T4G 2012
Over this week I was able to attend the “Together for the Gospel” conference right here in Louisville. There were some excellent messages preached. I recommend checking out a sermon or two. Mark Dever’s and Ligon Duncan’s messages were very helpful to me, those or entirely others may speak to you All of them can be viewed for free here. Equally enriching to me at the conference were the singing and just the camaraderie with my fellow church interns and pastors, and then making new friends too.

Meatballs
Today was a day to catch up on sleep, try to get back on track with my diet to lose the remaining 6 lbs I want to, and just attend to all those “down from the mountaintop” duties of regular life that come with returning from a few days away. One thing to make the adjustment go much smoother: my wonderful wife made homemade meatballs! Between coming home from the conference last night and then knowing they are in a crock pot of sauce just a few feet away as I write, I’ve already had 3 of them! See, that’s why I need you to pray that I get back on track with my diet. (But they are delicious!)

Worship
I’ll leave you with just a snippet of video from the conference. I shot a little bit of the worship music so I could always remember how beautiful it sounded. As I tweeted earlier today, of all that I learned and experienced at the conference, nothing was as encouraging or as comforting as the song refrain we sang several times throughout the conference that reminded me, “Hallelujah! All I have is Christ. Hallelujah! Jesus is my life.” We need nothing but him, but oh how we need our hearts to long for him still more and more!

I remember when I was growing up my mom would say a silly little rhyme about spring. Even now I can hear her in my mind playfully say, “Spring has sprung, the grass has ris–where, o where them birdies is?” Well, them birdies are certainly enjoying the unusually warm weather here in Kentucky, as we all are.

I have a few random little things to pass along…

House Cleaning – As you can see on the right, I’ve done some house cleaning. After four months of running ads, I’ve decided to pull ‘em. They just weren’t wowing me. Ditto for some of the other things along the side. It looks kind of plain, but it’ll be all right. Oh, and I replaced the winter banner background above.

I’m Losing It – I decided a few weeks ago that it was time I get serious about trying to lose a few pounds I’ve gradually put on over the last few years. I found great little app for my smartphone called “LoseIt!” It’s a helpful way to count calories, track exercising, and stay motivated. You can learn more at their website LoseIt.com.

Oh, and how am I doing so far? Lost 7 lbs so far. My goal is to lose 10 more.

A Wheel Cool Ministry – God is good. He knows I want to lose some weight and I wanted to get a bicycle to ride besides just walking. Last weekend I found a ministry here in Louisville that sells used bikes to raise money so that they can turn around and give bikes away to people who need them but can’t afford them. I got a nicely equipped bike that would sell for about $150-200 used for just $50. I don’t have a website, but their Craigslist Ad is here.

A Light at the End of the Tunnel – Just about 6 more weeks left in the semester. New Testament Greek continues to take up a lot of my time, but I can read more in the New Testament. In fact, 6 months ago I couldn’t read anything! Still, I’ll be glad when the pressure of having to know it for a passing grade is off me. Keep me in your prayers!

Thanks for visiting! Thanks for allowing me into your life. It is a honor and a privilege you grant me–thank you, thank you, thank you!
-Anthony

Here are today’s Chapter Questions. You do not have to answer them in a comment. It’s not a contest or quiz. However, if you want to leave a comment about what you noticed in this chapter, go for it.

1. Nicodemus was a religious ruler and teacher of the Jews (1,10), yet he had to be taught by Jesus. What did Jesus tell him? (verses 3,5)

: Given the answer to #3, how, then, should we think about the Son? (next verse, 36)

So far we’ve seen Jesus attend a wedding, cleanse the Jewish temple, scold the religious leaders of the day…I wonder who He’s going to talk to next?
See you tomorrow!

You can listen here or go to the Resources page and find it there.

Thanks and God bless you!

“Tell me, O you whom I love,

Where you feed your flock,

Where you make it rest at noon.

For why should I be as one who veils herself

By the flocks of your companions?”

-          The Shulamite to her Beloved,

Song of Solomon 1:7

Dear Jesus,

May you be to us as our Beloved.  Forgive us for the ways and times where we do not seek wholly after You, but are content to see You at a distance.  We dishonor You and do hurt to ourselves by not reproving our hearts to pursue after You.  O that You would send your Holy Spirit to awaken love in the hearts of Your people that we would rejoice in You.  Lord, give us hearts that ache to be in Your presence, to be where You feed Your flock, and where You give rest—all of this not for ourselves but entirely for Your glory, now and forever. Amen.

Thanks!
-Anthony

For one thing, they told me I really do need to make my final arrangements in case I should die unexpectedly soon. (They also taught me that to say “die unexpectedly” is a fallacy; nobody dies completely unexpectedly, just sooner than they expected).

When you sit and really look at someone’s final resting place, it is a common grace of God that it makes you think about your own mortality. It is a divine pause to jar unbelievers into questioning what happens after death. For the believer it gives supernatural clarity that Christianity, indeed, is the one true faith that provides all the answers and sufficiently, properly prepares a person for eternity.

I spent about 20 minutes sitting on a memorial bench facing Jasper W. Crawford’s grave. You ask, Who is Jasper Crawford? I don’t know. His was just a random grave in a random cemetery in the United States. It had a bench and it was shaded–those were my only reasons for meeting Mr. Crawford. And even then, I didn’t technically meet him, just his headstone.

Here’s what I did and didn’t learn about Jasper W. Crawford: I know his name, but not all of it. I know his birth day and year, and I know when he died. I know where he’s buried, but I don’t know where he was born or lived or died.

Based on the name he shared his headstone with, I know he was married. I know what his wife’s name was, and the dates she was born and died. I don’t know when they married or how long they were married. Was she is only wife? Second wife? Tenth wife? Did they have children? If so, how many? If not, why not? I don’t know.

What about Jasper the man? What did he do for a living? What adventures or sorrows did he experience? What was his favorite color? Hobbies? Did he have a loud, contagious laugh or a quiet, dry chuckle? Maybe his was a life of crushing sorrows or fury or bitterness so that he never laughed at all? I don’t know.

I can’t answer many questions about Jasper W. Crawford because all that his left of him in this world is a gray marble slab etched with cold, lifeless facts.

This life is short, unpredictable, and (unless you are a figure esteemed by history) ultimately encapsulated in about 50 characters on a rock in a field.

…to be continued.

But what does that really mean?

Thanks to Dr. Simon Kistemaker who, in his 1965 book Calvinism: Its History, Principles and Perspectives, includes this awesome explanation from Dutch statesman-theologian Abraham Kuyper:

The word sovereign, says Kuyper, signifies that (1) I have made the object; (2) the object belongs to me; (3) I have laid down laws for this object; (4) the object as well as the elements out of which I have made the object are subject to me.

So, putting it all together:  God has made you; you belong to Him; He has laid down laws for you; you, and everything you are made of, is–like it or not–subject to Him.

These truths thrill the heart of a true Christian like the heart-thrill in the courtship of the one you love.  For those who do not know Christ, these ideas are disgusting and revolting, like waking up locked in chains and filled with rage about it.  I know, I used to be there.

Don’t be a fool.  Don’t fight God.  He is certainly sovereign…and kind, and good, and loving, and patient, and gracious…  Humble yourself before your Creator-Owner and surrender willingly to His loving sovereignty before it is too late!

¹Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, ² just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, ³it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4, ESV)

First, look at his purpose: “it seemed good to me also…to write an orderly account” of Jesus’ life and ministry. How orderly? How accurate? How reliable? “…that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” That’s a good start, right?

I’m new to Kentucky, so I’m slowly learning the love Kentuckians have for horses and the world famous Kentucky Derby. To attempt a Kentucky-inspired simile, Luke here at the beginning of his biography is like a racehorse at the start of a race, ready for that gate to swing open so he can break out with his carefully researched, fact-upon-fact narrative of the things he says he has followed “closely for some time past”. So how does he do?

Just consider his next sentence, verse 5:

5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

Did you catch it? Did you see him take off? He shot out of the fact-checking gate and is in full stride in his goal of being orderly and especially reliable in his account. Let’s look at this verse in slow motion. Read it carefully and ask yourself, How many facts does he give in this first verse after the prologue? Here it is again:

5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

How many facts did you come up with? If you said at least 9 you got it! A firm argument can be made that Luke packs 10 facts in just this one verse. Ten, can you believe it? That’s a lot of accuracy in one inch of space! Let’s break it down.

That, my friend, is a lot of information! When was the last time you heard that much truth in a single sentence? I’ll tell you–not in a long time, unless you just read some Bible this morning!

Liberal and conservative scholars have long credited Luke for being a first-rate historian. His detail in his Gospel and its follow-up, the New Testament book of Acts, have been commended upon over and over again for their clarity and historical accuracy. Dr. Bruce Metzger famously compiled a tally that Luke carefully and accurately notes 32 countries, 54 cities, 9 islands, and over 90 persons! (Bruce Metzger, The New Testament – Its Background, Growth, and Content, Nashville: Abingdon, 1965, 171-172.)

“Gospel” means “good news”. That said, we clearly have very good news about the trustworthiness of Luke’s account of Good News.  You can be sure that what he wrote is full of accurate details!