The Church is Not a Restaurant!

Here are two good words on the church. Make the time to listen to both.

1. Driscoll (about 7 minutes)


2. DeYoung's NEXT message calling us to love the local church, can be downloaded here.

Moving Sale

WTS has a moving sale going on right now. Details here (go to July 2010 newsletter).

Day Off: Sick

The World Cup Exists for Missions

Pray for Ghana today. Here is some info on Ghana from the Joshua Project. There are about 20 unreached people groups in Ghana.

Gospel at the Grocery Store

This is good stuff to remind yourself of the gospel today. I remember reading this in Counsel from the Cross. Well worth reading.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

...but sometimes I'd rather hear the words.

New Sovereign Grace Kids Music

I love Sovereign Grace Kids music. Doesn't get any sweeter than Gospel-drenched fun songs. My family has worn out the Be Like Jesus CD. If you have kids or grand kids, there is no better music available today (Yep, you read that right: You've got to get it).

They now have a new CD with music inspired by Proverbs: Walking with the Wise. Looks and sounds good.

Parents, buy these CDs. Even if you have to skip a few tall caramel coffee thingies.

Radical Winner

Congrats to Mrs. Rebecca Scott for winning the Radical giveaway.

Sorry to those who didn't win. I hope I've encouraged you to get a copy for yourself. Its a challenging book.

Day Off: War

The pink soldiers didn't stand a chance.

Book Giveaway

Only 3 entires for the Radical book giveaway so far. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to be entered to win. Sounds like good odds to me.

Guarding Sweet Fellowship

"When once the soul of a believer has come into sweet and real fellowship with Christ, it watches carefully and guards all the ways by which sin might approach to disturb the enjoyment it has in its Lord and Savior."

-John Owen, Communion with God, p. 105.

Radical Giveaway

I've got a copy of Radical by David Platt that I would love to give to someone who wants to read it. All you've got to do is leave a comment on this post signifying that you will attempt to read it soon if you win it. I'll pick a random winner next Tuesday. Please make sure you leave your e-mail address so that I have a way to contact you to get your mailing address.

Here is my review of Radical.

Day Off: Ballgame

I took my son to his first ballgame today. More pics at my wife's blog.

Luther on the Psalms

Martin Luther said, “The Psalter ought to be a dear and beloved book, if only because it promises Christ’s death and resurrection so clearly and so depicts His kingdom and the condition and nature of all Christendom that we may call it a little Bible. Most beautifully and briefly it embraces everything in the entire Bible…Therefore it seems to me that the Holy Spirit wanted to take the trouble of compiling a short Bible…with this purpose in mind: that whoever could not read the whole Bible would here have practically an entire summary of it, comprised in one booklet…The Psalter is the book of all saints, and everyone, whatever his situation may be, finds words in it that fit his situation and apply to his case so exactly that it seems they were put in this way only for his sake.”

The Prayer Bench

Last Friday I posted a tour of my office in pictures. By far, the most asked about aspect of my office was the prayer bench. Several of you wanted to know how I made it or where I got it. Here's the story:

When I was in Texas, my pastor had a very nice prayer bench in his office that was custom-made for him by a church member. I wanted one. So, I went on a search to find one to buy. Quickly, I realized that to buy a nice one is like $1,500 (an example here).

Unfortunately, I also realized that if you want to buy one, you have to get it through a Catholic supplier (Here's an example). Why is it that Catholics are familiar with the prayer bench and not protestants?

So, I printed some pictures from the Internet and took them to a local furniture maker. I sat down with the owner, showed him the pictures, and asked what it would take to make me a basic one. I think it cost me around $150. I had to stain the wood myself and a church member made the knee pad for me. I love it. I just don't use it near enough.

So, here are some more pictures and some dimensions in case you may want to make your own.

The top of the bench (where the Bible would sit) is 24 inches across and 10 inches wide.

The bench is 33 inches tall and 23 inches deep (from the front of the cushion to the back of the cross).

I love that the knee part folds up for easy storage and moving. This was the maker's idea and design.

The cross is basically glued on.

The "shelf" is not necessary but provides extra space if you want to keep a journal or other books close at hand.

Any questions? Are my dimensions clear enough? Let me know if I can provide any more information. And, by all means, send me a picture if you make one yourself.

Jesus is the Hero of the Gospel

I had the opportunity to speak about the gospel to the volunteers at the Wilson Pregnancy Center last night. Here is some of what I talked about from 1 Cor. 15:1-5:

1. The Gospel is of first importance.
2. Christians need to be reminded of the Gospel. We never move beyond our need for the gospel.
3. The Gospel is what saves and sanctifies us.
4. The Gospel must be continually embraced. The Christian life is not about a one-time decision. It’s about a life-long pursuit of repenting of our sin and trusting in the Savior.
5. The Gospel is first and foremost about Jesus Christ. He is the hero of the Gospel.

Jesus is breathtakingly amazing, able, and awesome.
He is endlessly delightful, dependable, and dazzling.
He is forever fantastic, fabulous, and faithful.
He is powerfully invincible, incomparable, and irresistible.
He is wonderfully marvelous, matchless, and magnificent.
He is victoriously preeminent, perfect, and precious.
He is unfailingly sufficient, supreme, and sovereign.

Jesus is the greatest treasure in the entire universe. And He is the One who died for our sins.

What a Savior!

"There was room enough in Christ's breast to receive the points of all the swords that were sharpened by the law against us."

John Owen, Communion with God, p. 66.

Words of Comfort for the Soul

I've now heard CJ Mahaney recommend this book twice (in different contexts). OK, Mr. Mahaney, it won't take 3 times. It's on my wish list and, God willing, will be in my hands soon.

Day Off: Rolly Polly

Reading Update

I've got a lot of reading going on these days. I love it.

1. I'm reading Dug Down Deep with my friend, John.
2. I'm reading Owen's Communion with God and Dever's Deliberate Church with our elder training group.
3. I'm reading some Psalms commentaries.
4. I'm reading Rescuing Ambition for my own soul.
5. I'm reading Heroes because I need more biographies in my reading diet.

I'm also doing a lot of reading in the gospels. I'm soaking in Mark in my devotional times and reading Luke with Jeanna before bed.

A Tour of the Office/Study (in pictures)

I've been wanting to give you a tour of my study for a few years now. For the 2 of you who care, here you go:

This is what you will see when you walk in the door. I've got a great window that allows plenty of sunlight and access to all sorts of birds and creatures that don't know I'm watching them.

I always put the commentaries of the book I'm preaching through right on my desk for easy access. We are doing a summer series through Psalms right now.

I've turned my closet into a prayer closet. This is a custom prayer bench I had made about 5 years ago. I have a copy of our church prayer directory there and try to pray through it twice a month.

I have my books arranged in categories. The left shelf is biographies, preaching, bible study, theology, marriage, etc. The other left shelves are arranged alpha by author. The 2 right shelves are all my commentaries arranged by book of the Bible.

A closer view of one of the shelves. Works of Owen and Bunyan.

The commentary shelves are directly across from my desk.

These pictures are the most popular aspect of my office. They are clearly visible when you walk in and everyone wants to guess who they are. Top: Calvin and Luther. Bottom: Edwards and Tyndale.

The Piper shelf (that is no longer able to hold all my Piper books).

Books on the Cross, the church, and Piper overflow.

Our church covenant signed by the first members of Christ Baptist.

And no office is complete without a "snack drawer." This is my kids' favorite part of my office.


So, what do you think? What am I missing?

Summer Psalms

We've started our Summer Psalms series. Through the summer, we are preaching through various Psalms (about 15). Maybe one day we'll take 4 years and preach through all the Psalms.

This Sunday: Psalm 22

How Do You Prepare for Sunday?

A few weeks ago, I posted a portion of a post from Challies' blog regarding preparing for gathering with God's people on Sunday.

You can read the entire post here.

The post is so helpful, I included it into our monthly church newsletter.

I'm convinced the suggestions given in that post would go a long way in strengthening our churches. I think most people just show up on Sunday having given no thought to their responsibility to prepare for the meeting.

So, what do you do to prepare for Sunday? Any suggestions you would add?