Just another reminder from David Alan Black’s blog that talk is cheap:

Christ demands that we put people over prestige or pulpits or publications. Do others really know that we love them? By our deeds and not just by our words? I suppose this is why Jesus never walked up to anyone and said, “I love you.” You see, if you have to tell people that you love them, they tend to suspect your genuineness. Evangelicals, let’s stop just saying that we love the nations. They can judge whether we love them or not.

Last year’s 20/20 Conference was hugely influential in the lives of many Southeastern students and visitors, and it’s coming again next February. Here’s what SEBTS has to say about it:

God’s church always finds herself in the midst of a broader human culture. Though the church is a part of that culture, she also bears witness to a Reality greater than the culture. For this reason, we as believers have the great privilege and responsibility of finding ways—in our colleges, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities—to display the truth, goodness, and beauty of God and his gospel. Come and join us as we explore ways of bearing witness to God and his gospel in the midst of a skeptical, morally confused culture.

The 2010 20/20 Collegiate Conference, A City Within a City, will be held February 5-6 on the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The cost of the conference is $35. Southeastern students may attend for a discounted price of $30.

Speakers will include: Danny Akin, Matt Chandler, JD Greear, Clayton King, David Platt, Dave Owen and more

I just finished up Graeme Goldsworthy’s Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture. I highly recommend it–great book! It really focuses on interpreting the Scriptures through biblical theology rather than systematic theology and highlights the importance of salvation history throughout.

Here are a few notable quotes:

“We must proclaim the message of what God has done for them in Christ. We follow the New Testament in calling on people to live out the implications of the gospel, but we cannot urge people to actually live the gospel, for that was the unique work of Christ. This distinction between the gospel and its fruit in our lives is crucial…the ethical example of Christ is secondary to and dependent upon the primary and unique work of Christ for us” (4).

“The soundest methodological starting point is the gospel since the person of Jesus is proclaimed as the final and fullest expression of God’s revelation of his kingdom. Jesus is the goal and fulfillment of the whole Old Testament and, as the embodiment of the truth of God, he is the interpretative key to the Bible” (25).

“Show me a church without a good appreciation of the Old Testament and biblical theology and I’ll show you a church with a weak understanding of the gospel” (52).

“If eternal life is not the reward for meritorious living but the gift of grace, then all ethical imperatives are given as implications of the gospel and should be clearly seen as such. The alternative is to preach law and to leave the impression that the essence of Christianity is what we do rather than what God has done. Legalism easily creeps in even when we think we have avoided it. The preacher may well understand the relationship of law and grace, but the structure of the sermon program may undermine it in the thinking of many in the congregation” (59).

While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyelids close in death,
when I sour through tracts unknown,
see thee on thy judgement throne,
Rock of ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.

–Augustus Montague Toplady

Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to thy cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Saviour, or I die.

–Augustus Montague Toplady

Not the labours of my hands
can fulfil thy law’s demands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears for ever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save and thou alone.

–Augustus Montague Toplady

Rock of ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from the riven side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure,
cleanse me from its guilt and power.

–Augustus Montague Toplady

It’s Thursday morning and as I write this article I’m bouncing back and forth on the train to Manhattan. I almost always find riding the subways interesting, but crossing the Manhattan Bridge has certainly been the highlight of my morning commute for the last few days. I think I enjoy this part of the daily ride the most because—even if for just for a few moments—we are all offered an escape from the dark, empty tunnels and given a grandiose view of the city itself. The sky is enlarged. The sun is exposed. There is something to actually gaze upon.

As I sit here on the Broadway Express, though, I can’t help but notice the countenance of those individuals surrounding me. In almost every direction I notice exhausted eyes and fatigued faces. They’re tired.

As we’ve served the Gallery Church this week, it seems that each of us has had at least one great, encouraging story to share with the group. A story that moved a New Yorker out of the dark, empty tunnels and into the light—even if just for a few moments—as the greatest Story of all was told. A Story of Exposure.

Over the past several years God has been preparing me (in many ways) to be an urban church planter. This has certainly been a journey—one that can be measured by several marks and milestones—yet I am continually amazed at how God exposes more and more of his plan for my life. Opportunities like this week inevitably contribute to an increasing zeal to reach the world through the great cities. As I witness the Gallery’s efforts to expand the kingdom of God, I rejoice in the spread of God’s fame—and become increasingly excited about expanding the Church to other great cities, as well.

Following graduation this May, I will begin a new phase in the journey as a church planter. Together with seven other teammates (3 seminarians, a nurse, a computer pro, a horse trainer, and a 2 year-old), we will be transplanting to Denver, Colorado as missionaries for Jesus Christ. As we prepare for the coming step, I consider opportunities to learn from planters such as Aaron Coe, Jeff Getz, Freddy Wyatt, and Ellis Prince absolutely invaluable. Hearing words of encouragement, warnings and cautions, practical wisdom, and spiritual guidance has been both a blessing and a challenge. I think more than anything this week we’ve all witnessed at least a peek into the daily lives of church planters…and I continue to thank God for the privilege of participating in such a mission.

I guess at some point in time the Manhattan Bridge loses its flair amongst the natives. The familiar becomes ordinary. And the ordinary…well, more or less disappears. No one looks up. No one opens his eyes. It’s just one more stretch of the morning commute. One more stop closer to the destination, really. When I think of the story of God, I don’t want it to be like the Manhattan Bridge to those who have crossed it a thousand times. A familiar sight…an ordinary stretch. I want it to be like a view of the city seen by a first-timer. A view where the sky is enlarged. A Story where the Son is exposed.

This week I’m in NYC with a group of students from SEBTS serving the Gallery Church. The Gallery Church was planted in 2006 in the heart of Manhattan and held their first service in a new location (Broadway and 27th St).

Please be praying for:
1. our team – strenth, courage, and boldness
2. the church – influence, service, and unity
3. the city – open ears, hearts, and minds

You can follow the SEBTS mission trip blog HERE.

I’ve blogged about New Testament hymns in the past, and I recently discovered another one in Titus 3:4-7. You won’t pick up on any hymnic qualities in most English versions (and, admittedly, I only realized it after looking at the ISV), but I sure did appreciate its sound and clarity. I’ve “tweaked” it a bit from the ISV—hopefully staying true to authorial intent!

In grace our Savior God appeared,
His love for mankind to make clear.

‘Twas not for deeds that we had done,
But only by his merciful love.

He saved us through a second birth,
Renewed us by the Spirit’s work,

And poured him out upon us, too,
Through Jesus Christ our Savior true.

Made righteous heirs by his own grace,
Eternal life, our hope and embrace.