Make All Things New

I have been reading a book called “A Praying Life” by Paul Miller which I highly recommend. Yesterday, I read a short portion that served me well. I am seeing so many people suffering around me, so many lacking joy as they seek to find a way out of their suffering. This reminder from Miller was greatly encouraging to me and I hope to share it with others.

“The Father wants to draw us into the story of his Son. He doesn’t have a better story to tell, so he keeps retelling it in our lives.” That means that we endure suffering and pain that seems like it should be avoidable, seems like it shouldn’t happen so that we can display the gospel in our lives. The gospel is the best story and we are privileged to “share in  [Jesus'] sufferings” (Philippians 3:10).

That is good and true, and here is the piece that is breathtaking to me. Miller writes, “If we stop fighting and embrace the gospel story God is weaving in our lives, we discover joy.” We find joy in submitting to the story God is writing with our lives! Joy comes through faith in God! God is doing so many things with our lives right now and we only see just a few of them. His story has a great ending that will suffice.

Gospel growth isn’t easy, but it is good because the Author of the Story is Good. So, I pray that we all are submitted to God as he tells his story through our lives. Soli Deo gloria.

One of the first books I was assigned to read for LAMPhilly training is Edmund Clowney’s Called to the Ministry In God’s sovereignty, I had heard some of these same principles a couple of years ago from Tim Keller (a student of Clowney’s). I am so thankful to find this small book and I commend it to you.

You can read some of the great quotes from the book over at Justin Buzzard’s blog and I am posting my short book report to encourage you to read Clowney!

Called to the Ministry
by Edmund Clowney
P & R Publishing (1964)

“What is Christ calling you to do?” This is the opening question in this small but immensely helpful book by Edmund Clowney. Does God still call people to ministry the same way he did in biblical times? Clowney systematically addresses these (and many other questions) with biblically based answers. In order to answer the opening question, Clowney writes, “We must first consider the Lord’s calling of every Christian, then we should examine what the New Testament says about the calling of the minister of the gospel.” (p. V)
According to Clowney, the first part of understanding God’s calling in one’s life is to be called a child of God. No one can be called to gospel ministry unless he is first called into relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Once called into fellowship with God through Christ, the Christian is called to follow Christ into service. Gospel ministry is a call for Christian to serve. An interesting paradox is now found. “The ‘Come!’ of Christ separates us from the world to his name; the ‘Go!’ of Christ sends us into the world in his name.” (p. 18) But how, specifically, is a Christian to put Christ on display through service? “[T]he calling of an individual in the church of Christ is determined by the gifts Christ has given him, by the ‘measure’ of the Spirit he has received.” (p. 27) That is, the Christian is supernaturally-equipped to for specific service within the church and within the world.
The second portion of this book focuses specifically on the calling to ministry. Clowney describes this calling as specific to the gifting given. Summed up, “The call of the Word of God to the gospel ministry comes to ALL those who have the gifts for such ministry.” (p. 79) These gifts are given to the individual by Christ for the purpose of building his church. The work is of Christ and for Christ from start to finish.
This book serves as more than just an excellent primer for anyone wrestling with a sense of calling into gospel ministry. I say “more than” because while Clowney’s book is brief in length, it is vast in its depth of wisdom. This wisdom comes from his focus on Jesus and the scriptures for the basis of his arguments. I found his arguments excellent and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.
The way Clowney helped me to understand the calling to ministry was extremely helpful to me. Specifically, understanding that there are basically three aspects of calling to gospel ministry and it is not just some internal feeling you get (while that can be part of it). Calling to gospel ministry consists of an internal call, what I might term a “burden” for sharing the gospel. Another aspect would be the affirmation of the gifting for gospel ministry by leaders in your local church (who know you well). And finally, the circumstances or opportunities to test and grow the gifting you have.
These specific points have helped to confirm my calling to gospel ministry for the sake of Christ’s glorious name!

Trevin Wax is giving away copies of each of his 10 favorite books he read in 2008 plus an ESV Study Bible. It’s free to enter.

Michael Wittmer, author of Heaven Is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God, has another book coming out in December. The title is: Don’t Stop Believing: Why Living Like Jesus Is Not Enough, if it is like his first book then I am sure it will be a interesting read.

His first book was challenging to me and was in a way instrumental in my growth in understanding the biblical narrative.  While I didn’t particularly care for HOW he said some things, I was interested in WHY he said what he did.  This interest led to further study and this study to prayer and growth.  So, I am looking forward to the new book.

(H.T.: DashHouse.com)

I read this from Tim Keller’s new book, The Prodigal God, this morning:

“What must we do, then, to be saved?  To find God we must repent of the things we have done wrong, but if that is all you do, you may remain just an elder brother. To truly become a Christian we must also repent of the reasons we ever did anything right. Pharisees only repent of their sins, but Christians repent for the very roots of their righteousness, too. We must learn how to repent of the sin under all our other sins and under all our righteousness – the sin of seeking to be our own Savior and Lord.  We must admit that we’ve put our ultimate hope in both our wrongdoing and right doing we have been seeking to get around God or get control of God in order to get hold of those things.”  – Timothy Keller The Prodigal God (Dutton Books 2008) pp 77-78

Oh how often I do good things for wrong reasons! Father forgive me for my own self-salvation project and lead me into a deeper understanding of the gospel. Teach me that my record will never be good enough but that Christ’s record is perfect. And his record is mine, not through my earning it with good deeds but through faith given to me by you. Let that awe and amaze me daily, as it often doesn’t enough. And from that amazement and love, let good works flow in hopes of magnifying the beauty of Christ. Amen.

So after seeing that WTSBooks.com offers The Prodigal God not only earlier but for $2 less than Amazon, I canceled my pre-order and placed the order with Westminster. Knowing the good folks at WTSBooks, I will probably have the new Keller book tomorrow (and thus have the third of my three most anticipated books for the remainder of the year).

Amazon says they are shipping it on Nov. 3 but Westminster seems to have it available now.  What gives?

Gentrification and Real Renewal

In the book I am currently reading Urban Ministry, I was challenged to rethink my view on gentrification.  I had always looked at gentrification as a postiive thing, even an evidence of renewal taking place in some small measure.  The restoration of homes into more comfortable and esthetically pleasing dwellings has always appealed to me.  To see a whole neighborhood made better always seemed to be good to me.  And there lies the challenge.  For whom is this better neighborhood actually better?  Is it better for me and people like me who may be able to afford a nice home in an up-and-coming neighborhood?  Is it really better for the poor who can’t afford to purchase a home pre-gentrification and certainly not after their neighborhood is “renewed”.  This type of urban renewal has two sides and I have really tended to focus only on one.  Making things newer, cleaner, safer, nicer is good but without addressing the displaced, is it just?

Now I am not totally opposed to gentrification, I am just admitting that I have really looked at it from only one side.  Renewing an area might raise the real estate prices but without caring for the people that are pushed out, is that really renewal?  Thinking about all of this just made me love Jesus even more. For He plans to not only make “all things new” but he also promises to “wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying,nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  He promises real renewal. Renewal that provides both beauty and freedom from the sins of crime and decay while also providing justice and freedom from the signs abuse and forced poverty.

It is somewhat odd to think that having a greater understanding of the complexity of the problems still does not deter from having a greater desire to be a part of the solution.  But that’s what Jesus does.  He renews our hearts and shows His glory — even veiled now — and we are captivated.  Knowing what he has done at the cross… and in my heart… and what he promise to do at his return, that drives me to want to put him on display, regardless of how impossible the task may appear.

I have read, enjoyed but not yet blogged about Andy Crouch’s book “Culture Making”.  I would encourage everyone to read it.  As Crouch suggests, it is a book to be read together and discussed (How are you coming along with it Larry?).  I would enjoy more discussion about it myself.

In the hopes of encouraging others to read it, check out this review from Books & Culture.  The writer seemed to be similarly impacted by this book as I have been.

I had previously mentioned Mark Driscoll’s upcoming book, Death By Love as one the books I am most looking forward to reading in the remainder of the year.  Well, a website for the book was launched recently and if you view the trailer (since when did books have trailers?) you might see why I think this book will be helpful in ministering to people.  Go here: Death By Love.