating the involvement of the local church in world mission. This is their third book together.

Total Church is available here.

Countdown to the ESV Study Bible...

Expositional Preaching and Sermon Preparation

Hello brothers,

 

            Here are my rough, incomplete notes and a few thoughts from Mark Dever on sermon preparation.

 

Expositional preaching overview

 

·         They encourage expositional preaching, which they define as: “the point of the passage is the point of the message.”  The hope is that the people “hear God’s word” for what it really says.  It exposes God’s word to his people.  Different from teaching.  With teaching such as when he is a professor doing a lesson, he can stop anywhere and pick up at the next class, but with preaching there is a moral ought.  There is weight to it and has to come out. (no interruptions until it is all out).

·         Note: they have interns compare two sermons on the same texts from well respected, expositional preachers as an exercise to see how one passage can be handled differently, yet faithfully, and still state the same basic message from the word (depending on whether there is only one main idea in that passage; if there is more than one, then it is possible that they would preach different messages.

·         Historically, expositional preaching has been central to the gathering of God’s people from OT times (Moses), New Testament times (Peter in Acts 2), and the early church (he gave a number of examples of early church fathers preaching expositionally.  Consecutive chapters through a book of the bible type expositional preaching was common among early church fathers, for which he gave examples.

·         It is powerful when the people of the church, the members, are living out the written word, because then what is being preached from the written word is being lived out by the people.  Very powerful witness to the world.

·         Length of passage to cover in a sermon: typically one story if preaching from the OT and a paragraph when preaching from a NT epistle.  However, can also do overview sermons of whole books, whole testaments, or going the other direction, can do sermons on one word.  He said that the overview sermons are the hardest to do.  He did overview sermons on the major prophets and he looks back at those studies as being foundational and very important for his own soul.

·         He wants the congregation to know the books of the bible, and know them well enough that they know where to go in it for godly living/problem solving, etc.

·         Topical sermons are okay if they are not the steady diet to the church.  He has done topical sermons on prayer, the atonement, etc.

·         He aims at preaching “singles,” rather than trying to his homeruns.

 

His Preparation Method

 

·         Timing: he does his sermon preparation on Friday and Saturday.  He doesn’t recommend that others follow that example, but he does it that way because he is much more focused, efficient.  Also, he carries it with him the whole time that he is preparing, so if he starts earlier, it distracts him from whatever else he is supposed to be doing in the other time.  By the time Sunday morning comes, the message is going to come out one way or another, i.e. he has to preach it to someone (to God alone, I guess, if necessary).

·         Outlines the book, chapter, passage (this would have been done earlier because they give their sermon schedule 4 months in advance or a year in advance.

·         Exegesis: he begins with exegesis. (I have in my notes here Stott, Lloyd Jones, Ambrose, MacArthur (sp?), as examples of preachers who do exegetical, expositional preaching – there is a longer list later.)

·         Homiletics: he makes a homiletical outline. Don’t inform, preach.  Don’t let systematic theology kill expositional preaching.

·         Gospel: always put a clear presentation of the gospel into the sermon.  Why?  You can’t take the chance that there is a visitor in the present who will never have a chance to hear the gospel again.  This week he is preaching Genesis 1:1 to 2:3.  There is not a verse in this text that clearly gives him an opportunity to preach the gospel of God, man, Christ, response, so he is just adding it at the end of the sermon.  The gospel is also the accurate hermeneutical key to understanding all of scripture, so that is another reason to always include it.

·         Note: something about meda narrative comparison.

·         Manuscript: he uses one, but tries to be careful to not have a wooden sermon.  He uses one because he doesn’t want to miss things (the difference between lightning and lightning bug is small in speech, but huge in meaning. – Twain).  He notes that Augustine did not use a manuscript, but he was an expert teacher (having taught many years as a professor) and he would preach based partly on how the congregation was receiving the word preached.

·         He is exhausted after preaching a sermon, and will soon go to sleep.  He takes Monday’s off.

 

Structure.

 

·         How to begin.  Mildly interesting (Lloyd Jones).  Front load some of the application.

·         Body.

·         Conclusion.

·         Application.  Truth must be applied; it is not just for our mind.  Good application is very difficult.  He said that the puritans were good at it.  John Piper is good because he meditates a lot on the scriptures (and has a different style because of it).  CCEF is also very good at application.  It is an art.  He is predictable in his application.  He has a chart to use to brainstorm application points, and then uses a few of them.

·         Illustrations.  Do use them, but he doesn’t prefer to use to many, or trite ones, or comical illustrations.  On being funny, he does use some humor, but he doesn’t want it to detract from the seriousness of what is being preached.  He wants people to receive the word with seriousness, trembling, but with great joy in God for his marvelous mercy.  Laughing in a sermon will lighten the whole tone of the sermon.

·         Note on personal illustrations: he avoids them because he is a very large personality and he doesn’t want to build a fan club.  There are going to be many in the congregation who already think too well of you just by being the senior pastor.  If not so big a personality, then okay to use personal illustrations.

·         He takes about 5 minutes to preach through a page.

·         Richard Baxter. (don’t know what that reference it to there).

·         Helpful notations: he underlines the first word of each sentence in red.

 

Who Shaped his Preaching the Most (he said more than this, but this is what I got down)

·         Ed Hanegar – teacher/preacher he was under in England I believe.

·         Lloyd Jones

·         John Stott – urbana 1980.

·         Roy Clemons – pastor in England.

·         Reading puritans.

 

Preachers he likes now

·         John Piper

·         Dick Luens (sp?)

·         L. Duncan – presbyterian brother he mentions often.

·         CJ Mahaney

·         Michael Lawrence – associate pastor at CHBC.

·         Andy Davis.

·         Al Martin – it is good for his soul, but understands depending on your background, that some people don’t do well with his style.

 

May the Truth of God set us and his people free through the preaching and living of his word!

 

Roy Huddle

 

 

Imitation

I get thoughts on miscellaneous topics at times, so I would like to be able to post them and if you see anything that you think is worth working on or developing, whether for further writing, speaking, or teaching, then please encourage me.  If not, just encourage me about something else please!  Nice try, now sit down Charlie (from a conference I went to once).

 

Idea –

 

            We are told to imitate God as beloved Children, to imitate Christ, and to imitate Paul to the extent that he is following Christ.  Yet, we are most often told to be ourselves.  What can we imitate from others without denying who God has made us to be?  What room is there to put on something that we are not.  Consider that we are exhorted to be many things, such as “Be strong.”  We are told to put on love.  Yet we are also told to be sincere, let your love be genuine, etc.

 

Will hopefully return to later.

 

Cheers!

 

Roy Huddle

 

 

Service Review Thought

Travis and Billy,

 

            I made one comment to Mark Dever in the Service planning section of the Weekender that I wanted to pass on.  Mark was saying how he likes to start the services with the Word of God, reading scripture.  I had previously thought about how it is awkward how we do it because people are talking to each other (which I know is good) and the word of God is starting to be read while people are still talking, ending conversations, and finding their seats.  At CHBC, they start singing a little bit before the service starts, which provides a context for quiet at the end of the last song so that the Word of God can be spoken with people attentive ready to listen.  That sounds good to me, or, we could simply ask people to find their seats and then when everything is quiet, then start with reading the scripture.  Or another thing you could do is ask people to stand for the beginning of the morning’s proclamation of God’s word.    

 

Thank you for your labors for the Lord and us, his people.

 

Many blessings!

 

Roy Huddle

 

Weekender Plus - Part 2

Continuation -

Random Thoughts

• Church planters are wimps (per Mark Dever bc we should be going to revitalize existing churches; they love wimps though as stated when a brother in Katy introduced himself as a wimp church planter).
• About 70% of the church is in small groups, BUT Dever said that he prefers one one one discipleship because it is more flexible and I believe he said fruitful. I may try to ask him about this. Their church does small groups for: men, women, young married couples (or recent), evangelism groups, and by location (mixed groups).
• They have 13 elders currently for over 600 real-members, more non-staff than staff because of salary setting. I asked what they think is optimal number of elders. Differing views. Two people, including Dever, said have as many as we can. Matt Schmucker said he thinks that there can be too many as it makes it more cumbersome to get things done in meetings. Every elder has to agree to bring on new elder. That is a high standard and eventually would probably start limiting the number of elders that were added, unless specific leadership was done to prevent this. They did say that it was very important when having a larger group of elders to have someone who can run the meetings well (a "chairman", I guess). A good chairman is one who allows discussion, but doesn't let it go too long. They have a very good chairman now, whereas others who have tried have been too rules oriented (not enough discussion) and others not enough order.
• They try to pray through their membership list at elder meetings every year.
• Mark Dever says the next most important book after his bible is his membership directory. Be praying for members every week.
• I like the way that they taught the Members classes (parts 1-3). Mark covered the statement of faith in order of what Christian churches agree on, then what Evangelical churches agree on, and then added the congregational and baptist distinctives. Matt started his section on church covenant with his testimony. Very different style from Mark, but worked well for that section. Mark did various things to get to know who the people were that he was talking to. I remember know that Billy and Travis, you all did this at the beginning class, but might be useful for each class, i.e. use time at the beginning to get to know people a little bit better through some question(s).
• They prefer to baptize people after they have left home. Mark's youngest baptism was a 16 year old, he thinks. Children are to desire the approval of their parents and that is a godly thing. Don't confuse it by trying to get them to stand on their own before it is time. I agree in principle, but don't know about the leaving home part. When biblically do children need to leave home? When they marry. Should they be mostly independent of parents before then. I think so. 20 is when you can serve in the army biblically, so you should be ready to leave home by then. Thoughts? However, I would be hard pressed to keep someone younger from being baptized if they were the ones that were pressing me about it, i.e., if a 12 year old was on his own initiative, as far as I could discern, pressing to be baptized and doing so in a Godly way that showed his or her maturity, then I wouldn't deny it to them. Look, here is water; what is to prevent me from being baptized.
• When communicating, make sure you are educating your audience about any terms or concepts that they do not know or just use a different term when you can. Important biblical terms require education; can't leave out atonement, justification, etc.
• An elder is standing by each exit at the end of the service to greet people as they leave. CHBC does not have a meal afterwards and has multiple exits. As we discussed at our introductory meeting, it is good to make an effort to talk to people who are visiting and our members in general. Be looking for opportunities to care for people.

Weekender Plus - Part 1 of ? (maybe 1)

Brothers,

Grace to you and peace be multiplied to you. A few thoughts from The Weekender (here with Joe Rowan representing our body), which is going well:
1. I like what I see here, and I am catching some of the vision that God has blessed Capitol Hills Baptist Church ("CHBC") with, including, but in no particular order: (1) the beauty of congregationalism when its lead well (interesting though that to consider the transition history of CHBC under Dever), (2) raising up leaders and pastors who care for the sheep, (3) having blessing, comradarie, and fun together in the work of ministry, (4) the patience of Mark Dever in bringing the nine marks to fruition in his congregation, and possibly others mentioned below.
2. I like books, and I would like to have a part in offering more books through our library/book stall. I especially like some small books put out by the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation in a seried called "Resources for Changing Lives." I have looked at three and think that they provide accessible, biblical, relevant information topically that can help us and our members. I have purchased three (Anger, Angry Children, and A.D.D.) which I will make available. I'm considering trying to talk to someone here at the Weekender about their book stall ministry for ideas on how to help or serve in our book ministry.
- One point that Mark Dever made that I really like related to my liking books (I'm intentionally staying away from "I love books," although in some ways I do) is that our knowledge has to lead to action of some kind, i.e. as he put it we have to put feet to what we learn and know. Amen.
3. I don't like the term "quiet time." Why? To me it is laden with guilt. I guess it is because most of the time that I hear Christians talking about their "quiet time," it is a confession of how they are not having it. I don't have daily specific times with God right now. I usually have a few minutes of prayer for me, my family, people in the church, and on miscellaneous topics. I usually lead my family in "Family Worship," once a day where we pray and read scripture, either a chapter from the book we are reading or doing scripture memory together, usually sing Psalms or Hymns, and talk about the scripture. Should I have more than this? Whatever is beneficial in me and those I lead (primarily my family) having a day of fellowship with God and doing his will of love from the heart, that is what I need. Do I get that? By faith I do until I am driven to my knees again for a current need that is too big for me, which is often.
4. Travis, I see now what you mean about Mark Dever's incredible leadership skills. He is a strong personality, a mostly under-control bull using his strength of presence for mostly good purposes, especially directing the group's thinking and also drawing people out. Although he certainly makes mistakes and depends on the group of men that God has put around him. He specifically stated that he was not a good manager, and does seem to be fine with letting go and letting others do their part. I love that he has fun with it, and seems to really enjoy people.
- One more specific point about his patience from his story of how God led them here at CHBC is that he tried to avoid fights. He would make his position known and then let others decide and leave it to God. I think that is a very commendable trait. The mutual submission I see operating here looks healthy. Of course, I am sure that there are always some stresses to work through that we do not see in a Weekender. May the Lord continue to bless their work.

Brothers, I do not know how often I will have long posts like this, but I trust that you all will skim. If I am looking for a specific response from one or all of you, I willl bold the text and ask questions with specific names. If I don't get a response from the blog, I will email you. If I don't get a response from the email, I will call you. If I don't get a response from the call or voicemail, I will come over your house and see how you are doing. Sound good, brothers? Testing this emergency response system.

Thank you to the church for giving me this opportunity. May the Lord grant me opportunity to bear fruit with the knowledge and experience gained from this weekend.

With tired, but good cheer!

Roy Huddle

Recap from Sunday's Meeting

Brothers,

In case you were unable to make the meeting yesterday, I wanted to recap it for you. We basically discussed the overview of the internship, including our vision and new additions to the program this year. Here's a brief summary of the new features of the internship:

• Alethia Ministries: We hope to arrange multiple interviews with pastors and church leaders across Houston and beyond. We think you will be well served by your interactions with these leaders, especially since you'll be able to ask them any questions that you like!



• Books for this Year: We think the two books that we are going to concentrate on this year will be Worship Matters, by Bob Kauflin and The Reformed Pastor, by Richard Baxter. We'll be doing Worship Matters in the fall and RP in the Spring. Again, most of our interaction on these books will be online. (The church will purchase the books! Don't buy them...unless you already own them...then tell me ASAP!)



• Meetings: We are hoping to meet together for bi-weekly sermon and service reviews as well as general discussion and prayer. So, we will ask you to contribute to the blog each week and we will have actual meetings every other week. If you could comment on this post as to a convenient time to meet, that would be most helpful! After we get feedback, we'll post our first meeting and reading assignment.



• Church Visits: There will be a schedule posted here ASAP of our church visits for the fall.



• Elders Meetings: You are invited to attend all the elders meetings (monthly), but we want you each to come to at least one meeting where we will spend some time specifically encouraging you and listening to you speak about your calling and future in ministry. So, we'll keep you posted on this when it's your turn, but you can come and observe all the meetings if you'd like to!

Billy, feel free to include anything that I left out. You all should have received an invitation to be an author on this blog, so you can post your thoughts as well.

Stay tuned for our first meeting dates, church visitation dates, interviews and reading assignments.

Blessings!

Travis

Bruce Ware on the Trinity

Brothers,

I hope that we will be able to get together and make at least one of these sessions. Let me know what you think!

Redeemer Internship Overview

9% of the population of the US can be called evangelical. In the 13 years between 1991 and 2004 there was a 92% increase in the number of unchurched Americans. Church plants are the best way to reach the lost. We need churches planted.

For the glory of God and the good of his people, Baptist Church of the Redeemer seeks to plant hundreds of like-minded churches. Our model of ministry at Redeemer is characterized by several things that distinguish us from most churches.

We are committed to:

God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated ministry
The relevance of the Bible and the Great Truths of the Faith
Biblical Church Structure, which webelieve is Elder-Led Congregationalism
Baptist Distinctives—Regenerate Membership, Believer’s Baptism by Immersion
Membership that Matters and Is Kept Pure through Church Discipline
Expository Preaching, doing it and helping others do it
Discipling All Believers through Evangelism Training and Small Group Ministry
Passionately Seeking the Lost Across the Street and Around the World
Catechizing Our Children and Cultivating Family Worship
Incarnating Ancient Truths in Contextual Ways
Planting Churches that Will Plant Other Churches
Looking for opportunities to reform existing Churches for the glory of God

We believe the great truths of Christianity—the Inerrancy and Sufficiency of the Bible, the Triunity of God, the Two Natures of Christ, the Human Need for Regeneration, Justification by Faith, the Substitionary Atonement—are radically counter-cultural. We believe these things are not being inculcated by the vast majority of evangelical churches. We want to plant churches that will live on the Bible, proclaim the Gospel, and propagate the knowledge of these great truths of the faith among their members.

The goal of the Redeemer Pastoral Internship is to raise up men who will go out from Redeemer to plant like minded churches or revitalize existing churches.

What Does A Redeemer Pastoral Intern Do?

The most significant thing about the Redeemer Pastoral Internship is that it affords an opportunity to absorb a biblical world-view, learn theological distinctives, and participate in the life of the church. Redeemer Pastoral Interns will:

Each attend an elders meeting

Participate in guided reading of key books, including discussion

Have opportunity to preach and teach at Redeemer and its ministries

Participate in the Redeemer Institute

Attend a Weekender at Capitol Hill Baptist Church

Attend the Southern Baptist Convention (Louisville, KY - June 23-24, 2009 )

Participate in the observation of other church services

Oversee and participate in the Redeemer Book Stall

Teach and/or participate in a Care Group

Pray toward and prepare for planting a like minded church or revitalizing an existing church (or serving in accordance to their gifting)

Work with the elders and staff in the regular ministries of the church

Serve through various other ways at Redeemer:
Sound System
Nursery—Nursery and Worship
Children’s Church
Prayer Meeting (set up, take down)
Sunday school

After one year, the elders will seek to specifically encourage and provide evaluations and observations for those men enrolled in the Pastoral Internship program at Redeemer. Interns may continue in the program or transition into other appropriate roles as opportunities arise.