God Builds By Tearing Down

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Dana Dill

kiss-the-waveWhy does it seem like God gives me the opposite of what I need?

Richard Sibbes answers:

God often works by contraries:

when he means to give victory, he will allow us to be hinder at first;

when he means to give comfort, he will terrify at first;

when he means to justify, he will condemn us first;

when he means to make us glorious, he will lower us first.

A Christian conquers even when he is conquered. When he is conquered by some sins, he gets victory over others more dangerous, such as spiritual pride and security.’ (Taken from The Bruised Reed, p.95)

Maturity in Christ grows to realize that God is always working for our good even when, nay, especially when, He seems to seek our harm. May we grow to learn that His cuts are that of a surgeon, not an enemy. May we learn the lesson Spurgeon did: “to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Saturday Post(s)

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Dana Dill

Saturday Post

How Much Do You Know About What the Bible Teaches About the Bible? “How well do you know the doctrine of the Scripture? How well do you know what the Bible tells us about the Bible? This short thirty-three question quiz is designed to help you find out.”

Live Online Discussion Equipping Your Kids. Brett Kunkle is hosting what I’m sure will be an incredibly helpful discussion on discipling your kids well. “On Tuesday night, November 17th, at 6:30 pm (Pacific Time), I will host a live online event to help parents and pastors think through the discipleship of the next generation.” Also, J. Warner Wallace is hosting an event speaking about a similar topic.

How Do You Walk Into Church? An excellent thought here. “How you walk into church will be determined by what you think church is, and what you think you’re doing there.” Don’t miss it.

Three Reasons Jesus Loves You. I need more of this in my life. So do you.

What Do I Do With the Bible. These 14 things.

Unsocial Media. Wise and relevant thoughts. “Smartphones and social media will cure the epidemic of widespread loneliness. Or so we thought. We would all be connected, all together, all the time, and none of us would ever feel alone. But the harsh truth is we could always be lonely, even lonely in a crowd, and now lonely in a digital crowd.”

Only the Trinity Makes Sense of the Bible. “Only the Trinity can make sense of the love of God as an intrinsic moral excellence, a holy affection continuously given and received from eternity past among the divine persons. Only the Trinity can turn Jesus’ sacrifice on a cross into a testament of God’s love for the world, since it was God’s blood, shed by Christ, that purchased Christ’s church (Acts 20:28). And only with the Trinity can a man suffer a finite amount of time, yet cover an eternal debt for a countless multitude, since the man was Himself the God of infinite grace.”

What Getting Dumped Says About You. “Danger is on every side of being dumped. One of the greatest dangers is believing that a breakup says something about our value; about our intrinsic worth.”

Women Preachers? Recently, Mega-Church pastor Perry Noble gave his defense for why he thinks churches should have women preachers. After his post, CBMW responded here. I encourage you to check out the helpful and cordial exchange. Where do you land?

How Can a Wife Encourage Her Husband to Shepherd Their Children? Although this is directed toward pastor’s wives, the principles are universal for all wives.

Amazing Recipe. My wife will like this.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why So Serious?

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Dana Dill

why_so_serious_by_cyanide227Every now and then I’m told that I am not like most youth pastors. I don’t take pride in this (often times, I don’t think its a good thing), but I am simply reporting a common observation. There are various reasons for this (e.g. my love for dead theologians, heavy theological books, or excruciatingly tedious organization), but one of the most commonly noticed traits of my youth-pastoring oddness is my seriousness. Don’t misunderstand, I know how to be goofy, how to joke around, and how to have fun (ask my students). But, in my preaching, teaching, and conversations others recognize a common thread of solemnity.

So, as the Joker would ask, “Why so serious?”

Instead of me explaining the reason for this seriousness, I think Ryle tells a story that does the job better than I could.

Matthew Henry tells a story of a great statesman in Queen Elizabeth’s time, who retired from public life in his latter days, and gave himself up to serious thought. His former merry companions came to visit him, and told him he was becoming melancholy.

“No,” he replied, “I am serious; for all are serious round about me.

God is serious in observing us,

Christ is serious in interceding for us,

the Spirit is serious in striving with us,

the truths of God are serious,

our spiritual enemies are serious in their endeavors to ruin us,

poor lost sinners are serious in hell,

and why then should not you and I be serious too?”

Taken from J.C. Ryle (2011-08-09). Thoughts for Young Men With Study Guide (p. 38). TheBiblePeople.com. Kindle Edition.

Don’t misunderstand, I love to have fun, to laugh, to joke, and to be goofy with my students and friends. I am not known solely as a solemn and stodgy curmudgeon. However, the weightiness of God’s glory, the supremacy of Jesus Christ, the powerful work of the Holy Spirit, the cross’s atoning power, and the looming reality of heaven and hell continues to sober my mind, focus my eyes, enliven my heart, and calculate my words.

Life. Death. Heaven. Hell.

These things are hard for me to take lightly and I don’t think I should.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

When God’s Word Won’t Help You

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Dana Dill

Jas1The Apostle James once wrote:

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22

Matthew Henry comments:

Hearing is in order to doing; the most attentive and the most frequent hearing of the word of God will not help us, unless we be also doers of it. If we were to hear a sermon every day of the week, and an angel from heaven were the preacher, yet, if we rested in bare hearing, it would never bring us to heaven. Therefore the Apostle James insists…that we practice what we hear.

As Richard Baxter said, “There must be inward practice by meditation, and outward practice in true obedience.”

It is not enough to

remember what we hear,

and to be able to repeat it,

and to give testimony to it,

and commend it,

and write it,

and preserve what we have written;

that which all this is in order to, and which crowns the rest, is that we be doers of the word.

(Taken from Henry’s Commentary on James).

God’s Word will do us no good if it doesn’t come flow our of our fingertips. The demons believe good theology, but God’s people live according to it. God’s Word will be of no help to you unless you live according to it.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Your Sermon

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Dana Dill

audienceVance Havner:

My father, a faithful layman who loved preaching and preachers, used to tell us once in a while, with a smile: “Some day I am going to prepare a big sermon and preach it.” I think he really meant it for I found sermon notes, beginnings of outlines which never were completed. Whether the task was too great or whether he was smitten with timidity, I do not know, but for some reason the sermon never materialized.

Some months after he passed away, I was preaching in my old home church in the country. One night I asked Christians to stand and tell who had led them to Christ. I did not know what I was getting into: so many arose and said, “It was your father who brought me to Jesus” that I felt embarrassed lest the people think I had planned it merely to honor my father. They told of how along the country ways, in their homes, in the little church, he had dealt with them for the Lord.

And then I knew: Father had preached his big sermon after all.

(Taken from The Best of Vance Havner, p. 28).

Your life is your greatest sermon to the world. As Havner said, “Don’t forget that your life is preaching the ‘Gospel According to You.'”

Preach away.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Loving the Universal Church vs. the Local Church

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Dana Dill

public-love-church“I don’t need to be a member of a local church because I am a member of the universal church.”

“I am more interested in the capital C ‘Church,’ and not as much the lower case C ‘church.'”

Have you ever heard anything like that? It’s not uncommon. There are quite a few folks who believe their love for the “universal church” or the “invisible church” makes it unnecessary for them to bother with some local church in their area. Warren Wiersbe once told a story about such a man:

A free-lance missionary visited a pastor friend of mine asking for financial support. “What group are you associated with?” my friend asked.

The man replied, “I belong to the invisible church.”

My friend then asked, “Well, what church are you a member of!”

Again he got the answer, “I belong to the invisible church!”

Getting a bit suspicious, my friend asked, “When does this invisible church meet? Who pastors it?”

The missionary then became incensed and said, “Well, your church here isn’t the true church. I belong to the invisible church!”

My friend replied, “Well, here’s some invisible money to help you minister to the invisible church!”

(Taken from Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 38). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

I want that story to bring us to a simple point: a true love for and membership in the universal church is most clearly displayed in one’s love for and membership in a local church. If we say we love “the universal church” without having a meaningful membership in a local church, then we probably love nothing more than an idea. And it doesn’t take much Bible reading to realize that Jesus doesn’t call us to love an idea, but actual flesh and blood people who call on His Name (John 13:34).

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Precious Gift of Boring

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Dana Dill

bored+bpd+borderlineKevin DeYoung reminds us that boring is something to be cherished:

Talk to the parents whose house was flooded or whose kids won’t sleep through the night. Talk to the friend who has been sitting by the bedside of a loved one in the hospital for days or weeks. Talk to the baby-boomer who has made special trips to take care of an aging parent. Talk to the family whose kitchen remodel is dragging on another month. Talk to the young women who keeps going from doctor to doctor looking for a definitive diagnosis that hasn’t come. Talk to the dad who has been on the road more days than he can remember. Talk to the mom who can’t shake her anxiety or her headaches. Talk to anyone who feels like the chaos of life is spinning and spinning, without any routine or regularity in sight. Most of us don’t learn how precious normal is until it’s gone.

If your life feels ho-hum and humdrum, if you struggle to find contentment in the ordinary and mundane, if you are tempted to break free from the predictable routine of life with stupidity or sinfulness, consider for a moment that your boring life is the envy of almost every person sitting right now in a hospital bed or a refugee camp. Consider how many friends and family members would gladly trade in all their frenzied commotion and uncertain schedules for a single day of your plain-jane normalcy. The only people bored with boring are those who have never had to live without it…

Thank God for your normal, boring life.

And have mercy on those around you who wish they had their boring back.

Read the whole post here.

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Saturday Post(s)

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Dana Dill

Saturday Post

Shepherding Your Family on Saturday to Sunday. Here are some practical thoughts about how to shepherd your family 24/7.

The 498 Anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. An enlightening interview with Dr. Carl Trueman about the good Doctor Luther.

Six Ways to Grow Thankfulness & Joy. “As we make gratitude a habit by practicing it over and over, it becomes part of us. Natural. As natural as complaining. And eventually thankfulness will drive out that demon of grumbling and we’ll experience more and more consistent joy. Here are 6 ways to cultivate thankfulness…”

40 Thoughts on My 40th Birthday. I always appreciate some good life reflection. I enjoyed #37, “40 years of living and I’m basically still that same little kid who wants to know he’s okay. Except now fat.” Also, I liked #2, “Luther first thesis was ‘All of life is repentance.’ So is all of marriage.”

19 Turning Points in Christian History. What some think are the most important events to take place in all Christian history. It would do us all well to study them and their influence.

You Don’t Have to Choose Between Holiness & Happiness. “When Jesus says, “Be perfect” (Matthew 5:48), we should recognize that true happiness in him is part of what he intends. Our pleasure is won in the “Aha!” moments of discovering firsthand why God’s ways really are best. The more we discover God’s ways and experience the goodness of his holiness, the less we try to find happiness apart from him.”

A Little Spider for Halloween. Nope, nope, nope.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Abortion is Unjust Discrimination

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Dana Dill

A helpful video that shows how a baby in the womb is the most unjustly discriminated person in the world.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Grateful for Interruptions

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Dana Dill

BusinessInterruptionAs a man who is easily taken “out of the zone,” interruptions are something I find difficult to appreciate. Said more honestly, it is hard for me not to disdain them.

However, since I live in God’s world under Christ’s rule, I understand that my scorn for interruptions is not OK. Even the idea of interruptions is suspect when I live at the pleasure of another who is Sovereign over all. God has created me in Jesus Christ to do the good works He has prepared for me to do, not necessarily the ones I have planned to do (Ephesians 2:10). The Lord will interrupt my self-made plans with His own. I need to learn and love that truth. I not only need to pray, “Thy will be done,” but I also must practice it when His holy interruptions come my way.

I appreciate, therefore, the needed exhortation from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks. . . . It is a strange fact that Christians and even ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them. They think they are doing God a service in this, but actually they are disdaining God’s “crooked yet straight path.” (Taken from Life Together)

Pressing the point further, I appreciate Joseph Tenney’s words:

Interruption is God’s invitation. God is inviting us to see him all around us, in the lives of others, in our conversations, in our serving those in need. Interruption is not simply a matter of our heart developing patience; it’s about experiencing true life. It is one of God’s ways of waking us up to what’s around us to see there’s more to be done than our self-appointed tasks for the day, as important as they may seem.

And therefore, my plans must always be loose in my mind. If God has different plans for me than what I had previously planned, I must remember, again and again, that I am His and I live for His pleasure and service. Interruptions are simply God letting me in on what He had planned all along. They are not taking me away from my work, but inviting me to it.

Read the whole post on interruption from Tenney here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment