My Bible Reading Plan/How I Go About Meeting With My Father In The Morning
For the last 8 years or so I’ve been reading through the entire Bible 1x per year. I’ve used a variety of different reading plans along the way. This year I’ve adopted an extremely flexible reading plan that’s been a joy to use. This is what I do:
#1. Wake up early and make coffee
#2. Sip strong, dark coffee at a slow, steady pace
#3. Read 2-4 chapters of the Bible, choosing which chapters to read based on my curiosity
#4. Read the first few of my daily chapters fairly rapidly
#5. Somewhere along the way, when I come upon a chapter, paragraph, or verse that especially grips me, pause and engage my heart with that portion of the text–meditate on the text in such a way as to, as George Muller says, "have my soul happy in the Lord," and let this lead into a time of prayer
#6. Cross off my 2-4 chapters on my Bible Reading Record
If this plan sounds interesting to you, you can download the Bible Reading Record I use for tracking my reading progress: Download Bible Reading Record.doc
THE CORRECT VERSION of The Foundational Documents of The Gospel Coalition
Friends, D.A. Carson just sent me an email letting me know that I mistakenly posted an obsolete early draft of the Gospel Coalition’s Foundational Documents in my post from last Friday. Ooops.
I apologize for presenting you with an incorrect version of these documents. If you downloaded or linked to this obsolete early draft from my site, please disregard that draft, please do not circulate that draft any further, and please re-direct any blog links you may have made to this post (I’ve deleted last Friday’s post) as I’ve provided the correct, final draft (sent to me by D.A. Carson) of the Foundational Documents of The Gospel Coalition below.
The Substitute
“How then could God express simultaneously his holiness in judgment and his love in pardon? Only by providing a divine substitute for the sinner, so that the substitute would receive the judgment and the sinner the pardon.”
-John Stott
Journeying Toward God?
“Scripture is clear in teaching that we are not all journeying toward God–some having found him, others still seeking. Instead, Scripture presents us as needing to have our hearts replaced, our minds transformed, our spirits given life. We can do none of this for ourselves. The change each human needs, regardless of how we may outwardly appear, is so radical, so near our roots, that only God can bring it about. We need God to convert us.”
-Mark Dever
Paul’s Church Planting Practice
How the apostle Paul established new churches:
PHASE #1: He proclaimed the gospel (Acts 14:19-21; 16:6-10; Rom. 15:17-19)
PHASE #2: He gathered the Christians together into community, strengthening them in their faith and appointing elders in every church to oversee the community (Acts 14:21-23; Titus 1:5)
PHASE #3: He continued the process of establishing the churches, both by letter and by visits, training key men to assist him in the establishing process (Acts 16:1-5; Phil. 2:19-30; Rom. 1:8-15; 16:25-27; 2 Cor. 1:12-2:13; 7:5-12; 1 Thess. 2:17-3:10)
PHASE #4: He used the churches as a base for taking the gospel to new frontiers, encouraging the churches to participate with him in the furtherance of the gospel (Phil. 1:3-7, 27-30; 4:10-20)
PHASE #5: He charged the key men he had trained to assist him in fully establishing the churches to find faithful men that they could train to carry on this task for the next generation (2 Tim 2:2)
-B.I.L.D. Ministries
The Gospel Coalition Conference: Day 2, Final Session, John Piper, “The Triumph of the Gospel in the New Heavens and the New Earth”
I didn’t take notes for John Piper’s closing session. I didn’t take notes because, well, I just love listening to Piper preach. Piper, especially in his opening, spent a good deal of time encouraging younger pastors to lean on God and trust him for help in all the pastoral duties that can feel so overwhelming and impossible (how to counsel this or that person, what to say in this or that crisis, how to prepare this or that sermon, etc.). Piper expressed his own love for the pastorate and testified to how his sweetest years with God have been his years as a pastor as God has shown himself faithful, never failing to come through and provide for him as a needy pastor and leading him into experiences of God’s grace that he’d never dreamed of.
These words of gentle counsel were particularly encouraging to me as a young pastor. I can be such a fool–often letting the overwhelming weight of pastoring my sheep eclipse the reality that God is sovereign and faithful, a God who loves to provide for needy, desperate pastors. I needed this gentle encouragement/rebuke/counsel. I think I’ll need to be reminded of this throughout my whole ministry.
Piper then went on to expound Romans 8:18-24, exhorting pastors to memorize this whole chapter for, as Piper believes, this is the most important chapter in the whole Bible (he says Romans 3 is a close second). Piper drew 4 points out of this text. I didn’t write them down. They were long. They were good. They dealt with the reality and horror of present suffering (Piper spoke much about the suffering experienced by the many disabled children and parents of such children in his church) in our lives and in creation and the superior reality that the gospel will ultimately triumph as God will usher his people into a new heaven and a new earth that will be far beyond anything we can presently dream or imagine.
The conference is now over. I need to say goodbye to some people, pack my things, find a ride to the airport, and then do some final preparation in order to teach at our 20s gathering back in California tonight. If you think of it, please pray for me as I prepare for tonight and as I digest all that I experienced at this conference and seek to apply it in my life, marriage, and ministry.
The Gospel Coalition Conference: Day 2 Breakout Workshop, Mark Driscoll & Michael Lawerence–Mentoring Younger Pastors
Michael Lawrence, associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church began this session with one basic point: if a church/pastor is not training younger/future pastors, that church/pastor is likely in sin. Lawrence briefly grounded this point from Paul’s words to Timothy in the Pastorals and then went on to explain how he and Mark Dever train men in their Pastoral Internship Program at Capitol Hill. Lawrence passed out a detailed handout that outlines all that’s involved in this internship (mentoring relationships, books to be read, writing assignments, etc.). I’m looking forward to examining the reading list in this handout.
Next, Mark Driscoll spoke. He spoke about three kinds of men to look for in calling up and training younger pastors and four qualities that all such men must demonstrate. Here’s some rough notes:
Three kinds of men:
1. Some guys are going to be “prophets”–guys great at proclamation, preaching, and teaching.
2. Some guys are going to be “priests”–guys great at caring for people.
3. Some guys are going to be “kings”–guys great at overseeing the overall ministry of a church.
As a mentor, you’ve got to know what type of a guy you’re dealing with (though realize that there will certainly be overlap).
Four things to look for in young pastors:
1. Relationship with God–making sure a guy understands the gospel and walks closely with God.
2. Relationship with his wife–making sure a guy has good relationship with his wife.
3. Relationship with his kids–making sure a guy leads and cares for his children with skill and faithfulness.
4. Relationship with himself–making sure a guy can pastor himself.
After Driscoll’s brief message the workshop shifted into a Q&A session.
The questions were thoughtful. So were the answers. At one point things got a tad heated between Driscoll and Lawrence when a young guy asked if Driscoll would appoint an unmarried man without children to be an elder at his church. Driscoll, for a variety of reasons I won’t explain here, said he would not (unless under very unique circumstances) appoint such a man to be an elder in his church. Lawrence then gave his different take on the matter and this made for some slightly heated, interesting, and humorous interaction between Driscoll and Lawrence.
What I enjoyed most about this workshop was listening to these two very different guys lead this session together.
The Gospel Coalition Conference: Day 2, What is the Gospel Coalition?
Day 2 here at The Gospel Coalition Conference began with a brief informational session by D.A Carson addressing the question, “What is the Gospel Coalition?”
Here are my notes:
Decades ago there was a tightly knit evangelical center in America, led by the likes of Carl F.H. Henry, Christianity Today, etc. This center is lacking today.
Concerned over the lack of this center, D.A. Carson & Tim Keller desired to rally a new generation of Christians around the gospel. This led to many conversations between Carson & Keller and a pulling together of 40-50 “stakeholder” pastors of a variety of backgrounds, races, and churches to help form a coalition robustly centered on the gospel.
The Gospel Coalition (G.C.) overlaps with, yet is distinct in intention from other organizations such as Together For The Gospel, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, etc. The G.C. is focused on asking the strategic question, “What can we do to promote a robust, gospel-centered evangelical center in our increasingly diverse country, particularly for the arising generation?”
Out of a desire to start the public face of this coalition off on a good foot, this conference was not advertised and was kept to 500 attendees.
The G.C. has spent several years drafting some “Foundational Documents,” including:
-A Preamble Concerning The Gospel
-A Confessional Statement
-A Theological Vision For Ministry
In a few weeks these documents, along with audio from the conference sessions, will be available online for free (all of us at the conference received these Foundational Documents and I can tell you that they are quite good).
Over the coming months and years the G.C. will be finding its way and shaping its mission and purposes as the coalition further develops.
The Gospel Coalition Conference: Additional Highlights From Day 1
Day 1 here at the conference not only included some great teaching sessions, but also plenty of time to meet new people and build some new relationships. A few highlights for me:
-Meeting and hanging with fellow blogger Erik Raymond.
-Chatting with Justin Taylor. Our conversation included talking about how a version of this biblical theology diagram that I posted a few weeks back will be appearing in the forthcoming ESV Study Bible that Justin is editing.
-Talking with Gary Shavey who had a busy day of conducting interviews for Resurgence.
-Having dinner with Collin Hansen, Associate Editor for Christianity Today. Over a tasty meal of chicken and cheesecake Collin and I got to know each other and had one long, running conversation about theology. Good times. I’ve always liked Collin’s writing (I especially enjoyed Collin’s cover article for the September, 2006 issue of CT). Now I know that I also like Collin. Here’s a post-dinner picture of us:
.
The Gospel Coalition Conference: Session #3, Crawford Loritts
After Tim Keller’s message, a thought provoking panel discussion, and a 2 hour dinner break, we reassembled in the Trinity chapel for Session #3, Passing On The Torch, by Crawford Loritts.
This was the first time I’ve heard Loritts speak. The man can preach. However, I found it difficult to take notes from Loritts. So, I just listened. Suffice it to say that Lorrits’ message was both a critique of the “strategic arrogance” that characterizes much of evangelicalism today and a challenge to “pass on the torch” by pointing this present generation and future generations to God through courageously proclaiming the simple message of the Scriptures. He based this message on Psalm 78:5-7. I’m still processing Loritts’ session as it seemed a bit out of place with the previous sessions.
