Have you ever noticed when you’re reading one of the gospels or an epistle and, after seeing a reference to an Old Testament passage, you find yourself going, “How does that fit?” The application of the passage makes sense and “feels” right, but you’re not sure why the author chose that particular reference or when you go back to the original passage you start getting confused.

This makes perfect sense because (let’s face it) there can be a great deal of confusion in how the New Testament authors used the Old if we don’t understand how and why they’re using it.

Consider Luke:

1. What was his approach to reading the Old Testament?
2. What themes were being communicated in his references to the Old Testament?

In his recently released volume in Zondervan’s Biblical Theology of the New Testament series, A Theology of Luke and Acts, Darrell L. Bock provides a wealth of information to help us better understand Luke’s approach in his insightful examination of Luke’s use of the Old Testament.

“In everything Luke does, a key frame is the teaching and promise of Scripture, for Luke’s claim is that this seemingly new faith realizes promises of old that God made to his people,” Bock writes (p. 408), noting that a review of Luke-Acts reveals three fundamental beliefs undergirding Luke’s interpretative approach: Continue Reading…

A number of years ago, I was listening to a really great preacher on my iPod and I remembered thinking, “How did he do that?”

That fascination led me to start trying to figure out how to preach and a big part of that (along with reading some terrific books) was getting help from a good friend who mentored me in this area for about 2 years.

But not every budding or wanna-be preacher has that opportunity. That’s where David Murray’s recently released book, How Sermons Work, is so helpful. In this short book, Murray offers a practical explanation of the mechanics of preparing and preaching a sermon.

Right out of the gate, Murray aims to properly position the work of preaching in the minds of readers.

“Some people seem to think that pastors ‘receive’ their messages direct from God. They imagine some mysterious process by which the pastor just ‘gets’ a sermon. That is too high a view of preaching. It views preachers more like angels than ordinary mortals,” he writes. “Others think that a pastor just spends the week relaxing, gets up on a Sunday, and says the first thing that comes into his mind with little or no forethought or planning. That is too low a view of preaching. Anyone with a bit of verbal fluency could do it. . . . Like all pastoral labour, it involves head, heart and hand.” Continue Reading…

How do we make disciples? This is the question that so many are asking these days. Do we do it by creating new programs and courses? Do we do it informally, getting together and “doing life” one-on-one?

While there are many different approaches, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, Pastor Bill Clem suggests the key to making disciples isn’t so much figuring out a program that works, but understanding a disciple’s identity in Jesus in the first place. In his recent book, Disciple: Getting Your Identity from Jesus, Clem unpacks what it means to get our identity from Jesus through the storyline of redemption. The result is a book that offers a more robust view of discipleship than, perhaps, we’ve become accustomed to.

There is much to be commended in Disciple. Most fundamentally, this is a book about Jesus. He is the starting point, the hero of Scripture and the example of what true discipleship looks like. This is an approach I’ve not really seen before, but it works exceptionally well. Jesus, in his 33 years on earth, was the epitome of what it meant to be a worshipper of God—indeed, He was the only one who ever wholeheartedly did so. He perfectly expressed a heart of worshipful obedience to the Father. He perfectly lived in community with His disciples. And He perfectly walked with intentionality—He was single-minded about His mission to seek and save the lost, and redeem a people unto Himself.

This is something that’s easy for us to overlook, even when we are reminded again and again from others that Jesus’ life is to be an example to those who follow after Him. Fortunately, Clem doesn’t just say, “Hey look at Jesus and do what he does; then you’ll be a disciple.” Such exhortations, no matter how well intended, rarely lead to godly living.

Instead, Clem reminds us that our ability to be disciples flows from our identity and our original purpose—that of God’s imagebearers. We were created to image God within creation, and though sin marred our ability to do so, the redemptive work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, renews and restores that purpose and desire. Fundamentally, that is what it means to be a disciple. Anything else is idolatry. Continue Reading…

I’ve heard there’s an unwritten rule that at one time or another, nearly every Christian man asks the question, “Am I called to the ministry?” Some guys see what their pastors do on Sundays and think it looks easy (pastors reading this, you can laugh now), but others just feel this compulsion to preach the Word of God and see people grow in their faith.

But whether we’re asking legitimately or not, we should seek out the answer—what does it mean to be called to the ministry, and how do I know if I am? One of the best resources I’ve found for this question is Edmund Clowney’s Called to the Ministry. In 90 pages, Clowney examines the call—but not simply the call to ministry, but the call from which it precedes.

Your Call is a Call to Christ

Clowney argues that before we start asking questions about a call to ministry, we must first understand our fundamental calling as Christians. Whether or not there’s a desire for a particular expression of Christian ministry, we have to recognize that it’s not separate from our identity in Christ.

“There is no call to the ministry that is not first a call to Christ,” he writes. “You dare not lift your hands to place God’s name in blessing on his people until you have first clasped them in penitent petition for his saving grace. Until you have done that the issue you face is not really your call to the ministry. It is your call to Christ” (p. 5).

While it might seem obvious that someone desiring to be a pastor ought to be a Christian, it’s certainly not always the case. One only has to look at the example of Simon the Magician in Acts 8:9-25, who is said to have believed and been baptized, but when he sees the Holy Spirit given by the laying on of hands, he offered money for the ability to do the same.

Additionally, Clowney reminds us our personal calling as Christians is one of service in the likeness of Christ. This does not mean, obviously, that we suffer to bear the sins of others—something that is impossible for anyone but Christ—but “we must suffer for the sake of others, for all those who will form the church of Christ, his body” (p. 17). It means using the gifts and opportunities that God has given you in his service, even when it costs you. Continue Reading…

The first commentary I ever purchased was Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. I had no idea who Matthew Henry was (in all honesty, I wasn’t sure if it was a good commentary or not—all I knew was it was cheap), but after I brought it home, I was so thankful I did. It was one of the most helpful commentaries I’ve used and continues to be a go-to resource to this day.

But one thing that using Henry’s commentary has made me realize is that I want to know more about him. So when I learned of Allan Harman’s new book, Matthew Henry – His Life and Influence, I was really excited to read it. When I was finished, though, I was left somewhat wanting. Let me explain.

Harman sets himself up with a tremendous task in this book—to not only offer insights into Henry’s life, but to explain some of the reasons for his enduring influence. And by and large he succeeds in his task, as he provides readers a helpful sketch of Henry’s early years through his death in 1714 (actually going beyond them into an overview of the Puritan period in which he was born).

I was surprised to learn, for example, that he really ought to have died well before he actually did. Henry was sickly from his youth and that continued through his adulthood when he developed diabetes and finally died of a stroke. Although this may be a tad morbid, seeing this side of his life served as a reminder of God’s sovereignty over our days and that until the task to which He has set us is complete, we will remain on this earth. Continue Reading…

“JESUS! GOD! DA BIBLE!”

Whenever we start question time during family devotions, our middle daughter, Hannah, immediately starts shouting these answers while wearing the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. She’s just thrilled to offer up what must be the right answer (she’s paid enough attention to know that if she answers with “Jesus” she’s going to be right at least 30-50 percent of the time).

While it’s super-cute and warms my heart, it also makes me a little nervous.

Emily and I are first generation Christians. We came to faith as adults and, as parents, we are raising our kids in a home where Jesus is worshipped and the Bible is read and taught. While we understand that we can’t parent our kids into being Christians, we desperately want to see them “own” their faith (should they ever profess faith).

Daniel Darling’s been there—not as a first generation Christian, but as the child of. As such, he understands an important truth: that faith isn’t automatic—if the second generation is going to continue a legacy of faith, they can’t be satisfied with second-hand experiences. And that’s what I so appreciate about his new book, Real: Owning Your Christian Faith. In this book, Darling addresses the unique challenges the second generation faces and offers great encouragement and occasionally some necessary correction to those seeking to raise their kids in the faith.

Second Generation Christians Are Sinners Still

Reading the book, right away a couple of common themes popped out. First, it seems that there’s an assumption that second generation kids don’t struggle with sin—as though, because their parents were saved and are super passionate about their faith, they’re somehow immune to original sin. But, Darling writes, “Good Christian kids who grow up with good Christian parents in good gospel-preaching churches still struggle with sin.” There’s no “get-out-of-being-a-sinner” card for these kids. While this should not be a shocking revelation, it seems that many kids raised in the faith are burdened with this idea that they shouldn’t have any struggles with sin. Darling writes: Continue Reading…

At some point you have to wonder—do we really need more marriage books? With all the books that are out there, is there more that can be added to the discussion?

If Justin Buzzard’s new book, Date Your Wife, is any indication, yes.   In this short book, Buzzard confronts husbands’ complacency, challenges them to woo their wives to the glory of God while sharing his own experiences as a husband seeking to date his wife.

As Buzzard looks at dating your wife through the lens of the Bible’s big story of creation, fall, redemption and reconciliation, he paints a big vision for the work of marriage. “Your marriage didn’t start on your wedding day,” he writes. “Husband, your marriage started on your first date. During that first date with your bride, you began laying the foundation for the day you would say, ‘I do.’ You began laying the foundation your marriage stands upon today” (Kindle location 218).

This is an important reminder that so many of us need—our dating relationship sets the tone for our marriages, for better or worse. Our pursuit of our wives is a calling entrusted to us by God, a call first entrusted to our first parent, Adam:

Central to Adam’s calling as a husband was the call to cultivate and guard his wife so that she would flourish, so that their sacred union would thrive. God called Adam to date his wife. God didn’t present Adam to Eve. He presented Eve to Adam. God put the woman in the man’s hands, having already told the man to handle with care the gift he would be given. (Kindle location 504)

Read that again. It’s a pretty weighty statement, isn’t it? Think about the responsibility that comes with it. Think about it too long and it’s easy to get to a place where you realize that, perhaps, the worst thing that could have happened to your marriage is you. For many of us, the issues we find in our marriages have far less to do with anything our spouses have done and far more with our own issues. Continue Reading…

Discipline isn’t a popular idea among many of America’s evangelical churches. Although some understand the need, others have set the practice aside, fearing that it’ll damage their efforts to reach the lost and the hurting. “Church leaders want to reach outsiders, but this good desire produces a bad temptation—to slim down the gospel to something skinnier,” writes Jonathan Leeman in Church Discipline: How the Church Protects the Name of Jesus.

It’s comparatively easy to talk about God’s grace, unconditional love, and faith. It’s harder to talk about God’s holiness, Christ’s lordship, a Spirit-given repentance, and the new covenant reality of the church. All of these things make demands on a person. They produce the need for accountability. And when you build a church on a gospel that makes few demands and offers little accountability, church discipline just doesn’t make sense. (Location 149)

In this short book, Leeman connects discipline with discipleship, offering a gospel-centered framework, practical case studies of how to approach particular situations and solid advice for church leaders seeking to bring about a proper emphasis on this difficult aspect of discipleship and growing in godliness.

It should be noted upfront: this is not a book for those looking to be convinced of the need to practice church discipline; it’s for the church leader who is already convinced. This approach has its strengths and weaknesses, but overall, readers will be left more or less satisfied.

A key strength is readers don’t need to go through an exhaustive apologetic for the practice, although Leeman offers a broad definition of discipline. He writes, “In broad terms, church discipline is one part of the discipleship process, the part where we correct sin and point the disciple toward the better path. . . . a Christian is disciplined through instruction and correction, as in a math class where the teacher teaches the lesson and then corrects the students’ errors” (Location 287). Continue Reading…

If someone came to you and said they wanted to start a biblical counseling ministry in your church, what might come to mind? That seems like a lot of work? Do we really need another ministry to administrate? After reading Bob Kellemen’s recently released book, Equipping Counselors for Your Church: The 4E Ministry Training Strategy, I’m convinced that’s the wrong question. Why? Because biblical counseling is really about discipleship.

The goal shouldn’t be to start a biblical counseling ministry in your church. The goal, Kellemen argues, should be that your church is a place of biblical counselors. “You don’t need another program,” he writes. “You want a congregation saturated by the vision of every-member ministry and equipped to offer one-another ministry. Even more, you want a congregation where every member is a disciple-maker” (pp. 33-34).

In this book, Kellemen unpacks his vision of “every-member, one-another ministry” while offering practical advice based on his decades-long experience in bringing counseling & discipleship to the core of a congregation’s, from planning and equipping to implementing and replicating.

There’s so much that’s compelling about this book that I couldn’t begin to do it justice (especially given its length), but here are a couple points that I found particularly helpful:

1. Kellemen’s understanding that we’ve wrongly defined biblical counseling as solving problems instead of discipleship. He writes:

We’ve made it a subset of discipleship focused on reactive work with persons struggling with sin. Instead, we should think of biblical counseling as synonymous with comprehensive personal discipleship. Biblical counseling is focused one-another ministry designed to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. (p. 35)

This is a hugely important distinction that moves counseling from a reactive discipline to a proactive one. Reactive ministry has its place certainly, and the concept doesn’t remove the need for qualified, licensed counselors who can deal with issues requiring a medical diagnosis. Kellemen’s every-member, one-another ministry concept encourages people to work out their salvation in community.

2. Kellemen’s principles of envisioning, enlisting, equipping, and empowering God’s people have a much broader application. Reading the book, I was struck at how easy it is to transplant his advice into a different context. He does a great job of providing specific application to the subject at hand, but it’s easy to go beyond it in a good way. If I were starting any ministry, I’d want to see what I could use from this book to help with envisioning what it could be and enlisting the right people. Continue Reading…

Choosing small group curriculum is never easy, as many a discipleship or small groups pastor can tell you. There is a wealth of great material out there… and more than a few lemons. Having experienced both over the years we’ve led small groups, I was excited and a little nervous about Basic: Who is God? featuring Francis Chan.

Because people in our group are coming from a lot of different places (a couple are even coming out of a different Christian tradition altogether), it was really important to me that we address some of the essential truths of the faith, which the videos do exceptionally well, looking at the Trinity from the perspectives of our need to:

1. Fear God;
2. Follow Jesus; and
3. Embrace the Holy Spirit

Each video is insightful, challenging, beautiful, and sometimes a bit odd. Chan speaks with great conviction about our need to fear God—that the Bible doesn’t describe a reserved reverence but a pants-wetting holy terror of the Lord. But the purpose is not to be afraid, but to realize that when we fear God, we’re free of every other fear. We don’t need to fear anyone or anything else. Equally challenging is his call to follow Jesus—don’t just study what He says, do it. Finally, he reminds participants of the power of the Church’s witness when we’ve embraced the Holy Spirit—radical love, radical generosity, radical fellowship. Many in our group (myself included) were left feeling convicted as we realized that there is a degree to which we’ve become complacent in our relationship with Christ. We don’t always ascribe the fear to God that is His due. We don’t always actively obey. We often resist the Holy Spirit’s leading.

The impression I got as we watched the films and worked our way through the discussion questions for each session (seven in total) was that we need to collectively and personally repent and turn away from a laxidasical attitude toward our relationship with Christ. Certainly this was my experience both as the facilitator and a participant. Working through our follower’s guides individually between meetings, I certainly found myself further challenged to not simply let this study be an intellectual exercise, but look for opportunities to live in light of the truths found within the study. Continue Reading…