In looking at the Lord’s Prayer this past Sunday we referenced several resources to help us learn to pray.

Some of the mentioned resources we referenced previously in a post called: Prayer Weapons for the Warfare: 3 Books, a PDF (Martin Luther), & Blog Post (Tim Keller).

Some New Resources

  Learning to Pray from Others

    The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers

Puritans wrote down their prayers as a way of keeping a record of God’s dealings with the soul. Included here are prayers of Bunyan, Watts, Spurgeon, and others. Arranged by theme — from the awesomeness of God to the awfulness of sin — you’ll find promptings for your own heart’s dialogue with your heavenly Father.

  Learning to Pray Scripture Itself

    Face to Face: Praying the Scriptures

Face to Face helps break prayer down in specific categories helping to make sure our prayers are biblically proportioned. 

Face to Face helps by adapting the very words of Scripture into prayers.

  Learning to Pray Kingdom Prayers

    Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every

Operation World is the definitive global prayer handbook that will help focus your heart and life towards God’s passion for His glory.

     Window on the Word: Prayer Atlas for All 

An excellent illustrated resource for families to help encourage children to pray “Your Kingdom Come” as they learn the needs of the people of the world. 

The last two Sunday’s we’ve looked at issues of headship and submission as they relate to gender roles.

Resources to listen to and to read about the issues.

TO LISTEN 

Tim and Kathy Keller gave a two part seminar in 2005 called “Cultivating a Healthy Marriage.”

Part One is a lecture. The Keller’s describe marriage as a garden.

1. Planning & Planting

• Gospel Reenactment
• Headship Role
• Submission Role

2. Fertilizing & Watering

• Communication Help
• Love-Languages Help
• Sexual Relationship Help

3. Weeding & Pruning

• Conflict Resolution
• Conflict Confronters and Conflict Avoiders
• Forgivness and Repentace

4. Harvesting & Enjoying

• Spiritual Development
• Ultimate Hope, Significance, and Serurity

Part Two is a Q&A Session.

• Can you talk about in-laws and the impact they have on the marriage?
• Do you have to have sex every time your spouse wants to?
• What is a healthy number of times to have sex, pre-children?
• How you make sex a priority with busy schedules?
• How do you get over damage in the sexual area that was done early in your marriage?
• How can I learn the love language of my spouse?
• What does the Bible say about children and contraception?
• In heaven how will we relate to our spouses?
• Do you have any recommendations for men leading their families?
• What do you recommend for a couple who are different places spiritually?
• How do you know your spouse should change a job for the benefit of the family?
• What if headship for the man is as hard as submission is for the woman?
• What do you say to the person who says I married the wrong person?
• What do you do when you try be the leader but your wife doesn’t follow?
• How do we keep working through our communication problems?
• How do you offer forgiveness without sounding self-righteous?
• My husband’s close relationship with other women is threatening to me. How should I deal with this?
• How do you get results from your husband without sounding like a nag?
• Can you have a good marriage without good sex?
• What do you do if you hard time respecting your husband’s intelligence and judgment?
• What’s the best way to give my husband advice without making him feel bad or nagged?
• How important is it for men to come in touch with their emotions in a marriage?
• Could you give a script for working through communication issues?
• What’s the wisdom in getting married (or being single)?
• Is love a choice?
• Is a difference of family size a suitable case to be resolved though headship?

TO READ 

Stephen B. Clark’s Man and Woman in Christ: An Examination of the Roles of Men and Women in Light of the Scripture and the Social Sciences.

When the book first came out Christianity Today named it as one of the most important
books of the year in 1981. Much time has passed since then, but the significant contributions of this book have not.

The book has four main sections:

I. The Scriptural Teaching

II. Assessing the Scriptural Teaching

III. The Scriptural Teaching in Contemporary Society

IV. A Christian Approach for Today.

A detailed viewed of the contents and issues the book covers can be viewed here.

Chapters 3, 4, and 12 are particularly relevant to issues of headship and submission.

Chapter 3 The Family: Husbands and Wives

• Of particular interest in this chapter is Clark’s treatment of womanhood in Proverbs 31

Chapter 4 The Family: Key Texts

• Ephesians 5:22-33, Colossians 3:18-19, 1 Peter 3:1-7

Chapter 12 Christian Family: Husbands and Wives

“The steady witness of tradition can help us see more clearly how the views of the present age color a reading of the scriptural message about the roles of men and women.”

He sketches the views of:

• The Apostolic Fathers
• Second and Third Century Fathers
• Fourth Century Fathers
• Post-Patristic Tradition

The entire book is available for free here.

For communion this past Sunday we meditated on Christ, The Lord of the Feast. For many of us our faith tradition rightly emphasizes the need for solemn self-examination in approaching the Lord’s Table. In doing so we’ve unintentionally neglected another important biblical emphasis: the Lord’s Table is meant to increase our assurance of pardon and reassure of his steadfast love. Yes, it’s a Table for repentant sinners. But it’s still a Table for sinners. 

Accordingly, many of us often approach the Lord’s Table suspicious of his grace. We think that God’s called us to the Table “to get us” rather than than to reassure us. In the end, even his desire to reassure of his love through the Lord’s Supper is meant to lead us to ongoing repentance and faith, as his goodness and grace always do. 

To illustrate how suspicious of grace we are when coming to the Lord’s Table, we referenced the film Babette’s Feast. An entire congregation grows suspicious about an extravagant meal being provided by a loyal housekeeper. The film provides a convicting reflection of the way we often approach the Lord’s Supper-suspicious of grace. It also displays the unifying results within a congregation when we boast in his lavish grace and nothing else. 

In case the weather in the Upstate hasn’t been convincing enough, the calendar announces today as the official beginning of summer. One of the most popular things to do during this time of year involves filling out a summer reading list.  

Sunday’s message from Nehemiah 6 referenced two books that should be on everyone’s summer reading list. 

1. Charles Simeon: A Pastor of a Generation 

If anyone’s life parallels the pastoral endurance and prudence Nehemiah models (especially chapter 4-6), it is Charles Simeon. 

Charles Simeon (1759-1836), contemporary of John Newton (1725-1807) and William Wilberforce (1759-1833), served the same congregation for fifty-four years. He did so amidst much hardship and isolation. Three years after his conversion, suffering from loneliness, he lamented that he had been unable to find even one person who shared his evangelical beliefs.

The first twelve years of his ministry at Holy Trinity Church (where Richard Sibbes and Thomas Goodwin once pastored) were characterized by blistering opposition. 

• He was regularly locked out of his own church. 
• The congregation hired another minister to lead a second Sunday service so they wouldn’t have to hear him. 
• Students at nearby Cambridge University regularly interrupted whatever services he was able to conduct and pummeled him with insults. 

In addition to the brutal hardships he endured as a minister, he served on faculty at Cambridge University, where he was a constant object of verbal terrorism and scorn by his colleagues.

I read this book about twelve years ago at a particular low point in life. It ministered much grace to me then, and I have returned to it for refreshment many times since. Simeon’s biography will rouse you from your summer slumber to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 2:3). It will also encourage you to labor and toil by setting your hope on the living God (1 Tim. 4:10).

(In addition to the paperback copy linked to above, Simeon’s complete biography can also be accessed on Google Books.)

2. “The Blind Eye and The Deaf Ear”  from a short chapter in Spurgeon’s Lectures to My Students.

This entire book is a worthy read. With perfect whit and wisdom, Spurgeon addresses many subjects that will demand the minister’s attention (and every lay person’s attention, too).

Nehemiah endured malicious gossip and slander throughout his ministry. In “The Blind Ear and The Deaf Ear” Spurgeon advises Christians to employ “one blind and eye and one deaf ear” against such verbal terrorism. The veteran Spurgeon ends the chapter with his usual whit encouraging Christians to use the blind eye and the deaf ear:

Is not this a sufficient explanation of my declaration that I have one blind eye and one deaf ear, and that they are the best eye and ear I have?

The headings from “The Blind Eye and The Deaf Ear”:

• Blind Eye and Deaf Ear in Beginning a New Ministry
• Blind Eye and Deaf Ear in Regard to Salary
• Blind Eye and Deaf Ear Toward Gossip
• Blind Eye and Deaf Ear Toward (Personal) Criticism
• Blind Eye Towards Opinions About Yourself, and
• Blind Eye and Deaf Ear Toward False Reports (About You).

Here’s part of his advice to those who, like Nehemiah and Charles Simeon, are enduring false reports:

In the case of false reports against yourself, for the most part use the deaf ear. Unfortunately liars are not yet extinct, and, like Richard Baxter and John Bunyan, you may be accused of crimes which your soul abhors. Be not staggered thereby, for this trial has befallen the very best of men, and even your Lord did not escape the envenomed tongue of falsehood. In almost all cases it is the wisest course to let such things die a natural death. A great lie, if unnoticed, is like a big fish out of water, it dashes and plunges and beats itself to death in a short time. To answer it is to supply it with its element, and help it to a longer life. Falsehoods usually carry their own refutation somewhere about them, and sting themselves to death.

(Similar to the book above, almost all of Lectures to My Students is free on Google Books)

We’re on the front end of a series exploring Ezra and Nehemiah. Here are five resources that will help you dig into each book for yourself. Consider purchasing one of them to help enrich your own study and to help prepare your heart to receive God’s word on Sundays. 

1. Listen to these one-message overviews to help remind you of the overall theme of each book. 

• Ezra: The Faithful God Who Restores His People
• Nehemiah: The God Who Rebuilds and Renews His People

2. Read one of these three books. 

The first two get all the details right, while being full of pastoral comments. 

• Kidner, Derek. Ezra and Nehemiah (Tyndale Old Testament Commentary)
• McConville, J.G. Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther

This last one is best current resource on Ezra. It approaches the book from a literary perspective. Although it is far more technical than the previous two, the reward will be worth the effort. The chapter at the end of the book called “A Readers’ Guide to the Theological Message of Ezra” is alone worth the price of the book. And the good news is that it’s also the easiest part to read.  

• Brown, A Philip. Hope Amidst Ruin

THREE BOOKS…

1. A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers.

If you only read one book on prayer in your life, this is it. 

Jesus encourages us to let his words abide in us. This book teaches how to do that when it comes to prayer. From the writings of Paul, Carson demonstrates how the words of Scripture should inform our words in prayer. He also addresses age-old struggles when it comes to prayer, like reconciling prayer with God’s sovereignty. It’s simple enough to take a new Christian through, thorough enough to warrant several readings, and important enough not to ignore. (Click on the link above to see the Table of Contents.)

2. Prayer: The Cry for the Kingdom.

The book begins looking at the prayer acrostic of A-C-T-S and then focuses chiefly on Supplication. The author’s point is this: “Like Jesus’ own prayer, Christian prayer is ultimately a cry for the kingdom” (23). The rest of the book unpacks what that means for the individual and for the church. The final chapter includes practical suggestions and encouragements to those praying in public, praying alone, and praying together as Christians. The weakness of the book is that it’s a bit philosophical in places, and it’s not as helpful in reconciling prayer with God’s sovereignty.

3. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World.

It’s sure to change the way you think about prayer and the gospel. It’s an easy read, but a thought provoking read. You’ll probably even learn more about applying the gospel to every area of your life than you will about prayer.

A PDF…

A Simple Way to Pray by Martin Luther

 When Martin Luther’s barber asked him how to pray, Luther responded by writing this letter. It’s short. And it’s a classic. Read it slowly and repeatedly. 

AND A BLOG POST…

Scraps of Thought on Daily Prayer by Tim Keller

This past Sunday Nathan Young concluded his message with this powerful quotation from Michael Lawrence, Senior Pastor at Hinson Baptist Church. It’s a great reminder of how the atonement enables our evangelism. 

Ultimately the end or purpose of Christ’s sacrifice is that we might once again offer our lives back to God as sacrifices, not as payment for sin but as living sacrifices of praise to his glorious grace. So long as we try to offer these sacrifices as payment for sin, to appease God, or to make him happy, we will fail. But when we faithfully teach ourselves and our churches that God is not angry anymore because Christ has paid the penalty something changes. Now these living sacrifices are not offered in fear, but in love. In one sense they are not sacrifices at all.

MESSAGES

Both messages from Sunday are available.

1. Martin Luther: The Progress of a Reformer

• The Progress to Salvation
• The Progress from Roman Catholicism
• The Progress to Building a Heritage

2. What is Justification?

• The Righteousness of God: Why Justification is Necessary?
• The Righteousness of Christ: How Justification is Possible?
• The Righteousness of the Believer: What Justification Does for Us?

BOOKS

1. If you can only read one book this year on church history and the Reformation, pick this one: The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation.*

Burning pyres, nuns on the run, stirring courage, and comic relief: the Protestant Reformation is a gripping tale, packed with drama. But what motivated the Reformers? And what were they really like?

The Unquenchable Flame, a lively, accessible, and fully informative introduction to the Reformation by Michael Reeves, brings to life the movement’s most colorful characters (Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, The Puritans, etc.), examines their ideas, and shows the profound and personal relevance of Reformation thinking for today.

2. If you can only read one book this year to increase your joy and understanding of the gospel, pick this one: Complete In Him.*

*Note: Both books are, or will soon be, available for purchase at church.

3. If you need one book to help reveal the subtle, but vital, differences between Protestant Christianity and Catholicism, this may help: Nothing In My Hand I Bring. (Free download of cover, contents, and chapter 1.)

This past Sunday we started a short series encouraging us to put our hope in God, so that our children would put their hope in God. Here are some helpful resources to that end. 

1. Resources for Adults.

• Knowing God
• The Gospel for Real Life
• The Cross of Christ
• Living the Cross Centered Life

2. Resources for Children.

    Books.

• What God Has Always Wanted: The Bible’s Big Idea from Genesis Through Revelation
• Jesus Storybook Bible
• Big Truths For Little Kids
• The Big Picture Story Bible
• Big Truths for Young Hearts

    Music. 

• J is for Jesus
• A Very Very Very Big God

For additional recommendations you may consult the Recommended Resources available on our website.