I'm Thinking I'm Going

Good Perspective from Dr. Mohler

Of all the things I've read on this historic day, Dr. Mohler has said it the best. Take some time to read this from his website albertmohler.com

http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/05/02/the-trial-that-still-must-come-the-death-of-osama-bin-ladin-and-the-limits-of-human-justice/

Ready To Be Doing This

X3watch

Five Ways to Make Your Kids Hate Church

This is from http://theresurgence.com/2011/03/26/5-ways-to-make-your-kids-hate-church

1. Make sure your faith is only something you live out in public

Go to church... at least most of the time. Make sure you agree with what you hear the preacher say, and affirm on the way home what was said especially when it has to do with your kids obeying, but let it stop there. Don’t read your Bible at home. The pastor will say everything you need to hear on Sundays. Don’t engage your children in questions they have concerning Jesus and God. Live like you want to live during the week so that your kids can see that duplicity is ok.

2. Pray only in front of people

The only times you need to pray are when your family is over, holiday meals, when someone is sick, and when you want something. Besides that, don’t bother. Your kids will see you pray when other people are watching, no need to do it with them in private.

3. Focus on your morals

Make sure you insist your kids be honest with you. Let them know it is the right thing for them to do, but then feel free to lie in your own life and disregard the need to tell them and others the truth. Get very angry with your children when they say words that are “naughty” and “bad”, but post, read, watch, and say whatever you want on TV, Facebook, and Twitter. Make sure you focus on being a good person. Be ambiguous about what this means.

4. Give financially as long as it doesn’t impede your needs

Make a big deal out of giving at church. Stress the need to your children the value of tithing, while not giving sacrificially yourself. Allow them to see you spend a ton of money on what you want, while negating your command from Scripture to give sacrificially.

5. Make church community a priority... as long as there is nothing else you want to do

Hey, you are a church going family, right? I mean, that’s what you tell your friends and family anyways. Make sure you attend on Sundays. As long as you didn’t stay up too late Saturday night. Or your family isn’t having a big barbeque. Or the big game isn’t on. Or this week you just don’t feel like it. Or... I mean, you're a church-going family, so what’s the big deal?

Operation World

I want to share about an amazing resource I came across about a year ago. Operation World is the definitive prayer guide to every nation in the world. The book Operation World is the primary resource which gives limitless information on every single country. Information from economic status to challenges for pray. The website is also full of information and has several resources to guide your prayers for the nations. One of my favorite features is the pray today link which gives you a different country to pray for every day of the year. It has radically changed my prayer life and given me a clearer grasp of the nations. I could go on and on about how useful the book and website are but I will just mention a couple practical things.

It is a window to the nations for my family. Not only is it informative but it brings us as a family closer to the heart of God for the nations. During our family worship time we will open the book and read about the specific country listed for that day. As we watch the news and see world events unfold, we actual know about these countries and it opens our eyes even more to what and who we are praying for. It is amazing to see how this book has transformed our families heart for the lost in the past year.

It is a window to the nations for my youth. When everything they do seems to be self absorbed, from the games they play to the TV they watch, Operation World gives them a clearer sense of reality. There are 60 some prayer videos for different nations on the website that are extremely gripping and give you an actual look at the people of the world. I think it is beneficial for teens to not only hear about the nations but to see the nations with their own eyes. Each week we post one of these videos on our youth website and then every Wednesday night we take some time as a group to pray for that particular nation. As they hear, see, and pray, my hope is they will be broken for the nations and not only have a desire to pray but to go. We've only been doing this for about 6 months but I had longed to do this much earlier in my ministry. There just didn't seem to be any resources where if I wanted to know about a country, I could find the information in one place. There is information out there on different ministry websites but nothing like this and I would have to spend so much time looking for what I needed that it was overwhelming. Needless to say I was completely humbled when I came across this because it has everything you would want to know about the world.

So that's a little glimpse at what Operation World is and some ways I've found it beneficial to me, my family, and my ministry. Check out http://www.operationworld.org/ to find out more for yourself and see what God will do if we humble ourselves and pray and seek His face.

Here is the video we posted this week on Brazil. The video footage alone is overwhelming and should cause us to pray.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The first experience I had with Charles Spurgeon was in his devotional book Morning and Evening. My mom gave it to me when I was a junior in college and it completely changed how I studied God's Word. In the book there is a verse for the morning and evening of every day of the year. Each verse is followed by an exposition/devotion by Spurgeon. The beauty of his work is every devotional thought points to the cross, regardless of where the verse is found or how long it is. Since then I have read several of his writings and have grown to love his heart.

I am currently taking Baptist Heritage at SWBTS and one of the requirements is a research paper on a Baptist hero from a list of eight. Spurgeon was on the list and without hesitation I chose him and started my research. I've been overwhelmed by the example he has set for pastors of all generations regardless of cultural happenings. He was extremely and simply focused on two things; prayer and gospel centered preaching.

Spurgeon fervently prayed for revival. He knew if true revival was going to come it would only come from the hand of God. Soon after becoming the pastor of New Park Street Baptist Church in South London, at the age of 24, revival came. Several historians will say the growth came to New Park because of Spurgeon's tremendous preaching skills but this view overlooks his zealous prayer life. In response to the great movement of God Spurgeon said…

“The times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord have at last dawned upon our land. Everywhere there are signs of aroused activity and increased earnestness. When I came to New Park Street Church, it was but a mere handful of people to whom I first preached, yet I could never forget how earnestly they prayed. Sometimes they seemed to plead as though they could really see the Angel of the Covenant present with them, and as if they must have a blessing from him. More than once we were all so awe-struck with the solemnity of the meeting that we sat silent for some moments while the Lord’s Power appeared to overshadow us; and all I could do on such occasions was to pronounce the benediction, and say, ‘Dear friends, we have had the Spirit of God here very manifestly tonight; let us go home and take care not to lose his gracious influence.’ Then down came the blessings; the house was filled with hearers, and many souls were saved.”

Prayer was at the core and Spurgeon knew that full well but another key contributor to the revival was gospel centered preaching. Spurgeon said…

“Sound doctrine and loving invitation make a good basis of material, which, when modeled by the hand of prayer and faith, will form sermons of far more value in the saving of souls than the most philosophic essays prepared elaborately, and delivered with eloquence and propriety.”

It seems he took 1 Corinthian 2:1-5 to heart. He believed in the life giving power of scripture and believed it alone had the power to free dead souls from the bondage of sin. He said…

“There is a style and majesty about God’s Word, and with this majesty a vividness never found elsewhere. No other writing has within it a heavenly life that works miracles and even imparts life to its reader. It’s a living and incorruptible seed. It moves, it stirs itself, it lives, it communes with living men as the living Word. Solomon says concerning it, ‘It shall talk with thee.’ You need not bring life to Scripture. You should draw life from Scripture.”

As a young minister of the gospel I hope to have half the confidence in God’s saving power as Spurgeon. He truly believed in the sovereignty and providence of God. We must remove ourselves completely if we expect God to move in our lives, our families, our churches, and our world. I think if Charles Spurgeon was to charge young preachers today he would give the same charge Paul gave Timothy.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 3:16-4:5