Pastor Kyle Oliphant has listed his three top books for 2008. I am thankful God used Unpacking Forgiveness to encourage him. I heartily agree with the selection of the other books he included.
See here.
Monthly Archive for January, 2009
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Lig Duncan has posted ways that you can pray for your pastor.
Because I have a congregation that loves me more than I deserve, I am often asked by them: “how can I pray for you?” I’ve tried to put some thought into how I answer that question. So, maybe these ideas will help you pray for your pastor, or tell others how they can pray for you.
Pray –
1. That [your pastor] would know and love the living God, would have a saving interest in Christ, being purchased by His blood, and thus would be bound to the Lord by the indissoluble bond of the Holy Spirit.
2. That [your pastor] would know, embrace and ever more deeply understand the Gospel and be shaped by it in life and ministry.
3. That [your pastor] would be useful servant of the Lord, that he would know and love God’s word, God’s people, and God’s kingdom; that he would be used to build it up and so that it prevails even against Hell’s gates.
4. That [your pastor] would study, practice and teach the Word of the Lord, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
5. That [your pastor] would love to pray, because he loves to commune with his God, and that he would be a man of prayer, characteristically.
6. That [your pastor] would be ever dependent upon and filled with the Spirit; and that he would possess true Spiritual wisdom.
7. That [your pastor] would be holy unto the Lord. That his tongue and heart would be wholly God’s.
8. That [your pastor] would be kept from pride, and especially spiritual pride. That the Lord himself would be gracious to slay pride in him, and that your pastor would endeavor to always be putting pride to death, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
9. That God would give [your pastor] guidance as to where to focus his efforts in ministry.
10. That He would protect [your pastor] from himself, from the enemy of his soul, and from all earthly enemies. . .
Read it all here.
Reading Kidner’s commentary on Genesis, I am again struck by how he can summarize with both brevity and brilliance:
“Many details emphasize the depth of Cain’s crime, and therefore of the Fall: the context is worship, the victim a brother; and while Eve had been talked into her sin, Cain will not have even God talk him out of it; nor will he confess to it, nor yet accept his punishment.”[1]
[1] Derek Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. D. J. Wiseman, Tyndale Old Testament Commentary Series, vol. 1 (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1967), 74.
There may be a temptation in 2009 to be less aggressive in missions given the recession. But, remember, our situation is still vastly better than most of the world and most of human history. The people to whom Jesus gave the Great Commission were not prosperous.
Be encouraged to read this amazing article by an “avowed atheist”, who argues that Africa needs Christianity:
Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.
. . .Whenever we entered a territory worked by missionaries, we had to acknowledge that something changed in the faces of the people we passed and spoke to: something in their eyes, the way they approached you direct, man-to-man, without looking down or away. They had not become more deferential towards strangers – in some ways less so – but more open.
This time in Malawi it was the same. I met no missionaries. You do not encounter missionaries in the lobbies of expensive hotels discussing development strategy documents, as you do with the big NGOs. But instead I noticed that a handful of the most impressive African members of the Pump Aid team (largely from Zimbabwe) were, privately, strong Christians. “Privately” because the charity is entirely secular and I never heard any of its team so much as mention religion while working in the villages. But I picked up the Christian references in our conversations. One, I saw, was studying a devotional textbook in the car. One, on Sunday, went off to church at dawn for a two-hour service.
Read the whole thing here.
HT: Pyromaniacs
I really enjoyed a recent interview with Kurt Goff of SOS Radio in Las Vegas. The interview started 100 mph and we never slowed down. It will be interesting to see how it turns out after edits. Find out how you can listen on-line here.
Brian McLaughlin, one of the pastors at our former church in Grand Ledge, MI lists his top books of 2008 here.
Update: Here are Timmy Brister’s top 25 Christian books for 2008.
