I have received many emails inquiring as to what the future holds for Reforming Students. Thank you to everyone who has written and encouraged me to continue writing and blogging — it truly is something I enjoy very much and will be continuing, but not here.
Beginning tomorrow, I am moving all my blogging efforts over to a brand new group blog that I have been getting together over the last several months. A group of 6 of us (5 of us are pastors, and we have 1 guy who is the coordinator of the Building Tomorrow’s Church conference) are all from ARBCA (Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America) and have been discussing this effort since our general assembly in April. It has taken a lot of work and coordination, but it’s finally ready to go and I’m excited.
This means that I will only be writing one day per week, BUT the blog will be updated every day by one of the brothers — we are on a regular posting schedule. My posts will be up on Thursdays, but I can assure you that the other guys will have some great, worthwhile posts as well.
So please head on over to Ardent Cries and keep up with what we’re writing over there. Drop us a comment and join the discussion — we’d be grateful to gain you as a regular reader!
Thank you very much to everyone who has followed my posts, joined the conversation, and labored through my rants. I hope to see you at Ardent Cries.
Peace.
Preaching to the Choir :: A Great Pleasure
Posted on 13 April 2009 by Nick Kennicott
James Savastio offers a wonderful article for pastors on the Reformed Baptist Fellowship blog — he is focusing on the idea of “preaching to the choir”:
Some years ago I began to have a slightly different and liberating take on that phrase. I learned to preach exclusively to my church, to the people of God under my care, to the people who were sitting under my ministry. I realized that there were times in my ministry when I would be critical of other churches and other ministries who had no representatives in my congregation. They did not hear me and most likely never would hear my criticisms and suggestions at how they needed to change. The end result was not so much faithfulness in exposing false teaching, but rather making ourselves look good. At some point or other I had a bit of an epiphany that I needed to stop preaching to people who weren t there and start addressing those who were. It probably struck me one day when I was preaching about people who are not committed to the life of the church, when the only people who were there were those who were committed to the life of the church! Those who are not under our ministries are easy targets. They do not listen to me. They ll probably never hear a word I say. Hence, they do not get offended. I can be seen as faithful and bold in my denunciations of sins which are not prevalent in my congregation (I rarely have homosexuals or pro-abortionists in my congregation). It is not that sins brought up in the text ought not to be addressed; it is that they ought to be addressed with special application to the choir. It is this choir for whom I will give an account. It is this choir who need my encouragements and my exhortations and, when needed, my rebukes. For pastors to preach effectively, we must not only seek to know our culture and the world out there, but those who are actually hearing our voices.
Read the entire article.
Christian and Death :: A Conversation
Posted on 12 April 2009 by Nick Kennicott
CHRISTIAN:
Hello, Death, my old enemy. My old slave-master. Have you come to talk to me again? To frighten me?
I am not the person you think I am. I am not the one you used to talk to. Something has happened. Let me ask you a question, Death.
Where is your sting?
DEATH, sneeringly:
My sting is your sin.
CHRISTIAN:
I know that, Death. But that s not what I asked you. I asked, where is your sting? I know what it is. But tell me where it is.
Why are you fidgeting, Death? Why are you looking away? Why are you turning to go? Wait, Death, you have not answered my question. Where is your sting?
Where is, my sin?
What? You have no answer? But, Death, why do you have no answer? How will you terrify me, if you have no answer?
O Death, I will tell you the answer. Where is your sting? Where is my sin? It is hanging on that tree. God made Christ to be sin my sin. When he died, the penalty of my sin was paid. The power of it was broken. I bear it no more.
Farewell, Death. You need not show up here again to frighten me. God will tell you when to come next time. And when you come, you will be his servant. For me, you will have no sting.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
- John Piper, A Conversation with Death on Good Friday
April 9 :: Me and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Posted on 9 April 2009 by Nick Kennicott
April 9 is my birthday. April 9, 2009 is the 64th anniversary of Deitrich Bonhoeffer being hanged. My birth on the anniversary of his death makes me pray that God would use me in a lasting and profound way as he did with Bonhoeffer.
Wikipedia’s article on Bonhoeffer offers this description:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer IPA: ['di?tr? 'bo?nh f?] (February 4, 1906 April 9, 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, participant in the German Resistance movement against Nazism, a founding member of the Confessing Church. His involvement in plans by members of the Abwehr (the German Military Intelligence Office) to assassinate Adolf Hitler resulted in his execution. Bonhoeffer was arrested in March 1943, imprisoned, and eventually executed by hanging shortly before the war’s end.
John Piper reminds us of one of Bonhoeffer’s most notable quotes:
The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death-we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time-death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call. (The Cost of Discipleship, 99)
Oh that I might live and die in Jesus Christ, for His glory, and the symphonic proclimation of His glorious grace that the nations of the world would enjoy and be glad in Him!
Sick :: To the Glory of God
Posted on 2 April 2009 by Nick Kennicott
My latest article on the Ephesus Students website: Sick: To The Glory of God.
*****
I don’t get sick very often, but when I do, it’s usually pretty bad. Last week I was laying on my back, in bed, with some of the worst flu symptoms I’ve ever experienced. Influenza had me down, and I wasn’t getting back up for a while. Between naps in my NyQuil induced comatose state, I thought a lot about 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or ?whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” That would most certainly include being sick — but how?
Here’s 8 ways I can think of:
1. Acknowledge that sickness is for your good, and be thankful.
Christians are frequently reminded that, “for those who love God all things work together ?for good, for ?those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Paul doesn’t include any addendums to all things, so I assume he means sickness too. When I am down for the count, coughing, sneezing, experiencing the chills, enduring a headache, or feeling achy, I know that God is at work. I could never venture to imagine exactly how the Lord is using a sickness for my good, or anyone else, because he probably has 1000 reasons in store. But I can be thankful in God’s promise that good will come, and every coughing fit will be worth it.
2. Remember you are being prepared for an eternal weight of glory.
The Apostle Paul reminds us to, “Not lose heart. ?Though our outer self? is wasting away, ?our inner self ?is being renewed day by day. For ?this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). Sickness and suffering are undoubtedly difficult to endure in our flesh, but compared to the importance of the eternal glory of heaven, they are “light” and insignificant. Glorifying God in our sickness means that we will meditate on the glories of heaven, and be thankful that one day we will be with God forever — that’s far more significant than any pain I will experience in this life.
3. Remember the garden, and be thankful for the cross.
Sickness, pain, suffering, and evil are in this world because of one sin. “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ ?cursed is the ground because of you; ?in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17). The Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman church, “For we know that ?the whole creation ?has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have ?the firstfruits of the Spirit, ?groan inwardly as ?we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, ?the redemption of our bodies. For ?in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:22-24). The sin of Adam has caused the groaning of creation — but thanks be to Jesus for the hope of the cross, and our adoption as sons of the most high God.
4. Pray more widely than usual with the freed up time.
What else are you going to do while you’re laid out on your back? Pray for everything and everyone you can think of. It’s a good time to practice prayer without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
5. Work on Scripture memory.
It’s undoubtedly more difficult to hold a thought while you’re sick, but taking opportunities to memorize the Word while you’re awake is encouraging, refreshing, and a good development of your spiritual discipline. “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
6. Read large portions of Scripture.
This is probably most difficult because of the challenge of reading and thinking with pain in your body and a cough in your throat. Nevertheless, if you’re able to prop yourself up for a few minutes or hours of reading, go through large portions of Scripture. We often get set in our daily reading plans to only read a few chapters at a time. Take the opportunity to read the epistles as epistles — no one reads a letter one paragraph per day!
7. Allow others to serve you.
Don’t be stubborn. The Lord puts people in our lives to support and encourage us. Allow them to be a blessing to you, and be thankful that the Lord has given them a heart to serve. Sometimes us “independent types” have a hard time with others doing for us what we know we are completely capable of on our own. Don’t limit their joy by insisting on doing it all yourself.
8. Don’t be a complainer.
No one wants to be around a person that reminds the world of their sickness every opportunity they get. Be sick without grumbling (cf. Philippians 2:14) and others will be more willing to serve you. Constant complaining is a sign of selfishness, even when most would say it’s warranted. Give your best effort to be pleasant and understanding. Be thankful that you’re only sick — you deserve much worse.
That’s just a few ways to be sick to the glory of God. May He grant us the ability to do these things with joy the next time we find ourselves under the weather.
10:31 Sermon Jams :: Volume 5
Posted on 26 March 2009 by Nick Kennicott
I’ve always really enjoyed sermon jams — God-honoring, attention-grabbing, biblically faithful, and a lot of fun to listen to. I am grateful that 10:31 Sermon Jams has released Volume 5 which includes sermons from Rick Gamache, John Piper, Kempton Turner, and Joshua Harris. Go check it out and get your free downloads. If you’ve never listened to sermon jams before, I have several audio clips in the Student Ministry Reformation tab on this blog. You should also check out Volumes 1-4 of 10:31 Sermon Jams and Volumes 1-7 at the Relevant Revolution.
Writers’ Rooms :: A Photographic Journey
Posted on 26 March 2009 by Nick Kennicott
I really enjoyed this short photographic journey through the writing rooms of several different novelist, poets, and artists by Eamonn McCabe. It’s very interesting to me to see how different people utilize their space to accomplish their writing task. I look at some of the rooms and think, “Look at all the clutter — there is NO WAY I could even write one sentence while sitting in that mess!” Praise God that he has created us all in unique ways, yet with the very same purpose, namely to glorify Him by enjoying Him forever.
Enjoy the short slideshow — Which room do you like the best and why?