In case you were wondering what John Piper may be up to these days while on sabbatical, this should give you an idea.
via @darrinpatrick
Piper explains his sabbatical here
John Piper on sabbatical
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Monthly Archives: July 2010
Bearing Fruit?
“Bearing fruit.” That is some Christianese if I have ever heard it.
However, as we dove into John 15 Sunday, we find that believers are pruned to bear more fruit; that we are like a fruit bearing branch branch attached to the vine Jesus; apart from this we can do nothing; and evidenced of our life in Christ is fruit.
The logical question is, “What is fruit?”
Some suggest Jesus is referring to the fruit that comes from bearing witness to Jesus, that is, converts, the fruit of evangelism.
Others interpret this fruit as being the ethical virtues characteristic of the Christian life.
But something more basic, something that underlies both missionary work and ethical virtues, seems to be intended.
The development of this image suggests that bearing fruit refers to the possession of the divine life itself and especially the chief characteristics of that life – knowledge of God and love.
Jesus says when we bear much fruit we will demonstrate that they are his disciples (John 15:8), and love is the evidence that one is a disciple and is in union with God and one another.
Thus, the image of fruit symbolizes that which is at the heart of both Christian witness and ethics—union with God, abiding in Jesus and Jesus in us through his word.
Sabbath rest
“The Sabbath is the realm of existence where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world.” ~ Abraham Heschel
Return of the one hit wonders
Java Joe’s has a way of bringing out the best in people.
We once had three straight days of drive-through customers “pay it forward” to the people who came in behind them.
Now, we hope to tap into that generosity to raise money to underwrite the launch of Matthew’s Table’s missions involvement in Europe.
The One Hit Wonder campaign is simple: customers are asked to add one dollar to their purchase which will go to ongoing mission work in Europe.
Become a One Hit Wonder today.
A tale of 2 homes
You probably heard the story and learned the song at VBS or in Sunday school as a child
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27, ESV).
But I have a question: According to this section of Scripture, what do these two houses have in common?
Seems simple enough, but the answer floored me considering the context – especially the preceding three verses.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23, ESV).
I asked that question Sunday and no one got it. Let’s see if you can.
Leave your answer in the comments.
Sorry no iPad giveaway.
Thoughts on the gospel
The gospel confronts us with the hopelessness of our sinful condition. But we do not like what we see of ourselves in the gospel. Rather we shrink back from it. We live in the land of self-improvement.
Certainly there are steps we can take to make ourselves better. But in the process we tend to modify what the gospel says about us.
We think we are not totally depraived and certainly not spiritually dead.
Haven’t you heard of the power of positive thinking?
I can become better and experience my best life now.
That’s why God is there – to make all my wishes comes true.
My life is not going right, but God loves me and has a plan to fix my life.
I simply need to follow certain steps, check off certain boxes, and then I am good.
Both our diagnosis of the situation and our conclusion regarding the solution fit nicely in a culture that exalts self-sufficiency, self-esteem, and self-confidence.
We already have a fairly high view of our morality, so when we add a superstitious prayer, a subsequent dose of church attendance, and obedience to some of the Bible, we feel pretty sure we will be right in the end.
But the gospel reveals the depth of our need for Jesus. The gospel shows us that there is absolutely nothing we can do to come to him. We cannot manufacture salvation. We cannot program it. We cannot produce it. We cannot even initiate it. God has to open our eyes, set us free, overcome our evil, and appease his wrath.
And the best part? God has to come to us.
Introducing Maximus Ryan Carpenter
Maximus (Max) Ryan Carpenter entered this world on July 15, 2010 at 2:10pm. He weighed 7.8 lbs and is 20 inches long.
What’s in a name? Maximus Ryan = greatest little king.
Max and Mom
Big Brother
Proud Papa
Our prayer for both of our children has been eloquently stated by none other than Bob Dylan
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young
MQuest Nashville
Our friends over at Shapevine will be launching an unique training opportunity for missional formation. The Missional Quest series is a cohort based learning journey that will give you the opportunity to join in a small group of thirty like-minded sojourners.
The Nashville dates and facilitators are:
November 1st or 2nd 2010 with Neil Cole
January 18th or 19th 2011 with Alan Hirsch
October 12th or 13th 2011 with Dan Kimball
Cohort members can also receive DMin credit from Fuller Theological Seminary
The cohorts are limited to 30 people each. The cost for the entire 90 day course is $279. Click here to register.
Easy as A-B-C?
We have boiled down what it means to follow Jesus to a simple A-B-C.
Admit you are a sinner.
Believe in Jesus.
Commit to Him.
And for good measure, we often throw in a prayer of salvation just to make sure all bases are covered. However, when we consider the actual words of Jesus, we find that following him actually requires a lot more of us.
Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:25-26, ESV).
Jesus could never be accused of appealing to popular opinion. Although it appears that Jesus is garnering a mass appeal, He is more interested in developing true disciples rather than crowds or adoring fans.
The difficulty in understanding Jesus’ teaching to the crowd obviously stems from the harshness of the language he uses. The tendency is to try and rationalize verses like these by thinking that Jesus is only using hyperbole and did not really mean what he is saying.
However, Jesus uses the word hate for a very specific and purposeful reason. Hate could simply mean to love less, but Jesus’ point here is that a true disciple’s devotion to him should make all other relationships appear to be characterized by hate in comparison.
What if we were told to hate our families and give up everything we had in order to follow Jesus?
This is where we come face to face with a dangerous reality. We do have to give up everything we have to follow Jesus. We do have to love him in a way that makes our closest relationships in this world look like hate. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor.
But we don’t want to believe it. We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives. So we rationalize these passages away. “Jesus wouldn’t really tell us not to bury our father or say good-bye to our family. Jesus didn’t literally mean to sell all we have and give it to the poor.
What Jesus really meant was…”
And this is where we need to pause. Because we are starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with.
Excerpt from Radical: The Bible Study
PowerPlant 2010
This past week we were fortunate enough to have groups from Beulah Baptist Church in South Carolina and Old Town Baptist Church in North Carolina come and work with us.
Pastors Ken Addision and Jason Leford both brought their youth groups to come to Nashville to engage students in church planting and evangelism by participating in PowerPlant Nashville.
This year we had three projects going on simultaneously.
One group of students went door-to-door to pray for, invite people to Matthew’s Table, and collect can goods for the Crossville Mission.
Another went to the local park and passed out water bottles, did face painting on the children present, prayed for people, and engaged them in spiritual conversations.
And a third group did a car wash in order to take donations for our mission trip to Rome this fall, pass out invitations to Matthew’s Table, and to pray for those who stopped.
This is the second year Ken and his group of students from Beulah Baptist Church joined us. We are thankful for their continued support of us.
We are also grateful for Jason and his crew from Old Town Baptist Church. We enjoyed connecting with them and their diverse group of students.
Both of these groups jumped right in and were eager to serve Lebanon. And through these very ordinary projects, God has moved in the lives of people in some extraordinary ways albeit mostly unknown to us.
I am thankful for youth pastors like Ken and Jason who are more concerned with forming students rather than forming youth ministries. Youth pastors, like all the ones who participated in PowerPlant this year, who are all about instilling God’s mission in the DNA of their ministries are a rare bread indeed.