An Update To Yearn Readers

This year I’ve rarely posted any new articles. Things at church, school, and a few other writing projects have kept me busy. While I can read fairly quickly, writing is a different story. Providing meaningful and thoughtful posts is somewhat time consuming for me. In addition, I do not feel the same calling to write (and I’m not very good at it!) as I do to preach and lead at Metro East Baptist Church.

Any writing I do in the future will be specific to my congregation and will be posted at http://www.treasuregod.org/metro-east-blog/.  I will however post things here from time to time as I see necessary. In the future I may return to regularly blogging at YEARN, but for this season, I am taking a break.

Thanks for reading and following YEARN!

GB

Craving or Coasting?

The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. As a pastor I don’t want my congregation living in a constant pursuit of emotional and spiritual highs. I want them consistently walking with God and deeply abiding in Jesus. I want the Gospel to motivate them to worship, resist sin, and make Christ known among. I hold out this hope for them and myself.

But I also want to avoid spiritual cruise control. I want to bypass mere emotion and keep the fires of my affections (inner motives, cravings, glories) stoked for Christ and the Gospel. I am currently preaching through 1Peter. In chapter 2 Peter says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Pet. 2:2-3). Many interpret Peter as saying something like “Long for the Word of God the way an infant longs for milk.” Sermons on this text exhort Christians to increase their efforts in morning devotions and their study of the Bible.

But I think Peter is saying different. He is saying to long for Jesus, not simply the Word (of course I would never disconnect those two). He is not saying “Get in the Word.” He is saying “Crave Jesus the way an infant craves and needs milk!” The very next verse, says “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” They have tasted Jesus and Peter is exhorting them to keep on tasting Him (See: Ps. 34).

So how do you discern if you are craving Jesus or just coasting through the Christian life? Here are a few symptoms:

Limiting dialogue with God to a devotional time

You give Him the first part of your day, but rarely seek Him or run to Him for refuge during the day. Just ask yourself: If I related to any other person the way I relate to God, would that relationship be worthwhile?

Boasting in avoiding sins of the flesh

Many measure their spiritual life by how frequent they engage in visible or fleshly sins like lust, drunkenness, sensuality, cursing, fits of anger and rage, splurge spending, overeating, pornography, etc. If they avoid these sins, they assume they are being holy. But they neglect the relational and often hidden sins of unforgiveness, avoidance, bitterness, jealousy, exclusion, and self-promotion.

Passive prayers and reactive prayers

You pray on an as needed basis. There is no preemptive assault on temptation or future needs. I am guilty of this with my children. I tend to pray brief short-range prayers about their safety, health, and growth. But I must also pray long-range and offensive prayers for them.

Performance Spirituality

You’ve been able to mostly dodge visible sins, but the motivation for doing so is to maintain a steady flow of God’s blessings. You are afraid to sin because God might allow a little discomfort in your life, a little pain to creep in. You feel pressured to perform well in order to remain on God’s good side. Many Christians use their morning “quiet time,” or lack of, to determine where they stand with God that day. This is a miserable place to be!

See Others Sins To The Neglect of Your Own

Part of celebrating the Gospel is being aware of your own sinfulness. We should not of course live in a perpetual state of naval gazing and inwardness, but we should be aware of how dark our hearts can be. Unfortunately we too often see the sins of others without examining our own hearts before God.

Evangelistically stagnant

While you cannot control what opportunities arise to share the Gospel, you can guard your heart against being indifferent to a lost world. Christians who never wrestle with how to get the Gospel to a non-believer likely do not have the Gospel coursing through their veins.

The Remedy?

Now that we’ve diagnosed what it might look like to coast through the Christian life, where do we go from here? What might be put in place to help us long for Jesus and crave Him more? To be sure, recognizing these things is half the battle. Being aware of how quickly passivity and apathy sets in is at least a step in the right direction. From here you can ask God to do a work of grace in your heart to want Him, and need Him, more. You can beg the Spirit to awaken you to the beauty and power of the Gospel. You can ask Jesus to stir your affections for who He is and what He is doing in the world. You might consider reading through a particularly weighty book or perhaps spend some extended time in prayer and meditation. Maybe you’ve emotionally checked out during public worship gatherings and you want to make being “there” a priority.

This will certainly look different for anyone depending on schedule, personality, and stage of life. But we must recognize that we always need more of Jesus in our lives. May we taste and see that He is good.

GB

 

Dare To Pray This Prayer For 2013

“May all my expectations be frustrated, may all my plans be thwarted, may all my desires be withered into nothingness, that I may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love God who is Father, Son, and Spirit. (Adapted from Abba’s Child, 13)

An Open Letter To Metro East Baptist Church

 

Metro East Family,

I am grateful to God for 2012 and the many blessings we received as a church. I am also thrilled for 2013 and looking forward to what God might do among us. Allow me to share a few thoughts about what’s in store.

Vision

The elders and staff will be rolling out a document very soon that articulates the direction we believe God is leading Metro East. Much of it should sound familiar as it contains many of the things I’ve preached about for the past two years. But you will also find some new ideas, plans, and dreams for Metro East.  The hope is to challenge all of us to use the gifts and resources we’ve received to further advance the Gospel and make more and more disciples. We want to be as clear as possible about who we are seeking to be as a church. You will find many practical ways to live out this vision as well as information on events and plans for 2013. Our goal is for all of our people to be on the same page and pursuing the same vision as we move forward. We are asking for all of you to prayerfully read through the document, give us feedback, and work with all your might to be the kind of church that magnifies God and blesses our city.

App

We are launching a new iPad/iPhone/iPod/Android app in January. This will give you quick access to sermons, news, blogs, and other important information about our church. We are excited to be able to offer this to you.

Sermons

We will finish the book of 1Peter in February and then we move on to a short series through the book of Jonah. After that we will spend some time preaching topically through our vision and core values. We will spend the summer months in the Psalms. The fall/winter sermon schedule is not yet complete so please pray I get to work quickly!

2013 Devotional Guide

This year we wanted to suggest that the entire church use the same devotional guide and reading plan. We recommend Robert M’Cheyne’s Reading Plan and D.A. Carson’s For The Love of God Vol. 1. Click HERE for all the details.

Sunday Nights

We hope to strengthen our Sunday activity in the coming year. While we like to keep Sunday night open for meetings, family time, small groups, and rest, we do sense a need to gather for more specific teaching and fellowship. You’ll find several planned Sunday night events throughout the year. I am really looking forward to this time.

Thanks

I wish to thank our staff, elders, deacons, and all of the volunteers who serve Metro East and make it what it is. I greatly appreciate you all! It is an honor to be your pastor.

Work and Pray and Watch

I am asking God for a great 2013. Let’s pray for God to do big things in our midst. Let’s pray for more conversions and baptisms, more transformed lives, more Gospel proclamation, more boldness, more sacrifice and giving, more volunteers and leaders, more warmth and compassion, and more unity and love.

May God be glorified and honored among us! May the Gospel be adorned and advanced! 

Happy New Year,

Pastor Greg

Top 10 Posts of 2012

10. How To Read 70 Books In A Year

9. How To Listen To A Sermon

8. Why You Shouldn’t Use Your iPad To Read The Bible

7. 4 Ways To Ruin A Ministry Monday

6. How I Pray For My Sons

5. What Non-Christian Counselors Don’t Tell You

4. Love Is . . .

3. How To Fight Same-Sex Attraction

2. So You Want To Date My Daughter?

1. 30 Things You Might Not Know About CS Lewis

GB

For My Fellow Preachers Who Feel Like Quitting

To an assembly of clergy at Augsburg in 1530, Martin Luther explained why he continued to preach despite a nagging desire to quit.

Not that we are so greatly delighted to preach. For, to speak for myself, no message would be more pleasing to my ears than the one deposing me from the office of preaching. I suppose I am so tired of it because of the great ingratitude among the people, but much more because of the intolerable hardships which the devil and world mete out to me. But the poor souls will not let me rest; then too, there is a man whose name is Jesus Christ. He says no. Him I justly follow as One who has deserved more of me.” (What Luther Says, 1132)

A Simple Way To Pray

For years I have struggled with how best to pray petitionary prayers. I am much more comfortable with prayers of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and exaltation. It’s the prayers for things that I have a hard time praying.

Somewhere over the past few months I began categorizing my requests into particular days. At first it felt a bit mechanical and awkward, but after about two weeks it was really freeing. Here is how I do it. Please note that I offer this as a suggestion, not a rule!

Monday Is For Me

This may sound selfish, but after preaching and attending meetings most of the day before, I need to sync up with the Lord, shake off any pride or despair, and get my mind and heart ready for the week. Here I pray for, among other things, my heart to be stirred for the Gospel, my identity to be buried in Christ, and for my will to be bent toward obedience. Monday is for me in the sense that it’s for God’s glory and His purposes for me.

Tuesday Is For Heather

I have some “stock” prayers that I pray for her as well as things I’ve picked up on or things she’s told me over the week. I also let my Bible reading for the day shape the way I pray for her.

Wednesday Is For The Boys

I’ve written elsewhere about how I pray for them. Here I pray for things current as well as things future. In light of the events in Connecticut on Friday, I am currently praying for them to be tender, sweet, and compassionate, but also courageous, discerning, and brave in the face of evil.

Thursday Is For Church

Here I pray for all things Metro East. This includes our vision, our upcoming services, our staff, elders, deacons, and issues we are currently facing as a church. I also pray for the global spread of the Gospel and unreached people groups.

Friday Is For Friends And Family

I pray for the couples that Heather and I spend the most time with. I pray for the men I am discipling. I pray for my family.

Saturday Is For The Country

I pray for our city, state, nation, and all those in high positions (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

Sunday Is For The Service and Sermon

I bathe the day’s sermon in prayer. I beg for grace and wisdom to preach. I pray for the listeners, especially any non-Christians who will be present. I pray for clarity and boldness. I pray for the Gospel to be heard. I pray for our teachers, worship team, and volunteers. I pray for God’s blessing on the day both in our church and all the churches.

Try It

Of course there is overlap with all of these. If Heather asks me on Friday to pray for something she is struggling with I don’t say, “Can it wait until Tuesday?!” I also pray many other prayers on all these days. But this helps me to pray specific, thoughtful, and focused prayers for all these issues and people. If this sounds helpful, please use it. If it doesn’t, forget all you just read.

GB

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