- Steve Kruyger gives a 3 examples of how churches figure out what things to advertise the most.
- Did you hear about the John Macarthur anti-charismatic conference? A big hoo-ha in the USA, but a slightly different scene to here in Australia. This post, from Kevin DeYoung, clarifies how the Puritans would be BOTH ‘cessationists’ in one sense (WCF 1.1: ” those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.”), and yet also have a place for ongoing ‘secondary’ kinds of revelation:
A detailed analysis of the writings of the Westminster divines reveals that these churchmen possessed both a strong desire to maintain the unity of Word and Spirit and a concern to safeguard the freedom of the Holy Spirit to speak to particular circumstances through the language and principles of Scripture. God still enabled predictive prophecy and spoke to individuals in extraordinary ways, but contemporary prophecy was held to be something different from the extraordinary prophecy of New Testament figures. In the minds of the Scottish Presbyterians and English Puritans, prophecy was considered to be an application of Scripture for a specific situation, not an announcement of new information not contained within the Bible. The Scripture always remained essential for the process of discerning God’s will.
- Steve Kruyger has picked out some highlights from Kevin DeYoung’s book ‘Crazy Busy’. I liked these ones:
We’re not actually in danger of working too hard. We simply work hard at things in the wrong proportions. If you work eighty hours a week and never see your kids and never talk to your wife, people may call you a workaholic. And no doubt you’re putting a lot of effort into your career. But you may not be working very hard at being a dad or being a husband or being a man after God’s own heart.
And:
Stewarding my time is not about selfishly pursuing only the things I like to do. It’s about effectively serving others in the ways I’m best able to serve and in the ways I am most uniquely called to serve…“Unseized” time tends to flow toward our weakness, get swallowed up by dominant people, and surrender to the demands of emergencies. So unless God intends for us to serve only the loudest, neediest, most intimidating people, we need to plan ahead, set priorities, and serve more wisely so that we might serve more effectively.
- Simone gives a rich analysis of reasons for conflict between a senior minister and an assistant minister. She manages to tackle it without attacking one side or the other. She also recognises the unique nature of ministry, rather than just blaming ministers for being petty or unprofessional. And best of all she gives great concrete advice, too! Thanks Simone!
