If you’re in the area, I’d love for you to join us.
Sunday School: 9am
Morning Worship: 10:45am

In the late Spring of 1747, Jonathan Edwards welcomed a terribly sick young missionary by the name of David Brainerd into his home (31). The young man was dying of tuberculosis – a disease that plagued Brainerd’s life and ministry for seven years until finally taking it October 9, 1747. Edwards recalled that he found Brainerd to be, “remarkably sociable, pleasant, and entertaining in his conversation; yet solid, savory, spiritual, and very profitable” (349).

Several years before, a controversy was brewing in New England as the result of the Great Awakening. Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches were experiencing significant differences of opinion regarding revivalistic preachers such as George Whitefield and the new converts resulting from their ministry. Those clinging to a more traditional faith looked with disdain and contempt upon those who were emphasizing excitement and emotional responses to the revivals taking place. In 1741, Edwards was invited to extend the commencement address at Yale College in the hopes that he would chide the excited and excitable students and support the more conservative faculty. Instead, Edwards’ sermon, “The Distinguishing Marks of a Word of a Spirit of God,” defended the legitimacy of the Great Awakening and produced greater fervor and excitement among the student population.

Young David Brainerd was in the crowd as Edwards spoke, and though he ranked at the top of his class, he was expelled shortly thereafter for making a disparaging remark regarding one of the tutors. This expulsion would radically alter the trajectory of Brainerd’s life, for in that day no one could be installed as a pastor in Connecticut unless they had graduated from Harvard, Yale, or a European University.

Brainerd was a devout, pietistic young man who, due to his expulsion from Yale, was no longer able to achieve the end to which he believed God had called him – to faithfully serve as a pastor. The faculty at Yale, however, were unwilling to reinstate him. Shortly thereafter, he was charged by the Society in Scotland for Propogating Christian Knowledge to become a misisonary to the American Indians in New England.

He served for a combined four years in three different locations where he experienced the full spectrum of emotions as he saw seasons of openness and resistance to the gospel. After the most fruitful season of his ministry, he began to succumb to the tuberculosis that had plagued his life, and traveled to New England where he hoped to recover his health in order to return to those he affectionately deemed to be, “his” Indians. Rather than recover, Brainerd was diagnosed as terminal and was nursed by Edwards’ daughter, Jerusha, until he passed into his eternal inheritance.

Though Brainerd only lived to see his twenty-ninth birthday, Edwards saw fit to edit and publish his diary and journal to the public. In doing so, an obscure missionary that few would have ever been aware of has become a pivotal example in piety, devotion, self-sacrifice, and perseverance to generations.

Keys to his Ministry

An Honest View of Self
Underlying Brainerd’s missionary endeavors was a gut-wrenching, honest appraisal of his own relationship with God. Upon reading his diary and journal, one may be struck by Brainerd’s lack of missionary zeal early in his ministry. He seems much more content to study, pray, and repent than to actually share the gospel with the indians in his care. One reason for this appearance is that Brainerd wrote his journal for public consumption (to be published by the Society in Scotland for Propogating Christian Knowledge), while his diary was written for the sake of his personal self-examination and to measure his spiritual growth. Thus, while his journal contains stories of preaching and conversions, his diary is full of self-introspection. This ongoing self-appraisal, and constant reminder of his own need for God’s sovereign goodness, provided the ballast he needed in order to effectively minister to others.

A High View of Preaching
Yet one must not read Brainerd’s Life and Diary and not take note of the means by which he shared the gospel with the American Indians. He preached whenever he could find a hearer, but was convinced that, “only He [God] can open the ear, engage the attention, and incline the heart of poor benighted, prejudiced pagans to receive instruction” (207). Brainerd understood that the sovereign God works through the human preacher, leading Brainerd to herald the message of the gospel of Christ through an interpreter (who became the first to be baptized during Brainerd’s missionary endeavors).

A High View of Baptism
One final observation is that Brainerd did not baptize new believers upon conversion, but instead, “deferred their baptism for many weeks after they had given evidences of having passed a great change” (242). Brainerd was not too quick to encourage new believers to enter into the baptismal waters, but first insisted upon observing the change in their lives as a result of the gospel. In doing so, he emphasized the weighty-witness that baptism is to believers and non-believers alike.

Conclusion

Brainerd’s ministry to the American Indians pales in comparison to the impact his life and sacrifice have made upon generations since. However, as one notes his intense self-introspection, the emphasis he placed upon gospel proclamation, and the weight he ascribed to the ordinance of baptism, one cannot help but question our efforts today. Do we regularly seek examine our own walk with Christ? Do we value and lift high the proclamation of the gospel? Do we believe that ordinances and sacraments mean something? Studying the efforts of Brainerd’s ministry calls us to no less than these questions, but opens us up to one further. Has God called us to give up our dreams and embrace the task of carrying forth the gospel to the nations?

Quotes from Jonathan Edwards, The Life and Diary of David Brainerd

I would love the opportunity to preach at your church. I still have several Sundays available each month this summer.

June 9
June 23
July 14
July 21
August 4
August 11

Would one or more of these days work for your congregation?

Click here for more information or here to set a date on the books.

Thanks.

If you’re in the area, I’d love for you to join us.
Sunday School: 9:30am
Morning Worship: 10:45am

In December of 2011, I reviewed Joshua Harris’s Dug Down Deep. In that review, I wrote, “The final chapter turned out to be my personal favorite. In that chapter (titled “Humble Orthodoxy”), the author gives great encouragement to approach orthodoxy and doctrine and theology with humility.”

It would appear that others shared my appreciation for this particular chapter, and the publisher opted to publish it separately under the name of the original chapter, Humble Orthodoxy.

In this small book, Harris makes the observation that, “it seems like a lot of the people who care about orthodoxy are jerks” (3). They seem to have taken the instruction in Jude to “contend for the faith,” and have interpreted it to mean, “Be contentious for the faith.” For Harris, this is simply unacceptable for the believer.

Harris opines that far too often, Christians struggle with either remaining orthodox or remaining humble. This, however, is not a choice we get to make. We are called to be both – humble and orthodox. In what I believe to be the key paragraph from the book, he writes,

“Genuine orthodoxy – the heart of which is the death of God’s Son for undeserving sinners – is the most humbling, human-pride-smashing message in the world. And if we truly know the gospel of grace, it will create in us a heart of humility and grace toward others” (30).

This does not mean that we refuse to stand for biblical truth when the situation warrants we do so. Rather, this means that we need to exercise wisdom and “avoid controversy that distracts from the gospel” (53). In doing so, we reveal a critical mind without a critical spirit, and are more likely to gain an audience when, in fact, we do speak up.

Humble Orthodoxy was a book I needed to read. It will be a book I need to read again and again. I humbly recommend that you do so as well.

Joshua Harris, Humble Orthodoxy

I received this book free from the publisher through Multnomah Books’ Blogging for Books Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole is written to take aim at the modern epidemic of absent men. Often, even in their physical presence, this absence remains, and has become that which is characterizing an entire generation. This absence is felt in homes, society, places of work, and places of worship as another generation grows up without the help and guidance of fathers. He writes:

“Tonight, about 40 percent of American children will go to sleep in homes in which their fathers do not live. Before they reach the age of eighteen, more than half of our nation’s children are likely to spend at least a significant portion of their childhoods living apart from their fathers. Never before in this country have so many children been voluntarily abandoned by their father” (21).

The solution to such a painful reality, according to Eric Mason (founder and lead pastor of Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is none other than the redemption of manhood. And this redemption is only possible when Jesus is presented as the example of biblical masculinity. “From beginning to end, God has a purpose for men. It’s a purpose that’s been lost but, in and through Jesus Christ, one that might yet be recovered” (4).

Mason writes in a pastoral manner that biblically identifies the problem, biblically presents the solution, and biblically reveals the results of the solution. The problem is the absence of biblical masculinity. The solution is a renewed and redeemed understanding that Jesus is “the prototype” of what manhood was intended to be (45). In his life and actions, Jesus not only reveals what masculinity looks like, but provides the means by which humanity can be restored to the very source of manhood – God the Father. This renewed understanding and restoration to the Father affect five major areas according to Mason: worldview, sexuality, vision, family, and the church.

Mason writes as a man to men, calling them to more than a monthly breakfast meeting or Bible study – calling them to give up their lives for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of their wives, for the sake of their children, for the sake of their communities, and for the sake of the church. This is not the feminized-Christianity that has arisen out of a world void of masculinity, but rather the gospel-soaked, Christ-exalting, biblical masculinity expressed in laying down one’s own life for the sake of Christ.

This is what has been missing in so many churches and cities around the world. Pick up a copy. Read it. Give it away. And jump in with both feet.

Eric Mason, Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole

I received this book free from the publisher through the B&H book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Sermon text 1 Samuel 5:1-7

John Piper’s book, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, is an exhortation to pastors, calling them to minister with a heart in tune to God, rather than with a reliance upon, “an education, a set of skills, and a set of guild-defined standards which are possible without faith in Jesus” (x). Looking back on his own ministry, Dr. Piper remarks that his regrets lie not in the arena of professionalism, but rather in passion and prayer.

The original edition of the book was published in 2002 during the height of the evangelical church’s fascination with corporate leadership methods and structures. Pastors and church leaders sought to incorporate the latest pragmatic solution into the life of the church. Decisions were based upon asking, “What works?” rather than, “What is calling us to do?” Dr. Piper’s voice cut through the madness and called pastors back to caring for souls. He writes in the Preface of the new edition that, “nothing has happened in the last ten years to make me think this book is less needed” (ix). Though the drift of professionalism in churches today is present, it is subtly different. It may not resemble the three-piece suit of the CEO’s office, yet it remains while speaking more in terms of “communication or contextualization” (ix).

In order to combat this encroaching pressure to meet an ambiguous standard, Piper lays out thirty-six exhortations for pastors. These reminders all beckon ministers to remember and focus on the spiritual task of shepherding the flock entrusted to them. The new edition contains six new chapters clarifying some theological issues that Dr. Piper felt needed to be addressed, and some practical insights that he gained over the last ten years. Dr. Piper’s voice was sorely needed in 2002, and the need remains to this day for this wise instruction from a seasoned pastor who has remained steady despite the pressures, fads, and trends that can so quickly derail ministers from their primary task.

Summary

The book is built on thirty-six exhortations, each meriting its own chapter, and each calling the pastor back to his primary task. These exhortations can be categorized in terms of theological exhortations, practical insights, spiritual reminders, and deeply personal emphases that Dr. Piper embraced and exampled during his faithful ministry.

As one who has read Dr. Piper before might expect, he pounds the drum of God’s sovereign joy and supremacy as the heartbeat of ministry, writing, “Everything in our salvation is designed by God to magnify the glory of God” (13). Dr. Piper spends the first several chapters on these theological exhortations detailing for the reader the message that has been given to pastors to proclaim. He touches on subjects such as justification by faith, Christian Hedonism, and the love of God.

Other chapters may be categorized as practical insights shared by a seasoned pastor. He charges pastors to preach sermons saturated with the text of Scripture, rather than striving to entertain their hearers in order to gain an audience. He reminds pastors of the vast importance of studying the original languages of Scripture, stewarding their health, and reading Christian biographies for their own edification and joy.

He further provides encouragement for pastors to remain faithful by calling them to be men of prayer, and reminding them that the ministry of the Word is the centerpiece of faithful ministry. Throughout ministry, pastors will experience the natural drift of this world away from such spiritual practices, for they rarely appear on spreadsheets and data.

The last several chapters of the book hinge upon the emphases that have characterized Dr. Piper’s ministry over these last ten years. He calls pastors to emphasize the importance of global missions, to seek racial reconciliation, to passionately defend the unborn, and to love their wives as Christ loves the church.. These are emphases that, over time, came to the forefront of Dr. Piper’s ministry. Young pastors would be wise to consider these issues as repeated applications of the gospel.

Critique

One finds great difficulty critiquing a book written in the form of Dr. Piper’s Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. Most readers will find in John Piper a pastor with more insight, experience, and wisdom than they. However, there are a few points within the book that demand clarification.
One example of such needed clarification is that Dr. Piper’s passing references to major thrusts written in greater detail in his own voluminous writings demand further reading on the part of the reader. One simply cannot understand the concept of Christian Hedonism apart from Desiring God. One may remain unconvinced that God is the Gospel, unless they read Dr. Piper’s book, God is the Gospel. Many will find that his chapters on topics that he has written on before will be incomplete and brief.

The emphases that Dr. Piper lays out for his readers grow out of his own personal theological convictions concerning the sovereignty of God in salvation and the doctrines of grace. However generous he may strive to be in his writings, these emphases always come to the forefront in his writings. Those who agree with him on these points (or even most of them) may not even take notice of the foundation. However, those who differ with his soteriological foundation may find greater disunity at the point of application.

One other potential critique lies in Dr. Piper’s chapter on the issue of baptism. As a Baptist, this reviewer resonates with his argument for believer baptism and the importance therein. However, in taking up the argument, Dr. Piper has opened himself to criticism from both sides. Some who maintain a paedo-baptist distinctive may take offense that Dr. Piper has raised this issue, and presented a defense of believer baptism over against infant baptism in a book that would otherwise appeal across denominational lines. Others who hold to credo-baptist convictions may react negatively to Dr. Piper’s emphasis that this is not a primary doctrine, and something that should not “cut us off from shared worship and ministry with others who share more important things with us” (161). Historically, one can easily see that these different understandings of baptism have always separated believers, often with violence.

Conclusion

John Piper’s, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals is the needed reminder to abandon the notion that faithful ministry is predicated upon some professional veneer and to embrace the deeply spiritual reality that they are called to something else altogether. For, he writes, “there is an infinite difference between the pastor whose heart is set on being a professional and the pastor whose heart is set on being the aroma of Christ, the fragrance of death to some and eternal life to others (2 Cor. 2:15-16)” (3).

John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals

I received this book free from the publisher through the B&H book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

If you’re in the area, I’d love for you to join us.
Sunday School: 9am
Morning Worship: 10:45am

It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people you are with care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch.”

From C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms