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You Need Community…Really…You Do…

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I was privileged to get a copy of Brad House’s book Community, the latest in the RE:LIT series.  House serves as a pastor at Mars Hill Church, Seattle, where he oversees community groups for the multi-site church.  For me, a good book is built on the basics of God’s Word and filled with practicality, or what the foundational truth from God’s Word should look like fleshed out.

The tension in a book on a particular facet of ministry is that while a broad cross section of evangelicalism may agree that something is important and even rooted in God’s Word, we may disagree on its practice.  I thought House did a great job of helping us see that what Mars Hill Church has chosen to do, how it has come out of Biblical conviction, but isn’t meant to be replicated by every church.  We are responsible, however, to flesh out community in our midst and this is the real strength of the book.

In Part 1, the foundation (or as he calls them, Building Blocks For Life) is unpacked.  This lays some biblical footings for how the book will flesh itself out in the later chapters.  Why do we need community?  How did God create us for this and other truths.

Part 2, health plan, helps to lead us in a positive direction by helping us see the different facts of community that need to be considered.  How should groups function, how often should they meet, where should they meet, what should they do?  Are you getting a feel for the practical side yet?

Part 3, treatment, gives us ways to effect change in our groups.  In other words, I’m given practical tools in this section to go about changing things from the way we’ve always done them.  This includes not only changing the past, but equipping leaders for the future.

Positives in this book include getting a great feel for what the Bible says about community, how those are fleshed out in a local church taking those commands seriously, humility in communicating what has been pursued, stories of how pursuing this has helped, as well as what I’ve already mentioned: practical things.

Negatives for me were that it is a longer read.  At times I felt the book drag.  This might have been my fatigue or the time of life when I’m reading this (3 kids under 5), but as I pressed through, it proved to be time well spent.

House has definitely thought deeply about this issue.  And if community is something you would like help in applying or tweaking in your particular ministry, then this book would be a book worthy of your time and investment.

Music Links…

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…usually on Thursdays I post some links that I find useful and today I decided to make them about music…

First of all, today, Shane and Shane‘s new project “The One You Need” is available to download.  It won’t be released in stores until October.  Great chance to grab it.  Here’s a video of the title track:
. Based on the little bit I’ve heard, it will be amazing.

This past Tuesday Matt Papa’s new CD came out: This Changes Everything. Matt’s music just kind of tells it like it is. One song, entitled “Stay Away From Jesus” speaks of how this song won’t get played on Christian radio because Jesus calls us to come and deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him and it’s not a popular message. Anyway, I enjoyed that.

Matt Redman’s new project 10,000 Reasons is one of his best. Michael Bleeker said it has many good songs to use in the church and I would agree. I remember rolling to church this past Sunday listening to the title track and being filled with awe and wonder of God Himself.

I also downloaded the latest from Hillsong Live: God Is Able. It appears to be more of what we’ve come to expect from Hillsong.

Hope these links help give you some good, God-focused resources for worship.

Some Helpful Links From TGC…

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This week, I’ve found a couple of links on The Gospel Coalition Blog helpful…
First off, last week Don Carson answered a question on how Peter handled the OT in a sermon in the book of Acts.  Particularly, this question alleged that Peter mishandled the text.  And, with the brilliance we’ve come to expect from him, Don answered and in his answer unfolded much helpful teaching on how we understand the NT use of the OT. 
The blog is also posting a series of posts on Pastors and Depression.  (One, Two, Three, Four, Five)  I doubt if many I have the privilege of serving believe pastors “don’t do anything but preach.”  But, it’s easy to think that because we have a sit down job of assembling things for public speaking each Sunday that it happens easily.  These posts will help give you ways you can particularly care for and understand the shepherds God has entrusted to you in the local church.  Seek to serve them so that their ministry to you is a joy.

2 New Great Albums…

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In recent days, 2 outstanding worship projects have been released:

God Of Victory is the new worship project from The Village Church, where Matt Chandler pastors. This has been an amazing project for me to pick up. I’ve probably listened to it about 15 times in the past week and specifically, have enjoyed the song “Only The Blood.” The chords charts, chords with capo and story behind the songs, as well as other things are available on the album page.

Another outstanding album I’ve enjoyed has been:

Risen by Sovereign Grace Ministries. I love the opening track, which just makes my heart beat and specifically praise rise as I think about what God has accomplished for me in His resurrection. They have an album page as well as chords available on Bob Kauflin’s site, Worship Matters.

Check out these projects as you grow to sing a new song to the Lord.

My Favorite Quote from @DailyKeller’s King’s Cross…

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Just finished Keller’s recent book, King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, which was really an experience of worship in preparing for another Passion Week. I’m wondering if I ought to re-read this book every year around this time. Keller’s lets Mark’s Gospel communicate why Jesus came and who He was.

My favorite quote came on p.41, which was eye-opening in helping me see how easily people in the church can fall prey to the shackles of religion…

In religion the purpose of obeying the law is to assure you that you’re all right with God. As a result, when you come to the law, what you’re most concerned about is detail. You want to know exactly what you’ve got to do, because you have to push all the right buttons. You won’t gravitate toward seeking out the intent of the law; rather, you’ll tend to write into the law all sorts of details of observance so you can assure yourself that you’re obeying it. But in the life of Christians the law of God–though still binding on them–functions in a completely different way. It shows you the life of love you want to live before the God who has done so much for you. God’s law takes you out of yourself; it shows you how to serve God and others instead of being absorbed with yourself. You study and obey the law of God in order to discover the kind of life you should live in order to please and resemble the one who created and redeemed you, delivering you from the consequences of sin. And you don’t violate it or whittle it down to manageable portions by adding man-made details to it.

This is just one of many gems in this book. Enjoy.

Maybe You Should Order TableTalk…

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I really enjoy reading Tabletalk, the devotional magazine of Ligonier Ministries. As you can see from the picture to the left, this month’s magazine is on Christ in the Old Testament and features articles from Sproul, Piper, Mohler, and Elyse Fitzpatrick, among others (many of which can be read online). Tabletalk has a Bible reading plan, which I have used in the past. But, I really appreciate the day by day Bible lessons through books of the Bible each month. I think you would appreciate them as well.

Their website gives: Six Reasons to Subscribe to Tabletalk

1. A Bible Study For Each Day
Tabletalk’s daily Bible studies offer structure for your devotional life. Bringing the best in biblical scholarship together with down-to-earth writing, Tabletalk helps you understand the Bible and apply it to daily living.

2. Great Authors, Thought-Provoking Topics
Each issue contains challenging, stimulating articles on a wide variety of issues related to theology and Christian living, written by eminently trustworthy authors—names like Sinclair Ferguson, John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul.

3. True to Historic Christian Faith
Tabletalk avoids trends, shallow doctrine and popular movements to present biblical truth simply and clearly, in keeping with historical Christian faith and orthodoxy.

4. Friendly, Approachable and Convenient
Readers find Tabletalk approachable and inviting, with many saying it’s like having coffee each morning with their favorite teachers. Its compact size means it fits right in your Bible.

5. A Valuable Guide
Beyond the daily Bible studies, Tabletalk includes carefully selected daily readings to take you through the Bible in a year.

6. It’s Affordable
An annual subscription is just $23 ($37 international), more than 36% off the cover price and only $1.92 per month. And you can try it out for three months absolutely free.

Why not subscribe today?

A Gift Idea (yes, it’s do-able even this late in the game)…

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…a gift of grace in the words we say. In a blog post from earlier this month, C.J. Mahaney offers this wise counsel: “Buying the appropriate Christmas gift for someone requires that we know and study them. But this is no less true of our conversations.

So as you consider certain individuals, and seek to buy meaningful gifts for them, also consider how you can give them grace through your words.”

It’s not too late, you can impart this gift every day.