John Murray was a professor at Westminster. His collected writings (4 volumes published by Banner of Truth) are among my favorite all time books – -
The second quote below describes a goal that we all should pursue.
Monthly Archive for August, 2007
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“You need not always announce, and talk about what you are doing; and to act is more important than to talk. Knox did not attack, and call attention to it, and put up a placard and say that he was not going to use the Prayer Book; he just did not use it. That indicates moderation and great wisdom (D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, “John Knox – The Founder of Puritanism,” in The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors, Banner of Truth, page 264).”
Here is a word of encouragement for living the Christian life. “Don’t let failure give way to failure.” Perhaps there is an area of your life where determined to do better. You prayed that you would have victory. And, yet you find yourself continuing to stumble. So, you are tempted to just say, “Oh forget it.” I will never be able to get a handle on this. Continue reading ‘Don’t Let Failure Give Way to Failure’
”But do we also realize that this cheap grace has turned back on us like a boomerang? The price we are having to pay today in the shape of the collapse of the organized church is only the inevitable consequence of our policy of making grace available to all at too low a cost. We gave away the word and sacraments wholesale, we baptized, confirmed, and absolved a whole nation unasked and without condition. Our humanitarian sentiment made us give that which was holy to the scornful and the unbelieving. We poured forth unending streams of grace. But the call to follow Jesus in the narrow way was rarely ever heard.”[1]
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A Testament to Freedom, ed. Geffrey B. Kelly and F. Burton Nelson (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995), 310.
Pastoral Search Committees / PNC’s / Pulpit nominating committees usually say their first goal is a pastor who preaches well. Yet, few evaluate sermons against any objective criteria.
Below is an excerpt of material I wrote that gives suggestions for how search committees should evaluate sermons.
If you would like more information, you can e-mail me at chris at theredbrickchurch.org. Continue reading ‘Pastoral Search Committee Sermon Evaluation Form’
John Piper makes a few powerful comments about the frailty of life while video shows from around the bridge in Minneapolis.
Here is a great article on conflict by C.J. Mahaney. If you are married or involved in a church or simply breathing, then you need to read this one.
Read John Piper’s excellent thoughts on the collapse of the bridge in Minneapolis. The bridge is about one mile from his church.
