Worship: A Simple Definition

Peterson provides a simple and useful definition of worship.



Worship "is essentially an engagement with [God] on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible."



--Peterson, Engaging with God, 20

Christ's Training School

"The sphere of every day experience is Christ's training school for bringing forth the highest aspects of Christian character."

--said to be evident from the suffer of missionary to China and martyr William Cooper (martyred probably July 1, 1900) by Walter B. Sloan, Martyred Missionaries, 156. Mr. Cooper was called after reading a copy of a Spurgeon sermon entitled "The Divine Call for Missionaries."

Busyness

If you know me well, you know I am passive. This is a characteristic which looks like the sin of procrastination often. C.J. Mahaney is writing a series on just that--procrastination. This is a sin with which I have often fallen into and desire to more faithfully fight.

C.J. soberingly reminds me:

• Busyness does not mean I am diligent
• Busyness does not mean I am faithful
• Busyness does not mean I am fruitful

Quoting a helpful article in the Journal of Biblical Counseling, he describes me too well:

• If my task is not due anytime soon, put it off.
• If the task is due tomorrow, cast aside all other responsibilities and focus on this one task.
• And after accomplishing a large task, take a break and reward yourself.

May God give grace as I seek to trust Him and work hard. And press on to know Him.

Mere Watering

Much of pastoral labor is water into the ground--no clue if 'working' or 'helping.'

From Fundamentalism to the CHBC Internship

In my closing paper on the internship, I described the experience like this:

"I've stepped into a larger pack running the same race and have been very heartened by their presence."

Demerited Favor

Grace is demerited favor. It is more than unmerited favor. Grace reaches beyond neutral, into the debt side, and then bestows the gift.



So is there only grace in the redemptive context? Is Genesis 3:15 the first display of grace?





--thoughts from Hermeneutics class with Brian Vickers

Illustrative Preaching

The preacher is to reflect the doctrine of revelation. He is to illustrate how God communicates to his people. So preaching as conversation would seem to fall short of this understanding.