I’m reading a booked called ‘John Calvin - Selections from his writings.’ It is a collection of letters and other writings including the Introduction to his commentary on the Psalms. These writings give some insight into the heart of the man that shows warmth and compassion. Here’s an excerpt from the Introduction to his commentary of the Psalms. He calls the Psalms “An Anatomy of All the Parts of the Soul.”

“Although the Psalms are replete with all the precepts which serve to frame our life to every part of holiness, piety, and righteousness, yet they will principally teach and train us to bear the cross, and the bearing of the cross is a genuine proof of our obedience, since by doing this we renounce the guidance of our own affections and submit ourselves entirely to God, leaving Him to govern us and to dispose of our life according to His will, so that afflictions which are the bitterest and most severe to our nature become sweet to us because they proceed from Him. In one word, not only will we here find general commendations of the goodness of God which may teach people to repose themselves in Him alone and to seek all their happiness solely in Him, and which are intended to teach devout believers with their whole hearts confidently to look to Him for help in all their necessities; but we will also find that the free remission of sins, which alone reconclies God toward us and procures for us settled peace with Him, is so set forth and magnified as that here there is nothing wanting which relates to the knowledge of eternal salvation,”

The Trellis and the Vine is an excellant book on the nature of what we are to be on about as disciples in a local church and so what we should be on about as a church. Go to the link; watch the review; buy the book and read it. You won’t regret it. It will give you a clear Biblical conviction of who disciples are and so what they are to be on about. Here’s the basic definition of ministry in summary form: “The prayerful speaking of one person to another.”

If you’re interested in some further reading or listening regarding the mission Jesus has given us to Make Disciples (following the talk at church on Sunday), here’s a few suggestions:

- You could start with my blog post!

- Here’s a message by Dann Spader on Disciplemaking in the Life of Jesus, about 45 minutes long. The best way to learn how to Make Disciples is to see how Jesus did it, and Dann does a great job of explaining this.

- Here’s “a simple, straightforward exposition of the passage” from John Piper on DesiringGod.org

- More from John Piper: “What Jesus Did After the Beginning” (A similar angle to “What did Jesus Leave Behind?”)

- The book I have learned the most from on this topic is “The Masterplan of Evangelism”, by Robert E. Coleman, which identifies the principles of Disciplemaking found in the gospels. You can read a short online summary here.

- I’ve recently read “Church Planting Movements”, by David Garrison. He tells some great stories about the way Church Planting Movements (a form of multiplying, disciplemaking ministry) are flourishing around the world.

I’ll try to post a few more…

When asked the question:-

What is the greatest hindrance to cultivating community in the American church?

Paul Tripp said:- “The first thing that comes to mind is frenetic western-culture busyness”

He goes on to say:-”

I read a book on stress a few years back, and the author made a side comment that I thought was so insightful. He said that the highest value of materialistic western culture is not possessing. It’s actually acquiring.

If you’re a go-getter you never stop. And so the guy who is lavishly successful doesn’t quit, because there are greater levels of success. “My house could be bigger, I could drive better cars, I could have more power, I could have more money.”

And so we’ve bought an unbiblical definition of the good life of success. Our kids have to be skilled at three sports and play four musical instruments, and our house has to be lavish by whatever standard. And all of that stuff is eating time, eating energy, eating money. And it doesn’t promote community.

I think often that even the programs of a local church are too sectored and too busy. As if we’re trying to program godliness. And so the family is actually never together because they’re all in demographic groupings. Where do we have time where we are pursuing relationships with one another, living with one another, praying with one another, talking with one another?

I’ve talked to a lot of families who literally think it’s a victory to have 3 or 4 meals all together with one another in a week, because they’re so busy. Well, if in that family unit they’re not experiencing community, there’s no hope of them experiencing it outside of that family unit.”

“So we’ve just been confronted with how all of those things that aren’t evil in themselves become the complications of life that keep us away from the kind of community that we need in order to hold on to our identity.”

If you want to explore some more for yourself read The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness by Tim Chester

I was challenged by my own sermon a few weeks ago when I spoke on the need to have a ‘plan’ so we grow in Christ.

This was backed up by the Spirit in my preparation for last week’s sermon on Genesis 1. As I considered the wonder of God and what we learn about Him I was struck by the order you find in God’s creating and so His creation. This is clear from the repetition of many phrases as well as the numbering of the days and so on. This shows God is deliberate, planned and purposeful. I realised I need to be more deliberate, planned and purposeful in my life.

I am weak and so need a plan and a system if I am going to be disciplined in my regular personal Bible reading and prayer. To be disciplined in my Bible reading I am reading the Bible in a year.

I also have a plan for my prayer time but I needed to update the system. I have a document on my computer which is simply a table on one page which is my systematic prayer tool. It was originally inspired by a book by Don Carson called ‘A Call to Spiritual Reformation’ (see the Library for this book). It contains a very helpful system for praying regularly for the things it is good to pray for. I spent sometime over the last couple of weeks on my prayer table to update it. This has helped me immensely. It doesn’t matter what system you use but as long as you plan to pray and then pray.

http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/A-Call-to-Spiritual-Reformation-ctsr_20/

Today I was reading Tim Chester’s blog (http://timchester.wordpress.com/) who co-wrote an excellent book called “Total Church.” His church in trying to live out their ‘church values’ weekly came up with this helpful acronym. Here it is for your you.

Each week we respond to the identity that God gives to us in his grace by trying to B. L. E. S. S. others through what we do.

B. We bless
Each week we aspire to bless others in our Christian community and local neighbourhood in word, action or gift at least three times.

L. We listen
Each week we aspire to listen to God, looking for him to guide us through his word and Spirit. And we listen to people around us to understand their stories and the story of our culture.

E. We eat
Each week we aspire to eat or have a drink with people outside our immediate family at least three times, offering friendship and community.

S. We speak
Each week we aspire to tell people the story of Jesus and our story of Jesus, making Jesus a normal part of our conversations. And we speak to God through prayer, recognising our dependence on him in all things.

S. We sabbath
Each week we aspire to spend time in rest, praise, play, partying and creativity.

TOTAL CHURCH

Just thought I’d share the two books I mentioned on Sunday in my sermon on Genesis 2:4-25.

I have found the book by Christopher Ash called “Marriage – sex in the service of God” probably the best book I’ve read on marriage. He has a more accessible version for those who would like to read a shorter and simply version – “Married for God – making your marriage the best it can be”.

MARRIAGE – SEX IN THE SERVICE OF GOD

MARRIED FOR GOD

Here are some quotes from Life Together by Drietrich Bonhoeffer:-

“He who looks upon his brother should know that he will be eternally united with him in Jesus Christ.”

“I am a brother to another person through what Jesus Christ did for me and to me; the other person has become a brother to me through what Jesus Christ did for him.”

“What determines our brotherhood is what that man is by reason of Christ. Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us.”

“Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realise; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate.”

This is an excellant children’s Bible. The subtitle is ‘every story whispers his name.’ It is helpful because it does an exceptional job in showing how each Bible story is leading to Jesus. It is wonderful in the way it really does demonstrate how the Bible is one story. The artwork is also fantastic and dominates the pages rather than the words which is good for children as you read. I highly recommed this book for family devotions. You’ll not be disappointed.