Feed the Sheep!

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One of the books that I picked up recently is The Work of the Pastor by William Still. On the subject of preaching and teaching Still offers this advice to pastors:

It is to feed the sheep on such truth that men are called to churches and congregations, whatever they may think they are called to do. If you think that you are called to keep a largely worldly organisation, miscalled a church, going, with infinitesimal does of innocuous sub-Christian drugs or stimulants, then the only hope I can give you is to advise you to give up the hope of the ministry and go and be a street scavenger; a far healthier and more godly job, keeping the streets tidy, than cluttering the church with a lot of worldly claptrap in the delusion that you are doing a good job for God. The pastor is called to feed the sheep, even if the sheep do no want to be fed He is certainly not to become an entertainer of goats. Let goats entertain goats, and let them do it out in goatland. You will certainly not turn goats in to sheep by pandering to their goatishness. Do we really believe that the Word of God, by His Spirit, changes, as well as maddens men? If we do, to be evangelists and pastors, feeders of the sheep, we must be men of the Word of God. (p, 23, underlining mine)

Back from TCG11

I spent today catching up after an incredible week in Chicago at this year’s The Gospel Coalition conference. It will take a few days to fully recover, but it will be worth it. After attending the 2009 “Evangelical All-Star Game” I knew I had to go back. I wasn’t disappointed.

Everything about the event was incredible. The speakers were top notch, the music was outstanding, and the bookstore was nearly overwhelming. I was fortunate to be one of the minority who also got to be a part of this year’s Band of Bloggers event.

Eventually much of the conference content will make its way online. What you won’t get online however are the intangibles of a conference like this. I met pastors and leaders from all over the country. There were some of those “small-world” connections that inevitably happen in such larges crowds. It was encouraging to see the tell-tale lanyards on the train, in the restaurants, and even in the airport. I guess what I’m saying is that it was very encouraging to see so many people (many of who were “younger”) all on the same team.

I’ll be back in 2013. Make plans now to be there too. You’ll be glad you did.

How Far is Too Far?

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How far is too far? It’s a good question. It’s also a question that makes all the difference depending on why a person is asking. It’s a question that James McDonald asked in The Elephant Room.

I came a little to the party so I missed the original broadcast. Thankfully Harvest Bible Chapel has been posting clips from the event on their vimeo site. The latest is a discussion between McDonald, Mark Driscol, and Perry Noble. The topic: Was it right for Noble to use AC/DC’s song Highway to Hell as a lead in to his sermon?

Highway to Hell - Part 1 from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

After watching this clip I googled “Perry Noble Highway to Hell” and found the video of the music performance on YouTube.

NewSpring Band performs AC/DC's "Highway to Hell"

 

It turns out this is a bit of old news (where have I been?). This infamous sermon/rock show was a part of the Easter 2009 service. I did a bit of searching but wasn’t able to find the original audio or video aside.

Since this particular episode is old news I won’t focus on whether Noble was right or wrong in this case. The question I am more interested in is the one McDonald raised at the end of the video clip: how far is too far? What are the boundaries of acceptable methodology for reaching people for Jesus Christ? For some the question is about how much leash they can have before they needed to be pulled back. For others it is a hedge of protection, guarding against voiding the gospel message by our actions.

So I will pose the question: How far is too far when it comes to using our creativity to expand the reach of the gospel?

Knowing God–audiobook review

The first time that I read J.I. Packer’s Knowing God I was a first-year seminary student. The book was a required text for my systematic theology course. As I listened to this audiobook I was reminded of how I felt back then—this book doesn’t read like a textbook. But that’s what you have with Packer’s Knowing God, a top notch systematic theology work that is not only readable, but hard to put down (or in this case, hard to hit pause on the iPod).

While Packer doesn’t hit every subject under the heading of systematic theology, he does touch on a number of topics beyond the doctrine of God. Packer helps the reader (or listener) think through such subjects as God’s revelation through Scripture, the Trinity, the person and work of Jesus Christ, and soteriology (the doctrine of salvation).

When I read a book or listen to an audiobook I am always looking for that “worth-the-price-of-admission” factor. Not every book has it, but the best ones often do. For Knowing God it is Section Three, Chapter 18: The Heart of the Gospel. Packer tackles the the term propitiation, a word that can scare readers. But Packer not only unpacks the term, he explains the whole concept in such a way that provides the reader with a better sense of how atonement relates to the gospel. Chapter 18 is certainly worth the price of admission. (Apparently others felt the same way. The chapter was included in In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement by Packer and Mark Dever.)

As an audiobook Knowing God is an easy listen. The length of the chapters lend themselves to be manageable track lengths. The narrator (Simon Vance) does a good job of giving a voice to Packer’s text, one that keeps the listener engaged.

[Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from christianaudio.com as part of their christianaudio Reviewers Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.]