Archives For Desiring God

Taming the Tongue: Sinclair Ferguson on James 3

Aaron Armstrong —  February 25, 2010 — 1 Comment

A conversation with a good friend got me thinking about this message from the 2008 Desiring God National Conference.

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Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

James 3:1-12

The mature person is able to “bridle” his tongue. The person who can do this is master of the whole body. The spiritual masters of the past understood this to have a double reference. The control of the tongue has both negative and positive aspects. It involves the ability to restrain the tongue in silence. But it also means being able to control it in gracious speech when that is required. Sanctification in any area of our lives always expresses this double dimension—a putting off and a putting on, as it were. Speech and silence, appropriately expressed, are together the mark of the mature.

Sinclair Ferguson, “The Bit, The Bridle and the Blessing,” The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, page 48

The tongue is “set among our members, staining the whole body.” How careful you are as you put on a dress for a wedding, especially if it is your own. How nervous about that new silk tie during dinner. The spot need only be a small one, but it ruins everything. So it is with the tongue and its words. No matter what graces you may have developed, if you have not gained tongue mastery, you can besmirch them all by an unguarded and ill-disciplined comment. Graces are fragile; therefore guard your tongue lest it destroy them.

Sinclair Ferguson, “The Bit, The Bridle and the Blessing,” The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, page 51

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John Piper: Are You Being Confident or Making Presumptions?

Aaron Armstrong —  February 22, 2010 — 1 Comment
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When you take a risk (“stepping out in faith,” as they say), are you being confident in God’s provision—or are you making presumptions upon Hin. How do you know the difference? 

It’s a question I’ve been considering for quite some time. I really appreciated John Piper’s answer.

What are your thoughts—Have you ever taken a risk and not seen God provide the way you were expecting?

An edited transcript follows:

What’s the difference between confidence and presumption when it comes to God’s provision in risk-taking? 

Let the Bible give you whatever criteria it can in whether or not you take risks for Christ. So whatever the Bible forbids you to do, don’t do. What it commands you to do, do. So that’s the first place to start. 

Then let principles hold sway. Jesus was very hesitant—I mean, absolutely did not jump off the temple. Satan wanted him to do this radical, dangerous thing: “The angels will catch you and God will be glorified.” And Jesus saw it as a ruse. The devil didn’t want God to be glorified through his taking that risk and being rescued. And that may be the case for you as well. 

So I think part of that right there would be, “Is my motive in order to attract attention to myself as a risk-taker, and to get some honor for how valiant I am? Or is there a need right now that I’ve got to jump in to, and I’m not going to let fear stop me?” 

Those would be two very different motives, wouldn’t they? The sense that “I’m taking a risk and God’s going to get glory because I’m such a valiant risk-taker,” or “There’s a need here and a possibility that I can meet the need, and I’m going to overcome obstacles of fear to get there.”

So I think motivations and biblical guidelines and constraints are the way you move forward. 

By John Piper. © Desiring God 

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John Piper: Smiting Morality with Gospel Joy

Aaron Armstrong —  February 11, 2010 — 2 Comments

A powerful excerpt from Piper’s lecture at the 2010 Desiring God Conference for Pastors, “Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul: Learning from the Mind and Heart of C. S. Lewis.”

The abbreviated transcript follows:

Until we are gripped with the joyful impulses of gospel grace from the inside, we will always be thinking in terms of doing external duties as pressures from outside. This is called morality. But here is what I discovered with Lewis’s help:

A perfect man would never act from a sense of duty; he’d always want the right thing more than the wrong one. Duty is only a substitute for love (of God and of other people) like a crutch which is a substitute for a leg. Most of us need the crutch at times; but of course it is idiotic to use the crutch when our own legs (our own loves, tastes, habits etc.) can do the journey on their own.

The implications of this for my own pursuit of holiness and my teaching on sanctification have been pervasive. Lewis brings this insight to bear on the Puritans and William Tyndale in particular in a way this is profoundly illuminating:

In reality Tyndale is trying to express an obstinate fact which meets us long before we venture into the realm of theology; the fact that morality or duty (what he calls ‘the Law’) never yet made a man happy in himself or dear to others. It is shocking, but it is undeniable. We do not wish either to be, or to live among, people who are clean or honest or kind as a matter of duty: we want to be, and associate with, people who like being clean and honest and kind. The mere suspicion that what seemed an act of spontaneous friendliness or generosity was really done as a duty subtly poisons it. In philosophical language, the ethical category is self-destructive; morality is healthy only when it is trying to abolish itself. In theological language, no man can be saved by works. The whole purpose of the “Gospel,” for Tyndale, is to deliver us from morality. Thus, paradoxically, the “Puritan” of modern imagination—the cold, gloomy heart, doing as duty what happier and richer souls do without thinking of it—is precisely the enemy which historical Protestantism arose and smote.

This is what I want to keep smiting with Christian Hedonism: The gospel is designed to make forgiven sinners love righteousness, not do it against all their inclinations.

By John Piper. © Desiring God

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Prayer for Matt Chandler

Aaron Armstrong —  December 4, 2009 — Leave a comment

Update: An update from the Village Church on the pathology report that Matt and Lauren Chandler received yesterday:

Dear church,

In the first chapter of Philippians, the Apostle Paul writes that whatever imprisonments, beatings and trials he may have suffered, they all “serve to advance the gospel” of Jesus Christ. We implore you to keep the gospel of Christ as the main focus as we walk with Matt and Lauren through this trial.

On Tuesday, Dr. Barnett informed Matt and Lauren that the findings of the pathology report revealed a malignant brain tumor that was not encapsulated. The surgery to remove the tumor, the doctor said, was an extremely positive first step; however, because of the nature of the tumor, he was not able to remove all of it.

Matt, who is being released from the hospital today, is meeting with a neuro-oncologist this week to outline the next steps of the recovery process. There is a range of treatment possibilities but the exact course of action has not yet been determined. He will continue outpatient rehab.

The Lord is calling Matt and Lauren and The Village Church body to endure this trial. It will be a challenging road for Matt, his family and our church body. The gospel is our hope and the Lord is our strength. Matt and Lauren continue to find solace and hope in Christ. They weep facing this trial, but not as those without hope and perspective. The gospel clarifies their suffering and promises more of Christ through it all.

You have done a wonderful job respecting the family, and we ask that you continue to do this. They are processing all of this together and need you to give them precious space. Please do not visit them at their house unless personally invited by the Chandlers. The best way to serve the family is to continue to be faithful in prayer. Specifically, pray for the following:

  • Wisdom for all the coming decisions
  • Strength and peace to endure
  • The kids’ (Audrey, Reid and Norah) hearts; pray the Lord is merciful as they process and that their little hearts do not grow embittered
  • The Chandlers and The Village would suffer well because of the gospel and for the sake of Christ’s name

As you hurt and weep for the family, do not do it alone. Gather with your home group and with other believers in homes and pray together. This is a time to walk together with others and to endure this trial in community. If you wish, send cards and letters to Matt and Lauren at 2101 Justin Road, Flower Mound, TX 75028.

We will continue to keep you informed as new information is made available. Please be patient with the frequency of the updates. May God strengthen us all and may His glory shine brightly through this.

Please continue to pray for our brother, his family, and his church.

Yesterday he wrote on his Twitter account: “Path report is 2ndary at best…good report doesn’t mean much, bad report doesn’t mean anything…my days r numbered and nt by ths report.”

Collin Hansen recently wrote in CT about Chandler’s trials: “When the Pastor Suffers.”

HT: JT Continue Reading…

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Sunday Shorts (11/08)

Aaron Armstrong —  November 8, 2009 — Leave a comment

Free Audiobook at ChristianAudio.com: Desiring God

This month, Christian Audio is offering John Piper’s classic work, Desiring God, as it’s free-audio book of the month. Use the coupon code NOV2009 when purchasing.

From the publisher’s description:

Scripture reveals that the great business of life is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. In this paradigm-shattering classic, newly revised and expanded, John Piper reveals that the debate between duty and delight doesn’t truly exist: Delight is our duty. Join him as he unveils stunning, life impacting truths you saw in the Bible but never dared to believe.

Prayerlessness is Unbelief

A post well worth reading from Kevin DeYoung:

Prayer is essential for the Christian, as much for what it says about us as for what it can do through God. The simple act of getting on our knees (or faces or feet or whatever) for 5 or 50 minutes every day is the surest sign of our humility and dependence on our Father in heaven. There may be many reasons for our prayerlessness—time management, busyness, lack of concentration—but most fundamentally, we ask not because we think we need not. or we think God can give not. Deep down we feel secure when we have money in the bank, a healthy report from the doctor, and powerful people on our side.  We do not trust in God alone. Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God’s ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God’s help.

Introducing 10 Million Words

Christian blogger extraordinaire Tim Challies has started another blog over at The Gospel Coalition. But here’s the twist—Tim will be reading and reviewing every non-fiction hardcover on the New York Times bestseller’s list in 2010. Here’s what Tim had to say:

My wife thinks I’m a little bit crazy, I’m sure of it. During eleven years of marriage I’ve done a lot of things that have led her to roll her eyes and sigh. I guess she is getting used to it, though, because even she is interested in what I am planning to do in 2010. I plan to read all of the New York Times bestselling books over the course of the whole year. Do the math and you’ll see that this will come in at somewhere around 10 million words.

And Introducing…

This week, my wife and I learned some exciting news: We’ll be welcoming another little girl to our family in March/April (depending on when Emily goes into labor). We’ve been keeping the pregnancy somewhat under wraps until now, but I want to introduce you to my soon-to-be-born daughter:

BabyGirl

See you soon, Rutabaga Applesauce. (Please pray that we would find the right name for this child.)

In case you missed it

Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:

Book Review: “Fundamentalism” and the Word of God, reviewing J.I. Packer’s classic defense of the Evangelical view of Scripture

The Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent: Temptation, kicking off a new Saturday series representing George Whitefield’s sermon on Genesis 3:15 (the first gospel)

By Grace Alone, telling my story of how I became a Christian

The Gospel-less “Gospel,” looking at Christianity Today’s short documentary on the prosperity “gospel” and it’s impact in Ghana.

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Sunday Shorts (11/01)

Aaron Armstrong —  November 1, 2009 — Leave a comment

Don’t Waste Your Life: New Desktop Backgrounds

Desiring God has just released a slew of new desktop backgrounds over at Don’tWasteYourLife.com. Here’s a couple:

dwyl2-jesus-saves
Treasuring Christ Above All Things

Tim Challies: Sexual Detox

Last week, Tim Challies ran a thought-provoking and challenging series directed toward young men about sex and, in particular sexual detoxification. I’d highly recommend this series to any man (and woman for that matter) who struggles with, or has struggled with, issues of lust and pornography. It’s well worth your time.

Part 1: Pornifying the Marriage-Bed
Part 2: Breaking Free
Part 3: A Theology of Sex
Part 4: Detoxification
Part 5: Freedom
Recommended Resources

Tullian Tchividjian: How to Identify a Reliable Preacher

Tullian Tchvidjian shows us how we can identify a reliable preacher with five questions based on the five solas of the Reformation:

Question 5 (Sola Deo Gloria): Does the preacher exalt God above all? A reliable explainer will always lead you to marvel at God. A true carrier of God’s truth will always lead you to encounter the glory of God. A God-centered teacher is just that: God-centered. He will preach and teach in such a way that you find yourself hungering and thirsting for God. You will listen to sermon after sermon and walk away with grand impressions of Divine personality, not grand impressions of human personality.

HT: Trevin Wax

Ligonier Ministries’ Relaunching Ligonier.org

Ligonier Ministries has been hard at work revamping their online presence and the new site looks pretty snazzy. Very reminiscent of The Gospel Coalition and a few others.

Check it out for yourself.

In Case You Missed It

Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:

Where the Wild Things Are, working through my unsettled feelings toward the new movie

Called to Worship, reviewing Vernon Whaley’s book on developing a biblical foundation for worship

A Decisive Act: The 95 Theses, presenting the work that ultimately led to the Protestant Reformation

A Fallacious View of Providence, J.I. Packer on the root issue of two common objections to the Evangelical view of the inspiration of Scripture

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Sunday Shorts (09/06)

Aaron Armstrong —  September 6, 2009 — Leave a comment

Dr. Albert Mohler on the TNIV Announcement

TNIV

Dr. Albert Mohler responds to the recently announced discontinuation of the TNIV translation of the Bible:

The controversy over the TNIV divided the evangelical community. Regrettably, in many cases the controversy produced more heat than light. Nevertheless, this was not always the case. This controversy brought strategic attention to crucial questions related, not only to the NIV family of translations, but to the entire project of translating the Bible into the English language. Furthermore, the controversy was directed to very real disagreements about the meaning of gender and language. These are issues of great theological, biblical, pastoral, and moral importance.

Read the full article here.

American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins

Just when you thought you’d seen everything, the folks over at Wired actually mapped out the hot spots of the “7 deadly sins.”

It’s actually pretty neat, so check it out.

New Book from Desiring God: The Power of Words and the Wonder of God

From Desiring God:

John Piper, Sinclair Ferguson, Mark Driscoll, and other leaders from Desiring God’s 2008 national conference examine the life-altering power of our words and their impact in sharing the gospel.

Words carry immeasurable significance: The universe was created with a word; Jesus healed and cast out demons with a word; rulers have risen and fallen by their words; Christians have worshiped through words of song, confession, and preaching. Even in our technological age, politics, education, business, and relationships center on words. Since the tongue is such a powerful force—for good or evil—we are wise to ask: What would homes, churches, schools, even the public square be like if we used words with Christian intentionality and eloquence?

The Power of Words and the Wonder of Godseeks to answer this difficult question. In these chapters, derived from Desiring God’s 2008 national conference, John Piper, Sinclair Ferguson, and Mark Driscoll team with worship pastor Bob Kauflin, counselor Paul Tripp, and literature professor Daniel Taylor to help readers harness their tongues and appropriately command their silences for the glory of God and the ministry of the gospel.

In case you missed it

Here  are a few of this week’s notable posts:

Defending Organized Religion: Reviewing Why We Love the ChurchA review of Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck’s latest collaboration, Why We Love the Church

Act Like Men A brief look at Paul’s admonishment to men in 1 Corinthians 16:13, and a stern warning to little boys who wear man-pants

Reading Different TeamsWhy blogger review programs are extremely helpful for developing a more “diverse” palette in reading.

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Sunday Shorts (06/28)

Aaron Armstrong —  June 28, 2009 — Leave a comment

Marvin Olasky: With Calvin in the Theater of God

Desiring God’s 2009 National Conference, With Calvin in the Theater of God, is coming up this September with an interesting line of speakers, including Marvin Olasky, editor of World Magazine.

Olasky has a very intriguing testimony, as you can see from this video:

You can learn more about the conference at DesiringGod.org.

Michael Jackson: A Tortured Existence

Tim Challies offers some thoughts on the recent death of Michael Jackson:

So the king is dead. What a sad end to a sad life; a pathetic end to a pathetic life (by which I mean to use pathetic in its true sense as “arousing pity and sympathy). I don’t know that I have ever seen, in one man, such a combination of self-love and self-loathing, shocking narcissism combined with equally shocking self-hatred. Truly Michael Jackson was unparalleled.

Read the rest at Challies.com.

Piper vs. Wright on Justification: A Layman’s Guide

Trevin Wax put together a handy layman’s guide to understanding the debate on justification between John Piper and NT Wright. A primer was recently featured in Christianity Today (you can also download it as a chart).

Trevin and Ted Olsen also co-wrote the article, “Not an Academic Question,” which let pastors sound off on how this theological debate influences their ministry.

In case you missed it

Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:

Don’t Waste Your Life Jim thought he had everything, until…

Book Review: Pastor Dad Reviewing Mark Driscoll’s recent Father’s Day gift to all the men online

With Grace Comes Boldness The power of the gospel and sovereignty of Christ should inspire boldness

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John Piper: God So Loved the World, Part 1

Aaron Armstrong —  June 7, 2009 — Leave a comment

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Sunday Shorts (05/10)

Aaron Armstrong —  May 10, 2009 — Leave a comment

SIN: Resolved 2009 Conference

From Resolved.org:

Resolved 2009 will focus on sin. What is sin? How bad is it? Where did it come from? How can I be saved from it and its consequences? Is it possible to stop? Our 5th Resolved Conference will explore these questions and provide biblical answers.

John Owen wrote, “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” Join us at Resolved ’09 as we rally to understand and battle sin.

The conference will be held at the Palm Springs Convention Center, 277 N Avenida Caballeros, Palm Springs, CA 92262.

To register, visit Resolved.org

50,000 Shoes in 50 Days

Julian Smith wants you to help get 50,000 shoes for children in developing nations:

There are 13 days left to reach the goal.

Did you know…

…that you can get read several of John Piper’s books online? This is just one of the great ways that Desiring God is blessing the Christian community at large. Go and read some, and if you like what you read, purchase a copy in their store.

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