Free Ebook - "12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You"

Crossway is offering Tony Reinke's book 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You for free (well, you have to do a brief online survey - there is no such thing as a free lunch).  Here is the link to the survey.

If you haven't read this book, I encourage you to make time to read it.  It is insightful, helpful, and full of wisdom.  Reinke applies biblical principles to technology usage in a way that is humble and not legalistic. 

"An Open Letter to the Church on Singleness"

Sam Alberry has a short, helpful letter (at crossway.org) reminding us why the Bible's teaching on singleness is important for the whole church to be aware of.

His three reasons are

1. The Bible's teaching on singleness is given to the whole church (1 Cor. 7)
2. Most who are married will one day be single again prior to heaven
3. The local church is a body. 

It is this last point that is most helpful. He writes,

We’re a body. So what happens to some of us, therefore, affects all of us. When I stub my toe, it is not just my toe that suffers, I suffer. If some of us in the church are struggling, it hurts all of us. We’re invested in one another, therefore I need to know what the Christian life is like for you in your situation, and you need to know what it’s like for me in mine.

He goes on to say that this implies that singles ought to be concerned about healthy marriages and married folks ought to be concerned about seeing healthy singleness in the church family.  

He is right in writing this.  The metaphor of the church being a body indicates the need for a common concern and investment in the lives of one another.  Marriage and singleness are not who we are, but our marital status is a significant experience and provides direction for how we will honor Christ. 

May God grant us to have genuine love, fellowship, and humility so that we might know one another and spur one another on in the faith.

Funerals "Becoming a Relic," But Death is Not

A few weeks ago, I preached on Psalm 49 and entitled the sermon "Everyone Dies, Even You." Kind of gloomy, but it is a reality. Shortly after that, Doug saw an article from the Washington Post Style Section entitled, "The funeral as we know it is becoming a relic — just in time for a death boom."

Karen Heller writes that

"end-of-life ceremonies are being personalized: golf-course cocktail send-offs, backyard potluck memorials, more Sinatra and Clapton, less 'Ave Maria,' more Hawaiian shirts, fewer dark suits. Families want to put the 'fun” in funerals.' 

In fact, Heller begins with an example of a"Memorialpalooza" for a famous person who recently died. The party at a renowned theater with gift bags, baseball hats, a famous hotdog cart, and stand up comedy.

As Christians, we must think, live, and die in line with the truth.

The truth is that while funerals and dirges become "relics," death does not. Heller points out the reality of death when she writes, "Baby boomers, despite strenuous efforts to stall the aging process, are not getting any younger. In 2030, people over 65 will outnumber children, and by 2037, 3.6 million people are projected to die in the United States, according to the Census Bureau, 1 million more than in 2015, which is projected to outpace the growth of the overall population." No change in how we mark death will change the reality of dying.

The truth is that death is an enemy and sad reminder of the brokenness of the world. Christians should, like Jonathan Edwards, resolve "to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death." We recognize death is a reality, but this doesn't mean we celebrate death. It is an enemy. We don't celebrate the death of another person with entertainment that is designed to distract from the brutal reality of death. Of course, in the case of a Christian who dies, we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We grieve, but with a profound sense of confidence and even a subdued joy. Confidence because death is a defeated enemy for the Christian. Joy because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

When our culture tries to ignore death, we must remind them that it is a reality and one which ought to call them to do some soul- and truth-searching. Why do we die? Why are we alive? Such existential questions must be faced head-on. Instead, many in our culture push aside such questions with entertainment in life and, now, in funerals. As Christians, we answer big questions based on what God has revealed in his Word. Death is an enemy. It will remove all that you set your hope in unless your God is your shepherd.

Psalm 49
Hear this, all peoples!
    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
    rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.

5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
    or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
    and never see the pit.

10 For he sees that even the wise die;
    the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
    their dwelling places to all generations,
    though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
    he is like the beasts that perish.

13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
    yet after them people approve of their boasts.[b] Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
    death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
    Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will receive me. Selah

16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

"Hope for Lousy Evangelists"

As we approach our focused celebration of the resurrection, we might find more opportunities to share the gospel. I found this podcast episode  "On Overcoming Fear in Personal Evangelism" to be encouraging. It is from the "Pastor's Talk" podcast (by 9Marks), but it is not aimed mainly at pastors.

Here is the description of the episode:

As Christians, we know we should share the gospel, but many of us feel discouraged—either about our lack of evangelism, or the lack of fruit from our evangelism. What can we do about this? Where can we lousy evangelists find hope?

Methods of Meditation

Meditation can sound quite mystical to some people. Biblical meditation is, as Don Whitney puts it, "deep thinking on truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer” (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 48). The question is, how do we do this deep thinking?

Below is a list of some methods and practices that might help you slow down, read carefully, and think deeply about what you see in God's Word. There is nothing magical in these methods. They are simply ways to help you meditate. Click here for a downloadable pdf version.

Methods of Meditating on Scripture

An adapted summary of the methods of meditation on Scripture taught by Don Whitney

1. Repeat the verse or phrase with emphasis on a different word each time (reflect on what each word adds to the meaning and possible applications).

Whatever He says to you do it (John 2:5).

Whatever He says to you do it.

Whatever He says to you do it.

Whatever He says to you do it.

Whatever He says to you do it.

Whatever He says to you do it.

2. Rewrite the verse or phrase in your own words.

3. Look for applications of this text – what should you do in response to it?

4. Formulate a principle from the text.

5. Pray through the text.

6. Ask the Philippians 4:8 questions.

What is true or what truth does it exemplify?

What is lovely about it?

What is honorable about it?

What is admirable or commendable about it?

What is right about it?

What is excellent about it?

What is pure or how does it exemplify purity?

What is praiseworthy about it?

7. Ask the “Joseph Hall” questions [abbreviated by me].

What is it (define and/or describe what it is)?

What are its qualities and attachments?

What are its divisions or parts?

What is contrary, contradictory or different to it?

What causes it?

What compares to it?

What does it cause (its fruits and effects)?

What are the testimonies or examples of Scripture about it?

8. Discover a minimum number of insights into the text (set the number in advance).

9. Find a link or common thread between all the chapters of paragraphs you’ve read.

A few additional methods I’ve used over the years

1. Write out each phrase of the verse separately and spend time making your own “commentary” on it, including word meanings, logical connections, applications, questions you have, etc.

2. Write a poem reflecting the beautiful truth you observed in the passage (your poem might not be great, but it is an expression of the beauty you see and experience). Ex. You might do this with the “I am” statements of Jesus. Study them in depth. Then write a poem expressing one facet of the reality.

3. Write out the verse in a way that attempts to show its structure (main points and supporting points). You might also use spacing, underlines, capital letters, and various colors to emphasize things.

Isaiah 41:10

FEAR NOT

                For I am with you;

BE NOT DISMAYED

                For I am your God

                I will  strengthen you

                I will  help            you

                I will  uphold       you

                                With my righteous right hand

Warm Yourself at the Fire of Meditation

Why do we often leave our time of Bible reading just as spiritually dull as when we first sat down? I suppose there are several possible answers to that question.* For now, I want to consider one such reason. Thomas Watson captured it well when he wrote, "The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation” (Quoted by Don Whitney in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 49). Let me define meditation and then come back to consider Watson's point.

What is meditation? I found Don Whitney's definition helpful. Meditation is "deep thinking on truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer” (Whitney, 48).  Meditation is not an emptying of the mind but a filling of it with God's thoughts which we find in his Word. And this takes mental effort. We must think deeply about what we read. The goal of all this is being made happy in the Lord as we know more of him and his ways and apply what we read. We don't want to be those who simply glance into the mirror of God's truth and walk away. Instead, we want to stare into it intently and deal with the problems it reveals in us (James 1:22-25).

Watson's illustration of warming ourselves at the fire of meditation is thus an apt illustration. If I read the Bible, I might just walk past what it says. Like a person walking past a blazing fireplace in the winter, I feel the warmth, but I am not warmed by it. I am not defrosted. Meditation is sitting in front of the fireplace on a freezing morning and letting the warmth of God's word penetrate the whole body. It works the warmth of the word into the bones.

So, if you find yourself leaving your Bible reading with a spiritual dullness, perhaps the solution is making time to meditate on the Word. Maybe you add 10 minutes to your morning devotional time to do this. If you can't prioritize an extra 10 minutes, perhaps you substitute 10 minutes of your reading the Bible for 10 minutes of meditating.

The point is, we need to not only read the Bible but to enjoy the sweetness of God's word. We want to say with the happy Psalmist, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Ps 119:103). And this will only happen as we meditate on Scripture. "Reading Scripture is like collecting pollen. Meditating on it is like making honey" (Bruce Waltke quoted by Kelly Kapic in A Little Book for New Theologians, p 118). To elaborate on this illustration, Thomas Brooks wrote, "It’s not the bee’s touching of the flower which gathers honey—but her abiding for a time upon the flower, which draws out the sweet. It’s not he who reads most—but he who meditates most, who will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian." If we don't make time to meditate, then we won't leave refreshed.

I'll plan to post some suggested methods of meditation (all borrowed of course) to help you get some ideas of how to meditate effectively. So, be on the lookout for that.


*Other reasons for leaving our time of reading the Bible with a spiritual dullness could include things like: Not being a child of God, being physically exhausted, not being a good reader, walking in unrepentant sin, etc.. 

CS Lewis on Pride

In God, you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that - and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison - you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.

CS Lewis in Mere Christianity, quoted by Kelly Kapic in A Little Book for New Theologians, pg. 73.