Justin Taylor has written an article for Boundless.org entitled “Love & Marriage: Luther Style“.

I read Memoirs of An Ordinary Pastor by D.A. Carson (visit this link to read the intro and chapter 1) in 2 days and couldn’t hardly put it down. (C.J.’s review is online as well.) This book is the biography of D.A. Carson’s father, Tom Carson, who was a pastor in Quebec. This fascinating story had at least 3 effects upon me:

1) I was encouraged in my pastoral labor. This book is filled with the details of how Tom Carson visited and cared for the people to whom God had entrusted him. It also outlines some ways in which Tom sought to care for his family in family worship and encourage them in ministry.

2) I was encouraged in my current calling. While many in modern evangelicalism feel the need to flee to other and better things once the greener pastures call, Tom Carson’s faithfulness for the rather small (numerically) field to which God had called him is a good picture of what God normally does in the lives of pastors. God calls us to faithfulness. He calls us and isn’t luring us away with more money, more people, or more opportunity (those are worldly things). Christ calls us to follow Him, not the world, as we do that, we can achieve faithfulness in our calling no matter the size of the congregation, the pay they offer, or the opportunity it affords.

3) I was encouraged to faithfulness through thick and thin. Tom Carson had his measure of trials. I was amazed, though, that during one especially critical season, he maintained godliness to such a degree that D.A. didn’t learn of his father’s involvement in a specific spat until he was in seminary in a history course. This just floors me. This is amazing faithfulness.

I would encourage this read, not only for pastors, but for anyone longing to drawn closer to God Himself. You will be encouraged in faithfulness. And, with only 160 or so pages, this book moves quickly. Enjoy!

Tim Challies recently blogged on some discussion (including audio) of how Mark Driscoll was sharpened by the friendship, accountability, and encouragement of C.J. Mahaney and John Piper at the recent Resurgence conference.

This brought back a lot of thoughts as to how a healthy view of the local church is so helpful. We often think that people are just being nosy when they give us a good word, but we need to learn to embrace criticism as a gift from God to strengthen us spiritually. A new resource available in blogdom is the blog of Peacemaker Ministries entitled Route 5:9 as in Matthew 5:9 (Blessed are the peacemakers). These helpful posts can encourage your view of the church to be what God intends for it to be.

The Shepherd’s Conference begins today and main sessions are live-streamed online for free. John MacArthur is the first speaker. The Shepherd’s Fellowship has more info, including the link to the stream.

Over at the Resurgence, Wendy Alsup writes about how to ruin a women’s ministry. Among other things, if you would like to have a negative impact on effective ministry building, she cites:

1) Make women’s ministry your first priority.
2) Become territorial.
3) Resent your God-given authority structure.
4) Ignore the issues or stages of life that you haven’t experienced personally.

(HT: Challies)

The new 9Marks EJournal for March/April 08 is online. It includes some helpful articles on cooperation in preparation for T4G.

Sorry, but I never posted anything from the conference last week.

Said at Southern had a summary of the conference. They also linked to a live blog of each session by Terry Delaney, which would provide a good overview of each session:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Terry’s Reflections

Some things that stuck out to me which I’ll remember:
– Seeing my professors from MoBap. Curtis McClain and Terry Chrisope had such a huge impact on me during my college days. It was great to get to see them again.
– Fellowshipping with men. Along with the men from my group (which I thoroughly enjoyed traveling with and appreciated their patience in going to so many bookstores with me) I got to fellowship with old friends (I was on staff at FBC St. Peters, the host church, from 94-96) and new ones.
– Tony Mattia’s bio of Christmas Evans and warning against Sandemanianism. I love biographies and was so encouraged to be introduced to Christmas Evans. Sandemanianism is a heresy alive and well today. I need to beware of it.
– The atonement drives me to humility.
– The atonement should be proclaimed to all.

This was a great conference and very encouraging.

I was listening this morning to Piper’s sermon from February 24th entitled, Everyone Who Is Born of God Overcomes the World. This sermon was especially moving at one part as Piper exposed with detail how a Christian views sin after Christ saves them. He said:

He says in 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say we have no sin [present tense], we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins [present tense], he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” So John is at pains to say that “walking in the light” (1:7) does not mean walking flawlessly. It means that, when you stumble, the light of Christ causes you to see it and hate it and confess it and move forward with Christ.

This isn’t in his manuscript, but in the audio version Piper compared this to holding something nice and cozy in the dark, only to have the light turn on and see that its a roach or a scorpion or a tarantula. The light of the Gospel helps us see sin for what it really is. Are you fighting sin because Jesus lights the way?

Well, after some time blogging, I have finally reached post #500. It is some sort of milestone I suppose, but I am just happy to have the privelage of allowing my life to surface and be stored. May all that you read here continue to edify you to God’s glory.

Here is Jesus (for today’s Marriage Monday segment) from Mark 10:1-12 (ESV):

Teaching About Divorce
10:1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Jesus wants you to pursue marriage for life. He doesn’t want you opting out if it doesn’t work. He wants you to embrace the Gospel as a means for strengthening your marriage and deepening your walk with Him. This text was the text for my sermon yesterday, entitled Marriage Is For Life. Let the truth of Jesus’ words settle on you and embrace marriage for life.