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TGIF August 12, 2022

Thank God it’s Friday. TGIF will be a series of devotionals on Friday morning that I am going through as I read through the Bible. I am not following any particular reading plan at the moment. I decided to start reading one Old Testament book and one New Testament book that I don’t feel very familiar with and read one chapter from each. These are just a few thoughts and questions I had from my readings.

1 Samuel 5

The ark of the covenant had been captured by the Philistines, the enemy of the Israelites at the time. Ancient Near Eastern traditions of war said that if you take the god of your enemy, then you have definitively conquered their people.

Dagon was the principal god of the Philistines. They placed the ark of the covenant into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. Apparently, the next day, Dagon was found face down on the ground before the ark of the covenant. Perhaps it was a coincidence or perhaps it just happened to have fallen over. They set Dagon back up again.

The next day, they found him fallen again but this time with his head and hands cut off. This is the reason why Dagon’s priests no longer enter into the threshold of Dagon. He has been utterly defeated by Israel’s God.

The Lord brought chaos to wherever he was sent amongst his enemies. The Philistines didn’t want him because of the tumors that were breaking out amongst the people. They brought the ark to Gath. More tumors. They sent it to Ekron and the Ekronites already knew that only death awaited them if they housed the god of their enemies in their city.

Chaos went wherever the presence of God went amongst his enemies.

It’d be naive to say that just because there’s chaos in your life, that you’re an enemy of God. Unfortunately, many people believe this. Some people call it karma. You do bad, the “universe” is bad to you.

Sometimes there’s chaos because of sin. Sometimes there’s chaos because there are elements out of our control in the wise hand of God. Sometimes we cause the chaos ourselves. But every time, we must trust that God is doing good to us as followers of Christ.

Even when we think we are conquered, He is not. When we fall prey to sin and temptation, remember that the Lord has not been defeated. His power and strength and wisdom is not dependent on our ability to win in battles that we aren’t meant to fight on our own. He is strong and He will save. He will be the one who cuts the head off of our enemy. Let us not forget this.

As we continue to fight the good fight of faith, we must remember to topple the idols in our hearts and bow, face down, to the ground before the Lord, our Maker. God is superior and greater to any other gods we create ourselves in an effort to be god.

When I Grow Up I Want To Be a Pastor

I had the pleasure of being the guest on a podcast that an old friend of mine created and hosts called ‘When I Grow Up’. It’s a podcast geared towards people who are looking to get some perspective and wisdom about how to get into a particular career or vocation. She asked me to join the podcast to talk about how I became a pastor and we had a great conversation about my path to becoming a pastor.

If you are thinking about becoming a pastor or know someone who does, feel free to share this podcast with them.

You can view the podcast below or listen to it here:

3 Books I Read in 2021

I made it a goal to read 1 book every 2 weeks in 2021. I made a list of the books I wanted to read. I chose half of the books to help me with theology and ministry and the other half to do with my family and fatherhood. That would have given me 26 books for the year. It was quite an impressive list.

While I did read more books in 2021 than I did the year before, I do not think I read a single book on the list I made.

HOWEVER I did read some other books that were helpful to me. Here are three that helped me to think through some issues that I had been thinking about this past year in 2021.

The Path to Being a Pastor: A Guide for the Aspiring by Bobby Jamieson.
This book was maybe the most memorable book I read this year. I read through it with a friend from work who is figuring out his “calling” to the pastorate. As this book will argue, the language of “calling” may not be helpful or even biblically accurate when considering the path to being a pastor. He uses the word “aspiring” which is closer to what the Bible uses when talking about the qualifications for eldership in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. He lays out practical considerations that a man might think about when taking steps towards the pastorate such as whether or not seminary is necessary, the burden a pastorate might put on his family, and the qualifications listed out in 1 Timothy and in Titus.

It is short (less than 200 pages) and concise and I think it might be the most helpful book on this topic. It’s not a scholarly or theological deep-dive on each Greek word used in the passages talking about pastoral qualification. It felt more like talking to a friend who already has gone through and experienced the ups and downs of pursuing the pastorate and he is just passing on his insight and wisdom on it. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone considering becoming a pastor.
Men and Women in the Church by Kevin Deyoung.
This was one of the last books I read in 2021. I was attempting to find something readable for the members of my church to explain and lay a foundation for holding a complementarian theology. The subtitle to this book is ‘A short, biblical, practical introduction’. I believe that to be an apt description. It is a 176 page book that gives biblical arguments for complementarian theology. It is practical in the sense that he does speak to how it affects the church and the home.
I appreciate his awareness of the controversial nature of the topic, especially in today’s #MeToo and #ChurchToo cancel culture. He still stands his ground because he does stake his claim in the Bible which is the ultimate source of authority.

In spite of that, I still felt a little cringe-y reading some parts of the book. For example, he brought up an argument that an old theologian used about the reason why wives are typically in the home while husbands go out to work as the breadwinner is because Eve was created inside the garden (her home) while Adam was created outside of the garden and placed into it. They were both created in their areas of major influence that they have a special relationship with. I felt like this was a stretch but apparently, it’s something that complementarians argue and it led me to think more on the topic.

Overall, I am not sure yet if I would want to use this as an introduction to complementarian theology for my church members. I want to be confident that I can argue, in good conscience, the same things that the book argues before I let it be the book that forms our theology on the roles of men and women in the church and at home. It will require further study on my part and a searching of my heart to see whether the Bible is forming me in this aspect of the Christian life or if the culture is. It was a thought-provoking book to say the least.
The Compelling Community: Where God’s Power Makes a Church by Mark Dever & Jamie Dunlop
I read this book alongside some men I am discipling to grow as leaders in my church. It was a helpful and practical book in building a gospel-centered culture. The main argument of the book is that a church should have at its center the gospel as her main ‘attraction’. Many modern churches today have so many different ministries for so many different things. A lot of ministries are split up into demographics or common life experiences. The concern the book has with that philosophy of ministry is that it puts the focus or ‘attraction’ of the church as the carefully catered nature of the community itself as opposed to the power that created the community. When a church has a diverse community that crosses racial lines, socio-economic, age, and life stage, doing ministry together all at once, it more fully demonstrates the unifying power of the gospel. When each demographic is split up with it’s own pastor or minister, it may demonstrate that you need some sort of common ground or experience in order to truly be a part of the family of God. While common ground and experiences are convenient, it doesn’t take any gospel power to bring people with common ground and experiences together. The world can accomplish that. What makes (or what should make) the community of the church so compelling is the power of the gospel to bring people who may never interact otherwise together with the sole purpose of bringing glory and honor to their Creator.

In reading it, I discovered that this is exactly what I would love my church to embrace as a culture. I had a recent conversation with my friends about this because I was going back and forth about whether or not I wanted to have a ‘married couples small group’ at our church. They said that this ‘compelling community’ was worth dying on a hill for. In the end, I decided that as long as the trajectory is towards discipling one another and future married couples, I think it fits within the vision of the book. It is not an easy hill to climb but I hope to plant a flag at the top and this book helps me to do that.

I hope that these books will be as helpful and thought-provoking as they were to me. I hope to read many more books in the year of 2022 that will help build both my family and my church.

Ordination

As some of you know, I was ordained as a reverend in the Southern Baptist Convention over the weekend. It was a stressful weekend with many things going on at once but, overall, it was a great experience. I got to see many friends, family, and church members come together to celebrate a day that is considered a pretty big deal in the life of a pastor.

What exactly is ordination? You can correct me if I’m wrong here since I’m basically pulling this definition out of thin air but I would say ordination really consists of two things. When you are ordained, it is the congregation and/or denomination affirming the calling of God on you to the pastorate. Essentially, the congregation/ordination council is agreeing together that the candidate being ordained is qualified to lead and shepherd the members of the church. Secondly, being ordained is the consecrating of the pastor to pastoral ministry. This is where the candidate receiving the ordination is formally being “set aside” specifically for gospel ministry. These two aspects, the congregation’s/council’s affirmation and the pastor’s consecration, that make up the two elements of ordination.

Going into the process of ordination, I’ll be honest: I don’t know that I took it as seriously as I should have. I prepared like I should and was diligent in my study but, in terms of understanding the true weight of what was going on, it didn’t really hit me until the ordination service.

It was actually one particular moment that really helped me to understand the gravity of the situation.

My wife and I and Pastor David, the other ordination candidate, were called up on stage and asked to kneel on some pillows that were prepared on stage for us. I am not a particularly flexible person so it was extremely uncomfortable. I kept shifting around trying to find a comfortable position but it was nearly unbearable. Then, the ordination council and some of the elders of our church were called up to lay their hands on us and pray for us. As they prayed, I suddenly felt the weight of the Bible that I was holding in my hand.

As uncomfortable as I was, the gravity of the idea that I am called to rightly handle the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15) and to not shrink back from preaching the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) felt very heavy in that moment. And that realization expanded to the people that I would be shepherding and the obligation I have towards them (1 Peter 5:2). I remembered the faces of the members of Zoe Fellowship and how now I will be held accountable by God for their souls (James 3:1). It was a heavy weight.

But as I began to remember all my inadequacies, I also remembered that in these moments where God’s grace is sufficient. If God truly did call me, He will sustain me. When I am weak, He is strong. While I am to rightly handle God’s Word, His Word will not return empty or void but will accomplish what he purposes (Isa 55:11). While I must shepherd the flock among me, Jesus is the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet 5:4). I cannot and should not be doing this on my own without the Lord’s strength.

The weight of the pastorate is not lost on me. Not anymore, anyway. I understand what I have been consecrated for. There’s a lot that goes into it but I’m diving in in faith that the Lord is with me.

I hope that you can dive in faith into whatever God has called you to as well. While you may not get a formal ordination service like I did for pastoral ministry, do not think that God has not called and commissioned you for ministry. One part of my job is to make sure that you are equipped to do the work of ministry (Eph 4:12). Your ministry may not be the pastorate but it may be your family, your vocation, maintaining your relationships, or serving in some capacity at church. Whatever it may be, dive in knowing that God ordained you to love Him and love His people.

You can watch the whole ordination service here.

Fake It ‘Till You Make It

One of the things I struggle with the most in my walk with the Lord is consistency. Whether it’s regular Bible reading, regular prayer, or checking in with church members, I always start and then end up skipping a day…then another day…and then a week…and then a month…until I feel like I’ve fallen too far behind to start up again. My faith often feels like I am trying to keep up with a New Years resolution.

This has often led me to think that my love for the Lord has gone cold. Or that maybe my devotion to the Lord was false. I feel like an imposter and a hypocrite. Shouldn’t praying be easy? Why can’t I make time to read the Bible every day? Shouldn’t reaching out to brothers and sisters at my church be simple?

And often these questions lead to other questions that plunges the knife of guilt even deeper: shouldn’t I want to pray? Do I really desire to know the Lord through His Word? Do I really love my brothers and sisters in Christ if I feel this awkward reaching out to them?

These are questions that I wrestle with all the time as a pastor and as a Christian.

I want to encourage you with really just one word of practical advice that helped me to push through in building godly habits and growing in spiritual disciplines:

Fake it ’till you make it.

I know. It sounds crude. It’s not pretty. It doesn’t even sound Christian. But hear me out.

I think my generation has believed in the ideal that our feelings must be true and authentic before we act on them. If our hearts are not in it, then it’s not real and it’s hypocritical.

While I think in some cases that can be true, I wonder if spiritual disciplines is a good context to apply this ideal.

Think about this: if you exercise and lift weights even when you don’t want to, will you still gain muscle? Or if you diet and eat healthy foods even when you don’t desire those foods, will you still not lose weight and get healthier overall? And on top of that, when you see people who exercise consistently and eat healthy foods, don’t they seem like they actually enjoy it? Doesn’t it seem like they love sweating and feeling worn out after a workout? Don’t they seem like they’re really enjoying that salad for lunch? Your muscles that you gained and weight that you lost are still very real despite your feelings about how you got there.

Much like bodily disciplines of healthy eating and exercise, spiritual disciplines can feel fake and insincere at the time, but the effects are very real. I believe that the growth of our desire and affection for the Lord and His church are the effects of spiritual disciplines, not the prerequisite for spiritual disciplines. Furthermore, the desire and affection that grew out of our spiritual disciplines helps us to love and enjoy our spiritual disciplines themselves because they lead to our greatest Love and greatest Joy in Christ.

All that to say, all the advice out there for practicing spiritual disciplines are great and I would recommend them to you all. Put bible reading and prayer in your schedule and make it immovable. Don’t overburden yourself by trying to read too much or praying too long or using fancy theological words. Partner up with others to hold each other accountable. Keep a journal. Use your free time to spend time with or reach out to church members.

However, don’t let a false sense of insincerity keep you from growing in your love and devotion to the Lord and His people. Yes, you might feel fake when you start, but the effects are very real as you continue to push yourself. You might be digging up dirt and planting and watering but only the Lord gives the growth. Trust in Him. Your labor is not in vain.