To be sure, there have always been some who have found the thought of grace so overwhelmingly wonderful that they could never get over it.
But many church people are not like this. They may pay lip service to the idea of grace, but there they stop.T heir conception of grace is not so much debased as nonexistent. The thought means nothing to them; it does not touch their experience at all. Talk to them about the church’s heating, or last year’s accounts, and they are with you at once; but speak to them about the realities to which the word grace points, and their attitude is one of deferential blankness. They do not accuse you of talking nonsense; they do not doubt that your words have meaning; but they feel that, whatever it is that you are talking about, it is beyond them, and the longer they have lived without it the surer they are that at their stage of life they do not really need it.–
I’ve read the section below before as its been quoted in various books, i have read, but I most recently came accross it in When I Don’t Desire God by John Piper, which I mentioned here a couple of days ago. This is tremendous encouragement and makes me hungry to stay consistent on my reading plan for this year.
Now . . . I would give a few hints to my younger fellow-believers as tothe way in which to keep up spiritual enjoyment. It is absolutely needful. . . we should read regularly through the Scriptures, consecutively,and not pick out here and there a chapter. If we do, we remain spiritual dwarfs. I tell you so affectionately. For the first four years after myconversion I made no progress, because I neglected the Bible. But whenI regularly read on through the whole with reference to my own heartand soul, I directly made progress. Then my peace and joy continued more and more. Now I have been doing this for 47 years. I have read through the whole Bible about 100 times and I always find it fresh when I begin again. Thus my peace and joy have increased more and more.
I read that quote yesterday. Here’s another from this morning concerning the use of the Word in prayer:
The difference then between my former practice and my present one is this. Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible. . . . But what was the result? I often spent a quarter of an hour, or half an hour, or even an hour on my knees, before being conscious to myself of having derived comfort, encouragement, humbling of soul, &c.; and often, after having suffered much from wandering of mind for the first ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, or even half an hour, I only then began really to pray. I scarcely ever suffer now in this way. My practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer, after having dressed myself in the morning. Now . . . the first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord’s blessing upon His precious word, was, to begin to meditate on the word of God, searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it. . . . The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that, though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer. When thus I have been for awhile making confession, or intercession, or supplication, or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the Word may lead to it.
I often get a bit panicked in the afternoon because inevitably, i will not have accomplished all that I had hoped to do. Here’s how I addressed that yesterday afternoon.
I am using the ESV online site to work on my bible reading plan for this year. I don’t always keep up well, but I don’t beat myself up about that. Usually i just jump to that days reading. The twist that I’m putting on that this year is that this site allows you to listen to the passages being read, actually any passage, for free. For instance, one of the four chapters to be read for today was Acts 20. I just listened to on the site and was genuinely helped by that. As an added bonus, you get to hear about Paul’s perhaps one time effort at youth ministry (verses 7-12)
I’ve been writing, thinking and agonizing over these verses (and several others leading up to these) this morning preparing for Sunday.
John 13:12-15 ESV
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
I know that tragedies take place around the globe all the time, but for some reason the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti has gripped my heart ever since I heard about it. You can give directly through Southern Baptist Disaster relief to the Haiti earthquake fund here
An interesting article regarding the issue of popular entertainment. John Piper reflects back on an interview where he was questioned about such things.
What a church is to be about is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. The N.T. talks about that a lot. It doesn’t talk much at all about the kinds of things that occupy our time: decisions about meeting times, worship styles, business meetings and the like. If we doing that first part well, a lot of those details will fall into place. Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God and all these other things will be added to you as well.
I have two recommendations for the body that I believe will help us to keep the main thing the main thing and not get so bogged down in the details, the machinery of church life.
One, we need to follow the leaders that the church has put in place to lead their various ministries: pastors, committees and deacons. When it comes to business meetings we need to follow those groups in this manner: Motions for action need to come primarily from these established leadership groups. I cannot enforce what I’m saying according to the constitution. Nor am I claiming that these leadership groups have always gotten things right. However, an individual member bringing an item of new business before the body on their own, is in greater danger of not being able to see the big picture and of bringing a motion that is a distraction away from what God is calling us to do. A leadership group has a greater chance of thinking through the larger ramifications of a motion and when they bring a motion it comes with greater credibility. So I’m asking, as your pastor at this moment, that members who feel that God is leading them to bring a motion to the body to first take it to the church appointed leadership group to which that issue would fall. A financial issue would go to the stewardship committee, personnel to the personnel, or a general church health issue either to the pastors or to the deacons. If that group hears your concern and believe that it needs to be brought before the body then that will be healthy. If they do not agree, and you still feel before God that such a motion still needs to be brought to the body, then by all means bring your motion, but in doing so let it be known that you have made an attempt to go through established leaders. It is my sense that the bringing of motions from individual members is often misunderstood and requires a lot of time on the business meeting floor to clarify. It is the sense of your pastors that it is these business meetings that are continuously getting us off track from the real business of the church and some are in fact leaving because of that reality. I would also encourage the body, that when you sense a motion being brought to the floor that should be handled at the committee level, that you promptly move to have it tabled to that group for study. The power remains with the congregation as a whole. But in general, this would be a far healthier way for the church to make decisions.
Second, there is a motion to be voted on next week (11/5/08) regarding a revote on the budget. I need to say a couple of things on that to put it in perspective.
The budget process led by the stewardship committee was in place for months, to include a church family forum. The stewardship committee was available for comment, and some members took the initiative to express their concerns to them. The budget was put out two weeks in advance of the business meeting. The personnel committee provided an unprecedented amount of information, far more than had ever been given. Beyond that, it actually took us two meetings to process the budget. The spreadsheet with all the salary information was out on the first business meeting. 8/20/08. That meeting ended with the personnel chair on the floor discussing that very issue. Some correction were made to the salary spreadsheet for the second meeting. We came back in the next meeting and discussed it further. That meeting was on 8/27/08 In that same meeting, a voting irregularity was noted and the body given an opportunity to revisit the issue. The body elected not to go back and revisit that. I have been reluctant to address this because of the appearance of being self serving. But the time for being concerned about appearances and perception has passed.
The church did its best to prayerfully adopt a budget. To try to undo that budget will be a distraction from the real work of the church creating confusion that could bog us down for months. Furthermore, it will un-fund two positions that have already been filled. It will ask a new stewardship committee who has other important work to do in this season, to redo last years budget close to the time when they need to be working on the budget for the new year.
Please pray that we can keep these conversations about the logistics of church business to a minimum so that all of us can give our full energy to the pursuit of our primary business, making disciples of Jesus Christ.
Believers have the responsibility to daily present themselves to God to be used in loving people to faith in him. However, there are events coming up at Seaford where we can work together to do this. Primarily, our weekly worship service is the most consistent opportunity. You can be involved in helping someone to Christ simply by consistently inviting friends to worship. Churches that grow tend to have very high percentages of their church body that do this weekly. Second, upward basketball season is fast approaching and there are many ways to be involved in that ministry. Third, our Christmas musical is always a great opportunity to invite guests.
In October, the personnel committee filled two positions based on the decisions of the church body in the August business meetings. They hired Kathi Hodge as the interim worship director and Lloyd Wiggins as the facility maintenance coordinator. Kathi is new to Seaford; Lloyd is an active member having joined Seaford in 2004. In addition to this action, the committee has completed work on a new personnel manual and will be introducing that to the full church staff in mid November.
The church health team has launched a church health survey, as requested by the pastor search committee. This survey will provide critical information to the search committee as well as provide important data to the current pastoral staff and other church leaders as we seek to follow God’s direction for our church. You can find out more information about this by reading the lead article in the October newsletter. You can also find that at There is a link to the survey on the main page of the church’s web site. www.sbc-va.org
The pastors are beginning a message series on the book of Nehemiah on Sunday, October 26th that will run through the end of November. There are fascinating themes in this book that parallel much of what is transpiring during this season at Seaford: specifically prayer, leadership, facing challenges proactively, engaging everyone in ministry, and worship.
The pastor search committee will be leading a church family forum during the mid week service on Nov. 12th. They are planning a highly interactive event with a combination of guided small discussion as well as large group collaboration. The purpose of this forum will be to discuss the new pastor profile.
We have had many first and second time guests over the course of the fall. It is everyone’s responsibility to help create a welcoming and nurturing environment for these guests whom God has entrusted to us. No one visits a church by accident, least of all Seaford. Aaron recently offered new training for greeters and is actively seeking to expand that ministry. We need greeters at every entrance and in the parking lot to assist in caring for those God is bringing to us. Please contact Aaron at the church office (898-5384) or by email awest@sbc-va.org if you would be interested in serving in this ministry.
Finally, after a three and half year wait, Kat and I leave for China on November 4th, to bring home our adopted daughter, Noelle Meiyuan. Thanks to so many of you who have prayed for us and encouraged us through this time.
It seems to me that we could preach on the subject of relationships between the opposite sex every week and never lack for an audience that needs to hear the subject. Such relationships touch everyone, whether you are a young person, single, married, divorced, remarried or widowed. We’re planning to talk about dating relationships for both teens and singles, marriage relationships, finances in marriage, and blocks to intimacy in marriage, and of course, we’ll do this all from God’s word. This series will begin on Sunday September 7th. Will you commit to being here this fall as we pray and strive together to encourage and develop healthy relationships?
Beginning a new church year is a good time to remind ourselves that God calls us to be generous people. It doesn’t make sense to not follow God in this area and yet it is such a struggle for so many of us. Many have gotten their personal finances into such a mess that though they would like to give more generously they feel trapped. Others have questions about how the church’s funds are spent and wonder if those making financial decisions are doing so effectively. Some have said for so long that we are not doing well financially that that many have begun to believe that to an extent not warranted by the facts. I believe that as we are faithful to follow God, he will be faithful to provide the funds to do what he calls us to do. With my personal finances, I confess that sometimes I wish God would miraculously make my bills go away. Obviously, God does not always answer prayer the way we wish he would. Perhaps the struggle to trust God with everything related to our finances, both for our families and our church, is important.
Seaford is a diverse church. People look at giving in so many different ways. Some in the body give faithfully and sacrificially no matter what else happens. Some want to give like that but are so strapped in debt that can’t see how it is possible. Perhaps some think the church is not being wise with expenditures or staff and so are not giving, and I am sure there are some that are just stubbornly disobedient. Regardless of where you stand, will you pray with me about these matters? I believe with all my heart that individuals, families and the whole church will be healthier and more full of joy as more of us get into that first category of joyful givers. God says, test me and see (Malachi 3:10). Perhaps it is time for you to take God up on that challenge.
(verses 7-12)