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Two eyes and two voices: Hunting for grace in the church

He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. (Titus 1:9) What are the deep roots of those two voices - encouragement and rebuke? There are many - the nature of truth, goodness, God, the gospel - but one deep root is that the undershepherd/friend-of-the-bridegroom should be a man after the own heart of the Great Shepherd/Bridegroom (Jer. 3:15; John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2) who speaks with the same voice as the Great Shepherd/Bridegroom (Luke 10:16; John 10:16; Eph. 2:17). As Luther said, "Let me and everyone who speaks of the word of Christ freely boast that our mouths are the mouths of Christ" (A Sincere Admonition, 1522). So how does Christ feel towards and speak to his church? Richard Sibbes is particularly helpful on this.  The bruised reed and the smouldering church In probably his best known and loved work, Sibbes expounds Isaiah 42:3 (quoted and fulfilled in Jesus in Mat...
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Fool-proof English pancake recipe

    It was actually in Kenya that I first learnt that you don't have to restrict pancakes to once a year on Pancake Day. My Kenyan boss cooked them every weekend for his family. So we started a family tradition of pancakes pretty much every Saturday morning.  A few things to do while you're cooking: Listen to David Suchet read the Bible on the YouVersion Bible app. You can get through 10-14 chapters in an hour - which is helpful if you're trying to read the Bible in 3 months .  Listen to Carl Trueman's classic (often hilarious)  33 lecture series on the Reformation  or his series on the Medieval Church . Listen to lectures from past Pastors Academy conferences  or Catalyst Conferences  or Clarus - rich stretching reformed biblical theology. Listen (critically) to some podcasts that give an alternative view of the world - e.g. Triggernometry, Diary of a CEO. Listen to some good Christian music - e.g. Emu. Just give your mind some space. You don...
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Here's how he will win the nations

The famous hymn by William Young Fullerton says: I cannot tell how he will win the nations, how he will claim his earthly heritage, how satisfy the needs and aspirations of east and west, of sinner and of sage. But surely we have been told quite a bit about how the nations will be won? Psalm 2 - the source of "I will make the nations your inheritance" - is quoted 7 times in the New Testament, twice in the Book of Acts which is basically a manual on how exactly the nations will be won. But even in the Old Testament, the Lord lays out the means by which the nations will be won. Continuing our thoughts from Jeremiah ( Jeremiah for planters and Shepherds after my own heart ) here are two wonderful verses from the beginning of chapter 4: “If you, Israel, will return,     then return to me,” declares the Lord. “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight     and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way     you swear, ‘As surely...
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Shepherds after my own heart

If Jeremiah looks like it could be a particularly important, rich, cutting, fiery word to church planters - what might be an example of that message? Here is a reflection on some verses from the early chapters of the book with special relevance to church planters and pastors... Jeremiah 2:8 The priests did not ask,     ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me... Just like Samson didn’t notice that the Lord had left him (Judges 16:20), the priests hadn’t noticed that the Lord had left them, that their places of worship were inscribed "Ichabod." Probably because they had never felt a sense of need of God in what they are doing or been distressed by a lack of God’s presence. They did not have the heart of the Psalmist (the spiritually healthy heart) which cries out regularly, "Where are you?" (cf. Psalm 10:1; 13:1–2; 22:1–2; 27:8–9; 42:1–2; 63:1; 84:2; 143:6–7). And the scribes who deal with the law - the Bible handlers - don’t actually know th...
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Jeremiah for planters

I'm not aware than anyone has done a sustained study on the relevance of the "planting" theme in Jeremiah to church planting. Someone should. In the absence of that, here are a few initial observations: Fourteen times the verb nāṭaʿ (to plant) is used in the Hebrew text of Jeremiah. Four of these are literal - speaking of the people of Judah planting gardens and vineyards (29:5, 28; 31:5; 35:7) while 10 are metaphorical (1:10; 2:21; 11:17; 12:2; 18:9; 24:6; 31:28; 32:41; 42:10; 45:4). All these references come in the first three quarters of Jeremiah, before the turn to address the nations in the final section of the book (chp. 46-52). What is intriguing in relation to the New Testament is the tying together of building and planting. Among the literal nāṭaʿ references, 3 of the 4 bring together building and planting. Among the metaphorical references, 6 of the 10 co-locate building and planting (1:10; 18:9; 24:6; 31:28; 42:10; 45:4). Then in 1 Corinthians 3 what do we find...
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What Paul and Barnabas agreed on

The Book of Acts might well be a written for a church planter - so what is the end of chapter 15 (v36-41) teaching him as a church leader?  Theophilus' eye will certainly be drawn first to the surprising disagreement between two church planting legends and he'd be given a reality check (and reassurance) that good, godly, well-motivated gospel workers will disagree and that is not terminal and God can use the conflict for good. In particular the incident raises the important issue of who do you take onto your team . Is it wise to take someone onto the launch team of a new church who has proved unreliable or experienced significant 'church hurt' or is in some way in bad relationship with their former church or has inflated expectations that 'this time it will be different'? Many would caution extreme care having seen the way church plants can be a magnet for those with conflicting agendas and unresolved grievances, only for patterns of disfunction to be repeated...
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Growing non-prickly

Isaiah 55:12-13 is a beautiful end to a beautiful chapter.  "For you will go out in joy     and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills     will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field     will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,     and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown,     for an everlasting sign,     that will endure forever." The great call of the chapter (v1-7) is to come to the free banquet of grace, to open ears as if mouths to eat, to seek the Lord, to come to him who is the feast. And then there are three reasons given: v8-9 - this Lord is nothing like you imagined, v10-11 - His Word is coming down from heaven to earth to bring life, v12-13 - this is all for joy God's great plan is the joy project . We are heading towards eternal joy - the greater Exodus - "led forth in peace." Miriam singing and dancing on the far s...
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