Little Moments

Hi friends! I hope your week has been going well and that you’ve been growing in your knowledge of Christ. I am in the midst of a bit of a challenging week, since it’s midterm season here at Southern Seminary. I took an exam for my Personal Evangelism class today that consisted of 40 memory verses, plus information from the lectures. Needless to say, that exam had been a considerable source of stress. I was relieved to have it behind me. But now, I’m staring down a Greek midterm that looks quite daunting.

Nevertheless, after I had completed my exam, I was walking across the seminary lawn to check out some books from the library. The sun was shining and the afternoon warmth was a welcome change from the chilly air earlier in the day. As I walked across the lawn, moved by the beauty of the red-brick buildings around me and the pleasantness of the day, I was suddenly struck by how thankful I was to be at Southern. Just ten years ago, I didn’t even know seminary existed!. And now here I am, in the midst of an M.Div degree!

I didn’t get to this point on my own, though. Through his sovereign grace, the Lord led me to an institution that is devoted to training me for Gospel work. Far too often, I get bogged down in my daily routine of work, class, exercise, and homework (and midterms!) - to the point that I forget how amazing it is that God has allowed me to be where I am.

I think a lot of us struggle with that, don’t we? Daily life distracts us from the work that God is doing in our lives behind the scenes. So today, take a few little moments to reflect on how God is working in your life. You might be surprised by what you find!

What little moments have you had with the Lord lately? Let me know in the comments below, or hit me up on Twitter @1689millennial! And don’t forget to hit that subscribe button below! You’ll get these posts delivered right to your inbox AND you will be in for a treat in the next few weeks - but you won’t be able to have a chance at the treat unless you are a subscriber! More details to come…

Shep-Con Q&A: What We All Missed

If you run in conservative evangelical circles, then you are well aware of the debate that has been swirling around the issue of social justice and how it relates to the Gospel.

If you are ignorant of this controversy, a cursory glance at Twitter will quickly fix that.

To ever so briefly summarize, over the summer a group of theologians crafted a statement on social justice and its relation to the Gospel that made waves throughout evangelical Christianity.

Some well-known theologians signed it. Some didn’t. It caused a bit of a stir for a while, but (at least to me) it seemed like things settled down once the holiday season hit.

But then last week, the Shepherd’s Conference happened in California. During the conference, there was a Q&A with Phil Johnson, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Albert Mohler, Sinclair Ferguson, and John MacArthur.

Inevitably, questions about the relationship between social justice and the Gospel were asked. Cue awkwardness, defensiveness, and a clear line of demarcation between the men on the panel - something we haven’t seen much of in the last ten or so years of their relationships.

Since then, there has been endless analysis, debate, specualtion, and the like. There have been accusations of liberalism, racism, and a whole host of other issues. Questions about denominational splits and institututional disagreements swirled about, and cries for clarity emerged from both sides. Chaos, disarray, and disunity are words that come to mind.

However, in all the analysis that I’ve read, I haven’t heard anyone focus on something John MacArthur said somewhere in the middle of the panel.

(Just to note here, as far as I know the panel is currently unavailable for viewing. It was on Facebook and a few other platforms for a while, but since then it has been removed. It is yet to be seen if it will be re-released once the tech crew for ShepCon edits/masters it. If you want to watch bits of the panel and learn more, both James White and Todd Friel have released analysis/commentary videos on YouTube.)

MacArthur offhandedly remarked that he had received considerable criticism for inviting the men who hadn’t signed the Social Justice Statement to the conference (Dever, Mohler, and Duncan specifically). Later, he mentioned that he didn’t want to fight his friends and insisted that the men were in lock-step theologically. And to me, that is super encouraging. Even a man like MacArthur, who has strong opinions on these issues, is not ready to draw hard lines of separation between himself and those who see differently on this issue. And he was willing to risk his reputation with certain individuals to have men at his conference who he not only agrees with theologically, but calls his friends.

I think that should be a point of focus for us. Even in the midst of this controversy, there is a huge amount of unity amongst those on the different sides of this debate. I think it’s important for us to remember that.

It will be a while before this controversy is sorted out and greater clarity is reached. But until then, I think we need to exercise grace and patience and remember that there is far greater unity amongst these men than the panel made it seem.

Questions? Comments? What were your thoughts on the panel? Let me know in the comments below, or hit me up on Twitter @1689millennial!

A Ministry of Humility

Hi friends! It’s been a minute since my last update here, but I assure you, I’m still cranking away at the Tim Challies reading challenge, even though my pace has slowed considerably due to this semester kicking into high gear. I have two midterms coming up, so I would appreciate your prayer for those.

In the meantime, I would like to take a few minutes with you to observe a verse from the book of Mark. I just finished up translating Mark 1:1-15 for a Greek homework assignment, and yesterday Dr. Vickers, my professor, highlighted verse 7. It reads, “And he [John the Baptist] preached, saying, ‘After me comes he who is mightier than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie’” (ESV).

This proclamation comes at the end of John the Baptist’s ministry. He came in the fashion of an Old Testament prophet, calling people to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins. He had amassed a fair amount of disciples and had gotten the attention of the religious hierarchy in Israel. If Twitter had been around at the time, you might say John the Baptist was trending. But just at the height of John’s popularity, a new figure emerges onto the scene. Except, he isn’t a new figure. Not really. Because John has been pointing to him all along. His entire ministry was devoted to preparing a people group for the coming of this other individual. This single other individual that John declares to be the “Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.”

This man is Jesus.

And just at the height of his popularity, just when you think John is going to call attention to the success of his own ministry, he says this: “If you think what I’m preaching is something else, just wait until you hear Jesus!” He is so great, in fact, that John says he isn’t even worthy to drop to his knees in order to loose the straps of this man’s sandals!

So often, in our follower-centric world, we can become more concerned with amassing a platform than pointing to Christ. We can become obsessed with what others in the church think about us - about how much we are serving, or how many times we get called on to pray, or how often we volunteer to set up tables for the fellowship dinner - that we miss the point of our service entirely.

Our service is meant to point to Jesus, the humble servant who bent down to wash the feet of his disciples, even though his disciples weren’t even worthy to touch the strap of his sandals.

John’s ministry was a ministry of humility. Is yours?

As always, I’d love to hear from you, so be sure to drop a comment below! I’m still working my way slowly through Reformed Preaching, so be on the look out for that review in the upcoming weeks!

Squarespace just unveiled an iOS app, which I am using to write this post! I’m going to be experimenting with it lately, so my next few posts might look a bit more minimalistic than they have in the past. I feel like I’ve been much too focused on writing polished, pretty articles and that has severely limited my ability to post consistently.

Until next time,

Caleb

Reading Challenge Book #5: Experiencing the Trinity

Last month, I started Tim Challies 2019 Christian Reading Challenge. I am currently five books in and chronicling my journey here at The Reformed Millennial. If you want to join me, follow this link to get the reading list, then let me know on Twitter that you’re doing the challenge!

Book #5

Category: A book about Christian living

Title: Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God

Author: Joe Thorn

Publisher: Crossway

Purchase

Brief Summary

First off, I need to give a little shoutout to Joe Thorn, because he is the podcast wife to Jimmy Fowler on Doctrine and Devotion, which is my favorite podcast exploring Christian faith and practice from a Reformed Baptist perspective. Seriously, give them a listen. They’re hilarious and they are currently working through the 1689 Confession every Monday. They also put out blog posts and video content (when available).

Now, Joe Thorn’s book is a collection of devotionals that focuses in on the three persons of the Trinity. It’s divided into three sections - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In each one, Joe takes a truth from Scripture about one of the persons of the Trinity and meditates on it, drawing out doctrine and application along the way. It’s uniquely written, in that Thorn is writing directly to the reader.

Three Likes

• It’s personal

  I mentioned above that this book is unique because Thorn is writing directly to the reader. This adds an intimate touch that helps bring home some of the truths Thorn is writing about. Along with that, Thorn shares very transparently about some of his own struggles in the faith. He doesn’t sugar coat them, but explains how they lead him to a deeper relationship with our Triune God. He does this in the introduction, so don’t skip over this. Knowing that the insights in this book were drawn out of real life experiences helped them resonate on a much deeper level.

• It’s deeply theological

  Although this book is a devotional, it isn’t shallow or corny. Each chapter deals with a deep truth about God. For example, chapter 14 is on the discipline of the Father. Can you remember the last time you read a devotional about God’s chastening? I can’t, because I don’t think I ever have. But Thorn takes that topic and draws out comforting truths from it.

• It’s incredibly encouraging

  Thorn strikes a nice balance in this work by not compromising on either theological depth or practical truth. I found myself encouraged by each chapter as Thorn talked about the provision of the Father, the love of the Son, and the comfort of the Spirit. If you’re going through a rough season, this book will help you slow down and meditate on the glory of our God.

  Two Dislikes

• In the chapter on God’s holiness, Thorn says this: “The holiness of God lifts the soul in worship, for holiness is the sum of all he is.” I’m not a huge fan of that last statement, because it can lead to the idea that holiness is an attribute of God that is elevated above all his other attributes. This would jeopardize the doctrine of divine simplicity. However, I don’t want to be too harsh on this point, because from what I know of Thorn, he upholds the doctrine of divine simplicity. So I might be reading too much into his statement. T

• This isn’t a dislike that is Thorn’s fault, but due to the nature of the book, it doesn’t lend well to reading straight through. If I hadn’t been reading this for the reading challenge, I would have taken it much slower. in fact, if you want to read this book (and I hope you do), I would recommend reading a chapter or two each day alongside your daily Bible reading. That will give you more time to digest the content.

  Favorite Quotes

  1. “Take this to heart: you are weak, but your God is not.” (page 24)

  2. “There is never a moment of your day when God is inactive. He is there and he is involved.” (page 33)

  3. “He is in fact so slow to anger that you have never once faced his divine justice for even one of your sins.” (page 40)

  4. “The same Spirit that empowered Jesus when he was tempted empowers you. He is present and powerful in you.” (page 112)

     Conclusion

     Go buy this book and add it to your daily routine. The chapters are short, so you can knock them out in a couple minutes. Work through it slowly and use it to better understand the God that we worship. And add Doctrine and Devotion to your podcast list - you won’t regret it. Joe Thorn is an awesome dude who loves the Lord and loves to talk about theology with Jimmy Fowler.

As always, I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments or questions, let me know in the comment section below, or hit me up on Twitter @1689millennial! I just started book #6 for the challenge - a book with at least 400 pages. I’m reading Reformed Preaching by Joel Beeke. Look for the review in about two weeks! Until then, hit that subscribe button below to get these updates delivered right to your inbox!