God's Revelation / Creation's Response
Just a repeat of the usefulness of these questions from Don Whitney’s website. I suggest you print these questions out (there are formatted versions available at Whitney’s website) and place them in your Bible (or wherever they’ll do you the most good). These are probing questions that will take a lot of thought to answer well.
Have a great New Year’s day!
Yesterday, I had the great opportunity to worship with Grace Covenant Church (a Sovereign Grace church) in Greenville, SC. It was a great time of worship and I had the opportunity to make new friends. We were greeted by no fewer than five individuals or couples, all of whom seemed genuinely pleased that we were there. So, if any Grace Covenant folks should happen upon IsaiahSix, Thank you!
Pastor Jim Britt spoke on Luke 2:26-38 when Gabriel “visited” Mary. One of the things he pointed out was that many times throughout scripture, when angels came to earth, people died—and lots of them. But in Luke 1, when the angel visited Zechariah; later in Luke 1 when Gabriel visited Mary; and in Luke 2, when an angel visited the shepherds, each time the angel opened with the same words: Do not be afraid.
When angels appeared, there was usually reason to fear. But, this time they brought great news. Messiah had come. God-Is-Salvation (Jesus) had been born. Emmanuel, God Is With Us. Rather than being afraid, Israel could rejoice!
And indeed, we do rejoice today, because our redemption has appeared. Our restoration has been provided. Praise be to God!
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
—Luke 2:10-11, 14
My family and I will be away this week, so I doubt there will be very many posts. I pray you have a blessed Christmas Day tomorrow and that you enjoy time with your family and friends.
To God be the Glory!
One of my favorite songs by Shane & Shane is “Be Near”. It reflects an eager—if not anxious—pleading for God’s nearness to be manifest.
That’s what Israel felt for so long. Centuries. They understood that He would bring peace and that He would restore the kingdom.
We have been waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Our wait is almost over. Tomorrow is Christmas.
Everyday we hope that God makes His presence known to us. As followers of Christ, it is His presence with us keep us mindful of His faithfulness.
And tomorrow we celebrate Emmanuel. God with us!
God,
This week we will celebrate the coming of Redemption. You created us; we fell away. And although we are completely undeserving of it, You have provided us a way to return to the purity in which You created us. To the unbroken fellowship for which we were created.
Father, many people will travel over the next few days. For any number of reasons, some of these travelers will never return home. We pray that before their temporal life ends they will hear You calling them to Yourself.
We know that many will be encountering family situations that are difficult at best. Regardless of the reasons for these estranged relationships, we pray for humility, civility, and, to the degree that it is Your will, reconciliation.
Father, we know, too, that many will be celebrating their first Christmas after having lost a dear family member or friend. This will be a difficult time for them, but You are abundantly able to comfort them in their time of grief. May they feel Your love, as only You are able to give.
Let this be a time in which You restore to us the joy of our salvation as we remember, observe, and celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ. And in turn we will teach others Your ways. It will be our joy to do so, rather than a rote duty, something we are able to check off our task list.
Father, finally, we pray that in this season, You alone are glorified above all others. We join with the angles as they cry, “Glory to God in the highest!”
Soli Deo gloria
According to the StrengthsFinder assessment from The Gallup Organization, analytical skills are at the top of my list of strengths. But I must admit even I was kind of taken back—and quite intrigued!—to see this visual display from the ESV Bible Blog. They have created graphs that visualize several different read-the-Bible-through-in-a-year plans. I never would have even thought to analyze the readings in such a way. I don’t know that they’re of much help, but they’re cool to look at!
In a related story, ESV Bible Blog Diagnosed with OCD. 
Don Whitney has two sets of 10 questions worth taking a look at.
»Ten Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year or On Your Birthday
»Ten Questions to Ask at a Christmas Gathering
HT: Justin Taylor
I’ve used Laridian products for years now. It’s simply the best mobile Bible software available, almost on par with a lot of desktop Bible software. Well, good news from them tonight!
Laridian has just released electronic versions of two of Pastor John Piper‘s devotionals. A Godward Life: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life and Taste and See: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life are now available for both the PocketPC platform and the Palm OS platform. These are two excellent devotionals. I have read through both of these books and will be purchasing the electronic versions.
You can also pick up hardcopies through these links:
A Godward Life, Volume 1
Taste and See
N.B.: Taste and See is an expanded version of A Godward Life, Volume 2
Many IsaiahSix readers will already know this information because it was posted earlier at Between Two Worlds and Reformation Theology.
Yesterday, rescuers found the body of one of three lost climbers on Oregon’s Mount Hood. The body was that of Kelly James, whose brother is Frank James, President of the Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. You can view a press conference Dr. James held this morning at KATU Channel 2′s website.
Kelly was a follower of Christ and as such his family rests in the comfort of God. Dr. James recounted that Kelly had told him he felt closest to God when he was climbing. He’s never been closer.
I led a service of lessons and carols this evening at church and, as usual, it was a great time of worship. That such a seemingly simple thing as interweaving scripture and carols can be so powerful gives testimony to the fact that we don’t have to produce big technical wonders for worship to take place. We don’t have to use all the latest equipment or the smoothest projection software in order to lead people to Jesus.
The strength of the service is not the music. As Dean Eric Milner-White, who conceived the first modern version of the service back in 1918, said,
Whether the music is provided by choir or congregation, the pattern and strength of the service derive from the lessons and not the music. “The main theme is the development of the loving purposes of God…” seen “through the windows and words of the Bible.”
What Dean Milner-White was saying is that, while a large portion of the service is music, the music serves the Scripture. That’s true of everything we do as worship leaders. End the end, it doesn’t matter how many degrees I have in music, or how many classes I’ve taught in the subject, or how many choirs I’ve participated in because it isn’t the music that counts. It isn’t our desire to “perform” that drives our service. The music is servant to the Word.
My children learned this lesson tonight. After the service, our church held its annual Christmas dinner. Our children’s choir played handbells and the preschool choir sang a few songs after most folks had finished eating. My two oldest children sing in the preschool choir and, to be honest, they behaved in a less than exemplary manner. They tried to make the five minutes they were on the platform more about them than about the message of the songs. And, yes, they got some laughs.
We had a conversation when I arrived home. I shared with them that when they have an opportunity to sing in settings such as tonight, they have responsibilities on at least two levels. The first level of responsibility is to the people in the congregation. As worship leaders, we have a responsibility to model proper worship, worship that is focused on the majesty and glory of God. Worship that is focused on our own skills or on the value of the entertainment isn’t true worship. To conduct ourselves in a manner that detracts from the holiness of God unwittingly demeans His worth in the eyes of the worshipers.
Because God is all-glorious, and the only One worthy of our worship, we must carry out our calling with the highest of integrity. The second–and far more important–level of responsibility is to God Himself. Because God is all-glorious, and the only One worthy of our worship, we must carry out our calling with the highest of integrity. The answer to the first question of the Westminster Catechism is, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”2 Everything we do must be for His glory, not our own. In fact, He has assured us that He will not share His glory with anyone or anything.1
All of this is not to say that we can’t have fun while we lead worship. In fact, I hope it is fun. But that’s not why we do it. We don’t say, “I’m going to sing in church today because it’s so much fun.” And I know what you’re thinking. “Your kids are preschoolers. Take it easy on them.” Yes, they’re preschoolers, and I wasn’t as hard on them in our conversation as I initially wanted to be. I did ensure them, however, that next time would be a very different story, either in the service or in the time following the service.
I want my children–and anyone else I train in worship leadership–to learn as early as possible that while we certainly should enjoy fulfilling our calling, it isn’t about us.