The Web Site and Blog of Pastor Chris Brauns
Here is an email that fires me up. Dave Harvey shares that ambition needs to be rescued with our young people. Amen.
No one should be more motivated or ambitious than the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s multiply our talents so that one day we hear “well done” (Matt 25:21).
Dave Harvey: "What happens when ambition is lost?" from Crossway on Vimeo.
This is a book we need to be reading!
I often encourage people in our church that reading Proverbs should be part of the rest of their life. Whatever day of the month it is, read that day’s chapter of Proverbs. Today is May 3. Read Proverbs 3.
A recent post by Tim Keller offers some great insights that will make your time in Proverbs more profitable:
Some years ago I preached through the book of Proverbs, and I learned two things I hadn’t known about it. First, the Proverbs only give up their meaning cumulatively. No one proverb gives you the whole picture. If one proverb says, "the morally good always have a good life" and a later proverb says, "sometimes the morally good suffer" we think it’s a contradiction. That’s because we think of each proverb as an individual stand-alone promise. But they are not. All the proverbs on a given subject are meant to be taken together, each one modifying the others like the parallel clauses do. One gives you information about a topic; then subsequent ones come along and answer questions raised by the first one, or they condition and nuance a more blanket statement made earlier.
Chapters 10-15 tell us that the hard-working have enough to eat and the lazy will be poor. But starting in chapter 16, the exceptions to the customary-way-life-works come along. There is an order God has put into things that we must abide by, but, on the other hand, we can’t see it all and so must expect exceptions. An example of how the Proverbs only give up their meaning cumulatively is the famous Prov 16:25 — There is a way that seems right to a man, but that way leads only unto death. I’ve never heard this invoked except when the speaker wants to say to the listeners "don’t trust your feelings." But earlier Proverbs repeatedly said — "The way to destruction appears right to the fool." That is, fools are terrible at making plans because they reject the way of wisdom (not getting counselors, not being humble, not watching your words or controlling your emotions, etc). But 16:25 comes along and says — "But the way of destruction can appear right not just to a fool, but sometimes to anyone (to ‘a man’.) Even if you follow the way of wisdom to the "T" and make your plans as well as can be — sometimes your life can still blow up! This is a broken world. The wise know that sometimes all paths may run ill.
“and [pray] also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, Ephesians 6:19
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The point of this is not to complain about my schedule – - I am so thankful God has called me to be a pastor. Rather, my goal is to encourage our people to pray that the Spirit would work in conjunction with the proclamation of the Word.
For those of you who aren’t “Bricks in the Valley,” my schedule is not a lot different than most pastors. Would you pray in a special way for your pastor this weekend? Pray, in particular, that whenever he opens his mouth, Words would be given to him to preach the Gospel with boldness (Ephesians 6:19).
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This morning Allison has a softball doubleheader, but I don’t feel like I can take the time to go the games. (I have already been at several softball games). Here’s why:
One of the things we encourage our leaders to do is to read the day’s chapter of Proverbs. It’s not something we’re legalistic about – - not a big deal if you miss a day – – but, I encourage leaders to plan on reading Proverbs the rest of their lives.
Wisdom is the saw we use to cut our way through life, and Proverbs sharpen our wisdom saw.
Today Tim Keller had a post explaining how a mini-guide to Proverbs is found in Proverbs 3:3-12:
In my regular, daily Bible reading over the past year I read through Proverbs 3, a passage I’ve studied and preached through many times. But during this reading, I realized that in verses 3 through 12 we have all the themes of the rest of the book, and therefore a kind of mini-guide to faithful living. There are five things that comprise a wise, godly life. They function both as means to becoming wise and godly as well as signs that you are growing into such a life:
1. Put your heart’s deepest trust in God and his grace. Every day remind yourself of his unconditioned, covenantal love for you. Do not instead put your hopes in idols or in your own performance.
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart (Prov 3:3-5a)
2. Submit your whole mind to the Scripture. Don’t think you know better than God’s word. Bring it to bear on every area of life. Become a person under authority.
Lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov 3:5b-6)
3. Be humble and teachable toward others. Be forgiving and understanding when you want to be critical of them; be ready to learn from others when they come to be critical of you.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Prov 3:7-8)
Here to read the rest from Tim Keller.
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Other posts on Proverbs:
Leaders know how to pick up a crumb and carry it into the next room
One of my biggest goals for the next 5 years with the Bricks is to see God develop men as leaders (see these posts). An excellent summary of this approach can be found in The Trellis and the Vine. It isn’t so much that this book changed my thinking, as that I found myself agreeing with it. It did help me organize my thinking and brought my thoughts into clear focus in many areas. It is an excellent book.
I won’t take the time to write a proper review, but Tim Challies has already given an excellent overview on his blog.
The Trellis and the Vine is a metaphor Colin Marshall and Tony Payne use to introduce a mind-shift in ministry that they insist will change everything. That is no small claim. A trellis, of course, is a structure that is used to support, to hold up, a vine. In this metaphor the trellis refers to the administrative work within a church, those tasks that, though important, are not actually directly related to discipling people. Vine work, on the other hand, is those tasks of working with the vine, drawing people into the kingdom through evangelism and then training them to grow in their knowledge of God and their obedience to him. As the authors say, “The basic work of any Christian ministry is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of God’s Spirit, and to see people converted, changed and grow to maturity in that gospel.” The problem, though, is that trellis work tends to take over from vine work. Perhaps it’s because trellis work is easier and less threatening; perhaps the trellis work looks more impressive. But for one reason or another, many Christians, and pastors in particular, soon find themselves consumed with trellis work, leaving them little time and attention for the vine. “Whatever the reason, there is no doubt that in many churches, maintaining and improving the trellis constantly takes over from tending the vine.”
What Marshall and Payne suggest in this book is that most Christian churches need to undergo a radical re-evaluation of what Christian ministry really is. They need to go back to the very basics to understand the aims and goals of ministry, to learn how it proceeds and to see afresh the part we play in it.
Here to read more from Challies.
I can’t really move forward unless I learn more thoroughly the gospel’s content and how to apply it to all of life. Real change does not and cannot come independently of the gospel. God intends his Good News in Christ to mold and shape us at every point and in every way. It increasingly defines the way we think, feel, and live. Tullian Tchividjian.
One of our central emphases in leadership development for the “Bricks” is to demonstrate how the Gospel should transform every area of life (see What is the Gospel?). The Gospel is not just a way to avoid hell – it is the power of God at work in our lives. Tullian Tchividjian recently wrote an excellent article about this for Leadership Magazine.
I once assumed the gospel was simply what non-Christians must believe in order to be saved, while afterward we advance to deeper theological waters. But I’ve come to realize that the gospel isn’t the first step in a stairway of truths, but more like the hub in a wheel of truth. As Tim Keller explains it, the gospel isn’t simply the ABCs of Christianity, but the A-through-Z. In other words, once God rescues sinners, his plan isn’t to steer them beyond the gospel, but to move them more deeply into it.
In his letter to the Christians of Colossae, the apostle Paul portrays the gospel as the instrument of all continued growth and spiritual progress, even after a believer’s conversion.
"All over the world," he writes, "this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth" (Col. 1:6).
After meditating on Paul’s words, a friend told me that all our problems in life stem from our failure to apply the gospel. This means I can’t really move forward unless I learn more thoroughly the gospel’s content and how to apply it to all of life. Real change does not and cannot come independently of the gospel. God intends his Good News in Christ to mold and shape us at every point and in every way. It increasingly defines the way we think, feel, and live.
Read more here.
Guys –-here is one of the reasons I am making ministry to our men such a priority.
Colin Marshall and Tony Payne in the recommended, The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind Shift that Changes Everything:
But if we pour all our time into caring for those who need help, the stable Christians will stagnate and never be trained to minister to others, the non-Christians will stay unevangelized, and a rule of thumb will quickly emerge within the congregation: if you want the pastor’s time and attention, get yourself a problem. Ministry becomes about problems and counselling, and not about the gospel and growing in godliness.
And over time, the vine withers.
I have a new Bible in my cupboard. Once Sabbatical arrives, I will peel the shrink wrapping off and begin devouring it (Jeremiah 15:16). And, my prayer (Psalm 119:18 –-see here) is that God will speak into my life in new and exciting ways. When He answers that prayer, I will track up the snow of my new Bible by writing out in the margins what God is teaching me – - meditating with pen in hand – - ready to hear from God in living and dynamic ways.
Remember, the principle means by which God speaks to us today is through His Word. When we read prayerfully hear the Word of God, then the Spirit will illuminate it in ways that revive our souls,make wise the simple, give joy to the heart, and light to the eyes (Psalm 19:7-11).
With the fresh white pages of my new Bible, I will feel like our friends in the last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, who looking at a fresh blanket of snow say to one another, “It’s a magical world, let’s go exploring.”
After the exploring of Sabbatical is over, I’ll have a marked up Bible that will remind me of fresh tracks on my heart.
And, the reality is, believers have a new Bible every day. God’s Word is always living and active. Let’s go exploring.
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My son will be proud of me for putting in the below link.
Shannon Popkin gives a great description of one of the ways your pastor can bless you. Read Shannon’s article and consider her question at the end. I pray that you can give an enthusiastic, “yes.”
When I was in middle school, my youth group went skiing. Pastor Austin, who loved all things fast, was our slope mentor, darting from one new skier to another. If you happened to be lying on your back your skis and poles looking like a pile of Pick Up Sticks, he would shwoosh to your side, put out his hand and instantly pop you up in the right direction (remember… I was living in a tiny middle schooler body at this point). He’d give you a pointer or two, grin, then take off. You could spot him all the way down the hill by these little puffs of powder with each zig zag he made.
I couldn’t really get the zig zag thing. Directing my skis toward pine trees or steep looking cliffs made me nervous, so I tried to keep them in parallel lines, pointing toward the bottom of the hill at all times. This worked beautifully on the hills that were (as another new skier wrote this week) the size of a pimple. But then I took this approach to the mountain.
With ski tips pointed toward the lodge below (which looked like a Monopoly-sized hotel), I was shocked at how quickly my velocity doubled and then tripled. The wind whipped my eyelids back into little squints, so that I could only barely make out a skier just ahead. It was Pastor Austin. I was gaining on him and knew nothing else to do but yell out, “I’m commmmiiiiiiiiing!”
Here to read the rest.
I fully expect to go into an airport sometime and find three rest rooms: one for men, one for women, and one for clergy. Our image—and thus, God’s—is sissified. Steve Brown.
“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe (Prov 29:25).”
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If you’re a pastor, and you’re unwilling to be tough, then you answered the wrong call. And, if you’re a church member who expects your pastor to be some mousy little guy out of a Sunday School paper, then a strong leader is going to offend you.
Pastors are called to teach, rebuke, correct, and train (2 Tim 3:16-17, Titus 3:15). We are to silence divisive people (Titus 1:10-11, Titus 3:10-11) and contend for the faith (Jude 1:3). Indeed, we are to let no one disregard us (Titus 2:15). For sure, we should gently instruct (2 Timothy 2:24-26), still we must contend.
Yet, our culture which is generally unwilling to stand for the truth, increasingly demands that pastors cower in the corner, even when people in their churches are causing conflict.
Here is an excerpt of a classic article from Steve Brown in which he encourages pastors to develop a mean streak. This article is needed.
I spend a portion of my time teaching seminary students, and one of the pastoral traits I urge my students to develop is, for lack of a better term, a "mean streak." All too often in American churches, pastors have become sitting ducks for neurotic church members (and they are a small minority). If people don’t like the way a pastor parts his hair or ties his tie, they feel free to tell him. If they don’t like his wife’s dress because it clashes with the curtains in the church, they tell him. You wouldn’t believe the comments on my beard I have received over the years! Some people feel free to criticize and correct pastors on things for which they’d never think of criticizing anyone else.
Not long ago I was talking with a pastor in serious trouble with his congregation. He was being second-guessed and ridiculed in a shameful way. As we talked, it became apparent this young man needed to develop a mean streak to survive. He told me he felt he had been called to love his people, to understand them even when they were cruel and abusive.
"While you should be loving and kind," I said, "it’s equally important to be honest and strong. Why don’t you bring the people making those comments before the ruling body of the church and have them justify their disturbance of the peace and unity of the church, or leave."
The young pastor’s reply was interesting: "Steve, I know that’s what I should do, but I’m just not made that way. I feel my ministry is to pour oil on troubled waters, not put a match to it." Needless to say, that young man is no longer in the ministry. He didn’t have enough oil for all the troubled waters, so he is now selling insurance.
Former professional football player Norm Evans told me once about a massive freshman lineman—six foot five—with whom he played. In the lineman’s first game, the opposing lineman kept pulling this man’s helmet down over his eyes. The young lineman went up to the coach and said, "Coach, he keeps pulling my helmet down. What should I do?"
The coach smiled and said, "Son, don’t let him do it."
Read endorsements for Unpacking Forgiveness here.
Click here to order Unpacking Forgiveness.
“. . . Chris Brauns has done a magnificent job in helping us understand the true nature of biblical forgiveness. Every Christian will profit from reading and applying this book.” Jerry Bridges.
“ . . . Unpacking Forgiveness is an engaging, convicting but emphatically encouraging treatment of this hugely important (and sometimes mindbogglingly challenging) part of life. Dr. Brauns writes from the standpoint of a faithful, wise, experienced and caring pastor . . .” Ligon Duncan, First Pres, Jackson, MS
A Brick in the Valley