Life-Giving Groups: An Interview with Jeremy Linneman

Jeremy Linneman and I both graduated from the University of Missouri. We met a handful of times over a dozen years ago. I’m excited to see how the Lord is using him.

He’s the pastor of the recent church plant Trinity Community Church in Columbia, Missouri. He’s married to his wife Jessie, and they have three boys. From 2010–16, he was a community and executive pastor at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

I recently had the privilege of interviewing him about his new eBook on small groups called, Life-Giving Groups: “How-To” Grow Healthy, Multiplying Community Groups.

You can listen to the 30-minute interview below.

These are some of the questions we discussed:

1. For those that don’t know who you are, can you introduce yourself?
2. Where do you see small groups in the Bible?
3. What are small groups for?
4. What are some of the significant hurdles to meaningful and healthy small groups?
5. How should small groups include (or not include) children?
6. What would you say to a person that has been in small groups before that were more hurtful than helpful to their process of becoming a mature disciple?
7. What role can small groups play in church plants?
8. If you and I were in a cycling race, how bad would you beat me?

Yesterday, I posted short reviews of all the recent ebooks from Sojourn Network. Here’s what I wrote about Jeremy’s book. If you think you’ll purchase his ebook, in December all of the profits go directly to those planting churches in their network.

Life-Giving Groups: “How-To” Grow Healthy, Multiplying Community Groups by Jeremy Linneman

If you’ve been in enough small groups, then you know not every small group is “life-giving.” Some are, to be frank, “life-sucking.” But participating in a group that “gives life” means that you need to be giving your life to others.

In this ebook, Jeremy Linneman explains how an individual group (or a small group ministry) can cultivate mature disciples. He sets forth a biblical vision for groups, as well as offering tons of practical insights for cultivating the health of these groups. If your church has a groups ministry but no established training plan for leaders, you’d benefit greatly by taking all your current and new leaders through the material.

A favorite quote: “Like Jesus, we exist for relationships. We are created in the image of this triune God. To be fully human means to live in relationships. If Jesus was the most ‘fully alive’ human ever, it shouldn’t surprise us that a person cannot become fully human without a community.” (Linneman, Life-Giving Groups, 10)

 

New eBooks from Sojourn Network for Christians and Church Leaders

When it comes to learning, sometimes you need a “deep dive” into a subject: you need a 12-week course that meets thrice weekly for 90 minutes. But other times, an office visit with a professor will suffice.

This difference is the difference between books and ebooks. Ebooks are typically quick hitters that don’t say everything but do say enough to bring clarity to a specific topic. This fall, Sojourn Network released a series of “How To” ebooks for Christians and church leaders. Sojourn Network is a group of reformed Baptist churches that band together for greater church health.

I recently read each of their ebooks and gladly recommend all of them. Below are a few specific reasons why I liked each. Also, if you think you’ll purchase one of them, I was told that in December all of the profits go directly to those planting churches in their network.

Filling Blank Spaces: “How-To” Work With Visual Artists In Your Church by Michael Winters

“When the earth was brand new,” writes author Michael Winters, “it was formless and empty . . . . [B]lank spaces were everywhere. Now they are rare.”

This means that if your church is going to begin a ministry that promotes art and artists, you’ll have to do some de-cluttering first. You’ll have to clear the sanctuary walls and stage, the foyer and welcome area, the café and restrooms. You’ll need to make room for paintings and sculptures and photos that give sight to the blind.

It’s in this mission—giving sight to the blind and freedom to captives—that Winters contends artists can play a crucial role. And when they do, they are doing what God did and does, taking the blanks spaces, those formless and empty parts of creation, and filling them up with the glory of God.

Winters is the Director of Arts and Culture at Sojourn and is himself an artist. In addition to the practical advice and theological reflection on the arts, one thing I appreciated about the book is the way Winters transparently shares some of his missteps and failures as he has sought to cultivate the arts. I enjoyed this ebook so much, I’d love to see Winters expand his reflections beyond the visual arts to the written and spoken word.

A favorite quote: “Everyone and everything contributes to your church’s visual culture, from the kid’s ministry coloring sheets to the preaching pastor’s hair gel. The visual culture of your church should not be an obsession of control and marketing-driven scrutiny. But when you make aesthetic decisions, they should thoughtfully complement the church’s vision. Major factors would include: the architecture of your space, its interior design, technologies, graphic design, along with decoration, furnishings, landscaping, and outdoor signage including parking lot demarcations.” (Winters, Filling Blank Spaces, 10)

Life-Giving Groups: “How-To” Grow Healthy, Multiplying Community Groups by Jeremy Linneman

If you’ve been in enough small groups, then you know not every small group is “life-giving.” Some are, to be frank, “life-sucking.” But participating in a group that “gives life” means that you need to be giving your life to others.

In this ebook, Jeremy Linneman explains how an individual group (or a small group ministry) can cultivate mature disciples. He sets forth a biblical vision for groups, as well as offering tons of practical insights for cultivating the health of these groups. If your church has a groups ministry but no established training plan for leaders, you’d benefit greatly by taking all your current and new leaders through the material.

A favorite quote: “Like Jesus, we exist for relationships. We are created in the image of this triune God. To be fully human means to live in relationships. If Jesus was the most ‘fully alive’ human ever, it shouldn’t surprise us that a person cannot become fully human without a community.” (Linneman, Life-Giving Groups, 10)

Healthy Plurality = Durable Church: “How-To” Build and Maintain a Healthy Plurality of Elders by Dave Harvey

Dave Harvey begins this ebook with a thesis: “The quality of your elder plurality determines the health of your church.” In my own experience, although far less extensive than Harvey’s, I’ve found his thesis to be true, especially over the long-haul of a church. This means working on the health of your elders is a nearly constant priority. As with healthy eating, you can take a break for a meal or two, or even a week or two; but bad things happen if you eat hot dogs and Cheetos and sticky buns and drink Mountain Dew and IPAs for a year.

Local churches mentioned in the New Testament always had more than one pastor. They always had a plurality of pastor-elders. Numerous passages in the Bible indicate this. For example, see Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Timothy 4:14; 5:17; Titus 1:5; and 1 Peter 5:1–5 (see Appendix 1 for a complete list).

In the ebook, Harvey takes readers through the philosophy, principles, and process of creating and maintaining healthy plurality among elders. He’s also the author of When Sinners Say “I Do” (which we keep in our church bookstore) and Am I Called? (which I read just a few months ago).

At our church, we do not have a single lead pastor but rather co-pastors, where each of us shares the role of a lead pastor (weddings, funerals, vision casting, preaching, disciplining, etc.). This is a deviation from some of what Harvey advocates for in his ebook, but I’m not sure we are all that far off from his intent either in the letter of the law or the spirit. As with the other ebooks, any elder team would benefit from reading this together.

A favorite quote: “Humility is the oil that lubricates the engine of plurality. When one considers all of the polity options God could have chosen for governing churches, I theorize that God chose plurality because he loves humility.” (Harvey, Healthy Plurality = Durable Church, 19)

Before the Lord, Before the Church: “How-To” Plan a Child Dedication Service by Jared Kennedy with Megan Kennedy

I just loved this ebook. It was relentlessly practical, even including several options for liturgies when conducting a child dedication service; sample invitations a church can send to relatives; suggested resources to give away on the day of a dedication; and instructions about putting an “X” on the stage with masking tape to show families where to stand. This sounds like micromanaging, but it’s not. Church leaders need this kind of help. I need this kind of help.

If your church does child dedications, you need to read this book. Doing shabby child dedication services is not helpful or honoring to anyone.  

A favorite quote: “As I said, I don’t have any Bible verses to reference here. I can’t point to a passage which says, ‘Thou shalt have child dedication services.’ But I do know parents are tempted to think about their relationship with their kids as if it was a contract. And I also know nothing challenges consumer thinking quite like making really difficult covenant promises. It’s true for marriage, and it’s true for parenting too. The child dedication covenant confirms this reality: parenting is a higher, self-sacrificial commitment. The sacred public vow helps us teach parents to practice regular patterns of sacrificial love from the very beginning of their parenting journey.” (Kennedy & Kennedy, Before the Lord, Before the Church, 12)

* Your can purchase the ebooks here.

The 50-Week Plan to Finish My Book on Pornography

I was listening to a podcast the other day and heard a musician say one of the most practical things an artist can do to achieve a goal is “going public” with the goal. The pastor who was interviewing the musician mentioned that he agreed, saying deadlines and outside expectations are a good thing for creativity. He added, “If there wasn’t Sunday, I’d never complete a sermon” (Pastor Colin Smith interviewing musician Dave Radford on Readers and Writers).

Here I stand; I’m going public with my goal. I’ve never written a book for a publisher, but this summer I signed a contract to do just that. It’s a book to help men struggle against (not with) pornography. And—Lord willing—by June 25, 2018, I’ll complete the draft of the manuscript.

So what’s the best plan to get ‘er done?

I’m not actually sure what is “the best” way forward. I’m making this up as I go. But below is where the project seems to be trending.

Buy on Amazon

I realize this post won’t interest 90% of my readers, but, as I said above, apparently telling people I’m going to do something is supposed to actually help me do it. Thanks for the peer pressure.

Skimming the 50-week schedule, you’ll notice three things. First, I had already done a lot of research, but not as deep or as wide as is necessary (see Weeks 13–24). Second, because I had already written the book, and it was too long, I need to take out 35% of the words (see Week 25 & 26). Finally, you’ll notice there are numerous breaks where I’m not actively working on the project. Those are strategic too. They provide rest and perspective (you can’t see you the book’s faults when your nose is pressed against it).

If you read any part of this blog post, “thank you” in advance for being your brother’s keeper.

*     *     *

June 17, 2017
Week 1 | Draft of manuscript accepted by publisher; contract signed

July 24 to October 2, 2017
[Week 2 | Take a break from project to work on another book]
[Week 3 | Take a break from project to work on another book]
[Week 4 | Take a break from project to work on another book]
[Week 5 | Take a break from project to work on another book]
[Week 6 | Take a break from project to work on another book]
[Week 7 | Take a break from project to work on another book]
[Week 8 | Take a break from project to work on another book]
[Week 9 | Take a break from project to work on another book]
[Week 10 | Take a break from project to work on another book]
[Week 11 | Take a break from project to work on another book]
[Week 12 | Take a break from project to work on another book]

October 9, 2017
Week 13 | Restart working on this book; read 2 more books on the topic of sexuality
Week 14 | Read 2 more books on the topic of sexuality
Week 15 | Read 2 more books on the topic of sexuality
Week 16 | Read 2 more books on the topic of sexuality
Week 17 | Read 2 more books on the topic of sexuality
Week 18 | Read 2 more books on the topic of sexuality
Week 19 | Read 2 more books on the topic of sexuality
Week 20 | Read 2 more books on the topic of sexuality
Week 21 | Read 2 more books on the topic of sexuality
Week 22 | Read 2 more books on the topic of sexuality
Week 23 | Read 25 blog posts on the topic of sexuality
Week 24 | Read 25 blog posts on the topic of sexuality

January 1 to 29, 2018
Week 25 | Cut down word count by 10,000 words because my previous draft was too long
Week 26 | Cut down word count by another 5,000 words
Week 27 | Rewrite, general
Week 28 | Rewrite, general (cont.)
Week 29 | Rewrite, general (cont.)

February 5, 2018
Week 30 | Send to a professional editor

February 12 to 19, 2018
Week 31 | Send networking email to authors I cite in my book and others who have written on the topic
Week 32 | Send networking emails (cont.)

February 26, 2018
[Week 33 | Break for other projects]

March 5 to April 9, 2018
Week 34 | Manuscript returned from professional editor
Week 35 | Rewrite, general
Week 36 | Send copy to potential “foreword author”
Week 37 | Secure “foreword author”; send to and secure potential “blurb” writers”
Week 38 | Give to my copastor for review and comments
Week 39 | Give to 20 beta readers for review and comments

April 16 to May 21, 2018
[Week 40 | Break for other projects]
[Week 41 | Break for other projects]
[Week 42 | Break for other projects]
[Week 43 | Break for other projects]
[Week 44 | Break for other projects]
[Week 45 | Break for other projects]

May 28 to June 11, 2018
Week 46 | All feedback from copastor and beta readers due
Week 47 | General rewrites; also the foreword and all blurbs due
Week 48 | General rewrites (cont.); send foreword & blurbs to professional editor

June 18, 2017
Week 49 | Submit complete manuscript (including foreword & blurbs) to Rainer Publishing

June 25, 2018
Week 50 | Rest, because—Lord willing—the submittal of the project was completed one week early

* Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash.

TULIP: Quick Reference Q&A

A few weeks ago I posted a short introduction to what is called Reformed theology. In that post, I mentioned I would come back with a longer post about what are often called “the five points of Calvinism” or “the doctrines of grace.”

These doctrines are a way to talk about the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, especially in salvation. These points are frequently explained using the acronym TULIP, which stands for:

Total depravity
Unconditional election
Limited atonement
Irresistible grace
Perseverance of the saints

No one knows when the acronym was first used, but the grouping of these ideas first occurred in the early 1600s. The story goes like this. A group of ministers heavily influenced by the teachings of Jacob Arminius drafted a theological document called the Remonstrance, which had five points. (It’s from Jacob Arminius that we get the name Arminian, just as we get Calvinist from the name John Calvin.) The five points of the Remonstrance were actually a critique of Calvinistic teachings. Several years later, another group of ministers drafted a Calvinistic response to the Remonstrance, which also had five points. This Calvinistic response is known as The Canons of Dort. For the most part, TULIP uses different vocabulary than the five points of The Canons of Dort, but the ideas are the same.

What follows in the rest of this post is a “quick reference” guide to each of the five points. My intention is to bring clarity to the topic, without being laborious.

(Note: all sentences in the second question labeled “Piper & Reinke” come from page 6 of the first edition of The Joy Project by Tony Reinke.)

T in TULIP

1. What does “T” stand for?
   Total Depravity.
   

2. Other helpful names?
   Pervasive or radical depravity; affectional atheism (per Piper).
   

3. What does total depravity mean?
   Everything about us has been touched by, indeed corrupted by, the fall. When the Bible speaks of us as being spiritually dead, it means we are unable to come to God on our own and that nothing we do can earn his love.
   
   Piper & Reinke: “Total depravity is not just badness, but blindness to beauty and deadness to joy.”
   

4. What does it not mean?
   Total depravity does not mean we are as “bad” as we possibly could be. “Total” doesn’t mean we do every evil we could.
   

5. Why is it controversial?
   It’s controversial because the concept of deadness seems too radical. By asserting our inability to perfect ourselves and earn God’s love, total depravity assaults our pride. It’s also controversial because people sometimes misunderstand the doctrine to mean that people cannot do anything good.
   

6. Why is it precious to us?
   If apart from Christ we are really, truly spiritually dead and unable to come to God on our own, then it means when God does make us alive—when he does save us—our salvation is a free gift! In short, if salvation depends upon God, not man, then that’s a good place to rest our hopes. Also, a robust view of human depravity allows us to not be perpetually frustrated by the failures of humans to perfect ourselves. We do bad things because we are sinners.
   

7. Key verses?
   Genesis 6:5; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:20–21; Romans 3:9–18, 14:23; and Ephesians 2:1–3.

U in TULIP

1. What does “U” stand for?
   Unconditional election.
   

2. Other helpful names?
   God’s predestination or choosing of his people.
   

3. What does it mean?
   Before birth, God chose people to be his children, regardless of anything they would do for him.
   
   Piper & Reinke: “Unconditional election is how God planned, before we existed, to complete our joy in Christ.”
   

4. What does it not mean?
   Unconditional election doesn’t mean we should give up all hopes of sharing the gospel with people because everything has already been decided.
   

5. Why is it controversial?
   Unconditional election is controversial because it leads some people to believe that our actions in this life do not matter. This is a wrong understanding, however, and not at all what the Bible teaches.
   

6. Why is it precious to us?
   It’s good news that my eternal happiness was planned before I was born and doesn’t depend on me. Additionally, rather than the doctrine of election undercutting our evangelistic zeal, it should give us hope that many will embrace the gospel.
   

7. Key verses?
   Deuteronomy 10:14–15; John 6:35–45, 17:24–26; Romans 9:1–29; Ephesians 1:3–23; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4–5; and 2 Thessalonians 2:13.

L in TULIP

1. What does “L” stand for?
   Limited atonement.
   

2. Other helpful names?
   Particular atonement or definite atonement.
   

3. What does it mean?
   When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the punishment for the sins of all who trust him. As well, Jesus purchases for them the power that makes their salvation not just possible, but actual.
   
   Piper & Reinke: “Limited atonement is the assurance that indestructible joy in God is infallibly secured for us by the blood of Jesus.”
   

4. What does it not mean?
   Limited atonement does not mean that God doesn’t love all people or that the benefits of the cross cannot legitimately be offered to non-Christians in an evangelistic way.
   

5. Why is it controversial?
   Limited atonement is controversial because, to be blunt, there are a number of verses that seem to indicate “Christ died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9; 10:29; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:2). Many people understand these verses to teach that Jesus took the punishment for sins for all people, regardless of whether they trust him or not.
   

6. Why is it precious to us?
   It’s a joy to know that Jesus has done something special for his bride.
   

7. Key verses?
   John 6:37–39, 10:11, 17:9; Acts 20:28; Romans 5:8, 10, 8:32–34; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4, 3:13; Ephesians 1:3–4, 7, 2:8, 5:25; 1 Peter 2:24; and Revelation 5:9.

I in TULIP

1. What does “I” stand for?
   Irresistible grace.
   

2. Other helpful names?
   Effectual grace and inward call. Also, closely associated with the cluster of synonyms of new birth, regeneration, and born again.
   

3. What does it mean?
   God’s power to overcome all of our resistance to his love.
   
   Piper & Reinke: “Irresistible grace is the sovereign commitment of God to make sure we hold on to superior delights instead of the false pleasures that will ultimately destroy us.”
   

4. What does it not mean?
   Sometimes people take this to mean that we cannot resist God and his grace. We can do this. We all do it. But what irresistible grace actually means is that God can overcome all of our resistance.
   

5. Why is it controversial?
   Irresistible grace is controversial because it means our wills are not free in an absolute sense. It means, to quote the famous poem “Invictus,” I am not the ultimate “master of my fate . . . the captain of my soul.”
   

6. Why is it precious to us?
   Irresistible grace is precious because it means God can overcome all of my resistance and deadness to true joy.
   

7. Key verses?
   Hosea 2:14; John 6:44, 10:27–29; 12:32; Romans 9:1–29, esp. v. 25; and 1 John 4:19.

P in TULIP

1. What does “P” stand for?
   Perseverance of the saints.
   

2. Other helpful names?
   Preservation of the saints (note the word preservation looks similar to perseverance, but preservation emphasizes God’s sovereign work).
   

3. What does it mean?
   All those who have been genuinely saved will continue believing the gospel until they die.
   
   Piper & Reinke: “Perseverance of the saints is the almighty work of God to keep us, through all affliction and suffering, for an inheritance of pleasures at God’s right hand forever.”
   

4. What does it not mean?
   Some misunderstand the doctrine to mean that whether we keep believing or not, and whether we keep living the Christian life or not, is irrelevant to our final standing before God. This is not what “perseverance of the saints” means. The saying, “once saved, always saved,” doesn’t mean you can “get saved,” but then live a morally bankrupt life, one that is indifferent to God, and then still go to heaven. If they did fall away, perhaps they were never really saved.
   

5. Why is it controversial?
   Perseverance of the saints is controversial because some passages seem to indicate that people can lose their salvation. Plus, we all know people who seemed to have once loved Jesus, but now they don’t.
   

6. Why is it precious to us?
   Is it possible to have legitimate assurance that you’ll wake up a Christian tomorrow morning? Yes it is. God undertakes within Christians everything needed to keep us trusting him.
   

7. Key verses?
   Matthew 13:1–24; Romans 8:18–27; 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24; Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:3–9; 1 John 2:19; Jude 24–25; and Revelation 2:7.

* Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

What is Reformed Theology? A Short Introduction

When I was in college a guest speaker from Reformed University Fellowship came to speak to our Bible study in the athletic department. After he had been introduced by our leader, someone in the study asked the speaker what it meant to be reformed. It seemed like a good question to ask. His campus ministry, after all, was called Reformed University Fellowship. The pastor looked over at the person who introduced him, shrugged, and then looked back at us. He said something like, “I’d love to explain it, but I’m not sure this is the place to do that well.” At the time, I thought this was a bit odd. Now I understand why he did this. He was nervous that giving a sound-bite answer could do more harm than good. I am too.

What is Reformed Theology?

In his book Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian, author John Piper claims that he loves Reformed theology the way he might love a picture of his wife. The point Piper makes is that he does not love the picture of his wife in and of itself. He doesn’t love ink on paper or pixels on a screen. Rather, he loves the picture because it is an accurate portrayal of the woman he does love. Similarly, when he says, “I love Reformed theology,” Piper means that it reveals God in that “It’s the best composite, Bible-distilled picture of God that [he] has” (p. 130). In short, he doesn’t love doctrines on paper but the God these doctrines describe.

I think this is a helpful way to talk about any doctrine, but especially the doctrines of Reformed theology. Yet here comes that question again.

What is Reformed theology? What is this “Bible-distilled picture of God” Piper is talking about?

I love to answer this question and yet struggle to answer this question. Explaining Reformed theology takes only a few pages, but it can also take libraries. It can take me 15 minutes to introduce in a Sunday school class, but it might take 15 years for someone to embrace. Part of the reason Reformed theology can be so difficult to grasp is because it’s a topic that requires us to have both a broad understanding of redemptive history as well as familiarity with key Bible passages. Without each of these, it’s hard to make much headway.

Regardless, I still love to try to answer this question because I believe a good understanding of Reformed theology can deepen our joy in God. Even as I say this, I’m aware that the study of Reformed theology can cause a good bit of consternation, especially at first. It sure did for me. Though I didn’t know Reformed theology by its name, when I was first considering what it teaches, I once threw John Piper’s book Future Grace at my bedroom wall in frustration.

So, I won’t attempt to explain Reformed theology exhaustively here, but let me try to introduce it to you under four headings.

1. Appreciative Heirs of the Reformation

Those who embrace Reformed theology see themselves as heirs of church reforms that took place around the 1500s (and beyond). The Reformation began with the growing desire to show the Roman Catholic Church its errors and make it healthier. In fact, as I write this, many Protestants around the world are commemorating the 500th anniversary of The Reformation, which is marked by the date October 31, 1517 when Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Eventually, however, what began as an attempt mainly to reform the existing church led to breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church altogether. This split away from the Roman Catholic Church was the birth of Protestant denominations, a split that has resulted in many splinters. And while the proliferation of Christian denominations is in some ways undesirable, those who embrace Reformed theology deeply appreciate the faithful women and men who lived during the Reformation and who worked to reform the church, often at great personal cost. Martin Luther, like every believer, had deep flaws (see this article), but God used him and many others in a mighty way.

2. The Five Solas

Reformed theology is committed to the five great solas that came out of The Reformation (sola is Latin for “alone”). The five solas are:

Sola Scriptura    Scripture Alone
Solus Christus    Christ Alone
Sola Gratia         Grace Alone
Sola Fide             Faith Alone
Soli Deo Gloria   To the Glory of God Alone

In the book Bloodlines, Piper weaves the underlying meaning of these individual phrases into one unified meaning with the statement: “God’s justification of sinners is by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, on the authority of Scripture alone” (p. 131).

Not everyone, however, gives a hearty “amen” to this statement. The Reformation solas came over and against what we might call “anti-solas.” These anti-solas were the common teaching of the church before the Reformation, and sadly in many places they are still taught, whether directly or indirectly. The anti-solas might go something like this:

Scripture             plus       church dogma
Christ                  plus       his mother, priests, and saints
Grace                  plus       the sacraments
Faith                   plus       doing good deeds
To God’s glory   plus       human ability

Similar to Piper’s statement, let me try to weave together these anti-solas into one unifying sentence: “When we seek God through Scripture and church dogma, we can be made right with God only through Christ, his mother, priests, and saints, by trusting in God’s grace and the sacraments, as long as we do enough good works alongside our faith.”

I hope it’s clear that these anti-solas amount to what Paul calls a “different gospel” (Galatians 1:6ff). The anti-solas don’t offer us the good news of the finished work of Christ for our salvation. Instead they tell us to try hard and do our best, while strapping on ankle weights. The gospel alone makes us right with God.

3. The Doctrines of Grace

Those who embrace Reformed theology see Scripture teaching what is often called “the five points of Calvinism” or “the doctrines of grace.” These doctrines are a way to talk about the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, especially in salvation.

These points are frequently explained using the acronym TULIP, which stands for:

Total depravity
Unconditional election
Limited atonement
Irresistible grace
Perseverance of the saints

No one knows when the acronym was first used, but the grouping of these ideas first occurred in the early 1600s. The story goes like this. A group of ministers heavily influenced by the teachings of Jacob Arminius drafted a theological document called the Remonstrance, which had five points. (It’s from Jacob Arminius that we get the name Arminian, just as we get Calvinist from the name John Calvin.) The five points of the Remonstrance were actually a critique of Calvinistic teachings. Several years later, another group of ministers drafted a Calvinistic response to the Remonstrance, which also had five points. This Calvinistic response is known as The Canons of Dort. For the most part, TULIP uses different vocabulary than the five points of The Canons of Dort, but the ideas are the same.

In a few weeks, I’ll do a longer post on how TULIP should be understood (here), but I thought it would be helpful in this brief introduction to Reformed theology to simply mention what the acronym stands for and some of its history.

4. Substantial Continuity between the Old and New Testaments?

Timothy Keller and D.A. Carson are the co-founders of The Gospel Coalition, a ministry committed to helping churches faithfully communicate the gospel and train Christian leaders. The ministry considers itself to be “broadly reformed.” In saying they are “broadly reformed,” they are hinting at the differences represented between these two founders, with one being baptistic in his convictions (Carson) and the other Presbyterian (Keller). The same differences are seen in Charles Spurgeon (Baptist) and Jonathan Edwards (Presbyterian). These differences among the broadly reformed illustrate why I put a question mark after the heading for this section; some see a substantial continuity between the Old and New Testaments, and others do not. Let me back up to explain.

Perhaps we could call Christians who embrace Reformed theology in its fullness, “fully Reformed”—that is, those who are Reformed with a capital “R” (Presbyterians might fit into this category). Conversely, we could call those who are not fully reformed, reformed with a lower case “r” (reformed Baptists).

The difference between these two groups has to do with the amount of continuity or discontinuity each group sees between the Old and New Testaments. Presbyterian theology tends to see greater continuity between the testaments (though of course not complete continuity), while reformed Baptist theology tends to see more discontinuity between the testaments (though of course not complete discontinuity). 

One specific area in which this plays out is how much continuity each group sees between the people of God in the Old Testament (Israel) and the people of God in the New Testament (the Church). The slight differences here lead each group to have a different understanding of baptism. You were probably aware of the differences between Baptists and Presbyterians over baptism—Presbyterians practice infant baptism and Baptists baptize only adult believers—but you might not have been aware of some of the background that leads to this difference.

The Joy Project

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There are many helpful books you can read to learn more about Reformed theology. My personal favorite, especially if you're going to focus on TULIP is The Joy Project by Tony Reinke. I like to start people with Reinke's book because of his emphasis on joy. It’s not simply a dry lecture about Reformed theology, but rather a celebration of it, which is more in keeping with the way the biblical authors write about how we are saved—beholding the beauty before bemoaning the controversies.

Reformed theology helps us understand God’s solution to our spiritual deadness (total depravity); that God’s plan for our salvation does not depend upon me and my good works (unconditional election); that on the cross Jesus purchases for me everything I need to be right with him (limited atonement); that God’s grace is so powerful it can overcome all of my rebellion (irresistible grace); and that life with God is worth fighting for every day of our lives, as well as something to which God himself is committed (perseverance of the saints).

In short, Reformed theology shows us how we get increasing and expanding joy—forever.

* Photo by Alessandro Valenzano at Unsplash

Books by Benjamin Vrbicek

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Are you struggling with pron? I’d love to help you win the war.

Good Leaders Ask Good Questions

“Where are my keys?”

I’ve asked this question many times, sometimes in a low whisper and other times with my fists clenched, eyes closed, and vocal cords strained. “Where! Are! My! Keeeys!”

Regardless of tone, my reason for asking is always the same. I ask because I don’t know.

In the Bible, however, when God asks a question it’s not because he doesn’t know the answer to his question. He’s not asking to get new information. God knows the number of hairs on our heads and the number of the stars in the sky, even calling each star by name (Matthew 10:30; Psalm 147:4). In theological parlance, he’s omniscient.  

So when God asks a question, if he’s not asking to learn something, why does he ask? The answer is that he asks questions to teach.

I was reminded of this as I prepared last week’s sermon. In Luke 8, Jesus is surrounded by a huge crowd. When a woman touches Jesus, trusting that Jesus can heal her, Jesus then asks who it was who touched him.

As I looked at the story closer, it was clear that Jesus wanted this woman to publicly identify herself so that she could be restored to the community of God’s people, which she had been excluded from for a dozen years because of her issue with blood. Jesus asked the question, not to gain new information, but so that those in the crowd, and the woman herself, could gain new information. In short, he asked the question to teach.

The Bible is full of these types of questions. When Jesus asks Peter, “Who do you say that I am?”, Jesus is not having an identity crisis. He want’s Peter to learn something. When God asks Adam, “Where are you?”, it’s not because God lost him. He want’s Adam to learn something.

A few years ago, when I was at my former church, I helped produce a monthly video for small group leaders. The very first video was on this topic of asking good questions.

This fall, in churches throughout the world, thousands of small group Bible studies will be launching and re-launching. If you help lead one, or even if you want to grow in your ability to be a thoughtful participant in one, perhaps you will enjoy the video. It’s just four-minutes long. In it, I encourage leaders to ask good questions to teach. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

STRONG AND WEAK by Andy Crouch (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)

Andy Crouch. Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2016. 192 pp. $20.00.

Before pastoring, I worked as an engineer for a construction company. When the demands of the job would spike, perhaps to meet a deadline or correct a mistake, one of the guys at our company had a saying he often repeated: “Learn to pass the buck, or else it will stop with you.”

My co-worker’s subtle twist on the common expression wasn’t entirely a joke. For him, avoidance of risk and responsibility were a way of life. Although a seemingly wise modus operandi (who wants to be blamed when things go wrong?), Andy Crouch argues in his book Strong and Weak that we were made for more than the easy life. God made us to flourish, to live “the life that is really life” (a beautiful refrain used throughout the book, adapted from 1 Timothy 6:19).

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But how do we get this good life, this life of flourishing? Additionally, if we were made to flourish, why do our lives so often not experience it? These are the two questions with which Crouch opens his book and seeks to answer throughout.

It’s impossible to review Strong and Weak without mentioning the idea Crouch comes back to again and again. It’s the idea that flourishing is not choosing either vulnerability or authority, but rather seeking both. He uses a 2x2 grid to explain this concept, with the target quadrant (Flourishing) in the upper right. The three other quadrants (Suffering, Withdrawing and Exploiting) depict falling short of flourishing because they represent lives missing either vulnerability or authority or both.

The book is easy to read and full of Christian themes and ideas, although light on explicit Bible verses. In this way, Crouch is like a confident tour bus driver who gently steers readers through the topics with his fingertips on the wheel, not clenched fists.

A question evangelical Christians might have while reading Strong and Weak has to do with the extent to which our flourishing occurs in this life or the life to come (especially in some sections of Chapters 4 and 5). This is probably another case where “and” is a better word than “or” (this life and the life to come).

Still, because the emphasis on the “now” is often front and center, a few times I found myself mumbling, to paraphrase Paul, If we are to flourish only in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied.

The book’s main challenge for me was to keep my fragile heart invested even after it’s been hurt. That may seem easy, but it’s not. A leader can quit without quitting. We might not only pass the buck but quit caring about it. And sometimes, when the demands of shepherding a church spike, I feel the temptation in our pastor-elder meetings to avoid sharing on a personal level, maintaining an air of indifference on agenda items when I’m actually not at all indifferent.

In short, I feel tempted to become an armadillo—having a soft, vulnerable underbelly that I keep hidden from even my fellow elders.

But this isn’t what we were made for—a life inside bubble wrap. We were made for risk and love and dominion and following God as He fills the earth with His knowledge as the waters cover the seas. This kind of flourishing requires Christians who neither withdraw nor exploit. Strong and Weak is a good book to move further in and higher up.

* This book review originally appeared at EFCA NOW.

[Picture by Casey Allen on Unsplash]

On Church Aesthetics and Spiritual Gifts

All things being equal, no one wants to worship the living God in an ugly building. If the stars proclaim his handiwork, so should church architecture.

But how does an ugly building become a beautiful one? One answer is to pay the right people, or at a minimum, ask the right people to volunteer. Let’s go deeper, though. Who are the “right people”? And how did these people become good at what they do?

The Spiritual Gift of Artistic Design

When Christians teach about spiritual gifts, the conversation often focuses on gifts such as teaching and preaching, or administration and acts of service. If not these, the focus is probably on speaking in tongues and healing.

This post, however, isn’t a post about those gifts. It’s a post about the often overlooked spiritual gift of craftsmanship and artistic design.

In the book of Exodus, two men (and one man in particular), were explicitly said to be given this spiritual gift (Exodus 31:1–11).  God’s people had lots to build. There was the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils, the lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense . . . and the list keeps going and going (vv. 7ff).

Remember, you can’t buy this stuff at Ikea or even Restoration Hardware. It had to be made. And when it was made, it was to be done with care; each aspect of the design was to reflect the creative beauty of God himself.

So what did God do? He filled individuals “with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft” (vv. 3–5). In short, God gave people the gift of craftsmanship and artistic design. This is a gift I’m so thankful God has given to people in our church.

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Currently, we are planning for a building move which will involve, among other things, a 5-month renovation project. In preparation for the move, a book that I found helpful was Church Buildings: A Strategic Guide to Design, Renovation, and Construction by Katie Burch, a Christian architect who specializes in church building projects. If your church is going through a building project, I highly recommend that your leaders read it.

Also, to prepare for the renovation I assembled various subcommittees, including an “Aesthetic and Design Committee.” Any guess who is on the team? Individuals who have the spiritual gift of design. In fact, this morning we met to go over the architectural drawings, as well as make the final carpet and color selections for the whole church. Exciting stuff.

In the rest of this post, I thought I’d pass along some of the guiding principles I put together for our design team. These might be boring to many of you. But maybe, just maybe, they will spark a passion to make your local church more beautiful, whether through a large-scale renovation project or simply as you give a long overdue facelift to the décor in your church nursery. Please make sure you modify the principles to fit your context. 

7-Guiding Principles for Our Church “Aesthetic and Design Committee”:

1. Think about the whole church
Make selections based on the interest of the whole church, not just a few individuals. Here’s a caveat though. Don’t feel like you must consult lots of people to get their opinion. Don’t do that. You’re on the aesthetic and design team because we want you to pick the things you like (because we like what you like!). Our church leadership is asking you to think about others as you choose design features, which is different (and wiser) than asking everyone to give their opinion.

2. Strive for continuity
There should be continuity throughout the building. Each of the children’s rooms can be distinct from each other (even distinct from the rest of the building), but each children’s classroom should feel like it belongs in the whole building. This is the opposite of hodge-podge. To use another example, we want our church to be decorated like a university that has continuity across its campus, and not like a shopping mall where each store has its own design.

3. Blend both classic and contemporary designs
Go for a “feel” that is both transcendent and relevant. I say this because that’s what I think the Bible is. The Bible has deep roots (“In the beginning, God . . .”), but it also speaks to our everyday lives. The Bible is then, and it’s now. Each week when we preach, we try to show how the Bible is both then and now, both transcendent and relevant. Let’s try to bring it out in our aesthetics too by tastefully blending classic and contemporary design.

4. Buy new stuff
When it comes to the decision of what to keep and what to toss, let’s lean toward the principle, “Out with the old; in with the new.” This is not a rule so much as it is a guideline. Sometimes, in my opinion, in the name of frugality (perhaps an idolatry of frugality), churches unduly sacrifice beauty by reusing things that are, well, used up. 

5. Create Word-centered art
There’s a question that has been important throughout the history of our denomination (The Evangelical Free Church). The question asks, “Where stands it written?” The idea is that everything Christians do should be governed by the word of God. Therefore, we would love to see our church decorated with Scripture and thoughtful quotes about Scripture from Christians who have come before us.

6. Work as a team by communicating well
As much as possible avoid meetings and conversations that don’t include everyone. It will hurt the unity and creativity of the team if two people get together and say to the rest of us, “The two of us already made a decision about that; it’s going to be X, Y, and Z.” At the same time, let’s have formal communication to the architect and the general contractor go only through me. This isn’t to be harsh; we just don’t want to burden people with unnecessary emails. No one ever tells me, “Gee, Benjamin, I wish I was copied on more emails.”

7. Have fun
Don’t get stressed about this. It should be fun!

[Photo by Jeremiah Higgins on Unsplash]

God’s Joy Project: A Small Group Discussion Guide

[Update June 29, 2018: Tony Reinke published an updated edition of The Joy Project with it's own study guide, which means mine is now longer for sale.]

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I’ve written a discussion guide for Tony Reinke’s book The Joy Project: A True Story of Inescapable Happiness, which can be downloaded free of charge in three digital formats at desiringGod.org. Reinke is senior writer for desiringGod.org, host of the popular “Ask Pastor John” podcast, and the author of several books, including 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You, which was published in the spring.

My workbook for The Joy Project includes a short introduction to Reformed theology as well as a 7-week discussion guide. This companion guide is ideal for personal study and small group discussion. It provides questions for each chapter of Reinke’s book and discussion questions related to Christian songs that share the themes of each chapter.

We are all looking for joy. The Joy Project, however, is the story of how joy finds us. It’s the story of how God has worked, and is working, to save his people and love them forever.

Reinke tells this story through the theological framework of Calvinism, or more specifically the acronym TULIP (total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints). In one of my favorite quotes from the book, Reinke writes,

Anticipating unending joy in the presence of Christ changes everything. It means we can relinquish control over our lives. It means we have no fear of the future. It means all our pressing toward personal holiness is not in vain. God elects so that we will be conformed to the image of Christ, in his holiness and in his happiness. It will be done, and we strive and obey in this inescapable hope.

You can download electronic versions of the workbook free of charge here (PDF, Kindle, iBook).

{Special thanks to Ben Bechtel, Stacey Covell, Jason Abbott, and Alexandra Richter for their editorial assistance on the workbook.}

The Wilderness Makes or Breaks a Man

I love this quote about the wilderness. It’s from the late Peter C. Craigie. He was an accomplished biblical scholar from Britain.

I stumbled upon it years ago when preparing for a sermon out of Deuteronomy. The quote is about what the Israelites learned, or should have learned, during their 40 years in the wilderness. But it’s also about what all followers of God learn, or should learn, in their own wildernesses.

The wilderness tested and disciplined the people in various ways. On the one hand, the desolation of the wilderness removed the natural props and supports which man by nature depends on; it cast the people back on God, who alone would provide the strength to survive the wilderness. On the other hand, the severity of the wilderness period undermined the shallow bases of confidence of those who were not truly rooted and grounded in God.

The wilderness makes or breaks a man; it provides strength of will and character. The strength provided by the wilderness, however, was not the strength of self-sufficiency, but the strength that comes from a knowledge of the living God. (Craigie, Deuteronomy, pg. 185)

I love so many things about this quote.

I love this quote because of the way it gives me a paradigm to understand my own wildernesses. We all have them. The underlining causes of our wildernesses and their particular outworking may be different, yet we all have them. But what do you do when you are in one? Where do you go for strength? When relationships are wounded, finances are weak, and health is fragile, what should we do? Shall we dig deeper into the “props and supports which man by nature depends on”? No, but we should dig deeper—deeper into God. If you are a Christian, your current wilderness is not a place of abandonment but a place where God draws you near (cf. Hosea 2:14–15).

And I love this quote because of its unexpected twist. Conventional wisdom would say that training and hardships make a man stronger because they teach his body and spirit to survive in such harsh conditions. And I suppose there is some truth in this. In a moderated form, this line of thinking is the basis of all athletic training. We detest running sprints at the end of soccer practice because they hurt. But, in time, we also know wind sprints make us strong. Yet, this type of strength—the strength that comes from the cycle of tearing down muscle fibers and letting them rebuild again—is not the strength the wilderness brings, at least this is not the strength that Craigie has in mind. The twist in this quote comes near the end. Over and over and over the wilderness breaks and re-breaks a man, but this breaking makes him stronger because he must learn the source of true strength: reliance upon God. In the wilderness, we come to the end of our natural strength to find the source of true strength.

Finally, I love this quote because I found it buried in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament (NICOT). For some, this detail might not mean much of anything, but when you hear NICOT, picture fat hardback books written by academic scholars. And in my experience, many commentaries that emphasize rigorous scholarship also tend to only rarely have warm, devotional reflections about our relationship with God, and many times are completely without such encouragements. Anyway, I love this quote because Craigie, at least I presume, must have believed that rigorous thinking and devotional application should never be put asunder. The former, in fact, should flow into the latter. This quote reminds me that biblical, theological precision should lead to doxology. It reminds me that theology, when done properly, should forge within us not merely the strength of intellectual knowledge, but deep strength—the strength of mind and heart. This is the strength of faith, the “strength that comes from a knowledge of the living God.”

[Photo by Andreas Selter on Unsplash]

How Much Does a Pastor Work?

I have no idea how much “a pastor” works. I’m sure a few pastors don’t work enough, while many others work way too much. I did some reading recently about why pastors leave the ministry, and the authors cited an interesting study. In the 1950s the average pastor worked 69 hours a week, while in the 1990s the average pastor worked between 48–55 hours (Hoge and Wenger, Pastors in Transition, 226). That’s a significant drop, and a healthy one if you ask me.

What Counts as Work?

Deciding what counts as work and what doesn’t count is not as obvious as you might think. Much of my job involves the kinds of things you expect it to involve, the kinds of things easier to track. Pastoring includes counseling, administration, overseeing staff health, hospital visits, officiating weddings and funerals, leading and attending meetings, preparing and preaching sermons, and so on.

But pastoral ministry sometimes involves less expected things, things such as hosting a 4-square tournament; arranging the stage before and after a wedding and then vacuuming up all the glitter stuck in the carpet after the wedding; washing church table cloths after a memorial service luncheon; graphic design for our welcome booklet, coffee mugs, and posters; helping the random guy who just needs gas money to get home; talking for 30 minutes to a church member at a swimming pool on my off day when I was there to play with my kids; occasionally shoveling icy-slush from the church walkway, plunging a church toilet, and painting the church foyer; and so on.

This isn’t a campaign for sainthood. It’s normal-pastor stuff.

Some of these tasks fit in the typical 9-to-5, but much of it doesn’t. And this is what makes it difficult to figure out how much, and how hard, we pastors work. Pastoring is more of a lifestyle job—an it-goes-with-you-everywhere-you-go job—than a punch-the-clock job.

Recording Hours Worked

Rewind the clock with me two and a half years. At that time, I had been at my current church for just over a year. Perhaps in the hopes of doing a good job and perhaps because of my sinful inclinations to be a people-pleaser, I said “yes” to everything. And—big surprise!—my schedule got out of control. Over one particular month, I remember working in the evenings five or six nights a week. You can’t work both first and second shift for long without problems. I was having problems.  

Talking about this with a great friend and fellow pastor-elder, he helped me to prioritize activities. Also, per his encouragement, I began tracking every hour worked.

I had previously resisted tracking ministry hours, though, for two main reasons. First, I resisted because when I was formerly an engineer, for almost six years I had to bill every half hour of work to a particular job. My time sheet was complicated and frustrating to keep accurate. When I traded the calculator for a Bible, I never wanted to record my hours again.

The second reason I resisted was because, as I said above, the nature of pastoral ministry makes it difficult to track hours. Sometimes it’s hard to know if the prep work to host 20 people for dinner at your house counts as “work,” or if it’s just cleaning your bathroom, mowing your yard, and scrubbing your floor. And sometimes it’s not clear whether the dinner meeting was a “work meeting” or a “friend meeting.” (Please don’t take this the wrong way, church; I’m just trying to be honest about the issues of pastoral ministry.) And after the 20 people leave, do the 45 minutes of clean up count as “work”? And if I bought the food for the meal with my church credit card, does my family get to eat the leftovers tomorrow?

Putting aside these musings and reservations, for the last 27 months I’ve done it. I needed to know how much I was working, especially how many evenings a week I was away from home. You can see the numbers below, but the average is 46 hours a week dedicated to ministry and around 2–4 evenings a week away from home.

What about “Writing Time”?

Tracking ministry hours is further complicated by the calling I feel to write. For the last three years, I’ve been treating this calling as an unpaid, part-time job. I don’t often tell people that, but that’s how I look at it. I do most of my writing early in the mornings between 5:30–7 am, and sometimes also on Friday afternoons from 2–4 pm.

Let me talk about the “unpaid” part of this for a minute. Writing has not been lucrative. So far this year I’ve worked on my writing projects an average of 10 hours a week, which is over 300 hours. This includes all the time required to research, write, edit, and publish blog posts and books. So far, I’m almost $1,200 in the red! You can see a detailed list of my expenses below. This financial investment in my writing would be greater if it weren’t for a few kind donations recently given.

About $300 each year is for blog hosting and email services. Most of the extra cost this year, however, comes from paying editors and mailing books. (Quick aside: I’m working on a book to help pastors find the right job in a local church. I’ve mailed almost 100 “beta versions” of the book to pastors in the hopes of securing 50 interviews for research. Later today I’m doing my final interview. Nearly all of these interviews have been on “writing-time” not “church-time,” by the way.)

So far I haven’t been too worried that writing has become an expensive hobby. Maybe someday “losing a few thousand” will become “making a few thousand.” But regardless, it feels obedient to the Lord to work at improving my craft, to work at growing my ability to write words that help people find joy in God. And besides, I enjoy writing.

But here’s the question: where do these extra 10 hours-per-week fit in relation to my 46 hours-per-week? Is writing a hobby, in which case the hours don’t count at all? Or is this writing work so related to ministry that these hours do “count” as work? I mean, with each blog post I work on getting better at communicating Christian truth, which I’d say is something closely connected to pastoring.

I’m not going to share my answer to these questions here, the question of how writing hours do or don’t add up to work. I have my guesses, but they are only that. In the near future I hope my elders can help me think more deeply about these questions.

Why Am I Sharing This?

I am not sharing this because my confidence is high that I do everything the way it should be done. In fact, I don’t really know. I’m doing the best I can. I try to listen to my wife and the council of other men I respect.

I’m writing this post for the same reason I share one post each year about how many books I’ve read: I share it to keep me accountable. It wouldn’t be healthy or honoring to God for me to work 32 hours or 82 hours. Working 46 hours of “work-work” and 10 hours of “writing-work” seems to be an okay amount. When it’s not okay are the weeks I officiate a wedding. In those weeks I can’t seem to figure out how to work-work less than 55 hours.

But as it is, this schedule has me with my family for almost every dinner, almost every breakfast, and almost every sporting event for my children. I do wish I went on more dates with my wife, but I can’t blame work for the infrequency. That’s more a function of lack of effort on my part (and having a large family, and living far from extended family) than it is too many evenings away.

The hardest part for my family, it seems to me, is not the number of hours I work or the pay. The most difficult part is that too often I don’t turn off work when I’m not working. I keep thinking about a certain marriage that is imploding or the sermon I don’t have written yet, the person who is mad at me and vice-versa. At home I keep thinking about how to keep all the work-plates spinning.

Carrying the stress of work to one’s home is not only an issue for pastors, but I should have less of an excuse; the theology I preach, is the same theology I should live. Rest is about faith that God is God, and he is the one who builds his church. When looked at this way, the anxiety I too often carry is evidence of my lack of faith, not my love for the church.  

If you feel inclined to pray for me (or to pray for your pastor), you can pray this: Pray that we would work hard for the Lord and not man, but when we are not working, we would not unduly carry the work home in our heads and hearts.

If there’s a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to figure out how to stop working when work is over, let me know. I could use it.

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A graph of the number of hours I have worked over the last 27 months. (Click to enlarge.)

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A table of the the writing expenses I have incurred this year so far. Numbers in red are expenses and numbers in black are income. (Click to enlarge.)

[Picture by Nick Hillier / Unsplash] 

NOT YET MARRIED by Marshall Segal (FAN AND FLAME Book Reviews)

On a cold January night in 2003, I was in Denver, Colorado, for a Campus Crusade winter conference. All the cool kids wore Abercrombie and had flip phones, and under the influence of Joshua Harris’s book about relationships, I had kissed dating goodbye.

After dinner that night, I spoke with a girl named Brooke about dating—I mean courting—and whether God had marriage in our future. He did, and we’ve been married for a dozen years.

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A lot has changed in the last 15 years. Crusade is now Cru. Having a flip phone might be cool, but in a retro kind of way. Yet for all the changes, much stays the same. Whether you call it dating or courting or something else, the “way of a man with a young woman” (as Proverbs puts it) is still a beautiful, mysterious thing, like a ship sailing across the sea (Prov. 30:18–19).

But like the high seas, dating can be dangerous, leaving people with bitter and broken hearts.

Christian Living and Christian Dating

That’s why I’m thankful for Marshall Segal’s new book, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating. Segal, staff writer and managing editor for desiringGod.org, is newly married, but he isn’t just another married guy telling singles what to do. “I wrote a lot of this book, and learned almost all of the lessons before I married my wife,” he explains, establishing his singleness credentials (16).

Not Yet Married has two parts. The first is “the not-yet-married life.” Here Segal channels many of Desiring God’s hallmark themes—passion and purpose, joy in mission, and the glory of God—and applies them to singleness. In the second part, “when the not-yet-married meet,” he deals with the particulars of Christian dating.

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[To read the rest of this post, visit The Gospel Coalition.]

I Signed a Book Contract

I mentioned I was going to take a month off from blogging. We just had a baby, and I need a break—and sleep! But I’m breaking my promise to share a quick update, although I’m not convinced this post technically counts as a full return to writing blog posts!

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Regardless, I’m posting to let people know that yesterday I signed a book contract. This is a first for me. The book is with Rainer Publishing. They publish short books aimed at helping the local church.

The premise of the book is that many churchgoing men have a struggle with pornography. But few struggle against pornography. My book will equip Christian men to fight against it.

I’ve written about this before, and I suspect you’ll hear more from me on this topic! The manuscript is due next summer, and the book should, Lord willing, come out in the fall of 2018. Please be praying for me. Also, please send the names of your favorite books and blog posts on the topic. Feel free to share them in the comment section or by email.

It’s way too early to gather a “launch team” to help with book promotion. But if that’s something you’re interested in, well, hang on for a year! I’d love to have your help then!

[Picture by Mark Solarski / Unsplash]

Pinterest Perfect Wedding Pressure

The pressure on couples to have a beautiful wedding is enormous, far more than when Brooke and I were married 12 years ago. When we were married, Facebook had only been around for one year, which meant no one expected us to release breathtaking photos. All of that has changed.

Last year, a year in which I was a part of seven weddings, I wrote an article for Desiring God titled, "The Problem with the Pinterest Dream Wedding." In it, I encouraged Christian couples to keep what is the center of their marriage (the gospel) at the center of their wedding ceremony.

Heather Sells, a reporter for CBN, recently interviewed me about that article and the broader trends we pastors are seeing at wedding ceremonies. Sells notes, “That 10 years ago, couples spent $16,000 on a wedding with an average of 110 guests. Today, they’re spending an average of $28,000 with 124 guests.” That increase in cost is far more than mere inflation. Also, in the last decade, the average length of engagement has increased from 8 months to 13 months.

Why do you think this is? Why the increase in cost and length of engagement? Why do weddings need a clever hashtag on social media? Why do couples feel the need to have Pinterest-perfect centerpieces? And why do I, as a pastor, feel the need to preach the perfect wedding homily?

I’m not sure all of the reasons, but I do have a few guesses. In the interview I say,

Culturally I think right now we’re at a place where our identity is not so much looking upward to God and who He says we are in the Gospel—the good news that we’re His sons and daughters in Christ—but rather who we posture ourselves as in social media.

You can watch the video interview here, which includes my comments and those of a few others.

[Picture by Allef Vinicius / Unsplash]

For to Us a Child Is Born

I typically don’t write many posts that focus on the happenings in our family. But today I thought I’d make an exception. At 8:03 AM yesterday morning my wife and I had another child. My wife had a Caesarian delivery and is resting at the hospital for a few more days.

This was Brooke’s last C-section. She’s had six of them and is a warrior! I’m so proud of her. And I’m so thankful for God’s gracious protection and providence. We’ve often reflected that if we lived a hundred years ago, or even in many parts of the world today, my wife likely would tragically have died while giving birth to our first child. Now, by God’s grace, we have three boys and three girls . . . and a very noisy house!

My son’s name is Salem Robert Vrbicek. The name Salem comes from the Hebrew word for peace, and it’s also the name of a beloved church we attended during our seminary years. His middle name Robert is my middle name, and also the first name of my father and grandfather.

During a quiet moment at the hospital yesterday while Brooke was sleeping, I held Salem in my arms. It’s amazing how fragile and dependent a three-hour-old child is. Equally amazing to me was considering how our lives, lives that starts so small and vulnerable, will have such huge influences on this world.

I titled this post with an allusion to the familiar Isaiah 9:6 passage we so often reference around Christmas. The verse reads,

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

No, my son will not one day have the government on his shoulder or be a wonderful counselor—at least not in the way that Jesus is these things. However, in that quiet moment I did spend some time praying that one day Salem Robert Vrbicek would come to know the good news story of Jesus Christ who is the Prince of Peace, and when Salem does, that my boy would be one who helps others also know where true and everlasting peace is found.

I’m Looking for Help from Pastors

From the very beginning of this blog post, let me be upfront. I’m looking for help. Let me explain.

I’ve written a book to help pastors in the job-search process. The book does not exist yet, not officially anyway. This is where you come in. For the next few months I’m recruiting 50 pastors and other thoughtful Christians to comment on the manuscript and to spend time with me on the phone about their own job-search experience. As you can see from above, right now I’m 26 interviews short of my goal.

In exchange for the 30-minute phone interview and your comments on the manuscript, I'll send you a free copy of the book. You can click here to sign up. It takes just a few seconds.

And if you are not a pastor, but you know someone who is in full-time ministry, PLEASE share this post with him or her.

One last thing. I’m not just asking you to do this work for some selfish goals of mine. I’m asking you to share a gospel vision. This book began with the belief that helping pastors transition effectively from one church to another would, in turn, help churches be healthier. And the love of God spreads across the earth through healthy churches. Together, let’s help this book play its part in God’s grand purpose of loving more people.

To get a copy of the book, click here.

The Wisdom of the Sixth Day

In Genesis 1 after God created man and woman, we read: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (v. 31).

Recently I spent a few weeks teaching some young adults at our church about God’s vision for biblical manhood and womanhood, and how, when rightly understood, it’s “very good” for us. Yet before such a daunting topic—and frankly, a controversial one—I often felt not a little intimidated.

A few times during the class I shared a poem I wrote about God’s wisdom in creating us male and female. Poetry is thoughtful, concentrated language to express and evoke emotion, and it was my hope that my poem, frail as it was, would encourage the group to see what God says about manhood and womanhood as something wise and for our flourishing.

The Wisdom of the Sixth Day

There is a beauty to the stars
And the earth and waters,
Though it’s said only of God’s sons and daughters,
That in His likeness made,
Imaging God’s glory.

But they listened to the dragon,
And take and eat they did—
From the forest chose the tree which God forbid.
Thus perfect complement,
One transgression tarnished.

Though all creation loudly groans,
Pricked by thorns and thistles,
Bright hope we have in Christ our Lord who whistles,
Our sin and death and wrath, “Come here”—
That’s how our Savior saves.

O now for men who dare protect
And sacrifice with might,
Who neither shirk the reins nor demand by right!
Yet in the Lord, and to redeem,
They do in battle bleed.

O now for women who selfless serve
And nurture people whole,
Who neither scorn their part nor another’s role!
Yet in the Lord, and for the King,
They offer helping hands.

“But the calling is too high,”
The cynics they do say.
“And for love of self, our culture too astray.”
Yet the beauty of God’s wisdom,
The Church of God shall shine.

 [Picture by Jeremy Thomas / Unsplash]

When a Door Closes and a Window Doesn’t Open

Jared C. Wilson is quickly becoming one of my favorite Christian authors. Writing about suffering and the goodness of God, in his book The Story of Everything, Wilson says this: 

I have a problem with all the “chase your dreams!” cheerleading from Christian leaders. It’s not because I begrudge people who want to achieve their dreams, but because I think we don’t readily see how easy it is to conflate our dream-chasing with God’s will in Christ.

You know, it’s possible that God’s plan for us is littleness. His plan for us maybe personal failure. It’s possible that when another door closes, it’s not because he plans to open the window but because he plans to have the building fall down on you. The question we must ask ourselves is this: Will Christ be enough? (Wilson, The Story of Everything, 122.)

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It’s not that this quote is necessarily the sum of all that Christianity is. No one paragraph of any book is able to capture all that Christianity is. But this paragraph does, in my opinion, reflect a theme of Christianity that is often underrepresented in our churches, even the best churches. When life is hard, tomorrow might not be better than today, at least in the way that we understand things.

Two things make Wilson’s quote especially pertinent to the life of John the Baptist. First, the statement about “littleness.” Of the several famous quotes by John the Baptist, one that he said of Jesus is this: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Second, Wilson’s comment is relevant to John because of the statement about closing doors and not opening a window. Wilson is spoofing what is common in Christian lingo, that a closed door must mean another opportunity (a better opportunity!) will always arise. But it’s possible that won’t be the case . . . it was for John. When God sent John to prison, he didn’t get out. He was executed there (Matthew 14:1–12).

The question John must have been asking was whether Jesus would be enough for him when he actually did “decrease” and it seemed he was about to die? And the question for you and me is similar. Will Jesus be enough for us when we get “littleness” and a “window doesn’t open”?

Yes, yes he will.

When you stand up for what’s right and end up in jail (as was the case with John); when you have cancer; when you lose your job; when your house is robbed; when your parents get a divorce . . . Jesus is still Jesus. And he’s enough for you. At his weakest moment, God told the Apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Today, if you are weak, know that Jesus is strong and he loves you dearly, even if you don’t understand your own pain and God’s plan for it.

* This has been excerpted and adapted from a sermon I recently preached at Community Evangelical Free Church. You can listen below. 

[Picture by Gabriele Diwald / Unsplash]

Three Sentences that Changed Things for Me

Just a few times a year I share my sermons on my blog. This week and next week, I’m sharing sermons I recently preached from the gospel of Luke. They were in different contexts, one was as a guest in a former church (this week), and the other was in my current local church (next week).

Below is the written introduction to this week’s sermon, as well as the link to listen to the whole thing.

*     *     *

When I was graduating from seminary and looking for jobs in local churches, one particular application stands out in my memory. When they asked about my hobbies, among other things, I wrote these three sentences:

I enjoy reading and writing. This is somewhat strange for me to admit to myself, coming from my engineering background where I neither enjoyed nor did much of either. Yet, as time has passed, largely under the influence of seminary-forced papers, irritation has grown into love.

And it did: irritation grew into love.

They were just three small sentences, but they changed things for me. If you had asked me five minutes before I wrote them, I might have told you this is how I felt, but I’m not sure I would have because I had never articulated the feelings before.

Yet if I’m honest, this hobby of mine—this passion for writing—hasn’t always been contained within its proper bounds, even now. Sometimes the things we love are good things, but our love and our enjoyment of them grow beyond the rightful place and size. Pastor and author Timothy Keller speaks of this as a “good thing becoming an Ultimate thing,” which, he says, is when idolatry happens. He says this because “good things” should never become “god-like things” in our lives.

So, for example, I recently submitted a few articles to various online publications, as well as a longer writing project to a publisher. I confess that too often in quiet moments my mind has drifted to whether or not these articles would be received well, whether they would make the cut, whether or not I was someone who mattered. Too frequently and too easily, my thoughts would drift into the realm of daydream and fantasy.

Your hobbies and preoccupations might not be mine; I doubt for most they are. But I bet you do have something that it doesn’t take much of a lull in the action for you to begin thinking about it. Maybe it’s your hobby or family or career or health. It doesn’t take much downtime for you to pull out your phone, begin browsing, and start daydreaming.

If you had your wishes, what do you want to get out of life? What do you long for? What do you hope for? What do you dream about? What keeps you motivated?

You don’t have to have an answer now, but I will tell you this: I think the way Simon Peter would have answered these questions is altogether different before the events in Luke 5:1-11 happened and after they happened. A huge catch of fish was what he desperately wanted, but when he got it, he realized he shouldn’t have treasured stuff more than Jesus.

[Picture taken by Dustin Tramel at New Life Bible Fellowship in Tucson, AZ]

12 Quotes from 12 WAYS YOUR PHONE IS CHANGING YOU

A few days ago, one of my favorite authors from one of my favorite publishers released a book I’ve been waiting for since I first heard about it. The book is 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke, and it’s published by Crossway. You can watch the promo video for the book above.

I loved the book and will post a review sometime in the future. For now, here are 12 quotes to whet your appetite.

“We now check our smartphones every 4.3 minutes of our waking lives.” (p. 16)

“What we need are new life disciplines birthed from a new set of life priorities and empowered by our new life freedom in Jesus Christ. So I cannot tell you to put your phone away, to give it up, or to take it up again after a season of burnout. My aim is to explore why you would consider such actions in the first place.” (p. 21)

 “Conversations about our smartphones often do not raise new questions; they return us to perennial questions every generation has been forced to ask.” (p. 24)

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“This means that whatever happens on my smartphone, especially under the guise of anonymity, is the true exposé of my heart, reflected in full-color pixels back into my eyes.” (p. 27)

“We find ourselves in the middle of this garden-to-city unfolding of history, and God is governing the entire process in several ways. Between the guardrails of natural law, as well as the guardrails of the abundance and scarcity of certain raw materials in the earth, and carried forward through his image bearers, each wired for innovation, the trajectory of technological progress—from the garden to the city—was set in motion.” (p. 30)

“To be without the constant availability of distraction is solitary confinement, a punishment to be most dreaded. That is why in those moments when we realize we have forgotten our phone, lost it, or let the battery run out, we taste the captivity of a prison cell, and it can be frightening.” (p. 45)

“For those with eyes to see, Christ’s return is so imminent, it potently declutters our lives of everything that is superficial and renders all of our vain distractions irrelevant.” (p. 50)

“The modern-day mantra we hear so often—‘I will follow Christ, but don’t bother me with organized religion’—is symptomatic of the disembodied assumptions of the digital age. In reality, the Christian life could not be more embodied.” (p. 62)

“Those who feed on little nibbles of immediate approval from man will eternally starve. But those who aim their entire lives toward the glory and approval of God will find, in Christ, eternal approval. The stakes are that high.” (p. 77)

“Our souls have been raised to new life in order to brag of Christ, and as we speak, our joy expands and overflows, and we become creators and artists. Art is spontaneous. Art is doxology. Art is the reflection of God’s beauty into the world. This is why we exist!” (p. 96)

“The smartphone is causing a social reversal: the desire to be alone in public and never alone in seclusion. We can be shielded in public and surrounded in isolation, meaning we can escape the awkward” (p. 124)

“We pay more attention to our phones than we do to the third person of the Trinity, but he cares for us more than we care for ourselves. Perhaps you believe you would benefit spiritually by stepping away from your phone for a season. Or perhaps you feel led to rethink better boundaries in your digital life. Or you may be fed up with your love-hate-deactivate-delete-reactivate relationship with social media, and you are ready to rid yourself of your smartphone altogether. I cannot tell you what to do, but I can encourage you to heed the conviction of the Spirit, who will help you make the next step of obedience.” (p. 197)

 

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