The following was posted over at the Married Life Blog (a blog conducted through Covenant Life Church in Maryland). It was timely for me and highlighted particularly the need for me to be continually appreciating, encouraging, and ministering to my wife. It was rather short so I have copied it in its entirety here.

Husbands do you see your wife’s responsibility of caring for the kids as a “breeze,” or a “walk in the park?” Do you relate to your wife as if there is “nothing to it,” or “piece of cake?” You might not use those words. But if you are like me, and as Kenneth mentioned in his parenting message last week “we can tend to think parenting should be easy.”

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At his blog Gospeldrivenlife, Mark Lauterbach is writing a series of posts reviewing and applying Jonathan Edwards’ treatise “The Nature of True Virtue.”  It is a helpful and thoughtful summary of some heavy stuff.  Here are a couple of highlights from the first post.

     “In other words, if I love my wife and children, and even my church, but do not demonstrate love to my neighbor or community or co-workers — in all likelihood, my love is a sham and not true virtue.  It is selfishness in some form.  Sin turns us in on ourselves, and that self absorption can look like virtue.”

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     “What it means is that a privatized version of Christianity is actually not a weak version of the Gospel, but a denial of the Gospel.  And I think the life of Christ bears this out — for he went about doing good (indiscriminately) and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.  The nature of God’s goodness is to seek the good of all.  This is not a sentimental love for God is just — but it is true desire to bless.  Elsewhere Edwards says that true love is the expansion of the heart so that we take great delight in the well being of others as much as in our own.

    So, as I drive home tonight and stop by the store — is it a godly thing to ignore the name and person of the one who takes my money for my purchase?  Or to drive into my neighborhood with no prayer for the good of those who live nearby?”

Read the rest of this first post and follow the subsequent posts in this series at Gospeldrivenlife.

Russell Moore has a great summary of Michael Card’s relationship with the late William Lane:

Card speaks about how Lane never said, “Here is how I am mentoring you.” Instead he just spent time with Card, talked about life with him, and modeled for him in small ways what he considered to be the marks of a Christian. What Card brings forth as one of the greatest lessons he ever learned from Lane is not a curriculum or a step in a program. Instead it is the memory of the time when travelling overseas with Lane, when Lane insisted that Card sleep in the only bed available while Lane slept on the floor. Card says that all he could think about that night is the awkwardness of the fact that he, a college student, was comfortable in bed, while a brilliant Hebrews scholar was on the floor around the corner. It hit him that what Lane was doing was teaching his protege the Bible. From this, and other moments like it, came Card’s song about Christic servanthood, “The Basin and the Towel.”

There’s much talk about mentoring today among Christians. Often I find that some expect mentoring to be a clearly defined program, with a man announcing to a younger man: “You are my protege. Today I have mentored you.” But, as Card points out, that’s not the way real Christian discipleship works, and never has. The greatest part of mentoring doesn’t seem like mentoring at all, just like friendship. Peter, James, and John probably didn’t say to themselves while walking to Gethsemene, “Here we go, boys. This is going to be the Gospel of Mark, chapter fourteen.” They thought it was just a walk.

What a beautiful picture of discipleship. No formal rules, just faith being modeled through the challenges and joys of life. Michael Card talks more about his relationship with Lane in his book The Walk.

I was once again convicted by this quote from Jim Elliff. The whole article is important to read so take a little time and pick up some hints from a hard working evangelist.

Come learn from Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, as He teaches us the true nature of saving faith. “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” The simple message that confounded the Pharisees requires a broken spirit and eyes to see the beauty of the cross. May He give us hearts that are alive to His glory, and a poverty of spirit like the publican who acknowledged he was “the sinner.”

 

 Luke 18:15-17 [37:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tommorrow evening SGF will together partake of communion, remembering and proclaiming the death of Jesus Christ for us.  I would encourage you to spend time tommorrow afternoon examining your life, confessing sin, and reflecting on the cross in preparation for participating in this celebration of the gospel.   

Here is a quick update from our retreat this weekend.

We began the first night discussing our relationships with one another as an elder board. This centered around two points. The first is the nature and application of the principle of unanimity. Our constitution says this:

Section 13 Decisions of the Elders

“Decisions shall be reached after prayerful consideration by unanimous vote in a spirit of humility, with each Elder regarding the others before himself. In the event that a minority among the Eldership prevents unanimity and the issue at hand is of such serious nature that it reasonably, in the minds of the majority of the Eldership, demands immediate action, the majority of the Elders will issue to the minority a deadline by which time they must either: persuade the majority to their view, come in line with the majority in a spirit of true submission and support, or resign from the Eldership.”

Even when we disagree we want to be able to carry ourselves with a sense of humility and sincere submission.

The second issue we looked at was our attitude in discussions. We desire to think through issues thoroughly and critically. This means there must be an atmoshphere of healthy dialogue and debate. It is important that we are able to argue different sides of an issue in an effort to sharpen one another and clarify our positions.

Finally, somewhat unrelated, we discussed some of the facts from this post. The whole series is worth reading. It is easy to slip into evangelistic atrophy. We want to work hard at avoiding this in our fellowship. We must be a body that is determined to get involved in our community and spread the good news of the gospel.

Friday morning we began with a short devotional from Rick on 1 John 1:7-9. We were exhorted to build our fellowship around the Light which is truth and righteousness. We then discussed this chapter from a book edited by C.J. Mahaney. We want to grow strong relationships and succeed in spurring one another one and we are praying that these Grace Groups will be the catalyst for that.

The next part of our day was probably the most difficult. We converged on Empire Ranch Golf Course where we comprised the worst group of golfers every assembled. Tim P. and Doug were both nearly struck by golf balls from the group behind them. Overall things turned out okay but we did leave a multitude of balls behind. This is a pretty accurate sampling of what took place.

Our next session was a discussion of this chapter from our small group book. We spent time discussing the best possible way to lead these groups. It was so good to discuss Scripture together as well as hear tips from one another on leading small groups.

We finished the day discussing the philosophy of our corporate meeting time? What do we want to happen? How do we want that to happen? What do we want to avoid? It was a very long meeting but very good for the future of our body.

We begin Saturday with a time of singing and extended prayer. Time was spent trying to organize, plan and prioritize for our future ministries. It is crucial that we are careful and deliberate in putting programs and policies into place. We developed three criteria by which we would ascertain the urgency of a program. They are:

1. Biblical precedent

2. A strategic opportunity for the gospel and growth

3. A qualified leader with a heart for the ministry

This time was a tremendous season of growth and discussion. Our leadership group bonded through discussion, disagreement, singing, prayer and golf. Thanks to those of you who were diligent in prayer for us. I have to go now, it is important that we search Doug’s luggage for hotel towels and extra soap.

This Sunday- June 4th will be the first meeting of SGF’s Grace Groups.  In light of the fact that we will be meeting on Sunday night for corporate worship again the Grace Groups will meet Sunday morning.  If you do not get a call by Saturday evening with the details of location and time please e-mail me at tpickard@asgrace.org.  Please make these groups a priority and thank you again for your flexibility.  May God graciously bless these times for the growth of His body and the glory of His name.

The Elders of SGF are leaving late this afternoon for two nights to pray, plan, strategize, and discuss issues vital to the future of this body. 

We ask that you as a body would serve us by praying for God to grant us wisdom, insight, unity, humility,  faithfulness, and grace during this time.  Pray that we would feel the weight of our responsibility (Acts 20:28-30, 1 Timothy 4:15-16, Hebrews 13:17, 1 Peter 5:1-4) and that we would respond in dependence on God’s grace and the working of the Holy Spirit.  Pray that God would cause our love for this flock to increase more and more and that we would be diligent in watching over the souls God has entrusted to our care. 

Relating to this issue here is a solid and encouraging message by C.J. Mahaney on the relation of the congregation and leadership.  You can download it for free or listen to it online. 

We as elders thank you already for how, in the short life of this body, you have exemplified submission and teachability.  God’s grace is evident and active in the family of God here at SGF.

I have read a couple of things lately that have been very convicting concerning our focus as we live in this world.  We must be very deliberate in our pursuit of the lost.  The source of these quotes are here and here.
1.  “Gospel eyes” is the expression my husband has coined to encapsulate the way we need to see people for the sake of the gospel mission. I find that so helpful. As I read the gospels, I am amazed at how Jesus saw people who would have been invisible to me. The widow of Nain would have been lost to me in the crowd of noisy mourners. My eye probably would have been drawn to the corpse of her son or distracted by the wailing women. The hemorrhaging woman would have completely escaped my attention in the rush to help the synagogue official’s son. Even Pilate, during his interrogation at the trial, would have been invisible to me in my fear of what he was about to do. Jesus, perfectly in tune with the Father, saw each of these in their created dignity and tragic fallenness.  Because he saw them, he didn’t miss the opportunity to seek them.

2.  “Sometimes I think the most unreached people group is the one next door,” Eric said. “Do you think of yourself as a missionary to the world next door? Do you just go to Starbucks or do you see yourself as being sent to Starbucks? Do you go to school or do you see yourself as being sent to your campus? Do you go to work or do you see yourself as being sent to your job?”

Eric said that Colossians 4:2-6 gives us three things to do as local missionaries: We pray, we live, and we talk. This passage reads:

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison– that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.